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Biomedical subjects

J R Thomas

Publications and source records attributed to J R Thomas.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Staphylococcus aureus collagen adhesin contributes to the pathogenesis of osteomyelitis.

To evaluate the role of the Staphylococcus aureus collagen-binding adhesin (Cna) in bone and joint infection, we generated a cna mutant in S. aureus UAMS-1, a strain that was originally isolated from the bone of a patient suffering from osteomyelitis. The mutant (UAMS-237) was unable to bind collagen but bound fibronectin at levels comparable to UAMS-1. The relative virulence of UAMS-1 and UAMS-237 was assessed using a murine model of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis. Specifically, 10(8) colony-forming units (cfu) were introduced into the bloodstream of NIH-Swiss mice via tail-vein injection. After 2 weeks, the left hind limb was harvested and examined histologically for evidence of osteomyelitis and septic arthritis. Osteomyelitis developed in 14 of 20 mice (70%) infected with UAMS-1, but only 1 of 20 (5%) infected with UAMS-237 (p < 0.001). In contrast, septic arthritis was observed in 12 of 20 mice (60%) infected with UAMS-1 and 14 of 20 (70%) infected with UAMS-237 (p < 0.75). These results indicate that Cna is not required to establish joint infection, but does make an important contribution to the ability of S. aureus to establish infection in bone through hematogenous spread.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗
PubMed2001

A novel reciprocal (10;17)(p11.2;q23) in myxoid fibrosarcoma.

Recurring reciprocal translocations have been identified as the primary chromosome aberrations in a number of neoplasms. These aberrations are often closely associated with particular morphologic or phenotypic subtypes of tumors and in some cases have prognostic implications. We have identified a novel reciprocal t(10;17)(p11.2;q23) in a case of low-grade myxoid fibrosarcoma, which may prove to be a new tumor specific chromosome aberration.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 10↗
PubMed2001

Subgrouping and grading of soft-tissue sarcomas by fine-needle aspiration cytology: a histopathologic correlation study.

To evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of subgrouping and grading soft-tissue sarcomas by fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), a blind review was conducted of 84 FNAB specimens from 77 malignant and 7 benign soft-tissue lesions. Cytomorphologic subgroups included 31 spindle-cell, 24 pleomorphic, 11 myxoid, 7 epithelioid/polygonal, 3 small round cell, and 8 nondiagnostic cases. Malignancies included one lymphoma and 41 primary, 15 recurrent, and 20 metastatic soft-tissue sarcomas. Adequacy was defined as a majority of slides with at least 5 clusters of 10 unobscured cells. Five originally false-negative cases were considered nondiagnostic on review. Sarcoma was recognized in 59 of 64 adequate cases (92%) with available histology; however, the specific histopathologic subtype was identified in only 9 cases (14%). Benign myxoid and spindle-cell lesions were difficult to separate from low-grade sarcomas in 4 cases, and a B-cell lymphoma with sclerosis mimicked a low-grade myxoid sarcoma. The assigned cytologic grade accurately reflected the histologic grade in 90% of sarcomas when segregated into high and low grades. Pleomorphic, small round cell, and epithelioid/polygonal subgroups corresponded to high-grade sarcomas in all cases with only minor noncorrelations. Major grading noncorrelations occurred in 50% of myxoid and 9% of spindle-cell sarcomas. Therefore, attention should be given to specimen adequacy, and caution should be exercised when attempting to grade myxoid and spindle-cell sarcomas by FNAB.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Anatomy and pathophysiology of facial aging.

The major forces responsible for facial aging include gravity, soft tissue maturation, skeletal remodeling, muscular facial activity, and solar changes. This article discusses the anatomy and pathophysiology of facial aging by defining the affects of the aging process on the skeletal structure, skin, and musculature. How these changes affect the upper, mid, and lower thirds of the aging face is then examined.

Aging↗
PubMed2000

Movement substructures change as a function of practice in children and adults.

An experiment is reported in which participants at 6 (n = 20), 9 (n = 20), and 24 years (n = 20) of age either received or did not receive practice on a rapid aiming task using the arm and hand. The purpose of the experiment was to document the changes in movement substructures (in addition to movement time) as a function of practice. After receiving 10 baseline trials, subjects in the practice groups received 30 practice trials followed by 10 retention trials on each of 5 days, while subjects in the no-practice group had only baseline and retention trials. Retention-only trials were divided into primary (reflecting the ballistic controlled part of the movement) and secondary (reflecting corrective movement adjustments) submovements. In addition, jerk (the 3rd derivative of movement displacement) was calculated as an estimate of the smoothness of the movement. Participants increased the primary submovement as a function of practice; however, the increases were substantially larger in the children (25-30%) than in the adults (10%). Participants also decreased jerk as a function of practice and the decreases were greater in children than in adults. The results suggest that with practice the primary submovement is lengthened so that it ends nearer the target, especially in children. Associated with the primary submovement covering a larger percentage of the movement length and time, movements became smoother.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Developmental features of rapid aiming arm movements across the lifespan.

Using a lifespan approach, the authors investigated developmental features of the control of ballistic aiming arm movements by manipulating movement complexity, response uncertainty, and the use of precues. Four different age groups of participants (6- and 9-year-old boys and girls and 24- and 73-year-old men and women, 20 participants in each age group) performed 7 types of rapid aiming arm movements on the surface of a digitizer. Their movement characteristics such as movement velocity, normalized jerk, relative timing, movement linearity, and intersegment intervals were profiled. Analyses of variance with repeated measures were conducted on age and task effects in varying movement complexity (Study 1), response uncertainty (Study 2), and precue use (Study 3) conditions. Young children and senior adults had slower, more variant, less smooth, and less linear arm movements than older children and young adults. Increasing the number of movement segments resulted in slower and more variant responses. Movement accuracy demands or response uncertainty interacted with age so that the 6- and 74-year-old participants had poorer performances but responded similarly to the varying treatments. Even though older children and young adults had better performances than young children and senior adults, their arm movement performance declined when response uncertainty increased. The analyses suggested that young children's and senior adults' performances are poorer because less of their movement is under central control, and they therefore use on-line adjustments. In addition, older children and young adults use a valid precue more effectively to prepare for subsequent movements than do young children and senior adults, suggesting that older children and young adults are more capable of organizing motor responses than are young children and senior adults.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Thermal modeling of microwave heated packed and fluidized bed catalytic reactors.

Thermal models of small-scale, microwave-heated, packed-bed and fluidized-bed catalytic chemical reactors were developed to investigate the possibility of selectively heating the catalyst sites or the catalyst pellets with microwaves. Results indicate catalyst sites may be selectively heated under special conditions in a packed or fluidized bed, and catalyst pellets may be heated above the temperature of the cooling(and reacting) gas under certain conditions in a fluidized bed.

Ceramics↗
PubMed2000

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in boys with neural cell adhesion molecule L1 mutations and congenital hydrocephalus.

The phenotype of severe congenital hydrocephalus secondary to neural cell adhesion molecule L1 (L1CAM) gene mutations includes the distinct finding of brainstem corticospinal tract hypoplasia. Using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), we failed to demonstrate anisotropy in the corticospinal tracts of the basis pontis in 4 affected boys with L1CAM mutations. The DWI findings correlated with the neuropathological findings in a fifth patient. DWI may be a useful technique to screen for boys with L1CAM mutations.

Child↗
PubMed2000

Pharmacy overload.

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Burnout, Professional↗
PubMed2000

Small victories.

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Humans↗
PubMed1999

Tyrosine improves working memory in a multitasking environment.

Previous studies indicate that tyrosine may prove useful in promoting improved performance in situations in which performance is compromised by stress. To extend the generality of previous tyrosine findings, the present study examined the effects of tyrosine ingestion on performance during both a Multiple Task and a Simple Task battery. The multiple task battery was designed to measure working memory, arithmetic skills, and visual and auditory monitoring simultaneously, whereas the simple task battery measured only working memory and visual monitoring. Ten men and 10 women subjects underwent these batteries 1 h after ingesting 150 mg/kg of l-tyrosine or placebo. Administration of tyrosine significantly enhanced accuracy and decreased frequency of list retrieval on the working memory task during the multiple task battery compared with placebo. However, tyrosine induced no significant changes in performance on the arithmetic, visual, or auditory tasks during the Multiple Task, or modified any performance measures during the Simple Task battery. Blood levels of ACTH and cortisol were not, but heart rate and blood pressure were significantly increased during the performance tasks. The present results indicate that tyrosine may sustain working memory when competing requirements to perform other tasks simultaneously degrade performance, and that supplemental tyrosine may be appropriate for maintaining performance when mild to severe decrements are anticipated.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗