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PubMed2002

Experiments with small animals in BIOLAB and EMCS on the International Space Station.

Two ESA facilities will be available for animal research and other biological experiments on the International Space Station: the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) in the US Lab "Destiny" and BIOLAB in the European "Columbus" Laboratory. Both facilities use standard Experiment Containers, mounted on two centrifuge rotors allowing either research in microgravity or acceleration studies with variable g-levels from 0.001 to 2.0 x g. Standard interface plates provide each container with power and data lines, gas supply (controlled CO2, O2 concentration and relative humidity), and--for EMCS only--connectors to fresh and waste water reservoirs. The experiment hardware inside the containers will be developed by the user, but ESA conducted a feasibility study for several kinds of Experiment Support Equipment with potential use for research on small animals: design concepts for experiments with insects, with aquatic organisms like rotifers and nematodes, and with small aquatic animals (sea urchin larvae, tadpoles, fish youngsters) are described in detail in this presentation. Also ESA's initial steps to support experiments with rodents on the Space Station are presented.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Health characteristics of older Australian dietary supplement users compared to non-supplement users.

The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of dietary and health supplement use among Australians aged 65 years and over, and to contrast the health differences between supplement users and non-supplement users. Data was obtained from 1,263 randomly selected older Australians, who provided general demographic data, in addition to information related to their health, symptoms experienced and uses of medication, including dietary supplements. Supplement use was reported by 43% of the sample (52% of females and 35% of males). This investigation has revealed distinct differences in the health profile of older supplement users compared to non-users. Although there was no difference in the number of visits to medical doctors or self-rated health status between supplement users and non-supplement users, supplement users were more likely to report arthritis and osteoporosis, and experience more symptoms and consume more medication than non-supplement users. In contrast, there was a reduced likelihood of taking a supplement for those with hypertension and by those using blood pressure medication and heart tablets. These results suggest that older dietary supplement users may benefit from education and professional advice to assist them make appropriate and informed choices, particularly if they expect these preparations to attenuate their health concerns.

Aged↗

PubMed1995

Lexical effects on spoken word recognition by pediatric cochlear implant users.

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were 1) to examine the effect of lexical characteristics on the spoken word recognition performance of children who use a multichannel cochlear implant (CI), and 2) to compare their performance on lexically controlled word lists with their performance on a traditional test of word recognition, the PB-K. DESIGN: In two different experiments, 14 to 19 pediatric CI users who demonstrated at least some open-set speech recognition served as subjects. Based on computational analyses, word lists were constructed to allow systematic examination of the effects of word frequency, lexical density (i.e., the number of phonemically similar words, or neighbors), and word length. The subjects' performance on these new tests and the PB-K also was compared. RESULTS: The percentage of words correctly identified was significantly higher for lexically "easy" words (high frequency words with few neighbors) than for "hard" words (low frequency words with many neighbors), but there was no lexical effect on phoneme recognition scores. Word recognition performance was consistently higher on the lexically controlled lists than on the PB-K. In addition, word recognition was better for multisyllabic than for momosyllabic stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that pediatric cochlear implant users are sensitive to the acoustic-phonetic similarities among words, that they organize words into similarity neighborhoods in long-term memory, and they use this structural information in recognizing isolated words. The results further suggest that the PB-K underestimates these subjects' spoken words recognition.

Age of Onset↗

PubMed1995

University students' subjective experiences of oral contraceptive use.

A substantial proportion of women who commence oral contraceptive discontinue usage due to unwanted side-effects. In investigations of side-effects in current users, such women are excluded, and hence such studies will tend to underestimate the prevalence of side-effects. One hundred and forty-five female university students (both former and current users) completed a questionnaire focusing on their experiences of the impact of oral contraceptives upon their psychological and physical well-being. Although, on average, over half the women reported no effect, the vast majority of those who did report a change in well-being deemed this to be negative. The only exception was pelvic pain which was reported to be improved by oral contraceptive use.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

EQUIL: simulation and data analysis of binding reactions with arbitrary chemical models.

We have developed an algorithm for simulation and analysis of arbitrary chemical systems in equilibrium, with emphasis on ligand binding reactions. The program EQUIL can treat reactions involving multiple ligands, multiple binding sites, ternary complex models, allosteric effectors, competitive and noncompetitive binding, conformational changes, cooperativity, and generally any scheme that can be represented as a set of chemical equations. EQUIL is based on a general thermodynamic model of chemical equilibria; it does not involve nonlinear transformation of experimental data, but it does require the user to define the model of interaction between ligands and receptors by writing down the appropriate chemical reactions. EQUIL contains features of particular importance to ligand binding experiments: variable binding capacities, nonspecific binding, and the ability to simultaneously analyze data from different types of experiments. Furthermore, the simulation feature of EQUIL allows the user to investigate the feasibility of experiments that could possibly distinguish between different reaction models. We illustrate the use of this program on personal computers to analyze and simulate simple and complicated interactions between ligands and receptors.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1987

Grateful Med Version 2.0: an overview for searchers.

Grateful Med is a software interface developed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) for searching several of NLM's databases: MEDLINE, its backfiles to 1966, and CATLINE. It is designed to facilitate access to medical information by health professionals and other end users with limited or no searching experience. This article describes the basic approach and specific searching features of Version 2.0 of the system.

MEDLARS↗

PubMed2000

Differences in young adult psychopathology among drug abstainers, experimenters, and frequent users.

Shedler and Block offered the provocative proposal that individuals who experiment with drugs are psychologically healthier than either those who abstain completely or those who are frequent users. Not all studies have come to such conclusions, however. In an effort to specify under what conditions Shedler and Block's conclusions might hold, the present study examined three groups of drug users (abstainers, experimenters, frequent users) classified according to three different criteria: (a) marijuana use at age 20; (b) alcohol use during 10th grade; and (c) alcohol use at age 20. The three groups were compared at age 20 in terms of personality, deviant behavior, and psychopathology. The results revealed that abstainers were never more psychologically impaired, and were occasionally healthier, than experimenters. Frequent users of marijuana were consistently more imparied than both the abstainers and experimenters, in terms of both internalizing and externalizing disorders. Classification according to marijuana use appeared to be more related to psychopathology than did classification according to alcohol use.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

An evaluation of services for women with long-term mental health problems.

This paper presents the results of an evaluation study of services for women with long-term mental health problems. The study, which was conducted in a long-term rehabilitation and community care service, examined the adequacy, accessibility, and responsiveness of services provided for women users; explored differences between the men and women using the service and those newly admitted to it; and explored the views and experiences of service providers and the women users themselves. The results of the study confirm and extend those of previous studies and suggest a number of service recommendations. The unevenness in attention to the needs of women across services needs to be addressed. Services should be more attractive to women. Agencies and facilities for women outside mental health services should be supported to ensure that they can accommodate women with long-term mental health problems, and the women themselves need to be offered the support necessary to ensure they have access to such facilities. Finally, efforts must be made to ensure that services both recognize the losses that women with long-term mental health problems have experienced and foster their continued hopes and aspirations for the future.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Factors associated with successful answering of clinical questions using an information retrieval system.

OBJECTIVES: Despite the growing use of online databases by clinicians, there has been very little research documenting how effectively they are used. This study assessed the ability of medical and nurse-practitioner students to answer clinical questions using an information retrieval system. It also attempted to identify the demographic, experience, cognitive, personality, search mechanics, and user-satisfaction factors associated with successful use of a retrieval system. METHODS: Twenty-nine students completed questionnaires of clinical and computer experience as well as tests of cognitive abilities and personality type. They were then administered three clinical questions to answer in a medical library setting using the MEDLINE database and electronic and print full-text resources. RESULTS: Medical students were able to answer more questions correctly than nurse-practitioner students before and after searching, but both had comparable improvements in the number of correct questions before and after searching. Successful ability to answer questions was also associated with having experience in literature searching and higher standardized test-score percentiles. CONCLUSIONS: Medical and nurse-practitioner students obtained comparable benefits in the ability to answer clinical questions from use of the information retrieval system. Future research must examine strategies that improve successful search and retrieval of clinical questions posed by clinicians in practice.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

The incidence of schizotypy among cannabis and alcohol users.

Schizotypy research has revealed associations between positive schizotypal symptomatology and substance use but has not related substance use to important schizotypal traits such as anhedonia. Users and nonusers of cannabis and alcohol completed the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences, the Peters Delusion Inventory, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Cannabis users scored significantly higher on Unusual Experiences, a scale measuring positive schizotypal symptomatology. Both cannabis and alcohol usage were associated with significantly lower scores on Introvertive Anhedonia, which represents negative symptomatology. Delusional ideation and delusional conviction were significantly higher in cannabis users, but for delusional conviction this was only true for users who also drank alcohol. Neither anxiety or depression scores were higher in cannabis users, but delusional ideation correlated with both anxiety and depression, thus providing mixed support for the idea of the "happy schizotype." Overall, these results suggest that cannabis and alcohol usage is related to different dimensions of psychosis-proneness that broadly parallel the relationship between substance use and positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms, thus supporting the continuity view of psychosis and the multidimensionality of psychosis-proneness.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Pulmonary alterations in cocaine users.

CONTEXT: Brazilian researchers have recently recognized a marked increase in the number of people using abusable drugs and the consequences of this habit. It has become a major public health problem in a potentially productive segment of the general population. In the last few years, several medical articles have given special emphasis to pulmonary complications related to cocaine use. This review is based on this information and experience acquired with groups of cocaine users. OBJECTIVE: To present to physicians the pulmonary aspects of cocaine use and warn about the various effects this drug has on the respiratory system, stressing those related to long-term use. DESIGN: Narrative review. METHOD: Pulmonary complications are described. These may include infections (Staphylococcus aureus, pulmonary tuberculosis, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome/aids, etc.), aspiration pneumonia, lung abscess, empyema, septic embolism, non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, barotrauma, pulmonary granulomotosis, branchiolitis obliterans and organizing pneumonia, pneumonitis and interstitial fibrosis, pneumonitis hypersensitivity, lung infiltrates and eosinophilia in individuals with branchial hyperreactivity, diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, vasculitis, pulmonary infarction, pulmonary hypertension and alterations in gas exchange. It is concluded that physicians should give special attention to the various pulmonary and clinical manifestations related to cocaine use, particularly in young patients.

Cocaine↗

PubMed1985

An end user search service in an academic health sciences library.

This paper describes the experience of an academic health sciences library which made BRS/After Dark, an end user search service, available to its clientele as a complement to its mediated search service. The library environment, initial publicity efforts and administrative procedures are discussed. An attempt is made to evaluate the usefulness of the service in a library environment. This evaluation, covering a three-month period, is based on the observations of the librarians administering the service and an exit interview conducted with searchers over a two-month period. User satisfaction, both observed and recorded, was quite high; however, the librarians found that users had more difficulty in constructing appropriate search strategies than had been anticipated. Overall, the service is assessed as highly useful.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗

PubMed1988

Hospice care of the intravenous drug user AIDS patient in a skilled nurse facility.

We report on the initial experience in hospice care for a predominantly poor, black and Hispanic intravenous drug user AIDS population in New York City. Hospice care was provided in a skilled nursing facility with a certified hospice program delivering home care and inpatient care. A formal education program preceded patient admission to familiarize the staff and institution with AIDS issues. Between February 1986 and January 1988, 62 of 175 referred patients were accepted for hospice admission. The patients' mean age was 39 years and all had AIDS dementia complex. The mean length of stay was 35 days (range 1-280 days) and a total of 2011 days of hospice care was provided. Ninety-one percent of hospice days were spent on the inpatient unit; only 9% of hospice days were provided at home. Despite the requirement of expensive inpatient hospice care for most patient days, the estimated savings in decreased costs compared to acute hospital inpatient care was $751,488 for these 62 patients. Continuing fear of transmission among hospice staff was not a major problem; however, several unanticipated problems arose including (a) inability to provide home services, (b) continued drug abuse, (c) increased staff stress, (d) difficulty maintaining confidentiality, (e) difficult interactions with funeral directors, and (f) unsupportive and inappropriate funding requirements. Hospice care of AIDS patients is feasible, humane, and cost effective but problems of the intravenous drug using population require special attention and program modifications if hospice care is to be provided for this substantial and growing AIDS population.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed2006

Integrative haptic and visual interaction for simulation of PMMA injection during vertebroplasty.

In vertebroplasty, physician relies on both sight and feel to properly place the bone needle through various tissue types and densities, and to help monitor the injection of PMMA or cement into the vertebra. Incorrect injecting and reflux of the PMMA into areas where it should not go can result in detrimental clinical complication. This paper focuses on the human-computer interaction for simulating PMMA injection in our virtual spine workstation. Fluoroscopic images are generated from the CT patient volume data and simulated volumetric flow using a time varying 4D volume rendering algorithm. The user's finger movement is captured by a data glove. Immersion CyberGrasp is used to provide the variable resistance felt during injection by constraining the user's thumb. Based on our preliminary experiments with our interfacing system comprising simulated fluoroscopic imaging and haptic interaction, we found that the former has a larger impact on the user's control during injection.

Computer Simulation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Characterizing the use of health care services delivered via computer networks.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluators must develop methods to characterize the use of the rapidly proliferating electronic networks that link patients with health services. In this article the 4-S framework is proposed for characterizing the use of health services delivered via computer networks. The utility of the 4-S framework is illustrated using data derived from a completed, randomized field experiment in which 47 caregivers of persons who had Alzheimer's disease accessed ComputerLink, a special computer network providing information, communication, and decision support to homebound caregivers of persons who have Alzheimer's disease. DESIGN: Human-computer interaction theories characterize the use of health services delivered via computer networks in behavioral terms. The 4-S framework incorporates perspectives based on user (subject) behavior: access to and use of the total system, use of specific services, behavior within single sessions, and enduring behavioral characteristics. The 4-S framework was tested in a secondary analysis of data from over 3,800 uses of ComputerLink. MEASUREMENT: The 4-S framework was instantiated using data obtained from the ComputerLink evaluation. Three types of secondary data were obtained. A passive monitor of access to the computer network provided quantitative information, such as time of day when access occurred, duration of access, and sequence of services used. Full-text messages were available from the public message postings. Subjective appraisal of use was obtained from self-reporting by users at the end of the experiment. RESULTS: The components of the 4-S framework were suitable to characterize operational aspects of ComputerLink use by Alzheimer's disease caregivers. Through application of the 4-S framework, an understanding of both quantitative use and qualitative use emerged (e.g., insight was gained into the differential use of specific services). CONCLUSIONS: The 4-S framework provided a mechanism for combining various measures of use into a coherent whole. The framework promotes a precise characterization of use and thereby facilitates evaluation of health services delivered via computer networks. It is suitable for evaluation of user satisfaction, measurement of needs resolution, and ascertainment of selected clinical outcomes.

Alzheimer Disease↗

PubMed1996

Duration estimates and users' preferences in human-computer interaction.

Two experiments assessed the effect of various static and dynamic computer 'wait' message displays on (1) subjective estimates of the duration of intervals during which a subject had to wait for the computer's response, and (2) subjective preferences among the different displays. All the static displays led to identical duration estimates. For dynamic displays a direct relation between the rate of changes and the estimate was found. Faster rates led in most cases to increased estimates of duration, and slow-changing graphic displays appeared to have the shortest duration. Subjects preferred epigrams to all other displays, and cumulative graphic displays to a blinking or static WAIT. The rate of change did not affect preference ratings for the graphic displays, whereas slower blink rates were preferred for the WAIT. The results demonstrate that the findings and models from earlier basic research on time estimation are relevant for predicting the subjective assessment of wait-periods. However, users' satisfaction with the displays depends not only on the apparent duration of the wait period, but also on other variables. These should be considered when choosing the display that is shown while users wait for the system to complete a task.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Picture archiving and communication in radiology: an American perspective.

A comprehensive image management and communication (IMAC) network has been installed at Georgetown University Hospital (GUH) for an extensive clinical evaluation. The network is based on the AT&T CommView system and includes interfaces to 12 imaging devices, 15 workstations (inside and outside the radiology department), a teleradiology link to an imaging center, an optical jukebox, and a number of advanced image display and processing systems. Two years of clinical experience with the network enable us to develop a plan for future activities from an American perspective. The IMAC project is not just a technical challenge, but also a professional, organizational, and administrative one. Several obstacles remain, but they are gradually being overcome as more cost-effective and streamlined technologies become available and as users and developers gain more operational experience in managing diagnostic images in an electronic environment.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1999

Protein microcrystals and the design of a microdiffractometer: current experience and plans at EMBL and ESRF/ID13.

There is a growing demand for the examination of protein microcrystals at third-generation synchrotron sources. After successful pilot experiments at EMBL/ESRF, which proved that protein microcrystals are often suitable for data collection, operation of the microfocus beamline ID13 was made more user-friendly and suitable for macromolecular crystallography experiments. Given the excellent quality of the beamline microfocusing optics, the key element for successful experiments becomes the handling and visualization of microcrystals. To address this, a microdiffractometer has been designed to allow maximum precision combined with ease of usage and is currently under construction.

Cryoprotective Agents↗