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Biomedical subjects

P Morris

Publications and source records attributed to P Morris.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

The effects of early dietary experience on subsequent protein selection in the rat.

Two series of experiments were designed to investigate the effects of protein composition of the first solid food consumed by young rat pups on their subsequent protein intake after weaning. In the first series of experiments, pups were allowed access to the maternal diet between 17 and 21 days of age, then weaned to a choice of 10% and 60% casein diets at 21 days. Pups with access to a maternal diet containing 39% casein selected high levels of protein (calculated as % of total calories selected as protein: 50 +/- 1% (access) vs. 29 +/- 3.5% (no access), p less than 0.05), whereas lower levels of protein were selected following access to a maternal diet containing 26% casein (16 +/- 1.1% (access) vs. 23 +/- 1% (no access), p less than 0.05) or 10% casein (27 +/- 3.9% (access) vs. 39 +/- 3.7% (no access), p less than 0.05). In a second series of experiments, the influence of early diet composition on subsequent protein selection was confirmed by prematurely weaning rats at 17 days of age to either 39% or a 10% casein diet. When given a choice of 10% and 60% casein diets at 21 days, pups selected higher levels of protein if weaned to a 39% casein diet as compared to a 10% casein diet (37 +/- 5.0% vs. 19 +/- 3.5% (p less than 0.05) for the first experiment and 43 +/- 3.0% vs. 26 +/- 4.0% (p less than 0.05) in a second experiment). It was concluded that the level of protein selected by young rats is positively correlated with the protein concentration of their first solid food.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Food intake suppression by histidine.

Following injection of histidine (as 1-histidine monohydrochloride, 500 mg/kg, IP) rats showed a suppression of total food intake within the first 2 hours of a 12 hour daily feeding period but not if the rats were adapted to a 4 hour daily feeding period. Furthermore, rats adapted to a nocturnal as compared to a diurnal 12 hour feeding period showed a greater response (50% vs. 20% suppression of feeding) to histidine. Overall, within an experiment, food intake suppression correlated with the histidine dose (0, 125, 250, 375 and 500 mg/kg; for mean response r(3) = 0.90, p less than 0.05) although the lowest dose measured to be effective in a cross-over design experiment was 375 mg/kg. No differential effect upon protein or carbohydrate intake was observed in any of the studies. The effects of injections of 250 and 500 mg/kg histidine on food intake were associated with significant elevations of brain histidine and histamine. We conclude that histidine, possibly by changes in brain histidine, influences total food intake but not macronutrient selection.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Morphine kinetics and kidney transplantation: morphine removal is influenced by renal ischemia.

Morphine plasma concentrations were determined in six patients receiving kidney transplants from living-related donors, and nine patients receiving kidney transplants from cadavers. The total cold ischemic time was about 2 hr for kidneys from living-related donors and 14 hr for those from cadavers. After an intravenous bolus dose of morphine, plasma morphine concentrations decreased to a plateau that lasted for several hours; morphine elimination resumed when the transplanted kidney began to clear creatinine. The duration of the total cold ischemic time was significantly related to both the duration of the plateau in morphine concentration (P = 0.008) and the first postoperative day creatinine clearance (P = 0.021). Morphine elimination half-life after the plateau was related to first postoperative day creatinine clearance (P less than 0.001). It was concluded that morphine elimination depended upon intact renal function.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Consumer-oriented groups: a new approach to interdisciplinary teaching.

Difficulties in the development of primary health care teams have been demonstrated by a number of authors. The important place of interdisciplinary teaching in this development had been stressed. This paper describes an experimental series in which emphasis has been placed on the patient's view of the input of different team members. The value of this approach is discussed.

Humans↗
PubMed1984

Conservative management of pregnancy in diabetic women.

In 1979 the obstetric management of pregnancies in diabetic women in Cardiff was changed from elective delivery at 37-38 weeks to delivery at term. This change was facilitated by home monitoring of blood glucose concentrations and improved techniques for assessing fetal wellbeing. There were 35 pregnancies in insulin dependent diabetics in 1972-8 and 45 in 1979-82. The quality of diabetic control during pregnancy was equally good in both periods. The average gestation at final admission to hospital increased from 30 to 37 weeks. Amniocentesis to assess fetal pulmonary maturity was necessary in 26 patients (74%) in the first period of study and in only four (9%) in the second. Gestational age at delivery increased from 37.4 to 39.4 weeks after the change in policy. The proportion of mothers entering spontaneous term labour and delivering vaginally increased from 14.3% to 37.8%. The mean birth weight of live born, singleton infants increased from 3090 g to 3650 g, the feeding pattern improved, and respiratory problems were less common. Morbidity was reduced and perinatal mortality was not increased with conservative management of pregnancy in diabetic women.

Apgar Score↗
PubMed1984

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an Australian teaching hospital.

A survey was undertaken of all isolations of methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at a large Australian teaching hospital over a 12 month period. All methicillin-resistant isolations obtained from the Casualty and Outpatient clinics were from staff members or patients with recent hospital contact. Twenty per cent of all methicillin-resistant isolations from in-patients were from specimens taken within 2 days of the patient's admission. Each of these patients had had hospital contact within the previous 4 months and it is assumed that the majority of them reintroduced the organism into the hospital. Such patients may provide an important means by which infection control procedures are bypassed. Patients who were relatively more likely to become infected or colonized with methicillin-resistant than with methicillin-sensitive strains included the elderly and those with postoperative wound infections (especially after orthopaedic or vascular surgery), spinal injuries, peripheral vascular disease, chronic skin ulcers or chronic diseases of the respiratory or urinary tracts. Eleven per cent of MRSA wound isolates and 15 per cent of sputum isolates were associated with serious infections requiring specific treatment, emphasizing the ability of these strains to produce serious illness. A small proportion of staff and asymptomatic patients were found to harbour MRSA and the importance of these individuals in facilitating cross-infection requires further investigation.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The role of actors in teaching communication.

This paper describes a series of communication workshops designed to improve the consultation skills of third-year clinical medical students during their period of attachment in general practice, and to enable them to understand the differences in perspective and attitude existing between doctor and patient and their effect on the process and outcome of the clinical interview. The workshops involve a group of professional actors as simulated patients. The advantages of this method are discussed in terms of increased lay participation in the teaching.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1984

The management of equinus deformity in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Equinus deformity of the ankle is one of the serious orthopaedic problems associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Sixty-nine patients (age range 4 to 17 years) were treated, 43 conservatively and 26 operatively. They were followed up at six-monthly intervals for a minimum of two years and a maximum of six years. The patients were divided into three groups: independently mobile, mobile in calipers, and wheelchair-bound. It was found that conservative treatment could at best only minimise progression of the deformity. The indications for surgery, the operative procedure and the postoperative management are described; all varied according to the stage of the disease. The postoperative follow-up suggests that, though the deformity recurs, the patients have several years of benefit from the procedure.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Serum augments the generation of monocyte procoagulant stimulated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide or chemotactic fragments of C5.

Human serum augments the ability of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin) or partially-purified C5-derived chemotactic fragments (C5-fr) to induce the monocyte procoagulant activity (PCA) in vitro. Both autologous and pooled sera induced PCA in the target cell population. Dose response curves revealed a detectable response in PCA with as little as 0.1% serum (v:v) in cell suspensions incubated for 4-6 hours before assay of PCA. Heat-inactivation experiments showed that enhancing activity of serum for both endotoxin and C5-fr induced-PCA could be destroyed by heating at 56 degrees C, with the greater part of the activity lost during the first 30 minutes of heating. The enhancing serums studied contained no endotoxin as measured by the Limulus amebocyte lysate assay and these serums failed to induce aggregation of neutrophils, a sensitive measure for the presence of complement-derived chemotactic fragments such as C5a. Serum without endotoxin or C5-fr also induced a variable increase in PCA and this inducing activity could also be abolished by heating, whereas the ability of endotoxin alone (10 micrograms/ml) to induce PCA was unaffected by similar heat-treatment. The procoagulant appeared to function as tissue factor in one-stage clotting assays using deficient substrate plasmas. Lymphocytes stimulated by serum and later washed failed to amplify monocyte tissue factor whereas lymphocytes exposed to endotoxin retained the ability to amplify monocyte tissue factor. These results suggest a role for serum in the modulation in vitro of monocyte procoagulant.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Controlled anaesthesia: a clinical evaluation of an approach using patient characteristics identified during uptake.

The performance of a system to control the alveolar concentration of halothane in patients undergoing halothane and nitrous oxide or halothane anaesthesia with controlled ventilation has been evaluated. The method involved the identification and quantification of the uptake characteristics of patients from their early response to the anaesthetic and implements the vaporizer control necessary to achieve and maintain a desired alveolar halothane concentration. Initial targets are based on the concept of MAC, but modifications to the desired alveolar concentration may be effected readily by the anaesthetist at any time during the procedure if evaluation of the normal clinical signs indicates inappropriate depth of anaesthesia. The results obtained during anaesthesia for routine surgery in 80 patients demonstrated that the system was accurate, stable, robust and able to adapt for variability between patients in the uptake of halothane.

Anesthesia, Inhalation↗
PubMed1982

Uptake of vasoactive intestinal peptide by rat liver.

We have investigated the uptake and degradation of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) by rat livers. When liver was perfused with 125I-VIP, less than 20% of the radioactivity was recovered as intact peptide. 125I-VIp bound to specified high-affinity sites on isolated hepatocytes. Half-maximal inhibition of binding occurred at about 1 nM unlabeled VIP. Cell-bound 125I-VIP was degraded to low-molecular-weight products. The percent of 125I-VIP that was bound and degraded was approximately the same at both extremes of the range of VIP concentrations (25-250 pg/ml) reported in portal vein plasma. The lysosomotropic agent chloroquine inhibited 125I-VIP degradation and led to the accumulation of cell-bound 125I-VIP. We conclude that a) most of the VIP secreted from the gastrointestinal tract into portal blood is removed during its passage through the liver, b) VIP binds to specific high-affinity sites on hepatocytes and is probably internalized and degraded by lysosomes, and c) uptake of VIP by liver may serve to prevent the peptide from exerting deleterious systemic effects.

Animals↗