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Biomedical subjects

P Griffiths

Publications and source records attributed to P Griffiths.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Defective lateralized attention for non-verbal sounds in developmental dyslexia.

The performance of dyslexic and control children--matched for age, sex, handedness and performance IQ--was compared on a dichotic listening task in which the stimuli were environmental sounds. Two findings emerged. First, the dyslexic group showed a normal, left ear perceptual advantage for these non-verbal materials. Second, the dyslexics were incapable of occluding dichotically presented sounds to the left ear when required to deploy attention only to sounds entering the right ear. This failure of unilateral selective attention was not found in the controls, nor in either group under a condition of left ear only attention. The data were interpreted as undermining the bihemispheric non-verbal processing hypothesis of developmental dyslexia. It was argued that the dyslexics' apparent inability to override voluntarily the reflexive lateral orienting mechanism was most consistent with explanatory models emphasizing defective functioning, or even malformation, of the left cerebral hemisphere alone.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

The sweat test.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Cystic Fibrosis↗
PubMed1987

The structure of depressive symptoms in the elderly.

In a structured sample of 100 male and 100 female minimally impaired patients, aged 60 years and over, females were more depressed. Varimax factor analysis demonstrated four factor groupings which have clinical relevance - Depression, Anxiety, Cognitive impairment, and Psychosomatic disorder; their relative importance is different in males and females. Analysis of variance of the scores of clusters generated by cluster analysis demonstrated four groups of subjects - normal, mildly depressed, moderately depressed with borderline dementia and disability, and severely depressed with moderate dementia and frank disability. In the mildly and moderately depressed, symptoms of anxiety predominated.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Comparison of four serological tests for the detection of specific immunoglobulin M in cord sera of infants congenitally infected with cytomegalovirus.

Four serological tests (3 immunoassays using enzyme-labelled antigen and 1 radioimmunoassay) were compared as regards the detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) immunoglobulin M in cord sera. 68 cord sera from infants congenitally infected by CMV were included in the study. The infections were primarily diagnosed by virus isolation close to birth. Four laboratories in 3 countries were involved, each laboratory using its own or a commercial test. Of the sera tested in the different laboratories 50-80% were found to be reactive. Both qualitatively and quantitatively there was a good correlation between the 3 enzyme-immunoassays. The RIA results differed to some extent from the enzyme tests as regards the quantification of IgM. The advantage of prospective IgM screening in undiluted cord sera followed by confirmatory virus isolation test in the neonatal period in IgM-positive cases is discussed.

Cytomegalovirus↗
PubMed1987

Using the media resources of your community for the promotion of mental health.

The various commercial media offer many possibilities for community education. However, information or counselling columns, literature racks, cable television programs, book lists, recorded telephone messages, and co-operative ventures with libraries are promising tools that are often underused or misused in mental health promotion. This article discusses some practical aspects of using available local media for mental health promotion. Principles highlighted include the following: (1) Positive relationship with commercial media depend on recognizing their needs and accepting their limitations. (2) Receiving information about mental health involves acknowledging personal vulnerability. Information must be presented in as confidential and non-threatening a manner as possible. (3) Non-commercial media for mental health promotion should be exploited.

Canada↗
PubMed1986

Chronic effects of oral sulindac on renal haemodynamics and hormones in subjects with chronic renal disease.

The effects of oral sulindac, 600 mg daily, on renal function and plasma hormones were studied in eight subjects with chronic renal failure. Renal function and plasma hormones were measured before drug administration and then after taking sulindac for 28 days. Effective renal plasma flow was reduced in all subjects after 28 days but the glomerular filtration rate did not change. Plasma renin activity, potassium and aldosterone concentrations and urinary sodium excretion did not change but urinary prostaglandin E2 excretion fell significantly. Sulindac may be a relatively renal-sparing drug in its effects on the hormonal control of glomerular function.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Conjugate lateral eye movements and cognitive mode: blindness as a control for visually-induced oculomotor effects.

The relationship between lateral eye movement directionality and type of cognitive task was investigated in a single blind subject with septo-optic dysplasia. Results from an 80-item test showed that rightward eye movements were significantly associated with verbal tasks and leftward eye movements with spatial tasks. As visual influences on oculomotor behaviour were eliminated, the findings suggested that lateralized eye movements might have arisen as a consequence of asymmetrical activation of cognitive origin triggering the frontal eye field orienting mechanism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Acute and chronic effects of sulindac on renal function in chronic renal disease.

The effects of oral sulindac on renal hemodynamics were studied in normal subjects, elderly persons with mild renal failure, and patients with chronic renal disease. Renal function was measured before dosing and 24 hours and 28 days after oral sulindac. Effective renal plasma flow was reduced in all subjects after 24 hours. Effective renal plasma flow and the glomerular filtration rate were not altered after 28 days in control subjects, whereas effective renal plasma flow, but not glomerular filtration rate, was lower after 1 month in subjects with renal disease. None of these changes are likely to be of major clinical significance.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1985

The demographic characteristics of pregnant women infected with cytomegalovirus.

An analysis was made of the demographic characteristics of 1000 women who were screened for serological evidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection while receiving antenatal care in central London. The prevalence of antibodies against CMV was shown, by multiple discriminant analysis, to be significantly associated with non-Caucasian race (p less than 0.001), increasing maternal age (p less than 0.001) and poor social class (p less than 0.05). These results are interpreted as reflecting increased childhood exposure to CMV as a result of poor social environments. When data from 48 women who acquired primary CMV during pregnancy were analysed, infection was also related to non-Caucasian race (p less than 0.01), but in contrast, there was no demonstrable effect of social class, maternal age or marital status. We conclude that pregnant women acquiring the form of CMV infection with the greatest pathological potential for the fetus (primary infection) belong primarily to the middle-class sections of communities. Since middle-class women traditionally avail themselves of prophylactic measures, this result provides some optimism for the ultimate control of this common disease by immunization.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Visual discrimination learning in mentally handicapped adults: comparative effects of two-choice and multiple-choice training methods on stimulus generalization performance.

The hypothesis that in mentally handicapped subjects a multi-choice discrimination learning method would result in superior generalization performance to the traditional two-choice method was investigated experimentally. Twenty-four mentally handicapped adults matched for age, intelligence and duration of institutionalization were divided into two equal groups and given visual discrimination training using a differential reinforcement, prompt-fading procedure. The groups were allocated separately to a two-choice and four-choice training condition in which the discriminative stimulus was associated with one and three non-discriminative stimuli respectively. Following training, stimulus discrimination performance was compared on a generalization test comprising increasing levels of distraction. The results showed a clear advantage for multi-choice training over two-choice. However, it was found that during generalization testing discriminative performance deteriorated as a function of increasing distraction in both groups, suggesting an underlying selective attention defect. Such a defect may be characteristic of stimulus generalization performance in the mentally retarded. Multi-choice discrimination learning appeared partly to counteract major generalization failure when the ratio of non-discriminative to discriminative stimuli was high.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Calculation of effective renal plasma flow using 125I-orthoiodohippuran: comparison of four methods.

Fifty-three determinations of effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) were made on 21 patients with a wide range of renal function. Serial plasma samples for 6 hours after the injection of 125I-orthoiodohippurate were used to plot the plasma disappearance curve, and a standard ERPF was calculated using biexponential analysis of the curve. ERPF values calculated by 3 published approximation methods using limited plasma samples were compared to the standard values. All approximation methods overestimated the ERPF, the mean percentage error lying between + 18.3% +/- 20.4% and + 70.0% +/- 51.3%. With 2 of the 3 approximation methods the overestimation was particularly prominent in patients with moderate to severe renal insufficiency (ERPF less than 300 ml/min). For research purposes the more accurate and reliable biexponential method of analysis of ERPF is recommended.

Humans↗
PubMed1984

Specific spatial defect in a child with septo-optic dysplasia.

A blind girl with septo-optic dysplasia was compared with a blind, age-matched control on three spatial tests. Previous observations had suggested a specific spatial learning disorder. Results of the tests showed good verbal intelligence but severe impairment of topographical orientation, route-learning and kinaesthetic memory. It is argued that these dysfunctions were a direct consequence of the malformation syndrome, and could not be accounted for by factors such as sex or congenital blindness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Is pregnancy immunosuppressive? Humoral immunity against viruses.

Serum samples were obtained during the first trimester, second trimester, third trimester, at delivery and 6 weeks postpartum from each of 50 pregnant women. All 250 sera were tested for their content of antibodies specific for herpes simplex, measles, rubella and influenza A viruses. The geometric mean titres of antiviral antibody were shown to decline by 18-48% between the times of booking and delivery, and to return to initial values by the end of the puerperium. By means of two-way analysis of variance, the major confounding variable of differences between individuals was identified and controlled for, so that the progression of pregnancy was shown significantly to decrease titres of antiviral antibody. After allowance was made for haemodilution, antibody levels against two viruses (herpes simplex, measles) still declined significantly while those for rubella and influenza viruses actually increased significantly, so that no consistent effect of pregnancy was demonstrable. We conclude that the declining titres of antiviral antibodies seen in pregnant women are predominantly a manifestation of haemodilution and discuss the reasons for believing that humoral immunity remains intact during pregnancy.

Antibodies, Viral↗