Understanding the pre-referral factors associated with differential 6-month outcomes among children receiving system-of-care services.

The authors of this study used a subset of data from the national evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program to investigate the prereferral characteristics and experiences of children with serious emotional disturbance as they relate to indicators of clinically significant improvement and deterioration during their first 6 months of service. Minority racial/ethnic background, a history of substance and out-of-home placement were identified as predictors of deterioration at 6 months, higher levels of functional impairment, higher levels of caregiver strain, and poorer academic functioning were associated with significantly lower odds of deterioration. Initial service experience was examined in an effort to explain the relationship between identified prereferral characteristics and 6-month change status. Implications are considered and discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigation of a simple tensorial permeameter

A device to measure permeability tensors of aligned circular cylinder arrays was designed and tested. Experiments were performed on arrays having solid volume fractions ranging from 0.3 to 0.7, inclusive. Array structures had 60° (hexagonal), 70°, and 90° (square) angles of symmetry. Results for transverse flow across the cylinder arrays were in strong agreement with numerical predictions. Transverse permeability values were also shown to obey tensor transformation rules. Longitudinal test results indicated that transverse flow was present during the experiments, lowering measured permeability values. The influence of longitudinal permeability on the overall tensor was shown to be substantially larger than variations in the transverse permeability values. POLYM. COMPOS., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Asymmetric 3D Elastic–Plastic Strain‐Modulated Electron Energy Structure in Monolayer Graphene by Laser Shocking

Graphene has a great potential to replace silicon in prospective semiconductor industries due to its outstanding electronic and transport properties; nonetheless, its lack of energy bandgap is a substantial limitation for practical applications. To date, straining graphene to break its lattice symmetry is perhaps the most efficient approach toward realizing bandgap tunability in graphene. However, due to the weak lattice deformation induced by uniaxial or in‐plane shear strain, most strained graphene studies have yielded bandgaps <1 eV. In this work, a modulated inhomogeneous local asymmetric elastic–plastic straining is reported that utilizes GPa‐level laser shocking at a high strain rate (dε/dt) ≈ 10⁶–10⁷ s^?1, with excellent formability, inducing tunable bandgaps in graphene of up to 2.1 eV, as determined by scanning tunneling spectroscopy. High‐resolution imaging and Raman spectroscopy reveal strain‐induced modifications to the atomic and electronic structure in graphene and first‐principles simulations predict the measured bandgap openings. Laser shock modulation of semimetallic graphene to a semiconducting material with controllable bandgap has the potential to benefit the electronic and optoelectronic industries.     

Experience with ambulatory preoperative bowel preparation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital

Ultrasound is in widespread use in the study of gastrointestinal pathologies. In Crohn disease it is helpful in diagnosing complications such as thickening of the bowel loop walls, abscesses, lymph node enlargement and vesical-enteric fistulas. This report presents two cases in which vesical-enteric fistulas were visualized by US; confirming a diagnosis of Crohn's disease in one case, and diagnosing the fistula during the follow-up in the second patient in whom Crohn's disease had previously been diagnosed.     

Adaptive bearing friction compensation based on recent knowledge of dynamic friction

Gimbal bearing friction is a major source of stabilization errors for airborne pointing and tracking systems. This paper describes a novel addition to conventional stabilization techniques which has recently been incorporated in such a system to greatly improve stabilization performance. This addition contains a model in system software which predicts realtime friction torque values. This new, dynamic friction model, which is the result of recent investigations into dynamic friction characteristics, is adaptively adjusted into agreement with actual friction behavior by processing inputs from conventional system sensors. Measurements from these sensors cause on-line adjustment of model parameters, resulting in ‘adaptive’ compensator action. The model's output is used to generate an addition to conventional stabilization subsystem commands. The resulting additional gimbal motor torque is equal and opposed to the actual friction disturbance such that the residual torque, and hence stabilization errors, are a small fraction of those for an uncompensated system. The model-referenced compensator thus operates in a predictive, adaptive, feedforward manner to pre-condition the stabilization subsystem, reducing stabilization errors well below levels which are achievable through conventional feedback operation alone.     

Sexual dimorphism in the pelvic midplane and its relationship to Neandertal reproductive patterns

The fragmentary nature of the fossil record has limited the analysis of the Neandertal pelvis to the superior pubic ramus and the pelvic inlet. From an obstetric viewpoint, the pelvic midplane or "plane of least dimensions," defined by the distance between the ischial spines, must be considered in the analysis of hominid reproduction. We examined the relationship between BSD and weight in a mixed sex hospital population undergoing diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scans (41 females and 40 males). Because femoral head diameter squared (FH(2)) has been used as a proxy for weight in skeletal populations, it was also analyzed with respect to BSD and weight. Bivariate regression analysis of BSD with other body dimensions indicates the presence of significant sex differences. In females, but not in males, weight is a statistically significant predictor of BSD. FH(2) is an even better predictor of BSD in females while nonsignificant in males. Although weight and FH(2) are significantly correlated with BSD in females, FH(2) does not predict weight in females as well as it does in males. The positive correlation between skeletal frame size and BSD in females is indicative of an evolutionary pattern that must take into account the pressures of reproduction. Our results indicate that critical dimensions of the pelvis must increase as the maternal skeleton becomes larger. These results provide a context for the interpretation of the reproductive patterns of a relatively robust hominid population like the Neandertals.     

Eye movement and pupillary response indices of mental workload during visual search of symbolic displays

Eye movement and pupillary response measures (in addition to search time and accuracy) were collected as indices of visual workload during two experiments designed to evaluate the addition of colour coding to a symbolic tactical display. Displays also varied with regard to symbol density and the type of information participants were required to abstract from the display. These variables were factorially manipulated to examine the effects of colour coding in conditions of varying difficulty. In Experiment 1 (n = 8), search time and the number of eye fixations were affected by all variables and in a similar manner; fixation dwell time and the pupillary response dissociated from the other measures. Compared to monochrome displays, colour coding facilitated search (reduced search time, but not accuracy) during exhaustive search, but had no effect during self-terminating search. Experiment 2 (n = 8) was a replication of Experiment 1 with a pseudo-search control condition added to examine further the pupillary response measures: in particular, to assess the effects of the physical parameters of the displays, and to verify the findings of Experiment 1. Pupillary response measures were sensitive to the information processing demands of the search task, not merely to the physical parameters of the display. Further, the search time, accuracy, and eye movement results from the active search condition generally replicated Experiment 1, but the fixation dwell time data did not. These between-study differences were interpreted as indicating the importance of participant search strategy.     

Information order and outcome framing: an assesment of judgment bias in a naturalistic decision-making context

Findings that decision makers can come to different conclusions depending on the order in which they receive information have been termed the "information order bias." When trained, experienced individuals exhibit similar behaviors; however, it has been argued that this result is not a bias, but rather, a pattern-matching process. This study provides a critical examination of this claim. It also assesses both experts' susceptibility to an outcome framing bias and the effects of varying task loads on judgment. Using a simulation of state-of-the-art ship defensive systems operated by experienced, active-duty U.S. Navy officers, we found no evidence of a framing bias, while task load had a minor, but systematic effect. The order in which information was received had a significant impact, with the effect being consistent with a judgment bias. Nonetheless, we note that pattern-matching processes, similar to those that produce inferential and reconstructive effects on memory, could also explain our results. Actual or potential applications of this research include decision support system interfaces or training programs that might be developed to reduce judgment bias.