Showing papers by "California State University, Long Beach published in 1994"

Beta-adrenergic activation and memory for emotional events.

Abstract: Substantial evidence from animal studies suggests that enhanced memory associated with emotional arousal results from an activation of beta-adrenergic stress hormone systems during and after an emotional experience. To examine this implication in human subjects, we investigated the effect of the beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol hydrochloride on long-term memory for an emotionally arousing short story, or a closely matched but more emotionally neutral story. We report here that propranolol significantly impaired memory of the emotionally arousing story but did not affect memory of the emotionally neutral story. The impairing effect of propranolol on memory of the emotional story was not due either to reduced emotional responsiveness or to nonspecific sedative or attentional effects. The results support the hypothesis that enhanced memory associated with emotional experiences involves activation of the beta-adrenergic system.

Self-regulation of mood: strategies for changing a bad mood, raising energy, and reducing tension.

Abstract: Four studies evaluated the success of behaviors and strategies used to self-regulate bad moods, raise energy, and reduce tension. Study 1 (N = 102) used an open-ended questionnaire to identify behavioral categories. Studies 2 and 4 surveyed a representative sample (N = 308) with a fixed-response questionnaire to quantify behaviors, general strategies, and individual differences. Study 3 used psychotherapist (N = 26) judgments of the likely success of the strategies. Therapist and self-rating converged on success of strategies and gender differences. These studies clarify and confirm previous research findings, particularly gender differences in controlling depression. Exercise appears to be the most effective mood-regulating behavior, and the best general strategy to change a bad mood is a combination of relaxation, stress management, cognitive, and exercise techniques. Results support a 2-dimensional biopsychological model of mood.

The Health Belief Model and HIV Risk Behavior Change

Abstract: The Health Belief Model (HBM) was initially developed in the 1950s by a group of social psychologists in the U.S. Public Health Service in an effort to explain the widespread failure of people to participate in programs to prevent or to detect disease (Hochbaum, 1958; Rosenstock, 1960, 1966, 1974). Later, the model was extended to apply to people’s responses to symptoms (Kirscht, 1974) and to their behavior in response to diagnosed illness, particularly compliance with medical regimens (Becker, 1974). Over three decades, the model has been one of the most widely used psychosocial approaches to explaining health-related behavior.

Reliability of Drug Users' Self-Reported HIV Risk Behaviors and Validity of Self-Reported Recent Drug Use.

Abstract: This study examined the reliability and validity of the Risk Behavior Assessment, a structured interview questionnaire designed to evaluate drug use and sexual HIV risk behaviors. Participants were 218 drug users currently not in treatment who completed the RBA two times over a 48-hour period and gave urine samples on both occasions. We examined internal consistency and test-retest reliability and found that, overall, drug users reliably report drug use and sexual behavior, although the reliability of reports of specific needle practice and sexual behavior items was somewhat lower. Validity results indicated that drug users' accurately report use of cocaine and opiates. These findings indicate that this self-report questionnaire, when administered by trained interviewers, reliably measures HIV risk behaviors in a drug-using population and provides a valid assessment of recent drug use.

Posttraumatic stress disorder in elderly and younger adults after the 1988 earthquake in Armenia.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken 1 1/2 years after the 1988 earthquake in Armenia to assess the frequency and severity of posttraumatic stress reactions among elderly and younger adult victims and to assess the relation of exposure, age, sex, and death of a family member to these reactions. METHOD: One hundred seventy-nine subjects of both sexes were evaluated with the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Reaction Index. A subgroup of 60 individuals were also assessed for PTSD with the DSM-III-R criteria. RESULTS: There was a strong association between the presence of severe symptoms on the index and a DSM-III-R diagnosis of PTSD. Elderly and younger adult victims in cities closer to the epicenter (higher exposure) had significantly higher index scores than elderly and adult victims in more distant locations. In comparison with previous studies of natural disasters, much greater rates of chronic severe posttraumatic stress reactions were found among the highly exposed individuals. Although there was no difference in total mean score on the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index, a significant difference in symptom profile was found between the elderly and younger adults; the elderly scored higher on arousal symptoms and lower on intrusive symptoms. There was a positive correlation between loss of family members and severity of posttraumatic stress reaction. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that after a major natural disaster with subsequent multiple adversities, a substantial proportion of the adult population may experience severe and chronic posttraumatic stress reactions. The risk factors identified in this study may prove useful in screening exposed individuals for appropriate treatment. Language: en

Relationship of Job Stressors to Job Performance: Linear or an Inverted-U?

Abstract: This study evaluated the potential positive effects of stressors on job performance by examining the shape of the relation between stressors and job performance. The 281 respondents were a demographically and organizationally heterogeneous group from the Detroit area, who were employed during the study. They were given four structured in-home interviews, approximately 6 weeks apart, over a period of 18 weeks. Interviews were also conducted with a significant other, nonminated by each respondent from work life. Stressors examined were role ambiguity, role conflict, and job insecurity. Strains, also examined as potential stressors, were job dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, and anger. Technical and social aspects of respondents' job performance were measured separately, as were absenteeism and tardiness. All zero-order Pearson correlations were either statistically significant and in predicted directions or essentially zero. All relationships were monotonic, suggesting that, for these stressors, their optimal amounts are generally zero. Results are discussed in terms of arousal and activation, information-processing, and expectancy theory.

Separation control on high-lift airfoils via micro-vortex generators

Abstract: An experimental investigation has been conducted to evaluate boundary-layer separation control on a twodimensional single-flap, three-element, high-lift system at near-flight Reynolds numbers with small surfacemounted vortex generators. The wind-tunnel testing was carried out in the NASA Langley Low-Turbulence Pressure Tunnel as part of a cooperative program between McDonnell Douglas Aerospace and NASA Langley Research Center to develop code validation data bases and to improve physical understanding of multielement airfoil flows. This article describes results obtained for small (subboundary-layer) vane-type vortex generators mounted on a multielement airfoil in a landing configuration. Measurements include lift, drag, surface pressure, wake profile, and fluctuating surface heat fluxes. The results reveal that vortex generators as small as 0.18% of reference (slat and flap stowed) wing chord ("micro-vortex generators") can effectively reduce boundarylayer separation on the flap for landing configurations. Reduction of flap separation can significantly improve performance of the high-lift system by reducing drag and increasing lift for a given approach angle of attack. At their optimum chordwise placement on the flap, the micro-vortex generators are hidden inside the wing when the flap is retracted, thus extracting no cruise drag penalty.

Inertia as a zero-point-field Lorentz force

Abstract: Under the hypothesis that ordinary matter is ultimately made of subelementary constitutive primary charged entities or \"partons\" bound in the manner of traditional elementary Planck oscillators (a timehonored classical technique), it is shown that a heretofore uninvestigated Lorentz force (specifically, the magnetic component of the Lorentz force) arises in any accelerated reference frame from the interaction of the partons with the vacuum electromagnetic zero-point field (ZPF). Partons, though asymptotically free at the highest frequencies, are endowed with a sufficiently large \"bare mass\" to allow interactions with the ZPF at very high frequencies up to the Planck frequencies. This Lorentz force, though originating at the subelementary parton level, appears to produce an opposition to the acceleration of material objects at a macroscopic level having the correct characteristics to account for the property of inertia. We thus propose the interpretation that inertia is an electromagnetic resistance arising from the known spectral distortion of the ZPF in accelerated frames. The proposed concept also suggests a physically rigorous version of Mach's principle. Moreover, some preliminary independent corroboration is suggested for ideas proposed by Sakharov (Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 177, 70 (1968) [Sov. Phys. Dokl. 12, 1040 (1968)J) and further explored by one of us [H. E. Puthoff, Phys. Rev. A 39,2333 (1989)] concerning a ZPF-based model of Newtonian gravity, and for the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass as dictated by the principle of equivalence.

Criterion validity of a coping measure

Abstract: A paucity of evidence for the validity of coping questionnaires prompted investigation of the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI; Amirkhan, 1990), a self-report measure of three fundamental modes of coping that has already demonstrated considerable psychometric strength. Three tests of criterion-related validity were performed, with variations in both the types of stressors and respondents sampled. In the first, CSI scores were found to correspond to coping choices made under the threat of electric shock in a laboratory. In the second and third, the CSI correctly identified coping patterns associated with participation in educational and therapeutic programs in more natural settings. Results confirmed the validity and wide applicability of the CSI and suggested avenues for future basic and applied research.

Outcome of Children with Brain Stem Gliomas after Treatment with 7800 cGy of Hyperfractionated Radiotherapy A Childrens Cancer Group Phase 1/11 Trial

Abstract: Background. Brain stem gliomas remain the childhood brain tumors most resistant to treatment. Treatments with hyperfractionated radiotherapy at doses as high as 7560 cGy have been fairly well tolerated. This study was undertaken to determine the toxicity and possible efficacy of hyperfractionated radiotherapy in children with brain stem gliomas using 100 cGy of radiation twice daily, to a total dose of 7800 cGy. Methods. Sixty-six children (mean age at diagnosis, 7.5 years) with diffuse intrinsic brain stem gliomas were treated. Patients were evaluated for potential toxicity of treatment, progression-free survival, survival, and response to treatment. Results. Objective response to treatment was documented in 20 of 58 (34%) evaluable patients, with 8 (14%) patients having a greater than 50% reduction in tumor size. Overall survival was 35% plus or minus 6% at 1 year and 11% plus or minus 6% at 3 years. Intralesional cystic/necrotic radiographic changes developed in nine patients 6 weeks after radiation, and three of these patients subsequently improved without antitumor intervention. Six of 14 autopsied patients had evidence of probable radiation-induced intralesional necrotic damage, and in 1, necrosis may have played a role in death. Thirty-three of 66 patients were treated with steroids for prolonged periods. Conclusions. The results of this treatment regimen demonstrate that hyperfractionated radiotherapy, as delivered in this study to a total dose of 7800 cGy, is relatively well tolerated, but may result in prolonged steroiduse dependency and possible radiation-associated damage. Objective responses to treatment were seen in 34% of patients, but these results were not better than those seen at lower doses of hyperfractionated radiotherapy. There is no evidence that radiation to 7800 cGy results in improved survival for patients with diffuse intrinsic brain stem gliomas.

United States Patent Office: stereoscopic-television apparatus for individual use

Abstract: My invention is directed to improvements in stereo-scopic-televisiou apparatus for individual use. MY invention generally speaking comprises the following elements: a hollow casing, a pair of optical units, a pair of television tube units, a pair of ear phones and a pair of air discharge nozzles, all coacting to cause the user to comfortably see the images, hear the sound effects and to be sensitive to the air discharge of said nozzles. One object of nay invention is to provide easily adjustable and comfortable means for causing the apparatus containing the optical units, to be held in proper position on the head of tim user so that the apparatus does not sag, and so that its weight is evenly distributed over the bone structure of the front and back of the head, without the necessity of holding the apparatus tap by hand, Another object is to provide means whereby the optical and television tube units may be individually adjusted to bring said units into their proper positions with respect to the eyes of the user and with respect to each olher. Another object is to provide ear phones which are so designed that the outer eat" is completely free and untouched , thus allowing the ear phones to operate fully as sound focusing organs. Another object is to provide means for independently adjusting the pair of ear phones to bring them into proper position with respect to the ears of the user. Another object is to provide means for conveying to th0 head of the spectator, air currents of varying velocities , temperatures and odors. Another object is to provide the optical units with a special lens arrangcruent which will bend the peripheral rays coming from tile television tube so that they enter the eyes of the user from the sides thereof, creating the sensation of peripheral vision filling an arc of more than 140 ° horizontally and vertically. A practical embodiment of nay invention is represented in the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 represents a diagrammatic view showing the relative positions of the optical units, the television tubes and the eyes of the user. Fig. 2 represents a detailed perspective view of the apparatus with the ear phones omitted. Fig. 3 represents on an enlarged scale a top plan view of the apparatus with the top of the hollow casing removed. Fig. 4 represents a longitudinal section taken …

Barriers to clinical trials: Part II: Knowledge and attitudes of potential participants

Abstract: The reasons why less than 3% of cancer patients receive treatment in a clinical trial are complex and multiply determined. Because an individual cannot sign herself into a research study, an understanding of the doctor-patient interaction must be considered in addition to individual patient dynamics. Patients may be concerned that a physician's primary allegiance is to the requirements of the trial, not the specific health needs of the individual. Physicians may worry about the effects that placing an individual in a trial will have on the special doctor-patient relationship. Specific psychologic factors that may make a patient reluctant to enter a trial include self-protectiveness, time and travel constraints, concern about the quality of research versus clinical care, the nature of the informed consent, and worry about the usual low level priority assigned to quality-of-life issues in biomedical research. Enrollment in and adherence to investigative research may be served better by the construction of studies that combine questions about both medical outcome and impact of treatment on patient quality of life. Individuals who require high levels of personal control, want to feel they are a high priority with their physician, and need frequent feedback about results are not likely to be good candidates for investigative research.

Multifunction electrocautery tool

Abstract: A multifunction electrocautery tool includes an elongated housing within which a generally cylindrical suction tube is slidably supported. A slide control is mechanically coupled to the suction tube and movable to control the retraction and extension thereof. The slide control includes an aperture coupled to the suction passage of the suction tube to facilitate a single finger or thumb control of the suction tube position and suctioning action. A cauterizing and cutting blade is supported proximate the suction tube and is coupled to a source of RF electrical energy by a connecting wire. In one embodiment, electrical controls for the cauterizing blade are supported upon the upper surface of the elongated housing while a pair of oppositely positioned slide controls are provided on right hand and left hand side surfaces to facilitate either right or left hand operation. In an alternate embodiment, a slide control is supported upon the upper surface which includes a control aperture coupled to the suction passage of the suction tube.

In vitro resistance to platelet microbicidal protein correlates with endocarditis source among bacteremic staphylococcal and streptococcal isolates.

Abstract: Traditionally, platelets have been thought to contribute to the induction and propagation of infective endocarditis (IE) However, recent studies suggest that platelets may potentially mitigate IE via secretion of alpha-granule-derived platelet microbicidal protein (PMP) In this study, we compared the PMP susceptibility of bacteremic isolates from patients with and without IE Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (n = 17), coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS; n = 28), viridans streptococci (VS; n = 54), and Enterococcus faecalis (n = 20), each at a final inoculum of 2 x 10(3) CFU/ml, were exposed to PMP [100 U/ml, (5 micrograms/ml)] for 2 h, and the percent survival was determined For S aureus, CNS, and VS isolates, there was a significant correlation between an IE source and increased percent survival post-PMP exposure; the mean percent survivals of S aureus, CNS, and VS were significantly greater for IE versus non-IE isolates (P < 0005 for each organism) No significant correlation was observed between the source of bacteremic E faecalis isolates and PMP susceptibility These data suggest that staphylococcal and VS (but not enterococcal) resistance to PMP may facilitate either the induction or progression of IE

Reading speed and prose memory in older and younger adults.

Abstract: A method is described for determining the minimum amount of time required to read a proposition in the context of a sentence. This threshold reading time was reliable, stable, and significantly longer for older adults than for younger adults. Prose memory was assessed for texts presented at varying speeds determined by the threshold reading time measure and by a whole-text reading time measure. Recall from these paced conditions was compared with recall from a self-paced condition. In general, age differences in recall tended to increase as the amount of time allowed for processing increased. The results of regression analyses suggest that although the basic speed of processing for a single sentence accounts for substantial variance in prose recall, processes that operate across sentence boundaries are also important and require further specification.

Rapid eye movement sleep periodic leg movements in patients with spinal cord injury.

Abstract: We describe three spinal cord injury cases exhibiting periodic leg movements (PLMs) in both rapid eye movement (REM) and nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. The difference in the average periodicity in REM and NREM sleep was modest, but was generally shorter in REM than in NREM sleep. However, the variability associated with the PLMs was nearly three to six times smaller in REM than in NREM sleep, suggesting that the periodicity of the PLMs in REM sleep was more precise than in NREM sleep. The finding of PLMs in these patients suggests that a spinal cord injury may permit the expression of a spinal PLM generator, which may be an unusual presentation of a spinal locomotor generator. The PLM generator would be displayed when the descending inhibitory spinal pathways are interrupted by a spinal injury. The rapid periodicity of the PLM generator in REM sleep, compared with NREM sleep, may result from an increase in sympathetic activity normally accompanying this sleep state. Alternative explanations for the occurrence of PLMs in spinal injury are the influence of adverse sleeping position, age, an increase in circulating catecholamines and peripheral perfusion. We conclude that the presence of PLMs may be an important, but neglected, sleep disorder in spinal cord patients. Therefore, health care professionals should be aware of the possibility of sleep-related PLMs when these patients have sleep and/or waking complaints.

Posttraumatic stress reactions after single and double trauma

Abstract: This study evaluated the severity and symptom profile of posttraumatic stress reactions of 202 adults exposed in 1988 to political violence in Azerbaijan and/or the earthquake in Armenia. High rates of severe posttraumatic stress reactions were found among the most highly exposed individuals, irrespective of the type of trauma. There was no difference in symptom profile for subjects exposed to earthquake versus violence. These similarities in severity and symptom profile may be attributable to common features of the exposures, which included experiencing life-threat and witnessing injury, multilation and death. Recent prior exposure to violence contributed to the severity of reaction to the earthquake. The high rates of chronic and severe posttraumatic stress reactions in Armenia constitute a major public mental health problem.

Effect of attentional bias to right space on wheelchair mobility

Abstract: The impact of hemispatial neglect on wheelchair navigation was investigated using a wheelchair obstacle course. The results replicated the findings of Webster et al. (1988): Right-CVA patients with hemispatial neglect (n = 25) struck more objects on their left and ran directly into obstacles placed in their path (p < .0001). Right-CVA patients who did not omit left-space targets on letter cancellation (n = 23) did not run directly into obstacles; however, they did sideswipe more obstacles and struck more left-sided obstacles than did left-CVA (n = 20) and nonpatient controls (n = 19; p < .0001). Both hemi-neglecting patients and right-CVA patients who committed left-space sideswipes (n = 12) evidenced attentional bias to right space, as measured by more rightward starting points on letter cancellation and the Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure copy (p < .0001).

Method for the prediction of wing maximum lift

Abstract: This article describes the development of a semiempirical three-dimensional method for the prediction of maximum lift for complex multielement wing geometries. The method is a combination of cost effective and reliable CFD technology (a surface panel method), and an empirically observed phenomenon occurring at maximum lift conditions that is introduced here as the pressure difference rule. The panel method solutions used in conjunction with the pressure difference rule yield surprisingly accurate predictions of maximum lift for both clean wings as well as multielement wings. Comparisons with experimental data are presented for increasingly complex high-lift wing geometries including full transport aircraft configured for landing.

Control system with loadfeel and backdrive

Abstract: The control system includes a control member connected to a control centering device which resists operational control member movement and returns it to a neutral position upon release thereof. Force and position sensors connected to the control member determine operator force exerted thereon as well as the position thereof. Output from the sensors is transmitted to a computer which also receives data relating to position of aircraft controlled surfaces and aerodynamic forces acting on the aircraft as well as flight data, etc. The computer combines and compares that data with other data relating to frictional forces produced by movement of the mechanical control system and data relating to desired control member resistive forces under predetermined operational conditions. The computer thereby determines the magnitude of the control member resistive forces required to produce the desired tactile feel and provides an output based thereon to an actuator which applies these forces to the control member. When in automatic pilot mode, the computer provides an output to the actuator to move the control member to a position representing the command output that the computer provides to the controlled surfaces to control the position thereof.

Reconstructing the 3-D medial axes of coronary arteries in single-view cineangiograms

Abstract: Describes a technique for reconstructing the skeletal structure of coronary arteries from a succession of frames of a single-view cineangiogram. The authors use local features in each frame to determine correspondences of arterial segments in successive frames. They define a similarity measure in 2D image space as the change in angular coordinates of corresponding pairs. They use a form of gradient descent to find those depth coordinates that minimize the average deviation of the 3D angular coordinates of all points on the skeleton from the coordinates produced by a 3D scaling transformation. In experiments with software models the reconstruction error was approximately two pixels when the initial guessed reconstruction was as large as 30 pixels. >

Differential precipitation of proteins. Science and technology.

Abstract: The selective precipitation of a given protein from a mixture of proteins is a function of those unique physicochemical properties that differentiate it from the other proteins in the mixture Euglobulins are those proteins insoluble in water but soluble in salt solutions Maximum insolubility in water occurs at the isoelectric point of the protein A number of water-soluble uncharged polymers of varying molecular weights have been used for the precipitation of proteins Alcohols, acetone, ether, and other water-miscible organic reagents have been used by analytical chemists to precipitate proteins since the early part of the last century Protamines, a group of highly basic proteins rich in arginine, have been used to precipitate selectively fibrinogen from plasma A number of studies of the nucleation process during protein precipitation and crystallization have been reported in the literature Aging a protein precipitate by gentle agitation for an extended period of time improves its physicochemical characteristics with regard to liquid/solids separations