ESR-spectroscopy in medical practice and biomedical research

The authors describe the use of the ESR technique during the past 20 years. There are many examples of the application of the technique in different investigations. The authors propose the new way of training medical students to apply it.     

Use of sequential medical trials in rehabilitation research

We tested the hypotheses that the hostility and anger scales of the Buss and Perry (1992) [Buss, A. H. & Perry, M. (1992). The Aggression Questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 452-459.] Aggression Questionnaire would predict anger in college students in response to mistreatment. We found low and high hostility groups did not differ in anger at baseline or after completing a task without provocation, but the high hostility group reported greater anger than the low group after the onset of provocation, which required all students to redo completed tasks because some students (confederates) were observed cheating. Hostility also influenced anxiety and depression, but only anger was greater as a result of the provocation in the high than in the low hostility group. The anger scale did not predict anger in response to provocation, but anger was higher in the high than the low anger group before the provocation. These findings support the construct validity of the Aggression Questionnaire hostility scale as a measure of suspicion, resentment and sensitivity to mistreatment.     

The use of generalized tests in medical research

Muscle depends upon innervation and contraction to maintain a differentiated state. Denervation can therefore induce muscle atrophy. In grasshoppers, muscle degeneration can also be triggered by the severing of a leg during autotomy. In this case, the muscles that degenerate are neither damaged nor denervated. This phenomenon suggests the existence of transneuronal mechanisms that influence muscle survival. To characterize this autotomy-induced process, we studied the degeneration of a thoracic tergotrochanteral depressor muscle (M#133b,c) subsequent to the shedding of a hindlimb in the grasshoppers Barytettix psolus and Barytettix humphreysii. Both histochemical and electrophysiological methods were used to follow muscle degeneration 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 days postautotomy. Muscle fibers began to show denervation-like electrophysiological changes (i.e., depolarized resting membrane potentials and postinhibitory rebound) as soon as 3 days postautotomy. By 10 days, significant muscle degeneration was evident and electrophysiological changes were found in all animals tested. Muscle anatomical degeneration was not induced by synaptic transmission failure, because neuromuscular transmission was maintained in most fibers. The rate of muscle degeneration was not constant. Between 1 and 10 days, mean fiber cross-sectional area did not change on the autotomized side, although this is normally a time of muscle growth. However after 10 days, cross-sectional area became drastically reduced and the number of muscle fibers within M#133b,c was decreased. The variability in rate of fiber degeneration was not dependent upon fiber type, since M#133b,c only contains fast-type fibers.     

Future shock and medical research*

The AA. report 9 cases of arteriovenous angiomata in the posterior cranial fossa with chronic evolution: in 8 of these the diagnosis was made before a subarachnoid haemorrhagic episode precipitated the symptomatology. Angiomata in the posterior cranial fossa are detected less often than sopratentorial angiomata, and the possible reasons of this are considered. During the last 11 years in the Neurosurgical Institute of the University of Padua the incidence was 23%, one of the highest reported in literature. The clinical diagnostic criteria of angioma in the posterior cranial fossa with chronic evolution are also discussed. The importance of a fluctuating development of the symptomatology is emphasised with an almost constant association of signs of pyramidal and cerebellar involvement, as well as the differential diagnostic problems with multiple sclerosis. In six of the cases the malformation was so extensive to make it impossible to determine afferences and drainages, so that a surgical operation could not be carried out. This finding seemed rather peculiar, owing to the relatively poor simptomatology, mainly if compared with smaller supratentorial malformations. It appears from the literature that angiomata in the posterior cranial fossa including those found at autopsy are as common as the supratentorial ones; this would suggest that many of these lesions are not diagnosed in life.     

Resources for lesbian ethnographic research in the lavender archives

The problematics of undertaking lesbian ethnography and cultural history are related in part to the dearth of printed records lesbians kept or preserved for posterity. Technological, financial, and security considerations typically made it necessary for them to operate more informally and inconspicuously, hand-to-hand and by word-of-mouth. Lavender archives, nonetheless, are the repositories of lesbian cultural history. This paper preoccupies itself with the pragmatic issues of developing and maintaining accessible research venues from which to cultivate the study of multiracial and multiethnic lesbian lives. I provide a survey of available resources for doing lesbian scholarship, addressing some of the ethical issues involved with lesbian ethnographic research.     

Contributions of empirical research to medical ethics

Empirical research pertaining to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), clinician behaviors related to do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders and substituted judgment suggests potential contributions to medical ethics. Research quantifying the likelihood of surviving CPR points to the need for further philosophical analysis of the limitations of the patient autonomy in decision making, the nature and definition of medical futility, and the relationship between futility and professional standards. Research on DNR orders has identified barriers to the goal of patient involvement in these life and death discussions. The initial data on surrogate decision making also points to the need for a reexamination of the moral basis for substituted judgment, the moral authority of proxy decision making and the second-order status of the best interests standard. These examples of empirical research suggest that an interplay between empirical research, ethical analysis and policy development may represent a new form of interdisciplinary scholarship to improve clinical medicine.     

Use of sociometric peer nominations in medical education research.

A peer nomination scale involving 11 variables, developed to evaluate medical student effectiveness was administered to 87 senior-class students. Overall nomination reliability was .89, correlation between peer nominations and instructor evaluations was .44, and correlations between nominations and course grades were all positive and, in most instances, significantly different from zero. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Medical investigators' views about ethics and fraud in medical research

The objective of this study was to ascertain the views and attitudes of medical investigators on medical ethics, and ethics and fraud in medical research. We sent postal questionnaires to all principal investigators whose study protocols had been assessed by their regional medical ethics committee for biomedical research (mid-Norway) in the years 1986-92 (n = 159). The response rate was 70% (n = 119). Some 80% agreed that ethical considerations had influenced their research and 12% that they would have had ethical scruples today about some of their previous projects. One in ten agreed that they might have achieved better results if they could have paid less attention to ethics. About 70% of the respondents found that the committee's comments were useful and relevant, but most agreed only in part. Around 85% agreed fully or in part that scientific quality is an important ethical element of any project and that researchers put more effort into their study protocol when they knew it would be evaluated by an ethics committee. One in six (18%) respondents agreed fully or in part that they had been exposed to scientific misconduct. Also, 27% knew about one or more cases of fraud or misconduct while 42% stated that this knowledge was not public. We concluded that ethics in medicine and medical research have an important and increasing role among investigators with little or no theoretical background and training in ethics. Scientific fraud and misconduct in medicine is a growing concern among researchers, who welcome a professional body that can manage allegations and cases of fraud.     

Analysis of Likert scale data in disability and medical rehabilitation research.

Many clinical evaluations are subjective, resulting in ordinal level measurements. A widely used example in medical rehabilitation is the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), which provides a measure of disability. The FIM is an 18-item, 7-point Likert scale ranging from complete dependence to complete independence. Parametric statistics are commonly used for the analysis of ordinal data. However, Likert scales often lead to violation of many underlying assumptions. This study examined the comparative power of the t test with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test using real pretest/posttest data sets measured on an ordinal scale. FIM scores were obtained on 714 geriatric patients at admit and discharge from a rehabilitation hospital. A Fortran 77 program was written to sample with replacement from each admit and discharge data distribution. Results indicated the Wilcoxon rank-sum test outperformed the t test for almost every sample size and alpha level examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mathematical coupling in medical research: lessons from studies of oxygen kinetics

BACKGROUND: Smooth muscle hamartoma is an uncommon lesion. Diagnosis is usually made at birth in infants presenting a plaque with minimal or no infiltration and covered with long dark hairs. Congenital forms with multiple plaques are rarely reported. CASE REPORT: A 5-day-old infant (normal pregnancy and delivery) had plaques localized on the buttocks, the left thigh, leg and shoulder and the right ankle. The plaques were minimally infiltrative and covered with long black hairs. Histology examination showed hyperplastic smooth muscle bundles with varying orientation. The diagnosis was smooth muscle hamartoma. The rest of the clinical examination was normal. CONCLUSION: This case of congenital smooth muscle hamartoma showed a particular form with partially regressive multiple plaques.