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Biomedical subjects

A Lincoln

Publications and source records attributed to A Lincoln.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

In menstrual cycle stage a confounder in population-based psychiatric research?

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that a failure to control for point in the menstrual cycle can lead to biased results in assessing psychiatric symptoms among women since state affects associated with premenstrual symptoms may lead to unreliability of symptom reporting as well as an artificial elevation of symptom ratings. We examine these hypotheses and the extent to which they can account for gender differences in symptom scale scores of demoralization and enervation. METHODS: The data are derived from an epidemiological study of Jews born in Israel between 1949 and 1958. The symptom scale scores of 2265 men and 1769 women (368 premenstrual, 458 menstruation and 943 postmenstrual) were compared regarding reliability, homogeneity and mean score. RESULTS: There were no differences among the menstrual groups, or between the men and women, in reliability of their responses as measured by the alpha coefficient and the coefficient of variation. There were no significant differences among the female groups on mean symptom scale score. The mean scale scores for each female group were significantly higher than the mean scores for men. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that menstrual cycle stage does not influence the reliability of reporting, the variability of response or mean symptom levels. However, our conclusions may not apply to studies of drug effects or clinical studies of premenstrual dysphoria.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Evidence of linkage between the serotonin transporter and autistic disorder.

The serotonin transporter gene (HTT) is a primary candidate in autistic disorder based on efficacy of potent serotonin transporter inhibitors in reducing rituals and routines. We initiated a candidate gene study of HTT in trios consisting of probands with autistic disorder and both parents. Preliminary transmission/disequilibrium test (TDT) analysis with 86 families revealed no evidence for linkage or linkage disequilibrium between autistic disorder and a polymorphism in the second intron of HTT. However, preferential transmission of a short variant of the HTT promoter was found in the same 86 trios (TDT chi 2 = 4.69, 1 d.f., P = 0.030). In further analyses, we considered haplotypes of the HTT promoter variant and second intron locus as alleles in a multiallelic TDT. Results confirmed the significance of the effect of this region (TDT chi 2 = 11.85, 4 d.f., P = 0.018). This provides preliminary evidence of linkage and association between HTT and autistic disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Computer keyboard force and upper extremity symptoms.

This case-control study assessed whether office workers who report more severe levels of musculoskeletal symptoms of the upper extremities demonstrate higher levels of keyforce in comparison to controls with less severe symptoms. Office workers reporting working on computer keyboards for four hours per day were classified as cases or controls based upon a median split on a Composite Symptom Severity score (cases = 23, controls = 25). Keyboard force and keying rate were measured during a 15-minute keyboarding task. Measures of task-related discomfort, muscular fatigue, pain, upper extremity symptoms, psychological distress and force were collected at baseline, post-keyboard task, and recovery. Ratings of perceived effort and task credibility were also obtained. Measures of work demands, perceived job stress, and upper extremity strength and flexibility were also collected. The results indicated group equivalence on reported work demands and upper extremity strength. Cases were more likely to receive a medical diagnosis of upper extremity cumulative trauma disorder, awaken from sleep due to symptoms, report higher levels of pain during work, experience greater impact of pain on function, and report higher workload pressure and lower support. Cases generated significantly higher keyboarding forces than controls, although both groups produced forces well above that required to operate the keyboard (4-5 times activation force). Cases reported higher levels of upper extremity symptoms and discomfort than controls, and these measures were highest after the keyboarding task for both groups. No significant correlation between keyforce and key rate was observed in either group. Results suggest that generation of excessive force while working on a computer keyboard may contribute to the severity of upper extremity symptoms. Clinically, the findings suggest that evaluating how an individual worker performs keyboarding tasks, or his or her workstyle, may be helpful in the management of these symptoms and disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Autism or atypical autism in maternally but not paternally derived proximal 15q duplication.

Duplications of proximal 15q have been found in individuals with autistic disorder (AD) and varying degrees of mental retardation. Often these abnormalities take the form of a supernumerary inverted duplicated chromosome 15, more properly described as an isodicentric chromosome 15, or idic(15). However, intrachromosomal duplications also have been reported. In a few cases, unaffected mothers, as well as their affected children, carry the same duplications. During the course of the genotyping of trios of affected probands with AD and their parents, at the positional candidate locus D15S122, an intrachromosomal duplication of proximal 15q was detected by microsatellite analysis in a phenotypically normal mother. Microsatellite and methylation analyses of the pedigree in the following report show that, among three children, the two with autism or atypical autism have maternal inheritance of a 15q11-q13 duplication whereas the third child, who is unaffected, did not inherit this duplication. Their mother's 15q11-q13 duplication arose de novo from her father's chromosomes 15. This finding documents, for the first time, the significance of parental origin for duplications of 15q11-q13. In this family, paternal inheritance leads to a normal phenotype, and maternal inheritance leads to autism or atypical autism.

Aneuploidy↗
PubMed1988

Visual memory processes in high-functioning individuals with autism.

High-functioning autistic individuals were compared with age-matched normal control subjects on a visual recognition memory task. In order to evaluate the effects of "meaning" and "delay" on the visual memory of autistic individuals, meaningful (pictures) and meaningless (nonsense shapes) stimuli were presented visually in no delay and 1-minute delay intervals to both groups. It was concluded that autistic subjects perform particularly poorly on meaningless material, but they are able to utilize meaning to aid their visual memory. Contrary to expectations, 1-minute delay intervals did not differentially affect the visual memory performance of autistic individuals compared to control subjects. The results do not support the idea of a simple parallel between autism and mediotemporal lobe amnesias. The visual memory performance of the autistic subjects was discussed in the light of the possibility of a subtle involvement of the mediotemporal brain structures and inflexible cognitive strategies poorly suited to encode novel information.

Adolescent↗