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Biomedical subjects

M C Roberts

Publications and source records attributed to M C Roberts.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Psychosocial policies in hospitals serving children: comparative characteristics.

This investigation identified and assessed the extent to which hospitals are implementing psychosocial services to meet the needs of children and their families. Following up a similar survey in 1981, a comprehensive questionnaire was sent to the directors of pediatric nursing at pediatric hospitals and general hospitals with pediatric residency programs in the U.S. and Canada. Data were analyzed in a variety of ways to determine the relation between characteristics of pediatric hospitals and general hospitals; Canadian and U.S. hospitals; and hospitals with short, medium, and long lengths of pediatric patient stay. Overall, pediatric hospitals provided more psychosocial services than did general hospitals, and more of these services were implemented in 1988 as compared to 1981. No consistent trends were evident among hospitals when countries or lengths of pediatric patient stay were compared.

Canada↗
PubMed1992

Penicillin-induced immune-mediated hemolytic anemia in a horse.

A 5-year-old female American Quarter Horse was determined to have immune-mediated hemolytic anemia after detection of a positive response to a direct Coombs' test. Penicillin-induced immune-mediated hemolytic anemia was confirmed via a direct antiglobulin test, using penicillin-coated RBC. The horse was clinically improved and the anemia resolved in response to supportive care and discontinuation of penicillin treatment. Penicillin should be considered a possible cause of immune-mediated hemolytic anemia in horses.

Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune↗
PubMed1992

Complacency, misdirection, and effective prevention of children's injuries.

Injuries are the leading killer of children in the United States, yet most parents, communities, and legislatures remain uncommitted to effective injury prevention. Possible reasons for this complacency are described, and effective methods, likely targets, and useful tactics for prevention are reviewed. The greatest challenges to injury preventionists are to persuade those who remain uninformed concerning the importance of injury prevention, to redirect those efforts currently devoted to ineffective interventions, to continue to evaluate and implement effective preventive interventions, and to search for improved prevention strategies.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1992

Characterization of antibiotic-resistant Corynebacterium striatum strains.

Antibiotic-resistant Corynebacterium strains were isolated from 14 Harborview and one Veterans Administration Hospital patients in Seattle during the period 1987-90. These clindamycin-erythromycin resistant strains were shown to hybridize with the ermCd gene, which was cloned from a Corynebacterium diphtheriae plasmid and encodes for a rRNA methylase. Thirteen of these strains also hybridized with the tetM gene probes, and were tetracycline resistant. The ermCd gene could be transferred, by conjugation, while the tetM gene was not transferable.

Blotting, Southern↗
PubMed1992

Perceptions of acquired immune deficiency syndrome by children and their parents.

Assessed perceptions of acquired immune deficiency syndrome in school-aged children and their parents. Using a hierarchical regression analysis, parent attitudes toward AIDS were found to be significant predictors of a child's attitudes toward persons with AIDS, but were not significant predictors of a child's knowledge of AIDS. The child's own knowledge level served as a significant predictor of the child's attitudes and vice versa.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1992

Vale dictum: an editor's view of the field of pediatric psychology and its journal.

Examines activities of Editor of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology for issues published 1988-1992. Articles published during term are analyzed in terms of senior author gender, affiliation, academic rank, grant support, theoretical orientation, population type, population age, article type, and research purpose. Comparisons are made to earlier analysis of article trends in Journal by Elkins and Roberts (1988). A summary is provided of what the Journal reflects about pediatric psychology in terms of clinical practice, scientific research, and professional issues.

Child↗
PubMed1992

Identification and cloning of a tetracycline resistance gene from the fish pathogen Vibrio salmonicida.

Vibrio salmonicida is the causative agent of cold-water vibriosis in farmed Atlantic salmon. We cloned a 6.9-kb PstI fragment from the 170-MDa plasmid (pRVS1) containing a tetracycline resistance determinant. A subcloned 1.96-kb HindIII fragment was found to mediate the tetracycline resistance. The 2.5-kb ClaI-PvuI fragment carrying the Tet E determinant from Escherichia coli hybridized under stringent conditions with the cloned 1.96-kb HindIII fragment from V. salmonicida. The 1.96-kb HindIII fragment codes for a protein of 26.5 kDa which represents a candidate for the structural TetA protein of the class E determinant. Deletion of a 0.28-kb BalI fragment from the middle of the HindIII fragment resulted in the loss of tetracycline resistance. We were able to show that when E. coli carries the cloned 6.9-kb PstI fragment, expression of tetracycline resistance is regulated by the concentration of tetracycline in the medium. In contrast, tetracycline resistance was constitutively expressed in the E. coli isolate carrying the 1.96-kb HindIII fragment. The tetracycline resistance gene isolated from the 170-MDa R plasmid of the marine fish pathogen V. salmonicida was characterized and shown to be a class E determinant.

Escherichia coli↗
PubMed1992

Development of a polymerase chain reaction-based diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginalis.

We developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based test for detecting the protozoan parasite Trichomonas vaginalis. Genomic libraries were constructed from two independent clinical isolates of T. vaginalis. From these libraries, 12 genomic clones were purified, sequenced, and then screened for uniqueness by computer-assisted sequence comparisons. PCR reactions were performed to evaluate eight PCR-primer pairs, including a primer pair that targeted the T. vaginalis ferredoxin gene. All eight primer pairs yielded PCR products of the expected sizes. However, six of the primer pairs amplified their respective target sequences in limited numbers of clinical T. vaginalis isolates, suggesting the presence of significant genomic variability among isolates. An exception was a primer pair, termed TVA5-TVA6, that amplified a 102-bp genomic sequence, termed A6p, in all of 24 clinical isolates. The A6p sequence was not detected by PCR in human DNA or in a wide variety of flagellates, ciliates, or bacteria tested. The A6p sequence appears highly selective for a broad range of T. vaginalis isolates and holds promise for PCR-based diagnosis of the parasite.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Short-term effect of aldosterone on Na-Cl transport across equine colon.

In ponies fed concentrated (pelleted) meals, postprandial increases of plasma aldosterone have been temporally associated with a decrease in colonic fluid volume that parallels the conclusion of postfeeding fermentation. To determine the significance of short-term increases of plasma aldosterone on the rate of colonic Na absorption, in vitro transport studies were conducted on the mucosae of three morphologically distinct colonic segments (i.e., ventral, dorsal, and small colons) from ponies infused with a high physiological concentration of aldosterone for an 8-h period. In control ponies, basal NaCl absorption across the proximal colon (ventral and dorsal colons) was amiloride-insensitive and electroneutral. In aldosterone-treated ponies, the rate of electroneutral Na absorption was doubled in both segments and a small, amiloride-sensitive current was detected in the dorsal colon. However, consistent with previous observations [Clarke and Argenzio. Am. J. Physiol. 259 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 22): G62-G69, 1990], expression of electroneutral Na absorption in the ventral colon required pretreatment of the tissues with an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis, i.e., indomethacin. In the distal (small) colon, basal absorption was entirely electrogenic and amiloride-sensitive, and aldosterone treatment tripled the rate of absorption. The above findings are consistent with the notion that postprandial hyperaldosteronism can significantly increase colonic Na absorption and, thereby, may facilitate colonic fluid absorption during the concluding period of meal-induced fermentation (8-12 h postfeeding). However, in the ventral colon (i.e., the principal site of fermentation), mineralocorticoid action does not dominate control of electroneutral Na transport because accelerated absorption could be abolished by the antiabsorptive effect of local prostanoids.

Aldosterone↗
PubMed1992

Psychiatric manifestations of neurosyphilis.

To investigate referral patterns, initial diagnoses and clinical features of patients with neurosyphilis who present with psychiatric manifestations, records were kept of 21 such patients admitted to an acute psychiatric ward. In none of the 12 cases referred from primary care workers was the possibility of neurosyphilis considered. In only 3 cases was this diagnosis considered on admission to the psychiatric ward before serum serological test results were known. Commonest presenting symptoms were personality change (16 patients) and memory impairment (13 patients). Neurological signs or symptoms were also common, particularly absent pupillary reaction to light (5 patients) and buccolingual masticatory movements (5 patients). A positive serological test remains the single most important factor in identifying patients with neurosyphilis.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Screening for syphilis and neurosyphilis in acute psychiatric admissions.

The value of blood screening for syphilis and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) screening for neurosyphilis in acute psychiatric admissions is assessed. Of 1,296 patients, 248 (19%) had evidence of previous or current syphilis as shown by a positive Treponema pallidum haemagglutination test, and 68 (5.2%) had potentially treatable syphilis as shown by a positive Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) titre. CSF examination was performed on 169 patients with a positive blood test. Seventeen (i.e. 1.3% of all patients included in the study) met our criteria for neurosyphilis. The best predictor for neurosyphilis was the presence of a reactive serum VDRL. However, it is recommended that all patients with a positive blood test and symptoms that could possibly be ascribed to neurosyphilis undergo CSF examination.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Probable congenital esophageal stenosis in a thoroughbred foal.

Esophageal stenosis was diagnosed in a 7-day-old Thoroughbred foal referred for evaluation of bilateral milky nasal discharge. Double-contrast radiography revealed concentric narrowing of the esophagus at the level of the fifth rib, overlying the base of the heart. Lateral displacement of the esophagus was not apparent. X-ray computed tomography of the cranial portion of the thorax confirmed normal cardiac and great vessel anatomy, ruling out vascular ring anomaly. A nasogastric tube was placed, extending past the stenosis and into the stomach, and the foal was fed mares' milk via this tube. On day 14, the foal was allowed to nurse the mare hourly and was made to stand, with the cranial half of its body elevated for 5 minutes after each feeding. On day 19, the foal was allowed to nurse ad libitum and eat hay and grain with the mare. Signs of regurgitation and aspiration were not apparent. On day 29, the foal was discharged to the owner.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Colonic adenocarcinoma with osseous metaplasia in a horse.

Rectal palpation of a 30-year-old mixed-breed mare with chronic weight loss and intermittent, refractory abdominal pain revealed a mass in the right caudoventral portion of the abdomen. Hematologic and serum biochemical findings were normal except for slight mature neutrophilia and mildly high alkaline phosphatase activity and total bilirubin concentration. Cytologic examination of a specimen obtained by abdominocentesis revealed equal numbers of nondegenerative neutrophils and macrophages, but no evidence of neoplastic cells. The mare continued to have signs of abdominal discomfort and was euthanatized. Necropsy revealed a large mass at the junction of the right dorsal colon and transverse colon, and several smaller masses in the liver. Histologic characteristics of the small-colon mass were consistent with colonic adenocarcinoma with osseous metaplasia.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1991

Tetracycline resistance determinants in streptococcal species isolated from the bovine mammary gland.

Seventy-one streptococci isolated from dairy cows with clinical mastitis were tested for tetracycline resistance. Twenty-one (30%) isolates were tetracycline resistant (Tcr), and eight hybridized with the Tet O, one hybridized with the Tet L, and one hybridized with both the Tet L and Tet K determinants. The remaining Tcr isolates did not hybridize with any of the 5 Gram-positive Tet determinants tested. The Tet O determinants were plasmid-mediated, and four selected strains transferred the Tet O determinant at frequencies of 10(-6) to 10(-8). Strains which did not hybridize with known probes were tested for resistance to minocycline. All of the Streptococcus dysgalactiae had low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for minocycline, while the S. agalactiae and the one S. uberis showed high MICs to minocycline. This suggests that at least two different uncharacterized Tet determinants exist in these isolates, one conferring high resistance to both tetracycline and minocycline and one conferring only tetracycline resistance.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Tetracycline resistance in Moraxella (Branhamella) catarrhalis: demonstration of two clonal outbreaks by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

Two tetracycline-resistant (Tcr) Moraxella (Branhamella) catarrhalis strains from England were compared with two previously characterized Tcr Texas strains. Both pairs carried the Tet B determinant, which was nontransferable. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of their genomic DNA restriction fragments demonstrated that the strains from the same area were identical (clonal); however, the Texas and English strains differed from each other.

DNA, Bacterial↗
PubMed1991

Characterization of unusual tetracycline-resistant gram-positive bacteria.

Tetracycline-resistant Tet M-negative isolates of Actinomyces viscosus, Eubacterium lentum, Mobiluncus curtisii, and Mobiluncus mulieris were screened with the Tet K, Tet L, and Tet O DNA probes. Ten (71%) of the resistant Mobiluncus strains hybridized with the Tet O probe, two of the three E. lentum strains hybridized with the Tet K probe, and the A. viscosus isolate hybridized with the Tet L probe.

DNA Probes↗