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Biomedical subjects

J Hollis

Publications and source records attributed to J Hollis.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Proper-name processing: are proper names pure referencing expressions?

Theoretical models of proper-name processing have been primarily derived from studies of people's names; however, they are thought to generalize to all classes of proper name. Five experiments are reported that use repetition priming to compare different classes of proper names. It was found that for people's names and landmark names, (a) production of a name in response to seeing a picture primed a subsequent familiarity decision to the same item's written name and (b) similarly, making a familiarity decision to an auditory presentation of a name primed a familiarity decision to the same item's written name. No comparable facilitation was found for the country-name stimuli. The presence of this specific facilitation was attributed to the nature of connectivity between conceptual and lexical representations. Theoretical views that proper names are unique, meaningless labels and that they are pure referencing expressions are evaluated.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

On the relationship between reading, listening and speaking: it's different for people's names.

Two experiments are reported that tested predictions derived from the framework of face, object, and word recognition proposed by Valentine, Brennen, and Brédart (1996). The findings were as follows: (1) Production of a celebrity's name in response to seeing the celebrity's face primed a subsequent familiarity decision to the celebrity's printed name. The degree of repetition priming observed was as great as that observed when a familiarity decision to the printed name was repeated in the prime and test phases of the experiment. (2) Making a familiarity decision to an auditory presentation of a celebrity's name primed a familiarity decision to the same celebrity's name presented visually. The magnitude of cross-modality priming was as great as the magnitude of within-modality repetition priming. This result for people's names contrasted with the effects observed in lexical decision tasks, in which no reliable cross-modality priming was observed. The results cannot be accounted for by previous models of face and name processing. They show a marked contrast between processing people's names and processing words. The results support the framework proposed by Valentine et al. (1996). The implications for models of speech production, perception, and reading are discussed, together with the potential of the methodology to elucidate our understanding of proper name processing.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1998

Deploying an HMO's data warehouse.

Kaiser Permanente says it has saved millions of dollars and improved the quality of care with information from its data warehouse. Here's how Kaiser implemented the warehouse four years ago, and how it uses it today.

California↗
PubMed1997

The role of automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) in an integrated dialysis programme.

While there is no doubt that renal transplantation would be the preferred option for all patients suffering from end stage renal disease, this is sadly an unrealistic aim for many patients in the UK. There is a shortage of donor organs and, with the increasing percentage of elderly patients on dialysis, under 50% of all dialysis patients are on the national transplant waiting list. Of the 12,000 or so patients on dialysis in the UK, approximately half receive haemodialysis and half peritoneal dialysis. In the last few years, there has been a resurgence of interest in automated peritoneal dialysis and just under 20% of the peritoneal dialysis population currently receive this mode of therapy. The advantages of automated peritoneal dialysis include the capacity for an increased dialysis prescription, increased freedom and quality of life and a decreased risk of peritonitis and intra peritoneal pressure related problems. These advantages may offset the increased cost of automated peritoneal dialysis and long-term patient morbidity and mortality may be diminished by its provision in an integrated dialysis programme.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Mental health status as a predictor of morbidity and mortality: a 15-year follow-up of members of a health maintenance organization.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to relate preexisting depression, worries, affect balance, and mental health symptoms to subsequent risk of morbidity and mortality. METHODS: A random sample of members of a health maintenance organization were interviewed at home in a 1970/71 survey. Baseline psychological measures from that survey were then related to 15-year mortality and first incidence of cancer, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, functional gastrointestinal disease, and hyperimmune diseases. RESULTS: Baseline depression and the Langner Mental Health Index predicted incidence of functional gastrointestinal and hyperimmune diseases. The relationship of the Langner index to hyperimmune diseases was particularly strong; mortality, cancer, heart disease, hypertension, and stroke incidence were not related to that index. Except for affect balance, which was worst in the elderly, indications of psychological dysfunction were strongest in the young. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological indices detected increased risk for functional gastrointestinal and hyperimmune diseases but were not related to mortality risk. Further research is needed to disaggregate relationships of the specific conditions that were included in the hyperimmune group. Functional gastrointestinal disease might be preventable with early attention to depressed persons and to those scoring high on the Langner index.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

A stop-smoking telephone help line that nobody called.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reach of a smoker's hotline that provided a variety of services to over 2100 health maintenance organization members. Formative evaluation procedures identified topics of concern, and repeated promotions advertised the service via multiple channels. Excluding a special giveaway promotion, an average of less than three calls per month were made during the 33 months of operation. To be cost-effective, smoker's hotlines should be offered to large populations and should be consistently and intensively publicized.

Hotlines↗
PubMed1992

Baseline characteristics of participants in phase I of the Trials of Hypertension Prevention.

Phase I of the Trials of Hypertension Prevention was designed to test the effectiveness and safety of three life-style (weight loss, sodium restriction, and stress management) and four nutrition supplement (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and fish oil) interventions in reducing diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in persons with a high-normal blood pressure. A total of 2182 persons with a DBP between 80 and 89 mm Hg met the eligibility criteria for participation in phase I and were randomized to one of the active intervention or control treatment groups. Most were white (82%), male (70%), married (76%), nonsmoking (88%), college graduate (53%), full-time employees (91%). The average blood pressure prior to entry into the trial was 124.9 mm Hg systolic and 83.8 mm Hg diastolic. A variety of baseline observations, including sociodemographic characteristics, personal and family medical history, health habits, diet, and biologic measurements, were documented before randomization and compared among the seven active intervention and control groups. As might be expected in a randomized trial of this sample size, the distribution of measured baseline characteristics was virtually identical in the treated and control groups. Based on this finding and the knowledge that randomization procedures were implemented without deviation from the phase I protocol, it is probable that unknown potential confounders were also equally distributed at entry into the study. Given the achievement of high rates of follow-up, subsequent differences in blood pressure are unlikely to have been due to baseline differences between the active treatment and control groups, and can probably be attributed to effects of the active interventions.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Patient referral to a smoking cessation program: who follows through?

BACKGROUND: While health care providers are often urged to refer smokers to a smoking cessation program, little information is available about patient adherence to such advice. METHODS: A group of primary care patients who smoked (N = 1380) received brief advice to quit from their provider, and were then asked to stay and talk to a counselor for more information. Counselors randomly delivered one of two interventions. For the intervention group, referral to a specific group cessation program was emphasized, and for the control group, quitting advice was merely repeated. The referral intervention included a video in which role models testified to the acceptability and usefulness of the HMO's group program. The usual program fees were waived, and patients received a supportive, follow-up telephone call 1 week after their visit. RESULTS: In the referral intervention group, 53.2% of patients agreed to go to the cessation program and 11.3% actually attended, compared with only .006% of the patients who received advice only. Logistic regression analyses revealed that patients who were contemplating quitting were more than five times as likely to respond to the referral compared to precontemplators (smokers who were not seriously considering quitting). Older, heavier smokers were also more likely to attend a group session. CONCLUSIONS: An intensive, specific referral to a group smoking cessation program can increase participation by patients. Most patients, however, will not attend a group program; therefore, a brief office-based intervention for all smokers should precede referral.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Smoking cessation and change in diastolic blood pressure, body weight, and plasma lipids. MRFIT Research Group.

Cigarette smoking cessation was examined for its impact on diastolic blood pressure, weight, and plasma lipids in 3,470 special intervention males in the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial. Change in smoking status (quitters vs nonquitters) was not independently associated with change in diastolic blood pressure or the subsequent use of antihypertensive medication for smokers who were normotensive at entry. More quitters (35%) became hypertensive than nonquitters (27%, P less than 0.01), although the groups had similar baseline diastolic blood pressure levels. Weight gain subsequent to cessation probably contributed to this excess incidence of hypertension in quitters. Stepped-care antihypertensive therapy lowered diastolic blood pressure similarly for hypertensive quitters and nonquitters. Weight increases of 6 lb or more by the 72-month visit occurred in 47% of quitters vs 25% of nonquitters (P less than 0.01); quitters did not differ from nonquitters in their change in total kilocalories from baseline to the 72-month visit. Quitters who gained 6 lb or more tended to be less obese at baseline, be less physically active, and smoke more cigarettes per day than those who did not gain this amount. Finally, quitters relative to nonquitters experienced an adjusted increase of 2.4 mg/dl high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, but no difference in total or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The implications for intervention are discussed as they relate to the common, but not inevitable, increase in weight subsequent to cessation.

Antihypertensive Agents↗
PubMed1984

Bone mineral status in childhood accidental fractures.

We studied the bone mineral and calcium (Ca) status of 17 children who suffered an accidental fracture in 1980. These children were matched by age and sex to a nonfractured control group. Blood was drawn for serum Ca, phosphorus, magnesium, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol ( calcidiol ), alkaline phosphatase, and albumin. Bone mineral content (BMC) was evaluated by photon absorptiometry. There were no differences in serum values between the two groups. Twelve (71%) of the 17 children in the fracture group had a lower BMC than their matched controls. The BMC of the fracture group was lower than their controls, 0.423 +/- 0.042 v 0.461 +/- 0.037 g/cm. Four of the 15 in the fracture group ingested less than 60% of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for Ca and P (800 mg/day), while all the controls were ingesting at least 60% of the RDA. Four children of the fracture group who were ingesting less Ca and P than those of the control group also had low BMC.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1982

Decreased bone mineral status in lactating adolescent mothers.

To determine the calcium and bone mineral status of lactating adolescents, we compared 12 lactating adolescents with 11 nonlactating adolescents, 11 lactating adults, and 11 nulliparous adolescent control subjects. At two and 16 weeks, there were no differences in maternal serum concentrations of calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, or calcidiol (25-hydroxyvitamin D). The bone mineral content at two weeks among the four groups was not different, but at 16 weeks the lactating adolescents' bone mineral content was lower than that in the other groups. The lactating adolescents' bone mineral content was decreased between two and 16 weeks (1.049 +/- 0.088 vs 0.887 +/- 0.054 gm/cm; P less than 0.02). Dietary intakes were similar among the groups for calories, protein, vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus. However, only three of ten lactating adolescents met the recommended dietary allowance for calcium or phosphorus (1,600 mg/day), whereas eight of ten nonlactating adolescents, six of seven lactating adults, and seven of ten adolescents control subjects met the recommended dietary allowance for calcium or phosphorus (P less than 0.05). Our data suggest that during 16 weeks of lactation, the adolescent mother may be at risk for bone demineralization because of low dietary intakes of calcium or phosphorus.

25-Hydroxyvitamin D 2↗