Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F G Williams

Publications and source records attributed to F G Williams.

44 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

The synthesis of insulin and proinsulin in a cell-free system derived from the streptozotocin-nicotinamide--induced rat islet adenoma.

Preliminary studies were conducted to develop a cell-free system for insulin biosynthesis using the streptozotocin-nicotinamide--induced rat islet adenoma. Radiolabeled proteins, migrating on steric exclusion chromatography and SDS-gel electrophoresis in the region of insulin and proinsulin, were synthesized in a system prepared from the tumor 800 X g supernatant fraction, rat liver cytosol, and appropriate energy substrates. The proteins were not synthesized by a rat liver cell-free system, and synthesis could be substantially inhibited by the addition of cycloheximide. In addition, it could be shown that the islet proteins were not the products of residual intact cells within the system, nor were they an artifact due to nonspecific binding of [3H]-L-leucine to pre-existing insulin and proinsulin. The radiolabeled material eluting with insulin on steric exclusion chromatography was identified as [3H]-insulin by immunoaffinity column chromatography.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1984

Matrix organization increases physician, management cooperation.

Because of the development of multihospital systems and the establishment of diagnosis related groups, hospitals increasingly will establish matrix organizations for their corporate structures. St. Luke's Hospital adopted the matrix concept in the mid-1970s, utilizing program administrators for each specialty service or "clinical center of excellence." Such centers have been developed in digestive diseases, cardiovascular and pulmonary medicine, orthopedics and rheumatology, ophthalmology, and behavioral health. The program administrator's functions are diverse: To serve as primary liaison between physicians and the hospital; To project levels of program utilization and patient and physician satisfaction, to identify areas requiring administrative and marketing emphasis, and to develop the program's marketing plan; To develop, implement, and evaluate the program's strategic, operational, and financial plans; To recruit physicians to practice at St. Luke's and to cultivate referrals from outside physicians; To participate in selecting members of all board and medical staff committees relating to the particular specialty area; and To determine the need for new programs within the specialty area and to develop services. As indicated by a medical staff survey, most physicians at St. Luke's believe that the program administrator system has improved communication with the hospital administration, that the program administrator is able to respond effectively to physician requests and problems, and that the quality of patient care has been enhanced. A great majority said they would recommend the system to other hospitals.

Arizona↗
PubMed1982

A microcomputer-aided system for the graphic reproduction of neurohistochemical maps.

In this report we describe the computer hardware and software used in the production of microscopic maps from histochemical data. The maps may consist of lines, shaded and symbols, each drawn in any of four styles and in any of four colors. The system employs a microscope stage digitizer and plotter to produce an initial map containing precise positional information. A desktop computer equipped with a four-color digital plotter and a digitizing tablet is used to produce the final map. The positional information of the initial map is traced on the computer's digitizer to produce the final map. The software enabling this transformation is specialized for three basic types of structures. Cytoarchitectural landmarks and macroscopic morphology are represented by lines. Areas of a microscopic field which have some degree of visibly definable characteristics such as axonal staining are represented by areas shaded with dots. Microscopic structures of individual interest are represented by various symbols. Other program options allow the computation and printing of figure areas and perimeters while digitizing shaded areas, storage of all map information on a mass-storage medium, the drawing of alignment registration marks, and flexible access to and prompting for all program options. While the role of the anatomist in recognition and discrimination of meaningful histochemical information is unchanged, production of microscopic maps using this system consumes far less time than hand methods and results in uniform, accurate illustration.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Evidence that somatostatin inhibits proinsulin synthesis and insulin release by isolated pancreatic islets of the rat.

Conflicting reports on the direction and magnitude of the effect of somatostatin on (pro)insulin synthesis prompted our investigation. Two assays for proinsulin synthesis were designed in which [4,5-3H]-L-leucine incorporation into proinsulin was normalized on the basis of postincubation insulin levels rather than on the number of islets incubated. Somatostatin at a concentration of 10 micrograms/ml inhibited 300 mg/dl glucose-stimulated proinsulin synthesis by 25% from 448 +/- 25 dpm/microunits insulin to 336 +/- 25 dpm/microunits insulin (disintegrations per minute in the proinsulin peak per microunit extractable insulin) (p less than 0.05). Glucagon (10 micrograms/ml) reversed the inhibitory effect of somatostatin on proinsulin synthesis from 336 +/- 25 dpm/microunits insulin to 480 +/- 44 dpm/microunits insulin (p less than 0.02). Somatostatin (10 micrograms/ml) had no significant effect on proinsulin synthesis in the presence of 70 mg/dl or 150 mg/dl glucose. Insulin release in 300 mg/dl glucose was inhibited 38% by 10 micrograms/ml somatostatin from 3.05 +/- 0.40 mU medium/mU tissue to 1.90 +/- 0.10 mU medium/mU tissue (p less than 0.01) over a 45-minute incubation period. These data suggest that somatostatin may act on glucose signal transduction on a level at which both insulin synthesis and secretion are affected. Further, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that cyclic AMP participates in mediating somatostatin effects on B-cell metabolism.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ethical decision-making in case management programs for the elderly.

This article discusses ethical decision-making within six hospital-based case management programs for the frail elderly. Ethical dilemmas are described within each of the following phases of the case management process: client identification, informed consent, assessment, service planning, service coordination/linking, and monitoring and evaluation. Implications for social workers as case managers are examined.

Aged↗