Students\u27 sophistication level and confidence in testing procedures predicts susceptibility to the Barnum effect

The present study examined the relationship between students\u27 level of sophistication and confidence in personality assessment procedures with their susceptibility to the Barnum effect— the tendency for individuals to accept highly generalized, ambiguous profiles as accurate descriptions of their personality. Thirty-five university students (22 females, 13 males, mean age 26) completed a brief personality questionnaire under the impression they would be receiving an interpretation from a) a masters level clinician, b) a clinical psychologist (PhD), or c) a form of computer assessment. A pretest asking for the subject\u27s age, sophistication, and their perceptions of the three assessment sources accompanied the questionnaire. Subjects received one of two profiles categorized by moderate or high favorability and were asked to rate both the accuracy and degree to which the profile described their unique personality. While neither the main effects for feedback source or favorability proved significant, multiple regression analyses found subjects\u27 sophistication and initial confidence in the personality assessment procedures to be effective predictors of their accuracy and uniqueness ratings. The results suggest that cognitive variables can mediate susceptibility to the Barnum effect

GIS Modeling of Forest Cover Distributions in a Southern Appalachian Watershed

This study develops a method to model forest cover distributions in the Little Tennessee River Watershed in Macon County, North Carolina using a geographic information system (GIS). The model employs common environmental variables, e.g. elevation, aspect, and slope, and a newly developed metric called a topographic index. The topographic index quantifies landscape form to reflect the degree of site convexity or concavity. To generate index values, the GIS sums relative aspect differences between all adjacent cells and the center cell in a neighborhood analysis. To determine predominant community types and their environmental ranges in the study area, I surveyed canopy trees, small trees, and saplings on 216 10 x 10 m plots located throughout the watershed. TWINSPAN identified eight community types: Birch-Hemlock, Basswood-Birch, Tuliptree, Red Oak-Hickory, White Oak-Black Oak, Chestnut Oak, Chestnut Oak-Red Oak, and Chestnut Oak-Black Oak. All communities showed strong association with the topographic index. Most showed strong association with elevation and a general preference for either N/NE/E or S/SW/W aspects. No overall relationship with slope was apparent. Field and GIS values for elevation and aspect correlated well, but slope data differed markedly. A discriminant analysis identified topographic index, elevation, and aspect as significant predictive variables of forest cover types. Classification success depended on the number of forest cover types in the analysis. Two cover types produced a success rate of 84%; four produced 64.8%, six produced 48.8%, and eight produced 40.8%. Several factors could account for the decrease in successful classification including inadequacy of the topographic index, spatial resolution of the GIS data, the clusters produced by TWINSPAN, the need for additional significant predictor variables, or the failure to account for disturbance regimes. Overall the topographic index provides a quantitative, objective, and reliable measurement of landscape form. Further research should increase its usefulness and applicability to other studies

Pilot study: rapidly cycling hypobaric pressure improves pain after 5 days in adiposis dolorosa

Adiposis dolorosa (AD) is a rare disorder of painful nodular subcutaneous fat accompanied by fatigue, difficulty with weight loss, inflammation, increased fluid in adipose tissue (lipedema and lymphedema), and hyperalgesia. Sequential compression relieves lymphedema pain; we therefore hypothesized that whole body cyclic pneumatic hypobaric compression may relieve pain in AD. To avoid exacerbating hyperalgesia, we utilized a touch-free method, which is delivered via a high-performance altitude simulator, the Cyclic Variations in Altitude Conditioning™ (CVAC™) process. As a pilot study, 10 participants with AD completed pain and quality of life questionnaires before and after 20–40 minutes of CVAC process daily for 5 days. Participants lost weight (195.5 ± 17.6–193.8 ± 17.3 lb; P = 0.03), and bioimpedance significantly decreased (510 ± 36–490 ± 38 ohm; P = 0.01). There was a significant decrease in scores on the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (P = 0.039), in average (P = 0.002), highest (P = 0.029), lowest (P = 0.04), and current pain severity (P = 0.02) on the Visual Analogue Scale, but there was no change in pain quality by the McGill Pain Questionnaire. There were no significant changes in total and physical SF-36 scores, but the mental score improved significantly (P = 0.049). There were no changes in the Pain Disability Index or Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. These data present a potential, new, noninvasive means of treating pain in AD by whole body pneumatic compression as part of the CVAC process. Although randomized, controlled trials are needed to confirm these data, the CVAC process could potentially help in treating AD pain and other chronic pain disorders

Simulation of the low earth orbital atomic oxygen interaction with materials by means of an oxygen ion beam

Atomic oxygen is the predominant species in low-Earth orbit between the altitudes of 180 and 650 km. These highly reactive atoms are a result of photodissociation of diatomic oxygen molecules from solar photons having a wavelength less than or equal to 2430A. Spacecraft in low-Earth orbit collide with atomic oxygen in the 3P ground state at impact energies of approximately 4.2 to 4.5 eV. As a consequence, organic materials previously used for high altitude geosynchronous spacecraft are severely oxidized in the low-Earth orbital environment. The evaluation of materials durability to atomic oxygen requires ground simulation of this environment to cost effectively screen materials for durability. Directed broad beam oxygen sources are necessary to evaluate potential spacecraft materials performance before and after exposure to the simulated low-Earth orbital environment. This paper presents a description of a low energy, broad oxygen ion beam source used to simulate the low-Earth orbital atomic oxygen environment. The results of materials interaction with this beam and comparison with actual in-space tests of the same meterials will be discussed. Resulting surface morphologies appear to closely replicate those observed in space tests