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Biomedical subjects

J Dillard

Publications and source records attributed to J Dillard.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Trematode infection correlates with shell shape and defence morphology in a freshwater snail.

Parasitism often influences the phenotype of individuals. Many of the resulting changes are due to changes in resource allocation that come with infection. Here we examine the effect of a trematode parasite on the shape and defence morphology of a New Zealand freshwater snail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum. The trematode Microphallus sp. asexually produces hundreds of metacercarial cysts in the snail. The length, width and 2-dimensional area of each snail were measured. Snails were also assessed for their degree of spininess. Snails were dissected to determine gender, brooding condition and parasitism. Snails infected with Microphallus sp. were found to be significantly less spiny than uninfected snails. Microphallus-infected snails were also found to have a significantly greater width to length ratio at larger sizes than their uninfected counterparts. These trends could be explained in at least 3 ways. (1) Infection causes the snails to not produce spines and to become wider. (2) Spiny and narrower snails are more likely to die when they become infected. (3) Spiny and narrower snails are more resistant to infection. The changes in phenotype observed are unlikely to be adaptive for either the host or parasite and probably represent physiological by-products of the host-parasite relationship.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Breast cancer screening in an urban public hospital. Five-year results.

BACKGROUND: This report describes the first 5 years of the Breast Cancer Screening Program (BCSP) at Cook County Hospital (CCH), a hospital that serves a predominantly African-American and low-income population. METHODS: A retrospective review of hospital cancer registry staging for breast cancers diagnosed between 1984 and 1988 was performed. RESULTS: Between 1984 and 1988, 499 new breast cancers were diagnosed at CCH, of which 33% were diagnosed after referral from the BCSP. The percentage of early breast cancers, defined as Stages 0 or 1, was 25% in women referred from the BCSP, compared with 6% for women referred from other clinical areas (P < 0.001). During this same period of time, the proportion of women at CCH with localized breast cancer increased from 30% in 1980-1983 to 40% from 1984-1988 (P < 0.05), an increase that can be attributed to the BCSP. Only 21% of the breast cancers detected by the BCSP were found by mammography alone. Of these, 91% were localized. CONCLUSIONS: The BCSP has had an impact on the proportion of early breast cancer diagnosed at CCH. Despite these efforts, the proportion of early breast cancer diagnosed at CCH (12%) is significantly less than that seen for all African-American women with breast cancer in Illinois (32%; P < 0.001).

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Use of a.c. impedance methods to study the corrosion behaviour of implant alloys.

The a.c. impedance method is a very useful technique for studying the corrosion behaviour of surgical implant alloys. In this article information is presented on how to efficiently and reliably acquire and analyse experimental data through the use of Nyquist, Bode and Rre versus omega Rim plots. Also, experiments were conducted in which 316L stainless steel specimens were subjected to polarization conditions which caused pitting corrosion. The increased surface area caused by the pitting, inferred from a.c. impedance measurements of specimen capacitance, was found to be well correlated with ASTM standard methods for assessment of pitting.

Alloys↗
PubMed1991

Motion of the lumbar spine. Reliability of two measurement techniques.

A computer-assisted instrument, the isotechnologies B-200, was compared with double goniometer technique for measuring flexion-extension and lateral bending and a compass technique for measuring axial rotation. Test-retest measurements were performed, and the reliability of each method was determined. Generally, low correlations were obtained between two tests performed 1 week apart. The B-200 had poor reproducibility in flexion-extension, particularly when measured separately. Somewhat better results were obtained in lateral bending and rotation. With the goniometers r values close to 0.8 were obtained in flexion, and statistically significantly repeatable data were also obtained in combined flexion-extension and right rotation. Because of the poor repeatability statistical analysis comparing the two instruments was not meaningful. The authors conclude that an instrument such as the B-200 should not be used to measure range of motion. Inexpensive tools allow accurate measurements of, at least, flexion and extension. Small changes should not be taken to indicate true improvement or deterioration. Measurements to a single degree are not meaningful.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Breast cancer screening in an urban black population. A preliminary report.

Breast cancer is a major cause of death among black women. At Cook County Hospital in Chicago, a hospital serving a predominantly black population, only 31% of breast cancers were localized at the time of diagnosis in the years 1980-1983. A survey of patient records in the largest primary care clinic in the hospital revealed that only 2% of eligible patients had received mammograms in 1982. A nurse-run breast cancer detection program was begun in mid-1983. Since that time the proportion of women who have received periodic breast examinations has increased from 26% to 46% (P less than 0.001) and periodic mammograms have increased from 2% to 41% (P less than 0.001). The proportion of women having received breast self-examination teaching increased from 10% to 58% (P less than 0.001). The proportion of localized breast cancer was significantly greater for those women whose cancer was diagnosed through the screening program (44 of 72, 61%) compared to other clinical areas (71 of 213, 33%) in the years 1984 through 1986 (P less than 0.001). There has been a significant increase in the percentage of localized breast cancer at Cook County Hospital comparing 1980-1983 statistics (31%), before the Breast Cancer Detection Program was fully established, with 1984-1986 statistics (40%) (P less than 0.02).

Black or African American↗