A theory of reservation-dwelling American Indian alcohol use risk.

The authors present a theory for understanding risk for problem drinking among reservation-dwelling American Indians. The theory offers an overall framework for understanding the risk process for this group. It considers the distinction between factors that influence mean levels of American Indian problem drinking and factors that influence individual differences in American Indian drinking. It proposes important contextual differences between reservation-dwelling American Indians and Caucasians that may help explain the higher mean levels of American Indian problem drinking. The theory further holds that, within the high mean level of problem drinking characteristic of many American Indian reservations, individual differences in problem drinking can be explained by very similar personality and learning factors as those that influence problem-drinking levels for other ethnic groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive psychology principles applied to consulting psychology at the individual and group level.

This article describes the application, at the team and individual level, of findings from the positive psychology research. An overview of this research is presented focusing on several areas generally included in the positive psychology domain: flow, appreciative inquiry, the broaden and build theory, and other strategies for increasing the experience of positive emotions and the identification and deployment of strengths. The authors propose that these applications show promise in consulting psychology engagements and may have merit when utilized by practitioners themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Outcomes related to burn-related child abuse: a case series

Nationally, approximately 10% of child abuse cases involve burning, and up to 20% of pediatric burn admissions involve abuse or neglect. Historically, these cases have been more difficult to prosecute than nonburn cases for multiple reasons. Between 1995 and 1999, there were 285 pediatric (under 18) patients admitted to the Spectrum Health Regional Burn Center. Of these cases, 18 of the alleged perpetrators were legally investigated for suspicion of child abuse, and 7 received punitive sentences. We found that men tended to be prosecuted and convicted more often than women and that cases involving multiple instances of injury tended to be prosecuted more frequently. Similarly, we found that cases involving more severe injuries tended to be prosecuted more successfully. There are many psychological and social factors involved in handling burn abuse cases. However, by successful prosecution of these crimes, victims tend to fare better both socially and psychologically.     

What's the use of being happy? Mood states, useful objects, and repetition priming effects.

Two experiments involving 99 undergraduate participants sought to examine the influence of mood states on encoding speed within lexical decision and pronunciation tasks. Mood states were measured naturalistically in Experiment 1 and manipulated in Experiment 2. Stimuli consisted of nouns representing useful (e.g., food) and nonuseful (e.g., lint) objects. Mood states had no implications for initial encoding speed. However, when the same words were presented a 2nd time (i.e., repeated), happy individuals displayed a tendency to encode useful words faster than nonuseful ones. Thus, mood states influenced repetition priming on the basis of stimulus valence. The authors propose that happiness sensitizes individuals to useful or rewarding objects, which in turn creates a stronger memory trace for such stimuli in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intensive filial therapy with child witnesses of domestic violence: A comparison with individual and sibling group play therapy.

The rationale for utilizing filial therapy as a treatment intervention with child witnesses of domestic violence while residing with their mothers in a shelter facility is explored and the effectiveness of an intensive 12-session filial therapy parent training group, conducted within 2-3 weeks, is described (n=11; aged 4-10 yrs). Results of analysis of covariance revealed that child witnesses in the experimental group significantly reduced behavior problems prevalent in child witnesses and significantly increased their self-concept as compared to child witnesses in the non-treatment comparison group. In addition, t-test results showed that mothers who facilitated treatment of the experimental group scored significantly higher after training on both their attitudes of acceptance and their empathic behavior. Comparative analysis revealed that intensive filial therapy as facilitated by the children's mothers was as effective in reducing behavior problems as was intensive individual play therapy and intensive sibling group play therapy as facilitated by professionally trained therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Glyconanoparticle-DNA interactions: an atomic force microscopy study.

Glyconanoparticles which present carbohydrate and amino groups motifs at their surface were produced. These particles were highly stable and soluble in aqueous solutions. The presence of the carbohydrate groups also allowed the inclusion of more strongly binding groups, without affecting solubility. The binding of a model DNA, plasmid by these nanoparticles was studied by atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and gel electrophoresis. Significant differences between the nanoparticles based on their affinities for the DNA were found, with implications for their potential use as nonviral gene delivery agents.     

Flash-lamp annealing of semiconductor materials—Applications and process models

Flash-lamp annealing (FLA) on a millisecond time scale has been shown to be a promising tool in the preparation of high-quality semiconducting materials. The process imposes time varying through-thickness temperature profiles on the substrates being processed, and consequently thermal stresses. A combined thermal and optical model has been developed to predict the substrate temperature distribution and this model has been linked to a structural model to compute stresses and deflections. The paper shows how these models can be used to explore process conditions in flash lamp annealing, with particular regard to the annealing of ion implants in silicon and the crystallization of amorphous silicon layers on glass substrates.     

Family-Responsive Interventions, Perceived Organizational and Supervisor Support, Work-Family Conflict, and Psychological Strain.

This study examined organizational family-responsive policies, perceptions of the organization as family supportive, and supervisor support as issues that may be salient to the experience of conflict between paid employment (work) and family roles. Data were collected from 355 managerial personnel in New Zealand. Although work-family conflict and psychological strain were strongly linked, the availability of organizational policies had no significant association with levels of conflict or strain, whereas policy usage was related only to work-to-family interference and not to family-to-work interference. On the other hand, perceptions of the organization as family supportive and supervisor support for work-family balance displayed significant relationships with key variables, highlighting the importance of these variables for interventions designed to ameliorate the negative impact of work-family conflict on managerial well-being. Implications for the effective implementation of family-responsive interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conditioned facilitation of brain reward function after repeated cocaine administration.

Cocaine lowers brain reward thresholds, reflecting increased brain reward function. The authors investigated whether, similar to acute cocaine administration, cocaine-predictive conditioned stimuli would lower intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) thresholds. Rats received a saline injection for 5 days, a cocaine injection (10 mg/kg) for 20 consecutive days, then saline for 5 additional days. Thresholds were measured immediately before and 10 min after each injection. The initial 5 saline injections had no effect on thresholds, whereas cocaine significantly lowered thresholds for 20 days. There was no tolerance or sensitization to this effect of cocaine over days. During the last 5 days when cocaine administration was substituted with saline, rats demonstrated a conditioned lowering of thresholds during the 2nd daily ICSS session. These data demonstrate that cocaine-predictive conditioned stimuli induce a conditioned facilitation of brain reward function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)