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Biomedical subjects

R Straub

Publications and source records attributed to R Straub.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Electrodermal reactivity in male and female depressive patients who later died by suicide.

On the basis of earlier studies on electrodermal responsiveness in patients with suicide attempts, an investigation on electrodermal activity (EDA) in former depressive inpatients was carried out. Male and female depressive inpatients who died of suicide later and participated in an habituation experiment during their inpatient treatment were identified retrospectively and compared (strictly matched by age and sex) to depressive suicide attempters with violent or nonviolent methods, suicide ideators and a nonsuicidal depressive group. In the first part of the study only male depressives (n = 12) who had committed suicide after or during inpatient treatment were compared with their controls. The hypothesis of a expected low electrodermal responsiveness and a fast habituation as an peripheral expression of a central impulse or violence control disturbance could not be confirmed. This was done in the second part of this study. We came to the following results: 1) a tendency to a faster habituation in the violent suicides compared with nonsuicidal depressives and violent suicide attempters plus violent suicide group in male depressives compared to suicide attempters (SA), nonviolent suicide ideators and nonsuicidal depressives. 2) A significant difference with faster habituation rates in a male and female violent suicide group compared with nonsuicidal depressives and again comparing a group of male and female violent suicides and SA with nonviolent SA, suicide ideator and nonsuicidal depressive controls. These results may reflect a dysregulation of violence and impulsivity control mechanism as an underlying disorder or personality trait.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Pharmacotherapy of delusional depression: experience with combinations of antidepressants with the neuroleptics zotepine and haloperidol.

The combination of an antidepressant with a neuroleptic is standard pharmacotherapy for delusional depression today. The neuroleptics used are rarely specified: occasionally haloperidol or perphenazine are mentioned. In two different open-treatment studies, consecutively admitted delusional depressed inpatients received a butyrophenone [haloperidol, bromperidol, approximately 10 mg/day (n = 16)] or zotepine [150-200 mg/day (n = 15)] as a neuroleptic in combination with a tri- or tetracyclic antidepressant (amitriptyline, maprotiline, 150 mg/day). There was a significant improvement in both groups in the sum score of the Hamilton depression scale (24-item version), in a subscore of so-called delusional items (items 2, 17, 19, 20, 23, and 24 together), in the subscore of remaining items and also in most single items such as mood, inhibition, agitation, feelings of guilt or hopelessness.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Equine pituitary adenoma: a functional and morphological study.

Clinico-pathological correlations in horses with pituitary adenomas are poorly understood. This paper describes the functional and morphological features of five cases of equine pituitary adenoma and of a case of multinodular pituitary hyperplasia. New findings reported include immunoreactivity for beta-lipotropin (beta-LPH), beta-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (beta-MSH), gamma 3-MSH, prolactin (PRL), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in neoplastic cells of the pituitary adenoma; and, in the multinodular hyperplasia, beta-LPH, beta-endorphin (beta-END), alpha-MSH, beta-MSH, gamma 3-MSH and FSH immunoreactivity. It is suggested that the equine pituitary syndrome does not correspond to human Cushing's disease, as generally accepted, but is related to the overproduction of several pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides by the cells of the tumour or hyperplastic nodules.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1993

[Social workers in the commitment procedure].

Regular inclusion of a social worker alongside the expertising physician whenever a judge has to decide on committing a person to a psychiatric hospital, is known in German legal practice as "Stuttgart model". Our experiences with this procedure are discussed on an interdisciplinary level. In our opinion this model agrees with the spirit of the new German law governing guardianship and care.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Folic acid deficiency in patients hospitalized with depression? A pilot study of clinical relevance].

Seventy-seven depressive inpatients were studied in a pilot study to determine their serum and red cell folate levels at admission. Only one depressive inpatient with a low serum folate value had a history of an illness-related lack of nutrition prior to admission, and the low value was only on day 1 of the study. Our results demonstrate that folate acid deficiency is not as common in depressive inpatients as reported, especially in British studies for two reasons: different eating habits and a methodological problem.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Personality, motivation and affect as modulating factors in suicidal behavior of depressed women].

From a psychological point of view, we would expect that motivational rather than biological dysfunctions mediate initiation of violent and non-violent suicidal actions. To prove this assumption we classified depressed women in four groups according to their suicidal behaviour and matched them to age: suicide ideators, violent suicide attempters, non-violent suicide attempters, non-suicidal depressed controls. We then tested group differences in respect of aggression, impulsivity, introversion, affective lability, anxiety, depression and electrodermal activity (EDA). To take a closer look at motivational dysfunctions, we implemented the Action Control Scale (corresponding to Kuhls theory of action and state orientation), since we regard chronic state orientation as a risk factor for suicidal behaviour. Results show few differences in violent attempters compared with controls. In contrast to non-violent attempters, they show a greater tendency to achievement and action oriented behaviour being less introverted. Non-violent attempters, however, show most significant differences to their controls: Corresponding to a high state orientation, they are more depressed, anxious, less stable in respect of affectiveness, and more introverted, with low scores in aggression and contentedness in life. In contrast to some other studies, nonreactivity in the electrodermal system dominates in all groups. Results demonstrate that motivational dysfunctions like state orientation allow better prediction and understanding of violent or non-violent suicidal behaviour in depressed women than does electrodermal reactivity.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Capillary supply and fibre area in locomotor muscles of horse and steer--a comparison between histochemistry and electron microscopy.

In order to investigate possible differences in variables defining capillary supply of skeletal muscle derived from two methods, the electron-microscopical and the amylase-PAS histochemical methods were applied in a study of horse and steer muscles. Samples from several locomoter muscles were taken at slaughter from one horse and one steer, divided into two and prepared separately for the two techniques. It was found that there was no difference between the two methods in the values for the capillary-to-fibre ratio. Values for mean fibre area, on the other hand, were significantly higher in the histochemically treated samples (16%, p = 0.001) and hence capillary density values lower (12%, p = 0.002). It was concluded that the two methods are comparable in their capacity to visualize capillaries, but preparation of samples for electron microscopy produces an average shrinkage of 16% of muscle fibres. As a consequence capillary density is overestimated accordingly. Discrepancies were larger for steer than horse muscles.

Aminosalicylic Acid↗
PubMed1992

[Electrodermal hypoactivity in depression: psychobiological marker or differential psychophysiologic disposition?].

Research about the dominating hypoactivity in electrodermal system in affective disorders led to the assumption that electrodermal activity (EDA) could be an important biopsychological trait in the etiology of depression. However, experimental results are contradictory. Some studies find nosological validity, other studies an influence of psychomotor status on EDA or correlations to clinical improvement, etc. Most of these results are based on laboratory conditions (habituation experiment with tones). The person-situation-environment interaction and their dynamic process regulation on electrodermal activity are neglected. Also lacking is a comparable description of nosology, psychomotor status and experimental design. After discussing the neuropsychological background of the habituation paradigm which led to the "traditional" assumptions of the correlation between electrodermal activity and depression, results of different samples are shown tested over years using always the same classification and experimental methods. None of our assumptions could be verified. Although low levels in SCL dominate, we could not find results of high sensitivity and specificity in contrast to controls. However we found differences in other, more complex experiments containing personality traits and reactions to emotional words. In a multi-level process-oriented stress paradigm of the success/failure type we found a delay in regeneration of psychological and electrodermal measures after failure. This results demonstrate that investigation in electrodermal activity needs more complex and process-oriented experimental designs. EDA probably has not the quality of a biological marker, but seen in the context of person and situation factors it differentiates depressed states.

Arousal↗
PubMed1991

Suicidal behaviour and electrodermal activity in depressive inpatients.

Within the context of a habituation experiment, the electrodermal activity (EDA) of suicidal depressed patients was measured. Twenty-four patients had a suicide attempt in their most recent history; these attempts were divided into attempts with violent or nonviolent methods. All the patients who had used a violent method habituated quickly, as was the case for 4 of 5 patients who committed suicide in the year following the experiment. Just as many patients who used nonviolent methods habituated quickly or slowly. There was no indication that age, sex or medication had any influence. For 18 of these 24 patients, comparable groups, in terms of age and sex distribution, were formed containing either nonsuicidal depressed patients or patients with suicidal thoughts. No differences between groups concerning any of the EDA variables could be found. In accordance with these results, EDA cannot be considered to be a valid predictor for suicide-proneness. The relations between violent suicide attempts and nonreactivity should, however, be further examined and the group of nonreactive patients in EDA should be treated as a risk group for clinical reasons.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Psychopathologic and psychophysiologic follow-up of inpatient depressed patients with standardized treatment with clomipramine and oxaprotiline].

The aim of this study was to show psychopathological and especially psychophysiological data of depressed inpatients which were collected during a 28-day double-blind study with 68 depressed inpatients given clomipramine 150 mgr/die) or maprotiline/oxaprotiline 150 mgr/die). Using Hamilton-Depression-Scale, Self-depression-scale (SDS by Zung), Beschwerdeliste (BL) and Befindlichkeitsskala (Bf-S) by v. Zerssen an impressive reduction of depression scores was observed in all rating scales with some superiority of clomipramine. But at the end of the study at treatment day 28 both groups - clomipramine and maprotiline/oxaprotilin - had similar results. During treatment each patient was part of a weekly habituation experiment using electrodermal activity in an orientation reaction as measure. Contrary to other studies (Lader 1975 or Heimann 1976, 1980) there was no difference in the course of psychophysiological data (EDA) between both treatment groups or between depressive agitation and psychomotor retardation. There was also no relationship between reactivity in EDA at study begin and treatment results.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Blood gas measurements during exercise: errors due to temperature correction.

This study assessed the degree to which correcting blood gas measurements to rectal temperature (Tre) rather than to the temperatures at which gas exchange occurs [pulmonary arterial (Tpa) or intramuscular (Tm)] introduces errors into blood gas analysis of exercising mammals. Horses and steers weighing 450 kg were run on a treadmill at speeds up to those eliciting maximal rates of O2 consumption (VO2max), and temperatures were measured in various body compartments. In both species Tpa rose faster than Tre during the run, the degree of dissociation being a function of exercise intensity and duration. Tm was measured only in horses, and it rose faster than Tpa during the run and decreased more slowly postrun. Correcting blood gas values measured at an analyzer temperature of 37 degrees C to Tre without accounting for transient increases during the run of Tpa and Tm that were never reflected in Tre significantly biased estimates of blood gases. The biased estimates erroneously indicated that both species experienced more severe hypoxemia than they actually did at VO2max and masked the hypercapnia experienced by the horses at VO2max.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

[The cervical vertebral column of horses--a clinico-radiological study].

For various anamnestic reasons the cervical vertebral column of 78 horses was examined radiologically. Statistical comparisons showed that male "warmbloods" were more frequently affected than was expected. Our horses were older than comparable animals in the international literature. Independently of their history the radiologic diagnosis of "cervical spondylarthrosis" was established in 56 horses. Arthrosis and other conditions were clinically manifested by spinal ataxia (44 horses) or mechanical impairment of the neck's mobility (21 horses). 10 of the arthrotic patients had synovial cysts causing compression of the spinal cord. 79 percent of all dorsal intervertebral arthrotic joints were found in the caudal column (C6/7 to C7/Th1). With 38 percent, C6/7 was the most frequently affected joint. Clinical and radiological findings could be compared with patho-anatomic results in 29 horses. The correlation was satisfactory.

Aging↗
PubMed1988

Variability of fiber size, capillary density and capillary length related to horse muscle fixation procedures.

Muscle samples were taken from the superficial part of the semitendinosus muscle of four standardbred horses to compare the effects of three different fixation procedures on fiber size and capillarity. Infiltration fixation in an extended position of the muscle was compared to immersion fixation and infiltration fixation in a flexed position of the limb. The capillary length density was used to estimate muscle capillarity. Infiltration fixation was found to be a viable alternative to perfusion fixation of muscles for morphometry of fiber size and capillary length density allowing muscle tissue fixation at a defined sarcomere length without fiber kinking.

Animals↗