Interrelations of social support measures: Theoretical and practical implications.

To obtain a clearer picture of what constitutes social support, we conducted three studies to compare measures of different conceptions of social support. Relations of these instruments to various personality measures were also investigated. Subdividing the construct into discrete functions did not add to the sensitivity of the indices. Measures of received support and support networks were not strongly related to most of the perceived available support measures. Interview and questionnaire approaches were similar in the information they evoked about close supportive relationships. The results suggest that measures of perceived available support, regardless of the way the instruments attempt to break down the construct, generally assess the extent to which an individual is accepted, loved, and involved in relationships in which communication is open. Psychometric characteristics of the measures were associated with differential sensitivity over the range of supportive relationships. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed with emphasis on the common core underlying social support indices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Controlled prospective longitudinal study of women with cancer: II. Psychological outcomes.

The incidence and etiology of major life difficulties for women with survivable cancer were studied. Women with early stage cancer (n?=?65) were assessed after diagnosis but prior to treatment and reassessed at 4, 8, and 12 mo posttreatment. Two matched comparison groups, women diagnosed and treated for benign disease (n?=?22) and healthy women (n?=?60), were also assessed longitudinally. Results for 4 life areas are reported: (a) Emotional response to the life-threatening diagnosis and anticipation of treatment was characterized by depressed, anxious, and confused moods, whereas the response for women with benign disease was anxious only; these responses were transitory. (b) There was no evidence for a higher incidence of relationship dissolution or poorer marital adjustment; however, 30% of the women treated for disease reported that their partners may have had some sexual difficulty. (c) There was no evidence for impaired social adjustment. (d) Women treated for cancer retained their employment; however, their involvement was significantly reduced during recovery. Data suggest "islands" of significant life disruption following cancer, which do not appear to portend global adjustment vulnerability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Salmonella meningitis: clinical experience of third-generation cephalosporins

Fifteen paediatric patients with Salmonella meningitis were retrospectively reviewed. Presenting symptoms and signs included fever, vomiting, seizures, poor activity, diarrhoea and bulging anterior fontanelle in most patients. Seven out of eight patients with prolonged fever for > 10 days had neurologic sequelae; therefore, prolonged fever is a significant prognostic factor of a poor outcome (p < 0.005). All 15 patients had a brain ultrasound or computed tomography in the acute stage and 11 patients had abnormal findings. The 14 surviving patients were treated with a third-generation cephalosporin for at least 3 weeks. Seven patients (47%) made complete recoveries; two of them were treated solely with a third-generation cephalosporin. Only one mortality (6%) occurred and there were no relapses. In conclusion, high frequencies of prolonged fever, neuroimaging abnormalities and neurologic sequelae were seen in patients with Salmonella meningitis treated with third-generation cephalosporins.     

Lipid peroxides, glutathione, gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase activities in several tissues of rats following water-immersion stress

The effects of water-immersion restraint (WIR) stress on lipid peroxide, glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS) and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GT) activities in several tissues of rats were investigated. Hepatic and intestinal lipid peroxide levels were increased significantly in the WIR stress group. In both tissues, GSH levels were significantly decreased and gamma-GCS activity was significantly increased. In addition, gamma-GT activities remained unchanged in both tissues following WIR stress. However, lipid peroxide and GSH levels did not change in the stomach and brain in the WIR stress group compared to the control group. These results suggest that lipid peroxidation, but not the depression of GSH synthesis and/or the increase of GSH breakdown may be a factor in hepatic and intestinal GSH reduction following WIR stress.     

The residential therapeutic caring community.

The residential therapeutic caring community (RTCC) for adolescents combines psychotherapeutic principles of the professional model and self-help concept of the therapeutic community by using the collective resources of members to mobilize peer pressure. The RTCC is a safe, structured, supportive treatment environment that employs a confrontation, teaching, interpretative, and reasoning approach and uses the psychotherapeutic principles of reality therapy and existential thought. In the RTCC, the staff serve as mentors and role models, and they demonstrate their concern by maintaining high expectations for immediate improved behavior. The personal qualities necessary for a psychotherapist working in an RTCC are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of annealing on the structure and electrical properties of sulfur-doped amorphous c-BN layers

Undoped and sulfur doped amorphous cubic boron nitride (a-cBN) layers were deposited on to silicon substrates by reactive pulse plasma (RPP) method. Subsequently they were annealed at 475, 500 and 700 K for 1 h in pure nitrogen atmosphere. In this study structural and electronic properties of unannealed and annealed layers were investigated. The results show that a consequence of annealing is formation of microstructural stable nanocrystalline cubic boron nitride film as well as substitutional location of introducedin situ donor impurities. This resulted in creation of a-cBN(n-type)-Si(p-type) heterojunction.     

Cathodic reduction of acids in dimethylformamide on platinum

A linear correlation was shown to exist between the acidity and the cyclic voltammetric half-potential of the reduction of acids in DMF for carboxylic and N-acids in the pK_a range of 6-16. Chlorophenols are reduced at slightly lower potentials giving a separate parallel line. Applying the obtained equation and employing the same method to literature data in DMSO, the pK_a values for conjugate aids of DMF and DMSO can be calculated, showing DMSO·H⁺ to be more acidic (pK_a = 2.9) than DMF·H⁺ (pK_a = 5.7). The analysis of cyclovoltammetric data demonstrated that a CE mechanism operates in the reduction of strong acids, including the conjugate acid of DMF. Weaker acids are reduced by direct discharge or a mixed mechanism.     

Cortical cholinergic impairment and behavioral deficits produced by kainic acid lesions of rat magnocellular basal forebrain.

The rat magnocellular basal forebrain (MNBF) is homologous to the human nucleus basalis of Meynert, a structure implicated in the cholinergic hypothesis of cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the present study, 18 male Sprague-Dawley rats with kainic acid lesions in the MNBF were compared with 6 unoperated controls, 10 sham-operated controls, and 6 controls injected with kainic acid in the cortical area directly above the MNBF. MNBF lesions depleted choline acetyltransferase in cortex but not in striatum or hippocampus. Cortical dopamine levels were unchanged; serotonin levels were unchanged in hippocampus and parietal cortex but decreased in frontal cortex. Compared with controls, MNBF-lesioned Ss were impaired in 24-hr retention, but not acquisition, of a passive avoidance task with escapable footshock. The groups did not differ in mean number of daily avoidances on a barpress active avoidance task, although learning was slower in MNBF-lesioned Ss. In a serial spatial discrimination reversal test, MNBF-lesioned Ss performed significantly worse than controls. This model may be useful for studying the role of the cholinergic system in memory and possibly for developing treatment strategies to alleviate the cognitive dysfunction of AD. (63 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance.

Addresses issues related to partial measurement invariance using a tutorial approach based on the {lisrel} confirmatory factor analytic model. Specifically, we demonstrate procedures for (a) using "sensitivity analyses" to establish stable and substantively well-fitting baseline models, (b) determining partially invariant measurement parameters, and (c) testing for the invariance of factor covariance and mean structures, given partial measurement invariance. We also show, explicitly, the transformation of parameters from an all-X to an all-Y model specification, for purposes of testing mean structures. These procedures are illustrated with multidimensional self-concept data from low (n?=?248) and high (n?=?582) academically tracked high school adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)