The effect of a newly developed patellar realignment brace was evaluated in 21 patellofemoral joints (19 patients) with patellar subluxation (13 joints with lateral subluxation and eight with medial subluxation) by using active-movement, loaded kinematic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Sixteen patellofemoral joints (76%) demonstrated a qualitative correction of or improvement in patellar subluxation (ie, centralization of the patella or a decrease in the displacement of the patella) after application of the brace. Four of the five "failures" occurred in patellofemoral joints that had patella alta and/or dysplastic bone anatomy. These results indicate that the patellar realignment brace was able to counteract patellar subluxation in the majority of patellofemoral joints studied, as shown by active-movement, loaded kinematic MR imaging. This brace appears to be useful for conservative treatment of patients with patellofemoral joint pain secondary to patellar malalignment and maltracking.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of the pharmacokinetics of porcine calcitonin in saline and in gelatin diluents in healthy volunteers.

A randomised 2-way crossover study was carried out in nine healthy male volunteers to compare the pharmacokinetics of porcine calcitonin (pCT) following i.m. administration of 160 i.u. of pCT in physiological saline or in a solution of hydrolysed gelatin. A new radioimmunoassay for pCT is described. It employs an antiserum raised in a guinea pig and a labelled tracer prepared from highly purified pCT. While comparable mean areas under the serum concentration-time curve for both dosage forms indicate equivalent bioavailability, the serum pCT profiles were different; peak pCT levels of 8.3 +/- 0.8 ng ml-1 (s.e.m.) occurred at 13 +/- 2 min (s.e.m.) with peak levels of 4.8 +/- 0.5 ng ml-1 (s.e.m.) when the gelatin diluent was used. The hypocalcaemic effects produced by the two preparations of pCT were of short duration (less than 1 h) and of a similar magnitude (-0.08 to -0.12 mmol.l-1). Comparable degrees of hypophosphataemia (-0.11 to -0.15 mmol.l-1) were observed 20 min post-injection. The administration of pCT in gelatin and saline diluents resulted in markedly different pharmacokinetic profiles. Whether there are therapeutic advantages in the use of either diluent remains to be investigated.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Excessive exercise and weight preoccupation in women.

A group of adult women (n = 351) were assessed on a number of psychological, behavioral, and body composition measures including weight preoccupation and leisure-time physical activity participation. The purpose of the study was twofold. It was intended (a) to investigate whether excessive exercises have specific characteristics in common other than that they exercise a great deal and (b) to identify the degree of relationship between exercising and weight preoccupation, and the extent to which those classified as excessive on either dimension have psychological characteristics in common. Results indicated that excessive exercisers reported greater body satisfaction and body focus, were less emotionally reactive (neurotic), and more extraverted than nonexercisers. Although some researchers have reported psychological similarities between excessive exercisers and women with eating disturbances, our data do not entirely support that point of view. While excessive exercise was associated with a decrease in body dissatisfaction and was negatively related to neuroticism, weight preoccupation was associated with an increase in body dissatisfaction and was positively related to neuroticism. However, one characteristic that both excessive groups shared, and that significantly differentiated them from their nonexcessive counterparts, was their high level of body focus. These findings led us to test the body focus x neuroticism interaction on both exercise participation and weight preoccupation. Results indicated a highly significant interaction on weight preoccupation. However, only the two main effects were significantly related to exercise.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Carnitine metabolism changes during the first year after a successful kidney transplantation.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Particulate contamination in parenteral nutrition solutions: still a cause for concern?

OBJECTIVES: In consideration of a US Federal Drug Administration recommendation that all parenteral nutrition admixtures should be administered through an in-line filtration device, this observational study examined the number, size distribution, and sources of particulate contamination in parenteral nutrition admixture infusion systems. METHODS: Samples were drawn from the terminal connection of the infusion tubing before connection to the patient. The particles were sized and counted by optical microscopy and further investigated by electron microscopy and energy disperse spectroscopy. RESULTS: Large numbers of particles were found, and information gained about their possible origin. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides further support for the adoption of this Federal Drug Administration recommendation.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Disseminating medical knowledge: the PROforma approach.

Medical knowledge is traditionally disseminated via the publication of documents and through participation in clinical practice. Information technology offers to extend both modes of dissemination, via electronic publishing and virtual reality training, for example. AI promises even more radical changes through the possibility of publishing clinical expertise in the form of expert systems, which assist patient care through active decision support and workflow management. PROforma is a knowledge representation language that is designed to support this new mode of dissemination. It is based on an intuitive model of the processes of care and well-understood logical semantics. This paper provides a description of the language and associated software tools, and discusses its potential roles in, and implications for, medical knowledge publishing.

Artificial Intelligence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Using new reasoning technology in chemical information systems.

Unreliability of numerical data causes difficulties in computer systems for decision-making, risk assessment, and similar activities. Much human judgment is non-numerical and able to make useful evaluations of alternatives under uncertainty. The Logic of Argumentation (LA) offers a basis for computerized support of decision-making in the absence of numerical data, and it is being used in a project on carcinogenic risk assessment, StAR. There are potential applications of LA in other artificial intelligence systems in chemistry, such as for synthesis planning.

Artificial Intelligence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Gene deletion and restriction fragment length polymorphisms at the human ornithine transcarbamylase locus.

Deficiency of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC; EC 2.1.3.3), a hepatic mitochondrial enzyme involved in the detoxification of ammonia, is a severe inborn error of metabolism. It is an X-linked disorder which results characteristically in ammonia intoxication, protein intolerance and mental retardation. Early death of affected hemizygous male infants is common, while clinical manifestations in heterozygous females are variable due to random X-chromosome inactivation. Prenatal diagnosis by amniocentesis has not been feasible because OTC is not expressed in amniocytes and because no unusual metabolites can be detected in amniotic fluid. Fetal liver biopsy has been performed for some families at risk, but the dangers inherent in this procedure severely limit its usefulness. In this report, we describe the use of a nearly full-length cloned human cDNA to begin to characterize normal and mutant human OTC genes. One of 15 affected males was found to have a partial deletion of the OTC gene. Two distinct restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) were identified at the OTC locus using the restriction endonuclease MspI; 69% of women tested were heterozygous for one or both polymorphisms. Identification of these common polymorphisms makes it possible to offer prenatal diagnosis to a large fraction of obligate carriers and to provide information on carrier status to some females at risk.

Chromosome Deletion↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Preparing psychiatric mental health nurses for the future. A baccalaureate curriculum design.

In the future, nurses can expect to provide holistic care for clients with increasingly complex health concerns. The current shift toward wellness and renewed emphasis on treating the whole person means that nurses must be prepared to meet their clients biopsychosocial health promotion and health restoration needs. The authors outline the efforts of faculty members to create and implement an innovative curriculum design for the psychiatric mental health component in a baccalaureate program. Evaluation data also are included.

Curriculum↗