Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to B Moore.
Five oral methods of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were prescribed to groups of healthy post-menopausal women and their effects on a group of liver function tests were examined. No evidence of deterioration in liver function was noted.
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A major glial structure is present during development within the midline raphe of the midbrain, hindbrain, and cervical spinal cord of the rat. It is composed of great numbers of glial cell bodies lying immediately ventral to the cerebral ventricular system and the large radial processes extending from these cells toward the ventral surface of the brain roughly within the midsagittal plane. There is also a smaller group of glial cells on the dorsal surface of the aqueduct and the central canal whose processes extend to the dorsal surface of the brain. The entire structure exhibits an intensely positive immunoreactivity with the antibody to the S-100 protein, a nervous-system-specific protein found primarily in the cytoplasm of astrocytes. This immunoreactivity makes possible a clear visualization of the extent, magnitude, and continuity of this structure from at least embryonic day 15, the first age examined, until postnatal days 7-8, when it is no longer visible by this technique. This glial structure has several prominent morphological characteristics. During prenatal and early postnatal development the fibers forming the ventral aspect of the structure in the midbrain and hindbrain are formed into two parallel plates on either side of the midline with S-100-negative tissue between the plates. As development progresses, S-100-positive fibers are continually added so that the plates become thicker at the expense of the nonstaining intervening area. By postnatal day 4 only a single midline plate of fibers is visible, occupying the entire midline raphe. In the region of the pontine flexure the entire structure takes on a distinctly pleated configuration. This fact produces a curious "sine wave" appearance when the plane of section crosses these vertical pleats. At postnatal day 5 the structure begins to disappear, and it is no longer visible by 7-8 days postnatal. This glial structure does not stain with antisera to glial fibrillary acidic protein, a protein associated with fibrous astrocytes, or routine cell stains such as cresyl violet. With these techniques the raphe area appears essentially devoid of identifiable cellular elements.
Thirty-two children diagnosed as suffering from renal failure, their parents and siblings were the subjects of this study. Anxiety, depression and psychosomatic complaints were examined in the parents and behaviour problems in the child and siblings using standardised tests. The personality characteristics (EPQ) of the child and the child's view of the family (modified family relations test) were also ascertained. Parents showed greater levels of anxiety and depression than a normal sample and more psychosomatic problems than a control group consisting of parents of children with other chronic physical conditions. Siblings and the sick child did not have more behaviour problems at school than a normal control group. Positive correlations were found between age on diagnosis of renal failure and fathers' depression and anxiety scores. Mothers' anxiety and depression scores were also positively correlated with those of father. Negative correlations were found between age on diagnosis of renal failure and lie scores on the EPQ.
Intermediate filament proteins of normal epithelia of the human and the bovine male urogenital tract and of certain human renal and bladder carcinomas have been studied by immunofluorescence microscopy and by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of cytoskeletal fractions from microdissected tissue samples. The patterns of expression of cytokeratin polypeptides differ in the various epithelia. Filaments of a cytokeratin nature have been identified in all true epithelial cells of the male urogenital tract, including renal tubules and rete testis. Simple epithelia of renal tubules and collecting ducts of kidney, as well as rete testis, express only cytokeratin polypeptides nos. 7, 8, 18, and 19. In contrast, the transitional epithelia of renal pelvis, ureter, bladder, and proximal urethra contain, in addition to those polypeptides, cytokeratin no. 13 and small amounts of nos. 4 and 5. Most epithelia lining the human male reproductive tract, including those in the epididymis, ductus deferens, prostate gland, and seminal vesicle, synthesize cytokeratin no. 5 in addition to cytokeratins nos. 7, 8, 18, and 19 (cytokeratin no. 7 had not been detected in the prostate gland). Cytokeratin no. 17 has also been identified, but in very low amounts, in seminal vesicle and epididymis. The cytokeratin patterns of the urethra correspond to the gradual transition of the pseudostratified epithelium of the pars spongiosa (cytokeratins nos. 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, and 19) to the stratified squamous epithelium of the fossa navicularis (cytokeratins nos. 5, 6, 10/11, 13, 15, and 19, and minor amounts of nos. 1 and 14). The noncornified stratified squamous epithelium of the glans penis synthesizes cytokeratin nos. 1, 5, 6, 10/11, 13, 14, 15, and 19. In immunofluorescence microscopy, selective cytokeratin antibodies reveal differential staining of different groups or layers of cells in several epithelia that may relate to the specific expression of cytokeratin polypeptides. Human renal cell carcinomas show a simple cytokeratin pattern consisting of cytokeratins nos. 8, 18, and 19, whereas transitional cell carcinomas of the bladder reveal additional cytokeratins such as nos. 5, 7, 13, and 17 in various proportions. The results shows that the wide spectrum of histological differentiation of the diverse epithelia present in the male urogenital tract is accompanied by pronounced changes in the expression of cytokeratin polypeptides and suggest that tumors from different regions of the urogenital tract may be distinguished by their cytokeratin complements.
Infants born with a unilateral congenital cataract have always been considered a particularly difficult group of patients to treat. Our experience in fitting contact lenses to such children, after cataract removal, is described. Contact lenses must be specially designed, to account for the significant differences in size and shape of the infant eye from that of an adult eye. A group of 15 children born with a unilateral cataract, were fit with contact lenses, and have been treated for amblyopia for an average of less than 2 years. Eight patients have obtained acuities measured by preferential looking that are statistically normal for age and equal between eyes. All children are presently still under active amblyopia treatment. This preliminary study shows that infants with a congenital unilateral cataract can be successfully treated.
A sensation of hearing is provided for the otherwise totally deaf adult by the use of an electrode arrangement, placed external to the cochlea, which provides only larynx frequency speech pattern information. This is normally obtained by acoustic analysis and is presented so that, although its pattern is preserved, its physical form is matched to the patient's auditory capacity. Speech-receptive improvement has been shown using interactive synthetic speech techniques, video-recorded lipreading tests, and interactive conversational-type presentations. Speech production skills are also enhanced by self-monitoring, and examples of voice range improvement and jitter reduction are given. The particular electrode system used is especially suitable for promontory stimulation in adult patients without a tympanic membrane. The work as a whole is relevant, however, to the design of other conservative prostheses for both deaf adults and children.
Tonsil swabs were collected from 248 children (1 through 10 yr) who presented with acute tonsillitis. A beta-hemolytic streptococcus was grown from 129 (53%) of 244 cases and as the sole pathogen from 83 (47%) of 178 cases. Beta-Hemolytic streptococci were especially common over the age of 6 yr (68% of children) relatively uncommon under the age of 4 yr (18%); most (90%) streptococci belonged to group A; 18 streptococcal T types were represented amongst 88 group A strains; the potentially nephritogenic serotypes 4 and 12 were prominent and accounted for 42 (47%) of typable isolates. Eight (8%) of 96 unmatched children (1 through 10 yr) who served as controls were found to be carrying beta-hemolytic streptococci, 5 of which belonged to group A. A virus was grown from 52 (29%) of 182 children and as the sole pathogen from 40 (22%) of 178 children. Only echoviruses (8 serotypes) and adenoviruses (5 serotypes) were common; younger children showed a higher isolation rate of viruses. The clinical picture in children yielding a virus was indistinguishable from that of cases who yielded a beta-hemolytic streptococcus.
The efficiency of 2-cyclopropylamino-4, 6-diamino-s-triazine CGA-72662 (proposed common name: cyromazine) for the control of blowfly strike was tested in fly cage and field trials on sheep. The safety to sheep and physico-chemical properties of the compound as they relate to blowfly control were also assessed. When the sheep were thoroughly jetted with a solution of CGA-72662 containing 1g of active ingredient per litre, the mean incidence of fly strike in 7 field trials was reduced from 16.5% to 1.5% over a period of 9 weeks. The incidence of strike in the treated sheep in 2 insectary tests, which imposed levels of fly activity far in excess of that usually encountered in the field, was reduced from 93% and 73% in untreated sheep to 2% and nil respectively over a period of 8 weeks. Jetting with CGA-72662 solutions 100 times greater than the recommended concentration did not produce any side effects in sheep. Three treatments at twice the recommended concentration during the first trimester did not affect pregnant ewes nor their progeny. The compound was safe to use in combination with common anthelmintics and with sheep dips used for control of lice. CGA-72662 was stable in solution. No stripping occurred in dips and it persisted on wool for a considerable period. A satisfactory alternative to the organophosphorus insecticides has been found in CGA-72662, since it provided a substantial increase in residual protection against blowfly strike with a high degree of safety.
During a 12-month period, we tested faecal samples from 386 children with acute enteritis and 332 controls by light and electron microscopy, and by bacterial and viral culture for pathogens, especially to assess the importance of campylobacter. Campylobacter alone was responsible for the illness in 17 patients (5%), and was second to salmonella among the bacterial agents, which were predominant in summer. Overall, rotavirus was the commonest identifiable cause of acute enteritis and was especially important in winter (with a rate of 49% in August). Thirty-five patients showed two or more agents. In 117 patients (30%) no pathogen was isolated or identified, suggesting that there are as yet unidentified agents in acute enteritis.
Climacteric symptoms were studied in a rural community in Zimbabwe. The incidence of symptoms was found to be similar to that described among westernized societies. A positive correlation was observed between various "metabolic" type symptoms and the number of years that had elapsed since the menopause.
Serum biochemical profiles were compared in matched groups of premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Significantly higher concentrations of sodium, urea, calcium, albumin and alkaline phosphatase were found in the postmenopausal group. In the postmenopausal group, following treatment with sequential mestranol and norethisterone, significant reductions were recorded in the concentrations of sodium, urea, calcium, albumin, alkaline phosphatase and glucose and significant increases were recorded in the concentration of globulin and in body weight. The findings suggest that haemoconcentration may take place after the menopause and that this effect may be modified by hormone treatment. No adverse effect on liver function was noted following the hormone treatment.
During the past season, a further outbreak of Ross River epidemic polyarthritis occurred in South Australia. Significant differences in the epidemiology occurred, which support the hypothesis that the virus is brought to the area by wild birds.
Antibiotic-associated colitis, although occasionally fatal, is a disease which is considered to be self-limiting and non-recurring. Recently, specific treatment with oral vancomycin directed at the trigger organism, Clostridium difficile, has been shown to be effective. A case in which antibiotic-associated colitis was treated with vancomycin and subsequently recurred is described. The fact that such relapse can occur indicates that further evaluation of the efficacy of vancomycin is required.
Middle-ear fluid was aspirated in 103 episodes of acute otitis media occurring in 100 South Australian children aged from four months to 14 years in 1977, and in 1978. Bacteria were cultured from the middle-ear fluid in 66% of cases, and viruses were grown in three cases in conjunction with bacteria. The bacteria grown were pneumococci in 30 cases (29%), Haemophilus influenzae in 26 cases (25%), beta-haemolytic streptococci in 12 cases (12%) and Neisseria spp. in six cases (6%). Pneumococci and H. influenzae were cultured from children of all ages, whereas beta-haemolytic streptococci were more frequently isolated in children aged five years and older. Countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis yielded positive results in 35% of culture-positive pneumococcal infections and gave additionally the positive reaction for pneumococci in two cases where culture produced negative results. The pneumococci which were isolated belonged to 12 serotypes; 26 of the 30 isolates were serotypes for which pneumococcal vaccines are currently available. There were appreciable differences in the distribution of serotypes from that encountered in a study of nasal carriage amongst healthy schoolchildren living in the same district.
The serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations of 84 postmenopausal women both before and after 2, 6 and 12 months therapy with various regimens of hormone therapy were measured. There was little alteration in mean serum cholesterol concentration with cyclical oestrogens but both sequential mestranol and norethisterone and sequential oestradiol valerate and norgestrel significantly reduced the mean serum cholesterol concentration to a level similar to that found in age-matched premenopausal women. There was a small and sometimes significant rise in serum triglyceride concentration with cyclical oestrogens. Sequential mestranol and norethisterone significantly elevated serum triglyceride levels, but sequential oestradiol valerate and norgestrel significantly depressed them. The results suggest that the progestogenic agent norgestrel has an important role to play in reducing both serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and that the sequential preparations, by virtue of their greater cholesterol lowering effect, should perhaps be preferred to cyclical oestrogens.
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