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Biomedical subjects

W Graham

Publications and source records attributed to W Graham.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Raising awareness about reproductive morbidity.

Lack of awareness of the extent and effect of reproductive morbidity on the health and quality of life of women in developing countries is evident at national, community and individual levels. Raising awareness at national level requires population-based, epidemiological information which must be validated. At community level, public opinion mediates women's actions when they are sick and fear of social consequences provides a barrier to treatment. Individually, women find it difficult to talk about sexual reproductive health and its management. Methodologies currently being developed for raising awareness at all levels are described.

Awareness

Estimating maternal mortality in Djibouti: an application of the sisterhood method.

In many developing countries even crude estimates of the level of maternal mortality are lacking and the prospects of fulfilling this need using conventional sources of vital registration and health service statistics are not encouraging. The constraint this imposes on the effective planning, management and evaluation of the programmes now being launched to reduce these neglected deaths is self-evident. It is less obvious how the majority of developing countries can be expected to meet the call for reliable estimates of maternal mortality by 1995. The sisterhood method provides a means of obtaining population-based estimates using household surveys for data collection. This paper describes the application of the method in Djibouti in the context of a rapid multi-purpose household survey in difficult field circumstances. In recent years the reduction of the level of maternal mortality in developing countries has become a priority for both national governments and international agencies. Attention has been drawn to the wide range of levels within and between countries and to the huge discrepancies in the lifetime risk of maternal death for women in the developed compared with the developing world. This risk has been estimated to range from 1 in 19 in West Africa to almost 1 in 10,000 in Northern Europe.

Adolescent

Autoradiographical detection of cholecystokinin-A receptors in primate brain using 125I-Bolton Hunter CCK-8 and 3H-MK-329.

In vitro autoradiography was performed in order to visualize cholecystokinin-A (CCK-A) receptors in sections of Cynomolgus monkey brain. CCK-A receptors were defined as those which displayed high affinity for the selective non-peptide antagonist MK-329 (L-364,718) and were detected in several regions by selective inhibition of 125I-Bolton Hunter CCK using MK-329 or direct labeling with 3H-MK-329. In the caudal medulla, high densities of CCK-A sites were present in the nucleus tractus solitarius, especially the caudal and medial aspects, and also the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus. CCK-A sites were localized to a number of hypothalamic nuclei such as the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei, the dorsomedial and infundibular nuclei as well as the neurohypophysis. The mammillary bodies and supramammillary nuclei also contained CCK-A receptor sites. High concentrations of CCK-A receptors were present in the substantia nigra zona compacta and also the ventral tegmental area and may be associated with dopamine cell bodies. Binding of 3H-MK-329 was also detected in parts of the caudate nucleus and ventral putamen. The detection, by autoradiographical means, of CCK-A receptors throughout the Cynomolgus monkey brain contrasts with similar studies performed using rodents and suggests differences in the density and, perhaps, the importance of CCK-A receptors in the primate as opposed to the rodent. The data suggest the possibility that CCK-A receptors may be involved in a number of important brain functions as diverse as the processing of sensory information from the gut, the regulation of hormone secretion, and the activity of dopamine cell activity.

Animals

Occult cervical spine injuries in fatal traffic accidents.

Post-mortem radiographs as well as careful inspection at autopsy of 100 consecutive traffic accident victims revealed an incidence of cervical spine injury of 24%. All but four of the 24 fractures and/or dislocations were localized to the level between the occiput and the axis. One half of the cases were not clinically suspected of having spine injuries before the detailed postmortem search. Seventeen of the 24 cervical spines were resected en bloc and the pathologic anatomy of the injuries was determined. The high incidence of cervical spine injuries and the anatomic findings at dissection have clinical implications for physicians who manage multiply traumatized patients. The need for immobilization and early radiographic evaluation of patients with cervical spine injuries is emphasized.

Accidents, Traffic

CHEMFILE: an in-house information system for the chemical indexing of Abstracts on Health Effects of Environmental Pollutants (HEEP).

The inclusion of a Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry Number index in HEEP has led to the need for a special database designed to link substance names with their appropriate CAS chemical compound Registry Numbers. Begun in 1968 as a tape record with batch mode updates and few record modification capabilities, the information system, which we call CHEMFILE, has evolved to its current form of disk storage with on-line access for file maintenance.

Abstracting and Indexing

Photojournalism.

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Dentistry

Frequency dependence of flow resistance in patients with obstructive lung disease.

Total respiratory, pulmonary, and chest wall flow resistances were determined by means of forced pressure and flow oscillations (3-9 cps) superimposed upon spontaneous breathing in a group of patients with varying degrees of obstructive lung disease. Increased total respiratory and pulmonary resistances were found, whereas the chest wall resistance was normal or subnormal. The total respiratory and pulmonary resistances decreased with increasing frequencies. Static compliance of the lung was measured during interrupted slow expiration, and dynamic compliance was measured during quiet and rapid spontaneous breathing. Compliance was found to be frequency-dependent. The frequency dependence of resistance and compliance are interpreted as effects of uneven distribution of the mechanical properties in the lungs. The practical application of the oscillatory technique to the measurement of flow resistance in patients with lung disease is discussed. Measurements of total respiratory resistance by the forced oscillatory technique at frequencies less than 5 cps appear to be as useful for assessing abnormalities in airway resistance as either the plethysmographic or esophageal pressure techniques.

Adult

Estimating maternal mortality: the sisterhood method.

This paper describes a new indirect technique for deriving population-based estimates of maternal mortality. The technique, called the "sisterhood method," is relevant to developing countries where the alternative data sources and approaches to estimation are often inadequate and inappropriate. The sisterhood method uses the proportions of adult sisters dying during pregnancy, childbirth, or the puerperium reported by adults during a census or survey, to derive a variety of indicators of maternal mortality. The first field trial of the method was carried out in the North Bank Division of The Gambia, West Africa, in 1987. The results indicate a lifetime risk of maternal mortality of 0.0584, or 1 in 17, approximating a maternal mortality ratio of 1,005 per 100,000 live births, which is consistent with previous estimates for this region.

Data Collection