The hyperstethoscope syndrome.
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Auscultation↗
Biomedical subjects
D Coe
Publications and source records attributed to D Coe.
Empirically derived subtypes of pervasive developmental disorders: a cluster analytic study.
A cluster analytic study was conducted to empirically derive behaviorally homogeneous subtypes of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). Subjects were clustered based on a broad range of behavioral symptoms which characterize autism. Behavioral variables were measured using several of the standardized psychometric instruments most commonly employed in assessing autistic individuals. The cluster solution indicated the presence of four distinct groups. Validity checks generally confirmed significant between-group differences on independent measures of social, language, and stereotyped behaviors. In addition, the four-group cluster solution was compared to previously developed typological systems of PDD (i.e., subcategories based on IQ early onset, styles of social interaction, and DSM-III-R diagnosis). Results generally supported both the behavioral homogeneity of the four subgroups and also several important between-group differences. The potential utility of using cluster analyses to explore subtypes of PDD is discussed.
Adolescent↗
Glutamine preserves gut glutathione levels during intestinal ischemia/reperfusion.
Intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) causes formation of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) which lead to mucosal cell injury. Glutathione (GSH), an ROI scavenger, protects tissues from ROI-mediated cell injury. Since GSH biosynthesis is partially dependent on glutamine (Gln) levels, we tested the hypothesis that intravenous Gln infusion will assist in maintaining mucosal cell GSH levels and decrease membrane lipid peroxidation during intestinal I/R. The external jugular vein of male Sprague-Dawley rats was cannulated and infused with normal saline (NS) at 2 cc/hr. After 3 days, matched pairs of rats received either NS alone or NS+ 3% Gln for an additional 24 hr. Next, mucosal GSH levels were measured after a sham I/R in 6 rats and after either 30 or 60 min of ischemia/60 min of reperfusion in a group of 8 and 12 rats, respectively. Finally, conjugated diene (CD), a byproduct of membrane lipid peroxidation, was measured following 60 min of ischemia/60 min of reperfusion in a separate group of 12 rats. Control rats had the highest GSH levels and there was no difference between NS vs NS + 3% Gln rats (2.50 +/- 0.48 vs 2.50 +/- 0.43, P = NS). With 30 and 60 min of ischemia/60 min of reperfusion, GSH levels were significantly lower in NS-infused rats compared to those in NS + 3% Gln-infused rats (30 min: 1.54 +/- 0.14 vs 1.80 +/- 0.16, P < 0.05; 60 min: 1.27 +/- 0.15 vs 1.52 +/- 0.20, P < 0.04). In addition, CD levels were lower in NS + 3% Gln-infused rats compared to those in NS alone-infused rats (5.58 +/- 0.87 vs 7.94 +/- 0.55, P < 0.04). In conclusion, Gln supplementation partially maintains gut GSH levels during bowel I/R, which in turn lessens I/R-induced cell membrane lipid peroxidation.
Animals↗
Mood theme and bizarreness of delusions in schizophrenia and mood psychosis.
Narratives of the delusions of 83 schizophrenic and 55 nonschizophrenic psychiatric subjects were categorized as of one or more of 12 types. Narratives were also independently assessed along dimensional scales of bizarreness and mood theme. Schneiderian and grandiose types were found to be more common in schizophrenics and mood psychotics, respectively. Dimensional measures showed that the delusions of schizophrenics were more unlikely and that those of mood psychotics had a stronger mood theme. Regression analysis determined that Schneiderian delusions and a dimensional estimate of mood theme best differentiated schizophrenics from mood psychotics. Assessments along dimensions of other parameters, particularly those represented by Schneiderian delusions, may further discriminate the functional psychoses.
Adult↗
The use of arm vein conduits during infrageniculate arterial bypass.
To further examine the use of arm vein for bypass to the popliteal or infrapopliteal arteries, we retrospectively reviewed 43 patients undergoing infrageniculate arterial bypass by use of an arm vein as a conduit. Nine grafts were done to the below-knee popliteal artery and 34 to the infrapopliteal arteries. Six grafts were done by use of a single segment of an arm vein, whereas 37 grafts were composites of either multiple segments of arm vein (n = 19) or segments of saphenous and arm vein (n = 18). Mean follow-up time was 15 1/2 months. Initial (30-day) graft patency and limb salvage were 95%. Primary graft patency by life-table analysis was 67% at 1 year and 49% at 3 years. Follow-up examination detected graft stenosis before occlusion in six patients (all of whom were given anticoagulant medication) and three failing grafts were salvaged. This increased overall 3-year secondary graft patency to 64% and 3-year secondary patency for infrapopliteal bypasses to 66%. Eleven of 12 graft occlusions resulted in major amputations (eight were above the knee, and three were below the knee) so that limb salvage paralleled secondary graft patency (63% at 3 years). Thus arm veins provide an excellent alternative venous conduit for infrageniculate arterial bypass, even when composite venous grafts must be used.
Aged↗
Training nonverbal and verbal play skills to mentally retarded and autistic children.
Two mentally retarded boys with autism and one mentally retarded girl with Down syndrome were taught to initiate and play a ball game with an adult confederate. The program targeted both nonverbal responses related to the actual execution of the ball game as well as verbal responses for play initiation and providing compliments for the confederate's behavior. Training sessions provided ample practice in all aspects of the game from initiation to termination through use of brief play cycles. Instruction was provided using a combination of physical and verbal prompts as well as reinforcement and time-out. All three children learned the game and by the study's completion executed multiple play cycles each session. The implications of combining play and social skills training in programming for developmentally handicapped children are discussed.
Autistic Disorder↗
Training social skills to severely mentally retarded multiply handicapped adolescents.
Three severely mentally retarded, multiply handicapped, adolescents were treated in a classroom setting for social skills deficits. Two of these children exhibited symptoms of autism including periods of echolalia, and fascination with tactile and visual stimulation. One of the pair was deaf. The third child was profoundly mentally retarded and had minimal expressive language skills. All had received sign language training to facilitate communication. Treatment focused on increasing the frequency of eye contact, in seat and response to verbal prompt behaviors, skills deemed necessary to facilitate use of sign language communication and to increase social interaction. Baseline and treatment were evaluated in a multiple baseline, alternating treatment design across children. Baseline was taken on responses to 10 standard questions, asked by the teacher, based on verbal presentation and sign language. This same procedure was then continued during the initial treatment phase following training sessions. During training, the children received social reinforcement, performance feedback and edible reinforcement, in the form of candy, for appropriate performance. Physical and verbal prompts as well as pictorial cues were employed to shape appropriate behavior. In the second treatment phase, training was implemented in the classroom in which baseline data had been collected. Improvement in target behaviors, via training sessions held four days a week, was noted. These data suggest that use of a combination of visual stimuli, operant and social learning methods can remediate social skills deficits in children with multiple psychological and physical deficits. The implications of these findings for current and future research are discussed.
Achievement↗
Tests of transitivity in choices between fixed and variable reinforcer delays.
This experiment tested for transitivity in pigeons' choices between variable-time (VT) and fixed-time (FT) schedules. In a discrete-trials procedure, a subject chose between two alternatives by making a single key peck. Each choice was between a "standard alternative," which was the same schedule throughout a condition, and an "adjusting alternative," in which the delay to reinforcement was systematically increased or decreased many times a session. These adjustments enabled an approximate indifference point to be identified--the value of the adjusting delay at which the subject chose each alternative about equally often. Each test of transitivity involved four conditions. In one, the standard alternative was a variable-time schedule with a 2-s reinforcer, and the adjusting alternative also delivered a 2-s reinforcer. A second condition was similar except that the adjusting alternative delivered a 5-s reinforcer. The indifference point from each of these conditions was then converted to a fixed-time schedule for subsequent comparisons in the third and fourth conditions, respectively. Each of these last two conditions compared one of the fixed-time schedules (based upon the previous conditions and including their different reinforcer durations) with an adjusting schedule that delivered the alternative reinforcer duration, to determine whether the obtained indifference points would be those predicted from the prior alternative-duration comparisons with the VT schedule. There was little evidence for intransitivity of choice: Averaged across subjects and replications, the obtained indifference points deviated from perfect transitivity by less than 8%, and these deviations were not statistically significant. These results contrast with those of Navarick and Fantino (1972), who found frequent violations of transitivity between periodic and aperiodic schedules using a concurrent-chains procedure with variable-interval schedules in the initial links.
Animals↗
Influences of delay and rate of reinforcement on discrete-trial choice.
An adjusting procedure was used to measure pigeons' preferences among alternatives that differed in the duration of a delay before reinforcement and of an intertrial interval (ITI) after reinforcement. In most conditions, a peck at a red key led to a fixed delay, followed by reinforcement, a fixed ITI, and then the beginning of the next trial. A peck at a green key led to an adjustable delay, reinforcement, and then the next trial began without an ITI. The purpose of the adjusting delay was to estimate an indifference point, or a delay that made a subject approximately indifferent between the two alternatives. As the ITI for the red key increased from 0 s to 60 s, the green-key delay at the indifference point increased systematically but only slightly. The fact that there was some increase showed that pigeons' choices were controlled by more than simply the delay to the next reinforcer. One interpretation of these results is that besides delay of reinforcement, rate of reinforcement also influenced choice. However, an analysis that ignored reinforcement rate, but considered the delays between a choice response and the reinforcers on subsequent trials, was able to account for most of the obtained increases in green-key delays. It was concluded that in this type of discrete-trial situation, rate of reinforcement exerts little control over choice behavior, and perhaps none at all.
Animals↗
Mechanism of erythropoietic action of thyroid hormone.
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Animals↗