ORCID Profile
0000-0002-3500-7128
Current Organisation
James Cook University Singapore
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-1991
DOI: 10.1007/BF02244257
Abstract: In this study, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to lify human endothelin receptor A (ETA) and ETB receptor mRNA. A truncated ETA receptor transcript with exons 3 and 4 skipped was found. The skipping of these two exons results in 109 amino acids being deleted from the receptor. The truncated receptor was expressed in all tissues and cells examined, but the level of expression varied. In melanoma cell lines and melanoma tissues, the truncated receptor gene was the major species, whereas the wild-type ETA was predominant in other tissues. A 1.9-kb ETA transcript was identified in melanoma cell lines by Northern blot, which was much smaller than the transcript in heart and in other tissues reported previously (4.3 kb). The cDNA coding regions of the truncated and wild-type ETA receptors were stably transfected into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The truncated ETA receptor-transfected CHO cells did not show binding affinity to endothelin 1 (ET-1) or endothelin 3 (ET-3). The function and biological significance of this truncated ETA receptor is not clear, but it may have regulatory roles for cell responses to ETs.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2009
Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Pte Lt
Date: 06-2006
DOI: 10.1142/S0219635206001100
Abstract: The universality across cultures for recognizing the facial expression of anger suggests an evolved mechanism for dealing with threat. Using low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and a paradigm involving color-naming latencies for angry, fearful and neutral faces, and for emotional and neutral words respectively, we found evidence for a hemispheric specialization according to the sex and emotional content of faces in female subjects. Participants showed increased attention specifically to male angry faces after stimulation of the right superior temporal lobe, whereas they showed increased attention to angry female faces after left temporal stimulation. No effect was detected regarding the processing of fearful faces or emotional words. This result suggests differential processing of sex-specific threat-related stimuli specifically involving both hemispheres, i.e., that male and female faces are processed in opposite hemispheres, which might reflect the ergent adaptive significance of male and female threat for young females.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 1995
DOI: 10.1177/026988119500900106
Abstract: Forty patients, in two age groups, undergoing gastroscopy, received intravenous midazolam as the sole pre- medication. Mean ages were 35 (range 19-47) and 65.5 (range 53-75) and mean dosages 4.52 and 5.82 mg, respectively in the two groups. Neuropsychological testing pre- and post-medication comprised the Rey auditory verbal learning test (RAVLT), word association test, digit span and face memory test. The elderly group gave significantly more false-positive responses on recognition recall on the RAVLT and had significant impairment of reverse digit span. Following midazolam, in both age groups there was a significantly reduced rate of verbal learning and a marked deficit in delayed free recall coupled with substantial preservation of recognition recall. Word fluency and forward digit span were not affected. There was an increase in false-positive responses for face memory. These findings are consistent with a specific processing deficit affecting the acquisition of episodic long-term memory.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-01-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.WNEU.2017.11.131
Abstract: Posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) comprises anterograde amnesia (AA), disorientation, and retrograde amnesia (RA). However, RA is often neither assessed nor emphasized. A recent study demonstrated that although AA and disorientation were both present in non-TBI inpatients uniformly taking opioids, RA was absent. This suggests potentially significant utility with RA assessment alone since opioids are commonly prescribed post TBI. We compared RA recovery with AA recovery in a prospective cohort post TBI. The Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test (GOAT) represented a crude test for PTA (GOAT <75). AA was primarily assessed using the Westmead PTA Scale, and RA was assessed using the GOAT. All patients were prescribed oxycodone. Results were obtained (n = 31). While RA recovery coincided with a GOAT recovery in 19/31 (61%), AA recovery coincided with GOAT recovery in only 6/31 (19%), (χ2 = 11.5, P < 0.001). RA recovery preceded AA recovery in 15/31 (48%), while AA recovery preceded RA recovery in 7/31 (23%) (χ In the presence of potential in-hospital confounders including opioids, RA recovered significantly sooner after TBI than AA and was predictive of imminent AA recovery. RA assessment alone therefore had significant and novel utility in post-TBI assessment. RA assessment should be routinely recorded in all PTA assessment. Given its simplicity and resilience to common confounders, RA assessment should also be incorporated into the Glasgow Coma Scale.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 1993
DOI: 10.1007/BF02246970
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-2018
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12330
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.JOCN.2012.11.022
Abstract: Of patients hospitalised for traumatic brain injury (TBI), most pass through a state of altered consciousness known as "post-traumatic amnesia" (PTA). Despite the lack of a consistent definition, PTA is widely used as a construct in neurosurgical practice to guide decision-making and prognosis. Accurate PTA assessment is important, because over-evaluation leads to excess social, financial and opportunity costs, whilst under-evaluation risks patient welfare. Whilst anterograde memory is certainly disrupted in PTA, PTA in fact involves a far more extensive memory disturbance. More instructively, the complete "post-TBI syndrome" also comprises an extensive cognitive deficit which includes a confusional state, as well as a behavioural disturbance characterised by acute agitation. Recently, impairments in attention and executive functioning have also been emphasised indeed, some consider these the primary disturbance with PTA. Although all of these features were fully described (or implied) by the earliest pioneers, most current PTA scores do not assess the complete "post-TBI syndrome". Currently, the Westmead PTA scale (WPTAS) directs most in-hospital TBI management throughout Australasia: however, in addition to general defects, specific limitations have been identified in the levels of evidence for WPTAS validity. We review the literature regarding PTA and, in particular, the continued role of the WPTAS in directing neurosurgical practice.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 04-11-2023
Abstract: This qualitative study aimed to identify the service and support needs of people with a recent history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) living in the community. A postal survey was sent to 662 people 6–18 months after hospital admission for a mild-to-severe TBI. The survey included an open-ended item (‘wish-basket’) for collecting ideas about important unmet needs. Responses from 53 in iduals were coded and processed using thematic analysis. Five themes ( n = 39) were identified, three of which were related to personal needs. These personal wishes were about being symptom-free, independent and emotionally supported by, and connected to, loved ones. The remaining themes were about the wished-for changes to the health system and society, such as wishing for health care continuity (as opposed to being abandoned), and for greater understanding and support by society. There is scope to improve the services and support for people living with TBI in the community. This includes reconsidering the way that discharge occurs, addressing the personal needs that remain when living in the community and promoting greater social awareness of TBI to counteract disadvantage.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 18-02-2021
DOI: 10.1017/BRIMP.2021.2
Abstract: Post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) is an early significant stage of recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI). Current prospective PTA scales do not assess the full range of PTA symptomatology. This study conducted a novel integrated assessment of cognition and behaviour during PTA. Twenty-four moderate-to-severe TBI participants in PTA and 23 TBI controls emerged from PTA were matched for age, gender, and years of education. All completed PTA measures (Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test: GOAT, Westmead Post-traumatic Amnesia Scale: WPTAS), a cognitive battery and behaviour ratings scored by 2 independent raters (informant and staff). Significantly poorer performance was found during PTA for attention, processing speed, delayed verbal free recall and recognition, and visual learning. A large effect size was found for category fluency only. Behaviour ratings were significantly higher during PTA. Five behaviours were rated as high frequency ( %) by both raters: Inattention, Impulsivity, Sleep Disturbance, Daytime Arousal, and Self-Monitoring. Prospective PTA measures produced significantly different duration estimates from 2 days (GOAT vs. WPTAS 1 st day) to 9 days (WPTAS 1 st day vs. 3-day). The WPTAS correlated most highly with processing speed and language tasks whilst the GOAT correlated most highly with language and executive control of verbal memory. New prospective measures are needed that integrate core cognitive and behavioural features are brief, easy to administer, and capable of measuring emergence. The term PTA is a misnomer that requires revision to better accommodate the clinical syndrome.
Publisher: IEEE
Date: 2008
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2008
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.JOCN.2017.06.027
Abstract: The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) only assesses orientation after traumatic brain injury (TBI). 'Post-traumatic amnesia' (PTA) comprises orientation, anterograde amnesia (AA) and retrograde amnesia (RA). However, RA is often disregarded in formalized PTA assessment. Drugs can potentially confound PTA assessment: e.g. midazolam can cause AA. However, potential drug confounders are also often disregarded in formalized PTA testing. One study of medium-stay elective-surgery orthopaedic patients (without TBI) demonstrated AA in 80% taking opiates after general anesthesia. However, RA was not assessed. Opiates/opioids are frequently administered after TBI. We compared AA and RA in short-stay orthopaedic surgery in-patients (without TBI) taking post-operative opioids after opiate/opioid/benzodiazepine-free spinal anesthesia. In a prospective cohort, the Westmead PTA Scale (WPTAS) was used to assess AA (WPTAS<12), whilst RA was assessed using the Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test RA item. Results were obtained in n=25 (60±14yrs, M:F 17:8). Surgery was uncomplicated: all were discharged by Day-4. All were taking regular oxycodone as a new post-operative prescription. Only one co-administered non-opioid was potentially confounding (temezepam, n=4). Of 25, 14 (56%) demonstrated AA: five (20%) were simultaneously disorientated. Mean WPTAS was 11.08±1.22. RA occurred in 0%. AA and disorientation, but not RA, were associated with in-patients (without TBI) taking opioids. Caution should therefore be applied in assessing AA/orientation in TBI in-patients taking opioids. By contrast, retrograde memory was robust and more reliable: even in older patients with iatrogenic AA and disorientation. RA assessment should therefore be integral to assessing TBI severity in all formalized PTA and GCS testing.
No related grants have been discovered for Dr Maria Hennessy.