Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J Bennett

Publications and source records attributed to J Bennett.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Highly repetitive DNA sequence elements from Orseolia oryzae (Wood-Mason) discriminate between the Indian isolates and the Asian rice gall midge and the paspalum midge.

We described multicopy DNA clones isolated from a partial genomic library of Orseolia oryzae, based on reverse genomic hybridization, suitable for studying genetic variation in the Asian rice gall midge and other isomorphic species. Three clones produced monomorphic DNA band patterns between biotypes of O. oryzae but polymorphic patterns were produced between O. oryzae and O. fluvialis, the paspalum midge. These probes detect changes in the repetitive sequence structure between species and constitute the first genetic markers for distinguishing between field isolates of rice gall midge and related species of Orseolia. These will be useful in identifying and perhaps eradicating alternative hosts for this pest, and detecting early-season outbreaks of O. oryzae from light trap collections.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

The effect of electrical perturbation on osseointegration of titanium dental implants: a preliminary study.

PURPOSE: Successful osseointegration of titanium dental implants is decreased in areas of poor bone volume and density. Low amperage direct current (LADC) has been shown to perturb bone cells, which in turn promotes bone growth. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of LADC on the osseointegration of endosseous titanium dental implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two implant sites were prepared in the body of the mandible of five rabbits by an extraoral approach. An LADC-stimulated 3.75 x 7 mm-titanium implant was placed in one site and an identical control implant was inserted on the contralateral side. A sterilized silicone-encased power pack producing 7.5 +/- 0.2 uA and 1.35 +/- 0.01 V was placed in a submandibular pouch. The active cathode lead was attached to the LADC implant and the anode was placed in the mandible 5 mm distal to the implant. Nonactive leads were similarly connected to the control implant. Twenty-eight days after placement, the implants were removed using a torque wrench, and the bone surrounding the implants was examined both microscopically and radiographically. RESULTS: The average force to initial rotation was 1,320 +/- 880 g/cm for the LADC-stimulated implants and 1,290 +/- 238 g/cm for the control implants. This was significantly different by t test (P = .94). Light microscopic evaluation demonstrated a mixture of compact and woven bone and fibrous tissue adjacent to both groups of implants. Histomorphometric analysis demonstrated an average percent of bone in relation to the total tissue adjacent to the control implants of 33.5 +/- 15.4 and 40.2 +/- 4.8 for the LADC-stimulated implants (not significantly different, t test, P = .39). CONCLUSION. It was concluded that LADC as used in this study does not positively affect the healing of bone. Its ability to enhance bone growth around titanium dental implants needs further investigation.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Impact of drug dosage and brand on bioavailability and efficacy of praziquantel.

The efficacy of two brands (brand 1 = Biltricide; Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany; brand 2 = Distocide; EPICO pharmaceuticals, Cairo, Egypt) of praziquantel (PZQ) in full and half doses (40 and 20 mg kg-1) monitored as percentage egg reduction and cure rate was investigated in S. mansoni infected school-children. A total of 506 school-children (8-16 years of age) were classified into three groups according to their intensity of infection, heavy [> 500 eggs per grams (epg)], moderate (100-500 epg) and light (< 100 epg), after examination three stool samples (three slides per sample) on three consecutive days. Percentage egg reduction and cure rate were monitored 4 and 10 weeks post-treatment for each dose regimen in the different test groups. Before testing the efficacy of either bran in patients, the pharmacokinetic parameters of the two brands were studied in non-infected normal volunteers. Statistical analysis of the pharmacokinetic parameters of brand 1 vs brand 2 (in a dose of 20 or 40 mg kg-1) revealed no significant difference in elimination (ke), absorption rate constant (ka), elimination half life (t1/2e), area under the time-concentration curve (Auc), serum maximum concentration (Cpmax) and time to maximum concentration (Tmax). As regards the efficacy of test drugs, statistical analysis revealed that up to 10 weeks post-treatment the two brands of PZQ in full dose were equally effective in reducing egg count as their half doses except in heavily infected cases treated with brand 2 of PZQ.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Improving the selection of children for health assessment at secondary transfer age: completing the audit cycle.

Whilst there have been many reported assessments of selective medicals at 5+ school entry, there is a dearth of publications on the value of selected medical review at secondary transfer age. It was decided to evaluate this within the South Downs Health Trust. The team of child health doctors was asked to record data about children selected for medical review at secondary transfer age in 1992. Differences in practice were discussed, protocols were introduced and the exercise repeated. Overall the second year showed no evident change with 9.5% of children selected from 2729 in 1992 and 9.6% selected from 2473 in 1993. However, analysis of individual schools showed significant changes which illustrated the improvements achieved and the areas of weakness remaining to be addressed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

CPR instruction by videotape: results of a community project.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To increase the rate of bystander CPR in a community by use of a free, mailed, 10-minute videotape of CPR instruction. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized intervention trial. One half of the households (8,659) received the free videotape (video-tape group) and were considered the intervention group, and one half (8,659) served as the control (no-videotape group). All households were followed from December 1991 to March 1993 to determine whether a cardiac arrest occurred and who initiated CPR. A telephone interview obtained additional information about circumstances of the arrest and whether members of the household viewed the videotape. SETTING: City of Everett and South Snohomish County, Washington. A commercial mailing list was used to identify 17,318 households with a head of the household who was more than 50 years old. PARTICIPANTS: A case was defined as a cardiac arrest in which CPR was initiated or continued by emergency medical services personnel. Only cardiac arrests due to presumed underlying heart disease were included. Arrests occurring after arrival of emergency medical services personnel were not included. INTERVENTIONS: The intervention was a free 10-minute videotape with CPR instructions mailed to the 8,659 intervention households. Paramedic run reports were reviewed and interviews were conducted with cardiac arrest bystanders to determine who initiated CPR and whether they had received and viewed the videotape. RESULTS: Sixty-five cardiac arrests occurred in the study households: 31 in households that received the videotape and 34 in households that did not review the videotape. The overall rate of bystander CPR was 47% in the videotape group and 53% in the no-videotape group (P = NS). In nine cardiac arrests, an individual was present who had watched the videotape; six of these nine cases (66%) had bystander CPR. CONCLUSION: Mass mailings of CPR instructional videos are likely to be ineffective in increasing the rate of bystander CPR in a community.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

A feasibility study of the use of non-heparinised 0.9% sodium chloride for transduced arterial and venous lines.

In intensive care units where heparinised arterial lines are used, frequently staff venepuncture their patients to ensure accuracy of clotting studies. The purpose of this study was to assess the practicality of using a non-heparinised continuous flush for arterial lines, which would enable blood for coagulation studies to be taken from the arterial line, thus avoiding further patient discomfort and invasion. The study has resulted in a change of unit policy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Provox valve use for post-laryngectomy voice rehabilitation.

The Provox voice prosthesis has been used in our department since September 1992 for post-laryngectomy voice rehabilitation. This prosthesis is an indwelling low-resistance tracheoesophageal valve. The cohort consisted of 28 laryngectomes with a mean follow-up time of 352 days. The average valve life before failure was 148 days. Speech intelligibility of 85 per cent was achieved for complete sentences. No major surgical problems were associated with the valve insertion or its use. Replacement of the prosthesis as an outpatient procedure was accomplished without difficulty.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Further observations on ghee as a risk factor for neonatal tetanus.

BACKGROUND: Previous case-control studies of neonatal tetanus (NNT) in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan indicated that clarified butter (ghee) applied to the umbilical wound of newborns was a significant risk factor for NNT. However, the mechanisms underlying the risk remained undisclosed. METHODS: A hospital-based case-control study was undertaken to evaluate further ghee and other factors possibly associated with risk of NNT. Mothers of several recent ghee-associated cases were visited in their homes, asked to simulate the procedures used in preparing the ghee, and samples of ghee were collected for culture. RESULTS: Topical application of ghee to the umbilical wound was again shown to pose a significant risk for NNT. In-use contamination of ghee was documented as mothers repeatedly heated and manipulated samples of ghee set aside in special containers for this purpose. Ghee was usually applied to the umbilical wound of the baby several times each day for the first few days of life. Mothers of cases were again confirmed to be substantially more likely to report prior NNT cases than mothers of controls. CONCLUSIONS: Educational interventions to reduce umbilical ghee use or to wash hands before each manipulation might reduce the risk of NNT in babies exposed to ghee who are born to non-immunized mothers. Increased efforts to immunize women of childbearing age with tetanus toxoid are also needed, with special priority for mothers known to have been associated with a previous NNT case. Topical antibiotics should be further evaluated for protective effects in non-immunized mothers.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed1995

Serologic status and measles attack rates among vaccinated and unvaccinated children in rural Senegal.

During a measles vaccine trial in a rural area of Senegal, antibody status was examined within 10 days of exposure for 228 previously vaccinated and 313 unvaccinated children more than 12 months old who were exposed to measles at home. Thirty-six percent of the children developed clinical measles, the clinical diagnosis being confirmed for 135 of the 137 children from whom 2 blood samples were collected. Vaccine efficacy was 90% (95% confidence interval, 83 to 94%). The hemagglutinin-inhibiting antibodies (HI) or plaque neutralizing antibodies (PN) assays were equally efficient in predicting susceptibility and protection against measles. Vaccinated children who had no detectable HI or PN antibodies at exposure had significant protection against measles compared with seronegative unvaccinated children (HI vaccine efficacy, 49% (95% confidence interval, 21 to 68%); PN vaccine efficacy, 43% (95% confidence interval, 12 to 62%)). The attack rate was high for children with a titer of 40 to 125 mIU) 67% (4 of 6) of those with a positive hemagglutinin-inhibiting antibody test and 36% (13 of 36) of those with a positive PN test developed measles. Attack rates among children with HI or PN titers above 125 mIU were 2% (6 of 295) and 3% (7 of 258), respectively. Because titers of < or = 120 mIU have been found to offer little protection in another study, this antibody level may be the best screening value for assessing susceptibility and protection against measles. However, it should be noted that many seronegative vaccinated children are protected against measles infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Using adverse events in health-care quality improvement: results from a British acute hospital.

Adverse event monitoring is a problem-oriented approach to clinical audit and health-care quality improvement, which was developed and has been widely used in the USA. Briefly explores the technique itself and its evolution. Presents experience gained from the widespread use of the approach in a British acute hospital, and results from one specialty--ophthalmology. Suggests that the study of adverse events in patient care can produce significant improvements in patients' care, that it is particularly suited to some specialties, and that it should be used alongside other techniques in hospital clinical audit programmes. Concludes that, as the demand for quality-monitoring information from purchasers and within providers grows, adverse event monitoring may become one of the key techniques for quality assessment and improvement.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1995

Assessing the side-effects of antipsychotic drugs: a survey of CPN practice.

The provision of community-based care for people with serious and enduring mental health problems requires an approach that combines drug therapy, psychological interventions and skills training. Mental health nurses are being required to place more emphasis on their work with this client group. It has been suggested that community psychiatric nurses (CPNs) will require training in appropriate skills to work with the seriously mentally ill. While the training of CPNs to use psychological intervention strategies has received limited attention, the area of medication management, including the detection of side-effects, is relatively unexplored. Community psychiatric nurses' practice with clients on antipsychotic medication was investigated. This paper reports selected findings on the assessment of medication side-effects and CPNs' attitude to this aspect of their role. Fifty CPNs in three health districts completed a self-administered questionnaire. The results showed that the CPNs were supervising the medication of large numbers of clients. They reported that their training had adequately prepared them to assess clients for medication side-effects and that this was being done frequently. They also felt that their reports of side-effects influence the prescribers' decisions on medication when clients are reviewed. However, the data also suggested that CPNs were only monitoring their clients for three to four side-effects and that they held an unfavourable attitude towards their involvement with medication.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1995

A comparison of the effects of inhaled furosemide and ethacrynic acid on sodium-metabisulfite-induced bronchoconstriction in subjects with asthma.

Inhaled furosemide prevents bronchoconstriction induced by a number of challenges in asthma. One approach to determine the mechanism underlying this protection has been to examine the effects of diuretics with different or overlapping pharmacologic effects. We have compared the effects of furosemide on sodium metabisulfite-induced bronchoconstriction with those of equivalent diuretic doses of ethacrynic acid, a loop diuretic that, unlike furosemide, does not interact directly with the membrane Na/K/Cl cotransporter protein or inhibit carbonic anhydrase. Eight subjects with mild asthma were studied on five occasions, receiving nebulized furosemide (20 and 40 mg), ethacrynic acid (25 and 50 mg), or placebo (normal saline) in random order and double-blind 10 min before a cumulative dose challenge with inhaled sodium metabisulfite. After placebo the geometric mean sodium metabisulfite PD20 was 7.9 mumol. Furosemide 20 mg and 40 mg increased the PD20 by a mean 1.1 (95% confidence interval, -0.2-2.4; p > 0.05) and 1.6 (0.4-2.9; p < 0.02) doubling doses to 17.1 and 24.7 mumol, respectively. After inhaled ethacrynic acid 25 mg and 50 mg, the geometric mean PD20 was increased by 0.9 (-0.4-2.2; p > 0.05) and 1.5 (0.2-2.8; p < 0.05) doubling doses to 14.5 and 22.4 mumol, respectively. Thus, equivalent diuretic doses of furosemide and ethacrynic acid have a similar inhibitory effect on sodium metabisulfite-induced bronchoconstriction in asthma. This suggests that interaction with the Na/K/Cl cotransporter protein, or carbonic anhydrase inhibition, is not relevant to the effects of furosemide in asthma.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1995

Further evidence of a dose-response threshold for haloperidol in psychosis.

OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to determine whether higher doses of haloperidol improve antipsychotic response. METHOD: During a 2-week, double-blind, randomized fixed-dose study, 24 psychotic patients were given 4, 10, or 40 mg/day of haloperidol. RESULTS: No clinically relevant difference between groups in favor of the higher antipsychotic doses could be detected. CONCLUSIONS: Doses of 4 mg/day of haloperidol appear to be as effective as higher doses in the treatment of psychosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

In vivo gene transfer into murine corneal endothelial and trabecular meshwork cells.

PURPOSE: To determine whether a reporter gene can be introduced into adult mammalian corneal endothelial and trabecular meshwork cells in vivo using a recombinant replication-deficient adenovirus. METHODS: Purified replication-deficient adenovirus containing the cytomegalovirus-promoted Escherichia coli reporter gene, lacZ, was injected into the vitreous cavities or anterior chambers of 30 adult CD-1 mice using the contralateral eyes as controls. LacZ expression was assessed histochemically in enucleated eyes from 2 to 21 days after injection using the beta-Galactosidase (beta-Gal) assay. RESULTS: LacZ expression was demonstrated in corneal endothelial and trabecular meshwork cells for as long as 14 days after injection. beta-Gal activity was also observed in lens and iris epithelial cells. There was no toxicity of the adenoviral vector demonstrated histologically, and no nonocular tissues expressed lacZ as measured by beta-Gal assay. CONCLUSIONS: A functional gene can be transferred in vivo into adult mammalian corneal endothelial and trabecular meshwork cells using a replication-defective adenoviral vector. Gene expression is relatively short-lived compared to that demonstrated previously in other ocular tissues (photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium). Adenoviral vectors may be a viable means for short-term delivery of therapeutic genes in vivo to cells in the anterior segment of the eye.

Adenoviruses, Human↗
PubMed1995

A phase II study of menogaril (7R-O-methylnogarol) in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia: a study of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.

Fifty-one patients (47 evaluable) with AML, 27 in first relapse and 20 either in second relapse or refractory were treated with menogaril, 100 mg/m2/day as a 90-min infusion daily for 5 days. The complete response (CR) rate was 17% (8/47), and there was one partial response. Seven of eight responders were in first relapse with a 26% response rate among first relapse patients (7/27). The median duration of survival was 3 months for all first relapse patients and 4.3 months for all other patients. Toxicity included grades 3-4 pancytopenia and fever (100% of patients) and grades 3-4 stomatitis and hepatic enzyme elevation (25% of patients). Grades 3-4 cardiac toxicity occurred in three patients (two grade 3 arrhythmias and one heart block). All had previously received anthracyclines. Remission duration was 1.6-48+ months; two patients underwent bone marrow transplantation and continue in CR at 36+ and 48+ months. The nontransplanted patients remained in CR 1.6, 2.0, 3, 7, 14 and 27 months. Activity and toxicity of menogaril in this study were comparable to that of other clinically useful anthracyclines in AML. Further investigation of this agent in AML is warranted.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1995

Systemic Malassezia furfur infection in an adult receiving total parenteral nutrition.

Malassezia furfur sepsis developed in a woman with hyperemesis gravidarum while she was receiving total parenteral nutrition supplemented with lipids. Fever, chills, dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, and multiple bilateral pulmonary nodular infiltrates were the primary clinical manifestations. Lysis-centrifugation fungal blood cultures supplemented with olive oil grew M furfur. Treatment included removal of the central venous catheter line, discontinuation of the lipid emulsion, and antifungal chemotherapy. Malassezia furfur sepsis complicating total parenteral nutrition may be more common in adults than once suspected. A high index of suspicion is required to diagnose this infection, and the addition of olive oil to the fungal culture medium will provide the necessary growth factors to isolate this fungus.

Adult↗