The controversy over recovered memories.

Comments on the article by J. L. Alpert et al (see record 2000-13581-002), which presented the report of the American Psychological Association Working Group on Investigation of Memories of Childhood Abuse. The authors discuss 4 issues in this commentary: (a) the assumptions and evidence used to support the case for dissociated and recovered memories (noting that the evidence is weak and the assumptions internally inconsistent as well as contradictory to a mass of experimental evidence about human memory); (b) the process by which dissociated memories are said to be recovered (events that were originally very poorly encoded as fragmentary, kinesthetic memories cannot be recovered with accuracy later); (c) 4 bodies of relevant, but neglected, research on human memory (reminiscence and hypermnesia, effectiveness of retrieval cues, priming in implicit memory tests, and intentional forgetting); and (d) the issue of appropriate research strategies to gain evidence on the thorny issues of long-delayed retrieval of information. Current evidence does not support the conclusion that memories of repeated abuse are dissociated and recovered with accuracy years later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Five decades of public controversy over mental testing.

Discusses the conflict over the validity of intelligence testing, using it as an example of what happens when scientists and academicians enter the area of public policy-making. Political and social aspects of Arthur Jensen's 1969 article and resulting controversy are examined, and some possible generalizations (e.g., the zeitgeist and the media, how the scientist conducts himself in public, and the consequences of knowledge) are discussed. (62 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An overview of the breast cancer screening controversy

Randomized controlled studies show that screening mammograms are as important for women aged 40-49 as for women 50 years old and above. It was the improper use of retrospective, unplanned, sub-group analysis to advise women and their physicians that caused the controversy over mammograms for women under 50. Furthermore, arbitrarily grouping women into two groups leads to the incorrect conclusion that the age of 50 is a significant break point when it is not. The data demonstrates that none of the parameters of screening change abruptly at age 50. The recall rates (an abnormal mammogram) and the rate at which biopsies are recommended are virtually the same, regardless of age. Breast cancer is not a trivial problem for women in their forties. More than 30% of the years of life lost to breast cancer are from women diagnosed while in their forties. Because of changing demographics, in 1995 and 1996, there were actually more women diagnosed with breast cancer in their forties than for women in their fifties. The data clearly show that screening women for breast cancer, on an annual basis, beginning by age 40, can reduce the death rate by approximately 24%. It is important to separate medical and scientific analyses from the economic considerations. "Society" may decide that it is too expensive to screen women for breast cancer, but women should be provided with the scientific and medical information so that they can participate in the discussion of whether screening is "worthwhile" and decide whether or not to avail themselves of its benefit. The economics should not be used to influence the scientific and medical analysis of benefit.     

An analysis of the maturation/learning controversy.

Uses D. O. Hebb's (1966) codification of developmental factors to define maturation. The significance of a maturational diagnosis for investigators interested in questions focused on either phylogeny, natural selection, ontogeny, or proximal causes is discussed. The adequacy of 2- and 4-group experimental designs and the observation criteria of universality, sequentiality, and peculiar adaptiveness for diagnosing maturationally determined responses are evaluated. Initial maturational readiness is defined and related to both applied and theoretical problems in developmental psychology. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Five decades of public controversy over mental testing": Reply.

With regard to his analysis of public controversy over mental testing (see record 1976-03506-001), L. J. Cronbach comments on the negative responses of E. Zigler (1975), K. Kaye (1975), and R. Rosenthal (1975). The author ascertains that his topic was the process of controversy, and that perhaps he should not have included his own position. Other topics include clarification of the author's views on compensatory education and Herrnstein's syllogism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Progress in protein structure prediction

If protein structure prediction methods are to make any impact on the impending onerous task of analyzing the large numbers of unknown protein sequences generated by the ongoing genome-sequencing projects, it is vital that they make the difficult transition from computational 'gedankenexperiments' to practical software tools. This has already happened in the field of comparative modelling and is currently happening in the threading field. Unfortunately, there is little evidence of this transition happening in the field of ab initio tertiary-structure prediction.     

Structural thermodynamics: prediction of protein stability and protein binding affinities

It has been demonstrated that the prognosis of ovarian cancer is influenced by the dose intensity of cytotoxic treatment. The impact of received dose intensity of platinum-based combination chemotherapy on disease outcome was analysed in 226 stage III-IV ovarian cancer patients entered into two prospective randomised trials. All patients received either cisplatin or carboplatin and cyclophosphamide with or without doxorubicin for six courses after primary surgery. The impact of the received dose intensity of each drug (RDI), the average received dose intensity of the treatment regimen (ARDI) and the relative total drug dose (RTD) on progression-free survival (PFS) and survival were analysed. In the 198 patients receiving the full six courses of treatment, RDI of cisplatin or carboplatin, ARDI and RTD were > 0.76 in 74.2, 61.1 and 65.1% of cases, respectively. Although the differences were not significant, pathological complete response was more frequently observed in the group of patients with ARDI < 0.75, whereas the partial response rate was higher in the ARDI > or = 0.76 group. Median survival and PFS were 19 and 13 months; 22 and 10 months; 23 and 13 months for the groups of patients receiving chemotherapy at a ARDI of < 0.75, > or = 0.76-0.99 and > 1.00, respectively (P = not significant). It appears that modest dose modifications and brief treatment delays during first-line platinum-based chemotherapy do not affect response rate, survival and PFS in advanced ovarian cancer patients.     

Porphyrin-induced protein structural alterations of heme enzymes

Some alterations in the protein structure of delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALA-D) and porphobilinogen deaminase (PBG-D) induced by uroporphyrin (URO) and prototoporphyrin (PROTO) have been observed previously. To obtain further evidence of these phenomena, the absorption and fluorescence spectra of ALA-D and PBG-D and the total protein content of sulfhydryl and free amino groups were analyzed after exposure of the enzymes to URO I and PROTO IX, ALA-D and PBG-D were partially purified from bovine liver and exposed to URO I or PROTO IX, both in the dark and under UV light. All experiments were performed in the enzyme solutions after removing the porphyrins. Absorbance spectra changes in the region of 220-300 nm were registered, indicating the interaction of the porphyrins with the molecular structure of the enzymes. The main changes in the fluorescence spectra were observed in the spectral region of 555 nm, and only slight modifications in the spectral region of 340-360 nm; moreover, alterations were stronger upon UV irradiation and in the presence of URO I when compared with darkness and PROTO IX. Variations in total SH groups would suggest the formation of disulfur bridges induced by URO I and the rupture of some S-S groups induced by PROTO IX. The effect of porphyrins on free amino groups would reflect a combination of cross-linking and fragmentation of proteins. Structural changes were observed when the enzymes were exposed to the porphyrin both in the dark or under UV light; however, they were stronger in the latter condition. These results suggest that porphyrins per se could act directly on the protein structure and that this action would be enhanced upon UV irradiation.     

The future of protein secondary structure prediction accuracy

In order to investigate the path of medical education in Iran, indicators of medical education were searched from 1970 to 1994. There have been rises in the number of educational institutions from 10 to 46; student admissions in programmes of medical sciences from 1387 to 18,141; medical student admissions from 632 to 3630; teaching staff from 1573 to 7979; and teaching-bed to student ratio from 1.05 to 2.08. The numbers of students in clinical specialty and MS degrees have increased, and various programmes in clinical sub-specialty and PhD degrees have been initiated. The quality of medical education has improved with increasing field and ambulatory care training, with more emphasis on teaching preventive medicine and a significant rise in the research activities. Most qualitative and quantitative progress has been achieved following the establishment of a joint Ministry of Health and Medical Education in 1985. The results of this review demonstrate the success of Iran in upgrading medical education by the unification of health services and medical education in one ministry.     

Computational methods for the prediction of protein folds

Osteoblasts and bone tissue of the mandibular and maxillary alveolar processes substantially differ from osteoblasts and bone in other parts of the skeleton. These differences are apparent during embryonic development, maturation, and aging of these bones. The cellular and molecular basis for these differences is still not clear, but it is unfolding at record speed.     

Job stress and job performance controversy revisited: An empirical examination in two countries.

This study examined the relationship between the measures of job stress and job performance among employees working in a large North American-based multinational corporation in Malaysia (N = 305) and Pakistan (N = 325). Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire from employees on job stress and turnover intention. Job performance and absenteeism data were obtained from the company's records. In both countries, data were more supportive of the negative linear relationship between stress and performance than other types of relationships. Overall, 90% of comparisons supported the negative linear relationship, whereas a u-shaped/curvilinear relationship was supported in 10% of instances. Implications of the findings are discussed for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investment model prediction of dating infidelity.

Many researchers have examined the justifications individuals give after being unfaithful to their romantic partners. However, very little research has been done to determine factors that actually predict infidelity. Two studies were conducted using the investment model (C. E. Rusbult, 1980, 1983) to predict instances of physical and emotional infidelity in dating relationships. The 1st study found that commitment level at the beginning of the semester successfully predicted later emotional and physical infidelity. The 2nd study used an interaction diary method to predict the physical and emotional intimacy of nonpartner opposite-sex interactions over the course of the week-long university holiday known as spring break. Once again, commitment level before spring break successfully predicted the emotional and physical intimacy of such interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gene structure prediction using information on homologous protein sequence

In this paper a new approach for the prediction of protein coding gene structures is described. The principal scheme of prediction is as follows: first, the exons with the best potential are predicted in a sequence with unknown functions and a list of potential amino acid fragments coded by these exons is formed. Second, testing the homology between each amino acid fragment from the list and proteins from the SWISS-PROT database of amino acid sequences. One protein with the best homology is chosen out of all the homologous sequences. Third, reconstruction of the exon-intron structure, basing it on its homology with the chosen protein sequences. The method was tested on an independent control set (20 genes). The results were as follows: 21% of real exons were lost and 3% of non-real exons were found. This system can be used to refine the results of gene prediction systems, especially if highly homologous proteins are found in the amino acid sequence database.     

甘肃阳山金矿床深部盲矿定位预测的构造叠加晕理想模型

选取了阳山金矿带单脉资源量最大的311号脉,依托与不同勘探线和不同标高进行系统、科学采样,对13 000多个数据结果进行分析,研究311号脉原生晕特点和不同成矿阶段形成矿体原生晕的叠加规律,得出了阳山金矿带安坝矿段311号脉的构造叠加晕的综合特征：矿体原生晕轴（垂）向分带序列从上至下是As、Sb、Hg→Au、Ag、Cu、Pb→Bi、Mn、Mo、Co,即挥发的、活泼的As、Sb、Hg等元素强异常分布于矿体前缘,Bi、Co的强异常分布于矿体的尾部。建立了构造叠加晕理想模型,预测了盲矿区估算（334？）资源量共计23 234 kg。     

铝合金淬火过程中性能预报技术的研究现状

铝合金淬火过程中的性能预报技术在冶金工业中具有重要的作用.在铝合金析出动力学的基础上阐述了淬火因子分析在性能预报中的应用,其最大性能损失不超过10%～15%.通过中断淬火技术可以生成铝合金的TTP曲线,使合金从固溶时效温度缓慢冷却至TTP曲线临界温度区域以上的某一温度,然后迅速冷却至室温,可以减小温度梯度引起的残余应力而不明显影响合金的力学性能.