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Objective: To assess the relationship between gender, background, and brief training and physicians' detection of and treatment for woman abuse.Design: Quasi-experimental and correlational designs, plus control for background factors.Setting: Two residency training programs: general internal medicine and family practice.Participants: Thirty-five participants were residents and four were faculty members; 17 were trained and 22 were untrained physicians; 20 were women and 19 were men.Measures: Immediately after an encounter with each physician, a standardized patient rated speed of detection, history taking, planning, and focus on psychosocial issues.Results: Women tended to detect the abuse earlier and take a more thorough history. Trained and untrained groups did not differ on any outcome variable. Prior professional training and having personally known a victim were positively associated with outcome, especially among men.Conclusions: Referrals might best be made to women counselor/advocates. More extensive training of all personnel may be needed than that provided in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents some concepts and perspectives related to effector biology of plant-associated organisms. It defines effectors as molecules secreted by plant-related organisms that change host-cell structure and function. The host-cell targets and helpers of effectors are explored in which the latter is differs from the former as it functions upstream of the effector-mediated target modulation. It discusses the applications of effectors in plant biology research and plant biotechnology.

Antifungal susceptibilities (NCCLS, approved standard M27-A, 1997) were determined for the reference strain ATCC 90028 and 21 clinical isolates of Candida albicans with varying levels of fluconazole susceptibility using RPMI 1640 (RPMI) and 80% fresh human serum-20% RPMI (serum). Sixty-four percent (14 of 22) of the isolates tested demonstrated significant decreases (> or = 4-fold) in fluconazole MICs in the presence of serum, and the remaining eight isolates exhibited no change. Itraconazole and ketoconazole, two highly protein-bound antifungal agents, had MICs in serum that were increased or unchanged for 46% (10 of 22) and 41% (9 of 22) of the isolates, respectively. All 10 isolates tested against an investigational antifungal agent, LY303366, demonstrated significant increases in the MIC required in serum, while differences in amphotericin B MICs in the two media were not observed. Four of 10 isolates tested demonstrated fourfold higher flucytosine MICs in serum than in RPMI. Postantifungal effects (PAFEs) and 24-h kill curves were determined by standard methods for selected isolates. At the MIC, fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, flucytosine, and LY303366 kill curves and PAFEs in RPMI were similar to those in serum. Isolates of fluconazole-resistant C. albicans required lower MICs in serum than in RPMI, without relative increases in fungal killing or PAFEs. Isolates tested against amphotericin B demonstrated significantly reduced killing and shorter PAFEs in serum than in RPMI without observable changes in MIC. In conclusion, antifungal pharmacodynamics in RPMI did not consistently predict antifungal activity in serum for azoles and amphotericin B. Generally speaking, antifungal agents with high protein binding exhibited some form of reduced activity (MIC, killing, or PAFE) in the presence of serum compared to those with low protein binding.

Battered women receiving either shelter (n = 30) or nonshelter services (n = 30) from a domestic violence agency were interviewed regarding psychological abuse and its aftermath. Four types of abuse were derived from factor analysis: ridiculing of traits, criticizing behavior, ignoring, and jealous control. Sheltered women experienced ridicule and jealous/control more often than nonsheltered women. For the entire sample, ridiculing of traits was rated as the most severe form. Ignoring was the strongest predictor of low self-esteem. Both psychological abuse and physical abuse contributed independently to depression and low self-esteem. However, fear of being abused was uniquely predicted by psychological abuse. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

This research examined the role of self-care behavior of 151 patients (aged 40 to 80) on general psychological distress at one year after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. A tested hypothesis was that self-care practices would be associated with a lower level of distress one year after surgery. The results supported the beneficial effect of self-care on psychological adjustment, after controlling for the effects of the number of other chronic illnesses and post-CABG depression. The findings suggest that social work in health care and in-home care may help promote the psychosocial recovery process following surgery.

This research investigated gender differences in psychological adjustment among patients (112 males, 39 females) one year after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). Information regarding post-CABG depression, non-cardiac chronic conditions, and socioeconomic variables were obtained from a survey. Additional cardiac, surgical, and demographic data were retrieved from a hospital computer database. Women were more likely than men to experience postoperative depression, attributable to their poor health. Depression one year post-CABG was predicted by non-cardiac chronic illnesses, postoperative fatigue and shortness of breath and socioeconomic status.

At a community-based domestic violence program, 218 men with a history of partner abuse were randomly assigned to either feminist-cognitive-behavioral or process-psychodynamic group treatments. The treatments were not hypothesized to differ in outcome. However, men with particular characteristics were expected to have lower recidivism rates depending on the type of treatment received. Treatment integrity was verified through audio-taped codings of each session. The partners of 79% of the 136 treatment completers gave reports of the men's behavior an average of 2 years post-treatment. These reports were supplemented with arrest records and self-reports. Rates of violence did not differ significantly between the two types of treatment nor did reports from the women of their fear level, general changes perceived in the men, and conflict resolution methods. However, interaction effects were found between some offender traits and the two treatments. As predicted, men with dependent personalities had better outcomes in the process-psychodynamic groups and those with antisocial traits had better outcomes in the cognitive-behavioral groups. The results suggest that more effective treatment may occur if it is tailored to specific characteristics of offenders.

This study sought to develop a profile of posttraumatic stress symptoms experienced by battered women and to explore differences among subsamples. Two groups of survivors from five states were compared: 159 who had obtained help at domestic violence programs (DVP) and 33 who had obtained help at other types of programs (NDVP). They completed three self-report measures of posttraumatic stress and a fear questionnaire. Sixty percent of the women in the DVP group and 62% in the NDVP group met criteria for a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The most common symptoms were: nightmares intrusive memories of the abuse, avoiding reminders of it, and hyperarousal, and nightmares. DVP women experienced a variety of symptoms more frequently. Group differences in PTSD symptomatology were not present after statistically controlling for severity and frequency of the violence and length of time since the abusive relationship.

Both battered women and their partners are at risk for abusing their children, but social work practitioners are often unaware of the much greater risk presented by men who batter. This article reviews the scientific literature comparing the risk that battered women and men who batter will physically abuse their children. Several tenets of social work practice lore are challenged, and practitioners are cautioned about the use of psychological tests and profiles to judge child abuse potential and parenting ability. The hazards of mediation and joint custody are discussed, as well as the limitations of treatment for men who batter.

Objective: To assess the relationship between gender, background, and brief training and physicians' detection of and treatment for woman abuse., Design: Quasi-experimental and correlational designs, plus control for background factors., Setting: Two residency training programs: general internal medicine and family practice., Participants: Thirty-five participants were residents and four were faculty members; 17 were trained and 22 were untrained physicians; 20 were women and 19 were men., Measures: Immediately after an encounter with each physician, a standardized patient rated speed of detection, history taking, planning, and focus on psychosocial issues., Results: Women tended to detect the abuse earlier and take a more thorough history. Trained and untrained groups did not differ on any outcome variable. Prior professional training and having personally known a victim were positively associated with outcome, especially among men., Conclusions: Referrals might best be made to women counselor/advocates. More extensive training of all personnel may be needed than that provided in this study.

Background: National surveys show that each year in the United States approximately 2 million women are battered by their husbands. Only a small percentage of these women are identified by physicians. The objective of this research was to determine the incidence and prevalence of spouse abuse among women seeking health care in a family practice clinic (or setting)., Methods: During a two-month period, all adult women seeking health care from a family practice clinic in a medium-sized Midwestern community were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire about whether they had ever been physically assaulted by their partners., Results: Of 476 consecutive women seen in practice, 394 (82.7%) agreed to participate. Of these, 22.7% had been physically assaulted by their partners within the last year. The lifetime rate of physical abuse was 38.8%. Only six women in the sample had ever been asked about abuse by their physician in a recent visit [corrected]., Conclusions: Although spouse abuse is common, physicians rarely ask about it. Physicians should be trained to detect and assess abuse among female patients.

Important theoretical and treatment implications may be revealed when men who batter their intimate partners are categorized according to type. Data on 165 batterers were cluster analyzed, and three types identified: family-only aggressors, generalized aggressors, and emotionally volatile aggressors. The clustering variables explained 90% of the variance in category assignment. Implications for treatment are discussed.

A controversy exists regarding the nature of violence committed by women against their intimate partners. When battered women are violent it is not known if the violence should be labeled "mutual combat," "husband abuse," or "self-defense." Following a review of studies comparing the extent of husbands' and wives' victimization and some conceptual issues regarding self-defense, data are presented from 52 battered women on their motives for using violence against their partners. The most frequent reason for violence reported by the women was for self-defense. Only one woman reported initiating an attack with severe violence in more than half of her violent acts. Only eight percent of the women reported that nonsevere violence was used to initiate an attack more than half of the time. The concepts of "self-defense" and "fighting back" were significantly and positively correlated; that is, many women saw them as being the same. The women's self-reports were not contaminated by social desirability response bias. The results are discussed in the context of the need to collect data on relevant explanatory variables in family violence research and the application of a feminist perspective to reduce bias in such research.

Although attitudes and beliefs about wife beating have been regarded as important for understanding the factors that cause and perpetuate women abuse, researchers have not had adequate instruments to measure these attitudes and beliefs. This article reports on the construction of a scale of attitudes about wife beating and an assessment of the scale's dimensionality and validity. Data were collected from 675 students, 94 residents of a midwestern city, 71 men who batter, and 70 advocates for battered women. Five reliable subscales were derived, and seven tests of validity were supported. Sympathetic attitudes toward battered women were related, as predicted, with liberal views of women's roles and sympathetic attitudes toward rape victims. Abusers and advocates were the most dissimilar in their attitudes. Male and female students also differed significantly. Many of the results are analogous to those in studies of attitudes toward rape. Several possible uses of the measure are described.