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Biomedical subjects

J A Harris

Publications and source records attributed to J A Harris.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Consultant evaluation of a hospital medication system: implementation and evaluation of the new system.

The effects of consultant-recommended modifications in a hospital medication system on medication-error rates and response times were evaluated. Fourteen recommendations for improving the medication system in a large teaching hospital were implemented to varying extents over a period of 1.5 years. The response times and medication-error rates of the newly implemented system were then measured using pharmacist-observers as was done in the old medication system. Medication-error rates were then compared on one medical-nursing unit and two surgical-nursing units both before and after implementation of the new system on the medical unit alone. Response times for routine medication orders decreased by 55% compared with the previous system; for "now" and "stat" orders, response times were reduced by 57% for orders filled from the central pharmacy and by 70% for orders filled from medication carts on the nursing units. No significant differences in medication-error rates were found when the old and new medication systems were compared. This finding was attributed primarily to the hospital's failure to implement recommendations related to computer printing and sorting of orders, use of dispensing envelopes for delivering medications in true unit dose form, and packaging of all medications in unit dose form. This study illustrates how the benefits of a unit dose system can be compromised in implementation and the need for close monitoring to ensure that performance standards are maintained.

Consultants↗
PubMed1982

Health screening of Indochinese refugee children.

The first 100 Indochinese refugee patients screened at Oakland (Calif) Children's Hospital had a remarkably high incidence of treatable infectious and parasitic diseases. The PPD skin tests were positive in 28%, and stool parasites were present in 65%. There were wide differences among the various ethnic groups in prevalence of stool parasites, anemia, and hemoglobin E trait, with a higher rate among Cambodians accounting for these differences. There were also differences in stool parasite patterns when the refugees were separated by ethnic origin. Cambodians had predominantly hookworm and Strongyloides, Laotians harbored hookworm and Trichuris, and Vietnamese were infested with Trichuris and Giardia. Malaria. Pott's disease, and congenital syphilis were among the uncommonly encountered diseases. Results of screening will vary with ethnic origin, but health screening has a high yield for all Indochinese refugees.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Rate of penicillin killing of Staphylococcus aureus and Autobac 1 susceptibility test results.

A clinical isolate of Staphylococcus aureus interpreted as resistant to penicillin by the Autobac 1 susceptibility testing method (i.e., light-scattering index of 0.77) was found to be susceptible to penicillin by both the disk diffusion and broth dilution techniques. The growth rate of the clinical isolate during a 4-h incubation interval was similar to that of a known sensitive reference strain (S. aureus ATCC 25923) used as a control organism for the Autobac test. The bactericidal effect of penicillin was evaluated by measuring the rate of killing over a 4-h interval. The percentages of organisms surviving exposure to 5.0 or 2.5 U of penicillin G per ml (number of organisms recovered at 3 h/number of organisms introduced as inoculum) were 68 and 76%, respectively, for the clinical isolate and 15 and 21%, respectively, for the reference strain. After 24 h of incubation, penicillin was bactericidal for both strains. The need to increase the time of incubation for those S. aureus isolates resistant to penicillin after 3 h of standard incubation time in the Autobac system is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Ultrastructural alterations in mammary glands of pregnant rats after ovariectomy and hysterectomy: effect of adrenal steroids and prolactin.

Pregnant rats were subjected to oophorectomy and hysterectomy (O-H) on the seventeenth day of pregnancy, a time when serum levels of prolactin, estrogen, and corticosterone are not substantially greater than the respective levels in nonpregnant rats. At 32 hours after O-H, serum prolactin and corticosterone both rose more than threefold, and lactose appeared in the mammary glands. Biopsies of mammary tissue obtained at 8 hour intervals after O-H showed a progressive secretory response over 16 hours, similar to that previously shown to occur within a period of about 4 hours on the last day of pregnancy. Suppression of serum prolactin by ergocriptine administration and adrenalectomy 24 hours before O-H each prevented the secretory response. However, some differences in the effects of deprivation of the two types of hormones were evident. After cortisol acetate administration at O-H, mammary tissue responded rapidly despite adrenalectomy 24 hours earlier. It is concluded that simple withdrawal of progesterone is not sufficient to initiate lactation in the pregnant rat; glucocorticoids must be present continuously during progesterone withdrawal, and prolactin elevation and other factors present at parturition may be required as well.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

The attachment of a retarded child to an inanimate object: translation into clinical utility.

This paper describes the relationship of a moderately retarded boy with autistic features to an inanimate object, relates this relationship to his emotional development, and suggests methods for utilizing observations of his behavior with the object for assessment of cognition. The authors suggest that the object differs only qualitatively from a transitional object. Implications for the evaluation of retarded children include the necessity for approaches identical to those used in evaluating intellectually normal children and interdisciplinary assessment with combinations of behavioral and dynamic techniques. Implications for parent counseling, institutional policies, therapeutic practice, psychological assessment, and personality theory are outlined.

Child↗
PubMed1976

Interaction of progesterone and adrenocorticoids in ultrastructural development of the mammary gland of the cat.

Comparative development of rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) in mammary glands of rats was studied in relation to levels of progesterone and adrenocorticosteroids. The tranquilizer perphenazine was administered to stimulate secretion of prolactin; serum glucocorticoids also increased. When perphenazine was administered after ovulation, serum progesterone was increased 18-fold, but when treatment was begun on proestrus, ovulation was inhibited and serum progesterone increased only 4-fold. Concentrations of progesterone in the breast were approximately 10-fold greater than, but parallel to, serum concentrations. In ovulating rats the RER was poorly developed. In nonovulating rats extensive development of RER occurred. Cortisol acetate given to ovulating, perphenazine-treated rats did not alter levels of serum progesterone, but tissue progesterone was reduced by 50 per cent and development of RER approached that in nonovulating rats. The development of secretory capacity (formation of RER) in the breast appears to depend on the relation between stimulation by glucocorticoid and inhibition by progesterone.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1976

Encoding and decoding of connected discourse during altered states of consciousness.

The following hypotheses were investigated in a study of memory recall and an altered state of consciousness: (a) A direct relationship was expected between the magnitude of correct responses and task complexity. (b) Semantic context variation was expected to cause greater impairment in verbal processing than variation in syntactic constraints. (c) Under N2O fewer correct responses in verbal processing were expected to be made. Forty-four volunteers, male corpsmen in the U. S. Navy between the ages of 20 and 29, were randomly divided into two equal groups: a nitrous oxide group and an air group. After breathing either N2O or air for 10 minutes, Ss were required to repeat pairs of taped sentences of high syntax/high semantic context to low syntax/low semantic context. Responses were scored for errors. All three hypotheses were accepted. Task complexity caused the greatest magnitude of errors. Ss were able to compensate for variations in syntax and in the gas state, but low semantic quality strongly affected performance. The factors interacted in powerful ways to produce differential response errors from a low error rate for air/high syntax/high context to a high error rate for N2O/low syntax/low context.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Electron microscopy of the placenta and related structures of the marmoset.

The marmoset has recently become an important animal in oncologic research, especially with respect to herpes deoxyribonucleic acid viral tumors. As a prototype of the primitive New World monkey, it is also valuable for the study of primate evolution. For these reasons this ultrastructural description of its placenta is presented, including the first electron micrographs of the basal plate and amnion. The main placental mass is pseudo-labyrinthine, or trabecular. The ultrastructural features of the cellular and syncytial trophoblast and endothelium closely resemble those of higher primates. The junctional region shows numerous clumps of moderately well-differentiated trophoblast, an acellular junctional zone, and a poorly developed decidual reaction. Trabecular connective tissue is sparser and transitional trophoblastic elements are less prominent than those in the human placenta. The amnion is ultrastructurally indistinguishable from that of the higher primates. Although the marmoset's placenta retains certain primitive gross and histologic features, such as the large persistent yolk sac and the trabecular condition, it is ultrastructurally quite similar to that of man.

Amnion↗
PubMed1975

Retinal ischemia in diabetic retinopathy.

Eight patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy developed extensive retinal arteriolar and capillary obstruction. Ophthalmoscopy showed many white, thread-like retinal arterioles associated with capillary and venous dilatation. Widespread retinal arteriolar and capillary nonperfusion was demonstrated by fluorescein angiography. Ischemic maculopathy resulted in severe loss of visual acuity in some eyes. The severe degree of retinal ischemia was accompanied by optic disc pallor and neovascularization and a high incidence of rubeosis iridis with neovascular glaucoma. Patients with this variety of diabetic retinopathy have a poor prognosis of retaining useful vision.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Lactogenesis in the rat: an ultrastructural study of the initiation of the secretory process.

Three specimens were taken from mammary glands of rats killed on the 18th and 21st days of pregnancy and on the 1st day of lactation. Ultrastructural features of the tissue were compared among rats within and between the two stages of development. The similarity among specimens from the same rats made feasible a comparison of serial biopsies obtained every 4 hr, starting on the afternoon of the 21st day of pregnancy. From the 18th to the 21st days of pregnancy, a marked increase in the amount of rough endoplasmic reticulum occurred. The alveolar cells of rats killed on both days and in biopsies obtained at 17 and 13 hr before partuirtion contained abundant small lipid droplets and vacuoles containing many protein granules with little clear fluid (stasis vacuoles). Alveolar lumina were distended with secretion by 17 hr before parturition. Between 8 and 12 hr. before parturition, the accumulated protein and lipid were rapidly extruded from the alveolar cells despite evidence of continued biosynthesis. It is suggested that active transport processes are initiated independently of milk synthesis before parturition.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Antibody-induced redistribution of CEA on the cell surface: utilization in separation of CEA and isoantigen A.

Antibodies specific for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) induced polar redistribution of CEA which was expressed on the surface of human intestinal carcinoma cells grown in tissue culture. Polar redistribution occurred at 23 degrees C and 37 degrees C but not at 4 degrees C and was inhibited by sodium azide and cytochalasin B. Antibodies to isoantigen A did not react with CEA at the cell surface but did react with isoantigen A which was not redistributed by the antibody. Cells which expressed both CEA and isoantigen A were used to demonstrate that polar redistribution of CEA could be induced without altering the distribution of isoantigen A. The data indicate that CEA and isoantigen A can be expressed on the same cell as separate molecules.

ABO Blood-Group System↗