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Biomedical subjects

B Wolfe

Publications and source records attributed to B Wolfe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Cardiopulmonary assessment of medetomidine, ketamine, and butorphanol anesthesia in captive Thomson's gazelles (Gazella thomsoni).

This investigation evaluated the cardiopulmonary effects of medetomidine, ketamine, and butorphanol anesthesia in captive juvenile Thomson's gazelles (Gazella thomsoni). Butorphanol was incorporated to reduce the dose of medetomidine necessary for immobilization and minimize medetomidine-induced adverse cardiovascular side effects. Medetomidine 40.1 +/- 3.6 microg/kg, ketamine 4.9 +/- 0.6 mg/kg, and butorphanol 0.40 +/- 0.04 mg/kg were administered intramuscularly by hand injection to nine gazelles. Times to initial effect and recumbency were within 8 min postinjection. Cardiopulmonary status was monitored every 5 min by measuring heart rate, respiratory rate, indirect blood pressure, end-tidal CO2, and indirect oxygen-hemoglobin saturation by pulse oximetry. Venous blood gases were collected every 15 min postinjection. Oxygen saturations less than 90% in three gazelles suggested hypoxemia. Subsequent immobilized gazelles were supplemented with intranasal oxygen throughout the anesthetic period. Sustained bradycardia (<60 beats per minute, as compared with anesthetized domestic calves, sheep, and goats) was noted in eight of nine gazelles. Heart and respiratory rates and rectal temperatures decreased slightly, whereas systolic, mean, and diastolic blood pressure values were consistent over the anesthetic period. Mild elevations in end tidal CO2 and PCO2 suggested hypoventilation. Local lidocaine blocks were necessary to perform castrations in all seven of the gazelles undergoing the procedure. Return to sternal recumbency occurred within 7 min and return to standing occurred within 12 min after reversal with atipamezole (0.2 +/- 0.03 mg/kg) and naloxone (0.02 +/- 0.001 mg/kg). Medetomidine, ketamine, and butorphanol can be used to safely anesthetize Thomson's gazelles for routine, noninvasive procedures. More invasive procedures, such as castration, can be readily performed with the additional use of local anesthetics.

Analgesics, Opioid↗

Pyometra and uterine adenocarcinoma in a melengestrol acetate-implanted captive coati (Nasua nasua).

A 9-yr and 3-mo-old captive female coati (Nasua nasua) was implanted with melengestrol acetate for contraception for 4.5 yr prior to presentation. During her annual examination, purulent vaginal discharge and a palpably prominent uterus were identified. Ancillary diagnostic tests including hematology, cystocentesis, radiographs, and abdominal ultrasound were consistent with pyometra. An ovariohysterectomy was performed and histologic examination revealed pyometra and uterine adenocarcinoma, similar to pathology that has been associated with melengestrol acetate contraception in felids, canids, and primates. Given the potential association between melengestrol acetate and uterine pathology in this case, we recommend caution with melengestrol acetate use in procyonids.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Grief and the family.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Attrition in the new beneficiary survey and followup, and its correlates.

Panel surveys interview the same individuals more than once over a period of time. Attrition from the survey occurs when those individuals die, refuse to be interviewed again, or, for some other reason, cannot be contacted. If the original sample was representative of a specific population, then survey analysis may provide misleading conclusions about changes in population characteristics over time if these individuals leave the sample in a nonrandom way. Therefore, it is important to identify the characteristics of individuals who leave the survey for various reasons. This article explores the extent of and reasons for attrition in the New Beneficiary Survey (NBS) between the first interview in 1982 and the followup interview in 1991. Presented is a comparison of the characteristics of survivors (the reinterviewed sample) with attriters (those in the sample not reinterviewed) from the retired-worker and disabled-worker samples. The article explores a variety of potential determinants of attrition to the probability of attrition. These determinants are examined alone and in a multivariate framework. The NBS sample population is drawn from and linked to Social Security Administrative records, which have exact matched data on mortality as a cause of attrition. These data do not depend on survey-reported reasons for attrition; hence, it allows the examination of the differences in the patterns and predictors of attrition due to death and due to other reasons, primarily, the refusal to be interviewed. Attrition due to death must be identified precisely because misidentification of death as refusal to be interviewed may lead researchers to infer more selective attrition than might be the case. Different patterns of attrition are evident in the comparison of attrition levels and the determinants of attrition for the retired and disabled samples, both composed of persons with relatively high mortality risk. In particular, individuals' health, health insurance coverage, and level of education have different impacts on their likelihood of attrition. In general, it appears that refusal to be interviewed is more evenly spread across populations and characteristics than is death. The analysis shows that attrition due to death and attrition due to refusal are quite different processes, even though health conditions play a role in both processes. The results suggest that because attrition patterns (including death) may be quite different across population samples, sample-specific attrition patterns must be analyzed over the lifetime of any panel study. Long-term studies of panel attrition are necessary to provide researchers analyzing the data with information on potential biases due to nonrandom attrition.

Aged↗

Combination therapy with colestipol and psyllium mucilloid in patients with hyperlipidemia.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether combining psyllium mucilloid with half the usual dose of colestipol reduces the adverse effects associated with colestipol and maintains or increases its efficacy in the treatment of hyperlipidemia. This strategy might make bile acid sequestrants, which are seldom used because they cause adverse effects such as bloating and constipation, more tolerable and less expensive. DESIGN: A randomized, parallel-group, double-blind, controlled trial. SETTING: An outpatient clinic in a tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS: 121 patients who had moderate primary hypercholesterolemia (total cholesterol level > 6 mmol/L and < 8 mmol/L; triglyceride level < 3 mmol/L) after following a low-fat diet for 1 year (National Cholesterol Education Program Step Two diet). INTERVENTION: 5 g of cellulose placebo; 5 g of colestipol; 2.5 g of colestipol plus 2.5 g of psyllium; or 5 g of psyllium three times daily before meals for 10 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At baseline and at weeks 4 and 10, fasting blood lipid levels and apoprotein concentrations were measured and a quality-of-life instrument was completed. RESULTS: A combination of 2.5 g of psyllium and 2.5 g of colestipol was better tolerated than and as effective as either 5 g of colestipol alone or 5 g of psyllium alone. The combination therapy and colestipol alone did not differ significantly with respect to changes in individual lipid values. The ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) was reduced by 18.2% (95% CI, 12.3% to 24%) with the combination therapy; by 10.6% (CI, 2.0% to 15.4%) with colestipol alone; by 6.1% (CI, 1.5% to 10.6%) with psyllium alone; and by 0.1% (CI, -4.8% to 7%) with placebo (P = 0.0002). Combination therapy reduced the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL significantly more than did colestipol alone or psyllium alone (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that adding psyllium to half the usual dose of bile acid sequestrant resins maintains the efficacy and improves the tolerability of these resins.

Adult↗

Market work, wages, and men's health.

In this paper, we investigate the complex interrelations among work-time, wages, and health identified in the Grossman model of the demand for health. Hansen's generalized method of moments techniques are employed to estimate a 3-equation simultaneous model designed to capture the time dependent character of these interrelationships. We then estimate simpler models with more restrictive assumptions commonly found in the literature and find substantial differences between these estimates and those from our simultaneous model. For example, the positive relationship between work-time and health found in other studies disappears when the relevant simultaneities are taken into account.

Adult↗

Surgical nutrition: a review.

The metabolic response to critical illness is an integrated process producing profound changes to multiple systems. The altered metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins in critically injured patients, and the crucial role of cytokine mediators such as tumour necrosis factor, interleukins, and interferons are described in detail. A general approach with guidelines for nutritional support is taken. A detailed description of enteral versus parenteral therapy is given, including advantages, disadvantages, contraindications, and complications. The research on specifically enriched amino acid formulations with glutamine, branched-chain amino acids, and arginine solutions is reviewed with emphasis on both theoretical and clinical issues. The role of dietary lipids in the production of specific modulators of immunoresponsiveness and investigations focusing on metabolic modulation relating to nutritional support are summarized.

Critical Illness↗

Total exenteration, two or one ostomy.

Total exenterations require fecal and urinary diversions, necessitating ostomies in the anterior abdominal wall. This article was done to explore the possibility of extremely low anastomoses of the intestine to the anal stump, to reduce the number of ostomies to only one for the urinary diversion. Although technically feasible, the long term follow-up evaluation of these patients resulted in us having reservations concerning function.

Anal Canal↗

Childhood events and circumstances influencing high school completion.

This paper is an empirical exploration of the effects of a variety of family and economic circumstances experienced during childhood on one indicator of success in young adulthood--high school completion. The estimates suggest that parental education and mother's work are positive and significant determinants of high school completion, whereas growing up in a family with more children (who compete for resources), being persistently poor and on welfare, and moving one's residence as a child have significant negative impacts on high school completion. The effects of some family stress and economic events differ depending on the age of the child when they occur. The results support the economic model of investment in children, as well as the welfare culture and socialization models.

Adolescent↗

Coexistence of familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia with familial hypercholesterolemia and multiple lipoprotein type hyperlipidemia.

Familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia (FDH), an autosomal disorder characterized by an increase in serum albumin binding of thyroxine, has been encountered in a family who was also found to have both familial hypercholesterolemia (FHC) and multiple lipoprotein type hyperlipidemia (MLH). One subject with FHC and two subjects with MLH had FDH. Although some of the laboratory parameters in hyperlipidemic patients with FDH were suggestive of hyperthyroidism, the dialyzable free thyroxine concentrations were in the normal range and the patients were clinically euthyroid. The significance of the occurrence of FDH in hyperlipidemic subjects with hypothyroidism has been discussed, especially in regard to the longer time interval that may be needed to achieve an amelioration of the hypothyroid state during treatment with a normal maintenance dose of thyroxine. Treatment of FDH patients with other drugs may require an altered dosage if the drug binds to the atypical albumin fragments characterizing this disorder.

Genes, Dominant↗

Health and low-level radiation: turning good news into bad news.

This paper has a dual purpose. On the one hand, congratulations are in order; the 25th Hanford Life Sciences Symposium celebrates four decades of important research at Hanford. This research has helped provide a better understanding of ionizing radiation effects on man and his environment. Researchers at Hanford and those at other locations can take pride in the fact that today we know more about the major characteristics and potential health effects of ionizing radiation than we do for any other biological hazard. Ionizing radiation's present mysteries, important as they are, involve subtleties that are difficult to explore in detail because the effects are so small relative to other health effects. It will also be a pleasure to add our tribute, along with many others, to Herb Parker, a friend, colleague, and pioneer in the radiation protection field. Building on the work of early pioneers such as Herb and those who have and will follow in their footsteps, we will develop an even broader understanding--an understanding that will clarify the effects of low-level radiation exposure, an area of knowledge about which sound explanations and predictions elude us today. The second purpose of this paper is to remind those in the radiation protection field that they have been less than successful in one of their most important tasks--that of effective communication. The task is not an easy one because the content of the message depends upon the dose. At high doses, above 1 Sv, where the deleterious effects of radiation are predictable, there is agreement on the message that must be delivered to the public: avoid it. There is no confusion in the public sector about this message. At the much lower doses resulting from beneficial activities, the message we must convey to the public is different. Unfortunately, the only message about radiation that the public seems to remember is "avoid it." We know the proper message is not being received when the medical profession resorts to using the term "magnetic resonance" in place of "nuclear magnetic resonance" because of public fear of the word "nuclear." We know there's a problem when the public cringes because of a lead story in the press detailing an incident where people were exposed to a few microgray and when the linear hypothesis is used to predict hundreds of thousands of cancers from Chernobyl-related doses well below 0.01 Sv.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Accidents↗

Effects of levonorgestrel on enzymes responsible for synthesis of triacylglycerols in rat liver.

The effects of levonorgestrel treatment (4 micrograms/day per kg body weight 0.75 for 18 days) on rate-limiting enzymes of hepatic triacylglycerol synthesis, namely glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase and phosphatidic acid phosphatase were investigated in microsomal, mitochondrial and cytosolic fractions of rat liver. Levonorgestrel treatment resulted in a significant reduction (26%) of hepatic microsomal glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase specific activity. Hepatic mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase specific activity was unchanged. Levonorgestrel treatment also significantly reduced (by 20%) the specific activity of hepatic microsomal magnesium-independent phosphatidic acid phosphatase. However, magnesium-dependent phosphatic acid phosphatase specific activities in microsomal and cytosolic fractions were unaffected. Cytosolic magnesium-independent phosphatidic acid phosphatase activity was also unchanged. These studies are consistent with the view that levonorgestrel lowers serum triacylglycerol levels, at least in part, by inhibition of the glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.15) step in hepatic triacylglycerol synthesis.

Animals↗

Health status and medical expenditures: more evidence of a link.

The hypothesis that one must include life-style changes in order to accurately capture the true relationship between medical expenditures and health status is explored, using data from 22 countries over a 20-year period. A simultaneous model is estimated using a variety of indicators for life style as well as health status. Changes in life style, aging of the population and changes in occupational risk are modeled as influences on medical expenditures: medical expenditures and changes in life style are modeled as having direct influences on health status. The results are consistent with the existence of a positive link between medical expenditures and health status.

Female↗

Serum lipids after stroke.

To ascertain the appropriate time for detecting lipid abnormalities for prophylaxis, serial analyses of fasting serum lipoproteins were undertaken prospectively in men with cerebral infarction or transient ischemic attacks. Serum total cholesterol (T CHOL) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL CHOL) in cerebral infarction patients aged 50 to 69 were lowest on day 7, intermediate on day 1, and highest at 3 months, whereas very low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL CHOL) changed little. The day 1 mean fasting serum HDL CHOL of cerebral infarct patients was significantly lower in subjects aged 50 to 59 than in those aged 60 to 69 (23 +/- 3 versus 42 +/- 5 mg/dl), and there was a corresponding higher ratio of T CHOL:HDL CHOL (12.7 +/- 4.5 versus 4.7 +/- 0.4, p less than 0.01). Mean HDL CHOL levels were low normal to low in patients aged 50 to 69 with transient ischemic attacks. Both serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels are initially decreased in patients aged 50 to 69 with cerebral infarction, whereas only cholesterol is decreased in patients 60 to 69 with transient ischemic attacks. Important lipoprotein abnormalities may be missed in the acute phase.

Aged↗