Rating group therapist interventions: The validation of the Group Psychotherapy Intervention Rating Scale.

The present study seeks to establish the validity of the Group Psychotherapy Intervention Rating Scale (GPIRS), an observer-rated measure of the quality of group leader interventions. Concurrent validity was tested by comparing GPIRS results to 2 group gold standard process measures, the Hill Interaction Matrix and the Group Climate Questionnaire. Significant correlations between leader intervention scores and group member perceptions of group climate, as well as verbal interaction scores, were found. In addition, results indicated correlations between interventions aimed to gain balance between confrontation and warmth and member-rated levels of cohesion. Results lend support for the concurrent validity of the GPIRS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparation and characterization of biodiesel produced from fish oil

This study evaluated the production of biodiesel using fish oil as raw material. Two-stage alkaline-catalysis transesterification was performed with 6/1 molar ratio of methanol to oil at 55°C in the presence of 1 wt. % base amount of potassium hydroxide (KOH). The fuel properties of the biodiesel were further analyzed. The characterizations of the produced biodiesel showed that it met ASTM D 6751 standard with respect to acid number, flash point, water and sediment, free and total glycerin, sulfur content, distillation temperature, etc. It was found that cold soak and oxidative stability were out spec due to the high amount of polyunsaturated fatty acid present in the fish oil. However, through blending with used cooking oil biodiesel, in spec biodiesel fuel could be achieved.     

Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Films Based on Hydroxylated Soybean Oils

Hybrid organic–inorganic films were prepared using four different hydroxylated soybean oils (HSO) or epoxidized soybean oil as organic precursor and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as inorganic precursor in a mass ratio of HSO:TEOS of 90:10. The films were macroscopically homogeneous and were characterized by swelling and extraction in solvent, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) including energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), adhesion and hardness. Their properties varied as a function of the number of OH groups present in the HSO. The best hybrid system was HSOF198/TEOS, with an OH value of 198 mg of KOH/g, which presents lower swelling coefficient, very good adhesion on aluminium surface and good hardness.     

入门级消费者的货比三家

TWICE：什么样的特性从消费型数码相机上移到了数码单反上？在入门级市场上表现如何？     

Ionizing radiation and marketing simulation on bioactive compounds and quality of grapefruit (Citrus paradisi c.v. Rio Red)

Bioactive compounds in citrus fruits have been shown to be protective against chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease, but their levels may be affected by postharvest treatments such as storage and irradiation. In this study, grapefruits were exposed to gamma irradiation at 0, 150 and 300 Gy and then stored at 10 °C for 36 d, followed by an additional 20 d at 20 °C. Flavonoid content, terpenoid content, quality (acidity and total soluble solids) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity were evaluated at regular intervals during storage. Irradiation and storage affected (P ? 0.05) the levels of bioactive compounds in grapefruit; however, the effect of storage was prominent. Irradiation differentially affected the flavonoid content of pulp and peel. Fruits exposed to 300 Gy had higher (P ? 0.01) narirutin content in peel compared to control fruits at 12 and 56 d after storage. While storage increased the d-limonene and myrcene content in all treatments, control fruit had higher terpenoid content at the end of the storage. PAL activity was found to be in traces in the peel. In general, irradiation or storage had no considerable effect on total soluble solids; however, acidity decreased (P ? 0.05) with storage.     

Using connectionist models to guide assessment of psycological disorder.

Connectionist models are introduced as promising tools for understanding the nature of psychological disorders and guiding their assessment. Specifically, ways in which connectionist models can guide the following aspects of the assessment process are described: understanding what constructs are relevant to assess, designing approaches to assessing these constructs, and understanding individual differences in data from assessments. Two extended examples are given based on the authors' research on cognitive aspects of depression and Alzheimer's disease. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and job performance: Test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives.

Research shows consistent relations between personality and job performance. In this study the authors develop and test a model of job performance that examines the mediating effects of cognitive-motivational work orientations on the relationships between personality traits and performance in a sales job (N=164). Covariance structural analyses revealed proximal motivational variables to be influential mechanisms through which distal personality traits affect job performance. Specifically, striving for status and accomplishment mediate the effects of Extraversion and Conscientiousness on ratings of sales performance. Although Agreeableness was related to striving for communion, neither Agreeableness nor communion striving was related to success in this sales job. The importance of the proposed motivational orientations model is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shape-driven segmentation of the arterial wall in intravascular ultrasound images

Segmentation of arterial wall boundaries from intravascular images is an important problem for many applications in the study of plaque characteristics, mechanical properties of the arterial wall, its 3-D reconstruction, and its measurements such as lumen size, lumen radius, and wall radius. We present a shape-driven approach to segmentation of the arterial wall from intravascular ultrasound images in the rectangular domain. In a properly built shape space using training data, we constrain the lumen and media-adventitia contours to a smooth, closed geometry, which increases the segmentation quality without any tradeoff with a regularizer term. In addition to a shape prior, we utilize an intensity prior through a nonparametric probability-density-based image energy, with global image measurements rather than pointwise measurements used in previous methods. Furthermore, a detection step is included to address the challenges introduced to the segmentation process by side branches and calcifications. All these features greatly enhance our segmentation method. The tests of our algorithm on a large dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.