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Biomedical subjects

L Weller

Publications and source records attributed to L Weller.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Attitudes towards mild and severe mental handicap in Israel.

Attitudes towards mild and severe mental handicap were examined, as well as whether these attitudes are influenced by social class, sex, religiosity, and order of questionnaire presentation. A second concern was the effect on these attitudes of country of origin, namely Israeli Jews of Western, Yemenite, and Iraqi origin. A random sample of 360 adults completed the Jordan six-dimensional attitude scale on mental handicap. There was a more positive attitude to mild than to severe mental handicap. None of the remaining variables - including country of origin - affected the attitudes.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Effect of color of questionnaire on emotional responses.

We examined whether paper color affects the kind of emotional response obtained from questionnaires. University of Utah students (N = 221) read three vignettes, each describing a murder or rape, and responded by answering a set of eight questions for each case. A three-way analysis of variance was performed in which color (pink, blue, white), type of verdict (guilty, not guilty) and sex were the main effects. The results showed that there were significant differences for color and verdict but not for sex.

Color Perception↗
PubMed1988

Changes in the self and professional images of student nurses.

This study tested hypotheses concerning the development of self-image and professional orientations among students of nursing in two Israeli schools (n = 235), one of which was religiously affiliated and the other secular. The study involved a longitudinal comparison of attitudes at the beginning of the programme of study and after 3 months, and a cross-sectional comparison of the attitudes of students in each of the 3 years of the nursing programme. Based on a review of the literature, we predicted that the student's self-image and her image of the ideal professional nurse would grow more congruent during her studies. In addition, we predicted that her image of the ideal professional and the image held by her instructor would grow more congruent. The latter hypothesis was partly supported by the panel data and strongly supported by the cross-sectional data, whereas the hypothesis concerning self-image and professional image was not supported. No support was found for two other hypotheses predicting that religious students would show a greater tendency towards the expected changes. Instead we found that the gap between the religious students' professional image and that held by their instructors was greater than it was for the secular students. Moreover, the supervisors in the religious school had different images of the profession than their secular counterparts.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗
PubMed1988

Does contact with the mentally ill affect nurses' attitudes to mental illness?

This study examines the effects of contact on nurses' attitudes towards psychiatric patients. Three groups of nurses with differing degrees of contact answered the Attitude towards Mental Illness (AMI) questionnaire. No differences were found among the three groups. Practical nurses, nurses with less experience and religious nurses held more positive attitudes.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1987

The risk of having a second retarded child.

We have studied segregation ratios in 282 Israeli families with normal, nonconsanguineous parents and retarded offspring without specific etiologic diagnosis. Severity of retardation and nature of medical history significantly affected recurrence risk, while sex of propositus and sibs and presence or absence of epilepsy, cerebral palsy, microcephaly, and short stature did not. Segregation rations were 0.095 in cases of severe retardation with normal medical history, 0.216 for mild retardation with normal medical history, 0.230 in cases of all retardation with maternal reproductive inefficiency, and 0.110 for all retardation with other reported prenatal, perinatal, or infantile complications. Estimated recurrence risks in most simplex families dropped sharply with each additional normal child. The recurrence risks are higher than some previously published estimates. Different ascertainment criteria may be responsible for this variation. The criteria used here were compatible with a 3.2% population prevalence of mental retardation with a 0.223 segregation ratio in multiplex sibships. It is recommended that future studies of recurrence risks include similar data permitting evaluation of sensitivity of ascertainment criteria.

Birth Order↗
PubMed1987

Cerebrocortical microcirculation in different stages of hypoxic hypoxia.

This study investigated the relation between local cerebrocortical oxygen tension (PO2) and cerebrocortical microflow (CMF) during normoxia (FiO2 = 0.3) and hypoxic hypoxemia (FiO2 = 0.16 and 0.1). Measurements were performed on mechanically ventilated rats and rabbits anesthetized with 0.8% Ethrane and maintained within normocapnic limits. Polarographic techniques based on the use of multiwire surface electrodes were applied for measurements of local PO2 and CMF. In both species the mean tissue PO2 values were similar under normoxia (26.0 and 31.5 mm Hg for rats and rabbits, respectively). CMF histograms showed pronounced heterogeneity. The highest CMF values exceeded the lowest ones by a factor of 36 in the rat and by a factor of 26 in the rabbit. Mean CMF values were 6.67 +/- 0.72 and 4.09 +/- 0.14 relative units (for definition see text) in rats and rabbits, respectively. During hypoxemia, if the mean tissue PO2 was greater than 5 mm Hg, mean CMF did not change but a change in the pattern of microflow distribution was observed with increases in some CMF values (up to 670% of control) and decreases in others (down to 12% of control). When mean tissue PO2 values of less than 5 mm Hg were observed during hypoxemia, mean CMF increased in both species by approximately 50% on average. The increase in CMF could be seen in each individual CMF recording. We conclude that in the brain cortex local regulatory mechanisms are responsible for the change in the pattern of distribution of microcirculation during moderate tissue hypoxia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Relative importance of genetic and nongenetic etiologies in idiopathic mental retardation: estimates based on analysis of medical histories.

A method of analyzing subgroups of mental retardates for proportions of cases caused by nongenetic brain damage is presented here and applied to 490 Israeli retardates. Among mild retardates in simplex and multiplex families with normal unrelated parents, most of the cases were caused by nongenetic brain damage and only a minority were caused by polygenic heredity. Among severe retardates in multiplex families with normal unrelated parents, nongenetic brain damage is probably a more important cause than is homozygosity. In all groups except two (mild retardates with normal consanguineous parents, and severe retardates with retarded parents) the contribution of nongenetic brain damage was surprisingly large.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗
PubMed1983

[Effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) or prolonged inspiration time on lung mechanics, gas exchange and hemodynamics in differential pulmonary ventilation].

In the case of patients with unilateral lung disorders one must anticipate a further increase in the intake volume of the more elastic lung and a decrease in intake volume of the less elastic lung when the inspiratory pressure is increased or the inspiratory time is extended within the framework of mechanical ventilation. Therefore, differential pulmonary ventilation lends itself for the treatment of unilateral damage of the lung by enabling the selective application of a positive end-expiratory pressure or an inverse inspiratory time. For a better understanding of the overlapping pathophysiologic reactions, the changes in lung mechanics, haemodynamics and gas exchange were measured on the healthy lung with unilateral application of a positive and expiratory pressure or an increased inspiratory time. Thirteen male and female patients, who had to undergo intracranial surgery were ventilated with two synchronized servoventilators using a Carlens tube. The positive end expiratory pressure varied in the right lung in spans of 6 cm each, 0-12 cm H2O, inspiratory time varied 34-70%. The left lung was ventilated with a 35% inspiratory time and an end expiratory pressure of 0. The respiratory intake volume was divided up into 45% (left lung) and 55% (right lung) based on the physiological difference in size between the left and right lung. Our results show that a directed unilateral application of a positive end expiratory pressure or an increased inspiratory time does not have any relevant damaging effects on the other lung. It can be expected that in the case of non-differentiated mechanical ventilation the ensuing unequal distribution of alveolar ventilation and perfusion with consecutive increase of intrapulmonary shunt volume can be decreased by the discriminate treatment of each lung.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Cognitive self-control factors in EMG biofeedback.

This study investigated the efficacy of manipulation of cognitive self-control expectancy in EMG biofeedback training. It was predicted that a treatment procedure, which includes a positive-cognitive stage that establishes and reinforces a positive self-control belief system and also includes a training stage in EMG biofeedback, will be more effective in achieving a reduction in EMG activity than a treatment procedure which includes a negative-cognitive stage and which also includes ambiguous features prior to training and a treatment approach solely concerned with training. The study consisted of four groups with 10 subjects in each. In one group, expectation for inner control ability was created prior to actual training in reducing EMG activity. In the second group, expectation for negative self-control ability was created prior to EMG training. The third group only underwent the actual training in EMG. The fourth group served as a control group. The results show that the positive-cognitive self-control group was significantly more effective in reducing muscle activity than the other groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Pathogenic factors in idiopathic mental retardation.

Pathogenic factors in a mentally retarded population were evaluated by comparing their frequency among three groups of patients: a control group with predominantly genetic retardation and consanguineous parents; a group with severe idiopathic retardation and unrelated parents; and a group with mild idiopathic retardation and unrelated parents. Seven factors were found to be significantly more common among the patients with idiopathic retardation than in the genetic control group: a history of maternal reproductive inefficiency; bleeding during pregnancy; toxemia during pregnancy; signs of perinatal stress; neonatal anoxia; neonatal jaundice; and seizures during the first year of life. A history of repeated maternal abortions was particularly associated with mild retardation, and infantile seizures were particularly associated with severe retardation. The latter association remained significant even after exclusion of all infantile spasms, neonatal seizures and symptomatic seizures. Since the control group in this study was composed mainly of genetically retarded patients, the associations observed seem likely to be related to the causes of retardation rather than simply being the effects of a damaged fetus.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1977

Consanguinity analysis in Israeli mental retardates.

Consanguinity rates were analyzed in 904 families of retardates studied in 11 Israeli Jewish ethnic groups. It was estimated that the representative recessive gene frequency is .00518, implying that a gene equilibrium maintained by mutation alone is improbable and that some other hypothesis should be considered. The proportions of homozygotes among the following idiopathic subgroups are estimated as follows: 18%-19% homozygotes among severe idiopathic retardates with nonconsanguineous parents and no affected siblings; 74%-76% homozygotes among severe idiopathic retardates with first-cousin parents and no affected siblings; 5% homozygotes among mild idiopathic and idiopathic-familial retardates with nonconsanguineous parents; and 41% homozygotes among mild idiopathic and idiopathic-familial retardates with first-cousin parents. The estimated number of major gene loci within ethnic groups is 17-21 for severe idiopathic retardation and 43-61 for mild idiopathic retardation. These findings provide a basis for genetic counseling of families with single retardates of unknown cause. They can also be useful in epidemiologic studies of nongenetic factors. The great prevalence of common gene defects causing retardation, coupled with the rarity of disorders of amino acid metabolism in the same series, seem to indicate that further emphasis on amino acid metabolism may be nonproductive in the scientific study of retardation and that other biochemical approaches should be encouraged.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors↗