IDENTIFICATION OF PFRIODIC COMPONENTS IN PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS

Baseline diastolic blood pressure measurements made on a single subject for 120 consecutive days were utilized to demonstrate the use of autocorrelation techniques for the identification of cycles of one or more periods present in the data. Provided only a single period is present, averaging techniques using this period as the base may be used to smooth the data. However, few physiological variables cycle so simply. Smoothing not only may introduce spurious cycles, but it also eliminates much non-random (and, therefore, meaningful) variance.     

Tongue strength and endurance: Comparison in active and non-active young and older adults

Purpose: Tongue strength and endurance are important for swallowing and upper airway patency. Physical activity positively affects targeted and non-targeted skeletal muscles; however, little is known about the indirect effect of physical activity on tongue muscles. This study sought to determine if tongue muscle performance differs between highly active and non-active individuals and if such an effect varies with age.

Method: Forty-eight healthy adults were divided into two age groups (24 young, 20.96?±?3.22 years; 24 older, 65?±?3.72 years) and further divided into highly active and non-active based on The General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire. Tongue strength (TS) and tongue endurance (TE) were obtained using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument.

Result: A significant main effect of activity level on TS and TE was found. Although the main effect of age on TS and TE and age?×?activity level interactions were not significant, the effect of activity level on TS and TE was more pronounced in older adults than younger adults.

Conclusion: Findings suggest physical activity may affect TS and TE, particularly in older adults. Future research is warranted to understand the underlying mechanisms contributing to these group differences. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

THE INTERACTION OF EXTRAVERSION AND NEUROTICISM IN ORIENTING RESPONSE HABITUATION

Twenty different consonant trigrams were presented individually to 38 observers in a standard OR habituation paradigm while the GSRs and BSRs were recorded. The observers were later categorized according to extraversion and neuroticism (anxiety) scores. All observers evidenced habituation in varying degrees to these dissimilar stimuli; however, the stable observers responded to more of the stimuli than did the neurotics. This basic neuroticism effect was modified by the extraversion factor as shown by response magnitudes: stable introverts and neurotic extraverts habituated differently than did the stable extraverts and neurotic introverts. This significant extraversion × neuroticism interaction was also present, in the same form, in the BSR data: stable introverts and neurotic extraverts had declining BSR values, while with stable extraverts and neurotic introverts, the BSRs increased (i.e., they became less attentive).     

Pediatric Hodgkin's disease: pulmonary, cardiac, and thyroid function following combined modality therapy

Since pediatric Hodgkin's disease is a curable malignancy, it is essential to limit treatment sequelae. This study examines post-treatment pulmonary, cardiac, and thyroid function in 34 children, ages 5 to 17 (23 male and 11 female) with Hodgkin's disease. All received combined modality therapy of 6 cycles of alternating ABVD/MOPP chemotherapy and low dose (1500-2500 cGy) involved field radiotherapy. Mean follow-up period is 27.5 months with actuarial freedom from relapse of 94% and survival of 92%. Twenty asymptomatic patients underwent pulmonary function testing following chemotherapy and supradiaphragmatic radiotherapy. Eleven patients had post-treatment carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO) performed. Six of 11 children (55%) had abnormal values (mean 66%, range 58-80) showing either a reduced DLCO compared to pretreatment or an low absolute value. Eight of the twenty patients (40%) tested post-treatment for FEV1, FVC, TLC and flow volume loop had abnormal results. Six showed restrictive abnormalities and two had obstructive dysfunction. Fourteen patients underwent cardiac nuclear gated angiogram after completion of chemotherapy. Two asymptomatic patients (14%) had abnormal scans showing either a low resting ejection fraction or a decreased response to exercise. Thyroid function was evaluated post-treatment in twenty-one patients by TSH, T4, free T4 or sensitive TSH analysis. Four (21%) had an elevated TSH with a normal T4 after treatment. Although post-treatment thyroid and cardiac effects were minimal, post-treatment pulmonary dysfunction in asymptomatic patients was substantial with more than 50% of tested children demonstrating an abnormal DLCO and 40% showing restrictive or obstructive pulmonary parameters. These abnormalities were observed following a maximum bleomycin dose of 60 units/m2. Bleomycin and pulmonary radiotherapy have adverse effects on diffusing capacity and the long-term pulmonary sequlae of combined ABVD chemotherapy and radiotherapy are unknown. Our analysis suggests that even in asymptomatic children, pulmonary abnormalities are frequent.