On the Differences Between Academic Research Departments and Professional Schools.

Comments that Peterson (see record 2003-08988-002) offered an enlightening history of the origins of professional schools of psychology, but I think that some of his points need further elaboration, and others need to be cited. Stepping back, I think there is a basic role difference that must be taken into account between a professional school and a scholarly department. A professional school--of law, medicine, social work, or business--is engaged in the task of preparing professionals to meet the needs of a complex society for practitioners in that field. Yes, a few professional students in each field have a calling to become scholars and teachers, but the task of the school is first to produce people to serve. That means professional schools have some responsibility to provide people to meet society's diverse needs. The development of professional psychology schools in the 1970s was a response to the need for diverse, committed, and competent practitioners. This demand could not be served by academic departments, and that was not their function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Process-structure-property relationships of erodable polymeric biomaterials: II—long range order in poly(desaminotyrosyl arylates)

The long-range order of some bioerodable polyesteramides based on a desaminotyrosyl [Thermochim Acta 396 (2003) 141; Polym Adv Technol 13 (2002) 926; J Am Chem Soc 119 (1997) 4553] diol monomer has been investigated. The order is mesogenic, best described as a ‘condis crystal’ or smectic-like. In all cases where long-range order is present, ordered H bonds between amide groups are observed. The order stabilizes the polymer to dimensional change and mechanical relaxation under biorelevant conditions.     

Depression ratings, reported sexual risk behaviors, and methamphetamine use: Latent growth curve models of positive change among gay and bisexual men in an outpatient treatment program.

Although the cessation of substance use is the principal concern of drug treatment programs, many individuals in treatment experience co-occurring problems such as mood disruptions and sexual risk behaviors that may complicate their recovery process. This study assessed relationships among dynamic changes tracked over time in methamphetamine use, depression symptoms, and sexual risk behaviors (unprotected anal intercourse) in a sample of 145 methamphetamine-dependent gay and bisexual males enrolled in a 16-week outpatient drug treatment research program. Participants were randomly assigned into 1 of 4 conditions: contingency management (CM), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT; the control condition), combined CM and CBT, and a tailored gay-specific version of the CBT condition. Using latent growth curve models, the authors assessed the relationship of means (intercepts) and the slopes of the 3 measures of interest over time to test whether changes in methamphetamine use predicted declining rates of depression and risky sexual behavior in tandem. Participants with the greatest downward trajectory in methamphetamine use (urine verified) reported the greatest and quickest decreases in reported depressive symptoms and sexual risk behaviors. The control group reported the most methamphetamine use over the 16 weeks; the tailored gay-specific group reported a more rapidly decreasing slope in methamphetamine use than the other participants. Findings indicate that lowering methamphetamine use itself has a concurrent and synergistic effect on depressive symptoms and risky sexual behavior patterns. This suggests that some users who respond well to treatment may show improvement in these co-occurring problems without a need for more intensive targeted interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Weight differences in emotional responsiveness to proprioceptive and pictorial stimuli.

In 2 studies, 70 overweight and 76 normal-weight undergraduates were administered the Sadness and Elation components of the Nowlis Mood Adjective Check List to investigate weight differences in emotional responsiveness to proprioceptive and pictorial stimuli. Contrary to past evidence that overweight Ss are more emotional than normals, the emotional state of normal-weight Ss fluctuated with manipulations of their facial expression, whereas that of overweight Ss did not respond to these proprioceptive cues. Although research employing affectively loaded pictures found overweight Ss to be more emotionally responsive than normals to these external stimuli, no such weight differences were obtained when less polarized pictures were used in the present studies. It is concluded that even though overweight Ss were more emotionally responsive to extremely polarized external stimuli that demand perception, they were less responsive to proprioceptive stimuli derived from facial expressions and equally responsive to moderately polarized pictorial stimuli. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)