Changes in serum trace element levels following local irradiation of a solid tumor.
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Animals↗
Biomedical subjects
M D Baker
Publications and source records attributed to M D Baker.
Sick leave--honour or expediency?
Experience has shown that doctors tend to be overgenerous when awarding sick leave. Quite rightly their first consideration is their patient, but frequently too little thought is given to the overall effect that excessive absence because of illness may have have on the patient, on the company in which he works, and on the country as a whole. Economically, these effects may be profound. A tempered industrial viewpoint is put forward and South African law regarding sick leave is outlined. A plea is made to doctors to safeguard their sick leave notes, prescription pads or letterhead paper, to award sick leave on merit, giving legible sick leave notes containing the necessary information, and to the profession not to overlook the wider aspects of the matter.
Absenteeism↗
Enzyme systems of sarcoma and of muscle dealing with hexosephosphates.
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Journal Article↗
Teaching technical skills in pediatrics.
Technical skills are an important and difficult part of managing a very sick or injured child. However, technical procedures are more often learned from experience than practice. This article reviews a variety of technical skills and procedures commonly performed in a pediatric emergency department. Each technical procedure can be practiced using live or artificial model for simulation.
Clinical Competence↗
Reporting of child abuse by prehospital personnel.
INTRODUCTION: Prehospital (EMS) personnel routinely enter patient's homes and often are the first trained persons to evaluate an ill or injured child. Therefore, it is vital for these individuals to recognize child abuse (CA), and to understand the proper procedures for reporting suspected cases. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to prehospital care-givers participating in a seminar on pediatric emergencies. Questions were designed to test factual knowledge of CA and the correct reporting procedures, as well as to evaluate attitudes toward CA. RESULTS: There were 48 responses to the questionnaire; 34 (71%) were paramedics, the remainder were emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and/or registered nurses (RNs). Thirty-three (69%) practiced either in a rural or suburban setting. Subjects had an average of 10.8 years of prehospital emergency-care experience. Twenty-eight (58%) reported no previous training in CA. All participants understood the nature of CA, were able to identify the various forms of CA, and believed CA to be a significant problem. However, 33 (69%) did not understand the legislation that mandates reporter status, and while 27 (56%) claimed to have reported CA, only 16 (33%) had made a report either to police or to children's services workers. Of the 21 who never had reported a case of CA, 14 (67%) believed that they never had encountered an abused child. The remainder were not certain, and therefore, did not report, or thought that the hospital staff would report. CONCLUSIONS: While this subject deserves further study, it seems that many EMTs and paramedics lack a complete understanding of their role in the identification and reporting of CA. This information should be emphasized further in EMT and paramedic education, and should be reinforced through continuing education.
Allied Health Personnel↗
Sequence alignment of 18S ribosomal RNA and the basal relationships of Adephagan beetles: evidence for monophyly of aquatic families and the placement of Trachypachidae.
Current hypotheses regarding family relationships in the suborder Adephaga (Coleoptera) are conflicting. Here we report full-length 18S ribosomal RNA sequences of 39 adephagans and 13 outgroup taxa. Data analysis focused on the impact of sequence alignment on tree topology, using two principally different approaches. Tree alignments, which seek to minimize indels and substitutions on the tree in a single step, as implemented in an approximate procedure by the computer program POY, were contrasted with a more traditional procedure based on alignments followed by phylogenetic inference based on parsimony, likelihood, and distance analyses. Despite substantial differences between the procedures, phylogenetic conclusions regarding basal relationships within Adephaga and relationships between the four suborders of Coleoptera were broadly similar. The analysis weakly supports monophyly of Adephaga, with Polyphaga usually as its sister, and the two small suborders Myxophaga and Archostemata basal to them. In some analyses, however, Polyphaga was reconstructed as having arisen from within Hydradephaga. Adephaga generally split into two monophyletic groups, corresponding to the terrestrial Geadephaga and the aquatic Hydradephaga, as initially proposed by Crowson in 1955, consistent with a single colonization of the aquatic environment by adephagan ancestors and contradicting the recent proposition of three independent invasions. A monophyletic Hydradephaga is consistently, though not strongly, supported under most analyses, and a parametric bootstrapping test significantly rejects an hypothesis of nonmonophyly. The enigmatic Trachypachidae, which exhibit many similarities to aquatic forms but whose species are entirely terrestrial, were usually recovered as a basal lineage within Geadephaga. Strong evidence opposes the view that terrestrial trachypachids are related to the dytiscoid water beetles.
Animals↗
Ribosomal DNA sequences of Encephalitozoon hellem and Encephalitozoon cuniculi: species identification and phylogenetic construction.
A segment of ribosomal DNA, about 1,350 base pairs long, was amplified from the microsporidian species Encephalitozoon hellem, isolated from AIDS patients, and Encephalitozoon cuniculi. The amplified DNA segment extends from position 530 in the small ribosomal RNA subunit to position 580 in the large ribosomal RNA subunit. A comparison of sequence data from this region for Encephalitozoon hellem and Encephalitozoon cuniculi shows relatively high sequence similarity, supporting the placement of these two organisms in the same genus. At the same time, sequence differences between the two organisms confirm that they are not the same species. Three separate isolates of E. hellem were sequenced in the highly variable intervening spacer region. The sequence was identical for all three isolates. Within the amplified DNA segment, regions were sequenced which yield highly variable, moderately variable and highly conserved sequence information, appropriate for comparison with other species in the phylum Microspora at all taxonomic levels. We suggest that sequence data from these regions be included in future species descriptions for the purposes of species identification and phylogenetic analysis. Restriction digests of the amplified region are presented and give a rapid method for distinguishing between the two Encephalitozoon species.
Animals↗
Small subunit ribosomal DNA phylogeny of various microsporidia with emphasis on AIDS related forms.
Phylogenetic analysis of the small subunit ribosomal DNA of a broad range of representative microsporidia including five species from humans (Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Nosema corneum, Septata intestinalis, Encephalitozoon hellem and Encephalitozoon cuniculi), reveals that human microsporidia are polyphyletic in origin. Septata intestinalis and E. hellem are very similar to the mammalian parasite E. cuniculi. Based on the results of our phylogenetic analysis, we suggest that S. intestinalis be designated Encephalitozoon intestinalis. Furthermore, analysis of our data indicates that N. corneum is much more closely related to the insect parasite Endoreticulatus schubergi than it is to other Nosema species. This finding is supported by recent studies which have shown a similarity between E. schubergi and N. corneum based on the origin and development of the parasitophorous vacuole. Thus these opportunistic microsporidian parasites can originate from hosts closely or distantly related to humans. Finally, the phylogeny based on small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences is highly inconsistent with traditional classifications based on morphological characters. Many of the important morphological characters (diplokaryon, sporophorous vesicle, and meiosis) appear to have multiple-origins.
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
Characterization of Encephalitozoon (Septata) intestinalis isolates cultured from nasal mucosa and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of two AIDS patients.
Microsporidia are obligate intracellular protozoan parasites that can cause opportunistic infections in AIDS patients. Species from five genera of microsporidia are presently known to infect man. One species, Septata intestinalis originally was detected in stool specimens of individuals with chronic diarrhea and subsequently was found to disseminate to the kidneys, lungs, and nasal sinuses. This organism has since been reclassified as Encephalitozoon and in this study, we report the culture of Encephalitozoon intestinalis from a bronchoalveolar lavage specimen and a nasal mucus aspirate of two AIDS patients living in the USA. The bronchoalveolar and nasal microsporidian isolates grew in several continuous cell lines including RK-13, MDCK, HT-29, Caco-2, Vero, and I047. Transmission electron microscopy of the clinical and cell culture specimens revealed that the new isolates appeared to be E. intestinalis based on morphology and growth of organisms in septated membrane-bound parasitophorous vacuoles. The new E. intestinalis isolates were characterized and compared with the first isolated E. intestinalis that was cultured from stool to confirm their identity and to determine if there existed any minor differences, as seen in the closely related Encephalitozoon cuniculi strains. By the methods of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis staining for proteins and carbohydrates, Western blot immunodetection, and polymerase chain reaction-based methods with restriction endonuclease digestion, double-stranded DNA heteroduplex mobility shift analysis, and DNA sequencing of the ribosomal DNA intergenic spacer region, the new isolates were identical to each other and to the reference isolate of E. intestinalis. In addition, with any of these methods, the E. intestinalis organisms could be distinguished from the three E. cuniculi strains, Encephalitozoon hellem, and Vittaforma corneae, which is important for diagnostics, therapeutic strategies, and epidemiology.
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
Comparative rDNA analysis of Microsporidia including AIDS related species.
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AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
Phylogenetic position of Amblyospora Hazard & Oldacre (Microspora:Amblyosporidae) based on small subunit rRNA data and its implication for the evolution of the microsporidia.
Sequences of the small subunit rRNA genes of Amblvospora california and an Amblyospora sp. from Culex salinarius were determined. These sequences were compared phylogenetically with 16 other microsporidia. The results suggest Amblyospora forms a sister taxon to the rest of the microsporidia examined. The basal position of Amblyospora is discussed with respect to the evolution of microsporidian life cycles. These sequences represent the longest microsporidian small subunit rRNA genes sequenced to date, 1,359 and 1,358 bp. respectively. Structural features and GC content (49% for both) are comparable to those of other microsporidia which have been sequenced.
Animals↗
A comparison of the pupillary and cardiovascular effects of various mydriatic agents in preterm infants.
We conducted a randomized, masked study of pupillary dilating capabilities and associated cardiovascular effects of three solutions. Thirty-four babies less than 1500 grams at birth were studied at six to eight weeks. Group A (n = 10) received phenylephrine (PE) 2.5% and tropicamide 1.0%; Group B (n = 10) PE 2.5%, tropicamide 0.5%, and cyclopentolate 0.5%, Group C (n = 10) PE 1.0% and tropicamide 1.0%; Group D (n = 4) saline 0.9%. One drop was placed in each eye and repeated five minutes later. Pupillary dilation was measured with a metric ruler by direct observation at one hour. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored, using an oscillometer, immediately prior to the instillation of the drops and at five-minute intervals, for 60 minutes. BP and HR increased transiently in all groups receiving mydriatics but returned to baseline values in 25 minutes. This increase was significant in Groups A and B (2.5% PE: p less than 0.02). Group D (saline) showed no change in BP or HR. Postdrop pupillary size was largest in Group A but the differences were not significant. On exposure to bright light, the pupillary size in Group C was significantly smaller than Groups A or B (7.35 +/- 0.59 mm, 7.23 +/- 0.38 mm and 6.75 +/- 0.57 mm in Groups A, B and C, p less than .01). Nevertheless, dilation was sufficient to allow appropriate examination in all infants (pupillary diameter greater than 6.0 mm). Solutions containing 2.5% PE are most effective for use in LBW infants, but produce cardiovascular effects. Solutions containing 1% PE provide adequate dilation with minimum cardiovascular effects.
Cardiovascular System↗
Congenital absence of the internal carotid artery: case reports and review of the collateral circulation.
Absence of the internal carotid artery (ICA) is a rare congenital anomaly. The embryology of the ICA and the common collateral pathways associated with its congenital absence are reviewed, with four new cases provided for illustration. While collateral blood flow may allow these patients to remain asymptomatic, two of our patients presented with transient ischemic attacks. Recognition of this anomaly has important implications during planned carotid or transsphenoidal surgery, in thromboembolic disease, and in the surveillance and detection of associated cerebral aneurysms.
Adult↗