Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E Shapiro.
Decentralized health service delivery responsive to the needs of local populations implies allocating program funds to regions on the basis of predetermined criteria that can facilitate effective planning and budgeting. In 1974, the Manitoba Continuing Care Program attempted to develop a formula for regional allocations for health care services. Four methods were assessed; their strengths and weaknesses are briefly discussed.
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1. A behavioral and electrophysiological analysis of defensive ink release in Aplysia californica was performed to examine the response of this behavior and its underlying neural circuit to various-duration noxious stimuli. 2. Three separate behavioral protocols were employed using electrical shocks to the head as noxious stimuli to elicit ink release. Ink release was found to be selectively responsive to longer duration stimuli, and to increase in a steeply graded fashion as duration is increased. 3. Intracellular stimulation of ink motor neurons revealed that ink release is a linear function of motor neuron spike train duration, indicating that the selective sensitivity of the behavior to long-duration stimuli is not due to a nonlinearity in the glandular secretory process. 4. In contrast, electrophysiological examination of ink motor neuron activity in response to sustained head shock revealed an accelerating spike train. During the later part of the spike train, compound excitatory synaptic potentials show a positive shift in reversal potential. 5. Our results suggest a central locus for the mechanisms that determine sensitivity of inking behavior to stimulus duration. 6. In contrast to ink release, defensive gill withdrawal was found to be extremely sensitive to short-duration stimuli.
1. The release of ink from the ink gland of Aplysia californica in response to noxious stimuli is mediated by three electrically coupled motor neurons, L14A, L14B, L14C, whose cell bodies are located in the abdominal ganglion. The initial synaptic input to the ink motor neurons is relatively ineffective in firing the cells. As a result, a pause of 1--3 s often occurs before the cells attain their maximum firing frequency and cause the release of ink. Using current and voltage-clamp techniques we have analyzed the mechanisms underlying the firing pattern of these cells. 2. The presence of a fast transient K+ current appears to play an important role in mediating the firing pattern of the ink motor neurons. Their high resting potential (-75 mV) ensures that the steady-state level of inactivation of the conductance channels for the fast K+ current will normally be low. Thus a train of EPSPs or a depolarizing current pulse can activate this current maximally, thereby reducing the initial effectiveness of the excitatory input. 3. In addition to the fast transient K+ current, four other currents were identified: 1) a fast transient tetrodotoxin-sensitive inward current, presumed to be carried by Na+; 2) a slower tetrodotoxin-insensitive inward current, presumed to be carried by Ca2+; 3) a slow transient outward tetraethylammonium- (TEA) sensitive current; and 4) a very slow TEA-insensitive outward current. 4. A decreased conductance EPSP, which turns on over a several-second period, contributes to a late acceleration of spike discharge in the L14 cells. 5. The results suggest that a unique combination of biophysical properties of the L14 cells and the features of the synaptic input cause them to act as a low-pass filter in the reflex pathway for inking. Their high resting potential, which ensures minimal inactivation of the fast transient K+ current channel, makes these cells preferentially responsive to strong and long-lasting stimuli. The delayed recruitment of a decreased conductance EPSP augments the tendency of the L14 cells to fire in an accelerating burst pattern.
Sixteen low temperature measurements on eight independent cytochrome oxidase samples from two separate laboratories have yielded magnetic susceptibility data compatible with a model of spin-coupled iron and copper ions, as presented in the preceding paper (Tweedle, M.F., Wilson, L.J., García-Iñiguez, L., Babcock, G. T., and Palmer, G. (1978) J. Biol. Chem. 253, 8065-8071). The data in the 1.5-77 K range match those attained at higher temperatures and the predictions of the spin-coupled model. Measurements on reduced samples confirm the high spin nature of one iron atom. No obvious uncoupling of the antiferromagnetic Fe-Cu interaction is detected in partly reduced samples.
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It is usually assumed that Willem Einthoven started out as a young investigator to invent the electrocardiograph and that he succeeded. On the contrary, his career had several false starts. True, fortune smiled on him. But his diligence and clinical interest plus the scientific freedom of his age led to his remarkable discovery.
Thomas Lewis is alliteratively credited with devising the laddergram. Engelmann, or perhaps Chauveau, truly deserves the honor. Mackenzie and Wenckebach popularized the schema in their books.
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Bizarre cults harmful to the physical and emotional health of adolescents, young adults and their families have been increasing in our society. Destructive cultism is a distinct syndrome. It includes behavioral and personality changes, loss of personal identity, cessation of scholastic activities, estrangement from family, disinterest in society and pronounced mental control and enslavement by cult leaders. Management of this sociopathic problem requires confrontation, rehabilitation, sociologic, psychotherapeutic and general medical measures.
The authors examined the follow-up data for 113 psychiatric outpatients who had been treated for up to a year in an outpatient community mental health center. Correlations between therapist and patient ratings of improvement were generally low, and anlayses were done separately for therapist and patient ratings. The strongest confirmed hypothesis was the relationship between therapist and patient ratings of improvement and therapist and patient evaluations of each other as likable, physically attractive, and either a good patient for treatment or a competent therapist. The authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages of multivariate statistics for the analysis of psychotherapy data.
The authors conducted a follow-up study of 78 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. Four of the patients were in spontaneous remission; 59 patients taking haloperidol showed an average improvement of 79.3% and the remaining patients, 3 of whom were taking medication other than haloperidol and 12 of whom were not taking any medication, showed an average improvement of 24.7%. Side effects were the main cause of discontinuing haloperidol. The authors found that response to haloperidol was unrelated to family history of tics, age at onset, type or severity of symptoms, or signs of organicity.
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Tunable dye laser excitation in the intense similar to 600-nm absorption band of azurin, plastocyanin, and ceruloplasmin provides resonance enhanced Raman spectra. They consist of a complex set of bands, at least three or four in number, between 350 and 473 cm-1, which are assignable to Cu-N or Cu-O bond stretching, and a weak band near 270 cm-1, which probably arises from Cu-S stretching. A weak band at 765 cm-1 found in plastocyanin may arise from C-S stretching. Analysis of the Raman intensity pattern, as well as of the nature of the resonant electronic transition, leads to a model of the "blue" copper site involving approximately trigonal-bipyramidal coordination, with a sulfur and two nitrogen ligands in the equatorial plane, and less strongly bound nitrogen or oxygen ligands at axial positions. This arrangement would be well poised for stabilization of Cu(I) upon reduction.
Variables describing 113 outpatients of a mental health clinic were derived from a Placebo Test, the MMPI, a Symptom Check List, measures a response style, and a questionnaire containing historical and demographic information. Two highly reliable scales, the Placebo Effect Scale (PES) and the Side Effect Scale (SES) were derived from the Placebo Test and served as dependent variables. PES scores were inversely related to reporting symptoms and unrelated to measures of response style. SES scores were directly related to reporting symptoms and with several measures of response style. There was a curvilinear relationship between placebo response and reporting side effects. Implications of results for further research are presented.