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Biomedical subjects

L Slaughter

Publications and source records attributed to L Slaughter.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

GO GIRLS!: results from a nutrition and physical activity program for low-income, overweight African American adolescent females.

This article describes the development, implementation, and results of an intervention designed for inner-city, overweight African American adolescent women. Fifty-seven participants were recruited from four public housing developments. Participants were administered physiologic, dietary, and cognitive assessments at baseline and immediately postintervention. Each session comprised three elements: (1) an educational/behavioral activity, (2) 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity, and (3) preparation and tasting of low-fat meals. In the absence of a control group, results were compared for high and low attenders, the former defined as attending at least 50% of the sessions. High attenders (n = 26) showed more favorable 6-month posttest values for most outcomes compared with low attenders (n = 31). These effects achieved statistical significance for nutrition knowledge, low-fat practices, perceived changes in low-fat practices, and social support.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Involvement of drugs in sexual assault.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain information about the relationship of alcohol and drug usage in victims of sexual assault, including the newly identified "date rape" drugs gamma hydroxybutyrate and flunitrazepam. STUDY DESIGN: Analysis of urine samples with gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry can identify alcohol and numerous other drugs with a high degree of specificity. This service was offered to rape treatment centers throughout the United States in May 1996; urine samples obtained from sexual assault victims suspected of drug use by history or physical examination were sent for testing at the discretion of the examiner. RESULTS: As of March 1999, a total of 2,003 specimens were analyzed. Nearly two-thirds of the samples contained alcohol and/or drugs; the predominant substances found were alcohol, present in 63%, and marijuana, present in 30%. A substantial subset of the specimens was found to contain other illicit substances, frequently in combination. GHB and flunitrazepam were found in < 3% of the positive samples. Additionally, over the two-year study period, the use of these two drugs appeared to be declining. CONCLUSION: These findings support prior data indicating that alcohol, marijuana and/or other drugs are important risk factors in sexual assault. Continued monitoring of drug use by victims of sex crimes is important, and programs that serve victims should modify protocols to reflect this.

Dronabinol↗
PubMed1998

Defining, measuring, and predicting impulsive aggression: a heuristic model.

Aggression research does not lack data--it lacks a model for integrating data. One of the problems confronting aggression researchers is the extensive body of multidisciplinary data that is difficult to synthesize to generate new directions in research. This paper proposes one solution that starts by asking "what is the minimal number of categories of concepts and measurements which are necessary to describe a person?". The answer is four categories of concepts: biological; cognitive; behavioral; environmental (physical and social). One way of many for integrating these four categories of concepts is a proposed discipline neutral heuristic model that is used herein to compare two different research approaches to the study of impulsive aggression. This comparison identifies clearly the differences in the two approaches with regard to different emphases among the four categories of constructs for each program. Using the model an example of common ground between the two approaches is sought as a basis for extending aggression research. The main conclusion of one of the research programs was that central nervous arousal is related to impulsive aggression. This program demonstrated that phenytoin will reduce impulsive aggressive acts and has an effect on CNS arousal. The other research program on impulsive aggression has been at the forefront in demonstrating the well established inverse relationship between serotonin levels and aggression. The comparison resulted in the suggestion that both serotonin and phenytoin may relate to a common neurochemical substrate which interacts in part to control CNS arousal, especially at the cortical level. The proposed heuristic model made obvious the need to use synthesizing concepts (e.g. information processing or language) which can interrelate multidisciplinary concepts and data from different research programs within the four categories of constructs when comparing interdisciplinary research.

Aggression↗
PubMed1997

Patterns of genital injury in female sexual assault victims.

OBJECTIVE: New colposcopic protocols allow examiners to better document genital trauma in rape victims. We report our findings on the locations and types of genital injury seen in female assault victims versus women engaging in consensual sex. STUDY DESIGN: Physical examinations were performed on 311 rape victims seen by San Luis Obispo County's Suspected Abuse Response Team between 1985 and 1993 and contemporaneously on 75 women after consensual sexual intercourse. RESULTS: Among 213 (68%) victims with genital trauma, 162 (76%) had 3.1 mean sites of injury. Comparatively, 8 (11%) consenting women had just single-site trauma. Two hundred (94%) victims had trauma at one or more of four locations, as follows: posterior fourchette, labia minora, hymen, fossa navicularis. Trauma types varied by site; tears appeared most often on the posterior fourchette and fossa, abrasions appeared on the labia, and ecchymosis was seen on the hymen. CONCLUSION: A localized pattern of genital trauma can frequently be seen in women reporting nonconsensual sexual intercourse; such findings are useful for the clinical forensic examiner.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Colposcopy to establish physical findings in rape victims.

OBJECTIVE: Conventional rape examination protocols have been poor in yielding genital findings (10% to 30% typically). We report our experience with a revised protocol employing colposcopy to perform genital examinations of victims and to document findings. STUDY DESIGN: Physical examinations were performed on rape victims seen by San Luis Obispo County's Suspected Abuse Response Team between 1985 and 1990, and the results were reviewed for this study. RESULTS: Of 131 patients seen within 48 hours and who experienced penile penetration, 114 (87%) had positive findings. Colposcopic magnification allowed examiners to characterize these findings as acute mounting injuries, typically seen at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock on the posterior fourchette and consisting chiefly of lacerations, ecchymosis, and swelling. CONCLUSIONS: An examination protocol that includes colposcopy may be the most reliable means to document and characterize genital findings in rape victims and to evaluate whether findings may be linked to a reported sexual assault.

Colposcopy↗
PubMed1991

Cervical findings in rape victims.

The difficulty of documenting genital findings in rape victims by gross visualization is well known. However, we report two cases in which cervical findings were readily established by colposcopic examination and photography. Use of the colposcope may significantly increase the reliability of establishing findings in rape victims.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Effects of beta-carotene and retinyl palmitate on corn oil-induced superoxide dismutase and catalase in rats.

The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of beta-carotene on corn oil-induced superoxide dismutase and catalase. Six groups of male Buffalo rats were fed the following diets for 6 wk: a control diet containing recommended levels of beta-carotene and retinyl palmitate, a retinol diet containing 10 times the recommended level of retinyl palmitate, and a beta-carotene diet containing 10 times the recommended levels of beta-carotene and adequate levels of retinyl palmitate. Each vitamin combination was fed with either 5% (wt/wt) corn oil (low fat) or 20% corn oil (high fat). Plasma total beta-carotene levels were highest in the beta-carotene groups. Levels varied inversely with the level of fat in the control group and directly with fat in the beta-carotene group. Transport of beta-carotene appeared to parallel that of cholesterol in that 36 and 35%, respectively, were associated with the low density lipoprotein fraction. Accumulation of beta-carotene in the liver was apparent from the observation that levels in liver were much higher than those in plasma. Superoxide dismutase activity was much lower in the beta-carotene groups than in the retinol groups, irrespective of level of fat, and catalase activity was also lower in the beta-carotene group, but it was in proportion to the level of fat. These findings suggest that beta-carotene functions as an antioxidant in vivo.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1987

The first simultaneous intraoperative hyperthermia and radiotherapy procedure: dog experiment and technique.

The Department of Radiation Therapy of Howard University Hospital was the first to revive (1976) the use of intraoperative radiotherapy, or direct view irradiation, using electron beam (IORTe(-)) in the United States. Since that time, this pioneering effort has gained both national and international acceptance. Now, many leading centers employ this investigational treatment modality. Recently, a new mode of cancer therapy has been gaining acceptance, namely hyperthermia (the treatment of cancer by heat). Hyperthermia has been shown, both experimentally and clinically, to improve the rate of local control (thermal enchancement ratio [TER]) when combined with radiation therapy in the treatment of cancer. Maximal TER has been observed with simultaneous or immediate application of radiation and hyperthermia for both tumor and normal tissues. Therefore, to achieve maximum therapeutic gain, selective, intraoperative, simultaneous heating and irradiation of the tumor with mechanical retraction of the normal and sensitive structures from the treatment field seems a promising alternative.There have been no published reports, to the authors' knowledge, on the combination of simultaneous IORTe(-) with intraoperative hyperthermia (IOHT). To employ this combination in human subjects, several questions must be answered first using animal models, including the technical and practical feasibility, the toxicity and morbidity, as well as the pathologic changes that may arise. The technical aspects of the first animal case, using a mongrel dog, applying simultaneous IORTe(-) and IOHT are presented.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Rheumatoid arthritis and pseudo-rheumatoid arthritis in calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease.

Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystal deposition disease can lead to many clinical syndromes. One syndrome simulates rheumatoid arthritis and is thus called "pseudo-rheumatoid arthritis." Since some patients have true rheumatoid arthritis with CPPD crystal deposition disease, the clinician may have difficulty differentiating those patients from others who have the pseudo-rheumatoid syndrome. Such a diagnostic problem can be solved radiographically. Eleven patients with CPPD crystal deposition disease were studied; five had true rheumatoid arthritis and six had pseudo-rheumatoid arthritis. Because osseous erosions were not apparent in the arthropathy of uncomplicated CPPD crystal deposition disease, the detection of skeletal erosive changes indicated a true rheumatoid arthritis process.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

In vitro effects of Epstein-Barr virus on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and normal subjects.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 9 control subjects were cultured in vitro for 30 days with and without infection by Epstein-Barr virus. All cultures showed polyclonal stimulation of B cells as indicated by rising levels of IgM in the culture supernates, reaching maximal at 18-24 days, and with no quantitative or kinetic difference between the RA and control cells. IgM anti-IgG was also produced in both groups and maximally at 18-24 days, but in greater quantity by the RA lymphocytes. The anti-IgG made by the RA lymphocytes was more easily absorbed by solid phase IgG than was the anti-IgG made by the normal lymphocytes and thus was judged to be of higher affinity. RA lymphocytes uninfected with EBV had higher transformation scores than did the normal controls and developed spontaneously into permanent cell lines in six instances.

Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic↗