Housing quality and resilience in New Zealand

There is extensive research on the negative health impacts of poor housing quality. However, little is known about the potential health benefits of high-quality housing in poor neighbourhoods. Neighbourhoods with unexpectedly good health outcomes despite high levels of deprivation have been deemed resilient places and housing quality in these areas may be a contributor to this resilience. This study aimed to evaluate whether an indicator of neighbourhood housing quality was associated with a previously quantified resilience index (RINZ) in New Zealand. It was found that areas with high housing quality tended to have higher median income, greater proportions of partnered people and shorter-term residents, and very low proportions of Māori. A positive association was found between housing quality and resilience, after adjustment for deprivation. There was no indication of differences by heterogeneity in housing quality within the aggregate unit of analysis. These findings pose the hypothesis that improving housing quality in similarly deprived areas that have poor health outcomes could potentially boost health. To extend this understanding, further development of a more sophisticated housing quality indicator is recommended.     

Somatotropic axis and concentrate supplementation in grazing dairy cows of genetically diverse origin

Supplementing pasture-fed dairy cows with concentrates in early lactation was hypothesized to result in an earlier postpartum recoupling of the somatotropic axis in New Zealand (NZ)-type Holstein-Friesian dairy cows than in North American (NA)-type cows. To test this hypothesis, NA (n = 30) and NZ (n = 30) cows were allocated to 1 of 3 supplementation strategies (0, 3, or 6 kg of dry matter concentrate/d) for the first 12 wk of lactation in a completely randomized design and a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement. Production traits and characteristics of the somatotropic axis were studied at phenotypic, hormonal, and gene expression levels. Milk production and plasma metabolite concentrations were measured weekly, and liver was biopsied in wk 1, 4, 8, and 12 postcalving. North American cows produced more milk and displayed a larger degree of somatotropic axis uncoupling than did NZ cows. This was evident in strain differences in body condition score, blood growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor-1 concentrations, and hepatic expression of growth hormone receptor-1a. No strain × diet interactions were observed for any characteristic of the somatotropic axis at either the blood metabolite or gene expression level; however, blood insulin concentrations during wk 7 to 11 postpartum increased with concentrate supplementation in NZ but not NA cows. These results demonstrate that feeding supplements does not result in an earlier recoupling of the somatotropic axis; however, the greater blood insulin concentrations with concentrate feeding in NZ cows from wk 7 may result in an earlier recoupling in this genetic strain, after the period investigated in this study. Further research is required to understand differences in insulin control between these genetic strains.     

Training issues.

This interesting set of articles, taken as a group, suggests that we have come a long way toward the integration of family therapy into the training of psychologists. The question is no longer "Should psychologists be trained in family therapy?" but "How can such training best be accomplished, in what settings, with what approaches, and how related to other elements of the graduate or postdoctoral program?" The articles by Ribordy (see record 1989-13401-001) and by Lebow (see record 1989-13365-001) address the central issues in training from different vantages (the family institute versus the academic program) but converge on many points. I will comment mainly on these two articles, but first I want to take note of some of the ideas raised by Berger and Jurkovic (see record 1989-12730-001). They describe and persuasively illustrate a contextual approach to family work that emphasizes the varying settings in which therapy may occur. Thus they are concerned with a "supersystem" that incorporates these extra therapeutic systems as well as clinicians and family. It will be no great surprise to the readers of this Journal that many of these same points emerge from Ribordy's and Lebow's more general discussions of training issues. They explore the separate territories of the academic graduate program and the family institute as settings for training and ably outline the advantages and disadvantages of each. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Simple Technique for Measuring Expansion of Methylcellulose Films in Water

A simple and easy to assemble apparatus for the determination of expansion of methylcellulose f ilms is described. The technique involved essentially the projection of the image of the film on to a screen and the measurment of the expansion of the film with time. From statistical analyses of the data obtained for film expansion, the method was found to be reliable. The size, shape and amount of methylcellulose/area of film were considered in the assessment of the technique.     

Adult attachment and the perception of facial expression of emotion.

Adult attachment orientation has been associated with specific patterns of emotion regulation. The present research examined the effects of attachment orientation on the perceptual processing of emotional stimuli. Experimental participants played computerized movies of faces that expressed happiness, sadness, and anger. Over the course of the movies, the facial expressions became neutral. Participants reported the frame at which the initial expression no longer appeared on the face. Under conditions of no distress (Study 1), fearfully attached individuals saw the offset of both happiness and anger earlier, and preoccupied and dismissive individuals later, than the securely attached individuals. Under conditions of distress (Study 2), insecurely attached individuals perceived the offset of negative facial expressions as occurring later than did the secure individuals, and fearfully attached individuals saw the offset later than either of the other insecure groups. The mechanisms underlying the effects are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-affirmation reduces smokers' defensiveness to graphic on-pack cigarette warning labels.

Objective: Little is known about how smokers respond to graphic images depicting the health consequences of smoking. The authors tested whether smokers respond defensively to such images and whether allowing them to self-affirm reduces their defensiveness. Design: Young smokers (N = 87) were randomly allocated to self-affirm or perform a control task prior to viewing 4 images intended for future use on cigarette packs in the European Union. Measures were taken immediately postexposure and after 1 week. Main Outcome Measures: Participants rated each image for threat and personal relevance. Once all 4 images had been viewed, they completed measures of intentions, self-efficacy, and perceived behavioral control for reducing cigarette consumption, negative thoughts and feelings about smoking, personal vulnerability to 6 smoking-related diseases, desire to quit, and plans to quit. At the 1-week follow-up, measures of self-reported smoking and desire to reduce consumption were taken. Results: Relative to controls, self-affirmed participants rated the images as more threatening and personally relevant, and they reported more negative thoughts and feelings and higher levels of control, self-efficacy, and intentions. Risk level moderated the effect of self-affirmation on relevance and intentions: Self-affirmation increased ratings on both measures among those who smoked more. In addition, self-affirmation moderated the threat-intention relationship, which was weaker in the self-affirmed group. At follow-up, motivation to reduce consumption remained higher in self-affirmed participants, but there were no differences in reported consumption. Conclusion: Self-affirmation can promote less defensive responding even to visual material about well-established health risks such as smoking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two siblings with adult-onset sialidosis type I (cherry-red spot-myoclonus syndrome)

A questionnaire was sent to 967 schoolchildren, in two age groups, in northern Finland in order to investigate the prevalence of chronic knee pain. A response rate of 88.5% was achieved. Adolescents (aged 14-15 years) had significantly more knee pain (p < 0.0001) than children (aged 9-10 years). The total prevalence of chronic knee pain at the time of the evaluation was 18.5% among adolescents and 3.9% among children. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of chronic knee pain between boys and girls in these age groups. Overweight was not a predisposing factor in chronic knee pain.     

A study of combining heuristics for scheduling projects with limited multiple resources

The main objective of this study was to find a simple and quick procedure on the microcomputer for scheduling activities of a constrained multiple resource single project network that would minimize project duration. From this research there are two different types of results presented. First, a combination of simple heuristics which find the average of the minimum project durations for the constrained resource problem is presented. This combination not only supports the previous research on successful simple heuristic methods which set the priorities for constrained resource problems, but also produces results which are significantly better than those obtained by single heuristics. Second, a procedure for determining this combination of heuristics is introduced. A computer algorithm, COMAL, was developed for this study with constrained resource problems, but in the future its use may be expanded into other fields.