Detection of youth at high risk for substance use disorders: A longitudinal study.

This study extends prior research (D. Clark, J. Cornelius, L. Kirisci, & R. Tarter, 2005) by determining whether variation in the developmental trajectories of liability to substance use disorder (SUD) is contributed by neurobehavioral disinhibition, parental substance use involvement, and demographic variables. The sample, participants in a long-term prospective investigation, consisted of 351 boys, evaluated at ages 10-12, 12-14, 16, 19, and 22, whose parents either had SUD or no adult psychiatric disorder. Neurobehavioral disinhibition in childhood, in conjunction with parental lifetime substance use/SUD, place the child at very high risk for SUD by age 22 if psychosocial maladjustment progresses in severity in early adolescence. These results indicate that monitoring social adjustment during the transition from childhood to mid-adolescence is important for identifying youth at very high risk for succumbing to SUD by young adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristics of the populations at the Robert Giffard Psychiatric Hospital Center: people with intellectual deficiencies and people with mental disorders

Within the context of the general reorganization of health care and social services in Québec, the present study aims at describing physical and mental characteristics of persons with mental health problems and who are mentally retarded still hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital. In the first study, 146 mentally retarded persons of which 74 formed the community group and 72 the institutionalized group. The results indicate that 84% of the mentally retarded persons still hospitalized manifested sufficiently important needs on the three measured variables (health, deficits and behaviors) to justify intensive care in a structured environment. The Behavior variable is more important in deciding the integration of these people in the community. As most of these persons have a higher level of disabilities and more behavior manifestations, the support required for these people in the community and persons delivering services will have to be more structured and intensive in nature. In the second study, 928 psychiatric patients still hospitalized were studied on the variables, age, sex, diagnostics and the global scores (physical and mental) of the level of care survey and functional autonomy. The results show that the proportion of women in the age group 35 and older were progressively increasing in relation to the men. The primary diagnostic reported more frequently was schizophrenia in 70% of cases. In the evaluation of physical care of the people still hospitalized, age becomes an important factor. Generally speaking, the population within the institution is aging and women are progressively growing in number. As these people expressed more physical ailments and a decline in basic autonomy, more structured and specialized care and support will be required to respond to their needs.     

On the regulation of cognitive control: Action orientation moderates the impact of high demands in Stroop interference tasks.

Previous research has established that people vary in action orientation, a tendency toward decisiveness and initiative, versus state orientation, a tendency toward indecisiveness and hesitation (J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann, 1994b). In the present 3 studies, the authors examined whether action orientation versus state orientation regulates cognitive control under demanding conditions. Under high demands, action-oriented participants displayed better cognitive control than did state-oriented participants in a Stroop color naming task (Studies 1-3). No similar effects were found under low demands (Studies 2-3). Functional differences between action- and state-oriented participants emerged especially when the task included a high proportion of congruent Stroop trials (Study 3). These findings suggest that action-oriented individuals are better protected against goal neglect than are state-oriented individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hospital drug supply around the turn of the century--the founding of the pharmacy at the city hospital of Worms]

Around the turn of the century drug supply of the civil hospital in Worms was carried out by local pharmacists, drug distribution and preparation of simple solutions by a nurse. The municipal authorities which were responsible for the hospital were sure that the establishment of a pharmacy in the hospital itself could improve drug supply. The study shows how the authorities went through with the opening of a hospital pharmacy despite the expected opposition of the local pharmacists and that such an establishment and the employment of a pharmacist were profitable even for a hospital with only 200 beds.     

Waterfalls and geysers: the development of diversity awareness at Children's Hospital

The development of diversity awareness at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, has been a work in progress since the early 1980s. The interface of administration and individual initiatives ("waterfalls" and "geysers") has resulted in projects ranging from major international exchange programs to noontime Spanish language classes. This article recounts the journey from a parochial focus to a consciousness of multiculturalism in virtually all aspects of hospital interaction.     

Alcohol and erectile response: The effects of high dosage in the context of demands to maximize sexual arousal.

Although drinking often precedes men's sexual activity, basic questions about alcohol's effects on men's sexual arousal remain unanswered. Inconsistencies in findings from studies examining subjective and physiological effects on erectile functioning suggest these effects are context specific, for example, dependent on whether a man wants to maximize or suppress his arousal. To address unresolved questions about alcohol and erectile functioning, the authors evaluated the effects of high blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) and arousal instructional demands on indices of penile circumference change and self-reported sexual arousal. In Study 1, a target BAC of .10% (vs. .00%) attenuated peak circumference change from a neutral baseline but did not affect mean change, latency to arousal onset (a 5% increase in circumference from baseline), latency to peak achieved arousal, or subjective arousal, which correlated moderately with physiological indices. In Study 2, instructions to maximize (vs. suppress) arousal increased peak and mean circumference change and interacted with a target BAC of .08% (vs. .00%) to influence latency to arousal onset. Sober men instructed to maximize showed a shorter latency to arousal onset than did those instructed to suppress arousal; however, intoxicated men did not show a differential pattern. Moreover, compared with intoxicated counterparts, sober men instructed to maximize arousal showed a marginally shorter latency to arousal onset. Overall, alcohol and arousal instructions had small but discernible effects. Findings highlight the importance of contextual factors in alcohol's impact on erectile functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variants of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid: experience at Asir Central Hospital

Twenty Trypanosoma cruzi stocks attributed to the 19/20, 32, and 39 major clones (Tibayrenc et al. 1986) were used to infect experimentally third instar larvae of Triatoma infestans. Three variables were considered: (i) percentage of infected insects; (ii) number of flagellates per insect (NFI); and (iii) percentage of metacyclic trypomastigotes per insect. Differences between the genotypes under study for all parameters considered were detected. These differences were statistically significant (P < 10(-3)), except between the 39 and 32 clonal genotypes for the NFI parameter. The correlation coefficient between the genetic distance and the biological parameters determined by the nonparametric Mantel's test was strongly significant (P < 10(-4)). Data obtained suggest clearly that populations of parasites belonging to the 19/20 genotype are more efficiently transmitted (high transmissibility genotype) by the vector than the 32 genotype (low transmissibility genotype), while the 39 genotype presents intermediary characteristic. Results confirm the working hypothesis that the subdivision of T. cruzi into discrete clonal lineages has an impact on the vectorial competence of T. infestans, the most important vector of the chagasic infection in South America, and that different clonal lineages do not exhibit the same vectorial transmissibility. This fact is relevant both for Chagas' disease epidemiology and for the use of xenodiagnosis.     

Pediatric version of the Adequacy Evaluation Protocol: application of the four Diagnostic Related Groups most frequently used in a pediatric hospital at La Coru?a]

Single-fiber preparations of the rat chorda tympani (CT) nerve were used to study the mechanism of action of capsaicin on salt-taste transduction. Capsaicin selectively suppressed the responses to NaCl of the CT nerve fibers (N-fibers) that are sodium-specific (insensitive or poorly sensitive to potassium). Among the more broadly responsive, cation-sensitive fibers (E-fibers) there are two subtypes, both of which responded to capsaicin but in different ways ('enhanced' type and 'suppressed' type). In both N- and E-fibers, 5% ethanol (the vehicle for capsaicin) slightly reduced the response to 100 mM NaCl. The suppressive effect of capsaicin on the response of the N-type fibers to 100 mM NaCl was significantly stronger than the effect of 5% ethanol. The suppression lasted for at least 20 s after the simultaneous application of 100 p.p.m. capsaicin-100 nM NaCl. These results indicate that 100 p.p.m. capsaicin can modify the response of CT fibers to NaCl. The observed effect of capsaicin on gustatory fibers could be the net result of opposite suppressive and enhancing processes in the taste buds cells and excited intra- or extragemmal trigeminal nerve endings.     

Review of Essential papers on borderline disorders: One hundred years at the border.

Reviews the book, Essential papers on borderline disorders: One hundred years at the border by Michael H. Stone (1986). Despite the best intentions of this volume, the effort to integrate and unify 100 years of discussion and debate on the diffuse diagnosis of borderlines is truly Olympian in its scope. Stone is an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who has written extensively on the borderline patient, including The Borderline Syndromes (1980). In his writings over the past 15 years, including a 1977 selection in the present volume, Stone has advocated the bio-genetic hypothesis in the etiology of borderline disorders. Much of Stone's research has investigated hereditary links between borderline personality and affective disturbances, particularly bipolar disorder. Given this, it should not be too surprising that many of the readings he has selected, particularly those from the past 10 years, emphasize hereditary aspects of the borderline syndrome. Although anthologies often help us stand back and regain objectivity, they should also integrate and unify if they are to provide a springboard for further inquiry. Perhaps because of the multitude of approaches to the study of borderline phenomena, an overview which sought to be less comprehensive but more reliably defined might have given the reader a better sense of the gestalt of the field's history. Using Stone's own concluding remarks as an operational criterion, I also found myself asking whether this volume truly organizes or merely adds to the aforementioned clutter. The answer, I feel, is "on the border." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Importance of a nursing model during changes in the hospital: a sweeping developmental process has begun within the nursing services]

Radon exposure was shown to be carcinogenic and suggested as a possible causative factor for lung cancer in man. A hypothesis is introduced that medium high radon (between 110 and 165 Bq/m3) causes lower cancer risk among women younger than 61 years, independent of the type of cancer. The presented results verify this statement with a probability of not less than 98%.     

Influences of nutrition and stress on people at risk for neutropenia: nursing implications

Neutropenia may be influenced by malignancy type, treatment, age extremes, inadequate nutrition, or psychological stress. Of these five factors, only nutrition and stress are amenable to nursing intervention and management. The increasing trend of providing treatment in the outpatient setting and managing the patient with neutropenia in the home challenges nurses to develop innovative methods of care. This article offers suggestions to assist nurses in the creative management of individuals at risk for neutropenia by maximizing nutrition and minimizing psychological stress. This discussion addresses the physiology of the inflammatory immune response; pathophysiology of neutropenia; factors that may influence the risk of infection, such as sustained stress, dietary fiber, antioxidant vitamins, and food-borne bacteria; and interventions that reduce the potential for neutropenic sepsis. Nursing implications that reduce the risk of neutropenic infection include patient education related to nutrition, stress management, and self-care.