Zimmermann-Laband syndrome: further clinical delineation.

Zimmermann-Laband syndrome (ZLS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by gingival fibromatosis, absent or dysplastic distal phalanges, vertebral defects, hepatosplenomegaly, hypertrichosis and sometimes mental retardation. We describe two unrelated patients, a girl aged 9 years and a boy 11 months whose clinical and radiological findings permit us to diagnose the ZLS. Body overgrowth, present in both patients, was identified as a main clinical feature not previously reported as well as the presence in neuroimaging studies of a cavernous hemangioma on the frontal and the left cerebellar regions in the boy. The girl also presented important radiological characteristics such as broad medulary canals and metaphyses of long bones, thin cortices, broad ribs, accelerated skeletal maturation as well as high intelligence level. A wide clinical spectrum in ZLS is also considered.

Parenting of young children by fathers in Mexico and the United States.

In the present study, the parenting practices and developmental expectations were examined in a sample of 96 fathers from Mexico and the United States, all with children from 1 to 5 years of age. The selection of fathers from both countries was controlled for the family's socioeconomic status (SES) and for the age and gender of their children. The Parent Behavior Checklist, a 100-item rating scale was used to measure parents' developmental expectations and their discipline and nurturing practices. According to the results, Mexican and U.S. fathers did not differ significantly in their developmental expectations or parenting practices. In both countries, fathers from lower SES families were less nurturing and used more frequent discipline than fathers from higher SES families.

[Cross-cultural comparisons of the Parenting Inventory for Adults and Adolescents]. / Comparaciones transculturales del Inventario de Paternidad para Adultos y Adolescentes.

This paper compares the normative point count of the Parenting Inventory for Adults and Adolescents (PIAA) with the points of the fathers of a family (n = 336) and adolescents (n = 357) in the city of Guadalajara. The comparisons were studied in the four dimensions of paternity which have proven clinically and experimentally valid for detection of child abuse and maltreatment. An analysis of the points obtained by fathers of children in private and public schools, as well as the points acquired by Mexican female adolescents were compared with white and black adolescents (in USA), as well as pregnant and non-pregnant ones. The object of the study was to know the point count of Mexican females on the PIAA, and contrast the count with those considered normative and those of pregnant adolescents, who are considered a high risk due to paternal abuse. The results show the Mexican fathers acquire less points with respect to the adolescents, when compared with the respective normative tables. The significance of these facts of low point count is discussed in terms of identifying child abuse and maltreatment in the Mexican child population of different social and economic strata as compared with other risk groups.

Is the matching familiar figures test a measure of cognitive style? A warning for users.

A probabilistic model of reflection-impulsivity as measured by the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) is presented and tested on 77 fourth graders. In testing the model two groups emerged, a random response group (n = 22) and a cognitive response group (n = 55), who use the evaluation process. Correlations among latencies, total errors, initial errors, school-scores, and IQs were compared for our total sample and the two groups. The correlation of MFFT latencies and errors disappeared for the random-response group and new correlations with errors appeared while the cognitive response group kept a statistically significant correlation of latencies with errors and no other error correlation was shown. This last group was classified by Kagan's median-split procedure showing that most reflective subjects kept their classification. Preliminary results suggest a reinterpretation of reflection-impulsivity literature, especially as related to the impulsive style.

Children's human figure drawings and impulsive style at two levels of socioeconomic status.

The relationship between children's reflection-impulsivity styles and their human figure drawings was examined for a sample of Mexican children of middle (n = 97) and low (n = 110) socioeconomic status. Drawings were scored for Developmental, Emotional, and Impulsivity indicators. As in previous research with American preschoolers, the drawings of 23 Mexican preschoolers did not correlate with the styles; however, significant relationships between the styles and Impulsivity scores of older children of low status (n = 87) were also found, suggesting that, when a higher-level of impulsivity is present in a population, a relationship between styles and drawings may be observed. The findings for low-status preschoolers, even their higher Impulsivity scores, support the notion that Kagan's measure of impulsivity is not appropriate for use with younger children.

Response of rats to seizure stimulus modified by feeding.

Wistar (W) and Sprague-Dawley (S.D.) rats responded differently to electroshock and metrazole test when fed with two diets (A and B). Latency periods of B for male (m) and female (f) were: W.m. greater than W.f. (P less than 0.001); W.m. greater than S.D.m. (P less than 0.05); S.D.f. greater than W.m. (P less than 0.001); S.D.m. B greater than S.D.m. A (P less than 0.001); W.m. B greater than W and S.D.m. A (P less than 0.001). Preconvulsive period for B were: W.f. and m. greater than S.D.f. and m. (P less than 0.001); W.m. greater than S.D.m. (P less than 0.001); W.m. greater than S.D.f. (P less than 0.001); S.D.m. greater than S.D.f. (P less than 0.001) and W.m. greater than W.f. (P less than 0.001). Effects of A were negligible. Phenytoin and phenobarbital protected against electroshock.

Alteraciones psicologicas en ninos expuestos a ambientes domesticos ricos en plomo / Psychological changes in children exposed to a lead-rich home environments

Ya en trabajos anteriores los autores habian advertido que ninos de familias productoras de ceramica en el pueblo de Tonala, Mexico, tienden a presentar concentraciones sanguineas de plomo mas elevadas que los ninos de esa misma poblacion cuyos padres tienen otras ocupaciones. El objetivo del estudio que se presenta aqui fue determinar, por medio de las pruebas de inteligencia Wechsler y Bender-Gestalt, si un grupo de ninos de este pueblo con concentraciones elevadas de plomo en sangre (mayores de 40 microgramo/dl) evidenciaban anormalidades psicologicas, en comparacion con otro grupo cuyas concentraciones sanguineas eran relativamente bajas.Os resultados indican que el grupo con alta concentracion de plomo tuvo coeficiente medios verbal de rendimiento y total mas bajos que el grupo testigo y tambien que el deficit medio entre la edad mental y la cronologica fue mayor en este grupo. Ademas del saturnismo, sin duda intervinieron en el desarrollo de las anormalidades observadas factores socioeconomicos. No obstante, la comparacion de los resultados de las pruebas en ambos grupos es al parecer demostrativa de que los ninos en el grupo con concentraciones elevadas de plomo tienden a presentar un desarrollo mental retardado

Lead exposure in two pottery handicraft populations.

Lead poisoning studies were carried out in the populations of two potter towns in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. The first population in Tonalá included 198 people who use lead monoxide (PbO) in making pottery. The second population in El Rosario included 187 people who do not use any lead salt in the pottery-making process. The studies included children, adolescents and adults of both sexes. Analyses for lead in the blood (Pb-B), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Ht), and urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA U) were carried out. In the population exposed to lead, abnormally high lead concentrations in blood and urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid were found in both sexes and in all age groups studied. When compared to the control group, the differences are statistically significant. The Hb and Ht results fell within the lower normal limits in both populations. No cases of acute lead poisoning were found, but the high amount of lead absorption in the Tonalá population may be caused by the rudimentary means of manufacturing their products.

[Quantitative analysis of the electroencephalographic activity during human sleep]. / Análisis cuantitativo de la actividad electroencefalo-gráfica durante el sueño del hombre

Correlation of hormonal changes and EEG activity requires objective measurements to define the behavior of the different frequency bands during sleep. With this purpose, EEG activity of six healthy male volunteers (19-22 years) was recorded throughout all night during spontaneous sleep. The C4-left mastoid EEG combination was channeled to a frequency analyzer with four band pass filters (beta, alpha, theta, and delta) using a one minute averaging interval. Analyzer data were fed to an IBM-1130 computer, programmed with RC filter recursive algorithm. Sleep stages were characterized in the polygraphic record (Rechtshaffen criteria), and identified in the smoothed profile. The latter was computed for mean voltage value of each band during the sleep stages. Differences in the behavior of each band throughout sleep stages were statistically tested. Delta activity showed the highest discriminatory capacity characterized by a statistically different mean voltage value in all sleep stages, with the exception of R-I. The method is proposed for quantitative correlation of the EEG sleep phenomena with another physiological parameters.