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Biomedical subjects

S Frankel

Publications and source records attributed to S Frankel.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Lay epidemiology and the rationality of responses to health education.

Health education has long been seen as an important component of primary care, and under the new contract has become routine. It is important to consider the likely impact of general practitioners' endeavours in the light of the experience of health education to date. Despite decades of efforts directed towards reducing the population's adherence to practices deemed harmful to health, it must be acknowledged that the impact of such activity has been disappointing. This paper considers some cultural origins of public scepticism to health education messages, and argues for a more balanced presentation of current knowledge concerning the causes of disease and the probability that individuals will benefit by changing their behaviour.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1990

Expression of actin in Escherichia coli. Aggregation, solubilization, and functional analysis.

Wild type Dictyostelium discoideum actin (42 kDa) and a truncated form of actin were expressed in Escherichia coli. Amino-terminal sequencing indicated that the truncated species was composed of two peptides, which were the result of internal translation initiation at Met-119 and Met-123. After sonication or French press lysis, all of the actin was present in highly insoluble aggregates. When bacteria were lysed directly into Sarkosyl detergent, most of the actin was soluble, and greater than 50% remained soluble after Sarkosyl was removed. Full-length wild type actin was purified using DNase I affinity chromatography and gel filtration. This species was able both to polymerize and to bind myosin in an ATP-sensitive manner, indicating it was native. Affinity chromatography demonstrated that the truncated form of actin bound DNase I to the same extent as actin synthesized in eukaryotes, indicating the applicability of this approach to mutant forms of actin. Thus, lysis procedures utilizing Sarkosyl may prove useful in isolating some of the other proteins which are normally soluble but become insoluble after bacterial expression.

Actins↗
PubMed1990

Assessing the need for hospice beds.

This paper considers means for determining the level of hospice provision that might be appropriate for particular populations. An analysis of the need for hospice beds is described, and the findings are assessed in relation to the subsequent experience of hospice utilisation. Finally, the implications for hospice provision are discussed.

Catchment Area, Health↗
PubMed1989

Non-admission or non-invitation? A case-control study of failed admissions.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the causes of non-admission to hospital. DESIGN: Validation of published rates of non-admission by examination of medical records, followed by a case-control study of non-attenders (cases) and attenders (controls). SETTING: General hospital. SUBJECTS: 246 Patients (cases in the case-control study) booked for admissions in four specialties (general surgery, gynaecology, otorhinolaryngology, and trauma and orthopaedics) during April, May, and June 1987 who were not admitted for reasons that seemed to be attributable to the patients. Controls comprised 167 patients admitted to the same specialty on the same day. RESULTS: The validation of administrative records indicated that it is unusual for patients to fail to present for admission without advising the hospital beforehand; this occurred in only 1-3% of all bookings. Information on the circumstances of non-admission and clinical and personal details were collected by means of a six page questionnaire completed by the patients. The case-control study showed that those not admitted were younger and had been on the waiting list longer. Otherwise only small differences were found in the social and clinical characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a common tendency to blame patients for non-admission, factors due to patients are fairly unimportant.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1989

Non-attendance or non-invitation? A case-control study of failed outpatient appointments.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the causes of non-attendance at new outpatient appointments. DESIGN: Case-control study of non-attenders and attenders. SETTING: Outpatient department of a general hospital. SUBJECTS: All non-attenders (n = 277) for first outpatient appointments in six specialties during a three month period were included. Controls (n = 135) were the attenders who followed every second non-attender; thus they attended the same consultant on the same day that the non-attenders were expected. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Information on the clinical problem, difficulties in attending the hospital, and reasons for non-attendance from the questionnaire were coded and classified. Non-attenders had received shorter notice of their appointment than attenders (14% v 1% had received three days' notice or less). There were small differences in the seriousness of patients' clinical condition. CONCLUSIONS: Client factors are less important than aspects of the service in explaining non-attendance at outpatient appointments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

The natural history of waiting lists--some wider explanations for an unnecessary problem.

The examination of waiting list statistics suggests that long waiting times have at most a tenuous relationship with any lack of NHS resources. Long waiting times offer strong evidence that NHS resources are not allocated rationally in that the conditions whose relative neglect is expressed in waiting lists are those conditions where clear benefits are likely to follow comparatively cheap treatments. This article offers two wider explanations for the fact that this seemingly irrational picture has continued largely unchanged since the inception of the NHS, and is still effectively tolerated. The first concerns public responses to the waiting list conditions, and the second concerns professional priorities. 'He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts--for support rather than illumination.' Andrew Lang.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1986

Carbonic anhydrase: a marker for the erythroid phenotype in acute nonlymphocytic leukemia.

Protein markers are often used to corroborate the morphological subtyping of hematopoietic malignancy. Most commonly, surface markers are used for the phenotyping of hematopoietic cells; however, internal proteins have also been used as markers. Glycophorin, hemoglobin A, hemoglobin F, and transferrin have all been used as markers for the erythroid phenotype. We have recently shown that carbonic anhydrase is constitutively and aberrantly expressed in two erythroleukemic cell lines. We here show that it is also present in high levels in primary erythroleukemic blasts and that it is a useful marker for the M6 phenotype when classifying acute nonlymphocytic leukemia.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1985

Social and cultural aspects of family planning programmes.

In all societies fertility is an important issue imbedded within a specific cultural framework. Changes in fertility rates, in particular, where these are intended to be brought about by family planning programmes, require sensitive understanding of the interactions of belief, social organization and individual choice. The anthropological method of inquiry is very useful in this regard and is here illustrated in a study of family planning among the Huli of the Southern Highlands.

Attitude↗
PubMed1984

Peripheral health workers are central to primary health care: lessons from Papua New Guinea's aid posts.

This paper examines the nature of the service offered by Papua New Guinea's primary health workers and analyses the factors that influence their performance. The structural position of these peripheral health workers in the health care system set limits to the effectiveness of current Health Department policy in determining the quality and availability of local services. Instead a variety of factors are found to be important. These include the individual attributes of health workers, the expectations that their clients have of them, local priorities in health, the relationship between attitudes to health and illness and the perceived value of Western medicine, and aspects of local social organization. The implications for policy of the findings are discussed.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed1984

Sterile Corvac silicone gel tubes: efficacy and storage capabilities.

The storage capability of the sterile Corvac silicone gel tube as a specimen collection device is evaluated. Sera collected and stored in sterile Corvac silicone gel tubes were compared with control specimens collected in regular Monoject tubes and transferred to new Monoject tubes for storage. Sera for the efficacy tests were transferred from both the gel tube and the control tube without concern for storage. Sixty-seven analytes were compared, 20 of which were included in the storage portion. Only glucose, potassium, carbon dioxide, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, and lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH) were statistically different in the storage experiment and amylase, T-3 uptake, folates, HDL, and again LDH by another method, were statistically different in the efficacy experiment. These evaluations determine the validity of storing specimens in this manner for reanalysis or additional analyses.

Blood Glucose↗