Personality and the predisposition to engage in risky or problem behaviors during adolescence.

Longitudinal data from a representative sample of 1,978 Black and White adolescents were used to examine the role of personality in multiple risk or problem behaviors. Results indicate that covariation among diverse behaviors (educational underachievement, delinquent behavior, substance use, sexual behavior) can be adequately modeled by a single higher order factor, and that impulsivity and avoidance coping serve as generalized risk factors for involvement in these behaviors. Whereas none of the personality variables examined explained change in problem behaviors once established, avoidance coping prospectively predicted involvement among a subgroup of adolescents with little or no prior involvement. Results suggest that dysfunctional styles of regulating emotions and emotionally driven behaviors are core features of risky or problem behaviors during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The achievement test desk reference: A guide to learning disability identification, second edition.

Reviews the book, The achievement test desk reference: A guide to learning disability identification, second edition by Dawn P. Flanagan, Samuel O. Ortiz, Vincent C. Alfonso, and Jennifer T. Mascolo (2006). The Second Edition of the Achievement test desk reference comes only four years after its first edition. Its content echoes the first edition, with the chapters now re-organized and updated. However, this edition is also timely; its significant contributions are its theoretical and practical model for defining and assessing learning disabilities (LD) and its update of practical information for interpreting many of the new standardized achievement tests. The goal for this edition was to provide an integrated and systematic framework for achievement testing within the framework of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of human cognitive abilities and the Response to Intervention (RTI) movement. Part 1 of provides an update of the theories, definitions, assessment, interpretation, and identification of LD. Part 2 describes and reviews the psychometric, theoretical, and qualitative features of achievement tests published between 1996 and 2006 and normed on people from the United States. Part 3 provides a comprehensive, step-by-step process for assessing learning disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004). This volume guides practitioners to choose the best achievement tests to use. It shows how to get the most efficient and effective evaluations of students' academic skills that could account for their difficulties and possible learning disabilities. This book will be essential reference material for effective LD assessments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Juror competence in civil trials: Effects of preinstruction and evidence technicality.

48 jury-eligible adults heard 1 of 4 versions of a tort trial. The design combined high and moderate levels of evidence technicality and the placement of substantive judicial instructions either before or after evidence presentation. Jurors given instructions before hearing the evidence for liability and before the evidence for compensation made clear distinctions among 4 differentially worthy plaintiffs, whereas jurors instructed after evidence presentation were not able to distinguish among the plaintiffs. Preinstructions enabled jurors to devise a causal model, as measured by both verbal representation of the evidence and recognition tests, that contained more probative evidence and less nonprobative and evaluative information than the models constructed by jurors who were postinstructed. Preinstructed jurors were better able than postinstructed jurors to correctly reject recognition items not part of the trial text and to correctly identify items from the trial. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict: Testing a model of the work-family interface.

A comprehensive model of the work–family interface was developed and tested. The proposed model extended prior research by explicitly distinguishing between work interfering with family and family interfering with work. This distinction allowed testing of hypotheses concerning the unique antecedents and outcomes of both forms of work–family conflict and a reciprocal relationship between them. The influence of gender, race, and job type on the generalizability of the model was also examined. Data were obtained through household interviews with a random sample of 631 individuals. The model was tested with structural equation modeling techniques. Results were strongly supportive. In addition, although the model was invariant across gender and race, there were differences across blue- and white-collar workers. Implications for future research on the work–family interface are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The photopolymerisation of methacrylic acid by colloidal semiconductors

Summary Methacrylic acid was photopolymerised using CdS and composite, CdS/HgS and CdS/TiO₂, colloidal semiconductor particles as initiators. The previously proposed photoinitiation mechanism involving the photogenerated positive hole in the valence band of the CdS colloid was confirmed by the electron scavenging action of TiO₂. The effect of pH on the course of the polymerisation was investigated and is discussed.     

Type A behavior, achievement striving, and a dysfunctional self-evaluation system.

We conducted two experiments to examine the relations among characteristics of how Type A individuals strive for achievement, including goal achievement, self-evaluation, and psychological distress. We evaluated these relations as subjects performed two sequential general information tests. Experiment 1 indicated that achievement striving associated with the Type A behavior pattern is characterized by a tendency to set personal goals in excess of performance and is associated with a low probability of achieving goals. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that the achievement strategy Type A individuals adopted was associated with low self-evaluation of their actual performance. Furthermore, a pre- and postexperiment self-report questionnaire of psychological state suggested that failure to achieve personal goals was related to increased psychological distress. The results of our study suggest that unrealistically high performance standards and failure to achieve personal goals may be a mechanism that triggers the negative psychological states and performance dissatisfaction associated with the Type A behavior pattern. Our study also supports theoretical conceptualizations that excessive achievement striving can act as a potential motivational mechanism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Atrazine, alachlor, and total inorganic nitrogen concentrations of winter wind-eroded sediment samples

Virus-specific CD8+ effector T cells (eCTL) are enriched in the lungs of mice with primary influenza pneumonia, though later detection of memory T cells (mCTL) in the mediastinal lymph nodes (MLN) or spleen by peptide-based staining protocols is at the limits of flow cytometric analysis. Respiratory challenge with an H3N2 virus months after H1N1 priming induces a massive recall response, which reduces virus titers 2-3 days earlier than in nave controls. Influenza-specific mCTL produce interferon-gamma within 6 hr, but still take 4-5 days to localize to the infected respiratory tract. The delay reflects that the recall response develops first in the MLN, which contains relatively few mCTL. The response to a subdominant epitope is less obvious after secondary challenge.     

Dynex: multiplex ELISA technology

Conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a gold standard for screening antibodies and testing for protein or antigen presence. A significant limitation of this assay resides in the fact that only one analyte can be assessed per microplate well. Here, we describe and investigate a new technology consisting of an automated ELISA system in which up to 10 analytes can be measured within one single well, thus improving productivity, accuracy, and repeatability by reducing the amount of human labor required. Another strength of the platform is that a user can load any necessary sets/subsets of beads to perform required assays, with improved flexibility compared to manufactured-loaded arrays for multiplex analysis. We also demonstrate that this system can be used to determine the pathogenicity (i.e., presence of Shiga toxins) and serotype (i.e., Escherichia coli O157) of E. coli isolates.