Objectifying the effect of autogenic training on disordered ventilation in bronchial asthma]

Forty-one persons suffering from asthma (aged 20 to 55; duration of disease: greater than or equal 2 years) were divided into 2 groups and participated in courses of instruction in autogenic training. The control group was comprised of 14 patients. The effects of autogenic training on the maximum rate of expiration as well as the limiting respiratory value were recorded. The control group showed a seasonal decrease in the maximum rate of expiration and the limiting respiratory value by 10 to 20% in the period extending from April through November. The autogenic-training patients showed a temporally similar increase in the maximum rate of expiration of 27 and 22%, respectively (the difference to the control group being 47 and 42%, respectively). In 35 patients the increase in the limiting respiratory value was equal to or greater than the effect produced by novodrine. Catamnesis after one year (n = 40): Absence from work in a twelve-month period was 663 days prior to autogenic training and 77 days (11.6%) subsequent to autogenic training. Accordingly, autogenic training may be considered to be an objectively effective component of a combination of therapeutical methods used in the treatment of bronchial asthma.     

The treatment of socially oriented underachievers: A case study

Socially oriented underachievers are students who work for the rewards of social interaction rather than for those of academic achievement. A case report is presented which outlines the treatment of a socially oriented underachiever. The successful treatment employed behavior modification techniques and consisted, essentially, of rewarding the entire class for academic improvement shown by the underachiever.     

Reinforcement of drinking by running: effect of fixed ratio and reinforcement time

Rats were required to complete varying numbers of licks (FR), ranging from 10 to 300, in order to free an activity wheel for predetermined times (CT) ranging from 2 to 20 sec. The reinforcement of drinking by running was shown both by an increased frequency of licking, and by changes in length of the burst of licking relative to operant-level burst length. In log-log coordinates, instrumental licking tended to be a linear increasing function of FR for the range tested, a linear decreasing function of CT for the range tested. Pause time was implicated in both of the above relations, being a generally increasing function of both FR and CT.     

Syntactic development in children with hemispherectomy: the I-, D-, and C-systems

This study reports on functional morpheme (I, D, and C) production in the spontaneous speech of five pairs of children who have undergone hemispherectomy, matching each pair for etiology and age at symptom onset, surgery, and testing. Our results show that following left hemispherectomy (LH), children evidence a greater error rate in the use of functional category elements than their right hemispherectomy (RH) counterparts. Nevertheless, error rates are surprisingly low and comparable across groups. We interpret these results as (a) weak empirical evidence for a left hemisphere advantage in acquisition of functional structure, (b) strong support that functional structure is a property of all human grammars, and (c) strong support that each isolated developing hemisphere has the potential to acquire a grammar embodying and constrained by highly specific structural principles defining human language.     

The Effects of Features of Survey Measurement on Self-Rated Health: Response Option Order and Scale Orientation

Self-rated health (SRH) is widely used to study health across a range of disciplines. However, relatively little research examines how features of its measurement in surveys influence respondents’ answers and the overall quality of the resulting measurement. Manipulations of response option order and scale orientation are particularly relevant to assess for SRH given the increasing prominence of web-based survey data collection and since these factors are often outside of the control of the researcher who is analyzing data collected by other investigators. We examine how the interplay of two features of SRH influence respondents’ answers in a 2-by-3 factorial experiment that varies (1) the order in which the response options are presented (“excellent” to “poor” or “poor” to “excellent”) and (2) the orientation of the response option scale (vertical, horizontal, or banked). The experiment was conducted online using workers from Amazon Mechanical Turk (N = 2945). We find no main effects of response scale orientation and no interaction between response option order and scale orientation. However, we find main effects of response option order: mean SRH and the proportion in “excellent” or “very good” health are higher (better) and the proportion in “fair” or “poor” health lower when the response options are ordered from “excellent” to “poor” compared to “poor” to “excellent.” We also see heterogeneous treatment effects of response option ordering across respondents’ characteristics associated with ability. Overall, the implications for the validity and cross-survey comparability of SRH are likely considerable for response option ordering and minimal for scale orientation.

     

Triggering social interactions: chimpanzees respond to imitation by a humanoid robot and request responses from it

Even the most rudimentary social cues may evoke affiliative responses in humans and promote social communication and cohesion. The present work tested whether such cues of an agent may also promote communicative interactions in a nonhuman primate species, by examining interaction-promoting behaviours in chimpanzees. Here, chimpanzees were tested during interactions with an interactive humanoid robot, which showed simple bodily movements and sent out calls. The results revealed that chimpanzees exhibited two types of interaction-promoting behaviours during relaxed or playful contexts. First, the chimpanzees showed prolonged active interest when they were imitated by the robot. Second, the subjects requested ‘social’ responses from the robot, i.e. by showing play invitations and offering toys or other objects. This study thus provides evidence that even rudimentary cues of a robotic agent may promote social interactions in chimpanzees, like in humans. Such simple and frequent social interactions most likely provided a foundation for sophisticated forms of affiliative communication to emerge.     

Expansion of Genetic Services Utilizing a General Genetic Counseling Clinic

We established a general genetic counseling clinic (GCC) to help reduce long wait times for new patient appointments and to enhance services for a subset of patients. Genetic counselors, who are licensed in Tennessee, were the primary providers and MD geneticists served as medical advisors. This article describes the clinic referral sources, reasons for referral and patient dispositions following their GCC visit(s). We obtained patients by triaging referrals made to our medical genetics division. Over 24 months, our GCC provided timely visits for 321 patients, allowing the MD geneticists to focus on patients needing a clinical exam and/or complex medical management. Following their GCC visit(s), over 80 % of patients did not need additional appointments with an MD geneticist. The GCC allowed the genetic counselor to spend more time with patients than is possible in our traditional medical genetics clinic. Patient satisfaction surveys (n?=?30) were very positive overall concerning the care provided. Added benefits for the genetic counselors were increased professional responsibility, autonomy and visibility as health care providers. We conclude that genetic counselors are accepted as health care providers by patients and referring providers for a subset of clinical genetics cases. A GCC can expand genetic services, complement more traditional genetic clinic models and utilize the strengths of the genetic counselor health care provider.     

Barriers to Mental Health Care: A 25‐Year Follow‐Up Study of the Orthodox Jewish Community

The current study is a 25‐year follow‐up to a mental health needs assessment in the often overlooked, but rapidly growing, Orthodox Jewish denomination. Results suggest increased acceptance of mental illness and its treatment and satisfaction with quality of care, along with decreased mistrust of the mental health field, belief that religion and psychiatry conflict, and tendency to attach stigmas to psychiatric problems. However, issues of stigma and affordability continue to be obstacles to treatment. El presente estudio es un seguimiento tras 25 años de una evaluación de necesidades de salud mental en la población frecuentemente ignorada, pero en crecimiento rápido, de individuos de denominación judía ortodoxa. Los resultados sugieren una mayor aceptación de enfermedades mentales y sus tratamientos, así como la satisfacción con la calidad de los cuidados, además de una reducción en la desconfianza hacia el campo de la salud mental, la creencia de que existe un conflicto entre religión y psiquiatría, y la tendencia a estigmatizar los problemas psiquiátricos. Sin embargo, problemas relacionados con la asequibilidad y el estigma continúan siendo obstáculos para el tratamiento.