Enduring memory-influenced biases in gymnastic judging.

An experiment is reported that examined the duration of prior processing effects in gymnastic judging. Gymnastic judges first encountered a series of gymnastic elements during a study phase. Perceptual and recognition tests then followed 1 of 3 delay conditions: immediate, 1 day, or 1 week. For perceptual judgments, gymnastic elements that were performed the same at study and test resulted in the highest level of accuracy. Elements seen for the first time were less accurate, and the lowest level of accuracy occurred for those that had changed in performance from study to test. This descending pattern of accuracy occurred for all 3 delay conditions, indicating that effects of prior processing were long lasting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interorganizational Dynamics and Characteristics of Critical Infrastructure Networks: The Study of Three Critical Infrastructures in the Greater Montreal Area

This study applies a strategic framework for assessing organizational and network resilience of 75 critical infrastructure (CI) players in the Greater Montreal area. It identifies the challenges to these CIs' resilience. Contingency analysis is used to describe the main tendencies regarding values, practices, rules and norms, communicational and decisional structures as well as the interdependencies and their institutional, normative and economic contexts. This article examines three well‐known CI networks: transportation, energy and telecommunication, comprising governmental, community and private‐sector organizations. To do so, we developed a survey instrument to collect data from hundreds of critical infrastructure managers. Our findings indicate discrepancies in internal and external resilience factors across organizational type, size and CI.     

Equivariant moving frame method and the local equivalence of uxx?=?r(x, u, v, ux, vx) under fiber-preserving transformations

We use the equivariant moving frame method to study the local equivalence problem of scalar control equations of the form u _xx  = r(x, u, v, u _x , v _x ) under the pseudo-group of fiber-preserving transformations X = ϕ(x), U = β(x, u), V = α(x, u, v). Three typical branches of the equivalence problem are considered: the degenerate case, which contains the control systems with largest fiber-preserving symmetry group, the branch containing the Hilbert–Cartan equation, and the generic case.     

Allocentric and Egocentric Updating of Spatial Memories.

In 4 experiments, the authors investigated spatial updating in a familiar environment. Participants learned locations of objects in a room, walked to the center, and turned to appropriate facing directions before making judgments of relative direction (e.g., "Imagine you are standing at X and facing Y. Point to Z.") or egocentric pointing judgments (e.g., "You are facing Y. Point to Z."). Experiments manipulated the angular difference between the learning heading and the imagined heading and the angular difference between the actual heading and the imagined heading. Pointing performance was best when the imagined heading was parallel to the learning view, even when participants were facing in other directions, and when actual and imagined headings were the same. Room geometry did not affect these results. These findings indicated that spatial reference directions in memory were not updated during locomotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Desmopressin in the management of nocturia in patients with multiple sclerosis. A double-blind, crossover trial

BACKGROUND: Neurogenic bladder affects up to 80% of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and, in 50% of these patients, it is a significant cause of disability. The current management of neurogenic bladder, based on fluid restriction, anticholinergic agents, intermittent self-catheterization, and, in some cases, surgical intervention, often fails to relieve all symptoms. Furthermore, anticholinergic drugs have significant adverse effects and may be medically contraindicated. Nocturia is a particularly disabling symptom of neurogenic bladder; by disrupting sleep patterns, it aggravates the chronic fatigue of MS, imposes serious demands on caregivers, and can lead to institutionalization. To evaluate a novel approach to the symptomatic management of nocturia in patients with MS, we have conducted a trial of desmopressin acetate (1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin), a synthetic analogue of antidiuretic hormone. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and short-term safety of desmopressin therapy in the symptomatic treatment of nocturia in patients with MS. METHODS: Seventeen patients were enrolled in a double-blind, crossover trial of desmopressin administered at bedtime. Patients with both relapsing-remitting and chronic-progressive forms of MS were admitted. Night time voiding diaries were maintained for the 6 weeks of the trial; similarly, serum electrolyte levels and plasma osmolality were measured twice weekly and urinalyses and urine cultures were performed weekly during the trial. RESULTS: Desmopressin reduced the percentage of nights with nocturia in patients from 97% to 66%. The average number of episodes of nocturia per night in patients decreased from 2.35 to 1.09 and the maximum hours of sleep uninterrupted by nocturia increased from 3.74 to 5.77. These results were highly significant. Four of the 17 patients discontinued participation in the study after developing asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic hyponatremia. CONCLUSIONS: Desmopressin was found effective; no tolerance and only minimal adverse effects have been observed. Our results suggest that desmopressin, either alone or in combination with other therapeutic modalities, is effective in the symptomatic management of nocturia in patients with MS. The only adverse effect attributed to desmopressin was hyponatremia, which occurred in 4 of 17 patients and appeared to be dose related.     

FPSUND: a pan-Canadian evaluation of a clinical classification of urinary incontinence

To obtain quantitative information on the risk of invasive cancers following a diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin, patients with incident BCC cases listed in the cancer registries of the Swiss cantons of Vaud and Neuchatel between 1974 and 1994 were actively followed up through December 31, 1994, for the occurrence of subsequent invasive neoplasms. Among 11,878 persons with incident BCC who were followed for a total of 76,510 person-years at risk, 1,543 metachronous cancers were observed versus 1,397.9 expected, corresponding to a standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of 1.1 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-1.2). However, after exclusion of skin cancers (mostly squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma), 975 second primary cancers were observed versus 1,059 expected (SIR = 0.9, 95% CI 0.8-1.0). Significant excesses were registered for cancer of the lip (SIR = 2.2), for squamous cell skin cancer (SIR = 4.5) and melanoma of the skin (SIR = 2.5), and for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (SIR = 1.9). The SIRs were also above unity, though not significantly, for cancers of the salivary glands (SIR = 2.8) and the small intestine (SIR = 2.1) and for soft-tissue sarcomas (SIR = 1.7). The SIR for lung cancer was 0.9. The SIRs for salivary gland and skin cancer were appreciably greater below age 70 years. For most sites, particularly for squamous cell cancer and melanoma of the skin, the SIRs remained elevated 5 or more years after BCC diagnosis. The cumulative incidence of squamous cell skin cancer was 13% at 19 years; this stresses the importance of carefully monitoring skin lesions among persons previously diagnosed with BCC.     

Analyse psychométrique d'une adaptation en langue fran?aise de l'échelle de Conscience de Sol.

The present work is an attempt to assess the psychometric properties of an adaptation in French of the Self-Consciousness Scale developed by Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (1975). The scale is composed of 23 items, distributed in three subscales: private self-consciousness (SC), public SC, and social anxiety. The French version was administered to three distinct samples: two groups of undergraduate students (n = 196; n = 217) and a third one of psychologists (n = 411). Overall, results show that each subscale is homogeneous with appropriate test-retest reliabilities over a two-week period. As expected, private and public SC correlate moderately, whereas social anxiety and private SC are not related Principal components factor analyses show that the scale is in fact composed of three orthogonal factors, in accordance with the three scales. The results in general point to the adequacy of the current adaptation in French of the Self-Consciousness Scale, which presents the same basic properties as the original. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mutation of tyrosine-350 impairs the coupling of the beta 2-adrenergic receptor to the stimulatory guanine nucleotide binding protein without interfering with receptor down-regulation

Long-term stimulation of the beta 2-adrenergic receptor (beta 2AR) leads to an internalization and degradation of the receptor. This down-regulation of the beta 2AR number contributes to the desensitization of the adenylyl cyclase activity induced by chronic exposure to agonists. It was proposed that two tyrosine residues (Tyr-350 and Tyr-354) located in the cytoplasmic tail of the beta 2AR play a crucial role in agonist-induced down-regulation. In addition to perturbation of the down-regulation, the substitution of these tyrosines for alanines also led to a functional uncoupling of the receptor from Gs [Valiquette et al. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87, 5089-5093]. To further characterize the relative contribution of Tyr-350 and Tyr-354 to the receptor interaction with Gs and agonist-promoted down-regulation, both tyrosines were individually replaced by alanines and mutant receptors expressed in CHW cells. We show here that mutation of Tyr-350 but not that of Tyr-354 significantly decreased the ability of the beta 2AR to be functionally coupled to Gs and thereby to stimulate the adenylyl cyclase. Moreover, in contrast to the double tyrosine mutation, neither of the single-point mutations affected the agonist-induced down-regulation pattern. These data suggest that the presence of either Tyr-350 or Tyr-354 is sufficient to maintain normal agonist-induced down-regulation whereas the integrity of Tyr-350 is required for an appropriate coupling to Gs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)