The efficacy of the Canter Background Interference Procedure in identifying children with cerebral dysfunction.

Compared the Canter Background Interference Procedure (BIP) for the Bender-Gestalt Test using 3 groups of 8-12 yr olds: a cerebral dysfunction (n = 66), an emotionally disturbed (n = 39), and a control (n = 63) group. Ss with cerebral dysfunction performed more poorly on the Bender itself and both scores deteriorated more on the BIP than did those of Ss in the other 2 groups. The emotionally disturbed and control groups did not differ. Applications of the BIP to the detection of cerebral dysfunction in children is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-validation of the Canter Background Interference Procedure in identifying children with cerebral dysfunction.

Cross-validated previous work indicating promise for the Canter Background Interference Procedure (BIP) as a technique for diagnosing cerebral dysfunction (CD) in children. Groups of 40 minimal-CD, 41 overt-CD, and 116 no-CD 6–16 yr olds were studied. An overall "hit" rate of 81% was found in the 12–26 yr olds and of 60% in the 6–21 yr olds. Results raise questions about the clinical use of the BIP to "diagnose" cerebral dysfunction in children. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance of normal and organic brain-damaged subjects on the Canter Background Interference Procedure test as a function of drive.

Examines the effect of increasing levels of drive on performance on the Canter Background Interference Procedure (Canter BIP), a modification of the Bender-Gestalt test. Ss were 30 brain-damaged and 60 normal adults. Drive was manipulated by the use of an array of intersecting curved lines (BIP paper) on a 2nd administration of the Bender-Gestalt test, and by threat and actual delivery of electric shock. As hypothesized, a U-shaped function was obtained for normal Ss in which initial increases in drive produced improvement in performance, but further increases resulted in decrements. As was also hypothesized, a linear relationship was obtained with the organic Ss in which all increases in drive level produced decrements in performance. Results were viewed as consistent with a motivational interpretation of the BIP effect. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age effects and revised scoring of the Canter BIP for identifying children with cerebral dysfunction.

Performed an item analysis of the Canter Background Interference Procedure (BIP), a test for brain damage, to select items and weight them to maximize the efficiency of discriminating children with cerebral dysfunction from those with no dysfunction. Attempts to improve discrimination of these 2 groups of Ss on the BIP were successful only after age differences were considered, especially between 10- and 11-yr-old children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding the influence of demographic and psychological variables on retirement planning.

The authors examined the degree to which workers were engaging in financial, health, interpersonal/leisure, and work planning for retirement, exploring whether demographic and psychological variables inhibited or promoted planning in each of these domains. Planning in each domain was influenced by a unique set of variables. Goals emerged as a consistent and positive predictor of planning. Gender accounted for health and interpersonal/leisure planning, while work planning behavior was negatively predicted by income. Time perspective also helped to clarify the amount of retirement planning undertaken in the financial and interpersonal/leisure domains. Practical implications for designing retirement interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The SVIB for women and demographic variables in the prediction of occupational tenure.

8 demographic variables and selected scales of the women's SVIB were incorporated in 2 types of prediction equations for 198 occupational therapists and 255 physical therapists. A double cross-validation design was used to develop and test 4 multiple regression and 4 reciprocal averages equations. 5 of the demographic variables correlated significantly with tenure, but none of the SVIB scales proved to be stable predictors. The method of reciprocal averages prediction yielded equations which proved more stable across samples and differed less shrinkage than those produced by the multiple regression technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Borderline personality-disordered alcoholics in Iceland: Descriptions on demographic, clinical, and MMPI variables.

A particular Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) high-point configuration was found to describe borderline personality disorder within a general alcoholic inpatient population. We also partially replicated, in an Icelandic sample of alcoholics, the findings of Nace, Saxon, and Shore (1983) on the clinical and demographic characteristics of borderline patients. Subjects were 51 male and female inpatient alcoholics consecutively admitted to an Icelandic psychiatric hospital. Gunderson's Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines and the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test were used to diagnose borderline personality disorder and alcoholism, respectively. As predicted, a particular MMPI high-point configuration characterized alcoholics with borderline personality disorder but did not characterize nonborderline patients. Borderline patients were also more likely to be younger, to abuse other psychotropic drugs besides alcohol, and to have a family history of mental illness. The finding of a borderline personality-disordered subgroup among alcoholics contests the view of alcoholism as a unitary disease and has implications for treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia and affective disorders: Behavioral correlates of diagnostic and demographic variables.

Time sampled observations of objectively defined ward behaviors in 116 schizophrenic, affective, and schizoaffective patients during baseline and medication periods revealed that schizophrenics displayed less scanning, social interaction, participation, and laughing/smiling. S. E. Tureff's (1978) Observational Record of Inpatient Behavior was used. The behavioral measures were relatively insensitive to demographic variables and strongly dependent on environmental context, but the measures did not change greatly over time for the major diagnostic categories, in spite of pharmacological interventions that included therapeutic doses of antipsychotic, antidepressant, and antimanic drugs. However, within diagnostic categories, patient clusters were extracted on the basis of amount and direction of behavior change, and for the affective patients, differential change was predictable from baseline response frequencies. Findings are discussed in terms of their potential usefulness for exploring dose-response and rate-dependence effects of psychotropic drugs in clinical populations and in terms of their potential for contributing to the resolution of the responder–nonresponder controversy in pharmacopsychiatry. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological-experimental study on the effects of tranquilizers (diazepam and a drug under investigation) considering personality variables (author's transl)

Three doses of a substance from the thieonodiazepine series (BAY g 5653), a drug under investigation, were tested as well as 5 mg of diazepam and a placebo, including a condition with no medication. 180 healthy male student volunteers, previously classified according to emotional stability/lability, took part in the study following a double-blind procedure. All subjects received white noise discontinuously with an intensity of 95 dBA. From the subjective and objective test variables employed, only the results from an adjective check list were evaluated fro the present paper. Diazepam showed some typical but not very strong effects. BAY g 5653 showed also little difference from placebo. There were some positive effects in the group of emotionally stable under stress.     

Use of demographic variables to predict overall level of performance on the Halstead-Reitan Battery.

Developed and cross-validated an equation that uses demographic variables (sex, age, education, race, occupational categories) to predict average level of performance on the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery by using a sample of 491 15–81 yr old neurologically normal Ss (mean WAIS IQ 112.8). Regression analysis predicted 65% of the variance in the Average Impairment Rating (59% in cross-validation). It is concluded that demographic variables are useful in providing a context for evaluation of cognitive functioning in Ss with known or suspected brain disorders. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality diagnosis with the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP): Integrating clinical and statistical measurement and prediction.

This article describes the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP), a personality assessment instrument intended for use by clinically experienced interviewers, designed to maximize both psychometric precision and clinical relevance. The article focuses on the latest edition of the instrument, the SWAP-II; its use in 2 recently completed large-sample projects; and the ways in which data from these projects are being used to revise and refine concepts of personality pathology and taxonomy. The article first details the development of the SWAP and its psychometric rationale. It then examines the use of SWAP data for purposes of (a) improving diagnostic criteria within the framework of the existing Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders taxonomy, (b) developing a new classification of personality pathology based on empirically identified diagnostic groupings, and (c) identifying trait dimensions relevant to understanding personality syndromes and disorders. Finally, the article discusses future research directions and challenges. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding L.O.V.E. (left out variables error): A method for estimating the effects of omitted variables.

Whenever nonexperimental methods are used to test a hypothesis and 1 or more predictor (independent) variables that may affect the criterion (dependent) variable are omitted from the analyses, it is possible that the estimates of the effects of the predictors are biased or that the omitted variable could account entirely for the effects attributed to one or more of the predictors. In this article, a technique is developed for determining when a variable omitted from a linear model can account for the effects attributed to a predictor included in that model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of three variables on children's concepts of physical causality.

"This study investigated the effects of 3 variables on children's concepts of physical casuality. It was found that: (1) The nature of the causal thinking of withdrawn children is at a significantly less mature level than the causal thinking of normal children. (2) Questions about phenomena whose causal agents are not accessible to direct experience yielded significantly more nonnaturalistic responses than did questions about phenomena whose causal agents are more ascessible. (3) Questions worded so as to suggest the possible operation of 'animistic,' 'supernatural,' or 'dynamic' forces yielded more such nonnaturalistic types of responses than questions less suggestively worded." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The diagnosis of IgD-Myelomatosis (author's transl)

Two patients with IgD-lambda myelomatosis are presented and the differential diagnosis is discussed. Typical features of this disease are the high incidence of Bence-Jones proteinuria, osteolytic lesions, amyloidosis and the predominance of male patients. Furthermore, an augmentation of serum IgD level to 165 mg% was observed in a 22-year-old female patient with presumed Coxsackie myocarditis. The theories in regard to IgD function are discussed.     

Prediction of return to work following traumatic brain injury: Intellectual, memory, and demographic variables.

Objective: To identify predictors of return to work for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Study Design: Data gathered from a retrospective chart review that included predictor variables (demographic, intellectual, and memory) and an outcome variable (employment status 1 year postprogram) were entered into a logistical regression analysis. Setting: A Commission for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities-accredited outpatient brain injury program. Participants: Forty-three adults with TBI who completed the brain injury program. Main Outcome Measure: Employment status at 1 -year follow-up. Results: Individuals with higher scores on measures of Performance IQ and Verbal Memory were more likely to return to work. Conclusions: When the effects of many demographic variables are controlled for, intelligence and memory variables can provide valuable information to patients, families, and service providers (e.g., rehabilitation centers) with regard to returning to work after TBI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of dual diagnosis on pregnancy and parenting

The desire to give birth and nurture can be significant for women with mental illness and substance-abuse disorders, despite the many internal and external barriers to the effective achievement of these desires. This article provides information on the effect of coexisting mental illness and alcohol or other drug dependency on pregnancy from a medical, obstetric, psychiatric, and psychologic perspective. The article also explores the effect on parenting and highlights the need to assess for parental competency in this population. Treatment planning, including the use of psychotropic medication and the need for collaboration between providers is discussed.     

The electric organ discharge of Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus. The effects of environmental variables on waveform generation

The electric organ discharge of Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus was studied by recording (1) the discharge field potentials in water at different conductivities and temperatures and (2) the spatiotemporal pattern of electromotive forces of the equivalent source. An early deflection, head positive (P wave), and a late deflection, head negative (N wave), are the major components of the discharge, however a striking double positive peak is generated at the abdominal level. Comparisons of this species with other pulse gymnotids provide evidence for common patterns of organization of the electrogenic system: (1) There is a head-to-tail activation wave along the fish; (2) the electromotive force increases exponentially from head to tail, but it is differentially attenuated by the passive tissues in male and females; (3) the abdominal region generates a complex species-specific waveform, whereas the tail discharge is similar across species. In B. pinnicaudatus the electric organ discharge waveform is sensitive to endocrine and environmental stimuli. The effect of seasonal sex differences on electrogenic and passive tissue, the changes in impedance matching between the fish's body and the environment, and the modulation of membrane properties by temperature, are able to modify the EOD waveform. Since these factors change during the breeding season, their appropriate combination might be crucial for reproduction.     

The effects of selected variables on problems facing handicapped in the United Arab Emirates

An ovarian gynandroblastoma in a 15-year-old girl is described. The predominant component was juvenile granulosa cell tumour. Areas of adult granulosa cell tumour and Sertoli cell elements were also present. Stromal theca and luteinised cells were identified. An additional histological finding was the presence of heterologous intestinal type glands. There was positive immunohistochemical staining of juvenile and adult granulosa cell areas with inhibin and MIC2 antibodies. Electronmicroscopy showed a close ultrastructural resemblance between tumour cells in granulosa and Sertoli cell areas, in spite of differences in architectural pattern, suggesting that both morphological components may derive from a single cell of origin. The tumour demonstrates a unique combination of elements which has not previously been described.     

The pharmacological effects of certain compounds on lipoprotein(a)

Lipoprotein(a) represents a cholesterol ester, LDL-like particle with apo B-100 linked to apo (a). Lp(a) is a fascinating subject of research because of its presumed association with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The reported results do not encourage optimism. Drugs like niacin or fibrates when used alone have been attended by mixed results. Neither clofibrate nor bezafibrate, which reduce the VLDL concentration, affect LP(a) levels. Neither the ion-exchange resin cholestyramine, nor the HMG CoA reductase inhibitor lovastatin reduce the serum concentration of Lp(a). But, we must keep in mind that drugs used to lower plasma Lp(a) levels were designed for apo B and not apo B-apo(a) containing particles. Thus, it may be necessary to develop drugs specifically targeted to Lp(a).