The advancing-front mesh generation method revisited

This paper presents a mesh generation method of the advancing-front type which is designed in such a way that the well-known difficulties of the classical advancing-front method are not present. The retained solution consists of using the first steps of a Voronoï–Delaunay method to construct a background mesh which is then used to govern the algorithm. The two-dimensional case is considered in detail and possible extensions to adaption problems and three dimensions are indicated.     

ECONOMIC ACCEPTANCE SAMPLING BY VARIABLES WITH QUADRATIC QUALITY COSTS

An economic model is developed, to assist in the selection of minimum cost acceptance sampling plans by variables. The quadratic Taguchi loss function is adopted to model the cost of accepting items, with quality characteristics deviating from the target value. The case of a normally distributed quality characteristic with known variance is examined, and a simple and efficient optimization algorithm is proposed. Comparisons with other methods of deriving sampling plans reveal that the cost penalties for using an inappropriate plan may be very large.     

Psychological adjustment of children with sickle cell disease: Stability and change over a 10-month period.

Rates of poor psychological adjustment of children with sickle cell disease remained relatively constant over initial and follow-up assessment points. 50 children (aged 7–12 yrs) and their mothers completed the initial protocol. 30 children completed the follow-up plus 5 additional children and their mothers. These Ss were aged 7–24 yrs at follow-up. With initial levels of adjustment controlled, children's strategies for coping with pain accounted for a significant increment in child-reported symptoms and mother-reported internalizing behavior problems at follow-up beyond the contribution of illness and demographic parameters and follow-up interval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why models rather than rules give a better account of propositional reasoning: A reply to Bonatti and to O'Brien, Braine, and Yang.

D. P. O'Brien et al (see record 1995-08272-001) argue that the mental model theory of propositional reasoning is easy to refute, and they report 3 experiments that they believe falsify the theory. In contrast, L. Bonatti (see record 1995-08253-001) argues that the model theory is too flexible to be falsified. It is shown that the experiments by O'Brien et al do not refute the model theory and that Bonatti's claims are ill founded. Formal rule theories of propositional reasoning have 3 major weaknesses in comparison with the model theory: (1) They have no decision procedure; (2) they lack predictive power, providing no account of several robust phenomena (e.g., erroneous conclusions tend to be consistent with the premises); and (3) as a class of theories, they are difficult to refute experimentally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of social skills curricula: Now you see them, now you don't.

Discusses the generalization effects of 7 commercially available student social-skills training (SST) curricula. A table listing strategy, curricula, S characteristics, and results is given. Maintenance of improved behavior was seen as least successful when the "train and hope" strategy was used. The combination of SST and alteration of consequences in the classroom led to the most significant maintenance of results. The most effective programs were those that combined a variety of techniques. Improvement of behavior was obtained more often with withdrawn students than with aggressive students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The chemically dependent: Phases of treatment and recovery.

Reviews the book, The chemically dependent: Phases of treatment and recovery edited by Barbara C. Wallace (see record 1992-98403-000). While this book is ambitious, interesting, educational, and useful, it is also disappointing, repetitious, and incomplete. Because it tries to accomplish so much, it may appear to have succeeded too little. This book is organized around, and explicative of, several basic ideas which might have been controversial if not heretical had this book been published ten years ago. Section I, purporting to link specific "phases of recovery" to particular forms and functions of treatment, will certainly be useful for novice clinicians but falls short of its overstated goals and is thereby disappointing. Section II is a collection of moderately redundant chapters describing the etiology and treatment of substance abusers from the viewpoints of psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, ego psychology, and object-relations theorists and therapists. Section III focuses on cognitive-behavioral, self-help, and relapse-prevention treatments. Section IV is quite uneven in quality of writing and applicability of content, and could have benefited from closer editorial scrutiny or selectivity. The final section focuses on special needs of particular subpopulations of substance abusers: African-Americans, prison inmates, HIV/AIDS patients, persons who are homeless, those who have been sexually and physically abused, and others. According to the reviewer this is not the best book on substance abuse treatment, but it does present some clinically useful ideas and it is worth reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of four maintenance programs on the long-term management of obesity.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of four posttreatment programs designed to enhance the long-term maintenance of weight loss. Mildly and moderately obese adults (N?=?123) were randomly assigned to one of the following five conditions: (a) behavior therapy only; (b) behavior therapy plus a posttreatment therapist-contact maintenance program; (c) behavior therapy plus posttreatment therapist contact plus a social influence maintenance program; (d) behavior therapy plus posttreatment therapist contact plus an aerobic exercise maintenance program; or (e) behavior therapy plus posttreatment therapist contact plus both the aerobic exercise and social influence maintenance programs. All posttreatment programs were conducted in 26 biweekly sessions during the year following behavioral treatment for obesity. At an 18-month follow-up evaluation, all four conditions that combined behavior therapy with a posttreatment maintenance program yielded significantly greater long-term weight losses than behavior therapy alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dual frequency miniature microstrip antenna

A single-feed dual frequency compact microstrip antenna with a shorting pin is described. This new antenna configuration gives a large variation in frequency ratio of the two operating frequencies, without increasing the overall size of the antenna     

A tractable large-signal dynamic model-application to stronglycoupled distributed feedback lasers

The modulation characteristics of DFB semiconductor lasers have been studied using a transfer matrix method combined with an appropriate rate equation analysis. The model takes into account longitudinal mode spatial hole burning, as well as the nonuniform current injection resulting from the axially varying Fermi voltage, and can be used for the efficient simulation of static, small-signal, and large-signal dynamic properties. The program is applied to the interpretation of experimental data from a strongly coupled InGaAsP/InP DFB laser. The experimental high-frequency properties of this device are well described by the simulations