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Biomedical subjects

J Nee

Publications and source records attributed to J Nee.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Low nicotine cigarettes: cigarette consumption and breath carbon monoxide after one year.

Subjects who took part in a 12-wk study of switching behavior were observed during the subsequent year. Data were obtained for 96 smokers every 3 mo. A sample of smokers who, at 12 wk, had switched to a brand delivering less than half the nicotine of their baseline brand were offered continued monetary incentives to participate for an additional 6 mo (maintenance study). In the maintenance study, subjects continued to smoke low-nicotine cigarettes during the 6-mo period in which money and contact reinforcement were continued; maintenance control subjects increased their tar and nicotine exposure significantly. In the follow-up study of those who had not changed by more than 50%, the original control group, nonswitchers, and moderate switchers did not significantly change their nicotine exposure from what it had been at the end of the initial 12-wk study. Carbon monoxide (CO) in breath showed remarkably little change across the year despite substantial changes in tar and nicotine exposure. To the extent that CO is involved in smoking-related disorders, switchers derived little if any benefit from switching to low-nicotine brands.

Adult↗

Modifier role of internal H+ in activating the Na+-H+ exchanger in renal microvillus membrane vesicles.

The intracellular pH in animal cells in generally maintained at a higher level than would be expected if H+ were passively distributed across the plasma membrane. In a wide variety of cells including sea urchin eggs, skeletal muscle, renal and intestinal epithelial cells, and neuroblastoma cells, plasma membrane Na+-H+ exchangers mediate the uphill extrusion of H+ coupled to, and thus energized by, the downhill entry of Na+. Plasma membrane vesicles isolated from the luminal (microvillus, brush border) surface of renal proximal tubular cells possess a Na+-H+ exchanger that seems to be representative of the Na+-H+ exchangers found in other tissues. For example, the renal microvillus membrane Na+-H+ exchanger, like other Na+-H+ exchangers, mediates electroneutral cation exchange, is sensitive to inhibition by the diuretic drug amiloride, and has affinity for Li+ in addition to Na+ and H+ (refs 5, 9). Here we have examined the effect of internal H+ on the activity of the Na+-H+ exchanger in renal microvillus membrane vesicles. Our results suggest that internal H+, independent of its role as a substrate for exchange with external independent of its role as a substrate for exchange with external independent of its role as a substrate for exchange with external Na+, has an important modifier role as an allosteric activator of the Na+-H+ exchanger. Allosteric behaviour with respect to internal H+ is a property that would enhance the ability of plasma membrane Na+-H+ exchangers to extrude intracellular acid loads and thereby contribute to the regulation of intracellular pH.

Allosteric Regulation↗

Diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia: reliabilities and agreement between systems.

We compared the joint frequencies and reliabilities of the following sets of criteria for the diagnosis of schizophrenia: the New Haven Schizophrenia Index: the Carpenter, Strauss, Bartko (4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-item) system; DSM-III; Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC; full and chronic); the Feighner system; and the 1975 criteria of Taylor and Abrams. The systems, of essentially equal reliability, varied sevenfold in their rates of diagnosing schizophrenia. Patients in whom schizophrenia was diagnosed by the lower-rate systems were likely to receive the same diagnosis by the higher-rate systems. This tends not to be the cases when an affective syndrome is present.

Adult↗

The diversity of premenstrual changes as reflected in the Premenstrual Assessment Form.

The Premenstrual Assessment Form (PAF) is a new self report procedure designed to measure changes in mood, behavior, and physical condition during the premenstrual period. It reflects the great variability of premenstrual syndromes as opposed to the common practice of viewing these changes as a single entity. In comparison to commonly used procedures, the PAF 1) contains a broader variety and more specific descriptions of positive as well as negative changes; 2) provides Unipolar Summary Scales and Bipolar Continua which are sensitive measures for indexing levels of severity on various types of change; and 3) provides specific criteria for Typological Categories descriptive of different syndromes of change, especially those of mood and behavior. The paper describes the development of the PAF and the three scoring systems and illustrates the sensitivity of the individual items and scoring systems in reflecting the great diversity of change manifested during the premenstrual period.

Adult↗

Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Extracted from Regular and Change Versions of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia.

Investigators who wish to use new procedures usually wish to relate their results to those already in the literature. This often results in the use of both old and new measures. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Regular and Change Versions (SADS and SADS-C) have advantages over the widely used Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). A procedure was developed to extract the HDRS score from the SADS and SADS-C. The comparative reliability and the validity of the extracted HDRS score as a substitute for a real HDRS score was established. The SADS-C and the HDRS were completed by the raters for 48 subjects. The correlation between the extracted and real HDRS scores was positive and large.

Adolescent↗

Premenstrual changes and affective disorders.

The differential relationship between specific subtypes of premenstrual changes and specific subtypes of mental disorder was studied. Premenstrual changes were evaluated with the Premenstrual Assessment Form, which provides specific criteria for the classification of the various subtypes of premenstrual change. The Research Diagnostic Criteria were used to make lifetime diagnoses of mental disorder. Differential relationships were found between subtypes of premenstrual change and subtypes of mental disorder. The results suggest that premenstrual changes characterized by a depressive syndrome may represent a mild or subclinical manifestation of affective disorder.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic↗

The Psychiatric Status Schedule for epidemiological research. Methodological considerations.

The Psychiatric Status Schedule (PSS) was designed to improve the research value of clinical judgments in the assessment of psychopathology. Although constructed with data from psychiatric patients, it is also intended for use in case finding, as in epidemiological studies of the general population. Its usefulness for this purpose has been questioned on the basis of the low internal consistency of many of the PSS scales in a general population sample and strata thereof. We challenged this methodological stance. Using the same data set, the PSS can be shown to have validity for epidemiological use, in that it discriminates outpatients from the general population and identifies psychiatric "cases" variously defined.

Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted↗

Brief vs standard hospitalization: for whom?

An effort was made to determine patient characteristics that have differential prognostic significance, depending on treatment assignment to one of three treatment approaches: standard inpatient care (n = 63), brief hospitalization followed by day care (n = 61), and brief hospitalization without day care (n = 51). All were followed by outpatient care. Both demographically and clinically assessed behavioral variables were related to a number of outcome measures, including days in the community, clinical ratings, and family assessment. Generally, the standard treatment was inferior to the two brief treatments. Multiple previous admissions were particularly contraindicative for standard treatment. High overt anger score was especially contraindicative for brief hospitalization without day care and particularly indicative for brief hospitalization with day care.

Adult↗

DSM-III field trials: I. Initial interrater diagnostic reliability.

The interrater agreement for major diagnostic categories in studies using DSM-I and DSM-II was usually only fair or poor. In phase one of the DSM-III field trials the overall kappa coefficient of agreement for axis I diagnoses of 281 adult patients was .78 for joint interviews and .66 for diagnoses made after separate interviews; for axis II--personality disorders and specific developmental disorders--the coefficients of agreement were .61 and .54. The interrater reliability of DSM--III is, in general, higher than that previously achieved and may be due to changes in the classification itself, the separation of axis I from axis II conditions, the systematic description of the various disorders, and the inclusion of diagnostic criteria.

Adolescent↗

Bipolar II. Combine or keep separate?

Data on prior course, characteristics of index episode, and familial aggregation of patients with bipolar II disorder is discussed. The data supports the separation of this condition from both bipolar I and recurrent unipolar disorder.

Adult↗

Premenstrual changes: patterns and correlates of daily ratings.

Daily ratings of 20 measures of mood, behavior, and physical condition made by 64 women for one menstrual cycle were analysed to determine patterns of covariance between the pre- and postmenstrual periods. Five discriminantly different dimensions of premenstrual change were identified. They were found to be differentially related to a lifetime diagnosis of affective disorder. These results, and others, support the recommendation that research should be focused upon diversified premenstrual changes rather than a single premenstrual syndrome.

Adult↗

Reliability and relationship of various ages of onset criteria for major affective disorder.

This paper presents data on six different clinical definitions (indices) of age of onset for major affective disorders. The inter-rater reliability for each index and the relationships among these indices are discussed. Age of onset for impairment with affective symptoms was found to be a reliable and useful index of early onset. It discriminated between unipolar depressed subjects and both bipolar I and bipolar II subjects.

Adolescent↗