Vaccinations as risk factors for ill health in veterans of the Gulf war. Conclusion may be flawed by inadequate data.
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Humans↗
Biomedical subjects
J P Bolton
Publications and source records attributed to J P Bolton.
SOFIA: spatially optimal fast initial analysis of biomagnetic signals.
A method of analysing biomagnetic signals is presented which focuses attention on activity in a specific region of interest. The method is based on the construction of virtual sensors, corresponding to linear combinations of lead fields that are optimally localized within the region of interest. This method is fast and stable. It is tested against physiologically plausible computer generated signals and also against more elaborate analysis of real data. The results show that the method can be very effective as a fast scanning tool identifying activity from pre-defined regions of interest.
Algorithms↗
Medical training in the army from first aid to advanced trauma life support the development of an integrated package.
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Allied Health Personnel↗
Small intestinal perforation following minor trauma.
Small intestinal perforation occurred in two patients aged 70 years and 88 years who had experienced minor trauma by tripping or falling on the pavement. They both developed signs of generalized peritonitis and at laparotomy were found to have perforated the mid ileum. There was no sign of direct abdominal trauma but they had suffered minor facial trauma as a result of the fall.
Accidental Falls↗
Magnetic field tomography of coherent thalamocortical 40-Hz oscillations in humans.
This paper introduces the use of magnetic field tomography (MFT), a noninvasive technique based on distributed source analysis of magnetoencephalography data, which makes possible the three-dimensional reconstruction of dynamic brain activity in humans. MFT has a temporal resolution better than 1 msec and a spatial accuracy of 2-5 mm at the cortical level, which deteriorates to 1-3 cm at depths of 6 cm or more. MFT is used here to visualize the origin of a spatiotemporally organized pattern of coherent 40-Hz electrical activity. This coherence, initially observed during auditory input, was proposed to be generated by recurrent corticothalamic oscillation. In support of this hypothesis, we illustrate well-defined 40-Hz coherence between cortical-subcortical sites with a time shift that is consistent with thalamocortical conduction times. Studies on Alzheimer patients indicate that, while a similar activity pattern is present, the cortical component is reduced in these subjects.
Adult↗
Smoltification and seawater adaptation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): plasma prolactin, growth hormone, and thyroid hormones.
To obtain more information on the role of prolactin and growth hormone during the parr-smolt transformation of Atlantic salmon, a population of fish in fresh water was sampled from January to June during two consecutive years. Gill Na+,K+-ATPase activity increased steadily during smoltification and a plasma thyroxine peak was observed 2-3 weeks before the gill Na+,K+-ATPase peak. On the basis of these two parameters, smoltification was considered complete in our populations in April 1985 and May 1986. Two peaks in plasma growth hormone levels occurred in 1986, one in mid-April and the second in mid-May. In both cases, these peaks coincided with a peak in plasma triiodothyronine and preceded the thyroxine peak by 1-2 weeks. Moreover, the second peak which lasted for 1 month coincided with maximal gill Na+,K+-ATPase activity. A decrease in plasma prolactin levels was observed during smoltification of Atlantic salmon in 2 consecutive years. During this period of decreasing and low plasma prolactin levels, gill Na+,K+-ATPase activity increased to its highest values. Atlantic salmon smolts were also directly transferred into seawater. After 2 days or more in seawater, plasma prolactin levels were not significantly different from those on Day 0, whereas in fresh water they showed large fluctuations. All these data indicate that growth hormone may play an important role in the development of hypoosmoregulatory activity. Increased hypoosmoregulatory ability also appears to be associated with low prolactin levels.
Acclimatization↗
Water uptake by Rana temporaria: effects of diuretics and the renin--angiotensin system, and nephrectomy.
Adult Rana temporaria, acclimated to tap water or hyperosmotic (0.9% NaCl saline) media, were injected with Acetazolamide, Frusemide, or Captopril, or were nephrectomized and injected with captopril. Saline-injected animals served as controls. Total water flux and drinking rates were determined by body weight changes and by the rate of accumulation of an environmental marker (phenol red) in the gut, respectively. Changes in plasma corticosteroids and ion concentrations were also assessed. Acetazolamide and frusemide produced hyponatraemia in tap water-acclimated animals, but induced increased aldosterone levels in frogs in both environments. Captopril reduced body weight and aldosterone levels of tap water frogs, but had no effect on plasma ion composition. Animals treated with captopril on immersion in saline had plasma hypoosmotic to their environment. Saline-acclimated frogs drank less environmental water than did those in tap water. Captopril, acetazolamide, and frusemide all stimulated drinking rates of saline-acclimated frogs; captopril, however, had no effect on the drinking rates of nephrectomized animals, indicating that the dipsogenic actions of this drug are probably reflected by inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system. In tap water animals, acetazolamide stimulated drinking, while frusemide stimulated integumental water uptake. No correlation was apparent between plasma aldosterone and corticosterone concentrations, or between changes in body weight and drinking rates. This suggests that there are independent mechanisms controlling aldosterone and corticosterone secretion, as well as integumentary and buccal uptake of water in R. temporaria.
Acetazolamide↗
Osmoregulatory actions of growth hormone in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri).
The seawater-adapting actions of GH, which are independent of growth, were studied in juvenile rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). Hormones examined were chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) GH (sGH) and prolactin (sPRL), and ovine GH (oGH). Plasma Na levels of freshwater-adapted fish peaked 24 h after transfer to 67% seawater and remained high for at least 48 h. Twenty-four hours after transfer, plasma Na levels were inversely correlated to body weight. In order to limit size and growth effects in all subsequent experiments, fish having a narrow range of body weights, fed a fixed diet, and injected with hormones over a short time-period were used. Plasma Na levels 24 h after transfer to 80% seawater were reduced significantly by sGH (0.25 and 2.5 micrograms/g) and oGH (2.5 micrograms/g) compared with saline injections, whereas sPRL (2.5 micrograms/g) had no significant effect. All the GH-treated fish had lower plasma Mg levels than controls; Ca levels were significantly reduced by the high dose of sGH. Salmon prolactin had no effect on concentrations of divalent ions. When the effects of a range of doses (0.01-1.25 micrograms/g) of sGH on plasma ion levels was tested, 0.25 micrograms/g was the most potent in reducing Na and Mg levels, while 1.25 microgram/g alone reduced plasma Ca concentrations significantly. These studies show that the seawater-adapting actions of GH in trout are specific to that hormone and are not consequent to an increase in size.
Animals↗
Development and validation of a salmon growth hormone radioimmunoassay.
A highly specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) for the measurement of plasma and pituitary growth hormone (GH) levels in salmonid fishes was developed using an anti-serum raised in rabbit against chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) GH (sGH). Pituitary extracts and plasma from chum, coho, masu, and amago salmon, and from rainbow trout and Japanese charr, all exhibited displacement curves parallel to the sGH standard. Samples from the eel, carp, goldfish, and tilapia, as well as plasma from hypophysectomized chum salmon and rainbow trout, all showed negligible cross-reactivity. None of the mammalian or teleostean GH or prolactin preparations tested cross-reacted with the antibody in the assay system. RIA sensitivity was 0.6 ng sGH/ml of plasma when 100 microliter of plasma was employed. Intra- and interassay coefficients of variation were 3.9 and 4.1%, respectively. Plasma GH levels of the mature chum salmon caught in Otsuchi Bay were highly variable, especially in females (20.2 +/- 8.2 ng/ml) as compared with males (16.0 +/- 1.1 ng/ml), and there was no significant change after transfer to fresh water. Whereas there was no change in plasma GH levels in males kept in seawater, the levels in females increased with time in close correlation with the increase in plasma chloride.
Animals↗
The use of graduated compression stockings in the prevention of postoperative deep vein thrombosis.
The efficacy of graduated compression stockings in the prevention of postoperative deep vein thrombosis was studied in a randomized, prospective, controlled trial of 200 patients, aged 40 years and over, undergoing abdominal surgery (100 for benign disease, 100 for malignant conditions). Deep vein thrombosis was diagnosed by the 125I-fibrinogen test. The incidence of deep vein thrombosis was 35.9 per cent in the control group (103 patients) and 15.5 per cent in the stockinged group (97 patients) (P less than 0.025). In the patients with benign disease, deep vein thrombosis developed in 24.5 per cent of the control limbs and 6.1 per cent of stockinged limbs (P less than 0.005); in patients with malignant disease the similar figures were 27.9 and 11.5 per cent (P less than 0.05). Increasing age did not alter the efficacy of the stockings. It is concluded that graduated compression stockings provide a safe and effective method of prophylaxis against deep vein thrombosis.
Abdomen↗
Early discharge following hernia repair in unselected patients.
The feasibility and safety of early discharge from hospital following inguinal hernia repair in selected patients is well established. The following is an account of 104 unselected patients who presented consecutively to an Inner London hospital with inguinal hernias. The intention was to discharge all patients 48 h after operation, but for a variety of reasons a later discharge day was planned preoperatively in 50. Of the 104 patients, 62 (60 per cent) were discharged on the planned day, but only 23 per cent left hospital 48 h after operation. The factors which accounted for this are discussed. It was possible, however, to discharge over 85 per cent within 5 days of operation.
Adult↗
Biliary-type pain as a manifestation of genital tract infection: the Curtis-Fitz-Hugh syndrome.
Ten patients with biliary-type pain, in whom investigations of the biliary tract were negative, are reported. All the patients were sexually active premenopausal women and all had evidence of infection with chlamydia trachomatis. Five patients submitted to laparoscopy had fibrinous adhesions between the anterior surface of the liver and the parietal peritoneum (perihepatitis). All 10 patients were diagnosed as suffering from the Curtis-Fitz-Hugh syndrome caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. The clinical similarities between the Curtis-Fitz-Hugh syndrome (right upper quadrant abdominal pain, perihepatitis and genital tract infection) and acute biliary disease are emphasized and the diagnostic implications discussed.
Adolescent↗
Skin closure of inguinal herniorrhaphy wounds in short-stay patients.
One hundred and twenty-two inguinal hernias were repaired in a consecutive series of 104 patients. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. In one, 66 wounds were closed by the traditional method of using interrupted non-absorbable skin sutures. In the second group, 56 wounds were closed with subcuticular Dexon sutures. The results of the two methods of skin closure were compared in the immediate postoperative period, at 2 weeks, 3 months and at more than 18 months after surgery. The final appearance of the wounds was similar in the two groups. Dexon has the advantage for short-stay patients of not requiring removal.
Adult↗
Chlamydia and the Curtis-Fitz-Hugh syndrome.
Ten women with acute right upper-quadrant abdominal pain but negative results for biliary investigations had a current or past history of pelvic inflammatory disease. A diagnosis of the Curtis-Fitz-Hugh syndrome was made and was confirmed in five patients by laparoscopy. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was not isolated from the cervical and urethral swabbings of seven patients tested. Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from the endocervical canal in one of six patients examined. Of sera from nine patients tested by a micro-immunofluorescence test, nine and six samples respectively showed type-specific IgG and IgM antibodies against C trachomatis serotypes D-K. Type-specific IgG and IgA antibodies were also detected in the cervical and urethral discharge of two out of five patients and in the peritoneal aspirate of two. The presence of high titres of IgG or IgM in sera and IgG or IgA in the local discharges of our patients suggests that C trachomatis was probably the cause of the CFH syndrome.
Adolescent↗
Effect of 16,16-dimethyl prostaglandin E2 on the gastric mucosal barrier.
16,16-dimethyl prostaglandin E2 (16DM) can protect the gastric mucosa from injury and yet apparently damages the gastric mucosal barrier. The effect on the gastric mucosal barrier of 16DM (26.2 micromol/l), a dose 50 times the ED50 for inhibition of acid secretion, was investigated in Heidenhain pouches in four dogs by measuring plasma shedding from the pouches after the topical application of histamine (2.7 mmol/l) and ionic fluxes. The results were compared with those using 30% ethanol, a known barrier breaker. The topical application of histamine after three hours' perfusion with 30% ethanol led to plasma shedding at a rate of 7.5 (+/-2.6) ml/h, which was significantly greater than the rate of 1.2 (+/-1.4) ml/h after three hours' perfusion with 16DM and of 1.5 (+/-1.7) ml/h in the control group. Ethanol also caused an increase in the flux of H+, Na+, and Cl-, indicating an increase in mucosal permeability, whereas 16DM increased the flux of Na+ and Cl- but not of H+. It is concluded that 16DM does not damage the gastric mucosal barrier but stimulates the secretion of fluid containing Na+ and Cl-.
Animals↗
Permeability effects of the E2 prostaglandins on canine gastric mucosa.
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Animals↗
The effect of prostaglandin E2, 15-methyl prostaglandin E2, and metiamide on established canine gastric mucosal barrier damage.
The ability of two types of gastric acid inhibitor to reverse established gastric mucosal barrier damage was studied in canine Heidenhain pouches. A model of established barrier damage was prepared and validated by perfusing Heidenhain pouches with an acid saline solution containing 20 mmoles of aspirin for 2 hours (damage period) and then perfusing with acid saline alone for a third hour (recovery period). Increases in gastric mucosal permeability to H+ and Na+ produced in the damage period still were present and were significant in the recovery period. In subsequent experiments the effect of topically applied prostaglandin E2 and 15-methyl prostaglandin E2 and intravenously administered prostaglandin E2, 15-methyl prostaglandin E2, and Metiamide on the recovery period permeability was studied. Topical application of the prostaglandins and intravenous Metiamide had no effect on the increased permeability. Intravenously administered prostaglandins returned the permeability to normal and therefore reversed established barrier damage. This effect may have important therapeutic implications in acute gastric mucosal lesions.
Administration, Topical↗