How important are interview methods and questionnaire designs in research on self-reported juvenile delinquency? An experimental comparison of Internet vs paper-and-pencil questionnaires and different definitions of the reference period

There has been relatively little change over recent decades in the methods used in research on self-reported delinquency. Face-to-face interviews and self-administered interviews in the classroom are still the predominant alternatives envisaged. New methods have been brought into the picture by recent computer technology, the Internet, and an increasing availability of computer equipment and Internet access in schools. In the autumn of 2004, a controlled experiment was conducted with 1,203 students in Lausanne (Switzerland), where "paper-and-pencil” questionnaires were compared with computer-assisted interviews through the Internet. The experiment included a test of two different definitions of the (same) reference period. After the introductory question ("Did you ever...”), students were asked how many times they had done it (or experienced it), if ever, "over the last 12 months” or "since the October 2003 vacation”. Few significant differences were found between the results obtained by the two methods and for the two definitions of the reference period, in the answers concerning victimisation, self-reported delinquency, drug use, failure to respond (missing data). Students were found to be more motivated to respond through the Internet, take less time for filling out the questionnaire, and were apparently more confident of privacy, while the school principals were less reluctant to allow classes to be interviewed through the Internet. The Internet method also involves considerable cost reductions, which is a critical advantage if self-reported delinquency surveys are to become a routinely applied method of evaluation, particularly so in countries with limited resources. On balance, the Internet may be instrumental in making research on self-reported delinquency far more feasible in situations where limited resources so far have prevented its implementatio

Testing the early Late Ordovician cool-water hypothesis with oxygen isotopes from conodont apatite

© 2017 Cambridge University Press. Latest Sandbian to early Katian sequences across Laurentia\u27s epicontinental sea exhibit a transition from lithologies characterized as \u27warm-water\u27 carbonates to those characterized as \u27cool-water\u27carbonates. This shift occurs across the regionally recognized M4/M5 sequence stratigraphic boundary and has been attributed to climatic cooling and glaciation, basin reorganization and upwelling of open ocean water, and/or increased water turbidity and terrigenous input associated with the Taconic tectophase. Documentation of oxygen isotopic trends across the M4/M5 and through bracketing strata provides a potential means of distinguishing among these alternative scenarios; however, oxygen isotopic records generated to date have failed to settle the debate. This lack of resolution is because δ18O records are open to multiple interpretations and potentially confounding factors related to local environmental conditions have not been tested by examining the critical interval in multiple areas and different depositional settings. To begin to address this shortcoming, we present new species-specific and mixed assemblage conodont δ18O values in samples spanning the M4/M5 boundary from the Upper Mississippi Valley, Alabama, and Virginia. The new results are combined with previous studies, providing a record of δ18O variability across SE Laurentia. The combined dataset allows us to test for regional trends at a resolution not previously available. Our results document a ~1.5‰ decrease in values across Laurentia instead of increasing δ18O values across the M4/M5 as predicted in various \u27cool-water\u27 scenarios. In short, these results do not support a shift to \u27cool-water\u27 conditions as an explanation for changes in early Katian carbonates across the M4/M5

Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and the Risk of Institutionalization and Death: The Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106953/1/j.1532-5415.2011.03314.x.pd

Possible patterns of marine primary productivity during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event

Following the appearance of numerous animal phyla during the ‘Cambrian Explosion’, the ‘Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event’ (GOBE) records their rapid diversification at the lower taxonomic levels, constituting the most significant rise in biodiversity in Earth's history. Recent studies suggest that the rapid rise in phytoplankton diversity observed at the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary may have profoundly restructured marine trophic chains, paving the way for the subsequent flourishing of plankton-feeding groups during the Ordovician. Unfortunately, the fossil record of plankton is incomplete. Its smaller members represent the bulk of the modern marine biomass, but they are usually not documented in Palaeozoic sediments, preventing any definitive assumption with regard to an eventual correlation between biodiversity and biomass at that time. Here, we use an up-to-date ocean general circulation model with biogeochemical capabilities (MITgcm) to simulate the spatial patterns of marine primary productivity throughout the Ordovician, and we compare the model output with available palaeontological and sedimentological data

Analysis of Epstein-Barr virus reservoirs in paired blood and breast cancer primary biopsy specimens by real time PCR

INTRODUCTION: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is present in over 90% of the world's population. This infection is considered benign, even though in limited cases EBV is associated with infectious and neoplastic conditions. Over the past decade, the EBV association with breast cancer has been constantly debated. Adding to this clinical and biological uncertainty, different techniques gave contradictory results for the presence of EBV in breast carcinoma specimens. In this study, minor groove binding (MGB)-TaqMan real time PCR was used to detect the presence of EBV DNA in both peripheral blood and tumor samples of selected patients. METHODS: Peripheral blood and breast carcinoma specimens from 24 patients were collected. DNA was extracted and then amplified by MGB-TaqMan real time PCR. RESULTS: Of 24 breast tumor specimens, 11 (46%) were positive for EBV DNA. Of these 11 breast tumor specimens, 7 (64%) were also positive for EBV DNA in the peripheral blood, while 4 (36%) were positive for EBV DNA in the tumor, but negative in the blood. CONCLUSION: EBV was found at extremely low levels, with a mean of 0.00004 EBV genomes per cell (range 0.00014 to 0.00001 EBV genomes per cell). Furthermore, our finding of the presence of EBV in the tumor specimens coupled to the absence of detection of EBV genomic DNA in the peripheral blood is consistent with the epithelial nature of the virus. Because of the low levels of viral DNA in tumor tissue, further studies are needed to assess the biological input of EBV in breast cancer

The Tumorigenicity of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells and In Vitro Differentiated Neuronal Cells Is Controlled by the Recipients' Immune Response

Embryonic stem (ES) cells have the potential to differentiate into all cell types and are considered as a valuable source of cells for transplantation therapies. A critical issue, however, is the risk of teratoma formation after transplantation. The effect of the immune response on the tumorigenicity of transplanted cells is poorly understood. We have systematically compared the tumorigenicity of mouse ES cells and in vitro differentiated neuronal cells in various recipients. Subcutaneous injection of 1×106 ES or differentiated cells into syngeneic or allogeneic immunodeficient mice resulted in teratomas in about 95% of the recipients. Both cell types did not give rise to tumors in immunocompetent allogeneic mice or xenogeneic rats. However, in 61% of cyclosporine A-treated rats teratomas developed after injection of differentiated cells. Undifferentiated ES cells did not give rise to tumors in these rats. ES cells turned out to be highly susceptible to killing by rat natural killer (NK) cells due to the expression of ligands of the activating NK receptor NKG2D on ES cells. These ligands were down-regulated on differentiated cells. The activity of NK cells which is not suppressed by cyclosporine A might contribute to the prevention of teratomas after injection of ES cells but not after inoculation of differentiated cells. These findings clearly point to the importance of the immune response in this process. Interestingly, the differentiated cells must contain a tumorigenic cell population that is not present among ES cells and which might be resistant to NK cell-mediated killing

Optics and Quantum Electronics

Contains table of contents on Section 3 and reports on nineteen research projects.Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Grant F49620-96-0126Joint Services Electronics Program Grant DAAH04-95-1-0038National Science Foundation Grant ECS 94-23737U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Contract F49620-95-1-0221U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-95-1-0715Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/National Center for Integrated Photonics TechnologyMultidisciplinary Research InitiativeU.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific ResearchNational Science Foundation/MRSECU.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (MFEL) Contract N00014-91-J-1956National Institutes of Health Grant R01-EY11289U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (MFEL) Contract N00014-94-0717Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Contract N66001-96-C-863