Ethnic differences in the length of the menstrual cycle during the postmenarcheal period

In 1989, 125 African-American and 123 European-American girls aged 12-14 years were enrolled in a 2-year study in which they maintained a menstrual calendar, recording the date and amount of menstrual bleeding. Weight, exercise, and stress during the previous week were recorded at the start of each menstrual cycle. Although only minor ethnic differences were observed in expected cycle length (29.3 vs. 28.8 days for European-American and African-American girls, respectively), more prominent differences were observed in the between-subjects standard deviation of cycle length (2.9 vs. 2.2 days, respectively) and in the odds of having a cycle longer than 45 days (odds ratio=1.86, 95% confidence interval 1.17-2.97) for European-American compared with African-American girls. Low weight for height and high levels of exercise increased the probability of having a cycle longer than 45 days and decreased expected cycle length of 13- to 45-day cycles. Additional investigation of potential ethnic differences in menstrual cycle characteristics is warranted.     

THE EARLY TO "MIDDLE" CRETACEOUS LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE CENTRAL NORTH SEA (UK SECTOR)

A revised lithostratigraphical framework of the Early to "Middle" Cretaceous strata of the Central North Sea (UK sector) derived from the rigorous examination of more than 100 commercial boreholes is presented. previously published frameworks have tended toward oversimplification of the Early to "Middle" Cretaceous, as the interval was considered initially to be of minor importance with regard to prospectivity. However_: there is a general feeling in the industry that the Early to "Middle" Cretaceous is prospective. particularly with regard to subtle stratigraphical traps like the Kilda/Bosun and Scapa fields. It is inevitable that as more attention, due to hydrocarbon exploration, is paid to an interval that the stratigraphical models used progress from the simplistic to the complex. The framework presented here is the result of a pragmatic approach in that it is based upon the integration of previously published schemes. with the erection of new units derived from new analyses and interpretation. The complete lithostratigraphical framework is defined. explained and discussed with reference to borehole examples in the Central North Sea .     

Architectures for Silicon Nanoelectronics and Beyond

Although nanoelectronics won't replace CMOS for some time, research is needed now to develop the architectures, methods, and tools to maximally leverage nanoscale devices and terascale capacity. Addressing the complementary architectural and system issues involved requires greater collaboration at all levels. The effective use of nanotechnology calls for total system solutions     

Using two factor structures of the Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) scale for assessing adaptation to breast cancer

The validity and reliability of two factor structures of the Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) scale for assessing coping style was assessed by examining the relationship between the subscales, psychological distress, and quality of life (QOL) among Stage II and Stage IV breast cancer patients in four phases. First, MANOVAs assessed differences in coping, distress, and QOL across disease stages. Second, for each MAC factor structure, canonical correlation analyses assessed the relationship between coping styles, distress, and QOL, for each disease-stage group separately. Third, structural equation modeling (SEM) assessed the relationship among coping styles, distress, and QOL for all participants. Finally, the internal consistency of both MAC factor structures was assessed using Chronbach's alpha. The results were as follows: (1) significant differences across disease stages were found for coping styles using either the Watson or the Schwartz MAC subscales, but there were no differences in levels of distress or QOL; (2) for both MAC factor structures, coping style was found to be highly related to emotional distress and QOL, however, the strengths of the correlations between individual coping styles and distress/QOL indicators varied across disease stages; (3) SEM indicated that coping style was significantly related to distress and QOL when stage of disease was not considered, and that coping style and indicators of distress/QOL are separate, but highly correlated factors, as opposed to a single latent construct; and, (4) the Watson MAC subscales showed slightly better internal consistency than the Schwartz MAC subscales. Taken together, these findings highlight: (i) the validity of both MAC factor structures for clinical and research use with American breast cancer patients; (ii) the role of coping style as a mediator between disease stage and psychological distress and QOL; and, (iii) the need for refinement of certain Watson and Schwartz subscales.     

Social recovery of monkeys isolated for the first year of life: I. Rehabilitation and therapy.

Previous research demonstrated that 12 mo of total social isolation initiated at birth produced severe and seemingly permanent social deficits in rhesus monkeys. Such monkeys exhibited self-clasping, self-mouthing, and other stereotypic, self-directed responses. Recent research has indicated that 6-mo-isolated monkeys could develop social behaviors if exposed to younger, socially unsophisticated "therapist" monkeys. In the present experiment, 4 12-mo isolate-reared monkeys developed appropriate species-typical behavior through the use of adaptation, self-pacing of visual input, and exposure to 4 younger "therapist" monkeys. Adaptation enabled the isolate Ss to become familiar with their postisolation environment, while self-pacing facilitated their watching the therapist Ss' social interactions. The isolates showed a marked decrease in self-directed behaviors following extensive intimate contact with the therapists. Species-typical behaviors significantly increased during this period, so that the isolate behavioral repertoire did not differ substantially from the therapist behavioral repertoire by the end of the therapy period. Results clearly fail to support a critical period for socialization in the rhesus monkey, and an alternative environment-specific learning hypothesis is proposed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of Fatigue Strengths of Bulk Metallic Glasses Produced by Tilt Casting and High-Pressure Casting

High fatigue strength is one of the important factors that facilitates the industrial usage of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). Fatigue data were analyzed using the Weibull probability models for BMGs produced with different casting processes in order to study the reliability of fatigue strengths of cast glassy alloys. The fatigue data of tilt-cast and high-pressure-cast BMGs can be explained by a three-parameter Weibull cumulative distribution function (cdf) and a mixture model of two-parameter Weibull cdfs, respectively. We conclude that the cast defects, which reduce fatigue strength, should be eliminated in order to realize a high reliability of fatigue strengths.     

A multi-field approach to modeling the dynamic response of cellular materials

A multi-field approach is developed for simulating the continuum-scale mechanical response of cellular materials. This approach departs from traditional methods used to model cellular materials, which focus almost exclusively on the mechanical response of the cellular solid, while essentially ignoring the fluids permeating these material systems. In the present work, conservation equations are derived in multi-field form, producing a coupled set of governing equations with source terms depending on gradients in the cellular solid stress, but also on gradients in the permeating fluid pressure and momentum exchange resulting from relative motion between the cellular solid and permeating fluid fields. The multi-field equations of motion are implemented in a standard finite-volume computational test bed and used to study the dynamic response of cellular material systems. The influence of various permeating fluids, along with the effects of aperture size, loading rate, and boundary conditions, also are examined. By incorporating an advanced constitutive model for cellular solids into a multi-field response formulation, a promising new approach for simulating the finite-strain dynamic response of cellular materials is offered. Results demonstrate that the permeating fluid can play a major role in the general response of cellular material systems, contributing to the overall load-carrying capacity of the materials and affecting rate dependence and signal propagation speeds. Furthermore, the results point to the usefulness of the multi-field formulation and provide evidence to suggest that any modeling approach developed for cellular materials gives a proper accounting of the pressure evolution and flow behavior of the fluids present in these material systems.     

Overview of popular benchmark sets

One of the most difficult tasks CAD users face is the evaluation and comparison of different tools and algorithms. For commercial software purchasers, it is vital to understand how well a given tool does the required job and which of many possible choices is best for the kinds of problems a user will face. For the tool developer, whether in academia or industry, the efficiency of critical algorithms must be measured and compared to understand both tool behavior and progress over time. Over the years, there have been many attempts to create and use neutral benchmarks for tool evaluation and comparison. Typically, a benchmark set consists of a collection of circuits in a common format, which attempt to represent a range of problems for evaluating algorithms and tools within an important problem domain. In principle, if everyone uses the same test cases to evaluate similar tools, it should be straightforward to compare results-although this is rarely true in reality. Several benchmark sets are widely used. The paper summarises briefly some of the more important ones. In addition, advanced research is under way to develop synthetic benchmarks with carefully controlled properties, with the objective of studying scaling and perturbation effect