Biomedical subjects
R C Taylor
Publications and source records attributed to R C Taylor.
Studies in tooth crown temperature gradients with the use of infrared thermography.
With the use of an infrared thermographic camera; temperature patterns over the crowns of teeth were recorded. The temperature of upper incisor teeth decreased from gingival margin to incisal edge by approximately 2.5 degrees C. Vital and nonvital teeth were the same temperature at rest, but after cooling with cold air, nonvital teeth were slower to rewarm than vital teeth. The infrared thermographic camera could provide a method of testing tooth vitality based on blood supply rather than nerve supply.
Infrared thermography in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
A highly sensitive infrared thermographic camera was evaluated in a variety of physiologic and pathologic conditions associated with the head and neck. Although it may have clinical applications, particularly in the field of facial pain and the temporomandibular joint, such wide variations in normal values were noted that any standardization was extremely difficult.
Liquid crystal thermography as a diagnostic aid and objective monitor for TMJ dysfunction and myogenic facial pain.
Liquid crystal contact thermography was used to assess both normal control patients and patients with temporomandibular joint and myofascial pain. The technique appears capable of detecting temperature changes around the TMJ and muscles of mastication. Patients with painful internal derangements of the TMJ have warm areas over the joint, and those with myogenic facial pain symptoms have areas of variable temperature over the masseter muscle. After successful nonsurgical treatment of these conditions, the thermograms return to normal.
Emission imaging of patients with craniomandibular dysfunction.
Signs and symptoms of craniomandibular dysfunction in 37 patients were compared with the results of corrected cephalometric tomography and an emission imaging protocol consisting of both planar and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) (7500 ZLC Orbiter) images. The planar images and the single photon emission computed tomography projection views were processed with a bayesian deblurring algorithm to improve image quality. The correlation of emission imaging with craniomandibular dysfunction, as indicated by temporomandibular joint pain and joint noise, showed a high sensitivity (93%) and a high specificity (86%), whereas the correlation of corrected cephalometric tomography with temporomandibular joint pain and joint noise showed a relatively high sensitivity (89%) but a low specificity (27%). These results indicate that emission imaging is a sensitive and accurate indicator of craniomandibular dysfunction.
Organising preventive care for the elderly: six alternative strategies.
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The in-vitro and in-vivo efficacy of cisplatin and analogues in the treatment of herpes simplex virus-II infections.
The antitumour effect of cisplatin results from cross-linking and disruption of DNA when it binds to DNA bases, especially cytosine and guanine. Since herpes simplex virus (HSV) has a high cytosine and guanine content, cisplatin might be expected to have an antiviral effect against HSV. The 50% inhibitory concentration of cisplatin for HSV-II was 0.06 mg/l. Six of ten platinum analogues had 50% inhibition of plaques at less than or equal to 10 mg/l. We evaluated the in-vivo activity of cisplatin against the MS strain of HSV-II in the mouse genital HSV model. Mice were treated either intraperitoneally or intravaginally beginning at 3 or 51 h after inoculation. In the intraperitoneally treated groups infection rates were lower, but not significantly; 4 of 15 in the 3-h and 7 of 15-h group, compared to 9 of 15 in the untreated control group (P greater than 0.18, chi-square test). Intravaginal cisplatin demonstrated a significant reduction of the infection rate from 10 of 15 untreated controls, compared to 5 of 18 in the 3-h and 5 of 17 in the 51-h group (P less than 0.05, chi-square test). No toxic effects of intravaginal cisplatin were seen in uninfected mice. These studies suggest that platinum containing drugs warrant further evaluation as a new class of antiviral agents with activity against HSV.
Combined surface display and reformatting for the three-dimensional analysis of tomographic data.
Radiologic examinations increasingly are based on sequences of cross-sectional images. In current clinical applications, the three-dimensional (3D) relationships contained in these examinations must be inferred by the observer through analysis of multiple two-dimensional (2D) images. In this article, methods for the direct display of 3D gray-level data are investigated. In the chosen approach, the 3D presentation of bone and skin surface serves to orient the viewer, while planar reformation and/or transparent projections can be applied for the assessment of soft-tissue structures in regions of interest. The resulting images represent the original image data in a way that is more suitable for observation of 3D relationships than the conventional cross-sectional viewing mode. This may facilitate the diagnostic process and enhance the interpretability of the images. Routine clinical application of this technique requires special computer hardware. Research applications, however, can be performed within tolerable times (10-30 sec/view) with computers found in radiologic research environments.
Optimization of photodynamic therapy light dose distribution and treatment volume by multi-fiber insertions.
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Methodological problems in evaluating hyperbaric treatment of multiple sclerosis. A case study.
The paper describes a number of methodological problems experienced in a long-term evaluation of hyperbaric treatment for MS. Among the problems discussed are those relating to the locus and logistics of assessment, the reliability of 'subjective' assessments, the feasibility of 'objective' measurements, the identification of outcome categories and patient drop-out and selectivity.
Differential response to job loss.
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Oil wives and intermittent husbands.
An investigation was conducted in the Aberdeen area on wives of oil men working either off-shore or on-shore. No differences were found in measures of general health; but 'off-shore wives' were shown to experience mood and behavioural changes, linked to the pattern of swiftly recurring partings and reunions. While a majority of such wives appeared to tolerate or even thrive on their style of life, 10% had reactions sufficiently pronounced to deserve the label of Intermittent Husband Syndrome or 'caseness'. Many others would have benefited from more effective preventive and support services.
The elderly at risk: a critical examination of commonly identified risk groups.
This study assessed the nature and extent of the risk or disadvantage for 11 subcategories of the elderly population usually referred to as risk groups. Interviews with 619 over-60-year-olds living in Aberdeen were used to score the ;personal resources' for coping with difficulties-health, psychological, activity, confidence, support, material resources. Risk profiles have been drawn up and these show substantial variation in both the nature and extent of risk or disadvantage between the groups.Of the 11 groups, we concluded that the isolated, the childless and the never married are probably the least disadvantaged. The recently widowed, those living alone, the poor and those from social class V form an intermediate group with both strengths and weaknesses in terms of risk. The groups at greatest risk are the recently moved, recently discharged, divorced/separated and the very old, who all score worse than the whole sample in terms of health and psychological functioning.
The politics of prevention.
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Effects of platinum antitumor agents on in vitro assays of human antitumor immunity. II. Effects of cis-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2] on spontaneous cell-mediated cytotoxicity.
The effects of cis-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2] on the spontaneous cell-mediated cytotoxicity of human lymphoblast cell lines mediated by normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes was investigated. Direct addition of cis-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2], but not its tumor inactive trans isomer, to the in vitro spontaneous cytotoxicity assay resulted in a small but significant enhancement of target cell lysis. Pretreatment of target cell lines with 5 micro M cis-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2] also resulted in a similar increase in target cell susceptibility to lysis.
Effects of platinum antitumor agents on in vitro assays of human antitumor immunity. I. Effects of cis-[pt (NH3)2Cl2] on the mixed lymphocyte tumor assay.
Human lymphoblast cell lines (LCL) were treated with the antitumor complex Cis-[pt(NH3)2Cl2] (CPDC). Direct effects of CPDC treatment on LCL growth, as well as on LCL recognition by human lymphocytes in vitro are reported. Treatment of LCL with 10 micro m CPDC strongly inhibits DNA and protein synthesis, but has little effect on LCL viability. At this concentration, CPDC also inhibits the proliferation of human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) in response to mitogens or allogeneic cells. Therefore, studies of LCL recognition by human PBL were conducted using CPDC pretreated and extensively washed LCL. Recognition of CPDC pretreated LCL in the in vitro mixed lymphocyte tumor (MLT) cell assay for the activation phase of cellular immunity is reduced. The decrease in MLT response is not due to direct effects of the complex on the responding T lymphocytes, but may be due to lowered antigen expression of treated LCL or other mechanisms. If CPDC does enhance tumor rejection in vivo, it does not appear to be due to enhanced recognition by T cells.
Alternative services: the case of free clinics.
The viability of a political mobilization and reform strategy based on the provision of care of alternative social service agencies is examined in the context of the achievements of free medical clinics in the United States. The development of genuine alternatives to the contemporary American health care system is limited by the monopoly of organized medicine, the scarcity of funds for preventive care, a class-based health insurance system, and the inadvertent role of free clinics in legitimating existing structures. American medicine constrains and shapes clinic activities through its control of certification, its specialist divisions and priveleges, and its pervasive ideology. Free clinics' responses to these constraints can engender: (a) high worker turnover, low morale, legal jeopardy, and curtailment of self-help programs; (b) the reproduction of medical hierarchies; and (c) patient-imposed limitations to the acceptability of alternative therapies and therapists. Clinics often pay dearly for the meager funds available to them; strings attached to special grants can change the character of free clinics, their social composition, and the treatment they offer. The usefulness of the free clinic as a safety valve and training facility may actually legitimate the current organization of health care. Free clinics provide an alternative form of care, but in the long run they cannot be a base for radical social change.
Model reaction for biological reduction of nitrate involving Mo(III)/Mo(V).
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