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The Positive Youth Development Scale-Short Form (PYD-SF) is a 34-item questionnaire assessing the Five Cs model of PYD that has received little interest in contexts outside of the United States. This study aimed to validate the PYD-SF for use with older adolescents in a French-Canadian context, by testing the bifactor structure and examining its reliability and validity with respect to important adolescent outcomes (e.g., vitality, depression, substance use). The French-Canadian version of the scale was administered to 359 ninth-grade students (Mage = 14.39; 50% girls) attending two schools in the province of Quebec. The results found support for the bifactor model. Likewise, the global PYD showed moderate associations with the adolescent outcomes in expected directions with high internal consistency estimates. These findings suggest the French-Canadian version of PYD-SF reliably measures the global construct of PYD, but caution is needed in calculating the C-specific subscale scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing evidence that child neglect is an important risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociation. Considering that the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is a widely used measure, the possibility of using validated CBCL-derived trauma symptoms scales could be particularly useful to better understand how trauma symptoms develop among neglected children and adolescents. This study examined the factor structure of three CBCL-derived measures of PTSD and dissociation (namely, PTSD scale, Dissociation scale, and PTSD/Dissociation scale) in a sample of 239 neglected children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years using the latest version of CBCL (CBCL 6-18). Evidence of convergent validity of these scales was also examined for participants aged 12 and under using two well-validated measures of PTSD and Dissociation: the Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Young Children and the Child Dissociation Checklist. Findings suggest that CBCL-derived measures of trauma symptoms, especially PTSD and Dissociations scales, may be of heuristic value in the study of trauma symptomatology in neglected samples. Factor structure and evidence of convergent validity were supported for these two scales. Results also provide further support to the well-established assumption that PTSD and dissociation are two related but different constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gait in young people with cerebral palsy is inefficient and there is a lack of relevant indicators for monitoring the problem. In particular, the impact of gait kinematics on gait efficiency is not well documented. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between gait efficiency, gait kinematics, lower limb muscle strength, and muscular spasticity in adolescents with cerebral palsy. Methods: Ten ambulatory adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy were recruited. The energy expenditure index during gait, gait kinematics, flexion and extension knee isometric muscle strength, and quadriceps spasticity were assessed. Findings: Energy expenditure index (1.5 (0.7) beats/m) was strongly correlated with the ankle and knee flexion/extension ranges of motion (r= −0.82, P <0.01 and r= −0.70, P <0.02, respectively) and also with maximal plantar flexion (r=0.74, P <0.05) during gait. Knee flexion strength was the only strength measurement correlated with energy expenditure index (r= −0.85; P <0.01). Interpretation: This study suggests that ankle and knee flexion/extension ranges of motion during gait are key kinematics factors in gait efficiency in adolescents with cerebral palsy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article reports on the result of the study that examines the changes in the quality of the stream water due to logging of the boreal forest in the Montmorency Forest in Québec. The study concludes that logging of moderate intensity and respecting established best management practices can be accounted for the limited changes of water quality parameters and the low exceedances of the criteria for the protection of aquatic life. Moreover, it is observed that proximity of the cutover to the stream network and logging within the riparian zone did not affect water quality.

Chemical and physical characterizations of beryllium (Be) particles found in settled dust samples from four industries based in Québec were attempted using a variety of analytical methods. Bulk particle chemistry was determined using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS), and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), electron energy loss spectrometry (EELS), and Auger microscopy were used to characterize physicochemical properties of particles. These analyses were deemed important based on the hypotheses that (1) different chemical forms of Be do not present the same risks, and (2) different morphologies lead to different risks. Standards were used to prove the adequacy of XRD, EELS, and Auger microscopy prior to the analyses of industrial samples. However, low concentrations of Be in samples were a limiting factor for most methods; few detected Be in industrial samples. Only ICP-MS, GFAAS, and TOF-SIMS were able to detect Be in industrial samples analyzed in this study. Characterization of settled dust samples showed high number of Be particles, even for Be concentrations below 100 ppm. Furthermore, Be seems to be present as fine particles of Be metal, possibly mechanically agglomerated or aggregated to larger particles or compounds such as cryolite. Other major elements detected with INAA present in the samples were limited to Na, Al, Ca, and F. It was concluded that TOF-SIMS is a valid method for characterizing particles containing approximately 0.01% Be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was carried out to test the persistence of the early effects of forest drainage and planting position on the growth of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) seedlings planted in eight drained forested wetland cutovers. Initial results, 2 years after planting, had shown that seedling response was most affected by planting position within the microtopography, and to a lesser extent, by distance to the drainage ditch. Persistence of these effects was tested by measuring the survival and growth rates of seedlings for an additional 4 years after planting. Increased growth owing to raised planting position was maintained over time. The small effect of distance to ditch on seedling growth observed after two growing seasons did not evolve into larger differences over time, and after 6 years there was no significant effect of distance to drainage ditch. Given the marginal growth improvements of black spruce seedlings planted closer to the ditch, drainage networks with narrow ditch spacing are not necessary on these site types after clear-cutting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which aims to determine whether the adaptation of the Roman chair (RC) exercise would cause more fatigue in back muscles than in hip extensors. A current review implied that progressive resistance exercises aimed at back muscles have considerably increased strength and endurance and decreased pain and disability among patients with low back pain (LBP). Moreover, results of the study has revealed that RC exercise allows more freedom to alter the kinematics of the spine during the exercise and provided evidence that the RC exercise with the hips flexed is not well suited to specifically fatigue the back muscles relative to the hip extensors.