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Biomedical subjects

F M Andrews

Publications and source records attributed to F M Andrews.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Provision and receipt of social support and disregard: what is their impact on the marital life quality of infertile and fertile couples?

A longitudinal study examined perceptions of received and provided social support and disregard among members of 248 infertile and fertile married couples. Correlational and structural equation modeling analyses were conducted. Women's and men's perceptions of the amount of social support they gave to and received from their partner were highly positively related. In contrast, agreement between spouses about the amount of provided support was moderate. Both social support and disregard mediated the relationships between stress and marital quality of life. Overall, highly similar patterns of results were found for members of infertile and fertile couples. These results demonstrate the perceptual element of received support and disregard as well as the importance of considering the provider's perspective.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Bleeding diathesis associated with variant von Willebrand factor in a Simmental calf.

A 10-month-old Simmental heifer was examined because of a 10-day history of epistaxis and aural hematomas. Examination of the calf also revealed hemarthrosis. Initial laboratory data indicated that platelet count, platelet size, prothrombin time, and partial thromboplastin time were not different from a clinically normal (control) cow. Mucosal bleeding time was prolonged, and platelet adhesion to glass beads was less than expected. The clinical signs, prolonged bleeding time, and platelet adhesion defect were corrected by infusion of bovine plasma. Subsequent laboratory testing revealed that the affected calf had a truncated multimeric structure of von Willebrand factor (vWF), low vWF activity, and impaired platelet aggregation in response to adenosine diphosphate, but concentration of vWF was not different from that in clinically normal control animals. These data were consistent with a diagnosis of variant von Willebrand disease. The relationship of this disease to the thrombopathy of Simmental cattle is unclear.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Weight, water, and cation losses in horses competing in a three-day event.

Body weight of 48 horses competing in a 3-day event was measured the day before the event (baseline), following the dressage phase of the event (day 1), after the endurance phases of the event (day 2), and 18 to 24 hours after the endurance phases (day 3). Plasma sodium and potassium concentrations were measured the evening before, immediately after, and 10 minutes after the endurance phases. Total body water, water loss, and net exchangeable cation loss were then calculated. Body weight and total body water were significantly decreased, compared with baseline values, at all times during the event, and significant water loss was detected. The largest changes were recorded after the endurance phases of the event. Water deficits were still detected 18 to 24 hours after the endurance phases of the event. Mean plasma sodium concentration was significantly increased immediately after the endurance phases of the event, compared with concentration measured the evening before, and remained increased after the 10-minute recovery period, presumably because of dehydration. Mean plasma potassium concentration was significantly increased immediately after the endurance phases of the event, compared with concentration measured the evening before, but was not increased after the 10-minute recovery period.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Acute rhabdomyolysis.

Early aggressive medical therapy in horses with acute rhabdomyolysis is essential to prevent further muscle damage and secondary complications, such as laminitis and acute renal failure. A variety of pharmacologic agents may be helpful in the treatment of this condition but may have adverse affects if hydration status is not corrected first or concurrently with oral or intravenous fluids. Early aggressive therapy will help prevent irreversible muscle damage that could lead to poor performance in the future.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1994

Gender differences and perceptions about childbearing among infertile couples.

OBJECTIVE: To explore gender differences and responses of infertile couples to childbearing issues. DESIGN: Data analysis from the first wave of a larger three-wave prospective panel study. Face-to-face interviews with both husbands and wives were conducted. SETTING: Husbands and wives were interviewed separately in their homes. One was generally interviewed immediately after the other. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred sixty-one infertile couples in southeastern Michigan were interviewed in 1988. MEASURES: Variables of interest included the self-recognized source of the fertility problem, the importance of children to individuals, stress associated with infertility treatment, the number of tests and treatments received, the acceptability of indicated treatments, the length of time couples expected it would take to have a child, and the ideal and expected number of children. RESULTS: Women experienced significantly more stress from tests and treatment, placed greater importance on having children, were more accepting of indicated treatments, and wanted more children than men did. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for nurses working with infertile couples are discussed, including provision of emotional support, evaluation of perceptions of success, assessment of couples' expectations, and inclusion of husbands in decision making.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Albumin quotient, IgG concentration, and IgG index determinations in cerebrospinal fluid of neonatal foals.

Total protein (TP), albumin, and IgG concentrations were measured in CSF from the atlanto-occipital (AO) and lumbosacral (LS) sites and in serum of 15 clinically normal neonatal foals < or = 10 days old (mean, 7.0 days). The albumin quotient (AQ; CSF albumin/serum albumin x 100) and IgG index ([CSF IgG/serum IgG] x [serum albumin/CSF albumin]), indicators of blood-brain barrier permeability and intrathecal IgG production, respectively, were then calculated. Mean +/- SD values obtained from the foals of this study were: serum albumin, 2,900 +/- 240 mg/dl; serum IgG, 1,325 +/- 686 mg/dl; AO CSF total protein (TP), 82.8 +/- 19.2 mg/dl; LS CSF TP, 83.6 +/- 16.1 mg/dl; AO CSF albumin, 52.0 +/- 8.6 mg/dl; LS CSF albumin, 53.8 +/- 15.7 mg/dl; AO CSF IgG, 10.2 +/- 5.5 mg/dl; LS CSF IgG, 9.9 +/- 5.7 mg/dl; AO AQ, 1.86 +/- 0.29; LS AQ, 1.85 +/- 0.51, AO IgG index, 0.52 +/- 0.28; and LS IgG index, 0.48 +/- 0.27. Significant difference between values for the AO and LS sites was not found. A CSF albumin concentration > 85.2 mg/dl or AQ > 2.4, as determined by mean +/- 2 SD, may indicate increased blood-brain barrier permeability. An IgG index value > 1.0 may indicate intrathecal IgG production. Values obtained for foals of this study should serve as baseline for comparison in the evaluation of blood-brain barrier permeability and intrathecal IgG production in neonatal foals with neurologic disease.

Albumins↗
PubMed1992

Psychosocial, treatment, and demographic predictors of the stress associated with infertility.

OBJECTIVE: To determine which psychosocial, treatment, and demographic factors relate to the amount of perceived stress that infertile women and men experience. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, structured interview research design was used. SETTING: In-person interviews were conducted in study participants' homes. PARTICIPANTS: Wives and husbands from 185 couples in Southeastern Michigan with primary infertility were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A nine-item rating scale of perceived stress associated with infertility was the outcome measure. RESULTS: For both women and men, stress was significantly positively correlated with treatment costs and number of tests and treatments received; stress was significantly negatively correlated with confidence that one will have a child and perceived control. For women only, attitudes about infertility treatments, importance of children, attributions of responsibility to physicians, and social support also significantly related to perceived stress. For men only, income, number of physicians seen, and self attributions of responsibility also significantly related to perceived stress. CONCLUSIONS: As hypothesized, a variety of treatment characteristics and psychosocial factors were related to experienced stress. Contrary to expectation, demographic factors such as age and number of years married were not related to experienced stress. This study's results suggest that attempts by health care providers to increase patients' sense of control, optimism (within realistic limits), and social support should reduce stress.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Is fertility-problem stress different? The dynamics of stress in fertile and infertile couples.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the dynamics of fertility-problem stress experienced by wives and husbands in infertile couples with the dynamics of stress from other sources experienced by members of couples presumed to be fertile. DESIGN: Relationships of stress to four marriage factors and four aspects of life quality (subjective well-being) are examined within a causal modeling framework using data from structured interviews. SETTING: Face-to-face interviews were conducted in study participants' homes. PARTICIPANTS: Wives and husbands from 157 couples with primary infertility and from 82 presumed-fertile couples were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Final outcome measures were four multi-item scales assessing life quality with regard to the marriage, own self-efficacy, own health and appearance, and life as a whole. Intervening outcome scales measured four marriage factors: marital conflict, sexual self-esteem, sexual dissatisfaction, and frequency of intercourse. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of stress, regardless of whether that stress was from attempting to solve a fertility problem or another problem, were related to reduced marital functioning and decreased life quality. For husbands, the strengths of the linkages did not depend on the source of the stress. For wives, however, the causal model suggested that fertility-problem stress had stronger negative impacts on sense of sexual identity and self-efficacy than did stress from other problems (P less than 0.05). Stress from any source had more impact on the lives of wives than of husbands, more impact on satisfaction with self and general well-being than on satisfaction with the marriage or health, and affected life quality mostly indirectly through its impacts on the marriage factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Attitudes about infertility interventions among fertile and infertile couples.

BACKGROUND: There has been marked progress in the development of infertility interventions. This paper reports attitudes about 11 interventions for infertility. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with each member of 185 infertile and 90 presumed fertile couples in southeastern Michigan. RESULTS: Seven of these interventions were generally viewed favorably and four were generally viewed negatively, regardless of the couple's fertility status. Infertile couples viewed all interventions, except for adoption, more favorably than did fertile couples. Multidimensional scaling was used to cluster the interventions according to similarity in endorsement. These clusters form a continuum from interventions that allow only one member of the couple to be a biological parent to the most noninvasive techniques. All clusters remain roughly equidistant from adoption, in which neither member of the couple is a biological parent. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that produce a child who is biologically related to only one member of the couple were viewed most negatively. Members of couples who were receiving fertility treatment made finer discriminations among infertility interventions than did individuals who had not received treatment.

Adoption↗
PubMed1992

Comparison of standard and radionuclide methods for measurement of glomerular filtration rate and effective renal blood flow in female horses.

Comparison of standard and radionuclide methods for measuring glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and effective renal blood flow (ERBF) was performed in 8 healthy female horses. Inulin and p-aminohippurate solutions were administered IV as a bolus, followed by sustained administration. Urine and plasma inulin and p-aminohippurate concentrations and urine volume were measured. Glomerular filtration rate and ERBF were calculated on the basis of these measurements. Glomerular filtration rate and ERBF were measured on the basis of plasma clearance of the radiopharmaceuticals, 99mTc-labeled diethylene-triaminepentaacetic acid (99mTc-DTPA) and [131I]-o-iodohippuric acid (131I-OIH), respectively. Mean +/- SEM GFR, using inulin, was 1.83 +/- 0.21 ml/min/kg of body weight. Mean GFR, using 99mTc-DTPA was 1.79 +/- 0.18 ml/min/kg. Mean ERBF, using p-aminohippurate, was 15.13 +/- 1.28 ml/min/kg. Mean ERBF, using 131I-OIH, was 18.42 +/- 1.57 ml/min/kg. Analysis of variance indicated no significant difference between mean values for GFR and ERBF. Radionuclide measurement of GFR and ERBF compared well with standard methods and is an alternative technique to the cumbersome standard methods for determination of GFR and ERBF in horses.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Determination of total protein concentration and viscosity of synovial fluid from the tibiotarsal joints of horses.

Viscosity of synovial fluid (SF) from 29 clinically normal horses was determined by use of a rotational cone and plate microviscosimeter. Total protein concentration in the SF of the 29 horses, as measured with a refractometer, was less than 2.5 g/dl. When the Coomassie brilliant blue test was used to determine total protein concentration in SF for 15 horses, the mean value was 1,088 mg/dl. Viscosity values at 60, 30, 12, 6, 3, and 1.5 revolutions/min (rpm) spindle speed were 4.41 +/- 1.54 centipoise (cp), 5.29 +/- 1.94 cp, 6.76 +/- 2.76 cp, 8.52 +/- 4.27 cp. 10.41 +/- 6.30 cp, and 13.07 +/- 9.05 cp, respectively. Synovial fluid viscosity increased with decreasing rpm and shear rate, but the shape of the curve for each horse fitted the asymptotic curve. The rotational cone and plate microviscosimeter was an accurate instrument in measuring SF viscosity at multiple rpm or shear rates in horses. The values obtained on clinically normal horses in this study will serve as a baseline for comparison in the evaluation of horses with joint disease.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Viscosity and rheologic properties of blood from clinically normal horses.

Blood viscosity (BV) was measured in 32 healthy horses at 6 spindle speeds (60, 30, 12, 6, 3, and 1.5 rpm) and for PCV of 40%, using a digital rotational cone and plate microviscometer. Also, in 7 of 32 horses, BV was measured 3 times each, for 3 PCV values (20, 40, and 60%), and at each spindle speed to determine effect of PCV on BV and machine and among-horse variations. Total plasma protein and fibrinogen concentrations were measured in all horses, using a standard refractometer and heat precipitation, respectively. In 7 of 32 horses, quantitative fibrinogen concentration was measured, using a quantitative fibrinogen assay. Plasma protein and fibrinogen concentrations were measured to determine their effect on BV. Plasma total protein (6.0 to 7.5 g/dl) and fibrinogen (100 to 400 mg/dl) concentrations were within normal reference range for our laboratory.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Stress from infertility, marriage factors, and subjective well-being of wives and husbands.

Stress associated with the inability to have a child is linked to four aspects of marriage and to five dimensions of life quality. Data come from 157 couples who met a standard medical definition for infertility. Wives and husbands were interviewed independently, and most of the following findings apply to both. A causal model suggests that fertility problem stress has direct effects that increase marital conflict and decrease sexual self-esteem, satisfaction with own sexual performance, and frequency of sexual intercourse. Also, fertility problem stress has both direct and indirect effects (via the marriage factors) that decrease evaluations of life-as-a-whole, self-efficacy, marriage, intimacy, and health. The negative effects on life quality are stronger for wives than for husbands. The model suggests that the life quality of couples with fertility problems could be improved if health care providers and couples themselves took steps to reduce such stresses and/or reduce their impact on the marriage factors.

Female↗
PubMed1988

Diagnosis and surgical treatment of functional obstruction of the right dorsal colon in a horse.

Functional obstruction of the right dorsal colon was found at surgery in a 6-year-old American Saddlebred gelding with a history of anorexia, depression, weight loss, and intermittent colic. Side-to-side anastomosis of the right dorsal colon to the small colon was done to bypass the obstruction. Histopathologic findings of the right dorsal colon and regional colonic lymph nodes were unremarkable. Surgical treatment was successful.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Indication and use of electrodiagnostic aids in neurologic disease.

Electrodiagnostic aids, electromyography, auditory brainstem response testing, and electroencephalography are extensions of the neurologic examination and provide valuable information about the nervous system. This article discusses the use and interpretation of electrodiagnostic aids in equine neurology as well as the equipment that is employed. It is hoped that with a better understanding of the available electrodiagnostic aids, they will come into greater use.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1987

Auditory brain stem response testing in anesthetized horses.

Auditory brain stem response testing, using insert earphones, was performed in 10 healthy horses given general anesthesia. The procedure involved clicks of alternating polarity delivered at a rate of 25 clicks/s. Wave forms, including five peaks, were commonly identified. Latencies were measured in milliseconds for waves I through V for all intensities. Latencies of all waves decreased as stimulus intensity increased. For waves I through V, a least-squares regression line was determined for each horse, using all responses between 87-dB sound pressure level (SPL) and 136-dB SPL, inclusive. Slopes were significantly (P less than 0.05) less than zero for waves I through IV, but not for wave V. Peak latencies of each wave averaged at 87-dB SPL for waves I through V were 1.73, 2.6, 3.82, 4.80, and 5.71 ms, respectively; latencies of these five waves at 136-dB SPL were 1.36, 2.2, 3.06, 3.92, and 4.71 ms, respectively. The decrease in latency among the five waves ranged from 0.13 to 0.004 ms/dB. When peak values were below 87-dB SPL, waves became essentially unrecognizable.

Anesthesia, General↗
PubMed1986

Bilateral renal hypoplasia in four young horses.

Three horses less than or equal to 3 years old were evaluated because of stunted growth, weight loss, anorexia, depression, and lethargy of at least 1 month's duration. A neonatal foal was examined after its death. In each case, gross and microscopic renal lesions were compatible with bilateral renal hypoplasia (ie, cortical hypoplasia with severe medullary hypoplasia). In young horses with renal failure, bilateral renal hypoplasia should be considered in the differential diagnosis, and may represent a congenital lesion.

Animals↗