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Biomedical subjects

T Simpson

Publications and source records attributed to T Simpson.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

A comparison of hypertensive and nonhypertensive coronary care patients' cardiovascular responses to visitors.

Patients with and without hypertension in a coronary care unit (n = 24) were compared with respect to cardiovascular responses to both a family visit and an interview by an investigator. Variables for each of the four cardiovascular indicators (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and premature ventricular contractions) included the value before, the highest value during, the lowest value during, and the value after each social interaction condition. The highest group means for systolic blood pressure and heart rate were significantly higher for patients with hypertension than for patients without hypertension under both the interview and visit conditions. Differences in cardiovascular responses were not significantly greater for family visits than for interviews for patients with hypertension compared with those without hypertension. Thus, although hypertensive patients had greater cardiovascular reactivity to both social interaction conditions than nonhypertensive patients in the coronary care unit, family visits were no more physiologically stressful than a comparative interaction condition.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The suppression effect of simulated anisometropia.

Although there is evidence that differential interocular image clarity degrades binocular performance (for example, reducing stereo sensitivity) little is known about how this sensitivity reduction occurs. As there is evidence that suppression scotomas are induced in the more defocused eye, the presence and approximate size of suppression scotomas induced with uni-ocular defocus was investigated in five binocularly normal subjects. The targets comprised a fusional lock and a suppression check for each eye and the task of each subject was to report the presence of the suppression check with varying amount of defocus. There was a range of simulated anisometropia over which suppression did not occur (approximately +/- 0.50 DS). Thereafter the probability of suppressing a small foveal target increased approximately linearly until the target was always suppressed. Greater amounts of simulated anisometropia produced larger suppression scotomas. However, less anisometropia was required to produce an equivalent sized suppression scotoma if greater amounts of fusional detail were provided. These results suggest that the decrement in binocular performance which accompanies simulated anisometropia may occur because of localized inhibition in the more defocused eye and is not solely due to loss of resolution in that eye.

Anisometropia↗
PubMed1991

Critical care patients' perceptions of visits.

Although visiting has been studied from nurses' and families' perspectives, patients' preferences for visits and their evaluations of visits have not been explored. In addition, coronary care unit (CCU) and surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients' visit preferences have not been compared. Relationships among patients' preferences for visits, select personal and illness characteristics, and the perceived impact of visits were compared in a sample of 50 CCU and 50 SICU patients. Patients' preferences for the length of visits differed according to their age, particularly for CCU patients. Patients' preferences for the frequency of visits were similar to their usual preferences for being with others. Perceived illness severity, especially for SICU patients, was positively related to the preferred number of visitors. A greater proportion of SICU patients preferred visits any time, day or night, compared with CCU patients. Patients predominantly evaluated visits as helpful and not tiring. Results suggest the need to tailor visits to patients' preferences by considering personal and illness-related characteristics.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

The cost of nursing excellence in critical care.

The results of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Demonstration Project support the contention that high quality critical care nursing can be provided to patients at a reasonable cost. In addition, the data refute the notion that elements influenced by nurses--supplies and nursing care--are the most costly portion of the total hospital charge.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMed1990

Beyond scripts: a note on the capacity of right hemisphere-damaged patients to process social and emotional content.

Individuals with right hemisphere damage (RHD) can comprehend simple scripts but have difficulties understanding more complex forms of discourse such as stories and jokes. This study sought to discover the point beyond simple scripts at which such patients begin to experience difficulties. Three-sentence, script-like vignettes which described everyday situations were created along two major dimensions: a social dimension (reflecting presence or absence of interactions between characters); and an emotional dimension (reflecting a positive, negative, or neutral emotion felt by a protagonist in the situation). Right hemisphere-damaged patients were asked to provide emotional characterizations of, and continuations to, these situational vignettes. Results indicated that individuals with right hemisphere damage were more likely than control subjects to attribute a positive emotional state to a character in a neutral situation. In other respects, there were no significant differences between RHD subjects and controls, although the RHD subjects made significantly more factual errors in their continuations than did control subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Skeletal muscle oxidative capacity, antioxidant enzymes, and exercise training.

The purposes of this study were to determine whether exercise training induces increases in skeletal muscle antioxidant enzymes and to further characterize the relationship between oxidative capacity and antioxidant enzyme levels in skeletal muscle. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exercise trained (ET) on a treadmill 2 h/day at 32 m/min (8% incline) 5 days/wk or were cage confined (sedentary control, S) for 12 wk. In both S and ET rats, catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities were directly correlated with the percentages of oxidative fibers in the six skeletal muscle samples studied. Muscles of ET rats had increased oxidative capacity and increased GPX activity compared with the same muscles of S rats. However, SOD activities were not different between ET and S rats, but CAT activities were lower in skeletal muscles of ET rats than in S rats. Exposure to 60 min of ischemia and 60 min of reperfusion (I/R) resulted in decreased GPX and increased CAT activities but had little or no effect on SOD activities in muscles from both S and ET rats. The I/R-induced increase in CAT activity was greater in muscles of ET than in muscles of S rats. Xanthine oxidase (XO), xanthine dehydrogenase (XD), and XO + XD activities after I/R were not related to muscle oxidative capacity and were similar in muscles of ET and S rats. It is concluded that although antioxidant enzyme activities are related to skeletal muscle oxidative capacity, the effects of exercise training on antioxidant enzymes in skeletal muscle cannot be predicted by measured changes in oxidative capacity.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Cardiovascular responses to family visits in coronary care unit patients.

Changes in four cardiovascular indicators: systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and premature ventricular contractions, were studied as responses to family visits and a 10-minute interview with the investigator in 24 patients in a coronary care unit. By use of a repeated-measures design, data were compared by multivariate analysis of variance. No significant differences were found between the group mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and rate of premature ventricular contractions during family visits and interviews. The lowest systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were significantly lower during the visit than during the interview, suggesting that the visit had a calming effect on patients. Although the highest heart rate was significantly higher during the visit than during the interview, the difference was clinically inconsequential. The wide variance in premature ventricular contraction values suggests individual variation in responses, but no significant differences were found between visits and interviews. Although family visits were no more physiologically stressful than a comparative social interaction, select subsamples of patients with cardiac disease should be studied for more specific reaction patterns.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Traumatogenicity: effects of self-reported noncombat trauma on MMPIs of male Vietnam combat and noncombat veterans treated for substance abuse.

A recent review of the literature on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the MMPI has shown that all previously published studies have been limited to clinical groups whose trauma occurred in Vietnam combat. The purpose of this study was to test hypotheses that predict higher MMPI and PTSD scale scores among combat veterans who differ in degrees of noncombat traumas. Results support predictions. Those who reported more noncombat traumas attain significantly higher MMPI scores for scales F, Hypochondriasis, Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate, Psychasthenia, Schizophrenia, Mania, Social Introversion, and an MMPI PTSD score (Keane, Malloy, & Fairbank, 1984). Moreover, noncombat effects are manifested differentially: Combat veterans with higher noncombat trauma evidence greater social withdrawal, whereas noncombat veterans who report higher noncombat trauma are characterized by higher anxiety. MMPI elevations were progressively higher as groups increased in degrees of combat and noncombat trauma: noncombat and low combat trauma veterans were the better adjusted, and combat veterans with higher noncombat trauma were the worst adjusted. Results provide descriptive validity for PTSD as a construct and underscore the importance of assessing frequency and intensity, as well as types of traumas and stresses, in the background histories of substance abusers and other clinical groups as well.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Tenckhoff catheter placement: surgical aspects.

A 3-year retrospective review of 110 consecutive Tenckhoff catheter placements was undertaken. Major complications were found in 3.6 per cent of cases and minor complications occurred in 30 per cent. Analysis of cases in which catheters failed revealed that obesity and prior abdominal surgery occurred in 75 per cent of these patients. Attention to these factors and the use of appropriate techniques of placement and, in special situations, the use of endoscopy and fluoroscopy have reduced the failure rate of these high-risk situations. Management of infective complications are outlined and should include continued antibiotic dialysis and catheter replacement only if persistent peritonitis or fungal peritonitis occur. With these guidelines, improved peritoneal dialysis can be undertaken with less morbidity to the patient.

Catheters, Indwelling↗
PubMed1982

Chicken ovalbumin gene fused to a herpes simplex virus alpha promoter and linked to a thymidine kinase gene is regulated like a viral gene.

We are describing a system for the introduction, selection, and expression of eucaryotic genes in higher eucaryotic cells. The carrier consisted of the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) tk gene covalently linked to an HSV-1 alpha promoter directed away from the tk gene. In this study we fused to the alpha promoter the 5' transcribed noncoding sequences and the coding sequences of the chicken oviduct ovalbumin gene. Cells converted to the TK+ phenotype with this chimeric fragment produced an ovalbumin precursor which was processed and secreted into the extracellular fluid. The ovalbumin gene utilized the HSV-1 alpha promoter and was regulated as a viral gene inasmuch as inversion of the genomic DNA relative to the alpha promoter resulted in no ovalbumin synthesis, and production of ovalbumin was enhanced after superinfection with HSV-1. Synthesis of ovalbumin was not detected when cDNA was linked to the HSV-1 alpha promoter. The carrier system described in this study is suitable for introduction, selection, and expression of eucaryotic genes whose natural promoter is either weak or requires the presence of regulatory elements which may be absent from undifferentiated cells in culture.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Exercise after myocardial infarction: a controlled trial.

Six weeks after acute myocardial infarction, 303 men were randomly divided into exercise and control groups. The exercise group attended the hospital gymnasium twice weekly for a three-month supervised exercise course. Both groups were exercise tested before and after the course and at subsequent follow-up. The exercise group increased their physical fitness greatly compared with the control group. Eight per cent of the exercise group died during the period of follow-up, compared with 14 per cent of the control group; this difference is not significant. There was an apparent improvement in mortality in those with inferior MI who completed the exercise course, which was not seen in those with MI in other sites. For many patients after MI progressive exercise is safe, improves physical fitness and may reduce mortality for those after inferior MI.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1981

Differentiation of respiratory and abortigenic isolates of equine herpesvirus 1 by restriction endonucleases.

Viruses classified by immunologic criteria as equine herpesvirus 1 cause respiratory disease and abortion in horses. Restriction endonuclease analyses of the DNA's of viruses from animals with respiratory disease and from aborted fetuses show that the patterns for respiratory viruses, while similar to each other, are entirely different from the patterns for fetal viruses. It is therefore proposed that the DNA restriction endonuclease patterns of fetal and respiratory viruses analyzed in this study be designated as prototypic of equine herpesvirus 1 and 4, respectively.

Abortion, Veterinary↗
PubMed1978

Assessing the psychological effects of an exercise training programme for patients following myocardial infarction: a pilot study.

During a study investigating physiological and other effects of an exercise programme for coronary patients, a questionnaire was administered. Preliminary analysis had suggested some improvement in the patients' morale, but in view of the possible relevance of a number of psychological variables it was decided to carry out further analysis on the available data. The coefficient of discrimination was computed for 32 patients. For 19 patients correlations were computed between scores on subjective fitness, symptoms, anxiety, interest in sex, if at work, age, weight, and workload achieved at a given heart rate. The questionnaire appeared to have satisfactorily high internal and external validity. Patients with a high 'morale' score tended to achieve a greater increase in workload over the course. Although cause and effect cannot be unequivocally assigned, the association is felt to be important, and research is continuing.

Anxiety↗