ABSTRACT
The advent of thousands of annotated genomes, detailed metabolic reconstructions and databases within the flourishing field of systems biology necessitates the development of functionally complete computer models of whole cells and cellular systems. Such models would realistically describe fundamental properties of living systems such as growth, division and chromosome replication. This will inevitably bridge bioinformatic technologies with ongoing mathematical modelling efforts and would allow for in silico prediction of important dynamic physiological events. To demonstrate a potential for the anticipated merger of bioinformatic genome-wide data with a whole-cell computer model, the authors present here an updated version of a dynamic model of Escherichia coli, including a module that correctly describes the initiation and control of DNA replication by nucleoprotein DnaA-ATP molecules. Specifically, a rigorous mathematical approach used to explicitly include the genome-wide distribution of DnaA-binding sites on the replicating chromosome into a computer model of a bacterial cell is discussed. A new simple deterministic approximation of the complex stochastic process of DNA replication initiation is also provided. It is shown for the first time that reasonable assumptions about the mechanism of DNA replication initiation can be implemented in a deterministic whole-cell model to make predictions about the timing of chromosome replication. Furthermore, it is proposed that a large increase in the concentration of DnaA-binding boxes will result in a decreased steady-state growth rate in E. coli.
Subject(s)
DNA Replication/physiology , DNA, Bacterial/genetics , Escherichia coli Proteins/genetics , Escherichia coli/genetics , Genome, Bacterial/genetics , Models, Genetic , Sequence Analysis, DNA/methods , Base Sequence , Chromosome Mapping/methods , Computer Simulation , Molecular Sequence DataABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the efficacy and morbidity of intratympanic gentamicin titration therapy on patients with intractable unilateral Meniere's disease. STUDY DESIGN: The study design was a retrospective chart review and patient interviews. SETTING: The study was conducted at a tertiary referral ambulatory dizziness clinic at the London Health Sciences Centre, University Campus, from July 1992 to June 1997. INTERVENTION: Eighty-three patients received weekly intratympanic gentamicin injections in their diseased ear. Treatments were terminated after four injections or sooner if patients met clinical or audiologic criteria. Sixty-eight patients were available for detailed follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Vertigo frequency, hearing status, personal disability ratings, tinnitus level, and caloric responses before and after gentamicin therapy were measured. RESULTS: Eighty-four percent of patients showed complete, and an additional 6% showed substantial, vertigo control. At 24 months, 17% of patients demonstrated a clinically significant (10-dB) reduction in hearing, but 26% showed a significant hearing improvement. Overall, the group showed no combined statistically significant changes in any of the hearing parameters. No patients had an "extreme" drop in hearing (>30 dB). CONCLUSIONS: Intratympanic gentamicin titration therapy provides excellent vertigo control with a low incidence of hearing loss.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Gentamicins/therapeutic use , Meniere Disease/diagnosis , Meniere Disease/drug therapy , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Caloric Tests , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Drug Administration Schedule , Female , Humans , Injections , Male , Meniere Disease/complications , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , Severity of Illness Index , Surveys and Questionnaires , Vertigo/complications , Vertigo/diagnosisABSTRACT
For 34 hospitalized adolescents sexual distress was associated with histories of abuse by family members as compared to nonabuse or abuse by others, while posttraumatic stress was not.
Subject(s)
Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Child Abuse/psychology , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Family , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Patient Admission , Personality Assessment , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/psychologySubject(s)
Behavior , Crime Victims/history , Mental Disorders/history , Superstitions , Violence/history , Europe , History, Medieval , Humans , Magic/historyABSTRACT
26 adolescents showing Borderline Personality Disorder were compared with 12 carrying other diagnoses to clarify associated features of these conditions. In line with recent literature, the borderline adolescents evidenced significant depression and dissociation, suggesting the importance of evaluating instability of mood (versus thinking) and weak continuity in self-experience when identifying and treating this disorder.
Subject(s)
Borderline Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Dissociative Disorders/diagnosis , Patient Admission , Adolescent , Borderline Personality Disorder/psychology , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Diagnosis, Differential , Dissociative Disorders/psychology , Female , Humans , Personality InventoryABSTRACT
Recent advances in functional neuroimaging of the human cerebral cortex revived interest in the study of the cortical morphology at both macro- and microscopic levels. By means of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in vivo images of the human brain can be acquired and used to aid localization of the functional maps. The goal of the present study was to determine variability in the occurrence and location of the cingulate sulcus (CS) and the paracingulate sulcus (PCS). Brain MRIs of 247 healthy young volunteers were obtained and transformed into a standardized stereotaxic space (Talairach and Tournoux, 1988). The CS and PCS were marked in 494 hemispheres using software capable of real-time movement through a 3-D volume. The markers were used to generate a probabilistic map of the CS and PCS. The individual MRI images were also evaluated for the presence and location of the following morphological features: the continuity of the CS, the presence of vertically oriented branches of the CS, the presence of the PCS, and the presence of the intralimbic sulcus. The results revealed considerable variability in the location of some of the above morphological features and a striking hemispheric asymmetry in the prominence of the PCS. The results of four previous blood-flow activation studies of speech control were used to illustrate the relevance of our morphological findings for functional neuroimaging of the human anterior cingulate cortex.
Subject(s)
Brain Mapping , Cerebral Cortex/anatomy & histology , Gyrus Cinguli/anatomy & histology , Adolescent , Adult , Cerebral Cortex/physiology , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Records of 38 hospitalized female adolescents were analyzed to evaluate the relationship between a history of earlier physical and/or sexual abuse and borderline personality. Those with histories of abuse were significantly more likely to score as Borderline Personality Disorder when assessed by the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines--Revised.
Subject(s)
Borderline Personality Disorder/psychology , Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Child Abuse/psychology , Personality Development , Adolescent , Borderline Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Child , Female , Humans , Patient Admission , Personality Assessment , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Seclusion practices on a unit of adolescent inpatients with acute problems are compared with those in Norway on an innovative unit for adults. Research into the effectiveness of such programs is discussed.
Subject(s)
Juvenile Delinquency/psychology , Patient Admission , Patient Isolation , Adolescent , Adult , Combined Modality Therapy , Female , Humans , Juvenile Delinquency/rehabilitation , Male , Milieu Therapy , Patient Isolation/psychology , SocializationABSTRACT
A study of a 16.8-yr.-old female is presented to highlight aspects of Asperger's Syndrome as distinguished from cognate developmental and mood disorders. Brief therapy and pharmacological implications are mentioned.
Subject(s)
Autistic Disorder/diagnosis , Bipolar Disorder/diagnosis , Patient Admission , Adolescent , Autistic Disorder/psychology , Autistic Disorder/therapy , Bipolar Disorder/psychology , Bipolar Disorder/therapy , Clozapine/therapeutic use , Combined Modality Therapy , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Humans , Psychotherapy , Residential TreatmentABSTRACT
33 adolescents were tested for signs of dissociation and somatization as these processes relate to histories of physical and sexual abuse, a characteristic of over half of patients admitted for acute psychiatric disorder. Analysis suggested that the 19 adolescents having histories of abuse were more likely to score higher on dissociation and somatization.
Subject(s)
Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Child Abuse/psychology , Dissociative Disorders/psychology , Patient Admission , Somatoform Disorders/psychology , Adolescent , Child Abuse/diagnosis , Child Abuse, Sexual/diagnosis , Dissociative Disorders/diagnosis , Dissociative Disorders/therapy , Female , Humans , Male , Personality Assessment , Personality Development , Somatoform Disorders/diagnosis , Somatoform Disorders/therapyABSTRACT
The classification of Conduct Disorder, sometimes seen as a nonspecific designation descriptive of antisocial behavior, is illuminated through case study of a youngster admitted for acute hospital treatment. Drawing on psychodynamic theory and treatment, principles are used in illustrating how individual, historical, family, and trauma factors may contribute to disordered self-esteem and behavior, which may become a focus of therapeutic intervention. A concluding section delineates the possibility of two varieties of Conduct Disorder related, respectively, to trauma or failures in socialization. These may have implications for treatment and setting.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior Disorders/therapy , Defense Mechanisms , Ego , Object Attachment , Physician-Patient Relations , Psychoanalytic Therapy , Adolescent , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Diseases in Twins/psychology , Homicide/psychology , Humans , Male , Maternal Deprivation , Patient Admission , Personality Development , Sibling RelationsABSTRACT
57 successive admissions of adolescents with a history of abuse were examined to assess the extent of dissociative experience and possible differences in amount of dissociation related to types of abuse (physical, sexual, and both). The subjects showed a trend towards increased dissociation with inclusion of sexual abuse in their histories, and over-all significant dissociation when compared with a general inpatient psychiatric sample.
Subject(s)
Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Child Abuse/psychology , Dissociative Disorders/psychology , Adolescent , Child , Child Abuse/diagnosis , Child Abuse, Sexual/diagnosis , Dissociative Disorders/diagnosis , Female , Gender Identity , Humans , Male , Personality Development , Personality Inventory , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Administration of the Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines to 14 adolescent girls showed that the 10 who had chart diagnoses of Borderline Personality Disorder or such features earned significantly higher scores than the 4 nonborderline adolescents. The small sample warrants replication but results suggest the interview seems appropriate in research with adolescent girls.
Subject(s)
Borderline Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Hospitalization , Personality Assessment/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Borderline Personality Disorder/classification , Borderline Personality Disorder/psychology , Female , Humans , Interview, Psychological , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
In the last two decades there have developed a variety of brief therapy approaches typically aimed at serving adults with neurotic or characterological problems in outpatient settings. The present paper describes ways in which some of these techniques have been adapted for use with more disturbed adolescents in emergency room-crisis work and acute inpatient hospital settings.
Subject(s)
Bipolar Disorder/therapy , Crisis Intervention , Hospitalization , Psychotherapy, Brief , Acute Disease , Adolescent , Bipolar Disorder/drug therapy , Chlorpromazine/therapeutic use , Emergency Medical Services , Hospitals, Psychiatric , Humans , Patient AdmissionABSTRACT
The case of an adolescent hospitalized on an Acute Inpatient Unit following a suicide attempt is presented. Aspects of the patient's clinical presentation, specifically highly variable behaviors that eventuated in three recurring personality constellations, are linked to the youth's history of physical abuse. Interpretations of the boy's behaviors and treatment strategies are illustrated for consideration in work with other youth suffering histories of abuse.
Subject(s)
Child Abuse/psychology , Hospitalization , Identity Crisis , Psychotherapy, Brief , Suicide, Attempted/psychology , Acting Out , Adolescent , Foster Home Care/psychology , HIV Seropositivity/psychology , Humans , Male , Patient Care Team , Substance-Related Disorders/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/rehabilitationABSTRACT
25 adolescents showing a Psychotic-spectrum Disorder were compared with 24 adolescents showing Conduct Disorder on a task eliciting reasons for attributing life to an ambiguous pictorial stimulus (dough on a beach). Consistent with expectations from earlier research, the psychotic adolescents showed greater modes of animistic thinking (attributions of life to nonlife forms) than conduct-disordered youth, associated with theorized merging between self and the nonhuman environment. Implications are discussed.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Hospitalization , Imagination , Psychotic Disorders/psychology , Thinking , Adolescent , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Female , Humans , Male , Projective Techniques , Psychotic Disorders/diagnosis , Schizophrenia/diagnosis , Schizophrenic Psychology , Self ConceptABSTRACT
Diagnosis of a teenage schizophrenic girl showed many features of her language and behavior mimicked the presentation of a Dissociative Personality Disorder. These aspects were secondary to the primary schizophrenic disorder and treated via a multimodal approach combining pharmacotherapy, individual, family, and milieu therapy. Implications are drawn for tailoring verbal interventions to such overdetermined conditions.
Subject(s)
Dissociative Identity Disorder/diagnosis , Schizophrenia/diagnosis , Schizophrenic Language , Schizophrenic Psychology , Adolescent , Diagnosis, Differential , Dissociative Identity Disorder/psychology , Female , Humans , Patient Admission , Personality Development , Psychotherapy , Self ConceptABSTRACT
A case of elective mutism in a 4-yr.-old girl is discussed with reference to symbol use in the phenomenology and treatment of this disorder. Findings are related to current controversies regarding the classification of this rare disorder, which may be associated with more severe psychotic-spectrum disorders of childhood.
