Individual differences in anterior brain asymmetry and fundamental dimensions of emotion.

Assessed whether individual differences in anterior brain asymmetry are linked to differences in basic dimensions of emotion. In each of 2 experimental sessions, separated by 3 wks, resting EEG activity was recorded from female adults during 8 60-sec baselines. Mean alpha power asymmetry across both sessions was extracted in mid-frontal and anterior temporal sites. Across both regions, groups demonstrating stable and extreme relative left anterior activation reported increased generalized positive affect (PAF) and decreased generalized negative affect (NAF) compared with groups demonstrating stable and extreme relative right anterior activation. Additional correlational analyses revealed robust relations between anterior asymmetry and PAF and NAF, particularly among Ss who demonstrated stable patterns of EEG activation over time. Anterior asymmetry was unrelated to individual differences in generalized reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Query verification schemes for cloud-hosted databases: a brief survey

Database query verification schemes provide correctness guarantees for database queries. Typically such guarantees are required and advisable where queries are executed on untrusted servers. This need to verify query results, even though they may have been executed on one’s own database, is something new that has arisen with the advent of cloud services. The traditional model of hosting one’s own databases on one’s own servers did not require such verification because the hardware and software were both entirely within one’s control, and therefore fully trusted. However, with the economical and technological benefits of cloud services beckoning, many are now considering outsourcing both data and execution of database queries to the cloud, despite obvious risks. This survey paper provides an overview into the field of database query verification and explores the current state of the art in terms of query execution and correctness guarantees provided for query results. We also provide indications towards future work in the area.     

Premature termination in couple therapy with veterans: Definitions and prediction of long-term outcomes.

Premature termination (PT) has been identified as widespread in individual, family, and couple therapy. Unfortunately, research on PT utilizes numerous definitions of PT without providing guidance on which definition may be most clinically useful. The current study investigated seven definitions of PT (three based on therapist ratings and four based on quantitative measures) utilizing a sample of 177 couples seeking treatment at two Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. Results indicated that PT occurred in 50–80% of couples; however, agreement between the definitions of PT was generally only in the slight to fair range, making it difficult to determine whether a particular couple was ready to terminate treatment. Additionally, many commonly used definitions of PT were unrelated to level or maintenance of relationship functioning following treatment. In contrast, two definitions of PT (ending treatment in the distressed range and therapist-rated likelihood of future unhappiness) significantly predicted larger decreases in relationship satisfaction during the 18 months following therapy, as well as lower levels of satisfaction and relationship stability 18 months after termination. Additionally, long-term relationship functioning was especially poor when both these definitions of PT were met, suggesting that both qualitative and quantitative definitions should inform decisions about termination in couple therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication Network Availability Predictions Based on Measurement Data

Published data describing the probability distributions of data communication system reliability parameters such as availability are very sparse. This paper describes a set of data collected in order to model communication line availability by monitoring operational communication systems. Probability distribution functions for single line availabilities and for the durations of failures are given. A heuristic model for estimating availabilities for more complex systems is presented along with computer simulation data validating the accuracy of the model. The results presented make possible more realistic availability predictions for common types of networks than have previously been computable.     

A new generalized inverter based on the active hybrid

The building block for the new generalized immittance inverter is a 3-port known as the active hybrid network. One of its ports is bidirectional, and matches a design admittance y₀. The second port operates in the send, while the third port operates in the receive direction. The hybrid is constructed from an op-amp and a 5-port network composed of a few resistors and the design admittance y₀. There are two versions of the hybrid: the voltage-inverting (i.h.) and the noninverting hybrid (n.i.h.). The inverter consists of an i.h. and an n.i.h. connected at their unidirectional ports in a loop. The gyration admittances are actual driving-point admittances in the circuit, namely the design admittances y₀, y'₀ of the two hybrids. Such an inverter, when terminated at its output port by a load admittance y, will give at its input port an input admittance y_in = y₀y'₀/y. Expressions are derived for the y parameters of the inverter at higher frequencies, thus accounting for the finite bandwidth of the op-amp. Two special cases are particularly treated, and experimental results are obtained for them. The first is the case of the resistive gyrator, for which y₀ and y'₀ are pure conductances. The second is the case of the capacitive gyrator, for which y₀ and y'₀ are pure capacitive susceptances. The capacitive gyrator is used to produce the supercapacitor, or f.d.n.r., and the results of measurements on a number of f.d.n.r. networks are given.     

Syndrome co-occurrence and treatment outcomes in youth mental health clinics.

Despite widespread speculation that syndrome co-occurrence undermines treatment outcomes, this hypothesis has not been fully examined within clinical care settings. To address this gap, the authors investigated the relation between syndrome co-occurrence and outcome among 325 clinically referred youths. For every syndrome, higher initial severity was predictive of greater treatment gains and higher posttreatment symptom levels; contrary to speculation in the literature, co-occurrence effects were rare and modest in size, accounting for 0.6% of outcome variance on average. The results suggest that co-occurrence, though common in youth clinical care, is not an obstacle to treatment success in most cases. In addition to its substantive findings, the study illustrates how a dimensional approach can be used to shed new light on co-occurrence in clinical care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Orally active inhibitors of human leukocyte elastase. II. Disposition of L-694,458 in rats and rhesus monkeys

The disposition of L-694,458, a potent monocyclic beta-lactam inhibitor of human leukocyte elastase, was studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats and rhesus monkeys. After iv dosing, L-694,458 exhibited similar pharmacokinetic parameters in rats and rhesus monkeys. The mean values for its plasma clearance, terminal half-life, and volume of distribution at steady state were 27 ml/min/kg, 1.8 hr, and 4.0 liters/kg in rats and 34 ml/min/kg, 2.3 hr, and 5 liters/kg in rhesus monkeys. The bioavailability of a 10 mg/kg oral dose was higher in rats (65%) than in rhesus monkeys (39%). In both species, concentrations of L-694,458 in plasma increased more than proportionally when the oral dose was increased from 10 mg/kg to 40 mg/kg. In monkeys a protracted plasma concentration-time profile was observed at 40 mg/kg, characterized by a delayed T(max) (8-24 hr) and a long terminal half-life (6 hr). [3H]L-694,458 was well absorbed after oral dosing to rats at 10 mg/kg, as indicated by the high recovery of radioactivity in bile (83%) and urine (6%) of bile duct-cannulated rats. Only approximately 5% or less of the radioactivity in bile, urine, and feces was a result of intact L-694,458, indicating that the compound was being eliminated by metabolism, followed by excretion of the metabolites in feces, via bile. Demethylenation of the methylenedioxyphenyl group resulting in the catechol was the primary metabolic pathway in human and rhesus monkey liver microsomes. In rat liver microsomes, the major metabolite was the N-oxide of the methyl-substituted piperazine nitrogen. In rats dosed iv and orally with [3H]L-694,458, concentrations of radioactivity were highest in the lung (the primary target tissue), adrenals, and liver. L-694,458 was unstable in rat blood and plasma, degrading via a pathway believed to be catalyzed by B-esterases and to involve cleavage of the beta-lactam ring and loss of the methylpiperazine phenoxy group. In vitro studies indicated that in human liver, L-694,458 was metabolized by CYP3A and 2C isozymes, and in both monkey and human liver microsomes the compound acted as an inhibitor of testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation.