Induction of labor with use of a Foley catheter and extraamniotic corticosteroids

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to examine the hypothesis that corticosteroids, when administered extraamniotically, can enhance the labor process and reduce the induction-to-delivery interval. STUDY DESIGN: A double-blind, randomized study was conducted on 98 women with a gestational age of 36 to 42 weeks, an unfavorable cervix, and medical indications for delivery, who were assigned to receive either 20 mg of dexamethasone in saline solution (study group, n = 50) or saline solution only (control group, n = 48) administered extraamniotically through an intracervical inflated Foley balloon catheter. The net effect of steroids was assessed with use of multivariant logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean time intervals between induction of labor to the active phase and between induction of labor to delivery were significantly shorter in the study group compared with those of the control group (7.8 +/- 3.1 hours vs 9.9 +/- 3.9 hours, p < 0.03, 11.9 +/- 3.0 hours vs 14.5 +/- 4.8 hours, p < 0.01, respectively). Those not receiving steroids were at a 3.2 higher risk of having a longer time interval of induction to delivery (95% confidence interval 1.1 to 9.5). The general success rate in achieving vaginal delivery was, however, similar between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Induction of labor with use of an intracervical Foley balloon catheter and extraamniotic corticosteroids reduces the time interval from induction of labor to delivery. This may indicate a possible role for corticosteroids in the parturition process.     

What can we learn from the morphology of Hebrew? A masked-priming investigation of morphological representation.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 23(5) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (see record 2008-09898-001). On page 854, two Hebrew words are missing from Appendix F. The corrected Appendix appears with the erratum.] All Hebrew words are composed of 2 interwoven morphemes: a triconsonantal root and a phonological word pattern. The lexical representations of these morphemic units were examined using masked priming. When primes and targets shared an identical word pattern, neither lexical decision nor naming of targets was facilitated. In contrast, root primes facilitated both lexical decisions and naming of target words that were derived from these roots. This priming effect proved to be independent of meaning similarity because no priming effects were found when primes and targets were semantically but not morphologically related. These results suggest that Hebrew roots are lexical units whereas word patterns are not. A working model of lexical organization in Hebrew is offered on the basis of these results. (A correction concerning this article appears in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1997, Vol 23(5), 1189–1191. On page 854 of the current issue, two Hebrew words are missing from Appendix F. The corrected Appendix appears in this correction.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Parents of Childhood Cancer Survivors.

Posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms have been reported in mothers and fathers of childhood cancer survivors; however, little is known about patterns of PTS in these families. Cluster analysis was applied to the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Reaction Index scores of 98 couples parenting adolescent childhood cancer survivors to describe patterns of PTS in families, yielding the following 5 clusters: Minimal PTS, Mothers Elevated, Disengaged, Fathers Elevated, and Elevated PTS. The clusters were validated using data from a structured psychiatric interview, an additional self-report measure of PTS, and an index of family functioning. These clinically meaningful patterns reveal that a majority of families had at least one parent with moderate to severe PTS, which supports development of family-based interventions for this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In-band amplified spontaneous emission noise filtering with adispersion-imbalanced nonlinear loop mirror

This paper reports the removal of in-band amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise in a 10 Gb/s noise-loaded return-to-zero (RZ) signal using a dispersion-imbalanced loop mirror. The resulting receiver sensitivity is improved from -37.0 dBm to -37.7 dBm. The dependence of receiver sensitivity on the loop mirror bias is also investigated, and the optimal bias point is found to be where the loop transmissivity decreases with increasing input power     

A method for evaluating the use of the polygraph in a real-life situation.

15 males (mean age 29.2 yrs) participated in an experiment to evaluate the polygraph in a real-life situation; 2 Ss had actually cheated on a test. All Ss went through a standard polygraph test using the control questions method. This procedure guarantees the objective identification of "liars" without jeopardizing the real-life appearance of the experimental situation. Each S was evaluated by 3 polygraphers: One had access to the polygraph charts only, one observed the S's behavior but not his charts, and a third had both kinds of information. The evaluations of all 3 polygraphers were compared with the criterion. Evaluations based on both behavior observation and physiological charts were superior to those based on either type of information alone. However, evaluations based on the physiological information alone were not superior to those based on the behavioral information alone. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dependence of Zn diffusion on the Al content in Ga1−xAlxAs

Zn diffusion in Ga_1?xAl_xAs as a function of Al content has been studied. From the diffusion depth measurements a dependence of the diffusion rate on the Al content has been found and the reason discussed. The use of the GaAs epilayer as a mask for Zn diffusion in Ga_1??xAl_xAs was demonstrated.     

Attention mechanisms mediate the syntactic priming effect in auditory word identification.

Investigated the syntactic priming effect and the involvement of attention in that process by testing identification of white noise-masked Hebrew words. Targets were either syntactically congruent or syntactically incongruent with the structure of the sentence. Relative to a neutral condition, similar facilitation and inhibition was found for congruent and incongruent targets, respectively. When syntactic congruency was blocked, the inhibition was attenuated, whereas the facilitation remained the same. A 350-msec silent interstimulus interval between context and target increased inhibition without affecting facilitation. It is suggested that both the facilitation and the inhibition effects of syntactic priming are based on a veiled controlled process of generating expectations. The inhibition results from a controlled process of reevaluation that requires additional attention resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decline of wetland ecosystems in the coastal plain of Israel during the 20th century: Implications for wetland conservation and management

Severe competition for water and augmented agricultural and urban development in Israel have modified and destroyed wetland habitats. Using historical maps, we mapped the past extent of swamps and natural rain pools along the central coastal plain of Israel and compared this with the present extent as reflected in reports, field surveys and satellite images. Out of 192 swamps and rain pools recorded in historical sources, only 18% (35) still exist today. Extrapolation from 69 new records of rain pools (missing in historical sources), suggests that in the 19th century, before many of the wetlands were drained, transformed to agricultural land, or built over, the number of wetland habitats in the coastal plain was threefold higher. In addition to reduction of wetland number, human activity has also diminished wetland size. In rainy winters wetland areas in the coastal plain in the past were an order of magnitude larger than they are today (27.6 and 2.4 km², respectively). At present, the existing natural water bodies along the coastal plain are temporary, small, and surrounded by built-up areas and roads. The grave state of the wetlands in Israel underscores the urgent need for protection of the remnant wetland sites. Following the successful example of wetland restoration in the Hula Valley, we recommend restoring various historical wetlands that have been drained.     

Optical properties of transparent polycrystalline ruby (Cr:Al2O3) fabricated by high-pressure spark plasma sintering

Doped transparent ceramics with high optical quality can serve as materials for photonic applications such as laser gain media. In that regard, transparent polycrystalline alumina has potential for high-power applications due to its excellent physical and chemical properties, combined with unique doping possibilities. However, optical birefringence of Al₂O₃ crystals make achieving sufficiently high optical transmittance a processing challenge. In the present study, we demonstrated fabrication of highly transparent 0.5 at.% Cr:Al₂O₃ ceramics by high-pressure spark plasma sintering (HPSPS). The optical properties of these polycrystalline ruby ceramics were analyzed in order to assess possible laser operation (at 694.3 nm). The obtained ceramics exhibit high in-line transmittance (～72.5 % at 700 nm), equivalent to a scattering coefficient of 2.15 cm^?1, and characteristic ruby photoluminescence. The theoretically estimated lasing threshold and percentage of absorbed pump power indicate that such ruby ceramic lasers could operate at reasonable thresholds of 80?225 mW with short lengths of 0.5?5 mm. Thus, HPSPS is a promising method for producing laser-quality doped transparent ceramics for compact laser systems.