Showing papers by "University of Houston published in 1992"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors summarized research on self-initiated and professionally facilitated change of addictive behaviors using the key transtheoretical constructs of stages and processes of change.
Abstract: How people intentionally change addictive behaviors with and without treatment is not well understood by behavioral scientists. This article summarizes research on self-initiated and professionally facilitated change of addictive behaviors using the key transtheoretical constructs of stages and processes of change. Modification of addictive behaviors involves progression through five stages—precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance—and individuals typically recycle through these stages several times before termination of the addiction. Multiple studies provide strong support for these stages as well as for a finite and common set of change processes used to progress through the stages. Research to date supports a transtheoretical model of change that systematically integrates the stages with processes of change from diverse theories of psychotherapy.
7,606 citations
TL;DR: Although 16S rRNA sequences can be used routinely to distinguish and establish relationships between genera and well-resolved species, very recently diverged species may not be recognizable.
Abstract: 16S rRNA (genes coding for rRNA) sequence comparisons were conducted with the following three psychrophilic strains: Bacillus globisporus W25T (T = type strain) and Bacillus psychrophilus W16AT, and W5. These strains exhibited more than 99.5% sequence identity and within experimental uncertainty could be regarded as identical. Their close taxonomic relationship was further documented by phenotypic similarities. In contrast, previously published DNA-DNA hybridization results have convincingly established that these strains do not belong to the same species if current standards are used. These results emphasize the important point that effective identity of 16S rRNA sequences is not necessarily a sufficient criterion to guarantee species identity. Thus, although 16S rRNA sequences can be used routinely to distinguish and establish relationships between genera and well-resolved species, very recently diverged species may not be recognizable.
1,342 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the components, both retrospective and prospective, of the Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS) as intervening variables between economic conditions and approval, and found that the prospective component fully accounts for the presidential approval time series.
Abstract: T | 'he usual model of electoral reaction to economic conditions assumes the "retrospective" economic voter who bases expectations solely on recent economic performance or personal economic experience (voter as "peasant"). A second model assumes a "sophisticated" economic voter who incorporates new information about the future into personal economic expectations (voter as "banker"). Using the components, both retrospective and prospective, of the Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS) as intervening variables between economic conditions and approval, we find that the prospective component fully accounts for the presidential approval time series. With aggregate consumer expectations about long-term business conditions in the approval equation, neither the usual economic indicators not the other ICS components matter. Moreover, short-term changes in consumer expectations respond more to current forecasts than to the current economy. The qualitative result is a rational expectations outcome: the electorate anticipates the economic future and rewards or punishes the president for economic events before they happen. Economics moves political behavior. With hard times, administrations lose support; with good times, they gain it. We know this to be true. But when we ask how-by what processes-the political translation of economic experience occurs, the an
1,033 citations
TL;DR: The present study investigated the shape and extent of the region of interaction as a function of retinal location and the spatial interaction zones appear to be elongated radially, so that they have an elliptical shape.
533 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a longitudinal study was conducted of transformational leadership and the performance of project groups in three industrial research and development organizations, and it was found that transformational leaders predicted higher project quality and budget/schedule performance ratings at time I and one-year later at time 2.
499 citations
TL;DR: This phenotype, along with the 16S rRNA sequence data, suggests that these thermoacidophiles are biochemically and genetically unique and supports the proposal that they should be reclassified in the new genus Alicyclobacillus.
Abstract: Comparative 16S rRNA (rDNA) sequence analyses performed on the thermophilic Bacillus species Bacillus acidocaldarius, Bacillus acidoterrestris, and Bacillus cycloheptanicus revealed that these organisms are sufficiently different from the traditional Bacillus species to warrant reclassification in a new genus, Alicyclobacillus gen. nov. An analysis of 16S rRNA sequences established that these three thermoacidophiles cluster in a group that differs markedly from both the obligately thermophilic organisms Bacillus stearothermophilus and the facultatively thermophilic organism Bacillus coagulans, as well as many other common mesophilic and thermophilic Bacillus species. The thermoacidophilic Bacillus species B. acidocaldarius, B. acidoterrestris, and B. cycloheptanicus also are unique in that they possess omega-alicylic fatty acid as the major natural membranous lipid component, which is a rare phenotype that has not been found in any other Bacillus species characterized to date. This phenotype, along with the 16S rRNA sequence data, suggests that these thermoacidophiles are biochemically and genetically unique and supports the proposal that they should be reclassified in the new genus Alicyclobacillus.
407 citations
377 citations
TL;DR: Mothers in the sample varied widely in their attitudes toward physical punishment, and mothers who used power-assertive techniques were as likely to take the child's perspective and give input into the socialization process as those who did not.
Abstract: Disciplinary attitudes and practices of low-income black mothers were examined. Mothers were interviewed about their parenting attitudes and control practices, and their responses were coded in terms of the degree to which they took a parent- versus a child-oriented approach to discipline. Mothers in the sample varied widely in their attitudes toward physical punishment, and mothers who used power-assertive techniques were as likely to take the child's perspective and give input into the socialization process as those who did not. Factors associated with maternal disciplinary styles included: maternal education, father absence, maternal age, and self-reported religious beliefs. Findings are discussed in terms of the variability in disciplinary practices in this population, as well as the factors contributing to these individual differences.
334 citations
TL;DR: The authors used micro data from the Current Population Surveys (CPS) to document the secular decline in labor market activity among prime age men from 1967 to 1987, and found that the initial fall in employment from the late 1960s to the early 1970s is entirely attributable to falling labor supply whereas since the early1970s, wage changes predicted most of the decline in employment for whites and approximately half of the reduction for blacks.
Abstract: This paper uses micro data from the Current Population Surveys to document the secular decline in labor market activity among prime age men from 1967 to 1987. Declines in employment occur at all ages but are found to be particularly severe among less-educated and low-wage men. Information on the cross-section wage-employment relationship and on actual wage changes indicates that the initial fall in employment from the late 1960s to the early 1970s is entirely attributable to falling labor supply whereas since the early 1970s, wage changes predict most of the decline in employment for whites and approximately half of the decline for blacks.
329 citations
TL;DR: A significant drop in locomotor activity and increase in weight gain following termination of nicotine infusion provided additional evidence of an abstinence syndrome, and this syndrome was alleviated by SC administration of 0.4 mg/kg nicotine tartrate.
Abstract: Few animals models are currently in use for the recognized clinical problem of nicotine dependence and abstinence. This study introduces a rapid and convenient model using the rat. Sixteen male rats were rendered nicotine dependent by 7 days of continuous subcutaneous infusion of either 3 mg/kg/day (n = 8) or 9 mg/kg/day (n = 8) nicotine tartrate salt; 8 control rats were infused with saline alone. Rats were observed for 15 min before, during, and after the drug infusion period using a tally sheet modified from a standard checklist of opiate abstinence signs. There were few signs observed in any group at baseline and at the end of the infusion period. However, nicotine-infused rats showed a significant, dose-related increase over the control group at 16 h after the end of infusion, largely subsiding by 40 h. The most frequently observed signs during withdrawals included: teeth-chattering/chews, writhes/gasps, ptosis, tremors/shakes, and yawns. A significant drop in locomotor activity and increase in weight gain following termination of nicotine infusion provided additional evidence of an abstinence syndrome. This syndrome was alleviated by SC administration of 0.4 mg/kg nicotine tartrate.
319 citations
TL;DR: It is found that substantial reorganization takes place within hours of enucleation of the retinotopic map in the visual cortex of adult mammals.
TL;DR: For example, this article found significant levels of endorsement of competitive elections and for many democratic rights and liberties such as liberty and the norms of democracy in the Moscow Oblast of the USSR, and the best predictor of attitudes toward general democratic values were education, gender, and age.
Abstract: Our purpose in this article is to determine the degree to which the cultural requisites to democracy are present in the contemporary political culture of the USSR. We focus on support for core democratic rights, liberties, and institutions. Data for this project come from a survey of 504 citizens of the Moscow Oblast conducted between February 17, 1990, and March 4, 1990. In absolute terms, support for democratic values is fairly widespread in the Moscow Oblast. We found significant levels of endorsement of competitive elections and for many democratic rights and liberties such as liberty and the norms of democracy. Many of the scales measuring support for democratic rights were intercorrelated, leading us to hypothesize the existence of a general underlying dimension of democratic values. The best predictors of attitudes toward general democratic values were education, gender, and age. The better educated, males, and the young tended to be more supportive of democratic institutions and processes. We take...
TL;DR: A liquid state theory based on site-site integral equations is constructed to have the asymptotics given by angular expansion theory, e.g., the dielectric constant as viewed from the solvent is the same as that viewed by the ions as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A liquid state theory based on site–site integral equations is constructed to have the asymptotics given by angular expansion theory. This results in a theory which shows dielectric consistency, e.g., the dielectric constant as viewed from the solvent is the same as that viewed by the ions. Such consistency is lacking in other extended reference interaction site model (XRISM)‐based theories and leads to unrealistic structural predictions. The Kirkwood–Buff route to thermodynamics is used and allows a physical partitioning of the terms responsible for the solvation process. Sample results for a 1–1 salt are given.
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TL;DR: In 1970, when Robert Hall asked, "Why Is the Unemployment Rate So High at Full Employment?" the unemployment rate for adult men stood at 3.5 percent as mentioned in this paper, which had been substantially below that level throughout the late 1960s, would climb to 4.4 percent in the recession of 1971.
Abstract: In 1970, when Robert Hall asked, "Why Is the Unemployment Rate So High at Full Employment?" the unemployment rate for adult men stood at 3.5 percent. That rate, which had been substantially below that level throughout the late 1960s, would climb to 4.4 percent in the recession of 1971. More recently, after the longest economic expansion of the post-war period, the unemployment rate of prime-aged men in the late 1980s settled at just below 5 percent of the labor force. What changes in the American labor market led to this apparent secular increase in the natural rate of unemployment. Twenty years later, we revisit Hall's question and turn up some new answers.
TL;DR: The algorithm estimates not only the largest but all Lyapunov exponents of the unknown system by a multivariate feedforward network estimation technique and is very satisfactory in the presence of noise as well as with limited number of observations.
TL;DR: The authors investigated the effects of a collaborative revision-based method in the foreign-language (FL) context and found that it is facilitative in developing basic composition skills and written fluency among adult learners.
TL;DR: In this article, a rational dynamic soil-pile interaction model is presented, which adopts Winkler's hypothesis with a special attention to the conditions in which the strong nonlinearity is induced in the vicinity of the pile shaft under dynamic loading.
Abstract: A rational dynamic soil‐pile interaction model is presented. The model is developed adopting Winkler's hypothesis with a special attention to the conditions in which the strong nonlinearity is induced in the vicinity of the pile shaft under dynamic loading. It is formulated in a simple system of frequency independent mass, springs, and dashpots. Therefore, the model enables us to conduct the time‐domain nonlinear analysis in a relatively simple manner. Since the model can reproduce the dynamic effects by itself, its parameters are defined from the static behavior of a soil‐pile system or reasonable p‐y curves developed under the static condition. With a special consideration of a gap formed at the soil‐pile interface, the proposed model and procedure to define its parameters have successfully predicted the dynamic pile response observed in the field dynamic pile load tests. The nonlinear condition and dynamic condition are coupled with each other to produce the complex soil action to the pile shaft motion.
TL;DR: In this article, a reformulation of reference interaction site model theory is proposed, which makes use of the formally correct asymptotic form of the correlations obtained from the one-center angular expansion technique.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate that the intolerance of ordinary citizens matters for real politics even if strong linkages to policy outputs do not exist, and that cultural intolerance constrains the liberty of individual citizens.
Abstract: I demonstrate that the intolerance of ordinary citizens matters for real politics even if strong linkages to policy outputs do not exist. In particular, the model I test posits that cultural intolerance constrains the liberty of individual citizens. Focusing on how people perceive political freedom, several hypotheses coupling tolerance and freedom are explored. Data from a national survey show that tolerance and freedom are connected. Those who do not feel free to express themselves politically are more likely to be intolerant of others, to have less heterogeneous peer groups and less tolerant spouses, and to live in less tolerant communities. Ultimately, the importance of mass political intolerance in the United States is that it establishes a culture of conformity that seems to constrain individual political liberty in many important ways.
TL;DR: Comparison of group differences on a set of 10 neuropsychological tests corrected for correlations with IQ showed that group differences were small and accounted for little of the variability among groups, questioning the validity of segregating children with reading deficiencies according to discrepancies with IQ scores.
Abstract: This study addressed the validity of distinguishing children with reading disabilities according to the presence or absence of discrepancies between intelligence test scores and academic achievement. Three definitions of reading disability were used to provide criteria for five groups of children who (a) met a discrepancy-based definition uncorrected for the correlation of IQ and achievement; (b) met a discrepancy-based definition correcting for the correlation of IQ and achievement; (c) met a low achievement definition with no IQ discrepancy; (d) met criteria a and b; and (e) met none of the criteria and had no reading disability. Comparison of these five groups on a set of 10 neuropsychological tests corrected for correlations with IQ showed that group differences were small and accounted for little of the variability among groups. These results question the validity of segregating children with reading deficiencies according to discrepancies with IQ scores.
TL;DR: In this article, a major detachment surface exists within the Belingwe greenstone belt, separating ultramafic and mafic magmatic rocks of the upper greenstones in the hanging wall from an ancient gneiss complex, older volcanic-sedimentary rocks, and a shallow-water sedimentary sequence in the footwall.
Abstract: Stratigraphic and structural data from the Archean Zimbabwe craton suggest that a major detachment surface exists within the Belingwe greenstone belt. The surface separates ultramafic and mafic magmatic rocks of the upper greenstones in the hanging wall from an ancient gneiss complex, older volcanic-sedimentary rocks, and a shallow-water sedimentary sequence in the footwall. Rocks dated at ca. 2.7 Ga above the detachment surface form the proposed Mberengwa allochthon. The regionally extensive upper greenstone succession represents tectonically emplaced allochthonous sheets, not indigenous magmas erupted within autochthonous continental rifts. Magmatic rocks of the Mberengwa allochthon resemble oceanic plateaus preserved in younger mountain belts. Comparison of the Zimbabwe craton with the Proterozoic Birrimian terranes of west Africa leads us to suggest that Precambrian continental growth may have been characterized by intense structural imbrication related to the difficulty of subduction of buoyant oceanic lithosphere.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on diffuse support for the Supreme Court, an institution for which popular esteem is especially important, and direct their attention toward African Americans, one of the most important minorities in American politics.
Abstract: Diffuse support is a central concept in efforts to explain institutional stability. Supportive attitudes constitute a reservoir of good will especially useful for institutional maintenance when political authorities make policies with which many disagree. Here we focus on diffuse support for the Supreme Court, an institution for which popular esteem is especially important, and direct our attention toward African Americans, one of the most important minorities in American politics. Using data from an unusually large national sample of blacks in 1987, we describe the attitudes of this group toward the Supreme Court and compare them to those of whites, and we also offer and test two competing theoretical accounts of support in this segment of the population. In contrast to earlier eras, blacks are on balance fairly positive toward the Court but they are decidedly less positive than are whites. We can explain a significant portion of the persistent support among blacks for the Court as a residue of positive ...
TL;DR: It is found that incest survivors reported significantly less confidence and less sense of control as parents than nonrisk mothers, and reported being less consistent and organized, and making fewer maturity demands on their children.
TL;DR: The stability of duplex is relatively well-characterized by thermodynamic data in terms of both base stacking and specific H-bonding, and the sequence dependence of base stacking for duplexes has been characterized and employed to predict the stability of an arbitrary sequence.
Abstract: In this selected literature survey, we have seen that the stabilities of duplexes and triplexes are governed by the vertical base stacking, the horizontal specific base-paired H-bonding and the environmental parameters. The entropic contribution in the solvation/desolvation process is important in driving the aggregation of NA strands and duplex formation, but base stacking and specific H-bonding maintain the helical order. Triplex formation shares most of the physical environmental prerequisites with those of duplex NAs. However, some additional environmental conditions are often needed. Only in low pH solution is the polycytidylic strand protonated and, thus, it is possible for the strand to bind to a G.C duplex sequence to give the C+(G.C) triplex. High ionic strength is often necessary for the screening of inter-phosphate repulsion due to the high linear charge density in triplexes. The presence of specific counterions is important for complexation. In the absence of negative supercoiling, existence of an intramolecular triplex is rare except under very acidic conditions for the formation of C+(G.C)-type intramolecular triplex. As expected, the stabilities of both inter- and intramolecular triplexes increase with sequence length. The thermodynamic principles of helix-coil transition of oligo-duplex may be described by the van't Hoff relationship, which assumes a two-state cooperative melting profile. Thus, the enthalpy, entropy and free energy of transition can be evaluated from the experimental melting curves (e.g. OD, DSC). For polynucleotides, because of the non-two-state nature of transition, the simple van't Hoff relationship is no longer valid, and direct calorimetry is needed to obtain reliable thermodynamic parameters. The pH and salt concentration dependence of duplex stability can be formulated and derived from a van't Hoff equation. Base-stacking patterns are simple in duplexes but not so in triplexes due to the diversity in triplet schemes. The sequence dependence of base stacking for duplexes has been characterized and employed to predict the stability of an arbitrary sequence. In conclusion, the stability of duplex is relatively well-characterized by thermodynamic data in terms of both base stacking and specific H-bonding. Thermodynamic studies of triplexes have been far fewer in number. Oligonucleotides have found application in the detection and localization of a mRNA or its gene, the detection of bacterial or viral sequences, and the inhibition of the translation of mRNA and the transcription and replication of DNA (Englisch and Gauss, 1991). In a different approach, oligonucleotides have been targeted directly to a DNA duplex motif of a gene in order to inhibit the expression at the beginning of the transcriptional process.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
TL;DR: The weak*-Haagerup tensor product of two (not necessarily self-adjoint) operator algebras is proven to have strong commutant properties as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The weak*-Haagerup tensor product Jt ®w.hjV of two von Neumann algebras is related to the Haagerup tensor product M ®h Jf in the same way that the von Neumann algebra tensor product is related to the spatial tensor product. Many of the fundamental theorems about completely bounded multilinear maps may be deduced from elementary properties of the weak*-Haagerup tensor product. We show that X* w.h Y* = (X®h Y)* for all operator spaces A'and Y. The weak*-Haagerup tensor product has simple characterizations and behaviour with reference to slice map properties. The tensor product of two (not necessarily self-adjoint) operator algebras is proven to have many strong commutant properties. All operator spaces possess a certain approximation property which is related to this tensor product. The connection between bimodule maps and commutants is explored.
TL;DR: In this article, a dynamic demand model for cigarettes based on panel data from 46 American states over the period 1963 to 1988 is presented, where the authors show some of the pitfalls of studies that rely on a time series regression of a specific state, or a cross-section regression for a given year.
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative analysis of the finite element approximation of two partial differential equation problems is presented, namely the Stokes problem for incompressible viscous flow and the exact boundary controllability problem for the wave equation.
TL;DR: In this paper, the basic precepts of environmental education, summarizes state-level efforts directed at its establishment, and makes suggestions for systematically incorporating it into the K-12 curriculum.
Abstract: Significant progress has been made in the United States in including the environment in government, business, household, and individual decisionmaking. Unfortunately, there is no parallel trend in the nation's K-12 schools. This article reviews the basic precepts of environmental education, summarizes state-level efforts directed at its establishment, and makes suggestions for systematically incorporating it into the K-12 curriculum.
TL;DR: In this paper, the free energies of solvation of several small molecules were calculated based on the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation for the electrostatic potentials using the finite-difference scheme.
Abstract: The electrostatic contributions to free energies of solvation of several small molecules have been calculated, treating the solvent as a statistical continuum. The computational method is based on solving the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation for the electrostatic potentials using the finite-difference scheme. A careful study of convergence indicates the importance of a fine grid spacing, as well as the short comings of rotational averaging. The computed free energies of solvation are in excellent agreement with the experimental results as well as the free energy perturbation calculations