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Biomedical subjects

S Mason

Publications and source records attributed to S Mason.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Young, scarred children and their mothers--a short-term investigation into the practical, psychological and social implications of thermal injury to the preschool child. Part II: implications for the child.

A short-term, prospective study, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, was designed to determine the practical, psychological and social implications of thermal injury resulting in scarring for children under 5 years of age, during the 6 months following the child's discharge from hospital. Mothers of 57 children (whose thermal injuries ranged from 1 to 41 per cent of body surface area and who all required skin grafting) were interviewed whilst the child was in hospital and at home, at 1 week, 2 months and 6 months following hospital discharge. From the mothers' descriptions, four categories of child behavioural response to thermal injury and hospitalization were identified. In the first week after discharge from the burns unit, 56 per cent (32/57) of children displayed minor or major disturbed behaviour, which had reduced to 19.3 per cent (11/57) by the 6-month interview. There were many reported physical and practical problems associated with the thermal injury and after-care. The MacGregor Deformity Scale was employed to assess the child's appearance. The child behaviour test scores (S. Jenkins et al. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatr. 1980; 21: 5; N. Richman et al. Pre-school to School-A Behavioural Study. 1982; Academic) demonstrated a similar progression of behavioural responses as the qualitative data, and, furthermore, indicated that the children under 2 years of age seemed to be affected for a more prolonged period.

Burns↗
PubMed1993

Young, scarred children and their mothers--a short-term investigation into the practical, psychological and social implications of thermal injury to the preschool child. Part III: Factors influencing outcome responses.

The thermal injury, personal and social factors affecting the short-term outcome responses of thermally injured children under 5 years of age and their mothers are reported. Statistical analysis of factors influencing the mother and child outcome responses uses data from serial interviews with mothers of 57 thermally injured children which took place whilst the child was in hospital, and at home, at 1 week, 2 months and 6 months following hospital discharge. A relationship was found between the child's behaviour and the mother's outcome response at 6 months. Essentially, for the mother, the qualitative outcome response of the Maternal Thermal Injury Response Pattern was associated with the severity of the child's thermal injury and the quantitative General Health Questionnaire scores were associated with a previous tendency to depression and increased stress on the mother existing prior to the accident. For the child, no thermal injury factor appeared to affect behavioural outcome. The child was disturbed behaviour following a thermal injury, however, was more likely to have a mother with a history of depression, and added stress (lower socioeconomic status, and additional worries) and have a mother who was blamed for the accident. Thus, mothers whose child has a more severe thermal injury will take longer to come to terms with it ('rationalize' the thermal injury) and those mothers who were most stressed prior to the accident and who had a previous tendency to depression, will have more psychiatric morbidity (a higher GHQ score) as a result. Both these groups will require particular support.

Burns↗
PubMed1992

Improving the ergonomics of British Coal's mining machinery.

British Coal Corporation now require ergonomics evaluations to be undertaken on many major items of underground machinery before they are approved for use underground. Ergonomists must therefore be able to provide a service to the industry which is both consistent and reliable. It is especially important where an ergonomics evaluation could influence the purchasing decision on machines which can cost up to pound sterling 2m, that the ergonomist's conclusions/recommendations accurately reflect design issues which have both safety and performance implications. The conclusions must be consistent across assessors and over extended time periods. Ergonomists should also be able to provide designers with the detailed criteria on which their machines are assessed. The Bretby Operability Index was developed to achieve these requirements and it complements ergonomic design guidelines which have previously been developed to help ensure that ergonomics is also taken into consideration early in the design process.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Evaluation of tartar control dentifrices in in vitro models of dentin sensitivity.

The effects of anticalculus dentifrices were compared with other commercially available dentifrices in in vitro models of dentin sensitivity. Changes in the hydraulic conductance of dentin discs were measured with and without a smear layer before and after treatment and also after a post-treatment acid etch. The capacity of dentifrices to occlude open dentinal tubules in vitro was also assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). There was good correlation (R = 0.98) between our test and values reported in the literature. Tartar control dentifrices gave reductions in fluid flow rates through the dentin discs comparable to those obtained with Promise, Sensodyne, Thermodent and Denquel. Additionally, tartar control dentifrices did not remove microcrystalline debris (smear layers) from the surfaces of dentin in vitro. These results were confirmed by SEM. Thus, according to the hydrodynamic theory of dentin sensitivity, these in vitro results suggest that pyrophosphate-containing dentifrices should reduce dentinal sensitivity.

Dental Calculus↗
PubMed1990

Improving plant and machinery maintainability.

The maintenance of plant and equipment is costly and can be arduous and hazardous; and yet very little ergonomics attention has been directed to these jobs and, in particular, to designing machines to be safely and speedily maintained. A new maintainability index has been developed and assessed in the UK mining industry. By applying the index the attention of ergonomists and engineers can be focused on those maintenance tasks and ergonomics factors which score high on safety and performance. Improved designs can then be synthesized using the index and assessed for their impact on machine availability. The index can also be used in product selection.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1987

Protein turnover in subcellular fractions of brain from the ethanol-fed rat.

The effect of ethanol consumption (27% of energy intake) for 21 days, on protein synthesis and degradation in subcellular fractions of rat brain was investigated using the Na2(14)CO3 labelling procedure. Ethanol administration elicited an increase in the rate of protein synthesis in all fractions which was accompanied by an increase of similar magnitude in the rate of breakdown. These results imply that whilst ethanol increases the rate of protein turnover it is without effect on the rate of protein accretion.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Ethanol and leucine oxidation--III. Leucine oxidation by rat heart in vitro.

The activities of leucine aminotransferase (BCAT) and 2-oxoisocaproate dehydrogenase (OADH) were measured in rat heart in vitro. The effect upon these enzyme activities of both ethanol and acetaldehyde, administered either acutely or chronically, was determined. Enzyme activities were not significantly altered by either acetaldehyde or ethanol when given chronically. Ethanol administered acutely to rats decreased OADH activity but BCAT was unaffected. Acetaldehyde administered acutely did not alter significantly BCAT activity but significantly increased OADH activity.

3-Methyl-2-Oxobutanoate Dehydrogenase (Lipoamide)↗
PubMed1985

Ethanol and leucine oxidation--II. Leucine oxidation by rat tissue in vitro.

The effect of ethanol upon leucine oxidation by rat tissues in vitro is reported. The activities of branched chain amino acid aminotransferase and 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase were decreased by chronic administration of ethanol (20% v/v solution as drinking water for 35 d) in muscle and kidney but were increased, although not significantly, in liver. Acute administration of ethanol (8 g kg-1 body-weight 0.73) did not affect enzyme activities. Tissue NAD+:NADH ratios, calculated from lactate:pyruvate ratios, were significantly decreased in the liver and kidney of rats receiving ethanol acutely. These data are consistent with the view that ethanol decreases leucine oxidation by decreasing availability of NAD+ when given acutely and by decreasing enzyme activity when administered chronically.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

A radiochemical method for determination of ethanol oxidation.

A radiochemical method for the measurement of ethanol oxidation by tissue preparations is described. Ethanol oxidation is determined from the production of [14C]acetaldehyde, quantified as the semicarbazone derivative, from [1-14C]ethanol. The assay is quantitative, reproducible and highly correlated with the NADH-enzymic-spectrophotometric procedure.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Design aids for designers: an effective role for ergonomics.

The paper describes, with examples taken from the mining industry, the role of ergonomics in providing design aids for designers. The examples cover: (a) The provision of ergonomics design guidelines for families of machines; (b) The use of subjective assessment by expert panels to evaluate alternative solutions to development proposals; (c) The development of a computer-based simulation which produces multiple activity charts for the evaluation of the performance potential of new coal face designs. It is suggested that ergonomics specifically directed to the provision of design aids for designers may be one of the most fruitful approaches available to ensure a wider implementation of ergonomics knowledge and practice.

Journal Article↗