Psychobiological aspects of asthma and the consequent research implications

Recent research suggests that anxiety disorders are more common in asthmatic patients than in the population as a whole. There are a variety of biologic, psychologic, and social factors that suggest that the disorder of asthma may in itself be anxiogenic and that simply having asthma may give patients an increased vulnerability toward the development of anxiety disorders. These issues are reviewed and emphasis is placed on the need for further research into the apparent biologic areas of overlap between psychiatric disorders and asthma. It is hypothesized that a "lactate challenge test" may be used in asthmatics to see if they are predisposed to panic and suggested that a therapeutic trial of tricyclic antidepressants in anxious asthmatics is indicated. Research into the psychobiologic aspects of asthma is likely to clarify the role of "emotional" factors in asthma and may well have significant implications for the management of this disorder.     

Data collection in studies of life events and the harmful use of alcohol

Although stressful life events have been found to play a role in the development of a number of physical and psychiatric disorders, the research into their influence upon the harmful use of alcohol has been inconsistent. The published studies are reviewed in terms of the methods employed in data collection. It is concluded that a true test of the hypothesis that life events play an aetiological role in the development of the harmful use of alcohol has yet to be carried out, since valid and reliable techniques have not been used in assessing both life events and the onset of harmful use in any one study. Alternative procedures are suggested for use in future research.     

Software compensation for lung volume in assessment of inspiratory muscle strength and endurance.

BACKGROUND--To increase the sensitivity of measurements of maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) as a test of inspiratory muscle strength and endurance, software was developed to correct for variation in lung volume. METHODS--Using a body plethysmograph to determine absolute lung volume during each manoeuvre, values for MIP were expressed as a percentage of the pressure "expected" from the unfatigued MIP/lung volume relation in each subject. RESULTS--The method reduced the variance in peak and average pressure during a series of 18 MIP manoeuvres of 10 seconds duration separated by rest intervals of 10 seconds. CONCLUSIONS--The correlation between average pressure and contraction number was improved significantly by the MIP/lung volume correction. This simple correction has many applications in measurements of the MIP.     

Opposite links of positive and negative symptomatology with memory errors in schizophrenia

We wished to confirm and extend a previous correlational study of our group, suggesting that positive symptoms in schizophrenia were linked to an increase in certain types of memory errors, and negative symptoms to a decrease in other types of errors. A post-hoc analysis was conducted in 33 schizophrenic patients and 40 normal control subjects on memory errors collected in a free recall task and two types of recognition tasks. The memory errors were intrusions and list errors in free recall, and decision bias towards false alarms in recognition, all assumed to reflect a source-monitoring failure. In a first analysis, the patient sample was split along the median for positive symptoms as rated by the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS). In a second analysis, it was split along the median for negative symptoms as rated by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). Patients with high ratings of positive symptoms made more memory errors (intrusions, list errors, false alarms) than those with low ratings, supporting the hypothesis of a link between positive symptomatology and source-monitoring failure. On the other hand, patients with high ratings of negative symptoms made fewer of these errors than the other patients. Fewer errors were specifically associated with more affective flattening, alogia and anhedonia, whereas avolition was entirely unrelated to them.     

Incidence of operative procedures on cleft lip and palate patients

The incidence of operative procedures in a group of 374 cleft lip and palate patients was determined by a chart review. These patients were part of a long term study funded by the National Institute of Dental Research at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic. The chart review provided a breakdown of the primary and secondary procedures performed on the patients. Although the secondary procedures carried out were underestimated in this study, it is clear that these operations comprise a major component of the successful treatment of these patients. The results of the study and the implications in today's managed care environment are discussed.     

A comparison of gradual distraction techniques for modification of the midface in growing sheep.

The authors carried out experiments to advance the midface in growing sheep using a distraction force across the zygomaticomaxillary sutures. They wished to assess the possibility of performing distraction osteogenesis across intact sutures as well as distraction after Le Fort osteotomies. Their results demonstrate that the technique of gradual distraction after osteotomy is successful in the growing animal. Bilateral distraction across intact sutures did not advance the midface or change the dental relationship. Unilateral distraction was successful in angulating the midface away from the distracting force in the intact growing animal. Alternating unilateral distraction or "waltzing" was surprisingly effective in advancing the midface in one of the animals studied and may become applicable in some craniofacial deformities. In all intact animals there was some expansion of the zygomaticomaxillary suture as well as a substantial migration of the distraction devices through the bone.     

去甲硫氨酸全肠外营养对大鼠血清氨基酸谱的影响

目的观察去甲硫氨酸全肠外营养对大鼠血清氨基酸谱等的影响.方法 Wistar大鼠24只,随机分为含甲硫氨酸(+MetTPN,n=12)和去甲硫氨酸全肠外营养2组(-MetTPN,n=12),分别给予相应的TPN支持.治疗7d后,每组随机抽取6只大鼠处死,检测血清FAA(HPLC法)、肝肾功能和全血常规,同时作心、肺、肝、肾组织病理学检查.两组其余大鼠继续原TPN治疗,观察生存期.结果 -MetTPN组大鼠血清游离Met、Cys明显降低,Asp、Glu、Ser等显著增高;大鼠体重下降;血清总蛋白和白蛋白水平下降;血常规和肾功能未见明显异常;组织学检查见肝细胞轻度肿胀,细胞核仁增粗,心肺肾未见明显异常;平均生存18d.对照组上述检查未见异常,除一只大鼠因导管并发症于TPN第16d死亡,其余大鼠全部存活.结论 -MetTPN一周可致大鼠血清游离Met、Cys明显降低和Asp、Glu、Ser等显著增高,及轻度肝功能改变;随着-MetTPN时间延长,出现严重的代谢紊乱和器官功能障碍导致死亡.