Brainstem lesions and gustatory function: I. The role of the nucleus of the solitary tract during a brief intake test in rats.

Using an automated gustometer, licking behavior in rats was evaluated for a range of concentrations of appetitive and aversive stimuli in rats following electrolytic lesions in the rostral nucleus of the solitary tract (NST). Lesions of the NST flattened the concentration-response function for all gustatory stimuli. They attenuated the concentration-response function for MgCl?, QHCl, and NH?Cl by shifting it to the right by 0.5 log unit, attenuated the function for citric acid and Polycose by shifting it to the right by 1.5 log units, and fully eliminated the function for sucrose and NaCl. This failure to respond appropriately, however, was specific to gustatory stimuli because all rats reduced ingestive responding when presented with increasing concentrations of capsaicin, a trigeminal stimulus. Together, the data show that the NST is critical for responding appropriately to changes in intensity of a gustatory, but not a trigeminal, stimulus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of relative stimulus validity: Learning or performance deficit?

This research examined whether the effect of relative stimulus validity (A. R. Wagner, F. A. Logan, K. Haberlandt, & T. Price, 1968) is a deficit of acquisition or performance. Experiment 1 demonstrated the relative validity effect using rats in a conditioned lick suppression task. A target cue trained in the presence of another cue that was a more valid predictor of reinforcement exhibited less behavioral control than a target cue that had been trained in the presence of an equally valid predictor of reinforcement. In Experiment 2, the more valid predictor was extinguished after training. This manipulation increased responding to the target cue, thereby attenuating the effect of low relative validity. This outcome suggests that the relative validity effect is a performance deficit. In addition, recovery from the relative validity deficit was specific to the particular target stimulus that was trained in the presence of the subsequently extinguished cue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnerships with external behavioral and social scientists: Roles, extramural funding, and employment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must have strong external partnerships with behavioral and social scientists to refine and carry out its research and programmatic mission. This article examines funding, employment, and other mechanisms used to develop and foster such partnerships. The authors describe in detail funding mechanisms (especially the often-used cooperative agreement and contracting mechanisms) and identify specific sources of information about funding opportunities. Furthermore, they describe several different long- and short-term employment mechanisms that can be used to link CDC staff and external behavioral scientists. Finally, external behavioral and social scientists can serve in important roles as members of CDC advisory committees, peer reviewers of funding applications, and consultants; examples of these opportunities are also provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Entanglement in fishing gear and other causes of death in cetaceans stranded on the coasts of England and Wales

Between August 1990 and September 1995 the carcases of 422 cetaceans of 12 species that had died around the coasts of England and Wales were examined. There were 234 harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), 138 common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), and 50 individuals of 10 other species of dolphins and whales. The cause of death was diagnosed in the harbour porpoises and common dolphins was entanglement in fishing gear (bycatch). Of the cases in which the cause of death was established, 66 (38 per cent) of 176 harbour porpoises, 86 (80 percent) of 108 common dolphins, and six (19 per cent) of 31 individuals of other species had been bycaught. Neonatal starvation, pneumonia and generalised infections accounted for a further 31 per cent of the diagnosed causes of death in harbour porpoises. The proportion of stranded common dolphins that had been bycaught was consistently high except during 1995, but the proportion of stranded harbour porpoises which had been bycaught increased in each successive year.     

Brainstem lesions and gustatory function: II. The role of the nucleus of the solitary tract in Na+ appetite, conditioned taste aversion, and conditioned odor aversion in rats.

Rats with lesions of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) that demonstrated flat concentration-response functions for NaCl and sucrose (T. Shimura et al, see record 84-21706) expressed a significant (albeit reduced) salt appetite following sodium depletion, and a normal conditioned taste aversion (CTA) for alanine when paired with lithium chloride-induced toxicosis. Rats with lesions of the NST also could acquire a conditioned odor aversion, but the CTA to alanine was not mediated by odor cues because other rats with NST lesions also demonstrated normal CTA learning even when made anosmic with zinc sulfate. Together, the data suggest that the rostral NST is essential for responding appropriately to increasing concentrations of a tastant, but not for the chemical identification necessary for sodium appetite and CTA learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking cessation and severity of disease: The Coronary Artery Smoking Intervention Study.

Tested the effectiveness of an individually delivered behavioral multicomponent smoking intervention (SI) against offering advice only (AO) to 267 patients (aged 30–75 yrs) after coronary arteriography. After 6 mo, 51% of AO Ss and 62% of SI Ss reported abstinence. Validated rates were 34% and 45% for AO and SI Ss, respectively. At 6 mo, the SI had the most effect for Ss with more severe coronary artery disease (CAD) who had been admitted with a myocardial infarction even after controlling for baseline characteristics such as stage of readiness for change, sex, and self-efficacy. At 12 mo follow-up, only severity of disease mediated SI effects. Similar results were seen for cotinine-validated cessation. Data confirm the effectiveness of individually administered SI for more seriously ill patients with CAD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extinguishing Class A fires with multipurpose chemicals

We investigated the extinguishing properties of multipurpose dry chemicals using openregime cribs of two sizes. One measured 20.3 by 20.3 by 15.2 cm, and the other 50.8 by 50.8 by 38 cm. A crib fire, which has both flaming and smoldering contributions, is primarily extinguished when the burning surfaces are covered or smothered by a gas phase of the original multipurpose agent or a product of the agent's decomposition. The overall effectiveness of each dry chemical depends on its particle size, the degree of its decomposition and/or vaporization, and the openness of the crib. All particles of an agent below a unique limiting size completely decompose and/or vaporize in the crib fire and have the same extinguishing effectiveness. Particles above the limit have no measurable effectiveness. Scaling is considered on the basis of the minimum extinction weight per unit of exposed wood surface.Carhart is recently retired from the U.S. Navy Technology Center for Safety and Survivability at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.     

Misorientation texture of post-recrystallized α-brass

Studies of annealing textures in the past were mainly based on X-ray diffraction for macrotexture and electron diffraction for microtexture. However, the application of the electron back-scattering (EBS) technique now provides a powerful tool to obtain grain-boundary misorientation data (the grain misorientation texture or GMT) and study the change in grainboundary structure during annealing. The change in the GMT of cold-rolled brass annealed at two different temperatures is reported. The proportion of CSL boundaries was found to increase with annealing temperature. The significance of this finding with regards to an understanding of the texture transition and the grain-growth phenomenon is discussed.     

Life stressors, social resources, coping, and the 4-year course of unipolar depression.

Little is known about the effects of psychosocial factors on the long-term course of unipolar depression. This article examines the 4-year stability and change in life stressors, social resources, and coping, and their effect on the course of treated unipolar depression among 352 men and women. Depressed patients were assessed at treatment intake and at 1-year and 4-year follow-ups. Over the 4 years, patients improved in symptom outcomes, the quality of social resources, and coping responses; there were some declines in life stressors. Life stressors, social resources, and coping were related to patient functioning concurrently, after controlling for demographics, initial treatment, and initial dysfunction severity. Preintake medical conditions and family conflict consistently predicted poorer long-term outcomes. The findings imply that medical conditions and family conflict are important risk factors that predict poorer long-term outcome of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)