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Biomedical subjects

J A Fleming

Publications and source records attributed to J A Fleming.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

The effects of bupivacaine on the umbilical circulation and placental gas exchange in the fetal lamb.

Seven chronically catheterized fetal sheep at 125-140 days gestation were studied in 12 experiments to determine the direct effects of the local anesthetic bupivacaine (infused intravenously to the fetus) on the umbilical circulation and placental gas exchange. Electrocortical activity, umbilical blood flow, heart rate, and umbilical arterial and venous pressures were continuously monitored in experiments comprising a baseline period, a drug infusion period and a recovery period, each of 2 hr duration. Samples of umbilical arterial and venous blood were taken for blood gas analysis, and for bupivacaine assay using high pressure liquid chromatography technique. Fetal plasma bupivacaine levels were 1.3 +/- 0.3 microgram/ml (mean +/- SEM) between 60-120 min of infusion. Heart rate and umbilical blood flow decreased significantly to 89 and 94% of control, respectively, (P less than 0.05) during the infusion and returned to control levels by 2 hr afterwards. Mean umbilical arterial and venous pressures were not significantly altered, and no significant rise in umbilical vascular resistance occurred. No changes occurred in umbilical arterial or venous pH, PO2, or PCO2. In summary, bupivacaine reversibly depressed fetal heart rate and umbilical blood flow without detrimental changes in fetal blood gas or acid-base status.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Measuring psychiatric disorder among Southeast Asian refugees.

Four measures of mental health--Panic, Depression, Somatization and Well-Being--have been developed for use in a population of Southeast Asian refugees. The scales, a product of work with 1348 refugees, demonstrate conceptual significance, good reliability, concurrent validity and stability of structure across samples. They are culturally sensitive, enabling intra-cultural study as well as screening for clinical purposes. The measures also permit comparisons, for research purposes, with non-Asians.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

Campoletis sonorensis Endoparasitic Wasps Contain Forms of C. sonorensis Virus DNA Suggestive of Integrated and Extrachromosomal Polydnavirus DNAs.

Campoletis sonorensis virus (CsV) (Polydnaviridae) previously was detected only in the calyx epithelial cells and lumen of the oviducts from female C. sonorensis (Ichneumonidae) endoparasitic wasps (Norton et al., Cell Tissue Res. 162:195-208, 1975). Using dot-blot hybridizations, we detected low amounts of CsV DNA in male and female wasp head and thorax tissues and in male abdominal tissues. Low amounts of extrachromosomal viral DNA were detected in Southern blots of undigested male wasp DNA and in male DNA purified by isopycnic centrifugation. High-molecular-weight male wasp DNA digested with any of several restriction endonucleases and hybridized with cloned viral DNAs from CsV superhelices B and Q under stringent conditions contained CsV-specific DNA fragments that differed significantly in size and number from the hybridizing fragments detected in comparably digested viral DNA. Identical offsize restriction fragments were detected in digested female head and thorax DNA. These data suggest that at least CsV DNAs B and Q are integrated in C. sonorensis cellular DNA and that the virus may be transmitted through the germline.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1985

Transmission of affective disorders: an application of segregation analysis to blind family study data.

The single major locus (SML) model of Bucher and Elston (1981) was applied to data collected in a long-term follow-up and family study of major effective disorders. Pedigree segregation analysis was used to test the hypothesis that bipolar and unipolar disorders are phenotypic variants of the same genotype at a SML. The particular SML model examined did not adequately describe the familial pattern of these disorders in families of bipolar and unipolar probands. Although other SML models may be superior, it is likely that the existence of a SML will be obscured by genetic heterogeneity.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1985

Psychiatric aspects of traffic accidents.

The authors review the literature pertaining to the roles of psychopathology and personality variables in traffic accidents. They review studies of nonpsychiatric and psychiatric samples and examine the roles of suicide, life events, alcohol, and drugs. Certain personality characteristics and psychopathology--such as low tension tolerance, immaturity, personality disorder, and paranoid conditions--appear to be risk factors for traffic accidents. Although the role of alcohol is relatively well established, the roles of most other drugs are less clear. The results of further investigation of psychopathology's role in traffic accidents may have implications for prevention.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1985

A case report of obstructive sleep apnea in a patient with bipolar affective disorder.

A patient with a bipolar mood disorder developed obstructive sleep apnea which altered the clinical presentation of the mood disorder and affected compliance with prophylactic treatment. Significant improvements in the management of her mood disorder and in her life adjustment followed surgical relief of the upper airway obstruction.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1985

A comparison of the safety and efficacy of alprazolam and desipramine in moderately severe depression.

Fifty-four patients (34 outpatients, 20 inpatients) fulfilling Research Diagnostic Criteria for Definite Major Depressive Disorder were enrolled in a double-blind study comparing the antidepressant effects of alprazolam versus desipramine. The mean daily dose of alprazolam and desipramine at study termination was 3.78 mg and 208 mg respectively. As there were no significant demographic or clinical differences between outpatients and inpatients, both groups were combined in data analysis. Using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) both drug groups showed highly significant improvement beginning with the first week of active drug treatment. HAM-D scores continued to decrease through study termination (six weeks of active drug). There were no significant differences when comparing alprazolam and desipramine (outpatients, inpatients, or both groups combined) on any of the subjective or objective psychometrics used in this study. Clinically, only twelve of thirty-four outpatients (35.3%) were felt to be "markedly or moderately" improved, suggesting that neither the outpatient alprazolam nor desipramine patients did particularly well with drug treatment. In terms of drug safety there was no difference between the alprazolam and desipramine in the number of excessive or serious drug side effects. However, five of twenty-nine alprazolam patients had to discontinue therapy because of excessive drowsiness, and two of the alprazolam outpatients had motor vehicle accidents directly related to this adverse event. Alprazolam appeared as effective as desipramine in the pharmacotherapy of this group of depressed outpatient and inpatients. Alprazolam appeared well-tolerated by most subjects although drowsiness was a common--and at times serious--medication side effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Familial transmission of major affective disorders. Is there evidence supporting the distinction between unipolar and bipolar disorders?

The two-threshold multifactorial polygenic (MFP) model was applied to blind family study data, collected in a long-term follow-up and family study of major affective disorders. This model tested whether bipolar and unipolar disorders are manifestations of the same underlying factors or if they are independently caused disorders. The hypothesis that bipolar and unipolar disorders are, respectively, severe and mild forms of the same disorder was supported. There was little evidence for different familial aetiologies for bipolar and unipolar disorders in our sample.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic↗
PubMed1983

Triazolam abuse.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Expression of Campoletis sonorensis Virus in the Parasitized Host, Heliothis virescens.

Polyadenylated mRNA transcripts of the virus of Campoletis sonorensis were detected in Heliothis virescens host larvae 2 h after the larvae had been parasitized by C. sonorensis females and continued to be present in host larvae through 9 days postparasitization while C. sonorensis developed endoparasitically. cDNAs of viral transcripts present in H. virescens hybridized with only certain C. sonorensis viral DNAs.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

A search for 'schizophrenia spectrum disorders'. An application of a multiple threshold model to blind family study data.

Family data from schizophrenic and control probands were analyzed using a descriptive analysis and multiple threshold models to determine whether a given group of diagnoses made in accordance with ICD-9 was aetiologically related to schizophrenia. The proportion of relatives receiving any psychiatric diagnosis, other than schizophrenia and affective disorder, was essentially the same between the two study groups. Furthermore, the data did not fit the multiple threshold model tested. Thus, the hypothesis that schizophrenia and a spectrum of disorders defined according to ICD-9 have a common familial aetiology was not accepted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Testing the monogenic theory of schizophrenia: An application of segregation analysis to blind family study data.

Segregation analysis was applied to blind family data concerning schizophrenia to decide if the transmission of schizophrenia could be explained by a single major gene. Our results showed that the Mendelian model was unacceptable. Therefore, the monogenic hypothesis could not account for the transmission of schizophrenia. Since the hypothesis of no parent-child transmission was also not accepted, there was an indication that some form of vertical transmission existed which could be psychosocial, or an interaction between genetic and psychosocial factors. Our results suggest genetic heterogeneity in schizophrenia. Currently available clinical criteria for defining subgroups must be improved in conjunction with detection of biological indicators so that segregation analysis of family data could be effectively used in determining modes of transmission in schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Premature deaths in schizophrenia and affective disorders. An analysis of survival curves and variables affecting the shortened survival.

We have found shortened survival in 200 schizophrenics, 100 manics, and 225 depressives by comparing them with the Iowa general population. The numbers of years of shortened survival were estimated from the survival curves of each diagnostic group by sex. Variables affecting shortened survival were diagnostic group, sex, age at admission, and pay status at admission. Excess causes of death were suicides, accidents, and infective and circulatory system diseases. The absolute mortality for deaths due to neoplasm in our sample was not significantly different than that in the Iowa general population. However, the proportional mortality from the same data showed a deficiency in deaths due to neoplasm in schizophrenia and affective disorders. Well-designed epidemiologic studies are needed to see if there is a real deficiency in deaths due to cancer in the major psychoses.

Adolescent↗