Anxiety, depression and coping methods of hospitalized patients with myocardial infarction in Taiwan.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship among anxiety, depression, and coping methods reported by myocardial infarction (MI) patients in Taiwan. Forty post-MI patients were interviewed in the general cardiovascular unit. A subset of patients (n = 15) had high levels of anxiety and depression, however, most patients displayed low levels of anxiety and depression. A significant, moderately positive relationship was found between anxiety and the use of coping styles. An association between depression and coping styles was not found. The optimistic coping style of the Jalowiec Coping Scale was the most often used and most helpful coping method described by subjects. Emotional reactions and coping methods were related to age, social class, and actual or perceived severity of MI. Results of this study lend further support for the need to evaluate the presence, intensity and influencing factors of anxiety and depression in the recovery phase of MI.

Factors influencing the perception of touch by elderly nursing home residents and their health caregivers.

The purpose of this study was to examine which factors influence the perceptions of touch by elderly nursing home residents and their health caregivers. A random sample of residents (n = 100) and a convenience sample of health caregivers (n = 100) were selected from two nursing homes. The five variables of interest were as follows: staff status; type of touch; area of the body touched; resident's locus of control; and resident's functional level. Vignettes were developed from combinations of variables which described a touch interaction between a resident and caregiver. To determine the main effects of the five variables of interest, fractional factorial analyses of variance were performed. Resident's locus of control appeared to be the most influential factor affecting residents' and caregivers' perceptions of touch. Touch was experienced as positive when it was appropriate to the situation, did not impose greater intimacy than desired, and did not impart a condescending message. Negative touch situations often involved some procedure used in a manner considered "intimate" or when discrepant with the needs of the individual. A conceptual model of interpersonal touch is described and recommendations for further study are discussed.

Morphological changes of the pyramidal cell nucleolus and nucleus in hamster frontal cortex during development and aging.

The development and aging of the nucleolus and nucleus in layer V pyramidal cells in the hamster cerebrum were studied by light and electron microscopy. The nucleoli appeared in the newborn as occasional fibrillar masses adjacent to peripherally placed bodies of chromatin. By maturity, a single, generally central, nucleolus proper with nucleolus-associated chromatin was present. Nucleolar microbodies were observed at 10, 15, 20 and 480 days, but not in the newborn, 5-or 90-day animal. An intranucleolar body was not observed at the electron at the electron-microscopy level in these pyramidal cell nucleoli at any age in this series, in contrast to the situation in large motor neurons of the facial nucleus. The nucleus progressed from an irregular shape at birth to an oval shape at maturity. At 10 days, incipient invaginations of the nuclear membrane appeared; these subsequently increased in depth and frequency in the adult. The above changes, particularly in the nucleoli, are correlated in time with changes involving the endoplasmic reticulum. The correlations may indicate different periods of metabolic activity in the hamster pyramidal neurons. Four such periods can be differentiated on the basis of cytomorphic changes which may be correlated to reported development of function. The sequence of these changes, peculiar to the developing and aging hamster pyramidal neuron, differs from that seen in large spinal and cranial motor neurons. It appears that some features of nuclear immaturity, which are lost in larger neuronal types, are retained in the adult pyramidal neuron.

Blood-brain barrier, aging, brain blood flow, and sleep.

We have shown that significant ultrastructural changes occur with increasing age in the BBB in the nonhuman primate. It is probable that similar changes occur in aging humans. Clearly, morphophysiological changes, i.e., structural changes in cerebral capillaries, may alter the BBB mechanism as well as capillary perfusion which, in turn, may affect cerebral energy metabolism and neuronal function. Thus neurological function may be affected and sensitive indices of function such as sleep patterns altered.