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Biomedical subjects

S Moss

Publications and source records attributed to S Moss.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Demographic characteristics of a population of people with moderate, severe and profound intellectual disability (mental handicap) over 50 years of age: age structure, IQ and adaptive skills.

Studies characterizing community populations of older people with intellectual disability (mental handicap) have frequently derived data from mental handicap registers. Such large-scale studies permit the establishment of reliable age trends, yet may utilize unreliable information and omit some individuals. Here, a functional characterization of a 50+ years sample with moderate, severe and profound intellectual disability is described, in which an extensive outreach exercise to identify individuals not known to mental handicap service providers ensured that almost 100% of people fulfilling the residence, age and ability criteria were included. Functional level, assessed by the Adaptive Behaviour Scale (ABS), is reported in relation to six factors derived from factor analysis. Overall, the sample was relatively high functioning and generally free of severe problem behaviours. There was no evidence for significant age-related functional decline.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1992

Suppression of Helicobacter pylori reduces gastrin releasing peptide stimulated gastrin release in duodenal ulcer patients.

Helicobacter pylori increases gastrin release in duodenal ulcer patients. This may be through disruption or changes in the mucus layer affecting the access of luminal stimulants to gastrin releasing cells. The effect of suppressing H pylori on gastrin release stimulated by a non-luminal stimulus, gastrin releasing peptide (GRP), was examined. Eleven patients with active duodenal ulcer disease and colonised with H pylori received an intravenous infusion of GRP (2.9 pmol/kg/minute for 30 minutes) and the plasma gastrin response was measured. Basal and peak pentagastrin stimulated acid output were also determined. Patients were treated with tripotassium dicitratobismuthate (De-Nol) and metronidazole to suppress H pylori and the tests were repeated. Suppression of H pylori decreased plasma gastrin concentrations during GRP infusion, but acid output was not affected. Chromatographic analysis of the forms of gastrin in plasma showed a significant fall in gastrin 17, the predominant form found in the gastric antrum. Gastrin 34 did not fall significantly. This study shows that suppression of H pylori decreases the hypergastrinaemia caused by the nonluminal stimulant, GRP, mainly via decreasing gastrin 17.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Addisonian crisis presenting with a normal short tetracosactrin stimulation test.

We report the case of a 70 year old man who presented with physical and biochemical features suggestive of Addison's disease, but had a normal short tetracosactrin (Synacthen) test. Six months later he re-presented with similar clinical features but with an abnormal response to tetracosactrin confirming the diagnosis of Addison's disease. We recommend that if adrenal insufficiency is strongly suggested further investigation should be performed to exclude this diagnosis.

Addison Disease↗
PubMed1991

Verification of the cause of death in the trial of early detection of breast cancer. UK Trial of Early Detection of Breast Cancer Group. Trial Co-ordinating Centre.

The limitations of case review as a means of identifying errors in death certificates among breast cancer patients in a non-randomised trial of screening are illustrated by the findings of this large study. Records of 928 out of 990 deaths were available for review but were very variable in quality. Definite errors were found in 1%, errors were suspected in a further 5% and uncertainty about the cause of death, despite review, was recorded for 27%. The overall bias in reporting breast cancer deaths was less than 1%. It was concluded that the certified underlying cause of death without review provides an adequate endpoint for evaluating breast cancer screening programmes in the UK.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Follow-up of patients and partners experiencing penile prosthesis malfunction and corrective surgery.

An interview study is reported involving 14 men who had experienced at least one penile prosthesis malfunction and corrective surgery. Six partners were interviewed separately. The results indicated a broad range of coping patterns in terms of fears and disappointments, but an overall outcome of six cases very satisfactory, five satisfactory despite various worries or complaints, and three unsatisfactory. The discussion emphasizes coping, doctor-patient communication, and difficulties in predicting long-term outcome in these cases.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

The maintenance of psychotherapy skill acquisition: a two-year follow-up.

A two-year follow-up study investigated changes in interview behaviour of 11 therapists who had previously been trained in the conversational model of psychotherapy by a combined videotaped microteaching and supervision package. Results generally showed the acquired skills had been well maintained. However, there was a large increase in the giving of information and explanation, a behaviour explicitly discouraged within the conversational model. In addition, the response to verbal cues, a positive model behaviour, decreased over the follow-up period.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1991

Factors determining recall of examination results in diabetic population.

OBJECTIVE: To determine factors influencing recall of examination results after 4 yr. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: At two examinations that were 4 yr apart, a diabetic population was asked, "Have you been told that your diabetes has affected the back of your eyes, that is the retina?" Participants were informed by letter whether they had retinopathy. Subjects in this study included younger-onset (n = 311) and older-onset (n = 279) diabetic subjects who had retinopathy at baseline and did not know it. RESULTS: Forty-two percent of younger-onset and 29% of older-onset subjects recalled at follow-up that they had been told their diabetes had affected their eyes. People in both groups were more likely to recall they had retinopathy if they had more severe retinopathy, had more symptoms of neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease, had seen an ophthalmologist within 2 yr, or monitored their blood glucose more often. In addition, younger-onset diabetic subjects with poorer visual acuity or who were on a combination insulin regimen and older-onset people taking insulin, having more education, or who were younger were more likely to recall they had retinopathy. Factors not associated with recall in either group included sex, duration of diabetes, proteinuria, glycosylated hemoglobin, and family income. CONCLUSIONS: These results underscore the need to develop better methods to deliver health-care information to people who have diabetes.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Some cellular and molecular characteristics of high and low tumorigenicity variants of polyoma-virus transformed cells.

We analyzed several cellular and molecular properties of BALB/c 3T3 cellular clones transformed in vitro with polyoma virus and exhibiting a high or low tumorigenicity phenotype. We also analyzed the same clones after a single in vivo passage in syngeneic mice. This passage invariably induced and/or selected variants exhibiting a very high tumorigenicity phenotype. BALB/c mice bearing tumors induced by the inoculation of the above cells, regardless of their tumorigenicity phenotype, have a lower number of L3T4 positive splenocytes than appropriate controls. The response to Con-A of spleen cells from such mice was also suppressed. Concomitantly, an increase in Mac-1 positive splenocytes could be measured. In spite of the non-specific suppression of T cells, spleen cells from tumor-bearers showed a specific proliferative response to polyoma antigens. Molecular analysis of polyoma transformed cells showed no differences between the various cells with respect to integration of the polyoma viral genes or with respect to src, myc and fos proto-oncogenes. In vitro maintained cells and in vivo passaged cells seemed to differ, however, in the content of polyoma middle T. Whereas polyoma virus transformed cells maintained only in culture never expressed low affinity receptors for IgG (Fc gamma RII), certain in vivo passaged cells did. This expression could be measured both at the protein and the mRNA level. Those in vivo passaged cells which expressed F alpha RII gave tumors following a long latency period. Ongoing experiments will indicate whether or not Fc gamma RII expression is linked to long latency of tumor development.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Mutation of the p53 gene in human soft tissue sarcomas: association with abnormalities of the RB1 gene.

Soft tissue sarcomas have been examined for alterations in the p53 gene. In six sarcomas, loss or rearrangement of both alleles of this gene was detected while in a further seven sarcomas, point mutation or absence of transcription of the p53 gene was observed. Abnormalities of the p53 gene were found in several classes of soft tissue sarcoma, including leiomyosarcomas, rhabdomyosarcomas and malignant fibrous histiocytomas. Our studies also show that abnormalities of the RB1 suppressor gene and of the p53 gene frequently occur together. These results are consistent with the idea that the p53 gene is a tumour suppressor gene and indicate that coincident inactivation of more than one tumour suppressor gene may, in some cases, be required for tumour development.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Psychiatric morbidity associated with screening for breast cancer.

The 28-item GHQ was used to assess psychiatric morbidity in 302 women attending for routine breast cancer screening, 300 women attending for further investigation of a positive screening result and 150 women referred for investigation of breast symptoms. The GHQ-28 was administered on arrival at the relevant clinic and three months later. Medical records were used to determine the outcome of the clinic attendance. Women were classified into routinely screened women, women with false positive screening results, symptomatic women with a benign diagnosis, newly diagnosed cancer patients and previously treated cancer patients. When tested on arrival at the clinic, 25% of routinely screened, 30% of women with false positive results and 35% of symptomatic women with benign conditions were probable cases of psychiatric morbidity. The only statistically significant difference was between the routinely screened and symptomatic benign groups. Levels of anxiety were significantly higher in those with false positive results and in the symptomatic benign group than in the routinely screened. Three months later the prevalence of probable psychiatric morbidity had fallen to 19% in both the routinely screened and those with false positive results but remained significantly higher in the symptomatic benign group (31%). Probable cases of psychiatric morbidity among newly detected cancer patients rose from 34 to 46% over the 3-month period. Among women who had had breast cancer diagnosed in the past prevalence remained at 21%. The prevalence of probable psychiatric morbidity in screened women is similar to that in the general population. Among women referred for further investigation because of a false positive screening result prevalence was only slightly increased and there was no evidence of a sustained increase in anxiety. Provided that delays are kept to a minimum and that women are kept informed, a breast cancer screening programme does not increase psychiatric morbidity. Further research is required in cancer patients to determine whether those diagnosed in asymptomatic women have a higher and more sustained degree of psychiatric morbidity than those diagnosed in women who are aware of symptoms.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Effect of music tempo on task performance.

Two studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of music tempo on task performance. In Study 1, 44 undergraduate business students were asked to be "workers" in a stock market project by collecting closing stock prices and calculating the percentage of change in the price from week to week. Subjects were randomly divided into groups such that they either listened to fast-paced music while they worked, to slow-paced music, or to no music. Analyses of variance and covariance were conducted on both the quantity and quality of the subjects' work, using music listening habits as a covariate. There were no differences in either the quantity or quality of the work produced by the groups. There were some methodological concerns regarding Study 1, so a second study was conducted. The 70 undergraduate business students in Study 2 completed the same task under the same music conditions as in Study 1. Analyses of variance indicated women performed significantly better than men, performance was significantly higher in the rock condition than in the heartbeat condition, and subjects in the rock condition had a significantly higher perceived level of distraction by the music.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Proteinuria in diabetes.

In a population-based study in southern Wisconsin, 1370 diabetic persons diagnosed after 29 years of age were examined using standard protocols to determine the prevalence of proteinuria and associated risk variables. Proteinuria (greater than or equal to 0.30 g/L) was present in 18.0% of persons taking insulin and 12.2% of the persons not taking insulin. Proliferative retinopathy and proteinuria were associated with each other. Proteinuria was also associated with increasing duration of diabetes, high systolic blood pressure, use of digoxin, and being male, but not with a history of cigarette smoking or metabolic control as measured by glycosylated hemoglobin.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

GABA receptors induced in Xenopus oocytes by chick brain mRNA: evaluation of TBPS as a use-dependent channel-blocker.

Sensitivity to GABA was induced in Xenopus laevis oocytes by injection of poly(A)+ mRNA extracted from 19-day chick embryo brain. The effect of the convulsant drug t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate (TBPS) was studied on the responses to bath-applied GABA using voltage-clamp techniques. TBPS reversibly inhibited the GABA-evoked current (IGABA) in a dose-dependent manner; however, the chloride currents evoked by carbachol or serotonin, or the spontaneous chloride fluctuations, were unaffected. The onset of the block by TBPS was faster in the presence of GABA. The recovery from the block after TBPS wash-out was also agonist-stimulated. At the steady state block, TBPS showed a mixed type of inhibition: increasing the GABA concentration decreased but failed to abolish completely the inhibition by TBPS. The TBPS block was independent of the direction of the chloride flow: both inward and outward IGABA were blocked. The time course of the decay of IGABA was markedly changed in the presence of TBPS: above 40 microM GABA, this time course showed essentially two exponentials and TBPS abolished only the fast component, whereas at a low concentration (less than or equal to 4 microM), IGABA was relatively constant and uniformly reduced by TBPS. It is suggested that TBPS may stabilize a closed form of the liganded receptor-channel complex.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Calculation of sample size in trials of screening for early diagnosis of disease.

The calculation of the sample sizes required for trials of screening for disease with the aim of reducing mortality involves the estimation of both the mortality in the control group at intervals after the start of the trial, and the potential reduction due to screening. Since at the start of a screening trial the population is selected to be free of the disease in question, the mortality rate in the control group will differ from that in the general population. A method of estimating this mortality rate using published incidence and survival data is described. The expected reduction in mortality due to screening depends both on the number of, and intervals between, screens and on parameters concerning the natural history of the disease; the means by which these parameters can be estimated are discussed. A trial of screening for colorectal cancer by a faecal occult blood test is used to illustrate these calculations.

Epidemiologic Methods↗
PubMed1986

A phase I/II investigation of trioxifene mesylate in advanced breast cancer. Clinical and endocrinologic effects.

Tamoxifen and trioxifene are antiestrogens that appear to have different endocrine effects when tested in rats. Whereas tamoxifen has considerable clinical activity, trioxifene is a new antiestrogen with undefined clinical activity. Thirty-six patients were treated with graded doses of trioxifene. The low-dose group (0.5 to 12 mg/m2 twice daily) had a 21% response rate in 24 subjects, and the high-dose group (40 to 100 mg/m2 twice daily) had a 33% response rate in 12 patients (P = 0.13). The time to treatment failure was 67 days and 178 days for the low- and high-dose groups, respectively. Toxicities were non-dose dependent; those of moderate frequency included leukopenia (41%) and nausea (31%). Tamoxifen reduced both prolactin and inducible growth hormone (GH). Trioxifene, although reducing prolactin, differed from tamoxifen in that an increase in inducible GH occurred. Furthermore, a striking dose-dependent decrease in luteinizing hormone and lesser decrease in follicle-stimulating hormone occurred only in the trioxifene-treated patients. This implies an intrinsic estrogenic action of trioxifene in man. Trioxifene is no more efficacious than tamoxifen and has more toxicity.

Antineoplastic Agents↗