Outpatient group treatment of chronic pain: Effects of spouse involvement.

Evaluated the efficacy of outpatient group treatment of chronic pain and the effect of spouse involvement in treatment in chronic pain patients ranging in age from 23 to 69 yrs who were randomly assigned to couples group treatment (n?=?17), patient-only group treatment (n?=?14), or waiting-list controls (n?=?12). 29 Ss had low back pain; the remaining Ss reported pain in the knee, arm, leg, hip, head, and phantom limb. The Ss completed the MMPI—168 and measures of health-related psychosocial and physical dysfunction and marital satisfaction. Results indicate that the 16-hr cognitive-behavioral program produced reductions in pain, somatization, spouse-observed pain behavior, physical and psychosocial dysfunction, spouse-rated dysfunction, and utilization of health care resources. Depression was not affected by treatment. Spouse involvement did not facilitate response to treatment on any variables. Also, Ss in the individual condition only showed improved marital satisfaction. All treatment gains were maintained at 3-mo to 7-mo follow-ups. Results indicate that brief outpatient treatment can significantly ameliorate chronic pain problems, and spouse involvement is not essential for a positive response to treatment. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An Architecture for Human‐Guided Autonomy: Team TROOPER at the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals

Recent robotics efforts have automated simple, repetitive tasks to increase execution speed and lessen an operator's cognitive load, allowing them to focus on higher‐level objectives. However, an autonomous system will eventually encounter something unexpected, and if this exceeds the tolerance of automated solutions, there must be a way to fall back to teleoperation. Our solution is a largely autonomous system with the ability to determine when it is necessary to ask a human operator for guidance. We call this approach human‐guided autonomy. Our design emphasizes human‐on‐the‐loop control where an operator expresses a desired high‐level goal for which the reasoning component assembles an appropriate chain of subtasks. We introduce our work in the context of the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Finals. We describe the software architecture Team TROOPER developed and used to control an Atlas humanoid robot. We employ perception, planning, and control automation for execution of subtasks. If subtasks fail, or if changing environmental conditions invalidate the planned subtasks, the system automatically generates a new task chain. The operator is able to intervene at any stage of execution, to provide input and adjustment to any control layer, enabling operator involvement to increase as confidence in automation decreases. We present our performance at the DRC Finals and a discussion about lessons learned.     

Deformable M-Reps for 3D Medical Image Segmentation

M-reps (formerly called DSLs) are a multiscale medial means for modeling and rendering 3D solid geometry. They are particularly well suited to model anatomic objects and in particular to capture prior geometric information effectively in deformable models segmentation approaches. The representation is based on figural models, which define objects at coarse scale by a hierarchy of figures—each figure generally a slab representing a solid region and its boundary simultaneously. This paper focuses on the use of single figure models to segment objects of relatively simple structure.A single figure is a sheet of medial atoms, which is interpolated from the model formed by a net, i.e., a mesh or chain, of medial atoms (hence the name m-reps), each atom modeling a solid region via not only a position and a width but also a local figural frame giving figural directions and an object angle between opposing, corresponding positions on the boundary implied by the m-rep. The special capability of an m-rep is to provide spatial and orientational correspondence between an object in two different states of deformation. This ability is central to effective measurement of both geometric typicality and geometry to image match, the two terms of the objective function optimized in segmentation by deformable models. The other ability of m-reps central to effective segmentation is their ability to support segmentation at multiple levels of scale, with successively finer precision. Objects modeled by single figures are segmented first by a similarity transform augmented by object elongation, then by adjustment of each medial atom, and finally by displacing a dense sampling of the m-rep implied boundary. While these models and approaches also exist in 2D, we focus on 3D objects.The segmentation of the kidney from CT and the hippocampus from MRI serve as the major examples in this paper. The accuracy of segmentation as compared to manual, slice-by-slice segmentation is reported.     

A Longitudinal Examination of Causal Attributions and Depression Symptomatology in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: Examine longitudinal relationships between causal attributions and depression symptoms in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Study Design: Cross-lagged panel correlations tested the temporal precedence of attributions relative to depression symptoms over 1 year. Participants: Forty-two participants completed self-report instruments on 2 occasions. Main Outcome Measures: The Inventory to Diagnose Depression and the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Results: Time 1 attributions predicted increased levels of depression symptoms at Time 2 after perceived pain and disability were controlled: Time 1 depression symptoms were unrelated to Time 2 attributions. Cross-lagged correlation comparisons revealed statistical dominance for attribution-depression relationships relative to depression-attribution relationships. Conclusions: Results support cognitive diathesis conceptualizations of depression and support cognitive-behavioral treatments for depression in RA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of scanning electron microscope autoradiography to localize the blueberry shoestring virus in its aphid vector

Scanning electron microscopy autoradiography (SEM-AR) in conjunction with light microscope autoradiography (LM-AR) was used to follow the movement of ¹²⁵I-labeled blueberry shoestring virus (BBSSV) through its aphid vector Illinoia pepperi with varying acquisition access periods (AAP). At 6 hr AAP, the virus had reached the stomach; at 12 hr AAP, it had reached the anterior of the intestines, and after 48 hr, AAP was present throughout the aphid. SEM-AR using backscatter electron detection proved very useful because the sample bulk resulted in a shortened exposure time compared to LM sections, correlation of the autoradiograms could be made with fine structure, preparing large numbers of samples was easy, and examining whole longitudinal sections of aphids at low magnification with a clearly visible marker was possible. Limitations were mostly attributed to sample preparation and, in some cases, were easily remedied.     

Simultaneous hyperaccumulation of nickel, manganese, and calcium in Alyssum leaf trichomes

We have developed commercially viable phytoremediation/phytomining technologies employing Alyssum Ni-hyperaccumulator species to quantitatively extract Ni from soils. The majority of Ni is stored either in Alyssum leaf epidermal cell vacuoles or in the basal portions only of the numerous stellate trichomes. Here, we report simultaneous and region-specific localization of high levels of Ni, Mn, and Ca within Alyssum trichomes as determined by scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDX). Plants were grown in high Ni soil, achieving up to 48 400 microg g(-1) Ni in total leaf concentration; however, Ca and Mn were not enriched in the experimental soils. The region-specific localization of hyperaccumulated Ca, Mn, and Ni occurred in three soil types, five Alyssum species/ecotypes, and over a wide range of soil Ni concentrations. The metal concentration in the trichome basal compartment was approximately 15-20% dry weight, the highest ever reported for healthy vascular plant tissue.     

Yield Strengths of Biaxially Textured Metallic Substrates (Ni and its Alloys) Determined Using a Simplified Test Method

A simple testing method is used to compare the yield strengths (YS) of biaxially textured metallic substrates (Ni and its alloys) presently under development for YBa₂Cu₃O_7−x coated conductors. This method is based on a retired ASTM D3379 tensile test standard method that was originally recommended for single filament materials. Several common textured substrates, such as Ni, Ni-3at.%W, and Ni-5at.%W, procured from different manufacturers, were tested using this method, and the data were compared with the values reported in the literature. A new alloy substrate (constantan (Cu55-Ni44-Mn1wt.%)) that is biaxially textured in-house was also tested using this method, and the YS data were compared with those of other substrates. For the substrates used in this study, the data obtained using this method indicated that Ni substrates have YS of ∼52 MPa, Ni-3at.%W substrates have YS of ∼106 MPa, Ni-5at.%W substrates have YS 163 MPa, and Cu55-Ni44-Mn1 wt.% substrates have YS of 74 MPa.