Extension of Heider's ideas to rehabilitation psychology.

Fritz Heider received the Psychological Science Gold Medal Award at the 1987 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. This article was prepared for the symposium honoring his contributions. It shows the power of his conceptual framework as a basis for systematizing attitude-change attempts involving disability, as well as the need for affirmative action. The analysis involves such concepts as balance, unit-forming factors, sentiment, and ought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modulation of the hepatic CYP1A1 system in the marine fish Gobius niger, exposed to xenobiotic compounds

Anthropogenic chemicals in the aquatic environment are known to cause reproductive disturbances in vertebrate and invertebrate organisms by interfering with the endocrine systems. Large efforts have recently been devoted to dissect the mechanisms of action of xenobiotics in aquatic species, with the ultimate aim of detecting and controlling the effects of chemical exposure on the aquatic ecosystem and humans. In the present paper, males of a marine species, the black goby (Gobius niger), were treated with estrogenic and dioxin-like compounds commonly discharged into the environment from industry, agriculture, and urban waste such as nonylphenol (NP) and beta-naphthoflavone (beta-NF). Their effects were compared with those induced by estradiol (E2), analyzing the expression of biomarkers commonly used in ecotoxicological studies such as vitellogenin (VTG) and cytochrome P4501A1. The treatment with NP induced the synthesis of the female specific protein VTG in males, showing its estrogenic activity. NP and E2 lowered cytochrome P4501A1 basal levels while beta-NF determined a significant rise of its expression. The detoxification pathway was investigated, and the most relevant finding of this paper was the evidence that cytochrome P4501A1 inhibition by estrogen and estrogen-like compounds is mediated through the activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor.     

The microflora of fermented nixtamalized corn

Nixtamalization is a traditional process that improves the nutritional quality of corn. To provide a means of utilizing the nutritional benefits of nixtamalized corn and improve product acceptability, lactic acid fermentation was applied. The objective of the study was to study the microbial profile and establish the important lactobacilli of fermenting nixtamalized corn dough. Two batches of cleaned whole corn were subjected to the process of nixtamalization, using two concentrations of lime (0.5 or 1.0%), milled, made into a dough (50% moisture) and fermented spontaneously for 72 h. A control sample was prepared without alkaline treatment. pH and titratable acidity of the dough were measured. Aerobic mesophiles, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and molds were enumerated on Plate Count Agar (PCA), deMan, Rogossa and Sharpe (MRS) Agar and Malt Extract Agar (MEA), respectively. The identity of lactobacilli present was established at the species level using API 50 CHL. The pH of all the fermenting systems decreased with fermentation time with concomitant increase in titratable acidity. Lactic acid bacteria in numbers of 1.6 x 10(9), 2.3 x 10(9) and 1.8 x 10(9) cfu/g, respectively yeasts and molds, and numbers of 8.0 x 10(7), 5.0 x 10(5) and 1.7 x 10(5) cfu/g, respectively were observed in the control and the two nixtamalized (0.5% and 1.0% lime) samples after 48 h of fermentation. Lactobacilli identified in the fermenting nixtamalized corn dough were Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus cellobiosus as well as Pediococcus spp. The study demonstrates that nixtamalized corn though alkaline in nature can be subjected to spontaneous fermentation to produce a sour product.     

Engineering substrate specificity of O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase for specific protein labeling in living cells

Fusion proteins of human O(6)-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) can be specifically labeled with a wide variety of synthetic probes in mammalian cells; this makes them an attractive tool for studying protein function. However, to avoid undesired labeling of endogenous wild-type AGT (wtAGT), the specific labeling of AGT fusion proteins has been restricted to AGT-deficient mammalian cell lines. We present here the synthesis of an inhibitor of wtAGT and the generation of AGT mutants that are resistant to this inhibitor. This enabled the inactivation of wtAGT and specific labeling of fusion proteins of the AGT mutant in vitro and in living cells. The ability to specifically label AGT fusion proteins in the presence of endogenous AGT, after brief incubation of the cells with a small-molecule inhibitor, should significantly broaden the scope of application of AGT fusion proteins for studying protein function in living cells.     

Recycling of hazardous solid waste material using high-temperature solar process heat. 2. Reactor design and experimentation

A novel high-temperature solar chemical reactor is proposed for the thermal recycling of hazardous solid waste material using concentrated solar power. It features two cavities in series, with the inner one functioning as the solar absorber and the outer one functioning as the reaction chamber. The solar reactor can handle thermochemical processes at temperatures above 1,300 K involving multiphases and controlled atmospheres. It further allows for batch or continuous mode of operation and for easy adjustment of the residence time of the reactants to match the kinetics of the reaction. A 10-kW solar reactor prototype was designed and tested for the carbothermic reduction of electric arc furnace dusts (EAFD). The reactor was subjected to mean solar flux intensities of 2,000 kW m(-2) and operated in both batch and continuous mode within the temperature range of 1,120-1,400 K. Extraction of over 90% of the toxic compounds originally contained in the EAFD was achieved while the condensable products of the off-gas contained mainly Zn, Pb, and Cl. The use of concentrated solar energy as the source of process heat offers the possibility of converting hazardous solid waste material into valuable commodities for processes in closed and sustainable material cycles.     

Declining seroprevalence in a very large HIV epidemic: injecting drug users in New York City, 1991 to 1996

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed recent trends in HIV seroprevalence among injecting drug users in New York City. METHODS: We analyzed temporal trends in HIV seroprevalence from 1991 through 1996 in 5 studies of injecting drug users recruited from a detoxification program, a methadone maintenance program, research storefronts in the Lower East Side and Harlem areas, and a citywide network of sexually transmitted disease clinics. A total of 11,334 serum samples were tested. RESULTS: From 1991 through 1996, HIV seroprevalence declined substantially among subjects in all 5 studies: from 53% to 36% in the detoxification program, from 45% to 29% in the methadone program, from 44% to 22% at the Lower East Side storefront, from 48% to 21% at the Harlem storefront, and from 30% to 21% in the sexually transmitted disease clinics (all P < .002 by chi 2 tests for trend). CONCLUSIONS: The reductions in HIV seroprevalence seen among injecting drug users in New York City from 1991 through 1996 indicate a new phase in this large HIV epidemic. Potential explanatory factors include the loss of HIV-seropositive individuals through disability and death and lower rates of risk behavior leading to low HIV incidence.     

Tribute to Tamara Dembo: May 28, 1942-October 17, 1993.

Item memorializes Tamara Dembo as having had a profound influence on the field of rehabiltation psychology, both as a leader since its early beginnings and as a teacher of critical ideas in rehabilitation. She was one of the founders of the "National Council on Psychological Aspects of Physical Disability" when it became a special interest group of APA in 1949 and then Division 22 in 1958. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Isolated heart myocytes: ultrastructural case study technique

We have developed a method for performing case studies of heart muscle cells enzymatically isolated from the ventricular walls of rats that is a simple and inexpensive adaptation of procedures developed for the examination of monolayers of attached, cultured cells. The technique represents a marked departure from published accounts of electron microscopic studies of pellets or monolayers from a population of potentially heterogeneous isolated myocytes. Here we report the method, which we have used under controlled conditions with 0 mmol and 1 mmol added CaCl₂, to correlate sarcomere length and electrical stimulatibility in the living state with ultrastructural features that include the relative disposition of myofilaments and the integrity of the cell coat. The degree of shrinkage during the preparative steps is less than 5%, as directly determined from photographs of striations in the living, fixed, and embedded states.     

Relaxation of rapidly quenched metallic glasses: Effect of the relaxation state on the slow low temperature dynamics

The relaxation spectrum of rapidly quenched Mg₆₅Cu₂₅Y₁₀ metallic glass ribbons is studied by mechanical spectroscopy at temperatures below and around the glass transition. The comparison between hyper-quenched and relaxed samples is used to examine the origin of the low temperature “excess wing” of internal friction commonly observed in mechanical spectroscopy of metallic glasses. The results show that the excess wing can be attributed to access of the system to the broad α-relaxation process while evidence of secondary relaxations is not found. This suggests that in this glassy system the activation energies of structural relaxation and low temperature deformation are directly related to the activation energy of the main relaxation process of the glassy state.     

Low temperature synthesis of magnetite and maghemite nanoparticles

We report on the synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles below 100 degrees C by a simple chemical protocol. The uniqueness of the method lies in the use of Ferrous ammonium sulphate (in conjugation with FeCl3) which helps maintain the stability of Fe2+ state in the reaction sequence thereby controlling the phase formation. Hexamine was added as the stabilizer. The nanoparticles synthesized at three different temperatures viz, 5 degrees, 27 degrees, and 95 degrees C are characterized by several techniques. Generally, when a mixture of Fe3+ and Fe2+ is added to sodium hydroxide, alpha-Fe2O3 (the anti-ferromagnetic phase) is formed after the dehydration process of the hydroxide. In our case however, the phases formed at all the three temperatures were found to be ferro (ferri) magnetic, implying modification of the formation chemistry due to the specifics of our method. The nanoparticles synthesized at the lowest temperature exhibit magnetite phase, while increase in growth temperature to 95 degrees C leads to the maghemite phase.