Studies in management training evaluation: I. Scaling responses to human relations training cases.

Dimensions of employee-orientation and sensitivity are used in this study of methodology in human relations training. "… is the purpose… to describe a scaling procedure by means of which open-end responses to stimulus films can be reliably scored." After showing 3 films "several groups of academic and industrial Ss" wrote responses to questions relevant to the 2 dimensions of supervisory behavior. 6 sets of responses were scaled by 16 judges, using a forced-distribution scheme. An abbreviated procedure was worked out and scale values obtained "indicate that the master scale method can be utilized with confidence." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of the scaling factor method to estimation of beta dose distributions for dissimilar media separated by a planar interface

Reliable methods of estimating doses are essential for the use of beta emitting radionuclides for radiotherapy. The passage of electrons through matter is a very complex phenomenon due to the large number of elastic and inelastic interactions resulting in scattering and energy losses. The analytical solution for the electron transport being intractable, the problem has been addressed by the Monte Carlo technique. Empirical or semiempirical less time consuming methods, such as the scaling factor method, may appear more preferable in practice when dealing with complicated source distributions. The method, proposed by Cross and co-workers [AECL Report Nos. AECL-1617 (1982), AECL 10521 (1992)] consists in the derivation of beta-ray dose distribution in other media from those in water by using a "scaling factor" or "relative attenuation factor" on distance and a closely related renormalization factor imposed by the energy conservation. This work investigates the accuracy of the scaling factor method using a statistical approach, a generalized chi 2 test, focusing on the particular case of potential interest, the scaling factor for water to bone. The direct comparison of the shapes of the depth dose deposition curves in the two media indicates discrepancies of less than 5% up to at least 60% of the range in bone, a depth within which 95% of the initial energy is deposited. The scaling factor derived by this method, 0.9720 +/- 0.0012, confirms the existing experimentally determined value of 0.973 +/- 1% [AECL Report No. AECL-10521 (1992)]. The accuracy of the determination is increased by almost a factor of 10. A way of improving the scaling method, especially for depth over the 60% continuous slowing down approximation range, by using a modulation function is also proposed.     

Melanie II--a third-generation software package for analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis images: I. Features and user interface

Although two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) computer analysis software packages have existed ever since 2-DE technology was developed, it is only now that the hardware and software technology allows large-scale studies to be performed on low-cost personal computers or workstations, and that setting up a 2-DE computer analysis system in a small laboratory is no longer considered a luxury. After a first attempt in the seventies and early eighties to develop 2-DE analysis software systems on hardware that had poor or even no graphical capabilities, followed in the late eighties by a wave of innovative software developments that were possible thanks to new graphical interface standards such as XWindows, a third generation of 2-DE analysis software packages has now come to maturity. It can be run on a variety of low-cost, general-purpose personal computers, thus making the purchase of a 2-DE analysis system easily attainable for even the smallest laboratory that is involved in proteome research. Melanie II 2-D PAGE, developed at the University Hospital of Geneva, is such a third-generation software system for 2-DE analysis. Based on unique image processing algorithms, this user-friendly object-oriented software package runs on multiple platforms, including Unix, MS-Windows 95 and NT, and Power Macintosh. It provides efficient spot detection and quantitation, state-of-the-art image comparison, statistical data analysis facilities, and is Internet-ready. Linked to proteome databases such as those available on the World Wide Web, it represents a valuable tool for the "Virtual Lab" of the post-genome area.     

Hiring the disabled: An attempt to influence behavioral intentions through a media presentation.

Tested whether a media presentation could influence the stated willingness of 199 health professionals (average age 28.1 yrs) to hire wheelchair-confined workers for jobs in hospital settings. Beliefs of these health professionals regarding the consequences of hiring such workers were identified during interviews with a small pilot sample (e.g., disabled workers cannot physically perform the work). The slide/tape presentation focused on these beliefs, marshaling evidence to refute them, and showing wheelchair-confined hospital workers competently doing their jobs. The results of scores of attitudinal, behavioral intention, and behavioral measures show that those Ss who saw the slide/tape presentation indicated more favorable behavioral intentions to hire both wheelchair-confined workers and workers with double amputations than did Ss who saw no presentation. The groups did not differ in their stated intentions to hire persons with cerebral palsy. A companion study conducted with 99 vocational rehabilitation counselors (average age 28.9 yrs), using a similar slide/tape presentation, yielded similar results. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)