Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C Maher

Publications and source records attributed to C Maher.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Chromophore-modified bis-naphthalimides: synthesis and antitumor activity of bis-dibenz[de,h]isoquinoline-1,3-diones.

The bis-dibenz[de,h]isoquinoline-1,3-diones are a new series of antitumor agents that consist of two chromophores bridged by an alkylamino linker. In the present study we have explored the effect produced by the presence of two dibenz[de,h]isoquinoline-1,3-dione moieties with different polyamine chains on cellular cytotoxicity. Bis-dibenz[de,h]isoquinoline-1,3-diones with the bridge (CH2)2-NH-(CH2)n-NH-(CH2)2, where n = 2-5, showed optimum cytotoxicity with IC50's around 10 nM. Compound 16, which has the (CH2)2-NH-(CH2)3-NH-(CH2)2 bridge, altered DNA mobility and topoisomerase I and II activity at approximately 5 microM. When tested in vivo, compound 16 increased the median survival time of mice implanted with M5076 with an optimum %T/C of 154% and produced cures in 50% of mice implanted with Lox melanoma.

1-Naphthylamine↗
PubMed1997

Development and coordination of the Polio Laboratory Network in the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization.

A multitiered network of polio laboratories, consisting of specialized reference laboratories, regional reference laboratories, national laboratories and, in the case of China, provincial laboratories, was established in the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1992. The network currently consists of 43 laboratories within the Region and is coordinated through the WHO Regional Office in Manila. As the levels and extent of supplementary immunization and acute flaccid paralysis surveillance activities have increased, so has the work load of network laboratories. The total number of stool specimens collected and processed in Polio Laboratory Network laboratories in this WHO region in 1995 exceeded 15,000. With the Region now establishing the criteria necessary for certification of polio-free status, it is essential for the Polio Laboratory Network to establish international confidence in its ability to carry out its role in the eradication of polio.

Asia, Southeastern↗
PubMed1997

The experience of countries in the Western Pacific Region in conducting national immunization days for poliomyelitis eradication.

Experience with national immunization days (NIDs) in six countries of the Western Pacific Region has shown that political support at all levels, detailed logistics plans, strategies appropriate to the local situation, and simple social mobilization messages have been key factors in the success of NIDs. Conventional strategies that may apply to conducting routine Expanded Programme on Immunization vaccinations do not necessarily apply to NIDs, in which the maximum number of children must be immunized in 1 or 2 days. Setting up temporary immunization posts at sites convenient to the local situation, moving the posts once or twice during the course of a day, and using volunteers to staff them are among many of the adaptations used successfully. Coverage figures published immediately after an NID can be misleading because of uncertainty about the true denominator. The true measure of the success of NIDs is in surveillance for wild poliovirus after the event.

Asia, Southeastern↗
PubMed1997

Strengthening routine immunization services in the Western Pacific through the eradication of poliomyelitis.

Infant immunization coverage in the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization was reviewed to evaluate the impact of polio eradication activities on routine immunization services. The trend in bacille Calmette-Guérin (one dose; BCG), diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-pertussis (three doses; DTP3), and measles (one dose) vaccination rates was analyzed from the beginning of eradication activities in 1990 to 1994 in the five polio-endemic countries that conducted supplementary oral polio vaccine immunization. In China and the Philippines, coverage for each antigen remained at or above 90% and 85%, respectively, while in Vietnam, coverage for all three antigens rose from 85% to 95%. BCG, DTP3, and measles vaccine coverage more than doubled in the People's Democratic Republic of Lao and increased by >30% in the Kingdom of Cambodia during the same period.

Asia, Southeastern↗
PubMed1997

Poliomyelitis eradication in the Western Pacific Region.

Polio eradication activities in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) have reduced the transmission of wild poliovirus to one remaining focus of endemic transmission in the Mekong Delta area of South Vietnam and Cambodia. There has been a high level of government commitment for national immunization days in all WPR countries in which poliomyelitis was previously endemic and for continuous improvement in acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance quality. The total number of reported confirmed poliomyelitis cases in 1995 (as of June 1996) was 432, only 7% of the total of 5825 cases reported in 1990. In 1995, wild poliovirus was isolated from only 19 of 4800 AFP patients from whom specimens were collected and analyzed. There has been one importation of wild poliovirus type 1 into China from a neighboring country. An international Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication in the WPR has been formed and met for the first time in April 1996.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

A comparison of pisiform and thumb grips in stiffness assessment.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether two versions of the posteroanterior (PA) pressure test provide similar stiffness information. SUBJECTS: Twenty subjects were asked to judge the magnitude of five stiffness stimuli provided by a mechanical device. METHODS: Subjects were required to rate the stiffness magnitude on a five-point scale using both the thumb-grip and pisiform-grip versions of the PA pressure test. Using signal detection theory methods, measures of both a subject's ability to discriminate between the stiffness stimuli and a subject's bias in perceived stiffness magnitude due to the testing method were obtained. These values were compared using analysis of trend within an analysis of variance framework. RESULTS: The two methods of performing the PA central pressure had similar stimulus discriminability. With the thumb-grip method, however, a substantial bias occurred, making the mechanical stimuli appear to be stiffer than when the pisiform grip was used. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: The method of performing the PA central pressure test affects the perceived magnitude of stiffness stimuli. This results suggests that the two versions of this clinical test should not be used interchangeably.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Is the clinical concept of spinal stiffness multidimensional?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study investigated whether the poor reliability of judgments of posteroanterior (PA) spinal stiffness is due to rater bias or is a consequence of raters each having individual concepts of PA stiffness. SUBJECTS: Three pairs of manipulative physical therapists with a minimum of 5 years of experience took part in the study. METHODS: The raters were required to make stiffness judgments of a series of metal springs, and their performance at this task was compared with that obtained when they rated the PA stiffness of patients with low back pain. A range of reliability indices were calculated and evaluated to establish whether rater bias contributed to poor reliability in either task. The relationship between each rater's estimates of the magnitude of the stimuli and the measured stiffness of the springs was also assessed using the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient. RESULTS: The average intraclass correlation coefficient (2, 1) for rating spring stiffness was found to be .60, whereas for human spines it was found to be .19. There was no evidence of rater bias contributing to poor reliability for rating stiffness of human spines. The average correlation between the rater's estimates of the magnitude of the stimuli and the measured stiffness of the stimuli was .80. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: Physical therapists demonstrated much better ability to judge spring stiffness than the PA stiffness of human spines. This difference in performance implies that mechanical stiffness is not equivalent to the clinical concept of PA stiffness. Posteroanterior stiffness may have more than one dimension, and individual interpretation of stiffness as a construct may lead to rater disagreement in the clinic. The reliability of judgments of PA spinal stiffness may be enhanced in the future if its dimensions can be identified, defined, and taken into account during clinical procedures.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed1995

Spinal models.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed1994

Reliability of pain and stiffness assessments in clinical manual lumbar spine examination.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the intertherapist reliability of judgments of stiffness and pain at L-1 to L-5 made using posteroanterior (PA) central pressure testing. SUBJECTS: Three pairs of manipulative physical therapists with a minimum of 5 years of experience were asked to rate pain and stiffness in a total of 90 patients with low back pain. METHODS: Each pair of therapists assessed 30 patients within their own clinic, using their preferred technique to perform an examination using the PA central pressure test at the five lumbar levels. Each pair of therapists recorded their ratings of pain and stiffness. Reliability of judgments was evaluated by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and percentage of exact agreement scores. RESULTS: The ICC values for pain judgments for the group as a whole ranged from .67 to .72, with agreement scores ranging from 31% to 43%. The ICC values for stiffness judgments ranged from .03 to .37, with agreement scores ranging from 21% to 29%. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: Judgments of stiffness made by experienced manipulative physical therapists examining patients in their own clinics were found to have poor reliability, whereas pain judgments had good reliability. Further investigation of this test is required in order to develop a more reliable method of assessing PA stiffness.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Staphylococcal septicaemia after endometrial destruction.

Two cases of staphylococcus aureus septicaemia secondary to endometritis following endometrial destruction are presented. After surgical endometrial destruction, endometritis has been reported rarely, but there are no previous reports of staphylococcal septicaemia.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Hepatitis B vaccination of high-risk neonates in the South West Region of New South Wales: evaluation of program coverage.

The authors evaluated the high-risk neonate hepatitis B vaccination program in the South West Region of New South Wales. Infants from ethnic groups with a high rate of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and infants of HBV carrier mothers were targeted. The program identified 323 infants born between October 1987 and December 1990 who were at high risk of HBV infection, of whom 68.7 per cent were Aboriginal. Overall, 194 infants (60.1 per cent) received three doses of vaccine. Although the number of infants identified increased from 46 in 1988 to 119 in 1990, the proportion fully vaccinated each year did not increase, remaining at around 60 per cent. The authors stress the importance of promoting the program and educating the high-risk groups and health professionals involved, in order to improve vaccination coverage.

Carrier State↗
PubMed1993

The effect of manipulation on range of movement at the ankle joint.

Manipulation is commonly used by physiotherapists in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders; however, there have been few studies evaluating its use in peripheral joints. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of manipulation on dorsiflexion range of movement at the ankle joint. Twenty asymptomatic subjects participated, one ankle acting as the experimental ankle and receiving the manipulation intervention, while the other ankle acted as the control. The manipulation studied was a longitudinal talocrural manipulation. Dorsiflexion range of movement was measured at 5 consecutive torque levels pre and post manipulation intervention in the experimental ankle and pre and post no intervention in the control ankle. These values were compared using analysis of trend within an analysis of variance framework. There was no statistically significant change in dorsiflexion range of movement following manipulation. It was concluded that in the case of asymptomatic subjects these results did not provide support for the experimental hypothesis that a single talocrural manipulation alters dorsiflexion range of movement. It was suggested that future research investigate the effects of manipulation in a symptomatic population.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Audit of a general practice.

A clinical activities audit is a method of obtaining interesting information about one's general practice. It is likely to generate improvement in practice, thereby fulfilling the most important requirement of quality assurance, even in the absence of nationally accepted standards of general practice. A five-day audit of clinical activities in one practice is detailed, and some of the changes that this prompted in consultation time management, investigation and referral rates, and conditions managed are frankly discussed.

Appointments and Schedules↗
PubMed1987

Mucosal defences and gastroduodenal disease.

Peptic ulcer disease occurs when there is an imbalance between aggressive factors and mucosal resistance. Mucus plays a key role in mucosal resistance. The mucus layer is relatively resistant to peptic digestion, it provides a layer through which there is a movement of hydrogen ions from the parietal cell to the lumen but a resistance to back-diffusion of hydrogen ions in the opposite direction. It maintains a pH gradient by 'sequestering' secreted bicarbonate and by its resistance to H+ back-diffusion. Colloidal bismuth subcitrate (De-Nol) binds to mucus to stabilize the mucous layer and increase the resistance to back-diffusion of hydrogen ions without significantly modifying the ion-exchange properties of mucus.

Adult↗