Unbelieving the unbelievable: Some problems in the rejection of false information.

B. Spinoza (1677 [1982]) suggested that all information is accepted during comprehension and that false information is then unaccepted. Subjects were presented with true and false linguistic propositions and, on some trials, their processing of that information was interrupted. As Spinoza's model predicted, interruption increased the likelihood that subjects would consider false propositions true but not vice versa (Study 1). This was so even when the proposition was iconic and when its veracity was revealed before its comprehension (Study 2). In fact, merely comprehending a false proposition increased the likelihood that subjects would later consider it true (Study 3). The results suggest that both true and false information are initially represented as true and that people are not easily able to alter this method of representation. Results are discussed in terms of contemporary research on attribution, lie detection, hypothesis testing, and attitude change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analytical confirmation of error in false positive amphetamine immunoassays and results

Numerous urine samples were found to be positive when using a new amphetamine immunoassay (AxSYM). Confirmation analysis was carried out in a second laboratory at "reasonable prices" using a simple TLC-method with non specific ninhydrine detection and resulted in many "positive" confirmation findings. The GC/MS analysis clearly indicated the absence of amphetamine derivatives regularly encountered in forensic toxicology. The false-positive immunochemical findings may probably be caused by endogenous substances.     

Proposed guidelines for the internal quality control of analytical results in the medical laboratory

The factors involved in analytical quality relate to definition of quality, creation of quality, and control of quality, and errors arise from external and internal sources as well as from permanent and variable factors. Further, the two main types of error are classified as systematic and random errors. Internal quality control (IQC) systems can only operate on the variable factors which are related to batch-to-batch variations (external factors) and to the performance in the laboratory (internal factors). In creating an adequate internal control system, several problems are faced: (i) quality of control materials, (ii) types and frequency of possible errors, (iii) number and types of control materials, (iv) number of replicates of the control, (v) probability of error detection, (vi) probability of false rejection, (vii) consequences of reject signals, (viii) trouble-shooting systems, and (ix) prevention of errors among many other conditions. Gaussian distributions of control results are assumed and the statistical control rules are evaluated in relation to probability of false rejections, Pfr, and probability of error detection, Ped, for the different rules. Combinations of low Pfr and high Ped are obtained by combining results from e.g. four measurements of the same control sample by use of mean and range rules. Further, it is not possible to establish a common control system which can be used for all quantities and analytical procedures; on the contrary, each procedure should have its particular efficient IQC system. These aspects are discussed and a number of guidelines for statistical control rules and problem related internal quality control are presented.     

实验室土壤质控样品重金属测试结果允许相对误差判据研究

实验室内部质控体系对于维护检测实验室正常运转具有重要意义。定期核查质控样品分析结果并进行准确度评估,是质控体系正常运行的基本要求。合理选择评估判据是质控规范的重要内容。论文以土壤、沉积物系列标准样品中土壤详查目标重金属元素(As、Be、Cd、Co、Cr、Cu、Hg、Mo、Mn、Ni、Pb、Sb、Tl、V、Zn等)含量认定值及扩展不确定度数据为基础,利用非线性拟合工具,建立了目标元素允许相对误差经验模型,探讨并提出了实验室内部质控样品重金属元素分析结果合格性新判据,并与目前正在执行的地质部门质控规范和生态环境部相关质控技术规定进行了比较。提出的技术途径对于正在修订的地质部门实验室质控规范具有参考价值。     

Missed targets are more frequent than false alarms: a model for error rates in visual search

In many visual search tasks, reaction times (RTs) for target detection are measured as a function of display size. The corresponding error rates are usually low but increase with increasing display size. Missed-target errors are more common than false alarms. In recent models of visual search, the error rates were attributed to a premature search termination and error rates increasing with display size were interpreted as indicating a speed-accuracy trade-off and an underestimation of search times per item (obtained from RT slopes). A model is described in which errors occur as a result of imperfect rather than incomplete search (i.e., it is assumed that there are task-specific probabilities of categorizing a target or a distractor incorrectly). Signal-detection theory is used to show that the observed error rate properties can be attributed to an optimized decision strategy. "Corrections" of RT data are thus questionable.     

连铸特厚板坯内部质量控制的关键技术

 采用连铸工艺流程生产特厚钢板具有低能耗、低排放和高效率的显著优势。然而,连铸坯中心偏析与疏松、内部大尺寸夹杂物未能得到较好的控制,是导致厚度不小于100 mm特厚板探伤不合格的主要原因。鉴于此,研发了特厚板连铸坯内部夹杂物去除技术与中心偏析、疏松控制技术,给出了利于夹杂物充分上浮去除的铸机最佳垂直段高度,以及改善铸坯中心偏析与疏松缺陷的凝固末端压下率参数。应用结果表明,上述技术措施取得了明显效果,生产的特厚板坯质量良好,采用连铸特厚板坯轧制出了优质特厚板。     

Definitions, sources and detection of laboratory error: a review

Laboratory error has been estimated to occur in one to three percent of test results. Previous studies have identified common sources of laboratory-induced error. Methods of quality assurance are suggested to identify such errors and reduce the possibility of their reaching the physician. Present systems for monitoring quality assurance do not adequately detect biological and pharmacological errors.     

Discounting the error costs: Cross-racial false alarms in the culture of contemporary criminal justice.

Research regarding own-race bias (ORB) is examined by focusing on results that indicate that Whites may apply more lenient criteria to the recognition or identification of Blacks, resulting in a higher rate of false-alarm responses. The practical context of the forensic identification task is reviewed to assess whether the more lenient criteria applied by witnesses who are attempting identifications of Blacks resonate with the criminal justice system's tendency to apply more lenient criteria to the conviction and sentencing of Blacks. Practical implications and future research directions are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

板宽板厚多变量系统的自抗扰解耦控制

针对精轧的板宽板厚多变量系统具有强耦合、大时滞、不确定性、干扰因素多、非线性等特点,应用自抗扰控制(ADRC)静态解耦和扩张状态观测器(ESO)动态解耦技术,给出一种多变量系统的ADRC解耦设计方案.为提高时滞对象的快速性,设计了一种去掉跟踪微分器(TD),由ESO和非线性状态误差反馈控制律(NLSEF)两部分组成的ADRC,其中NLSEF改用非线性函数实现,ADRC阶次比常规方法低一阶.仿真结果表明,该控制方案不仅解耦效果好,而且对模型的不确定性和外部扰动具有较好的鲁棒性和适应能力.     

Performance characteristics of the BDProbeTec system for direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in respiratory specimens

GABABR1 clones were isolated from a human cerebellum library. The human sequence is very similar to rat GABABR1 with the cDNAs sharing 91.3% sequence identity and the receptors sharing 98.6% amino acid sequence identity. Northern blotting has shown that the receptor is brain-specific with a widespread distribution throughout the brain but none detected in the spinal cord.     

Random-walk chemotaxis: Trial and error as a control process.

The biased random-walk chemotaxis of the bacterium Escherichia coli is a remarkably effective method of navigation based on random trial-and-error responding rather than steering. Humans restricted to the same mode of responding are able to navigate to target locations, just like the bacterium. This mode of navigation can be modeled as an input control process that selectively retains favorable and rejects unfavorable consequences of the random responses. The selection process is determined by the internal organization of the system rather than the external influence of the environment (as in natural selection or reinforcement). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response control and the execution of verbal rules.

Two-year-olds' difficulty with rule execution is robust and pervasive. In Experiment 1, 120 32-month-olds received 1 of 6 tasks: a task assessing knowledge about a series of items; a deductive card sort requiring children to use their knowledge to sort the items by rules; and 4 modifications of the card sort that provided various types of task support. Children performed better on the knowledge task than the other tasks, which did not differ. Errors increased over trials and were typically perseverative. Experiment 2 replicated the finding that children failed to use rules systematically even when items were labeled by the rules' antecedents. Improvements in rule use seem to reflect emerging control over actions rather than increased representational flexibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of internal controls for PCR detection of Bacillus anthracis

Heat shock or stress proteins (Hsp) are typically regarded as being intracellular proteins that have a range of functions including the maintenance of cellular integrity. Members of the Hsp70 family of molecules have been implicated in the processing and presentation of antigen and the cross reactivity of lymphocytes specific for pathogen-derived heat shock proteins with self Hsp70 has been suggested to be an underlying cause of certain autoimmune diseases. This study reports the presence of soluble Hsp70 in the peripheral circulation of normal individuals. Concentrations of soluble Hsp70 in females were approximately twice those in males. Circulating anti-Hsp70 antibodies were detected in all individuals assessed, but there were no differences between males and females. However, there was a significant correlation between soluble Hsp70 concentration and antibody levels in males, but not females. The physiological role for circulating heat shock proteins is intriguing, but currently unknown. These findings extend our previous observations that Hsp60 is present in the peripheral circulation and support the proposition that soluble heat shock proteins may play a regulatory role in either the prevention or protection of pathophysiological processes involving inadvertent immunorecognition or cross-recognition of heat shock proteins.     

Standards and quality control: problems and pitfalls

The proliferation of standards and quality assurance programs is posing a major problem for mental health administrators. The authors review some of these problems and emphasize the differences between cost and quality controls. They propose that quality controls be judged on their ability to improve patient care and suggest that administrators consider the establishment of quality control offices.     

砂岩单轴压缩变形规律及声发射特性

为准确确定岩石岩爆倾向性,对砂岩进行单轴压缩条件下声发射检测试验,研究岩样单轴压缩变形规律与声发射特征.对荷载-变形曲线、AE参数进行统计分析,结果表明,压密阶段和线弹性阶段声发射振铃计数较少,累积能量曲线十分平缓,释放弹性应变能较低,从塑性变形阶段开始,AE活动频繁,累积能量呈指数级释放,损伤加快,声发射类型由之前的突发型变为连续型,应变曲线拐点处,往往出现AE参数峰值.分别对AE振铃计数、累积能量和岩石损伤进行监测分析,能较准确判断砂岩岩爆倾向性.     

Development of a control system for roasting carbon-graphite materials based on modeling quality characteristics of roasted products

Regressive models associating the yield of volatiles, the variation in the product density, the mechanical strength, and the porosity with the roasting temperature varying with time are developed based on the data processing of experimental investigations. The resulting dependences make it possible to predict the course of roasting processes in an industrial furnace for various temperature modes and initial conditions. The structure of the control system over the roasting technology of electrode products in multichannel furnaces was developed based on this.     

Microsatellite instability analysis: a multicenter study for reliability and quality control

The molecular biology section of the Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer study group-Germany, instituted a multicenter study to test the reliability and quality of microsatellite instability (MSI) analysis. Eight laboratories compared MSI analyses performed on 10 matched pairs of normal and tumor DNA from patients with colorectal carcinomas. A variety of techniques were applied to the detection of microsatellite changes: (a) silver and ethidium bromide staining of polyacrylamide gels; (b) radioactive labeling; and (c) automated fluorescence detection. The identification of highly unstable tumors and tumors without MSI was achieved in high concordance. However, the interpretation of the band patterns resulted in divergent classifications at several microsatellite marker loci for a large fraction of this tumor/normal panel. The data on more than 30 primers per case suggest that the enlargement of the microsatellite panel to more than 10 loci does not influence the results. In this study, cases with MSI in less than 10% of loci were classified as microsatellite stable, whereas MSI was diagnosed in cases with more than 40% of all markers unstable. We propose that a panel of five microsatellite loci consisting of repeats with different lengths should be analyzed in an initial analysis. When less than two marker loci display shifts in the microsatellite bands from tumor DNA, the panel should be enlarged to include an additional set of five marker loci. The number of marker loci analyzed as well as the number of unstable marker loci found should always be identified. These criteria should result in reports of MSI that are more comparable between studies.     

Experimental control of neoplastic progression in cell populations: Foulds' rules revisited

Foulds introduced six rules of tumor progression based on his observations of spontaneous mammary cancer in mice and generalized them to all forms of neoplasia [Foulds, L. (1954) Cancer Res. 14, 327-339 and Foulds, L. (1969) Neoplastic Development (Academic, New York), Vol. 1, preface and pp. 72-74.] Rules III, IV, and V are considered controversial, and research in animals seems inadequate to resolve the controversies. A subline of NIH 3T3 cells undergoes progressive transformation to produce foci of increasing population density when repeatedly constrained by sequential rounds of growth to and maintenance at confluence. Analysis of the results provides a cellular basis for rules III, IV, and V. Rule III states that progression is independent of the growth of the tumor and occurs in tumors that are arrested. Cell culture shows that progression is actually favored by constraint of growth, a result inconsistent with a major role for point mutations in progression. Indeed, there is a suggestion that the transformation may arise from chromatin changes preceding apoptosis. Rule IV states that progression can be gradual or abrupt but the latter conclusion has been frequently criticized. Cell culture exhibits both forms of progression but, in particular, eliminates the doubt about the abrupt form. Rule V, which is in a sense an extension of rule IV, states that progression follows one of alternative paths of development. The results in culture indicate that every independent transforming event gives rise to foci of unique morphology. Thus, even for the single characteristic of transformed focus morphology, many alternative paths to neoplasia are available to cells. In addition to clarifying the rules of progression, a method is described for pinpointing the time of the occurrence of events that are only expressed as dense foci after a variable lag time. The results in culture reinforce Foulds' conclusion that neoplastic development is primarily an epigenetically driven process and identify some of the cellular interactions that underlie that process.     

Inclusion characterisation for clean steelmaking and quality control

Abstract

Improving steelmaking and casting processes to adapt to the requirements of internal and external customers involves continuous monitoring and evaluation of existing and development of new steel refining practices. Internal quality control of semifinished products requires tools that can correlate product defects to process anomalies. This article focuses on use of techniques such as measurement of complete steel and slag chemistry, inclusion analysis, process analysis and thermodynamics to assess the influence of process conditions on product properties. Examples from both long and flat products, including low carbon aluminium killed steels, medium carbon aluminium killed steels, advanced high strength steels and free machining steels, are presented to explain the benefit of using these tools to understand the process conditions necessary for clean steelmaking and thus improve product quality.