Using social indicators to predict addiction

Because of cost and other constraints, states often find it difficult to estimate need for treatment of alcohol-related problems from routine surveys. The social undesirability of illegal drug use makes the assessment of need for treatment of their use even more difficult. This paper uses independently obtained treatment need estimates to provide parameters for short-term prediction. We obtained the parameters by regressing the proportions of people addicted to alcohol (or drugs) in counties on social-indicator-based relative treatment need estimates for alcohol (or drugs). In addition to integrating estimates coming from independent sources, our approach presents an important tool for planning and resource allocation.     

Micronuclei in cytokinesis-blocked lymphocytes may predict patient response to radiotherapy

The recent explosion in the number of identified genes involved in the human skeletal dysplasias has dramatically advanced this particular field. While linkage efforts are mapping hereditary disorders of the skeleton at an ever accelerating pace, progress in the Human Genome Project is providing tools for rapid gene discovery after the map location is known. Emerging themes in the molecular analysis of the skeletal dysplasias include the identification of allelic series of disorders and the existence of mutational and genetic heterogeneity in many of these conditions. Allelic series include those conditions caused by mutations in the genes encoding type II collagen (COL2A1), cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) and the diastrophic dysplasia sulfate transporter (DTDST). The recognition of these phenomena has initiated the analysis of the relationship between disease phenotype and gene.     

Using self-efficacy judgments to predict characteristics of lapses to smoking.

According to relapse prevention theory, abstinence self-efficacy judgments (ASE; confidence in ability to abstain from smoking) about particular affective and environmental contexts should predict behavior in those contexts. Low-ASE contexts should present challenges to abstinence. In this study, the authors used profile correlations to quantify the relationship between context-specific ASE ratings and the characteristics of lapse episodes. To assess the distinctiveness of this relationship, they also correlated the situations surrounding temptation and randomly selected (nontemptation) episodes with context-specific ASE. The ASE-first lapse profile correlation was significantly greater than zero and significantly greater than ASE-temptation and ASE-nontemptation correlations. This pattern of results remained when multiple lapse episodes were considered. Thus, low-ASE contexts tend to be associated with lapses to smoking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using personal characteristics to predict parolee and probationer employment stability.

Investigated predictors of employment stability for 341 18-26 yr old male parolees and probationers. Moderate, significant correlations were found between stability (inferred from job referral records) and occupational consistency, job skill, socialization (California Psychological Inventory), prior job tenure, incarcerations, auto theft, and a base expectancy measure, but not parole agent ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using the theory of planned behavior to predict gambling behavior.

Gambling is an important public health concern. To better understand gambling behavior, we conducted a classroom-based survey that assessed the role of the theory of planned behavior (TPB; i.e., intentions, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and attitudes) in past-year gambling and gambling frequency among college students. Results from this research support the utility of the TPB to explain gambling behavior in this population. Specifically, in TPB models to predict gambling behavior, friend and family subjective norms and perceived behavioral control predicted past-year gambling, and friend and family subjective norms, attitudes, and perceived behavioral control predicted gambling frequency. Intention to gamble mediated these relationships. These findings suggest that college-based responsible gambling efforts should consider targeting misperceptions of approval regarding gambling behavior (i.e., subjective norms), personal approval of gambling behavior (i.e., attitudes), and perceived behavioral control to better manage gambling behavior in various situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using the assessment center method to predict senior management potential.

Investigated the extent to which advancement to senior management (SM) levels can be predicted from assessment center (AC) results and whether people with different assessment profiles have different probabilities of advancement. A study of 115 people who attended the AT&T Advanced Management Potential Assessment Program between 1982 and 1985 indicates that AC ratings can also be used to identify people with SM potential. Among all Ss, those who received ratings of excellent potential were more likely to advance to SM positions than those seen as having less potential. Ss with different assessment dimension profiles had different chances for success. Suggestions for establishing a senior level assessment program are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using alcohol expectancies to predict adolescent drinking behavior after one year.

An accumulating literature has shown the influence of childhood experiences associated with alcohol use on later drinking practices. Recent studies have suggested that alcohol-related expectancy may serve as an intervening variable to connect these early experiences with the later, proximal decision to drink when opportunities for actual alcohol consumption arise. Those studies, however, have collected expectancy and drinking data concurrently, whereas the present study for the first time reports on the power of expectancies measured in early adolescents (seventh and eighth grades) to predict self-reported drinking onset and drinking behavior measured a full year later. Results show that five of seven expectancy scores readily discriminated between nonproblem drinkers and those subsequently beginning problem drinking and accounted for a large portion of the variance in a continuous quantity/frequency index and a problem drinking index. The strength of these time-lagged relations strengthens the case for inferring that expectancies have causal power on drinking behavior and suggests prevention strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using parameter sensitivity and interdependence to predict model scope and falsifiability.

One important criterion for a model's utility is its scope, the ability to predict a wide range of results. Scope is often difficult to ascertain without extensive data fitting. For example J. E. Cutting, N. Bruno, N. P. Brady, and C. Moore (see record 1993-00237-001) compared 2 models of perceived visual depth by fitting many data sets that were arbitrarily generated from underlying functions. They then defined scope as the number of functions a model could account for. We present an alternative technique for scope evaluation that is based on analysis of the behavior of a model's parameters and does not require extensive data fitting. The technique examines the ratio between the overall interdependence among model parameters and their sensitivity, which we show to be inversely related to a model's scope. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

试用齐波夫定律预测夹皮沟金矿资源量

应用齐波夫定律预测资源量的方法简单,有效。本文使用齐波夫定律对夹皮沟金矿区的资源量进行预测,结果表明：夹皮沟金矿区具有可观的金资源潜力。同时,分析了应用齐波夫定律存在的问题,提出了解决问题的初步设想。     

Using the bubble inclinometer to measure laryngeal tilt and predict difficulty of laryngoscopy

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a simple device, the bubble inclinometer, to measure degrees of laryngeal tilt (LT) for predicting difficulty of direct laryngoscopy using a Macintosh #3 laryngoscope. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind study. SETTING: Inpatient surgery center at a university medical center. PATIENTS: 50 renal lithotripter patients. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were measured with the bubble inclinometer and the laryngeal indices caliper. A sleep dose of thiopental sodium (4 mg/kg) and a muscle-relaxing dose of succinylcholine (1 mg/kg) were then given to each patient. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: LT was measured by both methods (directly and indirectly). Difficulty of laryngoscopy was graded as follows: Grade 1 = all of vocal cords seen; Grade 2 = part of vocal cords seen; Grade 3 = no part of vocal cords seen. CONCLUSIONS: The bubble inclinometer accurately and reproducibly measures relative LT, and the anterior tilt of the larynx directly correlates with the ability to see the laryngeal opening during direct laryngoscopy with a Macintosh #3 laryngoscope.     

Using a vulnerability-stress-adaptation framework to predict physical aggression trajectories in newlywed marriage.

The authors used a vulnerability-stress-adaptation framework to examine personality traits and chronic stress as predictors of the developmental course of physical aggression in the early years of marriage. Additionally, personality traits and physical aggression were examined as predictors of the developmental course of chronic stress. Data from 103 couples collected 4 times over the first 3 years of marriage were analyzed with an actor-partner interdependence model and structural equation modeling techniques. Personality traits of husbands predicted their own physical aggression and stress trajectories, as well as their wives' levels of stress and physical aggression. Personality traits of wives predicted their levels of stress and physical aggression and predicted changes in their physical aggression over time. Both husbands' and wives' changes in stress predicted changes in physical aggression over time. Implications for employment of a vulnerability-stress-adaptation model in the study of physical aggression and for improvement of the efficacy of therapies targeting physical aggression in intimate relationships are delineated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using biographical information to predict success of men and women in the army.

Used personal data gathered by the Israeli Biographical Information Inventory to predict military success for 390 men and 524 women, aged 20-26. Each sex group was randomly divided into equal keying and replication samples. In the keying samples, correlations between biographical item responses and the criterion of military rank (when released from compulsory service) were examined. 13 items, scored on the basis of these correlations, were summed. These total scores were then correlated with the criterion. Significant positive correlations were found for both sex groups in both the keying and replication samples, although correlations for men were always significantly (p     

Using the stepladder technique to facilitate the performance of audioconferencing.

Organizational workforces are becoming increasingly dispersed. To facilitate communications among individuals or groups of people located in a number of different locations, teleconferencing technologies, such as audioconferencing, have been developed. The authors examined whether a structural group intervention, the stepladder technique, can facilitate the task performance of 4-person groups (n=52) when using audioconferencing. Consistent with research conducted on face-to-face groups, the stepladder technique was found to facilitate the decision-making performance of groups interacting via audioconference. The authors postulated that certain structural elements of the stepladder technique compensate for obstacles inherent in nonvisual communications. Supplementary analyses examined best member influence and the existence of order of entry effects into the stepladder process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using the ICF and psychological models of behavior to predict mobility limitations.

Objective: To test the ability of a model that integrates the theory of planned behavior (TPB) into the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), to predict walking limitations in adults awaiting hip or knee replacement surgery. Study Design and Participants: Cross-sectional structural equation modeling study of activity limitations in 190 adults. Method: A postal questionnaire measuring TPB, ICF, and walking limitations. Results: The integrated model accounted for more variance in activity limitations (57%) than did either TPB or ICF alone. Control beliefs (TPB) significantly mediated the relationship between impairment (ICF) and activity limitations. Conclusions: The integrated model provides an interdisciplinary, theoretical framework that identifies intervention targets to effect reductions in disability without the need for concomitant reductions in impairment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using a 6-minute walk test to predict outcomes in patients with left ventricular dysfunction

There is increasing evidence that, in addition to its major functional role in the regulation of fine motor control, the cerebellum is involved in other important functions, such as sensory-motor learning and memory. Classical conditioning of the eyeblink or nictitating membrane response (and other discrete behavioral responses) is a form of sensory-motor learning that depends crucially upon the cerebellum. Within the cerebellum, however, the relative importance of the cerebellar cortex and the deep cerebellar nuclei in eyeblink conditioning is unclear and disputed. Recent studies employing various mutant mice provide an effective approach to resolving this controversy. Eyeblink conditioning in spontaneous mutant mice deficit in Purkinje cells, the exclusive output neurons of the cerebellar cortex, indicate that both the cerebellar cortex and the interpositus nucleus are important. Furthermore, studies involving gene knockout mice suggest that long-term depression, a process of synaptic plasticity occurring in Purkinje cells, might be involved in eyeblink conditioning.     

Endophthalmitis after cataract surgery: risk factors relating to technique and events of the operation and patient history: a retrospective case-control study

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between postoperative endophthalmitis and current changes in the cataract operative technique. DESIGN: A retrospective case-control study. PARTICIPANTS: The 22,091 cataract operations performed from 1990 through 1993 at St Eriks Hospital formed the basis for this investigation. In a random fashion, 220 control subjects were selected to be compared with the endophthalmitis cases. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Numerous variables pertaining to the cataract extraction procedure and to the ocular and general health of patients with cataracts were analyzed regarding the development of postoperative intraocular infection. Patient age, presence of diabetes or immunosuppression, type of cataract extraction and intraocular lens (IOL), and intraoperative or postoperative complications were the principal variables assessed. RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients with endophthalmitis were diagnosed, resulting in an overall frequency of 0.26%. Immunosuppressive treatment (P = 0.019), wound abnormality (P = 0.03), and the use of IOLs without a heparinized surface (P = 0.0023) were the only significant risk factors found in a logistic regression model. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that cataract operating practice may alter the risk for endophthalmitis in that implanting a heparinized IOL and creating a tight section both seem to provide protection against this dreaded complication. Regarding patient history, an increased susceptibility was found among subjects treated with immunosuppressants. Designing a prophylactic protocol that protects against endophthalmitis more efficiently than did the study prophylaxis of 20 mg of subconjunctival gentamicin, is important not only for this patient subgroup but also for the cataract operated population at large.     

Using health care outcomes to improve patient care in the NICU

The authors describe their use of outcomes research in improving the care of infants in a ten-hospital network of neonatal intensive care units. Improvements in the processes of care for infants born with very low birth weights, and those suffering from chronic lung disease and nosocomial infections, are among the issues discussed.