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Biomedical subjects

S A Spence

Publications and source records attributed to S A Spence.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

A PET study of voluntary movement in schizophrenic patients experiencing passivity phenomena (delusions of alien control).

Schizophrenic patients experiencing passivity phenomena believe their thoughts and actions to be those of external, or alien, entities. We wished to test the hypothesis that voluntary motor action in such patients would be associated with aberrant patterns of activation within the cerebral motor system. We used H2(15)O PET to study patients while they performed paced joystick movements on two occasions 4-6 weeks apart. During the first scan passivity symptoms were maximal, while by the second scan these symptoms had significantly improved in five of the seven patients. Two control groups were also scanned on two occasions: deluded schizophrenic patients without passivity phenomena and normal subjects. In normal subjects, performance of freely selected joystick movements with the right hand, compared with rest, revealed relative activation of prefrontal, premotor, motor and parietal cortical regions. Schizophrenic patients with passivity showed hyperactivation of parietal and cingulate cortices. This hyperactivation remitted in those subjects in whom passivity decreased over time. This reversible hyperactivity was not a feature of schizophrenics without passivity. Given that these hyperactive cerebral regions subserve attention to internal and external bodily space, and the attribution of significance to sensory information, they provide a plausible anatomical substrate for the misattribution of internally generated acts to external entities: the cardinal feature of delusions of passivity (alien control).

Brain Mapping↗
PubMed1996

Responses in milk production to control of gastrointestinal nematode and paramphistome parasites in dairy cattle.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of treating naturally acquired gastrointestinal nematode and paramphistome infections on milk production in dairy cattle. DESIGN: A field trial. ANIMALS: One thousand two hundred and thirty nine dairy cows. PROCEDURE: Cows were either not treated or treated with 4.5 mg/kg oxfendazole, 16.6 mg/kg oxyclozanide or 4.5 mg/kg oxfendazole and 16.6 mg/kg oxyclozanide in March, May and August. RESULTS: A significant increase in milk production, averaging 0.4 L (SE 0.2) per day, was seen when dairy cows infected with gastrointestinal nematodes and paramphistomes were treated with oxfendazole or oxfendazole and oxyclozanide in March, May and August. Cows treated with oxyclozanide alone at these times produced no more milk than untreated cows. Faecal egg counts confirmed that oxyclozanide treatment reduced paramphistome populations and oxfendazole treatment reduced nematode populations in cows over the 7-month monitoring period. CONCLUSION: When dairy cows infested with gastrointestinal nematodes and paramphistomes were treated with oxfendazole alone or oxfendazole and oxyclozanide in March, May and August milk production increased.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Personality disorder and police section 136 in Westminster: a retrospective analysis of 65 assessments over six months.

Section 136 of the 1983 Mental Health Act empowers the police to detain those suspected of being mentally ill in public places. The current study is a retrospective analysis of those occurring within Westminster, London, over a six-month period. A high rate of referral was found. In those individuals assessed, schizophrenia was the commonest diagnosis, but personality disorder provided the largest number of assessments. This was due to the propensity of the latter individuals to present on multiple occasions. Those with personality disorders were significantly less likely to be placed under further sections of the Mental Health Act, less likely to be admitted to hospital and more likely to re-present under a further section 136. The inability of the current system to address these individuals' needs is a cause for concern.

Behavior↗
PubMed1995

Depressive disorder due to craniopharyngioma.

Secondary causes of depression are legion, and must always be considered in patients presenting with features atypical of primary idiopathic depressive disorder. The case described is that of a middle-aged woman presenting initially with a major depressive disorder who was subsequently found to have a craniopharyngioma, leading to a revised diagnosis of mood disorder due to the tumour. Some features of the presentation might have led to earlier diagnosis had their localizing significance been recognized. Diencephalic lesions should always be considered in patients presenting with the hypersomnic-hyperphagic variant of depressive disorder.

Craniopharyngioma↗
PubMed1995

Exploring the relationship between purpose in life and African American adolescents' use of prenatal care services.

This article presents findings of a study that explored the relationship between purpose in life and African American adolescents' use of prenatal care services. The findings revealed no statistically significant relationship, thus suggesting that purpose in life may not be a crucial factor in determining whether African American adolescents use prenatal care services. The need to explore the influence of other variables on service use and the importance of considering such findings for appropriate health care and social work intervention are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Production responses to internal parasite control in dairy cattle.

A significant increase in milk production, averaging 164 litres per cow per lactation (a 4.8% increase), was seen after cows infected with gastrointestinal nematodes, paramphistomes and Fasciola hepatica were treated with broad-spectrum anthelmintics. Three hundred and ninety pairs of cows from eight herds with year-round calving were studied. One cow in each matched pair was given 7.5 mg/kg fenbendazole, 7.5 mg/kg levamisole hydrochloride and 15 mg/kg oxyclozanide in March, May and August of one year; the other cow in the pair received no anthelmintic. The number of nematode and trematode eggs was significantly decreased in the faeces of treated cows.

Animals↗