Clinical trials and tribulations: lessons learned from recruiting pregnant ex-smokers for relapse prevention.

The development of smoking cessation and relapse prevention interventions for pregnant and postpartum women is a public health priority. However, researchers have consistently reported substantial difficulty in recruiting this population into clinical trials. The problem is particularly acute for relapse prevention studies, which must recruit women who have already quit smoking because of their pregnancy. Although these individuals are an important target for tobacco control efforts, they represent an extremely small subgroup of the general population. This paper describes multiple recruitment strategies used for a clinical trial of a self-help relapse prevention program for pregnant women. The effectiveness of the strategies and the direct expense per participant recruited are provided. A proactive recruitment strategy (telephoning women whose phone numbers were purchased from a marketing firm) was ultimately much more successful than a variety of reactive strategies (advertisements, press releases, direct mail, Web placement, health care provider outreach). We found few differences between proactively and reactively recruited participants on baseline variables. The primary difference was that the former had smoked fewer cigarettes per day and reported lower nicotine dependence prior to quitting. Strengths and limitations of the recruitment strategies are discussed.     

Further exploration of typical and maximum performance criteria: Definitional issues, prediction, and White-Black differences.

Addresses differences between typical and maximum performance criteria with a threefold purpose. First, the growing recognition that it is important to distinguish between typical and maximum performance criteria is examined. Second, clarification of definitional and measurement issues are addressed. Third, results of an empirical study are offered to contribute to the new knowledge base regarding typical and maximum performance criteria. The study investigates differences in validities of cognitive ability predictor measures against supermarket cashier typical and maximum performance criteria reflecting speed and accuracy. White–Black mean score differences on typical and maximum performance criteria are also examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Solubility Studia of Certain 2.3 Quinolino - Phthalidea

The solubilities of feve derivatives of 2.3 quinolino-phthalides in distilled water and in potassiem chloride solatioas of varying ionic atrength was detarained at 25°. 37°. and 51°C. The solubilities were lower in potassium chloride solutions: the over-all “aslting- out” comfficients were caleulated. for the effects of potaasium chloride using the empirical Setschenow equation logSo/S=KC

The differential beats of aolutions ranged from 2kcal/mole to 7.5 kcal/wole and were determined from the slopers of the semi-logaritimumic plots. of the solubilitiea verus the reciprocal temperaturas. The affect of the functional groups on this water solubilities of these compounds will be dlscussed.     

Neural Networks for Full-Scale Protein Sequence Classification: Sequence Encoding with Singular Value Decomposition

A neural network classification method has been developed as an alternative approach to the search/organization problem of protein sequence databases. The neural networks used are three-layered, feed-forward, back-propagation networks. The protein sequences are encoded into neural input vectors by a hashing method that counts occurrences ofn-gram words. A new SVD (singular value decomposition) method, which compresses the long and sparsen-gram input vectors and captures semantics ofn-gram words, has improved the generalization capability of the network. A full-scale protein classification system has been implemented on a Cray supercomputer to classify unknown sequences into 3311 PIR (Protein Identification Resource) superfamilies/families at a speed of less than 0.05 CPU second per sequence. The sensitivity is close to 90% overall, and approaches 100% for large superfamilies. The system could be used to reduce the database search time and is being used to help organize the PIR protein sequence database.     

Passive avoidance in syndromes of disinhibition: Psychopathy and extraversion.

According to the physiological animal model proposed by E. E. Gorenstein and J. P. Newman (see record 1980-24372-001), psychopaths and extraverts may be characterized by a common psychological diathesis related to behavioral inhibition. One aspect of this diathesis involves deficient passive avoidance learning, which has been central to explanations of unsocialized and antisocial behavior. In 3 experiments, a passive avoidance task was completed by 90 14–18 yr old males, 40 male university students, and 40 18–50 yr old men and women. Ss were also assessed on measures including the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and MMPI. Results support the prediction that psychopaths and extraverts would exhibit deficient passive avoidance relative to nonpsychopaths and introverts, respectively. The passive avoidance deficit was particularly evident in tasks that required Ss to inhibit a rewarded response to avoid punishment. The latter finding may be important for explaining the inconsistent results regarding passive avoidance learning in psychopaths. Discussion focuses on the importance of reward in mediating the passive avoidance deficit of disinhibited individuals and on the existence of an indirect relationship between psychopathy and extraversion—one that is consistent with the observed experimental parallels as well as with the more ambiguous evidence regarding a direct correlation between measures of the 2 syndromes. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of attitude on the recall of personal histories.

Two studies involving 135 university students examined the relation between attitudes and the recall of past behaviors. Both experiments utilized the same paradigm: First, Ss' attitudes on an issue were manipulated; then Ss were asked to recall past behaviors relevant to the newly formed attitude. The results indicate that attitudes can exert a directive influence on recall of personal histories. It is suggested that much like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the process of behavioral review may increase the control that attitude exerts over future behavior, producing an increase in attitude–behavior consistency. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Primal-Dual Monotone Kernel Regression

This paper considers the estimation of monotone nonlinear regression functions based on Support Vector Machines (SVMs), Least Squares SVMs (LS-SVMs) and other kernel machines. It illustrates how to employ the primal-dual optimization framework characterizing LS-SVMs in order to derive a globally optimal one-stage estimator for monotone regression. As a practical application, this letter considers the smooth estimation of the cumulative distribution functions (cdf), which leads to a kernel regressor that incorporates a Kolmogorov–Smirnoff discrepancy measure, a Tikhonov based regularization scheme and a monotonicity constraint.     

"Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature": Clarification of publishing history.

Alerts APA researchers and readers that the article "Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature" by C. S. Widom (Psychological Bulletin, 1989, Vol 106(1), Jul, 3–28) has been amplified and reprinted in a book chapter: Widom, C. S. (1989). The intergenerational transmission of violence. In N. A. Weinger & M. E. Wolfgang (Eds.), Pathways to criminal violence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Through an oversight, cross-reference between the two publications and information in the copyright for this article were omitted from the Sage book. The copyright is held by the American Psychological Association. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in PA, Vol 76:36811.) Critically examines the "violence breeds violence" hypothesis broadly defined. Organized into 7 sections, the literature review includes (a) the abuse breeds abuse hypothesis; (b) reports of small numbers of violent/homicidal offenders; (c) studies examining the relationship of abuse and neglect to delinquency; (d) to violent behavior, and (e) to aggressive behavior in infants and young children; (f) abuse, withdrawal, and self-destructive behavior; and (g) studies of the impact of witnessing or observing violent behavior… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preharvest internalization of Escherichia coli O157:H7 into lettuce leaves, as affected by insect and physical damage

Environmental pests may serve as reservoirs and vectors of zoonotic pathogens to leafy greens; however, it is unknown whether insect pests feeding on plant tissues could redistribute these pathogens present on the surface of leaves to internal sites. This study sought to differentiate the degree of tissue internalization of Escherichia coli O157:H7 when applied at different populations on the surface of lettuce and spinach leaves, and to ascertain whether lettuce-infesting insects or physical injury could influence the fate of either surface or internalized populations of this enteric pathogen. No internalization of E. coli O157:H7 occurred when lettuce leaves were inoculated with 4.4 log CFU per leaf, but it did occur when inoculated with 6.4 log CFU per leaf. Internalization was statistically greater when spinach leaves were inoculated on the abaxial (underside) than when inoculated on the adaxial (topside) side, and when the enteric pathogen was spread after surface inoculation. Brief exposure (～18 h) of lettuce leaves to insects (5 cabbage loopers, 10 thrips, or 10 aphids) prior to inoculation with E. coli O157:H7 resulted in significantly reduced internalized populations of the pathogen within these leaves after approximately 2 weeks, as compared with leaves not exposed to insects. Surface-contaminated leaves physically injured through file abrasions also had significantly reduced populations of both total and internalized E. coli O157:H7 as compared with nonabraded leaves 2 weeks after pathogen exposure.     

Quantitative analysis of the cross-linked structure of microgels using fluorescent probes

Properties of polymeric microgels are influenced by the internal polymer cross-linked structure, but tools to quantitatively analyze this internal structure are limited. With the finding that polymer networks alter the diffusivity and subsequent excimer formation of pyrene, this study used the ratio between pyrene excimer and monomer emission to determine the number of cross-links (N) and average pore size (ξ) in poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) microgels. A calibration curve to relate pyrene emission to N and ξ in PEGDA hydrogels was prepared and used to calculate N and ξ in PEGDA microgels. The pyrene emission indicated that PEGDA microgels had a higher cross-linking density and a smaller average pore size when compared with bulk cross-linked hydrogels of the same PEGDA concentration. The analytical method demonstrated in this study may be useful for fine-tuning polymeric microgel properties for a broad array of applications.