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Biomedical subjects

Y Tal

Publications and source records attributed to Y Tal.

50 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Hospital admissions following childhood accidents.

This study comprises 260 children aged less than or equal to 13 yr hospitalized following accidents during a 9-mo period for a total of 923 hospital days. The ratio of boys to girls was 1.8:1. There were 21 road accidents and 104 accidents in the home; 75.4% of the accidents took place after school hours. Half of the admissions were for head trauma; 96 injuries were serious; and 78 patients required general anesthesia. In 67 families, there had been at least one previous childhood accident requiring hospitalization of the cohort child or sibling; factors in this group may have been the child's temperament or tension in the home.

Accidents, Home↗

Dandy-Walker syndrome: analysis of 21 cases.

During the years 1950 to 1978, a total of 21 cases of Dandy-Walker syndrome were seen at the Vancouver General Hospital. Apart from hydrocephalus, the associated brain anomalies included agenesis of the corpus callosum in four cases, occipital meningocele in two and aqueductal stenosis in one patient. Systemic malformations were present in four patients and included two cases of cleft palate, one of polycystic kidneys and one of congenital rubella syndrome. The over-all mortality was 48 per cent, but has declined since 1965. Of the 12 cases treated surgically, only four have died. The number of shunt revisions was high (about two per patient). Of the 11 survivors, three have normal intelligence, four show mild mental retardation, and four are moderately to severely retarded. The differential diagnosis, clinical course and surgical therapy are discussed. It is recommended that double shunting of a lateral ventricle and of the enlarged fourth ventricle should be the primary procedure in cases associated with aqueductal stenosis or occlusion, and should be the secondary procedure in patients who exhibit recurrence of increased pressure in the posterior fossa after simple shunting of a lateral ventricle.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts↗

Spinal cord damage: a rare complication of purulent meningitis.

Three cases of spinal cord damage following acute bacterial meningitis are described. Two children survived with neurological sequelae, while one died. Autopsy showed extensive spinal cord necrosis. The possible mechanisms for this rare complication are discussed and a possible connection with transient cardiorespiratory arrest is suggested.

Child, Preschool↗

Reduced in vitro response to concanavalin A and lipopolysaccharide in senescent mice: a function of reduced number of responding cells.

The proliferative capacity of spleen cells from C57BL/6J female mice of various ages (3-28 months) to the polyclonal mitogens concanavalin A (Con A) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was examined. It was found that both the T and B cell population of the spleen demonstrate an age-related decrease in their capacity to respond in vitro. Peak responses to both mitogens occurs at about 1 year of age. This age-related reduction in response is expressed in the degree of incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA, the total number of cells generated in vitro, the number of labeled cells per culture and the number of blast cells per culture. The day of peak response in vitro does not change with age. Studies of the cell cycle of cells responding to Con A and to LPS from 12 and 28-month-old mice demonstrate that the generation time of individual proliferating cells does not alter with age. Nor does it differ for the B cells responding to LPS or the T cells responding to Con A. These studies also demonstrate that the proliferating cells from senescent mice are equally capable of repeated cell divisions as are the cells from the 1-year-old adult mouse. It is concluded that the defect in senescent mice which leads to a reduced in vitro response to the polyclonal mitogens LPS and Con A is a reduction in the number of responding cells and not an alteration in the capacity of those cells which do respond to divide.

Aging↗

Nitrate removal in aquariums by immobilized pseudomonas.

Biological denitrification of nitrate to nitrogen gas was examined in a freshwater and a marine aquarium. Nitrate removal in the aquarium water was accomplished with denitrifiers immobilized in a freeze-dried, alginate-starch matrix. Starch served as a bacterial carbon source and cellular matrix-strengthening filler. Freeze-dried beads were placed in canisters through which nitrate-rich aquarium water was recirculated. The freshwater aquarium (100 L) contained goldfish (Carassius auratus) at a total biomass of 390 g, whereas cichlids (Oreochromis mossambicus) were kept at a similar stocking density in the marine aquarium. Denitrification resulted in low ambient nitrate concentrations in both aquariums. The specific nitrate removal rate of the freshwater beads was significantly higher (50 microg of NO(3)-N/bead/day) than that of seawater beads (5 microg of NO(3)-N/bead/day). Differences in ambient nitrate concentrations between both aquariums and diffusion limitation of nitrate to the active denitrification sites within the beads might explain these observed differences.

Animals↗

Radon in a self-selected sample of Israeli homes, schools, and workplaces.

Some 1,100 residences and places of work and 400 schoolrooms in Israel were tested for ambient air radon activity concentration in response to requests by the owners, tenants, or local authorities. A polyethylene vial containing activated charcoal was exposed to room air in each of these structures for 7 days, sealed, and transported to the laboratory. Adsorbed radon was extracted with a toluene-based cocktail which was then subjected to liquid scintillation counting. Mean radon activity concentrations were found to vary from city to city by more than an order of magnitude, indicating strong regional differences. The countrywide geometric mean was found to be 38 Bq/m3; the median, 37. The range for these means was 6-77 Bq/m3; for the medians, 11-100 Bq/m3. The highest reading was 9,100 Bq/m3. Our results are basically in line with those from the United States and much of Europe, but apparently higher than those found in the United Kingdom and Japan. It may be fairly said that mass testing for radon (222Rn) inside buildings in the United States began in the wake of the finding of a radon activity concentration in excess of 100,000 Bq/m3 in the home of the Watras family in Boyertown, PA in December 1984. To date, literally millions of American buildings have been tested, and mandatory testing of schoolrooms has begun in some states. In Israel, by contrast, where such a dramatically high measurement has not (yet) occurred, only 5 structures had been checked for radon by 1989.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Housing↗