From abandonment to symbiosis: A developmental reversal in suicidal adolescents.

This article presents the abandonment-symbiosis hypothesis. This hypothesis pertains to the dynamics of suicide in youngsters who experience difficulties in separation from their symbiotic families. It is suggested that such youngsters have experienced various types of rejection and abandonment in early childhood and have developed insecure attachment styles and insufficient ego functions in order to cope with difficulties. It is also suggested that these youngsters have become scapegoats by their dysfunctional families and that they are held in a symbiotic grip in order to continue to bear the negative projections of their families. As such, they are prevented from developing a proper sense of individuation and autonomy. The sequence that begins with abandonment and continues with symbiosis is a reversal of normal development is critical for the emergence of suicidal behavior. The various aspects of the abandonment-symbiosis hypothesis are demonstrated by case studies and empirical data. A combination of individual and family treatment is recommended as the best approach for the treatment of such youngsters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental Problem Drinking and Children's Adjustment: Attachment and Family Functioning as Moderators and Mediators of Risk.

Children's perceived attachments with parents, and family cohesion and adaptability were examined as predictors, mediators, and moderators in the parental problem drinking-child outcomes link. A total of 216 6- to 12-year-olds (110 boys, 106 girls) participated. Data were obtained from children and their mothers, fathers, and teachers. A higher level of family cohesion and adaptability functioned as (a) a robust protective factor against adjustment and cognitive difficulties otherwise associated with problem drinking and (b) a mediator of adjustment problems. Children's perceptions of attachments to mothers and fathers were consistent predictors of behavioral, social, and cognitive problems and further moderated relations between problem drinking and child functioning. The results support that child-parent and family functioning variables act as either pathways and/or vulnerability and protective factors for children exposed to a high-risk environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturation, Familism, Parental Monitoring, and Knowledge as Predictors of Marijuana and Inhalant Use in Adolescents.

The authors investigated relationships between marijuana and inhalant use and several cultural and demographic factors in Anglo American and Hispanic American adolescents (N=1,094). Outcome measures assessed lifetime and 30-day marijuana and inhalant use. Predictors and covariates used in logistic regression analyses were region, grade, gender, knowledge, acculturation, familism, and parental monitoring. Hispanic Americans exhibited higher usage across all measures. In this group, high acculturation was associated with low marijuana, but high inhalant, use. Across all participants, positive family relations and parental monitoring were strongly associated with attenuated marijuana use hut only among those most knowledgeable about drugs. Familism and monitoring were not associated with diminished usage among the less knowledgeable. For inhalants, monitoring combined with high knowledge or high familism was associated with diminished usage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alliance and Dropout in Family Therapy for Adolescents With Behavior Problems: Individual and Systemic Effects.

This study examined the relationship between alliance and retention in family therapy. Alliance was examined at the individual (parent and adolescent) and family levels (within-family differences). Participants were 34 families who received functional family therapy for the treatment of adolescent (aged 12-18 years) behavior problems. Families were classified as treatment dropouts (n=14) or completers (n=20). Videotapes of the first sessions were rated to identify parent and adolescent alliances with the therapist. Results demonstrated that individual parent and adolescent alliances did not predict retention. However, as hypothesized, dropout cases had significantly higher unbalanced alliances (parent minus adolescent) than did completer cases. These findings highlight the importance of alliances in functional family therapy and suggest that how the alliance operates in conjoint family therapy may be a function of systemic rather than of individual processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gildes model studies of aqueous chemistry. III. Initial SO2-induced atmospheric corrosion of copper

The GILDES computer model, incorporating Stumm's concept of proton- and ligand-promoted dissolution, has been used to simulate the exposure of copper at room temperature to 210 ppb sulfur dioxide and 80% relative humidity. The agreement is good between the calculations and laboratory exposures performed under these exposure conditions. Surface reactions are relatively more important at lower relative humidities and the dominant corrosion products formed are solid state Cu₂SO₃, CuSO₃ and Cu₂U. Free-radical redox processes are important participants and control the relative distribution of Cu(I)- and Cu(H)-containing corrosion products.     

Influence of low-frequency electromagnetic fields on living organisms

Recent research reports appear to indicate a real possibility that the low-frequency electromagnetic field produced by the power transmission and distribution network presents a health problem. A critical assessment of the available information is presented here. The state of knowledge, available evidence and conflicting reports indicate a definite need for interim action by the power industry. New direction for analytical research, possible interim avoidance measures, proper advice to clients and the public are discussed. Detailed mathematical modeling for the linear and nonlinear dynamics of DNA and the chromosome as a whole is suggested.     

基于超图的产品族结构模型的研究

产品族结构模型是对系列化和组合产品各种复杂关系的综合和表达，它的合理性是产品配置设计过程的基础，超图能够表达是一般离散结构，而结构化超图表达了集合元素之间的层次关系，利用结构化超图模型来构造产品族结构模型，并给出了配置设计算法，最后用一个实例来验证方法的可行性。     

Review of Empirical studies of psychoanalytical theories.

Reviews the book, Empirical studies of psychoanalytical theories, volume 1 by Joseph Masling (1983). Many psychoanalytic clinicians are comfortable functioning in the clinical world, using experience-near data. Many others are comfortable in the metapsychological world, using more experience-distant concepts. Some are even able to apply theory to practice, and modify one based on their experience of the other. But the bridge between the two, the middle-level described by Mayman, which represents the empirical joining of the theoretical and clinical, operationalized in the form of research which can inform either the clinical or the theoretical, is an area of lessened comfort for many. It is to this middle-level that Masling's book addresses itself, presenting examples of a wide variety of psychoanalytic research projects. Some are studies of psychoanalytic theory and others of psychoanalytic therapy; some are more empirical and others are more theoretical, some are original and others are reviews of already published material; but all provide an empirical grounding for practice. Stricker reviews the major findings and contributions of each of the seven chapters, and concludes with some general comments about psychoanalytic research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of nano indium tin oxide (ITO) grains by alkaline hydrolysis of In(III) and Sn(IV) salts

Indium tin oxide (ITO) nano powders of different compositions (In: Sn = 90: 10, 70: 30 and 50: 50) were prepared by heat treatment (300-450°C) of mixed hydroxides of In(III) and Sn(IV). The hydroxides were obtained by the reaction of aq. NH₃ with mixed aq. solutions of In(NO₃)₃ and SnCl₄. FTIR and TG/DTA studies revealed that powders existed as In(OH)₃H₂O—SnO₃H₂H₂O in the solid state and then they transformed to In₂O₃—SnO₂ via some metastable intermediates after 300°C. Cubic phase of In₂O₃ was identified by XRD for the oxides up to 30% of Sn. Particle size measurements of the solid dispersed in acetone and SEM study for microstructure showed that the oxides were in the nano range (55-75 nm) whereas the size range determined from Debye-Scherrer equation were 11–24 nm.