Effect of individual, group, and intergroup relations on attitudes toward a management development program.

Studied the impact of a management development program in a medium-sized bank that was designed to increase the number of competent and aggressive young managers available to the organization. In this situation after a period of 10 yr., the training program had developed into a subsystem of the organization. 263 employees completed an attitude and job satisfaction questionnaire. Attitudes toward the program were a function of seniority, organizational rank, pay satisfaction, and perception of own career prospects. The kinds of attitudes also depended heavily on status as an employee, trainee, or officer, and on sex. Behavioral explanations of the attitude effects are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Parents of Childhood Cancer Survivors.

Posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms have been reported in mothers and fathers of childhood cancer survivors; however, little is known about patterns of PTS in these families. Cluster analysis was applied to the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Reaction Index scores of 98 couples parenting adolescent childhood cancer survivors to describe patterns of PTS in families, yielding the following 5 clusters: Minimal PTS, Mothers Elevated, Disengaged, Fathers Elevated, and Elevated PTS. The clusters were validated using data from a structured psychiatric interview, an additional self-report measure of PTS, and an index of family functioning. These clinically meaningful patterns reveal that a majority of families had at least one parent with moderate to severe PTS, which supports development of family-based interventions for this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group psychological consulting to organizations: A perspective on history.

Professional practice, whether in research or consultation, can be understood as the dynamic interaction among theory, data, methods, and values. A little-known episode from the history of medicine, the death of George Washington, illustrates the interdependence between what is known scientifically and what is judged ethical at any point in history. A review of ethical statements in organizational psychology shows the limited role theory has played in assessing ethical practice and suggests that current trends are regressive. Embedded intergroup relations theory provides one strong theoretical perspective for understanding downsizing and other practice problems confronting those who consult to changing organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral self-regulation in adolescents with Type I diabetes: Negative affectivity and blood glucose symptom perception.

The hypothesis that negative affectivity (NA) is associated with accuracy of blood glucose (BG) symptom perceptions and diabetes control was assessed. After completing measures of BG symptom beliefs and NA-related constructs (i.e., attentional focus and trait anxiety), 35 adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes monitored their physical symptoms and their actual BG levels 3 times daily for 2 weeks. Each subject's actual BG symptoms were determined by correlating symptom ratings with BG levels and were then compared with symptom beliefs. Those who were more internally focused were more able to discern which symptoms actually covaried with BG fluctuations; those with higher trait anxiety tended to misattribute non-diabetes-related symptoms to BG levels. Finally, interactions suggested that those who both attend to internal physical sensations and experience-heightened anxiety display poorer metabolic control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young adolescent cancer survivors and their parents: Adjustment, learning problems, and gender.

Investigated adjustment in 59 10–15 yr old long-term survivors of childhood cancer and their parents at 2 points 1 yr apart. Behavioral concerns, parental distress, anxiety, hopelessness, social support, and family functioning were assessed. Gender and the presence of learning problems were examined. The data indicated levels of adjustment that were near normative levels. However, gender differences were found, with male adolescents reporting low levels of anxiety and hopelessness. Those survivors with learning difficulties appeared particularly vulnerable with respect to long-term adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Protein-nucleic acid recognition: simulation of base and "model" amino acids complexes in DMSO by the Monte Carlo method

Phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) from Bacillus thuringiensis catalyzes the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol (PI) in discrete steps: (i) an intramolecular phosphotransferase reaction to form inositol 1,2-(cyclic)-phosphate (cIP), followed by (ii) a cyclic phosphodiesterase activity that converts cIP to inositol 1-phosphate. Water-soluble cIP was used as the substrate to study the cyclic phosphodiesterase activity and interfacial behavior of PI-PLC. Different detergent micelles and phospholipid vesicles were used to examine if "interfacial activation" of the enzyme could occur toward a soluble substrate. Almost all detergents examined activated the enzyme at least 2-fold, with PC species yielding the largest increases in PI-PLC specific activity. Kinetic parameters were measured in the absence and presence of several representative detergents (e.g., Triton X-100 and diheptanoylphosphatidylcholine (diC7PC)). Gel filtration experiments showed that, under these conditions, the cIP did not partition to any measurable extent with these detergent micelles. The concentration at which half the maximum activation was observed occurred near the detergent CMC. Both Km and Vmax were altered by the presence of a surface: Km decreased to different degrees depending on the detergent, while Vmax increased substantially. The Km for cIP was 90 mM without detergent and decreased to 29 mM with diC7PC micelles added; Vmax increased almost 7-fold in the presence of diC7PC micelles. The enzyme efficiency (Vmax/Km) in the presence of diC7PC increased more than 21-fold, but it was still 20-fold lower than initial phosphotransferase activity for monomeric dihexanoylphosphatidylinositol. The poor efficiency of the cyclic phosphodiesterase activity is largely due to substrate binding affinity. The dependence of rate on substrate concentration exhibits cooperative behavior, especially without detergent. This cooperativity is discussed in terms of protein aggregation and ligand binding sites on the enzyme.     

The science and nonscience of psychologists' responses to The Bell Curve.

To serve racially diverse clients effectively, professional psychologists should understand the range of scientific and social forces shaping their own and their clients' lives. A manifestation of such forces, the 1994 publication of R. J. Herrnstein and C. Murray's The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life was an attempt to influence both psychological knowledge and U.S. politics. This article analyzes the book and 5 psychologist authors' responses to it. The responses fell far short of providing a critical analysis of the book's racially biased argument and did little to reduce the misleading picture of race and IQ that the book promulgated. Scrutinizing the whole book--especially connections among scientific knowledge, proposed policy, and professional practice with attention to the "code logic" used--will enable practitioners to recognize and change subtle aspects of racial dynamics that occur in their work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Adolescent Survivors of Childhood Cancer and Their Families: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), particularly intrusive thoughts, avoidance, and arousal, are among the most common psychological aftereffects of childhood cancer for survivors and their mothers and fathers. We conducted a randomized wait-list control trial of a newly developed 4-session, 1-day intervention aimed at reducing PTSS that integrates cognitive-behavioral and family therapy approaches-the Surviving Cancer Competently Intervention Program (SCCIP). Participants were 150 adolescent survivors and their mothers, fathers, and adolescent siblings. Significant reductions in intrusive thoughts among fathers and in arousal among survivors were found in the treatment group. A multiple imputations approach was used to address nonrandom missing data and indicated that treatment effects would likely have been stronger had more distressed families been retained. The data are supportive of brief interventions to reduce PTSS in this population and provide additional support for the importance of intervention for multiple members of the family. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New device and method for measuring thermal conductivity of thin-films

Thermal sensitive paints (TSPs) are used for global nonintrusive detection of boundary layer transition in flow over the surface of wind tunnel research models. Since the transition is a transient process, the TSP should have a fast response characteristic. A low paint thermal conductivity is required for fast response. A thin-film thermal conductivity meter (TFTCM) was designed and built to measure thermal conductivity of the TSPs, which are typically between 50 and 150 microm thick. In this paper, the design and operating features of the TFTCM are described. Measurement of the thermal conductivity with this TFTCM of three standard thin-film low conductivity specimens, Kapton, Teflon, and Borofloat glass, showed good agreement with the manufacturer quoted values, thus validating the instrument and the procedure. Consistently repeatable values for thermal conductivity (k=0.41 +/- 0.02 W/m K) were also obtained for the TSP specimen (TSB-B, 75 microm) tested.     

Submicrosecond temperature measurement in liquid water with laser-induced thermal acoustics

Using laser-induced thermal acoustics, we demonstrate nonintrusive and remote sound-speed and temperature measurements in liquid water. Unsteady thermal gradients in the water sample produce fast, random laser beam misalignments, which are the primary source of uncertainty in these measurements. For water temperatures over the range 10 degrees C to 45 degrees C, the precision of a single 300-ns-duration measurement varies from +/-1 to +/-16.5 m/s for sound speed and from +/-0.3 degrees C to +/-9.5 degrees C for temperature. Averaging over 10 s (100 laser pulses) yields accuracies of +/-0.64 m/s and +/-0.45 degrees C for sound speed and temperature, respectively.