Studies of the vessel wall properties in hemodialysis patients

Compliance is an important property of the arterial system and abnormalities in compliance can greatly affect cardiovascular function. The elastic properties of the common carotid artery were therefore studied in 24 normotensive hemodialysis patients and 24 healthy normotensives using a noninvasive technique. The hemodialysis patients and the control subjects were matched for blood pressure. Arterial distension was measured by Doppler analysis of the vessel wall movements and blood pressure was recorded by finger-phlethysmography (Finapres). The vessel wall distensibility (DC: 2.49 +/- 0.23 10(-3)/mm Hg; mean +/- SEM) was significantly reduced and the end diastolic diameter (d: 7.3 +/- 0.3 mm) was significantly increased in younger hemodialysis patients (36.3 +/- 2.0 years) when compared with age-related controls (DC: 3.44 +/- 0.24 10(-3)/mm Hg; d: 6.3 +/- 0.3 mm; mean +/- SEM). In older hemodialysis patients (60.2 +/- 2.3 years), there was no significant difference in vessel wall distensibility (DC: 1.55 +/- 0.15 10(-3)/mm Hg) and vessel diameter (d: 7.8 +/- 0.3 mm) as compared with age-matched controls (DC: 1.77 +/- 0.14 10(-3)/mm Hg; d: 7.2 +/- 0.3 mm). The results show that vessel wall distensibility of the common carotid artery is decreased in younger hemodialysis patients as compared with age-matched healthy subjects. The volume expanded state in hemodialysis patients cannot account for the decreased arterial distensibility, since volume depletion by hemodialysis was not associated with a significant change of arterial distensibility (DC 2.14 +/- 0.44 10(-3)/mm Hg before, DC 2.26 +/- 0.45 10(-3)/mm Hg after ultrafiltration, NS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Transferring symbolic representations across nonisomorphic problems.

Previous research has documented the importance of constructing a good representation for understanding and solving problems. Symbolic representations (e.g., matrices and node link networks) in particular are good for conceptualizing the underlying structure of many problems. Because solvers often do not construct appropriate symbolic representations for problems, the authors examined whether solvers can transfer such representations from an example problem to a nonisomorphic target problem. They found evidence of such transfer in college students for 4 different symbolic representations; 3 were diagrammatic (matrix, hierarchy, and network representations), whereas 1 was more purely conceptual (a part–whole representation). The 4 experiments reported in this article enabled the authors to identify several key component processes of representational transfer, as well as some of the factors affecting their execution. On the basis of the results of the experiments, as well as on a comparison of the apparent requirements of representational and procedural (i.e., analogical) transfer, the authors propose a model of the component processes underlying representational transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training in empirically validated treatments: What are clinical psychology students learning?

Directors of clinical training (83%) and directors of internships with American Psychological Association approval (55%) responded to a survey concerning empirically validated psychological treatments in which their students received training. Most programs provided supervised clinical experience in a number of these treatments. However, over 20% of doctoral training programs failed to provide minimal coverage of empirically validated treatments in didactic courses, and internship programs typically did not require that students be competent in any of these treatments before completion of the program. The absence of didactic and clinical training in empirically validated psychodynamic therapies and interpersonal therapy was most marked. These findings suggest that programs need to be more attentive to teaching data-based treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family system variables and the health status of adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Investigated the associations between dimensions of family relations and the metabolic control of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in 94 adolescents (mean age 14.4 yrs) from intact families. Metabolic control was determined by adolescents' levels of hemoglobinHbA1c, and family relations were assessed with the Marital Adjustment Test and the Family Adaptation and Cohesion Evaluation Scales. Although zero-order correlations showed that good metabolic control was associated with high family cohesion, family flexibility, and high marital satisfaction, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that these associations were attenuated when demographic variables, especially the duration of IDDM, were controlled. Follow-up analyses showed that the associations between family relations and metabolic control were mediated by the duration of IDDM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Judgments of elderly and young clients as functions of gender and interview behaviors: Implications for counselors.

We predicted that elderly clients behaving incompetently would be evaluated more negatively on memory, alertness, and mental flexibility than young clients showing identical behaviors. Judgments of competent elderly and young clients were predicted not to differ. Male (N?=?192) and female (N?=?183) undergraduates were randomly assigned to hear 1 of 8 simulated audiotaped segments of an interview concerning a spouse's drinking problem. Tapes varied client age (25 vs 74), gender, and cognitive behaviors (competent vs mildly incompetent). Analyses found main effects of behaviors, but contrary to prediction, no main or interaction effects of age on participants' ratings of client behaviors. Female clients were perceived as having better memory and greater alertness than their male counterparts. Participants expressed greater empathy for, and willingness to interact with, the incompetent elderly than for young client. Future directions for research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achieving Parity of the Sexes at the Undergraduate Level: A Study of Success

Most research about women in engineering focuses on reasons for their under‐representation. In contrast, we capitalized on an opportunity to study success: the School of Industrial Engineering at the University of Oklahoma had organically achieved parity of the sexes at the undergraduate level. To investigate this success, we adopted an ethnographic perspective, interviewing 185 students who represented four fields and four institutions as well as 12 faculty in Industrial Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. These data pointed to a combination of aspects of the discipline and the department culture as explanatory variables. Emerging from the data was a third explanatory variable: a high number of students, disproportionately many women, who relocated into Industrial Engineering from another major, underscoring the impact of broad recruiting activities. This paper emphasizes ideas that other departments can consider adapting to their own efforts to increase diversity.     

The Impact of Mouse Preterm Birth Induction by RU-486 on Microglial Activation and Subsequent Hypomyelination

Preterm birth (PTB) represents 15 million births every year worldwide and is frequently associated with maternal/fetal infections and inflammation, inducing neuroinflammation. This neuroinflammation is mediated by microglial cells, which are brain-resident macrophages that release cytotoxic molecules that block oligodendrocyte differentiation, leading to hypomyelination. Some preterm survivors can face lifetime motor and/or cognitive disabilities linked to periventricular white matter injuries (PWMIs). There is currently no recommendation concerning the mode of delivery in the case of PTB and its impact on brain development. Many animal models of induced-PTB based on LPS injections exist, but with a low survival rate. There is a lack of information regarding clinically used pharmacological substances to induce PTB and their consequences on brain development. Mifepristone (RU-486) is a drug used clinically to induce preterm labor. This study aims to elaborate and characterize a new model of induced-PTB and PWMIs by the gestational injection of RU-486 and the perinatal injection of pups with IL-1beta. A RU-486 single subcutaneous (s.c.) injection at embryonic day (E)18.5 induced PTB at E19.5 in pregnant OF1 mice. All pups were born alive and were adopted directly after birth. IL-1beta was injected intraperitoneally from postnatal day (P)1 to P5. Animals exposed to both RU-486 and IL-1beta demonstrated microglial reactivity and subsequent PWMIs. In conclusion, the s.c. administration of RU-486 induced labor within 24 h with a high survival rate for pups. In the context of perinatal inflammation, RU-486 labor induction significantly decreases microglial reactivity in vivo but did not prevent subsequent PWMIs.     

Tunable Fluorescence from Dye‐Modified DNA‐Assembled Plasmonic Nanocube Arrays

Colloidal crystal engineering with DNA on template‐confined surfaces is used to prepare arrays of nanocube‐based plasmonic antennas and deliberately place dyes with sub‐nm precision into their hotspots, on the DNA bonds that confine the cubes to the underlying gold substrate. This combined top‐down and bottom‐up approach provides independent control over both the plasmonic gap and photonic lattice modes of the surface‐confined particle assemblies and allows for the tuning of the interactions between the excited dyes and plasmonically active antennas. Furthermore, the gap mode of the antennas can be modified in situ by utilizing the solvent‐dependent structure of the DNA bonds. This is studied by placing two dyes, with different emission wavelengths, under the nanocubes and recording their solvent‐dependent emission. It is shown that dye emission not only depends upon the in‐plane structure of the antennas but also the size of the gap, which is regulated with solvent. Importantly, this approach allows for the systematic understanding of the relationship between nanoscale architecture and plasmonically coupled dye emission, and points toward the use of colloidal crystal engineering with DNA to create stimuli responsive architectures, which can find use in chemical sensing and tunable light sources.