Internal€xternal control expectancies: From contingency to creativity.

Highlights theory and research concerning internal vs external locus of control of reinforcement (IE) and explores the ways in which the IE dimension is related to attributions and personal styles such as perceived control, helplessness, and optimism, particularly in regard to health. Discussed are (1) J. B. Rotter's (1954) social learning theory and early IE research, (2) the Nowicki-Strickland Internal–External Scale, (3) contemporary cognitive-expectancy variables and health, and (4) IE in relation to creativity. It is suggested that the strategies that individuals use to understand and control events in their lives depend on understanding of contingencies between behavior and subsequent events and include the creation of new patterns of contingencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How high is up? Calibrating social comparison in the real world.

Research generated by social comparison theory has been criticized for its deficiencies in conceptual clarity and mundane realism. In the present study, Ss were 544 competitive bridge players engaging in a form of the "you-hold" game, a social comparison activity common to this subculture. Because this game is played seriously, with real and meaningful comparators, mundane realism should be heightened. Clarification of some key concepts, notably "comparison upward," was anticipated because the setting permitted valid assessments of the abilities of the various players. The method involved use of nominational responses to scenarios in which comparison motive was varied with outcome valence and locus of control. Ability scores of nominations were regressed against those of the choosers', a similar strategy was employed using various sociometric nominations both to validate the method and provide a baseline for comparison. Results suggest that information seeking induced the greatest degree of upward comparison. Ego enhancement was lower and ego defense lowest, though even here comparison was found to be reliably upward. Items describing "fixes" where ability was not implicated were found to give results similar to those for ego enhancement. Events with negative outcomes were unexpectedly found to generate greater comparison upward than ones with positive outcomes. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reference model for data interchange standards

The World Wide Web is based on the simple assumption that all documents are represented in a standard format using copymarks that denote structure as defined by HyperText Markup Language. They use a standard document identification scheme, a URL (uniform resource locator) and a standard retrieval form, HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol). The HTML, URL, and HTTP standards are simplifications of the more comprehensive standards on which they are based. Even with this simplicity, WWW document interchange standards have dramatically improved the exchange of electronic information. These developments are encouraging, but they indicate that we must pay even more attention to data interchange standards in general and to document interchange standards specifically. The author discusses the need for more formal data interchange standardization     

A Compact, Microprocessor-Based ECG ST-Segment Analyzer for the Operating Room

We describe a microprocessor-based device for analyzing ST-segment changes of the electrocardiogram in the operating room during general anesthesia. The device identifies significant components of the ECG waveform, detects arrhythmias, and performs ST-segment measurements. Measured values of heart rate, QRS duration, R-wave magnitude, and ST-segment level, slope, area, and index are selectively displayed on a front-panel numeric display and can be recorded in analog form with an FM tape recorder. Provided are details of the battery-operated hardware, the ST-analysis software, and the results of 60 h of clinical trials. Possible uses are proposed for trend analysis during anesthesia.     

The conductivity of the damp mass during the massing stage of the granulation process

A Planetary mixer has been modified so that the conductivity of the damp mass could be studied during the process of wet-massing in granulation. The technique makes it possible to follow the distribution of the binder liquid and possibly also the changes in packing that occur during massing.     

Reduction of Escherichia coli O157 in finishing beef cattle by various doses of Lactobacillus acidophilus in direct-fed microbials

Our objective was to evaluate the effects of three doses of Lactobacillus acidophilus strain NP51 and a combination treatment of strains NP51 and NP45 on prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 in cattle. Three hundred steers were assigned randomly to 60 pens (five steers per pen) and received one of five treatments: (i) control, no added direct-fed microbial; (ii) HNP51, high dose of NP51 at 10(9) CFU per steer daily; (iii) MNP51, NP51 at 10(8) CFU per steer daily; (iv) LNP51, low dose of NP51 at 10(7) CFU per steer daily; and (v) NP51+45, NP51 at 10(9) CFU per steer daily and NP45 at 106 CFU per steer daily. All direct-fed microbial treatments included Propionibacterium freudenreichii at 10(9) CFU per steer. Individual rectal fecal samples were collected on arrival and every 28 days throughout the feeding period. Fecal and hide samples were collected on the day of harvest. Samples were analyzed for presence of E. coli O157 using immunomagnetic separation methods. Cattle receiving HNP51, MNP51, and LNP51 had a lower prevalence (P < 0.01) of E. coli O157 throughout the feeding period compared with the controls, and the dose response for NP51 was a linear decrease in prevalence with increasing dose (P < 0.01). No decrease in prevalence for cattle receiving the combination NP51+45 was detected compared with controls (P = 0.15). E. coli O157 prevalences averaged across collection times were 23.9, 10.5, 9.9, 6.8, and 17.3% for cattle in the control, LNP51, MNP51, HNP51, and NP51 +45 groups, respectively. Least squares mean estimates of fecal prevalence at harvest of E. coli O157 were 31.7, 12.5, 17.4, 8.2, and 41.6% among cattle in the control, LNP51, MNP51, HNP51, and NP51+45 groups, respectively. Least squares mean estimates of the percentage of positive hide samples at harvest were 8.7, 5.9, 4.8, 3.4, and 8.6% among cattle in the control, LNP51, MNP51, HNP51, and NP51+45 groups, respectively. The greatest decrease in E. coli O157 carriage was achieved using NP51 at 10(9) CFU per steer.     

Viscoelastic solid relations for the deformation of ice

A frame indifferent differential operator law relating stress, stress-rate, strain, and strain-rate is constructed to describe the qualitative features of both constant load and constant displacement rate response in uni-axial stress experiments. No lower order differential relation can describe both responses, but the two responses are not sufficient to determine the response coefficients of the relation. The jump relation is determined for a stress discontinuity applied in a general configuration. A simple initially isotropic model is proposed to investigate the effects of loading history and the anisotropy induced in a configuration following a loading-unloading cycle. Both uni-axial stress and shear cycles are treated, followed by uni-axial stress loading in different directions. The respective deformation histories are determined in the small strain approximation, and demonstrate a significant influence of the initial load cycle on response from the unloaded configuration.     

Autonomic responses correlate with counselor–client empathy.

Within the literature there is a claim that when 2 people develop an empathic relationship, there is a matching of their affective responses. Since emotional responses are often accompanied by physiological changes, it was hypothesized that some degree of physiological response correlation should be observable during the development of an empathic relationship. Finger skin temperature and skin conductance were monitored in 21 counselor–client pairs during counseling interviews. The Relationship Inventory Empathic Understanding subscale was used to measure the degree of empathy established during the interviews. Several methods were developed to quantify the degree of correspondence between counselor and client physiological responses. Results showed that matching of phasic responding was correlated with empathy, whereas matching of tonic physiological levels was not. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The competence-related abilities of women criminal defendants

Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta9-THC) elicits antinociception in rodents through the central CB1 cannabinoid receptor subtype. In addition. Delta9-THC stimulates the release of dynorphin-related peptides leading to kappa-opioid spinal antinociception. In this work we describe the effect of a mixture of thiorphan (a neutral endopeptidase EC3.4.24.11 inhibitor) and bestatin (an aminopeptidase inhibitor), administered i.c.v., on the antinociceptive effect of peripherally administered delta9-THC in mice. As in the case of morphine or DAMGO ([D-Ala2.N-Me-Phe4,Gly-ol]enkephalin), a mu-selective opioid receptor agonist, the mixture of enkephalin-degrading enzyme inhibitors also enhanced the antinociceptive effect of delta9-THC. This effect was blocked by the CB1 cannabinoid receptor antagonist, SR-141,716-A, as well as by naloxone. The kappa-opioid receptor antagonist nor-binaltorphimine, administered i.t., also antagonized the effect of this combination. Similar results were obtained with the mu-opioid receptor antagonist beta-funaltrexamine after i.c.v. administration. These results demonstrate the involvement of both mu-opioid supraspinal and kappa-opioid spinal receptors in the interaction of both opioid and cannabinoid systems regulating nociception in mice.