The establishment of dose reducing protocols using rare earth filters in paediatric radiography.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Adams.
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This research investigated differences in levels of alienation between incarcerated (n = 157) and nonincarcerated (n = 1,318) adolescents. It was hypothesized that incarcerated adolescents would have significantly higher levels of isolation, normlessness, powerlessness, and total alienation than would nonincarcerated adolescents. The Dean Alienation Scale, a global measure of alienation, was administered to all subjects. Results indicated that incarcerated adolescents had significantly higher levels of total alienation, isolation, and powerlessness. Given the high rates of recidivism, these results suggest that the reduction of both alienation and rejection of societal norms should be a major component of rehabilitation programs for incarcerated juvenile delinquents.
The importance of salt bridge interactions at the NADPH binding site of dihydrofolate reductase has been studied by using site-directed mutagenesis. The mutations R44L and H45Q respectively disrupt the ionic contacts made between the 2'-phosphate and pyrophosphoryl moiety of the coenzyme and the N-terminal region of helix C. Equilibrium fluorescence experiments indicate that while the overall binding of NADPH to both free mutants is weakened by 1.1 and 1.5 kcal/mol (H45Q and R44L, respectively), the binding of dihydrofolate and tetrahydrofolate is unaffected. Despite the similar binding energies for both mutants, the transition state for the chemical hydride step is differentially destabilized relative to wild type (0.6 and 1.8 kcal/mol for H45Q and R44L, respectively). Both stopped-flow and pre-steady-state experiments suggest that the root of this effect may lie in multiple conformations for the E-NADPH complex of R44L. The ability of both mutants to transmit their effects beyond the local environment of the NADPH pocket is manifested in several details: (1) the pKa of Asp-27 (25 A away from the sites of mutation) is elevated from 6.5 in the wild type to 7.5 and 8.4 in H45Q and R44L, respectively; (2) NADPH elevates the off rates for tetrahydrofolate from 12 s-1 in the wild type to greater than 45 s-1 in R44L; and (3) bound tetrahydrofolate decreases the affinity of the enzymes for NADPH as reflected in the Km from 2 to 40 microM for H45Q (similar to wild type) but from 8 to 5000 microM for R44L.
In an attempt to determine whether and to what extent carbamazepine is teratogenic, we evaluated eight children whom we identified retrospectively as having had prenatal exposure to carbamazepine alone or in combination with a variety of anticonvulsants other than phenytoin. In addition, in a prospective study, we documented the outcome of the pregnancies of 72 women who contacted us early in pregnancy because they were concerned about the potential teratogenicity of carbamazepine. A pattern of malformation, the principal features of which are minor craniofacial defects and fingernail hypoplasia, and of developmental delay was identified in the eight children retrospectively ascertained to have been exposed to carbamazepine in utero; this pattern was subsequently confirmed through the evaluation of 48 children born alive to the women in the prospective study. That carbamazepine itself is teratogenic is indicated by the incidence of craniofacial defects (11 percent), fingernail hypoplasia (26 percent), and developmental delay (20 percent) in the 35 live-born children of the women in the prospective study who were exposed prenatally to carbamazepine alone. The similarity between the children exposed prenatally to carbamazepine and those with the fetal hydantoin syndrome is probably related to the fact that both drugs are metabolized through the arene oxide pathway and raises the possibility that it is the epoxide intermediate rather than the specific drug itself that is the teratogenic agent.
OBJECTIVE: To review treatment with pulsatile luteinising hormone releasing hormone in infertile women who do not ovulate and are resistant to clomiphene after 100 pregnancies achieved with this treatment. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of 146 courses of treatment over 434 cycles. SETTING: Infertility clinic. PATIENTS: 118 Women whose failure to ovulate was due to idiopathic hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (n = 39), amenorrhoea related to low weight (n = 17), organic pituitary disease (n = 15), or polycystic ovaries (n = 47). INTERVENTIONS: Dose of 15 micrograms luteinising hormone releasing hormone/pulse subcutaneously every 90 minutes given with a miniaturised pump throughout cycle monitored by ultrasound. Women with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism had 48 courses, women with amenorrhoea related to low weight 23, women with organic pituitary disease 18, and women with polycystic ovaries 57. END POINT: Follow up of 100 pregnancies achieved in 77 women during six years after introducing treatment. MEASUREMENTS and main results--One hundred pregnancies (seven multiple, 28 miscarriages). Cumulative rates of pregnancy were 93-100% at six months in women with idiopathic hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism, amenorrhoea related to low weight, and organic pituitary disease. In women with polycystic ovaries (cumulative rate of pregnancy 74%) adverse prognostic factors were obesity, hyperandrogenism, and high luteinising hormone concentrations, which were also associated with a high rate of early pregnancy loss. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with pulsatile luteinising hormone releasing hormone is safe, simple, and effective, and the preferred method of inducing ovulation in appropriately selected patients. Compared with exogenous gonadotrophin treatment there is little need for monitoring, no danger of hyperstimulation, and a low rate of multiple pregnancies.
A survey of 264 schoolchildren aged 15 and 16 in four Aberdeen schools revealed that 17% had never heard of cervical cancer or smears; proportionately more of the 244 were boys and were 15 years old. Of the other respondents, when asked to locate the cervix on an anatomical drawing, nearly three-quarters placed the cervix accurately or within the cervical canal. The same proportion knew that a cervical smear involved an internal examination. Not surprisingly, more girls than boys gave correct answers. The survey was carried out to assess the need for health education before the introduction of call-up for cervical cytology at the age of 20. It is recommended that further surveys of knowledge in older teenagers would be useful before effective health education programmes can be devised to ensure a high uptake of the new screening programme.
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High-pressure water jets are commonly used for complex industrial cleaning jobs, yet we found few reports of injuries attributed to these potentially dangerous devices. We present a case of severe laceration to the lower extremity caused by a high-pressure water jet with concomitant major vascular injury, apparently the first reported. Principles of evaluation and treatment are reviewed and documented.
Sixty-three women with ultrasonically detected polycystic ovaries (PCO) were investigated for a disorder of adrenal steroid biosynthesis. Serum was obtained before, and at 30 and 60 min after, the administration of 250 micrograms tetracosactrin, and assayed for 17 alpha-OH-progesterone, 21-deoxycortisol, 17 alpha-OH-pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone by radioimmunoassay following paper chromatography. Results were compared with those in 11 women with normal ovaries, seven adult females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD), and 15 women heterozygous for this defect. Although the basal-peak steroid concentration differences were significantly greater when ACTH tests were conducted between 1400 and 1700 h than between 0900 and 1000 h, absolute peak steroid concentrations were not different at either time of day. Four of 63 (6.4%) women with PCO had responses to ACTH characteristic of non-classical (late onset) 21OHD CAH, and about half the remainder had responses characteristic of 21OHD heterozygotes. There was no clear cut evidence for a deficiency in 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity in women with PCO.
Ovarian function was suppressed with 30 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate, daily for 6 months, in 22 women with lower abdominal pain due to pelvic congestion. There was reduction in pelvic congestion demonstrated by venography in 17 of the 22 women, and in 16 this was associated with induction of amenorrhoea which suggests that effective ovarian suppression is an important component of successful treatment. In the 17 women who showed a reduction in venogram score, the median change in pain score was 75% compared with only 29% in the five women with no change in venogram score (P less than 0.01). This significant association between reduction in pelvic congestion and pain indicates that pelvic congestion is likely to be the cause of pain in these women and that treatment with medroxyprogesterone acetate could be of value.
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The speed of onset of H1-antagonism by 8 mg acrivastine and 60 mg terfenadine was compared by bronchial challenge of volunteers with histamine. Active treatments or placebo were administered 1 or 2 h before challenge in a double-blind, randomized, balanced crossover manner to 10 subjects. Acrivastine and terfenadine significantly attenuated the response to inhaled histamine compared to placebo. The effects of acrivastine at 1 and 2 h before challenge, and terfenadine at 2 h were indistinguishable, but that of terfenadine at 1 h was significantly less, indicating that acrivastine has a faster onset of action than terfenadine.
A number of methodologies to assess pain in children are available. These are analyzed from both a clinical and a research standpoint. Research related to factors influencing the response to pain, including age, developmental stage, gender, culture, prior experience, anxiety level, the painful stimulus, and the role of significant others, are reviewed. A range of pain assessment instruments are presented with consideration given to the indications for use, issues of reliability and validity, and practical concerns. The need for further research is defined, particularly in regard to children of ethnically diverse populations.
Women with the polycystic ovary syndrome do not respond well to treatment with luteinising hormone releasing hormone. To determine whether this might be due to an underlying endocrine disturbance basal concentrations of luteinising hormone were measured in 54 infertile women treated with pulsatile luteinising hormone releasing hormone and concentrations at the time of maximum follicular growth were measured in 23 of the patients. Forty one patients ovulated. Forty one patients ovulated and 27 conceived, but nine pregnancies terminated within four weeks after ovulation. Basal luteinising hormone concentrations were significantly lower in those who conceived (12.4 (range 1.3-29.0) IU/l) than in those who did not (19.0 (3.5-50.0) IU/l) and in those whose pregnancy progressed (9.6 (1.3-29.0) IU/l) than in those with early loss of pregnancy (17.9 (7.0-29.0) IU/l). Concentrations at the time of maximum follicular growth were significantly lower in women who ovulated (9.4 (2.9-35.4) IU/l) than in those who did not (29.0 (7.0-50.0) IU/l) and in those who conceived (6.2 (2.9-8.5) IU/l) than in those who did not (17.9 (4.0-50.0) IU/l). These results indicate that high concentrations of luteinising hormone during the follicular phase in women with polycystic ovaries have a deleterious effect on rates of conception and may be a causal factor in early pregnancy loss.
The prevalence of polycystic ovaries (PCO) in normal women of reproductive age was determined by pelvic ultrasound scanning of 257 volunteers who considered themselves to be normal and who had not sought treatment for menstrual disturbances, infertility, or hirsutism. All women had completed a menstrual history questionnaire. 99 women were on oral contraceptives at the time of the study. Of the 158 subjects who were not on oral contraceptives 18% had irregular cycles. 116 (73%) women had normal ovaries and 36 (23%) had PCO. 5 women had multifollicular ovaries and 1 had small, unstimulated ovaries. Only 1 woman with normal ovaries had an irregular menstrual cycle. Of the women with PCO, 76% had irregular cycles, and 6 of the 8 with regular cycles were hirsute. Women with and those without PCO differed in distribution of serum LH concentrations although the median values were similar. 25% of women with PCO had LH concentrations which exceeded the upper limit of the normal range. Thus PCO are common in normal women. Some of these women may have clinical and biochemical markers of PCO, which suggest that PCO in women who consider themselves to be normal is part of the same clinical spectrum as the classic Stein-Leventhal syndrome.
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