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Biomedical subjects

S Neal

Publications and source records attributed to S Neal.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) to save water and improve Sauvignon Blanc quality?

With a fast change of land use in Marlborough from extensive pastoral farming to intensive irrigated viticulture, a need has risen to investigate the sustainable use of the available water. In 2001 a 5 ha irrigation research project was installed in a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc vineyard. Irrigation treatments installed were control (compensate 100% for crop evapotranspiration (ET(O)), 80%, 70% and 60% of ET(O). During the two years that the Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI) trial has run so far, very different climatic conditions created much greater differences in yield and vegetative growth, than up to 40% reduction in irrigation, none of which were significant. The use of sap flow in the vines has been fine-tuned and is now giving reliable results on which to base vine water need.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2004

Dietetic guidelines: diet in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (first update, June 2003).

AIM: To update dietetic guidelines summarizing the systematic review evidence on dietary advice to prevent further events in people with existing cardiovascular disease (CVD) (secondary prevention). METHODS: The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and EMBASE were comprehensively searched to November 2002 for systematic reviews on aspects of diet and heart health. Reviews were included if they searched systematically for randomised controlled trials relating to diet and secondary prevention of CVD. Two members of the UK Heart Health and Thoracic Dietitians Group critically appraised each review. The quality and results of each review were discussed and summarized in a meeting of the whole group. RESULTS: Providing evidence-based dietary information (including increasing omega-3 fat intake) to all people who have had a myocardial infarction will save more lives than concentrating dietary advice on just those in need of weight loss or lipid lowering. The practice of prioritizing dietetic time in secondary prevention to those with raised lipids is out of date since the advent of statin therapy. However, effective dietary advice for those with angina, stroke, peripheral vascular disease or heart failure is less clear. CONCLUSION: There is good systematic review evidence that dietary advice to those with coronary heart disease can reduce mortality and morbidity as well as modify some risk factors. Dietary advice that does this most effectively should be prioritized.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗
PubMed2004

Clinical risk management in obstetrics: eclampsia drills.

PROBLEM: Infrequent presentation of patients with eclampsia, leading to staff inexperienced in the condition and untested emergency systems. DESIGN: "Fire drill" programme using on-site simulation of patients with eclampsia. SETTING: Tertiary referral obstetric unit. KEY MEASURES FOR IMPROVEMENT: Successful implementation of measures to optimise management of eclampsia. STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE: Rapid activation of emergency team after one call, development and dissemination of evidence based protocol for eclampsia, strategically placed "eclampsia boxes," individual staff feedback and education. EFFECTS OF CHANGE: Efficient and appropriate management of subsequent simulated patients. LESSONS LEARNT: On-site simulation can identify and correct potential deficiencies in the care of patients with eclampsia.

Australia↗
PubMed2001

Decreased cortisol levels in adolescent girls with conduct disorder.

BACKGROUND: Female adolescent antisocial behavior is increasing, but little is known about the neuroendocrinologic aspects of this disorder. On the basis of reports of decreased cortisol levels in antisocial males, we investigated morning plasma cortisol levels in adolescent girls with conduct disorder (CD). METHODS: Three plasma samples for cortisol levels were taken every 20 minutes between 8 and 9 AM in 47 adolescent girls with CD (mean +/- SD age, 16.5 +/- 0.9 years) and 37 normal control girls (mean age, 16.0 +/- 0.8 years). All blood was drawn within 72 hours after the onset of menstrual flow. RESULTS: Girls with CD had significantly lower cortisol levels than girls in the normal control group at all 3 sampling times. This finding was not due to procedural factors, demographic characteristics, or the use of medications. The girls with CD who had no other psychiatric problems had lower cortisol levels than girls with other disorders or those in the normal control group. In the multiple regression analysis, having CD predicted 10% of the variance in cortisol levels. CONCLUSIONS: Morning plasma cortisol levels were significantly diminished in adolescent girls with CD. Decreased cortisol levels appear to be most strongly associated with antisocial girls who do not have other psychiatric disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Genotypic variation in the Bordetella pertussis virulence factors pertactin and pertussis toxin in historical and recent clinical isolates in the United Kingdom.

The reemergence of pertussis has been reported in several countries despite high vaccination coverage. Studies in The Netherlands and Finland have investigated polymorphism in the genes coding for two important virulence factors of Bordetella pertussis, pertactin and pertussis toxin, and identified the emergence and subsequent dominance in circulating strains of pertactin and toxin variants not found in the whole-cell vaccine (WCV). The study described here investigated whether such variation had occurred in the United Kingdom, which presently has low levels of pertussis. Sequence analysis of the genes for pertactin (prnA) and the pertussis toxin S1 subunit (ptxA) among isolates of B. pertussis from 285 United Kingdom patients, from 1920 to 1999, revealed three prnA variants, prnA(1), prnA(2), and prnA(3), and two ptxA variants, ptxA(1) and ptxA(2), showing differences in nucleic acid sequence. The proportion of pertactin gene types not included in the United Kingdom WCV, i.e., prnA(2) and prnA(3), has increased in recent years and was found in 21 of 86 (24%) strains from the 1980s and 56 of 105 (53%) strains from the 1990s. To date, the presence of these nonvaccine prnA types has not been associated with a resurgence of pertussis in the United Kingdom. The distribution of prnA and ptxA types in The Netherlands, Finland, and the United Kingdom in the 1990s is distinct. The most striking difference in the United Kingdom isolates is that all 105 of the most recent circulating strains (from 1998 to 1999) are of a pertussis toxin type found in the United Kingdom WCV, i.e., ptxA(1).

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

A role for the bacterial outer membrane in the pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Helicobacter pylori infection in humans is associated with diverse of clinical outcomes which are partly attributed to bacterial strain differences. Secreted bacterial products are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis caused by this non-invasive bacterium. Electron microscopy of gastric biopsies from infected individuals revealed blebbing of the H. pylori outer membrane, similar to the process of outer membrane vesicle shedding which occurs when the bacterium is grown in broth. Porins, a class of proinflammatory proteins, were observed in the outer membrane vesicles. The VacA cytotoxin, which is produced by 50-60% of H. pylori strains and associated with increased pathogenesis of infection, was also found to be vesicle-associated and biologically active. This supports the hypothesis that these vesicles represent a vehicle for the delivery of damaging bacterial products to the gastric mucosa.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗
PubMed1996

Differentiation of Listeria isolates by PCR amplicon profiling and sequence analysis of 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer loci.

The 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) in genomic DNA from Listeria species was amplified and sequenced so as to find sequence differences that would allow rapid species and strain differentiation. Agarose gel profiles of amplicons generated with primers designed to amplify ITS loci indicated that Listeria DNA can contain at least two distinct ITS regions. The direct sequencing of the smaller of these ITS amplicons (330 bp) was found useful for the rapid and accurate differentiation of various Listeria species. On the other hand analysis of ITS amplicons generated from a total of 27 L. monocytogenes strains indicated that 4/27 of these strains could be distinguished on the basis of their ITS profile (the presence of a unique 350 bp amplicon). The lack of sequence heterogeneity in the small 333 bp amplicon did not permit rapid strain differentiation.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Carbamazepine treatment for cocaine dependence.

We report on a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of carbamazepine (CBZ) treatment for cocaine dependence. A previously reported uncontrolled study found CBZ to be a beneficial pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence. Statistical analyses were performed on data from 82 subjects who were randomized to 10 weeks' treatment with either CBZ, titrated to 4-12 micrograms/ml, (n = 37) or placebo (n = 45). The two treatment groups did not differ for primary outcome measures of retention time in treatment, urine samples positive for cocaine metabolite, subject reported desire for cocaine or for subject reported side-effects. CBZ was not an effective treatment in this study.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Increased expression of the interleukin 1 receptor on blood neutrophils of humans with the sepsis syndrome.

Because of the potential importance of interleukin 1 (IL-1) in modulating inflammation and the observations that human blood neutrophils (PMN) express IL-1 receptors (IL-1R) and synthesize IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta, we studied the IL-1R on blood PMN from a group of patients with the sepsis syndrome. We report a marked enhancement in the sites per cell of IL-1R expressed on sepsis-PMN of 25 consecutively studied patients compared to 20 controls (patient mean = 9,329 +/- 2,212 SE; control mean = 716 +/- 42 SE, respectively). There was no demonstrable difference in the Kd of IL-1R on sepsis-PMN (approximately 1 nM) as determined by saturation curves of 125I-IL-1 alpha binding and the IL-1R on sepsis-PMN had an apparent Mr approximately 68,000, a value like that of normal PMN. Cytofluorographic analysis indicated that the sepsis-PMN phenotype is a single homogeneous population with respect to IL-1R expression. In contrast, expression of the membrane complement receptor CR3 is not increased on sepsis-PMN. Similar increases in expression of IL-1R were not observed in various other inflammatory processes, including acute disseminated inflammation and organ failure not caused by infection, acute infection without organ failure, and immunopathologies such as active systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Enhanced expression of IL-1R was not related simply to the state of myeloid stimulation. Increased expression of IL-1R on normal PMN was induced in vitro by incubating cells with recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage/colony-stimulating factor for 18 h and this response was inhibited by cycloheximide, suggesting the possibility that de novo synthesis of IL-1R might occur in PMN during the sepsis syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Paraplegia in the rat induced by aortic cross-clamping: model characterization and glucose exacerbation of neurologic deficit.

Spinal cord damage caused by ischemia is a serious, underappreciated, and relatively refractory problem in clinical practice. Research is hampered by a lack of experimental models that appropriately mimic clinical situations. A new model of paraplegia in the rat is presented and evaluated by standard neurologic deficit scoring (1, 4, 18, and 24 hours after occlusion) and by computerized activity monitoring (1 and 18 hours after occlusion). Rats underwent temporary occlusion of the thoracic aorta for 10, 15, or 20 minutes. Experimental groups received glucose (2 gm/kg) and demonstrated a significant elevation in blood glucose (p = 0.001) and were significantly more neurologically impaired at all four time periods (p less than or equal to 0.005) than the ischemic control group, which received equivalent volumes of normal saline solution. Significant differences in neurologic deficit were noted with direct clinical examination and computerized activity monitoring. With the use of the latter system, statistical differences were detected in total distance traveled and number of vertical movements. We conclude the following: (1) Paraplegia is reliably and reproducibly achieved in this rat model; (2) because of the rat's more extensive behavioral repertoire when compared with other models of spinal ischemia (e.g., rabbit), more end points can be monitored and more subtle behavioral deficits discerned; (3) computerized activity monitoring can distinguish varying degrees of neurologic deficit and correlates with clinical neurologic deficit scoring; and (4) glucose exacerbates paraplegia in this model.

Animals↗