Experimental Prototyping in Smalltalk

Smalltalk promotes fearless programming. Users can signicantly alter an application — even the system itself — without fearing unrecoverable disasters.     

Suicide Attempt Self-Injury Interview (SASII): Development, reliability, and validity of a scale to assess suicide attempts and intentional self-injury.

The authors describe the development of the Suicide Attempt Self-Injury Interview (SASII), an instrument designed to assess the factors involved in nonfatal suicide attempts and intentional self-injury. Using 4 cohorts of participants, authors generated SASII items and evaluated them with factor and content analyses and internal consistency statistics. The final measure was assessed for reliability and validity with collateral measures. The SASII assesses variables related to method, lethality and impulsivity of the act, likelihood of rescue, suicide intent or ambivalence and other motivations, consequences, and habitual self-injury. The SASII was found to have very good interrater reliability and adequate validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing a tripartite model: II. Exploring the symptom structure of anxiety and depression in student, adult, and patient samples.

L. A. Clark and D. Watson (1991) proposed a tripartite model of depression and anxiety that divides symptoms into 3 groups: symptoms of general distress that are largely nonspecific, manifestations of anhedonia and low positive affect that are specific to depression, and symptoms of somatic arousal that are relatively unique to anxiety. This model was tested by conducting separate factor analyses of the 90 items in the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (D. Watson & L. A. Clark, 1991) in 5 samples (3 student, 1 adult, 1 patient). The same 3 factors (General Distress, Anhedonia vs. Positive Affect, Somatic Anxiety) emerged in each data set, suggesting that the symptom structure in this domain is highly convergent across diverse samples. Moreover, these factors broadly corresponded to the symptom groups proposed by the tripartite model. Inspection of the individual item loadings suggested some refinements to the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thermophiles as Potential Source of Novel Endotoxin Antagonists: the Full Structure and Bioactivity of theLipo‐oligosaccharide from Thermomonas hydrothermalis

Thermomonas hydrothermalis is a Gram‐negative thermophilic bacterium that is able to live at 50 °C. This ability is attributed to chemical modifications, involving those to bacterial cell‐wall components, such as proteins and (glyco)lipids. As the main component of the outer membrane of Gram‐negative bacteria, lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) are exposed to the environment, thus they can undergo structural chemical changes to allow thermophilic bacteria to live at their optimal growth temperature. Furthermore, as one of the major target of the eukaryotic innate immune system, LPS elicits host immune response in a structure‐dependent mode; thus the uncommon chemical features of thermophilic bacterial LPSs might exert a different biological action on the innate immune system—an antagonistic effect, as shown in studies of LPS structure–activity relationship in the ongoing research into antagonist LPS candidates. Here, we report the complete structural and biological activity analysis of the lipo‐oligosaccharide isolated from Thermomonas hydrothermalis, achieved by a multidisciplinary approach (chemical analysis, NMR, MALDI MS and cellular immunology). We demonstrate a tricky and interesting structure combined with a very interesting effect on human innate immunity.     

Tissue distribution and depuration kinetics of waterborne 14C-labeled light PAHs in mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)

Light polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of petrogenic origin are commonly found in estuaries and coastal areas. Though they are known to be toxic to fish, little is known about their uptake and tissue distribution. This paper reports on the results of a study on uptake, elimination, and tissue distribution of three waterborne 14C-labeled PAHs in the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, using whole-body autoradiography. After a 24 h exposure to 1 μCi·L(-1) of 14C-naphthalene, 14C-1-naphthol, and 14C-phenanthrene, fish were transferred to clean water and tissue distribution examined after 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 days of depuration. All compounds were readily accumulated by fish and were also rapidly eliminated (t0.5 range=1.1 to 3.0 days). Most of the radioactivity in naphthalene- and phenanthrene-treated fish was found in gall bladder?liver>intestinal lumen. In naphthol-exposed fish, an important labeling of some brain areas was observed. Brain of naphthalene-exposed fish was also labeled after 24 h depuration, indicating that exposure to naphthalene may result in metabolite accumulation in the brain. This is the first study showing that naphthalene, naphthol, and/or unidentified metabolite(s) can accumulate in brain tissues, which may impair normal brain function.     

Assessment of DNA damage in coal open-cast mining workers using the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus test and the comet assay

Coal mining is one of the most important causes of environmental pollution, as large quantities of coal dust particles are emitted. Colombia-South America has large natural coal reserves and “El Cerrejón” is the world's largest open-cast mine located in the northern department of Guajira. The aim of the present study was to evaluate genotoxic effects in a population exposed to coal residues from the open-cast mine “El Cerrejón”. 100 exposed workers and 100 non-exposed control individuals were included in this study. The exposed group was divided according to different mining area activities: (i). Transport of extracted coal, (ii). Equipment field maintenance, (iii). Coal stripping and, (iv). Coal embarking. Blood samples were taken to investigate biomarkers of genotoxicity, specifically, primary DNA damage as damage index (DI), tail length and% of tail DNA using the Comet assay (alkaline version) and chromosome damage as micronucleus (MN) frequency in lymphocytes. Both biomarkers showed statistically significantly higher values in the exposed group compared to the non-exposed control group. No difference was observed between the exposed groups executing different mining activities. These results indicate that exposure to coal mining residues may result in an increased genotoxic exposure in coal mining workers. We did not find a correlation between age, alcohol consumption and service time with the biomarkers of genotoxicity. Our results are the first data of genotoxic effects induced by coal mining exposure in Colombia, and thus, contribute to the exploration of test batteries use for monitoring of exposed populations and may stimulate designing control, hygiene and prevention strategies for occupational health risk assessment in developing countries.     

Low extracellular dopamine levels are maintained in the anoxic turtle (Trachemys scripta) striatum

Amprenavir (141W94, VX-478, KVX-478) is metabolized primarily by CYP3A4 (cytochrome P450 3A4) in recombinant systems and human liver microsomes (HLM). The effects of ketoconazole, terfenadine, astemizole, rifampicin, methadone, and rifabutin upon amprenavir metabolism were examined in vitro using HLM. Ketoconazole, terfenadine, and astemizole were observed to inhibit amprenavir depletion, consistent with their known specificity for CYP3A4. The HIV protease inhibitors, indinavir, saquinavir, ritonavir, and nelfinavir, were included in incubations containing amprenavir to examine the interactions of HIV protease inhibitors in vitro. The order of amprenavir metabolism inhibition in human liver microsomes was observed to be: ritonavir > indinavir > nelfinavir > saquinavir. The Ki value for amprenavir-mediated inhibition of testosterone hydroxylation in human liver microsomes was found to be approximately 0.5 microM. Studies suggest that amprenavir inhibits CYP3A4 to a greater extent than saquinavir, and to a much lesser extent than ritonavir. Amprenavir, nelfinavir, and indinavir appear to inhibit CYP3A4 to a moderate extent, suggesting a selected number of coadministration restrictions.     

无线芯片商的生存之道

过去两年来,消费品市场的供应链出现一系列深刻的结构调整.无线芯片供应商面临一个关键问题:哪些公司将成为蠢笨的巨人,哪些公司能够灵巧地适应新环境并生存下来?     

Joseph B. Margolin (1921-2006).

Presents an obituary for Joseph B. Margolin. In the 1940s, Margolin was in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. During that period, he was stationed at an Army hospital in California, and it was there that he developed an interest in clinical psychology. After being discharged, he returned to New York, where he received his doctorate in clinical and social psychology from New York University in 1954. He was always interested in combining his clinical activities with professional and political involvement, and held several positions including president of the District of Columbia Psychological Association, chair of the Maryland Board of Examiners for Psychologists, and staff member of the 1960 White House Conference on Children and Youth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)