Sarcoidosis and sickle cell disease.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
G Hall
Publications and source records attributed to G Hall.
A new bovine leukocyte antigen cluster comprising two monoclonal antibodies, CC43 and CC118, possibly related to CD1.
Two mAbs, CC43 (012) and CC118 (040), clustered together when the flow cytometric data for staining of target cells was analysed statistically. The antigen recognized was present on immature thymocytes but not mature T cells; it was expressed by B cells and monocytes but not by granulocytes. Two molecules were evident by SDS-PAGE run under reducing conditions. One had an M(r) of 44 kDa, the other an M(r) of 12 kDa. The smaller molecule was probably beta 2-microglobulin; the larger one was distinct from bovine CD1b and MHC Class I. The mAb may recognize the product of a previously unrecognized bovine CD1 gene and should be considered as a novel bovine mAb cluster. The molecule appeared to be polymorphic and distinct alleles may be expressed on Bos taurus and Bos indicus.
Animals↗
Odour discrimination: a cognitive strategy or not?
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Animals↗
Biosensors--what real progress is being made?
Biosensors have been hailed as the solution to many analytical problems in a wide range of industries. The heterogeneity of the proposed markets is equalled by that of the technologies called 'biosensors'. The many research groups worldwide are prolific in their publication of research papers and patents. Clearly, the field is not limited by a lack of information regarding the fundamental technology. However, there are, as yet, few successful commercial biosensor products available. The principle constraints on the commercial realization of such products concern the technical and manufacturing feasibility, market development and investment strategies. Whilst commercially viable biosensors will certainly emerge eventually, the timescale is longer than many would wish.
Biosensing Techniques↗
The development of a pressure area scoring system for critically ill patients: a pilot study.
At present no suitably sensitive scoring system is available to differentiate degrees of risk of developing pressure sores in critically ill people. The object of this study is to produce a tool that has been validated to identify and weight risk factors associated with critically ill patients. In a pilot study data were collected on 50 patients and analysed, using multiple regression analysis, to produce a set of weighted coefficients (C) suitable for use as a scoring system. The feasibility of the technique is demonstrated and five highly significant factors are described: adrenaline infusions (C = 14), noradrenaline infusions (C = 15), diabetes (C = 15), restricted movement (traction, post-operative pain, intra-aortic balloon pump and haemofiltration) (C = 8) and patients too unstable to turn (C = 17). All coefficients not equal to 0 with p < 0.05. Risk factors which may become significant in a larger study are identified. In order to develop the full tool a further multi-centre study is proposed.
Aged↗
Prevention of postsurgical bleeding in oral surgery using tranexamic acid without dose modification of oral anticoagulants.
The hemostatic effect of tranexamic acid solution (4.8%) used as a mouthwash was compared with a placebo solution in 93 patients on continuous, unchanged, oral anticoagulant treatment undergoing oral surgery. The investigation was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study. Before suturing, the surgically treated region was irrigated with 10 mL of tranexamic acid (46 patients) or placebo (47 patients) solution. The patients then performed mouthwash with 10 mL of the solution for 2 minutes four times daily for 7 days. The treatment groups were comparable regarding age, smoking habits, and surgery. Laboratory variables measuring vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors were within therapeutic ranges (international normalized ratio 4.00 to 2.10). One of the clinics used a different method for these measurements and therefore the levels of coagulation factor X in plasma obtained for the three clinics were compared. No significant difference in the range at which surgery was performed was found between clinics. In the placebo group, 10 patients developed bleeding requiring treatment, while none of the patients treated with tranexamic acid solution had bleeding. This difference was statistically significant (P < .01). The treatment with mouthwash was well tolerated. It was concluded that patients on oral anticoagulants can undergo oral surgery within the therapeutic range without reducing the dosage of anticoagulants, provided that local antifibrinolytic treatment with tranexamic acid solution is instituted.
Adult↗
Negative priming in associative learning: evidence from a serial-conditioning procedure.
Three experiments investigated the suggestion that a predicted or primed stimulus commands less processing and consequently elicits a weaker conditioned response (CR) than a stimulus that is not primed. In each experiment rats received initial training in which the presentation of each of 2 serial compounds, A-X and B-Y, was followed by the delivery of food. Subsequently, X's capacity to elicit the CR, approaching the site of food delivery, was assessed when X was preceded by Stimulus A (i.e., primed) or was presented after Stimulus B. Stimulus X elicited a more vigorous response when it was presented after B than when it followed A. These results show that the ability of one event to elicit its CR is reduced if its presentation has been predicted by some other event. This negative priming effect supports one aspect of Wagner's (1981) model of Pavlovian conditioning.
Animals↗
Acquired equivalence between cues trained with a common antecedent.
In Experiment 1, rats experienced 2 stimuli (A and N) each preceded by the same event (food) or by different events (food preceded 1 but not the other). N was then paired with shock, and the generalization of conditioned suppression to A was assessed. Generalization was more marked when A and N had been experienced along with a common antecedent. In Experiment 2, 3 stimuli (A, B, and N) were presented in initial training. For 1 group, A and N were preceded by food and B was not; for a 2nd group A alone was preceded by food. In each group, suppression generalized more readily from N to the stimulus that had received the same initial training as had been given to N. Experiment 3 found that generalization was not enhanced between stimuli when 1 had preceded food in initial training and 1 had followed it. These results demonstrate that stimuli that have shared a common antecedent will come to be treated as equivalent.
Animals↗
Prophylactic administration of penicillins for endocarditis does not reduce the incidence of postextraction bacteremia.
Sixty healthy patients were randomized to receive placebo, penicillin V (2 g), or amoxicillin (3 g) 1 hour before dental extraction was performed. Blood samples for microbiological investigation were collected before, during, and 10 minutes after surgery and were processed by lysis filtration under anaerobic conditions. There was no statistical difference among patients in the placebo group, the penicillin-V group, and the amoxicillin group in terms of incidence or magnitude of bacteremia due to viridans streptococci or anaerobic bacteria during extraction or 10 minutes after the procedure. The overall incidence rates of bacteremia after dental extraction were 95%, 90%, and 85%, respectively, for the three groups. For > 90% of 126 strains of viridans streptococci tested, the MICs of penicillin V and ampicillin were < or = 0.125 mg/L. The protective effect of prophylactically administered penicillins must be due to interference with crucial steps in the development of endocarditis (other than the transient bacteremia that occurs initially).
Adult↗
Environmental monitoring and dose assessment following the December 1991 K-reactor aqueous tritium release.
Between 22 December and 25 December 1991, approximately 570 L of tritiated water was released from the K Reactor at the Savannah River Site. Analyses of river flow rates and measured tritium concentrations showed that approximately 210 TBq of tritium had been released from the reactor and was being transported down the Savannah River. Elevated tritium concentrations in the Savannah River were first detected on 26 December 1991. The maximum measured tritium concentration at Highway 301 (a major sampling point 37 km downstream of the Savannah River Site) was 2.5 Bq mL-1. A hypothetical maximum individual located at Highway 301 would have received a drinking water dose of approximately 0.35 microSv, less than 1% of the Environmental Protection Agency's 40 microSv y-1 drinking water standard. Concentrations at the intake canals to two water treatment facilities, approximately 160 km downstream, began to rise above normal on 28 December. The population dose to users of the downstream domestic water supplies and consumers of Savannah River biota was estimated to be 4.7 x 10(-3) person-Sv.
Environmental Monitoring↗
Multicenter evaluation of a broth macrodilution antifungal susceptibility test for yeasts.
Thirteen laboratories collaborated to optimize interlaboratory agreement of results of a broth macrodilution procedure for testing three classes of antifungal drugs against pathogenic yeasts. The activities of amphotericin B, flucytosine, and ketoconazole were tested against 100 coded isolates of Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida lusitaniae, Torulopsis (Candida) glabrata, and Cryptococcus neoformans. Two starting yeast inoculum sizes (5 x 10(4) and 2.5 x 10(3) cells per ml) were compared, and readings were taken after 24 and 48 h of incubation. All other test conditions were standardized. The resultant turbidities in all tubes were estimated visually on a scale from 0 to 4+ turbidity, and MIC-0, MIC-1, and MIC-2 were defined as the lowest drug concentrations that reduced growth to 0, 1+, or 2+ turbidity, respectively. For flucytosine, agreement among laboratories varied between 57 and 87% for different inocula, times of incubation, and end point criteria. Agreement was maximized (85%) when the lower inoculum was incubated for 2 days and the MICs were defined as 1+ turbidity or less. For amphotericin B, variations in test conditions produced much smaller differences in interlaboratory agreement. For ketoconazole, interlaboratory agreement was poorer by all end point criteria. However, MIC-2 endpoints distinguished T. glabrata as resistant compared with the other species. Overall, the studies indicated that readings from the lower inoculum obtained on the second day of reading result in the greatest interlaboratory agreement. In combination with data from previous multicenter studies (National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, Antifungal Susceptibility Testing: Committee Report, Vol. 5, No. 17, 1988; M. A. Pfaller, L. Burmeister, M. S. Bartlett, and M. G. Rinaldi, J. Clin. Microbiol. 26:1437-1441, 1988; M. A. Pfaller, M. G. Rinaldi, J. N. Galgiani, M. S. Bartlett, B.A. Body, A. Espinel-Ingroff, R.A. Fromtling, G.S. Hall, C.E. Hughes, F. C. Odds, and A. M. SUgar, J. Clin. Microbiol. 34:1648-1654, 1990), these findings will be used by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards to develop a standardized method for in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing for yeasts.
Antifungal Agents↗
Rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure in unsuspected malignant hyperpyrexia.
Malignant hyperpyrexia is an inherited disorder of skeletal muscle characterized by intermittent hypermetabolic crises, usually triggered by anaesthetic agents. We present the case of a 19-year-old man who developed acute renal failure following an apparently uneventful general anaesthetic for appendicectomy. His renal failure was found to be secondary to rhabdomyolysis, and he made a full recovery after requiring haemodialysis for 14 days. Both the patient and his father were later discovered to have an underlying metabolic susceptibility to malignant hyperpyrexia. We propose that an undetected hypermetabolic crisis precipitated rhabdomyolysis and subsequent acute renal failure in this patient.
Acute Kidney Injury↗
Effect of organ donor race on health team procurement efforts.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether referral of potential organ donors is affected by race of the patient. DESIGN: Retrospective chart audit. SETTING: Regional trauma center serving a 50% African-American population. PATIENTS: Records of patients meeting organ procurement organization criteria were reviewed for evidence that (1) they had been identified as a potential organ donor, (2) the family had been approached about organ donation, and (3) the family had agreed to or refused organ donation. RESULTS: There were 620 deaths, 152 (24%) met all donor criteria, 114 (75%) were identified as potential donors, 90 (59%) were approached for donation, and 35 (23%) were organ donors. Of the white patients, 84% (71/85) vs 64% of the African-Americans (43/67) were identified as donors (P < .01); 69% (59) of the whites vs 46% (31) of the African-Americans were approached for donation (P < .01); and 28% (24) of the whites vs 16% (11) of the African-Americans were organ donors (P < .086). CONCLUSIONS: Before and after controlling for cause of death, the risk that African-American donors would not be identified was more than 2.4 times greater than for whites (P < .01). No significant racial differences were noted in requests for suicide and homicide victims; for accident victims, significantly fewer requests were made of African-Americans. Efforts must be made to determine the dynamics of interaction between staff and donor families and to enhance health-care team members' abilities to identify donors and request donations from both races in stress-provoking situations.
Adolescent↗
Mammary adenocarcinoma in four mares.
Mammary gland adenocarcinoma in 4 horses was characterized by firm swelling of the gland and serosanguineous discharge from the teat orifice. Two of the mares had ulcerative lesions of the mammary gland. Palpation of the affected gland typically elicited signs of pain. Diagnosis was assisted by cytologic evaluation of the fluid discharge, but definitive diagnosis was based on histologic examination. Treatment included mastectomy and lymphadenectomy.
Adenocarcinoma↗
The acquisition and retention of a timing task: effects of summary KR and movement time.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adult↗
Comeditation: an exploratory study of pulse and respiration rates and anxiety.
To achieve deep relaxation in seriously ill persons, Tibetan medicine has employed a breathing process, known as "comeditation," which requires a caregiver to focus attention on the chest of the reclining patient while making a sound or number keyed to the patient's exhalation. This study investigated the relationship between state and trait anxiety and lowered respiratory rate, using the comeditation procedure. Ten subjects were assigned randomly to either a control or comeditation group. Anxiety was measured on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Analysis indicated a decrease in State-Anxiety scores in the comeditation group, but no differences between groups in pulse and respiration rates or trait anxiety. Implications for theory and research are discussed.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
High dose chemotherapy followed by autologous bone marrow transplant for refractory germ cell tumours.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adult↗
Contextual factors in neophobia and its habituation: the role of absolute and relative novelty.
In four experiments we investigated the role of contextual cues in the habituation of neophobia in rats. Experiment 1 showed that the consumption of a novel flavour increased across a series of presentations in one context (A) but fell when the flavour was subsequently presented in a second, novel, context (B). In Experiments 2 and 3, subjects again received exposure to a flavour in context A, but also were familiarized with the test context, B. These subjects consumed the flavour with equal readiness, whether it was presented in Context A or in Context B at test. Experiment 4 replicated the results of Experiment 1 and also showed that the consumption of a novel flavour was not influenced by whether it was presented in a novel or a familiar context. Several mechanisms by which the novelty or familiarity of the context might interact with the novelty or familiarity of the flavour were discussed.
Animals↗