Return to Religion? Predictors of Religious Change among Baby-Boomers in their Transition to Later Life

In this paper, we investigated the correlates of change in religiosity among babyboomers as they aged from their 50s to their 60s. Change was assessed as a function of cognitive and behavioral manifestations of religious involvement, early religious participation, and challenges that emerged over this period of life. Using qualitative and quantitative data from 599 respondents in the 2016 wave of the Longitudinal Study of Generations, we examined retrospectively assessed religious change over the previous ten years and the precipitating reasons for such change. Religiosity was most likely to remain stable, but a significant minority of the sample became more religious over the past ten years; reasons included a shift away from worldly concerns, coping with loss and health problems, and intergenerational continuity. Structural equation modeling found that early exposure to religion strengthened religiosity through its association with both stronger cognitive and behavioral aspects of religious involvement. Losing of a partner, experiencing economic decline, and having health problems either increased or stabilized religiosity, complementing results from qualitative responses. In general, religious change, when it did occur, was in a positive direction and served as a resource for dealing with health and social losses. We anticipate this trend to intensify as baby-boomers advance to even later stages of the life-course.     

Fracture Strength of Plate and Tubular Forms of Monolithic Silicon Carbide Produced by Chemical Vapor Deposition

The fracture strength of silicon carbide (SiC) plate deposits produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was determined from room temperature to 1500°C using a standard 4-point flexural test method (ASTM C1161). CVD SiC materials produced by two different manufacturers are shown to have only slightly different flexural strength values, which appear to result from differences in microstructure. Although CVD deposition of SiC results in a textured grain structure, the flexural strength was shown to be independent of the CVD growth direction. The orientation of machining marks was shown to have the most significant influence on flexural strength, as expected. The fracture strength of tubular forms of SiC produced by CVD deposition directly onto a mandrel was comparable to flexural bars machined from a plate deposit. The tubular (O-ring) specimens were much smaller in volume than the flexural bars, and higher strength values are predicted based on Weibull statistical theory for the O-ring specimens. Differences in microstructure between the plate deposits and deposits made on a mandrel result in different flaw distributions and comparable strength values for the flexural bar and O-ring specimens. These results indicate that compression testing of O-rings provides a more accurate strength measurement for tubular product forms of SiC due to more representative flaw distributions.     

SBA-15 ordered mesoporous silica inside a bioactive glass–ceramic scaffold for local drug delivery

The paper reports the synthesis of an ordered silica mesostructure of the SBA-15 type inside a macroporous bioactive glass-ceramic scaffold of the type SiO(2)-CaO-K(2)O, to combine the bioactivity of the latter with the release properties of the former, in view of local drug delivery from implants designed for tissue engineering. The standard procedure for SBA-15 synthesis has been modified to minimize the damage to the scaffold caused by the acidic synthesis medium. The composite system has been characterized by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (coupled with EDS analysis), Small Angle X-Ray Diffraction, Thermogravimetry analysis and Infrared Spectroscopy: the formation of a well ordered hexagonal mesostructure was confirmed. Ibuprofen has been chosen as model drug. The uploading properties have been investigated of the scaffold-mesoporous silica composite as compared with the scaffold as such, and a five-fold increase in the adsorbing properties toward ibuprofen was found, due to the presence of the ordered mesoporous silica. The ibuprofen release to a SBF solution in vitro is complete in 1 day. Retention of bioactivity from the glass-ceramic scaffold after the silica mesostructure incorporation has been observed.     

The Impact of Grape Skin Bioactive Functionality Information on the Acceptability of Tea Infusions Made from Wine By-Products

ABSTRACT: The effect of information on the health benefits of bio-active compounds on the acceptability of 5 tea infusions made from grape skins generated from wine processing waste (from Vitis vinifera var. Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris) was investigated. Samples of tea infusions with natural additives (PNHGT25 and PGGT50) and without additives (control PN, control PG, and PNPG50) were evaluated by 45 in-home consumer panels (30 female, 15 male) before and after information on the health benefits of grape skins were provided. Information significantly increased the overall acceptability, overall aroma, flavor, and aftertaste of the infusions. The results obtained showed a clear tendency toward increased purchase intention (by 29%) when information on the health benefits of the tea infusion samples was provided to consumers. Interactions existed between gender/infusion samples and stage of information on the purchase intention. Females recorded a significant increase (by 53%) in purchase intention, whereas no change in the males' purchase intention was found after information was provided.     

Three-dimensional tomographic reconstruction of mesospheric airglow structures using two-station ground-based image measurements

A new methodology is presented to create two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) tomographic reconstructions of mesospheric airglow layer structure using two-station all-sky image measurements. A fanning technique is presented that produces a series of cross-sectional 2D reconstructions, which are combined to create a 3D mapping of the airglow volume. The imaging configuration is discussed and the inherent challenges of using limited-angle data in tomographic reconstructions have been analyzed using artificially generated imaging objects. An iterative reconstruction method, the partially constrained algebraic reconstruction technique (PCART), was used in conjunction with a priori information of the airglow emission profile to constrain the height of the imaged region, thereby reducing the indeterminacy of the inverse problem. Synthetic projection data were acquired from the imaging objects and the forward problem to validate the tomographic method and to demonstrate the ability of this technique to accurately reconstruct information using only two ground-based sites. Reconstructions of the OH airglow layer were created using data recorded by all-sky CCD cameras located at Bear Lake Observatory, Utah, and at Star Valley, Wyoming, with an optimal site separation of ~100 km. The ability to extend powerful 2D and 3D tomographic methods to two-station ground-based measurements offers obvious practical advantages for new measurement programs. The importance and applications of mesospheric tomographic reconstructions in airglow studies, as well as the need for future measurements and continued development of techniques of this type, are discussed.     

On the adaptive real-time detection of fast-propagating network worms

We present two light-weight worm detection algorithms that offer significant advantages over fixed-threshold methods. The first algorithm, rate-based sequential hypothesis testing (RBS), aims at the large class of worms that attempts to quickly propagate, thus exhibiting abnormal levels of the rate at which hosts initiate connections to new destinations. The foundation of RBS derives from the theory of sequential hypothesis testing, the use of which for detecting randomly scanning hosts was first introduced by our previous work developing TRW (Jung et al. in Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, 9–12 May 2004). The sequential hypothesis testing methodology enables us to engineer detectors to meet specific targets for false-positive and false-negative rates, rather than triggering when fixed thresholds are crossed. In this sense, the detectors that we introduce are truly adaptive. We then introduce RBS+TRW, an algorithm that combines fan-out rate (RBS) and probability of failure (TRW) of connections to new destinations. RBS+TRW provides a unified framework that at one end acts as pure RBS and at the other end as pure TRW. Selecting an operating point that includes both mechanisms extends RBS’s power in detecting worms that scan randomly selected IP addresses. Using four traces from three qualitatively different sites, we evaluate RBS and RBS+TRW in terms of false positives, false negatives, and detection speed, finding that RBS+TRW provides good detection of actual Code Red worm outbreaks that we caught in our trace as well as internal Web crawlers that we use as proxies for targeting worms. In doing so, RBS+TRW generates fewer than one false alarm per hour for wide range of parameter choices.     

Surface modification of Ti-6Al-4 V alloy for biomineralization and specific biological response: part II,alkaline phosphatase grafting

Titanium and its alloys are the most widespread materials for the realization of orthopaedic and dental implants due to their good mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Surface functionalization of biomaterials aimed to improve and quicken implant integration and tissue regeneration is an active research field. The opportunity to confer biological activity (ability to directly stimulate cells with proper biological signals) to the Ti6Al4 V alloy, previously modified to be bioactive from the inorganic point of view (apatite precipitation), was explored in this research work. The alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme was grafted to metal surface via tresyl chloride activation, maintaining its activity. A synergistic effect between biological functionalization and inorganic bioactivity was observed.