Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Thurber

Publications and source records attributed to S Thurber.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Item characteristics of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test.

Items of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) were individually evaluated regarding disproportional responding. The item with the lowest degree of endorsement (Item 18, related to liver problems) was found to have correspondingly low relationships with other MAST items and with the total score. Weighted items concerned with drug-related arrests were found to detract from the otherwise relatively homogeneous MAST items. Traditional statistical approaches for homogeneity suggest high level internal consistency with the deletion of the aforementioned items. A factor analytic test of homogeneity was confirmed. Recommendations are presented concerning modification of the MAST scoring procedures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Skn-1: evidence for a bipartite recognition helix in DNA binding.

Skn-1 is a maternally expressed transcription factor that specifies the fate of certain blastomeres early in the development of Caenorhabditis elegans. This transcription factor contains a basic region, but it binds to DNA as a monomer. Because other transcription factors containing basic regions bind as dimers, this finding implied that Skn represents a new DNA recognition motif. It has been proposed that the basic region helix of Skn is stabilized for binding by tertiary contacts to other parts of the protein. We have tested this proposal by carrying out circular dichroism (CD) and NMR experiments on the Skn domain and five truncated proteins. Our results have shown that the basic region of Skn is unstructured in solution and does not contact other parts of the protein; like other basic region peptides, it folds into a helix only upon binding specifically to DNA. However, there is a stably folded helical module in the Skn domain, and one of the helices in this module terminates immediately before the start of the basic region. This pre-organized helix contains a surface rich in basic amino acids, and we propose that this helix contacts the DNA distal to the basic region proper, providing an extra long helical recognition surface which helps to stabilize monomeric binding. Homology between the Skn domain and several basic-region leucine zipper (bZIP) domains raises the possibility that the affinity and perhaps the specificity of DNA binding by bZIP proteins can be modulated by incorporating a stably folded helical segment that contacts the DNA just below the basic region proper.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Cognitive imbalance and antisocial personality characteristics.

A cognitive imbalance, in which intellectual functioning is elevated in the performance area in comparison to verbal IQ, has been posited as an antecedent condition in relation to antisocial behaviors. The current investigation was based on the notion of a developmental arrest in which verbal, analytical, controlling brain processes (analogous to verbal IQ) fail to develop commensurately with the more impulsive actions mediated by the motor areas of the cerebral cortex (analogous to performance IQ). The simple verbal IQ performance IQ discrepancy index used in prior studies was reformulated as a causal theoretical model consisting of shared and unique performance IQ variance. The participants were 325 adults including 141 prison inmates. They were administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) and the Psychopathic Deviate (Pd) and Mania (Ma) scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). These were the manifest (measured) variables in the model tested by means of structural equation modeling procedures. Several statistical indices suggested an excellent model-data congruence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

The Hopelessness Scale for Children: psychometric properties with hospitalized adolescents.

This study examined the internal consistency and factor structure of the Hopelessness Scale for Children with 201 adolescent inpatients (M age = 15.4 years). In comparison to the psychometric properties of the scale found with younger children, our findings suggest adequate, but lower, internal consistency reliability and a weak core factor structure. The results are discussed in terms of possible changes in the child scale or the alternative use of an adult measure of hopelessness with adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

A meta-analysis of antidepressant outcome studies that involved children and adolescents.

A meta-analysis was performed of available studies that document response to antidepressant medications in the pediatric population, based upon guidelines developed in a methodological review of adult antidepressant response (Greenberg, Borstein, Greenberg, & Fisher, 1992). The 27 studies accessed through standard medical and psychological data bases were assessed against the following criteria: degree of blindness, placebo group design, rating issues, sample size, inclusion criteria, and other methodological issues. Serious methodological flaws emerged in all areas, as well as an inverse relationship between positive findings and the presence of adequate experimental controls. Recommendations are made for improvements in experimental methodology, and caution is urged in the absence of well-controlled studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Phenobarbital modifies seizure-related brain injury in the developing brain.

To investigate the potential role of drug therapy in preventing or exacerbating seizure-related brain injury in the prepubescent brain, we administered kainic acid to rats at postnatal day 35. Therapy with daily phenobarbital was started directly before or 1 day after kainic acid was administered, and was continued through postnatal day 153. Rats receiving phenobarbital had therapeutic concentrations during most of the 24-hour dosing period, but also experienced supratherapeutic peak concentrations. The animals were subsequently tested using the water maze (a measure of visuospatial memory), open field (a measure of activity level), and handling tests (a measure of emotionality). The frequency of spontaneous recurrent seizures was monitored during and after phenobarbital therapy. Kainic acid resulted in status epilepticus on postnatal day 35 in all the rats that received it but those receiving phenobarbital first manifested a shorter and less severe status epilepticus as compared to the rats given kainic acid alone. Rats starting phenobarbital immediately before kainic acid was administered did not differ from control rats on behavioral testing and had no subsequent spontaneous recurrent seizures and no histological lesions. Rats receiving kainic acid alone performed significantly poorer than did control rats in the water maze, were more aggressive, had histological lesions, and manifested spontaneous recurrent seizures. As compared to the group treated only with kainic acid, rats receiving kainic acid followed by phenobarbital at postnatal days 36 to 153 manifested similar aggressiveness and histological lesions, similar frequency of spontaneous recurrent seizures after phenobarbital taper, and even greater disturbances in memory, learning, and activity level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aging↗
PubMed1993

Comparisons of parent and adolescent perspectives on deviance.

This study investigated hospitalized adolescents (57 girls; 46 boys; mean age = 14 years, 8 months) and their fathers and mothers to ascertain the degree of correspondence (by gender of parent and child) on ratings of total symptoms and of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Parents (especially mothers) reported higher levels of symptom severity than their offspring; girls' ratings were more severe than boys'. Whereas interparent correspondence was essentially the same in ratings of daughters, mother-son convergence was generally higher than father-son correspondence. Boys and their parents did not differentiate internalizing from externalizing disorders; girls and parents were better able to discriminate between these types of psychopathology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Evaluation of the asthma camp experience for children.

Informal feedback from parents indicates that children seem to improve following an asthma camp experience. However, documentation of efficacy is lacking. Data were collected over the course of 3 consecutive years to assess factors that might account for improvements following an asthma camp experience. The sample consisted of 125 children, aged 10-13 years, who had asthma. The Child Behavior Checklist, Self-Perception Profile for Children, Punnett Adjustment to Camp Scale, and an asthma health education test were utilized. Intercorrelations among the measures were summarized by means of principal-components analysis. Implications to improve the camping experience based on these findings were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Behavioral effects of continuous hippocampal stimulation in the developing rat.

There is controversy as to whether prolonged seizures are more detrimental to the immature than the mature brain. To evaluate this question continuous hippocampal stimulation was used to induce prolonged limbic seizures in 20-, 30- and 60-day-old rats. The long-term effects on learning and activity level were then studied at age 80 days using the Morris water maze, a test of spatial learning and memory, and the open field test, a test of an animal's reaction to a novel environment. Limbic status epilepticus in 60-day-old but not 20- and 30-day-old rats caused long-term impairment of learning in the Morris water maze. No differences were noted between the control and the experimental animals in the open field test. These results suggest that the age of seizure onset is an important determinant of long-term cognitive sequelae.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

The Therapist Evaluation Inventory: evidence for an unidimensional scale.

The internal structure of the Therapist Evaluation Inventory (TEI) was investigated with data gathered from therapy sessions conducted by 16 individual psychotherapists with 292 psychiatrically disturbed adolescent inpatients. A principal components analysis (Varimax rotation) indicated a single dimension that accounted for 70.39% of scale variance. The findings did not corroborate a factor structure consistent with the a priori scales of the TEI.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1990

Asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Audiologic, neuroradiologic, and neurodevelopmental abnormalities during the first year.

Twenty-eight infants with asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection and 13 control infants were followed up prospectively. Congenital sensorineural hearing loss was documented by auditory brain-stem responses in four infected infants (two had mild bilateral loss, one had mild unilateral loss, and one had extreme unilateral loss) but in no controls. Four infected infants had diffuse periventricular radiolucencies on computed tomographic scan; none had calcifications or ventriculomegaly. No differences between groups were noted on neurologic examination results or on the Bayley Mental Developmental Index; however, one infected infant had a severely delayed Bayley Psychomotor Developmental Index score. In addition, the mean Mental Developmental Index score of the four infected infants with diffuse periventricular radiolucencies was significantly below that of the remaining infected infants (93 +/- 8 vs 109 +/- 13). These data suggest that asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection may be associated with a broad range of audiologic, subtle neuroradiologic, and neurodevelopmental differences in early infancy.

Cytomegalovirus Infections↗
PubMed1990

Cognitive distortions and depression in psychiatrically disturbed adolescent inpatients.

Beck's model of depression was examined with 110 hospitalized adolescents. Intercorrelations among measures of cognitive distortions and depression supported the downward extension of Beck's theorizing to adolescent inpatients. Inconsistencies between data sources (parent vs. child) suggest possible self-report contamination or the insensitivities of adult caregivers to the subjective elements of depression. The findings also may relate to unstable, developmental aspects of depressed episodes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Antecedents of gregarious alcoholism: an a priori model.

Path analysis procedures were used to test a causal model that concerns possible antecedent conditions in relation to gregarious drinking patterns. Selected scales from The California Psychological Inventory (CPI) and The Alcohol Use Inventory (AUI) constituted the assessments. The model was partially corroborated with reference to a group of 40 alcoholics (32 males; 8 females; M age = 33) in an outpatient treatment setting. The presumed causal variables accounted for 26% of the variance in self-reported gregarious drinking. Support was obtained for the assumption that certain interpersonal deficiencies may combine with beliefs in social benefits via alcohol usage to produce gregarious alcoholism.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Effect size estimates in chemical aversion treatments of alcoholism.

This study found that aggregate studies on alcohol aversion therapy tended to support a moderate level of treatment impact that may have noteworthy practical import. Emetics appear to generate fairly consistent findings; a paralysis-inducing chemical may produce variable results.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1985

The health and educational status of adolescents with congenital rubella syndrome.

As part of a longitudinal study of children with congenital rubella syndrome, 53 adolescents between 16 and 18 years of age were surveyed to determine their health and educational status. The findings were compared with those at the 18-months evaluation. At 16 to 18 years neurosensory impairments, cerebral dysfunction and organic behaviour syndromes were predominant, but the majority of children had multiple handicaps. A higher proportion had hearing loss. Although all the hearing-impaired children were begun in oral-based educational programs, 90 per cent of those with severe to profound hearing-loss diagnosed before the age of 18 months had changed to total or manual communication. Those with mild to moderate hearing-loss diagnosed after 18 months primarily communicate orally. The educational implications of these findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗