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Biomedical subjects

E Clark

Publications and source records attributed to E Clark.

126 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Changes in analogical reasoning in adulthood.

This study sought to investigate adult intellectual development through an analysis of a particular type of cognitive ability, verbal analogical reasoning. The performance of 60 individuals between the ages of 20 and 79 was compared on 100 verbal analogies. The subjects consisted of six groups of ten individuals each (five males and five females), matched as a group for education and gender. Solution times and error rates served as the dependent measures. Results showed that there was a significant trend for the older subjects (60- and 70-year-olds) to be slower than the young subjects (20-, 30-, 40-, and 50-year-olds), but not necessarily more error prone. These data suggest that verbal analogical reasoning changes with age. Supplemental data demonstrated a change in other abilities as well (i.e., decline in perceptual-motor speed and spatial skill).

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Attenuation of alcohol intake by extract of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort) in two different strains of alcohol-preferring rats.

Extract of the common plant Hypericum perforatum L. (St John's Wort, SJW) has been used successfully for the treatment of mild to moderate depression since ancient times and has recently been studied clinically. Depression and alcoholism have some neurochemical similarities, such as low brain serotonin activities. Thus, we hypothesized that SJW extract, which contains 0.22% hypericin and 4.05% hyperforin, also may be effective in suppressing alcohol intake. To test this hypothesis, the effects of SJW extract on voluntary alcohol intake were studied in two different genetic animal models of human alcoholism: fawn-hooded (FH) and high-alcohol drinking (HAD) rats. FH and HAD rats received a single oral administration (5 ml/kg) of either vehicle or one of the five doses (100, 200, 400, 600, and 800 mg/kg) of SJW extract. The oral administration of SJW extract significantly (P < 0.0001) reduced alcohol intake in both FH and HAD rats. In a third study, FH rats did not develop tolerance to the suppressant effects of SJW on alcohol intake and preference following oral administration of (400 mg/kg) of the extract for 15 consecutive days. These promising findings suggest that SJW extract should be evaluated clinically as a potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of alcoholism.

Alcohol Deterrents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Identifying opportunities to ask patients about their treatment wishes.

Here is a challenging ethical case study about a women who when faced with multiple complications wondered if she could go on. Without specific information on her wishes, an ethical situation ensued when she became unresponsive with combined cardiac, renal, respiratory, and infective complications from cardiac bypass surgery and chronic COPD. Part I describes this case submitted by DCCN readers and Part 2 provides a case analysis by an ethical consultant with suggestions for nurses in similar situations.

Advance Directives↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health visitor-run adult sleep clinics.

Two sleep clinics run by health visitors were set up in Dundee to provide a brief, time-limited programme of advice and treatment for adults with insomnia and referred by their GPs. This article describes the clinics and reports the clinical features and outcome of the first 100 patients referred.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Implementing evidence-based practice in clinical situations.

Many nurses in a variety of clinical settings are facing the challenges posed by incorporating evidence-based practice in health care. Some of the steps involved in implementing evidence-based care in clinical practice are discussed and a two-step framework to assist practitioners in implementing evidence-based practice is outlined. Factors such as the relevance of specific guidelines or research, generalisability of research findings, the strength of the evidence relative to the risks and benefits of treatment, and patient preferences are discussed in terms of evidence-based decision making.

Benchmarking↗
PubMedDate not supplied

15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid synthesis from exogenous arachidonate by bronchial mucosa.

Arachidonate metabolism in bronchial mucosa was investigated. Bronchial biopsies from four asthmatics and three non-asthmatic controls were challenged with 300, 465, 650 and 960 mOsm/kg saline in the presence of [3H]arachidonate. Supernatants were analysed by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The major arachidonate metabolite was identified as 15-monohydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE), with significantly higher production in biopsies from asthmatics than controls. Statistical analysis of the full model explained 81% of the variation (F = 14.8; df = 6, 21; P less than 0.001). Hyperosmolarity and the presence of sarcoid had no significant effect on 15-HETE synthesis, reducing R2 by only 6%.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

New ideas about self-tolerance and auto-immunity.

Recent advances in our understanding of B cell ontogeny strengthen the theory that self-tolerance is generated principally by clonal deletion. B cells pass through a stage: the "baby B cell", during which they are particularly susceptible to receptor cross-linking. Further evidence of clonal deletion comes from studies on the maintenance of the liver differentiation alloantigen F. In spite of this accumulating evidence room can still be found for the concept of immunological silence: it is a prediction of the dual recognition theory of T cell receptors that differentiation macromolecules which occur only on the surface of Ia negative cells cannot be seen by T helper cells.

Animals↗