Psychopathic Personality Traits and Iowa Gambling Task Performance in Incarcerated Offenders

There is a paucity of research on how psychopathy relates to decision-making. In this study, we assessed the relationship between affective decision-making and psychopathic personality. A sample of prisoners (n D 49) was characterized in terms of psychopathic traits using the Psychopathic Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). Decision-making was assessed using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Higher levels of psychopathy related to more advantageous choices (p D .003). Also counter-intuitively, higher levels of antisocial traits (facet 4) predicted advantageous choices during the learning phase of the task (p D .004). Our findings suggest that some psychopathic facets may be more relevant to decisionmaking under risk, and highlight the importance of further investigations considering facet and trait-level relationships with decision-making

Gender Gaps, Partisan Gaps, and Cross-Pressures: An Examination of American Attitudes toward the Use of Force

This article explores the gender gap in attitudes toward the use of military force in the United States. Given that the United States has been continuously engaged in war for the last 17 years, we revisit the topic and explore whether a gender gap in attitudes persists by utilizing Cooperative Congressional Election Study data for 2006–16. In addition, given the primacy of partisanship to issue attitudes, we go beyond examining the gender gap to explore the impact of partisanship on these attitudes. We find that women are less likely than men to support the use of force in most circumstances. We also find gender gaps in the Democratic and Republican parties and acknowledge the diversity among women and among men in these attitudes because of partisan identity. Finally, we identify points of cross-pressure on individuals whose gender and partisan identities pull them in different directions, namely, Republican women and Democratic men.</p

Safeguarding Special Nuclear Material by Detecting Fast Neutrons in Liquid Scintillators.

The number and complexity of nuclear facilities are increasing and new technologies are needed to maintain successful domestic and international safeguards efforts. Specifically, new radiation measurement systems for nuclear safeguards are needed to provide accountability of nuclear materials in facilities around the world. Previously-developed systems for the measurement of fissile mass relied on He-3 as the detection medium and neutron moderators prior to detection. This thesis explores the use of fast neutron detectors in a new safeguards instrument: the fast-neutron-multiplicity counter (FNMC). The use of fast neutron detectors such as the liquid scintillators used here provides some advantages over the previously-used detectors and analyses. A number of experiments and simulations were performed to show the feasibility of the FNMC system. Passive neutron coincidence measurements of plutonium were performed to measure correlated neutrons from spontaneous and induced fissions. Within this study, the detection system was able to capture the time, energy, and angular distributions of neutron emission from the samples. Active-interrogation methods of uranium characterization were investigated to determine the ability of the liquid scintillators to detect induced-fission neutrons in the presence of active neutron sources. Detection timing techniques were used to identify small differences in enrichment and mass. A partial FNMC system was used to perform initial tests of the multiplicity sensitivity of the system to changes in Pu-240-effective mass. With the knowledge and tools developed in the measurements with the partial system, a full FNMC system was designed and used to quantify plutonium mass. An optimized and efficient FNMC was shown to be able to characterize materials in fast measurement times. Few accidental counts are collected during its acquisition and each coincident detection is directly used. Therefore, the efficiency of the system can be relatively low and the system can still arrive at low statistical uncertainties in fast measurement times. The FNMC can measure gram levels of Pu-240-eff to 5% statistical uncertainty in measurement times of the order of minutes. The presented FNMC could rival the performance of traditional He-3 technology, but at a fraction of the cost.PHDNuclear Engineering & Radiological SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100025/1/jldolan_1.pd

The estimation of a preference-based measure of health from the SF-36

This paper reports on the findings of a study to derive a preference-based measure of health from the SF-36 for use in economic evaluation. The SF-36 was revised into a six-dimensional health state classification called the SF-6D. A sample of 249 states defined by the SF-6D have been valued by a representative sample of 611 members of the UK general population, using standard gamble. Models are estimated for predicting health state valuations for all 18,000 states defined by the SF-6D. The econometric modelling had to cope with the hierarchical nature of the data and its skewed distribution. The recommended models have produced significant coefficients for levels of the SF-6D, which are robust across model specification. However, there are concerns with some inconsistent estimates and over prediction of the value of the poorest health states. These problems must be weighed against the rich descriptive ability of the SF-6D, and the potential application of these models to existing and future SF-36 data set

5 things to know about generative text AI tools... that might be outdated or upgraded by the time of publication

This brief newsletter article describes how academic librarians can begin learning about and using generative text AI tools such as ChatGPT.</p

Model refinement increases confidence levels and clinical agreement when commissioning a three-dimensional secondary dose calculation system

PURPOSE: Evaluate custom beam models for a second check dose calculation system using statistically verifiable passing criteria for film analysis, DVH, and 3D gamma metrics. METHODS: Custom beam models for nine linear accelerators for the Sun Nuclear Dose Calculator algorithm (SDC, Sun Nuclear) were evaluated using the AAPM-TG119 test suite (5 Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and 5 Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) plans) and a set of clinical plans. Where deemed necessary, adjustments to Multileaf Collimator (MLC) parameters were made to improve results. Comparisons to the Analytic Anisotropic Algorithm (AAA), and gafchromic film measurements were performed. Confidence intervals were set to 95% per TG-119. Film gamma criteria were 3%/3 mm (conventional beams) or 3%/1 mm (Stereotactic Radiosurgery [SRS] beams). Dose distributions in solid water phantom were evaluated based on DVH metrics (e.g., D95, V20) and 3D gamma criteria (3%/3 mm or 3%/1 mm). Film passing rates, 3D gamma passing rates, and DVH metrics were reported for HD MLC machines and Millennium MLC Machines. RESULTS: For HD MLC machines, SDC gamma film agreement was 98.76% ± 2.30% (5.74% CL) for 6FFF/6srs (3%/1 mm), and 99.80% ± 0.32% (0.83% CL) for 6x (3%/3 mm). For Millennium MLC machines, film passing rates were 98.20% ± 3.14% (7.96% CL), 99.52% ± 1.14% (2.71% CL), and 99.69% ± 0.82% (1.91% CL) for 6FFF, 6x, and 10x, respectively. For SDC to AAA comparisons: HD MLC Linear Accelerators (LINACs); DVH point agreement was 0.97% ± 1.64% (4.18% CL) and 1.05% ± 2.12% (5.20% CL); 3D gamma agreement was 99.97% ± 0.14% (0.30% CL) and 100.00% ± 0.02% (0.05% CL), for 6FFF/6srs and 6x, respectively; Millennium MLC LINACs: DVH point agreement was 0.77% ± 2.40% (5.47% CL), 0.80% ± 3.40% (7.47% CL), and 0.07% ± 2.15% (4.30% CL); 3D gamma agreement was 99.97% ± 0.13% (0.29% CL), 99.97% ± 0.17% (0.36% CL), and 99.99% ± 0.06% (0.12% CL) for 6FFF, 6x, and 10x, respectively. CONCLUSION: SDC shows agreement well within TG119 CLs for film and redundant dose calculation comparisons with AAA. In some models (SRS), this was achieved using stricter criteria. TG119 plans can be used to help guide model adjustments and to establish clinical baselines for DVH and 3D gamma criteria

Circumventing the "Ick" factor: A randomized trial of the effects of omitting affective attitudes questions to increase intention to become an organ donor

Objectives:&nbsp;Including or excluding certain questions about organ donation may influence peoples&rsquo; intention to donate. We investigated the effect of omitting certain affective attitudinal items on potential donors&rsquo; intention and behavior for donation.&nbsp; Design:&nbsp;A cross-sectional survey with a subgroup nested randomized trial.&nbsp; Methods:&nbsp;A total of 578 members of the public in four shopping centers were surveyed on their attitudes to organ donation. Non-donors (n= 349) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group 1 completed items on affective and cognitive attitudes, anticipated regret, intention, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. Group 2 completed all items above but excluded affective attitudes. Group 3 completed all items but omitted negatively worded affective attitudes. The primary outcome was intention to donate, taking a donor card after the interview was a secondary behavioral outcome, and both were predicted using linear and logistic regression with group 1 as the reference.&nbsp; Results:&nbsp;Mean (SD) 1&ndash;7 intention scores for groups 1, 2 and 3 were, respectively: 4.43 (SD 1.89), 4.95 (SD 1.64) and 4.88 (SD 1.81), with group 2 significantly higher than group 1 (&beta; = 0.518, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.18 to 0.86).At the end of the interview, people in group 2 (66.7%; OR = 1.40, 95% CI 0.94 to 2.07,p= 0.096) but not those in group 3 (61.7%; OR = 1.10, 95% CI 0.69 to 1.75,p= 0.685), were marginally more likely to accept a donor card from the interviewer than people in group 1 (59.7%).&nbsp; Conclusion:&nbsp;Omitting affective attitudinal items results in higher intention to donate organs and marginally higher rates of acceptance of donor cards, which has important implications for future organ donation public health campaigns

Estimating a preference-based index from the Japanese SF-36

Objective: The main objective of the study was to estimate a preference-bascd Short Form (SF)-6D index from the SF-36 for Japan and compare it with the UK results. Study Design and Setting: The SF-6D was translated into Japanese. Two hundred and forty-nine health states defined by this version of the SF-6D were then valued by a representative sample of 600 members of the Japanese general population using standard gamble (SG). These health-state values were modeled using classical parametric random-effect methods with individual-level data and ordinary least squares (OLS) on mean health-state values, together with a new nonparametric approach using Bayesian methods of estimation. Results: All parametric models estimated on Japanese data were found to perform less well than their UK counterparts in terms of poorer goodness of fit, more inconsistencies, larger prediction errors and bias, and evidence of systematic bias in the predictions. Nonparametric models produce a substantial improvement in out-of-sample predictions. The physical, role, and social dimensions have relatively larger decrements than pain and mental health compared with those in the United Kingdom. Conclusion: The differences between Japanese and UK valuations of the SF-6D make it important to use the Japanese valuation data set estimated using the nonparametric Bayesian technique presented in this article. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved