Treatment effectiveness of parent management training in Norway: A randomized controlled trial of children with conduct problems.

This study was a randomized control trial (RCT) of Parent Management Training--The Oregon Model (PMTO) in Norway. A sample representing all health regions of Norway and consisting of 112 children with conduct problems and their families participated in the study. Families were randomly assigned to either PMTO or a regular services comparison group. PMTO was delivered via existing children's services, and families were recruited using the agencies' regular referral procedures, making this the first effectiveness study of PMTO and the first RCT of PMTO conducted outside of the United States. Using a multiagent-multimethod approach, results showed that PMTO was effective in reducing parent-reported child externalizing problems, improving teacher-reported social competence, and enhancing parental discipline. Age level and gender modified the effects of PMTO treatment on other outcomes. In a path model, participation in PMTO was associated with improved parental discipline, and effective discipline predicted greater child compliance, fewer child-initiated negative chains, and lower levels of child externalizing problems. Findings are presented along with a discussion of the implications for practice and research and the challenges accompanying effectiveness trials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On performance measures for multistate monotone systems

This paper gives an overview of relevant performance measures for a multistate monotone system, observed in a time interval J. Flow network systems are an important class of these systems. The computation of these measures are discussed. Some easily computed approximation formulae are established. The accuracy of these formulae are studied by making comparisons with results obtained by Monte Carlo simulation.     

Welfare effects of emission taxes in Norway

The welfare effects of introducing taxes on emissions of carbon dioxide is analysed within an empirical general equilibrium model of the Norwegian economy. A CO₂ tax regime where we aim at stabilizing the CO₂ emissions at the 1990 emission level in 2020 is compared to a reference scenario without such taxes. In the simulations introduction of CO₂ taxes reduces gross domestic product, but increases net national real disposable income, private consumption and money metric utility. This difference in sign is due to a positive terms of trade effect; some of the CO₂ taxes will be paid by foreigners through exports. The welfare effects differ from household to household depending on the composition of their total consumption. Poor households are less favourably affected than rich households, due to smaller budget shares for the rich households on consumer goods which imply relatively much CO₂ emissions.     

Screening for differences in the proteolytic systems of Lactococcus, Lactobacillus and Propionibacterium

The caseinolytic, and the endo- and aminopeptidase activities of the intracellular (IC) and cell-envelope-associated (CE) fractions of selected strains of Lactococcus, Lactobacillus and Propionibacterium have been compared. With the exception of one Lactococcus strain, most of the caseinolytic activity of the three genera was located in the IC fraction, as was the case for the amino- and endopeptidases. The lactococci showed low activity on Pro-pNA and high activity on Gly-Pro-pNA, the reverse was characteristic for the propionibacteria (PAB) while lactobacilli took an intermediary position. Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris INF-C12 was the strain with the highest total endopeptidase activity. The experiment with phosphoramidon and a peptide inhibitor, β-casein f58–72 (β-CN f58–72), indicated differences of IC endopeptidases of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and PAB. In contrast to the LAB endopeptidases, the PAB endopeptidases were little inhibited by β-CN f58–72, and were not affected by phosphoramidon. Lysozyme was used to produce spheroplasts from whole cells; however, the susceptibility to such treatment varied. Intracellular material, ≥97%, was easily released from the lactococci strains, for other strains additional sonication was most often necessary for ≥93% lactate dehydrogenase release.     

Effects of n−3 and n−6 fatty acids on tumor necrosis factor cytotoxicity in WEHI fibrosarcoma cells

Modulation by fatty acids of the cytotoxic effect of recombinant tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) toward WEHI 164 mouse fibrosarcoma cells has been examined. Preincubating the highly TNF-sensitive WEHI clone 13 cells for 44 hr with 50 μmol/L of 20∶5n−3, 22∶6n−3, 18∶3n−6, 20∶3n−6 or 20∶4n−6 reduced cell survival 22 hr after challenge with TNF (40 ng/L) by 65%, 72%, 60%, 98% and 85%, respectively. In comparison, 18∶3n−3, 18∶2n−6 and 18∶1n−9 had only negligible effects on TNF-induced toxicity. Different extent of fatty acid incorporation into cell total phospholipids or triglycerides could not explain the observed effects on TNF cytotoxicity, and the enhanced cytotoxicity could therefore not be explained merely by an increased unsaturation of the cell membranes. In addition to the fatty acid supplied, preincubation with 18∶2n−6, 18∶3n−6 or 18∶3n−3 also enriched the cells with 20∶2n−6, 20∶3n−6 and 20∶3n−3, respectively, most likely due to chain elongation. The results suggest that the WEHI cells have a low Δ6 desaturase activity, and that n−6 and n−3 acids must have at least 3 or 4 double bonds, respectively, to enhance TNF cytotoxicity in WEHI cells. Dexamethasone partly inhibited TNF-induced cytotoxicity, while cyclooxygenase, thromboxane synthetase or lipoxygenase inhibitors had no or negligible effects. The antioxidant butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) completely inhibited TNF-induced cytotoxicity, while the structurally and functionally similar antioxidant butylated hydroxy-toluene had no such effect, indicating that BHA does not block TNF cytotoxicity through its antioxidant effect. The results suggest that TNF cytotoxicity involves, directly or indirectly, metabolism of long-chain polyun-saturated fatty acids, and we speculate that fatty acid metabolites are involved.     

Formulae for the downtime distribution of a monotone system observed in a time interval

In this paper we study the problem of computing the downtime distribution in a time interval of a binary monotone system comprising stochastically independent components, with exponentially distributed life times and arbitrary repair time distributions. An approximation formula is established, and compared with standard Markov and normal expressions. It is shown by performing Monte Carlo simulation that the established formula produces good results.     

Computer‐aided engineering challenges for wireless transceivers

This work explores potential errors arising in the application of modern computer‐aided engineering (CAE) software to the simulation of RF‐communication system hardware. A hardware set comprising a 915‐MHz transmitter and a corresponding 915‐MHz receiver is analyzed by comparing system‐level simulations from commercially available software to various linear and nonlinear performance measurements. It is shown that after the determination of the subsystem computer‐aided design parameters using the measured component behavior, good predictions of in‐band performance can be achieved for all analog parameters examined. Discrepancies, in some cases significant ones, are revealed in the out of band response predictions of the output frequency spectral content caused by system nonlinearities. Ideal filter and mixer models, in particular, are shown to be inadequate for high accuracy system simulation work. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 13: 86–100, 2003.     

Modal analysis of active flexible multibody systems

When performing modal analyses of active flexible multibody systems, both controller effects and flexible body dynamics should be included in a multidisciplinary system model. This paper deals with the theory of solving the closed-loop eigenvalue problem for active flexible multibody systems with multiple-input multiple-output proportional-integral-derivative (PID) type feedback controllers and multiple degrees of freedom finite element models. Modal analyses are performed on both a simple and complex active flexible multibody system in order to illustrate the difference between current modal analysis method for such systems and the proposed theory derived in this paper.     

Model-assisted regional forest biomass estimation using LiDAR and InSAR as auxiliary data: A case study from a boreal forest area

There is a need for accurate inventory methods that produce relevant and timely information on the forest resources and carbon stocks for forest management planning and for implementation of national strategies under the United Nations Collaborative Program on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD). Such methods should produce information that is consistent across various geographical scales. Airborne scanning Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is among the most promising remote sensing technologies for estimation of forest resource information such as timber volume and biomass, while acquisition of three dimensional data with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) from space is seen as a relevant option for inventory in the tropics because of its ability to “see through the clouds” and its potential for frequent updates at low costs. Based on a stratified probability sample of 201 field survey plots collected in a 960 km² boreal forest area in Norway, we demonstrate how total above-ground biomass (AGB) can be estimated at three distinct geographical levels in such a way that the estimates at a smaller level always sum up to the estimate at a larger level. The three levels are (1) a district (the entire study area), (2) a village, local community or estate level, and (3) a stand or patch level. The LiDAR and InSAR data were treated as auxiliary information in the estimation. At the two largest geographical levels model-assisted estimators were employed. A model-based estimation was conducted at the smallest level. Estimates of AGB and corresponding error estimates based on (1) the field sample survey were compared with estimates obtained by using (2) LiDAR and (3) InSAR data as auxiliary information. For the entire study area, the estimates of AGB were 116.0, 101.2, and 111.3 Mg ha⁻¹, respectively. Corresponding standard error estimates were 3.7, 1.6, and 3.2 Mg ha⁻¹. At the smallest geographical level (stand) an independent validation on 35 large field plots was carried out. RMSE values of 17.1-17.3 Mg ha⁻¹ and 42.6-53.2 Mg ha⁻¹ were found for LiDAR and InSAR, respectively. A time lag of six years between acquisition of InSAR data and field inventory has introduced some errors. Significant differences between estimates and reference values were found, illustrating the risk of using pure model-based methods in the estimation when there is a lack of fit in the models. We conclude that the examined remote sensing techniques can provide biomass estimates with smaller estimated errors than a field-based sample survey. The improvement can be highly significant, especially for LiDAR.