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PubMed2001

Development of a depersonalization severity scale.

Our aim was to develop a clinician-rated scale assessing depersonalization severity for use in clinical trials of Depersonalization Disorder and trauma-related disorders in general. The 6-item Depersonalization Severity Scale (DSS) was administered to 63 participants with DSM-IV Depersonalization Disorder as diagnosed by the SCID-D, and its psychometric properties were examined. The sensitivity of the DSS and of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) to treatment change was assessed in blinded, controlled settings. Individual items were widely distributed across the severity range. Interrater reliability was excellent and internal consistency was moderate. The DSS had high convergent and discriminant validity and was sensitive to treatment change. The DES was also sensitive to treatment change. We recommend piloting the DSS in future treatment trials of trauma-spectrum disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Perceived consequences of employing AIDS victims: development and validation of a scale.

Preliminary results in the development of a 15-item scale to measure managers' beliefs about the consequences of employing AIDS victims are reported. Study participants included 248 managers in southeastern U.S. manufacturing, government, and service organizations. Principal components analysis of the proposed scale yielded three dimensions including reduced revenues, workplace disruptions, and increased insurance costs. Evidence of predictive validity is presented and support is also provided for the hypothesis that fear of AIDS in the workplace is a construct distinct from perceived consequences of AIDS in the workplace.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed2002

Development of the Delivery Fear Scale.

This article reviews the development of the Delivery Fear Scale (DFS) to measure fear during labor and delivery. In an initial study, 92 women in labor answered a list of 60 items, expressing fear-related appraisals and their contrasts that were characteristic of women in labor. The items were then selected by means of an item-total analysis. In a second study, the final list of ten items was tested psychometrically, and a semi-structured interview was performed on 45 women in labor, to explore the women's descriptions of the content of each of the ten items. According to the content analysis of the interviews, the dominating connotation of the ten items is fear based on the appraisal of being captured. The studies show that the DFS is a questionnaire that almost effortlessly can be completed within 60-90 seconds during any moment of labor and delivery. The scale has a good reliability: Cronbach's alpha was 0.88 in both studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Effects of a scaling gel on forces developed in debridement of supragingival calculus determined by means of a transducer-modified dental scaler: the Quanticalc.

The efficacy of a calculus scaling gel, SofScale (Dentsply, York, PA), has been examined in two protocols by the measurement of scaling forces developed in supragingival calculus debridement from the anterior dentition using hand scaling with a transducer-modified dental scaler, the Quanticalc. In one protocol, the effects of the scaling gel were compared to a placebo gel composed of conventional toothpaste in a double-blind, split-mouth design. In another protocol, the effects of the scaling gel were determined in comparison to non-treated calculus. Results demonstrated that the scaling gel had no apparent effects on the physical forces (work) involved in calculus removal. These results suggest that the application of the scaling gel provides no quantitative benefits in facilitating calculus debridement during manual tooth scaling.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2003

Developmental outcome at 2 years of age for children born after ICSI compared with children born after IVF.

BACKGROUND: Since the introduction of ICSI in 1991, medical outcome studies on ICSI children have been performed, but few have addressed developmental outcome. Hence, this outcome was assessed by performing a standard developmental test on children born after ICSI as compared with children born after IVF, at the age of 2 years. METHODS: In a prospective study, the medical and developmental outcome of 439 children born after ICSI (378 singletons, 61 twins) were compared with those of 207 children born after IVF (138 singletons, 69 twins), at the age of 24-28 months. These children were part of a cohort of children followed since birth. Of children reaching the age of 24-28 months between May 1995 and March 2002, 44.3% (2375/5356) were examined by a paediatrician who was unaware of the type of treatment used for each couple. Of all the children born, 12.2% (439/3618) in the ICSI group and 11.9% (207/1738) in the IVF group underwent a formal developmental assessment using the Bayley Scale of Infant Development (mental scale) by a paediatrician blinded to the type of treatment. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in maternal educational level, maternal age, gestational age, parity, birthweight, neonatal complication rate or malformation rate at 2 years between ICSI and IVF singletons, or between ICSI and IVF twins. No significant difference was observed in the developmental outcome using the Bayley scale at the age of 24-28 months (raw scores or test age) between ICSI children or IVF children. A multivariate regression analysis for the singleton children indicated that parity, sex (boys had lower scores than girls) and age had a significant influence on the test result, but that the fertility procedure (ICSI versus IVF) did not influence the test result. ICSI children from fathers with low sperm concentration, low sperm motility or poor morphology had a similar developmental outcome to that of children from fathers with normal sperm parameters. There were no significant differences between the initial cohort and the group lost to follow-up, nor between the psychologically tested and the non-tested group for a number of variables such as maternal educational level, birthweight in singletons and neonatal malformation rate. Although only some of the cohort of ICSI children were evaluated, a representative sample of both ICSI and IVF children was compared. CONCLUSIONS: There is no indication that ICSI children have a lower psychomotor development than IVF children. Paternal risk factors associated with male-factor infertility were found not to play a role in developmental outcome.

Aging↗
PubMed1996

Development of a clinical rating scale to assess mother-infant interaction in a psychiatric mother and baby unit.

BACKGROUND: Psychiatrists are sometimes asked to express an opinion about the competence and motivation of a mentally ill mother to be a consistent, adequate and safe parent of her recently born infant. There are no reliable methods for assessing mother-infant interaction and relationship in a psychiatric context. METHOD: The Bethlem Mother-infant interaction Scale (BMIS) was developed by the staff of a specialised psychiatric mother and baby unit. Of the seven subscales, four measured different aspects of the mother's contribution to the dialogue with her baby, one measured her capacity to organise and maintain routine care, one attempted to rate the perception by staff of risk to the child, and the remaining subscale rated the baby's contribution to their interaction. In normal clinical practice the ratings were made consensually by nurses and they encompassed observations that had been made by them during the previous week. RESULTS: Despite the simple and global nature of the ratings of the BMIS, moderate to high coefficients of inter-rater reliability were obtained for weekly ratings by nurses as well as for intra-rater reliability of ratings of videotaped interactions between mothers and their infants. Ratings of mothers and babies in day-to-day activity in the unit that were based on one hour's observation only were much less reliable. The internal consistency of the BMIS was high and comparisons with other methods used in non-clinical settings showed good criterion-related validity. CONCLUSIONS: Using the BMIS facilitated attempts to reliably assess disturbances of mother-infant interaction and the scale was acceptable and clinically useful. The nurses' ratings of their perceptions of 'risk' to the infant, which are in some ways the most important, were the least reliable. Repeated weekly ratings gave a valuable impression of change or lack of it over time. The predictive validity of the scale has yet to be determined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Development of an attitude scale to measure attitudes toward humans' use of nonhuman animals.

The objectives of this investigation were to develop a scale to measure attitudes towards animal use, decide upon the number of dimensions or scales needed, and test the reliability and validity of the dimension(s) obtained. Analysis showed the final scale to be unidimensional with evidence of reliability (Cronbach alpha = .99) and criterion validity via measurement of known groups. The known groups were derived from a random sample of members of the Animal Rights Information and Education Service (representing those opposed to humans' use of animals) and members of National Animal Damage Control Association (representing those supporting animal use). The final scale contained 48 items and was readable at Grade 6 which facilitates administration across a broad range of educational backgrounds and has utility for a variety of animal-use issues.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

A simplified material and energy balance approach for process development and scale-up of Coniothyrium minitans conidia production by solid-state cultivation in a packed-bed reactor.

Production of conidia of the biocontrol fungus Coniothyrium minitans by solid-state cultivation in a packed-bed reactor on an industrial scale is feasible. Spore yield and oxygen consumption rate of C. minitans during cultivation on oats and three inert solids (hemp, perlite, and bagasse) saturated with a liquid medium were determined in laboratory-scale experiments. The sensitivity of the fungus to reduced aw, and the water desorption isotherms of the four solid materials were also determined. C. minitans is very sensitive to reduced aw: 50% inhibition of respiration was found at aw 0.95, spore formation was completely inhibited at aw 0.97. A simplified mathematical model taking into account convective and evaporative cooling was used to simulate temperature and moisture gradients in the bed during cultivation. Adequate temperature control can be achieved with acceptable air flow rates for all four solid matrices. Moisture control is the limiting factor for cultivation in a packed bed. Oats cannot be used due to the shrinkage and aw reduction caused by evaporative cooling. Of the three inert supports tested, hemp provides the best spore yield and control of water activity, due to its high water uptake capacity. A spore yield of 9 x 10(14) conidia per m(3) packed bed can be achieved in 18 days, using hemp impregnated with a solution containing 100 g dm(-3) glucose and 20 g dm(-3) potato extract. Sufficient water is predicted to be available after 18 days, to allow a higher initial nutrient concentration, which may lead to higher spore yields.

Bioreactors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Development of a scale to measure psychosocial concerns of Mexican women with advanced cancer.

This descriptive study was undertaken to explore the perceptions and attitudes of 143 women (mean age+/-51) with advanced cancer. Outcome measures were the Perceptions and Attitudes Scale (PAS), a 65-item instrument validated as part of the study, and the Karnofsky Performance Status Scale. Internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) and factor analytic techniques (principal component and orthogonal rotation) were performed. The scale has an internal consistency of 0. 79. Factor analysis revealed six factors which explained 39.6% of the variance (1) loneliness; (2) family and social sphere; (3) limitations and dependence conditions; (4) perceptions about their lives; 5) perceptions about their health and pain; and (6) perceptions of pain and anguish. These results point out the necessity of a multivariate approach to women with advanced cancer.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

Development and large scale benchmark testing of the PROSPECTOR_3 threading algorithm.

This article describes the PROSPECTOR_3 threading algorithm, which combines various scoring functions designed to match structurally related target/template pairs. Each variant described was found to have a Z-score above which most identified templates have good structural (threading) alignments, Z(struct) (Z(good)). 'Easy' targets with accurate threading alignments are identified as single templates with Z > Z(good) or two templates, each with Z > Z(struct), having a good consensus structure in mutually aligned regions. 'Medium' targets have a pair of templates lacking a consensus structure, or a single template for which Z(struct) < Z < Z(good). PROSPECTOR_3 was applied to a comprehensive Protein Data Bank (PDB) benchmark composed of 1491 single domain proteins, 41-200 residues long and no more than 30% identical to any threading template. Of the proteins, 878 were found to be easy targets, with 761 having a root mean square deviation (RMSD) from native of less than 6.5 A. The average contact prediction accuracy was 46%, and on average 17.6 residue continuous fragments were predicted with RMSD values of 2.0 A. There were 606 medium targets identified, 87% (31%) of which had good structural (threading) alignments. On average, 9.1 residue, continuous fragments with RMSD of 2.5 A were predicted. Combining easy and medium sets, 63% (91%) of the targets had good threading (structural) alignments compared to native; the average target/template sequence identity was 22%. Only nine targets lacked matched templates. Moreover, PROSPECTOR_3 consistently outperforms PSIBLAST. Similar results were predicted for open reading frames (ORFS) < or =200 residues in the M. genitalium, E. coli and S. cerevisiae genomes. Thus, progress has been made in identification of weakly homologous/analogous proteins, with very high alignment coverage, both in a comprehensive PDB benchmark as well as in genomes.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2001

Development of continental scale multimedia contaminant fate models: integrating GIS.

The incentives and approaches for modelling chemical fate at a continental scale are discussed and reviewed. It is suggested that a multi-media model consisting of some 20-30 regions, each of which contains typically seven environmental compartments represents a reasonable compromise between the issues of the need for detailed resolution, avoidance of excessive data demands and inherent complexity and transparency. Strategies adopted in compiling the Berkley-Trent (BETR) model for North America are discussed and used to illustrate the issues of selecting appropriate number and nature of segments, treatment of air and water flows and the acquisition of environmental data. It is suggested that GIS software can play a valuable role in gathering and processing such data and in the display and interpretation of the results of the model assessment. The BETR model will be a useful tool for describing the nature of persistence and long-range transport of chemicals of concern in the North American environment.

Air Movements↗
PubMed2003

Developing a scale-up system for the micropropagation of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.): the effect of growth retardants, liquid culture and vessel size.

We investigated the effect of the growth retardant flurprimidol, the phase of the culture medium (solid versus liquid) and the size of the liquid culture vessel (250-ml flask versus 2.5-l airlift bioreactor) on the micropropagation of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) from nodal explants. Flurprimidol at concentrations of 0.1-2 mg l(-1) caused considerable growth retardation but increased, albeit slightly, the number of branches and buds and stimulated (solid medium) or reduced (liquid medium) the accumulation of NO(3)-and PO(4)(3-). Flurprimidol had varying effects on the accumulation of soluble sugars and antioxidant compounds. Bioreactor-derived plants showed an increased fresh weight and size but a decreased content of macronutrients, solid sugars, ascorbic acid and free antioxidant phenolics. The majority (95%) of the plants were successfully acclimatized after being graft on squash. The perspective for an efficient, commercial-level use of bioreactors in combination with growth retardants of this commercially important vegetable species is discussed.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1996

Parasite vaccine development: large-scale recovery of immunogenic Taenia ovis fusion protein GST-45W(B/X) from Escherichia coli inclusion bodies.

Genetically modified Escherichia coli expressing the Taenia ovis fusion protein GST-45W(B/X) as inclusion bodies were grown in volumes ranging up to 1000 l. Bacteria were inactivated by heat or chemical treatment without affecting immunogenicity. The fusion protein was recovered in a highly immunogenic form from washed inclusion bodies and from urea-solubilised inclusion bodies. The fusion protein was found to be stable in solution after storage at 4 degrees C for up to 2 years. Vaccines formulated with fusion protein from urea-soluble inclusion bodies gave consistently high protection (89-100%) against challenge infection. The methods described enabled the production of sufficient vaccine for large field trials. These trials generated the data required for product registration and manufacture of a vaccine to prevent T. ovis infection in sheep.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

An intergroup contact-theory framework for evaluating racial climate on predominantly white college campuses.

This study examined the association of racial climate to social integration outcomes among 215 African American students and 144 White students from a predominantly White university. Presented is preliminary evidence regarding the utility of an ecological approach based on Allport's (1954) intergroup contact theory in examining students' climate perceptions and their impact. Responses to a racial climate scale previously used in secondary settings were collected from participants, and, through factor analysis, a revised scale was developed. The revised scale showed evidence for five subscales assessing perceived intergroup interactions on campus at individual and institutional levels, as well as individuals' personal intergroup interactions. Group differences were found for the subscales and in relationships between subscales and college integration outcomes. Findings suggest the importance of understanding college climate at interpersonal and institutional levels and of assessing impact for both majority and minority students.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2005

Development of a large-scale chemogenomics database to improve drug candidate selection and to understand mechanisms of chemical toxicity and action.

Successful drug discovery requires accurate decision making in order to advance the best candidates from initial lead identification to final approval. Chemogenomics, the use of genomic tools in pharmacology and toxicology, offers a promising enhancement to traditional methods of target identification/validation, lead identification, efficacy evaluation, and toxicity assessment. To realize the value of chemogenomics information, a contextual database is needed to relate the physiological outcomes induced by diverse compounds to the gene expression patterns measured in the same animals. Massively parallel gene expression characterization coupled with traditional assessments of drug candidates provides additional, important mechanistic information, and therefore a means to increase the accuracy of critical decisions. A large-scale chemogenomics database developed from in vivo treated rats provides the context and supporting data to enhance and accelerate accurate interpretation of mechanisms of toxicity and pharmacology of chemicals and drugs. To date, approximately 600 different compounds, including more than 400 FDA approved drugs, 60 drugs approved in Europe and Japan, 25 withdrawn drugs, and 100 toxicants, have been profiled in up to 7 different tissues of rats (representing over 3200 different drug-dose-time-tissue combinations). Accomplishing this task required evaluating and improving a number of in vivo and microarray protocols, including over 80 rigorous quality control steps. The utility of pairing clinical pathology assessments with gene expression data is illustrated using three anti-neoplastic drugs: carmustine, methotrexate, and thioguanine, which had similar effects on the blood compartment, but diverse effects on hepatotoxicity. We will demonstrate that gene expression events monitored in the liver can be used to predict pathological events occurring in that tissue as well as in hematopoietic tissues.

5-Aminolevulinate Synthetase↗
PubMed2005

Early brain injury in premature newborns detected with magnetic resonance imaging is associated with adverse early neurodevelopmental outcome.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the neurodevelopmental outcome of prematurely born newborns with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 89 prematurely born newborns (median age 28 weeks postgestation) were studied with MRI when stable for transport to MRI (median age, 32 weeks postgestation); 50 newborns were studied again near term age (median age, 37 weeks). Neurodevelopmental outcome was determined at 18 months adjusted age (median) using the Mental Development Index (Bayley Scales Infant Development II) and a standardized neurologic exam. RESULTS: Of 86 neonatal survivors, outcome was normal in 51 (59%), borderline in 22 (26%), and abnormal in 13 (15%). Moderate/severe MRI abnormalities were common on the first (37%) and second (32%) scans. Abnormal outcome was associated with increasing severity of white matter injury, ventriculomegaly, and intraventricular hemorrhage on MRI, as well as moderate/severe abnormalities on the first (relative risk [RR] = 5.6; P = .002) and second MRI studies (RR = 5.3; P = .03). Neuromotor abnormalities on neurologic examination near term age (RR = 6.5; P = .04) and postnatal infection (RR = 4.0; P = .01) also increased the risk for abnormal neurodevelopmental outcome. CONCLUSIONS: In premature newborns, brain abnormalities are common on MRI early in life and are associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcome.

Brain Injuries↗