Psychic coping with spontaneous abortion

Spontaneous abortion is the early and involuntary loss of pregnancy and occurs in about 15 to 20% of all pregnancies. In this study, Filipp's heuristic model for critical life events was used to evaluate general and specific causal attributions and depressive symptoms after spontaneous abortion. A sample of 100 women was investigated at four measuring points between diagnosis and five weeks after the spontaneous abortion. The results regarding depressive symptom levels showed that two days after the miscarriage, 50% of the women were severely depressed, and five weeks later 30% were still depressed. Depressive symptoms were increased in cases of prior reproductive loss and when pregnancy was planned or desired. With regard to general causal attributions, women who tended to more internal, stable, and global attributions showed a significantly higher level of depressive symptoms than women with external, unstable, and specific attributions. In the area of specific attributions regarding pregnancy loss, the same patterns of results were found.     

If physician unionization trend catches on, hospitals could be drastically affected

If the trend toward physician unionization picks up steam, it could have multiple adverse consequences for hospitals, writes Ed Egger. A management, labor and employment attorney explains how life could change for hospitals with unionized physicians.     

Induced abortion--a critical life change event]

In the present survey the psychic and physical mastering of abortion is considered to be a subject of the research of a "critical life-event". Special interest was devoted to the consequences of the process of mastering before and after abortion on the mental and physical condition of the examined human females (n = 39). The diagnosis showed that especially before abortion in a time of a serious state of inner conflict, interference concerning the physical condition and psyche of women arise, while actually after abortion the mood is more euphoric. The inconvenience increased in dependence on experience of social welfare and support. Three months after abortion specific complaints such as pains in the lower abdomen, bleeding and sudden urge to cry occur. The administration of contraception after abortion is becoming significantly safer.     

"Bread: it's a great way to go". Increasing bread consumption decreases laxative sales in an elderly community.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effects on laxative sales of two methods of promoting increased consumption of wholemeal/wholegrain bread by the elderly. DESIGN: Community intervention trials were carried out in two test communities and one control community on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. PARTICIPANTS: Small retirement communities with a high proportion of the population aged over 55 years. INTERVENTIONS: A community organisation strategy (COS) involving the media, community activities and social marketing principles using the theme "Bread: It's a Great Way to Go" was compared with a patient education strategy (PES) through local doctors and a control community (CON). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Wholemeal/wholegrain bread sales and laxative sales. RESULTS: There was a 49% decrease in laxative sales corresponding to a 58% increase in sales of wholemeal/wholegrain bread in the COS community but no significant changes in either the PES or CON communities. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests a positive, cost effective approach for increasing fibre intake and improving gastrointestinal problems in the elderly.     

Rooming-in-Modell Beeinflußt die Mitaufnahme bzw. Nichtmitaufnahme der Mütter den Krankenhausaufenthalt von Kleinkindern?

Zahlreiche Studien best?tigen insgesamt die st?rungspr?ventive Eigenschaft des Rooming-in. Die vorliegende Untersuchung besch?ftigt sich vor allem mit der Frage, für welche Gruppe von Kindern, bei Inanspruchnahme des Rooming-in bei Krankenhausaufenthalten Vorteile zu erwarten sind.     

Columnar organization of dendrites and axons of single and synaptically coupled excitatory spiny neurons in layer 4 of the rat barrel cortex.

Cortical columns are the functional units of the neocortex that are particularly prominent in the "barrel" field of the somatosensory cortex. Here we describe the morphology of two classes of synaptically coupled excitatory neurons in layer 4 of the barrel cortex, spiny stellate, and star pyramidal cells, respectively. Within a single barrel, their somata tend to be organized in clusters. The dendritic arbors are largely confined to layer 4, except for the distal part of the apical dendrite of star pyramidal neurons that extends into layer 2/3. In contrast, the axon of both types of neurons spans the cortex from layer 1 to layer 6. The most prominent axonal projections are those to layers 4 and 2/3 where they are largely restricted to a single cortical column. In layers 5 and 6, a small fraction of axon collaterals projects also across cortical columns. Consistent with the dense axonal projection to layers 4 and 2/3, the total number and density of boutons per unit axonal length was also highest there. Electron microscopy combined with GABA postimmunogold labeling revealed that most (>90%) of the synaptic contacts were established on dendritic spines and shafts of excitatory neurons in layers 4 and 2/3. The largely columnar organization of dendrites and axons of both cell types, combined with the preferential and dense projections within cortical layers 4 and 2/3, suggests that spiny stellate and star pyramidal neurons of layer 4 serve to amplify thalamic input and relay excitation vertically within a single cortical column.