Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Robinson.
Solitary rib lesions are not uncommon. They are frequently asymptomatic and usually benign. Virtually all of the malignant tumors are associated with an obvious soft tissue mass which merits further investigation. However, should any of the benign appearing lesions either become symptomatic, change appearance or start growing then they too should be biopsied.
A surveillance system, capable of linking experience in specific jobs with certain health outcomes, has been established within the Australian petroleum industry. A defined population of 11 596 employees has been assembled, after personal interviews. Events recorded are death and its cause, and diagnosis of cancer. Members of the study population are followed up after leaving the industry. By the end of 1983, 33 deaths had occurred, fewer than would be expected from the prevailing rates in the general Australian population. With progressive accumulation of follow-up data, questions of greater complexity will be addressed.
The records of 1428 neurological patients referred to a department of Clinical Neurophysiology for PRVER testing have been reviewed. Half field studies with multichannel recordings were carried out in the majority. 1186 of these patients had a provisional diagnosis of MS; 42% had abnormal PRVERs compared with 25% for those patients who did not have MS. Symmetrical latency increases from stimulation of either eye, interocular latency abnormalities and amplitude abnormalities were as frequent in the non-MS patients as the group with a provisional diagnosis of MS. A small proportion of patients had neurophysiological evidence of field defects; homonymous hemianopias occurred as frequently as "central" defects in the MS group. The PRVER abnormalities are considered in relation to the current models of conduction in demyelinated fibres.
A simple and economical radioimmunoassay for benzoylecgonine in blood or urine is described. Haemolysis, decomposition, common anticoagulants and sodium fluoride do not affect the results. A commercially available antiserum is used at a dilution of 1:600. The tracer is radioiodinated p-hydroxybenzoylecgonine. It is prepared by reacting p-acetoxybenzoic anhydride with methyl ecgonine followed by mild hydrolysis and radioiodination by the Iodo-gen method. The product is purified on a disposable silica cartridge and has a specific activity of about 30 TBq mmol-1. Polyethylene glycol is used to separate the bound and free fractions in the assay. The range of the dose-response curve is 0-400 ng ml-1 benzoylecgonine. The assay is largely specific for benzoylecgonine. Cocaine, ecgonine, methylecgonine and cinnamoyl cocaine have slight or negligible cross-reactivities. The inter-assay coefficient of variation is 7.5% and the recovery of benzoylecgonine from 'spiked' blood is 103%. The 'cut-off' is 20 ng ml-1 benzoylecgonine for both blood and urine. Radioimmunoassay and high-performance liquid chromatography results agree well.
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92 patients thought to have a cerebello-pontine angle tumour on initial presentation were studied prospectively using standard neuro-otological techniques, brainstem evoked potential recording with a variety of montages, middle latency auditory evoked potentials and CT scanning. 64 patients had a tumour, 40 of which were acoustic neuromas. By analysing the data from all disciplines it has been possible to delineate clusters of variables that are of value in the differential diagnosis of cerebello-pontine angle lesions.
Two simple and economical radioimmunoassays for methadone in blood or urine are described. Haemolysis, decomposition, common anticoagulants and sodium fluoride do not affect the results. One assay uses commercially-available [1-3H](-)-methadone hydrobromide as the label, while the other uses a radioiodinated conjugate of 4-dimethylamino-2,2-diphenylpentanoic acid and L-tyrosine methyl ester. A commercially-available antiserum is used in both assays. Normethadone and alpha-methadol cross-react to a small extent with the antiserum while methadone metabolites, dextropropoxyphene, dipipanone and phenadoxone have negligible cross-reactivities. The 'cut-offs' of the two assays as described are 30 and 33 ng ml-1 for blood, and 24 and 21 ng ml-1 for urine. The assay using the radioiodinated conjugate can be made more sensitive if required by increasing the specific activity of the label.
The Gunkel chromograph was tested on 81 volunteers with normal color vision as indicated by screening with Ishihara plates and the panel D-15. Most of these color normals located their neutral area superior to the geometric center of the chromogram. A minority located their neutral area at the geometric center. Recognition of this variation may prevent misdiagnosis of chromographs of patients suspected of having color vision defects. All 29 eyes with history and VEP findings consistent with optic nerve demyelinization had enlargement of the neutral area, even though visual acuity could be corrected to 20/20.
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Cells from a human esophageal carcinoma cell line characterized by abundant microvilli and extensive lateral processes were grown on glass coverslips and processed for scanning electron microscopy. In order to reduce possible artifacts related to movement the cultured cells were fixed directly in situ at 37 degrees C and transported for subsequent processing in a specially designed carrier. During dehydration and critical point drying, the cultures were confined in a versatile holder that avoided accidental air drying and required only small volumes of reagents. Flattening of the superficial microvilli on all cells and of processes on mitotic cells was prevented. Extensive fracture of the lateral processes was reduced. Despite the absence of a washing step, debris was minimal and cells of high quality were observed.
The biochemical differentiation of the brain, lungs, liver, and kidneys of the late gestation rat fetus was examined to characterize the immediate implications of retarded growth on fetal development. Initially, the normative profile of development of the brain (weight, DNA content, and protein content), lungs (weight and surfactant accumulation), liver (weight and glycogen deposition), and kidneys (weight, alkaline phosphatase activity, and protein content) was determined on gestation days 19, 20, 21, and 22 (day 1 = finding of sperm in the vaginal smear). Subsequently, five compounds known to induce fetotoxicity (chlorambucil, methyl salicylate, mirex, nitrofen, and toxaphene) were administered during organogenesis, and the effects on organ differentiation were determined in day 21 fetuses. The effects of fetal growth retardation resulting from exposure to exogenous agents were not equally distributed among the organs studied. The liver and kidney appeared more sensitive to insult by these agents than did the brain and lungs.
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The BSEPs elicited by monaural and binaural click stimuli were studied using a variety of monopolar and bipolar montages. The wave form of the evoked response was different on separate montages. Evidence is presented that there are multiple generators responsible for the evoked potential recorded. Furthermore binaural stimulation evoked activity in a generator not excited from either ear alone. A method of presentation of the data in terms of a vectogram is given and the use of this in disease illustrated. The implication of complex interactions of many generators upon the assessment of the record in patients is discussed.
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The absence of an interdisciplinary science of sexology has resulted in sexuality being narrowly defined by the particular ideology of the various scientific disciplines. This review presents a theoretical model to integrate the interdisciplinary data related to the development of the three phases of eroticism. A biosocial integration of the multiple aspects of eroticism will hopefully generate research and psychotherapeutic innovations not plagued by mind-body dichotomization. The emphasis of this paper is on the solicitation, attraction and pair-bonding phase of eroticism, since this has been more neglected by sexologists than the copulatory and conceptive phases.
An electronic interface is described which permits the Vickers M85/M86 microdensitometer to be used with a chart recorder to plot linear distance along a chromosome against (1) the absorbance, (2) the product of the chromosome width and the mean absorbance transverse to the long axis of the chromosome, or (3) the integrated absorbance accumulating during a two-dimensional scan of the specimen.