The Taxometrics of Marriage: Is Marital Discord Categorical?

This study used taxometric methods to investigate the latent structure of the construct of marital adjustment as indexed by the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT; H. J. Locke & K. M. Wallace, 1959). That is, the authors examined whether marital adjustment is best thought of as a "dimension" of adjustment only or whether there also are categorical differences between "discordant" and "nondiscordant" couples. Analyses of data provided by 447 couples married for approximately 2 years provided converging evidence for a latent category of marital discord, suggesting that marital discord can be viewed as a qualitatively distinct state experienced by approximately 20% of the couples in the current sample. Implications for marital assessment are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editor’s and president’s column.

After 10 years as editor of the Consulting Psychology Bulletin cum Consulting Psychology Journal, the time has come to pass the baton to the new editor, Dick Diedrich. This will be my last editor's column. Without getting maudlin, it has been a memorable 10 years for me and, I hope, the journal. Taking over a well-edited divisional newsletter from Paul Lloyd, I shared my vision of creating a journal devoted to consultation with the divisional leadership after several years on the job. They were enthusiastic and very supportive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

用ePCI-X使设计现代化

从PCI/ISA到双总线ePCI-X, 一种设计重用方法 　　在当今的PCI/ISA背板中,显然PC芯片组ISA插槽的数量在减少,PCI插槽的数量在增多.……     

Effect of the novel antiplatelet agent cilostazol on plasma lipoproteins in patients with intermittent claudication

Cilostazol is an antiplatelet agent and vasodilator marketed in Japan for treatment of ischemic symptoms of peripheral vascular disease. It is currently being evaluated in the United States for treatment of symptomatic intermittent claudication (IC). Cilostazol has been shown to improve walking distance in patients with IC. In addition to its reported vasodilator and antiplatelet effects, cilostazol has been proposed to have beneficial effects on plasma lipoproteins. We examined the effect of cilostazol versus placebo on plasma lipoproteins in 189 patients with IC. After 12 weeks of therapy with 100 mg cilostazol BID, plasma triglycerides decreased 15% (P<0.001). Cilostazol also increased plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (10%) and apolipoprotein (apo) A1 (5.7%) significantly (P<0.001 and P<0.01, respectively). Both HDL3 and HDL2 subfractions were increased by cilostazol; however, the greatest percentage increase was observed in HDL2. Individuals with baseline hypertriglyceridemia (>140 mg/dL) experienced the greatest changes in both HDL-C and triglycerides with cilostazol treatment. In that subset of patients, HDL-C was increased 12.2% and triglycerides were decreased 23%. With cilostazol, there was a trend (3%) toward decreased apoB as well as increased apoA1, resulting in a significant (9.8%, P<0.002) increase in the apoA1 to apoB ratio. Low density lipoprotein cholesterol and lipoprotein(a) concentrations were unaffected. Cilostazol treatment resulted in a 35% increase in treadmill walking time (P=0.0015) and a 9.03% increase in ankle-brachial index (P<0.001). These results indicate that in addition to improving the symptoms of IC, cilostazol also favorably modifies plasma lipoproteins in patients with peripheral arterial disease. The mechanism of this effect is currently unknown.     

Risk factors for cerebral hemorrhage in the era of well-controlled hypertension. Melbourne Risk Factor Study (MERFS) Group

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Given that hypertension is now relatively well controlled and use of antiplatelet agents has increased, our primary aims were to investigate the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) associated with hypertension and use of antiplatelet agents. METHODS: In this city-wide case-control study, 370 consecutive cases of primary ICH, verified by CT or autopsy, were identified from one of 13 Melbourne hospitals. Ten subjects (or their next of kin) could not be located and 29 refused to participate, resulting in 331 eventual cases. Patients were aged between 18 and 80 years and had no prior stroke. Population-based control subjects were individually age- (+/- 5 years), sex-, and geographically matched to subject cases. A questionnaire administered to participants (or next of kin) elicited information about prior exposure to various potential risk factors. RESULTS: Hypertension approximately doubled the risk of ICH (odds ratio, 2.55; 95% confidence interval, 1.72 to 3.79). The use of aspirinlike drugs, in doses used for secondary prevention of ischemic stroke or cardiac disease, was not associated with an increased risk of ICH (odds ratio, 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.20 to 2.21). Factors associated with a reduced risk of ICH were a history of cardiovascular disease, arthritis, or high cholesterol level; being moderately overweight or using hormone replacement therapy; and drinking coffee. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension was the most important risk factor for ICH but not as high as previously reported, nor was it higher than that reported for ischemic stroke. There was no evidence for any association between the use of aspirinlike drugs and ICH.     

Liver failure associated with mitochondrial DNA depletion

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Liver failure in infancy can result from several disorders of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. In some patients, levels of mitochondrial DNA are markedly reduced, a phenomenon referred to as mitochondrial DNA depletion. To facilitate diagnosis of this condition, we have reviewed the clinical and pathological features in five patients with mitochondrial DNA depletion. METHODS: Cases were identified by preparing Southern blots of DNA from muscle and liver, hybridising with appropriate probes and quantifying mitochondrial DNA relative to nuclear DNA. RESULTS: All our patients with mitochondrial DNA depletion died of liver failure. Other problems included hypotonia, hypoglycaemia, neurological abnormalities (including Leigh syndrome) and cataracts. Liver histology showed geographic areas of fatty change, bile duct proliferation, collapse of liver architecture and fibrosis; some cells showed decreased cytochrome oxidase activity. Muscle from three patients showed mitochondrial proliferation, with loss of cytochrome oxidase activity in some fibres but not in others; in these cases, muscle mitochondrial DNA levels were less than 5% of the median control value. The remaining two patients (from a single pedigree) had normal muscle histology and histochemistry associated with less severe depletion of mitochondrial DNA in muscle. CONCLUSIONS: Liver failure is common in patients with mitochondrial DNA depletion. Associated clinical features often include neuromuscular disease. Liver and muscle histology can be helpful in making the diagnosis. Mitochondrial DNA levels should be measured whenever liver failure is thought to have resulted from respiratory chain disease.     

An investigation of handheld device use by older adults with age-related macular degeneration

This study investigates factors affecting handheld human - computer interaction (HCI) for older adults with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). This is largely an uncharted territory, as empirical investigations of HCI concerning users with visual dysfunction and/or older adults have focused primarily on desktop computers. For this study, participants with AMD and visually healthy controls used a handheld computer to search, select and manipulate familiar playing card icons under varied icon set sizes, inter-icon spacing and auditory feedback conditions. While all participants demonstrated a high rate of task completion, linear regression revealed several relationships between task efficiency and the interface, user characteristics and ocular factors. Two ocular measures, severity of AMD and contrast sensitivity, were found to be highly predictive of efficiency. The outcomes of this work reveal that users with visual impairments can effectively interact with graphical user interfaces on small displays in the presence of low-cost, easily implemented design interventions. Furthermore, results demonstrate that the detrimental influence of AMD and contrast sensitivity on handheld technology interaction can be offset by such interventions. This study presents a rich data set and is intended to inspire future work characterizing and modeling the interactions of individuals with visual impairments with non-traditional information technology platforms and contexts.     

Social problem solving and community integration in postacute rehabilitation outpatients with traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To enhance understanding of the role that social problem solving (SPS) plays in community integration following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Study Design: Regression analysis. Participants: Forty-five adults with TBI participating in higher level outpatient cognitive rehabilitation and 15 uninjured adults. Main Outcome Measures: Measures of community integration, problem-solving ability, and SPS self-appraisal and performance. Results: Individuals with TBI demonstrated poorer problem-solving as measured by both neuropsychological and SPS methods; however, the largest effect' size was observed for SPS self-appraisal. Only SPS self-appraisal predicted a significant proportion of the variance in community integration. Conclusions: It is important to assess brain-injured persons' confidence in their ability to cope with problems. A focus on objective test scores alone may lead to underdetection of disabling problem-solving deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A temperature-dependent model for the complex dielectric function of GaAs

In this work, we discuss a temperature-dependent model for the complex dielectric function for GaAs valid for the temperature range 31°C ≤ T ≤ 634°C. We describe our model, which is an extension of the critical point parabolic band method. This is a phenomenological method which is based on the physical processes occurring in the semiconductor, and has been previously demonstrated for composition-dependent models of the dielectric function for lattice-matched materials systems. We demonstrate the quality of the model in fitting optical data for individual temperatures, and compare our results to other established models. The data used for each fitting ranges from 1.25 to 4.5 eV. Using results obtained from the individual fits, we generate a temperature-dependent model that is valid for the range of temperatures given above. Also, we show how this model can be used to accurately determine the temperature (±2.3°C) of a material whose dielectric response has been obtained but was not included when generating the model.