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Biomedical subjects

D E Weil

Publications and source records attributed to D E Weil.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Advancing tuberculosis control within reforming health systems.

In developing nations, diverse health reform programs are affecting the design, financing and delivery of health care services as well as public health practice. This paper summarizes the characteristics of major reform strategies seeking to improve efficiency, equity and quality. Opportunities and risks for tuberculosis control are identified, as are responses in managing the reform transition. Recommendations are provided to advance tuberculosis control in this dynamic environment. These include participation in the planning process; demonstration of synergy between reform objectives and tuberculosis control; articulation of core functions to be protected; technical, managerial and leadership capacity-building; documentation of effects and best practices; and collaboration with those pursuing other public health priorities and reform analysis.

Benchmarking↗

Distribution of soluble proteins within spinal motoneurons: a quantitative two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis.

Soluble protein fractions obtained from bovine lumbar spinal motoneuron cell bodies, ventral gray matter, and ventral and dorsal roots were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Each extract was separated into Coomassie blue-stained patterns of up to 350 polypeptides ranging in isoelectric point from pH 4 to 8 and in molecular weight from 10,000 to 200,000. Visual inspection of the protein pattern of the isolated cell bodies showed it to be substantially different from those of ventral gray matter and the spinal roots, while the patterns obtained from ventral and dorsal roots were indistinguishable. Computer-assisted densitometry of the major soluble proteins from spinal roots showed no quantitative difference between the predominant proteins in ventral and dorsal root extracts. Differences of 10-fold or more were common when the major proteins of the isolated perikarya were compared with those of the other fractions. Since most of the soluble proteins extracted from ventral and dorsal roots were probably derived from the axoplasm of motor and sensory nerves, respectively, these results are interpreted to mean that large differences exist in the distribution of individual soluble proteins between the cell body and axon of spinal motoneurons, while the major soluble proteins of spinal motor and sensory axons are highly similar.

Animals↗

The comparative developmental neurotoxicity of lead in humans and animals.

The effects of lead on neurobehavioral development have been extensively investigated in humans as well as animals. This valuable lode of research findings offers a basis for comparing the developmental neurobehavioral toxicity of lead across species and for assessing the validity of animal models of developmental neurotoxicity. Comparisons of human and animal findings suggest that the greatest qualitative similarities involve relatively complex behavioral processes such as cognition and learning. Quantitative comparisons based on dose-response relationships for these endpoints are difficult to make because the relationships are sometimes nonmonotonic (U-shaped) and because blood lead levels may not be directly comparable between species. However, the lowest levels of exposure at which developmental neurobehavioral effects have been observed are similar: 10-15 micrograms/dl in children, less than 15 micrograms/dl in primates, and less than 20 micrograms/dl in rodents. Although the convergence between animal and human findings for other neurobehavioral endpoints is not as striking, sensory-evoked potentials and communicative processes offer two promising areas for continued investigation and cross-species comparison.

Animals↗