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Biomedical subjects

J Weinman

Publications and source records attributed to J Weinman.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Immediate and delayed recall of information presented in a live and a televised lecture.

This paper describes a study investigating medical students' responses and levels of recall from a live and televised version of the same lecture. Although no difference in immediate recall was found, a significant difference was found one week later. The groups who had seen the live lecture were able to recall significantly more from the lecture than those who had seen the televised transmission. No differences were observed in the amount and type of note-taking and in the levels of attention and interest of the two groups of students. Some possible reasons for this significant effect on delayed recall are discussed and directions for future work are identified.

Attention↗
PubMed1985

An investigation of psychosocial factors in patients with upper abdominal pain: a comparison with other groups of surgical outpatients.

The purpose of this study was to examine the personality patterns, levels of anxiety and the importance of life events in patients with upper abdominal pain and to compare these patients with other groups of patients attending a general surgical outpatient clinic. The relevance of age, sex and social class was also studied. The patient groups were compared on each of the psychological measures and no differences were found between the groups. In addition the data were subjected to principal component and discriminant analyses in order to determine whether the U.A.P. patients could be distinguished on the basis of a combination of indices. Both analyses failed to produce any distinguishing criteria for the U.A.P. patients. A number of other observations on these patients are also discussed but the overall results are more consistent with a non-specific model of stress and disease than with the idea of specific psychological factors being involved in the development of upper abdominal pain.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1985

Sharing psychological skills in the general practice setting.

Three broad areas of work are described in this paper. The first is concerned with the nature of psychological processes within the general practice consultation and the indications these provide for skill sharing. In the second section there is an account of courses designed to develop skills in the recognition of psychological aspects of illness and in the detection of psychological problems. The third section outlines various courses for developing and improving the consulting and counselling skills of general practitioners. In addition to describing a range of skills developed by ourselves and others, two general themes emerge from this paper. The first concerns the appropriateness of the general practice setting for the sharing of psychological skills and the extent to which the psychologist may be able to complement the skills of the general practitioner. The second theme concerns the importance of helping general practitioners to identify their own learning needs as an essential first step in deciding how to structure courses to meet these needs.

Disease↗
PubMed1984

Changes in calmodulin level after fertilization and during first cleavage in the egg of the urodelan amphibian Pleurodeles waltlii.

We report three significant calmodulin rises related to Pleurodeles waltlii egg fertilization and following developmental events. These elevations are correlated to the major obvious Ca2+-dependent events: Na+-H+ exchange, activation of NAD kinase, triggering of cortical reaction, resumption of meiotic division II, initiation of DNA synthesis and regulation of cell division. Therefore, it is suggested that alterations in calmodulin level in fertilized egg may be part of the Ca2+-dependent regulatory mechanisms which turn on metabolisms, initiate development and govern cell cleavages.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

A modified essay question evaluation of pre-clinical teaching of communication skills.

This paper describes the use of a modified essay question to investigate the nature of certain cognitive changes associated with some quite specific pre-clinical teaching. Although the teaching was aimed at developing communication skills, it appeared to draw attention to some broader aspects of health and the role of the general practitioner. The MEQ indicated that a number of important changes appeared to be associated with the teaching experience.

Communication↗
PubMed1983

The effects on auditory and linguistic deprivation of lateral preference of deaf children.

In the light of recent evidence for an altered pattern of cerebral specialisation among the deaf, this study compared hand and foot preference of age-matched samples of deaf and hearing children. Significantly fewer deaf children were fully right-handed and there was a small shift to the left on the handedness continuum. This shift was more marked in children with a greater hearing-loss but was not particularly related to the cause of deafness. No significant difference was found in foot preference. The variation in hand preference is thought to be a function of the differences in hemisphere specialisation found in the deaf, but other explanations are also considered.

Child↗
PubMed1982

A nonspecific learning effect in the perception of random-dot stereograms?

An experiment is reported the object of which was to check whether a small amount of nonspecific experience in perceiving random-dot stereograms could facilitate the perception of a previously unseen stereogram. The mean stereopsis perception time of a group of totally naive subjects was found to be significantly slower than that of a group who had previously been shown two different stereograms. Closer inspection of the data showed that this difference was primarily due to approximately one third of the naive group who were much slower than the 'experienced' group. It is therefore suggested that nonspecific experience provides most initial help for relatively slow perceivers, since many naive subjects can perform as well as those with prior experience of other stereograms.

Depth Perception↗
PubMed1982

Recall of lecture information: a question of what, when and where.

In this paper we report on a study in which both immediate and long-term (4-month delay) recall of lecture information was tested in a group of preclinical medical students. Comparisons were made of the recall of visually and verbally presented lecture information and of information presented during different time periods in the lecture. A clear superiority of visual information over verbal information was found in both immediate and long-term recall. Information presented between the fifteenth and thirtieth minutes of the lecture was recalled best whereas the worst recall was found for information presented in the first 15 minutes. The seating position of the student in the lecture theatre was also found to be associated with the level of immediate recall but this may be a reflection of motivational factors which determine where students choose to sit rather than of seating position per se. The overall pattern of results indicate that the level of recall of lecture information by medical students is therefore a function of what type of information is presented, when during the lecture it is presented and where the student sits in the lecture theatre.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗
PubMed1981

Immunocytochemical and biochemical evidence for the presence of calmodulin in bull sperm flagellum. Isolation and characterization of sperm calmodulin.

Upon fluorescent staining with a goat antibody anti-ram testis calmodulin, washed bull sperm appears to contain calmodulin in the acrosome, in the post acrosomal region, in the neck region probably associated with the implantation plates and thin laminated fibers, and in a sheath around the upper part of the flagellum. Heads and midpieces + tails were separated by elutriation of sonicated sperm. Immunofluorescent labeling of fragments confirms the presence of calmodulin in implantation plates, where sonication disrupted heads from midpieces, and in a sheath around the midpiece and the upper part of the principal piece. These results were confirmed by electrophoretic and radioenzymatic assays of calmodulin in the fragments, using calmodulin-deficient Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent myosin light chain kinase. Small but significant amounts (approx. 3 micrograms per 10 (10) sperm) are found in midpieces + tails vs. approx. 280 micrograms in the same number of heads. These results are in agreement with a recent report from Jones et al. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 2772-2776. Sperm calmodulin was purified from a whole sperm 1 M KCl extract and found to exhibit the same characteristics as other mammalian calmodulins isolated so far in terms of ultraviolet absorption spectrum and amino acid composition, including one residue of epsilon-N-trimethyllysine. Its behavior upon SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was dependent on the presence or absence of Ca2+. The high performance liquid chromatography tryptic peptide maps were similar, if not identical, to mammalian calmodulin maps (Autric et al. (1980) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 631, 139-147). Sperm calmodulin is therefore probably identical to the somatic cell protein.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1979

Oculographic automatic perimetry in glaucoma visual field screening: a clinical study--preliminary results in glaucoma patients.

An automatic method for visual field screening using oculographic potentials have been evaluated on 12 eyes of 65 glaucoma patients. The oculographic perimeter records, plotting the central 22 degrees of the visual field, have been compared with Armaly's manual selective perimetry performed by the Goldman Perimeter. In spite of different testing standards of both methods, equivalent pathological field defects were demonstrated in 72% of the eyes following the first examination. Successive plottings with the automatic method improved the results considerably. The method has proved to be a reliable objective automatic test. Further development is suggested through which the procedure might be useful for glaucoma screening in the future.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Automatic testing of the visual field using electro-oculographic potentials.

The central visual field is tested using static perimetry on a tangent screen located 1 m from the patient. During the test electro-oculographic (EOG) potentials, associated with eye movements, are recorded. For this purpose two pairs of electrodes are placed in such a way that one pair records the vertical and the other the horizontal component of the EOG potential. The EOG signals that are produced when the tested eye moves toward the light target on the screen are digitized and fed into a computer programmed to relate each pair of signals to the specific lamp on the tangent screen. The results of the test appear on a computer-printed chart that shows the distribution of the lamps on the testing board together with the information whether the lamp was seen by the subject. This method of visual field testing is both objective and automatic.

Automation↗
PubMed1977

High fidelity ECG in the diagnosis of occult coronary artery disease: a study of patients with normal conventional ECG.

High fidelity (HF) electrocardiography (ECGY) was performed on four groups of patients with a normal resting electrocardiogram (ECG). Two groups (A and B) consisted of normal subjects over or under the age of 40, while the other two groups of patients (C and D) underwent coronary arteriography because of chest pain. HR ECG components within the initial portion of the QRS complex were significantly more common among patients with advanced coronary disease. The difference between the normal groups and the group with documented coronary artery disease (CAD) became more significant when the number of leads showing the HF ECG components was counted. Precordial leads were more sensitive in predicting the presence or absence of CAD than limb leads. HF ECG components in the terminal portion of the QRS complex did not differentiate between normals and patients with coronary artery disease, unless the number of leads showing these HF ECG components was considered. It seems that abnormal HF ECG components can point to minor areas of fibrosis caused by coronary artery disease even if the resting conventional ECG is normal.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

The pre-clinical curriculum: an information processing problem.

In this study revision procedures for examinations were investigated by questionnaire in a group of students undertaking a new pre-clinical course. The results revealed that students' own notes were by far the most preferred source of revision material and that lectures were the main source of these notes. Evidence of the actual revision strategies used together with their time scheduling was also obtained. Since lectures were shown to be the most significant form of input for later revision, a further study investigated the amount written and recalled from a single lecture, immediately afterwards and following a 5 month gap. The amount recalled was surprisingly high on both occasions but was not related to the amount of notes taken in the lecture. No significant sex differences in recall were observed but there was evidence that female students took significantly more notes. A much greater variation in the amount recalled was also observed over the longer time period.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1975

Cognitive deficits associated with chronic hepatic encephalopathy and their response to levodopa.

A battery of computer-based psychological tests given to seven patients with chronic hepatic encephalopathy showed them to be intellectually impaired, particularly on speed-based measures, as compared with general hospital patients and with patients with cirrhosis but without clinical or electroencephalographic evidence of encephalopathy. Two of the seven patients in the latter group also showed evidence of cognitive impairment on some tests. The effects of levodopa were also evaluated by sequential assessment with these tests. Although there was some improvement in speed of performance on certain tasks and a suggestion of deterioration on other measures, there was little overall change. It is concluded that levodopa has an 'arousing' or antidepressant action and that its effect on intellectual functions is secondary to this alerting effect and is consequently dependent on the emotional and attentional status of the patient.

Adult↗