Relationship between the presentation of the MOMMY AND I ARE ONE stimulus and mood.

In 1992 Weinberger suggested the effects of the presentation of MOMMY AND I ARE ONE might be mediated by its capacity to produce positive mood changes. Later support for this idea is unconvincing because these experiments lack the converging operations required to support the assumption that participants can encode the complete meaning of MOMMY AND I ARE ONE. Furthermore, without justification, they bypassed several variables of importance in prior research. Wide acceptance of findings in this area requires convincing evidence that participants can encode much more information from MOMMY AND I ARE ONE than from other types of subliminal stimuli and from supraliminal stimuli presented briefly. Until such evidence is available. attempts to explore individual differences in neurophysiological responses to MOMMY AND I ARE ONE, after it has been assumed to be encoded, are premature.

Problems in Silverman's work indicate the need for a new approach to research on subliminal psychodynamic activation.

The basic assumption in subliminal psychodynamic activation research is that participants can unconsciously perceive the psychodynamic meaning of a complete message as it is intended by the experimenter. In attempts to account for negative findings Silverman contended that this assumption holds only under certain luminance conditions and visual field positions of a message. Paradoxically, almost all of his findings, his major evidence in support of the basic assumption, came from experiments in violation of those strictures. Further, Silverman never presented MOMMY AND I ARE ONE under a critical condition required for it to be effective. These and other considerations identify the need for an account of empirical findings other than his and for changes in his experimental method. Such research must take into account the encoding of subliminal stimuli, an area neglected almost completely by Silverman. Shevrin and his colleagues' 1996 work is outlined as a model for the use of subliminal stimuli to investigate psychoanalytically generated hypotheses.

Comment on Birgegard and Sohlberg's (1999) suggestions for research in subliminal psychodynamic activation.

Methodological changes in subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments based on the assumption that multiletter messages can be encoded automatically (Birgegard & Sohlberg, 1999) are questioned. Their contention that partial experimental messages and appropriate nonsense anagram controls (Fudin, 1986) need not be presented in every experiment is supported, with a reservation. If the difference between responses to the complete message and its control is significant in the predicted direction, then Fudin's procedure should be used. A nonsignificant difference between the response to each partial message and its control is needed to support the assumption of proponents of subliminal psychodynamic activation that successful outcomes are effected by the encoding of the meaning of a complete message. Experiments in subliminal psychodynamic activation can be improved if their methodologies take into account variables that may operate when subliminal stimuli are presented and encoded.

Subliminal psychodynamic activation: methodological problems and questions in Silverman's experiments.

Analyses of procedures in Lloyd H. Silverman's subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments identify problems and questions. Given the information provided, none of his experiments can be replicated, and none of his positive results were found under luminance conditions he reckoned in 1983 were typical of such outcomes. Furthermore, there is no evidence in any of his experiments that all stimuli were presented completely within the fovea, a condition critical to the production of positive findings (Silverman & Geisler, 1986). These considerations and the fact that no experiment using Silverman's procedures can yield unambiguous positive results (Fudin, 1986) underscore the need to start anew research in this area. Such research should be undertaken with a greater appreciation of methodological issues involved in exposing and encoding subliminal stimuli than that found in all but a few experiments on subliminal psychodynamic activation.

Research in subliminal psychodynamic activation: note on Masling (1998).

Masling (1998) questioned Malik, Apel, Nelham, Rutkowski, and Ladd's 1997 suggestion that subliminal psychodynamic activation research with MOMMY AND I ARE ONE should be restricted. Problems in Masling's paper and the scope of research with MOMMY AND I ARE ONE are discussed. His position that such research should not be restricted is supported on the condition that subliminal psychodynamic activation research with MOMMY AND I ARE ONE (and other messages) use Fudin's 1986 procedure that could clarify the interpretation of successful experimental outcomes.

Correction of uremic iron deficiency anemia in hemodialyzed patients: a prospective study.

This prospective study was designed to evaluate the eventual correction of anemia and iron status in 39 iron-deficient uremics starting hemodialysis. Nine patients (control group) had no iron supplementation, 10 had oral ferrous iron, and 20 were treated with intravenous iron gluconate. Follow-up periods were 12 months for the control group and 26 months for patients treated with oral or intravenous iron. No patient was treated with erythropoietin. At zero time, all patients were anemic (Hb <78 g/l) and showed signs of severe iron deficiency, diagnosed on the basis of depleted bone marrow iron stores, reduced hemoglobin iron, and transferrin saturation <21%. The hemoglobin levels, observed in patients of the control and the oral iron groups at the end of the follow-up periods, were not significantly different from those detected at zero time. In contradistinction, patients treated with intravenous iron showed after 26 months of follow-up a significant increase of blood hemoglobin values, reaching a mean value of 126 g/l. So far, this evidence supports both the concept that iron absorption is compromised in chronic uremics and that the parenteral way is the more effective route for iron replacement in this specific group of patients.

Re-examination of evidence questions Christman's (1989) report of moderate experimental support for the visual spatial frequency hypothesis.

The visual spatial frequency hypothesis contends that perceptual characteristics of stimulus arrays can affect the magnitude and direction of hemispheric asymmetries in laterality experiments. In a 1989 literature review, Christman reported that 45 of 79 experimental comparisons yielded significant interactions for side of hemispheric advantage x perceptual characteristic which supported the visual spatial frequency hypothesis, a level of support he characterized as moderate. Re-examination of those 45 outcomes shows that in 20 of them either a significant interaction for side of hemispheric advantage x perceptual characteristic was not found or, if it was, the particulars do not agree fully with predictions of the visual spatial frequency hypothesis as presented by Christman in the 1989 paper. These findings suggest that experimental support for the visual spatial frequency hypothesis is weak, not moderate as characterized by Christman.

Treatment of surgical and non-surgical septic multiorgan failure with bicarbonate hemodialysis and sequential hemofiltration.

OBJECTIVE: Hospital mortality of patients with septic multiorgan failure (MOF) is still around 95%. The present study investigates whether this high mortality could be significantly reduced by the addition of sequential hemofiltration (SH) with bicarbonate hemodialysis (HD) to the currently used life supportive measures. DESIGN: 35 (18 surgical and 17 nonsurgical) patients, with 3 or more organ failures, had daily sessions of zero balance SH, for periods ranging from 2-22 days. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: SH induced significant improvement of PaO2/100 FIO2, Apache II score, MAP, as well as blood chemistry in survivors. Dying patients had less marked improvement of blood oxygenation, non-significant changes in other variables, in addition to low MAP before and after SH, as well as marked hemodynamic unstability during the procedure. The observed hospital mortality was 38% for the surgical group, and 35.3% for the medical patients (n.s.). CONCLUSIONS: Mortality observed in this retrospective, uncontrolled study was significantly lower than that currently observed with conventional supportive therapy, with or without the addition of other forms of blood purification, e.g. CAVH and CAVHD. This improvement in results appears to be related to the property of SH to completely clear 90% of the blood from mediators of inflammation in only one passage through the hemofilter, and to better tolerance of HD done using bicarbonate buffer. A definite evaluation of this technique will be eventually reached by a programmed, appropriate sample size study, which is out of reach for one individual ICU.

Analysis of data from Reichler's (1979) The Baseball Encyclopedia: right-handed pitchers are taller and heavier than left-handed pitchers.

In 1989 Coren concluded right-handed Major League pitchers whose careers began up to 1975 are significantly taller and heavier than left-handed pitchers. His source of data, Reichler's 1979 edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia, however, lists heights and weights for pitchers whose careers began through 1978 and for individuals who pitched but who almost always appeared at a different position or positions. Coren did not indicate why he did not analyze all of the relevant data in Reichler nor did he explain how he decided that an individual's usual position was that of pitcher. Further, there is evidence from Topp which suggests that the era during which the pitchers began their careers should be considered when comparing their heights and weights because relatively recent rookies (from 1980 through 1986) are taller and heavier than rookies who began their careers 50 and 100 years prior to that era. Classifying an individual as a pitcher if he pitched in at least 50% of the games in which he played at a position, using all relevant data in Reichler, and considering the era during which dextral and sinistral pitchers began their careers, we found strong corroborative evidence for Coren's 1989 findings.

Sinistrality and reduced longevity: reply to Coren and Halpern's replay.

Coren and Halpern's response to Fudin, Renninger, Lembessis, and Hirshon's 1993 report of a nonsignificant difference in longevity between left-handed and right-handed baseball players contained errors of fact, theory, and omission. Especially disturbing is that they ignored the fact that our negative findings were found not only with parametric tests but with the same nonparametric tests that they had used. We defend our use of parametric tests given the particular data we analyzed, and we comment on the databases that we and Halpern and Coren considered and the results of studies of handedness and longevity.

Final comments on Hudesman, Page, and Rautiainen's (1992) subliminal psychodynamic activation experiment.

Hudesman, et al.'s (1992) contention that their finding shows that subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) improved academic performance is questioned. That experiment lacked controls outlined by Fudin in 1986 which are needed to support the assumption that a positive SPA outcome is effected because the meaning of an entire experimental message is encoded. In 1993 Hudesman and Page argued that Gustafson and Källmén's 1991 results, obtained with such controls, indicated that the controls do not have to be used in subsequent SPA experiments. The 1990 results of Greenberg and of Kothera, Fudin, and Nicastro, however, do not support those of Gustafson and Källmén. From a different perspective, it is argued that good experimental controls are needed in all SPA experiments because they increase internal validity. Given that Hudesman, et al.'s subjects scored in a limited range on the mathematics portion of the 1978 CUNY Skills Assessment Test, the implication that their result can be generalized to all subjects is questioned.

Comments on Hudesman and Page's reply to Fudin's comments on Hudesman, Page and Rautianen's subliminal psychodynamic activation experiment.

Hudesman and Page's contention that Gustafson and Källmén's 1991 results indicate that subsequent subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments do not require the controls suggested by Fudin in 1986 is questioned. The rationale for Fudin's 1993 comment concerning the limited generalizability of Hudesman, et al.'s (1992) results, a comment Hudesman and Page contended is unfounded, is discussed.

Sinistrality and reduced longevity: Reichler's 1979 data on baseball players do not indicate a relationship.

Halpern and Coren's 1988 results concerning the longevity of sinistral and dextral baseball players have been used to support the idea that sinistrality is associated with reduced longevity. Halpern and Coren stated that they used Reichler's 1979 The Baseball Encyclopedia, which has longevity data through 1978, as their source. Apparent errors in reporting findings from that source suggested the possible value of analyzing Reichler's 1979 data. That analysis indicated findings that did not confirm Halpern and Coren's 1988 findings. Coren, however, related in 1992 that, although Halpern and Coren used Reichler as their source, they considered longevity data only through 1974. We therefore contend that the present findings represent what Halpern and Coren would have found had they considered Reichler's longevity data through 1978. Procedures used to analyze baseball player's longevity and the possible value of and potential problems with an updated baseball study are discussed.

Comments on Hudesman, Page, and Rautiainen's (1992) subliminal psychodynamic activation experiment.

Hudesman, et al.'s (1992) contention that their finding and those of Ariam (1979), Parker (1982), and Cook (1985) show that subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) can improve academic performance is questioned. Results obtained from experiments using methodological innovations (Fudin, 1986) would allow a clearer interpretation of positive SPA outcomes.

Subliminal psychodynamic activation: updated comprehensive list of experimental results and comments on previous lists.

A comprehensive list of results from visual subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments is presented. This list includes results reported since the publication of the last comprehensive list by Weinberger and Hardaway in 1990 and several results not found on that list. On the present list, SPA results are categorized according to criteria that we contend are more objective than those used previously. In contrast to conclusions drawn from previous lists prepared by Silverman in 1980 and 1983, by Weinberger and Hardaway in 1990, and by Weinberger and Silverman in 1987, the present list indicates that the results of a majority of experiments do not clearly support hypotheses tested by the subliminal psychodynamic activation method. Aspects of Hardaway's meta-analyses from 1987 and 1990 for major areas of research on subliminal psychodynamic activation are discussed in terms of suggestions for further research.

Loss of microvascular negative charges accompanied by interstitial edema in septic rats' heart.

We studied the effect of Gram-negative sepsis on negative charges of heart capillaries and myocardial cells. We used a rat model of multiorgan failure, with ruthenium red (RR) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) as cationic binding tracers. Twenty-four hours after induction of sepsis, negative charges had decreased in glycocalyx and basement membrane of myocardial capillary endothelial cells. There were substantial amounts of interstitial edema. Density of anionic charges in the sarcolemmal glycocalyx complex of cardiac cells was markedly reduced. Myocardial cells' mitochondria consistently showed morphologic changes, whose severity ranged between stages II and IV C of Trump. Thirteen days after induction of sepsis, capillary endothelial and myocardial cells had recovered almost completely and showed no intracellular edema. Gram-negative sepsis caused a significant reduction in negative charges normally present in the microvascular wall as well as on myocardial cells. Consequently, several membranes limiting the various compartments of heart tissue lost their structural integrity. This morphometric data could explain the development of protein-rich interstitial edema and defective cell volume regulation observed in cardiac muscle of endotoxin-shocked animals. This myocardial edema may be at the origin of the cardiac dysfunction observed in both experimental and human septic shock.

Review of auditory subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments.

Subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments using auditory stimuli have yielded only a modicum of support for the contention that such activation produces predictable behavioral changes. Problems in many auditory subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments indicate that those predictions have not been tested adequately. The auditory mode of presentation, however, has several methodological advantages over the visual one, the method used in the vast majority of subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments. Consequently, it should be considered in subsequent research in this area.

Protamine sulfate induces enhanced peritoneal permeability to proteins.

We present a direct link between the neutralization of anionic sites by intraperitoneal protamine and a rise in protein passage to the peritoneal cavity during isosmotic peritoneal dialysis in rabbits. Each experiment included two 1-hour exchanges. No drugs were added in the first exchange. In group A (control) there were no drugs in the second hour either. In group B, protamine (50 micrograms/ml) was added to the second exchange volume. In group C, protamine and heparin (50 U/ml) were added. In groups A and C, appearance curves of metabolites during the first (baseline) and the second (experimental) hours were not statistically different. In group B, differences for urea, glucose and uric acid were not significant, but they were highly so for protein (increase of 100%, p less than 0.01). Transperitoneal passage of albumin is substantially enhanced by protamine. Neutralization of protamine with heparin prevents this, showing that availability of anionic sites is the crucial limiting factor. Protamine did not significantly affect the transfer of small neutral molecules.