Changing toddlers' and preschoolers' attachment classifications: The circle of security intervention.

The Circle of Security intervention uses a group treatment modality to provide parent education and psychotherapy that is based on attachment theory. The purpose of this study was to track changes in children's attachment classifications pre- and immediately postintervention. Participants were 65 toddler- or preschooler- caregiver dyads recruited from Head Start and Early Head Start programs. As predicted, there were significant within-subject changes from disorganized to organized attachment classifications, with a majority changing to the secure classification. In addition, only 1 of the 13 preintervention securely attached children shifted to an insecure classification. Results suggest that the Circle of Security protocol is a promising intervention for the reduction of disorganized and insecure attachment in high-risk toddlers and preschoolers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of Work-of-sintering concepts in powder metals

One of the current challenges facing the particulate materials industry is developing simple, accurate models to predict sintered properties. Work-of-sintering concepts, where time-temperature integrals are used in such models, offer a solution to this problem. In this study, the master sintering curve concept is applied to several powder metal systems: 17 to 4PH stainless steel, 316L stainless steel, nickel, niobium, tungsten heavy alloys with two different compositions, and molybdenum. A detailed explanation of the construction of these curves is given, including methods used to calculate the apparent activation energy for sintering and to curve-fit experimental data to a sigmoid function describing the master sintering curve. Discussion of the results shows that the master sintering curve can be applied to powder metal systems, even those that use liquid phase during sintering.     

The virtue of multiculturalism: Personal transformation, character, and openness to the other.

The social, intellectual, and moral movement known as multiculturalism has been enormously influential in psychology. Its ability to reshape psychology has been due to its ethical force, which derives from the attractiveness of its aims of inclusion, social justice, and mutual respect. The cultivation of cultural competence, presented as a developmental process of acquiring self-awareness, cultural knowledge, and skills, is an important emphasis in the multicultural literature. The authors place the cultural competence literature in dialogue with virtue ethics (a contemporary ethical theory derived from Aristotle) to develop a rich and illuminating way for psychologists to understand and embody the personal self-examination, commitment, and transformation required for learning and practicing in a culturally competent manner. According to virtue ethics, multiculturalism can be seen as the pursuit of worthwhile goals that require personal strengths or virtues, knowledge, consistent actions, proper motivation, and practical wisdom. The authors term the virtue of multiculturalism openness to the other and conclude by describing how attention to cultural matters also transforms virtue ethics in important and necessary ways. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On a game in directed graphs

Inspired by recent algorithms for electing a leader in a distributed system, we study the following game in a directed graph: each vertex selects one of its outgoing arcs (if any) and eliminates the other endpoint of this arc; the remaining vertices play on until no arcs remain. We call a directed graph lethal if the game must end with all vertices eliminated and mortal if it is possible that the game ends with all vertices eliminated. We show that lethal graphs are precisely collections of vertex-disjoint cycles, and that the problem of deciding whether or not a given directed graph is mortal is NP-complete (and hence it is likely that no “nice” characterization of mortal graphs exists).     

Predicting the effect of proteolysis on ruminal crude protein degradation of legume and grass silages using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy

Two studies were conducted to assess whether routine applications of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy could predict the effects of silage proteolysis on ruminal crude protein (CP) degradation of legume and grass silages. A preliminary study was conducted to assess the effect of laboratory drying method on ruminal CP degradation of silages. Thirty legume and grass silages were freeze-, oven-, or microwave-dried and incubated in situ in the ventral rumen of three ruminally cannulated cows for 24 h. Freeze-drying was considered least likely to alter ruminal CP degradation of the silages; therefore, oven- and microwave-drying were compared using first-order regression with freeze-drying. Oven-drying for 48 h at 55 degrees C compared favorably (R2 = 0.84) with freeze-drying. Microwave-drying resulted in a large bias (2.84 g/10(-1) kg of CP) and was poorly related (R2 = 0.48) to freeze-drying. In a second study, alfalfa and timothy were cut at three maturities and allowed to wilt for 0, 10, 24, 32, 48, and 54 h. Forages were ensiled in triplicate cylindrical mini silos and allowed to ferment for 120 d. After fermentation, silages were oven-dried, ground, and scanned on a near-infrared reflectance spectrophotometer. Duplicate, dried, 2-mm ground silage samples were incubated in the ventral rumen of three ruminally cannulated cows for 24 h. Forage species, maturity, and wilting time significantly affected 24-h ruminal CP degradation of the silages. Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy accurately predicted (R2 = 0.91) 24-h ruminal CP degradation of silages. Data suggest near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy can accurately assess the effects of forage species, maturity, and wilting time (proteolysis) on 24-h ruminal CP degradation of legume and grass silages.     

Predicting Addiction Severity Index (ASI) interviewer severity ratings for a computer-administered ASI.

The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) is a reliable and valid measure of problem severity among addicted patients. Concerns have been raised about the reliability of the Interviewer Severity Rating (ISR), a summary score for each of 7 domains. As part of an effort to build a computer-administered ASI, regression equations were developed to predict the ISR. Repeated resampling of a large dataset, consisting of 1,124 ASIs conducted by trained interviewers, permitted derivation of stable regression equations predicting the ISR for each ASI domain from patients' answers to preselected interview items. The resulting 7 Predicted Severity Ratings (PSRs) were tested on 8, standardized vignettes, with "gold standard," expert-generated ISRs. Reliabilities compared well with those of intensively trained interviewers. The PSRs could provide an alternative to potentially unreliable interviewer ratings, enhancing the ASI's role in treatment planning and treatment matching and make possible a computer-administered version of the ASI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Event-related potentials elicited by automatic targets: A dual-task analysis.

Investigated the role of limited capacity processes in the detection of automatic targets in a dual-task paradigm using both behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) measures. Six right-handed undergraduates served as Ss. An automatic detection task was paired with another concurrent discrimination while the relative importance of each task was systematically varied. The resulting performance operating characteristic showed that both the speed and accuracy of automatic detection responses were affected by the allocation of attention. Reductions in the accuracy of each task were accompanied by reductions in the amplitude of a late-positive component of the ERP (P300). The latency of the P300 component elicited by automatic targets was increased in dual-task conditions. A comparison of behavioral and ERP measures suggested the involvement of 2 separate limited-capacity processes in automatic detection: one concerned with the formation of an episodic representation of target occurrence and the other with the execution of rapid motor responses. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Localization and dynamic regulation of biogenic amine transporters in the mammalian central nervous system

The monoamines, serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine and histamine, play a critical role in the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and in the integration of information in sensory, limbic, and motor systems. The primary mechanism for termination of monoaminergic neurotransmission is through reuptake of released neurotransmitter by Na+, CI-dependent plasma membrane transporters. A second family of transporters packages monoamines into synaptic and secretory vesicles by exchange of protons. Identification of those cells which express these two families of neurotransmitter transporters is an initial step in understanding what adaptive strategies cells expressing monoamine transporters use to establish the appropriate level of transport activity and thus attain the appropriate efficiency of monoamine storage and clearance. The most recent advances in this field have yielded several surprises about their function, cellular and subcellular localization, and regulation, suggesting that these molecules are not static and most likely are the most important determinants of extracellular levels of monoamines. Here, information on the localization of mRNAs for these transporters in rodent and human brain is summarized along with immunohistochemical information at the light and electron microscopic levels. Regulation of transporters at the mRNA level by manipulation in rodents and differences in transporter site densities by tomographic techniques as an index of regulation in human disease and addictive states are also reviewed. These studies have highlighted the presence of monoamine neurotransmitter transporters in neurons but not in glia in situ. The norepinephrine transporter is present in all cells which are both tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)- and dopamine beta-hydroxylase-positive but not in those cells which are TH- and phenyl-N-methyltransferase-positive, suggesting that epinephrine cells may have their own, unique transporter. In most dopaminergic cells, dopamine transporter mRNA completely overlaps with TH mRNA-positive neurons. However, there are areas in which there is a lack of one to one correspondence. The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) mRNA is found in all raphe nuclei and in the hypothalamic dorsomedial nucleus where the 5-HTT mRNA is dramatically reduced following immobilization stress. The vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) is present in all monoaminergic neurons including epinephrine- and histamine-synthesizing cells. Immunohistochemistry demonstrates that the plasma membrane transporters are present along axons, soma, and dendrites. Subcellular localization of DAT by electron microscopy suggests that these transporters are not at the synaptic density but are confined to perisynaptic areas, implying that dopamine diffuses away from the synapse and that contribution of diffusion to dopamine signalling may vary between brain regions. Interestingly, the presence of VMAT2 in vesicles underlying dendrites, axons, and soma suggests that monoamines may be released at these cellular domains. An understanding of the regulation of transporter function may have important therapeutic consequences for neuroendocrine function in stress and psychiatric disorders.     

The use of inhaled nitric oxide in a wide variety of clinical problems

Inhaled nitric oxide (NO) clearly decreased pulmonary vascular resistance in pediatric patients with pulmonary hypertension, regardless of the underlying origin of the pulmonary hypertension. In persistent pulmonary hypertension of the neonate (PPHN) and CHD, the use of inhaled NO appears to improve the outcome of these patients. In acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and surfactant deficiency the role of inhaled NO therapy remains unclear. The use of inhaled NO is safe in a carefully monitored setting with a delivery system designed to minimize the generation of NO2.