Influences of misleading postevent information: Misinformation interference and acceptance.

Because of the biasing nature of retrieval tests, evidence that the introduction of misleading postevent information will impair the memory for an original event has recently been in dispute. In two experiments, a retrieval test sensitive to both biasing effects of misinformation (misinformation acceptance) and influences of the misinformation on memory (misinformation interference) was used. Both experiments demonstrated misinformation acceptance, and one of the experiments suggested that misinformation interferes with the ability to remember the original event. Two misinformation interference hypotheses are evaluated; they suggest that the misinformation may have either impaired memory or led to confusion regarding what had occurred during the event. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-talk in youth with anxiety disorders: States of mind, content specificity, and treatment outcome.

This study investigated the relationship between childhood anxiety disorders, the valence and content of self-statements, and the impact of treatment on the internal dialogue. Participants (151 8- to 13-year-olds) included 71 youth with anxiety disorders and 80 control participants. Positive and negative self-statements and a states-of-mind (SOM) ratio were examined. Results indicated that the negative self-statements and SOM ratio (but not positive self-statements) of children with anxiety disorders significantly predicted anxiety. Results also indicated that negative (but not positive cognition) and SOM ratio predicted improvement in anxiety after treatment and mediated treatment gains. Results of analyses to explore the content specificity hypothesis were mixed. The impact of negative self-talk on children's anxious symptomatology and favorable treatment outcome is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent ratings of EAS temperaments in twins, full siblings, half siblings, and step siblings.

A twin/family design was used to explore genetic contributions to personality; to evaluate whether twins and nontwins yield different genetic results; and to test for the presence of contrast effects, the tendency of a rater to contrast one sibling with the other, thereby magnifying existing behavioral differences. The sample consisted of 708 adolescent same-sex sibling pairs from 10 to 18 years of age. Pairs included identical (monozygotic; MZ) and fraternal (dizygotic; DZ) twins, and full siblings in nondivorced families; and full, half, and unrelated siblings in stepfamilies. Mothers and fathers rated the temperament of their children on the EAS Temperament Survey (A. H. Buss & R. Plomin, 1984). Model-fitting analyses revealed significant genetic infiuences on each of the four EAS dimensions; however, for some dimensions, heritability estimates were significantly greater for twins than for nontwins. Overall, the data were best described by a sibling interaction model, which indicated significant contrast effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feeding conditions alter the demand for phencyclidine and ethanol: A behavioral analysis.

This experiment examined the effects of feeding conditions on orally self-administered phencyclidine (PCP) or ethanol in rhesus monkeys using a behavioral≡oral economic analysis. Drug intake was measured as a function of drug cost, which was varied by changes in the fixed ratio (FR) schedule. The monkeys were trained to respond for PCP (0.25 mg/ml) or ethanol (8% wt/vol) with concurrent water available under FR 4-128 schedules. As the FR increased. drug intake decreased in a positively decelerating manner. Results suggest that food deprivation increased the reinforcement value of the drugs as well as significantly increasing consumption of both PCP and ethanol. In addition, ethanol and PCP deliveries showed proportionally greater increases due to food deprivation as FR increased. Together, these results suggest that food deprivation increases the reinforcing efficacy of drugs and this eifect is enhanced as the cost (FR) of the drug increases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The NMDA antagonist MK-801 affects nonspatial learning in preweanling rats.

The N-methyl-{d}-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of the excitatory amino acid receptor has been implicated in several kinds of learning and memory, as well as in long-term potentiation (LTP), a putative cellular mechanism for learning and memory. This experiment examined the role of the NMDA receptor in patterned single-alternation (PSA) learning in preweanling rats following intraperitoneal injections of 0.05 mg/kg MK-801, a selective NMDA antagonist. MK-801 significantly inhibited PSA at both 60-sec and 30-sec intervals (ITIs). and attenuated, but did not block Iearning at 8-sec . These results are compared with effects on PSA, a form of nonspatial, memory-based learning, observed; after early postnatal exposure to alcohol, infant hippocampal lesions, and infant exposure to X-irradiation, and they add strongly to these earlier demonstrartions of the role of the hippocampus in learning and memory that is clearly nonspatial and non-cognitive-map-related. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between the delayed improvement in ankle-brachial pressure index and changes in limb volume following balloon angioplasty for leg ischaemia

Occupational contact dermatitis to individual wood species from foreign countries, such as Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America, has been described. This report concerns the case of a domestic woodworker who developed allergic contact dermatitis shortly after beginning to work with multiple exotic woods. Patch testing with domestic and exotic wood fresh sawdust samples, 1% and 10% in petrolatum, yielded strong positive reactions to six exotic woods: zericote, pao ferro, cocobolo, becote, macassar ebony, and padauk. Later testing confirmed sensitivity to the allergenic quinonoid constituents in pao ferro (R-3,4-dimethoxydalbergione), cocobolo (obtusaquinone), and macassar ebony (macassar quinone).     

Qualitative and quantitative significance of the microbial flora in natural mineral waters during their bottling

On the basis of data reported in literature concerning the saprophytic bacterial flora of natural mineral waters bottled in glass or in PVC containers and in view of the results obtained during their own investigations, the AA. consider it impossible to establish a limit to the charge of bacterial flora in agar at 20 degrees C and believe that any possible proposal concerning rules limiting the bacterial charge at 37 degrees C requires more detailed study and preliminary controls. In any case, they propose to apply the strictest vigilance in excluding the presence of any sign whatever of fecal contamination or of potentially pathogenic bacterial types (f.i. P. aeruginosa) in all water samples; they also suggest to require that the performance of comparative tests be extended to the stages preceding bottling. Current experimental investigations reveal that the multiplying process seems to be accelerated and more protracted in time in waters bottled in PVC containers than in those kept in glass containers.     

AEC set-up optimisation with computed radiography imaging

Phototimer set-up is a critical procedure for dose and image quality optimisation in computed radiography (CR) systems. While a conventional radiography automatic exposure control device (AEC) can be calibrated in order to gain a constant optical density on the film independent of beam quality and patient size, CR detectors present a high dynamic range which allows a much larger dose interval, but with different image quality levels. CR leads to a less frequent exam repetition, but may produce quite noisy images if the exposure level on the plate is not correct. The aim of this work is to evaluate the performance of a CR plate (Agfa MD40) in order to optimally calibrate an AEC device. The plate response has been characterised in terms of digital signal, exposure on the plate and signal-to-noise ratio for different beam qualities, in a patient of standard size.