Differential host susceptibility to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, an emerging amphibian pathogen.

The amphibian fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has received considerable attention due to its role in amphibian population declines worldwide. Although many amphibian species appear to be affected by Bd, there is little information on species-specific differences in susceptibility to this pathogen. We used a comparative experimental approach to examine Bd susceptibility in 6 amphibian species from the United States. We exposed postmetamorphic animals to Bd for 30 days and monitored mortality, feeding rates, and infection levels. In all species tested, Bd-exposed animals had higher rates of mortality than unexposed (control) animals. However, we found differences in mortality rates among species even though the amount of Bd detected on the different species' bodies did not differ. Of the species tested, southern toads (Anaxyrus terrestris) and wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) had the highest rates of Bd-related mortality. Within species, we detected lower levels of Bd on individuals that survived longer and found that the relationship between body size and infection levels differed among species. Our results indicate that, even under identical conditions, amphibian species differ in susceptibility to Bd. This study represents a step toward identifying and understanding species variation in disease susceptibility, which can be used to optimize conservation strategies.

Five types of African-American marriages.

This study developed a marital typology based on a nonrandom, national sample of 415 African-American couples who took the Enriching Relationship Issues, Communication and Happiness (ENRICH) marital assessment inventory. Five types of African-American marriages were identified through cluster analysis using the positive couple agreement (PCA) scores in 10 relationship domains. Relationships between marital satisfaction, marital stability, and the five marital types were then analyzed. The five types (from highest marital satisfaction to lowest) were labeled as vitalized, harmonious, traditional, conflicted, and devitalized. The results were similar to findings in studies of ethnically mixed (predominantly European-American) marital samples including the number and characteristics of marital types.

A randomized trial of integrated outpatient treatment for medically ill alcoholic men.

BACKGROUND: Medically ill alcoholics often do not respond to conventional alcoholism treatment or decline physician referrals. Integrated outpatient treatment (IOT), a new treatment specifically designed for this population, combines comprehensive medical care with alcoholism interventions. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of IOT with that of standard treatment approaches. METHODS: One hundred five male veterans with severe medical complications caused by alcoholism and recent drinking were randomly assigned to receive IOT or referral to standard alcoholism and medical treatment and were evaluated over 2 years. Integrated outpatient treatment patients received medical care and alcoholism interventions once or twice monthly. Patients in the control group were referred for alcoholism treatment, but few accepted. However, patients in the control group did engage in outpatient medical care. RESULTS: At baseline, the mean +/- SD age of the control group was 57.2 + 10.0 years, compared with 52.8 +/- 11.5 years in the IOT group (P= .04). The groups were well matched in other respects. The mean +/- SD number of visits over 2 years for the IOT patients was 42.2 +/- 29.1, compared with 17.4 +/- 15.6 for the control patients (P<.001); the frequency of hospital use was similar in both groups. After 2 years, 28 (74%) of 38 surviving IOT patients and 17 (47%) of 36 control patients were abstinent (P=.02). Nearly twice as many control patients (30% [n = 16]) as IOT patients (18% [n= 9]) died, but the results of Cox survival analysis were not significant. There were no differences in symptoms of alcohol dependence, quality of life, or life problems. The incremental cost of IOT was approximately $1100 per patient per year. CONCLUSIONS: Standard medical care alone was surprisingly effective in inducing abstinence in surviving medically ill alcoholics. Integrated outpatient treatment significantly increased both engagement and abstinence for a modest annual cost. Further refinement and testing of IOT is indicated.

A clinical tool for rating response to civil commitment for substance abuse treatment.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to develop a measure to assess patients' response to civil commitment, to test this measure on two groups of dually diagnosed patients (medically ill alcoholics and patients with dual mental and substance use disorders), and to identify patient characteristics associated with a positive response to commitment. METHODS: The outcome of 38 male veterans civilly committed to inpatient substance abuse treatment for an average of six months was rated by their treating clinicians. Raters used the Commitment Response Form (CRF), a scale anchored to behavioral descriptions that was developed for the study and that measures outcome in five areas: patients' attitude toward recovery, substance use, medical condition, engagement in substance abuse treatment, and independence of functioning. Each patient's medical records were reviewed by two clinical staff members who made independent retrospective ratings and a joint rating using the CRF. They also made independent and joint dichotomous ratings of whether the patient was a positive responder or a nonresponder to civil commitment. RESULTS: The CRF showed superior reliability when compared with the dichotomous rating of outcome. The scale demonstrated reasonable psychometric properties. Mean scale scores did not differ significantly by patient group; slightly more than half were rated as having a good to excellent overall response. Better outcome was associated with longer periods of previous abstinence from alcohol and a higher level of education. CONCLUSIONS: Use of a scale anchored to behavioral descriptions improved reliability of outcome determinations by clinical staff. Civil commitment resulted in good to excellent outcome in many but not all committed patients.

Integrated outpatients treatment for medically ill alcoholic men: results from a quasi-experimental study.

OBJECTIVE: This report documents the findings of a quasi-experimental study of a new approach to treating medically ill alcoholics. The intervention, the Alcohol Related Disorders (ARD) Clinic, consists of concurrent alcohol treatment and medical care delivered by an interdisciplinary team in an outpatient medical clinic at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center (MVAMC). METHOD: We compared 50 ARD patients with 50 patients who met eligibility for the clinic, but had to be referred elsewhere because the clinic was full at the time (referred patients). Referred patients received medical care in other MVAMC clinics or in the community. RESULTS: During the 2-year follow-up period, ARD patients returned for outpatient visits over three times as often as referred patients (p < .001). More referred patients received no follow-up care at MVAMC (p < .01). ARD patients had more frequent (p < .05) but briefer (p < .01) hospitalizations. Almost twice as many referred (32%) as ARD patients (18%) died during the follow-up period. Referred patients ranged from 1.18 times less likely to 5.03 times more likely to die during follow-up than those in the ARD group (p = .11). ARD patients lived for an average of 82 days longer than referred patients, and each ARD clinic visit in the second follow-up year predicted an additional 3.5 days lived (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Integrated outpatient treatment for medically ill alcoholics appears to improve outpatients follow-up and alter patterns of hospitalization when compared with standard approaches. Two-year mortality may have been reduced as a result.

Seven types of marriage: empirical typology based on enrich*.

Using ENRICH, a computerized marriage assessment tool (Olson, Fournier & Druckman, 1986), data from 8,385 couples was collected across nine dimensions of their marriage. The data was analyzed in two phases-cluster structure seeking and classification phases-by three different clustering methods (inverse factor analysis, hierarchical agglomerative, and k-means cluster analysis). Seven types of marriage were identified: Devitalized couples (40%), Financially focused couples (11%), Conflicted couples (14%), Traditional couples (10%), Balanced couples (8%), Harmonious couples (8%), and Vitalized couples (9%). The multidimensional profiles are described in relation to global measure of marital satisfaction, demographic characteristics, and clinical and research implications.

High-speed photodiffractive effect in semi-insulating CdZnTe/ZnTe multiple quantum wells.

Single-pulse and cw measurements of the response of a semi-insulating CdZnTe/ZnTe multiple-quantum-well photorefractive device are presented. In single-pulse experiments, photodiffractive (absorption) gratings have been written with less than 1.8-microJ/cm(2) incident fluence, and a diffraction efficiency of 1.1% is obtained from the 1.56-microm active layer of the device. With an optimized structure, the ultimate response time of the device can be below 100 ps. In cw measurements a maximum diffraction efficiency of 1.35% is obtained.

Three-dimensional (3-D) Circumplex Model and revised scoring of FACES III.

FACES III can, however, continue to be a useful scale now that the Circumplex Model has been expanded into a three-dimensional design. Past and future studies would benefit from using FACES III as a linear dimension with high scores representing Balanced types and low scores representing Extreme types. This approach means that many past studies with FACES III need to be re-analyzed and/or re-interpreted in light of this 3-D Model. This revised scoring will significantly increase the number of studies that support the basic hypotheses of the Circumplex model, that Balanced families tend to function in more effective ways. It is clear from more recent work with the Clinical Rating Scale (CRS) that the lack of support for the curvilinear hypotheses of the Circumplex Model is due to the limitations of the FACES instrument and not the underlying theoretical model. The CRS clearly demonstrated the curvilinear pattern that has been hypothesized. It is important that future studies using FACES III analyze data in a linear way that fits with the three-dimensional model. In this way, there is a better match conceptually and methodologically between FACES III and the Circumplex Model. It is also highly recommended that future studies use both the self-report of FACES and the observational approaches to family assessment of the Clinical Rating Scale. This combined approach will help advance the field conceptually, methodologically, and clinically.

Resonant photodiffractive four-wave mixing in semi-insulating GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells.

We have performed photodiffractive four-wave mixing in semi-insulating multiple GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells at a wavelength of 0.83 microm. The quantum wells were made semi-insulating by proton implantation, which introduces defects that are available to trap and store charge during holographic recording. The experiments demonstrate how photodiffractive behavior using the large resonant nonlinearities of quantum-confined excitons yields highly sensitive material for optical image processing. When pump powers of 1 mW/cm(2) are used, the measured sensitivity is 2 orders of magnitude greater than that of bulk, nonresonant photorefractive semiconductors.

Enrich marital inventory: a discriminant validity and cross-validation assessment.

To assess the validity and clinical utility of the marital inventory ENRICH, a discriminant validity study was conducted using a national sample of 5039 married couples. The sample was randomly split in order to form a cross-validation group. ENRICH is a multidimensional scale and two types of analysis were conducted to assess the value of these various scales. Results from discriminant analysis indicated that using either the individual scores or couples' scores, happily married couples could be discriminated from unhappily married couples with 85-95% accuracy. These results were cross-validated with a second sample. Using regression analysis, it was clearly demonstrated that background factors account for little of the variance in discriminating happy from unhappily married couples compared to their relationship dynamics, i.e., scale scores. All ENRICH scales except equalitarian roles proved significant, indicating the validity of a multidimensional inventory.

Predicting marital satisfaction using prepare: a replication study*.

This study clearly replicated the previous findings which demonstrated the predictive validity of PREPARE. Like the previous study, this longitudinal study was a 3-year follow-up of 179 couples who took PREPARE during their engagement. As in the initial longitudinal study, PREPARE predicted, with about 80% accuracy, couples who got divorced from those that were happily married. Also, the same linear trend in PREPARE scores was found (highest to lowest scores): happily married, unhappily married, cancelled/delayed marriage, and separated/divorced. This study further indicates the importance of the premarital period as the foundation for marriage and the ability of PREPARE to identify high-risk premarital couples who could benefit from premarital counseling. Premarital counseling could potentially help these high risk couples develop a more satisfying marriage.

Photochromic gratings in photorefractive materials.

The steady-state and dynamic behavior of absorption and phase gratings in semi-insulating GaAs and InP have been studied by four-wave mixing. These measurements permit independent study of the space-charge-field screening kinetics and free-carrier recombination kinetics in these materials. The study is important both for the design of optimized materials for photorefractive applications and for the characterization of the defect electronc structure in these materials.

Circumplex Model VII: validation studies and FACES III.

This paper reviews some of the recent empirical studies validating the Circumplex Model and describes the newly developed self-report measure, FACES III. Studies testing hypotheses derived from the Circumplex Model regarding the three dimensions of cohesion, change, and communication are reviewed. Case illustrations using FACES III and the Clinical Rating Scale are presented. These two assessment tools can be used for making a diagnosis of family functioning and for assessing changes over the course of treatment. This paper reflects the continuing attempt to develop further the Circumplex Model and to bridge more adequately research, theory, and practice.

Circumplex model of marital and family systems: VI. Theoretical update.

This paper updates the theoretical work on the Circumplex Model and provides revised and new hypotheses. Similarities and contrasts to the Beavers Systems Model are made along with comments regarding Beavers and Voeller's critique. FACES II, a newly revised assessment tool, provides both "perceived" and "ideal" family assessment that is useful empirically and clinically.

Optical metal-oxide tunnel detectors with microstructured electrodes.

Order-of-magnitude improvement of the quantum efficiency of metal-oxide-metal detectors is achieved in the visible spectrum by fabricating the devices on silica substrates structured with a periodic array of bumps separated by about 0.25 microm. Structuring metallic films affords improved coupling of the detector to visible light by excitation of localized plasma resonances and surface-plasmon polariton modes. Voltage responsivities of 5 mV/W into a 50-Omega impedance has been demonstrated in preliminary devices. In suitable geometries, such detectors have the potential of subpicosecond response times.

Relationship between surface-enhanced Raman scattering and the dielectric properties of aggregated silver films.

By using an evaporated silver film that has a continuously varying thickness, we have demonstrated the dependence of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) on the dielectric properties of the film. These results support local field models that are based on metal-particle resonances for SERS.

Absorption loss and photorefractive-index changes in Ti:LiNbO(3)crystals and waveguides.

Measurement of optical absorption loss and photorefractive sensitivity (optically induced index changes) in Ti-diffused waveguides and bulk Ti-doped single crystals are reported. The absorption loss of strip guides is found to be 0.3 dB/cm at 0.633 microm, and this is expected to decrease at longer wavelengths. The results demonstrate that Ti impurities do not contribute to the absorption loss or to the photorefractive-index changes directly, rather these parameters are determined by impurities in the substrate crystal. A simple pyroelectric method for electrical adjustment of the optical input coupling is also reported.

Circumplex model of marital and family system: I. Cohesion and adaptability dimensions, family types, and clinical applications.

The conceptual clustering of numerous concepts from family therapy and other social science fields reveals two significant dimensions of family behavior, cohesion and adaptability. These two dimensions are placed into a circumplex model that is used to identify 16 types of marital and family systems. The model proposes that a balanced level of both cohesion and adaptability is the most functional to marital and family development. It postulates the need for a balance on the cohesion dimension between too much closeness (which leads to enmeshed systems) and too little closeness (which leads to disengaged systems). There also needs to be a balance on the adaptability dimension between too much change (which leads to chaotic systems) and too little change (which leads to rigid systems). The model was developed as a tool for clinical diagnosis and for specifying treatment goals with couples and families.