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Biomedical subjects

D A Pearson

Publications and source records attributed to D A Pearson.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Alloengraftment in IL-2-treated mice.

Despite major advances, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) remains a major obstacle to clinical bone marrow transplantation. Prophylaxis by T cell depletion is associated with increased rates of engraftment failure and leukemic relapse. Treatment with high-dose IL-2 can markedly protect lethally irradiated mice from GVHD-related mortality, especially when T cell-depleted (TCD) syngeneic bone marrow cells (BMC) are co-administered. In these IL-2-protected animals, allogeneic reconstitution is observed, and a graft-versus-leukemia effect of allogeneic T cells is preserved. To determine whether IL-2 might increase alloresistance under conditions in which alloengraftment is more difficult to achieve, we have now evaluated the possible effect of IL-2 on: (1) competitive repopulation of lethally irradiated mice by mixtures of TCD allogeneic and TCD syngeneic BMC; (2) radiation protection by TCD allogeneic BMC; (3) timing of hematologic recovery; and (4) allogeneic engraftment in sublethally irradiated recipients. The results show that IL-2 has only a limited and strain-restricted effect on alloengraftment. This effect may reflect activation of alloresistant host natural killer cells, a cell population which is not essential for the protective effect of IL-2 against GVHD.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Auditory attention switching in hyperactive children.

The ability to rapidly reorient attention in the auditory modality was studied in hyperactive children. Hyperactive and nonhyperactive subjects matched on age, sex, and IQ listened to dichotically presented lists for prespecified targets. Reorientation was studied by comparing performance on trials requiring subjects to reorient their attention during a list to performance on trials requiring no switching of attention. The results indicate that although nonhyperactive children were temporarily disrupted by the switch, they eventually reoriented to the cued ear. In contrast, once hyperactive children were disrupted by the switch, they did not reorient to the cued ear. As the pattern in performance comparing hyperactive and nonhyperactive subjects resembles the pattern previously found in comparing younger and older subjects, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that the auditory reorientation skills of hyperactive children are developmentally immature.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1991

Auditory attention switching: a developmental study.

The developmental course of the ability to rapidly allocate attention was studied using a dichotic listening task with 8-year old, 11-year old and college age subjects. In this task, subjects were instructed to listen to one ear for predescribed targets and then were later signaled (on some trials) to switch their attention to the other ear. Reorientation was assessed by comparing the pattern of subjects' omission and intrusion errors on trials following a command to switch ears with the pattern of errors on no-switch trials. Older subjects were better able to reallocate their attention in accordance with task demands, with the greatest gains in performance occurring between ages 8 and 11. This developmental change appears to be generally continuous and quantitative in nature. Since successful performance of this task requires flexibility in subjects' ability to control their focus of attention, these results support the hypothesis that the basis of the developmental improvement in the ability to ignore irrelevant information is linked to the ability to use active attentional strategies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The development of psychiatric symptomatology in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Psychiatric symptomatology was compared in 61 cystic fibrosis patients, ages 8 to 15 years, and 36 cystic fibrosis patients, ages 16 to 40 years. When the prevalence of psychiatric symptomatology was compared in the two groups, a developmental pattern emerged: Symptoms of depression and anxiety were more frequent in the older group, while symptoms associated with eating disorders were more frequent in the younger group. Although duration of illness was longer and severity of illness was greater in the older group, these factors were largely unrelated to psychiatric symptomatology in either group. It is hypothesized that younger patients may express psychological distress through less direct means than older patients.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Infection control practices in Connecticut's skilled nursing facilities.

Questionnaires were sent to all skilled nursing homes in Connecticut as part of a larger study of nosocomial infections, infection risks, and infection control programs. This article describes surveillance practices, isolation practices, control measures, and employee health activities of skilled nursing homes in Connecticut. The overwhelming majority of skilled nursing homes used written criteria to determine nosocomial infections, and all undertook surveillance; the majority did surveillance at least weekly and 21% did on a daily basis. The most frequent source of information for reporting infections were microbiology reports and information from the charge nurse. Three fourths of the skilled nursing homes stated that the responsibility of reporting communicable disease is that of the infection control practitioner. Two thirds of the skilled nursing homes stated that they had policies on the reporting of isolation practices, including the refusal or acceptance of patients with infections; 38% had residents under isolation precautions. Of all the patient care control measures, only that of changing urinary catheters on a routine basis was associated with facility size. More than 90% of facilities reported having an employee health program, but the benefit was limited.

Connecticut↗
PubMed1990

Infection control practitioners and committees in skilled nursing facilities in Connecticut.

All skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in Connecticut were surveyed and more than 71% responded to a Centers for Disease Control-funded project, a component of which is reported herein. The study describes the infection control practitioner (ICP), assistance provided ICPs from external sources, and infection control committees. Almost all ICPs received some training in infection control and worked in the field for an average of 3 1/2 years. Both the number of hours devoted to infection control and the percentage of time spent by the ICP on infection control activities increased with the size of the facility. More than one half of the ICPs in SNFs have relationships with hospital ICPs. The majority of SNF infection control committees met quarterly. The chairperson most often was a physician, although ICPs held this office in almost one third of the reporting SNFs. We conclude that ICPs in Connecticut SNFs have increased in number and that they devote more time and effort to infection control than in previous years.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Visual attention movements: a developmental study.

The pattern of attention movements underlying reorientation of visual selective attention independent of eye movements was studied developmentally in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1, 8-year-old, 11-year-old, and college-age subjects first oriented their attention to a central location and were then cued to direct their attention either to the left or the right peripheral field. Following variable intervals, the target appeared at the cued location and reaction times were recorded. The data were interpretable in terms of the attentional spotlight theory since there was an interaction between distance of the target from fixation and SOA. In terms of this theory, the data indicate that the velocity of attention movements increases throughout the age range studied. Experiment 2, in contradiction to attentional spotlight theory, failed to find evidence of an interaction between distance and SOA. This experiment suggested that young children can covertly orient their attention by including valid, neutral, and invalid cues, and that these cues can both facilitate and inhibit attentional orientation. This experiment also extended the findings to central as well as peripheral cues.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

"Red man syndrome" with vancomycin: report of case.

Vancomycin is a recommended alternative prophylactic antibiotic for penicillin-allergic patients with prosthetic mitral valves. During the course of recommended treatment, a drug reaction known as "red man syndrome" was encountered. Because vancomycin is appropriate for some dental situations, the general practitioner should be acquainted with its use and possible side effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

A model for the coordination of international donor activities with national government health services.

This study is a descriptive analysis of an attempt to coordinate donor agency and government activities in the national leprosy control program of the Philippine Islands. A twofold strategy is employed to realize this purpose: (1) the evolution of the present coordinated program as recorded in both published and unpublished documents is described, and (2) an opinion survey of Philippine personnel active in the present leprosy control program is reported. The most significant finding, in terms of relating the Philippine experience to other areas of donor-recipient exchange, is the emergence of a model of coordinated effort where a donor agency's assistance to a foreign national government is transmitted through a third indigenous and intermediary organization. By advancing the interests of both donor and recipient organizations, this approach has the potential of promoting a successful coordination of activities which might not otherwise be attained.

Financing, Organized↗
PubMed1976

An emergency medical care facility: program characteristics and patient attributes.

The objectives of this research were: (1) to describe the programmatic structure and characteristics of an emergency medical care facility that is a satellite clinic of a community hospital; (2) to describe the types of illness treated, and (3) to characterize the patients who used the facility. One-half of the presenting patients were treated for traumatic conditions; a major factor of clinic use for such patients was proximity. For patients with nontraumatic illnesses, the clinic was used when private physicians were unavailable. Almost 20% of all presentations resulted from referrals, suggesting acceptance of the clinic by private practitioners in the area. Previous users had more tenuous relationships with private physicians than did initial users and no difference was found between initial and previous users in the amount of nontraumatic illness. Patient attributes of high mobility, lower socio-economic status, and younger age were associated positively with frequent clinic use.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Site-directed chemical modification and cross-linking of a monoclonal antibody using equilibrium transfer alkylating cross-link reagents.

A new, more reactive group of protein cross-linkers in the class of equilibrium transfer alkylating cross-link (ETAC) reagents has been synthesized. These compounds include alpha,alpha-bis[(p-chlorophenyl)methyl]- and alpha,alpha-bis[(p-tolylsulfonyl)methyl]acetophenones substituted in the acetophenone ring with chloro, nitro, amino, and carboxyl groups and derivatives. Included are an 125I-labeled ETAC reagent and a 111In-labeled DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) ETAC for site direction and biodistribution studies. These ETAC compounds were reacted with unreduced and partially reduced antibody under mild pH (pH 4-8) and room temperature conditions to give cross-linked structures. Examination of resultant cross-linked antibody via size-exclusion HPLC, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay revealed that (1) both interantibody as well as intraantibody cross-linking had occurred; (2) the level of inter- and intraantibody cross-linking varied with the substituent on the ETAC; (3) the stability of the cross-links on the reducing SDS gels varied with substituents on the ETAC; (4) little if any immunoreactivity was lost after reaction with one of the more effective ETAC cross-linking compounds; (5) the 125I-labeled ETAC sulfhydryl cross-linking in partially reduced antibody increased with pH whereas amine cross-linking with the unreduced antibody decreased with pH; (6) the optimum pH for sulfhydryl site direction was pH 5.0; (7) the 111In DTPA ETAC labeled antibody had a biodistribution in CD1 mice similar to that of the 111In bis cyclic anhydride DTPA labeled antibody.

Acetophenones↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Elements of progressive patient care in the Yale Health Plan HMO.

The results of a study of the use of intermediate care beds in the intermediate care facility (ICF) of the Yale Health Plan, a prepaid group practice plan for students and an enrolled non-student population, indicate that the ICF may be a possible model for other health maintenance organizations. The ICF, with 30 beds in active use, is located in the Yale health center. Approximately one-third of the ICF patients would have been admitted to the affiliated short-term general hospital if the ICF did not exist. The plan's medical staff also has the option of transferring patients between the affiliated hospital and the ICF, depending on which institution is most appropriate for the patient's needs. A comparison of the levels of care provided in the ICF with those presented in selected articles from the progressive patient care literature revealed that the ICF is not only providing intermediate care but several other classic elements of progressive patient care -self care, continuing care, minimal care, and partial care.

Connecticut↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Characteristics of Connecticut patients receiving services for end-stage uremia.

Data are presented on the characteristics of all patients with end-stage uremia who were treated in Connecticut hemodialysis programs over a 7-year period. Of the total of 353 patients, 103 patients died, 37 had successful transplants and discontinued dialysis, no information was available for one patient, and the remaining 212 patients continued to receive treatment in 1 of the 12 hemodialysis programs. The mean age of active chronic hemodialysis patients was 43.6 years; about 83 percent of all active patients were under age 55. Twenty-two percent were nonwhite; the nonwhite caseload appeared high in relation to the percent of nonwhite population. Of the 212 active patients, 78 percent were dialyzed at in-center programs and 22 percent at home; one patient obtained dialysis from a new limited-care program. The largest group (28 percent) of active patients had been in dialysis less than 7 months, about one-fourth had been dialyzing for 7-12 months, and about 13 percent of the total active population had been in dialysis between 19 and 24 months. The average period for active patients to be in dialysis was 17 months. The advent of Federal reimbursement for hemodialysis, as well as changes in the criteria for the selection of patients and increased physician awareness, can result in significant increases in the future population of patients receiving dialysis. To prevent overburdening of existing in center programs, expansion of training facilities statewide for home care dialysis is suggested.

Adolescent↗