Air Pollution Emission Inventory Survey for Israel

High ozone levels are regularly measured during summer months over the inland and mountainous regions of Israel. Studies analyzing the back trajectories of air masses responsible for the high ozone levels showed that the precursors originated from the densely populated Israeli coastline. In order to better understand the contribution of those emission sources to ozone production, it is essential to have an accurate emission inventory that can be inputted into a photochemical model. The present paper describes the methods used in preparing an emission inventory for Israel based on information available and published until 1998. The source and accuracy of the data available are described. The calculations performed and the assumptions taken in order to obtain data not directly available are clarified. The sources reported in the inventory were the major polluters (power plants, oil refineries, and cement industries); industry; transportation; and biogenic sources. The pollutants studied were SO₂, NO_x, CO, saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, ethylene, isoprene, toluene, xylene, formaldehyde, and aldehydes. The inventory showed that transportation is responsible for almost the entire CO and 30% of the volatile organic compounds emitted, although transportation itself accounts for only a fifth of total fuel consumption. About 75% of the NO_x emitted can be attributed to industrial sources and the remaining 25% to transportation. Model simulations using the emission inventory were performed and compared to data available from a monitoring station situated 30 km east of Tel Aviv. The results showed good agreement, validating the accuracy of the emission inventory. The present emission inventory provides an important database as input to photochemical models used in forecasting ozone levels over Israel.     

What are the "breakthrough problems" in the field of psychotherapy?

Introduces the special section of "breakthrough problems" in the field of psychotherapy. If psychotherapy seeks to qualify as a scientific enterprise, and to advance as a field, it should be able to identify its breakthrough problems whose solution would likely lead to major advances. Based mainly on the articles (J. C. Norcross, see record 84-36221; H. H. Strupp, see record 84-36229; and A. Ellis, see record 84-36286) comprising this special section, a provisional list of breakthrough problems is given, together with invitations to improve and to use the list. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An invitation to theoreticians and researchers from an applied experiential practitioner.

In order for applied experiential psychotherapy to progress, there are certain problems that must be solved, including the need for (a) a strategy of therapeutic procedures, (b) a library of significant live data on experiential psychotherapy, (c) a dream screen, (d) instruments to measure bodily feelings, (e) ways for therapists to disengage from their personalities and assimilate to the patient, and (f) methods by which the patient interacts with deeper personality processes. The solution of these problems would constitute breakthroughs for the development of applied experiential practice. Psychotherapeutic theoreticians and researchers are invited to use their resources, knowledge, and expertise to solve these practical problems. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

太赫兹脉冲能量测量

利用太赫兹波的单啁啾脉冲电光探测技术,通过调节实验装置中λ/4波片晶轴与探测激光线偏振方向成45°,可以巧妙地得到太赫兹波的绝对电场强度.利用CCD阵列,通过抽运探测的方法可以得到太赫兹脉冲的光斑尺寸,进而在两步实验的基础上计算得到太赫兹脉冲的能量.提供了一种行之有效的测量太赫兹脉冲能量的实验方案.     

Human Platelet Membrane Functionalized Microchips with Plasmonic Codes for Cancer Detection

The possibility of functional roles played by platelets in close alliance with cancer cells has inspired the design of new biomimetic systems that exploit platelet–cancer cell interactions. Here, the role of platelets in cancer diagnostics is leveraged to design a microfluidic platform capable of detecting cancer‐derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) from ultrasmall volumes (1 µL) of human plasma samples. Further, the captured EVs are counted by direct optical coding of plasmonic nanoprobes modified with EV‐specific antibodies. Owing to the inherent properties of platelets for multifaceted interaction with cancer cells, the microfluidic chip equipped with a biologically interfaced platelet membrane‐cloaked surface (denoted “PLT‐Chip”) can capture a significantly higher number of EVs from multiple types of cancer cell lines (prostate, lung, bladder, and breast) than the normal cell‐derived EVs. Furthermore, this chip allows the monitoring of the growth of tumor spheroids (100 µm–2.5 mm) and clearly distinguishes the plasma of cancer patients from that of normal healthy controls. This robust, multifaceted, and cancer‐specific binding affinity, coupled with excellent biocompatibility, is a unique feature of platelet membrane‐cloaked surfaces, which therefore represent promising alternatives to antibodies for application in EVs‐based cancer theranostics.     

Effect of strain in PbSe/ZnPc stacked layers prepared by thermal evaporation method

The article investigates the structural and optical properties of ZnPc/PbSe hybrid multilayer (HML) structure deposited by using thermal evaporation technique. The X-ray diffraction pattern reveals the formation of ZnPc–PbSe composite and strain induced quantum size effect. Scanning electron microscope image shows the spherical grains for as-deposited film and nanorod like structure for the annealed film. The rods are oriented along one direction and stacking axis changes with the function of annealing temperature. The optical spectra show strong absorption in UV–Visible region and the optical absorption edge was red shifted for annealed samples. The luminescence properties were enhanced with broad emission in the range of 375–400 nm in HMLs. The optical band gap values are calculated and it varies from 3.2 to 3.04 eV with the function of annealing temperature and the band gap splitting was observed for a higher temperature of annealed samples. Strain-induced effect on ZnPc/PbSe HML has been reported using Raman spectra.     

Discovery-oriented psychotherapy research: Rationale, aims, and methods.

A critique of hypothesis-testing psychotherapy research holds that this traditional approach is unfeasible and unproductive for confirming or disconfirming theories of psychotherapy and also for contributing to a putative cumulative body of psychotherapeutic knowledge. Two approaches to discovery-oriented psychotherapy research are presented as alternatives to hypothesis-testing research, with their own rationales, aims, and methods. One consists of providing a closer, discovery-oriented look at psychotherapeutic events and phenomena, and the second consists of the discovery of the interconnections among psychotherapeutic conditions, operations, and consequences. Discovery-oriented research rationales, aims, and methods are described in sufficient detail to invite adoption by psychotherapy researchers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shaping the future of psychotherapy by making changes in the present.

Proposes a number of fundamental changes in the field of psychotherapy. These include the establishment of a single organizational voice for practitioners, acknowledgment of the doctorate as the uniform degree, requirement of postdoctoral training in psychotherapy, an acceptance of multiple perspectives, and the directing of research toward advancing the practical science of psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A high voltage pulsed power supply for capillary discharge waveguide applications

We present an all solid-state, high voltage pulsed power supply for inducing stable plasma formation (density ～10(18) cm(-3)) in gas-filled capillary discharge waveguides. The pulser (pulse duration of 1 μs) is based on transistor switching and wound transmission line transformer technology. For a capillary of length 40 mm and diameter 265 μm and gas backing pressure of 100 mbar, a fast voltage pulse risetime of 95 ns initiates breakdown at 13 kV along the capillary. A peak current of ～280 A indicates near complete ionization, and the r.m.s. temporal jitter in the current pulse is only 4 ns. Temporally stable plasma formation is crucial for deploying capillary waveguides as plasma channels in laser-plasma interaction experiments, such as the laser wakefield accelerator.