The design,development, and implementation of a microprocessor-based ECG analysis system

This paper describes the research effort to design, develop, and implement a microprocessor-based ECG data acquisition, reduction, and analysis system for operation in real-time. This unit can be attached to three-channel ECG carts and provide an immediate on-site analysis. The basic design and development efforts include (1) the data acquisition, reduction, and matrix assembly, (2) ECG arrhythmia, P-wave, and axis analysis, (3) ECG contour analysis, and (4) a real-time three-channel data acquisition unit. Decision tables are used in the analysis. The implementation of these projects into a small microprocessor-based unit coupled to a three-channel recorder is now in progress. This system, coupled with a small printer, will provide immediate on-site ECG analysis for most cardiovascular dysfunctions.     

The prototypical pride expression: development of a nonverbal behavior coding system

This research provides a systematic analysis of the nonverbal expression of pride. Study 1 manipulated behavioral movements relevant to pride (e.g., expanded posture and head tilt) to identify the most prototypical pride expression and determine the specific components that are necessary and sufficient for reliable recognition. Studies 2 and 3 tested whether the 2 conceptually and empirically distinct facets of pride ("authentic" and "hubristic"; J. L. Tracy & R. W. Robins, 2007a) are associated with distinct nonverbal expressions. Results showed that neither the prototypical pride expression nor several recognizable variants were differentially associated with either facet, suggesting that for the most part, authentic and hubristic pride share the same signal. Together these studies indicate that pride can be reliably assessed from nonverbal behaviors. In the Appendix, the authors provide guidelines for a pride behavioral coding scheme, akin to the Emotion Facial Action Coding System (EMFACS; P. Ekman & E. Rosenberg, 1997) for assessing "basic" emotions from observable nonverbal behaviors.     

The epigenesis of the family system as a context for individual development

In this article, the concept introduced by Lyman Wynne, that the individual develops epigenetically within the family system, is discussed and validated with data from a study of the characteristics and relationships of 27 women with borderline personality disorder and their parents. Each stage of the epigenetic process is impaired in one way or another, adversely affecting subsequent stages. Early impairment of attachment-care-giving processes is at least partly attributable to a lack of empathic parenting; effective communication is married by family members' inability to experience or express feelings (alexithymia); this, in turn, makes it difficult to engage in joint family problem solving. Mutuality between family members does not occur in such a context, and there is an absence of intimacy between family members. These are often abusive family systems, with multiple abuse and intrafamilial sexual abuse more specifically directed at the daughter with BPD. The symptoms of the daughter can be understood systemically, as representing both predispositional characteristics and reactions to the family system. It is suggested that the epigenetic paradigm could be used to characterize the specific failure of developmental processes in many different disorders.     

The ideal advocate and limited resources

The central thesis of this paper is that cost-containment challenges to an Ideal Advocate model of the physician-patient relationship can be met under proper circumstances. More specifically, it is possible for physicians to constrain costs while still making clinical decisions that are free from considerations of the physician's own interests and are uninfluenced by judgements about the patient's worth. But what is required is a closed distributive system, in which savings of resources at one point are applied to others' care of higher priority and a just system, that is, a system whose distributive priorities are consistent with relevant principles of justice under moderate scarcity. The historical context of the argument and a stopgap, “palliative,” step are also developed.     

The limited effects of power on satisfaction with joint consumption decisions

We conduct three experiments in which participants in dyads choose between two restaurants, each of which is preferred by only one participant, and one participant has the power to decide which restaurant both will patronize. We find that the power to make a joint decision increases satisfaction with the choice only when those involved have a competitive decision orientation, a weak or anonymous relationship, and the outcome they choose is subsequently available. Participants who have a cooperative orientation are satisfied whether or not they have power and whether or not the resulting choice is consistent with their initial preferences.     

Effects of a limited nap on night sleep in older subjects

The night sleep of sixteen 50-60-year-old women, which had been preceded by either afternoon naps or no-nap control periods, was assessed by polygraphic and subjective measures. There were 2 nap and 2 non-nap nights. The naps were limited to a 1-hr opportunity. The measures of all subjects, good nappers (more than 20-min sleep on both nap occasions), and subjects with 50-min or more nap time, were separately analyzed. The null hypothesis of a nap effect could not be rejected. Within limits, naps may be recommended to offset the common night-time awakenings in older persons.     

The influence of proximal risk on the early development of the autonomic nervous system

In this paper we review the evidence linking the early development of the autonomic nervous system in early childhood to four proximal risk factors: maternal stress during pregnancy, maternal substance use during pregnancy, poor-quality parent–child interactions, and specific disruptions in parenting behavior. A clear pattern of altered autonomic function emerges in children exposed to proximal risk, marked by reduced parasympathetic tone under conditions of both homeostasis and challenge, accompanied by increased sympathetic tone in some cases. This pattern of autonomic activity would support increased vigilance and active defense responses, which, in an environment of high proximal risk, may be adaptive in the short-term. However, in the long-term maintaining such a state may impose a high allostatic load. The current paper reviews and interprets the current literature and discusses future directions.     

The effects of state anxiety and limited social-evaluative stress on the Rorschach

It is generally assumed that Rorschach shading responses (Sh) are related to anxiety, especially state anxiety. To test this hypothesis, 60 nonpatients were administered Rorschachs, 30 under high social-evaluative stress and 30 under minimal stress. The high stress group reported more state anxiety but no more Sh than did the other group. These negative findings were interpreted as suggestive of the test's lack of sensitivity to mild, laboratory social-evaluative stress.     

The effect of limited attention and delay on negative arousing false memories

ABSTRACT

Previous research has shown that, in comparison to neutral stimuli, false memories for high arousing negative stimuli are greater after very fast presentation and limited attention at study. However, full compared to limited attention conditions still produce comparably more false memories for all stimuli types. Research has also shown that emotional stimuli benefit from a period of consolidation. What effect would such consolidation have on false memory formation even when attention is limited at study? The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of fast presentation on false memory production for negatively-arousing and neutral items over time using the DRM paradigm. Sixty-eight participants studied Negative and neutral DRM lists with fast or slow presentation conditions. Half completed a recognition test immediately and half completed a recognition test after one-week. Results revealed that, for fast presentation, negative critical lures increased after one week and were comparable to negative critical lures in the slow presentation encoding conditions. Neutral critical lures in the fast presentation condition did not change and remained lower compared to the slow presentation condition. These findings are the first demonstration that arousing negative false memories can increase over time when attention at encoding is limited.     

The development of a word-learning strategy

Two studies investigated young infants' use of the word-learning principle Mutual Exclusivity. In Experiment 1, a linear relationship between age and performance was discovered. Seventeen-month-old infants successfully used Mutual Exclusivity to map novel labels to novel objects in a preferential looking paradigm. That is, when presented a familiar and a novel object (e.g. car and phototube) and asked to "look at the dax", 17-month-olds increased looking to the novel object (i.e. phototube) above baseline preference. On these trials, 16-month-olds were at chance. And, 14-month-olds systematically increased looking to the familiar object (i.e. car) in response to hearing the novel label "dax". Experiment 2 established that this increase in looking to the car was due solely to hearing the novel label "dax". Several possible interpretations of the surprising form of failure at 14 months are discussed.     

The effect of a supervisory development program on leadership style

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a supervisory development program on leadership style, conceptualized as the amount of consideration and structure demonstrated by supervisors. One hundred male supervisors of a government railways department were randomly selected and then assigned randomly to either receive training (n=50) or not to be trained (n=50). The program was a 22-week residential course, training participants in human relations and structuring skills. Measures of the supervisors' consideration and structure were obtained from 100 male subordinates of the supervisors 4 weeks prior to, and 2 months after, training. At pre- and post-test, supervisors in the experimental and control groups rated the amount of consideration and structure they felt they should use. Analysis of variance with significant interaction effects revealed that the training program enhanced self and subordinate-rated consideration and structure.     

Diminished motor skill development in elderly: Indications for limited motor chunk use

The present study examined whether elderly use motor chunks after practicing discrete keying sequences, just like young adults, or whether they perhaps learn these movement patterns in a different way. To that end, elderly (75-88) and young adults (18-28) practiced as part of the discrete sequence production (DSP) task two fixed series of three and six key presses. The results demonstrate that elderly did improve with practice but this improvement was largely sequence-unspecific. Detailed analyses showed that, in contrast to young adults, most elderly did not use motor chunks, had little explicit sequence knowledge, and remained highly dependent on external stimuli. Still, elderly did show sequence-specific learning with a 6-key sequence that can be explained by an associative learning mechanism.     

Low-cost microcomputer networking: How to get high throughput on a low budget

A very low-cost, high-throughput laboratory data acquisition and experiment control system may be configured by using a star network architecture with a low-cost microcomputer as network controller and one or more microprocessor-based single-board controllers as satellites. A network of this type, using Apple II microcomputer ($1,500 with 48K RAM and one minidiskette drive) as main node and up to seven KIM-1 microcontrollers ($159 each) as satellites is described, and its development is discussed in detail.     

The microcomputer kit: An excellent small system development tool

A method is described for demonstrating the integration of a do-it-yourself microcomputer kit into a small dedicated system configuration useful in many clinical and research applications. An Intel SDK-80 microcomputer is used as the main component of an on-line biofeedback system that features a digital display of beat-by-beat heart rate, a continuous feedback of an audio tone proportional to the rate, a CRT display of average rate, and a servo recorder to produce 1-min bar-graph plots. The compact size, effectiveness, and low cost of the microcomputer permit the development of many small dedicated systems that formerly were impractical applications for expensive and under-utilized minicomputer systems.