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Biomedical subjects

M D Lucas

Publications and source records attributed to M D Lucas.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

A neuropsychological study of prefrontal lobe function in the positive and negative subtypes of schizophrenia.

The symptoms of schizophrenia are frequently divided into positive and negative subtypes. It has been suggested that the negative symptoms are similar to those seen with prefrontal lobe cortical dysfunction. Several neuropsychological investigations of that hypothesis have been carried out, but none have directly compared a negative symptom group with a positive symptom group on the same test battery. In the present study, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS; Kay, Fiszbein, & Opler, 1987) was used to distinguish two groups of 20 patients with schizophrenia with predominant positive or negative symptoms. A battery of 7 neuropsychological tests considered capable of isolating prefrontal lobe dysfunction was administered. A significant group difference was noted on 6 of the tests; the negative symptom group performed much worse than the positive symptom group. The results of this study support the hypothesis that a relationship exists between the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and prefrontal lobe dysfunction.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Neuropsychological trends in the parkinsonism-plus syndrome: a pilot study.

Parkinsonism-Plus Syndrome (PPS) is a rare, degenerative disorder involving the subcortical structures of the brain. Little is known of the cognitive impairment, if any, that accompanies this syndrome. Initially PPS patients were thought to be cognitively intact; however, more recent research has suggested the presence of a frontal-lobe-like syndrome of intellectual deterioration. A battery of neuropsychological tests sensitive to subcortical dementia and frontal lobe deficit was administered to 4 female PPS patients aged between 35-49 years. The results of this pilot study indicated a distinct profile of memory dysfunction in PPS. The pattern observed differs from that seen in cortical disorders but is similar to that found in subcortical disorders. The hypothesis that a prominent frontal-lobe-like deficit exists in PPS was not supported.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Season of birth and schizophrenia: southern hemisphere data.

OBJECTIVE: The association between winter birth and increased incidence of schizophrenia is well documented in the northern hemisphere. The present study examined season of birth and schizophrenia in a southern hemisphere population from a mild temperate climate. METHOD: The seasonal incidence of birth in schizophrenic patients was compared, using Chi-squared tests, to normative population birth rates. RESULTS: A statistically significant seasonal pattern, with a peak in late spring and early summer, was obtained. CONCLUSION: This supports northern hemisphere findings regarding calendar month, but not season, of excess schizophrenic births. This has implications for viral and other aetiological hypotheses dependent on meteorological factors.

Birth Rate↗
PubMed1995

Quality of life, sexual functioning and sex role identity after surgical orchidectomy in patients with prostatic cancer.

Surgical orchidectomy is a simple procedure with few physical side effects, low mortality, and cost effectiveness. Nevertheless, there can be negative sequelae such as sexual dysfunction, impaired quality of life, and poor body image. Although it is a frequent treatment approach for prostate cancer, it is not clear whether these sequelae are problematic for this patient group. It is possible that relief from painful metastases and the prolongation of life outweigh these negative factors. The present study investigated quality of life, sex-role identity, and sexual function in 15 patients with stage D prostate cancer, before and after surgery. Orchidectomy did not appear to affect quality of life, or sex-role identity. However, loss of sexual function did present as an area of concern. It was noted that 55% of premorbidly sexually active patients found this loss disturbing. These patients, premorbidly, appeared to have higher sex-role stereotypy.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Laterality of cradling in relation to perception and expression of facial affect.

A dominant leftward cradling bias has been observed in women in non feeding interaction with infants. Reasons for this behavior have been sought in behavioral asymmetries, but none have sufficiently justified the presence of this leftward pattern. Recently, the cradling bias has been linked to affective processing, considered to be a specialized function of the nondominant (right) hemisphere (Manning & Chamberlain, 1990). This study investigates Manning and Chamberlain's (1990) suggestions that a relationship exists between leftward cradling and the interpretation and expression of affect. Eighty-six nulliparous women were tested for this relationship by correlating direction of cradling bias with visual field dominance for perception of facially expressed emotion and expression of affect. No significant relationship was found to directly support the hypotheses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

The relationship of nursing deans' leadership behaviors with institutional characteristics.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the leadership behaviors of nursing deans and selected organizational variables in baccalaureate and higher degree nursing programs in the United States. The sample consisted of 170 deans who provided data on their self-perceived leadership behaviors as measured by the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire and on institutional characteristics of both their nursing programs and parent institutions. Using correlation and analysis of variance, a significant relationship was found between the leadership dimension of Consideration and faculty expertise. Significant relationships were also found between the dimension of Initiating Structure and the nursing program variables of faculty expertise and educational task and the parent institution variables of control, educational task, and size. This study proposes that organizational variables should be included in leadership theory for nursing academic administrators.

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Management style and staff nurse job satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to determine nurses' perceptions of the current and desired management styles of hospital units and to investigate the relationship of management style with job satisfaction. Full-time staff nurses (N = 505) in two private and two public acute care general hospitals in a southeastern metropolitan area were surveyed using instruments with established psychometric properties. The staff nurses were currently experiencing a benevolent-authoritative management style, but preferred a participative style. Management style and job satisfaction were significantly correlated (r = .6050). Management style perception scores predicted 36.6 per cent of the variance in job satisfaction scores. Implications for nursing administration are presented.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship of management style and anticipated turnover.

The retention of critical care nurses is an important priority of nursing administration. Research in business and industry has shown that management style is related to turnover, but documentation of this relationship is lacking for nurses in hospitals. This research report describes how management style is directly related to anticipated turnover of critical care nursing staff.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Shared governance and the nursing practice environment.

An evaluation of the impact of shared governance on staff nurse perceptions of management style, group cohesion, job stress, job satisfaction, and anticipated turnover provides support for claims that shared governance improves the nursing practice environment.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Replication and validation of anticipated turnover model for urban registered nurses.

Replication of the Anticipated Turnover Model Among Nurses for urban registered nurses provided substantial support for the stability and generalizability of the theoretical model. In both the original and replication studies, causal modeling was used to test the theoretical model predicting job satisfaction, anticipated turnover, and actual turnover. The replication study included 385 full-time nurses in two public and two private urban hospitals. The replication validated, with younger, more educated staff, the major findings from the original study. Group cohesion and job satisfaction effectively predicted anticipated turnover in the replication and the original study. Anticipated turnover was a good predictor of actual turnover, with discriminant analysis yielding 73.2% successful predictions in the replication study and 76.2% in the original study. Job satisfaction effectively buffered job stress. The replication also substantiated the position that job satisfaction strategies need to be targeted specifically to the types of clinical services.

Adult↗