Finding the self: A behavioral measure and its clinical implications.

Presents a clinical model of the development of self. The model focuses on the early learning responsible for linguistic self-referents such as "I" and "me." This model offers an account for why some patients, such as those with borderline personality disorder (BPD), feel that they "do not know who they are" or that their sense of self is controlled by other people, while other patients have a sense of a secure, stable self that is not prey to the whims of others. The authors administered the Experiencing of Self Scale, which measures the degree to which other people influence the experience of self, along with the Self-Esteem Scale and the Dissociative Experiences Scale to 284 undergraduate students (mean age 19.2 yrs) and 14 BPD patients (mean age 41.1 yrs). Results show that the degree to which other people influence the experience of self depended on the nature and closeness of the people involved, that those in the BPD sample suffered from excessive influence of other people over the experience of self relative to the undergraduates, and that the degree of influence correlated predictably with high dissociation and low self-esteem. Implications for conceptualizing BPD and narcissistic personality disorder are discussed, and clinical applications are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Allogeneic marrow transplantation for myelodysplastic syndrome with advanced disease morphology: a phase II study of busulfan, cyclophosphamide, and total-body irradiation and analysis of prognostic factors

PURPOSE: To determine if an intensive preparative regimen of busulfan (BU), cyclophosphamide (CY), and total-body irradiation (TBI) could improve outcome after marrow transplantation for advanced morphology myelodysplasia (refractory anemia with excess blasts [RAEB], RAEB in transformation [RAEB-T], and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia [CMML]) compared with that obtained with conventional CY/TBI and to analyze prognostic factors for transplantation for myelodysplasia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A phase II study was conducted of 31 patients (median age, 41 years) treated with BU (7 mg/kg), CY (50 mg/kg), TBI (12 Gy), and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched (n = 23) or -mismatched (n = 2) related or unrelated donor (n = 6) marrow transplantation. Results were compared with 44 historical control patients treated with CY (120 mg/kg) and TBI. RESULTS: The 3-year actuarial disease-free survival (DFS) rate was similar for the BU/CY/TBI group and the CY/TBI group (23% v 30%, P = .6), but there were trends toward lower relapse rates (28% v 54%, P = .27) and higher nonrelapse mortality rates (68% v 36%, P = .12) among the current patients compared with historical controls. Multivariate analysis showed that a normal karyotype pretransplant and the use of methotrexate as part of posttransplant immunosuppression were associated with improved survival and reduced nonrelapse mortality. Univariate analysis showed significant differences in relapse rates based on marrow source (57% for HLA genotypically matched marrow v 18% for all others, P = .04) and on disease morphology (66% for RAEB-T v 38% for RAEB and CMML, P = .05). CONCLUSION: Patients with advanced morphology myelodysplasia tolerated the intensified BU/CY/TBI preparative regimen and reduced posttransplant immunosuppression poorly. Novel transplant procedures are needed to reduce relapse rates without increasing nonrelapse mortality rates. In addition, transplantation before progression to RAEB-T, if possible, may reduce the risk of relapse.     

Frequency response of lift control in Drosophila

The flight control responses of the fruitfly represent a powerful model system to explore neuromotor control mechanisms, whose system level control properties can be suitably characterized with a frequency response analysis. We characterized the lift response dynamics of tethered flying Drosophila in presence of vertically oscillating visual patterns, whose oscillation frequency we varied between 0.1 and 13 Hz. We justified these measurements by showing that the amplitude gain and phase response is invariant to the pattern oscillation amplitude and spatial frequency within a broad dynamic range. We also showed that lift responses are largely linear and time invariant (LTI), a necessary condition for a meaningful analysis of frequency responses and a remarkable characteristic given its nonlinear constituents. The flies responded to increasing oscillation frequencies with a roughly linear decrease in response gain, which dropped to background noise levels at about 6 Hz. The phase lag decreased linearly, consistent with a constant reaction delay of 75 ms. Next, we estimated the free-flight response of the fly to generate a Bode diagram of the lift response. The limitation of lift control to frequencies below 6 Hz is explained with inertial body damping, which becomes dominant at higher frequencies. Our work provides the detailed background and techniques that allow optomotor lift responses of Drosophila to be measured with comparatively simple, affordable and commercially available techniques. The identification of an LTI, pattern velocity dependent, lift control strategy is relevant to the underlying motion computation mechanisms and serves a broader understanding of insects'' flight control strategies. The relevance and potential pitfalls of applying system identification techniques in tethered preparations is discussed.     

Economic growth,employment and energy

The importance of energy in achieving economic growth emerged as an issue in the USA at the end of the 1960s, when readily usable domestic supplies of inexpensive oil and natural gas began to dwindle. Because of this, energy considerations may, for the first time, begin to constrain society's freedom to explore future options for continued economic and social progress. Prudent planning requires that the US energy supply goal should be high enough to avoid energy constraints. This article estimates how much energy will be needed in the year 2000 for the USA to achieve social progress, unconstrained by energy availability. These estimates are based on examination of the interactions between economic growth, employment, and energy use. The USA may choose not to follow the historical trend of economic growth. If so, the authors feel that this should be a decision, reached on the basis of broad national economic policy, and should not be an unintended and unrecognized side-effect of energy policy.     

Atmospheric CO2 residence time and the carbon cycle

An atmospheric CO₂ residence time is determined from a carbon cycle which assumes that anthropogenic emissions only marginally disturb the preindustrial equilibrium dynamics of source/atmosphere/sink fluxes. This study explores the plausibility of this concept, which results in much shorter atmospheric residence times, 4–5 years, than the magnitude larger outcomes of the usual global carbon cycle models which are adjusted to fit the assumption that anthropogenic emissions are primarily the cause of the observed rise in atmospheric CO₂. The continuum concept is consistent with the record of the seasonal photosynthesis swing of atmospheric CO₂ which supports a residence time of about 5 years, as also does the bomb C¹⁴ decay history. The short residence time suggests that anthropogenic emissions contribute only a fraction of the observed atmospheric rise, and that other sources need be sought.     

Health-related Internet use, coping, social support, and health indicators in people living with HIV/AIDS: Preliminary results from a community survey.

Widespread Internet use has revolutionized health information and patient education for persons with chronic illnesses. The authors surveyed 147 HIV-positive persons to examine factors associated with Internet use and associations between Internet use and health. Information, motivation, and behavioral skills associated with using the Internet were related to Internet use. The authors found that health-related Internet use was associated with HIV disease knowledge, active coping, information-seeking coping, and social support among persons who were using the Internet. These preliminary findings suggest an association between using the Internet for health-related information and health benefits among people living with HIV/AIDS, supporting the development of interventions to close the digital divide in HIV/AIDS care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bone marrow transplants from unrelated donors for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

BACKGROUND: Chronic myeloid leukemia can be cured by marrow transplantation from an HLA-identical sibling donor. The use of transplants from unrelated donors is an option for the 70 percent of patients without an HLA-identical sibling, but the morbidity and mortality associated with such transplants have been cause for concern. We analyzed the safety and efficacy of transplants from unrelated donors for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and identified variables that predict a favorable outcome. METHODS: Between May 1985 and December 1994, 196 patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase received marrow transplants from unrelated donors. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 5 years (range, 1.2 to 10.1). Graft failure occurred in 5 percent of patients who could be evaluated. Acute graft-versus-host disease of grade III or IV severity was observed in 35 percent of patients who received HLA-matched transplants, and the estimated cumulative incidence of relapse at five years was 10 percent. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of survival at five years was 57 percent. Survival was adversely affected by an interval from diagnosis to transplantation of one year or more, an HLA-DRB1 mismatch, a high body-weight index, and an age of more than 50 years. Survival was improved by the prophylactic use of fluconazole and ganciclovir. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of survival at five years was 74 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 62 to 86 percent) for patients who were 50 years of age or younger who received a transplant from an HLA-matched donor within one year after diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Transplantation of marrow from an HLA-matched, unrelated donor is safe and effective therapy for selected patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.