A longitudinal study of the role of childhood temperament in the later development of eating concerns

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the relationship between childhood temperament and the later development of eating and body concerns in early adolescent children.

METHOD

The Australian Temperament Project has followed a cohort of children from birth, assessing temperament factors such as Negative Emotionality, Persistence, Approach/Withdrawal, and Activity. Using a longitudinal design, the study reports on the relationship between temperament measured from infancy onward and eating and body concerns at 12-13 years of age. Participants (597 girls, 631 boys) completed the Eating Disorders Inventory subscales Drive For Thinness, Body Dissatisfaction, and Bulimia, and an estimate of their current size. Parents described their child's temperament and body size.

RESULTS

High Negative Emotionality and low Persistence were the factors most associated with risk status over time, particularly in girls.

DISCUSSION

While it is unlikely that temperamental characteristics per se lead to disordered eating, it is argued that in combination with other risk factors, certain temperamental characteristics may increase vulnerability.

Oral leukoplakia status six weeks after cessation of smokeless tobacco use

BACKGROUND

This study evaluated the prevalence and risk of developing oral leukoplakia in smokeless tobacco, or ST, users and the response of these leukoplakic lesions after six weeks of involuntary tobacco cessation. U.S. Air Force basic military training provided an environment of a mandatorily tobacco-free setting.

METHODS

The authors designed their investigation as a case control study with a nested cohort study. The principal investigator (G.C.M.) conducted oral examinations of 3,051 male U.S. Air Force basic military trainees. Using a questionnaire, he obtained detailed information concerning subjects' ST use patterns before basic training. Clinical photos were taken of all leukoplakic lesions identified in ST users at the initial examination and again six weeks later.

RESULTS

Of the 3,051 male trainees examined (mean age = 19.5 years), 9.9 percent (302/3,051) were identified as current ST users. Among current ST users, 39.4 percent (119/302) had leukoplakia vs. 1.5 percent (42/2,749) of nonusers of ST (odds ratio = 41.9, 95 percent confidence interval = 28.1-62.6). At the end of the involuntary cessation of tobacco use, 97.5 percent of these leukoplakic lesions had complete clinical resolution. The type of ST used (snuff vs. chewing tobacco), amount used (cans or pouches per day), length of use (months), number of days since last use and brand of snuff used were significantly associated with the risk of developing leukoplakic lesions among ST users.

CONCLUSIONS

The important new finding from this investigation is that if a young, otherwise healthy man with leukoplakic lesions stops using tobacco for six weeks, most of his leukoplakic lesions will resolve clinically. Use of ST, specifically snuff, is strongly associated with development of oral leukoplakia in young adult men.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

The clinician can use these findings in deciding when to perform biopsies on leukoplakic lesions associated with ST use. This information also should be used to assist ST users in quitting this addictive behavior.

Clinical experience with psychoanalytic post-termination meetings

The authors describe post-termination meetings in order to examine the controversial issue of the proper relationship between analyst and patient at this stage. In the first case the meetings facilitated the patient's re-entering treatment, leading to significant further growth. In the second and third cases, the meetings re-ignited mourning for the analyst and furthered analytic gains. The authors' overall impression was that the post-termination contacts were helpful for all three patients. Their limited data contradicted the long-standing assumption that all post-termination contact, unless specified as a course of further treatment, is harmful to the patient. The authors suggest that such meetings stabilise analytic gains, provide a joint assessment of analytic outcome from a useful later perspective and provide an opportunity for further analytic work. The consideration of any post-termination changes in the patient allows for a more inclusive evaluation of the analysis than was possible earlier. While acknowledging the need to consider such meetings thoughtfully in order to avoid any harmful enactment of wishes by the patient or the analyst, the authors encourage analysts to explore and report such meetings to replace unexamined assumptions and develop a body of clinical data about the effects of post-termination contacts.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae possesses two nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-independent lactate dehydrogenases

An important metabolic capability of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the utilization of host-derived lactate. Two isoenzymes of the membrane-associated, pyridine dinucleotide-independent type of lactate dehydrogenase (iLDH) participate in lactate assimilation, but exhibit distinctive properties. Isoenzyme iLDH-I utilized lactate exclusively as substrate, exhibiting a preference for the D-isomer. In contrast, isoenzyme iLDH-II exhibited broad substrate specificity (lactate, phenyllactate, and 4-hydroxyphenyllactate), but was stereospecific for the L-isomers. These results explain the difficulty in isolating mutants unable to utilize lactate.

Recontact with the analyst following termination: a survey of seventy-one cases

A questionnaire was sent to graduate members of the Denver Psychoanalytic Society asking for their experience with patients making contact with them after the analysis. They reported that within three years after termination two thirds of "successfully analyzed" patients had recontacted them. Seventy-one cases were surveyed. Most contacts were brief and did not seem to be the result of incomplete analysis. Rather, they aimed to satisfy ongoing needs for: the continuing deidealization of the analyst, the reactivation of the self-analytic function, and the restructuring of self- and object representations by reporting developmentally significant accomplishments to the former analyst. The analyst's acknowledgement appears to be an integral part of the restructuring. This is work which either cannot be done before termination or the need for which has not been recognized during the analysis.

Mass spectrometric measurement of zeatin glycoside levels in Vinca rosea L. crown gall tissue

The range of zeatin glycosides found in crown gall tissue of Vinca rosea L. has been quantified using a mass spectrometric isotope dilution procedure. Problems in the quantitative analysis of cytokinins in plant extracts are discussed.

Ethylene Evolution following Treatment with 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid and Ethephon in an in Vitro Olive Shoot System in Relation to Leaf Abscission

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) supplied via the cut base of detached olive shoots caused a burst of ethylene from leaves, but other cyclopropanes tested did not exhibit this effect. Ethephon (ET) and another ethylene-releasing compound caused a prolonged increase in ethylene evolution. ACC had only a very limited effect on leaf abscission regardless of concentration, whereas shoots placed with cut bases in ET for 60 to 80 minutes exhibited 100% leaf abscission within 90 hours. Shoots with inflorescences treated with ET just prior to anthesis began to wilt in vitro within 20 to 30 hours and failed to exhibit leaf abscission. At earlier stages of development, ET induced more leaf abscission on reproductive shoots than on vegetative shoots. It is suggested that the duration of ethylene evolution from the leaves governs their potential for abscission and that bursts of ethylene evolution even though large in amount may not induce abscission.

Gibberellins in mature apple seeds - contaminants?

Evidence is presented that gibberellins A4 and A7, previously identified (Sinska, I., Lewak, St., Gaskin, P., MacMillan, J., Planta 114, 359-364, 1973) in extracts of mature apple (Pyrus malus L.) seeds, were present primarily as contaminants. The facts supporting this conclusion are: a) the ratio of GA4 to GA7 was similar to that of a standard mixture; b) the concentrations were extremely high; and c) the ratio of GA4 to GA7 did not change during stratification, as had been reported when extracts were bioassayed (Sinska, I., and Lewak, St., Physiol. Vég. 8, 661-667, 1970).

Candidates' evaluation of psychoanalytic supervision

The origins, methods, results, and discussions of a project undertaken by the advanced candidates at the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis have been described. This project was designed to examine the supervisory process and to compile a consensual critique of individual supervisors from the candidate's point of view. We have included vignettes of supervisory experiences. It became our purpose to: (1) Develop a set of criteria by which the strengths and weaknesses of supervisors can be evaluated, (2) Involve the candidate in assessing his own learning needs, (3) Promote the objective assignment of supervisors, an assignment determined by the patient's problems, the candidate's learning needs, and the supervisor's varying capacities and abilities to effectively understand these problems and deal with these needs, (4) Expand the supervisory process to include what we felt were often unconscious or hiterto unacceptable issues, such as the function and use of countertransference, and the detection and open discussion of transference dilemmas between analyst and both patient and supervisor, (5) Stimulate dialogue at all levels of psychoanalytic education on the patient-analyst-supervisor relational system.

Endogenous gibberellins and inhibitors in relation to flower induction and inflorescence development in the olive

Comparative analyses of reproductive and vegetative tissues of the olive (Olea europaea L. cv. Manzanillo) for endogenous hormones, particularly inhibitors and gibberellin like substances, were made to study the relation between such hormones and thermoinduction of flowering. Qualitative and quantitative changes in gibberellin-like subtance(s) were observed in lateral buds (potential flower buds) but not in leaves or terminal buds (potential vegetative buds) sampled from orchard trees at intervals during the winter and spring. At least two types of gibberellin-like substances were found in extracts of lateral buds; their levels increased progressively during the low temperature induction period, reaching a maximum shortly before floral initiation. Two types of inhibitors were extracted from buds and leaves. A nonacidic type did not change during the induction stage but decreased considerably during the initiation period. An acidic inhibitor, which was identified as an abscisic acid-like substance, was present at a relatively lower level in lateral (flower) buds than in terminal (vegetative) buds during the induction period.It was concluded that winter chilling induces flowering in the olive possibly by altering a balance between endogenous gibberellins and inhibitors, including abscisic acid.Inflorescence development following the winter chilling period was associated with an increase in the level of endogenous inhibitors and gibberellins. Shoot growth, however, was correlated with a decrease in the inhibitor(s) level. A rise in gibberellin-like activity is believed to be a result, not a cause, of shoot growth.