Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Dowson.
Goldblack deposits have been used as high-absorption coatings for thermal infrared detectors for a number of years, principally on large single, or few pixel detectors. We present a new technique that allows the benefits of goldblack to be applied to the current generation of small pixel silicon micromachined thermal infrared detectors.
BACKGROUND: It is now accepted that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often persists into adulthood. However, relative to the considerable literature concerning the profile of neurocognitive deficits associated with this disorder in childhood, equivalent investigations in adult populations have been less common. The current study examined cognitive function in adults diagnosed with ADHD employing well-validated neuropsychological tasks. METHOD: Nineteen adult patients who satisfied DSM-IV criteria for ADHD and 19 matched (gender, age and verbal IQ), non-clinical control subjects were recruited. Patients were either unmedicated or had abstained from a psychostimulant medication regime for at least 24 h prior to neurocognitive assessment. A functionally wide-ranging test battery was administered. RESULTS: Relative to controls, ADHD adults performed significantly worse on spatial working memory, planning, and attentional-set shifting tests and were significantly slower to respond to target stimuli on the go/no-go task. In contrast, the two subject groups performed equivalently on decision-making and pattern/spatial recognition memory assessments. CONCLUSIONS: The demonstration of neuropsychological dysfunction in the adult ADHD cohort provides some support for the validity of this diagnosis in adulthood. In particular, there is broad consistency between the cognitive profile revealed in the current investigation and that previously demonstrated in a study of medication-naïve ADHD children. There is evidence that frontostriatal function is especially disrupted.
This study investigated the 'construct validity' (which includes the extent to which a test conforms to predictions from previous observations) of a 14-item version of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) in 75 patients with psychogenic low weight and a history of full or partial anorexia nervosa (AN). Various predictions were confirmed, i.e. ratings on the BSQ (designed to measure concern about body image) were significantly correlated with ratings for the Eating Attitudes Test, the Bulimia Investigatory Test and the Beck Depression Inventory, and with the body mass index at referral. Also, the binge eating/purging subtype of AN was associated with increased body-image psychopathology. In contrast to a previous report using another questionnaire, this association was independent of body weight. The findings indicate that this shorter version of the BSQ can be used to assess body image psychopathology in patients with psychogenic low weight and to confirm an increased concern about body-image in the binge-eating/purging subtype of AN.
The aim of the proposed Beagle 2 small lander for ESA's 2003 Mars Express mission is to search for organic material on and below the surface of Mars and to study the inorganic chemistry and mineralogy of the landing site. The lander will have a total mass of 60kg including entry, descent, and landing system. Experiments will be deployed on the surface using a robotic arm. It will use a mechanical mole and grinder to obtain samples from below the surface, under rocks, and inside rocks. Sample analysis by a mass spectrometer will include isotopic analysis. An optical microscope, an X-ray spectrometer and a Mossbauer spectrometer will conduct in-situ rock studies.
Thirty subjects were screened for psychiatric morbidity approximately 7 years after they had undergone a thyroid operation. Thirteen were identified as "cases" by the General Health Questionnaire. Total and partial thyroidectomy subjects were compared. The total thyroidectomy patients identified as "cases" showed lower values of plasma calcium and higher values of inorganic phosphate than the partial thyroidectomy "cases", but the difference failed to reach statistical significance. No clinical or biochemical differences were found between cases and non-cases, irrespective of the type of operation.
Retinal degeneration is a major finding in the human and ovine ceroid lipofuscinosis. Sequential electroretinographic (ERG) studies in a young, asymptomatic, affected lamb are presented here, which demonstrate a progressive loss of the scotopic b-wave and unrecordable c-waves under halothane anesthesia. Even at this initial stage of disease, lesions were evident in the form of dystrophic retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) villi, and loss of photoreceptor cells and rod outer segments. Cone inner segments were enlarged and scanning electron microscopy emphasized these abnormalities. All cells in tapetal and nontapetal areas contained fluorescent inclusions with similar emission spectra (maximum = 539 nm). By transmission electron microscopy, storage bodies consisted of 'finger-print' profiles and were most prominent in bipolar cells. The pathological features of the retina correlate well with the observed ERG changes, reaffirming the sheep as a useful model to delineate early events in ceroid lipofuscinosis.
The efficacy of mefenamic acid, aspirin, and a placebo for control of postendodontic pain was compared in a double-blind, randomized study of 150 patients. Medication was begun immediately prior to the endodontic therapy and continued for a total of eight doses. The results were analyzed in terms of the patients' assessments of postendodontic pain, the need for additional analgesic medication, and the patients' and investigator's evaluations of drug efficacy. The results indicate that mefenamic acid was well tolerated. Mefenamic acid was equal to, or exceeded, aspirin in ability to control postendodontic pain in every comparison made. The converse was never true. Mefenamic acid was statistically superior to placebo in every comparison made. Aspirin was not consistently superior to the placebo. Under the conditions of this trial, it can be stated that, for control of pain following simple endodontic therapy, mefenamic acid rather than aspirin is the drug of choice.
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