Effects of short-and long-term administration of tricyclic antidepressants and lithium on norepinephrine turnover in brain

The findings summarized in this paper show that norepinephrine turnover in brain is decreased after acute administration of imipramine or desmethylimipramine but tends to increase during chronic administration of these tricyclic antidepressants. Similarly, it appears that there also may be important differences between the effects of acute and chronic administration of lithium salts on norepinephrine turnover in the central nervous system. Such changes in norepinephrine turnover that develop gradually over the course of long-term drug administration may help to explain the need for chronic administration of tricyclic antidepressants or lithium salts in the treatment of patients with affective disorders.     

Alternative and low sulfur fuel options: boundary lubrication performance and potential problems

Studies of alternative fuels at Penn State include biodiesel, dimethyl ether (DME) and low sulfur diesel fuels. The fuel studies include bench tests, laboratory engine tests and vehicle tests. DME was evaluated in a campus shuttle bus operating on its regular campus route. A 25:75 vol% mixture of DME and diesel fuel was used. Laboratory engine tests of oxygenated fuels, including biodiesel, resulted in significant particulate reductions. However, some alternative fuels exhibit low lubricity. Bench tests comparing friction and wear characteristics of the fuels are described.     

Psychological effects of thought acceleration.

Six experiments found that manipulations that increase thought speed also yield positive affect. These experiments varied in both the methods used for accelerating thought (i.e., instructions to brainstorm freely, exposure to multiple ideas, encouragement to plagiarize others' ideas, performance of easy cognitive tasks, narration of a silent video in fast-forward, and experimentally controlled reading speed) and the contents of the thoughts that were induced (from thoughts about money-making schemes to thoughts of five-letter words). The results suggested that effects of thought speed on mood are partially rooted in the subjective experience of thought speed. The results also suggested that these effects can be attributed to the joy-enhancing effects of fast thinking (rather than only to the joy-killing effects of slow thinking). This work is inspired by observations of a link between "racing thoughts" and euphoria in cases of clinical mania, and potential implications of that observed link are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blind jealousy? Romantic insecurity increases emotion-induced failures of visual perception.

Does the influence of close relationships pervade so deeply as to impact visual awareness? Results from two experiments involving heterosexual romantic couples suggest that they do. Female partners from each couple performed a rapid detection task where negative emotional distractors typically disrupt visual awareness of subsequent targets; at the same time, their male partners rated attractiveness first of landscapes, then of photos of other women. At the end of both experiments, the degree to which female partners indicated uneasiness about their male partner looking at and rating other women correlated significantly with the degree to which negative emotional distractors had disrupted their target perception during that time. This relationship was robust even when controlling for individual differences in baseline performance. Thus, emotions elicited by social contexts appear to wield power even at the level of perceptual processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk for HIV infection among bisexual men seeking HIV-prevention services and risks posed to their female partners.

The present study interviewed gay (n?=?473) and bisexual men (n?=?146) as part of an HIV prevention program and investigated social cognitive factors associated with HIV risk. Results indicated that HIV risk in homosexual men was associated with sexual openness and connections to gay communities, factors not associated with risk for bisexual men. Compared with men at lower risk, those who practiced high-risk sex scored lower on measures of perceived safer sex norms, safer sex self-efficacy, and social skills. Bisexual men with primary female partners often had not disclosed their bisexuality to female partners (75%), and 64% had not modified their behavior to protect female partners. Bisexual men who engage in high-risk behaviors therefore pose a risk to female partners who may be unaware of their involvement with men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive–behavioral therapy versus usual clinical care for youth depression: An initial test of transportability to community clinics and clinicians.

Community clinic therapists were randomized to (a) brief training and supervision in cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth depression or (b) usual care (UC). The therapists treated 57 youths (56% girls), ages 8–15, of whom 33% were Caucasian, 26% were African American, and 26% were Latino/Latina. Most youths were from low-income families and all had Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) depressive disorders (plus multiple comorbidities). All youths were randomized to CBT or UC and treated until normal termination. Session coding showed more use of CBT by CBT therapists and more psychodynamic and family approaches by UC therapists. At posttreatment, depression symptom measures were at subclinical levels, and 75% of youths had no remaining depressive disorder, but CBT and UC groups did not differ on these outcomes. However, compared with UC, CBT was (a) briefer (24 vs. 39 weeks), (b) superior in parent-rated therapeutic alliance, (c) less likely to require additional services (including all psychotropics combined and depression medication in particular), and (d) less costly. The findings showed advantages for CBT in parent engagement, reduced use of medication and other services, overall cost, and possibly speed of improvement—a hypothesis that warrants testing in future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching clinical psychology graduate students about traumatic stress studies.

Although clinical psychology graduate seminars in traumatic stress are needed, teaching these courses carries unique challenges and opportunities. This paper describes the rationale, purpose, and process of developing a specialized course in traumatic stress. This course is used as a model for discussing implementation considerations that could be applied in other graduate programs. Course construction, teaching challenges, and potential solutions are presented. In particular, a process for addressing the affective and intellectual integration of material is emphasized. Attempts to assess the quality and outcomes of teaching activities are provided to illustrate future directions for improving trauma-related pedagogy and research that evaluates such pedagogy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Helping skills training for undergraduates: Outcomes and prediction of outcomes.

The authors examined outcomes and predictors of outcomes for 85 undergraduates in 3 helping skills classes. After training, trainees used more exploration skills in helping sessions with classmates (as assessed by perceptions of helpees and helpers/trainees as well as behavioral counts of skills), were perceived by helpees as more empathic, talked less in sessions, conducted better sessions (from helpee and helper/trainee perspectives), and reported higher self-efficacy for using helping skills. In addition, trainees' confidence increased while learning exploration skills, dropped while learning insight skills, and then increased again while learning action skills. The authors were not able to predict outcome from the variables used (grade-point average, empathic concern and perspective taking, perfectionism). Suggestions for training and future research on training are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training novice psychotherapists: Helping skills and beyond.

We provide a rationale for doing helping skills training with novice psychotherapists, present a basic framework for our ideas, outline the major components of training, and then talk about what comes after helping skills training. We provide hypotheses that can be tested to determine the effectiveness of helping skills training for novice psychotherapists and encourage researchers to do more research in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)