Perception of mistuned harmonics in complex sounds by the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana).

The ability of 73 male bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) to detect single mistuned harmonics in an otherwise periodic signal was studied. Bullfrogs in their natural environment were presented with playbacks of synthetic signals, resembling their species advertisement calls, that differed in the frequency of 1 harmonic component (out of 22). There were significant differences in the number and latency of the males' evoked vocal responses to these stimuli, suggesting that males were sensitive to the differences between the sounds. Differences in envelope shape (rate and depth of amplitude modulation) produced by the harmonic mistunings may underlie the differences in response. Frogs, like birds and humans, can discriminate sounds on the basis of harmonic structure, indicating that this is a general perceptual trait shared among vertebrates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions in marriage: Examining the entailment model in dyadic context.

The entailment model of attributions is examined for the first time using a dyadic approach and longitudinal data. In a sample of 229 married partners with children, causal attributions were distinguished empirically from responsibility attributions and, consistent with the entailment model, the effect of causal attributions on conflict was mediated through attributions of responsibility. Only 1 path was influenced by spouse gender. Examination of cross-spouse effects revealed significant effects and provided a better fit than a model with no cross-spouse effects. The importance of including cross-spouse effects in attributional models is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developing community capacity to treat post-deployment mental health problems: A public health initiative.

Meeting the mental health needs of Veterans returning from recent deployment requires the coordinated effort of partnerships across Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and state and local communities. Although the proportion of Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who have accessed VA health care has grown, the majority of these new combat Veterans have yet to present for VA care. The stigma associated with reporting a deployment-related mental health problem may be one factor in this, but access to treatment may also be an important concern among the one third of American Veterans who live in rural or highly rural areas. As these Veterans are more likely to present to a primary care, faith-based or mental health provider in their own community, partnerships between community providers, DoD, and VA are of critical importance in ensuring appropriate care, regardless of treatment setting. In an effort to improve services and access to services, especially to rural Veterans, an educational public health initiative was created to educate community providers about military culture, deployment-related mental health issues, VA resources, and evidence-based treatments. We describe the development, dissemination and evaluation of this initiative, as well as lessons learned for future similar endeavors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diagnostic sleep testing in the evaluation of snoring and sleep apnea

The dilemma frequently encountered by the dentist wishing to offer an appliance for treatment of snoring or sleep apnea is whether there is a need for extensive testing of patients who present with a complaint of snoring. This article describes diagnostic sleep testing in the evaluation of patients with snoring and sleep apnea.     

Contextual amplification of pubertal transition effects on deviant peer affiliation and externalizing behavior among African American children.

The effects of the pubertal transition on behavior problems and its interaction with family and neighborhood circumstances were examined with a sample of 867 African American children 10-12 years of age. Pubertal development status, pubertal timing, and primary caregivers' parenting behaviors were significantly related to affiliation with deviant peers and externalizing behaviors. Externalizing behavior among early-maturing children was associated positively with primary caregivers' use of harsh-inconsistent discipline and negatively with nurturant-involved parenting practices. Disadvantaged neighborhood conditions were significantly associated with deviant peer affiliation. The effect of pubertal transition varied according to family and neighborhood conditions: Early-maturing children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods were significantly more likely to affiliate with deviant peers. Early-maturing children with harsh and inconsistent parents were significantly more likely to have externalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting Behaviors and the Occurrence and Co-Occurrence of Depressive Symptoms and Conduct Problems Among African American Children.

The occurrence and co-occurrence of depressive symptoms and conduct problems were examined in the context of parenting behaviors in a community-based sample of 897 African American children and their primary caregivers using a multi-informant, longitudinal design. Parenting behaviors and clinical symptoms were assessed in 2 waves, when the children averaged 10.5 and 12.3 years of age. Parenting behaviors differed significantly according to a child's symptomatology; (a) that is, when a child exhibited no depressive or conduct problems, (b) depressive problems only, (c) conduct problems only, or (d) co-occurring depressive and conduct problems. When parenting behaviors were examined according to changes in children's symptom levels, children whose symptoms increased over time reported increases in hostility and harsh-inconsistent parenting and decreases in warmth and nurturant-involved parenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental studies on substituted copper phthalocyanine Langmuir-Blodgett films

Using the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, novel copper bis(3-hydroxypropyloxy-hexaisopentyloxy)phthalocyanine molecules were deposited on quartz substrates. It is argued on the basis of pressure-area isotherms that films are deposited as monolayers. Optical absorption spectroscopy suggests that the deposited films were uniform. A.c. measurements were performed on LB films in a planar configuration at different temperatures. The power-law dependence of the conductivity on frequency is explained in terms of electronic conduction through hopping over a coulombic barrier 0.66 eV high. The Debye relaxation time is estimated to be of the order 811 µs at room temperature.     

Concatemeric intermediates of equine herpesvirus type 1 DNA replication contain frequent inversions of adjacent long segments of the viral genome

A reliable reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of bromocriptine (BCT) in plasma and eye tissues. The BCT and propranolol, added as an internal standard (I.S.), were extracted by a liquid-liquid technique followed by an aqueous back-extraction, allowing injection of an aqueous solvent into a 4-microm Nova-Pak C18 column (150x3.9 mm I.D.). The mobile phase was a mixture of 30 parts of acetonitrile and 70 parts of 0.2% triethylamine (pH 3) at a flow-rate of 1 ml/min. Fluorescence detection was at an excitation wavelength of 330 nm and an emission wavelength of 405 nm. The retention times of I.S. and BCT were 4.1 and 11.6 min, respectively. The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range 0.2-10 microg/l for plasma (r>0.999) and vitreous humour (r>0.997) and 1-50 microg/l for aqueous humour (r>0.985). The limit of quantification was 0.2 microg/l for plasma and vitreous humour using a 1-ml sample and was 1 microg/l for aqueous humour using a 0.2-ml sample. The quality control samples were reproducible with acceptable accuracy and precision. The within-day recovery (n=3) was 100-102% for plasma, 91-106% for aqueous humour and 96-111% for vitreous humour. The between-day recovery (n=9) was 90-114% for plasma, 83-115% for aqueous humour and 90-105% for vitreous humour. The within-day precision (n=3) and the between-day precision (n=9) were 1.7-7.0% and 8.1-13.6%, respectively. No interferences from endogenous substances were observed. Taken together, the above simple, sensitive and reproducible high-performance liquid chromatography assay method was suitable for the determination of BCT in plasma and eye tissues following ocular application of BCT for the therapy of myopia.