The impact of a correctional-based parenting program in strengthening parenting skills of incarcerated mothers

Despite a relative paucity of information on the impact that incarceration of a parent has on a child, most literature agrees that the effects are real and profound. Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) in conjunction with Tresillian Family Care Centres introduced a parenting program, Mothering at a Distance (MAAD), across correctional facilities for female prisoners in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The central aim of the Program was to provide early parenting education and support intervention to mothers in custody, with the aim of guarding against the intergenerational cycle of crime. The Program intended to enhance a prisoner's ability to provide appropriate and sensitive parenting and reduce the emotional and social impact of separation on their children. An evaluation of the Program's development, implementation, effectiveness, and sustainability was conducted on all groups run between October 2006 and December 2008. This article provides a summary of the evaluation findings

The Vacuum in Light-Cone Field Theory

This is an overview of the problem of the vacuum in light-cone field theory, stressing its close connection to other puzzles regarding light-cone quantization. I explain the sense in which the light-cone vacuum is ``trivial,'' and describe a way of setting up a quantum field theory on null planes so that it is equivalent to the usual equal-time formulation. This construction is quite helpful in resolving the puzzling aspects of the light-cone formalism. It furthermore allows the extraction of effective Hamiltonians that incorporate vacuum physics, but that act in a Hilbert space in which the vacuum state is simple. The discussion is fairly informal, and focuses mainly on the conceptual issues. [Talk presented at {\sc Orbis Scientiae 1996}, Miami Beach, FL, January 25--28, 1996. To appear in the proceedings.]Comment: 20 pages, RevTeX, 4 Postscript figures. Minor typos correcte

Generalized Geometry and M theory

We reformulate the Hamiltonian form of bosonic eleven dimensional supergravity in terms of an object that unifies the three-form and the metric. For the case of four spatial dimensions, the duality group is manifest and the metric and C-field are on an equal footing even though no dimensional reduction is required for our results to hold. One may also describe our results using the generalized geometry that emerges from membrane duality. The relationship between the twisted Courant algebra and the gauge symmetries of eleven dimensional supergravity are described in detail.Comment: 29 pages of Latex, v2 References added, typos fixed, v3 corrected kinetic term and references adde

Wetlands In a Changing Climate: Science, Policy and Management

Part 1 of this review synthesizes recent research on status and climate vulnerability of freshwater and saltwater wetlands, and their contribution to addressing climate change (carbon cycle, adaptation, resilience). Peatlands and vegetated coastal wetlands are among the most carbon rich sinks on the planet sequestering approximately as much carbon as do global forest ecosystems. Estimates of the consequences of rising temperature on current wetland carbon storage and future carbon sequestration potential are summarized. We also demonstrate the need to prevent drying of wetlands and thawing of permafrost by disturbances and rising temperatures to protect wetland carbon stores and climate adaptation/resiliency ecosystem services. Preventing further wetland loss is found to be important in limiting future emissions to meet climate goals, but is seldom considered. In Part 2, the paper explores the policy and management realm from international to national, subnational and local levels to identify strategies and policies reflecting an integrated understanding of both wetland and climate change science. Specific recommendations are made to capture synergies between wetlands and carbon cycle management, adaptation and resiliency to further enable researchers, policy makers and practitioners to protect wetland carbon and climate adaptation/resiliency ecosystem services

Deep subcutaneous application of poly-L-lactic acid as a filler for facial lipoatrophy in HIV-infected patients

Introduction: Facial lipoatrophy is a crucial problem of HIV-infected patients undergoing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Poly-L-lactic acid (PLA), provided as New-Fill(R)/Sculptra(TM), is known as one possible treatment option. In 2004 PLA was approved by the FDA as Sculptra(TM) for the treatment of lipoatrophy of the face in HIV-infected patients. While the first trials demonstrated relevant efficacy, this was to some extent linked to unwanted effects. As the depth of injection was considered relevant in this context, the application modalities of the preparation were changed. The preparation was to be injected more deeply into subcutaneous tissue, after increased dilution. Material and Methods: To test this approach we performed a pilot study following the new recommendations in 14 patients. Results: While the efficacy turned out to be about the same, tolerability was markedly improved. The increase in facial dermal thickness was particularly obvious in those patients who had suffered from lipoatrophy for a comparatively small period of time. Conclusion: With the new recommendations to dilute PLA powder and to inject it into the deeper subcutaneous tissue nodule formation is a minor problem. However, good treatment results can only be achieved if lipoatrophy is not too intense; treatment intervals should be about 2 - 3 weeks. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

Revisiting protein aggregation as pathogenic in sporadic Parkinson and Alzheimer diseases.

The gold standard for a definitive diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD) is the pathologic finding of aggregated α-synuclein into Lewy bodies and for Alzheimer disease (AD) aggregated amyloid into plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau into tangles. Implicit in this clinicopathologic-based nosology is the assumption that pathologic protein aggregation at autopsy reflects pathogenesis at disease onset. While these aggregates may in exceptional cases be on a causal pathway in humans (e.g., aggregated α-synuclein in SNCA gene multiplication or aggregated β-amyloid in APP mutations), their near universality at postmortem in sporadic PD and AD suggests they may alternatively represent common outcomes from upstream mechanisms or compensatory responses to cellular stress in order to delay cell death. These 3 conceptual frameworks of protein aggregation (pathogenic, epiphenomenon, protective) are difficult to resolve because of the inability to probe brain tissue in real time. Whereas animal models, in which neither PD nor AD occur in natural states, consistently support a pathogenic role of protein aggregation, indirect evidence from human studies does not. We hypothesize that (1) current biomarkers of protein aggregates may be relevant to common pathology but not to subgroup pathogenesis and (2) disease-modifying treatments targeting oligomers or fibrils might be futile or deleterious because these proteins are epiphenomena or protective in the human brain under molecular stress. Future precision medicine efforts for molecular targeting of neurodegenerative diseases may require analyses not anchored on current clinicopathologic criteria but instead on biological signals generated from large deeply phenotyped aging populations or from smaller but well-defined genetic-molecular cohorts

Questioning Classic Patient Classification Techniques in Gait Rehabilitation: Insights from Wearable Haptic Technology

Classifying stroke survivors based on their walking abilities is an important part of the gait rehabilitation process. It can act as powerful indicator of function and prognosis in both the early days after a stroke and long after a survivor receives rehabilitation. This classification often relies solely on walking speed; a quick and easy measure, with only a stopwatch needed. However, walking speed may not be the most accurate way of judging individual’s walking ability. Advances in technology mean we are now in a position where ubiquitous and wearable technologies can be used to elicit much richer measures to characterise gait. In this paper we present a case study from one of our studies, where within a homogenous group of stroke survivors (based on walking speed classification) important differences in individual results and the way they responded to rhythmic haptic cueing were identified during the piloting of a novel gait rehabilitation technique

Replication of a whole school ethos-changing intervention: different context, similar effects, additional insights

Background Whole school, ethos-changing interventions reduce risk behaviours in middle adolescence, more than curriculum-based approaches. Effects on older ages are not known. We set out to replicate one of these interventions, Australia’s Gatehouse Project, in a rural Canadian high school. Methods A guided, whole school change process sought to make students feel more safe, connected, and valued by: changes in teaching practices, orientation processes, professional development of staff, recognition and reward mechanisms, elevating student voice, and strategies to involve greater proactivity and participation. We conducted risk behaviour surveys in grades 10 to 12 before the intervention and 2 years afterwards, and social network analyses with the staff. Changes in health and health risk behaviours were assessed using chi-square. Interactions between the intervention and gender and between the intervention and school engagement were assessed using interaction terms in logistic regression models. Changes in the density of relationships among staff were tested with methods analogous to paired t-tests. Results Like Gatehouse, there was no statistically significant reduction in depressive symptoms or bullying, though the trend was in that direction. Among girls, there was a statistically significant decrease in low school engagement (45% relative reduction), and decreases in drinking (46% relative reduction), unprotected sex (61% relative reduction) and poor health (relative reduction of 73%). The reduction in drinking matched the national trend. Reductions in unprotected sex and poor health went against the national trend. We found no statistically significant changes for boys. The effects coincided with statistically significant increases in the densities of staff networks, indicating that part of the mechanism may be through relationships at school. Conclusions A non-specific, risk protective intervention in the social environment of the school had a significant impact on a cluster of risk behaviours for girls. Results were remarkably like reports from similar school environment interventions elsewhere, albeit with different behaviours being affected. It may be that this type of intervention activates change processes that interact highly with context, impacting different risks differently, according to the prevalence, salience and distribution of the risk and the interconnectivity of relationships between staff and students. This requires further exploration.14 page(s

A modified echocardiographic protocol with intrinsic plausibility control to determine intraventricular asynchrony based on TDI and TSI

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Established methods to determine asynchrony suffer from high intra- and interobserver variability and failed to improve patient selection for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Thus, there is a need for easy and robust approaches to reliably assess cardiac asynchrony.</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>We performed echocardiography in 100 healthy subjects and 33 patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB). To detect intraventricular asynchrony, we combined two established methods, i.e., tissue synchronization imaging (TSI) and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). The time intervals from the onset of aortic valve opening (AVO) to the peak systolic velocity (S') were measured separately in six basal segments in the apical four-, two-, and three-chamber view. Color-coded TSI served as an intrinsic plausibility control and helped to identify the correct S' measuring point in the TDI curves. Next, we identified the segment with the shortest AVO-S' interval. Since this segment most likely represents vital and intact myocardium it served as a reference for other segments. Segments were considered asynchronous when the delay between the segment in question and the reference segment was above the upper limit of normal delays derived from the control population. Intra- and interobserver variability were 7.0% and 7.7%, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that combination of TDI and TSI with intrinsic plausibility control improves intra- and interobserver variability and allows easy and reliable assessment of cardiac asynchrony.</p

Super-Yang-Mills and M5-branes

We uplift 5-dimensional super-Yang-Mills theory to a 6-dimensional gauge theory with the help of a space-like constant vector $\eta^M$, whose norm determines the Yang-Mills coupling constant. After the localization of $\eta^M$ the 6D gauge theory acquires Lorentzian invariance as well as scale invariance. We discuss KK states, instantons and the flux quantization. The 6D theory admits extended solutions like 1/2 BPS `strings' and monopoles.Comment: 15 pages; minor changes, to appear in JHE