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Biomedical subjects

L Lewandowski

Publications and source records attributed to L Lewandowski.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion production by polymorphonuclear neutrophils in patients with chronic periapical granuloma, before and after surgical treatment.

Chronic periapical granuloma represents a localized tissue injury with well established signs of systemic immunological reactions. The aim of the study was to investigate changes in superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide production by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) in patients with chronic periapical granuloma before and after surgical treatment. The affected teeth were extracted from 20 patients with chronic periapical lesions. Blood samples were obtained at admission, before extraction and on day 14. PMNs were isolated from blood samples and superoxide anion (O2-) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production were estimated without stimulation and after stimulation of the cells with opsonized zymosan. Similar procedures were performed with blood samples obtained from 20 healthy controls. Superoxide anions as well as hydrogen peroxide production by unstimulated cells obtained from patients before treatment were significantly higher in comparison with controls. Fourteen days after extraction O2- production by unstimulated cells was higher than the controls and significantly lower in comparison to PMNs obtained before treatment, while H2O2 production was not significantly higher when compared to controls and significantly lower in comparison with PMNs obtained before extraction. The results obtained strongly imply the termination of a generalized inflammatory response after elimination of local inflammation by tooth extraction.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Cell cycle and apoptosis in tumours of oral cavity estimated by image cytometry.

The aim of investigations was to examine whether diploid and aneuploid tumours of oral cavity differ in frequencies of occurrence of individual phases of cell cycle and of apoptosis. Investigations were carried out on 53 tumours using techniques of image cytometry. The studies were performed on properly isolated cells of tumours, which were stained using Feulgen method and analysed by image cytometry. Using a suitable computer programme, the percentages of cells present in individual phases of cell cycle and in apoptosis were estimated. No respective differences could be disclosed between diploid and aneuploid tumours. In addition, the ratios of the fraction of cells in S phase of the cell cycle and those in apoptosis were calculated and were found to carry certain prognostic significance in patients with squamous cell carcinomas of oral cavity.

Aneuploidy↗
PubMed1999

Sleep alterations in cancer patients.

This multi-institutional sleep study involved two phases aimed at investigating sleep alterations in patients with any stage of breast and lung cancer. The first phase of this study used an 82-item, 20-minute telephone survey to elicit information regarding the impact of sleep disturbances on a convenience sample of 150 patients. Of these patients, 44% reported a sleep problem during the month before the interview. Significant relations included these: report of sleep problems prediagnosis over the past month (x = 5.82; p = 0.02), duration of sleep medication use and frequency of sleep problem (r = 0.58; p = 0.05), age and severity of sleep problems (r = 0.38; p = 0.05), and frequency and severity of the sleep problem over the past month (r = 0.21; p < 0.10). Communication with health care providers occurred in 16.6% of patients reporting a sleep disturbance. The second phase of this study explored the type, frequency, and severity of sleep problems and perceptions of causation, support, and methods of coping with the sleep problem. A qualitative approach to the problem was used in this phase. A one-time telephone interview of 42 patients, derived from a convenience sample, revealed a 45% prevalence of sleep problems a month before the interview. A qualitative analysis of the responses suggested that sleep problems are related to experiences of other symptoms and perceptions of cancer and treatment. Content analysis of the responses identified the following categories: figuring out the reason, seeking help, seeking support and relation to the overall cancer experience.

Baltimore↗
PubMed1999

Relationships among assisted suicide and religiousness, resources available, denial of dying, and autonomy.

A nonrandom sample of eligible voters in Michigan (N = 218; mean age 35.7 yr.) anonymously completed a questionnaire during the two weeks prior to voting on a ballot proposal endorsing physician-assisted suicide. Favoring assisted suicide correlated negatively with scores on religiousness, believing that only a troubled mind would favor assisted suicide and that vulnerable individuals would suffer were assisted suicide legal, with denial of dying, and with resources available during one's final years. Favoring assisted suicide correlated positively with indicating this to be a medical rather than moral issue, making one's own decisions on moral issues, and believing that people may have different opinions on assisted suicide. The role of experience with dying needs further study.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Bimodal reading: benefits of a talking computer for average and less skilled readers.

Studies have shown that when information is presented through visual and auditory channels simultaneously (i.e., bimodal presentation), speed of processing and memory recall are enhanced. The present study demonstrated the efficacy of a bimodal approach to fostering reading comprehension. Eighteen average readers (9 girls and 9 boys) and 18 less skilled readers (8 girls and 10 boys) in Grades 8 and 9 participated in the study. Students were presented with social studies and science passages via a computer. Passages were presented in three conditions: visually (on screen), auditorily (read by digitized voice), and bimodally (on screen, highlighted, while being voiced). Following each passage, students answered 10 oral-response, short-answer comprehension questions. Results indicated that less skilled readers comprehended more with bimodal versus unimodal presentations. Overall, their performance in the bimodal condition was commensurate with average readers' comprehension in the visual condition. For less skilled readers, an increase in word recognition from pre- to posttesting on word lists was found across conditions. In addition, results of a brief consumer satisfaction survey suggested that low-skilled readers felt most successful in terms of their comprehension when passages were presented bimodally. Several clinical issues involved in presenting information bimodally using computers are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[A clinical and microscopic evaluation of the leukoplakia of oral mucosa].

The authors present methods of treatment of 90 patients with leukoplakia of oral mucosa. In 60 cases tissue material taken from focus of leukoplakia, has been tested in microscope. In 8 cases the cancer has been identified. Using method of Carr-Price, the level of vit. A and beta-karoten has been appointed.

Humans↗
PubMed1995

Developing collaborative partnerships between inpatient nephrology and outpatient dialysis units.

Communication and consistency of care among nurses in a nephrology program improves continuity of care for end-stage renal disease patients. Programs and processes that one large nephrology program has used to improve communication among departments include contribution of all staff to one care plan, designation of an inpatient peritoneal dialysis nurse, joint continuing education programs for staff, collaborative planning, and research partnerships.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1994

Subtle speech and motor deficits of children with congenital hypothyroid treated early.

This study surveyed the development and functioning of a group of 16 children with congenital hypothyroidism who had been followed closely since treatment was instituted at an average age of 15.6 days. This group of early-treated young children had no deficits in cognitive or adaptive functioning. Some isolated motor deficits were found, although results of the Finger-tapping and Marching subtests of the Reitan-Indiana battery did not replicate the New England Congenital Hypothyroid Collaborative (1985) finding of impaired performance. Speech deficits were documented in some. Congenitally hypothyroid children with delayed neonatal bone-age performed more poorly on most measures than those whose bone-age had been normal at birth.

Articulation Disorders↗
PubMed1994

The social adjustment and self-concept of adults with learning disabilities.

This study examined the social adjustment and self-concept of 81 adults (18 to 26 years of age), 40 of whom received special education services under the "learning disabilities" designation and 41 of whom had regular education programming. Subjects were mailed a set of questionnaires about their current functioning, including the Social Adjustment Scale-Self Report and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Archival data on IQ and achievement test scores were also obtained. Results indicated no significant differences between groups on the social adjustment measure or any of its subscales, or on the measure of self-concept. A small subset of subjects in the learning disabilities group had clinically low self-concept scores. Achievement and IQ measures, collectively, were good predictors of global social adjustment (R2 = 96%). Overall, the findings suggest that this cohort of subjects with learning disabilities educated under the auspices of P.L. 94-142 fare about as well as their nondisabled peers in terms of social adjustment and self-concept. It appears that any negative effects of a disability classification abate once individuals leave the public school environment, and that previous forecasts of the socioemotional status of adults with learning disabilities may be unnecessarily pessimistic.

Achievement↗
PubMed1994

Orthographic, phonologic, and semantic processing in reading disabled and nondisabled subjects.

In this study the confusability paradigm of Byrne and Shea and Waterman and Lewandowski was modified to include an orthographic condition made possible by presenting stimuli visually rather than aurally. The confusability tasks included a pseudoword-recognition task with only phonologic and orthographic information available for coding and a word-recognition task with phonologic, semantic, and orthographic information available for coding. 20 poor and 20 good readers (13 to 18 years of age) were asked to report whether stimuli had been presented a second time in two continuous lists (pseudoword and word). In contrast to previous work, phonologic confusability was not observed for either group, whereas orthographic confusability was noted for both groups on both tasks. Semantic confusability occurred for both groups on the word task. On these tasks which triggered orthographic and semantic processing (errors) poor readers performed comparably to good readers, suggesting that on a confusability task presented visually they were not disadvantaged.

Achievement↗
PubMed1993

Phonologic and semantic processing in reading-disabled and nondisabled males at two age levels.

The purpose of the following study was to replicate the confusability paradigm of Byrne and Shea (1979) by examining phonologic and semantic performances of good and poor readers. This study added an older age group and a phonological awareness task to examine other aspects of phonological processing across age. The confusability tasks included a pseudoword recognition task with only phonological information available for coding and a word recognition task with both phonetic and semantic information available for coding. Forty poor readers and 40 good readers were divided into two separate age groups (8-10 years, 14-16 years). Rhyming, semantic, control, and general errors were recorded. On the pseudoword task poor readers' rhyming versus control errors increased whereas good readers' rhyming versus control errors decreased with age. On the word task poor readers made more errors on semantic than rhyming trials while good readers made more rhyming than semantic errors. Poor readers made significantly more errors on the phonological awareness task than good readers. The combined results suggest, as did Byrne and Shea, that poor readers have a weak-functioning phonological system which they rely upon less when semantic information is available for coding.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

[The effectiveness of ambulatory occupational therapy measures for patients with schizophrenia].

This study evaluates the concept of occupational therapy for schizophrenic outpatients. Preliminary results from 18 patients suggest that occupational therapy for outpatients might contribute to an improvement in cognitive-adaptive functions and open up ways for further integration on the job market. The prognosis was favourable when the outset of occupational therapy was not equated with a rise in the level of professional adaptation and a certain approachability and flexibility were to be observed in cognitive, affective and intentional aspects among the chronic schizophrenic patients. With regard to cognitive functions and to professional adaptation, it proved more favourable for occupational therapy to be carried out within the framework of regular service enterprises (external occupational therapy, n = 9) and not within training areas of the psychiatric institution itself (internal occupational therapy, n = 9). Patients taking part in internal occupational therapy felt more heavily burdened by workplace conditions, and greater family-related strain seemed to develop in the therapeutic centre than was the case among patients taking in external occupational therapy.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1991

Hyperthermia potentiates the effects of aluminum phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate-mediated photodynamic toxicity in human malignant and normal cell lines.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of photodynamic therapy utilizing aluminum phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate in vitro on several human malignant and normal cell types, with or without hyperthermia. Cells examined included normal skin fibroblasts, HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells, SCC-25 (squamous cell carcinoma) and malignant melanoma cells. An argon-pumped continuous wave tunable dye laser at 675 nm was used as the light source, hyperthermia groups were heated to 42.5 degrees C, and radioisotope incorporation was used to measure DNA and protein synthesis as toxicity assays. Results showed an energy-dose, and A1PcS-concentration dependent toxicity in all cell lines examined, with moderate selectivity toward malignant cells. Hyperthermia alone was slightly toxic in melanomas and HT-1080 cell lines but had no effect in normal fibroblasts or SCC-25 cells. Hyperthermia synergistically potentiated the effects of PDT in all cell lines, and the combined modality was significantly more toxic in all malignant cell lines compared with normal cells. Thus, addition of hyperthermia to PDT protocols may enhance the efficacy of this treatment modality in vitro.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗
PubMed1991

[Results of palatal, linguographic and phoniatric studies in patients with pseudoprogeny after cleft palate surgery].

In 27 patients with cleft palate and pseudoprogeny the osteotomy according to Le Fort I and in 7 patients the accessory oblique osteotomy were performed. The phoniatric evaluations as well as the palatal and linguographic examinations proved the amelioration of the articulation in the second zone. The dental occlusions were also better as well as the speech intelligibility.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Laser-induced photodynamic therapy with aluminum phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate as the photosensitizer: differential phototoxicity in normal and malignant human cells in vitro.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves the use of laser or noncoherent light energy with photosensitizing dyes to induce a cytotoxic reaction in the target cells, resulting in cell injury and/or death. In this study, we have examined laser-induced phototoxicity in normal human skin fibroblasts and HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells incubated with aluminum phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate (AlPcS) in vitro. The culture, laser, and photosensitizer parameters were varied in attempts to establish the conditions for differential cytotoxicity between normal and malignant human fibroblasts. Biochemical assays, as a measure of cytotoxicity, included [3H]thymidine incorporation (an index of DNA replication), [35S]methionine incorporation (a measure of protein synthetic activity), and the MTT assay (an indirect index of mitochondrial activity). In the absence of laser irradiation, AlPcS was non-toxic to both cell lines in concentrations up to 25 micrograms/ml. Laser light alone at 675 nm (the absorption maximum of AlPcS) had no effect on the cells at energy densities up to 16 J/cm2. In the presence of 3 or 10 micrograms/ml of AlPcS, both cell lines demonstrated marked energy-dependent toxicity. If an 8-h or a 24-h "efflux" period in AlPcS-free medium was allowed to take place prior to laser irradiation, normal fibroblasts were much less sensitive to PDT, whereas fibrosarcoma cells still exhibited a marked degree of toxicity. The results indicate that, under appropriate treatment conditions, AlPcS is capable of preferentially sensitizing a malignant mesenchymal cell line, while sparing its non-malignant normal cell counterpart.

Fibroblasts↗
PubMed1990

Left-hemisphere dysfunction in autism: what are we measuring?

This study sought to investigate the left hemisphere deficit hypothesis regarding autism. A group of 15 autistic youngsters between the ages of 8 and 13 years was compared with a group of 15 mentally retarded youngsters matched for age and IQ on a set of measures presumed to be sensitive to neuropsychological dysfunction. The results suggested that this sample of autistic youngsters is best characterized by bilateral neuropsychological involvement, affecting left-hemisphere functioning predominantly but not exclusively. The findings of this and other such studies seem to be somewhat determined by the varied samples and assessments employed in the research. The practice of selecting tests which presumably tap left or right cerebral functions is highly inferential, and warrants concern, particularly when assessing complex cognitive functioning in autistic individuals.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1989

Anomalous dominance in Down syndrome young adults.

The ear advantages of groups of Down Syndrome and developmentally retarded (NonDown) young adults, and normal youngsters matched for mental age were compared on dichotic listening performance. The paradigm employed strings of single, double, and triple digits presented to each ear under both free and cued recall conditions. The developmentally retarded and normal groups demonstrated the typical right ear advantage (REA), whereas the Down Syndrome group produced a significant left ear advantage (LEA) in four of the six experimental conditions. In addition, for the cued as compared to free recall conditions, all three groups demonstrated relatively better right ear performance. These results indicate anomalous dominance in Down Syndrome young adults which is consistent across varying memory load and attentional demands. Furthermore, these results are not likely due to a maturational lag phenomenon, but more likely related to genetic, biologic, and neurologic, factors as suggested by Geschwind and Galaburda (1985).

Adolescent↗