The relationship of human interest to immediate retention and to acceptability of technical material.

A different version of a 1206-word two-part lesson on aircraft mechanics was presented to each of 4 groups of 110 Ss. The versions differed with respect to level of human interest ("personal words" and "personal sentences") used in the two halves. "The results… indicate that a high level of human interest… of technical writing produced no significant difference in immediate retention test score, was consistently judged less acceptable, and showed a tendency to produce a greater amount read in a given time, compared to a low level of human interest.… " (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Financing and payment reform for primary health care and substance abuse treatment

One of the most controversial areas for health care reform concerns the treatment of alcohol and other drug problems, which account for some of the most rapidly rising costs in the health care sector. There is arguably no other set of conditions that show such variation in accessibility to treatment on the basis of insurance status, present the same degree of difficulty in providing comprehensive care, or challenge as many public and professional assumptions about behavioral, social and economic determinants. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the financing and coverage barriers to comprehensive treatment for alcohol and other drug abuse; to discuss some innovative mechanisms for providing and financing comprehensive services; and to suggest some directions for public policy to support the development of new practice models that emphasize cost-effectiveness and efficiency of care.     

Well-done meat intake and the risk of breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Heterocyclic amines, mutagens formed in meats cooked at high temperatures, have been demonstrated as mammary carcinogens in animals. We conducted a nested, case-control study among 41836 cohort members of the Iowa Women's Health Study to evaluate the potential role of heterocyclic amines and intake of well-done meat in the risk for human breast cancer. METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to individuals in the cohort who had breast cancer diagnosed during the period from 1992 through 1994 and a random sample of cancer-free cohort members to obtain information on usual intake of meats and on meat preparation practices. Color photographs showing various doneness levels of hamburger, beefsteak, and bacon were included. Multivariate analysis was performed on data from 273 case subjects and 657 control subjects who completed the survey. RESULTS: A dose-response relationship was found between doneness levels of meat consumed and breast cancer risk. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for very well-done meat versus rare or medium-done meat were 1.54 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.96-2.47) for hamburger, 2.21 (95% CI=1.30-3.77) for beef steak, and 1.64 (95% CI=0.92-2.93) for bacon. Women who consumed these three meats consistently very well done had a 4.62 times higher risk (95% CI=1.36-15.70) than that of women who consumed the meats rare or medium done. Risk of breast cancer was also elevated with increasing intake of well-done to very well-done meat. CONCLUSIONS: Consumption of well-done meats and, thus, exposures to heterocyclic amines (or other compounds) formed during high-temperature cooking may play an important role in the risk of breast cancer.     

PETFAB: user-considerate FORTRAN 77 program for the generation and statistical evaluation of fabric diagrams

PETFAB is an easy-to-use FORTRAN 77 program which provides a comprehensive structural geologic fabric analysis package for use by geologists and students with little or no computer experience. User-selected options include a plot of data points on an equal-area stereonet, determination of data distribution and preferred orientation, calculation of statistical significance of fit, and contour diagrams using both fixed and variable counting areas. Creation of data files is simplified by use of an interactive utility loading program, LOADFAB. Output is generated on a lineprinter and optionally on a CALCOMP plotter.     

Increasing the Utility of the Copper Cylinder Expansion Test

We report the development of a new methodology for analyzing CYLEX tests streak images. In these tests, the displacement of the wall of an explosive filled cylinder is obtained by backlighting the cylinder. The profile is imaged through a slit and streaked across a film record as the cylinder is detonated. A critical step in processing this data is the spatial calibration of the film and extraction of the profile of the cylinder from the image. Historically this has been a tedious task as it was performed by eye with the assistance of an optical comparator. Recently we developed an algorithm which automates the data calibration and extraction process of digitized streak records utilizing the Shen‐Castan edge detection algorithm and the image processing capabilities found in the IGOR PRO software. The new processing methodology greatly increases the resolution of the data, removes human subjectivity, and reduces analysis time from hours to seconds. The higher resolution of the new method has enabled much greater accuracy in measuring early‐time (<15 µs) expansion. With the aid of CTH hydrocode calculations, new fitting functions were developed to model both the early and late‐time expansion data. These functions contain physically meaningful fitting parameters and include terms which mimic the intensity and time scales of the shock and gas induced expansion of the cylinder independently. We demonstrate the methodology and hydrocode calculations on a recent CYLEX test series aimed at examining the effects of a plastic liner on high‐purity oxygen‐free copper cylinders filled with a high explosive.     

Analyses of the grouting results for a section of the APSE tunnel at Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory

The grouting results for a tunnel at a depth of 450 m in crystalline rock at Äspö HRL were studied. The aims were to investigate whether the methodology used resulted in a successful grouting design and producing a sufficiently dry tunnel, and whether grout penetration and inflow into the finished tunnel corresponded to the predictions. An analysis was made of data from an original cored borehole, drilled before the tunnel was constructed and mapped thoroughly with regard to fractures and transmissivities. The predicted inflow into the tunnel was calculated and found to be four times higher than the measured inflow. The latter was 5 l/min along the 70 m tunnel, considered to be a good result at the current depth. New cored control boreholes were drilled along a section of the tunnel. The inflow positions and quantities in these holes, and the positions of grout found in the corresponding cores, were compared with the data from the original borehole. It was found that at the predicted positions of larger fractures, grout was observed and there was no inflow, showing that these had been successfully sealed. At the predicted positions of small fractures, no grout was visible in the cores, and small inflows showed that the grout had not sealed these fractures. The results indicated that cement-based grout successfully sealed fractures down to a hydraulic aperture of about 50 μm but not below 30 μm. This concurs with the initial design aimed at sealing fractures larger than 50 μm.