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Biomedical subjects

C Field

Publications and source records attributed to C Field.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Chlorpromazine effects on stereotypic and conditioned behaviour of severely retarded patients--a pilot study.

An attempt was made to test the hypothesis that anti-psychotic medication may induce adaptive changes by suppressing stereotypic behaviour. Six profoundly retarded residents were selected for the presence or absence of stereotypic behaviour and tested in a placebo controlled, cross-over study. Chlorpromazine caused noticable drowsiness in all subjects over the 2-week drug period. Body rocking was significantly suppressed in the wards, but other clinical behaviours were not influenced by the drug. Performance on an operant conditioning task was significantly impaired in most subjects. Body rocking, which was also assessed during operant responding, was unrelated to presence or absence of clinical stereotypy, observed on the wards. The results were discussed in terms of chlorpromazine's clinical effects and improved ways of assessing the hypothesis that anti-psychotic drugs may enhance adaptive behaviour in some retarded individuals.

Acting Out↗

Environmental controls on stomatal conductance in a shrub of the humid tropics.

Leaves of Piper hispidum, a shrub native to the lowland tropics of Mexico, have a strong stomatal response to humidity that results in similar rates of water loss under a wide range of leaf-to-air water-vapor concentration gradients. Stomatal conductance of these leaves is insensitive to CO(2) concentration and increases in response to high humidity even in the dark.

Journal Article↗

Photocontrol of the Functional Coupling between Photosynthesis and Stomatal Conductance in the Intact Leaf : Blue Light and Par-Dependent Photosystems in Guard Cells.

The photocontrol of the functional coupling between photosynthesis and stomatal conductance in the leaf was investigated in gas exchange experiments using monochromatic light provided by lasers. Net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance were measured in attached leaves of Malva parviflora L. as a function of photon irradiance at 457.9 and 640.0 nanometers.Photosynthetic rates and quantum yields of photosynthesis were higher under red light than under blue, on an absorbed or incident basis.Stomatal conductance was higher under blue than under red light at all intensities. Based on a calculated apparent photon efficiency of conductance, blue and red light had similar effects on conductance at intensities higher than 0.02 millimoles per square meter per second, but blue light was several-fold more efficient at very low photon irradiances. Red light had no effect on conductance at photon irradiances below 0.02 millimoles per square meter per second. These observations support the hypothesis that stomatal conductance is modulated by two photosystems: a blue light-dependent one, driving stomatal opening at low light intensities and a photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)-dependent one operating at higher irradiances.When low intensity blue light was used to illuminate a leaf already irradiated with high intensity, 640 nanometers light, the leaf exhibited substantial increases in stomatal conductance. Net photosynthesis changed only slightly. Additional far-red light increased net photosynthesis without affecting stomatal conductance. These observations indicate that under conditions where the PAR-dependent system is driven by high intensity red light, the blue light-dependent system has an additive effect on stomatal conductance.The wavelength dependence of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance demonstrates that these processes are not obligatorily coupled and can be controlled by light, independent of prevailing levels of intercellular CO(2). The blue light-dependent system in the guard cells may function as a specific light sensor while the PAR-dependent system supplies a CO(2)-modulated energy source providing functional coupling between the guard cells and the photosynthesizing mesophyll.

Journal Article↗

Identification of 23 complementation groups required for post-translational events in the yeast secretory pathway.

Cells of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant that is temperature-sensitive for secretion and cell surface growth become dense during incubation at the non-permissive temperature (37 degrees C). This property allows the selection of additional secretory mutants by sedimentation of mutagenized cells on a Ludox density gradient. Colonies derived from dense cells are screened for conditional growth and secretion of invertase and acid phosphatase. The sec mutant strains that accumulate an abnormally large intracellular pool of invertase at 37 degrees C (188 mutant clones) fall into 23 complementation groups, and the distribution of mutant alleles suggests that more complementation groups could be found. Bud emergence and incorporation of a plasma membrane sulfate permease activity stop quickly after a shift to 37 degrees C. Many of the mutants are thermoreversible; upon return to the permissive temperature (25 degrees C) the accumulated invertase is secreted. Electron microscopy of sec mutant cells reveals, with one exception, the temperature-dependent accumulation of membrane-enclosed secretory organelles. We suggest that these structures represent intermediates in a pathway in which secretion and plasma membrane assembly are colinear.

Acid Phosphatase↗

Localized secretion of acid phosphatase reflects the pattern of cell surface growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Secretion of cell wall-bound acid phosphatase by Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurs along a restricted portion of the cell surface. Acid phosphatase activity produced during derepressed synthesis on a phosphate-limited growth medium is detected with an enzyme-specific stain and is localized initially to the bud portion of a dividing cell. After two to three generations of phosphate-limited growth, most of the cells can be stained; if further phosphatase synthesis is repressed by growth in excess phosphate, dividing cells are produced in which the parent but not the bud can be stained. Budding growth is interrupted in alpha-mating-type cells by a pheromone (alpha-factor) secreted by the opposite mating type; cell surface growth continues in the presence of alpha-factor and produces a characteristic cell tip. When acid phosphatase synthesis is initiated during alpha-factor treatment, only the cell tip can br stained; when phosphate synthesis is repressed during alpha-factor treatment, the cell body but not the tip can be stained. A mixture of derepressed alpha cells and phosphatase-negative alpha cells form zygotes in which mainly one parent cell surface can be stained. The cell cycle mutant, cdc 24 (Hartwell, L.H. 1971. Exp. Cell Res. 69:265-276), fails to bud and, instead, expands symmetrically as a sphere at a nonpermissive temperature (37 degrees C). This mutant does not form a cell tip during alpha-factor treatment at 37 degrees C, and although acid phosphatade secretion occurs at this temperature, it is not localized. These results suggest that secretion reflects a polar mode of yeast cell- surface growth, and that this organization requires the cdc 24 gene product.

Acid Phosphatase↗

Multiple-drug chemotherapy in the management of acute lymphocytic leukemia during pregnancy.

Acute leukemia associates with pregnancy is relatively uncommon, and because of the age distribution of patients with acute leukemia the majority have had acute granulocytic leukemia. Various combinations of chemotherapeutic agents are commonly employed now to obtain maximal benefit, related to differing pharmacologic activities of single agents. The present case documents the use of multiple cytotoxic drugs in the management of acute lymphocytic leukemia, with successful delivery of a normal infant. In this patient severe anemia and potentially teratogenic drugs did not appear to affect the fetus.

Adolescent↗

Survival of anaerobic and aerobic bacteria on cotton swabs in three transport systems.

The capacity of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to survive on cotton swabs placed into a dry gassed-out CO2-filled tube (DGT), dry sterile aerobic tube (DAT), and a tube containing a modified Stuarts' transport medium (MST), was assessed. Pseudomonas aeruginosa increased in numbers by 2 and 3 logs when stored in MST and DAT, respectively. The viability of P. aeruginosa, although retarded when compared to MSA and DAT, was not adversely affected by the CO2 environment in the DGT. The MST maintained relatively constant numbers of Streptococcus pyogenes during the 48-h storage period. The DAT and the DGT were unable to maintain the viability of S. pyogenes. Staphylococcus aureus, when stored in a DGT, DAT, or MST, was maintained in relatively constant numbers throughout the entire storage period. Of the four anaerobic bacteria evaluated (Bacteroides fragilis ssp. thetaiotaomicron, Bacteroides melaninogenicus ssp. asaccharolyticus, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Peptostreptococcus anaerobius), only B. fragilis ssp. thetaiotamicron survived the 48-h storage period in the DGT. Under these test conditions the DGT did not adequately maintain the viability of the majority of anaerobic bacteria tested (when held on cotton swabs). However, the MST did maintain the viability of all species tested for at least the first 2 h of storage.

Aerobiosis↗

An improved method for rebinning kernels from cylindrical to Cartesian coordinates.

This paper describes the errors in rebinning photon dose point spread functions and pencil beam kernels (PBKs) from cylindrical to Cartesian coordinates. An area overlap method, which assumes that the fractional energy deposited per unit volume remains constant within cylindrical voxels, provides large deviations (up to 20%) in rebinned Cartesian voxels while conserving the total energy. A modified area overlap method is presented that allows the fractional energy deposited per unit volume within cylindrical voxels to vary according to an interpolating function. This method rebins the kernels accurately in each Cartesian voxel while conserving the total energy. The dose distributions were computed for a partially blocked beam of uniform fluence using the Cartesian coordinate kernel and the kernels rebinned by both methods. The kernel rebinned by the modified area overlap method provided errors less than 1.7%, while the kernel rebinned by the area overlap method gave errors up to 4.4%.

Biophysical Phenomena↗

Backscatter into the beam monitor chamber: implications for dosimetry of asymmetric collimators.

Backscatter from the asymmetric collimators of a linac into the beam monitor chamber (BMC) has been investigated for two accelerators having different BMC configurations. The effect has been quantified as a function of field size and collimator jaw position for 6 and 18 MV beams. The results indicate a maximum 2.5% (6 MV) and 4% (18 MV) decrease in output in one case and a negligible effect in the other case. The experiments indicate that the difference can be attributed to the different construction of the BMC's for the two accelerators.

Humans↗