Relations of personality factors and student nurses' attitudes toward abortion

The present study, conducted just prior to the 1973 U. S. Supreme Court decision on abortion, focused on effects of personality characteristics and one health-profession choice (student nursing vs a liberal arts major) upon attitudes toward abortion. Ss were 96 students from an introductory psychology class, 49 student nurses, and 46 liberal arts majors. It was predicted that student nurses would be more negative toward legalizing abortion than would liberal arts majors. Results supported this prediction ( p < .025). Personality characteristics were assessed by the 16 PF (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970) and were analyzed to yield four second-order factors: anxiety vs adjustment, extraversion vs introversion, subduedness vs independence, and tender-minded emotionality vs alert poise. Anxiety, introversion, subduedness, and tendermindedness were all expected to predispose Ss to be more against abortion than the other halves of these dichotomies. Predictions were supported ( ps from .05 to .025) for all but anxiety.

Contact sensitivity in vitro: activation of actively allergized lymphocytes by a beryllium complex

Beryllium either as salts or in a complexed form was studied for its ability to trigger lymphocytes from guinea pigs painted with beryllium fluoride. The triggering was assessed by assaying and partially characterizing culture supernatants for macrophage migration inhibition factor. It was found that beryllium complexed to the ligand sulphosalicylic acid was able to induce macrophage inhibition factor (MIF) formation. The insoluble beryllium oxide and the immunizing agent beryllium fluoride did not produce MIF. Data is presented which would support a direct interaction of beryllium sulphosalicylate with cells without prior complexing to macromolecules.

Immunological studies of injuried connective tissue. Serological and biological properties of antisera to normal and to streptococcal cell wall injured rabbit skin

Guinea-pigs were immunized with extracts of normal rabbit skin or with extracts of skin lesions induced by intradermal injection of cell walls of group A streptococci. In passive haemagglutination, antisera to lesion extracts were selective for polymorphonuclear leucocyte antigens while antisera to extracts of normal skin reacted equally well with extracts of normal skin and extracts of lesions. Upon intradermal injection into rabbits, antisera to normal skin induced a biphasic intermittent reaction, characterized by mononuclear cell infiltration and persisting for 2–3 weeks. A chronic phase was not seen in rabbits presensitized to guinea-pig serum. Antisera to lesion extracts induced only an acute inflammation which was diminished by 3 days and was gone by 12 days. Reactions were more severe when antisera and streptococcal cell walls were injected into the same site.

Enumeration of tubercle bacilli in sputum of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

A method for precise microscopic enumeration of acid-fast bacilli in the sputum of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis is described. The total number of acid-fast bacilli and the number of culturable cell units of tubercle bacilli per milliliter of sputum were determined in 269 specimens from 28 patients collected prior to and/or during chemotherapy, to establish the usefulness of the procedure for evaluation of the effects of chemotherapy. Prior to or very early in the course of therapy, there was good agreement between microscopically and culturally measurable bacilli in 27 of 28 patients. Thereafter, there were systematic divergences in five patients and occasional divergences in most others. Yet, in general, in 20 of the 28 patients, the microscopically determined population provided a useful measure of the number of culturable tubercle bacilli present. Although the microscopic procedure does not allow species identification of mycobacteria or differentiation between viable and nonviable cells, it often provided, within hours rather than days or weeks, useful information on the residual burden of acid-fast bacilli in sputum during chemotherapy. The nature of the disease in those patients in whom microscopy failed to provide useful information is discussed.

Thio reduction of human 2 -macroglobulin. The subunit structure

1. Human alpha(2)-macroglobulin was prepared from a fraction obtained during the large-scale separation of normal human plasma proteins for clinical use. 2. Sedimentation-equilibrium measurements indicated a molecular weight of 725000. A value of 18.1S was obtained for s(0) (20,w). 3. The dissociation that occurs in the pH range 4.5-2.5 and in the region of neutrality in urea-containing solutions is consistent with a dimeric structure of the molecule. 4. The effects of the thiol reagents mercaptoethanol, mercaptoethylamine and N-acetylcysteine were investigated over a range of experimental conditions. Distinct components having sedimentation coefficients of 15, 12 and 8.5S were identified. 5. Conditions were found under which limited reduction with thiol liberated a subunit with a molecular weight approximately one-quarter of that of the intact molecule. This subunit retains the serological specificity of the whole molecule.

Treatment conditions, dogmatism, and perception of demand characteristics

In an attitude study 158 Ss' perceptions of demand characteristics were investigated in relation to treatment condition and dogmatism (Rokeach, 1960). Ss receiving the experimental treatment were expected to show greater awareness of E's purpose than control Ss because of less confusing cues for the former Ss. Dogmatism was expected to be either negatively related to accurate perception of demand cues or unrelated to such awareness. Analysis of responses to a five-question awareness scale was performed by a 3 by 2 analysis of variance using the method of unweighted means (Winer, 1962). Experimental Ss showed significantly more accurate perceptions of demand cues ( p < .01) than control Ss, but dogmatism had no significant effects. Tentative interpretations of these data were provided in terms of the phenomena of perceptual synthesis and perceptual analysis (Levy & Rokeach, 1960), and suggestions for further research were given.