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B Sherman

Publications and source records attributed to B Sherman.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Perception and interpretation of explicit negations by learning-disabled children and adolescents.

The present study evaluated and compared the preception and interpretation of 21 explicit negative sentences by 15 learning disabled third graders and 15 controls, 20 learning disabled adolescents and 20 controls, and 16 randomly selected adults. The proportions of correct interpretations of the experimental sentences did not differ significantly among subject groups. In a similar vein the proportions of correct responses to individual test items did not differ significantly. The findings suggest that the learning-disabled third graders and adolescents adequately perceived the stressed negated elements and interpreted the meanings of the explicit negative sentences appropriately. These findings conflict with previous observations that dyslexic children experienced problems in processing prosodic suprasegmental features (Vogel, 1974).

Adolescent↗

Echocardiographic evaluation of pericardial effusion in myxedema. Incidence and biochemical and clinical correlations.

Pericardial effusion is a recognized consequences of myxedema. Its incidence is unknown, primarily because of past difficulties in establishing the diagnosis. We studied 33 hypothyroid patients by echocardiography. Ten of the 33 patients (30%) had positive echoes for pericardial effusion. Seven of these ten patients had enlarged hearts on chest X-ray. Five patients had cardiac enlargement but no echo evidence of pericardial effusion. Serum concentrations of thyroxine, 1.8+/-0.3 vs 1.5+/-0.1 mcg/dl and of thyroid stimulating hormone, 34+/-4 vs 38+/-5 muU/ml did not differ in the groups with and without pericardial effusion, respectively. However, the pericardial effusion group had significantly slower heart rates on ECG than those without pericardial effusion: 53+/-8 vs 68+/-2 beats/min, P less than 0.05. Low voltage was present in five of the ten patients with pericardial effusion and five of the 23 nonpericardial effusion patients. None of the patients with pericardial effusion developed tamponade. Seven patients with pericardial effusion were restudied after periods of thyroxine replacement therapy ranging from six months to two years. All were euthyroid and had negative echoes on follow-up, but two still showed cardiomegaly on chest X-ray (both had associated coronary artery disease). We conclude that pericardial effusion occurs frequently in patients with myxedema. Tamponade is uncommon and the effusions disappear with thyroid replacement therapy. Cardiomegaly on chest X-ray and low voltage on ECG are not reliable indicators of pericardial effusion.

Cardiomegaly↗

Proinsulin-like component of circulating insulin in the basal state and in patients and hamsters with islet cell tumors.

The proinsulin-like component comprised approximately 20% of total circulating basal immunoreactive insulin in 15 patients without islet cell tumors. 15 min after oral glucose, the concentration of the proinsulin-like component was unchanged and its percentage of the total immunoreactive insulin decreased with the acute release of the insulin component. By 2 hr after oral glucose, the concentration of the proinsulin-like component increased and the insulin component concentration decreased so that the percentage of the proinsulin-like component was essentially the same as in the basal state. In five patients with islet cell tumors and fasting hypoglycemia, basal proinsulin-like component ranged from 26 to 79% of the total immunoreactive insulin. While basal proinsulin-like component was higher in the islet cell tumor patients, the fluctuations after stimulation were qualitatively similar to the nontumor patients. Acute stimulation with glucose, tolbutamide, leucine, and streptozotocin mainly released the insulin component resulting in a fall in the per cent proinsulin-like component with a subsequent increase in percentage of this component as the total insulin concentration returns towards basal levels. Three islet-cell tumor patients with less than 46% proinsulin-like component had favorable therapeutic responses to diazoxide whereas one patient with over 80% proinsulin-like component was completely refractory. Syrian hamsters bearing islet cell tumors provided an excellent model for islet cell tumors in man. These animals have a high proportion of a proinsulin-like component in plasma; stimulation of tumor slices in vitro with tolbutamide and glucagon releases mainly the insulin component similar to the observations in man. These studies suggest that the mechanisms regulating the release of the proinsulin-like and of the insulin components are different.

Acromegaly↗