Review of Normalizing the ideal: Psychology, schooling, and the family in postwar Canada.

Reviews the book, Normalizing the ideal: Psychology, schooling, and the family in postwar Canada by Mona Gleason (1999). The history of psychology in Canada has not received the attention it deserves. This book is a bold attempt to sketch the development of the discipline and its influence on child-rearing practices and education in post-war Canada. Unfortunately, the author appears to have been guided by a theoretical perspective that can best be characterized as an uninspiring blend of Michel Foucault, Christopher Lasch, and reductionist 1970s feminist scholarship. Gleason's portrayal of the development of psychology, is inadequate on several counts. First, throughout the book, psychology is presented as a monolithic discipline characterized by complete consensus, theoretical unity, and a single-minded purpose of influencing society. Second, Gleason claims that psychologists forced their definitions of normalcy upon an unsuspecting and innocent population by intruding into previously private realms and extending the tentacles of its expertise in building up a professional tyranny. Third, Gleason frequently criticizes psychology for reinforcing and reproducing the social status quo and presenting the ideal family in terms of white, middleclass, heterosexual, and patriarchal ideals. Fourth, she seems to condemn psychologists for inflicting their ideas on an unsuspecting population because they were driven by ulterior motives such as self-aggrandizement and an attempt to increase their own professional power. Gleason's is the first book to provide an overview of the influence of psychology on Canadian society after World War II. Her analysis would have gained from investigating and highlighting the different and at times mutually exclusive ideas, motives, and theories of Canadian psychologists instead of assuming their uniformity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metabolomics in Severe Aortic Stenosis Reveals Intermediates of Nitric Oxide Synthesis as Most Distinctive Markers

Background: Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is a rapidly growing global health problem with an estimated 12.6 million cases globally in 2017 and a 112% increase of deaths since 1990 due to aging and population growth. CAVD may develop into aortic stenosis (AS) by progressive narrowing of the aortic valve. AS is underdiagnosed, and if treatment by aortic valve replacement (AVR) is delayed, this leads to poor recovery of cardiac function, absence of symptomatic improvement and marked increase of mortality. Considering the current limitations to define the stage of AS-induced cardiac remodeling, there is need for a novel method to aid in the diagnosis of AS and timing of intervention, which may be found in metabolomics profiling of patients. Methods: Serum samples of nine healthy controls and 10 AS patients before and after AVR were analyzed by untargeted mass spectrometry. Multivariate modeling was performed to determine a metabolic profile of 30 serum metabolites which distinguishes AS patients from controls. Human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) were incubated with serum of the AS patients and then stained for ICAM-1 with Western Blot to analyze the effect of AS patient serum on endothelial cell activation. Results: The top 30 metabolic profile strongly distinguishes AS patients from healthy controls and includes 17 metabolites related to nitric oxide metabolism and 12 metabolites related to inflammation, in line with the known pathomechanism for calcific aortic valve disease. Nine metabolites correlate strongly with left ventricular mass, of which three show reversal back to control values after AVR. Western blot analysis of CMECs incubated with AS patient sera shows a significant reduction (14%) in ICAM-1 in AS samples taken after AVR compared to AS patient sera before AVR. Conclusion: Our study defined a top 30 metabolic profile with biological and clinical relevance, which may be used as blood biomarker to identify AS patients in need of cardiac surgery. Future studies are warranted in patients with mild-to-moderate AS to determine if these metabolites reflect disease severity and can be used to identify AS patients in need of cardiac surgery.     

Vitamin D receptor genotype is associated with radiographic osteoarthritis at the knee

Intraocular pressure (IOP) has never been compared between hard working and sedentary subjects. The relationship between physical fitness and IOP is not clearly known. There are only two studies and their results are contradictory. The variability in their results may be due to several factors. Therefore, the present study was planned to investigate the relationship between working style, physical fitness and IOP after taking into account those factors that can affect IOP. One hundred fifty male volunteers of a steel factory were divided equally in two groups. The subjects of group 1 were sedentary worker, whereas group 2 subjects were actively engaged in heavy works requiring exertion. Physical fitness was evaluated by the measurement of maximum oxygen uptake with a Bechman O2 analyzer. IOP was measured with the Goldmann applanation tonometer. As compared to sedentary subjects, maximum oxygen uptake was significantly higher whereas IOP was significantly lower in those who did moderate or severe exertions. The maximum oxygen uptake difference between group 1 and 2 was found to be (mean +/- SD) 5.1 +/- 1.1 ml/kg/min (p < 0.001), whereas, IOP difference was 1.9 +/- 0.7 mmHg (p < 0.001). This study concludes that hard working is associated with physical fitness and physical fitness is associated with reduced resting IOP. It would seem reasonable at present not to discourage subjects who have ocular hypertension from exercise; perhaps, on the contrary, it should be encouraged to increase their physical fitness.     

Ultrasound measurement of bone

The importance of photoperiod and ambient temperature on the accumulation of cadmium in the liver and kidneys of bank voles was determined in the present study. Males and females, aged 1 month, were given 3.0 micrograms Cd ml-1 drinking water and divided into four groups according to photoperiod (16 h light/8 h dark and 8 h light/16 h dark) and ambient temperature (20 or 5 degrees C); liver and kidneys were removed for cadmium as well as copper, iron and zinc analyses at the end of 6 weeks. Bank voles exposed to 5 degrees C in both photoperiods consumed approximately 30% less water containing cadmium than those kept at 20 degrees C. However, the total accumulation of cadmium in the liver and kidneys of males and females exposed to the low temperatures was 4.3-4.8 and 2.2-3.3 times less than that in animals maintained at room temperature in the long and short photoperiod, respectively. Simultaneously, the low temperature brought about an increase in the copper concentrations in the liver (12-43%) and kidneys (47-78%), giving rise to an inverse correlation between the cadmium accumulation and the tissue copper concentration. In contrast to cadmium and copper, the concentrations of iron and zinc were affected primarily by photoperiod. These findings indicate that ambient temperature is an important determinant of cadmium retention in the bank vole. It appears that low temperature decreases tissue cadmium accumulation not only by reducing cadmium intake but also through changes in copper metabolism.     

Psychological knowledge in a colonial context: Theories on the nature of the "native mind" in the former Dutch East Indies.

This article analyzes the views of 3 Dutch physicians working in the former Dutch East Indies during the first part of the 20th century. These physicians based ideas about the nature of the normal indigenous psyche on both their analysis of Indonesian individuals suffering from mental illness and on casual observations that represented widely shared cultural stereotypes. On that basis, they advocated a psychological colonial policy, which was to be based on a scientific understanding of the psyche of the Indonesian people. Using these ideas, they advocated political repression, justified inequality and racism, and limited educational opportunities for Indonesians. Representatives of the Indonesian nationalist movement vigorously protested against these ideas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cyclical etidronate in the prevention of bone loss in corticosteroid-treated primary biliary cirrhosis. A prospective, controlled pilot study

The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for weaning weight of Simmental cattle from data without selective reporting and to examine heterogeneity of parameters with a multiple trait approach. Heterogeneity of (co)variance components (VC) by sex is accounted for in national genetic evaluations for Simmental cattle. Completely reported data were split into bull, heifer, and steer populations to obtain VC estimates. Estimates of direct-maternal genetic correlation were negative, which suggests that selective reporting was not a cause of a negative correlation in Simmental data. However, analyzing only data for males does not account for selection on females and vice versa. Heterogeneous VC for sex were evaluated by analyzing Simmental data using a multiple trait model where male and female data were treated as two traits. Estimates of heritability of direct (maternal) effects were .19 (.07) and .25 (.12) and estimates of the direct-maternal genetic correlation were -.05 and -.20 for males and females, respectively. The multiple trait model fit the data better (P < .01) than the model under the assumption of homogeneous VC.     

A prospective study on cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and cognitive function in the elderly

The objective of this study was to investigate the relation between the peripheral concentrations of the adrenal steroid hormones cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and cognitive impairment and decline. A prospective study design was used. The setting was a suburb of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The study population consisted of a sample of 189 healthy participants from the population-based Rotterdam Study, aged 55-80 yr, who were invited for an additional examination. Follow-up examinations took place 1.9 yr after baseline, on the average. We determined fasting blood levels of DHEAS before dexamethasone administration and of cortisol and corticosteroid-binding globulin before and after the administration of 1 mg dexamethasone overnight. The 30-point Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to assess cognition. The associations with cognitive impairment (MMSE score of <26; 6% of the sample) and cognitive decline (drop in MMSE score of >1 point/yr; 24%) were estimated using logistic regression, with adjustment for age, sex, education, and depressive symptoms. An increase of 1 SD in the estimate of free cortisol (SD = 30.3) was associated with cognitive impairment, although not significantly [odds ratio (OR) = 1.5; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.9-2.4]. A 1 SD increase in the natural logarithm of cortisol after the administration of 1 mg dexamethasone (SD = 0.68) was associated with an OR for cognitive decline of 1.5 (95% CI, 1.0-2.3). A 1 SD increase in DHEAS (SD = 2.10 micromol/L) was inversely, but nonsignificantly, related to cognitive impairment (OR = 0.5; 95% CI, 0.2-1.1) and cognitive decline (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-1.1). The ratio of free cortisol over DHEAS was significantly related to cognitive impairment (OR = 1.8; 95% CI, 1.0-3.2). This prospective study among healthy elderly subjects suggested that basal free cortisol levels were positively related to cognitive impairment, and cortisol levels after dexamethasone treatment were related to cognitive decline. There was an inverse, but nonsignificant, association between DHEAS and cognitive impairment and decline.     

The effectiveness of remedial computer use for mathematics in a university setting (Botswana)

This paper describes the evaluation of the effects of the Mathematics and Science Computer Assisted Remedial Teaching (MASCART) software on students from the Pre-Entry Science Course at the University of Botswana. A general significant improvement of basic algebra knowledge and skills could be measured, demonstrating that the combination of increased time on task and computer-assisted remedial instruction is effective. This result is relevant for this setting of a university in a less developed country, because other ways of remedial teaching, for example increased staff time, are not possible. By applying Markov chain analysis it could be proved that the improvement in the experimental group was caused by the increased time on task, and that in a situation where students are expected to attain high mastery levels, especially high ability students profit from the MASCART approach. Students like to work with MASCART because they could work individually and at their own pace.     

Rational action and the complexity of causality.

After a contrast of the the prima facie complexity of the causality of the rational agent with the received scientific doctrine of causality, it is noticed that the prima facie causal authority of rational action belongs to a macroscopic domain in which all science and philosophy takes place and in which the formal/telic nature of that causality must be taken for granted. Any philosophical justification or philosophical criticism of the status of that macroscopic arena must therefore take place within that same arena. It is then argued that a justification of the ontological status of that arena is possible by an exploitation of the reflexive resource of the rational awareness we exercise within that arena. It is claimed (a) that this resource can be fairly described as the justification of our direct knowing of real beings/entities other than the knower and (b) that such realistic knowing is at the same time an exemplary mode of causality having a complexity that is both formal/telic and hierarchical ("top down" as well as "bottom up"). In short, the rational agent is also a direct knower, and direct knowing requires a sense of "cause' more complex than the received scientific doctrine of causality provides. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)