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Biomedical subjects

L Benson

Publications and source records attributed to L Benson.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Stressful life events and marital dysfunction.

The relationship between stress and marital dysfunction was examined in 1979-80 through a study of two demographically matched groups of married couples. The study group consisted of couples who had been referred for therapy for marital problems while the control group had never been referred for psychiatric treatment of any kind. The authors compared the incidence, magnitude, and source of stressful life events. The two groups of couples differed in their reports of the incidence and sources of stress, but not in the magnitude of stress. Study couples reported almost twice the frequency of stressful events over the three-year period before referral and a significant increase in stress in the year immediatly before referral. Changes in family structure, family interaction, or both were the major sources of stress for both groups but especially so far the referred couples. The authors concluded that a significant association exists between stressful life events and marital dysfunction, and that the clincal assessment of life events can play a meaningful role in evaluation and treatment planning.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Role of substrains in persistent lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection.

Two plaque-type mutants, a wild strain MB(1), and a slow-growing non-plaque-forming variant of LCM virus were compared in L cell cultures. The cultures were monitored at biweekly intervals following infection for plaque-forming virus titre and cytoplasmic and membrane specific immunofluorescence of the cells. Different patterns were obtained in each case and the relevance of these results to LCM persistence is discussed. While the LM variant continually produced virus for 35 transfers, with a cycling titre, the SC variant stopped producing detectable virus after 30 transfers. Thereafter this culture remained fluorescent and resembled the one infected with the slow-growing variant. The degree of specific immunofluorescence of both continued to cycle. The MB(1) strain stopped producing virus after the 18th transfer.

Animals↗
PubMed1971

Lytic and turbid plaque-type mutants of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus as a cause of neurological disease or persistent infection.

Mouse-passaged lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus was found to contain a mixture of two different plaque-type mutants when plated on BHK-21/13S cells in agarose suspension. One mutant gave rise to clear plaques, with death of the cells, whereas the other produced turbid plaques which were sometimes very difficult to see. The clear-plaque variant caused a pronounced cytopathic effect on BHK-21 cells, but the turbid variant caused none; it also interfered with the cytopathic effect due to the clear variant. Brain-passed LCM virus was found to consist mainly of the clear-plaque-type, whereas liver-passed virus was mainly turbid-plaque-type. The clear type induced convulsions and early death after intracerebral inoculation of adult mice; the turbid variant caused no convulsions and late deaths. In newborn mice, the clear-plaque-type was uniformly fatal, whereas the turbid variant caused no deaths but instead induced persistent tolerant infection.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nurses' perceptions of their role and role conflicts.

Nurses' perceptions of their professional role and their experience of role conflict were explored in a sample of certified general rehabilitation nurses. Nonnurse healthcare professionals who are on the same teams as the participating nurses also were assessed for their expectations of the nurse's role. The level of locus of control was identified among the various professions. The major finding of the study was that the rehabilitation nurses shared a consistent view of their professional role and of how they believed other professionals saw this role. The results showed that the nonnurse professionals were to some extent unaware of the expectations that the nurses held for the nursing role. There was no appreciable difference in the level of locus of control among team members, a situation which may have a leveling effect on the team dynamics. These findings have implications for professional role clarity, the promotion of locus of control, and interdisciplinary team dynamics.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fenestration of the Fontan circuit as treatment for plastic bronchitis.

Plastic bronchitis is a rare, potentially life-threatening condition in which protein casts form within and occlude the bronchus, resulting in pulmonary failure, and has been identified as a complication after the Fontan procedure. We present a case of a 5-year-old girl who had undergone an extracardiac fenestrated Fontan repair as a component of staged palliation for tricuspid atresia. Six weeks following surgery, the patient presented with airway obstruction, coughing a bronchial cast. Medical therapies to optimize heart function and attempt to control cast formation were implemented, with little clinical impact. Following cardiac catheterization to stent open the fenestration, the symptoms of plastic bronchitis resolved. Cast expectoration recurred following spontaneous closure of the stented fenestration and again resolved with recreation of the baffle defect. Fenestration of the Fontan circuit alters hemodynamics, thereby providing an additional therapeutic option for this devastating disorder.

Airway Obstruction↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The prevalence of occupational injuries in EMTs in New England.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the prevalence and morbidity of injuries to emergency medical technicians EMTs) in New England [United States]. DESIGN: A survey was mailed to a 2% random sample of all registered EMTs in the six New England States. The identity of the EMTs remained anonymous, and a second mailing was used to improve return rate. The EMTs were requested to recall events that occurred during the previous six months. RESULTS: A total of 439 of the 786 (56%) surveys were returned representing 13,875 hours of duty time in the six-month period. Seventy-one percent of the EMTs were male with a mean age of 35 years. Sixty-six percent were basic-EMTs. Injury attack rates (number of injuries/100 EMTs/6 months) were: stress, 11.2; back, 10.5; extremity, 9.8; assault, 8.4; ambulance collision, 4.1; hearing loss, 2.5; and eye injury, 1.4. Twelve percent of the EMTs were injured more than once in the six-month period. The paramedics more frequently were involved in ambulance collisions, suffered from stress, and were less likely to injure their back. There were minor interstate differences. Disability due to back injury affected 2.5% of those surveyed, four EMTs lost duty time secondary to an assault, and 0.5% of the EMTs were out of work due to stress. CONCLUSIONS: This survey begins to characterize the occupational risks of EMTs. The prevalence of back injuries, assault, stress, and extremity injuries seems to be too high. Educational programs and preventive interventions should be designed to minimize back injuries, stress, and assault. There is a need for more research nationwide in order to better characterize these injuries.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Combination Interferon alfa-2b/ribavirin therapy for the treatment of hepatitis C: nursing implications.

An effective new therapeutic option consisting of Intron A (Interferon alfa-2b, recombinant; Schering Corporation, Kenilworth, NJ) Injection and Rebetol (Ribavirin, USP) Capsules is now available for the initial therapy of patients with hepatitis C and for patients who had previously responded to alpha interferon but subsequently relapsed. The combination of recombinant interferon alfa-2b/ribavirin therapy increases hepatitis C viral clearance 10-fold in hepatitis C relapse patients and almost threefold in previously untreated patients compared with alpha interferon monotherapy. There is no synergistic toxicity apparent with the two-drug combination. Ribavirin does not significantly worsen the side effects associated with interferon alfa-2b, which are predictable, manageable, and reversible. The major side effects of combination therapy include flulike symptoms, neutropenia, psychiatric disorders, and anemia; however, these side effects are well known and can be managed with dose modifications and nursing intervention. The assistance of nurses in patient education, in side effect management, in hematologic parameter monitoring, and in medication dosing and administration is crucial to maximizing patient compliance and therapy outcome.

Antiviral Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Computed tomography of the tongue in primary amyloidosis.

Primary amyloidosis is a systemic disease that may cause diffuse enlargement of the tongue or macroglossia. Obvious macroglossia is easily detected by clinical inspection. There is no agreement, however, on an objective measure of tongue enlargement. Computed tomography of the base of the tongue was performed in 12 patients with primary amyloidosis. Tongue width and width of the hyoglossus and genioglossus muscles were measured. Based on normal measurements it was concluded that macroglossia is present if the tongue is wider than 50 mm and the genioglossus wider than 11 mm. This should be accompanied by a midline cleft of the tongue surface and outward displacement of normal-size submandibular glands.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Foreign compound metabolism studies with human liver obtained as surgical waste. Relation to donor characteristics and effects of tissue storage.

An investigation has been conducted on the foreign compound-metabolizing activity of human liver collected fresh from surgery or at autopsy from cadavers 3 to 18 hr old, and the effects of low temperature storage on the foreign compound-metabolizing activity of fresh human liver. The enzyme activities studied were microsomal cytochrome P-450 content, biphenyl 4-hydroxylation, benzo-(a)pyrene metabolism, halothane reduction, and 4-hydroxybiphenyl UDP-glucuronosyl transferase, as well as cytosolic thiopurine methyltransferase, thermostable (TS) phenolsulfotransferase, thermolabile (TL) phenolsulfotransferase, and 5-fluorouracil dehydrogenase. Cadaver liver was a poor source of material for metabolism studies with the majority of the enzymes investigated. There was an 84% decrease in the yield of microsomal protein, a 64% decrease in cytochrome P-450 content per mg of microsomal protein, and a 36% decrease in the biphenyl 4-hydroxylase specific activity in human cadaver liver that was a few hours old. UDP-glucuronosyl transferase showed a 70% decrease, TS phenolsulfotransferase a 84% decrease, TL phenolsulfotransferase a 97% decrease, and thiopurine methyltransferase no significant change in specific activity. The loss of activity for many of these enzymes could be simulated by keeping fresh human liver at the temperature of the body after death. Surgical waste provided a good source of fresh, histologically normal, human liver for metabolism studies. Microsomal cytochrome P-450 content showed a significant increase with the age of the liver donor. Metabolism of benzo(a)pyrene to 3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene and benzo(a)pyrene-7,8- and -9,10-diols showed up to 136% higher rates in fresh liver microsomes from female donors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Magnetic resonance imaging in primary amyloidosis.

Twelve patients with primary amyloidosis (AL) were investigated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In 9 patients an abnormal thickening of the heart walls was present and in 2 macroglossia was found at MRI. T1 was significantly increased in liver (p less than 0.05) and subcutaneous fat (p less than 0.01) while it was decreased in the spleen (p less than 0.05). T2 was significantly decreased (p less than 0.01) in the spleen in patients with amyloidosis, while it was not significantly altered in the liver or subcutaneous fat. After therapy T1 of the liver was reduced towards normal values in 4 patients. It is concluded that MRI might be a method to quantitate the amount of amyloid deposits in the tissue, and that the effect of therapy may be monitored with this technique.

Aged↗