Receiver Operating Characteristics of the CAP Lie Scale and Correlates of Impression Management in Parenting Capacity Evaluations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Child Abuse Potential L scale with a heterogeneous sample of caregivers referred for parenting capacity evaluations. One aim of the study was to assess the measurement properties of the L scale. A second aim was to evaluate the discriminative validity of the L scale by way of its receiver operating characteristics. A third aim of the study was to examine potential correlates of desirable responding on the L scale. The findings from this study provide new information about the psychometric properties of the CAP L scale and its application in clinical and forensic settings. Consistent with past investigations, caregivers produced a high rate (74.4 %) of invalid CAP profiles by way of elevated L scale scores. The L scale showed little variation across caregivers from families with different maltreatment histories. Item analyses and estimates of internal consistency showed homogeneity of the L scale, though several problem items were identified. Deletion of these items, however, produced only marginal improvements in internal consistency. The 14-item revised scale that resulted from the item deletions showed tradeoffs in sensitivity and specificity compared to the original 18-item scale. Classificatory accuracy of the 18-item scale (with emphasis on sensitivity to detect fake-good responding) was best using a cutoff score that was one to two points higher than recommendations given in the CAP manual (Milner, 1986). Last, the L scale showed inverse associations with stress and aggression. These findings suggest that caregivers perceive the context of evaluation to be coercive, pointing up the importance of procedures and pacing that increase rapport. Also, caregivers who report low levels of anger and stress produce higher L scale scores. Furthermore, findings highlight tradeoffs in L scale sensitivity and specificity that evaluators can select as a function of referral question or other relevant considerations. In sum, findings add to the scientific merit of the CAP in relation to Daubert criteria for testimonial admissibility

Consolidation of parental monitoring variables and scales: Preliminary evidence for construct validity

The aim of the present study was to improve definitions of parental monitoring constructs by reducing the domain of content from which researchers have sampled in previous investigations. For example, between the years of 1991 and 2007 researchers developed at least 49 different parental monitoring scales comprised of a total of 310 questions or items. Visual inspection of these scales as well as thorough review of the parental monitoring literature suggested that researchers primarily were interested in assessing five domains of content (the sum of which is described as parental monitoring). These five domains of content are (1) adolescent perceptions of parental monitoring knowledge, (2) parental behavioral control, (3) parental psychological control, (4) parent-adolescent relationship quality, and (5) parent-adolescent communication. Three exploratory hypotheses were posited for the present investigation. First, it was hypothesized that five empirically derived factors would adequately represent the five domains of content. Second, it was hypothesized that the factors would be conceptually distinct, yet moderately correlated. Third, it was hypothesized that the adolescent-driven practice of self-disclosure to parents would be subsumed by a parent-adolescent communication factor. To test these hypotheses, a sample of 320 college undergraduate students provided retrospective accounts of their parental monitoring experiences as assessed by the pool of 310 parental monitoring questions. Results of exploratory factor analysis showed that seven factors accounted for 66% of the variance in the observed data. In spite of identifying seven factors instead of five, inspection of the questions subsumed by the seven factors showed that the seven factors mapped onto the five domains of content. The seven factors did show moderate intercorrelations as well as a pattern of convergent correlations with a well-validated measure of parent-adolescent communication. Contrary to expectations, adolescent self-disclosure to parents was subsumed by a parental monitoring knowledge factor rather than a parent-adolescent communication factor. The partial support for the three exploratory hypotheses was discussed according to models of human development that emphasize research strategies sensitive to person, process, context, and time

Synthesis of Unsymmetrical Bidentate Ligands from Secondary Phosphine Oxides

Stereochemistry is a key component in the field of asymmetric catalysis. The properties of a molecule can be drastically changed with the change of one stereocenter. Typically, chirality is imparted to a metal by the ligand. Chiral-at-metal compounds are unique because the metal complex is chiral, but the ligands are not. Phosphine ligands are notoriously difficult to work with (pyrophoric, toxic, prone to oxidation). The goal of this research was to prepare unsymmetrical bidentate ligands using secondary phosphine oxides, which are air-stable and easy to handle on the benchtop

Inclusive Masculinity and Facebook Photographs Among Early Emerging Adults at a British University

Central to debates about the construction of masculinity in sociology is the influence of culture and what constitutes acceptable displays of masculinity. This article adopts a novel approach in examining this question. It adopts a summative content analysis, combined with a semiotic analysis, of 1,100 Facebook photographs, in order to explore the underlying meanings within the photos and the performances of masculinity. Facebook photographs from 44, straight, White, male, early emerging adults attending the same university are used as a representation of an individual’s ideal self. These are then analyzed in order to determine the behaviors endorsed by peer culture. It was found that the sample overwhelmingly adopted inclusive behaviors (including homosocial tactility, dancing, and kissing each other), and inclusive masculinity theory was utilized to contextualize participants’ constructions of masculinity. Thus, this research shows that emerging adult males at this university construct their masculine identities away from previous orthodox archetypes. It is argued that the reducing importance of gendered behavior patterns may represent an adoption of what are perceived as wider cultural norms and act as a symbol of adulthood to these early emerging adults

Quantum Cosmological Relational Model of Shape and Scale in 1-d

Relational particle models are useful toy models for quantum cosmology and the problem of time in quantum general relativity. This paper shows how to extend existing work on concrete examples of relational particle models in 1-d to include a notion of scale. This is useful as regards forming a tight analogy with quantum cosmology and the emergent semiclassical time and hidden time approaches to the problem of time. This paper shows furthermore that the correspondence between relational particle models and classical and quantum cosmology can be strengthened using judicious choices of the mechanical potential. This gives relational particle mechanics models with analogues of spatial curvature, cosmological constant, dust and radiation terms. A number of these models are then tractable at the quantum level. These models can be used to study important issues 1) in canonical quantum gravity: the problem of time, the semiclassical approach to it and timeless approaches to it (such as the naive Schrodinger interpretation and records theory). 2) In quantum cosmology, such as in the investigation of uniform states, robustness, and the qualitative understanding of the origin of structure formation.Comment: References and some more motivation adde

Replication stress and chromatin context link ATM activation to a role in DNA replication

ATM-mediated signaling in response to DNA damage is a barrier to tumorigenesis. Here we asked whether replication stress could also contribute to ATM signaling. We demonstrate that, in the absence of DNA damage, ATM responds to replication stress in a hypoxia-induced heterochromatin-like context. In certain hypoxic conditions, replication stress occurs in the absence of detectable DNA damage. Hypoxia also induces H3K9me3, a histone modification associated with gene repression and heterochromatin. Hypoxia-induced replication stress together with increased H3K9me3 leads to ATM activation. Importantly, ATM prevents the accumulation of DNA damage in hypoxia. Most significantly, we describe a stress-specific role for ATM in maintaining DNA replication rates in a background of increased H3K9me3. Furthermore, the ATM-mediated response to oncogene-induced replication stress is enhanced in hypoxic conditions. Together, these data indicate that hypoxia plays a critical role in the activation of the DNA damage response, therefore contributing to this barrier to tumorigenesis

Comparing predictive abilities of longitudinal child growth models

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Healthy Birth, Growth and Development knowledge integration project aims to improve the overall health and well-being of children across the world. The project aims to integrate information from multiple child growth studies to allow health professionals and policy makers to make informed decisions about interventions in lower and middle income countries. To achieve this goal, we must first understand the conditions that impact on the growth and development of children, and this requires sensible models for characterising different growth patterns. The contribution of this paper is to provide a quantitative comparison of the predictive abilities of various statistical growth modelling techniques based on a novel leave-one-out validation approach. The majority of existing studies have used raw growth data for modelling, but we show that fitting models to standardised data provide more accurate estimation and prediction. Our work is illustrated with an example from a study into child development in a middle income country in South America

Employability Skills and Trends in the Outdoor Power and Equipment Industry

The Power, Structural and Technical Systems (PST) Career Pathway is one of eight within the Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Career Cluster; this pathway provides the curriculum that includes outdoor power equipment content. The perceived workforce readiness and skills needed in this pathway and related future trends were analyzed for entry-level jobs within the outdoor power equipment industry. The respondents expressed concern with being able to find qualified entry-level employees. Respondents indicated that the major skill categories of interpersonal skills, communication skills, computer skills, character skills, technical competency, and their corresponding subskills, were important for entry-level employment. The respondents indicated shop experience and general work experience are important for career success, which are experiences that take place through school-based agricultural education. The areas with greatest impact on the future of the industry were equipment technology advancements, urbanization, environmental laws/policies, and the growth of technical education at the secondary and post-secondary level. Secondary agricultural educators and outdoor power equipment dealers should explore developing internships and other partnerships in order to better prepare students for entry-level positions within the outdoor power equipment industry

Analytical and experimental studies of impinging liquid jets

Impinging injectors are a common type of injector used in liquid propellant rocket engines and are typically used in engines where both propellants are injected as a liquid, e.g., engines using LOX/hydrocarbon and storable propellant combinations. The present research program is focused on providing the requisite fundamental understanding associated with impinging jet injectors for the development of an advanced a priori combustion stability design analysis capability. To date, a systematic study of the atomization characteristics of impinging liquid jets under cold-flow conditions have been completed. Effects of orifice diameter, impingement angle, pre-impingement length, orifice length-to-diameter ratio, fabrication procedure, jet flow condition and jet velocity under steady and oscillating, and atmospheric- and high-pressure environments have been investigated. Results of these experimental studies have been compared to current models of sheet breakup and drop formation. In addition, the research findings have been scrutinized to provide a fundamental explanation for a proven empirical correlation used in the design of stable impinging injector-based rocket engines

Emergent Semiclassical Time in Quantum Gravity. I. Mechanical Models

Strategies intended to resolve the problem of time in quantum gravity by means of emergent or hidden timefunctions are considered in the arena of relational particle toy models. In situations with `heavy' and `light' degrees of freedom, two notions of emergent semiclassical WKB time emerge; these are furthermore equivalent to two notions of emergent classical `Leibniz--Mach--Barbour' time. I futhermore study the semiclassical approach, in a geometric phase formalism, extended to include linear constraints, and with particular care to make explicit those approximations and assumptions used. I propose a new iterative scheme for this in the cosmologically-motivated case with one heavy degree of freedom. I find that the usual semiclassical quantum cosmology emergence of time comes hand in hand with the emergence of other qualitatively significant terms, including back-reactions on the heavy subsystem and second time derivatives. I illustrate my analysis by taking it further for relational particle models with linearly-coupled harmonic oscillator potentials. As these examples are exactly soluble by means outside the semiclassical approach, they are additionally useful for testing the justifiability of some of the approximations and assumptions habitually made in the semiclassical approach to quantum cosmology. Finally, I contrast the emergent semiclassical timefunction with its hidden dilational Euler time counterpart.Comment: References Update