Reciprocal Relationships Between Collective Efficacy and Team Performance in Women's Ice Hockey.

This study examined reciprocal relationships between collective efficacy and team performance over a season of competition in women's intercollegiate ice hockey within weekends where the opponent was constant for 2 games. Collective efficacy beliefs within 12 teams were assessed prior to both games for at least 7 weekends. Team performance indexes produced an overall measure of performance for each game. The average influence of Saturday collective efficacy on Saturday performance was moderate and positive after controlling for Friday performance. The average influence of Friday performance on Saturday collective efficacy was small and positive after removing the influence of Friday collective efficacy from Friday performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of perspective in the accessibility of goals during reading.

An implicit assumption of several causal reasoning models is that readers adopt the goals of a narrative's protagonist during text comprehension. In apparent violation of this assumption, readers participating in Experiment 1 of the present study drew inferences relevant to a protagonist's goal even when that goal was already satisfied from the perspective of the protagonist. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants were explicitly asked to view the text situation from the point of view of the protagonist. In this case, the goals of the reader and the protagonist should be the same. In these experiments, participants focused on the goals of the protagonist only when those goals had not been satisfied from the perspective of the protagonist. These results are discussed in terms of reader- and character-based perspectives and in terms of text characteristics that cue perspective taking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma presenting as an aural polyp

Renal cell carcinoma may metastasize to the head and neck region at different stages of its evolution. We present a case of an undiagnosed renal cell carcinoma presenting as an ear polyp, and discuss the difficulties of the diagnosis and the management of these tumours.     

Retained fetal lung liquid in congenital lobar emphysema: a possible predictor of polyalveolar lobe

The purpose of this study was to determine whether retention of fetal lung liquid is more prevalent in polyalveolar congenital lobar emphysema than in conventional congenital lobar emphysema. Two patients with congenital lobar emphysema were prospectively identified in a 3-year period. Twenty-five such patients were identified in a retrospective study covering 39 years. Medical records were available for 22 patients who had 23 emphysematous lobes. Both babies from the prospective study and six subjects from the retrospective group had respiratory symptoms and underwent chest X-ray in the first day of life. Six of the eight babies with respiratory symptoms and chest imaging in the first day of life had retention of fetal lung liquid in an emphysematous lobe. All six of these lobes were polyalveolar. The lobe in one child was a polyalveolar lobe but without retained fetal lung liquid, and one child exhibited conventional lobar emphysema also without retained fetal lung liquid. One polyalveolar lobe caused no neonatal symptoms and was not imaged until the child was 3 months old. No baby with conventional lobar emphysema was shown to have retained fetal lung liquid. There seems to be a correlation between polyalveolar lobe and onset of respiratory symptoms in the first day of life. Retention of fetal lung liquid within the affected lobe was documented only in cases of polyalveolar lobe.     

Non-functional variants of yeast mitochondrial ATP synthase subunit 8 that assemble into the complex

Myocardial and pulmonary beta-adrenoceptors can be imaged with 2-(S)-(-)-(9H-carbazol-4-yl-oxy)-3-[1-(fluoromethyl)ethyl]amino-2- propanol (S-1'-[18F]fluorocarazolol, I). Quantification of unmodified fluorocarazolol in plasma is necessary for analysis of PET images in terms of receptor densities. We have determined I and its radioactive metabolites in rat, sheep and human plasma, using (1) solid-phase extraction (C18) followed by reversed-phase HPLC and (2) direct injection of untreated plasma samples on an internal-surface reversed-phase (ISRP) column. The two methods were in good agreement. Unmodified I decreased from over 99% initially to less than 5%, 5-10% and 20% at 60 min post-injection in rats, sheep and human volunteers, respectively. Protein binding in sheep and human plasma was determined by ultrafiltration. The fraction of total plasma radioactivity bound to protein and the fraction representing unmodified radioligand were linearly correlated, suggesting that fluorocarazolol was more than 70% protein-bound, whereas its metabolites showed negligible protein binding. Direct injection of plasma on an ISRP column seems a convenient method for quantification of lipophilic radioligands such as fluorocarazolol.     

Value of transcranial Doppler indices in predicting raised ICP in infantile hydrocephalus. A study with review of the literature

Cerebral hemodynamic changes in infants with progressive hydrocephalus have been studied with the transcranial Doppler (TCD) technique. Several authors have referred to the correlation between the hemodynamic changes and increased intracranial pressure (ICP). Despite conflicting conclusions on the value of pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) measurements for monitoring infantile hydrocephalus, these pulsatility indices are the most commonly used for this purpose. Although clinical signs of raised ICP are highly variable and unreliable in infants, assumptions have been made in most of the studies about the presence of elevated ICP on the basis of the patient's clinical state. Few studies have reported on actual ICP values, however, and a direct relationship between ICP and TCD changes has never been adequately demonstrated. In the present study, this relationship was investigated in long-term simultaneous TCD/ICP measurements, in an attempt to develop a noninvasive method of monitoring the effect of ICP on intracranial hemodynamics. Two groups of data sets were established. Group I consisted of pre- and postoperative (shunt implantation) TCD/ICP measurements. Group II were long-term simultaneous TCD/ICP recordings showing significant ICP variations. In most of the postoperative measurements there was a decrease in the average PI and RI values. The correlation between PI or RI and ICP in the long-term simultaneous recordings, however, was generally poor. The risk of obtaining false positive or false negative PI or RI values in short-term measurements was also demonstrated. It can be concluded from our results, besides the wide range of reference values for the Doppler indices and extracranial influences upon them, that the present Doppler indices are inadequate for monitoring the complex intracranial dynamic responses in patients with raised ICP.     

Abnormal behavioral responses to fenfluramine in patients with affective and personality disorders. Correlation with increased serotonergic responsivity

Serotonergic responsivity was assessed in 20 psychiatric patients by the prolactin response to a fenfluramine challenge test. During the fenfluramine challenge 6 of 20 patients (30%) spontaneously reported psychopathologic reactions that included: increased anxiety/agitation, psychotic symptoms, illusions, mood elevation, and anergia. The time of peak behavioral symptoms (2.5 +/- 0.8 hrs) corresponded closely to the time of peak increase in prolactin levels (3.0 +/- 1.1 hr). Abnormal behavioral responders had statistically significant greater increases in prolactin 1 to 4 hr after fenfluramine when compared to normal responders. Patients who developed an abnormal psychopathologic response to fenfluramine were characterized by higher levels of anxiety and agitation at the time of admission to the hospital but otherwise were not distinguishable on the basis of severity of other psychiatric symptoms. This study suggests that increased serotonergic transmission may trigger anxiety, psychosis, and mood elevation in specific vulnerable individuals, whereas other patients with similar psychiatric illnesses are not affected.     

Diazepam alters caffeine-induced effects on beta-endorphin levels in specific rat brain regions

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of caffeine and the benzodiazepine agonist diazepam, and a combination of both on beta-endorphin (beta-EN) levels in specific rat brain regions. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (150-200 g) adapted to a 12-hour light: 12-hour dark illumination cycle were used in this study. Caffeine (10 mg/kg), diazepam (2 mg/kg) or a combination of caffeine (10 mg/kg) and diazepam (2 mg/kg) were administered intraperitoneally to rats at 11:00 hr. Control animals were injected with saline. Animals were sacrificed by decapitation 1 h after injection, the brains were immediately removed; the cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus and midbrain were dissected and their B-EN levels measured by radioimmunoassay. Caffeine administration significantly increased B-EN levels in the cortex. Similarly, administration of diazepam alone resulted in a significant increase of B-EN levels in cortex. However, concurrent administration of diazepam and caffeine resulted in higher increase of B-EN levels in cortex. No significant changes in B-EN levels were detected in hippocampus and midbrain after administration of either caffeine or diazepam alone. On the other hand, when diazepam and caffeine were concurrently administered a significant increase of B-EN levels were observed in the midbrain. Moreover, administration of diazepam alone resulted in a significant increase of B-EN levels in hypothalamus. This increase was still observed following concurrent administration of diazepam and caffeine. These results clearly indicate that diazepam alters caffeine-induced effects on B-EN in specific rat brain regions.