Validity of Three Measures of Communication for Predicting Relationship Adjustment and Stability Among a Sample of Young Couples.

The goal of this study was to examine whether data from 3 different measures of communication (i.e., self-report, quasi-observational, and observational) can predict relationship adjustment and stability 1 year later when used conjointly in a sample of 62 young couples. The 3 measures of communication were the Communication Skills Test-Revised (CST-R), the Communication Box (CB), and the Demand/Withdraw Pattern Questionnaire (DWPQ). Through hierarchical multiple regression analyses, results revealed that the CST-R and the DWPQ predict both genders' relationship adjustment 1 year later when used conjointly. Logistic regression analyses revealed that none of the measures of communication significantly predicted relationship stability. In conclusion, the combination of the CST-R and the DWPQ appears to be useful for longitudinally predicting relationship adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Surfactant behavior and its influence on the viscosity of associative thickeners solutions, thickened latex dispersions, and waterborne latex coatings

Surfactants, varying in their chemical composition and hydrophobic behavior, are used in the formulation of a waterborne coating. These differences influence their aggregation in micellar structures, their interaction with associative thickeners, and in particular, the synergies present in their competitive adsorptions on the disperse phases in a waterborne coating. Adsorption of HEUR thickeners on latexes and the ability of surfactants to displace them from those surfaces is an important variable in the dispersion’s viscosity. With large particle latexes, viscosity increases arise primarily from the network built through the interaction of HEURs with surfactants in the aqueous phase. Fluorescence is used to verify the mechanism by which surfactants enhance associative thickener viscosities. That is best achieved with nonionic surfactants, because of their synergies with large hydrophobe HEURs at low concentration. With decreasing latex particle size the adsorbed species is an important contributor to the dispersion’s viscosity through its contribution to the latex’s effective volume fraction increase and when the size of the adsorbed HEUR is matched to the separation distances of the latex at 0.25 volume fraction. Achieving controlled shear-thinning behavior in small particle size latex paints with the economic constraints on the amount of HEUR required to obtain 90 KU viscosities are discussed. Presented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology, October 30–November 1, 2002, in New Orleans, LA. Polymer and Coatings Dept., Fargo, ND 58103.     

Does anticipation training affect drivers' risk taking?

Skill and risk taking are argued to be independent and to require different remedial programs. However, it is possible to contend that skill-based training could be associated with an increase, a decrease, or no change in risk-taking behavior. In 3 experiments, the authors examined the influence of a skill-based training program (hazard perception) on the risk-taking behavior of car drivers (using video-based driving simulations). Experiment 1 demonstrated a decrease in risk taking for novice drivers. In Experiment 2, the authors examined the possibilities that the skills training might operate through either a nonspecific reduction in risk taking or a specific improvement in hazard perception. Evidence supported the latter. These findings were replicated in a more ecological context in Experiment 3, which compared advanced and nonadvanced police drivers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dMARS Architecture: A Specification of the Distributed Multi-Agent Reasoning System

The Procedural Reasoning System (PRS) is the best established agent architecture currently available. It has been deployed in many major industrial applications, ranging from fault diagnosis on the space shuttle to air traffic management and business process control. The theory of PRS-like systems has also been widely studied: within the intelligent agents research community, the belief-desire-intention (BDI) model of practical reasoning that underpins PRS is arguably the dominant force in the theoretical foundations of rational agency. Despite the interest in PRS and BDI agents, no complete attempt has yet been made to precisely specify the behaviour of real PRS systems. This has led to the development of a range of systems that claim to conform to the PRS model, but which differ from it in many important respects. Our aim in this paper is to rectify this omission. We provide an abstract formal model of an idealised dMARS system (the most recent implementation of the PRS architecture), which precisely defines the key data structures present within the architecture and the operations that manipulate these structures. We focus in particular on dMARS plans, since these are the key tool for programming dMARS agents. The specification we present will enable other implementations of PRS to be easily developed, and will serve as a benchmark against which future architectural enhancements can be evaluated.     

THE OPTIMUM SPEED OF VISUAL INSPECTION USING A RANDOM SEARCH STRATEGY

Choosing a standard speed for visual inspection is difficult using standard work measurement techniques. This paper uses a different approach, taking a model of human functioning in inspection and deriving an optimum speed of working so as to balance the cost of time against the cost of errors. Random search is used as the model and both self-paced and externally-paced conditions are derived for multiple fault types. Optimization using a Golden Section search is used to provide optimum inspection speed.     

The visual control of reaching and grasping: Binocular disparity and motion parallax.

The primary visual sources of depth and size information are binocular cues and motion parallax. Here, the authors determine the efficacy of these cues to control prehension by presenting them in isolation from other visual cues. When only binocular cues were available, reaches showed normal scaling of the transport and grasp components with object distance and size. However, when only motion parallax was available, only the transpont component scaled reliably. No additional increase in scaling was found when both cues were available simultaneously. Therefore, although equivalent information is available from binocular and motion parallax information, the latter may be of relatively limited use for the control of the grasp. Binocular disparity appears selectively important for the control of the grasp. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Erp Implementation Failure: A Case Study

While it is true that successful implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is a task of Herculean proportions, it is not impossible. If your organization is to reap the benefits of ERP, it must first develop a plan for success. But “prepare to see your organization reengineered, your staff disrupted, and your productivity drop before the payoff is realized.” Implementing ERP must be viewed and undertaken as a new business endeavor and a team mission, not just a software installation. Companies must involve all employees, and unconditionally and completely sell them on the concept of ERP for it to be a success. A successful implementation means involving, supervising, recognizing, and retaining those who have worked or will work closely with the system. Without a team attitude and total backing by everyone involved, an ERP implementation will end in less than an ideal situation. This was the situation for a soft drink bottler that tried to cut corners and did not recognize the importance of the people so heavily involved and depended on.     

Constructing a short form of the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire with adolescents and young adults.

The goal of the present studies was to construct and validate a short form of the 50-item Smoking Consequences Questionnaire (SCQ; T. H. Brandon & T. B. Baker, 1991), a measure of smoking outcome expectancies. In Study 1, a 21-item short form (S-SCQ) was derived from a sample of 107 young adults previously treated for substance abuse. In Study 2, the measure was cross-validated on 125 adolescents in treatment for substance abuse. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed good model fit and factorial invariance for the 4 S-SCQ subscales across both samples. Validation analyses on each sample found that subscale scores generally correlated significantly with smoking-related variables. The present studies provide initial evidence for the utility of the S-SCQ when used with young adults and adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IEEE 802.11 roaming and authentication in wireless LAN/cellular mobile networks

A wireless LAN service integration architecture based on current wireless LAN hot spots is proposed so that migration to a new service becomes easier and cost effective. The proposed architecture offers wireless LAN seamless roaming in wireless LAN/cellular mobile networks. In addition, a link-layer-assisted mobile IP handoff mechanism is introduced to improve the network/domain switching quality in terms of handoff delay and packet loss. An application layer end-to-end authentication and key negotiation scheme is proposed to overcome the open-air connection problem existing in wireless LAN deployment. The scheme provides a general solution for Internet applications running on a mobile station under various authentication scenarios and keeps the communications private to other wireless LAN users and foreign network. A functional demonstration of the scheme is given. The research results can contribute to rapid deployment of wireless LANs.     

Meningitis after acute Borrelia burgdorferi infection in HIV infection

HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: A 39-year-old HIV positive patient developed myalgia, headache and cough 4 weeks after a tick bite. His temperature was 37.4 degrees C and a circular pale erythema was noted over the left lower leg. INVESTIGATIONS: C-reactive protein was raised to 120 mg/l, white blood cell count was 5860/microliter, CD4-lymphocyte count 250/microliter. The chest radiogram showed pneumonitic infiltration in the left lower lobe. There were IgM antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi. TREATMENT AND COURSE: Left lower lobe pneumonia and chronic erythema migrans were diagnosed and he was given oral azithromycin (500 mg on the first day and 250 mg for 4 days). The pneumonia cleared up, but 2 weeks later he developed symptoms of meningitis (496 cells per microliter, 87% lymphocytes, positive Borrelia burgdorferi antibody titer), which quickly and lastingly responded to ceftriaxon (2 g daily by brief infusion for 14 days). CONCLUSION: This immune-compromised HIV-infected patient developed disseminated borreliosis with CNS involvement 2 weeks after the occurrence of chronic erythema migrans. The initial treatment of the latter with azithromycin was unable to prevent the meningitis. It is unlikely that there was a causal connection between the borreliosis and the pneumonia.