A study of the usefulness of Lanyon's Psychological Screening Inventory with adolescents.

Administered the Psychological Screening Inventory (PSI) to 559 male and 564 female 13-16 yr olds. Normative test data are presented. On the basis of a questionnaire administered with the PSI, this group was divided into 2 groups on the basis of whether they were more or less likely to appear in court, and were compared to a group tested while on juvenile probation. Significant differences were found on several PSI scales. It appears that the PSI can serve a useful purpose when administered to 13-16 yr olds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pulse compression using angular multiplexing in a high-gain 1.7 kJ amplifier

Pulse compression using angular multiplexing is demonstrated on a large-scale hydrogen-fluoride (HF) laser system. For a train of two 24 ns pulses, the essential elements of this scheme are evaluated as a function of interpulse separation time. Included are energy-extraction efficiency, overall temporal pulse distortion, leading-edge contrast-ratio distortion, and suppression of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) relative to a single long-duration input pulse. For appropriate interpulse delay time, we show that distortionless amplification is possible with energy-extraction efficiency, as is obtained using a single input beam having a pulsewidth equal to the duration of the amplifier gain.     

Symptoms of depression among community-dwelling elderly African-American and white older adults

BACKGROUND: Few studies have explored the variance in individual symptoms by race in older adults. METHODS: Data were analysed from the Duke site of the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE), a community sample of persons 65 years-of-age and older, 54% of whom were African-Americans. Of the 3401 subjects with adequate data on depressive symptomatology, confirmatory factor analysis and LISREL were first used to confirm the presence of the factor structure previously reported for the CES-D. Next, bivariate analysis was performed to determine the prevalence of individual symptoms by race. Finally, LISREL analysis was performed to control for potential confounding variables. RESULTS: When bivariate comparisons of specific symptoms by race were explored, African-Americans were more likely to report less hope about the future, poor appetite, difficulty concentrating, requiring more effort for usual activities, less talking, feeling people were unfriendly, feeling disliked by others and being more 'bothered' than usual. When LISREL analyses were applied to these data (controlling for education, income, cognitive impairment, chronic health problems and disability and other factors) racial differences in somatic complaints and life satisfaction disappeared, yet differences in interpersonal relations persisted. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms earlier findings of minimal overall differences in symptom frequency between African-American and non-African-American community-dwelling older adults in controlled studies.     

Applicant characterization of the most desirable internship training program.

One month after Uniform Notification Day, 148 predoctoral internship applicants (49% return rate) were asked to rate their first-, intermediate-, and last-choice sites on 25 variables related to internship program characteristics. Results showed that 8 variables clearly differentiated all three types, and 11 variables differentiated first from last choices. These first-choice characteristics and their implications for program construction and applicant site comparisons are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multicultural applications of cognitive-behavior therapy.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the need for greater attention to cultural influences and minority cultures in the field of cognitive-behavior therapy. Ethnic minority cultures and concerns are emphasized, although consideration is also given to a range of cultural influences including age, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. The strengths and limitations of cognitive-behavior therapy in relation to its use with culturally diverse populations are outlined. Finally, suggestions are offered for integrating cultural concerns and addressing cultural influences in cognitive-behavioral practice with diverse clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rural obstetrics in NSW

Rural general practitioners are responsible for providing obstetric services to the majority of women living in rural communities. This paper reports a comparison of 5,950 deliveries conducted by rural GPs in NSW during 1990-1991 with all 88,275 deliveries during the same period in NSW. No evidence that obstetric care in accredited rural GP obstetric units is of less than acceptable standards could be found. There is scope to increase the use of rural obstetric units for the training of future rural GP obstetricians.     

Microstructure control for sputter-deposited ZrO2, ZrO2·CaO and ZrO2·Y2O3

The microstructure of pure and oxide-stabilized cubic ZrO₂ has been determined as a function of the principal deposition conditions for coatings prepared by r.f. diode reactive sputtering. Broad control of crystal structure, phase composition, grain size and crystallographic orientation is obtained by appropriate selection of the target composition, substrate bias and substrate temperature. The crystal structure and phase composition obtained for coatings are compared with predictions based on the equilibrium phase diagrams. The microstructural control demonstrated in this work should make possible rapid, efficient and systematic optimization of ZrO₂ coatings for future engineering applications.     

Determinations of Sodium Chloride Equivalents by Osmometry

The vapor pressure osmometer was used to calculate the sodium chloride equivalents of several compounds. These values were compared with published values and in some cases, considerable variation was seen. The osmolality was determined for iso-osmotic drug solutions mixed in different ratios with iso-osmotic saline or sorbitol. The drugs investigated included atropine sulfate, te-tracycline hydrochloride, homatropine hydrobromide, pilocarpine nitrate, amphetamine sulfate and bromodiphenhydramine hydrochloride. The results of these studies showed that colligative properties of multicomponent aqueous solutions are often non-additive in manner. The changing osmolality suggests that ion-ion or ion-molecule forces are occurring and when osmolality increases, so does the number of particles in solution.     

A clinical evaluation of transdermal therapeutic system fentanyl for the treatment of cancer pain

PROBLEM: Circulating inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. To test this hypothesis, we measured plasma levels of immunoreactive tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and -beta, interleukin (IL)-1 alpha and -beta, and IL-6 and -10 in women with preeclampsia, in women with transient gestational hypertension, and throughout normal pregnancy. METHOD OF STUDY: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used and subjected to extensive validation studies. RESULTS: The median concentration of plasma TNF-alpha was increased by twofold in women with preeclampsia compared with that in normal third-trimester pregnancy (P < 0.001) and in women with gestational hypertension (P < 0.04). The median concentration of plasma IL-6 was increased by threefold in women with preeclampsia compared with that in normal third-trimester pregnancy (P < 0.001) and increased twofold compared with that in women with gestational hypertension (P < 0.1). There were no significant differences observed in the levels of plasma IL-1 beta and IL-10 between the preeclamptic and other subject groups. The level of IL-1 beta, but not the levels of IL-10, TNF-alpha, or IL-6, was significantly changed during normal pregnancy compared with the nonpregnant condition manifesting an overall decline (P < 0.04). TNF-beta and IL-1 alpha were not detected in any samples, possibly because of the low sensitivity of these particular immunoassays. CONCLUSION: Elevated levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 may contribute to the putative endothelial dysfunction of preeclampsia.