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Biomedical subjects

M W Gordon

Publications and source records attributed to M W Gordon.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

An objective analysis of an accident flying squad.

An objective evaluation of an accident flying squad, in relation to trauma call-outs during a six month period, was performed using the Injury Severity Score and the recently described Revised TRISS methodology. We have demonstrated improvement in patient survival for those trauma cases treated at the scene. This has not been previously documented. Objective evaluation of these squads in relation to medical emergencies is even more difficult. The profile of these call-outs is described. (11.1%) of those treated at the scene for cardiac arrest survived to leave hospital. Ventricular fibrillation was the primary arrhythmia recorded in this group of survivors. This supports the vogue for extended ambulance personnel training.

Emergency Medical Services↗
PubMed1989

An audit of trauma deaths occurring in the accident and emergency department.

A retrospective study of all patients who died following trauma in the Accident and Emergency Department of the royal Infirmary of Edinburgh over a 4-year period revealed 50 patients (0.0002% of total attendances). Injury severity scores (ISS) and probabilities of survival (Ps) were calculated for all patients. Two-thirds had a Ps of zero while 7 (14%) had a Ps of 0.5 or more. From the information in the case records and at autopsy four deaths (8%) were considered to have been potentially avoidable on the basis of inadequate or inappropriate management. There were a further eight cases (16%) whose management appeared to have been unsatisfactory but who would have been expected to die even if given optimal treatment. These cases are discussed in detail. Difficulty in diagnosing thoracic injuries and delay in giving appropriate treatment were by far the commonest errors encountered. A protocol for the treatment of patients in cardiorespiratory arrest with thoracic injuries is presented. The importance of regular audit of trauma cases and deaths is emphasized.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1986

Electrical burns--incidence and prognosis in Western Scotland.

A 10-year review of all patients admitted to the West of Scotland Regional Burns Unit with serious electrical burns indicated an incidence of only 2.6 cases per million of the population served by the Unit per year. Injuries following electrocution or electric flash, but excluding injuries caused by grasping the hot heating element of an electric fire, were suffered by 70 patients, 52 of whom sustained electrocution which was not immediately fatal. Ninety-one per cent of the patients were male. The patients who died in hospital did so as a result of sepsis rather than as a direct result of the electrical injury. All those patients who had ECG changes on admission recovered completely. In view of the very deep injuries, the amputation rate was high with 12 out of 52 patients (23 per cent) with electrocution injury requiring one or more amputations. The events preceding the serious electrical injury in our patients suggest that, 57 per cent of all the injuries could have been prevented, and in patients under 20 years of age this percentage rose to 91.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

The phylogenetic distribution of tubulin:tyrosine ligase.

The post-translational addition of tyrosine to alpha-tubulin, catalyzed by tubulin:tyrosine ligase, has been previously reported in mammals and birds. The present study demonstrated that significant ligase activity was present in representative organisms from several other major vertebrate classes (chondrichthyes through reptiles) and that both substrate and enzyme from all vertebrates investigated were compatible with mammalian ligase and tubulin in the tyrosination reaction. None of the invertebrate tissues examined showed incorporation of tyrosine, phenylalanine or dihydroxyphenylalanine into alpha tubulin under conditions allowing significant incorporation of these compounds in vertebrate supernatant samples. The failure of invertebrate tubulin to incorporate tyrosine in vitro did not appear to be due to saturation of the carboxyl terminal position with tyrosine or the presence of a soluble inhibitor of ligase activity. Although tubulin amino acid composition has been highly conserved throughout evolution, a major evolutionary divergence is described based upon biochemical differences whereby invertebrate tubulin cannot be tyrosinated or post-translationally modified with phenylalanine or dihydroxyphenylalanine under conditions suitable for the incorporation of these compounds by vertebrate alpha tubulin.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Intact microtubules are required for rapid turnover of carboxyl-terminal tyrosine of alpha-tubulin in cell cultures.

In cultured muscle cells the carboxyl-terminal tyrosine of alpha-tubulin was shown to exchange rapidly with free tyrosine. The rapid turnover of this residue was dependent upon the presence of intact microtubules. Half-life determinations were made by two methods: (i) the cells were pulse-labeled in hypertonic medium, in which the major tyrosine incorporation was post-translational, and then chased with isotonic medium; and (ii) the cells were pulsed and chased in isotonic medium, and the post-translational component of the radioactivity of purified alpha-tubulin was calculated. Both methods yielded a half-life of 37 min or less for the terminal tyrosine residue, whereas the half-life of tubulin itself was shown to be greater than 48 hr.

Animals↗