Showing papers by "Duquesne University published in 1982"

Steroidogenic electron transport in adrenal cortex mitochondria.

Abstract: The flavoprotein NADPH-adrenodoxin reductase and the iron sulfur protein adrenodoxin function as a short electron transport chain which donates electrons one-at-a-time to adrenal cortex mitochondrial cytochromes P-450. The soluble adrenodoxin acts as a mobile one-electron shuttle, forming a complex first with NADPH-reduced adrenodoxin reductase from which it accepts an electron, then dissociating, and finally reassociating with and donating an electron to the membrane-bound cytochrome P-450 (Fig. 9). Dissociation and reassociation with flavoprotein then allows a second cycle of electron transfers. A complex set of factors govern the sequential protein-protein interactions which comprise this adrenodoxin shuttle mechanism; among these factors, reduction of the iron sulfur center by the flavin weakens the adrenodoxinadrenodoxin reductase interaction, thus promoting dissociation of this complex to yield free reduced adrenodoxin. Substrate (cholesterol) binding to cytochrome P-450scc both promotes the binding of the free adrenodoxin to the cytochrome, and alters the oxidation-reduction potential of the heme so as to favor reduction by adrenodoxin. The cholesterol binding site on cytochrome P-450scc appears to be in direct communication with the hydrophobic phospholipid milieu in which this substrate is dissolved. Specific effects of both phospholipid headgroups and fatty acyl side-chains regulate the interaction of cholesterol with its binding side. Cardiolipin is an extremely potent positive effector for cholesterol binding, and evidence supports the existence of a specific effector lipid binding site on cytochrome P.450scc to which this phospho-lipid binds.

Neuropsychological, Learning and Developmental Characteristics of the Low Vision Child.

Abstract: This study was conducted to provide a comprehensive profile of the low vision child in the areas of cognitive, psychomotor, academic and neuropsychological development. The case-study method was em...

Survey of graduate training in clinical child psychology

Abstract: A survey of graduate programs in clinical psychology was conducted. The purposes were to determine the extent and models of training available in clinical child psychology, and to develop a listing of programs for student advisement. A dramatic increase in the numbers of such programs over previous listings occurred (36 formal and 29 informal programs). However, standards and formats of training varied greatly, with only a few programs preplanned to follow explicit models.

Pepper Sauce Toxicity

Abstract: An acute oral LD50 of Pepper Sauce* in male white Sprague-Dawley rats was determined to be 2358 ml/kg with upper and lower limits of 2975 and 1870 ml/kg, respectively, at the 095 confidence level In the female rats, the LD50 was determined to be 1952 m1/kg with upper and lower limits of 2435 and 1564 m1/kg, respectively, at the 095 confidence level This sex variation was found to be insignificantA subchronic oral toxicity evaluation of Pepper Sauce in male and female white Sprague-Dawley rats revealed no gross or microscopic pathological changes in the animals nor were any significant biochemical changes noted The growth rates remained within normal rangePepper Sauce was shown to be a mild skin irritant and a moderate to severe eye irritant in New Zealand albino rabbits; vinegar, an ingredient of Pepper Sauce, was shown to contribute significantly to the ocular toxicity The Pepper Sauce did not induce terata in Sprague-Dawley rats nor skin sensitization in guinea pigs

Issues relating to the meaning of psychology as a science

Abstract: In Philosophy in the Mid-Century Mace and Peters [1] discussed the relationship between philosophy and psychology in terms of three categories: (1) conceptual analysis, (2) methodology, and (3) empirical studies of philosophical interest. Under the category of ‘conceptual analysis’ the authors discussed the concepts and categories that scholars need to clarify the notion of ‘mind.’ In Contemporary Philosophy Otero [2] discussed the philosophical problems of scientific psychology in terms of one fundamental dichotomy: scientific psychology, in the strict sense, and the challenge it was receiving at that time from varied inspirations that he grouped under the heading of ‘total psychology,’ a label he invented to characterize those viewpoints critical of strict scientific psychology because of its narrow approach to the subject matter of psychology.

Intimacy in Assessment

Abstract: The personal and interpersonal character of most therapies has long been acknowledged. It is understood that in one manner or another the therapist participates in the ways clients change their lives. Intimacy, albeit of a specialized sort, is assumed, and its positive and problematic aspects are addressed in professional training and literature. In contrast, psychological assessment has been more closely grounded in the tradition of laboratory science, the goal being to obtain objective knowledge about a subject’s characteristics. Standardization—of materials, instructions, scoring, and interpretation—is meant to control potential variance in findings that would be due either to assessor characteristics or to transactions between assessor and subject. Professional training in assessment therefore emphasizes standardized procedures. For example, rapport is addressed not as an interpersonal relationship, but as a condition that results in optimal test output. Although test findings may be regarded as presenting a penetrating, and in this sense intimate, portrait, intimacy as a relationship is not often associated with assessment.

Militant Nonviolence: A Spirituality for the Pursuit of Social Justice

Abstract: This essay suggests that a clearer understanding of violence and nonviolence as means to be used in the pursuit for justice will be achieved if we move the discussion of nonviolence to the domain of spirituality rather than ethics. A distinction is made between militant nonviolence and historic forms of pacifism and nonresistance, and it is argued that militant nonviolence only makes sense as a spirituality, rather than as an ethical demand. Finally it is argued that such a spirituality is essential for the pursuit of justice and some practical implications are drawn.

Self-study program on drug information for staff pharmacists

Abstract: A self-study inservice educational program on drug information resources was designed to improve staff pharmacist competence in responding to drug information requests. Pharmacists attended two introductory sessions in the drug information center (DIC) that focused on available resources and the systematic search process. Each pharmacist also spent an eight-hour work period in the DIC. Twenty-four hours of regular staff time was allowed for each pharmacist to complete a self-study manual. The manual consisted of three section: (1) discussion of selected references; (2) assignments based on common types of drug information questions; and (3) assignments that required the use of indexing and abstracting sources. Each pharmacist had to complete 50 questions during a 12-week period. The pharmacists were evaluated through pre- and post-tests and by the accuracy of answers to assignments in the manual. Six pharmacists initially participated in the program; five of them attained an average grade of more than 70 on the post-test and assignments. Three new staff pharmacists now have also completed the program. The success of the program depended on the support of pharmacy administration, as well as the motivation of the participating pharmacists. This staff development program using a self-study manual has been an effective means for improving pharmacists' use of drug information resources. The manual is flexible to accommodate differences in the rate of staff development and it is a useful training tool for new pharmacists.

People of God, Body of Christ: Pauline Ecclesiological Contrasts

Abstract: Since the Second Vatican Council, church parlance has rapidly incorporated biblical ecclesial titles into its conversation. Unfortunately, the turn to biblical titles for the church has not necessarily led to a deeper understanding and comprehension of their unique or peculiar meaning. Nor has this utilization of biblical titles necessarily disclosed how different images of the church will emerge from a focus on the different titles. By consequence, preachers, religious educators and even theologians have referred to biblical titles for the church as though they were completely harmonious and even identical, when in fact their biblical meaning suggests a

On the distribution of lrt for testing the equality of exponential distributions

Abstract: In this paper, an asymptotic expansion of the distribution' of the likelihood ratio criterion for testing the equality of p one-parameter exponential distributions is obtained for unequal sample sizes. The expansion is obtained up to the order of n-3 with the second term of the order of n-2 so that the first term of this expansion alone should provide an excellent approximation to the distribution for moderately large values of n, where n is the combined sample size.

Distributions of lrt associated with two-parameter exponential distributions

Abstract: In this paper, an exact distribution of the likelihood ratio criterion for testing the equality of p two-parameter exponential distributions is obtained for unequal sample sizes in a computational form. A useful asymptotic expansion of the distribution is also obtained up to the order of n-4 with the second term of the order of n-3 and so can be used to obtain accurate approximations to the critical values of the test statistic even for comparatively small values of n where n is the combined sample size. In fact the first term alone which is a single beta distribution provides a powerful approximation for moderately large values of n.

Recent Developments in Johannine Studies

Abstract: Gospel studies continue to multiply. Not just scholarly works on the effects of redaction criticism but also studies of the sociological structures that underlie ancient documents, and the analysis of language and its meaning, appear in the latest listings of relgious and secular publishers. The gospel of John is no exception. This gospel continues to engage the attention of scholars with results that have changed previously held positions. This review cannot attempt to cover all of the recent developments in Johannine thought but will concentrate

On the distribution of independence test for the residuals of space-time arma models

Abstract: The procedure for building space-time autoregressive moving average (STARMA) models depends on the form of the variance-covariance matrix G of the underlying errors (see Pfeifer Deutsch (1980a,c)). In this paper the distribu¬tion of the statistic for testing the hypothesis that G is diagonal is obtained in a very convenient computational form. A table of critical values for the test is given Comparison is made with the approximate values obtained by Pfeifer Deutsch (1980c)