Response of depressed adolescents to cognitive-behavioral treatment: Do differences in initial severity clarify the comparison of treatments?

Evaluated the impact of pretreatment depression severity and functional impairment on the response of 2 samples of older depressed adolescents (115 Ss total divided into low-severity groups and high-severity groups) to 2 group cognitive-behavioral treatments. Differences between the 2 active treatments and between active treatment and a waiting-list control condition were expected to be greater in the more severely depressed-impaired group. Improvement for the 2 active treatments in comparison to the control condition was greater in the more severely depressed group in one of the samples but not the other. The prediction that the relative effectiveness of the 2 treatments would be accentuated in the more severely depressed adolescents received no support in either sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent psychopathology: II. Psychosocial risk factors for depression.

In a prospective study of adolescent depression, adolescents (N?=?1,508) were assessed at Time 1 and after 1 yr (Time 2) on psychosocial variables hypothesized to be associated with depression. Most psychosocial variables were associated with current (n?=?45) depression. Formerly depressed adolescents (n?=?217) continued to differ from never depressed controls on many of the psychosocial variables. Many of the depression-related measures also acted as risk factors for future depression (n?=?112), especially past depression, current other mental disorders, past suicide attempt, internalizing behavior problems, and physical symptoms. Young women were more likely to be, to become, and to have been depressed. Controlling for the psychosocial variables eliminated the gender difference for current and future but not for past depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What studies of communication with infants ask us about psychology: Baby-talk and other speech registers.

Reviews the research concerning the possible functional roles of the prosodic aspects of infant-directed speech ("baby-talk"), and shows that this style of speaking could have both attentional and affective functions (in addition to linguistic ones). Studies of other speech registers could profit from taking similar approaches and even using similar techniques to those used in infant-directed speech research to tease apart the linguistic, attentional, and affective components of these other speaking styles. Nursing-home register is used to exemplify the importance of examining the social, emotional, and linguistic ramifications of a communication style separately. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficacy and Safety Evaluation of Ozonation to Degrade Aflatoxin in Corn

ABSTRACT: This study determined the efficacy and safety of ozonation in degrading aflatoxin in corn. Ozonation (10 to 12 wt%) reduced aflatoxin levels by 92% and no reversion to the parent compound was observed. Ozonation had minimal effect on fatty acids of uncontaminated corn, but had significant effect on fatty acids of contaminated corn. Crude extracts showed no mutagenic potential in the Ames assay using TA98 and TA100. Clean-up using hexane increased their mutagenic potentials. Clean-up using Mycosep columns increased the mutagenic potentials 18 to 617%. Hexane extracts from ozone-treated contaminated corn had lower inhibitory effect. This suggested that a fat-soluble mutagen is being formed or natural inhibitors of mutagenicity are being destroyed.     

Effects of brefeldin-A on Golgi morphology in human cultured fibroblasts observed in three-dimensional stereo scanning electron microscopy

Brefeldin A (BFA) has been reported to cause disassembly of the Golgi. We have used three-dimensional (3-D) high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) to investigate these effects in human skin fibroblast cells. The spontaneous reassembly during prolonged exposure to BFA and some effects of forskolin were observed. A BFA concentration of 5μg/ml caused Golgi complexes to become vesicular, resulting in a progressive decrease in the size of the Golgi. Morphologic changes were visible within 2 min of BFA incubation, and by 30 min no identifiable Golgi could be found. Spontaneous reassembly of the Golgi apparatus upon the removal of the BFA or with continued long-term exposure with BFA could not be confirmed. Preliminary experiments with forskolin were not effective in reversing or inhibiting the effects of BFA in human fibroblast cells grown in culture. This inability for spontaneous reassembly and nonreversal by forskolin may reflect a differential effect of BFA in various cell types. HRSEM has proven to be useful for observing 3-D morphologic effects of BFA in Golgi.     

Compact conical antennas for wide-band coverage

A broadband antenna with a vertically polarized, omnidirectional electric field is studied. The design of the antenna and its feeding system in the wide frequency range from 20 to 1000 MHz is described and the driving-point impedance determined. Also calculated are the voltage standing-wave ratio (VSWR) and the input impedance of a transmission line connected to the antenna. More efficient operation at low frequencies is obtained by adding a length of transmission line to form a resonant section with the antenna. The effect of the different properties of the earth's surface on the field pattern is treated in a companion paper     

Charge transfer resistance of spray deposited and compressed counter electrodes for dye-sensitized nanoparticle solar cells on plastic substrates

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to determine the effective charge transfer resistances of porous dye-sensitized solar cell counter electrodes prepared by low-temperature spray deposition and compression of conductive carbon and platinized Sb-doped SnO₂ powders on indium tin oxide-coated plastic substrates. The charge transfer resistances were 0.5–2 and 8–13 Ω cm², respectively, when using 3-methoxypropionitrile as the electrolyte solvent. The manufacturing method used lends itself to produce mechanically stable and even-quality electrodes in an easy and fast manner.     

Scanning probe microscopy: Materials analysis with an added dimension

Encompassing such versatile analytical techniques as scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic (or scanning) force microscopy, scanning probe microscopes produce high-resolution three-dimensional images. Because of their power as quantitative tools for three-dimensional surface measurement and analysis, the techniques are being used in materials science and engineering for the study of a variety of advanced materials and for investigations into numerous phenomena, including reaction chemistry, crystallinity, kinetics, equilibrium processes, tribology, and conductivity.