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K Millar

Publications and source records attributed to K Millar.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Alcohol placebos: you can only fool some of the people all of the time.

Some data from three studies of the acute psychological effects of alcohol are presented. After blind administration subjects could often tell that they had consumed alcohol, presumably because of its physiological effects. About 50% of subjects who received placebo alcohol felt slightly drunk and guessed that they had received alcohol. But, subjects who had actually received alcohol rated themselves as more drunk and were much more likely to guess that they had received alcohol. Subjects could also approximately estimate how much alcohol they had drunk. These findings suggest that the effects of unblinding should be considered when alcohol is administered in placebo designs. True blind placebo administration may only be possible when achieved BAL is < 40 mg/100 ml.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1992

Reduction of alcohol-induced performance impairment by prior ingestion of food.

The study examined the effectiveness of eating a meal prior to drinking alcohol as a means of reducing both peak blood alcohol level (BAL) and alcohol-induced performance impairment. In a separate-groups design, 133 male volunteers either fasted or received a standard meal of fixed calorific value and composition. Alcohol was then administered as placebo or at doses to achieve a BAL of 0, 20, 40 or 80 mg/100 ml. Subjects performed a dual task of primary tracking and secondary reaction time, short-term memory, five-choice reaction time and critical flicker fusion. Alcohol significantly impaired dual task performance but impairment was significantly reduced for those subjects who had eaten beforehand. BAL was also significantly lower in such subjects. It was concluded that prior ingestion of food might reduce the adverse effects of alcoholic intoxication, although performance remained impaired relative to the sober state.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Psychomotor recovery after outpatient anaesthesia: individual impairment may be masked by group analysis.

Recovery from outpatient anaesthesia with propofol was followed in 10 patients, using a semantic recognition memory test (SemRT) (in a new implementation on a Psion hand-held microcomputer), choice reaction time (CRT) and critical flicker fusion threshold (CFFT). Group analysis of results revealed an effect on psychomotor performance as measured by the SemRT and CFFT (but not the CRT), 30 min after the end of the procedure. Performance on all three tasks had returned to baseline values within 60 min of completing the anaesthetic. Group analysis, however, masks individual impairment which may be clinically important. There was no statistically significant correlation between post-anaesthetic task performance and age, sex, dose of propofol, anxiety or depression score.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Stress in dental practice.

The life of a GDP is stressful, and the reasons why dentists may experience stress in their chosen profession are many and varied. This article discusses the causes of stress, and outlines some strategies for coping with it.

Dentists↗
PubMed1990

Advice for the dental team on coping with the nervous child.

It is increasingly recognized that the provision of dental care should not be seen in isolation from the psychological make-up and social background of the patient. The General Dental Council has recently approved the report of its Working Party giving guidance on the teaching of the behavioural sciences (psychology and sociology) in the dental curriculum. One of the members of the Working Party was Professor Keith Millar. In this five-part series edited by Professor Millar we will cover the practical application of behavioural science in dentistry, covering communication with patients, ways to change your patients' behaviour, the management of anxious adult and child patients, and stress in dentistry. This first article offers some advice on coping with the nervous child.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1990

Sustained peripheral vasoconstriction while working in continuous intense noise.

The study examined the effects of exposure to continuous noise on pulse volume (vasoconstriction) and rate, as well as four-choice serial reaction time. There were 2 separate groups of 12 subjects that performed the 20-min task during simultaneous monitoring of their physiological response to continuous 93 dBA white noise or 70 dBA quiet control conditions. Pulse volume showed marked reduction, implying increased arousal, in the first 3-min exposure to noise. Although some habituation of the vasoconstriction response then occurred, pulse volume continued to remain significantly higher than in quiet throughout the work period. Serial choice performance was unaffected by noise. The results confirm that there is a physiological cost incurred when working in noise and one may be concerned for long-term effects on noise-exposed people.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Noise and the "rehearsal-masking hypothesis".

This study examines the proposal that continuous loud noise impairs short-term recall by masking the inner speech necessary to rehearse material in memory (Poulton, 1976 a, 1977 b). The "masking hypothesis" contrasts with previous theories which relate recall impairment in noise to the latter's action in over-arousing the individual or inducing changes in attentional deployment. Separate groups performed a visual, serial eight-consonant recall task in either 92 dBA "noise" or 75 dBA "quiet" and in "normal" or "suppressed" rehearsal conditions. The masking hypothesis predicted that noise would impair recall relative to quiet in normal rehearsal conditions. But where the rehearsal of both groups was already suppressed by a concurrent articulatory task, recall would not differ between the groups through noise-masking then being irrelevant. Total correct recall scores appeared to confirm the masking hypothesis but the pattern of serial order recall showed differences between noise and quiet in suppressed rehearsal conditions which seemed better explained by an attentional influence of noise. Further, reduced commission and acoustic confusion errors in noise were not consistent with the predictions of the masking hypothesis. It was concluded that noise-masking could not be refuted but that attentional changes due to the arousing action of noise might also be active determinants of recall.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Changes in ventricular recovery properties during and after temporary coronary artery occlusion.

The sequence of localized changes in ventricular repolarization time during and after temporary coronary artery occlusion was studied in 10 open chest dogs. Immediately after the onset of coronary occlusion functional refractory periods (FRPs) prolonged slightly in the ischemic area, then shortened with continued occlusion. Within the first minute following release of occlusion, FRPs underwent a further brief decrease in duration. By varying the period of occlusion from 1 1/2 to 6 1/2 min, evidence was obtained that the post-release shortening of RFPs was temporally related to release of the clamp and not to the onset of occlusion. Ventricular fibrillation occurred in 2 dogs, in each instance soon after release of the coronary artery occlusion. The possible relationship of these experimental FRP changes to waveform abnormalities and arrhythmias in ischemic heart disease is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Diagnosis of old inferior myocardial infarction by body surface isopotential mapping.

Body surface isopotential maps obtained from 28 patients with old inferior wall myocardial infarction were compared with maps from 120 normal subjects. The 12 lead electrocardiogram of 8 of the 28 patients (29 percent) with inferior wall infarction was normal or showed only nondiagnostic ST-T wave abnormalities at the time the isopotential maps were obtained. In all patients with inferior wall infarction the isopotential map showed a minimum (area of negative potentials) on the inferior or right thoracic surface during the early portions of the QRS complex. This finding was observed in patients with normal or nonspecific abnormalities in the 12 lead electrocardiogram as well as those with QRS abnormalities. By contrast, the minimum during the early QRS complex in normal subjects was located on the right upper back and shoulder region...

Back↗
PubMed1975

Local ventricular repolarization changes due to sympathetic nerve-branch stimulation.

Functional distributions of individual cardiac nerves distal to the stellate ganglia were determined in 30 open-chest, anesthetized dogs by mapping sites of refractory-period shortening during stimulation of the nerves. On the right, recurrent cardiac nerve stimulation produced marked shortening of refractory periods in the interventricular septum, and lesser changes on the anterior heart surface. On the left, ventromedial cardiac nerve stimulation shortened refractory periods in a similar distribution, but changes were not marked as with the recurrent cardiac nerve. The other left-side nerve that produced repolarization changes, the ventrolateral cardiac nerve, produced marked refractory-period changes on the posterior heart surface. Its distribution showed little overlap with that of the ventromedial or recurrent cardiac nerves. T waves inverted in an electrocardiographic Y lead during recurrent cardiac and ventromedial cardiac nerve stimulation, while ventrolateral cardiac nerve stimulation increased the positivity of T waves in that lead. The cardiac distributions of individual nerves documented in this study provide an anatomical basis for localized alterations in ventricular electrophysiologic properties.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The cross-leg flap: still a useful flap in children.

Reconstruction of the distal lower limb and foot is a difficult problem, especially where large areas of skin loss have occurred. The cross-leg flap is a safe and reliable alternative to free tissue transfer in paediatric lower limb trauma. By incorporating fascia or muscle the versatility of the flap can be enhanced. Our experience with the cross-leg flap in children during the last 5 years is discussed.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The prevention of dental disease: changing your patients' behaviour.

This article aims to give practitioners a framework to help their patients establish lasting and healthy dental habits and eliminate harmful ones. The advice given is practical rather than theoretical in nature, and is intended to assist dentists in the development of the appropriate skills, so as to be able to persuade their patients to change their behaviour and thereby control dental disease.

Adolescent↗