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Biomedical subjects

D C Elliott

Publications and source records attributed to D C Elliott.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Studies into using manure in a biorefinery concept.

Animal manure is an underutilized biomass resource containing a large amount of organic carbon that is often wasted with the existing manure disposal practices. A research project funded by the US Department of Energy explored the feasibility of using manure via the sugar platform in a biorefinery, converting the carbon from fiber to biochemicals. The results showed that (1) fiber was the major component of manure dry material making up approx 50%, 40%, and 36% of the dry dairy, swine, and poultry manure material, respectively; within dairy manure, more than 56% of the dry matter was in particles larger than 1.680 mm; (2) in addition to being a carbon source, manure could provide a variety of nutrient for fungi T. reesei and A. phoenicis to produce cellulase; (3) the hemicellulose component in the manure fiber could be readily converted to sugar through acid hydrolysis; while concentrated acid decrystallization treatment was most effective in manure cellulose hydrolysis; (4) purification and separation was necessary for further chemical conversion of the manure hydrolysate to polyols through hydrogenation; and (5) the manure utilization strategy studied in this work is currently not profitable.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1999

Virtual reality, robotics, and other wizardry in 21st century trauma care.

The former Special Assistant to the Director on Biomedical Technology, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), COL RM Satava, notes "Predicting the future trends in any profession jeopardizes the credibility of the author." Thus, we have attempted to outline current systems and prototype models in testing phases. Technologic advances will enable enhanced care of trauma patients. In the acute care setting, they also will affect the educational system in theory and practice.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed1996

Cost effectiveness in trauma care.

The above discussion brings together a vast body of data that together proclaim with fervent clarity: Traumatic injuries are expensive. The expense is paid in productive lives lost, in permanent disability, in pain and suffering, and in health care resources consumed. As local and regional trauma systems struggle for development and survival, competition for the health care dollar casts in the additional necessity of providing the service of trauma care with maximum efficiency. Despite the variety of cost-efficiency measures described above, a majority of trauma centers continue to operate "in the red." Such cannot continue indefinitely. Fiscal responsibility dictates that health care institutions must balance budgets in order to maintain operations. Four primary strategies for cost containment appear from the above discussion: 1. Improve reimbursement rates from trauma patients. 2. Increase outside funding from government sources. 3. Improve cost efficiency of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures used in trauma patient management. 4. Increase efforts aimed at primary prevention of intentional and unintentional injuries. In the final analysis, most authors agree that the last strategy offers the best hope. As stated in their article, "The Economic Impact of Injuries," Harlan and colleagues conclude that "the most effective medical and cost reduction strategy would be prevention." The same article goes on to detail how greater funding for research into optimal prevention modalities could reap societal and economic benefits far beyond the value of the initial outlay. Yet such research funding continues to be inadequate. For every dollar spent on medical care of cancer patients, nine cents is directed to research. For every dollar spent on trauma care, less than a penny is spent on research. Until the public recognizes the terrible toll trauma extracts in lives, livelihood, and money wasted and until it realizes the pre-eminent importance of prevention, care of the trauma patient cannot truly achieve cost efficiency.

Cost of Illness↗
PubMed1996

Necrotizing soft tissue infections. Risk factors for mortality and strategies for management.

OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluate in a retrospective fashion the factors influencing outcome in a large group of patients presenting with necrotizing soft tissue infections, and, based on this analysis, propose a plan for optimal care of such patients. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: In many smaller series of patients with necrotizing soft tissue infections, similar analyses of risk factors for mortality have been performed, producing conflicting conclusions regarding optimal care. In particular, debate exists regarding the impact of concurrent physiologic derangements, type and extent of infection, and the role of hyperbaric oxygen in treatment. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 198 consecutive patients with documented necrotizing soft tissue infections, treated at a single institution during an 8-year period, was conducted. Using a model for logistic regression analysis, characteristics of each patient and his/her clinical course were tested for impact on outcome. RESULTS: The mortality rate among the 198 patients was 25.3%. The most common sites of origin of infection were the perineum (Fournier's disease; 36% of cases) and the foot (in diabetics; 15.2%). By logistic regression analysis, risk factors for death included age, female gender, extent of infection, delay in first debridement, elevated serum creatinine level, elevated blood lactate level, and degree of organ system dysfunction at admission. Diabetes mellitus did not predispose patients to death, except in conjunction with renal dysfunction or peripheral vascular disease. Myonecrosis, noted in 41.4% of the patients who underwent surgery, did not influence mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Necrotizing soft tissue infections represent a group of highly lethal infections best treated by early and repeated extensive debridement and broad-spectrum antibiotics. Hyperbaric oxygen appears to offer the advantage of early wound closure. Certain markers predict those individuals at increased risk for multiple-organ failure and death and therefore assist in deciding allocation of intensive care resources.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

The role of laparoscopy in blunt abdominal trauma.

In a collective analysis of 11 reports with a total of 355 blunt abdominal trauma patients, the sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic laparoscopy in predicting the eventual need for therapeutic laparotomy were 94% and 98%, respectively, with an overall accuracy of 97%. Although fairly accurate and safe (morbidity rate about 1.2%), the invasiveness, cost and time-consuming nature of diagnostic laparoscopy limit its routine use in trauma patients. It could, however, be useful in selecting patients with minor or nonbleeding injuries for nonoperative management after positive peritoneal lavage or computed tomography, and in excluding occult bowel and diaphragmatic injuries in patients with equivocal findings, thereby reducing the number of unnecessary laparotomies. With the improvement of laparoscopic techniques and instrumentation, more injuries can probably be managed laparoscopically with all the benefits observed with the shift from open to laparoscopic procedures in other patient populations, and it is likely that laparoscopy will find its place as an integral part of evaluating and treating patients with blunt abdominal trauma. At present, however, laparoscopy cannot be recommended as a routine tool for evaluating patients with blunt abdominal trauma, except in controlled clinical trials.

Abdominal Injuries↗
PubMed1992

An evaluation of an oral formulation of moxidectin against selected anthelmintic-resistant and -susceptible strains of nematodes in lambs.

The efficacy of an oral formulation of the newly developed parasiticide, moxidectin, was tested against benzimidazole-resistant Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, and Nematodirus spathiger, levamisole-resistant Ostertagia circumcincta, and susceptible Cooperia curticei infections in weaned lambs. Thirty-two lambs were experimentally infected with mixed doses of the above strains of nematodes. They were allocated into four treatment groups by stratified randomisation using liveweights and faecal egg counts 28 days later. One group received moxidectin at 0.2 mg/kg liveweight, one group oxfendazole at 4.5 mg/kg liveweight, one group levamisole at 7.5 mg/kg liveweight and the last group remained untreated as the control. Worm burdens in the lambs at slaughter 10 days after oral treatment confirmed the resistance status of the nematode strains used, and showed that moxidectin had a greater than 99.9% efficacy (p<0.01) against all of them. No adverse effects due to treatment with moxidectin were observed in any of the animals.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1992

Mechanism of aluminum inhibition of net ca uptake by amaranthus protoplasts.

Calcium ions serve as a second messenger in signal transduction and metabolic regulation. Effects of Al on calcium homeostasis remain to be elucidated. Short-term net (45)Ca(2+) uptake by Amaranthus tricolor protoplasts was monitored from uptake media prepared to test the influence of pH, Al, and various inhibitors. Accumulation of (45)Ca(2+) increased during the first 3 to 6 minutes and then leveled off or declined. Al and Ca(2+) channel blockers (verapamil and bepridil) decreased net (45)Ca(2+) uptake. This decrease was more pronounced when Al and bepridil were both present in uptake media, but Al did not aggravate verapamil-induced reduction of net (45)Ca(2+) uptake. Erythrosin B and calmidazolium each increased net (45)Ca(2+) uptake, probably by interfering with Ca(2+) efflux. This effect was undetectable in the presence of Al. Mycophenolic acid decreased net (45)Ca(2+) uptake; guanosine alleviated this effect. Al-induced reduction of net (45)Ca(2+) uptake was not aggravated by mycophenolic acid. Net (45)Ca(2+) uptake was generally less at pH 4.5 than at 5.5 for all treatments. It is concluded that Al ions affect net (45)Ca(2+) uptake by binding to the verapamil-specific channel site that is different from the bepridil-specific one, as well as by interfering with the action of guanosine 5'-triphosphate-binding proteins.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Frostbite of the mouth: a case report.

A case report is presented of a young male who sustained a second-degree frostbite injury to the oral cavity, to include lower lip, hard palate, tongue, and buccal mucosa. This unusual injury occurred as a result of substance abuse: an attempt to inhale an aerosolized propane propellant as a means to achieve euphoria.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Inhibition of protein kinase C activation by low concentrations of aluminium.

An extract of rat brain protein kinase C was fully activated at a total calcium concentration 3 x 10(-4) mol/l (Ca2+ 10(-4) mol/l) in the presence of non-limiting concentrations of phosphatidylserine. Available aluminium (ionised plus soluble hydrolysed) at a median value of 2 x 10(-8) mol/l inhibited enzyme activation by 90% at this non-limiting calcium concentration. Literature values for tissue aluminium concentrations suggest that interference with this key intracellular regulatory protein might occur in vivo.

Aluminum↗
PubMed1989

Hernia uterus inguinale associated with unicornuate uterus.

Hernia uterus inguinale, a condition in which endometrium and myometrium are found in an ectopic location in the inguinal canal, is a rare congenital abnormality in women. A woman with a normal number of chromosomes (46,XX) demonstrated the presence of a uterus, fallopian tube, and ovary in an inguinal hernia associated with a unicornuate uterus. This represents a unique abnormality in the spectrum of lateral fusion defects associated with müllerian ductal development, which normally proceeds as the right and left systems fuse and form the uterus, cervix, and four fifths of the vagina. In this patient, the left müllerian system apparently failed to fuse with the right, instead assuming a location within the patient's inguinal canal.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1988

A goat mortality study in the southern North Island.

A study was undertaken to indicate the importance of different causes of death in goats and to investigate the management factors which influence these problems. Over a 15 month period, 324 dead goats were received from 67 farms in the Horowhenua, Wairarapa, Wanganui and Wellington regions. Although a wide range of diseases was encountered in the study, the major causes of mortality could be divided into 4 groups: problems directly related to management, microbial diseases, nematode parasitism, and trace element related deficiencies and toxicities. The highest proportion of deaths related directly to management problems and included deaths from hypothermia, mismothering, premature birth, ruminal acidosis, pregnancy toxaemia, trauma, and plant and chemical toxicities. In larger flocks, microbial diseases including Pasteurella pneumonia and yersiniosis were major problems. Deaths from nematode parasitism were predominantly observed in goats 12 months of age and older. White muscle disease (selenium/vitamin E deficiency) was the major trace element deficiency causing death in goats. The influence of factors including age of goat, flock size and management practices on the major causes of death are discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1987

Cross-reaction of a plant protein kinase with antiserum raised against a sequence from bovine brain protein kinase C regulatory sub-unit.

The partly purified calcium-dependent, phospholipid-activated protein kinase from A. tricolor seedlings contains three major protein species (Mr = 84,500, 65,000 and 40,000) which cross-react with antiserum raised against the regulatory domain of bovine brain protein kinase C. Two of these species (Mr = 84,500 and 40,000) were phosphorylated when the preparation was incubated with [gamma-32P] ATP. It is suggested that the three cross-reacting proteins correspond to native enzyme, partly proteolysed enzyme and regulatory sub-unit respectively.

Brain↗
PubMed1987

Removal of Haemonchus contortus, Ostertagia circumcincta and Trichostrongylus spp. from goats, by morantel citrate, levamisole hydrochloride, fenbendazole, and oxfendazole.

Young feral goats harbouring 3, 7 and 36 day old experimental infections of strains of gastrointestinal nematodes, known to be susceptible to anthelmintics in sheep, were dosed orally with commercially available anthelmintics at the manufacturers' recommended rates for sheep. The drugs and overall removals of Ostertagia circumcincta and Trichostrongylus spp. (T. colubriformis and T. vitrinus) respectively were: morantel citrate 69% and 68%; levamisole hydrochloride 55% and >99%; fenbendazole 98.5% and >99%; oxfendazole >99% and >99%. Results for Haemonchus contortus, while not inconsistent with high efficacy for all four drugs, must be interpreted with caution, in view of the erratic establishment of this worm in the controls.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1986

The macroscopic appearance and associated histological changes in the enamel organ of hypoplastic lesions of sheep incisor teeth resulting from induced parasitism.

Twenty-one penned female sheep were infected with a high dose of nematodes (200,000 Trichostrongylus vitrinus and 25,000 Ostertagia circumcincta) during first incisor development when aged 7-8 months. Three sheep were infected with 200,000 T. vitrinus only; 10 sheep were untreated. Anorexia, lassitude and severe diarrhoea were seen in 14 of the infected sheep after 21-26 days. Anthelmintic was given to sheep showing undue distress to end the infection and to all remaining sheep on day 33. Animals were killed at 3 stages: during the infection, at intervals during later tooth development, and at the time of eruption of the incisor teeth, 7-8 months after the parasites were given. Hypoplasia of the labial enamel of 15 out of 19 teeth from sheep killed after recovery from the infection was classified according to the extent and depth as pits, grooves or larger areas of missing enamel with ledge-formation cervically. The amount of missing enamel related to the severity of the systemic disturbance which affected the secretory ameloblasts. During the period of active infection, some secretory ameloblasts showed vacuolization or were shorter than in controls; some cells were no longer adjacent to the organic matrix; some continued to function but abnormally and later became separated from the retained organic matrix by connective tissue. Cervically-placed ledges resulted either from the recovery and resumption of activity of some ameloblasts or from differentiation of new secretory cells after the infection ended.

Ameloblasts↗