Patterns of personality change across the life span.

Six aspects of personality were examined for a sample of 211 individuals across either a 30- or 40-year time span. Latent curve analyses found an underlying pattern of lifetime change for self-confidence, cognitive commitment, outgoingness, and dependability. An underlying pattern of lifetime stability was found for assertiveness. No shared systematic underlying pattern could be fit to individuals' lifetime trajectories for warmth. Although individuals shared a single underlying pattern of change or stability for 5 of the 6 dimensions of personality considered here, they also showed differences in the degree and direction of personality change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of courtship and mating on receptivity and brain metabolism in female red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis pareitalis).

In the female red-sided garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis), the loss of receptivity following intromission during mating can be prevented by injection of a local anesthetic (tetracaine) in the cloacal region prior to courtship and mating. Females that were courted and then mated had significantly higher uptake of radio-labeled [1?C]2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) in the preoptic area (25%) and significantly lower uptake in the ventromedial hypothalamus (-20%) compared with females that were courted but not mated. Tetracaine-treated females had accumulation patterns similar to courted but unmated females and to females exposed only to other females. These results suggest that in the female red-sided garter snake, sensory input from the cloaca during mating alters patterns of metabolism in those brain areas most often associated with female sexual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding depression in women: The cognitive approach as an ally.

In commenting on J. M. Stoppard's (see record 1989-29654-001) discussion of the adequacy of cognitive/behavioral theories for understanding depression in women, it is argued that her charges are unfounded. Contributions made by these theories are discussed. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development during adolescence: The impact of stage€nvironment fit on young adolescents' experiences in schools and in families.

Although most individuals pass through adolescence without excessively high levels of "storm and stress," many do experience difficulty. Why? Is there something unique about this developmental period that puts adolescents at risk for difficulty? This article focuses on this question and advances the hypothesis that some of the negative psychological changes associated with adolescent development result from a mismatch between the needs of developing adolescents and the opportunities afforded them by their social environments. It provides examples of how this mismatch develops in the school and in the home and how it is linked to negative age-related changes in early adolescents' motivation and self-perceptions. Ways in which more developmentally appropriate social environments can be created are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal relations in repeated observations of mother–child interaction from 1 to 2? years.

36 males and 41 females in White, 2-parent families were observed at home either 4 (63 Ss) or 12 (14 Ss) times in the age period 12–30 mo. Their natural social interactions with the mother were recorded in notebooks and coded into categories of child- and mother-initiated physical, affectionate, verbal, visual, responsive, and proximal contact. These interactions were examined to show developmental continuity and change, individual stability over time, and within-time relations. Comparisons in interaction patterns were made between boys and girls and Ss judged "securely" or "insecurely" attached. Findings show the following: The mother was the predominant initiator of interaction, but her predominance declined over the 1?-yr investigation. Mother–S physical contact and proximity declined from 12 to 30 mo (especially for sons and securely attached Ss), whereas the S's communication (verbal interaction and responsiveness) increased. The mother's attention and communication first increased and then decreased. These changes are discussed in relation to the development of Ss' communication ability and autonomy. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children of depressed mothers: Maternal strain and symptom predictors of dysfunction.

Because of both methodological and theoretical limitations, previous studies of offspring of parents with affective disorders have rarely tested psychosocial models of depressive vulnerability. The current research is part of a longitudinal investigation of psychosocial risk for disorder in 8- to 16-year-old children of unipolar, bipolar, medically ill, and normal mothers. High rates of psychopathology, including depression, were found in children in the high-risk groups. The current study evaluated the separate contributions of maternal depressive history, current self-reported depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory scores), and chronic strains to observe relations between these ordinarily confounded variables and children's psychiatric diagnoses and current functioning. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that chronic strain added significantly to the prediction of several outcomes and that current depressive symptoms were more predictive of children's scores than was maternal history of affective disorder. Both chronic strains and current Beck Depression Inventory scores are viewed as concomitants of affective disorder but are not specific to it. Therefore studies of the risk to children conferred by parental disorder cannot assume that diagnostic status as such is a single risk factor and must attend to the effects of ongoing stressors and nonspecific symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal communication: Predictors of outcome at follow-up in a sample of children at high and low risk for depression.

Separate lines of investigation have shown the increased risk of dysfunction for children of depressed women and impaired interaction between depressed mothers and their children. The link between the two was examined in 57 children at high and low risk for depression. Children of unipolar depressed, bipolar depressed, chronically medically ill, and normal, mothers were evaluated at a 6-mo follow-up. Hierarchical regression analyses suggested a relation between maternal interaction behavior on 2 dimensions, task focus and affective quality, and children's subsequent depression and school behavior; academic performance was related only to affective quality of interaction. Chronic stress was predictive of more negative, critical maternal behavior, whereas depressed mood was associated with less task involvement. Maternal interactions are viewed as a marker of a complex, mutual process involving interpersonal relationships in an adverse environmental context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparation of Deoxynucleosides,Deoxynucleotides and Oligodeoxynucleotides Bearing Adducts of PAH Diol Epoxides at the N6 Position of Adenine

Abstract

Oligonucleotides bearing adducts of the diol epoxides of benzo[a]pyrene and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the exocyclic amino group of adenine have been prepared in a regio and stereospecific manner. The strategy involves reversal of the electrophile-nucleophile relationship; the PAH is linked to the adenine nucleus via condensation of an aminotriol (derived from the diol epoxide) with 6?fluoropurine deoxyribonucleoside. This condensation is carried out after the fluoro nucleoside has been incorporated into the oligonucleotide, but while the oligomer is still immobilized on the solid matrix. The diastereomeric oligomers derived from (±)?anti?BPDE are readily separable by HPLC, thus circumventing the need for individual enantiomers of the diol epoxide.     

Mercury capture by native fly ash carbons in coal-fired power plants

The control of mercury in the air emissions from coal-fired power plants is an ongoing challenge. The native unburned carbons in fly ash can capture varying amounts of Hg depending upon the temperature and composition of the flue gas at the air pollution control device, with Hg capture increasing with a decrease in temperature; the amount of carbon in the fly ash, with Hg capture increasing with an increase in carbon; and the form of the carbon and the consequent surface area of the carbon, with Hg capture increasing with an increase in surface area. The latter is influenced by the rank of the feed coal, with carbons derived from the combustion of low-rank coals having a greater surface area than carbons from bituminous- and anthracite-rank coals.