The Predictive Ability of Self-Efficacy on Recidivism Among Adult Male Offenders

With crime rates high and increasing numbers of offenders receiving community-based corrections sentences, factors related to risk of recidivism should be a high priority for researchers. The impact of crime on offenders, victims, and communities is costly. Traditional punishment has done little to reduce crime, particularly among repeat offenders. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive ability of self-efficacy on recidivism, based on social cognitive theory. The research design was quantitative and nonexperimental, using regression analyses. The nonrandomized sample consisted of adult males incarcerated on felony charges at a large urban jail in the Midwest of the United States. The archival data were generated between May 2017 and the end of October 2017. Total scores on the Index of Sense of Self-Efficacy Scale was used as the independent variable data, while incidents of reincarceration were collected as dependent variable data. The findings suggest that there is a significant relationship between the two variables, in which participants’ ISSES scores significantly predicted recidivism when self-efficacy was measured in total score and recidivism was measured as time. Potential for positive social change lies in the reduction in victimization, decreased financial and emotional cost of recidivism, and increased public safety through the development of interventions aimed at decreasing recidivism by increasing self-efficacy

Self-Perceptions of Communication by Deaf/HOH Adolescents as a Tool for SLPs and Audiologists

The Language/Communication Background Questionnaire (L/CBQ), a tool used by professionals at NTID, is designed to query students on their communication preferences, access services received, hearing aid, cochlear implant and ASL use, and self-perceptions of communication skills. The poster describes an entry vs. near-graduation study, student demographics, L/CBQ questions and choices, study results, and how SLPs and audiologists can use the L/CBQ as a tool to better determine and serve deaf or hard-of-hearing students’ communication needs

Gemini Near-infrared Spectroscopy of Luminous z~6 Quasars: Chemical Abundances, Black Hole Masses, and MgII Absorption

We present Gemini near-infrared spectroscopic observations of six luminous quasars at z=5.8$\sim$6.3. Five of them were observed using Gemini-South/GNIRS, which provides a simultaneous wavelength coverage of 0.9--2.5 $\mu$m in cross dispersion mode. The other source was observed in K band with Gemini-North/NIRI. We calculate line strengths for all detected emission lines and use their ratios to estimate gas metallicity in the broad-line regions of the quasars. The metallicity is found to be supersolar with a typical value of $\sim$4 Z_{\sun}, and a comparison with low-redshift observations shows no strong evolution in metallicity up to z$\sim$6. The FeII/MgII ratio of the quasars is 4.9+/-1.4, consistent with low-redshift measurements. We estimate central BH masses of 10^9 to 10^{10} M_{\sun} and Eddington luminosity ratios of order unity. We identify two MgII $\lambda\lambda$2796,2803 absorbers with rest equivalent width W_0^{\lambda2796}>1 \AA at 2.2<z<3 and three MgII absorbers with W_0^{\lambda2796}>1.5 \AA at z>3 in the spectra, with the two most distant absorbers at z=4.8668 and 4.8823, respectively. The redshift number densities (dN/dz) of MgII absorbers with W_0^{\lambda2796}>1.5 \AA are consistent with no cosmic evolution up to z>4.Comment: 33 pages (including 7 figures and 6 tables), AJ in pres

Does fish oil during pregnancy help prevent asthma in kids?

Does fish oil during pregnancy help prevent asthma in kids? The evidence on fish oil has been mixed, but this study affirms its benefits--in certain women. PRACTICE CHANGER: Fish oil supplementation taken by women in the third trimester of pregnancy can reduce the risk of persistent wheeze, asthma, and infections of the lower respiratory tract in their children.Authors: Dana Neutze, MD, PhD; Kelly Lacy Evans, MD; Marianne Koenig, PharmD, BCPS; Gregory Castelli, PharmD, BCPS, BC-ADM; Anne Mounsey, MD Department of Family Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Drs. Neutze, Evans, and Mounsey); UPMC St. Margaret Family Medicine Residency Program, Pittsburgh, Pa (Drs. Koenig and Castelli)

Determining Quasar Black Hole Mass Functions from their Broad Emission Lines: Application to the Bright Quasar Survey

We describe a Bayesian approach to estimating quasar black hole mass functions (BHMF) when using the broad emission lines to estimate black hole mass. We show how using the broad line mass estimates in combination with statistical techniques developed for luminosity function estimation leads to statistically biased results. We derive the likelihood function for the BHMF based on the broad line mass estimates, and derive the posterior distribution for the BHMF, given the observed data. We develop our statistical approach for a flexible model where the BHMF is modelled as a mixture of Gaussian functions. Statistical inference is performed using markov chain monte carlo (MCMC) methods. Our method has the advantage that it is able to constrain the BHMF even beyond the survey detection limits at the adopted confidence level, accounts for measurement errors and the intrinsic uncertainty in broad line mass estimates, and provides a natural way of estimating the probability distribution of any quantities derived from the BHMF. We conclude by using our method to estimate the local active BHMF using the z < 0.5 Bright Quasar Survey sources. At z = 0.2, the quasar BHMF falls off approximately as a power law with slope ~ 2 for M_{BH} > 10^8. Our analysis implies that z < 0.5 broad line quasars have a typical Eddington ratio of ~ 0.4 and a dispersion in Eddington ratio of < 0.5 dex (abridged).Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, emulate ApJ style, accepted by Ap

Adverse health effects after breast cancer up to 14 years after diagnosis

BACKGROUND: The number of breast cancer survivors increases, but information about long-term adverse health effects in breast cancer survivors is sparse. We aimed to get an overview of the health effects for which survivors visit their general practitioner up to 14 years after diagnosis. METHODS: We retrieved data on 11,671 women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000–2016 and 23,242 age and sex matched controls from the PSCCR-Breast Cancer, a database containing data about cancer diagnosis, treatment and primary healthcare. We built Cox regression models for 685 health effects, with time until the health effect as the outcome and survivor/control and cancer treatment as predictors. Models were built separately for four age groups (aged 18/44, 45/59, 60/74 and 75/89) and two follow-up periods (1/4 and 5/14 years after diagnosis). RESULTS: 229 health effects occurred statistically significantly more often in survivors than in controls (p < 0.05). Health effects varied by age, time since diagnosis and treatment, but coughing, respiratory and urinary infections, fatigue, sleep problems, osteoporosis and lymphedema were statistically significantly increased in breast cancer survivors. Osteoporosis and chest symptoms were associated with hormone therapy; respiratory and skin infections with chemotherapy and lymphedema and skin infections with axillary dissection. CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer survivors may experience numerous adverse health effects up to 14 years after diagnosis. Insight in individual risks may assist healthcare professionals in managing patient expectations and improve monitoring, detection and treatment of adverse health effects

Systematic Uncertainties in Black Hole Masses Determined from Single Epoch Spectra

We explore the nature of systematic errors that can arise in measurement of black hole masses from single-epoch spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) by utilizing the many epochs available for NGC 5548 and PG1229+204 from reverberation mapping databases. In particular, we examine systematics due to AGN variability, contamination due to constant spectral components (i.e., narrow lines and host galaxy flux), data quality (i.e., signal-to-noise ratio, S/N), and blending of spectral features by comparing the precision and accuracy of single-epoch mass measurements to those of recent reverberation mapping studies. We calculate masses by characterizing the broad Hbeta emission line by both the full width at half maximum and the line dispersion and demonstrate the importance of removing narrow emission-line components and host starlight. We find that the reliability of line width measurements rapidly decreases for S/N lower than ~10 to 20 (per pixel) and that fitting the line profiles instead of direct measurement of the data does not mitigate this problem but can, in fact, introduce systematic errors. We also conclude that a full spectral decomposition to deblend the AGN and galaxy spectral features is unnecessary except to judge the contribution of the host galaxy to the luminosity and to deblend any emission lines that may inhibit accurate line width measurements. Finally, we present an error budget which summarizes the minimum observable uncertainties as well as the amount of additional scatter and/or systematic offset that can be expected from the individual sources of error investigated. In particular, we find that the minimum observable uncertainty in single-epoch mass estimates due to variability is ~ 20 per pixel) spectra.Comment: 60 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Tree component analysis in a savanna-forest ecotone area of Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Ecotones are transition areas characterized by environmental complexity and high biodiversity. In this sense, carrying out a floristic survey and characterization of each phytoecological region is necessary. Thus, we analyzed the floristic composition, horizontal and vertical structure, and dispersal syndromes of the woody community in an ecotone of cerrado sensu stricto and seasonal deciduous forest. Likewise, we proceeded with the floristic similarity analysis to evaluate the study area’s similarities to the vegetation of cerrado sensu stricto and seasonal deciduous forest. A total of 919 individuals from 19 families, 43 genera, and 49 species were sampled. The tree community has an average height of 4.12 m, a species diversity of 3.03 nats.ind-1, and a Pielou equitability index of 0.77. The predominant dispersion syndrome was anemochory. The vegetation formed floristic groups with the cerrado sensu stricto. The environmental gradient that determines the occurrence of transition vegetation makes each remnant unique in terms of species and structure, demonstrating the importance of these areas for the biodiversity conservation.Ecotones are transition areas characterized by environmental complexity and high biodiversity. In this sense, carrying out a floristic survey and characterization of each phytoecological region is necessary. Thus, we analyzed the floristic composition, horizontal and vertical structure, and dispersal syndromes of the woody community in an ecotone of Cerrado Sensu Stricto and seasonal deciduous forest. Likewise, we proceeded with the floristic similarity analysis to evaluate the study area’s similarities to the vegetation of cerrado Sensu Stricto and seasonal deciduous forest. A total of 919 individuals from 19 families, 43 genera, and 49 species were sampled. The tree community has an average height of 4.12 m, a species diversity of 3.03 nats ind‑1, and a Pielou equitability index of 0.77. The predominant dispersion syndrome was anemochory. The vegetation formed floristic groups with the Cerrado Sensu Stricto. The environmental gradient that determines the occurrence of transition vegetation makes each remnant unique in terms of species and structure, demonstrating the importance of these areas for the biodiversity conservation