Prevalence and denial of sexual abuse in a male psychiatric inpatient population

While the link between sexual abuse and psychiatric morbidity is well established, there are only a few studies that have investigated the prevalence of sexual abuse in male psychiatric populations and these studies have typically employed designs that ignore methodological issues specific to male sexual abuse. The present study aims to contribute to this research using as methodologically sound approach as possible. Seventy-four male inpatients were interviewed using a questionnaire (J. N. Briere, 1992) about childhood sexual experiences. Approximately one third reported incidents that met this study's criteria for sexual abuse. Many of these men did not label such experiences as "sexual abuse." The results suggest that mental health professionals need to be aware that many of their male patients may have a history of sexual abuse and that potential minimization or denial of it is a barrier to disclosure.     

Effect of distance feedback on pacing strategy and perceived exertion during cycling

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether providing incorrect distance feedback would alter pacing strategies, perceived exertion, and heart rate during 20-km cycling time trials (TT). METHODS: Well-trained cyclists (N=15) performed a peak power output (PPO) test, familiarization trial, and four 20-km cycling TT during which they were provided with only distance feedback using 1-km distance splits. For the control trial, subjects received accurate feedback at each kilometer split. In the increase trial, they received inaccurate feedback at 0.775 km for the first kilometer split with the distance increasing by 25 m each subsequent split up to 1.25 km in the final kilometer split. For the decrease trial, inaccurate feedback was provided at 1.25 km for the first kilometer split with the distance decreasing by 25 m each subsequent split up to 0.775 km in the final split. For the random trial, distance splits were randomized. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in the finishing times between trials. Pacing strategies were unaltered as suggested by similar power output profiles during all trials. RPE scores were also similar for all trials. However, average heart rate varied significantly between trials (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that exercise performance, pacing strategy, and RPE during a 20-km cycling TT are not altered by incorrect distance feedback. The data supported the existence of a pacing strategy that is set before exercise and that is unaffected by external distance feedback.     

Postnatal maturation of cytochrome oxidase and lactate dehydrogenase activity and age-dependent consequences of lithium-pilocarpine status epilepticus in the rat: a regional histoenzymology study

The lithium-pilocarpine (Li-Pilo) model of epilepsy reproduces some pathophysiological, temporal, and developmental features of human temporal lobe epilepsy. In this model, rates of cerebral glucose utilization measured by the [(14)C]2-deoxyglucose technique increased during the initial status epilepticus (SE) and decreased during the latent or chronic periods. To correlate these metabolic changes with the activities of the enzymes of the glycolytic and tricarboxylic acid cycle pathways, we measured by histoenzymology the regional activity of two key enzymes of glucose metabolism, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) for the anaerobic pathway and cytochrome oxidase (CO) for the aerobic pathway coupled to oxidative phosphorylation, at various times after SE induced by Li-Pilo in 10- (P10), 21-d-old (P21) and adult rats for CO and in adult rats only for LDH. CO activity was slightly affected in P10 and P21 rats only at 4 and 24 h and normalized by 14 d after SE. In adult rats, CO activity decreased at 4 and 24 h in damaged areas, like entorhinal cortex, hippocampal CA3 area, amygdala, and thalamus. At 14 d after SE, CO activity was decreased only in entorhinal cortex and increased in brainstem regions involved in the remote control of seizures. In adult rats, LDH activity decreased at 24 h and 14 d after SE in sensorimotor and entorhinal cortex. These data show that the enzymatic equipment underlying the metabolism of glucose is not severely affected by Li-Pilo SE and confirm our previous observations concerning the relative metabolic hyperactivity of brain regions involved in the seizure circuit despite marked neuronal loss.     

A simple method for short-term controlled anesthesia in newborn mice

In this study, we describe a simple and inexpensive method for inducing short-term anesthesia and rapid recovery in newborn mice. Litters of Swiss mice pups were randomly allocated to testing on postnatal days 2, 5, and 8. Anesthesia was induced by placing the pup in a syringe and adding a volume of isoflurane-saturated gas that produced an estimated level of 32% isoflurane. Exposure to isoflurane lasted 30 s. All the pups survived the anesthesia. At all study ages, this method abolished the nociceptive response to tail clamp without inducing mortality, thus showing effective anesthesia. Recovery from anesthesia was assessed immediately after isoflurane exposure, based on two nonnoxious behavioral tests: the defensive response to a drop of water (10 tests, 1 min apart) and 10 min later the righting reflex, i.e., the time to recovery of the prone position (five tests, 10 min apart). The water drop test scores increased during the recovery phase toward the control values in all age groups. Treatment and time had no significant effect on righting reflex scores. The initial volume in the syringe, the volume of added isoflurane-saturated gas, and the duration of exposure may be adjusted according to postnatal age and specific strains or species (e.g., rats). This method is well suited to behavioral or physiological phenotype studies in developing mice, in which noxious procedures must precede functional testing, making rapid recovery from anesthesia a key requirement.     

Genetic and biochemical characterization of the chromosomal class A beta-lactamases of Raoultella (formerly Klebsiella) planticola and Raoultella ornithinolytica

Enterobacterial strains of Raoultella spp. display a penicillinase-related beta-lactam resistance pattern suggesting the presence of a chromosomal bla gene. From whole-cell DNA of Raoultella planticola strain ATCC 33531(T) and Raoultella ornithinolytica strain ATCC 31898(T), bla genes were cloned and expressed into Escherichia coli. Each gene encoded an Ambler class A beta-lactamase, named PLA-1 and ORN-1 for R. planticola and R. ornithinolytica, respectively. These beta-lactamases (291 amino acids), with the same pI value of 7.8, had a shared amino acid identity of 94%, 37 to 47% identity with the majority of the chromosome-encoded class A beta-lactamases previously described for Enterobacteriaceae, and 66 to 69% identity with the two beta-lactamases LEN-1 and SHV-1 from Klebsiella pneumoniae. However, the highest identity percentage (69 to 71%) was found with the plasmid-mediated beta-lactamase TEM-1. PLA-1, which displayed very strong hydrolytic activity against penicillins, also displayed significant hydrolytic activity against cefepime and, to a lesser extent, against cefotaxime and aztreonam, but there was no hydrolytic activity against ceftazidime. Such a substrate profile suggests that the Raoultella beta-lactamases PLA-1 and ORN-1 should be classified into the group 2be of the beta-lactamase classification of K. Bush, G. A. Jacoby, and A. A. Medeiros (Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 39:1211-1233, 1995). The highly homologous regions upstream of the bla(PLA-1A) and bla(ORN-1A) genes comprised a nucleotide sequence identical to the -35 region and another one very close to the -10 region of the bla(LEN-1) gene. From now on, as the bla gene sequences of the most frequent Raoultella and Klebsiella species are available, the bla gene amplification method can be used to differentiate these species from each other, which the biochemical tests currently carried out in the clinical laboratory are unable to do.     

Asbestos in the sputum, crackles in the lungs, and radiologic changes in women exposed to asbestos

In a rural community in South Africa historically exposed to asbestos environmentally and occupationally, 200 women who had worked with asbestos and applied for medical examination to determine compensable asbestos disease were evaluated. Clinical and radiologic evaluation, sputum collection, and microscopic analysis were done. A questionnaire elicited type of exposure, duration, decade of first work exposure, and environmental exposure. Crackles were present in the lungs of 166 women and asbestos fibers and ferruginous bodies were present in 122. Asbestosis was identified in 26 and plural plaques in 62. Auscultation for crackles (rales) is useful in the initial examination of former asbestos workers in rural communities of developing countries.