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Biomedical subjects

S Page

Publications and source records attributed to S Page.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Binding of plasma proteins to Candida species in vitro.

The ability of purified human albumin, fibrinogen and transferrin to bind to Candida species was measured by immunofluorescence. The proteins all bound with high avidity to germ-tubes formed by Candida albicans, but did not bind to blastospores of C. albicans or other pathogenic Candida species, not even to parent blastospores bearing germ-tubes. The extent of binding of the proteins to C. albicans germ-tubes varied between growth media and from germ-tube to germ-tube. Strains of C. albicans that did not form germ-tubes were incapable of binding any of the proteins. There was evidence that purified fibrinogen bound to germ-tubes with higher avidity than albumin and transferrin. When germ-tubes were treated with whole human plasma or serum, indirect immunofluorescence revealed that proteins were bound all over the surface of C. albicans blastospore-germ-tube units, indicating behaviour different from that seen with the purified proteins tested alone or in mixtures. C. albicans cells grown in the presence of azole antifungal agents bound purified plasma proteins in the same way as cells untreated with the drugs. The results of this study suggest that binding of host proteins to the surface of C. albicans may not be a property related directly to virulence of the fungus in vivo.

Antifungal Agents↗
PubMed1988

Gender role nonconformity and perception of mental illness.

The hypothesis that clinicians' perceptions of psychological maladjustment are related to the deviation of symptoms from prevailing gender role stereotypes was explored. Case history descriptions were sent to a random sample of practicing psychologists. These clinicians viewed female patients with "masculine" symptoms (e.g., alcoholism or antisocial behavior) as more psychologically disturbed than males with the same symptoms; they also perceived male patients with "feminine" symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety) as more psychologically disturbed than their female counterparts. Significant main effects for psychologists' sex were found for both the perceived usefulness of drug treatment and prognostic outlook ratings.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1988

Managing the unit's finances on the one hand.

Perhaps it is too early to draw any conclusions on the emerging finance presence at unit level. On the one hand Stuart Page has yet to find a unit general manager who is in the slightest critical of his financial adviser. . . but on the other there is still a very mixed feeling amongst his treasurer colleagues at district level.

Accounting↗
PubMed1986

Skin blood flow measurement with xenon-133 to predict healing of lower extremity amputations.

Many techniques have been proposed to help the surgeon select the most distal amputation level that will heal. Skin blood flow measurement with xenon-133 (133Xe) is one of the best documented predictors of amputation healing, but the lowest flow consistent with healing has not been agreed upon. Our early experience with the method is reported. Skin blood flow was measured in 16 patients undergoing 17 lower extremity amputations. Twelve amputations healed (mean skin blood flow 3.69 +/- 2.73 ml/100 g of tissue/min) and five failed (mean skin blood flow 0.80 +/- 0.61 ml/100 g of tissue/min) (P less than 0.05). No amputation healed if the skin blood flow was less than 1.0 ml/100 g of tissue/min. A skin blood flow above 1 ml/100 g of tissue/min, measured with 133Xe, may be a useful guide to the level at which to amputate while minimizing unnecessary proximal amputation, but the method requires further prospective evaluation.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Portrayal of mental illness in Canadian newspapers.

The present article reports results from a content analysis of 103 newspaper reports taken from eight major Canadian newspapers, and selected at random from the Canadian Newspaper Index. The portrayal of mental illness and mentally ill persons in these reports was compared with that in samples of articles taken from two comparison mental health publications not receiving popular circulation. As compared with these latter publications, the content analysis indicated that the newspapers portrayed mental illness and the mentally ill in a manner which could be described as essentially pejorative, thus seeming to support frequent observations and complaints from the mental health establishment about inadequate or unfair coverage of mental illness in the popular print media. At the same time, the newspaper medium appeared to present more favourable images of nontraditional (example: community-based) mental health practices, than of traditional (example: hospital-based) practices. Implications of such results for the attitudes and beliefs of the general public vis-à-vis mental illness are offered, with special reference to the influence of the print media.

Attitude↗
PubMed1985

Conception of male and female homosexual stereotypes among university undergraduates.

Following the procedure used by Broverman, Broverman, Clarkson, Rosenkrantz, & Vogel (1970), male and female undergraduates described a male homosexual, lesbian, and normal adult in terms of 41 adjective rating scales, each scale having a masculine and a feminine pole. Results indicated that compared to ratings of the normal adult, the male homosexual was viewed unfavorably and was significantly different from "normality" on 27 scales. Ratings of the lesbian were closer to those for the normal adult, although significant differences appeared on 11 scales. Ratings for the lesbian differed significantly from those for the male homosexual on 20 scales. On all but two scales, lesbian ratings were closer to the more favorable pole than were male homosexual ratings. The position seems supported that male gender nonconformity is viewed more seriously than female gender nonconformity.

Female↗
PubMed1982

Psychologist and physician diagnoses of hospitalized patients with similar MMPI symptomatology.

MMPI profiles, including L, K, and F validity scale data, were examined for 40 hospitalized psychiatric patients, for whom diagnoses from both psychologists and physicians were available. Comparison of diagnostic patterns of the same patients, especially for diagnoses of Personality Disorders and Schizophrenics, showed relatively little agreement between disciplines. Discriminant function analyses showed also that each discipline weighted MMPI scales differently in determining diagnosis, even though the scale profiles for each patient in the sample were essentially identical. The MMPI seemingly played a nonsignificant role in determining a set of inconsistently applied diagnoses.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1981

Analysis of caffeine action in single trabeculae of the frog heart.

Effects of caffeine on contractile tension and on intracellular action and resting potentials were examined in single frog heart trabeculae suspended in a rapid perfusion chamber. Trabeculae from atria responded more readily than those from ventricles and were therefore studied in greater detail. Both the contracture and twitch responses, the one obtained at high (greater than or equal to 10mM), the other at low (less than or equal to 10mM) caffeine concentrations, consisted of a transient tension rise followed by a maintained phase of lower, but still enhanced, tension. The hypothesis was tested that the transient response is due to the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (s.r.) whereas the maintained tension results from enhanced calcium influx through the cell surface. Support for these ideas was obtained by examining the response to step changes of external calcium and caffeine concentrations, applied in various combinations, simultaneously and in sequence. It also emerged tht the effects on twitch tension of calcium derived from (a) s.r. discharge and (b) influx are additive, to a first approximation. A test procedure for monitoring the s.r. store content was evolved to follow the accumulation of s.r. calcium after a preceding depletion. The results obtained, and others, suggest that the s.r. calcium pump can be operative in atrial heart cells and capable, after store depletion, of reabsorbing up to some 40% of calcium activating a twitch, the remainder being, presumably, extruded from the cells.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1981

Two physiological agents that appear to facilitate calcium discharge from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in frog heart cells: adrenalin an ATP.

The alpha-adrenergic effect of adrenalin and the action of ATP and other nucleotides have been examined in single trabeculae of frog heart by means of procedures developed in the preceding paper (Niedergerke & Page 1981). The results suggest that both adrenalin and ATP are able, in conjunction with the action potential, to facilitate the discharge of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in at least some of the cardiac cells. As a result, the strength of the twitch is enhanced. As shown previously for the action of caffeine, this calcium discharge was not maintained, declining rapidly, together with the twitch tension, as the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium store became depleted. Trabeculae from atrium and ventricle differed in their propensity to respond to these two substances. Thus, alpha-adrenergic responses were obtained in some 30% of the atrial, but in none of the ventricular, trabeculae examined. On the other hand, both kinds of trabecula gave ATP responses, but these tended to be weaker and required higher concentrations in ventricle than atrium. The possibility that the two responses are of physiological importance is suggested by the low concentrations (less than or equal to 5 x 10(-7)M) needed to produce large tension increases. A tentative hypothesis is advanced according to which alpha-catecholamine and ATP effects participate in circulatory control by initiating a rapid boost of cardiac pump activity, preparatory to the slower but better maintained beta-catecholamine action.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1980

Social responsiveness toward mental patients: the general public and others.

The present study investigated the social responsiveness of the general public, and of psychiatric hospital staff, using Milgram's (1969) lost-letter technique. The public did not return fewer (or more) letters believed to be addressed to mental patients. Highest return rates were observed when personal costs to the finder were negligible. Psychiatric staff returned significantly fewer letters than did the general public. Other research, and implications of the findings, are outlined.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1980

New civil commitment legislation. The relevance of commitment "criteria".

Following categorization procedures used in previous studies samples of 75 and 62 involuntary admissions. Form 3s and applications from assessment respectively (1978 Mental Health Act), were examined. There occurred a significant decline in civil commitments (Form 3s) in the 8-month period subsequent to, as compared to the 6-month period preceding, the revised legislation. This decline, however, occurred only when data for assessment applications were omitted from analysis. Operating criteria for civil commitment, as determined from certificate analyses, showed no substantive changes as compated to those found in previous studies of then-current legislation. Some interpretation and discussion of such findings are presented. More research is required to assess further the reality and nature of effects generated by the new law. A salutory feature of the law is that review of psychiatric assessments, at or within a 5-day period after admission, is correlated with a change to voluntary status in most cases. The exact meaning of this and of other specific effects await further study.

Civil Rights↗
PubMed1979

Civil commitment practices in 1977: troubled semantics and/or troubled psychiatry.

This paper examines the practice of involuntary mental hospitalization through examination of criteria used for committment in a sample of 200 civil commitment certificates. Special reference is made, following previous research, to criteria used to describe the person deemed dangerous to himself or to others. The relevance of the findings of present practices in mental health is discussed. New procedures which facilitate presentation of factual evidence, and which eliminate gratuitous information, are required without delay.

Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders↗