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Biomedical subjects

P Light

Publications and source records attributed to P Light.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Neonatal androgenization in ground squirrels: influence on sex differences in body mass and luteinizing hormone levels.

Female squirrels were injected at birth with 50 or 1000 micrograms testosterone propionate (TP); control males and females were treated with oil vehicle. Squirrels were gonadectomized at 47 days of age. Body mass was recorded weekly and plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) was determined once monthly over the next year. Marked annual cycles in body mass were manifested by 30 out of 31 squirrels. Peak body mass and peak-to-trough differences were greater for control male and TP-female squirrels than for control female squirrels. Trough body weights did not differ among the groups. Luteinizing hormone was detectable in all male and most androgenized females but not in any control female squirrels during the first 4 mo after gonadectomy. Peak LH values were significantly greater for control male than for control female squirrels and were not influenced by neonatal androgenization in females. Testosterone propionate treatment also did not affect sex differences in timing of LH peaks or the total number of months in which LH was detectable. We conclude that testicular hormones secreted during the early postnatal period induce sex differences in the circannual pattern of weight change and some aspects of LH secretion. Complete masculinization, however, either requires more extensive action of gonadal hormones, perhaps both pre- and postnatally, or occurs through some androgen-independent mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

An evaluation of the relationship between receptive speech skills and expressive signing.

We examined the effects of receptive speech on the acquisition of manual signing among three mentally retarded children. In an alternating treatments design, we compared the acquisition of expressive signs that were, versus were not, in a child's receptive vocabulary. The children were trained via total communication in which pictorial referents were named during sign training. Signs corresponding to known words were generally acquired faster and retained better than signs corresponding to unknown words. We conducted posttests to assess the stimulus control of signing and any changes in expressive and receptive signing and speech. Observed changes in performance could be accounted for by attention to aspects of the stimulus complex during training and functional equivalence of stimuli established by training.

Child↗
PubMed1983

The effects of a communication task upon the representation of depth relationships in young children's drawings.

Attempts to represent the occlusion of a farther object by a nearer one are infrequent in young children's drawings. Instead they typically draw the objects side by side or one above the other. This does not appear to reflect a limitation of skill, but rather a concern with the array of objects per se as opposed to the child's own particular view. Two experiments are reported which attempt to assess children's ability to produce view-specific drawings by creating a context that clearly demands such drawings. In a "communication game," drawings were produced by one child so that another could identify the chair he had been sitting on. In a first experiment, compared to a control condition this game produced significantly more view-specific drawings from 7- and 8-year-olds, but not from 5- and 6-year-olds. A second experiment with 5- and 6-year-olds was also ineffective in promoting view-specific drawings at this age.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

"Own view" versus "good view" in a perspective-taking task.

Children who fail spatial perspective-taking tasks of the "3 mountains" variety apparently preferentially select pictures showing their own view. It has been suggested that this might arise, at least in part, because children in such tasks have been given particularly good views of the arrays. To test this, an experiment was conducted with 40 4-6-year-olds in which children were tested from both "good" and "poor" viewing positions. As hypothesized, children did not show any bias toward their own view when it was a poor one. However, when they themselves had a good view of the objects, they chose their own rather than another equally good view. Thus, 2 selection principles appear to operate hierarchically, selection of good view having priority over selection of own view.

Child↗
PubMed1977

Biological activity of bullfrog growth hormone in the rat and the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana).

Highly purified bullfrog growth hormone (GH) was tested for growth promoting activity in rats and bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana). In repeated assays, the potency of bullfrog GH in the rat tibia assay was 1 X bovine GH, which is significantly greater than all other non-mammalian GHs tested. It also stimulated significant whole body growth in immature hypophysectomized rats injected daily for 16 days. In bullfrogs, the bullfrog GH (about 2 microgram/injection) stimulated growth and appetite in intact frogs, and improved survival in hypophysectomized frogs. In contrast, even relatively high doses of bovine GH (up to 200 microgram/injection) were inactive in the bullfrog.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Using computerized data to identify adverse drug events in outpatients.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of a computer program to identify adverse drug events (ADEs) in the ambulatory setting and to evaluate the relative contribution of four computer search methods for identifying ADEs, including diagnosis codes, allergy rules, computer event monitoring rules, and text searching. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of one year of data from an electronic medical record, including records for 23,064 patients with a primary care physician, of whom 15,665 actually came for care. MEASUREMENT: Presence of an ADE; sensitivity and specificity of computer searches for ADE. RESULTS: The computer program identified 25,056 incidents, which were associated with an estimated 864 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 750-978) ADES. Thus, the ADE rate was 5.5 (CI, 5.2-5.9) per 100 patients coming for care. Furthermore, in 79 (CI, 68-89) ADEs, the patient required hospitalization, resulting in an estimated rate of 3.4 (CI, 2.7-4.3) admissions per 1,000 patients. The sensitivity of the search methods for identifying ADEs was estimated to be 58 (CI, 18-98) percent, and the estimated specificity was 88 (CI, 87-88) percent. The positive predictive value was 7.5 (CI, 6.5-8.5) percent, and the negative predictive value was 99.2 (CI, 95.5-99.98) percent. Compared with age and gender-matched controls with no positive screen, patients with ADEs had twice as many outpatient visits and were taking nearly three times as many drugs. Antihypertensives, ACE-inhibitors, antibiotics, and diuretics were associated with 56 (CI, 47-65) percent of ADES. Among ADEs, 23 (CI, 16-32) percent were life-threatening or serious, and 38 (CI, 29-47) percent were judged preventable. CONCLUSION: Computerized search programs can detect ADEs, and free-text searches were especially useful. Adverse drug events were frequent, and admissions were not rare, although most hospitals today do not identify them. Thus, such detection programs demonstrate "value-added" for the electronic record and may be useful for directing and assessing the impact of quality improvement efforts.

Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems↗