An Exploratory Examination of Student Attitudes Toward "Impaired" Peers in Clinical Psychology Training Programs.

Do psychology students view their training programs as doing enough to appropriately identify, accommodate, and possibly dismiss students who manifest significant impairment? This study reports the general findings of an exploratory survey distributed to clinical psychology graduate students. Overall, students viewed impairment as a highly sensitive and inadequately addressed issue. Students commonly reported frustration with and concern for impaired colleagues. A few respondents indicated that the terms impaired and problem student were insensitive and that greater attention needed to be given to "impaired" training contexts. Implications regarding formal standards for interpersonal functioning and programmatic supports for students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal and Personality Trait Development in Emerging Adulthood.

The present research examined continuity and change in the importance of major life goals and the relation between change in goals and change in personality traits over the course of college (N = 298). Participants rated the importance of their life goals 6 times over a 4-year period and completed a measure of the Big Five personality traits at the beginning and end of college. Like personality traits, life goals demonstrated high levels of rank-order stability. Unlike personality traits assessed during the same period and in the same sample, the mean importance of most life goals decreased over time. Moreover, each goal domain was marked by significant individual differences in change, and these individual differences were related to changes in personality traits. These findings provide insights into the relatively unstudied question of how life goals change during emerging adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Control of Variation by Reward Probability.

Two bar-press experiments with rats tested the rule that reducing expectation of reward increases the variation from which reward selects. Experiment 1 used a discrete-trial random-interval schedule, with trials signaled by light or sound. One signal always ended with reward; the other signal ended with reward less often. The 2 signals were randomly mixed. Bar-press duration (how long the bar was held down) varied more during the signal with the lower probability of reward. Experiment 2 closely resembled Experiment 1 but used a random-ratio schedule rather than a random-interval schedule. Again, bar-press duration varied more during the signal with the lower probability of reward. The results support the rule--the first well-controlled comparisons to do so. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A novel polarizer‐free dye‐doped polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal for reflective TFT displays

Abstract— A novel preparation method for dichroic dye‐doped polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals has been developed. This was achieved by creating a porous polymer matrix first by washing out the liquid crystal from a polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), which is then refilled with dye‐doped liquid crystal. Optimizing the liquid crystal used in the refilling results in decreased turn‐on voltage and faster response time. Poster‐standard reflectivity and newspaper‐standard contrast was demonstrated with a 3.8‐in. QVGA reflective TFT display with a drive voltage of 10 V.     

Wear of filled and unfilled dental restorative resins

The influence of double-pass sliding on the surface failure of filled and unfilled dental restorative resins was evaluated. Damage was more severe for double-pass than for single-pass sliding. Wear of restorative resins and composites was influenced by the resistance to penetration and by the mode of deformation during sliding.     

A microcomputer-based system for stereogrammetric analysis

A system for the quantitative analysis of stereo-pairs of photomicrographs has been devised using a Commodore ‘PET’ microcomputer coupled to a digitizing pad, plotter and printer. The system need not use any form of stereo-viewer and does not require any particular alignment of the photographs. Height differences, derived from parallax measurements, can be obtained quickly even by operators who might normally experience difficulties with stereoscope-based systems due to either poor stereo vision or inexperience. Three-dimensional coordinates, input from point-pairs, are stored inside the computer and may be sorted to draw line profiles along any operator-selected line. Such profiles may be referred to either the projection of the median plane of the two images or rotated (‘levelled’) to the 0° tilt plane. The operation of the system is described and illustrated using both specially-constructed left- and right-hand ‘images’ from test contours and also real SEM stereo pairs. Finally, both the potential and limitations of such a system for development and application are discussed.     

Life stress and treatment course of recurrent depression: II. Postrecovery associations with attrition, symptom course, and recurrence over 3 years.

Life stress was studied in relation to postrecovery attrition, symptom course, and recurrence of depression over 3 yrs. Participants were 67 individuals with recurrent depression who had responded to treatment. Life stress was assessed for the prior 12 wks at acute treatment entry (T1), initial recovery (T2), and after 17 wks of sustained recovery (T3). Severe life events at T1 predicted greater attrition, a more favorable postrecovery symptom course, and a lower likelihood of recurrence over 3 yrs. Life stress at T2 was not predictive of outcomes. Finally, undesirable life events at T3 tended to predict a worse symptom course and a higher likelihood of recurrence, particularly for individuals on medication. The findings are discussed in terms of (a) different processes influenced by life stress over time and (b) limitations of existing longitudinal research for studying the effects of life stress over prolonged intervals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new position regulation strategy for VTOL UAVs using IMU and GPS measurements

We propose a new position regulation strategy for VTOL-UAVs using IMU and GPS measurements. Since there is no sensor that measures the attitude, our approach does not rely on the knowledge (or reconstruction) of the system orientation as usually done in the existing literature. Instead, IMU and GPS measurements are directly incorporated in the control law. An important feature of the proposed strategy, is that the accelerometer is used to measure the apparent acceleration of the vehicle, as opposed to only measuring the gravity vector, which would otherwise lead to unexpected performance when the vehicle is accelerating (i.e. not in a hover configuration).     

Influence of normal alcohols on the abrasive wear of glass

Normal alcohols were used as cutting fluids in a study of friction and wear of soda lime silicate glass against silicon carbide. Abrasion surfaces were 600 grit silicon carbide paper and a roughened plate of hot-pressed silicon carbide. As the alcohol chain length increased, the coefficient of friction decreased. This result was attributed in part to better lubrication of the abrading surfaces by the long chain length alcohols. The wear rate and the coefficient of friction were strongly dependent on pullout of carbide grains from the silicon carbide paper. Wear on fresh abrasive paper was independent of alcohol chain length. As the paper becomes used, long chain length alcohols were more effective cutting fluids. On the silicon carbide plate, the wear rate decreased in a non-linear fashion as the alcohol chain length increased. For all conditions, the highest wear rate and coefficient of friction were obtained in water. Data are explained in terms of classical theories of friction and wear.