Enhanced attraction between drops carrying fluctuating charge distributions.

The electrostatic force between conductive spheres is always attractive at small separations, irrespective of their mean charge, when the charge on the spheres is constant. In many situations, the charge may not be fixed, such as for water drops in the natural atmosphere which vary in size and charge. We show that the attractive force between charged conductive spheres increases with increasing charge variance. The importance of this unrecognized electrostatic effect between water drops is evaluated for its potential to enhance rain formation.

Teacher race, student race, and the Behavior Problem Checklist.

The ratings of 458 fourth- and fifth-grade boys were investigated to determine whether or not scores on the Behavior Problem Checklist vary systematically with teacher or student race. Analyses of the data for conduct problems, inadequacy-immaturity, and socialized delinquency indicated that white teachers demonstrate a strong tendency to rate black children as more deviant and white children as less deviant when contrasted with the ratings of black teachers. The ratings of black teachers were found not to vary with student race. No differences among any of the variables were found with regard to personality problems. Possible explanations for the results are discussed, along with implications for the use of the Behavior Problem Checklist in the field.

The criterion-related validity of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale and the Autism Behavior Checklist.

The present study sought to examine the relationship between two popular instruments for screening autistic children: the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). The sample included 77 individuals. The records of 48 subjects contained firm diagnoses of autism, while the suggestion of autism was found in the remaining records. Correlations between the two scales ranged from -.16 to .73 (median = .39). The validity coefficient between the two total scores was .67. Using cutoff scores recommended by the authors, an analysis of the sensitivity of the two instruments was conducted. The CARS correctly identified 98% of the autistic subjects; it identified 69% of the possibly autistic as autistic. The ABC correctly identified 88% of the autistic subjects, while it identified 48% of those subjects considered possibly autistic as autistic. A phi coefficient was computed to estimate the degree of relationship between the nominal classifications produced by the two instruments. A moderate relationship was found (r phi = .54). Implications of the results are discussed.

The differential effects of two systematic reading comprehension approaches with students with learning disabilities.

This study compared two highly dissimilar approaches for teaching students to determine character motive when reading three types of narrative text. The three text types used were textually explicit, textually implicit, and scriptually implicit. The two approaches were an explicit rule-based instruction approach and a basal-reader activity-based approach. Forty students with learning disabilities were randomly assigned to either the explicit rule-based or the basal-reader activity-based instructional group. Daily instructional sessions lasted 45 minutes and were conducted for 2 weeks. The groups were evaluated on four comprehension measures: (a) daily retells of stories, (b) unit tests, (c) a transfer measure, and (d) a maintenance measure. The results suggest that rule-based instruction is superior to an activity-based approach when teaching students with learning disabilities to determine character motives irrespective of text type on short-term measures. However, there were no significant differences between the two instructional groups on the maintenance and transfer tests.

The U.S. Air Force pilot simulated medical unit: a teaching strategy with multiple applications.

Historically, Air Force military hospitals have provided excellent training platforms for students and nurses to remain proficient and ready to deliver competent care in a war-time environment. Because of a decrease in the number of admissions, the opportunity to maintain competence is diminishing. The concept of a Simulated Medical Unit (SMU) is being developed at Sheppard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, Texas to assist in the training and evaluation of such skills. The SMU is a simulation of an actual enactment of an inpatient unit that begins with shift report to the oncoming nursing team. The instructor can then guide the student and team through a series of complex situations using specialized mannequins and live actors as "patients." The student is expected to carry out physicians' orders, perform nursing assessments, document nursing care, as well as administer medications and IV fluids. Scenarios can be made to be as simple or as complex as the situation demands and can be adapted to any specialty. The student can practice technical know-how, sharpen critical thinking abilities, and exercise delegation skills. Should an error occur, the instructor can freeze the moment and assist the student in developing more appropriate choices in their delivery of care. The use of algorithms, performance checklists, and videotaping can be used to evaluate the student's performance. Other adaptations for the SMU can include orientation, cross training into different specialties, competency assessment, and upgrade training.

Twice-a-day dosage of cimetidine in the short-term treatment of peptic ulcer.

The effect of cimetidine (400 mg twice a day) on the short-term healing of chronic peptic ulcer is reported. In benign gastric ulcer, 17 of 25 patients (68%) healed in six weeks and 23 of 25 patients (92%) by 12 weeks. In duodenal ulcer, 33 of 42 patients (80%) healed in six weeks and 40 of 42 patients (95%) by 12 weeks. In stomal ulcer after a previous Polya gastrectomy, eight of 10 patients (80%) healed in six weeks and 10 of 10 patients (100%) by 12 weeks. In this study, the cimetidine regimen of 400 mg twice a day has produced healing rates in gastric, duodenal or stomal ulcer which compare favourably with those reported for the currently recommended regimen of 200 mg three times a day and 400 mg at night. Twice a day dosage is likely to improve patient compliance, costs less, and may reduce dose-related side effects. Perhaps 400 mg of cimetidine twice a day should become the recommended dosage for the initial treatment of peptic ulcer.

Gold induced enterocolitis: case report and a review of the literature.

The use of gold therapy in rheumatoid arthritis is not without risk. Although the better known side effects are bone marrow suppression and renal involvement, gold induced enterocolitis has been described. This paper reports a 59-year-old female recently treated with gold therapy for rheumatoid arthritis who developed bloody diarrhoea, toxic dilatation and perforation of her colon. The absence of features of inflammatory bowel disease or infection indicates gold as a possible causative agent. Pathogenesis, therapy and a review of the literature of gold induced enterocolitis are described.

Relationship between the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Classroom Edition and the Vineland Social Maturity Scales.

Results of an investigation of the relationship between the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Classroom Edition (Harrison, 1985) and its predecessor, the Vineland Social Maturity Scale (Doll, 1953) were presented. Subjects were both educable and trainable mentally retarded children. The concurrent validity of the two scales was moderate, r = .57 to .66. Of greater importance was the finding that the mean scores obtained from the newer instrument were significantly lower than the mean scores for the Vineland Social Maturity Scale.

Concurrent validity of the Cognitive Levels Test with measures of achievement for a sample of referred children and youth.

The present investigation compared the Cognitive Levels Test (CLT) with the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test (WRMT) and Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (WRAT-R) for 55 children and youth who were referred for remedial/special education services. A comparison of the correlations for the criterion measures for the WRMT and WRAT-R showed a consistent significant positive relationship with the CLT. A repeated measures analysis of variance that compared standard scores of the CLT with those of the WRMT and WRAT-R indicated that significant differences existed between the test scores. Implications with respect to the concurrent validity of the CLT are discussed.