Estimates of the dollar value of employee output in utility analyses: An empirical test of two theories.

Examined distributions of estimates of the dollar value of performance in studies employing the method of F. L. Schmidt et al (1979) for estimating the standard deviation of job performance (SDy) and found evidence that (1) the mean 50th percentile estimate is biased downward, (2) estimates of SDy appear to be a constant percentage of the 50th percentile estimate, and (3) estimates of SDy as a percentage of the 50th percentile value (SDp) are quite similar to empirical SDp values based on actual employee output. These findings suggest that the downward bias in the mean estimate of the 50th percentile causes the mean estimates of SDy to be similarly biased downward, but does not bias the estimates of SDp. Finally, an objective method for estimating the value of average employee output is described. The product of this value and the mean supervisory estimate of SDp yields an unbiased estimate of SDy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Origins and early years of the American Psychological Association, 1890–1906.

Many personal and professional concerns led G. Stanley Hall to found the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1892, and its subsequent development through its earliest years reflected the cultural and institutional milieu in which it emerged, much more than it did the intellectual and scientific issues that interested psychologists during that period. This essay traces APA's evolution through 1906 as an adaptation to the ecological setting in which it found itself and concludes that psychology's institutional relations with other sciences (and psychologist's professional relations with other scienctists) did much to shape the ecological niche in which APA established itself during its first decade and a half. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

FATIGUE LIFE ESTIMATION IN RESISTANCE SPOT WELDS: INITIATION AND EARLY GROWTH PHASE

Abstract— The main objective of this research is to develop a model of fatigue crack initiation and early crack growth in resistance spot welds that is specimen independent. This objective is achieved by examining the stress state around a resistance spot weld. A general expression for the structural stress around the weld is formulated that is dependent only on the loading immediately surrounding the weld. As such, it is specimen independent.
An additional objective is to explore the feasibility of applying this fatigue crack initiation model of life estimation using structural response data from finite element analysis (FEA). This numerical technique is often used for evaluating structural integrity of assemblies. Limited verification examples show that the structural stress range as calculated from FEA reaction load data is capable of describing fatigue crack initiation and early crack growth in cyclically loaded resistance spot welds.     

Relative Contributions of the Male and the Female to Sexual Behavior and Reproductive Success in the Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica).

Two contrasting investigative techniques provided evidence consistent with the interpretation that female quail (Coturnix japonica) regulate male copulatory behavior by the duration of their immobility and through this behavioral mechanism they also control the rate of fertilization of their eggs. In Experiment 1, copulation tests with males and females from different genetic lines showed that the type of female that participated in a copulatory test significantly influenced the latency of the male's grab, mount, and cloacal contact responses and also determined the efficiency of the male's copulatory behavior. These measures of male performance were correlated with female immobility in Experiment 2, which used a more homogeneous population of quail. Furthermore, 2 of these measures (copulatory efficiency and the latency to make cloacal contact) were correlated with fertilization rate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensitization of the acoustic startle reflex by footshock.

Administration of footshock (500-ms duration, 0.2–2.4 mA) increased the amplitude of the startle reflex for a long time after its presentation. The effect occurred with a single footshock, although its magnitude and consistency across animals were greater with 5 or 10 footshocks presented 1/s. The facilitatory effect came on within 2–4 min with a 0.6-mA shock, peaking in about 10 min and then dissipating over the next 40 min. Stronger shocks also increased startle, but with a more delayed onset of facilitation (8–20 min). Footshocks increased startle in rats not previously given startle-eliciting stimuli, indicating sensitization rather than dishabituation. The facilitatory effect may not be attributable to a rapid conditioning to the experimental context, because a change in lighting conditions from shock presentation to testing did not attenuate shock sensitization. This excitatory effect of shock on startle may represent the unconditioned effect of shock that can become associated with a neutral stimulus to support classical fear conditioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cytokine responses of human lung cells (BEAS-2B) treated with micron-sized and nanoparticles of metal oxides compared to soil dusts

Background  

The induction of cytokines by airway cells in vitro has been widely used to assess the effects of ambient and occupational particles. This study measured cytotoxicity and the release of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 by human bronchial epithelial cells treated with manufactured nano- and micron-sized particles of Al₂O₃, CeO₂, Fe₂O₃, NiO, SiO₂, and TiO₂, with soil-derived particles from fugitive dust sources, and with the positive controls LPS, TNF-α, and VOSO₄.     

Growth of lactic acid bacteria in highly concentrated ultrafiltered skim milk retentates

Buffer capacity of ultrafiltered skim milk retentates at various protein concentrations and growth of direct set, frozen concentrated lactic starter cultures in such retentates were studied. Maximum buffering occurred at approximately pH 5.1 to 5.3. An average .48% lactic acid concentration was required to reduce the pH of plain skim milk to 4.6 compared with 1.01% for skim milk retentates concentrated 2.3:1 and 1.14% for skim milk retentate concentrated 2.6:1. Skim milk retentates concentrated 4.3:1 and 5.8:1 were unable to attain pH 4.6 even when titratable acid was greater than 1.8%. Lactic acid required to reduce pH to 4.6 for the two lower concentrated retentates (2.3:1 and 2.6:1) were 1.85 and 2.45%. Time to attain pH 4.6 was a function of the bacterial cell concentration of the cultures and the total protein level of retentates. Starter organism growth was unaffected by high total solids or ash of retentates. Growth rate and lactose metabolism decreased markedly below pH 5.2 at which point bacterial population was 10(9) cfu/ml.     

The relation of acid rain to energy policy

Current energy policies have severely eroded the earth's natural atmospheric waste-receptor capacity. Present acid rain concentrations may require a switch to an alternative energy-resource emphasis. This policy recommendation follows directly from a deductive control theory demonstration which shows that, if fossil-fuel use is continued at present rates, then there is an ever-increasing risk of a man-made environmental crisis of uncertain nature and scope.