A strengths-based case management service for people with serious mental illness in Israel: A randomized controlled trial

Case management services for people with serious mental illness are generally found to be effective, but controlled and randomized studies assessing such services are scarce. The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of a new strengths-based case management (SBCM) service in Israel, using a randomized controlled approach. The sample consisted of 1276 individuals with serious mental illness, who consume psychiatric rehabilitation services (PRS) in the community, and were randomly assigned to receive or not to receive the SBCM service in addition to treatment-as-usual PRS. Quality of life, goal setting and attainment, unmet needs, self-efficacy, interpersonal relationships, symptom severity, and service utilization were assessed by clients at onset and after 20 months. Results show that SBCM participants improved in self-efficacy, unmet needs, and general quality of life, and set more goals than the control group. SBCM participants also consumed fewer services at follow-up. Results suggest that SBCM services are effective in helping individuals with serious mental illness set personal goals and use PRS in a better and more focused manner

Effect of Particle Size on Droplet Infiltration into Hydrophobic Porous Media As a Model of Water Repellent Soil

The wettability of soil is of great importance for plants and soil biota, and in determining the risk for preferential flow, surface runoff, flooding,and soil erosion. The molarity of ethanol droplet (MED) test is widely used for quantifying the severity of water repellency in soils that show reduced wettability and is assumed to be independent of soil particle size. The minimum ethanol concentration at which droplet penetration occurs within a short time (≤10 s) provides an estimate of the initial advancing contact angle at which spontaneous wetting is expected. In this study, we test the assumption of particle size independence using a simple model of soil, represented by layers of small (0.2–2 mm) diameter beads that predict the effect of changing bead radius in the top layer on capillary driven imbibition. Experimental results using a three-layer bead system show broad agreement with the model and demonstrate a dependence of the MED test on particle size. The results show that the critical initial advancing contact angle for penetration can be considerably less than 90° and varies with particle size, demonstrating that a key assumption currently used in the MED testing of soil is not necessarily valid

A Cost-Effective Design for a Neutrino Factory

There have been active efforts in the U.S., Europe, and Japan on the design of a Neutrino Factory. This type of facility produces intense beams of neutrinos from the decay of muons in a high energy storage ring. In the U.S., a second detailed Feasibility Study (FS2) for a Neutrino Factory was completed in 2001. Since that report was published, new ideas in bunching, cooling and acceleration of muon beams have been developed. We have incorporated these ideas into a new facility design, which we designate as Study 2B (ST2B), that should lead to significant cost savings over the FS2 design.Comment: 46 pages, 38 figures; to be submitted to Physical Review Special Topics: Accelerators and Beam

FAST RECONSTRUCTION OF PRIOR AUSTENITE GRAINS IN BAINITIC AND MARTENSITIC STRUCTURES IN TERM OF EBSD ORIENTATION DATA

В настоящей работе предложен упрощенный экспресс-метод восстановления бывших зерен аустенита, основанный на использовании стандартных опций EBSD микроскопа и определенного ориентационного соотношения. Метод был опробован на сталях с мартенситной и бейнитной структурой и позволил восстановить до 90 % границ зерен исходной высокотемпературной фазы, что говорит о его работоспособности.In present work we proposed a method to reconstruct prior austenite grains in high strength steels, making use of standard functions of EBSD microscope and the known orientation relationship. When tested on bainitic and martensitic steels, the method enables restoration of up to 90% of prior austenite grain boundaries.Работа выполнена на оборудовании Центра коллективного пользования НИЦ «Курчатовский институт» – ЦНИИ КМ «Прометей» при финансовой поддержке государства в лице Минобрнауки в рамках соглашения № 14.595.21.0004

INVESTIGATION OF CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC FEATURES IN BAINITEMARTENSITE STRUCTURES AFTER DIFFERENT QUENCHING CONDITIONS BY MEANS OF EBSD-ANALYSIS

Методом EBSD-анализа исследовали влияние температуры закалки на кристаллографические особенности бейнитно-мартенситной структуры образцов из высокопрочной низкоуглеродистой стали. Показано, что закалка с более высокой температуры снижает долю большеугловых границ, но практически не меняет спектр межвариантных разориентировок. В то же время этот спектр заметно изменяется с повышением скорости охлаждения, что обусловлено ростом доли мартенситной составляющей.The influence of quenching temperature on crystallographic features in bainite-martensite structure of high strength low alloyed steel is under research. Higher quenching temperature decreases high-angle boundaries fraction whereas intervariant misorientations distribution are invariable. At the same time the intervariant misorientations distribution alters significantly at increasing cooling rate due to martensite fraction increase.Работа выполнена при финансовой поддержке государства в лице Минобрнауки в рамках соглашения № 14.595.21.0004

The Interactions of Surface Damage on RF Cavity Operation

Studies of low frequency RF systems for muon cooling has led to a variety of new techniques for looking at dark currents, a new model of breakdown, and, ultimately, a model of RF cavity operation based on surface damage. We find that cavity behavior is strongly influenced by the spectrum of enhancement factors on field emission sites. Three different spectra are involved: one defining the initial state of the cavity, the second determined by the breakdown events, and the third defining the equilibrium produced as a cavity operates at its maximum field. We have been able to measure these functions and use them to derive a wide variety of cavity parameters: conditioning behavior, material, pulse length, temperature, vacuum, magnetic field, pressure, gas dependence. In addition we can calculate the dependence of breakdown rate on surface field and pulse length. This work correlates with data from Atom Probe Tomography. We will describe this model and new experimental data

Interim Design Report

The International Design Study for the Neutrino Factory (the IDS-NF) was established by the community at the ninth "International Workshop on Neutrino Factories, super-beams, and beta- beams" which was held in Okayama in August 2007. The IDS-NF mandate is to deliver the Reference Design Report (RDR) for the facility on the timescale of 2012/13. In addition, the mandate for the study [3] requires an Interim Design Report to be delivered midway through the project as a step on the way to the RDR. This document, the IDR, has two functions: it marks the point in the IDS-NF at which the emphasis turns to the engineering studies required to deliver the RDR and it documents baseline concepts for the accelerator complex, the neutrino detectors, and the instrumentation systems. The IDS-NF is, in essence, a site-independent study. Example sites, CERN, FNAL, and RAL, have been identified to allow site-specific issues to be addressed in the cost analysis that will be presented in the RDR. The choice of example sites should not be interpreted as implying a preferred choice of site for the facility

Characterisation of the muon beams for the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment

A novel single-particle technique to measure emittance has been developed and used to characterise seventeen different muon beams for the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment (MICE). The muon beams, whose mean momenta vary from 171 to 281 MeV/c, have emittances of approximately 1.2–2.3 π mm-rad horizontally and 0.6–1.0 π mm-rad vertically, a horizontal dispersion of 90–190 mm and momentum spreads of about 25 MeV/c. There is reasonable agreement between the measured parameters of the beams and the results of simulations. The beams are found to meet the requirements of MICE

Novel computed tomographic chest metrics to detect pulmonary hypertension

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) can potentially improve survival and quality of life. Detecting PH using echocardiography is often insensitive in subjects with lung fibrosis or hyperinflation. Right heart catheterization (RHC) for the diagnosis of PH adds risk and expense due to its invasive nature. Pre-defined measurements utilizing computed tomography (CT) of the chest may be an alternative non-invasive method of detecting PH.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study retrospectively reviewed 101 acutely hospitalized inpatients with heterogeneous diagnoses, who consecutively underwent CT chest and RHC during the same admission. Two separate teams, each consisting of a radiologist and pulmonologist, blinded to clinical and RHC data, individually reviewed the chest CT's.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Multiple regression analyses controlling for age, sex, ascending aortic diameter, body surface area, thoracic diameter and pulmonary wedge pressure showed that a main pulmonary artery (PA) diameter ≥29 mm (odds ratio (OR) = 4.8), right descending PA diameter ≥19 mm (OR = 7.0), true right descending PA diameter ≥ 16 mm (OR = 4.1), true left descending PA diameter ≥ 21 mm (OR = 15.5), right ventricular (RV) free wall ≥ 6 mm (OR = 30.5), RV wall/left ventricular (LV) wall ratio ≥0.32 (OR = 8.8), RV/LV lumen ratio ≥1.28 (OR = 28.8), main PA/ascending aorta ratio ≥0.84 (OR = 6.0) and main PA/descending aorta ratio ≥ 1.29 (OR = 5.7) were significant predictors of PH in this population of hospitalized patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This combination of easily measured CT-based metrics may, upon confirmatory studies, aid in the non-invasive detection of PH and hence in the determination of RHC candidacy in acutely hospitalized patients.</p