It takes two to mimic: Behavioral consequences of self-construals.

The present studies demonstrated the moderation of self-construal orientation on mimicry. Recent research has indicated that an interdependent self-construal is associated with assimilation of the other to the self whereas an independent self-construal is associated with minimizing the influence of others on the self (H. R. Markus & S. Kitayama, 1991; D. Stapel & W. Koomen, 2001). Therefore, the authors hypothesized that an interdependent self-construal would be associated with more mimicry than an independent self-construal. When self-construal orientations were experimentally primed. as in Studies 1 and 2, independent self-construals produced less nonconscious mimicry than interdependent self-construals. When self-construals were examined as cultural differences with either a chronically dominant independent (Americans) or interdependent (Japanese) construal of the self, these results were replicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of thermal hysteresis on the gas permeation properties of 6FDA‐based polyimides

The effect of thermal hysteresis on the polymer chain packing and permeation properties of two 6FDA‐based polyimide isomers was investigated. Thermal quenching resulted in a small increase in the fractional free volume of the polyimides with respect to the samples that had been annealed. Quenching from above the glass‐transition temperature also resulted in larger increases in the permeabilities for both 6FDA–6FmDA and 6FDA–6FpDA with respect to annealed samples. Meta‐connected 6FDA–6FmDA exhibited a larger increase in the permeability after quenching than the para‐connected isomer, 6FDA–6FpDA. This larger increase in the permeability for 6FDA–6FmDA may have been due to differences in the effects of the increases in the free volume on the intersegmental resistance to chain motions. Although physical aging over a 3‐month period resulted in a reduction in the permeability of quenched samples of 6FDA–6FpDA, the quenched samples maintained higher permeabilities than the annealed samples. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 1174–1182, 2004     

Validity of the WISC–IV Spanish for a clinically referred sample of Hispanic children.

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) is the most commonly used intelligence test for children. Five years ago, a Spanish version of the WISC–IV was published (WISC-IV Spanish; Wechsler, 2005), but a limited amount of published information is available regarding its utility when assessing clinical samples. The current study included 107 children who were Spanish speaking and of Puerto Rican descent that had been administered the WISC–IV Spanish. They were subdivided into a clinical sample of 35 children with diagnoses of various forms of brain dysfunction (primarily learning disability, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and epilepsy) and a comparison group made up of 72 normal children who were part of the WISC–IV Spanish version standardization sample. Comparisons between these groups and the standardization sample were performed for the WISC–IV Spanish index and subtest scores. Results indicated that the clinical sample performed worse than the comparison samples on the Working Memory and Processing Speed Indexes, although findings varied to some extent depending on whether the clinical group was compared with the normal comparison group or the standardization sample. These findings provide support for the criterion validity of the WISC–IV Spanish when it is used to assess a clinically referred sample with brain dysfunction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of family and community violence on children’s depression trajectories: Examining the interactions of violence exposure, family social support, and gender.

This longitudinal study used multilevel modeling to examine the relationships between witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV), community and school violence exposure (CSVE), family social support, gender, and depression over 2 years within a sample of 100 school-aged children. We found significant between-child differences in both the initial levels of depression and the trajectories of depression; depression over time was positively associated with change in witnessing IPV and CSVE and negatively associated with change in support. Two significant 3-way interactions were found: Gender and initial support, as well as gender and initial witnessing IPV, both significantly moderated the effect of change in witnessing IPV on the children’s depression over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Main, mediating, and moderating effects of social support on the well-being of survivors of intimate partner violence across 2 years.

Intimate partner violence is a serious and pervasive social problem with deleterious consequences for survivors’ well-being. The current study involved interviewing 160 survivors 6 times over 2 years to examine the role of social support in explaining or buffering these negative psychological consequences. The authors examined both between- and within-persons variability to explore women’s trajectories regarding their experiences of abuse, social support, depression, and quality of life (QOL). Findings revealed the complex role of social support on women’s well-being. Evidence was found for main, mediating, and moderating effects of social support on women’s well-being. First, social support was positively related to QOL and negatively related to depression. Social support also partially explained the effect of baseline level and subsequent change in physical abuse on QOL and depression over time, partially mediated the effects of change in psychological abuse, and moderated the impact of abuse on QOL. The buffering effects of social support were strongest at lower levels of abuse. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparative analysis of hardware and software fault tolerance: Impact on software reliability engineering

Today's digital systems are growing increasingly complex, and are being used in increasingly critical functions. The first premise makes them more prone to contain faults, and the second premise makes their failure less tolerable. This widening gap highlights the need for fault tolerant techniques, which make provisions for reliable operation of digital systems despite the presence and occasional manifestation of faults. In this paper we present a brief comparative survey of fault tolerance as it arises in hardware systems and software systems. We discuss logical models as well as statistical models of fault tolerance, and use these models to analyze design tradeoffs of fault tolerant systems. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Changing perceptions of hunger on a high nutrient density diet

Background  

People overeat because their hunger directs them to consume more calories than they require. The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes in experience and perception of hunger before and after participants shifted from their previous usual diet to a high nutrient density diet.     

Use of exemplars and abstractions in trait judgments: A model of trait knowledge about the self and others.

According to pure exemplar models, trait judgments about the self and others are accomplished by retrieving from memory trait-exemplifying behaviors and computing the similarity between the trait and the exemplars retrieved. By contrast, pure abstraction models argue that trait judgments are made by directly accessing abstract, summary knowledge of the person's traits. In a series of 4 studies, the role of behavioral exemplars and abstract trait knowledge in trait judgments about others and about the self was examined. The findings show that both types of information are used to make trait judgments but that the relative importance of each type is determined by the amount of trait-exemplifying behavioral experience one has with the person being judged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification and Characterization of a Welwitindolinone Alkaloid Biosynthetic Gene Cluster in the Stigonematalean Cyanobacterium Hapalosiphon welwitschii

The identification of a 36 kb welwitindolinone (wel) biosynthetic gene cluster in Hapalosiphon welwitschii UTEX B1830 is reported. Characterization of the enzymes responsible for assembling the early biosynthetic intermediates geranyl pyrophosphate and 3‐((Z)‐2′‐isocyanoethenyl)indole as well as a dedicated N‐methyltransferase in the maturation of N‐methylwelwitindolinone C isothiocyanate solidified the link between the wel pathway and welwitindolinone biosynthesis. Comparative analysis of the ambiguine and welwitindolinone biosynthetic pathways in two different organisms provided insights into the origins of diverse structures within hapalindole‐type molecules.