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Biomedical subjects

L Robinson

Publications and source records attributed to L Robinson.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Roots of urban violence.

Alcohol consumption and dependence, employment status, social and family history and history of previous violence in 49 patients injured in city-centre violence were compared with that in 49 paired, age and sex matched control individuals in a major accident and emergency department. All control individuals had been in the same locations as the patients at the time of injury. Alcohol consumption was recorded in units and dependence was assessed by means of the CAGE questionnaire. Patients had consumed significantly more alcohol in the 6 h before injury (mean consumption: 9 units/controls 7.1 units) and had been involved in more previous violence (mean number of incidents in previous 5 years: 4.3/controls: 1.5 incidents). In comparison with controls, male patients tended to be single rather than married (P = 0.051), to have lost a parent (P = 0.058) and to feel guilty about their alcohol consumption (P = 0.068). These results indicate that in relation to young adults, injury in urban violence was associated with excessive binge-alcohol consumption, but not with alcohol dependence, unemployment at the time of violence or socio-economic group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Nager's acrofacial dysostosis. Case report and review of the literature.

Nager's acrofacial dysostosis is a rare congenital anomaly in which mandibulofacial dysostosis is seen in combination with limb deformities, particularly hypoplasia of the radial aspect of the hand. A boy with a severe manifestation of this syndrome is presented. Deformities include severe bilateral mandibular hypoplasia with trismus, malar hypoplasia, downward sloping palpebral fissures, high-arched hard palate, absent soft palate, external auditory and middle ear abnormalities and bilateral hand deformities. The diagnosis and treatment difficulties in this patient are discussed in light of those reported in the literature. An interdisciplinary team approach to the management of patients with Nager syndrome is emphasized.

Fingers↗
PubMed1990

Syringomyelia and syringobulbia: pathophysiology, surgical treatment and nursing implications.

Syringomyelia (central cavitation of the spinal cord) and syringobulbia (cavitation of the medulla) are relatively rare disorders. These conditions are often found in association with congenital abnormalities such as Chiari malformations, with neoplasms or as sequelae to spinal cord trauma. The pathology progresses from minor sensory changes to weakness and wasting and, in the case of syringobulbia, to respiratory compromise and even death. Surgical treatment involves drainage or decompression of the syrinx cavity with diversion of fluid to the subarachnoid space or peritoneal cavity. Posterior fossa decompression may also be used. These procedures attempt to halt destruction of the nervous system, but will not reverse damage that has already occurred. A case presentation and associated nursing diagnoses are discussed to illustrate current medical and nursing interventions.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Precipitants of violence in a psychiatric inpatient setting.

Data gathered from the medical record and in interviews with staff and patients in an inpatient psychiatric setting at a Veterans Affairs medical center were used to examine events preceding 73 episodes in which patients were placed in four-point restraints. The behaviors leading to restraint included physical aggression, verbal threats, and threats with an object as a weapon. These behaviors were more likely to relate to external situations than to the patient's internal psychiatric symptoms. Staff were most frequently the target of patients' aggression, and patients were more likely to view the events leading to restraint as conflict with staff. No differences in the subsequent number of restraint episodes or hours in restraints were found between patients with positive and negative responses to the index restraint episode.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein and amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein after multifetal pregnancy reduction.

Forty patients underwent fetal reduction at approximately 12 weeks' gestation for multiple pregnancy. Twenty-two had maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) determinations and all but one was elevated, with a mean value of 9.41 multiples of the median (MOM). A total of 53 amniotic fluid specimens were evaluated for AFP; 25% were elevated above 2.0 MOM and one sample was positive for acetylcholinesterase. None of these elevations were associated with a neural tube defect, although two neural tube defects were detected by other means. Routine MSAFP is not recommended for patients with multifetal pregnancy reduction.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed1990

Stress and anxiety.

Anxiety is the psychophysiologic signal that the stress response has been initiated. The stress response's by-product, stress, is difficult to define. The response has multiple dimensions that have yielded research with many foci. Most salient to nursing are investigations of psychobiologic variables, the influence of life events, and the interactional model of the stress response. The stress response can be viewed as an interactional process that causes psychophysiologic reactions that are immediate and can occur up to and including physiologic events 3 weeks after confrontation with the stressor. The literature suggests that neuroendocrine alterations in response to confrontation with a stressor may influence immunocompetence. Intervention and prevention studies of stress focus on pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, behavioral techniques, personality engineering, relaxation training, and biofeedback. Nursing research on stress has proliferated in the 1980s. Implications for nursing intervention include coping strategies that fall into four categories: behavioral, physical, cognitive, and emotional.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1989

Purification of human basophils. Their response to anti-IgE.

Although usually the least prevalent blood leukocyte, the basophil can release potent soluble factors in response to multiple triggers. We purified basophils from normal volunteers by means of isopycnic centrifugation and affinity binding of mononuclear cells. The majority of the basophils from most subjects were recovered in a band formed between Percoll layers with densities of 1.070 and 1.080; at this stage basophils represented a mean of 22% of total leukocytes. These cells were reacted with monoclonal antibodies to T (OKT-11) and B (anti-HLA-DR) lymphocytes; B and T cells were removed by adsorption to insoluble antibodies against mouse immunoglobulin resulting in a mean purity of 75% basophils with a yield of 54%. These highly enriched basophils resembled unpurified basophils in terms of (1) intracellular histamine content, (2) spontaneous release of histamine in buffer, and (3) percentage of histamine released by anti-IgE. These findings suggest that the techniques used to purify the basophils do not affect the functional integrity of human basophils.

Basophils↗
PubMed1989

Occurrence of K1, K5 and O antigens in Escherichia coli isolates from patients with urinary tract infections or bacteraemia.

The distribution of K1, K5 and O antigens was examined in 500 clinical strains of Escherichia coli. Of 400 strains from urine, 52% belonged to serogroups O1, O2, O4, O6, O7, O8, O9, O18, O25 and O75; 34% were non-typable (NT) and 14% were autoagglutinable (AA). Antigen K1 was carried by 17% of these strains, and K5 by 15%. The numbers of O-serogroupable, NT and AA strains among 100 strains from blood were 62, 29 and 9, respectively. K1 antigen was detected on 20% of isolates from blood and K5 on 13%. There was no statistically significant difference in the distribution of K1, K5 or O antigens between strains from blood compared with those from urine. The occurrence of K1 and K5 antigens among smooth and AA strains suggested that AA strains were derived primarily from the common O-serogroups.

Antigens, Bacterial↗
PubMed1989

Pregnancy outcomes after increasing maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels.

Five hundred sixty women among 35,787 screened had an initial maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) of 2.5 or more multiples of the median. They were divided into three groups: group 1, 2.5-2.9; group 2, 3.0-3.9; and group 3, over 4.0 multiples of the median. These groupings determined the relationship to adverse pregnancy outcome, defined as fetal death, fetus with significant anomalies, and prematurity/growth retardation. The overall risk of adverse outcome after an initial elevation was 38%, after excluding pregnancies with incorrect dates or multiple gestations with levels below 4.5 multiples of the median: 27, 39, and 45% in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. This risk rose to 86% for levels over 6.0 multiples of the median. There was a significant positive correlation between abnormalities and death detected with ultrasound and amniocentesis and those indicated by increasing MSAFP levels: 10, 20, and 31% in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. After normal ultrasound and amniocentesis studies, there was a trend toward increasing risks for fetal death after 20 weeks between groups 2 and 3 (5 and 11%), but not for growth retardation/prematurity (12, 17, and 13%). After an elevated MSAFP, the overall risk of a late pregnancy complication after normal ultrasound and amniocentesis was 22%: 19, 23, and 25% in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. This figure increased to 67% for levels above 6.0 multiples of the median.

Amniocentesis↗
PubMed1988

Abnormal resting regional cerebral blood flow patterns and their correlates in schizophrenia.

Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured under resting conditions in 108 right-handed schizophrenic inpatients and a matched group of normal controls with the xenon 133 inhalation technique. Forty-six patients were free of all medication for two weeks. There were no significant differences in CBF to the two hemispheres. The patients showed a comparatively reduced anteroposterior (AP) gradient for CBF. Though there were no differences in frontal flow, the patients had higher flow to several postcentral brain regions, bilaterally. Cerebral blood flow in the patients correlated inversely with age and positively with carbon dioxide level. Women had higher flow than men. Duration of the illness was the only significant predictor of the reduced AP gradient in patients. Higher left temporal and right parietal flow were found to be the best discriminators between patients and controls. Mean hemispheric flow to both hemispheres and several brain regions correlated with the total score and the item, unusual thought content, of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. There were no differences in regional CBF between medicated and unmedicated patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

The plasma potassium concentration in metabolic acidosis: a re-evaluation.

The purpose of these investigations was to describe the mechanisms responsible for the change in the plasma [K] during the development and maintenance of hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. Acute metabolic acidosis produced by HCI infusion resulted in a prompt rise in the plasma [K], whereas no change was observed during acute respiratory acidosis in the dog. After 3 to 5 days of acidosis due to NH4Cl feeding, dogs became hypokalemic; this fall in the plasma [K] was due largely to increased urine K excretion. Despite hypokalemia, aldosterone levels were not low, and the calculated transtubular [K] gradient was relatively high, suggesting renal aldosterone action. Thus, rather than anticipating hyperkalemia in patients with chronic metabolic acidosis due to a HCl load, the finding of hyperkalemia should suggest that the rate of urinary K excretion is lower than expected (ie, there are low aldosterone levels or failure of the kidney to respond to this hormone).

Acidosis↗
PubMed1988

Effect of anaesthesia on insulin-induced hypoglycemia in rabbits.

The aim of this study was to determine how anaesthetized rabbits survive much longer than awake rabbits after receiving an insulin overdose. Insulin appeared to act in both groups of rabbits because there was a prompt fall in circulating glucose, free fatty acids, and beta-hydroxybutyrate concentrations. Carbohydrate appeared to be the principal energy source for anaesthetized rabbits because their respiratory quotient approached unity. Although the fall in glycemia was similar in both groups of rabbits, the circulating lactate concentration rose only in the anaesthetized group. This rise in lactate in the initial 60 min after insulin was given could account for most of the fall in glycemia if the source of lactate was the glucose pool. The decline in hepatic glycogen was close to 100 mumol/g liver; this would account for about one-third of the total energy turnover and close to one-half of the measured glucose appearance in these anaesthetized rabbits. As judged from the rate of oxygen consumption, muscle glycogen seemed to supply two-thirds of the fuel to be oxidized in these rabbits. However, only one-third of the lactate released from muscle was first converted to glucose and the remainder was oxidized directly to CO2. Although insulin provided the metabolic setting for a rapid rate of glucose oxidation, this rate appeared to be diminished when the overall rate of oxygen consumption was lower during anaesthesia.

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗
PubMed1987

The relative biological effectiveness of 100 kV X-rays determined by the V-79 cell colony assay.

The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of 100 kV X-rays compared with cobalt-60-gamma-irradiation was determined using a cell colony assay based on the survival of Chinese hamster V-79 lung fibroblasts. The 37% dose (Do) was found to range from 1.12 to 1.47 and from 1.33 to 1.63 Gy for X-rays and 60Co-gamma-irradiation respectively. The mean RBE value calculated from the Do values was found to be 1.13 +/- 0.04. This figure compares favourably with RBE values calculated from Do values using other endpoints.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

General practitioner acceptance of geriatric and rehabilitation assessment units.

A survey was undertaken to investigate general practitioner knowledge of, use of and satisfaction with the geriatric and rehabilitation services at two Sydney metropolitan hospitals, Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai Hospital and Mona Vale Hospital, as part of a large study evaluating the two services. Service records showed that general practitioner referrals account for 69% and 50% respectively of all patients referred to each service.

Aged↗