Does mentioning “some people” and “other people” in a survey question increase the accuracy of adolescents' self-reports?

A great deal of developmental research has relied on self-reports solicited using the “some/other” question format (“Some students think that… but other students think that…”). This article reports tests of the assumptions underlying its use: that it conveys to adolescents that socially undesirable attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors are not uncommon and legitimizes reporting them, yielding more valid self-reports than would be obtained by “direct” questions, which do not mention what other people think or do. A meta-analysis of 11 experiments embedded in four surveys of diverse samples of adolescents did not support the assumption that the some/other form increases validity. Although the some/other form led adolescents to think that undesirable attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors were more common and resulted in more reports of those attitudes and behaviors, answers to some/other questions were lower in criterion validity than were answers to direct questions. Because some/other questions take longer to ask and answer and require greater cognitive effort from participants (because they involve more words), and because they decrease measurement accuracy, the some/other question format seems best avoided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assimilative projection and accuracy of prediction in interpersonal perceptions.

The Allport-Vernon Scale of Values was given to 52 college students. Two or three weeks later, each met with two other Ss and discussed a topic for five minutes with each of them. Before and after each discussion, they filled in the A-V scale as they thought their partners had filled theirs in. Before one of the discussions, S was instructed to focus his attention on himself; before the other discussion, he was asked to focus attention on his partner. "Discussion of the findings suggested that assimilative projection occurs in situations in which incorporation of the other person into already existing constructs about the self is facilitated by focusing attention upon the self. Accurate prediction of the other person takes place when differentation of the self from other is facilitated by focusing attention on the other person." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conjugation by mosquito pathogenic strains of Bacillus sphaericus

A mosquito pathogenic strain of Bacillus sphaericus carried out the conjugal transfer of plasmid pAM beta 1 to other strains of its own and two other serotypes. However, it was unable to conjugate with mosquito pathogens from three other serotypes, with B. sphaericus of other DNA homology groups or with three other species of Bacillus. Conjugation frequency was highest with a strain having an altered surface layer (S layer). Conjugal transfer of pAM beta 1 was not detected in mosquito larval cadavers. B. sphaericus 2362 was unable to mobilize pUB110 for transfer to strains that had served as recipients of pAM beta 1. These observations suggest that it is unlikely that genetically engineered B. sphaericus carrying a recombinant plasmid could pass that plasmid to other bacteria.     

Real and ideal others in romantic relationships: Is four a crowd?

Undergraduate and graduate members of 24 couples involved in romantic relationships completed a loving scale, a liking scale, and a scale of interpersonal involvement regarding (a) their feelings toward the other, (b) their feelings toward an ideal other, (c) their perceptions of the other's feelings toward them, and (d) their perceptions of an ideal other toward them. Ss also provided ratings of satisfaction with their relationship. Results indicate that both absolute and comparison levels for feelings made independent contributions to satisfaction in relationships. Feelings regarding the other member of the couple were more predictive of satisfaction than were feelings regarding the ideal other member, and feelings toward the other and perceived feelings of the other toward the self mattered about equally for satisfaction. At least 6 comparison levels that can be used to assess satisfaction in romantic relationships were identified, 5 of which were predictive of such satisfaction. Higher levels of feelings for men but not for women predicted discrepancies in experienced levels of satisfaction for the 2 members of a couple, and perceived rather than actual differences between members' feelings better predicted satisfaction. It is concluded that the perceived other may be key to satisfaction in a relationship. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increases in alcohol and other drug articles during 15 years.

There has been a dramatic increase during the last 20 years in psychologists' interest and research productivity in the area of alcohol and other drugs that is usually traced to the establishment of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse during the early 1970s. In order to have an index of this increase, we undertook to determine how the frequency with which psychologists have published articles on the topics of alcohol and other drugs in the journals of the American Psychological Association (APA) has changed during a 15-year period. For each of the 17 APA journals that publishes authors' original research, we tabulated the number of alcohol and other drug articles that was published during the period 1970-1984. If an article was related to both alcohol and another psychoactive drug, that article was assigned a value of one-half for alcohol and one-half for other drugs. Finally, across all 17 journals and for each year in the period under question, we determined (a) the percentage of total articles published that were related to alcohol and (b) the percentage of total articles published that were related to other drugs. Results suggest a steady increase in the percentage of both alcohol and other drug articles. Pearson product-moment correlations computed between year of publication and percentage of alcohol and other drug articles published yielded significant coefficients for both alcohol articles and other drug articles: r = 78, p     

Atorvastatin calcium: an addition to HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors

Atorvastatin calcium is an HMG-coenzyme A (CoA) reductase inhibitor that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on December 17, 1996. Like other such agents, it inhibits the action of HMG-CoA reductase and thereby decreases endogenous cholesterol synthesis, leading to a decrease in circulating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In addition to its effect on lipoprotein profile, atorvastatin reduces triglycerides to a greater extent than other HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. These actions occur in a dose-dependent fashion. The adverse effect profile is similar to that of other agents in this class. Indications for atorvastatin include primary hypercholesterolemia as well as other lipid disorders.     

Castration of adult male dogs: effects on roaming, aggression, urine marking, and mounting

In a retrospective study involving 42 dogs, it was concluded that the objectionable male behavioral patterns of roaming, fighting with other males, urine marking in the house, and mounting of other dogs or people are amenable to alteration by other castration in adulthood. Roaming was reduced in 90% of the dogs.     

2 years' experience with treatment of uveal melanoma using the Leksell gamma knife

In the last years, the therapy of ocular melanoma with Leksell's gamma-knife was indicated at several clinics in Prague. It referred to bulky tumors and to unfavourably localized tumors so that only enucleation of the eyeball was the only alternative in our conditions. The results of the treatment of 11 patients have been evaluated in this article. Some other patients treated with this method have not been included in this sample for various reasons (short-term follow-up, combination of radiotherapy with gamma-knife with other therapeutic modality etc.) Gradual decrease in tumor size developed in 10 patients during follow-up. The decrease in tumor size has been observed on repeated ultrasound examinations and magnetic resonance imaging. The growth of tumor was reappeared in one patient, which led to the necessity of enucleation of the eyeball. The complications in other patients were numerous but not serious to such extent that would lead to enucleation. Marked deterioration in visual acuity connected with the treatment occurred in 6 patients. The results achieved by this method are comparable with those achieved by other therapeutic modalities and with the results from other clinics employing gamma-knife for the treatment of uveal melanoma. The results lead to the conclusion that this is an effective method of treatment of uveal melanoma and that this method is able to go through further development, especially in combination with other therapeutic modalities.     

Gender-dependent dissociation between oxytocin but not ACTH, cortisol or TSH responses to m-chlorophenylpiperazine in healthy subjects

OBJECTIVE: To examine the health-related behaviors of women physicians compared with those of other women of high and not high socioeconomic status and with national goals. METHODS: We examined the results of a questionnaire-based survey of a stratified random sample, the Women Physicians' Health Study, and a US telephone survey (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga). We analyzed 3 samples of women aged 30 to 70 years: (1) respondents from the Women Physicians' Health Study (n = 4501); (2) respondents from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 1316) of the highest socioeconomic status; and (3) all other respondents from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 35,361). RESULTS: Women physicians were more likely than other women of high socioeconomic status and even more likely than other women not to smoke. The few physicians (3.7%) who smoked reported consuming fewer cigarettes per day, and physicians who had stopped smoking reported quitting at a younger age than women in the general population. Women physicians were less likely to report abstaining from alcohol, but those who drank reported consuming less alcohol per episode than other women and were less likely to report binging on alcohol than women in the general population. Unlike women in the general population and even other women of high socioeconomic status, women physicians' reported behaviors exceeded national goals for the year 2000 in all examined behaviors and screening habits. CONCLUSIONS: Women physicians report having generally good health habits even when compared with other socioeconomically advantaged women and report exceeding all examined national goals for personal screening practices and other personal health behaviors. Women physicians' behaviors may provide useful standards for other women in the United States.     

Examining the evidence for anxiety-related cognitive biases in obsessive-compulsive disorder

In light of current concerns about the diagnostic classification of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), this article critically examines recent experimental research on anxiety-related cognitive biases in OCD in order to determine whether it provides grounds for OCD's differentiation from other anxiety disorders. This small body of work is found to be fraught with defects, anomalies, and inconsistencies. These findings contrast dramatically with the robust results obtained with other clinical anxiety disorders. When biases are in evidence it tends to be with a select group of subjects, that is, those with contamination concerns. It is suggested that only this subtype of OCD, or some core characteristic underlying it, may be associated with cognitive tendencies comparable to those found in other anxiety disorders (i.e., biases at the attentional level associated with the emotional tone, or content, of information). Cognitive tendencies in other subtypes likely require different explanatory frameworks. This review provides evidence for the partial uniqueness of OCD from other anxiety disorders.     

Home parenteral nutrition in the management of patients with chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction

Home parenteral nutrition is indicated in all those patients who are unable to cover all their needs orally or enterally during prolonged periods of time, and who do not require any other general care other than the parenteral nutrition. Our objective is to prove the use of home parenteral nutrition as a nutritional support in patients with severe forms of chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction. In our unit, three patients with this disease, have received home parenteral nutrition between 1993 and the present date. One patient received it during four months, with the catheter being removed due to a fungemia. At present she is being maintained with oral and enteral nutrition. The other two patients continue in the program: one since October 93 and the other since July 94. The hydroelectric alterations caused during the episodes of sub-occlusion make more frequent changes in the composition of the parenteral nutrition necessary, compared to other types of patients. The low incidence of complications and the degree of acceptance by the patient makes this technique an ideal method for the long term nutritional support.     

Characterization of antimicrobial properties of cefpirome

The results of a multicentre investigation of antibiotic susceptibility in 800 clinical isolates were analyzed. The levels of susceptibility to cefpirome and other antibiotics in gram-negative organisms with inducable production of chromosomal beta-lactamases (Enterobacter, Serratia, Citrobacter and others) were compared and the advantages of cefpirome over other cephalosporins were shown: 89 per cent of the susceptible strains against 58 to 78 per cent. With respect to other microorganisms the advantages of cefpirome were less pronounced.     

Requests that overcome listener reluctance: impairment associated with executive dysfunction in brain injury

Fifteen subjects with suspected executive impairment following brain injury and matched controls were tested on a request production task in which they were required to produce nonconventional requests that would overcome listener reluctance. In comparison to controls, the brain-injured subjects were less likely to produce requests that addressed the obstacle to listener compliance, less likely to produce "other" kinds of strategies, and more inclined to make requests encompassing counterproductive comments. These performances were correlated with independent neuropsychological measures of executive function. It was found that disinhibition was positively correlated to the ability to specify the source of listener reluctance in the request as well as to the tendency to use other kinds of strategies. It was surmised that the association between disinhibition and other strategies may reflect the broad nature of the categories used in which marginally appropriate strategies, categorized as "other," may actually have reflected mildly disinhibited behavior.     

Characterization of pepR1, a gene coding for a potential transcriptional regulator of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis DSM7290

This article examines the importance of economic factors in physician and other health service utilization among older adults living in Bermuda. Using data drawn from a national survey of 500 Bermudian elders, the findings reveal economic factors to be unrelated to the use of physician services directly, but to be significant determinants of the use of other health services. Need plus non-need factors are related to the use of both physician and other health services. The employer-based system does seem to provide universal access, but factors in addition to need influence the receipt of care.     

Where do you end and I begin? Evidence for anticipatory, motivated self–other integration between relationship partners.

Perceiving similarity between oneself and one’s romantic partner benefits both the individual and the relationship and can arise from multiple pathways that draw either the partner closer to the self or the self closer to the partner. The current research focuses on the latter. The authors investigate novel circumstances under which the self-concepts of individuals in romantic relationships may intertwine. Although self–other integration typically grows from the depth of shared experiences between relationship partners, the current research proposes a secondary pathway through which self–other integration may occur: Specifically, motivation to draw close to a romantic partner may be sufficient to evoke self–other integration even in the absence of shared experience. In 6 studies, the authors explored this anticipatory self–other integration pathway, using both current and potential romantic partners. The results supported the hypotheses by demonstrating that self–other integration can occur in an anticipatory fashion with the appropriate motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quantitation of cannabinoids in biological fluids by radioimmunoassay

A tritium based radioimmunoassay for delta9THC and its metabolites has been developed for the use of investigators studying the epidemiological, medical, clinical, and research aspects of cannabis use. The assay is sufficiently sensitive to detect cannabinoids in the urine of marijuana smokers for several days after their last exposure to the drug. The results obtained from a 28 day study indicate that the assay reflects the administration and removal of oral doses of THC. The specificity of the antisera, as determined in cross reactivity studies, allows not only the assay of metabolites in biological samples without interference from other drugs, but also the evaluation of extracts of other kinds of samples which may contain unmetabolized delta9THC. The technique of radioimmunoassay has many advantages over other methods of analysis. It is simple to perform and can be readily applied to the rapid analysis of large numbers of samples. It can be used in the direct analysis of physiological fluids and other biological samples which ordinarily have to be processed before other techniques can be applied. The method is non-destructive abd obviates the need to use radiolabelled drugs in man during metabolic and other studies. This radioimmunoassay has been designed with particular emphasis on ease of use by other investigators. We anticipate that it will prove useful to investigators and scientists for determining the absence, or presence and amount, of THC metabolite in a biological specimen, for epidemiologists in determining the full extent of cannabis use and to the medical/clinical community for establishing the minimum effective dose of delta9THC for each patient. The widespread application of a single method of analysis should also remove a great deal of the controversy surrounding marijuana studies performed to date.     

Functional interaction of the gp80 and gp130 IL-6 receptors in human B cell malignancies

This study investigated the psychological impact of HIV infection through assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder in response to HIV infection. Sixty-one HIV-positive homosexual/bisexual men were assessed for posttraumatic stress disorder in response to HIV infection (PTSD-HIV) using a modified PTSD module of the DIS-III-R. Thirty percent met criteria for a syndrome of posttraumatic stress disorder in response to HIV diagnosis (PTSD-HIV). In over one-third of the PTSD cases, the disorder had an onset greater than 6 months after initial HIV infection diagnosis. PTSD-HIV was associated with other psychiatric diagnoses, particularly the development of first episodes of major depression after HIV infection diagnosis. PTSD-HIV was significantly associated with a pre-HIV history of PTSD from other causes, and other pre-HIV psychiatric disorders and neuroticism scores, indicating a similarity with findings in studies of PTSD from other causes. The findings from this preliminary study suggest that a PTSD response to HIV diagnosis has clinical validity and requires further investigation in this population and other medically ill groups. The results support the inclusion of the diagnosis of life-threatening illness as a traumatic incident that may lead to a posttraumatic stress disorder, which is consistent with the DSM-IV criteria.     

Young children's preoccupation with their own payoffs in strategic analysis of 2?×?2 games.

72 4–10 yr olds played 3 mixed-motive games, each game having one dominating strategy. Half of the Ss first chose their own strategy and then guessed what the other player (experimenter) chose; the other half proceeded in the reverse order. Ss at all ages showed a preoccupation with their own payoffs and a lack of interest in the other player's payoffs. Although the younger Ss centered on their maximum payoff, older Ss were able and willing to pay attention to the other player's interests, but only if doing so helped them to improve their own strategy. This developmental improvement seems due to the growing ability to coordinate 2 players' strategies. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How one family perceives another: the relationship between social constructions and problem-solving competence

This paper delineates a rarely studied but important family process: how a family perceives and understands the relationships in other families it knows. We hypothesize that these perceptions of other families are fundamental components of a family's shared construing of its social world. Families differ in how they perceive other families, specifically, and in their approach to construing or apprehending their social world, generally. We have hypothesized that these general differences also play a crucial role in shaping the style and competence of family problem-solving. A family's approach to any problem depends upon how it construes or interprets the social context of that problem. Using these general concepts of family life, we construct specific hypotheses linking family problem-solving and interfamily perception. We describe methods for measuring both family problem-solving and how a family perceives other families. Findings confirm our major hypothesis: A family that searches for underlying and subtle patterns in a problem-solving situation will develop a more differentiated and organized conception of other families.     

Trends in ecstasy use in the United States from 1995 to 2001: Comparison with marijuana users and association with other drug use.

This study aims to estimate changes in the prevalence of ecstasy use over time, analyze the overlap of ecstasy use and other drug use, and compare other drug use in ecstasy versus marijuana users. The authors hypothesized that ecstasy users early in the "epidemic" would be polydrug users and that associations between ecstasy and other drug use would diminish as the prevalence of ecstasy use increased. Data were drawn from public use data files from the 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Ecstasy use increased in the U.S. population and the prevalence was greater in younger age groups. Ecstasy users were likely to use a variety of other drugs; however, association of ecstasy use with other drug use was strongest early in the "epidemic," diminishing as the number of new users increased. Later, more drug-naive adolescents and young adults began experimenting with ecstasy. These results can orient prevention strategies that target ecstasy users. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)