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Biomedical subjects

F Martin

Publications and source records attributed to F Martin.

At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources

[Bronchial infection and brain abscess caused by Pasteurella multocida].

The authors report a case of pasteurellosis with abscess of the brain consecutive to a bronchopulmonary infection in a woman with old-standing bilateral bronchiectasis. The prevalence of respiratory infections caused by Pasteurella multocida is low, but it is certainly underestimated. Bronchial and/or pleuro-pulmonary infections occur in subjects with reduced local and/or systemic defences. The respiratory system is colonized by direct or indirect contagion, usually in contact with pet animals carrying the organism.

Aged↗

Histoimmunological characterization of the cellular reaction to liver metastases induced by colon cancer cells in syngeneic rats.

Artificial liver metastases were produced by injecting in vitro cultivated colonic cancer cells into the mesenteric vein of syngeneic rats. An immunohistologic study of the inflammatory host cells infiltrating the tumors was carried out from 1 to 46 days after tumor cell injection, using a set of monoclonal antibodies labelling tumor cells, macrophages or lymphoid cells subpopulations. In small metastases, 3-7 days after tumor cell injection, tumor cell foci were surrounded by a dense corona of inflammatory cells, predominantly T lymphocytes and NK cells. This inflammatory corona regressed when metastases grew larger and completely disappeared around the large metastases found more than 28 days after cell injection. Inside the metastases, the tumor cells were mixed with a small number of cells with the characteristic labelling of macrophages (KiM2R+, W3/25+); however, the inside macrophages are OX8+ in contrast to macrophages found in normal liver and in the peritumoral corona. The progressive disappearance of the coronal inflammatory cells suggests that cancer cells are able to produce or to induce other cells to produce anti-inflammatory agents inhibiting the accumulation of macrophages and lymphoid cells around the tumors.

Animals↗

[Reconstructive surgery using a massive prosthesis in loosening of a hip prosthesis].

Thirteen cases with loosening of THR treated by a massive prosthesis are reviewed. In previous years, with more conservative surgery, the loss of bone stock was most important. The results after a long follow-up were satisfactory. This was a desperate procedure during a period without a bone-bank. Despite the major problems with failure of this procedure, the author still recommends it in elderly patients who need early mobilization or when the use of a bank-bone is not possible.

Adult↗

Specificity of the immune response leading to protection or enhancement by regressive and progressive variants of a rat colon carcinoma.

Two cell clones, K12/TRb (PROb) and K12/TSb (REGb), have been isolated from the same serially transplantable tumor, DHD, established from a colon carcinoma chemically induced in the rat. Inoculation of REGb cells gives a tumor which regresses within 4 to 8 weeks and generates immune protection against subsequent injection of the progressive tumor cells, PROb. Inoculation of PROb cells gives a progressive tumor and generates tolerance allowing progressive growth of contralaterally injected REGb cells. Inoculation of REGb cells fully protects the host against growth of a DHD tumor graft, the tumor from which REGb and PROb cells were originally obtained. On the other hand, inoculation of REGb cells does not confer any protection against growth of 4 other syngeneic tumor grafts, DHA, DHB, DHC and DHE. These tumors were obtained from other colonic tumors induced as DHD by 1.2 dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Progressive growth of the tumor induced by inoculation of REGb cells is observed in animals bearing a contralateral DHD tumor, but not in animals bearing tumor from other transplantable lines, DHA, DHB, DHC and DHE. Our results show that immune enhancement of a regressive tumor and the immune protection that it confers constitute specific responses to a tumor-specific transplantation antigen present on a single transplantable colon tumor.

Adenocarcinoma↗

A 36 kDa monomeric protein and its complex with a 10 kDa protein both isolated from bovine aorta are calpactin-like proteins that differ in their Ca2+-dependent calmodulin-binding and actin-severing properties.

Interaction of plasma membrane with the cytoskeleton involves a large number of proteins, among them a 36 kDa protein that was found to be involved in the interaction with actin filaments. We have isolated a 36 kDa protein from bovine aorta as a monomer and in a complex with a 10 kDa protein. Partial amino acid sequence determinations show that the 36 kDa and 10 kDa proteins isolated from bovine aorta are analogous to or identical with corresponding proteins purified from bovine intestine already described by Kristensen, Saris, Hunter, Hicks, Noonan, Glenney & Tack [(1986) Biochemistry 25, 4497-4503]. We report here that the association of the 10 kDa protein with the 36 kDa protein confers specific calmodulin-binding and actin-severing properties on the complex that are not possessed by the 36 kDa monomer alone. These findings suggest that the protein complex could be involved in thin-filament-related structures or could modulate some Ca2+-regulated events mediated by calmodulin.

Actins↗

Cerebral mucormycosis in two cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

We describe two patients with isolated cerebral mucormycosis and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Their clinical course was rapid and fatal; early diagnosis and treatment with amphotericin B did not prevent a fatal outcome in both cases. Isolated cerebral mucormycosis has not (to our knowledge) been reported previously in patients with AIDS. Mucormycosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of central nervous system infections in intravenous drug abusers with AIDS. A brain biopsy is needed for the diagnosis of mucormycosis.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Determination of polynuclear aromatic compounds in composted municipal refuse and compost-amended soils by a simple clean-up procedure.

A rapid and reproducible procedure suitable for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) in sludges and soil samples has been developed. The PACs are isolated by ultrasonic extraction with methyl chloride, redissolution of the crude extract in isooctane and clean-up of the PAC-containing fraction by chromatography on alumina micro-columns. After separation and quantitative determination of the various PACs by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, more than 50 PAC compounds which cover a wide range of concentrations were detected in the sludge samples. The most abundant compounds were mono-, di- and trimethyl derivatives of naphthalene, phenanthrene, fluorene, dibenzethiophene and naphthothiophene. No accumulation of PAC in an agricultural soil after an experiment of compost application over three years was observed.

Fatty Acids↗

Tissue specific trans-acting factor interaction with proximal rat prolactin gene promoter sequences.

Using an exonuclease III protection assay, strong, reversible and tissue-specific binding of GH3 cell nuclear factors to proximal regions of the rat prolactin (rPrl) promoter (-31 to -77) has been detected. A second less prominent region of factor binding, that may have a correlate in HeLa cell extracts, was detected in the region (-155 to -180). The binding is eliminated in the presence of excess unlabelled rPrl promoter sequences (-423 to +38), excess unlabelled distal rPrl 5'-flanking sequences (-1960 to -1260) and SV40-enhancer/promoter sequences; it is largely unaffected by growth hormone (rGH) promoter and RSV-LTR sequences. A plasmid containing the proximal rPrl promoter sequences (-75 to +38) was also shown to be an avid inhibitor, at low concentrations, of rPrl promoter driven chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene expression in transient cotransfection competition studies; under these assay conditions distal rPrl 5'-flanking sequences and RSV and rGH promoter plasmids do not compete. The results emphasize the critical importance of proximal rPrl promoter sequences for prolactin gene expression in GH3 cells but recognize the related functional potential of more distal sequences.

Animals↗

Regression induced by lentinan, of peritoneal carcinomatoses in a model of colon cancer in rat.

Lentinan has been tested in a model of colon cancer in rats. Peritoneal carcinomatoses were induced in BDIX rats by i.p. injections of syngeneic cells isolated from a colon carcinoma, and established in a permanent cell line. The treatment consisted of five i.p. injections, 2 days apart, of 2 mg lentinan/kg at a concentration of 200 micrograms/ml. This was started on day 14 after tumor cell injection, when the rats bore numerous nodules of 1-5 mm. Lentinan significantly inhibited the growth of carcinomatoses. Eleven out of the 20 rats treated with the best lentinan therapy were tumor free at autopsy on day 42. Lentinan significantly increased the life span of carcinomatous rats. The half life following tumor cell injection was 42 days in the control and 70 days in the treated group. Four out of 10 treated rats were still alive on day 210. They were tumor free at autopsy, whereas all the controls died between the 40th and the 70th day. The effectiveness of lentinan was dependent on the number and frequency of the injections. A dose effect was obtained and a strong influence of the concentration was shown.

Animals↗

Uniform-field flicker masking in control and specifically-disabled readers.

Possible transient-system deficiencies in subjects with specific reading disabilities (SRDs) were investigated in groups of 13-year-old SRDs and control normal readers. In experiment 1, in which a 6 Hz uniform-field flicker (UFF) mask and a stationary test stimulus were used, it was found that the overall effect of UFF masking was to reduce differences in contrast sensitivity between SRDs and normal readers. In experiments 2a and 2b, with UFF masks of 6 and 20 Hz and a 6 Hz moving (experiment 2a) or flickering (experiment 2b) test stimulus, contrast sensitivity in both groups was decreased in the presence of the 6 Hz UFF mask. Only the control group, however, showed a further decrease in sensitivity with the 20 Hz UFF mask. This indicates that the groups differ in terms of a mechanism sensitive to high temporal frequencies. A 20 Hz counterphase flickering test stimulus was used in experiment 3 in the presence of 6 Hz UFF, and it was found that SRDs are less sensitive than controls to 20 Hz flicker across all spatial frequencies used. The 6 Hz mask, however, did not differentially affect the two groups. These findings provide further evidence for a transient-system deficit in the visual systems of SRDs, but also suggest a more complex situation by showing that the two groups differ in a high-temporal-frequency mechanism.

Child↗

The effects of spatial frequency and temporal waveform on three measures of temporal processing.

The effects of spatial frequency and temporal transition of sine-wave grating onset and offset were assessed using measures of reaction time, visual persistence, and temporal order judgements. The stimuli were lateralized fields, separated by 1 degree of visual angle. Slow temporal transition resulted in significantly poorer performance than did abrupt onset and offset, but spatial frequency had a minimal effect. Thus, the latency, temporal resolution, and temporal ordering of events are mediated by a mechanism that is sensitive to abrupt temporal transients. The stimulus conditions employed did not result in a shift in the point of subjective simultaneity.

Attention↗

Carbohydrate and Amino Acid Metabolism in the Ectomycorrhizal Ascomycete Sphaerosporella brunnea during Glucose Utilization : A C NMR Study.

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was utilized to study the metabolism of [1-(13)C]glucose in mycelia of the ectomycorrhizal ascomycete Sphaerosporella brunnea. The main purpose was to assess the biochemical pathways for the assimilation of glucose and to identify the compounds accumulated during glucose assimilation. The majority of the (13)C label was incorporated into mannitol, while glycogen, trehalose and free amino acids were labeled to a much lesser extent. The high enrichment of the C1/C6 position of mannitol indicated that the polyol was formed via a direct route from absorbed glucose. Randomization of the (13)C label was observed to occur in glucose and trehalose leading to the accumulation of [1,6-(13)C]trehalose and [1,6-(13)C]glucose. This suggests that the majority of the glucose carbon used to form trehalose was cycled through the metabolically active mannitol pool. The proportion of label entering the free amino acids represented 38% of the soluble (13)C after 6 hours of continuous glucose labeling. Therefore, amino acid biosynthesis is an important sink of assimilated carbon. Carbon-13 was incorporated into [3-(13)C]alanine and [2-(13)C]-, [3-(13)C]-, and [4-(13)C]glutamate and glutamine. From the analysis of the intramolecular (13)C enrichment of these amino acids, it is concluded that [3-(13)C]pyruvate, arising from [1-(13)C]glucose catabolism, was used by alanine aminotransferase, pyruvate dehydrogenase, and pyruvate carboxylase (or phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase). Intramolecular (13)C labeling patterns of glutamate and glutamine were similar and are consistent with the operation of the Krebs cycle. There is strong evidence for (a) randomization of the label on C2 and C3 positions of oxaloacetate via malate dehydrogenase and fumarase, and (b) the dual biosynthetic and respiratory role of the citrate synthase, aconitase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase reactions. The high flux of carbon through the carboxylation (presumably pyruvate carboxylase) step indicates that CO(2) fixation is an important component of the carbon metabolism in S. brunnea, and it is likely that this anaplerotic role is particularly prevalent during NH(4) (+) assimilation. The most relevant information resulting from this investigation is (a) the occurrence of the mannitol cycle, (b) a large part of the trehalose pool is synthesized after the cycling of glucose-carbon through the mannitol cycle, and (c) pyruvate (or phosphoenolpyruvate) carboxylation plays an important role in the primary metabolism of glucose-fed mycelia.

Journal Article↗

A case of congenital ectropion in Down's syndrome.

A rare case of primary congenital ectropion of all 4 eyelids in a child with Down's syndrome is reported to emphasise the problems of surgical management and to distinguish the condition from congenital eversion of the eyelids. Congenital ectropion is associated with other eyelid abnormalities and usually requires surgical measures to protect the cornea in contrast to congenital eversion which is characterised by the protrusion of oedematous conjunctiva from everted eyelids. This usually resolves spontaneously with simple supportive measures and no structural or functional eyelid abnormality remains.

Down Syndrome↗

[Auxiliary motor innervation of the laryngeal muscles via the internal branch of the superior laryngeal nerve].

According to our present knowledge of the neuromuscular innervation of the intrinsic laryngeal muscles, the cricothyroid muscle is innervated by the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (NLS), whereas all other remaining muscles get their supply from the inferior laryngeal (recurrent) nerve. Mainly in the phoniatric literature, however, opinions differ concerning an additional motoric laryngeal innervation. In human larynges, excised for large unilateral carcinoma, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected into the internal branch of the NLS. Anterograde labelling of axons was demonstrated histochemically. In adjacent sections of the different muscles, end plates and axons were stained histochemically with silver impregnation and acetylcholinesterase. Evidence is presented of motor innervation of the internal branch of the NLS in some laryngeal muscles. With retrograde HRP-tracing in sheep, motoneurons were detected in the nucleus ambiguus, although the recurrent nerve and the external branch had been divided and excised. Thus, histologically an additional neuromuscular supply via the internal branch of the NLS is demonstrated.

Animals↗