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Little is known about the comparative effectiveness of human immunodeficiency virus prevention interventions that differ in duration but contain similar content. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two versions (6 hours vs. 3 hours) of a behavioral intervention called the STD/HIV Intervention Program (SHIP) in a sample of Marines. Marines were exposed to either a 6-hour or a 3-hour version of SHIP. Comparisons of pre-test and post-test knowledge, attitude, and behavioral intention scores revealed similar results for both versions. For both versions of the intervention, scores on sexually transmitted diseases/human immunodeficiency virus knowledge were significantly higher after the intervention. Both the 6-hour and the 3-hour versions of SHIP also led to significant increases on scales measuring social norms and behavioral intentions. The two versions of SHIP appeared to be of comparable effectiveness for producing short-term changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. more...

Research evaluating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) behavioral interventions among U.S. military personnel has been lacking. In this study, a behavioral intervention to prevent HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was implemented in a sample of Marine security guards. Participants were assessed before and after a three-session intervention on a measure of STDs/HIV knowledge and a number of psychosocial scales. The results indicated that STDs/HIV knowledge was significantly greater after the intervention. Significant pre-test vs. post-test differences were also found on the Social Norms, Behavioral Intentions, Attitudes toward Condoms, and Self-Efficacy/Impulse Control scales. On Social Norms and Behavioral Intentions, the differences were as expected: subjects perceived greater social norms supporting condom use and had stronger intentions to practice safe sex after the intervention than they had before. On Attitudes toward Condoms and Self-Efficacy/Impulse Control, the differences were not in the expected direction. Psychosocial factors associated with self-reported condom use were also identified. more...

Although a substantial number of studies have been conducted to evaluate the impact of various human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention programs, most of them have focused on civilian populations. There is a clear need to develop and evaluate sexually transmitted diseases (STD)/HIV prevention programs designed specifically for U.S. military populations. The objective of the present study was to determine whether a behavioral intervention known as the STD/HIV Intervention Program (SHIP) would have a sustained positive impact on the behavior of a sample of Marines. A 1-year follow-up telephone interview was administered to (1) Marines who participated in the SHIP course (intervention group), and (2) a quasi-control group of Marines who were not exposed to the SHIP course. The intervention and control groups differed significantly in the percentage of the time they had used condoms during the past year. The intervention participants reported using condoms a greater percentage of the time than the nonparticipants. more...

Trace level uranium in wastewater is a particularly important issue for material accountancy and radiation protection. It is difficult to detect trace level uranium without concentrating wastewater. This study is a discussion of particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis that is used to find concentration of uranium easily. In the procedure discussed here, the quantity of solution and backing material are examined to determine how they affect the practicality of taking measurements. Our study resulted in findings that show higher sensitivity, shorter measurement time and wider range of concentration than those obtained by usual methods. more...

The upgrade project of the pulse X-ray source PF-AR was successfully completed by the end of 2001. The initial beam current and the lifetime were largely improved. The injection energy was raised from 2.5 GeV to 3.0 GeV, the maximum beam current of 65 mA was achieved. With a new global orbit feedback system, orbit drifts were largely improved. more...

Measurement of flow velocity using optical techniques has advantages to measure flow velocity in a microscopic region without disturbing it. However the decrease of the depth of the measuring region (the length of the measuring region) is very difficult in the optical techniques. In this study a new velocimeter with high spatial resolution is proposed. The velocimeter was based on a laser two focus velocimeter (L2F) and its optical system was constructed with a confocal system to decrease the depth of the measuring region. The advantage of the confocal optical system is that the light from the only part within the focal region is detected strongly. The depth of the measuring region of proposed L2F was about 10 /spl mu/m. The reliability of the L2F with the confocal system was confirmed by measuring velocities of moving a tungsten wire. The results of experiments show that the proposed laser two focus velocimeter using the confocal optical system achieved the velocity measurement with high spatial resolution and it is extremely effective instrument to measure the flow velocity in microscopic regions. > more...

Since 1983 United Nations Centre for Regional Development has been developing and introducing several computer aided gaming simulation packages, such as REFLEX and Metro-PEX, etc., to planners from developing countries through international training courses. This paper introduces the design of a gaming simulation model integrated with an expert system to provide both an intelligent, flexible and user friendly gaming environment, and a planning support system. > more...

Almost all of neural network models need relearning of past learning patterns to memorize new patterns incrementally to avoid forgetting of past memories. This is due to each parameter of the neural network contributes to memorize several learning patterns. Therefore, the change in each parameter due to the learning interferes with the past memories. In this paper, we propose a new incremental learning method to omit the re-learning process to reduce the cost of the incremental learning. The method uses an objective function, which is to be minimized during the learning, called "weighted magnitude of interference." The function represents the change in output function of the neural network, which is caused by the modification of parameters and square error to the new patterns. more...

Heavy drinking and associated problems are relatively common in young men, including those in a military setting. This article explores characteristics of alcohol intake and associated difficulties and their relationship to a self-report of the usual intensity of response to alcohol in a sample of U.S. Marines. Two questionnaires related to demography and alcohol use histories, along with a simple, 12-item self-report measure of the usual number of drinks to experience an effect (the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol, SRE) were administered to 1320 U.S. Marines. The sample had an average age of 22 years, 78% were Caucasian, and 92% were enlisted personnel. The relationships and correlations among drinking characteristics and problems and the usual number of drinks for an effect were determined. These subjects drank an average of 6 days per month, consuming an average of almost six drinks per drinking day, and reported more than three times per month in which they consumed six or more drinks per occasion. Consistent with studies of other populations, the SRE measures of intensity of response to alcohol showed a positive correlation with both drinking practices and problems, with the latter remaining significant even after controlling for recent drinking practices. The prodigious level of alcohol intake and associated problems, along with the SRE scores, indicate that the Marine Corps personnel are at especially high risk for alcohol-related life problems. These data also support the potential usefulness of the SRE both in identifying individuals likely to have more severe alcohol profiles and in educating individuals regarding their levels of risk for alcohol abuse and dependence. more...

TRANK, T. V., D. H. RYMAN, R. Y. MINAGAWA, D. W. TRONE, and R. A. SHAFFER. Running mileage, movement mileage, and fitness in male U.S. Navy recruits. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 33, No. 6, 2001, pp. 1033–1038. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between overall fitness improvement and varying amounts of running and movement mileage. Subjects were male U.S. Navy recruits (N = 1703, 25 divisions), ages 17–35 yr (mean age = 20.1 ± 2.9 yr), who attended boot camp from April 1996 through August 1996. During the first week of training, recruits performed a 1.5-mile run to determine baseline fitness levels. The results from the initial run were compared with a final 1.5-mile run conducted 6 wk later. Based on an age-adjusted fitness scale for a 1.5-mile run time, about one third of the recruits began recruit training in “Excellent-Superior” condition (N = 558), one third began in “Good” condition (N = 582), and one third began in “Poor-Fair” condition (N = 563). Running mileage among divisions ranged from 11.5 to 43.5 miles for the entire 7-wk training period (mean = 22.7 ± 7.2 miles; 8–22 run days, mean = 13 ± 4 d). In addition to running, the divisions accumulated many movement miles (110–202 miles; mean = 145 ± 26 miles) while marching in formation. Recruits who began training in Poor-Fair condition improved the most with an average decrease in run time of 1:55 ± 1:06 min (15.6% improvement). The Good group improved by 47 ± 37 s (7.3% improvement), and the Excellent-Superior group improved by 17 ± 32 s (2.9% improvement). The magnitude of fitness improvement, as measured by run time improvement, was directly related to baseline fitness level but not related to movement mileage or high-intensity run mileage accrued during training. more...

Initial beam test of the KEKB bunch-by-bunch feedback system prototypes has been performed in the TRISTAN-AR on the longitudinal plane. A simple two-tap finite impulse response (FIR) filter system consisting of hardware logic realizes the function of the phase shift by 90°, the suppression of static components, and the delay of up to a hundred turns. With the prototype filter board and a longitudinal kicker, the feedback loop has been closed successfully. The shunt impedance of the kicker was estimated from the excitation amplitude and measured damping. The damping time of the system has been measured by using the single-bunch Robinson instability. The feedback system stabilized the coupled-bunch instability completely under 8-bunch operation. more...

At KEK, a double ring collider for the B‐meson physics, KEKB, will be constructed. One of the main features of the accelerator system of KEK B‐factory (KEKB) is that the stored current is very high. Owing to this, strong coupled bunch instabilities will occur. We will install bunch feedback systems to suppress these instabilities. In this paper, we will present the characteristics of the front‐end of the feedback systems. more...

In KEKB, which is a B-factory project at KEK, the bunch spacing is very short, only 2 ns, and the number of the bunches comes up to about 5000 per ring. In order to cure the instabilities due to the high beam current, we will use bunch feedback systems in KEKB rings. Recently we developed the new position detection system and made a prototype of the signal process system for the feedback systems. Using these tools and accelerating cavities as the kicker we performed an experiment for checking a longitudinal feedback system. The Robinson instability which was intentionally excited was successfully damped with a short damping time. more...