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Biomedical subjects

P C Price

Publications and source records attributed to P C Price.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

A group size effect on personal risk judgments: implications for unrealistic optimism.

In Experiments 1 and 2, college students (N = 32 and N = 18, respectively) read heart attack risk profiles (i.e., lists of risk factors) for each of several employees at a series of fictional companies and judged the heart attack risk of the typical employee at each company. In both experiments, subjects' risk judgments increased as a function of the number of employees at the companies. In Experiments 3A and 3B, college students (N = 56 and N = 33, respectively) judged the heart attack risk of the typical employee at a company and also judged the risk of each individual employee. In these experiments, the typical employee was generally judged to be at higher risk than the individual employees. This group size effect might help to explain unrealistic optimism--people's tendency to judge themselves to be at lower risk than their peers for negative life events. Furthermore, it can be modeled successfully within Fiedler's (1996) BIAS framework.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Prisoner's dilemma and the pigeon: Control by immediate consequences.

In three experiments pigeons played (i.e., chose between two colored keys) iterated prisoner's dilemma and other 2 x 2 games (2 participants and 2 options) against response strategies programmed on a computer. Under the prisoner's dilemma pay-off matrix, the birds generally defected (i.e., pecked the color associated with not cooperating) against both a random response (.5 probability of either alternative) and a tit-for-tat strategy (on trial n the computer "chooses" the alternative that is the same as the one chosen by the subject on trial n - 1) played by the computer. They consistently defected in the tit-for-tat condition despite the fact that as a consequence they earned about one third of the food that they could have if they had cooperated (i.e., pecked the "cooperate" color) on all the trials. Manipulation of the values of the food pay-offs demonstrated that the defection and consequent loss of food under the tit-for-tat condition were not due to a lack of sensitivity to differences in pay-off values, nor to strict avoidance of a null pay-off (no food on a trial), nor to insensitivity to the local (current trial) reward contingencies. Rather, the birds markedly discounted future outcomes and thus made their response choices based on immediate outcomes available on the present trial rather than on long-term delayed outcomes over many trials. That is, the birds were impulsive, choosing smaller but more immediate rewards, and did not demonstrate self-control. Implications for the study of cooperation and competition in both humans and nonhumans are discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1994

Access of health care for Texas children.

The failure of any group, either public or private, to meet the needs of the underserved is given as one of the reasons for the restructuring of health care in America. Children, by far, constitute the largest group of this population. The United States as a country, and Texas as a state, rank very poorly in addressing children's health and welfare. In this article, the problems of the health-care needs of the children of Texas are defined. Solutions are presented that are in varying stages of evolution in Texas and throughout the country.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Judgmental overshadowing: further evidence of cue interaction in contingency judgment.

We investigated a phenomenon called judgmental overshadowing. Subjects predicted whether each of several patients had a disease on the basis of whether or not the patient had each of two symptoms. For all the subjects, the presence of the disease was moderately contingent on the presence of one of the symptoms (S1). In Condition 1 of our first experiment, the presence of the disease was highly contingent on the presence of the other symptom (S2). In Condition 2, the presence of the disease was independent of S2. Judgmental overshadowing occurred in that the S1-disease contingency was judged to be stronger in Condition 2 than in Condition 1. Subsequent experiments showed that judgmental overshadowing depends little on the form of the judgment, is not due to a response bias or contrast effect, and does not depend on subjects' actively diagnosing each patient. These results are consistent with, and are generally predicted by, an associative-learning model of contingency judgment.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Direct radioimmunoassay for the detection of IgM antibodies against Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

A direct solid-phase radioimmunoassay is described for detecting IgM-class antibodies against Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The assay achieves a prelminary separation of IgM from other serum proteins by immunoadsorption to anti-IgM-coated wells in microtitre plates. The IgM is then tested for antigen specificity by measuring its ability to bind radiolabelled M. pneunoiae. Positive results are confirmed by retesting sera after treatment with 2-metcaptoethanol. The assay is specific for IgM-class antibodies and specific for M. pneumoniae. It is not affected by competitive inhibition from IgG and avoids the use of density gradient centrifugation or gel filtration to separate IgM from other immunoglobulins. It is sensitive, reproducible, rapid, simple and requires very little serum.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

The laboratory diagnosis and epidemiology of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in Switzerland.

The analysis of approximately 60,000 serum samples collected from patients with different clinical symptoms between 1965 and 1975 in Switzerland yielded positive reactions indicating a recent infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae in 2-30% during this period. Among 1,555 patients with clinical symptoms of an acute respiratory infection, 359 patients or 23% had antibody titers indicating a recent infection with M.pneumoniae. On the basis of these results it is concluded that M.pneumoniae is the most frequent cause of acute infections of the respiratory tract.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1976

IF-40. A new polystyrene microscope tray for immunofluorescent studies.

A polystyrene plate is described which was designed to replace microscope slides for routine immunofluorescent examinations. The plate has 40 flat indentations of 8 mm diameter. The plates can be sterilized and stored in plastic bags. They are well suited for drop preparations or application of cryostat slices of biopsy and necropsy material, and tissue cultures can be grown directly in the indentations. When compared with glass microscope slides, which have long been used for these purposes, the polystyrene plates offer a variety of advantages. Cells can be grown directly in the indentations without washing or pretreating the trays in any way. The indentations prohibit mixing of samples or reagents and enable the use of smaller quantities of reagents. Up to 40 samples can be worked up simultaneously on one plate, or a plate rack can be used for the processing of up to 400 samples at once. The use of a special stage enables easy microscoping of all 40 spots without further handling of the tray.

Fluorescent Antibody Technique↗
PubMed1975

Evidence of chronic persistent infections with polyomaviruses (BK type) in renal transplant recipients.

Ten renal transplant recipients showing a significant increase in human polyomavirus antibodies, indicative of an acute infection, were followed up serologically over periods ranging from two months to more than two years. Fifty-four serum specimens were available for the study and they were tested by both haemagglutination-inhibition and complement-fixation. Polyomavirus antigens were prepared from the BK and SV40-like strains of polyomaviruses, and from the SV40 virus. One strain of polyomavirus, related to the BK strain was isolated from the urine of one of these patients. Two other BK strains were recovered from the urine and kidney, respectively, of transplant recipients not included in this study. Sera of these two patients were not obtained until the transplantation was made; they were already highly positive for polyomavirus antibodies, precluding the demonstration of an increase in antibody titer. Serologic results have shown that HAI antibodies persist at high titers throughout the observation period. This persistence ranged from two to four months (four cases), seven to eleven months (three cases) and thirteen to twenty months (three cases). In none of the cases could a decrease of high titer be demonstrated. Moreover, density gradient studies have shown that specific IgM antibodies also tend to persist over many months. Similar serologic results were obtained in complement-fixation tests with a BK antigen. Titers were at least 1 in 30 in the study group, but were not observed among healthy blood donors. All sera were uniformly negative for SV40 and SV40-like antigens. One polyomavirus isolation was successful from urine obtained six months after initial serologic evidence for a polyomavirus infection. The other two viruses were isolated from materials taken four and seven months after first detection of polyomavirus antibodies at high titer. Both serologic evidence and viral isolations seem to indicate that polyomaviruses (BK type) might cause a chronic infection in humans.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Virus infections in renal transplant recipients.

534 serum samples from 73 renal transplant recipients, 41 haemodialysis patients, and 99 blood and organ donors were examined serologically for antibodies against Cytomegalo, H. simplex (types 1 and 2), Varicella-zoster, Epstein-Barr, Adeno, Influenza, Parainfluenza, Respiratory syncytial, Measles, Picorna- and human Polyoma- Viruses. Serum specimens were stored in the lyophilized state until examined thus enabling a simultaneous testing of all samples belonging to one patient. All antigens, complement, and control antisera were prepared, lyophilized, and standardized in this laboratory. This has enabled the use of single batches of any preparation throughout the study. Serologic results with antigens of the Herpesvirus group (CMV, HSV and VZV) compared favourably with previous results showing that infections with these agents, especially with CMV, can frequently be encountered among transplant recipients. Our results have indicated a moderately increased incidence of infections with some Herpesviruses in haemodialysis patients as well. Infections with VZV, for instance, were as frequently demonstrated in these patients, as in transplant patients although the former received no immunosuppressive therapy. Serologic results with non-Herpesvirus antigens indicated an increased incidence of infections with Polyomavirus, Myxoviruses (Influenza, Parainfluenza and RS) and Picornaviruses among transplant recipients. The incidence of acute infections with RS virus among adults was unusually high and there is no evidence so far to indicate such a high frequency of RS infections in any other group of adults. We were unable to demonstrate acute infections with non-Herpesviruses among haemodialysis patients, even though most of the patients were followed over a period of more than 2 years. Virus isolation attempts were performed with samples of urines and biopsy or autopsy samples. 23 out of 28 cytopathic agents recovered from urines, throat-swabs and/or from organs of transplant recipients were identified as CMV. Two HSV type 1, 1 HSV type 2, and 2 Coxsackie B type 3 viruses were also isolated. No viruses were isolated from a series of 31 kidneys randomly selected among autopsy cases.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Identification of drinking water contaminants in the course of a childhood cancer investigation in Toms River, New Jersey.

Using a combination of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography/infrared spectroscopy (GC/IR) spectroscopic techniques, chemical contaminants and their hydrolysis products were identified in well water sampled in connection with a suspected childhood cancer cluster located in Dover Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. The drinking water contamination resulted from the leaching of industrial waste chemicals from drums that were disposed of at the site known as Reich Farm. Contaminants identified include dinitrile-tetralin compounds, known as 'trimers,' that are by-products of a polymerization process widely used by several polymer manufactures during the 1970s and 1980s (and still used today). Also identified were 'trimer' hydrolysis products, formed by the hydrolysis of their nitrile groups to amides. These industrial contaminants were not present in any of the mass or IR spectral library databases, and their identification required unconventional spectroscopic methods (including high resolution mass spectrometry, chemical ionization mass spectrometry, and IR spectroscopy), along with scientific reasoning and interpretation. It is currently not known whether these chemical contaminants are responsible for the childhood cancers observed in this area.

Child↗