Fine and gross motor skills predict later psychosocial maladaptation and academic achievement

BackgroundDifficulties in fine and gross motor skills are often overlooked as developmental problems, although approximately 6–13% of all school-age children have poor motor coordination. Understanding motor coordination is important from the perspective of school adaptation. This longitudinal cohort study aimed to determine whether fine and gross motor skills in preschool children predict later academic achievement and psychosocial maladaptation.Methods & ProceduresParticipants were 2,501 children from nursery and elementary schools (5–13 years old). The motor skills of preschool children were assessed by their nursery teacher immediately before entering elementary school. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and a standardized Japanese test were administered annually throughout elementary school.ResultsEarly motor difficulties in preschool children had significant effects on their academic achievement and psychosocial maladaptation up until the sixth grade. Gross motor difficulties in preschool were associated with the later peer problems and worsened emotional symptoms.ConclusionsMotor skills in preschool children are useful as a predictor of later psychosocial maladaptation and academic achievement.     

汶川地震救援官兵适应不良与社会支持的相关性

目的探讨抗震救援官兵适应不良与社会支持及相关因素的关系，并观察对其实施干预的效果。方法随机抽取146名参加救援官兵和165名非救援官兵进行军人适应不良自评量表和社会支持量表调查，并对发生适应不良者进行相应的心理干预或药物治疗。结果抗震救援组军人适应不良自评量表总分及其各因子分均高于非抗震救援组（P〈0．05）。抗震救援组军人适应不良自评量表总分与社会支持量表总分之间呈负相关（r=-0．43，P〈0．01），即获得的社会支持越少，适应不良的发生率越高。影响抗震救援官兵适应不良的主要影响因素是社会支持和婚姻状况；心理和药物干预具有明显的效果，使99．3％出现适应不良的官兵中有93．1％的心理障碍者完全缓解。结论参加抗震救援官兵出现明显的适应不良，而良好的社会支持和有效的干预措施，可减少适应不良的发生。     

严重应激反应及适应障碍患者治疗前后T淋巴细胞功能及IL—2活性测定

目的：了解严重应激反应及适应障碍患者治疗前后细胞免疫功能的变化。方法：应用３Ｈ－胸腺嘧啶核苷（３Ｈ－ＴｄＲ）掺入法对患者的Ｔ淋巴细胞增殖反应进行了测定，并进行了相应的白细胞介素－２（ＩＬ－２）活性测定。结果：患者组的Ｔ淋巴细胞增殖反应及ＩＬ－２活性在治疗前均明显低于正常对照组。经治疗，患者组的Ｔ淋巴细胞增殖反应有明显提高，而ＩＬ－２活性仅略有回升。结论：提示患者的细胞免疫功能不仅与细胞因子作用有关还与焦虑抑郁的状态有关，这一状态可能从神经内分泌方面影响细胞免疫功能。     

Environmental toxicant-induced maladaptive mitochondrial changes: A potential unifying mechanism in fatty liver disease?

Occupational and environmental exposures to industrial chemicals are well known to cause hepatotoxicity and liver injury. However, despite extensive evidence showing that exposure can lead to disease, current research approaches and regulatory policies fail to address the possibility that subtle changes caused by low level exposure to chemicals may also enhance preexisting conditions. In recent years, the conceptual understanding of the contribution of environmental chemicals to liver disease has progressed significantly. Mitochondria are often target of toxicity of environmental toxicants resulting in multisystem disorders involving different cells, tissues, and organs. Here, we review persistent maladaptive changes to mitochondria in response to environmental toxicant exposure as a mechanism of hepatotoxicity. With better understanding of the mechanism(s) and risk factors that mediate the initiation and progression of toxicant-induced liver disease, rational targeted therapy can be developed to better predict risk, as well as to treat or prevent this disease.     

Social support: The most important need of young Iranian single‐parent widows on their path to widowhood

Few researchers specifically focus on the sociocultural problems facing single‐parent widows in the process of becoming widow after spousal death. Scant research has also been done on the effects that these problems have on their well‐being. This study aims to investigate the sociocultural problems, responses and consequences experienced by Iranian widow/single‐mothers. A qualitative exploratory study with a non‐structured interview was used to collect the data from participants who consisted of 24 young Iranian single‐parent widows. Using the constant comparative analysis method, the achieved results were summarized in three main categories: the facing of social problems, self‐restriction and the consequences of social wearing, with some subcategories for the first and third categories. The findings could assist nurses in becoming aware of the sociocultural problems and their unhealthy psychosocial consequences so as to help them to better focus on them in their assessments and treatment, which in turn would empower the widows to adapt positively to widowhood and live hopefully.     

Efficiency of Ventilation in Neonatal Pulmonary Maladaptation

ABSTRACT. Lung physiology was studied in sixteen infants with pulmonary maladaptation (PMA) during the course of the disease and after clinical recovery. A sensitive nitrogen washout method was used. During the disease the infants showed reduced ventilatory efficiency and increased dead space. Total ventilation increased simultaneously, while alveolar ventilation was maintained. The majority of the infants showed greater functional residual capacity during the disease than after clinical recovery. The results suggest that gas mixing efficiency is impaired in infants with PMA and that this might be due to effects on the small airway function in the lungs.     

Variants of personality maladaptation in patients with multiple sclerosis

A total of 34 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) aged 14–52 years, with disease onset at age 24.3 ± 7.5 years, were studied. Disease severity on the Kurtzke scale (EDSS) was 3.6 ± 1.7 points. Seven patients were in exacerbation of MS and 27 were in remission. Personality characteristics in terms of MS-associated maladaptation were studied using a modified MMPI (the SMPT method). Neurotic, psychotic, and mixed types of maladaptation were identified. Measures of brain metabolic activity were simultaneously determined (in terms of the rate of glucose utilization) by positron emission tomography (PET). Data were obtained on the relationship between the activity of metabolic processes in the frontal, temporal-parietal, and limbic areas of the cerebral cortex and different variants of personality maladaptation and, respectively, with different personality profiles in the SMPT. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii imeni S. S. Korsakova, Vol. 106, No. 8, pp. 13–20, August, 2006.