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PubMed2002

Predicting anxious response to a social challenge: the predictive utility of the social interaction anxiety scale and the social phobia scale in a college population.

Trait anxiety is believed to be a hierarchical construct composed of several lower-order factors (Adv. Behav. Res. Therapy, 15 (1993) 147; J. Anxiety Disorders, 9 (1995) 163). Assessment devices such as the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Social Phobia Scale (SIAS and SPS; Behav. Res. Therapy, 36 (4) (1998) 455), and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; Behav. Res. Therapy, 24 (1986) 1) are good measures of the presumably separate lower-order factors. This study compared the effectiveness of the SIAS, SPS, ASI-physical scale and STAI-T (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press (1970)) as predictors of anxious response to a social challenge (asking an aloof confederate out on a date). Consistent with the hierarchical model of anxiety, the measures of trait anxiety were moderately correlated with each other and each was a significant predictor of anxious response. The specific measures of trait social anxiety were slightly better predictors of anxious response to the social challenge than was either the ASI-physical scale or the STAI-T. The results provide evidence of the predictive validity of these social trait measures and some support for their specificity in the prediction of anxious response to a social challenge.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Allometric scaling law in a simple oxygen exchanging network: possible implications on the biological allometric scaling laws.

A simple model of an oxygen exchanging network is presented and studied. This network's task is to transfer a given oxygen rate from a source to an oxygen consuming system. It consists of a pipeline, that interconnects the oxygen consuming system and the reservoir and of a fluid, the active oxygen transporting element, moving through the pipeline. The network optimal design (total pipeline surface) and dynamics (volumetric flow of the oxygen transporting fluid), which minimize the energy rate expended in moving the fluid, are calculated in terms of the oxygen exchange rate, the pipeline length, and the pipeline cross-section. After the oxygen exchanging network is optimized, the energy converting system is shown to satisfy a 3/4-like allometric scaling law, based upon the assumption that its performance regime is scale invariant as well as on some feasible geometric scaling assumptions. Finally, the possible implications of this result on the allometric scaling properties observed elsewhere in living beings are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Disinfection of Bacillus subtilis spores with chlorine dioxide: a bench-scale and pilot-scale study.

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) inactivation of Bacillus subtilis ATCC 19659 spores was examined at pilot-scale during periods representative of winter and summer temperature extremes at the Britannia Water Treatment Plant in Ottawa, Canada. In addition, bench-scale experiments using the same source water (Ottawa River, Ontario, Canada), as well as buffered and unbuffered laboratory waters were conducted using B. subtilis spores. Bench-scale inactivation of B. subtilis spores by ClO2 was similar to reported values for Cryptosporidium parvum (both organisms being more resistant to ClO2 than Giardia lamblia), suggesting the possibility that these spores may be used as potential indicators for protozoan parasites. Additionally, spore inactivation was observed to be influenced by pH in laboratory (distilled deionised water) water but not in Ottawa River water. At pilot-scale, spore inactivation was influenced by water temperature: a ClO2 dose of 2.5 mg/L resulted in a spore inactivation of approximately 2.0 log10 and 0.5 log10 at water temperatures of 23.2d egrees C and 5.2 degrees C, respectively. Chlorite concentrations remained below both the US EPA maximum contaminant level of 1.0 mg/L and the maximum contaminant level goal of 0.8 mg/L for up to 2.0log10 B. subtilis inactivation.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1999

Full-scale and pilot-scale soil washing.

The purpose of this paper is to describe soil washing and to present results obtained from pilot-scale and full-scale projects. The soil washing system to be described is a water-based physical separation process which relies on traditional physical and chemical extraction and separation processes for removing a broad range of organic, inorganic, and radioactive contaminants from soil. Although soil washing is becoming more accepted as a treatment technology in the United States, limited experience in field application still appears to be a barrier to more widespread implementation. This paper will attempt to overcome some of those barriers by describing the system and its applications, and providing case histories of successful experiences in full-scale and pilot-scale field operations. Both levels of operations have been very successful, and confirm the viability of soil washing for treating contaminated soils.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed2001

The Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale-Short Form (CAMPIS-SF): validation of a rating scale for children's and adults' behaviors during painful medical procedures.

This study evaluated the concurrent and construct validity of the Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale-Short Form (CAMPIS-SF), a behavior rating scale of children's acute procedural distress and coping, and the coping promoting behaviors and distress promoting behaviors of their parents and the medical personnel who were present in the medical treatment room. Sixty preschool children undergoing immunizations at a county health department served as subjects. Videotapes of the procedures were scored using three observational measures in addition to the CAMPIS-SF. Also, parent, nurse, and child report measures of child distress, fear, pain, and cooperation were obtained. Results indicated that the validity of the CAMPIS-SF codes of Child Coping, Child Distress, Parent Coping Promoting, Parent Distress Promoting, Nurse Coping Promoting, and Nurse Distress Promoting behaviors was supported by multiple significant correlations with the other measures. The interrater reliability of the 5-point CAMPIS-SF scales was good to excellent. The results emphasize that the CAMPIS-SF scales can be used to monitor not only children's acute procedural distress, but also their coping and the various adults' behaviors that significantly influence children's distress. Further, because of the CAMPIS-SF's ease of use, it is likely that the study of the effects of the social environment on children's distress and coping will be facilitated.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Development and validation of the cancer fatigue scale: a brief, three-dimensional, self-rating scale for assessment of fatigue in cancer patients.

We herein describe the development and validation of the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS) for assessment of fatigue in cancer patients. We designed this scale specifically to reflect the nature of fatigue experienced by cancer patients, by using factor analysis; the CFS is a 15-item scale composed of 3 subscales (physical, affective, and cognitive subscales). Three hundred seven cancer patients participated in the validation phase. Construct validity, confirmed by repeating factor analysis, was good. Convergent validity, confirmed by a correlation between CFS and a visual analogue scale for fatigue, was also shown to be good (r = 0.67, P < 0.001). The CFS had good stability (average test-retest reliability r = 0.69, P < 0.001) and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient for all 15 items = 0.88). The present study indicates that the CFS is a brief, valid, and feasible measure of fatigue for use with cancer patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

The Hammersmith functional motor scale for children with spinal muscular atrophy: a scale to test ability and monitor progress in children with limited ambulation.

A functional motor scale was devised for use in children with spinal muscular atrophy type 2 and type 3, in particular those with limited mobility, to give objective information on motor ability and clinical progression. The scale, which has 20 scored activities, was designed to be self-explanatory, quick, easy to use, reproducible and reliable. In this paper we describe the development of the scale, reporting the criteria used to choose the items to be included, their application in a normal cohort and in a cohort of children with SMA and how we arrived to a final version of the scale in which the items are arranged in order of difficulty. The analysis of 120 assessments over 2 years from 51 children with type 2 and type 3 SMA also led to a more accurate profile of functional achievements in both type 2 and 3 SMA and to a more detailed sub-classification of type 2 SMA.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Design of a tubular loop bioreactor for scale-up and scale-down of fermentation processes.

Microorganisms traveling through circulation loops in large-scale bioreactors experience variations in their environment such as dissolved oxygen concentration and pH gradients. The same changes are not experienced in small bioreactors, and it is suggested that herein lies one of the major reasons for the problems encountered when translating fermentation data from one scale to another. One approach to study this problem is to look at the circulation loop itself. The present work concerns an attempt to simulate the circulation loops inside stirred tank reactors, using a tubular loop reactor specially constructed for the purpose. The reactor carries a number of ports and probes along its length for the determination of concentration gradients within. The broth is circulated around the loop by the use of peristaltic pumps, and the circulation time (t(c), s) is used as a measure of simulated reactor size. The reactor system has been evaluated using the citric acid fermentation by Aspergillus niger as a test process. Acid production and fungal morphology, in terms of the mean convex perimeter of mycelial clumps quantified by image analysis, were used as the parameters of evaluation for the two systems in comparison. From comparative experiments carried out in 10 and 200 L stirred tank bioreactors, it appears that the loop reactor simulates the corresponding stirred tank representing a valuable tool in scaling up and scaling down of fermentation process.

Aspergillus niger↗
PubMed2006

Manipulation of micrometer-scale adhesion by tuning nanometer-scale surface features.

This article demonstrates how the adhesion rates of micrometer-scale particles on a planar surface can be manipulated by nanometer-scale features on the latter. Here, approximately 500-nm-diameter spherical silica particles carrying a substantial and relatively uniform negative charge experienced competing attractions and repulsions as they approached and attempted to adhere to a negative planar silica surface carrying flat 11-nm-diameter patches of concentrated positive charge. The average spacing of these patches profoundly influenced the particle adhesion. For dense positive patch spacing on the planar collector, the particle adhesion was rapid, and the fundamental adhesion kinetics were masked by particle transport to the interface. For patch densities corresponding to a planar surface with net zero charge, particle adhesion was still rapid. Adhesion kinetics were observably reduced for patch spacings exceeding 20 nm and become slower with increased patch spacing. Ultimately, above a critical or threshold average patch spacing of 32 nm, no particle adhesion occurred. The presence of the threshold average patch spacing suggests that more than one positive surface patch was needed for particle capture under the particular conditions of this study. Furthermore, at the threshold, the length scales of the patch spacing and of the interactive surface area between the particle and the surface become similar: The concept of adhesion dominated by the matching of length scales is reminiscent of pattern recognition, even though the patch distribution on the collector is random in this work. Indeed, fluctuations play a critical role in these adhesion dynamics, hence the current behavior cannot be predicted by a mean field approach.

Nanotechnology↗
PubMed2002

An investigation on biological stability of product water generated by lab-scale and pilot-scale distillation systems.

Lab-scale and pilot-scale distillation systems were assessed in this study and the effectiveness of the treatment processes on Assimilable Organic Carbon (AOC) removal was also investigated. Seawater as one of the alternative water sources was used as the feed water and the resulting product water was intended for industry use. Acidification, ion trapping and anti-scaling chemical dosing were adopted as the pre-treatment processes to the feed water before distillation for pilot-plant system. The AOC assay was used to evaluate the efficiencies of various unit processes for AOC removal. Heterotrophic Plate Counts (HPC) was adopted in conjunction with AOC to determine the biological stability of the water samples. It is noted that the distillation system was able to produce a product water with an acceptable AOC concentration of less than 20 micrograms acetate-C L-1. This would suggest that the distillation system was capable of delivering a biologically stable product water. The results from lab-scale system indicated that pretreatment such as acidification, chlorination and antiscalant would increase AOC, although this does not affect the general performance of distillation system.

Carbon↗
PubMed2002

Issues in the measurement of violent incidents and the introduction of a new scale: the 'attacks' (attempted and actual assault scale).

OBJECTIVE: To review the strengths and weaknesses of existing violent incident measures, and introduce a new scale, the 'attacks'. The new scale provides an objective measure of incident severity and focuses on interpersonal physical violence in isolation from other behaviours. METHOD: The new scale was piloted on six psychiatric wards in the East End of London over a period of 16 weeks. Descriptive data were obtained and validated against official violent incident records. RESULTS: There were 40 incidents by 21 aggressive patients, most of which occurred on the psychiatric intensive care unit. Striking assaults predominated. Continuous holding of the patient by nurses occurred after 17% of incidents. Special observation was also used as a subsequent management method in more than half of the incidents. CONCLUSION: The scale is acceptable to nurses and valid. Interesting questions are raised about the content of training for staff in the prevention and management of violent incidents.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Sexual abuse comfort scale: a scale to measure nurses' comfort to respond to sexual abuse in psychiatric populations.

The purpose of the present study was to further contribute to the psychometric evaluation of the Sexual Abuse Comfort Scale (SACS) in order to provide a standardized measure that would assess the impact of educational programmes on nurses' comfort to intervene with psychiatric clients regarding sexual abuse. This study was part of a larger multisite study conducted in four Canadian provinces, designed to assess the attitudes, beliefs, competencies and educational needs of psychiatric nurses who may work with clients who have been sexually abused. As part of the larger study, a self-administered survey was sent to 3532 psychiatric nurses employed in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia. The SACS, the Sexual Attitudes Scale (SAS), the Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy (QMEE) and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (M-CDS) were included in the survey. The SACS was submitted for item analysis, factor analysis, hypothesis testing regarding construct validity and assessment of concurrent validity. Item analysis of the SACS resulted in a 30-item scale with a coefficient of 0.91, indicating an excellent level of reliability. Empirical evidence indicates that the SACS is a reliable and valid instrument that may be used for the effective evaluation of intervention programmes directed towards increasing clinical knowledge and competence related to sexual abuse.

Education, Nursing, Continuing↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Assessment of respondent acceptability of preference measures: discriminatory power of graphic positioning scale versus traditional scaling measures.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare discriminatory power of two different measures-graphic positioning scale (GPS) versus traditional scale (TS)-in assessing respondent acceptability of three preference measures: visual analog scale (VAS), standard gamble (SG), and willingness to pay (WTP). METHODS: Two face-to-face interviews were conducted at least 1 week apart in a convenience sample of women aged 22 to 50 years with no history of breast cancer or cancer requiring chemotherapy. Study participation required completion of two surveys: one evaluating health preferences for an acute condition (chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting) and one evaluating a chronic condition (breast cancer). Data were collected from March 2000 to June 2000 at Ohio State University. Respondents were randomized to either GPS or TS surveys. Data analysis was a two-step process. First, a four-way multivariate repeated-measures analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to assess respondent acceptability of three-preference metrics-VAS, SG, and WTP-in health-care decision making. Each of the four dependent variables, difficulty, clarity, reasonableness, and comfort in use in decision making, was measured on 9-point Likert scale. Second, a mixed design univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for each dependent variable to optimize MANOVA analysis. Univariate ANOVAs, 2 x (2 x 3), were composed of three independent variables: assessment (GPS/TS), condition (acute and chronic), and preferences (VAS, SG, WTP). RESULTS: Of 126 respondents, 119 were usable and complete. MANOVA results showed (P <.05) for two main effects, condition (F4,114 = 6.375) and preferences (F8,110 = 9.290), and two significant interactions, condition x assessment (F4,114 = 3.421) and condition x preferences (F8,110 = 2.087). CONCLUSION: GPS has higher discriminatory power than TS in assessing respondent attitudes toward health preference measures. Results showed that respondents had more difficulty and less comfort when making decisions for chronic than for acute conditions. Results also show that respondents regard WTP as a more reasonable decision-making tool when assessing acute interventions in preference to SG and vice versa for chronic conditions. Of VAS, SG, and WTP methods, VAS was perceived as being the easiest to understand. These results can be explained by direct versus indirect comparisons made with GPS and TS methods, respectively.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[The Antonovsky Sense of Coherence Scale. Test statistical evaluation of a representative population sample and construction of a brief scale].

In this article we will describe the evaluation of Antonovsky's 29-items Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29) in a large community sample (n = 2.005) of the German population and the development of the Leipzig Short Scale (SOC-L9), which consists of only 9 items. The SOC-29 has a high internal consistency (alpha = 0.92), however, the SOC-subscales (comprehensibility, manageability, meaningfulness) were correlated with each other. A principal component factor analysis did not identify the 3-factor structure of the SOC-Scale. It appears that the best solution consists of one global factor. The newly developed SOC-L9, conceptualized as an unidimensional scale, is a reliable and valid instrument, which allows to assess the SOC economically. In our study the Sense of Coherence depended on age and gender. Women and older people reported a lower SOC. Furthermore we found significant associations between SOC and different subjective health measures. A high SOC was associated with both a lower extent of subjective body complaints and somatoform symptoms and with minor health-related problems in daily living.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

[Predicting gainful employment in a population sample of 4225 statutory pension insurance members covering a prognostic period of five years using a brief subjective prognostic employment scale (SPE Scale)].

PURPOSE: Vocational (dis-)ability is a key concept in social medicine. It plays a major role in the realm of statutory pension funds (e. g. appraisal of applications for early retirement) as well as in epidemiologic or rehabilitation research. In a former population-based survey reliability of a short scale assessing the subjective prognosis of gainful employment (SPE-Scale, range = 0 - 3) had been tested. We now wanted to explore whether the SPE-Scale allows a prediction of vocational outcomes (early retirement) in the population sample over longer periods of time. METHODS: Statutory pension insurees from Luebeck and surroundings aged between 40 and 55 were surveyed by questionnaire in 1999/2000. For 4225 subjects (= 95% of the original cohort) we obtained the following outcome data from pension fund records: dates of any applications for early retirement and beginning of retirement, date of death. The follow-up period covers 4.75 years on average. During this period 323 applications for early retirement (= 7.6%) were filed, and 200 subjects (= 4.7%) actually retired. RESULTS: First analysis including age and sex as covariates showed a threefold (SPE = 2) and eightfold (SPE = 3) risk of early retirement. Multivariate analysis (covariates: overall health status, number of chronic conditions, approved disability, subjective vocational ability, and length of sick leave measured at study onset) yielded a twofold risk of filing an application for early retirement (SPE = 3). CONCLUSIONS: The SPE-Scale is an appropriate screening instrument for hazards regarding gainful employment. It also can be recommended for use in epidemiologic or rehabilitation surveys.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Cancer pain intensity measurement: concurrent validity of three tools--finger dynamometer, pain intensity number scale, visual analogue scale.

Although the visual analogue scale (VAS) and number scales are known to be valid and sensitive measures of pain intensity, some older individuals are unable to use them. For individuals who lack the ability to use these scales, valid alternative measures of pain intensity would be useful for research and clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to examine the concurrent validity of a new measure of pain intensity, the Finger Dynamometer (FD), in a sample of 15 adults with advanced stage cancer pain. In a repeated measures correlational design each patient rated present pain intensity using the FD, a Pain Intensity Number Scale (PINS), and a VAS at four separate times. Data analyses using Kendall Correlational Coefficients indicated weak to moderate correlation between the FD and PINS (gamma = .47 to .68; p less than .01) and between the FD and VAS (gamma = .38 to .46; p less than .05) at each measurement time. Strong correlation was found between the VAS and the PINS (gamma = .77 to .89; p less than .001). Findings support the concurrent validity of the VAS and the PINS but indicate that further research is necessary to establish the psychometric properties of the FD as a measure of pain intensity in chronic pain models, such as cancer pain. Recommendations are made regarding important variables to be considered in further research with the FD.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
PubMed2006

Comparison of the Orpington Prognostic Scale (OPS) and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) for the prediction of the functional status of patients with stroke.

PURPOSE: The aim of our study is to compare the Orpington Prognostic Scale (OPS) and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and to evaluate whether they help us estimate the future functional status of patients with stroke. METHOD: Twenty-five patients with stroke were administered the OPS and NIHSS on the 7th day of stroke in order to define the severity of the disease, and the Barthel Index was performed in order to evaluate the functional status and the activities of daily living (ADL) at the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months. RESULTS: Both scales were statistically correlated (P = 0.0001). When the predictability of these scales in terms of the ADL and functional status was evaluated, the regression coefficient at the 1st month was -14.746, R(2) = 0.58, P < 0.0001 and -4.885, R(2) = 0.50, P < 0.0001 for OPS and NIHSS, respectively, the same coefficient at the 3rd month was -12.482, R(2) = 0.41, P = 0.001 for OPS and -3.280, R(2) = 0.23, P = 0.016 for NIHSS, and at the 6th month it was -11.662, R(2) = 0.38, P = 0.001 for OPS and -2.997, R(2) = 0.20, P = 0.02 for NIHSS. CONCLUSION: In patients with stroke, OPS and NIHSS had significant contribution to the estimation of the functional status and OPS was more effective than NIHSS.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1982

Large-scale and small-scale methods for the preparation of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate.

Two procedures have been developed for the synthesis and isolation of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate, the cofactor for the reaction catalyzed by thymidylate synthetase, one of which can be used for large-scale preparations of the cofactor and the other for small-scale syntheses especially suitable for obtaining the radiolabeled cofactor. The large-scale procedure involves treatment of folic acid with dithionite to give dihydrofolate, which is then converted to tetrahydrofolate by dihydrofolate reductase (L. casei). The small-scale method involves a direct enzymatic reduction of folic acid to tetrahydrofolate by dihydrofolate reductase, and has been used to prepare the double-labeled 5,10-[14C]methylene[3',5',7,9-3H]tetrahydrofolate. In both procedures, after the reduction steps have been performed, the tetrahydrofolate is treated in situ with formaldehyde prior to purification by DEAE-cellulose chromatography, thus allowing the isolation of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate as a dry powder after lyophilization. This product is active in the enzyme reaction without the further addition of excess formaldehyde as in previous procedures. The cofactor prepared in this manner has much improved stability toward oxidation compared to free tetrahydrofolate.

Chemical Phenomena↗