Hierarchical Porosity Components by Infiltration of a Ceramic Foam

A ceramic body with hierarchical meso–macro-porosity was prepared by depositing a mesoporous silica coating on the walls of a macroporous silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) foam. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering revealed that a uniform mesoporous coating was deposited on the walls of the macropores, with the mesopores arranged in a highly ordered cubic lattice. Nitrogen adsorption measurements showed a bimodal pore size distribution and revealed that the specific surface area is one order of magnitude higher than in macroporous SiOC foams. Therefore, interesting applications in adsorption and catalysis can be devised.     

Preface.

In this issue of Health Psychology is a summary of discussions and presentations conducted at the National Working Conference on Research in Health and Behavior, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, May 1988. Conceived by Richard Evans in 1985, the idea for this conference reflected both the substantial growth in this scientific endeavor and the recognition that the ways in which the field evolves are shaped in part by those active in it. The reports and summaries that appear in this issue do not reflect an exhaustive report of these deliberations. Rather, selected articles are presented along with task force (i.e., working group) reports in order to provide a hint of the context in which the task forces addressed their topics. Each of the keynote speakers (Richard Evans and Karen Matthews) was asked to provide a summary of remarks, and each panel agreed to provide one or more articles summarizing individual or group conclusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autonomic function in a cohort of children with diabetes

129 diabetic children in Avon County participated in a longitudinal study of the evolution of microvascular disease together with 129 age- and sex-matched controls. Diabetic children had mean (+/- SD) age 12.7 (+/- 3.4) years (range: 3.7-16.8), mean (+/- SD) diabetes duration 3.9 (+/- 3.2) years (range: 0.1-13.4) and mean (+/- SD) HbA1 11.1% (+/- 2.2) (range: 6.5-18.2). Cardiovascular autonomic function was studied by four heart rate (HR) tests using a computerized system of HR monitoring. As a group, diabetic children had higher mean HR (p = 0.0004) and reduced max/min HR ratio while standing (p = 0.001), compared with the control children. HR ratio while standing was the only variable related to diabetes duration (r = -0.20, p = 0.018), while no correlation of HR variables with glycaemic control was found. Twenty diabetic children (15.5%) had one abnormal HR test. Ten diabetic children (7.7%) demonstrated abnormality in two or more HR tests. When compared with the other diabetic children in the cohort, these ten children were found to be younger in age (mean age: 9.4 vs 12.0 yr, p = 0.05), but did not otherwise differ in terms of diabetes duration or glycaemic control. No pubertal or sex effect in the development of diabetic autonomic neuropathy was detected. These findings suggest that autonomic function may be impaired early in childhood diabetes, independent of the duration of the disease or the quality of glycaemic control.     

Erasure generation and interleaving for meteor-burst communicationswith fixed-rate and variable-rate coding

Erasure generation techniques are investigated in conjunction with symbol interleaving as methods to improve the performance of meteor-burst communication systems. Erasure generation via Viterbi's (1982) ratio-threshold test (RTT) and a Bayesian scheme are both considered. It is found that a system using fixed-rate coding, interleaving, and erasure generation can significantly outperform more complex variable-rate coding schemes which do not use erasures     

Preservation of diagnostic information in the synthesis of EKG signals of the Frank orthogonal system from those recorded by the standard lead system: The Washington Code criteria

The problem of synthesizing Frank orthogonal lead system signals from those recorded by the standard lead system is considered, to answer the important practical question: can the synthesized EKG signals be used in practice for their diagnostic classification in terms of the Washington Code?     

Towards a Unified Approach for Proving Geometric Ergodicity and Mixing Properties of Nonlinear Autoregressive Processes

Abstract. In this paper we attempt to establish unified sufficient conditions for geometric ergodicity of autoregressive models. It is shown that there is a close relationship between geometric ergodicity and mixing properties. The case of nonstationary time series is incorporated into the investigations. Several time series models including threshold and EXPARCH‐models are examined with respect to geometric ergodicity. In some cases we obtain regions of geometric ergodicity in the parameter space, which are larger than that known from the literature.     

Book reviews

Urban Planning in a Multicultural Society

Michael A. Burayidi (ed.) Praeger, Westport, Conn., 2000 ISBN 0275961257 (hardback) 280 pp.; index RRP $123.85

The Community Planning Handbook: How People Can Shape Their Cities, Towns and Villages

Nick Wates (ed.) Earthscan, London, 2000 ISBN 1853836540 (paperback) 230 pp. RRP $42.85

City Against Suburb: The Culture Wars in an American Metropolis

Joseph A. Rodriguez Praeger, Westport, Conn., 1999 ISBN 027596406X (hardback) 144 pp.; bibliographic essay RRP $96.97

Community Development in the Market Economy

Jeremy McArdle Vista, Melbourne, 1999 ISBN 0958649677 (paperback) 117 pp.; bibliography RRP $16.50

Ethnicity and Housing: Accommodating Difference

Frederick W. Boal (ed.) Ashgate, Aldershot, 2000 ISBN 1859725961 (hardcover) 318 pp.; bibliography and index RRP $101.08

Computer-Aided Policymaking: Lessons from Strategic Planning Software

Ray Wyatt, E. & F. N. Spon, London, 1999 ISBN 0419244808 (paperback) 244 pp.; bibliography and index RRP $79.95

Making Common Ground: Public-Private Partnership in Land for Housing.

Geoffrey Payne (ed.). Intermediate Technology Publications, London, 1999. ISBN 1853394793 (paperback). 256 pp.; bibliography and index. RRP $45.86     

Oberflächenstrukturierung polymerer fasern durch UV-laserbestrahlung. 6. Zur vermeidung von vergilbungen bei der laserbehandlung von polymeren

It is shown in this paper, that during laser treatment of polymeric materials the occurrence of discolouring layers of laser crack deposits onto the substrate can be avoided without preventing the formation of a laser-induced microstructuring of the surface. Using water, alcohols, ethers or aqueous surfactant solutions as impregnating media during laser treatment a high degree of whiteness of fabrics can be maintained.