The Family Bereavement Program: Efficacy evaluation of a theory-based prevention program for parentally bereaved children and adolescents.

This article presents an experimental evaluation of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP), a 2-component group intervention for parentally bereaved children ages 8-16. The program involved separate groups for caregivers, adolescents, and children, which were designed to change potentially modifiable risk and protective factors for bereaved children. The evaluation involved random assignment of 156 families (244 children and adolescents) to the FBP or a self-study condition. Families participated in assessments at pretest, posttest, and 11-month follow-up. Results indicated that the FBP led to improved parenting, coping, and caregiver mental health and to reductions in stressful events at posttest. At follow-up, the FBP led to reduced internalizing and externalizing problems, but only for girls and those who had higher problem scores at baseline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New Cubic Structure in the Ca-Si-O-N System

Subsolidus-phase studies in the calcium-silicon-oxygen-nitrogen system have been conducted using the reactive precursors calcium nitride, calcium oxide, and silicon nitride. A new structure has been isolated with a large, face-centered cubic lattice, a=1.4864 nm, which coexists with several new CaSiON phases as well as Ca₃Si₂O₄N₂ and the unknown "D' phase, reported previously by other workers. The new structure is not isotypic with any known mineral oxide. The highest degree of phase purity has been obtained using a 1.1 calcium nitride:silicon nitride starting mixture. Structural and approximate compositional analyses were conducted by X-ray diffraction and TEM energy dispersive spectroscopy.     

Subpixel land-cover classification for improved urban area estimates using Landsat

Urban areas are Earth’s fastest growing land use that impact hydrological and ecological systems and the surface energy balance. The identification and extraction of accurate spatial information relating to urban areas is essential for future sustainable city planning owing to its importance within global environmental change and human–environment interactions. However, monitoring urban expansion using medium resolution (30–250 m) imagery remains challenging due to the variety of surface materials that contribute to measured reflectance resulting in spectrally mixed pixels. This research integrates high spatial resolution orthophotos and Landsat imagery to identify differences across a range of diverse urban subsets within the rapidly expanding Perth Metropolitan Region (PMR), Western Australia. Results indicate that calibrating Landsat-derived subpixel land-cover estimates with correction values (calculated from spatially explicit comparisons of subpixel Landsat values to classified high-resolution data which accounts for over [under] estimations of Landsat) reduces moderate resolution urban area over (under) estimates by on an average 55.08% for the PMR. This approach can be applied to other urban areas globally through use of frequently available and/or low-cost high spatial resolution imagery (e.g. using Google Earth). This will improve urban growth estimations to help monitor and measure change whilst providing metrics to facilitate sustainable urban development targets within cities around the world.     

Authority as an Interactional Achievement: Exploring Deference to Smart Devices in Hospital-Based Resuscitation

Over the years, healthcare has been an important domain for CSCW research. One significant theme carried through this body of work concerns how hospital workers coordinate their work both spatially and temporally. Much has been made of the coordinative roles played by the natural rhythms present in hospital life, and by webs of mundane artefacts such as whiteboards, post-it notes and medical records. This paper draws upon the coordinating role of rhythms and artefacts to explore the nested rhythms of the Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) protocol conducted to restore the proper heart rhythm in a patient who has suffered a cardiac arrest. We are interested in how the teams delivering CPR use various ‘smart’ assistive devices. The devices contain encoded versions of the CPR protocol and are able to sense (in a limited way) the situation in order to give instructions or feedback to the team. Using an approach informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (EM/CA) we analysed video of trainee nurses using these devices as they delivered CPR in dramatized training scenarios. This analysis helped us to understand concepts such as autonomy and authority as interactional accomplishments, thus filling a gap in CSCW literature, which often glosses over how authority is formed and how it is exercised in medical teams. It also helps us consider how to respond to devices that are becoming more active in that they are being increasingly imbued with the ability to sense, discriminate and direct activity in medical settings.     

In-house validation of an ELISA method for screening of semicarbazide in eggs

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method is described for the semi-quantitative determination of semicarbazide (SEM), the marker residue for the banned nitrofuran drug, nitrofurazone, in chicken eggs. The sample homogenate is subjected to acid hydrolysis and derivatisation with o-nitrobenzaldehyde, followed by ethyl acetate/hexane extraction and detection by ELISA. The ELISA procedure has been validated using 0.3, 1.0 and 3 µg kg^?1 of SEM in fortified samples. Detection capability (CC_ß) was based on the acceptance of 5% false compliant results for a given concentration level according to Commission Decision 2002/657/EC and was determined to be 0.3 µg kg^?1 with a respective limit of detection of 0.13 µg kg^?1. A validated LC–MS/MS method was used for the analysis of incurred egg samples and the results compared with ELISA. A good correlation between the results obtained from ELISA and LC–MS/MS within the concentration range 0.12–20.3 µg kg^?1 was observed in samples collected from chickens fed with a medicated ration of nitrofurazone (r?=?0.992, n?=?14). Validated ELISA enabled reliable monitoring of SEM levels in eggs collected from incurred chickens over a 90-day period.     

Anomalous moire pattern of graphene investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy： Evidence of graphene growth on oxidized Cu（111）

The growth of graphene on oriented （111） copper films has been achieved by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition. The structural properties of as-produced graphene have been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. Anomalous moir6 superstructures composed of well-defined linear periodic modulations have been observed. We report here on comprehensive and detailed studies of these particular moir6 patterns present in the graphene topography revealing that, in certain conditions, the growth can occur on the oxygen-induced reconstructed copper surface and not directly on the oriented （111） copper film as expected.     

Is Wiener Filtering an Effective Method of Improving Evoked Potential Estimation?

In order to obtain better estimates of the true evoked potential signal with fewer stimuli than is possible with classical signal averaging, the Wiener theory [16] for optimum linear filtering, as formulated by Walter [15] and Doyle [5], was implemented in four different versions of the Wiener filter?two a posteriori filters and two recursive filters. The effectiveness of the filters in separating signal from noise was tested in two simulations with known signal, and both simulated noise and real spontaneous brain wave activity. Correlation coefficients between the known test signals and filtered and unfiltered averages of test signal plus noise showed no significant difference between filtered and unfiltered averages.     

Coupled Grain Growth Effects in Al2O3/10 vol% ZrO2

Coupled crystallization has been observed in the Al₃O₃/10%-ZrO₂ system by heating an amorphous precursor Al /Zr copolymerized alkoxide network structure. A finely divided two-phase material results which stabilizes tetragonal ZrO₂ to 1700°C and exhibits an unprecedented microstructure. During crystallization, the grain growth of ZrO₂ is coupled to the γ→α phase transformation of Al₂O₃.     

Blind Equalization with Differential Detection for Channels with ISI and Fading

Schemes which combine differential detection and blind equalization, to eliminate the need for phase recovery and training sequence, are studied. Decision feedback is also added in an attempt to equalize null and fading channels. Using Godard and Modified Constant Modulus Algorithms (MCMA) new systems are proposed by combining coherent and noncoherent detection with these two algorithms. For MCMA, as it can track the carrier, neither differential detection nor a PLL is required. Contrarily, Godard Algorithm needs either differential detection or a PLL to correct phase error. While the proposed system combining differential detection, blind equalization and decision feedback can indeed, in principle, equalize different channels, the robustness of the system is compromised.