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Biomedical subjects

C Gold

Publications and source records attributed to C Gold.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Music therapy for autistic spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND: The central impairments of people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) include social interaction and communication. Music therapy uses music and its elements to enable communication and expression, thus attempting to address some of the core problems of people with ASD. OBJECTIVES: To review the effects of music therapy for individuals with autistic spectrum disorders. SEARCH STRATEGY: The following databases were searched: CENTRAL, 2005, (Issue 3); Medline, (1966 to July 2004); Embase, (1980 to July 2004); LILACS, (1982 to July 2004); PsycINFO, (1872 to July 2004); CINAHL, (1982 to July 2004); ERIC, (1966 to July 2004); ASSIA, (1987 to July 2004); Sociofile, (1963 to July 2004); Dissertation Abstracts International, (late 1960's to July 2004). These searches were supplemented by searching specific sources for music therapy literature and manual searches of reference lists. Personal contacts to some investigators were made. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised controlled trials or controlled clinical trials comparing music therapy or music therapy added to standard care to "placebo" therapy, no treatment or standard care. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Studies were independently selected, quality assessed and data extracted by two authors. Continuous outcomes were synthesised using a standardised mean difference (SMD) in order to enable a meta-analysis combining different scales, and to facilitate the interpretation of effect sizes. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I(2) statistic. MAIN RESULTS: Three small studies were included (total n = 24). These examined the short-term effect of brief music therapy interventions (daily sessions over one week) for autistic children. Music therapy was superior to "placebo" therapy with respect to verbal and gestural communicative skills (verbal: 2 RCTs, n = 20, SMD 0.36 CI 0.15 to 0.57; gestural: 2 RCTs, n = 20, SMD 0.50 CI 0.22 to 0.79). Effects on behavioural problems were not significant. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The included studies were of limited applicability to clinical practice. However, the findings indicate that music therapy may help children with autistic spectrum disorder to improve their communicative skills. More research is needed to examine whether the effects of music therapy are enduring, and to investigate the effects of music therapy in typical clinical practice.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed2006

Calculation of dose coefficients for radionuclides produced in a spallation neutron source utilizing NUBASE and the evaluated nuclear structure data file databases.

Based on a mercury spallation neutron source target, the UNLV Transmutation Research Program has identified 72 radionuclides with a half-life greater than or equal to a minute as lacking an appropriate reference for a published dose coefficient according to existing radiation safety dose coefficient databases. A method was developed to compare the nuclear data presented in the ENSDF and NUBASE databases for these 72 radionuclides. Due to conflicting or lacking nuclear data in one or more of the databases, internal and external dose coefficient values have been calculated for only 14 radionuclides, which are not currently presented in Federal Guidance Reports Nos. 11, 12, and 13 or Publications 68 and 72 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Internal dose coefficient values are reported for inhalation and ingestion of 1 microm and 5 microm AMAD particulates along with the f1 values and absorption types for the adult worker. Internal dose coefficient values are also reported for inhalation and ingestion of 1 microm AMAD particulates as well as the f1 values and absorption types for members of the public. Additionally, external dose coefficient values for air submersion, exposure to contaminated ground surface, and exposure to soil contaminated to an infinite depth are also presented.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed2006

Quality assurance methods and procedures used to verify consistency in calculating dose coefficients.

The development of a spallation neutron source with a mercury target will lead to the production of rare radionuclides. The dose coefficients for many of these radionuclides have not yet been published. A collaboration of universities and national labs has taken on the task of calculating dose coefficients for the rare radionuclides using the software package DCAL. The working group developed a procedure for calculating dose coefficients and a quality assurance (QA) program to verify the calculations completed. The first portion of this QA program was to verify that each participating group could independently reproduce the dose coefficients for a known set of radionuclides. The second effort was to divide the group of rare radionuclides among the independent participants in a manner that assured that each radionuclide would be redundantly and independently calculated, and the results subsequently be submitted for publication in a separate manuscript. The final aspect of this program was to resolve any discrepancies arising among the participants as a group. The output of the various software programs for six QA radionuclides, 144Nd, 201Au, 50V, 61Co, 41Ar, and 38S were compared among all members of the working group. Initially, a few differences in outputs were identified. This exercise identified weaknesses in the procedure, which has since been revised. After the revisions, dose coefficients were calculated and compared to published dose coefficients with good agreement. The present efforts involve generating dose coefficients for the rare radionuclides anticipated to be produced from the spallation neutron source should a mercury target be employed.

Databases as Topic↗
PubMed2006

Music therapy in the assessment and treatment of autistic spectrum disorder: clinical application and research evidence.

BACKGROUND: Children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) presenting with significant limitations in conventional forms of verbal and non-verbal communication are found to respond positively to music therapy intervention involving both active, improvizational methods and receptive music therapy approaches. Improvizational musical activity with therapeutic objectives and outcomes has been found to facilitate motivation, communication skills and social interaction, as well as sustaining and developing attention. The structure and predictability found in music assist in reciprocal interaction, from which tolerance, flexibility and social engagement to build relationships emerge, relying on a systematic approach to promote appropriate and meaningful interpersonal responses. RESULTS: Published reports of the value and effectiveness of music therapy as an intervention for children with ASD range from controlled studies to clinical case reports. Further documentation has emphasized the role music therapy plays in diagnostic and clinical assessment. Music therapy assessment can identify limitations and weaknesses in children, as well as strengths and potentials. Research evidence from a systematic review found two randomized controlled trials that examined short-term effects of structured music therapy intervention. Significant effects were found in these studies even with extremely small samples, and the findings are important because they demonstrate the potential of the medium of music for autistic children. Case series studies were identified that examined the effects of improvizational music therapy where communicative behaviour, language development, emotional responsiveness, attention span and behavioural control improved over the course of an intervention of improvizational music therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Music therapy for schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses.

BACKGROUND: Music therapy is a psychotherapeutic method that uses musical interaction as a means of communication and expression. The aim of the therapy is to help people with serious mental illness to develop relationships and to address issues they may not be able to using words alone. OBJECTIVES: To review the effects of music therapy, or music therapy added to standard care, compared to placebo, standard care or no treatment for people with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. SEARCH STRATEGY: The Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register (July 2002) was searched. This was supplemented by hand searching of music therapy journals, manual searches of reference lists, and contacting relevant authors. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised controlled trials that compared music therapy with standard care or other psychosocial interventions for schizophrenia. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Studies were reliably selected, quality assessed and data extracted. Data were excluded where more than 30% of participants in any group were lost to follow up. Non-skewed continuous endpoint data from valid scales were synthesised using a standardised mean difference (SMD). If statistical heterogeneity was found, treatment 'dosage' and treatment approach were examined as possible sources of heterogeneity. MAIN RESULTS: Four studies were included. These examined the effects of music therapy over the short to medium term (1 to 3 months), with treatment 'dosage' varying from 7 to 78 sessions. Music therapy added to standard care was superior to standard care alone for global state (medium term, 1 RCT, n = 72, RR 0.10 CI 0.03 to 0.31, NNT 2 CI 1.2 to 2.2). Continuous data suggested some positive effects on general mental state (1 RCT, n=69, SMD average endpoint PANSS -0.36 CI -0.85 to 0.12; 1 RCT, n=70, SMD average endpoint BPRS -1.25 CI -1.77 to -0.73),on negative symptoms (3 RCTs, n=180, SMD average endpoint SANS -0.86 CI -1.17 to -0.55) and social functioning (1 RCT, n=70, SMD average endpoint SDSI score -0.78 CI -1.27 to -0.28). However these latter effects were inconsistent across studies and depended on the number of music therapy sessions. All results were for the 1-3 month follow up. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Music therapy as an addition to standard care helps people with schizophrenia to improve their global state and may also improve mental state and functioning if a sufficient number of music therapy sessions are provided. Further research should address the dose-effect relationship and the long-term effects of music therapy.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

The effects of a song-singing programme on the affective speaking intonation of people with traumatic brain injury.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in the relationship between intonation, voice range and mood following music therapy programmes in people with traumatic brain injury. RESEARCH DESIGN: Data from four case studies were pooled and effect size, ANOVA and correlation calculations were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Subjects sang three self-selected songs for 15 sessions. Speaking fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency variability, slope, voice range and mood were analysed pre- and post-session. RESULTS: Immediate treatment effects were not found. Long-term improvements in affective intonation were found in three subjects, especially in fundamental frequency. Voice range improved over time and was positively correlated with the three intonation components. Mood scale data showed that immediate effects were in the negative direction whereas there weres increases in positive mood state in the longer-term. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that, in the long-term, song singing can improve vocal range and mood and enhance the affective intonation styles of people with TBI.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Gender differences in depression: a study of older unlike-sex twins.

Gender differences in depressive symptoms, in the diagnosis of major/minor depression, and in the use of antidepressant medication were investigated. The sample included 249 pairs of unlike-sex twins, who were between 70 and 80 years of age at the initial, baseline assessment. A follow-up, in which both members of 145 twin pairs participated, was carried out four years later. Participants completed the Centre for the Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) for depressive symptoms. Current use of antidepressant medicine was assessed. Medical records of major/minor depression from the period 1985-1998, including a summary of those diagnoses in earlier years, were gathered from several sources. Women had a higher frequency of depressive symptoms and depression diagnoses than their twin brothers. Depressive symptoms and diagnosis of depression increased over time, slightly more among men. The gender difference and increase over time in the depressive symptoms were related to differences in socio-economic status and physical functioning in men and women. No gender difference was found in the use of antidepressant medication.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Impacts of Cd and Zn on the development of periphytic diatom communities in artificial streams located along a river pollution gradient.

Many field and experimental studies have been conducted to reveal modifications of periphytic diatom communities under metal pollution, but most of the approaches presented drawbacks: variability of environmental factors for field studies and lack of representativity for experimental ones. An original approach that allows growth of periphytic communities under conditions more controlled than in the field and more realistic than experimental investigations was developed to try conclusions being drawn on the real impact of metallic pollution. Artificial streams were placed on the river bank at three sites along the pollution gradient (Cd/Zn) of the River Lot (SW France): reference (upstream pollution discharge), slightly polluted (around 1.5 microg Cd x L(-1) and 50 microg Zn x L(-1)), and polluted (around 6 microg Cd x L(-1) and 400 microg Zn x L(-1)) sites. Structural characteristics of diatom communities growing in these artificial streams, on glass substrates, and under homogenized current velocity and water depth were compared after four durations (1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks) to study effects of metal on first steps of community development. Marked perturbations of diatom community development were observed overall in the polluted site: after 1 week, early biofilms differed already by taxonomic composition; after 4 weeks, cell density was significantly lower than in the reference site and taxonomic composition was very different. These results, generated by a methodology intermediate between field and experimental approaches, compare well with literature findings based on more traditional approaches, strongly attesting that metallic pollution affects diatom community architecture and induce rising of abnormal cells.

Biofilms↗
PubMed2000

Observation of self-amplified spontaneous emission and exponential growth at 530 nm

Experimental evidence for self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) at 530 nm is reported. The measurements were made at the low-energy undulator test line facility at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory. The experimental setup and details of the experimental results are presented, as well as preliminary analysis. This experiment extends to shorter wavelengths the operational knowledge of a linac-based SASE free-electron laser and explicitly shows the predicted exponential growth in intensity of the optical pulse as a function of length along the undulator.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Ethical dilemmas in the lived experience of nursing practice.

Through a series of semistructured interviews with 12 nurses delivering direct patient care in acute, long-term and home care settings, information was sought regarding the ethical concerns of practicing nurses. Although these nurses frequently did not specifically identify the areas of expressed concern as ethical in nature, thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews uncovered four major ethical areas of concern common to these 12 nurses. These areas are: (1) Withholding of information and truth-telling; (2) Unequal access or inequalities in care; (3) Differences between business and professional values; (4) Breaking and reporting broken rules. Several reasons are offered to explain the failure of nurses accurately to identify specific practice dilemmas as ethical in nature and the sequelae of these failures. Possibilities involving ongoing education and mentored experiences in practice areas are reported.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Administrative rounds. A neglected art.

In making decisions, nurse administrators need diverse information from a variety of sources. One source of this information can be administrative rounds. Rounds not only offer opportunity for data collection and verification, problem identification and remediation, but they also provide an opportunity for coaching of staff and leadership visibility. The outcome of nursing work can be enhanced by nurse administrators seeing and being seen.

Communication↗
PubMed1990

Reduction in reperfusion injury by blood-free reperfusion after experimental myocardial infarction.

Because myocardial reperfusion injury may be caused by various blood constituents, a transient period of blood-free reperfusion was evaluated in closed chest dogs subjected to a 90 min angioplasty balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. In the treated group (n = 13), the balloon remained inflated for an additional 15 min while the infarct vessel was perfused with an acellular oxygenated perfluorochemical emulsion (Fluosol). The balloon was then deflated, permitting blood reperfusion. In the control group (n = 13), the balloon was deflated after 90 min of coronary occlusion. One week after infarction, the area at risk was defined in vivo by monastral blue dye staining, and the area of myocardial necrosis was assessed using triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining with histologic confirmation. Major determinants of infarct size, including rate-pressure product, area at risk and severity of myocardial ischemia (assessed by the extent of ST segment elevation during coronary occlusion), were not significantly different in the two groups. Treated dogs demonstrated a 47% reduction in infarct size expressed as a percent of the area at risk compared with control dogs (27.0 +/- 4.4% versus 50.8 +/- 4.4%, p less than 0.01). Treated dogs also demonstrated a superior global left ventricular ejection fraction (57.5 +/- 2.5% versus 51.0 +/- 2.2%, p less than 0.05) and anterolateral (regional) ejection fraction (32.6 +/- 3.6% versus 19.8 +/- 3.9%, p less than 0.05) compared with values in control dogs assessed by contrast ventriculography after 1 week of reperfusion. It is concluded that a transient period of blood-free reperfusion with an oxygenated perfluorochemical reduces reperfusion injury in a canine model of myocardial infarction.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence of the pestivirus bovine viral diarrhea virus.

The RNA genome of the cytopathic NADL isolate of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) has been molecularly cloned and the nucleotide sequence determined. The cloned sequence was 12,573 nucleotides in length, corresponding to a molecular weight of 4.3 X 10(6), having a base composition of 32.2% A, 25.7% G, 22.1% U, and 20.0% C. However, the sequences at the 5' and 3' termini of the RNA have not been unequivocally established. A single major open reading frame extending the length of the molecule was found in the viral-sense (positive polarity) sequence. This open reading frame was capable of encoding 3988 amino acids, representing 449 kDa of protein.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

The pseudorabies virus gII gene is closely related to the gB glycoprotein gene of herpes simplex virus.

We have looked for conserved DNA sequences between four herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein genes encoding gB, gC, gD, and gE and pseudorabies virus (PRV) DNA, HSV-1 DNA fragments representing these four glycoprotein-coding sequences were hybridized to restriction enzyme fragments of PRV DNA by the Southern blot procedure. Specific hybridization was observed only when HSV-1 gB DNA was used as probe. This region of hybridization was localized to a 5.2-kilobase (kb) region mapping at approximately 0.15 map units on the PRV genome. Northern blot (RNA blot) analysis, with a 1.2-kb probe derived from this segment, revealed a predominant hybridizing RNA species of approximately 3 kb in PRV-infected PK15 cells. DNA sequence analysis of the region corresponding to this RNA revealed a single large open reading frame with significant nucleotide homology with the gB gene of HSV-1 KOS 321. In addition, the beginning of the sequenced PRV region also contained the end of an open reading frame with amino acid homology to HSV-1 ICP 18.5, a protein that may be involved in viral glycoprotein transport. This sequence partially overlaps the PRV gB homolog coding sequence. We have shown that the PRV gene with homology to HSV-1 gB encoded the gII glycoprotein gene by expressing a 765-base-pair segment of the PRV open reading frame in Escherichia coli as a protein fused to beta-galactosidase. Antiserum, raised in rabbits, against this fusion protein immunoprecipitated a specific family of PRV glycoproteins of apparent molecular mass 110, 68, and 55 kilodaltons that have been identified as the gII family of glycoproteins. Analysis of the predicted amino acid sequence indicated that the PRV gII protein shares 50% amino acid homology with the aligned HSV-1 gB protein. All 10 cysteine residues located outside of the signal sequence, as well as 4 of 6 potential N-linked glycosylation sites, were conserved between the two proteins. The primary protein sequence for HSV-1 gB regions known to be involved in the rate of virus entry into the cells and cell-cell fusion, as well as regions known to be associated with monoclonal antibody resistance, were highly homologous with the PRV protein sequence. Furthermore, monospecific antibody made against PRV gII immunoprecipitated HSV-1 gB from infected cells. Taken together, these findings suggest significant conservation of structure and function between the two proteins and may indicate a common evolutionary history.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1984

[Benign tumors of the esophagus and stomach].

From the tumors of the oesophagus studied, 30% were found to be benign. They occurred in a ratio of 2:1 predominantly in men with an average age of 37,1 years compared to 52,5 years in women. The symptoms were unspecific and the prognosis was quo ad sanationem very good. Only in one case did a neurofibroma relapse explosively with in 4 months and was already inoperable at the time, when the new diagnosis was made. The percent of benign stomach tumors amounted to 2,6%. Tumors of the mucous tissue behaved differently than the neurogenic and mesenchymal ones. The former became noticeable mainly due to epigastric complaints, the latter due to haemorrhages. Epithelial tumors occurred, with a ratio of 2:1, more often in women, but without any difference in age. Mesenchymal and neurogenic tumors occurred in almost the same sex ratio, but at an average age, which was 18 years higher in women. Solitary stomach polypi can mostly be removed endoscopically, whilst all other benign oesophagus and stomach tumors must be removed by operation due to the symptoms and the dignity of the tumor, which is seldom clear.

Adult↗