Comment on "The case of William McDougall."

Agrees that R. A. Jones's (see record 1988-03145-001) account of W. McDougall's decline and fall in the field of psychology in terms of the elaboration-likelihood model of R. E. Petty and J. T. Caciappo (1986) is plausible. However, McDougall's negative image surely had more important sources than the mass media. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sleep disorders in children.

Many children experience some type of sleep problem. Often, these are transient problems with no long-lasting sequelae. But in certain cases, sleep problems may significantly impact on functioning and well-being. Sleep disorders in children can be classified into 2 major categories. Dyssomnias include those disorders that result in difficulty either initiating or maintaining sleep or involve excessive sleepiness. Parasomnias are disorders that disrupt sleep after it has been initiated but do not result in complaints of insomnia or excessive sleepiness. Even though sleep disorders in children are common, not enough is known. This article reviews the dyssomnias and parasomnias experienced by children, discusses methodological limitations of the studies reviewed, and presents future directions for research in this field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of the ARI program: a health facility survey in Simbu, Papua, New Guinea

The purpose of this health facility survey was to evaluate how the ARI (Acute Respiratory Infection) Program actually works in an everyday, non-research setting. We surveyed 33 clinics and aid posts, including 223 children with ARI and 104 health workers. In this primary health care setting, health workers diagnosed 37% of ARI cases as pneumonia, compared to 69% in the same children assessed independently by trained ARI surveyors using Papua New Guinea case management, which defines fast breathing as > or = 40 per minute for children 1 month to 5 years of age. Agreement between health workers and surveyors was reasonably good (kappa > or = 0.6) for the history of symptoms, but was poor (kappa < 0.3) for diagnoses, treatments and signs such as respiratory rate (RR) and chest indrawing. Health workers counted the RR in only 14% of cases in the survey. In essence, we found that health workers in Simbu are not practising ARI case management. We conclude that case management guidelines which define fast breathing as a rate of > or = 40 per minute classify too many obviously well children as pneumonia. Furthermore, we encountered difficulties in measuring RR accurately, and documented marked inter-observer variation in this setting. Consequently, we are concerned about the ARI Program's excessive reliance on RR and rigid protocols at the expense of clinical sense. Case management guidelines developed for aid post orderlies or village health workers may need to be modified, or used differently by experienced nurses at health centres, who recognize sick children better than by following a standardized protocol. Despite better overall ARI knowledge and practice by nurses, we could demonstrate an impact of the ARI Training Program only on community health workers (CHWs). In order to improve ARI clinical practice, we recommend that the ARI Program in PNG initiates regular on-site clinical supervision of nurses and CHWs at health centres.     

Toward scientific and professional responsibility.

The author examines 8 forms of irresponsibility in the social situation of psychology: fixation on means, absolutism of means, absolutism of ends, escape into relativism, isolation of conflicting values, token payments to conscience, parochialism, and professional vanity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brewster smith replies to James MacKay.

Replies to J. MacKay's commentary (see record 1990-58561-001) on the author's original article (see record 1979-25020-001) that examines selfhood as the criterial features of the human condition from 3 perspectives: evolutionary or phylogenetic, cross-cultural and transhistorical, and developmental or ontogenetic. The current author notes that MacKay's comments on the assets of age, actual and potential, are in tune with what he believes is our emerging understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thermal resistance between powdered cerium magnesium nitrate and liquid helium at very low temperatures

Experiments have been performed from magnetic temperatures of 2–20 mK on the effect of minute⁴He impurities and a magnetic field on the thermal resistance between powdered cerium magnesium nitrate (CMN) and liquid³He. The thermal resistance decreases with decreasingT and increasing small field but is increased dramatically at a givenT by the addition of roughly a monolayer of⁴He. The resistance is interpreted as resulting from a surface magnetic coupling between CMN and liquid³He.This work has been supported by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission under Contract No. AT(04-3)-34, P.A. 143, and by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Aerospace Research, United States Air Force, under Grant No. AF-AFOSR-631-67A.     

MR angiography in the preoperative evaluation of abdominal aortic aneurysms: a preliminary study

PURPOSE: The ability of magnetic resonance (MR) angiography to depict visceral and renal vessels was evaluated in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). PATIENTS AND METHODS: MR sequences (sagittal T1-weighted, two-dimensional coronal, and three-dimensional axial time-of-flight) were compared in a prospective blinded fashion with conventional angiograms obtained preoperatively in 23 patients with AAAs. Results were correlated with surgical findings when available. RESULTS: Operative aortic clamp site was correctly predicted with conventional angiography in 95% of patients and with MR angiography in 86% (P > .1). Aneurysm neck measurements obtained with the two modalities were within 1 cm in 91% of cases. With conventional angiography as the standard of reference, 96% of all renal arteries were identified on MR angiograms but 36% of accessory arteries were missed. MR angiography enabled identification of patients who had at least one renal artery stenosis greater than 50% with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 89%. For identifying individual renal artery, celiac artery, and superior mesenteric artery stenoses of similar severity, the sensitivity and specificity were 67% and in excess of 96%, respectively. The celiac artery could not be evaluated in one case. CONCLUSION: The results of this small study suggest that the role of MR angiography in the preoperative evaluation of AAA warrants further investigation.     

The epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae invasive disease in Scotland prior to immunisation

Immunisation against Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib) was added to the UK childhood vaccination schedule on 1 October 1992. Based on reports of laboratory isolations from blood and/or CSF, the epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae invasive disease in Scotland during the last full year before immunisation (1991) is reviewed. In children aged under five years the estimated incidence of infection (25.5 per 100,000) is higher than that previously reported from Scotland, but lower than estimates from Glasgow and other UK studies. However, the age-sex and seasonal distribution is consistent with previous surveys. As in England and Wales, there appears to be regional variation in incidence within Scotland, although this may simply reflect differences in the completeness of laboratory reporting. In addition to 113 laboratory reports of H. influenzae invasive infection, a retrospective search of hospital discharge data and death registrations identified a further 51 and two cases respectively, some of whom may be genuine. In spite of reservations about hospital discharge data, this raises the possibility that there may be an element of under-reporting by laboratories. With the advent of record linkage of hospital discharge data, it would be prudent to monitor the impact of the Hib vaccine programme using this data source in addition to laboratory reports and death registrations.