Rethinking infant knowledge: toward an adaptive process account of successes and failures in object permanence tasks

Infants seem sensitive to hidden objects in habituation tasks at 3.5 months but fail to retrieve hidden objects until 8 months. The authors first consider principle-based accounts of these successes and failures, in which early successes imply knowledge of principles and failures are attributed to ancillary deficits. One account is that infants younger than 8 months have the object permanence principle but lack means-ends abilities. To test this, 7-month-olds were trained on means-ends behaviors and were tested on retrieval of visible and occluded toys. Means-ends demands were the same, yet infants made more toy-guided retrievals in the visible case. The authors offer an adaptive process account in which knowledge is graded and embedded in specific behavioral processes. Simulation models that learn gradually to represent occluded objects show how this approach can account for success and failure in object permanence tasks without assuming principles and ancillary deficits.     

Monocyte diapedesis through an in vitro vessel wall construct: inhibition with monoclonal antibodies to thrombospondin

Human peripheral blood monocytes were examined for migration across an endothelial cell monolayer in an in vitro vessel wall construct. Few monocytes invaded in the absence of a chemotactic gradient, despite significant adhesion to the endothelial monolayer. However, the addition of zymosan-activated human plasma to the lower compartment, to create a chemotactic gradient across the vessel wall, resulted in significantly enhanced monocyte migration. Pretreatment of the monocytes with monoclonal antibodies to thrombospondin (TSP) dramatically inhibited monocyte diapedesis into the vessel wall. The same treatment inhibited monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells in two-dimensional monolayer cultures as well as in vessel wall constructs (no chemotactic gradient). Of interest, however, the monoclonal antibodies had no inhibitory effect on monocyte migration into collagen gels devoid of endothelial cells in response to the same chemotactic gradient, suggesting the importance of TSP in monocyte-endothelial cell interactions. Monoclonal antibodies to fibronectin and normal mouse immunoglobulin G did not inhibit migration in this model of a vessel wall. Furthermore, monoclonal antibodies to TSP showed no inhibition of human peripheral blood neutrophil migration. Previous studies have shown that monocytes synthesize TSP and express this moiety on their surface. The present data suggest that monocytes may utilize TSP to interact with endothelial cells lining the vessel wall during diapedesis.     

Legal Frameworks Governing Water in the Middle East and North Africa

For millennia, countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have developed laws, regulations and other rules to govern their scarce water. These laws have been updated in recent years. This review of the legal frameworks (including regulations, decrees and other rules) reveals both progress and gaps in managing water quality, water quantity and procedural aspects. Of note, while the general frameworks are usually in place, in many instances the necessary details are lacking to give effect to the goals. However, in some instances the legal frameworks governing water lack certain key principles or approaches. In order to effectively meet the growing demands on their water resources, MENA countries will need to further strengthen and develop their legal frameworks.     

Telephone booster sessions for optimizing smoking cessation for patients in rehabilitation centers.

Smokers with smoking-related diseases who are hospitalized in rehabilitation centers should be offered smoking cessation. This is the first study evaluating whether telephone booster sessions after intensive inpatient treatment are an effective strategy. The present study was conducted in 13 rehabilitation centers for somatic disorders as a prospective multicenter study with a randomized treatment-control group design. We compared abstinence rates after hospital discharge from treatment that included a group smoking cessation program with (treatment group) and without telephone booster sessions (control group). Data from 290 smokers were analyzed. After 6 and 12 months the treatment group achieved abstinence rates twice as high as those of the control group. Men profited more from telephone booster sessions than did women. Results indicated that telephone booster sessions were highly effective (even) after an inherently intensive group program during a hospital stay. Further research should focus on the special needs of women receiving telephone counseling.     

Stressful life events and smoking behaviors in Chinese adolescents: a longitudinal analysis.

The associations between stressful life events and smoking have been established among adolescents in the United States. However, whether these relationships are similar in adolescents from other non-Western cultures is unknown. Understanding these relationships in adolescents may help to provide opportunities to reduce the smoking rates in those cultures by providing positive coping methods that do not include smoking. In this longitudinal study, the associations between nine stressful life events scales and smoking behaviors were examined in a sample of Chinese adolescents. Six of these scales, positive school-related, negative school-related, positive family-related, positive peer-related, negative peer-related, and negative health-related had significantly different means among females and males. Among males, positive school-related stress was a protective factor for smoking susceptibility. Among females, positive school-related stress was a protective factor and negative school-related stress was a risk factor for lifetime smoking, and negative family-related stress was a risk factor for smoking susceptibility. Findings indicate that smoking among male adolescents in China may not be the result of stress; however, in females stress may contribute to the decision to smoke. Future directions are discussed.     

Point/Counterpoint

POINT: AOP Will See Widespread Adoption Adrian Colyer, Rob Harrop, Rod Johnson, and Alexandre Vasseur AOP offers both the short--and long-term return on investment needed to ensure its widespread adoption. COUNTERPOINT: AOP Has Yet to Prove Its Value Danio Beuche and Cédric Beust Where is the proof that nonhierarchical modularization into aspects makes systems development cheaper or better?