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Biomedical subjects

R Goodman

Publications and source records attributed to R Goodman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Cortical abnormalities in epilepsy revealed by local EEG synchrony.

Abnormally strong functional linkage between cortical areas has been postulated to play a role in the pathogenesis of partial epilepsy. We explore the possibility that such linkages may be manifest in the interictal EEG apart from epileptiform disturbances or visually evident focal abnormalities. We analyzed samples of interictal intracranial EEG (ICEEG) recorded from subdural grids in nine patients with medically intractable partial epilepsy, measuring interelectrode synchrony using the mean phase coherence algorithm. This analysis revealed areas of elevated local synchrony, or "hypersynchrony" which had persistent spatiotemporal characteristics that were unique to each patient. Measuring local synchrony in a subdural grid results in a map of the cortical surface that provides information not visually apparent on either EEG or structural imaging. We explore the relationship of hypersynchronous areas to the clinical evidence of seizure localization in each case, and speculate that local hypersynchrony may be a marker of epileptogenic cortex, and may prove to be a valuable aid to clinical ICEEG interpretation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

The Ilha de Maré study: a survey of child mental health problems in a predominantly African-Brazilian rural community.

BACKGROUND: There have been very few Brazilian epidemiological surveys of child mental health problems. The only recent survey to have used internationally recognised measures and diagnostic criteria was carried out in Southeast Brazil in a relatively prosperous setting where the population was predominantly urban and white. METHODS: The setting was an island community in Northeast Brazil that is rural, relatively poor and has a strong African heritage. In an initial phase, a simple random sample of 519 children aged 5-14 was assessed by screening questionnaires completed by parents, teachers and older children. In a second phase, a sub-sample of 100 children was selected for more detailed diagnostic assessments. RESULTS: Conduct and hyperactivity problems were commoner in boys; emotional symptoms were commoner in girls; and hyperactivity declined with age. By contrast with previously collected data from Southeast Brazil, there were more reported symptoms, but less resultant impact. Using a variety of indices, the rate of disorder on Ilha de Maré was around half that previously found in Southeast Brazil. CONCLUSION: The measures and diagnostic criteria that were employed appeared valid for use in Northeast Brazil, though there was evidence for consistent over-reporting of symptoms on the screening questionnaire. Rates of child mental health problems appear to differ substantially between sites, confirming the need for a multi-site Brazilian study of the prevalence of child psychiatric disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

A new HLA-A allele, HLA-A*6824, identified in three unrelated individuals.

A novel allele, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*6824, has been identified in three unrelated individuals of northwestern European origin in a period of less than 4 months, implying that this allele may be quite common in this population. HLA-A*6824 differs from A*680102 by a single nucleotide change at position 275 in exon 2, which results in a conservative amino acid substitution from lysine to arginine in the peptide-binding groove at codon 68.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Dyskinesias and associated psychiatric disorders following streptococcal infections.

BACKGROUND: The classical extrapyramidal movement disorder following beta haemolytic streptococcus (BHS) infection is Sydenham's chorea (SC). Recently, other post-streptococcal movement disorders have been described, including motor tics and dystonia. Associated emotional and behavioural alteration is characteristic. AIMS: To describe experience of post-streptococcal dyskinesias and associated co-morbid psychiatric features presenting to a tertiary referral centre 1999-2002. METHODS: In all patients, dyskinetic movement disorders followed BHS pharyngeal infection. BHS infection was defined by pharyngeal culture of the organism, or paired streptococcal serology. Movement disorders were classified according to international criteria, and validated by experienced child neurologists. Psychiatric complications were defined using ICD-10 criteria using a validated psychiatric interview. RESULTS: In the 40 patients, the following dyskinetic movement disorders were present: chorea (n = 20), motor tics (n = 16), dystonia (n = 5), tremor (n = 3), stereotypies (n = 2), opsoclonus (n = 2), and myoclonus (n = 1). Sixty five per cent of the chorea patients were female, whereas 69% of the tic patients were male. ICD-10 psychiatric diagnoses were made in 62.5%. Using the same psychiatric instrument, only 8.9% of UK children would be expected to have an ICD-10 psychiatric diagnosis. Emotional disorders occurred in 47.5%, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (27.5%), generalised anxiety (25%), and depressive episode (17.5%). Additional psychiatric morbidity included conduct disorders (27.5%) and hyperkinetic disorders (15%). Psychiatric, movement, and post-streptococcal autoimmune disorders were commonly observed in family members. At a mean follow up of 2.7 years, 72.5% had continuing movement and psychiatric disorders. CONCLUSION: Post-streptococcal dyskinesias occur with significant and disabling psychiatric co-morbidity and are potential autoimmune models of common "idiopathic" movement and psychiatric disorders in children. Multiple factors may be involved in disease expression including genetic predisposition, developmental status, and the patient's sex.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Intralobar pulmonary sequestration with congenital cystic adematous malformation and rhabdomyomatous dysplasia.

Pulmonary sequestration and congenital cystic adenomatous malformations (CCAM) are well known but still uncommon anomalies of the lung. Extralobar sequestrations are well described in association with CCAM, but fewer intralobar lesions are found with this association. The existence of striated muscle within CCAM is described, and we have evidence of dysplastic changes within the various cellular components occurring, with rhabdomyomatous dysplasia being one of these. A literature review shows no previous evidence of a reported intralobar sequestration associated with CCAM and rhabdomyomatous dysplastic changes.

Bronchopulmonary Sequestration↗
PubMed2003

Detecting emotional and behavioural problems in paediatric clinics.

BACKGROUND: Children with chronic illness have increased rates of mental health problems and psychological difficulties often present as physical conditions. This prevalence survey aims to determine whether children attending general paediatric out-patient clinics are at increased risk of suffering from emotional and behavioural disturbance and whether there is an unmet need for psychiatric liaison to paediatric clinics. METHODS: Participants were 307 children aged 5-15 years attending a representative sample of paediatric out-patient clinics in one UK hospital. A national community sample of 10,438 children aged 5-15 years was used as a comparison group. Parental ratings of child behaviour were obtained using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Doctors rated the extent of any emotional difficulties using a modification of the SDQ 'impact supplement'. RESULTS: Children attending paediatric out-patient clinics were more than twice as likely (OR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.7-3.1) to score in the abnormal range of the SDQ. Of the 60 (20%) children with a probable psychiatric disorder only 15 had received specialist help from Child Mental Health Services. There were no gender differences in the profile of difficulties with emotional symptoms being particularly evident in both boys (OR = 2.85, 95% CI 1.97-4.11) and girls (OR = 3.04, 95% CI 1.92-4.70). The risk of psychiatric disorder was highest among those children with brain disorders attending neurological clinics (OR = 5.8, 95% CI 2.5-11.3). Clinicians only identified emotional or behaviour problems in a quarter of those children with parent-rated disorder. CONCLUSION: There is an increased prevalence of emotional and behavioural disturbance in children attending paediatric out-patient clinics. The SDQ could be added to routine paediatric assessments to aid appropriate referral of children with a possible psychiatric disorder to child mental health services.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Psychiatric morbidity and substance use in young people aged 13-15 years: results from the Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health.

BACKGROUND: Psychoactive substance use is strongly associated with psychiatric morbidity in both adults and adolescents. AIMS: To determine which of alcohol, nicotine and cannabisis mostclosely linked to psychiatric disorders in early adolescence. METHOD: Data from 2624 adolescents aged 13-15 years were drawn from a national mental health survey of children. The relationship between psychiatric morbidity and smoking, drinking and cannabis use was examined by logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Having a psychiatric disorder was associated with an increased risk of substance use. Greater involvement with any one substance increased the risk of other substance use. Analyses of the interactions between smoking, drinking and cannabis use indicated that the relationship between substance use and psychiatric morbidity was primarily explained by regular smoking and (to a lesser extent) regular cannabis use. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample, links between substance use and psychiatric disorders were primarily accounted for by smoking. The strong relationship is likely to be due to a combination of underlying individual constitutional factors and drug-specific effects resulting from consumption over the period of adolescent development and growth.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

[Normal values and evaluation of the German parents' version of Strengths and DIfficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): Results of a representative field study].

OBJECTIVE: The (SDQ) is a short questionnaire which addresses positive and negative behavioural attributes of children or adolescents. Being rated by parents or teachers, or as an equivalent self-report version, the 25 SDQ items were designed to include both strengths and difficulties. Although several reports have demonstrated the validity of the German SDQ, normative data have not yet been established. METHODS: In a nationwide representative field study, parent ratings were completed for 930 children and adolescents aged between 6 and 16 years. Following verification of the scale structure by factor analysis, the observed distributions of scores were used to define normal, borderline, and abnormal score ranges. Possible effects of gender, age, and social class were also investigated. RESULTS: Factor analysis yielded an exact replication of the original scales. Several associations with gender, age, and social status attained statistical significance, but cut-off scores for the five subscales remained stable in different subgroups. Age- and sex-specific bandings for the total problem score reflected small differences between homogeneous subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: After replication and confirming the original scale factors, the availability of normative data further enhances the diagnostic value of the SDQ and facilitates future validation studies. Present evidence suggests that the SDQ may serve as a useful and economical screening measure, and in many other clinical and research settings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Regulating genes with electromagnetic response elements.

A 900 base pair segment of the c-myc promoter, containing eight nCTCTn sequences, is required for the induction of c-myc expression by electromagnetic (EM) fields. Similarly, a 70 bp region of the HSP70 promoter, containing three nCTCTn sequences, is required for the induction of HSP70 expression by EM fields. Removal of the 900 base pair segment of the c-myc promoter eliminates the ability of EM fields to induce c-myc expression. Similarly, removal of the 70 bp region of the HSP70 promoter, with its three nCTCTn sequences, eliminates the response to EM fields. The nCTCTn sequences apparently act as electromagnetic field response elements (EMRE). To test if introducing EMREs imparts the ability to respond to applied EM fields, the 900 bp segment of the c-myc promoter (containing eight EMREs) was placed upstream of CAT or luciferase reporter constructs that were otherwise unresponsive to EM fields. EMREs-reporter constructs were transfected into HeLa cells and exposed to 8 microT 60 Hz fields. Protein extracts from EM field-exposed transfectants had significant increases in activity of both CAT and luciferase, compared with identical transfectants that were sham-exposed. Transfectants with CAT or luciferase constructs lacking EMREs remained unresponsive to EM fields, i.e., there was no increase in either CAT or luciferase activity. These data support the idea that EMREs can be used as switches to regulate exogenously introduced genes in gene therapy.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2001

Electromagnetic initiation of transcription at specific DNA sites.

Initiation of transcription by electromagnetic (EM) fields offers an insight into mechanism. EM field stimulated transcription appears to require specific DNA sequences, and these bases may be sites where EM fields generate large repulsive forces between chains by accelerating electrons that move within DNA. We can estimate the repulsion between chains by assuming that electron affinity is a measure of electron density at each base, and inversely related to the velocity of electrons (and the force). The repulsive force can be compared to the attraction between chains due to H-bonds. From the difference between repulsion and attraction, we show that sites rich in C and T, as in the specific sequences, would be more likely to come apart in EM fields. These calculations suggest a plausible mechanism for initiation of transcription by EM fields, and provide a rationale for specific sequences to function as EM field response elements. Electron flow could also be a factor in DNA chain melting due to Joule heating.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2001

Questionnaire screening for mental health problems in Bangladeshi children: a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: In the developing world, child psychiatric disorders are common but child mental health professionals are scarce. A cheap and effective method for detecting child psychiatric problems would be useful. The present study examined the potential suitability of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for this role. METHODS: SDQs were administered to the parents and teachers of 261 Bangladeshi 4-16 year olds: 99 drawn from a psychiatric clinic and 162 drawn from the community. Self-report SDQs were completed by 11-16 year olds. Children from the clinic sample were assigned psychiatric diagnoses blind to their SDQ scores. RESULTS: SDQ scores distinguished well between community and clinic samples, and also between children with different psychiatric diagnoses in the clinic sample. A simple algorithm based on SDQ scores was used to predict whether children had hyperkinesis, conduct disorders, emotional disorders or any psychiatric disorder--rates of predicted disorder varied markedly between clinic and community samples. CONCLUSIONS: Predictions based on multi-informant SDQs potentially provide a cheap and easy method for detecting children in the developing world with significant mental health problems. The potential effectiveness of any such screening programme should be evaluated on a broad range of children, using both international and culture-specific assessments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Children's emotional and behavioural well-being and the family environment: findings from the Health Survey for England.

Recent trends towards diversity in family structure have posed important challenges for traditional social theories on the family. This critical debate has not, however, had much influence on policy discussions of the impact of diverse family structures on children's psychological health, where two-parent families are presumed ideal. In 1997, the annual Health Survey for England focussed on the health of children and young people. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), used to assess children's psychological health, was administered to the parents of 5705 children aged 4-15 using a self-completion booklet. The effect of family structure, socio-economic indicators, parental working status and parental psychological status on children's psychological health was explored using multi-variate logistic regression models. Findings indicated that the high prevalence of psychological morbidity among children of lone-mothers was a consequence of socio-economic effects. disappearing when benefits receipt, housing tenure and maternal education were taken into account. Socio-economic factors did not, however, explain the higher proportion of psychological morbidity among children with stepparents, or the strong relationship between parents' and children's psychological morbidity.

Child↗
PubMed2001

A DNA damage-induced p53 serine 392 kinase complex contains CK2, hSpt16, and SSRP1.

Phosphorylation of the human p53 protein at Ser-392 has been shown to be responsive to UV but not gamma irradiation. Here we describe identification and purification of a mammalian UV-activated protein kinase complex that phosphorylates Ser-392 of p53 in vitro. This kinase complex contains casein kinase 2 (CK2) and the chromatin transcriptional elongation factor FACT (a heterodimer of hSpt16 and SSRP1). In vitro studies show that FACT alters the specificity of CK2 in the complex such that it selectively phosphorylates p53 over other substrates including casein. In addition, phosphorylation by the kinase complex enhances p53 activity. These results thus provide a potential mechanism for p53 activation by UV irradiation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2001

Supporting young adults with hemiplegia: services and costs.

This paper lays out the service and cost consequences of supporting a nationally representative sample of young adults with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. The total costs burden and the additional costs that accrue to the public and independent sector due to their disabilities are calculated. Most of the young adults live at home. Many lead "ordinary" lives and attend further or higher education establishments or go to work. A small number of study members, however, make intensive use of expensive, often segregated facilities such as residential homes or schools and make considerable use of other support services. In total, this group of 81 people cost just over 1 million pounds to support during the year prior to interview, 43% of which was related to their impairments. When the sample is divided into two groups, people with a combination of associated conditions are found to have hemiplegia-associated costs almost 50 times greater than those with simple hemiplegia.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2001

Prevalence of pervasive developmental disorders in the British nationwide survey of child mental health.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) is not well established and needs monitoring. The prevalence of PDD in the 1999 nationwide British survey of child and adolescent mental health was investigated. METHOD: A randomized, stratified sample of children (N= 12,529) aged 5 to 15 years was generated from the Child Benefit Register. Trained interviewers interviewed parents and youths aged 11 or older with a standardized diagnostic interview (Development and Well-Being Assessment), and questionnaire data (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) were obtained from teachers and parents, who also completed self-report measures of psychological distress. Final diagnostic determination was achieved by a team of experienced clinicians using all data sources. RESULTS: A total of 10,438 (83%) interviews were conducted. There were 2 girls with Rett syndrome (weighted prevalence: 3.8/10,000 girls) and 27 children with other PDD (weighted prevalence: 26.1/10,000). Compared with children with a psychiatric disorder other than PDD, social but not behavioral problems were more frequent in the PDD group. Parents of children with PDD had higher rates of psychological distress than those from the two comparison groups. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with other recent surveys, PDD rates are higher than those reported 30 years ago. The burden associated with PDD is very high.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a brief measure of the prosocial behavior and psychopathology of 3-16-year-olds that can be completed by parents, teachers, or youths. METHOD: A nationwide epidemiological sample of 10,438 British 5-15-year-olds obtained SDQs from 96% of parents, 70% of teachers, and 91% of 11-15-year-olds. Blind to the SDQ findings, all subjects were also assigned DSM-IVdiagnoses based on a clinical review of detailed interview measures. RESULTS: The predicted five-factor structure (emotional, conduct, hyperactivity-inattention, peer, prosocial) was confirmed. Internalizing and externalizing scales were relatively "uncontaminated" by one another. Reliability was generally satisfactory, whether judged by internal consistency (mean Cronbach a: .73), cross-informant correlation (mean: 0.34), or retest stability after 4 to 6 months (mean: 0.62). SDQ scores above the 90th percentile predicted a substantially raised probability of independently diagnosed psychiatric disorders (mean odds ratio: 15.7 for parent scales, 15.2 for teacher scales, 6.2 for youth scales). CONCLUSION: The reliability and validity of the SDQ make it a useful brief measure of the adjustment and psychopathology of children and adolescents.

Adolescent↗