Air Pollution Emission Inventory Survey for Israel

High ozone levels are regularly measured during summer months over the inland and mountainous regions of Israel. Studies analyzing the back trajectories of air masses responsible for the high ozone levels showed that the precursors originated from the densely populated Israeli coastline. In order to better understand the contribution of those emission sources to ozone production, it is essential to have an accurate emission inventory that can be inputted into a photochemical model. The present paper describes the methods used in preparing an emission inventory for Israel based on information available and published until 1998. The source and accuracy of the data available are described. The calculations performed and the assumptions taken in order to obtain data not directly available are clarified. The sources reported in the inventory were the major polluters (power plants, oil refineries, and cement industries); industry; transportation; and biogenic sources. The pollutants studied were SO₂, NO_x, CO, saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, ethylene, isoprene, toluene, xylene, formaldehyde, and aldehydes. The inventory showed that transportation is responsible for almost the entire CO and 30% of the volatile organic compounds emitted, although transportation itself accounts for only a fifth of total fuel consumption. About 75% of the NO_x emitted can be attributed to industrial sources and the remaining 25% to transportation. Model simulations using the emission inventory were performed and compared to data available from a monitoring station situated 30 km east of Tel Aviv. The results showed good agreement, validating the accuracy of the emission inventory. The present emission inventory provides an important database as input to photochemical models used in forecasting ozone levels over Israel.     

What are the "breakthrough problems" in the field of psychotherapy?

Introduces the special section of "breakthrough problems" in the field of psychotherapy. If psychotherapy seeks to qualify as a scientific enterprise, and to advance as a field, it should be able to identify its breakthrough problems whose solution would likely lead to major advances. Based mainly on the articles (J. C. Norcross, see record 84-36221; H. H. Strupp, see record 84-36229; and A. Ellis, see record 84-36286) comprising this special section, a provisional list of breakthrough problems is given, together with invitations to improve and to use the list. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An invitation to theoreticians and researchers from an applied experiential practitioner.

In order for applied experiential psychotherapy to progress, there are certain problems that must be solved, including the need for (a) a strategy of therapeutic procedures, (b) a library of significant live data on experiential psychotherapy, (c) a dream screen, (d) instruments to measure bodily feelings, (e) ways for therapists to disengage from their personalities and assimilate to the patient, and (f) methods by which the patient interacts with deeper personality processes. The solution of these problems would constitute breakthroughs for the development of applied experiential practice. Psychotherapeutic theoreticians and researchers are invited to use their resources, knowledge, and expertise to solve these practical problems. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discovery-oriented psychotherapy research: Rationale, aims, and methods.

A critique of hypothesis-testing psychotherapy research holds that this traditional approach is unfeasible and unproductive for confirming or disconfirming theories of psychotherapy and also for contributing to a putative cumulative body of psychotherapeutic knowledge. Two approaches to discovery-oriented psychotherapy research are presented as alternatives to hypothesis-testing research, with their own rationales, aims, and methods. One consists of providing a closer, discovery-oriented look at psychotherapeutic events and phenomena, and the second consists of the discovery of the interconnections among psychotherapeutic conditions, operations, and consequences. Discovery-oriented research rationales, aims, and methods are described in sufficient detail to invite adoption by psychotherapy researchers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shaping the future of psychotherapy by making changes in the present.

Proposes a number of fundamental changes in the field of psychotherapy. These include the establishment of a single organizational voice for practitioners, acknowledgment of the doctorate as the uniform degree, requirement of postdoctoral training in psychotherapy, an acceptance of multiple perspectives, and the directing of research toward advancing the practical science of psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What is the next big revolution in the field of psychotherapy?

One helpful way of foreseeing future revolutions is to extricate oneself outside the field of psychotherapy and to use that special position to see revolutionary possibilities by looking back down inside the field itself; then look beyond the field into the trajectory of future revolutionary possibilities. When three distinguished psychologists used this method, to some extent they foresaw a number of likely possibilities for the next big revolution. Capsule previews of each are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between strength of feeling, type of therapy, and occurrence of in-session good moments.

In a study of the relationships between strength of feeling (SOF), type of therapy, and occurrence of in-session good moments (GMs), 12 judges assessed the occurrence of categories of GMs and the level of SOF in recorded sessions representing client-centered, rational-emotive, and experiential psychotherapies. Analyses were conducted on judges' (clinical psychologists, doctoral students in clinical psychology, and research associates) ratings of audiotapes. Overall, both type of therapy and level of SOF had separate and differing effects and occurrences of categories of GMs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cooperative effects of interleukin-3 (IL-3), IL-5, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor: a new myeloid cell line inducible to eosinophils

The cytokines interleukin-3 (IL-3); IL-5, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) are known to contribute to the proliferation and differentiation of eosinophil progenitors. Recently, it was determined that the cellular receptors for these three cytokines share a common beta-chain while having unique alpha-chains. Thus, there is considerable interest in how these cytokines and their receptors interact in promoting production of eosinophils. We have established a cell line (AML14) from a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia that will consistently exhibit eosinophilic differentiation in suspension in response to IL-3, IL-5, and GM-CSF. Proliferation with only modest differentiative effects was observed in response to a single cytokine. Combinations of two cytokines gave variable results, with GM-CSF + IL-3 and IL-3 + IL-5 causing more proliferation than a single cytokine but little more differentiation. The combination of GM-CSF + IL-5 caused marked enhancement of eosinophilic differentiation with only modest augmentation of proliferation. The combination of all three cytokines was most effective in stimulating both proliferation and eosinophilic differentiation (up to 70% of cells) of AML14 cells. Specific binding of GM-CSF and IL-5 to AML14 cells can be conveniently studied by flow cytometric methods, and cross-competition of these two cytokines for their respective receptors was demonstrated. IL-3 was shown to partially compete for IL-5 binding on AML14 cells. Although specific IL-3 binding could not be demonstrated by flow cytometry, mRNA for the alpha-chains of the IL-3, IL-5, and GM-CSF receptors and the beta-chain common to all three receptors was detected in AML14 cells. The AML14 cell line may be a useful model for the study of cooperative interactions of IL-3, IL-5, GM-CSF, and their respective receptors in the promotion of eosinophil progenitor growth and differentiation.