State Policy Levers for Reducing Early Childhood Maltreatment: The Importance of Family Planning and Economic Support Policies.

Children experiencing maltreatment in the first 3 years of life are at risk for several developmental challenges throughout the lifespan. Researchers and practitioners have emphasized understanding how institutional supports implemented through state governments may support infants and toddlers' development, but less attention has been paid to the potential effects of state policies on maltreatment specifically. We tested whether state-level policies providing economic and family planning support implemented between 2005-2019 were associated with rates of reported and substantiated abuse and neglect among children under three.

Reconstruction of incomplete X-ray diffraction pole figures of oligocrystalline materials using deep learning.

X-ray diffraction crystallography allows non-destructive examination of crystal structures. Furthermore, it has low requirements regarding surface preparation, especially compared to electron backscatter diffraction. However, up to now, X-ray diffraction has been highly time-consuming in standard laboratory conditions since intensities on multiple lattice planes have to be recorded by rotating and tilting.

Evaluation of extremely steep residual stress gradients based on a combined approach using laboratory-scale equipment.

Surface treatments characterized by rapid heating and cooling ( laser hardening) can induce very steep residual stress gradients in the direct vicinity of the area being treated. These gradients cannot be characterized with sufficient accuracy by means of the classical sinΨ approach applying angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction. This can be mainly attributed to limitations of the material removal method.

[Focal therapy for prostate cancer in Germany - 2014 status].

Background: In localized low-risk prostate cancer (PCa), there is a therapeutic dilemma between possible overtreatment by one of the standard therapies and potentially insufficient cancer control by active surveillance (AS). Focal therapy (FT) provides an alternative therapeutic option as it aims to preserve the organ and to eliminate the cancer focus at the same time.

Methods: In this article the current state of FT for localized low-risk prostate carcinoma in Germany is described.

Spectrometric evaluation of post-mortem optical skin changes.

As to their optical properties, the components of human skin can be divided into two different categories: the light-scattering components shown as peaks and those absorbing light appearing as dips in the reflectance spectrum. As the post-mortem interval progresses, the concentration of scatterers and absorbers and thus the reflectance spectra change due to post-mortem tissue breakdown and degradation. Based on a total number of 532 reflectance spectrometric measurements in 195 deceased, a characteristic change in the reflectance spectra could be documented in the post-mortem course.

Scientific information repository assisting reflectance spectrometry in legal medicine.

Reflectance spectrometry is a fast and reliable method for the characterization of human skin if the spectra are analyzed with respect to a physical model describing the optical properties of human skin. For a field study performed at the Institute of Legal Medicine and the Freiburg Materials Research Center of the University of Freiburg, a scientific information repository has been developed, which is a variant of an electronic laboratory notebook and assists in the acquisition, management, and high-throughput analysis of reflectance spectra in heterogeneous research environments. At the core of the repository is a database management system hosting the master data.

Re-oxygenation of haemoglobin in livores after post-mortem exposure to a cold environment.

When a body is exposed to a cold environment, the livid colour of livor mortis changes to cherry red. This colour change is due to an increase in the concentration of oxygenated haemoglobin. The chronological course and the extent of haemoglobin re-oxygenation associated with the exposure to low ambient temperatures have not been understood so far.

Role of surface charges in dc gas-discharge systems with high-ohmic electrodes.

Surface charge of the electrodes is investigated for planar dc gas-discharge systems. Both analytical estimates and experimental data show that such a charge plays an important role for the dc systems with a high-ohmic electrode. This is demonstrated by several experiments concerning discharge establishment and pattern formation phenomena.

Noise-covered drift bifurcation of dissipative solitons in a planar gas-discharge system.

The trajectories of propagating self-organized, well-localized solitary patterns (dissipative solitons) in the form of electrical current filaments are experimentally investigated in a planar quasi-two-dimensional dc gas-discharge system with high Ohmic semiconductor barrier. Earlier phenomenological models qualitatively describing the experimental observations in terms of a particle model predict a transition from stationary filaments to filaments traveling with constant finite speed due to an appropriate change of the system parameters. This prediction motivates a search for a drift bifurcation in the experimental system, but a direct comparison of experimentally recorded trajectories with theoretical predictions is impossible due to the strong influence of noise.