Role of maternal depression in perceptions of child maladjustment.

We investigated (a) the relation of maternal depression to perceptions of externalizing and internalizing disorders in children and (b) quality of communication in a mother–child interaction task as a function of maternal depression and perceptions of the child. 64 children of unipolar or bipolar mothers, chronic medically ill or normal mothers were studied; clinical diagnoses, children's reports, and teachers' ratings served as objective criteria of children's maladjustment. Maternal depression defined by current symptomatology on the Beck Depression Inventory and by psychiatric status was not associated with misperceptions of psychopathology. Maternal depression interacted with children's actual behaviors to predict mothers' perceptions: nondepressed mothers were less accurate reporters of problems in children than were depressed mothers. Depressed mothers who perceived maladjustment in their disturbed children made more negative comments in interactions than did nondepressed mothers of disturbed children. The apparent mutual impact of mothers' and children's maladjustment requires fuller exploration in offspring studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumour presenting as small bowel volvulus: a rare disease with a rare presentation

A 78-year-old Chinese woman presented with recurrent postprandial abdominal pain. Computerised tomography revealed a small bowel tumour causing volvulus of a segment of the small bowel. Laparotomy confirmed an extraluminal ileal tumour with partial volvulus of the involved small bowel segment. Small bowel resection was done. Histological and ultrastructural studies confirmed a gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumour. We review the medical literature on this rare tumour.     

Evidence for superantigen involvement in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus aetiology

Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is a T-cell-mediated autoimmune disease whose onset is believed to be triggered by unknown environmental factors acting on a predisposing genetic background. Islet-infiltrating T (IIT) cells from two IDDM patients, who had died at the onset of the disease from brain swelling as a complication of ketoacidosis, were analysed. The results provided evidence for the involvement of a pancreatic islet cell membrane-bound superantigen as a diabetes aetiopathogenetic factor. There was a selective expansion of a T-cell receptor (TCR) variable segment of the beta-chain (V beta 7) in these IIT cells in association with unselected V alpha-chain segments; extensive junctional diversity of the TCR V beta 7 chains; and evidence of positive selection, after exposure to diabetic islet cell membrane preparations, of V beta 7+ T-cell clones among peripheral blood lymphocytes from non-diabetic individuals.     

The US market for SO2 permits: Policy implications of the low price and trading volume

The price of SO₂ permits and the volume of trading under the US Acid Rain Program have been lower than expected. This can be explained by the creation and distribution of more permits than were initially authorized, by the sale of permits by high cost abaters who are subject to more stringent local emission constraints or who have irreversibly invested in high cost abatement technologies and by the deregulation of the natural gas and railroad industries which, in combination with incentives for cost-cutting under the new market approach to SO₂ control, has lowered marginal costs of abatement curves and made them more uniform across powerplants. The low price of permits and low trading volume are evidence that market approaches to pollution control can be more cost-effective than command and control regulations. The effect of public policies and technological changes on the allowance market are usefully examined in the context of an ideal market, in which the equilibrium price of allowances equals the marginal cost of abatement of individual powerplants. Using recent data from Coggins and Swinton (1996), we are able to explain the current price of permits with some accuracy.     

Detection of congenital müllerian duct anomalies using three-dimensional ultrasound

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the value of 3-dimensional sonography in the diagnosis of congenital müllerian duct anomalies, which cause infertility, preterm labor, and first trimester abortion. METHODS: A prospective study was undertaken in which 40 patients with histories of repeated spontaneous abortions or infertility were first examined using conventional 2-dimensional sonography or hysterosalpingography. Three-dimensional transvaginal sonography was then performed. RESULTS: Twenty-eight women had müllerian duct abnormalities, and 12 women had normal uterine anatomy. Müllerian duct defects detected in this study were unicornuate uterus (3), bicornuate uterus (3), complete or partial septate uterus (12), arcuate uterus (9), and didelphic uterus (1). The diagnosis of müllerian duct anomalies in these patients was confirmed by laparoscopic and/or hysteroscopic examinations. Three-dimensional sonography demonstrated all congenital uterine abnormalities with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. Separate uterus and bicornuate uterus could be correctly diagnosed using 3-dimensional sonography in 11 (92%) of 12 cases and 3 (100%) of 3 cases, respectively. These 2 abnormalities were commonly confused with each other using hysterosalpingography and conventional sonography. CONCLUSIONS: Three-dimensional sonography with image reconstruction is less expensive and less invasive than hysterosalpingography for the assessment of uterine anatomy and diagnosis of müllerian duct abnormalities. The ability to visualize both the uterine cavity and the myometrium on a 3-dimensional scan facilitates the diagnosis of uterine anomalies and enables the differentiation of septate from bicornuate uteri for preoperative surgical planning.     

Antiendotoxin therapies for septic shock

Gram-negative shock is thought to result primarily from the effects of endotoxin, a component of the bacterial outer membrane. Accordingly, therapies aimed at inhibiting, neutralizing, or clearing endotoxin have been extensively explored. Despite over 30 years of research, no antiendotoxin approach to the treatment of human septic shock is of proven benefit. In recent randomized clinical trials of monoclonal antibodies against endotoxin, therapeutic efficacy was not convincingly demonstrated. This result, however, does not eliminate the possibility that other antiendotoxin therapies may be effective. The antibodies used in these clinical trials do not appear to neutralize endotoxin in vitro and are not reproducibly protective in animal models of sepsis. Newer agents with well-defined mechanisms of antiendotoxin activity may help clarify the role of endotoxin in septic shock and prove useful therapy for some patients.