Lamellated sensory corpuscles within the endoneurium.
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Aged↗
Biomedical subjects
S Hall
Publications and source records attributed to S Hall.
Lung function abnormalities and decline of spirometry in scleroderma: an overrated danger?
To document the prevalence and progression of pulmonary involvement in scleroderma (systemic sclerosis including the CREST syndrome), the clinical notes and lung function records of 113 cases were reviewed. Lung function was normal in 39 cases, isolated impairment of DLCO was found in 38 patients, a restrictive defect was present in 27 cases and there was evidence of airflow obstruction in 9 cases. The median duration of symptoms was 10 years. Dyspnoea and an interstitial pattern on chest X-ray were associated with impaired lung function. Death during the period of review was significantly related to initial impairment of the DLCO. Sixty-six patients (53 women and 13 men) underwent repeat spirometry at least 1 year after initial testing. The rates of change in VC and FEV1 were no more rapid than would be expected for normal subjects. There was no significant difference in rates of change between men and women or between dyspnoeic patients and those who were asymptomatic. The extent of skin involvement and the presence of interstitial fibrosis on chest X-ray were unrelated to the rate of loss of lung function. It is concluded that most scleroderma patients in this study had abnormal lung function when first tested, but overall significant worsening of spirometry was not found.
Adolescent↗
Serial-position effects in paragraph recall following mild closed-head injury.
Serial-position effects were examined on a contextual memory task (paragraph recall) for patients with minor to mild closed-head injury and normal controls. Analysis indicated that at immediate recall, both normals and closed-head-injury patients have primacy and recency effects. With regard to total recall, however, the closed-head-injury patients remembered significantly fewer items than normal controls. The poorer performance of the minor to mild closed-head-injury group was not related to the duration from injury to neuropsychological evaluation and appears to be a lasting feature of memory performance following such injury. The pattern of serial-position effects was different between the groups. Normal controls showed slight recency and primacy effects and relatively better recall for the middle portions of the story, while patients with minor to mild closed-head injuries have prominent recency and primacy effects. Potential explanations for this pattern of performance are discussed.
Adult↗
The relationship between intelligence and memory following minor or mild closed head injury: greater impairment in memory than intelligence.
This study investigated the performance of patients with minor or mild closed head injury and age/education-matched normal controls on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R). The results demonstrated that the control group had significantly higher scores than the patients with closed head injury on all WAIS-R and WMS-R index scores. Further analysis revealed that the patients with closed head injury showed a greater impairment in delayed memory when directly compared to intellectual performance that was not seen in the control group. These results are discussed in relation to findings in patients with more severe closed head injury, the construction of the WAIS-R and the WMS-R, and the performance patterns of the two groups.
Adult↗
Texas nurses help Romanian colleagues.
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Education, Nursing↗
Enticing nurses back to hospitals.
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Clinical Competence↗
A comparative study of carvedilol, slow-release nifedipine, and atenolol in the management of essential hypertension.
Carvedilol is a novel treatment for hypertension, having a balanced pharmacology of vasodilation and beta-receptor blockade. We present here the results of a three-way, multicenter, comparative study on the use of carvedilol, slow-release nifedipine, and atenolol in the management of essential hypertension. A total of 311 patients was entered into the study, of which 293 were randomized to one of the three treatment regimens. Full data are available on 255 patients. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements, in both sitting and standing positions, were taken, together with the heart rate. There was no consistently significant difference between treatments with respect to blood pressure control. Differences in heart rate were more pronounced, with the reduction due to carvedilol being generally intermediate between nifedipine and atenolol. Further studies of carvedilol in hypertension, as well as other indications, are warranted.
Adolescent↗
Crystal arthritis: a clinician's view.
Arthritis, which can be acute, chronic or asymptomatic, is caused by a variety of crystal deposition in joints. The three main types of crystal arthritis are monosodium urate (gout), calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate, and calcium phosphate (usually hydroxyapatite). A clinical approach to diagnosis and management.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
Actions of forskolin and isoprenaline on the separated myometrial layers of the guinea-pig uterus: influence of ovarian steroids and pregnancy.
Responses to forskolin and isoprenaline of electrically stimulated preparations of longitudinal and circular myometrium were compared. The guinea-pigs used were: untreated (dioestrous), ovarian steroid-treated, pregnant and post-partum. Forskolin inhibited electrically evoked contractions of both myometrial layers obtained from all groups; there was no change in its potency or its maximum effect (90-100% inhibition). The inhibition of contractions of longitudinal myometrium by isoprenaline was enhanced with steroid treatment, attaining a maximum in late pregnancy and immediately post-partum. In circular myometrium, there was no significant change in the potency of isoprenaline on tissues from ovarian steroid-treated animals. However, maximum potency as well as maximum response was observed in late pregnancy. Since the effects of isoprenaline but not of forskolin were modulated, we suggest that ovarian steroids and pregnancy may alter the coupling of beta-adrenoceptors to the adenylate cyclase system.
Animals↗
Kawasaki syndrome: lessons for Britain.
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Child, Preschool↗
Relationship of glucocorticoid dosage to serum bone Gla-protein concentration in patients with rheumatologic disorders.
Serum bone Gla-protein (BGP) measurements in 50 rheumatic disease patients receiving long-term prednisone therapy revealed an inverse relationship (r = -0.71, P less than 0.001) between serum BGP levels and prednisone dosage. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated significant relationships (R2 = 0.72, P less than 0.001) between serum BGP1/2 and prednisone dosage, dosage2, serum creatinine, age, and an age-creatinine interaction. This model predicts the suppression of serum BGP with low dosages of steroids and 50% suppression with dosages of 20-25 mg/day.
Adolescent↗
Mitogenic action(s) of fluoride on osteoblast line cells: determinants of the response in vitro.
Clinically effective (osteogenic) concentrations of fluoride (5-30 microM) also have direct effects on skeletal tissues in vitro, to increase bone formation and osteoblast line cell proliferation. The effect on cell proliferation was specific for bone cells, modulated by systemic skeletal effectors, and dependent on (a) the [Pi] in the medium, (b) the presence of a bone cell mitogen, and (c) mitogen-responsive osteoprogenitor cells. Together, these data indicate that fluoride increases bone formation in vitro by increasing osteoprogenitor cell proliferation and that fluoride increases osteoprogenitor cell proliferation by enhancing the activity of bone cell mitogens.
Alkaline Phosphatase↗
Insectivory and social digestion in Drosophila.
It has long believed that Drosophila larvae feed almost entirely by ingesting yeast and possibly other microorganisms that are associated with fermenting fruits or other vegetable matter. However, we have discovered that the larvae of a number of Drosophila species can consume such diverse substrates as insect tissues, including the exoskeleton. Experiments reported here, which include raising sterile dechorionated eggs to adulthood on adult carcasses under axenic conditions, show that larvae can consume complex chitinous substrates directly without the assistance of microorganisms. We show that Drosophila larvae are able externally to digest amylose, cellulose, and chitin, without coming into physical contact with them. We conclude that not only do Drosophila larvae produce enzymes enabling them to digest a wide variety of substrates, but also these enzymes are egested onto the substrates so that at least some digestion, especially of large polymers, takes place externally. Finally, we suggest that the phenomenon of external digestion explains both the previously unexplained massiveness of Drosophila salivary glands and their chromosomes and the tendency of larvae to cluster, which may also be true of other dipterans.
Amylose↗
Toxin composition variations in one isolate of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense.
A commonly accepted paradigm in the study of saxitoxin-producing dinoflagellates is that the total concentration of all toxins (toxin content) in one isolate can vary with growth conditions, but that the relative abundance of each toxin (toxin composition) does not change. We demonstrate here that dramatic changes in toxin composition do occur in one isolate of Alexandrium fundyense. In nitrogen- and phosphorus-limited semi-continuous cultures, toxin composition varied systematically with growth rate. When cells grew slowly under severe nutrient limitation, toxin composition was dominated by one or at most two toxin epimer pairs; as nutrient stresses eased at higher growth rates, the toxin profiles became more heterogeneous. Steady-state, sustained nitrogen limitation favored the production of toxins C 1,2 and GTX I,IV, whereas phosphorus limitation produced cells with high relative abundance of GTX II,III. STX reached its highest relative abundance when growth was most rapid. The lack of observed compositional changes in most past studies is probably not due to inherent differences in toxin biosynthetic pathways between the strains of Alexandrium examined, but rather to differences in the physiology of cells grown under different culturing modes (batch vs semi-continuous), methods of toxin analysis, and dominant toxins in the particular isolates examined.
Animals↗
Readability of commercial versus generic health instructions for condoms.
Despite the fact that condoms are increasingly recommended for the prevention of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and have long been used as a barrier method of contraception, little is known about the readability of the range of materials that have been written exclusively for consumers on how to use a condom. The authors described and compared the reading comprehension levels of condom patient package inserts (PPIs) prepared commercially and those generic instructions (GIs) prepared by health care providers. Fifteen sets of PPIs and 30 sets of GIs were analyzed using six standard readability formulas (Fry, Fog, Dale-Chall, Flesch, Flesch-Kincaid, SMOG). Readability levels of the instructions ranged from grade 6.3 to 13.7. The PPIs required a significantly higher grade level for comprehension (mean 10.32) than the GIs (mean 8.69). This study suggests that instructions prepared by both sources may require a reading level above that of many consumers who need information on how to use a condom.
Contraceptive Devices, Male↗
Murine herpesvirus 68 is genetically related to the gammaherpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus and herpesvirus saimiri.
Short nucleotide sequence analysis of seven restriction fragments of murine herpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) DNA has been undertaken and used to determine the overall genome organization and relatedness of this virus to other well characterized representatives of the alpha-, beta- and gammaherpesvirus subgroups. Nine genes have been identified which encode amino acid sequences with greater similarity to proteins of the gammaherpesvirus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) than to the homologous products of the alphaherpesviruses varicella-zoster virus and herpes simples virus type 1 or the betaherpesvirus human cytomegalovirus. In addition, the genome organization of MHV-68 is shown to have an overall collinearity with that of the gammaherpesviruses EBV and herpesvirus saimiri. In common with these viruses, dinucleotide frequency analysis of MHV-68 coding sequences reveals a marked reduction in CpG dinucleotide frequency thus implicating a dividing cell population as the site of latency in vivo.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
The social competence of children born prematurely: effects of medical complications and parent behaviors.
36-month-old, full-term children (n = 21) and low-birthweight (LBW) children of high (n = 25) and low (n = 23) medical risk status were observed in interactions with mothers in teaching and social context. Child compliance, self-directed behaviors, and problem behaviors were evaluated as well as associations among aspects of children's social competence, mothers' behaviors, and context factors. Degree of medical risk was associated with impairments in children's self-directed behavior and quality of response to maternal directives. Mothers of LBW children showed a smaller proportion of behaviors that provided choices compared to mothers of full-term children. Medical complications, children's cognitive status, and mothers' interactive behaviors were significantly associated with LBW children's social competence. Results of regression analyses suggested that mothers and LBW children influence each others' behavior in ways similar to mothers and full-term children in both teaching and social contexts.
Attention↗
Readability of commercial and generic contraceptive instructions.
This study describes the readability levels of written instructions for methods of contraception. Materials studied include patient package inserts (PPIs) from commercial manufacturers and generic instructions (GIs) written by staff members in selected health agencies in the community and by health information publishers. Written materials were analyzed using Dale-Chall, Fry, Fog, Flesh, Flesch-Kincaid and SMOG formulas for readability. Readability levels ranged from elementary school (grade 5.5) to college (grade 13.6). Required comprehension levels of the PPIs were higher than those of the GIs for three of the four groups of contraceptives studied (diaphragms, pills, condoms).
Contraceptive Devices↗