Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to T L Ferguson.
The authors report a case of internal carotid artery dissection in a young woman with Behçet's syndrome. The authors postulate that a vasculitis of the vasa vasorum already suspected as the basis of aneurysm formation in course of Behçet's syndrome can account for occurrence of arterial dissection in this inflammatory condition.
Swine weighing 80 to 85 kg were fed a basal corn-soybean meal diet plus a mixture of dihydroxyacetone and pyruvate (3:1) (triose) or Polycose (control), a glucose polymer, as 3.85% of calories (4% of the diet). Twenty-four pigs were pair-fed the triose mixture or control diet for 28 d in litter-mate pairs of the same sex. Weight gain and feed consumption were recorded and carcasses were evaluated for fat and muscle accretion. The right rear leg and rear one-third of the right loin were skinned, deboned, ground and analyzed for protein, fat, moisture and ash content. Average backfat depth and backfat depth at the first, last and 10th rib were reduced by 12, 15, 14 and 12% (P less than .01), respectively, in triose-fed pigs. Loin eye area and untrimmed lean cuts were not altered by diet, but percentage trimmed lean cuts was higher (P less than .02) in triose-fed pigs (57.6 vs 55.3%). Leg and loin tissue samples from pigs fed the triose mixture had a lower (P less than .01) percentage of fat and a corresponding increased (P less than .01) percentage of protein. Organ weights and the blood biochemical profile were not altered by triose feeding. Liver function tests were not altered in animals consuming the trioses, except for an 18% decrease (P less than .05) in serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase. Ingestion of dihydroxyacetone and pyruvate will reduce body fat in limit-fed swine without reducing muscle protein deposition.
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The increased efficiency of gadolinium oxysulfide intensifying screens as compared to calcium tungstate screens depends primarily on increased absorption of x-ray photons coupled with a twofold increase in light output. Whether this increased efficiency can be effectively used in a routine diagnostic department to significantly decrease radiation dose was the subject of this study. Consecutive radiographic examinations (5,806) were conducted using these "rare earth" screens. Each radiographic room used three individual rare earth screen/orthochromatic film combinations in order to obtain different speeds. These were labeled A, B, and C and ranged from "par" speed high detail to "ultra high" speed with less detail but correspondingly less patient radiation exposure. The system selected for a particular examination was based on the radiologists' requirements for imaging of anatomic detail. Those examinations requiring less detailed resolution (such as bone alignment through a wet plaster cast) were assigned the fastest speed available. The use of a rare earth/3-tier system resulted in an overall reduction in radiation exposure of about 80%.
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In the U.S., the chief source of new osmium is copper refining, where this metal is produced as a byproduct. Probably less than 10% of the osmium in the original copper ore is recovered, and 1000-3000 oz troy of osmium is lost each year to the environment as the toxic, volatile tetroxide from copper smelters. In 1971, about 2000 oz troy of osmium was domestically refined, most of which was from secondary sources. An additional 4169 oz troy of osmium was toll-refined. Major uses for osmium tetroxide identified are for catalysis, especially in steroid synthesis, and for tissue staining. Minor uses of osmium metal are for electrical contacts and for imparting hardness to alloys for mechanical pivots, etc. Unreclaimed osmium tetroxide that reaches wastewater streams is probably rapidly reduced by organic matter to nontoxic osmium dioxide or osmium metal, which would settle out in the sediment of the water course. Waste osmium metal, itself innocuous and chemically resistant, would be oxidized to the toxic tetroxide if incinerated. Because of the small amounts used and their wide dispersal, the amounts of osmium tetroxide in wastewater and air should pose no hazard to man or the environment. The chief acute toxic effects of osmium tetroxide are well known and include eye and respiratory-tract damage. Few data are available that provide information on possible effects of nonacute exposure resulting from environmental contamination by osmium. However, workers continually exposed to osmium tetroxide vapors (refiners and histologists) and rheumatoid arthritis patients who have received intra-articular injections of osmic acid solutions have shown no apparent damage from exposure to low levels of osmium.