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C McParland

Publications and source records attributed to C McParland.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Nuclear multifragmentation, percolation, and the fisher droplet model: common features of reducibility and thermal scaling

It is shown that the Fisher droplet model, percolation, and nuclear multifragmentation share the common features of reducibility (stochasticity in multiplicity distributions) and thermal scaling (one-fragment production probabilities are Boltzmann factors). Barriers obtained, for cluster production on percolation lattices, from the Boltzmann factors show a power-law dependence on cluster size with an exponent of 0.42+/-0.02. The EOS Collaboration Au multifragmentation data yield barriers with a power-law exponent of 0.68+/-0.03. Values of the surface energy coefficient of a low density nuclear system are also extracted.

Journal Article↗

Evolution of inspiratory and expiratory muscle pressures during endurance exercise.

We investigated the relationship between minute ventilation (VE) and net respiratory muscle pressure (Pmus) throughout the breathing cycle [Total Pmus = mean Pmus, I (inspiratory) + mean Pmus, E (expiratory)] in six normal subjects performing constant-work heavy exercise (CWHE, at approximately 80% maximum) to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer. Pmus was calculated as the sum of chest wall pressure (elastic + resistive) and pleural pressure, and all mean Pmus variables were averaged over the total breath duration. Pmus, I was also expressed as a fraction of volume-matched, flow-corrected dynamic capacity of the inspiratory muscles (P(cap, I)). VE increased significantly from 3 min to the end of CWHE and was the result of a significantly linear increase in Total Pmus (Delta = 43 +/- 9% from 3 min to end exercise, P < 0.005) in all subjects (r = 0. 81-0.99). Although mean Pmus, I during inspiratory flow increased significantly (Delta = 35 +/- 10%), postinspiratory Pmus, I fell (Delta = -54 +/- 10%) and postexpiratory expiratory activity was negligible or absent throughout CWHE. There was a greater increase in mean Pmus, E (Delta = 168 +/- 48%), which served to increase VE throughout CWHE. In five of six subjects, there were significant linear relationships between VE and mean Pmus, I (r = 0.50-0.97) and mean Pmus, E (r = 0.82-0.93) during CWHE. The subjects generated a wide range of Pmus, I/P(cap, I) values (25-80%), and mean Pmus, I/P(cap, I) increased significantly (Delta = 42 +/- 16%) and in a linear fashion (r = 0.69-0.99) with VE throughout CWHE. The progressive increase in VE during CWHE is due to 1) a linear increase in Total Pmus, 2) a linear increase in inspiratory muscle load, and 3) a progressive fall in postinspiratory inspiratory activity. We conclude that the relationship between respiratory muscle pressure and VE during exercise is linear and not curvilinear.

Adult↗

Lack of importance of respiratory muscle load in ventilatory regulation during heavy exercise in humans.

1. Seven active subjects (24 +/- 1 years; maximal oxygen uptake (VO2,max), 3.77 +/- 0.2 l min-1; mean +/- S.E.M.) performed constant work rate heavy exercise (CWHE, approximately 80% of maximal incremental work rate) to exhaustion on 2 days, one with (unload) and one without (control) respiratory muscle unloading. 2. With unloading, a special device applied flow-proportional mouth pressure assist (positive with inspiratory (I), negative with expiratory (E) flows) throughout each breath. No pressure assist occurred during control CWHE. To confirm unloading, respiratory muscle pressures (Pmus) were derived (n = 5) from measured pleural pressure and chest wall elastic and resistive pressures. 3. Other than minor differences in early exercise, the temporal course of minute ventilation (VE) was similar in both tests as exercise progressed. The fall in estimated mean alveolar CO2 (PA,CO2) throughout CWHE was identical in both tests. There were no significant differences (ANOVA) in VE, tidal volume, frequency, oxygen consumption rate (VO2), heart rate or PA,CO2, between unload and control CWHE, at matched times (at 50% of control duration and at the end of exercise). Unloading reduced Pmus significantly throughout CWHE; at 50% control duration, peak Pmus,I and Pmus,E fell by 24 and 41%, respectively, with unloading, as did mean Pmus,I and Pmus,E (21 and 44%). 4. The lack of any significant changes in VE, PA,CO2 or breathing pattern, despite a marked reduction in respiratory muscle load throughout CWHE, indicates that the load on the respiratory muscles has only a minor role in the regulation of ventilation during heavy exercise. 5. The absence of improvement in CWHE duration (control, 11.4 +/- 1.2 min; unload, 12.6 +/- 2.1 min, n.s.) with unloading implies that respiratory muscle function does not limit endurance exercise performance during cycling in healthy humans.

Adult↗

Inspiratory muscle weakness in chronic heart failure: role of nutrition and electrolyte status and systemic myopathy.

Inspiratory muscle weakness has been demonstrated in ambulatory, stable chronic heart failure (CHF) and may contribute to dyspnea during daily living. However, the mechanisms underlying this weakness are unknown. Malnutrition and electrolyte depletion are recognized complications of CHF that may impair skeletal muscle function, and limb muscle weakness and myopathic changes have also been demonstrated in CHF. We examined whether nutrition and electrolyte status contribute to the reduced skeletal muscle strength and whether inspiratory muscle weakness in CHF is part of general skeletal muscle weakness. We measured maximum inspiratory and expiratory mouth pressures as indices of respiratory muscle strength, maximum hand-grip strength as an index of limb muscle strength, anthropometric indices, serum albumin, and total lymphocyte count as indices of nutritional status, and serum electrolytes in 15 stable patients with chronic cardiac pump failure who had no evidence of primary lung disease, and in 15 age-and-sex-matched healthy controls. As compared with the matched controls, the CHF patients had reduced inspiratory muscle strength (p < 0.0025), but their expiratory and limb muscle strength were not significantly reduced. CHF patients were not malnourished; they were heavier than matched controls because of increased body fat (p < 0.05). Serum sodium was significantly lower in the CHF patients than in the controls (p < 0.01), but was within the normal range in both groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗

Effect of physical training on breathing pattern during progressive exercise.

It has been suggested that physical training causes a slower, deeper breathing pattern at a given level of ventilation, but there is no convincing evidence to support this. We examined breathing pattern during maximal incremental exercise on a cycle ergometer in 7 males before and after 3-4 weeks of cycle endurance training (TRAINING), and in 6 males before and after a similar period of unaltered physical activity (CONTROL); all subjects were healthy and previously sedentary. After physical training there was a significant increase in peak oxygen uptake, and significant reductions in carbon dioxide output, heart rate (fHR) and minute ventilation (VI) at submaximal workloads; peak VI was significantly increased whereas peak fHR was unchanged. At matched VI levels (moderate, moderately-high, high) the TRAINING subjects' breathing pattern was not significantly altered; there was a power of at least 80% to detect a significant (> 0.30 L) increase in tidal volume (P < 0.05) at moderately high and high ventilation levels. There was no change in the CONTROL subjects' maximal exercise performance, or breathing pattern at matched VI levels, over the same period. Short-term, activity-specific physical training does not significantly affect the breathing pattern adopted by normal humans during progressive exercise.

Adult↗

Inspiratory muscle weakness and dyspnea in chronic heart failure.

Dyspnea is a common, disabling symptom in chronic heart failure, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The respiratory muscle pump is composed of skeletal muscles whose strength directly influences the pump's performance. Respiratory muscle weakness is important in the dyspnea experienced by some patients with pulmonary disease; however, the role of the respiratory muscle pump in the dyspnea of chronic heart failure has not previously been examined. To assess respiratory muscle strength and its relation to dyspnea during daily activity, we measured maximum inspiratory and expiratory mouth pressures as indices of respiratory muscle strength and the baseline dyspnea index in nine stable, chronic cardiac pump failure patients who had no evidence of primary lung disease, and in nine age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. The chronic heart failure patients, when compared with their matched control subjects, had reduced inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength, and both inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength were significantly correlated with dyspnea during daily activity (r2 = 0.80, p = 0.001 and r2 = 0.45, p = 0.05, respectively). Inspiratory muscle strength accounted for all of the variance in dyspnea that was correlated with respiratory muscle strength when the relative contributions of inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength were examined. There was no correlation between lung volumes or spirometry and dyspnea in the heart failure patients. These findings indicate that patients with stable chronic heart failure have inspiratory and expiratory muscle weakness and further suggest that the respiratory muscle pump significantly contributes to the dyspnea during the activities of daily living.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Miliary Mycobacterium bovis induced by intravesical bacille Calmette-Guérin immunotherapy.

Intravesical instillation of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, is the treatment of choice for many patients with bladder cancer. In a small percentage, this therapy is associated with systemic side effects including pneumonitis. It is uncertain whether these systemic manifestations are due to dissemination of infection or due to hypersensitivity, an etiologic distinction that has important therapeutic implications. We report the first case in which miliary M. bovis was proven to be the responsible mechanism, by culture of M. bovis biovar BCG from a transbronchial lung biopsy and complete resolution on anti-tuberculous chemotherapy.

Administration, Intravesical↗

Respiratory adaptations to dead space loading during maximal incremental exercise.

We examined the effects of dead space (VD) loading on breathing pattern during maximal incremental exercise in eight normal subjects. Addition of external VD was associated with a significant increase in tidal volume (VT) and decrease in respiratory frequency (f) at moderate and high levels of ventilation (VI); at a VI of 120 l/min, VT and f with added VD were 3.31 +/- 0.33 liters and 36.7 +/- 6.7 breaths/min, respectively, compared with 2.90 +/- 0.29 liters and 41.8 +/- 7.3 breaths/min without added VD. Because breathing pattern does not change with CO2 inhalation during heavy exercise (Gallagher et al. J. Appl. Physiol. 63: 238-244, 1987), the breathing pattern response to added VD is probably a consequence of alteration in the PCO2 time profile, possibly sensed by the carotid body and/or airway-pulmonary chemoreceptors. The increase in VT during heavy exercise with VD loading indicates that the tachypneic breathing pattern of heavy exercise is not due to mechanical limitation of maximum ventilatory capacity at high levels of VT.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Diagnostic value of maximal exercise tidal volume.

Though breathing pattern is frequently analyzed during clinical exercise testing, there is little information regarding its usefulness in the differential diagnosis of impaired exercise tolerance. This study tested the hypothesis that differences in peak tidal volume during exercise between patients with different cardiorespiratory diseases are related largely to differences in severity of respiratory mechanical impairment (vital capacity), not to differences in disease state. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, restrictive lung disease, bronchial asthma, and heart disease (mitral valve disease or left ventricular dysfunction) were studied. Subjects selected had one and only one of the above diagnoses. All subjects performed maximal (symptom-limited) incremental exercise on a cycle ergometer. Multiple linear regression of all subjects (n = 30) in all four groups showed a significant correlation between VTmax and VC: VTmax = 0.55, VC -0.09 L (r = 0.827, p less than 0.0001). The VTmax/VC (x 100) was (mean +/- SD) 44 +/- 15, 54 +/- 11, 56 +/- 11, and 54 +/- 12 for the COPD, RLD, BA and HD patients respectively. There was no significant difference between any of the groups. We concluded that differences in VTmax between different patients are related largely to differences in VC (ie, differences in severity of respiratory mechanical impairment), not to differences in disease state. Measurement of VTmax or the VTmax/VC ratio has little value in the differential diagnosis of exertional dyspnea.

Aged↗

The use of intravenous and intraperitoneal desferrioxamine in aluminium osteomalacia.

A 32-year-old male with aluminium osteomalacia was changed from haemodialysis to chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) because of vascular access problems. Desferrioxamine (6 g) was administered intravenously on a once-weekly basis and the quantity of aluminium removed from each dialysate was calculated weekly. Aluminium concentration was estimated using the electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The total aluminium removed after one week was 191 mumol, giving a clearance for aluminium of 4.2 ml per min. Subsequently intraperitoneal desferrioxamine 0.5 g per dialysate was administered to a total dose of 6 g and the cumulative aluminium loss was 134.1 mumol giving a clearance of 3.1 ml per min. The weekly loss of aluminium from dialysate when no desferrioxamine was administered was 58.3 mumol, giving a clearance of 2.5 ml per min. This is the first documented comparison of clearance rates for aluminium between CAPD alone, CAPD plus intravenous desferrioxamine and CAPD plus intraperitoneal desferrioxamine.

Adult↗