Stepfamily Relationship Quality and Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

The stepfamily literature is replete with between-group analyses by which youth residing in stepfamilies are compared to youth in other family structures across indicators of adjustment and well-being. Few longitudinal studies examine variation in stepfamily functioning to identify factors that promote the positive adjustment of stepchildren over time. Using a longitudinal sample of 191 stepchildren (56% female, mean age = 11.3 years), the current study examines the association between the relationship quality of three central stepfamily dyads (stepparent–child, parent–child, and stepcouple) and children's internalizing and externalizing problems concurrently and over time. Results from path analyses indicate that higher levels of parent–child affective quality are associated with lower levels of children's concurrent internalizing and externalizing problems at Wave 1. Higher levels of stepparent–child affective quality are associated with decreases in children's internalizing and externalizing problems at Wave 2 (6 months beyond baseline), even after controlling for children's internalizing and externalizing problems at Wave 1 and other covariates. The stepcouple relationship was not directly linked to youth outcomes. Our findings provide implications for future research and practice

Ferromagnetism of 3^3He Films in the Low Field Limit

We provide evidence for a finite temperature ferromagnetic transition in 2-dimensions as $H \to 0$ in thin films of $^3$He on graphite, a model system for the study of two-dimensional magnetism. We perform pulsed and CW NMR experiments at fields of 0.03 - 0.48 mT on $^3$He at areal densities of 20.5 - 24.2 atoms/nm$^2$. At these densities, the second layer of $^3$He has a strongly ferromagnetic tendency. With decreasing temperature, we find a rapid onset of magnetization that becomes independent of the applied field at temperatures in the vicinity of 1 mK. Both the dipolar field and the NMR linewidth grow rapidly as well, which is consistent with a large (order unity) polarization of the $^3$He spins.Comment: 4 figure

Resistance exercise training restores bone mineral density in heart transplant recipients

AbstractObjectives. This was a prospective, randomized, controlled study designed to determine the effect of resistance exercise traning on bone metabolism in heart transplant recipients.Background. Osteoporosis frequently complicates heart transplantation. No preventative strategy is generally accepted for glucocorticoid-induced bone loss.Methods. Sixteen male heart transplant recipients were randomly assigned to a resistance exercise group that trained for 6 months (mean [±SD] age 56 ± 6 years) or a control group (mean age 52 ± 10 years) that did not perform resistance exercise. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the total body, femur neck and lumbar spine (L2 to L3) was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry before and 2 months after transplantation and after 3 and 6 months of resistance exercise or a control period. The exercise regimen consisted of lumbar extension exercise (MedX) performed 1 day/week and variable resistance exercises (Nautilus) performed 2 days/week. Each exercise consisted of one set of 10 to 15 repetitions performed to volitional fatigue.Results. Pretransplantation baseline values for regional BMD did not differ in the control and training groups. Bone mineral density of the total body, femur neck and lumbar vertebra (L2 to L3) were significantly decreased below baseline at 2 months after transplantation in both the control (−3.3 ± 1.3%, − 4.5 ± 2.8%, −12.7 ± 6.2%, respectly) and training groups (−2.9 ± 1.1%, 5.9 ± 3.2%, −14.8 ± 3.1%, respectively). Six months of resistance exercise restored BMD of the whole body, femur neck and lumbar vertebra to within 1%, 1.9% and 3.6% of pretransplantation levels, respectively. Bone mineral density of the control group remained unchanged from the 2-month posttransplantation levels.Conclusions. Within 2 months after heart transplantation, ≈ 3% of whole-body BMD is lost, mostly due to decreases in trabecular bone (−12% to −15% of lumbar vertebra). Six months of resistance exercise, consisting of low back exercise that isolates the lumbar spine and a regimen of variable resistance exercises, restores BMD toward pretransplantation levels. Our results suggest that resistance exercise is osteogenic and should be initiated early after heart transplantation

Exercise-induced hypoxemia in heart transplant recipient

AbstractObjectives. The purpose of this study was to determine whether heart transplantation has an adverse effect on pulmonary diffusion and to investigate the potentially deleterious effects of impaired pulmonary diffusion on arterial blood gas dynamics during exercise in heart transplant reciplents.Background. Abnormal pulmonary diffusing capacity is reported in patients after orthotopic heart transplantation. Abnormal diffusion may be caused by cyclosporlne or by the persistence of preexisting conditions known to adversely affect diffusion, such as congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Methods. Eleven patients (mean age 50 ± 14 years) performed pulmonary function tests 3 ± 1 months before and 18 ± 12 (mean ± SD) months after heart transplantation. Transplant patients were assigned to groups with diffusion > 70% (n = 5) or diffusion < 70% of predicted values (n = 5). The control group and both subsets of patients performed 10 min of cycle exercise at 40% and 70% of peak power output. Arterial blood gases were drawn every 30 s during the 1st 5 min and at 6, 8 and 10 min.Results. Significant improvements in forced vital capacity (17,4%), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (11.7%) and diffusion capacity (6.6%) occurred in the patients; however, posttransplantation vital capacity, forced expiratory volume and diffusion were lower (p ≤ 0.05) compared with values in 11 control subjects. Changes in blood gases were similar among groups at 40% of peak power output. At 76% of peak power output, arterial blood gases and pH were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower in transplant patients with low diffusion (arterial oxygen pressure 15 to 38 mm Hg below baseline) than in patients with normal diffusion and control subjects. Cardiac index did not differ (p ≥0.05) between transplant patients with noramal and low diffusion at rest or during exercise. Posttransplantation mean pulmonary artery pressure was significantly related to exercise-induced hypoxemia (r = 0.71; p = 0.03).Conclusions. Abnormal pulmonary diffusion observed in patients before heart transplantation persists after transplantation with or without restrictive or obstructive ventilatory defects. Heart transplant recipients exprience exercise-induced hypoxemia when diffusion at rest is < 70% of predicted. Our data also suggest that abnormal pulmonary gas exchange possibly contributes to diminished peak oxygen consumption in some heart transplant recipients; however, direct testing of this hypothesis was beyond the scope of the present study. This possibility needs to be investigated further

Measurement of two-halo neutron transfer reaction p(11^{11}Li,9^{9}Li)t at 3AA MeV

The p(\nuc{11}{Li},\nuc{9}{Li})t reaction has been studied for the first time at an incident energy of 3$A$ MeV delivered by the new ISAC-2 facility at TRIUMF. An active target detector MAYA, build at GANIL, was used for the measurement. The differential cross sectionshave been determined for transitions to the \nuc{9}{Li} ground andthe first excited states in a wide range of scattering angles. Multistep transfer calculations using different \nuc{11}{Li} model wave functions, shows that wave functions with strong correlations between the halo neutrons are the most successful in reproducing the observation.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

First detection of critically endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) in Guam, Micronesia, in five decades using environmental DNA

Among the hammerhead sharks, scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) have undergone the steepest population declines worldwide. Due to their high susceptibility to exploitation, the species is now classified as ‘critically endangered’, the most threatened category listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There is an urgent need for data on the distribution of S. lewini to inform the design and implementation of effective conservation management strategies, and mitigate the risk of global extinction. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is emerging as a powerful method to monitor the geographic distribution, population trends, and habitat usage of rare and endangered species. In comparison to traditional survey methods, eDNA methods offer lower cost, higher detection rates, and are non-invasive. At present, there is no targeted eDNA assay for the detection of S. lewini and existing methods to assess their distribution are either fisheries-dependent, leading to bias, or costly and laborious, leading to impracticality in regions of low or unknown abundance. Here we present an optimised workflow for the detection of S. lewini presence using eDNA methods, and apply these to successfully detect scalloped hammerhead sharks in Guam, of the western Pacific Ocean, where their presence has not been scientifically reported since the 1970s. The detection of S. lewini by eDNA survey methods was achieved from a single-day sampling effort, demonstrating the efficacy of the technique and workflow. If implemented, the eDNA survey methods developed here will enable the rapid generation of information on the distribution of scalloped hammerhead sharks in the western Pacific, and likely globally, and assist in the accurate placement of no-take reserves to best enable the species’ recovery

Pain Treatment for Older Adults During Prehospital Emergency Care: Variations by Patient Gender and Pain Severity

Older adults are less likely than younger adults to receive analgesic treatment during emergency department visits. Whether older adults are less likely to receive analgesics during protocolized prehospital care is unknown. We analyzed all ambulance transports in 2011 in the state of North Carolina and compared the administration of any analgesic or an opioid among older adults (aged 65 and older) versus adults aged 18 to 64. Complete data were available for 407,763 transports. Older men were less likely than younger men to receive an analgesic or an opioid regardless of pain severity. Among women with mild or moderate pain, older women were less likely than younger women to receive either form of pain treatment, but among women with more severe pain (pain score 8 or more), older women were more likely than younger women to receive pain treatment. Further, among women with mild or moderate pain, the oldest patients (aged 85 and older) were the least likely to receive any analgesic or an opioid, but among women with severe pain the oldest patients were the most likely to receive treatment. Further research is needed to assess the generalizability of this interaction between age, gender, and pain severity on pain treatment