Rethinking the validity of psychological assessment.

Comments on S. Messick's (see record 1996-10004-001) paper on the validity of psychological assessment. The author discusses the indeterminacy of construct validity, the overzealous scuttling of criterion-relevant validity, the drift away from measure-centered validity, and the need for reestablishing multiple forms of validity. The comments are aimed at combating an air of complacency fostered by the introduction and mounting elaboration of the concept of construct validation. The author concludes that the intractability of psychological measurement needs to be confronted more directly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transient Current Behaviour for Iron in 3.5%NaCl and 3.5%NaCl+ 1%NaNO_2 Solutions during Corrosion Fatigue

The transient current behaviour for Iron in 3.5%NaCl and 3.5%NaCl +1%NaNO2 solutions during corrosion fatigue (CF) process has been investigated at different given strain amplitudes and strain rates. The results show that elastic strain has little contribution to material dissolution. The elastic tension strain results in the decrease in the transient current, while the elastic compression strain increases the transient current. Compared to the elastic deformation, plastic deformation affects material dissolution evidently For iron in 3.5%NaCl solution, the strain amplitude plays a dominant role in the dissolution process accelerated by the plastic strain, while in 3.5%NaCl+1%NaNO2 solution, both the strain amplitude and strain rate play an important role in this process. In this paper, the effect of the elastic deformation on the material dissolution and the relation between the tension and compression current peak values under the plastic cycle deformation are discussed     

Policy Analysis, Peer Reviewed: Evaluation of Bioaccumulation Factors in Regulating Metals

Regulations.     

Successful weight loss in a self-taught, self-administered program

There is little evidence concerning the effectiveness of self-help materials for weight control. The purpose of this research was to evaluate a self-help weight-loss program. Obese (body fat > or = 25.0%, range = 25.0-48.6%, mean +/- SEM = 36.5 +/- 1.3%) men (n = 14) and women (n = 21) were given a workbook detailing a behavior modification approach to weight loss that emphasizes self-monitoring of diet and exercise behaviors, and then sent home for 6 months to learn how to lose weight on their own. A group of 9 controls (CONT) who did not get a workbook were used for comparison. ANOVA showed that the experimental group (EXP) lost 8.1 +/- 0.9 (mean +/- SEM) kg body weight, 6.4 +/- 0.8 kg fat, and 3.9 +/- 0.6% body fat; all significant over time (p < 0.001) and different from the CONT (p < 0.0001) who showed no change in these variables. The EXP also reduced their fat intake (% of joules) from 36.1 +/- 1.0% to 27.9 +/- 1.3% (p < 0.0001), increased their carbohydrate intake from 45.7 +/- 1.2% to 50.0 +/- 1.7% (p < 0.007) and their protein intake from 16.3 +/- 0.05% to 20.7 +/- 0.7% (0 < 0.03), all of which were significantly different (p < 0.03) than the CONT who did not change. Dietary fiber increased in the EXP from 19.8 +/- 1.4 to 27.3 +/- 2.2 g/d (p < 0.001) even with a significant reduction in energy intake (11.3 +/- 0.6 vs. 8.9 +/- 0.5 Mj/d; p < 0.0001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Cytoskeletal changes during neurogenesis in cultures of avain neural crest cells

Neural crest cells are motile and mitotic, whereas their neuronal derivatives are terminally post-mitotic and consist of stationary cell body from which processes grow. The present study documents changes in the cytoskeleton that occur during neurogenesis in cultures of avain neural crest cells. The undifferentiated neural crest cells contain dense bundles of actin filaments throughout their cytoplasm, and a splayed array of microtubules attached to the centrosome. In newly differentiating neurons, the actin bundles are disrupted and most of the remaining actin filaments are reorganized into a cortical layer underlying the plasma membrane of the cell body and processes. Microtubules are more abundant in newly-differentiating neurons than in the undifferentiated cells, and individual microtubules can be seen dissociated from the centrosome. Neuron-specific beta-III tubulin appears in some crest cells prior to cessation of motility and cell division, and expression increases with total microtubule levels during neurogenesis. To investigate how these early cytoskeletal changes might contribute to alterations in morphology during neurogenesis, we have disrupted the cytoskeleton with pharmacologic agents. Microfilament disruption by cytochalasin immediately arrests the movement of neural crest cells and causes them to round-up, but does not significantly change the morphology of the immature neurons. Microtubule depolymerization by nocodazole slows the movement of undifferentiated cells and causes retraction of processes extended by the immature neurons. These results suggest that changes in the actin and microtubule arrays within neural crest cells govern distinct aspects of their morphogenesis into neurons.     

The computer — a new tool for visual art

The article points out some new possibilities for using computers as an instrument for visual art, especially stressing the mathematical method of picture synthesis. It is illustrated with results of recent computer art by Herbert W. Franke and Horst Helbig.     

Scale Transition in Steel-Concrete Interaction. II:?Applications

The proposed mode of consideration of the steel-concrete interaction (Part I) is applied to real-life engineering structures. Two structures recently investigated numerically at Vienna University of Technology are considered: (1) the reinforced concrete (RC) cooling tower III Ptolema?s SES (Greece) and (2) a part of the shotcrete tunnel lining installed at the Lainzer tunnel (Austria). In both examples, the uniaxial fracture criterion used in Part I is replaced by the maximum stress (Rankine) criterion. Together with the Drucker-Prager criterion, which is used for the simulation of compressive failure of concrete/shotcrete, it defines the space of admissible stress states in the framework of multisurface plasticity. For the simulation of early-age fracture of shotcrete, consideration of the steel-concrete interaction presented in Part I of this paper is extended towards young shotcrete. Similar to the benchmark problem investigated in Part I of this paper, several analyses with different degrees of consideration of the steel-concrete interaction are performed. The obtained results give insight into the influence of the steel-concrete interaction on the load-carrying behavior of the investigated structures.     

SuperDense Quantum Teleportation

Recent advances in experimental technique make SuperDense Teleportation (SDT) possible only now, ten years after my first proposal at an ISI Torino summer conference on Quantum Computing. The effect uses remote state preparation to send more state-specifying parameters per bit than ordinary quantum teleportation (QT) can transmit. The SDT uses a maximally entangled state to teleport the relative phases of an n-dimensional state with equal amplitudes on every standard basis vector. For n greater than or equal to 3, the SDT sends more of these state-specifying parameters than QT. In the limit of large n the ratio is 2 to 1, hence the nomenclature by analogy with Super Dense Coding. Alice’s measurements and Bob’s transformations are far simpler than their corresponding operations in QT. The roles of Charles who chooses the state and Diana who deploys it are different than in QT. My discussion includes a brief review of the progress and possibilities of realization for several different experimental approaches around the world. This paper is the write-up of my remarks at the Festschrift conference for Anton Zeilinger, for many years a close collaborator in the Hampshire College NSF grant continuing our work with Mike Horne and Danny Greenberger started under Cliff Shull at MIT in the late 20th century.     

Efficacy of monensin for the prevention of subclinical ketosis in lactating dairy cows

A total of 1010 dry cows and pregnant heifers was randomly selected from 25 dairy farms near Guelph, Ontario, Canada to receive either a controlled-release capsule of monensin or a placebo at 3 wk prior to expected calving. Serum samples were obtained at the time of treatment administration, and both serum and milk samples were collected at wk 1, 2, 3, 6, and 9 postcalving. The threshold used to define subclinical ketosis was selected a priori at a concentration of > or = 1200 mumol/L of beta-hydroxybutyrate. Using this threshold, the prevalence and incidence of subclinical ketosis were significantly reduced (50%) by monensin treatment. The duration of subclinical ketosis for cows that had been treated with monensin was also shorter than that for cows treated with the placebo. Monensin treatment significantly reduced the incidence of subclinical ketosis when the threshold was defined using higher concentrations of serum beta-hydroxybutyrate (1400 and 2000 mumol/L). In addition, monensin significantly reduced the prevalence of positive milk ketone tests.