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Biomedical subjects

W P Jones

Publications and source records attributed to W P Jones.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Family beliefs among adolescents at risk for substance abuse.

This study investigates the extent to which adolescents identified as at-risk for substance abuse express different beliefs about the importance of family, religiosity, education, and work in comparison to their own parents and to adolescents and parents in control group. It was hypothesized that the success of parents in communicating such values to their children could be a significant variable in risk of substance abuse. We found that parents of at-risk adolescents did not hold significantly different beliefs than parents in the control group. Beliefs of the at-risk adolescents were significantly different from other adolescents and both parent groups. We also found that the absolute difference in age between parent and adolescent significantly smaller in the at-risk group as compared to the control group.

Adolescent

Response of health care to selection for milk yield of dairy cattle.

A selection experiment began during 1964 to measure long-term responses to selection of dairy cattle based only on milk yield. An unselected control group of cows was maintained as part of the experimental design. The four highest sires for PTA milk that were available from active AI were mated each year to cows of all generations in the selection group. Expenses for veterinary treatment, health supplies, drugs, and labor of animal attendants were recorded for each cow and categorized as mastitis, udder, edema, locomotion, digestion, ketosis, milk fever, reproduction, respiration, and other. Cows studied were born from 1975 to 1990. Over the 16-yr period, 236 selection and 227 control cows were observed while lactating. Cows in the selection group had greater health expenses as a correlated response to increased milk yield than did unselected controls. Lactational difference for genetic groups was $28.22 from an analysis of only first lactations and $49.44 from an analysis across parities. Expenses for mastitis accounted for most of the difference between genetic groups. Most health expense occurred during the first 20 d postpartum and increased for cows with successive lactations. During the 16-yr period, expense for selection cows increased more than for controls for reproduction, digestion, and ketosis, but not mastitis, udder (nonmastitis), edema, locomotion, milk fever, respiration, and other categories. Separate analyses of heifers from birth to initial calving and of dry cows provided little evidence of differences for genetic groups during nonlactating stages of life.

Animal Husbandry

CT arterial portography: causes of technical failure and variable liver enhancement.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the causes of technical failure and enhancement variability encountered during CT arterial portography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CT arterial portograms and digital arteriograms were obtained via the superior mesenteric artery before partial liver resection in 43 patients with malignant tumors. These studies were reviewed for causes of technical failure and variable enhancement. RESULTS: Eleven (26%) of 43 procedures were technical failures. Causes of failure included aortic injection after catheter dislodgement (four), dense hyperenhancement associated with laminar flow in the portal vein produced by rapid venous return from a selective injection into a proximal branch vessel of the superior mesenteric artery (two), premature scanning beginning at the iliac crest (two), reflux into a replaced right hepatic artery (one), hepatic arterial enhancement via the pancreaticoduodenal arcade (one), and portal hypertension (one). Of the 32 remaining studies, 28 showed areas of parenchymal hypoenhancement or hyperenhancement. Causes of variable enhancement included impaired portal vein perfusion from mass effect of the tumor, laminar flow in the portal vein, and focal fatty infiltration. CONCLUSION: Technical failures and enhancement variability are common in CT arterial portography. Factors leading to technical failure include catheter choice and position, portal hypertension, and operator error.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular

Relationship between career age and research productivity for academic dentists.

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effects of aging (career age) and research performance for full-time clinical dental faculty. The 489 respondents represented a response rate of 71.3% from a 40% stratified random sample of faculty. Respondents reported a mean number of years in full-time dental education of 10.7 (range = 1 to 45, SD = 7.7) and mean number of career publications of 11.1 (range = 0 to 110, SD = 15.2). A significant positive association of career age and life-time research productivity was observed. A significant positive association of career age and mean two-year research productivity was also noted. Implications of the findings were discussed with respect to similar studies reported for other academic disciplines.

Achievement

Venous hemangioma of the gallbladder.

An 11-year-old girl presenting with right upper quadrant abdominal pain was found to have a venous hemangioma of the posterior wall of the gallbladder. Radiographic, ultrasonographic, and angiographic findings of this entity, along with a review of the literature, are presented.

Calcinosis

Aortopulmonary window lesions: detection with chest radiography.

A retrospective morphologic study of 80 cases was undertaken to determine factors affecting detectability of computed tomographically (CT) proved aortopulmonary (AP) window lesions on conventional posteroanterior (PA) and lateral chest radiographs. Criteria used for determining abnormality were: solitary lymph node enlargement over 1.5 cm or three or more 1-cm nodes and obvious large masses or vascular anomalies. CT scans and corresponding PA and lateral radiographs were analyzed for lesion detectability, size, and location. In 49% of cases there was no detectable lesion in the AP window on radiographs; a definite AP window lesion was seen in 41%, and 10% were equivocal. Major contributing factors to low detectability of AP window lesions on radiographs include size and, more important, location of the lesion. An additional 45 cases of CT-proved normal AP windows were retrospectively reviewed to determine the false-positive rate of PA and lateral radiographs in detection of AP window lesions: 43 (96%) were classified as negative, the remaining two (4%) as equivocal. Although the AP window is a small space, it is the site of many pathologic conditions; the study results indicate that CT may be an essential procedure for its evaluation.

Adult

Dense liver in a 72-year-old woman with congestive heart failure.

Amiodarone is a cardiac antiarrhythmic agent now undergoing clinical trials in the United States. Its most important side effect is pulmonary toxicity, which may present radiographically in two forms. One is similar to eosinophilic pneumonia with peripheral alveolar opacities but without any of the laboratory or pathologic findings. A second presentation is as a bilateral interstitial pattern resembling interstitial pulmonary edema. This is often mistaken for heart failure in the clinical and radiographic setting. Amiodarone also causes a phospholipidosis of the liver, which is usually asymptomatic but on occasion may present as hepatitis. On abdominal CT the liver will have an abnormally high attenuation (80-140 HU), which appears to be due to accumulation of an amiodarone metabolite in hepatocytes. This appearance is usually distinguishable from the other causes of increased hepatic attenuation by virtue of other CT criteria and clinical history. However, from a radiographic standpoint alone, the combination of acute congestive heart failure and an abnormally dense liver may result in at least an initial misdiagnosis of advanced primary hemochromatosis.

Aged

Selecting and maintaining a supported office computer system.

Many costly errors can be made in selecting an in-office computer system. When selecting a system, several guidelines should be followed carefully: A professional computer consultant perhaps should be considered, depending on your level of experience and knowledge of computers. Look specifically at what you want your hardware and software to do, for this will determine the size and character of your system. Evaluate the size and potential size of your practice, as this will also determine the size and expansion capabilities of your system. Carefully evaluate your hardware and software for reputation, system support, maintenance costs, flexibility, and expandability. Carefully evaluate your cost/benefit ratio: is it worth your money to buy a computer in the first place? When evaluating the costs, don't forget the many hidden costs that may be present, in addition to the hardware/software purchase price. Computers will serve you well in the practice and business of medicine. However, in this rapidly changing technologic/informational field, the key words are knowledge and caution.

Computers