Evaluating Community Sex Offender Treatment Programs: A 12-Year Follow-Up of 724 Offenders.

Although some studies suggest positive effects of treatment for sexual offenders, most studies have been hampered by the unknown influence of selective attrition (e.g., volunteers and drop-outs). In the 1980s, the Correctional Service of Canada began to require weekly community treatment sessions for all sex offenders released in the Pacific Region. This policy change provided a unique opportunity for comparing an unselected cohort of treated sex offenders (n = 403) to an untreated cohort (n = 321) released in earlier years. After an average 12-year follow-up period, no differences were observed in the rates of sexual (21.1% vs 21.8%), violent (42.9% vs. 44.5%) or general (any) recidivism (56.6% vs 60.4%) for treated and untreated groups, respectively. The outcome remained comparable after controlling for length of follow- up, year of release, age, and seven static risk factors coded from official criminal history records. Retrospective ratings of the treatment quality also showed no relationship to observed recidivism rates. The static risk factors coded in the current study accounted for considerable variance in recidivism and could easily be used to improve statistical controls in future evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Corrosion behavior of NiCrMo Alloy 625 in high temperature, hydrogenated water

The corrosion behavior of NiCrMo Alloy 625 (UNS N06625) has been characterized in a 10,000 h test conducted in hydrogenated water at 260 °C. The corrosion kinetics were observed to be parabolic, the parabolic rate constant being determined by chemical descaling to be 0.074 mg dm⁻² h^−1/2. Characterizations of the corrosion oxide layer via grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in combination with argon ion milling and target factor analysis, revealed the presence of two spinel oxide phases and significant amounts of recrystallized nickel. Based on the distribution of three oxidized alloying constituents (Ni, Cr, Fe) with respect to depth and oxidation state, it was concluded that: (a) corrosion occurs in a non-selective manner, but significant amounts of nickel(II) ions are released to the water, and (b) the spinel oxides exist as a chromite-rich inner layer (Ni_0.7Fe_0.3)(Cr_0.8Fe_0.2)₂O₄ underneath a coarser, ferrite-rich outer layer (Ni_0.9Fe_0.1)(Cr_0.1Fe_0.9)₂O₄. The trivalent cation distribution in each of these phases appears to represent a solvus in the immiscible NiCr₂O₄-NiFe₂O₄ binary.     

Shock tube studies of methyl butanoate pyrolysis with relevance to biodiesel

Methyl butanoate pyrolysis and decomposition pathways were studied in detail by measuring concentration time-histories of CO, CO₂, CH₃, and C₂H₄ using shock tube/laser absorption methods. Experiments were conducted behind reflected shock waves at temperatures of 1200–1800 K and pressures near 1.5 atm using mixtures of 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% methyl butanoate in Argon. A novel laser diagnostic was developed to measure CO in the ν₁ fundamental vibrational band near 4.56 μm using a new generation of quantum-cascade lasers. Wavelength modulation spectroscopy with second-harmonic detection (WMS-2f) was used to measure CO₂ near 2752 nm. Methyl radical was measured using UV laser absorption near 216 nm, and ethylene was monitored using IR gas laser absorption near 10.53 μm. An accurate methyl butanoate model is critical in the development of mechanisms for larger methyl esters, and the measured time-histories provide kinetic targets and strong constraints for the refinement of the methyl butanoate reaction mechanism. Measured CO mole fractions reach plateau values that are the same as the initial fuel mole fraction at temperatures higher than 1500 K over the maximum measurement time of 2 ms or less. Two recent kinetic mechanisms are compared with the measured data and the possible reasons for this 1:1 ratio between MB and CO are discussed. Based on these discussions, it is expected that similar CO/fuel and CO₂/fuel ratios for biodiesel molecules, particularly saturated components of biodiesel, should occur.     

Modulation of Viscoelasticity and HIV Transport as a Function of pH in a Reversibly Crosslinked Hydrogel

Materials that respond to physiological stimuli are important in developing advanced biomaterials for modern therapies. The reversibility of covalent crosslinks formed by phenylboronate (PBA) and salicylhydroxamate (SHA) has been exploited to provide a pH‐responsive gel for application to the vaginal tract. Dynamic rheology reveals that the gel frequency‐dependent viscoelastic properties are modulated by pH. At pH 4.8 the viscous component dominates throughout most of the frequency range. As the pH increases, the characteristic relaxation time continues to increase while the G′_Plateau levels off above pH 6. At pH 7.5, the elastic component dominates throughout the frequency sweep and is predominately independent of frequency. Particle tracking assesses the transport of both fluorescently labeled HIV‐1 and 100‐nm latex particles in the PBA–SHA crosslinked gel as a function of pH. At pH 4.8 the ensemble‐averaged mean squared displacement at lag times greater than three seconds reveals that transport of the HIV‐1 and 100‐nm particles becomes significantly impeded by the matrix, exhibiting diffusion coefficients less than 0.0002 µm² s^?1. This pH‐responsive gel thus displays properties that have the potential to significantly reduce the transport of HIV‐1 to susceptible tissues and thus prevent the first stage of male‐to‐female transmission of HIV‐1.     

Technology skill and age: what will be the same 20?years from now?

Is current research on computing by older adults simply looking at a short-term problem? Or will the technology problems that plague the current generation also be problematic for today’s tech-savvy younger generations when they become “old”? This paper considers age-related and experience-related issues that affect ability to use new technology. Without more consideration of the skills of older users, it is likely that applications and devices 20 years from now will have changed such that this “older” generation finds themselves confronting an array of technologies that they little understand and find generally inaccessible. Recent evidence suggests that older adults bring specific strengths to Web browsing. A fuller investigation of these strengths and how to design to optimize for strengths of older users has the potential to address the need for usable technology for this increasingly important demographic.     

Videoendoscopic diagnosis of esophageal motility disorders

PURPOSE: Looking for a valid, reliable, and feasible method to collect data on the performances of practicing family physicians, the authors compare the measurement characteristics of a multiple-station examination (MSE) using standardized patients with those of a video assessment of regular consultations in daily practice (practice video assessment, PVA). METHOD: In a cross-sectional study, consultations of 90 family physicians were videotaped both in an MSE and in their daily practices. Peer-observers used a validated instrument (MAAS-Global) to assess the physicians' communication with patients and their medical performances. The physicians were randomly divided into two groups, comparable for demographic characteristics, and half underwent the assessments in reverse order to test for time-order effects. Content validity, criterion validity, reliability, and feasibility of the two methods were compared. RESULTS: Content validity of the PVA was superior to that of the MSE, since the domain of general family practice care was better covered. Observed participants judged the videotaped practice consultations to be "natural," whereas hardly any family physician, after reviewing the videotaped consultations of the MSE, recognized his or her usual working style. Specific criteria made it possible to standardize real practice. Concerning criterion validity, only the medical-performance components of the two methods correlated. No correlation was found for the communication components. Real-practice performance proved to be less influenced by observation than was performance during the MSE. The reliabilities of the two methods, expected to be better in the controlled MSE, were comparable. The administration of the PVA was more flexible, less costly, and better accepted by the family physicians than was that of the MSE. CONCLUSION: Assessment for quality improvement of family physicians' practices by video observation in daily practice is superior to video assessment in a simulated setting using standardized patients.     

The alpha attenuation test: assessing excessive daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy-cataplexy

Daytime sleep tendency was assessed in 10 drug-free patients with narcolepsy-cataplexy and 10 normals matched for age and gender. Following nocturnal polysomnography, the alpha attenuation test (AAT) and the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) were administered during five sessions occurring at 2-hour intervals beginning at 0900 and 1000 hours, respectively. For the AAT, participants were polysomnographically recorded for 8 minutes while seated in an illuminated room with their eyes alternately opened and closed. Power spectral analyses of electroencephalograph (EEG) activity at 02-A1 (10 second epochs) were calculated using fast Fourier transformations (FFT) within the alpha frequency range (8-12 Hz) to obtain ratios of mean eyes-closed to mean eyes-open alpha power (i.e. the alpha attenuation coefficient, AAC). The narcoleptics were sleepier than the normals as indicated by a significantly smaller mean AAC and a significantly shorter mean latency to stage 1 on the MSLT. These findings suggest that the AAT may provide a quick and practical objective assessment of the excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) associated with narcolepsy.     

Desipramine restricts estral cycle oscillations in swimming

1. Desipramine (DMI) is a tricyclic antidepressant which reduces the immobility in rats forced to swim; however, it is unknown whether estral cycle phases impinge on DMI actions on immobility in daily swimming tests during several weeks. 2. In female wistar rats, vaginal smears taken before testing defined four estral phases. Afterwards, the authors assessed the latency for the first period of immobility in five-min forced swim tests practiced on 21-day DMI (DMI group), 21-day washout saline given after a 21-day DMI treatment (washout-saline group), or non-treated rats (control group). 3. We observed a longer latency for the first period of immobility in proestrus-estrus from the control and washout-saline groups. The 21-day treatment with DMI (2.1 mg/kg i.p., once a day) significantly (p < 0.001) increased the latency by about 160% from control regardless of the estral cycle phase. 4. It is concluded that proestrus-estrus relates to increased struggling behavior. DMI enhances struggling behavior independently of hormonal state.