A MARKETING-SYSTEM APPROACH TO REMOVING DISTRIBUTION BARRIERS CONFRONTING SMALL-VOLUME FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GROWERS

Marketing,

The Role Body-Esteem Plays in Impairment Associated with Hair-Pulling and Skin Picking in Adolescents

Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder, HPD) and pathological skin picking (PSP) are associated with significant rates of psychosocial impairment and distress. Little research has addressed the physical consequences and associated impairment in youth (e.g., poor body-esteem). The present study explores the relationship between body-esteem, skin picking (SP), and pulling-related impairment in a sample of adolescents with primary HPD. Ninety four adolescents who pull their hair, 40 of whom also pick their skin, were recruited via internet-sampling as part of the Child and Adolescent Trichotillomania Impact Study (CA-TIP). All youth and a parent completed anonymous questionnaires online assessing psychiatric symptoms, repetitive behaviors, and psychosocial impairment, among other variables. Appearance-based body-esteem was not found to be predictive of more severe psychosocial impairment in these youth. However, SP, in combination with HPD, contributed to worse appearance-based body-esteem above and beyond symptoms of HPD alone. The current study suggests that psychosocial functioning in youth with HPD is less impacted by body-esteem or pulling than other factors (e.g., depression and anxiety), and that SP contributes to lowered body-esteem. These findings suggest the importance of addressing body-esteem in case conceptualization for youth with both HPD and SP. Further research is required to confirm these suggestions

PUBLIC MARKETS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRESH-PRODUCE INDUSTRY

Agribusiness,

State Department of Agriculture Participation in Fresh Produce Marketing in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Removing Distribution Barriers Confronting Small-Volume Fruit and Vegetable Growers: Results of the Tennessee Extension Service Survey

Crop Production/Industries, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Produce Growers and Market Development: A Four-State Comparison

Crop Production/Industries,

Pilot Testing Behavior Therapy for Chronic Tic Disorders in Neurology and Developmental Pediatrics Clinics

Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT) is an efficacious treatment with limited regional availability. As neurology and pediatric clinics are often the first point of therapeutic contact for individuals with tics, the present study assessed preliminary treatment response, acceptability, and feasibility of an abbreviated version, modified for child neurology and developmental pediatrics clinics. Fourteen youth (9-17) with Tourette disorder across 2 child neurology clinics and one developmental pediatrics clinic participated in a small case series. Clinician-rated tic severity (Yale Global Tic Severity Scale) decreased from pre- to posttreatment, z = –2.0, P \u3c .05, r = –.48, as did tic-related impairment, z = –2.4, P \u3c .05, r = –.57. Five of the 9 completers (56%) were classified as treatment responders. Satisfaction ratings were high, and therapeutic alliance ratings were moderately high. Results provide guidance for refinement of this modified CBIT protocol

Dinoflagellate blooms and physical systems in the Gulf of Maine

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution May 1990Numerous studies have shown dinoflagellate blooms to be closely related to density discontinuities and fronts in the ocean. The spatial and temporal patterns of the dinoflagellate population depend on the predominant mode of physical forcing, and its scales of variability. The present study combined field sampling of hydrographic and biological variables to examine the relationship of dinoflagellate population distributions to physical factors along the southwestern cost of the Gulf of Maine. A bloom of Ceratium longipes occurred along this coast during the month of June, 1987. A simple model which coupled along-isopycnal diffusion with the logistic growth equation suggested that the cells had a growth rate of about 0.1 d-1 , and had reached a steady horizontal across-shelf distribution within about 10 d. Fur~her variations in population density appeared to be related to fluctuations of light with periods of -10 d. To our knowledge, this was the first use of this simple diffusion model as a diagnostic tool for quantifying parameters describing the growth and movement of a specific phytoplankton population. Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate, Alexandrium tamarense have been nearly annual features along the coasts of southern Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts since 1972; however the mechanisms controlling the distribution of cells and concomitant shellfish toxicity are relatively poorly understood. Analysis of field data gathered from April to September, 1987-1989, showed that in two years when toxicity was detected in the southern part of this region, A. tamarense cells were apparently transported into the study area between Portsmouth and Cape Ann, Massachusetts, in a coastally trapped buoyant plume. This plume appears to have been formed off Maine by the outflow from the Androscoggin and Kennebec Rivers. Flow rates of these rivers, hydrographic sections, and satellite images suggest that the plume had a duration of about a month, and extended alongshore for several hundred kilometers. The distribution of cells followed the position of the plume as it was influenced by wind and topography. Thus when winds were downwelling-favourable, cells were moved alongshore to the south, and were held to the coast; when winds were upwelling-favourable, the plume sometimes separated from the coast, advecting the cells offshore. The alongshore advection of toxic cells within a coastally trapped buoyant plume can explain the temporal and spatial patterns of shellfish toxicity along the coast. The general observation of a north-to-south temporal trend of toxicity is consistent with the southward advection of the plume. In 1987 when no plume was present, Alexandrium tamarense cells were scarce, and no toxicity was recorded at the southern stations. A hypothesis was formulated explaining the development and spread of toxic dinoflagellate blooms in this region. This plume-advection hypothesis included: source A. tamarense populations in the north, possibly associated with the Androscoggin and Kennebec estuaries; a relationship between toxicity patterns and river flow volume and timing of flow peaks; and a relationship between wind stresses and the distribution of low salinity water and cells. Predictions of the plume-advection hypothesis were tested with historical records of shellfish toxicity, wind speed and direction, and river flow. The predictions tested included the north-south progression of toxic outbreaks, the occurrence of a peak in river flow prior to the PSP events, the relationship of transit time of PSP toxicity along the coast with river flow volume, and the influence of surface wind stress on the timing and location of shellfish toxicity. All the predictions tested were supported by the historical records. In addition it was found that the plume-advection hypothesis explains many details of the timing and spread of shellfish toxicity, including the sporadic nature of toxic outbreaks south of Massachusetts Bay, and the apparently rare occurrence of toxicity well offshore on Nantucket Shoals and Georges Bank.This research was supported by ONR contract N00014-87-K-0007 and ONR grant N00014-89-J-111 to Donald M. Anderson, and NOAA Office of Sea Grant contract NA86AA-D-SG090

A Multicenter Examination and Strategic Revisions of the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale

Objective To examine the internal consistency and distribution of the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) scores to inform modification of the measure. Methods This cross-sectional study included 617 participants with a tic disorder (516 children and 101 adults), who completed an age-appropriate diagnostic interview and the YGTSS to evaluate tic symptom severity. The distributions of scores on YGTSS dimensions were evaluated for normality and skewness. For dimensions that were skewed across motor and phonic tics, a modified Delphi consensus process was used to revise selected anchor points. Results Children and adults had similar clinical characteristics, including tic symptom severity. All participants were examined together. Strong internal consistency was identified for the YGTSS Motor Tic score (α = 0.80), YGTSS Phonic Tic score (α = 0.87), and YGTSS Total Tic score (α = 0.82). The YGTSS Total Tic and Impairment scores exhibited relatively normal distributions. Several subscales and individual item scales departed from a normal distribution. Higher scores were more often used on the Motor Tic Number, Frequency, and Intensity dimensions and the Phonic Tic Frequency dimension. By contrast, lower scores were more often used on Motor Tic Complexity and Interference, and Phonic Tic Number, Intensity, Complexity, and Interference. Conclusions The YGTSS exhibits good internal consistency across children and adults. The parallel findings across Motor and Phonic Frequency, Complexity, and Interference dimensions prompted minor revisions to the anchor point description to promote use of the full range of scores in each dimension. Specific minor revisions to the YGTSS Phonic Tic Symptom Checklist were also proposed

Cosmic cookery : making a stereoscopic 3D animated movie.

This paper describes our experience making a short stereoscopic movie visualizing the development of structure in the universe during the 13.7 billion years from the Big Bang to the present day. Aimed at a general audience for the Royal Society's 2005 Summer Science Exhibition, the movie illustrates how the latest cosmological theories based on dark matter and dark energy are capable of producing structures as complex as spiral galaxies and allows the viewer to directly compare observations from the real universe with theoretical results. 3D is an inherent feature of the cosmology data sets and stereoscopic visualization provides a natural way to present the images to the viewer, in addition to allowing researchers to visualize these vast, complex data sets. The presentation of the movie used passive, linearly polarized projection onto a 2m wide screen but it was also required to playback on a Sharp RD3D display and in anaglyph projection at venues without dedicated stereoscopic display equipment. Additionally lenticular prints were made from key images in the movie. We discuss the following technical challenges during the stereoscopic production process; 1) Controlling the depth presentation, 2) Editing the stereoscopic sequences, 3) Generating compressed movies in display speci¯c formats. We conclude that the generation of high quality stereoscopic movie content using desktop tools and equipment is feasible. This does require careful quality control and manual intervention but we believe these overheads are worthwhile when presenting inherently 3D data as the result is signi¯cantly increased impact and better understanding of complex 3D scenes