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Biomedical subjects

A N Smith

Publications and source records attributed to A N Smith.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Mechanical properties of the colon: comparison of the features of the African and European colon in vitro.

The tensile properties of the colon have been examined using methods which gave repeatable results. They showed little change after storage in salt for up to five weeks. The burst strength remained unchanged along the length of the colon. The tensile strength fell distally, as the thickness of the colonic wall increased. The width at burst decreased distally as did the internal diameter. The visco-elastic property of stress relaxation was constant in all regions. The tensile property of the colon was well developed at birth, but fell with age as did the width at burst and the internal diameter. Stress relaxation was unaffected. Because there may be a mechanical abnormality of the colonic wall in diverticular disease and as Europeans are prone to this condition while Africans are not commonly affected, European and African colons were compared. The tensile strength in a Kampala group was greater than in an Edinburgh one, but fell significantly in both groups with age. The width at burst was greater in the Kampala group, but also declined with age. Stress-relaxation was similar in both groups. In view of the similar properties in childhood of colons from Edinburgh and Kampala, the strength of the adult African compared with European colons may derive later from environmental factors such as diet. There were, however, no differences between the colons with and without diverticular disease in European subjects over the age of 50 years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors for operable rectal cancer.

Previous reports have established that several variables are of prognostic importance in rectal cancer. The information from a Medical Research Council trial in seventeen centres in the United Kingdom was used to assess the simultaneous contribution of several of these factors in a multivariate analysis. In the preoperative assessment mobility of the tumour and the number of quadrants involved were predictive of the likelihood of a curative resection being possible. Among patients who had curative resections, prognosis was influenced by Dukes' classification, height of tumour, histological grade, and venous invasion. A scoring system based on these criteria was constructed and applied to this group of patients. It successfully defined five prognostic groups with 5-year survival rates ranging from 80% to 19%.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Anorectal profilometry with the microtransducer.

The reproducibility of anal sphincter manometry has been evaluated in 17 patients with a continuous pull-through technique using a miniature transducer mounted on a 2mm diameter Dacron catheter. Comparison was made with a conventional station pull-through technique using a 4mm diameter waterfilled microballoon connected to an external transducer. Parameters measured with the microtransducer (maximum resting pressure, squeeze pressure, functional sphincter length, area under high pressure zone, amplitude of rectosphincteric reflex) showed mean coefficients of variation from 3.2 to 5.7 per cent. Pressures measured with the microballoon were uniformly higher than those obtained with the microtransducer. The functional sphincter length was significantly shorter when measured with the microballoon (P less than 0.001). The microtransducer provides a highly accurate and reproducible method of anorectal profilometry that avoids many of the drawbacks associated with fluid-filled systems.

Anal Canal↗
PubMed1984

Colonic function in rural and urban populations of Turkey.

Two Turkish populations, one with an urban background and the other rural, were compared in regard to their colonic function. Rural subjects consume a diet with higher fiber than urban people in Turkey. The rural group had a greater daily fecal output, faster intestinal transit, and lower intraluminal pressure, with a greater output of calcium in the feces than those living in an urban area in Turkey. The effects are similar to those described when fiber is added to the diet. Urban dwellers in Turkey who lack these effects are said to have a rising incidence of fiber-related diseases of the colon, such as diverticular disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Effect of cobaltous chloride on aggregation of platelets from normal and afibrinogenaemic human blood.

The aggregation of normal human platelets in vitro induced by ADP was severely inhibited after preincubation of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) with CoCl2. Platelets from a patient with congenital afibrinogenaemia did not aggregate until fibrinogen was added. This recovered response was also inhibited by CoCl2. The impairment of aggregation seemed to be due to the action of cobalt on surrounding fibrinogen and not to a direct action on the platelets themselves. These results illustrate another aspect of the potential toxicity resulting from the use of cobaltous salts in treating the anaemia of renal failure, in which bleeding disorders have been reported.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1984

Evaluation of the School Nurse Achievement Program: a follow-up survey of school nurses.

The University of Colorado School Nurse Achievement Program (SNAP) is a national continuing education program for school nurses who want to increase and improve the services they provide to disabled students. In this article, the results of one of the evaluation studies conducted on SNAP--a six-month follow-up survey of graduates--are reported. Generally, the results indicated high perceived effectiveness of SNAP in terms of increasing school nurses' knowledge and skills related to working with disabled students. These findings should be of value to readers interested in SNAP, in particular, as well as to those interested in the role of the school nurse with disabled students.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1982

Part II. Evaluation component. School nurse achievement program.

The School Nurse Achievement Program is a national continuing education course for school nurses to increase and improve their services for disabled children. It is currently being developed under the auspices of the Department of Education, Office of Special Education in conjunction with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, School of Nursing. A description of a national needs survey of school nurses and resulting program goals, curriculum development, and course administration in twelve states appeared in last month's Journal. Formative and summative evaluation studies to aid in curriculum development and to examine changes in the school nurses' activities are described in Part II of this article.

Persons with Disabilities↗
PubMed1982

Role of Ca++, CaATPase and alkaline protease in cardiac contraction band formation.

Cardiac cells' total homogenates and subcellular components Ca++, CaATPase and alkaline protease levels were matched with their respective microscopic samples in order to ascertain their role in the formation of contraction bands. It was seen that those samples having contraction bands also had a high incidence of intracellular Ca++, low CaATPase and high alkaline protease levels. This study confirms reports that contraction bands are not limited to pathological hearts (Adomian et al., 1977), but neither are they limited to artifacts related to autopsy procedures. They were seen in varying degrees of severity in hearts of healthy rats sacrificed by decapitation and less frequently with only sarcomeric involvement to absence of in animals sacrificed by diethyl ether overdose. It is postulated that the elevated Ca++ activated alkaline protease (pH 8.5) by inhibiting its inhibitor (Waxman and Krebs, 1978). It may have inhibited total CaATPase activity (Hasselbach, 1974) as well. We believe that the activated alkaline protease produced irreversible contraction bands by lysing the microhinge between light and heavy meromyosin.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

The effect of coarse and fine Canadian Red Spring Wheat and French Soft Wheat bran on colonic motility in patients with diverticular disease.

Bran from a Canadian Red Spring Wheat, of both a coarse and fine type, was compared with that from a French Soft Wheat, also with coarse and fine characteristics. The coarse type whether Canadian or French had the more significant effect on the stool weight, speeded the intestinal transit as measured by Hinton markers, and reduced intraluminal pressure in the colon more than did the fine types from the same sources in patients with diverticular disease. The texture of a bran may be important in relationship to its clinical efficacy.

Colon↗
PubMed1981

Pressure changes after balloon distension of the colon wall in diverticular disease.

Balloon distension of the distal colon in diverticular disease does not produce the pressure change in response to increasing volumes that occurs in normal subjects. This phenomenon, though modified at first by resection, is not abolished by resection nor by myotomy or bran. This adaptive quality of the wall of the colon to balloon distension possibly reflects a structural change in its wall, as the phenomenon was present in the colon in diverticular disease in vitro as well as in vivo.

Colon↗