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Biomedical subjects

H Jackson

Publications and source records attributed to H Jackson.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

AIDS and the press: an analysis of the coverage of AIDS by Zimbabwe newspapers.

An analysis of articles about HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe newspapers for the period January 1987 to September 1988 reveals several areas of concern. An analysis of coverage before and after a Government campaign designed to increase awareness of issues related to AIDS indicated only a short term increase in press coverage of such issues. Articles were assigned to one of seven content categories: statistics, cure or vaccine, prevention, education and awareness, transmission and risk, counselling and care, and policy and economics. The relative lack of articles on counselling and care and on transmission and risk indicates possible gaps in public awareness of susceptibility to AIDS. There were few articles with a local basis, nor were there any personalized stories. This is likely to encourage feelings of distance and relatively low personal risk. In general, Zimbabwe newspapers show little of the sensationalist and prejudiced accounting of AIDS found in some British press coverage.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Multiple levels of regulation of megakaryocytopoiesis.

A working hypothesis for the regulation of megakaryocytopoiesis is described on the basis of current data. The hypothesis proposes that in vivo megakaryocytes are generated by 1) the expansion of clonable progenitor cells into immature megakaryocytes by locally produced (and regulated) interleukin-3 (IL-3) and 2) the development and maturation of immature megakaryocytes by a dual system; by a lineage specific mechanism involving thrombopoietic stimuli in the steady state and thrombocytopenic conditions, and by a lineage nonspecific mechanism via IL-3 in damaged or reconstituting marrow. The hypothesis predicts that if IL-3 is a significant in vivo regulator of megakaryocyte formation and development, receptor for IL-3 should be present on megakaryocytes and may be vestigially on platelets. Small but significant levels of 125I IL-3 were found to bind to platelets from normal mice. The level of binding on platelets was found to be enhanced sevenfold from mice that had received high levels of irradiation followed by bone marrow transplantation. This contrasted with a twofold increase in the level of binding to platelets from mice made acutely thrombocytopenic with antiplatelet serum. The data suggest that IL-3 may be involved in the in vivo regulation of murine megakaryocytopoiesis and may be a significant factor in rebound thrombopoiesis following bone marrow damage.

Animals↗

The role of standard roentgenograms in the evaluation of instability of pelvic ring disruption.

Anteroposterior pelvic roentgenograms of 154 patients with pelvic ring disruptions were evaluated to assess their value in the determination of pelvic instability. Three different categories of stability were roentgenographically recognizable: (1) stable, characterized by impacted vertical fracture of the sacrum, nondisplaced fracture of the posterior sacroiliac complex, and/or subtle fractures of the upper sacrum evidenced by asymmetry of the sacral arcuate lines; (2) unstable, characterized by hemipelvic cephalad displacement exceeding 0.5 cm, sacroiliac joint diastasis exceeding 1 cm and/or sacral or iliac diastatic fracture exceeding 0.5 cm; and (3) indeterminate (that is, suspicious but not diagnostic of pelvic instability), characterized by cephalad hemipelvic displacement of less than 0.5 cm, sacroiliac joint diastasis less than 1 cm, and/or diastatic fracture of the sacrum or ilium of less than 0.5 cm. Correlation of the standard roentgenographic, computed tomographic, and clinical orthopedic examinations revealed that pelvic stability was accurately evaluated on the standard pelvic roentgenograms in 88% of cases. Disruptions were stable in 70%, unstable in 18%, and suspect in 12% of patients, for whom adjunct roentgenographic and clinical examinations were required. Determination of pelvic stability in the manner described allows immediate identification of patients with a stable or unstable pelvic injury, as well as identification of those with indeterminate stability requiring further clinical or roentgenologic evaluation. Immediate recognition of pelvic instability on standard pelvic roentgenograms obviates the need for additional diagnostic studies that unnecessarily delay the institution of emergency therapeutic measures designed to control associated hemorrhage.

Adult↗

Induction of aberrant functional afferents to the chick cochlear nucleus.

Surgical extirpation of the otocyst on embryonic day (E) 3 in chick embryos prevents formation of the cochlear nerve and results in development of an aberrant axonal projection from the contralateral cochlear nucleus (nucleus magnocellularis, NM) to the deafferented NM. We have studied the morphology of this projection using horseradish peroxidase injections in NM axons and light and electron microscopy. The ability of the projection to activate its target neurons synaptically was assessed by means of extracellular microelectrode recording from in vitro preparations of the chick brainstem. The aberrant projection arises as a vertically directed branch from the contralaterally traveling NM axon at the medial border of nucleus laminaris (NL). This axonal branch forms boutonal endings that may terminate anywhere in NM but are most common in its ventral and medial regions. In our experiments, this projection is not seen on the unoperated side of experimental animals or in normal controls from E11 onward but is found on the operated sides of all experimental animals, including those with bilateral removal of the otocysts. The aberrant projection persists at least from E11 through hatching and has essentially identical features in unilaterally and bilaterally lesioned animals. The endings of the aberrant projection are boutonal in form and, in the electron microscope, exhibit all of the elements associated with normal synapses. Electrophysiological studies confirm that stimulation of the aberrant axons can elicit postsynaptic responses in NM and suggest that these synapses use an excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter.

Animals↗

Generalized eruptive pustular drug rash due to cephalexin.

A 38-year-old woman developed a generalized pustular eruption 18 h after taking an oral cephalosporin (cephalexin). After having excluded other possible pustular dermatoses, we concluded that our patient's eruption was drug-induced.

Adult↗

Diagnostic radiology. One week prelude to the clinical continuum.

A one-week comprehensive program of diagnostic radiology was presented to 205 junior medical students just entering the clinical phase of their education. Course objectives were to familiarize the students with the various imaging modalities and their application to common clinical situations and to introduce an organized approach to interpretation of conventional radiographs. This course's one-week time frame was unique. Various educational activities were employed to allow the large number of students to participate actively in the educational process and to enable them to cope with the intensive presentation of unfamiliar vocabulary, materials, and modalities. Through this course, the students achieved an understanding of the impact of radiologic findings on clinical situations and of the necessity of designing an orderly radiologic workup tailored to patient needs and clinical presentation. Most importantly, they gained a functional knowledge of the decision-making process involved in radiology as well as in clinical medicine.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗

Experience-independent development of dendritic organization in the avian nucleus laminaris.

The third-order auditory neurons of the avian nucleus laminaris (NL) have distinct dorsal and ventral dendritic tufts that receive their predominant synaptic input from, respectively, the ipsilateral and contralateral cochlear nucleus. Beginning about embryonic day (E) 14 in the chick and continuing for some weeks after hatching, NL neurons undergo a complex series of morphological transformations that result in the formation of a steep anteromedial-to-posterolateral gradient of increasing total dendritic length across the nucleus. This gradient perfectly parallels the tonotopic axis of NL. It has been proposed that acoustically evoked activity in the auditory pathway contributes importantly to formation of the gradient of dendritic length in NL and to several other features of dendritic development. The present experiment tested this hypothesis by surgically removing both otocysts (embryonic precursors of the inner ear) and studying the developing NL in the absence of peripheral input. The results of a quantitative study of Golgi-impregnated material show that at E17 both the steepness and predictability of the spatial gradient of dendritic length in operated animals are indistinguishable from normal. Similarly, the correlation of dorsal and ventral dendritic lengths on individual cells in operated animals is not significantly different from normal. The absolute length of both dendritic fields is reduced below normal, although only dorsal dendrites show a statistically reliable (14%) decrease. This is a significantly smaller effect than the 44% length reduction seen previously in animals with unilateral otocyst removal (T.N. Parks: J. Comp. Neurol. 202:47-57, '81); symmetrical afferent input appears more important to the regulation of NL dendritic length than the absolute level of this input.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Location of T-cell leukaemia cells in a model rat system by means of a fluorescent probe.

Fluorescence probes for the active centre of an enzyme associated with tumour cells have been used to locate leukaemia cells in a model rat system. These fluorescent techniques are inexpensive and rapid to carry out. The leukaemic cells can be located by fluorescence microscopy in frozen sections, wax embedded sections and resin embedded sections. The technique is illustrated with reference to sections of leukaemic rat kidney, epididymis and testis. These studies confirm earlier histological findings employing conventional staining techniques and have the advantage that individual leukaemia cells can be detected in leukaemic animals undergoing drug therapy. The evidence suggests that these techniques will be of value in further studies of the design of drugs directed to leukaemia cells.

Aminacrine↗

Isolation of Simonsiella sp. from a neonate.

A member of the genus Simonsiella, presumptively identified as S. muelleri, was isolated from a gastric aspirate taken from a neonate 15 min postpartum. The neonate showed a dental cyst and early eruption of teeth, confirmed by mandibular X ray. The morphological features, cultural characteristics, and antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolate are presented.

Bacteroidetes↗

Fluorescent inhibitors of a cell surface protease used to locate leukaemia cells in kidney sections.

Guanidinobenzoatase is a trypsin-like protease on the surface of cells capable of migration, for example leukaemia cells. We have used a number of fluorescent probes that are competitive inhibitors of guanidinobenzoatase to locate leukaemia cells in resin sections of kidney tissue obtained from leukaemic rats. We have demonstrated how this competitive inhibition system can be used to direct desired molecules (such as cytotoxic drugs) to these cells and to monitor the arrival of such compounds at the active site of guanidinobenzoatase. The principles developed in this study could equally well be applied to other enzymes on other cells provided suitable competitive inhibitors were designed. The presence of an enzyme on the surface of a cell can be used to direct molecules to that cell provided that these molecules contain a functional group that acts as an inhibitor for the chosen enzyme.

Animals↗