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Biomedical subjects

M D Murray

Publications and source records attributed to M D Murray.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Akabane disease in sheep.

Perinatal lamb mortality, associated with malformations of the CNS due to Akabane viral infection, occurred in 4 of 9 flocks of ewes lambing on 3 farms between 26 May and 14 November, 1976. Cases were restricted to ewes conceiving prior to the second week of March and lambing between 26 May and 19 July. As judged by seroconversion in sentinel flocks on 2 of the farms, field infection with Akabane virus occurred mainly between mid-February and mid-April. Malformations of the CNS occurred in 42.5%, 51.2%, 100% and 31.0% of the dead lambs examined in the affected flocks respectively. Prevalence in the 4 affected flocks, expressed as the proportion of ewes lambing which delivered at least one malformed foetus, was 6.1%, 8.4%, 88.9% and 5.7% respectively. Lamb mortality due to malformations of the CNS was 7.1%, 5.5%, 92.3% and 5.7% of lambs born. Age-specific prevalence was calculated for 3 of the 4 flocks and 2-year-old ewes accounted for 71.4% and 76.9% of total cases respectively in 2 flocks, whereas in one flock malformations occurred at equivalent frequencies throughout several older age groups. Birthweights of affected lambs were usually significantly lighter than those of unaffected lambs of similar sex and birth-type, and their mean duration of gestation was slightly, and significantly, prolonged. Micrencephaly (88.1% of cases) and hydrocephalus (68.7% of cases) were the outstanding pathological features of the malformations with hydranencephaly, microgyria, porencephaly and attenuation of the spinal cord occurring at much lower frequencies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Effect of a targeted antibiotic advisory consult program on hospital antibiotic costs.

The purpose of this 3-year study was to determine whether or not an antibiotic control program, designed by the P & T Committee, would affect the cost of antibiotics to this 473-bed general medical-surgical teaching hospital. Physician consultants from different clinical departments discussed each use of targeted antibiotics with prescribing physicians. Compared with the preprogram year, cost savings of $46,869 during the first program year, and $73,212 during the second program year were achieved. Many factors were taken into account before arriving at these figures, including cost analysis of both targeted and nontargeted antibiotics, impact of price changes, administration costs, and changes in hospital census. The authors conclude that in the absence of cost inflation, antibiotic costs would have risen considerably due to price escalation, but in the face of antibiotic controls, a modest cost savings over the 2 years analyzed was actually realized.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1988

Attitudes of house physicians concerning various antibiotic-use control programs.

Medical and surgical house physicians at three teaching hospitals with different antibiotic control programs (ACPs) were surveyed to determine their attitudes about and preferences for these programs. Questionnaires were mailed to resident physicians who had trained at all three hospitals. One hospital had no antibiotic prescribing policy (open prescribing), one employed an infectious-disease physician consultant who discussed antibiotic orders for certain reserved drugs with prescribing physicians but did not otherwise restrict access to the drugs (educational ACP), and the third hospital required approval of an infectious-disease physician for dispensing of reserved drugs by the pharmacy department (restrictive ACP). The survey response was 77% after one follow-up mailing to nonrespondents. Regardless of hospital type, physicians preferred the educational ACP to either open prescribing or the restrictive ACP. Based on personal experiences, significantly fewer physicians encountered patient-care problems with the educational ACP than with either open antibiotic prescribing or the restrictive ACP. Significantly more physicians perceived that the educational ACP was more beneficial for patient antibiotic therapy and will be more beneficial for future antibiotic prescribing than the restrictive ACP. Most respondents believed that ACPs save hospitals money, that ACPs can be implemented without compromising either patient care or physician performance, and that they would encounter similar ACPs in the future. Educational ACPs should be considered at teaching hospitals with interested infectious-disease consultants.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1987

Effects of host grooming on louse populations.

Grooming behaviour by the host is increasingly recognized as an important determinant of feeding behaviour by blood-sucking arthropods. In general, grooming activity increases as a function of attack rate which, in some cases, provides a density-dependent limitation on the success of blood feeding. In turn this can lead to density dependence in population parameters of the arthropod, and can affect transmission of some arthropod-borne parasites in a similar way. But although insect-host interactions at this level are now being revealed in a variety of blood-sucking groups, such as mosquitoes, tsetse flies and triatomine bugs (see Box I), they are perhaps most clearly seen in, populations of ectoporositic insects such as lice, which ore permanently subject to defensive grooming behaviour by their hosts. As Durno Murray discusses here, host grooming has been a dominant factor in the evolution of lice, not only at the morphological level but also in terms of reproductive strategy.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1987

Epidemiology of bovine ephemeral fever in Australia 1981-1985.

Bovine ephemeral fever is an important viral disease of cattle in Australia. The disease occurred each year, principally in summer and autumn, between 1981 and 1985. Queensland and the northern half of New South Wales were areas of greatest activity with only sporadic cases being reported from the Northern Territory and the northern third of Western Australia. Since 1981, the disease has been endemic in an extensive area of eastern Australia and has tended to occur in widely scattered outbreaks rather than the north-south advancing wave form of the epidemics of 1936-37, 1967-68, 1970-71 and 1972-74. The southernmost outbreaks between 1981 and 1985 were well within the limits of these earlier epidemics. The pattern of disease appears to have become seasonally endemic rather than periodically endemic in the northern two-thirds of eastern Australia. Ephemeral fever was not recorded in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia or the southern part of Western Australia between 1981 and 1985. The disease was most frequently reported in cattle under 3 years of age, but also occurred in older cattle.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Akabane epizootics in New South Wales: evidence for long-distance dispersal of the biting midge Culicoides brevitarsis.

In 1983 an outbreak of Akabane disease occurred in calves in New South Wales between Coolah and Dunedoo at the foothills of the Liverpool Range, from Molong to Oberon in the Blue Mountains and in the Bylong Valley. These areas, at the time of infection of the dams, were in a drought and conditions were unsuitable for the multiplication of C. brevitarsis. In late March meteorological phenomena developed producing air movements favourable for transporting infected midges from the Hunter Valley. A re-examination of the data from the epizootics of 1974 and 1955 showed that similar weather systems had developed. It is possible that the source of infected midges in these epizootics was also the Hunter Valley.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Medication use by ambulatory elderly. An in-home survey.

The elderly residents of an urban subsidized apartment building were interviewed in their apartments to determine a comprehensive medication profile. The interviews were conducted by doctor of pharmacy candidates, and 155 residents (81.2%) participated. Compliance was similar to rates previously reported (49.3%), and adverse drug reactions were common (29.1%). Other findings included: compliance did not decrease with advancing age; most elderly individuals could open child-resistant containers (83.4%), read standard container labels (79.7%), and identify teaspoon (97.3%) and tablespoon (88.5%) quantities; inability to open easy-open (flip-off) containers decreased compliance (P = .03); men were more compliant than women (68.4 v 42.4%, P = .006) but were taking fewer medications (3.3 per male v 5.0 per female); only 12.6% of respondents thought they were taking too much medication but when they did compliance diminished (P = .003); medications were infrequently shared (5.6% of respondents reported sharing); and only 6.4% of respondents reported medication expense as a concern.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Factors contributing to medication noncompliance in elderly public housing tenants.

A study examined the extent and correlates of noncompliance in 155 predominantly elderly public housing tenants. Data were gathered through in-home interviews; only data from tenants taking prescribed medications on a regularly scheduled basis (n = 140) were analyzed. Noncompliance was significantly (p less than 0.05) associated with taking more than five prescribed medications, an inability to read prescription and auxiliary labels, and difficulty opening flip-off type medication container lids. The results indicate that attempts to reduce the total number of prescription drug products used in these elderly residents by carefully scrutinizing the need for each prescription drug may enhance compliance. Pharmacists could assist in the detection of elderly patients at risk for medication noncompliance (five or more total prescription medications) by assessing the patients' ability to read labels on prescription containers for all new drug additions and refills, and by having them try to open a flip-off container lid.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

WHO/FAO Working Team Report: entomology.

A summary of the more important concerns of the Working Team with particular reference to bluetongue (BT) virus (BTV), is as follows: With the exception of Australia, the US, and possibly parts of Africa, there are almost no concrete data that could be used to direct control efforts against the responsible vector(s) of BTV in a specific geographic area. In Australia, a broad plan of attack yielded data that showed that members of the subgenus Avaritia are the primary vector species. It has been clearly shown that Culicoides variipennis (Coq.) is the dominant vector species for most of the US. In the Middle East and certain areas of Africa, isolations from possible vector species indicated that C. imicola K., again probably a species complex and belonging to the subgenus Avaritia, is one of the likely vectors. Except for some subgenera, the taxonomy for much of the Culicoides remains in disarray. The subgenus Oecacta for example still remains a catchall for many species. Although a number of proposals have been made for delineating the species of the C. (Monoculicoides) variipennis species complex, none have been initiated because of the lack of funds. The Working Team strongly feels that the lack of definition of important species complexes is the result of short-term planning that does not consider the fact that efficiency can be increased and a great deal of monies saved by directing control toward the specific species or populations thereof that are responsible for a problem.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Identification of a mouse monoclonal antibody, LHLP-1, specific for human Lp(a).

Heretofore, immunologic reagents used to define and quantify human Lp(a) have been polyclonal in origin and therefore heterogeneous in antigenic specificity. We report here the isolation of a mouse monoclonal antibody, LHLP-1, monospecific for Lp(a). The antigen reactive with LHLP-1 was expressed in both lipoprotein Lp(a) as well as apolipoprotein Lp(a) delipidated by SDS treatment; however, disulfide reduction of apolipoprotein Lp(a) inhibited LHLP-1 reactivity. The antigen reactive with LHLP-1 on Lp(a), therefore, appears not to require lipid for expression of its conformationally dependent (disulfide-inhibitable) epitope. Antigen reactivity was virtually absent in the apoB and other proteins contained in very low density, low density, and high density lipoprotein particles. Immunologic quantification of Lp(a) in individual serum samples with a rabbit reference antiserum or LHLP-1 showed good correlation. We conclude that the monoclonal antibody LHLP-1 identifies an antigen unique to Lp(a) and that this antibody may therefore be useful in the further characterization and measurement of human Lp(a).

Animals↗
PubMed1979

The blowfly strike problem of sheep in New South Wales.

A field survey was undertaken between 1972-76 to reappraise the nature of the blowfly problem in New South Wales. For 2 years, 1972-1974, some 80,000 sheep were kept under observation and 12,481 strikes were reported, most due to Lucilia cuprina. Breech strike was still the basic problem but tail strike associated with scouring had become an important component where pastures have been improved. Breech strike was controlled at minimal cost by managerial practices such as docking tails the correct length--second joint-space palpable ventrally (midway down the vulval orifice in ewes) for radically mulesed lambs and the third joint-space (tip of vulva in ewes) for all other lambs-mulesing at lamb marking, mid-season crutching, determining the cause of scouring and applying the appropriate preventative or remedial measures. Thus the use of insecticides could be reserved for the control of body strike in young sheep in the odd wet years and poll strike in horned rams. Major outbreaks of body strike occurred in 1973/74. Body strike worried graziers most because of its unpredictability, sudden onset and scale. and only failing insecticides were available for control.

Animals↗