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Biomedical subjects

J Baldwin

Publications and source records attributed to J Baldwin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Effect of microbial inoculant on quality of alfalfa hay baled at high moisture and lamb performance.

The effectiveness of a microbial hay inoculant in high moisture alfalfa hay was evaluated. Alfalfa (third cutting) was baled at 72% DM without or with inoculant and at 82% DM without inoculant during yr 1. In yr 2, alfalfa (second cutting) was baled at 75% DM without or with inoculant and at 82% DM without inoculant. Application rate of inoculant was 3.8 L/.98 tonne each year. At this application rate, 90 billion cfu were applied per .98 tonne of forage. Hays were core sampled at 0, 14, 30, and 60 d after baling to determine chemical composition. By d 30, all hays had DM content of 89%. In yr 2, 12 wether lambs were assigned to three treatments in a replicated 3 x 3 Latin square. Treatments were chopped, low moisture hay plus corn; chopped, inoculated high moisture hay plus corn; and chopped, high moisture hay plus corn. All diets contained 63% alfalfa hay, 35% ground corn, and 2% minerals and vitamins. In yr 1, inoculated and low moisture hays were not different in chemical composition but were higher in CP and lower in NDF than high moisture hay. Neither NDF nor CP were different among the three hays in yr 2. Average daily gain was not different on the three diets. The feed to gain ratio was lowest for the inoculated hay, intermediate for the low moisture hay, and highest for the high moisture hay diet. Daily gain and feed to gain ratio were not different for lambs fed the inoculated hay baled at 75% DM compared with lambs fed untreated hay baled at 82% DM.

Animal Feed

Neutron scattering studies of chromatosomes.

Neutron scattering data establish that the radius of gyration of the DNA in chicken erythrocyte chromatosome particles is significantly higher, by about 0.3 nm, than the radius of gyration of the DNA in the core particle. Corresponding information of the radius of gyration of the protein component in the chromatosomes (3.75 nm) indicated an enlargement, compared to the radius of gyration of the octamer of histone proteins both in core particles and in the histone octamer stabilised in 2 M NaCl (3.25 nm). From the latter data, we could calculate the distance in the chromatosome between the centre of mass of the linker histone and the histone octamer as 5.5 nm. These results impose severe limitations for the organisation of the 22 bp extra DNA and the possible location of H1/H5 in the chromatosome, implying that the H1/H5 is close to the centre turn of the core particle DNA.

Animals

C1 esterase inhibitor deficiency: three presentations.

We have presented three patients representing three of the four reported forms of C1 esterase inhibitor deficiency. The C1INH deficiencies are in general distinguishable from each other and from other forms of angioedema by their complement patterns. The acquired C1INH deficiency must be part of the differential in patients without a family history of angioedema since it may precede the diagnosis of more serious medical conditions such as lymphoproliferative disorders.

Adolescent

Assessment of a single lumbar spine radiograph in low back pain.

The lumbosacral spine radiographs of 200 patients with unexplained low back pain and without neurological signs were reviewed. The purpose of the study was to determine whether significant diagnostic information would be lost by replacing the standard three film series with a single radiograph, either in the lateral or antero-posterior projection. The contribution of the coned lumbosacral junction view was also assessed. The results show that a single lateral radiograph is diagnostically satisfactory and would have the added advantages of reducing patient radiation dose and radiographic workload.

Back Pain

Routine communication in sexually transmitted disease clinics: an observational study.

Sixty STD patients were followed during the course of their clinic visit which averaged 2.75 professional contacts. Based on audiotape analysis, virtually all patients received a diagnosis; however, 25 percent of the patients did not receive any information about treatment or prevention, and only 57 percent of patients were given complete information. Patient recall of the information they were given averaged about 43 percent. Patients not seen by a physician during their clinic visit achieved higher recall rates than patients seen by a physician.

Adult

Marked hyperbilirubinemia in infectious mononucleosis. Analysis of laboratory data in seven patients.

While mild to moderate hepatic dysfunction is commonly encountered in infectious mononucleosis induced by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), clinical jaundice with high bilirubin levels (greater than or equal to 6.0 mg/dL [greater than or equal to 103 mumol/L] is only occasionally encountered. In this study, seven patients with primary EBV infections had peak bilirubin levels of 10.2 to 23.0 mg/dL (174 to 393 mumol/L) and, for the most part, presented initial diagnostic problems. Complications included the virus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome and acute respiratory distress syndrome in one patient and transient renal failure in another. The laboratory data suggested that a combination of hemolysis and viral-induced cholestasis was responsible for the intense hyperbilirubinemia in at least five patients. Physicians should be aware that marked hyperbilirubinemia can occur with EBV-induced infectious mononucleosis and, thereby, obviate the need for costly diagnostic laboratory tests and, occasionally, invasive procedures.

Adolescent

Noninvasive detection of human cardiac transplant rejection with indium-111 antimyosin (Fab) imaging.

Diagnosis of rejection after cardiac transplantation is currently made by right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy. To evaluate antimyosin imaging as a noninvasive means of detecting human cardiac rejection, the Fab fragment of murine monoclonal antimyosin antibodies was labeled with indium-111 and given intravenously to 18 patients (age 45 +/- 12 years) in 20 studies 7 days to 9 years after transplantation. Endomyocardial biopsy specimens were obtained at the time of each imaging study. Eight patients had positive scans confirmed by biopsy as rejection, and eight patients had negative scans and no evidence of rejection on biopsy. Discordance was observed in four studies, two with positive scans and no rejection on biopsy and two with negative scans and positive biopsy. The sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy of the technique were each 80%. Imaging with radiolabeled antimyosin antibody Fab fragments may be of value in the noninvasive identification of rejection in the cardiac transplant recipient.

Adult

Burns in patients under 2 and over 70 years of age.

A total of 246 consecutive burn patients younger than 2 years and older than 70 years of age admitted to a burn center were reviewed retrospectively to study morbidity and mortality specific to these two age groups. Of these patients, 165 were less than 2 years of age and 81 were over 70 years of age, representing 16% and 8% of the total patient population respectively. In patients under 2, scald burns occurred in 127 (77%) and flame burns in 18 (11%). In patients over 70, flame was the most common burn mechanism, occurring in 64 (79%) patients, while scalds occurred in 12 (15%). The mean total body surface area (TBSA) burned in the younger age group was 13.2% (2.4% full thickness, 10.8% partial thickness) and in the older age group was 25% (12.8% full thickness, 12.2% partial thickness). Only 1 death occurred in the younger age group (0.6% mortality), while 41 deaths occurred in the older age group (50.6% mortality). If the burn involved a total body surface area greater than 40%, all patients died (100% mortality). A total of 36 complications occurred in the younger age group (0.2 complications per patient) and 111 in the older age group (1.4 per patient). Burn wound sepsis was the most common complication in each group, occurring in 28 patients under 2 and 42 elderly patients, and was responsible for the 1 death in the younger age group. Although burn wound sepsis was the most common complication in those patients over 70, cardiovascular and pulmonary complications were the most deadly, accounting for 68% (28 patients) of total deaths in this group.

Age Factors

Long-term enhancement of hippocampal synaptic transmission and the acquisition of spatial information.

The hypothesis that memories are stored as a specific distribution of strengths in a population of modifiable synapses was examined by the bilateral induction of long-term enhancement in synapses of the main afferent fiber system to the hippocampal formation in rats. Brief, high-frequency activation of the perforant pathway in chronically prepared animals resulted in a persistent increase in the field EPSP and population spike, measured extracellularly in fascia dentata. This treatment resulted in a profound and persistent deficit in the acquisition of new spatial information in a task requiring spatial "reference" memory, and disruption of recently acquired spatial information. Well-established spatial memory was completely unaffected, however, as was the acquisition of spatial information into short-term "working" memory. These results support the hypothesis that, during the formation of "cognitive maps," spatial information must be temporarily stored at modifiable synapses at the input stage to the hippocampal formation, but that this information is not needed once the representation of the environment is well established. Spatial working memory, in a familiar environment, appears not to depend on the distribution of synaptic strengths in this system at all.

Animals

Treatment of essential hypertension: changes in blood pressure, echocardiography and electrocardiography on three therapeutic regimes.

Forty-three patients with essential hypertension were randomly allocated to one of the following treatment regimes; - atenolol, atenolol and hydralazine or methyl dopa. Blood pressure fell into the normal range at 3 months and was similar in all 3 groups. Blood pressure remained controlled over the period of study. M-mode echocardiography was assessed initially, at 3, 6 and 12 months. All groups showed a fall in the measured indices towards the normal range with a significant reduction in left ventricular wall thickness at 3 months in the methyl dopa group and left ventricular mass in the atenolol group alone of 6 months. In conclusion, no one treatment regime appeared to have sustained advantages over another and none of the groups showed any deterioration on echocardiographic criteria during the study.

Adult

Response perseveration in rats exposed to alcohol prenatally.

Pregnant female rats consumed liquid diets containing either 35, 17, or 0% of the total calories as ethanol. Offspring of these females were tested for spontaneous alternation at 21 days of age and for reversal learning in a T-maze shock-escape paradigm at 20--21 days of age. In the spontaneous alternation test, rats exposed to alcohol prenatally took more trials than controls to enter the goal compartment opposite to that initially entered. In the T-maze escape study, alcohol-exposed offspring made more mistakes prior to criteron and more mistakes per trial than controls when the previously incorrect goal was made safe during reversal learning. In both studies linear dose-response functions were found. Furthermore, there was a significant tendency for the within-group variabitliy to increase as the level of prenatal exposure increased, perhaps indicating that the incidence as well as the severity of behavioral dysfunction was dose dependent. The results are interpreted in terms of a delay in the development of a central inhibitory system.

Animals

Rules for ring closure.

The ease of formation of cyclic structures shows some regularity which can be described by a set of 'rules' for ring closure. The restrictions on the endocyclic transfer of groups due to SN2 displacements having linear transition states are exemplified by studied on a biogenetic type synthesis of penicillin and, more generally, on the endocyclic attack of a nucleophile attached by a linking chain to an enone or polarized double bond. The formation of five-memebered rings is considered. In base, enones such as 4-hydroxy- and 4-amino-2-methylenebutanoates close exocyclically to give the corresponding five-membered lactones and lactams, respectively. Hydroxymethyl vinyl ketones, however, do not cyclize in base. In strong acid, hydroxy-enones close endocyclically to five-membered ring, as in the formation of cyclic ethylene ketals from acetone and ethanediol. The endocyclic closure of nucleophilic centres to polarized double bonds to give five-membered rings is impeded by restrictions of geometry; these restrictions can be overcome in acid through the generation of oxonium or protonated forms.

Chemical Phenomena

The mutagenicity of methylbenzylnitrosamine and its alpha-acetoxy derivatives.

Biological activity of the alpha-acetoxy derivatives of methylbenzylnitrosamine was evaluated using tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium. Compound III, oxidized on the benzyl moiety, was more toxic and more mutagenic than Compound IV, oxidized on the methyl side chain. Compound IV was weakly toxic and was non-mutagenic at the concentrations tested. The presence or absence of the uvrB repair system had no effect on the toxicity of either Compound II or IV. Neither the alpha-oxidized compounds nor the parent nitrosamine reverted the frameshift mutants. As a mutagen, Compound III was approximately as active as N-nitroso compounds not requiring metabolic activation, more active than alpha-acetoxy dialkylnitrosamines and less active than the cyclic alpha-acetoxynitrosopyrrolidine.

Carcinogens