Conjoint versus one-person family therapy: Some evidence for the effectiveness of conducting family therapy through one person.

Hypothesized that it would be possible to achieve the goals of family therapy (structural family change and symptom reduction) by working primarily with 1 family member. 37 Hispanic families with a drug-using member were assigned to conjoint or 1-person therapy. Data were analyzed using a mixed-design (repeated measures plus a between-group independent variable) ANOVA, with treatment as the between-group independent variable and time of assessment (intake, termination, and follow-up) as the repeated measure. Results indicate that both conditions were highly effective in improving family functioning and that 1-person family therapy was slightly more effective in reducing identified patient symptomatology. Clinical and practical issues and implications for the current theory and practice of family therapy are discussed. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fertility of bull sperm frozen and stored in clarified egg yolk-Tris-glycerol extender

Egg yolk-Tris-glycerol extender, which is widely used in commercial artificial insemination (AI), was modified by replacing the 20% egg yolk (vol/vol) with a supernatant from egg yolk centrifuged at 50,000 x g for 2 h and then used to cryopreserve bull sperm. Preliminary studies showed that 20% egg yolk interfered with biochemical assays, which could be overcome by centrifugation. In Experiment 1, semen from 4 Holstein bulls was frozen in the experimental Tris extender and compared with the whole milk-glycerol control. A total of 2256 first services resulted in 72.6% 60- to 90-d nonreturns for the control and 71.0% for the Tris extender. In Experiment 2, semen from 10 Holstein bulls was frozen in the experimental Tris extender. Half of the semen was used immediately and half was stored in liquid nitrogen for 1 yr before distribution. The nonreturn rates based on 8878 first services for 7 bulls that completed both parts of the trial were 70.9% initially and 71.6% 1 yr later. This time trend difference of 0.7% was comparable to 0.6% for the AI mean for Holstein sires used at the same time. These fertility results and previous laboratory studies indicate that the conventional egg yolk-Tris-glycerol might be simplified for cryopreserving bull sperm. The experimental Tris extender also was suitable for making biochemical measurements.     

Modeling of planar quasi-TEM superconducting transmission lines

Design oriented modeling of high-temperature superconducting thin-film microwave circuits is difficult when film thickness is on the order of the penetration depth of the fields. Involved formulas for loss, phase velocity and characteristic impedance can be derived from the Bardeen-Cooper Schrieffer (BCS) theory of superconductivity. The parameters required by these formulas do not correspond to readily measurable observables that depend on the manufacturing process of the superconductor. An application of the phenomenological loss equivalence method in modeling the microwave behavior of planar quasi-TEM superconducting transmission lines is presented. Measured and modeled S-parameters of a superconducting coplanar waveguide lowpass filter agree to within 0.3 dB in magnitude and 0.5 radians in phase. Extracted values for the penetration depth and the real part of the conductivity of the superconducting film are within 10% of the findings of other researchers     

Integrated system for rapid PCR-based DNA analysis in microfluidic devices

An integrated system for rapid PCR-based analysis on a microchip has been demonstrated. The system couples a compact thermal cycling assembly based on dual Peltier thermoelectric elements with a microchip gel electrophoresis platform. This configuration allows fast (approximately 1 min/ cycle) and efficient DNA amplification on-chip followed by electrophoretic sizing and detection on the same chip. An on-chip DNA concentration technique has been incorporated into the system to further reduce analysis time by decreasing the number of thermal cycles required. The concentration injection scheme enables detection of PCR products after performing as few as 10 thermal cycles, with a total analysis time of less than 20 min. The starting template copy number was less than 15 per injection volume.     

Understanding the role of cerium during VIM refining of nickel-chromium and nickel-iron alloys

The effect of cerium addition on the VIM refining process of oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen in a nickel-chromium alloy and the Udimet 901 iron-nickel-base superalloy is presented. It was found that cerium reduces sulfur and oxygen content effectively through the formation of cerium oxides, sulfides, and oxysulfides but did not reduce the already low nitrogen content. The kinetics of oxygen and sulfur depletion in the VIM heats follow the first order reaction rate theory and the proposed mechanism is that of the drift of inclusions to crucible skulls. The maximum addition of cerium to iron-nickel-base alloys is limited by segregation effects that lead to hot shortness. F. COSANDEY, formerly at Columbia University     

High-Tc superconducting coplanar waveguidefilter

Coplanar waveguide (CPW) low-pass filters made of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO) on LaAlO₃ substrates, with dimensions suited for integrated circuits, were fabricated and packaged. A complete filter gives a true idea of the advantages and difficulties in replacing thin-film metal with a high-temperature superconductor in a practical circuit. Measured insertion losses in liquid nitrogen were superior to the loss of a similar thin-film copper filter throughout the 0- to 9.5-GHz passband. These results demonstrate the performance of fully patterned YBCO in a practical CPW structure after sealing in a hermetic package     

Cerebrosides of rabbit and pigeon aorta: Isolation and fatty acid distribution

Quantitative determinations have been made on the cerebrosides isolated from aortas of cholesterol-fed and normal rabbits, and mature and young pigeons. The fatty acid distributions of these cerebrosides were determined. Cerebroside concentration was higher in pigeons than in rabbits and higher in the animals expected to have atherosclerosis. Comparing supposedly atherosclerotic animals to normal animals, the atherosclerotic animals generally had more unsaturated fatty acids and more 18:0 and 18:1 as compared to 16:0 and 16:1. These trends are consistent with fatty acid data from human aorta. Pigeon data were more similar to human data than were the rabbit data.