Editorial for Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.

The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition has long held the position as the premier international outlet for psychological studies of memory and cognition. The journal publishes work that is programmatic, rigorously designed and analyzed, and of great theoretical importance. The work published here is widely cited and includes some of the most influential studies in the field of cognitive psychology. The journal has a fairly rapid turnaround time, and the reviews are typically of high quality. As editor, I will work to ensure that all of these positive aspects remain in place, and to make changes that I believe will help the journal maintain its leadership position in the future. There are two main innovations that I will bring to the journal. The first is to broaden coverage to include more articles related to cognitive neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience. The second is to encourage the submission of shorter empirical articles through the initiation of a Brief Reports section. I also hope to attract some of the highest quality papers in cognitive neuroscience. I encourage my colleagues whose work includes both behavioral and neuroscientific approaches to submit their best papers to JEP: LMC. I hope to be able to continue the journal's long tradition of publishing some of the best and most influential papers in experimental psychology, while opening the door a bit wider to newer perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavior change, weight loss, and physiological improvements in Type II diabetic patients.

53 obese 30–70 yr olds with Type 2 diabetes treated by diet only or oral medication were assigned to a behavior-modification, nutrition-education, or standard-care treatment condition to investigate whether behavior modification would improve short- and long-term results of weight control programs for Ss. The behavior-modification and nutrition-education groups met weekly for 16 wks and were given the same information on nutrition, exercise, and diabetes; however, strategies to change eating behavior were used in the behavior-modification condition. The standard-care condition was identical to the nutrition-education condition except that Ss met only 4 times over the 16-wk treatment period. Results indicate that behavior-modification Ss lost more weight than either the nutrition-education or standard-care Ss during the 16-wk treatment period. However, at 16-mo follow-up, differences in weight loss across treatment conditions were not significant. Physiological parameters and mood improved with initial weight loss, but these changes were not maintained. Physiological changes appeared more directly related to weight loss than to treatment condition. Changes in weight were related to improved eating and exercise habits, and modest weight losses of 4.6–23.6 kg produced significant improvements in blood-sugar control. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mediating role of insight for long-term improvements in psychodynamic therapy.

Objective: According to psychoanalytic theory, interpretation of transference leads to increased insight that again leads to improved interpersonal functioning over time. In this study, we performed a full mediational analysis to test whether insight gained during treatment mediates the long-term effects of transference interpretation in dynamic psychotherapy. Method: This study is a randomized clinical trial with a dismantling design. One hundred outpatients seeking psychotherapy for depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and interpersonal problems were randomly assigned to 1 year of weekly sessions of dynamic psychotherapy with transference interpretation or to the same type and duration of treatment with the same therapists but without the use of transference interpretation. Interpersonal functioning and insight were measured pretreatment, posttreatment, and 1 year and 3 years after treatment termination. Results: Contrary to common expectation, patients with a life-long pattern of low quality of object relations and personality disorder pathology profited more from therapy with transference interpretation than from therapy with no transference interpretation. This long-term effect was mediated by an increase in the level of insight during treatment. Conclusions: Insight seems to be a key mechanism of change in dynamic psychotherapy. Our results bridge the gap between clinical theory and empirical research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

含N、S羟基衍生物的合成及其摩擦学性能

合成了1〖DK〗,2 ［N〖DK〗,N 二正丁基二硫代氨基甲酸基］乙醇（NSO1）和2 ［2 苯并噻唑基］硫代乙醇（NSO2）2种添加剂,并采用FT IR、ESI MS和元素分析手段表征了其结构。考察了NSO1和NSO2的热稳定性及其在菜籽油（RO）中的油溶性。采用四球摩擦磨损试验研究了2种添加剂在菜籽油中的减摩、抗磨以及极压性能。采用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、能谱分析仪（EDS）观察和分析了钢球磨斑表面形貌及元素组成。结果表明, NSO2的热稳定性优于NSO1, 其摩擦学性能也明显优于NSO1。NSO2优异的摩擦学特性主要得益于其分子中含有杂环结构,在边界润滑中,能够起到极压、抗磨的作用。     

Genetic Risk Scores for Maternal Lipid Levels and Their Association with Preterm Birth

Maternal lipid profiles are associated with risk for preterm birth (PTB), although the lipid component and effect size are inconsistent between studies. It is also unclear whether these associations are the result of excessive changes in lipid metabolism during pregnancy or genetic variability in genes controlling basal lipid metabolism. This study investigates the association between genetic risk scores (GRS) for four lipid components (high-density lipoprotein [HDL-C], low-density lipoprotein [LDL-C], triacylglycerols [TAG], and total cholesterol [TC]) with risk for PTB. Subjects included 954 pregnant women from California for whom second trimester serum samples were available, of which 479 gave birth preterm and 475 gave birth at term. We genotyped 96 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, which were selected from genome-wide association studies of lipid levels in adult populations. Lipid-specific GRS were constructed for HDL-C, LDL-C, TAG, and TC. The associations between GRS and PTB were analyzed using logistic regression. A higher HDL-C GRS was associated with increased risk for PTB overall and spontaneous PTB. Higher TAG and TC GRS were associated with decreased risk for PTB overall and spontaneous PTB. This study identifies counter-intuitive associations between lipid GRS and spontaneous PTB. Further replication studies are needed to confirm these findings, but they suggest that our current scientific understanding of the relationship between lipid metabolism, PTB, and genetics is incomplete.     

一种含氮硫杂环硼酸酯的制备及摩擦学性能

以2-[2-苯并噻唑基]为原料合成了2-[2-苯并噻唑基]硫代乙醇(BTE),再以该BTE合成了一种含氮硫杂环硼酸酯(SNHB)添加剂,并采用FTIR、元素分析对其结构进行了表征。考察了BTE、SNHB的油溶性、热稳定性以及SHNB的水解稳定性。采用四球摩擦磨损试验研究了BTE及SNHB在菜籽油中的减摩、抗磨以及极压性能。采用SEM、EDS观察和分析了钢球磨斑表面形貌及元素。研究结果表明,合成的产物为目标产物BTE和SNHB;在相同的试验条件下,SNHB和BTE在菜籽油中完全溶解,具有较好的油溶性;SNHB和BTE的分解温度范围分别是从270.50~396.01℃、253.04~326.83℃,两者均具有良好的热稳定性,且SNHB的热稳定性优于BTE;SNHB的水解时间超过7天,而市售的硼酸三异丙酯仅为10 min,SNHB有较好的水解稳定性;在不同载荷、添加比例等条件下SNHB的摩擦学性能明显优于BTE。     

Infrastructuring and Ordering Devices in Health Care: Medication Plans and Practices on a Hospital Ward

In this paper, we analyse physicians’ and nurses’ practices of prescribing and administering medication through the use of paper-based, and digitalized medication plans. Our point of departure is an ethnographic study of the implications of upgrading an electronic medication module (EMM) that is part of an electronic health record (EHR), carried out at an endocrinology department. The upgrade led to a temporary breakdown of the EMM, and a return to paper-based medication plans. The breakdown made visible and noticeable the taken-for-granted capabilities of medication plans in their paper-based and digital versions, and the distribution of functionalities between medication plans and clinicians. We see the case as an opportunity to analyse infrastructuring in health care, the process by which medical practices and artefacts become parts of social and technological networks with longer reaches and more channels through which coordination among distributed actors is enabled and formed. In this case, infrastructuring means an extended scope and intensity of the coordinative capabilities of medication plans, and an increased vulnerability to, and dependency on events outside the immediate loci of interaction. We particularly note the capacity of the EMM to facilitate different kinds of ordering of information and practices, and propose the conceptualizing of such digitalized artefacts as ‘ordering devices’. Ordering devices order information, stipulate action, and coordinate interaction across and within social worlds, and achieve this through the flexible support of different kinds of ordering.     

A morphological study of cat dorsal spinocerebellar tract neurons after intracellular injection of horseradish peroxidase

This work represents an attempt to elucidate structural features of electrophysiologically characterized, individual cat dorsal spinocerebellar tract (DSCT) neurons by using intracellular application of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Intracellular recordings and HRP injections were made in DSCT neurons of the Clarke's column in cat lumbar (L3) spinal cord. The units were identified by antidromic invasion following electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral dorsolateral funiculus at C1. In addition, sensory inputs to the DSCT neurons were determined by natural (adequate) stimuli applied to the hind limb with intact innervation. The morphological analysis is based on data obtained from 19 well-stained electrophysiologically identified neurons located in Clarke's column. Thirteen of these units received excitatory sensory inputs from muscle receptors, two were activated by cutaneous afferents only, and four had a convergent (muscle + cutaneous) input. The DSCT--muscle cells were equivalent to the large Clarke cells (class C of Leowy, '70). Their dendrites were oriented primarily in the rostro--caudal direction (up to 2500 micron) and appeared generally smooth except for some branchlets. In four of these cells, the axon was traced into the lateral funiculus. In light microscopic analysis there was no evidence that axon collaterals arose from these axons during the initial trajectory through the spinal grey matter. The four DSCT--convergent neurons were similar in shape to the DSCT--muscle units although they appeared to have somewhat smaller cell bodies. Of the two DSCT--cutaneous neurons one was found to be of the B type, with the dendritic tree having fewer branches and oriented mainly in the medio--lateral direction. The other cell, however, turned out to be similar in appearance to the C type Clarke neurons.