Intralesional radiolabeled human monoclonal IgM in human tumor xenografts

Sensory-perceptual abnormalities in people with autism are discussed from two perspectives: published firsthand accounts and existing psychological research evidence. A range of abnormalities, including hyper- and hyposensitivity, sensory distortion and overload, and multichannel receptivity and processing difficulties, are described in firsthand accounts and frequently portrayed as central to the autistic experience. A number of dangers are inherent in uncritically accepting these accounts at face value and in any wider generalization to the autistic population as a whole. Evidence from clinical studies suggests that unusual sensory responses are present in a majority of autistic children, that they are manifested very early in development, and that they may be linked with other aspects of autistic behavior. In addition, experimental studies using a range of indices have found evidence of unusual responses to sensory stimuli in autistic subjects. However the clinical and experimental research to date suffers from serious methodological limitations and more systematic investigation is warranted. Key issues for future psychological research in the area are identified.     

Book review: Media violence and its effects on aggression: Assessing the scientific evidence.

Review of book: Media violence and its effects on aggression: Assessing the scientific evidence, by Jonathan L. Freedman. Toronto: ON: University of Toronto Press, 2002, 227 pp. Hardcover. ISBN 0-8020-3553-1. Reviewed by Claire Crooks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Site and parameters of microstimulation: evidence for independent effects on the properties of saccades evoked from the primate superior colliculus

1. Microstimulation is used to investigate how activity in the superior colliculus (SC) contributes to determining the properties of primate saccadic eye movements. The site of collicular stimulation, the duration of the stimulation train, and the frequency of the stimulation train are each varied to examine the relative contributions of the locus, duration, and level of collicular activity to determining saccade amplitude, direction, duration, and velocity. 2. For any given site of stimulation, a relationship between movement amplitude and train duration can be demonstrated. Movement amplitude is a monotonically increasing, but saturating, function of increasing train duration. The size of the largest movement is dictated by the site of stimulation. Within the range over which amplitude can be modulated, movement offset is linked to the offset of the stimulation train. As a result, each decrement or increment in train duration produces a corresponding decrement or increment in movement duration. 3. The peak velocity of an evoked movement is influenced by the frequency of stimulation; a higher frequency of stimulation produces a movement of higher velocity. 4. The effects of train duration and frequency can be traded to produce movements that have comparable amplitudes but different dynamic characteristics; high-velocity movements of short duration and low-velocity movements of long duration can be produced by stimulating with high-frequency, short-duration, and low-frequency, long-duration trains, respectively. Across stimulation frequencies, the amplitude of an evoked movement is best related to the total number of pulses in the stimulation train. 5. Because it is possible to compensate for reduced velocity by increasing the duration of the stimulation train, the same site-specific maximum amplitude can be attained with different frequencies of stimulation. 6. Small, but significant, changes in movement direction occur as a result of varying train duration or train frequency. 7. The latency to movement onset (i.e., interval from stimulation onset to movement onset) depends upon the frequency of stimulation. A higher frequency of stimulation produces a movement of shorter latency. 8. These data demonstrate that both the site of stimulation and the parameters of stimulation contribute to determining the properties of a movement evoked from the primate SC. In doing so, they contradict the results of early microstimulation studies that suggest that the properties of eye movements evoked from the primate SC are determined solely by the site of stimulation. The findings conflict with the traditional view of collicular function that suggests that the collicular motor representation is purely anatomic. Rather, these data support a revised view whereby the locus, duration, and level of collicular activity contribute to determining the properties of a primate saccadic eye movement. According to this view, independent information relating to desired displacement and saccade velocity are extracted from the spatiotemporal profile of collicular activity.     

Structural and functional meta-analytic evidence for fronto-subcortical system deficit in progressive supranuclear palsy

Meta-analytic methods were used to determine the most sensitive indexes to fronto-subcortical deficit in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and to further characterize the neurocognitive and related features of PSP that can provide a basis of comparison to other disorders with prominent subcortical brain lesions. Studies dating back to 1984 were gathered and calibrated to compare the neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and neurophysiological test results from 229 patients with PSP, and 357 healthy controls. The tests most sensitive to fronto-subcortical deficit in PSP were mostly neuropsychological measures that include such tests as the Stroop Task, Trail Making Test Part A, and Purdue pegboard performance. We conclude that although neuropsychological measures may be most sensitive to deficits in PSP, they are also less specific and valid indicators of fronto-subcortical brain system integrity.     

Pathways and crossroads to institutional leadership.

When upwardly mobile persons are promoted from lower individual contributor roles to higher, managerial roles, they are confronted by the challenge of negotiating a series of 135-degree "crossroads" or shifts in their careers. Those who make the complete journey must traverse five pathways and four crossroads. These critical career crossroads consist of discontinuous and unprecedented changes in the role responsibilities and account abilities to which managers in transition must respond. At each crossroads, people are confronted by a triple challenge: letting go of anachronistic responsibilities and competencies, preserving those that continue to be useful, and adding new discontinuous responsibilities and consequences. Managers in transition can cope with these demands by making adaptive changes in their preferred activities, behavior patterns, and style. A detailed examination of the unprecedented discontinuities that ambitious, upwardly mobile managers must bridge is presented. The adaptation process that is required at each career crossroads is described, followed by a detailed set of recommended shifts in behavior patterns for the future executive at each crossroads. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Noninvasive sizing of subcellular organelles with light scattering spectroscopy

A long-standing impediment for applications of optical techniques in cellular biology is the inability to characterize subcellular structures whose dimensions are much less than about 1 /spl mu/m. In this paper, we describe a method based on light scattering spectroscopy that can find the size distribution of subcellular organelles as small as 100 nm with an accuracy of 20 nm. We report experiments using aqueous suspensions of subcellular organelles enriched in mitochondria, zymogen granules, and microsomes. From the observed light scattering spectra, we extract size distributions that are in excellent agreement with the results of electron microscopy. Further studies are underway to extract the shapes of organelles in addition to their sizes.     

Testing a Self-Determination Theory Process Model for Promoting Glycemic Control Through Diabetes Self-Management.

A longitudinal study tested the self-determination theory (SDT) process model of health behavior change for glycemic control within a randomized trial of patient activation versus passive education. Glycosylated hemoglobin for patients with Type 2 diabetes (n=159) was assessed at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Autonomous motivation and perceived competence were assessed at baseline and 6 months, and the autonomy supportiveness of clinical practitioners was assessed at 3 months. Perceptions of autonomy and competence were promoted by perceived autonomy support, and changes in perceptions of autonomy and competence, in turn, predicted change in glycemic control. Self-management behaviors mediated the relation between change in perceived competence and change in glycemic control. The self-determination process model fit the data well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting cetane numbers of n-alcohols and methyl esters from their physical properties

Cetane numbers (C#) for the homologous series of straight-chain, saturated n-alcohols, C₅−C₁₂ and C₁₄, were determined according to ASTM D 613. Measured C# ranged from 18.2–80.8 and increased linearly with carbon number (CN). Regression analyses developed equations that related various physical properties or molecular characteristics of these alcohols to calculated C#. The degree of relationship between measured and calculated C# was expressed as R². The decreasing order of the precision with which these properties correlated with C# was: boiling point (bp)>melting point (mp)>CN>heat of combustion (HG)>refractive index (n²⁰ _D)>density (d). This ranking was based upon R² (0.99–0.96) and the Average % error (2.8–7.2%). C# were also determined for straight-chain homologs of saturated methyl esters with CN of 6, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. C# ranged from 18.0–75.6 and increased curvilinearly with CN. Equations were also developed that related physical properties of these esters to C#. The precision with which these properties correlated with C# was: bp>viscosity (V)>heat of vaporization (HV)>HG>CN>surface tension (ST)>mp>n²⁰ _D>d. R² ranged from 0.99 for bp to 0.98 for d. Equations for the alcohols were linear or quadratic, while equations for the esters were linear, quadratic or cubic based upon statistical considerations that included a Student’s t-test. With related physical properties and these equations, accurate predictions of C# can be made for saturated n-alcohols and methyl esters.     

Assessment of natural attenuation via in situ reductive dechlorination of polychlorinated biphenyls in sediments of the Twelve Mile Creek arm of Lake Hartwell, SC

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated sediment cores taken from five locations in Lake Hartwell, SC, with an increasing distance from the point source were evaluated for the presence of in situ reductive dechlorination of PCBs on the basis of a comparative congener-specific analysis of PCB distribution profiles between historical (1987) and current (1998) sediments from the same sites. A layer of 1998 sediment that was equivalent to 1987 sediment was determined by direct comparison of total PCB depth profiles after correction for any sedimentation that occurred at each location since 1987. Natural capping of contaminated sediments with the continued deposition of new sediments was observed in all locations except the one farthest from the source area. The residual PCB congeners accumulated in the field samples did not vary from site to site. Certain PCB congeners (e.g., 236-24 + 34-34, 245-25, and 23-4 CB) decreased with time and with depth along with an increase in lower chlorinated PCB congeners in all sampling locations. A similarity in distribution profiles between dechlorinated PCBs in laboratory microcosms and in the field samples was observed. These results provide supporting evidence that in situ reductive dechlorination has occurred in the Twelve Mile Creek arm of Lake Hartwell. Several sediment layers, particularlythe sites with highest PCB concentration, showed similar PCB distribution profiles between 1987 and 1998. An additional change in chlorine distribution between 1987 and 1998 at most "equivalent" depths was not observed. The ortho- and para-substituted congeners that accumulated during dechlorination of Aroclor 1254 after nearly 1 yr of incubation in the laboratory were the prominent residual products in all field samples. At a few locations and depths, evidence for dechlorination at surprisingly low concentrations (1-5 ppm) was observed. These results confirm that in situ reductive dechlorination of PCBs is operating at a very slow rate and may have been at a plateau since 1987 for certain depths and certain locations.     

A multiple circular path convolution neural network system for detection of mammographic masses

A multiple circular path convolution neural network (MCPCNN) architecture specifically designed for the analysis of tumor and tumor-like structures has been constructed. We first divided each suspected tumor area into sectors and computed the defined mass features for each sector independently. These sector features were used on the input layer and were coordinated by convolution kernels of different sizes that propagated signals to the second layer in the neural network system. The convolution kernels were trained, as required, by presenting the training cases to the neural network. In this study, randomly selected mammograms were processed by a dual morphological enhancement technique. Radiodense areas were isolated and were delineated using a region growing algorithm. The boundary of each region of interest was then divided into 36 sectors using 36 equi-angular dividers radiated from the center of the region. A total of 144 Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System-based features (i.e., four features per sector for 36 sectors) were computed as input values for the evaluation of this newly invented neural network system. The overall performance was 0.78-0.80 for the areas (Az) under the receiver operating characteristic curves using the conventional feed-forward neural network in the detection of mammographic masses. The performance was markedly improved with Az values ranging from 0.84 to 0.89 using the MCPCNN. This paper does not intend to claim the best mass detection system. Instead it reports a potentially better neural network structure for analyzing a set of the mass features defined by an investigator.