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The role of sodium enhanced oxidation of Si face 4H-SiC results in removing the near-interface traps at the Si[O.sub.2]/4H-SiC interface is examined. It is shown that sodium is incorporated by using carrier boats made of sintered alumina during or by deliberate sodium contamination of the oxide during the formation of the SiC/Si[O.sub.2] interface.

Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is not restricted to children. Abundant evidence from follow-up studies accumulated since the 1970s supports the concept of ADHD in adulthood. Genetic research points to a heritability of 76%, and neuroimaging studies have reported structural and functional brain abnormalities in patients with ADHD. Contrary to popular belief, ADHD is not a culturally bound disorder and has been described worldwide. ADHD has a cost for society, as adults with this disorder suffer from increased rates of unemployment and psychiatric comorbidity, including substance use disorders. Studies undertaken in forensic populations describe high rates of ADHD in these groups, particularly amongst young offenders. One of the main issues in the diagnosis of ADHD in the adult is the fact that most clinicians have not been educated to diagnose and treat ADHD. Effective pharmacological treatments for ADHD are available and should be prescribed for these patients. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) guidelines established a benchmark for service development required to treat ADHD adequately in the adult population. However, the implementation of new services has been slow. More resources are needed to effectively assess and treat ADHD in the adult. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The past decade has witnessed a recognition that unsafe criminal convictions may be occasioned by unreliable confessions.Aims: To present a case which illustrates the dangers of using abreaction interview techniques in a legal context and demonstrate the relevance of the memory distrust syndrome to an unsafe confession to murder.Method: We under took a detailed assessment of a person appealing against his original murder conviction, 'the appellant', and a careful scrutiny of all the relevant papers in the case.Results: The appellant served 25 years in prison before his conviction was quashed as 'unsafe' on the basis of fresh psychological and psychiatric evidence.Conclusions: Amnesia for an offence had been misdiagnosed, and the use of repeated abreaction interviews had further confused both the appellant and the original court. At the Appeal Court, the advice was that the man had experienced a form of source amnesia which resulted in an unreliable confession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates some of the hypotheses generated by the Gudjonsson and Clark model of interrogative suggestibility. The subjects were 40 adolescent boys (11-16 years), who completed the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale and instruments measuring intellectual skills, memory, field-dependence, hostility, and attitudes towards persons in authority. Suggestibility correlated negatively with I.Q. and memory capacity, and positively with field-dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study which describes the cognitive functioning of a patient who suffered from retrograde amnesia covering 20 years of life. The patient had been assessed on many psychometric tests during the early stages of his amnesia and was retested eight months later. The patient's psychogenic component was precipitated by a series of traumatic events and a probable sudden mood change and was associated with strongly suicidal and homicidal impulses. His psychometric impairment might have reflected some organic dysfunction, providing the substrate for directing the form of his dissociative reaction.

This paper deals with an aspect of the law relating to the use of a mentally handicapped victim as a prosecution witness in a criminal trial. Here the particular question was of the victims competence to act as a witness, and the likely reliability, or otherwise of her evidence. The results of psychological testing were found to provide guidelines by which the court could distinguish between areas of the reliable and the unreliable in her evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has indicated that, compared with the general population, the prevalence of offenders with ADHD in prison is high. The situation for offenders managed in the community by the Probation Service is unknown. This study aimed to bridge the gap in our knowledge by (1) surveying the awareness of probation staff about ADHD and (2) screening the rate of offenders with ADHD managed within the service. In the first study, a brief survey was circulated to offender managers working in 7 Probation Trusts in England and Wales asking them to estimate the prevalence of offenders with ADHD on their caseload, the presenting problems of these offenders and challenges to their management, and the training received on the treatment and management of offenders with ADHD. The survey had a return rate of 11%. Probation staff perceived that 7.6% of their caseload had ADHD and identified this group to have difficulties associated with neuropsychological dysfunction, lifestyle problems and compliance problems. They perceived that these problems hindered meaningful engagement with the service and rehabilitation. Challenges to their management were perceived to be due to both internal processes (motivation and engagement) and external processes (inadequate or inappropriate interventions). Few respondents had received training in the management of offenders with ADHD and most wanted more support. In the second study, a sub-sample of 88 offenders in one Probation Trust completed questionnaires to screen for DSM-IV ADHD in childhood and current symptoms. The screen found an estimated prevalence of 45.45% and 20.51% for childhood and adulthood ADHD respectively and these were strongly associated with functional impairment. Thus probation staff considerably underestimated the likely rate, suggesting there are high rates of under-detection and/or misdiagnosis among offenders with ADHD in their service. The results indicate that screening provisions are needed in probation settings, together with training for staff.

A new suggestibility test, potentially useful in the context of police interrogation, was administered to 45 subjects who also completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Suggestibility was significantly related to low intelligence, poor memory recall, neuroticism and social desirability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]