Putting the pieces back together: a group intervention for sexually exploited adolescent girls

Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is an emerging problem affecting adolescents, families, and communities throughout the United States. Despite a growing awareness of the problem, information regarding treatment is limited. This paper describes a pilot group intervention created for use with DMST victims, focusing specifically on areas that were critical to the development and life of the group: 1) providing education about DMST, 2) reducing shame and addressing stigma, 3) mutual aid, and 4) managing strong emotions through the development of new coping skills. Process examples are given to illustrate this pilot intervention, and recommendations for research and practice are discussed

Sun-as-a-Star Observation of Flares in Lyman {\alpha} by the PROBA2/LYRA radiometer

There are very few reports of flare signatures in the solar irradiance at H i Lyman {\alpha} at 121.5 nm, i.e. the strongest line of the solar spectrum. The LYRA radiometer onboard PROBA2 has observed several flares for which unambiguous signatures have been found in its Lyman-{\alpha} channel. Here we present a brief overview of these observations followed by a detailed study of one of them, the M2 flare that occurred on 8 February 2010. For this flare, the flux in the LYRA Lyman-{\alpha} channel increased by 0.6%, which represents about twice the energy radiated in the GOES soft X-ray channel and is comparable with the energy radiated in the He ii line at 30.4 nm. The Lyman-{\alpha} emission represents only a minor part of the total radiated energy of this flare, for which a white-light continuum was detected. Additionally, we found that the Lyman-{\alpha} flare profile follows the gradual phase but peaks before other wavelengths. This M2 flare was very localized and has a very brief impulsive phase, but more statistics are needed to determine if these factors influence the presence of a Lyman-{\alpha} flare signal strong enough to appear in the solar irradiance.Comment: in press for Solar Physic

Pairing correlations in a trapped one-dimensional Fermi gas

We use a BCS-type variational wavefunction to study attractively-interacting quasi one-dimensional (1D) fermionic atomic gases, motivated by cold-atom experiments that access the 1D regime using an anisotropic harmonic trapping potential (with trapping frequencies $\omega_x = \omega_y \gg \omega_z$) that confines the gas to a cigar-shaped geometry. To handle the presence of the trap along the $z$-direction, we construct our variational wavefunction from the harmonic oscillator Hermite functions that are the eigenstates of the single-particle problem. Using an analytic determination of the effective interaction among harmonic oscillator states along with a numerical solution of the resulting variational equations, we make specific experimental predictions for how pairing correlations would be revealed in experimental probes like the local density and the momentum correlation function.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Published in Phys. Rev.

1-octadecene monolayers on Si(111) hydrogen-terminated surfaces: effects of substrate doping

We have studied the electronic properties, in relation to their structural properties, of monolayers of 1-octadecene attached on a hydrogen-terminated (111) silicon surface. The molecules are attached using the free-radical reaction between C=C and Si-H activated by an ultraviolet illumination. We have compared the structural and electrical properties of monolayers formed on silicon substrate of different types (n-type and p-type) and different doping concentrations from low-doped (~1E14 cm-3) to highly doped (~1E19 cm-3) silicon substrates. We show that the monolayers on n-, p- and p+ silicon are densely packed and that they act as very good insulating films at a nanometer thickness with leakage currents as low as ~1E-7 A.cm-2 and high quality capacitance-voltage characteristics. The monolayers formed on n+-type silicon are more disordered and therefore exhibit larger leakage current densities (>1E-4 A.cm-2) when embedded in a silicon/monolayer/metal junction. The inferior structural and electronic properties obtained with n+-type silicon pinpoint the important role of surface potential and of the position of the surface Fermi level during the chemisorption of the organic monolayers.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, to be published J. Appl. Phy

Measurement-based Run-to-run Optimization of a Batch Reaction-distillation System

Measurement-based optimization schemes have been developed to deal with uncertainty and process variations. One of the methods therein, labeled NCO tracking, relies on appropriate parameterization of the input profiles and adjusts the corresponding input parameters using measurements so as to satisfy the necessary conditions of optimality (NCO). The applicability of NCO-tracking schemes has been demonstrated on several academic-size examples. The goal of this paper is to show that it can be applied with similar ease to more complex real-life systems. Run-to-run optimization of a batch reaction-separation system with propylene glycol is used for illustration

Cellulose Nanoparticles are a Biodegradable Photoacoustic Contrast Agent for Use in Living Mice.

Molecular imaging with photoacoustic ultrasound is an emerging field that combines the spatial and temporal resolution of ultrasound with the contrast of optical imaging. However, there are few imaging agents that offer both high signal intensity and biodegradation into small molecules. Here we describe a cellulose-based nanoparticle with peak photoacoustic signal at 700 nm and an in vitro limit of detection of 6 pM (0.02 mg/mL). Doses down to 0.35 nM (1.2 mg/mL) were used to image mouse models of ovarian cancer. Most importantly, the nanoparticles were shown to biodegrade in the presence of cellulase both through a glucose assay and electron microscopy

Progress against Rwanda’s Vision 2020 key indicators’ targets

Abstract: Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is recognised as an essential management tool that helps to ensure that policies, programmes, and projects (commonly known as interventions) are implemented as planned and to assess the extent to which these government interventions have achieved or failed to achieve their desired results. Since 2000, most of the Government of Rwanda’s (GoR) development programmes have been implemented to achieve the objectives of Vision 2020. The GoR’s Vision 2020 has been implemented for over 17 years (2000 to 2017) and the 2020 deadline is looming. However, a critical but often forgotten question is to what extent the GoR has progressed towards achieving the targets of Vision 2020 – or whether the GoR will be able to achieve all the objectives of Vision 2020 before 2020. The objective of this article is to provide an interim report on the GoR’s progress towards achieving the objectives of Vision 2020 and to apply the “Physical Performance Rating System” developed by the Ugandan government (Byamugisha and Basheka, 2016, p.3) to determine the targets for the Vision 2020 key indicators that have been achieved at the time of this research (2017): those that are likely to be achieved, those that may be achieved, and those that cannot reasonably be achieved in the remaining years – given the current rate of progress. As an interim evaluation, this article makes an early contribution to what will doubtless become substantial literature on the evaluation the GoR’s Vision 2020 in the future. The broader contribution of this article “is towards the development of theoretically informed but empirically grounded” (Byrne, Randall & Theakston, 2017, p.203) M&E research, which is explicitly attentive to the social, economic, political, and structural conditions peculiar to Rwanda

Monitoring and evaluation in a chaotic and complex government interventions’ environment

Abstract : This paper analyses the factors that influence Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of government interventions in a chaotic and complex organisational environment. The central argument is that many factors from the natural and man-made (intellectual) environment affect the evaluation of government interventions. However, despite approximately three decades of M&E studies, there is currently no known study that has focused on the effects of the different factors that influence the M&E of government interventions. The objective of this paper is to critically analyse the effects of different environmental factors on M&E of government interventions. This paper is an attempt to close the knowledge gap in the current literature. This research is qualitative and is based on a robust literature review of the existing literature on M&E and the theory of change, chaos and complexity. The research followed an interpretive, social constructivist paradigm which basically starts from an assumption that when M&E experts, scholars and practitioners construct meaning of their world, and in making sense of that world, they are influenced by their historical, economic, social and cultural backgrounds. This paradigm resonates well with the research’s central objective of identifying, explaining and interpreting the environmental factors that influence M&E. The main finding in this paper is that there are many natural and intellectual (man-made) environmental factors that affect M&E. Change caused by these environmental factors is chaotic, complex and unpredictable. The effects of these environmental factors on the M&E of government interventions is inevitable because organisations are open systems. An M&E endeavour which ignores the effects of natural and intellectual (manmade) environmental factors on M&E cannot produce accurate information and valid recommendations. Therefore, M&E scholars, professionals and practitioners should take into account the environmental context in which M&E is done in order to produce more accurate M&E results and valid recommendations