Documenting and explaining the common AAB pattern in music and humor: Establishing and breaking expectations.

The AAB pattern consists of two similar events followed by a third dissimilar event. The prevalence of this pattern in the aesthetic domain may be explained as violation of expectation: A minimum of two iterations is required to establish a repetitive pattern; once established, it is most efficient to promptly violate the expected continuance of the pattern to produce the maximal aesthetic effect. We demonstrate the prevalence of this pattern (in comparison to AB or AAAB) in a representative sample of a variety of musical genres and in a representative sample of repetitive genre of jokes. We also provide experimental evidence that the AAB pattern in jokes is maximally effective in producing a humor response in participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What makes vocational rehabilitation effective? Program characteristics versus employment outcomes nationally in VA.

With the focus on well-defined models for rehabilitation of people with mental illness, there is interest in program elements that predict successful outcomes. Data on programmatic elements from 92 Veterans Affairs Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) programs were merged with 6,891 individual records. General estimation equation analyses were used to identify correlates of 3 dependent variables representing successful outcomes. Community-based work at the individual level was positively associated with all 3 measures of success. Program emphasis on assertive outreach was positively associated with competitive employment and achievement of constructive activity. Greater amounts of assertive outreach and less integration of mental health and vocational staff were associated with a greater likelihood of constructive activity. These results suggest that the best outcomes are achieved by community-oriented programs incorporating assertive outreach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of pediatric resident and faculty learning styles: implications for medical education

This article compares resident and faculty learning strategies and styles and considers implications for teaching. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was administered to 17 pediatric residents and 22 faculty in a pediatric department of an urban university-affiliated public medical center in 1991. Four scales--concrete experience (CE), reflective observation (RO), abstract conceptualization (AC), and active experimentation (AE)--are derived from self-ranking groups of words. Combining strategies leads to one of four styles: accommodator, diverger, converger, or assimilator. Analysis of variance and chi-square statistics were used to analyze strongest strategies and styles and to compare groups. It was found that resident and faculty preferred learning strategies and styles were significantly different. Resident strategies were spread primarily between concrete experience (40.5%) and active experimentation (40.5%), whereas faculty clearly preferred abstract conceptualization (77%). Most residents had either an accommodator or diverger learning style (81%), whereas most faculty were either assimilators or convergers (73%). This knowledge of learning strategy preferences and styles may have implications for design and delivery of instruction to residents.     

Photocatalytic oxidation of cyclohexane over TiO2 nanoparticles by molecular oxygen under mild conditions

The structure, physical characteristics and photocatalytic selective oxidation properties of nanometer‐size TiO₂ particles produced by a sol–gel method were studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and photocatalytic selective oxidation measurements. Analysis of the XRD results shows that sol–gel‐produced TiO₂ nanoparticles have the anatase structure at annealing temperatures ≤973 K, that the rutile structure begins to emerge at annealing temperatures ≥973 K and the particles have the pure rutile structure at 1023 K. DRS indicates that the obtained TiO₂ nanoparticles exhibit a blue shift with decreasing crystallite size. Analysis of the XPS results shows that the TiO₂ nanoparticles have a lot of oxygen vacancies. The EPR spectrum of TiO₂ at 77 K is composed of a strong isotropic EPR Surface‐Ti³⁺ signal(I) at g = 1.926 and a weak broad Bulk‐Ti³⁺ signal (II) at g = 1.987. Quantitative EPR indicates that both signals show a size and temperature dependence. Photocatalytic oxidation of cyclohexane into cyclohexanol with high selectivity and activity has been obtained by activation of molecular oxygen over sol–gel‐produced TiO₂ nanoparticles under mild conditions in dry solvent, which reveals that the quantum size effect and surface state effect of nanoparticles are key points for governing the selective photocatalytic reaction. The photocatalytic oxidation mechanism under dry solvent is different from that in aqueous solutions. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Characterization of the MN gp120 HIV-1 vaccine: antigen binding to alum

PURPOSE: The characterization of recombinant MN gp120/alum vaccine requires the study of the gp120-alum interaction for the successful formulation of an alum-based HIV-1 vaccine. METHODS: Several observations suggest that the gp120-alum interaction is weak, wherein buffer counterions such as phosphate, sulfate, bicarbonate may cause the desorption of gp120 from alum. Comparison of gp120 with other proteins using particle mobility measurements shows that the weak binding of gp120 to alum is not an anomaly. Serum and plasma also cause desorption of gp120 from alum with a half-life of only a few minutes, wherein this half-life may be faster than the in-vivo recruitment of antigen presenting cells to the site of immunization. RESULTS: Immunization of guinea pigs, rabbits and baboons with gp120 formulated in alum or saline demonstrated that alum provides adjuvant activity for gp120, particularly after early immunizations, but the adjuvant effect is attenuated after several boosts. CONCLUSIONS: These observations indicate that both the antigen and the adjuvant require optimization together.     

The role of social and emotional communication skills in leader emergence and effectiveness.

Three studies explored the role that basic social/communication skills play in leader emergence and effectiveness. In Study 1, 218 undergraduate students were administered self-report measures of social/communication skills and extraversion, worked in small groups on a problem-solving task, and elected leaders at task midpoint. Coders measured leaders' verbal communication. Groups elected leaders who spoke most and were extraverted but were not more socially skilled. In Study 2, leaders were selected on the basis of their possession of communication skills and led small groups in 2 tasks. More skilled communicators were rated as more effective leaders, but they did not lead more productive groups. Study 3 examined fire service leaders. Social skills were related to satisfaction with the leader but related to leader performance only for higher level leaders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incremental prognostic value of adenosine stress myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography and impact on subsequent management in patients with or suspected of having myocardial ischemia

We examined 1,159 consecutive patients who underwent adenosine stress dual isotope single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and had follow-up performed at a mean of 27.5 +/- 9.1 months (94% complete) for hard events (cardiac death and myocardial infarction) and referral to cardiac catheterization after nuclear testing. During follow-up, 120 hard events occurred (11.0% hard event rate; 72 cardiac deaths [6.7% cardiac death rate] and 57 myocardial infarctions [5.3% myocardial infarction rate]). Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that nuclear testing added incremental value after adjusting for clinical and historical variables (global chi-square increased 13 to 98 for cardiac death as the end point, global chi-square increased 19 to 105 for hard events as the end point; p <0.0001 for both). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that after clinical risk stratification of the patient population, the results of nuclear testing were further able to significantly stratify both low- and intermediate- to high-risk patients. Patients with both normal and mildly abnormal scans were at low risk of cardiac death (<1% cardiac death per year of follow-up) and the risk of events increased significantly with worsening scan result. Multivariable analysis revealed that the only predictor of referral to catheterization was the extent and severity of reversible defect present on the scan. Referral rates to early catheterization were very low in patients with normal scans and increased significantly as a function of worsening scan results. In patients who underwent myocardial perfusion SPECT using adenosine stress, the results of nuclear testing yielded incremental prognostic information and clinically relevant risk stratification. Referring physicians predominantly utilized nuclear information when referring patients to catheterization after nuclear testing and do so at rates comparable with those after exercise SPECT despite the higher risk of events in patients undergoing pharmacologic stress.     

Cognitive processes in story understanding.

The major goal of the author's research has been to discover how readers overcome the limited capacity of working memory to discover the rich pattern of causal relationships found in even the simplest stories. The specific purpose of the series of experiments presented in this article is to discover what happens when the goals and actions are widely separated in the text, and when the actions are not associated with a coherence break. The results suggest that some readers retrieve the goal from long-term memory while others do not. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characterization of the Coffee Mucilage Fermentation Process Using Chemical Indicators: A Field Study in Nicaragua

ABSTRACT: The recent "crisis" brought about by the collapse of the worldwide commodity coffee market has caused severe economic conditions for coffee producers in developing countries, including those of Central America. As a result, many coffee producers desire to improve the quality and consistency of their product to enter the specialty market. With the ultimate aim of assisting coffee producers in their quality control efforts, this study was designed to determine the feasibility of simple chemical measurements of the fermentation process on remote farms and to assess the potential of these measurements for assisting the producers in control and optimization efforts. Temperature, pH, and the concentrations of glucose, ethanol, and lactic acid were measured throughout the course of 7 coffee mucilage fermentation batches on 4 farms. In each batch, a pattern was observed in which the pH was initially in the range 5.5 to 5.7 and decreased sharply to about 4.6 as fermentation neared completion. Glucose concentration was seen to drop throughout the course of most batches, whereas either ethanol or lactic acid increased sharply near completion. The pH profile may prove useful in predicting the time of fermentation completion and in preventing over-fermentation of coffee mucilage.