Biomedical subjects

D O Billman

Publications and source records attributed to D O Billman.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1995

Identification of sepsis in neonates following maternal antibiotic therapy.

To examine the value of current diagnostic tests identifying neonatal sepsis related to intrapartum treatment with antibiotics, we reviewed the charts of 219 mother-infant pairs, of which 139 mothers received intrapartum antibiotics (group 1) and 80 mothers did not (group 2). When compared with group 2 infants, group 1 infants had fewer positive blood cultures (4.3% vs 20%, P < 0.003), blood cultures positive for group B streptococci (GBS) (P < 0.001), and positive urine GBS latex agglutination (LA) tests (P < 0.001). Although the sensitivity of the white blood cell count (WBC) was 81%, the specificity was < 60% in both groups. The specificity of the urine GBS LA test was 92%. These results suggest (1) the WBC will neither confirm nor rule out neonatal septicemia; (2) blood cultures are indicated in suspected neonatal sepsis even if there was maternal intrapartum treatment with antibiotics; and (3) a urine GBS LA test is a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of neonatal GBS septicemia.

Ampicillin↗

PubMed1990

Induction from a single instance: formation of a novel category.

This study examines whether preschoolers can use information from a known category to induce a characteristic attribute of a novel, contrasting category based on a single instance. We showed 32 four-year-olds three instances of a Given Category and one instance of a Target Category. These objects could vary along two attribute dimensions, such as color and shape. All instances of the Given Category shared identical values of one attribute (e.g., all were blue), but could have different values of the other attribute (e.g., a circle, a square, and a triangle). The single instance of the Target Category was different from the Given on both attribute dimensions (e.g., a red diamond). Children gave yes/no judgements as to whether additional objects were instances of the Target Category. There were two possible sources of information about the relevance of an attribute to classification: explicit (labeling) and implicit (variation in the Given Category). There were four conditions such that each source of information was either available or not. Both types of information were effective in eliciting inductions of the relevant kind of attribute and the characteristic value of this attribute in the novel category (explicit: p = .0004; implicit: p = .031). This suggests that children use an inductive bias that the instances of two related but distinct categories tend to be alike in the same way.

Attention↗

PubMed1984

Development of analogical problem-solving skill.

3 experiments were performed to assess children's ability to solve a problem by analogy to a superficially dissimilar situation. Preschoolers and fifth and sixth graders were asked to solve a problem that allowed multiple solutions. Some subjects were first read a story that included an analogous problem and its solution. When the mapping between the relations involved in the corresponding solutions was relatively simple, and the corresponding instruments were perceptually and functionally similar, even preschoolers were able to use the analogy to derive a solution to the transfer problem (Experiment 1). Furthermore, salient similarity of the instruments was neither sufficient (Experiment 2) nor necessary (Experiment 3) for success by preschool subjects. When the story analog mapped well onto the transfer problem, 4-year-olds were often able to generate a solution that required transformation of an object with little perceptual or semantic similarity to the instrument used in the base analog (Experiment 3). The older children used analogies in a manner qualitatively similar to that observed in comparable studies with adults (Experiment 1), whereas the younger children exhibited different limitations.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prenatal cocaine/polydrug exposure: effect of race on outcome.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of prenatal exposure to cocaine on development. METHODS: We tested 106 infants in the range of 4 to 30 months adjusted age with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. RESULTS: The 46 cocaine-exposed infants had similar mental scores to those of the 60 control infants. Among the 47 black infants, motor scores were 11.2 points higher in cocaine-exposed infants than in control infants (115.1 and 103.9, respectively, p = 0.023). Among the 59 white infants, motor scores were similar in cocaine-exposed infants (102.9) and control infants (100.6). CONCLUSION: Genetic differences may account for this variation in motor development of cocaine-exposed infants.

Child Development↗