Biomedical subjects

L Berge

Publications and source records attributed to L Berge.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

[Acupressure against morning sickness].

BACKGROUND: Although stimulation of certain acupressure points for long has been claimed to alleviate nausea, previous research has left contradictory results. The aim of our study was to find out if acupressure can alleviate nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 97 women with mean gestational length between 8 and 12 weeks were randomized to use either active acupressure or placebo acupressure bands. Symptoms were recorded before they entered the study, during the use of the wristbands, and after the end of the study, according to the intensity, duration and nature of complaints. RESULTS: 71% of the women in the intervention group reported both less intensive morning sickness and shorter duration of symptoms. The same tendency was seen in the placebo group, with 59% reporting less intensity and 63% shorter duration of symptoms, However, significance levels of 5% were reached regarding duration of symptoms, which was reduced by 2.74 hours in the intervention group compared to 0.85 hours in the placebo group (p = 0.0018). INTERPRETATION: Acupressure wristband might be an alternative for morning sickness in early pregnancy, especially before pharmaceutical treatment is considered.

Acupressure↗

PubMed2001

Acupressure treatment of morning sickness in pregnancy. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To find out whether acupressure wristband can alleviate nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy. DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo-controlled study. SUBJECTS: 97 women with mean gestational length completed 8-12 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptoms were recorded according to intensity, duration and nature of complaints. RESULTS: 71% of women in the intervention group reported both less intensive morning sickness and reduced duration of symptoms. The same tendency was seen in the placebo group, with 59% reporting less intensity and 63% shorter duration of symptoms. However, a significance level of 5% was reached only in the case of duration of symptoms, which was reduced by 2.74 hours in the intervention group compared to 0.85 hours in the placebo group (p = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Acupressure wristband might be an alternative therapy for morning sickness in early pregnancy, especially before pharmaceutical treatment is considered.

Acupressure↗

PubMed2000

Influence of four-wave mixing and walk-Off on the self-focusing of coupled waves

Four-wave mixing and walk-off between two optical beams are investigated for focusing Kerr media. It is shown that four-wave mixing reinforces the self-focusing of mutually trapped waves by lowering their power threshold for collapse, only when their phase mismatch is small. On the contrary, walk-off inhibits the collapse by detrapping the beams, whose partial centroids experience nonlinear oscillations.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Dynamical properties near the metal-insulator transition: evidence for electron-assisted variable range hopping

We report independent measurements (between 20 and 200 mK) of the electronic specific heat C(e), the electron-phonon coupling G(e-ph), and the electron-phonon relaxation time tau(e-ph) (from 10(-2) to 10(-5) s) for NbxSi1-x Anderson insulator thin films. We show that the usual equation tau(e-ph) = C(e)/G(e-ph) holds only if the resistance is solely related to the electron temperature. We conclude that at sufficiently low temperatures variable range hopping transport is assisted by electron-electron interactions alone and is independent of the phonon distribution.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Soliton stability versus collapse

Nonlinear Schrodinger equations with positive potentials are investigated. Stability of their stationary ground states is confronted with properties of nonlinear blow-up. The stability condition for these soliton modes is shown to involve restrictions on the potential slope, which do not forbid the collapse. We prove that stable ground states must have a power integral below their counterpart with no potential.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1996

Which groups of patients benefit from helicopter evacuation?

BACKGROUND: The evacuation of emergency cases by air, usually by helicopter, is controversial because of the cost of the programme, the possibility of an accident (especially in an urban area), and unproven benefit. But such evacuations cannot be studied by a random intervention (eg, air versus ground ambulance). We used an expert-panel approach to estimate the health outcome for patients transferred by emergency helicopter compared with the potential outcome if they had gone by surface ambulance. METHODS: The helicopter programme is based at the University Hospital of Tromsø in northern Norway. 370 case-reports of helicopter evacuation from rural areas were screened by anaesthetists for routine and case-specific data. Two expert panels assessed the cases for potential additional health benefit arising from the fact of helicopter evacuation. The panels used a modified Delphi technique to reach consensus in life-years gained. One panel met for cases aged under 15 and pregnant women, the other for older cases. FINDINGS: 240 of the 370 cases were male (65%); the age range for both sexes was 0-86 years. The most common diagnosis for the 55 cases aged under 15 was infection (49%); in older patients, cardiovascular disease dominated (50%). Trauma accounted for just under a fifth of cases in both groups. On average, the patients arrived 69 min (range 0-615) earlier in hospital than if they had gone by ground transport. For 283 cases, the initial screening by the anaesthetists indicated no additional benefit compared with that obtainable by ground-ambulance transport. The main reason was that no treatment was given during the flight or early on in hospital that could not have been given otherwise. 90 cases entered the expert panel system. Of these 90, 49 cases were judged to have received no additional benefit. This left 41 (11% of the total of 370 evacuated) who were judged to have benefited, gaining 290.6 life-years. 96% of the total number of life-years gained was achieved in nine patients, six of whom were aged below 7 (four were aged 0-7 months). The life-year-gain per adult patient with cardiovascular disease was 0.54. INTERPRETATION: We conclude that an emergency helicopter service can provide considerable health benefits for selected patients, at least in this rural setting. Given the costs and risks of such a service, the benefits for most patients are small.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994