The subliminal psychodynamic activation method: A critical review.

Research on subliminal psychodynamic activation has generated considerable interest and controversy because of researchers' claims that psychoanalytic hypotheses have been successfully tested experimentally with the use of specially constructed subliminal stimuli. The present review of Silverman's studies in this field reveals internally inconsistent results and few attempts at exact replication; instead, Silverman expanded the applications of the method without carefully establishing the conditions under which results could be reliably obtained. These problems are discussed in the light of methodological weakness present in the entire research program and theoretical concerns regarding (a) the assumption that subliminal generic messages are consistent with psychoanalytic theory about the nature of unconscious conflict and (b) the assumption that subliminal stimuli can activate unconscious conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SPA is subliminal, but is it psychodynamically activating?

Responds to comments by J. Weinberger (see record 1990-04808-001) on Balay and Shevrin's (B&S; see record 1988-20203-001) work on the subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) method, which, contrary to Weinberger's assertion, was not an attempt to destroy the work of L. H. Silverman (published 1974–1985) and others who have used the SPA method. Rather, B&S hoped to encourage investigators using this method to take a closer look at the theoretical assumptions underlying SPA (i.e., the generic vs specific nature of subliminal stimuli that might activate conflict-related, unconscious fantasies). Analyses are also offered of comments made by T. E. Moore (see record 1990-04745-001), M. D. Figueroa (see record 1990-04666-001), and D. K. Silverman (see record 1990-04785-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accelerated pavement testing and modeling of reflective cracking in pavements

In the field of reflective cracking initiation and propagation in pavement structures, an Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) has been developed. The numerical method is also supported. Numerical results obtained by calculations made with the finite element CESAR-LCPC software are then compared with the experimental data. The reflective cracking APT experience is the first step in the development of a new laboratory equipment to evaluate the design of bituminous layers to repair pavements. The experiment was performed on a 30 m track where eight discontinuities were established by cutting-off the sub-bases in order to ensure a crack development in the bituminous layer. The conditions that promote crack propagation were reproduced by the application of heavy periodic loads using the Fabac ALT-APT test rig. The width of the bituminous layer was decreased to facilitate the observation of the crack propagation, while avoiding creep of the material. The structure has a large number of sensors that measure longitudinal and transverse deformations at the bottom and at the surface of the bituminous layer. The deflections and the displacements are measured at several levels of the structure, as well as the temperature and the lateral edge cracking which is monitored by cracking sensors on both sides of the track. Preliminary results on two joints were used to determine the mechanisms of rupture of the structure. Four more tests with improved sensors have completed the information. Experimental and numerical results are compared in order to validate the analysis of the fatigue process (debonding, damage and cracking) in full scale pavement.     

Detection of Streamflow Change in the Susquehanna River Basin

Streamflow statistics are commonly used for purposes of planning and managing water resources in the Susquehanna River Basin. For accurately estimating streamflow statistics, it is important to identify whether there are increasing or decreasing changes during the period of records and whether the change is gradual or abrupt. This study employs repeated monotonic trend tests with varying beginning and ending time for detecting changes in streamflow in tributaries within the Susquehanna River Basin. The method is employed to analyze long-term streamflow trends and detect change for annual minimum, median, and maximum daily streamflow for eight unregulated watersheds within the basin. Monthly baseflow and storm runoff are investigated. The results show a considerable increase in annual minimum flow for most of the examined watersheds and a noticeable increase in annual median flow for about half of the examined watersheds. Both these streamflow increases were abrupt, with only a few years of transition centered around 1970. The abrupt change in annual minimum and median flows appears to occur in the summer and fall seasons. The abrupt change in annual minimum and median flows is due to increased flows in the summer and fall seasons. The results also indicate there is no long-term significant increasing or decreasing change in annual maximum flow in the examined watersheds.     

Assessment of Water Capacity and Availability from Unregulated Stream Flows Based on Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration (ELOHA) Environmental Flow Standards

Determination of water resources management thresholds, such as conservation releases, passby flows, and water availability limits, is a contemporary challenge facing water resources managers. With recent advancements in environmental flow science, including the ecological limits of hydrologic alteration (ELOHA) framework, environmental flow standards can be developed for a variety of stream types throughout a particular region or watershed. Environmental flow standards typically cover the entire natural flow regime, including low‐flow, seasonal‐flow (medium), and high‐flow components. However, it can be difficult for water resources managers to directly apply these standards to establish practical management thresholds. This study proposes a novel approach to assessing water capacity based on ELOHA environmental flow standards. The procedure entails iterative simulations to identify withdrawal limits for gaged streams and regional regression analysis to predict withdrawal limits for ungaged streams. The approach was applied for 63 reference gages with long‐term, continuous, minimally altered, daily streamflow records within the Susquehanna River basin. The results of the investigation demonstrate that the approach can be used to assess water capacity from gaged and ungaged streams via iterative withdrawal simulations and regional regression analysis respectively. The regression equation developed through analysis of the reference gages has an adjusted R‐square value of 0.96 and a standard error of 27%. Determination of a water capacity value, based on a suite of environmental flow standards, provides water resources managers with a valuable tool for informing the establishment of water resources management thresholds. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parallel components for PDEs and optimization: some issues and experiences

High-performance simulations in computational science often involve the combined software contributions of multidisciplinary teams of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer scientists. One goal of component-based software engineering in large-scale scientific simulations is to help manage such complexity by enabling better interoperability among codes developed by different groups. This paper discusses recent work on building component interfaces and implementations in parallel numerical toolkits for mesh manipulations, discretization, linear algebra, and optimization. We consider several motivating applications involving partial differential equations and unconstrained minimization to demonstrate this approach and evaluate performance.