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Biomedical subjects

A P Morton

Publications and source records attributed to A P Morton.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Patterns of treated non-melanoma skin cancer in Queensland--the region with the highest incidence rates in the world.

The incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer, comprising basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, was studied in Queensland during 1984. The world-standardised annual incidence rates (per 100,000 population) for the number of persons with non-melanoma skin cancer were estimated to be 1372 for men and 702 for women, the highest recorded incidence rates in the world. Rates in men were nearly double the rates in women and age-specific incidence rates increased curvilinearly with age. There were, on average, 1.4 skin cancers per person with non-melanoma skin cancer and the ratio of basal cell carcinomas to squamous cell carcinomas was approximately three to one. The age-standardised annual incidence rate (per 100,000 population) of basal cell carcinoma for residents of the Gold Coast was 1.83 times the Brisbane rate for men and 1.57 times that for women, indicating significant differences between the two regions. For squamous cell carcinoma the regional differences were not statistically significant. The average potential number of non-melanoma skin cancers (per person) treated during the lifetime of a cohort of 100,000 was estimated to be 0.014 for men and 0.009 for women by age 40. By age 65, these numbers increased to 0.22 for men and 0.11 for women. At age 90, these average numbers were 1.09 and 0.42, respectively. Although the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer is much higher in the older age groups, it should be kept in mind that it also affects the younger population; 1028 Queenslanders under 40 required treatment for 2300 non-melanoma skin cancers in 1984. This study which provides baseline information about the occurrence of non-melanoma skin cancer in Queensland emphasises the importance of developing safe sun-exposure habits, detecting non-melanoma skin cancer early and protecting and restoring the atmosphere.

Adolescent

Assessing agreement.

Formal evaluation of the ability of clinicians and researchers to agree, for example, on the clinical assessment of patients, increasingly is becoming important. Two measures of agreement, kappa and the intraclass correlation coefficient, are described and illustrated. The calculation of confidence intervals that correspond to these statistics by means of the "bootstrap" method also is discussed.

Analysis of Variance

Point estimates and confidence intervals for two-sample rank tests.

The editorial policy of most medical journals now requires authors to provide point estimates and confidence intervals in addition to P values. To compare data from two groups, the rank-sum test (for independent groups) and the signed-ranks test (for related groups) provide P values but do not give estimates for the size of the difference between the groups. Point estimates and confidence intervals, which were developed by Hodges and Lehmann, that correspond to these rank tests are described and illustrated.

Bronchitis

Tissue distribution of gallium following administration of the gallium-maltol complex in the rat: a model for an aluminium-maltol complex of neurotoxicological interest.

The intestinal absorption and subsequent tissue distribution of aluminium-maltol, a potentially neurotoxic complex found in foods, was investigated using gallium as a marker for aluminium. Gallium or gallium-maltol labelled with 67Ga was administered orally to rats. The amount of gallium in 'blood-free' tissues was measured by correcting for gallium in residual blood and an estimate of intestinal absorption was then made by summing the values for all tissues examined. In both the test (gallium-maltol dosed) and control (gallium only dosed) experiments absorption of gallium was significantly increased in the fasted state when compared with that of the fed animals. In fasted but not in fed animals, administration of gallium-maltol doubled the amount of gallium absorbed when compared with administration of gallium alone.

Aluminum

Elevated serum and antral gastrin in obese (ob/ob) mice.

Elevations in serum gastrin concentration of six to seven times were found in postabsorptive 5- and 10-wk-old, but not 30- and 40-wk-old, obese mice in comparison with the appropriate lean controls. At 10 wk of age a fourfold hypergastrinemia was also evident in (ob/ob) mice denied food for 48 h. In 10-wk-old (ob/ob) mice that had eaten the same amount of food as lean mice from weaning, serum gastrin was six times that of lean controls. Antral gastrin concentration was 54% higher in fed 10-wk-old (ob/ob) mice than in lean mice. No relationship was found between alterations in serum gastrin and measures of gastrointestinal size or proliferative status. Maximal gastric acid output, expressed with respect to oxyntic mucosal dry weight, was reduced by 52% in 10-wk-old (ob/ob) mice compared with lean controls. It is concluded that the hypergastrinemia of 10-wk-old (ob/ob) mice is not caused by hyperphagia, but may be a consequence of reduced acid inhibition of gastrin release.

Animals

Monosaccharide transport by the small intestine of lean and genetically obese (ob/ob) mice.

The effect of the obese (ob/ob) genotype on monosaccharide transport in mouse small intestine has been examined, using several different methodologies, at various stages in the development of the syndrome. Evidence for an elevation of the total capacity of the small intestine for monosaccharide transport was found at 10, 20 and 40 weeks of age in obese mice by comparison with lean controls, the difference being most prominent at 20 weeks of age after the hyperphagic phase of the syndrome had ceased. No substantial alteration in transport, expressed per gram dry weight of intestine, either from luminal perfusion studies or from measurements of the kinetics of influx across the brush border was found in adult obese mice compared with lean controls. It is concluded that, in obese mice, the increased capacity of the intestine for monosaccharide transport compared with lean mice was due to increases in the total intestinal dry weight, and in the intestinal dry weight per centimetre, and not to changes in carrier activity per unit dry weight of intestine.

Age Factors

Pulmonary oedema and chronic bronchitis associated with perioperative sepsis.

The relationship of pulmonary oedema and chronic bronchitis in perioperative septic patients has been examined. There is a close association. It appears likely that the reason for this association is a reduction of the pulmonary vascular capacity due to destructive changes, hypertrophy of muscle within the walls of blood vessels and widespread regional hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction.

Bronchitis

Transport of leucine by the small intestine of lean and genetically obese (ob/ob) mice.

Transport of leucine by the small intestine of obese (ob/ob) mice has been compared with that by intestine of lean controls at various stages in the development of the syndrome. At 10 weeks of age, when hyperphagia and hyperinsulinaemia are at their peak, transport (expressed per gram dry weight) of a physiological concentration of leucine (5 mM) by luminally perfused whole small intestine of obese mice was significantly lower both in vitro (-45%) and in vivo (-27%). Experiments involving fasting and long-term partial dietary restriction of obese mice suggested that the reduction in leucine transport was probably not a consequence of hyperphagia. The absence of any difference between lean and obese mice in the kinetics of unidirectional influx of leucine across the brush border contrasted with the findings from the luminal perfusion experiments. This discrepancy could indicate that the effect of the (ob/ob) genotype on leucine transport was at a stage in the process of transepithelial transport distal to the brush border, perhaps that of movement across the basolateral membrane.

Animals

Metabolism of glucose in the small intestine of lean and obese (ob/ob) mice.

The possibility of alterations in the metabolism of glucose in the small intestine of C57BL/6J (ob/ob) obese-diabetic mice has been investigated. Glucose metabolism was assessed by direct measurement in vitro, and by assaying the activities of glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathway enzymes. The small intestine of 3-week-old obese mice exhibited a reduced glucose metabolism and hexokinase activity in comparison with lean controls. In adult animals there was little evidence for an effect of hyperphagia or hyperinsulinaemia on metabolism of glucose supplied from the lumen, except that the elevated pyruvate kinase activity in the intestinal mucosa of 20-week-old obese mice might have been a consequence of hyperinsulinaemia.

Age Factors

Postoperative hypoxaemia: preoperative considerations.

In a group of 31 consecutive patients undergoing major abdominal surgery, severe postoperative arterial hypoxaemia was present in 10 cases (32%). The predictive value of the preoperative expiratory spirogram and the arterial PO2 have been examined. It is concluded that a history of chronic bronchitis may be of more value than either of these investigations in predicting the likely occurrence of postoperative hypoxaemia.

Abdomen

Colloid osmotic pressure in surgical patients and its relationship to serum protein and albumin estimations.

A series of calculated colloid osmotic pressure (C.O.P.) results have been compared with concurrently performed total serum protein and serum albumin estimations. It is concluded that in most critically ill patients, serial estimations of total serum protein, which are very easy to perform using a hand refractometer or copper sulphate bottles, give a useful guide to the C.O.P. level. In a second series of patients, colloid osmotic pressure has been calculated before and after operation in a group of patients undergoing routine abdominal surgery, and significant falls in C.O.P. have been found to occur after operation. It is suggested that this may be a contributing factor in some of those patients who suffer postoperative respiratory complications.

Abdomen