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Biomedical subjects

B J Kaplan

Publications and source records attributed to B J Kaplan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

The effects of parental immunoreactivity on pregnancy, birth, and cognitive development: maternal immune attack on the fetus?

The effects of parental immunoreactivity were tested in two ways on questionnaire data collected from 468 children and their families. (1) It was found that the presence of learning difficulties in boys was associated with pregnancy and birth complications, as well as with maternal immunoreactivity. Paternal immunoreactivity did not appear to be related to any of the variables in question. (2) The antecedent brother effect, that children, particularly males, with older brothers have higher rates of the same set of variables, was not found. Maternal immunoreactivity emerges as a risk factor for pregnancy, birth, and cognitive development, but not exclusively by the proposed mechanism of maternal immune attack on the fetus.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Reliability and construct validity of the Clinical Observations of Motor and Postural Skills.

The Clinical Observations of Motor and Postural Skills (COMPS) is a screening tool for children with motor incoordination. A study of reliability (test-retest, interrater, and internal consistency) and construct validity with 132 children, both with and without developmental coordination disorder, is reported here. Test-retest reliability over 2 weeks was high: .92 for a group of 48 children. Interrater reliability for occupational therapists experienced in pediatrics was also excellent: .87 for a group of 72 children. Internal consistency of the COMPS was high, particularly when one of the seven items (Schilder's arm extension) was deleted. The test discriminates well between children with and without motor problems and has many properties of a good screening test.

Child↗
PubMed1991

Double victims: poor women and AIDS.

Women constitute the fastest growing group of people with AIDS; a disproportionate number of poor minority women are affected. Education and prevention campaigns have not been directed at this population. Though intravenous drug users have been identified as "at risk," many American women have been identified as HIV positive only after giving birth to a child who develops AIDS. Combating AIDS in women offers a formidable challenge to social service and public health officials because it mandates consideration of intravenous drug abuse, high rates of unwanted and teenage pregnancies, poverty, discrimination and inadequate education.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

Assessment of a superparamagnetic iron oxide (AMI-25) as a brain contrast agent.

We have applied a superparamagnetic iron oxide formulation (AMI-25, Advanced Magnetics, Inc., Cambridge, MA) to image the cerebral vasculature. Contrast-enhanced images of normal anesthetized rats demonstrated excellent gray/white matter differentiation, consistent with known differences in blood perfusion, and cerebrospinal fluid spaces were clearly seen. Alterations in normal perfusion patterns due to barbiturate anesthesia and ischemia were clearly visible. We propose the use of this agent as an adjunct to MRI for the imaging of conditions with perfusion abnormalities.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Menstrual cycle phase is a potential confound in psychophysiology research.

Effects of menstrual cycle phase on physiological levels and reactivity were studied in a within-subject design with 20 women aged 18-30 years. Basal body temperature was monitored daily; follicular and luteal recording sessions occurred before and after the ovulatory temperature rise, respectively. The design consisted of task and rest periods, presented in counterbalanced order across phases. Half the subjects began during their follicular phase and half began during their luteal phase. Follicular and luteal phases were compared for differences between baseline resting levels, as well as for reactivity. The results showed menstrual phase differences in heart rate, pulse transit time, and EEG alpha, particularly during tasks, but no difference in reactivity. Habituation effects in the group that began during the follicular phase often masked luteal activation. In spite of the fact that not all statistical results achieved significance, the consistency of most trends supports the conclusion that physiological recording sessions with women might best be restricted to the follicular phase.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Overall nutrient intake of preschool hyperactive and normal boys.

Studies examining the relationship between sugar intake of hyperactive children and behavior problems have reported inconsistent results. We hypothesized that if the problem behaviors of attention deficit-disordered children with hyperactivity (ADDH) are exacerbated by food, then this might be due to differences in their background nutrition relative to non-ADDH children. Parents and day care workers of 24 ADDH and 27 non-ADDH preschool-aged boys were trained to keep food diaries for 21 days. Analysis of the last 14 days for each child revealed no differences in overall nutrient intake between the two groups. On the other hand, for 5 ADDH and 3 non-ADDH children the within-subject correlations between daily behavior and sugar intake were significant. We concluded that nutrition-behavior interactions are more likely a function of idiosyncratic sensitivities, rather than a general tendency for ADDH children to eat differently from non-ADDH children.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1989

Pediatric burn prevention: an evaluation of the efficacy of a strategy to reduce tap water temperature in a population at risk for scalds.

The efficacy of a strategy to prevent tap water scalds was evaluated in a population at risk. Educational pamphlets and liquid crystal thermometers for testing water temperature were distributed to 12 families, each of which had at least one child under the age of 3 and one child over the age of 3. Participants were visited individually by an investigator who monitored tap water temperature in a standardized manner and personally provided the educational material. No statistically significant decrease in hot water temperature occurred as a result of the intervention. The number of heaters operating at a safe temperature was not statistically different pre- and postintervention. Whether participants altered their thermostat settings or not, there was a tendency to maintain postintervention settings at 1-month follow-up. Capitalizing on this tendency by installing heaters at preset safe temperatures was discussed, as were changes in heater design and areas for additional research.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1989

Dietary replacement in preschool-aged hyperactive boys.

A 10-week study was conducted in which all food was provided for the families of 24 hyperactive preschool-aged boys whose parents reported the existence of sleep problems or physical signs and symptoms. A within-subject crossover design was used, and the study was divided into three periods: a baseline period of 3 weeks, a placebo-control period of 3 weeks, and an experimental diet period of 4 weeks. The experimental diet was broader than those studied previously in that it eliminated not only artificial colors and flavors but also chocolate, monosodium glutamate, preservatives, caffeine, and any substance that families reported might affect their specific child. The diet was also low in simple sugars, and it was dairy free if the family reported a history of possible problems with cow's milk. According to the parental report, more than half of the subjects exhibited a reliable improvement in behavior and negligible placebo effects. In addition, several nonbehavioral variables tended to improve while the children received the experimental diet, particularly halitosis, night awakenings, and latency to sleep onset.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1988

Fixational instability and saccadic eye movements of dyslexic children with subtle cerebellar dysfunction.

Fixational stability and saccadic eye movements were measured in 9- to 13-year-old dyslexics with signs of subtle cerebellar dysfunction and in a group of age-matched normal readers. This group of dyslexics was specifically chosen because cerebellar disorders are often associated with ocular motor dysfunction. Dyslexic children were found to exhibit significantly greater fixational instability than controls while viewing a simple, stationary stimulus. Although both groups of children showed disruption of fixational stability when viewing stationary targets against optokinetic backgrounds, gaze stability of dyslexics was more degraded than that of controls. However, latency and accuracy of saccadic eye movements of dyslexic children were not different from those of normal readers. The results suggest that poor maintenance of gaze stability, rather than inadequate control over saccadic eye movements, characterizes the ocular motor problems that may contribute to reading difficulties in this subgroup of dyslexics.

Cerebellar Diseases↗
PubMed1988

The failure of antimotion sickness medication to improve reading in developmental dyslexia: results of a randomized trial.

Although there have been no randomized clinical trials of the efficacy of antimotion sickness medication treatment of developmental dyslexia, some children are treated in this way. We have performed two evaluations of such treatments. In Experiment 1, 12 children participated in a double-blind within-subject crossover design to test the acute (2-day) administration of four preparations: 10 mg methylphenidate, 12.5 mg meclizine, both methylphenidate and meclizine, or placebo. Improvements obtained with each drug were scattered across measures of reading fluency, balance and coordination, and eye movements, suggesting that a chronic trial would be justified. In Experiment 2, six children from Experiment 1 received 12.5 mg meclizine b.i.d. for 3 months and placebo for 3 months in a double-blind within-subject crossover design. Meclizine had no effect on reading, but it significantly improved ocular motor stability during steady fixation. This study thus failed to support the hypothesis that meclizine is of benefit in developmental dyslexia.

Child↗
PubMed1988

Reading disability with motor problems may be an inherited subtype.

There is evidence from a number of studies that various forms of reading disability are inherited. The familial patterns of one specific type of reading disability that occurs together with impaired coordination and balance were evaluated. Ten reading-disabled children with these motor problems, ten children with only reading problems, and ten control children without reading disabilities were examined along with their siblings and parents. The control children were matched to the reading-disabled children for age, sex, and family socioeconomic status. A high prevalence of reading and motor problems was found in the relatives of the children with reading disability and motor problems, whereas a high prevalence of only reading problems was found in the relatives of the children with only reading disability. There were no differences among the three groups of children or their siblings on number of pregnancy and birth complications or prevalence of attention deficit disorder. It was concluded that reading disability with motor problems may be an inherited type of reading disability, distinct from reading disability without motor problems, which is also inherited.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Thoracic aortic occlusion: somatosensory evoked potential monitoring and neurologic outcome in a canine model.

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were monitored in 17 canines during spinal cord ischemia induced by balloon occlusion of the thoracic aorta. Graded distal aortic hypotension to 40 mmHg in seven animals had no significant effect upon the evoked potential. A significant alteration in the SEP did result in 21 +/- 9.8 minutes when distal aortic pressures were reduced in a graded fashion below 30 mmHg. Acute occlusion of the thoracic aorta (10 animals, distal pressure 15-25 mmHg) was associated with a change in the SEP in 8.4 +/- 4.3 minutes. Continuation of aortic occlusion for 30 minutes beyond an evoked potential change resulted in a moderate to severe motor deficit in all cases. Somatosensory evoked potentials obtained 72-96 hours after the ischemic injury were closely correlated with sensory deficits, but were not predictive of motor examination. Histologic examination of the spinal cords demonstrated central gray necrosis of the lumbar region in all animals with a severe deficit, and a variable degree of neuronal loss in the intermediate and dorsal gray matter zones in animals with moderate deficits. This balloon occlusion method is relevant as a model of spinal cord injury during aortic occlusion, such as may occur during aortic surgery.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

A comparison of three approaches for the determination of baseline levels of physiological activity.

The traditional means of determining baseline levels of physiological activity in research evaluating responses to stressful stimuli has been to record activity during rest periods either before or interspersed with periods of stimulation. Subjects may, however, anticipate the impending stimulation, thus elevating their levels of physiological activity even during periods of presumed rest. Eight physiological responses--forehead muscle tension, heart rate, heart rate variability, skin resistance level and non-specific responses, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and pulse transit time--were recorded from 39 subjects during sessions which included both task and rest periods, and during sessions with only rest periods and periods of viewing slides of restful scenery. The results indicate a significant decrease in levels of physiological activity in most of the 8 physiological measures when activity was recorded during sessions in which no tasks were presented. The lowest levels of physiological activity were recorded while subjects viewed slides. These results suggest that the traditional approach to the determination of baseline may yield levels of physiological activity contaminated by anticipation of upcoming stimuli.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

The stability of physiological reactivity over multiple sessions.

Although individual response stereotypy (IRS) has been a subject of research for many years, the stability of the phenomenon, though often assumed, has not been adequately proven. The present study evaluated stability of reactivity profiles of eight variables (heart rate, heart rate variability, integrated muscle tension, skin resistance level, skin resistance response, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and pulse transit time) over four sessions of laboratory tasks in comparison to two subsequent sessions of rest periods. The two major characteristics of IRS--stability and uniqueness--were fulfilled. On the other hand, the first session was found to be an inadequate predictor of the stable composite profiles. Thus the IRS profiles which are determined from multiple observations over time are different from those which are calculated in the traditional manner with a single recording session.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Effects of aortic occlusion on regional spinal cord blood flow and somatosensory evoked potentials in sheep.

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were recorded continuously during aortic occlusion in sheep, with simultaneous measurement of spinal cord blood flow (SCBF) by radiolabeled microspheres. Aortic occlusion was associated with disappearance of the SEPs in seven of nine sheep in 7.8 +/- 4.1 (SD) minutes. SCBF at the time of initial cross clamping and 30 minutes after the onset of ischemia revealed a severe reduction in white and gray matter flow in the thoracolumbar cord. Release of the aortic clamp was associated with reactive hyperemia in these ischemic regions. In two animals, the SEP persisted during aortic cross clamping. The total SCBF in the thoracic and lumbar regions of these two animals exceeded 20 ml/100 g/min after 30 minutes of ischemia and was significantly greater than the flow recorded in sheep whose evoked response disappeared. The relation between spinal cord ischemia and evoked potential alterations is discussed in detail.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1987

Sex differences and practice effects on two visual-spatial tasks.

Sex differences on visual-spatial tasks have been assumed to be present in young children, and performance on visual-spatial tasks has been assumed to be resistant to modification. Third and fifth graders were pretested on embedded and successive figures. Half of the 110 children then received limited feedback after which both groups were posttested. Grade, time of testing, and type of task significantly affected visual-spatial performance. Additional study might indicate whether amount of practice influences final level of performance for girls and boys and the asymptote on visual-spatial tasks is similar.

Child↗