Mental health care for foster children in California

This paper reports on a study conducted to assess the health care needs of foster children in California. To evaluate foster children's mental health problems and the services provided to meet them, 154 program administrators, social workers, foster parents, and health care providers were interviewed in 14 counties. Foster parents and social workers were interviewed in groups, and foster parents and administrators also completed questionnaires. We found that although all counties care immediately for children who are injured, abused, or ill, only one county performs routine mental health evaluations of all children, and in most counties less than a third of children ever receive such evaluations. Informants identified mental health problems as more severe than medical problems in this population, and they identified four major barriers to access to appropriate therapy. Recommendations are that all children should receive comprehensive mental health evaluations, and procedures for immediate and ongoing care with consistent providers who are sensitive to foster children's needs should be included in case management plans, and covered by improved payment mechanisms. Additionally, communication, coordination and joint planning should be instituted among relevant agencies to address foster children's needs, and increased resources and training should be directed towards social service agencies and foster parents.     

DNA microarray wet lab simulation brings genomics into the high school curriculum

We have developed a wet lab DNA microarray simulation as part of a complete DNA microarray module for high school students. The wet lab simulation has been field tested with high school students in Illinois and Maryland as well as in workshops with high school teachers from across the nation. Instead of using DNA, our simulation is based on pH indicators, which offer many ideal teaching characteristics. The simulation requires no specialized equipment, is very inexpensive, is very reliable, and takes very little preparation time. Student and teacher assessment data indicate the simulation is popular with both groups, and students show significant learning gains. We include many resources with this publication, including all prelab introductory materials (e.g., a paper microarray activity), the student handouts, teachers notes, and pre- and postassessment tools. We did not test the simulation on other student populations, but based on teacher feedback, the simulation also may fit well in community college and in introductory and nonmajors' college biology curricula.     

Simplified method of designing FIR filter with controllable center frequency

A novel simplified method is presented to design FIR filter with controllable center frequency. The properties of transfer curves for all-phase filters are illustrated under 3 windowing conditions. By combining single-window all-phase filter design steps and double phase-shift combination, a series of design formulas for point-pass filter, notch filter, band-pass filter and band-stop filter are derived, thus the design computation complexity is greatly reduced. Experiments prove that the center frequency of all the filters can be accurately specified at arbitrary position by adjusting frequency parameters m and λ.     

Cultural Trends of Audience Online Interaction with Vocal Talent Shows: A Comparative Study between China and the US

This study examined cultural reflections online of audience comments on social network sites regarding vocal talent shows in China and the United States. The study applied dimensions of cross culture to investigate audience comments on the official social networking sites of The Voice of China and The Voice. Findings reflect Hofstede’s dimensions as applied to social media and illustrate how individuals alter their “local” cultural norms in the new media environment. The study specifically enhances the exploration of cultural manifestations in cyberspace, which fewer cross-cultural studies have researched.     

体力活动与癌症生存研究的10大问题

摘要：今天的美国有1 400万的癌症存活者,其中的很多存活者中都接受了多种治疗,包括手术、放疗、化疗、靶向治疗等。这些治疗能够延长生存时间,但同时也会带来很多急慢性的副作用,危害健康,影响生活质量。体力活动（PA）与癌症生存这一领域发展迅速,主要研究PA对癌症患者的影响。基于该领域的研究进展,提出了以下10大研究问题：1）PA能够降低癌症复发风险、和/或提高存活吗？2）PA能够影响癌症治疗决策、完成率、和/或患者对治疗的反应吗？3）癌症存活者的最佳运动处方是什么？4）静坐少动行为对癌症存活者有何影响？5）癌症存活者最有效的体力活动干预方案是什么？6）哪些癌症会影响病人对PA的反应？7）癌症存活者进行体力活动时需要注意的安全问题有哪些？8）哪些具体的癌症症状可以由PA解决？9）对于癌症晚期患者,体力活动还有何作用？10）如何将体力活动研究结果转化到临床和社区肿瘤实践中来？上述问题的回答至关重要,这不仅关系到体力活动和癌症存活这一研究领域的发展,更重要的是,能够为每年数百万新诊断为癌症的病人、正在接受癌症治疗的病人、治疗结束处于恢复中的病人或是那些正在与晚期癌症抗争的病人带来福音。