Extending the Functional Behavioral Assessment Process: A Methodology for Test-driving Interventions with Varied Choice Dimensions to Reduce Escape-maintained Behaviors Displayed by Youth with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

The benefits of extending the traditional functional behavioral assessment (FBA) process to include brief experimental comparisons between potential interventions were explored. After FBA interview and functional analysis (FA) data converged to suggest that the problem behaviors displayed by 2 youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) were maintained by escape from task demands, the youth participated in brief intervention analyses to evaluate the relative effectiveness of functional communication training (FCT) and noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) interventions with varied choice dimensions. Results of the brief intervention analyses, which were highly idiosyncratic, were used to guide the selection of a treatment for implementation in the final phase of the study. One participant received an opportunity to select among the most effective variations of the FCT and NCR interventions, whereas an intervention employing differential positive reinforcement for task completion was implemented with the other participant. Implications for the assessment and treatment of youth with EBD were considered

Magnetic Order In The Quasi-One-Dimensional Spin-1/2 Molecular Chain Compound Copper Pyrazine Dinitrate

We present evidence of magnetic order in the quasi-one-dimensional spin-1/2 molecular chain compound, copper pyrazine dinitrate Cu(C4H4N2)(NO3)(2). Zero field muon-spin relaxation measurements made at dilution refrigerator temperatures show oscillations in the measured asymmetry characteristic of a quasistatic magnetic field at the muon sites. Our measurements provide convincing evidence for long-range magnetic order below a temperature T-N=107(1) mK. This leads to an estimate of the interchain coupling constant of vertical bar J\u27vertical bar/k(B)=0.046 K and to a ratio of vertical bar J\u27/J vertical bar=4.4x10(-3)

Dendritic cell integrin expression patterns regulate inflammation in the rheumatoid arthritis joint

Objectives: Immune dysregulation contributes to the development of RA. Altered surface expression patterns of integrin adhesion receptors by immune cells is one mechanism by which this may occur. We investigated the role of β2 integrin subunits CD11a and CD11b in dendritic cell (DC) subsets of RA patients. Methods: Total β2 integrin subunit expression and its conformation (‘active’ vs ‘inactive’ state) were quantified in DC subsets from peripheral blood (PB) and SF of RA patients as well as PB from healthy controls. Ex vivo stimulation of PB DC subsets and in vitro-generated mature and tolerogenic monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs) were utilized to model the clinical findings. Integrin subunit contribution to DC function was tested by analysing clustering and adhesion, and in co-cultures to assess T cell activation. Results: A significant reduction in total and active CD11a expression in DCs in RA SF compared with PB and, conversely, a significant increase in CD11b expression was found. These findings were modelled in vitro using moDCs: tolerogenic moDCs showed higher expression of active CD11a and reduced levels of active CD11b compared with mature moDCs. Finally, blockade of CD11b impaired T cell activation in DC–T cell co-cultures. Conclusion: For the first time in RA, we show opposing expression of CD11a and CD11b in DCs in environments of inflammation (CD11alow/CD11bhigh) and steady state/tolerance (CD11ahigh/CD11blow), as well as a T cell stimulatory role for CD11b. These findings highlight DC integrins as potential novel targets for intervention in RA

Experimental and theoretical electron density analysis of copper pyrazine nitrate quasi-low-dimensional quantum magnets

The accurate electron density distribution and magnetic properties of two metal-organic polymeric magnets, the quasi-one-dimensional (1D) Cu(pyz)(NO3)2 and the quasi-two-dimensional (2D) [Cu(pyz)2(NO3)]NO3·H2O, have been investigated by high-resolution single-crystal X-ray diffraction and Density Functional Theory calculations on the whole periodic systems and on selected fragments. Topological analyses, based on Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules, enabled the characterization of possible magnetic exchange pathways and the establishment of relationships between the electron (charge and spin) densities and the exchange-coupling constants. In both compounds, the experimentally observed anti-ferromagnetic coupling can be quantitatively explained by the Cu-Cu super-exchange pathway mediated by the pyrazine bridging ligands, via a σ-type interaction. From topological analyses of experimental charge-density data, we show for the first time that the pyrazine tilt angle does not play a role in determining the strength of the magnetic interaction. Taken in combination with molecular orbital analysis and spin density calculations, we find a synergistic relationship between spin delocalization and spin polarization mechanisms and that both determine the bulk magnetic behavior of these Cu(II)-pyz coordination polymers

Muon-Fluorine Entangled States In Molecular Magnets

The information accessible from a muon-spin relaxation experiment can be limited due to a lack of knowledge of the precise muon stopping site. We demonstrate here the possibility of localizing a spin polarized muon in a known stopping state in a molecular material containing fluorine. The muon-spin precession that results from the entangled nature of the muon spin and surrounding nuclear spins is sensitive to the nature of the stopping site. We use this property to identify three classes of sites that occur in molecular magnets and describe the extent to which the muon distorts its surroundings

Controlling magnetic order and quantum disorder in molecule-based magnets

We investigate the structural and magnetic properties of two molecule-based magnets synthesized from the same starting components. Their different structural motifs promote contrasting exchange pathways and consequently lead to markedly different magnetic ground states. Through examination of their structural and magnetic properties we show that [Cu(pyz)(H2O)(gly)2](ClO4)2 may be considered a quasi-one-dimensional quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet whereas the related compound [Cu(pyz)(gly)](ClO4), which is formed from dimers of antiferromagnetically interacting Cu2+ spins, remains disordered down to at least 0.03 K in zero field but shows a field-temperature phase diagram reminiscent of that seen in materials showing a Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons

Assimilating Lagrangian data for parameter estimation in a multiple-inlet system

© The Author(s), 2017. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ocean Modelling 113 (2017): 131-144, doi:10.1016/j.ocemod.2017.04.001.Numerical models of ocean circulation often depend on parameters that must be tuned to match either results from laboratory experiments or field observations. This study demonstrates that an initial, suboptimal estimate of a parameter in a model of a small bay can be improved by assimilating observations of trajectories of passive drifters. The parameter of interest is the Manning's n coefficient of friction in a small inlet of the bay, which had been tuned to match velocity observations from 2011. In 2013, the geometry of the inlet had changed, and the friction parameter was no longer optimal. Results from synthetic experiments demonstrate that assimilation of drifter trajectories improves the estimate of n, both when the drifters are located in the same region as the parameter of interest and when the drifters are located in a different region of the bay. Real drifter trajectories from field experiments in 2013 also are assimilated, and results are compared with velocity observations. When the real drifters are located away from the region of interest, the results depend on the time interval (with respect to the full available trajectories) over which assimilation is performed. When the drifters are in the same region as the parameter of interest, the value of n estimated with assimilation yields improved estimates of velocity throughout the bay.This work was supported by: Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) [grant N000141110087], administered by the Office of Naval Research; the National Science Foundation (NSF); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); NOAA's Climate Program Office; the Department of Energy's Office for Science (BER); and the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Research & Development)

Mediators Affecting Girls’ Levels of Physical Activity Outside of School: Findings from the Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls

Providing after school activities is a community level approach for reducing the decline in physical activity of girls as they reach early adolescence

Association between School- and Nonschool-Based Activity Programs and Physical Activity in Adolescent Girls

Some researchers have questioned if activity programs would be more effective if based outside school (eg, community leagues) rather than within schools. This study compared participation in activity programs based within and outside of school, and estimated the associations between participation and moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among adolescent girls

Antiferromagnetism in a family of S=1 square lattice coordination polymers NiX2(pyz)2 (X=Cl, Br, I, NCS; pyz=Pyrazine)

The crystal structures of NiX2(pyz)2 (X = Cl (1), Br (2), I (3), and NCS (4)) were determined by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. All four compounds consist of two-dimensional (2D) square arrays self-assembled from octahedral NiN4X2 units that are bridged by pyz ligands. The 2D layered motifs displayed by 1–4 are relevant to bifluoride-bridged [Ni(HF2)(pyz)2]EF6 (E = P, Sb), which also possess the same 2D layers. In contrast, terminal X ligands occupy axial positions in 1–4 and cause a staggered packing of adjacent layers. Long-range antiferromagnetic (AFM) order occurs below 1.5 (Cl), 1.9 (Br and NCS), and 2.5 K (I) as determined by heat capacity and muon-spin relaxation. The single-ion anisotropy and g factor of 2, 3, and 4 were measured by electron-spin resonance with no evidence for zero–field splitting (ZFS) being observed. The magnetism of 1–4 spans the spectrum from quasi-two-dimensional (2D) to three-dimensional (3D) antiferromagnetism. Nearly identical results and thermodynamic features were obtained for 2 and 4 as shown by pulsed-field magnetization, magnetic susceptibility, as well as their Néel temperatures. Magnetization curves for 2 and 4 calculated by quantum Monte Carlo simulation also show excellent agreement with the pulsed-field data. Compound 3 is characterized as a 3D AFM with the interlayer interaction (J⊥) being slightly stronger than the intralayer interaction along Ni–pyz–Ni segments (Jpyz) within the two-dimensional [Ni(pyz)2]2+ square planes. Regardless of X, Jpyz is similar for the four compounds and is roughly 1 K