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The present study investigated the contribution of gender role attitudes to how attitudes toward adoption vary between men and women. Students attending a USA university (N = 148) completed four scales that assessed attitudes regarding the traditional male role, machismo, attitudes toward women, and adoption, respectively. Women endorsed less traditional gender role attitudes and held more favorable attitudes toward adoption. These sex differences in adoption attitudes were mediated by attitudes toward women and by endorsement of machismo. Attitudes toward men's roles moderated sex differences in adoption attitudes; men, but not women, with less traditional attitudes held more positive attitudes toward adoption. Results suggest that attitudes toward gender roles, may explain the sex difference in attitudes toward adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: For some people, diagnosis with a serious illness or other adverse life events can precipitate a period of religious struggle. While evidence of the harmful effects of religious struggle is accumulating, less is known about its prevalence or correlates. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and correlates of religious struggle in three groups of medical patients. Methods: Study participants included diabetic outpatients (N = 71), congestive heart failure outpatients (N = 70), and oncology inpatients (N = 97). Participants completed questionnaires which included several measures of religion, including religious struggle, emotional distress or wellbeing, and demographic characteristics. Results: Half of the total sample (52%) reported no religious struggle, while 15% reported moderate or high levels. In a multi-variate analysis, younger patients (p < 0.001) and CHF patients (p < 0.05) had higher levels of religious struggle. Those with higher levels of positive religious coping also reported higher levels of religious struggle (p < 0.01), while those who attended worship most frequently had lower levels of religious struggle (p < 0.05). Religious struggle was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms and emotional distress in all three patient groups. Conclusions: While further research is needed to help clarify the sources, additional correlates, and course of religious struggle, the findings in this study confirm the association between religious struggle and emotional distress in these three groups of medical patients. Clinicians should be attentive to signs of religious struggle. Where patient's responses indicate possible religious struggle, clinicians should consider referral to a trained, professional chaplain or pastoral counselor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the role of acculturation as a potential mediator or moderator for premigration traumatic experiences (PTE) and depression. The mediator effect refers to an effect in which acculturation mediates the negative impact of PTE on depression. On the other hand, the moderator effect signifies an interaction effect in which acculturation buffers the impact of PTE on depression. In other words, the negative impact of PTE on depression is hypothesized to vary according to different levels of acculturation. These two competing hypotheses were tested in a community-based sample of 261 adult Vietnamese Americans aged 25 and over. The sample consisted of 48%0 males and 64% of the sample were married. The average length of residence in the U.S. was 7 years. Multiple regression analyses did not support the mediator effect of acculturation, but did support its moderator effect as a buffer of PTE. Specifically, PTE had a much stronger effect on depression among those with lower levels of acculturation than those with higher levels of acculturation. Implications for future research and clinical practices are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study., Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if baseline prognostic nutritional index (PNI) score could be used to predict outcomes in patients with native spine infections, including the need for operative intervention., Summary of Background Data: Nutritional status is an important, potentially modifiable risk factor, to consider in the native spine population. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) score is a tool that has demonstrated utility as a marker of preoperative nutritional status in patients undergoing surgery, however it has not yet been studied in the context of native spine infection., Methods: Adult patients (≥18 y) with a diagnosis of spine infection from 2017-2022 were retrospectively identified. Native spine infection was defined as a diagnosis of spinal infection in the absence of prior spine surgery within 3 months of diagnosis. PNI was calculated using the equation: PNI = 10 * serum albumin (g/dL) + 0.005 Total Lymphocyte Count (/μL. Patients were stratified into high or low PNI groups based on their PNI being above or below the average, respectively., Results: There were 45 patients in the low PNI group and 56 patients in the high PNI group. Patients in the low PNI group were more likely to require surgery (P=0.046), had more levels decompressed (P=0.012), and were more likely to undergo two or more irrigation & debridement procedures (P=0.016). Patients in the low PNI group were also less likely to be discharged home (P=0.016). There was no difference in length of stay, inpatient complications, 90-day readmissions, 90-day ED visits, or 1-year reoperations between groups., Conclusion: While post-admission outcomes and inpatient complications were similar across PNI groups, PNI on admission provides useful insight into the severity of infection and predicts the need for operative intervention in patients presenting with native spine infection., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interests: John J. Mangan MD serves as a board/committee member for the North American Spine Society. Jose A. Canseco, MD, PhD serves as a board/committee member for the Clinical Spine Research Society and has stock/stock options in PathKeeper Surgical. He receives research support from Accelus. Alan S. Hilibrand, MD receives royalties from Biomet and CTL Amedica and has stock or stock options with Paradigm Spine. Alexander R. Vaccaro, MD, PhD, MBA serves as a board/committee member of the National Spine Health Foundation. He has received royalty payments from Medtronic, Stryker Spine, Globus, Aesculap, Thieme, Jaypee, Elsevier, and Taylor Francis/Hodder and Stoughton. He has stock/stock option ownership interests in Replication Medica, Globus, Paradigm Spine, Stout Medical, Progressive Spinal Technologies, Advanced Spinal Intellectual Properties, Spine Medica, Computational Biodynamics, Spinology, In Vivo, Flagship Surgical, Cytonics, Bonovo Orthopaedics, Electrocore, Gamma Spine, Location Based Intelligence, FlowPharma, R.S.I., Rothman Institute and Related Properties, Innovative Surgical Design, and Avaz Surgical. He has also served as deputy editor/editor of Spine. In addition, Dr Vaccaro has also provided expert testimony. He has also served as deputy editor/editor of Clinical Spine Surgery. Gregory D. Schroeder MD is a paid consultant for Advance Medical, Bioventus, and Surgalign. He serves on the board of Clinical Spine Surgery, AO Spine, Cervical Spine Research Society and Wolters Kluwer Health – Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. He receives research support from Cerapedics, DePuy, A Johnson and Johnson Company, and Medtronic Sofamor Danek. Christopher K. Kepler, MD, MBA serves on the editorial board of Clinical Spine Surgery and receives royalties from Curetiva and Regeneration Technologies, Inc. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Knowledge from the Global South, including Latin America, has enriched our understanding of developmental science. Despite underrepresentation in the published literature, research from Latin America has advanced the psychology of parenting and child and adolescent development. An ecological approach is valuable in adding meaning and specificity to general cultural clusters and has revealed how responsibility, lovingness, and respect are enacted in the everyday lives of families and children. Although the evidence is not exclusive to the Global South, research from Latin America has broadened and challenged theories and accepted practices from the Global North. Examples include countering attachment theory with respect to multiple caregivers and sensitive responsiveness and problematization of children's work in terms of family responsibilities. Research from Latin America has also challenged the notion of optimal parenting styles and revealed how the cultural values of familism and respect are evidenced in the daily practices of parents and children. Latin America boasts a psychology that acknowledges the importance of the political and social context and seeks to apply psychology to addressing social problems. To fully recognize and take advantage of knowledge from the Global South, the science of psychology should refrain from promoting "best practices" and sidelining research from Latin America and other regions of the majority world; it needs to fully document autochthonous parental ethnotheories, socialization goals, and practices and promote the implementation of the goals of local communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a web tutorial on perceptions of pain management and usage of opioids after carpal tunnel release surgery (post-CTR)., Methods: A web tutorial was developed by the authors, and patients were consented and enrolled if they were over the age of 18 years, could speak and understand English, and were having CTR. Patients were randomized to either view or not view the web tutorial before surgery, and all patients took a 19-question online survey approximately 2 weeks after surgery to assess their views on pain management and their self-reported opioid usage. All patients received standard-of-care instructions for postoperative pain management and were prescribed fifteen 5 mg tablets of oxycodone. Independent sample t tests, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, and chi-square tests were used to evaluate variables of interest., Results: Sixty-seven patients were enrolled, with 17 lost to follow-up; therefore, 50 patients were included in the final study cohort and completed the online survey ( n  = 25/group). There were no statistically significant differences in age, gender (patient reported gender), race, and opioid use history between the groups, but there was a difference in education level with the group that did not watch the video having proportionally more participants whose highest level of education was postgraduate (36% vs 8%) and high school (24% vs 16%). There were no differences between groups in the perceptions of pain post-CTR based on survey statements, in reported opioid consumption on post-op day 1, or in perceived risk of prolonged opioid use. Conversely, on post-op days 2-6 (8% vs 28%) and 7-14 (0% vs 20%), fewer participants from the group that watched the video reported any opioid usage compared with the group that did not watch the video., Conclusions: Our web tutorial did not notably impact the way patients perceived pain management or opioid risks post-CTR. However, a smaller proportion of the group that watched our tutorial reported opioid consumption post-CTR relative to the group that did not view our tutorial, suggesting that web tutorials may be a viable way to encourage patients to confer to minimal opioid usage and pain management regimens., Type of Study/level of Evidence: Therapy/Prevention, Etiology/Harm IV., Competing Interests: No benefits in any form have been received or will be received related directly to this article., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Our world faces potentially catastrophic climate change that can damage human health in multiple ways. The impact of climate change is uneven, disproportionately affecting the lives and livelihoods of women and girls. This conceptual article compiles evidence for a model that argues that climate change has more detrimental consequences for women than men because of women's precarity (unequal power) and corporal (physical) vulnerability. Climate change challenges the human rights of women and girls, triggering displacement, interrupted education, food and water scarcity, economic instability, mental and physical health challenges, reproductive injustice, gender-based violence, exploitation and human trafficking. Women are effective and essential change agents; their empowerment can directly contravene or mitigate climate change and also break the links between climate change and its negative consequences for women and girls. Gender-sensitive responses to the effects of climate change are imperative. Women's empowerment will further human rights and achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals., (© 2023 International Union of Psychological Science.)

Introduction While pickleball and paddleball are rapidly growing as popular sports in the United States, research on the incidence of hand and upper extremity injuries and treatments in outpatient clinics are lacking. This study evaluates the incidence rates and treatment options, both surgically and nonsurgically, for patients presenting with pickleball/paddleball-related injuries. Methods A retrospective database search of our multispecialty, multilocation electronic medical record (EMR) system from 2015 to 2022 identified 204 patients with outpatient pickleball- and paddleball-related injuries. The data from these patients' charts were reviewed for injury incidences, treatment trends, and demographics. Results  The majority of patients suffered wrist fractures due to a fall/dive and were treated nonsurgically. The most common surgical treatment, when required, was open reduction and internal fixation of the distal radius. We found that pickleball and paddleball players who sustained wrist fractures required surgery at a higher rate than the general population if above the age of 65. Conclusion As pickleball and paddleball continue to gain popularity, hand surgeons should be aware of the types of injuries that can occur and, when possible, counsel patients accordingly to try to prevent them. Additionally, hand surgeons should recognize the common treatments and outcomes that arise from pickleball/paddleball-related injuries., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Kasper et al.)

Higher education, a key driver of women's empowerment, is still segregated by gender across the world. Agricultural higher education is a field that is male-dominated, even though internationally women play a large role in agricultural production. The purpose of this study was to understand the experience, including challenges and coping strategies, of women from 10 Latin American countries attending an agricultural university in Latin America. The participants were 28 women students with a mean age of 20.9 ± 1.8 years. Following informed consent and assurance of confidentiality, four focus group sessions (one for each year of study with a mean duration of 81 min) were conducted in Spanish. The central question was, "what has been your experience at the university?" Sessions were recorded and transcribed. Thematic coding was performed independently by two teams of researchers (from Latin America and North America), with the resulting schemas combined through mutual discussion. Member checking, auditing, and reflexivity contributed to trustworthiness of the process. Students reported that the personal qualities needed for success included determination, persistence, and self-efficacy. Many described an empowerment process, including increased discipline and self-efficacy from the first to fourth year of study. University life encompassed six themes: university structure and discipline (part of the exosystem), two supportive microsystems (friends and classmates and institutional support) as well as three challenges (academics, peers, and machismo). Cultural influences instantiated in students' daily experiences included familism, machismo, and religious faith. Students anticipated futures involving further education and contributions to society. We conclude that higher education in agriculture can serve as an effective means of empowering women to feed the world., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Gibbons, Eguigure-Fonseca, Maier-Acosta, Menjivar-Flores, Vejarano-Moreno and Alemán-Sierra.)

Introduction: This retrospective study reports our tertiary care center's experience with intrathecal nusinersen administration in children and adults with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)., Methods: We reviewed safety monitoring laboratory results and need for procedural sedation and fluoroscopy-guidance in all SMA patients receiving nusinersen between February 2017 and March 2020., Results: Fifty-eight patients ages 1 mo- 56 y received 494 nusinersen doses. There were 166 laboratory abnormalities in 45 patients. Most were either mild (145 [87.3%]) or were transient proteinuria (18 [10.8%]). None altered nusinersen treatment. Twenty-eight patients required either general anesthesia (75 doses) or anxiolysis with oral midazolam (133 doses, including 6 patients [23 doses] with SMA type I). Eight patients with complicated spines (45 doses) required fluoroscopic guidance. One treatment-related serious adverse event (emesis leading to intubation) occurred during general anesthesia. Two children had asymptomatic increased intracranial pressure. No patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events., Discussion: Intrathecal nusinersen is generally safe and well-tolerated, including in patients requiring oral anxiolysis, general sedation, and fluoroscopic guidance. Frequent serial laboratory monitoring did not identify any persistent significantly abnormal findings or alter treatment., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Women's empowerment in family planning strengthens families and communities. Using 2014/2015 Demographic and Health Surveys data from 7,168 Guatemalan women, ages 35 and above with at least one living child, we examined indicators of empowerment in four domains - economic, educational, social, and contraceptive - and their relation to the number of living children compared to the ideal number of children. We reveal our analysis showing that economic, educational, and social empowerment predicted achieving the preferred number of children. Education and control over their own income are two critical empowerment factors for Guatemalan women.

It is important to identify stereotypes about indigenous people because those stereotypes influence prejudice and discrimination, both obstacles to social justice and universal human rights. The purpose of the current study was to document the stereotypes, as held by Guatemalan adolescents, of indigenous Maya people (e.g., Maya) and nonindigenous Ladinos in Guatemala (the 2 main ethnic groups in Guatemala). Guatemalan adolescents (N = 465; 38.3% female; Mage = 14.51 years; SDage = 1.81 years) provided drawings and written characteristics about indigenous Maya and nonindigenous Ladino people, which were then coded for patterns in the data. These patterns included negative stereotypes, such as the Maya being lazy and Ladina women being weak; and positive stereotypes, such as the Maya being caring and warm and Ladino men being successful. There were also interactions between the participants' own gender and ethnicity and how they depicted the target they were assigned. For example, male participants were unlikely to depict male targets of either ethnicity engaging in homemaking activities. Finally, there was evidence of in-group bias based both on gender and ethnicity. These findings suggest that perhaps because indigenous groups around the world share some common negative stereotypes, an understanding of these stereotypes will aid in decreasing prejudice and discrimination against indigenous people, could reduce intergroup conflict, and increase access to basic human rights. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

The rapid increase in worldwide population coupled with the increasing demand for fossil fuels has led to an increased urgency to develop sustainable sources of energy and chemicals from renewable resources. Using microorganisms to produce high-value chemicals and next-generation biofuels is one sustainable option and is the focus of much current research. Cyanobacteria are ideal platform organisms for chemical and biofuel production because they can be genetically engineered to produce a broad range of products directly from CO 2 , H 2 O, and sunlight, and require minimal nutrient inputs. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview on advances that have been or could be made to improve strains of cyanobacteria for industrial purposes. First, the benefits of using cyanobacteria as a platform for chemical and biofuel production are discussed. Next, an overview of cyanobacterial strain improvements by genetic engineering is provided. Finally, mutagenesis techniques to improve the industrial potential of cyanobacteria are described. Along with providing an overview on various areas of research that are currently being investigated to improve the industrial potential of cyanobacteria, this review aims to elucidate potential targets for future research involving cyanobacteria as an industrial microorganism. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1357-1371, 2016., (© 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.)

Intercountry adoptions from Guatemala were highly controversial, because of the large numbers of children being adopted to the USA, along with evidence of corruption and child theft. Since the implementation of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption in 2008, Guatemala's central authority for adoption has prioritized domestic placements for children over intercountry adoption. A possible attitudinal barrier to domestic adoption in Guatemala-negative attitudes and prejudice against Indigenous people-was investigated through questionnaires measuring attitudes toward adoption and attitudes toward and social distance from the two major ethnic groups (Ladino and Indigenous). Guatemalan university students (N = 177, 61 % men) were recruited from basic required courses at a private university. Results showed that attitudes toward adoption in general were more favorable than toward interethnic adoption, with the most negative attitudes toward adoption of Ladino children by Indigenous parents. Multiple regression and analysis of covariance models revealed that female gender, experience with adoption and more positive attitudes about Indigenous persons were associated with more positive attitudes toward adoption. The findings imply that negative attitudes toward Indigenous persons are associated with negative attitudes toward adoption, and serve as barriers to promoting domestic adoption in Guatemala.

The site-specific conjugation of DNA-binding protein (Tus) to self-assembling peptide FEFEFKFKK was demonstrated. Rheology studies and TEM of the corresponding hydrogels (including PNIPAAm-containing systems) showed no significant variation in properties and hydrogel morphology compared to FEFEFKFKK. Critically, we demonstrate that Tus is accessible within the gel network displaying DNA-binding properties.

Exposure to Western ideals of appearance along with rapid societal change appears to be salient risk factors for eating disorder development. According to the sociocultural model, internalization of the thin ideal leads to body dissatisfaction and subsequent negative affect and dieting behaviors which increase the risk for eating disorder development. An expanded version of the sociocultural model was examined among an economically stratified sample of 347 girls in grades 5 and 6 from Guatemala City. Questionnaires used to measure disturbed eating attitudes and behaviors, body dissatisfaction, social sensitivity, and internalization of the thin ideal were administered and BMI was calculated following measurement of height and weight. Path analyses showed that the expanded sociocultural model was an excellent fit to the data. Both elevated adiposity and social sensitivity led to increased body dissatisfaction and thin ideal internalization. Thin ideal internalization led to body dissatisfaction and to disturbed eating attitudes and behaviors. Results suggest that developing countries are not immune to the influence of sociocultural risk factors for eating disorders.

A review of studies which investigated drawings of the ideal man and the occupational aspirations of boys (ages 11-18 years) from several countries indicated that becoming a professional athlete was a popular but unrealistic aspiration for many adolescent boys. Boys who were athletes and nonathletes from diverse ethnic groups and nationalities dreamed of becoming professional athletes. In two additional studies in the United States of America, adolescents were asked why they thought boys most often selected professional athlete as a possible future occupation. Adolescents perceived professional athletes as rich, famous, and glorified. Enhancement of status and financial gain were ranked as more important than the desire to play sports.

Six hundred young adolescents (11 to 16 years old) from 4 countries (Guatemala, Iceland, Mexico, and the United States) ranked the importance of 10 qualities of the opposite-sex ideal person. Those from the United States responded in an individualistic fashion; they ranked being fun, being sexy, and having considerable money as important for the ideal. Those from Guatemala responded in a collectivistic fashion; they ranked liking children as important, but being fun and good looking as unimportant. Adolescents from Mexico and Iceland reported patterns of values not clearly associated with either collectivism or individualism.

The self-conceptions of 100 girls (11-17 years old) from Sri Lanka and the United States were studied from the traditional Western perspective of identity development as a process in which adolescents become increasingly independent and autonomous. This perspective is based on male development in Western countries and may not adequately describe the experience of girls of non-Western adolescents, for whom relationships with others may be central to identity formation. The participating girls drew self-portraits and either answered the question "How would you describe yourself to yourself?" or completed the sentence "I am..." 20 times. The results indicate that relationships and independence are important themes for the girls from the United States and from Sri Lanka. Older girls differed from younger girls in that greater maturity was associated with greater interest in interpersonal relationships and future lives.

During early adolescence, youth begin to make choices about their future. Sundberg and Tyler (1970) found differences between adolescents in the Netherlands and the United States as to their possibilities for future occupations and leisure activities. Since there have been many changes in both countries over the past twenty-five years, the present study was designed as a replication and expansion of that research. Participants were 522 14- and 15-year-olds in the Netherlands and the United States who filled out the Sundberg and Tyler questionnaire (in the original Dutch and English forms) and drew a picture of the ideal man or woman engaged in an activity. Two-way (country by gender) ANOVAs indicated that the number of occupations listed was greater for adolescents in the Netherlands than in the United States, and that girls listed more occupations than did boys, but considered fewer occupations as actual possibilities for themselves. There was an apparent increase in the number of leisure activities listed by adolescents in the Netherlands. In the U.S., the ideal person was more often drawn as being at work (44.9%) as compared with the Netherlands (20.4%). U.S. students seemed more inclined to glamorize work; popular drawings had themes which linked work and success, achievement and wealth. Dutch students seemed to be interested in quality of life; their drawings depicted sports, relaxation, attractiveness, and humor.

Adolescent girls (N = 118) from diverse social backgrounds in Sri Lanka described their views of womanhood. Qualities of the ideal woman considered most important were kindness and honesty, liking children, intelligence, and having a good job. Although the traditional role of the Sri Lankan woman is that of homemaker, most girls in the study (55%) drew the ideal woman working outside the home, often as a teacher or a doctor. Nevertheless, adolescent girls emphasized traditional qualities of the woman at both work and home as self-sacrificing and serving others.

Reports the results of a questionnaire mailed to insurance claimants (N = 2480) recently discharged from a hospital. Analyzes the results and concludes from the data that patients place high value on pastoral services. Suggests that both hospital administrators and chaplains make sure that adequate attention be given to serving patient families, long-stay and repeated admission patients, and to the patients' demonstrated need for frequent visits, particularly in these times of rapid changes in condensing hospital stays.

This study investigated the nature of the relationship between neuropsychological tests, the Halstead-Reitan Battery, and a measure of everyday living ability, the Community Competence Scale. The sample consisted of 40 geriatric patients referred for suspected dementia. The results indicated that neuropsychological tests were moderately predictive of measures of functional daily living skills. Although some specific neuropsychological measures, or combination of measures, were more predictive of particular functional daily living skills, their relationship did not necessarily follow logical or theoretical expectations. Thus, while it may be safe for neuropsychologists to make predictions about a patient's global capacity to function independently, predictions regarding specific functional daily living skills may be unwarranted.

beta-Phenylethylamine (PEA) is an endogenous amine that in some instances acts biochemically and behaviorally like amphetamine. In the present experiments, the effects of PEA on mouse killing by rats were compared and constrasted with the effects of d-amphetamine on this behavior. When given acutely to experienced mouse killing rats, PEA (16 and 32 mg/kg) inhibited killing in a direct dose dependent manner. This is similar to the dose dependent inhibition of killing by amphetamine reported previously. However, d-amphetamine but not PEA showed physiologic tolerance following 8 days of twice daily administration. Cross tolerance between the two drugs only occurred when d-amphetamine was administered subacutely. It was concluded that PEA and d-amphetamine have sililar acute effects but differed when given subacutely since PEA did not show tolerance and there was not bidirectional cross-tolerance. These data suggest that these drugs have different pharmacologic actions when given repeatedly. One possible difference may be the duration of action.

Maintaining rats on a tryptophan-free diet for 4--6 days induced mouse killing in non-killer rats, and significantly facilitated killing in killer rats, as indicated by shorter latencies to kill the mice. The killing responses were similar in topography to the natural killing responses. These changes in killing behavior did not appear to be due to generalized changes in irritability. The increased killing after maintenance on a tryptophan-free diet was accompanied by a 26% reduction in brain serotonin (5-HT) and a 29% reduction in brain 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA). When the tryptophan-free diet was supplemented with L-tryptophan (0.5 or 2%), brain 5-HT and 5-HIAA were increased above control levels, and the rat's killing response appeared normal both in terms of latency and topography, similar to that seen in control chow fed animals. While rats consumed less of the tryptophan-free and tryptophan supplemented diets, control subjects deprived of chow such that they lost as much weight as rats fed the tryptophan-free diet, did not show changes in killing behavior. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that central serotonergic systems exert inhibitory control over mouse killing behavior in rats.

The Present State Examination was administered to 539 patients who attended a casualty department after an act of self-poisoning during the course of a year. Computer analysis by means of the Catego program showed that 30% of the patients had insufficient symptoms to be considered as psychiatric 'cases'. Fewer than 4% had symptoms of functional psychosis. About 60% of the patients were classed as depressed: on several indices this group was less severely ill than a group of depressives feceiving psychiatric treatment. It is suggested that psychiatric treatment is essential for only a small proportion of self-poisoning patients. The effectiveness of psychiatric treatment for the large group of patients with depressive disorders of minor severity and probably short duration has still to be evaluated.

Claims that modern hospitals are settings for human change and for religious ministry. Uses a pastoral care event in a Special Care Nursery to demonstrate the aspects of preparation, intervention, case development, crisis, and resolution. Details eleven salient features of the hospital chaplain in the modern hospital.

We identified the population of schizophrenic patients under 65 in a geographically defined area. The number using psychiatric services based on a new District General Hospital unit in the course of one year was 364, a prevalence of 2.2 per 1000 adult population. Half the patients lived in supportive private households, most often with spouses or mothers. More women than men married and retained supporters. Patients and their primary supporters were interviewed separately. The PSE Catego programme classed 47 per cent of patients as psychotic. Supporters reported disturbed behavior in 65 per cent of patients, and restricted social performance in 78 per cent. There was evidence of hardship (emotional and physical ill-health, problems with children) in 90 per cent of households. Supporters' subjective distress was directly related to the presence of psychosis and disturbed behaviour and inversely related to the duration of the illness. Drop-out and failure to take medication appeared to be causes of the relatively high prevalence of psychosis.

Four hundred patients aged at least 17 who came to Casualty in one year after deliberately poisoning themselves were randomly assigned between an Experimental social work service (task-centered casework) and a Control (routine) follow-up service. 139 patients were excluded from the trial, most of whom were already in continuing psychiatric treatment. After one year there was no difference in the proportions of E and C patients who repeated self-poisoning (about 14 per cent), but significantly more of the excluded group had repeated (36 per cent). A random half of the trial patients were re-interviewed four months after admission. Both E and C groups had improved to a significant extent on measures of depressed mood and of social problems. E patients showed more change in social problems and were more satisfied with the service they had received.

Rats were tested on a two-way avoidance acquisition with or without inescapable shock given 24 h prior to training. Mescaline given to nonshock rats disrupted acquisition in a dose-dependent fashion and tolerance developed to this disruption. Mescaline given to shock rats had no effect on acquisition even though levels of acquisition were the same for both shock and nonshock rats without drug. Moreover, subchronic treatment (5 days facilitated acquisition. These experiments demonstrate an interaction between shock, which presumably is a stressor, and mescaline. The data are consistent with the observation that when animals are exposed to presumptive stressors (e.g., shock, handling) hallucinogens can facilitate behavior, while in other situations, hallucinogens disrupt behavior.

Injections of the serotonin precursor l-tryptophan (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg IP), inhibited mouse killing behavior in rats, as indicated by a dose dependent increase in latencies to attack and kill mice. Tests in 24 hr food deprived rats revealed that feeding behavior was also significantly decreased by about 30% by tryptophan injections (50--100 mg/kg IP). Concomitant with the behavioral changes were increased levels of brain serotonin and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. Drinking, latencies to sniff mice, and ability to locomote on a rotating rod were not affected by l-tryptophan injections, although spontaneous activity in an open field was reliably reduced by 33% with a dose of 100 mg/kg. Thus, while the degree of selectivity for tryptophan's effects on behavior remains open to question, these findings are consistent with hypotheses of an inhibitory role for central serotonergic systems, particularly in mouse killing and feeding behaviors.

The effects of para-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) on mouse killing behavior were examined in natural killer rats. Forty-eight hr after injection, this serotonin synthesis inhibitor, at relatively low doses of 75 and 150 mg/kg, facilitated mouse killing, as indicated by a decrease in latency to attack the mouse. This effect was revealed in a test of satiation, in which five successive mice were presented to the rat, and also in a novel cage situation. Other than the shorter latencies to attack and kill mice, the killing response was similar in topography to the natural kill. The increase in killing after PCPA injection was associated with a reliable reduction in brain serotonin and in 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, and the time courses of the behavioral and biochemical changes were generally similar. In contrast to PCPA, injection of the serotonin precursor 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP, 100 mg/kg) reliably lengthened attack and kill latencies in killer rats. In rats pretreated with PCPA, 5-HTP not only reversed this drug's facilitation of killing, but completely blocked killing in 67% of the rats tested. These results strengthen the hypothesis that brain serotonergic neurons are involved in the inhibition of mouse killing.