Is ABH nonsecretor status a risk factor for obstructive lung disease?

In a multidisciplinary study of risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a significantly more impairment of forced expiration was observed in ABH nonsecretors than in ABH secretors among 1017 white adults. (ABH refers to the "A" and "B" antigens of the ABO blood group system and "H", the heterogenetic substance which is found in persons of all ABO types including type "O".) Nonsecretors had significantly lower mean values of forced expiratory volume in one second as a percentage of forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC%) and a significantly larger proportion of them had aberrant values, defined as FEV1/FVC% less than 68. These differences remained when mean values or rates of aberrancy were adjusted for other factors reported to alter risk of airway obstruction. In view of the known COPD-peptic ulcer and nonsecretor-duodenal ulcer associations, these findings suggest that the ability to secrete ABH antigens into secretions of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract may have a protective effect on epithelialized organs in general, or on the lung and portions of the gut specifically.     

What is morphological awareness? Tapping lexical compounding awareness in Chinese third graders.

One hundred twenty-one third-grade Chinese children were assessed with a new morphological awareness task involving open-ended lexical compounding, in addition to completing other measures. With children's age, nonverbal intelligence, phonological awareness, and previously established measures of morphological awareness statistically controlled, this compounding production task significantly explained unique variance in both Chinese character reading and vocabulary knowledge. Within this new task, subordinate and coordinative structures were significantly easier to compound than were subject–predicate and verb–object structures. Moreover, novel compounds that made use of verb morphemes were more difficult to manipulate than were those that did not contain verbs. This newly developed task of compounding production may be optimal for tapping older children's morphological awareness in the form of lexical compounding, in both Chinese and possibly other languages. In addition, these results demonstrate that linguistic manipulations within tasks of morphological awareness can influence their difficulty levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is there a slippery slope? Considerations regarding multiple relationships and risk management.

There are much anecdotal data regarding how boundary violations occur. Specifically, an informal consensus seems to have developed that such improprieties occur because of a notion commonly referred to as the “slippery slope of psychotherapy” (Gutheil & Gabbard, 1993). This notion implies that once a mental health professional crosses a boundary, a domino effect occurs whereby s/he is led through a rapid and increasingly serious series of violations at an almost exponential rate. In this article, we question the potential danger of this notion and argue that while such situations do arise, they are uncommon. We bring together ethics and research scholarship from a variety of sources to offer a more complex understanding of how such cases may arise and make recommendations regarding what practitioners can do to reduce them further. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is there a risk of cytomegalovirus transmission during in vitro fertilization with donated oocytes?

OBJECTIVE: To define the risk of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) transmission from donated oocytes. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University IVF program. PATIENT(S): Sixty-seven couples undergoing 72 cycles of IVF-ET. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Serum from both partners (women: n = 71; men: n = 60) was obtained for detection of antibodies to HCMV. Semen before preparation (n = 53), sperm after preparation (Percoll gradient; n = 47), cervical mucus aspirated at the time of oocyte aspiration (n = 70), and uninseminated oocytes and embryos not suitable for cryopreservation (n = 568) were frozen in liquid nitrogen. Polymerase chain reaction was used for detection of HCMV (immediate early 1 gene) in all samples collected. RESULT(S): Serum antibodies to HCMV were found in 62% of the women and 37% of the men tested. Human cytomegalovirus DNA was detected in 25% of the ejaculates and in 19% of the cervical mucus samples. There was no amplification of HCMV DNA from oocytes or embryos. CONCLUSION(S): Because we were unable to amplify HCMV DNA from any of the oocytes or embryos, it seems unlikely that HCMV is transmissible through oocyte or embryo donation.     

Processing bimodal stimulus information under alcohol: Is there a risk to being redundant?

The impairing effects of alcohol are especially pronounced in environments that involve dividing attention across two or more stimuli. However, studies in cognitive psychology have identified circumstances in which the presentation of multiple stimuli can actually facilitate performance. The “redundant signal effect” (RSE) refers to the observation that individuals respond more quickly when information is presented as redundant, bimodal stimuli (e.g., aurally and visually), rather than as a single stimulus presented to either modality alone. The present study tested the hypothesis that the response facilitation attributed to RSE could reduce the degree to which alcohol slows information processing. Two experiments are reported. Experiment 1 demonstrated the validity of a reaction time model of RSE by showing that adults (N = 15) responded more quickly to redundant, bimodal stimuli (visual + aural) versus either stimuli presented individually. Experiment 2 used the RSE model to test the reaction time performance of 20 adults following three alcohol doses (0.0 g/kg, 0.45 g/kg, and 0.65 g/kg). Results showed that alcohol slowed reaction time in a general dose-dependent manner in all three stimulus conditions with the reaction time (RT) speed-advantage of the redundant signal being maintained, even under the highest dose of alcohol. Evidence for an RT advantage to bimodal stimuli under alcohol challenges the general assumption that alcohol impairment is intensified in multistimulus environments. The current study provides a useful model to investigate how drug effects on behavior might be altered in contexts that involve redundant response signals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is Down syndrome a risk factor for poor outcome after repair of congenital heart defects?

Down syndrome is commonly associated with significant congenital heart disease with the potential for early development of pulmonary hypertension. As such, children with Down syndrome may be at increased risk for both perioperative and long-term mortality. The purpose of this study, using data collected from a population-based outcomes study, is to analyze the potential role that Down syndrome plays in the outcome of surgically "corrected" congenital heart disease. Data were collected from a registry of all Oregon residents who, in the period 1958 to the present, had a reparative operation for one of 14 congenital cardiac malformations when younger than 18 years (N = 3965 patients). Down syndrome was present in 289 (7%) of the total registry patients. In evaluating the cardiac mortality associated with Down syndrome for each of the repaired cardiac malformations, only complete atrioventricular septal defect was associated with significantly higher perioperative (13% vs 5%) as well as higher overall late cardiac mortality through 20 years after the operation (20% vs 5%; p = 0.04). The survival outcomes for each of the other cardiac malformations were similar for children with and without Down syndrome.     

Is tubal sterilization associated with an increased risk of subsequent hysterectomy but a decreased risk of ovarian cancer? A review of recent literature

Recent epidemiologic studies have suggested that tubal sterilization (TS) may lead to an increased incidence of subsequent hysterectomy but a decreased risk of ovarian cancer. This review evaluates the nature and magnitude of these two relationships, which should be of great concern and interest to women, clinicians and the administrators of family planning programs. The positive relationship between TS and subsequent hysterectomy is more likely to be of a motivational rather than biological nature, and a considerable number of unnecessary hysterectomies after TS could be avoided by changing the attitudes of physicians and women. The inverse relationship between TS and ovarian cancer appears causal, although the exact biological mechanisms remain to be clarified. Theoretically, this non-contraceptive beneficial effect of TS could be used as a primary preventive measure to curb the incidence of the highly fatal ovarian cancer. However, a number of medical, ethical, and economic questions attending use of a generally irreversible contraceptive procedure as a preventive measure must first be answered. The issue of whether TS is associated with any long-term sequelae, and, if so, whether the association is of a cause-and-effect nature or a by-product of time passage and aging of the woman, should be addressed by well-designed studies.     

Is melatonin an antioxidant?

The ever increasing understanding of oxygen radical-linked diseases, including the biological process of aging, has stimulated general interest in modulating these biological events. Among the many natural compounds recognized to exert protection against oxidative stress, melatonin was reported to have antioxidant properties in addition to its known hormonal activities. The present contribution critically reviews the published biochemical data on the antioxidant properties of melatonin. Furthermore, the suggested retardation effect of melatonin on senescence, which is based on the "free radical theory of aging", is also critically evaluated.     

Is follicular atresia biphasic?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the rate of human follicular depletion and the interpretation of curved scatters on log-linear plots. DESIGN: Four mathematical models were tested with use of data drawn from published autopsy studies and histologic analyses of ovaries. SETTING: None. PATIENT(S): None. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): None. RESULT(S): Human oocyte depletion data do not support the inference of a biphasic follicular atresia. On original measurement scales there is no perturbation in the data between ages 37 and 40, and the instantaneous rate of follicle loss is lower after age 40 than ever before. CONCLUSION(S): There is no abrupt increase in the "rate" of follicular atresia that corresponds with a drop in fecundability or an increase in risk of chromosomal abnormalities at approximately age 38. The apparent abrupt increase in rate of follicular depletion is an artifact of log-linear transformation.     

Is myringoplasty worth while?

1. We have used fetal rats to study the following aspects of the development of hemopoiesis: (a) content of hemopoietic stem cells in fetal bone marrow, liver, and peripheral blood and (b) origin of hemopietic cells in the developing mammalian bone marrow. 2. In the studies we utilized the diffusion chamber technique to study the content of stem cells committed to granulopoiesis. The number of myelopoietic stem cells in liver peripheral blood and in "bone marrow" of 18-day-old rats is nearly identical. Since in "bone marrow" a considerable number of peripheral blood cells are present in the vessels at that time, whereas extravascular cells consist only of mesenchymal cells, one might assume that these peripheral blood cells give rise to granulocytic precursors in the cultures. Morphologically these cells are "blast" cells and lymphocytes. 3. Based on cell labeling indices of radioautograms, derived from continuous infusion of pregnant rats with [3H]thymidine, it could be shown that in the perichondral area mesenchymal cells of the fetus and newborn have a slow rate of DNA turnover whereas "bone marrow" cells are in an active state of profileration. 4. In further support of this it was also shown that injections of hydroxyurea (an agent which destroys cells in DNA synthesis) has vitrually no effect on perichondral mesenchymal cells whereas "bone marrow" cells were completely blocked in their ability to support myelopoietic differentiation in the diffusion chamber implants. 5. The conclusions would therefore be that (a) local perichondral cells, i.e., mesenchymal cells, do not contribute to marrow hemopoiesis, (b) matrix cells of the developing bone marrow cannot reconstitute hemopoiesis, and (c) hemopoietic bone marrow cells develop from migrating peripheral "stem cells", one of the sources being the liver.     

Is value-free science possible?

Comments on H. H. Kendler's (see record 1999-11644-004) article on the role of value in the world of psychology. The authors criticize some of the positions that seem problematic for the future of psychology and that seem to have overlooked similar inquiries that have appeared in the American Psychologist in the past 30 yrs. They also suggest an alternative approach, which acknowledges the inevitability of values and suggests a way of treating them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of cancer risk through genetic analysis?

BACKGROUND: The recent literature of familial cancer, specifically related to germline mutations of RB1, p53, NF1, ATM, BRCA1, Mismatch repair genes and APC is reviewed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Germline mutations do not relate to an increased tumor risk of any single tissue, but instead to spectra of neoplastic diseases. The genetic background plays a major role in modifying the cancer risk. Therefore, mass screening for mutations of single genes seems to be without practical value. Only in combination with an adequate and informative family history can molecular genetic analysis significantly support the care for the individual. Comparison of the data of patients inheriting germline mutations and the experience from the corresponding "knockout" mouse demonstrate that only the p53 and APC knockout mice are useful models of human disease.     

Is dual-task slowing instruction dependent?

When 2 tasks must be performed concurrently, each requiring a choice of response, dual-task slowing is typically found. However, E. H. Schumacher et al. (1997) reported that dual-task slowing can be eliminated when equal priority is assigned to each task. Experiment 1 largely confirmed this with the same tasks as Schumacher et al. (tasks using stimulus–response combinations of visual–manual and auditory–vocal pairings). Experiment 2 retained the equal-priority instructions but switched the task pairings (to visual–vocal and auditory–manual); substantial dual-task slowing occurred. Experiment 3 used the same two response sets but only a single stimulus; slowing was again obtained despite equal priority instructions. Equalizing task priority was not sufficient to eliminate interference; relatively unusual cases in which dual-task interference is eliminated seem to depend on task-specific features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is Trendelenburg a wise choice?

To determine the current level of use, characteristics, and perceived value of the clinicopathologic conference (CPC), we sent a 22-item survey questionnaire to the program directors of internal medicine residency training programs. Of the 278 residency training programs that returned questionnaires, 221 (80%) indicated that they held CPCs regularly. The conference received a mean rating (Likert scale 1 = best to 5 = worst) of 2.2 (95% confidence interval 2.2, 2. 3) for both its perceived educational value and its popularity. The CPC remains widely used in internal medicine training programs. Although relatively few programs have rigorous guidelines for preparation and evaluation of their presentations, the CPC is generally viewed as being popular and having sound educational value.     

Is working memory still working?

The current state of A. D. Baddeley and G. J. Hitch's (1974) multicomponent working memory model is reviewed. The phonological and visuospatial subsystems have been extensively investigated, leading both to challenges over interpretation of individual phenomena and to more detailed attempts to model the processes underlying the subsystems. Analysis of the controlling central executive has proved more challenging, leading to a proposed clarification in which the executive is assumed to be a limited capacity attentional system, aided by a newly postulated fourth system, the episodic buffer. Current interest focuses most strongly on the link between working memory and long-term memory and on the processes allowing the integration of information from the component subsystems. The model has proved valuable in accounting for data from a wide range of participant groups under a rich array of task conditions. Working memory does still appear to be working. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is the F scale irreversible?

"Four recent studies which have found a lack of positive correlations between the F scale and scales of reversed items were examined. It was argued that the attempts at reversals were often characterized by items that were not psychologically opposed to the original items… . A new set of items designed to overcome some of our objections was developed… . A method for determining the significance of response set was developed and data from an additional representative nation-wide sample of adults with a college background indicated no significant degree of acquiescence… . It is concluded that the data do not support the identification of acquiescence with authoritarianism." (26 ref.) From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1HF43C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)