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Biomedical subjects

A Pickles

Publications and source records attributed to A Pickles.

86 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Seclusion on an adolescent unit.

We studied the seclusion records of an adolescent unit for a six-year period. Problems in the analysis of typical seclusion data are examined and statistical methods that overcame them are explained. Only a few relationships were found between the seclusion regime and available measures of patient and ward characteristics, though there was great variability in the frequency with which individuals were secluded and the duration of various episodes of seclusion. The average duration of seclusion (31 minutes) was much less than had been reported by other investigators. Furthermore, the durations became shorter over the period of study. The implications of these findings for further research and practice are discussed.

Adolescent↗

A specification test for univariate and multivariate proportional hazards models.

This paper applies White's (1982, Econometrica 50, 1-25) information matrix (IM) test for correct model specification to proportional hazards models of univariate and multivariate censored survival data. Several alternative estimators of the test statistic are presented and their size performance examined. White also suggested an estimator of the parameter covariance matrix that was robust to certain forms of model misspecification. This has been subsequently proposed by others (e.g., Royall, 1986, International Statistical Review 54, 221-226) and applied by Huster, Brookmeyer, and Self (1989, Biometrics 45, 145-156) as part of an independence working model (IWM) approach to multivariate censored survival data. We illustrate how the IM test can be used for both univariate data and as part of the IWM approach to multivariate data.

Biometry↗

The outcome of childhood conduct disorder: implications for defining adult personality disorder and conduct disorder.

The effect of conduct disorder on adult social functioning in the areas of work, sexual/love relationships, social relationships and criminality was studied in a sample of young adults who spent much of their childhoods in group-cottage children's homes and an inner-city comparison group. Most subjects with conduct disorder had pervasive (but not necessarily severe) social difficulties compared to peers without conduct disorder. Less than half of this group met DSM-III adult criteria for antisocial personality disorder and just over half were given a diagnosis of personality disorder on interviewer clinical ratings. A latent class model that used both the retrospective and contemporaneous indicators of conduct disorder confirmed the very high continuity with adult social difficulties. Current diagnoses did not adequately describe this group and conduct disorder appeared to be an almost necessary condition for multiple social disability in adults in these samples.

Adolescent↗

Season of birth: issues, approaches and findings for autism.

Rates of birth in the general population show seasonal fluctuations for reasons that are ill understood. Variations from these general population patterns have been reported for several psychiatric conditions and used as the basis for aetiological hypotheses. In this paper, the evidence for alterations in the expected seasonal fluctuation in birth dates of autistic people is evaluated. A national sample of 1435 autistic individuals and a clinic sample of 196 subjects are compared to general population figures and to 121 sibling controls. Compared with the general population, the national sample showed significant deviations from the expected rate of birth by month. In the clinic sample, differences from the anticipated monthly pattern were only evident when this sample was compared to the sibling controls. A variety of models for seasonal trends, including year quarters, temperature and sine wave forms, were fitted to these variations but no consistent picture emerged.

Adolescent↗

Adult outcomes of childhood and adolescent depression: II. Links with antisocial disorders.

Sixty-three child and adolescent patients meeting operational criteria for depression and 68 non-depressed child psychiatric controls were followed into adulthood. Twenty-one percent of the depressed group had had conduct disorder (CD) in conjunction with their index depression. Depressed children with comorbid CD did not differ from depressed children without conduct problems with respect to depressive symptom presentation or demographic characteristics. However, depressives with CD had a worse short-term outcome and a higher risk of adult criminality than depressed children without conduct problems. There was a strong trend for depressives with CD to have a lower risk of depression in adulthood than depressed children without conduct problems. The outcomes of depressives with CD were very similar to those of nondepressed children with CD. The findings are discussed in the context of current classification schemes.

Adolescent↗

Parathyroid hormone-related peptide in the human fetal uro-genital tract.

Using a polyclonal antiserum raised against the first 34 amino acids of human parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP), we have localized PTHrP throughout the uro-genital tract of the human fetus aged between 8 and 40 weeks. Staining was present in the developing mesonephros, metanephros, gonads and in both the adrenal cortex and medulla. In particular, the developing mesonephric and metanephric renal tubules were intensely positive. Using Northern hybridization analysis we have detected a complex pattern of PTHrP mRNA transcripts ranging in size from 1.4 to 4.5 kb in early second trimester human fetal kidney. The presence of PTHrP in the mesonephros and metanephros provides evidence for a role for PTHrP in the regulation of fetal calcium metabolism. However, its presence in the gonad and adrenal gland invites the possibility of a wider role for PTHrP.

Adrenal Glands↗

Adult outcomes of childhood and adolescent depression. I. Psychiatric status.

The present study was based on the clinical data summaries ("item sheets") of children who attended the Maudsley Hospital, London, England, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. These summaries were used to identify a group of 80 child and adolescent psychiatric patients with an operationally defined depressive syndrome. The depressed children were individually matched with 80 nondepressed psychiatric controls on demographic variables and nondepressive childhood symptoms by a computer algorithm. At follow-up, on average 18 years after the initial contact, information was obtained on the adult psychiatric status of 82% of the total sample. Adult assessments were made "blind" to case/control status. The depressed group was at an increased risk for affective disorder in adult life and had elevated risks of psychiatric hospitalization and psychiatric treatment. They were no more likely than the control group to have nondepressive adult psychiatric disorders. These findings suggested that there is substantial specificity in the continuity of affective disturbances between childhood and adult life.

Adolescent↗

Pattern of expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in human fetuses.

The pattern of expression of the c-erbB-2 oncoprotein was investigated in whole mount preparations of 11 human fetuses by immunocytochemistry using two polyclonal antibodies, 20N and 21N. c-erbB-2 was widely expressed within all three germ layers. Expression remained relatively constant in epithelial, mesodermal and extraembryonic tissues, but varied over time during the development of the fetal skeleton. Western blotting failed to detect c-erbB-2 in normal fetal tissues but did confirm expression in a microvillous membrane preparation of placenta. c-erbB-2 expression is widespread in the human fetus and occurs at an earlier stage than epidermal growth factor receptor.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗

Adult personality functioning assessment (APFA). An investigator-based standardised interview.

The development of an investigator-based standardised interview to assess patterns of specific and general social dysfunction is described. It covers six domains of functioning: work; love relationships; friendships; non-intimate social contacts; negotiations; and everyday coping. Inter-rater reliability was tested by three investigators rating 21 audiotaped interviews, and was shown to be high, with an intraclass correlation of 0.87 for the total score. The pattern of associations between specific and general social dysfunction was examined through determination of sensitivities and specificities and through LISREL modelling. The findings varied across social domains but it was concluded that the total APFA score provided a reasonable measure of general social dysfunction.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Wage distributions and spatial preferences in competitive job search and migration.

"Aggregate interstate migration data [for the United States] indicate that the majority of observed flows are from higher to lower wage states, quite contrary to the predictions of human capital theory. It is argued that a search theoretic framework may be used to complement and strengthen human capital theory. Such a framework may then include consideration of the flows of job information and aspects of job competition. A model is proposed for application to longitudinal micro-level data which overcomes a variety of theoretical and inferential problems and which remains within the bounds of empirical application." (summary in FRE, GER)

Americas↗

Nurse versus technician: the dilemma of intensive care nursing.

A definition of technology and technician is offered, relating this to nursing in the intensive care unit. It is evident that technicians are focused upon the goal of providing care to the machinery. Intensive care nurses possess attributes of the technician, but also take into account the wider issues surrounding the patient. A conclusion that technology is a means to aid the nurse during his/her nursing practice is drawn.

Biotechnology↗