Improving access to family support organizations: a member survey of the AMI-Quebec Alliance for the Mentally Ill

Family support organizations such as the Quebec Alliance for the Mentally Ill (AMI-Quebec) provide services for mentally ill individuals and their families. Despite possible benefits, there is often a lengthy period between identification of mental illness and involvement of family members with family support organizations. A survey of AMI-Quebec members was undertaken to assess this delay. Of the 186 respondents, 47 percent experienced a delay of more than two years. Only 10 percent were referred to the organization by psychiatrists. The majority would have liked to have become involved with AMI-Quebec earlier. Some approved of more proactive methods of recruitment by AMI-Quebec, such as a telephone call after an initial hospitalization.     

Extremely-Wide-Range Supply-Independent CMOS Voltage References for Telemetry-Powering Applications

This paper reports a voltage reference circuit in standard CMOS process. It exhibits excellent supply independency for a wide input voltage range, which is of great importance in telemetry-powered systems. This circuit is based on the well-known V_GS-reference supply-independent current reference circuit, but it is designed to serve as a voltage reference. While the reference current generated by this circuit varies with the supply voltage, a self-compensating mechanism can be found in voltage-mode operation of the circuit that results in a supply-independent reference voltage. This supply independency is well observed in the static operation of the circuit over an extremely wide input range, as well as in its dynamic behavior for high frequency ripples on the input voltage. Based on the proposed idea, a multi-output voltage reference and a CMOS DC level shifter are also designed. The proposed voltage reference circuits have been fabricated using MOSIS 1.6 μm standard CMOS process. The basic voltage reference provides 957 μV/V static supply dependency, rejects input ripples of up to 8 MHz by 60± 3dB, and consumes only 15.8–36.9 μA when the input voltage varies in the range 2.6–12 V. Amir M. Sodagar received the B.S. degree from K.N. Toosi (KNT) University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Iran University of Science & Technology (IUST), Tehran, Iran all in Electrical Engineering in 1992, 1995, and 2000, respectively. From 1992 to 2000 he was with S. Rajaee University as a Lecturer. After receiving the Ph.D. degree until 2002 he was with the NSF Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated Micro Systems (WIMS), Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) Dept., University of Michigan as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. From 2002 to 2004 he was with S. Rajaee University and KNT University of Technology as an Assistant Professor and an Adjunct Professor, respectively, and since 2004 he has been with the University of Michigan as an Associate Visiting Research Scientist. Dr. Sodagar was known as the Outstanding Electrical Engineering Graduate Student of the IUST in 1995, and receiv ed the IUST's Best Ph.D. Research Achievement Award in 2000. He was also the recipient of S. Rajaee University's Distinguished Faculty Member Award for “1998–1999” and “1999–2000” academic years, and S. Rajaee University's Distinguished Researcher Award for “2002–2003” academic year. He was involved in the design of integrated circuits in collaboration with the Center for Semiconductor Research and Fabrication from 1994 to 1995, VLSI Circuits & Systems Laboratory at the University of Tehran from 1997 to 1998, and EMAD Semicon Company from 1998 to 2000. He has authored one book, authored/co-authored more than 20 journal and conference papers, and served as the technical paper reviewer for several IEEE journals/transactions and also conferences. Dr. Sodagar's research interests are generally in the field of mixed-signal integrated circuit design, and focused on: integrated circuits for neural recording & stimulation, telemetry powering and control of implantable microsystems, frequency synthesizers, analog building blocks, and transistor-level implementations of digital logic families. Khalil Najafi (IEEE S '84, M '86, SM '97, F'00) received the B.S., M.S., and the Ph.D. degree in 1980, 1981, and 1986 respectively, all in Electrical Engineering from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. From 1986–1988 he was employed as a Research Fellow, from 1988–1990 as an Assistant Research Scientist, from 1990–1993 as an Assistant Professor, from 1993–1998 as an Associate Professor, and since September 1998 as a Professor and the Director of the Solid-State Electronics Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan. His research interests include: micromachining technologies, micromachined sensors, actuators, and MEMS; analog integrated circuits; implantable biomedical microsystems; micropackaging; and low-power wireless sensing/actuating systems. Dr. Najafi was awarded a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award from 1992–1997, was the recipient of the Beatrice Winner Award for Editorial Excellence at the 1986 International Solid-State Circuits Conference, of the Paul Rappaport Award for co-authoring the Best Paper published in the IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, and of the Best Paper Award at ISSCC 1999. In 2003 he received the EECS Outstanding Achievement Award, in 2001 he received the Faculty recognition Award, and in 1994 the University of Michigan's “Henry Russel Award” for outstanding achievement and scholarship, and was selected as the “Professor of the Year” in 1993. In 1998 he was named the Arhtur F. Thurnau Professor for outstanding contributions to teaching and research, and received the College of Engineering's Research Excellence Award. He has been active in the field of solid-state sensors and actuators for more than twenty years, and has been involved in several conferences and workshops dealing with solid-state sensors and actuators, including the International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, the Hilton-Head Solid-State Sensors and Actuators Workshop, and the IEEE/ASME Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) Conference. Dr. Najafi is the Editor for Solid-State Sensors for IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, an Associate Editor for the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Institute of Physics Publishing, and an editor for the Journal of Sensors and Materials. He also served as the Associate Editor for IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits from 2000–2004, and the associate editor for IEEE Trans. Biomedical Engineering from 1999–2000. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.     

Family planning practices and attitudes among former Soviet new immigrant women in Israel

One hundred young new immigrant women from the former U.S.S.R. now living in Israel answered a detailed semi-open questionnaire regarding their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors in fertility and birth control issues. A collective family planning profile of these women is largely in line with that of the urban population of Slavonic U.S.S.R., combining early marriage, early and low fertility, the latter achieved by both abortion and contraception. Most respondents and their partners tried to prevent unwanted pregnancies, usually starting from traditional methods and switching over time to modern ones. An IUD remained most popular contraceptive among parous women, while use of the pill, very rare in the U.S.S.R., has almost doubled upon migration, mostly among younger women. Still, they kept some misleading ideas on the pros and cons of traditional versus modern methods, suggesting lack of adequate information also upon migration. Like their ex-compatriots, our women preferred to solve their birth control problems without external professional involvement. Contrary to the expected, free abortion ideology was not universally advocated by our respondents, and most were fully aware of abortion limitations in Israel. While rationally condemning abortion in both moral and health terms, most respondents still use it, this gap between beliefs and practice being indicative of their readiness to adopt efficient contraception. This switch occurs faster in women actively involved with host society via work or studies. Younger women were found to be more flexible and advanced in their family planning practices than were older ones, while almost no differences were related to education and origin within the U.S.S.R. This exploratory study suggests that any investment into promotion of healthy fertility control practices among new immigrants will be cost-effective in the near future.     

Cinematic‐film protection using metameric blacks

This article presents a new approach for security management in digital cinema applications. Metameric blacks are used as a new try for cinematic‐film protection procedures, which are used in theatre projection systems. The information given by the capturing device in production time decomposes to its base spectra and makes an unacceptable image quality for camcorders by adding a specific metameric black to it. This procedure takes place during the exhibition, and the camcorders take poor quality pictures although the image may not have any changes in its quality for the audience. This try tends to reach the goal of security management during the movie plays and may be a new method to keep the rights of producers against digital theft. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 34, 93–96, 2009.     

Bruxism secondary to antipsychotic drug exposure: a positive response to propranolol

We present two cases of acute nocturnal bruxism occurring as an early side effect of antipsychotic drug treatment. The development of bruxism was coupled with the appearance of neuroleptic-induced akathisia. Both complications were relieved after the beta-adrenergic blocker propranolol was added, suggesting the involvement of the adrenergic and serotonergic central nervous systems, besides the dopaminergic system, in the pathogenesis of bruxism. The positive response of iatrogenic bruxism to propranolol implies that propranolol also deserves a trial for the treatment of noniatrogenic nocturnal bruxism.     

Variation in the thyrotropic activity of human chorionic gonadotropin in Chinese hamster ovary cells arises from differential expression of the human thyrotropin receptor and microheterogeneity of the hormone

The role of hCG as a stimulator of the human thyroid has been a subject of controversy, because discrepant results have been obtained in different in vitro assays. In an attempt to explain the variation observed in the thyroid response to hCG, we investigated the ability of hCG and that of its isoforms and glycosylation variants to inhibit [125I]bovine (b) TSH binding and stimulate adenylate cyclase in two clones, JP09 and JP26, of Chinese hamster ovary cells stably transfected with the human TSH receptor (hTSHr). The two clones differed with respect to the number of hTSHr expressed per cell (34,000 in JP09 and 2,000 in JP26 cells). Both responded extremely well to bTSH; the cAMP response to 0.001 IU/L bTSH was distinguishable from basal values. Interestingly, JP09 cells were readily stimulated by hCG (20-100 mg/L; 0.52-2.6 x 10(-6) mol/L) to release cAMP, whereas JP26 cells showed little if any response. Also, cAMP stimulation produced by asialo-hCG was 12-fold in JP09 cells and only 4-fold in JP26 cells compared to 45- and 67-fold stimulations by bTSH, respectively. Stimulation by asialo-hCG was approximately 30% that of bTSH in JP09 cells, but less than 6% in JP26 cells. When assessing the thyrotropic activity of the microheterogeneous isoforms of hCG, more alkaline pI forms were found to be more active than those of a more acidic pI regardless of whether they were derived from normal or molar pregnancy urine. Further studies with hCG, asialo-hCG, asialoagalacto-hCG, and deglycosylated hCG revealed that removal of sialic acid caused a marked increase in both its affinity for hTSHr and its cAMP-releasing potency, whereas removal of further carbohydrate, although it slightly enhanced receptor binding, was detrimental to adenylate cyclase activation. In conclusion, differences in hTSHr expression may cause a variation in the cAMP response to hCG or its glycosylation variants, as does the microheterogeneity of the hormone itself. These mechanisms may be responsible at least in part for the divergent responses of different cell types to hCG and render interpretation of the physiological meaning of the data obtained in recombinant receptor systems difficult.     

Multiobjective optimization for small meander wire dipole antennas in a fixed area using ant colony system

Fixed area meander line antennas designed on a 5 × 5 rectangular grid were optimized for efficiency and resonant frequency. The Pareto front was developed using ant colony optimization and the numerical electromagnetic code. The lowest frequency antenna fits an area of 0.11λ₀ × 0.05λ₀ with an efficiency of 88%. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.     

Physical,optical, and electrical properties of a new conducting polymer

This work studies the electrical and optical properties of the conducting polymer composite films of polypyrrole–chitosan (PPy–CHI). The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique was used to study the optical properties of PPy and PPy–CHI composite films. Then, the values of the real and imaginary parts of the refractive indexes of PPy and PPy–CHI films were obtained by nonlinear least square fitting using Fresnel equations for a three-layer system of SPR system. The electrical conductivity measurements showed that the conductivity of the electrochemical prepared films improved in the presence of CHI and can be controlled by varying the CHI amount in the composite. The thermal diffusivity of the PPy–CHI composite films was measured by open photoacoustic spectroscopy and it has been shown that the thermal diffusivity is related to the electron migration in the conjugation chain length. The increase in electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) with the increase in electrical conductivity of the films is mostly from shielding by reflection rather than absorption.     

Using self-assembly for the fabrication of nano-scale electronic and photonic devices

Challenges facing the scaling of microelectronics to sub-50 nm dimensions and the demanding material and structural requirements of integrated photonic and microelectromechanical systems suggest that alternative fabrication technologies are needed to produce nano-scale devices. Inspired by complex, functional, self-assembled structures and systems found in Nature we suggest that self-assembly can be employed as an effective tool for nanofabrication. We define a self-assembling system as one in which the elements of the system interact in pre-defined ways to spontaneously generate a higher order structure. Self-assembly is a parallel fabrication process that, at the molecular level, can generate three-dimensional structures with sub-nanometer precision. Guiding the process of self-assembly by external forces and geometrical constraints can reconfigure a system dynamically on demand. We survey some of the recent applications of self-assembly for nanofabrication of electronic and photonic devices. Five self-assembling systems are discussed: 1) self-assembled molecular monolayers; 2) self-assembly in supramolecular chemistry; 3) self-assembly of nanocrystals and nanowires; 4) self-assembly of phase-separated block copolymers; 5) colloidal self-assembly. These techniques can generate features ranging in size from a few angstroms to a few microns. We conclude with a discussion of the limitations and challenges facing self-assembly and some potential directions along which the development of self-assembly as a nanofabrication technology may proceed.     

Glutamatergic antagonists do not attenuate light-induced fos protein in rat intergeniculate leaflet

Photic information that entrains circadian rhythms is transmitted to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) from the retina and from the retinorecipient intergeniculate leaflet (IGL). Expression of light-induced Fos protein in SCN neurons is correlated with the effectiveness of such light to induce phase shifts, and is prevented by pretreatment with glutamate receptor antagonists that prevent phase shifts as well. In the present study we demonstrate that treatments with N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA receptor antagonists prior to light pulses during the subjective night have no effect on light-induced Fos immunoreactivity (Fos-IR) in IGL neurons despite attenuating Fos-IR in the SCN. Transmission of photic information along retinogeniculate and retinohypothalamic pathways appears to be mediated by different mechanisms.