Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R A Fox.
The present study examined the influence of unstressed prefixes and suffixes upon the location of stress-beats in the production and perception of stressed CVC syllables. Analysis indicates that the addition of an unstressed suffix produces a small stress-beat shift, while the addition of an unstressed prefix produces a much larger shift in the opposite direction.
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Levels of arginine vasopressin (AVP) in blood plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured in cats under several motion-sickness-inducing conditions. Plasma AVP increased significantly in both susceptible and resistant animals exposed to motion. When vomiting occurred, levels of plasma AVP were dramatically elevated (up to 27 times resting levels). There was no difference in resting levels of AVP of susceptible and resistant cats. Levels of CSF-AVP were not elevated immediately after vomiting, but the resting levels of CSF-AVP were lower in animals that vomited during motion than in those animals which did not vomit during motion. The results of these experiments show that changes in systemic AVP are directly related to vomiting induced by motion, however, CSF-AVP apparently does not change in association with vomiting. CSF-AVP does appear to be lower in animals that reach frank vomiting during motion stimulation than in animals which do not vomit.
Forty-five elderly subjects with faecal impaction were entered into a study of the efficacy of golytely. Twenty-three were treated with golytely 2 l/day for 2 days and then lactulose 30 ml b.d. and daily enemas. Twenty-two were treated with lactulose 30 ml b.d. and daily enemas alone. A good response was achieved in 13 (56%) within 1 week and in 20 (87%) within 2 weeks when golytely was used, as compared to only 5 (23%) within 1 week and 9 (41%) within 2 weeks when it was not used.
Two groups of moderately retarded, obese adults were given a 10-week behavioral treatment program designed to produce changes in their eating, activity and self-reinforcement patterns and to produce weight loss. In one group (N = 8, X = 27 years) parents of the participants were actively involved in the treatment program; in the second group (N = 7, X age = 29) parents were minimally involved. At the end of treatment, subjects in the parent-involved group lost significantly more weight (X = 7.4 pounds) with less intra-group variability (S.D. = 2.26 pounds) than the other treatment group (X = 2.4 pounds; S.D. = 4.38 pounds). A strong correlation was also found between degree of subject involvement in treatment (as measured by the number of daily homework forms completed) and weight loss. Implications of the data for future treatment programs are discussed.
Neutrophil function was assessed in 35 elderly individuals (age greater than 75) and 20 normal young individuals (age 20-45) by combining ingestion of antibody coated polyacrylamide gel and nitroblue tetrazolium reduction in a single test. This test evaluates phagocytosis and metabolic integrity simultaneously and appears to be a sensitive and reliable test of neutrophil function. No significant difference was found (by using this test) between neutrophils from healthy elderly people and the neutrophils from young controls, or between the sexes in either age group.
Urban Mexican children aged 5 (n = 23) and 9 (n = 87) years were given the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). The results indicate that the MFFT was a valid test of cognitive style for Mexican children. The younger children's MFFT performance was characterized as fast and inaccurate in relation to the older children's performance, which was slower and more accurate. Cross-cultural comparisons of Mexican MFFT scores with normative data from America, Japan, and Israel indicated that Mexican children were relatively impulsive in cognitive style in relation to children of other cultures. Potential factors contributing to these cross-cultural differences are discussed here.
Infection is an important problem in the elderly and it is not unusual for fever to be absent. This review examines our present state of knowledge of the febrile response and considers its apparent impairment in old age.
Selective adaption and anchoring effects in speech perception have generated several different hypotheses regarding the nature of contextual contrast, including auditory/phonetic feature detector fatigue, response bias, and auditory contrast. In the present study three different seven-step [hId]-[h epsilon d] continua were constructed to represent a low F0 (long vocal tract source), a high F0 (long vocal tract source), and a high F0 (short vocal tract source), respectively. Subjects identified the tokens from each of the stimulus continua under two conditions: an equiprobable control and an anchoring condition which included an endpoint stimulus from one of the three continua occurring at least three times more often than any other single stimulus. Differential contrast effects were found depending on whether the anchor differed from the test stimuli in terms of F0, absolute formant frequencies, or both. Results were inconsistent with both the feature detector fatigue and response bias hypothesis. Rather, the obtained data suggest that vowel contrast occurs on the basis of normalized formant values, thus supporting a version of the auditory-contrast theory.
Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured during the 1st week of subarachnoid hemorrhage in 46 patients who were in a good clinical grade and had a proven ruptured intracranial aneurysm. The mean initial CBF in patients who developed cerebral ischemia was 42 ml/min-1/100 gm brain-1, which was significantly lower than in patients who did not develop cerebral ischemia (49 ml/min-1/100 gm brain-1). This reduced CBF was not secondary to raised intracranial pressure or angiographic spasm. Patients with a reduced CBF (less than 50 ml/min-1/100 gm brain-1) and diffuse subarachnoid blood on computerized tomography had a very high incidence (78%) of cerebral ischemia, despite a good clinical grade at the time of measurement. Serial CBF measurements are of value in monitoring the evolution of cerebral vasospasm.
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The present work reports that simple oxidizing agents are capable of inducing isotonic contraction of rat aorta in vitro, and that the concentration of agent required depends on its oxidizing potential. Conversely a reducing agent will reverse a muscular contraction induced by oxidizing agents.
Research on the prevalence, characteristics, and treatment of obesity of mentally retarded individuals within the context of research findings with the obese nonretarded population was selectively reviewed. According to the available literature, obesity is a prevalent problem in the retarded population, and there is a greater incidence among females than males. The literature also suggests that obese retarded subjects as a group can be distinguished from their nonobese peers by their physical condition, but not by their eating style or personality characteristics. Behavioral self-control strategies have been found to be effective in producing weight loss in obese retarded children and adults. Further research is needed to reduce the high interindividual variability observed in treatment outcome studies and to address problems of long-term maintenance of weight loss.
Rare earth filters are known to reduce radiation dose in radiological investigations. The present investigation used Er and Sm filters that were selected because of their chemical stability and ability to withstand prolonged exposure to the atmosphere. They were used in a comparison with a conventional aluminium filter in a range of paediatric radiological procedures. Introduction of the filters instead of the conventional filter, resulted in a dose reduction of up to twofold with no discernible deterioration in image quality.
In this article we review the abnormalities in immune function which have been described in relation to ageing. It is suggested that thymic involution may not be the only underlying cause. Many similar changes can be induced by the endotoxins from the cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria. The colon is a large repository for these organism and bacterial breakdown products are found in portal venous blood. Spillover into the peripheral circulation is prevented by the hepatic Kupffer cells degrading these substances. A waning in Kupffer cell function is well documented in association with ageing and there may be spillover of endotoxins into the peripheral circulation in elderly individuals. It is suggested that such spillover of endotoxins may contribute to some of the immunological changes previously attributed to ageing.
Stimulation of human lymphocytes with concanavalin A (Con A) resulted in variable lymphokine responses as indicated by factors inhibiting macrophage migration (MIF) or stimulating macrophage migration (MStF), or resulted in negligible responses. These responses were consistent for a given individual when repeated after several months. MIF responses were observed more frequently than MStF responses in patients with renal failure who had demonstrable alloantibodies. MStF responses were statistically associated with the presence of HLA DR1 antigens in patients with renal failure and two separate groups of healthy individuals, while MIF responses were associated with DR7 in the three groups studied. There was no correlation between immunoglobulin allotypes and lymphokine responses. These results suggest that lymphokine responses to Con A are indicators of nonspecific immunological responsiveness and are influenced by genes associated with the major histocompatibility complex.
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An abbreviated version of a behavioral weight loss program for obese retarded adults was provided for two groups of eight moderately retarded, obese adults working in a sheltered workshop. The program involved ten weeks of treatment, five weeks of maintenance and included a one-year follow-up check. Pictured materials were developed to facilitate the subject's comprehension and practice of the behavioral weight loss strategies. subjects in one treatment group were also paired to assess the impact of a buddy reinforcement program on their weight loss. Following ten weeks of treatment, significant weight loss was observed (mean percent weight loss = 6.2); weight loss continued during five weeks of maintenance (additional mean percent weight loss = 1.8). No differences in weight loss or percent weight loss were found between the buddy reinforcement group and the other treatment group at the end of treatment of maintenance and during follow-up. At one year follow-up, 37.5% of the sample maintained a weight loss. Discussion centers around the issues of developing efficient weight loss strategies for obese retarded adults, high inter-individual variability observed in weight loss during treatment, and relatively low long-term maintenance of weight loss after treatment terminated.