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Biomedical subjects

B J Miller

Publications and source records attributed to B J Miller.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

The "Feelings just are" children's television project.

Though the use of public service announcements (PSAs) in mass media campaigns has been criticized because they tend to receive limited audience exposure, due to few prime-time broadcasts, the "Feelings Just Are" PSAs reached a target audience of children without relying on frequent broadcasts during evening prime-time. The "Feelings Just Are" series of PSAs for school-age children was aired by 19 commercial, educational, and independent television stations in South Carolina. One of the commercial stations recorded the date and time of each PSA broadcast during the campaign's first year and provided its hourly audience ratings for children. Comparing the time of broadcast of the PSAs to the station's audience ratings revealed the amount of audience exposure the PSAs received. The results indicate that the 188 broadcasts from this station produced an estimated 7.4 million exposures among the station's total viewing audience, including 1.1 million exposures among school-age children. Nearly 80% of the 188 broadcasts occurred during heavy viewing hours for children, mostly during children's daytime viewing hours on weekdays and weekends. The results suggest that public service air time from local television stations may be a potentially valuable resource for mass-media based community interventions.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

A reversible preparation for observing the behavior of fetal rats in utero: spinal anesthesia with lidocaine.

A technique is described whereby lidocaine with epinephrine is injected into the spinal cord of the pregnant rat to produce reversible spinal anesthesia. This technique is useful for preparing pregnant females to study the spontaneous behavior of their fetuses in utero. Comparison of this procedure with an alternative, but irreversible, spinal preparation (chemomyelotomy) indicates that reversible lidocaine anesthesia does not differentially influence the activity of rat fetuses on Day 19 of gestation. This procedure will enable repeated observation of the same fetus at various stages of gestation and provide a means for the longitudinal study of behavioral development across the transition from prenatal to postnatal life.

Anesthesia, Spinal↗
PubMed1986

Transfer of autoimmune diabetes mellitus with splenocytes from nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice.

The nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse, a model of human type I diabetes, develops insulitis beginning at 4-6 wk of age. By 30 wk of age, 72% of females and 39% of males develop spontaneous diabetes, apparently because of an overwhelming autoimmune response to the insulin-producing beta-cells within the islets. To identify the immune mechanism responsible for destruction of beta-cells in the NOD mouse, we developed an adoptive transfer protocol that induces diabetes in NOD mice at an age when spontaneous diabetes is rarely observed. Splenocytes from overtly diabetic NOD mice were unable to transfer diabetes to very young (less than or equal to 6 wk) irradiated NOD mice but effectively transferred diabetes to irradiated NOD mice greater than 6 wk of age. In such transfers, overt diabetes was induced within 12-22 days in greater than 95% (79/82) of the recipients. Thus, transfer of splenocytes to young mice induces them to become diabetic at a higher frequency and at a younger age than their untreated littermates. Equally successful transfers with as few as 5 X 10(6) spleen cells have been performed in male and female NOD mice, even though males display a lower spontaneous incidence of diabetes than females. Splenocytes obtained from diabetic mice maintained on insulin for up to 2 mo also transferred diabetes. Because NOD mice display increasing levels of insulitis with age, spleen cells obtained from nondiabetic NOD mice of different ages were tested for their ability to transfer diabetes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗
PubMed1986

The treatment of patellofemoral pain by combined rotation and elevation of the tibial tubercle.

An operation designed to achieve simultaneous decompression and realignment of the patella has been used by the senior one of us (B. J. M.) for the treatment of selected patients with patellofemoral pain since 1978. The procedure isolates the tibial tubercle as a pedicle and simultaneously rotates it medially and anteriorly. Patellar tracking is then checked intraoperatively, and no bone graft is required. This paper reports the results of the procedure in thirty-eight knees in twenty-nine patients. The minimum length of follow-up was 2.5 years. Twenty-one knees were graded as excellent; twelve, as good; and five were considered to be failures. Of the twenty-five knees that were followed for four years or more, twenty-one were rated as excellent or good and four were failures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Hip pinning, past and present: Richards' compression-screw fixation versus Ender's nailing.

The authors trace the operative treatment of intertrochanteric hip fractures from the earliest to the most modern methods and describe how current fixation devices evolved. The operative and perioperative morbidity, mortality and outcome in 57 patients treated by Ender's nailing were compared with those of 51 patients treated by Richards' compression-screw fixation. Results were comparable to those found in an extensive review of the literature except for a higher mortality in the group managed by Ender's nailing. The authors conclude that both methods of treatment are acceptable and that the ultimate choice of fixation device should be based on the surgeon's experience tailored to the individual patient's needs.

Bone Nails↗
PubMed1984

Postpartum oxytocin treatment for prevention of retained placentas.

Some dairymen are attempting to reduce the incidence of retained placentas in their herds by routinely injecting oxytocin following parturition. Since there was little or no experimental evidence to support such a practice, a study was designed to test the influence of early postpartum oxytocin injection on the incidence of retained placentas. The study was designed so that every other cow in the University of Illinois dairy herd would receive an intramuscular injection of 100 IU oxytocin within three to six hours following calving. If the animal expelled the membranes before three hours she was placed in the control group. Two hundred cows calved during the one year study. In the 100 cow control group, twelve cows retained their fetal membranes whereas in the 100 cow treated group eight retained the placenta.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1984

Determination of N-nitrosamines and N-nitrosamine precursors in rubber nipples from baby pacifiers by gas chromatography-thermal energy analysis.

N-Nitrosamines and precursors are present in rubber products in which the accelerators and stabilizers used in the vulcanization process were derived from dialkylamines. Research was performed to develop data concerning the presence of N-nitrosamines and precursors so that the health significance of the exposure problem related to infant ingestion of these chemicals could be properly assessed. Volatile N-nitrosamines were determined in cut-up pacifier nipples by extraction with dichloromethane followed by concentration in a Kuderna-Danish evaporator, high-temperature mineral oil purge and trap, and analysis by gas chromatography--thermal energy analysis (GC-TEA). N-nitrosodibutylamine (NDBA) was the principal N-nitrosamine found, with concentrations up to 427 ppb. N-Nitrosamines and precursors in cut-up and intact nipples were determined by GC-TEA after a single extraction with artificial saliva. NDBA was the principal nitrosamine found, at levels up to 1040 ppb, while dibutylamine (DBA) was the principal precursor found, at levels up to 3890 ppb. The persistence of these compounds in intact nipples was determined by multiple artificial saliva extractions. Amounts of NDBA and DBA found after 15 artificial saliva extractions of intact pacifier nipples totalled 824 ppb and 15.6 ppm, respectively. N-Nitrosamine levels generally showed a gradual decrease in concentration with each extraction, whereas no consistent trend could be determined for concentrations of precursors.

Bottle Feeding↗
PubMed1981

Falciform ligament aperture causing intestinal strangulation.

In rare cases intestinal obstruction may be caused by herniation of small bowel through a defect in the falciform ligament. Such a case was that of a 28-year-old woman who had a 26-week twin pregnancy. She had acute upper abdominal pain. The diagnosis was acute appendicitis, but at operation a loop of ileum was found to have passed through an aperture in the falciform ligament. The loop was gangrenous and required resection. Her course was complicated by delivery of two infants on the day after operation; one died within a few hours and the other 4 months later. The patient recovered after a second operation 2 weeks later for small bowel obstruction due to adhesions. Only six other patients with this anomaly have been reported. Two were neonates. Three patients died. This complication of pregnancy has not been described before. Dislocation of the small intestine by the enlarged uterus may have contributed to the herniation. Prompt operation is mandatory in this condition as in any case of closed-loop bowel obstruction.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Frostbite in Saskatoon: a review of 10 winters.

In a review of 101 patients suffering from frostbite who were admitted to hospitals in Saskatoon during 10 winters, it was found that alcohol consumption was a contributing factor in 39 patients and a motor vehicle accident or breakdown in 33 others. Sixty-six patients underwent primary treatment in Saskatoon, the other 35 were referred for management of demarcated gangrene. Two hospitalized patients died, both of causes unrelated to the frostbite. The preliminary results of bone scanning with radioactive technetium methylene diphosphonate in frostbitten patients suggest that this is not a good prognostic indicator of the ultimate extent of tissue loss until 5 days have elapsed from the time of exposure. The lesion appeared to decrease in extent and increase in depth over a 3-week period. The mainstays of treatment remain rapid rewarming and adequate delay before conservative débridement or amputation. The delay allows healing of partial-thickness injuries and demarcation of full-thickness injuries. One third of patients receiving primary care in Saskatoon required amputation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Effect of actinomyces israelii on human peripheral lymphocytes.

Actinomycosis is rare and responds well to antibiotic therapy. The causative organism, Actinomyces israelii which is now considered to be a bacterium, has long been suspected of exerting an immunosuppressive effect. The authors provide further evidence of this in their study of three patients with actinomycosis and four healthy control subjects. Skin reactivity to various standard antigens was depressed in all seven patients. Peripheral lymphocytes from the patients and the control subjects were isolated. A. israelii was added to the cell cultures following challenge with several standard mitogens. Blast transformation in response to phytohemagglutinin was inhibited by A. israelii in all seven subjects, but was preserved in response to concanavalin A and pokeweed mitogen. A. israelii appears capable of inhibiting the subset of human peripheral lymphocytes responsive to phytohemagglutinin stimulation in vitro.

Actinomyces↗
PubMed1980

Myocutaneous flaps: the Saskatoon experience.

The purpose of this study was to determine the results of myocutaneous flap procedures performed in three Saskatoon hospitals between 1977 and 1979. Twenty-two flap procedures were performed on 17 patients. Eleven patients were suffering from decubitus ulcers and 6 had other wounds. Myocutaneous flaps have a place in the early surgical management of decubitus ulcers. Fluorescein given intravenously in some patients during operation was used to assess flap viability; 4 out of 10 flaps required trimming as a result. The myocutaneous flap technique provides rapid and durable closure for a wide variety of tissue defects which are otherwise difficult to cover.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Some etiologic concepts of actinomycosis of the greater omentum.

Since 1955, 33 patients with actinomycosis were treated at the University Hospital, Saskatoon, Sixty-seven per cent of the lesions involved the cervicofacial region; 24 per cent, the abdomen, and 9 per cent, the thorax. Trauma, inflammation or immunosuppression may have been partly responsible for the infection in 14 of the patients. Follow-up data were available for 21 patients. One of these patients died of thoracic actinomycosis, having received immunosuppressive therapy for leukemia. The others progressed well after treatment. In one patient with intra-abdominal actinomycosis, the disease was confined to the greater omentum and was apparently unrelated to the gastrointestinal or genitourinary tracts. He recovered after excision of the greater omentum and large dosages of penicillin. A search of the literature reveals that other reports on seemingly isolated intra-abdominal actinomycosis describe disease adjacent to hollow organs which required their removal. Immunologic studies demonstrated that a saline suspension of Actinomyces israelii was capable of inhibiting phytohemagglutinin stimulation of both the lymphocytes of the patient and of those of three normal donors. This may play a part in the progression of the disease.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1978

Congenital tracheal web--a case report.

Congenital tracheal webs are rare. This report involves an eight year old girl presenting with a six year history of frequent colds, wheezing, and dyspnea in whom the tracheal web was successfully excised after failure of bronchoscopic dilation. Tracheal embryology is briefly reviewed and tracheal stenoses are classified. A history of recurrent chest infection and finding of stridor are the chief of recurrent chest infection and the finding of stridor are the chief features ot his lesion. Lateral chest roentgenogram, tracheal tomography, and bronchoscopy are useful in establishing the diagnosis.

Child↗
PubMed1978

Squamous cell papilloma of esophagus.

Squamous cell papilloma of the esophagus is rare. Seven well-documented cases have been reported in the English literature. Three further cases are presented, in one of which symptoms were related to the tumour. Although there is no proof that this lesion is premalignant, coincident cancer must be excluded. In each of the authors' cases, endoscopic removal of the tumour was possible. The etiology of esophageal squamous cell papilloma has not been established.

Aged↗