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Biomedical subjects

D A Goldman

Publications and source records attributed to D A Goldman.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Survey of El Paso physicians' breast and cervical cancer screening attitudes and practices.

One hundred and ninety-eight primary care physicians in El Paso, Texas, were surveyed for their practices and attitudes concerning breast and cervical cancer screening. The response rate was 83%. For women 40-49 years old, 77% of respondents stated that they ordered a screening mammogram at least every two years. For women 50-74 years old, 73% said they ordered an annual screening mammogram. For women 75 years and older, 61% stated they ordered an annual screening mammogram. For women 40 years or older, 89% of respondents said they performed annual or more frequent clinical breast examinations. Eighty-four percent of respondents stated they ordered a Pap smear every 1-3 years, both for pre- and post-menopausal women. The most common reasons given for not ordering or doing a breast or cervical screening exam were patient refusal, knowledge that other doctor performs exam, high price, inadequate insurance, patient not under regular care, do not see patient for gynecologic care, and patient being seen for different reason. Seventy percent of respondents do vaginal smears on women who have had a total hysterectomy for a benign condition, and 38% use a cytobrush for endocervical sampling. Respondents were generally more comfortable with their ability to do Pap smears (72% comfortable, 1% uncomfortable) than they were in performing clinical breast examinations (52% comfortable, 4% uncomfortable). Obstetricians and gynecologists were more likely than other physicians to do vaginal smears, use a cytobrush, and feel comfortable with their Pap smear technique.

Adult

Multiple realities. Teaching rounds in an inpatient pediatric service.

Teaching rounds are a mainstay of most educational programs for interns and residents, but little is known about how they are conducted and the role they play in house staff members' learning. We performed a qualitative study of teaching rounds in an inpatient adolescent service using five data sources: observations, interviews, house staff ratings, results of a house staff retreat, and documents outlining faculty responsibilities. Interns, senior residents, and faculty members expressed differing views regarding the purpose, process, and content of rounds; mutual roles and expectations; and time management. An interactive teaching format focused around the visit of a patient to the conference room stimulated house staff interest and learning to a greater extent than did more traditional case presentations and lectures. These results suggest a need to develop a consensus among faculty and house staff regarding the purpose, content, and process of rounds.

Adolescent

Coordinate expression of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase mRNA and enzyme levels in rat intestine during development.

The development of rat intestinal lactase-specific activity displays a well-known post-weaning decline. In contrast, total lactase activity increases to reach maximal levels around weaning, and remains high subsequently. In order to elucidate the molecular basis for these patterns, a rat lactase cDNA was isolated and characterized, and used in the quantification of lactase mRNA during development. This lactase cDNA uniquely hybridized to a 6.8-kilobase mRNA in the small intestine. To assess the amount of lactase mRNA encoding for lactase enzyme activity in the small intestine, total intestinal RNA was isolated and analyzed by Northern and dot-blot hybridization. The pattern of total lactase mRNA during development followed that of total lactase activity, suggesting that over this time span the level of lactase activity is primarily controlled at the transcriptional level. However, the magnitude of increase of total lactase activity during lactation compared to that of total lactase mRNA suggests that additional mechanisms are involved in regulating lactase levels. Analysis of the regional distribution of lactase mRNA along the small intestine at 14 days revealed that mRNA was high in the proximal three regions, but was dramatically lower in the distal regions. Total lactase activity, in contrast, displayed maximum activity in the mid-intestine with decreased levels both proximally and distally. Thus, lactase activity in the intestine appears to be regulated during development predominantly by transcriptional mechanisms, while alterations during lactation, and along the proximal to distal gradient, are the result of other control mechanisms.

Aging

Definition and identification of homology domains.

A method is described for identifying and evaluating regions of significant similarity between two sequences. The notion of a 'homology domain' is employed which defines the boundaries of a region of sequence homology containing no insertions or deletions. The relative significance of different potential homology domains is evaluated using a non-linear similarity score related to the probability of finding the observed level of similarity in the region by chance. The sensitivity of the method is demonstrated by simulating the evolution of homology domains and applying the method to their detection. Several examples of the use of homology domain identification are given.

Algorithms

Group C streptococcal surgical wound infections transmitted by an anorectal and nasal carrier.

Streptococcus equisimilis (Lancefield group C), an unusual cause of nosocomial surgical infection, was isolated from two orthopedic postoperative wound infections. Both operations had been performed by the same surgeon within a three-day period. Examination of the surgeon revealed perianal dermatitis from which S. equisimilis was isolated. The organism was also recovered from the surgeon's nose and rectum. The wound infections responded to treatment with penicillin derivatives. The surgeon was successfully treated with topical bacitracin and oral penicillin and vancomycin. This report documents the pathogenicity of the C Streptococcus in postoperative infection and suggests a possible nosocomial source of the organism.

Adolescent

Scarlet fever and group A streptococcal surgical wound infection traced to an anal carrier.

Four patients developed group A streptococcal wound infections shortly following orthopedic surgery. Two of these patients developed scarlet fever which provided an early indication of the presence of a streptococcal epidemic. A single antigenically characteristic strain of group A streptococci was recovered from the wounds of all four patients and from the anus of one surgeon who had participated in the surgery on three of the patients.

Adolescent

Validity of Pap smear and mammogram self-reports in a low-income Hispanic population.

This study measures the validity of self-reported mammography and Pap smear usage in Mexican-American women. We compared Pap smear and mammography reports in medical records to self-reports obtained in a household survey of 450 women in El Paso, Texas. The women were generally low-income, older, and Spanish-speaking. Forty-six percent of self-reported Pap smears in the previous year were verified (60.8% within previous two years, 67.1% within previous three years). Forty-nine percent of self-reported mammograms within the previous year were verified (74.7% within previous two years). For both Pap smears and mammograms, twice as many tests in the past five years were reported as were documented. Self-reports of Pap smears at a public health clinic were more valid than those at other sites. Denials of mammography within the past five years were more accurate (97.5%) than denials of Pap smears (81.8%). We conclude that self-reports of mammograms and Pap smears in Mexican-American women greatly overestimate the prevalence of screening. Intensive cancer prevention activities in this population are needed to approach the Year 2000 Objectives set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Adolescent

The EPIGRAM computer program for analyzing mortality and population data sets.

EPIGRAM is a computer program designed to improve access to State-level underlying cause mortality data. The program produces results for population, deaths, death rate, age-adjusted death rate, years of potential life lost (YPLL), YPLL rate, and confidence intervals. Results can be compared variously among age groups, counties, causes of death, races, regions, and years. The program's menu-driven interface facilitates the selection or modification of analysis parameters. Current selections are retained so the user can modify one parameter at a time. Based on the parameters that the user selects, the program produces a series of tables, one for each instance of a particular parameter. Each output table has columns for male, female, and both sexes combined, and an indefinite number of user-defined rows for age groups, causes of death, counties, races, regions, or years. EPIGRAM has major advantages over other methods for analyzing mortality and population data. The program uses relatively small amounts of memory and disk space, executes rapidly, is flexible, can be used by inexperienced computer users, provides online help screens and tutorials, and runs under DOS or UNIX without modification. The program currently is used to analyze mortality and population data for Texas. Although it is not currently available for distribution, support is being sought for its evaluation and possible implementation in State health departments to analyze data for other States, or other data sets, such as hospital discharge data or cancer incidence data.

Cause of Death