Acoustically evoked brain stem potential in Wilson disease

By 48 patients with Wilson's disease the brainstem acoustic evoked potentials were stated. There were 35 pathological findings (73%), 13 were normal (27%). The waves, determined by the middle and upper brainstem (Pons and Mesencephalon) showed most of all pathological changes. Those patients with forms of Wilson's disease called Pseudoskelerose and Pseudoparkinson showed the most pathological findings. But one could watch these findings by about 30% of patients in preclinical stage. This method can possibly be used for early detection of disorders of brainstem functions and in the same way it can be used for control of treatment by patients in preclinical stage.     

A patient who had trouble with geography

Aspects of geography are important in relation to the establishment of body ego, since they inevitably supply from the external world the early symbols that represent in the mind the basic elements of infantile experience in regard to body parts, functions, and relationships with primal objects. The accretional inter-twining of all subsequent psychic conflicts can therefore be expressed in symbolic geographic terms. These conflicts center on the developmentally evolving meanings of the mother's body as epitomized in the riddle of the Sphinx. Illustration of the concepts includes a brief clinical report and selected literary and mythological examples.     

Value of mechanographic studies in neuromuscular function diagnosis

Mechanographic examinations have hitherto played only a minor role in general clinical neuromuscular functional diagnostics. The purpose of this contribution is, therefore, to present an appropriate recording apparatus (W. Zett , 1969), to report on the values that can be considered normal and to outline the diagnostic value of the method using clinical applications as examples. Special value is attached to simultaneous recording of the EMG and the mechanograph because this method permits differentiated conclusions to be drawn regarding disturbances in muscular activity, the electromechanical coupling and the actual process of contraction. The method is also important for pharmacological investigations and should be used principally in connection with musclepathology for objectifying the effects of medication.     

Liberation Pneumatology: On the Unfettered Work of the Holy Spirit in the World

Despite the frequent refrain concerning the paucity of attention paid to pneumatology in the theological discipline, a review of literature over the past fifty years reveals that pneumatology is an idea whose time has come. However, while writings on the Holy Spirit are manifold, systematically developed pneumatologies are not. In response to this reality, this essay explores four contextually constructed pneumatologies based in communities experiencing marginalisation, oppression, and exclusion: Latin American, womanist, Latinx, and black. These pneumatologies not only represent particular ethnic, social, and racial contexts, but also express a particular hermeneutical perspective on the presence and action of the Holy Spirit, i.e., that of liberation. This perspective reflects the conviction that each genuine act of the Holy Spirit is essentially liberating—individually, socially, politically, ecclesially, and theologically. While other effects accompany this experience, liberation emerges at the heart of the encounter with Spirit. Exemplifying this in multiple ways are pneumatology as the irruption of the Spirit by liberation theologian José Comblin, pneumatology as the memory of the future by womanist Linda E. Thomas, the Holy Spirit as the improvisation of God by black theologian David Emmanuel Goatley, and the Spirit dwelling in convivencia by Latinx theologian Néstor Medina.     

Depressed mood and environmental mastery as potential pathways linking family relationship quality and disease self-management for African Americans with hypertension

African Americans are at significantly greater risk of hypertension and worse cardiovascular outcomes than other racialized groups, yet hypertension intervention effects remain limited. Thus, it is necessary to understand the potential mechanisms whereby interventions may be more effectively targeted to improve health. Supported by prior research evidence and guided by the Biobehavioral Family Model, this study examined associations between family relationship quality, psychological wellbeing, and self-management behaviors for African Americans with hypertension. Data were pooled from three Midlife Development in the U.S. projects, resulting in a sample of 317 African Americans (63.4% female, M_age = 53.32) with self-reported high blood pressure in the past 12 months. We tested four cross-sectional multiple mediator models, with depressed mood and environmental mastery mediating associations between family strain and exercise, smoking, problematic alcohol use, and stress-eating. Environmental mastery mediated the association between greater family strain and decreased odds of achieving recommended exercise levels; greater odds of reporting problematic alcohol use; and greater stress-eating. Though family strain was associated with depressed mood in each model, this variable did not serve as an indirect pathway to self-management behaviors. Family strain, and the potential pathway identified via environmental mastery, may be a meaningful predictor of disease self-management for African Americans with hypertension. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine directionality and to support intervention trials for improving self-management and hypertension outcomes.     

The intergenerational transmission of relationship instability: A focus on emerging adult on-off relationships

This study extends prior research on the intergenerational transmission of relationship instability by examining parents' history of on-off relationships as a predictor of emerging adults' own cycling (i.e., breaking up and renewing with the same romantic partner). Data were collected at a large mid-western university from 702 emerging adults (18–25 years old). Multinomial logistic regression was used to predict the likelihood that participants had cycled in a past or current relationship. Results show that parental cycling increased the likelihood of offspring cycling in a past or current relationship relative to never cycling, and greater uncertainty about the future of the relationship was a mechanism through which such transmission occurred. Findings from this study demonstrate that parental relationship instability can even be consequential for the transient relationships within emerging adulthood, making family history a productive area to explore for practitioners working with cyclical partners and/or emerging adults.