PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M N Islam

Publications and source records attributed to M N Islam.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

[Deaths due to heat waves during the summer of 1994 in Osaka Prefecture, Japan].

The summer of 1994 was unusually hot and dry in Japan, setting a record for high temperature and low rainfall in many areas. The daily record of temperature of July and August which were announced by Osaka District Meteorological Observatory exceeded the past ones. The daily recorded temperature of 75 consecutive days in Osaka city was above 30 degrees C with the maximum 39.1 degrees C on 18 August 1994 and 38 degrees C on 16 July 1994. The number of unusual deaths (except traffic accidents) in Osaka Prefecture was 655 and 733 in the month of July and August respectively which exceeded the number of death for the corresponding period of the last 5 consecutive years by 1.5 folds, which was directly proportionate to the change of temperatures. This was due to the illness of the people concerned. We investigated the age, sex and rectal temperature during the inquest and compared them with those of the same period of 1992, which we kept as control. On comparing age and sex of the dead bodies, the cases of 1994 were older than those of 1992, which was due to increased number of death of female aged 70 or more. On comparing the rectal temperatures of those who were found indoors within 8 hours after death, the average temperature of 1994 was also higher than that of 1992. Between the age groups of 75 or more and 74 or younger, the rectal temperature of the former is significantly higher than those of later age group. While regarding the room temperature of the high rectal temperature (39 degrees C < or =) group, no significant difference was observed between the age groups of 75 or more and 74 or younger. In general, the number of unusual deaths in the summer of 1994 in Osaka was more compared to those of previous years. The analysis of the recorded rectal temperatures demonstrated that, 75 or older age group has a tendency to hyperthermia. Since the aging society of Japan is gradually increasing, preventive measures will be necessary when forecasting heat wave to reduce the morbidity and mortality of the aged people.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1995

Development and evaluation of co-agglutination test to detect rotavirus antigens in stools of patients with diarrhoea.

Rotavirus is the most common cause of acute diarrhoea in infants and children in both the developed and developing countries including Bangladesh. Information about rotavirus diarrhoea in Bangladesh is insufficient primarily due to the lack of diagnostic facilities due to the high cost of reagents and equipment and lack of skilled personnel. A simple, suitable and less costly technique of co-agglutination test using protein-A secreting staphylococci was developed and evaluated against a commercially available ELISA kit to detect rotavirus antigen in stools of patients with diarrhoea. Staphylococcus cowan strain 1 was grown and coated with rabbit antisera raised against RV5 and SA11 rotavirus strains. The antibody-coated staphylococci were agglutinated specifically by rotavirus present in faecal samples within one or two minutes. A total of 1332 stool specimens were tested by co-agglutination and ELISA, of which 210 (15.77%) were positive by ELISA and 276 (20.72%) by co-agglutination test. Compared to ELISA, sensitivity of co-agglutination test was 76.19%, specificity 89.66% and predictive values of a positive and a negative test were 57.97% and 95.26% respectively. The results indicate that the co-agglutination test is a simple and suitable technique for rapid screening of rotavirus infection which could be adopted in clinical practice.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1995

An open trial of valproate in borderline personality disorder.

BACKGROUND: Target symptoms in pharmacotherapy of borderline personality disorder include mood instability, anxiety, and impulsivity. Valproate appears useful for the treatment of these target symptoms in several disorders, and carbamazepine has been found effective for such symptoms in borderline personality disorder. We therefore conducted a preliminary open-label trial of valproate in borderline personality disorder. METHOD: Eleven patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for borderline personality disorder were entered into an 8-week study of valproate. Exclusion criteria included current major depression or major medical disorder. All patients were in psychotherapy at least once a week for a minimum of 8 weeks prior to starting medication. Valproate was increased as tolerated to reach blood levels of 50 to 100 micrograms/mL. Clinician- and self-rated scales were completed each week. RESULTS: Three patients did not complete the study. Of completers, 4 of 8 patients were responders ("much less" or "less") on clinician-rated change scores for overall pathology and for mood. Three of 8 patients were responders on change scores for anxiety, anger, impulsivity, and rejection sensitivity. There was a significant (p = .03) decrease in total Symptom Checklist-90 scores between the start and end of the trial. On the Overt Aggression Scale (Modified), total other-directed assault did not significantly decrease, but there was a significant (p = .02) decrease in global subjective irritability. CONCLUSION: Valproate led to overall improvement in 50% of a small sample of borderline personality disorder patients who completed an 8-week open trial. The medication was modestly helpful for mood and irritability as well as for anxiety, anger, rejection sensitivity, and impulsivity, but specific therapeutic effects varied from patient to patient. More extensive controlled trials of anticonvulsants for impulsive personality disorders are warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Detection of D1S80 (pMCT118) locus polymorphism using semi-nested polymerase chain reaction in skeletal remains.

We evaluated the usefulness of a semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for detecting D1S80 (pMCT118) locus polymorphisms of DNA extracted from old skeletal remains. The semi-nested PCR has been applied to the amplification of D1S80 nucleic acid sequences. For amplification of the locus D1S80, a pair of oligonucleotide primers have been used widely as described by Kasai et al. We have designed another set of primers for semi-nested PCR. This method resulted in D1S80-VNTR detection from low-titered DNA isolated from old skeletal remains. The first and second step PCR achieved amplification from as little as 10 ng and 10 pg of template DNA, respectively. Specificity and sensitivity of the amplification products was markedly improved by semi-nested PCR. In DNA extracted from biological samples, this method took about 5 hours to amplify the target DNA and 3 hours for electrophoretic separation. We demonstrated that this semi-nested PCR method was superior in sensitivity to conventional 1-step standard amplification for VNTR typing of the D1S80 locus.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1994

A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the response of the retinal ganglion cell soma after stretch injury to the adult guinea-pig optic nerve.

The development of a model for focal axonal injury in the optic nerve of the adult guinea-pig has allowed a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the response of the retinal ganglion cell soma to this type of injury. Large and medium sized retinal ganglion cells show classic 'central chromatolysis' in about 30% of ganglion cells between three and seven days after injury, a high proportion of which undergo degeneration between seven and 14 days. Small ganglion cells and small neurons do not demonstrate any morphological response to stretch injury of the optic nerve. However, a small number of larger ganglion cells demonstrate enlargement of the cell soma and nucleolus together with reconstitution of the rough endoplasmic reticulum between seven and 14 days after stretch injury. We suggest that these cells are either recovering from or regenerating after a non-disruptive lesion to their axons. We suggest that some of these morphological changes parallel documented regenerative responses in peripheral/extrinsic neurons after injury to their axons. We conclude that the time course of the 'axon reaction' after stretch injury to axons is longer than that obtained after crush or transection. We provide good morphological evidence that the level of injury after application of non-disruptive mechanical strain to axons is less severe than in the former two models of axonal injury and that a proportion of damaged neurons do not die but rather demonstrate either/or recovery or a regenerative response.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Neurological soft signs in female trichotillomania patients, obsessive-compulsive disorder patients, and healthy control subjects.

Female trichotillomania patients, obsessive-compulsive disorder patients, and normal control subjects did not differ in total scores on a neurological soft signs battery. Further studies should determine whether the increased neurological soft signs present in obsessive-compulsive disorder and perhaps in obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders are associated with male gender only.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Clinical and angiographic profile of Takayasu's arteritis in Bangladesh.

Nineteen patients (11 female and 8 male) with a mean age of 22.7 years (range 10 to 35 yrs) with Takayasu's arteritis were studied between July 1985 to June 1993. These patients had both non vascular symptoms (myalgia/arthralgia in 47% and weight loss in 31%) and symptoms of vascular insufficiency such as arm claudication or numbness (37%) and hypertension due to renal artery involvement (73%). Vascular bruits were found in 73% and diminished or absent pulses was detected in 52% of patients. All patients had arterial involvement at multiple sites documented by aortography with various combinations of stenosis, irregularity of arterial lumen and aneurysm formation. Angiographic type II was most frequent (47%) form found in our series. Five patients (26%) had pulmonary artery involvement. We conclude that hypertension is one of the most common manifestation of Takayasu's arteritis in these patients and renal artery stenosis is the most common cause of hypertension.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Biosynthesis of car1ssol and carissic Acid.

Carissa carandas belongs to family apocynaceae which consists of 300 genera and 1000 species. It is a large shrub with simple thorn and commonly cultivated throughout Pakistan for hedges and is called "Kakronda". The different parts of this plant have been used for various systems of medicine (Kirtikar et al., 1993). Cardiotonic activity was found in root of this plant (Rastogi et al., 1966; Rastogi et al., 1967; Vohra et al., 1963). This plant has been mentioned in the old chemical literature as purgative, stomachic, antihelmintics and antidote for snake-bite (Kirtikar., 1933). The physical characteristics of oil from the fruits of Carissa carandas were determined by using standard methods. In addition to this a study of sugars and amino acids from the fruits of this plant was also undertaken by the present authors (Naim et al., 1986). Our studies in the chemical investigation on this plant had led to the isolation of two new triterpene carissol Ia (Naim et al., 1985) and carissic acid lb (Naim et al., 1988).

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Primary pulmonary hypertension: clinical, echocardiographic and haemodynamic features in 14 patients.

Clinical, echocardiographic and haemodynamic features in 14 patients (8 male and 6 females) with primary pulmonary hypertension, diagnosed by strict clinical and haemodynamic criteria are described. Age of the patients at diagnosis ranged from 11 years to 40 years with a mean of 23 years. The mean interval from onset of symptoms to diagnosis was 2.6 years. Common symptoms included dyspnoea on exertion (86%), fatigue (78%) and palpitation (78%). Raynaud's phenomenon was not encountered but one patient had signs and symptoms of left recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy. Pulmonary function studies showed mild restrictive ventilatory impairment (mean forced vital capacity 80% of predicted) with hypoxaemia and hypocapnea. The M-mode tracing of the pulmonary valve showed flat or negative E-F slope, a small or absent 'a' wave, and midsystolic notching in all the patients. Two-dimensional echocardiographic images showed a thickened right ventricular wall in 12(86%) patients; a normal to small left ventricular end-diastolic internal dimension in all the patients and right ventricular and right atrial enlargement in 78% of patients. Significant tricuspid regurgitation and pulmonary regurgitation was documented by Doppler interogation in 87% and 62% of patients examined respectively. Haemodynamic findings consisted of a marked rise of pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance, low cardiac index and normal pulmonary artery wedge pressure. At cardiac catheterisation the mean right atrial pressure (mean +/- SD) was 9.8 +/- 4.8 mmHg; mean pulmonary artery pressure, 63.2 +/- 14.3 mmHg; cardiac index, 2.2 +/- 0.9 L/min. m2; and pulmonary vascular resistance index, 22.3 +/- 10.6 mmHg/L/min. m2; in these patients. No, death nor any sustained morbid events occurred during the diagnostic evaluation of the patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[Multi-layer musculo-aponeurotic repair in the treatment of patients with extensive median abdominal hernia].

A modified method for hernioplasty consisting in performance of multi-layer reconstruction of the abdominal wall with transfer and implantation of one of the cuspids of the hernial sac tissues beyond the contralateral musculus rectus abdominis has been suggested. Operated on were 20 patients with extensive, or giant abdominal hernia. Within 2 years after the operation, no hernia recurrence was noted.

Abdominal Muscles↗
PubMed1992

Effects of fenfluramine on plasma homovanillic acid in healthy subjects.

The specificity of fenfluramine as a pharmacological probe of the serotonin system has been questioned, since animal studies with high dose l-fenfluramine show increases in striatal levels of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid. To test the specificity of fenfluramine in humans with clinical doses, we compared plasma homovanillic acid (pHVA) concentration in healthy volunteers after administration of fenfluramine (60 mg) and placebo. There were no significant effects on pHVA, which supports previous findings that at doses used in pharmacological challenge paradigms, the effect of fenfluramine on the dopamine system is insufficient to alter measures of its change.

Dopamine↗
PubMed1992

Biflavone from mangifera indiga.

The phenolic extractive of the bark of Mangifera indica yielded a known biflavone which was characterized by spectral and chemical methods as amentoflavone. This is the first report for the isolation of biflavon from Mangifera indica.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Self-selection and intermunicipal migration in Canada.

"This paper investigates individual intermunicipal migration behaviour in Canada within the context of a human capital model that adjusts for the migrant's selectivity in computing expected income gains. In addition to the typical regional determinants of migration, housing and labour market characteristics are found to influence intermunicipal migration significantly, the effects differing with age. Structural coefficients remained more or less stable during the decade 1971-1981. It is shown that the failure to adjust income gains for selectivity bias results in an underestimation of the migration-impacts of income gains and municipal-specific factors."

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Property tax and inter-municipal migration in Canada: a multivariate test of the Tiebout hypothesis.

"This paper tests the causal ordering between property taxes and inter-municipal migration, using both bivariate and multivariate methods. Empirical results, based on annual data for post-war Canada (1940-84), support the Tiebout-Tullock hypothesis, which implies that differential local tax [systems] and public services induce intercommunity migration, inter alia. Local spending and taxation are not therefore fully capitalized in property values."

Americas↗