Psychologists as change agents in chronic pain management practice: Cultural competence in the health care system.

Psychologists bring great value to health care systems, but our ethnocentrism regarding the medical community often limits our effectiveness as agents of change. Based on experience in developing pain management services within the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, we discuss cultural issues as central to effective systems change and provide specific recommendations for psychologists aspiring to change organized health care systems, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs. Consideration is given to the misfit of the biomedical model to chronic pain, “physics envy” affecting the authority accorded psychology, and societal stigmatization of psychopathology. A process-based definition of cultural competence is recommended as improving on psychology's intrinsic group-based notion of culture in engaging the medical community. The systems thinking literature is sampled in summarizing practical recommendations that include identifying features of local medical culture and power dynamics between psychology and medicine that can be modified by engaging stakeholders in an interpersonally effective manner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of early high school dropout: A test of five theories.

This study compared the adequacy of 5 theories to predict dropping out of high school before the 10th grade. These theories include full mediation by academic achievement and direct effects related to general deviance, deviant affiliation, family socialization, and structural strains. Nested latent variable models were used to test these theories on prospective data from an ethnically diverse urban sample. Poor academic achievement mediated the effect of all independent factors on school dropout, although general deviance, bonding to antisocial peers, and socioeconomic status also retained direct effects on dropping out. Therefore, none of the theories tested was fully adequate to explain the data, although partial support was obtained for each theory. Implications for prevention of early high school dropout are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Particle filter based information-theoretic active sensing

This work addresses the task of active sensing, or information-seeking control of mobile sensor platforms. Formulation of a control objective in terms of information gain allows mobile sensors to be both autonomous and easily reconfigurable to include a variety of sensor and target models. Tracking a moving target using a camera mounted on a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft is considered, but the control formulation is not specific to this choice of sensor or estimation task. A control formulation is developed which minimizes the entropy of an estimate distribution over a receding horizon subject to stochastic non-linear models for both the target motion and sensors. Previous similar work has been restricted to either a stationary target, a horizon of length one, or Gaussian estimates.The prediction of conditional entropy is shown to be inherently complex, and a computationally efficient sequential Monte Carlo method is developed. The entropy prediction depends on this Monte Carlo method as well as a novel approach for entropy calculation in the context of particle filtering. These methods are verified through simulation and post-processing of experimental flight data.     

Reactions Between Silicon and Graphite Substrates at High Temperature: In Situ Observations

Graphite as a refractory material has found wide application in many process steps to produce photovoltaic silicon. In the current study, the melting behavior of silicon in contact with different grades of graphite was investigated. The infiltration of silicon into graphite was found to be highly dependent on the internal structure of the graphite substrate. It was confirmed that the heating history of silicon in contact with a graphite substrate strongly influences the melting behavior, which is likely attributed to a gas–solid reaction that forms SiC at less than the liquidus temperature of silicon and alters the surface properties of the graphite. It was also observed that a concentration of CO greater than 5 pct in the inlet gas leads to SiC formation on the surface of the silicon and severely hinders melting.     

Characterization of Elastic Properties in Porous Silicon Carbide Preforms Fabricated Using Polymer Waxes as Pore Formers

Thorough elastic analysis of porous silicon carbide preforms fabricated using two different polymer waxes as pore formers is carried out. Both the amount and the mixture ratio of the waxes were varied to fabricate preforms with different pore morphologies and porosities in the range of 27–67 vol%. Results show that both the longitudinal and the shear elastic constants decrease with increasing porosity. The rate of decrease in the elastic constants follows a model based on minimum solid area up to an intermediate porosity level. Uniaxial pressure applied prior to cold isostatic pressing and sintering significantly reduces the stiffness along the press direction. For the same initial powder mixture type, the elastic anisotropy of the preforms increases with an increase in the applied uniaxial pressure. The extent of anisotropy is strongly dependent on both the SiC/wax ratio as well as the mixture ratio between the two wax types. At low pore volume fractions a higher volume content of the smaller diameter wax and at high pore volume fractions a higher volume content of larger diameter wax lead to preforms with lowest anisotropy. A map is finally proposed to describe the dependence of the preform elastic properties on the type of initial powder mixture used.     

JOHANN FRIEDRICH EULER (1741–1800): MATHEMATICIAN AND CRYPTOLOGIST AT THE COURT OF THE DUTCH STADHOLDER WILLIAM V

During the latter part of the 18th century, some mathematicians started to turn their interest to cryptology. Their attitude differed in many ways from the approach of the professional crypt analysts, of their time, but their interest was far from being merely academical. Johann Priedrich Euler, mathematician and cryptologist at the Court of the Dutch Stadholder William V, showed a marked ability to put into practice some of the new principles and insights, forwarded in scholarly journals of the time.     

Multiple platinum printing

Abstract

In the development of platinum printing as an art, one of the most encouraging signs of its individuality and virility has been the latitude of the hand-coated platinum print.