Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Practice of Psychology.

Announces the 2007 recipient of the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Practice of Psychology: Patricia M. Bricklin. A brief biography, highlighting areas of special focus in Bricklin's work, is provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Karl G. J?reskog: Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography for Karl G. J?reskog, one of the 2007 recipients of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

J?rn Diedrichsen: Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography for J?rn Diedrichsen, one of the 2007 recipients of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology (perception/motor performance). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patrik O. Vuilleumier: Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography for Patrik O. Vuilleumier, one of the 2007 recipients of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology (behavioral and cognitive neuroscience). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Larke Nahme Huang: Award for Distinguished Senior Career Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliograpy for Larke Nahme Huang, the 2007 recipient of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Senior Career Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in Psychology in the Public Interest.

Announces the 2007 recipient of the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Psychology in the Public Interest: Rhoda K. Unger. A brief biography, highlighting areas of special focus in Unger's work, is provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

R. Chris Fraley: Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography for R. Chris Fraley, one of the 2007 recipients of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology (individual differences). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bruce E. Wampold: Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography for Bruce E. Wampold, the 2007 recipient of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research. Also presented is an article based on the author's award address delivered at the APA's 115th annual meeting, held August 17-20, 2007, in San Francisco, California. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bench-Scale Testing of Nanofiltration for Seawater Desalination

A dual-staged nanofiltration process is being evaluated as an alternative to reverse osmosis for seawater desalination. The primary goal of this system is to reduce energy consumption while producing potable water at an acceptable recovery rate. Investigation of this system at the bench-scale level focused on membrane surface characterization, ion rejection (including boron, bromide, and iodide rejection), and flux decline. Results from this study showed that two commercially available nanofiltration membranes can effectively desalinate seawater. Although fouling was apparent—and resulted in approximately 20% flux decline over 3 days—a critical flux was not identifiable. Operation of the system at different cross-flow velocities revealed the significance of hydrodynamic conditions on the polarization modulus, and hence on membrane performance.     

Model Selection in Applied Science and Engineering: A Decision-Theoretic Approach

Mathematical models are developed and used to study the properties of complex systems in just about every area of applied science and engineering. Information on the system being modeled is, in general, incomplete, so that there may be two or more models consistent with the available information. The collection of these models is called the class of candidate models. A decision-theoretic method is developed for selecting the optimal member from the collection. The optimal model depends on the available information, the class of candidate models, and the model use. The candidate models may be deterministic or random. Classical methods for model selection, including the method of maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, are briefly reviewed. These methods ignore model use and require data to be available. In addition, examples are used to show that classical methods for model selection can be unreliable in the sense that they can deliver unsatisfactory models when data is limited. The proposed decision-theoretic method for model selection does not have these limitations. The method accounts for model use via a utility function. This feature is especially important when modeling high-risk systems where the consequences of using an inappropriate model for the system can be disastrous.