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At least 1,189 records · Page 66Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Interference fringes with maximal contrast at finite coherence time.

Interference fringes can result from the measurement of four-time fourth-order correlation functions of a wave field. These fringes have a statistical origin and, as a consequence, they show the greatest contrast when the coherence time of the field is finite. A simple acoustic experiment is presented in which these fringes are observed, and it is demonstrated that the contrast is maximal for partial coherence. Random telegraph phase noise is used to vary the field coherence in order to highlight the problem of interpreting this interference; for this noise, the Gaussian moment theorem may not be invoked to reduce the description of the interference to one in terms of first-order interference.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Measurement of transverse single-spin asymmetries for midrapidity production of neutral pions and charged hadrons in polarized p + p collisions at square root(s) = 200 GeV.

Transverse single-spin asymmetries to probe the transverse-spin structure of the proton have been measured for neutral pions and nonidentified charged hadrons from polarized proton-proton collisions at midrapidity and square root(s) = 200 GeV. The data cover a transverse momentum (pT) range 1.0-5.0 GeV/c for neutral pions and 0.5-5.0 GeV/c for charged hadrons, at a Feynman-x value of approximately zero. The asymmetries seen in this previously unexplored kinematic region are consistent with zero within errors of a few percent. In addition, the inclusive charged hadron cross section at midrapidity from 0.5 < pT < 7.0 GeV/c is presented and compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD (pQCD) calculations. Successful description of the unpolarized cross section above approximately 2 GeV/c suggests that pQCD is applicable in the interpretation of the asymmetry results in the relevant kinematic range.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1983

Male physicians and female health and sexuality in 19th century English and American society.

Health care and the potential for health occur in a cultural context. Culture varies with time and place. This paper consists of a description of some 19th century medical opinions about female health and sexuality which present day writers have interpreted as being pertinent at the time, to the general medical attitude towards female health in English and American society. It is also possible to discover non-medical implications associated with the opinions. These could be described as cultural implications. They relate in this case to: -the acquiescence of both sexes in the reinforcement of repressive values; the suggestion of punishment of women by physicians for failure in their feminine roles; and the responsibility of females for the degeneration of society.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

The significance of beta-APP immunoreactivity in forensic practice.

The neuropathologist involved in forensic work is not uncommonly confronted with a case in which there is no or only a limited history or, if available, the information is uncertain or is often conflicting. In recent years the immunohistochemical stain beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP) has been used to assess the extent of axonal injury in a variety of pathological processes but in forensic practice is of greatest utility in the assessment of traumatic brain injury. Diffuse traumatic axonal injury (TAI) in humans has been demonstrated by beta-APP immunoreactivity in patients surviving at least 2 h after head injury. However, many of these patients also have an associated ischaemic injury, either focal or diffuse, which may make the interpretation of beta-APP immunoreactivity difficult. The present study was designed to evaluate if the published descriptions of the different morphological patterns and distributions of beta-APP immunoreactive axons could be used to microscopically distinguish axonal injury attributed to trauma from other causes. To test this hypothesis a total of 73 cases were reviewed. The cases were selected from six different groups based on clinical information. Immunostained sections from each case were assessed 'blind' to the clinical history, and the microscopic pattern and distribution of beta-APP positive axons were recorded. Haematoxylin and eosin (H+E) stained sections were then reviewed for each case and a final pathological diagnosis was recorded and compared to the clinical history. 62/73 (85%) cases were correctly correlated with the clinical history and in particular 14/17 (82%) cases of TAI were correctly identified. These findings indicate that the published microscopic patterns of the distribution of beta-APP positive axons in TAI and in diffuse ischaemic injury can be used, in conjunction with microscopy of H+E stained sections to determine the cause of axonal pathology in most cases.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Not just a time-out: change dynamics of prayer for religious couples in conflict situations.

For religious couples, the spiritual domain stands alongside biological, psychological, and systemic domains as an influence upon interaction and mechanism for change. A qualitative methodology consisting of structured interviews of religious spouses was used to investigate effects of prayer on couple interaction during conflict. A reliable description of the dynamics of prayer across spouse interviews was extracted by four analysts using a group interpretive procedure. Findings suggest that prayer invokes a couple-God system, which significantly influences couple interaction during conflict. Overall, prayer appears to be a significant "softening" event for religious couples, facilitating reconciliation and problem solving. Prayer 1) invokes an experience of relationship with Deity; 2) deescalates hostile emotions and reduces emotional reactivity; 3) enhances relationship and partner orientation and behavior; 4) facilitates empathy and unbiased perspective; 5) increases self-change focus; and 6) encourages couple responsibility for reconciliation and problem solving. Therapists' support of religious couples' use of prayer as a change mechanism is considered.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

What a coincidence! The effects of incidental similarity on compliance.

Four studies examined the effect of an incidental similarity on compliance to a request. Undergraduates who believed they shared a birthday (Study 1), a first name (Study 2), or fingerprint similarities (Study 3) with a requester were more likely to comply with a request than participants who did not perceive an incidental similarity with the requester. The findings are consistent with past research demonstrating that people often rely on heuristic processing when responding to requests and with Heider's description of unit relationships in which perceived similarities lead to positive affect. Consistent with the unit relation interpretation, participants did not increase compliance when hearing about an incidental similarity with someone other than the requester or when they believed the feature they shared with the requester was common.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Psychological assessment of airline pilot applicants with the MMPI-2.

Psychological tests like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) have been used widely to assess personality characteristics and appraise potential mental health problems of individuals applying for responsible positions. This study had three major goals: First, these data allowed for an evaluation of the effects of the new norms for the traditional validity and clinical scale scores of the MMPI-2 in an employment selection program. Second, the effects that test defensiveness had on the MMPI-2 scores of a group of individuals, airline pilot applicants who were taking the test in a preemployment context, were evaluated. Third, useful descriptive information was provided on the performance of airline pilot applicants on MMPI-2 scales to give interpretive guidelines for using the MMPI-2 in psychological screening. A sample of 437 airline pilot applicants seeking employment as airline flight crew members was administered the MMPI-2. Results of the study showed that the MMPI-2 norms were more appropriate for characterizing pilot applicants than were the original MMPI norms, which tended to overpathologize test takers. The effects of defensiveness on MMPI-2 profiles were found to be pronounced. Interpretive guidelines for using the MMPI-2 in personnel screening were proposed.

Aerospace Medicine↗

PubMed2006

Methods of blinding in reports of randomized controlled trials assessing pharmacologic treatments: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Blinding is a cornerstone of therapeutic evaluation because lack of blinding can bias treatment effect estimates. An inventory of the blinding methods would help trialists conduct high-quality clinical trials and readers appraise the quality of results of published trials. We aimed to systematically classify and describe methods to establish and maintain blinding of patients and health care providers and methods to obtain blinding of outcome assessors in randomized controlled trials of pharmacologic treatments. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We undertook a systematic review of all reports of randomized controlled trials assessing pharmacologic treatments with blinding published in 2004 in high impact-factor journals from Medline and the Cochrane Methodology Register. We used a standardized data collection form to extract data. The blinding methods were classified according to whether they primarily (1) established blinding of patients or health care providers, (2) maintained the blinding of patients or health care providers, and (3) obtained blinding of assessors of the main outcomes. We identified 819 articles, with 472 (58%) describing the method of blinding. Methods to establish blinding of patients and/or health care providers concerned mainly treatments provided in identical form, specific methods to mask some characteristics of the treatments (e.g., added flavor or opaque coverage), or use of double dummy procedures or simulation of an injection. Methods to avoid unblinding of patients and/or health care providers involved use of active placebo, centralized assessment of side effects, patients informed only in part about the potential side effects of each treatment, centralized adapted dosage, or provision of sham results of complementary investigations. The methods reported for blinding outcome assessors mainly relied on a centralized assessment of complementary investigations, clinical examination (i.e., use of video, audiotape, or photography), or adjudication of clinical events. CONCLUSIONS: This review classifies blinding methods and provides a detailed description of methods that could help trialists overcome some barriers to blinding in clinical trials and readers interpret the quality of pharmacologic trials.

Double-Blind Method↗

PubMed2004

Development of a questionnaire to measure the effects of chronic pain on health-related quality of life in dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a reliable, validated questionnaire that can be used for the assessment of chronic pain and its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in dogs. SAMPLE POPULATION: 17 owners of dogs that had chronic pain associated with chronic degenerative joint disease and 165 other dog owners. PROCEDURES: Psychometric methods were used to identify relevant domains, create an item pool, select and validate items, and construct and preliminarily test a structured questionnaire. Relevant domains were identified through semi structured interviews. Descriptor-generating exercises provided the terms owners used to describe these domains and formed an item pool. A selection from this pool was validated and used to construct a questionnaire that underwent preliminary testing. RESULTS: The structured questionnaire contained 109 simple, familiar, descriptive terms associated with good health or chronic pain (most describing subtle aspects of behavior that owners interpreted as expressions of subjective experiences of their dogs) for 13 possible HRQL domains. Each descriptor was associated with a 7-point numeric scale. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The questionnaire was intended to facilitate rapid, sensitive, and accurate rating of a comprehensive range of relevant domains by naïve raters with minimal burden on respondents. The principles underlying the development and design of this structured questionnaire offer a novel approach to the proxy measurement of HRQL and changes in HRQL associated with chronic pain for a range of animal species. IMPACT FOR HUMAN MEDICINE: This novel approach may be applicable to other nonverbal populations (eg, young children or elderly people with cognitive impairment).

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Some developmental trends in children's information-processing strategies.

The problem-solving strategies of 120 children from two age levels were compared by means of exploratory factor analyses. Essentially, these results replicated the factor structures of earlier studies based on the Das-Luria model. Disparities in factor loadings on some tasks were interpreted as suggestive of developmental differences in children's coding strategies which are compatible with Bruner's description of the course of cognitive growth.

Child↗

PubMed2001

The application of high-resolution CT to diagnosis in diffuse parenchymal lung disease.

High resolution computed tomography (CT) now has a central role in the evaluation of diffuse lung disease. It is of particular use in the formulation of a differential diagnosis. Whilst CT often conveys sufficient information to allow non-invasive diagnosis, it sometimes reveals atypical appearances, contributing to the continuing reclassification of diffuse lung disease and justifying histological evaluation in some patients. Thus, CT as a new technology does not always replace conventional diagnostic methods, but is best integrated with clinical assessment, other non-invasive investigations and surgical lung biopsy: this applies equally to clinical diagnosis and to the definition and reclassification of disease entities. In this article, we explore the optimal diagnostic use of CT. The limitations of CT series in simulating the clinical application of CT in the management of diffuse parenchymal lung disease highlight the need for an integrated approach to diagnosis, including corroborative data drawn from many sources. High-resolution computed tomography, when interpreted in the context of the pre-test probability, obviates invasive investigation in many cases. As descriptions of the CT appearances of individual diffuse lung diseases are refined, ongoing re-evaluation is required to establish which features can be regarded as pathognomonic, for diagnostic purposes, and how CT can be integrated into revised disease definitions so that the most clinically relevant diagnostic criteria are formulated.

Female↗

PubMed2002

[Inhalation challenges with agents in diagnosis of occupational asthma].

Inhalation challenges with agents causing occupational asthma are presented. We discuss their meaning among other diagnostic method, safety requirements, indications and contraindications. The study contains the description of most frequent delivery procedures as well as rules of assessment of bronchial response and result interpretation.

Asthma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Modes of analysis in qualitative research in health: critical perspective and spoken reflexions].

There is a consistent theoretical and methodological foundations on qualitative health research provided mainly by social sciences. However, this existent overlap between social and health aspects is a wide multidisciplinary field still underexplored. This article offers an overview of the main paradigms, methodologies and theoretical tendencies of qualitative research analyses within the health sciences context. Based on an initial classification, two opposite extremes for setting the bounds of the qualitative analysis continuum--from designs focusing on data description, which are purely exploratory, to those which go into theorizing processes so as to draw out interpretations and inferences--are discussed. Qualitative research is an important tool in the analysis of health problems from a social and cultural point of view. Adopting different procedures such as content and speech analysis, qualitative research approaches communication patterns and examines the diverse language ideologies. Sociological and anthropological traditions provide unique methodologies which allow to know the context where the phenomena appear and set out theoretical proposals in order to explain them, for example ethnomethodology or analytical induction. Lastly, some keys are suggested for developing a common area, out of which new epistemological perspectives may be set out based on different disciplines coming together.

Qualitative Research↗

PubMed1992

[Modern audiologic diagnosis].

Primary interest in modern diagnostic audiology is assessment of hearing in hearing impaired individuals. The results of the tests are interpreted with reference to site-of-lesion. The first part of this paper comprises a short description of the various testing techniques, including subjective and so-called objective methods. The impact of functional disorders within the auditory system on test results is discussed. In the second part an overview of applications of modern diagnostic audiology is given. These applications comprise: site-of-lesion determination, evaluation of therapeutic effects, prophylactic examination, forensic problems and instrumental rehabilitation (hearing-aids, cochlear implants).

Audiometry, Speech↗

PubMed2005

[Retrospective analysis of health variables in a Reykjavík nursing home 1983-2002 (corrected)].

BACKGROUND: A municipal nursing home with 68 beds in Reykjavík, opened in mid-year 1982. OBJECTIVES: To analyse changes in demographic, health and outcome variables over 20 years. DESIGN: Retrospective analyses of data from medical records of all diseased persons with cross-sectional comparison of five four-year intervals. SETTING: Droplaugarstadir Nursing Home in Reykjavík. The nursing home is supervised by fully qualified nurses and provides maintenance rehabilitation. Medical services are delivered from a specialist geriatric hospital department. RESIDENTS: All residents who died 1983 to 2002 [corrected]. MEASUREMENTS: Demographic data, type of dwelling before admission, Nursing Home Pre-admission Assessment Score (NAPA), mobility- and cognitive score, drug usage and a list of medical diagnoses. All recorded health events during stay, falls and fractures, medical and specialist consultations. Advance directives, as recorded and end-of-life treatment, place of death, clinical diagnosis of cause of death and length of stay. RESULTS: The total number of medical records read numbered 385, including 279 females and 106 males. The mean age on admission was 85 (+/- 7) years. During the first 4 years the majority of residents came from their own private homes or residential settings but in the last four years, 60% were admitted directly from a hospital ward. The mortality rate was 17% per year in the first period and the majority died in a hospital. This ratio took a sharp turn as the mortality rate increased to 40%, and in the last period only 2 of 97 deaths took place in a hospital. Admission mobility- and cognitive scores showed increased disability with time. The most common diagnosis on admission was dementia (56%), ischemic heart disease (46%), fractures (35%) and strokes (27%). Parkinsonism and maturity onset diabetes had a low prevalence rate of 6%. A mean NHPA of 57 (+/- 17) points confirmed a high dependency selection. The mean number of drugs per patient was 5.3 (+/- 3), including 1.1 (+/- 1) for psychoactive drugs and sedatives. The most common health events during residents? stay were urinary and respiratory infections, heart failure, cardiac- and cerebral events and pulmonary disorders. Hip fractures occurred in 45 residents (12%) and other types of fractures in 47 during their stay in the nursing home. The number of medical visits and specialist referrals increased with time. Palliative care was the most common form of treatment at end of life. Pneumonia was most commonly recorded cause of death in medical notes. The yearly mortality rate was 29% and the mean length of stay was 3 (+/- 2,9) years for the whole period. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective analyses have many inherent drawbacks and the information in medical records tend to be scanty. Analyses of disabilities, as described in the medical record, can only be descriptive and health events are likely to be underreported. Statistical methods have a less meaningful role for interpretation as only diseased persons were included and survivors excluded. However, the length of time, uniform medical care and turnover rate of residents generate useful information on the patterns of the nursing home service during a time of considerable change. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective analysis indicates increasing frailty in nursing home patients admitted over a period of 20 years. With time the residents are more often admitted directly from a hospital rather than from an individual dwelling. Most deaths took place in the nursing home and were preceded with informal or formal palliative care directives, which was a significant change over time. The data indicates growing efficiency in the nursing home selection processes due to the NHPA and improvements in holistic geriatric care. This development is in keeping with the Icelandic health care policy for elderly people to stay longer in their own home with access to a nursing home placement when needed.

Aged↗

PubMed1985

[Double-outlet right ventricle with intact interventricular septum. Case report, review of the literature and proposed pathogenetic interpretation].

Double Outlet Right Ventricle with intact ventricular septum is an extremely rare malformation. Only nine cases are recorded in the known world literature. A new case is reported, concerning a female infant six months old when first seen, and still alive after atrial septectomy. The anatomical studies in Double Outlet Right Ventricle suggest that only the Ventricular Septal Defect in the outlet septum is an integral part of the malformation and can be defined as "typical". In more than 10% of cases the Ventricular Septal Defect opens into the inlet or trabecular-muscular portions of the septum: these latter locations of the defect should therefore be considered as "associated". Double Outlet Right Ventricle with intact ventricular septum can be interpreted as the variant lacking both typical and associated Ventricular Septal Defect. From the analysis of anatomical descriptions of the ten known specimens of Double Outlet Right Ventricle with intact Ventricular septum, the Authors word out the hypothesis that ventricular septum closure could be referred to a well developed bulbo-ventricular fold (bulbo-ventricular fold synonimous of cono-ventricular flange and bulbo-atrio-ventricular ledge), as a consequence of missed or defective conal absorption. They conceive a range including on one hand the Subarterial Ventricular Septal defect (bulbo-ventricular fold poorly developed due to effective conal absorption), on the other hand the Restrictive Ventricular Septal Defect and Intact Ventricular Septum (bulbo-ventricular fold well developed due to defective conal absorption).

Female↗

PubMed1985

[Morphology of microcirculation in a defective barrier in diabetic angiopathy and shock].

The continuing value of Cohnheim's research on microcirculation derives from the triad of in vivo observation, recording of the dynamic features of blood flow in small vessels and measurement of morphologic details. Among Cohnheim's contributions are the concept of the altered vascular wall, the description of the process of emigration and diapedesis by blood cells, the insistence that morphologic observations be interpreted in the light of physiologic data, and the appreciation of the complexity of biologic reactions, in particular those associated with inflammation, shock and diabetic angiopathy.

Capillaries↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Automation of antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Laboratory services lag significantly behind the time demands of the clinician in determining the appropriate antimicrobic drug to treat a bacterial infection. The authors discuss several new automated optical systems that promise to shorten the time lag for results, as well as lead to improved precision and standardization. The advantages of expressing antimicrobic susceptibility results as Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) over the three classifications of sensitive, intermediate, or resistant commonly determined by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method are discussed. Computerization is a central feature of emerging instrumentation for antimicrobic susceptibility testin, and it will be potentially useful in providing interpretive data relating the MIC to specific dose-site combinations. The paper is concluded by short descriptions of nonoptical techniques that investigators have used to measure bacterial growth.

Calorimetry↗