Development of a Money Mismanagement Measure and cross-validation due to suspected range restriction

A measure of the tendency to mismanage money was developed in an evaluation of a representative payee program for individuals with serious mental illnesses. A conceptual model was composed to guide item development, and items were tested, revised, added, and rejected in three waves of data collection. Rasch analyses were used to examine measurement properties. The resulting Money Mismanagement Measure (M3) consisted of 28 items with a Rasch person reliability at .72. Restriction of range was likely responsible for the low Rasch reliability. Validity analyses supported the construct validity of the M3. Subsequently, a cross-validation study was conducted on an untreated sample not as susceptible to range restriction. The M3 produced a Rasch person reliability = .85 with good validity. The M3 fills a gap that can facilitate research in the understudied area of money mismanagement.     

Designing quantum rods for optimized energy transfer with firefly luciferase enzymes

The bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) between firefly luciferase from Photinus pyralis (Ppy) with core/shell semiconductive quantum rods (QRs) has been studied as a function of QR aspect ratio and internal microstructure. The QRs were found to be ideal energy acceptors, and Ppy-to-core distances were optimized using rod-in-rod microstructures that were achieved by the synthetic control of rod morphology, surface chemistry, and Ppy:QR loading. The BRET ratios of >44 measured are the highest efficiencies to date.     

Impact of cleaning and disinfection on the non-culturable and culturable bacterial loads of food-contact surfaces at a beef processing plant

We assessed the impact of industrial cleaning and disinfection (C&D) on colony-forming units (CFUs), viable (culturable and viable but non-culturable) cells and on total cells (viable and dead cells). Bacterial loads on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and stainless steel surfaces in a cutting room at a beef processing plant were determined before and after C&D by real-time PCR to quantify cells from successive swabs from surfaces with or without an ethidium monoazide pre-treatment and by CFU counts on tryptone soy agar. Agar contact plates were also applied after C&D for comparison. Before C&D, total cells reached 5.4 and 4.7logcells/cm(2), viable cells 4.0 and 4.4logcells/cm(2) and CFUs 3.1 and 2.9logCFU/cm(2) on PVC and stainless steel surfaces, respectively. Although C&D left surfaces visually clean, it did not lead to a significant reduction in total cells. Significant reductions were only observed on PVC for CFUs: 0.8 log and on stainless steel surfaces for viable cells and CFUs: 0.8 and 1.5 log, respectively. Our results show that CFUs were both more easily detached and killed on stainless steel surfaces than on PVC surfaces. Other important results include the following observations: 1) a single swabbing detached only between 2 and 27% of the actual bacterial load; 2) after C&D, the difference between the actual culturable population and the one assessed by one agar contact plate was 1.9 and 2.7logCFU/cm(2) on PVC and stainless steel surfaces, respectively.     

Investigating LMNA-Related Dilated Cardiomyopathy Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes

LMNA-related dilated cardiomyopathy is an inherited heart disease caused by mutations in the LMNA gene encoding for lamin A/C. The disease is characterized by left ventricular enlargement and impaired systolic function associated with conduction defects and ventricular arrhythmias. We hypothesized that LMNA-mutated patients’ induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) display electrophysiological abnormalities, thus constituting a suitable tool for deciphering the arrhythmogenic mechanisms of the disease, and possibly for developing novel therapeutic modalities. iPSC-CMs were generated from two related patients (father and son) carrying the same E342K mutation in the LMNA gene. Compared to control iPSC-CMs, LMNA-mutated iPSC-CMs exhibited the following electrophysiological abnormalities: (1) decreased spontaneous action potential beat rate and decreased pacemaker current (I_f) density; (2) prolonged action potential duration and increased L-type Ca²⁺ current (I_Ca,L) density; (3) delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs), arrhythmias and increased beat rate variability; (4) DADs, arrhythmias and cessation of spontaneous firing in response to β-adrenergic stimulation and rapid pacing. Additionally, compared to healthy control, LMNA-mutated iPSC-CMs displayed nuclear morphological irregularities and gene expression alterations. Notably, KB-R7943, a selective inhibitor of the reverse-mode of the Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchanger, blocked the DADs in LMNA-mutated iPSC-CMs. Our findings demonstrate cellular electrophysiological mechanisms underlying the arrhythmias in LMNA-related dilated cardiomyopathy.     

Simulating the impact of forest management scenarios in an agricultural landscape of southern Quebec, Canada, using a geographic cellular automata

Forest remnants are vital for the overall heterogeneity and health of rural landscapes. However, deforestation is a significant process afflicting large numbers of agroforested regions of the world. The Maskoutains regional county municipality (RCM) in southern Quebec, Canada, experiences intense deforestation that has reached critical levels. The goal of this study is to develop a geographic cellular automata (GCA) to model land-use change in this region and test the influence of different management scenarios on the fate of the forested remnants. The GCA was built using a 100 m cell size, a Moore neighborhood configuration, a 3 years time step resolution and probabilistic transition rules derived from the comparison of two land-use maps for the years 1999 and 2002. Four groups of management scenarios were tested: (1) status quo (SQ), (2) reduced deforestation (RD), (3) promotion of ligniculture (L), and (4) protection of forest connectivity (CONN). Results indicate that none of the scenarios succeed in maintaining the actual levels of forest area. However, certain scenarios (amongst the RD and CONN), significantly alter the loss of forest areas in the short to mid-term and delay the fragmentation, reduction, and isolation of forest patches.     

Bulk carrier lifetime measurement from transient diffusion photocurrent in semiconductor diodes

The theoretical analysis of the transient diffusion photocurrent i_D(t) created in the diode substrate, following weak carrier injection level by a homogeneous photoexcitation of short duration T, shows that the decay i_D(t) can be used in two ways to obtain the substrate bulk carrier lifetime τ_ν. Depending both on the decay times t considered and the values of the substrate parameters τ_ν, D (minority carrier diffusion constant), W (thickness), s (back contact carrier recombination velocity), β (carrier velocity ratio at the p?n junction boundary), then either (1)τ_ν may be deduced from the i_D(t) decay time constant τ if τ is measured at long enough times t>t₁, or else (2)τ_ν is given by the $\text{i}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>D</mtext>}}\text{(t)×}\text{t}$ product decay time constant θ if θ measured at short enough times t.The numerical illustration of the accuracy and validity conditions of each of the above two ways of exploiting the decay of i_D(t) is given in the case of a P type silicon substrate with a resistivity of 0.2, 1 or 10 Ω cm, W from 50 to 500 μm, τ_ν from less than 0.1 μs to more than 100 μs and various pairs of s (0 or ∞) and β (0 to ∞) values.In practice, the use of a transient photocurrent decay to obtain the diode substrate carrier lifetime also implies a previous analysis of factors such as the device response time constant and transient bias modulation, and the carrier photoexcitation level in the substrate.Experimental results obtained with N⁺P silicon-cells (W = 460 μm and 200 μm) are given and discussed as an illustration of the above study.     

Genetically obese (ob/ob) mice are predisposed to gastric stress ulcers.

In Exp I, 20 adult male genetically obese (ob/ob) mice and 20 lean littermate controls were food deprived and subsequently physically restrained at normal room temperatures. Obese Ss became hypothermic and developed gastric stress ulcers. Lean Ss maintained normal body temperatures and did not form gastric ulcers. In Exp II, 5 male obese and 4 lean littermates were used to test the effects of noradrenaline (NA) during restraint, and 5 obese and 5 lean mice were used to test the effects of NA alone. It was expected that in lean, but not in obese, Ss that NA would induce an increase in O? consumption beyond that induced by initial restraint. O? consumption was measured during food deprivation and restraint. Obese and lean Ss had parallel metabolic responses, with obese Ss using significantly less O? at all times. The predisposition to formation of gastric ulcers is a new phenotypic expression of the ob/ob genotype. The pathogenesis of this susceptibility appears to be related to a genetic disturbance in heat production. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of cultural differences and language use: A field study in a bilingual environment.

Examined the role of perceived cultural differences and patterns of language use regarding intergroup relations in Quebec. The participants were 90 francophone and anglophone executives who were involved in a 3-day program requiring intensive interaction and cooperation to complete their task requirements. A questionnaire administered at the end of the program focused on (a) participants' beliefs about francophone and anglophone differences in approach to and execution of the job, and (b) patterns of language use throughout the 3-day period. Most francophones believed that cultural differences do exist, and they respected the unique attributes of both groups. Most anglophones did not believe in the current existence of cultural differences and felt that the specific characteristics of the 2 groups had been blended over time. The English language was used more than would be predicted on the basis of the number of francophones and anglophones; however, there was greater language parity than has historically been reported. (French summary) (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict, social support and relationship quality: An observational study of heterosexual, gay male and lesbian couples' communication.

Data from 42 heterosexual, 46 gay male, and 33 lesbian couples were used to assess the contribution of conflict and support discussions to relationship quality. Couples completed questionnaires, and videotaped discussions were coded for levels of negative and positive behaviors. Correlations showed that behaviors were associated with relationship quality in the expected directions. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses assessed the unique contributions of individual and dyadic behaviors to the variability of relationship quality. The findings indicated that, beyond the contribution of individual negative behaviors in the conflict task, the variables of dyadic positive behaviors in the conflict task, individual positive behaviors in the support task, and perceived help accounted for unexplained variance in relationship quality. There were no differences between types of couples on levels of behaviors or on their contributions to relationship quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)