Showing papers by "California State University, Long Beach published in 1988"

Social Learning Theory and the Health Belief Model

Abstract: The Health Belief Model, social learning theory (recently relabelled social cognitive theory), self-efficacy, and locus of control have all been applied with varying success to problems of explaining, predicting, and influencing behavior. Yet, there is conceptual confusion among researchers and practitioners about the interrelationships of these theories and variables. This article attempts to show how these explanatory factors may be related, and in so doing, posits a revised explanatory model which incorporates self-efficacy into the Health Belief Model. Specifically, self-efficacy is proposed as a separate independent variable along with the traditional health belief variables of perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers. Incentive to behave (health motivation) is also a component of the model. Locus of control is not included explicitly because it is believed to be incorporated within other elements of the model. It is predicted that the new formulation will more fully account for health-related behavior than did earlier formulations, and will suggest more effective behavioral interventions than have hitherto been available to health educators.

A robot with improved absolute positioning accuracy for CT guided stereotactic brain surgery

Abstract: The use of a Unimation Puma 200 robot, properly interfaced with a computerized tomographic (CT) scanner and with a probe guide mounted at its end effector for CT-guided brain tumor biopsis is discussed. Once the target is identified on the CT picture, a simple command allows the robot to move to a position such that the end-effector probe guide points toward the target. This results in a procedure faster than one using a manually adjustable frame. Probably the most important advantage, as is shown, is the improved accuracy that can be achieved by proper calibration of the robot. >

New uses and refinements of the paraspinal approach to the lumbar spine.

Abstract: The paraspinal approach was described by our group in 1968. It differs from the approach described by Melvin Watkins in 1953 in that it is a longitudinal separation of the sacrospinalis group between the multifidus and longissimus, and not between the lateral border of the entire sacrospinalis group and quadratus lumborum. Also, Watkins removed a flake of the iliac crest with muscles attached, which he swung cranially and medially. This article also describes several refinements not mentioned in the original article and gives several new uses for the approach. Specifically, its use for removing a far lateral disc, decompressing a far out syndrome, inserting pedicle screws, and for decompressing the opposite side from inside the vertebral canal is described.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the knee

Abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an accepted non-invasive modality for evaluation of soft tissue pathology without exposure to ionizing radiation. Current applications demonstrate excellent visualization of the anatomy and pathology of various organs. Preliminary studies in the knee reveal fine resolution of anatomy and pathology involving the meniscus. The purpose of this study is to determine a prospective correlation between MRI scans and actual meniscal pathology as documented at the time of arthroscopy. MRI scans were obtained in 155 patients, on 156 knees (one patient with bilateral scans), with 86 patients (87 knees) eventually undergoing diagnostic and operative videoarthroscopy performed by the same surgeon (DWJ). All images were obtained on the same high-resolution 1.5 Tesla GE Signa Magnetic Resonance Scanner with the same radiologist performing all readings (PEB). The knees were studied in the coronal and sagittal plane using a spin echo sequence and 5 mm slice thicknesses. The menisci were described as having Grade 1, 2, or 3 changes, with Grade 3 reserved for complete tears. Using arthroscopy as the diagnostic standard, the accuracy of MRI in diagnosing medial and lateral meniscal tears was 93.1% and 96.6%, respectively with a Grade 3 MRI reading. For tears of the ACL, the accuracy was 96.6% as confirmed at arthroscopy. Five tears of the PCL were also documented by MRI and correlated with clinical evaluation. Other abnormalities seen were articular cartilage and osteochondral defects, bone tumors, tibial plateau fractures, Baker's cysts, and meniscal cysts. The MRI scan is a highly accurate, noninvasive modality for documentation of meniscal pathology as well as cruciate ligament tears in the knee.

Social and Personality Development: An Evolutionary Synthesis

Abstract: This volume is an attempt to integrate the theory and data of social and personality development within a modem evolutionary framework. The various chapters are not meant to be read in isolation from one another but rather are intended to form an integrated whole. There is thus a great deal of cross-referencing between chapters and to some extent they all stand or fall together. This also suggests that the accuracy (or usefulness) of a particular chapter cannot be judged until the book is comprehended as a whole. Chapter 1 deals with the theoretical foundations of this enterprise, and the focus is on the compatibility of mainstream approaches within the field to a modem evolutionary approach. Chapters 2-4 concern what I view to be the fundamental proximal mechanisms underlying social and personality development. Chapter 2, on temperament and person ality development, is particularly central to the rest of the volume because these processes are repeatedly invoked as explanatory concepts at later points in the volume."

Diel movements of scalloped hammerhead sharks, Sphyrna lewini Griffith and Smith, to and from a seamount in the Gulf of California

Abstract: Occurrences of 18 scalloped hammerhead sharks tagged with coded ultrasonic transmitters were recorded at seamount El Bajo Espiritu Santo in the Gulf of California over a 10-day period by automated, data-logging monitors. These sharks remained grouped at the seamount during the day and moved separately into the surrounding pelagic environment at night. The temporal pattern of shark occurrences was related to the light-dark cycle: individuals departed prior to dusk and returned near dawn next morning. However, arrivals and departures of more than one shark within short daytime periods indicated group movements to and from the seamount. Sharks returned repeatedly to the tagging site and not to another site centred less than 240 m from the former site.

Limited external beam and interstitial 192iridium irradiation in the treatment of carcinoma of the base of the tongue: A ten year experience

Abstract: A total of 70 patients with histologically proven diagnosis of carcinoma of the base of the tongue were treated with primary irradiation between May 1974 through April 1984. Fifty-eight (83%) of these patients had locally advanced tumors (Stage T3, T4, N2, N3). Fifty-one of the 70 (73%) patients had clinically palpable neck nodes at first presentation. All patients received a combination of external and interstitial irradiation. The dose of external irradiation was limited to 45-50 Gy over 4 1/2-5 1/2 weeks. Interstitial volume implants were performed 2-3 weeks after completion of external irradiation. The primary site as well as the vallecula, epsilateral pharyngeal wall, glossopalatine sulcus, tonsillar bed, and pillars were routinely implanted to encompass contiguous spread of the disease. The doses of implant varied according to the stage of disease, that is, 2000-2500 cGy for T1 and T2 lesions, 3000-4000 cGy for T3 and T4 lesions, with typical dose rates of 50-60 cGy per hour. The neck nodes were also separately implanted to deliver additional doses of 2000-4000 cGy in 50-80 hours. Overall, local tumor control was observed in 58 of 70 (83%) patients at minimum follow-up of 2 years. An absolute 3-year disease-free survival of the entire group was 67.0%. Treatment related complications such as soft tissue necrosis and/or osteoradionecrosis occurred in 8 of the 70 (11.4%) patients. The salvage of neck failures and the local failures was feasible in 74% and 46% of the patients, respectively either by surgery or by re-irradiation using interstitial 192iridium implant alone. This treatment region is well tolerated and it preserves the functional and asthetic integrity in most patients.

Income Distribution in the United States

Abstract: Political action has affected postwar income distribution in the United States mainly through policy-induced variations in macroeconomic activity and government transfer benefits in proportion to total income. We present a small dynamic model of the connections among the partisan balance of power, macroeconomic fluctuations, transfer spending trends, and income distribution outcomes. The model is based on the premise that the parties have different distributional goals, and it is designed to identify how shifts in party control of the presidency and the strength of the parties in Congress have affected the distribution of after-tax, after-transfer income by influencing cyclical economic performance and the flow of resources to transfer programs. We therefore extend the “partisan theory” of macroeconomic policy to the domain of income distribution outcomes.

School and Social Reintegration of Children with Cancer

Abstract: A model intervention package was developed to facilitate the successful school and social reintegration of children and adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer. To evaluate the effectiveness of the package, 49 school-age children ranging in age from 5 to 17 years (mean age, 9.76) were assessed with various psychological measures before the intervention was initiated and again at followup (mean interim, 8.87 months). Data also were collected from parents, teachers, school records, and hysicians. A comparison control group was made up of 36 children who had been diagnosed within the 36 months before initiation of the project. Children in the control group were assessed once with identical psychological measures. Data from the intervention group before and after the intervention were compared with those obtained from the control group. In general, the intervention group demonstrated significant improvements after receivine the intervention package. Children in the control group tended to exhibit poorer schoo...

Empirical Tests of Sexual Selection Theory: Predictions of Sex Differences in Onset, Intensity, and Time Course of Sexual Arousal

Abstract: An evolutionary model of sexual behavior was used to generate predictions about sex differences in sexual arousal. Survey instruments were used to test these predictions with 388 adolescents, aged 12–18, from varying socioeconomic strata and geographic regions. Boys reported that their first arousal occurred at the start of puberty or before, usually in response to a visual stimulus, whereas girls generally reported first arousal as occurring 2–3 or more years after puberty, within a social/romantic context. The modal boy reported sexual arousal as occurring several times daily, the modal girl once or twice a week. Boys reported their arousal to be more discriminable, of greater intensity, and more distracting than the girls'. The sexes differed in attitudes related to sexual behavior. However, when reporting emotions and feelings coterminous with sexual arousal, the sexes did not differ. Retrospective college samples of 262 students from West Coast colleges replicated the adolescent data. A survey of 280...

The effects of processing techniques on the mechanical properties of bone-anterior cruciate ligament-bone allografts: An experimental study in goats

Abstract: There has been a growing interest in the use of allo grafts as ACL substitutes. Allografts are often freeze dried to increase shelf storage time and sterilized with ethylene oxide. This study was conducted to determine the effect of a specific ethylene oxide sterilization pro cedure and freeze drying process on the initial mechan ical properties of femur-ACL-tibia preparations. Twelve knees (stifle joints) from six mature goats were divided into two groups (one knee of pair to each group). Knees were cleaned of all soft tissue except for the anterior cruciate, posterior cruciate, and collateral ligaments. Group 1 was sterilized with ethylene oxide (simulating clean procurement) then freeze dried. Group 2 was freeze dried only (simulating sterile procurement). The knees were rehydrated and then tested in tension to failure to determine their structural mechanical proper ties. The ethylene oxide-freeze dried specimens (Group 1) had a mean maximum load before failure of 2059 ± 273 newtons (N) (± SE) which wa...

A prospective, randomized clinical investigation ofcholecystoenterostomy and choledochoenterostomy

Abstract: Summary A prospective, randomized clinical trial was conducted to assess the efficacy of bilioenteric bypass in noncalculous distal biliary obstruction. Thirty-one patients required bypass for either malignant obstruction or chronic pancreatitis and were randomized into two groups: cholecystoenterostomy or choledochoenterostomy with cholecystectomy [ 15, 16 ]. Nine bypasses failed after cholecystoenterostomy and two after choledochoenterostomy (p

Arteriovenous graft life in chronic hemodialysis. A need for prolongation.

Abstract: • As long-term hemodialysis has become well accepted over the last 25 years, so has the need for more exacting and updated techniques for arteriovenous graft construction. The death rate for patients with chronic renal failure undergoing biweekly or triweekly hemodialysis was once generally 10% per year. This pertained to a small, highly selected group of good-risk younger patients. Advancement in dialysis technology and experience has failed to reduce this rate. Essentially, all patients (including ill, elderly, and high-risk patients) are now candidates for long-term hemodialysis. In many cases, prolonged patient survival has added new importance to the extension of arteriovenous graft life. Over the last five years, approximately 1300 arteriovenous graft salvage procedures and new constructions have been performed. Of these, 70% were thrombectomies and revisions for graft salvage. Simple thrombectomy and removal of accumulated neointimal hyperplastic material along the course of the PTFE graft, and especially at the graft-venous anastomotic junction, can often extend graft life another six months to one year or more and permit immediate usage postoperatively. Graft life is even more prolonged with patch angioplasty at venous outflow stenoses or by adding a new segment of PTFE to bypass areas of venous stenosis. Conservation of unused extremities for future arteriovenous graft construction is our goal. ( Arch Surg 1988;123:1169-1172)

Automated helicopter flight control system

Abstract: An apparatus and method for controlling the flight of a helicopter, in which the pilot commands vehicle state changes, embodies several significant advances to the helicopter control art. Among these are control decoupling to reduce undesired helicopter responses in other axes to pilot inputs in one axis, task oriented control modes which are selected automatically, and automatic control of engine torque and rotor speed constraints. Novel task oriented control modes include independent control of heading and ground track at low speed and turn rate and flight path angle control at higher speeds. Control decoupling is achieved through a combination of force/moment decoupling and open loop prediction methods. Vertical control, traditionally accomplished with collective only, is accomplished in this system with a combination of longitudinal cyclic and collective control, increasing vertical response performance and minimizing engine power change demands. These flight control automation methods were designed to enable the use of small displacement, multi-axis controllers for full envelope helicopter control; the system provides dramatic pilot work load reduction for any of wide range of pilot manipulator configurations.

Experienced and prospective teachers' selections of compliance‐gaining messages for “common” student misbehaviors

Abstract: Research has examined either prospective or experienced teachers’ reported use of Behavior Alteration Techniques (BATs). In extension, this study differentiates between both preteachers’ and experienced teachers’ cognitive schemes for classroom management. Respondents selected those strategies they would use to gain student compliance in misbehavior scenarios reflecting misbehavior type (active/passive) and intensity (frequent/occasional). Employing pro and antisocial BAT factors as criterion variables, four significant multivariate effects resulted. Experienced teachers reported using more pro and antisocial strategies than did prospective teachers. Both relied on antisocial techniques for active misbehaviors and pro social for passive; both pro and antisocial for frequent, as opposed to occasional, misbehaviors; and males were associated with more antisocial techniques. Implications are discussed in terms of design alternatives to the standard selectionist approach.

Low calorie pet treat

Abstract: A low calorie dog treat is composed of food grade cellulose, a unique binder system holding the matrix, a combination of various color and flavor ingredients, and salt. The product contains only a few calories and can be consumed in large quantities by a dog without contributing to an obesity problem. The product is designed to compete with existing pet treats such as dog jerky, biscuits and bone shaped treats, and it is preferably amenable for use as a very few calorie pet food. The reduced number of calories in the dog treat is related to the fact that the cellulose material is composed primarily of fiber and therefore is not digested by the dog. The gum or binder system used in the formulation is also non-caloric. The product is produced by using existing processing equipment or by adapting such equipment relatively easily to applicants' methods. The product is produced by a process that is novel and that uniquely provides unexpected results in solidifying a mixture with a high amount of food grade cellulose.

Ground motions from subduction-zone earthquakes

Abstract: A total of 258 horizontal components of accelerogram data recorded at soil sites during thrust, normal, and strike-slip earthquakes occurring in seven subduction zones around the Pacific Ocean were analyzed. The results of statistical analyses of 5 per cent damped pseudo-velocities (PSV), computed from these accelerograms at 10 periods ( T ) between 0.1 and 4 sec, indicated no significant differences in the average PSV levels of the thrust, normal, and strike-slip data from the Northern Honshu zone. Each of these groups of Northern Honshu data, which together comprised one-half of the total data base, were fit equally well by the same attenuation model. The analyses also revealed that at intermediate periods (0.8 ≦ T < 3 sec), the PSV observed at stiff-soil sites within the Northern Honshu, Nankai, Kuril, Mexico, and Alaska zones were, on the average, significantly greater than the PSV observed at similar sites in the Peru/Northern Chile and New Britain/Bougainville zones. This observation indicates that differences in the source and/or travel-path characteristics between the two groups accounted for the differences in PSV. Independent evidence supporting source differences is the correlation noted between PSV in this period band and the characteristic source complexities for these zones, which Hartzell and Heaton inferred from the teleseismic data of the larger magnitude earthquakes. Certain anomalous tectonic characteristics of the New Britain/Bougainville zone were noted that may have contributed in some systematic manner to the relatively unusual spectral characteristics of the ground motions recorded on stiff-soil sites within this zone. Some of the differences in the PSV among the zones at intermediate and long periods were probably the result of differences in local geologic characteristics. Geology greatly influenced the Mexican PSV data from soft-soil sites. To a lesser extent, geology probably affected the Alaskan data, which were recorded mostly on deep stiff soils, and the New Britain/Bougainville data recorded at Yonki, which is underlain by softer soil deposits.

Isothermal panel and plenum

Abstract: A plenum in combination with a heat exchange panel and a panel structure having a large number of closely spaced orifices of equal size. The plenum area relative to that of the orifice area is such that a pressure head in the plenum is maintained to provide a constant flow of heat exchange medium from the plenum through the orifices to the heat exchange panel.

Systolic implementation on Kalman filters

Abstract: Two schemes for implementing systolic and pipelined processing on Kalman filters in real time are presented. In the first, a single two-dimensional systolic processor is used to perform a Kalman filtering process. In the second scheme, the utilization of the two-dimensional systolic processor is fully expanded and improves the speed of updating estimates, Kalman filter algorithms are implemented on two concurrent, identical systolic processors. In both schemes, the mathematical formulation of the Kalman filter algorithms is rearranged to be the type of the Faddeeva algorithm for generalizing matrix/vector manipulations. The corresponding data flow is easily mapped from algorithms into the computing structure which is of nearest neighbor type. The architecture of the processor cells is regular, simple, expandable, and suitable for VLSI implementation. The computing methodology and the two-dimensional systolic arrays are useful for Kalman filter applications as well as general matrix/vector algebraic computations. >