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Biomedical subjects

C H Ward

Publications and source records attributed to C H Ward.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Assessment of the terminally ill patient with pain: the example of cancer.

Efforts to understand pain associated with terminal illness have been guided traditionally by the biomedical model in which psychological and environmental factors are considered incidental and not causally significant influences of pain. More recent conceptualizations of pain, however, recognize that pain can be affected by a variety of factors including mood, beliefs about pain, past learning, as well as physical perturbations. This development has led to assessment strategies that are more comprehensive, multidimensional, and less singularly aligned with a biomedical model. The greatest amount of attention to pain among the terminally ill has focused on cancer patients. Thus, in this paper we will describe a comprehensive, multi-dimensional assessment of cancer pain. Information regarding cancer and cancer pain is first presented and then a strategy for comprehensively assessing cancer pain is outlined. Recent developments in the assessment of cancer pain are briefly reviewed.

Humans↗
PubMed1992

The Type A belief system: relationships to hostility, social support, and life stress.

Certain core beliefs may underlie the Type A behavior pattern, predisposing individuals to health problems and impaired interpersonal relationships. Previous studies have revealed that the Type A Cognitive Questionnaire (TACQ), a self-report measure reflecting these beliefs, is indeed related to emotional distress. The current study assessed the TACQ's relationship to aspects of the interpersonal environment, including perceived social support and stressful events. It also investigated the TACQ's relationship to subtypes of hostility (ie, cynicism and paranoid alienation). Subjects were 111 college undergraduate volunteers. As hypothesized, the TACQ was significantly related to poor quality of social support and to greater perceived life stress. The TACQ appeared more strongly related to cynicism than to paranoid alienation. Findings were generally more pronounced for males. The discussion suggests that Type A beliefs may predispose individuals to health problems through impaired interactions with their interpersonal environment.

Achievement↗
PubMed1990

Electromyographic biofeedback with mental imagery and home practice in the treatment of children with muscle-contraction headache.

A multiple-baseline across subjects design was used to evaluate the effects of electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback on muscle-contraction headaches reported by two adolescent females. Subsequent to baseline, each child participated in seven treatment sessions conducted over an 8-week interval. Treatment sessions consisted of 10 min of adaptation (baseline), 15 min of EMG biofeedback, and 5 min of self-control during which the child continued to decrease muscle tension without feedback. Children were instructed to practice self-control of relaxation at home. Self-reports of headache frequency, duration and intensity were recorded throughout the study. Results indicate that headache activity was reduced as a function of EMG biofeedback, mental imagery, and home practice and remained below baseline levels during 6-month and 1-year follow-up assessments. Findings are discussed in terms of the paucity of published studies investigating the efficacy of EMG biofeedback as a treatment for pediatric muscle-contraction headache.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Biotechnology for in situ restoration of ground water contaminated by the petroleum industry.

As a result of increasing incidents of ground water contamination, several methods to restore polluted aquifers have been developed. These include 1) physical containment, 2) hydrodynamic controls, 3) withdrawal and treatment, 4) in situ physical and chemical treatment, and 5) in situ biological treatment. The fifth technology, in situ biological treatment (in situ biorestoration), is an innovative technique which involves the use of the indigenous subsurface microflora to degrade ground water pollutants. The most important factor in successful application of the process is the presence of metabolically appropriate microorganisms in a perfusable aquifer. As a result of the high levels of carbonaceous material contaminating the subsurface as petroleum waste, nutrients such as oxygen, phosphorus, and nitrogen are often limiting. Stimulation of the microflora is therefore achieved by perfusing the aquifer with the limiting nutrients; the nutrients must be transported to the zone of contamination to be effective. Aquifers with high clay contents and low permeabilities are not good candidates for in situ biorestoration systems nor other treatment strategies which involve plume management using well systems. In conclusion, in situ biorestoration is an innovative technique that can be used to remediate contaminated aquifers which are permeable and contain a metabolically active microflora; in contrast to other remedial methods, the contamination can be completely destroyed rather than transferred to another part of the environment.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1988

Masculine gender-role stress: predictor of anger, anxiety, and health-risk behaviors.

We suggest that male gender-role identification affects whether specific situations are appraised as stressful. A questionnaire was developed to measure masculine gender-role stress (MGRS). Correlational data and multiple regression were used to validate the MGRS scale as a measure of gender-related stress in men, and compare its predictive utility with Spence's commonly-used measure of masculinity. Findings indicate that stress appraisal is gender related, that is, men experience more masculine-role stress than women. Further, the construct of MGRS was distinguished from the concept of masculinity. Finally, MGRS predicted increased anger, increased anxiety, and poorer health behaviors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Type A behavior, achievement striving, and a dysfunctional self-evaluation system.

We conducted two experiments to examine the relations among characteristics of how Type A individuals strive for achievement, including goal achievement, self-evaluation, and psychological distress. We evaluated these relations as subjects performed two sequential general information tests. Experiment 1 indicated that achievement striving associated with the Type A behavior pattern is characterized by a tendency to set personal goals in excess of performance and is associated with a low probability of achieving goals. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that the achievement strategy Type A individuals adopted was associated with low self-evaluation of their actual performance. Furthermore, a pre- and postexperiment self-report questionnaire of psychological state suggested that failure to achieve personal goals was related to increased psychological distress. The results of our study suggest that unrealistically high performance standards and failure to achieve personal goals may be a mechanism that triggers the negative psychological states and performance dissatisfaction associated with the Type A behavior pattern. Our study also supports theoretical conceptualizations that excessive achievement striving can act as a potential motivational mechanism but can also have potential pathogenic consequences through misregulation of achievement expectancy and evaluation.

Achievement↗
PubMed1984

Microbial removal of wastewater organic compounds as a function of input concentration in soil columns.

The fate of six organic compounds during rapid infiltration of primary wastewater through soil columns was studied. Feed solutions were prepared which contained all six compounds in individual concentrations ranging from 1 to 1,000 micrograms/liter and were applied to separate soil columns on a flooding-drying schedule. Feed solutions and column effluents were analyzed for the compounds by XAD resin (Rohm and Haas Co.) extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry during each of three successive inundation cycles. Breakthrough profiles of o-phenylphenol were relatively consistent during the test, with fractional breakthrough (mass output/mass input) being independent of input concentration. Consistent profiles were also observed for 2-(methylthio)benzothiazole, although fractional breakthroughs were higher at lower input concentrations, indicating that removal processes were operating less efficiently at these levels. The behavior of p-dichlorobenzene was similar to that of 2-(methylthio)benzothiazole after the first inundation cycle, with the exception that increased fractional breakthroughs were observed at the highest input concentration as well. Microbial adaptation was evident for benzophenone, 2-methylnaphthalene, and p-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenol, as indicated by increased removal efficiencies during successive inundation cycles, especially at the higher input concentrations. Column effluent concentrations of the latter two compounds were independent of input concentrations during the final stage of the test. Microbial activity and adaptation were confirmed for several of the compounds by using isotopes and measuring the extent of mineralization in batch tests with soil from one of the columns.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Benzophenones↗
PubMed1984

Anaerobic inhibition of trace organic compound removal during rapid infiltration of wastewater.

When soil columns were operated aerobically on a flooding-drying schedule in a previous study, good removals were observed for several organic compounds at concentrations ranging from 1 to 1,000 micrograms per liter in primary wastewater. In this study, fractional breakthroughs of most compounds increased substantially once operating parameters were modified and the soil became anaerobic. These results imply that microbial removal of trace organic compounds can be inhibited if anaerobic conditions develop during rapid infiltration of wastewater.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1979

Effects of simulated hypogravity on respiration and photosynthesis of higher plants.

Clinostat rotation about a horizontal axis mechanically cancels the directional component of the gravity force vector which is biologically sensed by plants. However, efficiency of clinostats as simulators of weightlessness for prolonged periods has not been demonstrated conclusively. Morphological appearance of plants in orbital flight may resemble their counterparts on earth-based clinostats, but physiological responses may differ. Photosynthesis experiments with algae have been performed in satellites orbiting the earth, but similar experiments with higher plants have not been conducted. This paper describes an experimental apparatus for measurement of photosynthetic and respiratory rates of whole plants on rotating clinostats. Initial experiments show an enhancement of gas exchange during rotation about a horizontal axis.

Asteraceae↗
PubMed1977

Inactivation of clay-associated bacteriophage MS-2 by chlorine.

The model system consisted of bacteriophage MS-2, bentonite clay, and hypochlorous acid (HOC1). Factors that influenced association of the bacterial virus with bentonite were the titer of unadsorbed viruses, clay concentration, cation concentration, temperature, stirring rate, and the presence of soluble organics. Variation of the kinetic adsorption rate constant with stirring speed indicates that phage attachment is a diffusion-limited process; the attachment reaction has an apparent activation energy of 1 kcal/mol. About 18% of clay-associated bacteriophages was recovered by mixing the suspension with an organic eluent. Inactivation data were obtained from batch reactors operated under those conditions in which loss of HOC1 was minimal during the reaction. Bacteriophages attached to clay were more resistant to HOC1 than were freely suspended phages; for equivalent HOC1 concentrations, clay-associated phages required about twice the time that freely suspended phages required for loss of 99% of the initial virus titer.

Adsorption↗
PubMed1973

Physiology and Ultrastructure of an Oxygen-resistant Chlorella Mutant under Heterotrophic Conditions.

The oxygen-resistant strain of Chlorella sorokiniana (Shihira and Krauss), distinguished by its ability to grow autotrophically under high partial pressures of oxygen, was studied and partially characterized in heterotrophic culture. Ultrastructural analysis of glucose-grown oxygen-resistant strain and wild type cells reveals that osmiophilic deposits (possibly polyphosphate) are present only in wild type, while oxygen-resistant strain apparently contains increased amounts of starch and endoplasmic reticulum. Of major physiological significance are the observations that: (a) oxygen-resistant strain requires 6 to 8 days to completely adapt to dark, heterotrophic conditions, whereas wild type acclimates in 1 day; (b) oxygen-resistant strain is resistant to high oxygen tension only when grown on glucose, but not on acetate; and (c) the respiratory rate, but not the photosynthetic rate, of heterotrophic oxygen-resistant strain is abnormal compared to wild type.

Journal Article↗