Rorschach revisited: A new look at an old test.

Two control samples (21 and 27 college students) and a sample of 21 short-term psychiatric patients (aged 21-26 yrs) scaled all pairs of Rorschach inkblots for perceived similarity. Data were analyzed using J. D. Carroll and C. C. Chang's individual scaling (INDSCAL) model, which resulted in a good fit in 2 dimensions. These 2 dimensions were interpreted as a dimension of color and 1 of form ("twoness"), and empirically validated in a 2nd study, using 2 groups of controls (20 and 33 college students) and 6 short-term schizophrenic patients. It was also found that the saliences estimated by INDSCAL for each S formed 3 virtually nonoverlapping distributions. This implies a possible use of the method within a diagnostic context. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nitroglycerin: new concepts about an old drug

The ultimate goal of the cone method of colostomy irrigation is to return patients with colostomies to their former role in society with confidence in themselves to the extent that having a colostomy is not considered a handicap. The results have generally been excellent. We believe all patients with stomas should be afforded the opportunity to attempt colostomy irrigation.     

Pathogens, old and new: an update for cardiovascular nurses

Infectious diseases remain the major cause of death throughout the world, and this is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. However, there are steps that can be taken to combat them, including both the recognition of and interventions against emerging infectious diseases. This article will provide general information about emerging infectious organisms, mechanisms of resistance to antimicrobial agents, and comments on a variety of prevention strategies. In addition, the reader is directed to a number of comprehensive references for additional information.     

Monitoring system change: a new need for an old tool

Like many of the contributors to the early development of anaesthesia in Germany. Prof. Fritz Lotsch (1879-1958) was a surgeon. His acknowledged clinical teachers were Habs. Magdeburg, (1904-1907) in surgery and Benda, Berlin, (1909-1911) in pathology. Lotsch worked at the famous Charité in Berlin under Hildebrand (1908-1909 and 1911-1924) and later as chief surgeon in Burg (1925-1946) and Magdeburg (1946-1952). Lotsch's main contributions to anaesthesia were the development of devices for the administration of inhalation anaesthesia. In cooperation with the Georg Haertel Company he recommended as early as 1910 a "positive pressure anaesthesia apparatus". He improved this device and demonstrated repeatedly the advantages of the Kuhn principle of endotracheal intubation. As early as 1903 Lotsch reported on clinical experience with the recently developed barbiturate "Veronal". Later he reported on advantages and disadvantages of combined anaesthesia using inhalation anaesthetics, opiates and barbiturates. In 1913 he recommended a special double cannula for intravenous infusion purposes which was only rediscovered decades later.     

Infectious diseases in athletes: new interest for an old problem

Interest in infectious disease among athletes has been greatly stimulated over the past decade by the development of modern automated systems that can enumerate specific elements of the immune system. Research has confirmed earlier clinical and animal studies in showing that either a single bout of exhausting exercise or persistent over-training can increase susceptibility to upper respiratory and other viral infections, although resistance to bacterial infections is apparently unaltered. Such findings do not seem a non-specific response to cooling and drying of the tracheal mucosa. Rather, heavy exercise has a depressant effect upon the T cell/interleukin/NK cell system which may persist for a week or more. In contrast, moderate training enhances immune defences. Given the negative impact of acute viral infections upon both competitive performance and morale, plus the occasional incident of sudden death associated with viral myocarditis, it is important that sports physicians minimize the incidence of viral infections in the athletes for whom they are responsible. Potential tactics include maintenance of immunization schedules, minimizing of exposure to infection, avoidance of over-training, maintenance of an adequate diet, and reduction of psychological and environmental stress. In top athletes, the regular monitoring of immune status may also be warranted, with the possible administration of immunoglobulins and prostaglandin inhibitors as required.     

Infusion devices for ambulatory use

Automated drug delivery is now indispensable in most hospital settings. The use of ambulatory infusion therapy in patients' homes is increasing. Nurses are often responsible for acquiring infusion devices.     

Hemophilia. A new approach to an old disease

The history of hemophilia diagnosis and therapy has been a turbulent one. We are coming full circle, back to the use of genetics as the main diagnostic tool for this disease. Therapeutically, the retroviruses that ravaged one generation of hemophiliac patients now may participate in the cure for the next generation. The hemophilia community hopes that the future of hemophilia care will follow a course guided by this modified quote from James Russell Lowell: "New times demand new measures, and men [and women]. As the world advances and in time outgrows the laws that in our fathers' [and mothers'] days were the best, doubtless after us some purer scheme will be shaped out by wiser man [and women] than we, made wiser by the steady growth of truth."     

The modified Steiner stain: a new use for an old stain? Staining cytomegalovirus-infected cells in gastrointestinal biopsies

The modified Steiner stain is a non-specific silver stain for identifying bacteria in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. The principle behind its use is that bacteria are first sensitized using uranyl nitrate solution, making them able to precipitate silver from a silver nitrate solution. It is used routinely for staining gastric biopsies to identify Helicobacter pylori. Upon staining a gastric biopsy from a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and cytomegalovirus gastritis, we recognized that this technique also stains the viral inclusions of cytomegalovirus-infected cells. We then proceeded to stain 43 consecutive cytomegalovirus-positive gastrointestinal biopsies from 33 immunocompromised patients based on positive cytomegalovirus immunohistochemistry (DAKO-cytomegalovirus monoclonal antibody, clones DDG9 and CCH2). We also stained eight cytomegalovirus-infected, non-gastrointestinal tissues, including lung, adrenal gland, ovary, skin and neural tissue, to ensure that the stain was staining the cytomegalovirus-infected cells and not argyrophilic or argentaffin neuroendocrine cells of the gastrointestinal tract. In 40 of the 43 cytomegalovirus-infected gastrointestinal biopsies, we saw positive staining with the modified Steiner stain (93% sensitivity). The cytomegalovirus-infected, non-gastrointestinal tissues all stained positively with the modified Steiner stain. Because the modified Steiner stain is frequently used to identify Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsies, we propose that it be studied further for possible use either as a screen or as a confirmatory tool, or both, for cytomegalovirus inclusions in gastrointestinal biopsies.     

Assessment of accuracy and applicability of a new electronic peak flow meter and asthma monitor

We report on the effect of human apolipoprotein (apo) A-II transgene expression on atherosclerosis susceptibility in two transgenic lines (25.3 and 11.1) whose plasma human apoA-II concentrations (approximately 23 and 96 mg/dl, respectively) span the normal range in humans. After 9 months of an atherogenic diet, 25.3 and 11.1 transgenic mice developed aortic atherosclerotic lesions that were approximately 1.7- and 7-fold, respectively, more extensive than those of non-transgenic control mice. However, there was no difference in the area of atherosclerosis of transgenic and control mice when fed a regular chow diet This contrasts with the findings in murine apoA-II transgenic mice and provides evidence of a species-specific characteristic that could be of relevance with respect to the high fat intake diets common in most industrialized countries. A possible mechanism of the pro-atherogenic action of human apoA-II could be the inhibition of reverse cholesterol transport and, in support of this, we observed an impairment of apoA-I-HDL particle interconversion in the plasma of 11.1 transgenic mice caused, at least in part, by a marked decrease in the endogenous lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase activity.     

Reeler: new tales on an old mutant mouse

Local anaesthetics block action potentials in the membranes of excitable cells but their effects on non-excitable cells are less well known. Some local anaesthetics are applied directly onto the skin, and for this reason the effect of procaine (p-aminobenzoic acid diethylamino-etyl ester hydrochloride) and tetracaine (4-[butylamino]benzoic acid 2-[dimethylamino]ethyl ester) upon the morphology and cytoskeleton organisation of human skin fibroblasts was investigated. The time lapse video recording of fibroblasts cultured in serum-enriched medium revealed that the cells rapidly change shape after the addition of the anaesthetic. These effects were fully reversible. The microscopic observations were confirmed by quantitative analysis of projected cell area and cell shape parameters. Local anaesthetics significantly changed the actin cytoskeleton organisation, inducing total disappearance of stress fibres. Serum-starvation or myosin light chain kinase inhibitors, KT 5926 inhibitor (8R*,9S*,11S*)-(-)-9-hydroxy-9-methoxycarbonyl-8-methyl-14-n-propoxy-2,3 ,9, 10-tetrahydro-8,11-epoxy,1H,8H,11H-2,7b,11a-triazadibenzo[a,g]c ycloocta[cde] trinden-1-one or wortmannin, which induce the 'relaxed' morphology of the cells, prevent both the anaesthetic-induced changes in cell shape and the disassembly of stress fibres. Together, the observations suggest that local anaesthetics affect the actomyosin system, inducing contraction.     

Animism in childhood thinking: A new look at an old question.

48 preschool-aged children's knowledge of the distinctions between animate and inanimate objects was assessed by showing them stimulus films of animate and inanimate objects that moved in different ways. Responses gathered included attributions of animate or inanimate properties, justifications for attribution choices and accuracy in labeling objects as alive or not. Results indicate that 5-yr-olds and some 4-yr-olds performed near the levels of 16 college-aged adults, whereas 3-yr-olds did not, although the animate–inanimate distinction did mediate their behavior. A generalized "animistic" attitude was not found: rather, developmental changes appeared to accrue from increasing precision about the specific properties that do and do not distinguish animate from inanimate objects. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new look at an old issue: Manifest Anxiety Scale validity.

Investigated the efficacy of MA scale scores as a measure of situational drive level using 48 undergraduates. The MA scale was used as a dependent variable, i.e., it was administered while drive level was systematically manipulated. Drive state was varied at 4 levels by the induced muscular tension technique while heart rate (HR) and GSR activity were recorded. The physiological measures indicate that drive level was effectively varied; however, no meaningful relationship between MA scale scores and HR and GSR activity was observed. The intercorrelation between HR and GSR was low but significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)