ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF MIGRATION FROM CENTRAL ASIA IN RUSSIA

The feeling of ‘home’ and ‘ontological security’ are central in social and psychological integration of both migrants and local residents. In Russia, for most Central Asian migrants the feeling of ‘home’ is often in clear contradiction with daily practices in Russia. The tightening economic situation, collapse of the rouble and the ambivalent migration legislation, of course, affect the integration of migrants and a feeling of security in the new countries of residence

Indium and phosphorus vacancies and antisites in InP

We present an extensive study of the structure and energetics of monovacancies and antisites in InP. Using a first-principles approach, the different charge states of indium and phosphorus vacancies and antisites are examined. The lattice distortions around the defects are derived fully self-consistently with respect to both electronic and ionic degrees of freedom. Jahn-Teller relaxations, defect-induced one-electron energy levels, and ionization potentials in the band gap are discussed. From the formation energies we predict the favored vacancies and antisites under different stoichiometry conditions.Peer reviewe

Reliability of prehospital patient classification in helicopter emergency medical service missions

Background Several scores and codes are used in prehospital clinical quality registries but little is known of their reliability. The aim of this study is to evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status (ASA-PS) classification system, HEMS benefit score (HBS), International Classification of Primary Care, second edition (ICPC-2) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status in a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) clinical quality registry (CQR). Methods All physicians and paramedics working in HEMS in Finland and responsible for patient registration were asked to participate in this study. The participants entered data of six written fictional missions in the national CQR. The inter-rater reliability of the ASA-PS, HBS, ICPC-2 and ECOG were evaluated using an overall agreement and free-marginal multi-rater kappa (Kappa(free)). Results All 59 Finnish HEMS physicians and paramedics were invited to participate in this study, of which 43 responded and 16 did not answer. One participant was excluded due to unfinished data entering. ASA-PS had an overall agreement of 40.2% and Kappa(free) of 0.28 in this study. HBS had an overall agreement of 44.7% and Kappa(free) of 0.39. ICPC-2 coding had an overall agreement of 51.5% and Kappa(free) of 0.47. ECOG had an overall agreement of 49.6% and Kappa(free) of 0.40. Conclusion This study suggests a marked inter-rater unreliability in prehospital patient scoring and coding even in a relatively uniform group of practitioners working in a highly focused environment. This indicates that the scores and codes should be specifically designed or adapted for prehospital use, and the users should be provided with clear and thorough instructions on how to use them.Peer reviewe

Pressure induced structural and dynamical changes in liquid Si. An ab-initio study

The static and dynamic properties of liquid Si at high-pressure have been studied using the orbital free ab-initio molecular dynamics method. Four thermodynamic states at pressures 4, 8, 14 and 23 GPa are considered. The calculated static structure shows qualitative agreement with the available experimental data. We analize the remarkable structural changes occurring between 8 and 14 GPa along with its effect on several dynamic properties.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte

Serotonin Transporter Promoter Polymorphism Genotype Is Associated With Behavioral Disinhibition and Negative Affect in Children of Alcoholics

Serotonergic (5-HT) dysfunction has been implicated in the etiology of both behavioral disinhibition (BD) and negative affect (NA). This work extends our previous finding of relationships between whole blood 5-HT and both BD and NA in pubescent, but not prepubescent, children of alcoholics and continues examination of a hypothesized role of 5-HT dysfunction in alcoholism risk. The long and short (L and S) variants of the 5-HT transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) are responsible for differing transcriptional efficiencies in 5-HT uptake. Although associations have been found between the SS 5-HTTLPR genotype and severe alcoholism and neuroticism, recent reports describe relationships between the LL genotype and both low level of response to alcohol and alcoholism diagnosis and a predominance of the LL genotype in early-onset alcoholics. Methods : This report is from an ongoing prospective study of the development of risk for alcoholism and other problematic outcomes in a sample of families classified by father's alcoholism subtype. This study examines relationships between 5-HTTLPR genotype and both child BD (Child Behavior Checklist Aggressive Behavior) and NA (Child Behavior Checklist Anxious/Depressed) in offspring from 47 families. Results : Results showed significantly higher levels of BD and NA in the 16 children with the LL genotype than the 46 SS or SL children. Conclusions : Behaviors of undercontrol, which occur at increased rates in children of alcoholics, may be genetically influenced through the regulation of the 5-HT transporter. Due to the small sample size and the preliminary nature of our findings, replication is necessary.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65855/1/j.1530-0277.2001.tb02302.x.pd

Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire data on alcoholic violent offenders: specific connections to severe impulsive cluster B personality disorders and violent criminality

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The validity of traditional categorical personality disorder diagnoses is currently re-evaluated from a continuous perspective, and the evolving DSM-V classification may describe personality disorders dimensionally. The utility of dimensional personality assessment, however, is unclear in violent offenders with severe personality pathology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The temperament structure of 114 alcoholic violent offenders with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) was compared to 84 offenders without ASPD, and 170 healthy controls. Inclusion occurred during a court-ordered mental examination preceded by homicide, assault, battery, rape or arson. Participants underwent assessment of temperament with the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) and were diagnosed with DSM-III-R criteria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The typical temperament profile in violent offender having ASPD comprised high novelty seeking, high harm avoidance, and low reward dependence. A 21% minority scored low in trait harm avoidance. Results, including the polarized harm avoidance dimension, are in accordance with Cloninger's hypothesis of dimensional description of ASPD. The low harm avoidance offenders committed less impulsive violence than high harm avoidance offenders. High harm avoidance was associated with comorbid antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results indicate that the DSM based ASPD diagnosis in alcoholic violent offenders associates with impulsiveness and high novelty seeking but comprises two different types of ASPD associated with distinct second-order traits that possibly explain differences in type of violent criminality. Low harm avoidance offenders have many traits in common with high scorers on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Results link high harm avoidance with broad personality pathology and argue for the usefulness of self-report questionnaires in clinical praxis.</p

Arctic smoke ? record high air pollution levels in the European Arctic due to agricultural fires in Eastern Europe

International audienceIn spring 2006, the European Arctic was abnormally warm, setting new historical temperature records. During this warm period, smoke from agricultural fires in Eastern Europe intruded into the European Arctic and caused the most severe air pollution episodes ever recorded there. This paper confirms that biomass burning (BB) was indeed the source of the observed air pollution, studies the transport of the smoke into the Arctic, and presents an overview of the observations taken during the episode. Fire detections from the MODIS instruments aboard the Aqua and Terra satellites were used to estimate the BB emissions. The FLEXPART particle dispersion model was used to show that the smoke was transported to Spitsbergen and Iceland, which was confirmed by MODIS retrievals of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and AIRS retrievals of carbon monoxide (CO) total columns. Concentrations of halocarbons, carbon dioxide and CO, as well as levoglucosan and potassium, measured at Zeppelin mountain near Ny Ålesund, were used to further corroborate the BB source of the smoke at Spitsbergen. The ozone (O3) and CO concentrations were the highest ever observed at the Zeppelin station, and gaseous elemental mercury was also enhanced. A new O3 record was also set at a station on Iceland. The smoke was strongly absorbing ? black carbon concentrations were the highest ever recorded at Zeppelin ?, and strongly perturbed the radiation transmission in the atmosphere: aerosol optical depths were the highest ever measured at Ny Ålesund. We furthermore discuss the aerosol chemical composition, obtained from filter samples, as well as the aerosol size distribution during the smoke event. Photographs show that the snow at a glacier on Spitsbergen became discolored during the episode and, thus, the snow albedo was reduced. Samples of this polluted snow contained strongly enhanced levels of potassium, sulphate, nitrate and ammonium ions, thus relating the discoloration to the deposition of the smoke aerosols. This paper shows that, to date, BB has been underestimated as a source of aerosol and air pollution for the Arctic, relative to emissions from fossil fuel combustion. Given its significant impact on air quality over large spatial scales and on radiative processes, the practice of agricultural waste burning should be banned in the future

The reliability and accuracy of operational system data in a nationwide helicopter emergency medical services mission database

Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of documentation in FinnHEMS database, which is a nationwide helicopter emergency service (HEMS) clinical quality registry. Methods This is a nationwide study based on written fictional clinical scenarios. Study subjects were HEMS physicians and paramedics, who filled in the clinical quality registry based on the clinical scenarios. The inter-rater -reliability of the collected data was analyzed with percent agreement and free-marginal multi-rater kappa. Results Dispatch coding had a percent agreement of 91% and free-marginal multi-rater kappa value of 0.83. Coding for transportation or mission cancellation resulted in an agreement of 84% and free-marginal kappa value of 0.68. An agreement of 82% and a kappa value of 0.73 for dispatcher coding was found. Mission end, arrival at hospital and HEMS unit dispatch -times had agreements from 80 to 85% and kappa values from 0.61 to 0.73. The emergency call to dispatch centre time had an agreement of 71% and kappa value of 0.56. The documentation of pain had an agreement of 73% on both the first and second measurements. All other vital parameters had less than 70% agreement and 0.40 kappa value in the first measurement. The documentation of secondary vital parameter measurements resulted in agreements from 72 to 91% and kappa values from 0.43 to 0.64. Conclusion Data from HEMS operations can be gathered reliably in a national clinical quality registry. This study revealed some inaccuracies in data registration and data quality, which are important to detect to improve the overall reliability and validity of the HEMS clinical quality register