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Biomedical subjects

J Kirkland

Publications and source records attributed to J Kirkland.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Identification of Y chromatin directly in gonadal tissue by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH): significance for Ullrich-Turner syndrome screening in the cytogenetics laboratory.

The presence of Y chromatin in individuals with Ullrich-Turner syndrome (UTS) confers a risk for gonadoblastoma. In mosaic cases, little is known about Y chromatin distribution in gonads. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a direct approach to assess the extent of Y chromatin mosaicism in gonads. Gonadal tissue from four patients with mosaic karyotypes were analyzed by routine cytogenetics and FISH with X and Y centromere probes. Y chromatin was present in gonads in varying percentages in these patients. The distribution of Y chromatin in gonads of UTS individuals did not completely correlate with that found in blood lymphocytes. The finding of Y chromatin in the blood samples from these patients prompted the development of a screening strategy in our cytogenetics laboratory to detect low-level Y chromatin mosaicism in patients with UTS.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Physician and clinic charges for diagnosing growth hormone deficiency.

Physician and clinic charges for diagnosing growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children are not generally known, whereas the charges for purchasing growth hormone (GH) are known. We recently surveyed the charges submitted to third-party payers for diagnosing GHD in five pediatric endocrine clinics throughout the United States: the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Health Science Schools of the State University of New York at Buffalo, Oregon Health Sciences University, and the University of Chicago. The financial data analyzed included charges for physician services and for GH testing. Different approaches to the medical examination of children with suspected GHD at these clinics prevented any comparison of physician or GH testing charges. However, the charges for diagnosing GHD could be determined for each pediatric endocrine clinic if the methods of examination were not considered. Contractual adjustments, net revenues, costs, and net margins were not surveyed. Subjective comments from the study sites suggest significantly reduced reimbursement amounts. We conclude that the total charges for diagnosing GHD submitted to third-party payers at these institutions averaged $1719.

Child↗
PubMed1996

Comparison of two multidimensional coordinate systems for facial expressions.

For 20 subjects the "distance" between midpoint pair options and predicted midpoints for rectilinear and circumplex models is reported using 24 Lightfoot photographs. Data were more compatible with the rectilinear model so respondents were probably not using polar coordinates in representing facial expressions internally.

Affect↗
PubMed1993

Effect of obesity and fertility status on sex steroid levels in men.

Endocrine studies were performed on fertile and infertile obese men and compared with fertile and infertile nonobese men in order to determine the independent and codependent effects of obesity and fertility status on the male hypothalamic-pituitary gonadal axis. The obese infertile group exhibited significant endocrinologic changes as compared with fertile nonobese control group which was not observed in any of the other three groups. Serum testosterone was significantly lower. The testosterone/estradiol ratio was significantly lower despite a lack of significant change in serum estradiol levels. Serum steroid hormone binding globulin (SHBG) was significantly lower which correlated with elevated bioavailability of both testosterone and estradiol in the obese infertile group. Serum luteinizing hormone levels were no different, suggesting that free testosterone levels were unchanged. Obese infertile men exhibit endocrinologic changes that are not observed in men with either obesity or infertility alone. Reduction of serum SHBG, total testosterone, and testosterone/estradiol ratio appear to be a marker of infertility among obese men.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1983

Perceptual dimensions of infant cry signals: a semantic differential analysis.

In the present study the Semantic Differential technique was used to examine perceived characteristics of infant cry sounds. 24 cries (6 each of pain, hunger, birth, and "pleasure") were rated by 39 mothers on 50 scales. A factor analysis of the scale ratings uncovered three main factors, labelled Affect, Potency, and Evaluation, respectively. 5 "factorially-pure" scales were selected to represent each factor. A hierarchical cluster analysis of the mean factor-scale ratings uncovered 3 major cry clusters which essentially represented 3 cry-type groups, hunger, pleasure, and pain/birth. A close correspondence was found between this set of clusters and another set generated independently from cry-recognition data, indicating that the semantic differential factor-scales effectively discriminated perceptually distinct cries. This procedure adequately separates the physical (acoustic) properties of signals from their listener-perceived (auditory) ones. This distinction is not possible with studies which depend upon multivariate techniques and casts doubt on their findings.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Discrimination of infants' cry-signals.

A technique for clustering infants' cry-signals on the basis of perceptually discriminable acoustic characteristics is reported. A cry-sequence containing all pairwise combinations of 24 signals was constructed. These signals have been used previously in cry-recognition studies (e.g., Wasz-Hockert, et al., 1968) and consist of six each of pain, hunger, pleasure, and birth. 20 musically competent subjects were tested individually and instructed to compare each cry with the one immediately preceding it in the sequence. Forced-choice "similarity" scores were summed for every pair of cries. These "similarity scores" were data for both a manual and a computerized clustering method. There was absolute agreement between these two methods, and the clusters of cry-signals correspond very closely to the four original cry groups. This seems a valid technique for examining the acoustic similarity of infants' cry-signals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Long-term memory and the value-size hypothesis.

10 yr. after decimalization of New Zealand currency 32 people (half female) individually selected brass discs to match the size of three withdrawn coins. In support of the value-size hypothesis a higher-valued coin was inaccurately recalled as larger and two basic coins were erroneously remembered as smaller than originals.

Adult↗