Review of Improving productivity through performance appraisal.

Reviews the book, The New Partnership: Women and Men in Organizations by Nina L. Colwill (1982). The stated goals of this book are "to increase awareness" of: a) sex-role problems in organizations, b) some potential solutions, and c) relevant research evidence. An unstated but evident goal is to persuade the reader that women, men, and organizations will all benefit from the maximal development of both sexes' potential. The book contains nine chapters, four of which are co-authored with others expert on the chapter topic. The broad range theory and research presented deals with attitudes, roles, traits and abilities, achievement and related attributions, power, communication, and groups and leadership. Each subject area is initially viewed broadly with a subsequent focus on special issues and research results relevant to sex discrimination in organizations. At the end of each chapter is a section dealing with "alternatives for change" and a set of exercises for use in groups, individually, in interviews, and in designing a study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leucine and isoleucine as in vitro precursors for lipid synthesis by rat aorta

The in vitro conversion of¹⁴C-labeled leucine, isoleucine, and pyruvate to specific lipids was compared in rat aorta, diaphragm, and fat pad. Total lipid specific radioactivity from all precursors was greatest in aorta. The ratio of label incorporated into polar lipids vs. neutral lipids by aorta was generally several-fold that incorporated by muscle and fat pad. The labeling of sterols in the aorta from¹⁴C-leucine and pyruvate was equivalent. It is concluded that leucine may be a substantial precursor to polar lipids and to sterols in rat aorta. This paper was presented in part at the 1974 Biochemistry and Biophysics Meeting of the Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.     

Effects of clinical experience and client emotion on therapists' responses.

In an Emotion by Therapist Experience design, actresses portraying angry vs sad clients interacted with "therapists" (graduate clinical psychology students) varying in prior therapy experience (high, medium, or low). Results indicate that therapists judged angry clients less favorably than sad clients. More experienced therapists showed greater tolerance of anger. Therapists intervened less with angry clients than with depressed clients, and angry clients received less supportiveness, less directiveness, and fewer requests for information. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biomarkers to assess the utility of potential reduced exposure tobacco products.

To date, we have no valid biomarkers that serve as proxies for tobacco-related disease to test potential reduced exposure products. This paper represents the deliberations of four workgroups that focused on four tobacco-related heath outcomes: Cancer, nonmalignant pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and fetal toxicity. The goal of these workgroups was to identify biomarkers that offer some promise as measures of exposure or toxicity and ultimately may serve as indicators for future disease risk. Recommendations were based on the relationship of the biomarker to what is known about mechanisms of tobacco-related pathogenesis, the extent to which the biomarker differs among smokers and nonsmokers, and the sensitivity of the biomarker to changes in smoking status. Other promising biomarkers were discussed. No existing biomarkers have been demonstrated to be predictive of tobacco-related disease, which highlights the importance and urgency of conducting research in this area.     

Abstracts

Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society -     

OSA uniform color scale samples: A unique set

The Optical Society of America, in early 1977, published a set of uniformly scaled coor samples based on specifications developed after long years of study by its Committee on Uniform Color Scales. The model for arranging and specifying the samples is based on an octahedral unit which consists of a cluster of 12 colors equally different from a central color and from each of its nearest neighbors. This space lattice, extended to accommodate all samples that can be produced within the gamut of present-day colorants, is described, together with the adopted system of notation. The lattice provides three sets of square grids and four sets of triangular grids that correspond to the seven pairs of parallel faces of a cuboctahedron. Horizontal, vertical, and oblique cleavage planes through the lattice are described and illustrated. The OSA-UCS set consists of 558 samples: 424 represent a regular 2-unit sampling of OSA-UCS committee space; 134 additional samples are provided in the much used, near-neutral, central-lightness region of color space. The set is unique because each sample in the regular set is represented in six different uniform color scales. These appear as linear arrays that pass in six different directions through each sample. The samples are intended for use by artists and designers as well as by scientists. With a relatively small number of samples, material is provided for constructing color scales and charts with colors uniformly spaced in six directions in any chosen part of color space. The OSA-UCS set provides a “storehouse of color-contrast information in efficient form.” It provides useful color research material such as has never before been available.     

Evaluation of laboratory methods for the study of driver behavior: Relations between simulator and street performance.

Road performance data on 304 taxi drivers were obtained by pairs of trained observers using behavioral checklists. Drivers did not know they were being observed. 66% of the drivers then agreed to participate in the laboratory study, which involved performance on 2 different driving simulators and on 4 perceptual–motor tests. Officially recorded accidents and violations over a 5-yr period were obtained for each S for comparison with performance data. Results show that few of the scores from the simulators or tests were significantly correlated with road performance; however, a number of significant relations were found between perceptual–motor test performance and simulator performance. Although these correlations were not high, they tended to be more significant than those between performance on the 2 simulators. Age was negatively correlated with simulator performance. Relations between all performance measures and officially recorded accident and violation data were low. Some significant predictors of certain classes of violations were achieved from road performance measures obtained in the study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)