A Study of Media Effectiveness for Sickle Cell Anemia Education in a Rural Community

A study was done in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, in order to determine the relative effectiveness of the various mass media (television, radio, and newspaper) in delivering an educational message about sickle cell anemia. The study also focused on different subpopulations. It was found that subpopulations varied in the extent to which they were reached by the message through a given medium. This indicates that any plan for media utilization in a campaign for sickle cell anemia education should take into consideration the subpopulation at which the message is aimed.     

Part-time training:Experience in the Northern region

This paper presents information and opinion on the characteristics of part-time traineesand the working of the scheme over the past 11 years. Data have been of variable quality and it is perhaps too early to assess properly the outcome of part-time training schemes. Nevertheless such evaluation is necessary and will only be possible if suitable data are collected systematically and thoroughly, starting now.     

Use of the autoperfusion catheter in acute coronary occlusion within the scope of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)

The procedure of an autoperfusion catheterization after acute coronary occlusion by dissection during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is described. Multiple side holes proximal and distal to the dissection allow passive myocardial perfusion only by systemic blood pressure. In the case presented, the catheter immediately reestablished coronary blood flow and thereby produced resolution of symptoms and myocardial ischemia. This easy procedure made it possible to perform the subsequent coronary bypass operation as a controlled revascularization and it prevented myocardial necrosis.     

Gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery

Gastrointestinal (GI) complications after cardiac surgical procedures are infrequent but severe. Thirty-three GI complications were identified in 25 patients who underwent cardiac surgery during a 7-year period (2.0% incidence). The mortality rate for patients having these GI complications was 44%. Acute acalculous cholecystitis was the most lethal complication (86%). Acute pancreatitis was the most common complication (eight patients). Most patients responded well to conservative measures. Five patients had upper GI hemorrhage and three had lower GI bleeding that required more than 2 U of packed red blood cells. All patient conditions were diagnosed endoscopically and none necessitated operation. Of the remaining patients, one was operated on because of perforated duodenal ulcer, one because of perforated diverticulitis, and one because of pseudo-obstruction of the colon, and one patient underwent diagnostic laparotomy and showed negative results for presumed acalculous cholecystitis. Liver failure was fatal in all three patients in whom it occurred. GI complications correlated significantly with advanced age, prolonged bypass times, valve surgery, and the female sex. We conclude that septic GI complications--particularly acute acalculous cholecystitis and perforated viscus--after cardiac surgery are uncommon but lethal. Clinical features are often subtle, and a high index of suspicion is necessary for an early diagnosis and the institution of appropriate treatment.     

Activation of neurones in the prefrontal cortex by brain-stimulation reward in the rat

To investigate reward pathways in the brain, recording were made from neurones while electrical stimulation was applied to brain-stimulation reward sites in the rat. Single units in most areas of the neocortex were not activated by the stimulation. In the sulcal prefrontal cortex (which forms the dorsal bank of the rhinal sulcus) and in the medial prefrontal cortex (which forms the medial pregenual wall of the hemisphere) single units were activated by the stimulation. This indication that prefrontal neurones are involved in brain-stimulation reward received support from the observation that the neurones were activated in self-stimulation of many different sites — the lateral hypothalamus, the midbrain tegmentum ventrolateral to the central grey, the nucleus accumbens, and the medial prefrontal cortex. Many of the prefrontal units were directly (probably antidromically) excited, with short latencies (1–10 msec), by stimulus pulses applied to self-stimulation sites other than the nucleus accumbens. Many prefrontal units were trans-synaptically activated with longer latencies (2–30 msec) by stimulus pulses applied to the self-stimulation sites. Further evidence that the prefrontal neurones are involved in brain-stimulation reward is that units in the prefrontal cortex were in general not activated from non-reward sites in the midbrain tegmentum. Also neurones in many other areas of the neocortex did not appear to be activated by the brain-stimulation reward.     

Suppression of puerperal lactation by terguride. A double-blind study

Clinical efficacy, prolactin (PRL)-lowering effect and tolerance of terguride (an 8-alpha-ergoline derived from Lisuride which acts as a partial dopaminergic agonist) were investigated in a double-blind study on inhibition of puerperal lactation using three different daily doses of the drug (0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 mg). With 0.5 and 1.0 daily therapeutical regimens PRL levels were suppressed in a dose-dependent manner and lactation was prevented. Terguride was highly well tolerated.