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Biomedical subjects

B Andrews

Publications and source records attributed to B Andrews.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Self-esteem and depression. III. Aetiological issues.

This is the last of a series of three papers dealing with the role of self-esteem in the onset of clinical depression. On the basis of a longitudinal population enquiry a comprehensive psychosocial model of depression is developed. It is concluded that self-esteem (primarily in terms of a negative measure) does play a significant role. However, this can be only properly interpreted in the light of the full model. This highlights: 1. the importance of the occurrence of both a negative environmental factor (negative interaction with children or husband for married or negative interaction with children or lack of a very close tie for single mothers) and a negative psychological factor (low self-esteem or chronic subclinical condition); and 2. how a relatively small group of high risk women in these terms (23% of total at risk based on measures collected well before any onset) contain three-quarters of all instances of onset of depression occurring over a 12 month period.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Self-esteem and depression. IV. Effect on course and recovery.

The present paper, the fourth and last in a series examining the role of self-esteem in depressive disorder in the general population, deals with recovery/improvement from a disorder at a case level. Both positive evaluation of self (PES) and absence of negative evaluation of self (NES) measured during a chronic episode are related to subsequent recovery or improvement. A causal effect is suggested since the measure adds over and above to that of environmental factors previously established to relate to recovery/improvement--the reduction of an ongoing difficulty or fresh-start event. Positive evaluation of self was also related to recovery/improvement from subsequent onsets of case depression. In this instance, unlike that for the chronic conditions, self-esteem was measured outside the episode of depression. A causal effect was also suggested because it made an independent contribution vis-a-vis the effect of fresh-start events. Given the small size of the sample the study should be seen as an exploratory one.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Intergenerational links between psychiatric disorder in mothers and daughters: the role of parenting experiences.

An intergenerational community study in Islington, north London, has considered psychiatric disorder in mothers and their adolescent and early adult daughters and the role of parenting in any link between the two. The results indicate that daughters are more likely to have disorders at a case level when their mothers have chronic or recurrent episodes of disorder at this level. Such conditions in the mother relate to the daughters' reports of adverse family experience involving maternal antipathy and neglect and physical and sexual abuse, most usually at the hands of a father or stepfather. These adverse experiences are associated with disorder in daughters independently of any disorder in the mother.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Distribution of vasoactive intestinal peptide and its receptors in the arteries of the rabbit.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a widely distributed neurotransmitter whose dilatory effects on vascular smooth muscle are believed to be mediated via specific receptors. To determine the possible role of VIP in regulating specific vascular beds, we examined the relationship between arterial wall VIP content as determined by radioimmunoassay and VIP receptors mapped by autoradiography. Analysis of arteries from 12 adult New Zealand rabbits showed that VIP receptors were consistently located in the wall of all muscular arteries, and that the 125I-VIP grain density correlated with VIP content. 125I-VIP binding in the mesenteric, renal, and iliac arteries was abundant and their VIP content was 192 +/- 56, 51 +/- 5, and 74 +/- 23 fmole/mg protein, respectively. 125I-VIP binding to the thoracic aorta was indistinguishable from nonspecific binding, its VIP content being 15 +/- 2 fmole/mg protein. The abundance of VIP receptors and the high VIP levels associated with the mesenteric, renal, and iliac arteries suggest that VIP is a potential regulator of flow to the vascular beds supplied by these arteries. In contrast, the much lower density of receptors in the extracranial carotid, which is also a muscular artery, suggests that, in rabbits, control of carotid vasomotion may be less dependent on VIP innervation. Furthermore, these results suggest that VIP receptors and VIP-containing neurons are not uniformly distributed in the arterial vasculature and that VIP may have selective vasodilatory effects.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Marital violence in the community. A biographical approach.

A study of women in Islington confirms earlier findings of a high rate of reported marital violence (25% experiencing it at some time in their lives). Women who had experienced marital violence tended not to repeat the same pattern in subsequent relationships. Violence was associated with childhood neglect, but not early violence. Premarital pregnancy and teenage marriage were links between early neglect and marital violence, and were also important correlates of later marital violence, irrespective of such earlier lack of care. These early-adult experiences were also related to spending longer in a violent relationship. Women experiencing marital violence were more likely to have been depressed, and to have had low self-esteem, in the 3-year study period.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Traumatic brain injury in the rat: characterization of a midline fluid-percussion model.

Fluid-percussion models of traumatic brain injury produce injury by rapidly injecting fluid volumes into the epidural space. In the present study, we characterized the physiological, histopathological, and neurological responses in a new model of midline (vertex) fluid-percussion injury of graded severity in the rat. All levels of injury produced transient (acute) hypertension, which was followed by a significant and prolonged hypotension at the higher levels of injury. There was also postinjury suppression if EEG amplitudes, which was related to the severity of injury. However, there were no significant changes in brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAERs) at any level of injury. Neurological scores over a 4-week postinjury period were directly correlated with the severity of injury. Survival rates were significantly decreased at the higher magnitudes of injury. The extent of postinjury hemorrhage and blood-brain barrier disruption (as evidenced by extravasation of Evans Blue Albumin complex) was related to the magnitude of injury. These data demonstrate that the midline (vertex) model of fluid-percussion injury in the rat reproduces many of the features of head injury observed in other models and species and may serve as a useful cost-effective model for the study of the pathophysiology and treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Social support, self-esteem and depression.

A prospective study of 400 largely working-class women with children living at home has used measures of self-esteem and 'social support' to predict the risk of depression in the following year once a stressor had occurred. Actual support received at the time of any crisis in the follow-up year was also measured. Self-esteem was correlated quite highly with some of the measures of support. A core tie was defined as a husband, lover or someone named as very close at first contact. Negative evaluation of self (i.e. low self-esteem), and various indices of lack of support from a core tie at the first interview, were associated with a greatly increased risk of subsequent depression once a stressor occurred. Lack of support from a core tie at the time of the crisis was particularly highly associated with an increased risk. There was also a high risk among those who were 'let down' - that is, for those who did not receive the support which they might have expected in terms of the first interview material. It is concluded that it is essential for prospective enquiries to take account of the actual mobilization of support in the follow-up period.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1985

Effect of Plasmodium berghei infection on benzoic acid metabolism in mice.

The metabolism of benzoic acid was studied in Plasmodium berghei infected mice both in vitro and in vivo. Results of in vitro studies showed a considerable decrease in the ability of the infected liver to detoxify benzoic acid by hippuric acid formation. The in vivo study showed that hippuric acid formation decreases with increasing parasitemia and the emergence of benzoyl-glucuronide. This new pathway stops operating with further increase in parasitemia.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Structural analyses of various Cu2+, Zn2+-superoxide dismutases by differential scanning calorimetry and Raman spectroscopy.

The thermal denaturation profile of the Cu2+, Zn2+ metalloenzyme, bovine superoxide dismutase, consists of two primary components, the major component denatures irreversibly at Tm = 104 degrees C with a total enthalpy (delta Hcal) of 7.30 cal/g. Reduction of Cu(II) to Cu(I) with potassium ferrocyanide lowers Tm to 96 degrees C and delta Hcal to 6.96 cal/g. The apo-form of bovine superoxide dismutase (both Cu and Zn removed) denatures at 60 degrees C with an enthalpy only one-half that of the holo-form. The reduced thermal stability, which indicates a greater ability to change conformation, may explain the previously observed much greater membrane binding of the apo-enzyme. Reconstitution with Zn2+, Cu2+, or Zn2+ and Cu2+ raises Tm to 80, 89, or 102 degrees C, respectively, with corresponding increases in the enthalpy. Thus, the metal ions considerably stabilize the enzyme and must somewhat affect conformation. The effect of Cu2+ alone is greater than that of Zn2+, although both are needed for full stability. Raman spectroscopy indicates little difference in secondary structure between the apo- and holo-forms, implying that the increased stability due to metal binding is not caused by an extreme structural reorganization. The value of Tm of canine and yeast superoxide dismutase is also lowered by reduction of Cu(II). The reduced form of the yeast enzyme denatures irreversibly, as do all forms of the bovine and canine enzymes, but the oxidized form is unique in that it denatures reversibly. Thus, the copper ion must be oxidized for renaturation and appears to act as a nucleation site.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Biparietal diameter in premature rupture of membranes: errors in estimating gestational age.

Experience on our clinical service suggested that the real-time ultrasonically measured fetal biparietal diameter (BPD) might not accurately estimate gestational age in the preterm pregnancy complicated by premature rupture of membranes (PROM). Of 2510 consecutive pregnancies for which the BPD could be obtained on ultrasound examination at or beyond 26 weeks gestation, 122 were complicated by PROM. For pregnancies with and without PROM, the relationship, if any, between BPD and gestational age at the time of examination was determined by regression analysis and the resulting equations compared by F test. The regression equations were found to be significantly different (F = 17.2, P less than 0.01); the BPD was found to underestimate the true gestational age in the presence of PROM. To model the situation in which the pregnancy is recognizably very premature, the BPD/gestational age relationship was evaluated at less than or equal to 30 weeks. In these pregnancies the correlation of gestational age with BPD was not statistically significant in the presence of PROM. These results indicate that in the presence of PROM, the BPD may not be a reliable estimator of the gestational age of the fetus. In the presence of PROM, gestational age dependent management decisions would be better based on clinical and ultrasound criteria rather than the ultrasonically determined BPD.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1983

Intermolecular potentials for alpha-glycine from Raman and infrared scattering measurements.

The frequencies of intermolecular modes in alpha-glycine-d0 and -d5 have been measured at 300 and 85 K by Raman and infrared scattering techniques. These frequencies were analyzed in terms of simple analytic interatomic potentials. Buckingham potentials were assumed for the nonbonded and hydrogen-bond interactions, and Coulomb and screened Coulomb potentials were assumed for the electrostatic interactions. The observed frequencies are well described by the simple model and the parameters of the hydrogen-bond potentials and the molecular charge distribution were determined from the analysis.

Glycine↗
PubMed1983

A method for integrating computed tomography into radiotherapy planning and treatment.

A technique is described for accurate localisation and radiotherapy treatment planning for a wide range of intrathoracic, abdominal and pelvic tumours. It allows the patient to proceed in one step from a single examination by computed tomography (CT) to treatment and avoids the need for separate treatment simulation. Compatible laser-beam positioning systems between the CT scanner and treatment-machine rooms ensure accurate reproduction of patient position, so that CT data are directly applicable to treatment. The use of appropriate skin markers, which appear on the CT scan, allows accurate measurements of the distance of the centre of the planned volume from a tattoo placed on the patient at the time of the scan, and ensures that the planned treatment fields are accurately directed.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1980

Mycoplasmas.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Using warning devices to improve pressure-relief training.

A training and monitoring system has been developed to train spinal cord injured patients to relieve pressure intermittently from ischium while sitting in wheelchairs. The system automates the training of wheelchair push-ups based on certain conditioning principles. The system reminds the patient to do a push-up of a specified duration and at specified intervals. The frequency and the duration of the push-ups are monitored providing information about performance of the patients, especially when the alarms to remind the patients are disconnected. A long-term study is in hand to assess the effectiveness of the system.

Adolescent↗