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Biomedical subjects

John Dawson

Publications and source records attributed to John Dawson.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Maori experience of community treatment orders in Otago, New Zealand.

OBJECTIVE: To consider the impact of community treatment orders (CommTOs) on Maori patients and their whanau (extended family) and the associated views of mental health professionals. METHOD: As a distinct aspect of a larger study of CommTOs, eight Maori patients under compulsory community care were interviewed and, where possible, members of their whanau. Associated interviews were held with their psychiatrists, key workers and other carers: 39 interviews in total. RESULTS: Both benefits and drawbacks of CommTOs for Maori were identified by patients and whanau. CommTOs were considered helpful in increasing patient safety and whanau security and in promoting access to services. They were favoured over hospital care, forensic care and homelessness. The drawbacks included the sense of external control imposed on both Maori patients and staff, particularly concerning medication and restrictions on choices. CONCLUSIONS: This was a small study of a limited number of Maori patients under CommTOs. Their views may not be fully representative. There was a general consensus among those interviewed that the timely use of CommTOs can enhance the mental wellbeing and social relationships of Maori patients. Continuing efforts are needed by health professionals to communicate effectively with whanau and to understand the conflicts experienced by Maori in reconciling their traditional beliefs with the medical model of mental illness.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

How mental health clinicians view community treatment orders: a national New Zealand survey.

OBJECTIVE: To determine New Zealand mental health clinicians' views about community treatment orders, indications for their use, their benefits, problems and impact on patients and therapeutic relationships. METHOD: A national survey of New Zealand psychiatrists and a regional survey of non-psychiatric community mental health professionals for comparison. RESULTS: The great majority of NZ psychiatrists prefer to work with community treatment orders as an option. They consider they are used properly in most cases, can enhance patients' priority for care, provide a structure for treatment, support continuing contact and produce a period of stability for patients during which other therapeutic changes can occur. They consider these orders can harm therapeutic relationships, especially in the short term, but when used appropriately their overall benefits outweigh their coercive impact. The other mental health professionals surveyed have similar views. A minority of clinicians do not support their use. CONCLUSIONS: The precise impact of community treatment orders on patients' quality of life remains an open question. Until that matter is more clearly resolved, New Zealand law should continue to authorise compulsory outpatient care, provided it is carefully targeted and adequate community services are available.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Microzooplankton grazing on phytoplankton in summer in the Jiaozhou Bay, China.

With dilution method, this paper studied the microzooplankton grazing on phytoplankton inside, outside and in a harbor area of the Jiaozhou Bay during June and July 2002. The dominant phytoplankton species outside and inside the bay were Cylindrotheca closterium and Skeletonema costatum, while the samples in the harbor had Skeletonema costatum, Eucampia zodiacus, and Chaetoceros curvisetus as the dominant species. The dominant microzooplankton species outside and inside the Jiaozhou Bay were Tintinnopsis beroidea and unidentified Strombidium sp., while in the harbor, Strombidium sp. was the predominant microzooplankton species coexisted with few T. beroidea. The grazing rate of microzooplankton was 0.96 and 1.20 d(-1) outside the bay, 1.33 d(-1) inside the bay, and 0.36 d(-1) in the harbor. The grazing rates of microzooplankton and the consumption percentages of potential primary production increased in turn from harbor area, outside the bay, to inside the bay. They were 74% and 84% outside the bay, 93% inside the bay, and 53% in the harbor. The ingestion rate of phytoplankton carbon by microzooplankton was the highest in the harbor, with a value of 281 mgC x m(-3) x d(-1), the next was inside the bay, with a value of 102 mgC x m(-3) x d(-1), and the lowest was outside the bay, ranged from 31 to 49 mgC x m(-3) x d(-1). It seems that the phytoplankton community size structure and grazing behaviors of dominant microzooplankton species are the causes for these grazing differences. Compared with the similar studies in other bays around the world, the grazing pressure of microzooplankton in the Jiaozhou Bay is at the middle levels.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Lysophosphatidic acid induces process retraction in CG-4 line oligodendrocytes and oligodendrocyte precursor cells but not in differentiated oligodendrocytes.

Lysophosphatidic acid is a growth factor-like signalling phospholipid. We demonstrate here that lysophosphatidic acid induces process retraction in central glia-4 cells and oligodendrocyte precursors. This lysophosphatidic acid effect is rapid and concentration-dependent and results in cell rounding. It is inhibited by pre-treatment of cells with C3 exoenzyme, a specific inhibitor of Rho, or with Y-27632, a specific inhibitor of ROCK, a downstream kinase of Rho. Processes of differentiated central glia-4 oligodendrocytes were insensitive to lysophosphatidic acid treatment but cell bodies became phase dark, indicating cell spreading on the poly-l-lysine substratum. RT-PCR and Western blot analyses indicate that oligodendrocyte precursors and mature oligodendrocytes express mRNA and protein for LPA1, one of several LPA receptors. Thus lysophosphatidic acid may be signalling to Rho and stimulating actomyosin contraction in precursor oligodendrocytes by this family of receptors. The results show that lysophosphatidic acid signalling pathways influence retraction of processes in oligodendrocyte precursors but that this effect changes as oligodendrocytes differentiate.

ADP Ribose Transferases↗
PubMed2003

Diminished responsibility: the difference it makes.

Should there be a defence of diminished responsibility after the mandatory life sentence for murder has been abolished? This is the main question posed in this article, on the basis of a review of the central features of the defence and its surrounding forensic context. The views of the defence taken by the Law Reform Commissions of New South Wales and New Zealand are then compared. In conclusion, it is argued that opinions about the continuing validity of the defence of diminished responsibility are bound to be influenced by wider positions taken on the value of rules, as opposed to discretion, in the criminal law.

Criminal Law↗
PubMed2002

Emerging technologies in surgical planning for breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Computer-assisted diagnosis (CAD) has been applied to mammography and chest radiography to improve diagnostic accuracy, and has the potential to improve the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detecting nodal metastases in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. METHODS: Six women with newly diagnosed breast cancer underwent MRI of the breast and axilla. Radiologists applied digital tissue recognition (DTR), a form of CAD, to the MR images to detect nodal metastases. The results were compared with clinical staging and to surgical pathology. RESULTS: The accuracy of clinical staging for the 6 subjects was 3 of 6 (50%), and with DTR-MRI it rose to 6 of 6 (100%). CONCLUSIONS: DTR-MRI is a potential method for noninvasively detecting axillary nodal involvement in women with newly diagnosed breast carcinoma.

Axilla↗
PubMed2002

Advance directives for patients compulsorily admitted to hospital with serious mental illness. Randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: An advance directive is a statement of a person's preferences for treatment, should he or she lose capacity to make treatment decisions in the future. AIMS: To evaluate whether use of advance directives by patients with mental illness leads to lower rates of compulsory readmission to hospital. METHOD: In a randomised controlled trial in two psychiatric services in inner London, 156 in-patients about to be discharged from compulsory treatment under the Mental Health Act were recruited. The trial compared usual psychiatric care with usual care plus the completion of an advance directive. The primary outcome was the rate of compulsory readmission. RESULTS: Fifteen patients (19%) in the intervention group and 16 (21%) in the control group were readmitted compulsorily within 1 year of discharge. There was no difference in the numbers of compulsory readmissions, numbers of patients readmitted voluntarily, days spent in hospital or satisfaction with psychiatric services. CONCLUSIONS: Users' advance instruction directives had little observable impact on the outcome of care at 12 months.

Adult↗