PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L Wales

Publications and source records attributed to L Wales.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

An analogue assessment of repetitive hand behaviours in girls and young women with Rett syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that almost exclusively affects females. In addition to neurodevelopmental regression and loss of hand skills, apraxia, deceleration of head growth, and increasing spasticity and scoliosis, a number of behavioural features are also seen, including stereotypic hand movements, hyperventilation and breath holding. The aim of the study was to investigate the extent to which analogue environmental conditions affected the frequency of repetitive hand behaviour in eight girls and young women with Rett syndrome. METHOD: The frequency of repetitive hand movements was observed every 10 s for four 4-min sessions under the following conditions: Continuous Adult Attention, Adult Demands, Stimulation and No Stimulation. RESULTS: The frequency of repetitive hand movements was high -- they occurred in above 60% of all intervals in all conditions for all participants and at nearly 100% for some participants in some conditions. For one participant the frequency of repetitive hand movements was somewhat reduced in the Stimulation condition; for another it was relatively increased in the No Stimulation condition. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, environmental manipulations had relatively limited effects on repetitive hand behaviours. Repetitive hand behaviour in Rett syndrome may be maintained by automatic reinforcement or neurochemical processes and may not be primarily influenced by contingent reinforcement.

Adolescent↗

Delayed presentation of right ventricular bullet embolus.

Venous bullet embolism to the heart is a rare complication of penetrating gunshot trauma. There are little data regarding long-term follow-up of missiles retained in the right ventricle. We report a rare case of right ventricular bullet embolus following a left-sided thoracic gunshot wound. The patient presented with delayed onset of cardiac irritability symptoms 4 years after injury.

Adult↗

Comparison of five-view and three-view cervical spine series in the evaluation of patients with cervical trauma.

The three-view trauma series has been the standard screening examination for patients with cervical spine trauma. We conducted a prospective study to determine if the addition of supine oblique views to the three-view series would improve detection of fractures, subluxations, dislocations, or locked facets. All patients over a two-year period with suspected cervical spine injury had a five-view series obtained (three-view series and supine oblique views), and selected high-risk patients underwent thin-section conventional tomography of the cervical spine. Films were interpreted separately by two radiologists and an emergency physician, and the tomography results were used as the gold standard for comparison. Thirty-three of 58 high-risk patients had one or more fractures, subluxation, or dislocation demonstrated on tomography. There were no fractures or dislocations detected on the five-view series that were not detected or suspected on the three-view series. In areas of the cervical spine reported to be better visualized by supine oblique views than three-view series, our results indicate that supine oblique views did not improve detection but did, in certain cases, allow more specific diagnosis of injuries. Our data do not support the routine use of supine oblique views in the initial radiographic evaluation of patients with cervical spine trauma.

Adolescent↗

Radiographic diagnosis of quadriceps tendon rupture.

Traumatic rupture of the quadriceps tendon is an uncommon knee injury which occurs in the elderly, and/or the obese, and in those with underlying systemic disease. Ten patients with 13 ruptures have been seen at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the last nine years. Clinically, the patient is unable to actively extend the knee. On the lateral view of the knee there is loss of normal quadriceps outline and a soft-tissue mass with calcification representing the retracted quadriceps tendon. Most patients have a hemarthrosis. The clinical diagnosis is often overlooked, and the radiologist could be the first to suggest the diagnosis.

Adult↗

Reversed-phase liquid chromatographic determination of vitamin D in milk.

Vitamin D in milk is determined by a slight modification of the method of Sliva et al. [J. AOAC Int. (1992) 75, 566-571] for infant formula and enteral nutritional products. The sample is saponified for 30 min at 60 degrees C and extracted overnight into 60 mL of hexane. The hexane layer is washed, neutralized, and taken to dryness with a rotary evaporator. The sample is reconstituted in hexane and applied to 500 mg of Florisil in a solid-phase extraction column. Vitamin D is eluted with isopropyl alcohol. The eluate is evaporated to dryness under N2, and the sample is reconstituted in 1.0 mL of acetonitrile. The extract is analyzed on a C18 liquid chromatographic column (250 x 4.6 mm, 5 microns particle size) with UV detection at 265 nm. Milk samples of various fat content (i.e., skim, low fat, and whole milk) were analyzed. Spiked recoveries gave means of 81-96%; recoveries were inversely related to fat content. Assay precision ranged from 3.2 to 8.6%. The method can measure vitamins D2 and D3 individually, and no difference in the recoveries of the 2 vitamins was observed. Thus, vitamin D2 can be used as an internal standard for quantitating vitamin D3, and vice versa. The method is satisfactory for use in screening of milk for vitamin D content.

Animals↗