Biomedical subjects

S Henderson

Publications and source records attributed to S Henderson.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

PubMed1982

Enhancement in immunity of tumor bearing mice by immunization against prostaglandin E2.

C57Bl/6 mice bearing a palpable Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) were immunized against prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in order to prevent the immune suppression typical of tumor bearers. Proliferation in response to concanavalin A (Con A) by normal spleen cells cultured in the presence of PGE2 or by spleen cells of LLC-bearing mice cultured with Con A alone was suppressed. However, the mitogenic response of spleen cells from PGE2 immunized LLC-bearing mice was only partially suppressed. The random migration of normal macrophages cultured in the presence of PGE2 or of macrophages from LLC-bearing mice cultured in medium alone was enhanced when compared to the random migration of normal macrophages cultured in the absence of PGE2. In contrast, the random migration of macrophages obtained from PGE2 immunized LLC-bearing mice was the same as that of normal macrophages cultured in the absence of PGE2.

Animals↗

PubMed1982

Evaluation of an automated radioimmunoassay system: the ARIA II.

The ARIA II is an automated instrument for the quantitation by radioimmunoassay of the following constituents: digoxin, cortisol, thyroxine, T3 uptake, T3 RIA, estriol, and progesterone, its methodology uses a specific antibody covalently bonded to a solid support in a reusable antibody chamber. We evaluated the assay system for the first three constituents listed above. Coefficients of correlation with conventional manual methods were: thyroxine-0.9797; digoxin-0.9871; and cortisol-0.9727. Inter-assay variations using a commercially available tri-level control serum were as follows: thyroxine-5.4 to 10.3%; digoxin-3.7 to 6.3%; cortisol-5.2 to 8.4%. The ARIA II is not a discrete analyzer, and an estimate of carryover was significant only on low-to-high for the thyroxine assay. ARIA II assays are approximately one-half the cost of manual assays. Time studies indicate the ARIA II to be most suited to laboratories of low or moderate volume.

Autoanalysis↗

PubMed1981

Mental health and the use of alcohol, tobacco, analgesics and vitamins in a secondary school population.

A survey of mental health in relation to patterns of alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceutical drug use and reducing diets was carried out in six Hobart high schools and matriculation colleges. A response rate of 89% was achieved, yielding a sample of 2,419 teenagers. Psychiatric disorder was assessed by the 60-item General Health Questionnaire. A statistically significant association was found between the probability of psychiatric disturbance and the use of alcohol, cigarettes, analgesics, vitamin supplements and weight-reducing diets.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1981

Social relationships, adversity and neurosis: an analysis of prospective observations.

The effect of deficiencies in social relationships has been studied prospectively in a community sample. In the half who were exposed to the higher level of adversity, these deficiencies explained 30 per cent of the variance in neurotic symptoms four months later. They explained only 4 per cent in those with lower adversity. Contrary to expectation, it was not the lack of relationships, but perception of these as being inadequate under adversity, which had by far the stronger predictive power. This may mean that actual conditions in the immediate social environment are not important for neurosis. Instead, intrapsychic and personality factors may have a much stronger effect.

Humans↗

PubMed1981

The reliability of reports of early separations.

A random sample of adult community residents (n 244) was asked about separations in their childhood. Eight months later, the group was asked the same questions again. Only the death of a parent and the break-up of the parental marriage were reported with high reliability. These events made up one third of all reported separations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

The reliability of reporting adverse experiences.

The reliability of reporting of life-events was examined in 52 subjects attending clinics. An inventory of events and longer-standing difficulties was administered on 2 occasions, 7-14 days apart. High levels of reliability were found for the number of events, the mean score for distress or change over all events, and for the single event with highest score. The reporting of individual events was less reliable: only 70% of those events reported at either interview were reported under the same heading at both interviews. Subjective reactions to events differ in reliability according to the type of response, and they are less reliable for single events than overall. Lastly, the reliability of highly distressing events in fact lower than for the less distressing. These findings point to some of the shortcomings of inventory methods in life-event research.

Female↗

PubMed1980

Measuring social relationships. The Interview Schedule for Social Interaction.

It is generally recognized that social relationships occupy a central position in psychiatry. To examine the role of social relationships in the onset of minor psychiatric morbidity it is necessary to construct an instrument which will meet the need for a valid, reliable and comprehensive index of social relationships. Such an instrument has now been developed and used in a sample of the general population. The Interview Schedule for Social Interaction arose from a research need, and was constructed to assess the availability and perceived adequacy for any individual of a number of facets of social relationships. These consist both of persons and of the provisions obtained through them. Data from a general population sample suggest this instrument to be sufficiently valid and reliable, and also sensitive to predictable variations between sociodemographic groups, to justify its use in clinical and epidemiological studies, both in psychiatry and general medicine.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Personal networks and the schizophrenias.

It is likely that certain elements in the individual's current social environment act causally in the onset of schizophrenia. The construct known as 'social support' has recently been invoked as one such element which, when deficient, may be causal factor. The evidence for this is unsatisfactory and likely to remain so. For clinical purposes, it would be more useful to look at the effect of social relationships in secondary and tertiary prevention.

Humans↗

PubMed1980

A development in social psychiatry. The systematic study of social bonds.

Psychiatric epidemiology has not until now reached the stage at which the individual's immediate social environment can be examined as a principal independent variable. That handicap may now be overcome by a recent development in social psychiatry: the systematic study of social bonds. Work in this area is providing a method for identifying those elements in social relationships which, when deficient, may be causally related to neurosis. There are considerable technical difficulties in teasing apart cause and effect. These can be tackled by designing intervention trials and by fitting structural equation models to longitudinal data. The evidence so far is at least consistent with, but cannot yet prove, the hypothesis that a deficiency in social bonds is a cause of neurosis.

Community Psychiatry↗

PubMed1980

Social relationships, adversity and neurosis: a study of associations in a general population sample.

A standardized study of the point prevalence of non-psychotic disorder was carried out on a systematic sample of Canberra residents (N = 756). Rates were estimated for PSE CATEGO diagnoses and the Index of Definition. The association between neurosis and deficiencies in social relationships was examined, using the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI). An objective measure of exposure to adversity was also obtained at interview. Both attachment and social integration (affectionally close and more diffuse relationships) were found to be negatively associated with neurosis. This association holds in its own right, in addition to an interaction with the load of adversity. The associations are weaker for men. The significance of this work lies in its demonstration of an association between neurosis and the lack of social ties, and in its attempt to obtain a specification of those elements in social relationships which, when deficient, may be associated with neurosis. The direction of causality has now to be investigated.

Australia↗

PubMed1980

Ultrasound as a diagnostic aid in the evaluation of popliteal swelling.

Ultrasound (US), because of its ability to distinguish cystic from solid tissue, is an ideal tool for diagnosing masses in the popliteal fossa. Five cases are presented. Two cases show the typical ultrasound images in the most common popliteal mass, a cyst. A third case significantly points out the necessity of further investigations if the US findings are atypical of a simple cyst and the patient is symptomatic. A fourth case demonstrates that the US image can distinguish an aneurysm of the popliteal artery from a cyst. A fifth case demonstrates that a solid tumor in the popliteal fossa, in contrast to that of a cyst, has a characteristic US image. Ultrasound is a simple, quick, noninvasive outpatient procedure available to almost every physician. In most instances, US appears to be the diagnostic procedure of choice following conventional radiography in the evaluation of swelling in the popliteal fossa.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Psychiatric disorder in Canberra. A standardised study of prevalence.

A standardised survey of prevalence has been carried out in a general population. The epidemiological method employed is innovative in its use of two established instruments, the GHQ and the PSE, harnessed together in a two-phase design. 756 persons were interviewed, giving a response rate of 85% in phase 1. 157 were then interviewed with the PSE in phase 2 within a few days, giving a response rate of 92% in this weighted subsample. The point prevalence of non-psychotic morbidity, based on the distribution of GHQ scores, is higher than elsewhere in Australia, the excess being in Canberra males. The PSE data weighted back to represent the total population, show a distribution of morbidity in women which is remarkably similar to that in the very different population of Camberwell. The overall point prevalence of threshold and definite cases is 9.0% +/- 3.2. Case rates did not vary significantly with age or sex, but were higher in the separated, the single and the widowed. This study represents an advance in the reliable and economical detection of psychiatric morbidity at specified levels of severity in general populations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1979

Types of attempted suicide (parasuicide).

The clinical usefulness of a typology of parasuicide, reported in a previous paper, has been improved. A finer grained classification, using six instead of only three clusters, has proved itself to be clinically highly realistic. By a new method of cluster analysis which examines 80 attributes in each of 350 patients, the following types of parasuicide emerge: (1) operant, not alienated; (2) repeaters; (3) depressed with high life endangerment; (4) operant and alienated; (5) wristcutters; (6) undifferentiated. This more detailed typology may offer some advantages for clinical management and research.

Humans↗

PubMed1979

Length of residence, life change and psychiatric morbidity in an Australian urban population.

A component of a large population study of a random sample of 750 Canberra residents is described, in which length of residence in Canberra is related to the quality and quantity of recent life experiences, and to indices of minor psychiatric morbidity (the General Health Questionnair and the Zung Depression Scale). Life event frequency, but neither measure of morbidity, distinguished between persons with different lengths of residence in Canberra. It can be suggested that a random sample, containing an under-representation of migrants and persons moving from rural to urban environments, in whom the transition in shifting place of residence would be expected to be greatest, is an inappropriate sample to test hypotheses concerning length of residence and psychiatric morbidity, Future studies should give due emphasis to the adequate inclusion of these groups of persons.

Australia↗

PubMed1979

Neurosis and social bonds in an urban population.

The hypothesis that a deficiency in social bonds is a significant causal factor in neurosis was examined in a sample of an urban population (N = 756). The General Health Questionnaire was used as a measure of morbidity while social bonds were measured by the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction. An association was found between neurosis and a deficiency, particularly a perceived deficiency, in social bonds. Attention is now being directed to the interpretation of this association and to establishing the direction of causality.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1978

Social bonds in the epidemiology of neurosis: a preliminary communication.

In a random sample of the general population (N = 142) a strong inverse relationship was found between social bonds and the presence of neurotic symptoms. This association was strongest in the case of close affectional ties. Together, measures of social bonds accounted for 47 per cent of the variance in neurotic symptoms. While there is likely to be contamination between the two sets of variables, and while the data do not indicate the direction of causality, these findings constitute an aetiological lead which should be pursued.

Humans↗

PubMed1977

Do support systems prevent psychiatric disorders?

"Support" is a concept which is widely used by clinicians and laymen. What it consists of, though, is quite unclear. The proposition is examined, that just as certain components of the psychosocial environment are noxious, so other parts may cushion or protect the individual against adversity. Such an hypothesis would go some way towards understanding the sex distribution of neurosis, the active ingredient in Caplan's "psychosocial supplies", the presence for most adults of a principal attachment figure, the cohesion of the social network and the affectional function of the medical consultation. The development of this concept provides a new dimension for research in social psychiatry.

Child Care↗

PubMed1977

Virus-like particles in winter vomiting disease.

In an outbreak of winter vomiting disease affecting both pupils and staff in a primary school, virus-like particles were found in 7 out of 8 faecal specimens examined by electron microscopy. The particles measured 26 nm in diameter and had a buoyant density of 1-38--1-40 g/cm3 in caesium chloride. They could not be cultured in tissue-culture or organ-culture. In immune electron microscopy tests the particles appeared to differ antigenically from the Norwalk and Hawaii agents. Two out of three patients examined more than one month after their illness were still excreting the particles.

Adult↗