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Biomedical subjects

E M Lang

Publications and source records attributed to E M Lang.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

The effect of sevoflurane on implicit memory: a double-blind, randomised study.

Forty-eight gynaecological patients were randomly allocated to three groups (target end-tidal sevoflurane concentration 1.2, 1.5 or 2%), and into subgroups for positive or neutral suggestion. Anaesthesia was induced by inhalation of sevoflurane in oxygen. When the target concentration was achieved, the bispectral index, computed from a bi-frontal electroencephalogram, was noted. One of two eight-word lists was then played to prime implicit memory, followed by a positive or neutral suggestion. After surgery, each patient tried to identify 24 words obscured by background noise. Priming increased the likelihood of identifying words in the 1.2% group only, i.e. there was evidence of implicit memory in this group. There was no evidence of a therapeutic effect of positive suggestion (p = 0.3), but the power of this part of the study was low. The bispectral index did not achieve statistical significance as an indicator of susceptibility to priming.

Adult↗

Comparison of performance in materials-based occupation, imagery-based occupation, and rote exercise in nursing home residents.

Materials-based occupation, imagery-based occupation, and rote exercise have been examined individually by several researchers. The present study compares all three approaches with one another (i.e., kicking a balloon, imagining kicking a balloon, and a control rote exercise) in nursing home residents. The dependent variable was the number of exercise repetitions. The subjects were 12 women and 3 men between 56 and 93 years of age residing in two nursing homes. All subjects experienced the three approaches but in different orders. One-way analysis of variance for related measures indicated a significant difference among conditions (p = .004). The Tukey procedure (Stevens, 1986) determined that the materials-based occupation condition elicited significantly more repetitions than the other two conditions. The difference between the imagery-based occupation and rote exercise was not statistically significant. These findings support our profession's historical emphasis on the use of physical materials to enhance performance.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Serological evidence of herpesvirus infection in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

In mid 1988 a 3-yr-old Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) from a circus in Switzerland died following generalized manifestation of a herpesvirus infection. In an effort to determine prevalence of infection with the herpesvirus, and due to lack of a corresponding virus isolate, it was decided to evaluate contact animals and elephants from a second herd for antibody to bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV1) and bovine herpesvirus 2 (BHV2). Of 15 sera tested four displayed low neutralizing antibody titers to BHV2. None of the sera neutralized BHV1. However, as evidenced by protein A-mediated immunoprecipitation of metabolically radio-labeled virus-infected and mock-infected cell antigens, followed by separation of precipitation products in SDS-polyacrylamide gels, the 15 sera precipitated multiple antigens from both viruses. Similar results were obtained when using BHV4 antigens. The extent of reaction was most distinct with respect to BHV2 antigens, less prominent with BHV1 antigens, and least with BHV4 antigens. The respective protein patterns, although less marked, matched well with those obtained with bovine reference sera. Additional evaluation of sera from six elephants from two zoos in the Federal Republic of Germany gave essentially identical results. It was concluded that at least one herpesvirus, immunologically related to BHV2, may be widely distributed among captive Asian elephants, and that this virus apparently does not cause overt disease in the majority of animals.

Animals↗

[Realtime sonography of intrascrotal space-occupying lesions].

In 848 examinations of the testes in 317 patients, including 253 follow-up and/or multiple follow-up examinations and 36 unilateral testicle examinations (e.g., orchidectomy, aplasia or nondescent) it was shown that sonography is a diagnostic method which is on the one hand capable of clearly differentiating cystic from solid space-occupying processes, and on the other hand also offers certain possibilities for evaluating the status of solid findings. Histologic identification of malignant tumors was only achieved with teratomas. The differential diagnostic problem was in differentiating scrotal tumors from focal orchitis, chronic epididymitis, testicular torsion and contusion, and in differentiation between paratesticular neoplasms and epididymitides. The testicular findings included testicular neoplasms, cicatrization and cysts of the tunic, sequelae of trauma, orchitis, cryptorchism, hypoplasia, aplasia, and testicular cysts. Paratesticular findings included hydroceles, spermatoceles, varicoceles, paratesticular neoplasms, epididymitides, paratesticular scars, and thickening of the testicular coat.

Diagnosis, Differential↗