Coherent lidar airborne wind sensor II: flight-test results at 2 and 10 νm.

The use of airborne laser radar (lidar) to measure wind velocities and to detect turbulence in front of an aircraft in real time can significantly increase fuel efficiency, flight safety, and terminal area capacity. We describe the flight-test results for two coherent lidar airborne shear sensor (CLASS) systems and discuss their agreement with our theoretical simulations. The 10.6-µm CO(2) system (CLASS-10) is a flying brassboard; the 2.02-µm Tm:YAG solid-state system (CLASS-2) is configured in a rugged, light-weight, high-performance package. Both lidars have shown a wind measurement accuracy of better than 1 m/s.

Predictor variables of adolescent drinking.

A survey was conducted to determine which socio-cultural and psychosocial variables had the ability to discriminate adolescent drinking behavior at four different age groups. A total of 3,017 sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade students in the Southeast participated in the study. Those students who were classified as moderate to heavy drinkers were more likely to be White, male, had higher scores on an alcohol knowledge test, were more liberal in their attitudes toward alcohol use, drank at an earlier age, and had friends who drank. When all predictor variables were considered as a group, the two most predominant characteristics for explaining student drinking behavior were peer behavior and attitudes toward alcohol. Parental drinking behaviors were significant for the younger students, but compared to the peer and attitude variables, their contributions to group separation were minor. Efforts to curb moderate or heavy drinking among adolescents should focus on the peer influences of adolescent drinking and related risk factors associated with problem drinking.

Profile of an adolescent problem drinker.

A study was conducted to determine what sociocultural and demographic variables can be used to identify potential problem drinkers among adolescents in middle school and high school. Three thousand seventeen students were administered an in-depth questionnaire regarding their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior toward the use of alcohol. Twenty schools in six school districts in the two-state area of Georgia and South Carolina participated in the study. A number of analyses indicated that the student heavy drinker was most typically male, white, and between the ages of 14 and 15 years with an above average knowledge about alcohol and liberal attitudes toward alcohol use. The adolescent heavy drinker is more likely to have parents and best friends who are heavy drinkers, to have had his first encounter with alcohol at an early age, to drink with friends his own age, and to feel that almost all of his friends drink. Results of this study can be used by family physicians in the management of potential alcohol abusers. Early recognition and intervention by the family physician may help to reduce the alarming number of adolescents who are struggling with problems related to alcohol.

A profile and prediction study of problem drinking among first-year medical students.

A study was conducted to determine to what extent first-year medical students are engaged in alcohol use and if specific sociocultural and self-reported behavior characteristics can be used to develop a profile and to predict potential problem drinkers. Four geographically distinct medical schools participated in the study, with a total of 341 students completing a questionnaire regarding current alcohol use and other risk-taking behaviors. Chi-square analyses, analyses of variance, and a discriminant analysis indicated that there is a high occurrence of frequent and heavy drinking among first-year medical students. Potential problem drinkers appear to be White males whose fathers are heavy drinkers. They seem prone to a nonpassive life-style and attend church infrequently. Prevention/intervention programs in medical school can utilize these results to identify high-risk individuals early in their medical career and target them for counseling.

Alcohol and adolescents. Knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.

Students (n = 3017) from the 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades in six school districts throughout Georgia and South Carolina completed a questionnaire to determine their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior regarding alcohol use. Results suggest that knowledge, attitudes, and behavior are significantly correlated. Two distinct attitudes were discovered: acceptable use of alcohol and unacceptable uses of alcohol, and these interacted with knowledge and behavior in different ways. Students who reported school as their major source of information about alcohol were more knowledgeable and had the most conservative attitudes toward unacceptable use of alcohol (p less than 0.001). White students scored higher on the knowledge test and had more liberal attitudes than minority students (p less than 0.001). Females were more conservative than males (p 0.001), and older students had more liberal attitudes (p less than 0.001). Our results suggest that efforts to educate youth about alcohol should incorporate acceptable uses as well as the negative aspects of drinking.

Effect of history of psychological counseling on selection of applicants for residencies.

The stress of medical education and its consequences are widely recognized and acknowledged. However, many students may be reluctant to seek help for stress-related problems because they are concerned over the ramifications such a decision may have on their career opportunities. The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent to which an applicant's history of having received psychological counseling for stress-related problems influenced residency program directors' perceptions of such applicants seeking admission to residency programs. Five hundred twenty-three residency directors in six medical specialties (pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, and surgery) rated a hypothetical residency applicant. The student's gender and history of psychological counseling were manipulated, but their basic qualifications remained constant. The directors rated the likelihood that they would invite the student for an interview and accept the applicant for the residency. Analysis of variance showed that the directors in pediatrics, family medicine, and psychiatry viewed the hypothetical applicant more favorably overall than directors in internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and surgery. The program directors rated female applicants more favorably than their male counterparts and had a strong bias against inviting for an interview or accepting into their programs students who had a history of psychological counseling. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Infrared radiometer for the Pioneer Venus orbiter. 1: Instrument description.

An IR remote sensing instrument, similar in principle to some of those on terrestrial meteorological satellites, was flown to Venus on board the Pioneer Venus orbiter. Observations of the atmosphere were made from 5 December 1978 until 14 February 1979, during seventy-two orbits of the planet. The optical techniques employed and the design and implementation of the instrument are described.

Mariner Mars 1969 infrared spectrometer.

The infrared spectrometer that recorded spectra of the atmosphere and surface of Mars during the Mariner 6 and 7 flyby missions is described. The instrument continuously scanned the 1.9-micro to 14.4-micro spectral region at 10 see per scan. Approximately 1% spectral resolution was furnished by two rotating, circular, variable interference filters. The spectral region 1.9-6.0 micro was recorded with a PbSe detector cooled to 175 K by radiation to deep space. The spectral region 3.9-14.4 micro was modulated by a cold (175 K) tuning fork chopper and recorded with a mercury-doped germanium detector cooled to 22 K by a Joule-Thomson two-stage (N(2) and H(2)) cryostat. The total weight of the instrument was 17.4 kg (monochromator plus electronics, 11.5 kg; gas delivery system, 5.9 kg), and it consumed 11 W of power.