Plant Bioinspired Ecological Robotics.

Plants are movers, but the nature of their movement differs dramatically from that of creatures that move their whole body from point A to point B. Plants grow to where they are going. Bio-inspired robotics sometimes emulates plants' growth-based movement; but growing is part of a broader system of movement guidance and control. We argue that ecological psychology's conception of "information" and "control" can simultaneously make sense of what it means for a plant to navigate its environment and provide a control scheme for the design of ecological plant-inspired robotics. In this effort, we will outline several control laws and give special consideration to the class of control laws identified by tau theory, such as time to contact.

The creation of an ontology of clinical document names.

The efficient use of documents from heterogeneous computer systems is hampered by differences in document-naming practices across organizations. Using an open-consensus method, the Document Ontology Task Force, with support from the Veterans Health Administration, addressed this pervasive problem by developing a clinical document ontology. Based on the analysis of over 2000 clinical document names, the ontology was used to formulate a terminology model which is currently being used to guide the creation of fully-specified document names in LOINC (Logical Observations, Identifiers, Names and Codes). Incorporation into LOINC will enable homogeneous management of documents in a widely distributed environment and will also give rise to a rich polyhierarchy of document names.

A longitudinal and retrospective study of PTSD among older prisoners of war.

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the longitudinal changes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom levels and prevalence rates over a 4-year time period among American former prisoners of war (POWs) from World War II and the Korean War. Retrospective symptom reports by World War II POWs dating back to shortly after repatriation were examined for 1) additional evidence of changing PTSD symptom levels and 2) evidence of PTSD cases with a long-delayed onset. METHOD: PTSD prevalence rates and symptom levels were measured by the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. For the longitudinal portion of the study, participants were 177 community-dwelling World War II and Korean POWs. For the retrospective portion, participants were 244 community-dwelling World War II POWs. RESULTS: PTSD prevalence rates and symptom levels increased significantly over the 4-year measurement interval. Retrospective symptom reports indicated that symptoms were highest shortly after the war, declined for several decades, and increased within the past two decades. Long-delayed onset of PTSD symptoms was rare. Demographic and psychosocial variables were used to characterize participants whose symptoms increased over 4 years and differentiate participants who reported a long-delayed symptom onset. CONCLUSIONS: Both longitudinal and retrospective data support a PTSD symptom pattern of immediate onset and gradual decline, followed by increasing PTSD symptom levels among older survivors of remote trauma.

Cognitive risk factors and suicide attempts among formerly hospitalized adolescents: a prospective naturalistic study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between cognitive variables and time until suicide attempts among 180 adolescents who were monitored for as much as 6.9 years after discharge from an inpatient psychiatry unit. METHOD: In a prospective naturalistic study, adolescents were assessed at the time of their psychiatric hospitalization and semiannually thereafter. Suicidal behavior at index hospitalization and over the follow-up period was assessed with semistructured psychiatric diagnostic interviews. At hospitalization, cognitive risk factors were assessed with a problem-solving task and with questionnaires assessing hopelessness, expectations for posthospitalization suicidal behavior, reasons for living, and dysfunctional attitudes. RESULTS: Expectations about future suicidal behavior were related to posthospitalization suicide attempts. Among youths with previous suicide attempts, higher levels of hopelessness were associated with increased risk, and greater survival and coping beliefs were associated with decreased risk for posthospitalization suicide attempts. Hopelessness and survival and coping beliefs were not related to posthospitalization attempts among adolescents without prior suicidal behavior, and hopelessness was not predictive after controlling for overall severity of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Expectations for suicidal behavior, hopelessness, and survival and coping beliefs provide important prognostic information about later suicidal behavior and should be targeted in interventions with suicidal youths.

Positive and negative life changes following sexual assault.

A longitudinal study was conducted to investigate (a) the timing and course of posttraumatic growth and (b) the relations between positive and negative life changes and posttraumatic distress among recent female sexual assault survivors (N = 171). Most survivors reported positive change even at 2 weeks postassault. Positive changes generally increased over time and negative changes decreased, although change in different domains followed different courses and there was significant individual variability in change patterns. Both positive and negative changes were associated with distress in expected ways, although the relations with negative changes were stronger. The least distress at 12 months was reported by those who noted positive life changes at both 2 weeks and 12 months postassault. Implications for theory and research on posttraumatic growth are discussed.

Parity violation in elastic electron-proton scattering and the Proton's strange magnetic form factor

We report a new measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in elastic electron scattering from the proton at backward scattering angles. This asymmetry is sensitive to the strange magnetic form factor of the proton as well as electroweak axial radiative corrections. The new measurement of A = -4.92+/-0.61+/-0.73 ppm provides a significant constraint on these quantities. The implications for the strange magnetic form factor are discussed in the context of theoretical estimates for the axial corrections.

Suicide attempts among formerly hospitalized adolescents: a prospective naturalistic study of risk during the first 5 years after discharge.

OBJECTIVE: To examine risk for suicide attempts among 180 consecutively referred adolescents during the first 5 years after discharge from an inpatient psychiatry unit. METHOD: In a prospective naturalistic study, adolescents were assessed at psychiatric hospitalization and semiannually thereafter for up to 5 years with semistructured psychiatric diagnostic interviews and self-report questionnaires. RESULTS: Approximately 25% of the adolescents attempted suicide and no adolescents completed suicide within the first 5 years after discharge. The first 6 months to 1 year after discharge represented the period of highest risk. The number of prior attempts was the strongest predictor of posthospitalization attempts. Affective disorders by themselves did not predict later suicide attempts but were related to posthospitalization attempts when accompanied by a history of past suicide attempts. Independent of psychiatric diagnoses, severity of depressive symptoms and trait anxiety also predicted suicide attempts. Similar to the effect with affective disorders, depressive symptoms were most strongly related to posthospitalization suicidality among adolescents with a prior history of suicide attempts. CONCLUSIONS: Particularly among youths with prior suicidal behavior, clinicians should be alert to the above constellation of psychiatric predictors of posthospitalization suicidal behavior.

The influence of structure, staff type, and managed-care indicators on registered nurse staffing.

Nurse administrators need methods to evaluate and compare staffing across a variety of hospitals because the degree of reengineering that actually has occurred in their communities can be difficult to assess. Multivariate analysis of factors affecting hospital registered nurse (RN) staffing in western New York revealed that the significant factors were the type of unit, nursing model, rural location, and use of aides and unit secretaries. Managed-care factors and alternative uses of staff did not affect RN staffing. Regional market variations may have significant impact on staffing solutions adopted by nurse executives.

Psychiatric diagnoses of previous suicide attempters, first-time attempters, and repeat attempters on an adolescent inpatient psychiatry unit.

OBJECTIVE: To compare psychiatric diagnoses of hospitalized adolescents who (a) have made previous but no recent suicide attempts, (b) have recently made their first suicide attempt, (c) have recently made a second or subsequent attempt, or (d) have never made an attempt. METHOD: Semistructured psychiatric diagnostic interviews were used to determine psychiatric diagnoses and history of recent and previous suicidal behavior of 269 consecutively admitted adolescents to an inpatient psychiatric facility. Forty-nine previously suicidal youths, 28 first-time attempters, and 33 repeat attempters were compared with 159 nonsuicidal youths in prevalence of Axis I psychiatric disorders and psychiatric comorbidity with affective disorder. RESULTS: Previous attempters and repeat attempters both reported more affective disorders, whereas first-time attempters reported more adjustment disorders than nonsuicidal youths. Previous attempters and nonsuicidal youths reported the most externalizing disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Previous attempters on an inpatient unit have multiple psychiatric problems. Like repeat attempters, they often are depressed, but like nonsuicidal youths, they also exhibit significant externalizing behaviors. Interventions with these adolescents should focus not only on immediate presenting problems, but also on ameliorating their long-term risk of posthospitalization suicidal behavior.

The use of religious coping during stressful life events: main effects, moderation, and mediation.

The effects of religious coping, the potential moderation of such effects by religious affiliation (i.e., Catholic, Protestant), and the potential mediation of such effects by various factors (i.e., cognitive restructuring, social support, perceived control) were investigated in patients and significant others coping with the stress of kidney transplant surgery. At 3 and 12 months after transplantation, results showed that the use of religious coping was generally associated with better adjustment both concurrently and over time in both patients and significant others. These effects were moderated by religious affiliation, such that religious coping was more effective in promoting adjustment for Protestants than for Catholics. Religious coping was related to adjustment beyond the effects of the proposed mediators. Implications of these results for future research and practice are discussed.

Vignettes of a pulmonary rehabilitation team.

A successful comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation program depends on these key pieces: thorough planning, an experienced coordinator who is a patient advocate, a dedicated and supportive medical director, enthusiastic and committed team members, the use of program graduates as volunteers, and providing the essential components of pulmonary rehabilitation, which consist of assessment, patient training, exercise, psychosocial intervention, and follow-up. The patients are the most important members of the team. Their courage, dedication, and determination to make their quality of life the best it can be is truly an inspiration to all of us.

Sealant status and factors associated with sealant presence among children in Milwaukee, WI.

To determine the percent of school-children aged 6-14 years with sealants placed in their permanent molars in the City of Milwaukee. 2) To describe factors associated with sealant presence among these children. 3) To describe differences, if any, among ethnic majority and minority groups. Twelve public schools agreed to participate in this project. After consent forms were obtained, 1,234 dental exams were performed. A 15-item pretested questionnaire was given to each child to take home for the parent(s) to complete. Response rate was 60 percent (N = 742). Data were analyzed using frequencies and Chi-Square tests (P-value < 0.05). Only 9.6 percent of the sample had sealants on their permanent molars. Variables that were found associated with children more likely to have sealants included: gender (female children more likely than males); children with a recent dental exam; children having a regular dentist; parents having heard about sealants before this study; parents' correct knowledge regarding the purpose of sealants; higher level of parents' education; higher parents' total annual income; ethnicity (Caucasian children more likely than Hispanic, African American, American Indian, or Asian children); and age (children in the older group, 10-14 years, more likely than children in the younger group, 6-9 years). Percent of school-children with sealants on their permanent molars in the city of Milwaukee is low. Efforts are needed to increase the knowledge of sealants by the general public as well as to promote sealant use by dentists in both private practice and public health programs, especially for minority children.

Stressors, social support, and adjustment in kidney transplant patients and their spouses.

Kidney transplant patients and their spouses (n = 121 couples) rated their overall stress, social support, and adjustment following transplantation. Patients experienced significantly more overall stress than did spouses, although spouses were equally or more stressed than patients on some issues. Patients and spouses did not differ in marital satisfaction, although patients reported significantly more depression than did spouses. Overall stress was related to lower marital satisfaction and increased depression for both patients and spouses. Patients who were experiencing higher stress benefitted more from the support they received from their spouses. Spouses who were less stressed offered more helpful and less unhelpful support to patients. Implications for social work practice are discussed.

Correlates of noncompliance among renal transplant recipients.

The purpose of this study was to identify variables that are associated with noncompliance among adult renal transplant recipients, including demographic characteristics, transplant-related variables, and psychosocial factors. The measurement of noncompliance was improved by assessing noncompliant behaviors (i.e., noncompliance with medications and the follow-up regimen) prior to the onset of complications and/or graft loss and by measuring compliance as a continuous rather than dichotomous variable. Two-hundred-and-forty-one renal transplant recipients completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the anxiety and hostility subscales of the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale, the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors, the Coping Strategies Inventory, a measure of transplant-related stressors, and self-report measures of compliance with medications and the follow-up regimen. Approximately half of our sample reported at least some degree of noncompliance. Recipients who were younger, female, unmarried, retransplanted, and with lower incomes tended to be noncompliant with medications (all p's < 0.05). Recipients who were unmarried, low income, not insulin-dependent, and with a longer time since transplant tended to be noncompliant with the follow-up regimen. In addition, recipients who reported higher stress and more depression, who coped with stress by using avoidant coping strategies, and who believed that health outcomes are beyond their control were less compliant with both medications and follow-up (all p's < 0.05). Regression analyses revealed that stress was the strongest predictor of both medication and follow-up compliance.

Lipid interactions in breadmaking.

Both the natural lipids of flour and added fats are known to play an important role during the production of bread. In this review, the chemical and physical interactions of fat have been assessed in an attempt to explain these technological functions. Particular emphasis has been placed on the "binding" or complexing of lipid by flour proteins during the development of dough. While publications in this field have frequently been contradictory, evidence now indicates that observed lipid binding may involve lipid mesophase transformation and the nonspecific occlusion of lipid phases within the gluten network. The significance of these suggested events has been compared with current theories of lipid function in the breadmaking process.

Sealant use by general practitioners: a Minnesota survey.

A 1987 random-sample mail survey on the use of sealants by general dentists in Minnesota (71 percent response, N = 375) found that almost all (95 percent) reported using sealants. Usage was predominantly for the six- to fourteen-year-old patient age-group. Frequency of use per week ranged from 1-25 (mean +/- S.D. = 3.3 +/- 3.6). More frequent use was associated positively with employing more dental hygienists, having more sources of information about sealants, having higher knowledge scores, and having more favorable opinions about sealants. While reported use of sealants is high in this state, the frequency of use and proportion of child patients receiving sealants were both relatively low.

Victim attributions and post-rape trauma.

This study assessed (a) the kinds of attributions victims make, (b) whether behavioral and characterological self-blame are associated with other variables as hypothesized (e.g., perception of future avoidability of being raped), and (c) whether behavioral self-blame is associated with better post-rape adjustment (Janoff-Bulman, 1979). Attributions and adjustment were assessed in a sample of adult female rape victims seen at a hospital-based rape crisis program. Many victims blamed themselves but tended to place more blame on external factors. The pattern of relations between behavioral and characterological self-blame and other attributional measures did not support the hypothesized distinctions between them. Both kinds of self-blame were significantly associated with increased post-rape depression (all ps less than .05). Attributions strongly predicted adjustment, accounting for up to 67% of the variance in 3-day post-rape depression. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.