Recent-onset ecstasy use: Association with deviant behaviors and psychiatric comorbidity.

Background: Despite increases in ecstasy (MDMA) use in the United States, little is known about characteristics linked with recent-onset ecstasy use, especially psychiatric symptoms and deviant behaviors. Aims: To test whether individuals with high levels of other drug use are more likely to be recent-onset ecstasy users; to test whether psychiatric symptoms in adults are associated with recent-onset ecstasy use; to explore the association between recent-onset ecstasy use and concomitant deviant behaviors in adolescents and adults. Methods: Data from the 2001 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Findings: Recent-onset ecstasy use was significantly more likely to occur among adolescents and adults (18-34 years old) who engaged in deviant behaviors during the past year as compared with those who did not engage in deviant behaviors during the past year. Higher levels of deviancy indicated a higher likelihood of being a recent-onset ecstasy user, and associations were strongest with nonviolent deviant behaviors such as selling illegal drugs and stealing. Associations between deviant behaviors and recent-onset ecstasy use were similar in strength to associations between deviant behaviors and recent-onset cocaine and marijuana use, respectively. Adults who had past-year psychiatric symptoms (both depressive and panic symptoms) were twice as likely to be recent-onset ecstasy users as compared with those without past-year psychiatric symptoms. Greater levels of drug involvement increased the odds of being a recent-onset ecstasy user. Conclusion: Recent-onset ecstasy use seems to be associated with a range of other behavioral problems and may reflect one aspect of a larger problem behavior syndrome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Malted weaning food made from maize,soybean, groundnut and cooking banana

Infant malnutrition and mortality are common in Africa, although Africa is endowed with agricultural produce that could be harnessed through processing to produce adequate infant food. This project was set up to explore the possibility of using local raw materials to develop a nutritious, low‐dietary‐bulk, cheap infant food. The materials used included cereal (maize), pulses (soybean and groundnut) and tuberiferous plants (cooking banana). The grains were first germinated and dried or kilned before milling and formulation. The malted products were compared with fermented ones in terms of nutritional, dietary bulk and acceptability criteria. Malting increased the nutrient content, reduced the dietary bulk and enhanced the taste of the infant food. In terms of protein content, least gelation concentration and overall acceptability, malted samples had values in the range of 138–151 mg g^?1, 150–175 g l^?1 and 7.2–8.82 respectively, while the control (fermented) sample had values of 54 mg g^?1, 100 g l^?1 and 6.29 respectively. Roasting of malted cereals above 55 °C reduced the bulk reduction ability but enhanced the taste of the products. A combination of malted maize and soybean, roasted groundnut and cooking banana in the ratio of 50:15:15:20 gave a very recommendable weaning food for infants between the ages of 6 months and 2 years. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Ruthenium dye-sensitized SnO2/TiO2 coupled solar cells

The photoelectrochemical behaviors of RuL₂(NCS)₂ dye-sensitized SnO₂/TiO₂ coupled solar cell was studied and compared with TiO₂ single system. The coupled system shows higher incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) value than the single system. A maximum IPCE value in the coupled system with 3.5 μm-thick SnO₂ and 7 μm-thick TiO₂ attained 82.4% at 530 nm wavelength. The higher IPCE value in the coupled system is attributed to the charge separation by fast electron transfer process from the excited RuL₂(NCS)₂ dye to TiO₂ to SnO₂ in the system with different energy level.     

The effects of widowhood on physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes: The Women's Health Initiative.

This study examined whether widowhood was associated with physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes using a cross-sectional (N=72,247) and prospective (N=55,724) design in women aged 50-79 years participating in the Women's Health Initiative observational study (85.4% White). At baseline, married women reported better physical and mental health and generally better health behaviors than widowed women. Whereas women who remained married over the 3-year period showed stability in mental health, recent widows experienced marked impairments and longer term widows showed stability or slight improvements. Both groups of widows reported more unintentional weight loss over the 3-year period. Changes in physical health and health behaviors were inconsistent, with generally small effect sizes. Findings underscore the resilience of older women and their capacity to reestablish connections, but point to the need for services that strengthen social support among women who have difficulty during this transition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Pathway to health: Cluster-randomized trail to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among smokers in public housing.

Objectives: Examine the effectiveness of an intervention to increase fruits and vegetables (FV) consumption among smokers. Design: Cluster-randomized trial of 20 public housing developments; 10 randomly assigned to an FV intervention and 10 to a smoking cessation intervention. Main outcome measures: Usual (past 7 days) and past 30 days change in daily FV intake at 8 weeks and 6 months postbaseline. Results: Greater increases were seen in the FV group. At Week 8 and Month 6, the FV group had consumed 1.58 (p = .001) and 0.78 (p = .04), respectively, more daily FV servings in the past 7 days than the cessation group. At the same time points, the FV group had consumed 3.61 (p = .01) and 3.93 (p = .01), respectively, more FV servings in the past 30 days than the cessation group. Completing more motivational interviewing sessions (p = .02) and trying more recipes (p = .02) led to significantly greater increases at Month 6 among FV participants. Conclusions: Motivational interviewing counseling and lifestyle modification through trying out healthy recipes may be effective in helping a high-risk population increase their FV intake. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characterization of hollow fiber membranes in a permeator using binary gas mixtures

We have studied the CO₂/CH₄ mixed gas permeation through hollow fiber membranes in a permeator. An approach to characterize the true separation performance of hollow fiber membranes for binary gas mixtures was provided based on experiments and simulations. Experiments were carried out to measure the retentate and permeate flow rates and compositions at each outlet. The influences of pressure drop within the hollow fibers, non-ideal gas behavior in the mixture and concentration polarization were taken into consideration in the mathematics model. The calculation results indicate that the net influence of the non-ideal gas behavior, competitive sorption and plasticization yields the calculated CO₂ permeance in a mixed gas permeator close to that obtained in pure gas tests. Whereas the CH₄ permeance is higher in the mixed gas tests than that in the pure gas tests, as the plasticization caused by CO₂ dominates the permeation process. As a result, the CO₂/CH₄ mixed gas selectivity is smaller than those obtained in pure gas tests at equivalent pressures.The calculated membrane performance shows little changes with stage cut if the effect of concentration polarization is accounted for in the calculation. The integration method developed in this study could provide more accurate characterizations of mixed gas permeance of hollow membranes than other estimation methods, as our model considers the roles of non-ideal gas behavior and concentration polarization properly.     

Teachers' brief nonverbal behaviors in defined instructional situations can predict students' evaluations.

Can a few seconds of high school teachers' nonverbal (NV) behavior predict students' ratings of these teachers (SRT)? Yes, but NV-SRT relations varied among various instructional situations. NV behaviors while administering the class and using the board were unrelated to SRT. Positive judgments of NV behavior while disciplining the class and interacting with students were positively related to SRT. NV behaviors in frontal teaching were negatively related to SRT. The most negative NV-SRT relations were found for teachers' differential NV behavior toward high- versus low-achieving students. Teacher differentiality and SRT have rarely been investigated in high school. The structure of SRT seems to differ between high school and college, and students' anger about teachers' differentiality strongly predicted their evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

地理环境与先秦南北饮食文化

先秦时期是我国饮食文化的形成时期，受地理环境的强烈影响，逐渐形成了以秦岭-淮河一线为界的南北两个主要的饮食文化区域：黄河中下游地区为中心的北方饮食文化区，是以旱地粮食作物黍、稷、粟等为主食，陆地动物为辅食，烧、烤、炸为主要烹饪方法的北方饮食风味；长江中下游地区为中心的南方饮食文化区，是以水田粮食作物稻米为主食，陆地动物和水产动植物为辅食，蒸、炖、煎为主要烹饪方法的南方饮食风味。     

Positive and Negative Emotional Feelings and Behaviors in Mother-Daughter Ties in Late Life.

Behaviors and emotions during specific visits may reveal the interpersonal processes of mother-daughter ties, yet most research uses global assessments of these ties. Forty-eight mother-daughter pairs participated in audiotaped conversations and completed surveys. All mothers were over age 70 and in good health. Daughters tended to take a central role in structuring the conversations. Conversations were characterized by high levels of felt and expressed positive emotions and behaviors for mothers and daughters. Nevertheless, mothers reported more positive and fewer negative emotions, whereas daughters expressed more positive behaviors than did mothers. Mothers' positive feelings and behaviors were associated with daughters'. Finally, mothers' and daughters' emotions and behaviors were associated with their destructive responses to being upset with each other, providing support for the ambivalence perspective of parent-offspring relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)