Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L A Schmidt

Publications and source records attributed to L A Schmidt.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Behavioral and neuroendocrine responses in shy children.

Previous research has shown that infants who display a high frequency of motor activity and negative affect at 4 months of age are likely to be behaviorally inhibited toddlers. We examined social behaviors, maternal report of temperament, salivary cortisol, and baseline startle responses at age 4 in a sample of children, some of whom displayed a high frequency of motor activity and negative affect at 4 months of age. Infants who displayed this temperamental profile were reported by their mothers as more shy at age 4 compared with other children. We also found that 4-year-olds who displayed a high frequency of wary behavior during peer play exhibited relatively high morning salivary cortisol, were reported as contemporaneously shy by their mothers, and were behaviorally inhibited at 14 months of age. There were no significant relations found between baseline startle and morning salivary cortisol and measures of shyness at age 4. We speculate that high levels of cortisol in shy children may induce changes in the amygdala, exacerbating their fearfulness.

Affect↗
PubMed1997

Treatment of depression by obstetrician-gynecologists: a survey study.

OBJECTIVE: We performed an exploratory survey of depression diagnosis, treatment, and patient referral patterns by Fellows of ACOG. We also examined obstetrician-gynecologists' professional training in the management of clinical depression. METHODS: We sent a questionnaire to a total of 1370 ACOG Fellows. Sixty percent of the surveys were returned. RESULTS: As a group, obstetrician-gynecologists reported diagnosing an average of four new cases of depression per month. Within the overall sample, the number of new diagnoses of depression made each month was significantly greater for those defining themselves as primary care physicians than for those defining themselves as specialists. When treating depression pharmacologically, obstetrician-gynecologists reported that they overwhelmingly (74% of the time) chose selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants. Ninety-five percent of obstetrician-gynecologists reported that they referred severely depressed patients to a mental health professional. A majority of respondents neither received residency training (80%) nor completed a continuing medical education course (60%) on the treatment of clinical depression in women. CONCLUSION: Obstetrician-gynecologists who describe themselves as primary care physicians make significantly more diagnoses of depression than those considering themselves specialists. Studies further to assess obstetrician-gynecologists' management of depression and better to define needs for professional education are warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Expression of c-fos in cultured human nevus cells: an increase over melanocytes and melanoma cells.

Nevus cells exhibit growth characteristics in culture which differentiate them from melanocytes and melanoma cells. We examined the expression of c-jun, c-fos and jun-B mRNA levels in cultures of different melanocytic cell types to determine if biologic differences among these cells was due to their level of proto-oncogene expression. Because cell growth and differentiation are also known to be affected by serum conditions, the expression of c-jun, c-fos and jun-B was examined under normal serum conditions and serum starved and repleted conditions which stimulates proto-oncogene expression. Expression of c-jun and jun-B was not significantly different among the cell types studied under normal serum conditions, or serum starved and refed conditions and c-fos was not detectable in any of the unstimulated cell types. In contrast, when the cells were serum starved and refed, the level of c-fos expression was uniformly increased (2-10 fold) in 3 different nevus cell lines. This increase was not seen in normal melanocyte cultures or 2 melanoma cell lines. With serum deprivation and repletion, c-fos was also elevated in 1 melanoma cell line. We conclude that the regulation of the proto-oncogene c-fos is different in nevus cells than in normal melanocytes, which may contribute to the different growth characteristics seen with nevus cells.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1995

The role of problem drinking in psychiatric admissions.

Although problem drinkers are over-represented in psychiatric treatment populations throughout the United States, it is unclear whether this is primarily due to difficulties in differentially diagnosing alcohol and mental problems and to high rates of comorbidity, or to factors unique to help-seeking for alcohol problems. This article examines the role that alcohol problems play in treatment entry to inpatient and outpatient mental health agencies, considering the potential roles of a drinking problem both as a condition perceived by the sufferer to require a psychiatrist's help, and as a source of social disruption that activates others to encourage mental health treatment. Analysis focuses on comparing samples of newly admitted patients in a community mental health system and untreated individuals with high levels of psychiatric symptoms living in the same community. Experiencing the adverse social consequences of a drinking problem, holding the belief that drinking has caused one's psychological problems, and having prior experiences in mental health treatment for a drinking problem are factors found to be positively associated with psychiatric admissions, while heavier drinking and dependence symptoms are not. Further analysis of events precipitating psychiatric admission suggests that an important role for the mental health system vis à vis alcohol problems is to contain social disruptions attributable to problem drinking in the community. Alcohol-related psychiatric admissions are found to have more frequently involved public disruptions, to have elicited police or court referrals, and to have more often resulted in the client's going to a locked hospital ward, as opposed to a mental health outpatient clinic.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Survival and histopathologic characteristics of human melanocytic nevi transplanted to athymic (nude) mice.

Melanocytic nevi (n = 406) covering a range of sizes and gross morphologic features were excised from human donors, sampled for histologic diagnosis, and transplanted to athymic (nude) mice. Ninety percent of these xenografts survived transplantation, of which a subset was irradiated daily with ultraviolet light to promote neoplastic transformation. Over 16 weeks of observation, nearly all grafts histologically showed focal inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis, progressing in approximately 30% of grafts to complete regression at final observation. During the inflammatory phase, the nevi often had junctional intraepidermal melanocytic hyperplasia in a lentiginous pattern, with cytologic hypertrophy, dendritic morphology, and hypermelaninization. These changes were evident in approximately 20-30% of nevi where they were absent before transplantation, suggesting that host factors, such as those related to the immune response, had stimulated growth. Graft survival was independent of nevus size and initial histologic diagnosis. No melanomas developed in any of the grafts, either spontaneously or with ultraviolet irradiation. These results indicate that successful transplantation can be achieved in a high proportion of human nevus xenografts and that the majority survive for a period of time that would be sufficient for experimental studies. The host response, however, has effects on intraepidermal melanocytic growth that lead to progressive fibrous replacement of the nevus, introducing significant artifacts that compromise the model. Furthermore, malignant transformation of engrafted melanocytes seems to be a rare event, which would limit studies of neoplastic progression in the transplanted melanocytes. Nonetheless, the intraepidermal melanocytic pattern described here evidently constitutes one pattern of melanocyte growth that could be exploited experimentally for studies of growth and differentiation control in melanocytes.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Sustained production of human transferrin by transduced fibroblasts implanted into athymic mice: a model for somatic gene therapy.

Somatic gene therapy has been proposed as a means of treating inherited diseases involving defective or absent plasma proteins, viral diseases, and cancer. Introduction of the gene of interest into fibroblasts and implantation of these genetically modified fibroblasts using a skin equivalent system may be an attractive model for gene therapy because skin fibroblasts are easily obtained and propagated in culture. This study evaluated expression of the gene for human transferrin (hTf) by genetically modified fibroblasts in vitro and in vivo. NIH 3T3 fibroblasts, which form non-metastasizing tumors in athymic mice, were transduced with a retroviral vector encoding hTf. The transduced cells were cloned by limiting dilution and hTf production by the cloned cells measured. Two clones of cells producing high levels of hTf were used to seed collagen-coated nylon matrices, which were maintained in culture for up to 53 d. The rate of synthesis of hTf by the seeded matrices was constant after 22 d in vitro. Matrices seeded with cloned, transduced cells were implanted subcutaneously into seven athymic mice, and plasma levels of hTf were assessed biweekly. In all animals, the plasma level of hTf was detectable at week 6 after implantation. Levels of hTf remained elevated in the animals until the implants were removed at week 12. At week 10, the level of hTf in the plasma correlated with tumor volume in tumors less than 2000 mm3 in size. The half-life of hTf in the mice was 39.5 h. In this model, gene expression did not decline for the 12-week observation period.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1995

"A battle not man's but God's": origins of the American temperance crusade in the struggle for religious authority.

Major theories of the origins of American temperance have emphasized materialist explanations without taking seriously enough the independent role of ideas--and, in particular, religious ideas--in stimulating the reform. This article develops a new interpretation, focusing on the religious origins of temperance in a "crisis of contested authority" that befell the Protestant denominations descended from Puritanism during the early years of the 19th century. One outgrowth of the crisis over the authority of traditional religious ideas was a new theology focused on religious salvation through the suppression of vice. This new religious ideology provided a core of beliefs and powerful justification for organizing a public crusade to "exterminate" vice, and one that for ideological reasons ultimately narrowed its focus to the specific vice of intemperance. The crusade against vice in the early republic offered clergymen a "solution" to their problems of contested authority by providing new strategies and an organizational base of voluntary societies for carrying out what they perceived to be their sacred duties: winning souls to God, guarding collective salvation and leveraging government to promote obedience to religious prohibitions on vice. At least initially, temperance was part of a new kind of effort to assert the authority of religious ideas in the public sphere, and to regroup religious forces under auspices outside the church.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1995

Expanding the frame of health services research in the drug abuse field.

OBJECTIVE: This article examines the distribution of heavy drug users across health and social service agencies in a community, and ways in which organizational and social policy factors influence pathways to services. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Data are from the Community Epidemiology Laboratory, a project that includes comparable surveys of a wide variety of client, service provider, and general population groups in a single northern California county. STUDY DESIGN: The design is a cross-sectional analysis of patterns of service use and referral by heavy drug users distributed across a variety of service settings and in the general population. DATA COLLECTION: In-person, structured interviews by trained interviewers were conducted using comparable instruments, measures, sampling strategies, and fieldwork procedures. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The specialty drug treatment system serves only a small proportion of heavy drug users in the community. Large proportions of drug users are found in criminal justice, primary health, and welfare agencies. Patterns of service encounter and referral suggest that drug treatment clients typically have been in jail or on welfare prior to attending treatment, and are far less likely to have been referred to or from treatment by health providers. CONCLUSIONS: Health services research on drug abuse should expand its frame of reference to include services outside the specialty treatment sector. Drug treatment facilities are somewhat remote from other agencies in community service networks and are organizationally dependent on criminal justice and welfare systems. Further research should investigate both the costs and benefits of screening and providing services at earlier points of institutional involvement with drug abusers and the implications of interorganizational dependencies among criminal justice, welfare, and drug agencies for providers and clients.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1994

Patterns of cortical electrophysiology and autonomic activity in adults' shyness and sociability.

We examined differences in brain electrical activity (EEG), heart rate (EKG), heart rate variability, and behavior among 40 young women who were selected for high (HI) and low (LO) self-ratings of shyness and sociability. EEG and EKG were continuously recorded for 6 min from each subject, just prior to an expected novel social encounter. Each subject was also observed unobtrusively for 5 min during the social encounter. Analyses indicated that the pattern of frontal EEG asymmetry was related to sociability, but not to shyness. LOSOCIABLE subjects displayed greater relative right mid-frontal activation while HISOCIABLE subjects displayed greater relative left mid-frontal activation. A significant shy x sociable interaction was found for parietal asymmetry and for measures of heart rate and heart rate variability. LOSHY/HISOCIABLE subjects displayed greater relative right parietal activation while LOSHY/LOSOCIABLE subjects displayed greater relative left parietal activation. And HISHY/HISOCIABLE subjects displayed a significantly higher and more stable (less variable) heart rate than HISHY/LOSOCIABLE and LOSHY/HISOCIABLE subjects. Analyses also indicated that LOSOCIABLE subjects displayed significantly more signs of nonverbal social avoidance as compared with HISOCIABLE subjects. The present findings suggest that shyness and sociability may be subserved by different neurophysiological systems.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Low self-esteem in differentiating fearful and self-conscious forms of shyness.

Differences between fearfully and self-consciously shy individuals in self-esteem were investigated. Analysis indicated that fearfully (n = 45) compared to self-consciously (n = 40) shy individuals self-reported lower self-esteem. This result suggests that the role of low self-esteem may be different for each shyness subtype. A possible explanation was proffered.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Development and validation of the Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist.

The purpose of this article is to provide data on a recently developed instrument to measure the multidimensional nature of the bereavement process. In contrast to widely used grief instruments that have been developed using rational methods of instrument construction, the Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist (HGRC) was developed empirically from data collected from bereaved adults who had experienced the death of a loved one. Factor analysis of the HGRC revealed 6 factors in the normal trajectory of the grieving process: Despair, Panic Behavior, Blame and Anger, Detachment, Disorganization, and Personal Growth. Additional data are provided that support reliability and validity of the HGRC as well as its ability to discriminate variability in the grieving process as a function of cause of death and time lapsed since death. Empirical support is also provided for Personal Growth as an integral component of the bereavement process. The article concludes by considering the substantive as well as psychometric findings of this research for such issues as traumatic grief, anticipatory grief, change in the bereaved person's self-schema, and spiritual and existential growth.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Continuity and discontinuity of behavioral inhibition and exuberance: psychophysiological and behavioral influences across the first four years of life.

Four-month-old infants were screened (N = 433) for temperamental patterns thought to predict behavioral inhibition, including motor reactivity and the expression of negative affect. Those selected (N = 153) were assessed at multiple age points across the first 4 years of life for behavioral signs of inhibition as well as psychophysiological markers of frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry. Four-month temperament was modestly predictive of behavioral inhibition over the first 2 years of life and of behavioral reticence at age 4. Those infants who remained continuously inhibited displayed right frontal EEG asymmetry as early as 9 months of age while those who changed from inhibited to noninhibited did not. Change in behavioral inhibition was related to experience of nonparental care. A second group of infants, selected at 4 months of age for patterns of behavior thought to predict temperamental exuberance, displayed a high degree of continuity over time in these behaviors.

Acoustic Stimulation↗