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Biomedical subjects

M J Alexander

Publications and source records attributed to M J Alexander.

43 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Age-related decline in receptivity in normal, neonatally androgenized female and male hamsters.

The pattern of female sexual behavior shown by aging male and female hamsters was related to exposure to perinatal androgen. Twenty-five female and 37 male hamsters in Experiment 1 was gonadectomized on the day of birth or at 43 days of age. The received 11 tests for receptivity between the ages of 28 and 66 wk. In Experiment 2, 83 females were implanted with a Silastic pellet containing 3, 1, 3 or 9% testosterone (T) or testosterone propionate (TP) by weight from the second to the tenth day of life, and tested approximately every 2 wk from 22 to 58 wk of age. Receptivity was induced by estradiol benzoate and progesterone injected before each 600 sec mating test. Normal females exhibited the highest lordosis scores, followed by minimally androgenized females and males castrated at birth. High doses of exogenous or endogenous perinatal T suppressed receptivity throughout the animal's lifespan, but did not accelerate the rate of decline in female behavior over time. Non-androgenized animals showed the greatest decrease in receptivity with advanced age.

Aging↗

Alternatives to DRGs: research issues.

Legislative mandates for the development of prospective payment methodologies for reimbursing inpatient care have spurred the psychiatric community into its own independent effort, applying both clinical and service research, to develop schemes which are fair to psychiatric patients, their providers and payers. Many of the issues involved in the development of an equitable prospective payment system (PPS) for psychiatric care are not new to the field, namely, problems of limited diagnostic accuracy, a limited knowledge of the outcomes of clearly defined treatment protocols, and a lack of integration, efficiency and efficacy in a highly differentiated service system. The research community needs to respond to these problems in the context of cost containment with an awareness that its response will influence care for psychiatric patients for the remainder of this century. In this paper, we will describe the background issues that have brought the psychiatric community to the present point in its response to PPS, and discuss some of the research problems posed by the need for a PPS with the right incentives for clinical effectiveness and efficiency.

Community Mental Health Services↗

Comprehensive functional analysis of shoulders following complete acromioclavicular separation.

The purpose of this study was to examine the results of the two major methods of treatment of complete acromioclavicular separation: surgery and nonsurgical techniques. Twenty male patients with complete acromioclavicular separation within the preceding 13 months were retrospectively examined and tested for recovery of shoulder strength and function. Comparisons were conducted between 10 of the patients who had been treated nonsurgically (Group 1), and 10 who had been treated surgically (Group 2). An additional group of 10 uninjured male subjects as controls was also tested for comparison of strength between dominant and nondominant limbs (Group 3). All of the patients were tested for strength of both shoulders using the Kin-Com isokinetic dynamometer, for shoulder flexibility using the Leighton flexometer, and for grip strength using a standard grip dynamometer. A questionnaire concerning patient evaluation of the injury was also administered to all of the subjects. The majority of strength and flexibility tests showed no significant differences between the nonsurgical and surgical groups. The nonsurgical group was statistically superior to the surgical group in the following test scores: eccentric abduction (fast speeds), concentric external rotation (slow speeds), eccentric external rotation (fast), eccentric abduction (slow), and flexibility in external rotation. These findings generally indicated that the nonsurgical treatment of a third-degree acromioclavicular separation is superior in restoring normal shoulder function in the 1st year following injury.

Acromioclavicular Joint↗

An analysis of fitness and time-motion characteristics of handball.

This study was conducted to determine some fitness parameters of two elite handball players, including the current world champion, and also to determine some of the time-motion characteristics of the game of hand-ball. The VO2 max values of the two players were found to be similar (53.1 and 55.2 ml/kg/min), while the world champion was substantially higher on the anaerobic power test and in peak ventilation scores. The results of heart rate monitoring of these players indicated that the mean game heart rate was dependent on several external factors, such as the skill level of each player, the fitness level of each player, the length of the rallies, and the player in control of the rally. The mean heart rate for the world champion was 149 beats per minute (bpm) during each game, while that for the other skilled player was 163.6 bpm, which represented 80% and 88% of maximum, respectively. The average length of each rally was 9 seconds, and the mean pause time (between rallies) was 10 seconds, producing a work-to-test ratio of approximately 1:1. The ball was found to be in play for an average of 47.3% of the total mean game time of 17 minutes. Each player was found to take approximately 350 strokes per match, with the world champion, and eventually the winner, taking a greater number of serves. Handball training should consist of interval training at an intensity of at least 80% of maximum heart rate, with a work-to-rest ratio of 1:1 and an emphasis on 10 second intervals.

Adult↗