Productive Area Of Research Research Articles

The self in depression: Research trends and clinical implications

This article offers a brief selective review of basic research findings linking the self to clinical depression. Criteria used for identifying the most influential research trends included theoretical impact, extent of empirical support, and potential clinical utility. We discuss and summarize several of the most productive areas of research on the self: self-esteem, the self-schema, and self-inconsistency. Within each topic area, the most important findings and their applicability to psychotherapy for depression are presented. The article concludes with a discussion of issues raised by the review itself and a set of recommendations for applying basic research findings to treatment selection and psychotherapeutic intervention. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The self in depression: Research trends and clinical implications

This article offers a brief selective review of basic research findings linking the self to clinical depression. Criteria used for identifying the most influential research trends included theoretical impact, extent of empirical support, and potential clinical utility. We discuss and summarize several of the most productive areas of research on the self: self-esteem, the self-schema, and self-inconsistency. Within each topic area, the most important findings and their applicability to psychotherapy for depression are presented. The article concludes with a discussion of issues raised by the review itself and a set of recommendations for applying basic research findings to treatment selection and psychotherapeutic intervention. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Dysmorphic disorders--an overview.

Clinical delineation of dysmorphic syndromes is important for patient management, family counselling and basic research. Productive areas of research in dysmorphology and developmental biology have included the study of the mouse homologies of human disease. Mutations have been identified in both species in highly conserved 'developmental' genes, and also because of phenotypic similarity of syndromes. Mosaicism--somatic, germline and placental--involving chromosomal aneuploidy, single gene mutations and functional differences between cell lines is an important cause of malformations and syndromes. Many recurrent pattern malformation syndromes of previously unknown cause have now been found to be due to chromosomal microdeletions. Diagnosis has been greatly aided by the molecular cytogenetic technique of fluorescent in situ hybridization.

New possibilities to improve cellulosic fibre dyeing processes with fibre‐reactive systems

Methods developed during recent years to improve the dyeing of cellulosic fibres with reactive dyes are reviewed. One of the most productive areas of research has been the modification of the fibres themselves by making them reactive. Methods of conferring reactivity on the fibres are described, which also offer the potential for producing cleaner dyehouse effluent.

Behavior of hygroscopic pharmaceutical aerosols and the influence of hydrophobic additives.

The high temperature and relative humidity in the lung can result in the hygroscopic growth of susceptible aerosol particles or droplets. The term hygroscopic growth describes the increase in particle diameter which occurs as the result of association with water vapor. The influence of hygroscopicity upon lung deposition of aerosols has been a productive area of research in industrial hygiene, environmental sciences, and inhalation toxicology. Many pharmaceutical inhalation aerosols display hygroscopic behavior in their passage through the airways; however, the effect has been neglected. Controlling the phenomenon of hygroscopic growth and, thus, the related lung deposition of aerosols might result in the therapeutic advantage of targeting the site of action. Such an approach might also allow identification of the location of pharmacologic receptor sites in the lung. This Review discusses an approach to achieving control of hygroscopic growth of aerosol particles. Theoretical and experimental studies have indicated that inhaled particle diameters increased significantly for drugs commonly administered to the lung. The presence of certain additives, notably glycerol, cetyl alcohol, and lauric and capric acids, has been demonstrated to reduce the growth of particles under conditions approaching those in the lung. Very few quantitative studies of the nature discussed herein have appeared in the literature. It is conceivable that an aerosol particle could be fabricated of known initial size and density, and by implication, deposition characteristic, and this might be induced to follow specific growth kinetics to enhance deposition in a particular region of the lung. Thus, physical targeting of regions within the lung might be achieved.

Biodiversity: a lichenological perspective

Global biodiversity in lichens is discussed with respect to: areas of biodiversity, lichen biomass, food chains, nutrient cycling, carbon sinks, biomonitoring, climate change, conservation, and lichen identification. Examples of each topic are given, and areas for productive future research outlined.

Social Theory and the De/Reconstruction of Agricultural Science: Local Knowledge for an Alternative Agriculture1

Abstract As a result of environmental and agrarian activism and of academic critique, a substantial amount of space is available now for moving agricultural technoscience onto new trajectories. A critical rural sociology has played a key role in pushing forward the deconstructive project that has been instrumental in creating this space. And rural sociologists can be active agents in the reconstruction of the alternative science that must emerge from “actually existing” science and that must be developed if there is to be a truly alternative agriculture. But to be effective in this effort we need to enlarge not only the canon of our colleagues in the natural sciences, but our own canon as well. This article suggests that the theoretical resources for such reconstruction are available in contemporary sociological and feminist interpretations of science. Material resources for the reconstruction of a “successor science” are to be found in the “local knowledge” that is continually produced and reproduced by farmers and agricultural workers. Articulations and complementarities between theoretical resources are suggested and potentially productive research areas are outlined.

Statistical issues in carcinogenic risk assessment.

Considerable progress has been made on the development of a variety of analytical methods to aid in the carcinogenic risk associated with exposure to both occupational and environmental agents. Although the development of these methods has been accompanied by consideration of many statistical issues, there are many areas where additional effort could be directed if these analytical methods are to provide the most appropriate interpretation of risk. These issues include methods of combining multiple studies to obtain an overall risk estimate, the robustness of the statistical model, methods of selection among competing models, an assessment of the effect of different measures of exposure on the estimated dose-response relationship, and development of surveillance methodology. These issues are discussed, and productive areas of future research are indicated.

Book review: Machine Vision: Algorithms,Architectures, and Systems. Edited by Herbert Freeman (Academic Press)

Machine vision has been a productive area of research in artificial intelligence and has had some success in industrial applications, but the machine vision community is dissatisfied with the rate of progress with which computerized vision systems have been utilized in industry as well as in society at large. In order to better define the issues and explore future directions, the Center for Computer Aids for Industrial Productivity (CAIP) at Rutgers University organized a workshop in April, 1987 for machine visionists in both academia and industry. From this workshop, Herbert Freeman, the director of CAIP, has compiled a selection of papers and notes from panels and forums into a coherent presentation of the workshop. This collection gives the reader both the academic and the industrial perspective on the state-of-the-art and the immediate future of machine vision.

The contribution of alveolar macrophages to hyperreactive airway disease

Thus, there is substantial evidence that favors a role for macrophages in subjects with atopic asthma. The precise manner in which these cells participate and the relative degree to which these cells contribute to, or orchestrate, events remains to be delineated. Research on the potential role of macrophages in asthma syndromes remains in its infancy. In time we will discover new roles for mononuclear phagocytederived mediators and many more new mediators that will play a role in the complex immunologic events ongoing in the airways of patients with asthma. Also, future research will continue to explore what promises to be a productive area of research, namely, cell-cell interactions and the manner in which many cells participate together in the pathophysiology of asthma. If macrophages can be demonstrated to influence airway inflammation associated with atopic disease, they may be appropriate targets for therapeutic intervention.

Cellular Ca 2+ homeostasis and Ca 2+-mediated cell processes as critical targets for toxicant action: Conceptual and methodological pitfalls

Because of the central role of the calcium messenger system in diverse functions of tissues, organs, and cells, Ca 2+ homeostasis and function may prove to be critical cellular and molecular targets for a diverse range of toxicants. Experimental proof of these targets as a specific site of toxicant action is challenging and technically difficult as a result of the complexity of Ca 2+ homeostatic and Ca 2+-mediated processes. However, as the investigation of normal physiological control of Ca 2+ and function will continue to be an active and productive area of basic research for several years to come, it is anticipated that these insights will be increasingly applied to the understanding of the mechanisms of action of toxic agents.

Flotation Booms in the Cotton Spinning Industry, 1870–1890: A Comparative Study

In this wide-ranging article, Professor Yonekawa identifies and examines in detail the burst of cotton spinning company formation that occurred in the late nineteenth century among the major cotton-producing nations of the world. His comparative approach allows him to focus on key local factors responsible for the company flotation booms in the areas discussed. He is also able to compare the effects of more general circumstances in the industry, such as trends in the price of raw cotton and the disruption during the American Civil War, on the various locations. Finally, his multinational approach brings to light many intriguing questions and illuminates areas for productive future research.

On the nature of models in remote sensing

An explicit framework can provide a better understanding of remote sensing models and their interrelationships. This framework distinguishes between the scene, which is real and exists on the ground, and the image, which is a collection of spatially arranged measurements drawn from the scene. The scene model generalizes and parameterizes the essential qualities of the scene. Scene models may be discrete, in which the scene model consists of discrete elements with boundaries, or continuous, in which matter and energy flows are taken to be continuous and there are no clear or sharp boundaries in the scene. In the discrete case, there are two possibilities for models: H- and L- resolution . In the H- resolution case, the resolution cells of the image are smaller than the elements, and thus the elements may be individually resolved. In the L- resolution case, the resolution cells are larger than the elements and cannot be resolved. Most canopy models are L- resolution , deterministic, and noninvertible in nature; image processing models, however, tend to be H- resolution , empirical, and invertible. This taxonomy helps add insight to the development of remote sensing theory and point the way to new, productive areas of research.

The Study of Behavioural Development in Italy

The state of developmental psychology in Italy is analyzed from the points of view of (a) professional education, (b) resources for research, (c) communication, and (d) current research trends. Current trends have been investigated by a multi-dimensional content analysis of the studies published or accepted for publication in qualified journals in the period 1978-May 1983. As far as professional education is concerned, graduate studies having a curriculum based on developmental and educational psychology should be provided for by the reform of graduate studies in psychology now under discussion; post-graduate studies in developmental psychology will start in the academic year 1983/84. Developmental research has received inadequate financial support from the National Research Council, but the establishment of two large departments of developmental psychology should greatly improve the current standing of developmental psychology in the Italian psychological community. Three journals are specifically devoted to developmental or educational studies, whereas international communication is still too one-sided. As regards research trends, the main findings are the following: the cognitive theoretical paradigm is the one most often followed, but the interactional paradigm is increasing its influence; life-span and broad age-range studies are too poorly represented; studies conducted in natural settings predominated only in the interactional perspective; there is increasing evidence that a combination of manipulation of the setting and free-response observation is going to become one of the preferred research strategies; cognitive development, non-verbal communication, socio-emotional development and social interaction and reading are the most productive and promising research areas, whereas it is particularly striking that emotional and affective development (including personality) must be listed among the most often neglected areas.

Angiotensin II antagonists—saralasin

AbstractSaralasin is the only marketed member of a class of compounds described as angiotensin II receptor antagonists. Its pharmacology is characterized by three general properties: (1) no actions unrelated to the renin‐angiotensin system; (2) a small partial agonist effect in some tissues in vitro and in some animal models in vivo, and (3) a blood‐pressure lowering response to saralasin evident only in animals with an activated endogenous renin angiotensin system. It is suggested that the natriuretic effect of angiotensin II mediated via central nervous system (CNS) mechanisms may be future productive area of research in which to study the actions of angiotensin II antagonists.

Conflicts and Directions in Spiral Structure

This is a critical and selective review of current theoretical and observational work related to spiral structure in disk galaxies. Productive future areas of research are suggested.

Free Oscillations of the Earth

The study of the earth's free oscillations has been an extraordinarily productive area of research in geophysics for the past 25 years. After every large earthquake since the Chilean event of 1960, seismometers, gravimeters, and strain gauges have supplied seismologists with several days o f data containing the eigenperiods of a wide variety of different normal modes. Theoreticians have responded with elegant theories and computational procedures that have verified the observations to remarkable precision and attested to the fact the earth is an almost perfectly elastic, spherically symmetric, and simply layered body.

Modeling atmospheric effects ? An assessment of the problems

Our ability to simulate atmospheric processes that affect the life cycle of pollution is reviewed. The transport process is considered on three scales: (a) the near-source or single-plume dispersion problem, (b) the multiple-source dispersion problem, and (c) the long-range transport. Modeling the first of these is shown to be well within the capability of generally available techniques, although determining the input parameters is often difficult. The second scale has been well studied within the context of urban diffusion and is a very productive area of current research. Finally, long range transport is treated mainly as a meteorological problem. The state of the art in modeling the various meteorological processes is reviewed. Removal of pollutants is discussed in the form of both dry deposition and precipitation scavenging. It is suggested that dry removal is especially effective in forested areas, and that the forests may enhance accumulation of pollutants.

Infant Attention and Discrimination: Methodological and Substantive Issues

In the last 15 years, one of the most exciting and productive areas of research in the field of child development has concerned itself with infant development. Indeed, infancy as a topic has expanded at a geometric rate in both abstract periodicals and scientific meetings. The reasons for this are varied. Partly, they involve the enormous influence of Piaget's theoretical account of infant development and the attempts to verify experimentally some of his proposals. Partly, they involve the coincidental availability of research support and a developing technology that increasingly permitted the reliable observation and recording of infant behavior in the laboratory and, more recently, in the natural environment. Finally, the interesting and sometimes surprising abilities of infants discovered in the research were important spurs to further investigation. From the intriguing reports by Fantz (1963) and his colleagues and from the work of others it soon became apparent that not only was it possible to make reliable observations of very young infants but that the infant organism was more competent, more complex, and more fascinating than had been thought possible (Appleton, Clifton, & Goldberg 1975; Kessen, Haith, & Salapatek 1970). Within all of this activity several distinct lines of research have developed that reflect divergent views of the infant organism. On the one hand, the infant is seen as an active processor of the environment. On the other hand, the infant is seen as subject to control by environmental events. The first emphasis has generated a good deal of research on infant attention, with the results being used to speculate about underlying cognitive development; the second emphasis has generated research showing that the infant is conditionable, with the results being used to bolster the viability of an associative model for behavioral acquisition. While these two foci have sometimes been used to identify supposedly opposing viewpoints about early infant development, the research thrusts generated by these different

The Biosynthesis of Glycosaminoglycans

The sites of nucleotide conjugation are few. Two pyrophosphorylase reactions are sufficient to account for the occurrence of the variety of sugar nucleotides previously cited. The pathways for each are different. Whereas UDP-glucose arises from a direct conjugation of glucose 1-phosphate with UTP by a pyrophosphorylase whose specificity has been studied by Albrecht et af. (1968), the hexosamine pathway is far more complex, involving the amination of fructose 6-phosphate by glutamine, the subsequent acetylation, mutation and, only then, conjugation by a specific pyrophosphorylase to form UDP-N-acetylglucosamine. Whereas considerable information is available on the UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase, information on the enzymology of the hexosamine pathway is scant. Fructose 6-phosphate-glutanline aminotransferase has been purified extensively from rat liver and its steady-state kinetic parameters have been established (Winterburn & Phelps, 1970, 1971). The acetylation by acetyl-CoA has been thoroughly investigated by P. J. Winterburn &A. Corfield (unpublished work), but scant information is available on the specific mutase interconverting N-acetylglucosamine 6-phosphate and its l-phosphate counterpart (Fernandez-Sorenson, 1968), and detailed information is similarly lacking on the synthesis of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine from this last intermediate and UTP (Strominger & Smith, 1959). Interconversion of nircleotide sitgars One of the most potentially productive areas of research in this field involves the study of the vast variety of interconversion reactions of which nucleotide sugars are capable. These involve precise inversions, dehydrogenations, reductions, decarboxylations and simultaneous performances of these reactions. Of immediate concern in the context of glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis is the formation of UDP-galactose from UDP-glucose by the 4’-epimerase. This enzyme has been studied in a variety of tissues. The n~ammalian enzyme is potently inhibited by NADH, though requiring catalytic amounts of NAD+ for its reaction (Maxwell, 1957). UDP-xylose arises from the decarboxylation of UDP-glucuronic acid and has been demonstrated in a wide variety of tissues, e.g. hen oviduct (Bdolah & Feingold, 1965), mouse cell mastocytoma (Silbert & Deluca, 1967) and cartilage (Castellani eta/., 1967). The enzyme from Cryptococciis lairventii and yeast has been intensively and elegantly studied by Schutzbach & Feingold (1970), who proposed an interesting mechanism of reaction. The enzyme is potently inhibited by NADH and UDP, though containing tighly bound NAD+. UDP-glucuronic acid arises by dehydrogenation of UDP-glucose (Strominger et a/., 1957). The reaction is noteworthy for being a four-electron oxidation. The enzyme from bovine liver contains six identical subunits, and some details of its protein chemistry have