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Biomedical subjects

M Anderson

Publications and source records attributed to M Anderson.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Soft tissue injuries to USA paralympians at the 1996 summer games.

OBJECTIVE: To report the soft tissue injuries sustained by the members of four disabled sports organizations (DSOs) who competed as the USA Team at the 1996 Paralympic Games. SETTING: 1996 Paralympic Games, Atlanta, Georgia. METHODS: Soft tissue (strain, sprain, tendonitis, bursitis, or contusion) injury frequencies sustained by Disabled Sports USA (DSUSA, n = 66), the United States Association for Blind Athletes (USABA, n = 53), the United States Cerebral Palsy Athletic Association (USCPAA, n = 56), and Wheelchair Sports USA (WSUSA, n = 129) athletes were compared by body region with chi-square tests (p<.05) and standardized residual assessment. RESULTS: A total of 254 soft tissue injuries (67% acute onset, 170/254) were sustained by the participant DSO members. Statistical design limitations and poor USCPAA athlete homogeneity prompted their exclusion from group comparisons (descriptive results are reported). The most common injury regions for specific DSOs were shoulder (26%), hip-thigh (14%), and ankle (12%) for DSUSA; hip-thigh (21%), cervicothoracic region (19%), and shoulder (17%) for USABA; lumbar region (14%), foot-toe (13%), and ankle (9%) for USCPAA; and shoulder (18%), arm-elbow (12%), forearm-wrist (12%), and lumbar region (9%) for USUSA. Chi-square residual analysis showed that the USABA athletes contributed more to cervicothoracic and lower leg region injury frequencies than DSUSA or WSUSA athletes. The WSUSA athletes contributed more to elbow-arm and forearm-wrist region injury frequencies than DSUSA or USABA athletes. The DSUSA athletes contributed more to ankle region injury frequencies than USABA or WSUSA athletes. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in soft tissue injury frequency among athletes of differing DSOs suggest that the competitive use of adaptive or assistive devices, in combination with sport-specific stressors and the athletes' disabilities, is related to the development of predictable soft tissue injury patterns. The decreased incidence of shoulder injury among WSUSA athletes suggests that the injury prevention advice provided by previous studies is being implemented among athletes at this competitive level. The increased incidence of ankle injuries among DSUSA athletes suggests lower extremity load imbalances (prosthetic vs. uninvolved) during running. The increased incidence of lower leg injuries among USABA athletes suggests "overuse" injury patterns typical of nondisabled runners, or inadvertent contacts (contused shins), whereas the increased incidence of cervicothoracic injuries suggests injuries related to falls, "near falls," or sudden directional changes prompted by guidance aids.

Athletic Injuries↗
PubMed2000

Effects of vitrified and nonvitrified sugars on phosphatidylcholine fluid-to-gel phase transitions.

DSC was used to study the ability of glass-forming sugars to affect the gel-to-fluid phase transition temperature, T(m), of several phosphatidylcholines during dehydration. In the absence of sugars, T(m) increased as the lipid dried. Sugars diminished this increase, an effect we explain using the osmotic and volumetric properties of sugars. Sugars vitrifying around fluid phase lipids lowered T(m) below the transition temperature of the fully hydrated lipid, T(o). The extent to which T(m) was lowered below T(o) ranged from 12 degrees to 57 degrees, depending on the lipids' acyl chain composition. Sugars vitrifying around gel phase lipids raised T(m) during the first heating scan in the calorimeter, then lowered it below T(o) in subsequent scans of the sample. Ultrasound measurements of the mechanical properties of a typical sugar-glass indicate that it is sufficiently rigid to hinder the lipid gel-to-fluid transition. The effects of vitrification on T(m) are explained using the two-dimensional Clausius-Clapeyron equation to model the mechanical stress in the lipid bilayer imposed by the glassy matrix. Dextran and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) also vitrified but did not depress T(m) during drying. Hydration data suggest that the large molecular volumes of these polymers caused their exclusion from the interbilayer space during drying.

Biophysical Phenomena↗
PubMed2000

Nurses' and doctors' attitudes towards suicidal behaviour in young people.

This paper presents an exploratory study performed to identify the attitudes towards suicidal behaviour in young people, amongst nurses (and nursing lecturers), and doctors working in in-patient medical and mental health care settings. The Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) was administered to 59 participants. Responses were scored using eight clinical scales, and tested by using a Kruskal-Wallis one way analysis of variance. An Independent Sample t-test was used to analyse gender differences. Qualitative interviews were conducted in a sample of respondents. SOQ findings revealed no overall significant differences in the relevant groups of nurses and doctors, with the exception of gender and the clinical scale relating to a 'Cry for Help'. The focused interviews generated five categories relating to suicidal behaviour and young people. Nurses and doctors working in these areas possess a range of influential perceptions of suicidal behaviour and need to be considered in the contexts of care and treatment of young people.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Family planning clinic patients: their usual health care providers, insurance status, and implications for managed care.

PURPOSE: To understand the extent to which family planning clinic patients have health insurance or access to other health care providers, as well as their preferences for clinic versus private reproductive medical care. METHOD: An anonymous self-report questionnaire was administered at three Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles County to 780 female patients aged 12-49 years. Dependent variables included insurance status, usual source of care, and a battery of questions regarding the importance of confidentiality. RESULTS: A total of 356 adolescents (aged 12-19 years) and 424 adults (aged 20-49 years) completed the survey in 1994. Fifty-nine percent of adolescents and 53% of adults had a usual source of care other than the clinic. The majority of each group reported some degree of continuity of care in their usual provider setting. Nearly half (49%) of all adolescents had health insurance compared with 27% of adults. Adolescents cited not wanting to involve family members as the primary reason for not using their usual providers, whereas adults were more likely to cite being uninsured. The majority of both adult and adolescent patients indicate they would prefer the clinic over private health care if guaranteed health care that was free, confidential, or both. CONCLUSION: Despite many patients' having health insurance and other sources of health care, family planning clinics were primarily chosen because of cost and confidentiality. Their reasons for preferring clinics may continue despite changes in access to insurance or efforts to incorporate similar reproductive services into mainstream health care provider systems. Making public or private health care funds available to family planning clinics through contracts or other mechanisms may facilitate patients' access to essential services and reduce potential service duplication.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

High "intelligence," low "IQ"? Speed of processing and measured IQ in children with autism.

The uneven profile of performance on standard assessments of intelligence and the high incidence of savant skills have prompted interest in the nature of intelligence in autism. The present paper reports the first group study of speed of processing in children with autism (IQ 1 SD below average) using an inspection time task. The children with autism showed inspection times as fast as an age-matched group of young normally developing children (IQ 1 SD above average). They were also significantly faster than mentally handicapped children without autism of the same age, even when these groups were pairwise matched on Wechsler IQ. To the extent that IT tasks tap individual differences in basic processing efficiency, children with autism in this study appear to have preserved information processing capacity despite poor measured IQ. These findings have implications for the role of general and specific cognitive systems in knowledge and skill acquisition: far from showing that children with autism are unimpaired, we suggest that our data may demonstrate the vital role of social insight in the development of manifest "intelligence."

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

N-acetylcysteine replenishes glutathione in HIV infection.

BACKGROUND: Glutathione (GSH) deficiency is common in HIV-infected individuals and is associated with impaired T cell function and impaired survival. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is used to replenish GSH that has been depleted by acetaminophen overdose. Studies here test oral administration of NAC for safe and effective GSH replenishment in HIV infection. DESIGN: Oral NAC administration in a randomized, 8-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial followed by optional open-label drug for up to 24 weeks. SUBJECTS: HIV-infected, low GSH, CD4 T cells < 500 micro L(-1), no active opportunistic infections or other debilitation; n = 81. Study conducted prior to introduction of protease inhibitors. RESULTS: Whole blood GSH levels in NAC arm subjects significantly increased from 0.88 mM to 0.98 mM, bringing GSH levels in NAC-treated subjects to 89% of uninfected controls (P = 0.03). Baseline GSH levels in the placebo group (0.91) remained essentially the same during the 8 week placebo-controlled trial. T cell GSH, adjusted for CD4 T cell count and beta2-microglobulin levels, also increased in the NAC-treated subjects (P = 0.04). Adverse effects were minimal and not significantly associated with NAC ingestion. CONCLUSION: NAC treatment for 8 weeks safely replenishes whole blood GSH and T cell GSH in HIV-infected individuals. Thus, NAC offers useful adjunct therapy to increase protection against oxidative stress, improve immune system function and increase detoxification of acetaminophen and other drugs. These findings suggest that NAC therapy could be valuable in other clinical situations in which GSH deficiency or oxidative stress plays a role in disease pathology, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson's disease, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, septic shock and diabetes.

Acetylcysteine↗
PubMed2000

Consumption of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid impair murine interleukin-12 and interferon-gamma production in vivo.

In mice, individual dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids n-3 (PUFA) were found to be sufficient to effect the changes in circulating interleukin (IL)-12 and interferon (IFN)-gamma levels that were previously seen in fish oil-fed mice. Weanling female C3H mice were fed one of five experimental diets. All five diets met all known nutritional requirements for mice and differed only in the fat source. After 4 weeks, mice were challenged with live Listeria monocytogenes or sterile PBS. Twenty-four hours after infection, n-3 PUFA-fed mice had significantly lower circulating IL-12 p70 and IFN-gamma than mice fed the control diet (P<.01). In addition, splenic cytokine mRNA for IL-12 p40, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and IL-1beta were lower in infected mice fed n-3 PUFA-containing diets than in mice fed the olive oil ethyl esters control diet. The reduction of IL-12 and IFN-gamma production by n-3 PUFA may have important implications for host infectious disease resistance.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Thymic vasculature: organizer of the medullary epithelial compartment?

The epithelial component of the thymic environment is organized into discrete cortical and medullary compartments that mediate different aspects of thymocyte differentiation. The processes controlling the growth and organization of these epithelial compartments are poorly defined. In this study we have used a novel approach to define the three-dimensional organization of thymic epithelial (TE) compartments to demonstrate that the organization of the medullary TE compartment is very complex. A spatial relationship of medullary thymic epithelium with vascular elements of the thymus was demonstrated by simultaneous immunohistochemical labeling of vascular elements and medullary TE. Medullary TE was often arranged as perivascular cuffs surrounding intermediate-sized vessels, but was not associated with either the capillary network or large centrally located vessels. Similar analyses of RAG-2(-/-) thymi revealed a striking physical association of medullary TE with vascular elements. Ultrastructural analysis of the RAG-2(-/-) thymus indicated a preferential association of focal accumulations of medullary TE with post-capillary venules. These data suggest that discrete segments of the thymic vasculature provide cues that act in concert with thymocyte-derived stimuli to effect normal development of the thymic environment.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Preliminary evidence of improved verbal working memory performance and normalization of task-related frontal lobe activation in schizophrenia following cognitive exercises.

OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to evaluate the possibility of treating brain and behavioral aspects of verbal memory dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia through cognitive exercises. METHOD: Eight patients did daily verbal memory exercises that became progressively more difficult over a 10-week training period. Memory performance and regional brain activations during a verbal memory task were assessed before and after these exercises. RESULTS: Verbal but not nonverbal memory performance improved after training; three patients made substantial gains, and five showed little change. Performance gains were correlated with increases in task-related activation of the left inferior frontal cortex. One patient given 5 extra weeks of training 6 weeks after the initial training period showed maintenance of initial performance gains 6 weeks after training, further improvement after the second period of training, and normalization of task-related activation of the left inferior frontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: Verbal memory deficits can be ameliorated by memory exercises in some patients with schizophrenia. Performance improvements are associated with increased task-related activation of the same brain region that is activated during verbal memory tasks in healthy individuals.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Developing a home care system by design.

Developing and implementing a national approach to home care has been an ongoing and sometimes controversial point of debate between the provinces and the federal government for a few years. We agree that Canada is ready for such a model, but the policy instruments imbedded in the model must be carefully considered in our commentary we expand on several points made by the lead paper, but focus specifically on the proposed model with respect to the suggested policy instrument recommended for financing the model and some of the key issues surrounding the delivery of home care. It is imperative from our perspective that the current political environment be fully understood to appreciate the context in which the model would be introduced. We argue t ha t understanding the complexities of home care is one thing, resolution of the issues in the model proposed is another. Although the federal government has agreed that there will be more dollars infused through the Canada Health and Social Transfer, the suggested policy instrument recommended for financing the model does not assure that home care programs will receive the funding that is required when other important and competing interests are considered (e.g., cancer treatment and waiting lists). We are at a point where there is incredible potential to reconfigure the health system such that home and community-based care can play a much greater role, but how do we fully realize that potential? The first step is to take the opportunity afforded by the huge surplus of the federal government and to invest heavily in developing home care -to create a system by design. That means thinking about funding directed to home care as an investment, and not as a cost. More funding, however, has limited utility without a sense of where the funding should be targeted, and for what purpose. We agree in principle that a national approach is required to advance and support home care to meet the needs of the future with the correct policy instruments. What happens in the next couple of years will shape that long-term model of home care. Whether that be by default or design is contingent on the willingness and commitment of the politicians and policymakers, and the degree to which the Canadian public have a voice that will be heard.

Canada↗
PubMed2000

Verbal processing deficits in schizophrenia.

The authors reported that a subgroup of schizophrenic patients performed well on a tone serial position task but was impaired on an auditory word serial position task (Wexler, Stevens, Bowers, Cerniak, & Goldman-Rakic, 1998). This study assessed 30 schizophrenic and 32 controls (matched for comparable tone discrimination) on 4 versions of the verbal serial position tasks and 2 tone serial position tasks. Patients performed poorly on all verbal tasks but performed comparably to controls when tones served as stimuli. Proactive interference and visual presentation further compounded the verbal deficits. Deficits persisted with pronounceable nonword stimuli. These findings provide evidence of specific deficits in language-related processing, although the authors could not rule out the possibility that the differential effects that were observed between the tone and word tasks, and particularly among the verbal tasks, may result from differing discriminating power of the different tests.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Molecular biology of cytosolic acetyl-CoA generation.

ATP citrate lyase (ACL) catalyses the ATP-dependent reaction between citrate and CoA to form oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA. Our molecular characterizations of the cDNAs and genes coding for the Arabidopsis ACL indicate that the plant enzyme is heteromeric, consisting of two dissimilar subunits. The A subunit is homologous to the N-terminal third of the animal ACL, and the B subunit is homologous to C-terminal two-thirds of the animal ACL. Using both ACL-A- and ACL-B-specific antibodies and activity assays we have shown that ACL is located in the cytosol, and is not detectable in the plastids, mitochondria or peroxisomes. During seed development, ACL-A and ACL-B mRNA accumulation is co-ordinated with the accumulation of the cytosolic homomeric acetyl-CoA carboxylase mRNA. Antisense Arabidopsis plants reduced in ATP citrate lyase activity show a complex phenotype, with miniaturized organs, small cell size, aberrant plastid morphology and reduced cuticular wax. Our results indicate that ACL generates the cytosolic pool of acetyl-CoA, which is the substrate required for the biosynthesis of a variety of phytochemicals, including cuticular waxes and flavonoids.

ATP Citrate (pro-S)-Lyase↗
PubMed1999

Beta-defensins: linking innate and adaptive immunity through dendritic and T cell CCR6.

Defensins contribute to host defense by disrupting the cytoplasmic membrane of microorganisms. This report shows that human beta-defensins are also chemotactic for immature dendritic cells and memory T cells. Human beta-defensin was selectively chemotactic for cells stably transfected to express human CCR6, a chemokine receptor preferentially expressed by immature dendritic cells and memory T cells. The beta-defensin-induced chemotaxis was sensitive to pertussis toxin and inhibited by antibodies to CCR6. The binding of iodinated LARC, the chemokine ligand for CCR6, to CCR6-transfected cells was competitively displaced by beta-defensin. Thus, beta-defensins may promote adaptive immune responses by recruiting dendritic and T cells to the site of microbial invasion through interaction with CCR6.

Antibodies↗