Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “HANDWRITING”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,351 records · Page 75Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Idiopathic torsion dystonia and writing tremor within a family.

A 12-year-old boy had suffered from idiopathic torsion dystonia since the age of 8 years, which had never been relieved with pharmacologic treatment. His mother had exhibited primary tremor upon writing from the age of 10 years, but had not yet developed dystonia. Surface electromyography revealed paradoxical muscular contraction of Westphal in both patients, although the main abnormal findings in the proband and his mother were continuous tonic discharges in the arms and 4-5-Hz grouped discharges in the neck, respectively. The simultaneous occurrence of dystonia and writing tremor within one family, and the presence of the paradoxical contraction in both cases suggest that a certain type of dystonia and writing tremor may be pathogenetically linked.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Correlation of patient entry rates and physician documentation errors in dictated and handwritten emergency treatment records.

This study was designed to examine the relationship between patient entry rates (a measure of physician work load) and documentation errors/omissions in both handwritten and dictated emergency treatment records. The study was carried out in two phases. Phase I examined handwritten records and Phase II examined dictated and transcribed records. A total of 838 charts for three common chief complaints (chest pain, abdominal pain, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) were retrospectively reviewed and scored for the presence or absence of 11 predetermined criteria. Patient entry rates were determined by reviewing the emergency department patient registration logs. The data were analyzed using simple correlation and linear regression analysis. A positive correlation was found between patient entry rates and documentation errors in handwritten charts. No such correlation was found in the dictated charts. We conclude that work load may negatively affect documentation accuracy when charts are handwritten. However, the use of dictation services may minimize or eliminate this effect.

Documentation↗
PubMed2000

Developmental Gerstmann's syndrome: a distinct clinical entity of learning disabilities.

The symptom complex of finger anomia, right-left disorientation, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia constitutes Gerstmann's syndrome. It is mostly described in adults and is caused by acquired lesions of the dominant parietal lobe. It is infrequently described in children with learning disabilities and has been designated developmental Gerstmann's syndrome. Developmental Gerstmann's syndrome goes unnoticed if not specifically sought by clinicians. A detailed evaluation will reveal subtle neurologic deficits, behavioral problems, and neuropsychologic and specific speech and language abnormalities. Ten such patients are reported; six of the children demonstrated improvement with intensive speech training. Early identification and intervention is therefore crucial, and even more important in cultures in which students are required to be biliterate or triliterate, further increasing the constraints on writing. A selective writing, reading, or calculation abnormality in the presence of normal oral communication triggers several interesting possibilities for the brain mechanisms behind normal language processing. Similarly, the association of acalculia with finger anomia and agraphia with right-left disorientation may have specific implications in the neuropsychologic processing of the evolution of calculation and writing. A theoretical possibility of oral and written language processing from the observation of the language behavior of these children is also described.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

SpikeCell: a deterministic spiking neuron.

We present a model of spiking neuron that emulates the output of the usual static neurons with sigmoidal activation functions. It allows for hardware implementations of standard feedforward networks, trained off-line with any classical learning algorithm (i.e. back-propagation and its variants). The model is validated on hand-written digits recognition, and image classification tasks. A digital architecture is proposed and evaluated. The area needed for implementing the spiking neuron on a chip is 10 times smaller than that for the corresponding static neuron. The accuracy of the network's output increases with time, and reaches that of the emulated static neural network after an adequate integration period. Single errors in the spike trains, or interruption of the relaxation process, due for example to irradiation in harsh environments, are harmless.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1997

Line drawing as a possible measure of lateralized motor performance in schizophrenia.

In this paper we suggest a new method, conceived by Maher, to assess lateralized motor performance in schizophrenia. Subjects draw two straight lines with each hand. The lines are scanned into a computer, and a regression is run on the points of the line. The root mean squared error (RMS) of the regression equation indicates the deviation from straightness of the line. The average RMS of all four lines is taken as an overall measure of motor disorder, and the difference in performance between the two hands serves as an index of motoric laterality. Scores on the motor disorder index were significantly positively related to clinical ratings of Parkinsonism among schizophrenic inpatients. A marginal relation was found to ratings of voluntary movement disorders, and the task was not associated with dyskinetic movements. Scores on the motor disorder measure were significantly worse for schizophrenic subjects than for staff controls. The laterality index significantly differentiated right- and left-handed subjects, but did not differentiate schizophrenic from control subjects. Maher's simple line drawing task yields objective continuous ratings of motor disorder and handedness and may be a useful tool for examining associations between motor functioning and cognition and symptomatology in schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Event-related evoked potential study of repetition priming to attended and unattended words.

The filtering stage of ignored stimuli is one of main issues in the selective attention mechanism. We investigated whether unattended ignored stimuli show repetition priming effects on event-related brain potentials (ERPs), using a lexical decision task involving Japanese Kanji words. The repeated words in the unattended field generated a negative shift of the ERP over the frontal scalp sites. This suggested that unattended stimuli were processed implicitly to some degree and that different neural mechanisms contribute to repetition priming effects to attended and unattended stimuli.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Left superior parietal cortex involvement in writing: integrating fMRI with lesion evidence.

Writing is a uniquely human skill that we utilize nearly everyday. Lesion studies in patients with Gerstmann's syndrome have pointed to the parietal cortex as being critical for writing. Very little information is, however, available about the precise anatomical location of brain regions subserving writing in normal healthy individuals. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate parietal lobe function during writing to dictation. Significant clusters of activation were observed in left superior parietal lobe (SPL) and the dorsal aspects of the inferior parietal cortex (IPC) bordering the SPL. Localized clusters of activation were also observed in the left premotor cortex, sensorimotor cortex and supplementary motor area. No activation cluster was observed in the right hemisphere. These results clearly indicate that writing appears to be primarily organized in the language-dominant hemisphere. Further analysis revealed that within the parietal cortex, activation was significantly greater in the left SPL, compared to left IPC. Together with lesion studies, findings from the present study provide further evidence for the essential role of the left SPL in writing. Deficits to the precise left hemisphere parietal cortex regions identified in the present study may specifically underlie disorders of writing observed in Gerstmann's syndrome and apractic agraphia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Different cortical activity in reading of Kanji words, Kana words and Kana nonwords.

We report a positron emission tomography study on reading of Japanese Kanji (morphograms) words, Kana (phonograms) words and Kana nonwords using statistical parametric mapping. Activity was more pronounced in the lateral fusiform gyrus (Area 37) in Kanji, in contrast to the greater activation in the middle and inferior occipital gyri (Areas 18 and 19) and the deep perisylvian temporo-parietal area (Areas 40/22 and 22/21) in Kana, suggesting that Kanji and Kana are processed differently.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

[A new look at dyslexia-dysorthography. Plea for an early recognition of that handicap].

Dyslexia is a primary development disorder characterized by reading and writing disability. Although frequent, it remains underdetected at school and badly known by practitioners. As a consequence, many children remain severely handicapped in their school life, and later on in their adult social life, although being fairly intelligent. Pediatricians must be involved in its early detection and management. ERTL4 test is a useful test of detection to be applied in 5-7-year-old children.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[Determination of language dominance using EEG spectral analysis versus the Wada test in temporal epilepsy (right-handed subjects)].

Spectral analysis of the EEG alpha rhythm was studied in nine temporal epileptic right-handed patients in order to predict localization of the speech area. We studied the variation of the spectral power of the alpha rhythm during an activation paradigm previously validated in normal right-handed subjects. Significant alpha power decreases in the left hemisphere during writing with the right hand (as compared to resting) and/or significant alpha power decreases in the right hemisphere during left-hand recognition and classification of cardboard objects (as compared to resting) were considered as consistent with left-hemisphere dominance for language. The results of EEG spectral analysis were compared with those of the Wada test. The left hemisphere was dominant for language according to the Wada test in eight subjects and the right hemisphere in one subject. Six patients had a significant alpha power reduction in the hemisphere concerned during lateralized cognitive tasks, consistent with language localization in the left hemisphere according to the Wada test. The three remaining patients had no significant EEG spectral power variations. A significant decrease of alpha power in the active hemisphere during cerebral activation seems statistically related to left-hemispheric dominance for language in right-handed subjects (hemispheric specialization). However, the localization of the speech area using this electrophysiological method does not appear clinically relevant for a case-by-case decision in individual patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Task-specific plasticity of somatosensory cortex in patients with writer's cramp.

Focal dystonias such as writer's cramp are characterized by muscular cramps that accompany the execution of specific motor tasks. Until now, the pathophysiology of focal dystonia remains incompletely understood. Recent studies suggest that the development of writer's cramp is related to abnormal organization of primary somatosensory cortex (SI), which in turn leads to impaired motor function. To explore contributions of SI on mechanisms of task specificity in focal dystonia, we investigated dynamic alterations in the functional organization of SI as well as sensory-motor gating for rest, left- and right-handed writing and brushing in writer's cramp patients and healthy controls. The functional organization of somatosensory cortex was assessed by neuromagnetic source imaging (151 channel whole-head MEG). In accordance with previous reports, distances between cortical representations of thumb and little finger of the affected hand were smaller in patients compared to healthy subjects. However, similar to healthy controls, patients showed normal modulation of the functional organization of SI as induced by the execution of different motor tasks. Both in the control subjects and patients, cortical distances between representations of thumb and little finger increased when writing and brushing compared to the resting condition. Although, cramps only occured during writing, no differences in the organization of SI were seen among motor tasks. Our data suggest that despite alterations in the organization of primary somatosensory cortex in writer's cramp, the capability of SI to adapt dynamically to different tasks is not impaired.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

A qualitative analysis of medication use variance reports.

BACKGROUND: This report of a process change utilized a qualitative approach to data analysis to improve medication use safety in a large hospital. The two goals were to design a strategy to analyze the qualitative data and to use that strategy to uncover previously unclassified medication use variance patterns that could be prevented. A multidisciplinary team performed the analysis in an effort to improve the quality and yield of the approach. METHODS: All medication use variance, incident, and event reports from Yale-New Haven Hospital during April-June 2000 were collected (N = 264). A 20% random sample of the reports was distributed to a five-member evaluation group (a pharmacist, two nurses, and two physicians) for independent qualitative analysis and coding. An initial coding framework was produced using a consensus process. This coding framework was applied to another sample, and the consensus and coding processes were repeated until no new domains were identified. RESULTS: Ten general medication use variance domains were determined. In addition, 21 subdomains among the various general domains were determined. DISCUSSION: Utilizing a multidisciplinary team and a qualitative strategy of analysis improved patient safety efforts. This combination led to the discovery of new variance domains, causes, and opportunities to intervene and ultimately prevent medication use variances. This analytic approach is widely applicable, adaptable, and dynamic. The design and results of this report improve on a strictly quantitative approach to medication use variance analysis. The approach employed by this report will be used to improve medication use safety within the Yale-New Haven Health System.

Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems↗
PubMed1999

Graphology.

This paper outlines the history and highlights the uses of graphology in the health and educational setting. Graphology can be a useful tool in spotting health problems before they become too severe, and is excellent at identifying stress in the individual. Valuable insights into people's characters can be gained allowing a better understanding of ourselves and others. Examples are given in the paper of what to look for generally in assessing health, vitality, energy, willpower and originality. Other examples demonstrating specific deficiencies, such as physical weakness, poor memory, anxiety, stress, depression and lack of confidence are identified. There is growing evidence to suggest that graphology can help therapists identify hidden problems, also enabling accurate assessment of a person's response to therapy. As the clues pile up, the complexities of the writer's character, health and emotional status emerge, rather as if you were pulling together a giant jigsaw. Therapy can then be tailor-made to the individual.

Complementary Therapies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ballpoint ink flakes as indicators of added entries.

Examiners were asked to determine if an entry made in a diary had been completed at one time, or if the last sentence of the entry had been added later. Standard non-destructive ink differentiation techniques did not show any differences in the ballpoint pen ink used. Dried flakes of ballpoint pen ink were present in the initial stroke of the questioned sentence, but did not appear elsewhere in the entry. Experiments were undertaken to ascertain if these dried flakes could be attributed to a time delay or some other cause. Experimentation showed that ink flakes occurred only after periods of non-use of the ballpoint pens in the sample. Caution is urged in applying this finding to actual case work.

Forensic Medicine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An evaluation of line quality in photocopied signatures.

Qualified forensic document examiners from Canada, USA, Great Britain and Australia participated in this study. They were sent one photocopied signature, together with a set of original known standards to evaluate the line quality of the photocopied signature and compare these characteristics with the standards. They were asked to assess the photocopies for the presence of tremor, hesitation, pen lifts, patching, blunt initial or terminal strokes, and abrupt changes in direction. The authors compared the assessments with the corresponding original signatures. It was possible to determine which line quality characteristics were the most difficult to detect, which indicia of simulation were concealed and what anomalies were introduced by the photocopying process. Results indicated that line quality characteristics can be identified in average quality photocopies. Furthermore, accurate judgements can be made regarding similarities and differences in line quality when comparing a photocopied signature with original known standards. In a few instances, ink line morphology was problematic when striation patterns and ink gooping were misinterpreted as pen lifts, hesitation and patching on the photocopies.

Copying Processes↗
PubMed2000

Law and standards.

A comparison is made between the widely different processes of creating legislation and that of developing standards. Despite their very different origins, in practical terms standards can influence the development of legislation as well as demonstrating compliance with legislative requirements.

Handwriting↗
PubMed2000

Advanced tool kits for EPR security.

Responding to the challenge for efficient and high quality health care, the shared care paradigm must be established in health. In that context, information systems such as electronic patient records (EPR) have to meet this paradigm supporting communication and interoperation between the health care establishments (HCE) and health professionals (HP) involved. Due to the sensitivity of personal medical information, this co-operation must be provided in a trustworthy way. To enable different views of HCE and HP ranging from management, doctors, nurses up to systems administrators and IT professionals, a set of models for analysis, design and implementation of secure distributed EPR has been developed and introduced. The approach is based on the popular UML methodology and the component paradigm for open, interoperable systems. Easy to use tool kits deal with both application security services and communication security services but also with the security infrastructure needed. Regarding the requirements for distributed multi-user EPRs, modelling and implementation of policy agreements, authorisation and access control are especially considered. Current developments for a security infrastructure in health care based on cryptographic algorithms as health professional cards (HPC), security services employing digital signatures, and health-related TTP services are discussed. CEN and ISO initiatives for health informatics standards in the context of secure and communicable EPR are especially mentioned.

Algorithms↗