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Biomedical subjects

V Chandler

Publications and source records attributed to V Chandler.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Lack of significant changes on magnetic resonance scans before and after 2 weeks of daily left prefrontal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a new technology for exploring brain function. With this method, a small electromagnet is placed on the scalp; by activating and deactivating it, nerve cells in the underlying superficial cortex are depolarized. Several studies have found that prefrontal rTMS has potential efficacy in treating depression, and this technology, in addition to being a research tool, may soon play a role in psychiatric practice. Thus, establishing the safety of this technology is important and has been studied insufficiently. The authors performed T1-weighted three-dimensional volumetric magnetic resonance (MR) imaging on 22 depressed adults (15 active, 7 control) before and after they participated in a 2-week double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of daily left prefrontal rTMS for the treatment of depression (a total of 16,000 stimuli). Seventeen patients also had paired T2-weighted scans. In a blinded manner, MR scans were qualitatively and quantitatively assessed for structural changes. No qualitative structural differences were observed before and after treatment. In addition, volumetric analysis of the prefrontal lobe showed no changes in the 2 weeks of the study. In conclusion, 10 days of daily prefrontal rTMS at these intensities and frequencies does not cause observable structural changes on MR scans in depressed adults.

Adult↗

High-risk indicators for family involvement in social work in health care: a review of the literature.

Shifts in health concerns, fiscal restraints, technological advances, and demands for accountability have created severe tensions within health care settings. New demands point to the need for a redefinition of services. High-risk screening appears to be a clear method of delineating service need. A review of the empirical literature highlights individual, family, and illness variables that alone and together may improve identification of patients and families in need of social work services. The development of screening mechanisms may be a useful vehicle for improved psychosocial care and for the planning of social work services.

Canada↗

Advancing social work practice in the health field: a collaborative research partnership.

This article describes and analyzes the development of a collaborative research model by one university faculty of social work and 10 health care settings. Established working relationships for educating students were the foundation of a research partnership formed to study questions of mutual interest. This article discusses the developmental stage of the research consortium, including needs assessment, workshop, identification of a common theme and research topic, preliminary funding, and literature review. This stage resulted in the decision to develop and test an instrument to screen for high social risk that would be capable of identifying the need for social work involvement with families to provide effective and efficient management of patients. The Delphi methodology was chosen in the first phase of the research design, and reasons for the choice of this methodology, the results from the two Delphi rounds, and a preliminary screening instrument are presented. Finally, issues in collaboration, such as institutional factors, dynamics of the working group, and leadership roles, are analyzed to identify facilitating features and problematic issues in such partnerships.

Academies and Institutes↗

Stable non-mutator stocks of maize have sequences homologous to the Mu1 transposable element.

Mutator stocks of maize produce mutants at many loci at rates 20- to 50-fold above spontaneous levels. Current evidence suggests that this high mutation rate is mediated by an active transposable element system, Mu. Members of this transposable element family are found in approximately 10-60 copies in Mutator stocks. We report here an initial characterization of previously undetected sequences homologous to Mu elements in eight non-Mutator inbred lines and varieties of maize that have a normal low mutation rate. All stocks have approximately 40 copies of sequences homologous only to the terminal repeat and show weak homology to an internal probe. In addition, several of the stocks contain an intact Mu element. One intact Mu element and two terminal-specific clones have been isolated from one non-Mutator line, B37. The cloned sequences have been used to demonstrate that in genomic DNA the intact element, termed Mu1.4B37, is modified, such that restriction sites in its termini are not accessible to cleavage by the HinfI restriction enzyme. This modification is similar to that observed in Mutator lines that have lost activity. We hypothesize that the DNA modification of the Mu-like element may contribute to the lack of Mutator activity in B37.

DNA Restriction Enzymes↗