Methemoglobin formation in hemoglobin vesicles and reduction by encapsulated thiols

The relation of anxiety sensitivity (AS) to personality dimensions has received little attention. In this study, 4 AS indexes were administered along with measures of personality, fears, and panic attacks to 220 undergraduates. At the higher order level, AS was positively correlated with negative emotionality (NE) but was largely unrelated to either positive emotionality or constraint. At the lower order level, AS was positively correlated with absorption and NE indexes. Most of these correlations were significant even among participants with no panic attack history. AS exhibited incremental validity above and beyond a number of personality variables, including absorption and trait anxiety, in the prediction of fears and panic attack history. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that a propensity toward immersion in sensory experiences is a diathesis for panic attacks.     

Just because you're imaging the brain doesn't mean you can stop using your head: A primer and set of first principles.

Developments within the neurosciences, cognitive sciences, and social sciences have contributed to the emergence of social neuroscience. Among the most obvious contemporary developments are brain-imaging procedures such as functional magnetic resonance imaging. The authors outline a set of first principles designed to help make sense of brain-imaging research within the fields of cognitive and social neuroscience. They begin with a principle few would debate--that social cognition, emotion, and behavior involve the brain--but whose implications might not be entirely obvious to those new to the field. The authors conclude that (a) complex aspects of the mind and behavior will benefit from yet a broader collaboration of neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, and social scientists, and (b) social psychologists bring important theoretical, methodological, and statistical expertise to this interdisciplinary enterprise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Machiavellianism and dominance: Are therapists in training manipulative?

Administered the Dominance scale of the Personality Research Form, the Mach IV Scale, and Factor N of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire to 89 counseling psychology and 45 experimental psychology graduate students. Counseling psychology students reported fewer manipulative tendencies than did experimental students, while no differences on measures of dominance were observed between the 2 groups. No significant differences on the scale were found between the genders. Results suggest that dominance and Machiavellianism represent separate dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nitric oxide formation does not underlie the memory deficits produced by ibotenate injections into the nucleus basalis of rats.

Basal forebrain (BF) injections of ibotenic (IBO) acid impair memory, whereas quisqualic (QUIS) acid injections do not. The authors investigated whether the cytotoxicity and differential behavioral effects of IBO and QUIS in rats depend on the generation of nitric oxide (NO). 128 rats served as Ss. Injections of IBO or sodium nitroprusside (NP), but not QUIS, significantly increased BF NO formation, as determined by guanosine 3,5-cyclic monophosphate levels. IBO, alone or coinjected with methylene blue (MB), and QUIS, alone or coinjected with NP, decreased cortical choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and the number of ChAT-positive BF neurons. The BF levels of galanin or neuropeptide Y were unchanged in all lesion groups. QUIS, but not IBO, dose-dependently destroyed NO-producing BF cells. Injections of IBO, with or without MB, impaired choice accuracy in a T-maze alternation task. The results suggest that the generation of NO in the BF does not underlie the spatial working memory deficit produced by IBO. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diversity of the polar lipids of the food-borne pathogenListeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterium that can adapt to high salinity and cold. Because the membrane lipids may play a role in its survival and adaptation, we have examined the polar lipids ofL. monocytogenes. Extraction of total lipids fromL. monocytogenes yielded 7±1 mg/mL wet cells. Polar lipids represented 64% of total lipids and contained 9% lipid-phosphorus. Polar lipids were separated into 14 components by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. Eight components (88% of polar lipids) contained lipid-phosphorus; among these was one major component (34% of polar lipids). Two other phospholipids were ninhydrin-positive components and accounted for 15% of the polar lipids. Orcinol staining revealed two glyco- or sulfo-lipids accounting for 9% of polar lipids. Five components (4% of polar lipids) were amino components free of phosphorus. The major component contained 46% of its fatty acids as 15:0anteiso, 24% as 17:0anteiso, and 11% as 15:0iso. The fatty acid profile of the remaining polar lipids was variable, consisting primarily of 16:0, 18:0, 15:0anteiso, and 17:0anteiso. Their unsaturation level was ≤20%; however, the major phosphoaminolipid component was 46% unsaturated. The ratios of 15:0anteiso/17:0anteiso and 15:0anteiso/15:0iso were similar in all classes, averaging 1.5 and 4.5, respectively. Since the adaptation process to stressful environments involves activation of a membrane transport system for the protectant glycine betaine, the membrane lipids may play a role in enabling transport.     

Multichannel cochlear implantation in obliterated cochleas using the Gantz procedure

Gantz, et al, reported two patients with extensive cochlear ossification in which cochlear implantation was done with a Nucleus 22-Channel Cochlear Implant after extensive cochlear drill-out. One of the patients did well with 20 functioning electrode pairs. We report an additional three patients with extensive cochlear ossification who received Nucleus 22-Channel Cochlear Implants. All three patients had extensive cochlear drill-out as described by Gantz, et al. All three patients have use of all 21 electrode pairs with amperages typical of conventional implantation in two of the three and slightly increased levels in the third. Extensive bilateral cochlear ossification does not seem to be an absolute contraindication for multi-channel cochlear implantation.     

On glass formability of Al–Gd–Ni (Fe)

As an extension to previous work on Al-rare earth metal binary alloys [Scripta Mater. 50 (2004) 987], the glass forming ranges (GFR) of Al–Gd–Ni (Fe) are analyzed and compared with those experimentally determined for the quenched alloys. The multicomponent effects on the GFRs are illustrated from a thermodynamic perspective.     

Neuropsychological assessment training in APA-approved counseling psychology programs.

Reports the results of a survey of 26 training directors of American Psychological Association (APA)-approved counseling psychology programs regarding the scope and status of neuropsychological assessment training opportunities. Results indicate that the availability of course work in neuropsychological assessment has increased notably, and the number of counseling psychology students pursuing such work has doubled in the preceding 18 mo. 85% of the Ss felt that training in neuropsychology was relevant to the education of a counseling psychologist. Findings are discussed in relation to the increased numbers of counseling psychology applicants to medical settings for predoctoral internship opportunities and the relevance of neuropsychological assessment to vocational readjustment and rehabilitative treatment planning. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The human side of the road: Improving the working conditions of urban bus drivers.

This study evaluated how urban bus drivers' well-being was affected by technical interventions designed to improve the traffic environment of an urban bus route. Three questionnaires were distributed; 8 drivers at the intervention route (mean age 43 years) and 13 demographically matched comparison drivers (mean age 39 years) participated at all occasions. Field studies at work were conducted twice, with 10 intervention route drivers (mean age 43 years) and 31 comparison drivers (mean age 42 years). The authors hypothesized that during the course of the intervention, the initially elevated indexes of occupational stress in the intervention group would be reduced to levels equivalent to those of the comparison group. The hypothesis was confirmed for perceived workload in the questionnaire, observer-rated job hassles, systolic blood pressure and heart rate at work, and perceived distress after work in the field study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

采用延迟片叠合技术的LCoS投影彩色处理

现今最新的分色和合色方案要数Colorlink公司开发的ColorSelect 滤色片了,它是利用偏振性而不是薄膜相干或吸收效应来控制彩色的。ColorSelect 产品基于Colorlink公司专有的延迟片叠加技术, 有效地把原基色光的偏振状态旋转90o,而互补色光仍保持输入的原偏振状态。PBS和我们的ColorSelect 结合组成了新的彩色处理系统,如ColorQuard , 它已成为高性能LCoS投影系统彩色处理的标准配置。本文将评述ColorSelect 的基本功能,并探索多种可行的彩色处理方案。RRRRR