Master's-level training and employment in community mental health.

The training and employment of master's-level psychologists have long been controversial issues. We describe a master's-level program for training community mental health practitioners, and we present information on the placement of program graduates. The information suggests that there continues to be a demand for well-trained, master's-level practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obesity as a prospective predictor of depression in adolescent females.

Objective: Both obesity and depression are prominent during adolescence, and it is possible that obesity is a trigger for adolescent depression. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether overweight or obese status contributes to the development of depression in adolescent girls. Design: Participants were 496 adolescent girls who completed interview based measures of depression and had their height and weight measured at four yearly assessments. Repeated measures logistic regressions with generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate whether overweight or obese status were associated with major depression or an increase in depressive symptoms the following year. Main Outcome Measures: Major depression and depressive symptoms were evaluating using a modified version of the K-SADS interview. Overweight and obese status was determined by using standardized protocols to measure height and weight. Results: Results showed that obese status, not overweight status, was associated with future depressive symptoms, but not major depression. This study demonstrated that obesity is a risk factor for depressive symptoms, but not for clinical depression. Conclusions: As depressive symptoms are considered along the spectrum of depression with clinical depression at the high end, these results suggest that weight status could be considered a factor along the pathway of development of depression in some adolescent females. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feedback FET logic: a robust, high-speed low-power GaAs logicfamily

Feedback FET logic (FFL) with a special output stage that enables it to drive high on-chip capacitances with low power is discussed. FFL is robust in the face of process and temperature variations. The basic FFL gate is a NOR, but complex gates such as AND-OR-NOT are also practical. FFL is two to four times faster than comparable GaAs direct-coupled FET logic and Si CMOS and Si BiCMOS when driving on-chip capacitances that are typical of large ICs. FFL power at 200 MHz is also lower than CMOS and BiCMOS power by a factor of 2 to 4     

Relation between cognitions and performance in math anxious students: A failure of cognitive theory.

Investigated the cognitions of 34 high- and 37 low-anxious undergraduates in solving mathematical problems by asking them to think aloud while solving problems from the College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test. Cognitions generated from this procedure were examined for sex and anxiety-related differences and were used in a regression equation to predict performance. Results show that 2nd-step cognitive variables (review of information, strategic calculations, conclusions, neutral statements, and silence) did account for a significant amount of variance in the combined performance problems beyond that of the 1st step cognitions (attention control, self-facilitation, irrelevancies, and self-inhibition). It is suggested that cognitive and cognitive-behavioral approaches to counseling should be subject to empirical verification if a strong data base for these interventions is to be created. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control, sex role orientation, and self-concept in Black and White third- and sixth-grade male and female leaders in a rural community.

Examined locus of control among 43 Black boys, 36 White boys, 35 Black girls, and 47 White girls from the 3rd and 6th grades. Ss had been selected as class leaders by their peers. Ss completed the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, the Who Should Test, and the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire. White female leaders were more internally controlled than were Black leaders and attributed good outcomes to personal attributes more often than did Black leaders. White female leaders were also more willing to accept responsibility for bad outcomes than were Black female leaders. Self-concept data and sex-role orientation data were not helpful in interpreting the findings but did serve to suggest several avenues for future research in the area of locus of control. Results do not support the findings of other researchers who found that girls attributed their success to luck or to luck and effort while boys attributed their success to effort. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Information-Based Dynamic Manufacturing System Scheduling

Information about the state of the system is of paramount importance in determining the dynamics underlying manufacturing systems. In this paper, we present an adaptive scheduling policy for dynamic manufacturing system scheduling using information obtained from snapshots of the system at various points in time. Specifically, the framework presented allows for information-based dynamic scheduling where information collected about the system is used to (1) adjust appropriate parameters in the system and (2) search or optimize using genetic algorithms. The main feature of this policy is that it tailors the dispatching rule to be used at a given point in time to the prevailing state of the system. Experimental studies indicate the superiority of the suggested approach over the alternative approach involving the repeated application of a single dispatching rule for randomly generated test problems as well as a real system. In pa ticular, its relative performance improves further when there are frequent disruptions and when disruptions are caused by the introduction of tight due date jobs and machine breakdown—two of the most common sources of disruption in most manufacturing systems. From an operational perspective, the most important characteristics of the pattern-directed scheduling approach are its ability to incorporate the idiosyncratic characteristics of the given system into the dispatching rule selection process and its ability to refine itself incrementally on a continual basis by taking new system parameters into account.     

Artificial induction of lactation in cattle: initiation of lactation and estrogen and progesterone concentrations in milk

Thirty heifers were given 11 subcutaneous injections of 5 mg estradiol benzoate and 200 mg progesterone every 3 d to develop their mammary glands. Three days later groups of animals were treated with 1) 20 mg dexamethasone twice, 2) 500 micrograms cloprostenol thrice, 3) dexamethasone and cloprostenol, 4) oxytocin 4 IU six times, or 5) no further injections. Two further groups of six heifers each (6 and 7) were treated in a manner similar to groups 1 and 3 except the dose of estrogen to develop their mammary glands was doubled to 10 mg/3 d. Six lactating first calf heifers were controls (8). The proportion of animals lactating, combined milk yield for each group (kg), and mean days lactated were 1) 5/6, 3831, 142; 2) 1/6, 912, 195; 3) 6/6, 4898, 194; 4) 3/6, 1066, 128; 5) 1/6, 293, 154; 6) 6/6, 6109, 130; 7) 6/6, 6265, 130; and 8) 6/6, 19, 190, 251. The lactogenic response to dexamethasone and oxytocin is similar to that in sheep, but the response to cloprostenol indicates a species difference. Intensive blood sampling before and after injection of hormones, intended to trigger lactogenesis, showed that plasma prolactin rose to peaks above 210 ng/ml in cows of groups 2, 3, and 4 and were unchanged from the base below 40 ng/ml in groups 1 and 5. Monitoring of steroids after induction treatment showed estradiol-17 beta ranged between 35 and 400 pg/ml and 20 to 80 pg/ml in mammary secretion and plasma and progesterone concentrations were less than at diestrus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Information-Based Manufacturing in the Informational Age

The customer of the 1990s demands products and services that are fast, right, cheap, and easy. Manufacturing organizations have adopted an information-based strategy that incorporates technology to maintain and deliver the information required for knowing what, when, and how to make economical products. This strategy is explored within the context of the new economy as it is manifested in the areas of globalism, informationalism, and customer-dominated markets.     

Energy supply and demand implications of CO2

It may become necessary to try to limit the concentration of atmospheric CO₂. Consideration of temperature rise as a surrogate for the ensemble of possible adverse effects of increased CO₂ suggests a concentration limit in the range of 1.5–2.5 times the present concentration (˜ 338 ppmv in 1980). Although the lower limit, even in the absence of restrictions on fossil fuel use, would probably not be reached for 50 years, that limit may nevertheless prove difficult to avoid because of long lead times required for major changes in energy demand and supply. The higher limit is not presently restrictive. In either case, intensive development of non-fossil energy sources appears warranted and improved efficiency of energy use will provide more time to make the transition.