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Biomedical subjects

J E Richman

Publications and source records attributed to J E Richman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Synthesis of polyazamacrocyclic compounds via modified Richman-Atkins cyclization of beta-trimethylsilylethanesulfonamides.

The Richman-Atkins cyclization remains one of the most widely used methods for the preparation of macrocyclic polyamines. The use of beta-trimethylsilylethanesulfonamides (SES-sulfonamides) for the preparation of polyazamacrocyclic compounds is described. This expands existing Richman-Atkins sulfonamide macrocyclization methodology, and it successfully enables preparation of labile polyaza[n](1,4)naphthalenophanes and polyaza[n](9,10)anthracenophanes, not previously available in appreciable quantities.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Fixation dysfunction with intermittent saccadic intrusions managed by yoked prisms: a case report.

BACKGROUND: A 44-year-old woman came to us with a chief symptom of "jumping letters side-to-side, which is most noticeable while reading." The onset occurred after she had experienced a closed head traumatic brain injury 3 years earlier. Several neuro-ophthalmologists diagnosed a fixational instability secondary to saccadic intrusions and prescribed Gabapentin, which provided minimal relief. METHODS: The term saccadic intrusions refers to an inappropriate saccade with a disrupting effect on fixation. Our examination revealed a myopic anisometropia. Motility testing confirmed saccadic intrusions that lessened on occlusion of either eye and superior gaze. A plano spectacle with six-prism diopter-yoked base down was used to position the eyes in the superior null point. Electro-oculography, using the Visagraph II, demonstrated pre and post changes with the prism. The uncorrected anisometropia allowed the patient to be monocular under binocular viewing conditions. CASE REPORT: The case report focuses on fixational problems that may occur secondary to traumatic brain injuries. There is evidence that the origin of the problem may be from uninhibited brain stem circuits. Pharmacological treatment may only offer transient improvement. The responsibility of a functional cure is often placed on the optometrist. CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates how an alternative use of prism and prescription application can play an important role in the management of fixation dysfunctions.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1994

A forced choice procedure for evaluation of contrast sensitivity function in preschool children.

BACKGROUND: The ability to clinically use Contrast Sensitivity Function (CSF) in adults for detection of visual pathway disorders has been demonstrated. The results of CAF testing would be especially meaningful clinically for young children for earlier diagnosis and treatment of visual disorders. In preschool children (ages 3-5 years), CSF assessment has been more laborious and less practical clinically and has met with limited use or success when dealing with preschool children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a modified two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) procedure in testing the CSF in preschool children. METHODS: The subjects in this study consisted of 26 children between the ages of 35 and 60 months of age. The children were free of any detectable visual deficits, illness, and neurological or developmental abnormalities. A Vistech Vision Contrast Sensitivity System (CTS 6500) chart was modified and applied in a two-alternative forced choice procedure to determine the contrast sensitivity threshold for five spatial frequencies (1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 12.0, and 18.0 cycles/degree). RESULTS: All 26 children completed the testing at all five spatial frequency levels with both eyes under monocular testing conditions. The average actual testing time required less than 7.0 minutes for the combined right and left eye test time for all subjects. The results suggest that as the age increased, there was a tendency for an overall increase in the child's ability to detect lower contrast levels. The results indicate that this modified procedure yielded values proximal to adult CSF values, especially in the higher spatial frequencies. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that a modified forced-choice procedure using Vistech CSF gratings could be used in a preschool population. The two alternative forced choice method used in this study was found to be an effective and clinically efficient technique for evaluating the CSF levels in preschool children and makes it possible to screen for a variety of visual and neurological conditions in the preschool child.

Aging↗
PubMed1994

Stereopsis testing without polarized glasses: a comparison study on five new stereoacuity tests.

BACKGROUND: Stereopsis testing is commonly used to assess the presence and level of binocular vision. A new series of stereopsis tests requiring no polarized goggles are available in the form of the Titmus Stereo Test, the Stereo Reindeer Test, the Random Dot Butterfly, the Random Dot Figures, and the Random E, Circle, Square. These polarized-free tests employ a special prismatic printing process creating a panagraphic presentation, i.e., a separate image is presented to each eye without the need for polarization. The purpose of this study was to compare the polarized-free stereo tests with their traditional polarized counterparts. METHODS: Thirty four subjects, including several persons with strabismus, ages 10-35 years, were each tested with the polarized and polarized-free versions of the Titmus, Reindeer, Butterfly, and Figures. Twenty nine of these subjects were tested with the Random Dot E. Half the subjects were tested first with polarized-free and half were tested first with polarized tests. Tests were performed according to manufacturer instructions by the same examiner in clinical settings. RESULTS: The results (matched pair ranked correlation coefficients) indicate that the polarized-free tests were highly correlated (r = 0.997, r = 0.998, r = 0.997, r = 1.00, and r = 1.00 respectively) with the polarized comparison tests. No significant difference (Wilcoxon Ranked Sign) in the stereopsis level was obtained between the two versions of the tests. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that these five polarized-free tests were just as valid in measuring the subjects' stereopsis as their traditional polarized version. The use of goggle-free testing has potential clinical advantages, e.g., testing of young children who will not wear the glasses or the improved observation of the ocular alignment during stereopsis testing.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Eye movement dysfunction vs. language delays in migrant children.

BACKGROUND: The Developmental Eye Movement Test (DEM) is a popular visual-verbal saccade test. An advantage of the DEM is that patients with below-average verbalization or automaticity can be distinguished from patients with eye movement coordination problems. The standardized norms for the DEM were previously determined in a sample of suburban and urban children with expected age to grade levels. We hypothesize that language difficulties common in some minority groups would be reflected by subnormal DEM automaticity but not eye movement dysfunction. METHODS: A group of children in the U.S. Department of Education's Massachusetts Migrant Summer Education Program were prospectively studied with the DEM. The sample included 84 subjects (age 7-12) from various ethnic and educational backgrounds. RESULTS: Significant difference was found for most age levels in automaticity in migrant children compared to the DEM norms (independent t tests p < 0.05 DEM vertical and horizontal). However, few differences in eye movement coordination was found (p > 0.05 DEM ratios and errors). CONCLUSIONS: The data supports the hypothesis that language barriers inherent in this population are reflected by lower automaticity, but not eye movement dysfunction, as measured by the DEM. The results are important for optometrists because they demonstrate the importance of taking language and cognitive development into account before diagnosing eye movement dysfunction in culturally different children.

Child↗
PubMed1990

A new visual-verbal saccade test: the development eye movement test (DEM).

The use of presently available clinical oculomotor tests of a visual-verbal format are limited because they do not evaluate automaticity of number naming. There is a significant relationship between automaticity of number naming and reading performance. Presented is a new oculomotor test that has a specific method to factor out the consequences of automaticity on oculomotor performance. Normative data for children age 6-13 years is provided, in addition to reliability and validity information. Clinical utilization of this test for diagnosis and management in visually related learning problems is offered.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Use of interferometry in preschool children.

Any procedure that can help to predict the outcome of treatment for a vision disorder is a desired clinical goal. Interferometry has shown such an ability for predicting the post-treatment visual acuities in amblyopia and other vision disorders. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of using interferometry with preschool children, aged 3-5 years. We determined that they can be reliably tested in 5-10 minutes using a non-verbal, forced choice technique. Due to developmental differences, the 3-year-olds needed slightly more time to test and were more variable in their responses than the 4-years-olds. Overall, the prognostic value of interferometer visual acuity measures should be considered for use in preschool children with visual acuity disorders, e.g., amblyopia.

Amblyopia↗
PubMed1987

Evaluation of the Parsons Visual Acuity Test in screening exceptional children.

The Parsons Visual Acuity Test (PVAT) is a non-verbal picture based visual acuity test designed for the difficult-to-test preschool child, school age child and adult with handicapping conditions. It is designed primarily for vision screening of the exceptional child and adult with special needs. Since visual acuity measures are quite important in these populations, a comparative study between the PVAT and standard Snellen acuity were designed and completed. There was no significant difference in acuity measures at near, however, the validity of the distance PVAT visual acuity measure was not supported in this study. Implications of the findings and cautions for the use of this test in screening and clinical situations for exceptional children and adults are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Three clinical tests of the spatial contrast sensitivity function: a comparison.

The purpose of this study was to establish a practical basis of comparison among three clinical tests designed to measure an observer's spatial contrast sensitivity function (CSF): the AO contrast sensitivity test plates (Arden grating test), the Vistech VCTS 6500 chart, and the Nicolet CS-2000 contrast sensitivity testing system (Optronics system). Each test was administered under standard conditions to a randomly selected subset of 71 normal observers. Scores were converted to absolute contrast and spatial frequency units for comparison. Results were similar for all three tests at intermediate and high spatial frequencies, but at low spatial frequencies the Vistech and Optronics tests yielded significantly lower sensitivity scores than the AO plates. This discrepancy is probably due to area truncation.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Use of a sustained visual attention task to determine children at risk for learning problems.

Use of a sustained visual attention task to determine children "at risk" for learning problems. The purpose in the study was to compare the sustained visual attention performance of 42 first grade children on a 9.5 minute continuous performance test, as measured by error rate and off-task visual behaviors, e.g., off-task looking time and number of fixations off the task, with a measure of impulsivity and a teacher rating scale of classroom behavior designed to identify children with potential learning disabilities. The present findings suggest that the measurement of "off-task looking time" and "off-task fixations" during a sustained visual attention test are significantly related to the classroom teacher's observation of personal-social behavior and the child's decision making style. This approach for measuring sustained attention has potential use as a clinical tool in identifying and monitoring treatment methodologies for children considered "at risk" for attention and learning problems.

Attention↗
PubMed1984

Broken wheel acuity test: a new and valid test for preschool and exceptional children.

This study describes a new visual acuity test for preschool and exceptional children. It is independent of verbal responses, uses a forced-choice testing procedure, incorporates the psychometric design advantages of the Landolt ring, and can be administered at 3m (10 ft) in 5 to 7 minutes. The results support its construct validity in accurately measuring visual acuity levels and its clinical applicability for preschool and exceptional children.

Child↗
PubMed1983

Use of an ophthalmoscope for objective refraction of noncooperative patients.

Refractive ophthalmoscopy was performed on 16 subjects aged 5 to 27 years. Subjective refractions were performed on both eyes of the subjects followed by an ophthalmoscopic determination performed under cycloplegia by the authors. A 0.94 correlation was found between the subjectively determined "dry" refractive error and the refractive error determined ophthalmoscopically under cycloplegia by both examiners. The results of the two procedures differed by 1 D or less 82% of the time. The results indicate that refractive ophthalmoscopy is an alternative method for objectively determining refractive error in non-cooperative patients with poor fixational stability.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

The bead test: a critical appraisal.

An evaluation of the visual acuity levels obtained with the candy bead test (Bock) was performed. White beads (1 mm) were placed on a white felt background under controlled illumination. Ten subjects were required to localize randomly placed beads through increased degrees of induced optical blur. The visual acuity was then measured at the blur level yielding 60% accuracy in localization. The results indicate a range of visual acuity from 6/45 to 6/60 (20/150 to 20/200). These findings are significantly worse than the levels of acuity [6/18 to 6/24 (20/60 to 20/80)] found by other authors. Therefore, our findings raise concerns and indicate caution in the clinical interpretation of the bead test.

Amblyopia↗
PubMed1983

The impact of automatic digit naming ability on a clinical test of eye movement functioning.

One of the primary reasons for the clinical measurement of eye movements in children is probing the relationship of oculomotor functioning with reading. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between a subjective clinical test of lateral eye movements (KD Saccade Test) using a visual-verbal response format with the ability to name numbers automatically in the absence of eye movements in a first and second grade population. The results support the hypothesis that the eye movement skills measured with subjective visual-verbal formats as described in this study are deficits in automaticity of number knowledge ability and not oculomotor dysfunctions in some children.

Child↗
PubMed1982

Accommodative facility: a study of young adults.

46 young adult men and women (mean age 19.7) were evaluated with a clinical test of binocular accommodative facility utilizing +1.00/-1.00 and +2.00/2.00 lenses. All of the subjects passed a clinical screening of binocular functioning. There were no significant differences between men and women in the number of cycles completed with either lens power and, no differences were found when the responses to both lens pairs were compared. The results are discussed as well as the clinical application of accommodative facility testing.

Accommodation, Ocular↗