An empirical investigation of emotional reactions to divorce

Administered three personality tests to four groups (N = 74): (1) individuals who subjectively defined their marriages as good; (2) individuals who were undergoing marriage counseling; (3) individuals who had filed for divorce, but had not yet been to court; and (4) individuals who had been divorced between 6 and 12 months. These groups were selected to represent the various stages of the divorce process and thus constituted a cross-sectional design. Results indicated intensified feelings of depression, anxiety, and hositility as one entered marriage counseling. These feelings were maintained through the period of attaining the divorce; however, by the sixth to twelfth month after the divorce most of these negative feelings had disappeared.     

An empirical test of the sociocybernetic model

A theoretical “sociocybernetic” systems analysis model was tested empirically. Two independent groups completed a questionnaire that described their reactions to four hypothetical interpersonal situations. Half of the persons in each group described their reactions to a friend and used Likert scales to rate the unfavorable/favorablencess of their (a) verbal responses and subsequent (b) emotional states. Additionally, they completed similar scale ratings that indicated the expected verbal responses and emotional states of their friend. Persons in the other half of each group completed the same interpersonal simulation exercise except that they were asked to describe an interaction with someone other than a friend. The data elements simulated by the computer were the verbal and emotional response ratings. In this simulation, one person's output becomes the other person's input and vice versa. Strife scores were defined operationally in terms of the unfavorable (negative) conditions generated in the mathematical simulations. In both groups the mean strife scores for friends were significantly lower than mean strife scores for the other two-person interactions.     

Dentists evaluate their patients: An empirical investigation of preferences

Dental treatment is a dyadic encounter. Yet research on the dentist-patient dyad has tended to focus on patient perceptions of dentist, to the neglect of dentist perceptions of patient. Previous theoretic and qualitative work on caregiver perceptions of patients suggested three dimensions of evaluation. Dentists (N=618) rated their patients on items taken from two prior studies. Dentists' responses were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis substantiated the existence of three evaluative dimensions: compliance, tractability, and likability. Further analysis showed that the three dimensions formed a Guttman simplex, revealing a second-order factor of selectivity and allowing a classification of dentists on the basis of patient selectivity.This study was funded by a grant from the University of Connecticut Research Foundation.     

The determinants of home healthcare robots adoption: An empirical investigation

BackgroundHome healthcare robots promise to make clinical information available at the right place and time, thereby reducing error and increasing safety and quality. However, it has been frequently reported that more than 40% of previous information technology (IT) developments have failed or been abandoned due to the lack of understanding of the sociotechnical aspects of IT.ObjectivePrevious home healthcare robots research has focused on technology development and clinical applications. There has been little discussion of associated social, technical and managerial issues that are arguably of equal importance for robot success. To fill this knowledge gap, this research aims to understand the determinants of home healthcare robots adoption from these aspects by applying technology acceptance theories.MethodsWe employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. The participants were recruited from home healthcare agencies located in the U.S. (n = 108), which included both patients and healthcare professionals. We collected data via a survey study to test a research model.ResultsThe usage intention of home healthcare robots is a function of social influence, performance expectancy, trust, privacy concerns, ethical concerns and facilitating conditions. Among them, social influence is the strongest predictor. Monitoring vital signs and facilitating communication with family and medication reminders are the most preferable tasks and applications for robots.ConclusionSociotechnical factors play a powerful role in explaining the adoption intention for home healthcare robots. The findings provide insights on how home healthcare service providers and robot designers may improve the success of robot technologies.     

An empirical model on extractive lactic acid bioconversion

The commercial production of lactic acid through fermentation process has always been in competition with its chemical synthesis process (Kirk Othmer, 1995). Lactic acid produced through the fermentation process has to cope with the problems of purification to meet the required quality standards. An attempt to improve the fermentative production is possible by proper design of an industrial process involving low capital cost for the plant. Also, the low energy costs both in its fermentation and purification, are required. In the commercial interest, the investment cost should be minimised, which is possible only when the cell density in fermenter is high. It means that the inhibitory effect of the product on process kinetics must be minimised. Based on these requirements, the extractive bioconversion technique is one of the approaches to achieve the commercially viable lactic acid production. Extractive lactic acid bioconversion using ion-exchange resin process has already been described in our earlier publications (Srivastava e al., 1992: Roychoudhury et al., 1995) It is always an advantage to develop a process model, thus opening an area of biotechnological improvements to the process. In the present paper, an empirical mathematical model has been described to explain this extractive bioconversion using ion-exchange resin process. It was based on generalised Monod's growth model and Leudeking and Piret equation. The system was defined with the assumption that the microbial growth can be represented as a single reaction; only a very little part of the substrate is utilised for the maintenance of the cells. The effect of end product inhibition on growth and product formation kinetics has also been considered in this model. A non-linear regression technique was used for evaluation of bioconversion kinetic parameters. The fourth order Runge Kutta method was used for solving the differential equations. The results of this process simulation are also discussed in the present paper. It indicates that the use of present technique has minimised the effect of lactic acid inhibition on process kinetics and hence higher productivity and least substrate utilisation for maintenance of cells. A statistical F-test has been performed for determining the validity of the model for a given set of experimental data with a level of significance alpha = 0.05 selected for this extractive batch recycle bioconversion process using ion-exchange resin.     

An empirical model for megavoltage x-ray output factors

An empirical model of the factors that determine the central axis dose at 10 cm depth in water for 4 MV, 6 MV and 18 MV photon beams is presented. Backscattering from the variable collimators into the dose monitoring ionization chamber can cause a variation of -0.5% to +1.8% in the dose per monitor unit in accelerators with an electron facility. Forward emission towards the isocentre from the beam flattening filter and upper collimators is more dependent on the position of the upper variable collimator blades than the lower blades, so that they are not interchangeable in determining output factors, which can differ by up to 2%. The model includes the product of the monitor backscatter factor, normalized phantom scatter factor, normalized head scatter factor and inverse square law, corrected for the displacement of the virtual x-ray focus from the target. It can predict the dose to -/+0.83% for 4 MV, -/+0.80% for 6 MV photons and -/+0.82% for 18 MV photons. The normalized head scatter factor is a second-order polynomial of the modified equivalent square collimator, whose coefficients do not vary significantly with x-ray energy. The model was tested by comparison with independent measurements of output factor and generally agreed to around 1%.     

The purpose-in-life test in an inmate population: An empirical investigation

This study examined the relationship of the Purpose-in-Life test to a number of variables in a sample of 48 inmates. The PIL was shown to be a reliable and valid instrument and correlated significantly and positively with measures of the self-concept, self-esteem, internal locus of control, and two EPI scales: Plans and Organizes Things and Carefree. Also found were significant relationships between PIL scores and age, IQ, and family relations. When compared to normal samples, inmates scored significantly lower on meaning and purpose in life. These data support the continued use of the PIL in research and applied settings.     

An empirical test of the two-threshold model of disease transmission

Recent research on diabetes mellitus has revealed the existence of at least two independent subtypes. The multifactorial analysis method suggested by Reich & co-workers (1972) for testing the independence of transmission between subtypes of a complex disorder agrees with this distinction. These techniques were also sensitive to the non-unitary nature of the mental retardation within a sample of subjects drawn from the data set of Reed & Reed (1965). Therefore, we believe that this analysis could be a valuable adjunct to the limited repertoire of methods currently available to psychiatric researchers for dealing with issues of differential diagnosis.     

An empirical study of the power of the Terpstra–Jonckheere test using binary data

A Monte-Carlo simulation is performed to evaluate the power of the Terpstra–Jonckheere test for monotonic trend as applied to binary data. The effects of the magnitude and shape of the underlying response and of varying the number of treatment levels for in vivo experiments in cytogenetics are examined. It is shown that choice of the number and spacing of the treatment levels can be critical factors in determining the power of the test. These findings indicate that selection of the proper experimental design is a very important step in the process of conducting a viable study.     

基于英文专业词汇的解剖学双语教学模式探讨及实证调查

<正>双语教学是我国高等教育改革的一项重大举措,适应了科学技术和社会经济的发展,是培养高素质复合型人才的需要。双语教学的目标可以概括为语言目标、学科目标、综合目标,其中综合目标使学生既得到学科知识、又提高语言能力~([1])。那么,双语教学是否能够提高英语水平?是提高了英语专业词水平还是英语公共词水平?是否提高了学科知识成绩?双语成绩与入学英语成绩相关性如何?开展双语是否增加学生负担以及学生意愿如何?对此,根据地方本科院校的实际情况,以及解剖学词     

Intellectual evaluations of children using human figure drawings: An empirical investigation of two methods

This study evaluated the scoring systems of Goodenough and Harris (1963) and Koppitz (1968) for using human figure drawings to assess the intellectual abilities of children. Drawing scores of 125 children, aged 5 to 15, were compared to their performance on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), while the drawing scores of a separate group of 74 children, aged 5 to 12, were compared to their performance on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Form L-M. While both drawing systems correlated significantly with the WISC-R as well as the Stanford-Binet, the longer and more detailed Goodenough-Harris had a significantly higher correlation with Performance IQ on the WISC-R than did the Koppitz. Neither drawing system had a pattern of significantly different validity coefficients for children of varying ages or IQ levels. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Brains versus brawn: An empirical test of Barker's brain sparing model

The Barker model of the in utero origins of diminished muscle mass in those born small invokes the adaptive “sparing” of brain tissue development at the expense of muscle. Though compelling, to date this model has not been directly tested. This article develops an allometric framework for testing the principal prediction of the Barker model—that among those born small muscle mass is sacrificed to spare brain growth—then evaluates this hypothesis using data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). The results indicate clear support for a negative relationship between the allometric development of the two tissues; however, a further consideration of conserved mammalian fetal circulatory patterns suggests the possibility that system‐constrained patterns of developmental damage and “bet‐hedging” responses in affected tissues may provide a more adequate explanation of the results. Far from signaling the end of studies of adaptive developmental programming, this perspective may open a promising new avenue of inquiry within the fields of human biology and the developmental origins of health and disease. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

大学生职业价值观 一般自我效能感与职业决策的相关研究

为探讨大学生职业价值观、一般自我效能感与职业决策的特点及其关系,运用大学生职业价值观问卷、一般自我效能感量表和自编大学生职业决策问卷对580名大学生进行调查。结果表明,男生在职业决策总分及职业知识、职业信念、自我评价的得分均高于女生(t=3.438,P=0.001;t=5.237,P=0.000;t=3.790,P=0.000;t=4.682,P=0.000);一般自我效能感、职业价值观总分及发展因素与职业决策存在相关(P<0.01)。可见,大学生职业价值观和一般自我效能感对大学生职业决策具有一定预测作用。