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Biomedical subjects

D Locker

Publications and source records attributed to D Locker.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Evaluating community care for the mentally handicapped adult: a comparison of hostel, home and hospital care.

While community care for mentally handicapped adults has been received enthusiastically, there have been few attempts to evaluate this form of care. This paper reports a study of two hostels for mentally handicapped adults. By employing an experimental research design, it aimed to test the hypothesis that small, community based residences provide an environment in which individuals can acquire the skills necessary for independent living. Using Gunzberg's Progress Assessment Charts as an indicator, the residents of one hostel achieved significant improvements in the areas of self-help, communication, socialization and occupation over the year following admission. A group of matched controls living at home showed no such improvements, and a group of matched controls living in hospital showed a less certain and less dramatic improvement. A small group of people living in a second hostel also showed significant gains in social competence. The paper also discusses problems in the design and implementation of experimental studies in this field.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Detection of antibody secreting hybridomas with diazobenzyloxymethyl paper: an easy, sensitive and versatile assay.

A sensitive and universal assay for the detection of monoclonal antibodies is described. One microliter of each hybrid cell supernatant is transferred to activated diazobenzyloxymethyl paper and, after coating the uncovered activated sites by incubation with bovine serum albumin, the paper is dipped in a solution of 125I-labeled antigen. After incubation to allow for fixation of antigen to antibody present in the supernatants, the paper is rinsed and autoradiographed. As many as 96 wells can be tested on one paper and more than 20 papers can be treated in 1 day (approximately 2000 wells). The sensitivity and reliability of the method were tested with monoclonal antibodies against a subunit of scorpion (Androctonus australis) hemocyanin. Unlike other immunobinding assays the test depends only on antigen-antibody interaction and not on class or subclass of immunoglobulin. It is suitable for a variety of hybridomas.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

A prospective randomized study of drained and undrained cholecystectomies.

One hundred twenty-three patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy at USAF Medical Center Keesler were studied in a prospective randomized manner to determine the differences in morbidity and mortality following drained and undrained cholecystectomies. The groups were compared for differences in mortality, wound infection, postoperative fever, and length of hospitalization. One death occurred due to an unrelated cause in an undrained patient. Three per cent of the undrained group developed wound infections as compared to five per cent in the drained group. This was not statistically significant. A significant difference occurred in postoperative fever between the drained (58%) and undrained (30%) groups. Postoperative hospitalization was also significantly shorter in the undrained group. This study suggests that drainage following elective cholecystectomy is not only unnecessary, but may add to postoperative morbidity and length of hospitalization.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Screening for disability in the inner city.

A 10% sample of private households on the electoral register of the London borough of Lambeth was screened for disable persons aged 16 and over, using a postal questionnaire. After three mailings and individual follow-up of non-responders, 87% of the sample households returned questionnaires. Disability was defined in the screening questionnaire as functional limitations or activity restrictions consequent upon disease or impairment. The overall point prevalence of disability was estimated at 15.4% and the most frequently reported impairments were those of the sense organs, bones, central nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems. Hearing difficulties were the single most frequently reported functional limitation. A log-linear modelling procedure identified age, marital status, and working status as the factors most strongly associated with disability for both men and women. In addition, men aged 50-64 and not working, and men in manual occupations and living alone, were more likely to report disability. These findings indicate that some population groups are disable by functional limitations and activity restrictions not included in office criteria of identification and assessment. These criteria might be broadened, and serves planned for those population groups with higher rates of reported disability.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Estimating the prevalence of disability in the community: the influence of sample design and response bias.

An estimate of the prevalence of physical disability in the community based upon a sample survey may be influenced by the sample design and the response to the method of data collection employed. In this paper we describe a postal survey of a sample of households in the London borough of Lambeth and the procedures used for calculating the influence of these factors on the estimate produced. These procedures can be used to adjust the estimate to take account of the relative chance of households falling into the sample and to correct for non-response bias.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Evaluation of a postal screening questionnaire to identify the physically disabled.

In this study a postal screening questionnaire was compared with an interviewer-administered questionnaire for identifying disabled persons living in the community. Disability was defined as difficulty with specified activities of daily living, specified medical problems which often cause disablement, and frequent use of a formal health or social service. A 91 per cent response rate to the screening questionnaire was obtained from a random sample of 793 adults in a general practice; 89 were classified as "disabled". Seventy-eight per cent of those subsequently interviewed changed their response to at least one item; this figure fell to 29 per cent when frequent use of formal services was excluded from the definition of disability. None of the persons classified as disabled from the postal survey were considered to be non-disabled after interview. Interviews with a sample of persons who did not report disability on the postal questionnaire resulted in no changes in classification. General practitioners (GPs) who completed screening questionnaires on respondents with the help of practice records were aware of only 79 of 206 disability items reported. The GPs were more aware of respondents' difficulties with activities of daily living than of their medical problems.

Disability Evaluation↗
PubMed1979

Assessing functional status among elderly patients: a comparison of questionnaire and service provider ratings.

This paper describes a comparative analysis of questionnaire-based measures of functional status and clinical ratings of disability made by general practitioners and health visitors. Both approaches to functional assessment were used in rating 92 elderly primary care patients in terms of their performance of 13 mobility and self-help activities. Simple dichotomous and more complex trichotomous measures of performance were used to summarize functional ability in both the questionnaire and the provider's evaluation. Agreement between questionnaire-based and rater assessments was greatest for less complex mobility and self-help functions in comparisons using both dichotomous and trichotomous scales.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1977

Evidence for an excess of rDNA in the testis of Drosophila melanogaster during rDNA magnification.

Hybridization of rRNA and DNA extracted from different tissues of different genotypes have been performed. The results show that: 1) in DNA extracted from the testis of premagnified males there exists an excess of rDNA, which is consistent with the model proposed by Ritossa (1972) and by us (1973) to explain the phenomenon of magnification. 2) in DNA extracted from diploid tissues of different genotypes the percent of rDNA is directly proportional to the number of ribosomal genes. 3) in polytene cells the percent of rDNA for all genotypes so far studied is less than that in diploid cells and is not significantly dependent on the genotype. This last result is consistent with those of Spear and Gall (1973).

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Instability at the bobbed locus following magnification in Drosophila melanogaster.

Newly magnified bobbed loci, combined with bb+ or bb loci, are in certain cases unstable. This may lead either to a reversion to the original bobbed mutation, or to lethal bobbed mutation. We name this instability "modification". Modification occurs very early during the first divisions following fecondation of eggs, in embryos heterozygous for a magnified bobbed locus and a bb+ or bb locus. This phenomenon of modification is consistent with the model proposed by Ritossa (1972) to account for the phenomenom of magnification.

Aneuploidy↗