Efficacy of bifocal diagnosis-independent group psychoeducation in severe psychiatric disorders: results from a randomized controlled trial

Despite evidence for its efficacy, diagnosis-specific psychoeducation is not routinely applied. This exploratory randomized controlled trial analyses the efficacy of an easily implementable bifocal diagnosis-mixed group psychoeducation in the treatment of severe psychiatric disorders regarding readmission, compliance and clinical variables, for example global functioning. Inpatients of the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel (N=82) were randomly assigned to a diagnosis-mixed psychoeducational (PE) or a non-specific intervention control group. Relatives were invited to join corresponding family groups. Results at baseline, 3- and 12-month follow-ups are presented. Better compliance after 3months and a lower suicide rate were significant in favour of PE. For most other outcome variables, no significant differences, however advantages, in PE were found. In summary, it can be concluded that diagnosis-mixed group psychoeducation is effective in the treatment of severe psychiatric disorders. The effects can be classified as induced by distinctive psychoeducational elements. Findings similar to those on psychosis-specific programmes justify clinical application and further investigatio

The high-intensity hyperon beam at CERN

A high-intensity hyperon beam was constructed at CERN to deliver Sigma- to experiment WA89 at the Omega facility and operated from 1989 to 1994. The setup allowed rapid changeover between hyperon and conventional hadron beam configurations. The beam provided a Sigma-flux of 1.4 x 10^5 per burst at mean momenta between 330 and 345 Gev/c, produced by about 3 x 10^10 protons of 450 GeV/c . At the experiment target the beam had a Sigma-/pi- ratio close to 0.4 and a size of 1.6 x 3.7 cm^2. The beam particle trajectories and their momenta were measured with a scintillating fibre hodoscope in the beam channel and a silicon microstrip detector at the exit of the channel. A fast transition radiation detector was used to identify the pion component of the beam.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures. Submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth.

Search for the exotic Ξ−−(1860)\Xi^{--}(1860) Resonance in 340GeV/c Σ−\Sigma^--Nucleus Interactions

We report on a high statistics search for the $\Xi^{--}(1860)$ resonance in $\Sigma^-$-nucleus collisions at 340GeV/c. No evidence for this resonance is found in our data sample which contains 676000 $\Xi^-$ candidates above background. For the decay channel $\Xi^{--}(1860) \to \Xi^-\pi^-$ and the kinematic range 0.15$<x_F<$0.9 we find a 3$\sigma$ upper limit for the production cross section of 3.1 and 3.5 $\mu$b per nucleon for reactions with carbon and copper, respectively.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, modification of ref. 43 and 4

Disponibilidade de fósforo, cobre, manganes e zinco em três solos incubados com carbonato de cálcio.

Os solos tropicais são normalmente ácidos, devido a lixiviação de bases e ausência de minerais responsáveis pela reposição dessas bases (VITTI; PROCHNOW, 1996). Além da ocorrência natural, as práticas agrícolas de manejo podem acentuar a acidez do solo, Para Gama (1998) a recomendação correta de calcário tem grande importância, principalmente para que se tenhà uma adequada correção da acidez e aumente a eficiência dos fertilizantes. Isso torna-se mais relevante no caso do fósforo e dos micronutrientes metálicos, pois a acidez do solo exerce grande influência no controle da disponibilidade destes nutrientes. Segundo Lopes (1989) além da acidez, fatores como tipo e quantidade de argila do solo também influenciam a disponibilidade de P no mesmo. De acordo com Abreu et aI. (2001), o cobre tem sua disponibilidade controlada pela reação do solo e por altos teores de matéria orgânica que pode complexa-lo. No caso do manganês baixos teores naturais e o desequilíbrio de outros metais (Ca, Fe, Mg) condicionam a sua disponibilidade no solo (BORKET et al., 2001). Para estes autores a correção da acidez dos solos sob cerrados, com elevação da saturação por bases a 70% contribuiu para o surgimento de deficiências de manganês na cultura da soja, daí a recomendação atual de considerar 50% de saturação por bases como valor mais adequado àquela cultura. Quanto ao comportamento do zinco, Abreu et al.(200 1) relacionam que além da acidez baixa, altos teores de fósforo e matéria orgânica, podem reduzir a sua disponibilidade no solo. Esse trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a disponibilidade de fósforo, cobre, manganês e zinco em três solos incubados com CaC03

Measurement of the Omega_c Lifetime

We present the measurement of the lifetime of the Omega_c we have performed using three independent data samples from two different decay modes. Using a Sigma- beam of 340 GeV/c we have obtained clean signals for the Omega_c decaying into Xi- K- pi+ pi+ and Omega- pi+ pi- pi+, avoiding topological cuts normally used in charm analysis. The short but measurable lifetime of the Omega_c is demonstrated by a clear enhancement of the signals at short but finite decay lengths. Using a continuous maximum likelihood method we determined the lifetime to be tau(Omega_c) = 55 +13-11(stat) +18-23(syst) fs. This makes the Omega_c the shortest living weakly decaying particle observed so far. The short value of the lifetime confirms the predicted pattern of the charmed baryon lifetimes and demonstrates that the strong interaction plays a vital role in the lifetimes of charmed hadrons.Comment: 15 pages, including 7 figures; gzipped, uuencoded postscrip

A machine learning approach to evaluate the influence of higher-order generalized variables on shell free vibrations

This work focuses on deriving guidelines for choosing structural theories for composite shells using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). The Axiomatic/Asymptotic Method (AAM) is used to evaluate higher-order structural theories’ accuracy and computational efficiency based on polynomial expansions. AAM exploits the Carrera Unified Formulation to derive the finite element matrices and obtain natural frequencies. The outcomes of AAM concerning the accuracy and computational cost are used to train CNN for various composite shell configurations. The trained network can then be used as a substitute for finite element models to estimate the accuracy of a given structural theory. The results are provided via Best Theory Diagrams (BTD), in which the set of generalized displacement variables to retain the best accuracy can be read for a given amount of nodal degrees of freedom. Verification is carried out using results from FEM. The results proved the computational efficiency of CNN and highlighted the influence of the shell thickness for the proper choice of the structural theory. Third-order terms and transverse stretching are often necessary to obtain acceptable accuracy

Thermoelastic micromechanical analysis of CFRP with voids

The work investigates the effect of dispersed air gaps – voids – within the matrix on the local stress and strain fields and the influence on the thermoelastic properties of carbon fiber reinforced plastic polymers (CFRPs). The micromechanics framework is based on the use of 1D higher-order structural theories obtained via the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF) and periodic boundary conditions (PBC), including plasticity over the matrix. Voids are randomly generated within the matrix, considering different volume fractions. Moreover, several distributions at the same void volume fraction permit to perform statistical analyses of the results. Based on numerical results, increasing void fractions leads to higher stress and strain values. Regarding the thermoelastic properties, the results show a good agreement with the benchmarks, thus confirming that voids have a remarkable effect on thermoelastic properties