The inventory of callous–unemotional traits: psychometric properties among referred and non-referred portuguese female juveniles

The presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits delineates a subgroup of male youth with severe conduct disorder and antisocial behavior, but little research has been done among female youth. Drawing on 377 female adolescents (103 selected from forensic settings and 274 selected from school settings) from Portugal, the current study is the first to simultaneously examine the psychometric properties of the Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU) in incarcerated female youth and community youth. The results support the use of the ICU in terms of its factor structure, and internal consistency despite the fact an item had to be removed from the Callousness dimension. Statistically significant positive associations were found with measures of psychopathic traits and aggression, as well as non-significant associations with empathy and social anxiety. Significant associations were also found with several indicators of delinquent careers including age of criminal onset, age of first contact with the law, Conduct Disorder symptoms and diagnosis, crime seriousness, previous violent offending, number of criminal charges, alcohol use, and drug use. Findings are discussed in terms of the use of the ICU among female juvenile offenders and community youths.European Social Fund (POPH/FSE

Psychometric properties of Basic Empathy Scale among female juvenile delinquents and school youths

Research on empathy often distinguishes between affective and cognitive empathy, but there is limited knowledge regarding the application or measurement of these two dimensions of empathy among female youth, especially forensic samples of female youth. The main aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) among a Portuguese sample of female youths (N = 377), composed of incarcerated female juvenile offenders (n = 103) and school youths (n = 274). The two-factor structure of the BES obtained a good fit among the school sample, but the fit among the forensic sample was poor. Both samples demonstrated adequate psychometric properties in terms of Cronbach's alpha, omega coefficient, mean inter item correlations, corrected item-total correlation range, and criterion validity. However, some caution is advised when using the BES with female youth involved in the juvenile justice system, particularly with incarcerated female youth. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.European Social Fund (POPH/FSE)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF DISCONTINUING THE TEXAS HIGH PLAINS BOLL WEEVIL SUPPRESSION PROGRAM

Crop Production/Industries,

Indications for grain growth and mass decrease in cold dust disks around Classical T Tauri stars in the MBM 12 young association

We report detection of continuum emission at 850 and 450 micron from disks around four Classical T Tauri stars in the MBM 12 (L1457) young association. Using a simple model we infer masses of 0.0014-0.012 M_sun for the disk of LkHa 263 ABC, 0.005-0.021 M_sun for S18 ABab, 0.03-0.18 M_sun for LkHa 264 A, and 0.023-0.23 M_sun for LkHa 262. The disk mass found for LkHa 263 ABC is consistent with the 0.0018 M_sun inferred from the scattered light image of the edge-on disk around component C. Comparison to earlier 13CO line observations indicates CO depletion by up to a factor 300 with respect to dark-cloud values. The spectral energy distributions (SED) suggest grain growth, possibly to sizes of a few hundred micron, but our spatially unresolved data cannot rule out opacity as an explanation for the SED shape. Our observations show that these T Tauri stars are still surrounded by significant reservoirs of cold material at an age of 1-5 Myr. We conclude that the observed differences in disk mass are likely explained by binary separation affecting the initial value. With available accretion rate estimates we find that our data are consistent with theoretical expectations for viscously evolving disks having decreased their masses by ~30%.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, uses aastex. ApJ Letters, in pres

Effects of damping-off caused by Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group 2-1 on roots of wheat and oil seed rape quantified using X-ray computed tomography and real-time PCR

Rhizoctonia solani is a plant pathogenic fungus that causes significant establishment and yield losses to several important food crops globally. This is the first application of high resolution X-ray micro Computed Tomography (X-ray μCT) and real-time PCR to study host–pathogen interactions in situ and elucidate the mechanism of Rhizoctonia damping-off disease over a 6-day period caused by R. solani, anastomosis group (AG) 2-1 in wheat (Triticum aestivum cv. Gallant) and oil seed rape (OSR, Brassica napus cv. Marinka). Temporal, non-destructive analysis of root system architectures was performed using RooTrak and validated by the destructive method of root washing. Disease was assessed visually and related to pathogen DNA quantification in soil using real-time PCR. R. solani AG2-1 at similar initial DNA concentrations in soil was capable of causing significant damage to the developing root systems of both wheat and OSR. Disease caused reductions in primary root number, root volume, root surface area, and convex hull which were affected less in the monocotyledonous host. Wheat was more tolerant to the pathogen, exhibited fewer symptoms and developed more complex root systems. In contrast, R. solani caused earlier damage and maceration of the taproot of the dicot, OSR. Disease severity was related to pathogen DNA accumulation in soil only for OSR, however, reductions in root traits were significantly associated with both disease and pathogen DNA. The method offers the first steps in advancing current understanding of soil-borne pathogen behavior in situ at the pore scale, which may lead to the development of mitigation measures to combat disease influence in the field

Adaptation of the narcissistic personality inventory among a portuguese sample of incarcerated juvenile offenders

The aim of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) and two of its short forms (NPI-16 and NPI-13) among a Portuguese sample of male incarcerated juvenile offenders (N=221). Of these, only the NPI-13 short version demonstrated a good fit in terms of its factor structure. The NPI-13 also showed promising psychometric properties in terms of its internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity. Statistically significant associations were found with age of crime onset, crime seriousness, conduct disorder symptoms, alcohol abuse, and cannabis use. These findings justify the use of the NPI-13, especially its Entitlement/Exploitativeness dimension, among incarcerated male youths.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [Grant SFRH/BPD/86666/2012] with co-financing of the European Social Fund (POPH/FSE), the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science (MEC), the FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (UID/PSI/01662/2013), and national funds provided by FCT- Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/SOC/04020/2013

The Otterbein Miscellany - May 1971

https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/miscellany/1000/thumbnail.jp

New Pulsars from an Arecibo Drift Scan Search

We report the discovery of pulsars J0030+0451, J0711+0931, and J1313+0931 that were found in a search of 470 square degrees at 430 MHz using the 305m Arecibo telescope. The search has an estimated sensitivity for long period, low dispersion measure, low zenith angle, and high Galactic latitude pulsars of ~1 mJy, comparable to previous Arecibo searches. Spin and astrometric parameters for the three pulsars are presented along with polarimetry at 430 MHz. PSR J0030+0451, a nearby pulsar with a period of 4.8 ms, belongs to the less common category of isolated millisecond pulsars. We have measured significant polarization in PSR J0030+0451 over more than 50% of the period, and use these data for a detailed discussion of its magnetospheric geometry. Scintillation observations of PSR J0030+0451 provide an estimate of the plasma turbulence level along the line of sight through the local interstellar medium.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for Publication in Ap

Generative Algorithms for Fusion of Physics-Based Wildfire Spread Models with Satellite Data for Initializing Wildfire Forecasts

Increases in wildfire activity and the resulting impacts have prompted the development of high-resolution wildfire behavior models for forecasting fire spread. Recent progress in using satellites to detect fire locations further provides the opportunity to use measurements to improve fire spread forecasts from numerical models through data assimilation. This work develops a method for inferring the history of a wildfire from satellite measurements, providing the necessary information to initialize coupled atmosphere-wildfire models from a measured wildfire state in a physics-informed approach. The fire arrival time, which is the time the fire reaches a given spatial location, acts as a succinct representation of the history of a wildfire. In this work, a conditional Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Network (cWGAN), trained with WRF-SFIRE simulations, is used to infer the fire arrival time from satellite active fire data. The cWGAN is used to produce samples of likely fire arrival times from the conditional distribution of arrival times given satellite active fire detections. Samples produced by the cWGAN are further used to assess the uncertainty of predictions. The cWGAN is tested on four California wildfires occurring between 2020 and 2022, and predictions for fire extent are compared against high resolution airborne infrared measurements. Further, the predicted ignition times are compared with reported ignition times. An average Sorensen's coefficient of 0.81 for the fire perimeters and an average ignition time error of 32 minutes suggest that the method is highly accurate

Application of long-term cultured interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assay for assessing effector and memory T cell responses in cattle

doi:10.3791/52833 (2015). Effector and memory T cells are generated through developmental programing of naïve cells following antigen recognition. If the infection is controlled up to 95 % of the T cells generated during the expansion phase are eliminated (i.e., contraction phase) and memory T cells remain, sometimes for a lifetime. In humans, two functionally distinct subsets of memory T cells have been described based on the expression of lymph node homing receptors. Central memory T cells express C-C chemokine receptor 7 and CD45RO and are mainly located in T-cell areas of secondary lymphoid organs. Effector memory T cells express CD45RO, lack CCR7 and display receptors associated with lymphocyte homing to peripheral or inflamed tissues. Effector T cells do not express either CCR7 or CD45RO but upon encounter with antigen produce effector cytokines, such as interferon-γ. Interferon-γ release assays are used for the diagnosis of bovine and human tuberculosis and detect primaril