Compensation and the classroom: Doctor of psychology programs.

Results of a survey of 19 doctoral psychology programs indicate that the majority of faculty in university-affiliated free-standing professional programs are part-time, and their primary income and professional identity are outside the educational program. Questions are raised concerning faculty commitment to student education, financial viability and institutional stability, the history of free-standing schools in other professions, and whether psychology should continue to be based in the university. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of oestradiol treatment on mast cell populations and microflora in the vaginal cul-de-sac of seasonally anoestrous brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula)

Mast cell populations in the vaginal cul-de-sac of female brushtail possums do not appear to be related to microbial invasion but changes in their density occur at oestrus, indicating a hormonal influence. The present study examined the effect of treatment with oestradiol on microflora and on mast cell numbers and their spatial location in cul-de-sac tissue of seasonally anoestrous brushtail possums. Tissue was collected from seasonally anoestrous brushtail possums (n = 6 per group) that were either untreated (anoestrous group) or were subjected to 6 days of treatment with oestradiol (oestradiol group) administered via subcutaneous implants or with the oil vehicle alone (control group). Tissue was collected aseptically for microbiological procedures and the fractionator and optical disector were used to quantify mast cell populations. Microflora populations were low (< 4.0 x 10(4) organisms g(-1)) and numbers of mast cells were similar in all groups. Mast cell density was greatest in epithelial and connective tissues from seasonally anoestrous and control animals and lowest in oestradiol-treated possums, in which there was a significant increase in cul-de-sac mass and volume. There is an inverse relationship between circulating oestrogen concentrations and mast cell density in possum cul-de-sac tissue, which is probably the result of an increase in tissue volume.     

Stereotype threat and working memory: Mechanisms, alleviation, and spillover.

Stereotype threat (ST) occurs when the awareness of a negative stereotype about a social group in a particular domain produces suboptimal performance by members of that group. Although ST has been repeatedly demonstrated, far less is known about how its effects are realized. Using mathematical problem solving as a test bed, the authors demonstrate in 5 experiments that ST harms math problems that rely heavily on working memory resources--especially phonological aspects of this system. Moreover, by capitalizing on an understanding of the cognitive mechanisms by which ST exerts its impact, the authors show (a) how ST can be alleviated (e.g., by heavily practicing once-susceptible math problems such that they are retrieved directly from long-term memory rather than computed via a working-memory-intensive algorithm) and (b) when it will spill over onto subsequent tasks unrelated to the stereotype in question but dependent on the same cognitive resources that stereotype threat also uses. The current work extends the knowledge of the causal mechanisms of stereotype threat and demonstrates how its effects can be attenuated and propagated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

HTS transformers

The paper elucidates on some of the potential systems benefits and provides an update of progress in major high-temperature superconductor (HTS) transformer development programs worldwide. It begins with background sections on earlier low-temperature-superconductor (LTS) transformer developments and on transformer losses and efficiencies and their influence on total owning costs (TOC) as one of the major drivers that may determine the success and broad acceptance of HTS transformers for power applications     

Dry sliding wear of hard materials against a diamond composite

Pin-on-disc wear tests using ceramic and metal pins running against diamond composite discs were conducted in air at room temperature. Pin wear rate and the coefficient of friction were measured. The pin wear rate did not consistently increase with decreasing hardness, and the lowest wear rate was obtained with a cemented tungsten carbide pin.     

Software Construction, Part 1

This is the first installment of a software engineering glossary of software construction terminology.     

Collection of nonpolar organic compounds from ambient air using polyurethane foam-granular adsorbent sandwich cartridges.

Glass cartridges containing 6-10 g of Tenax-GC or 15 g of XAD-2 resin packed between two slices of polyurethane foam (PUF) were used in a General Metal Works PS-1 high-volume sampler to collect chlorobenzenes (CBs) containing three to six chlorine atoms, hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), and two-ring aromatic hydrocarbons from 35-385 m3 of air. Laboratory experiments were run by vaporizing known quantities of analytes into a clean airstream for sampling by the PS-1 system at 20 degrees C. Collection efficiencies, determined from mass balance of the quantities introduced and recovered, ranged from 70 to 120% for individual compounds and averaged 93% overall. Penetration of analytes to backup adsorbent traps showed an inverse correlation to vapor pressure. The method was used to collect the above compounds from urban and rural air.     

Assessing coparenting in families of school-age children: Validation of the Coparenting and Family Rating System.

Studied (1) the psychometric properties of an observational co-parenting measure and (2) the relationship between co-parenting and the adjustment of school-age children. Ss were 67 couples in the US with a 1st-born, 7-11 yr old child. Family interactions during unstructured family play in a laboratory setting were coded with the Coparenting and Family Rating System (CFRS; J. P. McHale et al, 2000). Three self-report measures of marital adjustment, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale were administered. For boys, the CFRS measure Hostility-Competitiveness correlated with anxiety (Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale) and with mother-reported internalizing, externalizing, and overall problems (CBCL). For girls, the CFRS measure Parenting Discrepancy correlated with mother-reported internalizing (CBCL). The possibility of sex differences in co-parenting-adjustment links is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural and Magnetic Properties of Copper(II) Coordination Polymers Containing Fluoride-Based Anions and Ancillary Organic Ligands

The fluoride (F⁻) and bifluoride (HF₂⁻) anions have been little used in the self-assembly of molecular and polymeric magnets. We have recently synthesized several new compounds, namely CuF₂(3-OHpy)₄ (OHpy = hydroxypyridine) (1), Cu(SiF₆)(2,6-me₂pyz)₄ (me₂pyz = dimethylpyrazine) (2), CuF₂(H₂O)₂(pyz) (pyz = pyrazine) (3) and [Cu(HF₂)(pyz)₂]BF₄ (4). Compound 1 contains coordinate covalent and hydrogen bonding interactions that link the Cu(II) ions into 3D networks while 2 features square-pyramidal Cu(II) ions that are weakly bridged by SiF₆²⁻ anions into 1D chains. Preliminary structural data indicate that compound 3 contains 1D Cu-pyz-Cu chains while 4 contains two dimensional [Cu(pyz)₂]²⁺ layers, which held together via HF₂⁻ anions so as to form an unprecedented 3D network. The magnetic properties of each are briefly described herein.