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Biomedical subjects

A Bell

Publications and source records attributed to A Bell.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Role of Pseudomonas aeruginosa outer membrane protein OprH in polymyxin and gentamicin resistance: isolation of an OprH-deficient mutant by gene replacement techniques.

The cloned oprH gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was mutated by inserting a 1.4-kbp fragment that encodes tetracycline resistance. This mutated gene was then incorporated into the P. aeruginosa chromosome by homologous recombination. Growth of the resultant oprH::tet mutant in Mg(2+)-deficient medium had little effect on susceptibility to polymyxin B, gentamicin, or EDTA unless the mutant was complemented by the cloned oprH gene in plasmid pGB25. In contrast, growth of the parent strain on Mg(2+)-deficient medium resulted in resistance to all three agents. These data support the hypothesis that overexpression of OprH under Mg(2+)-deficient growth conditions is conditionally required for resistance to these three agents.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins

Tungiasis in Tennessee.

Tungiasis, an infestation by a burrowing flea, may cause multiple, painful lesions which, if they become secondarily infected, may eventuate in death. With increasing air travel to tropical areas, American physicians should recognize the lesion of this intracutaneous parasite. The fully developed lesion resembles an abscess with a black center. An infestation diagnosed in Memphis, Tennessee, is reported in a businessman who had returned from Brazil. Treatment consists of excision of the gravid female flea and careful cleaning of the cystic cavity. Healing is usually complete without sequelae. In an early infestation, the smaller gravid female, like a splinter, can be removed with a sterile needle. Tetanus prophylaxis may be indicated, depending on the wound and its location.

Ectoparasitic Infestations

Hospitals harbor hazards ignored in fight for life.

Conventional images of the hospital create two two misconceptions in the minds of people having sporadic or casual contact with it: First, that it's not really a workplace, like a factory; and second that since the function of the hospital is to promote health and wellbeing, it's a healthy and safe place for those in it, whatever their capacity there. Both are far from the truth, as hospital administrators and the medical and operational staffs are beginning to realize and discuss with increasing intensity. Government agenicies at the state and federal level also are turning their scrutiny to the country's 7,000-plus hospitals and even-larger number of private and semi-private clinics. They employ several million people, and more millions are cared for-plus visitors and vendors who every day enter the hospital's doors, walk its corridors and are exposed to a variety of environmental conditions. In short, occupational health and safety is coming to the hospital. The hospital has many of the hazards of any workplace, such as electrical deficiencies in equipment, toxic gases in the atmosphere, noise and weights to lift. But it has countless more hazards that are unique to it: bacterial infection, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week work schedules, and the fight for life in an intensive-care unit.

Back Pain