The quality of details when children and youths with intellectual disabilities are interviewed about their abuse experiences

The question for this study was to further understand how children and youths with intellectual disabilities (IDs) provide central and peripheral details when interviewed about their abuse experiences. Through a quantitative method we examined police officers' first formal investigative interviews with 32 children and youths with IDs. We analyzed the details they reported about abuse in relation to types of questions asked. The findings showed that few open-ended invitations were used and that a large number of option-posing questions were asked. The children and youths tended to agree with option-posing and suggestive statements but were nonetheless able to report important information about their abuse experiences without the ‘help’ from these potentially contaminating questions. The results of this study are limited because of the selective nature of the sample and that we did not have access to complete information about the participants specific diagnosis. Although it shows that police officers need to provide children and youths with IDs greater opportunities to report details using open-ended invitations. If they do not develop their responses when asked open-ended invitations they may be asked open directive questions to facilitate the elicitation of both central and peripheral information

X-Ray Emission-Line Profile Modeling Of O Stars: Fitting A Spherically Symmetric Analytic Wind-Shock Model To The Chandra Spectrum Of Zeta Puppis

X-ray emission-line profiles provide the most direct insight into the dynamics and spatial distribution of the hot, X-ray-emitting plasma above the surfaces of OB stars. The O supergiant zeta Puppis shows broad, blueshifted, and asymmetric line profiles, generally consistent with the wind-shock picture of OB star X-ray production. We model the profiles of eight lines in the Chandra HETGS spectrum of this prototypical hot star. The fitted lines indicate that the plasma is distributed throughout the wind starting close to the photosphere, that there is significantly less attenuation of the X-rays by the overlying wind than is generally supposed, and that there is not a strong trend in wind absorption with wavelength

Analysis Of Doppler-Broadened X-Ray Emission Line Profiles From Hot Stars

We show how X-ray emission arising within an accelerating, expanding medium that also contains a source of continuum absorption generates line profiles of a characteristic shape. A simple, spherical wind model based on this picture provides good fits to the Chandra HETGS spectrum of the prototypical O star, Zeta Pup. We discuss the model, the fitting procedure and the determination of confidence limits on the model parameters, and our initial results for this star. The derived fit parameters are consistent with a generic wind-shock scenario for Zeta Pup, but there are several surprising aspects of the results, including a lower-than-expected mean wind optical depth and a nearly complete lack of wavelength dependence of the results

Wind Signatures In The X-Ray Emission-Line Profiles Of The Late-O Supergiant Zeta Orionis

X-ray line-profile analysis has proved to be the most direct diagnostic of the kinematics and spatial distribution of the very hot plasma around O stars. The Doppler-broadened line profiles provide information about the velocity distribution of the hot plasma, while the wavelength-dependent attenuation across a line profile provides information about the absorption to the hot plasma, thus providing a strong constraint on its physical location. In this paper, we apply several analysis techniques to the emission lines in the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS) spectrum of the late-O supergiant zeta Ori (O9.7 Ib), including the fitting of a simple line-profile model. We show that there is distinct evidence for blueshifts and profile asymmetry, as well as broadening in the X-ray emission lines of zeta Ori. These are the observational hallmarks of a wind-shock X-ray source, and the results for zeta Ori are very similar to those for the earlier O star, zeta Pup, which we have previously shown to be well fit by the same wind-shock line-profile model. The more subtle effects on the line-profile morphologies in zeta Ori, as compared to zeta Pup, are consistent with the somewhat lower density wind in this later O supergiant. In both stars, the wind optical depths required to explain the mildly asymmetric X-ray line profiles imply reductions in the effective opacity of nearly an order of magnitude, which may be explained by some combination of mass-loss rate reduction and large-scale clumping, with its associated porosity-based effects on radiation transfer. In the context of the recent reanalysis of the helium-like line intensity ratios in both zeta Ori and zeta Pup, and also in light of recent work questioning the published mass-loss rates in OB stars, these new results indicate that the X-ray emission from zeta Ori can be understood within the framework of the standard wind-shock scenario for hot stars

Effect of 28 days of creatine ingestion on muscle metabolism and performance of a simulated cycling road race

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>The effects of creatine supplementation on muscle metabolism and exercise performance during a simulated endurance road race was investigated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twelve adult male (27.3 ± 1.0 yr, 178.6 ± 1.4 cm, 78.0 ± 2.5 kg, 8.9 ± 1.1 %fat) endurance-trained (53.3 ± 2.0 ml* kg^-1* min^-1, cycling ~160 km/wk) cyclists completed a simulated road race on a cycle ergometer (Lode), consisting of a two-hour cycling bout at 60% of peak aerobic capacity (VO_2peak) with three 10-second sprints performed at 110% VO_{2 peak}every 15 minutes. Cyclists completed the 2-hr cycling bout before and after dietary creatine monohydrate or placebo supplementation (3 g/day for 28 days). Muscle biopsies were taken at rest and five minutes before the end of the two-hour ride.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a 24.5 ± 10.0% increase in resting muscle total creatine and 38.4 ± 23.9% increase in muscle creatine phosphate in the creatine group (<it>P </it>< 0.05). Plasma glucose, blood lactate, and respiratory exchange ratio during the 2-hour ride, as well as VO_{2 peak}, were not affected by creatine supplementation. Submaximal oxygen consumption near the end of the two-hour ride was decreased by approximately 10% by creatine supplementation (P < 0.05). Changes in plasma volume from pre- to post-supplementation were significantly greater in the creatine group (⁺14.0 ± 6.3%) than the placebo group (^-10.4 ± 4.4%; <it>P </it>< 0.05) at 90 minutes of exercise. The time of the final sprint to exhaustion at the end of the 2-hour cycling bout was not affected by creatine supplementation (creatine pre, 64.4 ± 13.5s; creatine post, 88.8 ± 24.6s; placebo pre, 69.0 ± 24.8s; placebo post 92.8 ± 31.2s: creatine vs. placebo not significant). Power output for the final sprint was increased by ~33% in both groups (creatine vs. placebo not significant).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It can be concluded that although creatine supplementation may increase resting muscle total creatine, muscle creatine phosphate, and plasma volume, and may lead to a reduction in oxygen consumption during submaximal exercise, creatine supplementation does not improve sprint performance at the end of endurance cycling exercise.</p

Electronic, vibrational and magnetic properties of a novel C_{48}N_{12} aza-fullerene

We study the structural, electronic, vibrational and magnetic properties of a novel ${\rm C}_{48}{\rm N}_{12}$ aza-fullerene using density functional theory and restricted Hartree-Fock theory. Optimized geometries and total energy of this fullerene have been calculated. We find that for ${\rm C}_{48}{\rm N}_{12}$ the total ground state energy is about -67617 eV, the HOMO-LUMO gap is about 1.9 eV, five strong IR spectral lines are located at the vibrational frequencies, 461.5 ${\rm cm}^{-1}$, 568.4 ${\rm cm}^{-1}$, 579.3 ${\rm cm}^{-1}$, 1236.1 ${\rm cm}^{-1}$, 1338.9 ${\rm cm}^{-1}$, the Raman scattering activities and depolarization ratios are zero, and 10 NMR spectral signals are predicted. Calculations of diamagnetic shielding factor, static dipole polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities of ${\rm C}_{48}{\rm N}_{12}$ are performed and discussed.Comment: published in Chem.Phys.Let

Scholastic achievement at age 16 and risk of schizophrenia and other psychoses: a national cohort study

Background: There is abundant evidence that schizophrenia is associated with cognitive deficits in childhood. However, previous studies investigating school performance have been inconclusive. Furthermore, there are several biological and social factors that could confound the association. We investigated whether school performance at age 16 is associated with risk of adult schizophrenia and other psychoses in a large national cohort, while controlling for multiple confounders. Method: Using a national sample of 907 011 individuals born in Sweden between 1973 and 1983, we used Cox regression to assess whether scholastic achievement at age 15-16 predicted hospital admission for psychosis between ages 17 and 31, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Poor school performance was associated with increased rates of schizophrenia [hazard ratio (HR) 3.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.8-5.3], schizo-affective disorder (HR 4.2, 95% CI 1.9-9.1) and other psychoses (HR 3.0, 95% CI 2.3-4.0). Receiving the lowest (E) grade was significantly associated with risk for schizophrenia and other psychoses in every school subject. There was no evidence of confounding by migrant status, low birthweight, hypoxia, parental education level or socio-economic group. Conclusions: Poor school performance across all domains is strongly associated with risk for schizophrenia and other psychoses. Copyright © 2007 Cambridge University Press.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

X-Ray Emission Line Profile Modeling Of Hot Stars

The launch of high-spectral-resolution x-ray telescopes (Chandra, XMM) has provided a host of new spectralline diagnostics for the astrophysics community. In this paper we discuss Doppler-broadened emission line profiles from highly supersonic outflows of massive stars. These outflows, or winds, are driven by radiation pressure and carry a tremendous amount of kinetic energy, which can be converted to x rays by shock-heating even a small fraction of the wind plasma. The unshocked, cold wind is a source of continuum opacity to the x rays generated in the shock-heated portion of the wind. Thus the emergent line profiles are affected by transport through a two-component, moving, optically thick medium. While complicated, the interactions among these physical effects can provide quantitative information about the spatial distribution and velocity of the x-ray-emitting and absorbing plasma in stellar winds. We present quantitative models of both a spherically symmetric wind and a wind with hot plasma confined in an equatorial disk by a dipole magnetic field

FOAM (functional ontology assignments for metagenomes):a hidden markov model (HMM) database with environmental focus

A new functional gene database, FOAM (Functional Ontology Assignments for Metagenomes), was developed to screen environmental metagenomic sequence datasets. FOAM provides a new functional ontology dedicated to classify gene functions relevant to environmental microorganisms based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs). Sets of aligned protein sequences (i.e. ‘profiles’) were tailored to a large group of target KEGG Orthologs (KOs) from which HMMs were trained. The alignments were checked and curated to make them specific to the targeted KO. Within this process, sequence profiles were enriched with the most abundant sequences available to maximize the yield of accurate classifier models. An associated functional ontology was built to describe the functional groups and hierarchy. FOAM allows the user to select the target search space before HMM-based comparison steps and to easily organize the results into different functional categories and subcategories. FOAM is publicly available at http://portal.nersc.gov/project/m1317/FOAM/