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Biomedical subjects

S Rabin

Publications and source records attributed to S Rabin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Impact of managers' personal determinants in notifying workplace hazards.

Notification about work hazards is a legal requirement in advanced industrial countries, but workers have claimed, that in many cases, they do not receive enough information regarding risks, exposure, and medical problems. The recent professional literature on the subject has explored the ways in which notification is delivered without sufficiently considering the psychological incentives and barriers that may affect managers in transmitting risk information. The present study aimed at examining managers' personal determinants and notification of work hazards in a sample of 106 managers and 460 workers in 40 departments of three industrial plants in Israel. Results of our study showed that both managers and workers perceived the importance of the delivery of safety information as quite high (means of 3.43 and 3.7, respectively, out of 5), with managers reporting that they rely primarily on personal modes of communication. Immediate supervisors were regarded by both groups as the most important persons in notification. Managers having past experience in treating injured workers notified more, primarily using personal notification. The most important personal determinants that positively predicted managers' notification were their sense of self-efficacy and positive expectation of notification. Outcome denial and coping by distancing were negatively correlated with notifying about these risks.

Adult

Malingering assessment in behavioral toxicology: what, why, and how.

Neurobehavioral assessment is frequently made in a forensic context. The cognitive assessment may be biased due to an international manipulation of data by the patient motivated by attainment of compensation, that is, malingering. Although malingering is highly relevant in behavioral toxicology, the issue and its assessment are underrepresented in the literature. A routine assessment of malingering is important to reduce false-positive and false-negative errors in assessment, thereby establishing the credibility and validity of behavioral assessment. In the long run, the routine inclusion of malingering measurements might reduce claims and encourage employers to be more cooperative in behavioral toxicology studies. Guidelines for malingering assessment and research, inferred from the clinical and research literature, are discussed. Sensitivity to the problematic issues involved in assessing malingering behavior is an important step toward malingering detection in the clinical setting and to the establishment of assessment methods that are less confounded by these issues.

Behavior

A descriptive study of stress management in a group of pediatric oncology nurses.

Pediatric oncology nursing is associated with highly stressful and emotional situations. This article describes and discusses major sources of occupational stress among a group of nurses participating in a stress management group. The stress sources for these nurses were preoccupation with death and dying, the professional image of the oncology nurse, the nurse as fighter in the war against disease and death, the nurses' perceived isolation from the medical staff, the nurses' perceived inferior professional status compared with that of physicians, emotional overinvolvement with patients and families, suppression of anger, and difficulties in balancing work and home demands. The following factors are suggested as major contributors to the nurses' stress and burnout: increased tendency for irrational-dysfunctional thinking styles (mainly "demandingness" and "awfulizing"), diffuse boundaries between nurses and patients, low professional self-efficacy, and wide prevalence of military metaphors.

Adaptation, Psychological

A combined clinical approach to treating and understanding prolonged combat stress reaction.

Over the last decade combat stress reaction (CSR) has received increasing attention in Israel and abroad. The treatment of prolonged CSR is known to be complicated and unrewarding, and the majority of cases became chronic. The authors describe the difficulties of diagnosing delayed and prolonged CSR and present a model of combined treatment approach through a case study.

Adult

Improving the professional self-efficacy cognitions of immigrant doctors with Balint groups.

Immigrant doctors have been found to exhibit professional distress, especially if they are retrained to another medical specialty. This study looks at the effects of a long-term Balint group in increasing professional self-efficacy cognitions of immigrant physicians treating drug addicts in a home-based community program in their adopted homeland. Results of the group showed positive significant changes in specific self-efficacy cognitions related to treatment of drug addicts in the community, and an increase in psychosocial self-efficacy from baseline to three other assessment points. The importance of long-term Balint groups with doctors in general and with retraining immigrant doctors in particular is also carefully elucidated.

Community Mental Health Services

Calcific phacolysis. Salvageable vision following treatment.

Calcific phacolysis has been previously described histopathologically in the enucleated eyes of three patients with unilateral posttraumatic total blindness. Each eye showed dissolution of a mature cataractous lens with dispersion of calcific lens material throughout the globe. We studied a patient in whom the signs of calcific phacolysis developed 19 months following intraoperative dislocation of a cataract into the vitreous. Partial removal of calcific particles was achieved by subtotal vitrectomy and lensectomy, with subsequent penetrating keratoplasty. Corneal histopathological findings showed a deposition of calcified lens particles between Descemet's membrane and retrocorneal fibrous membrane. Despite diffuse retinal calcification, the patient's visual acuity was 20/400. To our knowledge, this is the first report of calcific phacolysis occurring after surgical dislocation of a cataract into the vitreous and wherein treatment resulted in some preservation of vision. Early diagnosis and aggressive therapy may improve the visual prognosis in this condition.

Aged

Peroneal nerve palsy and compartment syndrome in bilateral femoral fractures.

Four patients with bilateral femoral shaft fractures sustained 4 peroneal nerve palsies and 2 compartment syndromes during supine intramedullary nailings of their fractures. In each case, the compartment syndrome or common peroneal nerve palsy or both developed in the leg that was placed initially in the calf-supported leg holder during intramedullary rodding of the contralateral femur. Three of 4 patients had near to full recovery of motor strength postoperatively. The authors recommend that a leg with a fractured femur not be positioned in a calf-supported leg holder.

Adolescent

Neurotrophin-induced trk receptor phosphorylation and cholinergic neuron response in primary cultures of embryonic rat brain neurons.

Tyrosine phosphorylation of trk type neurotrophin receptors in primary cultures of embryonic rat brain cells was studied by immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting. In cultures containing basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, but not in cultures of cerebral cortex, nerve growth factor (NGF) treatment for 4 min induced tyrosine phosphorylation of trk family proteins. Stimulation with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) or neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), resulted in a very robust phosphorylation signal in basal forebrain and cortical cultures, suggesting actions of these neurotrophins not only on cholinergic cells but probably on most embryonic brain neurons. Trk tyrosine phosphorylation was completely abolished by 5 microM K-252b. Inhibition was rapid, being evident by 30 s following addition of the drug. Corresponding stimulatory and inhibitory effects were seen for phospholipase-C gamma 1 (PLC gamma 1) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 (Erk1), two enzymes involved in second messenger mechanisms. Our findings indicate involvement of trk receptor activation in the NGF response of basal forebrain cholinergic cells and provide evidence for widespread presence of BDNF and NT-3 responsive neurons in the embryonic brain.

Animals

K-252b selectively potentiates cellular actions and trk tyrosine phosphorylation mediated by neurotrophin-3.

K-252b, a protein kinase inhibitor, has been shown earlier to inhibit nerve growth factor actions on cholinergic neurons of the basal forebrain. In the present study, K-252b was found to prevent trophic actions of two other neurotrophins, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and neurotrophin-3, on central cholinergic and dopaminergic neurons, peripheral sensory neurons, and PC12 pheochromocytoma cells, when used at greater than 2 microM concentration. Comparable actions of nonneurotrophin growth factors were not affected. Surprisingly, at 0.1-100 nM, K-252b selectively enhanced the trophic action of neurotrophin-3 on central cholinergic neurons, peripheral sensory neurons, and PC12 cells. In PC12 cells, K-252b potentiated the neurotrophin-3-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of trk, a protein kinase responsible for transmitting neurotrophin signals. Of the three structurally related nerve growth factor inhibitors, K-252a, K-252b, and staurosporine, only the first two also mediated neurotrophin-3 potentiation. These findings indicate that K-252b generally and selectively potentiates the neurotrophic action of neurotrophin-3 and suggest that this action involves trk-type neurotrophin receptors.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms

A new method for reconstitution of highly fusogenic Sendai virus envelopes.

A new way for reconstituting highly fusogenic Sendai virus envelopes is described. As opposed to previously described methods, in the present one the detergent (Triton X-100) is removed by direct addition of SM-2 Bio-beads to the detergent solubilized mixture of the viral phospholipids and glycoproteins, thus avoiding the long dialysis step. The vesicles obtained in the present work resemble, in their composition, size and features, envelopes of intact Sendai virus particles. The present method allows the enclosure of low and high molecular weight material within the reconstituted viral envelopes.

DNA, Viral

Radiotherapy and surgery in the management of stage IB and IIA carcinoma of the cervix.

Ninety-two consecutive patients with stages IB and IIA carcinoma of the cervix were treated by one of two regimens: pre-operative intracavitary caesium-137 followed by a Wertheim hysterectomy (group 1) or staging laparotomy with biopsy of suspicious lymph nodes (group 2) (if there was no evidence of tumour on examination of a frozen section of the lymph nodes a Wertheim hysterectomy was performed, but if a tumour was present the abdomen was closed and a course of radical irradiation given). When there was evidence of extracervical spread on examination of the specimen after the Wertheim hysterectomy, postoperative irradiation was given. It was found that clinical staging had been incorrect in 38,5% of patients thought to have stage IB disease and in 71,4% of those thought to have stage IIA disease. The actuarial survival curves showed no significant statistical difference between group 1 and group 2. When examination of the operative specimen showed tumour invasion of the parametrium only, the disease was well controlled by postoperative irradiation (all 7 such patients survived). On the other hand, when there was evidence of tumour invasion of pelvic lymph nodes the 4-year survival rate fell to 31% (4 out of 13 patients), despite the use of postoperative irradiation.

Adult

Late metastases of ovarian carcinoma. A case report.

In cases of ovarian carcinoma distant metastases are rarely discovered before local spread has become evident. This article reports an unusual case in which renal metastases appeared 9 years after the initial diagnosis of epithelial ovarian carcinoma. A discussion of the histological features of the tumour and the spread of ovarian carcinoma is included.

Adult

A visual field screening protocol for glaucoma.

In this prospective evaluation of the reliability and efficiency of an optimized visual field screening protocol for glaucoma, we tested 145 eyes (73 patients) with increased intraocular pressures to determine the location of early glaucomatous visual field defects. The field examination, which was used as a control, and protocol testing were performed on a manual Goldmann perimeter using kinetic and suprathreshold static techniques, respectively. Of the 145 eyes tested, kinetic Goldmann perimetry detected 43 eyes with glaucomatous defects. The screening protocol detected 39 defective eyes. There were four false-negative tests and one false-positive test. The false-negative rate of just under 10% was within the range predicted from earlier data. The computer-generated optimal protocols performed as predicted and provided an excellent screening technique for the detection of early glaucomatous visual field defects.

Clinical Trials as Topic

Mathematical optimization of glaucoma visual field screening protocols.

There is potential for significantly shortening the time required for visual field screening protocols by a precise specification of the number, exact location, and sequence of points to be tested. Through statistical and mathematical methods, protocols have been developed for maximizing the probability of detecting at least one visual field defect in a subject who is a risk for early glaucomatous field loss. The mathematical formulation was derived in a generalized manner so that it could be applied to most kinetically or statically determined visual field screening methods.

Glaucoma