Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Parker

Publications and source records attributed to G Parker.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Reassessment of selective agars and filtration techniques for isolation of Campylobacter species from faeces.

Four different studies were conducted in order to re-evaluate conventional methods and assess the efficacy of new selective agars and a filtration method for the isolation of campylobacters. Skirrow's medium, Preston agar, modified CCD agar and Fennell's medium, incubated microaerobically at 37 degrees C for 48 h, gave similar Campylobacter isolation rates from 225 faecal samples, but the latter two media were more selective. Evaluation of modified CCD agar demonstrated that campylobacters could be isolated from that medium more successfully after incubation at 37 degrees C (173/177 positive samples) than at 42 degrees C (152/177 positive samples). In a larger study 1286 faecal specimens were cultured using modified CCD agar, Fennell's medium and a 0.45 micron membrane filtration technique, all incubated at 37 degrees C. Campylobacters were isolated from 89% (178), 86% (171) and 60% (130) of 199 positive samples respectively. Modified CCD agar was most successful in isolation of the majority of campylobacters, but Fennell's medium was essential for recovery of "Campylobacter cinaedi" and "Campylobacter fennelliae", whereas the 0.45 micron membrane technique was the only method to isolate all of the catalase-negative campylobacter strains. Further evaluation of the 0.45 micron and 0.65 micron pore size membranes showed that more strains of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli were isolated using the larger pore size membranes.

Agar↗
PubMed1988

The development of a measure of intimate bonds.

This paper discusses the relevance of assessing the nature of intimate relationships and reports on the development of such an instrument. The Intimate Bond Measure (IBM) is a self-report measure assessing two key underlying dimensions, care and control. Its properties are assessed in separate studies, establishing its high test-retest reliability, the homogeneous nature of the isolated dimensions, its insensitivity to broad socio-demographic influences and its minimal sensitivity to depressed mood state. Support for its validity, in terms of both perceived and actual characteristics of care and control, is demonstrated. It provides a simple and efficient measure of central constructs underlying intimate relationships, and is of potential use in studies attempting to assess the relevance of intimate relationships to the onset and course of psychiatric disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Examining for links between expressed emotion and EPI personality variables: can low EE be faked?

We investigated whether links exist between scores on the EPI personality measure (with its component neuroticism, extroversion and lie scales) and scores on the expressed emotion (EE) measures, the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI). CFI scale scores were not associated with scores on the EPI neuroticism and extroversion scales. By contrast, mothers who were designated "low EE" scored significantly higher on the EPI lie scale, suggesting that some may have "faked good" during EE family assessment. The capacity for response biases to influence the CFI and subsequent EE assignment is explored, and it is suggested that corrective strategies may be required to deal with such biases in predictive studies using the EE measure.

Emotions↗
PubMed1988

The effect of capsule size and density on transit through the proximal colon.

Colonic transit of radiolabelled capsules has been monitored in 18 healthy subjects using gamma scintigraphy. The capsules ranged in volume from 0.3-1.8 cm3 and in density from 0.7-1.5 gcm-3. The capsules were administered after an overnight fast and entered the colon, on average, 5 h after dosing. Transit rates through the proximal colon were independent of capsule density. Any effect due to capsule volume was small when compared with intersubject variations in transit rates. Within 10 h of entering the colon 80% of the units had reached the splenic flexure. These findings have implications in the design of non-disintegrating, sustained release dosage forms.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Seasonal affective disorder in the southern hemisphere.

To determine whether seasonal affective disorder exists in the southern hemisphere and whether there is any seasonal specificity in phenomenology, the authors compared 23 subjects who reported a winter/autumn affective disorder, consistent with earlier definitions of the syndrome, with 22 subjects who reported a spring/summer affective disorder. The subjects with winter/autumn onset were characterized by increased appetite, carbohydrate craving, and increased sleep; those with spring/summer onset reported decreased sleep and decreased appetite. Hypotheses concerning the etiology of seasonal affective disorder are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Perceptions of parenting in childhood and social support in adulthood.

A group of primiparous women in Australia rated their parents' attitudes and behaviors toward them as children as well as perceived levels of social support shortly after the birth of their first child and 1 year later. After any bias that might have been introduced by neurotic perception of interpersonal relationships had been controlled for, analyses showed a consistent link over time between reports of perceived deficiencies in both maternal care during childhood and in the availability of close supportive relationships during adulthood. This study supports and extends findings from a 1986 U.S. study.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Neurotic depression: delineation of symptom profiles and their relation to outcome.

Ninety-one subjects diagnosed clinically as having a 'neurotic depression' were interviewed and then re-assessed at 6 weeks and 20 weeks. Four symptom profiles of clinical features were derived: 'negative cognition', 'lack of drive', 'anxiety', and 'arousal', the last being independent of the other three dimensions and of the severity of depression. Symptom profile scores were then examined against antecedent risk variables and outcome. Links between profile scores and personality variables suggest that personality may colour the clinical presentation of neurotic/reactive depressions, and challenge the assumption that a typology of these depressive disorders based on clinical features is achievable. The break-up of an intimate relationship in the preceding 12 months was a strong predictor of a good outcome. Further analyses suggested, firstly, that there was a distinct subgroup delineated by this life event, with features weighted to the 'arousal' symptom profile, including many symptoms often associated with diagnosis of 'endogenous depression'; and, secondly, that this life event and a good outcome were directly linked, being uninfluenced by personality or other mediating variables.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1988

Prediction of schizophrenic relapse using the parental bonding instrument.

After admission, 57 schizophrenic patients completed two versions of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) to assess perceived recent and earlier parenting attributes. The parents were also assessed using the Camberwell Family Interview to generate Expressed Emotion (EE) scores. The schizophrenic patients, compared to matched non-clinical controls, reported a significantly greater chance (50% vs 26%) of exposure to "affectionless control" from their father. Nine months later, the subjects were re-interviewed and their relapse status determined. The PBI measure assessing parenting over the first 16 years had greater utility than the recent parenting version of the PBI. When re-calibrated, only the father's scores on the early parenting PBI scale discriminated "relapsers" and "non-relapsers". A multivariate analysis suggested that pre-established illness criteria and other family factors were the clearest predictors, and that PBI-defined constructs (as for EE measures) failed to add significantly to the discriminant function. The extent to which EE and PBI scales might measure similar constructs was examined, with only weak links being suggested.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Inhalation toxicity of ribavirin in suckling ferrets.

Ribavirin is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent useful for treatment of infants. To study the effects in developing mammalian lungs, four groups of jill ferrets and their litters were given whole body inhalation exposures for 6 h a day for 10 or 30 consecutive days to concentrations of 0 (vehicle control), 162, 355 or 620 mg/m3. The effects, including special lung observations in suckling kits, were evaluated after exposures at weaning and at puberty. First the high dose, then the mid dose jills developed lactation failure. Probably due to nutritional deficiency, approximately half of the mid dose and three quarters of the high dose kits were found dead or killed whilst moribund. There were no test compound-related deaths in the control or low dose level groups. Reductions in body weight gain were observed in both 10 and 30 day exposed kits, and high dose kits actually lost weight as exposure continued. Some recovery was apparent in survivors. Some discoloration of the liver was seen in malnourished kits at necropsy. There were no gross or histopathologic lesions in the lungs or tracheas of suckling ferrets attributable to the test material. Ribavirin exposure had no effect on the lavageable cell pool, while lung DNA to protein ratios showed a mild, reversible, proliferative response in smaller kits. There were no differences in lung function between controls and low dose kits of either group. Effects seen in the higher dose groups are due to differences in size. While there may have been a real dose-related enlargement of alveolar diameters at 40 days of age, this disappeared in males by puberty and did not seem toxicologically significant in females. The low dose, which corresponds to an exposure dose 4 to 6 times that used clinically, appeared to be a no-effect level.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1987

A test of the social support hypothesis.

As a test of the social support hypothesis, highly anxious primiparous mothers were assigned in the post-natal stage to either a professional intervention, a lay intervention or to a control group. It was hypothesised that those receiving an active intervention (be it lay or professional assistance) would become less anxious as a consequence of a central therapeutic ingredient--social support. Improvement was assessed by measuring state anxiety levels at baseline and at 12 months, while the degree to which therapists were incorporated into the social network was assessed by the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI), given at baseline and at 12 months. While we established that anxiety levels were significantly lowered in those receiving the professional intervention and moderately (but not significantly) lowered in those receiving the lay intervention, ISSI scores for the separate groups appeared stable over the study. Reasons are considered why ISSI scores remained unchanged while intervention groups showed a reduction in anxiety levels.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1987

Parenting and schizophrenia: an Australian study of expressed emotion.

Parents of 66 schizophrenic Sydney patients were interviewed using the abbreviated Camberwell Family Interview (CFI). Using pre-established criteria, 71% of the mothers, 58% of the fathers and 74% of the households were categorised as being of high expressed emotion (EE) status. Comparison is made with published data on the CFI and on EE categorisation for similar groups studied in England, the United States and India. The Sydney families were described as 'vocal, ambitious and aggressive', and EE scale scores more resembled the Los Angeles families than the British families originally studied. A number of factors influencing high EE categorisation (e.g., family intactness, socio-demographic variables) are noted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

The establishment of a mood disorders unit.

The establishment within a general hospital psychiatry ward of a mood disorders unit (MDU), a specialised facility for the assessment and treatment of patients with affective disorders, is described. The aims include provision of a clinical service, a teaching resource for affective disorders and the development of a research centre. Details are provided of the organisation of the MDU, the development of programs for management of patients and the difficulties encountered. In the first year, 164 patients were assessed, of whom 36 were judged not to have a primary mood disorder. For the remainder, the most common DSM-III diagnosis was major depressive episode (n = 68), with about half having the melancholic sub-type. It is argued that a specialised diagnosis-related facility is feasible within a general hospital psychiatry service with area health commitments.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic↗