Examining the role of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in intimate partner violence among couples with alcohol use disorder.

Separate literatures indicate that both alcohol use disorder (AUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are robust risk factors for using intimate partner violence (IPV). Despite the strength of these relative literatures, and the common co-occurrence of AUD and PTSD, their combined effects on IPV have rarely been examined. This study begins to address this gap by exploring the moderating effects of provisional PTSD diagnosis on the relation between heavy alcohol consumption and physical IPV using a multilevel modeling approach. Participants were adult romantic couples (N = 100) with current AUD and a history of physical IPV in their relationship. Results from the between-couple comparison indicate that couples who reported more heavy drinking days also experienced more physical IPV when at least one partner had probable PTSD. However, the within-couple comparison indicated that among partners without a provisional PTSD diagnosis, those with fewer heavy drinking days compared to their partner also reported more physical IPV perpetration. These preliminary and exploratory findings require replication and extension but provide new and important information regarding the complex intersection of heavy drinking, PTSD, and IPV among couples with AUD.

Wide-Band Wide-Beam Circularly-Polarized Slot-Coupled Antenna for Wide-Angle Beam Scanning Arrays.

The design of a wide-band wide-beam circularly-polarized slot-coupled (WWCS) radiating element for wide-angle scanning arrays (WASAs) is addressed. The WWCS radiator exploits a simple geometry composed of a primary (driven) and a secondary (passive) element to generate wide-beam patterns with rotational symmetry and high polarization purity. The synthesis was carried out by means of a customized version of the System-by-Design (SbD) method to derive a WWCS radiator with circular polarization (CP) and wide-band impedance matching. The results of the numerical assessment, along with a tolerance analysis, confirm that the synthesized WWCS radiating element is a competitive solution for the implementation of large WASAs. More specifically, a representative design working at f0=2.45 [GHz] is shown having fractional bandwidth FBW≃15%, half-power beam-width HPBWf0≃180 [deg] in all elevation planes, and high polarization purity with broadside axial ratio ARf0=3.2 [dB] and cross-polar discrimination XPDf0=15 [dB]. Finally, the experimental assessment, carried out on a PCB-manufactured prototype, verifies the wide-band and wide-beam features of the designed WWCS radiator.

Effects of alcohol problem discrepancy on relationship adjustment: The moderating role of conflict negotiation among couples with alcohol use disorder and intimate partner violence.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has well-known negative effects on romantic relationship functioning, including the occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV). A separate literature focused on community couples indicates that relationship functioning is more likely to suffer when partners report greater discrepancies in alcohol consumption. It is important to expand this literature to couples with AUD and to examine the role of impactful AUD domains in dyadic functioning. Furthermore, few studies have examined adaptive, treatment-malleable factors that could potentially offset the negative impact of alcohol discrepancies on relationship functioning. This study examined the association between couples' alcohol problem discrepancies and relationship adjustment, as well as the moderating effect of self-reported adaptive conflict negotiation behaviors. Participants were 100 couples (N = 200 individual participants) with intimate partner violence wherein at least one partner met diagnostic criteria for AUD. Actor-Partner Interdependence Models indicated that greater alcohol problem discrepancy was associated with lower dyadic adjustment. Moderation analyses revealed that the highest level of relationship adjustment was observed among couples with lower alcohol problem discrepancy and greater negotiation behaviors, while relationship adjustment was similar for couples with larger alcohol problem discrepancy, regardless of negotiation behaviors. Although further study is needed to clarify under what specific conditions adaptive negotiation behaviors are most helpful, they appear to be beneficial for some couples in this sample. We found no evidence that negotiation behaviors may be harmful among these high-risk couples.

"Conical" Frustum Multi-Beam Phased Arrays for Air Traffic Control Radars.

The design of conical frustum phased array antennas for air traffic control (ATC) radar systems is addressed. The array architecture, which is controlled by a fully digital beam-forming (DBF) network, is composed by a set of equal vertical modules. Each module consists of a linear sparse array that generates on receive multiple instantaneous beams pointing along different directions in elevation. To reach the best trade-off between the antenna complexity (i.e., minimum number of array elements and/or radio frequency components) and radiation performance (i.e., matching a set of reference patterns), the synthesis problem is formulated in the Compressive Sampling (CS) framework. Then, the positions of the array elements and the complex excitations for generating each single beam are jointly determined through a customized version of the Bayesian CS (BCS) tool. Representative numerical results, concerned with ideal as well as real antenna models, are reported both to validate the proposed design strategy and to assess the effectiveness of the synthesized modular sparse array architecture also in comparison with conventional arrays with uniformly-spaced elements.

Histological Grade and Tumor Stage Are Correlated with Expression of Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor Kappa b (Rank) in Epithelial Ovarian Cancers.

The receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B (RANK) is becoming recognized as a master regulator of tumorigenesis, yet its role in gynecological cancers remains mostly unexplored. We investigated whether there is a gradation of RANK protein and mRNA expression in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) according to malignancy and tumor staging. Immunohistochemical expression of RANK was examined in a cohort of 135 (benign n = 29, borderline n= 23 and malignant n = 83) EOCs. Wild type and truncated RANK mRNA isoform quantification was performed in a cohort of 168 (benign n = 26, borderline n = 13 and malignant n = 129) EOCs. RANK protein and mRNA values were increased in malignant vs. benign or borderline conditions across serous, mucinous and endometrioid cancer subtypes. Additionally, a trend of increased RANK values with staging was observed for the mucinous and serous histotype. Thus, increased expression of RANK appears associated with the evolution of disease to the onset of malignancy in EOC. Moreover, in some EOC histotypes, RANK expression is additionally associated with clinicopathological markers of tumor aggressiveness, suggesting a role in further progression of tumor activity.

Power Pattern Sensitivity to Calibration Errors and Mutual Coupling in Linear Arrays through Circular Interval Arithmetics.

The sensitivity to both calibration errors and mutual coupling effects of the power pattern radiated by a linear array is addressed. Starting from the knowledge of the nominal excitations of the array elements and the maximum uncertainty on their amplitudes, the bounds of the pattern deviations from the ideal one are analytically derived by exploiting the Circular Interval Analysis (CIA). A set of representative numerical results is reported and discussed to assess the effectiveness and the reliability of the proposed approach also in comparison with state-of-the-art methods and full-wave simulations.

Multi-resolution subspace-based optimization method for solving three-dimensional inverse scattering problems.

An innovative methodology is proposed to solve quantitative three-dimensional microwave imaging problems formulated within the contrast source framework. The introduced technique is based on the combination of an efficient iterative multiscaling strategy aimed at mitigating local minimum issue arising in inverse scattering problems, and a local search algorithm based on the subspace-based optimization method (SOM) devoted to effectively retrieving both the "deterministic" and the "ambiguous" parts of the unknown contrast currents. To achieve this goal, a nested iteration process is adopted in which the outer loop iteratively refines the region of interest (ROI) where the scatterers are detected, while the inner loop retrieves the dielectric properties of the scatterers within the ROIs. Selected numerical examples are also given to show the validity and robustness of the proposed algorithm in comparison with state-of-the-art techniques.

Multifrequency Bayesian compressive sensing methods for microwave imaging.

The Bayesian retrieval of sparse scatterers under multifrequency transverse magnetic illuminations is addressed. Two innovative imaging strategies are formulated to process the spectral content of microwave scattering data according to either a frequency-hopping multistep scheme or a multifrequency one-shot scheme. To solve the associated inverse problems, customized implementations of single-task and multitask Bayesian compressive sensing are introduced. A set of representative numerical results is discussed to assess the effectiveness and the robustness against the noise of the proposed techniques also in comparison with some state-of-the-art deterministic strategies.

Electromagnetic subsurface prospecting by a fully nonlinear multifocusing inexact Newton method.

An electromagnetic inverse scattering procedure for the reconstruction of shallow buried objects in a homogeneous half-space is proposed. The approach is based on the numerical solution of the integral equations that model inverse scattering relationships, and it extends to strong scatterers the imaging capabilities of a previously proposed approach relying on approximated formulations. The inversion is based on the synergic application of a multifocusing strategy based on the iterative multiscaling approach along with an efficient regularization scheme based on the inexact Newton method. Numerical results corroborate the mathematical description to assess capabilities and current limitations of the proposed fully nonlinear technique.

Electromagnetic subsurface prospecting by a multifocusing inexact Newton method within the second-order Born approximation.

In this paper the reconstruction of a shallow buried object is addressed by an electromagnetic inverse scattering method based on combining different imaging modalities. In particular, the proposed approach integrates the inexact Newton (IN) method with an iterative multiscaling approach. Moreover, the use of the second-order Born approximation is exploited. A numerical validation is provided concerning the potentialities arising by combining the regularization capabilities of the IN method and the effectiveness of the multifocusing strategy to mitigate the nonlinearity and ill-posedness of the inversion problem. Comparisons with the standard "bare" approach in terms of accuracy, robustness, noise levels, and computational efficiency are also included.

[Translated article] Pharmacist access and training process for residency in Hospital Pharmacy in Argentina.

Hospital pharmacy worldwide has proven to be a crucial element in healthcare. In Latin America, it draws inspiration from 2 main models: United States, which promoted clinical pharmacy and later pharmaceutical care, and Spain, which shares similar healthcare practices and the added advantage of a common language. Both models influenced the implementation of hospital pharmacy residencies in Argentina since the 1980s. Hospital pharmacy residencies in Argentina constitute a paid system of intensive postgraduate training on a full-time basis with exclusive dedication. They are carried out in 11 provinces across Argentina in services with recognized teaching experience. Currently, there are 46 locations with a total of 75 annual vacancies for applicants. The objective of hospital pharmacy residencies is to train pharmaceutical professionals with the necessary competencies to ensure the care of patients through the optimization of the safe, effective, and efficient use of medications and healthcare products tailored to each patient's individual therapy. Hospital pharmacy residencies have demonstrated that pharmacists acquire specialized training that can be decisive in influencing healthcare policies related to the safe use of medications and healthcare products. Therefore, actions to promote and encourage interest in this field among pharmaceutical professionals are necessary, involving scientific societies, universities, pharmaceutical associations, and the political sphere.

Pharmacist access and training process for residency in Hospital Pharmacy in Argentina. / Proceso para el acceso y formación del farmacéutico a la residencia en Farmacia Hospitalaria en Argentina.

Hospital Pharmacy worldwide has proven to be a crucial element in healthcare. In Latin America, it draws inspiration from two main models: United States, which promoted clinical pharmacy and later pharmaceutical care, and Spain, which shares similar healthcare practices and the added advantage of a common language. Both models influenced the implementation of Hospital Pharmacy residencies in Argentina since the 1980s. Hospital Pharmacy residencies in Argentina constitute a paid system of intensive postgraduate training on a full-time basis with exclusive dedication. They are carried out in 11 provinces across Argentina in services with recognized teaching experience. Currently, there are 46 locations with a total of 75 annual vacancies for applicants. The objective of Hospital Pharmacy residencies is to train pharmaceutical professionals with the necessary competencies to ensure the care of patients through the optimization of the safe, effective, and efficient use of medications and healthcare products tailored to each patient's individual therapy. Hospital Pharmacy residencies have demonstrated that pharmacists acquire specialized training that can be decisive in influencing healthcare policies related to the safe use of medications and healthcare products. Therefore, actions to promote and encourage interest in this field among pharmaceutical professionals are necessary, involving scientific societies, universities, pharmaceutical associations, and the political sphere.

Experiences of women sexual assault survivors with police in the early aftermath of assault: Results from a large-scale prospective study.

Over 100,000 women present for emergency care after sexual assault (SA) annually in the United States. To our knowledge, no large prospective studies have assessed SA survivor experiences with police. Women SA survivors enrolled at 13 sites ( n = 706), and 630 survivors reported on their police interactions. Most women were interested in speaking with police, spoke with police, and reported positive experiences. Latinas and women with lower education and income were less likely to speak with police. Trauma and posttraumatic stress symptoms were associated with more negative experiences. Qualitative comments provide key points for police to consider when speaking with survivors.

Imaging sparse metallic cylinders through a local shape function Bayesian compressive sensing approach.

An innovative method for the localization of multiple sparse metallic targets is proposed. Starting from the local shape function (LSF) formulation of the inverse scattering problem and exploiting the multitask Bayesian compressive sensing (MT-BCS) paradigm, a two-step approach is described where, after a first estimation of the LSF scattering amplitudes, the reconstruction of the metallic objects is yielded through a thresholding and voting step. Selected numerical examples are presented to analyze the accuracy, the robustness, and the computational efficiency of the LSF-MT-BCS technique.

Childhood Maltreatment and Use of Aggression among Veterans with Co-occurring PTSD and Alcohol Use Disorder: The Mediating Role of Hostile Cognitions.

History of childhood maltreatment is common among military veterans, particularly those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Childhood maltreatment is associated with negative psychosocial outcomes, including use of aggression during adulthood. Prior research has identified maladaptive cognitions as a key mediating variable in the association between early life trauma and aggression. Given the high rates of comorbid PTSD and AUD among veterans and the increased risk of aggression when these conditions co-occur, it is critical to examine malleable intervention targets, such as maladaptive cognitions, for this population. The current secondary analyses examined the mediating role of hostile cognitions on the associations between childhood maltreatment and adulthood aggression in a sample of dually diagnosed veterans. Participants were veterans with co-occurring PTSD and AUD (N = 73) who were enrolled in a larger randomized controlled laboratory trial. Participants completed self-report measures of childhood maltreatment, hostile cognitions, and aggressive behavior. Three models were tested to examine the mediating effect of hostility on the associations between childhood maltreatment, abuse, and neglect on aggression. Results indicated that hostility fully mediated the effect of maltreatment on aggression and partially mediated the effect of childhood abuse on aggression. The effect of childhood neglect on aggression was nonsignificant. Hostile cognitions may be a critical intervention target for veterans with co-occurring PTSD and AUD and history of childhood maltreatment, particularly for those who have experienced higher levels of childhood abuse.

Electromagnetic imaging within the contrast-source formulation by means of the multiscaling inexact Newton method.

We introduce a new imaging technique that integrates the inexact Newton method into a multifocusing scheme within the contrast-source formulation of the inverse scattering problem. Representative results from an extensive validation concerned with both synthetic and experimental scattering data are reported to assess, also through comparisons, advantages and limitations of the proposed approach in terms of accuracy, robustness, and computational efficiency.

Intimate partner violence: Opening the door to a safer future.

These recommendations can help you to identify patients at risk of violence, create an environment where they feel comfortable disclosing their experiences, and help them plan for their safety.

A randomized controlled trial examining the effects of intranasal oxytocin on alcohol craving and intimate partner aggression among couples.

BACKGROUND: While alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a well-established risk factor for intimate partner aggression (IPA), effective treatments for co-occurring AUD and IPA (AUD/IPA) are lacking. Oxytocin is one promising pharmacological candidate for AUD/IPA given its potential to modulate social behavior and attenuate alcohol use. However, emerging data suggests that oxytocin's prosocial effects are inconsistent, and a small number of studies have also found that oxytocin might have the potential to be aggressogenic. No studies have directly examined the impact of oxytocin on alcohol- or IPA-related outcomes in a dyadic context. METHODS: The goal of this double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled trial was to examine the effects of a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 international units) on cue-induced alcohol craving, subjective aggression, laboratory task-based IPA, and cortisol reactivity in a sample of 100 couples (N = 200 individuals) with AUD and physical IPA in their current relationship. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between the oxytocin and placebo conditions for any of the primary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that a single dose of intranasal oxytocin was not efficacious in mitigating alcohol craving or aggression in this sample. Although hypotheses were not supported, the findings provide important evidence that oxytocin was not aggressogenic in this high-risk sample. Future research investigating dispositional and contextual moderators of oxytocin response in addition to the therapeutic effects of more intensive oxytocin dosing or administration strategies on alcohol craving and aggression is warranted.

Multiresolution subspace-based optimization method for inverse scattering problems.

This paper investigates an approach to inverse scattering problems based on the integration of the subspace-based optimization method (SOM) within a multifocusing scheme in the framework of the contrast source formulation. The scattering equations are solved by a nested three-step procedure composed of (a) an outer multiresolution loop dealing with the identification of the regions of interest within the investigation domain through an iterative information-acquisition process, (b) a spectrum analysis step devoted to the reconstruction of the deterministic components of the contrast sources, and (c) an inner optimization loop aimed at retrieving the ambiguous components of the contrast sources through a conjugate gradient minimization of a suitable objective function. A set of representative reconstruction results is discussed to provide numerical evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed algorithmic approach as well as to assess the features and potentialities of the multifocusing integration in comparison with the state-of-the-art SOM implementation.

Cognitive and Affective Mediators of Alcohol-Facilitated Intimate Partner Aggression.

This multisite study examined whether aggressive cognitions and facial displays of negative affect and anger experienced during provocation mediated the association between alcohol intoxication and intimate partner aggression (IPA). Participants were 249 heavy drinkers (148 men, 101 women) with a recent history of IPA perpetration. Participants were randomly assigned to an Alcohol or No-Alcohol Control beverage condition and completed a shock-based aggression task involving apparent provocation by their intimate partner. During provocation, a hidden camera recorded participants' facial expressions and verbal articulations, which were later coded using the Facial Action Coding System and the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations paradigm. Results indicated that the positive association between alcohol intoxication and partner-directed physical aggression was mediated by participants' aggressive cognitions, but not by negative affect or anger facial expressions. These findings implicate aggressogenic cognitions as a mediating mechanism underlying the association between the acute effects of alcohol and IPA perpetration.