Linking symptom-specific physiological reactivity to pain severity in chronic low back pain patients: A test of mediation and moderation models.

Symptom-specific reactivity to stress (lower paraspinal muscle reactivity) among chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients may exacerbate chronic pain. It was hypothesized that among CLBP patients (N?=?107) only stress-induced lower paraspinal reactivity, and not reactivity in other indexes, would predict pain severity (PS), and that lower paraspinal reactivity would mediate or moderate links between depression and PS. Electromyogram readings from lower paraspinal and trapezius muscles, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and heart rate were collected during mental arithmetic (MA) and an anger recall interview. The moderator hypothesis was supported: Only lower paraspinal reactivity during MA was related significantly to PS, but only among patients with high levels of depression. Thus, a profile of lower paraspinal hyperreactivity plus depressed affect may aggravate CLBP. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Postejaculatory quiescence in female and male rats: Consequences for sperm transport during group mating.

Studied the pattern of postejaculatory mating in the social context of a multimale–multifemale group of Sprague-Dawley rats (N?=?21), analyzing its timing and sequence from the females' as well as the males' perspective. During mating, females had a quiescent period following each ejaculation, which was comparable with the males' (a postejaculatory interval, PEI). The PEIs of both sexes were characterized by 3 behaviorally distinguishable phases: a stationary, an interactive, and a sexual phase. There was no significant sex difference in the total length of the PEI. Nonetheless, females began active sexual behavior and entered the sexual phase more quickly than males. The time course of each phase of the PEI is compared with the time course of sperm transport in the female, and the similarities and differences between the two sexes' reproductive strategies following an ejaculation are emphasized. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional Preparation: A Course That Successfully Teaches Needed Skills Using Different Pedagogical Techniques

To bridge a gap we perceive to exist between the traditionally educated engineer, who is skilled primarily in high tech, and the broader trained engineer being called for by industry, we have developed a senior level course entitled Professional Preparation. This course is built around a group design project, but also includes exposure to a wide variety of needed skills such as problem solving, creative thinking, ethics, writing to learn, producing documentation and making oral and written reports. Student and employer reaction to the course is uniformly enthusiastic. Data collected from a survey of over 400 of our graduates shows a marked difference in their perception of the importance of and their educational preparation in specific skills with additional differences between those who took this course and those who did not.     

Sex of authority role models and achievement by men and women: Leadership performance and recognition.

Investigated whether performance, for both sexes, is conditioned by expectations for them, with expectations being at least partly defined by same-sex role models. 276 undergraduates were exposed to all-male, all-female, or mixed-authority role models and then participated in a 4-person mixed-sex discussion. Vicarious cultural experience of authority models was represented by videotaped reenactments of TV commercials. Ss viewed either 4 traditional commercials showing a man as authority and woman as subordinate, or 4 reversed-role versions in which the male and female actors switched roles in the same scenarios. Personally observed authority models were represented by the experimenter, who supervised the discussion. Sex of authority in the commercials and sex of experimenter were crossed in a factorial design. In the all-male authority condition, men and women performed equally (as measured by talking time and number of substantive content suggestions), but recognized only the men as leaders in postdiscussion evaluation questionnaires. In the all-female authority condition, men and women also performed equally, and, in addition, they also received equal leadership recognition. In the 2 mixed-authority conditions, men objectively outperformed women. The data show that recognition is not a direct function of performance for either sex but is influenced by the evaluators' expectations, which are partly defined by sex of authority role models in the social environment. (103 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A computational analysis of mental image generation: Evidence from functional dissociations in split-brain patients.

Recent efforts to build computer simulation models of mental imagery have suggested that imagery is not a unitary phenomenon. Rather, such efforts have led to a modular analysis of the image-generation process, with separate modules that can activate visual memories, inspect parts of imaged patterns, and arrange separate parts into a composite image. This idea was supported by the finding of functional dissociations between the kinds of imagery tasks that could be performed in the left and right cerebral hemispheres of 2 patients (a 19-yr-old male and a 32-yr-old female) who had previously undergone surgical transection of their corpus callosa. The left hemisphere in both Ss could inspect imaged patterns and could generate single and multipart images. In contrast, although the right hemisphere could inspect imaged patterns and could generate images of overall shape, it had difficulty in generating multipart images. Results suggest a deficit in the module that arranges parts into a composite. The observed pattern of deficits and abilities implied that this module is not used in language, visual perception, or drawing. Findings also suggest that the basis for this deficit is not a difficulty in simply remembering visual details or engaging in sequential processing. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biodegradation of alpha-pinene in model biofilms in biofilters

Treatment of air pollutants in a biofilter requires that the compound be effectively transported from the gas phase to the organisms that reside in a biofilm that forms upon a packing material. Models of biofiltration generally treat the biofilm like water by using a Henry's law constant to predict mass transfer rates into the biofilm where degradation occurs and, hence, predict low rates for hydrophobic compounds. However, some compounds that are virtually insoluble in water are also treated unusually well. The objective of this study was to develop a fundamental understanding of the apparent enhanced degradation of hydrophobic pollutants in biofilms. Specifically, the goals of this study were to experimentally determine transport and reaction rates of hydrophobic pollutants in artificial biofilms. We studied the transport and reaction rates of alpha-pinene (as a model hydrophobic pollutant) in a headspace in contact with a well-defined biofilm made up of biomass immobilized in low melting point agarose and found that reaction rates were similar in order of magnitude to biofilter rates. The transport rates through these films once deactivated were found to be the same as through agar (diffusion coefficient between 2.6 and 3.4 x 10(-6) cm2/s). The degradation rates through model biofilms ranged from 2 to 4 x 10(-7) (g/(cm2 min)). A new explanation of high degradation rates was put forth whereby a biologically mediated transformation is taking place in which alpha-pinene is oxidized into a more soluble, less volatile compound that can then penetrate deeper into the biofilm. The formation of this more soluble byproduct was confirmed with batch kinetics experiments using filtered samples, and its proposed identity is cis-2,8-p-menthadien-1-ol, a menthadienol, a novel metabolite of alpha-pinene degradation. A simple conceptual model based on these results is also presented.     

Continual association as a function of level of creativity and type of verbal stimulus.

Continual word association was studied as a function of Remote Associates Test (RAT) performance, form class, associative hierarchy, and Thorndike-Lorge word frequency. Ss were selected as high creative (HC), low creative (LC), and medium creative (MC) on the basis of their RAT scores. It was found that HC Ss give the greatest number of associations and maintain a relatively higher speed of association throughout a 2-min. period. More responses were elicited by nouns than adjectives, flat hierarchy words than steep, and high frequency words than low. The S and stimulus variable did not interact. Relevance to an associative theory of creative thinking is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heat transfer during the rewetting of hot horizontal channels

The heat transfer in the rewetting of hot horizontal channels is investigated. The physical model assumes an inclined rewetting front advancing at a uniform velocity. Precursory cooling in the dry region is considered. Three-dimensional energy equations are solved numerically by a finite difference method. Further, the axial and circumferential temperature distributions are predicted. The influence of various parameters on the rewetting velocity is analyzed, as are the variations of the different heat transfer mechanisms, convection to the fluid and conduction in the three-dimensions, as a function of time.     

Are clinical psychologists prepared for service and research with ethnic minorities? Report of a decade of progress.

Longitudinal data on the status of training of clinical psychologists for service and research with ethnic minority populations were presented to assess progress. Data from an earlier survey by M. E. Bernal and A. M. Padilla (see record 1983-06520-001), which were collected in 1979–1980, were compared with similar survey data collected in 1990–1991. Results revealed a mixed picture of progress: key aspects of minority training have improved, and there is a substantial block of programs committed to minority training. However, 2 changes are needed: engagement in a change process leading to training for cultural competence rather than minimal exposure to culture, and a significant increase in the numbers of minority faculty, which can occur only by a sharp increase in the numbers of minority students admitted into the educational pipeline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)