The Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES):Validity as a screening instrument for PTSD

The Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES) is a brief child-friendly measure designed to screen children at risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It has good face and construct validity, a stable factor structure, correlates well with other indices of distress, and has been used to screen very large samples of at-risk-children following a wide range of traumatic events. However, few studies have examined the scale's validity against a structured diagnostic interview based on the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. In the present study, the CRIES and the PTSD section of the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Child and Parent Version (ADIS-CP) were administered to a sample of children and adolescents (n=63) recruited from hospital accident and emergency rooms and the validity of the CRIES as a screening tool evaluated. Cutoff scores were chosen from this sample with a low base-rate of PTSD (11.1%) to maximize sensitivity and minimize the likelihood that children with a diagnosis of PTSD would fail to be identified. Cutoff scores were then cross-validated in a sample of 52 clinically referred children who had a high base-rate of PTSD (67.3%). A cutoff score of 30 on the CRIES-13 and a cutoff score of 17 on the CRIES-8 maximized sensitivity and specificity, minimized the rate of false negatives, and correctly classified 75-83% of the children in the two samples. The CRIES-8 (which lacks any arousal items) worked as efficiently as the CRIES-13 (which includes arousal items) in correctly classifying children with and without PTSD. Results are discussed in light of the current literature and of the need for further development of effective screens for children at-risk of developing PTSD

Spin squeezing in optical lattice clocks via lattice-based QND measurements

Quantum projection noise will soon limit the best achievable precision of optical atomic clocks based on lattice-confined neutral atoms. Squeezing the collective atomic pseudo-spin via measurement of the clock state populations during Ramsey interrogation suppresses the projection noise. We show here that the lattice laser field can be used to perform ideal quantum non-demolition measurements without clock shifts or decoherence and explore the feasibility of such an approach in theory with the lattice field confined in a ring-resonator. Detection of the motional sideband due to the atomic vibration in the lattice wells can yield signal sizes a hundredfold above the projection noise limit.Comment: Substantially expanded versio

Number statistics of molecules formed from ultra-cold atoms

We calculate the number statistics of a single-mode molecular field excited by photoassociation or via a Feshbach resonance from an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), a normal atomic Fermi gas and a Fermi system with pair correlations (BCS state). We find that the molecule formation from a BEC is a collective process that leads for short times to a coherent molecular state in the quantum optical sense. Atoms in a normal Fermi gas, on the other hand, are converted into molecules independently of each other and result for short times in a molecular state analogous to that of a classical chaotic light source. The BCS situation is intermediate between the two and goes from producing an incoherent to a coherent molecular field with increasing gap parameter.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Parameter extraction and transistor models

Using specified mathematical models of the MOSFET device, the optimal values of the model-dependent parameters were extracted from data provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Three MOSFET models, all one-dimensional were used. One of the models took into account diffusion (as well as convection) currents. The sensitivity of the models was assessed for variations of the parameters from their optimal values. Lines of future inquiry are suggested on the basis of the behavior of the devices, of the limitations of the proposed models, and of the complexity of the required numerical investigations

Combating Sexual Violence on College Campuses: Exploring the Relationship Between Values and Bystander Intervention Among College Students

Sexual violence is a serious problem on college campuses, and research indicates that bystander intervention is one way to reduce rates of violence. This quantitative study analyzed survey data (N = 696) from a small, private, religiously affiliated university on the West Coast of the U.S. to explore the relationship between values and bystander intervention behavior in incidents of college sexual assault. Survey data included the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS) Sexual Assault Campus Climate Survey (2019) with additional questions about personal, peer, and institutional values adapted from the Character Education Values and Practices Inventory (CEVPI, Chen, 2005). Data analysis revealed that the majority of participants who observed an incident of sexual assault (67%, n = 68) intervened to help the victim. Additionally, in active and potential incidents of sexual assault, bystander intervention rates were similar (66%, n = 35 for active sexual assaults, 67%, n = 67 for potential sexual assaults). On average, bystanders used two intervention strategies during both types of incidents to help the victim, with the most common intervention strategy being asking if the victim needed help. Additional analysis revealed that women were significantly more likely than men to involve others as an intervention strategy (p = .034), and men appeared to be more likely than women to confront the perpetrator, with marginal significance (p = .056). Findings related to values revealed that the top personal value was compassionate (47%), top peer value was respectful (31%), and top value promoted by the institution was faithful (39%). Men and women had statistically significant (p \u3c .05) differences in their selected top personal values for 10 of the 42 values. Greater intervention in a sexual assault situation was associated with the personal value of compassionate (p = .039), the peer values of committed (p = .009) and/or responsible (p = .049), and the institutional values of devout (p = .030) and/or persevering (p = .027). This study highlights the need to continue sexual assault prevention education and bystander intervention training on college campuses. Furthermore, this study indicates that understanding the role values play in bystander intervention may provide opportunities to create stronger pro-social campus communities

Advancement of Oxygen Biosensor in Escherichia coli

Microbial biosensors can be used to provide information about the cells’ environment in large-scale fermentations. In this project an oxygen sensitive biosensor is being developed in Escherichia coli to determine what kind of conditions cells are growing in: aerobic or anaerobic. This project specifically studies expression from the fumarate and nitrate reductase (FNR) promoter (PFNR) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. In fluorescence experiments, the expression levels of green fluorescent protein (GFP) were used to quantify the effectiveness of the PFNR in the DH5α, MG1655 and BL21 strains of E. coli. The negative control of the experiments, which are the E. coli strains without a GFP plasmid, showed very high levels of background fluorescence until the emission and excitation wavelengths of the fluorescence plate reader were adjusted. Overall, the PFNR expressed more GFP under anaerobic conditions in the DH5α and BL21 strains. The results of the MG1655 strain indicated that the strain has the fnr- genotype and did not draw any definite conclusions of PFNR. Another oxygen sensitive promoter plasmid, pKVS-vgb-GFP, was constructed using circular polymerase extension cloning (CPEC) to be tested in the future. A positive control plasmid, pKVS-J23101-GFP, was also constructed using CPEC that should not produce as high of an amount of GFP relative to the current positive control plasmid. Once verified as the correct plasmid size, the new positive control can be used in future fluorescence experiments. Acknowledgements I wis

The Super-Strong Coupling Regime of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics

We describe a qualitatively new regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics, the super strong coupling regime. This regime is characterized by atom-field coupling strengths of the order of the free spectral range of the cavity, resulting in a significant change in the spatial mode functions of the light field. It can be reached in practice for cold atoms trapped in an optical dipole potential inside the resonator. We present a nonperturbative scheme that allows us to calculate the frequencies and linewidths of the modified field modes, thereby providing a good starting point for a quantization of the theory.Comment: Figures rearranged and introduction rewritte