'It is still so deep-seated, the fear': psychological stress reactions as consequences of intimate partner violence.

The negative mental health consequences of intimate partner violence have been well documented in recent years. One aim of the present study was to examine psychological distress and mental problems in assaulted women who have left their relationships. Another aim was to explore these women's sense of coherence (SOC). A combination of qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative measurement instruments was used. Data were collected from 14 assaulted women with a mean age of 38, living in different places in Sweden. Impact of event scale-revised and symptom checklist-90-R show that the violence creates long-term psychological stress reactions and confirm previous research on the subject. Twelve of the 14 women have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The result of the interviews confirmed complex PTSD and disorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified. On the other hand we found a surprisingly high SOC level among several of the respondents, a fact which could explain why these women finally managed to leave mainly by their own efforts. We call for more both qualitative and quantitative studies on this serious public health issue.

'Disgust, disgust beyond description'- shame cues to detect shame in disguise, in interviews with women who were sexually abused during childhood.

Shame is a recurrent theme in the context of sexually abused women. Sexual abuse is taboo and shameful, and so is shame. Shame affects the development of a person and relationships, and is mentally painful. It is often covert. One aim of the present study was to explore whether and how women exposed to sexual abuse during childhood verbally express unacknowledged overt and covert shame, when interviewed about their physical and mental health, relations and circumstances relating to the sexual abuse. Another aim was, if shame was present, to describe the quality of the shame expressed by the women. A mainly qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews was used. Ten women attending self-help groups for women who were sexually abused during childhood were recruited as informants. The interviews were analysed for verbal expressions of shame by identifying code words and phrases, which were first sorted into six shame indicator groups and then categorized into various aspects of shame. The frequency of the code words and phrases was also counted. The findings clearly reveal that the affect of shame is present and negatively influences the lives of the informants in this study. It was possible to sort the code words and phrases most often mentioned into the indicator groups 'alienated', 'inadequate' and 'hurt', in the order of their frequency. It is obvious that shame affects the lives of this study's informants in negative ways. One important clinical implication for professionals in health care and psychiatric services is to acknowledge both sexual abuse and shame in order to make it possible for patients to work through it and thereby help them psychologically to improve their health.

Attitude of medical staff towards victims of violence and assaults--a tentative explanation.

Crimes of violence have effects on health care, but have received insufficient attention as regards the questions of identifying hidden violence. What factors could be of relevance to the reception and help given to victims of violence? How much importance should be attributed to the sex factor in staff attitudes? The aim of the present study was to elucidate the attitudes of medical staff towards patients who were the victim of violence or assault. The study covered staff working in the emergency ward at the Central Hospital in Karlstad and at all the health care centres in Karlstad Police District. A questionnaire was sent out to all doctors and nurses at the units involved. In general, the results showed a great commitment and sense of responsibility, and a specific concentration of resources on female patients on the part of the female staff. The explanatory model revealed that attitudes of staff to victims of violence and assault are partly determined by the sex of the staff but that the place of work was definitely not without importance as an explanatory factor.

Specific IgE and IgG antibody responses in children to timothy pollen components during immunotherapy.

Fourteen children with timothy grass pollinosis were given immunotherapy (IT) for 3 years with a purified and characterized timothy grass pollen preparation or a crude aqueous timothy pollen extract. Crossed radioimmunoelectrophoresis (CRIE) showed that 75% of the children under 11 years of age developed new specificities of IgE antibodies against timothy antigens, in contrast to older children, where no development of IgE antibodies against new timothy antigens could be detected. IgE antibodies were only detected against antigens formerly known as allergens. Timothy-specific IgG antibodies increased in most children during hyposensitization against the major allergens Ag 19 and Ag 24/25 and several other IgE-binding timothy antigens.

In vitro studies of degradation of birch and timothy pollen allergen preparations by human duodenal juice.

The hydrolysis of birch and timothy pollen allergen preparations by duodenal juice from an adult volunteer was studied in vitro with the aid of rocket immunoelectrophoresis, radiorocket immunoelectrophoresis and RAST-inhibition. The results achieved with all methods were similar. The duodenal juice had the capacity to hydrolyse both the grass and tree pollen proteins, and after 30 min preincubation only 10% of the original birch and timothy allergenic activity remained. Heat treatment of the duodenal juice completely destroyed the proteolytic activity (i.e. no hydrolysis occurred) while protease inhibitors only marginally prevented the hydrolysis.

Crossed radioimmunoelectrophoretic analysis of cultivated rye (Secale cereale) pollen allergens.

Cultivated rye pollen extracts were characterized by means of crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE) and crossed radioimmunoelectrophoresis (CRIE). 32 antigens were identified in CIE and among these 16 were radiostained in CRIE analysis of a rye pollen sensitive patient panel. Crossed line immunoelectrophoresis revealed that some of the rye pollen antigens were immunological partially identical with antigens of wheat flour and rye flour.

Ion-exchange chromatographic characterization of stinging insect vespid venoms.

Paper wasp, hornets and yellow jacket vespid venoms were analysed by electrofocusing-electrophoresis titration curves and cation exchange chromatography on Mono STM. Important protein components were identified by zymography. The elution profiles from the cation exchange column for the different vespid venoms differed significantly, demonstrating the use of this technique for identification purposes. The various fractions from the ion-exchange elution profiles were collected and analysed with respect to enzymatic activity. The high capacity of the system makes it also suitable for preparative scale separation.

Crossed Immunoelectrophoresis analysis of bee venom. Enzymatic identification of antigens.

Bee venom obtained by electrical stimulation has been analysed by crossed immunoelectrophoresis against high-titer rabbit antibodies. The antigenic analysis of bee venom revealed that the extract contained 17 antigens, which were detected in the crossed immunoelectrophoresis pattern after staining with Coomassie Brilliant Blue. The crossed immunoelectrophoresis pattern indicated heterogeneity in several of the antigens, as most of the precipitates (exhibiting enzyme and hemolytic activities) represented multiple forms of phospholipase A, hyaluronidase, acid phosphatase and melittin.