Let every eye negotiate for itself and trust no agent.
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Brain mechanisms involved in selective attention in humans can be studied by measures of regional blood flow and metabolism (by positron emission tomography) which help identify the various locations with enhanced activities over a period of time of seconds. The physiological measures provided by scalp-recorded brain electrical potentials have a better resolution (milliseconds) and can reveal the actual sequences of distinct neural events and their precise timing. We studied selective attention to sensory inputs from fingers because the brain somatic representations are deployed over the brain convexity under the scalp thereby making it possible to assess distinct stages of cortical processing and representation through their characteristic scalp topographies. In the electrical response to a finger input attended by the subject, the well-known P300 manifests a widespread inhibitory mechanism which is released after a target stimulus has been identified. P300 is preceded by distinct cognitive electrogeneses such as P40, P100 and N140 which can be differentiated from the control (obligatory) profile by superimposition or electronic subtraction. The first cortical response N20 is stable across conditions, suggesting that the first afferent thalamocortical volley is not affected by selective attention. At the next stage of modality-specific cortex in which the sensory features are processed and represented, responses were enhanced (cognitive P40) only a very few milliseconds after arrival of the afferent volley at the cortex, thus documenting a remarkable precocity of attention gain control in the somatic modality. The physiology of selective attention also provides useful cues in relation to non-target inputs which the subject must differentiate in order to perform the task. When having to tell fingers apart, the brain strategy for non-target fingers is not to inhibit or filter them out, but rather to submit their input to several processing operations that are actually enhanced when the discrimination from targets becomes more difficult. While resolving a number of such issues, averaged data cannot disclose the flexibility of brain mechanisms nor the detailed features of cognitive electrogeneses because response variations along time have been ironed out by the bulk treatment. We attempted to address the remarkable versatility of humans in dealing with their sensory environment under ecological conditions by studying single non-averaged responses. We identified distinct cognitive P40, P100, N140 and P300 electrogeneses in spite of the noise by numerically assessing their characteristic scalp topography signatures. Single-trial data suggest reconsiderations of current psychophysiological issues. The study of non-averaged responses can clarify issues raised by averaging studies as illustrated by our recent study of cognitive brain potentials for finger stimuli which remain outside the subject's awareness. This has to do with the physiological basis of the 'cognitive unconscious', that is, current mental processes lying on the fringe or outside of phenomenal awareness and voluntary control, but which can influence ongoing behaviour. Averaged data suggest that, in selective auditory attention, the subject may not notice mild concomitant finger inputs. The study of non-averaged responses documents the optional and independent occurrence of the cognitive P40, P100 and N140 (but not P300) electrogeneses while the finger inputs remain outside phenomenal awareness. These results suggest that the subject unconsciously assigns limited cognitive resources to distinct somatic cortical areas thereby submitting finger inputs to an intermittent curtailed surveillance which can remain on the fringe or outside consciousness. The study of cognitive electrogeneses in single non-averaged responses is making possible a neurophysiology of cognition in real time.
The present research examined the role of maladaptive self-regulatory beliefs as vulnerability factors for academic and emotional difficulties during the transition to middle school. A short-term longitudinal design was employed to follow two groups of early adolescents: 187 adolescents who experienced a school transition between the fifth and sixth grades, and 142 adolescents who did not experience a school transition between the fifth and sixth grades. Adolescents completed measures of perceptions of academic control and importance of academic success, experience of chronic academic strain, daily school hassles, and depressive symptoms. Teachers reported on students' academic engagement, including levels of helpless behavior, effort, and academic performance. Consistent with the proposed model of self-regulation, maladaptive self-regulatory beliefs (i.e., decreased perceptions of academic control and importance) predicted individual differences in perceived school-related stress and depressive symptoms over the course of the middle school transition, but were not associated with academic and emotional difficulties in adolescents who remained in a stable school environment. Moreover, a self-regulatory sequence was identified proceeding from maladaptive self-regulatory beliefs, to academic disengagement, to enhanced perceptions of school-related stress, to depressive symptoms. This study bridges prior theory and research concerning the psychological impact of normative developmental transitions, the developmental context of depression, and the associations among self-regulatory beliefs, achievement-related behavior, and emotional experience.
Significant changes in the key alcohol policy areas of availability, advertising and taxation have taken place in New Zealand from 1985 to 1991. These changes are described in the context of the social climate which was one of extreme fiscal crisis and an unprecedented swing to the right. The very limited role played by public health research in the process of policy development is viewed in part as a consequence of this social climate. The political changes affected the strength and extent of the public health voices in the debate and the reception they received. In each of the policy areas in which change occurred, the policy-keeper was other than a public health agency and the utilization of research by public health advocates was, therefore, in response to already articulated positions. The dissemination of research relied too heavily on lengthy written submissions, and too little on media advocacy and interpersonal contact. There was also a lack of directly relevant local research to inform the policy debate. The case study illustrates the constraints on researchers' in the policy development process, but suggests that such involvement is important for the public's health.
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It is generally agreed that promoting effective communication in families is a desirable goal for health professionals. Many nurses are consulted by families for direction in managing a multitude of issues. A paucity of literature addressing both adolescent communication and communication in families with adolescents, prompted us to embark upon a programme of research which has examined how adolescents expand their abilities to communicate and explored how adolescents and their families perceive communication within their family. This paper reports on a qualitative study that explored through serial in-depth interviews, parents' and teenagers' perceptions of communication in their families. The conceptualization developed from the study data characterizes communication as a tool used by families. The families' abilities to use the tool effectively, however, is greatly influenced by feelings about the topic or issue under discussion. A major theme in our data is adolescent independence. What this means for parents and adolescents and how this developmental task influences the communication patterns used within the families is discussed.
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Historically, the prokaryotic genome was assumed to consist of a single circular replicon. However, as more microbial genome sequencing projects are completed, it is becoming clear that multipartite genomes comprised of more than one chromosome are not unusual among prokaryotes. Chromosomes are distinguished from plasmids by the presence of essential genes as well as characteristic cell cycle-linked replication kinetics; unlike plasmids, chromosomes initiate replication once per cell cycle. The existence of multipartite prokaryotic genomes raises several questions regarding how multiple chromosomes are replicated and segregated during the cell cycle. These divided genomes also introduce questions regarding chromosome evolution and genome stability. In this review, we discuss these and other issues, with particular emphasis on the cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the issues for nurses in facilitating parental participation in the care of the hospitalized child. A qualitative study informed by grounded theory was undertaken. Nine nurses were recruited from an acute, high-dependency, 23-bed paediatric cardiac/renal unit in Melbourne, Australia. Data collection involved individual semistructured interviews, hospital policies related to family-centred care and a focus group interview. Constant comparative analysis was undertaken to develop an understanding of the data collected in the context of the nurses' experiences and the environment in which they work. Moral agency was identified as the central phenomenon of the study. Causal conditions related to this included the child's best interests, disputes about care and nurses' expectations. These causal conditions were seen to potentially lead to moral distress for the nurses. The coping mechanisms and strategies that affected moral agency have been identified.
Values are integral to all social systemic operations and therefore to the heart of the therapeutic process. For the therapist, values are an essential component in defining and assessing a problem, determining goals, and selecting therapeutic strategy. Therapists do not have a choice about whether they need to deal with values in therapy, only about how well. The training of therapists about their values needs to be integrated with the training about their own emotional and family issues. This training should be carried out in the context of treating families and have as its primary focus the relationship of the therapists' personal issues to the conduct of their therapy with families. Personal insight and mastery over handling their own values and family issues will maximize therapeutic effectiveness.
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What is an NMR spectrometer? Beginning with this seemingly simple question, I will explore the development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy between the years 1956 and 1969 from two vantage points: the organic chemists who used the new instrument, and Varian Associates-the makers of the first NMR spectrometers-. Through an examination of the articles and advertisements published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry, I will draw two conclusions. First, organic chemists and Varian Associates (along with other actors) are co-responsible for the development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (i.e., NMR spectroscopy was not created by a single actor). Second, by changing the way NMR spectrometers are used, organic chemists attempted to change to the identity of the instrument. Similarly, when Varian Associates advertised their NMR spectrometers in a different way, they, too, attempted to change the identity of the instrument.