What Situations Induce Intimate Partner Violence? A Reliability and Validity Study of the Proximal Antecedents to Violent Episodes (PAVE) Scale.

The current study investigated the reliability of a new self-report questionnaire assessing stimuli that would likely elicit intimate partner violence. The Proximal Antecedents to Violent Episodes (PAVE) scale is a 30-item, Likert-type measure designed to assess situations that would reportedly precede the use of violence. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis on a clinical sample revealed 3 factors: Violence to Control, Violence Out of Jealousy, and Violence Following Verbal Abuse. In Study 2, the factor structure was replicated on a community sample using confirmatory factor analysis. In both studies, different types of batterers, on the basis of A. Holtzworth-Munroe and G. L. Stuart's (1994) typology, scored differently on the 3 factors in ways consistent with theory. Therefore, the PAVE shows promise as a reliable and valid tool to help to understand the context and function of intimate partner violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Design of an end-to-end method to extract information from tables

This paper plans an end-to-end method for extracting information from tables embedded in documents; input format is ASCII, to which any richer format can be converted, preserving all textual and much of the layout information. We start by defining table. Then we describe the steps involved in extracting information from tables and analyse table-related research to place the contribution of different authors, find the paths research is following, and identify issues that are still unsolved. We then analyse current approaches to evaluating table processing algorithms and propose two new metrics for the task of segmenting cells/columns/rows. We proceed to design our own end-to-end method, where there is a higher interaction between different steps; we indicate how back loops in the usual order of the steps can reduce the possibility of errors and contribute to solving previously unsolved problems. Finally, we explore how the actual interpretation of the table not only allows inferring the accuracy of the overall extraction process but also contributes to actually improving its quality. In order to do so, we believe interpretation has to consider context-specific knowledge; we explore how the addition of this knowledge can be made in a plug-in/out manner, such that the overall method will maintain its operability in different contexts.The opinions expressed in this article are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Banco de Portugal.     

A fast and efficient hybrid fractal-wavelet image coder.

The excellent visual quality and compression rate of fractal image coding have limited applications due to exhaustive inherent encoding time. This paper presents a new fast and efficient image coder that applies the speed of the wavelet transform to the image quality of the fractal compression. Fast fractal encoding using Fisher's domain classification is applied to the lowpass subband of wavelet transformed image and a modified set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT) coding, on the remaining coefficients. Furthermore, image details and wavelet progressive transmission characteristics are maintained, no blocking effects from fractal techniques are introduced, and the encoding fidelity problem common in fractal-wavelet hybrid coders is solved. The proposed scheme promotes an average of 94% reduction in encoding-decoding time comparing to the pure accelerated Fractal coding results. The simulations also compare the results to the SPIHT wavelet coding. In both cases, the new scheme improves the subjective quality of pictures for high-medium-low bitrates.     

The role of metal–ceramic interfaces on the high temperature mechanical response of nanostructured nickel–yttria tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (Ni–YTZP)

High temperature creep of a metal–ceramic composite consisted of yttria tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (YTZP) with a certain amount of nickel grains (Ni–YTZP, 2.5% vol.) has been studied. The average grain size of YTZP grains was 0.20 μm, whereas that of the Ni grains was 50–70 nm. This work reports the mechanical response under creep of such composite materials. It is found that the activation energy for creep is significantly higher than that reported in similar systems with much larger nickel grains. This fact has been explained in terms of the chemical nature of the metal–ceramic interfaces.     

Differential expression of a novel gene in response to coronatine, methyl jasmonate, and wounding in the Coi1 mutant of Arabidopsis

Coronatine is a phytotoxin produced by some plant-pathogenic bacteria. It has been shown that coronatine mimics the action of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) in plants. MeJA is a plant-signaling molecule involved in stress responses such as wounding and pathogen attack. In Arabidopsis thaliana, MeJA is essential for pollen grain development. The coi1 (for coronatine-insensitive) mutant of Arabidopsis, which is insensitive to coronatine and MeJA, produces sterile male flowers and shows an altered response to wounding. When the differential display technique was used, a message that was rapidly induced by coronatine in wild-type plants but not in coi1 was identified and the corresponding cDNA was cloned. The coronatine-induced gene ATHCOR1 (for A. thaliana coronatine-induced) is expressed in seedlings, mature leaves, flowers, and siliques but was not detected in roots. The expression of this gene was dramatically reduced in coi1 plants, indicating that COI1 affects its expression. ATHCOR1 was rapidly induced by MeJA and wounding in wild-type plants. The sequence of ATHCOR1 shows no strong homology to known proteins. However, the predicted polypeptide contains a conserved amino acid sequence present in several bacterial, animal, and plant hydrolases and includes a potential ATP/GTP-binding-site motif (P-loop).     

Anthocyanin composition of Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from high- and low-quality vineyards over two years

The anthocyanin composition of Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes over two vintages was studied. Samples were obtained during berry ripening from two vineyards that differed by producing fruit of high and low quality. The proportions of the individual compounds remained practically constant within a single vineyard along the sampling period, the changes in the anthocyanin composition being principally quantitative. Different multivariate statistical methods showed that the anthocyanin profile was primarily determined by variety. This genetic dependence was particularly verified when the sums of the non-acylated glucosides, the acetates and the p-coumaryl derivatives, were analysed. The mean relative content corresponding to these three anthocyanin fractions was always the same within each variety, independently either of the vineyard or the vintage year considered. Relating to the individual compounds, several permanent qualitative differences between vineyards in each variety were also found, although the difference in the total anthocyanin concentration was always much higher.     

Protective and risk factors in health-enhancing behavior among adolescents in china and the United States: Does social context matter?

An explanatory model of adolescent health-enhancing behavior based on protective and risk factors at the individual level and in 4 social contexts was used in a study of school-based samples from the People's Republic of China (n = 1,739) and the United States (n = 1,596). A substantial account of variation in health-enhancing behavior--and of its developmental change over time--was provided by the model for boys and girls, and for the 3 grade cohorts, in both samples. In both samples, social context protective and risk factors accounted for more unique variance than did individual-level protective and risk factors, and context protection moderated both contextual and individual-level risk. Models protection and controls protection were of particular importance in the explanatory account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inhibin immunohistochemistry applied to ovarian neoplasms: a novel, effective, diagnostic tool

Immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies against human inhibin, a peptide hormone produced by ovarian granulosa cells to inhibit follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), has been recently applied to diagnostic anatomic pathology. This investigation hypothesizes that inhibin immunohistochemistry will aid in the crucial clinical distinction between sex cord-stromal and other primary ovarian neoplasms. Available H&E slides and clinical information from a retrospective surgical series of 186 primary ovarian tumors were reviewed to verify diagnoses, and representative paraffin sections were immunostained with anti-inhibin (R1 monoclonal, Serotec, Kidlington, Oxford, UK). Immunoreactivity was graded as weak/strong (W/S), and the proportion of strong staining cells was coded as follows: S1 = <10%, S2 = 10%-50%, S3 = >50%, respectively. Inhibin immunoreactivity for 137 sex cord-stromal lesions was as follows: 100% of 66 granulosa cell tumors: 80% S3, 20% S2; 100% of 17 Sertoli-stromal tumors: 90% S3, 10% S2; 100% of 13 hyperplastic follicular/stromal lesions: 90% S3, 10% S2; 100% of six steroid cell tumors: 100% S3; 90% of 18 thecomas: 40% S3, 10% S2, 10% S1, 30% W; 0% of 12 fibromas, three myxomas, and two sclerosing stromal tumors. None (0 of 49) of the other ovarian neoplasms exhibited inhibin: 22 carcinomas, 12 carcinosarcomas, seven small cell carcinomas, six germ cell tumors, and two lymphomas. In the typical case, the distinction between sex cord-stromal and other ovarian neoplasms requires nothing more than routine pathological examination. In diagnostically challenging cases, our data indicate that inhibin immunohistochemistry is a very useful adjunct because granulosa and sertoli-stromal tumors are positive whereas other potential mimickers have been negative thus far.