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Biomedical subjects

B Hale

Publications and source records attributed to B Hale.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

Urban-rural hospital affiliations: assessing control, fit, and stakeholder issues strategically.

Urban-rural hospital affiliations are an outgrowth of both the external pressures on rural hospitals to survive and the need for urban hospitals to maintain or increase their share of the tertiary referral market. This article discusses the significant role of stakeholders in these affiliations, develops a fourfold typology of urban-rural hospital affiliations based on the notions of organizational control and fit, suggests four generic strategies for forming affiliations, and analyzes four actual cases of affiliation.

Conflict, Psychological

Inactivation of intracellular copper-zinc superoxide dismutase by copper chelating agents without glutathione depletion and methemoglobin formation.

The copper chelator N,N'-diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), is often used to inactivate intracellular copper-zinc superoxide dismutase in erythrocytes. However, in studies with red cells we found that the compound also reacted with oxyhemoglobin to produce oxygen radicals in addition to generating lipid peroxidation products, oxidized N,N'-diethyldithiocarbamate, methemoglobin, and sulfhemoglobin. Moreover, intracellular glutathione was depleted and vital cellular enzymes were susceptible to inactivation. We, and others, have confirmed these findings in nonerythrocytic cell lines. Thus, cells exposed to DDC are severely damaged before studies on the effects of added putative superoxide producing compounds can be performed with them. In this report, we have systematically investigated other copper chelators for their ability to inactivate intracellular copper-zinc superoxide dismutase without producing the deleterious effects mentioned above. Catechol, triethylenetetramine, and tetraethylenepentamine were found to be such agents when erythrocytes were dialyzed in the cold against dilute solutions of these chelators. In addition, with a myeloid leukemic cell line (HL-60), triethylenetetramine inhibited SOD without causing significant GSH oxidation. Examination of the affinity constants of chelators active against purified copper-zinc superoxide dismutase indicated that an affinity binding constant (log K1) between 12.6 and 13.8 was required for the chelator to successfully remove copper from the enzyme.

Cell Line

Methylene blue competes with paraquat for reduction by flavo-enzymes resulting in decreased superoxide production in the presence of heme proteins.

Methylene blue competes 100 to 600 times more effectively than paraquat for reduction by three different flavo-containing enzymes; xanthine oxidase, NADH cytochrome c reductase, and NADPH cytochrome c reductase. Paraquat and methylene blue both interact with deflavo xanthine oxidase, indicating that neither electron acceptor reacted at the FAD site of the enzyme where molecular oxygen is reduced to superoxide. As the paraquat radical also directly reduced acetylated cytochrome c the hemeprotein could not be utilized for measuring superoxide production in the presence of the herbicide. In the presence of cytochrome c the methylene blue caused a sharp decrease in both paraquat-induced superoxide and hydroxyl radical production.

Cytochrome Reductases

Potential of methylene blue to block oxygen radical generation in reperfusion injury.

Methylene blue interacts with xanthine oxidase at the iron-sulfide site in the electron pathway (Scheme I) that is known to serve as an electron-sink connecting the reductive and oxidative sites in both the oxidase and dehydrogenase forms. Thus, shunting of electrons to methylene blue at this site effectively diverts their flow away from the FAD site where molecular oxygen is converted to superoxide radicals. Since the electron affinity constants of xanthine oxidase for electron acceptors are FAD greater than iron/sulfide greater than molybdenum, methylene blue falls between the FAD and iron-sulfide site. Thus, methylene blue effectively inhibits superoxide and hydroxyl radical production while accelerating the conversion of xanthine to uric acid. As methylene blue is already approved for medicinal use in humans and is relatively nontoxic, the drug may have a role in reducing tissue injury associated with reperfusion. We are currently investigating this possibility in animal models.

Animals

Sleep-waking pattern and body temperature in hypoxia at selected ambient temperatures.

We studied the effect of mild hypoxia (15% O2) and low ambient temperature (Ta = 15 degrees C) on the rat's sleep-waking pattern (SWP) and maximum-minimum core temperature (max-min Tb). Mild hypoxia at neutral Ta (29 degrees C) disrupted the SWP in the same way as low Ta during normoxia: both affected the pattern of frequency of state changes (P less than 0.01), not the pattern of epoch durations. Mild hypoxia and low Ta together caused a degree of disruption of the SWP which was the sum of each alone, i.e., additive. Although both mild hypoxia and low Ta significantly depressed max-min Tb, low Ta exerted a greater effect than mild hypoxia. Together they further depressed max-min Tb in an additive way. We conclude that mild hypoxia disrupts the rat's SWP independent of central thermoregulatory mechanisms at neutral Ta, that the effects of mild hypoxia and low Ta on the SWP are additive at the stimulus levels used, and that Ta, not inspired O2, determines Tb.

Animals

The effects of hypoxia and CO2 on the sleep-waking pattern of the potoroo (Potorous tridactylus apicalis).

Four male potoroos (Potorous tridactylus apicalis) breathed 21% and 7% O2 with and without the addition of 5% CO2. The effects of these gas mixtures on the potoroo's sleeping-waking pattern (SWP) were studied. The SWP while breathing 21% O2/5% CO2 was unchanged when compared with that of breathing ambient air (21% O2). While breathing 7% O2, the SWP was severely disrupted: total sleep time (TST) and slow wave sleep (SWS) increased markedly. Brain temperature fell substantially. Paradoxical sleep (PS) was almost abolished and wakefulness (W) decreased. The addition of 5% CO2 to the O2 deficient gas mixture, i.e., 7% O2/5% CO2, restored the SWP to that obtained while breathing ambient air. It is concluded that CO2 neutralizes the disruptive effect which hypoxia has on the potoroo's SWP. It is hypothesized that this constitutes a homeostatic mechanism for stabilizing the SWP and is carried over from pouch life.

Animals

Congenital dysplasia of C2--6.

Neural arch dysplasia of the cervical vertebrae is a rare occurrence. The authors present a case with dysplasia of cervical bodies and posterior arch elements at multiple levels. The embryogenesis of these anomalies is discussed.

Adolescent

Children with recurrent abdominal pain: how do they grow up?

The results of treatment by reassurance and explanation of 30 children with recurrent abdominal pain have been compared with those in a group of 30 children seen earlier and given no such treatment. Most of the 19 treated children who responded to treatment did so more quickly than the untreated ones, and relapse did not occur in the treated group.

Abdomen