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Biomedical subjects

S H Johnson

Publications and source records attributed to S H Johnson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Wayfinding on foot from information in retinal, not optical, flow.

People find their way through cluttered environments with ease and without injury. How do they do it? Two approaches to wayfinding are considered: Differential motion parallax (DMP) is a retinal motion invariant of near and far objects moving against fixation; the information in optical flow (IOF) is a radial pattern of vectors, relying on decomposition of retinal flow. Evidence is presented that DMP guides wayfinding during natural gait, accounting for errors as well as correct responses. Evidence against IOF is also presented, and a space-time aliasing artifact that can contaminate IOF displays is explored. Finally, DMP and IOF are separated, showing they can yield different results in different environments. Thus, it is concluded that (a) DMP and IOF are different, (b) DMP and not IOF is used for wayfinding, (c) moving observers do not usually decompose retinal flow, and (d) optical flow may be a mathematical fiction with no psychological reality.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Getting your research published: adapting the thesis style.

Writing a research report is similar to the research experience; both are processes with many distinct steps. Break your research project into parts and write about key accomplishments as you complete each milestone in the project.

Academic Dissertations as Topic↗
PubMed1992

Strengthening your case study approach.

A well-written case study has an important place in nursing literature because it describes new problems and techniques in clinical practice and helps identify researchable clinical questions. Do not be deceived into thinking that the case study manuscript is easy to write, because it is not. But, with the application of a few guidelines, the case study can be fun to write, exciting to edit, and enjoyable to read.

Medical Records↗
PubMed1992

Fluorine-18-antimyosin monoclonal antibody fragments: preliminary investigations in a canine myocardial infarct model.

The purpose of this study was to determine in a canine model whether selective myocardial infarct uptake of 18F-labeled antimyosin monoclonal antibody fragments could be achieved in a time frame compatible with the short half-life of this nuclide. Antimyosin monoclonal antibody fragments were labeled with 18F using a succinimidyl [18F]fluorobenzylamine ester acylation agent. Six dogs had myocardial infarction induced by coronary artery occlusion and were reperfused prior to the intravenous administration of 0.6-4.7 mCi of 18F-labeled F(ab')2 (two dogs) or Fab (four dogs). Analysis of tissues obtained 2-4 hr after antibody administration revealed infarct:normal myocardium uptake ratios as high as 14-21:1 for F(ab')2 and 9-12:1 for Fab. Even with Fab, however, prolonged 18F activity in the blood pool interfered with delineation of infarcts by PET imaging. In one dog, perfusion imaging with [13N]ammonia before antimyosin administration was performed, and regions of normal and ischemic myocardium were determined. With these regions of interest, infarct:normal myocardium uptake ratios calculated from the 18F-labeled Fab images increased from 1.5:1 at 1 hr to 4.0:1 at 5 hr. We conclude that 18F-labeled antimyosin fragments may be of value for hot-spot imaging of damaged myocardium with PET; however, blood-pool subtraction techniques will probably be required.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Outlining: the key to an organized manuscript.

Faced by a blank sheet of paper and justifiable uncertainty about editorial review board approval, a nurse-author setting out to write an article should, before all, remember that ideas can be conveyed well in writing only if they are organized. The traditional "school-room" outlining methods may be replaced by one of the three approaches to manuscript organization that are described in this article. These approaches are tailored to the mental working habits of various categories of writers.

Humans↗
PubMed1991

Prediction of death and myocardial infarction by radionuclide angiocardiography in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

The prognostic value of radionuclide angiocardiography was examined in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. Nine hundred and eight patients who underwent rest and exercise radionuclide angiocardiography without subsequent cardiac catheterization were followed for a median of 4.6 years. Fifty-two cardiovascular deaths and 28 nonfatal myocardial infarctions occurred during the follow-up period. Thirty-nine radionuclide angiocardiographic and clinical variables were analyzed in association with the end points of cardiovascular death, total cardiac events and death from all causes using the Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier survival estimates. Univariable analysis identified the exercise ejection fraction as the best predictor of cardiovascular death (chi-square = 82), total cardiac events (chi-square = 84) and death from all causes (chi-square = 66). A small subset of patients (n = 45) with an exercise ejection fraction less than 0.35 were at high risk for future cardiac events, whereas most patients (n = 776) had an exercise ejection fraction greater than or equal to 0.50 and a low probability of a subsequent event. Three variables--the exercise ejection fraction, the exercise change in heart rate, and gender--contained independent prognostic information determined by multivariable analysis. The exercise ejection fraction was the strongest independent predictor (p less than 0.0001) for every end point. The measurement of ventricular function during exercise provides important independent prognostic information in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. Radionuclide angiocardiography successfully identifies patients requiring invasive assessment, and the low probability of cardiac events in patients with good exercise ventricular function obviates the need for interventional therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Safety and efficacy of sonicated albumin microspheres in perfusion and vein graft patency assessments.

This study was designed to identify a concentration of sonicated albumin microspheres that is safe, useful in determining graft patency, and provides an estimate of regional myocardial perfusion. The study included 8 patients between 50 and 72 years of age who were undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. All patients were hemodynamically stable with left ventricular ejection fractions greater than or equal to 0.35. None had congestive heart failure or myocardial infarction within 4 months prior to the study. All had normal baseline neurologic and renal functions, and none had experienced allergic reactions to blood products or contrast dyes. A standard median sternotomy was performed for exposure of the heart at surgery, and saphenous veins were harvested and used for grafting. Intraoperative epicardial echocardiography (EE), always in the left ventricle short-axis at midpapillary level, was performed before and after grafting to determine regional myocardial wall motion. Sonicated albumin microspheres were prepared and injected into a single vein graft using an 18-gauge needle; 20 x 10(6), 100 x 10(6), and 200 x 10(6) microspheres were injected into the first graft sequentially. All other vein grafts were injected once with the dose that gave optimal contrast enhancement in the initial graft studied. In each patient, a minimum of 3 and maximum of 5 injections were performed, and graft perfusion was studied using EE. Graft flow, blood pressure, and electrocardiographic (ECG) measurements were continuously monitored, with a final EE performed after weaning the patient off cardiopulmonary bypass to assess wall motion. Preliminary results showed that no patient had adverse effects during or after the study and all remained hemodynamically stable.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Effects of internal mammary artery dissection on phrenic nerve perfusion and function.

The effects of left internal mammary artery (LIMA) dissection and distal division on phrenic nerve perfusion and function were examined in an adult swine model. Phrenic nerve perfusion was determined by left atrial injection of radioactively labeled microspheres. Phrenic nerve function was determined by measuring nerve and diaphragm potentials evoked by bilateral phrenic nerve stimulation. In the first group of animals (n = 9), the LIMA was dissected with ligation of all its branches. Left phrenic nerve perfusion and function decreased after LIMA dissection in every animal studied, whereas only minimal changes were observed on the right. Sixty minutes after LIMA dissection, left phrenic nerve mean perfusion decreased 71%. Left phrenic nerve and left diaphragm mean action potential amplitudes decreased 54% and 80%, respectively. In the second group of animals (n = 4), the LIMA dissection was performed without division of the pericardiacophrenic artery, a small proximal branch of the internal mammary artery that supplies the phrenic nerve. Sixty minutes after LIMA dissection, left phrenic nerve perfusion had decreased by 21% from control values, with a corresponding decrease in left phrenic nerve and diaphragm mean action potential amplitudes of 19% and 23%, respectively. These results indicate that LIMA dissection with division of all its branches in this model is associated with a significant impairment in left phrenic nerve perfusion and function and suggests a causal relationship. These results may also explain the apparent increased phrenic nerve cold sensitivity and increased incidence of phrenic nerve dysfunction associated with LIMA grafting.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1991

Neodymium:YAG laser damage to UV-absorbing poly(methyl methacrylate) and UV-absorbing MMA-HEMA-EGDMA polymer intraocular lens materials.

MemoryLenses and UV-poly(methyl methacrylate) intraocular lenses, which served as controls, were individually exposed to twenty 5 mJ shots of the Nd:YAG laser focused onto the posterior surface while placed in a sterile holder containing 5 ml of saline. The MemoryLens is a new foldable intraocular lens (IOL) manufactured from a polymer consisting of methyl methacrylate (MMA), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and ethylene glycol dimethyacrylate (EGDMA) with a UV absorber. Damage to the lenses was assessed by scanning electron microscopy. Cytotoxicity tests designed to detect potentially toxic substances released during laser damage were conducted with the saline solution by incubating it with mouse fibroblasts. Additional tests of the saline solution were conducted by high performance liquid chromatography and spectrophotometry. Damage induced by the Nd:YAG laser to the UV-poly(methyl methacrylate) IOLs was similar to that reported by other authors. Damage to the MemoryLens appeared less severe and showed no radial stress cracking. Cytotoxicity tests were negative for both types of IOLs. High performance liquid chromatography tests were negative for residual monomers (MMA, HEMA, EGDMA) and spectrophotometry did not reveal residual UV absorber.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Exercise radionuclide angiocardiography predicts cardiac death in patients with coronary artery disease.

The purpose of this investigation was to document the relative importance of three clinical and three radionuclide variables for prediction of cardiac death in a consecutive group of patients evaluated for coronary artery disease. During a 6 1/2-year period, beginning in January 1978, 2,042 consecutive patients underwent radionuclide angiocardiography, with a clinical diagnosis of coronary artery disease, at Duke University Medical Center. A subgroup of 318 patients who underwent surgical myocardial revascularization near the time of initial study were excluded from later analysis. Clinical follow-up information was complete in a group of 1,663 patients who did not undergo interventional therapy. The 141 cardiac deaths in these 1,663 patients were the study end point. Cox proportional hazards models analyzed the prognostic information contained in three clinical variables (pain type, age, and sex) and three radionuclide angiocardiogram variables (exercise ejection fraction, resting end-diastolic volume, and change in heart rate with exercise). One-variable models confirmed the prognostic importance of each of these six variables. A multivariable model in which all six variables were used showed clinical variables to contain only 5% and the radionuclide variables 95% of the prognostic information. The exercise ejection fraction was the single most important variable, which alone contained 85% of the total information in the model. Curves relating probability of no cardiac death to the exercise ejection fraction identified a value of 0.50 as an inflection point. Patients with exercise ejection fractions below 0.50 demonstrate a probability of cardiac death that increases as the ejection fraction decreases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Angina Pectoris↗
PubMed1990

Intraoperative perfusion contrast echocardiography. Initial experience during coronary artery bypass grafting.

Intraoperative evaluation of the effectiveness of myocardial revascularization has been limited by an inability to assess regional myocardial perfusion. Microbubbles of sonicated diatrizoate sodium and diatrizoate meglumine (Renografin) have been an effective echocardiographic contrast agent and have been employed clinically during cardiac catheterization. This recent development in contrast-enhanced two-dimensional echocardiography permits real-time imaging of transmural myocardial blood flow but has not been evaluated in the operating room. This study represents the initial surgical application of this directed technique and was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intraoperative perfusion contrast echocardiography in assessing the results of coronary artery bypass grafting. Twenty men with significant coronary artery disease ranging in age from 49 to 73 years were studied. Direct contrast agent injection into completed saphenous vein bypass grafts caused the myocardium supplied by each graft to be well delineated and provided a tomographic view of contrast distribution. The enhanced region was well correlated with the size and distribution of the native vessel. Rapid contrast washout (less than 20 seconds) indicated satisfactory regional perfusion. Contrast echocardiography prolonged the operation less than 10 minutes and did not result in any perioperative complications.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Anaphylactoid reactions mediated by autoantibodies to cholesterol in miniature pigs.

Antoantibodies to cholesterol were detected and purified from normal (nonimmunized) pig serum. The antibodies were assayed by ELISA with crystalline cholesterol as an Ag and by C-dependent damage to cholesterol-laden liposomes. Intravenous injection of liposomes containing cholesterol into anesthetized animals caused decreased hemolytic complement titers, and induced a reaction consisting of transient neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, respiratory distress, cyanosis, pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and decreased cardiac output. Plasma levels of thromboxane B2 and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha increased 1300 and 200%, respectively, and leukocyte and platelet counts decreased by 36 and 38%, respectively. Injection of cholesterol-free liposomes did not induce the reaction. These results show that naturally occurring autoantibodies to cholesterol can initiate C activation and can be associated with anaphylactoid reaction to exogenously administered cholesterol in pigs.

Anaphylaxis↗
PubMed1989

Arginine8-vasopressin reduces spinal cord blood flow after spinal subarachnoid injection in rats.

Arginine8-vasopressin (AVP) causes hindlimb paralysis, loss of nociceptive responsiveness and increased arterial pressure after spinal subarachnoid injection in rats. In these experiments, the effects of paralytic intrathecal doses of AVP on rat brain and spinal cord blood flow, vascular resistance and cardiac output were measured using radiolabeled microspheres. Ten minutes after injection, AVP (10-100 pmol) elevated mean arterial pressures significantly, increased vascular resistances in thoracic and lumbosacral spinal cord and reduced blood flow to the lumbosacral spinal cord without altering cardiac output, total peripheral resistance and blood flow to brain and other spinal cord regions. Lumbosacral blood flows remained significantly reduced 30 min after injection of 100 pmol of AVP, and recovered to pretreatment base-line levels by 60 min postinjection. Lactic acid concentrations were elevated significantly in spinal cerebrospinal fluid samples removed 5 to 15 min after AVP injection (100 pmol). The selective AVP V1 receptor antagonist [1-(beta-mercapto-beta,beta-cyclopentamethylene propionic acid), 2-(O-methyl)tyrosine] arg8-vasopressin, which previously blocked the effects of AVP on hindlimb motor and nociceptive function, in these experiments also blocked the AVP-induced increases in arterial pressure and reductions in lumbosacral perfusion. Intravenous infusion of the vasodilators papaverine and nifedipine failed to block AVP-induced hindlimb paralysis. Nifedipine, however, did accelerate subsequent recovery of hindlimb motor function, although it did not alter the lumbosacral blood flow reductions measured at 10 and 30 min after AVP injection. These findings indicate that AVP has significant vascular effects in the rat spinal cord that are associated with ischemia and neurological dysfunction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Comparison of the keratometer and the lens bench in measuring intraocular lens power.

Intraocular lenses (IOLs) from six manufacturers were measured on a Terry keratometer and on a calibrated lens bench for lens power. Differences between the two methods appeared when the IOLs were a different refractive index than polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and a shape other than planoconvex. These differences were consistent for ultraviolet absorbing PMMA and for meniscus lenses.

Lenses, Intraocular↗