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Biomedical subjects

S L Waller

Publications and source records attributed to S L Waller.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Exocrine pancreatic function and chronic unexplained dyspepsia. A case-control study.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of diminished mean tryptic activity (MTA) in duodenal juice of patients with nonulcer dyspepsia following injection of a Lundh test meal. Two separate studies were undertaken. The first examined a consecutive group of 100 patients with suspected pancreatic disease referred over a period of 2 yr. In these patients, receiver-operating-characteristic analysis was used to determine the point of best discrimination, which occurred at 7 microEq/mL/min when non-pancreatic disease patients were compared with those with chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer. The second study involved 22 patients with endoscopically confirmed nonulcer dyspepsia. The MTA for the patients with unexplained dyspepsia did not differ from 17 healthy controls, but a further 16 pancreatic disease control patients had significantly decreased values (p less than 0.01). Six patients with unexplained dyspepsia (27%) had an MTA of 7 microEq/min/mL or less, indicating impaired pancreatic function, which was more frequent than in healthy controls (p = 0.02). These six patients had significantly different symptoms, being more likely to have pain radiating through to the back (p = 0.017) and pain waking them from sleep (p = 0.002), and less likely to have postprandial pain (p = 0.045). It was of interest that the alcohol intake was not greater in these six patients. It is concluded that pancreatic disease may explain the symptoms of some patients with nonulcer dyspepsia.

Adult

Effect of melatonin on induction of estrous cycles in anestrous ewes.

To examine the influence of melatonin on seasonality of reproduction, 97 multiparous Suffolk and Suffolk-cross ewes were randomly assigned to one of four treatment (TRT) groups in a 2 X 2 factorial arrangement. Treatments were as follows: 1) control (C); 2) melatonin (M); 3) progestogen (P) implant of norgestomet plus pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) injection (P + PMSG) and 4) M plus TRT 3 (M + P + PMSG). From April 3 to June 24 an oral dose of 2 mg M was administered once daily at 1600 to each ewe in TRT groups M and M + P + PMSG. On April 30, ewes in groups P + PMSG and M + P + PMSG were implanted in the ear with 2 mg norgestomet for 13 d. Immediately following implant removal, each ewe was injected with 500 IU PMSG. Blood samples were collected from all ewes twice weekly from March 22 through June 24. Number of estrous cycles per ewe during the TRT period of 82 d (April 3 to June 24) was higher (P less than .05) for M + P + PMSG (2.1 +/- .2) than for C (.3 +/- .2), M (1.5 +/- .2) and P + PMSG (1.1 +/- .2). Control ewes had fewer (P less than .05) estrous cycles per ewe than either M or P + PMSG. Following the induced estrus, 40% of ewes in the M TRT had one estrous cycle; 32% had two or more cycles. For ewes treated with M + P + PMSG, 24% had one cycle, and 32% had two estrous cycles.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Anestrus

Reproductive performance of Suffolk and Suffolk-cross ewes and ewe lambs exposed to vasectomized rams before breeding.

Multiparous Suffolk and Suffolk-cross ewes were randomly allotted to treatments within breed and year to measure effects of ram exposure, during transition from anestrus to breeding activity, on reproductive performance. Treatments were: 1) ewes joined with two mature vasectomized Rambouillet rams for 15 d before breeding (DC), 2) ewes maintained across a net wire fence from two vasectomized rams for 15 d before breeding (FC) and 3) ewes maintained approximately 400 m away from rams (NC). At the end of the 15 d, all ewes were placed in one pasture and mated to three fertile Suffolk rams during a 34-d breeding season. A total of 96 Suffolk and 177 Suffolk-cross ewes was utilized during the 3-yr experiment. A greater (P less than .05) prebreeding ovulation percentage was observed in DC and FC than in NC ewes. Mating and lambing occurred approximately 6 d earlier for DC or FC ewes than for NC ewes. A similarly designed experiment was conducted using Suffolk and Suffolk-cross ewe lambs allotted to treatments within breed and year to measure effects of ram exposure during the natural breeding season, but prior to breeding. Treatment differences were not detected (P greater than .05) for date of first observed estrus, date of lambing, percentage of ewes lambing in the first 17 d of the lambing season, number of lambs born per ewe lamb exposed or number of lambs born per ewe lamb giving birth.

Anestrus

Effect of ulcer healing on the prognosis of chronic gastric uler. Four-year follow-up.

Eighty three patients were followed-up for four years after an admission to hospital with a chronic gastric ulcer proven by radiology (index ulcer). The index ulcer healed completely in 50 patients, but was unhealed at the time of discharge in the other 33. Significantly fewer patients whose index ulcer was healed compared with those whose ulcer was unhealed at discharge had had a recurrence by one (p < 0.05), two, three and four years' (p < 0.01) follow-up. Moreover, the rate of recurrence was significantly greater for those patients with unhealed, compared with those with a healed index ulcer (p < 0.05) and by the end of the four-year period 61% of patients with unhealed, compared with 26% of those with healed index ulcers had had a recurrence. Patients over the age of 60 years with unhealed index ulcers had a significantly poorer prognosis than those of similar age whose index ulcer was healed at discharge (p < 0.025). The sex of the ulcer patient did not significantly influence ulcer recurrence. Large ulcers (> 57 mm(2)) were less often healed on initial discharge and were more frequently associated with recurrence at one (p < 0.05), two (p < 0.025), three and four years (p < 0.01) than smaller ulcers ([unk]57 mm(2)). Heavy intake of analgesics adversely influenced the course of patients whose ulcer was unhealed (p < 0.05), but did not alter the recurrence rate in those whose ulcer was healed. Ulcer recurrence was not influenced by smoking habits or by alcohol consumption.

Age Factors

Differential measurement of small and large bowel transit times in constipation and diarrhoea: A new approach.

Differential measurements of small and large bowel transit times were performed in 13 subjects iwth a radiotelemetering pressure-sensitive capsule incorporating less than 10mugCi of 51-Cr. Six patients had constipation. The other seven patients had diarrhoea due to the irritable bowel syndrome (3), following vagotomy and pyloroplasty (3), or due to laxative abuse (1). This new method enables the gastric, small intestinal, and colonic transit times to be measured differentially in the same subject. The capsule can be localized in the gut lumen by reference to the characteristic pressure pattern and in relation to bony landmarks by the radioactive marker as frequently as desired without recourse to radiographs. The results show that gastric emptying and small intestinal transit did not differ in constipation and diarrhoea. By contrast the mean colonic transit was significantly faster (P smaller than 0.01) in diarrhoea whatever the cause (17.5 plus or minus 4.1 hours) than in constipation (118 plus or minus 4.1 hours).

Adult