Correction to Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive (2006).

Reports an error in "Does Barbie make girls want to be thin? The effect of experimental exposure to images of dolls on the body image of 5- to 8-year-old girls" by Helga Dittmar, Emma Halliwell and Suzanne Ive (Developmental Psychology, 2006 Mar, Vol 42[2], 283-292). A substantive error occurs in the Body shape dissatisfaction section on page 287. The sentence describing the calculation of body shape dissatisfaction scores from girls' responses to the Child Figure Rating Scale should instead read as follows: "A body shape dissatisfaction score was computed by subtracting the girl's actual from her ideal body size." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2006-03514-007.) The ubiquitous Barbie doll was examined in the present study as a possible cause for young girls' body dissatisfaction. A total of 162 girls, from age 5 to age 8, were exposed to images of either Barbie dolls, Emme dolls (U.S. size 16), or no dolls (baseline control) and then completed assessments of body image. Girls exposed to Barbie reported lower body esteem and greater desire for a thinner body shape than girls in the other exposure conditions. However, this immediate negative impact of Barbie doll was no longer evident in the oldest girls. These findings imply that, even if dolls cease to function as aspirational role models for older girls, early exposure to dolls epitomizing an unrealistically thin body ideal may damage girls' body image, which would contribute to an increased risk of disordered eating and weight cycling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related binding deficits and the content of false memories.

The authors examined effects of age-related binding deficits on feature information in false memories for imagined objects (e.g., lollipop) that were similar in shape to seen objects (e.g., magnifying glass). In Experiment 1, location memory for seen objects was lower in older than younger adults and lower still in old-old than young-old adults. Imagined objects, when falsely called seen, were less likely to be attributed to the location of similar seen objects (i.e., congruent attributions) by old-old than young-old adults. In Experiment 2, for younger adults, displaying seen objects for less time (1 s vs. 4 s) reduced both location memory for seen objects and congruent attributions for false memories. Thus, binding deficits may influence the specific content of false memories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol-related and alcohol-free activity participation and enjoyment among college students: A behavioral theories of choice analysis.

College student alcohol abuse remains a significant public health problem, and there is a need for theory-driven and empirically based models to guide prevention efforts. Behavioral theories of choice assume that the decision to consume alcohol is influenced by the relative value of alcohol versus other available activities. In the present study, a sample of college student drinkers (N=108; 56% female, 44% male) who had previously completed a mandatory alcohol intervention completed a measure of alcohol-related and alcohol-free activity participation and enjoyment. The goals of the study were to examine the influence of drinking quantity and contextual variables on activity enjoyment and to identify enjoyable alcohol-free activities that take place on evenings when students might otherwise be drinking. Overall, students found alcohol-related activities more enjoyable than alcohol-free activities, and drinking quantity was positively related to enjoyment. However, alcohol-free activities such as watching movies, going to the theater or museums, going to bars or parties, hanging out with friends, eating at restaurants, and engaging in creative activity were generally as enjoyable as drinking. Alcohol-free activities that included peers or dates were more enjoyable than solitary activities. Men were less likely to engage in alcohol-free activities that included peers and reported less enjoyment related to alcohol-free activities than did women. Further research is required to identify procedures for increasing participation in alcohol-free activities and to determine whether increased alcohol-free activity participation results in decreased alcohol consumption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-Term Dynamic Modeling Approach to Quantifying Attached Algal Growth and Associated Impacts on Dissolved Oxygen in the Lower Truckee River, Nevada

Nutrient loads enter the lower Truckee River of western Nevada, affecting the growth of attached algae (periphyton) which causes depressed nighttime dissolved oxygen (DO) levels. The lower Truckee River is home to the endangered cui-ui and threatened Lahontan cut-throat trout, with DO standards being established to in part protect these species. Hydrodynamics, nutrient concentrations, periphyton biomass, and DO data spanning August 2000–December 2001 were used to calibrate and verify a modified version of the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program Version 5 (WASP5). Under typical loading conditions the periphyton community is nitrogen limited, however nitrogen loading from an upstream wastewater treatment facility increased greatly during the analysis period due to approved site construction activities (discharge permit excursion) causing the periphyton community to temporarily become phosphorus limited. The developed modeling approach, with limited calibration, was able to accurately track dynamic system responses. Removing the impact of the noted discharge permit excursion resulted in a minimum computed DO value of 4.13?mg/L, occurring at the downstream end of the modeling domain on August 8, 2001. Additionally removing the impact of all nutrient loads from area agriculture resulted in a predicted minimum DO value of 4.54?mg/L, while also shifting its location significantly upstream and its timing to April 26, 2001. Meeting all prescribed DO standards required establishing a minimum in-stream flow value of 1.81?m3/s (64.0?ft3/s) downstream of Derby Dam.     

Adaptive decision-making frameworks for dynamic multi-agent organizational change

This article presents a capability called Adaptive Decision-Making Frameworks (ADMF) and shows that it can result in significantly improved system performance across run-time situation changes in a multi-agent system. Specifically, ADMF can result in improved and more robust performance compared to the use of a single static decision-making framework (DMF). The ADMF capability allows agents to dynamically adapt the DMF in which they participate to fit their run-time situation as it changes. A DMF identifies a set of agents and specifies the distribution of decision-making control and the authority to assign subtasks among these agents as they determine how a goal or set of goals should be achieved. The ADMF capability is a form of organizational adaptation and differs from previous approaches to organizational adaptation and dynamic coordination in that it is the first to allow dynamic and explicit manipulation of these DMF characteristics at run-time as variables controlling agent behavior. The approach proposed for selecting DMFs at run-time parameterizes all domain-specific knowledge as characteristics of the agents’ situation, so the approach is application-independent. The presented evaluation empirically shows that, for at least one multi-agent system, there is no one best DMF for multiple agents across run-time situational changes. Next, it motivates the further exploration of ADMF by showing that adapting DMFs to run-time variations in situation can result in improved overall system performance compared to static or random DMFs.     

Automation for High-throughput Identification and Picking of GFP Expressing Colonies

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) has many applications as a marker in living cells, and has become widely used as a reporter gene in microbial, plant and animal cells. Screening microbial colonies for GFP expression enables various types of assays (e.g. for secretory mutations). However, this is laborious, non-quantitative and potentially hazardous to the operator (due to UV illumination) when performed manually. In order to address this the GloPix robot was developed. The imaging system discriminates between colonies based on the level of fluorescence activity and the picking function automatically transfers cells to microplate wells. Measuring fluorescent activity allows quantitation of fluorescent tag concentration/expression.     

Blood speed imaging with an intraluminal array

In applications in which Doppler processing is not possible, such as side-looking intravascular imaging systems, decorrelation methods can be used to estimate blood speed. Here, a method is presented measuring relative blood speed using an FIR filter bank to estimate temporal decorrelation rates. It can be implemented in a modern commercially available ultrasound imaging system with no additional hardware. Both simulations and experiments using an intraluminal scanner appropriate for coronary artery applications have tested the system. In this study, the FIR filter bank is contrasted with previous methods, and its utility is further demonstrated with real-time color flow images from a pig model.     

MEAN STRESS EFFECTS ON LOW CYCLE FATIGUE FOR A HIGH STRENGTH STEEL

Abstract— ASTM A723 Q & T steel with a yield strength and ultimate strength of 1170 and 1262 MPa respectively was evaluated for mean stress-strain effects under smooth specimen axial strain controlled low cycle fatigue conditions with strain ratios R of −2, −1, 0, 0.5 and 0.75. Cycles to failure ranged from 15 to 10⁵. Cyclic stress-strain response based upon half-life hysteresis loop peaks were similar for all R ratios. Mean stress relaxation occurred for R ≠−1 only when plastic strain amplitudes were present and this occurred above total strain amplitudes of 0.005. Thus, mean stress relaxation was completely dependent upon cyclic plasticity. Mean strains did not affect low cycle fatigue life unless accompanied by half-life mean stress. Tensile mean stress was detrimental and compressive mean stress was beneficial and these effects only occurred at strain ampltidues below 0.005. Three different mean stress models were used to evaluate the low cycle fatigue data and the SWT log-log linear model best represented the data. These results can be used with the local notch strain fatigue life prediction methodology.     

The Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists: its future and relevance

The authors present a case of tremor isolated to the lower extremity that was treated with stereotactically guided thalamotomy in a patient with Parkinson's disease. The technology that makes this procedure effective for this particular manifestation of parkinsonism is discussed.     

Comparison of electrical profiles from hot and cold implantations of zinc ions into GaAs

Hole concentration and mobility profiles have been measured as a function of dose for 450 keV zinc ions implanted into GaAs. For doses above 1014 ions/cm2 implanted at 200°C very broad profiles were obtained suggesting that significant indiffusion has occurred. However, much narrower profiles were obtained after implanting at room temperature. Peak hole concentrations were in the range 1018?1019 holes/cm3.