Running for political office: If at first you don't succeed….

Psychologists are serving in several state legislatures and gaining firsthand experience as political candidates. This article chronicles a psychologist's 1994 campaign for the Washington State House of Representatives. Campaign vignettes, political strategies, and the candidate's personal perceptions illuminate the value (even necessity) of psychologists entering politics. Psychologists bring to legislative deliberations a strong fund of knowledge about critical social issues such as health care, violence, and children's needs. Psychologists also possess effective interpersonal and group dynamic skills that can be real assets in developing public policy. A commitment to advocacy for mental health services and a community service ethic provide motivation for seeking office; indeed, entering politics can be viewed more as a logical extension of psychological work than as a deviation from it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The S-Transform and Its Inverses: Side Effects of Discretizing and Filtering

The aim of this paper is to present a study on the potential and limits of the -transform and its inverses. The S-transform is an extension of the short-time Fourier transform with characteristics of the wavelet transform. It is mostly used for time-frequency analyses. Two different inverse S-transforms have been presented in the literature. We explain why the most recent one is an approximation but a very good one. The level of approximation is calculated in this paper. We then discuss the relative merits of both inverses. A careful study enables us to show that, although both inverses are nearly exact in the infinite continuous domain, this is not true anymore in the practical finite discrete domain. Side effects are quantified, and typical examples are given. Time-frequency filtering is one of the main applications of the S-transform. We evaluate the effects that occur when using the S-transform and its inverses for filtering.     

Psychological practice in primary care settings: Practical tips for clinicians.

Many psychologists are finding new opportunities for practice in primary care settings. These settings challenge many aspects of traditional practice and require adaptation and innovation. Psychologists must consider changes in their site of practice, treatment duration, type of intervention, and role as part of a health care team. This article describes the culture of primary care medicine and offers 10 practical tips for the adaptation in psychological practice to primary care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accurate and efficient end cap model for cylindrical wire antenna analysis

The commonly used approach to model the effect of end caps in the analysis of cylindrical wire antennas is shown to be inaccurate. A new approach is proposed with superior accuracy at practically no extra computational cost. The new technique uses the full or exact thin wire kernel.     

Public policy leadership opportunities for psychologists.

Despite the massive changes in the health care system affecting their practices, few psychologists become involved in public policy activities that can regulate this health care system. In addition to elected office, there are many opportunities for psychologists to work behind the scenes in public policy leadership positions. First-person accounts illustrating such opportunities are provided by a gubernatorial appointee, an American Psychological Association (APA) Congressional Science Fellow, and a United States Senate staff person. The opportunity to serve in such capacities is an important means by which psychology can contribute to society and fulfill its societal obligations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accurate numerical modeling of the TARA reflector system

The radiation pattern of the large parabolic reflectors of the Transportable Atmospheric RAdar system (TARA), developed at Delft University of Technology, has been accurately simulated. The electric field integral equation (EFIE) formulation has been applied to a model of the reflectors including the feed housing and supporting struts, discretised using the method of moments. Because the problem is electrically large (the reflector has a diameter of 33/spl lambda/) and nonsymmetrical, this lead to a badly conditioned linear system of approximately half a million unknowns. In order to solve this system, an iterative solver (generalized minimum residual method) was used, in combination with the multilevel fast multipole method. Because of the bad conditioning, the system could only be solved by using a huge preconditioner. A new block-incomplete LU preconditioner (ILU) algorithm has been employed to allow for efficient out-of-computer core memory preconditioning.     

Fighting for health care on the Hill: A tale of a senator, a psychologist, and the American people.

Describes the joint efforts of the author, a clinical psychologist, and Sen. Bill Bradley in writing and overseeing the passage of the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act (1996), which is designed to counteract the growing practice of insurance companies to force mothers and newborns out of the hospital as early 12 to 24 hrs after birth. The author also credits the support of professional medical organizations and grass roots citizen participation as key forces in overcoming opposition to the legislation by the insurance industry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary: Health care for the whole person.

This article summarizes the rationale for and history of Ronald F. Levant's 2005 American Psychological Association Presidential Initiative, "Health Care for the Whole Person," from which this special section originated. This initiative was intended to have both practice and policy implications in the application of the biopsychosocial model. The articles in this series present the rationale for and details of this integrated model in terms of research, economics, rural applications, and women's health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)