Combining results of independent studies.

Describes methods for combining the probabilities obtained from 2 or more independent studies. The reporting of an overall estimated effect size to accompany the overall estimated probability is recommended. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prescriptive approach for counselor training.

Measured the effectiveness of A. P. Goldstein's (1973) Structured Learning Training (SLT) for teaching confrontation skills to 56 trainees varying in conceptual development (Paragraph Completion Test). Both a self-instruction approach and a standard implementation of SLT were effective for teaching confrontation skills. When trainees' conceptual level (CL) was considered, the approaches proved differentially effective (as measured by pencil-and-paper tests). Self-instruction SLT was more effective with high CL trainees than with low CL trainees; guided-instruction SLT proved more effective than self-instruction SLT with low CL trainees in each treatment. Further, differences due to instructional approach and CL failed to reach significance when the dependent variable was assessed via taped role play. Findings suggest the need for multiple ways of assessing skills as well as multiple approaches for instruction. Further investigation seems necessary to specify the variables involved in maximizing the effect of instruction. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

p53 and bcl-2 immunohistochemical alterations in prostate cancer treated with radiation therapy

PURPOSE: Upper urinary tract calculi that are too large to treat with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy are most commonly cleared with percutaneous endoscopic techniques. In a select group of patients who were poor candidates for percutaneous nephrostolithotomy we used retrograde endoscopic lithotripsy, and define the safety and efficacy of this modality in treating large, noninfectious stone burdens (2 cm. or greater). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 51 patients with 66 large (2 cm. or greater) upper urinary tract stones were chosen for retrograde ureteroscopic surgery. Many of these patients had co-morbid conditions that precluded or complicated standard percutaneous treatment. Lithotripsy was based on the application of small diameter fiberoptic ureteroscopes and the holmium laser lithotriptor. Specifically, the 200 micro. laser fiber was used when lower pole renal access was required. Successful therapy was defined as total fragmentation of a stone burden with creation of fine sand and 2 mm. or smaller debris. Second look endoscopy was commonly performed in select patients with large branched calculi or stone burdens in excess of 3 cm. to rule out and treat large residual fragments. RESULTS: Of 51 patients 48 were treated solely in a retrograde ureteroscopic manner and in 3 either failure of lower pole access or infectious material encountered on initial endoscopy led to conversion to more standard percutaneous techniques. In 34 of 45 renal (76%), and 20 of 21 ureteral (95%) complete ureteroscopic fragmentation of the respective stone burden was accomplished after a single session. Second look endoscopy defined significant residual fragments requiring additional endoscopic lithotripsy in 8 of 15 large renal (53%) and 1 of 3 complex ureteral stone burdens. Success, that is complete pulverization of the stone burden to fine dust and small 2 mm. fragments, increased to 41 of 45 renal (91%) and all 21 ureteral calculi after these second look procedures. One patient required a third session to treat completely an exceptionally large (6 cm.) renal stone burden composed of pure cystine, thus increasing the overall success rate for renal calculi to 93%. Six-month followup data were available for 25 patients with large calculi treated ureteroscopically, of whom 15 (60%) had completely clear imaging, 6 (24%) had small lower pole debris that was decreasing on serial imaging and 4 (16%) had new stone growth which was, in part, related either to uncorrectable metabolic disorders or chronic renal scarring and urinary stasis. There were no intraoperative complications. Three postoperative complications included pyelonephritis in 1 patient, prostatic bleeding in 1 on anticoagulant therapy and a cerebral vascular accident 24 hours after the procedure in 1 with severe vascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: Large and complex upper urinary tract calculi can be addressed safely and efficiently with retrograde endoscopic techniques.     

Generic eigenvalue assignment by memoryless real output feedback

By extensive use of methods from algebraic geometry, X. Wang proved that arbitrary pole placement by static output feedback is generically possible for strictly proper plants with n states, m inputs, and p outputs, if n < mp. Here we show the same result using no more of algebraic geometry than the definition of genericity.     

Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder in pediatric bone marrow transplant recipients: disseminated disease of donor origin demonstrated by fluorescence in situ hybridization

Two new antibiotics, hongoquercins A and B, were isolated from fermentation extracts of the unidentified fungus LL-23G227. In the optimum medium, titers of the A and B components reached approximately 2.1 g/liter and 0.02 g/liter, respectively. The optimum temperature for antibiotic production was approximately 22 degrees C. Growth was delayed at 15 degrees C but appeared to reach higher levels than was observed at 22 degrees C. Addition of dextrose to growth media increased hongoquercin B production. Hongoquercin A exhibited moderate activity against Gram-positive bacteria. Mechanistic studies conducted in an E. coli imp strain suggested membrane damage as the primary mode of bactericidal action. These compounds also lysed human red blood cells, suggesting a similar mode of action on eukaryotic cells.     

Mediation of interpersonal expectancy effects: Counselor's tone of voice.

Investigated the role of tone of voice as a possible factor in the mediation of naturally occurring rather than experimentally produced interpersonal expectancy effects. 10 camp counselors (aged 18–22 yrs) talked about children at camp whom they believed to have high social ability (high social expectancy), high athletic ability (high athletic expectancy), low social ability (low social expectancy), and low athletic ability (low athletic expectancy) in tape-recorded interviews. The counselors themselves were rated by experts at the camp on 8 competence dimensions. 10 judges (5 male and 5 female undergraduates) rated the tone of voice (content-filtered recording) of these interviews. Judges rated the counselors' tone of voice as warmer and less hostile when talking about children for whom they had high expectations than when talking about children for whom they had low expectations. Nonverbal expectancy effects were also detected more accurately by male than female judges and when the counselors talked about social rather than athletic abilities. Counselors who displayed less competent and more ineffective attributes were more prone to biasing effects as reflected in tone of voice, whereas counselors who displayed more competent and more effective attributes generally did not show differential expectancy effects as reflected in their tone of voice. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Greater improvement in summer than with light treatment in winter in patients with seasonal affective disorder

OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to compare the degree of mood improvement after light treatment with mood improvement in the subsequent summer in patients with seasonal affective disorder. METHOD: By using the Seasonal Affective Disorder Version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the authors rated 15 patients with seasonal affective disorder on three occasions: during winter when the patients were depressed, during winter following 2 weeks of light therapy, and during the following summer. They compared the three conditions by using Friedman's analysis of variance and the Wilcoxon signed ranks test. RESULTS: The patients' scores on the depression scale were significantly higher after 2 weeks of light therapy in winter than during the following summer. CONCLUSIONS: Light treatment for 2 weeks in winter is only partially effective when compared to summer. Further studies will be necessary to assess if summer's light or other factors are the main contributors to this difference.     

The need to control asbestos fibers in potable water supply systems

Occupational studies have shown that asbestos is a human carcinogen. Becausemany inhaled asbestos fibers deposited in the lung are cleared and swalloed workers are also exposed through ingestion. Of the millions of current and former workers who have been heavily exposed to asbestos, one in ten will die from cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. A number on the order of 1 in 1,000 ingested asbestos fibers penetrate the digestive tract and ingested fibers have been recovered in such tissues as kidney, intestine, liver, and urine. One animal study showed tumor production related to ingestion of asbestos-containing material but, in general, the results of seven animal feeding studies have been inconclusive. A statistically significant relationship between male lung and stomach cancer and female peritoneal, gall bladder, and esophageal cancer and asbestos counts in drinking water was determined in one epidemiology study. Increased rates for male stomach and lung, and female pancreatic cancer related to asbestos in drinking water were reported in another study but possible occupational exposure made it difficult to draw conclusions. Data on excess gastrointestinal cancer among occupational groups has been used to estimate that drinking water containing 300,000 asbestos fibers per liter over a lifetime will result in one additional cancer among 100,000 people.     

An examination of attention, arousal, and learning dysfunctions of hyperkinetic children.

Reviews empirical studies that have supported viewing the hyperkinetic syndrome and the related diagnoses of minimal brain dysfunction and learning disability as dysfunctions of information processing. Data on measures of arousal, attention, learning, and performance were examined for undrugged hyperkinetics, hyperkinetics given stimulant medication, and nonhyperkinetic children. Although support was found for the hypotheses that hyperkinetics exhibit low physiological arousal and poor attention, several findings indicate the need for modifying these hypotheses. Little evidence was found for the hypothesis that hyperkinetics have reduced sensitivity to reinforcement. Some theoretical clarifications of the arousal and attention hypotheses are proposed, and some directions for future empirical work are suggested. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Esterification of 8,11,14-eicosatrienoate and arachidonate into alkylacyl- and diacylglycerophosphocholine by vascular endothelial cells

Agonist-stimulated phospholipases release arachidonate, but not 8,11,14-eicosatrienoate, from human endothelial cells. One source of the arachidonic acid is deacylation of 1-alkyl-2-arachidonoyl-glycerophosphocholine, with subsequent conversion of some of the resultant lysophospholipid to platelet-activating factor. This study has compared the distribution of incorporated 8,11,14-[¹⁴C]-eicosatrienoate in alkylacyl-GPC and diacyl-GPC with that of [¹⁴C]arachidonate synthesized endogenously by desaturation of the 8,11,14-[¹⁴C]eicosatrienoate. Cells were incubated for 24 or 48 hr with 8,11,14-[¹⁴C]eicosatrienoate, and the resultant mixture of¹⁴C-fatty acids in the cellular lipids was characterized by gas chromatography. The choline phospholipids were then separated, hydrolyzed with phospholipase C and derivatized to diradylbenzoates. Gas chromatographic analysis indicated extensive incorporation of [¹⁴C]eicosatrienoate, as well as [¹⁴C]arachidonate, into alkylacyl-GPC. Although the ratio of esterified [¹⁴C]arachidonate to [¹⁴C]eicosatrienoate was greater in alkylacyl-GPC than in diacyl-GPC, the enrichment with [¹⁴C]arachidonate was far less than the ratio of arachidonate/eicosatrienoate released from these cells. These results thus support the hypothesis that the acyl specificity of polyunsaturated fatty acid release is provided by the agonist-stimulated phospholipase A₂ rather than the composition of the alkylacyl-GPC.