PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K R Edwards

Publications and source records attributed to K R Edwards.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Dimensions of the impact of cancer pain in a four country sample: new information from multidimensional scaling.

We investigated the question of how cultural and linguistic backgrounds affect relationships among ratings (reported by patients with metastatic cancer) of pain's interference with such functions as activity, mood, and sleep. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used to analyze ratings of pain interference from a sample consisting of four culturally and linguistically different groups from the US (n = 1106), France (n = 324), the Philippines (n = 267), and China (n = 146). Patients all completed the Brief Pain Inventory, a self-report measure of pain and its interference with function. For each of these samples, MDS solutions consistently revealed two interpretable dimensions. In all samples, one dimension represented affect and the other dimension represented activity. The dimensions were consistently interpretable across all four samples and across three levels of pain severity ('mild', 'moderate', and 'severe'). The dimensions were most prominent when pain was moderate, rather than mild (when little interference was produced) or severe (when all domains were highly interfered with). These dimensions may have utility in the study of the epidemiology of pain and of the effectiveness of pain treatment. They may also be useful in clinical assessment to describe different patterns of pain interference.

China↗
PubMed1996

Effects of oral morphine on cold pressor tolerance time and neuropsychological performance.

We investigated the analgesic effects of escalating doses (0.214, 0.286, 0.357, and 0.429 mg/kg) of oral morphine on tolerance to painful cold pressor in a double-blind, active placebo-controlled (diphenhydramine) study in 45 normal volunteers. The highest dose of morphine administered is equivalent to the starting dose recommended by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research for the management of cancer pain and acute postoperative pain. We assessed analgesia in terms of cold pressor tolerance time and self-reported ratings of pain intensity and unpleasantness. Subjects receiving the highest dose of oral morphine showed significantly higher tolerance time than subjects receiving diphenhydramine. Neither morphine or diphenhydramine significantly reduced ratings of pain intensity and unpleasantness. Neuropsychological testing revealed that the two highest doses of morphine impaired the episodic retrieval of a word list, but the same doses did not affect motor, perceptual, or attentional tasks.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1993

Disruption of human eyeblink conditioning after central cholinergic blockade with scopolamine.

Human (Homo sapiens) volunteers (N = 72) received saline, a low dose of oral scopolamine (0.6 mg), a high dose of oral scopolamine (1.2 mg), or a peripheral analogue (glycopyrrolate). They then underwent classical conditioning of the eyeblink response to a tone conditioned stimulus (CS) and a corneal airpuff unconditioned stimulus (UCS) in a delay conditioning paradigm. There was a dose-related decline in acquisition of the conditioned response. These drug-induced conditioning deficits were similar to those previously reported in rabbit eyeblink conditioning and could not be attributed to such nonassociative factors as changes in auditory thresholds to the tone CS, magnitude of reflexive blinks to the airpuff UCS, or to changes in spontaneous blink rates.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1986

Efficacy of porcine parvovirus vaccines.

Three inactivated porcine parvovirus vaccines were tested for efficacy in 66 susceptible gilts. The gilts were challenged with virulent virus on the 40th day of gestation. All the vaccines provided excellent protection against fetal mortality despite insignificant serological responses to one of them. Good protection was obtained with two of the vaccines even when the dose was substantially reduced. Unvaccinated controls had very few viable fetuses.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Isolation of chlorine-containing antibiotic from the freshwater cyanobacterium Scytonema hofmanni.

Scytonema hofmanni, a filamentous freshwater cyanobacterium (blue-green alga), produces secondary metabolites which inhibit the growth of other cyanobacteria and green algae. A rapid, qualitative assay for this inhibition has been developed with Synechococcus as the test organism. This assay procedure has led to the isolation and characterization of an antibiotic (named cyanobacterin) from Scytonema. The antibiotic has a molecular weight of 430 and an empirical formula of C23H23O6Cl and contains a gamma-lactone and a chlorinated aromatic nucleus. It inhibits the growth of various algae but has limited effect on nonphotosynthetic bacteria or protozoans and thus may have potential use as a specific algicide.

4-Butyrolactone↗
PubMed1980

Psychological profiles in patients with multiple sclerosis. A preliminary investigation.

Most psychological and psychiatric studies of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have failed to take into account the varying demographic and disease-related factors that may be expected to play a role in patients' adjustment to this disease. We describe the psychological response of patients to MS as a function of age, sex, educational level, disease state, length of disease, physical disability, manual dexterity, and abstract reasoning. Several resulting response patterns are discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1980

Cognitive function in patients with multiple sclerosis.

The performance of patients with multiple sclerosis on selected psychological tests was examined to ascertain the usefulness of such examinations to diagnosis. Cognitive impairment was studied in relationship to disease-related factors, physician's identification of cerebral involvement, and psychological adjustment. The results indicate that half the subjects exhibited cognitive impairment. Levels of neurologic involvement, physical impairment, and depression were not predictive of cognitive impairment. Of the subjects who were judged on neurological examination to have intact mentation, half were actually impaired. Impaired cognitive functioning, which is often not detected through routine examination, may occur early in the disease. These deficits may represent manifestations of otherwise undetectable plaques in the subcortical white matter.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Comparison of two infectious bursal disease vaccine strains: efficacy and potential hazards in susceptible and maternally immune birds.

Two infectious bursal disease vaccines were administered to separate groups of maternally immune and susceptible chickens at various ages. Vaccine B caused no damage to the bursae of chickens examined histologically at nine and 20 days after vaccination. The bursae of chickens given vaccine A were shown to be severely damaged when similarly examined. Both vaccines protected all the susceptible groups against challenge, but only vaccine A protected the groups of maternally immune chickens. Susceptible chickens vaccinated at one day of age with vaccine A showed a lowered response to Hitchner B1 Newcastle disease vaccine given at 14 days of age, judged by the haemagglutination-inhibition response and Newcastle disease challenge. The performance of the Newcastle disease vaccine was not affected in chickens given vaccine B. Bedding used by birds given vaccine A was shown to be capable of transmitting vaccinal virus to susceptible chickens, causing severe bursal damage.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Measurement of immunosuppression in chickens caused by infectious bursal disease vaccines using Brucella abortus strain 19.

The serological response of chicks to Brucella abortus strain 19 was monitored over a period of seven weeks to assess the degree of immunosuppression caused by vaccination at one day of age with two infectious bursal disease vaccines. One of the vacy. This vaccine caused severe immunosuppression judged by the minimal serological response following B abortus inoculation. The test also detected a significant delay caused by the other vaccine in the development of the serological response but the maximum titre was not significantly different from that in chicks which had received no infectious bursal disease vaccine.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Hemorrhagic complications of cerebral arteritis.

Intracranial hemorrhage occurred in two patients with cerebral arteritis. One patient with methamphetamine-induced necrotizing angitis had a spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage without an aneurysm. A second patient with ulcerative colitis developed an intracerebral hematoma. Carotid angiography demonstrated a diffuse arteritis in each patient. The risks of bleeding associated with cerebral arteritis are discussed. The use of anticoagulants should be avoided. Cerebral arteritis should be suspected as a cause for intracranial hemorrhage.

Adult↗