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M Nurminen

Publications and source records attributed to M Nurminen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Bacterial motility is a colonization factor in experimental urinary tract infection.

In an experimental urinary tract infection of the mouse, colonization of the urinary bladder by isogenic strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium was found to depend on the motility of the bacteria. Strains were obtained by genetic recombination between a highly motile O-6,7 and a poorly motile O-4,5,12 strain. The O antigen did not interfere with the colonization, whereas motility did; flagellated and motile O-6,7 and O-4,5,12 bacteria colonized the bladder equally well.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Prediction of silicosis and lung cancer in the Australian labor force exposed to silica.

Empirical models for risk, based on recently published epidemiologic data, and simple prediction formulas were used to predict the occurrence of silicosis and lung cancer in the Australian labor force currently exposed to crystalline silica dust. As a result of an 0.9 (range 0.4-1.9)% average lifetime risk, approximately 1010 (range 380-2410) silicosis cases were predicted for the next 40 years among the estimated 136,400 men exposed at current silica dust levels [0.01-0.8 (average 0.094) mg.m-3]. Approximately 630 extra lung cancer cases (95% confidence interval 120-1320) would appear with an average excess risk of 0.5 (interval 0.1-1.1)%, the proportion of silica-induced lung cancer cases being about 15%. Currently 77% of the at-risk labor force is exposed to silica dust levels of < or = 0.1 mg.m-3. With this level as the limit, about 440 (range 140-1210) silicosis cases and 410 (interval 90-780) extra lung cancer cases would occur in 40 years. Adopting this level as the national exposure standard would reduce the risk of silicosis cases by 52% and the excess risk of lung cancer by 36%.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The role of the O antigen in adjuvant activity of lipopolysaccharide.

Adjuvant activities of isogenic Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhimurium, O-6,7 and O-4,5,12 lipopolysaccharide (LPS), lipid A and Bordetella pertussis LPS were compared by immunizing groups of mice subcutaneously with diphtheria and tetanus toxoid vaccine alone or mixed with one of the LPS derivatives. Five weeks later the mice were bled and the tetanus and diphtheria antibodies in the sera were measured. All the LPS derivatives efficiently increased the antibody responses when compared to the vaccine alone, but the mannose-rich O-6,7 LPS and lipid A were significantly more potent than O-4,5,12 LPS and B. pertussis LPS. We conclude that the quality of the O antigen influences the adjuvant activity of LPS.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Acute closed angle glaucoma and sunshine.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim was to examine a possible association of amount of sunshine and risk for acute closed angle glaucoma. DESIGN: This was a retrospective analysis of hospital discharge registry data, linked to meteorological data for the same period. SETTING: The study was a national survey using hospital discharge data for the whole of Finland over a 10 year period. PARTICIPANTS: All subjects with the acute closed angle glaucoma diagnosis from the hospital discharge registry were collected for the years 1972 to 1982. A total of 1796 patients were found. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Meteorological data from two cities in Finland, Helsinki and Oulu, were collected for the same years from the Finnish Meteorological Institute. A peak incidence of acute closed angle glaucoma was noted whenever the number of hours without sunshine increased. A regression analysis including incidence of acute closed angle glaucoma as a dependent variable, and sex, mean temperature, mean air pressure, mean humidity, total amount of rain per month, and mean sunshine hours as independent variables, was constructed. Sex and sunshine hours best explained the variation in incidence in a covariate model. No other meteorological variate could improve the model fit. CONCLUSIONS: The result confirms that the number of hours without sunshine is positively associated with the incidence of acute closed angle glaucoma, when other meteorological variables are controlled for.

Female↗
PubMed1990

1990 Volvo Award in clinical sciences. Lumbar spinal pathology in cadaveric material in relation to history of back pain, occupation, and physical loading.

The occurrence of symmetric disc degeneration, anular ruptures, end-plate defects, vertebral body osteophytosis, and facet joint osteoarthrosis was examined radiographically and osteologically in 86 male cadavers for whom occupational, physical loading, and back pain histories were obtained from the men's families. History of back pain and the parameters of spinal pathology were related to the highest and lowest degrees of physical loading. In multivariate analyses, history of back injury was related to the occurrence of symmetric disc degeneration, anular ruptures, and vertebral osteophytosis. Symmetric disc degeneration was associated with sedentary work, and vertebral osteophytosis was related to heavy work. History of back pain was related to occupational physical loading after control for the effects of the other covariates. The results indicate that the least pathology stemmed from moderate or mixed physical loading, but the least back pain was associated with sedentary work.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Analysis of epidemiologic case-base studies for binary data.

Recent developments in statistical methods for epidemiology have revived the application of sampling techniques in the design and analysis of cohort studies. The 'case-base' design involves sampling of both the cases and the cohort base of the study. This paper reviews some data-analytic imperfections of the approaches to risk ratio estimation, and modifies and advances a consistent likelihood-based procedure-analogous to Miettinen and Nurminen's proposal for a full cohort design--for interval estimation (and also point estimation and significance testing) in the context of binary case-base data. First, the procedure avoids the use of Taylor-series approximations to derive variance estimators for non-linear functions of parameters. Second, the asymptotic condition effects a simple computational expression for the chi-square function of risk ratios that is universally applicable to small samples. The statistical modelling underlying the method allows inferences about risk ratios without the assumption of rare disease either for the general population or for a particular base. The paper also extends the analysis to encompass stratified data. Finally, a numerical evaluation evinced the accurate small-sample properties of the proposed method.

Binomial Distribution↗
PubMed1988

Detection of gram-negative bacteria in urine by the chromogenic limulus assay.

The value of the chromogenic limulus assay for detection of gram-negative bacteria in urine was determined. The assay was performed in microtiter plates at room temperature. In 311 consecutively collected urine samples from patients with suspected urinary tract infection, the assay was positive in all 35 samples containing greater than or equal to 10(5) bacteria/ml. No false positive or false negative results were obtained. Four of six urine specimens from patients with gonococcal infection were positive in the assay, whereas samples from patients with chlamydial infection did not yield a positive result. The assay is a rapid and reliable method for detection of urinary tract infection caused by gram-negative bacteria when greater than or equal to 10(5) bacteria/ml are present.

Bacteriuria↗
PubMed1988

Lipopolysaccharide-induced non-specific resistance to systemic Escherichia coli infection in mice.

A high degree of non-specific resistance to a lethal systemic Escherichia coli infection was induced in mice by pretreatment with a small dose (less than 5 micrograms/mouse) of the homologous lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or with heterologous rough-type LPS from E. coli K-12. The route of LPS administration, intraperitoneally or subcutaneously, did not influence the development of resistance, suggesting that a systemic cell activation was responsible for the effect. The enhanced elimination of bacteria was similar to that in mice recovering from a sublethal E. coli infection. In the LPS-treated mice, elimination of the challenge bacteria from the peritoneal cavity and the blood started 3-4 h after challenge whereas, in controls, the bacterial numbers continued to increase until the mice died. The detoxified LPS derivative, monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), also increased the survival of mice infected with E. coli O18:K1. However, the dose of MPL required for optimal infection resistance was 100-fold greater than that of native, E. coli K-12 LPS, corresponding to the 100-fold reduced toxicity of MPL for mice and rabbits in lethality and pyrogenicity assays.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Accuracy and precision of clinical estimation of leg length inequality and lumbar scoliosis: comparison of clinical and radiological measurements.

The results of 196 clinical determinations of leg length inequality and postural pelvic tilt scoliosis in 21 patients were analysed and compared with reliable radiological measurements. Clinical methods proved to be inaccurate and highly imprecise, the observer error being +/- 8.6 mm for direct and +/- 7.5 mm for indirect measurement of leg length inequality, and +/- 6.4 degrees for the estimation of postural lumbar scoliosis. More than half (53%) of the observations were erroneous when the criterion of leg length inequality was 5 mm. Failure to determine the presence or absence of length inequality of more than 5 mm occurred in 54 measurements (27% of the total). In 12% of the direct and in 13% of the indirect measurements, the observers erred in deciding which leg was longer; discrepancies occurred even when radiological reading gave a leg length inequality of as much as 25 mm.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Enzyme immunoassay and enzyme-linked fluoroimmunoassay for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis antigen.

An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and an enzyme-linked fluoroimmunoassay (ELFIA) utilizing monoclonal antibody to major outer membrane protein of Chlamydia trachomatis L2 were developed for rapid detection of chlamydial antigen in clinical samples. The EIA and ELFIA could detect levels of purified chlamydial outer membrane protein as low as 1.0 and 0.2 ng/ml respectively. However, when EIA and ELFIA were compared to chlamydial isolation using 160 patient samples, the sensitivity rate was 68% and 85% respectively. The sensitivity of the antigen detection method might be increased by simply using less diluted samples than in the present study. Chlamydial antigen was also demonstrated by EIA and ELFIA in 15% and 23% of culture-negative samples. The reason for these false-positive findings remains undetermined.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1987

Incidence of acute glaucoma in Finland from 1973 to 1982.

The incidence of acute closed-angle glaucoma was studied in 1796 patients derived from the hospital discharge registry of Finland for the years 1973-1982 (469 males and 1327 females). The average incidence was 3.8 cases/100,000 per year. The incidence showed a steep rise with age. The highest incidence was observed in both sexes in the group 80 years of age and older. The incidence was higher (Chi-square 7.81, df = 1, P less than 0.01) among women (5.3/100,000 per year) than among men (2.0/100,000 per year). The age-adjusted incidence for the whole period of 1973-1982 showed no statistically significant rise. The seasonal variation of incidence was statistically significant (P less than 0.001). In winter (December, January, February) and in autumn (September, October, November) the incidences were higher compared to spring (March, April, May) and summer (June, July, August). This association was greater (P less than 0.001) among females than among males (P less than 0.05). Mean sunshine hours showed a reverse association with the incidence of acute glaucoma. The association was statistically significant when both sexes were pooled together (P less than 0.001). There was no sex interaction with regard to the association of incidence of acute glaucoma and mean sunshine hours.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

Arterial hypertension associated with the use of a tourniquet with either general or regional anaesthesia.

A hypertensive patient with left cardiac enlargement developed marked hypertension under general anaesthesia, during which time a tourniquet was applied around his thigh. When the tourniquet was released, severe hypotension ensued which responded to therapy. The patient, however, died 16 h later of a myocardial infarction. Because of this incident, the anaesthetic and haemodynamic data of 699 patients who underwent limb surgery with a pneumatic tourniquet inflated for at least an hour were retrospectively examined using multivariate analysis. A 30% increase in systolic and/or diastolic arterial blood pressure occurred in 27% of the total patient material and in 67% of those who had had a general anaesthetic. There was a higher frequency of the occurrence of "tourniquet hypertension" with older age, longer operations and the operation site being the lower rather than the upper limb. Tourniquet hypertension rarely occurred in patients with spinal anaesthesia (2.7%) and brachial plexus blockade (2.5%), while those with intravenous regional anesthesia had a higher incidence (19%) of hypertension.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Antibody- and complement-dependent cell injury assayed by 51Cr release from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells pretreated with lipopolysaccharide.

Exposure of human peripheral blood mononuclear (MN) cells to deesterified (alkali-treated) lipopolysaccharide (LPS-OH) and then to 51Cr rendered the cells susceptible to 51Cr release in the presence of specific antibody and complement. The assay was optimized by using rough (Rb2 or Re) LPS. 51Cr release did not occur from cells preexposed to untreated or electrodialyzed LPS. Studies of isolated monocytes and lymphocytes revealed that the majority of the 51Cr released was derived from monocytes. The optimum concentration of LPS-OH was 10 micrograms/ml. Antiyersinia agglutinin-positive serum, but not a negative serum, obtained from patients with reactive yersinia arthritis caused 51Cr release from MN cells pretreated with yersinia LPS-OH. This implies that during yersinia infection antibodies are generated that can attack the cell membrane--LPS-OH complex. We conclude that the method provides a tool to demonstrate binding of LPS to MN cells in a manner that leads to cell injury in an immune host.

Adult↗