An investigation into depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and external locus of control in children referred to a child and family mental health service

Emotional and behavioural problem s in childhood em brace an array o f disorders ranging from depression, anxiety and chronic shyness to non-com pliance, im pulsiveness, stealing and aggression. A chenbach (1991) proposed a dim ensional approach to conceptualising children’s problems. The first dim ension, consisting o f emotional behaviours such as crying, w orrying and w ithdraw al has been given the broad label o f internalising behaviour problems. These disorders are m ost acutely troublesome for the child rather than their parents, carers or teachers. The second dimension, which targets dysregulated behaviours, such as aggressive and delinquent conduct problem s has been term ed externalising behaviour problem s and often reflects a greater cost and challenge for society at large.Psychological problem s in children rarely occur in isolation; for exam ple, a child with externalising behavioural problems may also suffer from depression and low self-esteem, another, who refuses to go to school, may display sym ptom s o f anxiety and depression. In clinic studies about 25 per cent o f referrals have a m ajor depression (Carr, 1999). In a review o f the most im portant epidem iological studies, Anderson (1994) concluded that the overall prevalence for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents is 2 to 9 per cent. Research also suggests that 50 per cent o f children diagnosed as depressed are also anxious and that 25 per cent o f children diagnosed with anxiety disorders are also depressed (Smith, 1999).The expression and presentation o f psychological difficulties in childhood can be varied and assessm ent does not always uncover the underlying features o f psychological problem s in children. Nevertheless, standardised m easures o f selfreport can be useful and valid tools for assessing a child’s own psychological experience. By tapping into specific areas o f concern or difficulty for the child and offering the clinician an improved understanding o f the child’s inner em otional world these tools can make a valuable contribution to the overall therapeutic process.The study aimed to investigate the incidence o f anxiety and depression am ongst children referred to one team o f a Child and Fam ily M ental Flealth Service in Edinburgh. Participants were children aged between 8 to 11-years. Self-report measures o f anxiety, depression, self-esteem and locus o f control were taken to determ ine whether a link could be found between these psychological constructs and internalising and externalising disorders and to determ ine the presence o f comorbidity. In addition, a measure o f parental stress was taken. The relationships between these factors will be explored, results will be given and conclusions reached

Investigation of the stress-strain of American Standard or National Course bolts

The purpose of this investigation is to determine, if possible, a formula for the initial tensile load that will consider the Nominal Diameter of the bolt and the yield point of the material from which the bolt is manufactured; to determine, if possible, a torque stress relation, when tightening the bolt --Preface, page iii

Activation of mammalian Chk1 during DNA replication arrest: a role for Chk1 in the intra-S phase checkpoint monitoring replication origin firing

Checkpoints maintain order and fidelity in the cell cycle by blocking late-occurring events when earlier events are improperly executed. Here we describe evidence for the participation of Chk1 in an intra-S phase checkpoint in mammalian cells. We show that both Chk1 and Chk2 are phosphorylated and activated in a caffeine-sensitive signaling pathway during S phase, but only in response to replication blocks, not during normal S phase progression. Replication block–induced activation of Chk1 and Chk2 occurs normally in ataxia telangiectasia (AT) cells, which are deficient in the S phase response to ionizing radiation (IR). Resumption of synthesis after removal of replication blocks correlates with the inactivation of Chk1 but not Chk2. Using a selective small molecule inhibitor, cells lacking Chk1 function show a progressive change in the global pattern of replication origin firing in the absence of any DNA replication. Thus, Chk1 is apparently necessary for an intra-S phase checkpoint, ensuring that activation of late replication origins is blocked and arrested replication fork integrity is maintained when DNA synthesis is inhibited

The effects of minimal tillage, contour cultivation and in-field vegetative barriers on soil erosion and phosphorus loss.

Runoff, sediment, total phosphorus and total dissolved phosphorus losses in overland flow were measured for two years on unbounded plots cropped with wheat and oats. Half of the field was cultivated with minimum tillage (shallow tillage with a tine cultivator) and half was conventionally ploughed. Within each cultivation treatment there were different treatment areas (TA). In the first year of the experiment, one TA was cultivated up and down the slope, one TA was cultivated on the contour, with a beetle bank acting as a vegetative barrier partway up the slope, and one had a mixed direction cultivation treatment, with cultivation and drilling conducted up and down the slope and all subsequent operations conducted on the contour. In the second year, this mixed treatment was replaced with contour cultivation. Results showed no significant reduction in runoff, sediment losses or total phosphorus losses from minimum tillage when compared to the conventional plough treatment, but there were increased losses of total dissolved phosphorus with minimum tillage. The mixed direction cultivation treatment increased surface runoff and losses of sediment and phosphorus. Increasing surface roughness with contour cultivation reduced surface runoff compared to up and down slope cultivation in both the plough and minimum tillage treatment areas, but this trend was not significant. Sediment and phosphorus losses in the contour cultivation treatment followed a very similar pattern to runoff. Combining contour cultivation with a vegetative barrier in the form of a beetle bank to reduce slope length resulted in a non-significant reduction in surface runoff, sediment and total phosphorus when compared to up and down-slope cultivation, but there was a clear trend towards reduced losses. However, the addition of a beetle bank did not provide a significant reduction in runoff, sediment losses or total phosphorus losses when compared to contour cultivation, suggesting only a marginal additional benefit. The economic implications for farmers of the different treatment options are investigated in order to assess their suitability for implementation at a field scale

Managing emergencies in primary care: does real-world simulation-based training have any lasting impact?

General Practitioners (GPs) have a responsibility to provide prompt and effective care when attending to life threatening emergencies in their GP surgeries. Primary care staff undertake mandatory, annual basic life support training. However, most emergencies are peri-arrest situations, and this is an area where GPs lack confidence and competence [1, 2]. The importance of effective, early intervention in peri-arrest scenarios was highlighted by the NCEPOD report “Time to Intervene (2012)” [3]. This report suggested that better early assessment and intervention may have prevented progression to cardiorespiratory arrest. GPs need to be equipped to manage ‘time critical’ emergencies, particularly as GP surgeries are deemed a place of safety and 999 ambulances can be redirected to other emergencies, thereby delaying transfer to secondary care for patients in GP settings. In previous work, we demonstrated that GPs’ confidence in managing time critical emergencies was initially low, and significantly improved immediately after attending ‘real-world’, simulation based workshops [1]. The value of real-world, in-house simulation based training has also been shown to increase “practical preparedness” in the context of resuscitation training (4). However, there is relatively little data regarding the long term value of simulation based training in primary care (5). In the current paper, we assessed whether our workshops had any longer-term benefit on participants’ confidence in managing emergencies and if it led to any changes in clinical practice

A computational study of Gabor zone plate gamma ray holography

Gamma ray zone plate holography is a new technique with applications to Nuclear Medicine. Unlike other tomographic techniques three dimensional images can be reconstructed from just one projection. The history of zone plate holography is reviewed and the differences between this technique and conventional holography are outlined. Sources of error in the recorded hologram are reviewed and methods for the assessment of image quality are given. Three image reconstruction techniques are described and compared. These techniques are convolution deconvolution and the CLEAN algorithm Simulated diffraction is the main image reconstruction method which has previously been used to reconstruct images from zone plate holograms This method is a form of convolution reconstruction. Several variations on this technique are introduced and compared. Matched filltering is also investigated and compared with the simulated diffraction based methods. An approximate Fourier Wiener filter is used to reconstruct the images by deconvolution. Several different versions of this filter are discussed and compared. The CLEAN algorithm reconstruction is an iterative method which is based on either convolution or deconvolution. The three methods are tested using both computer generated and real gamma ray zone plate holograms

High-Performance CCSDS Encapsulation Service Implementation in FPGA

The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Encapsulation Service is a convergence layer between lower-layer space data link framing protocols, such as CCSDS Advanced Orbiting System (AOS), and higher-layer networking protocols, such as CFDP (CCSDS File Delivery Protocol) and Internet Protocol Extension (IPE). CCSDS Encapsulation Service is considered part of the data link layer. The CCSDS AOS implementation is described in the preceding article. Recent advancement in RF modem technology has allowed multi-megabit transmission over space links. With this increase in data rate, the CCSDS Encapsulation Service needs to be optimized to both reduce energy consumption and operate at a high rate. CCSDS Encapsulation Service has been implemented as an intellectual property core so that the aforementioned problems are solved by way of operating the CCSDS Encapsulation Service inside an FPGA. The CCSDS En capsula tion Service in FPGA implementation consists of both packetizing and de-packetizing feature

The Interplanetary Overlay Networking Protocol Accelerator

A document describes the Interplanetary Overlay Networking Protocol Accelerator (IONAC) an electronic apparatus, now under development, for relaying data at high rates in spacecraft and interplanetary radio-communication systems utilizing a delay-tolerant networking protocol. The protocol includes provisions for transmission and reception of data in bundles (essentially, messages), transfer of custody of a bundle to a recipient relay station at each step of a relay, and return receipts. Because of limitations on energy resources available for such relays, data rates attainable in a conventional software implementation of the protocol are lower than those needed, at any given reasonable energy-consumption rate. Therefore, a main goal in developing the IONAC is to reduce the energy consumption by an order of magnitude and the data-throughput capability by two orders of magnitude. The IONAC prototype is a field-programmable gate array that serves as a reconfigurable hybrid (hardware/ firmware) system for implementation of the protocol. The prototype can decode 108,000 bundles per second and encode 100,000 bundles per second. It includes a bundle-cache static randomaccess memory that enables maintenance of a throughput of 2.7Gb/s, and an Ethernet convergence layer that supports a duplex throughput of 1Gb/s

IONAC-Lite

The Interplanetary Overlay Net - working Protocol Accelerator (IONAC) described previously in The Inter - planetary Overlay Networking Protocol Accelerator (NPO-45584), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 32, No. 10, (October 2008) p. 106 (http://www.techbriefs.com/component/ content/article/3317) provides functions that implement the Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) bundle protocol. New missions that require high-speed downlink-only use of DTN can now be accommodated by the unidirectional IONAC-Lite to support high data rate downlink mission applications. Due to constrained energy resources, a conventional software implementation of the DTN protocol can provide only limited throughput for any given reasonable energy consumption rate. The IONAC-Lite DTN Protocol Accelerator is able to reduce this energy consumption by an order of magnitude and increase the throughput capability by two orders of magnitude. In addition, a conventional DTN implementation requires a bundle database with a considerable storage requirement. In very high downlink datarate missions such as near-Earth radar science missions, the storage space utilization needs to be maximized for science data and minimized for communications protocol-related storage needs. The IONAC-Lite DTN Protocol Accelerator is implemented in a reconfigurable hardware device to accomplish exactly what s needed for high-throughput DTN downlink-only scenarios. The following are salient features of the IONAC-Lite implementation: An implementation of the Bundle Protocol for an environment that requires a very high rate bundle egress data rate. The C&DH (command and data handling) subsystem is also expected to be very constrained so the interaction with the C&DH processor and the temporary storage are minimized. Fully pipelined design so that bundle processing database is not required. Implements a lookup table-based approach to eliminate multi-pass processing requirement imposed by the Bundle Protocol header s length field structure and the SDNV (self-delimiting numeric value) data field formatting. 8-bit parallel datapath to support high data-rate missions. Reduced resource utilization implementation for missions that do not require custody transfer features. There was no known implementation of the DTN protocol in a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device prior to the current implementation. The combination of energy and performance optimization that embodies this design makes the work novel

High-Performance CCSDS AOS Protocol Implementation in FPGA

The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Advanced Orbiting Systems (AOS) space data link protocol provides a framing layer between channel coding such as LDPC (low-density parity-check) and higher-layer link multiplexing protocols such as CCSDS Encapsulation Service, which is described in the following article. Recent advancement in RF modem technology has allowed multi-megabit transmission over space links. With this increase in data rate, the CCSDS AOS protocol implementation needs to be optimized to both reduce energy consumption and operate at a high rate