Multiple measures of hand-use lateralization in the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta).

Evaluated a free-ranging matriline of 13 ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) from videotaped records for lateralized hand use with 2 tasks and 4 measures: food reaching, feeding posture, duration of food holding, and manipulation of food between mouth and hand while eating. Binomial z scores determined 7 lemurs to be left preferent in reaching, 3 right, and 3 ambipreferent. Ideographic analyses suggested possible sex-linked and early experience twin effects. When compared to right and ambipreferent lemurs, left reach preferent lemurs used the left hand more but bimanuals grasped less in food holding and also engaged in less hand-mouth food manipulation. The tendency to manipulate food was not correlated with bimanual holding but was inversely related to left hand holding and directly related to right hand holding. These patterns are discussed as possible precursors of human bimanual manipulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

History and critical theories: discursive play and body work

Schooling Bodies: school practice and public discourse, 1880-1950 DAVID KIRK, 1998 London: Leicester University Press. 148 pp., ISBN 0 7185 0100 4, £39.99     

Multilayer film preparation of poly(4-vinylphenol) from aqueous media

The use of weak polyelectrolytes in multilayer polymer systems provides a means of altering the physico-chemical properties of these thin films. This paper examines the limits of the polyanions by incorporating the extremely weak polyelectrolyte, poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVPh), into a multilayer system with poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) from a dilute aqueous media. Film growth was monitored using absorption spectroscopy and revealed a clear linear trend in film thickness. The surface morphology, thickness, and swelling of the multilayer films systems were examined using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Film thickness greatly depended upon the pH of the polymer precursor solutions; 50-layer systems created at pH 12.5 and 11.0 were 8.2 and 246.6 nm thick, respectively, a difference of over 2900%. This is the first report on the incorporation of PVPh into a multilayer system from an aqueous media.     

Application of different macrokinetic models to the isothermal crystallization of PP/talc blends

The crystallization kinetics of neat polypropylene (PP) and of PP composites containing 2, 5, 10 and 30 wt% of talc was studied. Various kinetic equations, namely the Avrami, Velisaris–Seferis, Dietz, Khanna, Malkin models, have been applied to describe the kinetics of crystallization from the melt state under isothermal conditions. The results suggested that experimental data of the Avrami’s exponent, “n”, is approximately 2, meaning that the crystallization of PP alone and of its composites with talc is a two-dimensional growth process. Experimental data of PP alone can be best described by the Avrami, Velisaris–Seferis, Dietz and Malkin models; whereas the models that in the case of composites better correlate their behavior are those of Velisaris–Seferis, followed by Avrami’s.     

Columbia Mental Maturity Scale as a test of concept formation.

Examined the construct validity of the Columbia Mental Maturity Scale (CMMS) in terms of dimensions derived from conceptual behavior research, i.e., abstract or concrete exemplars and an oddity or pairing rule. The CMMS scores of 2 groups of 30 9-13 yr. old children of normal or borderline IQs were separated by type of card into 4 groups: concrete-oddity, abstract-oddity, abstract-pairing, and concrete-pairing. Significant differences between the percentage correct scores for each type of card were obtained. The order of difficulty for the type of card from easiest to hardest as listed above were reliable for Ss as a whole. The CMMS performance of Ss with normal IQs was superior to that of Ss with borderline IQs on all measures. Implications of findings for the diagnosis of disabilities in conceptual behavior are discussed. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The assessment of competence in families with a retarded child.

60 families with retarded children were divided into 3 groups, based on age of the retarded child (6–8, 12–24, and 18–21 yrs). The families were observed by trained raters and compared with nonclinical families without handicapped children. Family reports from 45-min interviews were collected regarding feelings about the family's adaptation to the child and available support systems. Results indicate that most families were functioning well overall, despite speculations in older clinical literature about chronic family dysfunction. The older the retarded child, the more competent the family pattern; families with retarded children aged 6–8 yrs (school-entry age) and male retarded children were more dysfunctional. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental expressed emotion and affective style in an adolescent sample at risk for schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Investigated the correspondence between interview-assessed parental emotional attitudes toward a particular offspring (expressed emotion; EE) and parental affective behavior manifested in direct family interactions for 52 14–19 yr old disturbed but nonpsychotic adolescents. Individual parents who expressed an excessive number of critical comments during the interview (high EE) manifested significantly more mild and harsh criticisms in direct interactions with their offspring than did low-EE parents. A more complex relationship emerged between attitudes and behavior when both parents' emotional attitudes were considered simultaneously. When both parents were high EE, they expressed high levels of mild and harsh criticisms in direct interactions with their offspring. Parental affective behavior in families with only 1 high-EE parent was characterized by high levels of mild criticisms but low levels of harsh criticisms. When both parents were low EE, they manifested few mild or harsh criticisms in direct interactions. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A sample preparation for quantitative determination of magnesium in individual lymphocytes by electron probe X-ray microanalysis

We present a sample preparation method for measuring magnesium in individual whole lymphocytes by electron probe X-ray microanalysis. We use Burkitt's lymphoma cells in culture as the test sample and compare X-ray microanalysis of individual cells with atomic absorption analysis of pooled cell populations. We determine the magnesium peak-to-local continuum X-ray intensity ratio by electron probe X-ray microanalysis and calculate a mean cell magnesium concentration of 39± 19 mmol/kg dry weight from analysis of 100 cells. We determine a mean cell magnesium concentration of 34 ±4 mmol/kg dry weight by atomic absorption analysis of pooled cells in three cell cultures. The mean cell magnesium concentrations determined by the two methods are not significantly different. We find a 10% coefficient of variation for both methods of analysis and a 30% coefficient of variation in magnesium concentration among individual cells by electron probe X-ray microanalysis. We wash cells in ammonium nitrate for microanalysis or in buffered saline glucose for atomic absorption analysis. We find cells washed in either solution have the same cell viability (85%), recovery (75%), cell volume (555 μm³) and cytology. We air dry cells on thin film supports and show by magnesium X-ray mapping that magnesium is within the cells. We conclude that: (a) our microanalysis cell preparation method preserves whole intact lymphocytes; (b) there is no systematic difference in results from the two methods of analysis; (c) electron probe X-ray microanalysis can determine the variation in magnesium concentration among individual cells.