PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

J C Wright

Publications and source records attributed to J C Wright.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Orbital neoplasms in cats: 21 cases (1974-1990).

Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common neoplasm found in a review of case records of 21 cats with histopathologically confirmed orbital neoplasms. Other neoplasms found were lymphosarcoma, undifferentiated carcinoma, malignant melanoma, adenocarcinoma, fibrosarcoma, chondroma, and hemangiosarcoma. Three (14%) neoplasms were primary, 15 (71%) were secondary, invading the orbit from adjacent tissues, and 3 (14%) were a manifestation of multicentric disease. The most common clinical sign was exophthalmia, followed by chronic epiphora, enophthalmia, and strabismus. Mean survival time after diagnosis was 1.9 months. Ten cats were euthanatized at the time of diagnosis because of extensive disease. Mean survival time of the other 11 cats was 4.3 months. Skull radiography was helpful in diagnosing orbital neoplasms in 8 of 11 cats that had invasion of the orbit by adjacent neoplasms.

Adenocarcinoma

Comparison of four erythrocyte fragility tests as indicators of vitamin E status in adult dogs.

Plasma alpha-tocopherol (alpha-T) concentrations, erythrocyte osmotic fragility and detergent sensitivity were measured at 8 week intervals in two 1-year-old male beagle dogs fed a vitamin E-deficient diet (< 0.08 mg per kg alpha-T) and in two control beagles fed the same diet supplemented with vitamin E (> 90 mg per kg alpha-T). Beginning at 24 weeks, dialuric acid haemolysis and spontaneous haemolysis were evaluated also. In the vitamin E-deficient dogs, plasma alpha-T concentrations declined progressively from baseline values of 20.5 and 31.3 micrograms per ml to 0.11 and 0.07 micrograms per ml, respectively, by 90 weeks. The supplemented dogs maintained alpha-T concentrations between 18.3 and 38.4 micrograms per ml. Both dialuric acid haemolysis (R = -0.89) and spontaneous haemolysis (R = -0.91) increased with declining plasma alpha-T concentration. In the dialuric acid haemolysis assay, 50 per cent haemolysis occurred when plasma alpha-T declined to 1.7 micrograms per ml, compared with spontaneous haemolysis in which 50 per cent haemolysis occurred when plasma alpha-T declined to 0.5 micrograms per ml. Osmotic fragility and detergent sensitivity remained unchanged in the vitamin E-deficient dogs throughout the study. Of the four tests, dialuric acid haemolysis was the most sensitive in-vitro assay for vitamin E deficiency in adult dogs.

Animals

Redistribution of air within the lungs may potentiate "fright" bradycardia in submerged crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus).

1. Voluntary undisturbed dives by Crocodylus porosus were short in duration (3.08 +/- 1.87 min, mean +/- SD) and accompanied by a small but significant bradycardia (14.3 +/- 5.9% drop). 2. When crocodiles were disturbed underwater there was a rapid onset of "fright" bradycardia, to 65 +/- 6.0% of surface heart rates and dive durations were prolonged to 19.6 +/- 1.8 min. 3. The development of "fright" bradycardia was not accompanied by any increase in intratracheal pressure or expulsion of lung gas. However, sustained contraction of the abdomen and expansion of the thorax revealed a redistribution of air anteriorly within the lungs. 4. We propose that the redistribution of air within the lungs may generate an afferent signal which potentiates the initiation of a severe, dive-prolonging bradycardia.

Afferent Pathways

Borrelia sp. in ticks recovered from white-tailed deer in Alabama.

Six hundred sixty-five hunter-killed white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from 18 counties in Alabama (USA) were examined for ticks. Most of the collections were made at state-operated wildlife management areas. Four species of ticks (n = 4,527) were recovered: the lone star tick Amblyomma americanum (n = 482); the Gulf Coast tick A. maculatum (n = 11); the winter tick Dermacentor albipictus (n = 1,242); and the black-legged tick Ixodes scapularis (n = 2,792). Fifty-six percent of the ticks (n = 2,555) were examined for Borrelia sp. spirochetes using an immunofluorescent, polyclonal antibody assay. Spirochetes were detected in I. scapularis (five females, seven males) from Barbour, Butler, Coosa, and Lee counties and A. americanum (four males, four nymphs) from Hale, Lee, and Wilcox counties. Area-specific prevalences in ticks were as high as 3.3% for I. scapularis and 3.8% for A. americanum.

Alabama

Evaluation of sodium carboxymethylcellulose for prevention of adhesions after uterine trauma in ewes.

Efficacy of a 1% solution of sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) infused into the peritoneal cavity of ewes was evaluated for prevention of intraperitoneal adhesions resulting from surgery of the reproductive tract. Six ewes were assigned to each of 4 groups. Group-1 ewes were controls that underwent ventral midline celiotomy and exploration of the abdominal viscera. Group-2 ewes were treated similarly to group-1 ewes, except that a 1% solution of CMC (14 ml/kg of body weight) was infused into the peritoneal cavity. This group was studied to determine whether CMC would cause changes in the peritoneal cavity. Group-3 comprised ewes representing a uterine trauma model. Ewes underwent abdominal exploration, but in addition had a standard embryo collection technique performed on 1 uterine horn and hysterotomy performed on the opposite uterine horn. Group-4 ewes were treated like group-3 ewes, except that, similar to treatment of group-2 ewes, CMC was infused into the peritoneal cavity. All ewes were euthanatized and necropsied 12 to 14 days after surgery. Abdominal adhesions were evaluated, and an adhesion severity score was assigned to each ewe on the basis of number and severity of the adhesions. Ewes of all groups had abdominal adhesions. Significantly (P less than 0.05) lower adhesion score was observed in ewes given CMC (groups 2 and 4) than in the adhesion model (group 3). Significant difference was not observed in adhesion score when groups 1, 2, or 4 were compared. Though not statistically significant, fewer adhesions were observed in ewes of groups 2 and 4 than in group-1 ewes.

Animals

Efficacy of milbemycin oxime against naturally acquired or experimentally induced Ancylostoma spp and Trichuris vulpis infections in dogs.

The efficacy of milbemycin oxime was evaluated at dosages of 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 mg/kg of body weight in dogs naturally infected with mature Ancylostoma spp, at a dosage of 0.50 mg/kg in dogs with experimentally induced immature and mature A caninum, and at dosages of 0.55 to 0.86 mg/kg in dogs naturally infected with mature Trichuris vulpis. Milbemycin oxime was 95 and 99% effective against mature Ancylostoma spp at dosages of 0.50 and 0.75 mg/kg, respectively, but only 49% effective at a dosage of 0.25 mg/kg. Efficacy was 49% against pulmonary L3-L4 stages of A caninum (36 hours after inoculation), greater than 80% against L4 (120 hours after inoculation) and early L5 stages (216 hours after inoculation), and greater than 90% against experimentally induced mature stages (360 hours after inoculation). Milbemycin oxime was also 97% effective in the removal of mature Tr vulpis from naturally infected dogs. Adverse reactions were not observed following treatment in any of the dogs.

Ancylostomiasis

Children's auditory and visual processing of narrated and nonnarrated television programming.

Two experiments with 5- and 7-year-old children tested the hypotheses that auditory attention is used to (a) monitor a TV program for important visual content, and (b) semantically process program information through language to enhance comprehension and visual attention. A direct measure of auditory attention was the latency of the child's restoration of gradually degraded sound quality. Restoration of auditory clarity did not vary as a function of looking. Restoration of visual clarity was faster when looking than when not looking. Restoration was faster for visual than auditory degrades, but audiovisual degrades were restored most rapidly of all, suggesting that dual modality presentation maximizes children's attention. Narration enhanced visual attention and comprehension including comprehension of visually presented material. Auditory comprehension did not depend on looking, suggesting that children can semantically process verbal content without looking at the TV. Auditory attention did not differ with the presence or absence of narration, but did predict auditory comprehension best while visual attention predicted visual comprehension best. In the absence of narration, auditory attention predicted visual comprehension, suggesting its monitoring function. Visual attention indexed overall interest and appeared to be most critical for comprehension in the absence of narration.

Attention

Canine aggression toward people. Bite scenarios and prevention.

This article reviews studies of different dog bites directed toward people. Typical bite events are summarized by describing the characteristics of the dog, victim, and wound; serious bites (severe and fatal bites) are described separately. Suggestions for the prevention of dog bites are presented.

Age Factors

Etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, detected in ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) collected at a focus in Alabama.

The study was conducted at sites of known transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi in east central Alabama. The objectives were to determine species of ticks present at these sites, their host associations, and species of ticks and small mammals naturally infected with B. burgdorferi. A total of 451 hosts were examined for ticks, including cotton mice, Peromyscus gossypinus (Le Conte); cotton rats, Sigmodon hispidus Say & Ord; southern short-tailed shrews, Blarina carolinensis (Bachman); house mice, Mus musculus L.; golden mice, Ochrotomys nuttalli (Harlan); and white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann). Ticks were examined for B. burgdorferi using indirect and direct fluorescent antibody assays. Ear biopsy samples from rodents were cultured in modified Kelly's medium in attempts to isolate B. burgdorferi. A total of 859 Amblyomma americanum L., Dermacentor albipictus (Packard), D. variabilis (Say), Ixodes scapularis Say, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille) were recovered from hosts and by dragging. A. americanum and I. scapularis accounted for 53.4% of all ticks collected. Nearly half of all ticks collected were examined for the agent. Spirochetes were detected in four nymphal and two adult A. americanum recovered from white-tailed deer and three larval I. scapularis recovered from cotton mice. No spirochetes were cultured from field-caught rodents.

Alabama

Television and families: what do young children watch with their parents?

A sample of 271 3- and 5-year-olds and their families participated in a 2-year longitudinal study of television viewing patterns. 5 1-week diaries for all family members were collected at 6-month intervals. Programs were categorized as: (1) child informative, (2) child entertainment, (3) news and informative, (4) sports, (5) comedy, (6) drama, (7) action-adventure, and (8) variety-game. The majority of child programs were viewed without parents, while the majority of adult programs were watched with parents. Coviewing patterns of adult programs were predicted from parents' individual viewing habits, but not from the child's. Coviewing declined with age. Parental encouragement and regulation of viewing were orthogonal. Children whose parents encouraged viewing watched more child informative programming; children of restrictive parents watched less entertainment programming. Encouraging parents coviewed more than nonencouraging parents. Results support the assertion that parental viewing preferences, habits, and orientations toward television influence children's viewing, both with and without parents.

Child, Preschool

Canine corneal thickness measured by ultrasonic pachymetry.

Ultrasonic pachymetry was used to measure central, superior peripheral, and temporal peripheral corneal thicknesses of 75 dogs (150 eyes) with normal corneas, anterior chambers, and intraocular pressure. Mean corneal thickness averaged over the 2 eyes, 3 locations, and 75 dogs was 562 +/- 6.2 microns. The peripheral cornea was thicker on average than the central cornea by 49.43 +/- 8.45 microns and this difference increased with age at 6.97 +/- 1.3 microns/month of age. Mean corneal thickness changed with age (14.23 +/- 2.26 microns/month), and weight (1.83 +/- 0.38 microns/kg). Females had significantly thinner corneas (22.43 +/- 11.03 microns than males) after adjusting for age and weight.

Age Factors

Immunologic parameters in early-stage HIV-seropositive subjects associated with vaccine responsiveness.

Twenty-one asymptomatic HIV-seropositive subjects and 20 HIV-seronegative controls were assessed for their serologic response to multiple live attenuated viral, protein (toxoid), and polysaccharide vaccine antigens. Extensive in vivo and in vitro immunologic evaluations were performed. Factors predictive of immunogen responsiveness by HIV-seropositive patients were found by correlating vaccine responses with results of T- and B-cell functional assays. Eleven HIV-seropositive patients (HIV nonresponsive-NR) responded to only one of three vaccines used for analysis (meningococcus, group C; adenovirus 4, 7; and diphtheria-tetanus) compared with the normals, of whom 100% responded to two or more of the same immunogens. Ten HIV-seropositive patients (HIV responsive-R) responded equivalently to normals. The HIV NR group had distinctive immunologic abnormalities predictive of their poor immunogen responsiveness. These included defects in the T-cell helper function despite normalization of T cell number and defective T-cell suppression of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in vitro (HIV NR, 30% suppression; HIV R, 73% suppression; and normals, 95% suppression of EBV-driven immunoglobulin production in vitro). The B cells of the HIV NR groups were also abnormal in vivo. The HIV NR patients' B cells were larger and had increased native response to B-cell growth factor evidenced by increased thymidine incorporation. (HIV-NR, 10,232 +/- 3,003 cpm; HIV R, 5,432 +/- 1,125; normal, 402 +/- 11. HIV NR/HIV R, p less than 0.05; HIV NR/N, p less than 0.001.)(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenoviruses, Human

Effects of amnion and live yeast cell derivative on second-intention healing in horses.

Equine amnion and live yeast cell derivative were evaluated as a biological dressing and as a topical wound medicament respectively, in the treatment of granulating wounds of the distal portion of the limbs of horses. Wounds measuring 2.5 x 2.5 cm were created on the dorsomedial aspect of the metacarpal and metatarsal region of all 4 limbs of 9 horses. Each wound was assigned randomly to 1 of 3 treatment groups: group C, treated with a nonadherent bandage as a control; group A, treated with amnion beneath a nonadherent bandage; and group L, treated with live yeast cell derivative beneath a nonadherent bandage. Rates of contraction and epithelialization were not significantly different among groups. Percentage of epithelialization for group A was significantly greater throughout the study than for the other groups. Number of days to complete healing was significantly less in group A and significantly greater in group L than in group C. Incidence and severity of exuberant granulation tissue were significantly less in group A than in the other 2 groups. Group L had more frequent and severe cases of exuberant granulation tissue than the other 2 groups.

Amnion

Evaluation of sodium carboxymethylcellulose for prevention of experimentally induced abdominal adhesions in ponies.

Twelve ponies were used to evaluate the reliability of an abdominal adhesion model and the efficacy of intraperitoneal infusion of sodium carboxymethylcellulose in preventing abdominal adhesions. A celiotomy was performed on each of the 12 ponies and the serosa of the distal portion of the jejunum was abraded with a dry gauze sponge at 5 locations. In addition to the serosal damage, a single 2-0 chromic gut suture was placed through the seromuscular layer of the jejunum in the center of the abraded area. After closure of the celiotomy, a 1% solution of sodium carboxymethylcellulose (7 ml/kg of body weight) was infused into the peritoneal cavity of 6 ponies. The other ponies served as untreated controls. All ponies were euthanatized 14 days after surgery. All ponies in the control group had abdominal adhesions at the time of necropsy. Four of the 6 ponies in the treatment group were free of adhesions. There was a significant (P less than 0.0001) difference in the total number of adhesions between the 2 groups.

Animals

Coverage of sixty core veterinary medical journals by ten indexing and abstracting tools.

Ten indexing and abstracting reference sources were examined for their coverage of 60 core veterinary medical journals. The costs of the indexes also were compared. Coverage of the 60 core veterinary journals ranged from 8 of 60 journals by Current Contents--Life Sciences to 57 of 60 by Index Veterinarius. Based on yearly costs, format, and coverage of the 60 core veterinary journals, Small Animal Practice and the 2 editions of Veterinary Reference Service were determined to be the most useful for private practitioners. The Index Veterinarius gives the most complete coverage of the core veterinary journals for veterinary research workers who have access to a library.

Abstracting and Indexing