Biomedical subjects

A Torres

Publications and source records attributed to A Torres.

815 records · Page 46Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Family planning agencies: services, policies and funding.

Approximately 2,614 agencies are providing family planning services in at least 5,460 clinics throughout the nation, a slight increase over the 2,462 agencies and 5,174 clinics that were estimated to be providing such services in 1983. Health departments operate an estimated 52% of clinic sites; Planned Parenthood affiliates, 15%; hospital, 6%; and other agencies, 27%. Although many agencies also offer noncontraceptive services, the large majority provide family planning services in separate clinic sessions devoted to that purpose. According to a 1992-1993 survey of a random sample of family planning agencies, Planned Parenthood affiliates provide contraceptive services for an average of 2,041 clients per clinic site, compared with 761 per health department clinic. The agencies report offering an average of 7.2 contraceptive methods at their clinics, with Planned Parenthood affiliates and hospitals offering the highest mean number, 9.2. The clinics provide an average of 8.3 tests and examinations for their medical contraceptive clients, with at least 98% providing a pelvic examination, blood pressure measurement, breast examination and Pap smear; 90% screen for anemia, and 70% screen for gonorrhea. While almost all of the agencies get some income from Medicaid (83%), only 15% receive more than 20% of their budget for contraceptive services from that source. The federal Title X program provides more than 20% of the budgets of 53% of agencies; state and local governments fund 40% of family planning agencies at that level; and client fees do the same for 32% of agencies. Some 92% of clinics with Title X funding provide the initial visit and a three-month supply of the pill without charge to clients with an income below the federal poverty level, compared with about 50% of clinics without Title X funding.

Budgets↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sex-linked strategies of human reproductive behavior.

We present data on fertility characteristics in the Venezuelan population for each sex separately, allowing a detailed comparative analysis of the variance in fertility between males and females. We show that the fertility distribution for both sexes is discontinuous, that the average female has a larger number of offspring per individual than the average male, and that highly fertile males outnumber highly fertile females so that the total number of offspring produced by males and females is balanced. Results indicate that a few males are responsible for a relative higher fertility of the average female and that interactions between polyandric females with monogamic and polygynic males are common. Among the Yanomami, a relatively unacculturated hunter-gatherer-horticulturist tribe, similar differences in fertility distribution of both sexes are apparent. The data suggest that human populations contain statistically distinct subpopulations, with different reproductive strategies, suggesting the existence of complex interactions among human populations which are not evident from the study of individuals or groups.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Concordance between serum and cytosolic levels of CEA, CA125 and SCC antigens in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

The relationship between serum and cytosolic levels of carcinoembryonic (CEA), squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) and CA125 antigens was determined in 122 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. A pronounced serum-cytosol gradient and a high degree of dispersion in the distribution of serum and cytosol marker concentrations was detected. In addition, the degree of concordance between TM levels in the two compartments, determined by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) index, was low (ICC = 0.42 for CEA; 0.35 for CA 125; and 0.27 for SCC). Tumour stage and histological type both played a limited role in the serum-cytosol relationship. As tumour stage advanced, the concordance between serum and cytosolic TM level became more pronounced. In addition, each histological type showed a distinctive pattern of expression of serum and cytosolic tumour markers, and a specific degree of concordance between levels in serum and cytosol. However, the ICC indices were always under 0.51, indicating that the importance of these factors is minor. The data obtained indicate that the relationship between serum and cytosolic concentration is moderate. The differences found according to stage grouping and histological subtype are so small that no clear-cut message for clinical practice can be drawn.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Chimerism analysis in long-term survivor patients after bone marrow transplantation for severe aplastic anemia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is the most common treatment for young patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA). Late graft failure represents one of the possible unfavorable outcomes in this setting. Mixed chimerism might represent a risk factor for late graft failure. We examined this relationship by studying chimerism in long-term survivor SAA patients after allogeneic BMT. METHODS: We analyzed long-term hematopoietic chimerism in 15 patients who received BMTs for SAA: 9 with an irradiation-based conditioning regimen and 6 with ATG. We used a PCR method targeting VNTR loci. Sensitivity of the technique ranged between 0.5 and 1.5%. RESULTS: All patients conditioned with radiation-based schemes showed complete donor chimerism. Conversely, out of six patients who received cyclophosphamide and ATG as a conditioning regimen, only one of them had late graft failure (day +168). In this patient, durable mixed chimera status was first detected two months after BMT. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that in long-term survivors of SAA after BMT there is almost always complete donor chimerism in both irradiated and ATG-conditioned recipients. Mixed chimerism might predict graft failure in these patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Estimation of cardiac vagal reserve by dynamic exercise in patients with recent myocardial infarction].

In patients with coronary artery disease, the risk of sudden death is related to the degree of left ventricular dysfunction and to cardiac parasympathetic activity. The relation between these two consequences of myocardial infarction is still the matter of intense controversy. In this investigation, we have estimated the resting cardiac parasympathetic tone and assessed the left ventricular systolic function of 25 patients who had suffered an acute myocardial infarction. The absolute increase in heart rate recorded in the first 10 seconds of a programmed dynamic exercise, was considered as the resting cardiac parasympathetic tone or cardiac parasympathetic reserve. Twenty five age and sex-matched normal sedentary subjects were used as controls. Patients showed a significantly smaller increase in their heart rate (16 +/- 4 lats/min, M +/- DS) than the controls 32 +/- 5 P < 0.0001), during the first 10 seconds of exercise. Moreover, the absolute increase in heart rate was inversely related to the degree of left ventricular dilatation ( r = - 0.71, P < 0.0001) and directly related to the left ventricular ejection fraction (r = 0.84, P < 0.0001). In other words, those patients with larger left ventricles and depressed ventricular function had a more prominent reduction of their resting cardiac parasympathetic tone. These results indirectly suggest that, left ventricular size and function are indeed related to cardiac parasympathetic activity.

Adult↗