Group therapy for adult women survivors of child sexual abuse: Differentiation of completers versus dropouts.

Examined intake profiles of 54 depressed women survivors of child sexual abuse presenting for a specialized group therapy program at a community mental health center. The 32 therapy completers were compared with the 22 dropouts. Both groups possessed extensive and severe childhood and adult abuse histories. Both were extremely socially disadvantaged and clinically impaired as measured on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI). Dropouts were more likely to have been battered as children and to have been sexually abused only within the family. Completers were more likely to have been multiply offended both by intrafamilial and extrafamilial perpetrators. The groups differed in terms of marital status and extent of economic dependence on spouse. Dropouts appeared to be more actively enmeshed in the abuse cycle at the time of therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Direct Vapor Pressure Measurement of Heatset Inks

Several types of ink are used in web offset printing. However, heatset inks predominate in general commercial work. In these inks, the vehicle consists of resin dissolved in a solvent, and drying takes place mainly by evaporation. In heatset web offset printing, the printed web is passed through dryers, which raise the temperature of the web enough to cause evaporation of the solvent. leaving only the resin to bind the pigment into a film and to the paper.

Since the solvents used in the heatset inks vary in boiling range from approximately 232° C to 316° C, and the solvent selected depends on the printing conditions, it is necessary to determine the vapor pressure values of heatset inks versus web temperatures for drying calculations. The isoteniscope method is limited to only the vapor pressure measurement of liquids. It cannot be used for materials such as heatset inks. To overcome this difficulty, an apparatus was designed and con- structed by TEC Systems for directly measuring the vapor pressure versus temperature of heatset inks from approximately 21°C to 316°C. In this paper, TEC's apparatus, test procedure developed, and typical test results for pure solvents and heatset inks will be described.     

Precision winding of fiber optic filament. II. Winding control

For pt.I see ibid., vol.39, no.3, p.258-67 (1992). The winding of fiber optic filament in the hoop, or precision, pattern is considered. Various automatic control options that have been designed and tested are described. The controllers are designed to regulate the fiber lag angle, which is the angle at which the feed filament approaches the take-up spool. Successful, flawless winding is directly related to accurate lag regulation. The contributions are distinguished by the fact that the automatic winding rate is 10 to 30 times greater than that achieved before by operator-assisted winding     

Clinical trial of a new lightwand device (Trachlight) to intubate the trachea

BACKGROUND: Transillumination of the soft tissue of the neck using a lighted stylet (lightwand) is an effective and safe intubating technique. A newly designed lightwand (Trachlight) incorporates modifications to improve the brightness of the light source as well as flexibility. The goal of this study was to determine the effectiveness and safety of this device in intubating the trachea of elective surgical patients. METHODS: Healthy surgical patients were studied. Patients with known or potential problems with intubation were excluded. During general anesthesia, the tracheas were intubated randomly using either the Trachlight or the laryngoscope. Failure to intubate was defined as lack of successful intubation after three attempts. The duration of each attempt was recorded as the time from insertion of the device into the oropharynx to the time of its removal. The total time to intubation (TTI), an overall measure of the ease of intubation, was defined as the sum of the durations of all (as many as three) intubation attempts. Complications, such as mucosal bleeding, lacerations, dental injury, and sore throat, were recorded. RESULTS: Nine hundred fifty patients (479 in the Trachlight group and 471 in the laryngoscope group) were studied. There was a 1% failure rate with the Trachlight, and 92% of intubations were successful on the first attempt, compared with a 3% failure rate and an 89% success rate on the first attempt with the laryngoscope (P not significant). All failures were followed by successful intubation using the alternate device. The TTI was significantly less with the Trachlight compared with the laryngoscope (15.7 +/- 10.8 vs. 19.6 +/- 23.7 s). For laryngoscopic intubation, the TTI was longer for patients with limited mandibular protrusion and mentohyoid distance, with a larger circumference of the neck, and with a high classification according to Mallampatti et al. However, there was no relation between the TTI and any of the airway parameters for Trachlight. There were significantly fewer traumatic events in the Trachlight group than in the laryngoscope group (10 vs. 37). More patients complained of sore throat in the laryngoscope group than in the Trachlight group (25.3% vs. 17.1%). CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to laryngoscopy, the ease of intubation using the Trachlight does not appear to be influenced by anatomic variations of the upper airway. Intubation occasionally failed with the Trachlight but in all cases was resolved with direct laryngoscopy. The failures of direct laryngoscopy were resolved with Trachlight. Thus the combined technique was 100% successful in intubating the tracheas of all patients.     

Photodegradation mechanism and stabilization of polyphenylene oxide and rigid‐rod polymers

Poly(2,4‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) (PPO), poly(benzo[1,2‐d:5,4‐d′]bisoxazole‐2,6‐diyl‐1,4‐phenylene) (PBO) and poly(benzo[1,2‐d:4,5‐d′]bisthiazole‐2,6‐diyl‐1,4‐phenylene) (PBZT), which are polymers with extended conjugated structures, undergo a self‐sensitized photo‐induced electron‐transfer reaction. A second component is not required. This article presents many similar observations on these polymers when they are exposed to light and evidence to support the proposed photo‐induced electron‐transfer mechanism. Methods to stabilize these polymers against photo‐oxidation are also described. Workers investigating other conjugated polymeric systems may find the experimental methods, observations and polymer stabilization approaches discussed in this review useful. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

On transitive orientations with restricted covering graphs

We consider the problem of finding a transitive orientation of a comparability graph, such that the edge set of its covering graph contains a given subset of edges. We propose a solution which employs the classical technique of modular tree decomposition. The method leads to a polynomial time algorithm to construct such an orientation or report that it does not exist.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel proton‐exchange membrane for fuel cells operating at high temperatures and low humidities

The synthesis of a p‐toluidine/formaldehyde (PTF) resin was performed, and the effects of the molar ratio of the individual monomers and the polymerization conditions on the structure of the PTF resin were studied. Fourier transform infrared and ¹³C‐NMR spectra were used to characterize the PTF. Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction patterns revealed the crystalline structures of various PTFs. Polarized optical microscopy revealed that the molar ratio of the monomers had a strong effect on the crystalline morphologies. A longer polymerization time turned out a polymer with a higher intrinsic viscosity and molecular weight, which led to differences in the proton conductivity. All of the PTFs showed a higher proton conductivity than a commercial Nafion membrane at 90–100°C and 0% relative humidity. The proton conductivity of the PTF series could be improved by sulfonation with sulfuric acid and could be maintained after blending with polyurethane. Pure methanol could be used as a fuel source because of the insolubility and nonwetting properties of PTF in methanol to increase the output current density for a PTF membrane electrode assembly. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008     

Inhibition et mémoire de travail : effet d'une privation aigu? de sommeil sur une tache de génération aléatoire.

The literature contains inconsistent data on the effects of acute sleep deprivation on the superior cognitive functions. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of inhibition, one of the functions of the working memory executive centre (EC), over an extended, 36-hour waking period. Inhibition is a cognitive mechanism whereby individuals ignore non-relevant information recorded in their working memory. We also tested the effects of a 36- hour period of acute sleep deprivation on simple reaction time. Twelve young, healthy volunteers (M=21.5 years, ?=2.3) performed a random generation task involving letters and a simple reaction time psychomotor test over four sessions held at 10-hour intervals. Each participant was assigned a "constant routine." Participants were kept awake in a prone position within a room whose environment was held strictly constant (light, noise, temperature, meals, etc.). This control procedure provided assurance that any variation in participant performance was solely caused by sleep deprivation. The random generation task, nearly two minutes in length, consisted in verbally producing a sequence of 100 letters in a random fashion (i.e. by inhibiting, for example, alphabetical order) and by keeping to a set rhythm... (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing the effectiveness of process-experiential with cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy in the treatment of depression.

This study compared process-experiential and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy in the treatment of major depression in a researcher allegiance-balanced randomized clinical trial. Sixty-six clients participated in weekly sessions of psychotherapy for 16 weeks. Clients' level of depression, self-esteem, general symptom distress, and dysfunctional attitudes significantly improved in both therapy groups. Clients in both groups showed significantly lower levels of reactive and suppressive coping strategies and higher reflective coping at the end of treatment. Although outcomes were generally equivalent for the 2 treatments, there was a significantly greater decrease in clients' self-reports of their interpersonal problems in process-experiential than cognitive-behavioral therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)