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Life Chaos is Associated with Reduced HIV Testing, Engagement in Care, and ART Adherence Among Cisgender Men and Transgender Women upon Entry into Jail.
Life chaos, the perceived inability to plan for and anticipate the future, may be a barrier to the HIV care continuum for people living with HIV who experience incarceration. Between December 2012 and June 2015, we interviewed 356 adult cisgender men and transgender women living with HIV in Los Angeles County Jail. We assessed life chaos using the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS) and conducted regression analyses to estimate the association between life chaos and care continuum. Forty-eight percent were diagnosed with HIV while incarcerated, 14% were engaged in care 12 months prior to incarceration, mean antiretroviral adherence was 65%, and 68% were virologically suppressed. Adjusting for sociodemographics, HIV-related stigma, and social support, higher life chaos was associated with greater likelihood of diagnosis while incarcerated, lower likelihood of engagement in care, and lower adherence. There was no statistically significant association between life chaos and virologic suppression. Identifying life chaos in criminal-justice involved populations and intervening on it may improve continuum outcomes
Indium oxide diffusion barriers for Al/Si metallizations
Indium oxide (In2O3) films were prepared by reactive rf sputtering of an In target in O2/Ar plasma. We have investigated the application of these films as diffusion barriers in Si/In2O3/Al and Si/TiSi2.3/In2O3/Al metallizations. Scanning transmission electron microscopy together with energy dispersive analysis of x ray of cross-sectional Si/In2O3/Al specimens, and electrical measurements on shallow n + -p junction diodes were used to evaluate the diffusion barrier capability of In2O3 films. We find that 100-nm-thick In2O3 layers prevent the intermixing between Al and Si in Si/In2O3/Al contacts up to 650°C for 30 min, which makes this material one of the best thin-film diffusion barriers on record between Al and Si. (The Si-Al eutectic temperature is 577°C, Al melts at 660°C.) When a contacting layer of titanium silicide is incorporated to form a Si/TiSi2.3/In2O3/Al metallization structure, the thermal stability of the contact drops to 600°C for 30 min heat treatment
Ultrasonic studies of the magnetic phase transition in MnSi
Measurements of the sound velocities in a single crystal of MnSi were
performed in the temperature range 4-150 K. Elastic constants, controlling
propagation of longitudinal waves reveal significant softening at a temperature
of about 29.6 K and small discontinuities at 28.8 K, which corresponds to
the magnetic phase transition in MnSi. In contrast the shear elastic moduli do
not show any softening at all, reacting only to the small volume deformation
caused by the magneto-volume effect. The current ultrasonic study exposes an
important fact that the magnetic phase transition in MnSi, occurring at 28.8 K,
is just a minor feature of the global transformation marked by the rounded
maxima or minima of heat capacity, thermal expansion coefficient, sound
velocities and absorption, and the temperature derivative of resistivity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
An Integrated Mechanistic Model of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Opioid-Exposed Mother–Infant Dyads
A growing body of neurobiological and psychological research sheds light on the mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of opioid use disorder and its relation to parenting behavior. Perinatal opioid use is associated with risks for women and children, including increased risk of child maltreatment. Drawing from extant data, here we provide an integrated mechanistic model of perinatal opioid use, parenting behavior, infant attachment, and child well-being to inform the development and adaptation of behavioral interventions for opioid-exposed mother–infant dyads. The model posits that recurrent perinatal opioid use may lead to increased stress sensitivity and reward dysregulation for some mothers, resulting in decreased perceived salience of infant cues, disengaged parenting behavior, disrupted infant attachment, and decreased child well-being. We conclude with a discussion of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement as a means of addressing mechanisms undergirding perinatal opioid use, parenting, and attachment, presenting evidence on the efficacy and therapeutic mechanisms of mindfulness. As perinatal opioid use increases in the United States, empirically informed models can be used to guide treatment development research and address this growing concern
Mindfulness in Treatment Approaches for Addiction — Underlying Mechanisms and Future Directions
Purpose of Review: While the treatment of addictive disorders proves to be challenging, new treatment approaches that evolved around the concepts of mindfulness and acceptance have been utilized and investigated in recent years. Our goal is to summarize the efficacy and possible underlying mechanisms of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) in addictive disorders.
Recent Findings: Various meta-analyses have suggested that MBIs show clinical efficacy in the treatment of addictive disorders. Considering the factors that impact addictive disorders, MBIs have been indicated to augment responsiveness to natural rewards in contrast to addiction-related cues as well as to increase top-down cognitive control, decrease subjective and physiological stress perception, and enhance positive affect.
Summary: In summary, MBIs hold promise in treating addictive disorders while larger randomized controlled trials with longitudinal study designs are needed to confirm their utility. Newest clinical endeavors strive to enhance the clinical utility of MBIs by augmentation or personalization
Smectic ordering in liquid crystal - aerosil dispersions I. X-ray scattering
Comprehensive x-ray scattering studies have characterized the smectic
ordering of octylcyanobiphenyl (8CB) confined in the hydrogen-bonded silica
gels formed by aerosil dispersions. For all densities of aerosil and all
measurement temperatures, the correlations remain short range, demonstrating
that the disorder imposed by the gels destroys the nematic (N) to smectic-A
(SmA) transition. The smectic correlation function contains two distinct
contributions. The first has a form identical to that describing the critical
thermal fluctuations in pure 8CB near the N-SmA transition, and this term
displays a temperature dependence at high temperatures similar to that of the
pure liquid crystal. The second term, which is negligible at high temperatures
but dominates at low temperatures, has a shape given by the thermal term
squared and describes the static fluctuations due to random fields induced by
confinement in the gel. The correlation lengths appearing in the thermal and
disorder terms are the same and show strong variation with gel density at low
temperatures. The temperature dependence of the amplitude of the static
fluctuations further suggests that nematic susceptibility become suppressed
with increasing quenched disorder. The results overall are well described by a
mapping of the liquid crystal-aerosil system into a three dimensional XY model
in a random field with disorder strength varying linearly with the aerosil
density.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figure
Adapting a Computational Multi Agent Model for Humpback Whale Song Research for use as a Tool for Algorithmic Composition
Humpback whales (Megaptera Novaengliae) present one of the most complex displays of cultural transmission amongst non-humans. During breeding seasons, male humpback whales create long, hierarchical songs, which are shared amongst a population. Every male in the population conforms to the same song in a population. During the breeding season these songs slowly change and the song at the end of the breeding season is significantly different from the song heard at the start of the breeding season. The song of a population can also be replaced, if a new song from a different population is introduced.This is known as song revolution. Our research focuses on building computational multi agent models, which seek to recreate these phenomena observed in the wild.Our research relies on methods inspired by computational multi agent models for the evolution of music. This interdisciplinary approach has allowed us to adapt our model so that it may be used not only as a scientific tool, but also a creative tool for algorithmic composition. This paper discusses the model in detail, and then demonstrates how it may be adapted for use as an algorithmic composition tool.Publisher PD
The Role of Habit, Childhood Consumption, Familiarity and Attitudes Across Seafood Consumption Segments in Australia
Australian consumers hold very favorable attitudes toward seafood, with key drivers to consumption being taste, convenience, diet variety, and health benefits. Nevertheless, despite these positive attitudes, seafood consumption remains below many other countries. In this article, we investigate the influence of habit including regular childhood consumption, familiarity with seafood, and attitudes toward seafood on seafood consumption and consumption occasions. Habit and lack of familiarity with seafood were found to lead to lower levels of seafood consumption, whereas positive attitudes toward seafood were associated with more regular seafood consumption. People who consumed seafood on a regular basis as a child were more likely to be more familiar with seafood and be in the habit of consuming seafood in adulthood. Patterns of childhood consumption occasions were found to be associated with adult consumption occasions. Based on these findings, we discuss possible strategies and behavioral interventions for further investigation, which are grounded in habit theory and are aimed at changing seafood eating habits, increasing childhood consumption, and reducing the lack of familiarity with seafood
General massive one-loop off-shell three-point functions
In this work we compute the most general massive one-loop off-shell
three-point vertex in D-dimensions, where the masses, external momenta, and
exponents of propagators are arbitrary. This follows our previous paper in
which we have calculated several new hypergeometric series representations for
massless and massive (with equal masses) scalar one-loop three-point functions,
in the negative dimensional approach.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, 4 table
Neuroplasticity, Psychosocial Genomics, and the Biopsychosocial Paradigm in the 21st Century
The biopsychosocial perspective is a foundation of social work theory and practice. Recent research on neuroplasticity and psychosocial genomics lends compelling support to this perspective by elucidating mechanisms through which psychosocial forces shape neurobiology. Investigations of neuroplasticity demonstrate that the adult brain can continue to form novel neural connections and grow new neurons in response to learning or training even into old age. These findings are complemented by the contributions of psychosocial genomics, a field of scientific inquiry that explores the modulating effects of experience on gene expression. Findings from these new sciences provide external validation for the biopsychosocial perspective and offer important insights into the manifold means by which socioenvironmental experiences influence neurobiological structure and function across the life course
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