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Pain and disability often persist following hip (THR) and knee replacement (TKR) surgery predisposing patients to increased risk of falling. This study identified pre-operative predictors for post-operative falls in TKR and THR patients, and the incidence and circumstances of falls in the 12 months post-surgery. A survey was undertaken of patients before THR and TKR, and was repeated 12 months post-operation. The survey included (1) medical history and medications usage, (2) pain and function, (3) health-related and physical activity and (4) fear of falls and history of falls questionnaires. Patients were classified as ‘fallers’ (≥1 fall) or ‘non-fallers’ based on prospectively documented falls in the 12 months post-surgery. Binary logistic regression was conducted to identify independent pre-operative predictors of incident falls status. Eighty-two of the 243 participants (33.7%) reported ≥1 fall in the 12 months post-operatively [60 (34.1%) patients following TKR and 22 (32.8%) following THR]. The logistic regression model was statistically significant, χ 2 = 24.731, p

This article has no abstract.

In developmental research there is quite often a mismatch between the scientific problem and the methods used to address it. In this article we discuss what this mismatch is about and we suggest some remedies. Our discussion is confined to typical matching situations that arise within a developmental science (DS) theoretical framework. A number of measurement issues are brought up including variable standardization and how to measure change. It is argued that to study individual development precise measurements are necessary and that, for this purpose, most measures currently used in developmental research are not sufficiently reliable. Further, we discuss the choice of a statistical method suitable for analysis within a DS framework and it is concluded that increased use should be made of person-oriented methods and methods developed for studying nonlinear dynamic systems. Finally, causality issues are discussed and a distinction is made between the study of average and individual causality.

The tenets of person-oriented research have been presented in 1997 (Bergman & Magnusson) and 2003 (von Eye & Bergman), and have been discussed widely since (e.g., Bergman, von Eye, & Magnusson, 2006; Bogat, von Eye, & Bergman, 2016; von Eye, Bergman, & Hsieh, 2015; von Eye & Bergman, 2009; von Eye & Bogat, 2006). The number of person-oriented research studies is rapidly increasing, and person-oriented research is generally considered a most useful approach in the behavioral sciences. Even in statistics, one finds interesting attempts to deal with unobserved heterogeneity, that is, variability that cannot be explained by standard variable relations, and that is not measurement error (see, e.g., Vermunt, 1997). In medicine, in particular in cancer research, person-oriented methods are, now, de rigueur. In 2016, we read that “A new breakthrough in cancer research could lead to a novel form of cancer treatment – one that is highly specialized for each patient. This discovery could lead to two kinds of treatment

Background The combined effects of balanced transfusion ratios and use of procoagulant and antifibrinolytic therapies on trauma-induced exsanguination are not known. The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of transfusion ratios, tranexamic acid and products containing fibrinogen on the outcome of injured patients with bleeding. Methods A prospective multicentre observational study was performed in six level 1 trauma centres. Injured patients who received at least 4 units of red blood cells (RBCs) were analysed and divided into groups receiving a low (less than 1 : 1) or high (1 or more : 1) ratio of plasma or platelets to RBCs, and in receipt or not of tranexamic acid or fibrinogen products (fibrinogen concentrates or cryoprecipitate). Logistic regression models were used to assess the effect of transfusion strategies on the outcomes ‘alive and free from massive transfusion’ (at least 10 units of RBCs in 24 h) and early ‘normalization of coagulopathy’ (defined as an international normalized ratio of 1·2 or less). Results A total of 385 injured patients with ongoing bleeding were included in the study. Strategies that were independently associated with an increased number of patients alive and without massive transfusion were a high platelet to RBC ratio (odds ratio (OR) 2·67, 95 per cent c.i. 1·24 to 5·77; P = 0·012), a high plasma to RBC ratio (OR 2·07, 1·03 to 4·13; P = 0·040) and treatment with tranexamic acid (OR 2·71, 1·29 to 5·71; P = 0·009). No strategies were associated with correction of coagulopathy. Conclusion A high platelet or plasma to RBC ratio, and use of tranexamic acid were associated with a decreased need for massive transfusion and increased survival in injured patients with bleeding. Early normalization of coagulopathy was not seen for any transfusion ratio, or for use of tranexamic acid or fibrinogen products.

The majority of the nation's adult films are produced in California, and within California, most production occurs in Los Angeles. In order to regulate that content, the County of Los Angeles passed the Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act (Measure B) by way of referendum in November 2012. Measure B requires that adult film producers wishing to film in Los Angeles County obtain permits from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and it also mandates that adult film performers use condoms while filming and "engaging in anal or vaginal sexual intercourse." Nevertheless, between August 2013 and January 2014, several adult film performers in California tested positive for HIV, and the threat of infection remains. Although Measure B is not the best way forward for Los Angeles County, elements of the ordinance should be incorporated into future legislative efforts. Given the economic ramifications of industry flight due to more localized regulations, this Note concludes that California should pass statewide comprehensive reform. Any such new legislation must treat "independent contractors," the classification generally used for adult film performs, as if they were regular employees. Legislation should also couple mandatory testing mechanisms with provisions granting performers the right to choose whether they use condoms. Finally, legislation must include mechanisms that ensure performers' preferences are not improperly tainted by outside forces and pressures. While there will always be risks associated with the production of adult content, if undertaken, these reforms could significantly mitigate those hazards.

Objectives. Foot orthoses are commonly used in the management of knee OA, although the relationship between foot function and knee OA is still unclear. The purpose of the study was to examine foot function during walking in people with and without medial compartment knee OA. Methods. Motion of the tibia, rearfoot and forefoot in 32 patients with medial compartment knee OA and 28 age-matched control subjects was investigated. Multivariate analysis was used to compare the groups. Results. The knee OA group contacted the ground with a more everted rearfoot, demonstrated greater peak rearfoot eversion and exhibited reduced rearfoot frontal plane range of motion and reduced rearfoot peak inversion. The tibia was more internally rotated and laterally tilted throughout the gait cycle, with reduced peak external rotation. Conclusion. People with medial compartment knee OA exhibit altered foot kinematics during gait that are indicative of a less mobile, more everted foot type. The presence and degree of tibial malalignment and the available rearfoot range of motion during walking may affect individual responses to load-altering interventions, such as foot orthoses and footwear modifications. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, www.anzctr.org.au/, ACTRN

The differences in crime scene actions in cases of stranger rape committed by convicted offenders were examined between 31 single-victim rapists and 35 serial rapists. Data were collected from police files, court verdicts, psychiatric evaluations, and criminal records. Findings indicate that the serial rapists were more criminally sophisticated than the single-victim rapists, during their first and second rapes. The single-victim rapists were significantly more likely to engage in the interpersonal involvement behavior of kissing the victim, and to engage in pre-assault alcohol use, than the serial rapists. There was, however, no significant difference in physically violent or sexual behaviors. To investigate the possibility of predicting rapist type, logistic regression analyses were performed. Results indicate that three behaviors in conjunction, kissed victim, controlled victim, and offender drank alcohol before the offense, predicted whether an unknown offender is a single-victim or serial rapist with a classification accuracy of 80.4%. The findings have implications for the classification of stranger rapists in offender profiling.

The partial correlation is a commonly used measure for assessing the bivariate correlation of two quantitative variables after eliminating the influence of one or more other variables. The partial correlation is generally interpreted as the correlation that would result if the variables to be eliminated were fixed (not allowed to vary and influence the other variables), which is referred to in the statistical literature as conditional correlation. The present paper demonstrates, by means of theoretical derivations and practical examples, that when the assumption of multivariate normality is violated (e.g., as a result of nonlinear relationships among the variables investigated) the usual interpretation of the partial correlation coefficient will be basically incorrect. In extreme cases the value of the partial correlation coefficient may be strongly positive, close to 1, whereas the conditional correlation may have a large negative value. To solve this problem the paper suggests to partial out a certain function (in most cases the square) of the variables whose effects are to be eliminated if nonlinear relationships are likely to occur.

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) can result from trauma and surgery in civilian and military populations, resulting in irrecoverable functional and cosmetic deficits that cannot be effectively treated with current therapies. Previous work evaluated a bioreactor-based tissue engineering approach in which muscle derived cells (MDCs) were seeded onto bladder acellular matrices (BAM) and mechanically preconditioned. This first generation tissue engineered muscle repair (TEMR) construct exhibited a largely differentiated cellular morphology consisting primarily of myotubes, and moreover, significantly improved functional recovery within 2 months of implantation in a murine latissimus dorsi (LD) muscle with a surgically created VML injury. The present report extends these initial observations to further document the importance of the cellular phenotype and composition of the TEMR construct in vitro to the functional recovery observed following implantation in vivo. To this end, three distinct TEMR constructs were created by seeding MDCs onto BAM as follows: (1) a short-term cellular proliferation of MDCs to generate primarily myoblasts without bioreactor preconditioning (TEMR-1SP), (2) a prolonged cellular differentiation and maturation period that included bioreactor preconditioning (TEMR-1SPD; identical to the first generation TEMR construct), and (3) similar treatment as TEMR-1SPD but with a second application of MDCs during bioreactor preconditioning (TEMR-2SPD); simulating aspects of “exercise” in vitro. Assessment of maximal tetanic force generation on retrieved LD muscles in vitro revealed that TEMR-1SP and TEMR-1SPD constructs promoted either an accelerated (i.e., 1 month) or a prolonged (i.e., 2 month postinjury) functional recovery, respectively, of similar magnitude. Meanwhile, TEMR-2SPD constructs promoted both an accelerated and prolonged functional recovery, resulting in twice the magnitude of functional recovery of either TEMR-1SP or TEMR-1SPD constructs. Histological and molecular analyses indicated that TEMR constructs mediated functional recovery via regeneration of functional muscle fibers either at the interface of the construct and the native tissue or within the BAM scaffolding independent of the native tissue. Taken together these findings are encouraging for the further development and clinical application of TEMR constructs as a VML injury treatment.

The purpose of this study was to compare the electromyographic (EMG) amplitudes of the quadriceps femoris (QF) muscles during a maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) to submaximal and maximal dynamic concentric contractions during active exercises. A secondary purpose was to provide information about the type of contraction that may be most appropriate for normalization of EMG data if one wants to determine if a lower extremity closed chain exercise is of sufficient intensity to produce a strengthening response for the QF muscles. Sixty-eight young healthy volunteers (39 female, 29 male) with no lower extremity pain or injury participated in the study. Surface electrodes recorded EMG amplitudes from the vastus medialis obliquus (VMO), rectus femoris (RF), and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles during 5 different isometric and dynamic concentric exercises. The last 27 subjects performed an additional 4 exercises from which a second data set could be analyzed. Maximum isokinetic knee extension and moderate to maximum closed chain exercises activated the QF significantly more than a MVIC. A 40-cm. lateral step-up exercise produced EMG amplitudes of the QF muscles of similar magnitude as the maximum isokinetic knee extension exercises and would be an exercise that could be considered for strengthening the QF muscles. Most published EMG studies of exercises for the QF have been performed by comparing EMG amplitudes during dynamic exercises to a MVIC. This procedure can lead one to overestimate the value of a dynamic exercise for strengthening the QF muscles. We suggest that when studying the efficacy of a dynamic closed chain exercise for strengthening the QF muscles, the exercise be normalized to a dynamic maximum muscle contraction such as that obtained with knee extension during isokinetic testing.

The objective of this study was to investigate associations between intelligence and indicators of health status and health behaviors at age 43 in a cohort of Swedish women (n = 682). Intelligence was measured by standard IQ tests given at ages 10, 13, and 15. At the age of 43, 479 of the women were sampled for a medical examination in which 369 participated (77% participation rate). We performed correlations of IQ and the continuous health variables and we estimated logistic regression models with dichotomous health variables as the dependent variables. No significant correlations were found between IQ and any of the continuous health variables. In unadjusted logistic regression models where the cut-off points were set based on standard health risk levels, four out of sixteen indicators of unfavorable health status and health behaviors showed significant negative associations with intelligence, meaning higher risk with decreasing IQ-score. After adjusting for educational level, two remained statistically significant: being obese, OR 1.51 (95% CI 1.08, 2.12) and having a high systolic blood pressure OR 1.45 (95% CI 1.03, 2.03). For all other health variables, this study finds no support for a sizable association between IQ in adolescence and indicators of health and health behavior in midlife among Swedish women.

Objective Knee osteoarthritis (OA) has been shown to be a risk factor for falls. Reductions in foot clearance during the swing phase of walking can cause a trip and potentially lead to a fall. This study examined the swing phase mechanics of people with and without knee OA during walking. Design Minimum toe clearance (MTC) height, joint angles at the time of MTC and the influence of the angular changes of the hip, knee and ankle of the swing leg on foot clearance using sensitivity analysis were investigated in 50 knee OA participants and 28 age-matched asymptomatic controls. Results Although both groups had a similar MTC height (controls: 12.8 ± 6.7 mm, knee OA: 13.4 ± 7.0 mm), the knee OA group used a different strategy to achieve the same foot clearance, as evidenced by greater knee flexion (52.5 ± 5.3° vs 49.4 ± 4.8°, p = 0.007), greater hip abduction (−3.6 ± 3.3° vs −1.8 ± 3.3°, p = 0.03) and less ankle adduction (2.8 ± 1.9° vs 4.2 ± 2.1°, p = 0.01). Conclusion MTC height was comparable between the groups, however a different swing phase mechanism was used by the knee OA. Although adequate MTC is an important component of safe locomotion, it does not appear to be impaired in people with knee OA. Other factors, such as inadequate responses to postural perturbation, may be responsible for falls in this group.

This review illustrates promising regenerative medicine technologies that are being developed for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. The main strategies under validation to bioengineer or regenerate liver, pancreas, or parts of the digestive tract are twofold: engineering of progenitor cells and seeding of cells on supporting scaffold material. In the first case, stem cells are initially expanded under standard tissue culture conditions. Thereafter, these cells may either be delivered directly to the tissue or organ of interest, or they may be loaded onto a synthetic or natural three-dimensional scaffold that is capable of enhancing cell viability and function. The new construct harbouring the cells usually undergoes a maturation phase within a bioreactor. Within the bioreactor, cells are conditioned to adopt a phenotype similar to that displayed in the native organ. The specific nature of the scaffold within the bioreactor is critical for the development of this high-function phenotype. Efforts to bioengineer or regenerate gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas have yielded promising results and have demonstrated the immense potential of regenerative medicine. However, a myriad of technical hurdles must be overcome before transplantable, engineered organs become a reality.

Using a person-oriented approach the study examined whether bullying victimization at school continued into cyberspace victimization in a large sample of high school students in Lithuania (N = 1667, 58% girls), age 15-19 (M = 17.29, SD = 0.95). Three forms of traditional bullying (verbal, physical and relational) and seven forms of cyberbullying victimization through cell phones and computers were included in the analysis. The findings revealed that 35% of traditional bullying victims were also bullied in cyberspace. In particular, adolescents who experienced predominantly verbal and relational bullying at school, showed a higher risk of victimization in cyberspace a year later, while this was not observed for predominantly physical forms of traditional bullying. The findings point to the importance of a cross-contextual perspective in studies on stability of bullying victimization.

The present study investigated the role of best friends in educational career development from adolescence to adulthood. Participants' (N = 476) reciprocal best friendships were identified at age 15, while their educational attainment was investigated in early adulthood (age 26), their intelligence (IQ) at age 13, and parental education, educational expectations and academic achievement at age 16. The results revealed that adolescent best friends ended up pursuing similar educational careers in adulthood. Furthermore, three kinds of partner-effects were found when adolescents' prior career behaviors were controlled for: (1) best friends' intelligence predicted adolescents' later academic performance; (2) best friends' parental education predicted adolescents' educational expectations; and (3) best friends' educational expectations predicted adolescents' educational attainment in early adulthood.

I-states-as-objects-analysis (ISOA) is a person-oriented methodology for studying short-term developmental stability and change in patterns of variable values. ISOA is based on longitudinal data with the same set of variables measured at all measurement occasions. A key concept is the i-state, defined as a person’s pattern of variable values at a specific time point. All i-states are first subjected to a classification analysis that results in a time-invariant classification characterized by a number of typical i-states. Each person is then characterized at each time point by the typical i-state he/she belongs to. Then the person’s sequences of typical i-states are analyzed with regard to structural and individual stability and change. Extensions of ISOA are presented where: (1) some methods for checking the assumption of a time-invariant classification are indicated; (2) information about the degree of dissimilarity between typical i-states is used as an aid in interpreting the findings; and (3) attention is given to closed paths—that is, typical i-state sequences that do not occur at all. To demonstrate the methods, an empirical example is given that concerns the development of children’s achievement-intelligence patterns between ages 10 and 13.

We study the anisotropy of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) events collected by the Telescope Array (TA) detector in the first 40 months of operation. Following earlier studies, we examine event sets with energy thresholds of 10 EeV, 40 EeV, and 57 EeV. We find that the distributions of the events in right ascension and declination are compatible with an isotropic distribution in all three sets. We then compare with previously reported clustering of the UHECR events at small angular scales. No significant clustering is found in the TA data. We then check the events with E>57 EeV for correlations with nearby active galactic nuclei. No significant correlation is found. Finally, we examine all three sets for correlations with the large-scale structure of the Universe. We find that the two higher-energy sets are compatible with both an isotropic distribution and the hypothesis that UHECR sources follow the matter distribution of the Universe (the LSS hypothesis), while the event set with E>10 EeV is compatible with isotropy and is not compatible with the LSS hypothesis at 95% CL unless large deflection angles are also assumed. We show that accounting for UHECR deflections in a realistic model of the Galactic magnetic field can make this set compatible with the LSS hypothesis., 10 pages, 9 figures

Human observers understand the content of an image intuitively. Based upon image content, they perform many image-related tasks, such as creating slide shows and photo albums, and organizing their image archives. For example, to select photos for an album, people assess image quality based upon the main objects in the image. They modify colors in an image based upon the color of important objects, such as sky, grass or skin. Serious photographers might modify each object separately. Photo applications, in contrast, use low-level descriptors to guide similar tasks. Typical descriptors, such as color histograms, noise level, JPEG artifacts and overall sharpness, can guide an imaging application and safeguard against blunders. However, there is a gap between the outcome of such operations and the same task performed by a person. We believe that the gap can be bridged by automatically understanding the content of the image. This paper presents algorithms for automatic tagging of perceptual objects in images, including sky, skin, and foliage, which constitutes an important step toward this goal.

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of disability and a risk factor for falls in older people. The purpose of this study was to assess the falls risk of people with knee OA before surgery and at 4 months following surgery and to compare this to a control group. Thirty-five patients with knee OA prior to undergoing knee replacement surgery and 27 asymptomatic age-matched controls participated in the study. The surgical group were tested prior to their surgery and at 4 months post-surgery. The short form of the Physiological Profile Assessment was used to assess falls risk and included tests of vision, lower limb proprioception, knee extension strength, reaction time and postural sway. Physical activity, quality of life, fear of falls and disability before and after surgery were also documented. At least one fall in the previous 12 months was reported for 48% of the surgical group compared with 30% of the control group. Following the surgery, there was a reduction in fear of falling and pain, and improvements in function for the surgical group. However, compared to the control group, the surgical group exhibited a greater fear of falling and reduced lower limb proprioception and knee extension strength both pre- and post-surgery. People who undergo knee replacement surgery may be at increased risk of falls both prior to and 4 months following their surgery, primarily due to deficits in knee extension strength and lower limb proprioception. Therefore, interventions to reduce the risk of falls should be implemented early after the surgery.

We used a prospective longitudinal study to examine the utility of Moffitt’s (1993) trajectories of antisocial behaviour. Data on registered criminality in three time periods — before age 15 (childhood), from 15 to 20 (adolescence) and from 21 to 35 (adulthood) — were used to construct life-course trajectories of offending for males. Life-course-persistent and adolescence-limited groups were found. The life-course-persistent males had the most problematic upbringing conditions, school problems and adjustment difficulties in adolescence, and the highest social and mental health problems in middle age. Adolescence-limited offenders did not differ much from non-offenders. In these respects, Moffitt’s typology was confirmed. However, there was an equally large childhood-onset desister group. They had many of the same problems as the life-course-persistent males up to age 15, but did not differ much from the non-registered males in mid-adolescence or at the middle-age follow-up. These males are not predicted from Moffitt’s model, but cannot be ignored. There was also a group of males who started to offend in adolescence and continued in adulthood, who had about the same problematic upbringing conditions, mid-adolescent maladjustment, and middle-age social and mental health problems as the life-course-persistent group.

It has been suggested that certain health behaviours, such as smoking, may operate as mediators of the well-established inverse association between IQ and mortality risk. Previous research may be afflicted by unadjusted confounding by socioeconomic or psychosocial factors. Twin designs offer a unique possibility to take genetic and shared environmental factors into account. The aim of the present national twin study was to determine the interrelations between IQ at age 18, childhood and attained social factors and smoking status in young adulthood and mid-life. We studied the association between IQ at age 18 and smoking in later life in a population of 11 589 male Swedish twins. IQ was measured at military conscription, and data on smoking and zygosity was obtained from the Swedish Twin Register. Information on social factors was extracted from censuses. Data on smoking was self-reported by the twins at the age of 22–47 years. Logistic regression models estimated with generalised estimating equations were used to explore possible associations between IQ and smoking among the twins as individuals as well as between-and within twin-pairs. A strong inverse association between IQ and smoking status emerged in unmatched analyses over the entire range of IQ distribution. In within-pair and between-pair analyses it transpired that shared environmental factors explained most of the inverse IQ–smoking relationship. In addition, these analyses indicated that non-shared and genetic factors contributed only slightly (and non-significantly) to the IQ–smoking association. Analysis of twin pairs discordant for IQ and smoking status displayed no evidence that non-shared factors contribute substantially to the association. The question of which shared environmental factors might explain the IQ–smoking association is an intriguing one for future research.

A brief theoretical and methodological overview is given of the person-oriented and the variable-oriented approach, how these are commonly used in longitudinal research, and what one should take into consideration before choosing either approach. An empirical research example is also given where the association was studied between, on the one hand, attention control – activity level in early adolescence and, on the other hand, persistent versus adolescence-limited criminality. Key topics discussed include properties that variables must have to be suitable for the study of individual pattern development, the problem-method match, and prediction versus understanding.

Background Inverse associations between IQ and stroke have been reported in a few studies, but none have investigated subtypes of stroke, nor have they studied fatal and non-fatal stroke separately. Stroke is a heterogenic disease and strength of associations with IQ and putative causal pathways cannot be assumed to be identical for different subtypes. Methods IQ was measured for 1.1 million Swedish men, born 1951 to 1976. Data from several national registers were linked and the cohort followed until the end of 2006 for non-fatal, and 2004 for fatal stroke. HRs with 95% CIs adjusted for age, body mass index, blood pressure and socioeconomic factors were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results Inverse associations were found between IQ and all stroke subtypes. The strength of the associations differed by subtype, with the strongest RR found for haemorrhagic stroke. In adjusted models using IQ as a continuous variable over a standard nine point scale, HR for mortality in all stroke was 0.89 (95% CI 0.85 to 0.93), that is an 11% decrease in stroke risk per unit increase in IQ. For non-fatal stroke, the corresponding HR was 0.92 (95% CI 0.91 to 0.93). The results were based on a rather young cohort, and results should therefore be generalised to early stroke events rather than the general population. Conclusions Inverse associations were found between IQ and all stroke subtypes, fatal and non-fatal. For all types of non-fatal stroke, the inverse associations with IQ remained after adjustments for childhood and adult socioeconomic position.

In the study of developmental psychopathology a dimensional, variable-oriented approach dominates over a typological approach. With the person-oriented research paradigm providing the metatheoretical framework, pros and cons of these two approaches are discussed, and it is pointed to different methodological realizations of the typological approach, and to the contexts where they might be appropriate. It is also pointed out that the two important and underused concepts of equifinality and multifinality with advantage can be incorporated in a person-oriented approach. An empirical example is given of the study of the structure of early adolescent problem behaviors and their relationship to later criminality where dimensional as well as typological analyses are carried out. The usefulness of the typological approach in studying the development and early manifestations of the personality disorder psychopathy is also discussed. It is concluded that the usefulness of a typological approach appears to be underestimated.

Although it has been proposed that general mental ability (GMA) may affect the adjustment process, few studies have examined the relation of mental ability to individuals' sense of satisfaction wit ...

This study uses data from the longitudinal research program Individual Development and Adaptation, where an entire school-grade cohort of children in a middle-size Swedish city (n approximately 1.300) has been followed from ages 10 to 43 and 48 for women and men, respectively. Our findings indicate that the patterns of offending across the life-course differ between genders, where males seem to initiate their offending earlier than females. Further, there are very few women on a persistent offending-trajectory. Focusing on precursors to as well as consequences of offending as indexed in official registers, our results indicate that individuals in the persistent offender group have the most pronounced adjustment problems in school- as well as in middle age. Individual characteristics and behaviors (e.g., aggression, hyperactivity, antisocial behavior) vary systematically between individuals with different developmental offending patterns. The combination of an unstable upbringing and own antisocial behavior seems to be especially predictive for criminality. For persistent offenders, the prevalence of alcohol and psychiatric problems at adult age is high for males and extremely high for females (nine out of ten and six out of ten for each of the two problem types for females). Further, the importance for adjustment of the two-dimensional variation in the number of crimes committed during adolescence and adult age seems to have been surprisingly well captured by the "crude" division into the four offender groups that were used.

The Telescope Array (TA) is a large scale ground experiment in Utah, USA for the measurement of extensive air showers from the ultra-high energy cosmic rays. Its construction is completed in March, 2008 and the data taking started.

Ajayi, N. O., Bergman, R., Lindh, U., Sundquist, B., Laszlo, G. and Koersner, I. 1984. The viability of barley seeds subjected to 6 MeV deuteron beam. —Hereditas 100: 111–114. Lund, Sweden. ISSN 0018–0661. Received May 31, 1983 The viability of barley seeds subjected to 6 MeV deuteron beam for 5 seconds was analysed. It was found that the viability depended on the site of hit by the beam. AU the seeds hit on the embryo region (FA1) and in the region close to it by about 1 mm (FA2) produced either abnormal seedlings or were dead. The side containing the embryo was defined as the front part of the seed. On average about 60 % of the seeds hit in the front upper half region (FA3) of the endosperm produced normal seedings. Most of the seeds hit in the BA2 and BA3 regions of the endosperm, corresponding to the back of FA2 and FA3 regions, germinated normally.

Typical patterns of general subjective well-being (SWB) were searched for in a representative longitudinal sample of Swedish women (N = 272) at age 43 and 49. Cluster analysis at each age separately resulted in a six-cluster solution at both ages. The two solutions were similar, indicating structural stability across 6 years. Five of the six clusters also showed significant individual stability. Among these clusters, a generalized positive typical pattern and two generalized negative typical patterns were found, one characterized by very high negative affect and one characterized by very low global life satisfaction. A cluster characterized by above average positive and negative affect was also found as well as one characterized by low positive affect. A strong relationship was found between membership in an extreme cluster and the values in certain SWB-related variables, supporting the validity of the typical patterns found. Further, it was shown that cluster membership contributed to the prediction of some validation variables above the prediction achieved by using only SWB components entered as continuous variables, suggesting the presence of interactions and nonlinearities in the SWB area.

If teachers are to transcend mono-cultural borders and advocate for social justice in liberatory, critical pedagogical practice, then they must understand the relational and causative ethnogenetic layers of experience for students in the global community. Specifically, accommodating religious pluralism is a challenge facing educators today. Immersing themselves and their students in the lives of others through literary narratives provides one immediate and accessible strategy for exploring ethnogenetic experiences and crossing monocultural borders.

Objective: Parents diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are likely to find the emotional aspects of parenting challenging. Research into the difficulties that these parents experience, however, is lacking. The aims of the present study were to (i) gain an understanding of the interactional patterns of mothers with BPD and their infants and (ii) to explore the parenting perceptions of mothers with BPD. Method: Two groups of mother–infant dyads were recruited: mothers with BPD and their infants; and community mothers and their infants. Groups were compared on mother–infant interaction patterns and on maternal self-perceptions of parenting. Results: Mothers with BPD were found to be less sensitive and demonstrated less structuring in their interaction with their infants, and their infants were found to be less attentive, less interested and less eager to interact with their mother. Furthermore, mothers with BPD reported being less satisfied, less competent and more distressed. Conclusions: Early intervention needs to be provided to mothers with BPD to promote maternal sensitivity and maternal perceptions of competence.

In this chapter, person-oriented research strategies in developmental psychopathology are reviewed. By "person-oriented", we mean research strategies where the focus is on the individual and not on the variable. The information about each individual is regarded, as far as possible, as an indivisible unit, both conceptually and in the empirical analyses. It usually implies that individuals are studied on the basis of their pattern of information in relevant variables at the appropriate level. This approach is in contrast to the standard variable-oriented approach where the variable is the main conceptual and methodological unit. In the person-oriented approach, most commonly the variable alone has no importance. Only in combination with other variables in an information pattern does it achieve meaning. These fundamental conceptual and theoretical issues are discussed in the chapter. Common person-oriented research methods are presented and discussed in the context of studying individual development.

Beamforming techniques are used to locate sources and scattering centers from data acquired by either passive or active phased arrays. The technique has a wide variety of applications from far field source location and tracking to near field imaging. The presence of inhomogeneities in the environment will have an effect on the propagation of the field. This in turn will change the results of a beamformer prediction. Using simulated sources and environments one can systematically study the effect of the atmosphere on the angle of arrival as seen by the array. From these studies attempts at systematic corrections can be tested to evaluate their fidelity in a real system. We present the results of a series of studies on an acoustic field in the presence of sound speed fluctuation and steady wind profiles and demonstrate how various terms in the environment contribute to changes in beamformer processing results.

Person-oriented approaches to social and behavioral developmental sciences proceed from the fact that aggregate-level descriptions of constancy and change usually fail to represent individuals. Protagonists of the person-oriented approach (Bergman, Magnusson, von Eye) have, therefore, presented tenets that state that development can be person-specific and that psychometric instruments must possess dimensional identity to be applicable over time, and to enable researchers to perform comparisons of individuals or groups of individuals. Protagonists of idiographic psychology (Molenaar) have shown that cross-sectional information can be used as substitute for longitudinal information only under conditions that are atypical of developmental processes. In the first part of this chapter, main lines of the person-oriented and idiographic research are presented, and compared with differential psychology. In the second part, methods of analysis are discussed that are suitable for person-oriented research. These methods include, but are not restricted to, hierarchical linear modeling, time series analysis, longitudinal factor analysis, Configural Frequency Analysis (CFA), and Item Response Theory (IRT). Examples with empirical data are given for CFA and IRT. In the discussion, perspectives of the research planner, the data analyst, and the applied developmental scientist are taken. Keywords: configural frequency analysis; differential psychology; idiographic research; item response theory; person-oriented research

Hydrogen concentration gradients, formed during electrochemical charging, inducing martensitic phase transformation in austenitic stainless steels, have been extensively studied with respect to the relative stability of the austenitic phase. Phase quantitative X-ray surface analysis of distributions of martensitic phases in a thin layer, comparable to the penetration depth of X-rays, based on diffraction data taken for various diffraction reflections (2θ, Bragg’s angles) and with various radiations (λ-wavelengths), was applied for various degree of stability of the AISI type 321, 347, 304, 316 and 310 austenitic stainless steels in the surface layers, after hydrogen charging and during aging at room temperature. An examination of the relationships between -phase transitions in a number of stainless steels and their stability, revealed that the stability of the -phase increased (S stability factor changed from 26.5 in AISI 321 to 44 in AISI 310) the amount of � - (from 0% in AISI 310 to 25% in AISI 347) and - (from 48% in AISI 310 to 77% in AISI 321) martensites formed, while the depth (from 6.2m in AISI 321 to 3m in AISI 310) of the martensitic phases decreased. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stable peer status clusters of rejected, popular, and average girls from ages 10 to 13 were identified and associated to young and middle adulthood adjustment. The study included a representative sample of 445 females from the longitudinal research program Individual Development and Adaptation. Results showed that, by young adulthood, rejected girls were at increased risks for criminal offending and especially alcohol abuse (two and eight times increased risk, respectively). In midlife, popular girls had achieved a more successful vocational career than average girls. However, for most midlife adjustment areas, like social relations and subjective well-being, there were no significant differences between the stable childhood clusters. To test an incidental explanatory model, childhood confounding variables (aggression, withdrawal, academic achievement, and SES) were introduced and explained some of the significant relations.

A connection between acoustic ray theory and differential geometry suggests the existence of a local symmetry within ray theory. The local symmetry, in this case conformal symmetry, is reminiscent of that encountered in the study of electromagnetic field theory, or more generally gauge theory. Acousticians can take advantage of this symmetry by choosing a gauge that best suits a given problem. In this paper, the symmetry is discussed in the most general context and the transformations for both ray theory and paraxial ray theory are given. When applied to the paraxial equations this transformation alters the stability parameters of the system. For low dimensional problems in ray theory, such as those including depth and range dependence in the local sound speed, the stability parameters become a property of the medium. Specific applications to layered media are presented and their consequences discussed.

Summary Background The coexistence of mycosis fungoides, a peripheral T-cell lymphoma, and B-cell malignancies or Hodgkin's lymphoma in the same patient is unusual. Most descriptions are isolated case reports and case series are strikingly sparse. Objectives To detect cases of mycosis fungoides associated with B-cell malignancies or Hodgkin's lymphoma and to analyse the characteristics of and the interplay between the lymphoproliferative neoplasms. Method Patients with mycosis fungoides who had B-cell malignancies or Hodgkin's lymphoma were selected from among 398 patients either treated or followed up in two tertiary medical centres during a 7-year period. Results Eleven patients with mycosis fungoides and B-cell malignancy were detected (seven of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, three of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, one of multiple myeloma). No case of Hodgkin's lymphoma was found. In seven patients the mycosis fungoides preceded the B-cell malignancy whereas in four it was the B-cell malignancy which occurred first. The time elapsed between onset of the two malignancies ranged from 4 to 22 years (average: 12 years). Patients who had mycosis fungoides as the first neoplasm presented with earlier stages of mycosis fungoides (four of seven: IA, three of seven: IB) than those who had mycosis fungoides as their second neoplasm (of four, one: IB, one: folliculotropic, two: IIB). Among the four patients in whom the appearance of mycosis fungoides followed the B-cell malignancy, three had been treated with multiagent chemotherapy. Two patients who presented with early-stage mycosis fungoides (IA) as the first lymphoma developed mycosis fungoides tumours after becoming immunosuppressed. In two patients infiltrates composed of both malignant T- and B-cell populations were found in a single biopsy. One showed two distinct populations of the malignant cells in the skin tumour, thus constituting a classical composite lymphoma of mycosis fungoides and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, while in the other patient the two malignant populations of marginal B-cell lymphoma and mycosis fungoides (as evidenced by both phenotypic and genotypic findings) were intermingled. Conclusions This case series indicates that while the coexistence of Hodgkin's lymphoma and mycosis fungoides is extremely rare, the association of mycosis fungoides and B-cell malignancies is not as rare as reflected in the literature, with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma constituting the most common associated B-cell malignancy. In this series as well as in the cases reported in the literature mycosis fungoides usually preceded the development of B-cell malignancies, which may be in accordance with previous reports of an increased risk of developing a second haematological neoplasm. The importance of a competent immune system for patients with mycosis fungoides is well demonstrated in these cases. It is suggested that for greater precision the criteria for diagnosis of composite lymphoma of the skin should include both phenotypic and genotypic features.

Objective: Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) plays a major role in dysfunctional ventricular remodeling following myocardial injury induced by ischemia/reperfusion and heart failure. To directly assess the role of MMP-2 in the absence of superimposed injury, we generated cardiac-specific, constitutively active MMP-2 transgenic mice. Methods: Morphologic and functional studies were carried out using both intact and demembranated (skinned) right ventricular trabeculae dissected from hearts of 8-month-old MMP-2 transgenic mice and wild-type controls (WT). Results: Electron micrographs showed that compared to WT, MMP-2 myocardium had no gross, ultrastructural changes (no myocyte dropout or gross fibrosis). However, MMP-2 myocardium contained fibroblasts with abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum, consistent with an activated synthetic phenotype, suggesting extracellular matrix remodeling in MMP-2 trabeculae. Consistent with remodeling, mechanical studies found increased stiffness of intact unstimulated trabeculae (increasing sarcomere lengths from 2 to 2.3 μm caused a greater rise of passive muscle force for MMP-2 trabeculae versus WT). With electrical stimulation, MMP-2 trabeculae generated substantially less active force at all sarcomere lengths. Moreover, inotropic responses to increases of bath [Ca2+], pacing frequency, and isoproterenol were all significantly reduced versus WT trabeculae. Skinned fiber assessment of myofilament function revealed that maximum Ca2+-activated force of skinned MMP-2 trabeculae was reduced to ≈50% of WT, suggesting a myofilament contraction defect. Conclusion: Cardiac-specific, constitutively active MMP-2 expression leads to impaired contraction and diminished responses to inotropic stimulation. These findings indicate that MMP-2 can directly impair ventricular function in the absence of superimposed injury.

The present commentary gives a brief overview of the person-oriented and variable-oriented approaches, how they are commonly used in longitudinal research, and what one should take into considerati ...

The importance of social circumstances for middle-age women’s general subjective well-being (SWB) was investigated in a representative sample of Swedish women, age 43 (N = 369). The results showed non-existent to moderate relationships between a number of social circumstances variables and general SWB. The strongest relationship was found between marital status and global life satisfaction. Being off work because of illness and household income were the strongest predictors of negative affect. A moderate relationship was found between a cumulated social disadvantage index and SWB, indicating that extreme differences in this index were related to fairly large differences in SWB. In person-oriented analyses, social circumstances were compared between women with a typical profile of generalized low SWB and women with a typical profile of generalized above-average SWB. The results indicated stronger relationships between SWB and the cumulative disadvantage index and unemployment than was the case in the variable-oriented analyses. When personality factors were controlled for, they eliminated nearly all relationships between the social circumstances variables and SWB, except for those between global life satisfaction and marital status or unemployment. (Less)

Paraxial ray tracing procedures have become widely accepted techniques for acoustic models in seismology and underwater acoustics. To date a generic form of these procedures including fluid motion and time dependence has not appeared in the literature. A detailed investigation of the characteristic curves of the equations of hydrodynamics allows for an immediate generalization of the procedure to be extracted from the equation form geodesic deviation. The general paraxial ray trace equations serve as an ideal supplement to ordinary ray tracing in predicting the deformation of acoustic beams in random environments. The general procedure is derived in terms of affine parameterization and in a coordinate time parameterization ideal for application to physical acoustic ray propagation. The formalism is applied to layered media, where the deviation equation reduces to a second order differential equation for a single field with a general solution in terms of a depth integral along the ray path. Some features are illustrated through special cases which lead to exact solutions in terms of either ordinary or special functions.