Photoregulation of cot-1, a kinase-encoding gene involved in hyphal growth in Neurospora crassa

Lattice-like perineuronal accumulations of extracellular-matrix proteoglycans have been shown to develop during postnatal maturation and to persist throughout life as perineuronal nets (PNs) in many brain regions. However, the dynamics of their reorganization in adults are as yet unknown. The aim of the present study was to examine the capability of PNs for reconstitution after experimental destruction and to search for possible consequences of extracellular-matrix degradation for neurons and glial cells. The changes were induced by single intracortical injections of Proteus vulgaris chondroitinase ABC and studied after postinjection periods of 1 day to 5 months. The N-acetylgalactosamine-binding Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA), an antibody against chondroitin-sulphate proteoglycans, three antibodies recognizing initial chondroitin or chondroitin-sulphate moieties ('stubs') of proteoglycan core proteins, an antibody against the hyaluronan-binding protein component of versican, and biotinylated hyaluronectin, which binds to hyaluronan, were used as cytochemical markers. One day postinjection, the WFA-binding sites and hyaluronan were shown to be almost completely removed within a circumscribed digestion zone. The staining of different core-protein components revealed only fragments of PNs. These changes were found to be partly compensated 4 weeks after injection of chondroitinase ABC. After 8 and 12 weeks postinjection, the cytochemical and structural characteristics as well as the area-specific distribution patterns of PNs were progressively reconstituted. At 5 months postinjection, they could not be distinguished from those in untreated tissue. In contrast to such transient changes, a diffuse chondroitin-sulphate proteoglycan immunoreactivity persisted in the neuropil. Loss of neurons or alterations of their structure as well as reactions of glial cells were not observed. We conclude from this study that PNs, enzymatically destroyed in the adult rat brain, can be completely reconstituted, but the restoration of their extracellular-matrix components needs several months.     

Reevaluation of a weighted application blank for office personnel.

The validity of weighted application blank scores in predicting length of service of female office personnel of a large midwestern manufacturing company showed a slow but consistent decline from 1954 to 1959. After reweighting the application blank variables by the usual procedure, a Pearson r of .39 was obtained between WAB scores and tenure on a cross-validation sample of 208 individuals. Only 3 variables (high proficiency at shorthand; did not leave last job because of pregnancy, marriage, sickness, or home problems; and will begin work on the new job 1 week or more from now) retained their predictive validity from 1954 to 1959. Some of the variables were assigned different weights, and others were given weights for the 1st time. It was recommended that weights assigned to application blank responses be reviewed at least every 3-5 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes to the use of health outcome questionnaires in the routine care of patients with diabetes: a survey of general practitioners and practice nurses

BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing availability of multidimensional health status and outcome measures of the patient's physical and emotional functioning, and a number of national initiatives to promote their use, little is known about the attitudes and behaviour of general practitioners (GPs) and practice nurses (PNs) regarding their use in evaluating the effectiveness of health care. What evidence there is remains largely anecdotal but supports the view that health outcome data is currently not used in the routine management of the patient. AIM: To investigate the attitudes and behaviour of GPs and PNs regarding the use of health outcome data in the routine care of patients with diabetes. METHOD: A questionnaire comprising 20 attitudinal and behavioural statements covering the use and benefits of health outcome data in the routine care of patients with diabetes were sent to 156 GPs and 114 PNs in the Doncaster area together with a covering letter and two examples of multidimensional health outcome measures. RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were received from 90 (58%) GPs and 49 (50% corrected for out of scope) nurses. Median response scores showed that both GPs and nurses expressed a positive overall attitude towards health outcome measurement giving responses favourable to it in 15 (75%) and 18 (90%) of the statements respectively. A key finding was that 48% and 46% of GPs and PNs were unclear as to how they would use health outcome data. CONCLUSION: While our findings reflect a favourable view towards the use of health outcome data for the routine management of the patient with diabetes in a general practice setting, a number of important barriers to their implementation have been identified. These include insufficient knowledge on their use, the need for easily interpretable data, and a lack of resources.     

Choosing the best method for local validity estimation: Relative accuracy of meta-analysis versus a local study versus Bayes-analysis.

This study assessed the relative accuracy of 3 techniques--local validity studies, meta-analysis, and Bayesian analysis--for estimating test validity, incremental validity, and adverse impact in the local selection context. Bayes-analysis involves combining a local study with nonlocal (meta-analytic) validity data. Using tests of cognitive ability and personality (conscientiousness) as predictors, an empirically driven selection scenario illustrates conditions in which each of the 3 estimation techniques performs best. General recommendations are offered for how to estimate local parameters, based on true population variability and the number of studies in the meta-analytic prior. Benefits of empirical Bayesian analysis for personnel selection are demonstrated, and equations are derived to help guide the choice of a local validity technique (i.e., meta-analysis vs. local study vs. Bayes-analysis). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selecting predictors for maximizing the classification efficiency of a battery.

Determined the effect that variables in a personnel classification system have on classification efficiency by using a simulation approach that relies on synthetic predictor scores and predicted performance criterion scores for multiple jobs. Classification efficiency was measured as mean predicted performance determined after optimal assignment to jobs. Population parameters required to generate synthetic scores and to compute evaluation equations for simulations were obtained from the US Army's Project A (1990) study. The present study provides a comparison of differential assignment theory (DAT) with general aptitude theory and validity generalization. The theoretical value and practical usefulness of DAT is supported by the finding that both longer test batteries and the use of P. S. Horst's (1954) differential validity index to select tests increase potential classification efficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity concerns and usefulness of student ratings of instruction.

The validity of student rating measures of instructional quality was severely questioned in the 1970s. By the early 1980s, however, most expert opinion viewed student rating measures as valid and as worthy of widespread use. In retrospect, older discriminant-validity concerns were not so much resolved as they were displaced from research attention by accumulating evidence for convergent validity. This article introduces a Current Issues section that gives new attention to validity concerns associated with student ratings. The section's 4 articles deal, respectively, with (a) conceptual structure (are student ratings unidimensional or multidimensional?), (b) convergent validity (how well do ratings correlate with other indicators of effective teaching?), (c) discriminant validity (are ratings influenced by factors other than teaching effectiveness?), and (d) consequential validity (are ratings used effectively in personnel development and evaluation?). Although all 4 articles favor the use of ratings, they disagree on controversial points associated with interpretation and use of ratings data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of personnel decisions: A conceptual analysis of the inferential and evidential bases.

Issues common to both the process of building psychological theories and validating personnel decisions are examined. Inferences linking psychological constructs and operational measures of constructs are organized into a conceptual framework, and validation is characterized as the process of accumulating various forms of judgmental and empirical evidence to support these inferences. The traditional concepts of construct-, and content-, and criterion-related validity are unified within this framework. This unified view of validity is then contrasted with more conventional views (e.g., Uniform Guidelines, 1978), and misconceptions about the validation of employment tests are examined. Next, the process of validating predictor constructs is extended to delineate the critical inferences unique to validating performance criteria. Finally, an agenda for programmatic personnel selection research is described, emphasizing a shift in the behavioral scientist's role in the personnel selection process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Double cross-validation of a weighted application blank over time.

Reports a 2nd cross-validation of a weighted application blank for predicting tenure of clerical employees. The sample consisted of 199 female employees hired during a later time period than the initial and cross-validation samples. Application blanks were scored using the weights previously developed. A substantial loss in predictive power was found in the additional cross-validation. Changes in labor market conditions, manpower needs, and specific changes in personnel policies appear to be responsible for the loss in efficiency. Results suggest cross-validation of such blanks with samples of employees hired during a later time period and periodic checks on their continuing validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An eight-year follow-up of a management assessment center.

47 individuals evaluated in a management assessment center in 1967 in the marketing organization of a large manufacturing company were followed up 8 yrs later. Both the overall assessment center rating and a general management evaluation of potential derived from personnel files were significantly related to position level attained after 8 yrs for 30 individuals still with the company. The shrunken multiple correlation of these 2 predictors with level attained was .58. Characteristics of aggressiveness, persuasiveness, oral communications, and self-confidence plus test scales of ascendency and self-assurance were most strongly related to level attained 8 yrs later. It is commented that while the validity of this specific assessment center for predicting advancement appears adequate, additional research is desirable to evaluate the ability to predict performance in management. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Corrections for restriction of range and attenuation in criterion-related validation studies.

The results of 1,253 Navy enlisted personnel on the Navy Basic Test Battery and the Navy Enlisted Advancement Exam were used as predictor and criterion, respectively. Groups were selected according to 5 selection ratios, .10 to .50. Results were then compared to the true validity. Except for the selection ratio of .10, all of the corrected validity coefficients slightly over-estimated the true validity. Triple and 2-step correction procedures yielded equivalent results. In all cases, the corrected coefficients better estimated the unrestricted true validity. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings.

This article summarizes the practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research in personnel selection. On the basis of meta-analytic findings, this article presents the validity of 19 selection procedures for predicting job performance and training performance and the validity of paired combinations of general mental ability (GMA) and the 18 other selection procedures. Overall, the 3 combinations with the highest multivariate validity and utility for job performance were GMA plus a work sample test (mean validity of .63), GMA plus an integrity test (mean validity of .65), and GMA plus a structured interview (mean validity of .63). A further advantage of the latter 2 combinations is that they can be used for both entry level selection and selection of experienced employees. The practical utility implications of these summary findings are substantial. The implications of these research findings for the development of theories of job performance are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Meta-Analytic Study of General Mental Ability Validity for Different Occupations in the European Community.

A comprehensive meta-analysis of the validity of general mental ability (GMA) measures across 12 occupational categories in the European Community (EC) is presented. GMA measures showed that there is validity generalization and large operational validities for job performance and training success in 11 occupational groups. Results also showed that job complexity moderated the magnitude of the operational validity of GMA tests across three levels of job complexity: low, medium, and high. In general, results were similar to those found in the United States, although the European findings showed a slightly larger magnitude of operational validity in some cases. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for personnel selection are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching evaluations: Concerns for psychologists?

Comments on articles in the November 1997 issue of American Psychologist concerning student evaluations of teaching performance. It is argued that the articles highlight the fact that there is still much to learn about the validity of these measures and how they might best be used to improve teaching and personnel decision making. It is contended that there may be unique issues facing teachers in psychology that call for the exploration of teaching evaluations in a different light. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor-mediated Ca mobilization is not required for cerebellar long-term depression in reduced preparations

Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor-mediated Ca mobilization is not required for cerebellar long-term depression in reduced preparations. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 2963-2974, 1998. Cerebellar long-term depression (LTD) is a cellular model system of information storage in which coincident parallel fiber and climbing fiber activation of a Purkinje neuron (PN) gives rise to a sustained attenuation of parallel fiber-PN synaptic strength. Climbing fiber and parallel fiber inputs may be replaced by direct depolarization of the PN and exogenous glutamate pulses, respectively. The parallel fiber-PN synapse has a high-density of mGluR1 receptors that are coupled to phosphoinositide turnover. Several lines of evidence indicated that activation of mGluR1 by parallel fiber stimulation is necessary for the induction of cerebellar LTD. Because phosphoinositide hydrolysis has two initial products, 1, 2-diacylglycerol and inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), we wished to determine whether IP3 signaling via IP3 receptors and consequent Ca mobilization were necessary for the induction of cerebellar LTD. First, ratiometric imaging of free cytosolic Ca was performed on both acutely dissociated and cultured PNs. It was determined that the threshold for glutamate pulses to contribute to LTD induction was below the threshold for producing a Ca transient. Furthermore, the Ca transients produced by depolarization alone and glutamate plus depolarization were not significantly different. Second, the potent and selective IP3 receptor channel blocker xestospongin C was not found to affect the induction of LTD in either acutely dissociated or cultured PNs at a concentration that was sufficient to block mGluR1-evoked Ca mobilization. Third, replacement of mGluR activation by exogenous synthetic diacylglycerol in an LTD induction protocol was successful. Taken together, these results suggest that activation of an IP3 signaling cascade is not required for induction of cerebellar LTD in reduced preparations.     

Interviewer validity as a function of interview structure, biographical data, and interviewee order.

Investigated effects of degree of interview structure, presence or absence of interviewee biographical information, and interviewee order on interviewer validity. 54 undergraduates in personnel management and 36 social-worker supervisors serving as judges rated 6 currently employed social workers assuming the role of job applicants in videotaped interviews. Low validities, calculated using interview ratings and performance-measure criterion scores based on a job analysis of the social-worker position, were obtained in all treatment conditions. Analysis of variance revealed that only interviewee order had an appreciable effect on interviewer validity. Analysis of the interview ratings revealed the presence of halo error and low interrater reliability. Possible design limitations and future research suggestions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reasons for choosing a correction officer career.

Correction officers represent a growing segment of the U. S. workforce, with more job openings today than there are applicants. However, there is scant scholarship on this subgroup of law enforcement personnel. In this study, 256 correction officer candidates completed a brief measure regarding their reasons for choosing a correctional career. We sought to (a) identify the reasons for choosing a correction career and determine whether these reasons differed from those identified in studies of police recruits, (b) determine whether race or gender played a role in career choice for correction officer candidates, and (c) evaluate the factor structure and psychometric validity of a scale that was previously used with police samples. Our results indicated that correction and police officer candidates diverge in terms of their reasons for seeking careers in law enforcement. Correction officer candidates placed greater importance on financial motivators, whereas police recruits indicated service as a primary factor in career choice. The scale demonstrated good initial estimates of psychometric validity, and the factor structure in the current sample differed from those found in studies with police recruits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multitasking in the olfactory system: context-dependent responses to odors reveal dual GABA-regulated coding mechanisms in single olfactory projection neurons

Studies of olfaction have focused mainly on neural processing of information about the chemistry of odors, but olfactory stimuli have other properties that also affect central responses and thus influence behavior. In moths, continuous and intermittent stimulation with the same odor evokes two distinct flight behaviors, but the neural basis of this differential response is unknown. Here we show that certain projection neurons (PNs) in the primary olfactory center in the brain give context-dependent responses to a specific odor blend, and these responses are shaped in several ways by a bicuculline-sensitive GABA receptor. Pharmacological dissection of PN responses reveals that bicuculline blocks GABAA-type receptors/chloride channels in PNs, and that these receptors play a critical role in shaping the responses of these glomerular output neurons. The firing patterns of PNs are not odor-specific but are strongly modulated by the temporal pattern of the odor stimulus. Brief repetitive odor pulses evoke fast inhibitory potentials, followed by discrete bursts of action potentials that are phase-locked to the pulses. In contrast, the response to a single prolonged stimulus with the same odor is a series of slow oscillations underlying irregular firing. Bicuculline disrupts the timing of both types of responses, suggesting that GABAA-like receptors underlie both coding mechanisms. These results suggest that glomerular output neurons could use more than one coding scheme to represent a single olfactory stimulus. Moreover, these context-dependent odor responses encode information about both the chemical composition and the temporal pattern of the odor signal. Together with behavioral evidence, these findings suggest that context-dependent odor responses evoke different perceptions in the brain that provide the animal with important information about the spatiotemporal variations that occur in natural odor plumes.     

An examination of nonresponse in a work environment questionnaire mailed to psychiatric health care personnel.

Nonresponse to surveys, which seems to plague work environment studies and studies of health care personnel in particular, may pose problems of generalizability and validity. The aim of this study was to provide an estimate of nonresponse error in a self-administered survey concerning the work environment of psychiatric health care personnel. A random sample of 10% of the original survey population (N?=?693) was selected to participate in a telephone follow-up of a postal survey that had a response rate of 51%. There were no differences between the responders and nonresponders to the postal survey on the exposure or outcome variables. There was no evidence of nonresponse bias in this study, although recall bias may have been a problem. In those cases in which generalizability is deemed important, it is recommended that nonresponse studies be regularly carried out when response rates are less than 100%. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biographical constructs for predicting employee suitability.

The use of background investigation data in personnel screening is reviewed. Background investigations are routinely conducted on persons seeking positions of trust in law enforcement, the nuclear power industry, and military and civilian occupations requiring government-issued security clearances. The application of background investigation information in personnel screening differs in many important ways from biodata applications developed by psychologists. In this article, these differences are reviewed, and the construct and criterion-related validity of a survey-based measure are examined. This measure taps content domains typically explored in background investigations. Seven background factors were identified. The background scales showed acceptable reliability, informative interscale relationships, and useful levels of criterion-related validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)