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Biomedical subjects

C A Miller

Publications and source records attributed to C A Miller.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Utilization of health services by poor children since advent of medicaid.

Many sources of data confirm that utilization of health services by poor children has increased since the advent of Medicaid in 1966. Poor children make approximately the same number of visits to medical provides each year as do non-poor children. Considering the greater need for services among poor children, few suggest that their full need is met. Available data are not entirely adequate to document how or where the increased utilization has occurred. The Medicaid legislation appeared to presume that poor children would be "mainstreamed" into the same provider systems that are used by the non-poor. Data from national and local surveys are cited in support of the possibility that Medicaid has in fact had a paradoxical effect, proportionately increasing publicly sponsored provider systems, and proportionately decreasing poor children's utilization of private medical providers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

The program implications of administrative relationships between local health departments and state and local government.

A typology of organizational arrangements between state and local public health agencies was used as a framework within which the organizational environment of the local health department was studied for its effects on program development and implementation by local public health departments. Data collected in a national sample of local health officers were used in measuring the effect of four different patterns of administrative relationships on the selected characteristics of local health department programs. Important differences were observed among the four organizational types with regard to constraints on programs and program priorities, and health officers' perceptions of the primary functions of local health departments and sources of local health department funding. These findings were then used as a baseline from which to consider the possible impact of recent federal health budgetary proposals (specifically, block grants) both on existing patterns of intergovernmental relations and on the funding and operation of local health department programs. It was determined that the most likely general development arising from these proposed changes in federal budgetary policy is that the administrative control of state health agencies over those at the local level is likely to be enhanced. Other likely developments include changes in the programs and priorities of local health departments related to reductions in overall funding levels for human services and forced competition for fewer dollars by an enlarged constituency.

Community Health Services↗
PubMed1981

Role of local health departments in the delivery of ambulatory care.

Many people (40 per cent) receive each year some personal health service provided by local health departments. A substantial number of poor children (50 per cent) look to public agencies including health departments for all or part of their medical care. A number of departments including those represented in this study come close to serving as the guarantor of basic medical care for entire constituent populations, reaching those people who are not reached by other provider systems. Health departments over the past decade have increased their involvement as providers of medical care, in part assisted by such federal initiatives as WIC, and Medicaid. Health departments have institutionalized many of the innovations generated by federal demonstration projects of the 1960s, and continue a tradition as centers of important innovation in styles and continuity of health care. The health departments studied are notable in many respects, not the least of which is their constructive relationship with private providers. Some health departments appear to function at high levels of effectiveness in a dual fashion alongside private provider systems. Other departments interact or accommodate with private providers in ways that appear beneficial to the populations they serve. It would appear that both public and private provider systems are essential, and that they need not compete; they can provide mutual reinforcement for achieving universal and equitable health services in the public interest.

Child↗
PubMed1981

Assessment of acyclovir on acute ocular infection induced by drug-resistant strains of HSV-1.

Effects of topical acyclovir treatment on rabbit eyes infected with parent McKrae, idoxuridine-resistant, and vidarabine-resistant strains of HSV-1 were studied. Topical acyclovir therapy given four times a day was significantly more effective than idoxuridine and vidarabine at suppressing acute herpetic ocular disease induced by either sensitive or drug-resistant strains of HSV-1. Virus isolation from neural tissues indicated that none of the therapy prevented viral infection of the nervous system.

Acyclovir↗
PubMed1981

Viral susceptibility of skin fibroblasts from patients with Huntington disease.

Cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with Huntington disease (HD) and age-matched controls were tested for susceptibility to vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and transformation by Kirsten mouse sarcoma virus (KiMSV). The HD and control cells could not be distinguished on the basis of viral replication, plaque morphology, virus yield, or susceptibility to transformation by KiMSV. These findings suggest that the HD gene product, if expressed within peripheral tissue, does not selectively alter or interfere with viral replication.

Cell Transformation, Viral↗
PubMed1980

Home delivery and neonatal mortality in North Carolina.

Neonatal mortality examined by place and circumstances of delivery in North Carolina during 1974 through 1976 with attention given to home delivery. Planned home deliveries by lay-midwives resulted in three neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births; planned home deliveries without a lay-midwife, 30 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births; and unplanned home deliveries, 120 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births. The women babies were delivered by lay-midwives were screened in county health departments and found to be medically at low risk of complication, despite having demographic characteristics associated with high-risk of neonatal mortality. Conversely, the women delivered at home without known prenatal screening or a trained attendant had low-risk demographic characteristics but experienced a high rate of neonatal mortality. Planning, prenatal screening, and attendant-training were important in differentiating the risk of neonatal mortality in this uncontrolled, observational study.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Naturally acquired infections of Klebsiella pneumoniae in Wistar rats.

Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated from lesions in 2 dead and 82 ill animals in a breeding colony of 2300 Wistar rats. The clinical signs were unilaterial and bilateral fluctuating masses in the cervical and inguinal areas, and focal cutaneous ulcers in the ventral neck. Cervical and inguinal lymphadenitis with abscess formation were found on microscopic examination. Lesions also occurred in visceral organs. Although characteristic of the natural infection in most species, no respiratory lesions were seen in this epizootic episode. A capsular serotype 5 K. pneumoniae which did not utilize malonate was the only bacterial strain cultured from the lesions, but other K. pneumoniae strains that utilized malonate and were untypable by capsular serology were cultured from throats and faeces. 30% (6/20) of asymptomatic animals tested had both types of K. pneumoniae in their faeces.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Impaction fracture of the lumbar vertebrae with dural tear.

The authors described a lumbar spine fracture that is characterized on anteroposterior x-ray views by separation of the pedicular shadows. It is almost invariably associated with posterior interlaminar herniation of the cauda equina through a dorsal dural split, and anterolateral entrapment or amputation of the nerve root. The fracture is unstable and requires internal fixation and fusion at the time of neurolysis. Fractures meeting these criteria should be explored as soon as the patients' condition permits. Myelography is usually unnecessary and may be contraindicated in some cases. The postulated mechanism of injury is hyperextension with vertical impaction and rupture of the ring made up of the lamina, pedicle, and vertebral body. The ring is fractured in several places in a manner similar to that seen in "Jefferson fracture" of C-1. The special anatomical relationships of the thoracolumbar junction and the plane of the lumbar facets are also discussed.

Cauda Equina↗
PubMed1979

Heterogeneity of virus particles in measles virus.

A heterogeneous population of virions is generated by measles virus-infected cells. These particles are partially separable by sucrose density centrifugation into three peaks. Each population is stable and contains infectious particles. The particles of all three populations contain at least six polypeptide species that differ between particle populations only in quantity. All three populations contain a 50S RNA species, and the heaviest density peak also contains an additional species of 43S RNA. The difference between these results and previous studies with measles virions will be discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Convenient procedures for the biosynthesis, isolation, and isotope labeling of cytochalasins.

Efforts to improve small-scale yields of useful cytochalasins by fermentation resulted in selection of an enriched aflatoxin medium which increased yields by fivefold over those reported in the literature. With Helminthosporium dematoideum and Zygosporium masonii in stationary culture for 3 weeks, cytochalasins B and D were obtained in quantities approaching 700 and 500 mg/liter, respectively. It appears that the critical component in this growth medium is factors associated with whole wheat. By using these procedures, coupled with improvements in isolation, supplementation with two radioactive phenylalanine species readily produced [14C]- or [3H]cytochalasin B. Oxidation of carrier-free radioactive cytochalasin B to cytochasasin A readily provided this labeled congener as well. The isotopic ocnversion of precursor to crystalline products that met analytical criteria ranged from 2 to 4% of the administered radioactivity.

Culture Media↗
PubMed1978

Phenotypically cryptic EcoRI endonuclease activity specified by the ColE1 plasmid.

An endonuclease having EcoRI specificity is produced by bacteria containing the ColE1 plasmid. Such bacterial cells fail to express restriction or modification functions in vivo, and phage or plasmid DNA obtained from ColE1-containing cells has unmodified EcoRI sites that are cleaved in vitro by purified EcoRI endonuclease or by enzyme extracted from bacteria that carry ColE1. No EcoRI DNA methylase activity associated with ColE1 has been detected. The finding of phenotypically cryptic ColE1-dependent EcoRI endonuclease activity and the absence of any detectable EcoRI modification system in ColE1-containing cells suggest a control mechanism that appears to prevent functional expression of the ColE1-determined enzyme in vivo.

Bacteriocin Plasmids↗