The adaptive function of sleep: The differential effects of sleep and dreaming on recall.

Tested the hypothesis that REM sleep serves an adaptive function by examining the effects of sleep and dreaming vs. dream deprivation on the recall of ego-threatening or nonthreatening material. Ss were 40 undergraduates with high ego strength, as measured by the Rorschach Concept Evaluation Technique and the Psychological Insight Test. Ss were given an interrupted task paradigm under conditions which would lead to a threat to self-esteem for failed items, and were tested for recall after REM-deprivation, NREM awakening, or 2 or 10 hr. of daytime activity. Scores on the Repression-Sensitization scale were also examined in relation to ego strength and recall on the interrupted task. Results show that Ss who slept recalled neutral material better than Ss who did not sleep, and Ss who had REM sleep recalled threatening material better than those who had no opportunity to dream. It is concluded that NREM sleep facilitates retention of nonemotional material, while REM sleep deals with material containing affective components. (39 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interface of work and family life.

Dramatic changes in the workforce and workplace contribute to the need for a synthesis of knowledge on the interdependence of family life, work, and the vocational development of children, adolescents, and adults. Four prominent themes in the work and family literature are reviewed with the intention of providing guidance for all applied psychologists. These include (a) the meaning of work embedded in people's lives, (b) multiple life roles, (c) work and family navigation, and (d) supportive family systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudinal, circadian, circumstantial, and subject selection explanations of shiftwork effects on health

An instance of permanent neuropathy that affected the mandibular nerve after a vaso-occlusive crisis in a patient with homozygous sickle cell disease and G6PD deficiency. A local factor of molar periapical inflammation may have provoked this phenomenon.     

The relationship of family structure and perceived family support to length of hospital stay

It has been suggested that drug abuse belongs to a larger class of addictive behaviors, including smoking, eating or gambling, which are mediated by common processes. Since laboratory animals can be induced to develop drug self-administration as well as indulge in compulsive eating or drinking, the present experiments were designed to find out if the same animals were susceptible to both behaviors. Only certain rats develop amphetamine intravenous self-administration (SA), and this susceptibility can be predicted from their enhanced locomotor response in a novel environment. Furthermore, excessive, non-regulatory drinking, referred to as schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP), in response to the periodic delivery of small amounts of food is only observed in certain rats. Since the propensity to SA has been shown to be influenced by experimental factors and testing for SIP was found to modify behavioral and biological parameters related to the propensity for drug-seeking, we also investigated whether experience of SIP influenced the subsequent development of SA. In Expt. 1, the rats that developed SA also acquired SIP, and had a higher locomotor response to novelty. The results of Expt. 2 showed that testing for SIP influenced the predisposition to develop amphetamine SA. When animals were tested for SIP first, the polydipsic rats subsequently failed to acquire SA, and had a reduced locomotor response to novelty. These changes seemed to be specific to the experience of SIP, as individual differences in the locomotor response to novelty were unchanged when animals were housed in standard laboratory conditions over a period of one month between the two tests.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The effects of sleep loss on short-term recognition memory.

Compared the performance of 20 sleep-deprived undergraduates on a probe-recognition memory task with that of 20 nondeprived controls over periods up to 55 hrs. Recognition was either immediate or delayed by 20 sec. Results show that the sleep-deprived group made significantly more errors in the perception of the material, and under the delay condition retained less adequately those items correctly perceived. It is argued that these findings are consistent with the notion that sleep loss causes a deficit in attention, leading to misperception and a failure to rehearse adequately material presented for memorization. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of cocaine on mood and sleep in cocaine-dependent males.

The effects of cocaine use and withdrawal on mood and sleep were examined. Three cocaine-dependent men lived in an inpatient facility for approximately 4 weeks, which included an initial abstinence phase (8–10 days), a cocaine administration phase (5 days), and a 2nd abstinence phase (14–16 days). During the 2nd phase, cocaine was administered intranasally a few hours before bedtime. During the day, mood and daytime sleepiness were measured, and sleep was monitored each night. Cocaine produced typical changes in mood and blood pressure, and sleep was severely disrupted. Following Phase 2, there were no changes in mood that was indicative of an abstinence syndrome, although, initially, daytime sleepiness increased. After 2 weeks, sleep architecture remained different from age-matched controls. This study is the first to measure changes in sleep architecture polysomnographically following a period of controlled cocaine use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of sleep loss on task performance and the electroencephalogram in young and elderly subjects

The effects of 28-h sleep loss on performance, reaction time (RT) distribution functions, and spectral composition of the EEG were evaluated in three choice-RT tasks for young (N = 12, aged 18-24 years) and old (N = 12, aged 62-73 years) subjects. Manipulations of stimulus degradation, stimulus-response compatibility, and interstimulus interval variability were to affect encoding, response selection, and motor adjustment stages, respectively. In order to discriminate between independent variables that were presumed to be computational or energetical in nature, effects on EEG spectra and RT-distributions were studied. Spectra of the EEG indicated higher cortical arousal levels for the elderly than for the young. The most dramatic effect of sleep loss on performance was a marked increase in the number of omitted responses. This effect was smaller for the elderly than for the young. The results suggest that the detrimental effects of sleep loss are smaller in the elderly, which is consistent with an inverted-U relationship between arousal and performance. The age effects on the processing stages were mainly limited to response selection.     

The effects of sleep on circulating catecholamines and aqueous flow in human subjects

OBJECTIVE: To compare the safety, efficacy and acceptability of a continuous low dose oestradiol releasing vaginal ring with conjugated equine oestrogen vaginal cream in the treatment of postmenopausal urogenital atrophy. DESIGN: An open, parallel, comparative multicentre trial. SETTING: Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: One hundred and ninety-four postmenopausal women with symptoms and signs of urogenital atrophy were randomised on a 2:1 basis to 12 weeks of treatment with an oestrogen vaginal ring versus an oestrogen cream. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES AND RESULTS: Equivalence (95% CI) was demonstrated between the two treatments for relief of vaginal dryness and dyspareunia, resolution of atrophic signs, improvement in vaginal mucosal maturation indices and reduction in vaginal pH. No significant difference was demonstrated in endometrial response to a progestogen challenge test and equivalence was demonstrated in the incidence of intercurrent bleeding episodes. The vaginal ring was significantly more acceptable than the cream P < 0.0001), and was preferred to the cream (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: With equivalent efficacy and safety and superior acceptability to vaginal cream, the low dose oestradiol vaginal ring is an advance in vaginal delivery systems for the treatment of urogenital atrophy.     

Quality of life and productivity in nurses reporting migraine

Calcium phosphate bone cements (CPBCs) are osteotransductive, i.e. after implantation in bone they are transformed into new bone tissue. Furthermore, due to the fact that they are mouldable, their osteointegration is immediate. Their chemistry has been established previously. Some CPBCs contain amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) and set by a sol-gel transition. The others are crystalline and can give as the reaction product dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD), calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA), carbonated apatite (CA) or hydroxyapatite (HA). Mixed-type gypsum-DCPD cements are also described. In vivo rates of osteotransduction vary as follows: gypsum-DCPD > DCPD > CDHA approximately CA > HA. The osteotransduction of CDHA-type cements may be increased by adding dicalcium phosphate anhydrous (DCP) and/or CaCO3 to the cement powder. CPBCs can be used for healing of bone defects, bone augmentation and bone reconstruction. Incorporation of drugs like antibiotics and bone morphogenetic protein is envisaged. Load-bearing applications are allowed for CHDA-type, CA-type and HA-type CPBCs as they have a higher compressive strength than human trabecular bone (10 MPa).     

When can employees have a family life? The effects of daily workload and affect on work-family conflict and social behaviors at home.

This article presents a longitudinal examination of antecedents and outcomes of work-to-family conflict. A total of 106 employees participating in an experience-sampling study were asked to respond to daily surveys both at work and at home, and their spouses were interviewed daily via telephone for a period of 2 weeks. Intraindividual analyses revealed that employees' perceptions of workload predicted work-to-family conflict over time, even when controlling for the number of hours spent at work. Workload also influenced affect at work, which in turn influenced affect at home. Finally, perhaps the most interesting finding in this study was that employees' behaviors in the family domain (reported by spouses) were predicted by the employees' perceptions of work-to-family conflict and their positive affect at home. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of the effects of group family play on family relations.

Examined the differences in family relations, as measured by Beaver's Self-Report Family Inventory (W. R. Beavers and R. B. Hampston, 1990), between families participating in specified group family play and those not participating. Ss in this study included 52 families consisting of 134 family members. The researcher used random sampling to assign the families to 4 groups according to the Solomon Four Group Design. Ss participating in group family play attended 7 session, 6 sessions included an interaction game. Findings show that family play can be effective in improving family relations and that problem skills can be practiced and developed in a non-threatening, engaging intervention such as family play. Experimental groups showed significant improvement in family relations, differences could not have been due to testing effects or maturation. The findings support the use of family play in group settings in both prevention and therapeutic milieus. Implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of sleep loss on component movements of human motion.

Does sleep loss produce differential effects on component movements of motion? Without a control group, 19 college students were given "several special tests of perceptual and motor functions in a 5-day training period, in a 3-day sleep loss period, and in a 2-day recovery period." Manipulation and travel movements in a panel-control task, speed of performance in a test of bimanual and unimanual coordination, speed of discrete leg movements, and critical flicker frequency all decreased. Contacts in a test of hand steadiness showed irregular change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of pre-sleep suggestion upon REM sleep.

8 university students who spent 7 consecutive nights in a sleep lab were given presleep instructions on the 4th and 6th nights to either increase or decrease their dreaming time depending upon the order in which they were to receive the treatment conditions. Sleep records showed no changes from baseline sleep stage percentages, but the number of rapid eye movements (REMs) and eye movement density measures indicated increases (but not decreases) which were in accordance with the suggestions. Results cast further doubt on the equivalence of the REM state and dreaming and are in support of the notion that REMs themselves may be better indicators of dreaming than is the REM state. (French summary) (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of the quality of life of disabled workers based on the most frequently used type of health care]

An investigation was conducted among the dock workers from the port of Rijeka, where disabled workers made 13.1% of the total number of the employed. The most common causes of disablement were musculo-skeletal and connective tissue diseases (27%), injuries (20%) and diseases of the nervous and circulatory systems (13%). Chronic diseases in these workers whose mean age was 43.8 years were twice as frequent as in other workers (mean age 39.7 years). The average working span of disabled workers was 12.2 years, compared to 8.9 years of the rest of the working population. Analysis showed that in the year after disability assessment, workers with reduced working capacity visited their physicians 2.1 and specialists 1.7 times less often than the other workers. In general, the rate of absenteeism in the year following the assessment of disability was reduced 3.5 times. All the differences were very significant, (P < 0.01). Results lead to the conclusion that medical and social rehabilitation of disabled workers as well as their integration into the working environment were very successful, which undoubtedly had a positive impact on the quality of their life.     

The effects of health care reforms on job satisfaction and voluntary turnover among hospital-based nurses

OBJECTIVES: Among the consequences of downsizing and cost containment in hospitals are major changes in the work life of nurses. As hospitals become smaller, patient acuity rises, and the job of nursing becomes more technical and difficult. This article examines the effects of changes in the hospital environment on nurses' job satisfaction and voluntary turnover between 1993 and 1994. METHODS: Data were collected in a longitudinal survey of 736 hospital nurses in one hospital to examine correlates of change in aspects of job satisfaction and predictors of leaving among nurses who terminated in that period. RESULTS: Unadjusted results showed decline in most aspects of satisfaction as measured by Hinshaw and Atwood's and Price and Mueller's scales. Multivariate analysis indicated that the most important determinants of low satisfaction were poor instrumental communication within the organization and too great a workload. Intent to leave was predicted by the perception of little promotional opportunity, high routinization, low decision latitude, and poor communication. Predictors of turnover were fewer years on the job, expressed intent to leave, and not enough time to do the job well. CONCLUSIONS: The authors conclude that although many aspects of job satisfaction are diminished, some factors predicting low satisfaction and turnover may be amenable to change by hospital administrators.     

The effects of group and family day care on infant attachment behaviours.

Examined attachment behavior towards mother in 39 toddlers (mean age 22 mo) from 3 different child-care environments: a group day care center, family day care homes, and home with mother. Frequency of attachment behavior and security of attachment were assessed in laboratory separation episodes. The 2 substitute care groups behaved similarly; both played significantly more and cried less than did the home-reared group when left alone. No intellectual differences were found. Findings are interpreted as showing that children in group and family day care do not necessarily differ from home-reared children in strength or security of attachment, but that children in both forms of substitute care find brief maternal separations less novel and anxiety-provoking than do home-reared children. (French abstract) (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)