Effectiveness of residential treatment for substance-abusing youth: Benefits of the Pine River Institute program

We investigated the effectiveness treatment for substance abusing youth at an innovative residential program in Canada, the Pine River Institute (PRI). We explored (a) whether pretreatment problems were predicted by individual differences; (b) what predicted treatment progression; (c) the amount of improvement preto posttreatment; and (d) what predicted those improvements. From data from 148 youths, we found that (a) parental divorce and mental health issues were associated with pretreatment problems; (b) youths who attended PRI in more recent years progressed further through treatment; (c) improvements were significant and large; and (d) youths who progress further in treatment experience greater improvements.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC

WHAT CAN A KANSAS FARMER AFFORD TO PAY TO RENT CROPLAND?

Five years of continuous annual data are used to measure the marginal value product of cropland (return to land) on approximately 100 Kansas farms. Determinants of the marginal value product are investigated using regression.Land Economics/Use,

Securities Regulation in the International Marketplace: Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements

This article examines the experience of the SEC in securities regulation with respect to the international securities markets, focusing first as background upon recent developments in those markets, and then on the actual regulation of issuer disclosure, the trading markets, and enforcement in general. In each of the latter three areas, the article will consider the Commission\u27s direct domestic actions in response to international trade, and compare those with international approaches to establish standards in these areas. This comparison demonstrates that international cooperation can, and should, develop new protections and predictable, common themes of regulation, for disclosure, market regulation, and enforcement

A heteroscedastic, rank-based approach for analyzing 2 x 2 independent groups designs

The ANOVA F is a widely used statistic in psychological research despite its shortcomings when the assumptions of normality and variance heterogeneity are violated. A Monte Carlo investigation compared Type I error and power rates of the ANOVA F, Alexander-Govern with trimmed means and Johnson transformation, Welch-James with trimmed means and Johnson Transformation, Welch with trimmed means, and Welch on ranked data using Johansen’s interaction procedure. Results suggest that the ANOVA F is not appropriate when assumptions of normality and variance homogeneity are violated, and that the Welch/Johansen on ranks offers the best balance of empirical Type I error control and statistical power under these conditions.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC

Cementitious Compositions

The invention provides a cementitious composition comprising a cement component comprising (i) an accelerant, (ii) a calcium sulphate source and (iii) an ettringite forming cement; an aggregate; and optionally water; wherein the cement has a minimum unconfined compressive strength of 1500 psi when tested in accordance with ASTM C1140 and/or C1604 at 15 minutes after placement; methods for its use and concrete formed from it

A Multidiscipline Approach to Mitigating the Insider Threat

Preventing and detecting the malicious insider is an inherently difficult problem that expands across many areas of expertise such as social, behavioral and technical disciplines. Unfortunately, current methodologies to combat the insider threat have had limited success primarily because techniques have focused on these areas in isolation. The technology community is searching for technical solutions such as anomaly detection systems, data mining and honeypots. The law enforcement and counterintelligence communities, however, have tended to focus on human behavioral characteristics to identify suspicious activities. These independent methods have limited effectiveness because of the unique dynamics associated with the insider threat. The solution requires a multidisciplinary approach with a clearly defined methodology that attacks the problem in an organized and consistent manner. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework that provides a systematic way to identify the malicious insider and describe a methodology to counter the threat. Our model, the Multidiscipline Approach to Mitigating the Insider Threat (MAMIT), introduces a novel process for addressing this challenge. MAMIT focuses on the collaboration of information from the relative disciplines and uses indicators to produce a consolidated matrix demonstrating the likelihood of an individual being a malicious insider. The well-known espionage case study involving Robert Hanssen is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the framework

Hypersonic Wake Diagnostics Using Laser Induced Fluorescence Techniques

A review of recent research performed in iodine that involves a two photon absorption of light at 193 nm will be discussed, and it's potential application to velocimetry measurements in a hypersonic flow field will be described. An alternative seed atom, Krypton, will be presented as a good candidate for performing nonintrusive hypersonic flow diagnostics. Krypton has a metastable state with a lifetime of approximately 43 s which would prove useful for time of flight measurement (TOF) and a sensitivity to collisions that can be utilized for density measurements. Calculations using modest laser energies and experimental values show an efficiency of excited state production to be on the order of 10(exp -6) for a two photon absorption at 193 nm

Using PLSI-U to Detect Insider Threats by Datamining Email

Despite a technology bias that focuses on external electronic threats, insiders pose the greatest threat to an organisation. This paper discusses an approach to assist investigators in identifying potential insider threats. We discern employees\u27 interests from e-mail using an extended version of PLSI. These interests are transformed into implicit and explicit social network graphs, which are used to locate potential insiders by identifying individuals who feel alienated from the organisation or have a hidden interest in a sensitive topic. By applying this technique to the Enron e-mail corpus, a small number of employees appear as potential insider threats

Electronic Health Record Availability and Anxiety Treatment in Office Based Practices

Objective: This study compared the probability of receiving anxiety treatment during a physician visit to primary care practices with and without an electronic health record (EHR). Methods: The 2007–2010 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey was used to identify visits for anxiety (N=290). The outcome was receipt of anxiety treatment. The independent variable was the presence of a fully functioning EHR. Logistic regression was used to conduct the analysis. Results: Patients who were seen in practices with a fully functioning EHR had lower odds of being offered antianxiety medication (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]=.15–.90, p=.028), mental health counseling (AOR=.43, CI=.18–1.04, p=.061), and any anxiety treatment (AOR=.40, CI=.15–1.05, p=.062) compared with patients at practices without a fully functioning EHR. Conclusions: EHRs may have a negative impact on the delivery of care for anxiety during primary care visits. Future studies should monitor the impact of EHRs on delivery and quality of care