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Biomedical subjects

P Zimmerman

Publications and source records attributed to P Zimmerman.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

From war nursery to therapeutic milieu.

The issue of violence in childhood and society is reviewed from the comparative perspective of the care of children by Anna Freud and her colleagues during the bombing of World War II and the plight of seriously troubled children and adolescents living in poverty and in violent families in contemporary society. Consistent with observations reported by Mahron, violence among these children is understood as a response to a world experience that is depleting and overwhelming; some sense of being alive is provided through aggressive behavior. Founded on the concept of the therapeutic milieu as described by Aichhorn, Bettelheim, and Redl and Wineman, the psychoanalytic intervention program described here fosters enhanced capacity for tension management and ego development via techniques of crisis management within the group living situation, incorporating the life-space or marginal interview, therapeutic education, and psychotherapy.

Child Behavior Disorders↗
PubMed1996

Visual significance of glistenings seen in the AcrySof intraocular lens.

PURPOSE: To investigate the visual significance of "glistenings" in acrylic intraocular lenses (IOLS). SETTING: John Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. METHODS: Seventeen patients who had phacoemulsification with implantation of the AcrySof acrylic IOL were evaluated by slitlamp examination and visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and glare testing. Ten patients had a silicone posterior chamber IOL in the opposite eye and had testing with similar visual parameters for comparison. Glistenings noted in the acrylic IOLs were graded at the slitlamp. Laboratory analysis of five acrylic IOLs was also done to reproduce the glistenings noted clinically. RESULTS: All 17 patients with the acrylic IOLs had some lenticular glistenings, ranging from trace to 2+. Statistical analysis of visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and glare testing revealed a statistically significant difference between the acrylic and the silicone IOLs only in contrast sensitivity. Laboratory analysis of the acrylic IOLs showed similar glistenings from 48 to 72 hours after they were placed in balanced salt solution. CONCLUSIONS: A patients who received AcrySof IOLs that came in the AcryPak had some degree of glistenings. There was also a significant decrease in contrast sensitivity compared with that of fellow eyes with silicone IOLs. The glistenings are likely caused by water vacuoles that form within the lens after hydration within the eyes. Further studies are necessary to assess the exact cause of these glistenings.

Acrylates↗
PubMed1993

Evidence for possible involvement of an elastolytic serine protease in aspergillosis.

A number of isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus obtained from the hospital environment produced extracellular elastolytic activity. This activity was found to be catalyzed by a single 33-kDa protein which was purified and characterized to be a serine protease. A. fumigatus, when grown on the insoluble structural material obtained from murine and bovine lung, produced the same extracellular 33-kDa elastolytic protease, indicating that this enzyme is likely to be produced when the organism infects the lung. Polymerase chain reaction with an oligonucleotide primer based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the elastolytic enzyme yielded a cDNA which was cloned and sequenced. The active serine motif showed more similarity to subtilisin than to mammalian elastase. The amino acid sequence showed 80% identity to the alkaline protease from Aspergillus oryzae. Screening of hospital isolates of Aspergillus flavus showed great variation in the production of elastolytic activity and a much lower level of activity than that produced by A. fumigatus. The elastolytic protease from A. flavus was shown to be a serine protease susceptible to modification and inactivation by active serine and histidine-directed reagents. This protease cross-reacted with the antibodies prepared against the elastolytic protease from A. fumigatus. Immunogold localization of the elastolytic enzyme showed that A. fumigatus germinating and penetrating into the lungs of neutropenic mice secreted the elastolytic protease. An elastase-deficient mutant generated from a highly virulent isolate of A. fumigatus caused drastically reduced mortality when nasally introduced into the lung of neutropenic mice. All of the evidence suggests that extracellular elastolytic protease is a significant virulence factor in invasive aspergillosis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Lesions of the suprachiasmatic nucleus disrupt circadian locomotor rhythms in the mouse.

Entrained and free-running rhythms of wheel-running activity were recorded in male BALB/cByJ mice with electrolytic lesions of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), site of a circadian pacemaker in mammals. Complete ablation of the nucleus abolished the circadian locomotor rhythm; in some cases, wheel-running was synchronized by a light-dark cycle, but the phase relationship of this activity to the cycle was often aberrant. Unilateral lesions or those missing the SCN did not eliminate rhythmicity.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Monitoring asthma.

The authors outline the management of asthma once the 'best lung function' is determined and answer some questions that may arise in general practice during the long-term monitoring of asthmatic patients. The answers represent the opinion of the authors, but are referenced where applicable.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Circadian timekeeping in BALB/c and C57BL/6 inbred mouse strains.

Circadian rhythms of locomotion (wheel-running activity) in 12 inbred mouse strains were recorded for interstrain differences in tau DD, the endogenous (free-running) period of the circadian pacemaker measured in constant environmental darkness. The results indicate that 1 or more genetic loci influence the value of tau DD, and a large (50 min) difference in mean tau DD between 2 of the strains, BALB/cByJ and C57BL/6J, allowed further characterization of the origins and inheritance of the polymorphic expression of this circadian pacemaker property. The interstrain difference in mean tau DD was associated with an interstrain difference in light-induced shifts of the phase of the free-running locomotor rhythm; the BALB/c strain (with the shorter mean tau DD) displayed relatively fewer advance phase shifts. Neither the history of previous light exposure, albinism, nor elevated circulating testosterone levels could account for the interstrain difference in mean tau DD. The value of tau DD based on the circadian rhythm of drinking activity (with the running wheel removed) was longer than that based on locomotion; this discrepancy was significantly greater and more variable in BALB/c than in C57BL/6 mice, though the interstrain difference in mean tau DD could not be attributed entirely to this effect. Reciprocal F1 hybrids of BALB/c x C57BL/6 matings revealed dominance of the C57BL/6 genotype, no sex linkage, and a significant (but small) maternal effect. Examination of CXB recombinant inbred strains provided no support for the hypothesis of monogenic inheritance. Further study of inherited differences in the BALB/c and C57BL/6 strains may be a useful noninvasive experimental approach for investigation of the neurobiological substrates of circadian rhythmicity.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Fluoxetine-induced akathisia: clinical and theoretical implications.

Five patients receiving fluoxetine for the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder or major depression developed akathisia. The typical fluoxetine-induced symptoms of restlessness, constant pacing, purposeless movements of the feet and legs, and marked anxiety were indistinguishable from those of neuroleptic-induced akathisia. Three patients who had experienced neuroleptic-induced akathisia in the past reported that the symptoms of fluoxetine-induced akathisia were identical, although somewhat milder. Akathisia appeared to be a common side effect of fluoxetine and generally responded well to treatment with the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol, dose reduction, or both. The authors suggest that fluoxetine-induced akathisia may be caused by serotonergically mediated inhibition of dopaminergic neurotransmission and that the pathophysiology of fluoxetine-induced akathisia and tricyclic antidepressant-induced "jitteriness" may be identical.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Myocardial protection by perfluorochemical infusion during transient ischemia produced by balloon coronary occlusion.

To assess the efficacy of the perfluorochemical Fluosol-DA 20% for myocardial protection during repeated periods of balloon occlusion of the left circumflex coronary artery, 25 anesthetized dogs were randomized to receive either oxygenated perfluorochemical, (Fluosol-DA [F]; n = 10) or oxygenated Ringer's lactate (R; n = 6), at the rate of 30 ml/min, during inflation of the balloon. A control group (C; n = 9) received no infusion. A total of eight inflations were performed, each lasting 90 seconds, followed by an equivalent deflation time. Hemodynamics, ECGs, regional myocardial function, and biochemical parameters were studied. Significant differences were noted in ST segment elevation at 90 seconds of inflation in the F (1.5 mm +/- 0.6), C (3.7 mm +/- 0.75), and R (2.9 mm +/- 0.75) groups (F vs C or R p less than 0.05). This was associated with significant improvement in radial shortening in the jeopardized zone at 45 seconds into occlusion in the F group compared to the C and R groups (F = 21.1% +/- 5.1 vs C = 3.5% +/- 4.5 or R = 1.1% +/- 3.2; p less than 0.05). Results of electron microscopy showed reversible changes of ischemia within the mitochondria, and these were most marked in the C and R groups compared to the F group. Endothelial swelling was mild and was present only focally in the R and C groups. Thus perfluorochemicals may enhance the safety and efficacy of balloon angioplasty.

Adenine Nucleotides↗
PubMed1982

Impaired cardiac "acceleration" at the onset of exercise in patients with coronary disease.

The responses to two levels of exercise (400 and 800 kpm/min) were studied in nine untrained healthy subjects and seven patients with coronary artery disease. Measurements were made over 20-s time intervals to obtain the half times (t1/2) of the asymptotic rise in cardiac frequency (fc), O2 intake (VO2), CO2 output (VCO2), and ventilation (VE). Complete data were obtained in both groups at 400 kpm/min, but only in healthy subjects at 800 kpm/min, as patients were unable to exercise for longer than 2 min at this power. At the onset of 400 kpm/min, t1/2 for VO2 was similar, but t1/2 for fc, VCO2, and VE were all longer in the patients. At 800 kpm/min there was a delay in VO2 in the patients before stopping exercise. In patients and healthy subjects t1/2 for VCO2 and VE, but not VO2, were related to t1/2 for fc. The results emphasized the importance of tissue CO2 storage in attenuating the delivery of CO2 to the lungs and thus delayed the ventilatory response to a step increase in power output.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection as a zoonotic disease: transmission between humans and elephants.

Between 1994 and 1996, three elephants from an exotic animal farm in Illinois died of pulmonary disease due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In October 1996, a fourth living elephant was culture-positive for M. tuberculosis. Twenty-two handlers at the farm were screened for tuberculosis (TB); eleven had positive reactions to intradermal injection with purified protein derivative. One had smear-negative, culture-positive active TB. DNA fingerprint comparison by IS6110 and TBN12 typing showed that the isolates from the four elephants and the handler with active TB were the same strain. This investigation indicates transmission of M. tuberculosis between humans and elephants.

Animal Husbandry↗