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Biomedical subjects

J E Martin

Publications and source records attributed to J E Martin.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Research in mental retardation: underreporting of medication information.

Estimates of psychoactive drug use among persons residing in community and institutional settings suggest high prevalence rates. Psychoactive drug use has been associated with impairments in adaptive functioning. As a result, drug-induced effects may represent potential confounds that need to be considered when evaluating treatment outcomes. Consequently, information about drug regimens should be reported in empirical investigations. In this investigation, a review of six applied research and special education journals over an 11-year period was conducted to determine the extent to which information about drug regimens of participants was provided. It was determined that only slightly more than 3% of the articles reported information about subject medication usage and only 1.5% reported information relating to the use of medications as independent variables. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for recommending that providing information about drug regimens should become standard practice when describing subjects.

Child↗

Clinicopathological importance of primary dysplasia of bladder.

A retrospective study of 15 patients with primary dysplasia of bladder urothelium was performed in an attempt to clarify some of the clinical and histopathological features. The lesion occurs predominantly in middle aged men who present with irritative bladder symptoms with or without haematuria and show no evidence of bacteriological urinary tract infection. Appearances at cystoscopy are non-specific. Thirteen patients showed no progression to carcinoma in situ after a long period of follow up, but primary dysplasia cannot be regarded as an entirely innocuous condition as the remaining two patients did develop carcinoma in situ. The grade of dysplasia on presentation bears no relation to the final outcome. Regular cytological analysis of urine seems to be the best means of follow up, and more active treatment does not seem to be justified.

Aged↗

Behavioral management of exercise training in vascular headache patients: an investigation of exercise adherence and headache activity.

A behavioral package was used to shape and maintain the adherence of 5 subjects with vascular headache to a program of aerobic exercise training. Repeated measures of exercise behavior were examined through the use of a bidirectional changing criterion design. Repeated measures of headache activity were also collected. Results demonstrated a functional relationship between the behavioral package and exercise adherence, because all 5 subjects showed exercise behavior that matched bidirectional changing exercise criteria. The results also indicated clinically significant collateral reductions in vascular headache activity in 4 subjects. Subjects whose aerobic fitness levels were not masked by vasoactive medication also showed measurable increases in aerobic fitness. The results are discussed in terms of the methodology used to demonstrate a functional relationship between the adherence package and exercise behavior and the possible mechanism(s) by which aerobic exercise activity might affect vascular headache activity.

Adult↗

Measurement of 99Tc in low-level radioactive waste from reactors using 99mTc as a tracer.

A radiochemical procedure has been developed for measuring 99Tc in major low-level radioactive waste streams from commercial nuclear power facilities which contain numerous potential contaminants. Separation was by alkaline precipitation and anion exchange chromatography; trace amounts of 60Co and other radioactive contaminants were removed by solvent separation. Pure separations were obtained with average radiochemical yield of 47.3 +/- 4.3% determined by a 99mTc tracer. The lower limit of detection for 99Tc was found to be 0.16 pCi/g based on 10-g sample and a 100-min counting time.

Alkalies↗

Use of the partial-sequential withdrawal design to assess maintenance of mentally retarded adults' acquired meal preparation skills.

This study is presented as a follow-up to an earlier fully-controlled acquisition study in which three mentally retarded adults had acquired the ability to use sequenced picture recipe cards to prepare breakfast and dinner meals. Immediately following the acquisition demonstration, instructional components and trainers were partially-sequentially withdrawn. Reliable self-reports from the subjects and their mentally retarded roommates were established prior to trainer withdrawal. The demonstrated self-report method provided a means to assess performance following the withdrawal of trainers. Performance was maintained during a 10 month period.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Comparison between nonhandicapped and mentally retarded workers: why they lose their jobs.

Reasons why 133 competitively employed nonhandicapped and 8 mentally retarded food service workers lost their jobs were examined. Reasons for termination were analyzed in terms of the social and production categories provided by Greenspan's (1981) social competence model. The majority of mentally retarded workers lost their jobs for productivity reasons, with some associated secondary social problems. The nonhandicapped workers lost their jobs for both social and production problems. When more than one reason was provided for termination, the impact of social problems increased. Results are discussed in terms of previous studies and in relation to their possible impact upon employment training and placement issues with mentally retarded workers.

Adult↗

Cardiovascular reactivity to psychological stress in aerobically trained versus untrained mild hypertensives and normotensives.

Cardiovascular reactivity to video game and mental arithmetic stressors was compared among three groups of men: aerobically trained mild hypertensives, untrained mild hypertensives, and a comparison group of untrained normotensives. Relative to the untrained hypertensives, the trained hypertensives reacted to the video game with marginally smaller systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, but there were no significant differences between these groups in reactivity during the mental arithmetic task. Comparisons between each hypertensive group and the normotensive group showed that blood pressure (BP) reactivity of normotensives during the video game was generally similar to that of trained hypertensives but smaller than that of untrained hypertensives. These results indicate that aerobic training, which has been found to reduce resting BP in mild hypertensives, may also exert a favorable impact in reducing cardiovascular reactivity of hypertensives during some stressful situations.

Adult↗

Carbon-14 in low-level radioactive waste from two nuclear power plants.

The amount of 14C in low-level radioactive wastes is important for determining the future impacts of their disposal. New regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Part 61 (10 CFR 61) require quantitation of 14C and other radionuclides in such wastes not amenable to measurement by gamma spectroscopy. Sampling was done of major waste streams at the Palisades pressurized water reactor (PWR) and the Big Rock Point boiling water reactor (BWR) to determine quantities of 14C in the waste streams for comparison with other reported studies. Analyses were performed by releasing all 14C constituents in the waste samples in the form of 14CO2 by chemical processing or by heating the samples in a tube furnace containing CuO2 catalyst and trapping the evolved gas in a liquid scintillator for counting. The largest amounts of 14C were found in the resins and filters used for reactor water cleanup, a result which is similar to those of the available studies. From these data, the annual amounts of 14C in wastes from nominal PWRs and BWRs were estimated to be 4.7 and 0.5 Ci/GW(e)-yr, respectively.

Carbon Radioisotopes↗

Determination of 241Pu in low-level radioactive wastes from reactors.

Plutonium-241 is unique in low-level radioactive wastes (LLW) from nuclear power plants because it is the only significant beta-emitting transuranic nuclide in LLW, has a relatively short half-life of 14.4 y, and has a fairly high allowable concentration for shallow land burial. Radiochemical separation of Pu followed by liquid scintillation analysis was used to quantitate 241Pu in a wide range of solid, semi-solid, and liquid LLW samples from two nuclear plants in Michigan. The 241Pu concentrations varied considerably by sample type and reactor operational period as did their correlation with 137Cs, 144Ce, 239Pu and 240Pu concentrations in the same sample. These patterns were also found in reported data for 241Pu in LLW from other reactors, raising the difficulty of accurately determining the inventory (or source term) in a LLW shallow land burial site and its implications for predicting and controlling the future environmental and public health impacts of such disposal.

Cerium Radioisotopes↗

Highlighting specific patient education needs in an aging cardiac population.

Given the utility of a multifactoral approach to cardiac rehabilitation and the importance of tailoring such an approach to the needs of the specific cardiac population being treated, early assessment of targeted risk factors and health-related practices is becoming increasingly indicated. The present article describes how, by using a paper-and-pencil multiple-risk-factor assessment instrument referred to as the Heart Health Assessment Questionnaire, the specific educational needs of an aging veteran population were more clearly identified. Among the health areas found in need of particular attention were patient smoking behavior, medication education, and reported tension and worry over health problems. In addition, given the large unemployment rate within this population, the need for the adoption of activities such as physical exercise and hobbies that could have a positive impact on self-esteem and quality of life was strongly indicated. These and other findings are discussed in relation to the pivotal role of the health education professional for older cardiac populations.

Alcohol Drinking↗

Riboflavin as a tracer of medication compliance.

Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the accuracy of urine ultraviolet fluorescent tests for riboflavin, which has been used as a tracer for medication compliance in several clinical drug trials. Observer accuracy in discriminating riboflavin-positive or negative urine samples was found to vary with the method of observation, dose of riboflavin, observer experience, and time postingestion. The results showed that, while the 5-mg dose used in previous clinical trials was too small to permit reliable assessment of compliance, larger doses of riboflavin could produce nearly 100% accuracy for minimally trained observers who used a matching-to-sample observation procedure. The findings are discussed in terms of the potential clinical and research applications of this type of simple but reliable compliance assessment procedure.

Adult↗

Occupational therapy in anorexia nervosa.

The use of activity which is carefully planned so as to facilitate change in the patient is a unique characteristic of occupational therapy. Occupational therapy closely resembles the actual living situation more so than any other treatment setting and therefore provides a realistic environment in which the patient can test her developing skills in living.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Competitive employment: teaching mentally retarded employees self-instructional strategies.

The purpose of this study was to teach two mentally retarded employees to perform tasks associated with their jobs. Typically, they served meals during lunch and dinner hours; however, they failed to wipe counters, and check and restock supplies. A self-instructional package, similar to the package introduced by Bornstein and Quevillon (1976), was incorporated to improve their performance in these areas. A multiple-baseline design was utilized in which training was sequentially introduced across subjects. The subjects were taught to ask questions about which tasks needed to be completed, answer their questions, and guide their performance in the task by self-instructing. The self-instructional strategies were introduced just prior to lunch and dinner (30-min period) and during the first 30 min of the lunch and dinner service periods, respectively. During training, both subjects demonstrated that they were capable of rehearsing each of the self-instructional strategies in a specific sequence. Following training, both subjects performed at least one of the three tasks (i.e., wiping counters, checking supplies, restocking supplies) during 84 and 88% of the observed work periods. Additionally, the results of the intervention indicated that both subjects spent more time working and met or exceeded nonprobationary, nonhandicapped coworkers' production standards (social validation measure). The results of this study are compared with those reported by others. Future areas of research are indicated.

Adult↗