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Biomedical subjects

D Walters

Publications and source records attributed to D Walters.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Postoperative bowel obstruction following laparoscopic surgery.

The rapid expansion of laparoscopic surgery has not been achieved without attendant complications, some of them unique. Visceral herniation into abdominal trocar entry sites is occasionally mentioned but seldom reported. We present three cases of postoperative bowel obstruction resulting from visceral herniation into trocar entry sites in different surgical settings, suggesting that this complication may be more common than is appreciated. Awareness of this clinical problem confirms the need for meticulous closure of larger abdominal trocar sites and should be considered when dealing with abdominal disorders following laparoscopic surgery.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Development of a shuttle walking test of disability in patients with chronic airways obstruction.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to develop a standardised and externally paced field walking test, incorporating an incremental and progressive structure, to assess functional capacity in patients with chronic airways obstruction. METHODS: The usefulness of two different shuttle walking test protocols was examined in two separate groups of patients. The initial 10 level protocol (group A, n = 10) and a subsequent, modified, 12 level protocol (group B, n = 10) differed in the number of increments and in the speeds of walking. Patients performed three shuttle walking tests one week apart. Then the performance of patients (group C, n = 15) in the six minute walking test was compared with that in the second (modified) shuttle walking test protocol. Heart rate was recorded during all the exercise tests with a short range telemetry device. RESULTS: The 12 level modified protocol provided a measure of functional capacity in patients with a wide range of disability and was reproducible after just one practice walk; the mean difference between trial 2 v 3 was -2.0 (95% CI -21.9 to 17.9) m. There was a significant relation between the distance walked in the six minute walking test and the shuttle walking test (rho = 0.68) but the six minute walking test appeared to overestimate the extent of disability in some patients. The shuttle test provoked a graded cardiovascular response not evident in the six minute test. Moreover, the maximal heart rates attained were significantly higher for the shuttle walking test than for the six minute test. CONCLUSIONS: The shuttle walking test constitutes a standardised incremental field walking test that provokes a symptom limited maximal performance. It provides an objective measurement of disability and allows direct comparison of patients' performance.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Homologies between members of the germin gene family in hexaploid wheat and similarities between these wheat germins and certain Physarum spherulins.

By screening approximately 10(6) plaques in a wheat DNA library with a "full-length" germin cDNA probe, two genomic clones were detected. When digested with EcoRI, one clone yielded a 2.8-kilobase pair fragment (gf-2.8) and the other yielded a 3.8-kilobase pair fragment (gf-3.8). By nucleotide sequencing, each of gf-2.8 and gf-3.8 was found to encode a complete sequence for germin and germin mRNA, and to contain appreciable amounts of 5'- and 3'-flanking sequences. The "cap" site in gf-2.8 was determined by primer extension and the corresponding site in gf-3.8 was deduced by analogy. The mRNA coding sequences in gf-2.8 and gf-3.8 are intronless and 87% homologous with one another. The 5'-flanking regions in gf-2.8 and gf-3.8 contain recognizable sites of what are probably cis-acting elements but there is otherwise little if any significant similarity between them. In addition to putative TATA and CAAT boxes in the 5'-flanking regions of gf-2.8 and gf-3.8, there are AT-rich inverted-repeats, GC boxes, long purine-rich sequences, two 19-base pair direct-repeat sequences in gf-2.8, and a remarkably long (200-base pair) inverted-repeat sequence (approximately 90% homology) in gf-3.8. An 8% difference between the mature-protein coding regions in gf-2.8 and gf-3.8 is reflected by a corresponding 7% difference between the corresponding 201-residue proteins. Most significantly, the same 8% difference between the mature-protein coding regions in gf-2.8 and gf-3.8 is allied with no change whatever in a central part (61-151) of the encoded polypeptide sequences. It seems likely that this central, strongly conserved core in the germins is of first importance in the biochemical involvements of the proteins. When an equivalence is assumed between like amino acids, the gf-2.8 and gf-3.8 germins show significant (approximately 44%) similarity to spherulins 1a and 1b of Physarum polycephalum, a similarity that increases to approximately 50% in the conserved core of germin. Near the middle (87-96) of the conserved core in the germins is a rare PH(I/T)HPRATEI decapeptide sequence which is shared by spherulins (1a and 1b) and germins (gf-2.8 and gf-3.8). These similarities are discussed in the context of evidence which can be interpreted to suggest that the biochemistry of germins and spherulins is involved with cellular, perhaps cell-wall responses to desiccation, hydration, and osmotic stress.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

The future is now. Long-range planning helps a hospital adapt to changes in volunteer utilization.

To get an idea of how volunteers were currently being used in the hospital industry, in 1987 the director of volunteer services at St. Joseph Hospital, Flint, MI, began an informal survey of what individuals thought and felt on the subject. He also reviewed the hospital literature on volunteers. The research revealed that many hospitals had fewer inpatients and a more rapid patient turnover than they had had before, that competition for patients and volunteers was intensifying, that paid staff were busier, and that department heads who used volunteers were satisfied with them and wanted more of them. To improve its use of volunteers, the department initiated formal discussions among volunteer group leaders to identify major areas of concern. Once these areas had been identified a Task Force Leadership Group worked to establish goals for addressing these areas of concern. Six volunteer committees were then formed, each with the task of generating recommendations regarding how volunteer services could be improved. The committees eventually generated more than 130 recommendations. The volunteer services director and a consultant consolidated, reclassified, and rewrote these, ultimately submitting 79 proposals for approval. A number of these recommendations have already been implemented, and the volunteer services department will implement more of them in the future.

Hospital Bed Capacity, 300 to 499↗
PubMed1984

Intracellular destruction of Leishmania donovani and Leishmania tropica amastigotes by activated macrophages: dissociation of these microbicidal effector activities in vitro.

Resident peritoneal macrophages were exposed to amastigotes of Leishmania donovani and L. tropica and treated with soluble products of antigen or mitogen-stimulated lymphocytes (lymphokines, LK). Macrophages infected with L. donovani were responsive to lower concentrations of LK for elimination of this parasite than cells infected with L. tropica, and the disappearance of L. donovani amastigotes from activated macrophages preceded that of L. tropica by at least 24 hr. That the differential elimination of amastigotes from LK-treated macrophages may reflect different intracellular killing mechanisms for the two parasites is supported by studies with macrophages activated in vivo; macrophages from BCG-treated C3H/HeJ mice that were incapable of eliminating intracellular L. tropica killed amastigotes of L. donovani. Whether the effector mechanism(s) for intracellular destruction of the two Leishmania are qualitatively or only quantitatively different is as yet unknown.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Diagnostic outpatient aspiration curettage.

Outpatient uterine curettage has proved to be an effective diagnostic tool and could replace the need for many hospital curettages. The materials needed to perform an outpatient curettage are described. The method was evaluated on 300 patients who underwent conventional hospital curettage under anesthesia 24 hours after the outpatient curettage. The outpatient curettage was evaluated for safety, reliability, economy, effectiveness, and patient acceptance. The results of the two methods compared favorably.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Reginald C. Augustine. Apostle of optometry.

This paper concerns itself with the personal life and professional contributions of one of the great men in optometry, R. C. Augustine. This short biography includes discussions on his childhood, his introduction to the field of optometry, his early contributions in his community, his book, his achievements during the presidency of the American Optometric Association and also his extension work the following two years. In summation, a discussion of his professional philosophy will follow.

History, 19th Century↗
PubMed1974

Benign rheumatoid arthritis of the aged.

A severe type of rheumatoid arthritis which is seen in 25% of cases that present with the disease after the age of 60 is a self-limiting illness. It can be well controlled during the acute severe phase and has a good prognosis. This paper describes 29 patients with this pattern of disease who were separated from a larger group of 110 elderly onset cases.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗