Early intervention for spelling problems: Teaching functional spelling units of varying size with a multiple-connections framework.

Poor spellers in 2nd grade (n?=?128) participated in 24 20-min sessions that included (a) direct instruction in the alphabet principle (most frequent phoneme-spelling connections); (b) modeling of different approaches, singly and in combination, for developing connections between spoken and written words for 48 words ordered by sound-spelling predictability; and (c) practice in composing. Results of this multilayered intervention showed that (a) more than 1 way of developing sound-spelling connections is effective in teaching spelling but that after training in the alphabet principle, combining whole word and onset-rime training is most effective in achieving transfer of the alphabet principle across word contexts; (b) functional spelling units of not only a single letter but also 2 or more letters are important in beginning spelling; and (c) training in spelling transfers to composition and word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examination of the relationship between African American adolescents' condom use at sexual onset and later sexual behavior: implications for condom distribution programs

School-based condom distribution programs have generated considerable controversy across the country. In the present study 249 sexually active African American adolescents who did (n = 119) and did not (n = 130) use a condom during their initial sexual experience were compared to assess whether condom use at the onset of sexual activity was associated with later differences in sexual behavior. The results indicated that youths who used a condom from the onset of sexual activity were more likely to have used a condom in the most recent intercourse occasion, less likely to be diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or to combine substance use with sexual activity, endorsed more positive attitudes toward condoms, and were older when they initiated sexual activity. The findings have implications for condom availability programs and indicate that initial condom use was not associated with earlier onset of sexual activity and was associated with higher rates of precautionary behavior among sexually active minority adolescents.     

Two-dimensional singular vector elements for finite-elementanalysis

The finite-element method (FEM) exhibits a reduced convergence rate when used for the analysis of geometries containing sharp edges where the electromagnetic field is singular. The convergence of the method can be-improved by introducing singular elements that model analytically predicted singular behavior. A number of authors have developed singular elements that are compatible with the scalar FEM. In this paper, we propose a new singular element that is compatible with edge-based vector finite elements and can cope with any order of singularity while preserving the sparsity of the FEM equations. Edge-based singular elements more correctly model singular fields and thus require fewer unknowns, while avoiding the introduction of spurious modes in the numerical solution. Numerical results verify that the convergence of the FEM is significantly improved     

Real-World Robotics: Learning to Plan for Robust Execution

In executing classical plans in the real world, small discrepancies between a planner's internal representations and the real world are unavoidable. These can conspire to cause real-world failures even though the planner is sound and, therefore, proves that a sequence of actions achieves the goal. Permissive planning, a machine learning extension to classical planning, is one response to this difficulty. This paper describes the permissive planning approach and presents GRASPER, a permissive planning robotic system that learns to robustly pick up novel objects.     

Psychologists in secondary schools in the 1990s: Current functions, training, and job satisfaction.

Surveyed 173 school psychologists serving secondary schools concerning their current roles and functions, training needs, and general job satisfaction. Results revealed that many school psychologists in secondary schools are providing a wide variety of services, including direct (e.g., counseling) and indirect (e.g., consultation) services. Approximately three-quarters of the Ss reported being satisfied with their work in secondary schools. Job satisfaction was related to increased time spent in intervention-related activities and decreased time spent in psychological assessment activities. Data reflected encouraging findings regarding the scope of school psychological services in secondary settings but also underscored the need for diversified training of school psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor performance.

Explores the role of early supervisory experience and cognitive ability in 1st-line supervisor performance. Similar to the F. L. Schmidt et al (see record 1986-31441-001) study of nonsupervisors, this research tested structural models hypothesizing relationships among supervisory experience, cognitive ability, supervisory knowledge and proficiency, and performance ratings, using a sample of 570 2nd-tour soldiers. The Schmidt et al model with an additional ability?→?experience path provided the best fit. The significant ability?→?experience path was interpreted as indicating that demonstrated ability contributes to soldiers being given the opportunity to obtain supervisory experience. Experience had a greater impact on supervisor proficiency than on supervisor knowledge. Ability had a greater impact on supervisor knowledge than on proficiency. Discussion focuses on the personal characteristics that might be involved in being assigned supervisory responsibilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Data management and analysis for high-throughput DNA sequencingprojects

The rapid advances in molecular biology have begun to shift many of the bottlenecks in genome research from the laboratory to the data analysis facility. The pace at which this has occurred creates a situation in which software development always has to catch up with the flow of data. Since such large-scale processes were not anticipated, the analysis infrastructure has not been fully established. Furthermore, most systems that have been built were designed by the biologists who collected the data. More recently, computer scientists, mathematicians, and engineers have taken an interest in this problem. This has had a positive effect, since it has created a tight synergy between the informatics and the biology. Several principles affected the design of the system developed at TIGR. Each of the sample preparation, sequencing, and analysis steps had to be managed, scheduled, and tracked. This information had to be made readily available to those who needed it for carrying out their tasks. Different skill levels of the users had to be taken into account. The degree of human intervention at each step had to be evaluated and built into the design. A mixed processing environment of Macintosh and Unix platforms had to be integrated. Most importantly, the system had to save time, reduce error, and ensure uniformity of the analysis and quality of the results. In the authors' experience, the tools they have built work well because of their early decisions as to which systems to use for development. The authors settled on a robust relational database management system (Sybase) and a portable development environment (C, C++)     

Behavioral and cardiovascular responses to interpersonal challenges among male offspring of essential hypertensives.

Behavioral, cardiovascular, and self-report measures of cognitive and affective responses to 2 interpersonal challenges were examined among 20 men with a positive (FH+) and 20 with a negative (FH–) family history of hypertension. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were measured throughout the laboratory session; Ss were requested to self-report positive and negative conditions, state anger, and state anxiety that occurred during interactions with a male and female confederate. Behavioral responses to interpersonal tasks were videotaped, coded, and categorized into 4 major groupings (positive verbal, positive nonverbal, negative verbal, and negative nonverbal). FH+ individuals exhibited significantly higher resting HR and systolic BP reactivity to both interactions than FH– counterparts. Analyses of behavioral responses for both interactions revealed significantly more negative verbal and nonverbal behavior and less positive nonverbal behavior among FH+ as compared with FH– Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Actions of cisplatin on the electrophysiological properties of cultured dorsal root ganglion neurones from neonatal rats

In this study we have employed the whole cell patch clamp technique to investigate the effects of an anti-cancer drug cisplatin on basic electrophysiological properties of cultured dorsal root ganglion neurones from neonatal rats. The results show that within the clinical concentration range, cisplatin (0.1 to 10 microM) caused a decrease in input conductance, and complex changes in resting membrane potential in these cultured sensory neurones. The dominant effects of cisplatin on input conductance may be due to inhibition of leak conductances. Transplatin (5 microM) was significantly less effective than cisplatin at reducing input conductance which suggests a degree of stereoselectivity. Cisplatin (1 to 5 microM) transiently increased excitability of the cultured neurones as reflected by a reduction in the threshold for activation of action potentials by 8 mV. The rise time, peak amplitude and duration of action potentials were not changed by acute application of 5 microM cisplatin. Long term treatment of neurones with cisplatin (5 microM), for up to 1 week reduced the viability of the cultures, and attenuated neurone excitability, although input conductance of the cells was significantly increased to 322 +/- 49 M omega (n = 9) compared with controls of 210 +/- 20 M omega (n = 30; P < 0.05). Acute and chronic treatment of cultured neurones with cisplatin therefore produced contrasting actions.     

A New Image Analysis Based Method for Measuring Electrospun Nanofiber Diameter

In this paper, a new image analysis based method for electrospun nanofiber diameter measurement has been presented. The method was tested by a simulated image with known characteristics and a real web. Mean (M) and standard deviation (STD) of fiber diameter obtained using this method for the simulated image were 15.02 and 4.80 pixels respectively, compared to the true values of 15.35 and 4.47 pixels. For the real web, applying the method resulted in M and STD of 324 and 50.4 nm which are extremely close to the values of 319 and 42 nm obtained using manual method. The results show that this approach is successful in making fast, accurate automated measurements of electrospun fiber diameters.