Behavior therapy for Tourette's disorder: Utilization in a community sample and an emerging area of practice for psychologists.

The current article describes the phenomenology and empirically supported treatments for Tourette's disorder (TD) and presents data on treatment utilization from two separate national surveys of adults with TD (N = 672) and parents of children with TD (N = 740). Despite a wealth of empirical evidence demonstrating its effectiveness, results suggest that most people with TD do not receive behavior therapy for the condition. Reasons for this include a lack of information about the disorder among consumers and providers, a shortage of providers trained in the treatment, and concern about possible negative effects of behavioral treatment. The article concludes with a discussion about dissemination efforts aimed at making behavior therapy more widely available to children and adults with chronic tics and a review of beliefs about the negative effects of behavior therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The production and anatomy of a tungsten powder jet

A tungsten powder jet is a potential candidate technology for a particle production target in a future high power (i.e. Multi-MW) particle accelerator based facility, such as a so-called conventional neutrino Super Beam, a proposed Neutrino Factory, or a future neutron source. To test the viability of producing a suitable powder jet a few simple experiments were performed using standard pneumatic conveying equipment and the encouraging results are presented.     

Electrospinning formaldehyde‐crosslinked zein solutions

In order to develop zein fibers with improved physical properties and solvent resistance, formaldehyde was used as a crosslinking reagent before spinning. The crosslinking reaction was carried out in either acetic acid or ethanolic HCl where the amount of crosslinking reagent was between 1 and 6%. Reactions were carried out at various times and temperatures. When carried out in acetic acid, the maximum amount of formaldehyde that could be used was 1.5% as gelation occurred at higher levels. In ethanolic HCl, 6% formaldehyde could be incorporated into zein. All solutions were successfully electrospun, producing predominantly ribbon and round fibers; the morphology was strongly dependent on solvent and spinning solids. The formaldehyde‐crosslinked zein fabrics had double the tensile strength of control fabrics. SDS‐PAGE analysis clearly showed crosslinking had occurred. Electrospun fabrics from all formaldehyde‐treated zein solutions required an additional heating step in order to be resistant to dissolution in acetic acid, a known very good solvent for zein. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Characterization of Different Molecular Weight Fractions Separated from Utah Maltenes by Gel Permeation Chromatography

ABSTRACT

Maltenes derived from Utah bitumens were separated by gel permeation chromatography ( OPC) into fractions having number average molecular weights ( MW) in the range from 300 to 11985. The fractions were examined by vapor pressure osmometry, absorption spectrometry in the visible region as well as proton and carbon -13 NMR. The results are reported in comparison with those for the corresponding fractions separated from Athabasca maltenes. Utah fractions appeared to be more aliphatic with longer average aliphatic chains lengths. Branched and alicyciic types were more abundant in Utah samples, especially those with low MW, There was an apparent difference in the hydrocarbon structure of both Utah and Athabasca maltenes GPC     

RELAP5-3D modeling of PWR steam generator condensation experiments at the Oregon State University APEX facility

This report describes modeling using RELAP5-3D of a series of six steam generator U-tube steam condensation (without non-condensable gas) tests conducted at the Oregon State University Advanced Plant Experiment Test Facility from 2005 through 2007. These tests were designed to evaluate steam condensation rates in a scaled pressurized water reactor steam generator at various primary and secondary side pressures and inlet steam mass flow rates. Comparisons between the experimental data and the RELAP5-3D model results are made to quantify the effectiveness of RELAP5-3D in handling steam condensation in U-tube steam generators. RELAP5-3D tends to over predict the condensation rate and heat transfer coefficient when compared against the experimental data when the code uses the laminar Nusselt correlation to determine the heat transfer coefficient. When RELAP5-3D results are used with the Shah correlation the comparison between the heat transfer coefficients is much improved.     

Exploring the design space of robots: Children''s perspectives

Children's perceptions and evaluations of different robot designs are an important unexplored area within robotics research considering that many robots are specifically designed for children. To examine children's feelings and attitudes towards robots, a large sample of children (N = 159) evaluated 40 robot images by completing a questionnaire for each image, which enquired about robot appearance, robot personality dimensions and robot emotions. Results showed that depending on a robot's appearance children clearly distinguished robots in terms of their intentions (i.e. friendly vs. unfriendly), their capability to understand, and their emotional expression. Results of a principal components analysis of the children's ratings of the robots' personality attributes revealed two dimensions labelled ‘Behavioural Intention’ and ‘Emotional Expression’. Robots were classified according to their scores on these two dimensions and a content analysis of their appearance was conducted in an attempt to identify salient features of different robot personalities. Children judged human-like robots as aggressive, but human–machine robots as friendly. Results on children's perceptions of the robots' behavioural intentions provided tentative empirical support for the Uncanny Valley, hypothesized by (Mori, M., 1970), reflecting a situation where robots are very human-like, but still distinguishable from humans, evoking a feeling of discomfort or repulsion. The paper concludes with a discussion of design implications for robots, and the use of robots in educational contexts.