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Biomedical subjects

R A Page

Publications and source records attributed to R A Page.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Clinical correlation of brain MRI and MRS abnormalities in patients with Wilson disease.

BACKGROUND: The progression of Wilson disease (WD), a disorder of copper metabolism, can be arrested by chelation therapy. However, neurologic deficits may persist despite adequate treatment. MRI is used to assess patients with WD, but previous attempts to correlate clinical progression with the investigation findings have often been unsuccessful. OBJECTIVE: To identify MR visible markers that could help stratify disease severity and to clarify the mechanism of persistent neurologic deficit after treatment. METHODS: MRI and proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) were performed in 17 patients with WD. MRI was assessed semiquantitatively and used to locate volumes of interest (voxels) in the striatum for 1H-MRS. RESULTS: MRI showed abnormalities predominantly confined to those patients with neurologic features of WD. The 1H spectra demonstrated a reduction of N-acetylaspartate and N-acetylaspartylglutamate (2.05 mM; p < 0.01) in those patients with neurologic features but not in patients without clinical neurologic involvement (0.42 mM; p > 0.1) in comparison with age-matched normal control subjects. Choline was also reduced in both patient groups (0.08 mM; p < 0.01) compared with age-matched controls. CONCLUSIONS: There may be a biochemical correlate of tissue-specific dysfunction in patients with Wilson disease who develop neurologic features. These changes appear to be present despite prior clinical improvement and may imply a need for additional treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Hypnotic devices may be more than placebo.

The study attempted to assess the effectiveness of two devices in facilitating the induction of hypnosis in subjects preselected as low in hypnotizability. Undergraduates were exposed to no treatment (control) or one of four combinations of devices during the induction phase of being administered the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form B of Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard (1959). Analyses revealed only one of the conditions resulted in a significant difference in subjects' realness ratings of hypnotic items and an increase in hypnotizability score. If the effect is more than a chance significance of placebo, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Identifying hypnotic sequelae: the problem of attribution.

A case of apparent hypnotic sequelae occurring in a non-clinical research context (involving a college student) is reported. Following his participation in a group session in which a standard hypnotic susceptibility scale was administered, 19 year-old Michael reported a number of reactions common to the hypnotic sequelae literature including dizziness, a mild headache, trembling, and slight nausea. An interview with Michael revealed several alternative sources of his reaction, highlighting the ever-present problem of attribution.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Molecular characterisation of the Xenopus laevis chaperonin gene Cctg.

By library screening and PCR we have obtained cDNA clones which encode the gamma subunit of the CCT chaperonin complex from Xenopus laevis. The gene (XlCctg), which encodes the CCT gamma subunit contains an open reading frame which codes for 547 amino acid residues (60 kDa) and the predicted amino acid sequence shares a high degree of sequence identity with other CCT gamma homologues. The XlCctg mRNA measures 2.1 kb and is expressed ubiquitously in all of the X. laevis tissues examined. The mRNA levels of XlCctg are significantly higher in the ovary compared with other tissues.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1996

In search of predictors of hypnotic sequelae.

The present one-group correlational study was an attempt to examine questionnaire data that included medical and psychosocial histories and an inventory of fears, social problems, and previous stressful situations in an effort to determine if any predictors of negative sequelae to hypnosis would emerge. After completing questionnaires, undergraduates (n = 432) were administered a group hypnotic susceptibility scale, then were given sequelae questionnaires to complete within two hours, and another two days later. Significant correlations were obtained between occurrence of aftereffects and susceptibility score, number of somatic complaints, and number of previous stressful situations. Results are discussed in the context of the overall ability of these data to predict hypnotic sequelae.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase exerts strong flux control over lipid synthesis in plants.

The importance of acetyl-CoA carboxylase in regulation of lipid synthesis for barley and maize leaves has been quantitatively assessed using, as specific inhibitors, the herbicides fluazifop and sethoxydim. Apparent flux control coefficients of about 0.58 and 0.52 were determined for acetyl-CoA carboxylase in barley and maize leaves, respectively. These results show that acetyl-CoA carboxylase is the major flux controlling enzyme for light-stimulated lipid synthesis in these tissues.

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase↗
PubMed1994

Is differential item difficulty specific to hypnosis?

Previous hypnosis studies obtaining retrospective depth reports (e.g., Perry & Laurence, 1980) or retrospective realness reports (e.g., Page & Handley, 1992) have found a "parallel nonoverlapping" pattern between mean depth or realness and susceptibility scale items for high- through low-susceptible subjects. To determine if such a pattern, as well as differential item difficulty in general, is specific to hypnosis, 98 undergraduates were administered the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) of Shor and Orne (1962) as a "test of visual and motor imagination," omitting the eye-closure induction (item #2). A pattern similar to other studies that employed hypnosis was produced. While supporting attribution theory (Bowers, 1973), results also indicate that differences in item difficulty are not specific to hypnosis, but instead are related more broadly to imagination.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Cloning and sequencing of a full length cDNA encoding ovine lipoprotein lipase.

A cDNA clone encoding lipoprotein lipase has been isolated from an ovine adipocyte library. Sequencing of this clone has revealed a single open reading frame encoding a 450 amino acid protein. Comparison with known LPL sequences from other species shows a high degree of conservation in the sequence of the protein and in the 5' untranslated region of the DNA sequence.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1993

The effect of preventive measures in reducing aftereffects to hypnosis.

In the present study we assessed the efficacy of several procedures in minimizing the occurrence of aftereffects of a hypnotic induction. We gave experimental subjects (n = 347) a brief lecture dispelling some myths about hypnosis, told them no psychological treatment would be undertaken, and then administered the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) in which all references to aftereffects had been removed. We gave the standard version of the HGSHS:A to control subjects (n = 340). Although the treatment condition did not reduce the overall incidence of effects, long-term effects were significantly reduced. Medical and psychosocial histories were obtained from subjects prior to the induction, but they proved to be of limited value in predicting sequelae. Contrary to the results of Coe & Ryken (1979), hypnosis produced more frequent sequelae than a nonhypnotic classroom experience (watching a film followed by an introductory psychology lecture) for subjects in an ad hoc control group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

The use of hypnosis in cocaine addiction.

An unusual case is presented in which hypnosis was successfully used to overcome a $500 (five grams) per day cocaine addiction. The subject was a female in her twenties. Six months into her addiction, she acquired a commercial weight-control tape that she used successfully to stop smoking cigarettes (mentally substituting the word "smoking"), as well as to bring her down from her cocaine high and allow her to fall asleep. After approximately 8 months of addiction, she decided to use the tape in an attempt to overcome the addiction itself. Over the next 4 months, she listened to the tape three times a day, mentally substituting the word "coke." At the end of this period, her addiction was broken, and she has been drug free for the past 9 years. Her withdrawal and recovery were extraordinary because hypnosis was the only intervention, and no support network of any kind was available.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Phase I trial of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor derived from yeast in patients with breast cancer receiving cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and fluorouracil.

PURPOSE: To establish the optimum biologic dose and maximal-tolerated dose (MTD) of once-daily, subcutaneous recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor derived from yeast (RhuGM-CSF) in patients with breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients with either newly diagnosed breast cancer with more than four involved axillary nodes (five patients) or metastatic breast cancer (12 patients) were treated with cyclophosphamide 1 g/m2, doxorubicin 50 mg/m2, and fluorouracil 500 mg/m2 (CAF) intravenously (IV) once every 3 weeks. RhuGM-CSF was administered subcutaneously once daily for 14 days after the second and third CAF cycles, at one of three dose levels. RESULTS: The 125-micrograms/m2/d RhuGM-CSF dose level shortened the duration of neutropenia in only one of three patients. The 250-micrograms/m2/d level was effective in shortening the duration of the neutropenic nadir (< .5 x 10(9)/dL) by 2 or more days in five of six patients. The 500-micrograms/m2/d level caused severe toxicity (chest pain, two patients; deep vein thrombosis, one patient) in three of eight patients. CONCLUSION: RhuGM-CSF administered once daily at the 250-micrograms/m2/d level is well tolerated and effective in shortening the duration of the neutrophil nadir by 2 or more days after CAF therapy.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1992

The assessment of viability in isolated rat hepatocytes.

Isolated rat hepatocytes are used in many metabolic studies, but the viability of these cell preparations is often not adequately established. The present study shows that ATP content is a more reliable index of metabolic viability than trypan blue exclusion. At some of the low trypan blue exclusion levels quoted in the literature, a high percentage of cell preparations is likely to be nonviable by the criterion of ATP content. We suggest that ATP content measured on initial cell preparations and at the end of all incubation procedures is essential for establishing cell viability for metabolic studies on isolated hepatocytes.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1992

Clark Hull and his role in the study of hypnosis.

Clark L. Hull made many contributions to the field of hypnosis. The contributions discussed in this paper include his attempts to dispel misconceptions about hypnosis, comparisons of capacities in the hypnotic state with those in the awake state, a sampling of early findings that are still valid today, and examples of his contributions to methodology. Additionally, the roots of many modern-day models and concepts are to be found in his early works.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The effect of prior knowledge of hypnotic items on hypnotic performance and depth.

First we exposed experimental subjects to either the hypnotic items they were about to experience or to those items embedded in a longer list of hypnotic items. We then asked them to give item-difficulty ratings prior to administration of a standard group susceptibility scale. Controls received no prior exposure to any hypnotic items. We obtained four dependent measures: hypnotic susceptibility score, an in-hypnosis depth report, Field (1965) Depth Inventory score, and retrospective depth reports. The three groups did not differ significantly on any of the dependent measures. Although this result differs from that of Shor, Pistole, Easton, and Kihlstrom (1984), who found that prior knowledge of items depressed susceptibility scores, this may be due to procedural differences between the two studies. Subjects' self-predictions of item difficulty were poor to modest, and accuracy of predictions was not related to any of the four dependent measures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Effects of "deepening" techniques on hypnotic depth and responding.

The present study attempted to assess the effectiveness of commonly used deepening techniques and of surreptitiously provided stimulation on hypnotizability scores, in-hypnosis depth reports, retrospective realness ratings, and the Field Inventory of Hypnotic Depth (Field, 1965). High, medium, and low hypnotizables were assigned in equal numbers to 1 of 3 groups, each containing 54 Ss. Controls were compared to Ss receiving 2 deepening techniques or 2 suggestions for positive and negative hallucinations that were surreptitiously enhanced. Of the 4 dependent measures employed, the only significant difference between groups related to a change in depth reports for the manipulation items themselves, leading to the conclusion that the effect of the techniques was at best minimal and transient. Some methodological and conceptual issues are also discussed.

Adult↗