bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A MEDIEVAL TEST FOR FERTILITY
Authors: C. T. E. 
Published: December 2021

The curious fertility test quoted below comes from an eleventh century manuscript on gynecology attributed to Trotula of Salerno. This test can be traced back to Egyptian papyri; it was also mentioned by Galen.1
If the woman or the man be sterile you will ascertain it by this method: take two jars and into each put bran. Into one of them put the urine of the man and into the other put the urine of the woman and let the jars be left for nine or ten days. If the barrenness be from a defect of the woman you will find many worms and the bran foul in her jar. On the other hand you will have similar evidence from the other urine if the barrenness be through a defect of the man. But if you have observed such signs in neither urine, neither will be the cause of the barrenness and it is possible to help them to conceive by the use of medicines.
THE FIRST PRINTED BOOK DEALING EXCLUSIVELY WITH PEDIATRICS (1472)
Authors: C. T. E. 
Published: December 2021

Paolo Bagellardo (?-1492), a native a Padua, was the author of the first printed book (incunabulum) dealing exclusively with pediatrics; it was entitled Libellus de Egritridinibus Infantium.1 This book was published in Padua on April 21, 1472, seven years after printing was introduced in Italy. It is also noteworthy that Bagellardo's book was the first medical treatise on any subject to make its original appearance in print.
See Images in the PDF File
The Figure is the first page of the opening chapter of Bagellardo's book; in translation the first 9 lines read:
When the infant at God's bidding is delivered, the midwife shall without haste or roughness, hold in her hand a linen cloth, not hard, but soft and old, and wrap the child in it and place it in her bosom, and then note whether the infant is alive or not, whether it shows any blemish, either black or white or ruddy color, and whether or not it is breathing.
Strategies for Reducing Prescription Costs
Authors: Chilton Lance 
Published: December 2021

Much like all components of the cost of living, the US national drug bill has increased, although more slowly than the rest of the national health care bill—drugs in 1970 made up $8.5 billion or 12.9% of the $65.8 billion consumed by the health sector1; in 1976 the drug bill was $11.1 billion or 8% of a total of $139.3 billion.2 A higher proportion of the cost of outpatient care is drug related; in the internal medicine clinic at our institution, 54% of the cost of a visit is for prescriptions. The corresponding figure for pediatric clinic is 21% (W. B. Applegate, M. B. Bennett, L. A. Chilton, et al, unpublished data, 1980). Inasmuch as many third-party payers do not cover outpatient prescription costs, savings in this area often go directly to the patient.
The savings on the cost of prescription drugs can be effected through judicious prescribing for some patients. There are three categories of available methods to help patients save on prescriptions: one sure (taking advantage of "quantity discounts"), one controversial (generic prescribing), and one difficult (prescribing nothing when nothing is needed).
In order to determine cost benefits that might accrue to the patient from generic prescribing and from seeking a quantity discount, I have surveyed Albuquerque pharmacies to determine their pricing procedures and their practices when they are given prescriptions written with the generic names of ten drugs.
METHODS
A questionnaire (available from the author upon request) was distributed to all pharmacies in the northwest and northeast quadrants of Albuquerque.
Theophylline and Diet
Authors: Koren Gideon 
Published: December 2021

Regarding the article by Feldman et al1 concerning the interaction between diet and theophylline metabolism, we found ourselves wondering about the validity of one of their basic assumptions.
The authors assumed that the bioavailability of the drug is "absolute," regardless of the various diets. This assumption is based on a study2 that compared two different sources of theophylline and found their bioavailability to be almost 100%. But in this study2 the drugs were taken by adults, as a single test dose, after a night's fast, with two hours of fasting after taking the drug.
Letters to the Editor
Authors: Feldman Charles H. , Hutchinson Vincent E. , Pippenger Charles E. , Blumenfeld Thomas A. , Feldman Bernard R. , Davis William J. 
Published: December 2021

Bioavailability is defined as the measurement of both the relative amount of an administered dose that reaches the general circulation and the rate at which this occurs. The most satisfactory method for measurement of bioavailability of a drug is by comparing the plasma level following oral administration of the drug in a given dosage to that following intravenous administration of the same dosage.1
As Koren correctly observes, most bioavailability studies have involved adults receiving a single oral test dose of theophylline following an overnight fast and then continuing with two to four more hours of fasting.2-6
Decisions on Death and Dying
Authors: McLaughlin John F. 
Published: December 2021

Caring for the newborn who is critically ill or has a major birth defect is a difficult problem with an irreducible core of grief and tragedy. Despite scholarly discussions, Duff1 and Fost2 fail to clarify several issues including alternatives to aggressive care, the criteria on which a decision should hinge, and the role of parents.
All infants deserve supportive treatment which consists of warmth, air, human contact, oral feeding as tolerated, and freedom from pain.
Near Fatal Hyperkalemia from a Dangerous Treatment for Colic
Authors: Oseas Ronald S. , Phelps Dale L. , Kaplan Solomon A. 
Published: December 2021

Life-threatening hyperkalemia is usually the result of renal or adrenal disorders although on some occasions it is an iatrogenic mishap. An alternate etiology of hyperkalemia is an unusual dietary regimen followed by the patient which may or may not be known to his physician. The present case occurred when the parents of a newborn infant followed the advice given for treatment of colic in the popular nutrition book, Let's Have Healthy Children.1
CASE REPORT
This 27-day-old boy weighed 4.36 kg at birth, born to a healthy white gravida 2, para 0, abortus 1 by cesarean section for face presentation.
Letters to the Editor
Authors: Lipper Evelyn , Lee Kwang-sun , Gartner Lawrence M. , Grellong Bruce 
Published: December 2021

All of the infants entered into the study were low-birth-weight infants (&lt;2,500 gm). The majority of infants had a gestational age less than 37 completed weeks, and, of these, some were also small for gestational age. Sixteen infants had a gestational age of ≥37 weeks but were included in the study because their birth weight was below the tenth percentile for their gestational age.
We agree with Drs Knobloch and Malone's comment about the interrelationship of all three figures: as gastation advances, birth weight and head circumference increase.
SIMON DE VALLAMBERT ON THE TREATMENT OF DIARRHEA IN INFANTS (1565)
Authors: C. T. E. 
Published: December 2021

Little is known of Simon de Vallambert (fl. 1555-1565) the author of the first printed work on pediatrics in French. His book, Cinq Livres de la Manière de Nourrir et Gouverner les Enfans des Leur Naissance, was published in 1565 at Poictiers [Poitiers]. It is a single volume of 379 pages measuring about six by nine inches.
Like a few of his predecessors, his book was written as much for nurses and midwives as for physicians. Simon de Vallambert, although greatly influenced by ancient writers, has a mind of his own, and a common sense far in advance of most of the medical writers of the sixteenth century.1
His treatment of infants suffering from diarrhea was as follows2:
As soon as one sees that the flux of the stomach persists too long, that is to say, that the infant is weakened by it, it is time to restrain it, but with discretion: for if it is green and yellow and the child big, it should first be given, if it is possible, a little powdered rhubarb with syrup of dried roses and on the next day a clyster of a decoction of barley and plantain with a very little roast honey, then another of starch and the juice or decoction of plantain, or of other astringent things, with roast oil and quince oil or the like: cover the stomach with linen moistened with distified water, or a decoction of myrrh, of roses, or of plantain: then a plaster of sandol, roses, Armenian bole and the like, incorporate an astringent oil with a piece of wax: or a cataplasm of spelt (?) or of rye, cooked in vinegar and sprinkled with the said oil: give starch to eat in the form of broth and lettuce cooked in vinegar and water: make them drink at meals and between of the syrup of grenadine, or of quince or of dried roses with chalybeate water .... For drink, goats' milk to which one has added steel, or of water prepared the same, alone or with syrup of quince, or of dried roses and sometimes of service berries: the same syrup may be drunk between meals if there is thirst, with syrup of mint and iron water ....
NITROUS OXIDE—OXYGEN SEDATION FOR MINOR SURGERY?
Authors: Marcuse Edgar K. 
Published: December 2021

Nitrous oxide-oxygen inhalation sedation is a helpful method of calming children and adults when suturing and other painful minor surgical procedures are needed. It is within the scope of family physicians, pediatricians and emergency department physicians, and other medical doctors and our data1 indicate that it is quite safe when proper equipment and a thorough understanding of the technique are used....
In our opinion, of the different modalities available for sedation, nitrous oxideoxygen inhalation sedation is one of the safest, when properly used. This is especially so because its effects can be reversed rapidly with a few deep breaths. Certainly, it is much safer than the frequently used injectible cocktail mixtures of a sedative, tranquilizer and narcotic.
Editorial Comment.2 Griffin and colleagues ... report no recognizable problem. Their report is understandably enthusiastic; they admit to no "controls," and they do not attempt to quantify the resultant relief achieved....Will their committment to careful selection in carrying out their technique be replicated by others? ... Regardless of these concerns, the work of Griffin and colleagues cannot be disregarded out of hand; a comparable technique has been used in dentistry and while it is found objectionable by many anesthesiologists, largely on a hypothetical basis, its use has been deemed beneficial. Certainly replication of the current study should proceed: the outcome remains "not proved."
Neonatal Effects of Maternal Clomipramine Treatment
Authors: Østergaard G. Zahle , Pedersen S. E. 
Published: December 2021

This paper calls attention to a relatively unnoticed problem, ie, morbidity in neonates caused by treatment of pregnant women with the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine (Anafranil). Recently we have seen identical clinical pictures in two neonates born to mothers treated throughout pregnancy with clomipramine because of an endogenous depression (200 mg daily in case 1 and 100 mg daily in case 2). Both babies were delivered without complications at term after otherwise uneventful pregnancies.
CASE REPORTS
Case 1
Physical examination of the neonate at birth revealed the following: birth weight, 3,550 gm; height, 52 cm; and head circumference, 34.6 cm. Apgar scores were 9 at one minute and 10 at five minutes.
It's a Muddled Debate
Authors: Ruedisueli Glennard S. 
Published: December 2021

Like many others, I was somewhat dismayed upon learning of the American Academy of Pediatrics' decision not to endorse the WHO Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes. After reading the commentaries by May,1 Barness,2 and the Ambulatory Pediatric Association Board of Directors,3 I found the matter no less muddled. As long as the can of worms is open, I feel that a few of the statements made deserve additional comment.
As the issue was recently discussed at our hospital's Pediatric Department meeting, I would be interested in having May and Starfield elaborate on their apparently contradictory interpretations of the Montreal study on the effects of distribution of free formula samples.4
Letters to the Editor
Authors: Ernhart Claire B. , Landa Beth , Schell Norman B. 
Published: December 2021

Our report1 details very clearly the reasons behind our conclusions that intellectual and behavioral effects, if any, of low levels of lead burden, appear to be minimal and nonpersistent. Poor science is characterized by failure to give due weight to limitations in results and to methodologic weaknesss and by inability to recognize a pattern of results that is not consistent with one's hypotheses or with one's own previous conclusions.
The reservations expressed in the conclusions of our report are not the result of modesty but rather of adherence to stringent standards of scientific reasoning.
Are Bacterial Screening Programs in the Hospital Worthwhile?
Authors: Weber Andy , Marks M. I. 
Published: December 2021

The article by White et al1 requires some comment. This is so because the authors' appear to recommend discontinuation of bacterial and antibiotic surveillance programs for newborn nurseries. Instead, I believe they meant to emphasize the lack of relationship between bacterial colonization and outbreaks of sepsis. This is partly supported by the data presented. These observations have been noted in relation to staphylococcal colonization as well.
Some of the other conclusions that appear in the text are not warranted by the design of the study or the results.
Letters to the Editor
Authors: Arbus Gerald S. , Bacheyie Godfrey S. 
Published: December 2021

Inadvertently we did not reference three articles from 1978—the two mentioned by Leumann and our own abstract.1 Both of Leumann's references confirmed that in children, as in adults with progressive renal failue, a straight-line relationship exists when plotting the reciprocal of the serum creatinine (SC) level or, occasionally, the logarithm vs time. They also examined the rate of change in SC for various disease categories in children, which was also previously investigated in adults.2,3
On the other hand, our recent paper4 considered whether we could have predicted early in the child's illness when he would reach his already known SC value just before dialysis was instituted.
Does ‘Hype’ Work?
Authors: Raskin Valerie D. , Grandola Carl D. 
Published: December 2021

In his June1 commentary Todd discusses mass media "hype" of scientific information. In August 1981 we randomly surveyed women of menstrual age at our rural health center to assess whether knowledge of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) altered menstrual practices (Table 1).
News of TSS had reached most women; six (9.4%) of 64 surveyed had never heard of TSS. Among those who had used tampons within two years, 14 of 36 (38.9%) had changed menstrual practices due to knowledge of TSS.
Meat Tenderizer and Stings
Authors: Lanier Bob 
Published: December 2021

In a recent letter1 a reader commented on the therapeutic application of a meat tenderizer solution in hymenoptera envenomization. May I inject a note of skepticism.
Since time immemorial the natives of the Polynesian Islands have used the papaya leaf to treat the injuries produced by the jellyfish. Even today when scuba divers meet they usually share one thing in common among their tackle: meat tenderizer.
Both papaya leaves and most forms of meat tenderizer contain the enzyme papain.
Letters to the Editor
Authors: Eisenberg Leon 
Published: December 2021

Whatever the legal questions that concern DiTraglia, they have not prevented the implementation of either of the programs I referred to in my paper (education for parenthood and intermittent schooling).
As to the first, the Education Development Center (55 Chapel Street, Newton, MA 02160) has developed excellent curriculum materials entitled: "Exploring Childhood" for just such purposes. EDC reports that the curriculum has been field tested successfully in more than 500 classrooms across the country. I urge pediatricians to become familiar with it in order to promote similar educational activities in their own communities.
Comment on Social Context of Child Development
Authors: Mittleman Richard 
Published: December 2021

I would like to comment on Eisenberg's article, "Social Context of Child Development" (Pediatrics 68:705, 1981), and in particular his attitude toward abortion, which he sums up by saying, "Every pediatrician, committed to the goal of this Academy to foster healthy growth and development, must become an advocate of women's fundamental right to reproductive freedom."
To us common folks that translates into: All members of the American Academy of Pediatrics must aid and abet women who want to murder their unborn children.
FIVE YEARS OF ANTI-SMOKING MEASURES IN FRANCE
Authors:   Student
Published: December 2021

On 9 July 1976 the French parliament adopted a law which, while binding on advertisers, primarily appealed to the individual's sense of public duty and responsibility.
The main provisions of this law were: a ban on all tobacco advertising on television and radio, in cinemas or by posters, and qualitative and quantitative restrictions on advertising in the press; a compulsory statement of the nicotine and tar content on each cigarette pack, together with the words "abuse is dangerous"; a ban on smoking in certain public places and on public vehicles.
Within the information campaigns against smoking, three major series of educational messages were developed. The first series stresses the dangers of tobacco for health; the second calls for protection of the rights of non-smokers; and the third series, aimed particularly at young people, attempts to destroy the mystique of smoking and emphasizes its antisocial character.
In 1975 about 44% of the adult population were smokers. After the information campaigns were launched this proportion fell to 36% in 1979. Within four years over 2 million French people stopped smoking.
While the trend has not been so favourable among young people, the growth of smoking has nevertheless been arrested. In 1977, 46% of 12- to 18-year-olds said they smoked, even if only occasionally. Early in 1980 the corresponding figure was 43%.
It can be seen very clearly that the spread of smoking in France has been halted and that tobacco consumption per smoker has been stabilized at the 1975 level.
Catheter Tip Localization During Umbilical Venous Exchange Transfusion and Necrotizing Enterocolitis
Authors: Thangavel Murugesa , Pomerance Jeffrey J. , Raj Christina 
Published: December 2021

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a potentially fatal disease in the newborn period. Although the condition has been recognized for many years,1 the etiology is poorly understood.
NEC following umbilical venous exchange transfusion has been reported.2-6 In each reported instance, the umbilical venous catheter tip was either malpositioned in the liver or portal vein or its location was unknown. We report an infant who developed NEC following umbilical venous exchange transfusion, in whom the catheter tip was located in the inferior vena cava.
CASE REPORT
Baby boy U, weighing 3,495 gm at birth, was born by normal spontaneous vaginal delivery after 40 weeks' gestation.
PSYCHOLOGY OF PREFERENCES
Authors:   Student
Published: December 2021

Recent investigations of the psychology of preferences have demonstrated several intriguing discrepancies between subjective and objective conceptions of decisions. For example, the threat of a loss has a greater impact on a decision than the possibility of an equivalent gain. Most people are also very sensitive to the difference between certainty and high probability and relatively insensitive to intermediate gradations of probability. The regret associated with a loss that was incurred by an action tends to be more intense than the regret associated with inaction or a missed opportunity. These observations and others of a similar character contribute to the understanding of how people make decisions and to the elucidation of some puzzles of rational choice . . . .
We asked a large number of physicians to consider the following problem:
Imagine that the U.S. is preparing for the outbreak of a rare Asian disease, which is expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative programs to combat the disease have been proposed. Assume that the exact scientific estimates of the consequences of the programs are as follows: If Program A is adopted, 200 people will be saved. If Program B is adopted, there is a 1/3 probability that 600 people will be saved and a 2/3 probability that no people will be saved. Which of the two programs would you favor.
The majority response to this problem is a risk-averse preference for Program A over Program B.
Other respondents were presented with the same problem but a different formulation of the programs: If Program C is adopted, 400 people will die.
Letter to the Editor
Authors: Schwartz Richard H. , Rodriguez William J. , Grundfast Kenneth M. 
Published: December 2021

We agree with Allen and Bunce that our study was not perfect. We appreciate their interesting statistical analysis and comments on methodology. If the hypothetical situations they postulate actually did occur, then certainly the conclusions we reached would be highly questionable.
However, Allen and Bunce may be overly skeptical and unrealistic. For example, to suppose that all urines were collected on a single day and that there were a great number of patients who questioned the purpose of the urine collection and then tried to feign greater compliance seems unlikely.
Expanding Phenotype of Fetal Hydantoin Syndrome
Authors: Kousseff Boris G. , Root Edward R. 
Published: December 2021

We read with interest the article by Bartoshesky et al1 on ophthalmic and lethal cardiac malformations in the newborn exposed to diphenylhydantoin in utero. The article makes an important point about previously undescribed clinical features of fetal hydantoin syndrome and emphasizes the generalized effect of diphenylhydantoin as a teratogen. To elaborate further on this point, we wish to share our clinical observations in two patients with fetal hydantoin syndrome.
One patient,2 a male (Figure), showed subcutaneous vascular abnormalities (cystic hygromas, telangiectasias, and capillary phlebectasias) on the anterior neck and both axillae, in addition to developmental delay, esotropia, epicanthal folds, high palate, triphalangeal thumbs, hypoplastic nails, inguinal hernia, and seven arches on the fingertips.
Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome in an Infant
Authors: Droge Molly A. , Jewett Catherine V. , Schmalstieg Frank C. 
Published: December 2021

The review of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in children by Lyrene and Truog1 summarizes their experience in 15 children ranging in age from 15 months to 14 years. We wish to emphasize that this syndrome may occur in very young infants.
We have cared for a previously well 6-week-old infant who had the clinical presentation, course, and ventilatory data compatible with ARDS. The infant was found dusky and gasping in her crib and was noted at a local hospital to be tachypneic and in marked respiratory distress (Pao2 was 29 mm Hg on room air).