4,043 research outputs found
Intersectional Border(ing)s
This special issue of Political Geography marks a contribution to the fields of feminist geopolitics and border studies by bringing together a series of papers, which use approaches based on Yuval-Davis’ ‘situated intersectionality’ (2015) to explore everyday bordering within and without contemporary Europe. The special issue is comprised of work undertaken by colleagues from across Europe and beyond as part of work package 9 ‘Borders, Intersectionality and the Everyday’ of the EUBorderscapes project (2012-2016). We term our approach to studying borders, borderscapes and bordering processes as ‘situated intersectional bordering’. The main contribution of this approach is that borders and borderings are understood as dialogical constructs and that if we are to understand how they are being made and re-made we must attempt to explore them through the situated gazes of differentially positioned social actors. We therefore suggest a holistic approach to understanding border(ing)s, which is embedded in everyday life. Through the study of the multi-layered complexities of everyday borderings we can ‘approach the truth’ (Hill-Collins, 1990)
Targeting Youth\u27s Motivation to Change Substance Use Behaviors: Feasibility & Preliminary Outcomes from an Open Trial of the Free Talk Program in a Short-Term Juvenile Detention Facility
Background: Trauma exposure in adolescents is associated with increased rates of externalizing behaviors, substance use disorder and conduct disorder. Youth who are involved in the juvenile justice system have elevated levels of mental health difficulties and the many detained youth who have experienced trauma may be a group with particularly high needs.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of trauma exposure and correlates of such exposure in a sample of justice-involved youth.
Methods: Staff administered the Massachusetts Youth Screening Inventory (MAYSI-2) to N=41 detained youth upon their arrival at a juvenile justice facility. In the current study, we examined associations between the trauma exposure subscale and the subscales for substance use, suicidal ideation, depression/anxiety, thought disturbance, and anger/irritability. The thought disturbance subscale has only been validated for boys.
Results: 59.2% of youth in the sample endorsed trauma exposure on the MAYSI-2. As hypothesized, we found significant positive correlations between trauma exposure and several MAYSI-2 subscales including substance use (r=.35, p\u3c.05), anger/irritability (r=.49, p\u3c.001), and depression/anxiety (r=.64, p\u3c.001). The thought disturbance subscale yielded a significant positive correlation with the trauma exposure subscale for boys (r=.48, p\u3c.01).
Discussion: Detained youth are a group with heightened psychological needs compared to the general population. Results suggest that those youth who have been exposed to trauma may be a group with particularly high level of needs. Trauma-focused programs and policies can be implemented to mitigate not only posttraumatic stress but also substance use, anger/irritability, depression/anxiety that correlate with trauma exposure
Decay of nuclear hyperpolarization in silicon microparticles
We investigate the low-field relaxation of nuclear hyperpolarization in
undoped and highly doped silicon microparticles at room temperature following
removal from high field. For nominally undoped particles, two relaxation time
scales are identified for ambient fields above 0.2 mT. The slower, T_1s, is
roughly independent of ambient field; the faster, T_1f, decreases with
increasing ambient field. A model in which nuclear spin relaxation occurs at
the particle surface via a two-electron mechanism is shown to be in good
agreement with the experimental data, particularly the field-independence of
T_1s. For boron-doped particles, a single relaxation time scale is observed.
This suggests that for doped particles, mobile carriers and bulk ionized
acceptor sites, rather than paramagnetic surface states, are the dominant
relaxation mechanisms. Relaxation times for the undoped particles are not
affected by tumbling in a liquid solution.Comment: related papers at http://marcuslab.harvard.ed
Magnetospheric considerations for solar system ice state
The current lattice configuration of the water ice on the surfaces of the inner satellites of Jupiter and Saturn is likely shaped by many factors. But laboratory experiments have found that energetic proton irradiation can cause a transition in the structure of pure water ice from crystalline to amorphous. It is not known to what extent this process is competitive with other processes in solar system contexts. For example, surface regions that are rich in water ice may be too warm for this effect to be important, even if the energetic proton bombardment rate is very high. In this paper, we make predictions, based on particle flux levels and other considerations, about where in the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn the ∼MeV proton irradiation mechanism should be most relevant. Our results support the conclusions of Hansen and McCord (2004), who related relative level of radiation on the three outer Galilean satellites to the amorphous ice content within the top 1 mm of surface. We argue here that if magnetospheric effects are considered more carefully, the correlation is even more compelling. Crystalline ice is by far the dominant ice state detected on the inner Saturnian satellites and, as we show here, the flux of bombarding energetic protons onto these bodies is much smaller than at the inner Jovian satellites. Therefore, the ice on the Saturnian satellites also corroborates the correlation
The application of a cavity ring-down spectrometer to measurements of ambient ammonia using traceable primary standard gas mixtures
A correction for the undesirable effects of direct and indirect cross-interference from water vapour on ammonia (NH) measurements was developed using an optical laser sensor based on cavity ring-down spectroscopy. This correction relied on new measurements of the collisional broadening due to water vapour of two NH spectral lines in the near infra-red (6548.6 and 6548.8 cm), and on the development of novel stable primary standard gas mixtures (PSMs) of ammonia prepared by gravimetry in passivated gas cylinders at 100 μmol mol. The PSMs were diluted dynamically to provide calibration mixtures of dry and humidified ammonia atmospheres of known composition in the nmol mol range and were employed as part of establishing a metrological traceability chain to improve the reliability and accuracy of ambient ammonia measurements. The successful implementation of this correction will allow the extension of this rapid on-line spectroscopic technique to exposure chamber validation tests under controlled conditions and ambient monitoring in the field.We gratefully acknowledge the funding received from the Chemical and Biological Metrology Programme of the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) of the European Union. The EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00340-016-6486-
The older adult: Associated fire risks and current challenges for the development of future fire safety intervention strategies
Electrical resistivity tomography array comparisons to detect cleared-wall foundations in brownfield sites
Electrical resistivity surveys are commonly used to detect and characterise near-surface buried objects in commercial developments of brownfield sites. 2D ERT profiles arrays predominate in such surveys due to their relatively rapid deployment, good penetration depths and fast data collection rates. However, there is a need to test the optimum array types in such surveys. A scaled-model was used to simulate a large cleared-building wall foundation at a test facility, before multiple 2D ERT profiles were acquired using different array configurations. Results were used to generate 2D resistivity models using both least-square smoothness-constraint and robust inversion. 2D profile array comparisons showed that the Wenner and dipole-dipole arrays were the best in detecting the cleared-wall foundation, although dipole-dipole arrays better delineated the top of the wall foundation. This study suggests that both Wenner and dipole-dipole array configurations should be utilised to detect buried wall foundations for 2D resistivity surveys
Deep Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Inspection System
The objective of the group is to investigate the application of Reinforced Deep Learning to autonomously complete damage inspection on buildings after natural disasters. By using Reinforced Deep Learning with Convolutional Neural Networks performing image processing, the drone will be trained to navigate itself towards buildings and perform building inspection without scanning the whole structure. The algorithms for Reinforced Deep Learning can be used to drive drones autonomously and perform inspections currently done by humans. The stability of the structure of buildings are unknown when these inspections are performed. This application would greatly reduce the risk of individuals involved in inspecting the building structures and provide greater insight into the stability of these structures
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