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Biomedical subjects

B Katz

Publications and source records attributed to B Katz.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

The effects of slowed speech on auditory comprehension in aphasia.

The present study investigates the effects of slowed speech on auditory comprehension in aphasia. Specifically, an attempt was made to isolate the effects of added time on comprehension at the language processing stages of auditory perception, by increasing the duration of the vowel segments in each word; word recognition and semantic analysis, by adding silences between words; and syntactic analysis, by adding silences at constituent phrase boundaries. Sentences were also read at a slow rate to see the effects of naturally slowed speech on sentence comprehension. Test sentences consisted of simple active and passive declarative sentences, and complex sentences with embedded medial and final relative clauses. Sentences were either semantically reversible or nonreversible. Thirty-four aphasic patients who varied in both severity and type of aphasia were tested on a picture verification task. Results indicated that slowing facilitated language comprehension significantly only in the syntactic condition. Neither syntactic complexity nor semantic reversibility interacted with slowed speech to facilitate auditory language comprehension. Further, it was only the Wernicke's aphasics who showed significant improvement with time added at constituent boundaries. These results suggest that time alone does not facilitate language comprehension in aphasia, but that rather it is the interaction of time with syntactic processing which improves comprehension.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1985

Variations in the slope of the psychometric acuity function with acuity threshold and scale.

Psychometric measurement of visual acuity not only determines an acuity threshold, but also, by the slope of the psychometric function, reveals how the percentage of correct responses changes with increasing target size. In this study we determined how the slope of the psychometric function changed for different threshold acuities. Psychometric visual acuity functions were obtained using a clinical contour-interaction chart for 35 naive, normal subjects with best refractive correction and with 1.5 and 3.0 diopters of spherical blur. The slope of the psychometric acuity function remained essentially constant for different threshold acuities when acuity was scaled logarithmically (log MAR), but varied with the threshold when inverse Snellen (MAR) and Snell-Sterling scales were used. Our results lend support to the use of the log MAR scale for acuity but, because normal subjects' slopes range tenfold, the use of this parameter in making clinical distinctions may be problematic.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Migrainous ischemic optic neuropathy.

Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) is a stroke syndrome of the eye seen in isolation or as a manifestation of underlying disease. A case of migrainous AION is reported, and the implications of anterior visual pathway migraine discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Inpatient psychiatry: perspectives from the general, the private, and the state hospital.

Although it is widely recognized that inpatient psychiatry is different as it is practiced in the general, private, and state hospital, why and how it is different have not been clearly articulated. In this paper, the directors of inpatient units in a general hospital, a private hospital, and a state hospital first provide an analysis of how the history and the organizational structures of these units have shaped their identity. The authors then specifically detail the different patient populations, referral sources, financial bases, leadership arrangements, milieu philosophies, research and training activities, and lengths of stay on these units. Finally, on the basis of the reality and the value of different inpatient settings, a view toward the future of inpatient psychiatry is offered.

Community Mental Health Centers↗
PubMed1984

Transfer factor in the treatment of carcinoma of the lung.

From 1976 to 1982, 63 patients with carcinoma of the lung underwent curative pulmonary resection, mediastinal lymph node dissection, and postoperative mediastinal irradiation when indicated. After operation, the patients were randomized by cell type and stage of disease into two groups. Beginning 1 month postoperatively, Group 1 patients (N = 28) received 1 ml of transfer factor that had been extracted from the blood of normal individuals. Subsequent doses were administered at 3-month intervals. Group 2 patients (N = 35) served as controls. There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to age, sex, extent of resection, histological cell type, or stage of disease. Twenty of the 28 treated patients were alive and free from disease from 7 to 77 months after treatment, whereas 17 of the 35 control patients were free from disease. The 1-year survival for Group 1 was 84% and for Group 2, 81%. The 2-year survival was 78% for Group 1 and 46% for Group 2 (p = 0.045). The survival rates by stage of disease were as follows: Stage I, 15 out of 17 or 88% in Group 1 and 15 out of 23 or 65% in Group 2 (p = 0.097); Stages II and III, 5 out of 11 or 45% in Group 1 and 3 out of 12 or 25% in Group 2 (p = 0.304). The results of the study suggest that the administration of transfer factor to patients who have undergone pulmonary resection for carcinoma of the lung can have a significant impact on the prolongation of life.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1984

Dissimilar dosing with high-potency and low-potency neuroleptics.

The authors studied high-potency versus low-potency neuroleptic dosing practices for 110 Boston-area psychiatric inpatients and compared the findings with the dosing practices reported in surveys of nearly 16,000 Veterans Administration patients. Mean chlorpromazine equivalent doses for the most common agents correlated strongly in both samples. Although frequencies of lower doses of both types of agents were similar, doses of potent drugs above the daily equivalent of 1 g of chlorpromazine accounted for more than 40% of prescriptions. The mean chlorpromazine-equivalent dose of popular potent agents (haloperidol or fluphenazine) was 3.54 times as high as that of popular low-potency agents (chlorpromazine or thioridazine). Potent agents are commonly used in mania and schizophrenia, often in relatively high doses, which may carry an excess of risk over unproven added benefit.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Hand strength and prone extension in right-dominant, 6 to 9 year olds.

A stratified random sample of 153 right-dominant children (6 to 9 years of age) with normal or above intelligence was selected to study the development of hand strength, and the quality and duration of prone extension as a function of age, sex, height, and weight of the child. The Jamar hand dynamometer was used to measure hand strength, and a new scale for rating the quality of prone extension was presented. Both right- and left-hand strength increased monotonically with age, with the right being significantly higher than the left. Duration of prone extension increased monotonically with age, but quality of prone extension did not correlate with age. Sex differences were found only on the variable left-hand strength (males greater than females). Hand strength demonstrated weak correlation with duration of prone extension. Both height and weight exhibited strong positive correlations with hand strength, weaker positive correlations with duration of prone extension, and no correlation with quality of prone extension. The results suggest hand strength can be an index of normal development, and children ages 6 to 9 can attain the prone extension position; however, the meaning of duration greater than 30 seconds needs to be researched further.

Age Factors↗