Are megabats flying primates? Contrary evidence from a mitochondrial DNA sequence.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Bennett.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
To clarify the epidemiology of adolescent suicide, a retrospective study was undertaken of suicides (1978 to 1982) and hospitalized suicide attempts (1979 to 1983) by adolescents aged 10 to 19 years in an affluent suburban area. Data included date of injury, demography (for both suicides and suicide attempts), and recorded personal and social history (available for attempts only). There were 11 deaths due to suicide (definite or possible) in the five years reviewed: seven male, 10 aged 15 to 19 years. The mean annual rate for suicide deaths (definite and possible, based on ICD codes) was 10.3 per 100,000 15 to 19 year olds, with male rates exceeding female rates. Male rates were lower in the study area than in Chicago, Illinois or the United States, but female rates were higher. Suicides represented an unusually high proportion of all adolescent deaths. Atypically, there were no firearm suicide deaths. Two hundred ten suicide attempts were studied: 77% aged 15 to 19 years, 70% female, and 82% white; 83% involved ingestion of medications or poisons. The mean annual suicide attempt rate was approximately 140 per 100,000 for 15 to 19 year olds, and 45 per 100,000 for 10 to 14 year olds, with female rates exceeding male rates. There was an association between suicide attempt dates and occurrence of holidays, and there was a peak in attempts at the end of the school year. Detailed analysis of personal and social attributes associated with suicide attempts was prevented by poor recording of relevant factors in the medical record.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Five cases of air embolism in ventilated very low birthweight infants are reported. In all cases the outcome was fatal with the babies dying at about 15 hours of age.
The referral activities of 373 agencies (38.4% of the sample originally polled) are presented with regard to health care, educational, and social services for teenagers residing in a midwestern metropolitan area. Approximately 66% of the responding agencies receive referrals from without and 87% make referrals to other organizations, with counseling and psychiatry, family planning, and general medical care being the most commonly sought services. Social service agencies had the highest volume of referrals and hospitals the lowest. The results of the survey are discussed in terms of the official recommendations made for coordinated services for teenagers, predicted cutbacks in preventive services, and the special needs of adolescents.
The vaccination status of 251 children aged 12-18 months in two peri-urban Gambian communities was determined from their health cards. Two subgroups were identified: children who were fully vaccinated, and those who had received less than half their vaccinations. The social and environmental circumstances of these children were investigated to detect factors which were associated with poor vaccination compliance. Mothers of well vaccinated children were more inclined to bring them for non-curative services. Mothers of poorly vaccinated children had a poorer knowledge of the diseases against which their children should be vaccinated and they also had a more superstitious view of disease causation. Those children who showed poor compliance came from larger families. In the poorly vaccinated group both parents were less well educated and there was a trend towards poorer literacy.
The cases of 83 boys who were admitted to hospital with acute testicular pain or swelling were studied. Twenty seven had torsion of the testis, and 15 (55%) of these lost a testis. The main reason for the poor results was delay by the patient or his parents in seeking medical attention.
This paper describes the speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) and phonational range characteristics of 35 patients with bilateral diffuse polypoid degeneration. These speakers had average SFFs that were not only substantially lower than normal but also below those associated with many other types of laryngeal pathology. These patients also had phonational ranges that were substantially different from normal. Although both extremes of the pitch range were altered, the upper limit of the voice range was affected profoundly by the morphologic changes in the vocal folds that occur as a result of polypoid degeneration.
This paper presents a baseline evaluation of four demonstration family support programs located in communities identified as having a disproportionate number of families at risk for malfunctioning. In this baseline evaluation, a one year cohort of 422 family support participants were assessed along key dimensions of parenting known to contribute to child well-being and potentially to the incidence of child abuse or child neglect. These dimensions include parents' attitudes toward child rearing, knowledge of child development, level of perceived social support, and level of depression. Black participants and teenage parents had more punitive attitudes toward child rearing, less knowledge of child development, and less perceived social support than white or older parents. Overall, attitudes, knowledge, level of perceived social support and depression are interrelated in accordance with previous clinical observations and developmental theory, e.g., depressed parents are less knowledgeable, more punitive and have less support than nondepressed parents. The results of the baseline evaluation suggest that the demonstration projects are successful in reaching some subgroups of families at risk for parenting problems.
A sample of chronically disabled arthritic patients was studied in 1981, and again in 1983, using a questionnaire which included attitudinal and mood items. The majority of patients had high pain and disability, and this did not significantly change between 1981 and 1983. The questionnaire was able to significantly discriminate between subjective disability and pain groups. This discrimination was more accurate than that made by orthopaedic surgeons using physical ratings alone, and possible 'good coping' and 'bad coping' profiles emerged.
For many years, reports have appeared indicating cognitive deficits in elderly patients following anaesthesia. However, there is no general consensus of opinion concerning the putative relationship between these deficits and the anaesthetic process. In a prospective study, 85 patients undergoing elective surgery were assessed on a battery of standardized cognitive tests, 1 day before and 2 days after surgery. Analysis of results indicated that anaesthesia does produce post-operative cognitive deficits in both young and elderly patients, and a possible causative mechanism is discussed.
Renal silicon handling was investigated in 23 healthy adults using electrothermal atomic absorption techniques. The mean urinary silicon excretion was 33.1 +/- 3.85 mg/day; the mean renal silicon clearance was 88.6 +/- 7.94 ml/min; the mean fractional excretion of silicon was 86.35 +/- 8.1%, and the mean urine silicon concentration was 0.265 micrograms/ml. Using multiple correlation analysis, the urinary silicon was found to be highly significantly correlated with the urine magnesium concentration (p less than 0.001) and also with urinary sodium and urinary osmolality (p less than 0.01). 24-hour urinary silicon excretion was highly significantly correlated with fractional excretion of silicon (p less than 0.001), sodium (p less than 0.001), phosphorus (p less than 0.001), magnesium (p less than 0.001), and osmolar load. In split urine studies in 7 subjects urinary silicon was correlated highly significantly with urinary magnesium in all 7 and with urinary osmolality, urine calcium, and urine creatine concentration in 6 of 7. There was a highly significant correlation between renal silicon clearance and fractional excretion of silicon (p less than 0.0005), with magnesium excretion (p less than 0.01), and with sodium excretion. It is suggested that ion pairing of orthosilicate and magnesium may explain some of these urinary findings.
The statistical adequacy of all papers published in the period 1976-80 describing clinical trials of five non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and two analgesic drugs introduced into the UK market in 1978 and 1979 has been assessed using a checklist of simple criteria. Most trials were reported to be randomised and double-blind. Trial designs were less satisfactory in other important respects; the sample size of most trials was inadequate to demonstrate superiority of the new drug compared with an active control therapy. The period of treatment assessment was short in view of the likelihood of prolonged prescription of drugs in these classes. It is suggested that licensing authorities should demand higher standards of clinical trial evidence offered in support of new drugs.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Thirty per cent of patients fail to rehabilitate after back surgery. Pre-operative physical assessment cannot reliably identify these patients. A questionnaire assesses the health beliefs and extent of rehabilitation in 200 patients who have undergone a laminectomy. Objective medical data and ten subjective scales are analyzed, which correlate very highly with quality of rehabilitation. The questionnaire identifies 'at risk' individuals far better than objective physical findings, and it makes specific pathological attitudes clear. These attitudes can be used to direct existing post-operative care resources in an efficient way.
In view of the intense concentration and time investment required for the detailed assessment of animal behaviour, various strategies have been employed to facilitate the quantitative description of movements and postures of animals. In a recent communication, we outlined a microcomputer technique which enabled individual operators to record frequency and duration of a large number of behavioural elements. However, this method required the manual collation and transcription of summary data in order to effect statistical analysis, an operation which involved avoidable and time-consuming repeated data handling. The present communication details a microcomputer technique which aids the recording of frequency, real-time duration and real-time latency measures. Further, this program automatically collates, transcribes and executes statistical analysis (Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney) without involving manual data manipulation, other than at the initial behavioural analysis level and thus, represents an aid to reducing the total time investment required to effect complete behavioural analysis.
Movements and postures of animals may be described quantitatively and as such represent measures that may be used to, for example, detect drug-induced alterations in behaviour. However, because of the time-investment needed to generate such data, quantitative assessment of animal behaviour remains a major problem in psychopharmacology. The present communication outlines a microcomputer based method for obtaining frequency, real-time duration and latency measures from a large number of behavioural elements. When used in conjunction with a videotape recorder, this system enables one experimenter to obtain data from situations involving several interacting animals, thus representing an aid to increased data-logging efficiency using only equipment that is commonly found in many psychopharmacology laboratories.