Shostrom's group therapy on commercial television.

Comments on E. L. Shostrom's (1968) article on witnessed group therapy, focusing on the nature and purpose of commercial TV and possible effects of TV presentations of group therapy sessions on viewers and group members. Hurvitz supports Shostrom's conclusion that educational TV presentation of sessions may be preferable to commercial presentations. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advanced experimental applications for x-ray transmission gratings spectroscopy using a novel grating fabrication method

A novel fabrication method for soft x-ray transmission grating and other optical elements is presented. The method uses focused-ion-beam technology to fabricate high-quality free standing grating bars on transmission electron microscopy grids. High quality transmission gratings are obtained with superb accuracy and versatility. Using these gratings and back-illuminated CCD camera, absolutely calibrated x-ray spectra can be acquired for soft x-ray source diagnostics in the 100-3000 eV spectral range. Double grating combinations of identical or different parameters are easily fabricated, allowing advanced one-shot application of transmission grating spectroscopy. These applications include spectroscopy with different spectral resolutions, bandwidths, dynamic ranges, and may serve for identification of high-order contribution, and spectral calibrations of various x-ray optical elements.     

Late clear corneal wound failure after trivial trauma

A clear corneal cataract wound ruptured after trivial trauma. The wound did not meet the criteria for wound stability as previously recommended. This case illustrates the potential public health hazard with the increasing use of clear corneal cataract surgery. Proper wound design can eliminate this risk. Patients without proper wound design should be cautioned to wear protective eyewear to avoid serious or blinding trauma.     

Variable optical attenuator based on ion-exchange technology in glass

A thermooptic variable optical attenuator (VOA) based on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer principle was fabricated in glass by an ion-exchange technique. The thermooptical effect was reached via heating electrodes on the side of the Mach-Zehnder arms. The insertion loss of the device was 1 dB, the dynamic range was 38 dB, maximal power consumption was 138 mW, and the polarization-dependent loss (PDL) was 0.2 dB/0.6 dB at 10 dB/20-dB attenuations, respectively.     

Psychotherapy as a means of social control.

Notes that despite considerable evidence that traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy is not helpful and may actually be harmful, psychodynamic psychotherapy persists. The failure of the manifest purpose of such psychotherapy suggests that it has a more important latent purpose, one that is in accord with the values of American capitalist society. It is proposed that this latent purpose is to serve as a means of social control. This control is exercised through the ideological and clinical practice aspects of such psychotherapy, with each aspect reinforcing the other. (97 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropsychological Status and Social Problem Solving in Children With Congenital or Acquired Brain Dysfunction.

Objective: To describe the associations between neuropsychological variables and social problem-solving skills in children with congenital versus acquired brain dysfunction. Participants: Twenty-two children and adolescents with cerebral palsy or myelomeningocele (developmental condition, or DC) and 22 with history of traumatic brain injury (TBI), ages 7-12 years, IQ>70. Measures: Social Problem-Solving Measure (SPSM), Video Cues and Consequences (VCC), and brief motor-free neuropsychological assessment. Results: The DC group generated significantly fewer solutions to hypothetical problematic social scenarios than the TBI group, but differences in the relative frequencies of solution types were minimal. The pattern of associations between neuropsychological and social problem-solving variables differed between groups. Conclusions: Neuropsychological status may contribute to development and expression of aspects of social skills, but there may be subtle differences in the nature of that contribution in children with congenital versus acquired brain lesions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Manifest and latent functions in psychotherapy.

Replies to W. G. Herron's (see PA, Vol 52:Issue 4) criticism of the author's original article. Additional evidence is offered that traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy does not fulfill its manifest function to help individuals achieve "mental health"; its persistence as an ideology and in clinical practice can be explained only on the basis of its latent function as a means of social control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The risk of pedestrian injury and fatality in collisions with motor vehicles, a social ecological study of state routes and city streets in King County, Washington

This study examined the correlates of injury severity using police records of pedestrian–motor-vehicle collisions on state routes and city streets in King County, Washington. Levels of influence on collision outcome considered (1) the characteristics of individual pedestrians and drivers and their actions; (2) the road environment; and (3) the neighborhood environment. Binary logistic regressions served to estimate the risk of a pedestrian being severely injured or dying versus suffering minor or no injury.Significant individual-level influences on injury severity were confirmed for both types of roads: pedestrians being older or younger; the vehicle moving straight on the roadway. New variables associated with increased risk of severe injury or death included: having more than two pedestrians involved in a collision; and on city streets, the driver being inebriated.Road intersection design was significant only in the state route models, with pedestrians crossing at intersections without signals increasing the risk of being injured or dying.Adjusting for pedestrians’ and drivers’ characteristics and actions, neighborhood medium home values and higher residential densities increased the risk of injury or death. No other road or neighborhood environment variable remained significant, suggesting that pedestrians were not safer in areas with high pedestrian activity.     

Surgical treatment of partial extraluminal occlusion of first part of vertebral artery

This report presents the clinical concept of hindbrain ischemia due to partial extraluminal occlusion of a segment of the first part of the vertebral artery, and submits a definite method of surgical treatment. Thirty one patients with vertebral artery insufficiency are presented who had operations with striking post-operative symptomatic improvement. Operative selection of patients is dependent on aortic arch angiography with visualization of the neck vessels. There was no mortality and no significant morbidity in this series.