Evidence-based Kernels: Fundamental Units of Behavioral Influence

This paper describes evidence-based kernels, fundamental units of behavioral influence that appear to underlie effective prevention and treatment for children, adults, and families. A kernel is a behavior–influence procedure shown through experimental analysis to affect a specific behavior and that is indivisible in the sense that removing any of its components would render it inert. Existing evidence shows that a variety of kernels can influence behavior in context, and some evidence suggests that frequent use or sufficient use of some kernels may produce longer lasting behavioral shifts. The analysis of kernels could contribute to an empirically based theory of behavioral influence, augment existing prevention or treatment efforts, facilitate the dissemination of effective prevention and treatment practices, clarify the active ingredients in existing interventions, and contribute to efficiently developing interventions that are more effective. Kernels involve one or more of the following mechanisms of behavior influence: reinforcement, altering antecedents, changing verbal relational responding, or changing physiological states directly. The paper describes 52 of these kernels, and details practical, theoretical, and research implications, including calling for a national database of kernels that influence human behavior

Insight into the development of a carbonate platform through a multi-disciplinary approach - A case study from the Upper Devonian slope deposits of Mount Freikofel (Carnic Alps, Austria/Italy)

The development and behavior of Million year-scaled depositional sequences recorded within Palaeozoic carbonate platform has remained poorly examined. Therefore, the understanding of palaeoenvironmental changes that occur in geological past is still limited. We herein undertake a multi-disciplinary approach (sedimentology, conodont biostratigraphy, magnetic susceptibility and geochemistry) of a long-term succession in the Carnic Alps which offers new insights into the peculiar evolution of one of the best example of Palaeozoic carbonate platform in Europe. The Freikofel section, located in the central part of the Carnic Alps represents an outstanding succession in a fore-reef setting, extending from the latest Givetian (indet. falsiovalis conodont Zones) to the early Famennian (Lower crepida conodont Zone). Sedimentological analysis allowed to propose a sedimentary model dominated by distal slope and fore-reef slope deposits. The most distal setting is characterized by an autochthonous pelagic sedimentation showing local occurrence of thin-bedded turbiditic deposits. In the fore-reef slope, in a more proximal setting, there is an accumulation of various autochthonous and allochthonous fine- to coarse-grained sediments originated from the interplay of gravity-flow currents derived from the shallow-water and deeper-water area. The temporal evolution of microfacies in the Freikofel section evolves in two main steps corresponding to the Freikofel (Unit 1) and the Pal (Unit 2) Limestones. Distal slope to fore-reef lithologies and associate changes are from base to top of the section: (U1) thick bedded litho- and bioclastic breccia beds with local fining upward sequence and fine-grained mudstone intercalations corresponding, in the fore-reef setting, to the dismantlement of the Eifelian – Frasnian carbonate platform during the early to late Frasnian time (falsiovalis to rhenana superzones) with one of the causes being the Late Givetian major rift pulse; (U2) occurrence of thin-bedded red nodular and cephalopod-bearing limestones with local lithoclastic grainstone intercalations corresponding to a significant deepening of the area and the progressive withdrawal of sedimentary influxes toward the basin, in relation with late Frasnian sea-level rise. Magnetic susceptibility and geochemical analyses were also performed along the Freikofel section and demonstrate the inherent-parallel link existing between variation in magnetic susceptibility values and proxy for terrestrial input. Interpretation of magnetic susceptibility in term of palaeoenvironmental processes reflect that even though distality remains the major parameter influencing magnetic susceptibility values, carbonate production and water agitation also play an important role.Grants IGCP 580 and NAP0017 (DP, ACDS), the FWF P 23775-B17 (TS and EK

The influence of petrography, mineralogy and chemistry on burnability and reactivity of quicklime produced in Twin Shaft Regenerative (TSR) kilns from Neoarchean limestone (Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa)

This study evaluates the influence of chemical, mineralogical and petrographic features of the Neoarchean limestone from the Ouplaas Mine (Griqualand West, South Africa) on its burnability and quicklime reactivity, considering the main use as raw material for high-grade lime production in twin shaft regenerative (TSR) kilns. This limestone consists of laminated clotted peloidal micrite and fenestrate microbial boundstone with herringbone calcite and organic carbon (kerogen) within stylolites. Diagenetic modifications include hypidiotopic dolomite, micrite to microsparite recrystallization, stylolites, poikilotopic calcite, chert and saddle dolomite replacements. Burning and technical tests widely attest that the Neoarchean limestone is sensitive to high temperature, showing an unusual and drastically pronounced sintering or overburning tendency. The slaking reactivity, according to EN 459-2 is high for lime burnt at 1050 °C, but rapidly decreases for lime burnt at 1150 °C. The predominant micritic microbial textures, coupled with the organic carbon, are key-factors influencing the low burnability and the high sintering tendency. The presence of burial cementation, especially poikilotopic calcite, seems to promote higher burnability, either in terms of starting calcination temperature, or in terms of higher carbonate dissociation rate. In fact, the highest calcination velocity determined by thermal analysis is consistent with the highest slaking reactivity of the lower stratum of the quarry, enriched in poikilotopic calcite. Secondly, locally concentered dolomitic marly limestones, and sporadic back shales negatively affects the quicklime reactivity, as well. This study confirms that a multidisciplinary analytical approach is essential for selecting the best raw mix for achieving the highest lime reactivity in TSR kilns

A Framework for Testing and Promoting Expanded Dissemination of Promising Preventive Interventions That Are Being Implemented in Community Settings

Click on the DOI link to access the article (may not be free).Many evidence-based preventive interventions have been developed in recent years, but few are widely used. With the current focus on efficacy trials, widespread dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions are often afterthoughts. One potential strategy for reversing this trend is to find a promising program with a strong delivery vehicle in place and improve and test the program's efficacy through rigorous evaluation. If the program is supported by evidence, the dissemination vehicle is already in place and potentially can be expanded. This strategy has been used infrequently and has met with limited success to date, in part, because the field lacks a framework for guiding such research. To address this gap, we outline a framework for moving promising preventive interventions that are currently being implemented in community settings through a process of rigorous testing and, if needed, program modification in order to promote expanded dissemination. The framework is guided by RE-AIM (Reach, Efficacy/Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) (Glasgow et al., Am J Publ Health 89: 1322-1327, 1999), which focuses attention on external as well as internal validity in program tests, and is illustrated with examples. Challenges, such as responding to negative and null results, and opportunities inherent in the framework are discussed