Emergency egress for the elderly in care home fire situations

Practitioners are continuing to develop egress modelling software for the design of the built environment. These models require data about human behaviour and factors for calibration, validation and verification. This study aims to address the specific data and knowledge gap: emergency egress of the elderly. Such data are difficult to collect given privacy and consent concerns, with strong relationships generally being required between residences and researchers. Through the observation of nine fire drills at six Canadian long-term care (LTC) and retirement homes, specific evacuation actions and behaviour were observed for 37 staff members and information about the evacuation of 56 residents was collected. These drills demonstrated that emergency egress in LTC and retirement homes is highly staff dependent with 72% of residents recorded requiring full assistance at all stages of movement in evacuation, and that the type of announced/unannounced drill and level of resident care will affect the type of data collected. The development of travel speed and pre-movement is discussed subject to limitation with qualitative behavioural insights of residents that were observed. This study provides valuable methodological discussion on how to conduct behavioural studies in similar highly restricted research environments. Specific attention is given to understanding the considerations that must be made when using fire drills as data sources, and the impact that these can have on using such data for modelling. This study may inform the initial setup and programming of evacuation models from an actions and behavioural perspectives of staff members and residents.     

5-Benzylidene-4-Oxazolidinones Are Synergistic with Antibiotics for the Treatment of Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms

The failure of frontline antibiotics in the clinic is one of the most serious threats to human health and requires a multitude of novel therapeutics and innovative approaches to treatment so as to curtail the growing crisis. In addition to traditional resistance mechanisms resulting in the lack of efficacy of many antibiotics, most chronic and recurring infections are further made tolerant to antibiotic action by the presence of biofilms. Herein, we report an expanded set of 5-benzylidene-4-oxazolidinones that are able to inhibit the formation of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms, disperse preformed biofilms, and, in combination with common antibiotics, are able to significantly reduce the bacterial load in a robust collagen-matrix model of biofilm infection.     

Estimating the viewing parameters of random, noisy projections ofasymmetric objects for tomographic reconstruction

The ability to determine the viewing parameters of objects from their projections has enabled well established tomographic techniques to be employed in the 3D reconstruction of objects from images obtained via modalities where the orientation of the objects cannot be controlled. A method is described for the determination of the viewing parameters of randomly acquired projections of asymmetric objects. It extends upon the common lines algorithm by determining the relative orientation of projections from the location of lines of intersection among the Fourier transforms of the projections in 3D Fourier space. A new technique for finding the lines of intersection in the presence of translational displacement, and for subsequently finding the translational displacement, is presented. The complete algorithm is described and its efficacy is demonstrated using real data. A new technique for dealing with noise is also discussed     

A goal-striving life event and the onset of hypomanic and depressive episodes and symptoms: Perspective from the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) dysregulation theory.

On the basis of the behavioral approach system (BAS) dysregulation theory of bipolar disorder, this study examined the relation between occurrence of a BAS activation-relevant life event--goal striving--and onset of hypomanic and depressive episodes and symptoms. In particular, the authors examined the relation between preparing for and completing final exams (a goal-striving event) and onset of bipolar spectrum episodes and symptoms in college students with bipolar II disorder or cyclothymia (i.e., "soft" bipolar spectrum conditions). One hundred fifty-nine individuals with either a bipolar spectrum disorder (n=68) or no major affective psychopathology (controls; n=91) were further classified on the basis of whether they were college students (i.e., completed final exams). Consistent with the BAS dysregulation theory, preparing for and completing final exams was associated with an increase in hypomanic but not depressive episodes and symptoms in individuals with a soft bipolar spectrum diagnosis. Furthermore, self-reported BAS sensitivity moderated the presence of certain hypomanic symptoms during final exams. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of Elaboration on Socially Desirable Responding and the Validity of Biodata Measures.

The current study investigated the impact of requiring respondents to elaborate on their answers to a biodata measure on mean scores, the validity of the biodata item composites, subgroup mean differences, and correlations with social desirability. Results of this study indicate that elaborated responses result in scores that are much lower than nonelaborated responses to the same items by an independent sample. Despite the lower mean score on elaborated items, it does not appear that elaboration affects the size of the correlation between social desirability and responses to biodata items or that it affects criterion-related validity or subgroup mean differences in a practically significant way. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genetic influences on job satisfaction: A reply to Cropanzano and James.

Responds to the points made by R. Cropanzano and K. James (see record 1991-00462-001) concerning the article by R. D. Arvey et al (1989). The authors acknowledge that the Arvey et al study is based on a single design, makes use of a small and special sample, and, as such, is vulnerable to threats of internal and external validity. Nevertheless, after providing a more comprehensive conceptual and empirical context for the study, and after reviewing a number of the issues raised by Cropanzano and James, the authors conclude that it is not premature to accept the idea that work attitudes are partially genetically influenced. Indeed, the authors use behavioral genetic theory, together with data gathered in the Arvey et al study, to make specific point predictions regarding the outcomes of an array of studies that easily can be undertaken. Finally, the authors acknowledge that the comments and issues raised by Cropanzano and James, along with the interchange, can offer directions for future research in this important area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change in lubricity of oils with detergent additives in the course of aging

Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 10, pp. 13–16, October, 1992.     

Principles for evaluating the state of a used motor oil

Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 4, pp. 22–24, April, 1992.     

Effect of prior knowledge on good and poor readers' memory of text.

We investigated how prior knowledge influences the amount of short-term nonverbal and verbal memory and long-term retention in students of high and low ability in reading comprehension. Sixty-four junior high students were divided into four equal-sized groups on the basis of preassessed reading ability (high and low) and preassessed amount of existing prior knowledge about baseball (high and low). Each subject silently read an account of a half inning of a baseball game. After reading, each subject recalled the account nonverbally by moving figures and verbally by retelling the story. After an interpolated task, they summarized the game and sorted passage sentences for idea importance. There was a significant main effect for prior knowledge on all measures. No interactions between prior knowledge and ability were found. These results delineate the powerful effect of prior knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linkages between spouses' psychological distress and marital conflict in the home.

To elucidate the processes that underlie the established association between psychopathology and marital functioning, researchers have given attention to how symptomatic individuals manage their interpersonal contexts, particularly during the handling of disagreements. In the current study, the authors evaluate the role of marital conflict strategies in relation to wives' and husbands' psychological distress levels. A sample of 100 community-based couples completed assessments of psychological distress and diaries describing marital conflict that occurred at home during a 15-day reporting period. Findings from multilevel modeling of dyadic data revealed associations between both spouses' psychological distress and multiple behavioral and emotional conflict expressions in the home. Psychological symptoms uniquely predicted the occurrence of certain conflict expressions, even when accounting for global negative marital sentiments. The findings encourage subsequent consideration of marital conflict expressions and resolution strategies when studying processes involved in the marriage-psychological adjustment link. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)