Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Ball.
A case of rupture of an ossified Achilles tendon is described. It is suggested that the management of this condition is surgical. Previously undescribed histological appearances demonstrate osteogenic potential. The significance of subcutaneous Achilles tenotomy is discussed.
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The effects of potentially perturbating influences on the respiration of glucose-grown Candida utilis were studied using an open oxygen electrode system. Periods of anaerobiosis as short as 2 min produced an oscillation in respiration after the air supply was restored. Longer exposure to anoxia was followed by an overshoot in dissolved oxygen after switching back to a gas phase of air. Centrifugation, cold shock or nutrient starvation caused less disturbance to respiration rates than did anaerobiosis. The high frequency oscillations (period about 5 min) resulting from anaerobic-aerobic transitions are contrasted with the slow cell cycle-dependent oscillations previously observed in synchronous cultures.
As part of a systematic study of the spine between D11 and S1 the response to stress has been assessed by measuring radiologically the total and segmental mobility of 103 specimens. The method was shown to be reproducible to within 10% of total mobility. No significant sex difference was seen. Total mobility varied widely, but mean total mobility fell with age. All lumbar segments became less mobile up to the fifth decade. Between the fifth and the eighth decade the mobility of the fifth lumbar segment continued to fall, whereas other lumbar segments became more mobile. The mobility of each segment also varied widely, but the mean segmental mobility fell progressively from L5 to D11. However, this smooth pattern of movement was seen in only 16 cases, mostly adolescents and young adults. Among the remainder, in which movement was irregularly distributed, there were 7 cases (4 aged less than 30 years) in which the mobility of at least 1 segment was more than 2 standard deviations above the mean. The cause of this hypermobility was not evident radiologically. It is suggested that segments with abnormally high mobility may be at risk.
The essential articular pathology of AS may be said to reflect the occurrence, severity, and overall bias of (a) synovitis which tends to produce articular erosion, and (b) an inflammatory enthesopathy which results in capsular ossification in diarthrodial joints and syndesmophyte formation in cartilaginous joints, both of which are primarily responsible for bony ankylosis. Nonspecific secondary mechanisms contribute to the final picture. These include enchondral ossification, which produces synostosis, osteoporosis and altered stress distribution which make the axial skeleton susceptible to trivial trauma, the destructive effects of which are sometimes described as spondylodiskitis.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Minoxidil is a new, effective, investigational antihypertensive drug. A serious, cosmetic side effect in women is hypertrichosis. Five female patients with this complication had successful removal of the excessive hair with a calcium thioglycolate depilatory agent.