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Biomedical subjects

S Beal

Publications and source records attributed to S Beal.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Apparent life threatening events with serious sequelae in infants and young children.

Between January 1982 and June 1989 in South Australia 19 infants under 2 years of age have had serious sequelae following an apparent life threatening event (ALTE) for which no cause could be identified. Thirteen of these children have died, four survive with severe hypoxic damage, one has normal psycho-motor development and epilepsy, and another has mental retardation and strabismus. Study of these infants suggests heterogeneity in the cause of both sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and ALTE, and occasional links between the two.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Sudden infant death syndrome related to climate.

In Australia the single most important factor influencing the incidence of SIDS is the climate. The incidence in mid summer in South Australia is 0.7 per 1,000 live births, in mid winter in Tasmania it is 6.3 per 1,000 live births. It is predicted that if infants under 6 months of age in cold weather were tied into swaddling and placed supine to sleep as in Asia and Czechoslovakia, and older infants who may object to restriction of movement, had the cot made up with the infants' feet touching the lower end, warm clothing and no more than a single thin porous cover, the incidence of SIDS as in Asia and Czechoslovakia could be reduced to less than 1.0 per 1,000.

Australia↗
PubMed1990

The COMPLY computer program for demonstrating compliance with national radionuclide air emission standards.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed national radionuclide air emission standards for a number of source categories. One of these standards applies to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Licensees and non-Department of Energy facilities having the potential to release radionuclides to the atmosphere. Approximately 6000 facilities are subject to the standard, which limits the effective whole-body dose commitment to the maximally exposed individual from radionuclide releases to the atmosphere. A computer program to assist the regulated community in determining compliance has been developed by the EPA's Office of Radiation Programs. The computer program COMPLY calculates the dose to an individual residing outside the facility. The program considers dose from inhalation, ingestion of contaminated food, air immersion, and ground deposition. It is based on models developed by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP). Compliance procedures provided in COMPLY are designed to reduce the burden on the regulated community. The approach begins with simple-to-use methods that are very conservative in determining compliance. The methods become progressively less conservative but more complicated at succeeding levels. Each higher level requires the input of site-specific information, but allows a more realistic estimate of dose. This paper describes the COMPLY program, and provides estimates of the work required and the degree of conservatism in the dose computed at each level.

Air Pollution, Radioactive↗
PubMed1990

Cholecystokinin sonography: lack of utility in diagnosis of acute acalculous cholecystitis.

It has been postulated that cholecystokinin sonography may be useful in the diagnosis of acute acalculous cholecystitis in the hospitalized patient. To evaluate this hypothesis, sincalide, a cholecystokinin derivative, was administered to 15 fasting trauma patients who had undergone laparotomy. No biliary or gallbladder disease was found in any patient. Sincalide was slowly administered intravenously, and the gallbladder was examined with ultrasound every 5 minutes for 60 minutes. The average decreases in length, height, and width of the gallbladder were 15%, 23%, and 21%, respectively. In only four of the 15 patients was there a decrease by more than 50% in any of these dimensions. The average decrease in gallbladder volume was 33% (range, 0%-97%), with no change in gallbladder volume in four patients. There is considerable variability in gallbladder response to administration of sincalide in the fasting hospitalized patient. Lack of contraction of the gallbladder after injection of cholecystokinin should not be considered a major criterion in the diagnosis of acute acalculous cholecystitis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1989

Sudden infant death syndrome in twins.

The incidence of sudden infant death syndrome is higher among twins than it is among singleton infants. Incidence of sudden infant death syndrome in twins in South Australia, is discussed, as well as some features of these twins and the health of the cotwins. The literature concerning the status of the cotwin is reviewed.

Diseases in Twins↗
PubMed1979

Forecasting individual pharmacokinetics.

Often drug dosage may be chosen rationally by use of plasma concentration (CP) as the "therapeutic" end point. The ability to accurately forecast the CP resulting from a dosage regimen is central to choosing that regimen. Tradionally forecasting has been attempted only by accounting for known influences on pharmacokinetics, such as sex, age, and renal disease. One must also adjust for previously observed CPs. Herein, we discuss and explain an approach to both of these tasks, mainly focusing on the latter. The approach balances observed outcomes against prior expectations taking account of observation CP error. For digoxin, use of 1 measured CP, as opposed to none, improves forecast precision for future CPs by 40% (decrement in variance of forecast error), and 2 CPs improve it by 67%. There is also an increase in forecast accuracy (decrement in mean of forecast error) as the number of CPs used increases. After only 2, forecast accuracy and precision are as good as theoretically possible. Moreover, information from CPs is far more valuable for forecasting than that from observable patient features-sex, age, and the like; use of all the latter information does not improve accuracy and precision as much as only 1 CP.

Adult↗