Cultural and contextual influences in mental health help seeking: A focus on ethnic minority youth.

In this article, a mental health help-seeking model is offered as a framework for understanding cultural and contextual factors that affect ethnic minority adolescents' pathways into mental health services. The effects of culture and context are profound across the entire help-seeking pathway, from problem identification to choice of treatment providers. The authors argue that an understanding of these help-seeking pathways provides insights into ethnic group differences in mental health care utilization and that further research in this area is needed, (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coupled Reservoir Operation-Irrigation Scheduling by Dynamic Programming

This paper develops a forward dynamic programming (FDP) model to solve the problem of reservoir operation and irrigation scheduling. The typical scenario for application of the model is composed of a system of two reservoirs in parallel supplying water to as many as three irrigation districts. Two models are coupled. The interseasonal model defines seasonal deliveries from the reservoir system. The intraseasonal model uses area and water allocations generated from the interseasonal model to produce an irrigation scheduling for the individual farms in one of the irrigation districts in the reservoir system. Crop evapotranspiration, reservoir evaporation, and inflows are forecasted. Upon availability of the current values, the forecast is updated and the model runs to generate a more precise irrigation schedule. This feature permits the application of the model for real-time operation of the irrigation district. At the end of the season, the intraseasonal model is updated. The FDP model is applied to a real watershed with a 2 year planning horizon for the interseasonal and 6 months for the intraseasonal model.     

Fun with FireWire: A Comparative Study of Formal Verification Methods Applied to the IEEE 1394 Root Contention Protocol

Formal Aspects of Computing - The IEEE 1394 Root Contention Protocol is an industrial leader election algorithm for two processes in which probability, real time and parameters play an important...     

The influence of carbon source on the level and composition of ceramides of the Candida lipolytica yeast

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Altered oncogenic activity is a feature associated with many malignant and premalignant conditions. Among the many oncogenes, ras and myc are commonly altered in many tumors. This study aims to evaluate the expression of ras and c-myc oncoproteins in a total of 204 cervical tissue samples, including premalignant and malignant lesions as well as apparently normal cervical tissue. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Mouse monoclonal antibodies against the three mammalian ras gene products (c-H-ras, c-K-ras, c-N-ras) and the c-myc protein were used to evaluate oncoprotein expression by immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: None of the samples analyzed displayed immunoreactivity for H-ras and K-ras. Normal cervical epithelium showed minimal immunoreactivity for N-ras with about 33% of the samples expressing the protein. More conspicuous expression in normal tissue was displayed by c-myc, with about 90% of the samples expressing the protein (mean value of cells positive=34%). The immunoreactivity for N-ras increased with increasing histological abnormality from low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) to invasive carcinoma. Increased immunoreactivity for N-ras was evident in the basaloid cells of malignant lesions, with the maximum value of 66% found in poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (PDSCC). The percentage of nuclei positive for c-myc also showed a gradual increase from low-grade SIL onwards, the highest positivity being found in PDSCC, where the mean value was 85%. Statistical analysis revealed a good correlation between the expression of N-ras (r=0.8922, P=0.001) and c-myc (r=0.8856, P=0.001) and various histological stages of tumor progression in the cervical epithelium. CONCLUSIONS: These results therefore suggest that c-myc and N-ras oncoproteins are important during tumor progression in the uterine cervix.     

Higher order pattern structure influences auditory representational momentum.

Representational momentum refers to the phenomenon that observers tend to incorrectly remember an event undergoing real or implied motion as shifted beyond its actual final position. This has been demonstrated in both visual and auditory domains. In 5 pitch discrimination experiments, listeners heard tone sequences that implied either linear, periodic, or null motions in pitch space. Their task was to judge whether the pitch of a probe tone following each sequence was the same or different from the final sequence tone. Results suggested that listeners made errors consistent with extrapolation of coherent pitch patterns (linear, periodic) but not with incoherent (null) ones. Hypotheses associated with internalized physical principles and pattern-based expectations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Benefit-Cost Model for an Artificial Recharge Scenario in the San Joaquin Valley,California

A competitive irrigated agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley of California, under semiarid to arid climate and repetitive drought conditions, relies on groundwater resources to a great extent. As a result of rapid agricultural development and intense operation of ground water resources over the years, the Valley has been exposed to severe land subsidence and pesticide and fertilizer induced ground water contamination problems. In this paper, based on historical drought recurrences in the region, a model of aridity quantification and climatic scenario for the period 2000–2030 is described. Moreover, a schematic economics model is set up to analyze the potential benefits from artificially recharging the underlying aquifer nearby the San Joaquin River, as compared to the ongoing management plans in the Valley. The approach presented in this paper is based on cost assessment simulation and employs weighting coefficients instead of marketing prices. For the climatic scenario considered in this paper, the comparative benefit-cost analysis reveals significant benefits from artificially recharging the aquifer adjacent to the San Joaquin River.     

From Natural Forms to Models

The course presented at the Istituto Statale d’Arte (ISA), a high school for visual and design arts, is a guided tour of the world of forms of seashells. The main goal of this course is to present to the student prevalently scientific methods of interpretation of forms.     

Percutaneous renal cyst puncture with CO2 instillation therapy

Ultrasound-guided percutaneous puncture of renal cysts replaced by CO2 was performed on 9 renal cysts of 6 patients from May 1993 through September 1993. Puncture and aspiration of cysts was performed using a 5.5 Fr one-step fluid drain kit (pig tail stent) under ultrasonography inspection. Aspirated volume of cyst contents was 15-292ml (mean 115 ml), and the instilled CO2 volume was 15-150 ml (mean 73 ml). All patients were checked by CT scan. In one month, the reduction rate of cyst volume was 46-84% (mean 69%) and lumbago, their chief complaint, was improved in all patients. No complications were observed in patients treated by CO2 instillation. Although long-term followup is needed to draw a definite conclusion, this therapy may be useful for benign renal cystic lesions.