Disposable linen items have hidden costs that include disposal, maintenance, labor.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Levine.
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Lewis rats were prepared by injection of a mild chemical irritant to produce a sterile peritonitis. This procedure has been shown recently to enhance the lymphatic absorption of oily and particulate materials inoculated one week later. Rats pretreated in this manner responded to intraperitoneal injection of spinal cord tissue suspended in mineral oil with the expected clinical signs of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). The clinical signs remitted but were soon followed by a recurrence of equal or greater severity in most of the rats. Most rats survived the relapse and had a second remission although persistent demyelination was often found histologically. Rats inoculated without a prior peritonitis had almost no relapses. Emulsifying agents and mycobacteria reduced or eliminated the occurrence of relapses. The occurrence of relapses correlated with enhanced absorption of inoculum into the draining lymph nodes. The weight and histological appearance of the thymuses supported the hypothesis that the occurrence of relapses and remissions in this model was due to endocrine regulation of the immune response with increased endogenous immunosuppressive corticosteroids playing a crucial role.
Clofazimine administered orally to rats and mice caused pigmentation of the intestines, draining lymph nodes, fat, and other tissues and organs. Peyer's patches were always more deeply colored than the remainder of the intestine. A microscopic study revealed crystal-containing epithelioid cell granulomas in the patches and in the draining mesenteric lymph nodes but not in the remainder of the gut. During the evolution of the granulomas, some of the epithelioid cells were capable of phagocytosing an iron complex, a circumstance which made it possible to get detailed views of the clofazimine crystals in paraffin sections by negative contrast in histochemical stains for iron. The granulomas appeared after three oral treatments during 1 week, but were better developed after six or more treatments during 2 or more weeks. Similar observations were made in three strains of rats and in mice. We hypothesize that the greater pigmentation of Peyer's patches and their granulomatous response to clofazimine might indicate a special susceptibility to toxic effects of the drug. Whether or not this susceptibility is the starting point for an enteropathy can only be determined by examination of affected human tissues and by further animal experimentation.
To evaluate the clinical status and restenosis rate after percutaneous transluminal coronary angiography (PTCA), 251 consecutive patients who had undergone a successful procedure from February 1979 to May 1983 were studied. Angiography was done routinely in 92 of the initial 100 consecutive patients in whom the procedure was successful (group I), 1 to 11 months (mean 6) after PTCA. Restenosis occurred in 37 of 92 patients (40%); all but 2 (who had collateral flow to the restenosed vessel) had symptoms. Conversely, 44 of 46 asymptomatic patients had no restenosis. The other 159 patients (group II) were followed up clinically, with angiography performed only if signs or symptoms of ischemia recurred. Restenosis suspected clinically and confirmed angiographically occurred in 35 of 92 patients (38%) in group I and 36 of 154 patients (23%) in group II. Of 251 patients with follow-up of at least 6 months, 109 patients (43%) became symptomatic. Of 109 symptomatic patients, 104 consented to coronary angiography; restenosis was found in 67%, progression of narrowing in other arteries occurred in 13%, and the remaining patients were presumed to have large or small vessel vasospasm. The mortality rate for the entire group was 0.8%. When repeat angioplasty was applied to patients with restenosis, over 80% of the group improved at an average follow-up time of 21 months. Symptomatic restenosis may occur less often when higher balloon inflation pressures are used during PTCA.
Closure of the pharyngoesophagus after total laryngectomy or partial pharyngectomy is not a difficult problem in most cases. Primary suture repair of the defect is usually adequate, providing sufficient healthy mucosa is available. When this is not feasible, it may be necessary to mobilize tissue from distant sites. The deltopectoral and various myocutaneous flaps are often chosen for this purpose because of their reliability and versatility. Unfortunately, they necessitate either two-stage surgery or involve excessive bulk, and both methods result in unsightly defects, especially in women. The "rotary-door" sternohyoid myocutaneous flap avoids these drawbacks, while utilizing tissues within the surgical field in a single-stage procedure. Seven mongrel dogs underwent total laryngectomy and partial pharyngectomy. The pharyngeal defect was closed with a rotary-door sternohyoid myocutaneous flap. Three dogs had an uneventful recovery and two developed fistulae that closed spontaneously within three weeks of surgery. The pharyngocutaneous repair was found to be intact on postmortem examination.
The coronary artery thrombus that causes acute myocardial infarction can be lysed, and reperfusion can be achieved, in the first few hours after infarction. However, the infarct vessel will reocclude in 15-30% of patients, and this event is frequently associated with pain, reinfarction, arrhythmias, or death. The risk of reocclusion is greatest in patients with high-grade residual stenosis after thrombolysis. Percutaneous coronary angioplasty may be performed safely after thrombolytic therapy. Angioplasty effectively decreases the degree of residual stenosis, and may thereby reduce the risk of reocclusion and consequent ischemic events. However, a substantial proportion of patients with acute infarction are not suitable candidates for angioplasty. Coronary artery bypass surgery has also been safely performed within several days after thrombolytic therapy. Further studies are needed to determine which patients will benefit most from this aggressive approach to acute myocardial infarction.
When cells from rats immunized against neural antigens are incubated with myelin basic protein or concanavalin A, their ability to transfer experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is greatly increased. Using the rapid, localized form of EAE, we have shown that the increased encephalitogenicity of these cells was not manifest, or not fully manifest, in 1 day after passive transfer. Expression of the increased encephalitogenic potency required a period of residence in the recipient animal and this period did not depend on the duration of incubation in vitro. Conditioned cells were fully capable of eliciting the neutrophilic form of EAE, which is consistent with the notion that the recipient's mononuclear cells were not essential for the expression of the encephalitogenic potential of conditioned donor cells.
One week after intraperitoneal injection of rats and mice with a chemical irritant, the abdominal cavity was in the healing phase of a sterile peritonitis. At this time, mineral oil or a particulate dye or metal injected intraperitoneally was absorbed into lymph nodes in much larger amounts than normal. Absorption of oil caused fourfold enlargement of nodes, distention of afferent lymphatics, and sometimes widespread oil embolization of lungs. Absorption was increased when the chemical irritant had bathed the entire peritoneum but not when it was limited to the lower abdominal cavity. The chemical peritonitis caused shrinkage, agglutination, fixation, and fibrosis of the greater omentum which thereby lost its ability to sequester particles. In the absence of omental scavenging, dye, metal, or oil accumulated under the diaphragm and penetrated the diaphragmatic lymphatics. In addition, enhanced absorption by proliferated subdiaphragmatic lymphatics may have been involved. Prior induction of a chemical peritonitis augments absorption into the lymphatics of certain aqueous and cellular as well as particulate and oily inocula, so it is likely to find many applications in experimental pathology.
Histologic examination of a necrotic pulp from a traumatized tooth revealed mycotic organisms which could be identified morphologically. Actinomyces has been identified as part of the normal oral flora but has not been identified in necrotic pulp tissue histologically. The present case report is of interest because it showed the ability of autolytic pulp tissue to support mycotic growth. The tooth also gave a positive response to pulp-testing procedures, even though no new tissue could be demonstrated histologically.
The pituitary-adrenal response of mother and infant squirrel monkeys was assessed under basal conditions and after 5, 10, or 20 min of separation followed by 30 min of reunion. All separation conditions produced equal increments of cortisol (approximately 50%) in both mothers and infants. These increments were lower than would have occurred in the absence of reunion. These results extend previous reports that reunion ameliorates the psychoendocrine effects of separation and indicate that mother-infant attachment can be studied with shorter periods of separation than have been used customarily.
Sixteen squirrel monkey mother and infant dyads were housed in groups of two. They were separated and then immediately reunited in their familiar home cage or in a novel environment, either in conjunction with the second mother-infant dyad, or as a single manipulated pair. Behavioral observations of both dyads were made during the 30-min period following these manipulations; blood samples were then taken for cortisol assay. Mothers' locomotor activity increased when a single dyad was manipulated in the home cage and decreased in the novel environment where proximity between the pairs increased. Cortisol levels varied significantly across conditions, with mothers and infants responding to different stimuli. Mothers responded primarily to social disruption, including separation from the other dyad, and infants responded most clearly to novelty and separation from the other dyad. No significant differences were observed over base levels when both mother and infant pairs were reunited in the home cage, indicating that changes were not due to the disturbance involved in the separation procedure.
Treatment of rats with a developing or an established lesion of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) with mitoxantrone (Novantrone) suppressed the hind limb paralysis associated with the disease. Histopathological examination of the spinal cords of these rats showed that mitoxantrone-treated rats had reduced vascular lesions that are associated with EAE. Spleen cells derived from immunized rats that had been treated in vivo with mitoxantrone did not transfer disease when these cells were administered to naive syngenic recipients. In addition, spleen cells from diseased rats did not transfer EAE lesions when these cells were administered to recipients that had been treated with mitoxantrone. Recipients treated with mitoxantrone were resistant to EAE lesions induced by sensitized cells in a rapid passive transfer system. Finally, when spleen cells from rats with EAE were incubated, in vitro, with mitoxantrone, these cells did not transfer disease to recipients. Thus the present studies indicate that treatment with mitoxantrone can suppress the lesions associated with both the active and passive forms of EAE.
'Social buffering'--the apparent capacity of group membership to reduce the adrenocortical response to stress, was investigated in squirrel monkeys by means of a between-within experimental design. Adult males were assigned to two groups. Group paired (n = 6) received pairings of a conditional stimulus (CS) with footshock. Group control (n = 6) received CS presentations without shock. All animals were then tested with 10 presentations of the CS without shock under three social-housing conditions, in four successive phases of the experiment: individual, dyad, group, and individual housing. Neither group showed a cortisol response to the CS prior to training. Following training, CS-evoked elevations of cortisol were found only in group paired, and only in the individual housing conditions. These results replicate and extend our previous finding that the presence of conspecifics can ameliorate a neuroendocrine response to psychological stressors in squirrel monkeys.
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Investigation of the role of vasoconstriction in the production of infarcts would be facilitated by a model based on a non-essential and readily accessible organ. Therefore, we investigated the effects of intraperitoneal injections of vasoconstrictor drugs on spleen and liver in the rat. Phenylephrine produced infarcts of the spleen regularly and infarcts of the liver occasionally. Epinephrine was also effective in rats that had been pretreated with tilorone. The lesions were caused by local (topical) effects of the drugs. In support of this conclusion, reduced perfusion of the target areas was demonstrated in vasoconstrictor-treated rats given India ink intravenously. In addition, splenic infarcts were produced either by intraperitoneal injection or by direct application of epinephrine to the surgically exposed spleen. On the contrary, splenic infarcts were not produced by injections of epinephrine outside the peritoneal cavity, or by intraperitoneal injections if the spleen had been transposed outside of the cavity beforehand. Thus, we have produced an experimental model of splenic infarcts caused by topical application of vasoconstrictor drugs which is reminiscent of the speckled spleen (Fleckmilz) of human pathology.
Research on emotions and several happiness scales suggest that positive and negative affect are strongly inversely correlated. However, work on subjective well-being indicates that over time, positive and negative affect are independent across persons. In order to reconcile this inconsistency, two dimensions are proposed for personal affective structure: the frequency of positive versus negative affect and the intensity of affect. Subjects in three studies completed daily and momentary reports on their moods. In support of the intensity dimension, the correlations between positive and negative intensity were strong and positive in all three studies. The intensities of specific emotions across persons were also highly correlated. Across the three studies the frequency and intensity of affect varied independently. Although average levels of positive and negative affect showed low correlations, this relation became strongly inverse when intensity was partialed out. Thus the intensity dimension helps explain the relative independence of positive and negative affect. In addition, emotional intensity is offered as a new personality dimension that manifests interesting characteristics.
Effects of social stimuli on behavioral and physiological responses were examined in infant rhesus monkeys at 4 and 9 months of age. Infants and mothers were removed from the social group and housed as dyads. Following this period, infants were removed and separated under four counterbalanced conditions: (a) totally isolated--placed in a holding cage for 24 hr; (b) mother present, no contact--housed in a single cage in view of their mother, no contact; (c) mother present, contact--similar to above, with mother in proximity to the infant; and (d) peer present--separated but in proximity to a peer. In the first experiment, the infants rarely vocalized when totally isolated but showed high rates of vocalization in the presence of the mother, both with and without contact. In the mother-present conditions, they failed to show a plasma cortisol response. In contrast, totally isolated infants showed a significant elevation in plasma cortisol. At 9 months of age, these infants were separated for 3 days under two different conditions: mother present and totally isolated. Once again, the infants that were totally isolated showed little vocalization but significant elevations in plasma cortisol. In contrast, infants separated in the presence of their mothers showed high vocalization rates but no cortisol response. The concepts of protest and despair are discussed as they relate to behavioral and physiological differences observed following different separation paradigms.