Perceived effectiveness of filial therapy for a Jamaican mother: A qualitative case study.

Although filial therapy has traditionally been viewed as suitable for children of diverse cultures, there is limited research to support this perspective. This qualitative case study examined the perceived effectiveness of filial therapy for a Jamaican mother and the perceived effect on the mother-child relationship. Findings indicate that some aspects of filial therapy are congruent with the parenting practices and values of this Jamaican mother. The mother reported an increase in empathy, a heightened awareness of her child's needs, and a stronger relationship with her child. She expressed some difficulty with limit setting and tracking skills taught as part of the model. Future research directions include further examination of the compatibility of filial therapy with other Jamaican parents and the effectiveness of group filial therapy with Jamaican parents or other parents of Caribbean descent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Outcome criteria in strabismus surgery

PURPOSE: The authors describe the first case of delayed antimetabolite-related corneal epithelial toxicity after trabeculectomy and its successful treatment with limbal stem cell transplantation. METHODS: A 73-year-old woman underwent trabeculectomy with intraoperative mitomycin C. After surgery she received six 5-mg injections of subconjunctival 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) adjacent to the bleb. RESULTS: The patient had a functioning trabeculectomy and clear cornea until 30 months after surgery, at which time she developed a nonhealing superior corneal epithelial defect. After 4 months of conservative medical management, an autologous limbal stem cell transplantation was performed. The epithelial defect resolved completely within 1 week of limbal stem cell transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: Delayed corneal epithelial toxicity may be a late complication of antimetabolite-augmented trabeculectomy.     

Groundwater-surface water interactions and agricultural nutrient transport in a Great Lakes clay plain system

Nutrient export from agricultural land to surface waters is a significant environmental concern within the Great Lakes Basin (GLB). A field-based watershed-scale study was completed to investigate spatial and temporal variations of phosphorus and nitrate to assess nutrient transport pathways and groundwater-surface water interactions in an agriculturally dominated clay plain system. This was conducted in the 127 km² Upper Parkhill Watershed, near Lake Huron in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Data collection occurred from June 2018 to May 2019 via continuous sensor deployment and discrete sampling of stream water, groundwater, hyporheic zone, and tile drainage water. Samples were analyzed for various nutrient species (total, total dissolved, soluble reactive, and particulate phosphorus, and nitrate-N) to examine the hydrological dynamics of principal transport pathways of agriculturally-derived nutrients. Total phosphorus and nitrate concentrations in stream water ranged from 0.007 to 0.324 mg/L and 0.32 to 13.13 mg NO₃^?-N/L, respectively. Tile drainage water total phosphorous concentrations varied from 0.006 to 0.066 mg/L. Groundwater total dissolved phosphorus concentrations ranged from <0.003 to 0.085 mg/L. Transport of phosphorus through tile drainage was observed to be greater than through groundwater over the study period. No distinct relationship was observed between nutrient concentrations in the hyporheic zone and the vertical hydraulic gradient within this zone in the studied stream reach. Preliminary correlations were discerned between water quality observations and recognized land management practices. Given the elevated stream nutrient concentrations, these results are consequential for the continual improvement of strategies and programs devised to conserve water resources within the GLB.     

Monomer and amino resin modified tall oil fatty acid alkyds

Summary Monomer modified tall oil fatty acid trimethylolethane medium type of phthalic alkyds made by the High Polymer Alkyd Technique show improved properties in dry time, mar resistance, and flexibility as compared with monomer modified conventional prepared systems. Greater hardness, less color degradation, greater resistance to extended periods at high temperature, and alkali and detergent resistances result from the urea and melamine resin modifications of tall oil fatty acid High Polymer alkyds than is obtained with similarly modified conventional alkyds.     

Approximation schemes for load balanced clustering in wireless sensor networks

Clustering sensor nodes is an efficient technique to improve scalability and life time of a wireless sensor network (WSN). However, in a cluster based WSN, the leaders (cluster heads) consume more energy due to some extra load for various activities such as data collection, data aggregation, and communication of the aggregated data to the base station. Therefore, balancing the load of the cluster heads is a crucial issue for the long run operation of the WSNs. In this paper, we first present a load balanced clustering scheme for wireless sensor networks. We show that the algorithm runs in O(nlogn) time for n sensor nodes. We prove that the algorithm is optimal for the case in which the sensor nodes have equal load. We also show that it is a polynomial time 2-approximation algorithm for the general case, i.e., when the sensor nodes have variable load. We finally improve this algorithm and propose a 1.5-approximation algorithm for the general case. The experimental results show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in terms of the load balancing of the cluster heads, execution time, and the network life.     

Structure Development of NiO–YSZ Oxide Mixtures in Simulated Citrate–Nitrate Combustion Synthesis

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (NiO/YSZ) composites were prepared by the modified citrate–nitrate combustion synthesis. The citrate–nitrate combustion proceeded through several consecutive steps. Evolution of structure in the system and its changes were followed up by thermogravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray powder diffraction, extended X-ray absorption fine structure, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy analyses of intermediate products prepared at distinct temperatures that correspond to different stages of the combustion process. It was shown that the crystalline structure developed gradually, first with crystallization of nano-sized NiO particles (400°–700°C), which was followed by crystallization of YSZ (800°–900°C). The final composite material after heat treatment at 1100°C comprised of nano-crystals with an average size of 6.5±2 nm.     

Natural fiber composites of high‐temperature thermoplastic polymers: Effects of coupling agents

Our earlier paper (Jana, S.C.; Prieto, A. J Appl Polym Sci 2002, 86, 2159) on the development of natural fiber composites of high‐performance thermoplastic polymers described a new methodology for the manufacturing of composite materials of a high‐temperature thermoplastic polymer, poly(phenylene ether) (PPE) and wood flour, a cellulosic natural filler. A thermosetting epoxy, used as a reactive solvent, reduced the processing temperature of PPE/epoxy blends to well below the decomposition temperature of natural fillers. In addition, the epoxy component, upon polymerization, formed coating layers around the filler particles to provide resistance against moisture diffusion and attacks by acids and alkali. This article describes the results of an investigation on two outstanding issues: (1) the influence of cellulosic wood particles and coupling agents on the speed of epoxy curing and reaction‐induced phase separation and (2) the effects of coupling agents on the morphology of crosslinked epoxy at the surfaces of natural fillers and mechanical properties of the composites. It was found that wood particles expedited epoxy curing in the composites; the extent of epoxy curing, however, was reduced in the presence of coupling agents. Also, the coupling agents promoted complete coverage of wood flour particles by polymerized epoxy, although the mechanical properties deteriorated over systems without coupling agents. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 2168–2173, 2002     

Performance models of storage contention in cloud environments

We propose simple models to predict the performance degradation of disk requests due to storage device contention in consolidated virtualized environments. Model parameters can be deduced from measurements obtained inside Virtual Machines (VMs) from a system where a single VM accesses a remote storage server. The parameterized model can then be used to predict the effect of storage contention when multiple VMs are consolidated on the same server. We first propose a trace-driven approach that evaluates a queueing network with fair share scheduling using simulation. The model parameters consider Virtual Machine Monitor level disk access optimizations and rely on a calibration technique. We further present a measurement-based approach that allows a distinct characterization of read/write performance attributes. In particular, we define simple linear prediction models for I/O request mean response times, throughputs and read/write mixes, as well as a simulation model for predicting response time distributions. We found our models to be effective in predicting such quantities across a range of synthetic and emulated application workloads.