Risk Factors for Partner Violence Among a National Sample of Combat Veterans.

In this study, the authors identified potential risk factors for partner violence perpetration among a subsample (n=109) of men who participated in a national study of Vietnam veterans. Partner violent (PV) men with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were compared with PV men without PTSD and nonviolent men with PTSD on family-of-origin variables, psychiatric problems, relationship problems, and war-zone factors. PV men with PTSD were the highest of the 3 groups on every risk factor other than childhood abuse. Group contrasts and a classification tree analysis suggest some potential markers and mechanisms for the association between PTSD and partner violence among military veterans and highlight the need for theory development in this area of inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Monitoring of slow ground deformation by ERS radar interferometry on the Vauvert salt mine (France): Comparison with ground-based measurement

The differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR) technique has been applied to a test site near Vauvert (France) to detect and monitor ground deformation. This site corresponds to the location of an industrial exploitation of underground salt using the solution mining technique. An area of subsidence has been observed using in situ measurements. Despite conditions unfavorable for InSAR because of the vegetal cover, we show that radar remote sensing observations provide valuable information which substantially improves our knowledge of the phenomenon. An adaptive phase filtering process has been used to improve the coherence level. In particular, our study shows that the geometry of the subsidence bowl is different to that previously assumed using ground-based techniques only. The size of the subsidence bowl (8 km) is larger than expected. This information will be useful for further modeling of the deformation and to improve the coverage of the in situ measurement networks. It also shows that radar interferometry can be used for the long-term monitoring of such sites and to predict potential environmental issues.     

Polycrystalline silicon-germanium films for integrated microsystems

Two approaches were demonstrated for fabricating microstructures after completion of CMOS circuits with aluminum metallization. The first approach employed n-type poly-Ge deposited at 400/spl deg/C as a structural material with an SiO/sub 2/ sacrificial layer and an HF release. The CMOS circuits were protected from the release etchant with an amorphous Si layer. Clamped-clamped lateral resonator test structures had quality factors in vacuum as high as /spl sim/30000. Following a 500/spl deg/C, 30 s RTA the poly-Ge stress was 200 MPa (tensile) and the resistivity was 5.3 m/spl Omega/-cm. In the second integration approach, p-type poly-Si/sub 0.35/Ge/sub 0.65/ deposited at 450/spl deg/C was the structural material with poly-Ge as the sacrificial material and H/sub 2/O/sub 2/ as the release etchant. The H/sub 2/O/sub 2/ did not significantly etch the p-type poly-SiGe structural layer and no protection of the underlying CMOS layers was needed. For the first time, the fabrication of LPCVD surface microstructures directly on top of standard electronics was demonstrated, providing dramatic reductions in both MEMS-CMOS interconnect parasitics and device area. A folded flexure lateral resonator had a quality factor in vacuum as high as /spl sim/15000. No stress or dopant-activation anneal was needed, since the in situ boron-doped poly-SiGe was found to have an as-deposited stress of only -10 MPa (compressive) and a resistivity of only 1.8 m/spl Omega/-cm.     

Mexitl: Multimedia in Executable Interval Temporal Logic

This paper explores a formalism for describing a wide class of multimedia document constraints, based on an interval temporal logic. We describe the requirements that arise from the multimedia documents application area, and we illustrate these requirements using several examples. Then we present the temporal logic formalism that we use. This logic extends existing interval temporal logic with a number of new features: actions, framing of actions, past operators, a projection-like operator called filter and a new handling of interval length. The notation is applied to the specification of the examples, and in particular a set of logical manipulations, providing feedback to an author, is presented. A model theory, logic and satisfaction relation are defined for the notation.     

The consideration of organizational issues during the systems development process: an empirical analysis

The lack of consideration of organizational issues in systems development can lead to project failure. A review of the literature and a pre-test survey suggested classifying organizational issues into five categories and examining how these are considered by IT managers. A postal survey with responses from 64 senior IT specialists over a cross section of industry and commerce showed that there is a general awareness of the importance of organizational issues but there was little consensus on how they should be addressed in the development process. These IT managers were consistent in spending most effort on the issues perceived as most important from the list of 14 issue provided, but there was considerable variation in which specific issues they rated most important. In general those organizational issues with a 'technical' aspect were given more prominence than those which are less tangible, but which may be more critical to a system's success.     

500kV温南变电所接地网安全性问题的探讨

文章从接地阻抗、地电位升、接触电压和跨步电压的角度综合分析探讨了地处高土壤电阻率地区的500kV温南变电所接地网安全性问题,并提出了相应的安全防范措施,如通往变电所外的金属管加绝缘段隔离、通信电缆全部采用光缆、验算接触电压和跨步电压、降低电缆的感应电压以及避雷针采用集中接地等,最终使地网接地阻抗可放宽到0·5Ω仍能确保变电所安全运行和人身安全。     

Outsourcing and the Future of It

MORE THAN 50 PERCENT OF firms are expected to use IT outsourcing in 2006. the sourcing issue is among the top five agenda items for IT executives, as the amount of such outsourcing grows, its impact on the economies of companies and nations increases and political controversy over the consequent jobs lost to off-shore outsourcing heightens. Thus, outsourcing is, and will likely continue to be, a hot professional and political topic and a major determinant of the future of IT.     

Oil Spill Dispersant Effectiveness Protocol. I: Impact of Operational Variables

The current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency protocol for testing the effectiveness of dispersants, the swirling flask test, has been found to give widely varying results in the hands of different testing laboratories. The sources of the ambiguities in the test were determined by considering several options in a rigorous systematic fashion. Options considered were variability among three operators and the variability and limitations of three analytical instruments in establishing a calibration curve for oil/dispersant mixtures. Other options included flask type, impact of operational variables (rotational speed, mixing time, settling time, and oil:dispersant ratio), development of a revised procedure for dispersant effectiveness, reproducibility and repeatability of the revised procedure, and development of selection criteria for screening of dispersants. A redesign of the test flask, which is characterized by having baffles with a stopcock at the bottom for sample collection, was deemed necessary to accomplish reproducibility within operator and between operators. The results indicated that the baffled flask provided a total coefficient of variation (variations within operator and between operators) less than 11% compared to above 100% in some cases for the swirling flask.