The effect of aluminium coating on elemental standards in X-ray microanalysis

The standardisation of frozen hydrated bulk biological specimens using gelatin standards is described. The relationship between corrected elemental X-ray counts and ionic concentration was found to be linear, and minimum detectable limits for each element are stated. Variations in uncorrected standard curves were found to be due to changes in aluminium coating thickness. There was an inverse relationship between coating thickness and elemental X-ray counts. The factors causing this are discussed. To avoid errors arising from inconsistent aluminium thickness, experimental material should only be compared with standards of similar aluminium net counts. This can be achieved most easily by mounting and analysing specimen and standard together.     

Wooden sticks as the source of a pseudoepidemic of infection with Rhizopus microsporus var. rhizopodiformis among immunocompromised patients

Wooden sticks used to suspend feces obtained for surveillance cultures were found to be the source of Rhizopus microsporus var. rhizopodiformis causing a pseudo-outbreak among 17 immunocompromised patients cared for in three different wards. Nonsterile wooden products should therefore not be used for collecting, handling, and processing specimens for microbiological examination.     

Refinements in validity generalization methods: Implications for the situational specificity hypothesis.

Using a large database, this study examined 3 refinements of validity generalization procedures: (1) a more accurate procedure for correcting the residual standard deviation (SD) for range restriction to estimate SDp, (2) use of r? instead of study-observed rs in the formula for sampling error variance, and (3) removal of non-Pearson rs. The 1st procedure does not affect the amount of variance accounted for by artifacts. The addition of the 2nd and 3rd procedures increased the mean percentage of validity variance accounted for by artifacts from 70 to 82%, a 17% increase. The cumulative addition of all 3 procedures decreased the mean SDp estimate from .150 to .106, a 29% decrease. Six additional variance-producing artifacts were identified that could not be corrected for. In light of these it was concluded that the obtained estimates of mean SDp and mean validity variance accounted for were consistent with the hypothesis that the true mean SDp value is close to zero. These findings provide further evidence against the situational specificity hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The attrition dilemma: Toward a new strategy for psychotherapy research.

Presents an analysis of the attrition dilemma in psychotherapy research and reviews the methods used to compensate for data loss. It is argued that attrition is not ultimately a problem of bias but a problem of lack of information. A reformulation is offered that integrates single-case studies with traditional group comparison methodology in an attempt to find optimal causal relations of treatments to outcomes. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stable Oxygen and Carbon Isotopic Compositions of Lates stappersii Otoliths from Lake Tanganyika,East Africa

In this study, we measured growth trends in oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios in whole sagittal otoliths from three adult centropomid fish (Lates stappersii) from each of three sub-basins of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa. Sampling density was 20 to 50 samples per otolith. Both δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values increase with age. The δ¹⁸O data suggest that otoliths were precipitated near the expected equilibrium with the ambient environment (ca. +3.5‰) and support a migration pattern from surface waters during larval stages to deeper waters (40 to 80 m) for mature fish. Relatively high δ¹⁸O values in the southern sub-basin are consistent with cooler temperatures in the region during seasonal upwelling. The δ13C increase from otolith core to edge is large (up to 4‰) and is interpreted as due to ontogenetic changes in diet and contributions from a decrease in the proportion of respired CO₂ incorporated into otolith carbonate as metabolic rates of the fish dropped with maturity. The data seem to successfully reveal life strategy and migration patterns of L. stappersii, document regional differences in lake conditions, and provide a record of temperature within the water column during which the fish lived. Higher resolution studies and analyses of historical samples could be used to constrain modern and past growth patterns, and to reconstruct past temperature gradients and productivity patterns in the lake.     

The Subjective and Reinforcing Effects of Visual and Olfactory Stimuli in Alcohol Drinking.

Nonpharmacological cues associated with drug intake may influence subjective and reinforcing effects of those drugs. Social drinkers (N = 80) participated in 2 sessions in which they rated and then consumed ad lib their preferred beer (with participants blind to brand). Visual and olfactory stimuli were obscured during 1 session (blocked) and not obscured during the other (unblocked). Dependent measures included ratings of "liking", "want another", and "desire to drink"; subjective mood; and ad lib beer consumption (reinforcement). Most ratings and ad lib consumption were lower during the blocked versus the unblocked condition. There were no interactions of blockade condition with sex and no effect of blockade on mood. These findings show that nonpharmacological stimuli associated with alcohol consumption influence alcohol's subjective and reinforcing effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The erosion of our profession.

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is threatened by two underlying social and economic developments. One is pressures of the marketplace that are altering all traditional professional relationships, threatening to undermine our familiar relationship with clients. The second is changes in the medical profession that call into question the appropriateness and utility of our long-standing link with medicine. The problems are explored and some suggestions put forth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bodies, antibodies, and neighborhood-density effects in masked form priming.

Facilitatory priming effects due to similarity of orthographic form are obtained for high-N target words provided that they have low-frequency bodies and the body is shared between the prime and target (e.g., perd-HERD). Conversely, it is shown that low-N target words show priming regardless of the frequency of the body, provided that the prime and target do not share the same body (e.g., drice-DRIVE). If the body is shared, then priming occurs only for targets with low-frequency bodies. These results suggest that neighborhood density should be defined in terms of both individual letter units and subsyllabic units and that both types of density jointly determine priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)