Shaping cocaine abstinence by successive approximation.

Cocaine-using methadone-maintenance patients were randomized to standard contingency management (abstinence group, n?=?49) or to a contingency designed to increase contact with reinforcers (shaping group, n?=?46). For 8 weeks, both groups earned escalating-value vouchers based on thrice-weekly urinalyses: The abstinence group earned vouchers for cocaine-negative urines only; the shaping group earned vouchers for each urine specimen with a 25% or more decrease in cocaine metabolite (first 3 weeks) and then for negative urines only (last 5 weeks). Cocaine use was lower in the shaping group, but only in the last 5 weeks, when the response requirement was identical. Thus, the shaping contingency appeared to better prepare patients for abstinence. A 2nd phase of the study showed that abstinence induced by escalating-value vouchers can be maintained by a nonescalating schedule, suggesting that contingency management can be practical as a maintenance treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

L'organisation cognitive du système d'attachement des adolescents et leurs perceptions de l'encadrement dyadique en tutorat.

Examined the relationships between adolescents' attachment, cognitive organization, and their perceptions of control and support in an academic mentoring relationship. 98 students involved in a volunteer mentoring program were interviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Perceptions of security and control in the mentor-student relationship and perceptions of the program effectiveness were also assessed at the end of the program and 4 mo later. Results show that both adolescents' dismissing and preoccupied strategies in the AAI were negatively associated with their interpersonal perceptions of the mentoring experience. Some of these relationships were moderated by the sex of the dyad (same-sex vs opposite-sex). These findings are discussed in light of theoretical postulates of attachment theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

“马迪尔”已叩开中国的大门——法国里莫集团的中国之行

法国里莫酒业集团，始建于1789年，在国际葡萄酒界久享盛名，是一家集葡萄栽培、酿造、技术输出为一体的大型跨国集团，盛产各种名贵干红、干白、玫瑰红葡萄酒，是世界上最大的葡萄酒出口企业和跨国集团之一，同时也是法国和欧洲最大的用单一葡萄酿酒的生产型企业。畅销全球104个国家和地区，年出口5800万瓶。在世界各地平均每22支已开瓶的葡萄酒中即有一支为本集团出品，平均每秒钟都有人在饮用本集团出品的优质葡萄酒。 里莫集团拥有世界上最先进的生产流水线，葡萄种植面积达52500亩，葡萄园1000多个，有1000多年的种植史，且拥有先进的葡萄酒酿造及品质控制和保障中心。严格按照国际OIV标准，从葡萄的种植、采摘、加工到酒的酿制、装瓶检验全过程采用电脑自动化控制，每一瓶葡萄酒的品质在保质期内承诺百分之百的质量保证。其酿造的“马迪尔”、“马妮尔”葡萄酒，拥有一项世界第一，三项国际金奖的称号，是葡萄酒中难得一见的珍品。 目前，里莫集团在亚洲的销售网络已遍及日本、韩国、香港、澳门、新加坡、马来西亚、泰国等国家。近年来，法国里莫酒业集团非常关注中国的快速发展，并在中国建立了营销机构——杭州马迪尔酒业有限公司，已叩开了进入中国市场的大门。[编者按]     

High Dielectric Breakdown Strength Nanoplatelet-Based Multilayer Thin Films

Dielectric materials that can withstand high voltages are of great interest due to the growing need for high-performance insulation systems in electronics. Polymer nanocomposites have gained popularity as electrical insulators due to their processability, high operating voltage, and tortuous paths for current flow created by the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. The dielectric breakdown strength of a relatively thick multilayer thin film containing polyethylenimine (PEI) and vermiculite clay (VMT), thickened with tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (tris), is evaluated as a function of bilayers (BL) deposited. The resulting nanobrick wall structure of this clay-based assembly is ideal for protective insulation. An 8 BL PEI+tris/VMT film achieves a dielectric breakdown strength of 245 kV mm⁻¹, with a thickness of 5 µm. With increasing bilayers, the breakdown strength gradually decreases, but 20 BL of PEI+tris/VMT achieves a breakdown voltage of 2.36 kV. This nanoplatelet-based system is the first “thick growing” layer-by-layer deposited film to be used as an insulating layer. Its unusually high breakdown strength can be useful for the protection of various high voltage electronics.     

Neutron field characterisation at mixed oxide fuel plant

A neutron field characterisation was conducted at the AREVA Melox Plant to determine the response of passive and active neutron dosemeters for several stages in the mixed oxide fuel manufacturing process. Landauer Europe provides radiation dosimetry to many contractors working at the Melox site. The studies were conducted to assist in determining the neutron radiation fields the workers are exposed to routinely, evaluate the need for specific neutron correction factors and to ensure that the most accurate neutron dose is reported for the Melox Plant workers.     

Synthesis and characterization of cobalt ferrocyanides loaded on organic anion exchanger

Transition metal ferrocyanides have important applications in the selective removal of radioactive caesium from low level and intermediate level radioactive liquid waste streams. The microcrystalline nature of these materials renders them useless for application in column mode operations. Special preparation procedures have been developed to prepare granular solids by in situ precipitation of metal ferrocyanides on organic anion exchangers, which is suitable for column mode operations. The elemental compositions of the metal ferrocyanides precipitated inside the pores of anion exchanger were determined by analysing the dissolved samples using ICP-AES system and flame photometer. From the XRD and EDX analyses and the elemental composition of the synthesized materials, the nature of the compound formed inside the anion exchanger was found to be cobalt ferrocyanide. From SEM analysis of the samples, the particle size of the cobalt ferrocyanide precipitated inside the anion exchanger was found to be much less than that of cobalt ferrocyanide precipitated outside. The efficiency of these materials for removal of Cs was evaluated by measuring the distribution coefficient (Kd), ion exchange capacity and kinetics of Cs uptake. The Kd of the materials loaded on anion exchanger was found to be of the order of 10⁵ ml/g. The Cs uptake kinetics of the materials loaded on anion exchanger was slower than that of precipitated materials. The ion exchange capacity of the cobalt ferrocyanide loaded on anion exchanger was found to be much higher than that of the precipitated cobalt ferrocyanide.     

Direct Assessments of the Processing Time Hypothesis for the Missing-Letter Effect.

When participants search for a target letter while reading, they make more omissions if the target letter is embedded in frequently used words or in the most frequent meaning of a polysemic word. According to the processing time hypothesis, this occurs because familiar words and meanings are identified faster, leaving less time for letter identification. Contrary to the predictions of the processing time hypothesis, with a rapid serial visual presentation procedure, participants were slower at detecting target letters for more frequent words or the most frequent meaning of a word (Experiments 1 and 2) or at detecting the word itself instead of a target letter (Experiment 3). In Experiments 4 and 5, participants self-initiated the presentation of each word, and the same pattern of results was observed as in Experiments 1 and 3. Positive correlations were also found between omission rate and response latencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predominance and characteristics of Burkitt lymphoma among children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in northeastern Brazil

The purpose of this paper was to define the histologic distribution, clinical features, and treatment response of childhood non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in northeastern Brazil. We reviewed medical records and histopathologic studies of 98 children treated for NHL from 1980 to 1987 at a major pediatric cancer center in Recife, Brazil. Treatment outcome was evaluated in relation to tumor burden (stage and serum LDH) and type of therapy (LSA2L2 vs other multiagent chemotherapy). There was a striking predominance of the small noncleaved cell (Burkitt) subtype, which occurred in 92 of the 98 children and adolescents diagnosed with NHL. Subsequent analyses focused on these patients. The majority (n = 84) had advanced (stage III/IV) disease at diagnosis. The abdomen was the most common site of disease (84 cases); jaw involvement was rare (three cases). Five-year event-free survival (excluding treatment refusals) was significantly better for patients with limited vs advanced stage disease (75 +/- 14% vs 42 +/- 6%; P < 0.04). Elevated serum LDH (>500 U/l) was associated with a poorer outcome (P = 0.008). The type of chemotherapy did not affect EFS (P = 0.95). Only 39% of patients are long-term survivors, reflecting the high rate of septic deaths (25% of patients) and parental refusal/abandonment of therapy (10%). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was detected in tumor cells from eight of the 11 cases studied. In clinical presentation, these cases resemble sporadic Burkitt lymphoma, yet in their apparent responsiveness to LSA2L2 therapy and association with EBV, they do not. Childhood NHL in northeastern Brazil is predominantly of the Burkitt subtype, and is associated with clinical features that appear to distinguish it from the endemic and sporadic forms of this tumor. These cases may represent a third or intermediate subtype of Burkitt lymphoma.     

Minimal schedulability interval for real-time systems of periodic tasks with offsets

We consider real-time systems in highly safety context where tasks have to meet strict deadlines. Tasks are periodic, may have offsets, share critical resources and be precedence constrained. Off-line scheduling should be of great help for such systems, but methods proposed in the literature cannot deal with them. Our aim is to extend and improve the well-known cyclicity result of Leung and Merill to every scheduling algorithm and to systems of interacting tasks with offsets. One of the main benefit of our result is to enable the use of off-line scheduling methods for those real-time critical systems.     

Impact of a Short-Pulse High-Intense Proton Irradiation on High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

This work investigates the radiation resistance of high-performance multi-component perovskite solar cells (PSCs) for the first time under extreme short-pulse proton irradiation conditions. The devices are subjected to high-intensity 170 keV pulsed (150 ns) proton irradiation, with a fluence of up to 10¹³ p cm^−2, corresponding to ≈30 years of operation at low Earth orbit. A complex material characterization of the perovskite active layer and device physics analysis of the PSCs before and after short-pulse proton irradiation is conducted. The obtained results indicate that the photovoltaic performance of the solar cells experiences a slight deterioration up to 20 % and 50 % following the low 2 × 10¹² p cm⁻² and high 1 × 10¹³ p cm⁻² proton fluences, respectively, due to increased non-radiative recombination losses. The findings reveal that multi-component PSCs are immune even to extreme high-intense short-pulse proton irradiation, which exceeds harsh space conditions, including intense coronal ejection events usually associated with solar flares.