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Biomedical subjects

H Stevens

Publications and source records attributed to H Stevens.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Follow-up of adult patients with atopic eczema treated with Chinese herbal therapy for 1 year.

Adult patients with severe atopic eczema who had completed a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial of a specific formulation of Chinese herbal therapy were offered continued therapy for 1 year. Of 31 patients who completed the original placebo-controlled study and after a washout period and 2 months of further treatment, 17 continued treatment (group 1), 11 chose not to continue treatment (group 2), one was lost to follow-up and two patients originally in group 1 decided to stop treatment and became pregnant. At the end of the year, 12 of the patients in group 1 had greater than 90% reduction and the remaining five had greater than 60% reduction in clinical scores compared with baseline values. Clinical scores of patients in group 2 gradually deteriorated so that by the end of the year the difference between groups 1 and 2 was highly significant (P = 0.005 and P = 0.002 for erythema and surface damage, respectively). At the end of the year no patient in group 1 felt able to discontinue treatment permanently, but eight patients were on an alternate-day regimen by 6 months and remained on this regimen until the end of the year, and seven were able to control their eczema with a 1 in every 3 day treatment by the end of the year. The remaining two patients continued on daily treatments. Toxicology screening revealed no abnormalities in either full blood counts or biochemical parameters in any patient on continued treatment. Improvement in disease was not associated with any significant change in serum IgE level or peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Distribution of a second dose of exogenous surfactant in rabbits with severe respiratory failure.

Newborn infants with respiratory distress who fail to respond to surfactant treatment receive a second dose of surfactant. The effect of this strategy on the distribution of surfactant to the lung is unknown. We therefore investigated the distribution of the first (100 mg/kg body weight) and second dose (50 mg/kg body weight) of surfactant (Alveofact) in lung-lavaged rabbits (n = 6). We used 141Ce- and 103Rn-labeled microspheres that were mixed with the first and second dose of surfactant, respectively. Arterial PO2 increased from 5.7 +/- 1.1 to 10.6 +/- 2.0 kPa (p < 0.05) (mean +/- SD) after the first and from 20.1 +/- 3.8 to 30.1 +/- 2.5 kPa (p < 0.05) after the second dose. Thereafter the rabbits were killed, and the lungs were cut into 200 pieces. The radioactivity of Ce and Rn microspheres was measured and distribution histograms were obtained. Histograms of the first, second, and the total dose of surfactant showed similar nonuniform distribution. Correlation coefficients of the Ce and Rn radioactivity in the different lung lobes widely ranged per lung lobe per rabbit. In addition, the percentage of the number of lung pieces that received an amount of surfactant that was less than the calculated endogenous surfactant pool decreased from 12.5 +/- 3.2% to 8.5 +/- 3.0% (p < 0.05) after the first and second dose, respectively. This indicates that the second dose was directed both to areas that initially received surfactant and to areas that were still surfactant-deficient. The surfactant-deficient areas were aerated after this second dose, resulting in a further rise in PO2.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Heart rate variation during fetal behavioural states 1 and 2.

Fetal heart rate (FHR) variation was numerically assessed in relation to behavioural states in 34 normal near term fetuses, in order to study the normal ranges of FHR variation during state 1F and 2F and to determine possible factors influencing variation in these states. In all individuals 2-h recordings were made of fetal heart rate, and body and eye movements. FHR variation was quantified using the Sonicaid System 8000. During both 1F and 2F there was a large range in variation, with a wide overlap in variation between both states (mean 1-min range in pulse intervals 16-53 ms and 36-97 ms, respectively). In all fetuses variation was higher during 2F than during 1F. The large ranges in variation were mainly caused by differences in basal heart rate and the correlation coefficients between rate (beats/min) and variation were -0.68 and -0.49 for 1F and 2F, respectively. Other reasons for a relatively high FHR variation during 1F included 'pseudo' sinusoidal patterns related to fetal sucking or mouth movements and relatively flat periods sporadically interrupted by an acceleration. With the System 8000, periods of low and high variation are identified using fixed criteria. Because of the large overlap in variation between both states, these episodes poorly correlated with the underlying behavioural states. Objective identification of the heart rate patterns during states 1F and 2F requires incorporation of heart rate itself in the analysis. As yet, 'global' visual identification of heart rate patterns is superior to computer analysis in identifying the underlying fetal behavioural states.

Behavior↗
PubMed1993

Bullous pemphigoid in infancy--a case report including new immunoblotting observations.

A 1-year-old boy developed bullous pemphigoid. Immunoblotting, which has not been previously reported in childhood pemphigoid, showed the serum reacted to a 190 kDa band only. Bullous pemphigoid is rare in infancy and childhood with only 40 cases previously reported. A brief review of the literature is given and treatment of childhood bullous pemphigoid is discussed.

Humans↗
PubMed1992

Leuconostoc lactis beta-galactosidase is encoded by two overlapping genes.

A 16-kb BamHI fragment of the lactose plasmid pNZ63 from Leuconostoc lactis NZ6009 was cloned in Escherichia coli MC1061 by using pACYC184 and was found to express a functional beta-galactosidase. Deletion and complementation analysis showed that the coding region for beta-galactosidase was located on a 5.8-kb SalI-BamHI fragment. Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrated that this fragment contained two partially overlapping genes, lacL (1,878 bp) and lacM (963 bp), that could encode proteins with calculated sizes of 72,113 and 35,389 Da, respectively. The L. lactis beta-galactosidase was overproduced in E. coli by using a lambda pL expression system. Two new proteins with M(r)s of 75,000 and 36,000 appeared upon induction of PL. The N-terminal sequences of these proteins corresponded to those deduced from the lacL and lacM gene sequences. Mutation and deletion analysis showed that lacL expression is essential for LacM production and that both the lacL and lacM genes are required for the production of a functional beta-galactosidase in E. coli. The deduced amino acid sequences of the LacL and LacM proteins showed considerable identity with the sequences of the N- and C-terminal parts, respectively, of beta-galactosidases from other lactic acid bacteria or E. coli. DNA and protein sequence alignments suggest that the L. lactis lacL and lacM genes have been generated by an internal deletion in an ancestral beta-galactosidase gene.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1986

Is it organic or is it functional. Is it hysteria or malingering?

Conversion hysteria, a common affliction, requires prompt diagnosis and treatment to prevent fixation of the incapacity and secondary contractures, and to protect the patient from unnecessary surgery. Diagnostic and therapeutic principles are outlined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Infection by leptospires of the Pomona serogroup in cattle and pigs in south west England.

Leptospires belonging to the Pomona serogroup were isolated from calves involved in two outbreaks of acute haemolytic disease which were characterised by jaundice, haemoglobinuria and high death rates. Retrospective case studies in which serological evidence of Pomona serogroup infection was found are also presented. Serovar pomona is the leptospire of the Pomona serogroup most commonly incriminated in clinical disease in domestic species, but the organisms isolated in this study were antigenically different to pomona and may represent a new serovar. The limited information available on the epidemiology of sporadic infection with leptospires of the Pomona serogroup in domestic species in the south west of England supports the contention that a serovar other than pomona is involved.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Sodium monochloroacetate poisoning of cattle and sheep.

Two separate incidents of poisoning, one involving the death of 10 cattle and the other four sheep following the use of sodium monochloroacetate, were investigated. The cattle drank from a farmyard drain overflow which undissolved herbicide entered. Sheep had access to spilt herbicide by a standpipe. Sodium monochloroacetate appears to be equally toxic to both sheep and cattle. The need to follow the manufacturers' instructions is emphasised.

Acetates↗
PubMed1977

Hyperlipoproteinemia and cerebral strokes.

Determination of lipoprotein patterns and of major plasma lipids was carried out in 171 patients with strokes. Of these, 22 had hyperlipoproteinemia (HLIPR) by paper electrophoresis and by elevation of principal plasma lipids (either cholesterol over 300 mg/100 ml or triglycerides over 200 mg/100 ml or both these components). More than two-thirds of the patients had at least one close relative with elevated blood lipids. Using criteria of the World Health Organization, these patients were classified as follows: 5 had HLIPR type IIa, 8 had HLIPR type IIb, 3 had HLIPR type III and 6 had HLIPR type IV. Phospholipids showed relatively little change from the values of normal controls. The numerical distribution of patients with stroke and HLIPR into the four different types corresponds quite well with the approximate frequency of these types of HLIPR in the general population. Thus, this study does not indicate that the patients with a particular type of HLIPR are at a greater risk to have a stroke than those belonging to other types.

Adult↗