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Biomedical subjects

N Beck

Publications and source records attributed to N Beck.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Comparison between computer-aided testing and traditional multiple choice: an equivalence study.

AIMS: Computer-aided learning (CAL) is a viable alternative to traditional teaching methods. While CAL is used for teaching only, computer-aided testing (CAT) can be applied as a computer-based examination method. The aim of the present study was to compare the performance of undergraduate students in computer-interactive tests and traditional multiple choice tests and to evaluate the influence of question length and language skills on test results. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-two native German-speaking students and five non-native speaking students were randomly assigned to two groups. They were required to answer 20 conventional multiple choice questions and 20 questions using the interactive MobiTed system. An analysis of variance and t-tests (alpha = 0.05) were used to compare scores. RESULTS: Non-native speakers scored significantly lower on the interactive test compared with the native speaking students (P = 0.048 for long questions and P = 0.003 for short questions). There were no significant group differences on the conventional multiple choice test (P = 0.052 for long questions and P = 0.089 for short questions). Based on the results of the native speaking students neither test method nor question length had an influence on overall performance. CONCLUSION: Interactive multiple choice tests may provide an alternative to written tests, especially when considering time expenditure. Language skills and question length should be taken into account when setting time limits for examination.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed2003

[Day care treatment of 2 siblings with elective mutism].

OBJECTIVES: This case report deals with the day care treatment of two seven- and eight-year-old siblings with elective mutism. Their treatment entails a combination of psychopharmacological and intensive behavior therapy. The multimodal therapeutic process is presented together with continuing psychosocial steps. Behavioral intervention focuses on building verbal expressive capacity, reducing speech anxiety in social situations and generalization to non-therapeutic situations. The case report is discussed in the context of the current literature on elective mutism.

Acculturation↗
PubMed2003

Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia presenting as acute generalised peritonism.

A 63 year old man presented with the signs of acute generalised peritonism in the presence of a clear chest radiograph. At laparotomy no abnormal findings were noted. Further inquiries revealed a history of recent acquisition of budgerigars, over the following days the chest radiograph developed patchy opacification. Subsequently IgG immunofluorescence confirmed the diagnosis of Chlamydia psittaci. The presentation of psittacosis with gastrointestinal features is well recognised. This is believed to be the first account in the literature of a human case of Chl psittaci pneumonia presenting with acute generalised peritonism indicating an exploratory laparotomy. It is suggested that Chl psittaci pneumonia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of an acute abdomen in the presence of a history of exposure to psittacine birds.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2001

Ferroxidases and xanthine oxidase in plasma of healthy newborn infants.

In the neonatal period, there is a high iron load, while both the level and molar oxidase activity of ceruloplasmin are low. On the other hand, the neonatal xanthine oxidase (XO) activity is higher than later in life and XO has a significant iron-oxidizing capacity. We therefore studied the physiological contribution of XO to the ferroxidase activity of the plasma in 20 full-term newborn infants. Ferroxidase activity was measured spectrophotometrically, with Fe++ as substrate. The uric acid formed by XO was assayed by means of HPLC, with electrochemical detection. The total ferroxidase activity in the plasma was about one-fourth of the adult level and rapidly increased doubling within 3 days after birth. About 90% of the plasma ferroxidase activity was due to ceruloplasmin, the remainder being accounted for by ferroxidase II. The XO activity underwent a 30% (statistically non-significant) elevation at 24 h, though ferroxidase activity attributable to XO was not detected at any time. Accordingly, XO does not seem to add substantially to the total iron-oxidizing capacity of the plasma in the neonatal period. The high molar ferroxidase activity is probably of importance at the endothelial cell surface.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Population data on the X chromosome short tandem repeat locus HumHPRTB in two regions of Germany.

This report contains the results of two population studies on the X chromosome STR HumHPRTB carried out in a Northern and a Southern region of Germany. The numbers of unrelated individuals were 443 and 335, respectively. Eight alleles (alleles 9 to 16) were found. In female individuals 29 different genotypes were encountered. In German populations the HumHPRTB STR was characterized by the following data: PIC = 0.750; HET = 0.769: MEC = 0.556. Allele distribution met the Hardy-Weinberg expectations. The Northern and Southern populations did not show any significant differences.

Alleles↗
PubMed1999

Enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of methadone and its main metabolite in urine using an AGP and a C8 column coupled serially.

A simple and sensitive method for the enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of methadone and its main metabolite, EDDP, in human urine is described. (-)-(R)-Methadone, (+)-(S)-methadone, (+)-(R)-EDDP, (-)-(S)-EDDP and imipramine as an internal standard are detected by ultraviolet detection at 200 nm. The enantiomers of methadone and EDDP were extracted from human urine by a simple liquid-liquid extraction procedure. The extracted sample was reconstructed in mobile phase and the enantiomers of methadone and EDDP were quantitatively separated by HPLC on a short analytical LiChrospher RP8 column coupled in series with a chiral AGP column. Determination of all four enantiomers was possible in the range of 0.03 to 2.5 microM. The recoveries of methadone enantiomers and EDDP enantiomers added to human urine were about 90% and 80%, respectively. The method was applicable for determination of methadone enantiomers and the enantiomers of its main metabolite in urine samples from methadone maintenance patients and patients suffering from severe chronic pain.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
PubMed1998

"Anxious suicidality": a new subtype of childhood suicide ideation?

The current study examined the presence of anxiety in children with suicide ideation. From a sample of 100 inpatients, children who displayed suicide ideation (n = 27) were selected and divided into two groups, high and low anxiety. Findings indicated that children with suicide ideation and anxiety were less happy and satisfied, experienced more negative life events, and were more distractible and intense than children with suicide ideation only. Additionally, according to their self-reports, parents of children with high anxiety reported more obsessive-compulsive and anxiety symptoms as well as greater hostility than parents of children with low anxiety. The authors have identified a subgroup of children with suicide ideation who are highly anxious and can be termed as experiencing "anxious suicidality."

Anxiety↗
PubMed1996

[Hyperkinetic syndrome and behavioral disorders in street traffic: a case control pilot study].

In the present pilot study we addressed the question of whether young people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as children violate traffic regulations and are involved in traffic accidents more frequently than those in a control group without previous psychiatric disorders. The subjects in the ADHD group tended to be involved in traffic accidents more frequently than those in the control group. Furthermore, they had a significantly higher rate of involvement in traffic accidents before getting their driver's license. The two groups did not differ in the number of traffic violations, alcohol consumption or various attitudes related to driving. Split attention and reactive endurance were assessed with a computer-aided program. The ADHD group partly did significantly worse than the control group. Deficits on such performance measures and a lack of cognitive control in traffic may therefore be mediating factors for being accident-prone in traffic. Regardless of which group subjects were in initially, those reporting severe ADHD symptoms at the time of the study tended to be at an increased risk of causing traffic accidents and of being involved in more than one accident.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1996

Newcastle disease virus-infected intact autologous tumor cell vaccine for adjuvant active specific immunotherapy of resected colorectal carcinoma.

An active specific immunization (ASI) procedure with two types of autologous tumor cell vaccines (ATVs) is tested for adjuvant immunotherapy of resected colorectal carcinoma to provide preliminary information on local immunological skin responses, side effects, and 2-year survival rates. For vaccine preparation, the tumor-derived freshly isolated and cryopreserved cells were thawed, purified by Percoll density centrifugation, and depleted of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes by immunomagnetic beads. After inactivation by 200 Gy, the cells of this ATV were either infected by Newcastle disease virus (NDV) or they were admixed with Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) organisms. Vaccination was performed in the arm beginning 6-8 weeks after operation, three times at 2-week intervals. Of 57 patients that received ASI, 48 were treated by virus-infected ATV (ATV-NDV) and 9 were treated with the BCG-admixed vaccine (ATV/BCG). The mean value of delayed hypersensitivity skin reactions from ATV-NDV-treated patients was 18 mm for the first vaccination and 26 and 29 mm for the succeeding ones. Although the application of ATV-NDV was associated with only mild side effects, the ATV/BCG vaccine led to long-lasting ulcers and to more serious side effects. The 2-year survival rate obtained with ATV-NDV was 97.9%, whereas the survival rate with ATV/BCG was 66.7%. The mean survival of 661 patients from a historical control was 73.8%. These data suggest that the type and quality of the tumor vaccine for ASI treatment is important. The findings with ATV-NDV necessitate corroboration in a prospective, randomized controlled study.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

[Adjuvant therapy of liver metastases: active specific immunotherapy].

The theoretical basis for Active Specific Immunotherapy (ASI) has been worked out during the last 15 years. On this basis an improvement of the quality of the tumour vaccine could be achieved. Thus we are able to produce a very pure preparation of viable autologous tumour cells needing only small pieces of the original tumour. In animal experiments the used NDV (Newcastle-Disease-Virus)-tumour cell vaccine induced a high antitumour immunity. Side effects of this NDV-tumour vaccine are rare in contrast to BCG admixed tumour vaccines. Concerning the effectiveness of ASI only one randomized clinical study has been published [Hoover 17, 18]. The results of our phase 11 study show excellent 2 year survival rates using the NDV-tumour vaccine as an adjuvant for colorectal cancer patients: Dukes B 100% (95.5%-100%), Dukes C 95.0% (90.1%-99.9%). In future a randomized study of adjuvant ASI-treatment for these patients with a comparison to adjuvant chemotherapy should be performed. In R0-resected liver metastases a randomized study of ASI is ongoing.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

[Conservative therapy of ruptures of the medial collateral ligament of the knee. Results of a comparative follow-up study].

The rupture of the medial collateral ligament of the knee joint due to sports injuries is the most common lesion of ligaments of the knee in athletes. The treatment is usually non-operative. We compared in a retrospective study the conservative treatment of these ruptures by two different methods. One group of patients was immobilised in a plaster cast for six weeks, one group of patients was partially immobilised with a brace, initiating early functional therapy. The results proved that the group of early mobilisation was significantly better in late results, in shorter rehabilitation and in all other aspects regarded as important for the treatment of such an injury. Therefore we feel the treatment with plaster casting for isolated ruptures of medial collateral ligaments as the knee should be abandoned.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Bilateral carcinoma of the breast.

In a retrospective review of 2820 patients with breast carcinoma seen at the Combined Breast Clinic of St George's Hospital over a 23-year period 101 cases were bilateral of which 52 (1.8%) presented synchronously and 49 (1.7%) metachronously. Twenty deaths occurred in the synchronous group after a mean follow-up of 56.2 months and 15 deaths in the metachronous group after a mean follow-up of 48.5 months following diagnosis of the second tumour. If timed from initial presentation patients with metachronous tumours fared better than those with unilateral disease (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in survival between patients with metachronous (if timed from the second tumour), synchronous or unilateral breast carcinoma.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1992

[Animal experiment studies of carcinogen-induced tumor development in colotomies in relation to suture materials].

To assess the possible risk of cancer in the operated colon after stapling compared with vicryl sutures, the influence of the nickel-containing staples was tested in caecum-resected and carcinogen-treated rats. The nickel-containing staples were seen as a cocarcinogen. The aim of the study was to determine whether a higher incidence of cancer occurs at the anastomotic suture line depending on stapler vs. vicryl sutures after subcutaneous application of carcinogens (dimethylhydrazine). The results show that there is no increased risk of cancer following mechanical stapling.

1,2-Dimethylhydrazine↗
PubMed1990

Gastrointestinal tumours after stapler vs vicryl anastomoses in carcinogen-treated rats.

Since nickel is a potent carcinogen the influence of nickel-containing staples on the frequency of gastrointestinal tumour formation was tested in caecum-resected and carcinogen-treated rats. Tumour formation was elevated after stapling compared with simple laparotomy or vicryl sutures. This demonstrates a potential hazard of stapling techniques. In the vicryl group there was only one suture line carcinoma.

1,2-Dimethylhydrazine↗
PubMed1988

Coping strategies in rheumatoid arthritis.

Our purpose was to investigate the importance of the coping process for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Eighty-four patients with classic or definite RA were examined. The relationship between coping strategies and psychological status, functional status, pain, and disease activity was analyzed. Coping was measured by an adapted version of the Ways of Coping Scale, and measures of psychological status, life stress, functional status, pain, and disease activity were also obtained. Canonical correlation revealed a significant relationship between the coping process and psychological status. Coping also was significantly related to functional status, but not to pain or disease activity. Patients who coped by restructuring life goals were found to have better psychological adjustment and functional status than patients who hoped for unrealistic solutions or engaged in self-blame.

Activities of Daily Living↗