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Biomedical subjects

J L Herron

Publications and source records attributed to J L Herron.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1986

Plasma cholinesterase phenotyping with use of visible-region spectrophotometry.

A method that overcomes the difficulties of the 240-nm benzoylcholine method for phenotyping plasma cholinesterases has been developed. After a timed reaction, under the same reaction conditions as in the classic procedure, choline is detected at 500 nm by use of choline oxidase coupled with the peroxidase/phenol/aminoantipyrine system. Cholinesterase activity measurements, calibrated by use of choline iodide as standard, are linearly related to results obtained with propionylthiocholine as substrate at 25 degrees C (y = 0.14x + 0.17, n = 30, r = 0.98). Results of differential inhibition with dibucaine and fluoride are virtually identical with those obtained by the ultraviolet method (y = 0.97x + 4.3, r = 0.995, and y = 0.93x - 0.5, r = 0.987, respectively) and give the same classification of homo- and heterozygotes for the usual, atypical, and fluoride-resistant variants. The new method has substantial advantages in that it eliminates the difficulties associated with measuring small changes in high absorbances at a suboptimal wavelength on a steep portion of the absorption curve.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1985

Childhood crises--who to tell?

This study describes an investigation of community attitudes in Christchurch towards sources of help for children in crisis situations. To whom the child turns is particularly important when a child is unable or unwilling to ask a parent for help. The children sampled showed a preference for informal sources of support (such as friends, relatives, rather than formal, such as teachers, crisis-counsellors, doctors). Most professionals believed children should use their services in preference to those of other professions. The adults rated formal sources of support, particularly teachers, much higher than the children. Of the formal services crisis-counsellors, and in particular the Childhelp Line, a 24-hour telephone counselling service for children, was the most preferred. The findings tend to demonstrate the value of a child-oriented crisis line to the community.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Social and legal ramifications of a child crisis line.

The article suggests the importance of a crisis line for children as a way of making it easier for them to report when they are abused or neglected. The Childhelp Line set up in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1982, has shown that such a service is effective in reaching critical child and family situations not previously known to helping professionals. The Line is manned by carefully selected and trained volunteers. This has proved to have significant advantages, particularly in the absence of mandatory reporting of child abuse. The article also looks at the ambivalence towards the Childhelp Line expressed by parents, children, counselors, and the community, and at the legal issues raised by the service.

Adolescent↗