Larks and owls and health, wealth, and wisdom

OBJECTIVE: To test the validity of Benjamin Franklin's maxim "early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." DESIGN: Cross sectional analysis of sleeping patterns in a nationally representative group of elderly people, and longitudinal investigation of mortality. SETTING: Eight areas in Britain (five in England, two in Scotland, and one in Wales). SUBJECTS: 1229 men and women aged 65 and over who in 1973-4 had taken part in a survey funded by the Department of Health and Social Security and for whom data on sleeping patterns, health, socioeconomic circumstances, and cognitive function had been recorded. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self reported income, access to a car, standard of accommodation, performance on a test of cognitive function, state of health and mortality during 23 years of follow up. RESULTS: 356 people (29%) were defined as larks (to bed before 11 pm and up before 8 am) and 318 (26%) were defined as owls (to bed at or after 11 pm and up at or after 8 am). There was no indication that larks were richer than those with other sleeping patterns. On the contrary, owls had the largest mean income and were more likely to have access to a car. There was also no evidence that larks were superior to those with other sleeping patterns with regard to their cognitive performance or their state of health. Both larks and owls had a slightly reduced risk of death compared with the rest of the study sample, but this was accounted for by the fact that they spent less time in bed at night. In the study sample as a whole, longer periods of time in bed were associated with increased mortality. After adjustment for age, sex, the presence of illness, and other risk factors, people who spent 12 or more hours in bed had a relative risk of death of 1.7 (1.2 to 2.5) compared with those who were in bed for 9 hours. The lowest risk occurred in people who spent 8 hours in bed (adjusted relative risk 0.8; 0.7 to 1.0). CONCLUSION: These findings do not support Franklin's claim. A "late to bed and late to rise" lifestyle does not seem to lead to socioeconomic, cognitive, or health disadvantage, but a longer time spent in bed may be associated with increased mortality.     

IQ and ego-resiliency: Conceptual and empirical connections and separateness.

The constructs of intelligence and ego-resiliency are discussed. The personality implications of "pure intelligence" and "pure ego-resilience" were identified. Intelligence (IQ) was indexed by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS—R) and ego-resiliency by an inventory scale. Residual scores measuring "pure intelligence" and "pure ego-resilience" were correlated with the items of the observer based California Q-sort, used to describe participants. Persons relatively high on ego-resilience tend to be more competent and comfortable in the "fuzzier" interpersonal world; persons defined primarily by raw IQ tend to be effective in the "clearer" world of structured work but tend also to be uneasy with affect and less able to realize satisfying human connections. Gender differences exist in the relations of ego-resilience and intelligence and in their adaptive relevance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prohormone and proneuropeptide synthesis and secretion

Hormones and neuropeptides in eukaryotic cells, are synthesised as large precursor molecules in the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), from where they are translocated to the Golgi apparatus. The sorting of proteins destined for the regulated secretory pathway from those which will be released constitutively takes place in the trans-Golgi network (TGN). In both these pathways, vesicles need to be transported to the plasma membrane before their contents can be released by exocytosis. Hormones and neuropeptides need to be secreted from the cells in which are synthesised to exert their biological actions, although they can also play paracrine and autocrine actions. Prohormones and proneuropeptides must undergo post-translational modifications which occur in determined subcellular compartments within eukaryotic cells and are carried out in a strict succession of intracellular events, which give rise to biologically active products. The biosynthesis of prohormones/proneuropeptides is mediated by the action of endoproteolytic enzymes and other post-translational modifying enzymes within the secretory pathway. The major focus of this review will be the biosynthetic pathway, sorting and intracellular trafficking of prohormone and proneuropeptide precursors within the secretory pathway of eukaryotic cells.     

《儿子与情人》的语码转换与男女二元对立

劳伦斯小说《儿子与情人》一个鲜明的语言特色就是标准英语和当地方言频繁的语码转换。莫瑞尔用方言来对抗妻子,而妻子坚持用标准英语,偶尔也用方言来讽刺、挖苦丈夫。语码转换反映了劳伦斯男女二元对立的哲学思想。     

Psychology and urban initiatives: Professional and scientific opportunities and challenges.

Describes the formation and work of the American Psychological Association Urban Initiatives Task Force, which was formed in 1993 to (1) contribute to the understanding and amelioration of problems associated with urban life, (2) promote and sustain aspects of urban life that enhance individual and societal growth, and (3) encourage psychological research, training, and practice related to urban problems. The authors also describe the APA Committee on Urban Initiatives, which was founded in 1997, and discuss the need for psychology to participate in urban research, intervention, and prevention activities in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

中小型镍制设备与管道的焊接缺陷及对策研究

结合近年来现场试验与施工实践，分析研究了中小型镍材（工业纯镍）设备与管道的特点、性能、焊接缺陷与产生原因，以及防止与消除其缺陷、优化制造施焊质量的工艺措施，并总结了若干条注意事项。     

Pantetheinase activity and cysteamine content in cystinotic and normal fibroblasts and leukocytes

Cysteamine is the most effective agent known for the reduction of the elevated cystine content of cells from patients with cystinosis. A defect in endogenous cysteamine generation could account for many of the metabolic features of this disorder. To test this hypothesis, we have developed improved methods for measuring pantetheinase (cysteamine-generating) activity and intracellular cysteamine levels and used these methods to measure such parameters in cystinotic and normal leukocytes and cultured skin fibroblasts. Pantetheinase activity as defined in the test was similar in extracts of cystinotic and normal cells [leucocytes, normal, 78 +/- 15 (S.E.), cystinotic, 56+/- 6.4; fibroblasts, normal, 9.4 +/- 1.5; cystinotic, 7.7 +/- 1.7]. Cysteamine levels were normal in leukocytes from cystinotics receiving no cysteamine or doses of oral cysteamine too low to reduce leukocyte cystine content. The results indicate that the cause of cystinosis is unlikely to be related to a failure to generate of sustain normal intracellular cysteamine levels.     

黄金资源国内外供需形势分析及合理开发利用建议

阐述了国内外黄金资源状况,分析了黄金资源的国内外供需形势及价格走势,提出中国合理开发利用黄金资源的建议：加强黄金储备,加强利用国外黄金矿产资源合作开发,鼓励尾矿资源的开发利用,促进黄金资源回收再利用,加大科技创新力度,优化黄金产业结构升级。     

Reasoning and food and contamination.

Examines strategies that are used to reason about food and contamination. In Exp 1, Ss refrained from choosing a substance that had been given a "poison" label when the intent of the labeler was ambiguous or malicious but preferred this substance when a rationale was provided that dispelled the implication that there once might have been contaminants present. Exp 2 was designed to compare the effects of safety on conditional reasoning in food and food-irrelevant contexts. When the safety issue was relevant to food in the form of contamination, Ss were most likely to use formal logic in reasoning. A similar pattern of responses was found in Exp 3 on tasks for which Ss' ratings of their experience of contexts were matched for plausibility, experience, and danger. Results are discussed in terms of an adaptive constraint that facilitates rationality in reasoning within the food domain (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexuality and aging--usual and successful

BACKGROUND: As aging research increasingly reflects an effort to dissociate true time-driven changes from those that can be improved, sexuality in later life remains largely unexplored. Several problems are evident. There is a lack of normative data, a lack of a conceptual framework relating to the biology, psychology, and sociology of sex, and an attitudinal resistance that obscures the entire topic. METHODS: We conducted a three-part instructional series on major topics involved with sexuality and aging. We surveyed our group of attendees (n 158, average age 68 for males, 65 for females) before and after the series. RESULTS: A remarkably robust sex life was evidenced by both the men and the women, even until advanced old age. Yet, a substantially decreased involvement was reported from 10 years earlier. Despite current activities, people of both sexes wished they were participating even more than they currently were. Impotency was identified as the major negative feature for the men; relationship problems were for the women. A questionnaire 6 months after the series reported improved sexual attitudes, but no change in sexual activities from the earlier survey. CONCLUSION: Sexuality is a major quality-of-life issue which persists into old age. Our study showed that the usual sexual practices reported by our group were not considered by them to be ideal. The intervention of this instructional series provided improved sexual attitudes but not performance. Additional studies are encouraged.     

Words and things and images.

Explores and evaluates the current renaissance of interest in imagery as a cognitive mechanism, with reference to its role in associative learning, mediation, meaning, and personality. The variable of time is stressed in the formation of effective imagery in mnemonic research. Experiments are described in which Ss, instructed to image but not to learn, were unable to prevent learning. Imagery is relatively free from interference in memorizing successive lists, and highly effective in recall of long lists of concrete and abstract words. Abstract words are frequently transposed into concrete representations. Research employing 3-6 yr. old deaf children without language of any known variety supports assumptions about imagery. (30 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lice and scabies. Myths and reality

Scabies mites are only distantly related to human lice. Nevertheless, the two groups have much in common as regards to structure and life-style. These similarities result from the two groups using parallel adaptations in order to solve some of the problems of being parasites. Understanding these adaptations may help us give better advice.     

High and low density water and resting, active and transformed cells

Melanoma is prone to spread to the brain and is the third most common source of intracranial metastasis. Patients usually present with signs and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, a new focal neurologic deficit, or seizures. Contrasted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the single most valuable imaging modality. Surgical therapy is the appropriate choice for single lesions that are accessible, especially if they are causing significant mass effect or are located in the posterior fossa. Patients with several intracranial metastases who undergo resection of all lesions may have a similar prognosis to those with single resected lesion. Stereotactic radiosurgery appears to provide good local control of small lesions. External beam radiotherapy may provide some benefit to patients, and is often used in conjunction with surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery. To date, chemotherapy has been limited because of chemo-resistance and drug delivery issues. Future directions for treatment may include local sustained delivery of either chemotherapy or immunoregulatory molecules.     

Practitioner and student latex exposure and allergy

Greater application of universal precautions has increased practitioner exposure to chemicals present in personal protective equipment. Of prime concern is the latex present in examination and surgical gloves. A survey concerning latex exposure, allergies, and handwashing was administered to three advanced classes of dental students and was sent to 300 private practitioners in Central Indiana. Results indicate that adverse skin reactions to latex start while in dental school. Problems due to latex gloves were reported by 18.6 percent of the students. Student handwashing materials and methods were adequate, except for inadequate washing time. Adverse skin reactions were reported by 24.1 percent of practitioners wearing latex gloves. Two handwashing problems were noted--inadequate washing time and the common use of water instead of an antimicrobial soap after glove removal. Both students and practitioners reported relatively high levels of personal and family histories of allergy to a variety of sources.     

Military children and families: Strengths and challenges during peace and war.

Throughout history, military children and families have shown great capacity for adaptation and resilience. However, in recent years, unprecedented lengthy and multiple combat deployments of service members have posed multiple challenges for U.S. military children and families. Despite needs to better understand the impact of deployment on military children and families and to provide proper support for them, rigorous research is lacking. Programs exist that are intended to help, but their effectiveness is largely unknown. They need to be better coordinated and delivered at the level of individuals, families, and communities. Research and programs need to take a comprehensive approach that is strengths based and problem focused. Programs for military children and families often focus on the prevention or reduction of problems. It is just as important to recognize their assets and to promote them. This article reviews existing research on military children and families, with attention to their strengths as well as their challenges. Issues in need of further research are identified, especially research into programs that assist military children and families. Military children and families deserve greater attention from psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Amiodarone and mortality in CHF and post-MI

Substance abuse is well documented among bodybuilders and weight lifters keen to enhance their performance. A case is described of abuse of caffeine to toxic levels by an amateur bodybuilder and is believed to be the first documented case of such recreational abuse.     

Praise and Blame and Robinson.

Daniel Robinson suggests that much of the civil and criminal law "serves as the institutionalized form of praise and blame". Indeed it does. Pulling at this thread of Robinson's tapestry leads the reader straightaway to a host of truths about how law and morality not only intersect, but work together in harmony. "[L]aw", Robinson says, is a "vivid expression of deeper and impenetrably complex moral theories". This essay explores several of these harmonies, but focuses on two. One is that political society must be seen as the cooperation of free persons according to law, which persons hold common moral understandings. The second has to do with retribution as the moral justifying aim of punishing criminals. The author goes beyond Robinson's limited praise of retribution, and shows that some central features of our practice of punishment are understandable only within the retributive framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental and biological assimilation and accommodation.

J. MacNamara (1976) asserts that (a) Piaget attributes the difference between minds and stomachs to reflective abstraction, (b) if Piaget were to be consistent he should realize that reflective abstraction is "merely another term for intelligence," and (c) "When pursued to its basic assumptions?.?.?.?[Piaget's theory] is really forced to explain a person's mental functioning in terms of innate structures." The present paper purports to show that MacNamara's views are due to misinterpretations which stem from a confusion between invariant functions and variable structures. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in muscle endurance and recovery between fallers and nonfallers, and between young and older women

BACKGROUND: Significant morbidity and mortality are associated with falls in older adults. We tested the hypothesis that older women with a history of falls demonstrate decreased muscle endurance and longer recovery times following fatiguing exercise. METHODS: We evaluated dynamic endurance and recoverability of the quadriceps femoris of 29 young women (YW) (M age = 21.7), 26 older women with a history of falls (FA) (M age = 73.3), and 27 older women with no history of falls (NF) (M age = 71.2) using an isokinetic dynamometer. Subjects performed repeated maximal concentric knee extensions until the force output of two consecutive repetitions fell below 50% of their maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Recovery was defined as the time required for the return of force output > or = 80% MVC for 2 consecutive repetitions, within a set consisting of 3 maximal contractions. One minute rest was allowed between sets. We collected electromyographic (EMG) data from the quadriceps during all testing to evaluate spectral shifts. RESULTS: ANOVA with a post-hoc Bonferroni-Dunn test revealed time to fatigue was significantly faster in FA than YW (p < .02) and in FA than NF (p < .05), but not different between YW and NF. Time to recovery was significantly slower in FA than YW (p = .01), but not different between YW and NF, or between FA and NF, EMG median frequency power shift (from the beginning to the end of the test) was significantly less in FA (p < .001) than either YW (p < .002) or NF (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Older women with a history of falls demonstrate decreased muscular endurance compared to YW and NF, and increased time to recover from fatiguing exercise when compared to young women.     

Effects of practice and learner control on short- and long-term gain and efficiency

This study investigated the effects of practice opportunities and learner control on short- and long-term learning from a computer-based introductory statistics curriculum. In all, 380 participants were assigned to one of five conditions. The first four conditions differed in terms of the number of problems to solve per problem set. The fifth condition allowed learners to choose the amount of practice. A subset (n = 120) of the original participants returned for testing following a six-month interval. Overall, the fixed-practice conditions showed learning gains that varied in relation to the amount of practice (i.e., more was better). The data from the learner-control condition was unexpected, showing learning gains comparable with the most extended practice condition yet the fastest tutor-completion times. We discuss implications of these findings in relation to the design of efficacious instruction. Actual or potential applications of this research include the modification of computer-based instruction that can enhance individuals' learning efficiency and outcome scores.