Some scientist-practitioners do.

Comments on the argument of L. T. Hoshmand and D. E. Polkinghorn (see record 1992-21300-001) that psychological practice should inform science to the same degree that science informs practice. Based on a survey of 121 faculty members in programs accredited by the American Psychological Association, 65% reported practice activity. The authors agree that the problem involves a much more complex integrative task that goes beyond simply recognizing knowledge gained in practice settings as valid. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer consultation groups for psychologists in private practice: A national survey.

We report the results of the first national survey of psychologists in private practice regarding their participation in peer consultation groups. The sample (71% return) was drawn from 800 randomly selected psychologists listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. We found that 23% of the sample currently belonged to peer consultation groups, and 24% had belonged in the past. Of those not currently in groups, 61% expressed the desire to belong if one were available. There were virtually no significant demographic differences between current members and nonmembers. We examined the following group characteristics: formation, length of existence, size, membership, leadership, theoretical orientation, range of experience, time and place, content, and group process. Groups tended to be small, informal, and leaderless; however, we found great variation among groups on all dimensions. Findings also showed a high degree of satisfaction with membership. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extended donor criteria: use of cardiac allografts after carbon monoxide poisoning

BACKGROUND: An increasing demand for cardiac allografts for the treatment of end-stage cardiac failure has led to a shift in the traditional views about donor criteria. The use of allografts exposed to high concentrations of carbon monoxide is still under discussion. The current literature on this topic is contradictory. We describe our experience with orthotopic cardiac transplantation, using cardiac allografts after carbon monoxide poisoning. METHODS: Between March 13, 1989 and August 1, 1996, 770 orthotopic heart transplantations were performed in our center. Within this period, we accepted five cardiac allografts from brain-dead, carbon monoxide-poisoned donors. Donor history showed carbon monoxide intoxication in all cases. At the time of organ explantation, donor hemodynamic parameters were feeble in all patients. RESULTS: The postoperative course was uneventful in three of the five recipients. The overall 3-year survival rate in this small group is 40%. Induction therapy or rescue therapy with mono/polyclonal antibodies was not necessary. Myocardial right-ventricular biopsies did not show any specific signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. CONCLUSIONS: In our opinion, cardiac allografts from donors exposed to carbon monoxide can be transplanted successfully in infants and adults, if there are no signs of severe hemodynamic dysfunction in the presence of a normal central venous pressure and low-dose support with catecholamines and there are no electrocardiographic changes in combination with elevated transaminase. With extended donor criteria, the hearts of carbon monoxide-poisoned victims could increase the number of suitable organs and lower the death rate of patients on the United Network for Organ Sharing and Eurotransplant International Foundation waiting lists.     

Responses in growth, food intake and food conversion efficiency to different dietary protein concentrations in meat-type lines of Japanese quail

1. A total of 360 Japanese quail of 4 commercial meat-type lines and two diet treatments (260 and 216 g/kg or 238 and 195 g/kg of crude protein (CP) in the starter and grower diet, respectively) were used. 2. The positive effect of a high CP diet on body weight was significant only for the first 4 weeks after hatching. 3. The mean age at inflection point of the growth curve (t+) across lines and sexes was 1.4 d (0.6 to 2.8 d within line/sex groups) earlier for quail fed on a high CP diet than in quail receiving a low CP diet. The inflection (y+) and asymptotic (A) weights were similar under both dietary protein concentrations. Nevertheless, the shape of the growth curve, characterised by the ratio y+/A and parameter of the maturing rate k, was significantly influenced by diet. 4. A higher food intake and less efficient food conversion were found for quail fed on a high CP diet in the period from 15 to 28 d of age. 5. The fattening traits such as body weight, cumulative food intake and food conversion, were not affected by dietary CP content at the age of 5 weeks. 6. The effects of line on body weight, food intake and food conversion are discussed.     

Intra- and inter-laboratory reproducibility of estrogen and progesterone receptor enzyme immunoassay in breast cancer cytosol samples--a Swedish multicenter study. Swedish Society of Cancer Study Group

Estrogen and progesterone receptor analysis results were compared within and between six laboratories in Sweden using frozen breast cancer cytosol samples, and the same technique (enzyme immunoassay, Abbott Laboratories). The concordance in receptor status (positive vs. negative) was excellent (98.4% (571/580)). The discordant results were attributable to values near cut-off (n = 4) or outliers (n = 5), the latter probably being due to analytical errors. One laboratory reported significantly higher ER concentrations than the others; thus caution should be observed when comparing absolute values from different centers. For PgR there were similar differences between the laboratories. However, the intra- and inter-laboratory differences were small compared with the overall variability in ER and PgR content between different samples in a large database. The range of the median intra-laboratory coefficient of variation was 11-23% for ER and 12-19% for PgR, indicating that there is room for improvement in the quality of assay performance.     

Chronic pain in elderly people

Using the fear-potentiated startle paradigm in rats, 4 experiments examined whether the inhibitory effect of a feature is evident after its offset following serial feature-negative discrimination training (A+ and X-->A-). When startle probes were presented shortly after the offset of X on X-->A test trials, the inhibitory properties of X were observed immediately after its offset. Furthermore, trace reinforcement of X (X-->+), but not delay reinforcement (X+), disrupted the ability of X to inhibit fear-potentiated startle on X-->A trials. Trace conditioning to X was also retarded after A+ and X-->A- training. These results suggest that the inhibitory properties of the serially trained feature are present after its offset and raise the possibility that either temporal information regarding nonreinforcement or poststimulus attributes of X acquire inhibitory properties.     

Voluntary head stabilization in space during oscillatory trunk movements in the frontal plane performed in weightlessness

The ability voluntarily to stabilize the head in space during lateral rhythmic oscillations (0.59+/-0.09 Hz) of the trunk has been investigated during microgravity (microG) and normal gravity (nG) conditions (parabolic flights). Five healthy young subjects, who gave informed consent, were examined. The movements were performed with eyes open or eyes closed, during phases of either microG or nG. The main result was that head orientation with respect to vertical may be stabilized about the roll axis under microG with, as well as without vision, despite the reduction in vestibular afferent and muscle proprioceptive inputs. Moreover, the absence of head stabilization about the yaw axis confirms that the degrees of freedom of the neck can be independently controlled, as was previously reported. These results seem to indicate that voluntary head stabilization does not depend crucially upon static vestibular afferents. Head stabilization in space may in fact be organized on the basis of either dynamic vestibular afferents or a short-term memorized postural body schema.