Biomedical subjects

H C Moscovitz

Publications and source records attributed to H C Moscovitz.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Care and outcome of out-of-hospital deliveries.

OBJECTIVES: To identify interventions by paramedics in out-of-hospital deliveries and predictors of neonatal outcome. METHODS: A prospective case series of consecutive out-of-hospital deliveries at Yale-New Haven Hospital from January 1991 to January 1994. Data describing out-of-hospital interventions, demographics, maternal risk factors, and neonatal outcomes were collected from out-of-hospital, emergency department (ED), and hospital records. Subgroups defined by source of prenatal care were compared using a multiple-logistic regression model to determine predictors of poor neonatal outcome. RESULTS: Ninety-one patients presented to the hospital after delivery. Paramedics attended 78 (86%) of the cases. Paramedics performed endotracheal intubation in one neonate and supported ventilation in four others. Suctioning and warming of the neonate were documented in 58% and 76%, respectively, and hypothermia was common (47%) in the paramedic-attended deliveries. There were 9 neonatal deaths. Eight (89%) of the neonatal deaths were in the group with no prenatal care (p < 0.0001). Lack of prenatal care (RR 304, 95% CI = 5.0 to 18,472) and history of poor prenatal care (RR 22.5, 95% CI = 1.19 to 427) were significant predictors of poor neonatal outcome. Sixteen percent of all study patients and 43% of those with no prenatal care were treated in the ED during their pregnancies. Eighteen percent of the patients had had no prenatal care during previous pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS: Paramedics manage labor and delivery of a high-risk population. Fundamental aspects of care were not universally documented. Lack of prenatal care was associated with high neonatal morbidity and mortality. Nearly half of the mothers who went on to deliver without prenatal obstetric care saw emergency physicians during their pregnancies.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Hypnosis and lateralized brain functions.

Bilateral EEG measures were obtained on 16 high hypnotizable Ss (scores of greater than 8 on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, Shor & E. Orne, 1962), while performing hemisphere-specific tasks during hypnosis and a no-hypnosis control condition. Conditions and tasks were presented in counterbalanced order, and Ss served as their own controls. The data call into question the right hemisphere activation interpretation of lateralized brain function during hypnosis; rather, the data suggest a lack of task appropriate activity during hypnosis. The failure to attend to baseline activity measurements and the use of ratios to evaluate interhemispheric lateralization may contribute to potential misinterpretations of data. It is critical that activity changes of the separate hemispheres be taken into account in the interpretative process.

Cerebral Cortex↗

PubMed1988

Thymocyte maturity in male and female hypogonadal mice and the effect of preoptic area brain grafts.

Hypogonadal mice with a genetic deficiency of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) have low levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and gonadal steroids. In this study we found differences from normal mice in many aspects of thymic development. Thymus weights and cellularity were higher in hypogonadal than in normal male mice but lower in hypogonadal than in normal females. Although all normal mice had higher proportions of mature, single staining thymocytes (CD8+ or CD4+) than seen in hypogonadal mice, there was a sex difference in the basis for this shift. Significantly more double-staining (CD8+, CD4+) thymocytes were seen in hypogonadal males than in normal males while both groups had similar single-staining populations. However, in females, both single-staining CD8+ and CD4+ thymocytes were more numerous in normal than in hypogonadal females while numbers of double-staining cells were similar in the two groups. These studies indicate that a mature thymocyte profile may be arrived at through differential effects of reproductive hormones in males and females. When brain grafts containing GnRH cells were used to correct reproductive deficits in hypogonadal mice, there were higher splenocyte counts in males with grafts, a similar trend in females, and a lower ratio of single staining CD4+ to CD8+ thymocytes in all females with grafts vs. all females without, regardless of whether or not the grafts corrected the reproductive hormone status of the recipients, indicating an effect of the graft surgery on the immune system.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Plasma LH rises rapidly following mating in hypogonadal female mice with preoptic area (POA) brain grafts.

Hypogonadal female mice, genetically deficient in gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), respond to preoptic area (POA) grafts obtained from normal fetal or neonatal mice with increased gonadotropin levels, ovarian and uterine development and continual vaginal estrus rather than spontaneous ovulatory cyclicity. Previous studies showed that such mice became pregnant following one overnight pairing with a normal male, indicating reflex ovulation. The present study evaluated plasma LH concentrations in relation to mating. Plasma LH levels in the hpg females with POA grafts were significantly elevated 10 min following the male partner's ejaculation, but were no different than baseline at 30, 60 or 120 min following the male's ejaculation. The post-copulatory plasma LH levels of 3.0 +/- 0.6 ng/ml (mean +/- S.E.M.) were considerably lower than the proestrous LH surge seen in the normal females in the colony (16.8 +/- 4.8 ng/ml), but in at least 4 of 10 hpg mice the levels were sufficient to induce ovulation as proved by pregnancy following this single mating. Grafts contained GnRH-reactive cells and fibers that projected to the median eminence of the host brains.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Female sexual behavior in hypogonadal mice with GnRH-containing brain grafts.

Hypogonadal female mice respond to GnRH-containing fetal preoptic area (POA) implants in the third ventricle with vaginal opening and persistent vaginal estrus, ovarian, and uterine development and increased gonadotropin secretion. When these females are mated with normal males, reflex ovulation results in pregnancy. In the present study, POA implants derived from neonatal pups, whether male or female, were also capable of supporting reproductive development in the hypogonadal female mice. Evaluation of female sexual behavior in the mice with grafts showed that these mice responded to normal males with comparable levels of lordosis as are seen in normal female mice on the proestrous days of their cycles.

Animals↗