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J Walsh

Publications and source records attributed to J Walsh.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

Pork barrel unbound?

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National Institutes of Health (U.S.)↗

Prevention of spinal cord injuries in Australia.

An Awareness and Prevention Team of five lecturers has been employed for 5 years funded by the Spinal Research Foundation at the Royal North Shore Hospital of Sydney, New South Wales. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the lecture programme in increasing knowledge and preventing the incidence of spinal cord injury was carried out to demonstrate the justification for continuing the Programme. This evaluation was achieved using a questionnaire designed for sample responses by school students in target age range. The questionnaires were distributed to 27 schools in five categories in order to obtain a spread of responses and a workable control group of schools which had not been visited by the Team. Results of 3823 questionnaires were tabulated and analysed by computer. The schools which had been visited by the Lecture Team showed both higher levels of knowledge on the structure of the spinal cord and effects of injury and also a more balanced attitude and awareness towards people requiring wheelchairs for mobility.

Adolescent↗

Behavioral and postural changes observed with use of adaptive seating by clients with multiple handicaps.

Adaptive seating devices (ASDs) are used in the treatment of children with multiple handicaps. This longitudinal study evaluated, through direct observation and parent-guardian assessment, the behavioral changes seen with the use of ASDs and programming. Nineteen individuals with multiple handicaps and developmental disabilities, aged 1 to 6 years, participated as subjects. Data were collected by a trained observer from eight on-site evaluations and from parent-guardian responses to a preequipment and postequipment questionnaire. Evaluations were made every six weeks, starting about three months before and ending about six months after receiving the seating devices. The activities observed were head control, controlled sitting posture, visual tracking, reach, and grasp. Rating scale data were analyzed using an analysis of variance and a Friedman's test. Other data were analyzed descriptively for frequencies and central tendencies. Sitting posture, head control, and grasp improved significantly. Parent perceptions of the equipment indicated that the chairs freed parents from the need to provide support for their children's activities of daily living, which enabled them to participate in other activities with the children and around the home.

Adolescent↗

The early fate of venous repair after civilian vascular trauma. A clinical, hemodynamic, and venographic assessment.

Repair of major venous injuries of the extremities has been advocated to improve limb salvage rates and to prevent the early and late sequelae of venous interruption. The contribution of venous repair to the surgical outcome remains controversial, however, in part because the fate of venous reconstruction has previously not been well defined. The current study was done to determine the early patency rate of venous repair, to compare the accuracy of various methods used to assess venous patency, and to analyze the relationship between early venous patency and surgical outcome. During a recent 27-month period, 36 patients with major extremity venous injuries were treated by venous reconstruction; 34 patients (94%) had an associated major arterial injury that also required repair. Venous repair was performed in the upper extremity (22%) as well as the lower extremity (78%) using various reconstructive methods, including lateral repair (17%), end-to-end anastomosis (11%), autogenous vein patching (25%), interposition autogenous vein grafting (42%), and panelled autogenous vein grafting (6%). After operation, venous repair patency was evaluated by clinical examination, impedence plethysmography, and Doppler ultrasonography, and contrast venography. There were no perioperative deaths in these 36 patients. The limb salvage rate was 100% and all 34 major arterial repairs were patent at the time of hospital discharge. Venography performed on the seventh postoperative day demonstrated that 14 venous repairs had thrombosed (39%) and that 22 had remained patent (61%). Local venous repair had a significantly lower thrombosis rate (21%) than those requiring interposition vein grafting (59%) (p less than 0.03). Compared with venography, the clinical evaluation was 67% accurate in the assessment of venous repair patency, and the noninvasive examination was 53% accurate. In conclusion, a substantial percentage of venous repairs will thrombose in the postoperative period, especially if interposition vein grafting is used. However, in this series limb salvage was not adversely influenced by an unexpectedly high rate of venous repair thrombosis. In addition, clinical evaluation and noninvasive testing did not provide an accurate assessment of venous patency after venous repair.

Adolescent↗

Nutritional support and measured energy expenditure of the child and adolescent with head injury.

Energy expenditure, nitrogen excretion, and serum protein levels were studied from the time of hospital admission until 2 weeks after severe head injury in eight adolescents and four children with peak 24-hour Glasgow Coma Scale scores ranging from 3 to 8. The mean measured energy expenditure (MEE) was 1.3 times Harris and Benedict's predicted value for energy expenditure. Seventy percent of the patients achieved caloric balance (MEE X 1.2) by 4 to 14 days after injury, but balance was not consistently maintained. Five of the 12 patients had intermittent diarrhea, and two had increased gastric residuals. In five patients fluid restrictions were imposed due to either the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone, pulmonary complications, or intracranial pressure complications. For the adolescents (aged 11 to 17 years) the mean calorie intake during the 1st week was 752 kcal/day and for the children (aged 2 to 5 years) it was 340 kcal/day. During the 2nd week the mean calorie intake for the adolescents was 1671 kcal/day and for the children was 691 kcal/day. Mean urinary nitrogen excretion was 307 mg/kg/day for the adolescents and 160 mg/kg/day for the children. The calculated mean nitrogen balance for the eight adolescents and the four younger children was -13.6 and -4.1, respectively. Mean albumin levels decreased from 2.9 gm/dl during the 1st week to 2.4 gm/dl during the 2nd week (normal 3.5 to 5.0 gm/dl). Mean total protein level during the 1st week was 5.4 gm/dl and increased to a mean of 6.0 gm/dl during the 2nd week (normal 6.0 to 7.8 gm/dl). Weight loss ranged from 2 to 26 lb during the 2-week period. From these studies it can be concluded that head injury in the child and adolescent induces a metabolic response that includes increased energy expenditure and decreased serum albumin levels similar to those observed for head-injured adults. Mean nitrogen excretion values are less than those in adults with a severe head injury.

Adolescent↗

The influence of radioiodination on the adsorption of IgG and serum albumin to polystyrene.

The adsorption of radioiodinated rabbit IgG and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to polystyrene tubes was investigated. Adsorption isotherms where the proportion of the protein bound was relatively constant over a range of intermediate protein concentrations, and where the proportion bound was protein dependent, were obtained. To investigate the effects of radioiodination, proteins labeled to give a wide range of substitution ratios (0.03 to 3.7 125I/protein molecule) were employed. While labeling did not appear to affect BSA adsorption, the kinetics of IgG binding were altered in a number of ways. The proportion bound in the concentration independent region was decreased even at substitution ratios less than or equal to 0.2. In addition, while all preparations of iodinated BSA, and IgG preparations with less than or equal to 1.6 125I/IgG, gave bimodal adsorption isotherms, with more heavily labeled IgG (greater than or equal to 2.5 125I/IgG) the apparent high affinity binding to the plastic surface was abolished. These results indicate that radioiodination substantially alters the kinetics of the binding of IgG to polystyrene. In addition, the results obtained are discussed with respect to previous relevant and often apparently contradictory findings.

Adsorption↗

Lymphokine-induced monocyte procoagulant activity is depressed in patients with advanced malignancies.

Fibrin deposition in the microenvironment of tumor cells may be critical to tumor growth and metastasis formation. Procoagulant activities of tumor cells themselves, or of infiltrating macrophages, activated by the host's immune system to the tumor, may both contribute to coagulopathies associated with metastases. Lymphokine (LK) supernatant activated procoagulant activity on normal peripheral blood monocytes but failed to induce activity on mononuclear cells from 18/22 patients with locally advanced or disseminated non-lymphoid tumors. Monocytes from the remaining patients had very low basal levels of MPCA and were less sensitive than normal cells to LK. Monocytes from 4 patients (3 with tumors with a high growth fraction) had extremely elevated levels of basal procoagulant activity, possibly due to maximal activation in vivo. Neither LK nor bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated procoagulant production of these cells. By contrast, cells from 8/13 patients produced procoagulant in response to LPS. This study indicated that monocyte function of patients with disseminated cancer is suppressed with respect to LK stimulation, but that cells with normal basal levels of MPCA respond to LPS. Preactivation of mononuclear procoagulant in vivo precluded subsequent stimulation by either LPS or LK.

Adenocarcinoma↗