Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Lawson

Publications and source records attributed to A Lawson.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Whose side are we on now? Ethical issues in social research and medical practice.

The stance of the sociologist as champion of the underdog or as purveyor of the values and attitudes of the 'superordinate' was posed as a problem by Howard Becker and debated by Alvin Gouldner some two decades age. Since then, those who have addressed the question as to whose side the sociologist should be on, have opted for an 'ironic stance'. This paper, taking the case of a research unit wholly funded by a patient self-help group and located within a University in Britain, notes the difficulties currently faced by the 'lay' researcher working in the field of medicine in times of scarcity and want as compared with those faced some two or three decades ago in times of expansion. It is argued that the self-help group is identifiable both as suffering victim and as overload, since they raise the funds which, sometimes directly and always indirectly, are used to employ researchers. In practice there has always been a constant negotiation between funder and researcher, between expressing the values of one group as against those of another, and in the pursuit of fundamental and underpinning values. With the proviso that the interests of the most vulnerable and stigmatised groups in society are attended to, the self-interest both of sociology as a discipline and of individual sociologists working in these settings, it is argued, is by no means an ethically weak goal to pursue.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1991

Development, validation, and certification by isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of lyophilized human serum reference materials for cortisol (CRM 192 and 193) and progesterone (CRM 347 and 348).

The Community Bureau of Reference of the European Communities has produced four batches of lyophilized serum Certified Reference Materials, two for cortisol (CRM 192 and 193) and two for progesterone (CRM 347 and 348). For cortisol, one of the pools consisted of serum from healthy blood donors, whereas the second batch was supplemented with pure cortisol. The progesterone Reference Materials contained only endogenous hormone concentrations. Assessment of vial-to-vial variability in the cortisol and progesterone concentrations showed no between-sample inhomogeneity, and the materials were stable. The quality of the materials was therefore considered sufficient for certification of the values for the cortisol and progesterone concentrations by a collaborative study involving several laboratories from the European Communities, using isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Inaccuracy in reconstitution of the lyophilized materials was less than 0.3%; imprecision of sampling was less than 0.2%. For determinations of cortisol and progesterone concentrations, the mean within-laboratory coefficients of variation (CVs) were 1.76% (CRM 192), 1.19% (CRM 193), 1.64% (CRM 347), and 1.75% (CRM 348). The between-laboratory CVs were greater: CRM 192, 1.79%; CRM 193, 1.48%; CRM 347, 2.08%; and CRM 348, 2.16%. The concentrations in the reconstituted Reference Materials were certified to be 273 nmol/L in CRM 192 and 763 nmol/L in CRM 193 for cortisol and 10.13 nmol/L in CRM 347 and 40.3 nmol/L in CRM 348 for progesterone. Uncertainties at the 0.95 confidence level--6 (CRM 192), 14 (CRM 193), 0.21 (CRM 347), and 1.0 nmol/L (CRM 348)--were considered compatible with the intended use of the materials.

Blood Chemical Analysis↗
PubMed1990

Automated time-averaged analysis of craniospinal compliance (short pulse response).

We have developed an automated method [Short Pulse Response (SPR)] of measuring craniospinal compliance using an electronic square wave pressure generator to produce a small (0.05 ml) and reproducible transient volume increase in the CSF space (pulse duration 100 msec). In experimental models of intracranial hypertension, arterial hypertension, arterial hypotension and arterial hypercarbia in cats, the new method accurately followed physiological changes in compliance when compared to the manual volume-pressure injection method. The VPR overestimated compliance compared to the new SPR method (by 20% to 162%, mean = 77%). The SPR method was less variable between sequential measurements with a coefficient of variation (CV) ranging from 0.6% to 9.6% (mean CV = 2.6%), compared with a CV ranging from 5.6% to 48% (mean CV = 17%) for the VPR method. Repeated compliance measurements by the new method over a 12 hour period, produced no neuropathological evidence of either blood brain barrier breakdown or tissue damage resulting from the repeated volume injections.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Twinning in human populations and in cattle exposed to air pollution from incinerators.

Human populations and animals are often exposed to the airborne pollutants in plumes from incinerators. The incineration of chemical and other waste may release polychlorinated hydrocarbons, some of which have oestrogenic properties. Increased numbers of twins had been reported anecdotally in cattle at risk from plumes from two incinerators near the town of Bonnybridge in central Scotland and also in cattle near a chemical factory in Eire. It was decided to follow up these reports in central Scotland and also to test the hypothesis that the frequency of human twinning might be increased there. Data on human twin and single births in hospitals in central Scotland were obtained for the years 1975-83. The twinning rates in areas exposed to airborne pollution from incinerators were compared with the background rates present in neighbouring areas. Farmers provided information on calving among the herds of two farms close to the incinerators. The frequency of human twinning was increased, particularly after 1979, in the areas most at risk from air pollution from the incinerators. Among the dairy cattle, there was a dramatic increase in twinning at about the same time.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1985

Problems in evaluating the consequences of disabling illness: the case of multiple sclerosis.

There is a need for a method, useful both to the clinician and to the research worker which can assess both the 'quantity' and the 'quality' of daily life. In this paper two 'diary' methods are described for obtaining accounts of daily activities, social contacts and patterns of interaction from people diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis. The information obtained is compared with that derived from a major decennial national survey of the population aged over 4 years and from a selected group of matched non-patient controls. The paper is divided into two parts, each concentrating on one of the techniques. The first is a postal 24-hour written account; the second a detailed tape-recorded interview known as the 'Standard Day Interview'. Difficulties and advantages in using these approaches to assess both the quantitative and the qualitative changes during disabling illness are discussed and proposals for developing the methods are presented. Indications of substantive variation in the use of time by samples drawn from the 'healthy' and from populations with multiple sclerosis are reported.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1979

GLC determination of purity of Schiff bases bakrine and saddamine.

GLC methods were developed for the investigation of impurities in bakrine and saddamine. The method used for bakrine was unsuitable for saddamine since two possible saddamine impurities, benzylamine and salicylaldehyde, reacted very readily in solution to form saddamine, thus giving a false low value for the original concentration of these impurities. The method devised for saddamine involved silylation, which greatly reduced the possibility of saddamine formation from its precursors and also enabled the detection of another possible impurity, salicylic acid. The method described has an obvious application to the determination of other Schiff bases.

Amines↗
PubMed1979

The metabolism of saddamine in man: the fate of the benzylamine moiety of saddamine.

The metabolism of 14C-saddamine radiolabelled in the benzylamine moiety has been investigated in man after oral administration. 14C-Hippuric acid was found to be the only radiolabelled urinary metabolite, the overall amount of which was equivalent to over 95% of the dose. The time taken for elimination of 50% of the dose in the urine was approximately five hours and the corresponding value for 14C-benzylamine hydrochloride was less than one hour.

Amines↗
PubMed1978

Hippuric acid excretion after benzylamine ingestion in man.

The fate of 14C-benzylamine after oral administration as the hydrochloride has been investigated in two male volunteers. Over 98% of the administered radiolabel was excreted in the urine as 14C-hippuric acid within 24 hours. The rate of urinary hippuric acid excretion was extremely rapid, with more than 90% of the dose excreted after three hours.

Amines↗
PubMed1976

The careers of men graduates from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London.

The survey records the data supplied by the 290 respondents to a questionnaire sent out to the first 390 male graduates of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine who qualified during the 20 year period after the school became co-educational in 1948. As might have been expected, there was a preponderance of students from homes in Greater London and South East England. Whilst an equal entry of male and female students was felt desirable the achievement of this objective was slow, since selection was based on merit and the male applicants in the first few years seemed less well qualified for the medical training. During the period of the survey half of the entry was at the premedical stage and the average age for starting preclinical studies was 20-0 years--a little higher than that (18-9) recorded in the ASME survey for the 1966 entry to medical schools. A slightly higher number of Royal Free men took higher degrees and diplomas than did the women. On the number available it appeared that a higher percentage of Royal Free men took MRCP as compared with women or Birmingham graduates. The DA and DCH qualifications were more favoured by women than men. Three times as many men worked in, and twice as many lived in London as in South East England, a situation that was the reverse of that for Royal Free women. There was no evidence to show that the men preferred to do career training in London and then move out.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1975

Sickle cell crisis treated by exchange transfusion. Treatment of two patients with heterozygous sickle cell syndrome.

In two patients with severe painful sickle cell crisis and a deteriorating clinical course, recovery coincided with large-scale exchange transfusions (6 liters). The one patient, with sickle cell beta thalassemia, achieved a 90% exchange, calculated on the sickle cell hemoglobin present before and after transfusion. The other patient, with sickle cell hemoglobin Hb A, S, and (Hb) C disease, also achieved an 80% exchange calculated on the level of HbA.S. AND C in samples before and after transfusion.

Adult↗