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Biomedical subjects

D Berman

Publications and source records attributed to D Berman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Children's perception of death in humans and animals as a function of age, anxiety and cognitive ability.

This study investigated the impact of age, cognitive level and anxiety level on children's conception of death in humans and animals. Children from three age groups (6-7; 8-9; 10-11) were divided into high and low anxiety levels and high and low cognitive abilities. Then, the children were administered two questionnaires on human and animal death. The findings show that there was a main effect of age, anxiety and cognition on the conception of both animal and human death. Human death scores were higher than animal death scores. The interactions indicate that anxiety has a stronger impact on cognitively high subjects than on cognitively low subjects and that cognition affects the animal death concept more than the human death concept.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1984

Inactivation of simian rotavirus SA11 by chlorine, chlorine dioxide, and monochloramine.

The kinetics of inactivation of simian rotavirus SA11 by chlorine, chlorine dioxide, and monochloramine were studied at 5 degrees C with a purified preparation of single virions and a preparation of cell-associated virions. Inactivation of the virus preparations with chlorine and chlorine dioxide was studied at pH 6 and 10. The monochloramine studies were done at pH 8. With 0.5 mg of chlorine per liter at pH 6, more than 4 logs (99.99%) of the single virions were inactivated in less than 15 s. Both virus preparations were inactivated more rapidly at pH 6 than at pH 10. With chlorine dioxide, however, the opposite was true. Both virus preparations were inactivated more rapidly at pH 10 than at pH 6. With 0.5 mg of chlorine dioxide per liter at pH 10, more than 4 logs of the single-virus preparation were inactivated in less than 15 s. The cell-associated virus was more resistant to inactivation by the three disinfectants than was the preparation of single virions. Chlorine and chlorine dioxide, each at a concentration of 0.5 mg/liter and at pH 6 and 10, respectively, inactivated 99% of both virus preparations within 4 min. Monochloramine at a concentration of 10 mg/liter and at pH 8 required more than 6 h for the same amount of inactivation.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Round robin investigation of methods for recovering human enteric viruses from sludge.

To select a tentative standard method for detection of viruses in sludge the American Society for Testing and Materials D19:24:04:04 Subcommittee Task Group initiated round robin comparative testing of two procedures that, after initial screening of several methodologies, were found to meet the basic criteria considered essential by the task group. Eight task group member laboratories agreed to perform round robin testing of the two candidate methods, namely, The Environmental Protection Agency or low pH-AlCl3 method and the Glass or sonication-extraction method. Five different types of sludge were tested. For each particular type of sludge, a single laboratory was designated to collect the sludge in a single sampling, make samples, and ship it to the participating laboratories. In most cases, participating laboratories completed all the tests within 48 h of sample arrival. To establish the reproducibility of the methods, each laboratory tested each sludge sample in triplicate for the two candidate virus methods. Each processed sludge sample was quantitatively assayed for viruses by the procedures of each individual round robin laboratory. To attain a more uniform standard of comparison, a sample of each processed sample from all laboratories was reassayed with one cell line and passage number by a single laboratory (Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory, Cincinnati, Ohio). When the data were statistically analyzed, the Environmental Protection Agency method was found to yield slightly higher virus recoveries for all sludge types, except the dewatered sludge. The precisions of both methods were not significantly different.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aluminum↗
PubMed1983

Acute hemodynamic effect of oral nifedipine in severe chronic congestive heart failure.

The temporal hemodynamic effects of oral nifedipine after a single dose of 20 to 40 mg were evaluated in 11 patients with severe chronic congestive heart failure (left ventricular ejection fraction 0.22 +/- 0.7 [mean +/- standard deviation]). Nifedipine significantly reduced systemic vascular resistance, from 1,850 +/- 493 to 1,315 +/- 398 dynes s cm-5 at 1 hour (29%), to 1,410 +/- 246 at 3 hours and to 1,523 +/- 286 at 6 hours (p less than 0.05). Cardiac index increased 21%, from 2.07 +/- 0.46 to 2.51 +/- 0.83 liters/min/m2 at 1 hour, to 2.38 +/- 0.53 liters/min/m2 at 3 hours (p less than 0.05) and to 2.24 +/- 0.41 liters/min/m2 at 6 hours. The group response of stroke volume to nifedipine was smaller. A peak increase of 17% was seen 3 hours after initiation of therapy (22.6 +/- 7.2 versus 25.5 +/- 6.1 ml/m2). This difference did not reach statistical significance. Mean blood pressure declined significantly, from 94 +/- 20 to 80 +/- 13 mm Hg at 1 hour, to 83 +/- 15 mm Hg at 3 hours and to 86 +/- 17 mm Hg at 6 hours (p less than 0.05) and was associated with no significant change in heart rate. The marked decrease in blood pressure resulted in a decrease in rate-pressure product from 12,272 +/- 4,230 to 10,500 +/- 2,074 mm Hg/min at 1 hour, to 10,374 +/- 2,735 mm Hg/min at 3 hours and to 11,047 +/- 3,813 mm Hg/min at 6 hours (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1983

The declining specificity of exercise radionuclide ventriculography.

Although exercise radionuclide ventriculography was initially reported to be a highly specific test for coronary-artery disease, later studies reported a high false-positive rate. To verify this turnabout, we analyzed the responses in 77 angiographically normal patients; 32 were studied from 1978 to 1979 (the early period), and 45 from 1980 to 1982 (the recent period). Most patients studied in the early period had normal responses (94 per cent for ejection fraction and 84 per cent for wall motion). In contrast, normal responses were less frequent in patients studied in the recent period (49 per cent for ejection fraction and 36 per cent for wall motion, P less than 0.001). The probability of coronary disease before testing was higher in these patients (38 vs. 7 per cent, P less than 0.001). More patients studied in the recent period underwent radionuclide ventriculography before angiography (78 vs. 22 per cent, P less than 0.001), and more of these prior studies had abnormal results than those performed after angiography (55 vs. 6 per cent, P less than 0.0001). Thus, two factors are responsible for the temporal decline in specificity: a change in the population being tested (pretest referral bias) and a preferential selection of patients with a positive test response for coronary angiography (post-test referral bias).

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Clinical evaluation of seven-pinhole tomography for the detection and localization of coronary artery disease: comparison with planar imaging using quantitative analysis of myocardial thallium-201 distribution and washout after exercise.

The development of quantitative techniques to assist in the analysis of planar thallium-201 stress-redistribution scintigrams has led to improved abilities of this modality to detect the presence of and to localize significant coronary artery disease (CAD). This fact has encouraged the reevaluation of its capabilities relative to other types of scintigraphic data collection, including seven-pinhole tomography. We have undertaken a comparison of planar scintigraphy and seven-pinhole tomography to detect in 40 exercised patients (23 with angiographically demonstrated CAD, eight with normal coronary angiograms, and nine with less than or equal to 1% likelihood of having CAD) the presence of significant CAD and to localize it correctly to an individual coronary artery. Emphasis was placed on similar imaging conditions and on analysis of images by the same quantitative program of TI-201 distribution and washout. Both techniques were found to be highly sensitive and specific for disease detection and localization. Importantly, seven-pinhole tomography did not significantly improve results.

Coronary Disease↗
PubMed1983

Effects of nitroprusside-induced reduction of elevated preload and afterload on global and regional ventricular function in acute myocardial infarction.

To evaluate the effects of nitroprusside infusion on left and right ventricular ejection fractions and left ventricular regional wall motion, radionuclide ventriculography with simultaneous hemodynamic assessment was performed before and during nitroprusside infusion in 20 patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by left ventricular failure and/or systemic arterial hypertension. Nitroprusside produced significant reductions in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (21 +/- 6 to 13 +/- 5 mm Hg; -38%; p less than 0.001), mean arterial pressure (107 +/- 19 to 90 +/- 13 mm Hg; -15.9%; p less than 0.001), left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (84 +/- 28 to 75 +/- 23 ml/m2; -10.7%; p less than 0.001), and right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (77 +/- 30 to 67 +/- 27 ml/m2; -13.0% p less than 0.007), and significant increases in left ventricular ejection fraction (0.32 +/- 0.12 to 0.37 +/- 0.13; +15.6%; p less than 0.0001), right ventricular ejection fraction (0.37 +/- 0.11 to 0.45 +/- 0.14; +21.6%; p less than 0.001), and stroke volume index (25 +/- 7 to 27 +/- 7 ml/beat m2; +8.0%; p less than 0.03). These beneficial changes in global ventricular performance were accompanied by no change in the regional contractile function of 90% of the abnormally contracting infarct-related left ventricular segments and improved regional wall motion of 34% of noninfarcted but abnormally contracting left ventricular segments. We conclude that nitroprusside-induced reduction of elevated preload and afterload in acute myocardial infarction results in salutary effects on global ventricular function and improved regional function of noninfarcted left ventricular segments but with less prominent effects on regional function of infarcted segments.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Wall motion abnormalities and electrocardiographic changes in acute transmural myocardial infarction: implications of reciprocal ST segment depression.

Left ventricular ejection fraction and regional wall motion were assessed by multigated equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography within 24 hours of onset of first acute transmural myocardial infarction (MI) in 32 patients. Abnormal left ventricular wall motion was noted in all 16 patients with anterior infarction and in 14 of 16 (87.5%) patients with inferior infarction. Regional wall motion abnormalities frequently included areas adjacent to and remote from those predicted by the ECG location of ST elevation and pathologic Q waves. Such remote wall motion abnormalities were associated with reciprocal ST segment depression in 17 of 18 (94%) patients, and conversely reciprocal ST segment depressions were associated with remote wall motion abnormalities in 17 of 24 (71%) patients. The left ventricular ejection fraction was lower in patients with a reciprocal ST segment depression compared to those without (anterior MI 0.29 +/- 0.07 vs 0.43 +/- 0.08, p less than 0.01; inferior MI 0.45 +/- 0.11 vs 0.63 +/- 0.06, p less than 0.001). In addition, the peak MB-CK levels were higher in patients with compared to those without reciprocal ST segment depression (anterior MI 268 +/- 183 vs 102 +/- 60, p less than 0.05; inferior MI 186 +/- 120 vs 67 +/- 20, p less than 0.05). Thirteen of 18 (72%) patients with reciprocal ST segment depression compared to 4 of 13 (31%) patients without reciprocal ST segment depression had a complicated clinical course during their hospital stay. These observation suggest that global left ventricular dysfunction in first acute transmural MI is greater when reciprocal ST segment depression is present on the 12-lead ECG.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Nonsurgical reperfusion in evolving myocardial infarction.

Nonsurgical recanalization of the occluded coronary artery has been performed in patients with evolving myocardial infarction since the late 1970s by intracoronary administration of thrombolytic agents at the ostium of the occluded artery or directly to the site of occlusion. The authors review the basic concepts underlying intracoronary thrombolysis, the method applied at their institution and the clinical results. Reperfusion of totally occluded arteries or termination of the ischemic state in subtotally occluded arteries was achieved in 71 (87.7%) of 81 patients. Reocclusion occurred in four patients, in three of these at a time when anticoagulation became temporarily ineffective, emphasizing the need for uninterrupted anticoagulation with a partial thromboplastin time longer than 80 seconds. Thallium scintigraphic studies before and after reperfusion showed a decrease in defect, indicating myocardial salvage, in the successful cases but not in failures or untreated control subjects. A decrease in thallium-201 defect was followed by improvement of regional wall motion and usually also left ventricular ejection fraction. Three of the patients with an unsuccessful result and one patient with a successful result died. Bypass surgery was performed electively in 18 patients because of multiple vessel involvement. Intracoronary thrombolysis appears to be a relatively safe and promising procedure. A large controlled study will be needed for definitive assessment of its role in the management of acute myocardial infarction.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Preoperative prediction of reversible myocardial asynergy by postexercise radionuclide ventriculography.

Myocardial asynergy is sometimes reversed by coronary bypass, and a noninvasive method of predicting which assess are reversible would be desirable. To assess whether changes in myocardial wall motion observed immediately after exercise can differentiate reversible from nonreversible myocardial asynergy, we evaluated 53 patients by radionuclide ventriculography before and after exercise and again at rest after coronary bypass surgery. Preoperative improvement in wall motion immediately after exercise was highly predictive of the surgical outcome (average chance-corrected agreement, 91 per cent). At surgery the asynergic segments that had improved after exercise were free of grossly apparent epicardial scarring. The accuracy of these predictions for postoperative improvement was significantly greater (P less than 0.01) than that of analysis of Q waves on resting electrocardiography (average chance-corrected agreement, 40 per cent). In contrast, preoperative changes in left ventricular ejection fraction after exercise were not predictive of postoperative resting ejection fraction. We conclude that postexercise radionuclide ventriculography can be used to identify reversible resting myocardial asynergy. This test should prove effective in predicting which patients with myocardial asynergy are most likely to benefit from aortocoronary revascularization.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Effect of a new 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor on size, histologic characteristics, and androgen concentrations of the canine prostate.

Mature male beagles were used in studies designed to determine the effect of the steroidal 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor 17 beta-N,N-diethylcarbamoyl-4-aza-4-methyl-5 alpha-androstan-3-one (4-MA) on size, histology, and androgen concentration of the prostate. Subcutaneous administration of 3 or 15 mg/kg/day for 43 days caused a sharp decline in prostate volume. flattening of prostatic epithelial cells, vacuolization of the cytoplasm and pycnosis of the nuclei. Whereas serum testosterone levels remained normal in dogs injected with 3 mg/kg/day, they were lower in those that received 15 mg/kg/day. Concentration of both testosterone and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone were reduced in the prostates of dogs that had received either 3 or 15 mg/kg/day of 4-MA. The 15 mg/kg/day level also appeared to adversely affect spermatogenesis. In a 43-day study, 4-MA given orally once each day at levels of 0.1, 0.3, or 1 mg/kg failed to cause a significant decrease in prostate volume. However, daily divided oral doses totaling 1 or 3 mg/kg were given in a 42-day test and both treatment levels produced significant reductions in prostate size.

5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors↗
PubMed1982

A method for concentrating viruses recovered from sewage sludges.

Buffered 10% beef extract eluates of primary, activated, and anaerobic mesophilically digested sludges were concentrated 20-fold by the Katzenelson organic flocculation procedure after diluting the beef extract in the eluates to a final concentration of 3%. The weighted mean recovery of virions from the concentrates was approximately 58% of the numbers present in the unconcentrated buffered 10% beef extract eluates. Flocculation of eluates that contained buffered 10% beef extract at times produced poor flocs. Application of the Katzenelson procedure to the diluted buffered 10% beef extract procedure for recovering virions from sludges permits an economy in the number of cell cultures required for assays of virions in beef extract eluates that is necessary in most laboratories.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Right atrial tamponade complicating cardiac operation: clinical, hemodynamic, and scintigraphic correlates.

Persistent bleeding into the pericardial space in the early hours after cardiac operation not uncommonly results in cardiac tamponade. Single chamber tamponade also might be expected, since in this setting the pericardium frequently contains firm blood clots localized to the area of active bleeding. However, this complication has received very little attention in the surgical literature. We are therefore providing documentation that isolated right atrial tamponade can occur as a complication of cardiac operation and that there exists a potential for misdiagnosis and hence incorrect treatment of this condition. Right atrial tamponade may be recognized by a combination of low cardiac output, low blood pressure, prominent neck veins, right atrial pressure in excess of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and right ventricular end-diastolic pressure, and a poor response to plasma volume expansion. Findings on chest roentgenogram and gated wall motion scintigraphy may be highly suggestive. This review should serve to increase awareness of this complication and to provide some helpful diagnostic clues.

Bioprosthesis↗