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Biomedical subjects

J M Jones

Publications and source records attributed to J M Jones.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Advances in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The use of more aggressive multiagent combination chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced diffuse aggressive lymphomas has resulted in a dramatic change in the overall outlook in patients with this disease. Once rarely curable or even controllable, it is now one of the most curable of disseminated malignancies. Sustained, disease-free survival rates have risen from 5% in the 1960s to approximately 65% in the 1980s. The 35% who do not achieve initial CR generally experience a fulminant course, with patients rarely surviving more than 2 years. Subsequent clinical trials will explore a number of new approaches including short-course, dose-intense induction regimens, addition of new agents into combinations (including cisplatin, vindesine, M-AMSA, ifosfamide, and methyl-GAG), and the use of biologicals (monoclonal antibodies, interleukin-2 plus LAK cells, and tumor necrosis factor). Salvage therapy for those who experience recurrence of disease can produce responses in 45 to 65% of patients, but remission duration is short, and median survival time is usually less than 1 year. Recent interest in high-dose chemotherapy with or without total body irradiation, followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation for relapsed patients, has produced some encouraging results.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

Maintenance chlorambucil after CVP in the management of advanced stage, low-grade histologic type non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A randomized prospective study with an assessment of prognostic factors.

One hundred sixty-two patients with Stages III and IV non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of low-grade histologic type were treated with combination chemotherapy using cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisolone (CVP) followed by radiotherapy to sites of previous bulk disease. The patients were randomized to receive either follow-up alone or "maintenance" chemotherapy with 2 years of intermittent chlorambucil. A complete remission was obtained in 56% of patients and the median survival was 64 months (median follow-up, 74 months). Multivariate analysis revealed stage (P less than 0.0001) and Karnofsky performance status (P = 0.021) to predict complete response (CR) and the achievement of a CR (P less than 0.0001), female sex (P = 0.008), the absence of bulk disease (P = 0.038) and low serum alkaline phosphatase (P = 0.002) to predict prolonged survival. The median relapse-free survival (RFS) of the complete responders was 41 months. A prolonged RFS was predicted by low stage (P = 0.014), low serum lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) (P = 0.045) levels, and by the administration of maintenance chlorambucil (P = 0.045). A prolonged survival of the complete responders was predicted by a low number of nodal sites of involvement with lymphoma at presentation (P = 0.022) and lack of liver involvement (P = 0.011). The administration of oral maintenance therapy with chlorambucil for a full 2 years was only possible in 38% of patients, mainly because of progression of disease and the induction of thrombocytopaenia, but despite this it prolonged the median RFS by 38 months and its use could be considered when future studies are being designed.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

Verbal/performance splits in inmates assessed with the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery .

A series of tables were created to examine the phenomenon of the overrepresentation of verbal/performance splits among incarcerated felons. Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB; Jackson, 1984) scores were obtained for 1,225 adult male felons referred to a reception and diagnostic center for evaluation. The findings suggest that there is a significant, consistent overrepresentation of verbal/performance splits, with the performance score usually higher, among incarcerated male felons. The data further suggest that this phenomenon is not linked directly to age, reading level, or general level of intelligence.

Adult↗

Sequential transposition of Tn916 among Staphylococcus aureus protoplasts.

Transposition of the Streptococcus faecalis conjugal tetracycline-resistance transposon Tn916 between S. aureus strains occurred when protoplasts of donor and recipient strains were regenerated together without prior fusion. Under these conditions, only Tn916 was transferred; spontaneous fusion of parental protoplasts is therefore unlikely to be responsible for Tn916 transfer. While the exact nature of this transfer remains unclear, it appears to resemble Tn916 conjugal transposition reported in S. faecalis. Evidence for sequential transpositions of Tn916 was obtained by 3-factorial transformation analyses and confirmed by DNA-DNA hybridizations. The ability of Tn916 to transpose within S. aureus and occupy diverse chromosomal sites demonstrates the value of this transposon in genetic studies of S. aureus.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Inherited glomerular properties and their role in the expression of various forms of experimental glomerular injury.

1. Glomeruli possess properties which vary between Lewis and DA strains of rat. 2. These properties may account for differences in the expression of various forms of experimental glomerular injury. 3. The difference in susceptibility to Heymann nephritis in the Lewis strain was confirmed. 4. Chronic serum sickness induced by cationic human serum albumin led to capillary loop deposits in Lewis rats, whereas DA rats had mesangial deposits of rat immunoglobulin G even in control kidneys. 5. Lewis rats developed proteinuria after infusion of the polycation hexadimethrine whereas DA rats did not. 6. DA rats developed greater proteinuria after injection of puromycin aminonucleoside. 7. These results support the hypothesis that an individual's susceptibility to different forms of glomerulonephritis may result from their glomerular properties and not necessarily from their immune responses.

Animals↗

An update of rabbit diseases. Part 1: respiratory disease.

The literature relating to respiratory disease in rabbits is reviewed. Pasteurella multocida was identified in the 1920s as the most important and common cause of respiratory disease in rabbits, and today pasteurellosis remains a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in farmed rabbits. Methods of treatment and prevention are reviewed, including recent experimental work in vaccine development.

Journal Article↗

Evaluation of a urinary catheter with a preconnected closed drainage bag.

The incidence of bacteriuria, significant urinary tract infection, and cost associated with the use of two urinary catheter drainage systems were evaluated in a population of hospitalized adult males. A commercially available device comprised of a Foley catheter attached with a heat-shrunk plastic seal to the tubing of a closed drainage bag (preconnected system) was compared with a standard system that had the Foley catheter attached to the closed drainage bag after it had been inserted. Using a randomized prospective design, the performance of the preconnected system in 97 patients was compared with that of the standard system in 105 patients. Catheters were left in place a mean of 6.4 and 7.6 days in the respective groups. Bacteriuria occurred after catheter insertion in 11.3% of patients receiving the preconnected system and 13.3% of patients receiving the standard system (not statistically significant). When bacteriuria developed, it occurred within seven days of catheter insertion in 50% of instances, irrespective of drainage system employed, suggesting that manipulations related to catheter insertion were important in initiating bacteriuria. Significant urinary tract infections occurred in only 2% of all patients studied. The higher cost for purchasing the preconnected system was not warranted for the population of patients studied.

Aged↗

Genetic organization of the bacterial conjugative transposon Tn916.

Tn916, which encodes resistance to tetracycline, is a 16.4-kilobase conjugative transposon originally identified on the chromosome of Streptococcus faecalis DS16. The transposon has been cloned in Escherichia coli on plasmid vectors, where it expresses tetracycline resistance; it can be reintroduced into S. faecalis via protoplast transformation. We have used a lambda::Tn5 bacteriophage delivery system to introduce Tn5 into numerous sites within Tn916. The Tn5 insertions had various effects on the behavior of Tn916. Some insertions eliminated conjugative transposition but not intracellular transposition, and others eliminated an excision step believed to be essential for both types of transposition. A few inserts had no effect on transposon behavior. Functions were mapped to specific regions on the transposon.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Sequence analysis of termini of conjugative transposon Tn916.

Transposon Tn916 is a 16.4-kilobase, broad-host-range, conjugative transposon originally identified on the chromosome of Enterococcus (Streptococcus) faecalis DS16. Its termini have been sequenced along with the junction regions for two different insertions. The ends were found to contain imperfect inverted repeat sequences with identity at 20 of 26 nucleotides. Further in from the ends, imperfect directly repeated sequences were present, with 24 of 27 nucleotides matching. The transposon junction regions contained homologous segments but of a nature not consistent with a direct duplication of the target sequence. Within the right terminus was a potential outwardly reading promoter. Tn916 is believed to transpose via an excision-insertion mechanism; based on the analyses of the termini, as well as two target sequences (before insertion and after excision), a possible model is suggested.

Base Sequence↗

Analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from immunocompromised patients with a protocol applicable in the microbiology laboratory.

Several studies have concluded that bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a useful technique for diagnosing pulmonary disease in immunocompromised patients, but implementation of a protocol for obtaining, processing, and analyzing BAL specimens in a clinical microbiology laboratory has not been reported. We determined the utility of a laboratory protocol by analyzing 100 BAL specimens from 94 immunocompromised patients. Each BAL specimen was cultured quantitatively for bacteria. A concentrate of each specimen was cultured for fungi, viruses, mycobacteria, and Legionella sp. Slides of the BAL concentrate were prepared by cytocentrifugation and stained by a number of histochemical and fluorescence techniques. Overall diagnostic yields of 81% for infections, 90% for hemorrhage, and 13% for neoplasms were obtained with the patients studied. BAL analysis was incapable of diagnosing drug- or radiation-induced pneumonitis or idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis. After evaluation of the protocol was completed, it was successfully implemented in two university-based clinical microbiology laboratories as a routine diagnostic service.

Adolescent↗

Progressive IgA nephropathy: the role of hypertension.

A retrospective study of 67 patients with IgA nephropathy carried out at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary revealed an overall 10-year actuarial renal survival of 77.4%. At the time of presentation, 27 patients (40.3%) were hypertensive and 40 (59.7%) were normotensive. As expected, the survival was worse in the hypertensive group. However, when the effect of control of blood pressure was assessed, a significantly worse survival was found in those whose hypertension was inadequately controlled, compared to those whose hypertension was well controlled, in whom survival was not significantly different from that of the normotensive group. The differences in survival could not be explained by increased patient age nor by longer duration of disease. Good control of hypertension may prevent progression to end-stage renal failure in IgA nephropathy.

Actuarial Analysis↗

The radiological deformity of Colles' fractures.

The behaviour of the bony deformity in Colles' fractures and factors influencing this were prospectively investigated in 187 patients over the age of 55. Radiographic assessment was made throughout a 13-week period and during this time the deformity progressively recurred, even after the plaster cast had been removed. Radial length and radial deviation reverted virtually to their positions before reduction. Only those fractures with a volar tilt greater than -15 degrees when first seen showed any improvement. In all fractures the initial deformity clearly influenced the final radiological result whereas the quality of reduction was not of critical importance. The extent of dorsal comminution and quality of the bone influenced the final anatomical result in those fractures which were not manipulated.

Aged↗

Osteoporosis and Colles' fractures in the elderly.

There is no documentation of the incidence of osteoporosis in patients with Colles' fractures. We have prospectively studied 127 patients over the age of fifty with unilateral Colles' fractures to determine the incidence of osteoporosis and to investigate its influence on the bony deformity. The cortical width of the second metacarpal was used as the indicator of osteoporosis. 74.8% of patients in this group were osteoporotic. The final deformity was significantly greater in patients with osteoporosis.

Aged↗

Chemical fractionation of copper, lead and zinc in ombrotrophic peat.

Measurement of operationally defined chemical fractions in ombrotrophic peat samples provides information not obtained by total metal extractions. Examination of such sequential data permits interpretation of process dynamics. Results for copper, lead and zinc chemical fractionation of peat profiles from Ringinglow Bog, near Sheffield, Great Britain, are reported and discussed. Lead and zinc share similar patterns of partitioning. A considerable proportion of these records is in a form predisposed to transformation and mobilisation. In contrast, much of the copper is comparatively immobile, it being associated with the more chemically intractable fractions. The results suggest that peat copper deposition records may be used for reconstruction of pollution history. The use of lead and zinc records for these purposes is problematic.

Journal Article↗

Diagnosing bacterial respiratory infection by bronchoalveolar lavage.

We prospectively evaluated 75 patients by fiber-optic bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) for the presence of bacterial lower-respiratory-tract infection. BAL specimens were cultured quantitatively for aerobic bacteria, and a cell differential was obtained of the BAL cell population. In 18 "control" patients without evidence of respiratory infection, the presence of greater than 1% squamous epithelial cells (SECs) in the BAL sample accurately predicted the presence of heavy contamination of the sample by oropharyngeal flora. In the remaining "study" patients with potential infection, polymorphonuclear leukocytes were readily identified, and potential lower-respiratory-tract pathogens were recovered in concentrations greater than 10(5) colony-forming units (cfu) per milliliter in 16 of 18 patients with bacterial infection (none had greater than 1% SECs in their BAL sample). No patients without evidence of bacterial infection and with less than or equal to 1% SECs had greater than 10(5) cfu/ml in BAL cultures. These studies establish the ability of BAL techniques to diagnose bacterial respiratory infection.

Adult↗