Cognitive Impairment and Substance Abuse: Implications for Treatment Planning

The cognitive abilities of 24 males at an in-patient substance abuse facility were assessed using the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (Cognistat). Findings suggested that there were significant changes in cognitive functioning during the 21-day in-patient treatment as measured by the Cognistat. Implications for mental health professionals working with this population are discussed

Standardized or simple effect size: what should be reported?

It is regarded as best practice for psychologists to report effect size when disseminating quantitative research findings. Reporting of effect size in the psychological literature is patchy – though this may be changing – and when reported it is far from clear that appropriate effect size statistics are employed. This paper considers the practice of reporting point estimates of standardized effect size and explores factors such as reliability, range restriction and differences in design that distort standardized effect size unless suitable corrections are employed. For most purposes simple (unstandardized) effect size is more robust and versatile than standardized effect size. Guidelines for deciding what effect size metric to use and how to report it are outlined. Foremost among these are: i) a preference for simple effect size over standardized effect size, and ii) the use of confidence intervals to indicate a plausible range of values the effect might take. Deciding on the appropriate effect size statistic to report always requires careful thought and should be influenced by the goals of the researcher, the context of the research and the potential needs of readers

The CMF as provenance of the stellar IMF ?

In the present work we examined the hypothesis that, a core mass function (CMF), such as the one deduced for cores in the Orion molecular cloud (OMC), could possibly be the primogenitor of the stellar initial mass function (IMF). Using the rate of accretion of a protostar from its natal core as a free parameter, we demonstrate its quintessential role in determining the shape of the IMF. By varying the rate of accretion, we show that a stellar mass distribution similar to the universal IMF could possibly be generated starting from either a typical CMF such as the one for the OMC, or a uniform distribution of prestellar core masses which leads us to suggest, the apparent similarity in shapes of the CMF and the IMF is perhaps, only incidental. The apodosis of the argument being, complex physical processes leading to stellar birth are crucial in determining the final stellar masses, and consequently, the shape of stellar mass distribution. This work entails partial Monte-Carlo treatment of the problem, and starting with a randomly picked sample of cores, and on the basis of classical arguments which include protostellar feedback and cooling due to emission from warm dust, a theoretical distribution of stellar masses is derived for five realisations of the problem; the magnetic field, though, has been left out of this exercise.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures; To appear in New Astronom

Automated Control Systems and Methods for Underground Crop Harvesters

Methods and devices for automated adjustment of a digging implement during harvest of underground crops are described. Utilizing the devices, a digging implement, e.g., a blade, can be located and maintained at a desired depth as a harvester travels across a field. During use, the digging implement depth controls can be varied as the harvester travels within a single field under different operating conditions, e.g., different soil friability, consistency, etc., thereby preventing crop loss and improving crop yield

The star-forming content of the W3 giant molecular cloud

We have surveyed a ~0.9-square-degree area of the W3 giant molecular cloud and star-forming region in the 850-micron continuum, using the SCUBA bolometer array on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. A complete sample of 316 dense clumps was detected with a mass range from around 13 to 2500 Msun. Part of the W3 GMC is subject to an interaction with the HII region and fast stellar winds generated by the nearby W4 OB association. We find that the fraction of total gas mass in dense, 850-micron traced structures is significantly altered by this interaction, being around 5% to 13% in the undisturbed cloud but ~25 - 37% in the feedback-affected region. The mass distribution in the detected clump sample depends somewhat on assumptions of dust temperature and is not a simple, single power law but contains significant structure at intermediate masses. This structure is likely to be due to crowding of sources near or below the spatial resolution of the observations. There is little evidence of any difference between the index of the high-mass end of the clump mass function in the compressed region and in the unaffected cloud. The consequences of these results are discussed in terms of current models of triggered star formation.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 1 table (full source table available on request). Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (Main Journal

Impact mass flow sensor for monitoring peanut harvest yields

Yield monitoring systems for harvesting machines and methods that can provide yield monitoring of crops are described. Machines include those that pneumatically convey crop through the machine such as peanut harvesting machines. The yield monitoring system includes a force sensor that can be located in conjunction with a duct of the harvesting machine such that impact of the crop materials on an impact plate within the duct will be registered by the force sensor. This registration can be used to determine a mass flow rate for the crop, which can be correlated to yield of the crop. The systems can include additional components such as optical monitors, moisture sensors, and pressure sensors