Are Compulsive Checkers Impaired in Memory? A Meta‐Analytic Review

Researchers have hypothesized that compulsive checkers suffer from impairment in explicit memory (e.g., Sher, Frost, & Otto, 1983 ), low confidence in explicit memory (e.g., McNally & Kohlbeck, 1993 ), or both. However, empirical findings have been equivocal, possibly due to variability in effect sizes produced by small samples. Combining data across studies may yield more meaningful conclusions than can be surmised from a narrative review. Following a brief review of the literature on checking and memory, we present meta-analytic results suggesting that checkers are impaired on many types of memory tasks (e.g., verbal free recall, verbal cued recall, and recall of actions) and are less confident in recognition than noncheckers. We discuss implications of these findings, suggestions for future research, and limitations of this analysis.     

Properties of a filamentous virus of the honey bee (Apis mellifera)

An ellipsoidal particle, measuring 450 x 150 nm, from honey bees comprises a nucleocapsid measuring 3000 x 40 nm, containing double-stranded DNA with a molecular weight of approximately 12 x 10(6), which is coiled within a membrane. The buoyant densities in CsCl of the whole particle, nucleocapsid, DNA and DNA with ethidium bromide are 1.28, 1.36, 1.71 and 1.61 g/ml, respectively. The particle contains about 12 proteins, with molecular weights ranging from 13,000 to 70,000, which are distributed approximately equally between the membrane and the nucleocapsid.     

Antiphospholipid antibodies and the outcome of pregnancy after the first in-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer cycle

Increased antiphospholipid antibody prevalence has been demonstrated by a number of recent studies in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) patients but the potential effects of antiphospholipid antibodies on the different components of the reproductive process and the consideration of whether to test IVF patients for antiphospholipid antibodies are controversial. The present study was undertaken to investigate the possible association between the presence of circulating antiphospholipid antibodies (namely the lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibodies), among a series of 21 consecutive IVF patients having a clinical spontaneous abortion after their first embryo transfer. As a control group (n=42), the nearest IVF cycle resulting in an ongoing pregnancy before and after each miscarried IVF cycle (i.e. the closest cycles in temporal relationship to the index cycle) was used. One patient (4.8%) in the study group and two women (4.8%) among controls were seropositive for antiphospholipid antibodies. These low and similar seropositivity rates found in the two groups studied lead us to conclude that antiphospholipid antibodies testing in IVF patients should be considered only in those women having repeated failures of implantation/clinical abortion after embryo transfer but not in an infertile general population reaching an IVF programme.      

Assessment of bioequivalence after subcutaneous and intramuscular administration of urinary gonadotrophins

The objective was to demonstrate bioequivalence between s.c. and i.m. administration of Humegon (FSH/LH ratio 1:1) and Normegon (FSH/LH ratio 3:1). In two randomized, single-centre, cross-over studies, 18 healthy volunteers on each formulation were assigned to one of the two administration sequences. Subjects were given single doses of one of the above gonadotrophins after endogenous gonadotrophin production had first been suppressed using high-dose oral contraceptive. Subsequently, rate (Cmax, tmax) and extent (AUC) of absorption of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were determined for 14 days. For Cmax and AUC, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on log-transformed data and for tmax ANOVA was performed on ranks. Intramuscular and s.c. injections of Humegon were bioequivalent with respect to the main pharmacokinetic parameters, being AUC and Cmax of FSH absorption. Intramuscular and s.c. injections of Normegon were bioequivalent with respect to the AUC of FSH and not bioequivalent with respect to the Cmax of FSH. For tmax of FSH as well as for most LH variables of both preparations, bioequivalence could not be proven due to the high intra- and interindividual variability and/or concentrations being close to the detection limit. Thus, the main pharmacokinetic FSH variables after i.m. and s.c. administration of Humegon and Normegon were bioequivalent.      

Initial evaluation of a continuous speech recognition program for radiology

The aims of this work were to measure the accuracy of one continuous speech recognition product and dependence on the speaker's gender and status as a native or nonnative English speaker, and evaluate the product's potential for routine use in transcribing radiology reports. IBM MedSpeak/Radiology software, version 1.1 was evaluated by 6 speakers. Two were nonnative English speakers, and 3 were men. Each speaker dictated a set of 12 reports. The reports included neurologic and body imaging examinations performed with 6 different modalities. The dictated and original report texts were compared, and error rates for overall, significant, and subtle significant errors were computed. Error rate dependence on modality, native English speaker status, and gender were evaluated by performing ttests. The overall error rate was 10.3 +/- 3.3%. No difference in accuracy between men and women was found; however, significant differences were seen for overall and significant errors when comparing native and nonnative English speakers (P = .009 and P = .008, respectively). The speech recognition software is approximately 90% accurate, and while practical implementation issues (rather than accuracy) currently limit routine use of this product throughout a radiology practice, application in niche areas such as the emergency room currently is being pursued. This methodology provides a convenient way to compare the initial accuracy of different speech recognition products, and changes in accuracy over time, in a detailed and sensitive manner.     

Hypothalamo-adenohypophyseal-thyroid interrelationships in the developing chick embryo. VII. Immunocytochemical demonstration of thyrotrophin-releasing hormone

Thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH) was demonstrated immunocytochemically in the infundibulum of the chick embryo as early as Day 4.5 of incubation. From Days 4.5 through 19.5 of embryonic development there is a gradual increase within the developing hypothalamus in the number of TRH-positive perikarya as well as the amount of immunoreactive-TRH (IR-TRH) per cell. There are no abrupt changes in either parameter during the critical time period (Days 10.5-13.5 of incubation) in the maturation of the pituitary-thyroid axis. Thus, although TRH is probably not directly responsible for the dramatic increase in the number of thyrotrophin-producing cells which occurs in the pars distalis of 10.5- to 11.5-day-old embryos (R. C. Thommes, J. B. Martens, W. E. Hopkins, J. Caliendo, M. J. Sorrentino, and J. E. Woods (1983). Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 51, 434-443) the marked change in the activity of the pituitary-thyroid unit at this time may well reflect the response of these newly differentiated thyrothrophs to low levels of plasma TRH. This hypothesis is supported by the observations that between Days 10.5 and 11.5 the hypothalamic-adenohypophyseal-thyroid (HAT) axis is first responsive to cold (R. C. Thommes, J. B. Martens, J. B. Hopkins, D. A. Griesbach, D. J. Williams, M. J. Sorrentino, P. Wernke, and J. E. Woods. In "Proceedings, Ninth International Symposium on Comparative Endocrinology Hong Kong, 7-11 December 1981" (B. Lofts, ed.). Hong Kong Univ. Press, Hong Kong, in press) and also that the pituitary-thyroid unit exhibits a marked increase in its sensitivity to exogenous TRH (R. C. Thommes, D. J. Williams, and J. E. Woods (1984). Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 55, 275-279).