The Relations among Parenting Style, Parent-Adolescent Relationship, Family Stress, Cultural Context and Depressive Symptomatology among Adolescent Females

This study examines the relations between depressive symptom expression and cultural and family contexts among adolescent females from different ethnic groups. Specifically, ethnic identity, parenting style, family stress and the quality of parent-adolescent relationships were examined as potential protective factors for depressive symptom expression among a diverse group of female adolescents. This study addressed the following research questions: 1) Are there ethnic group differences in depressive symptom expression across Latina, African American and Asian adolescent females? 2) Are there ethnic group differences in the association of family processes with depressive symptom expression across these three ethnic groups? 3) Regardless of ethnic group membership, does ethnic identity moderate the association of family processes with depressive symptoms? The sample consisted of 93 female high school students. Overall, 30% of participants reported depressive symptoms in the moderate to severe range. The results of this study indicate that there are few statistically significant differences in depressive symptom expression across Latina, African American and Asian participants; however, Latina participants consistently reported the highest rates of depressive symptoms. Family stress and authoritative parenting style were significant predictors of depressive symptom expression, such that participants of all ethnicities who reported high levels of depressive symptoms also reported high levels of family stress and low levels of authoritative parenting. No ethnic group differences were found for authoritative parenting, family stress or ethnic identity indicating that these processes were comparable across ethnic groups. These results indicate that family process variables are important predictors of depressive symptoms in adolescent females, which lead to recommendations that adolescent treatment of depressive disorders should include family therapy. In addition, due to the 30% prevalence rate of depression in this study, it is recommended that mental health professionals and school systems collaborate in order to offer outreach programs through local schools. INDEX WORDS: Adolescents, Depression, Ethnic minorities, Authoritative parenting, Family stress, Ethnic identit

Nonlinear Optical Effects in Nematic Liquid–Crystal Films in the 1.55 mm Spectral Region

We have studied the optical nonlinearities of nematic liquid crystals in the near IR communication spectral region [1.55 µm]. The origins of the refractive index changes are thermal indexing effect and director axis reorientations. Very large refractive index and phase modulation of several ?'s can be generated with mW laser power in micron thick dye-doped nematic liquid crystal films

Reformas Educativas y Profesorado de Secundaria: El Peso de la Tradición Docente

A pesar de los cambios propuestos por diferentes reformas educativas que han tenido lugar en el ámbito español durante los últimos 40 años, cabe preguntarse en qué medida la etapa de educación secundaria guarda, todavía, más relación con sus orígenes –Plan Pidal, 1857– que con los derivados de las sucesivas reformas. Realizamos un recorrido histórico por leyes orgánicas de educación de ámbito español poniendo nuestra mirada en la etapa de educación secundaria obligatoria y centrando nuestra reflexión en aspectos tan importantes como el peso de la tradición docente. Algunos principios pedagógicos que inspiraban las reformas educativas que han tenido lugar en nuestro país, planteaban en un modelo de enseñanza más comprensiva y no tan academicista. Se pretendía que dicha etapa educativa, que actualmente es de carácter obligatorio, fuese una etapa a la que toda la población pudiese acceder, pero, además, también pudiese superar con éxito. Sin embargo, este modelo de enseñanza comprensiva promulgado por las sucesivas reformas es un modelo educativo que todavía no ha calado, con suficiente profundidad, en la cultura de un profesorado de secundaria que ha sido formado en una tradición docente muy diferente y en el que todavía, hoy en día, podemos percibir el peso de la tradición. Despite the changes proposed by different educational reforms that have taken place in the Spanish context during the last 40 years, it is worth asking to what extent the secondary education stage still has more relation with its origins -Plan Pidal, 1857- than with the derivatives of the successive reforms. We made a historical journey through organic laws of education in the Spanish area, focusing our attention on the stage of compulsory secondary education and focusing our reflection on aspects as important as the weight of the teaching tradition. Some principles of educational reforms that have taken place in our country were inspired by a more pedagogic teaching model and not so academic model. It was intended that this educational stage, which is currently mandatory catarter, was a stage to which all the population could access but also could also overcome successfully. However, this model of comprehensive education promulgated by the reforms, is an educational model that has not yet penetrated, with sufficient depth, into the culture of a secondary school teacher who has been trained in a very different teaching tradition and in which today we can see the weight of tradition

Treatment with interferon-alpha delays disease in swine infected with a highly virulent CSFV strain

AbstractInterferon-alpha (IFNα) can effectively inhibit or abort a viral infection within the host. It has been reported that IFN induction and production is hindered during classical swine fever virus (CSFV) infection. Most of those studies have been performed in vitro, making it difficult to elucidate the actual role of IFNs during CSFV infection in swine. Here, we report the effect of IFNα treatment (delivered by a replication defective recombinant human adenovirus type 5, Ad5) in swine experimentally infected with highly virulent CSFV strain Brescia. Treatment with two different subtypes of IFNα delayed the appearance of CSF-related clinical signs and virus replication although it did not prevent lethal disease. This is the first report describing the effect of IFNα treatment during CSFV infection in swine

Sex differences in mortality in patients with COPD

Little is known about survival and clinical prognostic factors in females with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of the present study was to determine the survival difference between males and females with COPD and to compare the value of the different prognostic factors for the disease. In total, 265 females and 272 males with COPD matched at baseline by BODE (body mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnoea, exercise capacity) and American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society/Global Initiative of Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease criteria were prospectively followed. Demographics, lung function, St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire, BODE index, the components of the BODE index and comorbidity were determined. Survival was documented and sex differences were determined using Kaplan–Meier analysis. The strength of the association of the studied variables with mortality was determined using multivariate and receiver operating curves analysis. All-cause (40 versus 18%) and respiratory mortality (24 versus 10%) were higher in males than females. Multivariate analysis identified the BODE index in females and the BODE index and Charlson comorbidity score in males as the best predictors of mortality. The area under the curve of the BODE index was a better predictor of mortality than the forced expiratory volume in one second for both sexes. At similar chronic obstructive pulmonary disease severity by BODE index and forced expiratory volume in one second, females have significantly better survival than males. For both sexes the BODE index is a better predictor of survival than the forced expiratory volume in one second

Sobre caso de doença de Chagas aguda em região de vetores controlados no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

No vector transmitted cases of Chagas disease had been notified in the state of São Paulo since the 1970s. However, in March, 2006, the death of a six-year-old boy from the municipality of Itaporanga was notified to the Center for Epidemiological Survey of the São Paulo State Health Secretariat: an autochthonous case of acute Chagas disease. The postmortem histopathological examination performed in the Hospital das Clínicas of the Botucatu School of Medicine confirmed the diagnosis. Reference to hospital records, consultation with the health professionals involved in the case and interviews with members of the patient's family supplied the basis for this study. We investigated parasite route of transmission, probable local reservoirs and vectors. No further human cases of acute Chagas disease were diagnosed. No locally captured vectors or reservoirs were found infected with Trypanosoma cruzi. Alternative transmission hypotheses - such as the possible ingestion of foods contaminated with vector excreta - are discussed, as well as the need to keep previously endemic regions and infested houses under close surveillance. Clinicians should give due attention to such signs as uni- or bilateral palpebral edema, cardiac failure, myocarditis, pericarditis, anasarca and atypical signs of nephrotic syndrome or nephritis and consider the diagnostic hypothesis of Chagas disease.Desde a década de 1970 não se notificavam casos autóctones de doença de Chagas aguda em São Paulo. Em março de 2006 a Vigilância Epidemiológica registrou óbito por doença de Chagas aguda, em Itaporanga, de paciente de seis anos de idade. Exame histopatológico post mortem realizado no Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu confirmou o diagnóstico. Consultamos prontuários de hospitais e entrevistamos profissionais de saúde envolvidos além de familiares do paciente. Descrevemos medidas adotadas in loco para identificar a via de transmissão, reservatórios e vetores. Discutimos as possíveis fontes de infecção. Na região não foram identificados outros casos humanos, vetores ou reservatórios vertebrados infectados por Trypanosoma cruzi. Salientamos a importância de manter a vigilância, mesmo em áreas onde a transmissão de doença de Chagas está interrompida e naquelas ainda infestadas por triatomíneos. Deve-se admitir a hipótese diagnóstica de doença de Chagas quando observados: edema palpebral (uni ou bilateral), insuficiência cardíaca, miocardite, pericardite, anasarca, quadros similares aos de síndrome nefrótica ou glomerulonefrite sem causas outras aparentes, em pacientes com dados epidemiológicos positivos. Encontro, mesmo em raras ocasiões, de triatomíneos na região ou ainda contato com alimento contaminável com formas infectantes de T. cruzi

Detecting a stochastic gravitational wave background with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

The random superposition of many weak sources will produce a stochastic background of gravitational waves that may dominate the response of the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) gravitational wave observatory. Unless something can be done to distinguish between a stochastic background and detector noise, the two will combine to form an effective noise floor for the detector. Two methods have been proposed to solve this problem. The first is to cross-correlate the output of two independent interferometers. The second is an ingenious scheme for monitoring the instrument noise by operating LISA as a Sagnac interferometer. Here we derive the optimal orbital alignment for cross-correlating a pair of LISA detectors, and provide the first analytic derivation of the Sagnac sensitivity curve.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures. Significant changes to the noise estimate

Ultrafast electronic, infrared, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of Cu(i) phosphine diimine complexes

The study aims to understand the role of the transient bonding in the interplay between the structural and electronic changes in heteroleptic Cu(I) diimine diphosphine complexes. This is an emerging class of photosensitisers which absorb in the red region of the spectrum, whilst retaining a sufficiently long excited state lifetime. Here, the dynamics of these complexes are explored by transient absorption (TA) and time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy, which reveal ultrafast intersystem crossing and structural distortion occurring. Two potential mechanisms affecting excited state decay in these complexes involve a transient formation of a solvent adduct, made possible by the opening up of the Cu coordination centre in the excited state due to structural distortion, and by a transient coordination of the O-atom of the phosphine ligand to the copper center. X-ray absorption studies of the ground electronic state have been conducted as a prerequisite for the upcoming X-ray spectroscopy studies which will directly determine structural dynamics. The potential for these complexes to be used in bimolecular applications is confirmed by a significant yield of singlet oxygen production

Recent experimental results in sub- and near-barrier heavy ion fusion reactions

Recent advances obtained in the field of near and sub-barrier heavy-ion fusion reactions are reviewed. Emphasis is given to the results obtained in the last decade, and focus will be mainly on the experimental work performed concerning the influence of transfer channels on fusion cross sections and the hindrance phenomenon far below the barrier. Indeed, early data of sub-barrier fusion taught us that cross sections may strongly depend on the low-energy collective modes of the colliding nuclei, and, possibly, on couplings to transfer channels. The coupled-channels (CC) model has been quite successful in the interpretation of the experimental evidences. Fusion barrier distributions often yield the fingerprint of the relevant coupled channels. Recent results obtained by using radioactive beams are reported. At deep sub-barrier energies, the slope of the excitation function in a semi-logarithmic plot keeps increasing in many cases and standard CC calculations over-predict the cross sections. This was named a hindrance phenomenon, and its physical origin is still a matter of debate. Recent theoretical developments suggest that this effect, at least partially, may be a consequence of the Pauli exclusion principle. The hindrance may have far-reaching consequences in astrophysics where fusion of light systems determines stellar evolution during the carbon and oxygen burning stages, and yields important information for exotic reactions that take place in the inner crust of accreting neutron stars.Comment: 40 pages, 63 figures, review paper accepted for EPJ