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Biomedical subjects

K Richardson

Publications and source records attributed to K Richardson.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Marketing strategies of nurse practitioners in New York State.

As competition within the health care field increases, marketing strategies are becoming more important for all members of the health care team, including nurse practitioners. The purpose of this research was to identify marketing strategies being used by nurse practitioners in New York state. A total of 285 practitioners responded to a survey containing questions related to marketing techniques traditionally used in the business world: service differentiation, market segmentation and practice promotion. A majority of respondents did not report using many of the marketing strategies contained in the survey, although most nurse practitioners did report identifying themselves as primary care providers in one-on-one interactions with clients. Significantly higher marketing scores were found for nurse practitioners who attended a workshop or seminar on marketing strategies, had three or more years of experience, or who practiced in private outpatient settings.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Efficacy of fluconazole (UK-49,858) against experimental aspergillosis and cryptococcosis in mice.

The efficacy of fluconazole, a new bis-triazole antifungal agent, was compared with that of orally administered ketoconazole and parenterally administered amphotericin B against aspergillus and cryptococcus infections in mice. Fluconazole was 5-20-fold more active than ketoconazole against systemic aspergillosis and against systemic, intracranial and pulmonary cryptococcosis but was less active than amphotericin B.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMed1987

Determinants of the immunogenicity of live virulent and mutant Vibrio cholerae O1 in rabbit intestine.

Determinants of the capacity of live Vibrio cholerae O1 isolates to evoke specific immune responses in intestinal mucosa were studied in rabbits, using mucosal immunoglobulin A (IgA) antitoxin as the measured immune response. Antitoxin responses were evoked mostly by the primary inoculation and were dose dependent; secondary-type responses were modest and occurred only when the booster inoculum was large, i.e., 10(10) CFU. The efficiency of mucosal immunization correlated closely with the mucosal colonizing capacity of the infecting strain and was otherwise independent of toxin genotype (A+ B+ or A- B+) or whether the strain was motile or nonmotile. Live bacteria evoked mucosal antitoxin more efficiently than did purified cholera toxin. Prior immunization with a nontoxinogenic (A- B-) V. cholera strain interfered significantly with the induction of mucosal antitoxin by subsequent immunization with its fully toxinogenic (A+ B+) parent. These results demonstrate the marked efficiency with which live V. cholerae stimulate a specific enteric mucosal secretory IgA response. They support the view that mucosal colonization aids efficient delivery of bacterial antigens to responsive subepithelial lymphoid tissue. This might occur by transfer of colonizing bacteria through M cells into Peyer patches or by efficient delivery of secreted toxin to M cells by mucosa-associated organisms. Preexisting antibacterial immunity interferes with colonization, which may prevent efficient antigenic stimulation and which may explain the relatively weak response to booster immunization. The same process may also limit the efficacy of hybrid enteric bacterial vaccines when there is preexisting mucosal immunity to the carrier organism due to either natural exposure or prior immunization with another vaccine that uses the same carrier.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Hemolysin production and cloning of two hemolysin determinants from classical Vibrio cholerae.

The hemolytic activity of 20 classical and 3 El Tor strains of V. cholerae O1 was examined phenotypically and genetically. The El Tor strains lysed bovine, chicken, human, rabbit, and sheep erythrocytes (RBCs), while the classical strains lysed only chicken and rabbit RBCs. The assay was done with RBCs in Tris-NaCl buffer, since phosphate-buffered saline was found to inhibit hemolytic activity. Hemolytic activity in culture supernatants from El Tor strains was more sensitive to heat inactivation than that in supernatants from the classical strain 395. A gene library of strain 395 was examined for hemolytic activity, and two distinct hemolytic clones were identified. One clone appeared identical to the previously cloned hemolysin structural gene from El Tor V. cholerae, while the other did not hybridize to the El Tor hemolysin probe, had a unique restriction enzyme digestion pattern, and encoded a hemolysin whose activity differed from that of the El Tor hemolysin clones. We suggest that the hemolysin specified by the determinant originally cloned from an El Tor vibrio be designated hemolysin I and the second hemolysin, cloned from the classical vibrio, be designated hemolysin II.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Activity of UK-49,858, a bis-triazole derivative, against experimental infections with Candida albicans and Trichophyton mentagrophytes.

The therapeutic potential of UK-49,858, a difluorophenyl bis-triazole derivative, has been assessed by evaluating its activity against systemic infections with Candida albicans in normal mice and rats and in mice with impaired defence mechanisms, against vaginal infections with C. albicans in mice, and against dermal infections with Trichophyton mentagrophytes in guinea pigs. Orally administered ketoconazole was used as a comparative agent throughout, and parenterally administered amphotericin B was included in the study of C. albicans systemic infection in normal mice. The activity of UK-49,858 given orally to mice or rats infected systemically with C. albicans was far superior to that of ketoconazole. In addition, UK-49,858 showed activity comparable to that of amphotericin B when given parenterally, although the latter gave more prolonged protection. UK-49,858 was also effective orally in curing experimental candidal vaginitis in mice and trichophytosis in guinea pigs, against which it was approximately 10 times more active than ketoconazole. These data suggest that UK-49,858 may be of value in the treatment of both C. albicans and dermatophyte fungal infections in man.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMed1985

Efficacy of UK-49,858 (fluconazole) against Candida albicans experimental infections in mice.

UK-49,858 (fluconazole), a new, orally absorbed bis-triazole derivative, has been evaluated against systemic infections with Candida albicans in normal and immunosuppressed mice and against an intestinal infection with C. albicans in immunosuppressed mice. Orally administered ketoconazole was used as a comparison agent throughout, and orally administered amphotericin B was included for comparative in the experimental intestinal infection. In a 10-day dosage regimen, UK-49,858 was far more active than ketoconazole against systemic infections with C. albicans in normal and immunosuppressed mice. In normal mice, extension of UK-49,858 dosing to 30 days resulted in prolongation of survival to over 90 days, and up to 60% of treated animals had no detectable C. albicans in their kidneys. In addition, over 90% of mice with intestinal candidiasis had culture-negative feces after a 3-day treatment with UK-49,858, but only 62 and 23% of mice gave this response after amphotericin B and ketoconazole therapy, respectively. These data suggest that UK-49,858 may be of value in the treatment of systemic and gastrointestinal infections due to C. albicans in humans.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMed1985

Identification and occurrence of Vibrio cholerae flagellar core proteins in isolated outer membrane.

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of outer membranes from a flagellated and an isogenic nonflagellated strain of Vibrio cholerae (classical, Inaba) suggested that two proteins were absent from the nonflagellated strain. Immunoblot examination of such preparations demonstrated that two proteins, present only in outer membrane from the flagellated strain, were associated with flagella. Analysis of purified flagellar cores from strains CA401 and N16961 (El Tor, Inaba) by electron microscopy, sodium dodecyl sulfate-urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and immunoblotting showed that these two proteins, with apparent molecular weights of 47,000 and 49,000, composed the flagellar core. Antiserum specific for flagellar core proteins did not agglutinate or inhibit the motility of intact V. cholerae. These latter findings suggested that, for intact cells, the flagellar core proteins are not accessible to antibody.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1985

Identification and characterization of Vibrio cholerae surface proteins by radioiodination.

Whole cells and isolated outer membrane from Vibrio cholerae (Classical, Inaba) were radiolabeled with Iodogen or Iodo-beads as catalyst. Radiolabeling of whole cells was shown to be surface specific by sodium dodecyl sulfate-urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of whole cells and cell fractions. Surface-labeled whole cells regularly showed 16 distinguishable protein species, of which nine were found in radiolabeled outer membrane preparations obtained by a lithium chloride-lithium acetate procedure. Eight of these proteins were found in outer membranes prepared by sucrose density gradient centrifugation and Triton X-100 extraction of radiolabeled whole cells. The mobility of several proteins was shown to be affected by temperature, and the major protein species exposed on the cell surface was shown to consist of at least two different peptides.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗
PubMed1985

Cloning of the cytotoxin-hemolysin gene of Vibrio vulnificus.

Genes encoding the cytotoxin-hemolysin of Vibrio vulnificus were cloned in Escherichia coli by using the lytic cloning vector, lambda 1059. Subcloning in plasmid pBR325 resulted in the isolation of a 3.2-kilobase DNA fragment containing the cytotoxin gene. By using this fragment as a DNA probe, homologous gene sequences were detected in all 54 V. vulnificus strains studied; homologous sequences were present in none of 96 isolates from 29 other bacterial species.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Evaluation of the human immune response to outer membrane proteins of Vibrio cholerae.

The immune response of 114 volunteers with diarrhea after experimental challenge with four strains of Vibrio cholerae O1 was characterized in a microtiter enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay antibody detection system by using a partially purified outer membrane preparation (OMP) from these strains as an antigen. Analysis of paired sera from 29 persons with noncholera diarrhea (negative control population), demonstrated that a rise in net optical density greater than 0.10 was significant. A total of 50% of the 79 cholera volunteers challenged with El Tor biotype and 54% of the 35 volunteers challenged with classical biotype had significant rises in immunoglobulin G anti-OMP. Paired sera that showed significant rises when tested against homologous OMP all manifested significant rises when also tested against a serotype-heterologous OMP. Immunoblotting techniques showed that the antigens to which antibodies were reacting were mainly protein in nature, not lipopolysaccharide. Furthermore, absorption with lipopolysaccharide decreased the optical density by a mean of only 12% (0 to 30%), corroborating that antibody was mainly directed against OMP and not lipopolysaccharide. This study indicates that there is a human immunoglobulin G response to OMP during clinical cholera infection and that this response is constant among bio- and serotypes.

Antibody Formation↗
PubMed1984

Further studies on human plasma aldosterone-binding globulins: isolation, purification, and evidence for heterogeneity.

The present study further characterizes the aldosterone-binding globulin (ABG) in human plasma. Isolations were performed by ultrafiltration, Blue Sepharose CL-6B, or ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. New ABG species were identified: interconvertible with ABG in plasma is a thermolabile (MW less than 70,000) and a thermostable ABG macromolecule (MW 27,500). All forms were extensively purified to electrophoretic homogeneity (SDS-PAGE) showing microheterogeneity in isoelectric focusing (pI 4.76 and 4.8) and reversible high-affinity binding for aldosterone. Chromatography of lipoprotein-free plasma in DEAE-Sephadex A-50 gel (ionic gradient) revealed the presence of a dimer of ABG (MW 55,000) which was found to be interconvertible with ABG and was the main carrier of aldosterone in normal fresh plasma. Selective adsorption of albumin from lipoprotein-free plasma on Blue Sepharose CL-6B permitted in a single novel step the complete resolution of bound aldosterone (binding ABG) and bound cortisol (binding corticosteroid-binding globulin). Both ABG and the dimer can be separated from corticosteroid-binding globulin by Blue Sepharose chromatography. A new homeostatic mechanism in which ABG participates in blood pressure regulation by interacting with aldosterone is postulated.

Aldosterone↗
PubMed1982

Right brain-left brain: the nurse consultant and behavior change following stroke.

In summary, I have made suggestions for working with staff to promote empathy for the stroke patient presenting with behavior problems. All of us take for granted our "two ways of knowing," the richness of our experience being promoted by the two sides of our brain. When brain damage occurs, the results are sometimes dramatic as with paralysis or expressive aphasia, and sometimes subtle as with receptive aphasia and certain visual-spatial problems. Nursing staff provide the care which otherwise would have been self care. When expectations are low, patients withdraw and staff "care ... less." When expectations are high, patients become symptomatic, staff burned out. The nurse consultant can intervene most effectively by addressing the total milieu, enriching the perspective of staff and family members who are seeing only one side of the whole.

Behavior↗
PubMed1981

Limited joint mobility in childhood diabetes mellitus indicates increased risk for microvascular disease.

We detected limited mobility of small and large joints in 92 (30 per cent) of 309 patients with diabetes who were one to 28 years old. Among patients who had had diabetes for more than 4.5 years (the shortest duration at which microvascular complications were noted), 82 of 169 had joint limitation. Forty-one of these 82 also had microvascular complications, but only 10 of the 87 patients without joint limitation had complications. Life-table analysis indicated an 83 per cent risk for microvascular complications after 16 years of diabetes if joint limitation was present, but only a 25 per cent risk if joint limitation was absent. Consequently, limited joint mobility identifies a population exceptionally at risk for the early development of microvascular complications, and intervention to forestall or prevent these complications can now be focused.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

The nature of pediatric critical care nursing: perspectives of patient, family, and staff.

No one would advocate the establishment of a PICU in every hospital. However, in establishing regional pediatric facilities, provisions for critical care for children should be considered. A PICU unit that serves as a referral center, with adequate resources and trained personnel, can be both accessible and cost-effective. Pediatric critical care is a challenging arena for the nurse. These children, their families, and the staff form an interdependent triad that continually must try to anticipate and to meet the needs of the participants. The importance of developing care delivery systems that can support each person involved cannot be overemphasized. The ultimate outcome will be a stable setting for patient care that serves to resolve crisis, rather than to precipitate it, preserving the best interests of the patients, family, and staff.

Child↗
PubMed1980

Test-retest reliability of the test for auditory comprehension of language when it is used with mentally retarded children.

The Carrow (1973) Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language (TACL) is used frequently as part of a test battery to assess the language skills of mentally retarded children. This study determined its reliability with this population using a test-retest paradigm. Forty-four retarded children were given the test and then retested after a five-week interval. A reliability coefficient of 0.91 was obtained between pre-test and posttest administrations of the TACL. Internal stability was highest for total scores, the subtests measuring form class and function words, and grammatical categories. The low coefficients obtained for the subtests of morphological construction and syntactic suggest that these should be viewed with considerable caution when considered separately from the total test results.

Adolescent↗