Psychophysical features of the transition from pure heat perception to heat pain perception

The psychophysical features of the transition from the pure heat to the heat pain range were studied in 25 healthy subjects (mean age 28.8 years). Thirty short heat stimuli from ?1.6° C to + 1.6° C relative to the pain threshold were applied to the thenar of the left hand with an apparatus containing a Peltier thermode (nine different temperatures at 0.4°C intervals). The subjects rated the sensation intensity on a visual analogue scale. The resulting stimulus/sensation intensity relations could be explained equally well (same goodness of fit) by a model with a power function (PF) and by a model with two linear regression lines (TLR), one for stimulus intensities below and one for those above the pain threshold and intersecting at the pain threshold. The slopes of the TLR model were significantly larger above the pain threshold than below it. The PF model produced exponents between 1.8 and 1.9. We conclude that to describe the transition area, it is sufficient to use simple linear models for both the pure heat and the heat pain ranges.     

Natural resources for morality: commentary

Loewy makes an extraordinary and audacious claim. He does not only reject virtue ethics, casuistry, the "Kantian injunction of respect for persons based on their capacity for self-legislation," and the utilitarian greatest good as possible groundings for clinical ethics. He even offers another grounding that he qualifies explicitly as "universally acceptable." Of course we have to analyze what it is that he offers. But prior to that, we must analyze what he means by "grounding." Grounding suggests an evidence that can neither be rationally grounded again nor rationally questioned but that other concepts can be rationally grounded upon. And it is at least doubtful whether the alternatives he quotes are groundings in that strict sense....     

Quantifying developing country research capacity in the areas of malaria,schistosomiasis, and leprosy

Implicit in addressing the issue of how to build and strengthen health related endogenous research capacity is that both donor organizations and developing country policymakers distinguish betweenhealth priorities andhealth research priorities. This distinction has important policy consequences in that the majority of developing countries are not in a position, either in financial or human resource terms, to simultaneously generate and implement broad-based priorities in both areas. In this context, it is important that health research priority setting be developed in tandem with existing research capacity. This underlines the importance of assessing the amount and nature of available expertise, and positioning research output, both in the national health needs, and the international science research contexts. The present article, which more properly constitutes a feasibility study, uses scientometric methods to assess the amount and nature of scientific output in three important tropical diseases: malaria, schistosomiasis and leprosy. The major goals of this study have been to i) compare the amount and nature of research produced in developed and developing countries for the three diseases; ii) determine in how far scientometric methods can be used to measure research capacity, and whether this measurement can facilitate the determination of health (research) priorities.     

Opportunities for development via group psychotherapy in the nursing home

This paper illustrates the benefits of group therapy within the nursing home, and considers the enhancing and problematic factors in conducting groups within this setting. Growth which empowers staff and residents is possible and can be achieved despite significant challenges and social change. A lifespan developmental perspective can assist residents to achieve their maximum developmental maturity and group therapy can be effective in accomplishing that goal. This paper discusses the effect of the nursing home environment and staff on the resident, the task of the therapist in the nursing home, the value of group therapy, therapeutic goals in group therapy, what precipitates the need for group therapy in nursing homes, and the issue of group therapy with the cognitively impaired.     

Situational Determinants of the Acceptability of Telling Lies1

It was tested whether the same factors people take into account when involved in the decision to lie apply to the evaluation of lies presented in scenarios. The scenarios represented 12 different situation categories formed by the crossing of the motive for lying (social. individualistic, egoistic), the relative importance of the situation (important matter, unimportant matter), and the closeness of the relation between the subject and the receiver of the lie (best friend, acquaintance). The acceptability of lying was evaluated from 2 perspectives (self, others) by 180 women of the general public. The results show that as the interest of the person that is lied to becomes greater, lying becomes more acceptable. As the interest of the liar becomes greater, lying becomes less acceptable. The systematically higher estimations of acceptability attributed to others indicate a false-uniqueness effect.     

Attributional style and depressive symptoms in adolescents: an examination of the role of various indicators of cognitive vulnerability

This study focuses on the hopelessness theory to explain depressive symptoms in adolescents. The aim is to assess which dimensions of the attributional style (causal attribution, attribution of consequences, implications for the self, total score, and weakest link score) better moderate the impact of negative events on the increase of depressive symptoms. For this purpose, 856 Spanish adolescents (449 girls and 407 boys, ages between 14 and 17 years) were assessed at the beginning of the school year and at follow-up 6 months later. They completed measures of depressogenic cognitive style [Hankin, B. L., & Abramson, L. Y. (2002). Measuring cognitive vulnerability to depression in adolescents: Reliability, validity, and gender differences. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31, 491-504], negative life events, and depressive symptoms. The results show that only the dimension of attribution of stable and global causes moderated the impact of the negative events on the increase of depression at follow-up. The results are discussed in terms of the meaning of the weakest link score and the construct of attributional style from a developmental perspective.     

MMPI-2 characteristics of transsexuals requesting sex reassignment: comparison of patients in prehormonal and presurgical phases

To assess psychopathology in transsexuals at different phases of sex reassignment, we administered the Spanish adaptation of the MMPI-2 (Avila-Espada & Jiménez-Gómez, 1999) to 107 male-to-female and 56 female-to-male transsexuals. Except for the Mf scale, mean T scores from the Clinical scales were within the normal range and did not differ between sexes. Male-to-female transsexuals seeking sex-reassignment hormonal therapy, but not female-to-male patients, scored significantly higher on the Depression, Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate, Schizophrenia, and Social Introversion scales than patients seeking sex-reassignment surgery. The results show that the majority of patients were free of psychopathology. Transsexuals in the initial phases of sex reassignment may experience more distress than in later phases; however, these results are unlikely to reflect clinically relevant differences.     

An exploration of possible pre- and postnatal correlates of autism: a pilot survey

Biological mothers of children, diagnosed with autism or pervasive developmental disorder, and biological mothers of children without developmental delays and matched on age and sex, were surveyed about a number of possible pre- and postnatal correlates of autism or pervasive developmental disorder. A regression analysis for boys showed the mother not vomiting in the first trimester, not having smell aversions, not craving sweets, the mother reporting fewer food aversions during the pregnancy, and having an infection while pregnant significantly predicted a later diagnosis of autism or pervasive developmental disorder. Not vomiting in the first trimester was the only significant predictor of a diagnosis of autism or a pervasive developmental disorder in girls.     

Healthy cognition: processes of self-regulatory success in restrained eating

Two studies examined self-regulatory success in dieting. Previous research has indicated that restrained eaters (i.e., chronic dieters) might fail in their attempts at weight control because the perception of attractive food cues triggers hedonic thoughts about food and inhibits their dieting goal. However, recent work suggests that in some dieters, temptation cues activate the relevant goal and thus facilitate self-regulation. The present work extends these findings by showing that self-regulatory success moderates the effect of food cues on restrained eaters such that food cues activate the dieting goal in successful restrained eaters and inhibit the dieting goal in unsuccessful restrained eaters. The specific time course of these effects was examined. Moreover, a correlational study revealed that only successful restrained eaters translate their dieting intentions into action. Results are discussed in the context of nonconscious self-regulation and the role of automatic processes in the link between intention and behavior.