Minimal effects of severe depression on cognitive functioning.

Severe and psychotic depression which grossly disables the patient socially, could be expected to impair his cognitive-perceptual functioning significantly, and is generally considered to do so. To test this hypothesis, 55 depressives and 65 normals were matched for age, sex, education, vocabulary score, and nativity, and were tested on 33 cognitive, perceptual, and psychomotor tests, yielding 82 test scores. The depressives performed more poorly (at the .01 level) on only 4% of the test scores which contrasted dramatically with their rating themselves significantly more negatively on 82% of 77 Clyde Mood Scale items. It is concluded that the actual ability and performance during severe depression is not consistent with the patient's unrealistically low image of himself. His experience of ego helplessness is more subjective than objective, more imaginary than real. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Derivation of numerical values for the World Health Organization guidelines for recreational waters"

The subject paper describes a procedure for adjusting a risk model based upon a measure of personal exposure (the "UK personal exposure model") in order to attribute an expected rate of gastroenteritis among a group of swimmers to a mean recreational water quality value (enterococci per 100mL). We term the resulting model for group risk the "UK ecologic exposure model." The distinction is essential to establishing recreational water quality guidelines because exposures of individual bathers are not known from a water monitoring program, the only assessment available being some form of ecologic exposure such as a mean log indicator density. While the authors of the subject paper solved the UK ecologic exposure model for only a single point (that value of mean log10 enterococcus density which is expected to result in five extra cases of gastroenteritis per 100 swimmers), we extend their model to show the entire curve over a relevant range of densities. The resulting exposure-response curve is seen to not differ substantially from the existing USEPA model for "highly credible gastrointestinal illness" in marine waters. However, particularly since such correspondence is not guaranteed for future studies or for other existing epidemiological studies, we recommend the direct approach to evaluating ecologic exposure, such as used in the USEPA studies, rather than the indirect approach of the UK ecologic exposure model, given the number of untested assumptions that are necessary for accomplishing the latter.     

Sensitive detection of sulfhydryl groups in surface-confined metallothioneins and related species via ferrocene-capped gold nanoparticle/streptavidin conjugates

Metallothionein (MT), a cysteine-rich metalloprotein that is purported to play an important role in heavy metal accumulation and detoxification, and its related peptidic species were attached onto dithiobissuccinimidyl propionate self-assembled monolayers. The spatially accessible sulfhydryl groups present in these immobilized biomolecules, tagged with N-biotinoyl-N'-[6-maleimidohexanoyl]hydrazide, were detected voltammetrically at a sensitive level via the use of ferrocene (Fc)-capped gold nanoparticle/streptavidin conjugates. The method was established first by examining relatively simple peptides (e.g., glutathione). For the hexapeptidic species that resembles the N-terminus of MT with a sequence of Lys-Cys-Thr-Cys-Cys-Ala, concentration levels as low as 0.050 nM can be determined. Such a remarkable sensitivity is attributed to the presence of a large number of Fc caps present at each gold nanoparticle, which enhances the detection of a small number of surface-bound sulfhydryl groups. Microgravimetric measurements, performed with a quartz crystal microbalance, were used in tandem with voltammetry to quantify the number of tagged sulfhydryl groups. Through extraction of the metals present in MT adsorbate, it is demonstrated that this amplified voltammetric detection is also suitable for the investigation of the variation of the number of sulfhydryl groups present at an electrode and sensitive to the change of surface structure of an immobilized biomolecule. This work represents a new method for the determination of sulfhydryl groups inherent in surface-bound proteins or peptides and can facilitate the study on the environmental issues related to MTs.     

Community assessment of availability, consumption, and cultural acceptability of food sources of (pro)vitamin A: toward the development of a dietary intervention among preschool children in rural Burkina Faso

BACKGROUND: Vitamin A deficiency remains a public health problem in Burkina Faso and elsewhere in the developing world. Dietary diversification is a promising strategy that needs to be explored to strengthen the country's ongoing supplementation program. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify locally available and acceptable (pro)vitamin A-rich foods to be included in a dietary intervention addressing vitamin A deficiency in children aged six months to three years. METHODS: A food ethnographic study combining recall methods, observation, and focused group discussion was conducted in the dry and rainy seasons. Thirty-five mother-child pairs were randomly selected and included in the study. RESULTS: The dietary pattern of children was characterized by low diversity with extremely low energy and vitamin A intake in both seasons. The study identified the availability of numerous (pro)vitamin A-rich foods, but these foods are either not consumed or consumed by few in low amounts and/or in low frequencies. The main constraining factors identified are related to financial accessibility (for liver), seasonal availability (for egg, milk, mango, papaya, and green leafy vegetables), and beliefs related to consumption and preparation (for green leafy vegetables). However, the study also revealed that the study population associated all identified (pro)vitamin A-rich foods with positive attributes such as health, strength, and vitamin richness, which might offer an entry point for designing and implementing dietary interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the findings of this formative research, intervention strategies with mango and liver are proposed to improve the vitamin A intake and status of children in the rural areas of Burkina Faso.     

Über die Verteilung der Verfestigung in ISO-V-Kerbschlagproben

Härtemessungen HV 5 auf den Seitenflächen von ISO-V-Kerbschlagproben und in Schnitten parallel dazu. Verteilung der Verfestigung in Proben der Tieflage, des Mischbruchgebietes und der Hochlage.     

An analogue study of disattentional strategies in schizophrenia.

Attentional disorders in schizophrenia are commonly described in terms of stimulus flooding, the breakdown of filtering mechanisms that results in an overflow of sensations and cognitive disruption. In contrast, schizophrenics have also been observed to disattend to relevant environmental stimulation, possibly as a defense against unmanageable levels of arousal or aversive information. Two experiments were conducted to explore the mechanisms by which the schizophrenic would be able to attenuate the registration of unwanted environmental information. In Exp I, laboratory analogs of selective disattention, suggested by 3 theories of attentional disorder in schizophrenia, were used with 112 normal male undergraduates to determine how effectively they could disengage from relevant visual and auditory information. Exp II replicated the auditory condition in Exp I, with 2 changes: (a) Strategies were tested by requiring the recall rather than the recognition of words, and the experimenter was a male instead of a female graduate student. Results show that the holding strategy by which the S maintained concentration on an early stimulus and the switching strategy by which concentration was deployed to stimulation from another sensory modality reduced subsequent retention of relevant information. A release strategy by which the S refrained from rehearsing previously exposed information was ineffective. Auditory information was generally more susceptible to disattentional strategies than was visual information. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fatigue properties of pure metals

The report considers the stress fatigue limit _D, the fatigue to tensile strength ratio _D/R_m, and the deformation fatigue limit _D of pure metals. For FCC and some HCP metals there exists a linear correlation between fatigue limit and tensile strength. The fatigue limit and the fatigue ratio _D/R_m depend upon the homologous temperature. The fatigue ratios of BCC metals are higher than the fatigue ratios of other metals at room temperature as is also true for metals with nearly the same homologous temperature. The deformation fatigue limit decreases rapidly when T_h - 0.5 and T_h 1. When T_h = 1 then _D = 0, _D = 0 and _D/R_m = 0. The deformation fatigue limits of metals belonging to the same subgroup of the periodic element system and having, similar homologous temperatures at room temperature are very similar.

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Zusammenfassung Der Artikel behandelt die Dauerfestigkeit _D des Ermuedungskoeffizienten _D/R_m und die Deformation _D, die der Dauerfestigkeit entspricht. Fuer kubisch flachzentrierte Metalle und einige hexagonal Metalle existiert eine lineare Korrelation zwischen Dauerfestigkeit _D and Zugfestigkeit R_m. Die Dauerfestigkeit _D und der Ermuedungskoeffizient _D/R_m koennen als Funktion der homologischen Temperatur betrachtet werden. Der Ermuedungskoeffizient der kubisch raumzentrierten Metalle ist groesser als der der anderen in Raumtemperatur. Dieses stimmt auch fuer Metalle mit aehnlichen hornologischen Temperaturen. Die Deformation _D, die der Dauerfestigkeit entspricht, faellt schnell ab, wenn T_h > 0.5 und T_h 1, Wenn T_h = 1, darn ist _D = 0, _D = 0 und _D/R_m = 0. Die Metalle, die zu derselben Gruppe des periodischen Systems der Elemente gehoeren and aehnliche homologische Temperaturen (in Raumtemperatur) besitzen, haben sehr aehnliche Werte der Deformation _D.

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Résumé L'article parle de la contrainte de la limite de fatigue _D le facteur de fatigue _D/R_m et la déformation _D correspondante à la limite de fatigue des métaux pures. Pour les métaux du système cubique aux faces centrées (c. f. c.) et quelques uns du système hexagonale (hex. c.) il existe une correlation linéare entre la limite de fatigue _D et de la résistance a la fraction R_m. La limite de fatigue _D et le facteur de fatigue _D/R_m dependent de la température homologue. Les facteurs de la fatigue des métaux du système cubique centre (c.c.) sort plus grands que ceux des autres métaux dans la température de chambre, aussi por des métaux qui ont presque la même température homologue. La déformation correspondante à la limite de fatigue tombe rapidement quand T_h > 0.5 et T_h 1. Quand T_h = 1, alors _D = 0, _D = 0 et _D/R_m = 0. Cettes déformations _D pour les métaux du même groupe du système périodique des éléments sont proches si les températures homologues dans la température de chambre sont analogues.

     

Toward More Public Relations.

The author informs that a note in the Comment section of the December 1953 issue of this journal described how the Eastern Psychological Association recorded much of the material that was presented at its 1953 meeting and broadcast part of it over an educational FM station. The author feels that any activity that brings to the public a true picture of what a psychologist is, and does, is a commendable activity, but all these activities should be properly evaluated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creativity and the need for associative novelty.

Based on J. P. Houston and S. A. Mednick's experiment (see record 1963-06699-001), the differential reinforcing properties of associative novelty were assessed for high-creative and low-creative Ss. 80 undergraduates, the top and bottom 26% of a pool of 156 Ss who had taken the Remote Associates Test (RAT), participated in a 2*4 factorial experiment. The independent variables were creativity, measured by the RAT, and type of reinforcement of nouns; the dependent variable was the number of nouns chosen over blocks of 40 trials. Each S saw 180 cards with 2 words, a noun and a nonnoun, typed on each card. If S chose the nonnoun, E responded with its most common associate. If S chose the noun, E responded with a very common associate, a moderately common associate, a very uncommon associate, or a similar-sounding word, depending on the experimental condition. Neither main effect of creativity nor type of reinforcement was significant (p > .05); only the effect of trials was significant (p