Rural obstetrics in NSW

Rural general practitioners are responsible for providing obstetric services to the majority of women living in rural communities. This paper reports a comparison of 5,950 deliveries conducted by rural GPs in NSW during 1990-1991 with all 88,275 deliveries during the same period in NSW. No evidence that obstetric care in accredited rural GP obstetric units is of less than acceptable standards could be found. There is scope to increase the use of rural obstetric units for the training of future rural GP obstetricians.     

The use of salbutamol in obstetrics

Sympathomimetic amines have been used with the aim of abolishing uterine contractions. On the basis of results from an in vivo technique for testing the specificity and affinity of the beta2-receptor stimulating agents, salbutamol was used for a clinical trial. Five case histories were selected in order to illustrate the possibility of utilizing salbutamol in emergency cases with the aim of achieving uterine relaxation during the period of time between the admission of the patient and the commencement of delivery by, for example, caesarean section.     

Central venous catheter use in low-risk coronary artery bypass grafting

BACKGROUND: To assess the impact of central venous pressure catheter monitoring in low-risk coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), we compared the hospital course of patients undergoing CABG with central venous pressure catheter monitoring with that of similar patients undergoing CABG with pulmonary artery catheter monitoring. METHODS: All isolated primary CABG procedures (n = 312) performed between April 22 and October 31, 1996, were evaluated, and 194 patients meeting six central venous pressure catheter use criteria were identified. Of these 194 patients, 133 (68%) underwent CABG with central venous pressure catheter monitoring, and 61 (32%) had pulmonary artery catheter monitoring owing to surgeon or anesthesiologist preference. RESULTS: In-hospital mortality was similar. A trend toward increased overall complications was seen in the pulmonary artery catheter group. The total volume infused in the first 12 hours, the 24-hour weight gain, and the intubation time were significantly greater in the pulmonary artery catheter group. Increases in intensive care unit length of stay and in total hospital charges trended toward statistical significance in the pulmonary artery catheter group. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary artery catheter use in low-risk patients undergoing CABG was associated with greater weight gain and longer intubation time and may be associated with increased morbidity and utilization of hospital resources.     

Stress-coping factors in adolescent substance use: test of ethnic and gender differences in samples of urban adolescents

Investigated group differences in the relationship between stress-coping variables and substance (cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana) use with samples of inner-city students in sixth through eighth grades (N = 1,289) and metropolitan-area students in seventh through ninth grades (N = 1,702). Measures included affect, life events, parental support, and coping patterns. African-American adolescents had the lowest rate of substance use, Hispanics were intermediate, and Whites had the highest rate; there was no gender difference in overall substance use. Multiple regression analysis showed the strength of predictive relationships for stress-coping variables was lower for African Americans and was greatest for Whites; four methodological tests showed these differences were not attributable to statistical artifacts. Hispanic adolescents showed greater vulnerability than Whites at younger ages but this effect reversed at later ages. Implications for prevention research are discussed.     

The use of once-daily dosing of gentamicin in obstetrics and gynecology

Gentamicin is a widely-used antimicrobial agent for obstetric and gynecologic infections. Renewed excitement in this antibiotic has arisen from recent information supporting less frequent dosing. In this symposium, we will describe the pharmacokinetics of gentamicin and review new information advocating the use of once-daily administration of gentamicin.     

Arousal, extraversion, and individual differences in resource availability.

Three studies of the effects of extraversion and self-report arousal on attentional task performance were conducted, using sustained attention, visual/memory search, and letter transformation tasks. Differing predictions were derived from the Yerkes-Dodson Law (R. M. Yerkes and J. D. Dodson, 1908) and from M. S. Humphreys and W. Revelle's (see record 1984-16903-001) theory of individual differences in multiple attentional resources. Higher arousal was consistently associated with more efficient performance of demanding versions of the attentional tasks. This finding supports Humphreys and Revelle's hypothesis that arousal is positively associated with the resources required for sustained information transfer. No support for the Yerkes-Dodson Law was found in any study: Relationships between arousal and performance were largely linear. Interactive effects of extraversion and arousal on response criterion were found with self-paced tasks. Extraversion may affect more than 1 type of cognitive process, with the strategic demands of the task influencing the kind of extraversion effect found in any given experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of umbilical artery Doppler ultrasonography in modern obstetrics

In contrast to the reduction in perinatal mortality in high-risk pregnancies, screening of low-risk pregnancies with umbilical artery Doppler ultrasonography has shown no benefit. Advances in pathophysiology question the assumption that the placenta is hypoxic in fetal growth restriction, with absent end-diastolic frequencies in the umbilical artery. The timing of delivery in relation to Doppler findings is uncertain, and so trials that relate Doppler findings to neurodevelopmental outcome are necessary to refine the role of this technique in obstetric practice.     

Possibilities of the use of 3-dimensional ultrasonography in gynecology and obstetrics

The authors report their experiences with 3 dimensional ultrasound technique applied in cases of 286 obstetrical and 35 gynecological examinations. Combison 530, 3 D ultrasound equipment was used. Pathological signs were found in 14 cases. The introduction of this technique has been increasing the diagnostic accuracy of prenatal and gynecological ultrasound examinations, and some malformations, that could have never been seen by "traditional" 2 D methods, can be visualized as well.     

Rationalization of the use of preoperative thoracic radiography in obstetrics and gynecology

Mitochondria of helminth parasites produce energy in a number of ways that vary from species to species, and, in general, do not possess a classical tricarboxylic acid (Krebs) cycle. The process of protein synthesis, which is energy dependent, is not well understood in this organelle. However, protein synthesis in helminth mitochondria seems to serve the purpose to the desired level despite its limited capacity to produce ATP compared to its mammalian counterpart. Data presented here demonstrate that helminth mitochondria can synthesize proteins in vitro and the process can be supported by energy supplied exogenously by the cytosol, by an ATP generating system utilizing a substrate such as malate, or by ATP itself.     

Michigan physician groups and the MSMS services they use

According to Petoskey family practitioner and MSMS Membership Chair Louis R. Zako, MD, MSMS has adapted perhaps better than any other state medical society to the changing medical marketplace. "MSMS continues to provide traditional member services--such as excellent CME programs, cellular phone service and auto leasing--at extremely competitive prices. In recent years MSMS has also kept pace with the increasing complexity of the business side of medicine," Doctor Zako says.     

A processing resource account of age differences in recall.

Hypothesized that age deficits in recall are due to a reduction in available processing resource. It is also argued that the formation of a distinct encoding, in which unique aspects of the context are integrated with the target item, requires a substantial amount of attentional resource but that the core semantic features of words are encoded relatively automatically. Thus, under conditions of reduced processing resource, a general, stereotyped encoding is predicted. The effectiveness of general, categorical retrieval cues was compared to the effectiveness of contextually specific retrieval cues in 3 experiments with 84 undergraduates and 60 elderly (approximately 66–69 yrs old) Ss. Young adults recalled more than older adults when they were cued with specific retrieval cues, but no age differences were observed when general retrieval cues were used. A similar pattern of results was obtained when the amount of processing resource was experimentally reduced by requiring young adults to perform a concurrent task during encoding. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rural and urban adolescents' perceptions of mental health

This study investigated rural and urban adolescents' perceptions of mental health. A questionnaire containing nine vignettes (involving child abuse and adult and adolescent mental health issues) was devised based on a tool developed by Flaskerud (1980). Analysis of responses to the questionnaire indicated that there was general agreement among the students about unhealthy behaviors. However, there were some significant differences related to rural/urban setting, gender, and ethnic background. The findings provide insight into rural and urban students' perceptions of problematic behaviors, who should intervene, and how. It is recommended that health care providers assist adolescents in expanding their range of coping behaviors, especially in regard to alcohol abuse and violence.     

Sunscreen use in an urban Negev population

The use of sunscreen in the Negev population was assessed. The study population included 1458 subjects, mean age 35.5 +/- 14.2 years, half born in Israel and 25% in East Europe. Two-thirds were exposed to the sun 1-2 hours a day and 13% 4 hours a day or more. Only about 15% used sunscreen while shopping, 69% used it at the beach, and less than half applied it to children being sent to school. Sunscreen use was greater in women (p < 0.000001), especially those with sensitive skin (p < 0.0001) and red hair (p < 0.0001). No significant association was found with age, education or country of birth.     

Individual differences in the selection and use of features for classifying visual stimuli

Two experiments were performed to investigate the classification of pot-like outlines by human judges. In experiment 1, seventy-two pot-like shapes, drawn by using all possible combinations of values of four pot ratios, were classified by twenty subjects and by a computer program. The shapes varied only in quantitative features and possessed no all-or-none characteristics. In experiment 2,256 shapes traced from drawings of existing pots were classified by fifteen judges. The pots varied in both quantitative and all-or-none features. The results showed that there were differences between judges in the weightings they assigned to different features, and the judges themselves could be classified according to the weightings they gave the features. There were even differences in the way different judges used all-or-none features for classifying. Possible mechanisms are suggested for the basis of these differences.     

Developmental and intellectual differences in self-report and strategy use.

The veridicality and reactivity of children's self-report of covert and overt memory strategies were investigated in a task allowing a direct comparison of self-report and the strategy observed. External memory strategies (e.g., moving objects) were investigated with 7-, 9-, 11-, and 17-year-old typical children and 11- and 17-year-old children with mild mental retardation. Participants placed objects in specified spatial locations after hearing sequences of tape-recorded sentences. After each trial, half of the children immediately reported the strategy used. There were strong positive correlations between the frequency of reported strategy use and observed strategy use. Self-reports were accurate but not always complete. There was no effect of the self-reporting procedure on measures of verbal strategies, external memory strategies, and accuracy of recall. Children were less likely to report strategies not related to recall; these results are compatible with a "goal-sketch" mechanism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)