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Biomedical subjects

M J Block

Publications and source records attributed to M J Block.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Distinguishing female borderline adolescents from normal and other disturbed female adolescents.

PSYCHOANALYTIC theory would suggest that differentiating the borderline adolescent from his or her normal peers should be a difficult task. In many respects the developmental crises of adolescence dovetail with critical conflicts of Borderline Personality Disorder--e.g., identity formation and separation-individuation. Extensive semi-structured interviews (Gunderson's Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines) of normal, borderline and other disturbed adolescents provide a data base for examining the hallmarks of borderline pathology in adolescence. This paper focuses on the qualitative differences in patterns of impulsivity, affective lability, dissociative experience, and interpersonal relationships that distinguish borderline teenagers from other seriously disturbed and normal adolescents. The paper also outlines modifications in the Gunderson interview for an adolescent population.

Acting Out

Developmental history and object relations in psychiatrically disturbed adolescent girls.

This study explored empirically the relationship between developmental history variables and several dimensions of object relations in a sample of 36 female adolescent inpatients. The results document the importance of preoedipal experience, the relationship with the mother, and continuity of attachments in shaping object relations. In addition, the data point to the importance of distinguishing different dimensions of object relations, such as the affective quality of the object world and the logic and accuracy of attributions, which may have different developmental correlates. The findings also suggest the impact of sexual abuse, typically a postoedipal experience, on enduring object-relational processes.

Adolescent

Cytomat-R: a computer-controlled multiple laser source multiparameter flow cytophotometer system.

A multiple illumination wavelength multiparameter flow cytophotometer system, using laser sources and controlled by a small, general-purpose digital computer, has been produced for use in the development of new flow cytometric techniques. Three different laser wave-lengths can be used simultaneously to illuminate different regions of the flow chamber; as many as five measurements of light scattering at various angles, extinction, and fluorescence at one or more wavelengths can be made at each illuminated station. Cells in suspension may be examined at rates of 1000 cells/sec, with seven correlated optical measurements being recorded for each cell. A library of programs for data manipulation and statistical analysis make it possible to use the system to develop and implement cell characterization, counting and classification procedures for basic and clinical research applications.

Blood Cells

A generalized machine for automated flow cytology system design.

A general-purpose multiparameter flow cytophotometry system has been developed for use in the desgin of flow cytophotometers to perform specific tasks in automated cytology. Five separate measurement stations spaced along the axis of a capillary tube can be used to make up to eight optical measurements of individual cells flowing through the capillary. The system uses a broad-band arc source and can measure light scattered at various angles, light absorption by cell constituents and/or dyes and fluorescence of cell constituents and/or fluorochromes, excited directly and/or by energy transfer from neighboring molecules. High numerical aperture optics are used to maximize light-gathering capacity and minimize the effects of cell orientation and eccentricity of position in the fluid stream on measurements. A hard-wired preprocessor is used to detect the presence of cells and adjust sampling timing for changes in cell velocity; the electronic system also controls the gain of the detector photomultiplier tubes to compensate for background variations. Data acquistion and analysis are controled by a small general-purpose digital computer. The system has been used to develop a method and apparatus for blood cell counting and classification.

Autoanalysis