32—THE SURFACE ABRASION OF COTTON FABRICS AS SEEN IN THE SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE

Experiments are described in which cotton fabrics at different stages of chemical processing were abraded to different extents on a Wira Abrasion Tester with three different abradants, namely, a smooth paper, a similar paper with a rough unfinished surface, and a standard worsted fabric. The three different plain-weave cotton fabrics selected were (a) desized and scoured, (b) bleached and mercerized, and (c) dyed and resin-treated. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that progressive chemical finishing, especially resin-finishing, reduced the abrasion-resistance of these fabrics. The rate of attrition of the cellulosic material at the surface of the fabric was much faster for rough paper than for a smoother type of paper abradant. The crossbred-worsted abradant was less severe than paper in its abrasive action. It also produced, in general, a more fuzzy fabric surface, with several loose fibre ends on the surface. Resin-treated fabrics had fewer of these loose surface fibres than the other two samples, particularly the scoured fabric, which had the most. In the resin-treated fabric, the abraded single fibre ends did not exhibit any twisting, whereas this characteristic feature was rather extensive in the non-resin-finished samples. The lack of twisting and rolling of the fibres probably arose from the constraints imposed by the resin crosslinks, which made the fibres more rigid and caused them to tend to fracture or rupture sharply rather than fibrillate over a somewhat extended length.     

Age-related deficits in auditory confrontation naming.

The naming of manipulable objects in older and younger adults was evaluated across auditory, visual, and multisensory conditions. Older adults were less accurate and slower in naming across conditions, and all subjects were more impaired and slower to name action sounds than pictures or audiovisual combinations. Moreover, there was a sensory by age group interaction, revealing lower accuracy and increased latencies in auditory naming for older adults unrelated to hearing insensitivity but modest improvement to multisensory cues. These findings support age-related deficits in object action naming and suggest that auditory confrontation naming may be more sensitive than visual naming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achieving stepfamily harmony: An intergroup-relations approach.

This study examined the utility of an intergroup-relations perspective in studying stepfamily harmony. University students who identified themselves as stepfamily members completed a survey revealing that the relationship between favorable intergroup contact conditions (e.g., cooperation, equal status) and stepfamily harmony was mediated by the perception of the stepfamily as 1 group rather than 2. Additionally, a 1-group representation of the stepfamily partially mediated the relation between a positive stepparent–stepchild relationship and increased harmony. The more the stepfamily was perceived as 1 group, the greater was the stepfamily harmony. These results offer an explanatory model of stepfamily harmony, involving members' perception of social categorization within the stepfamily unit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overworked and underpaid: On the nature of gender differences in personal entitlement.

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that women's internal standards of fair pay for their work are lower than men's and examined possible causes of this difference. In Exp I, 36 male and 40 female undergraduates were asked to pay themselves in a private situation what they thought was fair pay for a fixed amount of work. Social comparison information was varied. As predicted, females paid themselves less money than males in the absence, but not the presence, of social comparison information. In Exp II, 40 males and 40 females were asked to do as much work as they thought was fair for a fixed, prepaid amount of money. Ss believed that their work was either monitored or unmonitored. Females worked significantly longer, did more work, and did more correct work than males in both public and private work settings. Females, but not males, worked longer when they believed their work was monitored than when they believed it was unmonitored. It is suggested that individuals tend to base their behavior on comparisons with same-sex reference groups in the absence of salient comparison others. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of social support and personal coping resources on depressive symptoms: Different for various chronic diseases?

Effects of psychosocial coping resources on depressive symptoms were examined and compared in older persons with no chronic disease or with recently symptomatic diabetes mellitus, lung disease, cardiac disease, arthritis, or cancer. The 719 persons without diseases reported less depressive symptoms than the chronically ill. Direct favorable effects on depressive symptoms were found for having a partner, having many close relationships, greater feelings of mastery, greater self-efficacy expectations, and high self-esteem. Buffer effects were observed for feelings of mastery, having many diffuse relationships, and receiving emotional support. Buffer effects were differential across diseases for emotional support (in cardiac disease and arthritis only) and for diffuse relationships (in lung disease). Receiving instrumental support was associated with more depressive symptoms, especially in diabetes patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulation of a neutral triacylglycerol hydrolase from rat heart by phosphatidylethanolamine and lysophosphatidylethanolamine

Triacylglycerol hydrolase activity measured at pH 7.5 in a pH 5.2 precipitate fraction from rat heart was increased two-to three-fold by the presence of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) or lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE). This stimulatory effect also could be obtained in assays with particulate and soluble subcellular fractions and was observed with two different methods of preparing triolein substrate emulsions. Ethanolamine and glycerophosphorylethanolamine had no effect on hydrolase activity, whereas phosphatidylcholine (PC) and acidic phospholipids such as cardiolipin were inhibitory. Palmitic acid, palmityl CoA and palmityl carnitine inhibited PE-stimulated hydrolase activity, but ethyl esters of palmitate had no effect. The preparation of acetone-ether powders resulted in a marked reduction of triacylglycerol hydrolase activity, but PE and LPE now stimulated hydrolase activity by ten-fold or greater, suggesting that these phospholipids may have an obligatory role in modulating triacylglycerol hydrolase activity. Triton X-100 also stimulated hydrolase activity in acetone-ether powders.     

Adolescents' perceptions of process and specialty group therapy.

82 emotionally disturbed adolescents (mean age 16.4 yrs) living in a residential treatment center rated their perceptions of process and specialty group therapies. Ongoing process groups were rated as more helpful for relating to staff and peers, and specialty groups were considered more helpful for cognitive, social, and interpersonal skill development. Despite the findings that both types of group therapy were helpful in different ways, all Ss preferred to deal with their problems in individual therapy. These findings challenge the popular notion that adolescents prefer group therapy to individual psychotherapy, suggesting a need to offer both individual and group therapies to optimize treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)