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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Ultrasound attenuation measurements of the liver in vivo using a commercial sector scanner.

Attenuation measurements of various tissue mimicking phantoms and three different groups of patients were obtained using a modified commercial sector scanner. Estimates of attenuation were made using the spectral shift method with mean frequencies at different depths of a region of interest being obtained by both zero crossing and fast Fourier transform techniques. The accuracy and precision of both techniques was compared in phantoms and it was found that the FFT technique yielded less day-to-day variation (SD=3 percent) than the zero crossing technique (5 percent). For larger regions of interest, the range of variation in both techniques was more similar. Day-to-day variation in livers of normal patients was much larger than that seen in phantoms (10 to 15 percent) suggesting that in vivo measurements may be less precise due to actual daily changes in patients' livers. Attenuation estimates of phantoms were high by approximately 0.16 dB/MHz/cm compared to values obtained by transmission techniques. The attenuation values of livers in a group of 31 normal patients ranged from 0.214 dB/cm/MHz to 0.849 dB/cm/MHz with a mean of 0.627 +/- 0.126 dB/cm/MHz for the zero crossing technique while the mean value using the FFT technique was 0.86 +/- 0.168 dB/cm/MHz. A group of 26 Gauchers disease patients also showed wide variation with a mean attenuation value of 0.768 +/- 0.21 dB/cm/MHz using the FFT technique. This was significantly different than that of the normal group (p less than .05). Also, a group of 22 chronic B hepatitis patients was examined, having a mean attenuation value of 0.823 +/- 0.21 dB/cm/MHz, not significantly different from those of normal patients. Highly significant differences were found between the three groups when the power spectrum bandwidths of signals received were compared. These differences may be due to differences in the dependence of attenuation as a function of frequency between the groups and may represent a useful tissue characterization parameter.

Gaucher Disease↗
PubMed1989

In rural Indonesia social marketing of oral rehydration salts the mothers' perspective.

The Indonesia Health Department has been intensifying efforts to increase mothers' access to and use of oral rehydration salts (ORS) for the last several years. The approach utilizes a social marketing perspective to persuade the parents. This report describes the results of two consecutive field interventions using this approach. The first utilized a combination of public sector and commercial sector resources. The second used the public sector alone.

Child↗
PubMed1977

Recent trends in contraceptive use in Mexico.

In 1973 the Mexican government changed its official position on family planning from one of neurtality to one of support. Prior to that time, family planning activities had been limited to the commercial sector and two private programs. As a result of the new policy, all major official health programs began organizing family planning activities. While about the same number of couples were served by the private programs in 1976 as in 1973, the commercial sector grew at over 10 percent per year and official coverage expanded around fivefold. It is estimated that the proportion of eligible women protected by contraception doubled and that the birth rate fell from 43-44 in 1973 to 37-40 by the end of 1976.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Health technologies for the developing world. Addressing the unmet needs.

This paper provides a critical overview of several strategies and mechanisms that have been employed by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health over the past decade to address the unmet needs for health technologies in the developing world. Partnerships between public and private-sector organizations are emphasized in order to share risks, encourage efficiency, and ensure the availability of priority products for health care in resource-poor settings. Incentives for the involvement of the commercial sector, the means to protect the interest of the public sector, and the role of bridging organizations are discussed in the light of the shifting goals of the public sector.

Developing Countries↗
PubMed1992

Female labour participation in agricultural production and the implications for nutrition and health in rural Africa.

The broad objectives of this paper are: firstly, to examine the initial impact of colonialism on food production by women, by considering their role and activity patterns within the household in terms of rights, obligations, exchanges, allocation of resources and responsibilities and the division of labour in the selected African Societies of the Luo, Kikuyu and Luhya (Kenya), Ewe and Kusasi (Ghana), Mandinka (The Gambia), Yoruba (Nigeria) and Azande (Sudan). These ethnic groups used as examples were mainly selected on the basis of their predominance and availability of data in these countries lying in the Sub-Saharan Africa having similar historical roots of the British colonial policies. Secondly, some of the possible social, economic and biological effects or implications on the changes in rural women's work in the chosen case studies in Africa are elucidated. It has been hypothesized that the development process in rural Africa has marginalized women (with varying degrees) in the subsistence sector, reducing their productivity and control over resources; and that women's total work burden has relatively increased, a phenomenon which can be understood as an integral process of capital penetration and accumulation. These changes may have significant implications for nutrition and health affecting the overall levels of food production. Although the selected illustrations do not represent the full range of possibilities in Sub-Saharan Africa, the data on the gender roles and workpatterns and the different changing ways do indicate that the women's role in food production has profound implications for socio-economic development in general and nutrition and health in particular with much wider applicability. In fact no such cross-sectional study has been conducted in rural Africa. It is generally concluded that any consideration of women's agricultural production should not neglect the structural bases of their inequality, and the policies can be inadequate if they overlook the relationship between the subsistence and commercial sectors and the women's role in each. In effect, the relative and absolute losses in women's food production and incomes bear immediately on the food crisis of many of the Sub-Saharan African countries, and that the current policies for the food crisis are likely to fail unless there is an improvement of the data base in women's and men's specific food production activities, processing and marketing for use in policy formulation and implementation. Indeed, the integration of women into the development process should be sensitive to and cognizant of their needs, contributions and potentials in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa↗
PubMed1988

FAB and tandem mass spectrometry for endorphin- and ACTH peptides of molecular weight to 2000.

Four beta-endorphins (beta-endorphin 6-17, 2-17, 1-16, and 1-17) and two adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) peptides (ACTH 1-10 and (1-16)-NH2) were studied by using fast atom bombardment coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The capability to reproduce metastable ion and collisionally activated decomposition spectra on two different commercial sector mass spectrometers in two different laboratories was found to be acceptable (deviations in relative abundance are less than +/- 50%). The endorphin peptides fragment metastably or upon collisional activation to give abundant B-series ions as well as Y-series ions, whereas Y-series ions are the principal ionic species produced upon the desorption by fast atom bombardment. The ACTH peptides also fragment to give Y-series ions, but of relatively low abundance compared to those from the endorphins. For both sets of peptides, high-energy collisionally activated decomposition and metastable ion decomposition daughter ion spectra are precise, structurally informative--even for peptides up to m/z 2000--and complementary to spectra of daughter ions produced by desorption ionization alone.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1978

[Health care for the population. Making prevention more popular].

In order to get the information about prevention issues to "go through" and to foster behavior modifications in the individuals, there is a need to disseminate in with the communication techniques used in the commercial sector in particular; in a way, the matter is to make prevention fashionable. At the institutional level, it is important to remove the obstacles which hinder or delay the availability and use to preventive services. This should be done in obtaining a real transparency of the health care system, especially as regards the type of care given, the equipment and the costs involved.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1991

Ultrasonographic, three-dimensional scanning for determination of intraocular tumor volume.

Important prognostic information may be gained from knowing the volume of intraocular tumors, such as choroidal melanomas. To measure such volume, we developed an ultrasonographic 3-D scanning system, which operates by an axial, back and forth, half-turn rotation of a commercial sector scanning transducer, applied directly onto a closed eyelid. Control of movement, data acquisition, and image analysis are accomplished by means of a microcomputer and application-specific software. The elapsed time for scanning and digitizing 11 cross-sectional images across a human eyeball, is 4 sec. Outlines of specific structures are traced manually. The system was tested through repeated, in vitro measurements of known volumes of meat; the mean variation coefficient of these measurements was 2.8%. While accurate estimates were obtained on volumes between 0.01-0.25 ml, these are linearly dependent on gain setting. A patient with a choroidal melanoma was scanned repetitively. The procedures of scanning and tracing contributed about equally to the total variance. This method of scanning allows repeatable, reliable, and easily generated measurements of a tumor's volume and, thus, has great potential for use in the diagnosis and treatment of malignant, intraocular tumors.

Choroid Neoplasms↗
PubMed1992

Ultrasonographic three-dimensional scanning for determination of intraocular tumour volume.

Important prognostic information may be gained from knowing the volume and the rate of growth of intraocular tumours, such as choroidal melanomas. An ultrasonographic 3-D scanning system based on rotation of a commercial sector scanning transducer applied directly onto a closed eyelid was designed to measure such volume. Control of movement, data acquisition, and image analysis are accomplished by means of a microcomputer and application-specific software. The elapsed time for scanning and digitizing 20 cross-sectional images is about 1 sec. Outlines of specific structures are traced manually. The system var tested through repeated measurements of known volumes of meat. The mean variation coefficient of these measurements was 2.8%. The traced volumes were linearly dependent on gain setting of the system requiring a fixed setting for accurate estimates. The procedures of scanning and tracing contributed about equally to the total variance. This method allows repeatable, reliable, and easily generated quantitative measurements of volume with a great potential for use in the diagnosis of malignant tumours and control of the effectiveness of radiotherapy.

Brachytherapy↗
PubMed1987

Lymphoma, melanoma, colon cancer: diagnosis and treatment with radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies. The 1986 Eugene P. Pendergrass New Horizons Lecture.

The development of monoclonal antibodies for use as in vivo carriers of radioactivity for diagnosis and therapy of malignant neoplasms is proceeding rapidly within academic and commercial sectors. The author and his colleagues studied anticancer antibodies formed against tumors of both somatic and hematopoietic origins. Several general principles have been established with the work with somatic tumors, including the following: Improved tumor-to-normal-tissue ratios can be achieved with Fab fragments as opposed to whole IgG; each antitumor antibody has a characteristic biodistribution in humans that cannot be readily predicted from tissue or small animal studies; and for many antibodies, there is a strong dependency of tumor uptake on total mass amount of antibody administered (greater uptake with greater mass dose). Initial work with iodine-131 labeled Fab fragments of the antimelanoma antibodies, 96.5 and 48-7, documented that tumor uptake was broadly proportional to antigen content of the tumors and that under optimal conditions, some tumors were sufficiently loaded with radiolabeled antibody to serve as radiation therapy. In one patient, an objective response was seen that lasted for 4 months; of five other patients, one had long-term stabilization of a previously rapidly growing tumor; two other patients had no response at doses of radioactivity that had caused significant bone marrow suppression but no treatment-related symptoms or morbidity. The antitumor antibody B-72.3, as IgG, has been particularly promising when administered intraperitoneally. In ten patients who were administered I-131 B-72.3 via a Tenkhoff catheter, the sensitivity and specificity of tumor location were excellent for peritoneal implants, and in three of these patients, surgically confirmed tumor was seen with the radiolabeled antibody technique when abdominal computed tomography and magnetic resonance studies were negative. In a separate series of 20 patients with mycoses fungoides, the anti-lymphoma antibody T-101 (recognizes the pan T-cell antigen, T-65), when labeled with indium-111, demonstrated lymph node involvement with greater sensitivity than conventional diagnostic methods and with excellent specificity. Radiolabeled antitumor B-72.3 and T-101 both show promise in antitumor therapy. Although much remains to be done on technical and biologic research levels before these radiopharmaceuticals can be routinely applied to all forms of cancer, these clinical research examples suggest that under proper conditions of use, radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies will have a major impact on the future practice of nuclear medicine.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1989

Cost recovery and its effects on the profession.

More departments are having to implement a cost recovery service and also market their skills in the commercial sector. Less time is becoming available to devote to professional matters. What will be the long-term effects on the professional progress of medical illustration if this is allowed to continue?

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Oral contraception in Bangladesh: social marketing and the importance of husbands.

This is a report on a study that examined the characteristics of three types of commercial providers of oral contraceptives, as well as users and users' husbands. The study also examined how and from whom users and/or their husbands obtain oral contraceptives and instructions for use. The socioeconomic level of providers and user-couples was, on average, higher than for the general population. Husbands were particularly important for obtaining supplies from the commercial sector and acting as instructors. The findings suggest that: a special effort will be required if social marketing techniques are to increase oral contraceptive prevalence among the rural poor in Bangladesh, and family planning researchers and managers should give more attention to husbands in countries where men dominate communication networks.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Effectiveness of genetic selection for prolificacy in pigs.

This paper attempts to summarize and discuss the new evidence on the effectiveness of selection for prolificacy. In recent years selection between lines, and the adoption of formal cross-breeding programmes, have led to considerable improvements at a commercial level. Within-line selection has not been tackled seriously except in a few experiments. The mainly negative results from these should not lead to the conclusion that progress is impossible, but rather that it needs larger resources, applied consistently for several generations, to overcome the inherent problems. There are now many estimates of genetic parameters, based on large data sets, and these have helped to clear up some of the confusion resulting from previous inadequate material. A heritability of around 0.1, repeatability of 0.15, and fairly high genetic correlations between successive records seem justified. The negative environmental effect of being reared in a large litter is frequently present, but there is no good reason why this should seriously affect attempts to improve the trait by selection. Information from a candidate's relatives other than its dam can undoubtedly increase the accuracy with which its breeding value is estimated, but the routine use of such data in practical programmes is not straightforward. Prolificacy is only one group of traits contributing to net economic worth. The need to strike a balance between all relevant traits is explored in the particular context of a scheme based on hyperprolific sows. Finally, selection can only have lasting and cumulative effectiveness if it is applied at the top of a pyramid of improvement. Both culling and selection of replacement gilts within the commercial sector are largely irrelevant.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

The effect of U.S. policies on the economics of libraries.

The decline in federal support of educational programs has made it difficult for libraries to apply new technologies to improve practices and services. While federal support has declined in constant dollars, there has been a modest increase in grants from private foundations. Current U.S. policies require federal agencies to recover full costs of rendering services (Circular A-25) and require the transfer of many federal service-oriented activities to the commercial sector (Circular A-76). Additionally, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 is inhibiting the production and dissemination of federal publications. Government pursuit of these policies adds a heavy economic burden to libraries and threatens to reduce access to the scholarly and scientific record.

Budgets↗
PubMed1976

Fertility and contraceptive practice: Bogota, 1964-74.

The results of a 1974 survey of 6,692 Bogota women aged 15-49 conducted by the Colombian Association for Population Studies show that, in the last decade, approval of family planning practice increased 34 percent, contraceptive practice nearly doubled, and fertility declined by over 45 percent. Life-table analysis shows unusually high continuation rates for Bogota women. Data concerning crossovers between Bogota's three family planning programs and the commercial sector indicate that the manufacturers of contraceptives benefit from program activities. The study demonstrates, for the first time in Latin America, the feasibility of using a probability sample of the general female population to evaluate family planning programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The Children's Vaccine Initiative and vaccine supply: the role of the public sector.

'Children represent the most vulnerable segment of every society--and they are our present and future. Good health, especially of children, promotes personal and national development. Scientific progress, matched with improved capacities of all countries to immunize their children, provides an unparalleled opportunity to save additional lives and prevent additional millions of disabilities annually through a Children's Vaccine Initiative.' (The Netherlands Minister for Development Co-operation.)

Child↗
PubMed1990

Haemonchus contortus with low inhibited development in sheep from the highveld of Zimbabwe.

The abomasa of sheep grazing on natural pastures in the highveld of Zimbabwe were examined for Haemonchus contortus. Of 304 abomasa, 213 (70%) harboured H. contortus. The worm burden increased during the rains to reach the peak in February-March. This was followed by a decline with low worm loads throughout the dry season. The fourth stage larvae (L4) accounted for 1-7% of the total H. contortus population, except during July and August when they comprised 22 and 54% of the worm burden, respectively. It appears that the inhibition of H. contortus is not common in the commercial farming sector where sheep are treated very frequently.

Abomasum↗