Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Touch”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 937 records · Page 52Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Overshadowing in landmark learning: touch-screen studies with pigeons and humans.

Overshadowing in landmark learning was studied in pigeons and undergraduates using a touch-screen spatial search task. Ss searched for an unmarked goal presented in varied locations on a computer screen. Graphic stimuli served as landmarks. The effect of the presence of other landmarks on the control acquired by a given landmark was assessed using a design in which each S was trained with 2 sets of landmarks. Both pigeons (Experiment 1) and humans (Experiments 2-4) showed evidence of learning more about a landmark that was the closest landmark of its set to the goal than about a landmark that was of equal distance to the goal but was not the closest landmark of its set. That is, control by a landmark was overshadowed when it occurred together with a landmark that was closer to the goal. Landmark effectiveness appears to depend not only on the absolute properties of a landmark but on relative factors. The relevance of basic principles of associative learning to spatial landmark learning is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Children's use of anatomically detailed dolls to report genital touching in a medical examination: developmental and gender comparisons.

The influence of anatomically detailed dolls on 3- and 4-year-old children's reports of a routine medical exam was examined. During the exam, half the children received a genital examination and half the children did not. Immediately after the exam, all children were asked to demonstrate various events on an anatomically detailed doll and on their own bodies. Although there were age differences in the number of accurate demonstrations of how the doctor used different instruments, there were no age differences on measures that assessed reports of genital touching. Among girls, commission errors were more frequent when dolls were used because some children falsely showed insertions into the anal or genital cavity. The authors conclude that dolls should not be used in interviews with children below the age of 5 years.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2005

Sensory preconditioning in spatial learning using a touch screen task in pigeons.

The authors used a touch screen-based visual-search task to investigate spatial integration in pigeons. First, pigeons were presented with a consistent spatial relationship between compound visual landmarks (LMs) A-X and B-Y, separately. Next, pigeons learned to find a hidden goal on the monitor in the presence of LMs A and B. The goal bore a consistent spatial relationship to LM A, but not to LM B. On nonreinforced probe tests, the peak and distribution of responses to LM X suggest that pigeons computed a novel X-goal spatial relationship on the basis of X-A and A-goal spatial vectors. Responses to LM Y, however, revealed no evidence of spatial integration. These results replicate and extend those of A. P. Blaisdell and R. G. Cook (2005) using an open-field task.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Transgenic plant aequorin reports the effects of touch and cold-shock and elicitors on cytoplasmic calcium.

Methods for measuring plant cytoplasmic calcium using microelectrodes or microinjected fluorescent dyes are associated with extensive technical problems, so measurements have been limited to single or small groups of cells in tissue strips or protoplasts. Aequorin is a calcium-sensitive luminescent protein from the coelenterate Aequorea victoria (A. forskalea) which is formed from apoaequorin, a polypeptide of relative molecular mass approximately 22,000, and coelenterazine, a hydrophobic luminophore. Microinjected aequorin has been widely used for intracellular calcium measurement in animal cells, but its use in plants has been limited to exceptionally large cells. We show here that aequorin can be reconstituted in transformed plants and that it reports calcium changes induced by touch, cold-shock and fungal elicitors. Reconstituted aequorin is cytoplasmic and nonperturbing; measurements can be made on whole plants and a calcium indicator can be constituted in every viable cell. Now that apoaequorin can be targeted to specific organelles, cells and tissues, with the range of coelenterazines with differing calcium sensitivities and properties available, this new method could be valuable for determining the role of calcium in intracellular signalling processes in plants.

Aequorin↗
PubMed2002

Clinical evaluation of the WOMAC 3.0 OA Index in numeric rating scale format using a computerized touch screen version.

BACKGROUND: The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index is a previously described self-administered questionnaire covering three domains: pain, stiffness and function. It has been validated in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip or knee in a paper-based format. AIM: To validate the WOMAC 3.0 using a numerical rating scale in a computerized touch screen format allowing immediate evaluation of the questionnaire. In the computed version cartoons, written and audio instruments were included in order facilitate application. METHODS: Fifty patients, demographically balanced, with radiographically proven primary hip or knee OA completed the classical paper and the new computerized WOMAC version. Subjects were randomized either to paper format or computerized format first to balance possible order effects. RESULTS: The intra-class correlation coefficients for pain, stiffness and function values were 0.915, 0.745 and 0.940, respectively. The Spearman correlation coefficients for pain, stiffness and function were 0.88, 0.77 and 0.87, respectively. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that the computerized WOMAC OA index 3.0 is comparable to the paper WOMAC in all three dimensions. The computerized version would allow physicians to get an immediate result and if present a direct comparison with a previous exam.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Touch Research Institutes: an interview with Dr Tiffany Field (interview by Peter Mackereth).

The following paper reports on a recent visit to the Touch Research Institutes (TRI) based at the University of Miami School of Medicine. The main purpose of making the journey was to participate in a 3-day Research Training Workshop. The paper will first provide a brief overview of the history and work of the TRI. There will then be an interview with Dr Tiffany Field, the TRI founder and Director, and finally accounts of the workshop experience itself and a visit to one of Miami's foremost schools of massage therapy: 'Educating Hands'.

Complementary Therapies↗
PubMed1998

'No touch' technique for coronary anastomoses with arterial grafts.

We describe a simple no-touch technique for facilitating coronary anastomosis using different arterial grafts. To accomplish this technique it is necessary to make a cut near the end of the graft creating a "cuff". Holding this cuff during the anastomosis steadies the graft, which simplifies the suturing technique and facilitates precise anastomosis.

Humans↗
PubMed1992

Successful resection of a distal aortic arch aneurysm in a patient with Behçet's disease using an "aortic no-touch" technique and hypothermic total-body retrograde perfusion.

Resection of a false aneurysm of the aortic arch in a patient with Behçet's disease was safely performed using an "aortic no-touch" technique. This consisted of: (1) femoral artery and bicaval cannulation, (2) profound hypothermia (below 20 degrees C) by core cooling, (3) retrograde cardioplegia through the coronary sinus, and (4) total body retrograde perfusion via both venae cavae without aortic cross-clamping. The patient showed no evidence of neurological damage and the postoperative course was uneventful.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Providing tender touch massage to elderly nursing home residents: a demonstration project.

This 1-year demonstration project looked at the effects of gentle massage on two groups of elderly nursing home residents: those suffering from chronic pain and those with dementia who were exhibiting anxious or agitated behaviors. The certified nursing attendants were trained by a licensed massage therapist. The project was divided into three 12-week phases; different staff and residents were involved in each phase. Fifty-nine of 71 residents completed the 12-week program. Pain scores declined at the end of each phase, and anxiety scores declined in two of the three phases. Eighty-four percent of the nursing attendants reported that the residents enjoyed receiving tender touch, and 71% thought this type of massage improved their ability to communicate with the residents.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Detection of amplitude modulation and frequency modulation in tactual gratings: a critical bandwidth for active touch.

Since most natural surfaces are complex and vary in amplitude and spatial frequency, it might be interesting to consider gratings not in the spatial domain, but in the spatial-frequency domain. Detection thresholds for amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) in sinusoidal gratings were measured for seven participants. Participants moved their fingers actively across the gratings. Although the two types of modulation are quite different in the spatial domain, they have many features in common in the frequency domain. In previous research (Nefs et al 2001 Perception 30 1263-1274) we measured the discrimination thresholds for amplitude and frequency for sinusoidal gratings. We hypothesised then that these thresholds could be used to predict the discriminability of other types of gratings. In the present study, we did indeed find that the FM and AM detection thresholds can be understood quite well by these discrimination thresholds. The results indicate that the tactual system contains parallel psychophysical channels that filter and integrate the power of stimuli within critical bands. With these results, we are also able to calculate the critical bandwidth for active dynamic touch. We estimated the critical bandwidth surrounding the spatial frequency of 2 cycles cm(-1) to be about 125% of that spatial frequency. This value for the critical band for spatial frequency is incompatible with previous findings for temporal frequencies in vibrotactile research. This indicates that dynamic spatial-frequency discrimination is not likely to be done by temporal frequency.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

A gene encoding a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase is induced simultaneously with genes for a mitogen-activated protein kinase and an S6 ribosomal protein kinase by touch, cold, and water stress in Arabidopsis thaliana.

We describe here the cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a protein kinase that has high sequence homology to members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase kinase (MAPKKK or MEKK) family; this cDNA is named cATMEKKI (Arabidopsis thaliana MAP kinase or ERK kinase kinase 1). The catalytic domain of the putative ATMEKK1 protein shows approximately 40% identity with the amino acid sequences of the catalytic domains of MAPKKKs (such as Byr2 from Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Ste11 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Bck1 from S. cerevisiae, MEKK from mouse, and NPK1 from tobacco). In yeast cells that overexpress ATMEKK1, the protein kinase replaces Ste11 in responding to mating pheromone. In this study, the expression of three protein kinases was examined by Northern blot analyses: ATMEKK1 (structurally related to MAPKKK), ATMPK3 (structurally related to MAPK), and ATPK19 (structurally related to ribosomal S6 kinase). The mRNA levels of these three protein kinases increased markedly and simultaneously in response to touch, cold, and salinity stress. These results suggest that MAP kinase cascades, which are thought to respond to a variety of extracellular signals, are regulated not only at the posttranslational level but also at the transcriptional level in plants and that MAP kinase cascades in plants may function in transducing signals in the presence of environmental stress.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

The impact of touch-tone data entry on reports of HIV and STD risk behaviors in telephone interviews.

Respondents concerns about privacy can decrease reporting of HIV and STD risk behaviors in general population telephone surveys. The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of an experimental study evaluating whether one method for increasing privacy, touch-tone data entry (TTDE), is effective in increasing estimates of sexual behaviors from a population-based survey. We conducted a random-digit-dial telephone survey of adults in New Jersey (n = 405), with half the respondents using TTDE for answering sexual behavior questions. TTDE led to increased reports of same-sex sexual behavior, certain HIV and STD risk factors, and concern about one s risk for HIV and STD transmission. TTDE also narrowed the difference between men s and women s reports of the number of different sexual partners over the past 10 years. The feasibility and limitations of TTDE are discussed, as well as possible alternative interpretations that consider the impact of TTDE on the dynamics of the interaction between the respondent and the interviewer.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

A prospective, blinded study of quantitative touch-down polymerase chain reaction using oral-wash samples for diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia in HIV-infected patients.

Oral-wash samples obtained during 113 episodes of suspected Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients were tested by use of a quantitative touch-down PCR (QTD PCR) assay. QTD PCR had a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 85%. Treatment for PCP prior to oral wash collection had an impact on the sensitivity, and PCR-positive oral-wash samples obtained within < or =1 day of treatment from patients without PCP had significantly fewer copies per tube than did those from patients with PCP; thus, application of a post hoc cut-off value of 50 copies/tube increased the specificity to 100%. QTD PCR of oral-wash samples can be an accurate and noninvasive method for diagnosis of PCP.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1992

Comparative DNA analysis of solid tumors by flow cytometric and image analyses of touch imprints and flow cell suspensions.

Comparative DNA analysis by flow cytometric (FCM) and image analyses (IA) has shown a high concordance rate. When present, discordance has been attributed to the presence of aneuploid cell populations detected only by IA, yet missed by FCM. This phenomenon has been explained by loss of aneuploid cells during FCM cell processing, differences in sampling area, or misinterpretation of the DNA histograms. To determine which factors are responsible for the discordance between IA and FCM, 82 fresh solid tumors from various sites were examined. Flow cytometric analysis was performed on cell suspensions isolated from the tumors, whereas IA was performed on touch imprints (IAT) and on cytosmears of the same cell suspension used for FCM (IAF). Comparison between IAT and IAF (IAT/IAF) assessed cell processing and sampling area differences, whereas IAF/FCM comparison assessed differences in apparatus and methodology as possible contributing factors to discordance. Furthermore, DNA histograms of IAT, IAF, and FCM were analyzed in the discordant cases to determine whether the discordance was due primarily to different cell populations detected (true discordance) or due to differences in histogram interpretation of the same cell populations (false discordance). IAT/IAF and IAF/FCM concordance rates (90% and 88%) were not significantly different from that of IAT/FCM (87%). False discordance accounted for most of the discordant cases in IAT/FCM comparison (six cases, 67%), whereas true discordance was seen in three cases. In all three truly discordant cases, the DNA-aneuploid cell populations detected only by IAT yet missed by FCM were also detected by IAF. This study demonstrates that discordance between IA and FCM is probably not due to cell loss during FCM cell processing or sampling area differences, but may be due to differences in assessing DNA ploidy in the interpretation of IA histograms and/or dilution of aneuploid cells by normal diploid cells in FCM.

Cell Separation↗
PubMed2000

Vision and touch through the looking glass in a case of crossmodal extinction.

When observing ourselves in a mirror, we see our body and adjacent objects (e.g. a comb or razor) projecting the image of distant objects. Are these recoded by the brain as reflecting stimuli in peripersonal space? To address this, we exploited the neuropsychological phenomenon of crossmodal, visual-tactile extinction, as shown by patient BV following right-hemisphere stroke. In such crossmodal extinction, a right visual event impairs the perception of a simultaneous left tactile event. In BV, the right visual stimulus (an LED flash) induced more extinction of touch on the contralesional left hand when presented near the ipsilesional right hand, than when distant from it. This agrees with previous data in patients and monkeys showing that visual-tactile interactions are strongest within peripersonal space. Crucially, we also found that an ipsilesional flash produced more extinction when observed as the distant mirror-reflection of an LED that lay close to the ipsilesional hand, rather than as a distant LED flash projecting an equivalent visual image directly. This suggests that in BV, seeing his own hand via a mirror activates a representation of peripersonal space around that hand, not of the extrapersonal space suggested by the distant visual image in the mirror. We discuss the possible neural basis of interpreting mirror reflections.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Humor adds the creative touch to CQI teams.

The health care industry is looking to continuous quality improvement as a process to both improve patient care and promote cost effectiveness. Interdisciplinary teams are learning to work together and to use data-driven problem solving. Humor adds a creative and welcome touch to the process that makes it easier and more fun to work in teams. The team leader or facilitator who uses humor along the journey sanctions the risk-taking behavior that accompanies creative solutions to tough problems.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

Electrokinetic behavior of two touching inhomogeneous biological cells and colloidal particles: effects of multipolar interactions.

We present a theory to investigate electrokinetic behavior, namely, electrorotation and dielectrophoresis under alternating current (ac) applied fields for a pair of touching inhomogeneous colloidal particles and biological cells. These inhomogeneous particles are treated as graded ones with physically motivated model dielectric and conductivity profiles. The mutual polarization interaction between the particles yields a change in their respective dipole moments, and hence in the ac electrokinetic spectra. The multipolar interactions between polarized particles are accurately captured by the multiple images method. In the point-dipole limit, our theory reproduces the known results. We find that the multipolar interactions as well as the spatial fluctuations inside the particles can affect the ac electrokinetic spectra significantly.

Biophysics↗