bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Peritoneal Dialysis and Haemodialysis in Methaqualone (Mandrax) Poisoning
Authors: Proudfoot A. T. , Noble J. , Nimmo J. , Brown S. S. , Cameron J. C. 
Published: January 2017

The clinical and toxicological features, and treatment, of a case of severe methaqualone poisoning are described. The patient presented with a plasma methaqualone level of 23 mg. per 100 ml. Alternate peritoneal dialysis and haemodialysis, carried out during 2 days, reduced the plasma level to 11 mg. per 100 ml., with a recovery of 6.5 g. of methaqualone, and restored some neurological functions. Comparable dialyses over a further 2 days yielded 3.3 g. more of drug, and reduced the plasma level to 4.4 mg. per 100ml., but the patient then died of respiratory and peripheral circulatory failure. Mean values of 7.5 and 29 ml. per min. were found for the clearance of methaqualone by peritoneal dialysis and haemodialysis respectively. It is concluded that these techniques are at least as effective in the clearance of methaqualone as of the common barbiturates, and that they may be of value in treating gross Mandrax overdosage.
Problems in the Diagnosis of Cushing's Syndrome
Authors: Thomson J. E. , Thomson J. A. , Beastall G. H. 
Published: January 2017

The diagnosis of florid Cushing's syndrome is usually made without difficulty but diagnostic problems may arise. Five such cases are described. Difficulties may occur when the features of the syndrome are incomplete. Three such cases were encountered. In each only one clinical feature was present; these respectively were hypertension, osteoporosis and obesity. The diagnosis was confirmed, however, biochemically and eventually histologically and there was a good response to surgery in each case. Another diagnostic problem, both clinically and biochemically is the obese, hirsute, hypertensive female. Two such cases are described, in whom Cushing's syndrome was diagnosed clinically and biochemically but in whom there was no response to adrenalectomy. Retrospectively the validity of the original diagnosis is questioned. It is concluded that Cushing's syndrome may present in a very incomplete form and should be considered in the differential diagnosis, even if only one feature is present. It is stressed that obesity, hirsutism, hypertension and depression are commonly found in association with normal adrenal function. Urinary free Cortisol and cortisol response to insulin induced hypoglycaemia may be of value in distinguishing these cases from those with endocrine disease.
Smoking Habits, Sales of Fat and Antihypertensives Fail to Explain the High Coronary Mortality in Cold Regions of Sweden
Authors: Gyllerup S. , Lanke J. , Lindholm L.H. , Schersten B. 
Published: January 2017

A previous study has shown a strong regional association between cold climate and coronary mortality in Sweden. The present study intended to elucidate further this association, in particular whether or not it could be attributed to smoking, hypertension and fat consumption. The 284 Swedish municipalities were used as units. The outcome was mortality (SMR) from acute myocardial infarction in men aged 40–64. Prevalence of smoking and use of snuff was estimated by interviews. Sales of antihypertensive drugs were used to estimate prevalence of hypertension. Sales of butter and estimates of consumption of saturated fat by interviews were used to estimate the consumption of fat. Weighted determination coefficients (D) were calculated. Apart from the strong association between cold climate and coronary mortality (D=0.39), an association was shown between fat consumption and coronary mortality (D=0.22). A weaker association was found between prevalency of snuffing and coronary mortality (D=0.15) and between sales of butter and coronary mortality (D=0.10) and the weakest between sales of antihypertensives and coronary mortality (D=0.06). No association was found between prevalence of smoking and coronary mortality. When the other explanatory factors were added to cold climate in the model no substantial enhancement of the association was achieved. Cold exposure was correlated to the other explanatory factors. To conclude, this study showed that the strong association between cold exposure and coronary mortality was not affected by the regional variation in the estimates of fat consumption, hypertension or tobacco use.
HIV in Nepal: Is it Rare or the Tip of an Iceberg?
Authors: Bharadwaj Anurag , Biswas Rakesh , Shetty K J 
Published: January 2017

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has reached alarming proportions in SE Asia. The magnitude of the epidemic is projected to exceed that of sub-Saharan Africa as we enter the 21st century. Nepal has much in common with India geopolitically and socially and the prevalence of HIV is expected to be no different from the rest of SE Asia. However, evidence thus far paints a different picture altogether — a very low prevalence of HIV even in high-risk population groups. This is surprising, particularly since high-risk behaviour is evidenced by a high rate of drug abuse. In addition, other communicable diseases commonly associated with HIV infection, such as tuberculosis and HBV/HCV infection, are common in Nepal and yet still the prevalence of HIV infection in these patients and in the general population is reported to be low. This paper identifies some of these anomalies and attempts to analyse the reasons for this discrepancy. We emphasize the need for extended survey and strict surveillance to avoid an explosion of this dreaded infection.
Surgical Bypass is Still Relevant in the Palliation of Malignant Obstructive Jaundice
Authors: Sharma Dhananjaya , Bhansali Manish , Raina V K 
Published: January 2017

Malignant tumours of the biliopancreatic system causing obstructive jaundice are not curable in most of the patients, and palliation plays a very important therapeutic role. The role of surgery in palliation of malignant obstructive jaundice has been questioned in the light of availability of endoscopic techniques. In developing countries, however, exploratory laparotomy and palliative surgery (when possible) is the only option available as sophisticated instruments and the expertise to use them is limited to a very few centres. This was a retrospective study of 83 consecutive cases with malignant obstructive jaundice admitted to the Department of Surgery, NSCB Government Medical College, Jabalpur, MP, India from January 1996 to December 2000.
Bacteriology of Prostatectomy Patients' Urine in a Drug-Abused Community
Authors: Ofili O P , Wemambu S N C 
Published: January 2017

About 75% of patients admitted for prostatectomy to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, presented in acute urinary retention and carried indwelling vesical catheters preoperatively. The overall incidence of urinary infection was 55.4% preoperatively, falling to 42.2% postoperatively. The predominant organisms cultured in the urine pre and postoperatively were organisms normally found in the colon. The sensitivity patterns of the organisms cultured revealed some differences in this drug-abused community when compared with some non-drug abused environments. In this and similar communities where facilities for urine cultures are also not readily available, carbenicillin alone or in combination with either nalidixic acid or nitrofurantoin are suggested as logical drugs of choice for the pre and postoperative manipulations.
Evaluation of Vitamin A Deficiency in the Yelimane Circle of Mali, West Africa
Authors: Perkins Andrew L 
Published: January 2017

Of 207 children (aged 4–7 years) in western Mali examined clinically and by conjunctival impression cytology (CIC), 2% had night blindness, no child had Bitot spots and 78% were found to have abnormal CIC suggesting deficiency in vitamin A. In a cohort of 53 children examined by CIC pre- and post-harvest (June and December), abnormal CIC were seen in 77.4% and 54.7%, respectively ( P = 0.04). Subclinical vitamin A deficiency is a problem in this area. A seasonal variation is demonstrated. CIC is a useful method for identifying communities with subclinical vitamin A deficiency. A variety of strategies for dealing with vitamin A deficiency are discussed.
Access to Elective Abortions for Female Prisoners under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments
Authors: Johnson Avalon 
Published: January 2017

Victoria, a pregnant inmate housed in a Louisiana state prison, brought a civil rights action challenging the prison’s policy of requiring her to obtain a court order to receive an elective abortion. Although Louisiana state law purported to allow Victoria to obtain an elective abortion, Victoria was unable to obtain her abortion because of procedural delays. Victoria was released from prison before she gave birth but her pregnancy was too far along for her to legally obtain an abortion. She was therefore forced to carry her pregnancy to term and forced to place her newborn child with adoptive parents. Had she given birth in prison, she would have been shackled to her hospital bed, as Louisiana policies require.Little information regarding pregnancy, prenatal care, perinatal outcomes, and access to elective abortions for female inmates exists. We know, however, that between six and ten percent of the women entering jail or prison are pregnant and that more women may become impregnated in prison as a result of rape by prison guards.
Implementing medical revalidation in the United Kingdom: Findings about organisational changes and impacts from a survey of Responsible Officers
Authors: Walshe Kieran , Boyd Alan , Bryce Marie , Luscombe Kayleigh , Tazzyman Abigail , Tredinnick-Rowe John , Archer Julian 
Published: January 2017

Objective To describe the implementation of medical revalidation in healthcare organisations in the United Kingdom and to examine reported changes and impacts on the quality of care. Design A cross-sectional online survey gathering both quantitative and qualitative data about structures and processes for medical revalidation and wider quality management in the organisations which employ or contract with doctors (termed ‘designated bodies’) from the senior doctor in each organisation with statutory responsibility for medical revalidation (termed the ‘Responsible Officer’). Setting United Kingdom Participants Responsible Officers in designated bodies in the United Kingdom. Five hundred and ninety-five survey invitations were sent and 374 completed surveys were returned (63%). Main outcome measures The role of Responsible Officers, the development of organisational mechanisms for quality assurance or improvement, decision-making on revalidation recommendations, impact of revalidation and mechanisms for quality assurance or improvement on clinical practice and suggested improvements to revalidation arrangements. Results Responsible Officers report that revalidation has had some impacts on the way medical performance is assured and improved, particularly strengthening appraisal and oversight of quality within organisations and having some impact on clinical practice. They suggest changes to make revalidation less ‘one size fits all’ and more responsive to individual, organisational and professional contexts. Conclusions Revalidation appears primarily to have improved systems for quality improvement and the management of poor performance to date. There is more to be done to ensure it produces wider benefits, particularly in relation to doctors who already perform well.
The Consumer as Creator: A Criticism of Faith in Limitless Ingenuity
Authors: Cook E. 
Published: January 2017

Belief in the unlimited ingenuity of man to overcome increasing leanness and depth of ores, to create fertile lands from barren deserts, and to discover new and abundant sources of energy to replace wasting coal measures and faltering oil fields is vital to the logic and persistance of growth economics as a philosophy. Those who hold this belief regard man as a creator of resources who can continue indefinitely to improve his material condition. A contemporary evangelist for such economic creationism is Julian Simon, who goes so far as to maintain that natural resources are infinite and that the growth of human population, contrary to much popular opinion, is a social good. To anyone who believes, on the contrary, that physical law must prevail over economic precepts, who has in mind the geochemical facts of energy and mineral resource origins and distribution, and who believes that nature makes a greater contribution than man to the value of human goods and services, Simon's arguments ring false and his conclusions seem delusionary. A neomalthusian review of the relations between human population growth and resource depletion results in a quite different prognosis from Simon's: slow strangulation of freedom as the struggle for control of remaining low-entropy resources leads to the rich getting richer and relatively fewer while the poor grow poorer and more numerous. This view is not as attractive as is economic creationism. These two world views have been in conflict for two centuries. The conflict is one of belief and is so presented here, with the author's conviction that physical law and the geophysical constitution of our planet determine its carrying capacity for humans set against the creationist belief in the transcendence of the human mind over the niggardliness of nature.
Sandstone Uranium Deposits in the U.S.A.
Authors: Crawley Richard A. 
Published: January 2017

By the 1950s most of the uranium districts of the U.S.A. had been discovered as a result of incentives from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and 94% of resources proved to be sandstone deposits. Principal resource regions are the Colorado Plateau, producing about 65% of the U.S. total, Wyoming basins (24%) and the South Texas coastal plain (only 5%). The two major types of deposit found in these regions are ‘roll-type’ and ‘peneconcordant’, the former precipitated at geochemical fronts where oxidizing uranium-bearing groundwater penetrated reduced sandstones. The latter occur where uranium in solution has been precipitated locally by agents such as carbonaceous materials, humates or pyrite. Colorado Plateau production is mainly from peneconcordant deposits, the majority from the Grants uranium region (New Mexico) Uravan mineral belt (Colorado) and Lisbon Valley (Utah). These are commonly underground mines, although the largest uranium open pit in the U.S.A. is found in the Grants region. Roll-type deposits of Wyoming, where the Powder River Basin was the most active area of exploitation in the 1970s, are generally mined open pit, though some are underground and have been tested for in-situ leach mining. Both open pit and leach mining are common in Texas. Over 80% of uranium exploration in the U.S.A. since 1974 has been in sandstone deposits, and projections predict that domestic demand to 2000 will be satisfied from U.S. proven reserves and probable potential resources. To meet these requirements, however, most production will be from resources in forward cost categories of more than U.S.$30 per pound U3O8. At present U.S. exploration and production have been curtailed, because of over supply, a trend that will continue for some years. Although demand is expected to grow after 1986, foreign low-cost non-sandstone uranium will compete with U.S. reserves, which may already have been adversely affected by mine closures, ‘high grading’ and decreased exploration and development.
Oil and Gas Disclosures: Uses and Shortcomings
Authors: Picchi Bernard J. 
Published: January 2017

Since the 1970s when it became more difficult to attract capital, oil companies have improved the quality and extent of data made available to potential investors who need not only adequate information on petroleum reserves, values and costs, but also its appearance in a standardized form for comparison purposes. The availability of such information has made possible a comparison of trends in 30 oil firms based on standardized reserves, production replacement rates and petroleum finding costs. Most reserve increases have arisen from enhanced recovery methods. There has been indifferent success in replacing oil production rates; gas replacement production rates are higher. Over the last 6 years finding costs have averaged $12·87 per barrel of oil equivalent. Companies with lower costs are listed.
Direct Detection of Hydrocarbons: Some Preliminary Thoughts and Questions
Authors: Lerche Ian 
Published: January 2017

After briefly reviewing seismic signatures associated with the direct detection of hydrocarbons, some possible non-hydrocarbon sources of seismic signatures which may masquerade as hydrocarbon patterns are considered. Four broad avenues of research are suggested which may allow greater assurance in identifying and interpreting seismic signatures associated with hydrocarbon accumulations than is currently enjoyed. It is also suggested that any available information extending upon any part of this paper will increase the base of knowledge of seismic direct detection indicators.
A Ranking of Synthetic Fuel Options for Road Transport Applications in the UK
Authors: Langley K. F. 
Published: January 2017

The paper presents a detailed economic assessment of the synthetic fuel options for the UK transport sector. For the next twenty years, the costs are too high for many options to be regarded as likely supplements to the present fuels. The work was carried out during 1985 and 1986 at ETSU, Harwell, on behalf of the UK Department of Energy. Although the price of oil has dropped dramatically since then and there has been a substantial reduction in coal production costs, the primary aim of the study is to look at long-term petrol substitution and these price variations do not substantially alter either the conclusions or the rationale of this report.
Energy Conservation as the Basis for Appropriate Technology Development for Kenya
Authors: Othieno H. 
Published: January 2017

An innovative and cooperative effort by the Kenyan government to involve practicing engineers in Kenya in the evolving developments in energy consdervation is described. The effort resulted from the question of how to moderate oil imports and yet maintain growth in a growing industrial sector. As part of a broad program on energy use, the Ministry of Energy and Regionl Development, in a cooperative effort with a U.S. base organization, initiated a program to further the understanding of energy conservation in Kenyan industry and government. The project described here had four interconnected components: a) The identification of key energy users in Kenya, b) A seminar series of energy conservation to engineers and managers from industry and government, c) The formation of a specialized energy audit team to analyze ten cooperating companies and institutions and provide explanations and recommendations with regard to energy conservation, and d) The introduction of special courses and curriculum modification at Kenya Polytechnic Institute to highlight energy conservation and energy auditing for post graduates as well as for current students. The paper concludes with a synthesis of these components and an analysis of how the effort may be interpreted as an innovative effort in engineering education. In addition, the paper looks at domestic energy consumption supplied mainly by wood and its conservation and regeneration measures.
Rural Energy in Kenya: Is There a Future for Biogas? A Survey
Authors: Laichena Justas K. 
Published: January 2017

Most rural people in Kenya rely principally on human and animal muscle power in their work as subsistence farmers, herdsmen, fisherman, or small-scale crop farmers. All the agricultural processes (ranging from ploughing to harvesting) are done largely by hand, with some help from draft animals and simple tools. Firewood is their principal cooking and heating fuel while kerosene in used for lighting. Their economic growth is hence blocked by the energy crisis. Due to their heavy dependence on biomass – mainly firewood, crop residues, and animal dung – they deprive the soil of essential nutrients and pose a threat to the agricultural lands due to deforestation and the resulting soil erosion. The problem of rural energy, therefore places the provision of food and other basic needs at risk. A technology which extracts a more useful and convenient form of fuel from biomass without destroying its fertilizer value than the traditional conversion method of direct combustion is highly desirable. Anaerobic digestion of agricultural residues generates biogas which can be used directly for lighting, cooking, electricity generation, or to power an IC engine for water pumping or milling. The remaining sludge forms a good fertilizer. This paper reviews the role of biomass in meeting Kenya's energy needs and how biogas can contribute in alleviating the rural energy crisis. Biogas production and utilization technology was introduced in Kenya in 1954 but by 1986 there were less than 200 installed biogas plants and less than 25% of these were operational. A survey of installed biogas plants (across the country) was carried out (using questionnaires and interviews) to identify the factors that have inhibited the adoption of biogas technology in Kenya; and the problems which have caused the failure of many of the installed plants. The paper gives a detailed discussion of the findings. The survey showed that amoung the reasons for nonadoption are: lack of capital and sufficient input materials (animal dung and water); limited dissemination of technical knowledge and experience to operate biogas plants; and the lack of credit and extension facilities. It was also found that problems such as scum build-up and corrosion, and the lack of sufficient knowledge on the operation and maintenance of the digesters especially on feeding and feedstock dilution (leading to low gas production) has resulted to many failures. The paper attempts to answer some of the problems which have resulted to the many failures and hindered widespread acceptance of biogas technology in Kenya. Finally the issue of dissemination is discussed.