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Biomedical subjects

D Linz

Publications and source records attributed to D Linz.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Testing legal assumptions regarding the effects of dancer nudity and proximity to patron on erotic expression.

A field experiment was conducted in order to test the assumptions by the Supreme Court in Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. (1991) and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Colacurcio v. City of Kent (1999) that government restrictions on dancer nudity and dancer-patron proximity do not affect the content of messages conveyed by erotic dancers. A field experiment was conducted in which dancer nudity (nude vs. partial clothing) and dancer-patron proximity (4 feet; 6 in.; 6 in. plus touch) were manipulated under controlled conditions in an adult night club. After male patrons viewed the dances, they completed questionnaires assessing affective states and reception of erotic, relational intimacy, and social messages. Contrary to the assumptions of the courts, the results showed that the content of messages conveyed by the dancers was significantly altered by restrictions placed on dancer nudity and dancer-patron proximity. These findings are interpreted in terms of social psychological responses to nudity and communication theories of nonverbal behavior. The legal implications of rejecting the assumptions made by the courts in light of the findings of this study are discussed. Finally, suggestions are made for future research.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Postural stability assessment in sewer workers.

In this study, postural stability was measured with a microcomputer-based force platform as an indirect assessment of central nervous system effect in 28 sewer workers (age range 23.4 to 64.5 years, standard deviation of 8.7 years). All workers performed four 30-second postural sway tests. The organic-solvent exposure was measured by a photo-ionization detector. The photo-ionization detector was calibrated to measure volatile organic solvents in total benzene equivalence, and concentrations were measured in various parts of the plant. The mean exposure was .32 parts per million (ppm) benzene equivalent (range of .02 to .95 ppm, standard deviation .19 ppm). Based on a covariate adjusted linear multiple-regression model, a statistically significant (p < .05) positive correlation was demonstrated between postural sway and organic-solvent exposure. These workers also had increased postural sway compared with a nonexposed population. The statistically significant correlation between postural sway determinations and organic-solvent exposure was surprising given the very low exposures measured. It is possible that the organic-solvent exposure might not be the causative agent, but rather that the solvents themselves correlate with some other causative exposure, ie, total volatile organics as implicated in the cause of sick-building syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Using the confluence model of sexual aggression to predict men's conflict with women: a 10-year follow-up study.

We tested a model describing the characteristics of sexually aggressive men that may also be useful for understanding the causes of other antisocial acts against women. This model hypothesizes that sexual aggressors can be identified by two sets of characteristics, labeled hostile masculinity and impersonal sex. To test this model, we followed up a sample of men 10 years after first studying them when they were young adults. We sought to predict which men would be in distressed relationships with women, be aggressive sexually, be nonsexually aggressive, or some combination of these. These behaviors were measured not only by questioning the men themselves but also by questioning many of the men's female partners. Some couples' videotaped conversations were also analyzed. The data supported the ability of the model to predict behavior 10 years later. We also developed the model further and identified the common and unique characteristics contributing to sexual aggression as compared with the other conflictual behaviors studied. The data supported the usefulness of hierarchical modeling incorporating both general factors that contribute to various interpersonal conflicts as well as specific factors uniquely pertaining to dominance of women.

Aggression↗
PubMed1995

Desensitization and resensitization to violence against women: effects of exposure to sexually violent films on judgments of domestic violence victims.

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of repeated exposure to sexually violent films on emotional desensitization and callousness toward domestic abuse victims. Results indicated that emotional response, self-reported physiological arousal, and ratings of the extent to which the films were sexually violent all diminished with repeated film exposure. Three days following exposure to the final film, experimental participants expressed significantly less sympathy for domestic violence victims, and rated their injuries as less severe, than did a no-exposure comparison group. Five days after the final film exposure, their level of sensitivity to the domestic violence victims had rebounded to baseline levels established by the comparison group. Emotional responsiveness at the final film exposure was correlated with levels of sensitivity to the domestic violence victims 3 days later but not at subsequent observation points.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Health status of pesticide applicators: postural stability assessments.

Postural sway testing was performed on 37 pesticide-exposed workers and 35 nonexposed subjects. All subjects were asymptomatic. When ratios of sway measurements in different test conditions were investigated, total length of sway was significantly different between groups (P = .0001). Weight/height (P = .0006), exposure to pesticides (P = .0215), recent organophosphate exposure (P = .0391), and plasma cholinesterase level (P = .1537) were associated with increased body sway. The pattern of sway performance suggested a proprioceptive impairment, well compensated by visual cues, potentially attributable to pesticide exposure. This finding is of unclear clinical significance because results of neurologic examinations and nerve conduction studies that were reported separately did not show evidence of neuropathy. Postural sway testing is a simple, sensitive, noninvasive, and reproducible technique to evaluate subtle neurologic dysfunction. These findings are preliminary. Further studies are required to validate the findings and, if confirmed, to explore their functional or clinical significance.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Assessing the effects of the Medicare Prospective Payment System on the demand for VA inpatient services: an examination of transfers and discharges of problem patients.

An examination of patient data from three medical districts that vary in urban/rural composition and in their proportion of proprietary hospitals was undertaken to determine if high-cost patients whose illnesses place them in "problem" DRGs (diagnosis-related groups identified as "problems" through interviews with private hospital administrators and from information published by the Wisconsin Hospital Association) are being shifted from non-Department of Veterans Affairs (non-VA) hospitals to VA hospitals. Two outcome measures were employed to detect shifting: patient transfers between non-VA and VA hospitals and discharges of veterans in a sample of DRGs identified as unprofitable by private hospitals. A comparison of patient transfers for fiscal year 1982 and fiscal year 1984 (pre- and post-DRG implementation) revealed substantial increases in the number of transfers, but there appeared to be no concentration of transfers in particular DRGs. An examination of discharges for FY 1982 and FY 1984 within 21 problem DRGs showed average increases ranging from 27 percent to 41 percent among patients aged 65 years or older. A comparison of discharges within a sample of 21 randomly selected DRGs showed either no increase or small decreases in discharges from FY 1982 to FY 1984. The possibility is discussed that some of the cost reductions (or slowing of the rise in costs) attributed to the prospective payment system are merely phantom savings. Hospitals may simply be shifting costs from Medicare to the VA system.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Endocardial surface and atrial morphological changes during development and aging.

Light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopic observations related to morphological changes of the right atrium as well as the atrial endocardium during development (15th embryonic day and 1 day old) and aging (560 days old) in the Syrian hamster were described and correlated. From the fetus to the adult, the atrial endocardium differentiates in parallel with, or in response to, the subjacent proliferating myocytes in the atrial wall and the trabeculae. Simultaneously, the atrium compartmentalizes grossly into a main chamber and an appendicular region. There is a progressive differentiation from a rudimentary, open chamber with primitive mural ridges in the fetal atria to a distinct, separate, atrial main chamber and appendage with a dense network of trabeculae in the adult. The fetal and neonatal endocardial, endothelial cells are convex with a central nuclear bulging and attenuated cytoplasmic extensions; the adult endocardium shows a squamous endothelium. Two cell surface specializations were observed in all age groups: microvilli and blebs or cytoplasmic protrusions. The general atrial morphology and surface endocardial changes were correlated with growth and the role of the endocardial endothelium as a barrier which controls metabolic exchanges, including the transport of atrial natriuretic factor, between the myocytes and the blood. This endothelial function appears to be essential in the fetal and neonatal age groups since no blood vessels are detected in these groups.

Aging↗
PubMed1987

The inventory of beliefs about wife beating: the construction and initial validation of a measure of beliefs and attitudes.

Although attitudes and beliefs about wife beating have been regarded as important for understanding the factors that cause and perpetuate women abuse, researchers have not had adequate instruments to measure these attitudes and beliefs. This article reports on the construction of a scale of attitudes about wife beating and an assessment of the scale's dimensionality and validity. Data were collected from 675 students, 94 residents of a midwestern city, 71 men who batter, and 70 advocates for battered women. Five reliable subscales were derived, and seven tests of validity were supported. Sympathetic attitudes toward battered women were related, as predicted, with liberal views of women's roles and sympathetic attitudes toward rape victims. Abusers and advocates were the most dissimilar in their attitudes. Male and female students also differed significantly. Many of the results are analogous to those in studies of attitudes toward rape. Several possible uses of the measure are described.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Pulmonary caseating granulomas associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.

Severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia, complicated by autoimmune hemolytic anemia, monarticular arthritis, and persistent upper lobe consolidation, clinically simulating pulmonary tuberculosis, occurred in a young girl. A specimen taken at open lung biopsy grew Mycoplasma pneumoniae and microscopically showed caseating granulomas, a finding never previously associated with M pneumoniae infection. Although it is possible that another infectious or immunologic granulomatous lung disease may have been responsible for the unusual clinical, roentgenographic, and pathologic findings, no other etiologic agent was identified.

Caseins↗