Pathfinder: historical views of medicine and American culture.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J C Burnham.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The oral administration of peptide drugs is well known to be precluded by their digestion in the stomach and small intestine. As a new approach to oral delivery, peptide drugs were coated with polymers cross-linked with azoaromatic groups to form an impervious film to protect orally administered drugs from digestion in the stomach and small intestine. When the azopolymer-coated drug reached the large intestine, the indigenous microflora reduced the azo bonds, broke the cross-links, and degraded the polymer film, thereby releasing the drug into the lumen of the colon for local action or for absorption. The ability of the azopolymer coating to protect and deliver orally administered peptide drugs was demonstrated in rats with the peptide hormones vasopressin and insulin.
A controlled-environment membrane model for use in vitro was developed and employed in an attempt to mimic the environment of the vagina in order to study yeast-vaginal cell adhesion. Adhesion in vitro of four strains of Candida albicans (NIH 3181A, NIH 526B, ATCC 18804, and MCO 2400) to vaginal epithelial cells (VEC) appeared to be affected by the pH and the level of carbon dioxide that have been found to be present in the vagina in vivo. Strain 3181A had a greater adhesion ability than 526B when the concentration of yeast cells was increased and when the yeast cells were incubated with VEC at pH 5 in sodium phosphate buffer in ambient air supplemented with 10% CO2. Of the four strains of C. albicans used, 3181A had the greatest adhesion ability, with strains 2400, 18804, and 526B ranked in order of decreasing adhesion ability. Also, an enhanced, electron-dense, matted outer region of the cell walls of the yeasts was observed frequently when they were incubated in ambient air supplemented with 10% CO2. In addition, of the vaginal cells that had yeast cells attached to them, an average of 94.4% of the total yeast cells were attached to the microridge side of the VEC, whereas an average of only 5.6% of the total were found on the nonmicroridge side of the VEC. The results from this study indicate that adhesion of C. albicans to the VEC surface was affected by the strain of yeast used, by the side of the vaginal cell exposed, and by the pH and CO2 levels present in the adhesion assay.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Scanning electron-microscopy in combination with secondary electron imaging and x-ray energy spectrometry (electron-probe micro-analysis) was performed on the stratum corneum of involved and uninvolved, psoriatic skin. The significant, elemental alterations included an increase in phosphorus and calcium in the involved skin regions. A composite, chemical, elemental profile of normal and uninvolved, psoriatic stratum corneum is presented.
In the first half of the 20th century, American physicians enjoyed relative freedom from adverse comment in mass and highbrow media. In unexpected ways the physicians' high ideals and the campaigns against socialized medicine brought criticism not only of the priestly but also of the technical functions of the medical profession. In the late 1950's this led to a campaign to modify the elevated position of physicians in American society.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Blastospores of Candida albicans, grown in YM broth (Difco, pH 6.0), were treated with tannic acid as part of a fixation schedule with glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide. The results obtained were compared to routine fixation procedures employing glutaraldehyde-osmium tetroxide and potassium permanganate, as well as several schedules using various combinations of the aforementioned fixatives. Glutaraldehyde-osmium tetroxide-tannic acid fixed cells had several morphological structures accentuated, including sharply delineated cytoplasmic and organelle membranes, a detailed cytoplasmic matrix, and an intensified layered cell wall. Tannic acid has been found to react as a mordant between osmium tetroxide and lead citrate, forming a "stabilizing matrix" within the cells. Blastospores appeared to have an improved comprehensive ultrastructural appearance, a result of the tannic acid-matrix preserving cellular components for electron microscopy.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
A scanning electron microscopic (SEM) study of intertrigo is presented. Marked changes of the keratinocyte surface characteristics and in the number and distribution of bacteria in the various stages of intertrigo are reported. Bacterial overgrowth was significant. This study confirms the value of SEM in the study of the skin surface and in cutaneous microbiology.
The yolk membrane of unfertilized eggs (Gallus domestica) was isolated, washed, placed onto a glass holder, and utilized as an in vitro membrane model to study yeast attachment.
Psychoanalysis in America functioned first largely as an avant-garde phenomenon. Later psychoanalysis became a specialty within a bureaucratic society. Both roles help explain the importance and the limitations of freud's impact on American culture.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Throughout the history of the hospital, local social institutions, formal and informal, tended to perform casualty and receiving functions so that the Royal Derwent has always served as institution of last resort. Case books show that both illnesses and treatment conformed to those familiar elsewhere in the British Empire and developed no local perculiarities. The records provide epidemiological evidence of a dramatic decline in incidence of first admission for psychosis after the period when convict transportation created a high rate of social dependency.