Psychologists look at television: Cognitive, developmental, personality, and social policy implications.

Addresses issues concerning the continuing exposure of children to TV that require examination by cognitive, developmental, and personality psychologists. Studies dealing with structural format and content of commercial TV and the possible influences on developing children are reviewed. Cognitive and affective issues include the rapid pace of presentation on TV and its effect on the cognitive processing of children. The relationships between family lifestyle and TV viewing are also considered. Familial variables including amount and type of TV viewing were found to affect children's reading comprehension, comprehension of plots, effectiveness of language usage, beliefs, imagination, motoric restlessness, aggressiveness, and school adjustment. Evidence accumulates suggesting that heavy viewing of currently available TV fare by children may be harmful. Research suggesting potential benefits of the medium for education and constructive development has not generally been translated into regular age-specific programming for children by the TV industry. Avenues for intervention by psychologists with parents, educators, and industry are reviewed. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Improving productivity through performance appraisal.

Reviews the book, The New Partnership: Women and Men in Organizations by Nina L. Colwill (1982). The stated goals of this book are "to increase awareness" of: a) sex-role problems in organizations, b) some potential solutions, and c) relevant research evidence. An unstated but evident goal is to persuade the reader that women, men, and organizations will all benefit from the maximal development of both sexes' potential. The book contains nine chapters, four of which are co-authored with others expert on the chapter topic. The broad range theory and research presented deals with attitudes, roles, traits and abilities, achievement and related attributions, power, communication, and groups and leadership. Each subject area is initially viewed broadly with a subsequent focus on special issues and research results relevant to sex discrimination in organizations. At the end of each chapter is a section dealing with "alternatives for change" and a set of exercises for use in groups, individually, in interviews, and in designing a study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leucine and isoleucine as in vitro precursors for lipid synthesis by rat aorta

The in vitro conversion of¹⁴C-labeled leucine, isoleucine, and pyruvate to specific lipids was compared in rat aorta, diaphragm, and fat pad. Total lipid specific radioactivity from all precursors was greatest in aorta. The ratio of label incorporated into polar lipids vs. neutral lipids by aorta was generally several-fold that incorporated by muscle and fat pad. The labeling of sterols in the aorta from¹⁴C-leucine and pyruvate was equivalent. It is concluded that leucine may be a substantial precursor to polar lipids and to sterols in rat aorta. This paper was presented in part at the 1974 Biochemistry and Biophysics Meeting of the Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.     

Effects of clinical experience and client emotion on therapists' responses.

In an Emotion by Therapist Experience design, actresses portraying angry vs sad clients interacted with "therapists" (graduate clinical psychology students) varying in prior therapy experience (high, medium, or low). Results indicate that therapists judged angry clients less favorably than sad clients. More experienced therapists showed greater tolerance of anger. Therapists intervened less with angry clients than with depressed clients, and angry clients received less supportiveness, less directiveness, and fewer requests for information. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biomarkers to assess the utility of potential reduced exposure tobacco products.

To date, we have no valid biomarkers that serve as proxies for tobacco-related disease to test potential reduced exposure products. This paper represents the deliberations of four workgroups that focused on four tobacco-related heath outcomes: Cancer, nonmalignant pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and fetal toxicity. The goal of these workgroups was to identify biomarkers that offer some promise as measures of exposure or toxicity and ultimately may serve as indicators for future disease risk. Recommendations were based on the relationship of the biomarker to what is known about mechanisms of tobacco-related pathogenesis, the extent to which the biomarker differs among smokers and nonsmokers, and the sensitivity of the biomarker to changes in smoking status. Other promising biomarkers were discussed. No existing biomarkers have been demonstrated to be predictive of tobacco-related disease, which highlights the importance and urgency of conducting research in this area.     

Effect of liming on phosphate extracted by two soil-testing procedures

Lime and phosphate (P) additions had a variable effect on Olsen- and Mehlich-extractable P in 4 acid soils from Fiji. Olsen-extractable P was at a minimum between pH values of 5.5–6.0, on either side of which it increased, particularly in soils which received large amounts of added P. The initial decrease in Olsen-extractable P is attributed to the removal of P from solution by precipitation during the Olsen extraction. The increase at higher pH values is thought to be due to the slow release of P from precipitated Ca-P compounds. There was a consistent decrease in Mehlich-extractable P with increasing soil pH. When the pH of the Mehlich reagent was kept constant, using an autotitrator, there was no decrease in Mehlich-extractable P, suggesting that in the absence of pH control the decrease in extractable P was largely due to the neutralizing effect of lime on the Mehlich reagent.