Review of \u3cem\u3eThe SAGE Handbook of Quantitative Methodology for the Social Sciences.\u3c/em\u3e David Kaplan (Ed.). Reviewed by John G. Orme.

Book review of David Kaplan (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Quantitative Methodology for the Social Sciences, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005. $125.00 hardcover

Review of \u3cem\u3eThe Handbook of Social Work Research Methods.\u3c/em\u3e Bruce A. Thyer (Ed.). Review by John G. Orme.

Book review of Bruce A. Thyer (Ed.), The Handbook of Social Work Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2001. $84.95 hardcover,$ 65.00 papercover

Hypnosis, Pain Control and Personality Change in Rheumatoid Arthritic Patients

The purpose of this project was to examine the effect of hypnosis as a treatment in the control of pain in a population of rheumatoid arthritic patients and further to examine any associated change in emotionality. Three groups of patients suffering from the pain of rheumatoid arthritis were selected. One group served as a control group. The other two groups served as a modified control group and as a treatment group, respectively. All three groups were pre, mid, and post-tested using the McGill Pah Questionnaire, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the California Personality Inventory Well-Being scale items, and a check of their medication intake. The testing periods were before any treatment procedures were introduced, after a 6 week therapy involvement period for the modified control group and treatment group, and after another 6 week period with no further interaction of the patients with the therapists. The treatment group received hypnosis instruction for the treatment of pain, the modified control group received a ventilation or talk therapy, and the control group was not seen by any therapist. It was fond that self-hypnosis offers a viable and practical treatment technique to individuals in the control of their pain. individuals were not only able to reduce their perception of pain and its effect on their lives, but they were also able to be the ones in control of the process. Both the treatment group and the modified control group were able to achieve positive change in several emotional factors. The treatment group was able to achieve a more significant change and one that persisted after the therapy sessions were terminated. The members of the treatment group were thus able to increase their emotional functioning and decrease their dependency on medications. The treatment group was the only group able to decrease medication intake significantly thus gain indicating the importance of learning self-help procedure for controlling pain. It would seem from the results of this study that using self-hypnosis for pain control is useful and practical

A First Exposure to Statistical Mechanics for Life Scientists

Statistical mechanics is one of the most powerful and elegant tools in the quantitative sciences. One key virtue of statistical mechanics is that it is designed to examine large systems with many interacting degrees of freedom, providing a clue that it might have some bearing on the analysis of the molecules of living matter. As a result of data on biological systems becoming increasingly quantitative, there is a concomitant demand that the models set forth to describe biological systems be themselves quantitative. We describe how statistical mechanics is part of the quantitative toolkit that is needed to respond to such data. The power of statistical mechanics is not limited to traditional physical and chemical problems and there are a host of interesting ways in which these ideas can be applied in biology. This article reports on our efforts to teach statistical mechanics to life science students and provides a framework for others interested in bringing these tools to a nontraditional audience in the life sciences.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figures. Submitted to American Journal of Physic

Liquid droplet generation

A pre-prototype segment of a droplet sheet generator for a liquid droplet radiator was designed, constructed and tested. The ability to achieve a uniform, non-diverging droplet sheet is limited by manufacturing tolerances on nozzle parallelism. For an array of 100, 100 micrometer diameters nozzles spaced 5 stream diameters apart, typical standard deviations in stream alignment were plus or minus 10 mrad. The drop to drop fractional speed variations of the drops in typical streams were similar and independent of position in the array. The absolute value of the speed dispersion depended on the amplitude of the disturbance applied to the stream. A second generation preliminary design of a 5200 stream segment of a droplet sheet generator was completed. The design is based on information developed during testing of the pre-prototype segment, along with the results of an acoustical analysis for the stagnation cavity pressure fluctuations used to break-up the streams into droplets

A heteroskedasticity robust Breusch-Pagan test for contemporaneous correlation in dynamic panel data models

Working paper dated August 16, 2011This paper proposes a heteroskedasticity-robust Breusch-Pagan test of the null hypothesis of zero cross-section (or contemporaneous) correlation in linear panel data models. The procedure allows for either xed, strictly exogenous and/or lagged de- pendent regressor variables, as well as quite general forms of both non-normality and heteroskedasticity in the error distribution. Whilst the asymptotic validity of the test procedure, under the null, is predicated on the number of time series observations, T, being large relative to the number of cross-section units, N, independence of the cross-sections is not assumed. Across a variety of experimental designs, a Monte Carlo study suggests that, in general (but not always), the predictions from asymptotic the- ory provide a good guide to the finite sample behaviour of the test. In particular, with skewed errors and/or when N=T is not small, discrepancies can occur. However, for all the experimental designs, any one of three asymptotically valid wild bootstrap approximations (that are considered in this paper) gives very close agreement between the nominal and empirical signi cance levels of the test. Moreover, in comparison with wild bootstrap version of the original Breusch-Pagan test (Godfrey and Yamagata, 2011) the corresponding version of the heteroskedasticity-robust Breusch-Pagan test is more reliable. As an illustration, the proposed tests are applied to a dynamic growth model for a panel of 20 OECD countries

Minimum fuel mode evaluation

The minimum fuel mode of the NASA F-15 research aircraft is designed to minimize fuel flow while maintaining constant net propulsive force (FNP), effectively reducing thrust specific fuel consumption (TSFC), during cruise flight conditions. The test maneuvers were at stabilized flight conditions. The aircraft test engine was allowed to stabilize at the cruise conditions before data collection initiated; data were then recorded with performance seeking control (PSC) not-engaged, then data were recorded with the PSC system engaged. The maneuvers were flown back-to-back to allow for direct comparisons by minimizing the effects of variations in the test day conditions. The minimum fuel mode was evaluated at subsonic and supersonic Mach numbers and focused on three altitudes: 15,000; 30,000; and 45,000 feet. Flight data were collected for part, military, partial, and maximum afterburning power conditions. The TSFC savings at supersonic Mach numbers, ranging from approximately 4% to nearly 10%, are in general much larger than at subsonic Mach numbers because of PSC trims to the afterburner

Maximum thrust mode evaluation

Measured reductions in acceleration times which resulted from the application of the F-15 performance seeking control (PSC) maximum thrust mode during the dual-engine test phase is presented as a function of power setting and flight condition. Data were collected at altitudes of 30,000 and 45,000 feet at military and maximum afterburning power settings. The time savings for the supersonic acceleration is less than at subsonic Mach numbers because of the increased modeling and control complexity. In addition, the propulsion system was designed to be optimized at the mid supersonic Mach number range. Recall that even though the engine is at maximum afterburner, PSC does not trim the afterburner for the maximum thrust mode. Subsonically at military power, time to accelerate from Mach 0.6 to 0.95 was cut by between 6 and 8 percent with a single engine application of PSC, and over 14 percent when both engines were optimized. At maximum afterburner, the level of thrust increases were similar in magnitude to the military power results, but because of higher thrust levels at maximum afterburner and higher aircraft drag at supersonic Mach numbers the percentage thrust increase and time to accelerate was less than for the supersonic accelerations. Savings in time to accelerate supersonically at maximum afterburner ranged from 4 to 7 percent. In general, the maximum thrust mode has performed well, demonstrating significant thrust increases at military and maximum afterburner power. Increases of up to 15 percent at typical combat-type flight conditions were identified. Thrust increases of this magnitude could be useful in a combat situation

Minimum fan turbine inlet temperature mode evaluation

Measured reductions in turbine temperature which resulted from the application of the F-15 performance seeking control (PSC) minimum fan turbine inlet temperature (FTIT) mode during the dual-engine test phase is presented as a function of net propulsive force and flight condition. Data were collected at altitudes of 30,000 and 45,000 feet at military and partial afterburning power settings. The FTIT reductions for the supersonic tests are less than at subsonic Mach numbers because of the increased modeling and control complexity. In addition, the propulsion system was designed to be optimized at the mid supersonic Mach number range. Subsonically at military power, FTIT reductions were above 70 R for either the left or right engines, and repeatable for the right engine. At partial afterburner and supersonic conditions, the level of FTIT reductions were at least 25 R and as much as 55 R. Considering that the turbine operates at or very near its temperature limit at these high power settings, these seemingly small temperature reductions may significantly lengthen the life of the turbine. In general, the minimum FTIT mode has performed well, demonstrating significant temperature reductions at military and partial afterburner power. Decreases of over 100 R at cruise flight conditions were identified. Temperature reductions of this magnitude could significantly extend turbine life and reduce replacement costs

Recruitment and Foster Family Service

Using data from the National Survey of Current and Former Foster Parents this study examined how foster parents first found out about the need for foster parents (mass media, other foster parents, religious organization, or civic organization) affected foster family service (number of children fostered, years of fostering service, fostering of children with special needs, and families\u27 intent to continue fostering). Respondents who became aware of the need for foster parents through religious organizations fosteredfor more years; respondents who became aware through mass media fostered for fewer years. How foster families first found out about the need for foster parents did not differentially affect other foster family service measures. Implications for foster parent recruitment and future research are discussed