Cognitive therapy versus exposure and applied relaxation in social phobia: A randomized controlled trial.

A new cognitive therapy (CT) program was compared with an established behavioral treatment. Sixty-two patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for social phobia were randomly assigned to CT, exposure plus applied relaxation (EXP = AR), or wait-list (WAIT). CT and EXP = AR were superior to WAIT on all measures. On measures of social phobia, CT led to greater improvement than did EXP = AR. Percentages of patients who no longer met diagnostic criteria for social phobia at posttreatment-wait were as follows: 84% in CT, 42% in EXP = AR, and 0% in WAIT. At the 1-year follow-up, differences in outcome persisted. In addition, patients in EXP = AR were more likely to have sought additional treatment. Therapist effects were small and nonsignificant. CT appears to be superior to EXP = AR in the treatment of social phobia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quantitative evaluation of cleaner production and environmental policy toward the co-benefit of greenhouse gas and odor reduction: case study of Tapioca starch industry

Chemical components of airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from a wastewater treatment system of the tapioca industry were identified. Quantitative analysis of the concentrations and the emissions of each chemical were evaluated taking into consideration the difference in atmospheric turbulence over the surface of the wastewater during the day and the nighttime periods. The chamber experiments were performed on-site in order to reflect actual environmental characteristics of the study area. Chemical concentrations were analyzed following the U.S. EPA TO-15 Standard Method. Emissions of each compound were calculated using the box model scheme. It was found that acetaldehyde and acetone were two major compounds of released airborne VOCs from the wastewater treatment system of the tapioca industry. Due to its high organic content, the wastewater treatment facilities of this type of factory generally caused the odor problem to its surrounding communities. These data were then used to evaluate the success of implementing the Clean Development Mechanisms project in this industry. Reduction in the affected area from odor by improving the wastewater treatment system from opened lagoons which is the type of common practice in most of the tapioca factories in the developing countries to the modified covered lagoons was evaluated. These results supported the theory of the co-benefit of managing both local environmental problems and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the implementation of cleaner technology in the agro-industry. This methodology can be applied to reveal and quantify the success of other green efforts particularly in the agro-industry businesses.

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Simulating Parabolic Flight like <Emphasis Type="Italic">g</Emphasis>-Profiles on Ground - A Combination of Centrifuge and Clinostat

Clinostats and centrifuges are widely used to create simulated microgravity or hypergravity, respectively, in order to study the impact of gravity on biosystems. Here, we used a clinostat and a centrifuge in alternating modes of operation in order to create a simulated parabolic flight like g-profile. To our knowledge, it is the first time that both devices were run in connection. In order to test the method, we investigated the production of reactive oxygen species of immune cells (macrophages) during oxidative burst in an on-line kinetic approach, which has been extensively studied under real (parabolic flight) and simulated microgravity (clinostat) as well as under hypergravity conditions (centrifuge). Our results indicate that clinostat and centrifuge can be operated in an alternating way to simulate the repetitive changes of gravity during parabolic flight. Although the switch from one gravity level to the other could not be carried out as quickly as it takes place during actual parabolic flight due to technical and operational reasons, it can be concluded that running experiments in a clinostat aboard a centrifuge on ground are suitable for studying gravity-related phenomena.     

Single Crystals of HgBa2Can?1CunO2n+2+δ (n=1?5) and Layers of HgBa2CuO4+δ Grown at Gas Pressure 10 kbar

Single crystals of Hg-12(n–l) have been grown using high-pressure gas-technique. Due to the high density of Ar gas at 10 kbar the evaporation of Hg is strongly suppresed. An influence of structure defects on magnetic properties will be discussed. Superconducting parameters _ab , _ab and have been studied using torque magnetometry. Layers of Hg-1201 compound have been grown from flux.     

The effect of carbon nanotube properties on the degree of dispersion and reinforcement of high density polyethylene

The efficacy with which a range of nanotubes could reinforce a high density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix was investigated, in relation to nanotube diameter, purity, functionalization, alignment and nanotube bulk density. Composites were prepared by melt blending multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) with high density polyethylene (HDPE), followed by the injection molding of tensile specimens. At a 5 wt% loading, the most effective nanotubes were those of large diameter, received in an aligned form with low bulk density, producing a 66% increase in elastic modulus and a 69% improvement in yield stress. This was contradictory to theoretical mechanics calculations that predicted an increasing degree of reinforcement for nanotubes of reduced diameter. This difference was explained by the higher degree of dispersion observed in the composites with MWNTs of greater diameter.     

The psychology of the unthinkable: Taboo trade-offs, forbidden base rates, and heretical counterfactuals.

Five studies explored cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses to proscribed forms of social cognition. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that people responded to taboo trade-offs that monetized sacred values with moral outrage and cleansing. Experiments 3 and 4 revealed that racial egalitarians were least likely to use, and angriest at those who did use, race-tainted base rates and that egalitarians who inadvertently used such base rates tried to reaffirm their fair-mindedness. Experiment 5 revealed that Christian fundamentalists were most likely to reject heretical counterfactuals that applied everyday causal schemata to Biblical narratives and to engage in moral cleansing after merely contemplating such possibilities. Although the results fit the sacred-value-protection model (SVPM) better than rival formulations, the SVPM must draw on cross-cultural taxonomies of relational schemata to specify normative boundaries on thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

强大的团队 受益于紧凑型可控硅模块的可靠耐用的软起动器

在软起动装置中,半导体必须经受很大的温度波动,这就是为什么必须要有良好的负载循环能力。使用赛米控专门开发的可控硅模块，可以开发出满足这种要求的、性价比很高的、超紧凑的软起动器。     

Behavioral mechanisms for active maternal potentiation of isolation calling in rat pups.

The ultrasonic vocalization (USV) response of the isolated infant rat is a promising model for studying the neurobiology of an early anxiety state, and potentiation of the USV response after brief maternal encounters is a newly discovered behavioral regulator of this state. Using experimental variations in the contexts and patterns of maternal behavior during pup encounters and manual simulations of maternal behavior, we have identified several specific mother–pup interactions that cause potentiation. When one of these, pup carrying, was manually simulated, potentiation followed only if a characteristic postural transport response had been fully expressed by the pup. These behavioral mechanisms and other data suggest hypotheses for the development and adaptive role of maternal potentiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leishmania major: histone H1 gene expression from the sw3 locus

Histone H1 in the parasitic protozoan Leishmania is a developmentally regulated protein encoded by the sw3 gene. Here we report that histone H1 variants exist in different Leishmania species and strains of L. major and that they are encoded by polymorphic genes. Amplification of the sw3 gene from the genome of three strains of L. major gave rise to different products in each strain, suggesting the presence of a multicopy gene family. In L. major, these genes were all restricted to a 50-kb Bg/II fragment found on a chromosomal band of 1.3 Mb (chromosome 27). The detection of RFLPs in this locus demonstrated its heterogeneity within several species and strains of Leishmania. Two different copies of sw3 (sw3.0 and sw3.1) were identified after screening a cosmid library containing L. major strain Friedlin genomic DNA. They were identical in their 5' UTRs and open reading frames, but differed in their 3' UTRs. With respect to the originally cloned copy of sw3 from L. major strain LV39, their open reading frames lacked a repeat unit of 9 amino acids. Immunoblots of L. guyanensis parasites transfected with these cosmids revealed that both copies could give rise to the histone H1 protein. The characterization of this locus will now make possible a detailed analysis of the function of histone H1 in Leishmania, as well as permit the dissection of the molecular mechanisms governing the developmental regulation of the sw3 gene.