School-Related Stress and Depression in Adolescents With and Without Learning Disabilities: An Exploratory Study

This study examined school-related stress and depression in adolescents with and without learning disabilities. A total of 87 students (38 learning-disabled and 49 nondisabled) from secondary schools in Calgary completed questionnaires on depressive symptoms and on school-related stress. Results indicated that the adolescents with LD reported significantly higher levels of academic self-concept stress than their NonLD peers. However, the groups did not differ significantly on depression or on the other areas of school-related stress. Significant and positive correlations between school-related stress and depression were found, and the stress variables were found to be significant predictors of adolescent depression. Practical implications of the findings for parents and educators are discussed.Ce projet de recherche porte sur le stress et la dépression liés à l’école chez 87 adolescents, élèves au secondaire à Calgary. Parmi eux, 38 étaient atteints de troubles d’apprentissage et 49 ne l’étaient pas. Les élèves ont répondu à des questionnaires sur les symptômes de dépression et le stress lié à l’école. D’après les résultats, le niveau de stress lié à l’image de soi sur le plan académique était beaucoup plus élevé chez les adolescents atteints de troubles d’apprentissage que chez les adolescents qui ne l’étaient pas. Toutefois, il n’y avait pas de différence significative entre les groupes quant à la dépression ou d’autres stress liés à l’école. Les résultats ont révélé des corrélations significatives et positives entre le stress lié à l’école et la dépression. De plus, les chercheurs ont trouvé que les variables pour le stress étaient des prédicteurs significatifs de dépression chez les adolescents. Les auteurs discutent de conséquences pratiques pour les parents et les enseignants

Effect of V and N on the microstructure evolution during continuous casting of steel

Low Carbon (LC) steel is not expected to be sensitive to hot tearing and/or cracking while microalloyed steels are known for their high cracking sensitivity during continuous casting. Experience of the Direct Sheet Plant caster at Tata Steel in Ijmuiden (the Netherlands), seems to contradict this statement. It is observed that a LC steel grade has a high risk of cracking alias hot tearing, while a High Strength Low Alloyed (HSLA) steel has a very low cracking occurrence. Another HSLA steel grade, with a similar composition but less N and V is however very sensitive to hot tearing. An extreme crack results in a breakout. A previous statistical analysis of the breakout occurrence reveals a one and a half times higher possibility of a breakout for the HSLA grade compared to the LC grade. HSLA with extra N, V shows a four times smaller possibility of breakout than LC. This study assigns the unexpected effect of the chemical composition on the hot tearing sensitivity to the role of some alloying elements such as V and N as structure refiners.This research was carried out under project number M41.5.08320 within the framework of the Research Program of the Materials innovation institute M2i (www.m2i.nl)

Ptychographic ultrafast pulse reconstruction

We demonstrate a new ultrafast pulse reconstruction modality which is somewhat reminiscent of frequency resolved optical gating but uses a modified setup and a conceptually different reconstruction algorithm that is derived from ptychography. Even though it is a second order correlation scheme it shows no time ambiguity. Moreover, the number of spectra to record is considerably smaller than in most other related schemes which, together with a robust algorithm, leads to extremely fast convergence of the reconstruction.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 3 references added, new figure 2, matches published versio

Which is more cost‐effective under the MELD system: primary liver transplantation, or salvage transplantation after hepatic resection or after loco‐regional therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma within Milan criteria?

AbstractObjectiveThe optimal strategy for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a disease with increasing incidence, in patients with Child–Pugh class A cirrhosis has long been debated. This study evaluated the cost‐effectiveness of hepatic resection (HR) or locoregional therapy (LRT) followed by salvage orthotopic liver transplantation (SOLT) vs. that of primary orthotopic liver transplantation (POLT) for HCC within the Milan Criteria.MethodsA Markov‐based decision analytic model simulated outcomes, expressed in costs and quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs), for the three treatment strategies. Baseline parameters were determined from a literature review. Sensitivity analyses tested model strength and parameter variability.ResultsBoth HR and LRT followed by SOLT were associated with earlier recurrence, decreased survival, increased costs and decreased quality of life (QoL), whereas POLT resulted in decreased recurrence, increased survival, decreased costs and increased QoL. Specifically, HR/SOLT yielded 3.1QALYs (at US$96000/QALY) and LRT/SOLT yielded 3.9QALYs (at US$74000/QALY), whereas POLT yielded 5.5QALYs (at US$52000/QALY). Sensitivity analyses supported these findings at clinically meaningful probabilities.ConclusionsUnder the Model for End‐stage Liver Disease (MELD) system, in patients with HCC within the Milan Criteria, POLT increases survival and QoL at decreased costs compared with HR or LRT followed by SOLT. Therefore, POLT is the most cost‐effective strategy for the treatment of HCC

Very-high-resolution mapping of river-immersed topography by remote sensing

Remote sensing has been used to map river bathymetry for several decades. Non-contact methods are necessary in several cases: inaccessible rivers, large-scale depth mapping, very shallow rivers. The remote sensing techniques used for river bathymetry are reviewed. Frequently, these techniques have been developed for marine environment and have then been transposed to riverine environments. These techniques can be divided into two types: active remote sensing, such as ground penetrating radar and bathymetric lidar; or passive remote sensing, such as through-water photogrammetry and radiometric models. This last technique which consists of finding a logarithmic relationship between river depth and image values appears to be the most used. Fewer references exist for the other techniques, but lidar is an emerging technique. For each depth measurement method, we detail the physical principles and then a review of the results obtained in the field. This review shows a lack of data for very shallow rivers, where a very high spatial resolution is needed. Moreover, the cost related to aerial image acquisition is often huge. Hence we propose an application of two techniques, radiometric models and through-water photogrammetry, with very high-resolution passive optical imagery, light platforms, and off-the-shelf cameras. We show that, in the case of the radiometric models, measurement is possible with a spatial filtering of about 1 m and a homogeneous river bottom. In contrast, with through-water photogrammetry, fine ground resolution and bottom textures are necessary

Is liver transplantation using organs donated after cardiac death cost‐effective or does it decrease waitlist death by increasing recipient death?

AbstractObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the cost‐effectiveness in liver transplantation (LT) of utilizing organs donated after cardiac death (DCD) compared with organs donated after brain death (DBD).MethodsA Markov‐based decision analytic model was created to compare two LT waitlist strategies distinguished by organ type: (i) DBD organs only, and (ii) DBD and DCD organs. The model simulated outcomes for patients over 10 years with annual cycles through one of four health states: survival; ischaemic cholangiopathy; retransplantation, and death. Baseline values and ranges were determined from an extensive literature review. Sensitivity analyses tested model strength and parameter variability.ResultsOverall survival is decreased, and biliary complications and retransplantation are increased in recipients of DCD livers. Recipients of DBD livers gained 5.6 quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) at a cost of US$69 000/QALY, whereas recipients on the DBD + DCD LT waitlist gained 6.0 QALYs at a cost of US$61 000/QALY. The DBD + DCD organ strategy was superior to the DBD organ‐only strategy.conclusionsThe extension of life and quality of life provided by DCD LT to patients on the waiting list who might otherwise not receive a liver transplant makes the continued use of DCD livers cost‐effective

Which is more cost‐effective under the MELD system: primary liver transplantation, or salvage transplantation after hepatic resection or after loco‐regional therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma within Milan criteria?

AbstractObjectiveThe optimal strategy for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a disease with increasing incidence, in patients with Child–Pugh class A cirrhosis has long been debated. This study evaluated the cost‐effectiveness of hepatic resection (HR) or locoregional therapy (LRT) followed by salvage orthotopic liver transplantation (SOLT) vs. that of primary orthotopic liver transplantation (POLT) for HCC within the Milan Criteria.MethodsA Markov‐based decision analytic model simulated outcomes, expressed in costs and quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs), for the three treatment strategies. Baseline parameters were determined from a literature review. Sensitivity analyses tested model strength and parameter variability.ResultsBoth HR and LRT followed by SOLT were associated with earlier recurrence, decreased survival, increased costs and decreased quality of life (QoL), whereas POLT resulted in decreased recurrence, increased survival, decreased costs and increased QoL. Specifically, HR/SOLT yielded 3.1QALYs (at US$96000/QALY) and LRT/SOLT yielded 3.9QALYs (at US$74000/QALY), whereas POLT yielded 5.5QALYs (at US$52000/QALY). Sensitivity analyses supported these findings at clinically meaningful probabilities.ConclusionsUnder the Model for End‐stage Liver Disease (MELD) system, in patients with HCC within the Milan Criteria, POLT increases survival and QoL at decreased costs compared with HR or LRT followed by SOLT. Therefore, POLT is the most cost‐effective strategy for the treatment of HCC

Synchrony of physiological activity during mother-child interaction: moderation by maternal history of major depressive disorder

The family environment plays an important role in the intergenerational transmission of MDD, but less is known about how day-to-day mother-child interactions may be disrupted in families with a history of MDD. Disruptions in mother-child synchrony, the dynamic and convergent exchange of physiological and behavioral cues during interactions, may be one important risk factor. Although maternal MDD is associated with a lack of mother-child synchrony at the behavioral level, no studies have examined the impact of maternal MDD on physiological synchrony. Therefore, the current study examined whether maternal history of MDD moderates mother-child physiological synchrony (measured via RSA) during positive and negative discussions

Validity and reliability of the Patient-Reported Arthralgia Inventory; validation of a newly-developed survey instrument to measure arthralgia

BACKGROUND: There is a need for a survey instrument to measure arthralgia (joint pain) that has been psychometrically validated in the context of existing reference instruments. We developed the 16-item Patient-Reported Arthralgia Inventory (PRAI) to measure arthralgia severity in 16 joints, in the context of a longitudinal cohort study to assess aromatase inhibitor-associated arthralgia in breast cancer survivors and arthralgia in postmenopausal women without breast cancer. We sought to evaluate the reliability and validity of the PRAI instrument in these populations, as well as to examine the relationship of patient-reported morning stiffness and arthralgia. METHODS: We administered the PRAI on paper in 294 women (94 initiating aromatase inhibitor therapy and 200 postmenopausal women without breast cancer) at weeks 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, and 52, as well as once in 36 women who had taken but were no longer taking aromatase inhibitor therapy. RESULTS: Cronbach’s alpha was 0.9 for internal consistency of the PRAI. Intraclass correlation coefficients of test-retest reliability were in the range of 0.87–0.96 over repeated PRAI administrations; arthralgia severity was higher in the non-cancer group at baseline than at subsequent assessments. Women with joint comorbidities tended to have higher PRAI scores than those without (estimated difference in mean scores: −0.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.5, −0.2; P<0.001). The PRAI was highly correlated with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Endocrine Subscale item “I have pain in my joints” (reference instrument; Spearman r range: 0.76–0.82). Greater arthralgia severity on the PRAI was also related to decreased physical function (r=−0.47, 95% CI −0.55, −0.37; P<0.001), higher pain interference (r=0.65, 95% CI 0.57–0.72; P<0.001), less active performance status (estimated difference in location (−0.6, 95% CI −0.9, −0.4; P<0.001), and increased morning stiffness duration (r=0.62, 95% CI 0.54–0.69; P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the psychometric properties of the PRAI are satisfactory for measuring arthralgia severity