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Biomedical subjects

J Langley

Publications and source records attributed to J Langley.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

The severity of road traffic crashes resulting in hospitalisation in New Zealand.

Road trauma is a major contributor to premature mortality and to morbidity in New Zealand. Existing published data on road crashes do not provide an adequate basis from which to develop prevention priorities because they are, in some cases, limited to certain classes of crashes with no adequate measures of anatomical severity, economic costs, and disablement. This paper describes road traffic crashes in terms of anatomical severity. Motor vehicle and nonvehicle crashes occurring on public roads were included. Using International Classification of Diseases E-codes, cases were selected from a file that contains information on all dead and live discharges from all public hospitals in New Zealand. Abbreviated Injury Scale scores were estimated from injury diagnoses using a computer programme specifically written for that purpose. A total of 9201 cases were identified. There were significant differences in the distribution of injury sites by class of road user. The majority (59%) of injuries were of moderate severity. Pedestrians sustained a disproportionate number of the severe/critical injuries. Compared to other causes of injury, road traffic crashes had a higher proportion of the severe/critical cases (5% versus 1%). Using motor vehicle occupants as the baseline category, the relative risk per kilometre travelled for sustaining a hospitalised injury was 55.6 for motorcyclists and 25.8 for bicyclists.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1993

Firearm related deaths in New Zealand 1978-87.

AIMS: To identify the role of firearms as a public health issue in New Zealand and to consider this information in the context of international research on potentially effective interventions for the prevention of firearm deaths. METHODS: National data on firearm related mortality for the period 1978 to 1987 were abstracted to identify all firearm deaths categorised as unintentional, suicide, homicide and of undetermined intent. RESULTS: Over this 10 year period, there were an average of 91 firearm deaths annually, accounting for 0.3% of all deaths. Suicides accounted for 75.5% of these deaths, unintentional deaths for 11.6% and homicides for 10.6%. No significant temporal changes were observed. CONCLUSIONS: While deaths from firearms are not a major public health problem in New Zealand, there is still a need to identify strategies likely to lead to reductions in the current levels of firearm deaths. Appropriately targeted legislative and educational strategies may be effective in reducing such deaths.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The incidence of dog bites in New Zealand.

The subject of dog bites has received considerable media attention in recent times. The incidence of fatal dog bites and those resulting in inpatient treatment was determined for New Zealand for the period 1979-88. The incidence of dog bite injuries resulting in treatment at Dunedin Hospital's accident and emergency department was also determined. No fatal events were identified. There has been a steady increase in the number of incidents requiring inpatient treatment from 54 in 1979 to 158 in 1988 resulting in an incidence rate of 4.8 per 100,000 population in 1988. Overall, males, children, and Maori, had higher rates than female, adults, and nonMaori respectively. Although injuries to the face were the most common, those to the lower limb tended to result in longer stays in hospital for treatment. A total of 182 dog bites were treated at Dunedin Hospital's accident and emergency department for the year ending 31 March 1990, giving an overall incidence rate of 175 per 100,000 population. It is estimated that for the entire country 5710 similar events are treated per annum.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Feasibility of a high-flux anticancer drug screen using a diverse panel of cultured human tumor cell lines.

We describe here the development and implementation of a pilot-scale, in vitro, anticancer drug screen utilizing a panel of 60 human tumor cell lines organized into subpanels representing leukemia, melanoma, and cancers of the lung, colon, kidney, ovary, and central nervous system. The ultimate goal of this disease-oriented screen is to facilitate the discovery of new compounds with potential cell line-specific and/or subpanel-specific antitumor activity. In the current screening protocol, each cell line is inoculated onto microtiter plates, then preincubated for 24-28 hours. Subsequently, test agents are added in five 10-fold dilutions and the culture is incubated for an additional 48 hours. For each test agent, a dose-response profile is generated. End-point determinations of the cell viability or cell growth are performed by in situ fixation of cells, followed by staining with a protein-binding dye, sulforhodamine B (SRB). The SRB binds to the basic amino acids of cellular macromolecules; the solubilized stain is measured spectrophotometrically to determine relative cell growth or viability in treated and untreated cells. Following the pilot screening studies, a screening rate of 400 compounds per week has been consistently achieved.

Cell Division↗
PubMed1991

Single center experience of the effect of delayed function on outcome in retransplant recipients of cadaveric renal allografts.

The incidence of DRF in the regraft study group was most commonly seen in patients with a historic high level of HLA sensitization. Primary NF was an immune mediated event seen in 63% of third regrafts. Delayed use of CyA with ALG induction coverage provides good graft survival with either double or triple maintenance therapy. Stricter patient selection for third transplants and aggressive clinical monitoring of the regrafted patient has provided a 1-year actuarial graft survival result of 88% at our transplant center.

Antilymphocyte Serum↗
PubMed1988

Difficulties and bonuses of evaluation: evaluating New Zealand's Children's Nightclothes Act 1977.

Difficulties and bonuses of evaluating injury prevention programmes are illustrated by reference to an evaluation of the New Zealand's Children's Nightclothes Act 1977. It is demonstrated that despite the difficulties encountered in that evaluation, and the equivocal results, there were significant bonuses which more than justified the resources devoted to the evaluation. The paper is presented in an attempt to encourage others to evaluate thermal injury countermeasures who may be hesitant to do so because of the difficulties they foresee.

Burns↗
PubMed1988

Sepsis in febrile neutropenic children with cancer.

Infection is the leading cause of death in children with cancer. A retrospective review of 100 episodes of sepsis in 80 children with cancer for a 21-month period showed that 74% of isolates were Gram-positive bacteria. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most common pathogens, accounting for 35% of all isolates. Initial empiric antibiotic therapy of fever in neutrogenic cancer patients was piperacillin and tobramycin. All but 12% of the Gram-negative isolates were susceptible to one or both of the antibiotics. However, 31% of the Gram-positive isolates were resistant to both antibiotics and 38% of the coagulase-negative staphylococci were methicillin-resistant. All of the latter were susceptible to vancomycin. The increasing incidence of coagulase-negative staphylococci as causes of sepsis in cancer patients suggests that the choice of antibiotics for initial empiric therapy may need to include vancomycin or an antistaphylococcal penicillin depending on the local incidence of methicillin resistance.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Cycling experiences and knowledge of the road code of nine-year-olds.

Sex differences in cycling experience and knowledge of the road code were examined in a sample of eight-hundred and fifteen nine-year-old children. The results showed that there were not significant sex differences for those who had ridden on the road or ridden to school in the week preceding the interview. However, males were more likely to have ridden at night. There were no significant sex differences in self reported unsafe acts or in knowledge of various dimensions of the road code. The results show a relatively high level of ignorance of the give-way rules for uncontrolled intersections and a disturbing number of children who reported they had ridden at night without tail or headlights.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1986

Mother's knowledge of first aid--an exploratory study.

Mothers' knowledge of first aid was assessed using a questionnaire comprising 13 multiple choice questions. The results showed that approximately three-quarters of the mothers correctly answered 70% of the questions. Whilst higher intelligence and previous training in first aid were shown to be associated with better scores, the effects were small. Some aspects of first aid which deserve more emphasis in training courses were identified.

Female↗
PubMed1986

Swimming experiences and abilities of nine year olds.

As part of a longitudinal study of children, 941 mothers were asked to report on their childrens' swimming experiences and abilities. At age nine, twenty-nine per cent of the children could swim only a few strokes or not at all. A disproportionate number of children who could swim more than a few strokes came from high socio-economic backgrounds, from families where one or more of the parents could swim, and which scored higher on an index of active recreational orientation. There were no significant sex differences in swimming ability. There were 97 incidents reported where a child had been in difficulties while in water and had to be rescued. The importance of collecting data on such incidents is discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Comparisons among heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual male sadomasochists.

Between 1982 and 1984 a questionnaire designed to elicit demographic and behavioral information concerning individuals who participate in sadomasochism (S&M) was distributed nationally. Data from 136 heterosexual, 45 bisexual, and 91 homosexual male sadomasochists (N = 272) were analyzed. Similarities and differences among these three groups in response to 15 of the 40 questions asked concerning age and manner of first S&M interest, openness with others concerning those interests, self image and adjustment, sexual behavior, and sex role orientation are reported and compared to findings previously reported by Spengler (1977), Lee (1979), Kamel (1980), Weinberg & Falk (1980) and Weinberg, Williams, & Moser (1984). Issues concerning the categorization of the respondents into appropriate S&M sex role types are also discussed.

Gender Identity↗