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M Martin

Publications and source records attributed to M Martin.

1,159 records · Page 65Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Retention of relevant and irrelevant information in advanced age].

In the literature on cognitive aging, differences between the cognitive abilities of young and older-adults have long been seen as supporting the view of an age-dependent cognitive deficit. However, findings are equivocal. In the context of more recent findings implying an age-dependent change in the efficiency of attentional and inhibition processes, the present study compares two groups of young and older adults concerning their ability to solve an everyday-like task. In order to effectively solve the task, subjects had to focus on goal-relevant information and, at the same time, inhibit irrelevant information. Subjects selected the relevant items from a shopping list and subsequently participated in a word detection experiment. The results demonstrate older adults taking more time overall to solve the task. However, they were differentiating and maintaining both relevant and irrelevant information in a way comparable to the younger adults. This finding indicates a deficit in older adults concerning the speed component of information processing. However, older adults do not seem to be impaired in their ability to focus on relevant information.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Aging and performance in various tasks of prospective memory].

Studies on the prospective memory performance of adults suggest that in everyday tasks like sending postcards at appointed times there is no age deficit for older subjects compared to younger adults. In contrast, laboratory prospective memory tasks often find age deficits. In a study with young and old adults we tested the hypothesis of older people being better in prospective memory performance in a number of different prospective memory tasks. We also related the performances in everyday and laboratory prospective memory tasks. In addition, we compared performances with respect to the amount of cognitive resources demanded by the different prospective memory tasks. Our results suggest that age deficits in prospective memory tasks are more likely the more laboratory-like a task is, that there is no simple relationship between performances in everyday and laboratory tasks, and that older adults are particularly handicapped when a prospective memory task makes high monitoring demands.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Developing a questionnaire: some methodological issues.

This paper discusses methodological issues that arose during the development of a questionnaire to be used in a survey of people who have non-insulin dependent diabetes and people who do not have the disease. The results of a pre-test and a pilot test undertaken to establish the validity, reliability and stability of the questionnaire are described. The preliminary study indicated that respondents' metabolic control was less than optimal and that they associated the seriousness of diabetes with modes of treatment rather than with control of blood glucose levels. It was concluded from the results that a full scale study was warranted and that a survey using the finalized questionnaire would yield reliable data which could be used to improve diabetes-related education and health promotion.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Analytical and clinical evaluation of a method to quantify bone alkaline phosphatase, a marker of osteoblastic activity.

An immunoradiometric assay (IRMA), involving specific monoclonal antibodies (Ostase, Hybritech) and agarose electrophoresis (Isopal, Beckman), two methods for quantification of serum bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP), a marker for osteoblastic activity, were analytically and clinically compared in 293 patients: 79 with end-stage renal failure treated with hemodialysis and 214 with malignant disease. Acceptable within-assay precision was obtained for the IRMA method: 82.5% of the duplicate determinations had a coefficient of variation (CV) < 5%. Curve fitting characteristics were bad and the sensitivity was better than the one mentioned by the manufacturer. Overall correlation between the two methods was good (r = 0.92), except (a) for low values of bone ALP and (b) in some samples with high total liver ALP activity. Low bone ALP determined with the IRMA (< 5 micrograms/L) was confirmed by electrophoresis (< 22 U/L), but ALP activity determined by electrophoresis to be low (< 22 U/L) was not correlated with the IRMA results. After standardizing our results by computing z-values for bone ALP, delta z (= zostase - zelectrophoresis) was significant correlated with liver ALP activity (r = 0.73, P < 0.0001). We conclude that the IRMA for quantifying bone ALP is acceptable. However, when high values for bone ALP are found with the Ostase method, confirmation by electrophoresis remains mandatory to rule out cross-reactivity with high amounts of liver ALP.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of one first and three second generation methods for the determination of CA 125.

The monoclonal antibody, OC125 (Centocor, Inc, Malvern, Pa) was the basis for the first generation, one step immunoradiometric assays (IRMA) to detect the CA 125 glycoprotein. Recently, two step IRMA's were developed, the CA 125 II generation assays. In these new assays the CA 125 capture antibody is the M11 monoclonal antibody coated on a solid phase and the OC125 monoclonal antibody is used as the tracer. We compared analytically and clinically one first generation radioassay, and three second generation assays (two radioassays and one ELISA). The ELISA method showed the best within-assay precision and the best curve fitting characteristics. In the clinical comparison, none of the correlations between the first and the second generation methods really satisfied, however the cut off level of 35 U/ml was confirmed. The four CA 125 assays do not yield equal results. As a consequence, the evolution of CA 125 serum concentration during disease monitoring is not reliable when different determination methods are used consecutively.

CA-125 Antigen↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Seeking help for chest pain: NIDDM and non-diabetics' responses to three hypothetical scenarios.

Seeking medical assistance early during illness is important to decrease the associated morbidity and mortality. A cross sectional survey was carried out to determine how long people with non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM), and a group of non-diabetics would wait before seeking medical advice for chest pain. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 50 diabetics (22 males, 28 females) age range 42 to 81, mean 64.26 +/- 9.78 from the diabetic outpatient clinic of a major hospital, and 51 non-diabetics, (15 males, 35 females) age range 16 to 84, mean 56.28 +/- 21.6 from a suburban general practice. Both groups were most likely to seek help when experiencing severe pain (56% diabetics, 59% non-DM). Previous heart disease was not a major motivating factor in either group. Subjects with previous chest pain would be more likely to seek help early. Females would be more likely to seek help immediately than males for severe chest pain (p < 0.05). The diabetic group were more likely to seek help immediately than the non-diabetic group (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference in potential help seeking for mild chest pain in diabetic subjects between those with previous history of chest pain and those with no history of chest pain (p < 0.05). There was no significant relationship between help-seeking behaviour and diabetes treatment, duration of diabetes or age (p > 0.05). An important implication for nursing was the absence of a significant relationship between previous diabetes education and potential help-seeking behaviour.

Adolescent↗