Psychometric properties of the french translation of the constructive thinking inventory in a sample of adolescents and young adults

The Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI) measures cognitive coping strategies used in everyday problem solving. The main objective of this study was to assess the factorial structure, the internal consistency, the correspondence with the American normative values, and the discriminant validity of the French translation. A community sample of 777 students aged 12 to 26 years, recruited from schools, colleges and universities, answered the 108item selfreport CTI questionnaire during a class period. A sample of 60 male adolescent offenders aged 13 to 18 years, recruited from two institutions for juvenile offenders, answered the CTI during an individual interview. Results show that the French translation of the CTI follows an identical factorial structure as the Epstein's American version in both adolescents and young adults, and that its internal consistency is satisfactory. Differences in Constructive Thinking profiles according to gender and age and between Swiss and American samples, are discussed. Juvenile offenders differed from community youths on most of the scales, speaking for a good discriminant validity of the CTI. In conclusion, the French translation of the CTI appears to preserve the original version's psychometric properties. The present study provides normative values from a community sample of Swiss adolescents and young adults.

Generalizing sample tree information with semiparametric and parametric models

Summary

Multi-level modeling of aspects associated with poor mental health in a sample of prehospital emergency professionals.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this paper is to investigate the respective influence of work characteristics, the effort-reward ratio, and overcommitment on the poor mental health of out-of-hospital care providers. METHODS: 333 out-of-hospital care providers answered a questionnaire that included queries on mental health (GHQ-12), demographics, health-related information and work characteristics, questions from the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, and items about overcommitment. A two-level multiple regression was performed between mental health (the dependent variable) and the effort-reward ratio, the overcommitment score, weekly number of interventions, percentage of non-prehospital transport of patients out of total missions, gender, and age. Participants were first-level units, and ambulance services were second-level units. We also shadowed ambulance personnel for a total of 416 hr. RESULTS: With cutoff points of 2/3 and 3/4 positive answers on the GHQ-12, the percentages of potential cases with poor mental health were 20% and 15%, respectively. The effort-reward ratio was associated with poor mental health (P < 0.001), irrespective of age or gender. Overcommitment was associated with poor mental health; this association was stronger in women (β = 0.054) than in men (β = 0.020). The percentage of prehospital missions out of total missions was only associated with poor mental health at the individual level. CONCLUSIONS: Emergency medical services should pay attention to the way employees perceive their efforts and the rewarding aspects of their work: an imbalance of those aspects is associated with poor mental health. Low perceived esteem appeared particularly associated with poor mental health. This suggests that supervisors of emergency medical services should enhance the value of their employees' work. Employees with overcommitment should also receive appropriate consideration. Preventive measures should target individual perceptions of effort and reward in order to improve mental health in prehospital care providers.

Entropy change of martensitic transformations in Cu-based shape-memory alloys

We have investigated the different contributions to the entropy change at the martensitic transition of different families of Cu-based shape-memory alloys. The total entropy change has been obtained through calorimetric measurements. By measuring the evolution of the magnetic susceptibility with temperature, the entropy change associated with conduction electrons has been evaluated. The contribution of the anharmonic vibrations of the lattice has also been estimated using various parameters associated with the anharmonic behavior of these alloys, collected from the literature. The results found in the present work have been compared to values published for the martensitic transition of group-IV metals. For Cu-based alloys, both electron and anharmonic contributions have been shown to be much smaller than the overall entropy change. This finding demonstrates that the harmonic vibrations of the lattice are the most relevant contribution to the stability of the bcc phase in Cu-based alloys.

Evaluation of sample preparation methods and optimization of nickel determination in vegetable tissues

Nickel, although essential to plants, may be toxic to plants and animals. It is mainly assimilated by food ingestion. However, information about the average levels of elements (including Ni) in edible vegetables from different regions is still scarce in Brazil. The objectives of this study were to: (a) evaluate and optimize a method for preparation of vegetable tissue samples for Ni determination; (b) optimize the analytical procedures for determination by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS) and by Electrothermal Atomic Absorption (ETAAS) in vegetable samples and (c) determine the Ni concentration in vegetables consumed in the cities of Lorena and Taubaté in the Vale do Paraíba, State of São Paulo, Brazil. By means of the analytical technique for determination by ETAAS or FAAS, the results were validated by the test of analyte addition and recovery. The most viable method tested for quantification of this element was HClO4-HNO3 wet digestion. All samples but carrot tissue collected in Lorena contained Ni levels above the permitted by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The most disturbing results, requiring more detailed studies, were the Ni concentrations measured in carrot samples from Taubaté, where levels were five times higher than permitted by Brazilian regulations.

Calculation and comparison of different permanent sample plot types

Summary

Entropy change and magnetocaloric effect in Gd5(SixGe1-x)4

Isothermal magnetization curves up to 23 T have been measured in Gd5Si1.8Ge2.2. We show that the values of the entropy change at the first-order magnetostructural transition, obtained from the Clausius-Clapeyron equation and the Maxwell relation, are coincident, provided the Maxwell relation is evaluated only within the transition region and the maximum applied field is high enough to complete the transition. These values are also in agreement with the entropy change obtained from differential scanning calorimetry. We also show that a simple phenomenological model based on the temperature and field dependence of the magnetization accounts for these results.

Magnetic field induced entropy change and magnetoelasticity in Ni-Mn-Ga alloys

The magnetocaloric effect that originates from the martensitic transition in the ferromagnetic Ni-Mn-Gashape-memory alloy is studied. We show that this effect is controlled by the magnetostructural coupling at boththe martensitic variant and magnetic domain length scales. A large entropy change induced by moderatemagnetic fields is obtained for alloys in which the magnetic moment of the two structural phases is not verydifferent. We also show that this entropy change is not associated with the entropy difference between themartensitic and the parent phase arising from the change in the crystallographic structure which has beenfound to be independent of the magnetic field within this range of fields.

Entropy of a correlated system of nucleons

Realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions induce correlations to the nuclear many-body system, which lead to a fragmentation of the single-particle strength over a wide range of energies and momenta. We address the question of how this fragmentation affects the thermodynamical properties of nuclear matter. In particular, we show that the entropy can be computed with the help of a spectral function, which can be evaluated in terms of the self-energy obtained in the self-consistent Green's function approach. Results for the density and temperature dependences of the entropy per particle for symmetric nuclear matter are presented and compared to the results of lowest order finite-temperature Brueckner-Hartree-Fock calculations. The effects of correlations on the calculated entropy are small, if the appropriate quasiparticle approximation is used. The results demonstrate the thermodynamical consistency of the self-consistent T-matrix approximation for the evaluation of the Green's functions.

A method for using random parameters in analyzing permanent sample plots

Summary

Socioeconomics status and quality of care in a population-based sample of swiss diabetic patients

Introduction: Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with higher prevalence of diabetes and worse outcomes; it has also been shown to be associated with worse quality of care. We aimed to explore the relationship between SES and quality of care in the Swiss context. Methods: We used data from a population-based survey including 519 adult diabetic patients living in the canton of Vaud. Self-reported data on patients' and diabetes characteristics, indicators of process and outcomes of care and quality of life were collected. Dependent variables included 6 processes of care (PoC) received during the last 12 months (HbA1C, lipid, microalbuminuria, fundoscopy, feet examination and influenza vaccination) and selected clinical outcomes (blood pressure, LDL, HbA1C, diabetes-specific (ADDQoL) and generic quality of life (SF-12)). Regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between education and income, respectively, and quality of care as measured by PoC and clinical outcomes. Adjustment was made for age, gender and comorbidities. Results: Mean age was 64.5 years, 40% were women; 19%, 56% and 25% of the patients reported primary (I), secondary (II) and tertiary (III) education. Fundoscopy was the only PoC significantly associated with education, with III education patients more likely to get the exam than those with primary education (adjOR 1.8, 95% CI 1.0-3.3). Use of composite indicators of PoC showed that compared to patients with primary education, patients with III education were more likely to receive ≥5/6 PoC (adjOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.4), and that those with II or III education were more likely to receive 4/4 PoC (adjOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.0-3.3; adjOR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1-4.1, respectively). Quality of life was the only clinical outcome significantly associated with education, with II and III education patients reporting better quality of life compared to primary education patients, as measured by the ADDQoL (β 0.6, 95% CI 0.3-1.0, β 0.6, 95% CI 0.2-1.0, respectively) and the physical component score of the SF-12 (β 2.5, 95% CI 0.2-4.8, β 3.6, 95% CI 0.9-6.4, respectively). No associations were found between income and quality of care. Conclusion: Social inequalities have been demonstrated in Switzerland for global health indicators. Our results suggest that similar associations are found when considering quality of care measures in individuals with diabetes, but only for a few indicators.