Marriage problems; dealing with them in private practice

Marriages and divorces in Los Angeles County almost equal each other. Marriage per se is not the cause of neurosis. When two neurotic persons marry, the resulting neurotic interaction too often ends in conflict, broken homes and a new generation of neurotic children. Psychotherapy must be related to the diagnosis of family psychopathology, should include all the involved members and should be directed toward the realistic goal of integrating them into family living. Of 100 cases taken from the author's experience, 64 involved married couples and the majority of these had serious interspouse conflicts. In 37 cases both spouses were treated and substantial psychotherapy was given to one or both of the partners. It included one or more modalities varying from electroshock therapy, tranquilizers, and such psychotherapy as supportive, dynamic interpretive, individual, spouses together, group and hypnotherapy. Thirteen achieved clinical recovery, nine improved, twelve were still in therapy. In three cases therapy failed.     

Interaction between some common genotoxic agents

The clastogenic effects of arsenic, lead and sulphur dioxide and the protective effect of selenium were studied in short-term lymphocyte cultures. The three agents selected are the major toxic substances in emissions from copper smelters. Cells from non-smoking, healthy individuals were exposed to individual agents and combinations of the four agents (sodium arsenite, lead acetate, sodium sulphite and sodium selenite) and the cells were analysed for chromosome aberrations and sister chromatide exchanges. Selenium showed an antagonistic (protective) effect against the other agents. No synergistic effects were found, and the interactions between arsenic, lead and sulphur dioxide were mainly antagonistic. These rather unexpected findings indicate that mixed exposure from copper smelters, and other mixed exposures where arsenic, lead and sulphur dioxide are involved, may cause less genetic damage than expected and that an adequate dietary supplement of selenium may reduce the genotoxic effects of these agents.     

Some problems of evaluating fungicides for use on coffee in Kenya

As part of a programme testing fungicides for control of coffee berry disease (CBD) promising materials were also tested in the field against leaf rust of coffee. In all, fourteen fungicides were tested, five of which have been recommended for control of CBD. Only Perenox (representative of 50% copper fungicides) and Du-Ter (not highly effective against CBD and no longer recommended) gave good control of rust; Difolatan gave some control but Benlate and Daconil were virtually ineffective.
Where only CBD is present there is generally a good relationship between disease control and yield, but in these experiments where leaf rust was also present, this relationship was seriously disturbed. The implications of this for testing fungicides for use on coffee in Kenya are discussed.     

Threatened edible insects in Hidalgo, Mexico and some measures to preserve them

Background

The Caatinga (dry land vegetation) is one of the most characteristic vegetation types in northeastern Brazil. It occupies a large percentage of the semi-arid region there, and generally supports two major types of economic activity: seasonal agriculture and the harvesting of plant products. However, very little information is available concerning the interaction of people with the plants of the Caatinga.

Methods

A study was undertaken with the participation of 31 adults from a rural community in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, in order to analyze the patterns of use of medicinal plant resources, and to test a number of hypotheses concerning their use and local knowledge about them. The sources of medicinal plants used by the local community, the differences in oral information concerning the use of plants with their effective uses, and the role of exotic plants in local folk medicine practices were examined.

Results

Forty-eight plant species were cited as having medicinal uses, of which 56.25% are native to the Caatinga region. The patterns of harvesting and the importance of these trees and shrubs as medicinal plants seem to be compatible with a hypothesis based on the seasonal availability of plant resources. There is no direct correlation between known medicinal plants and those used by the local population, which agrees with observations made in different tropical regions. However, this observation was not interpreted in terms of the idea of "erosion" of knowledge (commonly used to explain this lack of correlation), but rather to propose two new concepts: "mass knowledge" and "stock knowledge".

Conclusion

Native plants are a very significant component of locally used medicinal plants, although exotic plants are important for treating specific health problems – which leads the proposal of a hypothesis of diversification.     

Preparation of some starch-based neutral chelating agents

Various neutral starch derivatives have been prepared by reacting maize starch with mono- and dimethylol resins based on urea, thiourea, and melamine. The factors affecting these reactions were studied. These factors include curing duration, catalyst, and resin concentrations. The starch derivatives so prepared were used in heavy-metal removal from solutions. The sorption ability of those derivatives depends on resin type and metal ions. The sorption values of different starch derivatives follow the order (a) monomethylol resin-starch > dimethylol resin starch; (b) thiourea resin-starch > urea resin-starch > melamine resin-starch. The sorption efficiency (%) of starch derivatives increases with increasing nitrogen content, reaching a maximum value and then decreasing. The sorption values of Hg2+ (mmol/mol resin) of different starch monomethylol derivatives at the maximum values were 1135, 2624, and 2538 for urea, thiourea, and melamine derivatives, respectively. This indicates that urea derivatives act as bidentate ligands, while thiourea and melamine act as tridentate ligands.     

Hospital infections: the problems and ways to resolve them]

The authors present the critical analysis of the existing situation in the spread of purulent septic infections in surgical hospitals of the USSR and the state of epidemiological surveillance. Considering this situation to be highly unfavorable, the authors propose a number of urgent organizational measures (the inclusion of hospital epidemiologists into the medical staff of large clinics, the system of training in this problem). The article deals with the specific features of the epidemiological process in purulent septic infections and the main principles of the organization of the epidemiological surveillance system for this group of infections.     

People's concerns about biotechnology: some problems and some solutions

Pharmaceuticals and vaccines made by genetic engineering are well accepted all over the world. In contrast, there are many people, particularly in Europe, who are worried that food, made by the same new technology, may harm their health or cause damage to the environment. This is despite the growing evidence that genetically modified crops have the potential to improve world food security and the fact that there have, as yet, been no adverse results of their use in the food chain. Because of these worries and the mechanisms of politics, agricultural biotechnology has become the target of concerns about food safety (BSE, Foot & Mouth Disease), along with globalisation and the power of multinational companies. These concerns will, hopefully, be overcome by a more open and well-informed dialogue between scientists, opinion leaders, educators and the public. If judiciously applied, genetically modified crops will help increase sustainability and the fight against hunger in the world.