The effects of observational feedback on treatment integrity in school-based behavioral consultation.

Evaluated the effects of performance feedback on levels of treatment integrity in school-based behavioral consultation. Three teachers employed in a residential treatment community were responsible for treatment implementation. Treatment integrity was defined as the percentage of 2-min intervals during which contingent teacher reinforcement for student on-task behavior was directly observed. Teacher and child behavior were monitored across baseline, traditional consultation, and consultation with performance feedback conditions in a multiple baseline design. Following a Problem Identification Interview and Problem Analysis Interview (J. R. Bergan, 1977), mean levels of treatment integrity for the 3 teachers ranged from 9% to 37%. The addition of a performance feedback package increased treatment integrity for all 3 teachers to levels ranging from 60% to 83%. The findings contribute to a growing literature supporting the need for direct assessment of treatment integrity in school-based consultation research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coliphage prevalence in high school septic effluent and associated ground water

At the present time, somatic and male-specific coliphage and human enterovirus groups are being considered as indicators of possible pathogenic human enteric virus contamination from fecal contamination. A primary attribute for any indicator of fecal contamination is its prevalence at the source and in associated ground water. It must be consistently found in the source material at concentrations that are measurable with available techniques. Over a period of ten months, male-specific and somatic coliphage ranged from 7000 to 4,000,000 PFU/L in the effluent from a multi-user septic-tank. Unlike the values determined for septic-tank effluent, coliphage concentrations measured in ground water over this same period only varied by five-fold. Coliphage concentration in ground water under the down-gradient edge of the drainfield contained 1000 PFU/L. This concentration decreased at −1 log₁₀/5 m during 17.4 m of ground-water transport. From these data, coliphage concentrations in septic-tank effluent seem sufficient to allow their use as indicators of fecal contamination in ground water.     

Distraction effects on muscle. Leg lengthening studied in rabbits

We investigated changes in the anterior tibial muscle during lengthening of the lower leg in rabbits. In 37 rabbits, an osteotomy of the right middle tibia was performed and was fixed by a unilateral external fixator. The rabbits were randomized into 6 groups. In groups 1, 2, and 3 the tibiae were distracted 0.5 mm/day. In groups 1 and 2, the rabbits were killed after 14 and 28 days of distraction, respectively, and in group 3 after 28 days of distraction, followed by 14 days of rest. Groups 1a, 2a, and 3a served as controls. They were treated similarly as groups 1, 2, and 3, but no distraction was performed. Proliferating cell nuclei were labeled with 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine and were identified by immunohistochemical staining. The weight of the muscle was measured. During bone lengthening the muscle showed signs of growth, as indicated by increasing weight and number of proliferating cell nuclei. This was observed only during lengthening and it ceased when the lengthening was stopped.     

One-step fluorescent probe product-enhanced reverse transcriptase assay

The Chiari type II malformation is the leading cause of death in infants with myelomeningocele. The authors report 17 cases of symptomatic Chiari type II malformation occurring in two distinct age dependent population. In Group I, 13 neonates and infants in the first year of life presented with cranial nerve and brain stem dysfunction characterized by vocal cord paralysis, apnea, dysphagia and laryngeal stridor. In Group II, 4 patients developed signs and symptoms after the first year of life. In this group, the presentation was more insidious and included neck pain and cerebellar manifestations. The surgical treatment consisted initially in shunt implantation or revision and when there was no improvement, posterior fossa decompression was performed. The response to the surgical treatment differed considerably between the two groups: older patients improved promptly after surgery and there was no casualties; in newborn and infants, especially those under 6 months of age, the mortality rate was 46.1%. The authors stress that prompt diagnosis and surgical intervention should be performed in order to produce a favorable outcome.     

An improved method for magnetic identification and localization of cracks in conductors

A SQUID magnetometer can be used to measure the magnetic field produced by flaws in a two-dimensional, conducting plate carrying a current. Identification of the flaw-induced magnetic field is difficult because of the large magnetic field associated with the edges of the plate and the current in the leads that connect the plate to the power supply. We have developed a technique by which the wire and edge fields can be cancelled prior to mapping the magnetic field. In this technique, a similar unflawed conducting sheet is placed adjacent to the flawed plate, with a connection between the sheet and the plate at one edge, and with the opposite edges of the sheet and of the plate connected to the two conductors of a coaxial cable. Thus, an applied current will flow along one conductor of the cable, across the cancelling sheet, cross into the flawed plate, return along the plate, and then return to the power supply along the other conductor of the coaxial cable. As a result of this geometry, there is no magnetic field from the lead-in wires because they are coaxial, and the magnetic field due to the edges of the plate is cancelled by the opposing magnetic field of the edges in the adjacent sheet. The extent of cancellation is determined primarily by the separation between the plate and the cancelling sheet, by the thickness of the plate, and by macroscopic inhomogeneities in their electrical conductivities.     

Releasing N jobs to an unreliable machine

In this paper we develop an algorithm that determines the optimal times of releasing N jobs to an unreliable machine. The job processing times are assumed to be random and the machine is subject to random breakdowns. The objective is to minimize the cost incurred by jobs waiting in the system and utilizing the machine. The job flowtime distributions are first derived from which the average flowtimes and the machine completion time are calculated. Efficient computation of the average flowtimes are discussed in detail. The optimization methods and numerical examples are demonstrated.     

Kinetics of catalyzed and non-catalyzed oxidation of soot from a diesel engine

To comply with the new regulations on particulate matter, car manufacturers more and more commonly use diesel particulate filters (DPF). The working of these systems needs to periodically burn soot that has been accumulated during the loading of the DPF. This paper describes the kinetics of the non-catalytic and catalytic oxidation of real diesel soot with oxygen. From these experiments, mechanisms for catalyzed and non-catalyzed soot oxidation have been proposed.