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Biomedical subjects

R C Borer

Publications and source records attributed to R C Borer.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Diving medicine: contemporary topics and their controversies.

SCUBA diving is a popular recreational sport. Although serious injuries occur infrequently, when they do knowledge of diving medicine and/or where to obtain appropriate consultation is essential. The emergency physician is likely to be the first physician contact the injured diver has. We discuss 8 subjects in diving medicine which are contemporary, yet may have controversies associated with them. From this information the physician dealing primarily with the injured diver will have a basis for understanding and managing, as well as where to find additional help, for his/her patients' diving injuries.

Athletic Injuries↗
PubMed1999

Effect of increased atmospheric pressure on radial keratotomy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of increased atmospheric pressure on visual acuity in patients who have had radial keratotomy (RK). SETTING: Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Long Beach, California, USA. METHODS: This controlled clinical study comprised 4 eyes that had RK and 4 control eyes that were age and sex matched. All patients had prehyperbaric chamber examinations consisting of manifest and cycloplegic refractions, intraocular pressure (IOP), keratometry, and corneal pachymetry. They were then placed into the hyperbaric chamber for 1 hour. Immediately after the patients were removed from the chamber, the examinations were performed again. RESULTS: No statistically significant changes in visual acuity, refractive error, IOP, keratometry, or pachymetry occurred in the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that, unlike at high altitudes, RK is stable at increased atmospheric pressure. This suggests that RK patients can engage in recreational scuba diving without encountering deleterious visual changes.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Choline incorporation into lecithin in response to insulin or dexamethasone in homogeneous cell cultures of rat lung epithelial cells and fibroblasts.

Labeled choline incorporation into adult rat lung alveolar epithelial cells and adult rat lung fibroblasts in monolayer culture was determined after incubation with insulin (Ins) 10 micrograms/ml, Dexamethasone (Dex) 10(-6)M, or no drug (ND). Incubation periods were 1, 3, 4, and 5 hours. The lecithin (phosphatidyl choline - PC) recovered was separated inot disaturated phosphatidyl choline (DSPC) and unsaturated phosphatidyl choline (USPC). Results expressed as specific activity per hour (see Table) indicate that the incorporation of choline into PC and USPC was greater in fibroblasts (F) than in epithelial cells (E) whether ND, Dex or Ins was present. For incorporation into DSPC, there was no difference between E and F whether ND, Dex or Ins was present. There was significant increase in choline incorporation into PC or USPC for both cell types when Ins was present, whereas there was no difference for either cell type when Dex was present. Insulin significantly increased choline incorporation into DSPC in E cells only. Dex was no different from ND in DSPC incorporation in either cell type. We attribute the greater lecithin synthesis of the F cells to a more rapid increase in cellular structural lipids in the fibroblast cell. Dex had no effect on either cell type possibly from the short-term exposure or possibly because the effect of dexamethasone on alveolar epithelial cells is mediated by product(s) from other lung cells, and thus requires a mixed cell culture to have its effect. We suggest that further study of isolated homogeneous cell lines will not be fruitful in the evaluation of mechanisms of acceleration of lung maturation.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Impact of an education program on perinatal care practices.

Education of health professionals has an important role in improving health care. A media-based, self-instructional, perinatal education program was developed and field tested in rural and urban regions of Michigan. Cognitive tests, chart audits, and consultation/referral times were used to measure the impact on education and patient care. The program effectively increased knowledge and improved patient care practices by physicians and nurses. This study presents evidence that a targeted educational program in a media-based format can significantly improve perinatal care.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1979

Physiological and behavioral responses to starvation in the golden hamster.

Physiological and behavioral responses of adult hamsters to starvation were studied by measuring food intake, weight recovery, serum concentrations of glucose, insulin, free fatty acids and beta-hydroxybutyrate, and ketonuria in animals subjected to different weight losses, diets, and durations of fast. Hamsters were debilitated by fasts longer than 12 h or leading to greater than 20% weight loss. Hamsters' feeding patterns were unmodified by fasts ranging between 5 and 12 h and showed no circadian periodicity. Hamsters predominantly recovered from weight losses without increasing their food consumption (unless they were offered a diet of pellets and seeds) and without changing their meal patterns, at a rate of weight gain proportional to the magnitude of preceding weight loss if provided with uninterrupted access to food. By 8 h of fast, blood metabolites were indicative of mobilization of body fat. Hamsters are thus behaviorally unresponsive to duration of fast, but compensate physiologically for weight losses with proportional increases in the rate of weight gain.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Biochemical characterization of clonally isolated and continuously cultured type II cells from adult rat lung.

Clonally isolated and continuously cultured type II alveolar epithelial cells from adult rat lung (L-2) were compared to clonally cultured rat lung fibroblasts with respect to composition and biochemical function. There was no difference in phospholipid composition betweem those 2 cell types. After incubation with tritiated choline, the specific activity (cpm/nmol of lipid phosphorus) of disaturated phosphatidylcholine (PC) was lower than that of total PC in both cell types. Our findings suggest that, in our cell cultures, disaturated PC is not synthesized as a specific component of pulmonary surfactant, but more likely as a component of cell membranes. The increased DNA content of the L-2 cells indicates transformation and may be associated with the inability to synthesize surfactant. Under the described conditions, we are hesitant to use the clonally derived L-2 cell line as a model system for the study of pulmonary surfactant synthesis and secretion.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Failure of serial chest radiographs to predict recovery from respiratory distress syndrome.

Chest radiographs of 29 patients with the clinical and radiographic diagnosis of RDS during the 5 days of the illness were graded according to a modification of the classification of Bomsel. There was no significant difference between the radiographs of surviving neonates and those who died of RDS. Mean L/S ratios were also collected from 26 of the 29 patients. Those who survived had significantly more mean L/S ratios greater than 2.5 than did the nonsurvivors (p less than 0.01). This difference did not correlate with the staging of the chest radiographs. The mean L/S ratio is a better predictor of survival than chest radiographs during the first 5 days of RDS.

Humans↗
PubMed1976

Tracheal aspirate lecithin/sphingomyelin ratios as predictors of recovery from respiratory distress syndrome.

In thirty infants with severe respiratory distress syndrome who required endotracheal intubation, serial tracheal aspirate lecithin/sphingomyelin ratios were determined. There was 19 survivors and 11 nonsurvivors. The L/S ratios were plotted as a function of postnatal age; the ratios of the survivors demonstrated a significant increase between 24 and 96 hours. Nonsurvivors did not show this change. There was a significant difference on Days 3, 4, and 5 between survivors and nonsurvivors in the percentage of L/S ratios greater than 2.5. Daily mean L/S ratios correctly identified the outcome of 23 of 24 infants alive on Days 4 and/or 5 and were a more accurate prediction of survival than a single L/S ratio. The changes in the L/S ratios of the tracheal aspirates were not related to gestational age.

Female↗