It's about timing and change: Pubertal transition effects on symptoms of major depression among African American youths.

Effects of early physical maturation and accelerated pubertal changes on symptoms of major depression were examined in 639 African American children. Three rival hypotheses, early timing, off-time, and stressful change, were tested using 2 waves of data (mean ages = 11 and 13 years). The pubertal effect operates differently according to children's gender and age. For girls, early maturation was consistently associated with elevated levels of depressive symptoms. For boys, early maturers manifested elevated levels of depression only at age 11, but these symptoms subsided by age 13. Boys who experienced accelerated pubertal growth over time displayed elevated symptom levels. Results support the early timing hypothesis for girls and the stressful change hypothesis for boys. Time at assessment is critical when examining boys' pubertal transition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bench-scale evaluations and mechanistic studies of intumescent/fire-protective coatings for polyvinyl chloride nitrile rubber

The object of this study was to identify, for future large-scale testing, and adequate fire-protective coating for the substrate, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) nitrile rubber (MIL-P-15280 Rev H). Fifteen fire protective coatings which included ten intumescent, two ablatives, two fire retardants and one photon diffusive coatings were evaluated using bench-scale thermal insults. To discern the possible mechanism(s) whereby the coatings offer fire protection, the effect of radiant heat versus the flame source employed was investigated and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the neat coatings was performed. In selected cases, the effect of coating thickness and repeatability of the results were evaluated. The differences in coating effectiveness, and the varied repeatability in three of the four cases examined, focus on the inherent complexity of intumescence, as well as on the importance of scaled-up testing of coatings that appeared promising. Thermogravimetric analyses of the coatings indicate that two selected TGA measurements/parameters, when used in conjunction, appear useful in characterizing mechanistic differences between the less effective and more effective coatings. Based on the rigorous criterion adopted, one candidate (a water-based intumescent coating at 100 mil (2.54 mm) thickness) appears promising for the substrate, PVC nitrile rubber. Its effectiveness is attributable to it exhibiting good insulative and re-radiative properties and an apparent low susceptibility to crack formation.     

A stability study of aqueous solution of norfloxacin

A reversed-phase ion-pair high performance liquid chromatographic assay, which can simultaneously determine norfloxacin and its decomposition products, formyl piperazine and ethylenediamine analogs in aqueous media, has been developed. This assay has been applied to a stability study of norfloxacin in aqueous media. The effects of temperature, pH, oxygen and light on norfloxacin have been investigated using a 2³×3 factorial design. Results indicate that oxygen, light, temperature and pH have significant effect on the stability of norfloxacin solution. Norfloxacin is most stable at acidic and basic pH, in darkness, in the absence of oxygen and at low temperature.     

功率半导体技术能够帮助中国发展更高效和环保的能源系统

中国正在寻求利用半导体技术来改善家用电器和电力设备中的低效率用电的状况，以便节约能源。以中国半导体技术的应用为例，本主题报告说明了硅技术、硅加工工艺以及系统解决方案如何为家用电器、功率设备、PC机和其他的消费类设备领域的设计人员和生产商铺平道路，使得在电力变换和电能利用方面获得更高的效率。     

Internalizing the Societal Costs of Agricultural Production

Societies and social groups within them are becoming aware that food and fibre are not gifts of nature that come to us cost-free from the natural world because their production involves consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources as well as expenses for capital and variable inputs in the production process, plus outlays for transportation, processing, marketing, and food preparation. The essence of food and fibre production is that on one hand, the key production resources (seeds, tubers, soil, manures, and rain water) are renewable resources, thus potentially enabling agriculture to be a highly sustainable activity. On the other hand, agriculture has some actual or potential characteristics of an extractive industry, similar to mining, and accordingly has the potential to be highly unsustainable. In addition, food and fibre production may involve long-term non-environmental costs (e.g. impacts on workers, communities, regions, and consumers) to a greater or lesser degree. In this paper, I use the expression “societal costs” of agriculture to pertain to adverse impacts of agrofood systems on human health, environmental quality, and the welfare and livelihoods of social groups. (A focus on the societal costs of food and fibre production does not, of course, involve a presumption that the benefits of this production, both to humans and non-human portions of the biosphere, are insignificant.)     

Sex Differences in Visuo-Spatial Ability: Task Difficulty, Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff, and Other Performance Factors.

Males have consistently been found to perform better than females on a task that requires the subject to mentally rotate a figure. Recently, Goldstein, Haldane, and Mitchell (1990) suggested that performance factors are operative in explaining sex differences in spatial ability. However, Stumpf (1993) was unable to replicate all of Goldstein et al.'s (1990) findings and to generalize them to other measures of spatial ability. In this study, it was hypothesized (1) that females would take longer to respond and would get fewer correct items than males on a spatial rotation task, and (2) that only females would show a speed-accuracy tradeoff as the difficulty of the spatial task increased from the 90° to 180° rotated conditions. The results confirmed each of these hypotheses. Furthermore, as Stumpf (1993) found, when ratio scores from the number of items correct to number attempted were computed for both males and females, differences in spatial ability were reduced, though still evident. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inaccurate reporting and inappropriate variables: A reply to Vecchio's (1990) examination of cognitive resource theory.

In an article in the Journal of Applied Psychology, R. P. Vecchio (see record 1990-17057-001) purported to test cognitive resource theory (F. E. Fiedler, 1986; Fiedler and J. E. Garcia, 1987). The authors present evidence that Vecchio's article seriously misrepresented previous work on cognitive resource theory and also contained several flaws in methodology that call into question his conclusions regarding the validity of cognitive resource theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of guided imagery and music (GIM) therapy on mood and cortisol in healthy adults.

Healthy adults (N?=?28) participated in a randomized trial of Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM; a depth approach to music psychotherapy) sessions on mood and cortisol. Participants in both GIM and wait-list control conditions completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and donated 15 cc of blood before and after the 13-week intervention period and again at a 6-week follow-up. Split-plot factorial and post hoc analyses demonstrated that after 6 biweekly sessions GIM participants reported significant decreases between pre- and postsession depression, fatigue, and total mood disturbance and had significant decreases in cortisol level by follow-up. Pretest to follow-up decrease in cortisol was significantly associated with decrease in mood disturbance. A short series of GIM sessions may positively affect mood and reduce cortisol levels in healthy adults. Such changes in hormonal regulation may have health implications for chronically stressed people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Medication Adherence and Diabetes Control in Urban African Americans With Type 2 Diabetes.

In 181 urban African Americans with Type 2 diabetes, medication adherence was assessed using a measure designed specifically for an urban, impoverished sociodemographic population. Hemoglobin A1c, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, medication-related beliefs, and depression were assessed. Seventy-four percent of the sample reported adherence to diabetes medication. Adherence, adjusted for age, was associated with lower hemoglobin A1c. The specific behaviors associated with poorer diabetes control were forgetting to take medications and running out of medications. Knowledge of blood glucose goals differed for adherers and nonadherers. Blood pressure and cholesterol medication adherence rates were not associated with actual levels of blood pressure or lipids, respectively. These data suggest that specific medication-taking behaviors are important to diabetes control and constitute logical targets for interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)