PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Landsberg

Publications and source records attributed to G Landsberg.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Further studies on the mechanism of increased blood pressure during dietary linoleic acid deprivation.

The present studies investigate the changes in blood pressure and excretory renal function in rats during dietary linoleic acid deprivation. Four groups of animals were fed isocaloric diets containing 10 en % saturated fat and either 5 en % linoleic acid (groups I and III) or 5 en % oleic acid (groups II and IV). In addition, groups I and II received a chronic high intake of Na (greater than 5 mmol/day) while groups III and IV were Na restricted with an average Na intake of 0.7 mumol/day. Blood pressure significantly increased in the high salt, linoleic acid deprived group II and was unchanged in all three other groups of animals. De novo synthesis of prostaglandin E2 in rat kidney inner medullary homogenates in the four groups of animals at the end of the dietary protocol showed a marked dependency on Na balance with significantly (p less than 0.01) higher values in the Na restricted animals as well as on linoleic acid intake with significantly (p less than 0.01) higher values in the linoleic acid substituted animals. Urinary excretion of NaCl during acute expansion of the extracellular fluid volume with hypotonic saline was significantly impaired in the animals receiving oleic acid instead of linoleic acid. In a metabolic study, linoleic acid deprived animals retained Na from the first day of linoleic acid deprivation and blood pressure started to rise only after a substantial amount of Na had been retained. Our results show that linoleic acid deprivation suppresses renal arachidonic acid cyclooxygenase metabolism and impairs the renal ability to excrete an acute salt load. Impaired renal excretory function precedes the increase in blood pressure. Thus suppressed renal cyclo-oxygenase metabolism which impairs renal excretory function may be a crucial mechanism in the rise of blood pressure during dietary linoleic acid deprivation.

Animals↗

The converting enzyme inhibitor captopril stimulates prostacyclin synthesis by isolated rat aorta.

In the present study, pretreatment of rats with captopril significantly stimulated prostacyclin (PGI2) synthesis by their isolated aorta. This effect was maximal at captopril doses of 1.0 mumol/kg body weight. When added directly into the incubation buffer, captopril at final concentrations of 50 and 500 nM also increased the synthesis of PGI2 by isolated rat aorta. Our results show that captopril stimulates PGI2 synthesis in vascular tissue and that this effect may be due at least in part to a direct action of this substance.

Angiotensin I↗

Evaluation in the community mental health centers program: a bold new reproach?

The Federal Community Mental Health Centers Program (CMHC)-from 1963 to 1981-was heralded as a revolution in mental health care. Championed by many, and severely criticized by others, the actual impact of the program on the nation's mental health remains unclear. The authorization to evaluate the CMHC Program came originally from congressional legislation (PL 90-174), and later from the policies and regulations of NIMH under a series of Federal laws, notably PL 94-63. From 1976-1980, two dominant evaluation strategies were prevalent: funds expended by NIMH each year for studies of CMHC services or program-wide evaluations, and a much larger expenditure by CMHCs to conduct their own, independent evaluations following federal guidelines. As the Center's Program was turned over to the states in the form of block grants (PL 97-35), a group of professionals involved with setting and carrying out federal CMHC evaluation policy of both varieties met in public forum to debate the impact of these two evaluation approaches. While some participants cited gains in evaluation technology and impact upon local management of CMHCs, others found the lack of a coordinated and systematic approach to evaluating the CMHC Program to have been an opportunity missed. The impact of CMHC evaluation efforts are also discussed in terms of their major contribution to the field of evaluation research as a whole.

Community Mental Health Centers↗

Involving community representatives in CMHC evaluation and research.

The participation of community representatives and consumers of services in agency planning has been mandated by legislation and the subsequent regulations. However, the representatives' lack of technical knowledge and sophistication frequently makes them unequal participants in the decision-making process. To help increase such sophistication, the program analysis and evaluation section of a large community mental health center has involved or assisted patient and community volunteers in various evaluation and research projects; they include a survey of area housing conditions, a survey of the needs of former inpatients, an evaluation of programs operated by a coalition of community groups, and a community resource listing.

Community Mental Health Services↗

The influence of PSROs.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Community Mental Health Services↗

Possible programmatic consequences of community mental health center funding arrangements: illustrations based on inpatient utilization data.

Funding arrangements have a direct and substantial influential effect on the delivery of mental health services. Despite the original intent of the community mental health center philosophy, centers have not been freed from programmatic limitations imposed by the fiscal systems. The focus of this article is the inpatient unit that has the key role as relates to a center's ability to raise revenue. Using data from a study of community mental health center inpatient utilization patterns, the authors demonstrate that centers face the problem of becoming revolving doors (for a recidivist population). Existing fiscal arrangements, it is suggested, reinforce this pattern and tend to downplay innovative alternatives to traditional inpatient care.

Ambulatory Care↗

Attitudes of mental health center staff toward community organization.

The authors report on the differences in attitudes and perceptions that clinical and community organization staff have about the role of community organizers in a mental health center and about the center's priorities. Community organizers defined their role as one enabling the community to act on social-welfare problems, while clinical staff defined it as a liaison role connecting community residents and clinical services. Community organizers placed less value on traditional services, and felt greater dissatisfaction with center priorities.

Allied Health Personnel↗

The cycle of violence and victimization: a study of the school-based intervention of a multidisciplinary youth violence-prevention program.

This article reports on the school-based intervention component of a multidisciplinary program intended to reduce and prevent youth violence in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. This intervention is based on three theories. The first theory posits that modifying beliefs, attitudes, and norms will help youths develop behaviors that support nonviolence. The second theoretical construct asserts that enhancing relationships with peers and family will buffer youths from the effects of exposure to violence. Finally, the third theory suggests that changing aspects of the setting and climate that contribute to violent behavior will prevent violence. The school-based intervention, the Safe Harbor, is a victim-assistance and violence-prevention program. The Safe Harbor offers activities including a 20-lesson violence-prevention and victim-assistance curriculum, counseling, parent involvement, teacher training, and school-change campaigns. The evaluation design is a panel study, with cohorts surveyed longitudinally at nonequivalent intervals. One hundred and fifteen seventh- and eighth-grade students who receive the curriculum and other services are the experimental group; the other 879 students in the seventh and eighth grades serve as the comparison group. Baseline data were collected through a survey of the entire school before the program's implementation in January 1995. Subsequent data collection will include interviews and focus groups; future analysis will address how participation in other parts of the Safe Harbor program or other programs in the school affects outcomes. The participation rate for the baseline survey in the experimental group was 86%, in the comparison group 76%. Responses to the survey questions were virtually identical between the two groups. Preliminary analyses reflect a climate of pervasive violence in the school, family, and community. More than half of the sample reported witnessing a severe beating in the school or their community within the past four months. Forty-four percent witnessed someone being attacked with a weapon in their neighborhood. The psychological consequences of exposure to violence were severe-51% of the sample reported post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. A number of lessons have been learned from implementing and evaluating this project, including the importance of fostering community partnership and strong relationships with the school, and addressing both reactions to victimization and norms and beliefs about aggression.

Adolescent↗