ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION OF CHEMICAL SPECIES TO POLAR SNOW

Particles and gases can deposit from the atmosphere to polar snow by several mechanisms. Dry deposition can be considered to consist of three steps: aerodynamic transport from the free atmosphere to the viscous sublayer near the surface, boundary layer transport across the sublayer, and interactions with the surface. The particle dry deposition mass flux is dominated by the largest particles present in a size distribution. Wet deposition includes in-cloud and below-cloud scavenging, where the former refers to uptake of particles during nucleation of cloudwater as well as scavenging of particles and gases by existing droplets and ice crystals. Of all the wet deposition mechanisms, nucleation scavenging is often the most important mechanism for particles in the polar regions. Finally, incorporation of particles and gases into fog droplets and subsequent settling of the fog to the snow surface can be an important removal process in regions of frequent fog. For Summit, Greenland, the total deposition of MSA, SO₄^2-, Na⁺, K⁺, and Ca²⁺ during May 24-July 13, 1993 was dominated by wet deposition: this mechanism accounted for an average of 62% of the total deposition for these species. Fog and dry deposition accounted for 21% and 17% of the total, respectively. These results suggest that all three mechanisms may need to be considered when estimating total deposition of certain chemical species to polar snow.     

Interactive simulated patient—an advanced tool for student-activated learning in medicine and healthcare

An advanced learning system for interactive simulation of patient cases (ISP) is described. The system was designed to meet specific pedagogical needs where student activation and problem orientation were two of the key issues. The system includes features such as video based illness history-taking function using free text input, highly interactive physiological examination procedures, extensive laboratory tests and detailed user feedback. The system was constructed mainly in Authorware Professional, starting more than 10 years ago, and it is now available in refined versions in different languages. Twelve pedagogical and three technical features were initially defined for the project. All of these aims were fulfilled. The ISP system has been successfully used in education, and in international collaboration, including three applicability field tests. The system is also a powerful research tool for studying for instance medical decision-making.     

Hans H. Strupp (1921-2006).

Presents an obituary for Hans Hermann Strupp, internationally acclaimed clinical psychologist and psychotherapy research pioneer, who died October 5, 2006, in Nashville, Tennessee, following a long struggle with Parkinson's disease. Hans Strupp elicited unusual respect across disciplines, including psychiatry and medicine, and across national boundaries in numerous countries. Hans was truly a person of great distinction; he brought honor to his friends, his discipline, his university, his nation, and his family. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ozone formation potential of organic compounds in the Eastern United States: a comparison of episodes, inventories, and domains

Direct sensitivity analysis is applied for 3-D assessment of ozone reactivity (or ozone formation potential) in the Eastern United States. A detailed chemical mechanism (SAPRC-99) is implemented in a multiscale air quality model to calculate the reactivity of 32 explicit and 9 lumped compounds. Simulations are carried out for two different episodes and two different emission scenarios. While absolute reactivities of VOCs show a great deal of spatial variability, relative reactivities (normalized to the reactivity of a base mixture) produce a significantly more homogeneous field. Three types of domain-wide relative reactivity metrics are formed for 1-h and 8-h averaging intervals. In general, ozone reactivity metrics (with the exception of those based on daily peak ozone) are fairly robust and consistent between different episodes or emission scenarios. The 3-D metrics also show fairly similar rankings for VOC reactivity when compared to the box model scales. However, the 3-D metrics have a noticeably narrower range for species reactivities, as they result in lower reactivity for some of the more reactive, radical-producing VOCs (especially aldehydes). As expected, episodes and emission scenarios with less radical availability have higher absolute reactivities for all species and higher relative reactivities for the more radical-producing species. Finally, comparing the results with those from a different domain (central California) shows that relative reactivity metrics are comparable over these two significantly different domains.     

Evaluating outcome in psychotherapy: A hardy perennial.

Discusses issues raised by D. Fiske (see pa, vol. 47:issue 5) and by L. Luborsky (see pa, vol. 47:issue 5) with reference to outcome research in psychotherapy generally, and to a previous paper by the authors (see pa, vol. 47:issue 5 ) in particular. While attention in the past has tended to focus on general criteria of improvement, it is believed that in the future more consideration must be given to the specific changes sought by means of therapy with multiple measures devised for appraising such change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious life-styles and mental health: An exploratory study.

Conducted an intensive, case-by-case assessment of life-styles of a sample of religious students. We identified differing styles of religiousness and made comparisons by means of tests and interviews between subgroups whose subjects manifested differing religious life-styles. Those subjects with continuous religious development and mild religious experiences appeared to be healthier than those with discontinuous development and intense religious experiences; however, intense religious experiences tended to enhance the adjustment of those who experienced them. There was no evidence in the group as a whole for an overall negative or positive correlation between religiousness and mental health, but some modes of religious involvement appeared to be related to disturbance, whereas other modes appeared to be related to enhanced stability and resilience. Because causality in these relations remains uncertain, we generate hypotheses concerning further studies of life-styles and adjustment. We also discuss implications for student counseling and development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The deterioration effect: A reply to Braucht.

Argues that G. N. Braucht (see 44:9) has given no really defensible reasons for rejecting the "deterioration effect." There is an abundance of both clinical and statistical evidence, including the studies Braucht critiques, that deterioration occurs during psychotherapy. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some further comments on evaluation of outcome in psychotherapy.

Replies briefly to comments by R. M. Leve (see PA, Vol 52:Issue 4) on a previous article concerning the evaluation of outcome in psychotherapy. While acknowledging that the matter of agreement and disagreement among Os is of some significance, the importance of using a variety of different criteria in assessing outcome in psychotherapy is particularly emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New real-time technique to measure the size distribution of water-insoluble aerosols

To date, there has been much research into the size distribution of ambient atmospheric aerosols, particularly either the total aerosol population or water-soluble ionic species such as sulfate or nitrate. Meanwhile, there have been virtually no size-resolved measurements of water-insoluble aerosols (WIA). This has been due to a lack of practical measurement technology rather than a reflection of the importance of WIA to climate and health. Particle solubility influences the planetary radiation balance both directly and indirectly: solubility influences both the amount of hygroscopic growth (and thus light scattering) that occurs as a function of relative humidity and the ability of particles to serve as cloud condensation nuclei (and thus the lifetime and albedo of clouds). Also, recent information suggests that WIA may be harmful to human health. To address these concerns, a new real-time technique has been developed to measure the size-resolved concentration of WIA. This technique involves the entrainment of particles into a liquid stream and measurement of the WIA size distribution using a liquid optical particle counter. The time resolution of this instrumentation is approximately 4 min (depending on flow rate) and is capable of sizing and counting insoluble particles with diameters of 0.25-2.0 microm at atmospheric concentrations as low as 0.1 cm(-3). Laboratory characterization using polystyrene latex spheres shows agreement within +/-5% of the liquid stream and air stream particle concentrations when adjusted for flow rate. The instrumentation was field-tested at a rural site on the edge of the metro-Atlanta urban area. During this test, the WIA concentration averaged 5% of the total particle concentration between 0.25 and 2.0 microm but reached as high as 35%.     

A meta-analysis study of the effect of chilling on prevalence of Salmonella on pig carcasses

In the field of food safety, meta-analysis can be used to combine results of prevalence studies of pathogens at critical stages within the food processing chain so that policy makers can access reliable and concise information on the effectiveness of interventions for controlling and preventing foodborne illnesses in humans. The objective of this work was to demonstrate the applicability of a parametric approach of meta-analysis to the specific case of determining the overall effect of chilling on Salmonella prevalence on pig carcasses. A meta-analysis was performed on each of two parameters measuring effect size for binary outcomes (relative risk and risk difference). Both meta-analyses confirmed that the chilling operation has a significant beneficial effect (P < 0.001) on the reduction of Salmonella prevalence on pig carcasses. Because risk difference is a parameter sensitive to the differences across studies in carcass swab areas and Salmonella detection methods, its meta-analysis highly reflected this heterogeneity (P < 0.001). However, parameterization of relative risk, not being biased by the above sources of variability, did not give rise to heterogeneity among studies and produced a fixed-effects meta-analysis solution, which is deemed more suitable for compilations based on a small number of individual studies (n = 9). Because of the systematic approach of meta-analysis (i.e., individual studies are weighed according to precision) and its reliance for actual data, the output distribution of the relative risk effect size (approximately eN(-0.868,0.166)) merits consideration for inclusion in the chilling stage of quantitative risk assessments modeling the prevalence of this pathogen along the pork production chain.