Anxiety and depression in children and adolescents: Negative affectivity and the utility of self-reports.

Self-reported depression and anxiety were examined in 233 inpatient children (aged 6–17 yrs) diagnosed with either an anxiety disorder or a depressive disorder. Depressed children reported more problems related to a loss of interest and low motivation, and they had a more negative view of themselves. Anxious children reported more worry about the future, their well-being, and the reactions of others. The groups did not differ in the degree of depressed affect reported in terms of being sad, lethargic, bothered by things, or feeling alone and isolated. Findings suggest that a general negative affectivity component is common to both anxiety and depression disorders and measures. Results demonstrate that anxiety and depression in children have distinguishing features that can be measured by common self-report instruments, and the findings indicate that one factor that may distinguish between anxiety and depression in children is positive affectivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of the inertia tensor in haptically perceiving where an object is grasped.

When an object is held and wielded, a time-invariant quantity of the wielding dynamics is the inertia tensor Iij. Examination of Iij as a function of different locations at which a cylindrical object is grasped revealed that the off-diagonal components of Iij, the products of inertia, related most systematically to grip position. In 3 experiments, Ss wielded an occluded rod held at an intermediate point along its length and reproduced, with the other hand, the felt grip position on a visible rod. In Exp 1, the wielded rods were homogeneous; in Exps 2 and 3, weights were added on either side of the grasp, with different manners of grasp contrasted in Exp 3. In all 3 experiments, perceived hand position was predicted by Iij. Discussion is focused on the role of Iij's eigenvalues in perceiving the magnitudes of objects and Iij's eigenvectors in perceiving hand–object relations (e.g., position of grasp). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

B. F. Skinner: Au-delá de la controverse.

Discusses controversies surrounding the work of B. F. Skinner's influence on various theories of human and animal behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on “Fully magnetic attitude control for spacecraft subject to gravity gradient”

The Lyapunov argument used in Wi niewski and Blanke, (Automatica 35 (1999) 1201) to establish asymptotic stability of a magnetic control law for an earth-orbiting spacecraft is incorrect. It is shown here that a small change to the assumed form of the control law can remedy the situation.     

Why psychologists don't think like philosophers.

H. H. Kendler (see record 1994-09190-001), in his article on psychology and the ethics of social policy, argues in part that ethical imperatives cannot be inferred from empirical data. This argument is cited in opposition to what is purported to be the position of the American Psychological Association on the abortion issue. It is suggested that PhD candidates in psychology be well versed in the philosophical issues and debates that are the foundation for the formation of ethical principles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive treatments for eating disorders.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is applicable to all eating disorders but has been most intensively studied in the treatment of bulimia nervosa (BN). CBT is designed to alter abnormal attitudes about body shape and weight, replace dysfunctional dieting with normal eating habits, and develop coping skills for resisting binge eating and purging. CBT is effective in reducing all core features of BN and shows good maintenance of therapeutic improvement. Although superior to therapy with antidepressant drugs, CBT has not been shown to be consistently superior to alternative psychological treatments. Different hypotheses about CBT's mechanisms of action are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlation between left ventricular hypertrophy and GAA trinucleotide repeat length in Friedreich's ataxia

BACKGROUND: Friedreich's ataxia (FA), the most common inherited ataxia, is associated frequently with cardiac hypertrophy, and death is often cardiac related. Recently, the disease has been associated with a mutation that consists of an unstable expansion of GAA repeats in the first intron of the gene encoding frataxin on chromosome 9. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 44 consecutive patients with FA, determined the size of GAA expansions in the frataxin gene, and examined the relation between the genotype and cardiac phenotype assessed by M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography. All the patients were homozygous for the mutation. The size of the GAA expansion on the smaller allele varied from 270 to 1200. We found a correlation between the size of GAA expansion and the left ventricular wall thickness (r = .51, P < .001) and the left ventricular mass index (r = .45, P = .002). Left ventricular hypertrophy was observed in 81% of patients with a number of GAA repeats above the median value of 770 compared with only 14% in the other group (P = .002). CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that in FA, the severity of left ventricular hypertrophy is related to the number of GAA repeats. These results suggest that abnormalities of the gene encoding frataxin, a protein of unknown function highly expressed in the normal heart, may play an important role in the modulation of cardiac hypertrophy.     

Schnelle Lochkorrosion durch ungewöhnliche Anodenstabilisierung in einem Stahl/Wasser-System

Fast pitting corrosion in a steel/water system as a result of unusual stabilization of anodes Corrosion damage as a result of fast pitting was observed in industrial equipment made of unalloyed steel. The rate of formation and the manifestation of the pits are similar to pitting corrosion of stainless steels. Estimation of the kinetics of the localized corrosion in terms of differential aeration cells led to a model which indicates the stabilization of small anodic regions. The stabilization was caused by precipitation of the products of reaction between ferrous ions and polymeric silicate. The high rate of pitting also suggests that the oxygen entering the system during service periods involving the exposure of the system to air has enhanced the corrosion. These ideas could be substantiated by experiments, which also revealed particularly the effect of the concentration of NaCl. Anodic passivation by the addition of Na₂CO₃ or perhaps inhibition may be considered as candidate protective measures.