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Biomedical subjects

S D Smith

Publications and source records attributed to S D Smith.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Adaptation of siblings to childhood malignancy.

To explore the impact of childhood cancer, school-aged patients and their healthy siblings from 71 families were given one or more of the following psychologic tests: the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, the Bene-Anthony Family Relations Test, and the Thematic Apperception Test. The siblings showed even more distress than the patients in the areas of perceived social isolation, perception of their parents as overindulgent and overprotective of the sick child, fear of confronting family members with negative feelings, and concern with failure (older siblings only). In other areas, such as anxiety and vulnerability to illness and injury, the patients' and siblings' experience appeared very similar. These results indicate that siblings, like patients, experience severe stress when confronted with a chronic, life-threatening illness such as cancer. In recognizing and attending to their needs, one can practice primary prevention in pediatrics by facilitating their healthy adaptation to a very difficult situation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1979

Initial experiences with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) has been initiated on 51 patients: 27 females (mean age -- 43.9 years) and 24 males (mean age -- 46.4 years). This group has been observed for a total of 1420 patient weeks of treatment (27.3 patient years). Thirty-six episodes of peritonitis have been noted among 19 patients. The overall incidence was one episode per 39.4 patient weeks. Recurrent episodes of peritonitis resulted in discontinuation of CAPD in five (9.8%) of the patients. Three (5.9%) of the patients were unable to continue with CAPD because of its inability to control extracellular fluid balance. In the patients who transferred from intermittent peritoneal dialysis to CAPD, there was a 4.5 mg/dl drop in serum creatinine and a 34 mg/dl drop in mean BUN values. There was a rise of approximately 2 gm in the hemoglobin levels of this group of patients. If the problem of peritonitis can be solved, CAPD will become the dialytic treatment of choice for the majority of patients with end-stage renal disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Bioassay of inhibin-like activity using pituitary cells in vitro.

The secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) by the pituitary gland appears to be partially regulated by a protein hormone, inhibin, which is produced in the Sertoli cells of the testis and is also present in ovarian follicular fluid (FF). The aim of the present study was to develop a sensitive method for the detection and estimation of inhibin-like activity, using dispersed pituitary cells in culture. Pituitary cells from adult male rats were dispersed and precultured for 3 days. After renewal of the medium (2 ml), samples to be tested for inhibin-like activity were added and culture was continued for a further 3 days. A dose-dependent suppression of the concentration of FSH in the medium (lambda = 0.17--0.22) was observed after addition of FF (0.05--1 microliter) or Sertoli cell culture medium (SCCM, 0.05--1 ml). Luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations were not affected with these doses of FF, but SCCM and higher doses of FF caused a significant increase in the concentration of LH in the medium. During an additional 6 h of culture in the presence of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH), FF and SCCM suppressed the release of both FSH (lambda = 0.07--0.11) and LH in a dose-dependent way. Cellular content of FSH, but not of LH, was decreased after these treatments. These results could not be explained by damage to the pituitary cells, by degradation of FSH or LH-RH, or by effects of steroids. It is concluded that this pituitary cell culture system can be used as a sensitive method for the estimation of inhibin-like activity in FF and SCCM.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Effects of factors from ovarian follicular fluid and Sertoli cell culture medium on in-vivo and in-vitro release of pituitary gonadotrophins in the rat: an evaluation of systems for the assay of inhibin.

Inhibin-like activity is present both in testicular and ovarian fluids. Various methods can be used for the detection of this activity. Indirect methods, using organ weights as an endpoint, lack the specificity required for reliable estimation of inhibin-like activity. With in-vivo bioassay systems, using estimation of circulating concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) in intact or gonadectomized, immature or adult, male or female rats, a suppression of FSH concentrations only is usually observed after injection of inhibin-like material. The largest suppression of FSH concentrations can be obtained in short-term gonadectomized adult female or 35-day-old male rats. Addition of inhibin-like activity to cultured pituitary cells specifically suppresses the spontaneous release of FSH from the cells. After stimulation of cultured pituitary cells with LH-releasing hormone (LH-RH), the release of both FSH and LH are suppressed when inhibin-like activity is present. From dialysis experiments it appears that the molecular weight of the inhibin-like material in follicular fluid is greater than 10 000. However, acid ethanol extracts of this fluid contain a factor with a molecular weight smaller than 10 000, which does not suppress the spontaneous release of FSH from cultured pituitary cells, but diminishes the LH-RH-stimulated release of both LH and FSH. Furthermore, both follicular fluid and Sertoli cell culture medium can stimulate the release of FSH and LH from pituitary cells when these are cultured without addition of fetal calf serum. These results suggest that gonadal fluids contain several non-steroidal factors which can influence the release of gonadotrophins from pituitary cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Difference in the cell proliferation and colony-forming ability of normal human T lymphocytes.

Cell transfer experiments were carried out with phytohaemagglutinin-induced normal human T lymphocyte colonies after 2--10 days of primary colony growth. The cells gave a cloning efficiency of 15% after 2 days of incubation and this decreased to 0.2% with the progressive growth of the colonies. The primary colonies had a proliferative capacity to give about 240 cells after 10 days of incubation, but only contained 0.5 to one cell per colony that could form a new colony. This number of colony-forming cells per colony did not change with an increase in colony size. These results indicate that colonies maintained the same number of colony-forming cells that they started with and that the other cells could proliferate but not form colonies. It is suggested that this ability to distinguish between colony-forming and proliferative T cells may be useful for determining specific deficiencie in either cell type in various diseases.

Cell Division↗
PubMed1979

SHUR: a shift of power?

HEW's Health Care Financing Administration links uniform reporting and Medicare reimbursement under the provisions of the proposed System for Hospital Uniform Reporting. This summary of a position paper published by the public accounting firm Ernst & Ernst covers two questions: What will SHUR mean to hospitals? and, What can be done about it?

Accounting↗
PubMed1978

A rare origin of the superior thyroid artery.

In the course of a classroom dissection of a negro male (height: 167 cm; weight: 56.8 kg), and anomalous right superior thyroid artery was noted. It arose from the common carotid artery 27 mm proximal to the bifurcation into external and internal carotids. Previous reports indicate that the incidence of origin of the superior thyroid from the common carotid or its bifurcation varies from 5 to 45%, depending on the population sampled. Moreover, a low origin is more common in females than males, and appears approximately twice as often on the left as on the right. Previous reports also indicate that the origin is only very rarely more than 1 cm proximal to the bifurcation, only one case having been reported of an origin 25 mm proximal. The present case appears to be the most proximal origin so far recorded, and the first far proximal origin in negroes. The implications of such a low origin for surgical approach to the thyroid are considerable.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

Colony formation in vitro by leukemic cells in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

An assay system in vitro for the growth of malignant lymphoblastic colony-forming cells (CFC) was established. Growth of malignant myeloblastic CFC has been previously reported, but this is the first report of growth of malignant lymphoblastic CFC. Established assay systems in vitro have been very helpful in elucidating the control of growth and differentiation of both normal and malignant bone marrow cells. Lymphoblastic CFC were grown from the bone marrow aspirates of 20 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Growth of these colonies was established on an agar assay system and maintained in the relative hypoxia (7% oxygen) of a Stulberg chamber. The criteria for malignancy of these colonies was based upon cellular cytochemical staining characteristics, the presence of specific cell surface markers, and the ability of these lymphoid cells to grow without the addition of a lymphoid mitogen. With this technique, specific nutritional requirements and drug sensitivities can be established in vitro, and these data may permit tailoring of individual antileukemic therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Pulmonary involvement with cytomegalovirus infections in children.

Among 40 hospitalized infants and children with cytomegalovirus infection, 14 (35%) had interstitial pneumonitis, 4 (10%) had wheezing or tachypnoea but without x-ray evidence of classical interstitial pneumonia, the remaining 22 (55%) were free of pulmonary involvement. Most patients had tachypnoea and nonproductive cough of varying durations: those with underlying pulmonary pathology tended to have persistent and prolonged respiratory symptoms. Mortality and severity of the lung disease were related to the underlying immunodeficiency or concomitant pulmonary process.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

The use of porcine xenografts on nail beds following total nail avulsion and phenol chemomatrixectomy.

The success of applying split-thickness porcine xenografts to nail beds after nail avulsion with matrix chemocauterization depends on the adherence of the graft to the underlying tissue. When this was obtained, the authors found that porcine xenografts contribute markedly toward reducing postoperative pain and drainage. Further investigation is being undertaken to determine whether total healing time following chemomatrixectomy has been reduced by utilizing xenografts.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Femoral development in chronically centrifuged rats.

Groups of 30-d-old male and female rats were centrifuged at 2.00 G (RE, Rotation Experimental), 1.05 G (RC, Rotation Control) or exposed to the noise and wind of the centrifuge at 1.00 G (EC, Earth Control) for periods of 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 weeks. Measurements of their femurs indicated that exposure to centrifugation a) decreased femoral length in tre animals, b) increased femoral length in RC animals, c) reduced femoral diameter in RE and RC animals, d) increased L/D ratios in RC animals, e) decreased L/D ratios in RE animals, f) increased femur length/body weight in RE animals, g) decreased cortical thickness (CT) in RE animals, h) increased relative CT in RE animals, and decreased it in RC animals, i) accelerated ossification in RC femoral heads, j) thinned and distorted RE epiphyseal plates, and k) thickened condylar cartilage in RE females. The effects tended to be strongly sexually dimorphic, with females more severely affected by the stress than males.

Animals↗