The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire overseas: Evaluations and applications of the SDQ beyond Europe

Background During the few years that have passed since it became available, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been extensively evaluated and widely applied to assess behaviour disorders of children and adolescents in European countries. In contrast, relatively few reports have published SDQ results obtained in other parts of the world, although its briefness and availability in over 40 languages make this instrument particularly attractive for international collaborations and cross-cultural comparisons concerning clinical and epidemiological issues. Objectives This initial overview summarises some of these non-European experiences with the SDQ by presenting a selection of projects that have either psychometrically evaluated this novel questionnaire, applied it to screen for behaviour disorders, or employed its parent-, teacher- or self-rated versions as research tools. Since a large part of the mentioned studies are ongoing or have only recently been completed, much of the work reported here is still unpublished. Conclusions Across a huge variety of cultures and languages, experience gained with the SDQ in other continents has supported European evidence of good psychometric properties and clinical utility of this questionnaire. Since worldwide usage of the SDQ can be expected to increase in the future, more international coordination is encouraged, in order to fully exploit the promising potentials of this versatile assessment tool and systematically investigate cross-cultural differences and similarities in child and adolescent behaviour.

Perturbative breaking of the pseudospin symmetry in the relativistic harmonic oscillator

We show that relativistic mean fields theories with scalar S, and vector V, quadratic radial potentials can generate a harmonic oscillator with exact pseudospin symmetry and positive energy bound states when S = -V. The eigenenergies are quite different from those of the non-relativistic harmonic oscillator. We also discuss a mechanism for perturbatively breaking this, symmetry by introducing a tensor potential. Our results shed light into the intrinsic relativistic nature of the pseudospin symmetry, which might be important in high density systems such as neutron stars.

The propagator for a charged oscillator with a time-dependent mass in a time-varying electromagnetic field

We make a change of variables and a time reparametrization in the Schrödinger equation in order to obtain the propagator of a charged oscillator with a time-dependent mass and frequency under the influence of time-varying electric and magnetic fields, in terms of the simple propagators of harmonic oscillators with constant frequencies and masses. We also discuss the Jackiw transformation and others as a particular case of ours. © 1991.

Nonsingular spiked harmonic oscillator

A perturbative study of a class of nonsingular spiked harmonic oscillators defined by the Hamiltonian H= -d2/dr2 + r2 + λ/rα in the domain [0,∞] is carried out, in the two extremes of a weak coupling and a strong coupling regimes. A path has been found to connect both expansions for α near 2. © 1991 American Institute of Physics.

Faddeev-jackiw formalism for A topological-like oscillator in planar dimensions

The problem of a harmonic oscillator coupling to an electromagnetic potential plus a topological-like (Chern-Simons) massive term, in two-dimensional space, is studied in the light of the symplectic formalism proposed by Faddeev and Jackiw for constrained systems.

H-bond simulation in DNA using a harmonic oscillator isospectral potential

A harmonic oscillator isospectral potential obtained by supersymmetric algebra applied to quantum mechanics is suggested to simulate DNA H bonds. Thermic denaturation is studied with this potential.

Tensile bond strengths of hard chairside reline resins as influenced by water storage

Due to gradual resorption of the edentulous ridge bone, removable prostheses often require denture base relines to improve fit and stability. This research evaluated the bond strength between one heat-cured acrylic resin (Lucitone 550®) and two hard chairside reline resins, after two different periods of storage in water (50 h and 30 days). The bond strength was evaluated using a tensile test. The mode of failure, adhesive or cohesive, was also recorded. The results submitted to the Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that the highest tensile strengths were achieved with intact Lucitone 550® denture base resin in both periods of storage in water. After 50 h of storage in water, Duraliner II® reline material exhibited the highest bond strength to the denture base resin. After 30 days of storage in water, Duraliner II® reline resin demonstrated a significant reduction in adhesion, showing lower tensile bond strength than Kooliner® material. Both hard chairside reline materials failed adhesively across Lucitone 550® denture base resin, in both periods of time. © 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd.

Deformed Gaussian orthogonal ensemble and the statistical fluctuations in the spectra of the quartic oscillator

The nearest-neighbor spacing distributions proposed by four models, namely, the Berry-Robnik, Caurier-Grammaticos-Ramani, Lenz-Haake, and the deformed Gaussian orthogonal ensemble, as well as the ansatz by Brody, are applied to the transition between chaos and order that occurs in the isotropic quartic oscillator. The advantages and disadvantages of these five descriptions are discussed. In addition, the results of a simple extension of the expression for the Dyson-Mehta statistic Δ3 are compared with those of a more popular one, usually associated with the Berry-Robnik formalism. ©1999 The American Physical Society.

A linearly-tunable OTA-C sinusoidal oscillator for low-voltage applications

A low-voltage, low-power OTA-C sinusoidal oscillator based on a triode-MOSFET transconductor is here discussed. The classical quadrature model is employed and the transconductor inherent nonlinear characteristic with input voltage is used as the amplitude-stabilization element. An external bias VTUNE linearly adjusts the oscillation frequency. According to a standard 0.8μm CMOS n-well process, a prototype was integrated, with an effective area of 0.28mm2. Experimental data validate the theoretical analysis. For a single 1.8V-supply and 100mV≤VTUNE≤250mV, the oscillation frequency fo ranges from 0.50MHz to 1.125MHz, with a nearly constant gain KVCO=4.16KHz/mV. Maximum output amplitude is 374mVpp @1.12MHz. THD is -41dB @321mVpp. Maximum average consumption is 355μW.

Pseudospin symmetry and the relativistic harmonic oscillator

A generalized relativistic harmonic oscillator for spin 1/2 particles is studied. The Dirac Hamiltonian contains a scalar S and a vector V quadratic potentials in the radial coordinate, as well as a tensor potential U linear in r. Setting either or both combinations Σ=5+V and δ=V-S to zero, analytical solutions for bound states of the corresponding Dirac equations are found. The eigenenergies and wave functions are presented and particular cases are discussed, devoting a special attention to the nonrelativistic limit and the case Σ=0, for which pseudospin symmetry is exact. We also show that the case U=δ=0 is the most natural generalization of the nonrelativistic harmonic oscillator. The radial node structure of the Dirac spinor is studied for several combinations of harmonic-oscillator potentials, and that study allows us to explain why nuclear intruder levels cannot be described in the framework of the relativistic harmonic oscillator in the pseudospin limit.

Effect of microwave disinfection procedures on torsional bond strengths of two hard chairside denture reline materials

Purpose: This study evaluated the potential effects of denture base resin water storage time and an effective denture disinfection method (microwave irradiation at 650 W for 6 minutes) on the torsional bond strength between two hard chairside reline resins (GC Reline and New Truliner) and one heat-polymerizing denture base acrylic resin (Lucitone 199). Materials and Methods: Cylindrical (30 x 3.9 mm) denture base specimens (n = 160) were stored in water at 37°C (2 or 30 days) before bonding. A section (3.0 mm) was removed from the center of the specimens, surfaces prepared, and the reline materials packed into the space. After polymerization, specimens were divided into four groups (n = 10): Group 1 (G1) - tests performed after bonding; Group 2 (G2) - specimens immersed in water (200 ml) and irradiated twice (650 W for 6 minutes); Group 3 (G3) - specimens irradiated daily until seven cycles of disinfection; Group 4 (G4) - specimens immersed in water (37°C) for 7 days. Specimens were submitted to a torsional test (0.1 Nm/min), and the torsional strengths (MPa) and the mode of failure were recorded. Data from each reline material were analyzed by a two-way analysis of variance, followed by Neuman-Keuls test (p = 0.05). Results: For both Lucitone 199 water storage periods, before bonding to GC Reline resin, the mean torsional strengths of G2 (2 days - 138 MPa; 30 days - 132 MPa), G3 (2 days - 126 MPa; 30 days - 130 MPa), and G4 (2 days - 130 MPa; 30 days - 137 MPa) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than G1 (2 days - 108 MPa; 30 days - 115 MPa). Similar results were found for Lucitone 199 specimens bonded to New Truliner resin, with G1 specimens (2 days - 73 MPa; 30 days - 71 MPa) exhibiting significantly lower mean torsional bond strength (p < 0.05) than G2 (2 day - 86 MPa; 30 days - 90 MPa), G3 (2 days - 82 MPa; 30 days - 82 MPa), and G4 specimens (2 days - 78 MPa; 30 days - 79 MPa). The adhesion of both materials was not affected by water storage time of Lucitone 199 (p > 0.05). GC reline showed a mixed mode of failure (adhesive/cohesive) and New Truliner failed adhesively. Conclusions: Up to seven microwave disinfection cycles did not decrease the torsional bond strengths between the hard reline resins, GC Reline and New Truliner to the denture base resin Lucitone 199. The effect of additional disinfection cycles on reline material may be clinically significant and requires further study. Copyright © 2006 by The American College of Prosthodontists.

Pseudospin and spin symmetries in the relativistic harmonic oscillator

We compute the analytical solutions of the generalized relativistic harmonic oscillator in 1+1 dimensions, including a linear pseudoscalar potential and quadratic scalar and vector potentials which have equal or opposite signs These are the conditions in which pseudospin or spin symmetries can be realized We consider positive and negative quadratic potentials and present their bound-state solutions for fermions and an-tifermions. We relate the spin-type and pseudospin-type spectra through charge conjugation and γ5 chiral transformations. Finally, we establish a relation of the solutions found with single-particle states of nuclei described by relativistic mean-field theories with tensor interactions and discuss the conditions in which one may have both nucleon and antin-ucleon bound states.

Radial basis function network applied to the linearization of a voltage controlled oscillator

An analog circuit that implements a radial basis function network is presented. The proposed circuit allows the adjustment of all shape parameters of the radial functions, i.e., amplitude, center and width. The implemented network was applied to the linearization of a nonlinear circuit, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). This application can be classified as an open-loop control in which the network plays the role of the controller. Experimental results have proved the linearization capability of the proposed circuit. Its performance can be improved by using a network with more basis functions. Copyright 2007 ACM.

Comparison of the shear bond strengths of conventional mesh bases and sandblasted orthodontic bracket bases

This study aimed to compare in vitro the shear bond strength between metallic brackets (Abzil) with conventional mesh bases and metallic brackets with bases industrially sandblasted with aluminum oxide using three adhesive systems, in order to assess the influence of sandblasting on adhesiveness and to compare 3 different bonding systems. Two hundred and forty bovine incisors were used and randomly divided into 6 groups (40 teeth in each group), according to the bracket base and to the bonding system. The brackets were direct-bonded in bovine teeth with 3 adhesive systems: System A - conventional Transbond™ XT (3M -Unitek); System B - Transbond™ Plus Self Etching Primer + Transbond™ XT (3M - Unitek) and System C - Fuji ORTHO LC resin-reinforced glass ionomer cement in capsules (GC Corp.). Shear bond strength tests were performed 24 hours after bonding, in a DL-3000 universal testing machine (EMIC), using a load cell of 200 kgf and a speed of 1 mm/min. The results were submitted to statistical analysis and showed no significant difference between conventional and sandblasted bracket bases. However, comparison between the bonding systems presented significantly different results. System A (14.92 MPa) and system C (13.24 MPa) presented statistically greater shear bond strength when compared to system B (10.66 MPa). There was no statistically significant difference between system A and system C.