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Biomedical subjects

J A Butler

Publications and source records attributed to J A Butler.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Reducing childhood disability in the 80s.

Childhood disability is now known to be a major public health problem throughout the world. It is estimated that in 1975 about 10 percent of the world's 1.4 billion children suffered from one or more disabilities. The authors discuss the patterns and causes of childhood disability from an international perspective and outline a number of factors that will continue to influence the incidence of disability in the 1980s. They conclude by suggesting several strategies for change, both national and international in nature, to help prevent disability and to care for disabled children.

Accidents↗

Auxiliary canine hepatic transplantation without portal blood flow.

Auxiliary liver transplantation for acute reversible hepatic failure has been suggested as a way to provide temporary hepatic support. The major technical difficulty in such an operation is providing portal blood flow, although it is unclear if this is necessary for short-term function of such a graft. Three groups of five dogs each underwent common duct ligation and cholecystectomy. One week later all animals underwent an end-to-side portocaval shunt. In Group I dogs only a "sham" transplant was done while those in Group II also received an auxiliary hepatic graft without portal blood flow which had been perfused with iced Collins solution and immediately grafted. Group III received similar auxiliary hepatic grafts with 22 hours of cold ischemia time. Reductions in mean total serum bilirubin values to near normal, usually lasting for one week (Group I, 12.02 mg% +/- 1.23 SEM vs. Group II, 3.58 mg% +/- 0.52 SEM, p = 0.01) were observed. Although several livers stored for 22 hours demonstrated function, there was considerable evidence of ischemic injury.

Acute Disease↗

Blood selenium and glutathione peroxidase activity in pregnant women: comparative assays in primates and other animals.

The influence of pregnancy on blood selenium levels and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity was studied in women. Whole blood and plasma selenium levels decreased whereas erythrocyte and plasma GSH-Px activities increased with the progress of pregnancy. The ratio of erythrocyte GSH-Px activity to whole blood selenium levels was 4- to 5-fold higher in rats and sheep than in primates (humans and monkeys), suggesting that more selenium is associated with GSH-Px in erythrocytes from rats and sheep than from primates. In assays of blood with low GSH-Px activity such as that from humans or selenium-deficient animals, a component of the erythrocyte other than GSH-Px was found to contribute more to the peroxidase activity. Evidence was obtained to indicate that t-butyl hydroperoxide is a better substrate than hydrogen peroxide for the assay of low GSH-Px erythrocyte activity. The length of time that the blood was stored before assay was found to have an effect on erythrocyte GSH-Px activity, and the storage patterns may be dependent on the species of animal from which the blood is drawn.

Adult↗

Electroconvulsive shock and reserpine: effects on beta-adrenergic receptors in rat brain.

Electroconvulsive shock (ECS) administered once daily for up to 14 days decreases beta-adrenergic receptor binding in the cortex and hippocampus in a time-dependent manner. The decrease in binding in the cortex lasts at least 1 week after the last shock. In the striatum, hypothalamus, or cerebellum, 14 days of ECS did not produce significant changes in beta-adrenergic receptor binding. The brain regional pattern of beta-adrenergic receptor changes suggests that repeated ECS affects beta 1-adrenergic receptors in brain regions that receive a noradrenergic innervation activated by ECS. The effects of ECS on neurotransmitter receptor binding appear to be highly selective. Of five receptors in the cortex and three receptors in the hippocampus measured, only beta-adrenergic receptor binding is decreased. Chronic footshock stress does not alter beta-adrenergic receptor binding sites in the cortex, indicating that the effects of ECS are not due to stress alone. The effects of ECS on reserpine-induced alterations in beta-adrenergic receptor binding sites were also examined. Ten days of ECS following chronic reserpine injections reverses the increased binding of beta-adrenergic receptors.

Animals↗

Oxygen toxicity.

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Animals↗

New directions in the evaluation and education of handicapped children.

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, which went into effect last October, ensures the right of handicapped children to free appropriate public education. State and local education agencies are required to identify, evaluate and provide services for all disabled children. This multibilliondollar program will guarantee special education resources for up to 12 per cent of American children. A role for physicians in the program is implied rather than defined in the law. Their involvement will vary somewhat from state to state, but will at a minimum involve counseling parents whose children are under evaluation. The law assumes a sophistication of diagnostic ability and curriculum design that does not yet exist, and therefore places a special burden upon physicians to deal effectively with patients now, while developing better training programs and assessment tools, and makes essential the enhancement of the communication between doctors and educators.

Adolescent↗

Medicaid and children: some recent lessons and reasonable next steps.

This article analyzes the recent federal experience in subsidizing health care services for low-income children. The overall equalizing effects of Medicaid are discussed, as are those of Medicaid's component that promotes preventive services for children, the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program (EPSDT). Both Medicaid and EPSDT have provided poor children greater access to services, but, due to their insurance-based approach, have been unable to resolve structural inequities inherent in the present health care delivery system. The Comprehensive Health Assessment Plan (CHAP), a recent Administration proposal to revise and expand EPSDT, is also discussed and characterized as providing some improvement but retaining the underlying limitations of EPSDT. Four alternatives are proposed that could complement CHAP at limited additional cost.

Child↗

Self-care program for inpatients in a mental hospital.

SUMMARY: A self-care program for selected inpatients in a mental hospital has been developed and has been in operation for more than a year. The 12-bed unit operates without any nursing or other professional staff during the night and weekend. Certain factors, including the mental hospital as an organization, tend to hamper the development of this type of program as well as the progress and growth of other programs in psychiatric hospitals. It is suggested that the much needed progress in the mental hospital would be facilitated by an open-systems approach to its organization. Mental hospitals should consider the introduction of self-care programs for selected patients, mainly in view of their therapeutic potential, but also because of the financial savings such programs offer.

Adolescent↗

Countercurrent-distribution studies on histones.

1. The possibilities of fractionating histones and histone fractions by means of countercurrent distribution between two phases formed by water and butan-2-ol, in the presence of various concentrations of trichloroacetic acid, have been examined. 2. Although the principal histone fractions differ considerably in their partition ratios, a satisfactory resolution of the principal histone fractions from the whole histone has not been achieved. 3. The histone fractions obtained by other methods can be resolved with suitable concentrations of trichloroacetic acid. Besides the main peak several subsidiary peaks are obtained in most cases, the composition of which corresponds with others of the main fractions. 4. The method is therefore capable of removing from the principal fractions as previously prepared contamination by other fractions. 5. Except in one case, no fraction with composition unlike other fractions has been obtained. In several cases the material isolated from the principal peak behaves as a single component on running again. In two cases fractions with similar compositions were distinguished by countercurrent distribution.

Acids↗

Trout-liver histones.

1. The histones of trout liver were examined and four main fractions (f1, f2b, f2a and f3) were isolated and characterized. 2. The amino acid analyses, N-terminal group analyses and starch-gel electrophoresis patterns are remarkably similar to the corresponding fractions of calf thymus. 3. The group f2a was also separated into two subfractions, f2al and f2a2, which are similar to those of calf thymus.

Amino Acids↗