Low-dose naltrexone for disease prevention and quality of life.

The use of low-dose naltrexone (LDN) for the treatment and prophylaxis of various bodily disorders is discussed. Accumulating evidence suggests that LDN can promote health supporting immune-modulation which may reduce various oncogenic and inflammatory autoimmune processes. Since LDN can upregulate endogenous opioid activity, it may also have a role in promoting stress resilience, exercise, social bonding, and emotional well-being, as well as amelioration of psychiatric problems such a autism and depression.

Bone conduction reception: head sensitivity mapping.

This study sought to identify skull locations that are highly sensitive to bone conduction (BC) auditory signal reception and could be used in the design of military radio communication headsets. In Experiment 1, pure tone signals were transmitted via BC to 11 skull locations of 14 volunteers seated in a quiet environment. In Experiment 2, the same signals were transmitted via BC to nine skull locations of 12 volunteers seated in an environment with 60 decibels of white background noise.

An investigation of the effectiveness of police cruiser doors as protection from handgun attack.

The objective of this research was to investigate the degree to which automobile doors (especially police cruiser doors) may be used as protection by police officers when under handgun attack. This is a vital question, since the cruiser door is often the only defense a police officer has when encountering gunfire. Data were collected on door penetration capabilities of 3 calibers of handguns (selected based on FBI data on police officer assaults) at 2 different angles of fire.

TETCORR: a computer program to compute smoothed tetrachoric correlation matrices.

Although many programs exist for computing tetrachoric correlations, these programs typically lack one or more of the following features: (1) efficient processing of a large number of variables and computing of a matrix of coefficients; (2) a matrix-smoothing capability; (3) an accurate, reliable computing algorithm; (4) the ability to handle missing data; and (5) nominal cost. TETCORR, which combines an algorithm developed by Brown (1977) with starting values obtained from Divgi (1979a) for more efficient computation, was created to address these and other user concerns.

A preliminary comparison of levalbuterol and albuterol in prehospital care.

Nebulized levalbuterol has been documented as more efficacious than albuterol in enhancing airflow in Emergency Department (ED) patients with bronchospasm. This work attempts to determine if nebulized levalbuterol yields similar improvements in peak flow measurements as those produced by albuterol in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arena. All adult EMS patients given a nebulized beta-agonist from January to June 2000 were included in this prospective, before-and-after, open-label study.

Computing measures of simplicity of fit for loadings in factor-analytically derived scales.

A very simple structure is sought when factor analysis is used to develop measurement scales. The SIMLOAD program computes measures of factorial simplicity for rows and columns of loading matrices (usually the factor pattern) as well as some overall measures. These include Kaiser's (1974) index of factorial simplicity for variables (rows), the author's scale fit index for factors (columns), Bentler's (1977) scale-free matrix measure, and hyperplane counts.

Effect of levalbuterol on prehospital patient parameters.

This study was performed to determine if levalbuterol improves dyspnea as assessed by prehospital clinical parameters. All EMS patients >or=16 years old given nebulized levalbuterol over 6 months were included in this prospective, open-label work. Data collected included demographics, initial pulse rate (P), respiratory rate (R), patient report of respiratory distress (S), and peak expiratory flow (PF).

Closure principle: relations across domains.

The present study examined a possible relationship between perceptual closure and social need for closure. These closure abilities were not correlated across domains of application.

Comparison of two random-effects methods of meta-analysis.

Two studies compared the Schmidt-Hunter method of meta-analysis (J. E. Hunter & F.

Psychiatric therapeutic applications of virtual reality technology (VRT): research prospectus and phenomenological critique.

There is theoretical and empirical research supporting the hypothesis that virtual reality technology (VRT) can be efficaciously applied to attenuate the symptoms of mental disorders (Baer, 1996; Rothbaum et al, 1995a, 1995b; Rothbaum et al, 1996.) Yet there is also research suggesting psychiatric therapeutic applications of VRT may induce noxious or unexpected psychological consequences (Kolasinski, 1996; Muscott & Gifford, 1994; Regan & Price, 1994; Regan & Ramsey, 1996; Strickland, 1995.) A prudent conclusion would be to advocate ever more sophisticated studies on psychiatric therapeutic applications of VRT concerning (1) increasing the overall socioadaptiveness of patients, (2) the robustness of moderating, modifying, or other intermediary variables effecting or affecting VRT therapeutic efficacy, and (3) variables, processes, and hypotheses generated from VRT applications in non-psychiatric fields.

Alcohol and workload as factors affecting the detection of angular acceleration.

Introduction: Previous findings have demonstrated that a low blood alcohol concentration (BAC) decreases subjects' ability to detect changes in angular motion and that this effect persists after the BAC returns to zero.

Methods: Angular motion thresholds of six alcohol and six placebo subjects holding pilots' certificates were obtained under both low and high task load conditions. The alcohol subjects were tested under double blind conditions in an enclosed simulator apparatus prior to drinking, after drinking (mean BAC = 0.

Deterioration of the high-mounted brake light.

An unusually high failure rate in the high-mounted, center brake light was observed in a survey of normal local traffic. Such failure increases the potential for delay or error in perception of the rear lights by following drivers.

Effect of alcohol on the threshold for detecting angular acceleration.

We investigated the effects of a low blood alcohol level (mean BAC = 0.037%) on subjects' ability to detect acceleration and deceleration of angular motion. The angular motion thresholds of six alcohol and six placebo subjects, all of whom had private pilot certificates, were tested under double-blind conditions in an enclosed simulator apparatus prior to drinking, after drinking, and at a time when the BAC's of alcohol subjects had reached zero.

Color-specificity to enhance identification of rear lights.

30 male and 13 female licensed drivers were given a static reaction-time test for Donders Type B reactions to the onset of automotive rear lights. The lights were displayed as by conventional systems and by a new color-specific method referred to as the "Red Light Means Stop approach." When subjects were instructed to regard all red colored light as brake-signal light, both incidence of identification error and reaction time decreased.

Professional pilots' views of alcohol use in aviation and the effectiveness of employee-assistance programs.

Pilots holding the Airline Transport Pilot certificate were surveyed about the seriousness of the alcohol problem in various areas of aviation and about the importance of a number of possible reasons why a pilot might drink and fly. They also rated a number of actions in terms of their potential effectiveness for reducing inappropriate alcohol use, and they evaluated a number of characteristics of employee-assistance programs. Respondents judged employee-assistance programs to be the best way to reduce problem drinking.

An innovative solution to continuing misuse of red light on automobiles.

A novel approach [referred to as the RLMS (Red Light Means Stop) approach] to automotive rear lighting has recently been suggested as a means to enhance perceptibility of the rear lights. In the RLMS approach, only red colored light is displayed during braking, and only amber colored light is displayed at other times. Color per se then provides, for most drivers, an immediately perceptible visual stimulus by which brake lights are distinguished from tail lights.

Cognitive advantage in sport: the nature of perceptual structures.

To extend and clarify the nature of the perceptual processes used by sport experts to perceive schematic sport information, two experiments used schematic football diagrams that varied in structure (structured vs. unstructured) and complexity (complex vs. easy).

A simulator-based approach to training in aeronautical decision making.

The effectiveness of a simulator-based approach to training pilot skills in risk assessment and decision making was evaluated in a sample of pilots enrolled in a university aviation science program. The 16 experimental group subjects received 4 hours (h) of classroom instruction designed to enhance pilot judgment skills, followed by 4 simulated cross-country flights during which several critical inflight events occurred. Subjects in the control group received classroom instruction in basic instrument flying, followed by simulator sessions emphasizing instrument flight.