A selected review of current retinal research and study

The present paper reviews recent studies of retinal pathology from the American and British Journals of Ophthalmology during a one-year period (1973-1974). Selection is on the basis of potential value to clinical optometrists. Certain underlying factors in several types of retinal degeneration are first discussed, followed by characteristics of diabetic maculopathy and of other types of macular degeneration including that due to aging. Some material is presented on retinopathies related to sickle cell traits, to viral and worm infections, and to injury. Following a review of certain recent studies of retinoschisis, retinoblastoma, and retrolental fibroplasia, a concluding section deals with retinal detachments and breaks.     

Prevention of microstomia following facial burns

A polymorphic dinucleotide (CA) repeat sequence was isolated from a genomic clone containing the human calcitonin gene at 11p15.2-p15.1. This polymorphism will be a useful marker in the genetic study of disorders affecting calcium metabolism including hyperparathyroidism, hypoparathyroidism, and osteoporosis.     

Contemporary issues in counseling psychology: A selected review.

As a psychology specialty, counseling psychology has confronted and dealt with many issues since its inception. Currently, a number of highly challenging issues continue to confront counseling psychology. In this article I provide a selected review of contemporary issues affecting counseling psychology. In my review I supplement previous issue publications by drawing on recent developments emerging in counseling psychology over the past several years. The three areas reviewed are (a) changing work settings and work roles, (b) identity issues, and (c) educational and training issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multilevel selected primary prevention of child maltreatment.

Few treatment studies and even fewer primary prevention studies have demonstrated successful reduction of child maltreatment. Successful preventive interventions have often been lengthy and expensive; shorter programs have been didactic and ineffective. The present investigation relied on a 7-level model of successful parenting to mount a time-limited, "selected" prevention effort with high-risk mothers. This program included modeling, role-playing, Socratic dialogue, home practice, and home visits. The study demonstrated effective intervention at every level of the model, including improvements in (a) parenting skills, (b) developmentally appropriate interventions, (c) developmentally appropriate beliefs, (d) negative affect, (e) acceptance of a responsible parent role, (f) acceptance of a nurturing parent role, and (g) self-efficacy. Directions for future research are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficacy of relapse prevention: A meta-analytic review.

Although relapse prevention (RP) has become a widely adopted cognitive-behavioral treatment intervention for alcohol, smoking, and other substance use, outcome studies have yielded an inconsistent picture of the efficacy of this approach or conditions for maximal effectiveness. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the overall effectiveness of RP and the extent to which certain variables may relate to treatment outcome. Twenty-six published and unpublished studies with 70 hypothesis tests representing a sample of 9,504 participants were included in the analysis. Results indicated that RP was generally effective, particularly for alcohol problems. Additionally, outcome was moderated by several variables. Specifically, RP was most effective when applied to alcohol or polysubstance use disorders, combined with the adjunctive use of medication, and when evaluated immediately following treatment using uncontrolled pre–post tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial approaches to smoking prevention: A review of findings.

Reviewed 27 school-based studies of psychosocial approaches to smoking prevention. The social influences approach and the broader life/social skills approaches are represented. Reported results were fairly consistent, with each tested program seeming to reduce smoking onset by about 50%. However, none of the pilot or prototype studies considered alone provided easily interpreted results. The major contributions were improved programs and methods. The findings from studies primarily concerned with maximizing internal validity were more easily interpreted, although only 2 of the 6 studies in this group were interpreted with high confidence. It is concluded that psychosocial approaches to smoking prevention, particularly the social influences approach, seem to be effective, but at this time little is known about why, for whom, or under what conditions. (5 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A review of selected noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the National Football League

During five football seasons, from 1989 through 1993, 61 surgically proven, noncontact, anterior cruciate ligament injuries, were identified from among 22 National Football League teams. The variables of surface, shoe type, playing conditions, and whether or not the shoe was spatted were identified for each reported injury. Forty noncontact injuries occurred in conventional cleated shoes on natural grass, and 21 occurred on an artificial surface. Almost half of all injuries (47.5%) occurred during game-day exposures despite the fact that the practice versus game-day exposure rate was 5:1. Of these injuries, 95.2% (N = 58) occurred on a dry field. The factors of cleat and shoe type, type of surface (natural versus artificial), surface conditions (wet/dry), and the effect of "spatting" a shoe are presented. The significance of these factors and their likelihood to be associated with injury is analyzed by use of a statistical tool, the incidence density ratio.     

A quantitative literature review of the effectiveness of suicide prevention centers.

Qualitative literature reviews suggest that mixed evidence exists concerning whether suicide prevention centers have attracted individuals at risk for suicide and have lowered suicide rates in the communities they serve. In the present investigation, the more formal methods of meta-analysis were applied to several series of studies to evaluate more objectively the effectiveness of prevention centers. Results indicate that centers do attract a high-risk population: center clients were more likely to commit suicide than were members of the general population, and individuals who committed suicide were more likely to have been clients than were members of the general population. However, existing studies, when considered as a set, provide no evidence of center effects on community suicide rates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blepharoplasty: A classification of selected techniques in the treatment and prevention of lower lid margin distortions

The topographic relations of complex structures and the morphogenesis of organ systems can only be fully understood in their three-dimensional context. Three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of physically sectioned specimens has become an indispensable tool in modern anatomical and embryological research. Teaching also makes increasingly use of 3-D representations, in particular in the case of embryonic systems that undergo complicated transformations of form and shape. At present no cheap and simple technique is available that generates accurate 3-D models of sectioned objects. In this study we describe a novel technique that rapidly provides faithful 3-D models of sectioned specimens. The images are captured directly from the cutting surface of the embedding block after each sectioning and "on block" staining step. Automatic image processing generates a stack of binary images of the specimen contour. Binary images of internal structures are obtained both by automatic segmentation and manual tracing. Since these image series are inherently aligned, they can be reconstructed three-dimensionally without time-consuming alignment procedures. The quality and the flexibility of the method are demonstrated by reconstructing three kinds of specimens of different histological composition and staining contrast: a 4 mm mouse embryo together with several of its inner organs, a cavernous sinus region of a human infant, and a segment of a human carotid artery. Very short processing times and the faithful representation of complex structural arrangements recommend this technique for routine use in morphological research and for creating embryologic teaching models or 3-D embryonic staging series.     

Parent education as parent-centered prevention: A review of school-related outcomes.

Parent education can be conceptualized as parent-targeted prevention programs targeting universal or at-risk populations. Sixteen studies of parent education programs with school-related populations were identified and coded for treatment efficacy and methodological rigor. Results found that the effectiveness of the parent education studies varied considerably. Methodological strengths included sufficiently large sample sizes, valid and reliable measures, and random assignment, while weaknesses included lack of sufficient follow-up data and failure to isolate the effects of the parent education component in multicomponent studies. It is concluded that future research should measure the parent education component individually in multicomponent designs and establish a standard for follow-up analyses of at least one year extending beyond initial post-assessment measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hiring, training, and retaining the hard-core unemployed: A selected review.

Reviews studies concerning the hiring, training, and retaining of the hard-core unemployed. Evidence indicates that the characteristics of the hard-core unemployed (e.g., age, sex, and marital status) and the characteristics of the supervisory and counseling roles and their occupants are related to turnover. Although training does not seem to affect the propensity to terminate, it does have both functional and dysfunctional effects on work attitudes. Job structure, pay level, and other organizational variables are related to turnover. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive disorders in mentally retarded children. A review of selected literature. Part II

1. The metabolism of 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-methyl-2-(3-pyridyl)-1-propanone (2-MPMP) was studied in the male Sprague-Dawley rat after 50 mg/kg, i.v. dose. 2. Organic solvent extracts of urine samples were directly analysed by reversed-phase gradient hplc. The identified metabolites were also isolated by preparative tlc, and analyzed by direct probe mass spectrometry. In the case of conjugated metabolites, the urine samples were deconjugated by enzyme hydrolysis prior to extraction. The structures of metabolites were confirmed by comparison of their chromatographic behaviours, UV spectra, and mass spectra with those of authentic standards. 3. The metabolites identified in the 0-24-h urine samples were 2-hydroxyphenyl-metyrapone (2-OHPMP) and 2-hydroyphenylmetyrapone N-oxide (2-OHPMP-NO), which were present predominantly as their glucuronide and/or sulphate conjugates. 4. 2-MPMP and four of its metabolites present in the 0-24-h urine samples were quantified by a reversed-phase hplc method. The mean total urinary excretion was 75.4% of the administered dose. The major metabolites present in the urine were conjugates of 2-OHPMP-NO (54.4%) and of 2-OHPMP (18.6%). The excretion of the unchanged drug, unconjugated 2-OHPMP and 2-OHPMP-NO accounted for 1.1, 1.1 and 0.2% of the dose respectively.     

The prevention of adhesions in surgery. A clinical review and experimental contribution

Induction of apoptosis in human monocytic THP.1 cells by etoposide or N-tosyl-L-phenylalanyl chloromethyl ketone resulted in release of mitochondrial cytochrome c, formation of ultracondensed mitochondria, development of outer mitochondrial membrane discontinuities and a reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential (delta psi m), as well as externalisation of phosphatidylserine, caspase-3 and -7 activation, proteolysis of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and lamin B1. The caspase inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp (OMe) fluoromethyl ketone inhibited all these ultrastructural and biochemical characteristics of apoptosis except for the release of cytochrome c. Release of mitochondrial cytochrome c was a late event in non-apoptotic cell death occurring after commitment to cell death and without caspase activation. Thus apoptosis is characterised by release of mitochondrial cytochrome c prior to formation of ultracondensed mitochondria and a reduction in delta psi m and by a mechanism independent of rupture of the outer mitochondrial membrane.     

A comparative assessment of acceptance of different types of functional appliances

Six cytochrome P450 enzymes mediate the oxidative metabolism of most drugs in common use: CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, and CYP3A4. These enzymes have selective substrate specificity, and their activity is characterized by marked interindividual variation. Some of these systems (CYP2C19, CYP2D6) are polymorphically distributed; thus, a subset of the population may be genetically deficient in enzyme activity. Phenotyping procedures designed to identify subjects with impaired metabolism who may be at increased risk for drug toxicity have been developed and validated. This has been supplemented in recent years by the availability of genetic analysis and the identification of specific alleles that are associated with altered (i.e., reduced, deficient, or increased) enzyme activity. The potential of genotyping to predict pharmacodynamics holds great promise for the future because it does not involve the administration of exogenous compound and is not confounded by drug therapy. Drug interactions caused by the inhibition or induction of oxidative drug metabolism may be of great clinical importance because they may result in drug toxicity or therapeutic failure. Further understanding of cytochrome P450 complexity may allow, through a combined in vitro-in vivo approach, the reliable prediction and possible prevention of deleterious drug interactions.     

The prevention of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review.

Research on the prevention of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents was reviewed and synthesized with meta-analysis. When all 30 studies were included, selective prevention programs were found to be more effective than universal programs immediately following intervention. Both selective and indicated prevention programs were more effective than universal programs at follow-up, even when the 2 studies with college students were excluded. Effect sizes for selective and indicated prevention programs tended to be small to moderate, both immediately postintervention and at an average follow-up of 6 months. Most effective interventions are more accurately described as treatment rather than prevention. Suggestions for future research include testing potential moderators (e.g., age, gender, anxiety, parental depression) and mechanisms, designing programs that are developmentally appropriate and gender and culturally sensitive, including longer follow-ups, and using multiple measures and methods to assess both symptoms and diagnoses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relapse prevention as a psychosocial treatment: A review of controlled clinical trials.

More than 24 randomized controlled trials have evaluated the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral relapse prevention treatment on substance use outcomes among adult smokers, alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, and other types of substance abusers. Review of this body of literature suggests that, across substances of abuse but most strongly for smoking cessation, there is evidence for the effectiveness of relapse prevention compared with no-treatment controls. However, evidence regarding its superiority relative to discussion control conditions or other active treatments has been less consistent. Outcomes in which relapse prevention may hold particular promise include reducing severity of relapses when they occur, enhanced durability of effects, and patient treatment matching. particularly for patients at higher levels of impairment along dimensions such as psychopathology or dependence severity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Occupational and environmental exposures and nonspecific lung disease--a review of selected studies

Selected studies show that nonspecific lung diseases are a major occupational and environmental health hazard. Exposure to mineral dusts (such as cement and brown coal) and organic dusts (cotton, hemp and flour) as well as manganese and gaseous irritants causes significant upper respiratory tract injury. Possible additive effects of mixed exposures, combined exposure to dusts and gaseous irritants of the upper respiratory tract, individual susceptibility, and mechanisms of nonspecific respiratory effects of exposures are considered. Interpretation of the results is difficult due to uncontrolled confounding. Measures for preventing lung impairments include exposure reduction and preemployment examination of workers.