N G-nitro-l-arginine antagonizes endothelium-dependent dilator responses by inhibiting endothelium-derived relaxing factor release in the isolated rabbit heart

The effects of a recently described inhibitor of endothelial NO synthesis, N ^G-nitro-l-arginine (l-NNA), on the vasomotor responses to endothelium-dependent and independent vasodilators, and on the release of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), were studied in the isolated saline-perfused rabbit heart. Infusion of l-NNA (30 M) resulted in a 52±12% increase in basal coronary perfusion pressure. The vasomotor responses to 1 M acetylcholine (ACh) and serotonin after l-NNA became biphasic, showing a small transient dilation followed by a pronounced vasoconstriction. In contrast, the dilation observed with sodium nitroprusside was not affected by l-NNA. None of the above-mentioned effects was elicited by the Stereo-isomer d-NNA. Similarly, an increase in the basal coronary perfusion pressure by endothelin-1 (0.3 nM) to the same level as observed with l-NNA did not alter the vasomotor responses to ACh and sodium nitroprusside. The increase in cyclic GMP (cGMP) in platelets passing through the coronary vascular bed was used as an index of EDRF release. Platelet cGMP amounted to 0.50±0.10 pmol/mg protein after passage through the coronary bed of the unstimulated heart. When platelets were injected during an ACh infusion (1 M), a 2.7 fold increase in cGMP was observed (P<0.01). After a 30-min infusion with l-NNA, the cGMP content of platelets passing through the unstimulated heart was reduced by 62%. Likewise, the ACh-induced increase in platelet cGMP was totally blocked. These results show that l-NNA inhibits EDRF release, and is thus a potent and selective inhibitor of EDRF-mediated dilation in the isolated rabbit heart.     

Predicting Emotional Response to Unsuccessful Fertility Treatment: A Prospective Study

The predictive value of a comprehensive model with personality characteristics, stressor related cognitions, coping and social support was tested in a sample of 187 nonpregnant women. The emotional response to the unsuccessful treatment was predicted out of vulnerability factors assessed before the start of the treatment. The results indicated the importance of neuroticism as a vulnerability factor in emotional response to a severe stressor. They also underlined the importance of helplessness and marital dissatisfaction as additional risk factors, and acceptance and perceived social support as additional protective factors, in the development of anxiety and depression after a failed fertility treatment. From clinical point of view, these results suggest fertility-related cognitions and social support should receive attention when counselling women undergoing IVF or ICSI treatment.     

Behavioral Profiles of Genetically Selected Aggressive and Nonaggressive Male Wild House Mice in Two Anxiety Tests

Artificially selected aggressive (SAL) and non-aggressive (LAL) male house mice were tested in a hexagonal tunnel maze and light-dark preference (LD) box to determine if the bidirectional selection for aggressive behavior leads to a coselection for different levels of trait anxiety. The tunnel maze consists of an open, brightly lit central arena surrounded by a complex system of interconnecting tunnels. As in the LD box, animals which spend less time and are less active in the brightly illuminated section of the maze are considered to have higher anxiety levels. In the tunnel maze, the LAL mice showed more exploration and spent more time in the central arena than the SAL animals, but only during the final 2 min of the 6-min test. This reduced preference for the central arena was not due to general inactivity or a failure of the SAL to find the central arena and indicates a higher level of state anxiety in the aggressive animals. In contrast, no anxiety-like differences were found in the LD box, either for the percentage of time spent in the light compartment or for the number of crossings. SAL males actually showed higher levels of moving and rearing, and lower levels of freezing, than did LAL males.     

Coping strategies,hostility, and depressive symptoms: A path model

Previous studies of coping, hostility, and depressive symptoms have highlighted the significant relations between all possible pairs of these 3 variables. To more completely explore the nature of depressive symptoms, we link them all together in this study by testing a coping→hostility→depressive symptoms path model. One hundred forty participants completed psychological questionnaires measuring coping strategies, hostility, and depressive symptoms. While controlling age and social class as covariates, SPSS stepwise regression analyses were used to examine relations among these 3 constructs. Results suggest that coping has a direct relation with depressive symptoms as well as an indirect relation mediated by hostility. Passive coping may lead to increased hostility, resulting in depressive symptoms. Active coping may have the opposite effect. These findings suggest that the inclusion of measures of both coping strategies and hostility yields a more thorough understanding of concomitants of depressive symptoms. From a clinical perspective, knowing what coping strategies a person uses and how much anger they experience and express may be useful in guiding the management of depressive symptoms.     

The failed repressor: EEG asymmetry as a moderator of the relation between defensiveness and depressive symptoms

This study assessed the joint effects of defensiveness and frontal asymmetry in predicting symptoms of depression and anxiety. Depression symptoms were measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and anxiety symptoms with the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS). Defensiveness was assessed with both the Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSD) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire L scale (EPQL). Participants completed two EEG recording sessions 3 weeks apart. Six baselines, three eyes open and three eyes closed, were recorded in each session. Alpha power (8–13 Hz) was computed and log transformed. R–L asymmetry was computed at eight pairs of homologous sites for aggregated data. Defensiveness (EPQL and MCSD scores) and depression symptoms (BDI) were assessed at the beginning of the first session. L and MCSD correlated positively with anterior R–L asymmetries. For both scales, the highest correlations were observed at F8–F7. L interacted with F8–F7 asymmetry to predict depressive symptoms. Among left frontally active individuals, there was trend toward a negative correlation between L and BDI. Among the right frontally active individuals, the correlation between L and the BDI was positive. MCSD did not moderate the relation between F8–F7 asymmetry and BDI. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that defensiveness protects against symptoms of depression in the context of left frontal activity, and serves as a diathesis for depression in the context of right frontal activity. High-defensive individuals who are right frontally active may represent “failed repressors,” i.e. individuals for whom defensiveness does not protect against depression, and may even exacerbate it.     

Contraluminal transport of hexoses in the proximal convolution of the rat kidney in situ

In order to study contraluminal hexose transport, concentration and time-dependent influx of³H-2-deoxy-d-glucose from the interstitium into cortical tubular cells has been measured. The influx curves fit to a two parameter kinetics (K _m 1.3±0.2 mmol/l,J _max 0.67±0.16 pmol/s · cm) plus an additional diffusion term (withP=6·10^–8 cm²/s) and a distribution ratio extracellular to intracellular amount of 2-deoxy-d-glucose of 10.6. Since the extracellular to intracellular free water space as estimated from morphological data was 12, one must conclude that glucose has only free access to 1/3 of the cell water. The intracellularly accessible space was augmented when the tubules were preperfused for 10 s with hypotonic saline. Thereby an increase of the compartment into which diffusion occurs was revealed and a final rupture of this intracellular compartment at 1/4 isotonic solutions was observed. Total replacement of ions in the peritubular perfusate by mannitol did not change 2-deoxy-d-glucose influx, indicating that it is Na⁺-independent. By adding isotonic concentrations of the respective sugars to the capillary perfusate, three degrees of inhibition of 2-deoxy-d-glucose influx could be revealed: strong inhibition byd-glucose, methyl--d-glucoside,d-mannose, 3-O-methyl-d-glucose, 2-deoxy-d-galactose, methyl--d-galactoside and 6-deoxy-d-glucose, moderate inhibition byd-galactose,l-glucose,l-mannose andd-fructose, no or borderline inhibition by methyl -d-glucoside, 2-deoxy-methyl--d-galactoside, 1-thio--d-glucose, 1-thio--d-galactose, 5-thio--d-glucose, myo-inositol and mannitol. The contraluminal 2-deoxy-d-glucose influx was also inhibited by phloretin, chlormerodrin and preperfusion with cytochalasin B. Starvation as well as streptozotocin diabetes has no influence on contraluminal 2-deoxy-d-glucose transport. Thus, in contrast to the luminal hexose transport system the contraluminal system is Na⁺-independent, does not require on OH-group at C-atom 2, acceptsl-glucose and fructose, but not an -methyl group at C-atom 1.     

Coping with dental treatment: The potential impact of situational demands

Coping strategies and anxiety responding of dental patients were studied in order to test the generalizability of previous findings based on volunteer blood donors. State and trait coping measures were administered once, and a process coping scale was administered at three points throughout treatment. Self-report, behavioral observation, and psychophysiological measures of anxiety were sampled for the same periods as process coping. Findings included the replication of a negative relationship between avoidant coping and patient anxiety ratings. Fluctuations in coping were evident across periods, and impact of situational demands and constraints was introduced as an explanation for these variations. A method for direct assessment of coping consistency was introduced. On the basis of the replicable associations with anxiety measures, the ability to detect changes in coping within a situation, and the ability to provide direct evidence of coping consistency, the use of process methodology for coping assessment is encouraged.This research was conducted while the first author was supported by funding from the Medical Research Council of Canada.Portions of this research were presented at the annual convention of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Philadelphia, 1984.     

浙江淳安小学生流行性癔病的心理社会因素探讨

本文报告对前文所述文昌乡中心小学四个流行性癔病发病班137名学生进行了问卷调查,其中曾发病者36人(女31,男5)与未发病的45人(女38,男7)对照组进行比较。结果显示发病组 EPQ 测定 N 分(神经质)高,平时情绪消极,应对能力差,依赖性强,体质较差,关系密切同学中患病者多,害怕鬼神等特点,与对照组相比,均有显著性差异。     

父母教养方式对3～9岁儿童自尊的影响

目的:考察父母教养方式对3～9岁儿童自尊的影响。方法:采用3～9岁儿童自尊教师评定问卷和父母教养方式问卷对700名儿童进行调查。结果:(1)民主性教养方式与自尊总分呈显著正相关(r=0.687,P=0.000)。(2)父母在不一致性、溺爱性教养方式上的评分与儿童自尊总体(F=7.544,P=0.001;F=3.650,P=0.026)以及重要感(F=6.578,P=0.001;F=3.781,P=0.023)、外表感(F=4.418,P=0.012)、自我胜任感(F=6.132,P=0.002;F=4.989,P=0.007)维度存在显著差异。结论:民主性教养方式有助于儿童形成高自尊;相反,对儿童越溺爱、教育方式越不一致,则容易使儿童形成低自尊。     

社交性应激反应问卷中文版在大学生中应用的信效度初步评价

目的：建立社交性应激反应问卷（RSQ-SSV）中文版，并分析其信、效度。方法：按量表翻译程序将RSQ—SSV翻译成中文，整群分层选取409名大学生进行RSQ—SSV中文版的测量。随机抽取90名学生于初评后一个月进行重测，并与美国样本进行比较。结果：RSQ-SSV中文版整个问卷的Cronbach α系数为0．88，各因子仅系数在0．73～0．81之间；重测信度为0．70；全量表的条目间平均相关系数为0．11，5因子的条目间平均相关系数在0．19～0．29之间，因子间相关系数在0．12～0．76之间；条目对因子负荷系数在0．38—0．86之间，复相关系数在0．14—0．74之间；验证性因子分析的指标：IFI为0．93，CFI为0．93，TLI为0．92，RMSEA为0．06。中国大学生样本的不随意的逃避反应因子得分高于美国大学生样本[（0．97&#177;0．41）vs．（0．91&#177;0．48），P=0．002]，而初级亲近控制应对反应、次级亲近控制应对反应、不随意的亲近反应得分均低于美国大学生样本[（1．75&#177;0．49）vs．（2．12&#177;0．50）、（1．51&#177;0．43）vs．（1．80&#177;0．48）、（1．17&#177;0．44）vs．（1．36&#177;0．56），均P〈0．001]。结论：RSQ-SSV中文版具有良好的信、效度，可以试用于我国大学生社交性应激反应的测评。