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Biomedical subjects

J A Harrison

Publications and source records attributed to J A Harrison.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Can the study of spontaneous drawings indicate those children with chronic illness?

A controlled study of children's drawings as a means of detecting those with chronic disease, in the form of asthma, was carried out. The drawings produced by 48 children with chronic asthma and those of 52 controls were studied blindly and independently by three observers. One observer used a scoring method, the second used direct assessment, based on experience of children with chronic disease. The third observer based the assessment on knowledge and the use of drawings in clinical practice. The observer with a knowledge of drawings per se was clearly superior (p less than 0.001) in detecting those with asthma, while the other two observers' ability was no better than chance.

Art↗
PubMed1990

Ethnicity, infant-feeding practices, and childhood adiposity.

There has been professional concern that the type of milk used for infant-feeding may lead to adiposity. Studies of the relationship between infant milk-feeding and adiposity, however, have led to inconsistent results. This study investigated the relationship of infant-feeding practices to three indicators of adiposity: body weight, body mass index (BMI) and sum of seven skinfolds. The sample includes children at 3 or 4 years of age, in three ethnic groups. Multivariate techniques assessed the relationship among practices of infant-feeding with three indicators of adiposity, while considering potential confounding variables. Although a weak bivariate relationship was detected between the duration of breastfeeding and body weight, none of the measures of infant-feeding were related to the three indicators of adiposity. Black-American girls had smaller skinfolds than Anglo- or Mexican-American girls, with no ethnic group differences among boys. Concerns about adiposity due to methods of infant-feeding can be allayed, at least among 3- or 4-year-old children.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1988

Early changes in dermal collagen of mice exposed to chronic UVB irradiation and the effects of a UVB sunscreen.

Our previous studies have shown that hairless albino mice receiving chronic UVB irradiation show an increase in type III collagen, in the irradiated skin, after 12-36 weeks treatment. In this study we wished to find the earliest time at which such collagen changes were detectable and also to ascertain whether a topically applied UV-B sunscreen could prevent such changes. Groups of 10 hairless albino mice were irradiated, dorsally, with a daily dose of 62 mJcm-2 UVB for 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks. Three parallel groups were used. They received a) no topical treatment, b) sunscreen vehicle alone, and c) sunscreen (containing 2-ethylhexyl 4'-methoxy-cinnamate) applied dorsally at 2 microliter cm-2. Dorsal and ventral (non-irradiated) skin samples were taken and the types I and III collagen quantified densitometrically after cyanogen bromide digestion and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The ratio of dorsal/ventral type III collagen (D/V III) was determined for each mouse. The topical treatments caused no change in D/V III in the non-irradiated animals. In the non-topically treated group the irradiated animals showed a considerable increase in D/V III, compared with controls, at 12 weeks (P less than 0.001). The group treated with sunscreen vehicle alone also showed a significant increase in D/V III at week 12 (P less than 0.01). Both these groups showed a slight elevation in D/V III at week 6. The group treated with sunscreen showed no significant difference in D/V III between irradiated and control animals at any time.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Reduction of dental fear: psychophysiological correlates.

EMG, HR and SCR were continuously recorded during two Standardized Dental Examinations (SDE) of 15 dental phobics. Following the first SDE, the patients were assigned to two treatment groups, one receiving systematic desensitization followed by two separate amalgam restorations and one premedicated with Valium for the two restorations. The dentist rated the patients' behavior on a 5-point scale. Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) was used prior to the first SDE and following the second SDE. The second SDE was conducted on a separate occasion following the second restoration. No significant correlations were found between any of the physiological measures and either the dentist's ratings or the second DAS or DAS change scores. Significant differences found between the two treatment groups on the dentist's ratings, second DAS, and change scores were not reflected by the physiological measures.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Research in clinical process and outcome methodology: psychophysiology, systematic desensitization and dental fear.

Eleven dental phobics were treated with a modified systematic desensitization procedure which included EMG biofeedback and videotaped scene presentations. During treatment, multiple psychophysiological recordings as well as subjective and psychometric assessments of mood were made. Intraindividual correlations between process variables were, to a large extent, idiosyncratic. Variance in treatment outcome could be accounted for by change-over treatment sessions of psychometrically assessed mood (R2 = .76) alone or in combination with change-over treatment sessions of minimum heart rate (R2 = .84). The process variable correlation patterns indicate a need for much more multivariate methodological research.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Treatment of open fractures: a prospective study.

A double-blind prospective study was done to assess the benefit of delaying closure of the wounds associated with open fractures. An additional double-blind study compared the effectiveness of clindamycin versus cefazolin for prophylactic antibiotic coverage. Quantitative cultures of the wounds were accomplished at the time of debridement and again at the time of closure if the wound was not closed initially. Almost half of the wounds were contaminated (46%) at the time of debridement, although the incidence of wound infection was low (6.5%). Gram-negative organisms resistant to the prophylactic antibiotic were recovered initially only eight times, but four of these (50%) became infected. The contaminating organisms in each case were present in high concentration (greater than 10(5) CFU/gm of tissue) at initial culture. The time of wound closure, cefazolin versus clindamycin, and internal fixation of the fracture were not followed by significant differences in the development of clinical infection in this series.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

The significance of bone islands, cystic areas and sclerotic areas in dysbaric osteonecrosis.

Dysbaric osteonecrosis is a major hazard to compressed air workers and an increasing hazard to divers. Symptomless osteonecrosis is best recognised by radiology and it is of fundamental importance that interpretation be reliable and accurate. There is much controversy concerning the significance of bone islands and cystic areas; several authors report bone islands and cystic areas to be up to eight times more frequent in compressed air workers and divers and believe that these represent positive evidence of osteonecrosis. Skeletal radiographs of 100 Royal Navy divers, all of whom were at risk to osteonecrosis were matched for age and rank with 100 controls, none of whom had been exposed to high pressures. The radiographs were interpreted by three radiologists working independently without knowing whether the radiographs were in the diving or control group. It is concluded that bone islands, cystic areas and sclerotic areas, as described in this text, occur with equal frequency in divers as in the normal population and do not represent positive evidence of osteonecrosis. The report includes autopsy studies of the proximal femur and proximal humerus in six diving fatalities. Five bone islands in the proximal humerus and one in the femoral neck were studied in bones removed from five divers. In the sixth case a cyst was seen to develop radiologically in the femoral neck and then reduce in size over 3 years and 10 months. Slab radiographs and histological section in all cases show no evidence of osteonecrosis.

Adult↗