Biomedical subjects

H Mason

Publications and source records attributed to H Mason.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Etiology of anovulation in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Various endocrine factors may contribute to the phenomenon of arrested follicular development, which is the hallmark of anovulatory infertility in polycystic ovary syndrome. Hypersecretion of luteinizing hormone and/or insulin, together with high intrafollicular concentrations of androgens, can interact to produce supraphysiological levels of cyclic AMP in granulosa cells, resulting in premature activation of terminal differentiation and, hence, arrest of follicle growth.

Anovulation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The prevalence of challenging behaviors: a total population study.

A total population study was undertaken in two areas of England to identify the situation and characteristics of people reported to exhibit challenging behaviors. We found that: (1) challenging behaviors are shown by 10-15% of people with mental retardation who are in contact with educational, health or social care services for people with mental retardation; (2) the most common forms of challenging behaviors reported were 'other' behavior (shown by 9%-12% of all people screened), aggression (7%), destructive behavior (4%-5%) and self-injury (4%); (3) the majority of people identified showed two or more of these four general forms of challenging behavior; (4) approximately two-thirds of the people identified were boys/men; (5) close to two-thirds of the people identified were adolescents or young adults; (6) approximately 50% of the people identified as showing more demanding challenging behavior were living with their families; (7) people who showed more demanding challenging behavior were more likely to need greater levels of assistance in eating, dressing and washing, be incontinent and have more restricted expressive and receptive communication.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Predicting the persistence of severe self-injurious behavior.

Information was collected on 95 people with mental retardation who had been identified seven years previously as showing severe self-injurious behavior. At follow up 71% of participants were still showing self-injurious behavior of a severity which presented a management problem for care staff. The occurrence of specific topographies of self-injury was extremely stable among the group showing persistent self-injury. Finally, self-injury status at follow-up was predicted with 76% accuracy by a logistic regression model containing three variables: site of injury (higher persistence being shown by people exhibiting head directed self-injury); reported (greater) stability of self-injury when first identified; and (younger) age.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Staff stressors and staff outcomes in services for adults with intellectual disabilities: the Staff Stressor Questionnaire.

This paper reports on the development, psychometric properties, and validity of a self-report measure designed to assess potential stressors among staff in services for people with intellectual disabilities, the 33-item Staff Stressor Questionnaire (SSQ). A questionnaire including the SSQ and scales measuring staff outcomes was administered to 512 staff across seven services for people with intellectual disabilities. The SSQ was factor analyzed to produce seven subscales reflecting different potential stressors for staff: user challenging behavior; poor user skills; lack of staff support; lack of resources; low-status job; bureaucracy; and work-home conflict. The SSQ subscales showed adequate internal reliability in terms of Cronbach's alpha and mean inter-item correlations. Associations between SSQ subscale scores and different staff groups, and patterns of associations between SSQ subscales and a range of staff outcomes, provided evidence suggestive of the face-, construct-, and criterion-related validity of the questionnaire. The SSQ shows promise as a measure for assessing potential stressors for staff in services for people with intellectual disabilities. Further studies to examine the reliability, validity, and utility of the SSQ are recommended.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Biological monitoring: the role of toxicokinetics and physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling.

This short review outlines the contribution of modeling techniques, particularly physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling, in promulgating biological monitoring as a practical tool for the occupational health professional. The impact of modeling techniques is discussed in helping to establish the relevant biomarkers to measure, the appropriate time of sampling, and the relationship between atmospheric exposure limits and concentration of biological analyte. Of particular interest is the use of "population" PBPK techniques. These can explore the influence of physiological differences between workers or of particular susceptible subgroups (e.g., pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers, and infants) on the relationship between atmospheric exposure levels and biomarker concentration. Such techniques will become more widely used as biological monitoring guidance values (e.g., biological exposure indices, biological tolerance values) are increasingly established by various international professional and regulatory bodies.

Adult↗