Sociotropy and autonomy: Differential patterns of clinical presentation in unipolar depression.

We examined the relations between sociotropy and autonomy and clinical features of depression. A. T. Beck (1983) proposed that sociotropy is related to a sense of deprivation and clinical features associated with reactive depression and that autonomy is related to a sense of defeat and clinical features associated with endogenous depression. C. J. Robins et al (see record 1989-19204-001) found support for the hypothesis for sociotropy but not for autonomy, and they suggested that the autonomy scale may be problematic. We administered new measures of sociotropy and autonomy and a more comprehensive assessment of clinical features to 50 unipolar depressed inpatients. The results support the selective relations of both sociotropy and autonomy to the predicted sets of clinical features. This study adds to the growing evidence that these personality dimensions are important to the understanding of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal and Personality Trait Development in Emerging Adulthood.

The present research examined continuity and change in the importance of major life goals and the relation between change in goals and change in personality traits over the course of college (N = 298). Participants rated the importance of their life goals 6 times over a 4-year period and completed a measure of the Big Five personality traits at the beginning and end of college. Like personality traits, life goals demonstrated high levels of rank-order stability. Unlike personality traits assessed during the same period and in the same sample, the mean importance of most life goals decreased over time. Moreover, each goal domain was marked by significant individual differences in change, and these individual differences were related to changes in personality traits. These findings provide insights into the relatively unstudied question of how life goals change during emerging adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Precession technique and electron diffractometry as new tools for crystal structure analysis and chemical bonding determination

We have developed a new fast electron diffractometer working with high dynamic range and linearity for crystal structure determinations. Electron diffraction (ED) patterns can be scanned serially in front of a Faraday cage detector; the total measurement time for several hundred ED reflections can be tens of seconds having high statistical accuracy for all measured intensities (1-2%). This new tool can be installed to any type of TEM without any column modification and is linked to a specially developed electron beam precession "Spinning Star" system. Precession of the electron beam (Vincent-Midgley technique) reduces dynamical effects allowing also use of accurate intensities for crystal structure analysis. We describe the technical characteristics of this new tool together with the first experimental results. Accurate measurement of electron diffraction intensities by electron diffractometer opens new possibilities not only for revealing unknown structures, but also for electrostatic potential determination and chemical bonding investigation. As an example, we present detailed atomic bonding information of CaF(2) as revealed for the first time by precise electron diffractometry.     

Imaging Memory T-Cells Stratifies Response to Adjuvant Metformin Combined with αPD-1 Therapy

The low response rates associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) use has led to a surge in research investigating adjuvant combination strategies in an attempt to enhance efficacy. Repurposing existing drugs as adjuvants accelerates the pace of cancer immune therapy research; however, many combinations exacerbate the immunogenic response elicited by ICIs and can lead to adverse immune-related events. Metformin, a widely used type 2 diabetes drug is an ideal candidate to repurpose as it has a good safety profile and studies suggest that metformin can modulate the tumour microenvironment, promoting a favourable environment for T cell activation but has no direct action on T cell activation on its own. In the current study we used PET imaging with [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-KCNA3P, a radiopharmaceutical specifically targeting K_V1.3 the potassium channel over-expressed on active effector memory T-cells, to determine whether combining PD1 with metformin leads to an enhanced immunological memory response in a preclinical colorectal cancer model. Flow cytometry was used to assess which immune cell populations infiltrate the tumours in response to the treatment combination. Imaging with [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-KCNA3P demonstrated that adjuvant metformin significantly improved anti-PD1 efficacy and led to a robust anti-tumour immunological memory response in a syngeneic colon cancer model through changes in tumour infiltrating effector memory T-cells.     

A wind-tunnel study of flow distortion at a meteorological sensor on top of the BT Tower, London, UK

High quality wind measurements in cities are needed for numerous applications including wind engineering. Such data-sets are rare and measurement platforms may not be optimal for meteorological observations. Two years' wind data were collected on the BT Tower, London, UK, showing an upward deflection on average for all wind directions. Wind tunnel simulations were performed to investigate flow distortion around two scale models of the Tower. Using a 1:160 scale model it was shown that the Tower causes a small deflection (ca. 0.5°) compared to the lattice on top on which the instruments were placed (ca. 0-4°). These deflections may have been underestimated due to wind tunnel blockage. Using a 1:40 model, the observed flow pattern was consistent with streamwise vortex pairs shed from the upstream lattice edge. Correction factors were derived for different wind directions and reduced deflection in the full-scale data-set by <3°. Instrumental tilt caused a sinusoidal variation in deflection of ca. 2°. The residual deflection (ca. 3°) was attributed to the Tower itself. Correction of the wind-speeds was small (average 1%) therefore it was deduced that flow distortion does not significantly affect the measured wind-speeds and the wind climate statistics are reliable.     

Long term assessment of a hybrid electrochemical treatment

Monitoring the performance of systems installed to protect against/halt the corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete is essential in ensuring that the reinforcing bar (rebar) is adequately protected and remains in a non‐corroding state. A chloride contaminated concrete test block containing a hybrid anode system has been periodically monitored over the past 4.5 years to assess the anode current output and thus, the protection offered to the steel. De‐polarisation and impedance analysis data have been acquired to calculate steel corrosion rates. Both tests indicated that the steel was passive in the concrete environment and that the anode was able to protect all of the embedded steel despite the difficult geometry of the sample. It was also found that after 2 years it was still possible to drive a high current from the installed anode.     

Development of a FACS-verified set of basic and self-conscious emotion expressions.

In 2 studies, the authors developed and validated of a new set of standardized emotion expressions, which they referred to as the University of California, Davis, Set of Emotion Expressions (UCDSEE). The precise components of each expression were verified using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). The UCDSEE is the first FACS-verified set to include the three “self-conscious” emotions known to have recognizable expressions (embarrassment, pride, and shame), as well as the 6 previously established “basic” emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise), all posed by the same 4 expressers (African and White males and females). This new set has numerous potential applications in future research on emotion and related topics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem development from young adulthood to old age: A cohort-sequential longitudinal study.

The authors examined the development of self-esteem from young adulthood to old age. Data came from the Americans’ Changing Lives study, which includes 4 assessments across a 16-year period of a nationally representative sample of 3,617 individuals aged 25 years to 104 years. Latent growth curve analyses indicated that self-esteem follows a quadratic trajectory across the adult life span, increasing during young and middle adulthood, reaching a peak at about age 60 years, and then declining in old age. No cohort differences in the self-esteem trajectory were found. Women had lower self-esteem than did men in young adulthood, but their trajectories converged in old age. Whites and Blacks had similar trajectories in young and middle adulthood, but the self-esteem of Blacks declined more sharply in old age than did the self-esteem of Whites. More educated individuals had higher self-esteem than did less educated individuals, but their trajectories were similar. Moreover, the results suggested that changes in socioeconomic status and physical health account for the decline in self-esteem that occurs in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The practice of psychological science: Searching for Cronbach’s two streams in social–personality psychology.

The present research surveyed a group of editors and editorial board members of personality and social psychology journals to examine the practice of psychological science in their field. Findings demonstrate that (a) although personality and social researchers tend to use many of the same approaches, methods, and procedures, they nonetheless show average differences in each of these domains, as well as in their overarching theoretical aims and perspectives; (b) these average differences largely conform to social and personality researchers’ stereotypes about each subgroup; (c) despite their methodological and philosophical differences, the 2 subgroups study many of the same research topics; and (d) the structure of social–personality research practices can be characterized as having 2 independent factors, which closely correspond to L. J. Cronbach’s (1957) correlational and experimental “streams of research.” (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)