Anger as a predictor of aggression among incarcerated adolescents.

This study examined the validity of trait anger as a predictor of aggressive behavior among juvenile offenders. Two standard self-report anger scales were administered to 65 recently incarcerated male adolescents. These youths were followed prospectively for physical and verbal aggression during 3 months of subsequent incarceration. Anger scores were not correlated with participant history of violent offending or staff ratings of anger. However, anger scores from both instruments were predictive of subsequent physical and verbal aggression. For example, the Trait Anger scale successfully classified 66% of juvenile offenders into high and low aggressive groups; receiver operating characteristic analysis obtained an effect size of .72. These results support the predictive validity of self-reported anger in identifying juvenile offenders at risk for institutional aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An effective approach to vertical partitioning for physical designof relational databases

Vertical partitioning can be used to enhance the performance of relational database systems by reducing the number of disk accesses. The authors identify the key parameters for capturing the behavior of an access plan and propose a two-step methodology consisting of a query analysis step to estimate the parameters and a binary partitioning step which can be applied recursively. The partitioning uses an integer linear programming technique to minimize the number of disk accesses. Significant performance benefit would be achieved for join if the partitioned (inner) relation could fit into the memory buffer under the inner-outer loop join method, or if the partitioned relation could fit into the sort buffer under the sort-merge join method, but not the original relation. For cases where a segment scan or a cluster index scan is used, vertical partitioning of the relation with the algorithm described is still often found to lead to substantial performance improvement     

Relationship between prothrombin activation fragment F1.2 and international normalized ratio in patients with atrial fibrillation. Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation Investigators

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The prothrombin time (expressed as the international normalized ratio [INR]) is the standard method of monitoring warfarin therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation. Prothrombin activation fragment F1.2 provides an index of in vivo thrombin generation and might provide a better index of the effective intensity of anticoagulation. We examined the relationship between F1.2 and INR in patients with atrial fibrillation. METHODS: We measured INR and F1.2 levels in 846 patients with atrial fibrillation participating in the Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation III study. Two hundred nineteen (26%) were taking aspirin alone, 326 (39%) were taking adjusted-dose warfarin, and 301 (36%) were taking a low fixed dose of warfarin (1 to 3 mg) plus aspirin (combination therapy). F1.2 levels were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Patients receiving adjusted-dose warfarin or combination therapy had significantly higher INR and significantly lower F1.2 values than those on aspirin alone (P < or = .0001 for each of the four comparisons). F1.2 values (nanomolar) were inversely correlated with INR (F1.2 = -0.1 + 2.3[1/INR]; R2 = .37; P < .0001; simple linear regression). However, significant variability remained. Among patients receiving warfarin, older patients had higher F1.2 values than younger patients after adjustment for INR intensity (P < .001) in the model. There was no difference in the relationship between F1.2 and INR between men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing intensity of anticoagulation, as measured by the INR, is associated with decreasing thrombin generation as measured by the F1.2 level, but significant variability exists in this relationship. Older anticoagulated patients have higher F1.2 values than younger patients at equivalent INR values. The clinical significance of these differences is not clear. F1.2 measurement might provide information regarding anticoagulation intensity in addition to that reflected by the INR.     

FGF is a prospective competence factor for early activin-type signals in Xenopus mesoderm induction

Normal pattern formation during embryonic development requires the regulation of cellular competence to respond to inductive signals. In the Xenopus blastula, vegetal cells release mesoderm-inducing factors but themselves become endoderm, suggesting that vegetal cells may be prevented from expressing mesodermal genes in response to the signals that they secrete. We show here that addition of low levels of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) induces the ectopic expression of the mesodermal markers Xbra, MyoD and muscle actin in vegetal explants, even though vegetal cells express low levels of the FGF receptor. Activin, a potent mesoderm-inducing agent in explanted ectoderm (animal explants), does not induce ectopic expression of these markers in vegetal explants. However, activin-type signaling is present in vegetal cells, since the vegetal expression of Mix.1 and goosecoid is inhibited by the truncated activin receptor. These results, together with the observation that FGF is required for mesoderm induction by activin, support our proposal that a maternal FGF acts at the equator as a competence factor, permitting equatorial cells to express mesoderm in response to an activin-type signal. The overlap of FGF and activin-type signaling is proposed to restrict mesoderm to the equatorial region.     

Thermally Induced Losses in Ultra-Cold Atoms Magnetically Trapped Near Room-Temperature Surfaces

We have measured magnetic trap lifetimes of ultra-cold ⁸⁷Rb atoms at distances of 5–1000 µm from surfaces of conducting metals with varying resistivity. Good agreement is found with a theoretical model for losses arising from near-field magnetic thermal noise, confirming the complications associated with holding trapped atoms close to conducting surfaces. A dielectric surface (silicon) was found in contrast to be so benign that we are able to evaporatively cool atoms to a Bose–Einstein condensate by using the surface to selectively adsorb higher energy atoms.     

Psychopathy screening of incarcerated juveniles: A comparison of measures.

How well do brief screening measures correspond with a full-scale assessment of psychopathy among juvenile offenders? This study compared 3 independent screening measures (the Antisocial Process Screening Device [APSD] Self-Report [A. A. Caputo, P. J. Frick, & S. L. Brodsky, 1999], the APSD Staff Rating [P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, 2001] and the Psychopathy Content Scale [D. C. Murrie & D. G. Cornell, 2000] on the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory [T. Millon, 1993]) with the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; A. E. Forth, D. S. Kosson, & R. D. Hare, in press) in a sample of 117 incarcerated male juveniles. Modest correlations (.30-.49) were found between PCL:YV scores and those of the 3 screening measures, and there was moderate accuracy (67%-82%) in identifying youth who scored relatively high (≥25) on the PCL:YV. Although these results support the construct of adolescent psychopathy, they indicate substantial limitations in the use of psychopathy screening measures with juvenile offenders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychomotor retardation in melancholic and nonmelancholic depression: Cognitive and motor components.

Presents an experimental method that attempts to differentiate between the cognitive and the motor components of behavior that might underlie psychomotor retardation in depression. These components were distinguished through systematic variation of cognitive and motor response demands in a series of RT tasks. The method was applied to 26 drug-free depressed inpatients diagnosed as either melancholic (endogenous subtype) or nonmelancholic (nonendogenous) by Research Diagnostic Criteria and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Results indicate a motor component to psychomotor retardation in both melancholic and nonmelancholic groups relative to 14 normal control Ss. Melancholic Ss manifested an additional cognitive impairment that was not found in either nonmelancholic or the control group. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Having It Both Ways: Distinguishable Yet Phase-Coherent Mixtures of Bose-Einstein Condensates

We have begun a series of experiments on mixed bosonic quantum fluids. Our system is mixed Bose-Einstein condensates in dilute Rb-87. By simultaneously trapping the atoms in two different hyperfine states, we are able to study the dynamics of component separation and of the relative quantum phase of two interpenetrating condensates. Population can be converted from one state to the other at a rate that is sensitive to the relative quantum phase.     

Irradiation growth in zircaloy

The existing irradiation growth measurements for both annealed and cold-worked Zircaloy are critically reviewed with the aim of presenting the most reliable data for use in reactor design. New results from fuel pins and from two specific experiments are also given. Annealed and CW material differ significantly in their behaviour — the former having a dose exponent of 0.4 and the latter around 0.7 — but there is also considerable scatter amongst the results, which is at present inexplicable. For the purposes of extrapolation, two semi-empirical equations are derived which permit an estimation of the growth strain up to the CSGHWR lifetime to within ±40%.