Subjective Effect of Substituting Lines in a Video-Telephone Signal

In processing video-telephone signals to reduce bandwidth requirements, lines may occasionally be lost due to buffer overflow or DPCM channel errors. The subjective degradation introduced by replacing deleted lines by averaging or repeating adjacent lines (substitution) has been measured. In the test, both skilled and unskilled observers were asked to add white noise to an unimpaired picture until the quality was equal to the same picture in which a number of lines had been randomly substituted. It was found that the more critical skilled observers deemed a picture, degraded by substituting 1 averaged line per frame, comparable to a signal-to-noise ratio of 38.6 dB, a rating of "definitely noticeable but not objectionable" on a 5-point impairment scale. Futhermore, it was found that repeating lines rather than averaging produced more degradation, equivalent to a 4 dB lower signal-to-noise ratio.     

A selected bibliography on the hard-core unemployed.

Lists 56 references relevant to the hard-core unemployed (HCU). Items were derived from psychology- and counseling-oriented journals, books, and miscellaneous reports concerning hiring, training, retraining, counseling, and identifying the HCU. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral comparisons of children from abusive and distressed families.

Investigated the problem behaviors of 35 physically abused 6–16 yr olds in comparison with 36 nonabused children from a child welfare agency and 35 nonabused children in the community. Parental report of behavioral strengths and weaknesses was examined by administering the Child Behavior Profile. Results concur with those of previous reports that abused children display a significantly greater number of behavior problems and fewer social competencies than normals. The behavior patterns of abused Ss closely resembled the range of behavior problems shown by Ss from distressed families in which abuse was not present. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The MMPI and chronic pain.

112 chronic pain patients (mean age 48.4 yrs) completed the MMPI upon entering either an anesthesiologic or a psychiatric treatment program. Pretreatment MMPI performance was found to be successful in predicting patient outcome an average of 20 mo following treatment, with the K (Test-Taking Attitude), Hypochondriasis, Hysteria, and Masculinity and Femininity scales accounting for most of the variance. The strength of this relationship varied as a function of the measure of outcome and type of treatment received. Substantial MMPI differences were found when Ss with only one part of their body in pain were compared with those with multiple pain complaints. Significant MMPI differences were also found in comparisons based on Ss' sex, type of pain (e.g., head vs back), and type of treatment for which was referred (i.e., psychiatric vs anesthesiologic). Clinical implications of the observed MMPI differences are discussed. Results are seen as demonstrating the value of the MMPI as a clinical and research instrument within this population. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The ubiquitous male standard.

Addresses the general assumption that women would be better off if their behavior more closely resembled those of men, even if the behavior in question is the utilization of mental health services. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of physical abnormalities in interpersonal perception and behavior.

Explores the impact of physical abnormalities on interpersonal relationships and investigates 1 technique available to the stigmatized to influence that impact. This technique is to indicate that the abnormality may be freely discussed or that it is a forbidden topic. The 60 male undergraduate Ss were introduced to an ostensibly naive student who was in reality a confederate and appeared either as an amputee in a wheelchair or as only slightly crippled. The shocks Ss were induced to administer the confederate were less painful when he was severely than when he was slightly crippled. It was concluded that all stigmata do not have the same interpersonal consequences and that the most marked effects occur for behaviors of which Ss have little awareness. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inhibition of cerebral protein synthesis does not prolong short-term memory.

In 4 experiments, male Swiss-Webster CD-1 mice were given a single sc injection of a cerebral protein synthesis inhibitor, anisomycin (ANI, 1 mg/S), 20 min prior to a single trial of passive avoidance training. Ss demonstrated impaired retention at test given 3 hrs, 6 hrs, 1 day, and 7 days after training. Retention was not significantly different from that of saline controls when tests were given .5 or 1.5 hrs after training. Prolonging inhibition of brain protein synthesis by giving either 1 or 2 additional injections of ANI at 2 hrs or at 2 and 4 hrs after training did not prolong good retention performance. The temporal development of impaired retention in ANI-treated Ss could not be accounted for by drug dosage, duration of protein synthesis inhibition, or nonspecific sickness at test. In contrast to the suggestion that protein synthesis inhibition prolongs short-term memory, these results indicate that short-term memory is not prolonged by antibiotic drugs that inhibit cerebral protein synthesis. All evidence seems consistent with the hypothesis that short-term memory is independent of protein synthesis and that the establishment of long-term memory depends on protein synthesis during or shortly after training. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synchrotron radiolysis and mass spectrometry: a new approach to research on the actin cytoskeleton

Hydroxyl radicals generated from millisecond exposure of aqueous solutions to synchrotron X-rays react with proteins to yield stable oxidative modifications of solvent-accessible amino acid side chains. Following proteolysis, HPLC/MS analysis is performed to quantitate the side chain reactivities, and MS/MS analysis is used to identify the modification site(s). Side chain reactivity is shown to be correlated with solvent accessibility; thus the method provides detailed site-specific information about protein structure. The application of these techniques to the study of the actin cytoskeleton is described in detail, including defining the binding sites of monomeric actin with gelsolin segment-1, the actin monomer binding surface on cofilin, the divalent cation-dependent structure changes of monomeric actin, and the conformational changes associated with actin filamentous assembly.