Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R N Wolfe.
Comparison of grades awarded to all students in all courses at SUNY Geneseo in Spring 1990 and Spring 2000 shows a significant overall increase and a fairly stable pattern of grading practices across departments that resembles the pattern reported by Compton and Metheny in 2000 and other investigators.
Two studies examine the Concern for Appropriateness Scale (Lennox & Wolfe, 1984) as a likely moderator of dispositional and environmental variables associated with self-reported use of alcohol and marijuana by college and precollege students. In Study 1, data from 408 upper division students show that concern score interacts significantly with religiosity in analyses of use of both drugs, but not with any of 11 other dispositional variables nor with drug-specific environment predictors in analyses of use of either drug. In Study 2, data from 242 recent high school graduates show that concern score interacts significantly with religiosity and drug-specific environment in the explanation of alcohol use but not in the explanation of marijuana use. All of the significant interactions are in the predicted direction. Results therefore suggest that the concern scale is valid for some of its intended purposes.
Construct validity of the Concern For Appropriateness scale (CFA; Lennox & Wolfe, 1984), a measure of the tendency to adopt protective self-presentation styles, is examined using a multitrait-multimethod approach. Self-ratings on the CFA and ratings by suitemates constitute the two methods, and concern for appropriateness, interpersonal trust, and boredom susceptibility are assessed with each. Multitrait-multimethod analysis shows that the CFA scale exhibits convergent validity against peer ratings and discriminant validity against boredom susceptibility, the only other variable demonstrating convergence. Results indicate that the CFA exhibits construct validity and might therefore prove useful as an operationalization for self-presentation tendencies.
Snyder's (1974) Self-Monitoring Scale exhibits a stable factor structure that does not correspond to the five-component theoretical structure he presents. Sets of face-valid items that better approximate the theoretical structure are described. Correlations between these sets of items and measures of other constructs reveal that four of the five components are positively related to social anxiety. Effective social interaction is supposedly the high self-monitor's forte, and social anxiety appears to be incompatible with this. The correlational results therefore question the entire theory and indicate the need for a narrower definition of the construct. Adopting such a definition from Snyder's review article (1979), we present a 13-item Revised Self-Monitoring scale which measures only sensitivity to the expressive behavior of others and ability to modify self-presentation. A 20-item Concern for Appropriateness scale is also described. This scale measures 2 variables that are directly associated with social anxiety--cross-situational variability and attention to social comparison information. Both scales have acceptable internal consistency, and both yield 2 subscale scores as well as a total score. Prospective users of either scale are advised to treat the 3 scores separately.
In five subjects with mild asthma and in five normal subjects, we determined the effect of a 4 wk course of inhaled salbutamol (albuterol), 200 micrograms q.i.d., on (1) acute bronchodilator responsiveness, (2) bronchial sensitivity to inhaled histamine, (3) beta-adrenergic protection against histamine-induced bronchospasm, and (4) beta-receptor density of peripheral blood lymphocytes. We observed a diminution in central airway bronchodilator responsiveness (as measured by airway conductance responses) to acutely inhaled salbutamol and to subcutaneous terbutaline in both groups of subjects, although only the response to subcutaneous terbutaline was statistically significant (p less than 0.02). On the other hand, no impairment of small airway bronchodilator responsiveness was noted in either group of subjects when responses were measured as partial expiratory flow rates at 60% below total lung capacity. These findings suggest the development of selective subsensitization of beta-receptors in the larger central airways, where a proportionately greater amount of the inhaled beta-agonist aerosol would necessarily be deposited. A greater loss of protection against histamine-induced bronchospasm was seen in asthmatics than in normals (approximately twofold), although the difference was not significant. A modest but not significant reduction in peripheral blood lymphocyte beta-receptor density was observed by the end of the 4 wk treatment period. The possibility that the observed changes in bronchodilator responsiveness might influence the morbidity and mortality associated with bronchial asthma is discussed.
Nine patients with aspirin-induced bronchospasm were compared with age-matched normal controls to test the hypothesis that a defect in the beta-adrenergic system could lead to excessive dependence on prostaglandins to maintain bronchodilator function. Lymphocyte beta-receptor density and affinity were measured by 3H-dihydroalprenolol binding. Beta-receptor function was measured in terms of cyclic AMP accumulation in response to isoproterenol. Prostaglandin (PG) responsiveness was measured in terms of cyclic AMP accumulation caused by PGE1 stimulation. No difference was found in either ther number of beta-adrenergic receptors (1234 +115 vs 1213 +82) or dissociation constant (1.40 +0.23 nM vs 1.19 +0.07nM) (mean +SEM) between the asthmatic and the control group, respectively. Furthermore, neither group showed any difference in maximally stimulated cyclic AMP in response to isoproterenol and PGE 1. Thus we find no evidence of an inherent defect of beta-adrenergic receptor and function to account for the susceptibility to aspirin-induced bronchospasm.
Binding of (-)3H]-dihydroalprenolol (3H-DHA) to lymphocytes from five thyrotoxic patients and five age- and sex-matched contents were examined to ascertain whether beta-adrenergic receptor number or binding affinity were altered in thyrotoxicosis. Whereas an increase in beta-adrenoceptor density has been reported in triiodothyronine-induced hyperthyroidism, we did not find changes in beta-adrenergic receptor density or binding affinity. In one patient studied sequentially, we did not find alteration in 3H-DHA bindings before or after the subject was rendered euthyroid. We conclude that lymphocyte beta-adrenergic receptor density and affinity are not altered in spontaneous hyperthyroidism.
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A patient who had previously had a total abdominal hysterectomy developed disseminated gonococcal infection arising from a primary vaginal focus. This first report of a case demonstrates that disseminated gonococcal disease can occur from genital sites despite the absence of a uterus or cervix.
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