Application Of Technics Research Articles

Methods in Adult Education

THE METHODS and technics of adult education do not lend themselves very readily to controlled research. Some of the variables which make scientific studies difficult were identified by Beals and Brody (6) in 1941 and are still as difficult to control as they were then. effects of any method will depend on the occasion of its use, 'occasion' being understood as the product of multiple factors of which the irreducible minimum appear to be the number, native capacity, motives, and experience (including education, occupation, etc.) of the clientele; the aptitude, motives, and experience of the leader or leaders; the areas of activity in which clientele and leaders are engaged; and the institutional objectives of the agency under whose auspices they meet (6, p. 109). The most hopeful development in the decade since the volume referred to above was written is the gradual application of action-research technics to the field of adult education. Jenkins (30) showed how the Lewin type of analysis can be applied to educational problems. Hendrickson (25) reported more restricted use of the lecture and the question-and-answer methods and a wider use of such methods as the conference group discussion methods and project method, the greater use of audio-visual aids, and the introduction of the panel method in discussion and the clinical method in individual instruction.

Measurement and Prediction of Teaching Success

RESEARCH in the measurement and prediction of teaching success has been characterized by widespread interest during the three-year period covered by this review. Even a cursory examination of the research completed during this period reveals certain unmistakable trends: (a) there were many more systematic studies employing refined research technics than have appeared during earlier periods of research; (b) the subject was of interest to psychologists as well as to educators; (c) new aspects of the subject, such as personality, adjustment, and teacher-pupil relations, became centers of special concern; (d) interest continued in the selection of teachers and the prediction of teaching efficiency; and (e) the application of evaluative technics to merit pay schedules for teachers attracted considerable attention.

Diagnosis of Bronchogenic Carcinoma by Cytologic Methods

Attention has been focused recently upon the application of cytologic technics to the diagnosis of primary carcinoma of the lung. Experience with 100 cases of proved bronchogenic carcinoma has indicated that this technic has diagnostic value. The need for additional diagnostic aids in this disease has been emphasized in reported series (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) in which as high as 50 per cent of the cases were not recognized prior to autopsy. As early as 1887 Hampeln was able to diagnose carcinoma of the lung by examination of unstained microscopic particles of expectorated malignant tissue. Other early workers also reported the diagnosis of cancer of the lung by finding bizarre cells in sputum examined by such simple methods. More recent investigators have blocked and sectioned sputum, using ordinary histologic technics, and some have reported good results (6, 7). The development of wet-film technics has simplified the cytologic study of sputum and bronchial secretions and has led to more widespread use of this diagnostic procedure. In 1935 Dudgeon and Wrigley (8) described their wet-film technic for the diagnosis of malignant disease of the lung. In 1944 Wandall (9) of Denmark reported the use of this method with excellent results. He found malignant cells in 84 of 100 cases of proved bronchogenic carcinoma. The work of Papanicolaou and Traut (10), in 1943, on the diagnosis of uterine cancer by vaginal smears stimulated the application of the Papanicolaou technic to material exfoliated from other accessible tracts (11). Herbut and Clerf (12) in 1946 presented their experiences with this technic applied to bronchial secretions. These workers were able to make an accurate diagnosis in 47 of 57 cases (82 per cent) of carcinoma of the lung. Reports of successful application of the Papanicolaou method to sputum and bronchial secretions continue to appear in the current literature (13, 14, 15). For the past two years we have been studying and evaluating the Papanicolaou method as applied to sputum and bronchial secretions (16, 17). This paper deals briefly with this study, the methods used and results obtained, and presents illustrative case histories. The material was obtained from university hospitals, general private hospitals, tuberculosis sanitariums, and private physicians. The patients were not in special cancer hospitals but either were suspected of having carcinoma of the lung or had an undiagnosed chest disease. Many specimens were received by mail from institutions and communities where adequate diagnostic facilities were not available. Sputum was obtained by deep coughing and bronchial secretions by aspiration from suspected areas of the bronchial tree. The preparation of smears for examination has been described in detail in a previous publication (17). After the smears were stained, every field on every slide was carefully screened by trained technicians. Unusual cells were marked and examined by physicians experienced in cytologic diagnosis.

Fluoroscopic Image Brightening by Electronic Means

More than six years have passed since Dr. W. Edward Chamberlain delivered the annual Carman Lecture before the Radiological Society of North America. In this lecture (1), he described in great detail the limitations of present-day fluoroscopy, and held out hope that these severe restrictions might soon be removed, or greatly alleviated, by the application of modern electronic technics to the amplification, or brightening, of fluoroscopic images. Such amplification has recently been accomplished in the Research Laboratories of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and it is hoped that before long practical realization of the method for use in clinical fluoroscopy will become available to the radiologist. There are two reasons why image amplification, or brightening, is necessary if large increases of brightness are to be obtained. First, x-ray intensities are already at the patient's tolerance level and may not be further increased without danger of injury. Second, there is not sufficient energy in the emerging x-rays to form an adequately bright picture even if all the energy were converted into light. Image amplification has been achieved by converting the x-ray pattern into an electron stream, and accelerating these electrons to high velocities. In this way, energy from an external source is introduced into the system and, when the electrons impinge on a phosphor layer, a brighter image results. This paper deals with the technical aspects of fluoroscopic image amplification, and describes in some detail the mechanism just outlined. Were it not for the dimness of the image, fluoroscopy would replace to a large extent the taking of roentgenograms. A single fluoroscopic examination would be equivalent to hundreds of films taken in cinematographic sequence and revealing the subject in all phases of movement and from many angles of projection. Unfortunately, however, the fluoroscopic image is excessively dim, and at existing brightness levels the human eye is capable of perceiving only a fraction of the detail which is actually on the screen. Dr. Chamberlain covered this aspect of the problem very thoroughly, and it will suffice to present here only a few aspects of retinal physiology which will serve to illustrate the tremendous ranges of brightness over which the eye is adaptable, and the great loss of definition which is incurred at low levels. The brightness level at which roentgenograms are ordinarily viewed is roughly 30 millilamberts. At this level, the eye is capable of recognizing as discrete two contours which are separated by as little as one one-thousandth of an inch. As the brightness of the object is decreased, the visual acuity of the eye deteriorates. At about one thousandth of this intensity we have reached the point where cone vision is no longer effective, the color sense is gone, and the fovea centralis is no longer the most sensitive part of the retina.

School and Community Relationships

PUBLIC-SCHOOL RELATIONS as a recognized function of public-school administration appears to be growing rapidly in importance, if one can judge by the voluminous literature appearing within the past few years. There is an increasing sensitivity to the importance of the home and the community as essential aspects of the educational process. World War II undoubtedly proved a great stimulus to this movement, altho public-school relations as an educational function had been making great stride in the years immediately preceding. It has been difficult to separate, with any degree of finality, material which might be classed definitely as research and reports which consist principally of description of practice. In describing practice there have been attempts to include some objective material as supporting evidence. Some articles have been included here because of their uniqueness in indicating the developing scope of public-school relations. Of significance is the fact that research, in the form of doctorate dissertations, is appearing more frequently, pointing out the emergence and application of definite technics in the field of public-school relations. The large number of references developed for this chapter emphasized the growing significance of this administrative function.

PENICILLIN IN THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CONGENITAL SYPHILIS

The treatment of the pregnant syphilitic woman and of the congenitally syphilitic infant with weekly injections of neoarsphenamine or mapharsen supplemented by a bismuth preparation, although eminently satisfactory from the standpoint of both preventive and curative medicine, still has several aspects in which improvement may be expected. These facts have led us to try penicillin in the treatment of these conditions with the hope that it might be possible to eliminate some of the deficiencies in present day therapy. Included among the factors in the prevention and treatment of congenital syphilis which we would like to see improved by the discovery and application of new drugs and new technics, the following may be mentioned: Arsenotherapy is relatively toxic. Although, generally speaking, arsenicals are well tolerated and safe to use in the average case,1reactions do occur which interfere with treatment or at times preclude their use entirely, and

Blood Grouping Technic.

The authors of this monograph are well qualified, as indicated by Landsteiner in the foreword. The book is divided into three parts: "Theoretic Foundation of Blood Grouping," "General Technic of Blood Group Investigation" and "Special Application of Blood Grouping Technics." The subjects are clearly and briefly discussed with the idea of aiding clinicians, serologists, anthropologists and workers in legal and in military medicine. Not only is the material presented clearly from a theoretic point of view, but it is presented practically, including the technics for typing blood for transfusions and for establishing paternity. The chapters, subchapters and paragraphs are numbered, so that by merely referring to the table of contents one can easily find any aspect of a subject. A fairly complete bibliography follows each subchapter for those who might be interested in further details of the original observations. There is a good index in addition to the rather complete

Push-Pull Recording with the Light-Valve

Push-pull recording on film is accomplished by means of a double light-valve having four ribbons. Distortions introduced by the recording medium that are represented by second-order harmonics balance out in reproducing, as do also the frequencies introduced by the action of the noise-reduction system. As a result, push-pull recording not only eliminates certain defects of conventional recording, but permits the application of new technics that allow further extension of the volume range and improvement in the naturalness in the final product.

Application of Serologic Technics to General Biologic Research

An increasing number of general biologists are attempting to apply specific serum reactions and related immunologic phenomena to basic nonclinical research. For example, plant juices have been injected parenterally into rabbits and the resulting immune serums (specific precipitins) used as test tube reagents in an attempted determination of the chemical interrelationship of numerous plant species. Animals have been immunized against alien erythrocytes and the resulting specific hemagglutinins used in an attempted confirmation of certain theories of heredity. Specific antilipoidal (complement-deviating) antiserums have been prepared and applied to topographic analyses of adult tissues and growing embryos. The chemical interpretation of serologic data of this type is by no means as obvious as many general biologists have apparently assumed. Most of the routine specific precipitin, agglutinin and complementdeviation technics have been arbitrarily standardized for routine forensic or clinical purposes. Arbitrary dilutions of serum, temperatures and times of reading the end-reaction magnify diagnostically important chemical differences and minimize or eliminate clinically inconclusive heterophile, nonspecific or pseudo reactions and other interfering colloidal phenomena. The minor chemical reactions thus arbitrarily ruled out may be among those of greatest general scientific interest. Routine specific agglutinin reactions, for example, do not suggest that there is a common, highly specialized protein, lipoid or carbohydrate in the meningococcus, the anthrax bacillus and certain nonpathogenic bacteria. These microorganisms are apparently 100 per cent chemically distinct. Nevertheless, a fairly efficient heterophile or reciprocal vaccine can be extracted from any one of these three apparently unrelated bacterial species.1 With routine diagnostic technics little or no cross-reaction is demonstrable between the pneumococcus and certain wild yeasts. Such tests give no hint of the well confirmed fact that oral administration of certain yeast extracts functions as a fairly efficient quasi-specific prophylactic immuniz-