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Biomedical subjects

A Hughes

Publications and source records attributed to A Hughes.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Introduction--the validity of self-reported drug use: improving the accuracy of survey estimates.

Measuring levels and patterns of illicit drug use, their correlates, and related behaviors requires the use of self-report methods. However, the validity of self-reported data on sensitive and highly stigmatized behaviors such as drug use has been questioned. The goal of this monograph is to review current and cutting-edge research on the validity of self-reported drug use and to describe methodological advances designed to reduce total error in estimates of drug use and quantify sources of nonsampling error. This monograph reviews a number of studies that use some presumably more accurate measure of drug use to validate self-reported use. In addition, evolving methods to improve a wide variety of procedures used in survey designs are explored, including computer-assisted interviewing, predictors of response propensity, measurement error models, and improved prevalence estimation techniques. Experimental manipulations of various survey conditions and situational factors also show promise in improving the validity of drug prevalence estimates in self-report surveys.

Computers↗
PubMed1997

Getting to the bottom of nappy rash. ALSPAC Survey Team. Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood.

BACKGROUND: Nappy rash accounts for 20% of dermatology consultations in childhood, but its causes are poorly understood. AIM: To determine the incidence of nappy rash during the first four weeks of life in a geographically defined United Kingdom (UK) population, and to study the factors associated with developing the rash. METHOD: The data are derived from self-completed questionnaires of parents in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC). The response rate to a questionnaire about the child administered four weeks after delivery among parents of singleton infants was 87% (12103/13902). RESULTS: The incidence of nappy rash was 25%. Fourteen highly significant possible causal factors emerged, of which 10 were retained in a logistic regression model: dirtying of nappy, contact with doctor about other problems, history of rashes in joints or skin creases, type of nappy worn, being fed cereal, taken to mother's bed when waking at night, history of cradle cap, general state of health, previous stomach upset, and being only breast-fed. However, the relative risks were generally small. CONCLUSIONS: The likelihood of nappy rash increases with intercurrent illness and early introduction of cereals. Disposable nappies give little protection, and this finding helps to endorse a recently introduced hospital scheme arising from environmental concerns that encourages parents to use cotton nappies instead of disposables. For many babies, however, the causes of nappy rash remain unknown.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1996

A controlled study of education about drug treatment in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Various problems are associated with schizophrenia which may theoretically lead to impaired educability about treatment. METHOD: The Understanding of Medication Questionnaire, designed to measure knowledge about treatment in schizophrenia, is described and presented. An educational programme based on a specially designed information booklet was developed. Sixty-four patients with DSM-III-R diagnosis schizophrenia were randomly allocated to groups receiving none (control), one session or three sessions of education. RESULTS: Pre-intervention low levels of knowledge about illness and treatment increased significantly immediately after a standard education session. Three education sessions led to significantly greater knowledge gain than one session. There was no significant change in the control group. Only the PANSS negative syndrome score independently and consistently explained a significant proportion of the education effect. The influence on educability of attitudes to education, impaired insight, cognitive impairment and other variables were considered. Three sessions of education led to significantly increased insight, but no change in compliance. CONCLUSIONS: Techniques appropriate for educating schizophrenic patients were discussed, and the value of involving patients in education emphasised. A series of patient education sessions is needed to consolidate learning, rather than a single informing process. The strong association between impaired learning and more severe negative schizophrenic syndrome emphasises the need for responsible prescribing of antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Relationship between insight, educational background and cognition in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of research into the relationship between insight and variables including cognitive function, educational background and symptomatology in schizophrenia. METHOD: Sixty-four patients with DSM-III-R diagnosis schizophrenia were assessed with the Schedule for Assessment of Insight, Mini Mental State cognitive test, a new measure of knowledge about treatment (the Understanding of Medication Questionnaire), and educational background and compliance assessments. RESULTS: Insight scores correlated significantly with a range of variables. In a multiple regression analysis only knowledge about treatment and number of years in education explained a significant proportion of insight. CONCLUSION: Educational background and the intellectual ability required to learn complex concepts, such as models of mental illness, appear to be more important than previously considered. Research is limited by the lack of a generally accepted definition of insight.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Cellular and subcellular studies of the radiation effects of Auger electron-emitting estrogens.

We studied the effect of 123I-labeled estrogen (123I-E) in estrogen receptor (ER)-rich cells in culture and in cell free model systems in vitro to elucidate the nature of the radiotoxicity for ER + cells of estrogens containing nuclides which emit Auger electrons. In cells the 123I-E caused a dose-dependent, unlabeled estrogen-inhibitable induction of chromosome aberrations. A dose of about 1000 decays per cell, which is approximately the mean lethal dose for these cells, resulted in an average of 1 chromosome break per cell. This supports the hypothesis that the lethal lesion induced by 123I-E is a chromosome break. Incubation of 123I-E/ER complex, but not 123I-E alone, with 27-mer duplex estrogen response element (ERE) DNA produced a dose-dependent cleavage of the ERE. However, we were unable to detect any fragmentation of either the 66 kDa full length ER in cell extracts or a purified 31 kDa hormone binding domain when incubated with excess 123I-E. Thus it appears that 123I-E effects its radiotoxicity by binding to ER, associating with ERE DNA and, by directing high LET radiation to DNA, inducing lethal chromosome breaks.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

DNA damage induction by 125I-estrogen.

DNA damage induced by the radioactive decay of 125I-estrogen (125I-VME2) in an estrogen receptor expressing CHO cell line, CHO-ER, was measured. 125I-VME2 targeted 125I atoms proximal to DNA estrogen response elements (EREs). 125I decays were accumulated at -135 degrees C, and thereafter assayed by alkaline and neutral filter elution techniques to measure DNA single strand break (ssb) and double strand break (dsb) induction respectively. Increasing DNA damage (both ssbs and dsbs) was detected after exposure of cells to increasing concentrations of 125I-VME2. DNA ssb and dsb dose-response curves for 125I-VME2 were multiphasic. The rates of DNA damage induction by the decay of 125I-VME2 was determined by comparing slopes of all data or by comparing initial slopes. DNA ssb induction per 125I-VME2 decay was approximately 2 times greater compared with DNA dsb induction. 125I-VME2 decay induced approximately 4-8 times more DNA dsbs than 125IUdR decay.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

DNA and chromosome breaks induced by iodine-123-labeled estrogen in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

The effects of the Auger electron-emitting isotope 123I, covalently bound to estrogen, on DNA single- and double-strand breakage and on chromosome breakage was determined in estrogen receptor-positive Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-ER) cells. Exposure to the 123I-labeled estrogen induced both single- and double-strand breaks with a ratio of single- to double-strand breaks of 2.8. The corresponding ratio with 60Co gamma rays was 15.6. The dose response was biphasic, suggesting either that receptor sites are saturated at high doses, or that there is a nonrandom distribution of breaks induced by the 123I-labeled estrogen. The 123I-labeled estrogen treatment induced chromosome aberrations with an efficiency of about 1 aberration for each 1000 disintegrations per cell. This corresponds to the mean lethal dose of 123I-labeled estrogen for these cells, suggesting that the lethal event induced by the Auger electron emitter bound to estrogen is a chromosome aberration. Most of the chromosome-type aberrations were dicentrics and rings, suggesting that 123I-labeled estrogen-induced chromosome breaks are rejoined. The F ratio, the ratio of dicentrics to centric rings, was 5.8 +/- 1.7, which is similar to that seen with high-LET radiations. Our results suggest that 123I bound to estrogen is an efficient clastogenic agent, the cytotoxic damage produced by 123I bound to estrogen is very like damage induced by high-LET radiation, and the 123I in the estrogen receptor-DNA complex is probably in proximity to the sugar-phosphate backbone of the DNA.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Managing rumor and gossip in operating room settings.

The unique features of the operating room (OR) make it an ideal setting for the proliferation of gossip and rumor. Although not always negative, these "grapevine" communications can reduce productivity and work satisfaction. Hence, OR managers need to understand these forms of communication and prevent or control their negative consequences. The authors offer suggestions for undertaking this challenge.

Communication↗
PubMed1995

A new antigen receptor gene family that undergoes rearrangement and extensive somatic diversification in sharks.

Immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor (TCR) molecules are central to the adaptive immune system. Sequence conservation, similarities in domain structure, and usage of similar recombination signal sequences and recombination machinery indicate that there was probably a time during evolution when an ancestral receptor diverged to the modern-day immunoglobulin and TCR. Other molecules that undergo rearrangement have not been described in vertebrates, nor have intermediates been identified that have features of both these gene families. We report here the isolation of a new member of the immunoglobulin superfamily from the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum, which contains one variable and five constant domains and is found as a dimer in serum.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Comparison of the distribution of radioiodinated di- and tri-hydroxyphenylethylene estrogens in the immature female rat.

The uptake, retention and tissue to blood ratios of two non-steroidal, 125I-labeled iodoestrogens, an iodotrihydroxyphenylethylene, 2-iodo-1,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-(3-hydroxyphenyl)ethylene and an iododihydroxyphenylethylene, 2-iodo-1,1-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-phenylethylene, were compared after intraperitoneal injection in immature female rats. The iodotrihydroxyphenylethylene showed an unexpectedly prolonged specific retention in estrogen target tissue, lasting up to 72 h. It was rapidly cleared from blood and non-target tissues so that uterus or ovary to blood ratios of greater than 100 were seen at 2 and 3 days. This iodotrihydroxyphenylethylene may have clinical potential for estrogen receptor-containing cancers.

Animals↗