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PubMed1978

Dissociated disorders of speaking and writing in aphasia.

Of 500 left brain-damaged patients with educational level above elementary school investigated with a standard quantitative battery for dissociation between oral and written expression, speech was found to be selectively impaired in seven (three with "pure anarthria," two with anarthria in the context of Broca's aphasia, and two with fluent aphasia with remarkable sparing of writing), and writing in another seven (two with "pure" agraphia, two with "agraphia with mild alexia," and three with "agraphia with mild fluent aphasia.") The nature of three conditions (pure anarthria, fluent aphasia with sparing of writing, and pure agraphia) is discussed, with evidence of a selective association between pure agraphia and lesions of the upper left parietal lobule.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

Mirror-reading and writing in association with right-left spatial disorientation.

A left-handed patient suddenly developed a right hemiparesis, mirror-reading, and mirror-writing. Although he could discriminate between right and left on himself, he demonstrated right/left spatial disorientation. We propose that his right/left spatial disorientation was induced by a scanning defect. It has been demonstrated that mirror-image engrams are normally available. We believe that a reversal of the learned left-to-right scanning process with the availability of mirror engrams induced mirror-reading. Similarly, reversal of the normal left-to-right writing pattern, with the availability of mirror engrams, induced mirror-writing.

Dominance, Cerebral↗

PubMed1982

Primary writing tremor treated by stereotactic selective thalamotomy.

Three cases with primary writing tremor were treated successfully by stereotactic selective thalamotomy centred mainly on the ventralis intermedius nucleus. They exhibited progressive coarse tremor of 5-7 Hz during writing, and Westphal's phenomenon on stretch, as the only neurological manifestations. Within the thalamus, a very high incidence of irregular burst discharges was recorded. These findings suggest that the writing tremor is an organic disorder.

Dominance, Cerebral↗

PubMed2006

Preliminary assessment of cognitive function in older adults by clock drawing, box copying and narrative writing.

OBJECTIVE: To examine 3 cognitive screening tasks in older adults and determine which demographic, medical and lifestyle variables obtained 13-17 years previously predicted cognitive performance. DESIGN: Population-based longitudinal cohort study begun in 1981. SETTING: Leisure World Laguna Hills, a California retirement community. PARTICIPANTS: The cohort is predominantly white, well educated, upper-middle class; two thirds are women. Data from 1,744 participants (mean age 83 years, range 57-103) were analyzed. MEASUREMENTS: The baseline postal survey (1981-1985) asked demographic information, medical history, selected drug use and personal habits. The 1998 follow-up included 3 tasks to assess cognitive function: (1) clock drawing, (2) copying a box drawing and (3) narrative writing to describe a pictured scene. RESULTS: Within age groups, women tended to have lower scores than men on box copying, similar scores on clock drawing, but higher informational and complexity scores on narrative writing. Performance decreased with increasing age and was poorest in individuals > or = 90 years old. In addition to age, sex and education, significant predictors of performance were: exercise, body mass index and cataract surgery (clock); vitamin E supplements, daily aspirin use and gallbladder surgery (box); vitamin A supplements (narrative writing). Mean scores on all tasks were lower in those later identified as demented compared with nondemented but significantly different only for clock and box drawings. CONCLUSION: Performance on 3 cognitive tests showed significant effects of age, sex and education and was related to later dementia. Better performance by users of antioxidant supplements and aspirin suggests that these drugs may maintain cognitive function in later life.

Aged↗

PubMed1988

Writing tremor myoclonus.

A patient with a 9-year history of primary writing tremor is described. Spontaneous postural tonic abduction and tremor of the right index finger was also present. Atypical features included unidirectionality of the tremor, writing-associated and independent, bilateral proximal upper limb myoclonus. No clinical response was obtained after intravenous benztropine and subtotal lidocaine infiltration of the right first dorsal interosseous muscle motor point. There was no dystonia present. This case illustrates the sporadic occurrence of writing tremor of the primary type in the absence of dystonia, otherwise a common feature of writer's cramp.

Dystonia↗

PubMed1984

Hemispheric control of the writing hand: the effect of callosotomy in a left-hander.

We report a case of a left-hander with left hemispheric language. After callosotomy, he could use the left hand to write only random letters and digits, and he became right-handed for writing. Therefore, writing by left-handers with left hemispheric language dominance may be accomplished by transcallosal transmission of the linguistic content from the left hemisphere to the right.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Usefulness of a writing device in writer's cramp.

Fifteen of 20 patients with writer's cramp treated with a writing device noted an improvement in their writing ability, some quite marked. Despite this benefit, nine patients preferred to use alternate methods. In the absence of adverse effects, we suggest that trials of writing devices be the first recourse for all patients with writer's cramp requiring treatment.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Zone-boundary optimization for direct laser writing of continuous-relief diffractive optical elements.

Enhancing the diffraction efficiency of continuous-relief diffractive optical elements fabricated by direct laser writing is discussed. A new method of zone-boundary optimization is proposed to correct exposure data only in narrow areas along the boundaries of diffractive zones. The optimization decreases the loss of diffraction efficiency related to convolution of a desired phase profile with a writing-beam intensity distribution. A simplified stepped transition function that describes optimized exposure data near zone boundaries can be made universal for a wide range of zone periods. The approach permits a similar increase in the diffraction efficiency as an individual-pixel optimization but with fewer computation efforts. Computer simulations demonstrated that the zone-boundary optimization for a 6 microm period grating increases the efficiency by 7% and 14.5% for 0.6 microm and 1.65 microm writing-spot diameters, respectively. The diffraction efficiency of as much as 65%-90% for 4-10 microm zone periods was obtained experimentally with this method.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Laser writing on oriented polymer films.

Polymer films are suitable substrates for optical data storage due to their mechanical and optical properties. Furthermore, oriented polymer films show an additional effect to laser writing. In this review the effects of laser writing on oriented polymer films are investigated by atomic force microscopy. A change in surface topography of the film is observed. Different polymer types and different draw ratios are used. The dependence of topography effects on the draw ratio is shown. A model of the writing effect is framed.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Transient functional suppression and facilitation of Japanese ideogram writing induced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of posterior inferior temporal cortex.

The Japanese writing system is unique in that it is composed of two different orthographies: kanji (morphograms) and kana (syllabograms). The retrieval of the visual orthographic representations of Japanese kanji is crucial to the process of writing in Japanese. We used low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to clarify the functional relevance of the left and right posterior inferior temporal cortex (PITC) to this process in native Japanese speakers. The experimental paradigms included the mental recall of kanji, kana-to-kanji transcription, semantic judgment, oral reading, and copying of kana and kanji. The first two tasks require the visualization of the kanji image of the word. We applied 0.9 Hz rTMS (600 total pulses) over individually determined left or right PITC to suppress cortical activity and measured subsequent task performance. In the mental recall of kanji and kana-to-kanji transcription, rTMS over the left PITC prolonged reaction times (RTs), whereas rTMS over the right PITC reduced RTs. In the other tasks, which do not involve the mental visualization of kanji, rTMS over the left or right PITC had no effect on performance. These results suggest that the left PITC is crucial for the retrieval of the visual graphic representation of kanji. Furthermore, the right PITC may work to suppress the dominant left PITC in the neural network for kanji writing, which involves visual word recognition.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Bilateral writing ability, cerebral organization, and hand posture.

Among a group of 12 persons selected for the ability to write with ease with either hand, none were found to write using a hooked hand posture with either the right or left hand. Tests of verbal and manipulospatial ability indicated a normal balance of these two types of abilities, usually associated with the left and right hemispheres. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for cerebral organization and hand position in writing.

Dominance, Cerebral↗

PubMed2000

An electromyographic study of two different types of ballpoint pens--investigation of a one hour writing operation.

Recently there has been an increasing incidence of occupational cervicobrachial disorders (OCD) and writer's cramp in office workers using ballpoint pens in writing operations. For the sake of workers who use ballpoint pens, it is essential to prevent such health hazards. It has been observed that a strong gripping pressure on the ballpoint pen significantly contributes to the development of these conditions. The present authors have been developing a new ballpoint pen by altering the grip area in such a way as to reduce the gripping pressure, and thus prevent OCD. The purpose of this study is to compare our ballpoint pen (new pen) with a conventional ballpoint pen (conventional pen) for the load that they exert on the upper limb during one hour of continuous writing. Electromyograms (EMG) and upper limb pain scores are used as indicators. The conventional pen used was selected from commercially available ballpoint pens widely used in offices. The grip area is cylindrical with an 8.3 mm diameter. It is manufactured of hard plastic, which can make it feel rigid and slippery to the user. The new pen has a cylindrical grip area that flares out at the bottom, near the pen-tip, and has a diameter ranging from 11.9-13.6 mm. In addition, the grip is constructed of a 2 to 3 mm-thick silicon rubber sleeve that is softer and less slippery in comparison with the conventional pen. Twelve students (5 males and 7 females) without any preexisting cervicobrachial disorders were asked to transcribe an English text for one hour, alternately using the two kinds of pens. The EMG of the flexor pollicis brevis was measured and recorded every second, while subjective pain scores were recorded every five minutes for the thumb, forefinger, middle finger, thenar, forearm extensor (forearm) and shoulder. The EMG of the flexor pollicis brevis and the pain scores for the thumb, forefinger, middle finger, forearm and shoulder were significantly lower for the new pen than for the conventional pen. These results suggest that after an hour of continuous writing, the new pen reduces the muscle load on the upper limb, and therefore mitigates fatigue in this area.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

"If I didn't write it, why would I remember it?" Effects of encoding, attention, and practice on accurate and false memory.

In two experiments involving recall and recognition, we manipulated encoding strategies, attention, and practice in the Deese, Roediger, and McDermott false memory procedure. During the study of auditory word lists, participants listened to the words, wrote the words, wrote the second letter of the words, or counted backward by threes and wrote numbers in time with the words. The results from both experiments showed that, relative to the full-attention hear word condition, the divided-attention write number condition impaired accurate memory, but not false memory. In contrast, the focused-attention write word and write second letter conditions were comparable to the hear word condition in producing accurate memory, yet they were better at reducing false memory. But even after multiple study-test trials, people still falsely recalled or recognized words that they had never written during study. These results are consistent with predictions generated from fuzzy trace theory and the activation/monitoring framework.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Impact of preceptor counseling on medical resident prescription writing.

A collaborative study was conducted by pharmacists and the clinical preceptor of the otolaryngology outpatient clinic of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). This study focused on decreasing the percent of legal or procedural errors made by resident physicians. During the study period all prescriptions written by house staff were reviewed by a pharmacist for compliance to previously established criteria. Noncompliant prescriptions were photocopied by the pharmacist and recorded for review by the resident's clinical preceptor. After an 8-week period of baseline data collection, residents were counseled privately by the clinical preceptor and critique on their ability to write a legally and procedurally correct prescription. The residents were made aware of their major deficiencies to enable them to correct the problems. During an unannounced 4-week period, beginning 5 months after preceptor consultation, resident prescription writing was again audited. The result, an overall decrease of 78.5% in noncompliant prescriptions, illustrates that establishing lines of communication between pharmacists and physicians can demonstrably improve health care services. If this change in the quality of prescription writing could be achieved in all of the institution's ambulatory care clinics, an annual conservation of at least $57,000 in pharmacist salaries would be realized.

Drug Prescriptions↗

PubMed2001

[A case report of mirror writing with low perfusion of bilateral anterior cerebral arteries].

A 20-year-old female experienced temporary unintentional mirror writing associated with low perfusion of the bilateral anterior cerebral arteries. When she was 17 years old, she had developed multiple idiopathic intracerebral hemorrhages and right hemiparesis. At the age of 20, she had a generalized convulsion for which she was transferred to our department. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance images of the brain were obtained, but no fresh abnormal lesion could be detected. The following day, after she had recovered from postictal symptoms, she wrote mirror image words, and her mirror writing then gradually improved within one week. Single photon emission CT showed low perfusion of both anterior cerebral arteries. We concluded that bilateral vascular insufficiency to the supplementary motor areas and corpus callosum caused mirror writing in this case.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Medical directive: authorizing dietitians to write diet and tube-feeding orders.

Dietitians working with patients in hospital settings are recognized experts in clinical nutrition. However, the diet and tube-feeding ordering process varies among hospitals and can present barriers to expeditious, effective patient care. When dietitians are granted full authority to implement their nutritional recommendations, they can write diet and tube-feeding orders on the physicians order sheets, change existing physician orders, and implement orders immediately, without a physician s co-signature. This article describes the process whereby the dietitian team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute became authorized through a medical directive to write diet and tube-feeding orders. Full authorization to write diet and tube-feeding orders is groundbreaking for the dietetic profession because it expedites patient-centred care and expands the dietitian s responsibilities beyond the traditional sphere of clinical dietetic practice.

Canada↗

PubMed2001

[Analysis of writing age of ballpoint pen ink by thin-layer chromatography].

A method based on using a thin-layer chromatographic method (TLC) for determining changes in dye of ballpoint pen ink developed with writing age. An ink drawn line of 1 cm in length was cut and placed in Eppendorf tube. Extraction was performed with 20 microL ethanol at room temperature for 15 min, and heated in steambath for 10 min. The ethanol solution(4 microL) containing the extracted dyes was then spotted on TLC plate by syringe after cooling. The ballpoint pen ink spots were eluted in a solvent of isopropyl alcohol. Using TLC scanner, the spots on TLC plate were scanned at 580 nm. The relations between ratio of peak heights and writing age were attained. Thus, the information on relative writing age can be obtained. And, the powerful evidence for identifying the age of ballpoint pen ink is provided by this method in the field of forensic science.

Chromatography, Thin Layer↗

PubMed2002

[Development of grade level norms for reading speed and writing errors of Turkish elementary school children].

INTRODUCTION: Despite being in the normal intelligence range, children with learning disorders fail to reach expected academic performance levels. Clinical diagnosis and decisions for therapeutic management for these children require the use of academic achievement tests. The lack of reliable achievement tests and age appropriate reading speed and writing norms hinder clinical studies with Turkish children. OBJECTIVE: To develop and establish Turkish norms of an assessment tool which will aid in the objective evaluation and diagnosis of learning disorders. METHOD: A total of 2572 children attending the 1st-5th grades of randomly selected elementary schools belonging to different socioeconomic levels constituted the sample of the study. The number of words read from grade-level appropriate scripts in 1 minute indicated reading speed. A three-sentence script containing repeating consonants p-b-t-d-m-n-v-f was dictated to determine writing errors. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Grade levels of reading speed increase and writing errors decrease as the child grows. Mean, standard deviation and standard error scores indicate that objective academic achievement criteria were reached. Achievement differences according to gender and sociocultural status, which were not the subject of this study, also seem to be important variables.

English Abstract↗