Distinguishing specific from nonspecific interventions in comparative outcome studies: Reply to Collins and Thompson.

Collins and Thompson (1988) challenged the utility of such labels as behavioral and insight-oriented in comparative therapy research and questioned the manner in which these theoretical approaches were operationalized in a recent study by Wills, Faitler, and Snyder (1987). We argue that such labels, while imperfect, identify the context in which theory-driven models of clinical intervention are tested. Psychotherapy research requires that specific and nonspecific components of treatment approaches be distinguished. The study by Wills et al provides a model for verifying therapist fidelity in manual-guided treatment research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Addressing research practitioner and subject needs: A debriefing-disclosure procedure.

Discusses the apparent terminological and methodological problems with debriefing, which include an unclear working definition of debriefing and the need to protect internal validity. Also described is an empirical study of a debriefing-disclosure procedure. Results from 50 Ss show that only 10 reported discussing the experiment with a potential S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aluminium hydroxide growth on aluminium surfaces exposed to an air/1% NO2 mixture

Aluminium samples were exposed to a mixture of 1% NO₂ in air at 100%, 52% and <5% relative humidity. Auger electron spectroscopy depth profiling showed that for the 100% and 52% r.h. environments, the thickness of the surface oxide/hydroxide layer increased linearly with exposure time. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to study the surface composition as a function of exposure time. The XPS data clearly showed that a transformation from AlOOH to Al(OH)₃ was occurring with time for high humidity exposures. Thick hydroxide layers which formed after prolonged exposure, were also analysed with scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction.[/p]     

Fracture Toughness of a Silane Coupled Polymer-Metal Interface: Silane Concentration Effects

Fracture toughness of joints made from a glassy, 343,000 molecular weight polystyrene block bonded to chromic-sulfuric acid etched or phosphoric acid anodized aluminum are investigated. The fracture tests are performed with a 90-degree peel apparatus under “dry” laboratory conditions and “wet” conditions created by submerging the apparatus in a temperature controlled water bath. The bond strengths are controlled using various concentrations of styrl silane coupling agent added directly into the styrene monomer solution that polymerizes against the aluminum. Ellipsometric measurements on smooth silicon surfaces verify that the thickness of bound polymer is controlled by the silane to polystyrene mole ratio. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of fractured surfaces indicates that the fracture is near the aluminum surface. Both the wet and dry fracture energy as a function of bound polymer thickness on acid etched aluminum joints resemble quite closely the adhesion literature results obtained by fracturing pairs of fused, immiscible glassy polymers. Reasons for this similarity are discussed.     

Respiratory Symptoms and Housing Characteristics

A health and housing questionnaire was administered to children, ages 9-11, living in 24 communities in the United States and Canada. Logistic regression analysis examined the relationship between respiratory health symptoms (bronchitic, asthmatic and lower respiratory) and housing factors. The health risks (expressed as relative odds) were controlled for gender, parental asthma, parental chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and parental education, as well as between-city differences. Lower respiratory symptoms had significantly higher odds ratios reported in older homes (1.12), homes with smokers (1.24), air conditioners (1.14), air cleaners (1.37), and humidifiers (1.47). Home dampness (1.48) and the individual mold and water variables were all significantly associated with increased symptoms. Similar results were reported for bronchitic and asthmatic symptoms. While air conditioners and air cleaners were confounded with symptoms, humidifiers remained significant after controlling for childhood atopy.     

Comparison of the porosity of hand-mixed and capsulated glass-ionomer luting cements

The strength of dental glass-ionomer cements will be influenced by defects present within its structure. This study measured the surface area porosity, percentage surface area porosity, and mean surface area of small bubbles (<0.01 mm2) and the surface area porosity, percentage surface area porosity and diameter of large bubbles within 40-microm-thick layers of four cements, using image analysis software. Two hand-mixed cements (Fuji I and KetacCem) and two capsulated cements (Fuji Cap I and KetacCem Maxicap) were viewed under transmitted light at x117.6 magnification. For each selected area (64.75 mm2) of each cement sample, five independent measurements were made of each of these parameters. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that there were no significant differences between the four cements in the small bubble parameters measured, whilst there were significant differences in the surface area porosity, percentage surface area porosity and diameter of the large bubbles. It was concluded that the hand-mixed cements tested had a greater number of larger diameter bubbles compared with the capsulated cements.     

The development and evaluation of CUSUM-based control charts for an AR(1) process

An important component of the quality program of many manufacturing operations is the use of control chart for variables. Inherent in the construction of these control charts is the assumption that the sampled process is a normal distribution whose observations are independent and identically distributed (iid). Many processes such as those found in chemical manufacturing, refinery operations, smelting operations, wood product manufacturing, waste-water processing and the operation of nuclear reactors have been shown to have autocorrelated observations. Autocorrelation, which violates the independence assumption of standard control charts, is known to have an adverse effect on the average run length (ARL) performance of control charts. This paper will consider a statistical testing procedure for the change-point problem for monitoring the level parameter of the AR(1) process. This test is shown to result in a CUSUM-based control chart. Two different solutions of the change-point problem are given which result in slightly different control charts. The average run length of each of these CUSUM control charts is found via the Markov chain approach. A methodology for designing the CUSUM-based control chart is presented and the performance of these control charts is compared to other approaches in the literature.     

The 1995 North American Interagency Intercomparison of Ultraviolet Monitoring Spectroradiometers

Concern over stratospheric ozone depletion has prompted several government agencies in North America to establish networks of spectroradiometers for monitoring solar ultraviolet irradiance at the surface of the Earth. To assess the ability of spectroradiometers to accurately measure solar ultraviolet irradiance, and to compare the results between instruments of different monitoring networks, the second North American Intercomparison of Ultraviolet Monitoring Spectroradiometers was held June 12 to 23, 1995 at Table Mountain outside Boulder, Colorado, USA. This Intercomparison was coordinated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Participating agencies were the Environmental Protection Agency; the National Science Foundation; the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; the Department of Agriculture; and the Atmospheric Environment Service, Canada. Instruments were characterized for wavelength uncertainty, bandwidth, stray-light rejection, and spectral irradiance responsivity, the latter with a NIST standard lamp operating in a specially designed field calibration unit. The spectral irradiance responsivity, determined once indoors and twice outdoors, demonstrated that while the responsivities changed upon moving the instruments, they were relatively stable when the instruments remained outdoors. Synchronized spectral scans of the solar irradiance were performed over several days. Using the spectral irradiance responsivities determined with the NIST standard lamp and three different convolution functions to account for the different bandwidths of the instruments, the measured solar irradiances generally agreed to within 3 %.     

Infant attractiveness predicts maternal behaviors and attitudes.

The relations between infant attractiveness and maternal behavior were examined by observing mothers feeding and playing with their firstborn infants while they were still in the hospital after giving birth (N?=?144) and again when the infants were 3 months of age (N?=?115). The attitudes of the mothers toward their infants were also assessed. Mothers of more attractive infants were more affectionate and playful compared with mothers of less attractive infants. In contrast, the mothers of less attractive infants were more likely to be attentive to other people rather than to their infant and to engage in routine caregiving rather than affectionate behavior. The attitudes of the mothers of less attractive infants were also more negative than those of mothers of more attractive infants, but the number of differences in attitudes was not as great as the behavioral differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)