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Studies have consistently shown that character strengths predict well-being and positive psychological outcomes. However, there is sparse research on how these strengths relate to stigma towards individuals with special educational needs (SEN). This study addresses this gap through exploring the link of using humanity-oriented strengths (i.e., kindness, love, and social intelligence) to stigma and acceptance towards people with SEN via a cross-sectional design. A survey packet containing questionnaires about kindness, love, social intelligence, and stigma towards SEN, was administered to 210 Filipino undergraduate students. Results showed that gender positively predicted stigma towards SEN. Kindness negatively predicted stigma even after controlling for the effects of age and gender. Results suggest that promoting opportunities to cultivate kindness might serve as valuable approach to reduce negative and discriminatory attitude towards people with special needs.

This research explored the association of perceptions of gratitude and kindness at work with well-being outcomes, such as relatedness needs satisfaction, life satisfaction, and COVID-19 anxiety among selected Filipino employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that kindness positively predicted relatedness needs satisfaction even after controlling for participants' age, gender, employment status, and length of stay in the organization. Gratitude positively predicted life satisfaction. This research underscores the mental health payoffs associated with fostering gratitude and kindness in organizational contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a half‐translation surface (S,q)$(S,q)$, the associated saddle connection complexA(S,q)$\mathcal {A}(S,q)$ is the simplicial complex where vertices are the saddle connections on (S,q)$(S,q)$, with simplices spanned by sets of pairwise disjoint saddle connections. This complex can be naturally regarded as an induced subcomplex of the arc complex. We prove that any simplicial isomorphism ϕ:A(S,q)→A(S′,q′)$\phi \colon \mathcal {A}(S,q) \rightarrow \mathcal {A}(S^{\prime },q^{\prime })$ between saddle connection complexes is induced by an affine diffeomorphism F:(S,q)→(S′,q′)$F \colon (S,q) \rightarrow (S^{\prime },q^{\prime })$. In particular, this shows that the saddle connection complex is a complete invariant of affine equivalence classes of half‐translation surfaces. Throughout our proof, we develop several combinatorial criteria of independent interest for detecting various geometric objects on a half‐translation surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2009.00673.x Byline: Simon Lloyd D. Restubog (4), Prashant Bordia (1), Robert L. Tang (2), Scott A. Krebs (3) Abstract: Leader-member exchange (LMX) has been characterized as a form of social support capable of buffering the effects of negative work experiences. However, employees with high-quality relationships with leaders in the organization may have stronger negative reactions when psychological contracts are breached. Thus, while a social support perspective would suggest that LMX minimizes the adverse impact of psychological contract breach on employee performance, a betrayal perspective proposes that high LMX would aggravate the negative effects. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs, results across three samples provided support for the betrayal perspective. That is, breach had a stronger negative relationship with organizational citizenship behaviours and in-role performance under conditions of high LMX. Implications of these results and future research directions are discussed. Author Affiliation: (4)School of Organisation and Management, Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales, Australia (1)School of Management, University of South Australia, Australia (2)School of Management and Information Technology, De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde, Philippines (3)School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia Article note: Corresponding author email: simon.restubog@unsw.edu.au

In this article, psychological contract breach, revenge, and workplace deviance are brought together to identify the cognitive, affective, and motivational underpinnings of workplace deviance. On the basis of S. L. Robinson and R. J. Bennett's (1997) model of workplace deviance, the authors proposed that breach (a cognitive appraisal) and violation (an affective response) initiate revenge seeking. Motivated by revenge, employees then engage in workplace deviance. Three studies tested these ideas. All of the studies supported the hypothesized relationships. In addition, self-control was found to be a moderator of the relationship between revenge cognitions and deviant acts; the relationship was weaker for people high in self-control. Keywords: feelings of violation, psychological contract breach, revenge, self-control, workplace deviance

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2007.00531.x Byline: Simon Lloyd D. Restubog (**), Prashant Bordia ([dagger]), Robert L. Tang ([double dagger]) Abstract: This study tests the effects of psychological contract breach on several employee outcomes: workplace deviant behaviours directed at the organization (WD-O) and its organizational members (WD-I), in-role performance, and organizational citizenship behaviours directed at the organization (OCB-O) and its co-workers (OCB-I). It also examines the moderating effects of equity sensitivity in the relationship between breach and these outcomes. Data were collected from 162 sales executives and their direct supervisors. We found that breach was related to all behavioural outcomes. Equity sensitivity and breach also interacted in predicting OCB-I, OCB-O and WD-I. The negative relationships between breach and OCB-O and OCB-I were stronger for employees with an outcome-focused approach to organizational relationships than for those with an input-focused approach. In addition, breach had stronger positive effects on WD-I especially for those individuals who are output-oriented compared to those who are input-focused. Author Affiliation: (**)School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072 Queensland, Australia ([dagger])School of Management, University of South Australia, Australia ([double dagger])School of Management and Information Technology, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Philippines Article note: Corresponding author email: simonr@psy.uq.edu.au

In this study, we investigated the relationships between psychological contract breach, affective commitment, and two types of employee performance (i.e. civic virtue behaviour and in-role performance). It was predicted that an experience of contract breach can severely hurt the affective commitment of the employees and this, in turn, results in poor in-role performance and less civic virtue behaviours. Results revealed that affective commitment had differential mediating effects on the two types of employee performance. That is, affective commitment mediated the relationship between breach and self-reported and supervisor-rated civic virtue, but not the relationship between breach and in-role performance., Psychological contract breach occurs when an employee feels that the organization has failed to deliver satisfactorily on its promises (Rousseau, 1995). For example, an employee may have the expectation that [...]

We prove that the saddle connection graph associated to any half-translation surface is 4–hyperbolic and uniformly quasi-isometric to the regular countably infinite-valent tree. Consequently, the saddle connection graph is not quasi-isometrically rigid. We also characterise its Gromov boundary as the set of straight foliations with no saddle connections. In our arguments, we give a generalisation of the unicorn paths in the arc graph which may be of independent interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce the polygonalisation complex of a surface, a cube complex whose vertices correspond to polygonalisations. This is a geometric model for the mapping class group and it is motivated by works of Harer, Mosher and Penner. Using properties of the flip graph, we show that the midcubes in the polygonalisation complex can be extended to a family of embedded and separating hyperplanes, parametrised by the arcs in the surface. We study the crossing graph of these hyperplanes and prove that it is quasi-isometric to the arc complex. We use the crossing graph to prove that, generically, different surfaces have different polygonalisation complexes. The polygonalisation complex is not CAT(0), but we can characterise the vertices where Gromov's link condition fails. This gives a tool for proving that, generically, the automorphism group of the polygonalisation complex is the (extended) mapping class group of the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the dualistic model of passion, we conducted a construct validation of the passion for work scale across four samples of employees and students. Specifically, we tested the two-factor structure of the model and examined the convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity of passion for work against conceptually similar work motivation and career-relevant constructs. Findings support the duality of the passion for work (i.e., harmonious and obsessive), its uniqueness as a motivational work construct, and its consequences on career-related outcomes. The findings also contribute to the increasing breadth of the passion literature across various contexts and its consequences for one’s work and career experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Several studies have reported associations between long term exposure to air pollutants and cause-specific mortality. However, since the concentrations of air pollutants in Asia are much higher compared to those reported in North American and European cohort studies, cohort studies on long term effects of air pollutants in Asia are needed for disease burden assessment and to inform policy. Objectives To assess the effects of long-term exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), black carbon (BC) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) on cause-specific mortality in an elderly cohort in Hong Kong. Methods In a cohort of 66,820 participants who were older than or equal to 65 years old in Hong Kong from 1998 to 2011, air pollutant concentrations were estimated by land use regression and assigned to the residential addresses of all participants at baseline and for each year during a 11 year follow up period. Hazard ratios (HRs) of cause-specific mortality (including all natural cause, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality) associated with air pollutants were estimated with Cox models, including a number of personal and area-level socioeconomic, demographic, and lifestyle factors. Results The median concentration of PM 2.5 during the baseline period was 42.2 μg/m 3 with an IQR of 5.5 μg/m 3 , 12.1 (9.6) μg/m 3 for BC and 104 (25.6) μg/m 3 for NO 2 . For PM 2.5 , adjusted HR per IQR increase and per 10 μg/m 3 for natural cause mortality was 1.03 (95%CI: 1.01, 1.06) and 1.06 (95%CI: 1.02, 1.11) respectively. The corresponding HR were 1.06 (95%CI: 1.02, 1.10) and 1.01 (95%CI: 0.96, 1.06) for cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease mortality, respectively. For BC, the HR of an interquartile range increase for all natural cause mortality was 1.03 (95%CI: 1.00, 1.05). The corresponding HR was 1.07 (95%CI: 1.03, 1.11) and 0.99 (95%CI: 0.94, 1.04) for cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease mortality. For NO 2 , almost all HRs were approximately 1.0, except for IHD (ischemic heart disease) mortality. Conclusion Long-term exposure to ambient PM 2.5 and BC was associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular mortality. Despite far higher air pollution exposure concentrations, HRs per unit increase in PM 2.5 were similar to those from recent comparable studies in North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider several natural sets of curves associated to a given Teichmüller disc, such as the systole set or cylinder set, and study their coarse geometry inside the curve graph. We prove that these sets are quasiconvex and agree up to uniformly bounded Hausdorff distance. We describe two operations on curves and show that they approximate nearest point projections to their respective targets. Our techniques can be used to prove a bounded geodesic image theorem for a natural map from the curve graph to the filling multi-arc graph associated to a Teichmüller disc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Epidemiological studies typically use subjects' residential address to estimate individuals' air pollution exposure. However, in reality this exposure is rarely static as people move from home to work/study locations and commute during the day. Integrating mobility and time-activity data may reduce errors and biases, thereby improving estimates of health risks. Objectives To incorporate land use regression with movement and building infiltration data to estimate time-weighted air pollution exposures stratified by age, sex, and employment status for population subgroups in Hong Kong. Methods A large population-representative survey (N = 89,385) was used to characterize travel behavior, and derive time-activity pattern for each subject. Infiltration factors calculated from indoor/outdoor monitoring campaigns were used to estimate micro-environmental concentrations. We evaluated dynamic and static (residential location-only) exposures in a staged modeling approach to quantify effects of each component. Results Higher levels of exposures were found for working adults and students due to increased mobility. Compared to subjects aged 65 or older, exposures to PM 2.5 , BC, and NO 2 were 13%, 39% and 14% higher, respectively for subjects aged below 18, and 3%, 18% and 11% higher, respectively for working adults. Exposures of females were approximately 4% lower than those of males. Dynamic exposures were around 20% lower than ambient exposures at residential addresses. Conclusions The incorporation of infiltration and mobility increased heterogeneity in population exposure and allowed identification of highly exposed groups. The use of ambient concentrations may lead to exposure misclassification which introduces bias, resulting in lower effect estimates than ‘true’ exposures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applications of social exchange theory in organizational research have tended to ignore the resource context and its impact on a focal dyadic social exchange. Integrating insights from the social exchange theory and the conservation of resources theory, we examine the role of resource availability in the social exchange of resources. The type of social exchange we focus on is the psychological contract. Specifically, we examine the antecedents and consequence of breach of employee obligations to an employer. We test our predictions using multisource data obtained from employees over three measurement periods in Sample 1 and matched triads (employee, supervisor, and coworker) in Sample 2. We found that family–work conflict (FWC) and breach of employer obligations are positively, while conscientiousness is negatively, related to employees’ perceptions of breach of their obligations. Conscientiousness moderated the FWC–breach relationship: Employees low on conscientiousness have a stronger positive relationship between FWC and breach of employee obligations. Breach of employee obligations is, in turn, negatively related to employee career progression (a job promotion over the following year in Sample 1 and supervisor-rated promotability in Sample 2). Findings highlight the interconnected nature of demands, resources, and obligations and that dyadic social exchange obligations should be examined in the context of other demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss a case of circumferential ulceration of the lower leg in a cognitively impaired elderly man with poor tissue integrity. Thorough clinical examination eventually determined the cause as being a circumferentially placed, forgotten elastic band causing ulceration via sustained tension around the limb. Circumferential application of an elastic band to an extremity is an exceedingly rare but serious cause of lower leg ulceration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To develop a method to estimate the mean fractional volume of fat (vfat) within a region of interest (ROI) of a tissue sample for wide-angle x-ray scatter (WAXS) applications. A scatter signal from the ROI was obtained and use of f in a WAXS fat subtraction model provided a way to estimate the differential linear scattering coefficient μs of the remaining fatless tissue. Methods: The efficacy of the method was tested using animal tissue from a local butcher shop. Formalin fixed samples, 5 mm in diameter 4 mm thick, were prepared. The two main tissue types were fat and meat (fibrous). Pure as well as composite samples consisting of a mixture of the two tissue types were analyzed. For the latter samples, Vfat for the tissue columns of interest were extracted from corresponding pixels in CCD digital x-ray images using a calibration curve. The means f were then calculated for use in a WAXS fat subtraction model. For the WAXS measurements, the samples were interrogated with a 2.7 mm diameter 50 kV beam and the 6° scattered photons were detected with a CdTe detector subtending a solid angle of 7.75 × 10-5 sr. Using the scatter spectrum, an estimate of the incident spectrum, and a scatter model, μs was determined for the tissue in the ROI. For the composite samples, a WAXS fat subtraction model was used to estimate the ßs of the fibrous tissue in the ROI. This signal was compared to ß s of fibrous tissue obtained using a pure fibrous sample. Results: For chicken and beef composites, f = 0.33 ± 0.05 and 0.32 ± 0.05, respectively. The subtractions of these fat components from the WAXS composite signals provided estimates of μs for chicken and beef fibrous tissue. The differences between the estimates and μs of fibrous obtained with a pure sample were calculated as a function of the momentum transfer x. A t-test showed that the mean of the differences did not vary from zero in a statistically significant way thereby validating the methods. Conclusions: The methodology to estimate vfat in a ROI of a tissue sample via CCD x-ray imaging was quantitatively accurate. The WAXS fat subtraction model allowed ß s of fibrous tissue to be obtained from a ROI which had some fat. The fat estimation method coupled with the WAXS models can be used to compare ßs coefficients of fibroglandular and cancerous breast tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies that examined the role of revenge in rumor transmission and involved working adults as participants are reported. Study 1 used hypothetical scenarios to manipulate organizational treatment of an employee and the believability of a rumor. Participants had higher intention to transmit a harmful rumor when the organization broke job-related promises (i.e., breached the psychological contract) and revenge motivation mediated this relationship. Believability of the rumor had no effect. Study 2 used a field survey methodology and, controlling for social desirability, replicated the results for self- and peer-reported rumor transmission behavior. Study 2 also showed that participants’ belief in negative reciprocity norm strengthened the relationship between breach and revenge motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valid, reliable, responsive and practical outcome measures are essential for treatment planning and outcome assessment. This study aimed to examine the measurement properties of Modified Rivermead Mobility Index (MRMI) and Modified Functional Ambulation Classification (MFAC) in Chinese stroke patients. The content validity, responsiveness, predictive validity, test-retest reliability, internal consistency and factor structure of the MRMI were examined. The content validity, discriminative power and inter-rater agreement of the MFAC were investigated. A total of 456 Chinese stroke patients were recruited. Evidence of good content validity, high responsiveness, adequate predictive validity, excellent test-retest reliability with 1.3-point as minimum detectable change in 95% confidence interval, high internal consistency and unidimensionality was obtained for the MRMI. Good content validity, sufficient discriminative power and excellent inter-rater agreement were demonstrated for the MFAC. Both the MRMI and MFAC have good to excellent measurement properties and are recommended as routine outcome measures for Chinese stroke patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Develop a method to subtract fat tissue contributions to wide-angle x-ray scatter (WAXS) signals of breast biopsies in order to estimate the differential linear scattering coefficients µs of fatless tissue. Cancerous and fibroglandular tissue can then be compared independent of fat content. In this work phantom materials with known compositions were used to test the efficacy of the WAXS subtraction model. Methods: Each sample 5 mm in diameter and 5 mm thick was interrogated by a 50 kV 2.7 mm diameter beam for 3 min. A 25 mm² by 1 mm thick CdTe detector allowed measurements of a portion of the &θ = 6° scattered field. A scatter technique provided means to estimate the incident spectrum N0(E) needed in the calculations of µs[x(E, &θ)] where x is the momentum transfer argument. Values of µs for composite phantoms consisting of three plastic layers were estimated and compared to the values obtained via the sum µsσ(x) = ν1 µs1 (x) + ν2 µs2(x) + ν3 µs3(x), where νi is the fractional volume of the ith plastic component. Water, polystyrene, and a volume mixture of 0.6 water + 0.4 polystyrene labelled as fibphan were chosen to mimic cancer, fat, and fibroglandular tissue, respectively. A WAXS subtraction model was used to remove the polystyrene signal from tissue composite phantoms so that the µs of water and fibphan could be estimated. Although the composite samples were layered, simulations were performed to test the models under nonlayered conditions. Results: The well known ìs signal of water was reproduced effectively between 0.5 < x < 1.6 nm-1. The µs obtained for the heterogeneous samples agreed with µsσ. Polystyrene signals were subtracted successfully from composite phantoms. The simulations validated the usefulness of the WAXS models for nonlayered biopsies. Conclusions: The methodology to measure µs of homogeneous samples was quantitatively accurate. Simple WAXS models predicted the probabilities for specific x-ray scattering to occur from heterogeneous biopsies. The fat subtraction model can allow µs signals of breast cancer and fibroglandular tissue to be compared without the effects of fat provided there is an independent measurement of the fat volume fraction νf. Future work will consist of devising a quantitative x-ray digital imaging method to estimate νf in ex vivo breast samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results from four studies in multiple contexts drawing on different data sources provide full support for the proposition that Machiavellian employees prefer forming transactional psychological contracts (schemas of their employee–employer relationship that are economic in nature) and that such contracts mediate the relationship between Machiavellianism and supervisor-rated (a) organizational citizenship behaviors and (b) deviant behaviors, respectively. The authors’ research contributes to scholars’ understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the relationship between Machiavellianism and contextual performance as well as to the psychological contracts literature by demonstrating that Machiavellianism influences contextual performance because it affects the manner in which employees construe their employment relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anterior urethral diverticula are rare in children. Anterior urethral valves and associated diverticulum is the commonly discussed pathological entity in children. There is a lack of awareness among clinicians regarding less common presentations of anterior urethral diverticula in children; which can have a diverse involvement of the urinary tract. This report describes two uncommon presentations of anterior urethral diverticula in children, their diagnoses and management. A systematic differential diagnosis and review of anterior urethral diverticula in children is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use regression (LUR) models have been widely used to provide long-term air pollution exposure assessment in epidemiological studies. However, models have rarely offered variables that account for the dispersion environment close to the source (e.g., street canyons, position and dimensions of buildings, road width). This study used newly available data on building heights and geometry to enhance the representation of land use and the dispersion field in LUR. Models were developed for PM10, NOX, and NO2 for 2008-2011 for London, U.K. A separate set of models using "traditional" land use and traffic indicators (e.g., distance from road, area of housing within circular buffers) were also developed and their performance was compared with "enhanced" models. Models were evaluated using leave-one-out (n - 1) (LOOCV) and grouped (n - 25%) cross-validation (GCV). LOOCV R² values were 0.71, 0.50, 0.66 and 0.73, 0.79, 0.78 for traditional and enhanced PM10, NOX, and NO2 models, respectively. GCV R² values were 0.71, 0.53, 0.64 and 0.68, 0.77, 0.77 for traditional and enhanced PM10, NOX, and NO2 models, respectively. Data on building volume within the area common to a 20 m road buffer within a 25 m circular buffer substantially improved the performance (R² > 13%) of NOX and NO2 LUR models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the influence of contract importance, feelings of violation, and workplace familism on the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational deviance. Results from a study of 168 supervisor-employee dyads in a pharmaceutical organization suggest that (a) feelings of violation mediated the relationship between perceived breach and supervisor-rated organizational deviance; (b) relational and transactional contract importance influenced the relationship between breach and feelings of violation such that the relationship was stronger under conditions of high relational and transactional importance; and (c) high levels of workplace familism mitigated the effects of feelings of violation on supervisor-rated organizational deviance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting a multifoci approach to psychological contract breach (i.e., breach by the organization referent and breach by the supervisor referent), the authors propose a trickle-down model of breach. Results from three studies show that supervisor perceptions of organizational breach are negatively related to supervisor citizenship behaviors toward the subordinate, resulting in subordinate perceptions of supervisory breach. Subordinate breach perceptions are, in turn, negatively related to subordinate citizenship behaviors toward the customer and, ultimately, customer satisfaction. The findings demonstrate the interconnected nature of social exchange relationships at work and draw attention to the effects of breach for other employees and customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop new Monte Carlo techniques based on stratifying the stock's hitting-times to the barrier for the pricing and Delta calculations of discretely-monitored barrier options using the Black-Scholes model. We include a new algorithm for sampling an Inverse Gaussian random variable such that the sampling is restricted to a subset of the sample space. We compare our new methods to existing Monte Carlo methods and find that they can substantially improve convergence speeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the pricing performance of eight trinomial trees and one binomial tree, which was found to be most effective in an earlier study, under 20 different implementation methodologies for pricing American put options. We conclude that the binomial tree, the Tian third-order moment-matching tree with truncation, Richardson extrapolation, and smoothing, performs better than the trinomial trees. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 29:826–839, 2009 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We previously described the phenotype associated with three alanine substitution mutations in conserved residues (Trp23, Phe40, and Asp51) in the N-terminal domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 capsid protein (CA). All of the mutants produce noninfectious virions that lack conical cores and, despite having a functional reverse transcriptase (RT), are unable to initiate reverse transcription in vivo. Here, we have focused on elucidating the mechanism by which these CA mutations disrupt virus infectivity. We also report that cyclophilin A packaging is severely reduced in W23A and F40A virions, even though these residues are distant from the cyclophilin A binding loop. To correlate loss of infectivity with a possible defect in an early event preceding reverse transcription, we modeled disassembly by generating viral cores from particles treated with mild nonionic detergent; cores were isolated by sedimentation in sucrose density gradients. In general, fractions containing mutant cores exhibited a normal protein profile. However, there were two striking differences from the wild-type pattern: mutant core fractions displayed a marked deficiency in RT protein and enzymatic activity (<5% of total RT in gradient fractions) and a substantial increase in the retention of CA. The high level of core-associated CA suggests that mutant cores may be unable to undergo proper disassembly. Thus, taken together with the almost complete absence of RT in mutant cores, these findings can account for the failure of the three CA mutants to synthesize viral DNA following virus entry into cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A polyurethane elastomer was microbiologically evaluated in vitro for its potential use in resilient denture liners. Specimens were immersed in suspensions of ten selected oral microorganisms; this was followed by viable cell counts at intervals during a 16-week period. Results indicated that the polyurethane neither supported the growth of the organisms nor was it degraded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]