Past, present, and future of psychiatry: personal reflections

OBJECTIVE: To review the past half century of North American psychiatry from personal experience and to gauge its future prospects. METHODS: An examination of the relevant literature, recollections from a long academic career, and analysis of trends. RESULTS: The pendulum of psychiatric theory continues its swing from its psychological to its biological pole; current economic forces are driving it toward reductionistic biology. The very considerable gains in the psychosocial and neurobiogical knowledge base of our field will ultimately have a potent yield in patient care once the restrictive controls on its application to service provision are lifted. CONCLUSION: The future of research in the sciences basic to psychiatry has never been more promising. How rapidly progress will occur will be a function of the resources society is willing to commit to mental health research. The prognosis for the translation of the new findings to clinical practice will depend on whether professionals can mobilize public support for quality care for the mentally ill.     

Effects of rewards on children's prosocial motivation: A socialization study.

This study examined the relation between mothers' attitudes/practices regarding the use of rewards and children's susceptibility to the undermining effects of rewards. We assessed the attitudes/practices regarding rewards for 72 mothers and assigned their children to a control condition or to one of four experimental conditions that differed in whether children received rewards for helping and whether children engaged in the helping task or watched other children help. Children were then given an opportunity to help in a nonreward free-choice period. Rewards enhanced helping in the immediate situation. However, rewards undermined children's helping in the free-choice period, but only for children whose mothers felt positive about using rewards. Moreover, mothers who felt more positive about using rewards reported their children to be less prosocial than children of mothers who had less positive attitudes. It was suggested that children's responses to rewards depend in part on their experiences with rewards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Society Magazines Plan Coverage for 2009

In 2009, the Computer Society will offer a slate of 13 magazines covering key topics in computing.     

The presence of security blankets or mothers (or both) affects distress during pediatric examinations.

Because of parental interference, some pediatricians prefer examining children without parents nearby. Can inanimate, noninterfering attachment agents placate children during medical evaluations? Accompanied through random assignment by their mother, blanket, mother plus blanket, or no supportive agent, 64 blanket-attached or blanket-nonattached 3-year-olds underwent 4 routine medical procedures. Behavioral and physiological measures showed that mothers and blankets (for children attached to them) equally mitigated distress compared with no supportive agents. However, simultaneously presenting attachment agents did not produce additive soothing effects. For comforting blanket-attached children during moderately upsetting medical procedures, blankets can function as appropriate maternal substitutes. Distress evidenced by children with no attachment agent demonstrates the undesirability of conducting medical examinations without supportive agents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

2009年北美轮胎生产概况

美国经济2009年1月正处于衰退期,而2010年似乎已进入了扩张期,这意味着经济衰退已经结束。2009年第3季度美国国内生产总值实现了自2008年第1季度以来首次增长。另外,申请失业救济人数和可用房源数量都呈下降趋势,预示着经济复苏的积极向好。美国国家经济研究局称,这也有可能是经济扩张中经济活动的短期逆转。     

Bioaccumulation, biotransformation, and biochemical effects of brominated diphenyl ethers in juvenile lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)

Juvenile lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were exposed to three dietary concentrations (0, approximately 2.5, and approximately 25 ng/g per BDE congener) of 13 BDE congeners (3-10 Br atoms) in the laboratory for 56 days, followed by 112 days of clean food, to examine bioaccumulation parameters and potential biochemical effects. The bioaccumulation of BDEs by the trout was highly influenced by biotransformation, via debromination, which resulted in bioaccumulation parameters that were much different than would be expected based on studies of chlorinated organic compounds (e.g., PCBs). Half-lives (t1/2's) for some BDE congeners (e.g., BDE-85 and -190) were much lower than expected based on their Kow, which was likely due to biotransformation, whereas t1/2's of other BDE congeners (e.g., BDE-66, -77, -153, and -154) were much longer than anticipated based on Kow. This was likely because the metabolites of BDE formed via debromination had the same chemical structure of these BDE congeners, which supplemented measured concentrations. The detection of three BDE congeners (an unknown penta, BDE-140, and an unknown hexa) in the fish that were not present in the food or in the control fish provide further evidence forthe debromination of BDEs. Half-lives of BDEs ranged from 38 +/- 9 to 346 +/- 173 days and biomagnification factors ranged from 1.6 (BDE-190) to 45.9 (BDE-100), but these bioaccumulation parameters need to be viewed with caution because they were highly influenced by debromination and relative abundance of individual BDEs that the fish were exposed to. CYP1A enzyme activity, measured as EROD, and free tri-iodothyronine (T3) concentrations in the plasma of lake trout varied significantly throughout the experiment but were not related to BDE exposure. In contrast, plasma levels of thyroxine levels (T4) were lower in both groups of PBDE-exposed fish compared with control fish after 56 days of exposure, and after 168 days in the high dose, suggesting that PBDEs may influence thyroid homeostasis at levels that are higher than what is normally found in the environment.     

An evaluation tool for design quality: PFI sheltered housing

The complex procurement process entailed by the private finance initiative (PFI) means that clients need new capacities to manage their relationships with bidders and to assess project proposals if the desired level of design quality is to be achieved. To assist local authorities in their client role, a new Architectural Design Quality Evaluation Tool was developed. The aim was to improve the quality of design in residential sheltered housing, procured through the PFI. The tool was developed for and applied to a programme that will see the replacement of a local authority's entire sheltered housing stock. The tool has two functions: (1) to inform the client's assessment process and assist with the selection of the preferred bidding consortium through a series of stages in the PFI process; and (2) to improve the quality of all the submitted designs through an iterative process. Although several existing mechanisms are available for evaluating the performance attributes of buildings, few also tackle the less tangible amenity attributes, which are vital to the feeling of home. The new tool emphasizes the amenity attributes without neglecting performance.