Locus of control, coping behaviors, and performance in a stress setting: a longitudinal study

Examined the relationship between managerial locus of control (Rotter's Internal–External Control Scale), perceived stress (Subjective Stress Scale), coping behaviors (task- vs emotion-centered as defined in the R. L. Kahn et al 1964 typology), and performance (credit ratings). 90 small business owner-managers participated in 2 data collection phases over a 2?-yr interval following the effects of a major disaster. Internals were found to perceive less stress, employ more task-centered coping behaviors, and employ fewer emotion-centered coping behaviors than externals. Successful internals became more internal, whereas unsuccessful externals became more external over the 2?-yr interval. Changes in performance were related to changes in locus of control. The nature of locus of control as a possible cause of task behavior and as an effect of environmental experience is examined. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fluctuations in the affinity and concentration of insulin receptors on circulating monocytes of obese patients: effects of starvation, refeeding, and dieting

The binding of 125I-insulin to insulin receptors on circulating monocytes of obese patients and normal volunteers has been determined under various dietary states. In the basal, fed state the monocytes of obese patients with clinical insulin resistance (n= 6) bound less insulin than normals (n =10) because of a decrease in insulin receptor concentration (obese = 6,000-13,000 sites per monocyte versus normals 15,000-28,000 sites per monocyte). The single obese patient without evidence of clinical insulin resistance demonstrated normal binding of insulin with 16,000 sites per monocyte. In all patients, the total receptor concentration was inversely related to the circulating levels of insulin measured at rest after an overnight fast. For the obese patients with basally depressed insulin binding, a 48-72-h fast lowered circulating insulin and increased binding to normal levels but only at low hormone concentrations; this limited normalization of 125I-insulin binding was associated with increased receptor affinity for insulin without change in receptor concentration. Refeeding after the acute fasting periods resulted in return to the elevated plasma insulin levels, the basal receptor affinity, and the depressed insulin binding observed in the basal, fed state. Chronic diet restored plasma insulin levels, insulin binding, and receptor concentration to normal without change in affinity. When the data from this study are coupled with previous in vivo and in vitro findings they suggest that the insulin receptor of human monocytes is more sensitive to regulation by ambient insulin than the receptors of obese mice and cultured human lymphocytes. The results further indicate than an insulin receptor undergoes in vivo modulation of its interaction with insulin by changing receptor concentration and by altering the affinity of existing receptors.     

The development of valvular strands during thrombolytic therapy detected by transesophageal echocardiography

A case report of a patient who had valvular strands while undergoing treatment with thrombolytic therapy for prosthetic mitral valve thrombosis is presented. The development of valvular strands during thrombolytic therapy provides unique evidence supporting a thrombotic/fibrotic origin to this relatively common finding on transesophageal echocardiography.     

Translactational induction of CYP4A expression in 10.5-day neonatal rats by the hypolipidemic drug clofibrate

Lactating mothers of 7.5-day neonatal rats were injected intraperitoneally with 500 mg kg-1 clofibrate for 3 consecutive days at 24-hour intervals; 24 hours after the final injection, the maternal cytochrome P450 4A (CYP4A) mRNA levels had risen 14- and 2.5-fold above the constitutive levels of expression seen in the liver and kidney, respectively. Lactational transfer of clofibrate to the suckling 10.5-day litter was demonstrated by the 15- and 5-fold elevation observed in the neonatal hepatic and renal CYP4A mRNAs, respectively, following suckling from drug-induced mothers. A significant decrease in the relative liver weights of these neonatal pups was seen following clofibrate exposure via maternal milk, in total contrast to the normally observed increase in liver/body weight ratios of rats treated with clofibrate. Western blot analysis using a polyclonal goat anti-rat CYP4A1 antibody also demonstrated a rise in the CYP4A protein levels in both the mothers and their litters following maternal clofibrate treatment.     

Examination of phosphorylated tau protein as a PHF-precursor at early stage Alzheimer's disease

Hyperphosphorylated tau protein which can be isolated on the basis of insolubility in 1% sarkosyl (A68-tau fraction) is thought to represent a precursor pool for PHF assembly, associated histologically with neuritic pathology, which feeds into a more resistant tangle-associated PHF pool via cross-linking and proteolysis. We examined these predictions at the earliest detectable stages of neurofibrillary pathology. We report that there is no evidence that neuritic pathology represents an early pathologic stage, no evidence of an association between neuritic pathology and phosphorylated tau, no evidence of selective accumulation of phosphorylated tau at early stages of pathology, and no evidence for a precursor/product relationship between phosphorylated tau and PHFs during progression of pathology. We conclude that altered phosphorylation is a secondary process affecting 5% of PHFs and does not explain PHF assembly in Alzheimer's disease.     

Two-stage screening for stressful life events and chronic difficulties.

93 adult women completed a depression scale and a checklist on stressful life events and were interviewed 1 wk later in their homes. With the interview as the criterion, the checklist assessed stressful life events with a sensitivity of .89 and a specificity of .57. The corresponding figures for the assessment of chronic difficulties were .86 and .55. For the total sample, sensitivity and specificity were .88 and .67 for life events and .75 and .75 for chronic difficulties. Interview and checklist techniques were highly correlated when a severe life event had not occurred (negative predictive value), but events marked on the checklist had a 20–27% correspondence to events related in the interview (positive predictive value). (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)