Psychiatric history and stress: Predictors of severity of unipolar depression.

Unipolar depression is frequently a recurrent or chronic disorder. In studies on predicting its course, outcomes are typically linked to either psychiatric features or stressful life events. In order to integrate the 2 approaches, 51 unipolar patients were assessed periodically over at least 1 yr for symptoms, stressful events, and chronic stressors. It was hypothesized that adverse family history and early age of onset impair role functioning and coping capabilities, thereby contributing to stressful circumstances that predict severity of depressive reactions. Results of causal modeling analyses supported a model in which background factors were associated with severity of depressive outcomes as mediated by their effects on stress variables. Such a model implicates the self-perpetuating nature of clinical depression, both for the individual and across generations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peculating psychologists: Fraud and abuse against Medicaid.

Investigated the records and views of 8 psychologists (mean age 56 yrs) who had been either criminally or administratively sanctioned for violations of laws governing the Medicaid program. Interviews with the Ss and with 40 state and federal officials involved in administrative and enforcement activities revealed that sanctioned psychologists were commonly charged with filing false claims, felt they were treated unfairly by the system, and resented the low reimbursement rates and paperwork involved with Medicaid. Almost all violators strongly denied personal blame for their behavior. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in the influence of assigned goals on cooperation and competition.

We examined developmental changes in the influence of social goals on cooperative and competitive behavior in children between the ages of 6 and 13. Children played a game with a neutrally instructed peer under cooperative and individualistic instructions. The tendency to engage in cooperative and combative moves and to use attentional words varied interactively with age, sex, order of instructions, instructions, and trials. Older children adapted their cooperative behavior to fit assigned goals when individualistic trials preceded cooperation trials, but younger children did not. Older children adapted their competitive behavior on two of five game trials, but younger children did not adapt their competitive behavior on any trials. We observed no developmental differences in the overall levels of cooperation and competition. However, younger children were more likely to use attentional words than older children, and both age groups used more attentional words under individualistic instructions than under cooperative instructions. The results suggest that older children were more flexible in adapting their social strategies to assigned goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Requirements Engineering and Technology Transfer: Obstacles, Incentives and Improvement Agenda

For many years, research results in requirements engineering (RE) have been developed without much interaction with, or impact on, industrial practice. Why is it so difficult to introduce RE research results into mainstream RE practice? This paper attempts to provide answers to this question by describing obstacles that researchers and practitioners have encountered when they attempted technology transfer. In addition, major incentives for using RE methods are discussed, along with ideas for improving current RE practice. The paper summarises, clarifies and extends the results of two panel discussions, one at the Twelfth Conference on Advanced information Systems Engineering (CAiSE’00) and the other at the Fourth IEEE Conference on Requirements Engineering (ICRE’00).     

Role of nitrogen- and sulphur-containing compounds in the ageing of liquid fuels

Insoluble and adherent sediments are formed during ageing of liquid fuels. In this research, the extent of deposit formation was studied by adding specific nitrogen- and sulphur-containing compounds to upgraded coal-derived liquids, petroleum-derived JP-5 jet and diesel fuels. Of the nitrogen compounds tested, the ability to promote sediment formation is much greater for 2,5-dimethylpyrrole (DMP), than 2,6-dimethylquinoline (DMQ). Of the sulphur-containing compounds tested, the decreasing order is: thiophenol, tetrahydrothiophene, thiophene. Synergistic effects between DMP and thiophenol can occur. Degradation products obtained by heat stressing of fuels enriched with specific heteroatomic compounds were analysed by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.     

Non-soluble dietary fiber effects on lipid absorption and blood serum lipid patterns

Generalized effects of dietary fiber on lipid absorption and blood serum lipid patterns of humans have not been defined and may not even exist. The term dietary fiber covers a wide variety of materials with different chemical and physical characteristics. The ability of pectins and mucilages, often classed as soluble fibers, to lower blood and liver lipids has been demonstrated repeatedly and consistently. However, demonstrated hypolipidemic effects of feeding such non-soluble fibers as cellulose, hemicellulose and bran are by no means consistent. On the basis of pooled data, it appears that hypolipidemic response or non-response of humans to inclusion of non-soluble fibers in diets is in part related to the degree of fecal bulking as a result of in vitro water holding capacity and in part related to pre-study blood serum lipid levels of the individual subjects.     

Mass spectrometry and the search for moonlighting proteins

Mass spectrometry has become one of the most important techniques in proteomics because of its use to identify the proteins found in different cell types, organelles, and multiprotein complexes. This information about protein location and binding partners can provide valuable clues to infer a protein's function. However, more and more proteins are found that "moonlight," or have more than one function, and the presence of moonlighting proteins can make more difficult the identification of protein function in those studies. This review discusses examples of moonlighting proteins and how their presence can affect the results of mass spectrometry studies that identify the locations, levels, and changes in protein expression. Although the presence of moonlighting proteins can complicate the results of those studies, mass spectrometry-derived protein-expression profiles potentially provides a very powerful method to find additional moonlighting proteins because they do not require a prior hypothesis of the protein's function.     

Preparation of Deoxynucleosides,Deoxynucleotides and Oligodeoxynucleotides Bearing Adducts of PAH Diol Epoxides at the N6 Position of Adenine

Abstract

Oligonucleotides bearing adducts of the diol epoxides of benzo[a]pyrene and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the exocyclic amino group of adenine have been prepared in a regio and stereospecific manner. The strategy involves reversal of the electrophile-nucleophile relationship; the PAH is linked to the adenine nucleus via condensation of an aminotriol (derived from the diol epoxide) with 6?fluoropurine deoxyribonucleoside. This condensation is carried out after the fluoro nucleoside has been incorporated into the oligonucleotide, but while the oligomer is still immobilized on the solid matrix. The diastereomeric oligomers derived from (±)?anti?BPDE are readily separable by HPLC, thus circumventing the need for individual enantiomers of the diol epoxide.