Clinical psychologists reflect on the usefulness of various components of graduate training.

Graduates of clinical training programs were surveyed to determine the degree to which they have found various graduate school experiences useful in their professional work. Samples of academic clinical psychologists and practicing clinical psychologists reported time allocation and preference for various professional activities, perceived usefulness of various theoretical orientations, and the influence on their current professional work of 19 different graduate training topics. Results suggest that where differences exist, academic clinical psychologists are generally more satisfied with Boulder-model-inspired scientific training than are clinical practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental abatement data of underflow baffles for removal of floatables in the CSOs of the Greater Montréal (Canada) area.

Underflow baffles have gained in popularity over the years as a viable mean to intercept floatables in Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). This choice was mainly justified by the extremely low capital cost (CAPEX) and operational cost (OPEX) of this solution, although the efficiency of underflow baffles has never been clearly proven. The only similar application to underflow baffles are scum boards in grit chambers and clarifier. However, the flow conditions at CSOs vary considerably from those in grit chambers and clarifier. For this reason, review of the behavior of floatables in a rapid flow is paramount. Only then can comprehensive design criteria for underflow baffles and overflow chambers be suggested. Pilot scale tests, performed in a 17 metres long basin at various flowrates, had already shown that a critical horizontal velocity for floatables (Vcr) may develop in the overflow chambers. In this follow up study, the fate of intercepted floatables was investigated. It appears from this latest data that permanent capture of floatables decreases rapidly with an increase in the horizontal velocity of the flow, no matter what the baffle depth. Baffle depth increases capture at lower velocities (0.17 m/s) but become irrelevant at higher velocities (0.61 m/s). This data suggests that capture efficiency of existing underflow baffles in overflow chambers can be, at best, very low whenever the horizontal velocity increases above 0.30 m/s or 1 ft/s.     

Electrochemical Faceting of polycrystalline platinum in HF solutions

The electrochemical faceting of polycrystalline (pc) platinum yielding a (100)-preferred oriented electrode surface was accomplished in HF solutions by applying to the pc platinum electrode a square wave potential perturbation at 1 kHz in the 0.2 to 1.3 V range (vs rhe). SEM patterns of the resulting surfaces were also obtained. For HF concentrations up to 2 M no appreciable influence of the electrolyte concentration on the electrochemical faceting was noticed. Otherwise, the voltammetric response of the (100)-type preferred oriented platinum surface in the H-adatom potential range when compared to previously reported data resulted remarkably sensitive to the electrolyte composition. The discussion of results was based on the non-equilibrium adsorption conditions for anions under the periodic perturbation.     

Epoxy paint failure in B-52 fuel tanks: Part II. Influence of DIEGME concentration in the fuel on the failure process

A model has been proposed to explain the failure of the original BMS10-39 epoxy paint on upper vertical surfaces in B-52 fuel tanks. The model involves interaction of the paint with DIEGME, a fuel system ice inhibitor (FSII) in jet fuel, that is distilled from the liquid fuel. In this communication, distillation experiments used to support the model are refined to better match the mass transfer of vapor from fuel in a B-52 fuel tank at close to room temperature. The interaction of these lower temperature distillates with the paint affirms the earlier model. On the basis of these experiments it is proposed that paint failure may be controlled or eliminated by reducing the level of DIEGME in the fuel. Proposed changes in military jet fuel composition are detailed.     

Integration of prior knowledge of measurement noise in kernel density classification

Samples can be measured with different precisions and reliabilities in different experiments, or even within the same experiment. These varying levels of measurement noise may deteriorate the performance of a pattern recognition system, if not treated with care. Here we seek to investigate the benefit of incorporating prior knowledge about measurement noise into system construction. We propose a kernel density classifier which integrates such prior knowledge. Instead of using an identical kernel for each sample, we transform the prior knowledge into a distinct kernel for each sample. The integration procedure is straightforward and easy to interpret. In addition, we show how to estimate the diverse measurement noise levels in a real world dataset. Compared to the basic methods, the new kernel density classifier can give a significantly better classification performance. As expected, this improvement is more obvious for small sample size datasets and large number of features.     

Probabilistic analysis of a static frame model

This paper describes our efforts during our participation in the Sandia Validation Workshop. The focus of the paper is the calibration of material models and simulation of random fields to characterize the variations of material properties across spatial field. Both parametric and non-parametric methods were used to represent uncertainty. Part of the challenge of this problem is the small amount of data that is available for the necessary probabilistic analyses in support of calibration, validation, accreditation and prediction activities. The analysis methods and corresponding results are described.