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Biomedical subjects

B Lyon

Publications and source records attributed to B Lyon.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Public library consumer health information pilot project: results of a National Library of Medicine evaluation.

In October 1998, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) launched a pilot project to learn about the role of public libraries in providing health information to the public and to generate information that would assist NLM and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) in learning how best to work with public libraries in the future. Three regional medical libraries (RMLs), eight resource libraries, and forty-one public libraries or library systems from nine states and the District of Columbia were selected for participation. The pilot project included an evaluation component that was carried out in parallel with project implementation. The evaluation ran through September 1999. The results of the evaluation indicated that participating public librarians were enthusiastic about the training and information materials provided as part of the project and that many public libraries used the materials and conducted their own outreach to local communities and groups. Most libraries applied the modest funds to purchase additional Internet-accessible computers and/or upgrade their health-reference materials. However, few of the participating public libraries had health information centers (although health information was perceived as a top-ten or top-five topic of interest to patrons). Also, the project generated only minimal usage of NLM's consumer health database, known as MEDLINEplus, from the premises of the monitored libraries (patron usage from home or office locations was not tracked). The evaluation results suggested a balanced follow-up by NLM and the NN/LM, with a few carefully selected national activities, complemented by a package of targeted activities that, as of January 2000, are being planned, developed, or implemented. The results also highlighted the importance of building an evaluation component into projects like this one from the outset, to assure that objectives were met and that evaluative information was available on a timely basis, as was the case here.

Computers↗
PubMed1999

Characterization of risks posed by combustor emissions.

Risk characterization is the final step of the risk assessment process as practiced in the U.S. EPA. In risk characterization, the major scientific evidence and "bottom-line" results from the other components of the risk assessment process, hazard identification, dose-response assessment, and exposure assessment, are evaluated and integrated into an overall conclusion about the risks posed by a given situation. Risk characterization is also an iterative process; the results of a specific step may require re-evaluation or additional information to finalize the risk assessment process. Risks posed by atmospheric emissions are an example of an involuntary human health risk which typically receives a great deal of public attention. Characterization of the risks posed by atmospheric emissions typically requires the use of mathematical models to evaluate: 1) the environmental fate of emitted pollutants, 2) exposures to these pollutants, and 3) human dose-response. Integration of these models results in quantitative risk estimates. The confidence in a quantitative risk estimate is examined by evaluating uncertainty and variability within individual risk assessment components. Variability arises from the true heterogeneity in characteristics within a population or an event; on the other hand, uncertainty represents lack of knowledge about the true value used in a risk estimate. U.S. EPA's 1997 Mercury Study will illustrate some aspects of the risk characterization process as well as the uncertainty and variability encountered in the risk assessment process.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1996

Dr. X: the consequences of untreated addiction.

The following case example shows the difficulty dentists face when their alcohol or drug dependence causes them to violate laws or the Dental Practice Act. In this case, the dentist is charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) and is in possession of inappropriately prescribed medications.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMed1990

The pathogenesis of murine cytomegalovirus ocular infection. Anterior chamber inoculation.

To investigate the pathogenesis of ocular cytomegalovirus infections, 3-week-old BALB/c mice were inoculated with 10(4) plaque-forming units of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) by the right anterior chamber and studied sequentially with the use of virus assays and in situ nucleic acid hybridization methods. During acute infection, MCMV was recovered from the right vitreous, lens, cornea, retina/choroid, and optic nerve. Titers of MCMV exceeded 10(3) per ml of homogenate on days 4 and 7 after inoculation. With the use of biotinylated MCMV DNA probes, MCMV nucleic acids were detected in and adjacent to cells of the iris and ciliary body and occasionally within inflammatory lesions of the cornea. During chronic infection, MCMV was recovered, with the use of co-cultivation or explant methods, from ocular tissues of occasional mice inoculated with MCMV 1 yr earlier. Infectious MCMV was also recovered from the ocular homogenates of a group of mice immunosuppressed with antilymphocyte serum and cortisone. These studies indicate that cells of the uveal tract are permissive for MCMV and suggest that intrinsic persistence or latency of cytomegalovirus in ocular tissues could contribute to the pathogenesis of ocular infections in immunosuppressed hosts.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1976

Childhood antecedents of adult obesity. Do chubby infants become obese adults?

We investigated whether obese infants tend to become obese adults. Records of subjects born between 1945 and 1955 were reviewed to select three cohorts based on weight in the first six months of age, which exceeded the 90th percentile at least once, ranged between 25th and 75th percentiles or was below 10th percentile at least once. Three hundred and sixty-six subjects, now between 20 and 30 years of age, were located and their present height and weight determined. Thirty-six per cent of those exceeding the 90th percentile as infants were overweight adults, as compared to 14 per cent of the average age and light-weight infants. A significant increase (chi square = 17.2, p less than 0.001) in adult obesity was evident when the infant exceeded the 75th percentile that was independent of his height. Social class, educational level, and parental weight all correlated with adult weight (p less than 0.001). Sex and ordinal position of birth did not. The data suggest that infant weight correlates strongly with adult weight independently of other factors considered.

Adolescent↗