Effectiveness of a video-based motivational skills-building HIV risk-reduction intervention for inner-city African American men.

Interventions to reduce HIV risk behavior have shown promise but have demonstrated inconsistent effects with heterosexual men. This article reports a cognitive-behavioral HIV risk reduction intervention designed for heterosexually active African American men. Men (N?=?117) recruited from a public clinic were randomly assigned to either (a) a 6-hr video-based small group motivational-skills intervention, or (b) a 6-hr video-based contact-matched HIV education comparison group. Results showed men in the motivational-skills intervention reported lower rates of unprotected vaginal intercourse and higher rates of condom use at the 3-month follow-up. However, because of increased condom use in the comparison condition, differences between groups dissipated 6 months following the intervention. These findings are among the first to demonstrate effects from a motivational-skills intervention for reducing HIV risk in men who have sex with women using a model designed to facilitate transferring prevention technology to community settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory loss resulting from fornix and septal damage: Impaired supra-span recall but preserved recognition over a 24-hour delay.

Despite increasing evidence that the fornix is important for memory, uncertainty remains about the exact nature of subsequent impairments arising from damage to this tract. This uncertainty is often created by pathology in additional brain structures. The present study involved a young man, DN, who had almost complete bilateral loss of the rostral columns of the fornix and much of the surrounding septum in the left hemisphere following the surgical removal of a cavernous angioma. Quantitative MRI analyses of structure size, normalized to intracranial volume, showed no difference in any of the additional brain regions measured, apart from those areas removed to expose the tumor. DN showed a marked, stable anterograde memory impairment that was still present 4 years postsurgery. In contrast, DN performed within normal levels on most tests of recognition memory. This sparing was most striking when given a 24-hr delay between study and test of the Warrington Recognition Memory Test. This recall/recognition dissociation provides further evidence for neuroanatomical divisions within recognition memory processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Uncertainties in the simulation of catalytic distillation process: A systematic grid refinement study

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are gradually finding applications in the simulation of distillation processes. In the discretization of the governing differential equations for the mass- and the energy-balance, finite volume method (FVM) is commonly employed. Upwind differencing scheme (UDS) and central differencing scheme (CDS) are most commonly employed in FVM to approximate the values of the variables on the control volume faces. The problems that arise while using these approximation methods are discussed here. These may be overcome by using a bounded linear deferred correction scheme (LDC). When solutions on more than one grid sizes are available, and the order of the numerical scheme is known, the exact solution may be predicted by using Richardson extrapolation technique. If the order is unknown, then the order of the scheme may be determined from grid refinement studies. However, for the determined order of the scheme to be meaningful, sufficiently fine grids must be used for these studies.     

Kinetics of Thermal, Passive Oxidation of Nicalon Fibers

The oxidation of Nicalon fibers is a concern, because of its potential as a reinforcement of high-temperature composites, whose service conditions involve high-temperature, oxidizing environments. Two limiting types of oxidation mechanisms are often used to describe the kinetics: chemical-reaction-controlled oxidation, at small oxide thicknesses, and diffusion-controlled oxidation, at large oxide thicknesses. Neither mechanism can satisfactorily describe the intermediate region where the oxidation kinetics are controlled jointly by both the chemical reaction rate at the interface and the diffusion of oxygen through the oxide layer. To describe the entire oxidation process with a general relationship, one must consider all stages of the oxidation process, namely (i) adsorption of oxygen at the outer surface of the oxide, (ii) diffusion of oxygen from the outer surface toward the interface where oxidation occurs, and (iii) reaction at the interface to form a new layer of oxide. Previously, a very useful general relationship was derived for the oxidation kinetics for a flat plate, which could account for all three stages of oxidation. However, that equation is inadequate to describe the oxidation of cylindrical fibers, because the effective area for oxygen diffusion changes along the diffusion path and the oxidation interfacial area decreases as the oxide thickness increases for cylindrical fibers. In this paper, we have derived a general kinetic relationship for the oxidation of cylindrical fibers, which can account for all stages of oxidation. Comparison of the theory with experimental data of Nicalon fibers shows good agreement.     

Factors influencing the reporting of father-child sexual abuse: Study of licensed practicing psychologists.

Several studies have indicated that high proportions of practicing psychologists fail to report cases of suspected child sexual abuse despite their knowledge of mandatory reporting laws. We surveyed 279 practicing psychologists from two states, using a set of controlled vignettes. Results indicate that clinicians' decisions to report suspected sexual child abuse are affected by the accused father's admission or denial of abuse and by the clinician's expectation of what effect reporting would have on continued therapy. Results are discussed in the context of previous research and state mandatory reporting laws. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New tunable thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine-based materials

The effect of electron-donating and electron-withdrawing side chains on the electronic properties of thieno[3,4-b]pyrazines and their corresponding homopolymers have been investigated. Contrary to common trends in polythiophene materials, the addition of electron-donating groups results in higher HOMO–LUMO energies in the monomers and higher E_g values in the resulting polymers. The use of electron-withdrawing groups, however, provides reduced HOMO–LUMO energies and lower E_g values. The application of electron-withdrawing functionalized thieno[3,4-b]pyrazines appears to be a promising new approach for the production of low E_g materials.     

Reporting laws, confidentiality, and clinical judgment: Reply to Ansell and Ross.

Addresses C. Ansell and H. Ross's (1990) comments on K. Pope and T. Bajt's (1988) survey of ethics among psychologists. Despite sharing Ansell and Ross's concern over limitations placed on clinical judgment, Kalichman states that justifying the disregard of laws for reporting child abuse is potentially dangerous for practitioners and their clients. Also, psychologists have an obligation to handle information legally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biological assessments of a mixture of endocrine disruptors at environmentally relevant concentrations in water following UV/H2O2 oxidation

Numerous studies have investigated degradation of individual endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in lab or natural waters. However, natural variations in water matrices and mixtures of EDCs in the environment may confound analysis of the treatment efficiency. Because chemical based analytical methods cannot represent the combined or synergistic activities between water quality parameters and/or the EDC mixtures at environmentally relevant concentrations (microg L(-1)-ng L(-1)), bioanalytical assessments of residual estrogenic activity in treated water were used to evaluate the performance of the UV based advanced oxidation process for estrogenic contaminants in water. Four EDCs including estradiol (E(2)), ethinyl estradiol (EE(2)), bisphenol-A (BPA) and nonylphenol (NP) were spiked individually or as a mixture at mug L(-1)-ng L(-1) in laboratory or natural river water. The removal rates of estrogenic activity were quantitatively evaluated by in vitro yeast estrogen screen (YES) and in vivo Vitellogenin (VTG) assays with Japanese medaka fish (Oryzias latipes). UV in combination with 10 ppm H(2)O(2) as an oxidation process was capable of decreasing in vitro and in vivo estrogenic activity, however, in vivo estrogenic activity of the EDC mixture in natural water was not completely removed at UV fluence up to 2000 mJ cm(-2). The removal rates of in vitro estrogenic activity of the EDC mixtures were lower than those observed for single compounds, and slower in natural waters, likely due to lower steady-state concentrations of hydroxyl radicals (*OH) in the presence of *OH scavengers from the water matrix and EDC mixture.     

Heat and mass transport performance of MHD elastico-viscous fluid flow over a vertically oriented magnetized surface with magnetic and thermo diffusions

The key objective in this study is to examine the heat and mass transport behavior of magnetohydrodynamic elastic-viscous fluid flow over a vertically oriented magnetized surface placed in a uniform permeable regime with magnetic and thermo diffusions. The fluid is partially ionized and permeated to flow in the presence of a strong magnetic field domain. Hence the Hall current effect is considered in this investigation. The significance of rotation and induced magnetic field on the flowing nature are also scrutinized in this study. The mathematical model of the problem is converted to a similar model by introducing suitable nondimensional variables. To obtain the closed-form solutions of the flow leading equations, the regular perturbation analysis is utilized. For the exhibition of results, figures and tables are generated with the assistance of scientific computation software MATHEMATICA. Computed results are validated with the existing result in the limiting case. Such an investigation is important in evaluating the flow characteristics of low magnetic diffusive viscoelastic fluid. A noteworthy result seen is that magnetic diffusion significantly controls the fluid flow by altering the magnetic drag force. Mass diffusion factor brings an increase in the fluid velocity. Furthermore, we observed that the surface current density along the principal flow direction is significantly reduced by magnetic diffusion and mass diffusion factor.     

Nanofabrication with metallopolymers ‐ recent developments and future perspectives

Synthetic polymers containing metals and metal centers have experienced rapid growth in the last two decades. Metal‐containing polymers have an unprecedented role to play in modern high‐tech applications including nanomanufacturing, sensing, separation and catalysis. Advancement in synthetic strategies for macromolecules has enabled the synthesis of novel, exotic and use‐inspired metallopolymers. Using state‐of‐the‐art design strategies, it is now possible to perform targeted synthesis of macromolecules with varied complexity that contain a range of metal centers either in the backbone or in the side chains of the organic moiety. The presence of an inorganic element (metals and metal centers) in organic moieties has led to a number of new physicochemical properties while implementing novel functionality to the polymer matrix. This review covers nanotechnology influenced by distinctive features of metal‐containing macromolecular systems, particularly in developing flexible, functional materials. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry