A scientist's viewpoint on promoting effective use of experimental design: Ten things a scientist wants to know about experimental design

This paper tackles the practical application of statistical tools. Chemical development is a rich area for collaboration between statisticians and chemists, but most statisticians encounter difficulties in promoting the tools to this client group. This paper, presented from a chemist's perspective, is intended to help bridge the gap between the two professions. The paper explores differences in uptake and attitudes towards adopting these techniques and suggests what has hindered or helped the process of effective application of experimental design. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Approach for Balancing Health and Ecological Risks at Hazardous Waste Sites

Human health and ecological risks must be balanced at hazardous waste sites in order to ensure that remedial actions prevent unacceptable risks of either type. Actions that are designed to protect humans may fail to protect nonhuman populations and ecosystems or may damage ecosystems. However, there is no common scale of health and ecological risk that would allow comparisons to be performed. This paper presents an approach to addressing this problem based on classifying all risks (i.e., health and ecological risks due contaminants and remediation) as insignificant ( de minimis ), highly significant ( de manifestis ), or intermediate. For health risks the classification is based on standard criteria. However, in the absence of national guidance concerning the acceptability of ecological risks, new ecological criteria are proposed based on an analysis of regulatory precedents. Matrices and flow charts are presented to guide the use of these risk categories in remedial decision making. The assessment of mercury contamination of the East Fork Poplar Creek is presented as an example of the implementation of the approach.     

Modeling Phytosanitary Risk of Unintended Commodity Use: The Example of U.S. Potato Exports to Mexico

Diversion of commodities from their intended use to an unintended use, e.g., when commodities intended for consumption are used as seed for planting, is an important issue in agricultural trade that has implications for the establishment of pests and pathogens in an importing country and for the appropriate strength of plant health measures. Consequently, understanding and accurately characterizing the risk of diversion from intended use is highly relevant to policymakers, trading partners, and in trade dispute arbitration. To our knowledge, no risk assessments have ever accounted for the likelihood of diversion from intended use. Here we present an approach to analyzing this risk using diversion of U.S. table stock potatoes to seed for planting by Mexican potato producers as a case study. We use probabilistic pathway models to characterize the movement of white, yellow, and russet potatoes from the United States into Mexico at current and double export volumes. We then model the likelihood of these potatoes being diverted for seed and the subsequent establishment of bacteria, nematode, and virus pests in Mexico. Our approach demonstrates how diversion from intended use can be quantified in one scenario and, in particular, how it can be analyzed to estimate the magnitude of diversion required to produce a high risk of pest establishment.     

A clinical practice model for treatment of college-aged incest survivors

Adult incest survivors frequently exhibit signs and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Many clinicians have geared their group treatment of incest survivors to address these manifestations. Given the nature of the sexual abuse, the early developmental periods in which some trauma occurs, the past and current relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, and the dynamics inherent in this violation and betrayal of trust, love, and power within the family unit, additional clinical concerns and safeguards must be considered. In addition, the struggles of college-aged incest survivors to come to terms with their history of sexual abuse often mirror the developmental tasks faced by their peers--autonomy, intimacy, sexuality, and formation of personal values and ethics. To focus solely on the incest without also considering these developmental issues may solidify a gridlock between inadequate resolution of the developmental issues and the continued victimization of the student incest survivor. The author discusses a time-limited group treatment for college-aged incest survivors that uses a modified posttraumatic stress disorder model as a conceptual framework and addresses both sets of concerns.