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Biomedical subjects

M Prior

Publications and source records attributed to M Prior.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Temperament in Australian infants.

A convenience sample of 240 infants aged 4-8 months was studied to evaluate the suitability of a revised version of Carey's Infant Temperament Questionnaire (ITQ) for an Australian population. Data analyses indicated all item/dimension correlations significant at P less than 0.01 or better, satisfactory internal consistency of the instrument as measured by alpha coefficients, and test retest reliability of 0.79. Infants rated as having a 'difficult' temperament were significantly more likely to be reported as having problem behaviours. Significant differences were found between Australian and American infants on three of the nine temperament dimensions - rhythmicity, activity and intensity. The results of this study indicate that this revised ITQ is suitable for use with Australian infants.

Australia↗

Prediction of reading disability in twin boys.

Thirty-six twin boys aged between nine and 13 were assessed for intelligence and reading disability. Records of their birth status, early language development and social demographic characteristics were also available. 72 per cent of the sample had an accuracy reading age below their chronological age, and 59 per cent had a comprehension reading age below their chronological age, despite above-normal IQ. The best predictor of reading disability was preschool language status, accounting for 33 per cent of the variance in accuracy reading age discrepancy, and 23 per cent in comprehension reading age discrepancy in regression equations. This study shows that male twins are at very high risk for reading disability, and also offers support for the claim that language disability is basic to the development of reading problems.

Achievement↗

Acquired and developmental spelling dyslexia.

Two cases of acquired spelling dyslexia and one case of developmental spelling dyslexia are described along with accounts of their performance on various psycholinguistic tasks. It is argued that there is some evidence that spelling dyslexia may exist in developmental form but that parallels are difficult to draw because of the very different histories of child and adult cases. It is also suggested that features of surface dyslexia exist in at least a proportion of spelling dyslexic cases and that this may be influenced by level of premorbid reading skill.

Aged↗

Surface dyslexia.

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Adolescent↗

Behavioural management for toddlers.

Introductory outlines of behavioural management for problems with toddlers. The need is noted for analysis of the whole family situation before intervention and basic behaviour modification techniques are described.

Behavior Therapy↗

Identification of human trophoblast membrane antigens in maternal blood during pregnancy.

The development of an immunoradiometric assay for the detection of human trophoblast-specific membrane antigens is described. The test revealed for the first time circulating trophoblast-specific cell membrane antigens in the peripheral blood of pregnant women, but none in non-pregnant female or male controls. Comparison of the circulating levels of these trophoblast-specific proteins between normal and pre-eclamptic blood samples showed no significant differences, thus casting doubt on the role of differential trophoblast antigen deportation in the etiology of toxaemic pregnancy. Matched retroplacental cord blood from several normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancies were examined and found either negative or near the lower sensitivity limit of the assay, suggesting that deportation of trophoblast membrane antigens during gestation is limited to the maternal aspect of the placenta.

Antigens, Surface↗

Evidence for language recoding in autistic, retarded and normal children: a re-examination.

In a replication and extension of earlier studies by Hermelin & O'Connor, language recoding abilities in autistic, retarded and normal children matched for mental age and digit span, were compared in a verbal recall task. Random word lists, sentences, and anomalous sentences, eight or 12 items in length (for high and low memory span subgroups) were presented and the number of words recalled from each type of input was scored. All low span children recalled sentences better than random lists with normal children superior to retarded and autistic children and the latter group poorer than the retarded group. Autistic children showed a recency effect with both types of input. There were no group differences amongst high span children and sentences were again better recalled than random lists. In Expt II sentences were better recalled than anomalous sentences, with autistic and retarded children equivalent in performance and poorer than normal children. Although low span autistic children were clearly deficient in recall of sentence material when compared with the two control groups, the effect of conditions showed that they were able to use structure to improve recall. Since high span autistic children did not perform differently from controls it is suggested that results from this kind of study may not be generalizable, and that claims for a specific coding deficit in autistic children need further substantiation.

Autistic Disorder↗

Iron and blood donation. Evaluation of a kit method for routine use in a blood transfusion service.

Manifest iron-deficiency anaemia is preceded by a latent stage in which normal haemoglobin levels coexist with low serum iron levels. Regular blood donation involves the removal of significant amounts of iron, and in susceptible donors, may aggravate iron deficiency. It is important for a blood transfusion service to be able to identify these susceptible donors. A commercial kit for the determination of serum iron levels was evaluated and found suitable for introduction as a routine screening test for a transfusion service. A survey of serum iron levels of 200 blood donors showed that 12 1/2% had levels below the normal reference range.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗

Kanner's syndrome or early-onset psychosis: a taxonomic analysis of 142 cases.

Case history data on 142 psychotic children were obtained using the Rimland Diagnostic Check List. A particular variety of the method known as numerical taxonomy was used to classify the children into subgroups on the basis of responses on the Check List. A comparison was made between a classification of Kanner's syndrome vs. "no Kanner's syndrome" and a classification using random classes as starting points. The "best" classification of the data was one in which 2 classes were obtained, one containing all the Kanner's syndrome children plus other early-onset, nonrelating psychotic children and the other containing children with later onset and more varied symptoms. Those attributes which significantly differentiated between the classes both in the "best" classification and in the Kanner's syndrome classification were extracted. A distinction between Kanner children and other similar children was found only for 3 specific behaviors: obsessive desire for sameness, islets of special ability, and skillful manipulation of small objects.

Adolescent↗

Survey of antibiotic residues in Canadian slaughter animals.

Kidneys and urine of cattle, swine, sheep and chickens were tested for bacterial growth inhibitors using Bacillus subtilis and Sarcina lutea as test organisms. Results were as follows: 211 beef kidneys four positive, 611 swine kidneys five positive, 27 sheep and 120 chicken kidneys all negative, 2108 beef urine 76 positive, 2409 swine urine 186 positive, 176 sheep urine 17 positive. Strongest reactions were obtained with B. subtilis on phosphate buffered pH 6.0 plates. Larger zones were produced by urine from injected animals than by tissue samples.

Abattoirs↗