Relationships among age, P3 latency, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) performance were investigated for 172 subjects ranging from 20 to 79 years. Age-related increases in P3 latency were most evident for older normal subjects (greater than 55 years) and for a subset of subjects with low physical fitness levels, but were negligible for a subset of subjects with high physical fitness levels. A similar relationship was found between age and SDMT. P3 latency and SDMT performance were significantly correlated for older subjects with low fitness levels but not for young (less than 55 years) subjects or subjects with high fitness levels. Partial correlation analyses indicated a significant relationship between P3 latency and SDMT performance that was independent of age. These results agree with previous studies suggesting that P3 latency provides a sensitive measure of age- and/or health-related processes affecting CNS function and cognitive performance. Careful attention to nonpathologic subject variables and use of age-adjusted norms are important considerations for clinical use of P3 latency.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Auditory system abnormalities in human albinos.

Auditory abnormalities were evaluated in human albinos using temporary threshold shift and dichotic listening tasks. Albinos exhibited a greater temporary threshold shift than did normally pigmented individuals after exposure to a fatiguing tone. In the dichotic listening task, albinos demonstrated a significantly larger right ear advantage than normally pigmented individuals. These results support earlier work indicating that hemispheric asymmetries are present in a albino auditory system and suggest that abnormalities may be present at the cochlear level as well.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The Type A behavior pattern and carotid artery atherosclerosis.

The Type A behavior pattern has been identified as an important precursor of coronary atherosclerosis. However, atherosclerosis is a disease process that occurs throughout the arterial system. The present research examined the hypothesis that the Type A pattern may also be related to disease in other arteries such as the carotid arteries. Men (n = 21) and women (n = 23) from 40 to 65 years of age were examined for carotid artery atherosclerosis using doppler ultrasonography. Subjects also completed the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) to measure the Type A pattern. The results indicated that the diseased individuals were more likely to be classified as Type A (71%) than as Type B (29%), Z = 2.08, p less than 0.05. The nondiseased individuals were not more likely to be Type A (53%) than Type B (47%). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that atherosclerosis in Type A individuals is not limited to the coronary arteries but the disease is likely to occur throughout the arterial system.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cynical hostility in adult male twins.

The heritability of hostility as measured by the Cook and Medley Ho scale was assessed in an adult male sample of 60 monozygotic and 61 dizygotic twin pairs. For the total Ho scale, as well as its health predictive component, the results were consistent with a moderate genetic effect. Results are discussed in terms of genetic and environmental influences on the development of this trait, and possible genetic contributions to the association between hostility and subsequent health.

Hostility↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Steroid-refractory cutaneous graft-versus-host disease after transplantation of haploidentical parental CD34+ cells in children with Down's syndrome and recurrent acute leukemia.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the feasibility of performing haploidentical CD34+ selected transplants for children with Down's syndrome (DS) and recurrent leukemia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Within a cohort of 15 children, two patients had DS. Transplantation of CD34+ cells from haploidentical parents was performed after the children were conditioned with fractionated total body irradiation, cyclophosphamide, and antithymocyte globulin (ATG). Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine and a short course of methotrexate. RESULTS: The preparative regimen was well tolerated, and engraftment of polymorphonuclear cells and platelets took place promptly (by day 20) in both patients with DS. However, both patients with DS experienced severe grade IV GVHD that was limited to the skin and was refractory to salvage with high-dose methylprednisolone therapy. In one patient, GVHD responded to second-line salvage therapy with ATG, but the patient died on day 234 from leukemic relapse. The second patient had GVHD that did not respond to ATG and died of multisystem organ failure and refractory GVHD on day 44. Two of two DS patients had steroid refractory severe acute GVHD of the skin, while only one of 11 evaluated and identically treated non-DS patients had severe GVHD (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These observations in patients who underwent mismatched bone marrow transplantation suggests that patients with DS have an increased risk of severe acute GVHD of the skin in this context.

Antigens, CD34↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Total energy and critical intensity concepts in noise damage.

Groups of chinchillas were given a series of noise exposures of approximately equal energy ranging from 22 minutes at 120 dB SPL to 150 days at 82 dB. For all exposures involving levels of 112 dB or less, the same average permanent hearing losses (15-20 dB) and degree of outer hair cell destruction (8-10%) resulted, thus confirming the validity of the total energy principle for assessing the hazard associated with single continuous exposures at moderate levels. The 22-minute, 120-dB exposure, however, produced a 60-dB hearing loss and massive hair cell destruction (70-80%), indicating that some critical level had been exceeded, thus producing acoustic trauma. Further histological study suggests that the massive destruction is a result of breaks in the organ of Corti, produced by severe mechanical stress, that permit the mixture of endolymph with perilymph, thus creating a hostile environment for the hair cells.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The social ecology model of adolescent substance abuse: implications for prevention.

A comprehensive theoretical model of adolescent substance abuse, the Social Ecology Model, was developed. The model includes peer influence, school bonding, self-efficacy, and family and school climate variables. Several competing variations of the model were empirically tested using a confirmatory multivariate methodology (LISREL) on a high school sample (N = 1,373). Self-efficacy and school bonding collapsed into a single factor, which was significantly predicted by the family and school climate latent variables. These findings suggest that prevention approaches should include interventions effective in improving family and school climate for youths in addition to improving self-efficacy, school bonding, and peer relations.

Adolescent↗