PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

J Jordan

Publications and source records attributed to J Jordan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Clinical presentation as a guide to early prognosis in vertebrobasilar stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study attempts to assess the feasibility and heuristic value of a classification scheme for vertebrobasilar stroke. METHOD: Fifty-seven consecutive patients with vertebrobasilar stroke were classified on the basis of clinical features and computed tomographic abnormalities into single-sector (n = 19), multisector (n = 11), and top-of-the-basilar (n = 27) groups; a sector was defined as that portion of the brain stem supplied by a single penetrating (median) or branch (paramedian or lateral) artery. RESULTS: Thirty-day and 3-year survival rates were 100% and 71%, respectively, in the single-sector group, and 96% and 73%, respectively, in the top-of-the-basilar group. Thirty-day and 3-year stroke recurrence free survival rates were 89% and 76%, respectively, in the single-sector group, and 96% and 88%, respectively, in the top-of-the-basilar group. Seven of the 11 patients in the multisector group died within 2 months of ictus, three having experienced recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: These data, in part supported by prior studies, demonstrate the feasibility and heuristic value of the classification scheme and suggest that single-sector and top-of-the-basilar stroke patients have a relatively benign early prognosis and modest long-term stroke rates.

Actuarial Analysis

The utility of the Psychosomatic Symptom Checklist among hospitalized patients.

We examined the utility of the Psychosomatic Symptom Checklist in an inpatient medical setting with particular emphasis on the putative ability of the PSC to discriminate psychosomatic from nonpsychosomatic patients. First, 80 hospitalized psychosomatic patients were compared to 80 hospitalized medical patients on the PSC. Second, a sample of 187 psychosomatic patients was studied to examine the relationship among psychosomatic distress, depression, and functional impairment. The results indicate that while psychosomatic patients scored significantly higher than comparable medical patients on the PSC, discriminant analyses indicate that the PSC is not able to identify psychosomatic patients in an inpatient medical setting. Factor analyses and correlations show that the PSC is positively related to increased depression and decreased functional status. Results are interpreted in light of current psychosomatic theory.

Depression

The toxicity, in vitro, of silicon carbide whiskers.

To mouse cells in culture, SiC whiskers (SiCW) and asbestos are similarly cytotoxic, disrupting cell membranes and killing cells. Both shorten cell generation time, increase the rate of DNA synthesis, increase total cell DNA content, and cause a loss in growth control often associated with malignant cellular transformation. Within the narrow size range of materials examined, the amount of damage appeared to be more a function of the number of whiskers present than of their size. Silicon carbide whiskers, if mishandled, may pose a serious health hazard to humans.

3T3 Cells

A randomized control trial of two cervical spatulas.

The sampling efficacy of the Ayre and Rocket cervical spatulas was compared in a randomized controlled trial involving 533 women who were attending a colposcopy clinic either for investigation of cytological abnormality or for review after treatment of CIN. Smears were compared with respect to the presence of cytological abnormality and two types of normal cervical epithelial cells (endocervical and immature metaplastic cells) which are considered indicators of adequate cytological sampling. Smears taken with the Rocket spatula were significantly less likely to contain immature metaplastic cells (95% CI on difference in proportion; 5-30%), but more likely to contain endocervical cells (95% CI 16-36%). No significant difference was found in the proportion of smears containing one or other type of indicator cell or in the yield of abnormal smears. It is concluded that the Rocket spatula offered no advantage when used in these circumstances. This study illustrates how spurious conclusions of sampling efficacy can be drawn if only one type of indicator cell is used as an endpoint.

Adult

Effects of cefroxadine on L-leucine absorption in rat jejunum.

The effect of cefroxadine, an aminocephalosporin (beta lactam antibiotic) on rat intestinal L-leucine transport has been studied. Cefroxadine inhibited the L-leucine uptake by the intestinal mucosa in a dose-dependent fashion. In vivo studies showed that cefroxadine reduced L-leucine absorption. This effect was irreversible. Only the active transport component of the absorption was inhibited. Oxygen consumption of the mucosa was reduced by cefroxadine which inhibited the activity of the basolateral (Na(+)-K+) ATPase also.

Animals

Rhabdomyoma of the tongue.

Rhabdomyomas, which are rare striated muscle neoplasms, may occur on oral or genital mucosal surfaces as well as on the skin. Little discussion of rhabdomyomas occurs in any dermatology or dermatopathology literature. We report an 84-year-old patient who had a rhabdomyoma of her lateral tongue and discuss the clinical and histologic characteristics of this unusual type of benign neoplasm.

Aged

The effect of afternoon body heating on body temperature and slow wave sleep.

Recent evidence suggests that body temperature at sleep onset affects the subsequent level of slow wave sleep. According to one hypothesis, the actual temperature is the critical factor determining the relationship. An alternative proposal is that it is the rate of fall of body temperature following sleep onset. These hypotheses were tested by measuring rectal temperature and sleep, following late afternoon passive heating in a warm bath and during a control condition. Passive heating increased rectal temperature, which then returned rapidly toward the control level. However, immediately before lights out rectal temperature was still higher in the passive heating condition, a difference that continued throughout the night. Following passive heating the amount of slow wave sleep was higher in the early part of the night. These results support the hypothesis that body temperature at sleep onset and the amount of slow wave sleep are positively related.

Adult

An evaluation of gentle teaching and visual screening in the reduction of stereotypy.

Gentle teaching and visual screening techniques have been used to control severe behavior problems in persons with mental retardation. An alternating treatments design was used to compare gentle teaching, visual screening, and a task-training condition in the reduction of the high-level stereotypy of 3 persons with mental retardation. Following a baseline phase, a task-training condition using standard behavioral techniques was implemented to establish the effects of training the subjects on the tasks. Results showed a modest decrease in stereotypy. This phase was followed by an alternating treatments phase in which visual screening, gentle teaching, and baseline conditions were compared. Both procedures were superior to the control condition in reducing stereotypic behavior, with visual screening being more effective than gentle teaching. When compared with data from the prior phase, gentle teaching was found to be more effective than task training for 2 subjects but less effective for the 3rd, whose stereotypy increased during gentle teaching. Two succeeding phases in which visual screening was implemented across two and then all three daily conditions reduced stereotypy further to near-zero levels. An additional phase with 1 subject demonstrated that the treatment effects of visual screening were easily replicated across therapists. Mixed and idiosyncratic changes in collateral behaviors occurred. For example, "bonding," the goal of gentle teaching, occurred at the same low levels under both treatments, contrary to the predictions of gentle teaching's proponents. The results indicate that gentle teaching may not be the universal treatment of choice for stereotypy its proponents suggest, and that it requires further empirical evaluation.

Adult

Failure of second-look laparotomy to influence survival in epithelial ovarian cancer.

The survival benefit of second-look laparotomy after completion of primary chemotherapy in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer has been assessed in a prospective randomised trial of 166 patients. Patients were randomised into three groups. All were initially treated with cisplatin (100 mg/m2 x 5) after primary laparotomy. Group A (n = 53) was scheduled to have a second-look laparotomy, followed by cyclical oral chlorambucil. Group B (n = 56) was scheduled to have a second-look laparotomy, followed by total abdominal and pelvic irradiation, and group C (n = 57) received oral chlorambucil as for group A but had no second-look operation. With a median follow up of 46 months (range 21-64), no differences in survival were noted between the three groups. The median survival for group A was 21 months (95% CI 11-31 months), for group B 15 months (11-19), and for group C 17 months (8-26). Thus second-look laparotomy after completion of first-line single-agent cisplatin chemotherapy did not confer any survival benefit on patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

Actuarial Analysis

Quality assurance: how it can help a poison information center.

Quality assurance (QA) has become a benchmark program for health care in the 1980's. We have developed and implemented an innovative poison information center (PIC) QA program which includes: a peer review system of the PIC's medical records; a detailed routing system of medical records that allows for immediate access to cases involving business and industry accounts, on-going research, hospitalization, etc; and a standardized list of abbreviations for documentation of PIC medical records. The program additionally provides secondary gains of improving internal communications between the PIC staff and provides an excellent source of professional continuing education relative to poison management. QA is an essential program for all PIC's.

Medical Records

Secretion of a growth inhibitory factor by ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells.

Cultures of the human mammary carcinoma line ZR-75-1 secrete a growth inhibitory factor (GIF) that, when diluted, slows the growth of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. Undiluted "conditioned" media prevents cell division from occurring in both human breast cancer lines. ZR-75-1 cells are unaffected by this factor. The amount of GIF in the culture media is related to the confluency of the ZR-75-1 cells. The activity of this GIF is not altered by DNAse or RNAse but is destroyed by heating or trypsin. Growth inhibition is 85-90% reversible if conditioned media is replaced with fresh media.

Breast Neoplasms

Effects of glutathione depletion on the cytotoxicity of agents toward a human colonic tumour cell line.

Levels of glutathione (GSH) in tumour tissue may be important in determining the clinical response to certain anticancer agents. Recent reports have suggested that D,L-buthionine-S,R-sulphoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of GSH synthesis, may be used to deplete tumour cell GSH and thus increase the therapeutic ratio of these agents. We have previously shown that 1-naphthol is a potential antitumour agent, and that its possible metabolite 1,4-naphthoquinone is thiol reactive and capable of redox cycling. It was therefore of interest to investigate the effect of pretreatment with BSO, on the toxicity of these agents, to tumour cells. For comparison we included three other cytotoxic agents, melphalan, helenalin and menadione, the toxicities of which are reported to be modulated by intracellular GSH. Depletion of GSH using BSO did not effect the toxicity of 1-naphthol, or 1,4-NQ but did produce slight potentiation of the cytotoxicities of menadione, helanalin and melphalan. The lack of effect of BSO on 1-naphthol and 1,4-NQ is not easily explained but if one also considers the modest potentiation of cytotoxicity+ achieved with the other agents studied, the potential use of BSO in combined chemotherapy is at best rather modest.

Antimetabolites

Effect of manganese on human placental spin-lattice (T1) and spin-spin (T2) relaxation times.

Human placentas were obtained immediately following delivery and incubated with manganese chloride (MnCl2) in concentrations ranging from 0.002 to 2.0 mM. Proton density, T1 and T2 were measured at times ranging from 5-200 minutes. There was rapid uptake of manganese by the placenta producing a dose-dependent decrease in placental T1 and T2. The major effect of manganese uptake was shortening of T1 suggesting that the contrast between placenta and myometrium will be enhanced predominantly for T1-dependent imaging pulse sequences.

Chlorides