Rational emotive behavior therapy versus cognitive therapy versus pharmacotherapy in the treatment of major depressive disorder: Mechanisms of change analysis.

Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies (CBT) are among the first-line interventions for major depressive disorder (MDD), and a significant number of studies indicate their efficacy in the treatment of this disorder. However, differential effects of various forms of CBT have seldom been analyzed in the same experimental design. On the basis of data collected in a randomized clinical trial comparing the efficacy of rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT), cognitive therapy (CT), and pharmacotherapy (SSRI) in the treatment of MDD, the present article investigates the theory of change advanced by REBT and CT. Measures included to test the two theories of change assess three classes of cognitions: (a) automatic thoughts, (b) dysfunctional attitudes, and (c) irrational beliefs. The results indicate that REBT and CT (and also pharmacotherapy) indiscriminately affect the three classes of cognitions. On the long term (follow-up), a change in implicit demandingness seems more strongly associated with reduced depression and relapse prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

KINETICS OF CADMIUM ION SORPTION ON ION EXCHANGE AND CHELATING RESINS

ABSTRACT

Cadmium sorption from aqueous solutions on sulfonic (C-150) and iminodiacetic (S-930) Purolite macroporous resins was investigated. The influence of operating variables such as initial pH, Cd(H) concentration, time and temperature on the equilibrium parameters was measured. The ion preference and sorption ability of resins, i.e. binding constant (b) and saturation capacity {x_m), derived from sorption isotherm, depend on the functional group structure. The Cd(II) uptake is only particle diffusion controlled. The kinetic parameters, i.e. t_1/2 values for 50 % attainment of equilibrium sorption, rate constant (K¯ ) and diffusion coefficient (D¯) are higher on the sulfonic resin. The “moving boundary” particle diffusion model fits the entire ion sorption process on chelating resin, but only the initial sorption on the sulfonic resin, confirming the difference in chemistry between chelation and ion exchange.     

Macroporous polymeric ion exchangers as adsorbents for the removal of cationic dye basic blue 9 from aqueous solutions

Two macroporous cation‐exchange resins, Purolite C145, a strongly acidic cation macroporous resin, and Purolite C107E, a weakly acidic cation‐exchange resin, were used to remove the dye Basic Blue 9 (BB9) from an aqueous medium. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to analyze the effect of various parameters, such as the phase contact time, initial dye concentration, initial solution pH, resin dose, and temperature. The experimental equilibrium data were evaluated by the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin–Radushkevich (DR) adsorption models. The Freundlich model better described the adsorption processes of the BB9 dye onto both cation exchangers, and the monolayer adsorption capacities were established as 31.9846 mg/g (C145) and 27.77 mg/g (C107E) at 20°C. The values of the mean free adsorption energy (E) obtained from the DR model suggested a porous structure of the adsorbents and proposed ion exchange at the main mechanism of the adsorption process. The values of the thermodynamic parameters showed that the retention of the cationic dye was a spontaneous and endothermic process. Environmental scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the sorbent and also to validate the adsorption mechanism as ion‐exchange ones. The desorption experiments by a batch method were performed with different solutions: 0.1 and 1 mol/L HCl, 2.5 mol/L H₂SO₄, CH₃OH, and a mixture between 1 mol/L HCl and CH₃OH. Desorption performed with sulfuric acid was shown to be most effective because more than 85% of the adsorbed dye was removed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39620.     

Anytime similarity measures for faster alignment

Image alignment refers to finding the best transformation from a fixed reference image to a new image of a scene. This process is often optimizing a similarity measure between images, computed based on the image data. However, in time-critical applications state-of-the-art methods for computing similarity are too slow. Instead of using all the image data to compute similarity, one could use only a subset of pixels to improve the speed, but often this comes at the cost of reduced accuracy. These kinds of tradeoffs between the amount of computation and the accuracy of the result have been addressed in the field of real-time artificial intelligence as deliberation control problems. We propose that the optimization of a similarity measure is a natural application domain for deliberation control using the anytime algorithm framework. In this paper, we present anytime versions for the computation of two common image similarity measures: mean squared difference and mutual information. Off-line, we learn a performance profile specific to each measure, which is then used on-line to select the appropriate amount of pixels to process at each optimization step. When tested against existing techniques, our method achieves comparable quality and robustness with significantly less computation.     

Improving learner quality of experience by content adaptation based on network conditions

Apart from user characteristics, properties of the network over which the content is delivered and device on which the content is displayed affect end-user perceived quality. This paper presents a learner quality of experience (QoE) model that apart from the user-related content adaptation, considers delivery performance-based content personalisation in order to improve user experience when interacting with an online learning system.A comparison-based study on the benefit of using the proposed learner QoE model in adaptive and personalized education was conducted involving the original AHA! and QoEAHA – a version of AHA! enhanced with the learner QoE model. Testing results demonstrate significant benefits in terms of learning achievement, learning performance, learner navigation and user QoE in favour of the learner QoE model-enhanced solution.     

Efficient delivery of multimedia streams over broadband networks using QOAS

Quality Oriented Adaptation Scheme (QOAS) is compared against other adaptive schemes such as TCP Friendly Rate Control Protocol (TFRCP), Loss-Delay-based Adaptation Algorithm (LDA+), and a nonadaptive (NoAd) solution when streaming multiple multimedia clips with various characteristics over broadband networks. Streaming efficiency is assessed in terms of loss rate, bandwidth utilization, number of concurrent clients and end-user perceived quality. Simulation results show that using QOAS a significantly higher number of simultaneous clients can be served than when using the other schemes given a target average end-user quality. This is while having higher bandwidth utilization. Testing results also indicate that higher performance is achieved when streaming to the same number of clients using QOAS than when other solutions are used.     

Resins containing α-hydroxyphosphonic acid groups used for adsorption of dyes from wastewater

The synthesis of styrene–divinylbenzene copolymers functionalized with α-hydroxyphosphonic acid groups is presented. The phosphorus content was determined in order to calculate the degree of functionalization with pendant α-hydroxyphosphonic group, with values of 0.66 for St–1%DVB_HOPHOS and 3.14 for St–6.7%DVB_HOPHOS. Their characterization by IR, thermogravimetry is reported. The kinetics of adsorption of three dyes on St–6.7%DVB_HOPHOS polymer was studied.     

Effect of composition on valence states of iron cations in some borate glasses

We present the results of magnetic studies and Mössbauer effect measurements on 20Fe₂O₃80[3B₂O₃(1?x)PbOxA_uO_v] glasses with A_uO_v = CaO, As₂O₃ or GeO₂. The fraction r of ferrous ions is not dependent on CaO content, while in case of glasses with As₂O₃ and GeO₂ a linear variation is observed. The increase of the number of ferric ions is proportional to the difference between the valences of A ions and that of lead as well as on A_uO_v content. The magnetic measurements show that the reciprocal susceptibility for T ? 50 K has a nonlinear variation, typical for systems with random distribution of exchange interactions. At T > 50 K, a Curie-Weiss behaviour is evidenced. The Curie constants show a composition dependence similar to that of r values. Finally, the influence of the glass matrix composition on the iron valence states is discussed.     

Influence of Rutile and Anatase TiO2 Nanoparticles on Polyethylene Properties

Nanocomposites from polyethylene and TiO₂ with different shape and size were prepared by direct mixing and masterbatch dilution, respectively. The mechanical properties of nanocomposites were determined and discussed in relation to the nanofiller dispersion. Moreover, the morphological aspects of polyethylene with and without nanofiller were revealed by means of SEM and WAXD. A better dispersion of the nanoparticles and increased mechanical properties were observed in the case of the masterbatch method. No important differences in mechanical and morphological characteristics of anatase and rutile containing polyethylene composites were observed, except a higher increase of the elastic modulus in case of anatase-containing composites.