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Biomedical subjects

J C Perry

Publications and source records attributed to J C Perry.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Association of paradoxical sleep deprivation and ecstasy (MDMA) enhances genital reflexes in male rats.

Ecstasy ((+/-)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) is a psychostimulant and a synthetic derivative of amphetamine that, according to its consumers, promotes the enhancement of sexual pleasure. This study sought to investigate the effects of ecstasy in the genital reflexes of paradoxical sleep deprived (PSD) male rats. Distinct groups of PSD rats were administered with saline or different doses of ecstasy. The incidence of genital reflexes was verified for 100 min. The four doses that were used induced genital reflexes in PSD animals and these significantly differed from their respective treated control groups. Under the influence of two intermediary doses (2.5 and 5mg/kg), all animals displayed erection and ejaculation. The frequency of genital reflexes was also significantly greater than in relation to the PSD-saline group. The comparison between cocaine and ecstasy in PSD rats revealed that ecstasy induced more erections and ejaculations than cocaine. Thus, the present results showed a great enhancement of the genital reflexes of PSD rats that might have occurred due to serotoninergic alterations induced by this illicit substance when associated to sleep deprivation.

Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors↗
PubMed2005

Games among cannibals: competition to cannibalize and parent-offspring conflict lead to increased sibling cannibalism.

Sibling cannibalism occurs in many species, yet understanding of sibling cannibalism as an adaptation currently lags behind understanding of other antagonistic interactions among siblings. Observed sibling cannibalism phenotypes likely reflect the interaction between competitive games among siblings and parent-offspring conflict. Using a game-theoretic approach, we derive optimal offspring cannibalism behaviour and parental modifiers that limit or facilitate cannibalism. The results are compared to contemporary frequency-independent analysis. With the addition of game interactions among siblings or parent-offspring co-evolution, our model predicts increased cannibalism (compared to the frequency-independent prediction), as offspring compete to eat siblings. When infertile eggs are present--strengthening competition--offspring risk eating viable siblings in order to gain access to infertile eggs, intensifying parent-offspring conflict. We use the results to make new predictions about the occurrence of sibling cannibalism. Additionally, we demonstrate the utility of trophic egg laying as a maternal mechanism to promote egg eating.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Monosialoganglioside (GM1) attenuates the behavioural effects of long-term haloperidol administration in supersensitive rats.

In the present study we investigated the effects of co-administration of GM(1) (15.0 mg/kg, twice daily, for 30 days) and haloperidol (1.0 mg/kg, twice daily, for 30 days), as well as the effects of a 5-day treatment with this dose of GM(1) after withdrawal from haloperidol in rats. The animals were evaluated in the open-field test and apomorphine-induced stereotyped behaviour. The results show that GM(1) was able to attenuate dopaminergic supersensitivity evaluated by the locomotion frequency at 24 and 48 h after the withdrawal from haloperidol. On the other hand, rearing frequency was changed neither by haloperidol nor by GM(1.) In haloperidol-treated rats immobility time differs from 30 min observation session in comparison with the following sessions after the withdrawal from neuroleptic. Apomorphine-induced stereotyped behaviour produced a significant increase in scores of haloperidol-withdrawn rats. GM(1) did not modify the haloperidol effects and did not change the dopamine receptor affinity to apomorphine 100 h from abrupt neuroleptic withdrawal.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2001

Is arrhythmia detection by automatic external defibrillator accurate for children?: sensitivity and specificity of an automatic external defibrillator algorithm in 696 pediatric arrhythmias.

BACKGROUND: Use of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in children aged <8 years is not recommended. The purpose of this study was to develop an ECG database of shockable and nonshockable rhythms from a broad age range of pediatric patients and to test the accuracy of the Agilent Heartstream FR2 Patient Analysis System for sensitivity and specificity. METHODS AND RESULTS: Children aged </=12 years who either developed arrhythmias or were at risk for developing arrhythmias were studied. Two sources were used for the database: children whose rhythms were recorded prospectively via a modified AED and children who had arrhythmias captured on paper and digitized for subsequent analysis. The rhythms were divided into 5-second strips, classified by 3 reviewers, and then assessed by the AED analysis algorithm. A total of 696 five-second rhythm strips from 191 children (81 female and 110 male) aged 1 day to 12 years (median 3.0 years) were analyzed. There was 100% specificity for nonshockable rhythms. Sensitivity for ventricular fibrillation was 96%. CONCLUSIONS: There was excellent AED rhythm analysis sensitivity and specificity in all age groups for ventricular fibrillation and nonshockable rhythms. The high specificity and sensitivity indicate that there is a very low risk of an inappropriate shock and that the AED correctly identifies shockable rhythms, making the algorithm both safe and effective for children.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

A pilot study of defenses in adults with personality disorders entering psychotherapy.

This study examined defensive functioning in adults entering open-ended dynamic psychotherapy and determined whether defenses predict retention at 1 year. Beginning at about the fifth session, 14 adults with personality and or depressive disorders entering open-ended dynamic psychotherapy had five therapy sessions audiotaped. The sessions were rated according to the Defense Mechanism Rating Scales, quantitative method. Interrater reliability of overall defensive functioning (ODF) and the number of defenses used per session were intraclass R = .85 and .83, respectively, whereas that of seven defense levels yielded a median of .625 (range .52 to .80). Stability of ODF across the five sessions was intraclass R = .48. The 11 subjects with personality disorders (PDs) used predominantly lower immature (49.3%) and neurotic (40.8%) level defenses. Subjects with borderline PD had significantly lower ODF than those with other PD types. Higher ODF was associated with remaining in treatment at 1 year, although this was confounded with a higher frequency of weekly sessions. Quantitative assessment of defenses demonstrated fair to excellent reliability and indicated that in the short term approximately half of defensive functioning reflects a stable repertoire, whereas the remaining variation may be due to occasion and error. PDs and especially BPD are characterized by a predominance of lower defenses. Higher defensive functioning was associated with twice-weekly sessions and retention in therapy at 1 year. In therapy, adjusting technique to the patient's defenses may improve retention and outcome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Contribution of patient defense mechanisms and therapist interventions to the development of early therapeutic alliance in a brief psychodynamic investigation.

This preliminary study examined how patients' defense mechanisms and psychotherapists' techniques influence early alliance formation. The authors assessed the relationships among defense mechanisms, therapist interventions, and the development of alliance in a sample of 12 patients undergoing Brief Psychodynamic Investigation (4 sessions). Alliance development occurred rapidly and was clearly established by the third session. Neither defensive functioning nor supportive or exploratory interventions alone differentiated early alliance development. However, the degree of adjustment of therapists' interventions to patients' level of defensive functioning discriminated a low alliance from both improving and high alliances. The adjustment of therapeutic interventions to patients' level of defensive functioning is a promising predictor of alliance development and should be examined further, alongside other predictors of outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Pediatric digital echocardiography: a study of the analog-to-digital transition.

Limited information is available that describes the practical conversion of a pediatric echocardiography laboratory from videotape to a primarily digital format. To help pediatric echocardiographers begin to make the analog-to-digital transition, we report our pediatric digital acquisition protocol and the acquisition and storage parameters of 1000 unselected, consecutive digitally acquired studies of pediatric patients with known or suspected congenital or acquired heart disease. With the use of our acquisition protocol, a complete normal study requires 46 moving clips and 12 still-frame images. Five hundred consecutive patient studies acquired with "high" JPEG (Joint Photographers Experts Group) compression (group 1) were compared with the next 500 examinations acquired using "medium" JPEG compression (group 2) for number of moving clips, still images, and megabytes of storage space. No intergroup difference was found in the number of moving clips or still images. When JPEG compression was decreased from high to medium, the average clip storage requirement per patient increased, and the number of patients stored per 230-MB magneto optical disk decreased significantly. Non-ECG-triggered timed single-plane clips and still images required significantly more storage space than ECG-triggered single-beat clips and still images. The frequency of multiplane sweeps was.03% and was independent of diagnosis. With the use of high JPEG compression, the digital storage cost per patient was $1.90, which was 6.0 times greater than that for simultaneously recorded 120-minute VHS videotape. Many features of the digital paradigm, including decreased MOD storage space, enhanced serial study comparisons, random image access, and improved image quality, mitigate this cost differential.

Analog-Digital Conversion↗
PubMed1999

Effectiveness of psychotherapy for personality disorders.

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the evidence for the effectiveness of psychotherapy for personality disorders in psychotherapy outcome studies. METHOD: Fifteen studies were located that reported data on pretreatment-to-posttreatment effects and/or recovery at follow-up, including three randomized, controlled treatment trials, three randomized comparisons of active treatments, and nine uncontrolled observational studies. They included psychodynamic/interpersonal, cognitive behavior, mixed, and supportive therapies. RESULTS: All studies reported improvement in personality disorders with psychotherapy. The mean pre-post effect sizes within treatments were large: 1.11 for self-report measures and 1.29 for observational measures. Among the three randomized, controlled treatment trials, active psychotherapy was more effective than no treatment according to self-report measures. In four studies, a mean of 52% of patients remaining in therapy recovered--defined as no longer meeting the full criteria for personality disorder--after a mean of 1.3 years of treatment. A heuristic model based on these findings estimated that 25.8% of personality disorder patients recovered per year of therapy, a rate sevenfold larger than that in a published model of the natural history of borderline personality disorder (3.7% recovered per year, with recovery of 50% of patients requiring 10.5 years of naturalistic follow-up). CONCLUSIONS: Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for personality disorders and may be associated with up to a sevenfold faster rate of recovery in comparison with the natural history of disorders. Future studies should examine specific therapies for specific personality disorders, using more uniform assessment of core pathology and outcome.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1999

Sequential consequences of therapists' interventions.

Using sequential analysis, the authors examined how therapists' actions related to the verbal disclosure and defensive patterns that followed therapists' interventions within a single therapy hour for 20 patients. At the same time, a new measure, the Psychodynamic Intervention Rating Scale (PIRS), was tested for reliability and construct validity. Results indicated that therapists fit their styles of intervention to patients' levels of distress and functioning. Within the session, patient's emotional elaboration was followed by therapist's defense interpretation, followed by more patient emotional elaboration. Patient elaboration of significance was followed by more transference interpretation, followed by more patient elaboration of significance. Noninterpretive interventions were followed by patient's disclosure of facts, not emotion. Both interpretive intervention process sequences and therapist's use of support predicted posttreatment symptom reduction. The PIRS was shown to have satisfactory reliability and construct validity.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1998

New mutations in the KVLQT1 potassium channel that cause long-QT syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Long-QT syndrome (LQTS) is an inherited cardiac arrhythmia that causes sudden death in young, otherwise healthy people. Four genes for LQTS have been mapped to chromosome 11p15.5 (LQT1), 7q35-36 (LQT2), 3p21-24 (LQT3), and 4q25-27 (LQT4). Genes responsible for LQT1, LQT2, and LQT3 have been identified as cardiac potassium channel genes (KVLQT1, HERG) and the cardiac sodium channel gene (SCN5A). METHODS AND RESULTS: After studying 115 families with LQTS, we used single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and DNA sequence analysis to identify mutations in the cardiac potassium channel gene, KVLQT1. Affected members of seven LQTS families were found to have new, previously unidentified mutations, including two identical missense mutations, four identical splicing mutations, and one 3-bp deletion. An identical splicing mutation was identified in affected members of four unrelated families (one Italian, one Irish, and two American), leading to an alternatively spliced form of KVLQT1. The 3-bp deletion arose de novo and occurs at an exon-intron boundary. This results in a single base deletion in the KVLQT1 cDNA sequence and alters splicing, leading to the truncation of KVLQT1 protein. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified LQTS-causing mutations of KVLQT1 in seven families. Five KVLQT1 mutations cause the truncation of KVLQT1 protein. These data further confirm that KVLQT1 mutations cause LQTS. The location and character of these mutations expand the types of mutation, confirm a mutational hot spot, and suggest that they act through a loss-of-function mechanism or a dominant-negative mechanism.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1998

A naturalistic study of the chronic fatigue syndrome among women in primary care.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a controversial illness without clear etiology, causes profound debilitation in its sufferers. This study explored subjects' perceptions of the variables that mediated the course of their illness and identified coping strategies in 15 women with CFS referred from the practice of a primary care physician. Exploratory semistructured interviews were adapted from Kleinman's Illness Narratives. Four instruments were used: the Beck Depression Inventory, the Sickness Impact Profile, a modified Karnofsky scale, and the Defense Mechanism Rating Scale. Of the 15 women, 60% reported improvement and/or recovery at the time of the interview. Improvement was associated with social support and lower levels of depressive symptoms. Health status was influenced by how subjects perceived their illness, their future, and the doctor's prognosis; and by the physician's early diagnosis, validation of the CFS, and intensive medical follow-up. Obsessional and healthy neurotic defense levels predominated, which differs from historical comparison groups with dysthymia and panic disorder. Psychological adaptation to CFS is similar to adaptive coping in other chronic illnesses: subjective perceptions of health status can predict functional status. Physician validation is particularly important given the controversial status of CFS. Maintaining relationships with others--doctor, work, family, and group/spiritual activities reflected healthy coping strategies that promoted hope and attitudinal shifts. The finding of a mixture of neurotic and healthy defenses and a low proportion of defenses associated with personality disorders has not been previously reported in the CFS literature and warrants further investigation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Defensive functioning predicts improvement in major depressive episodes.

We investigated the predictive effect of psychological defenses on the course of major depression in a subsample of psychiatric patients from a larger study. We tested the hypothesis that a group of eight defenses, associated with depression in previous research, would predict, outcome of major depression. After an intake interview, 37 patients were rated on all DSM-III-R Axes, the SCL-90-R, and 28 defenses, using the Defense Mechanism Rating Scales. At 6-month follow-up interview, SCL-90-R and Global Assessment and Functioning (GAF) were redetermined on 34 (92%), 16 of whom had major depression at intake. Overall Defensive Functioning (ODF) significantly predicted GAF at 6-month follow-up over and above initial level of global functioning and presence of a personality disorder. The group of eight defenses were identified more often (p = .068) in depressed patients who improved less than predicted by their initial functional status. The high adaptive level defense, self-observation, was identified more often in those who improved more than predicted by their initial status. Our findings support the theory of a hierarchy of defenses, and the mediating effects of specific low and high adaptive level defenses on the course of a major depressive episode. Further research should examine passive aggression, acting out, help-rejecting complaining, splitting of self-images, splitting of others' images, projective identification, projection, and devaluation in relationship to the onset, course, and treatment response of depressive disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Convergent and discriminant validity of overall defensive functioning.

We examined the validity of the construct of overall defensive functioning and its discrimination from standard diagnostic assessments. Within a multisite field trial, patients received intake diagnostic interviews by clinicians who made standard axis I through V diagnoses, then rated defense mechanisms using the Defense Mechanism Rating Scales (DMRS). Patients filled out self-report measures of distress and defenses, the SCL-90-R, and Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ). Overall defensive functioning (ODF) scales were derived from both the DMRS and the DSQ. Overlap between clinical and self-report ratings of defenses was modest. By two different methods of factor analysis, followed by confirmatory factor analysis, clinical ratings of ODF were clearly discriminable from axis I, axis II personality disorders, current and usual global functioning, and subjective distress. ODF measured by the DSQ was not clearly discriminated from subjective distress ratings, consistent with the hypothesis that subjective distress may distort conscious derivatives of actual defensive processes. The DSQ alone probably should not be considered as a substitute for observer-rated assessment of defensive functioning, although further study of the issue is warranted.

Defense Mechanisms↗
PubMed1998

Field trial of a diagnostic axis for defense mechanisms for DSM-IV.

Following critiques that the DSM multiaxial system lacks psychodynamic information useful for treatment, an axis for defense mechanisms was developed for DSM-IV, including up to 7 individual defenses from a glossary of 27, and 3 predominant defense levels from a list of 7. We tested the feasibility, reliability, and discriminability of the proposed axis. Clinician and psychiatric resident volunteers were trained at two U.S. and one Norwegian sites. After conducting initial interviews on 107 patients, they rated the DSM-III-R and defense axes, as did a second blind rater. Median kappa reliabilities were .42 (individual defenses), and .47 (defense levels). A summary measure, Overall Defensive Functioning (ODF), had similar reliability to current GAF (IR .68 vs. .62), similar 1-month stability (.75 vs. .78), but greater 6-month stability (.51 vs. .17). Independent of Axis III, ODF had small to moderate associations with other Axes and symptoms. Our findings indicate that the defense axis is a feasible, acceptably reliable, and nonredundant addition to DSM-IV, which may prove useful for planning and conducting treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Ventricular tachycardia in neonates.

Infant VT can be a devastating arrhythmia, with high mortality for those presenting with myocarditis, long QT syndrome, or cardiovascular collapse with rapid VT due to tumors. While management of these patients can be challenging and discouraging, other infants with wide QRS rhythms tend to follow a more benign course. These latter patients have accelerated idiopathic ventricular rhythm or aberrant forms of infant supraventricular tachycardia. Distinguishing these forms of wide QRS tachycardia from the more lethal forms is paramount to institution of appropriate therapies.

Electrocardiography↗
PubMed1997

The psychosocial treatments interview for anxiety disorders. A method for assessing psychotherapeutic procedures in anxiety disorders.

The authors report on development, reliability, and findings of the Psychosocial Treatments Interview (PTI) to assess treatments reported by patients in a naturalistic study of the longitudinal course of anxiety disorders. The PTI ascertains frequency of different types of psychosocial treatments, based on patients' reports. The PTI showed good internal consistency and very good interrater reliability. At first 6-month follow-up, the most common modalities were supportive, medication discussion, and dynamic intervention. Combinations were common. Delivery of treatments differed by site. Overall, the PTI fills a methodological need for the assessment of the treatments reported by patients in naturalistic follow-up studies.

Adolescent↗