Validity of Three Measures of Communication for Predicting Relationship Adjustment and Stability Among a Sample of Young Couples.

The goal of this study was to examine whether data from 3 different measures of communication (i.e., self-report, quasi-observational, and observational) can predict relationship adjustment and stability 1 year later when used conjointly in a sample of 62 young couples. The 3 measures of communication were the Communication Skills Test-Revised (CST-R), the Communication Box (CB), and the Demand/Withdraw Pattern Questionnaire (DWPQ). Through hierarchical multiple regression analyses, results revealed that the CST-R and the DWPQ predict both genders' relationship adjustment 1 year later when used conjointly. Logistic regression analyses revealed that none of the measures of communication significantly predicted relationship stability. In conclusion, the combination of the CST-R and the DWPQ appears to be useful for longitudinally predicting relationship adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Alexandria Digital Library architecture

Since 1994, the Alexandria Digital Library Project has developed three prototype digital libraries for georeferenced information. This paper describes the most recent of these efforts, a three-tier client-server architecture that relies heavily on a middleware layer to present a single uniform set of interfaces to multiple heterogeneous servers. These standard interfaces, all of which are implemented in HTTP, support session management, collection discovery and evaluation, metadata searching, metadata retrieval, and online holding retrieval. An XML-based metadata encoding scheme and a simple Boolean query language have also been developed. The architecture described by these interfaces has been implemented at UCSB.     

Cognitive—behavioral treatment of obsessive thoughts: A controlled study.

Twenty-nine patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder as diagnosed in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., revised; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) who did not have overt compulsive rituals were randomly assigned to treatment and waiting-list conditions. Patients in the treatment condition received cognitive-behavioral therapy consisting of a detailed explanation of the occurrence and maintenance of obsessive thoughts, exposure to obsessive thoughts, response prevention of all neutralizing strategies, cognitive restructuring, and relapse prevention. Compared with waiting-list patients, treated patients improved significantly on measures of severity of obsessions, current functioning, self-report obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and anxiety. When waiting-list patients were subsequently treated, the combined group improved on all outcome measures. Treatment gains were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Results indicate that cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective in the treatment of patients with obsessive thoughts, a group that has often been considered resistant to treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Radiation resistance of a square loop in a warm plasma

A linearised hydrodynamic theory has been used to calculate the radiation resistance of a square-loop antenna in a warm plasma. It is suggested that cosinusoidal currents of two different propagation coefficients and amplitudes are simultaneously and independently present. Comparisons of the theoretical results with the measured values of the radiation resistance of a square-loop antenna on Ariel 3 satellite gives the ratio of the amplitudes of the currents in the two modes, for various values of the ratio of plasma to measuring frequency.     

Direct utilization of geothermal energy 2010 worldwide review

This paper presents a review of the worldwide application of geothermal energy for direct utilization, and updates the previous survey carried out in 2005. We also compare data from 1995 and 2000 presented at World Geothermal Congresses in Italy and Japan, respectively (WGC95 and WGC2000). As in previous reports, an effort is made to quantify ground-source (geothermal) heat pump data. The present report is based on country update papers prepared for WGC2010 and other sources of data available to the authors. Final update papers were received from 70 countries of which 66 reported some direct utilization of geothermal energy. Twelve additional countries were added to the list based on other sources of information. Direct utilization of geothermal energy in 78 countries is a significant increase from the 72 reported in 2005, the 58 reported in 2000, and the 28 reported in 1995. An estimate of the installed thermal power for direct utilization at the end of 2009 is used in this paper and equals 48,493 MWt, almost a 72% increase over the 2005 data, growing at a compound rate of 11.4% annually with a capacity factor of 0.28. The thermal energy used is 423,830 TJ/year (117,740 GWh/yr), about a 55% increase over 2005, growing at a compound rate of 9.2% annually. The distribution of thermal energy used by category is approximately 47.2% for ground-source heat pumps, 25.8% for bathing and swimming (including balneology), 14.9% for space heating (of which 85% is for district heating), 5.5% for greenhouses and open ground heating, 2.8% for industrial process heating, 2.7% for aquaculture pond and raceway heating, 0.4% for agricultural drying, 0.5% for snow melting and cooling, and 0.2% for other uses. Energy savings amounted to 250 million barrels (38 million tonnes) of equivalent oil annually, preventing 33 million tonnes of carbon and 107 million tonnes of CO₂ being release to the atmosphere, this includes savings for geothermal heat pumps in the cooling mode (compared to using fuel oil to generate electricity).     

Scalable access within the context of digital libraries

This paper presents a summary of some of the work-in-progress within the Alexandria Digital Library Project. In particular, we present scalable methods for locating information at different levels within a distributed digital library environment. Starting at the high level, we show how queries can be routed to appropriate information sources. At a given source, efficient query processing is supported by using materialized views and multidimensional index structures. Finally, we propose solutions to the problem of storage and retrieval of large objects on both secondary and tertiary storage devices.     

Effect of sheaths on the capacitance of a plane grid capacitor in a plasma

An experimental investigation of the capacitance of a grid capacitor shows that the minimum sheath occurs for the grids biased to space potential. Above space potential, the sheath is attributed to electron acceleration, and a simple calculation shows that this effect is of the right magnitude.     

Determination of the Distribution of Conduction Velocities in Human Nerve Trunks

A technique is described which enables the distribution of conduction velocities within the alpha fiber group of an in situ human peripheral nerve trunk to be determined. The technique is based on the analysis of the shape of compound nerve action potentials recorded from surface electrodes and is non-invasive. Velocity distributions calculated for a group of normal adults are presented and represent the first known measurements of this parameter.     

Measurement of ion density in a plasma torch using a plane probe

The plasma density of the flame of a plasma torch has been determined from the current to a plane probe using two theories. One includes only the ion flow motion; the other includes only the ion thermal motion. Comparison with spectroscopic results suggests that both motions should be included.