Reaction time and variability 5 and 10 years after traumatic brain injury.

Improvement in performance can occur up to 10 years after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Few previous studies have examined the long-term effects of TBI on information processing. This study used reaction time (RT) tasks of increasing complexity with 10-year post-injury, 5-year post-injury, and control groups to assess any such effects.

Psychiatric disorders after traumatic brain injury.

Substantial psychological and neurobehavioural evidence is available to support the hypothesis that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for subsequent psychiatric disorders. However, studies utilizing established psychiatric diagnostic schemes to study these outcomes after TBI are scarce, and no studies have included an assessment of personality disorders in addition to the major psychiatric disorders. This study utilizes structured psychiatric interviews to measure the prevalence of DSM-III(R) disorders in a sample of 18 subjects derived from a TBI rehabilitation programme.

Repeat neurobehavioral study of borderline personality disorder.

Previous research has tentatively identified a large subgroup of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) with histories of developmental or acquired brain insults. Similarly, these studies have demonstrated a possible biological correlation between the severity of BPD and the number of previous brain insults. The possibility of frontal system cognitive dysfunction in BPD has been raised.

Dimensions of neurobehavioural dysfunction: cross-validation using a head-injured sample.

Principal-components analysis of 44 items from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) identified as neurologically related was conducted on profiles obtained from 196 individuals with head injury. Four principal factors, that accounted for 36.5% of the total variance, were extracted.

Integrating the concepts of health promotion and community into occupational therapy practice.

Health reform activities in Canada have encouraged health care professionals to examine new and innovative ways to share their skills, not only with other professionals, but with the public. Historically, occupational therapists have been encouraged by leaders in the profession to expand their practice and to share their skills through active participation with their communities. Health promotion has been identified as a process through which this expansion can be pursued.

Effect of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli on adherent properties of Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) O111:H2, O119:H6, or O142:H6 caused rapid detachment of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell monolayers within 2 to 4 h of cocultivation. CHO cell detachment was not promoted by nonenteropathogenic E. coli (O125:H4, O126:H27, O157:H7, and O26:H11) and could not be attributed to EPEC production of enterohemolysin or Shiga-like toxins.

The interplay between emotional and cognitive recovery after closed head injury.

This study examined 59 patients who had suffered closed head injuries with respect to their MMPI scores and Category Test scores as assessed shortly post-injury and on subsequent assessment. The number of MMPI scales elevated above t = 70 on the first assessment was negatively correlated with the magnitude of improvement made on the Category Test. Multiple regression analyses showed that the extent of cognitive deficit, as indicated by the Category Test, could be predicted from the degree of psychopathology, with MMPI scales 2 (depression), 7 (psychasthenia) and 8 (schizophrenia) being highly predictive of Category Test performance.

Long-term vocational functioning after severe closed head injury: a controlled study.

Vocational functioning at least 2 years postinjury was examined in a group of 57 severely closed-head injured (CHI) patients and 50 nonbrain-injured spinal-cord injured (SCI) patients. The two groups were equated on the following preinjury parameters: age, education, socioeconomic status (SES), male/female ratio, and marital status. The CHI and SCI patients had a similar number of members who were employed at follow-up.

A post-discharge study on the use of assistive devices.

Through this study of a heterogeneous patient population, the prescription and distribution of assistive devices was found to be a beneficial occupational therapy intervention. Although 97% of patients were satisfied with the education provided during occupational therapy intervention, it was discovered that more time is required to practice tub transfers, as well as to fully explain to patients the benefits of sock-aids. The need for further longitudinally based research in the use of assistive devices is recognized.

The MMPI and closed-head injury.

This study examined Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory profile configuration in matched samples of males (n = 77) and females (n = 25) suffering from closed-head injury. For the males, the mean group high-point was the 5c scale; the mean group high-point for the females was the D scale. For the males, the mean group two-point code was the 8-2 configuration; the mean group two-point code for the females was the 2-3 configuration.

How useful is the WAIS-R in closed head injury assessment?

The present study examined whether head-injury assessment findings based on the WAIS could be generalized to the WAIS-R. It also investigated whether WAIS-R findings from individuals with focal mass lesions could be generalized to closed-head-injured patients with mass lesions. Subjects were 71 CHI patients assessed with the WAIS-R an average of 1.

Inhibition of Epstein-Barr virus infection in vitro and in vivo by soluble CR2 (CD21) containing two short consensus repeats.

The extracellular domain of CR2, the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)/C3d receptor of B lymphocytes, contains 15 or 16 tandemly arranged short consensus repeat elements (SCR). Recombinant CR2 proteins containing SCR 1 and 2 fused to Staphylococcus aureus protein A (PA-CR2) and to murine complement factor H SCR 20 (CR2FH) were expressed in Escherichia coli and in insect cells, respectively. These recombinant CR2 molecules retained functional activity as indicated by their ability to bind to C3dg in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and to inhibit EBV gp350/220 binding to B cells.

The MMPI and neurologic dysfunction: Profile configuration and analysis.

This study examined the application of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to the assessment of personality and emotional status in neurologic patients. Eighteen specialists in the clinical neurosciences examined the standard MMPI and indicated those items they felt were potentially tapping valid manifestations of neurologic damage or dysfunction. Forty-four items, loading primarily on the Hs, Hy, and Sc scales, were identified.

The clinical significance of neurocognitive impairments among children with psychiatric disorders: diagnosis and situational specificity.

The overall objective of this paper is to assess the clinical significance of neurocognitive impairments (NCI) among children with psychiatric disorders. One hundred and fifty-three children referred to a mental health clinic underwent neuropsychological testing. Their parents were interviewed to obtain background information and data on their children's behavior.

Asperger's syndrome and autism: neurocognitive aspects.

The objectives of this study were to see: (1) whether children with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) have similar neurocognitive deficits compared to nonretarded, or high-functioning autistic (HFA) children; and (2) whether the essential cognitive deficit among these children is in language or abstract problem solving. Subjects with AS, HFA, and a control group of socially impaired child psychiatric outpatient controls (OPC) were compared on a battery of neuropsychological tests. The results indicated that the AS and HFA groups differed little but that large differences from the OPC were observed on all tests.

Genetic contributions to the variation among rabbits of liver microsomal deoxycorticosterone synthesis.

Outbred New Zealand white rabbits exhibit two phenotypes, 21H and 21L, corresponding to rates greater than or less than 1 nmol/min/mg, respectively, for liver microsomal progesterone 21-hydroxylase activity. In contrast, the inbred strain III/J exhibits only the 21L phenotype. Two 21H male New Zealand white rabbits were mated with several female III/J rabbits to produce a total 46 progeny.

Stroke treatment: comparison of integrated behavioral-physical therapy vs traditional physical therapy programs.

This was a controlled study of the efficacy of two forms of therapy on upper limb functions of hemiparetic patients--one heavily behavioral and the other based on Bobath therapeutic exercises. It arose from an earlier pilot study comparing EMG biofeedback with physical therapy from which it was concluded that both the elapsed time since the acute stroke and the severity of residual disability were particularly important factors. Of 29 patients included and randomly assigned to one or the other heavily systematized therapies, 18 were classified as having early-severe and 11 as late-mild conditions.

Intraspecies individuality for the metabolism of steroids.

A variety of regulatory factors contribute to differences in the rates of 6 beta-hydroxylation, 16 alpha-hydroxylation and 21-hydroxylation of progesterone as catalysed by liver microsomes prepared from individual rabbits. It is likely that the 6 beta-hydroxylation of progesterone is catalysed primarily by cytochrome P-450 3c, an enzyme that exhibits allosteric activation by alpha-napthoflavone, and by a form of P-450 3b, 6 beta+, that is expressed in some rabbits in an autosomal dominant manner. The mechanism of activation for P-450 3c appears to reflect an effector mediated increase of the affinity of the enzyme for substrate as judged by substrate binding studies.

Differential expression of cytochrome P-450 1 and related forms in rabbit liver and kidney.

Monoclonal antibodies developed to cytochrome P-450 1, some of which react with proteins in addition to P-450 1, were used to investigate the differential expression of P-450 1 dependent 21-hydroxylase activity in renal tissue of rabbits exhibiting differences in hepatic 21-hydroxylase activity. Using immunohistochemical techniques, the monoclonal antibodies, 2F5 and 3C3, localized protein in the S2 and S3 segments of the proximal tubule in the renal cortex. These two monoclonal antibodies, 2F5 and 3C3, reacted with a kidney protein that migrated on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a relative electrophoretic mobility that did not correspond to known rabbit hepatic isozymes and was termed P-450 K.

Evidence that rabbit cytochrome P-450 K is encoded by the plasmid pP-450 PBc2.

The complete coding sequence for P-450 PBc2 was inserted into a T7-phage promoter system, and a capped cRNA was generated using T7 RNA polymerase. The P-450 PBc2 cRNA was translated in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate. The in vitro translation product was indirectly immunoprecipitated by the monoclonal antibodies 2F5 and 3C3 that recognize P-450 K.

Halstead's Category Test: withstanding the test of time.

In spite of demonstrated validity, Halstead's Category Test has been criticized as overly time consuming. In order to evaluate this assumption, groups of severely head-injured and general neurological cases were administered the Category Test as part of routine evaluation, and the time to completion of the test was recorded. The results indicated that 93% of the patients completed the test in less than 1 h and that 50% completed it in less than 40 min.

Characterization studies of a rat hepatic cytosolic androgen-binding protein.

A rat hepatic cytosolic [3H]methyltrienolone (R1881) binding protein was studied under various conditions. This protein was also compared with the male-specific high capacity--low affinity estrogen-binding protein derived from the same cytosolic fraction. Analysis of the R1881 binding protein in adult (60-85 days old) male rat liver cytosol indicated the presence of a high affinity--low capacity binding site (Kd = 0.

Characterization of variations in rabbit hepatic progesterone 21-hydroxylase activity by serial biopsy.

Earlier work has shown that the 21-hydroxylation of progesterone in the hepatic microsomal fraction of outbred New Zealand White rabbits varies over a 10-fold range. To determine whether the differences in 21-hydroxylase activity were due to a transient inductive effect, livers from a group of 28 rabbits were serially biopsied at least three times over a minimum period of two months. Both progesterone 21- and 16 alpha-hydroxylase activities were determined in the post-8700g supernatant of homogenates prepared from these biopsy samples.