Stereotactic radiosurgery of malignant and benign intracranial lesions utilizing a patient rotator

The objective of this survey was to demonstrate whether a primary care track internal medicine residency program emphasizing community-based health care of the urban sick poor trains physicians who will continue to practice in general internal medicine or similar fields. Thirty-five primary care residents (100% of graduates) who trained from 1976 through 1993 in the Adult Primary Care Track of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at St. Vincent's Hospital, New York were used as participants.     

Downward comparison, prejudice, and evaluations of others: Effects of self-esteem and threat.

In two studies, we explored the effects of trait self-esteem and threats to the self-concept on evaluations of others. In Study 1, subjects high, moderate, and low in self-esteem received either success, failure, or no feedback on a test and later evaluated three pairs of targets: ingroups and outgroups based on a minimal intergroup manipulation, those who scored above average and those who scored below average on the test, and themselves and the average college student. Study 2 explored the effects of self-esteem and threat on ingroup favoritism in a real-world setting, campus sororities. Together, the results of these studies indicate that individuals high in self-esteem, but not those low in self-esteem, respond to threats to the self-concept by derogating outgroups relative to the ingroup when the group boundaries have evaluative implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal goals and change in anxiety and dysphoria in first-semester college students.

Two longitudinal studies examined the associations between interpersonal goals (i.e., self-image and compassionate goals) and anxiety and dysphoria (i.e., distress). In Study 1, 199 college freshmen (122 women, 77 men) completed 12 surveys over 12 weeks. Compassionate goals predicted decreased distress, and self-image goals predicted increased distress from pretest to posttest when distress was assessed as anxiety, dysphoria, or a composite, and when the goals were worded as approach goals, avoidance goals, or a composite. In Study 2, 115 first-semester roommate pairs (86 female and 29 male pairs) completed 12 surveys over 12 weeks. Compassionate and self-image goals predicted distress in same-week, lagged-week, and pretest-to-posttest analyses; effects of compassionate goals remained significant when the authors controlled for several known risk factors. Having clear goals consistently explained the association between compassionate goals but not self-image goals and distress. Results supported a path model in which compassionate goals predict increased support given to roommates, which predicts decreased distress. Results also supported a reciprocal association; chronic distress predicted decreased compassionate and increased self-image goals from pretest to posttest, and weekly distress predicted decreased compassionate goals the subsequent week. The results suggest that compassionate goals contribute to decreased distress because they provide meaning and increase support given to others. Distress, in turn, predicts change in goals, creating the potential for upward and downward spirals of goals and distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creating good relationships: Responsiveness, relationship quality, and interpersonal goals.

Perceived partner responsiveness is a core feature of close, satisfying relationships. But how does responsiveness originate? Can people create relationships characterized by high responsiveness and, consequently, higher quality relationships? The authors suggest that goals contribute to cycles of responsiveness between two people, improving relationship quality for both of them. The present studies examine (a) how interpersonal goals initiate responsiveness processes in close relationships, (b) the self-perpetuating nature of these processes, and (c) how responsiveness evolves dynamically over time through both intrapersonal projection and reciprocal interpersonal relationship processes. In a semester-long study of 115 roommate dyads, actors' compassionate and self-image goals predicted a cycle of responsiveness between roommates, occurring within weeks and across the semester. In a 3-week study of 65 roommate dyads, actors' goals again predicted cycles of responsiveness between roommates, which then contributed to both actors' and partners' relationship quality. Results suggest that both projection and reciprocation of responsiveness associated with compassionate goals create upward spirals of responsiveness that ultimately enhance relationship quality for both people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processes in the revision of stereotypic beliefs.

Four studies examined stereotype change using 3 models: the bookkeeping model, in which each instance of stereotype-relevant information is used to modify the stereotype gradually; the conversion model, in which stereotypes change radically in response to dramatic or salient instances; and the subtyping model, in which new stereotypic structures are developed to accommodate instances not easily assimilated by existing stereotypes. The models predict different response patterns as a function of variations in the pattern of stereotype-inconsistent evidence and the number of instances encountered. In Exps I and II, a total of 126 undergraduates were given information about either a small or a large sample of group members in which stereotype-inconsistent evidence was dispersed across many members or concentrated within a few members. Results generally support the subtyping model when evidence was concentrated and the bookkeeping model when evidence was dispersed. Exps III and IV, with 30 and 40 undergraduates, respectively, suggested that development of subtypes occurs because dramatically inconsistent individuals are seen as unrepresentative of the group as a whole. Conditions under which the conversion model may operate are considered. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characterization and quantitation of aprepitant drug substance polymorphs by attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

In this study, we report the use of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FT-IR) for the identification and quantitation of two polymorphs of Aprepitant, a substance P antagonist for chemotherapy-induced emesis. Mixtures of the polymorph pair were prepared by weight and ATR-FT-IR spectra of the powdered samples were obtained over the wavelength range of 700-1500 cm(-1). Significant spectral differences between the two polymorphs at 1140 cm(-1) show that ATR-FT-IR can provide definitive identification of the polymorphs. To investigate the feasibility of ATR-FT-IR for quantitation of polymorphic forms of Aprepitant, a calibration plot was constructed with known mixtures of the two polymorphs by plotting the peak ratio of the second derivative of absorbance spectra against the weight percent of form II in the polymorphic mixture. Using this novel approach, 3 wt % of one crystal form could be detected in mixtures of the two polymorphs. The accuracy of ATR-FT-IR in determining polymorph purity of the drug substance was tested by comparing the results with those obtained by X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD). Indeed, polymorphic purity results obtained by ATR-FT-IR were found to be in good agreement with the predictions made by XRPD and compared favorably with actual values in the known mixtures. The present study clearly demonstrates the potential of ATR-FT-IR as a quick, easy, and inexpensive alternative to XRPD for the determination of polymorphic identity and purity of solid drug substances. The technique is ideally suited for polymorph analysis, because it is precise, accurate, and requires minimal sample preparation.     

Contingencies of self-worth.

Research on self-esteem has focused almost exclusively on level of trait self-esteem to the neglect of other potentially more important aspects such as the contingencies on which self-esteem is based. Over a century ago, W. James (1890) argued that self-esteem rises and falls around its typical level in response to successes and failures in domains on which one has staked self-worth. We present a model of global self-esteem that builds on James' insights and emphasizes contingencies of self-worth. This model can help to (a) point the way to understanding how self-esteem is implicated in affect, cognition, and self-regulation of behavior, (b) suggest how and when self-esteem is implicated in social problems; (c) resolve debates about the nature and functioning of self-esteem; (d) resolve paradoxes in related literatures, such as why people who are stigmatized do not necessarily have low self-esteem and why self-esteem does not decline with age; and (e) suggest how self-esteem is causally related to depression. In addition, this perspective raises questions about how contingencies of self-worth are acquired and how they change, whether they are primarily a resource or a vulnerability, and whether some people have noncontingent self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leveraging resources in global software development

Leveraging global resources for software development is rapidly becoming the norm at Motorola, which has over 25 software development centers worldwide. Our project, called the 3G Trial (Third Generation Cellular System), was the first of its scope and significance developed by a global engineering team at Motorola. Staffing was the most significant issue we encountered in the 3G Trial. We had only about 20 percent of the required staff available at our division headquarters in Burlington Heights, Ill., US, and needed to find the other 80 percent to successfully complete the project. Early on, we concluded that our only means to staff the project was to rely on software development engineers from Motorola's worldwide software centers. We developed the system with staffing from six different countries. Next, we had to integrate the people into a team. While addressing this challenge, we identified key risk factors and developed approaches to reduce them. We separated the project risk factors into the five categories Carmel (1999) describes as the centrifugal forces that pull global projects apart. To pass on the lessons we learned from this project, this article sets out the global development issues we faced, our approaches to resolving them, and our findings compared to other research     

Serum lipid abnormalities in a chemical/viral mouse model for Reye's syndrome

Neonatal mice given nontoxic dermal applications of an industrial surfactant, Toximul MP8 (Tox), and subsequently infected with sublethal doses of mouse-adapted human Influenza B (Lee) virus (FluB) develop many of the biochemical features of Reye's Syndrome (RS). To determine whether these also include abnormal circulating lipid, we examined serum lipid profiles in the mouse model throughout the treatment course using Iatroscan-TH10. Following 10 days of exposure to surfactant, serum phospholipid and cholesterol levels were significantly reduced relative to control animals. These reductions were transient; however, four days following virus administration, significant differences in serum lipid were again evident. These abnormalities coincided and correlated with increased animal mortality. Animals that received combined Tox + virus treatment had significant decreases in serum total lipids relative to control animals, a reflection of a reduction in all lipid classes, including phospholipid, cholesterol, neutral glycerides (triglycerides plus diglycerides) and free fatty acids. Phospholipid (specifically phosphatidylcholine and lysophosphatidylcholine) and free fatty acid levels in the Tox + virus group were also significantly lower than those in animals that received virus alone. This study has demonstrated that suckling mice given chemical/viral treatment have the serum hypopanlipidemia but not the freefattyacidemia that are characteristic of RS.