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Biomedical subjects

A Reed

Publications and source records attributed to A Reed.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

A method of assessment during vocational training: report of a pilot study.

Problems arising from the present rate of failure of vocational trainees in the MRCGP examination are outlined; and the role of formative assessment during training in reducing this rate is considered. A study is described in which trainees in a number of centres were assessed by a method designed to measure specified cognitive abilities and areas of knowledge. The method, based on written papers, provides each candidate with a profile of performance and generates comparative standards. Reliability of marking, the distribution of candidate-scores within and between areas of assessment and techniques for monitoring the effectiveness of questions are reported. Use of the method by College as an educational service to trainees is considered, along with its potential as a Part I MRCGP examination.

Education, Medical, Graduate↗

Altered lymphocyte markers and blastogenic responses associated with 24 hour delay in processing of blood samples.

Lymphocytes separated from fresh heparinized blood or from blood stored 24 h at room temperature were tested for E rosettes, EAC Rosettes, and blastogenic response to phytohemagglutinin. Compared to lymphocytes from fresh blood, lymphocytes from 24 h stored blood contained a lower percentage of E rosette-positive cells, a higher percentage of E rosette-negative EAC rosette-negative null cells, and manifested a decreased blastogenic response to phytohemagglutinin. Fewer viable mononuclear cells were recovered by Ficoll-Hypaque separation from stored blood than from fresh blood. These findings suggest that storage-related changes may occur in T cells which cause a selective loss of such cells during Ficoll-Hypaque separation. A delay in processing of blood samples may therefore yield results of lymphocyte marker and functional assays which give the false impression of a decrease in T cells and an increase in null cells.

Adult↗

The interrelationship of thyroid hormones with vitamin A and zinc nutritional status in patients with chronic hepatic and gastrointestinal disorders.

To define the role of vitamin A, retinol binding protein, and zinc deficiency in producing the thyroid hormone abnormalities found in chronic illness, we studied 62 clinically stable patients with hepatic and gastrointestinal disorders. Serum triiodothyronine (T3) and free T3 index (FT3I) were depressed compared to controls (p less than 0.05) in the patients. Retinol binding protein and prealbumin levels correlated with both T3 and FT3I (p less than 0.01), whereas vitamin A levels did not. Vitamin A therapy in patients with documented vitamin A deficiency produced an increase in T3, thyroxine (T4), FT3I, FT4I, and free T3 by dialysis, with a concomitant increase in retinol binding protein and no alteration in prealbumin concentrations. Zinc-deficient patients had significantly depressed T3 and FT3I (p less than 0.001) and increased prolactin levels (p less than 0.01). Zinc supplementation failed to return any of these parameters to normal. Vitamin A therapy in normals produced a transient decrease in T3 and T4 after 1 wk of therapy, but after a further 2 wk, thyroid function returned to normal. Our data suggest a causal relationship between the pathogenesis of deranged vitamin A-retinol binding protein metabolism and the low T3 syndrome either by interfering with T4 entry into tissues or by directly affecting the enzymatic conversion of T4 to T3.

Chronic Disease↗

Monostotic fibrous dysplasia in the temporal bone: a late prehistoric occurrence.

Fibrous dysplasia, characterized by benign osteolytic and osteoblastic lesions may involve one or several bones. Recent investigators have suggested that it may be merely a phase of what have previously been thought to be several different bone diseases. Isolated fibrous dysplasia in the temporal bone is infrequent. Several reports of this disease have appeared in the literature of paleopathology, but none involved only the temporal bone. Monostotic involvement of the right temporal bone was discovered in the skull of an adult male recovered from an archeological site dating from the Late Mississippian period (A.D. 1,350-A.D. 1,650). It will provide an opportunity for preliminary documentation of the antiquity of this disease in the southeastern portion of the United States.

Adult↗

Effect of vitamin A on the hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid axis.

This study reports the effects of the administration of pharmacologic doses of vitamin A on multiple parameters of thyroid function. Vitamin A decreased total T4 and T3 levels. With vitamin A treatment, there was a marked increase in the percentage dialyzable T3 and T4 both in vivo and in vitro. The serum-free T3 and T4 levels as measured by dialysis were on the whole normal in vitamin A-treated rats. Following thyroidectomy, the total T4 levels were still decreased, suggesting that vitamin A produced its effects by increasing peripheral clearance of thyroxine. Vitamin A did not alter basal thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or its response to thyroid releasing hormone, suggesting a relatively normal hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis in vitamin A-treated animals. Vitamin A may decrease tissue responsiveness to thyroid hormones as evidenced by the tendency to decreased Na-K-ATPase activity in the livers from vitamin A-treated rats and the decreased growth hormone response to T3 in GH3 pituitary cultures as shown in this study and by the decreased basal metabolic rate found after vitamin A in previous studies. Vitamin A decreased thyroid gland size and increases 125I thyroid uptake. In vitro, vitamin A enhanced T4 to T3 conversion in hepatic homogenates.

Administration, Oral↗

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone and thyroid hormones in amniotic fluid.

Immunoassayable TRH (iTRH) was measured in 50 amniotic fluid specimens with a mean concentration of 207 +/- 26 (SE) pg/ml. This iTRH demonstrates parallelism with the standard curve for synthetic TRH. With increasing gestational age there is an increase in iTRH levels in amniotic fluid with a decrease in 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine levels (rT3), while thyroxine levels (T4) remain unaltered. Preliminary data suggest that iTRH levels in amniotic fluid that are less than 150 pg/ml after 32 weeks of gestation may correlate well with low Apgar scores at birth. There was no correlation of rT3 or T4 amniotic fluid levels with the Apgar scores.

Amniotic Fluid↗

BCG in the treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Children with acute lymphocytic leukemia, who were in remission after induction with prednisone and vincristine and consolidation with intravenous methotrexate, were randomized into three groups receiving (1) no further therapy, (2) BCG, and (3) chemotherapy with biweekly methotrexate and monthly prednisone and vincristine. Children continuing in remission after 8 mo on chemotherapy in group 3 were rerandomized into three similar groups, i.e., no therapy, BCG, and chemotherapy. In the primary randomization, the median duration of remission was identical in the groups receiving no therapy or BCG, (4 and 4.3 mo respectively), and both were significantly less than the median duration of remission on chemotherapy which had not been reached prior to secondary randomization at 8 mo. Results of secondary randomization were similar to those of primary randomization. As used in this study, BCG was ineffective in prolonging drug-induced remissions either early in remission or when the leukemic cell population might have been further reduced after 8 mo of maintenance chemotherapy.

Adolescent↗

Trends in state laws and regulations affecting nurse-midwives: 1995-1997.

This article provides an overview of trends and changes to state laws and regulations governing the practice of nurse-midwifery in the United States from 1995 to 1997. It includes tables documenting state requirements related to education, certification, Medicaid and third-party reimbursement, prescriptive, authority, graduate practice, birth centers, regulatory oversight and postpartum discharge.

Birthing Centers↗