Problem solving in the treatment of childhood obesity.

This study randomized obese children from 67 families to groups that received a 6-month family-based behavioral weight-control program plus parent and child problem solving, child problem solving, or standard treatment with no additional problem solving. The standard group showed larger body mass index (BMI) decreases than the parent?+?child group through 2 years, with significant differences in the percentage of children who showed large BMI changes. Significant statistical and clinical improvements were observed over time in child behavior problems and parental distress. Parent problem solving increased in the parent?+?child condition relative to the other conditions, whereas child problem solving increased equally in all conditions. The bulk of evidence suggests that problem solving did not add to treatment effectiveness beyond the standard family-based treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Progress in PV manufacturing technologies

This paper discusses the different PV technologies in the market today in terms of their research and manufacturing status, as well as issues and advantages they are facing in their future. These technologies include crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium diselenide, and concentrators. Future generations of PV technologies—for example, the dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cell—are discussed in the context of the richness of photovoltaic technology for opportunities to convert sunlight into electricity.     

A Tight‐Binding Study of Single‐Atom Transistors

A detailed theoretical study of the electronic and transport properties of a single atom transistor, where a single phosphorus atom is embedded within a single crystal transistor architecture, is presented. Using a recently reported deterministic single‐atom transistor as a reference, the electronic structure of the device is represented atomistically with a tight‐binding model, and the channel modulation is simulated self‐consistently with a Thomas‐Fermi method. The multi‐scale modeling approach used allows confirmation of the charging energy of the one‐electron donor charge state and explains how the electrostatic environments of the device electrodes affects the donor confinement potential and hence extent in gate voltage of the two‐electron charge state. Importantly, whilst devices are relatively insensitive to dopant ordering in the highly doped leads, a ～1% variation of the charging energy is observed when a dopant is moved just one lattice spacing within the device. The multi‐scale modeling method presented here lays a strong foundation for the understanding of single‐atom device structures: essential for both classical and quantum information processing.     

Augmented reality cues to assist older drivers with gap estimation for left-turns

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of augmented reality (AR) cues designed to assist middle-aged and older drivers with a range of UFOV impairments, judging when to make left-turns across oncoming traffic. Previous studies have shown that AR cues can help middle-aged and older drivers respond to potential roadside hazards by increasing hazard detection without interfering with other driving tasks. Intersections pose a critical challenge for cognitively impaired drivers, prone to misjudge time-to-contact with oncoming traffic. We investigated whether AR cues improve or interfere with hazard perception in left-turns across oncoming traffic for drivers with age-related cognitive decline. Sixty-four middle-aged and older drivers with a range of UFOV impairment judged when it would be safe to turn left across oncoming traffic approaching the driver from the opposite direction in a rural stop-sign controlled intersection scenario implemented in a static base driving simulator. Outcome measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of AR cueing included: Time-to-Contact (TTC), Gap Time Variation (GTV), Response Rate, and Gap Response Variation (GRV). All drivers estimated TTCs were shorter in cued than in uncued conditions. In addition, drivers responded more often in cued conditions than in uncued conditions and GRV decreased for all drivers in scenarios that contained AR cues. For both TTC and response rate, drivers also appeared to adjust their behavior to be consistent with the cues, especially drivers with the poorest UFOV scores (matching their behavior to be close to middle-aged drivers). Driver ratings indicated that cueing was not considered to be distracting. Further, various conditions of reliability (e.g., 15% miss rate) did not appear to affect performance or driver ratings.     

Driving anger in Malaysia

The present study examined the types of situations that cause Malaysian drivers to become angry. The 33-item version of the driver anger scale (Deffenbacher et al., 1994) was used to investigate driver anger amongst a sample of 339 drivers. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the fit of the original six-factor model (discourtesy, traffic obstructions, hostile gestures, slow driving, illegal driving and police presence), after removing one item and allowing three error pairs to covary, was satisfactory. Female drivers reported more anger, than males, caused by traffic obstruction and hostile gestures. Age was also negatively related to five (discourtesy, traffic obstructions, hostile gestures, slow driving and police presence) of the six factors and also to the total DAS score. Furthermore, although they were not directly related to crash involvement, several of the six forms of driving anger were significantly related to the crash-related conditions of: near misses, loss of concentration, having lost control of a vehicle and being ticketed. Overall the pattern of findings made in the present research were broadly similar to those from Western countries, indicating that the DAS is a valid measure of driving anger even among non-European based cultures.     

Carrier dynamics and doping profiles in GaAs nanosheets

We have recently demonstrated that GaAs nanosheets can be grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition （MOCVD）. Here, we investigate these nanosheets by secondary electron scanning electron microscopy （SE-SEM） and electron beam induced current （EBIC） imaging. An abrupt boundary is observed between an initial growth region and an overgrowth region in the nanosheets. The SE-SEM contrast between these two regions is attributed to the inversion of doping at the boundary. EBIC mapping reveals a p-n junction formed along the boundary between these two regions. Rectifying I-V behavior is observed across the boundary further indicating the formation of a p-n junction. The electron concentration （ND） of the initial growth region is around 1 × 10^18 cm^-3, as determined by both Hall effect measurements and low temperature photoluminescence （PL） spectroscopy. Based on the EBIC data, the minority carrier diffusion length of the nanosheets is 177 nm, which is substantially longer than the corresponding length in unpassivated GaAs nanowires measured previously.     

Clinical Considerations for a Family with Dilated Cardiomyopathy,Sudden Cardiac Death,and a Novel TTN Frameshift Mutation

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the leading indication for heart transplantation. TTN gene truncating mutations account for about 25% of familial DCM cases and for 18% of sporadic DCM cases. The clinical relevance of specific variants in TTN has been difficult to determine because of the sheer size of the protein for which TTN encodes, as well as existing extensive genetic variation. Clinicians should communicate novel clinically-relevant variants and genotype–phenotype associations, so that animal studies evaluating the molecular mechanisms are always conducted with a focus on clinical significance. In the present study, we report for the first time the novel truncating heterozygous variant {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"NM_001256850.1","term_id":"378925624","term_text":"NM_001256850.1"}}NM_001256850.1:c.72777_72783del (p.Phe24259Leufs*51) in the TTN gene and its association with DCM in a family with sudden death. This variant occurs in the A-band region of the sarcomere, in a known mutational hotspot of the gene. Truncating titin variants that occur in this region are the most common cause of DCM and have been rarely reported in asymptomatic individuals, differently from other pathogenic TTN gene variants. Further studies are warranted to better understand this particular clinically-relevant variant.