Measurement of Dynamic Modulus and Master Curve Modeling of Hot Mix Asphalt from Senegal (West Africa)

The main purpose of this paper is to model the master curve of dynamic modulus |E*| for Hot Mix Asphalt mix designed with aggregate from Senegal named basalt of Diack and quartzite of Bakel. The prediction model used is the Witczak model, used in the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide. A study has been conducted in the Laboratory of Pavements and Bituminous Materials. Six different HMA (BBSG 0/14 mm) were subjected to complex modulus test by tension-compression according to the European or Canadian procedure using the same range of temperatures and frequencies. For each mixture studied the uniqueness of modulus curves in the Cole-Cole or in Black diagrams have shown that the asphalt mixes are thermorheologically simple materials and the Canadian test process is suitable for determining the HMA complex modulus mix designed with the aggregates from Senegal. This implies their tender with the principle of time-temperature equivalence. The test results were used to model the master curves of HMA studied. A correlation with the results of dynamic modulus measured have shown an accuracy of R2 = 0,99 and p = 0,00 in STATISTICA software, which allows to conclude that the sigmoidal model has good modeling of the dynamic modulus

“My queer identity and my family identity are two very separate things”: a mixed-methods study investigating the psychological implications of family identity and support for trans and gender diverse youth during the COVID-19 pandemic

Gender-affirming support from one’s family is psychologically protective for trans and gender diverse (TGD) youth. However, the psychological processes through which family-based support is associated with mental health and wellbeing within this population are not yet understood. The Social Identity Approach to Health, which highlights the important role of social group membership for people’s health and wellbeing, was used to address this gap within a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. Study 1 utilised an online survey (N=140) to demonstrate that family identification is associated with reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression and increased wellbeing, which was mediated by increased social support and reduced loneliness. Using semi-structured interviews (N=27), Study 2 built on the findings from Study 1 by understanding the nature of young TGD people’s experiences of their family groups, family support, loneliness, and mental health. Four main themes were found: 1. I Can’t Be Me When I Am Around You; 2. The Psychological Costs of Authenticity; 3. Increasing the Likelihood of Receiving Familial Support; 4. The Missing Part of the Jigsaw. Together, these studies provide a theoretical framework to understand why family support (from both bio-legal and non-bio-legal families) can be protective and/or harmful for young TGD people’s mental health and wellbeing

Two-dimensional gravitation and Sine-Gordon-Solitons

Some aspects of two-dimensional gravity coupled to matter fields, especially to the Sine-Gordon-model are examined. General properties and boundary conditions of possible soliton-solutions are considered. Analytic soliton-solutions are discovered and the structure of the induced space-time geometry is discussed. These solutions have interesting features and may serve as a starting point for further investigations.Comment: 23 pages, latex, references added, to appear in Phys.Rev.

Critical Behavior of Dimensionally Continued Black Holes

The critical behavior of black holes in even and odd dimensional spacetimes is studied based on Ba\~nados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) dimensionally continued black holes. In even dimensions it is found that asymptotically flat and anti de-Sitter Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes present up to two second order phase transitions. The case of asymptotically anti-de-Sitter Schwarzschild black holes present only one critical transition and a minimum of temperature, which occurs at the transition. Finally, it is shown that phase transitions are absent in odd dimensions.Comment: 21 pages in Latex format, no figures, vastly improved version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Brief Report: Theatre as Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The pilot investigation evaluated a theatrical intervention program, Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology (SENSE) Theatre, designed to improve socioemotional functioning and reduce stress in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Eight children with ASD were paired with typically developing peers that served as expert models. Neuropsychological, biological (cortisol and oxytocin), and behavioral measures were assessed in a pretest–posttest design. The intervention was embedded in a full musical theatrical production. Participants showed some improvement in face identification and theory of mind skills. The intervention shows potential promise in improving the socioemotional functioning in children with ASD through the utilization of peers, video and behavioral modeling, and a community-based theatrical setting

An exact expression to calculate the derivatives of position-dependent observables in molecular simulations with flexible constraints

In this work, we introduce an algorithm to compute the derivatives of physical observables along the constrained subspace when flexible constraints are imposed on the system (i.e., constraints in which the hard coordinates are fixed to configuration-dependent values). The presented scheme is exact, it does not contain any tunable parameter, and it only requires the calculation and inversion of a sub-block of the Hessian matrix of second derivatives of the function through which the constraints are defined. We also present a practical application to the case in which the sought observables are the Euclidean coordinates of complex molecular systems, and the function whose minimization defines the constraints is the potential energy. Finally, and in order to validate the method, which, as far as we are aware, is the first of its kind in the literature, we compare it to the natural and straightforward finite-differences approach in three molecules of biological relevance: methanol, N-methyl-acetamide and a tri-glycine peptideComment: 13 pages, 8 figures, published versio

A Method for Serial Tissue Processing and Parallel Analysis of Aberrant Crypt Morphology, Mucin Depletion, and Beta-Catenin Staining in an Experimental Model of Colon Carcinogenesis

The use of architectural and morphological characteristics of cells for establishing prognostic indicators by which individual pathologies are assigned grade and stage is a well-accepted practice. Advances in automated micro- and macroscopic image acquisition and digital image analysis have created new opportunities in the field of prognostic assessment; but, one area in experimental pathology, animal models for colon cancer, has not taken advantage of these opportunities. This situation is primarily due to the methods available to evaluate the colon of the rodent for the presence of premalignant and malignant pathologies. We report a new method for the excision and processing of the entire colon of the rat and illustrate how this procedure permitted the quantitative assessment of aberrant crypt foci (ACF), a premalignant colon pathology, for characteristics consistent with progression to malignancy. ACF were detected by methylene blue staining and subjected to quantitative morphometric analysis. Colons were then restained with high iron diamine–alcian blue for assessment of mucin depletion using an image overlay to associate morphometric data with mucin depletion. The subsequent evaluation of ACF for beta-catenin staining is also demonstrated. The methods described are particularly relevant to the screening of compounds for cancer chemopreventive activity

Under pressure: Response urgency modulates striatal and insula activity during decision-making under risk

When deciding whether to bet in situations that involve potential monetary loss or gain (mixed gambles), a subjective sense of pressure can influence the evaluation of the expected utility associated with each choice option. Here, we explored how gambling decisions, their psychophysiological and neural counterparts are modulated by an induced sense of urgency to respond. Urgency influenced decision times and evoked heart rate responses, interacting with the expected value of each gamble. Using functional MRI, we observed that this interaction was associated with changes in the activity of the striatum, a critical region for both reward and choice selection, and within the insula, a region implicated as the substrate of affective feelings arising from interoceptive signals which influence motivational behavior. Our findings bridge current psychophysiological and neurobiological models of value representation and action-programming, identifying the striatum and insular cortex as the key substrates of decision-making under risk and urgency