A comparison of the Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale for "Heavy drinking" with a single item craving measure: Construct validity and clinical utility

The measurement of alcohol craving began with single-item scales. Multifactorial scales developed with the intention to capture more fully the phenomenon of craving. This study examines the construct validity of a multifactorial scale, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for heavy drinking (Y-BOCS-hd). The study compares its clinical utility with a single item visual-analogue craving scale. The study includes 212 alcohol dependent subjects (127 males, 75 females) undertaking an outpatient treatment program between 1999-2001. Subjects completed the Y-BOCS-hd and a single item visual-analogue scale, in addition to alcohol consumption and dependence severity measures. The Y-BOCS-hd had strong construct validity. Both the visual-analogue alcohol craving scale and Y-BOCS-hd were weakly associated with pretreatment dependence severity. There was a significant association between pretreatment alcohol consumption and the visual-analogue craving scale. Neither craving measure was able to predict total program abstinence or days abstinent. The relationship between obsessive-compulsive behavior in alcohol dependence and craving remains unclear.

Effects of physical disturbance on infaunal and epifaunal assemblages in subtropical, intertidal seagrass beds

We assessed the impact of large-scale commercial and recreational harvesting of polychaete worms Marphysa spp. on macrobenthic assemblages in a subtropical estuary in Queensland, Australia, by examining: (1) the spatial extent of harvesting activities and the rate of recovery of the seagrass habitat over an 18 to 20 mo period; (2) the recovery of infauna in and around commercial pits of known age; (3) the indirect effects of physical disturbance from trampling and deposition of sediments during harvesting on epibenthos in areas adjacent to commercial and recreational pits; (4) impacts of potential indirect effects through manipulative experimentation. Harvesting caused a loss of seagrass, changes to the topography and compaction of the sediments associated with the creation of walls around commercial pits, and the deposition of rubble dug from within the pit. The walls and rubble were still evident after 1.8 to 20 mo, but comprised only a small proportion of the total area on the intertidal banks. There was a shift from an intertidal area dominated by Zostera capricorni to one with a mixture of Z. capricorni, Halophila spp. and Halodule uninervis, but there was no overall decline in the biomass of seagrass in these areas. There were distinct impacts from harvesting on the abundance of benthic infauna, especially amphipods, polychaetes and gastropods, and these effects were still detectable after 4 mo of potential recovery. After 12 me, there were no detectable differences in the abundances of these infauna between dug areas and reference areas, which suggested that infauna had recovered from impacts of harvesting; however, an extensive bloom of toxic fireweed Lyngbya majsucula may have masked any remaining impacts. There were no detectable impacts of harvesting on epifauna living in the seagrass immediately around commercial or recreational pits.

Phase behavior of a phospholipid/fatty acid/water mixture studied in atomic detail

Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to study the phase behavior of a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC)/palmitic acid (PA)/water 1:2:20 mixture in atomic detail. Starting from a random solution of DPPC and PA in water, the system adopts either a gel phase at temperatures below similar to 330 K or an inverted hexagonal phase above similar to 330 K in good agreement with experiment. It has also been possible to observe the direct transformation from a gel to an inverted hexagonal phase at elevated temperature (similar to 390 K). During this transformation, a metastable fluid lamellar intermediate is observed. Interlamellar connections or stalks form spontaneously on a nanosecond time scale and subsequently elongate, leading to the formation of an inverted hexagonal phase. This work opens the possibility of studying in detail how the formation of nonlamellar phases is affected by lipid composition and (fusion) peptides and, thus, is an important step toward understanding related biological processes, such as membrane fusion.

Small-scale randomized controlled trials need more powerful methods of mediational analysis than the Baron-Kenny method

Objective: To devise more-effective physical activity interventions, the mediating mechanisms yielding behavioral change need to be identified. The Baron-Kenny method is most commonly used. but has low statistical power and May not identify mechanisms of behavioral change in small-to-medium size Studies. More powerful statistical tests are available, Study Design and Setting: Inactive adults (N = 52) were randomized to either a print or a print-plus-telephone intervention. Walking and exercise-related social support Were assessed at baseline, after file intervention, and 4 weeks later. The Baron-Kenny and three alternative methods of mediational analysis (Freedman-Schatzkin; MacKinnon et al.: bootstrap method) were used to examine the effects of social support on initial behavior change and maintenance. Results: A significant mediational effect of social support on initial behavior change was indicated by the MacKinnon et al., bootstrap. and. marginally. Freedman-Schatzkin methods, but not by the Baron-Kenny method. No significant mediational effecl of social support on maintenance of walking was found. Conclusions: Methodologically rigorous intervention studies to identify mediators of change in physical activity are costly and labor intensive, and may not be feasible with large samples. The Use of statistically powerful tests of mediational effects in small-scale studies can inform the development of more effective interventions. (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of habitat disturbance and recovery in metapopulation persistence

Classical metapopulation theory assumes a static landscape. However, empirical evidence indicates many metapopulations are driven by habitat succession and disturbance. We develop a stochastic metapopulation model, incorporating habitat disturbance and recovery, coupled with patch colonization and extinction, to investigate the effect of habitat dynamics on persistence. We discover that habitat dynamics play a fundamental role in metapopulation dynamics. The mean number of suitable habitat patches is not adequate for characterizing the dynamics of the metapopulation. For a fixed mean number of suitable patches, we discover that the details of how disturbance affects patches and how patches recover influences metapopulation dynamics in a fundamental way. Moreover, metapopulation persistence is dependent not only oil the average lifetime of a patch, but also on the variance in patch lifetime and the synchrony in patch dynamics that results from disturbance. Finally, there is an interaction between the habitat and metapopulation dynamics, for instance declining metapopulations react differently to habitat dynamics than expanding metapopulations. We close, emphasizing the importance of using performance measures appropriate to stochastic systems when evaluating their behavior, such as the probability distribution of the state of the. metapopulation, conditional on it being extant (i.e., the quasistationary distribution).

Social Vulnerability Scale for older adults: Validation study

The Social Vulnerability Scale (SVS), an informant-report of social vulnerability for older adults, was piloted in a sample of 167 undergraduate students (63 male, 104 female) from the University of Queensland. Participants aged 18 - 53 (M = 25.53 years, SD = 7.83 years) completed the SVS by rating a relative or friend aged ≥50 years (M = 71.65 years, SD = 12.49 years): either someone with memory problems, stroke, dementia, or other neurological condition (n = 85); or a healthy older adult (n = 82). Excellent internal consistency and test - retest reliability were demonstrated, and the SVS effectively differentiated healthy older adults from those with a neurological condition based on proxy ratings of social vulnerability. The SVS is a potentially useful adjunct measure of older adults' capacity to reside independently. 1 *For information on using the Social Vulnerability Scale, email d.pinsker@psy.uq.edu.au or stone@psy.uq.edu.au

An automated failure mode and effect analysis based on high-level design specificication with behavior trees

Formal methods have significant benefits for developing safety critical systems, in that they allow for correctness proofs, model checking safety and liveness properties, deadlock checking, etc. However, formal methods do not scale very well and demand specialist skills, when developing real-world systems. For these reasons, development and analysis of large-scale safety critical systems will require effective integration of formal and informal methods. In this paper, we use such an integrative approach to automate Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), a widely used system safety analysis technique, using a high-level graphical modelling notation (Behavior Trees) and model checking. We inject component failure modes into the Behavior Trees and translate the resulting Behavior Trees to SAL code. This enables us to model check if the system in the presence of these faults satisfies its safety properties, specified by temporal logic formulas. The benefit of this process is tool support that automates the tedious and error-prone aspects of FMEA.

Progressive loss of expressive language in a journalist: What news for dementia?

A 77-year-old man with 8 year progressive language deterioration in the face of grossly intact memory was followed. No acute or chronic physiological or psychological event was associated with symptom onset. CT revealed small left basal ganglia infarct. Mild atrophy, no lacunar infarcts, mild diffuse periventricular changes registered on MRI. Gait normal but slow. Speech hesitant and sparse. Affect euthymic; neurobehavioral disturbance absent. MMSE 26/30; clock incorrect, concrete. Neuropsychological testing revealed simple attention intact; complex attention, processing speed impaired. Visuospatial copying and delayed recall of copy average with some perseveration. Apraxia absent. Recall mildly impaired. Mild deficits in planning, organization apparent. Patient severely aphasic, dysarthric without paraphasias. Repetition of automatic speech, recitation moderately impaired; prosody intact. Understanding of written language, nonverbal communication abilities, intact. Frontal release signs developed over last 12 months. Repeated cognitive testing revealed mild deterioration across all domains with significant further decrease in expressive, receptive language. Neurobehavioral changes remain absent to date; he remains interested, engaged and independent in basic ADLs. Speech completely deteriorated; gait and movements appreciably slowed. Although signs of frontal/executive dysfunction present, lack of behavioral abnormalities, psychiatric disturbance, personality change argue against focal or progressive frontal impairment or dementia. Relative intactness of memory and comprehension argue against Alzheimer’s disease. Lack of findings on neuroimaging argue against CVA or tumor. It is possible that the small basal ganglia infarct has resulted in a mild lateral prefrontal syndrome. However, the absence of depression as well as the relatively circumscribed language problem suggests otherwise. The progressive, severe nature of language impairments, with relatively minor impairments in attention and memory, argues for a possible diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia.

The Effects of Live, Taped and No Music on People Experiencing Posttraumatic Amnesia

This study compared the effects of live, taped, and no music, on agitation and orientation levels of people experiencing posttraumatic amnesia (PTA). Participants (N = 22) were exposed to all 3 conditions, twice over 6 consecutive days. Songs used in the live and taped music conditions were identical and were selected based on participants' own preferred music. Pre and posttesting was conducted for each condition using the Agitated Behavior Scale (Corrigan, 1989) and the Westmead PTA Scale (Shores, Marosszeky, Sandanam, Batchelor, 1986). Participants' memory for the music used was also tested and compared with their memory for pictorial material presented in the Westmead PTA Scale. Results indicate that music significantly reduced agitation (p

Measurement of functional ability following traumatic brain injury using the Clinical Outcomes Variable Scale: A reliability study

This study determined the inter-tester and intra-tester reliability of physiotherapists measuring functional motor ability of traumatic brain injury clients using the Clinical Outcomes Variable Scale (COVS). To test inter-tester reliability, 14 physiotherapists scored the ability of 16 videotaped patients to execute the items that comprise the COVS. Intra-tester reliability was determined by four physiotherapists repeating their assessments after one week, and three months later. The intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were very high for both inter-tester reliability (ICC > 0.97 for total COVS scores, ICC > 0.93 for individual COVS items) and intra-tester reliability (ICC > 0.97). This study demonstrates that physiotherapists are reliable in the administration of the COVS.

Air Entrainment Processes in a Full-Scale Rectangular Dropshaft at Large Flows

Rectangular dropshafts, commonly used in sewers and storm water systems, are characterised by significant flow aeration. New detailed air-water flow measurements were conducted in a near-full-scale dropshaft at large discharges. In the shaft pool and outflow channel, the results demonstrated the complexity of different competitive air entrainment mechanisms. Bubble size measurements showed a broad range of entrained bubble sizes. Analysis of streamwise distributions of bubbles suggested further some clustering process in the bubbly flow although, in the outflow channel, bubble chords were in average smaller than in the shaft pool. A robust hydrophone was tested to measure bubble acoustic spectra and to assess its field application potential. The acoustic results characterised accurately the order of magnitude of entrained bubble sizes, but the transformation from acoustic frequencies to bubble radii did not predict correctly the probability distribution functions of bubble sizes.

Language disorders in dementia of the Alzheimer type

The language profile of a group of 18 Alzheimer patients is documented and their performance on a standard aphasia test battery compared to a group of institutionalized, nonneurologically impaired control subjects matched for age, sex, and educational level. The Alzheimer patients scored significantly lower than the controls in the areas of verbal expression, auditory comprehension, repetition, reading, and writing. Articulation abilities were the same in each group. A language deficit was evident in all Alzheimer patients. The language disorder exhibited resembled a transcortical sensory aphasia. Syntax and phonology remained relatively intact but semantic abilities were impaired. The results support the inclusion of a language deficit as a diagnostic criterion of Alzheimer's disease.

Turbulent Time and Length Scale Measurements in High-Velocity Open Channel Flows

In high-velocity open channel flows, the measurements of air-water flow properties are complicated by the strong interactions between the flow turbulence and the entrained air. In the present study, an advanced signal processing of traditional single- and dual-tip conductivity probe signals is developed to provide further details on the air-water turbulent level, time and length scales. The technique is applied to turbulent open channel flows on a stepped chute conducted in a large-size facility with flow Reynolds numbers ranging from 3.8 E+5 to 7.1 E+5. The air water flow properties presented some basic characteristics that were qualitatively and quantitatively similar to previous skimming flow studies. Some self-similar relationships were observed systematically at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. These included the distributions of void fraction, bubble count rate, interfacial velocity and turbulence level at a macroscopic scale, and the auto- and cross-correlation functions at the microscopic level. New correlation analyses yielded a characterisation of the large eddies advecting the bubbles. Basic results included the integral turbulent length and time scales. The turbulent length scales characterised some measure of the size of large vortical structures advecting air bubbles in the skimming flows, and the data were closely related to the characteristic air-water depth Y90. In the spray region, present results highlighted the existence of an upper spray region for C > 0.95 to 0.97 in which the distributions of droplet chord sizes and integral advection scales presented some marked differences with the rest of the flow.

Assessing flow in physical activity: The Flow State Scale-2 and Dispositional Flow Scale-2

The Flow State Scale-2 (FSS-2) and Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2) are presented as two self-report instruments designed to assess flow experiences in physical activity. Item modifications were made to the original versions of these scales in order to improve the measurement of some of the flow dimensions. Confirmatory factor analyses of an item identification and a cross-validation sample demonstrated a good fit of the new scales. There was support for both a 9-first-order factor model and a higher order model with a global flow factor. The item identification sample yielded mean item loadings on the first-order factor of .78 for the FSS-2 and .77 for the DFS-2. Reliability estimates ranged from .80 to .90 for the FSS-2, and .81 to .90 for the DFS-2. In the cross-validation sample, mean item loadings on the first-order factor were .80 for the FSS-2, and .73 for the DFS-2. Reliability estimates ranged between .80 to .92 for the FSS-2 and .78 to .86 for the DFS-2. The scales are presented as ways of assessing flow experienced within a particular event (FSS-2) or the frequency of flow experiences in chosen physical activity in general (DFS-2).