Cognitive Therapy Versus Fluoxetine in Generalized Social Phobia: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Sixty patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.: American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for generalized social phobia were assigned to cognitive therapy (CT), fluoxetine plus self-exposure (FLU + SE), or placebo plus self-exposure (PLA + SE). At posttreatment (16 weeks), the medication blind was broken. CT and FLU + SE patients then entered a 3-month booster phase. Assessments were at pretreatment, midtreatment, posttreatment, end of booster phase, and 12-month follow-up. Significant improvements were observed on most measures in all 3 treatments. On measures of social phobia, CT was superior to FLU + SE and PLA + SE at midtreatment and at posttreatment. FLU + SE and PLA + SE did not differ. CT remained superior to FLU + SE at the end of the booster period and at 12-month follow-up. On general mood measures, there were few differences between the treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In vivo priming of T cells against cryptic determinants by dendritic cells exposed to interleukin 6 and native antigen

T cells recognizing poorly displayed self determinants escape tolerance mechanisms and persist in the adult repertoire. The process by which these T cells are primed is not clear, but once activated, they can cause autoimmunity. Here, we show that dendritic cells treated with interleukin 6 (IL-6) process and present determinants from a model native antigen in a qualitatively altered hierarchy, activating T cells in vitro and in vivo against determinants that were previously cryptic because of poor display. IL-6 does not induce conventional maturation of dendritic cells but alters the pH of peripheral, early endosomal compartments and renders the cells more susceptible to killing by chloroquine. Acidification of endosomes by ouabain mimics the effect of IL-6 and allows processing of the same cryptic determinant. These results suggest that cytokines such as IL-6 could initiate and help to propagate an autoimmune disease process by differentiating dendritic cells into a state distinct from that induced by normal maturation.     

Laypeople's conceptions of commitment.

The author conducted 8 studies to elucidate the content and structure of lay conceptions of commitment. Studies 1 to 5 revealed that laypeople regard commitment to close relationships (e.g., friends, family, spouse) as central to the concept, whereas they consider nonclose (e.g., commitment to a neighbor) and noninterpersonal varieties (e.g., one's occupation) peripheral. This prototype structure influenced information processing in predictable ways. Studies 6 to 8 focused on the vertical structure of commitment categories. Results suggest that types of commitment are organized as fuzzy rather than true class-inclusion hierarchies. Study 8 also examined relationship implications of conceptions of commitment. People who held a relational conception of commitment had more positive perceptions, thoughts, and feelings about their dating relationship than did those who held a nonrelational conception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Planning With A Difference: A Reflection On Planning And Decision Making With Indigenous People In Broome,Western Australia

This paper stems from an intensive community action project undertaken in July 1995 by the authors with colleagues from the Department of Planning, Policy and Landscape (now Landscape, Environment and Planning), RMIT University, and an alliance of Aboriginal groups in the Shire of Broome, in northern Western Australia. This work focused on developing processes for inclusion of Aboriginal peoples' viewpoints in planning and decision making by the Broome Shire Council. This Broome project led the authors to consider a range of theoretical perspectives regarding communication and democracy originally presented in a paper given at the ACSP/AESOP conference in Toronto, Canada in July 1996.     

On the relationship between platform topology, topside weight and structural reliability under storm overload

The relationship between platform configuration and structural reliability is investigated by comparing the collapse behaviour of simple jacket, jack-up and monopod topologies under storm loading in moderately shallow North West Shelf (NWS) waters. Two different pushover analysis methods are used to find the ultimate strength, which give quite different reserve strength ratio (RSR) results for certain structures. The effect on the structural reliability of varying topside weight is also assessed. It is found that the reliability trends are strongly dependent on structural topology — an effect that is not included in current Codes of practice. It is also shown that a single set of partial load factors for dead and environmental loads cannot achieve uniform reliability across different platform configurations in the same environment. Furthermore, in some cases, a working stress design format gives more consistent reliability results than the load and resistance design factor approach.