"Clinician bias in the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder": Correction to Woodward et al. (2009).

Reports an error in "Clinician bias in the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder" by Halley E. Woodward, Casey T. Taft, Richard A. Gordon and Laura A. Meis (Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2009[Dec], Vol 1[4], 282-290). In this article, the copyright attribution is incorrect. The article is in the public domain. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2009-23661-003.) A sample of volunteers from a group of randomly selected psychologists in New York State (N = 119) provided a primary diagnosis and rule-out diagnoses for a case vignette that included balanced criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a mail survey. Vignettes portrayed a male or a female client, and history of childhood sexual abuse was presented either first or last. Results indicated that cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) clinicians were more likely to diagnose PTSD than BPD or other disorders, and psychodynamic clinicians were more likely to diagnose BPD or other disorders than PTSD. An anchoring effect (i.e., evidence that one regards initial information as an anchor that may or may not be adjusted upon exposure to subsequent information) of abuse history presentation was found. Findings did not support a patient or clinician gender bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the Increase in Boundary Friction with Sliding Speed

During the last sixty years there have been consistent reports in the literature that in the boundary lubrication regime, some, but not all, solutions of organic friction modifiers give extremely low friction at very low sliding speed, that then increases linearly with the logarithm of sliding speed. This article first reviews some previous studies that show this phenomenon and describes the main mechanisms proposed to explain it. New friction-sliding speed data are then presented, which show that an increase in friction with sliding speed occurs with saturated alkyl chain organic friction modifiers but not with unsaturated chain, oleyl-based ones, at the concentrations studied. It is, however, shown that elaidic acid, the trans-isomer of oleic acid gives friction that increases with sliding speed. A key difference between these two compounds is that the cis arrangement of carbon?Ccarbon bonds around the double bond of oleic acid means that the molecule cannot easily adopt a linear configuration, while elaidic acid can. This suggests that the ability of an organic friction modifier to produce friction that increases with sliding speed originates from its ability to form close-packed layers on steel surfaces. Importantly, even though oleyl derivatives do not show friction that increases with sliding speed, they still reduce friction quite significantly over the sliding speed range studied, although to a lesser extent than their saturated analogues, especially at low sliding speeds.     

Thinking about economic growth: cities, networks, creativity and supply chains for ideas

Discussions of economic growth require an examination of the role of cities. It is widely claimed that cities exist because they facilitate economic growth and development. Spatial concentrations reduce transactions costs. There are additional benefits gained as positive spillover effects are realized. The latter is especially important for the exchange of ideas. Creativity comes from new arrangements of thoughts and ideas. The thoughts of others facilitate new combinations of ideas. It is argued here that propitious spatial arrangements make both sets of benefits possible. These arrangements involve choices from a very large combinatorial set. The choice problem is too complex to entrust to models or planning agencies. Rather, flexible land markets are required. This paper is based on the author’s presidential address delivered at the February 2012 meetings of the Western Regional Science Association in Kauai, Hawaii.     

The costs of adaptation to climate change for water infrastructure in OECD countries

There is concern that climate change may greatly increase the costs of providing water infrastructure in rich countries, but the estimates available cannot be compared across countries. This paper develops and applies a top-down approach to estimate the costs of adapting to climate change on a consistent basis for different climate scenarios. The analysis separates (a) the costs of maintaining service standards for a baseline projection of demand, and (b) the costs of changes in water use and infrastructure as a consequence of changes in climate patterns. The engineering estimates focus on the direct capital and operating costs of adaptation without relying upon economic incentives to affect patterns of water use. On this assumption, the costs of adaptation are 1–2% of baseline costs for all OECD countries with the main element being the extra cost of water resources to meet higher level of municipal water demand. There are large differences in the cost of adaptation across countries and regions. Adopting an economic approach under which water levies are used to cap total water abstractions leads to a large reduction in the burden of adaptation and generates savings of $6–12 billion per year under different climate scenarios.     

Novel batch reactor design for the adsorption of arsenate on chitosan

BACKGROUND: The sorption of arsenate, a poison of acute toxicity found in natural waters, onto chitosan, a biosorbent derived from waste seafood shells has been studied. A batch adsorber design model was developed to determine how much chitosan adsorbent is required to reduce the arsenate concentration in solutions to the WHO standard of 10 µg L^?1. RESULTS: A series of batch kinetic experiments has been carried out at different initial pH values. The initial arsenate sorption appears to be completed after 30 min, however, a steady reversible reaction takes place resulting in the desorption of arsenate over 48 h. These phenomena in the batch kinetic data have been correlated simultaneously using the newly developed pseudo‐first order reversible model. Two batch reactor design models have been developed and compared. The first model is a conventional approach based on the equilibrium isotherm capacity equation. A second batch adsorption reactor design is based on the principle of contacting time required, t_max, for the chitosan to achieve its maximum adsorption capacity, q_max. The practical outcome from the second batch adsorber model results in a saving in adsorbent mass per batch of approximately 39.4%, 96.2% and 92.3% chitosan adsorbent at pH conditions of 3.5, 4.0 and 5.0, respectively. CONCLUSION: The adsorbent cost and handling costs are reduced in the second batch adsorber model. There is also a significant savings in the batch turnaround time required in the batch adsorber design when the design is based on the maximum adsorption capacity rather than the equilibrium adsorption capacity. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Metabolic analysis of the cutaneous fungi Malassezia globosa and M. restricta for insights on scalp condition and dandruff

Dandruff is a global consumer problem, characterized by flaking and scaling of the scalp, accompanied by itch and irritancy. However, the aetiology of the condition remains poorly understood, although there is a strong consensus that the cutaneous fungi Malassezia globosa and M. restricta are a major contributory factor. Although there is a paucity of understanding on how these commensal microorganisms adopt a pathogenic phenotype, a rich source of potential insights now exists in the shape of the recently published whole‐genome sequence of M. globosa, a functional annotation and metabolic reconstruction of which is freely accessible via the integrated microbial genomes (IMG) online community resource ( http://www.hmpdacc-resources.org/cgi-bin/imgm_hmp/main.cgi ). In these studies, we have taken a combined in‐silico and in‐vitro approach to investigate aspects of lipid and amino acid metabolism by M. globosa and M. restricta that have the potential to impact on scalp condition and dandruff. The IMG platform was employed to analyse the metabolism of triacylglycerols and fatty acids, as well as the aromatic amino acid tryptophan, by M. globosa, to investigate pro‐inflammatory pathways linked in the literature to dandruff and pityriasis versicolour, respectively. Results were equivocal, leaving question marks over the ability of M. globosa to fully degrade unsaturated fatty acids and metabolize tryptophan to indole‐3‐pyruvic acid. In‐vitro assay systems were then developed to study the biotransformation of these metabolites by both M. globosa and M. restricta, as well as their effect on human keratinocytes, and the results here indicated that neither unsaturated fatty acids nor indole derivatives are likely to be major aetiological factors in dandruff.