Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Eglin

Publications and source records attributed to M Eglin.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Thermal status of saturation divers during operational dives in the North Sea.

The principal aim of the present study was to monitor the core temperature (Tc) of a population of saturation divers conducting routine deep dives at different locations in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea and to assess whether current dive procedures are adequate in preventing deleterious decreases in Tc. A total of 30 divers, with an average (SD) of 19.3 (6.6) yr of experience as saturation divers, participated in the study. The survey included 59 dives conducted at six locations (Scott Field, Norfra Pipeline, Hudson Field, Pierce Field, Forties Field, and Bruce Field) from four Diver Support Vessels (Rockwater 1, Semi 2, Bar Protector, and Discovery). The depth of the dives monitored ranged from 54 to 160 meters of seawater (msw), and the duration of the dives from 31 min to 7 h 30 min. before each dive, divers were requested to ingest a radio pill and strap a data logger to their abdomen. Upon returning to the chamber within the Diver Support Vessel following a dive, they provided subjective ratings of thermal perception (7 point scale) and thermal comfort (4 point scale) for the period just before, during, and immediately after the dive. In 55 dives, Tc of saturation divers working at depths to 160 msw for up to 6 h with water temperatures ranging from 4 degrees to 6 degrees C increased above the pre-dive core temperature of 37.4 degrees (0.620+/-0.6 degrees C). In four dives there was a decrease in Tc: 2 divers had a 0.2 degrees C fall in Tc, and 2 bellmen had a decrease of 0.4 degrees and 1.0 degrees C. The subjective responses of divers indicated that they were thermally neutral (neither warm nor cold) and comfortable before and immediately after the dives. The current practice of providing thermal protection with hot water suits to saturation divers working in the North Sea is adequate for preventing the risk of hypothermia and maintaining thermal comfort.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

A randomised, double-blind comparison of the efficacy and safety of citalopram compared to mianserin in elderly, depressed patients with or without mild to moderate dementia.

Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder among the elderly and in old age may interact with emotional and cognitive functioning. Depression in old age has been shown to be associated with degenerative changes in the brain. It is, therefore, important that in this patient population antidepressants with a favourable tolerability profile, such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are examined for both antidepressant efficacy and effect on cognitive function and emotional impairment. This randomised, double-blind study compared the efficacy and tolerability of citalopram and mianserin in 336 elderly, depressed patients with or without dementia. Patients received either citalopram 20-40 mg/day or mianserin 30-60 mg/day for 12 weeks. The treatments were equivalent with respect to change in Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score; patients in both treatment groups responded well. Patients with dementia showed a smaller decrease in total MADRS score than patients without dementia. Both treatments were well tolerated with a relatively low incidence of adverse events. Fatigue and somnolence were more frequent with mianserin, while insomnia was more frequent with citalopram. Overall, this study showed that the two treatments were equivalent in efficacy, and that citalopram is an effective, well-tolerated and non-sedative treatment for elderly depressed patients with or without dementia.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Cuing efficiency in a Stroop-like task with visual half-field presentation.

Stroop-like stimuli were presented to either the left or the right visual half-field. Subjects responded to the identity of the words above and below (the target dimension), which appeared above or below a reference point (the cuing dimension). Automatic Stroop-like effects were assessed as the difference in reaction times between congruent trials (e.g., above the reference point) and incongruent trials (e.g., above below the reference point) when both trial types were equally frequent. In blocks in which most trials were of one type (e.g., 80% congruent trials), controlled Stroop-like effects could be assessed. Automatic Stroop-like effects remained unchanged under different task manipulations. In contrast, controlled Stroop-like effects were reduced by lowering cue-response compatibility and by increasing the response alternatives from two to four. Thus, similar to other cuing effects, controlled Stroop-like effects are susceptible to manipulations that affect the response-decision stage and appear to involve response-selection processes. The resources supporting these response-selection decisions were not hemisphere-specific, and were sufficiently nonspecific that interference from a memory-load task was found. When resources were scarce, a consistent bias to attend to stimuli presented or responded to on the right was evident.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Interference and priming within and across visual fields in a lexical decision task.

A lower-case target word or non-word was laterally presented by itself or simultaneously with an upper-case distractor word in the same or in the opposite visual field. The distractor words were either semantically associated or unrelated to the target. Subjects performed a lexical decision task on the target. Two kinds of selection within and across visual fields were investigated. Selection of an external target relevant for the response (filtering) and selection of an internal target by automatic priming. No lateral asymmetry was found for automatic priming. Filtering was equally efficient within hemispheres, but strongly asymmetrical across hemispheres. Unrelated distractor words presented to the right hemisphere interfered less with target processing in the left hemisphere than vice versa. Thus, all distractor words received equivalent semantic processing; those presented to the right hemisphere, however, were least costly to exclude from task-relevant processing in the left hemisphere.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cortical substrates supporting visual search in humans.

Serial and parallel visual search tasks were presented to patients with focal lesions in dorsolateral frontal, lateral parietal, or temporal-parietal cortex. In the unilateral display conditions, search efficiency in all patient groups was similar to the normal control group for stimuli both on the ipsi- and on the contralesional side of the displays. In contrast, in the bilateral display conditions, all patient groups showed a marked delay in initiating search on the side contralateral to the lesion as compared to normal controls. This delay was more pronounced when attention demands on the ipsilateral side increased, either by making target-distractor discrimination more difficult (serial search task), or by increasing the number of ipsilateral distractor items. The contralateral deficit was evident in all patient groups, supporting the notion that dorsolateral frontal as well as posterior parietal and temporal-parietal cortex plays a critical role in visual spatial attention.

Aged↗