State and Trait Emotions in Delinquent Adolescents

Objective To examine the structure of emotions and affective dysregulation in juvenile delinquents. Method Fifty-six juvenile delinquents from a local juvenile hall and 169 subjects from a local high school were recruited for this study. All participants completed psychometric testing for trait emotions followed by measurements of state emotions under two conditions (free association and stress condition). Finally, delinquent participants completed a detailed assessment of past trauma using the Childhood Trauma Interview (CTI). Results Delinquents exhibit significantly higher levels of negative state and trait emotions when compared to a high school sample. In the delinquent sample chronicity of physical trauma affects the longstanding variable of trait emotionality and severity of trauma, specifically emotional abuse and witnessing violence, shapes negative emotional outcomes in state emotionality. In addition, delinquents appear to experience a wider range of emotions than the comparison sample and were more likely to experience a confluence of state emotions of sadness and anger under stressed conditions. Conclusion Adolescent delinquents appear to have a different experience of negative emotions than comparison adolescents. The experience of emotions appears to differ in state and trait conditions. These emotions may be related to childhood experiences of trauma.     

Living with HIV: the psychological relevance of meaning making

A qualitative study was carried out in Namibia to explore how people infected with HIV cope psychologically with this life-threatening virus. The study was based on the theoretical concept of meaning making as developed by Park and Folkman (1997; Review of General Psychology, 1, 115-44) within the framework of Lazarus' stress and coping theory (e.g., Lazarus, 1993, Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 245-54). Ten semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with people who were diagnosed as HIV-positive but had not yet developed AIDS. The participants had known about their status for 6 months to 8 years. None of them received antiretroviral therapy. The interviews were analysed by means of the circular deconstruction method (Jaeggi & Faas, 1991, Arbeitsmaterialien aus dem Institut für Psychologie der Technischen Universit?t Berlin). The findings revealed that all participants had accepted their HIV-infection and that this acceptance enabled them to reconcile with having the virus. All participants felt largely responsible for their HIV-infection and they also felt that they had deserved the contraction of the virus. Self-blame and the experience of 'personal deservedness' (Park & Folkman, 1997) turned out to provide individuals with a sense of control over the causes of their current situation. Almost all participants reported that since being diagnosed with HIV religion became very important to them. Religious beliefs made their HIV-status more meaningful to the participants and brought a purpose to their HIV-infection as well as hope for a good outcome of this event.     

Expression of p25 impairs contextual learning but not latent inhibition in mice

The cyclin-dependent kinase 5 activator p25, which is derived from cleavage of p35, is thought to be formed in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. Female, but not male, transgenic mice expressing low levels of p25 have enhanced hippocampal long-term potentiation and improved spatial learning, raising the hypothesis that p25 may compensate for early learning deficits in Alzheimer's disease in a sex-dependent manner. Here, we show that low levels of p25 do not alter latent inhibition, a phenomenon that is impaired in patients with schizophrenia. We also demonstrate that contextual fear conditioning is impaired in female, but not in male, p25 transgenic mice. Thus, low levels of p25 are not always beneficial for learning as was previously hypothesized.     

Über das Schicksal des Acetylcholins im Blute

Zusammenfassung Die Spaltung von Acetylcholin an roten Blutkörperchen, an Kohle und im Serum wird durch die Narkotiea Aceton, Acetamid, Methyl-, Äthyl-, Propyl-, Butyl- und Amylalkohol reversibel gehemmt. Die Hemmung durch die Alkohole gehorcht dem Gesetz der homologen Reihen. Im Sinne derWarburgschen Theorie der Narkose wird angenommen, daß die Hemmung der Acetylcholinspaltung der Ausdruck einer Adsorptionsverdrängung durch die Narkotica ist.     

心理护理加针刺治疗失眠病人40例

笔者自 1998年初赴纳米比亚医疗队工作至今 ,接触了大量因失业引起的失眠病人 (当地失业率为 33 % )。此病具有广泛性、社会性及特殊性。为提高其疗效 ,我们邀请了纳米比亚大学心理学专家Ｄｒ .Ｉ .Ｐｌａｔｔｎｅｒ为技术指导 ,开展了心理护理配合针刺治疗失眠 ,效果满意 ,现报告如下。1　临床资料　　心理护理加针刺组 40例 ,男 35例 ,女 5例 ,平均年龄 37.5岁 ,平均病程 5 .0月 ;单纯药物组 39例 ,男 33例 ,女 6例 ,平均年龄 36 .0岁 ,平均病程 5 .5月 ;单纯针刺组 35例 ,男 31例 ,女 4例 ,平均年龄 38.0岁 ,平均病程 6 .0月。所有病人均…     

c-Abl is activated by growth factors and Src family kinases and has a role in the cellular response to PDGF

The c-Abl tyrosine kinase localizes to the cytoplasm and plasma membrane in addition to the nucleus. However, there is little information regarding a role for c-Abl in the cytoplasm/plasma membrane compartments. Here we report that a membrane pool of c-Abl is activated by the growth factors PDGF and EGF in fibroblasts. The pattern and kinetics of activation are similar to growth factor activation of Src family kinases. To determine whether a link existed between activation of c-Abl and members of the Src family, we examined c-Abl kinase activity in cells that expressed oncogenic Src proteins. We found that c-Abl kinase activity was increased by 10- to 20-fold in these cells, and that Src and Fyn kinases directly phosphorylated c-Abl in vitro. Furthermore, overexpression of wild-type Src potentiated c-Abl activation by growth factors, and a kinase-inactive form of Src reduced this activation, showing that Abl activation by growth factors occurs at least in part via activation of Src kinases. Significantly, we show that c-Abl has a functional role in the morphological response to PDGF. Whereas PDGF treatment of serum-starved wild-type mouse embryo fibroblasts resulted in distinct linear or circular/dorsal membrane ruffling, c-Abl-null cells demonstrated dramatically reduced ruffling in response to PDGF, which was rescued by physiological re-expression of c-Abl. These data identify c-Abl as a downstream target of activated receptor tyrosine kinases and Src family kinases, and show for the first time that c-Abl functions in the cellular response to growth factors.     

Identification of specific PP2A complexes involved in human cell transformation

The SV40 small t antigen (ST) interacts with the serine-threonine protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). To investigate the role of this interaction in transformation, we suppressed the expression of the PP2A B56gamma subunit in human embryonic kidney (HEK) epithelial cells expressing SV40 large T antigen, hTERT, and H-RAS. Suppression of PP2A B56gamma expression inhibited PP2A-specific phosphatase activity similar to that achieved by ST and conferred the ability to grow in an anchorage-independent fashion and to form tumors. Overexpression of PP2A B56gamma3 in tumorigenic HEK cells expressing ST or human lung cancer cell lines partially reversed the tumorigenicity of these cells. These observations identify specific PP2A complexes involved in human cell transformation.     

Sexual dimorphisms in the effect of low-level p25 expression on synaptic plasticity and memory

p25, a degradation product of p35, has been reported to accumulate in the forebrain of patients with Alzheimer's disease. p25 as well as p35 are activators of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) although p25/Cdk5 and p35/Cdk5 complexes have distinct properties. Several mouse models with high levels of p25 expression exhibit signs of neurodegeneration. On the contrary, we have shown that low levels of p25 expression do not cause neurodegeneration and are even beneficial for particular types of learning and memory [Angelo et al., (2003) Eur J. Neurosci., 18, 423-431]. Here, we have studied the influence of low-level p25 expression in hippocampal synaptic plasticity and in learning and memory for each sex separately in two different genetic backgrounds (129B6F1 and C57BL/6). Surprisingly, we found that low-level p25 expression had different consequences in male and female mutants. In the two genetic backgrounds LTP induced by a strong stimulation of the Schaffer's collaterals (four trains, 1-s duration, 5-min interval) was severely impaired in male, but not in female, p25 mutants. Furthermore, in the two genetic backgrounds spatial learning in the Morris water maze was faster in female p25 mutants than in male transgenic mice. These results suggest that, in women, the production of p25 in Alzheimer's disease could be a compensation for some early learning and memory deficits.     

Differential contribution of the ERK and JNK mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades to Ras transformation of HT1080 fibrosarcoma and DLD-1 colon carcinoma cells

Although an important contribution of ERK and JNK mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation in Ras transformation of rodent fibroblasts has been determined, their role in mediating oncogenic Ras transformation of human tumor cells remains to be established. We have utilized the human HT1080 fibrosarcoma and DLD-1 colon carcinoma cell lines, which contain endogenous mutated and oncogenic N- and K-ras alleles, respectively, to address this role. Study of these cells is advantageous over Ras-transformed rodent model cell systems for two key reasons. First, the ras mutations occurred naturally in the progression of the tumors from which the cell lines were derived, rather than due to overexpression of an exogenously introduced gene. Second, although these tumor cells possess defects in multiple genetic loci, it has been established that mutated Ras contributes significantly to the transformed phenotype of these cells. Clonal variant lines of HT1080 and DLD-1 have been isolated which have lost the oncogenic ras allele and exhibit a corresponding impairment in growth transformation in vitro and in vivo. We found that upregulation of Raf/MEK/ERK and JNK correlated with expression of oncogenic Ras in HT1080, but not DLD-1 cells. Furthermore, inhibition of ERK activation in parental HT1080 cells caused the same changes in cell morphology and actin stress fiber organization seen with loss of expression of activated N-Ras(61K). Thus, we suggest that constitutive activation of the Raf/MEK/ERK and JNK pathways is necessary for Ras-induced transformation of HT1080 but not DLD-1 cells. These results emphasize that cell type differences exist in the signaling pathways by which oncogenic Ras causes transformation.     

The influence of 2 surgical bandage systems on wound tissue oxygen tension

HYPOTHESIS: Local wound heating improves tissue oxygen tension in postoperative patients. SETTING: University hospital. PATIENTS: Forty normothermic and well-hydrated patients recovering from elective open abdominal surgery. INTERVENTIONS: A comparison between an experimental bandage system (Warm-Up; Augustine Medical Inc, Eden Prairie, Minn) and conventional gauze covered with elastic adhesive (Medipore Dress-it; 3M, St Paul, Minn). The experimental system is heated to 38 degrees C and does not touch the wound. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Subcutaneous tissue oxygen tension was measured postoperatively and on the first postoperative day. In a subgroup, we also evaluated the effects of bandage pressure per se on tissue oxygen. RESULTS: Initial postoperative tissue oxygen tensions were approximately 30 mm Hg greater with the experimental bandage, even before warming. Subcutaneous oxygen tension during heating remained significantly greater in patients with the warmed bandage than the conventional elastic bandage (116 +/- 40 vs 85 +/- 34 mm Hg, respectively) while the patients were breathing approximately 50% oxygen. The difference was smaller on the first postoperative day, but still statistically significant (82 +/- 30 vs 65 +/- 22 mm Hg, respectively). In the subgroup analysis, tissue oxygen tension increased significantly by 12 +/- 4 mm Hg when the heating bandage was substituted for a conventional bandage (P<.001). CONCLUSION: In normothermic and well-hydrated surgical patients, much benefit from the heating bandage system appears to result from pressure relief. These data suggest that relieving wound pressure markedly improves tissue perfusion and oxygenation.