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Biomedical subjects

R Norton

Publications and source records attributed to R Norton.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Child passenger fatalities and restraint use in Auckland.

AIMS: To determine the proportion of children killed as passengers in car crashes who were unrestrained and to estimate the reduction in mortality that might result from increasing child restraint utilisation. METHODS: All children killed as passengers in car crashes, over the period 1980-90, were identified from the Auckland coroners records. Data were recorded on sex, age, use and type of restraint, position within the motor vehicle, pattern of injuries and place of death. RESULTS: There were 49 children (25 male, 24 female) killed as passengers in car crashes over the study period (2.14/100,000/year). The median age was eight years (range 0-14 years). Of the 38 children for whom restraint use could be determined, 31 (81.6%) were unrestrained and seven (18.4%) were restrained. None of the children aged 0-2 years were restrained. Thirty-five children (71.4%) died at the scene of the crash, three (6.2%) died during transport to hospital, and 11 (22.4%) died in hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Based on overseas reports of the efficacy of child restraints, close to half (49%) of all child passenger deaths in Auckland could have been prevented with appropriate child restraint use.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1992

Child pedestrian injury 1978-87.

OBJECTS: to report the incidence of child pedestrian injury in New Zealand and review prevention strategies. METHODS: examination of National Health Statistics Centre mortality and public hospital morbidity data from 1978-87. RESULTS: over the ten year period, there was an annual average of 30 deaths (3.6/100,000 per year) and 411 hospitalisations (49.4/100,000 per year) for child pedestrian injury. There has been no significant reduction in the fatality or hospital morbidity rate over this time. Pedestrian fatality rates are highest for boys and for children in the youngest age groups. Hospitalisation rates are over 2.5 times higher for Maori children than for nonMaori children. CONCLUSIONS: child pedestrian injury is an important public health problem in New Zealand for which there are few established prevention strategies. Controlled studies aimed at the identification of modifiable environmental factors are required.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1992

Smoking, nicotine dose and the lateralisation of electrocortical activity.

The effects of cigarette smoking on the balance of activity of the cerebral hemispheres were studied in two experiments. Experiment 1 examined the effects of smoking on lateralisation of EEG alpha and beta power in six male smokers, and revealed a dose-related biphasic action. Low doses of nicotine as measured by residual butt analysis increased left hemisphere activity in a dose related manner, while higher doses (greater than 1.1 mg) reversed this effect. Experiment 2 examined the time course of the changes in EEG alpha, beta, theta and delta lateralisation in 11 male smokers. During the initial period of smoking there was a reduction in EEG alpha, reflecting cortical activation, followed by an increased in alpha power towards the end of the cigarette. These changes were accompanied in smokers taking moderate nicotine doses, by an initial shift towards left hemisphere activation, followed by a reduction in left hemisphere activation relative to the right. Initial changes in delta and theta power were negatively correlated with nicotine dose. Higher nicotine doses were associated with greater shifts towards right hemisphere activation, as indicated by beta and delta lateralisation, and also with greater decreases in subjective arousal. These results were interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that the stimulant action of lower doses of nicotine involves the activation of a left hemisphere "Go" system, while the sedative effect of higher doses involves increased activation of the right hemisphere "NoGo" system.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Relationship between CNV asymmetries and individual differences in cognitive performance, personality and gender.

This study used verbal and spatial variants of a cognitive 'match/mismatch' paradigm to explore relationships between functional brain asymmetries and individual differences in cognitive performance, personality and gender. Contingent negative variation (CNV) elicited in the 'match/mismatch' paradigm was recorded from central (Cz, C3 and C4) derivations in two male and one female samples. Results indicated gender differences in both the degree and direction of CNV asymmetries. Males showed a left hemisphere asymmetry in the verbal task and a right hemisphere asymmetry in the spatial task, with significant laterality (C3-C4) differences between tasks across the foreperiod. Females showed a left hemisphere asymmetry in both tasks with laterality differences between tasks confined to the early part of the foreperiod. CNV amplitude in the verbal task correlated with verbal memory performance and verbal I.Q. CNV amplitude in the spatial task correlated with visuospatial memory performance. Social extraversion was associated with greater left-hemisphere asymmetry in both tasks, while behavioural extraversion was associated with left-hemisphere asymmetry in the verbal task only, and with smaller verbal than spatial CNVs.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

An area analysis of child injury morbidity in Auckland.

The geographical distribution of child injury morbidity in Auckland between 1982 and 1987 was examined. Analysis of total injury, pedestrian injury and vehicle occupant injury, with the census area unit as the basic spatial entity revealed distinct variations in child injury morbidity by census area unit. Morbidity rates were above average in parts of the central urban area and South Auckland and below average on the North Shore. Total injury morbidity and pedestrian injury morbidity rates were strongly correlated with census area unit unemployment rates, which were used as a measure of socio-economic deprivation. Geographical areas with high rates of child injury morbidity, to which injury prevention resources can be directed, were identified. In particular, the results suggest that injury prevention programmes should be targeted at socio-economically disadvantaged communities.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1991

Critical injuries in paediatric pedestrians.

Data are presented on all sixty-four children who were injured as pedestrians and admitted to the department of critical care medicine, Auckland Hospital over a four year period. Median age was six years, with a male:female ratio of 1.6:1.0. Admission rates were 3.1 and 3.0 times higher for Maori and Pacific Island children, respectively, than for children of European origin. Fifty-two percent of injuries occurred between 3 pm and 7 pm. Median injury severity score (ISS) was 29, and 95% of patients had an ISS of 16 or more. Life threatening injuries were most commonly to the head, whilst less severe injuries, commonly fractures, were to the limbs. The combination of head and lower limb injury was seen in 53% of patients. Twenty-nine patients had 34 operative procedures: 16 orthopaedic, six neurosurgical, four laparotomies and eight wound debridement and closure. Eighty-one percent of the patients received ventilatory support and nine patients (14%) died, all from brain injuries. Pedestrian injury is an important child health problem in New Zealand and studies aimed at the identification of factors that place children at risk for these injuries are needed.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1991

Optical biosensor assay (OBA).

We describe a new biosensor immunoassay involving optical diffraction to detect clinically important analytes in human body fluids. A silicon wafer is used as a support for immobilization of antigen or antibody. The protein-coated surface is illuminated through a photo mask to create distinct periodic areas of active and inactive protein. When the surface is incubated with a positive sample, antigen-antibody binding occurs only on the active areas. Upon illumination with a light source such as a laser, the resulting biological diffraction grating diffracts the light. A negative sample does not result in diffraction because no antigen-antibody binding occurs to create the diffraction grating. The presence or absence of a diffraction signal differentiates between positive and negative samples, and the intensity of the signal provides a quantitative measure of the analyte concentration. The technique is demonstrated with a quantitative assay of choriogonadotropin in serum.

Biosensing Techniques↗
PubMed1990

Sudden death in young Aboriginal adults with rheumatic heart disease.

A retrospective review for the period 1983 to 1988 was made of all sudden deaths in young Aboriginal adults from the Darwin and East Arnhem regions who had known rheumatic heart disease. A total of five cases was identified from autopsy reports. The age range was between 16 and 35 years. All were being treated for asymptomatic heart disease (grade I). The sudden, unexpected death in each of these patients resulted in their deaths all being reported to the coroner. In all cases there was no evidence at autopsy of significant coronary artery disease or bacterial endocarditis. All had evidence of rheumatic valvular heart disease affecting either one or both mitral and aortic valves to varying degrees. No other cause of death was found. This report serves to illustrate the fact that rheumatic heart disease is still a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality in Aborigines, and that while the usual picture of progressive deterioration in exercise tolerance may be the norm, sudden death without any apparent preceding symptomatology can occur.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Patients who initially refuse prehospital evaluation and/or therapy.

The authors performed a retrospective descriptive and analytical cohort study of prehospital patient initial refusal of care (PIRC) cases to characterize the types of patients encountered and to assess factors associated with their dispositions. During a 6-month period, 169 of 1715 (9.9%) base station calls in an urban emergency medical service (EMS) system were for physician involvement in a PIRC. Patients' dispositions were as follows: left at scene against medical advice (53%); taken by ambulance to the hospital (28%); left with friend (13%); other disposition (5%). While police were called to the scene 41 times, they placed a "legal hold" on only 10 patients. Leaving the patient at the scene against medical advice was associated (logistic regression analysis; P less than .05) with the absence of the following factors: family on the scene and a police hold, and with the presence of the following factors: treated hypoglycemia, alcohol use, orientation, and normal speech. The development of statutes that allow police hold placement under the guidance of the base station physician may be necessary. Such statutes would aid transportation of a patient considered by EMS personnel to have impaired mental capacity that may limit the patient's ability to understand medical care decisions.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1990

The effect of base station contact on ambulance destination.

Concern has been raised that a single medical control base station serving a metropolitan area may preferentially divert ambulance patients to the base station hospital. Such concern may discourage the development of regional medical control systems. During the first six months of 1988, a retrospective cross-sectional analysis was made of all advanced life support (ALS) ambulance transports and all contacts to the single base station, known as Medical Resource Hospital (MRH). Destinations of all ALS ambulance calls dispatched through the county's 911 dispatch center were analyzed to determine whether the destinations were affected by MRH contact. There were 12,396 transports to 17 area hospitals with 1,272 (10.3%) of these requiring MRH contact. We hypothesized that if MRH contact did not affect destination, the proportion of all non-MRH ALS ambulance patients received by each hospital from the 911-dispatched group would equal the proportion of patients received by each hospital after MRH contact. Five hospitals received a statistically significant (P less than .003) different percentage of MRH contact patients than their proportion of 911-dispatched patients would have predicted. The three that received more were community hospitals in outlying areas. The remaining two were a large referral hospital and a smaller community hospital located in the urban area. The MRH hospital did not have a significantly different percentage of 911-dispatched patients after MRH contact. Similarly, destinations of specific ALS ambulances (two serving in the MRH ambulance catchment area and four in distant catchment areas) were evaluated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Ambulances↗
PubMed1989

The prediction of intrauterine growth retardation in remote area aboriginal women using serial fundal-symphysial height measurements.

A well recognised, simple and effective method of charting uterine growth by measuring the fundal-symphysial height serially was used in 3 tribal Aboriginal communities in East Arnhemland. A total of 34 women were followed with serial measurements using a nomogram derived from Quaranta et al. There were 7 births with recorded birth-weights of 2,500g or less (range 2,130g-2,500g). Six of these had serial fundal height measurements consistently at or below the 10th percentile. These 6 babies were also found to be small for gestational age. There were 13 births with recorded birth-weights between 2,500g-3,000g. Four of these babies had serial fundal height measurements at or below the 10th percentile and 3 of the 4 were small for gestational age. It is suggested that fundal-symphysial height measurements may be useful in the detection of intrauterine growth retardation, particularly in remote areas where there is a shortage of experienced medical personnel. It can be used by trained Health Workers and provides an objective record of antenatal progress.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Prevalence and patterns of combined alcohol and marijuana use.

The prevalence of combined alcohol and marijuana use in the U.S. population was determined from the 1982 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Past month use of both alcohol and marijuana was reported by 14% of men and 6% of women; in this group, occasional or more frequent use of these drugs in combination was reported by 79% of men and 67% of women. Among individuals aged 18-25 years, 24% of men and 12% of women reported using alcohol and marijuana in combination. More men than women and more individuals aged 18-25 and 26-34 compared with younger and older individuals used these drugs in combination.

Adolescent↗