Cardiovascular consequences of expressing anger in a mutually-dependent relationship

Twenty males were harrassed by a confederate of the experimenters while solving anagrams. Following this experience they played a mixed-motive, interpersonal game with the confederate. In comparison with non-harrassed controls the harrassed subjects expressed more anger at the end of the task. While solving anagrams they also exhibited greater increases in systolic blood pressure and heart rate and greater decreases in finger pulse amplitude and pulse wave transit time. The post- harrassment adjustment of cardiovascular behavior during the interpersonal games was contingent upon the subject's aggression guilt, level of exploitativeness, and uncertainty concerning the consequences of exploiting the confederate. The greater the subject's aggression guilt the less anger he expressed at the end of the anagrams task and the less he exploited the confederate. The more a subject exploited the confederate the lower his diastolic blood pressure at the end of the game. The greater the uncertainty of consequences of behavior the faster the transmission of pulses and the smaller the drop in blood pressure during the game. The potential utility of interpersonal games for studying behavioral and biological adjustments during post-anger interpersonal transactions in a mutually-dependent relationship is illustrated.     

Initial experience with the polytetrafluoroethylene graft for limb salvage. A report on twenty patients

The early results of the bypass procedures for limb salvage using the new polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft are analyzed. Of twenty patients presenting with either severe rest pain or gangrene, patency has been maintained in fourteen for a mean period of thirteen months to date. Particularly satisfying results have been achieved when bypassing into single dominant arteries below the knee where limb salvage and graft patency was obtained in all cases.     

Contingent reinforcement for reduced breath carbon monoxide levels: Target-specific effects on cigarette smoking

This study determined the effects on smoking behavior of providing contingent reinforcement for nonsmoking versus reduced smoking afternoon breath carbon monoxide (CO) target levels. Twenty-eight hired chronic smoker volunteers were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions during a 10-day intervention: (a) 8 ppm target CO, $5 per day incentive (n = 11); (b) 16 ppm target CO, $4 per day incentive (n = 8); or (c) 8 ppm target CO, no incentive (n = 9). Both payment groups showed significantly lower CO levels and greater amounts of daytime smoking reduction than the no-pay group. A specific effect of CO target was also seen; 45% of subjects in the 8 ppm group compared with 0% of subjects in the 16 ppm target and no-pay groups produced average afternoon CO levels of 8.5 ppm or lower during the intervention. Average levels of CO and smoking reduction did not differ for the two paid groups, however, because some subjects in the 8 ppm group failed to reduce CO sufficiently to contact the reinforcer. Contingent reinforcement based on expired air CO levels can exercise powerful and precise (target-specific) control over smoking behavior, but there may be individual differences in ability to meet reinforcement contingencies if difficult targets are introduced abruptly.     

Combined anterior abdominal wall, sternal, diaphragmatic, pericardial, and intracardiac defects: a report of five cases and their management.

Five cases are described of an uncommon anomaly consisting of defects of the anterior abdominal wall, sternum, diaphragm, and heart. The anatomy, etiology, embryogenesis, associated noncardiac anomalies, and treatment of the condition are discussed. The occurrence of asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy with the syndrome, observed in one case, has not been previously documented. Three of the five infants in this series survived.     

Coronary thrombosis in myocardial infarction: Report of a workshop on the role of coronary thrombosis in the pathogenesis of acute myocardial infarction

In recent years the widely held concept that coronary thrombi cause myocardial infarcts has been seriously questioned. On the basis of pathologic studies, several reports have suggested that coronary thrombi do not cause infarcts but instead are the result of infarction. Should these findings become generally substantiated, the antithrombotic approach to the prevention and therapy of ischemic heart disease must be revised. This workshop was organized to examine more closely this issue and to sort out reasons for such divergent views of the role of thrombosis in the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction.     

Analysis of non-histone chromatin proteins in porcine malignant hyperthermia

Non-histone chromatin proteins (NHCP) were isolated from skeletal muscle, left ventricle and liver of swine susceptible to malignant hyperthermia and from controls. These proteins were extracted with phenol buffers and fractionated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Isoelectrofocusing gel electrophoresis revealed quantitative differences in NHCP from skeletal muscle between disease and control groups. The high resolution of proteins by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed a relative similarity between skeletal muscle, heart and liver although some differences could be discerned. Non-histone chromatin proteins of molecular weight 35,000–45,000, focusing between pH 7 and 9, were increased in skeletal muscle nuclei derived from malignant hyperthermia-susceptible swine. These proteins appear to be important in the maturation of messenger RNA. No alterations were seen in either heart or liver. We conclude that an increase in NHCP which is associated with the processing of messenger RNA, may be important in the phenotypic expression in skeletal muscle of malignant hyperthermia in swine.