The effects of widowhood on physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes: The Women's Health Initiative.

This study examined whether widowhood was associated with physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes using a cross-sectional (N=72,247) and prospective (N=55,724) design in women aged 50-79 years participating in the Women's Health Initiative observational study (85.4% White). At baseline, married women reported better physical and mental health and generally better health behaviors than widowed women. Whereas women who remained married over the 3-year period showed stability in mental health, recent widows experienced marked impairments and longer term widows showed stability or slight improvements. Both groups of widows reported more unintentional weight loss over the 3-year period. Changes in physical health and health behaviors were inconsistent, with generally small effect sizes. Findings underscore the resilience of older women and their capacity to reestablish connections, but point to the need for services that strengthen social support among women who have difficulty during this transition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early intervention for spelling problems: Teaching functional spelling units of varying size with a multiple-connections framework.

Poor spellers in 2nd grade (n?=?128) participated in 24 20-min sessions that included (a) direct instruction in the alphabet principle (most frequent phoneme-spelling connections); (b) modeling of different approaches, singly and in combination, for developing connections between spoken and written words for 48 words ordered by sound-spelling predictability; and (c) practice in composing. Results of this multilayered intervention showed that (a) more than 1 way of developing sound-spelling connections is effective in teaching spelling but that after training in the alphabet principle, combining whole word and onset-rime training is most effective in achieving transfer of the alphabet principle across word contexts; (b) functional spelling units of not only a single letter but also 2 or more letters are important in beginning spelling; and (c) training in spelling transfers to composition and word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The humanist and computer-assisted library research

Conclusion Because of the success of this project as measured by the favorable comments of the participants as well as the increased search activity, the Council on the Humanities awarded an additional $1000 to continue the project in the spring of 1985. As an added feature of the new proposal, a workshop is planned for chairs of the various humanities departments as well as other interested humanists. The aim will be to encourage them and their colleagues to increase their involvement in automated literature searching, as well as to encourage their graduate students to use the service. With continued support, greater awareness of the service, and more extensive coverage of existing and future databases,³ a steady increase in computer-assisted bibliographic searching among humanists is definitely possible.     

Volatile constituents of palm wine and palm sap

Palm wine and pasteurised palm sap volatiles were collected, concentrated on a Tenax GC and analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Eighty-two components were identified: 47 esters, 9 alcohols, 5 acids, 6 carbonyls, 2 acetals, 4 terpenes and 9 hydrocarbons. These had all been found previously in conventional wines. Odour evaluation of the separated palm wine components as they eluted suggested that no one compound is responsible for the characteristic palm wine odour. The acetates of higher alcohols and the ethyl esters of straight-chain aliphatic C₆-C₁₀ acids seemed to be important and may play a big role in imparting the fruity nuances of characteristic palm wine odour. Their association with alcohols seemed also to be necessary for the expression of typical palm wine odour. The qualitative difference between palm sap aroma and palm wine aroma appeared to be due mainly to the presence of these esters and alcohols in palm wine and their apparent absence from palm sap, as well as to the presence of some low-boiling esters and alcohols in palm sap and their apparent absence from palm wine.     

Significant amounts of glycogen are synthesized from 3-carbon compounds in astroglial primary cultures from mice with participation of the mitochondrial phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase isoenzyme

The incorporation was studied of the gluconeogenic substrates lactate, alanine, aspartate and glutamate into glycogen of astroglial primary cultures derived from mouse brain. The incorporation was inhibited by 3-mercaptopicolinate, an inhibitor of one of the characteristic gluconeogenic enzymes, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Only the mitochondrial isoenzyme of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase was detectable in the astroglial primary cultures. After the incubation of glucose-starved cells with medium containing a mixture of [6-3H]glucose and [U-14C]glucose, the newly synthesized glycogen showed a 3H/14C ratio which was approximately 15% less than the isotope ratio for the medium. The decrease of the isotope ratio was not significantly inhibited by 3-mercaptopicolinate, indicating a cycling of approximately 15% of the glucose to the level of the triose phosphates before its incorporation into astroglial glycogen. During the initial phase of glycogen resynthesis, the contribution of the gluconeogenic substrates appeared to be higher. This was in agreement with the accumulation of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate during refeeding. A participation of gluconeogenic substrates in glycogen metabolism was also detectable when the glycogen content was not changing significantly.     

Multiple inhibitory effects of garlic extracts on cholesterol biosynthesis in hepatocytes

Exposure of primary rat hepatocytes and human HepG2 cells to water-soluble garlic extracts resulted in the concentration-dependent inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis at several different enzymatic steps. At low concentrations, sterol biosynthesis from [¹⁴C]acetate was decreased in rat hepatocytes by 23% with an IC₅₀ (half-maximal inhibition) value of 90μg/mL and in HepG2 cells by 28% with an IC₅₀ value of 35 μg/mL. This inhibition was exerted at the level of hydroxymethylglutaryl-COA reductase (MHG-CoA reductase) as indicated by direct enzymatic measurements and the absence of inhibition if [¹⁴C]mevalonate was used as a precursor. At high concentrations (above 0.5 mg/mL), inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis was not only seen at an early step where it increased considerably with dose, but also at later steps resulting in the accumulation of the precursors lanosterol and 7-dehydrocholesterol. No desmosterol was formed which, however, was a major precursor accumulating in the presence of triparanol. Thus, the accumulation of sterol precursors seem to be of less therapeutic significance during consumption of garlic, because it requires concentrations one or two orders of magnitude above those affecting HMG-CoA reductase. Alliin, the main sulfur-containing compound of garlic, was without effect itself. If converted to allicin, it resulted in similar changes of the sterol pattern. This suggested that the latter compound might contribute to the inhibition at the late steps. In contrast, nicotinic acid and particularly adenosine caused moderate inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase activity and of cholesterol biosynthesis suggesting that these compounds participate, at least in part, in the early inhibition of sterol synthesis by garlic extracts. Dedication: This article is dedicated to Prof. Dr. D. Mecke on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Evaluating meeting support tools

Many attempts are underway for developing meeting support tools, but less attention is paid to the evaluation of meetingware. This article describes the development and testing of an instrument for evaluating meeting tools. First, we specified the object of evaluation—meetings—by means of a set of input, process, and outcome factors. Then, we designed the process of evaluation, consisting of, first, the generation of meeting behavior in the form of a controlled series of meetings within the context of a project and, second, the measurement of the identified meeting factors. To measure these factors, a rating scale, questionnaires, and information flow analysis were used. Next, the instrument was tested, and the factors for successful meetings were determined in 13 projects in which four participants had to meet four times. The evaluation instrument proved to be a reliable and useful aid for the development and improvement of meeting tools.     

The Emotional Integration of Childhood Experience: Physiological, Facial Expressive, and Self-Reported Emotional Response During the Adult Attachment Interview.

Attachment researchers claim that individual differences in how adults talk about their early memories reflect qualitatively distinct organizations of emotion regarding childhood experiences with caregivers. Testing this assumption, the present study examined the relationship between attachment dimensions and physiological, facial expressive, as well as self-reported emotional responses during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Consistent with theoretical predictions, more prototypically secure adults behaviorally expressed and reported experiencing emotion consistent with the valence of the childhood events they described. Insecure adults also showed distinctive and theoretically anticipated forms of emotional response: Dismissing participants evidenced increased electrodermal activity during the interview, a sign of emotional suppression, whereas preoccupied adults showed reliable discrepancies between the valence of their inferred childhood experiences and their facial expressive as well as reported emotion during the AAI. Results substantiate a case that the AAI reflects individual differences in emotion regulation that conceptually parallel observations of attachment relationships in infancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

PZT components derived from polysulphone spinning process

The present paper deals with the development of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) fibres, pearls and fibre fragments, for their use as active phase in piezocomposites. As new a approach, the green ceramic components are shaped by polysulphone spinning, allowing for effective and flexible forming over a wide range of different geometries and sizes. The correlation between processing parameters, e.g. the slurry composition, nozzle size and operation velocity, and the resultant shape of ceramic components is analysed. Sintered piezoceramic parts show a dense microstructure. Performance data are evaluated on PZT/epoxy composites. Measurement results of strain, polarisation and piezoelectric coupling are given and discussed. The developed PZT components are seen as key for the creation of smart and lightweight structural components. Further, free formed PZT components open new design approaches for sensing and actuating devices and ultrasound transducers.     

Porous Perovskite Fibers – Preparation by Wet Phase Inversion Spinning and Catalytic Activity

Porous perovskite (LaMnO₃) fibers were prepared by means of wet phase inversion spinning. The influence of different spinning procedures, slurry and coagulation bath composition on fiber shape and pore morphology was studied. The catalytic activity of the prepared fibers was tested for carbon monoxide oxidation as a model reaction in a differential recycle reactor. The results revealed that by suitable choice of process conditions porous catalytically active fibers can be prepared. Catalytic measurements confirmed that the catalytic fibers exhibit an open structure that allows full utilization of the catalytically active surface without intraparticle diffusional limitations.