Fluoxetine, smoking, and history of major depression: A randomized controlled trial.

The study was a randomized placebo-controlled trial testing whether fluoxetine selectively enhances cessation for smokers with a history of depression. Euthymic smokers with (H+, n = 109) or without (H-, n = 138) a history of major depression received 60 mg fluoxetine or placebo plus group behavioral quit-smoking treatment for 12 weeks. Fluoxetine initially enhanced cessation for H+ smokers (p = .02) but subsequently impaired cessation regardless of depressive history. Six months after quit date, fluoxetine-treated participants were 3.3 times more likely to be smoking (p = .02). Further research is warranted to determine why high-dose fluoxetine produces continuing effects that oppose tobacco abstinence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Robust dimensions of anxiety sensitivity: Development and initial validation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3.

Accumulating evidence suggests that anxiety sensitivity (fear of arousal-related sensations) plays an important role in many clinical conditions, particularly anxiety disorders. Research has increasingly focused on how the basic dimensions of anxiety sensitivity are related to various forms of psychopathology. Such work has been hampered because the original measure--the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI)--was not designed to be multidimensional. Subsequently developed multidimensional measures have unstable factor structures or measure only a subset of the most widely replicated factors. Therefore, the authors developed, via factor analysis of responses from U.S. and Canadian nonclinical participants (n = 2,361), an 18-item measure, the ASI-3, which assesses the 3 factors best replicated in previous research: Physical, Cognitive, and Social Concerns. Factorial validity of the ASI-3 was supported by confirmatory factor analyses of 6 replication samples, including nonclinical samples from the United States and Canada, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Spain (n = 4,494) and a clinical sample from the United States and Canada (n = 390). The ASI-3 displayed generally good performance on other indices of reliability and validity, along with evidence of improved psychometric properties over the original ASI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

在线检测与分析 快速发现不可见的电学缺陷

在Fab里，在经过特别设计的短流程测试晶圆上进行的快速电学测试和自动FIB／SEM缺陷分析可以将不可见缺陷探测与分析的时间降低一个数量级，并且对不同的设计参数非常敏感，因而有足够的样本来做重要的统计评估。     

Alternative images of the citizen: Implications for public policy.

Argues that in attempting to understand socially significant political issues and problems, political scientists and other policy makers have made heavy use of psychological models of the citizen. It is argued that instead of drawing such models from psychology, their efforts have utilized the psychological models of the citizen suggested by economic theory. As a result, the potential effects of citizens' concerns with distributive and procedural fairness—factors typically excluded from economic theories—have been ignored in studying citizens' political evaluations and behaviors. Evidence is given to show (1) that political evaluations and behaviors are influenced by justice-based concerns and (2) the need to broaden the image of the psychology of the citizen to include the influence of citizens' concerns about fairness. (93 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficient morse decompositions of vector fields

Existing topology-based vector field analysis techniques rely on the ability to extract the individual trajectories such as fixed points, periodic orbits, and separatrices that are sensitive to noise and errors introduced by simulation and interpolation. This can make such vector field analysis unsuitable for rigorous interpretations. We advocate the use of Morse decompositions, which are robust with respect to perturbations, to encode the topological structures of a vector field in the form of a directed graph, called a Morse connection graph (MCG). While an MCG exists for every vector field, it need not be unique. Previous techniques for computing MCG's, while fast, are overly conservative and usually results in MCG's that are too coarse to be useful for the applications. To address this issue, we present a new technique for performing Morse decomposition based on the concept of tau-maps, which typically provides finer MCG's than existing techniques. Furthermore, the choice of tau provides a natural tradeoff between the fineness of the MCG's and the computational costs. We provide efficient implementations of Morse decomposition based on tau-maps, which include the use of forward and backward mapping techniques and an adaptive approach in constructing better approximations of the images of the triangles in the meshes used for simulation.. Furthermore, we propose the use of spatial tau-maps in addition to the original temporal tau-maps. These techniques provide additional trade-offs between the quality of the MCGs and the speed of computation. We demonstrate the utility of our technique with various examples in the plane and on surfaces including engine simulation data sets.     

Ferroelectric Materials: Probing Local and Global Ferroelectric Phase Stability and Polarization Switching in Ordered Macroporous PZT (Adv. Funct. Mater. 5/2011)

We describe the characterization, ferroelectric phase stability and polarization switching in strain‐free assemblies of PbZr_0.3Ti_0.7O₃ (PZT) nanostructures. The 3‐dimensionally ordered macroporous structures present uniquely large areas and volumes of PZT where the microstructure is spatially modulated and the composition is homogeneous. Variable temperature powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) studies show that the global structure is crystalline and tetragonal at room temperature and undergoes a reversible tetragonal to cubic phase transition on heating/cooling. The measured phase‐transition temperature is 50–60 °C lower than bulk PZT of the same composition. The local ferroelectric properties were assessed using piezoresponse force spectroscopy that reveal an enhanced piezoresponse from the nanostructured films and demonstrate that the switching polarization can be spatially mapped across these structures. An enhanced piezoresponse is observed in the nanostructured films which we attribute to the formation of strain free films, thus for the first time we are able to assess the effects of crystallite‐size independently of internal stress. Corresponding polarization distributions have been calculated for the bulk and nanostructured materials using a direct variational method and Landau‐Ginzburg‐Devonshire (LGD) theory. By correlating local and global characterization techniques we have for the first time unambiguously demonstrated the formation of tetragonal and ferroelectric PZT in large volume nanostructured architectures. With the wide range of materials available that can be formed into such controlled architectures we conclude that this study opens a pathway for the effective studies of nanoscale ferroelectrics in uniquely large volumes.     

Better Safe than Sorry: A Study of Investigating Individuals’ Protection of Privacy in the Use of Storage as a Cloud Computing Service

Since the use of network-based storage as a cloud computing service [Storage as a Service (StaaS)] becomes ubiquitous, users who store data in the cloud are exposed to risk and potentially severe consequences. Therefore, individuals should carefully consider security and privacy issues when using StaaS. Drawing upon the principle of self-preservation and the theory of protection motivation, this study develops a research model explaining the mechanisms leading to the development of a protection strategy for individuals’ safe use of StaaS and empirically tests the proposed model. The results show that the natural propensity to trust, an individual trait, influences an individual’s need for privacy. This, in turn, along with perception of privacy risk, significantly affects individuals’ perception of the need to protect themselves. Three coping appraisal factors, preventive measures, self-efficacy, and willingness to incur cost of prevention, together with the individual perceived need to protect self, directly and positively affect users’ need to develop a protection strategy in a cloud computing environment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Interplay between Humoral and CLA+ T Cell Response against Candida albicans in Psoriasis

Candida albicans (CA) infections have been associated with psoriasis onset or disease flares. However, the integrated immune response against this fungus is still poorly characterized in psoriasis. We studied specific immunoglobulins in plasma and the CA response in cocultures of circulating memory CD45RA⁻ cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (CLA)^+/− T cell with autologous epidermal cells from plaque and guttate psoriasis patients (cohort 1, n = 52), and also healthy individuals (n = 17). A complete proteomic profile was also evaluated in plaque psoriasis patients (cohort 2, n = 114) regarding their anti-CA IgA levels. Increased anti-CA IgA and IgG levels are present in the plasma from plaque but not guttate psoriasis compared to healthy controls. CA cellular response is confined to CLA⁺ T cells and is primarily Th17. The levels of anti-CA IgA are directly associated with CLA⁺ Th17 response in plaque psoriasis. Proteomic analysis revealed distinct profiles in psoriasis patients with high anti-CA IgA. C-C motif chemokine ligand 18, chitinase-3-like protein 1 and azurocidin were significantly elevated in the plasma from plaque psoriasis patients with high anti-CA levels and severe disease. Our results indicate a mechanism by which Candida albicans exposure can trigger a clinically relevant IL-17 response in psoriasis. Assessing anti-CA IgA levels may be useful in order to evaluate chronic psoriasis patients.