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Scores on the Allied Health Aptitude Test and previous GPAs for 102 students were correlated with a dichotomous measure of their persistence and their GPAs in the Respiratory Therapy program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The multiple correlation for predicting grades was .62, and for predicting persistence was .47. These results are comparable to those obtained in other academic prediction studies and support the validity of this test.

Pretesting students has been considered a sound educational practice but the reports of its utility in medical education are sparse. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the usefulness of the NBME Subject Examination as a pretest to identify students “at risk” in a medical school behavioral sciences course. The results indicated that the pretest was helpful in documenting course effectiveness and that it and other measures could be used to provide an early prediction of students’ behavioral sciences course grades.

Most asthma self-management programs have focused on children, but the preva lence and impact, both personal and economic, of adult asthma is substantial. More over, failure to adhere to treatment regimens appears to be a significant problem in adult asthma. It appears important, therefore, to develop asthma self-management programs for adults. The UAB program is based on the Health Belief Model for health behavior and on the PRECEDE Model for patient education. A needs assessment and a review of existing educational materials were used to specify the content of a self- care workbook. This workbook seeks to increase cognitive skills, encourage daily self- assessment of asthma, demonstrate success in asthma self-management, and promote effective social support. The overall intervention integrates this workbook with sys tematic reinforcement of self-monitoring and self-management. A prospective con trolled study is comparing patients receiving this "special intervention" with "usual care" patients who receive only routinely available pamphlets providing information about asthma. Patients are randomly assigned to treatments by the closed envelope technique. Sample sizes were determined on the basis of statistical power. Outcomes in five areas are assessed: (1) health care utilization, (2) functional status, (3) knowl edge, (4) adherence, and (5) psychological reactions.

PDR and continuous seismic profiling surveys in the Sporadhes basin (the western part of the North Aegean sea trough) reveal active gravity-induced deformation of the postorogenic sedimentary sequence. Different deformational patterns in the uppermost sedimentary layers of the flanks and floor of the basin suggest that the layers are deformed by several gravity-induced processes including slumping, sliding and creep contemporaneous with sediment deposition. Antithetic faulting on the northern flank of the basin (the Thermaicos slope) results from downslope creep of surface layers over deeper tilted bedding planes. This process is a consequence of progressive slope development associated with the evolution of the Sporadhes basin. The morphology of the sea floor and the deformation of the upper layers clearly reflect synsedimentary tectonics in a subsiding basin environment.

The aim of this paper is 10 survey critically the recent literature on rent seeking and Directly Unproductive Profit‐Seeking Activities (DUP). The links with the related literatures on transactions costs and property rights are also explored. It is argued that a clearer understanding of wasteful competition emerges if the framework of constitutional economics is adopted. It is furthermore argued that a dynamic framework is most suitable to analyze wasteful competition Copyright © 1989, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved

The development and analysis of an instrument to evaluate the use of metered dose inhalers by patients in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Asthma Program is presented. A total of 238 adult asthma patients demonstrated use of the metered dose inhaler for this analysis. Patient skill in using the inhaler was recorded using the instrument, Inhaler-Use Checklist, developed at UAB. The study found that most patients use metered dose inhalers incorrectly, despite training received from their physicians on proper use of inhalers.

Results are presented of eighteen refraction traverses in the Bristol Channel. Estimates based on refraction and CSP surveys indicate a Mesozoic sequence about 2000 m thick in the Bristol Channel syncline north of Devon. The Central Bristol Channel fault zone in the northern limb of the syncline has an overall southerly downthrow of over 1000 m. Up to 270 m of Mesozoic strata occur in the outer part of Swansea Bay and the Helwick syncline contains about 700 m of Mesozoic strata SW of Gower. There is evidence for an igneous intrusion at shallow depth west of Lundy in the vicinity of a positive Bouguer anomaly. The Tertiary basin E. of the Sticklepath fault in Barnstaple Bay is at least 340 m thick. A high velocity refractor 2500 m below Carmarthen Bay is interpreted as lower Palaeozoic or Precambrian volcanic rocks. The surveys suggest that Cenozoic, Mesozoic and upper Palaeozoic strata can normally be differentiated on the basis of velocity but the results are of limited use in mapping upper Palaeozoic rocks and, in particular, provide no evidence for the major thrust postulated to subcrop beneath the Mesozoic strata of the Bristol Channel syncline.

In a recent issue of this journal Richard Cebula and Milton Kafoglis (1983) (hereafter called C&K), present a model which is designed to determine the optimal voting rule. Their analysis builds on the work of Fishkin (1979) and Rae (1975) who had offered criticisms of Buchanan and Tullock's (B&T) determination of the optimal voting rule. The purpose of this note is to indicate that C&K have left some misleading trails in their search and to rectify these false leads. The central concern of C&K's paper is to analyse the distinct possibility that some collective outcomes may be sacrificed '... because "negative minorities" may be able to block efficient decisions' (C&K, 1983: 196). To this end they '...formulate a simple framework for the selection of a decision rule which recognizes these costs of surrendered outcomes' (C&K, 1983: 196). Figure 1, which is reproduced here from C&K's discussion, represents in part the most reasonable depiction 1 of the costs and benefits to the collectivity of all the voting rules from simple majority to unanimity. The benefit curve is assumed to rise as the voting rule becomes more inclusive. It is alleged that the 'free rider' problem and the related inefficiency diminishes as the voting rule approaches unanimity. 2 In substance this curve does not differ markedly from that found in B&T's model. 3 The discussion by C&K of this concept is, however, confusing. Cebula and Kafoglis consistently refer to the GB curve as representing the group's gross benefits but fail to clearly indicate what gross refers to. They note, for example, in their final paragraph that B&T's framework uses net benefits whereas their analysis refers to gross benefits. And to be sure, B&T did at one stage 4 propose to use net benefits, measured as the difference between the benefits and costs of provision (B&T, 1962: 44). Presumably C&K therefore take gross benefits to reflect the value of collective provision without any regard whatsoever to what has to be given up. But if this is so, then it is not at all clear why the benefit curve is of much analytical interest. Ninety years ago Wicksell admonished economists for their failure to take

A gravity survey carried out in coastal regions of West Finnmark is described. The survey reveals a positive Bouguer anomaly with an amplitude of approximately 100 mgal centred over the island of Soroya and forming a culmination on a persistent positive anomaly axis extending along the entire coastal zone. The Soroya anomaly is similar in amplitude and width to a large anomaly overlying Lofoten-Vesteralen 300 km to the south-west. These anomalies are interpreted as being caused by an underlying upper crustal zone of high density, formed either by a massive enrichment of the upper crust in basic and ultrabasic material or by a culmination of granulitic facies metamorphic rocks, perhaps containing abundant basic intrusions. The proposed crustal structure is similar in important respects to that of the Western Alps as indicated by recent geophysical surveys, and is consistent with modern Russian views on the role of asthenoliths in geosynclinal development.

A Bouguer anomaly map of the Channel and surrounding land areas is presented and interpreted. The main features of the map are: (1) a negative anomaly approaching –20 m-gal trending wnw across the southern half of the Channel and adjacent areas of west Somerset and north Devon; (2) a broad flanking area of weak positive anomaly in the northern part of the Channel which may extend southeastwards across the Cothelstone fault into Bridgwater Bay; and (3) a local positive anomaly of over +20 mgal around Lundy Island. These anomalies are all superimposed on a strong regional gradient of +0.38 mgal km −1 to the southwest. The negative anomaly in the southern part of the Channel is due partly to Mesozoic strata in the Bristol Channel syncline but partly to underlying, low density, Upper Palaeozoic rocks which are probably preserved in a structural basin similar to the South Wales coal basin but overthrust by the Devonian succession of Exmoor. The parallel belt of positive anomaly in the northern half of the Channel is interpreted as overlying an anticlinorial zone, characterized by Old Red Sandstone at shallow depth, separating the South Wales coal basin to the north from the postulated basin to the south. The positive anomaly around Lundy Island is attributed to the effect of a large basic pluton of Tertiary age occurring at shallow depth, and the gravity field of Lundy is compared with that of other Tertiary igneous centres. A sketch structural section across the Bristol Channel is presented.

Over the last five or so years a good deal has been written on the topic of rent-seeking.1 It is hard, however, to feel satisfied with the existing state of the literature: terminological and paradigmatic differences abound; there does not appear to be any consensus on an analytical core, and few of the existing results are accepted widely. Basically there is little agreement between the school of thought which labels these activities as rent-seeking and the other which places them under the general rubric of directly unproductive expenditure (hereafter DUPE). The aim of this paper is to critically analyze some of the existing themes in the literature and clarify the direction in which this area of research should turn. We begin by inquiring whether the rent-seeking process as envisaged by the DUPE school offers a satisfactory explanation of why certain forms of competition should be considered as wasteful. We then argue that the rent-seeking school has offered a fundamentally different explanation of why competition can be wasteful. We couch our discussion in terms of a general equilibrium model of the rent-seeking process. We discuss different waste measures to be derived from our model. In light of these discussions, we explore the idea that the central insight of the rent-seeking literature has been emasculated by the use of static equilibrium models. Finally, we present the main conclusions to be drawn from the paper. Some tangential issues are dealt with in an appendix. It should be mentioned at the outset that no attempt is made here to exhaustively survey all of the literature on rent-seeking. The object is to explore what we see as some of the major weaknesses and problems in this field, and to suggest a fundamental reorientation of the literature.

Evaluation of medical decision support software (MDSS) -computer programs to assist health professionals with diagnostic and/or therapeutic decisions -has not kept pace with the development of such programs. This article describes the following formative evaluation issues that must be addressed by developers of MDSS to evaluate these programs properly: (1) How can systematic feedback be obtained about an evolving program? (2) How can enough data to evaluate the program be obtained? (3) How much instruction is necessary? (4) What are the most important aspects for users to evaluate? and (5) How can the appropriate use of a developing MDSS be assured? Data from an ongoing evaluation of an existing MDSS, Quick Medical Reference, are used to illustrate the issues and to suggest recommendations for addressing them.

Understanding the operation of the police department --I communities which experience disasters is the concern of the following pages. Every year, many American communities mobilize their resources to cope with various kinds of emergencies, some of which are disasters. Each community has a variety of resources which it can bring to bear in these emergency situations. The major component of such resources is the organizations which exist in the community. Such organizations become the functional and operational arms of the community during the emergency period.

For various evidences of parental deprivation and family history of psychiatric illness, 748 consecutive psychiatric patients were examined systematically at admission. the sample was characterized and stratified for age, sex, and socioeconomic and marital status; a matched control population was then obtained from consecutive admissions to the general wards of the same hospital. The various psychiatric and control groups were then compared. There were no differences in parental deprivation in childhood but marked differences in the occurrence of psychiatric illness in family members. It is concluded that if environmental factors turn out to outweigh genetic factors in the genesis of psychiatric illnesses, associational environmental, not deprivational ones, are critical.

The quest for benefit from existing wealth or by seeking privileged benefit through influence over policy is known as rent seeking. Much rent seeking activity involves government and political decisions and is therefore in the domain of political economy, although it can also take place in personal relations and within firms and bureaucracies. Rent seeking, which involves the unproductive use of resources, is however primarily associated with policies that create rents as well as rent extraction or political benefit for the creators of rents. The contributions in this outstanding volume provide an accompaniment or “companion†to the literature on rent seeking and the related political economy of rent creation and extraction. The chapters, written by leading scholars in the field, demonstrate the centrality of rent-related incentives to the study of economics, politics, culture, public administration and history.

The Companion lays out a comprehensive history of the field and, in five additional parts, it explores public choice contributions to the study of the origins of the state, the organization of political activity, the analysis of decision-making in non-market institutions, the examination of tribal governance and to modeling and predicting the behavior of international organizations and transnational terrorism.

A v arian t of the pulse thermal loop is proposed for use in terrestrial and space thermal management systems. The two -phase device is driven by a pair of constant volume boilers feeding an ejector which entrains secondary flow from an evaporator. A high -temperature load from battery -packs or onboard electronics can be used to pressurize the boilers while the evaporator draws heat from a cooling load in the vapor compression loop . Two configurations of the hybrid prototype are described , both running on R 134a . A uniq ue feature of the system is unsteady flow through the ejector, which leads to challenges in entraining working fluid from the vapor compression branch. Preliminary test data suggest that secondary flow entrainment is possible under pulsatile flow condition s, although pressure drop through the ejector negatively affects operation of the outer driving loop. An alternate configuration is proposed to overcome operational challenges, and preliminary results from a numerical simulation of unsteady flow through th e ejector are presented .

During the last decade, neonatal intensive care programs were developed in Alabama as elsewhere. Regionalization was associated with burgeoning transport demands and clinical activity. 1 The influx of patients initially managed in the community led to the recognition that there were significant differences between the medical practice of primary and tertiary care physicians. Our unit, like others, sought to narrow these differences through continuing medical education (CME). Conventional CME techniques, such as monthly professional updates and semiannual lectures, were supplemented with care protocols or clinical algorithms as they are sometimes termed. The hypothesis was that care protocols would be a more effective and efficient means to change medical practice. A controlled-trial technique was used to evaluate the impact of these interventions on both neonatal care process and outcomes. The results showed that clinical algorithms can affect practice performance. We recommend their consideration as a supplementary CME technique to those seeking

While many sociology departments express concern about teaching and a desire to improve services to their undergraduate students, most find that the constraints of traditional reward systems stand in the way of maximizing such efforts. The Department of Sociology at the University of Kentucky has committed a fulltime, tenure track position to teaching and related duties. This paper describes this position, its responsibilities, and some of the benefits which have come from creating the position. By creating this position, the likelihood that the teaching program will work with the research program, rather than against it, is enhanced.