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Biomedical subjects

M Steiner

Publications and source records attributed to M Steiner.

At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

Characteristics of psychosis in borderline personality disorder.

Comparing a sample of 88 inpatients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) to inpatients with borderline traits, this paper addresses four hypotheses regarding the association between BPD and psychotic symptoms: (1) narrowly defined psychotic symptoms are rare in BPD; (2) broadly defined psychotic symptoms are often reported in BPD; (3) narrowly defined psychotic symptoms are due to concomitant disorders, and (4) psychotic symptoms may be factitious. Consecutive admissions to acute inpatient services were screened for borderline features and patients were examined using the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. The results generally supported the proposed explanations for the association between BPD and psychotic symptoms. Factitious psychotic symptoms were found in only 13% of the BPD sample.

Adolescent↗

Quantification of regional cerebral blood flow with IMP-SPECT. Reproducibility and clinical relevance of flow values.

Single-photon emission computed tomography with N-isopropyl[123I]-p-iodoamphetamine (IMP-SPECT) was performed in 14 normal volunteers (seven men and seven women aged 25.1 +/- 5.3 years) and 29 patients with cerebrovascular disease (18 men and 11 women aged 54.1 +/- 13.7 years). The fluid microsphere model was used to estimate cerebral blood flow (CBF). Normal subjects were scanned twice, 1 week apart, to determine the reproducibility of the CBF estimates. Hemispheric blood flow (hCBF) was calculated as the mean of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) values in 16 gray matter regions per hemisphere. In normal subjects mean hCBF was 68 ml/100 g/min. The highest rCBF was found in the occipital cortex, followed by the frontal, temporal, and parietal cortexes. CBF values were reproducible (p less than 0.001 except the right thalamic region, where p less than 0.01). Intraindividual variation ranged between 0.3% and 15%. Women exhibited significantly higher (16%, p less than 0.02) CBF than men. Patients were subdivided into groups with reversible (n = 19) and persistent (n = 10) symptoms. Significant hCBF differences between the affected and the contralateral hemispheres were recorded only in the group with reversible symptoms (p less than 0.005), whereas the group with persistent symptoms showed a significant bilateral decrease of hCBF compared with normal subjects and patients with reversible symptoms. Focal CBF was significantly lower in patients with completed stroke than in patients with transient symptoms (p less than 0.001). Our results indicate that IMP-SPECT can be used for the routine estimation of CBF in normal and pathologic states.

Aged↗

Perspectives of physicians in Sri Lanka on periodic abstinence.

Since physicians strongly influence both national family planning policy and individuals' contraceptive choice, a survey was conducted to learn about the perspectives of Sri Lankan physicians (n-100) regarding periodic abstinence methods of family planning (PA). Female doctors (28% of the sample) were twice as likely to have ever provided PA advice to their clients as their male counterparts. Providers of PA were more likely to have ever personally used this form of contraception than PA non-providers. Regardless of PA provider status, all physicians most frequently recommended pills, injectables and IUDs to their clients. They had very good knowledge of the temperature method. The scientific foundation of this method is studied in medical school, suggesting that if the other modern methods (Billings and sympto-thermal) were incorporated into medical school curricula, physicians might be more willing to discuss, refer or provide other modern, scientific forms of PA to their clients.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

[Reduced incidence of gingivitis in Zurich schoolchildren].

Gingival health of school children was evaluated four years after adding an individualised prophylaxis program to the existing school dental health scheme in Zurich. Compared to the status recorded in a similar study undertaken in 1977, an improved gingival condition was found. In the present study, 79% of the children had gingivitis compared to 91% in 1977. Of 22 selected gingival areas, an average of 5.4 was inflamed, and 2.9 were severely inflamed. The numbers of inflamed sites in 1977 were 7.0 and 5.8, respectively.

Adolescent↗

[The caries incidence in schoolchildren in the Canton of Glarus 13 years after the introduction of highly fluoridated salt].

Addition of 250 ppm fluoride to domestic salt and salt used by bakeries was begun in 1974-1976 in the Canton of Glarus. The caries examinations revealed a rapid decline of DMFT averages in the four age groups (8, 10, 12, 14 years) by 71 to 78 percent from 1974 to 1987. DMF counts in fissures and pits also decreased by 61 to 80%. In the primary dentition, the number of sound teeth and of sound approximal molar surfaces increased. The average fluoride levels in urinary spot specimens were 0.36 ppm in 1974 and varied between 0.74 and 0.80 ppm from 1979 to 1987. In autumn 1982 toothbrushing exercises with fluoride preparations were introduced. They should have been carried out two to six times a year but were discontinued in 1983 and 1984 in part of the communities. This educational program therefore had little effect on the total reduction, the main decline having occurred from 1974 to 1983. The reduction from 1974 to 1987 was too high and too rapid to be exclusively due to the fluoride in salt but other factors changed little. The percentage of fluoride dentifrice rose only slightly and Swiss averages of sugar and sweet consumption remained almost stable from 1976 to 1987.

Adolescent↗

Alpha-tocopherol, an effective inhibitor of platelet adhesion.

Platelet adhesiveness was tested ex vivo in a group of six normal individuals receiving varying doses of alpha-tocopherol. Adhesion to glass slides coated with fibronectin, collagen, fibrinogen, or plasma proteins was studied by perfusing platelet-rich plasma through a flow chamber that allowed time- and space-resolved observations of platelet adhesion. Platelet adherence was measured in an area of parallel flow lines and low shear rate under standardized conditions before and after dietary supplementation with vitamin E at doses of 200 and 400 IU/d. Platelet adherence differed in magnitude depending on the adhesive surface. There was a distinct preference of platelets to adhere to sites that had been previously occupied. A remarkable decrease in platelet adherence was observed after vitamin E supplementation. The average decrease in adhesion after 2 weeks of 200 IU vitamin E was 75%. After 2 weeks of 400 IU vitamin E, platelet adhesion was reduced by 82%. The inhibitory activity of alpha-tocopherol was dose dependent and correlated well with the increase in alpha-tocopherol concentration in platelets after supplementation. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a striking decrease of pseudopodium formation in alpha-tocopherol-enriched platelets. Our results suggest that vitamin E may also be an effective antiadhesive agent in vivo.

Blood Platelets↗

[Evoked potentials in the follow-up and prognosis of patients with craniocerebral trauma].

The aims of this study were to find a reliable way of establishing the prognosis for the final outcome in the first week after head injury, to show the correlation between abnormalities in evoked potentials (EP) and clinical coma score, and finally, to document EP results in patients with the clinical diagnosis of brain death. We examined 46 patients, 23 in different states of coma and 23 with bulbar syndrome (complete absence of cortical and brain stem function). In the group of comatose patients brain stem auditory EP (BAEP) and somatosensory EP (SEP) were recorded in the first 48 h, 3-5 days, 1 week and 4 weeks after the head injury. The depth of coma was scaled with a scoring system devised by the authors and with the Innsbruck coma scale. Outcome was evaluated with the Glasgow outcome scale after 3, 6, and 9 months. BAEP were recorded bilaterally after stimulation with clicks; SEP were recorded from the neck (C2) and the contralateral cortex (C3', C4') after electrical stimulation of the median nerve. Evoked potentials were scored according to a four-point scale from grade 1 (normal) to grade 4 (only component I present in BAEP or absence of cortical responses on both sides in SEP). We found a significant correlation between the mean SEP score of the first week and the Glasgow outcome of the 3rd month, but no significant correlation between the BAEP score of the first week and the Glasgow outcome. There was a significant correlation between SEP (BAEP) scores and the corresponding clinical score.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

[Urinary excretion of fluorides in schoolchildren of Lausanne and Geneva in relation to salt fluoridation].

Urinary excretion of fluoride and sodium and urinary flow were studied in 230 schoolchildren (average age: 11.1 years) in the following situation: in 1984 and 1988 in Geneva, 1 year and 5 years after the introduction of fluoridated domestic salt (250 mg/kg), and in 1985 in Lausanne, 15 years after the general introduction of salt fluoridation for this city and its surrounding canton (Vaud). Among consumers of fluoridated salt, the average excretion of F ion during morning and afternoon was 15.4 and 43.7 micrograms F/h, respectively, in Geneva (1988) and 26.4 and 49.9 micrograms F/h, respectively, in Lausanne (1985). Among non-consumers of fluoridated domestic salt, excretion values during morning and afternoon were 9.9 and 20.7 micrograms F/h, respectively, in Geneva (1988), and 18.4 and 26.1 micrograms F/h, respectively, in Lausanne. Between 1984 and 1988, an increase in fluoride excretion was observed in schoolchildren of Geneva. During approximately 10 night hours, 8.8 to 16.4 micrograms F/h were excreted in Geneva, but F-salt consumers in Lausanne excreted 25.8 micrograms F/h. Averages of sodium excretion varied between 80 and 144 mg Na/h at daytime and between and 81 mg Na/h at night.

Adolescent↗

Pleuropulmonary blastoma. The so-called pulmonary blastoma of childhood.

The authors studied 11 pediatric intrathoracic neoplasms that share clinicopathologic features and constitute a specific tumor in children. These neoplasms were intrapulmonary, mediastinal, or pleural-based masses. A common histologic feature was the presence of small, primitive cells with blastematous qualities separated by an uncommitted stroma. Focal rhabdomyosarcomatous, chondrosarcomatous, and liposarcomatous differentiation was observed. Epithelial components had bland cytologic features and probably represented entrapped benign epithelium and/or mesothelium. The prognosis for these patients was grave; seven patients died of their disease 5 months to 2 years after diagnosis. Two patients have survived disease-free for 10 and 12 years after diagnosis. Two recent cases are alive 14 and 32 months after diagnosis. This neoplasm constitutes a distinct entity which has been reported in the literature as pulmonary blastoma in children. It differs from pulmonary blastoma in adults because of its variable anatomic location, primitive embryonic-like blastema and stroma, absence of a carcinomatous component, and potential for sarcomatous differentiation. The designation of pleuropulmonary blastoma is suggested by the authors for these intrathoracic neoplasms of childhood rather than pulmonary blastoma for histogenetic and anatomic reasons. The clinicopathologic features, immunophenotypic and ultrastructural characteristics, possible histogenesis, and differential diagnosis of these neoplasms from other thoracopulmonary tumors in children serve as the basis for this report.

Child↗

Alpha-tocopherol, a potent modulator of endothelial cell function.

The effect of alpha-tocopherol on various endothelial cell functions was evaluated in vitro using cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Prostacyclin synthesis, plasminogen activator activity and von Willebrand factor activity were evaluated in control and alpha-tocopherol supplemented cultures. Alpha-tocopherol produced stimulation of prostacyclin production which peaked at or near 0.5 mM. Plasminogen activator activity was markedly reduced by the addition of alpha-tocopherol. Von Willebrand factor activity showed a significant decrease of processed and cellular forms that was dose-dependent. The incorporation of alpha-tocopherol into endothelial cells could be demonstrated by measuring intracellular levels of the vitamin in washed endothelial cells. Our results show that alpha-tocopherol has a profound effect on multiple endothelial cell functions which are intimately involved in hemostasis.

Cells, Cultured↗

Agonist-induced changes of platelet tubulin phosphorylation.

Changes in the phosphorylation of platelet tubulin were analyzed as a function of platelet activation. Non-activated platelets incubated with [32P]-phosphate showed multiple peaks of radioactivity when solubilized platelet proteins were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis. Both tubulin monomers were found to be phosphorylated. Agonistic stimulation (thrombin or 1,2-diacylglycerol) resulted in a lowering of the phosphate incorporation into alpha- and beta-tubulin. Such changes we believe are important in the modulation of the reversible polymerization-depolymerization of platelet tubulin that occurs in the course of the agonistic stimulation of platelets.

Autoradiography↗

Reduction of platelet adhesiveness by vitamin E supplementation in humans.

Platelet adhesion was tested ex vivo in a group of 7 normal individuals on varying doses of vitamin E. Adhesion to glass slides coated with fibrinogen, fibronectin, collagen I and collagen V was studied by perfusing platelet-rich plasma through a flow chamber. Time- and space-resolved observations of platelet adhesion were made in an area of parallel flow lines and low shear rate under standardized conditions before and after dietary supplementation with vitamin E. The doses varied from 400 I.U./day to 1600 I.U./day in 400 I.U. increments. A statistically significant reduction in platelet adhesion was noted on all four adhesive surfaces at the 400 I.U. level of vitamin E supplementation. This reduction varied in magnitude depending on the adhesive surface. As vitamin E supplementation was increased, no dose-dependent downward trend in adhesion rate was observed although the platelet alpha-tocopherol content progressively increased. Based on our results, we suggest that 400 I.U./day may be a near optimal dose of vitamin E to reduce platelet adhesivity as evaluated in our flow chamber system.

Adult↗