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Biomedical subjects

M E Walsh

Publications and source records attributed to M E Walsh.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Exogenous GM1 ganglioside effects on conductive and sensorineural hearing losses.

Both CBA/J mice with neonatal cochlea removals and CBA/J mice with neonatal atresias of the external auditory meatus have significantly smaller ventral cochlear nucleus is greater in the mice with cochlea removals, but the soma area reduction is greater in the mice with external auditory meatus atresias. GM1 gangliosides were subcutaneously injected daily into a group of CBA/J mice with conductive hearing loss caused by neonatal removals of their left external auditory meatus, and into a group of CBA/J mice unilaterally deafened by left cochlea removals. In the mice with conductive hearing loss, the ganglioside treatment significantly ameliorated the atrophy of spiral ganglion neurons, ventral cochlear nucleus neurons, and ventral cochlear nucleus volume. In unilaterally deafened mice, the ganglioside treatment had no measurable effect on the atrophy of ventral cochlear nucleus neurons or of ventral cochlear volume. It is suggested that GM1 ganglioside treatment potentiates growth factors which sustain spiral ganglion integrity and that this sustained activity of the spiral ganglion in turn maintains the integrity of the cochlear nuclei.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

A new method for in vitro evaluation of the interproximal penetration of manual toothbrushes.

A new in vitro method for determining interproximal penetration of different toothbrush designs is reported. This method is based on videotape recordings of the brushing patterns of 31 subjects. Circular, up-and-down, and back-and-forth brush strokes were all employed, with the brush being set at both 45 degrees and 90 degrees angles for back-and-forth brushing. Overall results were weighted according to the proportion of brushing time during which participants typically use each stroke. The tooth morphology was closely simulated by the use of typodonts. Interproximal penetration was measured by removal of "artificial plaque" (an ethyl ester of PVM/MA copolymer) shown to have a tenacity on the typodont tooth surface similar to 12-hour plaque as measured on 6 subjects. The brushing force used was based on the measured brushing force of 8 panelists during actual brushing and was consistent with forces reported in the literature. This method was used to test the interproximal penetration of three different toothbrush designs: rippled pattern (Crest Complete), multi-level (Colgate Precision), and flat-tufted (Oral-B P40). The Crest Complete was found to provide superior interproximal penetration to Oral-B P40 and Colgate Precision for all brushing techniques, although its advantage over the Colgate Precision failed to reach statistical significance for back-and-forth brushing with the brush at a 45 degree angle to the tooth. The Colgate Precision was superior to the Oral-B overall, and for three of four brushing techniques tested. There was no difference between the two brushes on back-and-forth brushing at a 90 degree angle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Adherence to exercise interventions in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.

The goals of this study were to determine the rate of adherence to exercise treatment of hypercholesterolemia and to identify personality and demographic factors associated with adherence. Of the 31 subjects entering the 26-week program, 12 attended 80% or more of the scheduled sessions. Adherence was positively associated with the perceived seriousness of hypercholesterolemia, the expectation of benefit from treatment, and depressed feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Negative associations were identified between adherence and the perception of health status being under the control of chance or of powerful others. Older subjects were more likely to be adherers at 8 and 16 weeks but not at 26 weeks.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

White phosphorus poisoning of waterfowl in an Alaskan salt marsh.

The cause of the yearly death of an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 migrating dabbling ducks (Anas spp.) and 10 to 50 swans (Cygnus buccinator and C. columbianus) has remained a mystery for the last ten years in Eagle River Flats (ERF), a 1,000 ha estuarine salt marsh near Anchorage, Alaska, used for artillery training by the U.S. Army. We have gathered evidence that the cause of this mortality is the highly toxic, incendiary munition white phosphorus (P4). The symptoms of poisoning we observed in wild ducks included lethargy, repeated drinking, and head shaking and rolling. Death was preceded by convulsions. Farm-reared mallards dosed with white phosphorus showed nearly identical behavioral symptoms to those of wild ducks that became sick in ERF. White phosphorus does not occur in nature but was found in both the sediments where dabbling ducks and swans feed and in the gizzards of all carcasses collected in ERF. We hypothesize that feeding waterfowl are ingesting small particles of the highly toxic, incendiary munition P4 stored in the bottom anoxic sediments of shallow salt marsh ponds.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1991

Children's conceptions of AIDS: a developmental analysis.

Examined causal reasoning about AIDS in children representing three major phases of cognitive development: prelogical, concrete logical, and formal logical thinking. 60 Ss (age groups: 5-7 years, 8-10 years, and 11-13 years) were administered the Concepts of AIDS Protocol. Responses were scored using the developmentally ordered Concepts of Illness Category System. The data confirm that, as a group, children's causal thinking about AIDS parallels the ways in which children think about illness in general. More specifically, the data could be organized in terms of 6 major categories or ways in which children conceptualize AIDS and its causes. The findings provide an initial empirical foundation for AIDS education curricula.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

Biomechanical stability of four-part intertrochanteric fractures in cadaveric femurs fixed with a sliding screw-plate.

Three factors affecting the stability of four-part intertrochanteric fractures were considered; the type of reduction, the quality of bone as assessed by the Singh Index, and the position of the sliding screw within the head fragment. The stability of two different reductions of four-part intertrochanteric fractures created in paired cadaveric femurs was tested after fixation with sliding screw-plates. Cyclic loading over the range 1-6 times body weight was used to simulate physiological forces. The same loading regimen was applied to femurs with deliberately misplaced implants. Bone quality did not affect the incidence of failure. The type of reduction did not affect the incidence of failure, although it affected the mode of failure. Misplacing the implant greatly impaired the stability of the fracture. Thus, to minimize the risk of disruption of the reduced fracture every attempt must be made to ensure that the tip of the nail or plate lies between 5 and 12 mm from the subchondral bone of the femoral head and the shaft of the device in the central third of the neck on both anteroposterior and mediolateral radiographs.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed1990

Developmentally-based AIDS/HIV education.

A growing number of health and education professionals argue that AIDS/HIV education curricula should be developmentally-based. They suggest the principles of developmental psychology be used to design curricula based on the sequentially ordered ways children of different ages understand AIDS. Relying on findings of research on development of children's conceptions of illness, a specific developmentally-based approach to educating school-age children about AIDS/HIV is presented in this paper. For each of three major age groups, the paper describes general characteristics for children's thought processes, ways in which children assimilate information about various aspects of AIDS, and implications for educating children about causes, prevention, and fear of AIDS. The focus of AIDS/HIV education can move from reducing fear in the younger group, to identifying and differentiating causes and noncauses of AIDS in the intermediate groups, to articulating strategies for AIDS prevention in the older group.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

The Toledo Exercise and Diet Study. Results at 26 weeks.

This study was designed to test whether an exercise program is additive to diet counseling in lowering elevated blood cholesterol levels. From a screened population of 1024 subjects, we randomized 66 predominantly female subjects to two intervention groups: diet counseling and diet counseling with exercise. Subjects were selected who had elevated levels of serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, an average or low fitness level, and a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol. After 26 weeks of intervention, 51 subjects exhibited significant decreases in serum levels of cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The addition of exercise to diet counseling resulted in improved aerobic capacity, losses of body fat and weight, and further nonsignificant decreases in serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Since these results differ from data acquired in individuals with normal to borderline serum cholesterol levels, further studies appear indicated in hypercholesterolemic subjects, especially in women.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Reducing the hazards: brief report.

Injury to the patient and surgeon by an operative instrument is fortunately uncommon, but carries an additional risk of transmission of infectious disease. A simple method using a gallipot to protect the emerging point of the skeletal traction pin during insertion is described.

Bone Nails↗
PubMed1986

Increasing autistic children's spontaneous verbalizations of affection: an assessment of time delay and peer modeling procedures.

We assessed the efficacy of time delay and peer modeling procedures in increasing autistic children's spontaneous verbalizations of affection. Four autistic children were taught to spontaneously say "I like (love) you" in response to a hug from a familiar person and their mother. Generalization from a free play training setting to free play outdoors and at home was assessed. Ancillary social and affection behaviors were also observed. Results indicated that the time delay was a quick and effective procedure for all the children. Peer modeling was unsuccessful in teaching the target behavior.

Affect↗
PubMed1983

Breath alcohol analysis in the Accident and Emergency Department.

Breath alcohol analysis was undertaken in 1044 consecutive patients aged over 15 years attending the Accident and Emergency (A and E) Department of a rural district general hospital during a 50-day period. 16.5 per cent of all patients had the smell of alcohol on their breath, with 10.2 per cent of the patients recording a breath alcohol level equivalent to a blood level of 80 mg/100 ml or more. One-third of all patients attending between 9 pm and midnight, and almost two-thirds of patients attending between midnight and 3 am had positive breath tests. Positive breath tests were most likely in males, patients with head injuries, with overdoses, in victims of assault and in patients with a depressed conscious level, irrespective of cause. Clinical estimation of intoxication by alcohol may be accurate in the co-operative patient, but in the patient with a head injury or with a depressed conscious level from another cause, this is more difficult. Breath alcohol analysis is rapid, not-invasive, accurate and of clinical value in these and other high-risk patients attending hospital as emergencies.

Adolescent↗