The residential therapeutic caring community.

The residential therapeutic caring community (RTCC) for adolescents combines psychotherapeutic principles of the professional model and self-help concept of the therapeutic community by using the collective resources of members to mobilize peer pressure. The RTCC is a safe, structured, supportive treatment environment that employs a confrontation, teaching, interpretative, and reasoning approach and uses the psychotherapeutic principles of reality therapy and existential thought. In the RTCC, the staff serve as mentors and role models, and they demonstrate their concern by maintaining high expectations for immediate improved behavior. The personal qualities necessary for a psychotherapist working in an RTCC are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peritoneal dialysis in children under 5 years of age

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of intensive practice in table tennis on perceptual coincident timing. The main question was whether the perceptual demands encountered in fast ball sports produce modifications of the perceptual visual system. Expert table tennis players and novices were compared in a perceptual task which consisted of estimating, by pressing a key, the arrival of a moving stimulus at a target. The stimulus, which was presented either at constant velocity or at constant deceleration, reproduced as closely as possible the natural visual demands encountered in table tennis. The difference between the time of response and the time of arrival of the stimulus at a target position was measured over 40 trials for each of the 16 participants. The results showed no effect of expertise under the constant-velocity condition but an effect under the decelerative condition, indicating that experts were less trajectory-dependent than novices. This result was interpreted as reflecting a better adaptation of the perceptual system of experts to the constraints encountered during table tennis and specifically to the perceptual demands resulting from varied and decelerated ball trajectories. Finally, some limitations of the coincidence anticipation procedure are highlighted, concerning its use in practical settings for evaluating athletes or detecting sport talents, and the need for the simulation conditions during testing to reproduce as closely as possible the perceptual demands of real life is discussed.     

Colour measurement of fish minces using hunter L,a, b values

Hunter L, a and b values are used to order fish mince colour according to species or processing parameters. Mince colour difference (ΔE) or statistical examination of L, a and b values are used to establish a 3-dimensional plot to illustrate colour differences between samples.     

Forecasting Canadian nuclear power station construction costs

Because of the huge volume of capital required to construct a modern electric power generating station, investment decisions have to be made with as complete an understanding of the consequences of the decision as possible. This understanding must be provided by the evaluation of future situations. A key consideration in an evaluation is the financial component. This paper attempts to use an econometric method to forecast the construction costs escalation of a standard Canadian nuclear generating station (NGS). A brief review of the history of Canadian nuclear electric power is provided. The major components of the construction costs of a Canadian NGS are studied and summarized. A database is built and indexes are prepared. Based on these indexes, an econometric forecasting model is constructed using an apparently new econometric methodology of forecasting modelling. Forecasts for a period of 40 years are generated and applications (such as alternative scenario forecasts and range forecasts) to uncertainty assessment and/or decision-making are demonstrated. The indexes, the model, and the forecasts and their applications, to the best of the author's knowledge, are the first for Canadian NGS constructions.     

Editorial: Health Inequalities and Social Justice

The second in our series of the new Giants of the 21st Century to mark 70?years since Beveridge is on Health inequalities and Social Justice by Kenneth Howse.     

The influence of stacking fault energy on ductile fracture micromorphology

The influence of stacking fault energy on microvoid coalescence in pure materials has been studied. It was shown that as a material's stacking fault energy (SFE) decreased, the extent of microvoid coalescence that occurred during ductile fracture also decreased. The decrease of microvoid coalescence in low SFE materials was attributed to a hindrance in the development of dislocation cells associated with the restricted motion of dislocations. In pure materials, microvoids are believed to initiate and grow along dislocation cell walls formed during deformation. As such, the absence or scarcity of cells in lower SFE materials limits the formation of these voids during ductile fracture.     

A kinetic study of the adsorption and desorption process of two commercial molecular sieves

A mathematical model and its numerical solution is presented to describe adiabatic adsorption—desorption processes in a fixed bed when the mass and heat transfer can be described by external film transfer coefficients only, which is especially interesting in the case of non-uniform, irregular particles. A new method to measure such rates is presented, based on continuous weighing of a through-circulated bed. The measured rates can be checked against the difference in humidity and temperature between the outlet and inlet air in order to minimize errors.The comparison between experimental results and calculations showed that the adsorption process in a bed of molecular sieve pellets can not be described with a constant mass transfer coefficient; the desorption process is better described although not entirely satisfactorily. In the case of a honeycomb molecular sieve, a constant mass transfer coefficient described both the adsorption and desorption processes satisfactorily.     

Compound types and properties of Utah and Athabasca tar sand bitumens

Properties and compound types were examined in detail for tar-sand bitumens representative of four major deposits in Utah and Alberta. Methods for bitumen extraction, separation, and compound type (functional group) analysis are presented. Results of the analyses are compared with each other and with results in the literature for tar-sand bitumens and petroleum. Comparison of the results of Utah bitumens with the Athabasca bitumen provides a basis for evaluation of the Utah bitumens because considerable information about the processing characteristics of the Athabasca bitumen has been reported. Simulated distillation and Chromatographic separation data indicate that, in general, the tarsand bitumens most closely resemble Wilmington petroleum with respect to hydrocarbon/non-hydrocarbon distribution, especially in the non-distilling portion (the distillable portions, mainly hydrocarbons, are similar for all samples). Tar-sand bitumens were also shown to differ significantly from one another, principally in the amounts and kinds of heteroatomic compound types present. This information is important because of the effects that composition has on recovery and refining processes. Analyses of the chemical functionalities also provide a basis for developing correlations between bitumen composition and the recovery and processing characteristics of the bitumen.     

Allelopathic polyacetylenes fromCentaurea repens (Russian knapweed)

The allelopathic weed Russian knapweed (Centaurea repens) was found to contain polyacetylenes VIII–XIV in the roots. Dose vs. response of the root length elongation against lettuce, alfalfa, barnyard grass, and red millet showed IX to be active. Closely related isomers were not active. Examination of the soil surrounding the Russian knapweed roots revealed the presence of IX in sufficient concentration to have an appreciable effect on the surrounding plant community.     

Laboratory study of air-water-coal combustion product (fly ash and FGD solid) mercury exchange

Recent laboratory research has indicated that coal fly ash derived from subbituminous and bituminous type coals is a sink for atmospheric mercury (Hg), however lignite-based ash was found to emit Hg to the air. Solids collected from systems with components that enhance Hg removal (i.e. activated carbon injection (ACI), flue gas desulfurization (FGD), and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) or selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR)) may have higher Hg concentrations and therefore a higher potential for Hg release. For this study we investigated the potential for Hg release to the air and water from coal combustion products (CCPs) collected from coal-fired units with FGD equipment, SCR and SNCR equipment, and sorbent injection for Hg removal. In the laboratory study, most dry samples acted as sinks for atmospheric Hg in the dark at 25 °C. When exposed to light or increased temperature (45 °C), deposition of Hg to the fly ash substrates in most cases continued but decreased. Wet FGD samples emitted Hg. However, they became a sink for atmospheric Hg or exhibited low Hg emission rates when dried. Mercury flux in the dark at 25 °C was correlated with fly ash carbon content (LOI). Most liquid extracts derived using the synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP EPA method 1312) had very low Hg concentrations (<13 ng/l).