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Biomedical subjects

G Aström

Publications and source records attributed to G Aström.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Relations between udder infection and somatic cells in camel (camelus dromedarius) milk.

Quarter milk samples (n = 391) from 101 camels were examined to study the occurrence and causes of mastitis in traditionally managed camels in eastern Sudan and to evaluate the value of the California Mastitis Test (CMT), somatic cell count (SCC) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the detection of subclinical mastitis in the camel. One hundred and seventy (43.5%) of the quarter milk samples yielded pathogenic bacteria. Streptococcus agalactiae, other Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, and Escherichia coli were isolated from milk. Thirty-two (8.2%) quarter milk samples yielded mixed cultures, and 189 (48.3%) yielded no growth. Mean values for CMT, SCC and ATP were higher for quarters infected with major pathogens. However, a significant number of quarter milk samples had elevated values in these tests but were from quarters from which no bacteria were isolated. The ability of the tests to predict a positive bacteriology increased slightly when 2 or 3 tests were combined.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Measures taken by veterinarians in Sweden in cases of bovine mastitis.

A questionnaire concerning the diagnosis and treatment of bovine mastitis was sent to all 350 Swedish food animal practitioners. 287 (82%) of the questionnaires were returned. One of the main aims was to establish if Swedish food animal practitioners used a common therapeutic regime that could be used as a control treatment in future clinical trials. It was found that many factors of importance for the clinical diagnosis of mastitis such as body temperature, duration of the symptoms etc. often were not considered. On the other hand 60-70% of the practitioners regularly took milk samples to obtain a bacteriological diagnosis. Approximately 40% of the veterinarians cultured the milk samples in their home laboratory. Basic measures like frequent emptying of the udder were recommended by only 40-50% of the veterinarians. All responding field veterinarians used the systemic route for administering antibiotics when treating cases of acute, clinical bovine mastitis. The drug of choice, initially, in these cases was benzylpenicillinprocain, which was used by 65-75% of the veterinarians. Twenty-five percent used a broad-spectrum antibiotic, most commonly a combination of penicillin and streptomycin. A minority (5%) directed their initial therapy towards gram-negative bacteria. About 30-40% supported the systemic therapy with intra-mammaries. Other drugs such as NSAID, corticosteroids and oxytocin was used, on a regular basis, by only about 10% of the practitioners.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Experienced and skilled nurses' narratives of situations where caring action made a difference to the patient.

Forty-five skilled and experienced nurses working at long-term, medical and surgical care clinics narrated 88 caring situations. The aim of the study was to interpret these narratives concerning the nurses' caring actions and the type of situations where they experienced that their caring made a difference to the patient. There were eight types of caring actions that were then condensed into three interaction and intervention approaches; 1) deliberate distanced interaction and intervention with the patient; 2) deliberate providing of prerequisites for interaction and intervention with the patient; and 3) deliberate deep interaction with the patient when intervening. These approaches were used when the nurses dealt with the following three types of caring situations: caring focusing on the nurse-patient relationship, on medical intervention, and on practical problem solving. The first two approaches occurred in situations focusing on acute medical intervention and on practical problem solving. All approaches occurred in situations focusing on the nurse-patient relationship. The finding that experienced and skilled nurses described situations where the depth of their contact with the patient varied can be expressed in the phrase "how I act depends on the situation." The skill to find the right level of involvement seems important.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Experienced nurses' narratives of their being in ethically difficult care situations. The problem to act in accordance with one's ethical reasoning and feelings.

In previous interviews, experienced nurses have reported that their decisions in ethical matters depended "on the situation at hand." We interviewed 18 good, experienced cancer nurses to determine how they handled ethical decisions. They were asked to give an account of difficult situations that required ethical decisions to be made. The 60 narrated situations were interpreted step-by-step departing from the following two questions: What do nurses experience when being in ethically difficult care situations? What does the expression "it depends on the situation at hand how I act" mean? In complex situations, the nurses reported that the ethical situations that arose were regarded either as overwhelming or at the other end of the spectrum, as possible to grasp, and they expressed either loneliness or togetherness, respectively. When reporting overwhelming situations, the nurses mostly referred to themselves by using the word "one," i.e., "one would" and used "they" when referring to their coactors. When narrating situations possible to grasp, they used the terms "I" and "we." The most important situational factor that was revealed in these narratives was whether or not the nurses had a support group in which to share their thoughts. Without the support group, they reported difficulties acting in accordance with their ethical reasoning and feelings.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Influence of exogenous estradiol on the concentration of antitrypsin, albumin, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase and somatic cells in milk of cows at various lactation stages.

Estradiol benzoate (0.02 mg/kg of body weight) was injected (i.m.) daily to 13 ovariectomized cows in their first or third lactations during early (60-90 days), mid (140-200 days) and late (240-300 days) lactation. The majority of the udder quarters were free of bacteria throughout the experiment. Signs of clinical mastitis were observed after 9-19 days of treatment in cows at mid and late lactation. This was accompanied by a decrease in milk yield, an increase in milk somatic cell count (MSCC) and increases in milk concentration of antitrypsin and serum albumin (as indicator of increased permeability); and milk NAGase activity (as indicator of epithelial cell damage or release of the enzyme from phagocytes). NAGase activity was first to increase and on some occasions was not accompanied by an increased MSCC. The response was either absent (first lactation) or relatively mild (third lactation) in cows at the early stages of lactation. The intensity of the inflammatory response increased with advancing lactation stage. Generally, the response of cows in the third lactation was greater than that of cows in the first lactation at a corresponding stage of lactation. Three cows which received the control treatment with vehicle alone showed no changes in any of the parameters except a slight decrease in antitrypsin. All inflammatory indicators correlated negatively with quarter milk production; milk NAGase activity was superior in this respect (r = -0.75). All correlation coefficients were generally higher after, rather than before the hormone treatment.

Acetylglucosaminidase↗
PubMed1989

Sampling of lymph from lymph vessels afferent to the supramammary lymph gland in the cow.

A technique for catheterization of a lymph vessel afferent to the supramammary lymph gland in the cow is described. The operation was made with the cow under general anaesthesia. The lymph vessel was catheterized with a 30 cm long heparinized polyethylene catheter with an external diameter of 2.5 to 3 mm. Generally at least 5 ml of lymph could be collected within a period of 3 to 5 minutes. In 11 out of 15 cows lymph could be collected for 7 days or longer.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Alterations in neutrophil phagocytosis and lymphocyte blastogenesis in dairy cows around parturition.

The bovine blood neutrophil phagocytosis and the blood and milk lymphocyte proliferative response upon stimulation with Phytohaemagglutinin, Concanavalin A and Pokeweed mitogens was studied from 3 weeks prior to calving until 3 weeks after calving. Neutrophil phagocytosis and the total and differential blood leukocyte counts were performed by flow cytometry. A gradual increase in the percentage of phagocytized bacteria and the average number of bacteria per phagocyte was observed before calving followed by a sharp fall on the first postpartum. This was followed by a steady increase in the above parameters reaching the highest levels at two weeks postpartum. There was a gradual increase in the number of neutrophils in blood as calving approached followed by a sharp decrease after calving. The number of lymphocytes in blood dropped before calving, being at the lowest level on the day before calving. The proliferative response of blood and milk lymphocytes upon stimulation with the three mitogens was low during the week preceding parturition with the lowest value on the day before calving. The response of blood lymphocytes returned to a higher level the second week after calving while that of milk lymphocytes remained at a low level during the first and the second postpartum weeks.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Sampling of the bovine teat for studies of defence mechanisms and inflammatory reactions based on a surgical procedure separating the teat and udder cisterns.

A surgical procedure to separate the teat and udder cisterns in the udder quarter was described. The sampling method used and its influence on the somatic cell count and bacteriological status of the teat samples were determined. The surgical procedure resulted in complete separation of the teat cistern from the udder cistern in nine out of fourteen teats in six cows. An increase in SCC was seen in one of nine teats during the sampling period of 4 to 8 days. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were isolated in samples from three of six teats at the end of the sampling period. The described methods could be of considerable importance in future studies of inflammatory reactions and defence mechanisms in the bovine teat.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Effects of parity and stage of lactation on adenosine triphosphate, somatic cell count and antitrypsin content in cows' milk.

Significant effects of parity and stage of lactation were found on ATP content, somatic cell count and antitrypsin content when using morning milk samples from 39 cows over a period of 18 months. A close similarity was evident between variation in ATP and somatic cell count, except during the first 10 d after parturition when the variation in ATP was more pronounced. The same result was obtained in the whole material as well as in a healthy subset. This study shows clearly that parity and stage of lactation must be taken into account when establishing normal values for ATP as an indicator of mastitis.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1987

Comparison of some screening tests for detecting mastitis.

Quarter milk samples were analyzed for somatic cell counts, ATP, NAGase, bovine serum albumin, antitrypsin, conductivity, and bacteriological findings. The diagnostic tests were compared with respect to their ability to predict the infection status of a quarter on test day. Predictive ability was evaluated by logistic regression. All components measured increased in the presence of infection. Correlations between components were higher in quarters with pathogens than in quarters free from infection. Predictive ability was highest for ATP, somatic cell counts, and NAGase. Comparisons within udder using ratios from different quarters gave no better prediction than absolute values. For all diagnostic tests except conductivity, combinations of absolute values and interquarter ratios were not better than predictions based on absolute values only. If conductivity is to be used to predict infection status, a combination of absolute value and interquarter evaluation is recommended. Combinations of two diagnostic tests increased the predictive ability in most cases, although the increase was only minor.

Acetylglucosamine↗
PubMed1986

Dexamethasone suppression test in schizophrenic patients before and during neuroleptic treatment.

The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) was performed in 21 drug-free schizophrenic patients. The patients satisfied DSM-III and Research Diagnostic Criteria for schizophrenia and were in an acute phase of the disease. In 15 of the patients the DST was repeated after about 5 weeks of treatment with neuroleptics. DST compliance was checked by analysis of dexamethasone concentrations in plasma. In the acute phase 71% (at 04 p.m.) of the patients were nonsuppressors. After neuroleptic treatment the frequency of abnormal responders had decreased to 20%. The decrease in nonsuppressors was not due to alteration of the dexamethasone concentration between the two test occasions. Prolactin levels were markedly increased at the second test occasion compared with the first. There were no significant relationships between cortisol levels, cortisol suppression and prolactin levels. The high frequency of nonsuppressors among schizophrenic patients in the acute phase of the disease indicates that acute stress may be a confounding factor in the outcome of DST.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Concentrations of penicillin, streptomycin, and spiramycin in bovine udder tissue liquids.

Concentrations of benzylpenicillin and spiramycin adipate were determined in bovine plasma and milk and in lymph draining the udder tissue after IM or IV administration. Combined benzylpenicillin and dihydrostreptomycin sulfate concentrations were also determined in the same fluids after intramammary injection. A superficial parenchymal lymph vessel, afferent to the supramammary lymph gland of the left quarters, was cannulated with a polythene catheter from which the lymph was allowed to drain freely. After injections of 9.5 mg of benzylpenicillin/kg of body weight IM, a mean peak concentration (PC) in lymph (3.7 micrograms/ml), constituting 77% of the PC in plasma (4.8 micrograms/ml), was obtained 0.5 to 1 hour after PC in the plasma. The benzylpenicillin lymph concentration was close to that in plasma for about 7 hours after injection. Thereafter, the benzylpenicillin lymph concentration continued to exceed that in plasma, but not that in milk. After IV administration of spiramycin adipate, the lymph concentration was almost identical to that in plasma. After intramammary injection of procaine benzylpenicillin (400 mg), in combination with the same amount of dihydrostreptomycin sulfate, into 2 udder quarters each, mean PC in the lymph of 3.5 micrograms/ml and 8.4 micrograms/ml, respectively, were obtained 6 hours after injection. In plasma, the mean PC of benzylpenicillin (0.07 micrograms/ml) and of dihydrostreptomycin sulfate (0.85 micrograms/ml) were obtained after 4 and 6 hours, respectively. In milk from the nontreated quarters, a mean concentration of 5 ng of benzylpenicillin/ml was obtained, whereas dihydrostreptomycin sulfate (greater than or equal to 0.3 microgram/ml) was not detected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗