Biomedical subjects

R L Anderson

Publications and source records attributed to R L Anderson.

At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources

PubMed1981

Rapid presumptive identification of Citrobacter diversus as an aid in controlling infections.

During an outbreak of neonatal meningitis caused by kanamycin-resistant Citrobacter diversus, a field procedure for presumptive identification of the organism was evaluated, and using it resulted in the early recognition of patients colonized by the epidemic strain of C. diversus. Rectal and nasopharyngeal specimens were plated and incubated on MacConkey agar containing 10 micrograms of kanamycin per ml. After 18 h of incubation, lactose-nonfermenting colonies present on the selective medium were picked and identified 8 h later with the following biochemical tests: indole, adonitol, dulcitol, citrate, and triple sugar iron agar. This presumptive identification of C. diversus was later confirmed for all cases by conventional testing with a complete set of biochemicals. In 1 week, 253 specimens from patients were processed with this technique, and 49 strains of C. diversus were identified. The rapid identification of C. diversus and transfer of carriers into appropriate cohorts resulted in a 64% reduction in the prevalence of colonization.

Bacteriological Techniques↗

PubMed1981

Short-term effects of dietary nitrilotriacetic acid in the male Charles River rat kidney.

Trisodium nitrilotriacetate monohydrate was fed to male weanling Charles River rats for 28 days. Clinical evidence of urinary tract toxicity included hydronephrosis and nephromegaly. Microscopically, severe renal injury was recognized specifically as convoluted tubular cytoplasmic vacuolation and pelvic epithelial erosion. Hyperplasis occurred as a sequela to these specific cytotoxic alterations.

Animals↗

PubMed1981

Pseudobacteremia attributed to contamination of povidone-iodine with Pseudomonas cepacia.

Pseudomonas cepacia was recovered from the blood cultures of 52 patients in four hospitals in New York over 6 months from April through October 1980. Epidemiologic investigation in one hospital indicated that the positive results of blood culture represented pseudobacteremias and implicated a 10% povidone-iodine solution used as an antiseptic and disinfectant (Pharmadine; Sherwood Pharmaceutical Company, Mahwah, New Jersey) as the source of contamination. Physicians who drew blood cultures positive for P. cepacia were more likely to have left povidone-iodine on the skin before venipuncture (p = 0.026) and were more likely to have applied povidone-iodine to the blood culture bottle tops and to have left it there while inoculating the blood culture media (p = 0.007) than those who drew cultures negative for P. cepacia. Direct inoculation of Pharmadine into brain-heart infusion broth yielded P. cepacia; however, 2 weeks after the first cultures, the same Pharmadine bottles were culture negative. The iodine concentrations of the contaminated Pharmadine solutions were similar to those of 10% povidone-iodine solutions distributed by other manufacturers.

Blood Specimen Collection↗

PubMed1981

Functional properties of continuously cultured human T lymphocytes.

Human T lymphocytes (CCTC) have been maintained in continuous culture by a new method. The ability of CCTC to produce three types of T cell response has been determined and compared to the published responses of T cells grown in 'T cell growth factor' (TCGF) medium. Unlike TCGF cells, CCTC will not give proliferative responses when stimulated with PHA, Con A, or allogeneic lymphocytes even when supplemented with autologous PBL as a source of accessory cells. Instead, CCTC are potent inhibitors of the proliferative response of normal cells in MLC. This suppressive activity is not specific for histocompatible cells. Finally, CCTC express cytotoxic activity to a number of human lymphoid cell lines and this activity appears to be different from the polyclonal cytotoxicity reported for TCGF-maintained cells. Our method of long-term T cell culture therefore appears to grow cells with different properties from TCGF cells.

Cell Line↗

PubMed1981

Shaping the mental health role of family physicians.

Family physicians have an important role in mental health care delivery. The psychiatry and family practice faculty at the University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences recently examined the principal elements of this role and the ways in which these elements might best be incorporated into the teaching/learning process of a family medicine residency. Competency based approaches to curriculum development were chosen to permit flexibility of implementation and to allow involved physicians to participate in definition of their mental health roles. Methods used to construct the curriculum included interviews with graduated residents of the first four classes of the program, literature review, and a modified delphi/nominal group technique with family medicine and psychiatry faculty. The result was a competency based psychiatric curriculum supervised cooperatively by both psychiatry and family medicine faculty. This program is begun early in the residency, is integrated longitudinally into the rest of the residents' curriculum, and utilizes seminars, clinical experience, and liaison with a mental health team in the training design.

Alabama↗

PubMed1981

Reversible visual loss in subperiosteal hematoma of the orbit.

A 19-year-old white male developed blindness in the left eye following a motor vehicle accident. Orbital echography and computerized axial tomography established the diagnosis of subperiosteal hematoma of the orbit. Emergency medical therapy and lateral canthotomy resulted in slight visual improvement but rebleeding occurred 12 hours after injury with visual loss. An emergency surgical decompression of the orbit was performed. Vision returned to 6/7.5 following decompression. This is the first report illustrating that orbital decompression can reverse complete visual loss from a subperiosteal hematoma of the orbit.

Adult↗

PubMed1981

Lid lag and lagophthalmos: a clarification of terminology.

Lid lag, lagophthalmos and von Grafe's sign are useful terms which refer to important clinical signs. Despite the fact that they have discrete meanings, they are often used interchangeably and incorrectly by many ophthalmologists and, therefore, their value has been degraded. We provide definitions for these commonly used (but often confused) ophthalmic terms: Lagophthalmos is the inability to completely close the eyes; Lid lag is the static situation in which the eyelid is higher than normal with the globe in downgaze; and von Grafe's sign is a dynamic sign describing the retarded descent of the eyelid during movement of the globe from primary position to downgaze. It is our hope that these terms will be adopted by the ophthalmic community so that precision in definition will lead to clarity of thought and communication.

Blepharoptosis↗

PubMed1981

Academic development in family practice.

To date most faculty development programs in family practice have concentrated on aspects of the educational process as well as on the acquisition of research and administrative skills. While effective, such programs have characteristically been directed at a limited range of elements of a typical faculty member's professional role. A model of academic development is proposed that combines an epigenetic pattern of adult development and a sequential pattern of an individual's development in the academic role. The model permits a reasonable approximation to be made of the developmental status of an individual faculty member which, when viewed in the context of personal and institutional needs, can be used as the basis for defining and implementing appropriate assistance strategies. Adoption of the model offers two general approaches to planning, organizing, and delivering faculty development activities: promotion and intervention. Promotion activities are aimed at helping faculty assume the academic role in the most effective manner possible, while intervention activities occur when the process of development has gone awry.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

Toxic-shock syndrome in menstruating women: association with tampon use and Staphylococcus aureus and clinical features in 52 cases.

To determine the risk factors associated with toxic-shock syndrome (TSS) in menstruating women, we conducted a retrospective telephone study of 52 cases and 52 age-matched and sex-matched controls. Fifty-two cases and 44 controls used tampons (P < 0.02). Moreover, in case-control pairs in which both women used tampons, cases were more likely than controls to use tampons throughout menstruation (42 of 44 vs. 34 of 44, respectively; P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in brand of tampon used, degree of absorbency specified on label, frequency of tampon change, type of contraceptive used, frequency of sexual intercourse, or sexual intercourse during menstruation. Fourteen of 44 cases had one or more definite or probable recurrences during a subsequent menstrual period. In a separate study, Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 62 of 64 women with TSS and from seven of 71 vaginal cultures obtained from healthy controls (P < 0.001).

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Lactose and D-galactose metabolism in Staphylococcus aureus. III. Purification and properties of D-tagatose-6-phosphate kinase.

D-Tagatose-6-phosphate kinase, an inducible enzyme that functions in the metabolism of lactose and D-galactose in Staphylococcus aureus, was purified about 300-fold from an extract of D-galactose-grown cells. The enzyme catalyzed the nucleoside triphosphate-dependent phosphorylation of both D-tagatose 6-phosphate and D-fructose 6-phosphate. Although the Vmax values were equal for these two substrates, the apparent Km values differed by 10,000-fold, being 16 micro M for D-tagatose 6-phosphate and 150 mM for D-fructose 6-phosphate. The purified enzyme was free from the constitutive D-fructose-6-phosphate kinase. Phosphoryl donors used by D-tagatose-6-phosphate kinse, listed in order of decreasing rates at saturating concentrations were GTP, UTP ITP ATP, CTP, and TTP; the Km values were 0.38, 0.91, 0.17, 0.16, 18, and 20 mM, respectively. The enzyme appeared to be nonallosteric; it exhibited Michaelis-Menten kinetics and was not inhibited by high concentrations of MgATP. However, it was activated 3- to 4-fold by 33.3 mM K+, NH4+, Rb+, and Cs+, and was inhibited 31 to 65% by 33.3 mM Na+ and Li+. It was inactivated reversibly by the thiol reagent, N-ethylmaleimide. The subunit molecular weight was estimated to be 52,000, and the native enzyme appeared to be a dimer with a sedimentation coefficient of 6.8 S. Data on stability, pH optimum, and inducibility of the enzyme are also presented.

Cations, Monovalent↗

PubMed1980

Lactose and D-galactose metabolism in Staphylococcus aureus. II. Isomerization of D-galactose 6-phosphate to D-tagatose 6-phosphate by a specific D-galactose-6-phosphate isomerase.

The inducible D-galactose-6-phosphate isomerase that functions in the metabolism of lactose and D-galactose in Staphylococcus aureus was partially purified from extracts of D-galactose-grown cells. It was shown to catalyze specifically the reversible isomerization of D-galactose 6-phosphate to D-tagatose 6-phosphate, the apparent Km values being 9.6 mM and 1.9 mM, respectively. At equilibrium, the ratio of D-galactose 6-phosphate to D-tagatose 6-phosphate was 9.0. The enzyme was not simulated by mono- or divalent cations and was not inhibited by EDTA, but it was inactivated reversibly by the thiol reagent N-ethylmaleimide. Its molecular weight was estimated to be about 100,000 both by gel filtration and by sedimentation in a sucrose density gradient. Data on stability, pH optimum, and inducibility of the enzyme are also presented. An improved procedure for the chemical synthesis of D-tagatose 6-phosphate is described, and resolution of the anomers of D-tagatose 6-phosphate by gas-liquid chromatography is reported.

Aldose-Ketose Isomerases↗

PubMed1980

Lactose and D-galactose metabolism in Staphylococcus aureus. IV. Isolation and properties of a class I D-ketohexose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase that catalyzes the cleavage of D-tagatose 1,6-diphosphate.

The inducible D-ketohexose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase that functions in the metabolism of lactose and D-galactose in Staphylococcus aurues was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from an extract of D-galactose-grown cells. At saturating substrate concentrations, D-tagatose 1,6-diphosphate was cleaved to dihydroxyacetone phosphate plus D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate at twice the rate of D-fructose 1,6-diphosphate; Km values for D-tagatose 1,6-diphosphate and D-fructose 12,6-diphosphate were 1.5 mM and 2.5 mM, respectively. The enzyme catalyzed the aldol condensation of dihydroxyacetone phosphate and D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate to yield a mixture of the 1,6-diphosphate derivatives of D-tagatose, D-fructose, D-sorbose, and D-psicose, indicating that it also catalyzes the cleavage of all four D-2-ketohexose 1,6-diphosphates. The enzyme was not inhibited by EDTA and it had no divalent metal ion requirement, but it did exhibit substrate-dependent inactivation by NaBH4, indicating that it is a Class I (Schiff's base) aldolase. Density gradient centrifugation and gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate indicated that the enzyme exists as a monomer with amolecular weight of about 37,000 and a sedimentation coefficient of 3.4 S. Data on the stability, pH optimum, and inducibility of the enzyme are also presented.

Aldehyde-Lyases↗

PubMed1980

Strabismus in ptosis.

Two hundred twenty-six consecutive surgical ptosis cases were carefully evaluated to establish the incidence of strabismus in ptosis. The overall incidence of strabismus in surgical ptosis patients was found to be 36%. Most remarkable were the findings in 113 congenital ptosis patients; 32% of these patients were found to have strabismus. Only 44% of these patients had entities previously described associating strabismus with ptosis. It is postulated that in four of the congenital ptosis patients (3.5%), strabismus developed as a result of their ptosis. In one of these patients, strabismus and amblyopia developed while the patient was being observed prior to ptosis surgery. This study demonstrates the need for careful ocular motility evaluation in all patients with ptosis. Ocular motility evaluation and follow-up is especially important in congenital ptosis, where the ptotic lid may, in fact, precipitate strabismus and amblyopia.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Amblyopia in ptosis.

Amblyopia can result from strabismus, anisometropia, media opacities, and congenital disorders such as nystagmus. Complicated forms of ptosis (ie, associated with neurofibroma or hemangioma) are also known to cause amblyopia. A previously unconfirmed cause of amblyopia is uncomplicated ptosis. We carefully examined 123 consecutive surgical ptosis patients with uncomplicated congenital or early acquired ptosis. Twenty-five cases of amblyopia (20%) were seen. Four cases (3.2%) were thought to be caused by the ptosis. In two of these cases (1.6%), the amblyopia was directly attributed to the ptosis. In one of the remaining two cases, exotropia and amblyopia developed on the ptotic side while the patient was being observed for the ptosis. In another patient, a progressively increasing cylindrical refractive error and amblyopia developed, which were attributed to the ptosis. We recommend careful evaluation of cases of congenital ptosis for the detection and treatment of amblyopia.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

Orbicularis oculi muscle in chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia.

Orbicularis oculi muscle biopsies were performed in 38 patients (ten with chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia and 28 controls) to determine whether ragged red fibers were present and, if so, whether they were specific to progressive external ophthalmoplegia. To our knowledge, the orbicularis muscle has not been previously studied in this regard. Ragged red fibers were seen in the orbicularis oculi in patients with and without ophthalmoplegia, although they were more abundant in patients with ophthalmoplegia. The limb muscles of patients with ophthalmoplegia showed ragged red fibers. Electron microscopy demonstrated that these fibers contain either abnormal or increased numbers of normal mitochondria. Thus, the presence of ragged red fibers in the orbicularis oculi muscle is not limited to patients with chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia, and the diagnosis of this disorder with ragged red fibers should be based on a combination of clinical and laboratory findings, including those from a limb muscle biopsy.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland in a child.

An unusual case of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland occurred in an 11-year-old child. Clinical, echographic, and histopathologic characteristics, as well as the management of this usually fatal disease, are discussed. The subtle signs and symptoms of this tumor were noted at the age of 9 years. A review of the literature reveals this to be the youngest patient in whom this tumor has been reported.

Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic↗

PubMed1980

Loxoscelism of the eyelids.

Loxoscelism is a reaction to the bite of spiders of the genus Loxosceles. Several species have been found in the United States; the most commonly encountered is L reclusus, the small brown recluse spider. Two types of reactions occur from the bite. In the localized type, necrotic loxoscelism, a cutaneous lesion with extensive gangrene develops. About 25% of patients have systemic manifestations of viscerocutaneous loxoscelism. There is the same local reaction, but, in addition, fever, chills, vomiting, joint pain, and hematologic abnormalities occur. Hemoglobinemia and hemoglobinuria suggest severe involvement. Deaths are believed to be caused by massive intravascular hemolysis. We describe a 61-year-old man who was bitten on the periorbital region; viscerocutaneous loxoscelism with gangrenous involvement of the eyelids developed. Severe laryngeal edema from regional, massive swelling of his neck was life threatening.

Eyelid Diseases↗

PubMed1980

Comparative toxicity of arsenic compounds and their accumulation in invertebrates and fish.

The toxicity of arsenic III, arsenic V, sodium dimethyl arsenate, and disodium methyl arsenate to stoneflies, snails, amphipods, and trout, and the bioaccumulation of these compounds were studied during a 28-day flow-through test. Daphnia magna were exposed for 21 days in static tests to determine life-cycle effects. All animals were exposed to concentrations of approximately 100 and 1000 microgram/L (as arsenic) of each of the compounds. Arsenic III, the most toxic compound, caused a significant reduction in the survival of amphipods at 1000 microgram As/L after seven days. None of the compounds significantly affected the survival of other test species after 28 days or reduced young production in Daphnia after 14 days of exposure. The concentration of accumulated arsenic in stoneflies, snails, and Daphnia was as much as 131, 99, and 219 times greater than the water concentration, whereas amphipods and rainbow trout contained arsenic residues similar to the controls. Residues in stoneflies, snails, and Daphnia exposed to 1000 microgram As/L were higher than those in animals exposed to 100 microgram As/L, but appeared to reach a steady state after 14 days. Total arsenic accumulation was greatest in organisms exposed to inorganic arsenic, particularly at 100 microgram/L.

Animals↗