Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? Comment on Robbins et al. (2004).

Evidence is cited in support of the claim that the results of the meta-analyses conducted by S. B. Robbins et al.

The incremental variance problem: enhancing the predictability of academic success in an urban, commuter institution.

The authors identified variables that enhance the predictability of academic performance and retention in an urban, commuter college. They used a longitudinal design with 2 waves of data collection: prior to 1st-semester attendance and again 6 semesters later. The results support the following conclusions: (a) After controlling for precollege indices of academic ability, specific variables within demographic, personal behavior, expectations, and attitudinal domains improved the predictability of grade point average by 15.

The safety of dental mini-magnets in patients with permanent cardiac pacemakers.

To evaluate the safety of prosthetic mini-magnets, 12 patients treated with implanted cardiac pacemakers were examined. Small cylindric magnets were applied one, two, and three at a time to constant points on the pacemaker under electrocardiographic monitoring. No influence on the pacemaker was detected in nine of the patients, but limited changes were encountered in three patients.

Serum and mononuclear cell potassium, magnesium, sodium and calcium in pregnancy and labour and their relation to uterine muscle contraction.

Thirty women in their third trimester of pregnancy (37-42 weeks), 40 women during and 72 h after labour and 18 non-pregnant controls were studied for changes in serum and mononuclear cell cation content, and their relationship to cervical effacement and intensity of pain as measured by plasma beta endorphin concentrations during labour. Serum magnesium fell from 0.95 +/- 0.

Serum and intracellular electrolytes in patients with and without pain.

The effect of acute stress, with and without pain, on serum and mononuclear cell cation content was studied in 205 healthy women in their last trimester of pregnancy or during normal labour, in patients with acute medical conditions in which pain was or was not present, in acute surgical conditions, and immediately prior to elective surgery. In all subjects there was a fall in serum sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium concentrations during stress, with an apparent shift into the intracellular space. An inverse correlation was present between the severity of pain and the fall in serum cations.