News & notes.

This article gives the latest information about the Society for the History of Psychology. It announces that David B. Baker will become News & Notes Editor for History of Psychology in 2006. It covers statements from the candidates for the presidential elections in Division 26, the candidate for secretary-treasurer, and the candidates for representative to council. It also discusses the 2005 meeting of the council of representatives and provides the Society for the History of Psychology's 2005 Convention Program. There is also personal news, as well as a notice of death. The article concludes by summarizing the History of Psychology Around the World: Philemon Foundation Lectures, C. G. Jung Center, Houston, Texas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Background Checks: Series introduction

Networks dominate today's computing landscape and commercial technical protection is lagging behind attack technology. As a result, protection programme success depends more on prudent management decisions than on the selection of technical safeguards. Managing Network Security takes a management view of protection and seeks to reconcile the need for security with the limitations of technology.     

News & notes.

This column contains information of interest to members of APA's Division 26. Included are information about the Society for the History of Psychology's web site; Division 26 news items (call for officer nominations and the past president's letter); minutes of the 2004 business meeting; a report from the 36th annual meeting of Cheiron, along with a call for papers for the 37th annual meeting; a report from the Wellcome Trust; and information about APA Federal Policy Fellowship deadlines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Panic and Comorbid Anxiety Symptoms in a National Anxiety Screening Sample: Implications for Clinical Interventions.

Questionnaire data from 2,033 participants in the National Anxiety Disorders Screening Day sample were used to assess the presence of panic and comorbid anxiety problems. These participants were selected from more than 15,000 attendees on the basis of never having received treatment for a psychiatric disorder and meeting screening criteria for panic disorder. With each comorbid anxiety problem (generalized anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, social phobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder), participants had a corresponding increase in interference in daily living as well as readiness to seek treatment. The addition of generalized anxiety or depression with panic symptoms resulted in marked increases in interference scores. Clinical treatment implications for panic disorder are discussed in terms of the effects of comorbid anxiety problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Remote sensing of vegetation and land-cover change in Arctic Tundra Ecosystems

The objective of this paper is to review research conducted over the past decade on the application of multi-temporal remote sensing for monitoring changes of Arctic tundra lands. Emphasis is placed on results from the National Science Foundation Land-Air-Ice Interactions (LAII) program and on optical remote sensing techniques. Case studies demonstrate that ground-level sensors on stationary or moving track platforms and wide-swath imaging sensors on polar orbiting satellites are particularly useful for capturing optical remote sensing data at sufficient frequency to study tundra vegetation dynamics and changes for the cloud prone Arctic. Less frequent imaging with high spatial resolution instruments on aircraft and lower orbiting satellites enable more detailed analyses of land cover change and calibration/validation of coarser resolution observations.The strongest signals of ecosystem change detected thus far appear to correspond to expansion of tundra shrubs and changes in the amount and extent of thaw lakes and ponds. Changes in shrub cover and extent have been documented by modern repeat imaging that matches archived historical aerial photography. NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) time series provide a 20-year record for determining changes in greenness that relates to photosynthetic activity, net primary production, and growing season length. The strong contrast between land materials and surface waters enables changes in lake and pond extent to be readily measured and monitored.     

Expression of adhesion molecules in the lower uterine segment during term and preterm parturition

Term and preterm cervical ripening and dilatation have similarities with an inflammatory reaction. Since cell adhesion molecules are involved in this process, investigations on the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1, endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule in the lower uterine segment and in vitro experiments on human umbilical vein endothelial cells were performed. In addition, current reports on expression of endothelial adhesion molecules by the uterine cervix were summarized. Cell adhesion molecule expression by lower uterine segment and uterine cervix in term and preterm parturition was measured using immunohistochemistry, enzyme immunoassay, and Northern blot analysis. Regulation of adhesion molecule expression was evaluated in vitro by indirect immunofluorescence and flow cytometry using human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Investigations in term parturition revealed that intercellular adhesion molecule-1, endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1, and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression increases during parturition. In preterm labor, the expression of endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in the lower uterine segment increased. Expression of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule did not change in term and preterm parturition. Expression of adhesion molecules was localized mainly on lower uterine segment vascular endothelial cells and to a smaller extent on leukocytes. In vitro experiments showed that expression of adhesion molecules by human umbilical vein endothelial cells can be stimulated by tumor necrosis factor-alpha, 17beta-estradiol, prostaglandin E(2), and the antigestagen onapristone. Progesterone exerted no stimulatory effect. Cervical ripening and dilatation during term and preterm parturition are associated with an increased expression of endothelial cell adhesion molecules by lower uterine segment and uterine cervix. The expression can be modulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines, sex hormones, and prostaglandin E(2). Mechanisms controlling the extravasation of leukocytes may play a fundamental role in term and preterm parturition.     

Statistical modeling of dissimilarity increments for d-dimensional data: Application in partitional clustering

This paper addresses the use of high order dissimilarity models in data mining problems. We explore dissimilarities between triplets of nearest neighbors, called dissimilarity increments (DIs). We derive a statistical model of DIs for d-dimensional data (d-DID) assuming that the objects follow a multivariate Gaussian distribution. Empirical evidence shows that the d-DID is well approximated by the particular case d=2. We propose the application of this model in clustering, with a partitional algorithm that uses a merge strategy on Gaussian components. Experimental results, in synthetic and real datasets, show that clustering algorithms using DID usually outperform well known clustering algorithms.     

The impact of NERICA adoption on productivity and poverty of the small-scale rice farmers in the Gambia

The study assessed the causal effects of NERICA adoption on rice yields and income, using country-wide data of 600 rice farmers in The Gambia. To control for differences in socio-demographic and environmental characteristics of adopters and non-adopters and enable a causal interpretation of NERICA adoption on the variables of interest, the study used the counterfactual outcome framework to control for such differences. The results, based on observed sample estimates, showed significant differences in rice yields and income between the NERICA adopters and non-adopters. Further, the results of the framework, based on the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) estimates, which allowed a causal interpretation, showed that NERICA adoption significantly increased average rice yields and annual income of small-scale rice farmers by 157 kg per hectare and $148, respectively.     

Statistical Programs for High Speed Computers

Eight-run two level factorial and fractional factorial designs are examined from two points of view: (1) the number of levels which must be changed in performing the design, (2) the effect of a first order time trend on the main effects. It is found that only a few run orders are desirable from these viewpoints and thus randomization of the runs is likely, in general, to lead to an unfavorable sequence.     

Statistical Programs for High Speed Computers

It is pointed out that the inferential theory of the segmented regression model depends strongly on whether or not continuity at the change-point is assumed. In particular, if it is not, the likelihood ratio test for the presence of two segments tends to infinity.