Psychological impact of colorectal cancer screening.

This article examines the psychological impact of participating in sigmoidoscopy screening for colorectal cancer prevention. The 1st study examined psychological well-being at 3 months, in relation to screening outcome, in 4,153 individuals. The 2nd study used longitudinal data to examine changes in psychological functioning from before to after screening in relation both to screening outcome and baseline indicators of vulnerability. There were few psychological differences between those who had received negative results or had polyps detected. These findings were confirmed in the longitudinal study, which also found no evidence for vulnerability to adverse effects among those who were initially most anxious or who perceived their risk of cancer to be higher. The longitudinal data suggested that screening might produce transient positive effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The achievement test desk reference: A guide to learning disability identification, second edition.

Reviews the book, The achievement test desk reference: A guide to learning disability identification, second edition by Dawn P. Flanagan, Samuel O. Ortiz, Vincent C. Alfonso, and Jennifer T. Mascolo (2006). The Second Edition of the Achievement test desk reference comes only four years after its first edition. Its content echoes the first edition, with the chapters now re-organized and updated. However, this edition is also timely; its significant contributions are its theoretical and practical model for defining and assessing learning disabilities (LD) and its update of practical information for interpreting many of the new standardized achievement tests. The goal for this edition was to provide an integrated and systematic framework for achievement testing within the framework of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of human cognitive abilities and the Response to Intervention (RTI) movement. Part 1 of provides an update of the theories, definitions, assessment, interpretation, and identification of LD. Part 2 describes and reviews the psychometric, theoretical, and qualitative features of achievement tests published between 1996 and 2006 and normed on people from the United States. Part 3 provides a comprehensive, step-by-step process for assessing learning disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004). This volume guides practitioners to choose the best achievement tests to use. It shows how to get the most efficient and effective evaluations of students' academic skills that could account for their difficulties and possible learning disabilities. This book will be essential reference material for effective LD assessments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral Phenotype of the Reeler Mutant Mouse: Effects of Reln Gene Dosage and Social Isolation.

Reeler (rl/rl) and reeler/wild-type (+/rl) mice synthesize Reln at subnormal rates, as do patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism, thereby forming the basis for a Reln hypothesis for vulnerability to these psychopathologies and justifying attention to the behavioral phenotypes of Reln-deficient mice. Tests of gait, emotionality, social aggression, spatial working memory, novel-object detection, fear conditioning, and sensorimotor reflex modulation revealed the behavioral phenotype of rl/rl, but not +/rl, mice to be different from that of wild-type (+/+) mice. These results reveal no effect of Reln gene dosage and provide significant challenges to both the Reln and the neurodevelopmental hypotheses of the etiology of major psychopathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recent Development of Cognitive and Neuropsychological Assessment in Asian Countries.

There is a growing trend of research in neuropsychological assessment in Asia: The mean number of published studies increased from 1.8 in the 1980s to 16.0 in 2 recent years. About 40% of the studies reviewed concerned test development or adaptation, with the latter greatly outnumbering the former. To facilitate the test selection for clinical use, 36 clinical measures were evaluated based on some statistical criteria. The results showed that only 8 neuropsychological tests (5 Chinese. 2 Korean, and 1 Japanese) met the criteria. Given that Asian and Western populations differ on certain cognitive processes, future development of neuropsychological assessment measures in Asia should move from the adaptation of Western tests toward the construction of original tests with better ecological validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

特低渗透油气藏成岩储集相的定量评价方法

针对陕北斜坡东部特低渗透储层受沉积作用和成岩作用两大因素控制的特点，利用灰色系统理论对成岩储集相进行了研究。分析了成岩作用综合效应及其相应的视压实率、视肢结率、视微孔率、成岩综合系数等定量指标和岩心分析数据，建立了成岩储集相综合评价参数、指标和分析方法。通过在安塞油田低孔隙度特低渗透长6。油藏储层的实际应用，对目的层段开展了Ⅰ，Ⅱ，Ⅲ和Ⅳ类成岩储集相的定量评价和油气富集描述，有机地集成和综合了多种信息，实现了成岩储集相对沉积学、岩石学和成岩作用等特征的综合表征，并划分出有利成岩储集相区域，为指导油田有利含油区块的筛选和开发决策提供了重要依据。     

The Challenge of the Market

Identifying markets for new or improved products for minor crops threatened with extinction is one critical component of any strategy intended to enhance prospects for sustainable production and use. Typically, however, activities linked to the sustainability of these commodities avoid addressing questions associated with assessing their commercial potential. After a brief review of this avoidance syndrome, this article presents a sample of practical, low-cost procedures to help evaluate the market prospects and procedures for crops like quinoa, while citing references to other methodological materials covering similar topics.     

Probabilistic analysis of uncertainties in seismic hazard assessment

Sources and current methods of analysis of uncertainty from randomness, fuzziness and ignorance or incomplete knowledge in seismic hazard assessment problem are briefly discussed at beginning; understandings of the authors are then presented in the following order. All three types of uncertainty come from incomplete knowledge. Probabilistic method can be applied to all of them, objective probability for random factors and subjective probability for the other two types of uncertain factors. Discrete subjective probability mass functions for incomplete and fuzzy factors can be obtained from logic-tree and membership functions respectively. Fractile curves may be used to show the scattering of any uncertainty factor, but a unified probabilistic treatment may be applied to any combination of all three types of uncertainty.     

Assessment of the types of public building maintenance contracts in Saudi Arabia

The study revealed that Fixed Price, Cost Plus and Purchased Labour contracts are the top three maintenance contracts adopted whilst Unit Price, Cost Plus A Percentage Fee contracts are alternatives used in the Kingdom. Some other types of maintenance contract were thought to be inappropriate by ministry departments.     

油田开发经济运行质量研究与应用

提出了油田开发经济运行质量的研究方法和技术思路。对胜利油区几种典型的油藏类型进行了经济运行质量评价。以老河口油田桩106块为例，提出了提高油田经济运行质量的三条基本途径，取得了较好的实际应用效果。