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Biomedical subjects

T Berry

Publications and source records attributed to T Berry.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Assessing believable deficits on measures of attention and information processing capacity.

The vulnerability of tests of sustained attention and speed of processing to faked deficits was evaluated by comparing the performances of normal controls, healthy subjects asked to simulate deficits, and patients with closed head injury on a simple auditory reaction-time task and on the PASAT. The results revealed that persons attempting to feign the effects of brain injury perform more poorly than non-malingerers on a simple reaction-time task and the PASAT. The reaction-time task, however, proved more effective than the PASAT at detecting dissimulation, accurately classifying about 76% of the subjects. This value reflects a respectable hit rate for three-group classification.

Journal Article↗

Maternal prevalence of Toxoplasma antibody based on anonymous neonatal serosurvey: a geographical analysis.

A total of 12,902 neonatal samples collected on absorbent paper for routine metabolic screening were tested anonymously for antibodies to toxoplasma. Seroprevalence varied from 19.5% in inner London, to 11.6% in suburban London, and 7.6% in non-metropolitan districts. Much of this variation appeared to be associated with the proportions of livebirths in each district to women born outside the UK. However, additional geographical variation remained and seroprevalence in UK-born women was estimated to be 12.7% in inner London, 7.5% in suburban London, and 5.5% in non-metropolitan areas. These estimates are considerably lower than any previously reported in antenatal sera in the UK. The wide geographical variation highlights a need for further research to determine the relative importance of different routes of transmission.

Antibodies, Protozoan↗

Postcementation marginal fit of a new ceramic foil crown system.

The in vitro marginal fit of a new foil crown was investigated. Ten standardized polycarbonate master dies filled with 30 wt% carbon having a 90-degree butt joint margin were used to evaluate the marginal fit of Sunrise porcelain foil crowns. The crown specimens were made on stone dies and treated with three coats of die spacer. After fabrication, they were adjusted, cemented with zinc phosphate cement to their respective master dies with 5 kg loading for 10 minutes and stored in water. A Gaertner traveling microscope was used to measure the marginal fit of each specimen. Readings were recorded at five locations randomly marked but equally dividing the margin on each crown, and the overall mean for the crowns was then calculated. The results from the 50 areas revealed a mean marginal discrepancy of 25.3 microns, and this compared favorably with the discrepancies reported for other ceramic crown systems.

Crowns↗

Two methods for assessing the risk-factor composition of the HIV-1 epidemic in heterosexual women: southeast England, 1988-1991.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of HIV-1 in the heterosexual population in southeast England between 1988 and 1991 was examined using two methods. DESIGN AND METHODS: First, district neonatal seroprevalence was compared on a geographical basis to social and demographic variables reflecting risk-factor prevalence. Second, over the same period eight children who developed AIDS within the first 12 months of life were born. RESULTS: The differences in seroprevalence between districts could be explained by the proportion of livebirths to women born in parts of Africa. An estimated 92% of neonatal seropositives could be associated with this demographic variable. The proportions of livebirths to women born in other countries, the prevalence of notified injecting drug use, and area measures of social deprivation, were only poorly related to HIV seroprevalence, and had no additional explanatory value. Seven of the eight (87.5%) children who developed AIDS in the first year were born to black women from Africa. CONCLUSIONS: Both methods suggest that a high proportion of heterosexually transmitted HIV in southeast England has been imported.

Adult↗

A Role for the Surrounding Fruit Tissues in Preventing the Germination of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Seeds : A Consideration of the Osmotic Environment and Abscisic Acid.

During tomato seed development the endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) concentration peaks at about 50 d after pollination (DAP) and then declines at later stages (60-70 DAP) of maturation. The ABA concentration in the sheath tissue immediately surrounding the seed increases with time of development, whereas that of the locule declines. The water contents of the seed and fruit tissues are similar during early development (20-30 DAP), but decline in the seed tissues between 30 and 40 DAP. The water potential and the osmotic potential of the embryo are lower than that of the locular tissue after 35 DAP also. Seeds removed from the fruit at 30, 35, and 60 DAP and placed ex situ on 35 and 60 DAP sheath and locular tissue are prevented from germinating. Development of 30 DAP seeds is maintained or promoted by the ex situ fruit tissue with which they are in contact. Their germination is inhibited until subsequent transfer to water, and germination is normal, i.e. by radicle protrusion, and viable seedlings are produced, compared with 30 DAP seeds transferred directly to water; more of these seeds germinate, but by hypocotyl extension, and seedling viability is very poor. Isolated seeds at 35 and 60 DAP re-placed in contact with fruit tissues only germinate when transferred to water after 7 d. At 30 DAP, isolated seeds are insensitive to ABA at physiological concentrations in that they germinate as if on water, albeit by hypocotyl extension. At higher concentrations germination occurs by radicle protrusion. Osmoticum prevents germination, but there is some recovery upon subsequent transfer to water. Seeds at 35 DAP are very sensitive to ABA and exhibit little or no germination, even upon transfer to water. The response of the isolated seeds to osmoticum more closely approximates that to incubation on the ex situ fruit tissues than does their response to ABA. This is also the case for isolated 60 DAP seeds, whose germination is not prevented by ABA, but only by the osmoticum; these seeds are inhibited when in contact with ex situ fruit tissues also. It is proposed that the osmotic environment within the tissues of the tomato fruit plays a greater role than endogenous ABA in preventing precocious germination of the developing seeds.

Journal Article↗

A new era. Healing the injuries we have inflicted on our planet.

The health of the earth is essential for the well-being of every living creature on the planet; however, our plundering industrial economy has disrupted the earth's biosystems. Such neglect can no longer be accepted. Medicine is in the same situation as the entire range of human activities: All must find a way to exist in harmony with the natural world. We have been so caught up in our scientific capacity to alter the natural world that we have ignored its most basic structure. We must, therefore, enter a new era-the "Ecozoic" era, a period when humans would live on the earth in a mutually enhancing manner. This transition will require changes at a most profound level in human activity. Three principles form the basis for the Ecozoic era: Humans must recognize the universe as a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects. The earth is primary; humans are derivative. The planet will never again function as it has in the past. To enter the Ecozoic era, humans need sciences that create a new way of understanding the natural world as possessing its own unique spontaneities. Especially needed are biological sciences that have a "feel for the organism." This move from anthropology to "earthology" and cosmology is a comprehensive challenge to all our professions.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗

Prevalence of maternal HIV-1 infection in Thames regions: results from anonymous unlinked neonatal testing.

To monitor the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the heterosexual population, residues of blood samples collected routinely on absorbent paper for neonatal screening (Guthrie cards) in NE, NW, and SW Thames Regions in England have been tested for antibodies to HIV-1 since June, 1988. 323,369 dried blood spots were analysed to end March, 1991. Prevalence of anti-HIV-1 in newborn babies has remained stable in outer London and non-metropolitan districts whereas prevalence in inner London has increased from 1 in 2000 in the 12 months beginning June, 1988, to 1 in 500 in the first 3 months of 1991. Either exponential or linear growth in the numbers of new seropositives could account for the results. That obstetricians were aware of maternal HIV infection in only 20% of infected pregnancies, indicates the extent to which HIV infection goes unrecognised in the heterosexual community.

Confidentiality↗

Effect of fitting adjustments on compressive strength of a new foil crown system.

The effect of die spacing and precementation internal adjustments on the compressive strength of a new ceramic foil crown system was examined in vitro. Twenty-four ceramic foil crowns were made for identical stylized master dies made of polycarbonate filled with 30 wt% carbon. One half of the stone working dies were coated with die spacer and the remaining were left untreated. A special foil used for these crowns was adapted to the working dies under 2500 psi loading. A sculpturing device was used to standardize the size and shape of the ceramic foil crowns. Only crowns made on dies coated with die spacer received precementation fitting adjustment. All crowns in the two groups were cemented with zinc phosphate cement and were subjected to compressive force until fracture occurred. Compressive strength data were analyzed and compared. Results showed that the use of die spacer and internal adjustments increased the compressive strength of the new ceramic foil crown.

Crowns↗

Transmediastinal repair of complex coarctation and interrupted aortic arch.

In the past 2 years, eight patients have had repair of coarctation of the aorta or interrupted aortic arch along with an intracardiac procedure performed through a simple midsternotomy. Five underwent total repair and three had palliation for the intracardiac lesion. Four patients did well (including one who required a resection for recoarctation), two died intraoperatively, and two died postoperatively (11 and 21 days), one of them from clostridial sepsis and the other from cerebral anoxia that followed a cardiac arrest precipitated by a massive hemoptysis. We found that with this approach the aortic obstruction could be readily relieved and the intracardiac procedure carried out. Since the majority of these patients have compromised hemodynamic status, the ease of instituting immediate bypass, avoidance of a separate incision, and feasibility of total repair are major advantages.

Aorta, Thoracic↗