Biomedical subjects

C A Salter

Publications and source records attributed to C A Salter.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Psychological effects of nuclear and radiological warfare.

Not since 1945 has the world experienced nuclear warfare, although there has been the threat of nuclear terrorism and a large number of nuclear/radiological accidents. Most people fear a nuclear/radiological threat even more than a conventional explosion due both to their inability to perceive the presence of radiation with the ordinary human senses and to concerns about perceived long-lasting radiation effects. Studies of radiological accidents have found that for every actually contaminated casualty, there may be as many as 500 people who are concerned, eager to be screened for contamination, sometimes panicked, and showing psychosomatic reactions mimicking actual radiation effects. Data from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks revealed widespread acute reactions such as psychic numbing, severe anxiety, and disorganized behavior, and there were later chronic effects such as survivor guilt and psychosomatic reactions. Such responses would likely be common in any future nuclear/radiological accident, terrorist attack, or warfare.

Decontamination↗

PubMed1993

Sleep-related injuries in the U.S. Army, 1984-1991.

U.S. Army Safety Center files for the years 1984-1991 were searched for ground accidents involving sleeping soldiers. There were 68 incidents which could be so categorized, 53 of which resulted in injuries and 15 in fatalities. The average cost to the Army, adjusted to 1991 dollars, was $8,300 for each injury and $61,900 for each fatality. The injured required an average 24.6 days of lost duty time for recovery. The incidents most commonly occurred when soldiers slept near vehicles and less commonly when they slept in designated "safe" areas. With improved guidance and training, such accidents could be reduced.

Fatigue↗

PubMed1992

Age-related differences in recovery from simulated jet lag.

Six healthy young men and eight early middle-aged men were isolated from environmental time cues for 15 days. For the first 6-7 days (one or two nights adaptation, four nights baseline), their sleep and meals were scheduled to approximate their habitual patterns. Their daily routines were then shifted 6 hours earlier by terminating the sixth or seventh sleep episode 6 hours early. The new schedules were followed for the next 8 or 9 days. Important age-related differences in adjustment to this single 6-hour schedule shift were found. For the first 4-day interval after the shift, middle-aged subjects had larger increases of waking time during the sleep period and earlier termination of sleep than young subjects. They also reported larger decreases in alertness and well-being and larger increases in sleepiness, weariness and effort required to perform daily functions. The rate of adjustment of the circadian core temperature rhythm to the new schedule did not differ between groups. These results suggest that the symptoms reported by the middle-aged subjects may be due mainly to difficulty maintaining sleep at early times of the circadian day. The compensatory response to sleep deprivation may also be less robust in middle-aged individuals traveling eastbound.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Dietary tyrosine as an aid to stress resistance among troops.

In past conflicts battle stress casualties have caused a serious exit of troops from the frontlines. Recent research has linked stress-caused impairments of performance with depletion of brain stores of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE), which functions in neural tracts responding to stress. The amino acid tyrosine (TYR) is the dietary precursor for NE, and supplementation with TYR has been demonstrated in the laboratory to alleviate declines in both neural NE and performance during stress. Thus, TYR supplementation might help to prevent and treat stress casualties in combat. Further research is called for to verify this hypothesis.

Animals↗

PubMed1982

Automobile color as a predictor of driving behavior.

Research on achievement motivation has shown that highly motivated people prefer cool or somber colors like blue and tend to be in a hurry, while less motivated people tend to choose warm or bright colors like red and are less time conscious. We applied these findings to automobile driving, hypothesizing that drivers of cars with high nACH colors would speed at greater velocities and run red lights and stop signs more. Unobtrusive observation in three studies of 193 highway speeders, 261 cars at stop lights, and 191 cars at stop signs showed that drivers of cars with high nACH colors did tend to speed at higher rates and to run red lights more, although they did not run stop signs more. The data partially support previous research on the behavioral correlates of color preference.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1981