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Practical mastitis control in the field.

Research has shown the effectiveness of teat dipping and medically treating all nonlactating cows to control mastitis. However, there is a problem of getting dairy-men to accept the program. Improved educational programs might be helpful. Some means of visual evaluation is essential to acceptance. Use of indirect tests for estimating cell content can be helpful in evaluating control efforts and in demonstrating results. More intense coordinated effort by professional persons advising dairy-men is necessary.

Animals

Serum ferritin and stool occult blood and colon cancer screening.

A group of 531 participants age 50 years or older were evaluated for colonic polyps and malignancy with stool occult blood testing, hemoglobin, hematocrit, serum ferritin, flexible fiberoptic sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy. Screening revealed 1 colorectal cancer, 2 malignant polyps, 30 hyperplastic polyps, 69 adenomatous polyps, 4 villous adenomas, and 2 villous components. Low serum ferritin, an indicator of iron deficiency without anemia, improved the detection of colonic malignancies and polyps when used in combination with stool occult blood testing. The program was acceptable to participants and attrition was low; the attrition rate for the screening program at 1 year was 14.5%.

Anemia

A multi-hospital hepatitis B vaccine program: prevalence of antibody and acceptance of vaccination among high-risk hospital employees.

In July 1982, five Hartford hospitals embarked on a joint hospital-sponsored program to immunize high-risk employees against hepatitis B virus (HBV). The program included a questionnaire to characterize relative risk, serology for anti-HBs, vaccination and a follow-up survey of vaccine non-recipients. Of 2,065 employees who were considered to be at high-risk for infection with HBV, 1,894 (91.7%) responded to the screening questionnaire and 1,279 (67.5%) were tested for anti-HBs serology. The prevalence of antibody varied from hospital to hospital; the highest prevalence (10.9%) was observed at one of the urban university-affiliated community hospitals and the lowest prevalence (4.1%) was reported from the smaller, rural hospital. The prevalence of antibody also varied greatly within the high-risk groups; the highest prevalence of antibody was seen among surgical house officers (15%). The rate of acceptance of vaccine among hospitals ranged from 57.5% to 23.7%. Reasons for vaccine non-acceptance included fear of as yet unknown side effects, perceived low risk of hepatitis acquisition and possible effects on present or future pregnancies. Our experience illustrates some of the epidemiologic and practical aspects that must be addressed in administering a hospital-based HBV vaccine program. Among the five hospitals, we saw marked inter- and intra-hospital variations in the prevalence of anti-HBs among high-risk employees. More significantly, we observed unexpectedly low rates of vaccine acceptance among high-risk personnel.

Attitude of Health Personnel

Factors related to medical school application and acceptance in minority summer enrichment program students.

Baylor College of Medicine has conducted a summer enrichment program for minority/disadvantaged premedical students since 1969. Follow-up data on medical school application and acceptance for participants from 1980 through 1984 were analyzed in relation to selected preprogram variables--cumulative college grade point average, total Scholastic Aptitude Test score, competitiveness of undergraduate college, sex, and ethnicity. Results of univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that: 1) females were significantly less likely to apply to medical school than males, 2) females had significantly lower mean MCAT scores (5.9 vs 7.2) even though their preprogram academic performance was comparable to that of the males, and 3) after controlling for MCAT scores, none of the preprogram variables were significant in predicting medical school acceptance. These findings suggest the need for research to explain the discrepancy between male and female MCAT performance and frequency of medical school application in summer program participants. The findings also have implications for the type of counseling provided to female participants in summer enrichment programs.

College Admission Test

Computer applications in thermoregulatory research.

Thermoregulatory information is a frequently used parameter in both physiological and psychophysiological research. Specific software programs using accepted formulae are not readily available to the scientist as is the hardware. The program described here uses the well-established physiological model by Burton, calculating mean skin temperature and mean body temperature. The primary goal of this microsoft Basic program is to aid the researcher through speed of execution and quantitative reliability. A few command alterations will allow this program to be used with most microcomputer systems currently available. The time saved using this program will greatly enhance the efficiency of the researcher's thermoregulatory data analyses.

Body Temperature

Calculator programs to deal with non-steady state, multiple dosage regimen clinical pharmacokinetics.

Serum drug levels have become a useful tool in the optimization of dosage requirements for several therapeutically important drugs. In the acute care situation the interpretation of these levels is complicated by multiple dosage regimens and inadequate time to achieve steady-state serum drug levels. Mathematical equations describing first order single compartment pharmacokinetics have been compiled. An alpha-numeric programmable calculator has been programmed to accept information regarding up to seven different serial dosage regimens. The calculator is also programmed to predict concentrations at any time during a complex set of dosage regimens or peak, trough, and average concentrations given a maintenance dosage regimen. Examples are given to demonstrate the usefulness of the programs in the clinical setting.

Aged

The role of exercise therapy in patients with impaired ventricular function and chronic heart failure.

Physical training as a part of a comprehensive cardiac care program is accepted as an effective therapeutic modality. The physiological and psychological benefits of such a program have definitely been demonstrated in selected patients with coronary artery disease, but there is still some doubt about the influence of exercise therapy on morbidity and mortality. Recently, exercise training has also been instituted as part of the therapeutic regimen of groups of coronary patients who have impaired cardiac function or who suffer from chronic heart failure. If patients have been selected properly, taking into account absolute and relative contraindications, no deteriorating effect as a consequence of training has been observed in a follow-up period of 14 months. In some selected patients, an increased ejection fraction was found during the training. The results of our preliminary studies are reported and discussed, as is a special training method based on arm ergometry and applied to patients with impaired ventricular function. Clinicians are often concerned with the quality of life of their patients who have chronic cardiac conditions. In our experience, exercise therapy has beneficial effects on various psychological factors and determinants of the "quality of survival" in these patients. It still remains to be demonstrated whether a prolonged and effective exercise therapy can preserve or maintain patterns of an adaptive mechanism to exercise in patients with left ventricular dysfunction or chronic heart failure, or both.

Chronic Disease

PCS-I--a point counting stereology program for cell biology.

PCS-I is a versatile BASIC program designed to collect and process stereological point counting data from electron micrographs of cells. The program can accept the point counts from three sources: (i) a set of user-definable keys programmed as counters; (ii) a numeric pad that enters counts line by line; and (iii) a data tape cartridge. The program calls for all the information needed to solve stereological equations and then helps the user to interpret the suitability of the sample size by drawing error curves. The coefficients of the stereological equations and the output headings can be readily modified to accommodate a new set of experimental parameters, which gives a substantial amount of flexibility to the program. PCS-I is easy to use and offers a practical solution to the problem of data management for biological stereology.

Cell Biology

Kappa Delta Award paper. Osteoregulatory nature of mechanical stimuli: function as a determinant for adaptive remodeling in bone.

The capacity for functional adaptation within the skeleton was studied using the functionally isolated turkey ulna preparation. The results of this study would suggest that adaptive bone remodeling is extremely sensitive to alterations in both the magnitude and distribution of the strain generated within the bone tissue. At present, it appears that a loading regime can only influence bone remodeling when it is dynamic in nature. The full osteogenic potential of its influence is then achieved after only an extremely short exposure to this stimulus. The potency of the stimulus appears to be proportional to the magnitude of the strain engendered. As strain levels that are acceptable in one location induce adaptive remodeling in others, it would appear that each region of each bone is "genetically programmed" to accept a particular amount and pattern of intermittent strain as "normal." Deviation from this "optimal strain environment" will stimulate changes in the bone's remodeling balance, resulting in adaptive increases or decreases in its mass.

Adaptation, Physiological

Adequacy and effectiveness of a public dental care program for old-age pensioners.

The purpose of the present work was to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of a public dental program for old-age pensioners. The dental care program offered free consultation and treatment at reduced prices to all pensioners (3072) in a municipality near Oslo in 1979. To study treatment need and access to dental care, a random sample of 430 pensioners was drawn from the total population of old-age pensioners; 371 persons were clinically examined. Of the 3072 old-age pensioners 23.7% responded positively and indicated that they were interested in the program, whereas 19.8% accepted, and 14.6% had the treatment carried out. The program adequacy was low and became lower when more restricted criteria for access to dental services were used. The program effectiveness was 18% or 16%, depending on which criteria were used for access. Acceptance of the program was highest among people who were aware of it, had natural teeth, had a dental problem, did not have their own dentist, had limited education, or were among the young pensioners.

Aged

The calculation of sedimentation coefficients in vertical rotors.

A program for the calculation of sedimentation coefficients of molecules centrifuged in sucrose in vertical rotors has been developed. The program has been tested with both protein and RNA of known sedimentation coefficients. The program can accept any shape of gradient in the range 0-70% sucrose and any temperature in the range of 0-60% C. The program can be used with any vertical rotor for which the dimensions are known.

Catalase

Treatment of advanced untreated Hodgkin's disease with SCAB--an alternative to MOPP.

SCAB chemotherapy streptozocin (streptozotocin) lomustine (CCNU), doxorubicin hydrochloride (Adriamycin), and bleomycin sulfate was given in monthly courses to 20 patients with Stages IIIB, IVA, and IVB previously untreated Hodgkin's disease. Complete remissions were obtained in 15 (75%) of these patients, and partial remissions in two others. Toxicity of this program was acceptable. Although this study was not a direct comparison with MOPP, SCAB would appear to be at least as effective as MOPP and offers a reasonable alternative program for the patient with advanced stage, previously untreated Hodgkin's disease.

Adult

Prospective computerized simulation of breast cancer: comparison of computer predictions with nine sets of biological and clinical data.

A computer program which accepts clinically relevant information can be used to predict breast cancer growth, response to chemotherapy, and disease-free survival. The computer output is patient individualized because the program is highly iterative and simulates up to 2500 patients with exactly the same clinical presentation. Computer predictions have been compared to a broad spectrum of breast cancer data, and a high degree of correlation has been established. There are numerous significant clinical implications which can be derived from the computer model. Among these are the following. (a) Breast cancer tumors do not grow continuously but may have up to five growth plateaus each lasting from a small fraction of a year up to approximately 8 yr. (b) Adjuvant chemotherapy, such as 6-mo treatment with cyclophosphamide-methotrexate-5-fluorouracil, does not eradicate tumors but just reduces the number of viable cells by a factor of 10 to 100 and sets the eventual growth back by several years. This may partially explain why the age-adjusted death rate from breast cancer has not changed in the past 50 yr. (c) The computer model challenges the underlying principles in support of short-term intensive adjuvant chemotherapy, namely Gompertzian kinetics and genetically acquired tumor resistance to drugs. (d) The computer model questions the evidence opposing long-term maintenance chemotherapy protocols and suggests that maintenance protocols should be reexamined.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols

The long term benefits of a comprehensive teenage pregnancy program.

A comprehensive program was founded in 1982 to provide adolescents with prenatal and family planning care. The program's impact through its first five years of operation on medical aspects of pregnancy course and fetal outcome will be the subject of a separate report. This study examines subsequent maternal and infant health of the patients attending the program compared to a control group. Four hundred ninety-eight adolescents and their newborns attending the program's mother-baby family planning clinic from 1982 to 1989 (subject group) were compared to ninety-one adolescents and their newborns receiving postpartum family planning and pediatrics clinics from 1980 through 1989 (control group). Seventy-five percent of the subject group regularly attended mother-baby clinic, compared to 18% of the control group attending family planning and pediatric clinics (P less than or equal to .0001). The subject group experienced less maternal and infant morbidity, greater school attendance, graduation, employment, and contraceptive use than the control group (P less than or equal to .0001). Many parameters improved with each program year indicating continued wide acceptance of our program by area adolescents.

Adolescent

A method for determining the positions of polar hydrogens added to a protein structure that maximizes protein hydrogen bonding.

An automated method for the optimal placement of polar hydrogens in a protein structure is described. This method treats the polar, side chain hydrogens of lysine, serine, threonine, and tyrosine and the amino terminus of a protein. The program, called NETWORK, divides the potential hydrogen-bonding pairs of a protein into groups of interacting donors and acceptors. A search is conducted on each of the local groups to find an arrangement which forms the most hydrogen bonds. If two or more arrangements have the same number of hydrogen bonds, the arrangement with the shortest set of hydrogen bonds is selected. The polar hydrogens of the histidyl side chain are specifically treated, and the ionization state of this residue is allowed to change, if this change results in additional hydrogen bonds for the local group. The program will accept Protein Data Bank as well as Biosym-format coordinate files. Input and output routines can be easily modified to accept other coordinate file formats. The predictions from this method are compared to known hydrogen positions for bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, insulin, RNase-A, and trypsin for which the neutron diffraction structures have been determined. The usefulness of this program is further demonstrated by a comparison of molecular dynamics simulations for the enzyme cytochrome P-450cam with and without using NETWORK.

Animals

An in-training examination for residents in family practice.

An in-training examination for family practice residents has been developed and used in a regional network residency program over the past three years. The most striking result has been the strong preference expressed by residents for question-specific feedback in order to facilitate learning after taking the examination. A well-designed in-training examination has the potential to meet both individual resident and program goals as an additional measure of resident performance and growth, as well as of the effectiveness of teaching in the various curricular areas. In-training examinations for residents are in use by 12 other specialties in medicine, and have been well-accepted by program directors and residents. A nationally-sponsored in-training examination for family practice residents is needed which includes maximal teaching capability through comprehensive and specific feedback.

California

Economic aspects of clinical decision making: evaluating clinical programs.

The importance of program evaluation is discussed, and issues to consider when designing and conducting program evaluations in the restructuring health-care environment are identified. Program evaluation is carried out for the purpose of supporting specific decisions for individual organizations. Unlike scientific research, program evaluation accepts time as a constraint, and its audience is composed of managers. Considering the likelihood of being fixed-dollar contractors or employees in an era of managed care, professionals must try to understand the cost objectives of management; similarly, managers must understand the patient-care objectives of professionals. Program evaluation can help provide the necessary documentation of a program's impact on the outcome of health care, which influences the total cost of care. Successful program evaluation requires careful planning, and issues related to six steps in the planning process are described: defining the objective of the evaluation, choosing and defining the program to be evaluated, choosing indicator variables, designing the evaluation, presenting the results, and planning follow-through. While program evaluation is too often understood in negative terms, particularly as something done because of external pressure, it is as much a part of management as is directing day-to-day operations or developing a long-range plan.

Decision Making