Longitudinal moderators of the relationship between excessive drinking and intimate partner violence in the early years of marriage.

Alcohol problems are one of the most well-established risk factors for physical intimate partner violence. Nonetheless, most individuals who drink heavily do so without ever aggressing against a partner. Laboratory research identifies hostility as an important moderator of the association between alcohol and general aggression, and correlational research suggests that stress and coping may also be important moderators of the alcohol-aggression link. Building on this research, the authors examined hostility, coping, and daily hassles as moderators of the associations between excessive drinking and intimate partner violence across the first 4 years of marriage in a sample of 634 newly married couples. Excessive drinking was a significant cross-sectional correlate, but it did not emerge as a unique longitudinal predictor of intimate partner violence perpetration in this sample. However, alcohol was longitudinally predictive of husband violence among hostile men with high levels of avoidance coping. Findings generally supported the moderation model, particularly for men. These findings implicate hostility, coping, and daily hassles, as well as alcohol, as potentially important targets for partner violence prevention strategies for young married couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

High-speed performance of OMCVD grown InAlAs/InGaAs MSMphotodetectors at 1.5 μm and 1.3 μm wavelengths

A report is presented on the fabrication of high-speed In_0.53 Ga_0.47As metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors incorporating a high-quality lattice-matched InAlAs barrier enhancement layer, grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition (OMCVD). Fast responses of ~55 ps full-width half-maximum at 1.5 μm and ~48 ps at 1.3 μm wavelengths are observed, corresponding to intrinsic device bandwidths of ~8 GHz and ~11 GHz, respectively. The absence of any tail to the pulse response, and of any low-bias DC gain, indicates a low-trap density at the InAlAs/InGaAs heterointerface. Bias independent dark currents of 10-20 μA are observed below breakdown, which occurred at >30 V in devices with a 500-A-thick InAlAs layer     

Synthesis and rheological properties of an associative star polymer in aqueous solutions

Rheological properties of aqueous solutions and hydrogels formed by an amphiphilic star block copolymer, poly(acrylic acid)-block-polystyrene (PAA₅₄-b-PS₆)₄, were investigated as a function of the polymer concentration (C_p), temperature, and added salt concentration. The water-soluble polymer synthesised by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was found to form hydrogels at room temperature at polymer concentrations, C_p, over 22 g/L due to the interpolymer hydrophobic association of the PS blocks. Increasing C_p leads to stronger elastic networks at room temperature that show a gel-to-solution transition with increasing temperature. Increase of ionic strength decreases the moduli compared with the pure hydrogel but did not affect the gel-sol transition temperature significantly. Small-angle X-ray experiments showed two distinct scattering correlation peaks for samples above the gelling C_p, which indicates the aggregates formed due to hydrophobic association. Upon heating the intensity of the scattering correlation peaks was found to decrease indicating the loss of the network structure due to thermal motion.     

Qualitätsmanagement bei der Herstellung von Chemieapparaten aus Sonderwerkstoffen

Quality Management during the Fabrication of Chemical Equipment Made of Special Materials Optimizing a material's resistance to corrosion by the addition of alloying elements up to their solubility limits will make it increasingly difficult to use these frequently unstable alloys for the manufacture of chemical plant. The requirements these materials have to meet in the manufacture of chemical plant in terms of manufacturing technology and quality management, are becoming increasingly stringent. The current situation, for example in the manufacture of domed heads of pressure vessels, forgings, heat exchangers, and filter screens with a high specific surface area as a constituent part of stirred suction filters using advanced metallic materials, is not very satisfactory. Results of fabrication tests necessary for pressure vessel manufacture as well as in-service failures frequently demonstrate insufficient expertise of workshops dealing with high-alloy stainless steels and nickel-based materials. That the in-service failure of compoents clearly leads to considerable costs due to maintenance, delays in supply, and production downtimes. The economic consequences can be substantial. The aim of this paper is to highlight sensitive areas by demonstrating the impact of unintentional and unnoticed fabrication-related changes in welding parameters and to provide information on easily applicable methods of monitoring techniques.     

Prebiotic potential of barley derived β-glucan at low intake levels: A randomised,double-blinded,placebo-controlled clinical study

This randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical study aimed to evaluate the in vivo prebiotic potential of barley β-glucan. Fifty-two healthy volunteers aged 39–70 years were randomly assigned to consume daily a cake containing 0.75 g of barley β-glucan or a placebo for 30 d. Stool samples were collected before, during and 2 weeks after the intervention for bacterial enumeration. Gastrointestinal side effects were recorded during the treatment period. In older subjects (?50 years old), barley β-glucan induced a strong bifidogenic effect and an increase of bifidobacteria into traceable range in cases of no detectable baseline levels. A concurrent significant increase in bacteroides was also observed in this age group. Ingestion of the experimental food resulted in no undesirable gastrointestinal side effects in older subjects. We concluded that the daily intake of a cake containing barley β-glucan is well-tolerated and demonstrated significant bifidogenic properties in older healthy volunteers consuming their usual diets.     

Control of Drug Administration During Monitored Anesthesia Care

Monitored anesthesia care (MAC) is increasingly used to provide patient comfort for diagnostic and minor surgical procedures. The drugs used in this setting can cause profound respiratory depression even in the therapeutic concentration range. Titration to effect suffers from the difficulty to predict adequate analgesia prior to application of a stimulus, making titration to a continuously measurable side effect an attractive alternative. Exploiting the fact that respiratory depression and analgesia occur at similar drug concentrations, we suggest to administer opioids and propofol during MAC using a feedback control system with transcutaneously measured partial pressures of CO₂(P_tcCO2) as the controlled variable. To investigate this dosing paradigm, we developed a comprehensive model of human metabolism and cardiorespiratory regulation, including a compartmental pharmacokinetic and a pharmacodynamic model for the fast acting opioid remifentanil. Model simulations are in good agreement with ventilatory experimental data, both in presence and absence of drug. Closed-loop simulations show that the controller maintains a predefined CO₂ target in the face of surgical stimulation and variable patient sensitivity. It prevents dangerous hypoventilation and delivers concentrations associated with analgosedation. The proposed control system for MAC could improve clinical practice titrating drug administration to a surrogate endpoint and actively limiting the occurrence of hypercapnia/hypoxia.     

DC and RF performance of GaAs MESFET fabricated on silicon substrate using epitaxial lift-off technique

GaAs MESFETs have been fabricated on a silicon substrate using a molecular beam epitaxy grown film detached from its growth substrate and attached on a silicon substrate covered with a dielectric. The device processing is done on the silicon substrate. The MESFETs exhibit I/sub DSS/=130 mA/mm, g/sub m/=135 mS/mm and for 1.3 mu m gate length unity current gain cut-off frequency f/sub T/ of 12 GHz. Excellent device isolation with subpicoampere leakage currents is obtained.<>