Differentiating anxiety and depression in older adults with generalized anxiety disorder.

To examine affect and cognition in differentiating anxiety and depression, 83 older participants with generalized anxiety disorder completed the Cognitive Checklist (CCL) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). A 3-factor solution was found for the PANAS: positive affect (PA), anxiety and anger (Negative Affect 1 [NA-1]), and guilt and shame (Negative Affect 2 [NA-2]). A 2-factor structure was noted for the CCL. Correlations with anxiety and depression measures suggested that the CCL Depression (CCL-D) subscale showed stronger correlations with depression, whereas the CCL Anxiety subscale did not uniquely correlate with anxiety. The NA-1 subscale correlated positively with measures of depression and anxiety, whereas the PA subscale showed negative correlations. Hierarchical regression suggested that the CCL-D subscale was a significant predictor of self-reported depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responses of different types of ox muscle to electrical stimulation

The effects of electrical stimulation on fall in pH upon stimulation (ΔpH), rate of pH fall (dpH/dt at 35°C, cold shortening and muscle ultrastructure were investigated for the Cutaneus trunci (predominantly fast-twitch glycolytic fibres), the Masseter and Diaphragm (predominantly slow-twitch oxidative fibres) and the Sternomandibularis and Longissimus dorsi (bot fast- and slow-twitch fibres) of the ox. The Masseter and Diaphragm showed a small ΔpH and no increase in dpH/dt upon stimulation. Stimulation produced supercontracture but no tearing of the fibres throughout all of the Masseter. Stimulation of the Cutaneus trunci resulted in a significantly increased ΔpH and dpH/dt, loss of glycogen, mitochondrial swelling but no gross sarcomere changes. The Longissimus dorsi and Sternomandibularis had a moderate ΔpH and an increase in dpH/dt intermediate between that of the Masseter and the Cutaneus trunci. The Longissimus dorsi showed supercontracture, but the Sternomandibularis did not. Cold shortening responses at 2°C and 0°C were virtually unaffected by stimulation, being greatest in the Masseter and Diaphragm and least in the Cutaneus trunci. All muscles showed significantly greater shortenings at 0°C than 2°C. Stimulation of the Cutaneus trunci did not affect the tenderness of the cooked meat, but the toughness increased dramatically in cold-shortened Cutaneus muscle, regardless of stimulation. The Cutaneus trunci least requires stimulation as it does not cold shorten appreciably and therefore early rigor would confer no advantage. The Masseter and Diaphragm have a fast dpH/dt and therefore would enter rigor early. Mixed muscles apparently have the combined, least desirable characteristics of the muscle fibre types-i.e. their rate of rigor development is slow and they cold shorten. Electrical stimulation confers a significant advantage by mitigating these mixed-muscle characteristics in carcass muscles.     

Identification of the female-produced sex pheromone of the scarab beetle,Hoplia equina

Hoplia equina LeConte (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) is a beetle pest of cranberry beds in Massachusetts. Larvae feed on the roots of the cranberry plant, reducing yield as well as vine density. The female sex pheromone was identified as 2-tetradecanone. There were eight compounds found in the airborne volatiles collected from females that elicited antennal responses from males. Of the eight compounds tested (nonanal, decanal, dodecanal, 2-dodecanone, 2-tridecanone, 2-tetradecanone, 2-pentadecanone, and 2-hexadecanone), 2-tetradecanone was the only one that attracted male beetles in the field. Combining any of the other seven antennally active compounds with 2-tetradecanone did not increase male capture.     

Immunocytochemical localization of a growth-associated protein (GAP-43) in rat adrenal gland

We have localized at light and electron-microscopic level the growth-associated protein GAP-43 in adrenal gland using single and double labelling immunocytochemistry. Clusters of GAP-43-immunofluorescent chromaffin cells and many immunofluorescent fibres were observed in the medulla. GAP-43-immunoreactive fibres also formed a plexus under the capsule, crossed the cortex and ramified in the zona reticulata. Double labelled sections showed the coexpression of GAP-43 with a subpopulation of tyrosine hydroxylase- and of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase-immunoreactive chromaffin cells. Dual colour immunofluorescence for GAP-43 and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) revealed that some of the GAP-43-immunoreactive fibres also express CGRP. Pre-embedding electron microscopy showed GAP-43 immunoreactivity associated with the plasma membranes and cytoplasm of noradrenaline-producing chromaffin cells, and with processes of nonmyelin-forming Schwann cells. Immunoreactive unmyelinated axons and terminals were also observed. The immunostained terminals made symmetrical synaptic contacts with chromaffin cells. Immunoreactive unmyelinated fibres and small terminals were present in the cortex. Our results show that GAP-43 is expressed in noradrenergic chromaffin cells and in various types of nerve fibres that innervate the adrenal. Likely origins for these fibres include preganglionic sympathetic fibres which innervate chromaffin cells, postganglionic sympathetic fibres in the cortex, and CGRP containing sensory fibres.     

Assessing worry in older adults: Confirmatory factor analysis of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire and psychometric properties of an abbreviated model.

The assessment of worry among older adults typically has involved measures designed with younger cohorts. Because of special concerns in assessing older adults, modifications to existing instruments may be necessary. Addressing equivocal factor analytic data on the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) among younger adults, the authors conducted confirmatory factor analyses to evaluate the generalizability of previous models to older adults with generalized anxiety disorder. Data fit poorly with established single- and two-factor models. The single-factor model was modified, resulting in the elimination of 8 items, strong fit indices, high internal consistency, adequate test-retest reliability, and good convergent and divergent validity. Further psychometric work is required to assess whether the revised model is a more parsimonious method to assess late-life anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aesthetics and the environment.

This article presents a framework for understanding aesthetic experience, with special reference to the natural environment. The framework entails 2 broad perspectives. First, from a functional perspective, aesthetic experiences are analyzed in terms of biological, sociocultural, and psychological systems of behavior; succinctly stated, objects are experienced aesthetically if they activate cognitive representations of response patterns that do or did contribute to the survival or enhancement of the species, society, or the self. Second, from the perspective of mediating mechanisms, the cognitive processes that enable aesthetic experiences are examined. The mechanisms discussed range from simple sensory processes to the activation and transformation of complex schemes. To the extent that cognitive representations of behavioral systems are flexible and subject to elaboration and refinement, aesthetic experience is a creative, skillful act. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

AUTOGRP: an interactive computer system for the analysis of health care data

AUTOGRP is an interactive computer system designed to facilitate rapid analysis of complex medical information. AUTOGRP allows the clinical or administrative expertise of the user to be combined with sophisticated computer techniques to permit rapid information retrieval, hypothesis testing, development of norms, and identification of deviant cases. This interaction yields results of a uniquely high statistical and medical quality. AUTOGRP has been used to aid in understanding the process of patient care management in a variety of settings in order to enhance the effectiveness of decision-making from both a medical and management point of view.     

Sex pheromone of cranberry fruitworm,Acrobasis vaccinii riley (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

The following compounds and (approximate ratios) were identified in sex pheromone gland extracts of femaleAcrobasis vaccinii Riley by comparison of gas chromatography-mass spectrometric traces with those of synthetic standards: (E,Z)-, (Z,E)-, (Z,Z), and (E,E)-8, 10-pentadecadien-l-ol acetates (100:1:2:12), a dodecen-l-ol acetate (8), (Z)-8-, (Z)-9-, and (E)-9-pentadecen-l-ol acetates (3:23:4), two heptadecen-l-ol acetates (4:4), tetradecyl, pentadecyl, hexadecyl, and heptadecyl acetates (3:15:10:8), dodecan-l-ol (6), tetradecan-l-ol (5), and hexadecan-l-ol (23). The amount of (E,Z)-8, 10-pentadecadien-l-ol acetate (E8,Z10–15:Ac) in the extract was about 0.5 ng/female. Electroantennographic analysis of gas chromatographic fractions of female sex pheromone gland extract showed that the fraction containingE8,Z10–15:Ac elicited the greatest response. Alone,E8,Z10–15:Ac failed to elicit upwind flight of males in flight-tunnel tests, and traps baited with it did not catch males in field experiments. WhenE8,Z10–15:Ac was combined with (E)-9-pentadecen-l-ol acetate (100:4), male upwind flight response in flight-tunnel tests was equivalent to those obtained with extract of female sex pheromone glands (synthetic, 62%; natural, 51%), but the percent of males flying upwind that contacted the source was lower (synthetic, 47%; natural, 88%). The lower percent of source contact elicited by the synthetic pheromone could be a result of the difference in isomer ratios of 8,10–15:Ac in the natural and synthetic pheromone or could indicate that the synthetic pheromone is incomplete. Traps baited with the 100:4 combination caught large numbers of males in field experiments.