Personality and personality disorders in urban and rural Africa: results from a field trial in Burkina Faso

When conducting research in different cultural settings, assessing measurement equivalence is of prime importance to determine if constructs and scores can be compared across groups. Structural equivalence implies that constructs have the same meaning across groups, metric equivalence implies that the metric of the scales remains stable across groups, and full scale or scalar equivalence implies that the origin of the scales is the same across groups. Several studies have observed that the structure underlying both normal personality and personality disorders (PDs) is stable across cultures. Most of this cross-cultural research was conducted in Western and Asian cultures. In Africa, the few studies were conducted with well-educated participants using French or English instruments. No research was conducted in Africa with less privileged or preliterate samples. The aim of this research was to study the structure and expression of normal and abnormal personality in an urban and a rural sample in Burkina Faso. The sample included 1,750 participants, with a sub-sample from the urban area of Ouagadougou (n = 1,249) and another sub-sample from a rural village, Soumiaga (n = 501). Most participants answered an interview consisting of a Mooré language adaptation of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and of the International Personality Disorders Examination. Mooré is the language of the Mossi ethnic group, and the most frequently spoken local language in Burkina Faso. A sub-sample completed the same self-report instruments in French. Demographic variables only had a small impact on normal and abnormal personality traits mean levels. The structure underlying normal personality was unstable across regions and languages, illustrating that translating a complex psychological inventory into a native African language is a very difficult task. The structure underlying abnormal personality and the metric of PDs scales were stable across regions. As scalar equivalence was not reached, mean differences cannot be interpreted. Nevertheless, these differences could be due to an exaggerated expression of abnormal traits valued in the two cultural settings. Our results suggest that studies using a different methodology should be conducted to understand what is considered, in different cultures, as deviating from the expectations of the individual's culture, and as a significant impairment in self and interpersonal functioning, as defined by the DSM-5.

Field Evaluation of Elliptical Steel Dowel Performance, 2006

Joints are always a concern in the construction and long-term performance of concrete pavements. Research has shown that we need some type of positive load transfer across transverse joints. The same research has directed pavement designers to use round dowels spaced at regular intervals across the transverse joint to distribute the vehicle loads both longitudinally and transversely across the joint. The goal is to reduce bearing stresses on the dowels and the two pavement slab edges and erosion of the underlying surface, hence improved long-term joint and pavement structure performance. Road salts cause metal corrosion in doweled joints, excessive bearing stresses hollow dowel ends, and construction processes are associated with cracking pavement at the end of dowels. Dowels are also a cost factor in the pavement costs when joint spacing is reduced to control curling and warping distress in pavements. Designers desire to place adequate numbers of dowels spaced at the proper locations to handle the anticipated loads and bearing stresses for the design life of the pavement. This interim report is the second of three reports on the evaluation of elliptical steel dowels. This report consists of an update on the testing and performance of the various shapes and sizes of dowels. It also documents the results of the first series of performance surveys and draws interim conclusions about the performance of various bar shapes, sizes, spacings, and basket configurations. In addition to the study of elliptical steel dowel performance, fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) are also tested as elliptical dowel material (in contrast to steel) on a section of the highway construction north of the elliptical steel test sections.

Solar radiation use efficiency by soybean under field conditions in the Amazon region

The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of soybean (Glycine max) in intercepting and using solar radiation under natural field conditions, in the Amazon region, Brazil. The meteorological data and the values of soybean growth and leaf area were obtained from an agrometeorological experiment carried out in Paragominas, Pará state, during 2007 and 2008. The radiation use efficiency (RUE) was obtained from the ratio between the above-ground biomass production and the intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) accumulated to 99 and 95 days after sowing, in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Climatic conditions during the experiment were very distinct, with reduction in rainfall in 2007, which began during the soybean mid-cycle, due to the El Niño phenomenon. An important reduction in the leaf area index and biomass production was observed during 2007. Under natural field conditions in the Amazon region, the values of RUE were 1.46 and 1.99 g MJ-1 PAR in the 2007 and 2008 experiments, respectively. The probable reason for the differences found between these years might be associated to the water restriction in 2007 coupled with the higher air temperature and vapor pressure deficit, and also to the increase in the fraction of diffuse radiation that reached the land surface in 2008.

Estimation of forest canopy cover : a comparison of field measurement techniques

Abstract

Stability of Citrus tristeza virus protective isolates in field conditions

The objective of this work was to monitor the maintenance of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) protective isolates stability in selected clones of 'Pêra' sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), preimmunized or naturally infected by the virus, after successive clonal propagations. The work was carried out in field conditions in the north of Paraná State, Brazil. Coat protein gene (CPG) analysis of 33 isolates collected from 16 clones of 'Pêra' sweet orange was performed using single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP). Initially, the isolates were characterized by symptoms of stem pitting observed in clones. Then viral genome was extracted and used as template for the amplification of CPG by reverse transcription polimerase chain reaction (RTPCR). RTPCR products electrophoretic profiles were analyzed using the Jaccard coefficient and the UPGMA method. The majority of the clones had weak to moderate stem pitting symptoms and its CTV isolates showed alterations in the SSCP profiles. However, the stability of the protective complex has been maintained, except for isolates from two analised clones. Low genetic variability was observed within the isolates during the studied years.

Field capture of Thyanta perditor with pheromone-baited traps

The objective of this work was to evaluate the field attractiveness of Thyanta perditor synthetic sex pheromone-baited traps, its attractivity to other stink bug species, and the response of T. perditor to a geometric isomer of the sex pheromone. Two-liter transparent plastic bottles traps were baited with rubber septa impregnated with the treatments: 1 mg of methyl-(2E,4Z,6Z)-decatrienoate [(2E,4Z,6Z)-10:COOMe], the male sex pheromone of T. perditor; 1 mg of (2E,4Z,6Z)-10:COOMe protected from sunlight in standard PVC plumbing pipe; 1 mg of its geometric isomer [(2E,4E,6Z)-10:COOMe]; and traps with rubber septa impregnated with hexane (control). The experiment was carried out in field during the soybean reproductive stages. Traps were monitored weekly, and the captures were compared to the population density estimated by the sampling cloth and visual inspection monitoring techniques. Traps baited with the sex pheromone, protected or not, were more effective in capturing T. perditor than traps baited with the isomer or the hexane. Thyanta perditor sex pheromone showed cross-attraction to other stink bug species, such as Euschistus heros, Edessa meditabunda, Piezodorus guildinii and Nezara viridula. Pheromone-baited traps can be used in population monitoring and to identify the relative composition of stink bug guilds.

Field Testing of Integral Abutments, Interim Report, HR-399, 1998

Integral abutment bridges are constructed without an expansion joint in the superstructure of the bridge; therefore, the bridge girders, deck, abutment diaphragms, and abutments are monolithically constructed. The abutment piles in an integral abutment bridge are vertically orientated, and they are embedded into the pile cap. When this type of a bridge experiences thermal expansion or contraction, horizontal displacements are induced at the top of the abutment piles. The flexibility of the abutment piles eliminates the need to provide an expansion joint at the inside face to the abutments: Integral abutment bridge construction has been used in Iowa and other states for many years. This research is evaluating the performance of integral abutment bridges by investigating thermally induced displacements, strains, and temperatures in two Iowa bridges. Each bridge has a skewed alignment, contains five prestressed concrete girders that support a 30-ft wide roadway for three spans, and involves a water crossing. The bridges will be monitored for about two years. For each bridge, an instrumentation package includes measurement devices and hardware and software support systems. The measurement devices are displacement transducers, strain gages, and thermocouples. The hardware and software systems include a data-logger; multiplexers; directline telephone service and computer terminal modem; direct-line electrical power; lap-top computer; and an assortment of computer programs for monitoring, transmitting, and management of the data. Instrumentation has been installed on a bridge located in Guthrie County, and similar instrumentation is currently being installed on a bridge located in Story County. Preliminary test results for the bridge located in Guthrie County have revealed that temperature changes of the bridge deck and girders induce both longitudinal and transverse displacements of the abutments and significant flexural strains in the abutment piles. For an average temperature range of 73° F for the superstructure concrete in the bridge located in Guthrie County, the change in the bridge length was about 1 118 in. and the maximum, strong-axis, flexural-strain range for one of the abutment piles was about 400 micro-strains, which corresponds to a stress range of about 11,600 psi.

Demonstration and Field Evaluation of Alternative Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Reinforcement Materials, Construction Report, HR-1069, 1998

The function of dowel bars is the transfer of a load across the transverse joint from one pavement slab to the adjoining slab. In the past, these transfer mechanisms have been made of steel. However, pavement damage such as loss of bonding, deterioration, hollowing, cracking and spalling start to occur when the dowels begin to corrode. A significant amount of research has been done to evaluate alternative types of materials for use in the reinforcement of concrete pavements. Initial findings have indicated that stainless steel and fiber composite materials possess properties, such as flexural strength and corrosion resistance, that are equivalent to the Department of Transportation specifications for standard steel, 1 1/2 inch diameter dowel bars. Several factors affect the load transfer of dowels; these include diameter, alignment, grouting, bonding, spacing, corrosion resistance, joint spacing, slab thickness and dowel embedment length. This research is directed at the analysis of load transfer based on material type and dowel spacing. Specifically, this research is directed at analyzing the load transfer characteristics of: (a) 8-inch verses 12-inch spacing, and (b) alternative dowel material compared to epoxy coated steel dowels, will also be analyzed. This report documents the installation of the test sections, placed in 1997. Dowel material type and location are identified. Construction observations and limitations with each dowel material are shown.

A Continuous Span Aluminum Girder Concrete Deck Bridge - Part 1 of 2: Field Test Performance and Evaluation, 1996

This report addresses the field testing and analysis of those results to establish the behavior of the original Clive Road Bridge that carried highway traffic over Interstate 80 (I-80) in the northwest region of Des Moines, Iowa. The bridge was load tested in 1959, shortly after its construction and in 1993, just prior to its demolition. This report presents some of the results from both field tests, finite element predictions of the behavior of aluminum bridge girders, and load distribution studies.

Bayesian Markov-chain-Monte-Carlo inversion of time-lapse cross hole ground-penetrating radar data to characterize the vadose zone at the Arrenaes field site, Denmark

The ground-penetrating radar (GPR) geophysical method has the potential to provide valuable information on the hydraulic properties of the vadose zone because of its strong sensitivity to soil water content. In particular, recent evidence has suggested that the stochastic inversion of crosshole GPR traveltime data can allow for a significant reduction in uncertainty regarding subsurface van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) parameters. Much of the previous work on the stochastic estimation of VGM parameters from crosshole GPR data has considered the case of steady-state infiltration conditions, which represent only a small fraction of practically relevant scenarios. We explored in detail the dynamic infiltration case, specifically examining to what extent time-lapse crosshole GPR traveltimes, measured during a forced infiltration experiment at the Arreneas field site in Denmark, could help to quantify VGM parameters and their uncertainties in a layered medium, as well as the corresponding soil hydraulic properties. We used a Bayesian Markov-chain-Monte-Carlo inversion approach. We first explored the advantages and limitations of this approach with regard to a realistic synthetic example before applying it to field measurements. In our analysis, we also considered different degrees of prior information. Our findings indicate that the stochastic inversion of the time-lapse GPR data does indeed allow for a substantial refinement in the inferred posterior VGM parameter distributions compared with the corresponding priors, which in turn significantly improves knowledge of soil hydraulic properties. Overall, the results obtained clearly demonstrate the value of the information contained in time-lapse GPR data for characterizing vadose zone dynamics.

Field Evaluation of Cold In-Place Recycling of Asphalt Concrete, HR-303, Construction Report, 1990

There are still many vintage portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements, 18 ft wide (5.4 m), dating back to pre-World War II era in use today. Successive overlays have been placed to cover joints and to improve rideability. The average thickness of the existing asphalt cement concrete (ACC) along route E66 in Tama County, Iowa, was 6.13 in. (15.6 cm). The rehabilitation strategy called for widening the base using the top 3 in. (7.6 cm) of the existing ACC by a recycling process involving cold milling and mixing with additional emulsion/rejuvenator. The material was then placed into a widening trench and compacted to match the level of the milled surface. This project was undertaken to develop a rehabilitation methodology to widen these older pavements economically and to have a finished surface capable of carrying traffic with little or no additional work.

Fast Bias Field Correction for 9.4 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging

In this paper the problem of intensity inhomogeneity athigh magnetic field on magnetic resonance images isaddressed. Specifically, rat brain images at 9.4Tacquired with a surface coil are bias corrected. Wepropose a low- pass frequency model that takes intoaccount not only background-object contours but alsoother important contours inside the image. Twopre-processing filters are proposed: first, to create avolume of interest without contours, and second, toextrapolate the image values of such masked area to thewhole image. Results are assessed quantitatively andvisually in comparison to standard low pass filterapproach, and they show as expected better accuracy inenhancing image intensity.

Population receptive field estimates of human auditory cortex.

Here we describe a method for measuring tonotopic maps and estimating bandwidth for voxels in human primary auditory cortex (PAC) using a modification of the population Receptive Field (pRF) model, developed for retinotopic mapping in visual cortex by Dumoulin and Wandell (2008). The pRF method reliably estimates tonotopic maps in the presence of acoustic scanner noise, and has two advantages over phase-encoding techniques. First, the stimulus design is flexible and need not be a frequency progression, thereby reducing biases due to habituation, expectation, and estimation artifacts, as well as reducing the effects of spatio-temporal BOLD nonlinearities. Second, the pRF method can provide estimates of bandwidth as a function of frequency. We find that bandwidth estimates are narrower for voxels within the PAC than in surrounding auditory responsive regions (non-PAC).

Field performance of hybrid aspen clones planted in summer

[Abstract]