Psychology in Canada one hundred years ago: James Mark Baldwin at the University of Toronto.

Modern academic psychology began in Canada once J. M. Baldwin accepted a professorship at the University of Toronto in the fall of 1889, more than 100 yrs ago. After the death of the professor of metaphysics at the University of Toronto, G. P. Young, a lengthy controversy arose over who would be his replacement. In the end, both J. G. Hume (1892) and Baldwin obtained appointments. Baldwin managed to establish a laboratory in which he supervised a small amount of psychophysical research beginning in 1891. His own academic interests, however, shifted increasingly to mental development. In 1893, Baldwin resigned primarily because the university failed to provide him with a laboratory instructor. He arranged to have the university hire A. Kirschmann (1892) who continued the psychophysical laboratory. Also through Baldwin's influence, another successor, F. Tracy (1893), became interested in child psychology and taught the subject for many years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preferences and anticipations of career counseling: Comment on Galassi, Crace, Martin, James, and Wallace (1992).

The study on client anticipations and preferences regarding career counseling by J. P. Galassi et al (see record 1992-17938-001) is criticized with respect to theoretical grounding, assessment format, data analysis, and interpretation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oscillations and analogies: Thomas Young, MD, FRS, genius.

Thomas Young is arguably one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived, but most people have never heard of him, though he was renowned in his own era. He did important work in a large variety of scientific disciplines, but that was his downfall. Given the specialization of the present era, physicists do not appreciate how important his work in linguistics was, linguists do not appreciate the importance of his work in psychology, and so on. Despite his obscurity today, Young nicely exemplifies the traits that one finds in a genius of the first order: tendency toward analogical thinking, high intelligence, an amazing capacity for hard work, extremely wide interests, distaste for traditional dogmas, and very high self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paper,honoured with the Sir Charles Hatchett Award by the Institute of Metals,London: Developments in high speed tool steels

This paper describes a research programme at the Austrian School of Mines (Montanuniversität) at Leoben, carried out since 1981 in cooperation with the Max-Planck-Institute for metals research in Stuttgart, on the fundamentals of alloy design for high speed tool steels. Among the results, the development of niobium-alloyed grades has an important place. Controlled solidification studies with a gradient technique have clarified the influence of various alloying elements on the as-cast microstructure of ledeburitic tool steels. A procedure for accurate quantitative metallography in SEM, combined with EDX and STEM-EDX analysis of the chemical compositions of the carbide and matrix phases, has led to a quantitative model for the performance of high speed steels in metal cutting tools, in which the contributions of carbides and of the matrix are combined using empirically determined weight factors. An important role is played by the saturation of the matrix with vanadium and other carbide formers which are essential for secondary hardening. This saturation is related to the way in which these carbide formers are present in the annealed structure; this in turn is influenced decisively by the solidification path (via M₆C or M₂C) of the alloy. On the basis of these concepts, low alloyed, niobium-containing economy grades have been developed whose performance is comparable to that of commercial high speed steels, and perspectives for the development of economic super high speed steels with niobium as an alloying element are indicated.     

Nietzsche, autobiography, history: mourning and Martin and John

How might gay and lesbian literature be read not as a mimetic representation of homosexuality, but as an activity linked to problems of subjectivity and historiography? Reading Dale Peck's novel Martin and John alongside passages from Friedrich Nietzsche's "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life" and Sigmund Freud's "Mourning and Melancholia," this essay argues for an understanding of Peck's text as an attempt to link two apparently different processes of import to contemporary gay male subjects in particular: the writing of what Nietzsche terms "critical history," and the mourning of those lost to HIV disease. It concludes by linking Martin and John to feminist critiques of identity and traditional historiography, as well as noting the connection between these two critiques.     

Theoretical risks and tabular asterisks: Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the slow progress of soft psychology.

Theories in "soft" areas of psychology (e.g., clinical, counseling, social, personality, school, and community) lack the cumulative character of scientific knowledge because they tend neither to be refuted nor corroborated, but instead merely fade away as people lose interest. Even though intrinsic subject matter difficulties (20 are listed) contribute to this, the excessive reliance on significance testing is partly responsible (Ronald A. Fisher). Karl Popper's approach, with modifications, would be prophylactic. Since the null hypothesis is quasi-always false, tables summarizing research in terms of patterns of "significant differences" are little more than complex, causally uninterpretable outcomes of statistical power functions. Multiple paths to estimating numerical point values ("consistency tests") are better, even if approximate with rough tolerances; and lacking this, ranges, orderings, 2nd-order differences, curve peaks and valleys, and function forms should be used. Such methods are usual in developed sciences that seldom report statistical significance. Consistency tests of a conjectural taxometric model yielded 94% success with no false negatives. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The agony of nasal polyps and the terror of their removal 200 years ago: one surgeon's description

In previous times, nasal polyps could grow to enormous size, especially in cases of incomplete removal. Many patients suffered a lingering death from the disease or a faster one from surgical attempts at removal. John Bell's operative procedure for this condition is reviewed, showing how terrifying it must have been for the patient.     

Am I the fifth horseman of the apocalypse? Comment on Galassi, Crace, Martin, James, and Wallace (1992) and comments on research concerning expectations about counseling.

The criticisms by J. P. Galassi et al (see record 1992-17938-001) of H. E. Tinsley and B. L. Benton (1978) and the Expectations About Counseling instrument are shown to be unfounded, problems with the terminology of Galassi et al are discussed, and the technical adequacy and findings of Galassi et al are analyzed. Problems that have occurred frequently in research on expectations about counseling are attributed to lack of programmatic research, failure to critically analyze existing literature, and use of instruments designed for a single study. The devotion of too much attention to "let's change a word" and "let's change a demographic variable" research is criticized. More effort is called for (1) to identify and measure theoretically relevant expectations, (2) to examine the relations between expectations and related constructs, (3) to determine how expectations can be modified, and (4) to investigate the relation of expectations to aspects of the counseling process and outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consciousness, social heredity, and development: The evolutionary thought of James Mark Baldwin.

James Mark Baldwin is one of the most important and least known early American scientific psychologists. Drawing inspiration from Charles Darwin and other evolutionists of the period, Baldwin developed a biosocial theory of psychological development that influenced both Jean Piaget and Lev S. Vygotsky; and he proposed a mechanism relating learned adaptations in the individual to phylogenesis (frequently termed the "Baldwin effect") that is of considerable interest to those currently modeling processes of learning and evolution. After a brief introduction to Baldwin's career, this article describes the intellectual context within which his evolutionary thinking developed. Three of his most important contributions are then discussed: his theory of individual adaptation or learning, his concept of "social heredity," and his articulation of the "Baldwin effect." The article concludes with a brief evaluation of the contemporary importance of Baldwin's ideas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fears in American, Australian, Chinese, and Nigerian children and adolescents: a cross-cultural study

The control of reproductive seasonality was studied in farmed adult red deer hinds that had been either ovariectomized or ovariectomized and oestradiol-treated (s.c. implants). The breeding season, delineated by progesterone secretion in intact hind herdmates, was characterized by high (mean 0.6, range 0.1-2.5 ng ml-1 plasma) LH concentrations in ovariectomized oestradiol-treated hinds. In contrast, during the non-breeding season plasma LH concentrations in these animals were significantly lower (mean 0.1, range 0-0.9 ng ml-1 plasma). LH secretion in ovariectomized untreated hinds also displayed a marked seasonal pattern, approximately the inverse of daily photoperiod (that is, a winter peak and summer trough). The pituitary LH response to 10 micrograms exogenous GnRH was also maximal during the breeding season in ovariectomized (mean 7.4, range 1.2-14.6 ng ml-1) and ovariectomized, oestradiol-treated (mean 16.4, range 1.4-32.3 ng ml-1) hinds. These results indicate that LH secretion in the hind is regulated by both steroid-dependent and -independent mechanisms.     

Joseph B. Strauss, Charles A. Ellis, and the Golden Gate Bridge: Justice at Last

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the best-known engineering structures in the world and was the longest suspension bridge in the world for many years. Its design has generally been attributed to Joseph Strauss, but recent evidence proves that Charles Ellis was the prime designer of the bridge between 1929 and 1931. Strauss fired Ellis in late 1931 and systematically removed any mention of Ellis’ name in his final report on the bridge issued in 1938. It remained for John van der Zee in his book The Gate to set the record straight. This paper makes the case that Strauss violated one of the fundamental ethical canons—that of giving credit where credit is due.     

Cardiac markers in the early hours of acute myocardial infarction: clinical performance of creatine kinase, creatine kinase MB isoenzyme (activity and mass concentration), creatine kinase MM and MB subform ratios, myoglobin and cardiac troponin T

We compared early markers of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the first 6 h from the onset of symptoms in 133 non-traumatized patients arriving at the emergency department with chest pain suggestive of AMI. Clinical performance parameters were calculated on the basis of 45 patients with AMI and 88 patients with a non-AMI diagnosis. At admission and in the first 0-3 h after the onset of chest pain the creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) subform ratio was the most sensitive test at a comparable specificity level of 0.95. In the time interval of 3-5 h, myoglobin, the CK-MB mass concentration and the CK-MB subform ratio were associated with the greatest areas under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, but differences between these tests were small and non-significant. At 6 h from the onset of pain, differences in clinical performance between the same three tests were even smaller whether or not samples drawn after the start of thrombolytic treatment were included in the test comparison. For confirmation of AMI at 6 h after onset of pain, CK-MB (activity and mass concentration) demonstrated the highest positive likelihood ratio, and for exclusion of AMI at 6 h the CK-MB subform ratio was associated with the highest negative likelihood ratio. However, differences between the CK-MB subform ratio, CK-MB mass concentration and myoglobin were not significant as estimated by the substantial overlap between the confidence intervals of the likelihood ratios and the ROC areas at 6 h. Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) demonstrated an ROC area equal to the CK-MB isoform ratio and myoglobin at 6 h. However, the likelihood ratio for ruling out AMI was lower, mostly due to the elevated cTnT in unstable coronary disease not defined as AMI. We conclude that the CK-MB subform ratio, CK-MB mass concentration and myoglobin do not demonstrate any significant differences in clinical performance for ruling in or ruling out acute myocardial infarction at 6 h after the onset of chest pain.     

Growth hormone therapy in Silver Russell syndrome: 5 years experience of the Australian and New Zealand Growth database (OZGROW)

BACKGROUND: Tetrachlorohydroquinone dehalogenase catalyzes the reductive dehalogenation of tetrachlorohydroquinone to trichlorohydroquinone and then to 2,6-dichlorohydroquinone. This enzyme undergoes oxidative damage during purification which causes it to form aberrant products. The damage is reversible by treatment with dithiothreitol. Possible types of oxidative damage include an inappropriate disulfide bond, a cysteine sulfenic acid, or a methionine sulfoxide. RESULTS: Using electrospray liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry, we have demonstrated that oxidation of tetrachlorohydroquinone dehalogenase with H2O2 results in formation of a sulfenic acid at Cys13. Further oxidation to a sulfinic acid was also observed. CONCLUSIONS: Oxidation of Cys 13 to a sulfenic acid prevents the normal reductive dehalogenation reaction from being completed. This finding is consistent with previous work which suggested that Cys 13 acts as a nucleophile during the conversion of tetrachlorohydroquinone to trichlorohydroquinone. The technique described for identification and localization of the cysteine sulfenic acid should be applicable to a wide variety of biological systems.