Sample records for additional information gained

  1. Quantifying Information Gain from Dynamic Downscaling Experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tian, Y.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.

    2015-12-01

    Dynamic climate downscaling experiments are designed to produce information at higher spatial and temporal resolutions. Such additional information is generated from the low-resolution initial and boundary conditions via the predictive power of the physical laws. However, errors and uncertainties in the initial and boundary conditions can be propagated and even amplified to the downscaled simulations. Additionally, the limit of predictability in nonlinear dynamical systems will also damper the information gain, even if the initial and boundary conditions were error-free. Thus it is critical to quantitatively define and measure the amount of information increase from dynamic downscaling experiments, to better understand and appreciate their potentials and limitations. We present a scheme to objectively measure the information gain from such experiments. The scheme is based on information theory, and we argue that if a downscaling experiment is to exhibit value, it has to produce more information than what can be simply inferred from information sources already available. These information sources include the initial and boundary conditions, the coarse resolution model in which the higher-resolution models are embedded, and the same set of physical laws. These existing information sources define an "information threshold" as a function of the spatial and temporal resolution, and this threshold serves as a benchmark to quantify the information gain from the downscaling experiments, or any other approaches. For a downscaling experiment to shown any value, the information has to be above this threshold. A recent NASA-supported downscaling experiment is used as an example to illustrate the application of this scheme.

  2. Approximate reversibility in the context of entropy gain, information gain, and complete positivity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buscemi, Francesco; Das, Siddhartha; Wilde, Mark M.

    2016-06-01

    There are several inequalities in physics which limit how well we can process physical systems to achieve some intended goal, including the second law of thermodynamics, entropy bounds in quantum information theory, and the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics. Recent results provide physically meaningful enhancements of these limiting statements, determining how well one can attempt to reverse an irreversible process. In this paper, we apply and extend these results to give strong enhancements to several entropy inequalities, having to do with entropy gain, information gain, entropic disturbance, and complete positivity of open quantum systems dynamics. Our first result is a remainder term for the entropy gain of a quantum channel. This result implies that a small increase in entropy under the action of a subunital channel is a witness to the fact that the channel's adjoint can be used as a recovery map to undo the action of the original channel. We apply this result to pure-loss, quantum-limited amplifier, and phase-insensitive quantum Gaussian channels, showing how a quantum-limited amplifier can serve as a recovery from a pure-loss channel and vice versa. Our second result regards the information gain of a quantum measurement, both without and with quantum side information. We find here that a small information gain implies that it is possible to undo the action of the original measurement if it is efficient. The result also has operational ramifications for the information-theoretic tasks known as measurement compression without and with quantum side information. Our third result shows that the loss of Holevo information caused by the action of a noisy channel on an input ensemble of quantum states is small if and only if the noise can be approximately corrected on average. We finally establish that the reduced dynamics of a system-environment interaction are approximately completely positive and trace preserving if and only if the data processing

  3. Information sensitivity functions to assess parameter information gain and identifiability of dynamical systems.

    PubMed

    Pant, Sanjay

    2018-05-01

    A new class of functions, called the 'information sensitivity functions' (ISFs), which quantify the information gain about the parameters through the measurements/observables of a dynamical system are presented. These functions can be easily computed through classical sensitivity functions alone and are based on Bayesian and information-theoretic approaches. While marginal information gain is quantified by decrease in differential entropy, correlations between arbitrary sets of parameters are assessed through mutual information. For individual parameters, these information gains are also presented as marginal posterior variances, and, to assess the effect of correlations, as conditional variances when other parameters are given. The easy to interpret ISFs can be used to (a) identify time intervals or regions in dynamical system behaviour where information about the parameters is concentrated; (b) assess the effect of measurement noise on the information gain for the parameters; (c) assess whether sufficient information in an experimental protocol (input, measurements and their frequency) is available to identify the parameters; (d) assess correlation in the posterior distribution of the parameters to identify the sets of parameters that are likely to be indistinguishable; and (e) assess identifiability problems for particular sets of parameters. © 2018 The Authors.

  4. Information gains from cosmic microwave background experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seehars, Sebastian; Amara, Adam; Refregier, Alexandre; Paranjape, Aseem; Akeret, Joël

    2014-07-01

    To shed light on the fundamental problems posed by dark energy and dark matter, a large number of experiments have been performed and combined to constrain cosmological models. We propose a novel way of quantifying the information gained by updates on the parameter constraints from a series of experiments which can either complement earlier measurements or replace them. For this purpose, we use the Kullback-Leibler divergence or relative entropy from information theory to measure differences in the posterior distributions in model parameter space from a pair of experiments. We apply this formalism to a historical series of cosmic microwave background experiments ranging from Boomerang to WMAP, SPT, and Planck. Considering different combinations of these experiments, we thus estimate the information gain in units of bits and distinguish contributions from the reduction of statistical errors and the "surprise" corresponding to a significant shift of the parameters' central values. For this experiment series, we find individual relative entropy gains ranging from about 1 to 30 bits. In some cases, e.g. when comparing WMAP and Planck results, we find that the gains are dominated by the surprise rather than by improvements in statistical precision. We discuss how this technique provides a useful tool for both quantifying the constraining power of data from cosmological probes and detecting the tensions between experiments.

  5. Acting to gain information

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rosenchein, Stanley J.; Burns, J. Brian; Chapman, David; Kaelbling, Leslie P.; Kahn, Philip; Nishihara, H. Keith; Turk, Matthew

    1993-01-01

    This report is concerned with agents that act to gain information. In previous work, we developed agent models combining qualitative modeling with real-time control. That work, however, focused primarily on actions that affect physical states of the environment. The current study extends that work by explicitly considering problems of active information-gathering and by exploring specialized aspects of information-gathering in computational perception, learning, and language. In our theoretical investigations, we analyzed agents into their perceptual and action components and identified these with elements of a state-machine model of control. The mathematical properties of each was developed in isolation and interactions were then studied. We considered the complexity dimension and the uncertainty dimension and related these to intelligent-agent design issues. We also explored active information gathering in visual processing. Working within the active vision paradigm, we developed a concept of 'minimal meaningful measurements' suitable for demand-driven vision. We then developed and tested an architecture for ongoing recognition and interpretation of visual information. In the area of information gathering through learning, we explored techniques for coping with combinatorial complexity. We also explored information gathering through explicit linguistic action by considering the nature of conversational rules, coordination, and situated communication behavior.

  6. Gaining informed consent for blood transfusion.

    PubMed

    Whitmore, Emma; Gerrard, Rebecca; Coffey, Kairen

    Transfusion of blood and blood products is a common procedure that has significant benefits but is also associated with serious risks. Patients needing blood transfusion require full information on these benefits and risks in order to make informed consent. This article, the first in a five-part series, discusses the process of gaining consent and resources available to support patients and health professionals in this.

  7. Information Gain Based Dimensionality Selection for Classifying Text Documents

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dumidu Wijayasekara; Milos Manic; Miles McQueen

    2013-06-01

    Selecting the optimal dimensions for various knowledge extraction applications is an essential component of data mining. Dimensionality selection techniques are utilized in classification applications to increase the classification accuracy and reduce the computational complexity. In text classification, where the dimensionality of the dataset is extremely high, dimensionality selection is even more important. This paper presents a novel, genetic algorithm based methodology, for dimensionality selection in text mining applications that utilizes information gain. The presented methodology uses information gain of each dimension to change the mutation probability of chromosomes dynamically. Since the information gain is calculated a priori, the computational complexitymore » is not affected. The presented method was tested on a specific text classification problem and compared with conventional genetic algorithm based dimensionality selection. The results show an improvement of 3% in the true positives and 1.6% in the true negatives over conventional dimensionality selection methods.« less

  8. Finding Useful Questions: On Bayesian Diagnosticity, Probability, Impact, and Information Gain

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nelson, Jonathan D.

    2005-01-01

    Several norms for how people should assess a question's usefulness have been proposed, notably Bayesian diagnosticity, information gain (mutual information), Kullback-Liebler distance, probability gain (error minimization), and impact (absolute change). Several probabilistic models of previous experiments on categorization, covariation assessment,…

  9. Information gains from cosmological probes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Grandis, S.; Seehars, S.; Refregier, A.

    In light of the growing number of cosmological observations, it is important to develop versatile tools to quantify the constraining power and consistency of cosmological probes. Originally motivated from information theory, we use the relative entropy to compute the information gained by Bayesian updates in units of bits. This measure quantifies both the improvement in precision and the 'surprise', i.e. the tension arising from shifts in central values. Our starting point is a WMAP9 prior which we update with observations of the distance ladder, supernovae (SNe), baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), and weak lensing as well as the 2015 Planck release.more » We consider the parameters of the flat ΛCDM concordance model and some of its extensions which include curvature and Dark Energy equation of state parameter w . We find that, relative to WMAP9 and within these model spaces, the probes that have provided the greatest gains are Planck (10 bits), followed by BAO surveys (5.1 bits) and SNe experiments (3.1 bits). The other cosmological probes, including weak lensing (1.7 bits) and (H{sub 0}) measures (1.7 bits), have contributed information but at a lower level. Furthermore, we do not find any significant surprise when updating the constraints of WMAP9 with any of the other experiments, meaning that they are consistent with WMAP9. However, when we choose Planck15 as the prior, we find that, accounting for the full multi-dimensionality of the parameter space, the weak lensing measurements of CFHTLenS produce a large surprise of 4.4 bits which is statistically significant at the 8 σ level. We discuss how the relative entropy provides a versatile and robust framework to compare cosmological probes in the context of current and future surveys.« less

  10. Parabolic replicator dynamics and the principle of minimum Tsallis information gain

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Non-linear, parabolic (sub-exponential) and hyperbolic (super-exponential) models of prebiological evolution of molecular replicators have been proposed and extensively studied. The parabolic models appear to be the most realistic approximations of real-life replicator systems due primarily to product inhibition. Unlike the more traditional exponential models, the distribution of individual frequencies in an evolving parabolic population is not described by the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) Principle in its traditional form, whereby the distribution with the maximum Shannon entropy is chosen among all the distributions that are possible under the given constraints. We sought to identify a more general form of the MaxEnt principle that would be applicable to parabolic growth. Results We consider a model of a population that reproduces according to the parabolic growth law and show that the frequencies of individuals in the population minimize the Tsallis relative entropy (non-additive information gain) at each time moment. Next, we consider a model of a parabolically growing population that maintains a constant total size and provide an “implicit” solution for this system. We show that in this case, the frequencies of the individuals in the population also minimize the Tsallis information gain at each moment of the ‘internal time” of the population. Conclusions The results of this analysis show that the general MaxEnt principle is the underlying law for the evolution of a broad class of replicator systems including not only exponential but also parabolic and hyperbolic systems. The choice of the appropriate entropy (information) function depends on the growth dynamics of a particular class of systems. The Tsallis entropy is non-additive for independent subsystems, i.e. the information on the subsystems is insufficient to describe the system as a whole. In the context of prebiotic evolution, this “non-reductionist” nature of parabolic replicator

  11. Informant Agreement in Treatment Gains for Child Anxiety

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Benjamin, Courtney L.; Puleo, Connor M.; Kendall, Philip C.

    2011-01-01

    The present study examined multiple informant agreement in reports of treatment gains in a sample of children (M age = 10.27) treated for social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. Mothers and fathers agreed on their child's improvement, and parents and children also generally agreed on the child's improvement.…

  12. Representation of potential information gain to measure the price of anarchy on ISR activities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ortiz-Peña, Hector J.; Hirsch, Michael; Karwan, Mark; Nagi, Rakesh; Sudit, Moises

    2013-05-01

    One of the main technical challenges facing intelligence analysts today is effectively determining information gaps from huge amounts of collected data. Moreover, getting the right information to/from the right person (e.g., analyst, warfighter on the edge) at the right time in a distributed environment has been elusive to our military forces. Synchronization of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) activities to maximize the efficient utilization of limited resources (both in quantity and capabilities) has become critically important to increase the accuracy and timeliness of overall information gain. Given this reality, we are interested in quantifying the degradation of solution quality (i.e., information gain) as a centralized system synchronizing ISR activities (from information gap identification to information collection and dissemination) moves to a more decentralized framework. This evaluation extends the concept of price of anarchy, a measure of the inefficiency of a system when agents maximize decisions without coordination, by considering different levels of decentralization. Our initial research representing the potential information gain in geospatial and time discretized spaces is presented. This potential information gain map can represent a consolidation of Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield products as input to automated ISR synchronization tools. Using the coordination of unmanned vehicles (UxVs) as an example, we developed a mathematical programming model for multi-perspective optimization in which each UxV develops its own fight plan to support mission objectives based only on its perspective of the environment (i.e., potential information gain map). Information is only exchanged when UxVs are part of the same communication network.

  13. Parietal neurons encode expected gains in instrumental information

    PubMed Central

    Foley, Nicholas C.; Kelly, Simon P.; Mhatre, Himanshu; Gottlieb, Jacqueline

    2017-01-01

    In natural behavior, animals have access to multiple sources of information, but only a few of these sources are relevant for learning and actions. Beyond choosing an appropriate action, making good decisions entails the ability to choose the relevant information, but fundamental questions remain about the brain’s information sampling policies. Recent studies described the neural correlates of seeking information about a reward, but it remains unknown whether, and how, neurons encode choices of instrumental information, in contexts in which the information guides subsequent actions. Here we show that parietal cortical neurons involved in oculomotor decisions encode, before an information sampling saccade, the reduction in uncertainty that the saccade is expected to bring for a subsequent action. These responses were distinct from the neurons’ visual and saccadic modulations and from signals of expected reward or reward prediction errors. Therefore, even in an instrumental context when information and reward gains are closely correlated, individual cells encode decision variables that are based on informational factors and can guide the active sampling of action-relevant cues. PMID:28373569

  14. 10 CFR 810.14 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Additional information. 810.14 Section 810.14 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN ATOMIC ENERGY ACTIVITIES § 810.14 Additional information. The... activity to submit additional information. ...

  15. Sequence information gain based motif analysis.

    PubMed

    Maynou, Joan; Pairó, Erola; Marco, Santiago; Perera, Alexandre

    2015-11-09

    The detection of regulatory regions in candidate sequences is essential for the understanding of the regulation of a particular gene and the mechanisms involved. This paper proposes a novel methodology based on information theoretic metrics for finding regulatory sequences in promoter regions. This methodology (SIGMA) has been tested on genomic sequence data for Homo sapiens and Mus musculus. SIGMA has been compared with different publicly available alternatives for motif detection, such as MEME/MAST, Biostrings (Bioconductor package), MotifRegressor, and previous work such Qresiduals projections or information theoretic based detectors. Comparative results, in the form of Receiver Operating Characteristic curves, show how, in 70% of the studied Transcription Factor Binding Sites, the SIGMA detector has a better performance and behaves more robustly than the methods compared, while having a similar computational time. The performance of SIGMA can be explained by its parametric simplicity in the modelling of the non-linear co-variability in the binding motif positions. Sequence Information Gain based Motif Analysis is a generalisation of a non-linear model of the cis-regulatory sequences detection based on Information Theory. This generalisation allows us to detect transcription factor binding sites with maximum performance disregarding the covariability observed in the positions of the training set of sequences. SIGMA is freely available to the public at http://b2slab.upc.edu.

  16. 47 CFR 25.111 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Additional information. 25.111 Section 25.111... Applications and Licenses General Application Filing Requirements § 25.111 Additional information. (a) The Commission may request from any party at any time additional information concerning any application, or any...

  17. 47 CFR 25.111 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Additional information. 25.111 Section 25.111... Applications and Licenses General Application Filing Requirements § 25.111 Additional information. (a) The Commission may request from any party at any time additional information concerning any application, or any...

  18. 47 CFR 25.111 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Additional information. 25.111 Section 25.111... Applications and Licenses General Application Filing Requirements § 25.111 Additional information. (a) The Commission may request from any party at any time additional information concerning any application, or any...

  19. 17 CFR 230.408 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Additional information. 230... RULES AND REGULATIONS, SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 General Requirements § 230.408 Additional information. (a) In addition to the information expressly required to be included in a registration statement, there...

  20. 10 CFR 725.13 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Additional information. 725.13 Section 725.13 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PERMITS FOR ACCESS TO RESTRICTED DATA Applications § 725.13 Additional information. The... and before the termination of the permit, require additional information in order to enable the Chief...

  1. 28 CFR 80.7 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Additional information. 80.7 Section 80.7... § 80.7 Additional information. If an issuer's or domestic concern's submission does not contain all of the information required by § 80.6, the Department of Justice may request whatever additional...

  2. 18 CFR 33.10 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... § 33.10 Additional information. The Director of the Office of Energy Market Regulation, or his designee, may, by letter, require the applicant to submit additional information as is needed for analysis of an... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Additional information...

  3. 18 CFR 33.10 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... § 33.10 Additional information. The Director of the Office of Energy Market Regulation, or his designee, may, by letter, require the applicant to submit additional information as is needed for analysis of an... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Additional information...

  4. 18 CFR 33.10 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... § 33.10 Additional information. The Director of the Office of Energy Market Regulation, or his designee, may, by letter, require the applicant to submit additional information as is needed for analysis of an... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Additional information...

  5. 34 CFR 75.231 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 34 Education 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Additional information. 75.231 Section 75.231 Education... Make A Grant § 75.231 Additional information. After selecting an application for funding, the Secretary may require the applicant to submit additional information. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3 and 3474) ...

  6. 16 CFR 1102.16 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... PUBLICLY AVAILABLE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY INFORMATION DATABASE Content Requirements § 1102.16 Additional... in the Database any additional information it determines to be in the public interest, consistent...

  7. 16 CFR 1102.16 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... PUBLICLY AVAILABLE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY INFORMATION DATABASE Content Requirements § 1102.16 Additional... in the Database any additional information it determines to be in the public interest, consistent...

  8. Feature Selection Using Information Gain for Improved Structural-Based Alert Correlation

    PubMed Central

    Siraj, Maheyzah Md; Zainal, Anazida; Elshoush, Huwaida Tagelsir; Elhaj, Fatin

    2016-01-01

    Grouping and clustering alerts for intrusion detection based on the similarity of features is referred to as structurally base alert correlation and can discover a list of attack steps. Previous researchers selected different features and data sources manually based on their knowledge and experience, which lead to the less accurate identification of attack steps and inconsistent performance of clustering accuracy. Furthermore, the existing alert correlation systems deal with a huge amount of data that contains null values, incomplete information, and irrelevant features causing the analysis of the alerts to be tedious, time-consuming and error-prone. Therefore, this paper focuses on selecting accurate and significant features of alerts that are appropriate to represent the attack steps, thus, enhancing the structural-based alert correlation model. A two-tier feature selection method is proposed to obtain the significant features. The first tier aims at ranking the subset of features based on high information gain entropy in decreasing order. The‏ second tier extends additional features with a better discriminative ability than the initially ranked features. Performance analysis results show the significance of the selected features in terms of the clustering accuracy using 2000 DARPA intrusion detection scenario-specific dataset. PMID:27893821

  9. The order of information processing alters economic gain-loss framing effects.

    PubMed

    Kwak, Youngbin; Huettel, Scott

    2018-01-01

    Adaptive decision making requires analysis of available information during the process of choice. In many decisions that information is presented visually - which means that variations in visual properties (e.g., salience, complexity) can potentially influence the process of choice. In the current study, we demonstrate that variation in the left-right positioning of risky and safe decision options can influence the canonical gain-loss framing effect. Two experiments were conducted using an economic framing task in which participants chose between gambles and certain outcomes. The first experiment demonstrated that the magnitude of the gain-loss framing effect was greater when the certain option signaling the current frame was presented on the left side of the visual display. Eye-tracking data during task performance showed a left-gaze bias for initial fixations, suggesting that the option presented on the left side was processed first. Combination of eye-tracking and choice data revealed that there was a significant effect of direction of first gaze (i.e. left vs. right) as well as an interaction between gaze direction and identity of the first fixated information (i.e. certain vs. gamble) regardless of frame. A second experiment presented the gamble and certain options in a random order, with a temporal delay between their presentations. We found that the magnitude of gain-loss framing was larger when the certain option was presented first, regardless of left and right positioning, only in individuals with lower risk-taking tendencies. The effect of presentation order on framing was not present in high risk-takers. These results suggest that the sequence of visual information processing as well as their left-right positioning can bias choices by changing the impact of the presented information during risky decision making. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. 78 FR 74125 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Measuring Educational Gain in the...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-10

    ...; Comment Request; Measuring Educational Gain in the National Reporting System for Adult Education AGENCY... respondents, including through the use of information technology. Please note that written comments received... Educational Gain in the National Reporting System for Adult Education. OMB Control Number: 1830-0567. Type of...

  11. 18 CFR 33.10 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Additional information. 33.10 Section 33.10 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION... § 33.10 Additional information. The Director of the Office of Energy Market Regulation, or his designee...

  12. 10 CFR 810.14 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Additional information. 810.14 Section 810.14 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN ATOMIC ENERGY ACTIVITIES § 810.14 Additional information. The Department of Energy may at any time require a person engaging in any generally or specifically authorized...

  13. 10 CFR 810.14 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Additional information. 810.14 Section 810.14 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN ATOMIC ENERGY ACTIVITIES § 810.14 Additional information. The Department of Energy may at any time require a person engaging in any generally or specifically authorized...

  14. 10 CFR 810.14 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Additional information. 810.14 Section 810.14 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN ATOMIC ENERGY ACTIVITIES § 810.14 Additional information. The Department of Energy may at any time require a person engaging in any generally or specifically authorized...

  15. 10 CFR 810.14 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Additional information. 810.14 Section 810.14 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN ATOMIC ENERGY ACTIVITIES § 810.14 Additional information. The Department of Energy may at any time require a person engaging in any generally or specifically authorized...

  16. 16 CFR § 1102.16 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... PUBLICLY AVAILABLE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY INFORMATION DATABASE Content Requirements § 1102.16 Additional... in the Database any additional information it determines to be in the public interest, consistent...

  17. 43 CFR 3430.4-2 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Additional information. 3430.4-2 Section... Leases § 3430.4-2 Additional information. (a) If the applicant for a preference right lease has submitted timely, some, but not all of the information required in § 3430.4-1 of this title, the authorized officer...

  18. 16 CFR 1102.16 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... PUBLICLY AVAILABLE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY INFORMATION DATABASE (Eff. Jan. 10, 2011) Content Requirements... notices, the CPSC shall include in the Database any additional information it determines to be in the...

  19. Assessing the impact of case sensitivity and term information gain on biomedical concept recognition.

    PubMed

    Groza, Tudor; Verspoor, Karin

    2015-01-01

    Concept recognition (CR) is a foundational task in the biomedical domain. It supports the important process of transforming unstructured resources into structured knowledge. To date, several CR approaches have been proposed, most of which focus on a particular set of biomedical ontologies. Their underlying mechanisms vary from shallow natural language processing and dictionary lookup to specialized machine learning modules. However, no prior approach considers the case sensitivity characteristics and the term distribution of the underlying ontology on the CR process. This article proposes a framework that models the CR process as an information retrieval task in which both case sensitivity and the information gain associated with tokens in lexical representations (e.g., term labels, synonyms) are central components of a strategy for generating term variants. The case sensitivity of a given ontology is assessed based on the distribution of so-called case sensitive tokens in its terms, while information gain is modelled using a combination of divergence from randomness and mutual information. An extensive evaluation has been carried out using the CRAFT corpus. Experimental results show that case sensitivity awareness leads to an increase of up to 0.07 F1 against a non-case sensitive baseline on the Protein Ontology and GO Cellular Component. Similarly, the use of information gain leads to an increase of up to 0.06 F1 against a standard baseline in the case of GO Biological Process and Molecular Function and GO Cellular Component. Overall, subject to the underlying token distribution, these methods lead to valid complementary strategies for augmenting term label sets to improve concept recognition.

  20. 49 CFR Appendix A to Part 24 - Additional Information

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Additional Information A Appendix A to Part 24... Information This appendix provides additional information to explain the intent of certain provisions of this... additional information is gathered. If a decision is later made to permanently relocate such persons, those...

  1. 10 CFR 1.3 - Sources of additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Sources of additional information. 1.3 Section 1.3 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION STATEMENT OF ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION Introduction § 1.3 Sources of additional information. (a) A statement of the NRC's organization, policies, procedures...

  2. Eyewitness identification: Bayesian information gain, base-rate effect equivalency curves, and reasonable suspicion.

    PubMed

    Wells, Gary L; Yang, Yueran; Smalarz, Laura

    2015-04-01

    We provide a novel Bayesian treatment of the eyewitness identification problem as it relates to various system variables, such as instruction effects, lineup presentation format, lineup-filler similarity, lineup administrator influence, and show-ups versus lineups. We describe why eyewitness identification is a natural Bayesian problem and how numerous important observations require careful consideration of base rates. Moreover, we argue that the base rate in eyewitness identification should be construed as a system variable (under the control of the justice system). We then use prior-by-posterior curves and information-gain curves to examine data obtained from a large number of published experiments. Next, we show how information-gain curves are moderated by system variables and by witness confidence and we note how information-gain curves reveal that lineups are consistently more proficient at incriminating the guilty than they are at exonerating the innocent. We then introduce a new type of analysis that we developed called base rate effect-equivalency (BREE) curves. BREE curves display how much change in the base rate is required to match the impact of any given system variable. The results indicate that even relatively modest changes to the base rate can have more impact on the reliability of eyewitness identification evidence than do the traditional system variables that have received so much attention in the literature. We note how this Bayesian analysis of eyewitness identification has implications for the question of whether there ought to be a reasonable-suspicion criterion for placing a person into the jeopardy of an identification procedure. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  3. 40 CFR 141.154 - Required additional health information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Required additional health information... Required additional health information. (a) All reports must prominently display the following language... from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of...

  4. 40 CFR 141.154 - Required additional health information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Required additional health information... Required additional health information. (a) All reports must prominently display the following language... from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of...

  5. 40 CFR 141.154 - Required additional health information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Required additional health information... Required additional health information. (a) All reports must prominently display the following language... from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of...

  6. 40 CFR 141.154 - Required additional health information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Required additional health information... Required additional health information. (a) All reports must prominently display the following language... from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of...

  7. Partial Adaptation of Obtained and Observed Value Signals Preserves Information about Gains and Losses

    PubMed Central

    Baddeley, Michelle; Tobler, Philippe N.; Schultz, Wolfram

    2016-01-01

    Given that the range of rewarding and punishing outcomes of actions is large but neural coding capacity is limited, efficient processing of outcomes by the brain is necessary. One mechanism to increase efficiency is to rescale neural output to the range of outcomes expected in the current context, and process only experienced deviations from this expectation. However, this mechanism comes at the cost of not being able to discriminate between unexpectedly low losses when times are bad versus unexpectedly high gains when times are good. Thus, too much adaptation would result in disregarding information about the nature and absolute magnitude of outcomes, preventing learning about the longer-term value structure of the environment. Here we investigate the degree of adaptation in outcome coding brain regions in humans, for directly experienced outcomes and observed outcomes. We scanned participants while they performed a social learning task in gain and loss blocks. Multivariate pattern analysis showed two distinct networks of brain regions adapt to the most likely outcomes within a block. Frontostriatal areas adapted to directly experienced outcomes, whereas lateral frontal and temporoparietal regions adapted to observed social outcomes. Critically, in both cases, adaptation was incomplete and information about whether the outcomes arose in a gain block or a loss block was retained. Univariate analysis confirmed incomplete adaptive coding in these regions but also detected nonadapting outcome signals. Thus, although neural areas rescale their responses to outcomes for efficient coding, they adapt incompletely and keep track of the longer-term incentives available in the environment. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Optimal value-based choice requires that the brain precisely and efficiently represents positive and negative outcomes. One way to increase efficiency is to adapt responding to the most likely outcomes in a given context. However, too strong adaptation would result

  8. 47 CFR 1.10017 - How can I submit additional information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How can I submit additional information? 1... International Bureau Filing System § 1.10017 How can I submit additional information? In response to an official request for information from the International Bureau, you can submit additional information...

  9. Fault tolerant multi-sensor fusion based on the information gain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hage, Joelle Al; El Najjar, Maan E.; Pomorski, Denis

    2017-01-01

    In the last decade, multi-robot systems are used in several applications like for example, the army, the intervention areas presenting danger to human life, the management of natural disasters, the environmental monitoring, exploration and agriculture. The integrity of localization of the robots must be ensured in order to achieve their mission in the best conditions. Robots are equipped with proprioceptive (encoders, gyroscope) and exteroceptive sensors (Kinect). However, these sensors could be affected by various faults types that can be assimilated to erroneous measurements, bias, outliers, drifts,… In absence of a sensor fault diagnosis step, the integrity and the continuity of the localization are affected. In this work, we present a muti-sensors fusion approach with Fault Detection and Exclusion (FDE) based on the information theory. In this context, we are interested by the information gain given by an observation which may be relevant when dealing with the fault tolerance aspect. Moreover, threshold optimization based on the quantity of information given by a decision on the true hypothesis is highlighted.

  10. Search Interview Techniques, Information Gain, and User Satisfaction with Online Bibliographic Retrieval Services.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Auster, Ethel; Lawton, Stephen B.

    This research study involved a systematic investigation into the relationships among: (1) the techniques used by search analysts during preliminary interviews with users before engaging in online retrieval of bibliographic citations; (2) the amount of new information gained by the user as a result of the search; and (3) the user's ultimate…

  11. 15 CFR 970.2601 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR EXPLORATION LICENSES Miscellaneous § 970.2601 Additional information. Any United States citizen filing notice under § 970.2402 or § 970.2501 of this part...

  12. 47 CFR 25.111 - Additional information and ITU cost recovery.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Additional information and ITU cost recovery....111 Additional information and ITU cost recovery. (a) The Commission may request from any party at any time additional information concerning any application, or any other submission or pleading regarding...

  13. Effect of additional optical pumping injection into the ground-state ensemble on the gain and the phase recovery acceleration of quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Jungho

    2014-02-01

    The effect of additional optical pumping injection into the ground-state ensemble on the ultrafast gain and the phase recovery dynamics of electrically-driven quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers is numerically investigated by solving 1088 coupled rate equations. The ultrafast gain and the phase recovery responses are calculated with respect to the additional optical pumping power. Increasing the additional optical pumping power can significantly accelerate the ultrafast phase recovery, which cannot be done by increasing the injection current density.

  14. Effect of intermittent kangaroo mother care on weight gain of low birth weight neonates with delayed weight gain.

    PubMed

    Samra, Nashwa M; Taweel, Amal El; Cadwell, Karin

    2013-01-01

    To evaluate intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) with additional opportunities to breastfeed on weight gain of low birth weight (LBW) neonates with delayed weight gain. 40 LBW neonates were followed to see whether KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed improved weight gain. In the KMC group, the mean age of regaining birth weight was significantly less (15.68 vs. 24.56 days) and the average daily weight gain was significantly higher (22.09 vs. 10.39 g, p < .001) than controls. KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed was found to be an effective intervention for LBWs with delayed weight gain and should be considered to be an effective strategy.

  15. 24 CFR 1710.116 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Additional information. 1710.116 Section 1710.116 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban Development... URBAN DEVELOPMENT (INTERSTATE LAND SALES REGISTRATION PROGRAM) LAND REGISTRATION Reporting Requirements...

  16. 24 CFR 1710.116 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Additional information. 1710.116 Section 1710.116 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban Development... URBAN DEVELOPMENT (INTERSTATE LAND SALES REGISTRATION PROGRAM) LAND REGISTRATION Reporting Requirements...

  17. 24 CFR 1710.116 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Additional information. 1710.116 Section 1710.116 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban Development... URBAN DEVELOPMENT (INTERSTATE LAND SALES REGISTRATION PROGRAM) LAND REGISTRATION Reporting Requirements...

  18. 24 CFR 1710.116 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Additional information. 1710.116 Section 1710.116 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban Development... URBAN DEVELOPMENT (INTERSTATE LAND SALES REGISTRATION PROGRAM) LAND REGISTRATION Reporting Requirements...

  19. Effect of Intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care on Weight Gain of Low Birth Weight Neonates With Delayed Weight Gain

    PubMed Central

    Samra, Nashwa M.; Taweel, Amal El; Cadwell, Karin

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) with additional opportunities to breastfeed on weight gain of low birth weight (LBW) neonates with delayed weight gain. Methods: 40 LBW neonates were followed to see whether KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed improved weight gain. Results: In the KMC group, the mean age of regaining birth weight was significantly less (15.68 vs. 24.56 days) and the average daily weight gain was significantly higher (22.09 vs. 10.39 g, p < .001) than controls. Conclusion: KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed was found to be an effective intervention for LBWs with delayed weight gain and should be considered to be an effective strategy. PMID:24868132

  20. 18 CFR 5.21 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Additional information. 5.21 Section 5.21 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT INTEGRATED LICENSE APPLICATION PROCESS § 5.21...

  1. 18 CFR 5.21 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Additional information. 5.21 Section 5.21 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT INTEGRATED LICENSE APPLICATION PROCESS § 5.21...

  2. Gestational weight gain information: seeking and sources among pregnant women.

    PubMed

    Willcox, Jane C; Campbell, Karen J; McCarthy, Elizabeth A; Lappas, Martha; Ball, Kylie; Crawford, David; Shub, Alexis; Wilkinson, Shelley A

    2015-08-07

    Promoting healthy gestational weight gain (GWG) is important for preventing obstetric and perinatal morbidity, along with obesity in both mother and child. Provision of GWG guidelines by health professionals predicts women meeting GWG guidelines. Research concerning women's GWG information sources is limited. This study assessed pregnant women's sources of GWG information and how, where and which women seek GWG information. Consecutive women (n = 1032) received a mailed questionnaire after their first antenatal visit to a public maternity hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Recalled provision of GWG guidelines by doctors and midwives, recalled provided GWG goals, and the obtaining of GWG information and information sources were assessed. Participants (n = 368; 35.7% response) averaged 32.5 years of age and 20.8 weeks gestation, with 33.7% speaking a language other than English. One in ten women recalled receiving GWG guidelines from doctors or midwives, of which half were consistent with Institute of Medicine guidelines. More than half the women (55.4%) had actively sought GWG information. Nulliparous (OR 7.07, 95% CI = 3.91-12.81) and obese (OR 1.96, 95% CI = 1.05-3.65) women were more likely to seek information. Underweight (OR 0.29, 95% CI = 0.09-0.97) women and those working part time (OR 0.52, 95% CI = 0.28-0.97) were less likely to seek information. Most frequently reported GWG sources included the internet (82.7%), books (55.4%) and friends (51.5%). The single most important sources were identified as the internet (32.8%), general practitioners (16.9%) and books (14.9%). More than half of women were seeking GWG guidance and were more likely to consult non-clinician sources. The small numbers given GWG targets, and the dominance of non-clinical information sources, reinforces that an important opportunity to provide evidence based advice and guidance in the antenatal care setting is currently being missed.

  3. 10 CFR 52.158 - Contents of application; additional technical information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Contents of application; additional technical information... APPROVALS FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS Manufacturing Licenses § 52.158 Contents of application; additional technical information. The application must contain: (a)(1) Inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance...

  4. 10 CFR 52.80 - Contents of applications; additional technical information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Contents of applications; additional technical information... APPROVALS FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS Combined Licenses § 52.80 Contents of applications; additional technical information. The application must contain: (a) The proposed inspections, tests, and analyses, including those...

  5. 20 CFR 609.23 - Furnishing additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Furnishing additional information. 609.23 Section 609.23 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FOR FEDERAL CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES Responsibilities of Federal Agencies § 609.23...

  6. "Finding Useful Questions: On Bayesian Diagnosticity, Probability, Impact, and Information Gain": Correction to Nelson (2005)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nelson, Jonathan D.

    2007-01-01

    Reports an error in "Finding Useful Questions: On Bayesian Diagnosticity, Probability, Impact, and Information Gain" by Jonathan D. Nelson (Psychological Review, 2005[Oct], Vol 112[4], 979-999). In Table 13, the data should indicate that 7% of females had short hair and 93% of females had long hair. The calculations and discussion in the article…

  7. 43 CFR 3922.30 - Application-Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Application-Additional information. 3922.30 Section 3922.30 Public Lands: Interior Regulations Relating to Public Lands (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR RANGE MANAGEMENT (4000) OIL SHALE LEASING Application...

  8. 43 CFR 3922.30 - Application-Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Application-Additional information. 3922.30 Section 3922.30 Public Lands: Interior Regulations Relating to Public Lands (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) OIL SHALE LEASING Application...

  9. 43 CFR 3922.30 - Application-Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Application-Additional information. 3922.30 Section 3922.30 Public Lands: Interior Regulations Relating to Public Lands (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) OIL SHALE LEASING Application...

  10. 43 CFR 3922.30 - Application-Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Application-Additional information. 3922.30 Section 3922.30 Public Lands: Interior Regulations Relating to Public Lands (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) OIL SHALE LEASING Application...

  11. IQ Gains and the Binet Decrements.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Flynn, James R.

    1984-01-01

    Thorndike's Stanford-Binet data suggest that from 1932 to 1971-72 preschool children enjoyed greater IQ gains than older children, possibly due to the rise of television. Additional analysis indicated that gains were either due to sampling error or totally antedated 1947. Gains of 12 IQ points were found for Americans. (Author/EGS)

  12. 25 CFR 215.17 - Additional information required.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Additional information required. 215.17 Section 215.17 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEAD AND ZINC MINING... application, must file one certified copy of articles of incorporation and, if a foreign corporation, evidence...

  13. Estimation of teleported and gained parameters in a non-inertial frame

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Metwally, N.

    2017-04-01

    Quantum Fisher information is introduced as a measure of estimating the teleported information between two users, one of which is uniformly accelerated. We show that the final teleported state depends on the initial parameters, in addition to the gained parameters during the teleportation process. The estimation degree of these parameters depends on the value of the acceleration, the used single mode approximation (within/beyond), the type of encoded information (classic/quantum) in the teleported state, and the entanglement of the initial communication channel. The estimation degree of the parameters can be maximized if the partners teleport classical information.

  14. 25 CFR 215.17 - Additional information required.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... interested in lead and zinc mining leases, or land under the jurisdiction of the Quapaw Indian Agency, and... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Additional information required. 215.17 Section 215.17 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEAD AND ZINC MINING...

  15. 12 CFR 335.801 - Inapplicable SEC regulations; FDIC substituted regulations; additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... For information and answers to technical questions or problems relating to the use of FDICconnect... regulations; additional information. 335.801 Section 335.801 Banks and Banking FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE... Inapplicable SEC regulations; FDIC substituted regulations; additional information. (a) Filing fees. Filing...

  16. 12 CFR 1272.7 - Examinations; requests for additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... information. 1272.7 Section 1272.7 Banks and Banking FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANKS NEW BUSINESS ACTIVITIES § 1272.7 Examinations; requests for additional information. (a) General... business activity, nothing in this part shall limit the right of the FHFA at any time to: (1) Request...

  17. 12 CFR 1272.7 - Examinations; requests for additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... information. 1272.7 Section 1272.7 Banks and Banking FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANKS NEW BUSINESS ACTIVITIES § 1272.7 Examinations; requests for additional information. (a) General... business activity, nothing in this part shall limit the right of the FHFA at any time to: (1) Request...

  18. 12 CFR 1272.7 - Examinations; requests for additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... information. 1272.7 Section 1272.7 Banks and Banking FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANKS NEW BUSINESS ACTIVITIES § 1272.7 Examinations; requests for additional information. (a) General... business activity, nothing in this part shall limit the right of the FHFA at any time to: (1) Request...

  19. Antipsychotic metabolic effects: weight gain, diabetes mellitus, and lipid abnormalities.

    PubMed

    McIntyre, R S; McCann, S M; Kennedy, S H

    2001-04-01

    To review published and nonpublished literature describing changes in weight, glucose homeostasis, and lipid milieu with antipsychotics. A Medline search was completed using the words weight gain, diabetes mellitus, cholesterol, triglycerides, risperidone, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, ziprasidone, predictors, prolactin, obesity, and conventional antipsychotics. Publications, including original articles, review articles, letters to the editor, abstracts or posters presented at professional meetings in the last 4 years, and references from published articles, were collected. Manufacturers, including Eli Lilly Canada Inc, JanssenOrtho Inc, Pfizer Canada Inc, AstraZeneca Inc, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, were contacted to retrieve additional medical information. The topic of antipsychotic-induced weight gain is understudied, and there are relatively few well-controlled studies. Weight gain as a side effect has been described with both conventional and atypical antipsychotics. Moreover, some atypical antipsychotics are associated with de novo diabetes mellitus and increased serum triglyceride levels. Predictors of weight gain may be age, baseline body mass index, appetite stimulation, previous antipsychotic exposure, and antipsychotic treatment duration. Significant weight gain is reported with the existing atypical antipsychotics. The weight gain described is highly distressing to patients, may reduce treatment adherence, and may increase the relative risk for diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridemia. Physicians employing these agents should routinely monitor weight, fasting blood glucose, and lipid profiles.

  20. Modeling of genetic gain for single traits from marker-assisted seedling selection in clonally propagated crops

    PubMed Central

    Ru, Sushan; Hardner, Craig; Carter, Patrick A; Evans, Kate; Main, Dorrie; Peace, Cameron

    2016-01-01

    Seedling selection identifies superior seedlings as candidate cultivars based on predicted genetic potential for traits of interest. Traditionally, genetic potential is determined by phenotypic evaluation. With the availability of DNA tests for some agronomically important traits, breeders have the opportunity to include DNA information in their seedling selection operations—known as marker-assisted seedling selection. A major challenge in deploying marker-assisted seedling selection in clonally propagated crops is a lack of knowledge in genetic gain achievable from alternative strategies. Existing models based on additive effects considering seed-propagated crops are not directly relevant for seedling selection of clonally propagated crops, as clonal propagation captures all genetic effects, not just additive. This study modeled genetic gain from traditional and various marker-based seedling selection strategies on a single trait basis through analytical derivation and stochastic simulation, based on a generalized seedling selection scheme of clonally propagated crops. Various trait-test scenarios with a range of broad-sense heritability and proportion of genotypic variance explained by DNA markers were simulated for two populations with different segregation patterns. Both derived and simulated results indicated that marker-based strategies tended to achieve higher genetic gain than phenotypic seedling selection for a trait where the proportion of genotypic variance explained by marker information was greater than the broad-sense heritability. Results from this study provides guidance in optimizing genetic gain from seedling selection for single traits where DNA tests providing marker information are available. PMID:27148453

  1. 29 CFR 502.44 - Additional information, if required.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Additional information, if required. 502.44 Section 502.44 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REGULATIONS ENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS FOR TEMPORARY ALIEN AGRICULTURAL WORKERS ADMITTED UNDER SECTION 218 OF...

  2. 29 CFR 501.44 - Additional information, if required.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Additional information, if required. 501.44 Section 501.44 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REGULATIONS ENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS FOR TEMPORARY ALIEN AGRICULTURAL WORKERS ADMITTED UNDER SECTION 218 OF...

  3. The Effects of Gain- versus Loss-Framed Messages Following Health Risk Information on Physical Activity in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis.

    PubMed

    Lithopoulos, Alexander; Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca L; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E

    2017-06-01

    Few people with multiple sclerosis engage in physical activity. Messaging interventions may motivate more physical activity among these individuals. The purpose of this online study was to evaluate an intervention presenting participants with multiple sclerosis (N = 237) with risk information (i.e., information demonstrating people with multiple sclerosis are more likely to experience certain health issues) or no risk information followed by gain- or loss-framed physical activity messages. Participants completed questionnaires on Days 1, 6, and 28 and received information material on Days 2-5. The dependent variables were as follows: physical activity intentions and behavior, response and task efficacy, perceived threat (i.e., perception of threat to health issues relevant to people with multiple sclerosis), and avoidance (i.e., avoiding thinking about/doing something about the health issues presented in the messages). Analyses indicated physical activity and response efficacy increased over time. Also, participants receiving risk information had higher levels of physical activity and perceived threat. However, manipulation checks showed no differences between participants regarding perceptions of risk information or gain/loss-framed messages. Despite the lack of impact of the framing intervention, this study suggests that a brief informational intervention can positively influence physical activity and certain correlates of physical activity among people with multiple sclerosis.

  4. Dichoptic training in adults with amblyopia: Additional stereoacuity gains over monocular training.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xiang-Yun; Zhang, Jun-Yun

    2017-08-04

    Dichoptic training is a recent focus of research on perceptual learning in adults with amblyopia, but whether and how dichoptic training is superior to traditional monocular training is unclear. Here we investigated whether dichoptic training could further boost visual acuity and stereoacuity in monocularly well-trained adult amblyopic participants. During dichoptic training the participants used the amblyopic eye to practice a contrast discrimination task, while a band-filtered noise masker was simultaneously presented in the non-amblyopic fellow eye. Dichoptic learning was indexed by the increase of maximal tolerable noise contrast for successful contrast discrimination in the amblyopic eye. The results showed that practice tripled maximal tolerable noise contrast in 13 monocularly well-trained amblyopic participants. Moreover, the training further improved stereoacuity by 27% beyond the 55% gain from previous monocular training, but unchanged visual acuity of the amblyopic eyes. Therefore our dichoptic training method may produce extra gains of stereoacuity, but not visual acuity, in adults with amblyopia after monocular training. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Constraints on quantum information field and “human gain medium” making possible functioning of social laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khrennikov, Andrei

    2017-08-01

    Starting with the quantum-like paradigm on application of quantum information and probability outside of physics we proceed to the social laser model describing Stimulated Amplification of Social Actions (SASA). The basic components of social laser are the quantum information field carrying information excitations and the human gain medium. The aim of this note is to analyze constraints on these components making possible SASA. The soical laser model can be used to explain the recent wave of color revolutions as well as such “unpredictable events” as Brexit and election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States of America. The presented quantum-like model is not only descriptive. We shall list explicitly conditions for creation of social laser.

  6. Gain- and Loss-Related Brain Activation Are Associated with Information Search Differences in Risky Gambles: An fMRI and Eye-Tracking Study.

    PubMed

    Häusler, Alexander Niklas; Oroz Artigas, Sergio; Trautner, Peter; Weber, Bernd

    2016-01-01

    People differ in the way they approach and handle choices with unsure outcomes. In this study, we demonstrate that individual differences in the neural processing of gains and losses relates to attentional differences in the way individuals search for information in gambles. Fifty subjects participated in two independent experiments. Participants first completed an fMRI experiment involving financial gains and losses. Subsequently, they performed an eye-tracking experiment on binary choices between risky gambles, each displaying monetary outcomes and their respective probabilities. We find that individual differences in gain and loss processing relate to attention distribution. Individuals with a stronger reaction to gains in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex paid more attention to monetary amounts, while a stronger reaction in the ventral striatum to losses was correlated with an increased attention to probabilities. Reaction in the posterior cingulate cortex to losses was also found to correlate with an increased attention to probabilities. Our data show that individual differences in brain activity and differences in information search processes are closely linked.

  7. Gain- and Loss-Related Brain Activation Are Associated with Information Search Differences in Risky Gambles: An fMRI and Eye-Tracking Study

    PubMed Central

    Trautner, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Abstract People differ in the way they approach and handle choices with unsure outcomes. In this study, we demonstrate that individual differences in the neural processing of gains and losses relates to attentional differences in the way individuals search for information in gambles. Fifty subjects participated in two independent experiments. Participants first completed an fMRI experiment involving financial gains and losses. Subsequently, they performed an eye-tracking experiment on binary choices between risky gambles, each displaying monetary outcomes and their respective probabilities. We find that individual differences in gain and loss processing relate to attention distribution. Individuals with a stronger reaction to gains in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex paid more attention to monetary amounts, while a stronger reaction in the ventral striatum to losses was correlated with an increased attention to probabilities. Reaction in the posterior cingulate cortex to losses was also found to correlate with an increased attention to probabilities. Our data show that individual differences in brain activity and differences in information search processes are closely linked. PMID:27679814

  8. 21 CFR 207.31 - Additional drug listing information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 4 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Additional drug listing information. 207.31 Section 207.31 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS: GENERAL REGISTRATION OF PRODUCERS OF DRUGS AND LISTING OF DRUGS IN COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION...

  9. 21 CFR 207.31 - Additional drug listing information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 4 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Additional drug listing information. 207.31 Section 207.31 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS: GENERAL REGISTRATION OF PRODUCERS OF DRUGS AND LISTING OF DRUGS IN COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION...

  10. 21 CFR 207.31 - Additional drug listing information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 4 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Additional drug listing information. 207.31 Section 207.31 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS: GENERAL REGISTRATION OF PRODUCERS OF DRUGS AND LISTING OF DRUGS IN COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION...

  11. 21 CFR 207.31 - Additional drug listing information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 4 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Additional drug listing information. 207.31 Section 207.31 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS: GENERAL REGISTRATION OF PRODUCERS OF DRUGS AND LISTING OF DRUGS IN COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION...

  12. 25 CFR 227.7 - Additional information from applicant.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Additional information from applicant. 227.7 Section 227.7 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING How to Acquire Leases...

  13. 25 CFR 227.7 - Additional information from applicant.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Additional information from applicant. 227.7 Section 227.7 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING How to Acquire Leases...

  14. 25 CFR 227.7 - Additional information from applicant.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Additional information from applicant. 227.7 Section 227.7 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING How to Acquire Leases...

  15. 25 CFR 227.7 - Additional information from applicant.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Additional information from applicant. 227.7 Section 227.7 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING How to Acquire Leases...

  16. Censored data treatment using additional information in intelligent medical systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zenkova, Z. N.

    2015-11-01

    Statistical procedures are a very important and significant part of modern intelligent medical systems. They are used for proceeding, mining and analysis of different types of the data about patients and their diseases; help to make various decisions, regarding the diagnosis, treatment, medication or surgery, etc. In many cases the data can be censored or incomplete. It is a well-known fact that censorship considerably reduces the efficiency of statistical procedures. In this paper the author makes a brief review of the approaches which allow improvement of the procedures using additional information, and describes a modified estimation of an unknown cumulative distribution function involving additional information about a quantile which is known exactly. The additional information is used by applying a projection of a classical estimator to a set of estimators with certain properties. The Kaplan-Meier estimator is considered as an estimator of the unknown cumulative distribution function, the properties of the modified estimator are investigated for a case of a single right censorship by means of simulations.

  17. 25 CFR 227.7 - Additional information from applicant.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2012-04-01 2011-04-01 true Additional information from applicant. 227.7 Section 227.7 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING How to Acquire Leases § 227.7...

  18. Value Addition in Information Technology and Literacy: An Empirical Investigation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sanghera, Kamaljeet K.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of the research is to analyze the value addition in students' information communication and technology (ICT) literacy level and confidence in using technology after completing a general education information technology course at a four-year university. An online survey was created to examine students' perceptions. The findings revealed…

  19. High-gain magnetized inertial fusion.

    PubMed

    Slutz, Stephen A; Vesey, Roger A

    2012-01-13

    Magnetized inertial fusion (MIF) could substantially ease the difficulty of reaching plasma conditions required for significant fusion yields, but it has been widely accepted that the gain is not sufficient for fusion energy. Numerical simulations are presented showing that high-gain MIF is possible in cylindrical liner implosions based on the MagLIF concept [S. A. Slutz et al Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] with the addition of a cryogenic layer of deuterium-tritium (DT). These simulations show that a burn wave propagates radially from the magnetized hot spot into the surrounding much denser cold DT given sufficient hot-spot areal density. For a drive current of 60 MA the simulated gain exceeds 100, which is more than adequate for fusion energy applications. The simulated gain exceeds 1000 for a drive current of 70 MA.

  20. Women's Reflections on Formal Sex Education and the Advantage of Gaining Informal Sexual Knowledge through a Feminist Lens

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edwards, Nichole

    2016-01-01

    By recognising the limitations of formal sex education, young people are able to seek out alternative material, gaining informal sexual knowledge through their own means and through a wide variety of sources. This paper derives from part of a larger study centred on feminism and heterosexuality in practice which features 17 feminist-identified…

  1. Improving phylogenetic analyses by incorporating additional information from genetic sequence databases.

    PubMed

    Liang, Li-Jung; Weiss, Robert E; Redelings, Benjamin; Suchard, Marc A

    2009-10-01

    Statistical analyses of phylogenetic data culminate in uncertain estimates of underlying model parameters. Lack of additional data hinders the ability to reduce this uncertainty, as the original phylogenetic dataset is often complete, containing the entire gene or genome information available for the given set of taxa. Informative priors in a Bayesian analysis can reduce posterior uncertainty; however, publicly available phylogenetic software specifies vague priors for model parameters by default. We build objective and informative priors using hierarchical random effect models that combine additional datasets whose parameters are not of direct interest but are similar to the analysis of interest. We propose principled statistical methods that permit more precise parameter estimates in phylogenetic analyses by creating informative priors for parameters of interest. Using additional sequence datasets from our lab or public databases, we construct a fully Bayesian semiparametric hierarchical model to combine datasets. A dynamic iteratively reweighted Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm conveniently recycles posterior samples from the individual analyses. We demonstrate the value of our approach by examining the insertion-deletion (indel) process in the enolase gene across the Tree of Life using the phylogenetic software BALI-PHY; we incorporate prior information about indels from 82 curated alignments downloaded from the BAliBASE database.

  2. Examining Information Problem-Solving, Knowledge, and Application Gains within Two Instructional Methods: Problem-Based and Computer-Mediated Participatory Simulation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newell, Terrance S.

    2008-01-01

    This study compared the effectiveness of two instructional methods--problem-based instruction within a face-to-face context and computer-mediated participatory simulation--in increasing students' content knowledge and application gains in the area of information problem-solving. The instructional methods were implemented over a four-week period. A…

  3. DETAIL OF PLAQUE WITH ADDITIONAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION, SOUTHEAST ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    DETAIL OF PLAQUE WITH ADDITIONAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION, SOUTHEAST ABUTMENT - Connecticut Avenue Bridge, Spans Rock Creek & Potomac Parkway at Connecticut Avenue, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

  4. Relationship Between Optimal Gain and Coherence Zone in Flight Simulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gracio, Bruno Jorge Correia; Pais, Ana Rita Valente; vanPaassen, M. M.; Mulder, Max; Kely, Lon C.; Houck, Jacob A.

    2011-01-01

    In motion simulation the inertial information generated by the motion platform is most of the times different from the visual information in the simulator displays. This occurs due to the physical limits of the motion platform. However, for small motions that are within the physical limits of the motion platform, one-to-one motion, i.e. visual information equal to inertial information, is possible. It has been shown in previous studies that one-to-one motion is often judged as too strong, causing researchers to lower the inertial amplitude. When trying to measure the optimal inertial gain for a visual amplitude, we found a zone of optimal gains instead of a single value. Such result seems related with the coherence zones that have been measured in flight simulation studies. However, the optimal gain results were never directly related with the coherence zones. In this study we investigated whether the optimal gain measurements are the same as the coherence zone measurements. We also try to infer if the results obtained from the two measurements can be used to differentiate between simulators with different configurations. An experiment was conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center which used both the Cockpit Motion Facility and the Visual Motion Simulator. The results show that the inertial gains obtained with the optimal gain are different than the ones obtained with the coherence zone measurements. The optimal gain is within the coherence zone.The point of mean optimal gain was lower and further away from the one-to-one line than the point of mean coherence. The zone width obtained for the coherence zone measurements was dependent on the visual amplitude and frequency. For the optimal gain, the zone width remained constant when the visual amplitude and frequency were varied. We found no effect of the simulator configuration in both the coherence zone and optimal gain measurements.

  5. 36 CFR 1290.3 - Sources of assassination records and additional records and information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Sources of assassination records and additional records and information. Assassination records and... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Sources of assassination records and additional records and information. 1290.3 Section 1290.3 Parks, Forests, and Public Property...

  6. 39 CFR 3010.62 - Supplemental information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Supplemental information. 3010.62 Section 3010.62... information. The Commission may require the Postal Service to provide clarification of its request or to provide information in addition to that called for by § 3010.61 in order to gain a better understanding of...

  7. 29 CFR 2570.39 - Opportunities to submit additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 9 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Opportunities to submit additional information. 2570.39 Section 2570.39 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EMPLOYEE BENEFITS SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT UNDER THE EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY ACT OF 1974 PROCEDURAL REGULATIONS UNDER THE...

  8. 21 CFR 803.12 - Where and how do I submit reports and additional information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... information? 803.12 Section 803.12 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN... I submit reports and additional information? (a) You must submit any written report or additional information required under this part to FDA, CDRH, Medical Device Reporting, P.O. Box 3002, Rockville, MD...

  9. 21 CFR 803.12 - Where and how do I submit reports and additional information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... information? 803.12 Section 803.12 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN... I submit reports and additional information? (a) You must submit any written report or additional information required under this part to FDA, CDRH, Medical Device Reporting, P.O. Box 3002, Rockville, MD...

  10. 21 CFR 803.12 - Where and how do I submit reports and additional information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... information? 803.12 Section 803.12 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN... I submit reports and additional information? (a) You must submit any written report or additional information required under this part to FDA, CDRH, Medical Device Reporting, P.O. Box 3002, Rockville, MD...

  11. 34 CFR 222.185 - What additional information must be included in an emergency grant application?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 34 Education 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false What additional information must be included in an... for A Grant § 222.185 What additional information must be included in an emergency grant application? In addition to the information specified in § 222.184, an application for an emergency grant must...

  12. Using additional information on working hours to predict coronary heart disease: a cohort study

    PubMed Central

    Kivimäki, Mika; Batty, G. David; Hamer, Mark; Ferrie, Jane E.; Vahtera, Jussi; Virtanen, Marianna; Marmot, Michael G.; Singh-Manoux, Archana; Shipley, Martin J.

    2011-01-01

    Background Long hours are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. Adding information on long hours to traditional risk factors could potentially help improve risk prediction. Objective To examine whether information on long working hours improves the ability of the Framingham risk model to predict coronary heart disease in a low-risk employed population. Design Prospective cohort study; baseline medical examination (1991-1993) and coronary heart disease follow-up to 2004. Settings Civil service departments in London (the Whitehall II study). Participants 7095 adults (2109 women) aged 39 to 62, working full time, and free of coronary heart disease at baseline. Measurements Working hours and the Framingham risk score were measured at baseline. Coronary death and non-fatal myocardial infarction were ascertained from three sources: medical screenings every 5 years, hospital data and register linkage. Results 192 persons had incident coronary heart disease during a median 12.3 year follow-up. After adjustment for the Framingham score, participants working ≥11 hours per day had a 1.67-fold (95% CI: 1.10-2.55) increased risk of coronary heart disease relative to those working 7-8 hours. The addition of working hours to the Framingham score led to a net reclassification improvement of 4.7% (p=0.034), resulting from a better identification of individuals who later developed coronary heart disease (sensitivity gain). Limitations The findings may not be generalizable to populations with a larger proportion of high-risk individuals. Furthermore, the predictive utility of working hours was not validated in an independent cohort. Conclusion Information on working hours may improve prediction of coronary heart disease risk based on the Framingham risk score in low-risk working populations. Primary Funding Source Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, BUPA Foundation, UK; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and National Institute on Aging, NIH

  13. 25 CFR 103.14 - Can BIA request additional information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Can BIA request additional information? 103.14 Section 103.14 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES LOAN GUARANTY, INSURANCE, AND INTEREST SUBSIDY How a Lender Obtains a Loan Guaranty or Insurance Coverage § 103.14 Can BIA...

  14. 16 CFR 803.20 - Requests for additional information or documentary material.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Requests for additional information or documentary material. 803.20 Section 803.20 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS, STATEMENTS AND INTERPRETATIONS UNDER THE HART-SCOTT-RODINO ANTITRUST IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 1976 TRANSMITTAL RULES § 803.20 Requests for additional...

  15. 16 CFR 803.20 - Requests for additional information or documentary material.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Requests for additional information or documentary material. 803.20 Section 803.20 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS, STATEMENTS AND INTERPRETATIONS UNDER THE HART-SCOTT-RODINO ANTITRUST IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 1976 TRANSMITTAL RULES § 803.20 Requests for additional...

  16. 16 CFR 803.20 - Requests for additional information or documentary material.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Requests for additional information or documentary material. 803.20 Section 803.20 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS, STATEMENTS AND INTERPRETATIONS UNDER THE HART-SCOTT-RODINO ANTITRUST IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 1976 TRANSMITTAL RULES § 803.20 Requests for additional...

  17. 16 CFR 803.20 - Requests for additional information or documentary material.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Requests for additional information or documentary material. 803.20 Section 803.20 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS, STATEMENTS AND INTERPRETATIONS UNDER THE HART-SCOTT-RODINO ANTITRUST IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 1976 TRANSMITTAL RULES § 803.20 Requests for additional...

  18. 16 CFR 803.20 - Requests for additional information or documentary material.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Requests for additional information or documentary material. 803.20 Section 803.20 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS, STATEMENTS AND INTERPRETATIONS UNDER THE HART-SCOTT-RODINO ANTITRUST IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 1976 TRANSMITTAL RULES § 803.20 Requests for additional...

  19. Quantifying the mechanisms of domain gain in animal proteins.

    PubMed

    Buljan, Marija; Frankish, Adam; Bateman, Alex

    2010-01-01

    Protein domains are protein regions that are shared among different proteins and are frequently functionally and structurally independent from the rest of the protein. Novel domain combinations have a major role in evolutionary innovation. However, the relative contributions of the different molecular mechanisms that underlie domain gains in animals are still unknown. By using animal gene phylogenies we were able to identify a set of high confidence domain gain events and by looking at their coding DNA investigate the causative mechanisms. Here we show that the major mechanism for gains of new domains in metazoan proteins is likely to be gene fusion through joining of exons from adjacent genes, possibly mediated by non-allelic homologous recombination. Retroposition and insertion of exons into ancestral introns through intronic recombination are, in contrast to previous expectations, only minor contributors to domain gains and have accounted for less than 1% and 10% of high confidence domain gain events, respectively. Additionally, exonization of previously non-coding regions appears to be an important mechanism for addition of disordered segments to proteins. We observe that gene duplication has preceded domain gain in at least 80% of the gain events. The interplay of gene duplication and domain gain demonstrates an important mechanism for fast neofunctionalization of genes.

  20. 43 CFR 2884.22 - Can BLM ask me for additional information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Can BLM ask me for additional information? 2884.22 Section 2884.22 Public Lands: Interior Regulations Relating to Public Lands (Continued) BUREAU... THE MINERAL LEASING ACT Applying for MLA Grants or TUPs § 2884.22 Can BLM ask me for additional...

  1. 43 CFR 2884.22 - Can BLM ask me for additional information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Can BLM ask me for additional information? 2884.22 Section 2884.22 Public Lands: Interior Regulations Relating to Public Lands (Continued) BUREAU... THE MINERAL LEASING ACT Applying for MLA Grants or TUPs § 2884.22 Can BLM ask me for additional...

  2. Estimating Additive and Non-Additive Genetic Variances and Predicting Genetic Merits Using Genome-Wide Dense Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Markers

    PubMed Central

    Su, Guosheng; Christensen, Ole F.; Ostersen, Tage; Henryon, Mark; Lund, Mogens S.

    2012-01-01

    Non-additive genetic variation is usually ignored when genome-wide markers are used to study the genetic architecture and genomic prediction of complex traits in human, wild life, model organisms or farm animals. However, non-additive genetic effects may have an important contribution to total genetic variation of complex traits. This study presented a genomic BLUP model including additive and non-additive genetic effects, in which additive and non-additive genetic relation matrices were constructed from information of genome-wide dense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. In addition, this study for the first time proposed a method to construct dominance relationship matrix using SNP markers and demonstrated it in detail. The proposed model was implemented to investigate the amounts of additive genetic, dominance and epistatic variations, and assessed the accuracy and unbiasedness of genomic predictions for daily gain in pigs. In the analysis of daily gain, four linear models were used: 1) a simple additive genetic model (MA), 2) a model including both additive and additive by additive epistatic genetic effects (MAE), 3) a model including both additive and dominance genetic effects (MAD), and 4) a full model including all three genetic components (MAED). Estimates of narrow-sense heritability were 0.397, 0.373, 0.379 and 0.357 for models MA, MAE, MAD and MAED, respectively. Estimated dominance variance and additive by additive epistatic variance accounted for 5.6% and 9.5% of the total phenotypic variance, respectively. Based on model MAED, the estimate of broad-sense heritability was 0.506. Reliabilities of genomic predicted breeding values for the animals without performance records were 28.5%, 28.8%, 29.2% and 29.5% for models MA, MAE, MAD and MAED, respectively. In addition, models including non-additive genetic effects improved unbiasedness of genomic predictions. PMID:23028912

  3. Multiplicative and additive modulation of neuronal tuning with population activity affects encoded information

    PubMed Central

    Arandia-Romero, Iñigo; Tanabe, Seiji; Drugowitsch, Jan; Kohn, Adam; Moreno-Bote, Rubén

    2016-01-01

    Numerous studies have shown that neuronal responses are modulated by stimulus properties, and also by the state of the local network. However, little is known about how activity fluctuations of neuronal populations modulate the sensory tuning of cells and affect their encoded information. We found that fluctuations in ongoing and stimulus-evoked population activity in primate visual cortex modulate the tuning of neurons in a multiplicative and additive manner. While distributed on a continuum, neurons with stronger multiplicative effects tended to have less additive modulation, and vice versa. The information encoded by multiplicatively-modulated neurons increased with greater population activity, while that of additively-modulated neurons decreased. These effects offset each other, so that population activity had little effect on total information. Our results thus suggest that intrinsic activity fluctuations may act as a `traffic light' that determines which subset of neurons are most informative. PMID:26924437

  4. The Economic Gains of Achieving Reduced Alcohol Consumption Targets for Australia

    PubMed Central

    Magnus, Anne; Cadilhac, Dominique; Sheppard, Lauren; Cumming, Toby; Pearce, Dora; Carter, Rob

    2012-01-01

    Objectives. To inform prevention policy, we estimated the economic benefits to health, production, and leisure in the 2008 Australian population of a realistic target reduction in per capita annual adult alcohol consumption. Methods. We chose a target of 6.4 liters annually per capita on average. We modeled lifetime health benefits as fewer incident cases of alcohol-related disease, deaths, and disability adjusted life years. We estimated production gains with surveyed participation and absenteeism rates. We valued gains with friction cost and human capital methods. We estimated and valued household production and leisure gains from time-use surveys. Results. A reduction of 3.4 liters of alcohol consumed annually per capita would result in one third fewer incident cases of disease (98 000), deaths (380), working days lost (5 million), days of home-based production lost (54 000), and a A$ 789-million health sector cost reduction. Workforce production had a A$ 427 million gain when we used the friction cost method. By contrast, we estimated a loss of 28 000 leisure days and 1000 additional early retirements. Conclusions. Economic savings and health benefits from reduced alcohol consumption may be substantial—particularly in the health sector with reduced alcohol-related disease and injury. PMID:22594720

  5. 75 FR 68608 - Information Collection; Request for Authorization of Additional Classification and Rate, Standard...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-08

    ... Authorization of Additional Classification and Rate, Standard Form 1444 AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD... of Additional Classification and Rate, Standard Form 1444. DATES: Comments may be submitted on or.../or business confidential information provided. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ernest Woodson...

  6. 77 FR 67655 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Food Additive...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-13

    ...] Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Food Additive Petitions and Investigational Food Additive Exemptions; Extension AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS... solicits comments on food additive petitions regarding animal food. DATES: Submit electronic or written...

  7. Assessing non-additive effects in GBLUP model.

    PubMed

    Vieira, I C; Dos Santos, J P R; Pires, L P M; Lima, B M; Gonçalves, F M A; Balestre, M

    2017-05-10

    Understanding non-additive effects in the expression of quantitative traits is very important in genotype selection, especially in species where the commercial products are clones or hybrids. The use of molecular markers has allowed the study of non-additive genetic effects on a genomic level, in addition to a better understanding of its importance in quantitative traits. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the behavior of the GBLUP model in different genetic models and relationship matrices and their influence on the estimates of genetic parameters. We used real data of the circumference at breast height in Eucalyptus spp and simulated data from a population of F 2 . Three commonly reported kinship structures in the literature were adopted. The simulation results showed that the inclusion of epistatic kinship improved prediction estimates of genomic breeding values. However, the non-additive effects were not accurately recovered. The Fisher information matrix for real dataset showed high collinearity in estimates of additive, dominant, and epistatic variance, causing no gain in the prediction of the unobserved data and convergence problems. Estimates presented differences of genetic parameters and correlations considering the different kinship structures. Our results show that the inclusion of non-additive effects can improve the predictive ability or even the prediction of additive effects. However, the high distortions observed in the variance estimates when the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium assumption is violated due to the presence of selection or inbreeding can converge at zero gains in models that consider epistasis in genomic kinship.

  8. Divergence and Convergence of Risky Decision Making Across Prospective Gains and Losses: Preferences and Strategies

    PubMed Central

    Kurnianingsih, Yoanna A.; Mullette-Gillman, O'Dhaniel A.

    2015-01-01

    People choose differently when facing potential gains than when facing potential losses. Clear gross differences in decision making between gains and losses have been empirically demonstrated in numerous studies (e.g., framing effect, risk preference, loss aversion). However, theories maintain that there are strong underlying connections (e.g., reflection effect). We investigated the relationship between gains and losses decision making, examining risk preferences, and choice strategies (the reliance on option information) using a monetary gamble task with interleaved trials. For risk preferences, participants were on average risk averse in the gains domain and risk neutral/seeking in the losses domain. We specifically tested for a theoretically hypothesized correlation between individual risk preferences across the gains and losses domains (the reflection effect), but found no significant relationship in the predicted direction. Interestingly, despite the lack of reflected risk preferences, cross-domain risk preferences were still informative of individual choice behavior. For choice strategies, in both domains participants relied more heavily on the maximizing strategy than the satisficing strategy, with increased reliance on the maximizing strategy in the losses domain. Additionally, while there is no mathematical reliance between the risk preference and strategy metrics, within both domains there were significant relationships between risk preferences and strategies—the more participants relied upon the maximizing strategy the more risk neutral they were (equating value and utility maximization). These results demonstrate the complexity of gains and losses decision making, indicating the apparent contradiction that their underlying cognitive/neural processes are both dissociable and overlapping. PMID:26733779

  9. Divergence and Convergence of Risky Decision Making Across Prospective Gains and Losses: Preferences and Strategies.

    PubMed

    Kurnianingsih, Yoanna A; Mullette-Gillman, O'Dhaniel A

    2015-01-01

    People choose differently when facing potential gains than when facing potential losses. Clear gross differences in decision making between gains and losses have been empirically demonstrated in numerous studies (e.g., framing effect, risk preference, loss aversion). However, theories maintain that there are strong underlying connections (e.g., reflection effect). We investigated the relationship between gains and losses decision making, examining risk preferences, and choice strategies (the reliance on option information) using a monetary gamble task with interleaved trials. For risk preferences, participants were on average risk averse in the gains domain and risk neutral/seeking in the losses domain. We specifically tested for a theoretically hypothesized correlation between individual risk preferences across the gains and losses domains (the reflection effect), but found no significant relationship in the predicted direction. Interestingly, despite the lack of reflected risk preferences, cross-domain risk preferences were still informative of individual choice behavior. For choice strategies, in both domains participants relied more heavily on the maximizing strategy than the satisficing strategy, with increased reliance on the maximizing strategy in the losses domain. Additionally, while there is no mathematical reliance between the risk preference and strategy metrics, within both domains there were significant relationships between risk preferences and strategies-the more participants relied upon the maximizing strategy the more risk neutral they were (equating value and utility maximization). These results demonstrate the complexity of gains and losses decision making, indicating the apparent contradiction that their underlying cognitive/neural processes are both dissociable and overlapping.

  10. Loss restlessness and gain calmness: durable effects of losses and gains on choice switching.

    PubMed

    Yechiam, Eldad; Zahavi, Gal; Arditi, Eli

    2015-08-01

    While the traditional conceptualization of the effect of losses focuses on bias in the subjective weight of losses compared with respective gains, some accounts suggest more global task-related effects of losses. Based on a recent attentional theory, we predicted a positive after-effect of losses on choice switching in later tasks. In two experimental studies, we found increased choice switching rates in tasks with losses compared to tasks with no losses. Additionally, this heightened shifting behavior was maintained in subsequent tasks that do not include losses, a phenomenon we refer to as "loss restlessness." Conversely, gains were found to have an opposite "calming" effect on choice switching. Surprisingly, the loss restlessness phenomenon was observed following an all-losses payoff regime but not after a task with symmetric mixed gains and losses. This suggests that the unresolved mental account following an all-losses regime increases search behavior. Potential implications to macro level phenomena, such as the leverage effect, are discussed.

  11. Gains in Life Expectancy Associated with Higher Education in Men

    PubMed Central

    Bijwaard, Govert E.; van Poppel, Frans; Ekamper, Peter; Lumey, L. H.

    2015-01-01

    Background Many studies show large differences in life expectancy across the range of education, intelligence, and socio-economic status. As educational attainment, intelligence, and socio-economic status are highly interrelated, appropriate methods are required to disentangle their separate effects. The aim of this paper is to present a novel method to estimate gains in life expectancy specifically associated with increased education. Our analysis is based on a structural model in which education level, IQ at age 18 and mortality all depend on (latent) intelligence. The model allows for (selective) educational choices based on observed factors and on an unobserved factor capturing intelligence. Our estimates are based on information from health examinations of military conscripts born in 1944–1947 in The Netherlands and their vital status through age 66 (n = 39,798). Results Our empirical results show that men with higher education have lower mortality. Using structural models to account for education choice, the estimated gain in life expectancy for men moving up one educational level ranges from 0.3 to 2 years. The estimated gain in months alive over the observational period ranges from -1.2 to 5.7 months. The selection effect is positive and amounts to a gain of one to two months. Decomposition of the selection effect shows that the gain from selection on (latent) intelligence is larger than the gain from selection on observed factors and amounts to 1.0 to 1.7 additional months alive. Conclusion Our findings confirm the strong selection into education based on socio-economic status and intelligence. They also show significant higher life expectancy among individuals with higher education after the selectivity of education choice has been taken into account. Based on these estimates, it is plausible therefore that increases in education could lead to increases in life expectancy. PMID:26496647

  12. Gains in Life Expectancy Associated with Higher Education in Men.

    PubMed

    Bijwaard, Govert E; van Poppel, Frans; Ekamper, Peter; Lumey, L H

    2015-01-01

    Many studies show large differences in life expectancy across the range of education, intelligence, and socio-economic status. As educational attainment, intelligence, and socio-economic status are highly interrelated, appropriate methods are required to disentangle their separate effects. The aim of this paper is to present a novel method to estimate gains in life expectancy specifically associated with increased education. Our analysis is based on a structural model in which education level, IQ at age 18 and mortality all depend on (latent) intelligence. The model allows for (selective) educational choices based on observed factors and on an unobserved factor capturing intelligence. Our estimates are based on information from health examinations of military conscripts born in 1944-1947 in The Netherlands and their vital status through age 66 (n = 39,798). Our empirical results show that men with higher education have lower mortality. Using structural models to account for education choice, the estimated gain in life expectancy for men moving up one educational level ranges from 0.3 to 2 years. The estimated gain in months alive over the observational period ranges from -1.2 to 5.7 months. The selection effect is positive and amounts to a gain of one to two months. Decomposition of the selection effect shows that the gain from selection on (latent) intelligence is larger than the gain from selection on observed factors and amounts to 1.0 to 1.7 additional months alive. Our findings confirm the strong selection into education based on socio-economic status and intelligence. They also show significant higher life expectancy among individuals with higher education after the selectivity of education choice has been taken into account. Based on these estimates, it is plausible therefore that increases in education could lead to increases in life expectancy.

  13. Concept for an off-line gain stabilisation method.

    PubMed

    Pommé, S; Sibbens, G

    2004-01-01

    Conceptual ideas are presented for an off-line gain stabilisation method for spectrometry, in particular for alpha-particle spectrometry at low count rate. The method involves list mode storage of individual energy and time stamp data pairs. The 'Stieltjes integral' of measured spectra with respect to a reference spectrum is proposed as an indicator for gain instability. 'Exponentially moving averages' of the latter show the gain shift as a function of time. With this information, the data are relocated stochastically on a point-by-point basis.

  14. Do you want the good news or the bad news? Gain- versus loss-framed messages following health risk information: The effects on leisure time physical activity beliefs and cognitions.

    PubMed

    Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca L; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E

    2013-12-01

    The primary purpose was to examine the relative effectiveness of chronic disease and psychological health risk information combined with gain- versus loss-framed leisure time physical activity (LTPA) messages for changing perceived personal risk, LTPA response efficacy (i.e., the belief that LTPA can effectively reduce risk), and LTPA intentions. A secondary purpose was to explore the relationship between message framing and cognitive processing. Baseline assessments of perceived risk for inactivity-related disease and psychological health problems, LTPA response efficacy, and intentions were measured among 96 individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants read population-specific information about the risk for inactivity-related disease and psychological health problems following SCI, and perceived risk was reassessed. Participants were then randomized to read LTPA response efficacy messages emphasizing the benefits of LTPA (gain framed) or the risks of inactivity (loss framed). Immediately following message exposure, cognitive processing (i.e., thought listing and message recall), LTPA response efficacy, and LTPA intentions were assessed. Changes in perceived risk were observed following exposure to health risk information. Changes in LTPA response efficacy and intentions were greater following loss-framed messages targeting psychological health compared with gain-framed messages. Greater cognitive processing was observed following loss-framed messages compared with gain-framed messages. Following exposure to psychological health risk information, loss-framed messages may be more effective than gain-framed messages for eliciting cognitive processing and changing LTPA beliefs and intentions.

  15. "The Dose Makes the Poison": Informing Consumers About the Scientific Risk Assessment of Food Additives.

    PubMed

    Bearth, Angela; Cousin, Marie-Eve; Siegrist, Michael

    2016-01-01

    Intensive risk assessment is required before the approval of food additives. During this process, based on the toxicological principle of "the dose makes the poison,ˮ maximum usage doses are assessed. However, most consumers are not aware of these efforts to ensure the safety of food additives and are therefore sceptical, even though food additives bring certain benefits to consumers. This study investigated the effect of a short video, which explains the scientific risk assessment and regulation of food additives, on consumers' perceptions and acceptance of food additives. The primary goal of this study was to inform consumers and enable them to construct their own risk-benefit assessment and make informed decisions about food additives. The secondary goal was to investigate whether people have different perceptions of food additives of artificial (i.e., aspartame) or natural origin (i.e., steviolglycoside). To attain these research goals, an online experiment was conducted on 185 Swiss consumers. Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group, which was shown a video about the scientific risk assessment of food additives, or the control group, which was shown a video about a topic irrelevant to the study. After watching the video, the respondents knew significantly more, expressed more positive thoughts and feelings, had less risk perception, and more acceptance than prior to watching the video. Thus, it appears that informing consumers about complex food safety topics, such as the scientific risk assessment of food additives, is possible, and using a carefully developed information video is a successful strategy for informing consumers. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

  16. 40 CFR 79.21 - Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... provided by the additive manufacturer. 79.21 Section 79.21 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGISTRATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Additive Registration Procedures § 79.21 Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer. Each...

  17. 40 CFR 79.21 - Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... provided by the additive manufacturer. 79.21 Section 79.21 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGISTRATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Additive Registration Procedures § 79.21 Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer. Each...

  18. 40 CFR 79.21 - Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... provided by the additive manufacturer. 79.21 Section 79.21 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGISTRATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Additive Registration Procedures § 79.21 Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer. Each...

  19. 40 CFR 79.21 - Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... provided by the additive manufacturer. 79.21 Section 79.21 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGISTRATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Additive Registration Procedures § 79.21 Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer. Each...

  20. 40 CFR 79.21 - Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... provided by the additive manufacturer. 79.21 Section 79.21 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGISTRATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Additive Registration Procedures § 79.21 Information and assurances to be provided by the additive manufacturer. Each...

  1. NCRETURN Computer Program for Evaluating Investments Revised to Provide Additional Information

    Treesearch

    Allen L. Lundgren; Dennis L. Schweitzer

    1971-01-01

    Reports a modified version of NCRETURN, a computer program for evauating forestry investments. The revised version, RETURN, provides additional information about each investment, including future net worths and benefit-cost ratios, with no added input.

  2. Additive Manufacturing Design Considerations for Liquid Engine Components

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Whitten, Dave; Hissam, Andy; Baker, Kevin; Rice, Darron

    2014-01-01

    The Marshall Space Flight Center's Propulsion Systems Department has gained significant experience in the last year designing, building, and testing liquid engine components using additive manufacturing. The department has developed valve, duct, turbo-machinery, and combustion device components using this technology. Many valuable lessons were learned during this process. These lessons will be the focus of this presentation. We will present criteria for selecting part candidates for additive manufacturing. Some part characteristics are 'tailor made' for this process. Selecting the right parts for the process is the first step to maximizing productivity gains. We will also present specific lessons we learned about feature geometry that can and cannot be produced using additive manufacturing machines. Most liquid engine components were made using a two-step process. The base part was made using additive manufacturing and then traditional machining processes were used to produce the final part. The presentation will describe design accommodations needed to make the base part and lessons we learned about which features could be built directly and which require the final machine process. Tolerance capabilities, surface finish, and material thickness allowances will also be covered. Additive Manufacturing can produce internal passages that cannot be made using traditional approaches. It can also eliminate a significant amount of manpower by reducing part count and leveraging model-based design and analysis techniques. Information will be shared about performance enhancements and design efficiencies we experienced for certain categories of engine parts.

  3. 75 FR 77645 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Color Additive...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-12-13

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0622] Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Color Additive... collection provisions of FDA's regulations governing batch certification of color additives manufactured for...

  4. Charge Gain, Voltage Gain, and Node Capacitance of the SAPHIRA Detector Pixel by Pixel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pastrana, Izabella M.; Hall, Donald N. B.; Baker, Ian M.; Jacobson, Shane M.; Goebel, Sean B.

    2018-01-01

    The University of Hawai`i Institute for Astronomy has partnered with Leonardo (formerly Selex) in the development of HgCdTe linear mode avalanche photodiode (L-APD) SAPHIRA detectors. The SAPHIRA (Selex Avalanche Photodiode High-speed Infra-Red Array) is ideally suited for photon-starved astronomical observations, particularly near infrared (NIR) adaptive optics (AO) wave-front sensing. I have measured the stability, and linearity with current, of a 1.7-um (10% spectral bandpass) infrared light emitting diode (IR LED) used to illuminate the SAPHIRA and have then utilized this source to determine the charge gain (in e-/ADU), voltage gain (in uV/ADU), and node capacitance (in fF) for each pixel of the 320x256@24um SAPHIRA. These have previously only been averages over some sub-array. Determined from the ratio of the temporal averaged signal level to variance under constant 1.7-um LED illumination, I present the charge gain pixel-by-pixel in a 64x64 sub-array at the center of the active area of the SAPHIRA (analyzed separately as four 32x32 sub-arrays) to be about 1.6 e-/ADU (σ=0.5 e-/ADU). Additionally, the standard technique of varying the pixel reset voltage (PRV) in 10 mV increments and recording output frames for the same 64x64 subarray found the voltage gain per pixel to be about 11.7 uV/ADU (σ=0.2 uV/ADU). Finally, node capacitance was found to be approximately 23 fF (σ=6 fF) utilizing the aforementioned charge and voltage gain measurements. I further discuss the linearity measurements of the 1.7-um LED used in the charge gain characterization procedure.

  5. International survey on willingness-to-pay (WTP) for one additional QALY gained: what is the threshold of cost effectiveness?

    PubMed

    Shiroiwa, Takeru; Sung, Yoon-Kyoung; Fukuda, Takashi; Lang, Hui-Chu; Bae, Sang-Cheol; Tsutani, Kiichiro

    2010-04-01

    Although the threshold of cost effectiveness of medical interventions is thought to be 20 000- 30 000 UK pounds in the UK, and $50 000-$100 000 in the US, it is well known that these values are unjustified, due to lack of explicit scientific evidence. We measured willingness-to-pay (WTP) for one additional quality-adjusted life-year gained to determine the threshold of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. Our study used the Internet to compare WTP for the additional year of survival in a perfect status of health in Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Taiwan, Australia, the UK, and the US. The research utilized a double-bound dichotomous choice, and analysis by the nonparametric Turnbull method. WTP values were JPY 5 million (Japan), KWN 68 million (ROK), NT$ 2.1 million (Taiwan), 23 000 UK pounds (UK), AU$ 64 000 (Australia), and US$ 62 000 (US). The discount rates of outcome were estimated at 6.8% (Japan), 3.7% (ROK), 1.6% (Taiwan), 2.8% (UK), 1.9% (Australia), and 3.2% (US). Based on the current study, we suggest new classification of cost-effectiveness plane and methodology for decision making. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  6. An SSVEP-Based Brain-Computer Interface for Text Spelling With Adaptive Queries That Maximize Information Gain Rates.

    PubMed

    Akce, Abdullah; Norton, James J S; Bretl, Timothy

    2015-09-01

    This paper presents a brain-computer interface for text entry using steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEP). Like other SSVEP-based spellers, ours identifies the desired input character by posing questions (or queries) to users through a visual interface. Each query defines a mapping from possible characters to steady-state stimuli. The user responds by attending to one of these stimuli. Unlike other SSVEP-based spellers, ours chooses from a much larger pool of possible queries-on the order of ten thousand instead of ten. The larger query pool allows our speller to adapt more effectively to the inherent structure of what is being typed and to the input performance of the user, both of which make certain queries provide more information than others. In particular, our speller chooses queries from this pool that maximize the amount of information to be received per unit of time, a measure of mutual information that we call information gain rate. To validate our interface, we compared it with two other state-of-the-art SSVEP-based spellers, which were re-implemented to use the same input mechanism. Results showed that our interface, with the larger query pool, allowed users to spell multiple-word texts nearly twice as fast as they could with the compared spellers.

  7. Optomechanical transistor with mechanical gain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, X. Z.; Tian, Lin; Li, Yong

    2018-04-01

    We study an optomechanical transistor, where an input field can be transferred and amplified unidirectionally in a cyclic three-mode optomechanical system. In this system, the mechanical resonator is coupled simultaneously to two cavity modes. We show that it only requires a finite mechanical gain to achieve the nonreciprocal amplification. Here the nonreciprocity is caused by the phase difference between the linearized optomechanical couplings that breaks the time-reversal symmetry of this system. The amplification arises from the mechanical gain, which provides an effective phonon bath that pumps the mechanical mode coherently. This effect is analogous to the stimulated emission of atoms, where the probe field can be amplified when its frequency is in resonance with that of the anti-Stokes transition. We show that by choosing optimal parameters, this optomechanical transistor can reach perfect unidirectionality accompanied with strong amplification. In addition, the presence of the mechanical gain can result in ultralong delay in the phase of the probe field, which provides an alternative to controlling light transport in optomechanical systems.

  8. [Information value of "additional tasks" method to evaluate pilot's work load].

    PubMed

    Gorbunov, V V

    2005-01-01

    "Additional task" method was used to evaluate pilot's work load in prolonged flight. Calculated through durations of latent periods of motor responses, quantitative criterion of work load is more informative for objective evaluation of pilot's involvement in his piloting functions rather than of other registered parameters.

  9. Comparison of Seven Methods for Boolean Factor Analysis and Their Evaluation by Information Gain.

    PubMed

    Frolov, Alexander A; Húsek, Dušan; Polyakov, Pavel Yu

    2016-03-01

    An usual task in large data set analysis is searching for an appropriate data representation in a space of fewer dimensions. One of the most efficient methods to solve this task is factor analysis. In this paper, we compare seven methods for Boolean factor analysis (BFA) in solving the so-called bars problem (BP), which is a BFA benchmark. The performance of the methods is evaluated by means of information gain. Study of the results obtained in solving BP of different levels of complexity has allowed us to reveal strengths and weaknesses of these methods. It is shown that the Likelihood maximization Attractor Neural Network with Increasing Activity (LANNIA) is the most efficient BFA method in solving BP in many cases. Efficacy of the LANNIA method is also shown, when applied to the real data from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database, which contains full genome sequencing for 1368 organisms, and to text data set R52 (from Reuters 21578) typically used for label categorization.

  10. Additive Classical Capacity of Quantum Channels Assisted by Noisy Entanglement.

    PubMed

    Zhuang, Quntao; Zhu, Elton Yechao; Shor, Peter W

    2017-05-19

    We give a capacity formula for the classical information transmission over a noisy quantum channel, with separable encoding by the sender and limited resources provided by the receiver's preshared ancilla. Instead of a pure state, we consider the signal-ancilla pair in a mixed state, purified by a "witness." Thus, the signal-witness correlation limits the resource available from the signal-ancilla correlation. Our formula characterizes the utility of different forms of resources, including noisy or limited entanglement assistance, for classical communication. With separable encoding, the sender's signals across multiple channel uses are still allowed to be entangled, yet our capacity formula is additive. In particular, for generalized covariant channels, our capacity formula has a simple closed form. Moreover, our additive capacity formula upper bounds the general coherent attack's information gain in various two-way quantum key distribution protocols. For Gaussian protocols, the additivity of the formula indicates that the collective Gaussian attack is the most powerful.

  11. 78 FR 19580 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Information Collection Tools

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-01

    ... transmit W-2 series forms to the Social Security Administration. Forms W-2c, W-3c and W-3cPR are used to.... Income Tax Return, Schedule B- Additional Information for Schedule M-3 Filers, Schedule D-Capital Gains... gains and losses from the sale of capital assets. Schedule H (Form 1120) is used by personal service...

  12. Energy Scaling of Nanosecond Gain-Switched Cr2+:ZnSe Lasers

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-01-01

    outcoupler or absorption from the lightly-doped active ions. Additionally, the edges of the crystals are cut at the Brewster angle , which raises...experiments we used Brewster cut Cr:ZnSe gain elements with a chromium concentration of 8x1018 cm-3. Under Cr:Tm:Ho:YAG pumping, the first Cr:ZnSe laser...the energy scaling of nanosecond gain-switched Cr:ZnSe lasers is optimization of the gain medium. In this study we used Brewster cut Cr:ZnSe gain

  13. How should gestational weight gain be assessed? A comparison of existing methods and a novel method, area under the weight gain curve

    PubMed Central

    Kleinman, Ken P; Oken, Emily; Radesky, Jenny S; Rich-Edwards, Janet W; Peterson, Karen E; Gillman, Matthew W

    2007-01-01

    Background Gestational weight gain is important to assess for epidemiological and public health purposes: it is correlated with infant growth and may be related to maternal outcomes such as reproductive health and chronic disease risk. Methods commonly used to assess weight gain incorporate assumptions that are usually not borne out, such as a linear weight gain, or do not account for differential length of gestation. Methods We introduce a novel method to assess gestational weight gain, the area under the weight gain curve. This is easily interpretable as the additional pound-days carried due to pregnancy and avoids many flaws in alternative assessments. We compare the performance of the simple difference, weekly gain, Institute of Medicine categories and the area under the weight gain curve in predicting birthweight and maternal weight retention at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months post-partum. The analytic sample comprises 2016 participants in Project Viva, an observational prospective cohort study of pregnant women in Massachusetts. Results For birthweight outcomes, none of the weight gain measures is a meaningfully superior predictor. For 6-month postpartum weight retention the simple difference is superior, while for 12-, 24- and 36-month weight retention the area under the weight gain curve is superior. Conclusions These findings are plausible biologically: the same amount of weight gained early vs later in the pregnancy may reflect increased maternal fat stores. The timing of weight gain is reflected best in the area under the weight gain curve. Different methods of measuring gestational weight gain may be appropriate depending on the context. PMID:17715174

  14. 43 CFR 3515.23 - May BLM require me to submit additional information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... require me to submit additional information? Yes. You must be willing to provide geologic and economic data we need to determine the fair market value of your preference right or lease to be relinquished. ...

  15. Gain-Compensating Circuit For NDE and Ultrasonics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kushnick, Peter W.

    1987-01-01

    High-frequency gain-compensating circuit designed for general use in nondestructive evaluation and ultrasonic measurements. Controls gain of ultrasonic receiver as function of time to aid in measuring attenuation of samples with high losses; for example, human skin and graphite/epoxy composites. Features high signal-to-noise ratio, large signal bandwidth and large dynamic range. Control bandwidth of 5 MHz ensures accuracy of control signal. Currently being used for retrieval of more information from ultrasonic signals sent through composite materials that have high losses, and to measure skin-burn depth in humans.

  16. 76 FR 51125 - Additional Identifying Information Associated With Persons Whose Property and Interests in...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-08-17

    ... Transnational Criminal Organizations.'' FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Assistant Director, Sanctions... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Foreign Assets Control Additional Identifying Information... 13581of July 24, 2011, ``Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations.'' AGENCY: Office of...

  17. 49 CFR 40.331 - To what additional parties must employers and service agents release information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... service agents release information? 40.331 Section 40.331 Transportation Office of the Secretary of... Release of Information § 40.331 To what additional parties must employers and service agents release information? As an employer or service agent you must release information under the following circumstances...

  18. 20 CFR 30.518 - Can OWCP require the recipient of the overpayment to submit additional financial information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... overpayment to submit additional financial information? 30.518 Section 30.518 Employees' Benefits OFFICE OF... OWCP require the recipient of the overpayment to submit additional financial information? (a) The... specified by OWCP. This information is needed to determine whether or not recovery of an overpayment would...

  19. 20 CFR 30.518 - Can OWCP require the recipient of the overpayment to submit additional financial information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... overpayment to submit additional financial information? 30.518 Section 30.518 Employees' Benefits OFFICE OF... OWCP require the recipient of the overpayment to submit additional financial information? (a) The... specified by OWCP. This information is needed to determine whether or not recovery of an overpayment would...

  20. 20 CFR 30.518 - Can OWCP require the recipient of the overpayment to submit additional financial information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... overpayment to submit additional financial information? 30.518 Section 30.518 Employees' Benefits OFFICE OF... OWCP require the recipient of the overpayment to submit additional financial information? (a) The... specified by OWCP. This information is needed to determine whether or not recovery of an overpayment would...

  1. Summary of Pressure Gain Combustion Research at NASA

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Perkins, H. Douglas; Paxson, Daniel E.

    2018-01-01

    NASA has undertaken a systematic exploration of many different facets of pressure gain combustion over the last 25 years in an effort to exploit the inherent thermodynamic advantage of pressure gain combustion over the constant pressure combustion process used in most aerospace propulsion systems. Applications as varied as small-scale UAV's, rotorcraft, subsonic transports, hypersonics and launch vehicles have been considered. In addition to studying pressure gain combustor concepts such as wave rotors, pulse detonation engines, pulsejets, and rotating detonation engines, NASA has studied inlets, nozzles, ejectors and turbines which must also process unsteady flow in an integrated propulsion system. Other design considerations such as acoustic signature, combustor material life and heat transfer that are unique to pressure gain combustors have also been addressed in NASA research projects. In addition to a wide range of experimental studies, a number of computer codes, from 0-D up through 3-D, have been developed or modified to specifically address the analysis of unsteady flow fields. Loss models have also been developed and incorporated into these codes that improve the accuracy of performance predictions and decrease computational time. These codes have been validated numerous times across a broad range of operating conditions, and it has been found that once validated for one particular pressure gain combustion configuration, these codes are readily adaptable to the others. All in all, the documentation of this work has encompassed approximately 170 NASA technical reports, conference papers and journal articles to date. These publications are very briefly summarized herein, providing a single point of reference for all of NASA's pressure gain combustion research efforts. This documentation does not include the significant contributions made by NASA research staff to the programs of other agencies, universities, industrial partners and professional society

  2. Nucleus accumbens response to gains in reputation for the self relative to gains for others predicts social media use

    PubMed Central

    Meshi, Dar; Morawetz, Carmen; Heekeren, Hauke R.

    2013-01-01

    Our reputation is important to us; we've experienced natural selection to care about our reputation. Recently, the neural processing of gains in reputation (positive social feedback concerning one's character) has been shown to occur in the human ventral striatum. It is still unclear, however, how individual differences in the processing of gains in reputation may lead to individual differences in real-world behavior. For example, in the real-world, one way that people currently maintain their reputation is by using social media websites, like Facebook. Furthermore, Facebook use consists of a social comparison component, where users observe others' behavior and can compare it to their own. Therefore, we hypothesized a relationship between the way the brain processes specifically self-relevant gains in reputation and one's degree of Facebook use. We recorded functional neuroimaging data while participants received gains in reputation, observed the gains in reputation of another person, or received monetary reward. We demonstrate that across participants, when responding to gains in reputation for the self, relative to observing gains for others, reward-related activity in the left nucleus accumbens predicts Facebook use. However, nucleus accumbens activity in response to monetary reward did not predict Facebook use. Finally, a control step-wise regression analysis showed that Facebook use primarily explains our results in the nucleus accumbens. Overall, our results demonstrate how individual sensitivity of the nucleus accumbens to the receipt of self-relevant social information leads to differences in real-world behavior. PMID:24009567

  3. Nucleus accumbens response to gains in reputation for the self relative to gains for others predicts social media use.

    PubMed

    Meshi, Dar; Morawetz, Carmen; Heekeren, Hauke R

    2013-01-01

    Our reputation is important to us; we've experienced natural selection to care about our reputation. Recently, the neural processing of gains in reputation (positive social feedback concerning one's character) has been shown to occur in the human ventral striatum. It is still unclear, however, how individual differences in the processing of gains in reputation may lead to individual differences in real-world behavior. For example, in the real-world, one way that people currently maintain their reputation is by using social media websites, like Facebook. Furthermore, Facebook use consists of a social comparison component, where users observe others' behavior and can compare it to their own. Therefore, we hypothesized a relationship between the way the brain processes specifically self-relevant gains in reputation and one's degree of Facebook use. We recorded functional neuroimaging data while participants received gains in reputation, observed the gains in reputation of another person, or received monetary reward. We demonstrate that across participants, when responding to gains in reputation for the self, relative to observing gains for others, reward-related activity in the left nucleus accumbens predicts Facebook use. However, nucleus accumbens activity in response to monetary reward did not predict Facebook use. Finally, a control step-wise regression analysis showed that Facebook use primarily explains our results in the nucleus accumbens. Overall, our results demonstrate how individual sensitivity of the nucleus accumbens to the receipt of self-relevant social information leads to differences in real-world behavior.

  4. Fast Bayesian experimental design: Laplace-based importance sampling for the expected information gain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beck, Joakim; Dia, Ben Mansour; Espath, Luis F. R.; Long, Quan; Tempone, Raúl

    2018-06-01

    In calculating expected information gain in optimal Bayesian experimental design, the computation of the inner loop in the classical double-loop Monte Carlo requires a large number of samples and suffers from underflow if the number of samples is small. These drawbacks can be avoided by using an importance sampling approach. We present a computationally efficient method for optimal Bayesian experimental design that introduces importance sampling based on the Laplace method to the inner loop. We derive the optimal values for the method parameters in which the average computational cost is minimized according to the desired error tolerance. We use three numerical examples to demonstrate the computational efficiency of our method compared with the classical double-loop Monte Carlo, and a more recent single-loop Monte Carlo method that uses the Laplace method as an approximation of the return value of the inner loop. The first example is a scalar problem that is linear in the uncertain parameter. The second example is a nonlinear scalar problem. The third example deals with the optimal sensor placement for an electrical impedance tomography experiment to recover the fiber orientation in laminate composites.

  5. 77 FR 58911 - Additional Identifying Information for One (1) Individual Designated Pursuant to Executive Order...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-09-24

    ... Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (``SDN List'') on September 13, 2012. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION... and Facsimile Availability The SDN List and additional information concerning OFAC are available from...

  6. Genetic Gains Through Testing and Crossing Longleaf Pine Plus Trees

    Treesearch

    Calvin F. Bey; E. Bayne Snyder

    1978-01-01

    A progeny test of 226 superior tree selections from nine geographic sources across the South confirmed earlier results that showed the Gulf Coast source superior in survival and growth. Family variation within a region was large and provided additional genetic gain. Control-pollinated tests of elite x elite trees yielded even more gains. Progeny of the elite x elite...

  7. Electrical gain in interband cascade infrared photodetectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Wenxiang; Li, Lu; Lei, Lin; Massengale, Jeremy A.; Yang, Rui Q.; Mishima, Tetsuya D.; Santos, Michael B.

    2018-03-01

    In order to achieve improved understanding and gain insights into the device operation of interband cascade infrared photodetectors (ICIPs) and ultimately to optimize the design, we present a comparative study of five long-wavelength (LW) ICIPs based on a type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice. This study shows how the device responsivity is affected by the individual absorber thicknesses and the number of cascade stages, through the impact of light attenuation. Additionally, this study further validates that the electrical gain universally exists in non-current-matched ICIPs. With multiple cascade stages to suppress noise, these LW ICIPs achieved superior device performance at high temperatures, in terms of Johnson-noise limited detectivities, compared to commercial MCT detectors. Furthermore, a theory is developed to quantitatively describe the electrical gain in ICIPs and our calculations are in good agreement with the experimental results. Based on the theory, the optimal number of stages for maximizing the device detectivity D* is identified with inclusion of the electrical gain. Our calculation shows that this optimal number of stages is relatively large in the presence of the gain and the maximized D* has a relatively weak dependence on the absorber thickness when it is sufficiently thin.

  8. Sound pressure gain produced by the human middle ear.

    PubMed

    Kurokawa, H; Goode, R L

    1995-10-01

    The acoustic function of the middle ear is to match sound passing from the low impedance of air to the high impedance of cochlear fluid. Little information is available on the actual middle ear pressure gain in human beings. This article describes experiments on middle ear pressure gain in six fresh human temporal bones. Stapes footplate displacement and phase were measured with a laser Doppler vibrometer before and after removal of the tympanic membrane, malleus, and incus. Acoustic insulation of the round window with clay was performed. Umbo displacement was also measured before tympanic membrane removal to assess baseline tympanic membrane function. The middle ear has its major gain in the lower frequencies, with a peak near 0.9 kHz. The mean gain was 23.0 dB below 1.0 kHz, the resonant frequency of the middle ear; the mean peak gain was 26.6 dB. Above 1.0 kHz, the second pressure gain decreased at a rate of -8.6 dB/octave, with a mean gain of 6.5 dB at 4.0 kHz. Only a small amount of gain was present above 7.0 kHz. Significant individual differences in pressure gain were found between ears that appeared related to variations in tympanic membrane function and not to variations in cochlear impedance.

  9. Suturing training in Augmented Reality: gaining proficiency in suturing skills faster.

    PubMed

    Botden, S M B I; de Hingh, I H J T; Jakimowicz, J J

    2009-09-01

    Providing informative feedback and setting goals tends to motivate trainees to practice more extensively. Augmented Reality simulators retain the benefit of realistic haptic feedback and additionally generate objective assessment and informative feedback during the training. This study researched the performance curve of the adapted suturing module on the ProMIS Augmented Reality simulator. Eighteen novice participants were pretrained on the MIST-VR to become acquainted with laparoscopy. Subsequently, they practiced 16 knots on the suturing module, of which the assessment scores were recorded to evaluate the gain in laparoscopic suturing skills. The scoring of the assessment method was calculated from the "time spent in the correct area" during the knot tying and the quality of the knot. Both the baseline knot and the knot at the top of the performance curve were assessed by two independent objective observers, by means of a standardized evaluation form, to objectify the gain in suturing skills. There was a statistically significant difference between the scores of the second knot (mean 72.59, standard deviation (SD) 16.28) and the top of the performance curve (mean 95.82, SD 3.05; p < 0.001, paired t-test). The scoring of the objective observers also differed significantly (mean 11.83 and 22.11, respectively; SD 3.37 and 3.89, respectively; p < 0.001) (interobserver reliability Cronbach's alpha = 0.96). The median amount of repetitions to reach the top of the performance curve was eight, which also showed significant differences between both the assessment score (mean 88.14, SD 13.53, p < 0.001) and scoring of the objective observers of the second knot (mean 20.51, SD 4.14; p < 0.001). This adapted suturing module on the ProMIS Augmented Reality laparoscopic simulator is a potent tool for gaining laparoscopic suturing skills.

  10. Sudden gains in exposure therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    PubMed

    Collins, Lindsey M; Coles, Meredith E

    2017-06-01

    Prior research in the treatment of depression and anxiety has demonstrated that a sudden reduction in symptoms between two consecutive sessions (sudden gain) is related to lower post-treatment symptom severity (e.g. Hofmann, Schulz, Meuret, Moscovitch, & Suvak, 2006; Tang & DeRubeis, 1999). However, only one study has examined sudden gains in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). In that study, one-third of the patients with OCD experienced a sudden gain (Aderka et al., 2012). Further, patients who had a sudden gain had lower clinician-rated OCD symptom severity post-treatment (Aderka et al., 2012). In replication, the current study examined the frequency, characteristics, and clinical impact of sudden gains in 27 OCD patients during exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. Fifty two percent of patients experienced a sudden gain. The mean magnitude of a sudden gain represented, on average, 61.4% of total symptom reduction. Following treatment, individuals who had experienced a sudden gain were rated as less severe on the clinical global impression scale, but they did not experience a greater reduction in OCD symptoms (pre-to post-treatment) than those without a sudden gain. None of the pre-treatment characteristics tested were found to significantly predict whether a patient would have a sudden gain. Additional research examining predictors of, and patterns of, change in OCD symptoms is warranted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Neural Net Gains Estimation Based on an Equivalent Model

    PubMed Central

    Aguilar Cruz, Karen Alicia; Medel Juárez, José de Jesús; Fernández Muñoz, José Luis; Esmeralda Vigueras Velázquez, Midory

    2016-01-01

    A model of an Equivalent Artificial Neural Net (EANN) describes the gains set, viewed as parameters in a layer, and this consideration is a reproducible process, applicable to a neuron in a neural net (NN). The EANN helps to estimate the NN gains or parameters, so we propose two methods to determine them. The first considers a fuzzy inference combined with the traditional Kalman filter, obtaining the equivalent model and estimating in a fuzzy sense the gains matrix A and the proper gain K into the traditional filter identification. The second develops a direct estimation in state space, describing an EANN using the expected value and the recursive description of the gains estimation. Finally, a comparison of both descriptions is performed; highlighting the analytical method describes the neural net coefficients in a direct form, whereas the other technique requires selecting into the Knowledge Base (KB) the factors based on the functional error and the reference signal built with the past information of the system. PMID:27366146

  12. Neural Net Gains Estimation Based on an Equivalent Model.

    PubMed

    Aguilar Cruz, Karen Alicia; Medel Juárez, José de Jesús; Fernández Muñoz, José Luis; Esmeralda Vigueras Velázquez, Midory

    2016-01-01

    A model of an Equivalent Artificial Neural Net (EANN) describes the gains set, viewed as parameters in a layer, and this consideration is a reproducible process, applicable to a neuron in a neural net (NN). The EANN helps to estimate the NN gains or parameters, so we propose two methods to determine them. The first considers a fuzzy inference combined with the traditional Kalman filter, obtaining the equivalent model and estimating in a fuzzy sense the gains matrix A and the proper gain K into the traditional filter identification. The second develops a direct estimation in state space, describing an EANN using the expected value and the recursive description of the gains estimation. Finally, a comparison of both descriptions is performed; highlighting the analytical method describes the neural net coefficients in a direct form, whereas the other technique requires selecting into the Knowledge Base (KB) the factors based on the functional error and the reference signal built with the past information of the system.

  13. Active microwave negative-index metamaterial transmission line with gain.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Tao; Chang, Kihun; Si, Li-Ming; Ran, Lixin; Xin, Hao

    2011-11-11

    We studied the active metamaterial transmission line at microwave frequency. The active composite right-handed or left-handed transmission line was designed to incorporate a germanium tunnel diode with a negative differential resistance property as the gain device at the unit cell level. Measurements of the fabricated planar transmission line structures with one-, two-, and three-unit cells showed that the addition of the dc pumped tunnel diodes not only provided gain but also maintained the left handedness of the transmission line metamaterial. Simulation results agree well with experimental observation. This work demonstrated that negative index material can be obtained with a net gain when an external source is incorporated.

  14. 33 CFR 148.108 - What if a Federal or State agency or other interested party requests additional information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... whether: (1) The information requested is essential for processing the license application; and (2) The... or other interested party requests additional information? 148.108 Section 148.108 Navigation and... requests additional information? (a) Any Federal or State agency or other interested person may recommend...

  15. The Principal's Role in Promoting Academic Gain.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gullatt, David E.; Lofton, Brenda D.

    Principals encourage student academic gain by the ways in which they govern the school, build strong collaborative relationships, and organize and allocate professional work time. Because these activities are important predictors of academic achievement, along with quality teacher activities, further information is also provided about how…

  16. Automatic Gain Control in Compact Spectrometers.

    PubMed

    Protopopov, Vladimir

    2016-03-01

    An image intensifier installed in the optical path of a compact spectrometer may act not only as a fast gating unit, which is widely used for time-resolved measurements, but also as a variable attenuator-amplifier in a continuous wave mode. This opens the possibility of an automatic gain control, a new feature in spectroscopy. With it, the user is relieved from the necessity to manually adjust signal level at a certain value that it is done automatically by means of an electronic feedback loop. It is even more important that automatic gain control is done without changing exposure time, which is an additional benefit in time-resolved experiments. The concept, algorithm, design considerations, and experimental results are presented. © The Author(s) 2016.

  17. 26 CFR 1.852-7 - Additional information required in returns of shareholders.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Regulated Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts § 1.852-7 Additional information required in returns of shareholders. Any person who fails or refuses to comply with the demand of a regulated investment company for the written statements...

  18. 26 CFR 1.852-7 - Additional information required in returns of shareholders.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Regulated Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts § 1.852-7 Additional information required in returns of shareholders. Any person who fails or refuses to comply with the demand of a regulated investment company for the written statements...

  19. 26 CFR 1.852-7 - Additional information required in returns of shareholders.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Regulated Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts § 1.852-7 Additional information required in returns of shareholders. Any person who fails or refuses to comply with the demand of a regulated investment company for the written statements...

  20. 26 CFR 1.852-7 - Additional information required in returns of shareholders.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Regulated Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts § 1.852-7 Additional information required in returns of shareholders. Any person who fails or refuses to comply with the demand of a regulated investment company for the written statements...

  1. 21 CFR 71.15 - Confidentiality of data and information in color additive petitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... § 20.61 of this chapter. (3) Adverse reaction reports, product experience reports, consumer complaints... or action on a particular lot of a certifiable color additive. (b) The following data and information...

  2. Sudden gains in cognitive therapy and interpersonal therapy for social anxiety disorder.

    PubMed

    Bohn, Christiane; Aderka, Idan M; Schreiber, Franziska; Stangier, Ulrich; Hofmann, Stefan G

    2013-02-01

    The present study examined the effects of sudden gains on treatment outcome in a randomized controlled trial including individual cognitive therapy (CT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Participants were 67 individuals with SAD who received 16 treatment sessions. Symptom severity at each session was assessed using the Social Phobia Weekly Summary Scale (Clark et al., 2003). Results indicate that 22.4% of participants experienced a sudden gain during treatment. Individuals with sudden gains had significantly lower social anxiety symptoms at post-treatment and follow-up compared to individuals without sudden gains. Sudden gains in CT and IPT had similar magnitudes, frequencies, and timings. However, sudden gains resulted in lower levels of post-treatment symptoms in CT compared to IPT. Cognitive changes did not precede sudden gains, but sudden gains resulted in cognitive changes. Sudden gains in CT and IPT for SAD are predictive of long-term outcome. In addition, the effect of sudden gains may be greater in CT compared to IPT.

  3. Probabilistic Decision Making with Spikes: From ISI Distributions to Behaviour via Information Gain.

    PubMed

    Caballero, Javier A; Lepora, Nathan F; Gurney, Kevin N

    2015-01-01

    Computational theories of decision making in the brain usually assume that sensory 'evidence' is accumulated supporting a number of hypotheses, and that the first accumulator to reach threshold triggers a decision in favour of its associated hypothesis. However, the evidence is often assumed to occur as a continuous process whose origins are somewhat abstract, with no direct link to the neural signals - action potentials or 'spikes' - that must ultimately form the substrate for decision making in the brain. Here we introduce a new variant of the well-known multi-hypothesis sequential probability ratio test (MSPRT) for decision making whose evidence observations consist of the basic unit of neural signalling - the inter-spike interval (ISI) - and which is based on a new form of the likelihood function. We dub this mechanism s-MSPRT and show its precise form for a range of realistic ISI distributions with positive support. In this way we show that, at the level of spikes, the refractory period may actually facilitate shorter decision times, and that the mechanism is robust against poor choice of the hypothesized data distribution. We show that s-MSPRT performance is related to the Kullback-Leibler divergence (KLD) or information gain between ISI distributions, through which we are able to link neural signalling to psychophysical observation at the behavioural level. Thus, we find the mean information needed for a decision is constant, thereby offering an account of Hick's law (relating decision time to the number of choices). Further, the mean decision time of s-MSPRT shows a power law dependence on the KLD offering an account of Piéron's law (relating reaction time to stimulus intensity). These results show the foundations for a research programme in which spike train analysis can be made the basis for predictions about behavior in multi-alternative choice tasks.

  4. Probabilistic Decision Making with Spikes: From ISI Distributions to Behaviour via Information Gain

    PubMed Central

    Caballero, Javier A.; Lepora, Nathan F.; Gurney, Kevin N.

    2015-01-01

    Computational theories of decision making in the brain usually assume that sensory 'evidence' is accumulated supporting a number of hypotheses, and that the first accumulator to reach threshold triggers a decision in favour of its associated hypothesis. However, the evidence is often assumed to occur as a continuous process whose origins are somewhat abstract, with no direct link to the neural signals - action potentials or 'spikes' - that must ultimately form the substrate for decision making in the brain. Here we introduce a new variant of the well-known multi-hypothesis sequential probability ratio test (MSPRT) for decision making whose evidence observations consist of the basic unit of neural signalling - the inter-spike interval (ISI) - and which is based on a new form of the likelihood function. We dub this mechanism s-MSPRT and show its precise form for a range of realistic ISI distributions with positive support. In this way we show that, at the level of spikes, the refractory period may actually facilitate shorter decision times, and that the mechanism is robust against poor choice of the hypothesized data distribution. We show that s-MSPRT performance is related to the Kullback-Leibler divergence (KLD) or information gain between ISI distributions, through which we are able to link neural signalling to psychophysical observation at the behavioural level. Thus, we find the mean information needed for a decision is constant, thereby offering an account of Hick's law (relating decision time to the number of choices). Further, the mean decision time of s-MSPRT shows a power law dependence on the KLD offering an account of Piéron's law (relating reaction time to stimulus intensity). These results show the foundations for a research programme in which spike train analysis can be made the basis for predictions about behavior in multi-alternative choice tasks. PMID:25923907

  5. Relationship Between Excessive Gestational Weight Gain and Neonatal Adiposity in Women With Mild Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

    PubMed

    Blackwell, Sean C; Landon, Mark B; Mele, Lisa; Reddy, Uma M; Casey, Brian M; Wapner, Ronald J; Varner, Michael W; Rouse, Dwight J; Thorp, John M; Sciscione, Anthony; Catalano, Patrick; Saade, George; Caritis, Steve N; Sorokin, Yoram; Grobman, William A

    2016-12-01

    To evaluate the relationships among excessive gestational weight gain, neonatal adiposity, and adverse obstetric outcomes in women with mild gestational diabetes mellitus. This is a secondary analysis of a multicenter randomized clinical trial of women with mild gestational diabetes mellitus. Based on self-reported prepregnancy body weight, gestational weight gain was categorized as excessive if it was greater than 2009 Institute of Medicine guidelines. Maternal outcomes and neonatal anthropomorphic characteristics were compared between women with excessive weight gain and those without excessive weight gain. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to adjust for confounding factors. We studied 841 women who participated in the main trial and had prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and delivery information available (n=431 treatment group, n=410 no treatment). After adjustment for factors including treatment and prepregnancy BMI, excessive weight gain remained associated with large for gestational age (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.81-4.93), birth weight greater than 4,000 g (adjusted OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.54-4.40), preeclampsia (adjusted OR 2.96, 95% CI 1.35-7.03), and cesarean delivery for labor arrest (adjusted OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.30-4.44). In addition, excessive weight gain was independently associated with increased total neonatal fat (P<.001) and birth weight (P<.001). In women with both treated and untreated mild gestational diabetes mellitus, excessive gestational weight gain was independently associated with both greater birth weight and adiposity.

  6. Temporal Gain Correction for X-Ray Calorimeter Spectrometers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Porter, F. S.; Chiao, M. P.; Eckart, M. E.; Fujimoto, R.; Ishisaki, Y.; Kelley, R. L.; Kilbourne, C. A.; Leutenegger, M. A.; McCammon, D.; Mitsuda, K.

    2016-01-01

    Calorimetric X-ray detectors are very sensitive to their environment. The boundary conditions can have a profound effect on the gain including heat sink temperature, the local radiation temperature, bias, and the temperature of the readout electronics. Any variation in the boundary conditions can cause temporal variations in the gain of the detector and compromise both the energy scale and the resolving power of the spectrometer. Most production X-ray calorimeter spectrometers, both on the ground and in space, have some means of tracking the gain as a function of time, often using a calibration spectral line. For small gain changes, a linear stretch correction is often sufficient. However, the detectors are intrinsically non-linear and often the event analysis, i.e., shaping, optimal filters etc., add additional non-linearity. Thus for large gain variations or when the best possible precision is required, a linear stretch correction is not sufficient. Here, we discuss a new correction technique based on non-linear interpolation of the energy-scale functions. Using Astro-HSXS calibration data, we demonstrate that the correction can recover the X-ray energy to better than 1 part in 104 over the entire spectral band to above 12 keV even for large-scale gain variations. This method will be used to correct any temporal drift of the on-orbit per-pixel gain using on-board calibration sources for the SXS instrument on the Astro-H observatory.

  7. Modeling additive and non-additive effects in a hybrid population using genome-wide genotyping: prediction accuracy implications

    PubMed Central

    Bouvet, J-M; Makouanzi, G; Cros, D; Vigneron, Ph

    2016-01-01

    Hybrids are broadly used in plant breeding and accurate estimation of variance components is crucial for optimizing genetic gain. Genome-wide information may be used to explore models designed to assess the extent of additive and non-additive variance and test their prediction accuracy for the genomic selection. Ten linear mixed models, involving pedigree- and marker-based relationship matrices among parents, were developed to estimate additive (A), dominance (D) and epistatic (AA, AD and DD) effects. Five complementary models, involving the gametic phase to estimate marker-based relationships among hybrid progenies, were developed to assess the same effects. The models were compared using tree height and 3303 single-nucleotide polymorphism markers from 1130 cloned individuals obtained via controlled crosses of 13 Eucalyptus urophylla females with 9 Eucalyptus grandis males. Akaike information criterion (AIC), variance ratios, asymptotic correlation matrices of estimates, goodness-of-fit, prediction accuracy and mean square error (MSE) were used for the comparisons. The variance components and variance ratios differed according to the model. Models with a parent marker-based relationship matrix performed better than those that were pedigree-based, that is, an absence of singularities, lower AIC, higher goodness-of-fit and accuracy and smaller MSE. However, AD and DD variances were estimated with high s.es. Using the same criteria, progeny gametic phase-based models performed better in fitting the observations and predicting genetic values. However, DD variance could not be separated from the dominance variance and null estimates were obtained for AA and AD effects. This study highlighted the advantages of progeny models using genome-wide information. PMID:26328760

  8. Additional Support for the Information Systems Analyst Exam as a Valid Program Assessment Tool

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carpenter, Donald A.; Snyder, Johnny; Slauson, Gayla Jo; Bridge, Morgan K.

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents a statistical analysis to support the notion that the Information Systems Analyst (ISA) exam can be used as a program assessment tool in addition to measuring student performance. It compares ISA exam scores earned by students in one particular Computer Information Systems program with scores earned by the same students on the…

  9. Predicting losing and gaining river reaches in lowland New Zealand based on a statistical methodology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Jing; Zammit, Christian; Dudley, Bruce

    2017-04-01

    The phenomenon of losing and gaining in rivers normally takes place in lowland where often there are various, sometimes conflicting uses for water resources, e.g., agriculture, industry, recreation, and maintenance of ecosystem function. To better support water allocation decisions, it is crucial to understand the location and seasonal dynamics of these losses and gains. We present a statistical methodology to predict losing and gaining river reaches in New Zealand based on 1) information surveys with surface water and groundwater experts from regional government, 2) A collection of river/watershed characteristics, including climate, soil and hydrogeologic information, and 3) the random forests technique. The surveys on losing and gaining reaches were conducted face-to-face at 16 New Zealand regional government authorities, and climate, soil, river geometry, and hydrogeologic data from various sources were collected and compiled to represent river/watershed characteristics. The random forests technique was used to build up the statistical relationship between river reach status (gain and loss) and river/watershed characteristics, and then to predict for river reaches at Strahler order one without prior losing and gaining information. Results show that the model has a classification error of around 10% for "gain" and "loss". The results will assist further research, and water allocation decisions in lowland New Zealand.

  10. Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding weight gain during pregnancy among Hispanic women.

    PubMed

    Tovar, Alison; Chasan-Taber, Lisa; Bermudez, Odilia I; Hyatt, Raymond R; Must, Aviva

    2010-11-01

    Pregnancy weight gain may be a risk factor for the development of obesity highlighting the importance of identifying psychosocial risk factors for pregnancy weight gain. The goal of this qualitative pilot study was to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding weight gain during pregnancy among predominantly Puerto Rican women, a group with higher rates of obesity as compared to non-Hispanic white women. We conducted four focus groups stratified by level of acculturation and BMI. Women reported receiving advice about pregnancy weight gain predominantly from nutritionists and family members rather than from their physicians. The majority of overweight/obese women reported that they had not received any recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy from physicians. Pregnancy weight gain advice was not consistent with the 1990 Institute of Medicine Guidelines. Overall, attitudes towards weight gain recommendations differed by weight status, whereas feelings and dietary beliefs about weight gain differed according to level of acculturation. Our findings inform behavior change strategies for meeting pregnancy weight gain recommendations.

  11. Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Regarding Weight Gain During Pregnancy Among Hispanic Women

    PubMed Central

    Chasan-Taber, Lisa; Bermudez, Odilia I.; Hyatt, Raymond R.; Must, Aviva

    2012-01-01

    Pregnancy weight gain may be a risk factor for the development of obesity highlighting the importance of identifying psychosocial risk factors for pregnancy weight gain. The goal of this qualitative pilot study was to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding weight gain during pregnancy among predominantly Puerto Rican women, a group with higher rates of obesity as compared to non-Hispanic white women. We conducted four focus groups stratified by level of acculturation and BMI. Women reported receiving advice about pregnancy weight gain predominantly from nutritionists and family members rather than from their physicians. The majority of overweight/obese women reported that they had not received any recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy from physicians. Pregnancy weight gain advice was not consistent with the 1990 Institute of Medicine Guidelines. Overall, attitudes towards weight gain recommendations differed by weight status, whereas feelings and dietary beliefs about weight gain differed according to level of acculturation. Our findings inform behavior change strategies for meeting pregnancy weight gain recommendations. PMID:19760160

  12. 78 FR 77119 - Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-20

    ... Collection Request; Comment Request; Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: 2011 Renewable Fuel Standards... collection request (ICR), ``Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: 2011 Renewable Fuel Standards--Petition... whose disclosure is restricted by statute. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Geanetta Heard, Fuels...

  13. Clinically significant weight gain 1 year after occupational back injury.

    PubMed

    Keeney, Benjamin J; Fulton-Kehoe, Deborah; Wickizer, Thomas M; Turner, Judith A; Chan, Kwun Chuen Gary; Franklin, Gary M

    2013-03-01

    To examine the incidence of clinically significant weight gain 1 year after occupational back injury, and risk factors for that gain. A cohort of Washington State workers with wage-replacement benefits for back injuries completed baseline and 1-year follow-up telephone interviews. We obtained additional measures from claims and medical records. Among 1263 workers, 174 (13.8%) reported clinically significant weight gain (≥7%) 1 year after occupational back injury. Women and workers who had more than 180 days on wage replacement at 1 year were twice as likely (adjusted odds ratio = 2.17, 95% confidence interval = 1.54 to 3.07; adjusted odds ratio = 2.40, 95% confidence interval = 1.63 to 3.53, respectively; both P < 0.001) to have clinically significant weight gain. Women and workers on wage replacement for more than 180 days may be susceptible to clinically significant weight gain after occupational back injury.

  14. Clinically Significant Weight Gain One Year After Occupational Back Injury

    PubMed Central

    Keeney, Benjamin J.; Fulton-Kehoe, Deborah; Wickizer, Thomas M.; Turner, Judith A.; Chan, Kwun Chuen Gary; Franklin, Gary M.

    2014-01-01

    Objective To examine the incidence of clinically significant weight gain one year after occupational back injury, and risk factors for that gain. Methods A cohort of Washington State workers with wage-replacement benefits for back injuries completed baseline and 1-year follow-up telephone interviews. We obtained additional measures from claims and medical records. Results Among 1,263 workers, 174 (13.8%) reported clinically significant weight gain (≥7%) 1 year after occupational back injury. Women and workers who had >180 days on wage replacement at 1 year were twice as likely (adjusted OR=2.17, 95% CI=1.54–3.07; adjusted OR=2.40, 95% CI=1.63–3.53, respectively; both P<0.001) to have clinically significant weight gain. Conclusions Women and workers on wage replacement >180 days may be susceptible to clinically significant weight gain following occupational back injury. PMID:23247606

  15. Reducing Heat Gains and Cooling Loads Through Roof Structure Configurations of A House in Medan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Handayani Lubis, Irma; Donny Koerniawan, Mochamad

    2018-05-01

    Heat gains and heat losses through building surfaces are the main factors that determine the building’s cooling and heating loads. Roof as a building surface that has the most exposed area to the sun, contribute most of heat gains in the building. Therefore, the amount of solar heat gains on the roofs need to be minimized by roof structure configurations. This research aims to discover the optimization of roof structure configurations (coating material, structure material, inclination, overhang, and insulation) as one of passive design strategies that reduce heat gains and cooling loads of a house in Medan. The result showed that case four, white-painted metal roof combined with 45° roof pitched, 1.5m overhang, and addition of insulation, indicates the minimum heat gains production and the less cooling loads during clear sky day but not in the overcast sky condition. In conclusion, heat gains and cooling loads of a house in Medan could be diminished during clear sky day by the addition of roof coating with high reflectance low solar absorbtance, the slope roof, the extension of wider veranda, and the addition of insulation in the roof structure.

  16. 47 CFR 25.111 - Additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... information it requires for the Advance Publication, Coordination and Notification of frequency assignments... information required by the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau to advance publish, coordinate and notify the frequencies to be used for tracking, telemetry and control functions of DBS systems. [56 FR 24016, May 28...

  17. An information-gain approach to detecting three-way epistatic interactions in genetic association studies

    PubMed Central

    Hu, Ting; Chen, Yuanzhu; Kiralis, Jeff W; Collins, Ryan L; Wejse, Christian; Sirugo, Giorgio; Williams, Scott M; Moore, Jason H

    2013-01-01

    Background Epistasis has been historically used to describe the phenomenon that the effect of a given gene on a phenotype can be dependent on one or more other genes, and is an essential element for understanding the association between genetic and phenotypic variations. Quantifying epistasis of orders higher than two is very challenging due to both the computational complexity of enumerating all possible combinations in genome-wide data and the lack of efficient and effective methodologies. Objectives In this study, we propose a fast, non-parametric, and model-free measure for three-way epistasis. Methods Such a measure is based on information gain, and is able to separate all lower order effects from pure three-way epistasis. Results Our method was verified on synthetic data and applied to real data from a candidate-gene study of tuberculosis in a West African population. In the tuberculosis data, we found a statistically significant pure three-way epistatic interaction effect that was stronger than any lower-order associations. Conclusion Our study provides a methodological basis for detecting and characterizing high-order gene-gene interactions in genetic association studies. PMID:23396514

  18. Coding gains and error rates from the Big Viterbi Decoder

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Onyszchuk, I. M.

    1991-01-01

    A prototype hardware Big Viterbi Decoder (BVD) was completed for an experiment with the Galileo Spacecraft. Searches for new convolutional codes, studies of Viterbi decoder hardware designs and architectures, mathematical formulations, and decompositions of the deBruijn graph into identical and hierarchical subgraphs, and very large scale integration (VLSI) chip design are just a few examples of tasks completed for this project. The BVD bit error rates (BER), measured from hardware and software simulations, are plotted as a function of bit signal to noise ratio E sub b/N sub 0 on the additive white Gaussian noise channel. Using the constraint length 15, rate 1/4, experimental convolutional code for the Galileo mission, the BVD gains 1.5 dB over the NASA standard (7,1/2) Maximum Likelihood Convolution Decoder (MCD) at a BER of 0.005. At this BER, the same gain results when the (255,233) NASA standard Reed-Solomon decoder is used, which yields a word error rate of 2.1 x 10(exp -8) and a BER of 1.4 x 10(exp -9). The (15, 1/6) code to be used by the Cometary Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF)/Cassini Missions yields 1.7 dB of coding gain. These gains are measured with respect to symbols input to the BVD and increase with decreasing BER. Also, 8-bit input symbol quantization makes the BVD resistant to demodulated signal-level variations which may cause higher bandwidth than the NASA (7,1/2) code, these gains are offset by about 0.1 dB of expected additional receiver losses. Coding gains of several decibels are possible by compressing all spacecraft data.

  19. Subwavelength atom localization via coherent manipulation of the Raman gain process

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qamar, Sajid; Mehmood, Asad; Qamar, Shahid

    2009-03-01

    We present a simple scheme of atom localization in a subwavelength domain via manipulation of Raman gain process. We consider a four-level system with a pump and a weak probe field. In addition, we apply a coherent field to control the gain process. The system is similar to the one used by Agarwal and Dasgupta [Phys. Rev. A 70, 023802 (2004)] for the superluminal pulse propagation through Raman gain medium. For atom localization, we consider both pump and control fields to be the standing-wave fields of the cavity. We show that a much precise position of an atom passing through the standing-wave fields can be determined by measuring the gain spectrum of the probe field.

  20. It's all about gains: Risk preferences in problem gambling.

    PubMed

    Ring, Patrick; Probst, Catharina C; Neyse, Levent; Wolff, Stephan; Kaernbach, Christian; van Eimeren, Thilo; Camerer, Colin F; Schmidt, Ulrich

    2018-06-07

    Problem gambling is a serious socioeconomic problem involving high individual and social costs. In this article, we study risk preferences of problem gamblers including their risk attitudes in the gain and loss domains, their weighting of probabilities, and their degree of loss aversion. Our findings indicate that problem gamblers are systematically more risk taking and less sensitive toward changes in probabilities in the gain domain only. Neither their risk attitudes in the loss domain nor their degree of loss aversion are significantly different from the controls. Additional evidence for a similar degree of sensitivity toward negative outcomes is gained from skin conductance data-a psychophysiological marker for emotional arousal-in a threat-of-shock task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  1. Courseware Design by College Students: The Educational Gains.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Or-Bach, Rachel

    2000-01-01

    Describes the experience gained during several years of teaching courses on CBT (computer-based training) design to undergraduate students with varying backgrounds and interests. Discusses the theoretical background for the potential benefits; preparation for lifelong learning; information technology literacy and teaching multimedia development; a…

  2. 24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

  3. 24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

  4. 24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

  5. 24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

  6. 24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

  7. Prenatal Exposure to Traffic Pollution: Associations with Reduced Fetal Growth and Rapid Infant Weight Gain

    PubMed Central

    Fleisch, Abby F.; Rifas-Shiman, Sheryl L.; Koutrakis, Petros; Schwartz, Joel D.; Kloog, Itai; Melly, Steven; Coull, Brent A.; Zanobetti, Antonella; Gillman, Matthew W.; Gold, Diane R.; Oken, Emily

    2014-01-01

    Background Prenatal air pollution exposure inhibits fetal growth, but implications for postnatal growth are unknown. Methods We assessed weights and lengths of US infants in the Project Viva cohort at birth and 6 months. We estimated third-trimester residential air pollution exposures using spatiotemporal models. We estimated neighborhood traffic density and roadway proximity at birth address using geographic information systems. We performed linear and logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographic variables, fetal growth, and gestational age at birth. Results Mean birth weight-for-gestational age z-score (fetal growth) was 0.17 (SD = 0.97; n=2,114), 0-6 month weight-for-length gain was 0.23 z-units (SD = 1.11; n=689), and 17% had weight-for-length ≥95th percentile at 6 months of age. Infants exposed to the highest (vs. lowest) quartile of neighborhood traffic density had lower fetal growth (−0.13 units [95% confidence interval (CI) = −0.25 to −0.01]), more rapid 0-6 month weight-for-length gain (0.25 units [95% CI = 0.01 to 0.49]), and higher odds of weight-for-length ≥95th percentile at 6 months (1.84 [95% CI = 1.11 to 3.05]). Neighborhood traffic density was additionally associated with an infant being in both the lowest quartile of fetal growth and highest quartile of 0-6 month weight-for-length gain (Q4 vs. Q1, OR = 3.01 [95% CI = 1.08 to 8.44]). Roadway proximity and third-trimester black carbon exposure were similarly associated with growth outcomes. For third-trimester PM2.5, effect estimates were in the same direction, but smaller and imprecise. Conclusions Infants exposed to higher traffic-related pollution in early life may exhibit more rapid postnatal weight gain in addition to reduced fetal growth. PMID:25437317

  8. Prenatal exposure to traffic pollution: associations with reduced fetal growth and rapid infant weight gain.

    PubMed

    Fleisch, Abby F; Rifas-Shiman, Sheryl L; Koutrakis, Petros; Schwartz, Joel D; Kloog, Itai; Melly, Steven; Coull, Brent A; Zanobetti, Antonella; Gillman, Matthew W; Gold, Diane R; Oken, Emily

    2015-01-01

    Prenatal air pollution exposure inhibits fetal growth, but implications for postnatal growth are unknown. We assessed weights and lengths of US infants in the Project Viva cohort at birth and 6 months. We estimated 3rd-trimester residential air pollution exposures using spatiotemporal models. We estimated neighborhood traffic density and roadway proximity at birth address using geographic information systems. We performed linear and logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographic variables, fetal growth, and gestational age at birth. Mean birth weight-for-gestational age z-score (fetal growth) was 0.17 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.97; n = 2,114), 0- to 6-month weight-for-length gain was 0.23 z-units (SD = 1.11; n = 689), and 17% had weight-for-length ≥95th percentile at 6 months of age. Infants exposed to the highest (vs. lowest) quartile of neighborhood traffic density had lower fetal growth (-0.13 units [95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.25 to -0.01]), more rapid 0- to 6-month weight-for-length gain (0.25 units [95% CI = 0.01 to 0.49]), and higher odds of weight-for-length ≥95th percentile at 6 months (1.84 [95% CI = 1.11 to 3.05]). Neighborhood traffic density was additionally associated with an infant being in both the lowest quartile of fetal growth and the highest quartile of 0- to 6-month weight-for-length gain (Q4 vs. Q1, odds ratio = 3.01 [95% CI = 1.08 to 8.44]). Roadway proximity and 3rd-trimester black carbon exposure were similarly associated with growth outcomes. For 3rd-trimester particulate matter (PM2.5), effect estimates were in the same direction, but smaller and imprecise. Infants exposed to higher traffic-related pollution in early life may exhibit more rapid postnatal weight gain in addition to reduced fetal growth.

  9. Excess noise in gain-guided amplifiers

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Deutsch, I.H.; Garrison, J.C.; Wright, E.M.

    1991-06-01

    A second-quantized theory of the radiation field is used to study the origin of the excess noise observed in gain-guided amplifiers. We find that the reduction of the signal-to-noise ratio is a function of the length of the amplifier, and thus the enhancement of the noise is a propagation effect arising from longitudinally inhomogeneous gain of the noise rather than from an excess of local spontaneous emission. We confirm this conclusion by showing that the microscopic rate of spontaneous emission into a given non-power-orthogonal cavity mode is not enhanced by the Petermann factor. In addition, we illustrate the difficulties associatedmore » with photon statistics for this and other open systems by showing that no acceptable family of photon-number operators corresponds to a set of non-power-orthogonal cavity modes.« less

  10. Antipsychotic induced weight gain in schizophrenia:mechanisms and management.

    PubMed

    Rege, Sanil

    2008-05-01

    The aim of the present paper was to describe the mechanisms and management of antipsychotic-induced weight gain in schizophrenia patients. A comprehensive literature review of all available articles on the mechanisms and management of antipsychotic-induced weight gain was done by searching databases PsychINFO and PubMed. A summary of the available guidelines for monitoring of antipsychotic-induced weight gain and metabolic syndrome is also provided. There has been a substantial increase in the number of studies investigating the mechanisms and management of antipsychotic-induced weight gain after 2002. These include advances in the understanding of pharmacogenomics of weight gain and several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating pharmacological and psychological treatments to promote weight loss. The most effective strategy for prevention of weight gain is the choice of antipsychotic medication with low weight gain potential. In individuals with established weight gain and metabolic issues, switching to an antipsychotic agent with lower weight gain potential and/or lifestyle modifications with physical activity are most effective in promoting weight loss. Pharmacological agents such as orlistat and sibutramine are effective in general obesity but have not been sufficiently evaluated in antipsychotic-induced weight gain. The case to prescribe routine pharmacological treatment to promote weight loss is weak. Long-term, pragmatic studies are required to inform clinical practice. Weight gain in schizophrenia is associated with significant physical and psychological morbidity. Achieving an optimal trade-off between effectiveness and side-effects of antipsychotic agents, although difficult, is achievable. This should be based on three main principles: (i) a shared decision-making model between the patient, clinician and carer(s) when choosing an antipsychotic; (ii) a commitment to baseline and follow-up monitoring with explicit identification of the responsible

  11. Age differences in emotional responses to monetary losses and gains.

    PubMed

    Bruine de Bruin, Wändi; van Putten, Marijke; van Emden, Robin; Strough, JoNell

    2018-05-01

    People of all ages face events that threaten their well-being, but theories of aging posit that older adults will cope better. In a gamble with randomly assigned losses (vs. gains), older adults reported relatively less negative and more positive emotions than younger adults, especially after losses (vs. gains). Avoiding preoccupation with negative thoughts was more likely among older (vs. younger) adults and was related to less negative emotions after losses (vs. gains). A focus on limited time was associated with more positive emotions across all participants. Our findings may inform interventions that aim to promote emotional well-being across all ages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. 18 CFR 33.4 - Additional information requirements for applications involving vertical competitive impacts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Additional information requirements for applications involving vertical competitive impacts. 33.4 Section 33.4 Conservation of Power... electricity products (i.e., downstream relevant products) in the same geographic markets or that the extent of...

  13. Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain influence neonatal neurobehaviour.

    PubMed

    Aubuchon-Endsley, Nicki; Morales, Monique; Giudice, Christina; Bublitz, Margaret H; Lester, Barry M; Salisbury, Amy L; Stroud, Laura R

    2017-04-01

    Maternal weight before and during pregnancy is associated with offspring neurobehaviour in childhood. We investigated maternal weight prior to and during pregnancy in relation to neonatal neurobehaviour. We hypothesized that maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain would be associated with poor neonatal attention and affective functioning. Participants (n = 261) were recruited, weighed and interviewed during their third trimester of pregnancy. Pre-pregnancy weight was self-reported and validated for 210 participants, with robust agreement with medical chart review (r = 0.99). Neurobehaviour was measured with the NICU Network Neurobehavioural Scale (NNNS) administered on Days 2 and 32 postpartum. Maternal exclusion criteria included severe or persistent physical or mental health conditions (e.g. chronic disease or diagnoses of Bipolar Disorder or Psychotic Spectrum Disorders), excessive substance use, and social service/foster care involvement or difficulty understanding English. Infants were from singleton, full-term (37-42 weeks gestation) births with no major medical concerns. Outcome variables were summary scores on the NNNS (n = 75-86). For women obese prior to pregnancy, those gaining in excess of Institute of Medicine guidelines had infants with poorer regulation, lower arousal and higher lethargy. There were no main effects of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index on neurobehaviour. Women gaining above Institute of Medicine recommendations had neonates with better quality of movement. Additional studies to replicate and extend results past the neonatal period are needed. Results could support underlying mechanisms explaining associations between maternal perinatal weight and offspring outcomes. These mechanisms may inform future prevention/intervention strategies. © 2016 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. © 2016 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  14. 78 FR 22937 - 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Application for Additional Visa Pages or...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-17

    ...: Application for Additional Visa Pages or Miscellaneous Passport Services ACTION: Notice of request for public... Information Collection: Application for Additional Visa Pages or Miscellaneous Passport Services. OMB Control...: Bureau of Consular Affairs, Passport Services, Office of Program Management and Operational Support...

  15. An Open-label Randomized Controlled Trial to Compare Weight Gain of Very Low Birth Weight Babies with or without Addition of Coconut Oil to Breast Milk.

    PubMed

    Arun, Sumitha; Kumar, Manish; Paul, Thomas; Thomas, Nihal; Mathai, Sarah; Rebekah, Grace; Thomas, Niranjan

    2018-03-23

    Nutritional guidelines involving the feeding of very low birth weight babies (VLBW) recommend addition of Human Milk Fortifiers to breast milk. Owing to financial constraints, it is a practice in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) to add coconut oil to aid better weight gain. There are inadequate data on improvement of growth parameters with oral coconut oil supplementation of breast milk. In this randomized controlled trial, we measured growth parameters and body composition of 60 babies who received either breast milk with coconut oil or breast milk alone. Randomization was stratified according to intrauterine growth appropriate for gestational age (n = 30) and small for gestational age (n = 30). There was no difference in weight gain between the two groups. The weight gain velocity was 15 ± 3.6 and 14.4 ± 3.4 g/kg/day (p value = 0.49) in the breast milk alone and in the breast milk with coconut oil group, respectively. There was no difference in increase in head circumference and length. Triceps skinfold thickness (n = 56) was similar in both groups, but subscapular skinfold thickness was significantly more in the coconut oil group. Total body fat percentage did not differ between the groups (25.2 ± 4.3 vs. 25.5 ± 4.3%, p = 0.79). Oral supplementation of coconut oil along with breast milk did not increase growth parameters or result in change in body composition in very low birth weight (VLBW) babies.

  16. Cross-cultural comparisons of delay discounting of gain and loss.

    PubMed

    Ishii, Keiko; Gang, Lili; Takahashi, Taiki

    2016-11-01

    People generally tend to discount future outcomes in favor of smaller but immediate gains (i.e., delay discounting). The present research examined cultural similarities and differences in delay discounting of gain and loss between Chinese and Japanese, based on a q-exponential model of intertemporal choice. Using a hypothetical situation, we asked 65 Japanese participants and 51 Chinese participants to choose between receiving (or paying) a different amount of money immediately or with a specified delay (1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, and 25 years). For each delay, participants completed a series of 40 binary choices for gain or loss. Regardless of cultures, the q-exponential model was the optimal model. Both impulsivity and time-inconsistency were higher for future gains than for future losses. In addition to the cultural similarities, Chinese participants discounted future gains and losses more steeply than did Japanese. In contrast, Japanese participants were more time-inconsistent in delay discounting than were Chinese, suggesting that the reduction in their subjective value depended relatively on delay.

  17. Subtractive, divisive and non-monotonic gain control in feedforward nets linearized by noise and delays.

    PubMed

    Mejias, Jorge F; Payeur, Alexandre; Selin, Erik; Maler, Leonard; Longtin, André

    2014-01-01

    The control of input-to-output mappings, or gain control, is one of the main strategies used by neural networks for the processing and gating of information. Using a spiking neural network model, we studied the gain control induced by a form of inhibitory feedforward circuitry-also known as "open-loop feedback"-, which has been experimentally observed in a cerebellum-like structure in weakly electric fish. We found, both analytically and numerically, that this network displays three different regimes of gain control: subtractive, divisive, and non-monotonic. Subtractive gain control was obtained when noise is very low in the network. Also, it was possible to change from divisive to non-monotonic gain control by simply modulating the strength of the feedforward inhibition, which may be achieved via long-term synaptic plasticity. The particular case of divisive gain control has been previously observed in vivo in weakly electric fish. These gain control regimes were robust to the presence of temporal delays in the inhibitory feedforward pathway, which were found to linearize the input-to-output mappings (or f-I curves) via a novel variability-increasing mechanism. Our findings highlight the feedforward-induced gain control analyzed here as a highly versatile mechanism of information gating in the brain.

  18. Subtractive, divisive and non-monotonic gain control in feedforward nets linearized by noise and delays

    PubMed Central

    Mejias, Jorge F.; Payeur, Alexandre; Selin, Erik; Maler, Leonard; Longtin, André

    2014-01-01

    The control of input-to-output mappings, or gain control, is one of the main strategies used by neural networks for the processing and gating of information. Using a spiking neural network model, we studied the gain control induced by a form of inhibitory feedforward circuitry—also known as “open-loop feedback”—, which has been experimentally observed in a cerebellum-like structure in weakly electric fish. We found, both analytically and numerically, that this network displays three different regimes of gain control: subtractive, divisive, and non-monotonic. Subtractive gain control was obtained when noise is very low in the network. Also, it was possible to change from divisive to non-monotonic gain control by simply modulating the strength of the feedforward inhibition, which may be achieved via long-term synaptic plasticity. The particular case of divisive gain control has been previously observed in vivo in weakly electric fish. These gain control regimes were robust to the presence of temporal delays in the inhibitory feedforward pathway, which were found to linearize the input-to-output mappings (or f-I curves) via a novel variability-increasing mechanism. Our findings highlight the feedforward-induced gain control analyzed here as a highly versatile mechanism of information gating in the brain. PMID:24616694

  19. Adaptive Gain-based Stable Power Smoothing of a DFIG

    DOE PAGES

    Muljadi, Eduard; Lee, Hyewon; Hwang, Min; ...

    2017-11-01

    In a power system that has a high wind penetration, the output power fluctuation of a large-scale wind turbine generator (WTG) caused by the varying wind speed increases the maximum frequency deviation, which is an important metric to assess the quality of electricity, because of the reduced system inertia. This paper proposes a stable power-smoothing scheme of a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) that can suppress the maximum frequency deviation, particularly for a power system with a high wind penetration. To do this, the proposed scheme employs an additional control loop relying on the system frequency deviation that operates in combinationmore » with the maximum power point tracking control loop. To improve the power-smoothing capability while guaranteeing the stable operation of a DFIG, the gain of the additional loop is modified with the rotor speed and frequency deviation. The gain is set to be high if the rotor speed and/or frequency deviation is large. Here, the simulation results based on the IEEE 14-bus system demonstrate that the proposed scheme significantly lessens the output power fluctuation of a WTG under various scenarios by modifying the gain with the rotor speed and frequency deviation, and thereby it can regulate the frequency deviation within a narrow range.« less

  20. Adaptive Gain-based Stable Power Smoothing of a DFIG

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Muljadi, Eduard; Lee, Hyewon; Hwang, Min

    In a power system that has a high wind penetration, the output power fluctuation of a large-scale wind turbine generator (WTG) caused by the varying wind speed increases the maximum frequency deviation, which is an important metric to assess the quality of electricity, because of the reduced system inertia. This paper proposes a stable power-smoothing scheme of a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) that can suppress the maximum frequency deviation, particularly for a power system with a high wind penetration. To do this, the proposed scheme employs an additional control loop relying on the system frequency deviation that operates in combinationmore » with the maximum power point tracking control loop. To improve the power-smoothing capability while guaranteeing the stable operation of a DFIG, the gain of the additional loop is modified with the rotor speed and frequency deviation. The gain is set to be high if the rotor speed and/or frequency deviation is large. Here, the simulation results based on the IEEE 14-bus system demonstrate that the proposed scheme significantly lessens the output power fluctuation of a WTG under various scenarios by modifying the gain with the rotor speed and frequency deviation, and thereby it can regulate the frequency deviation within a narrow range.« less

  1. Developmental gains in visuospatial memory predict gains in mathematics achievement.

    PubMed

    Li, Yaoran; Geary, David C

    2013-01-01

    Visuospatial competencies are related to performance in mathematical domains in adulthood, but are not consistently related to mathematics achievement in children. We confirmed the latter for first graders and demonstrated that children who show above average first-to-fifth grade gains in visuospatial memory have an advantage over other children in mathematics. The study involved the assessment of the mathematics and reading achievement of 177 children in kindergarten to fifth grade, inclusive, and their working memory capacity and processing speed in first and fifth grade. Intelligence was assessed in first grade and their second to fourth grade teachers reported on their in-class attentive behavior. Developmental gains in visuospatial memory span (d = 2.4) were larger than gains in the capacity of the central executive (d = 1.6) that in turn were larger than gains in phonological memory span (d = 1.1). First to fifth grade gains in visuospatial memory and in speed of numeral processing predicted end of fifth grade mathematics achievement, as did first grade central executive scores, intelligence, and in-class attentive behavior. The results suggest there are important individual differences in the rate of growth of visuospatial memory during childhood and that these differences become increasingly important for mathematics learning.

  2. Developmental Gains in Visuospatial Memory Predict Gains in Mathematics Achievement

    PubMed Central

    Li, Yaoran; Geary, David C.

    2013-01-01

    Visuospatial competencies are related to performance in mathematical domains in adulthood, but are not consistently related to mathematics achievement in children. We confirmed the latter for first graders and demonstrated that children who show above average first-to-fifth grade gains in visuospatial memory have an advantage over other children in mathematics. The study involved the assessment of the mathematics and reading achievement of 177 children in kindergarten to fifth grade, inclusive, and their working memory capacity and processing speed in first and fifth grade. Intelligence was assessed in first grade and their second to fourth grade teachers reported on their in-class attentive behavior. Developmental gains in visuospatial memory span (d = 2.4) were larger than gains in the capacity of the central executive (d = 1.6) that in turn were larger than gains in phonological memory span (d = 1.1). First to fifth grade gains in visuospatial memory and in speed of numeral processing predicted end of fifth grade mathematics achievement, as did first grade central executive scores, intelligence, and in-class attentive behavior. The results suggest there are important individual differences in the rate of growth of visuospatial memory during childhood and that these differences become increasingly important for mathematics learning. PMID:23936154

  3. High gain solar photovoltaics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    MacDonald, B.; Finot, M.; Heiken, B.; Trowbridge, T.; Ackler, H.; Leonard, L.; Johnson, E.; Chang, B.; Keating, T.

    2009-08-01

    Skyline Solar Inc. has developed a novel silicon-based PV system to simultaneously reduce energy cost and improve scalability of solar energy. The system achieves high gain through a combination of high capacity factor and optical concentration. The design approach drives innovation not only into the details of the system hardware, but also into manufacturing and deployment-related costs and bottlenecks. The result of this philosophy is a modular PV system whose manufacturing strategy relies only on currently existing silicon solar cell, module, reflector and aluminum parts supply chains, as well as turnkey PV module production lines and metal fabrication industries that already exist at enormous scale. Furthermore, with a high gain system design, the generating capacity of all components is multiplied, leading to a rapidly scalable system. The product design and commercialization strategy cooperate synergistically to promise dramatically lower LCOE with substantially lower risk relative to materials-intensive innovations. In this paper, we will present the key design aspects of Skyline's system, including aspects of the optical, mechanical and thermal components, revealing the ease of scalability, low cost and high performance. Additionally, we will present performance and reliability results on modules and the system, using ASTM and UL/IEC methodologies.

  4. 30 CFR 250.418 - What additional information must I submit with my APD?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Oil and Gas Drilling Operations Applying for A Permit to Drill § 250.418 What additional information must I submit with my APD? You must include the following with the APD: (a) Rated capacities of the drilling rig and major...

  5. Weight Gain: A Possible Side Effect of All Antiretrovirals

    PubMed Central

    Ricci, Elena; Menzaghi, Barbara; Orofino, Giancarlo; Passerini, Simone; Madeddu, Giordano; Martinelli, Canio Vito; De Socio, Giuseppe Vittorio; Squillace, Nicola; Rusconi, Stefano; Bonfanti, Paolo; Di Biagio, Antonio; Quirino, T; Bonfanti, P; Ricci, E; Bellacosa, C; Maggi, P; Calza, L; Abeli, C; Menzaghi, B; Celesia, B M; Grosso, C; Stagno, A; Vichi, F; Mazzotta, F; Martinelli, C; Penco, G; Cassola, G; Di Biagio, A; Taramasso, L; Nicolini, L A; Dentone, C; Molteni, C; Palvarini, L; Scalzini, A; Carenzi, L; Rizzardini, G; Valsecchi, L; Cordier, L; Rusconi, S; Colombo, V; Galli, M; Franzetti, M; De Socio, G V; Mazzotta, E; Parruti, G; Madeddu, G; Bagella, P; S. Mura, M; Libertone, R; Antinori, A; Di Giambenedetto, S; Orofino, G; Guastavigna, M; Caramell, P

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Weight gain and body mass index (BMI) increase are central issues in patients living with HIV who need to minimize the risk of metabolic disease. Information collected through the SCOLTA cohort revealed significant 1-year BMI increase in patients treated with dolutegravir (P = .004), raltegravir (P = .0004), elvitegravir (P = .004), darunavir (P = .0006), and rilpivirine (P = .029). BMI gain correlated with low baseline BMI (P = .002) and older age (P = .0007) in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stages A/B, with lower BMI (P = .005) and CD4+ T-cell count (P = .007) at enrollment in stage C. PMID:29255735

  6. 30 CFR 250.418 - What additional information must I submit with my APD?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Oil and Gas Drilling Operations Applying for A Permit to Drill § 250.418 What additional information must I submit with my APD? You must include the following with the APD: (a) Rated capacities of the drilling rig...

  7. 30 CFR 250.418 - What additional information must I submit with my APD?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Oil and Gas Drilling Operations Applying for A Permit to Drill § 250.418 What additional information must I submit with my APD? You must include the following with the APD: (a) Rated capacities of the drilling rig...

  8. 30 CFR 250.418 - What additional information must I submit with my APD?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Oil and Gas Drilling Operations Applying for A Permit to Drill § 250.418 What additional information must I submit with my APD? You must include the following with the APD: (a) Rated capacities of the drilling rig...

  9. 21 CFR 71.15 - Confidentiality of data and information in color additive petitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... established in § 20.61 of this chapter. (6) All records showing the Food and Drug Administration's testing of... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Confidentiality of data and information in color additive petitions. 71.15 Section 71.15 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH...

  10. 21 CFR 71.15 - Confidentiality of data and information in color additive petitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... established in § 20.61 of this chapter. (6) All records showing the Food and Drug Administration's testing of... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Confidentiality of data and information in color additive petitions. 71.15 Section 71.15 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH...

  11. 21 CFR 71.15 - Confidentiality of data and information in color additive petitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... established in § 20.61 of this chapter. (6) All records showing the Food and Drug Administration's testing of... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Confidentiality of data and information in color additive petitions. 71.15 Section 71.15 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH...

  12. 21 CFR 71.15 - Confidentiality of data and information in color additive petitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... established in § 20.61 of this chapter. (6) All records showing the Food and Drug Administration's testing of... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Confidentiality of data and information in color additive petitions. 71.15 Section 71.15 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH...

  13. Gain weighted eigenspace assignment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Davidson, John B.; Andrisani, Dominick, II

    1994-01-01

    This report presents the development of the gain weighted eigenspace assignment methodology. This provides a designer with a systematic methodology for trading off eigenvector placement versus gain magnitudes, while still maintaining desired closed-loop eigenvalue locations. This is accomplished by forming a cost function composed of a scalar measure of error between desired and achievable eigenvectors and a scalar measure of gain magnitude, determining analytical expressions for the gradients, and solving for the optimal solution by numerical iteration. For this development the scalar measure of gain magnitude is chosen to be a weighted sum of the squares of all the individual elements of the feedback gain matrix. An example is presented to demonstrate the method. In this example, solutions yielding achievable eigenvectors close to the desired eigenvectors are obtained with significant reductions in gain magnitude compared to a solution obtained using a previously developed eigenspace (eigenstructure) assignment method.

  14. 41 CFR 102-79.111 - Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts? 102-79.111 Section 102-79.111 Public... Integrated Workplace concepts? The GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy provides additional guidance in its...

  15. 75 FR 66665 - Program Integrity: Gainful Employment-New Programs

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-10-29

    ... where there is a record of poor performance sufficient to justify additional oversight. Along the same... ineligible status or otherwise be based on the performance of the institution's gainful employment programs... would enable institutions with good performance records to offer new programs more expediently. However...

  16. Weight Gain and Its Correlates Among Forensic Inpatients

    PubMed Central

    Hilton, N Zoe; Ham, Elke; Lang, Carol; Harris, Grant T

    2015-01-01

    Objective: We investigated changes in weight, body mass index (BMI), and other indices of the metabolic syndrome in forensic inpatients. Weight gain associated with newer antipsychotics (APs) is well established in the general psychiatric population. Methods: We examined the medical records of 291 men admitted to a forensic hospital at admission and again at discharge or 365 days later if still in hospital. We also recorded diagnosis and smoker status on admission and quantified psychotropic treatment and adherence, physical activity, and daytime occupation during the hospitalization. Results: On admission, 33% were obese and 22% of the 106 patients for whom sufficient data were available met criteria for metabolic syndrome. Among patients staying at least 30 days, 60% were weighed again before discharge but repeated blood pressure and waist circumference measures were uncommon, even among those at greatest risk. The 122 forensic inpatients with sufficient information gained an average of 12% of their body weight and 40% increased by at least 1 BMI category, gaining an average of 3.67 kg per month. Weight gain was associated with duration of time and was not attributable to being underweight on admission, diagnosis of schizophrenia, atypical AP treatment, medication adherence, or having been a smoker. Conclusions: Patients gained weight during forensic hospitalization independent of medication use. We recommend further research using consistent measurement and wider sampling of both metabolic syndrome indicators and its individual and systemic causes in forensic populations. PMID:26174527

  17. Incentive payments are not related to expected health gain in the pay for performance scheme for UK primary care: cross-sectional analysis

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background The General Medical Services primary care contract for the United Kingdom financially rewards performance in 19 clinical areas, through the Quality and Outcomes Framework. Little is known about how best to determine the size of financial incentives in pay for performance schemes. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that performance indicators with larger population health benefits receive larger financial incentives. Methods We performed cross sectional analyses to quantify associations between the size of financial incentives and expected health gain in the 2004 and 2006 versions of the Quality and Outcomes Framework. We used non-parametric two-sided Spearman rank correlation tests. Health gain was measured in expected lives saved in one year and in quality adjusted life years. For each quality indicator in an average sized general practice we tested for associations first, between the marginal increase in payment and the health gain resulting from a one percent point improvement in performance and second, between total payment and the health gain at the performance threshold for maximum payment. Results Evidence for lives saved or quality adjusted life years gained was found for 28 indicators accounting for 41% of the total incentive payments. No statistically significant associations were found between the expected health gain and incentive gained from a marginal 1% increase in performance in either the 2004 or 2006 version of the Quality and Outcomes Framework. In addition no associations were found between the size of financial payment for achievement of an indicator and the expected health gain at the performance threshold for maximum payment measured in lives saved or quality adjusted life years. Conclusions In this subgroup of indicators the financial incentives were not aligned to maximise health gain. This disconnection between incentive and expected health gain risks supporting clinical activities that are only marginally effective, at the

  18. Getting the most out of additional guidance information in deformable image registration by leveraging multi-objective optimization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alderliesten, Tanja; Bosman, Peter A. N.; Bel, Arjan

    2015-03-01

    Incorporating additional guidance information, e.g., landmark/contour correspondence, in deformable image registration is often desirable and is typically done by adding constraints or cost terms to the optimization function. Commonly, deciding between a "hard" constraint and a "soft" additional cost term as well as the weighting of cost terms in the optimization function is done on a trial-and-error basis. The aim of this study is to investigate the advantages of exploiting guidance information by taking a multi-objective optimization perspective. Hereto, next to objectives related to match quality and amount of deformation, we define a third objective related to guidance information. Multi-objective optimization eliminates the need to a-priori tune a weighting of objectives in a single optimization function or the strict requirement of fulfilling hard guidance constraints. Instead, Pareto-efficient trade-offs between all objectives are found, effectively making the introduction of guidance information straightforward, independent of its type or scale. Further, since complete Pareto fronts also contain less interesting parts (i.e., solutions with near-zero deformation effort), we study how adaptive steering mechanisms can be incorporated to automatically focus more on solutions of interest. We performed experiments on artificial and real clinical data with large differences, including disappearing structures. Results show the substantial benefit of using additional guidance information. Moreover, compared to the 2-objective case, additional computational cost is negligible. Finally, with the same computational budget, use of the adaptive steering mechanism provides superior solutions in the area of interest.

  19. GAIN Technology Workshops Summary Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Braase, Lori Ann

    National and global demand for nuclear energy is increasing and United States (U.S.) global leadership is eroding. There is a sense of urgency with respect to the deployment of the innovative nuclear energy technologies. The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative is based on the simultaneous achievement of three strategic goals. The first is maintaining global technology leadership within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The second is enabling global industrial leadership for nuclear vendors and suppliers. The third is focused on utility optimization of nuclear energy within the clean energy portfolio. An effective public-private partnership is requiredmore » to achieve these goals. DOEs recognizes the recent sense of urgency new developers and investors have in getting their concepts to market. They know that time to market for nuclear technology takes too long and the facilities needed to conduct the necessary research, development and demonstration (RD&D) activities are very expensive to develop and maintain. Early technologies, in the lower technology readiness levels (TRL) need materials testing, analysis, modeling, code development, etc., most of which currently exists in the DOE national laboratory system. However, mature technologies typically need large component testing and demonstration facilities, which are expensive and long-lead efforts. By understanding the needs of advanced nuclear technology developers, GAIN will connect DOE national laboratory capabilities (e.g., facilities, expertise, materials, and data) with industry RD&D needs. In addition, GAIN is working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to streamline processes and increase understanding of the licensing requirements for advanced reactors.« less

  20. Nuclear plants gain integrated information systems

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Villavicencio-Ramirez, A.; Rodriquez-Alvarez, J.M.

    1994-10-01

    With the objective of simplifying the complex mesh of computing devices employed within nuclear power plants, modern technology and integration techniques are being used to form centralized (but backed up) databases and distributed processing and display networks. Benefits are immediate as a result of the integration and the use of standards. The use of a unique data acquisition and database subsystem optimizes the high costs of engineering, as this task is done only once for the life span of the system. This also contributes towards a uniform user interface and allows for graceful expansion and maintenance. This article features anmore » integrated information system, Sistema Integral de Informacion de Proceso (SIIP). The development of this system enabled the Laguna Verde Nuclear Power plant to fully use the already existing universe of signals and its related engineering during all plant conditions, namely, start up, normal operation, transient analysis, and emergency operation. Integrated systems offer many advantages over segregated systems, and this experience should benefit similar development efforts in other electric power utilities, not only for nuclear but also for other types of generating plants.« less

  1. KCNT1 gain-of-function in two epilepsy phenotypes is reversed by quinidine

    PubMed Central

    Milligan, Carol J.; Li, Melody; Gazina, Elena V.; Heron, Sarah E.; Nair, Umesh; Trager, Chantel; Reid, Christopher A.; Venkat, Anu; Younkin, Donald P.; Dlugos, Dennis J.; Petrovski, Slavé; Goldstein, David B.; Dibbens, Leanne M.; Scheffer, Ingrid E.; Berkovic, Samuel F; Petrou, Steven

    2014-01-01

    Objective Mutations in KCNT1 have been implicated in autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (ADNFLE) and epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures (EIMFS). More recently, a whole exome sequencing study of epileptic encephalopathies identified an additional de novo mutation in one proband with EIMFS. We aim to investigate the electrophysiological and pharmacological characteristics of hKCNT1 mutations and examine developmental expression levels. Methods Here we use a Xenopus laevis oocyte based automated two-electrode voltage-clamp assay. The effects of quinidine (100 and 300 µM) are also tested. Using quantitative RT-PCR, the relative levels of mouse brain mKcnt1 mRNA expression are determined. Results We demonstrate that KCNT1 mutations implicated in epilepsy cause a marked increase in function. Importantly, there was a significant group difference in gain-of-function between mutations associated with ADNFLE and EIMFS. Finally, exposure to quinidine significantly reduces this gain-of-function for all mutations studied. Interpretation These results establish direction for a targeted therapy and potentially exemplify a translational paradigm for in vitro studies informing novel therapies in a neuropsychiatric disease. PMID:24591078

  2. Directional amplifier in an optomechanical system with optical gain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, Cheng; Song, L. N.; Li, Yong

    2018-05-01

    Directional amplifiers are crucial nonreciprocal devices in both classical and quantum information processing. Here we propose a scheme for realizing a directional amplifier between optical and microwave fields based on an optomechanical system with optical gain, where an active optical cavity and two passive microwave cavities are coupled to a common mechanical resonator via radiation pressure. The two passive cavities are coupled via hopping interaction to facilitate the directional amplification between the active and passive cavities. We obtain the condition of achieving optical directional amplification and find that the direction of amplification can be controlled by the phase differences between the effective optomechanical couplings. The effects of the gain rate of the active cavity and the effective coupling strengths on the maximum gain of the amplifier are discussed. We show that the noise added to this amplifier can be greatly suppressed in the large cooperativity limit.

  3. How to retrieve additional information from the multiplicity distributions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wilk, Grzegorz; Włodarczyk, Zbigniew

    2017-01-01

    Multiplicity distributions (MDs) P(N) measured in multiparticle production processes are most frequently described by the negative binomial distribution (NBD). However, with increasing collision energy some systematic discrepancies have become more and more apparent. They are usually attributed to the possible multi-source structure of the production process and described using a multi-NBD form of the MD. We investigate the possibility of keeping a single NBD but with its parameters depending on the multiplicity N. This is done by modifying the widely known clan model of particle production leading to the NBD form of P(N). This is then confronted with the approach based on the so-called cascade-stochastic formalism which is based on different types of recurrence relations defining P(N). We demonstrate that a combination of both approaches allows the retrieval of additional valuable information from the MDs, namely the oscillatory behavior of the counting statistics apparently visible in the high energy data.

  4. How do early career health sciences information professionals gain competencies?

    PubMed

    Myers, Bethany A; Rodriguez, Bredny

    2016-07-01

    The purpose of this study was to describe early career health sciences information professionals' self-reported attainment of the Medical Library Association (MLA) Competencies for Lifelong Learning and Professional Success and to investigate the various methods by which participants developed these competencies. A SurveyMonkey survey was designed to ascertain participants' demographic information and their competency attainment. "Early career" health information professionals were defined as those with less than five years of professional experience. Participants were asked to rate each of the seven competencies on a five-point Likert scale regarding their level of agreement with the statement, "I have demonstrated this competency." Participants who responded positively were then asked to indicate how they acquired the competency on a multiple-choice, multiple-answer list. Free-text fields were provided for general comments and for participants to elaborate on their answers. The survey was distributed through the MLA email discussion list and other related email discussion lists. Participation was anonymous. One hundred eighty-seven responses were received. Out of those 187 respondents, 95 completed the entire survey. The majority of early career health sciences information professionals agreed that they had attained all 7 competencies. Of the various methods used to develop competencies, the most selected method was formal library and information studies education. Participants were least likely to report attaining competencies via mentoring, volunteering, or internships. Participants reported the highest level of confidence in having attained the "Health Sciences Information Services" competency, and the lowest level of confidence in having attained the "Research, Analysis, and Interpretation" competency. These results contribute to the ongoing discussions regarding proposed changes to the MLA competencies. The results may also inform the development of

  5. The scope of additive manufacturing in cryogenics, component design, and applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stautner, W.; Vanapalli, S.; Weiss, K.-P.; Chen, R.; Amm, K.; Budesheim, E.; Ricci, J.

    2017-12-01

    Additive manufacturing techniques using composites or metals are rapidly gaining momentum in cryogenic applications. Small or large, complex structural components are now no longer limited to mere design studies but can now move into the production stream thanks to new machines on the market that allow for light-weight, cost optimized designs with short turnaround times. The potential for cost reductions from bulk materials machined to tight tolerances has become obvious. Furthermore, additive manufacturing opens doors and design space for cryogenic components that to date did not exist or were not possible in the past, using bulk materials along with elaborate and expensive machining processes, e.g. micromachining. The cryogenic engineer now faces the challenge to design toward those new additive manufacturing capabilities. Additionally, re-thinking designs toward cost optimization and fast implementation also requires detailed knowledge of mechanical and thermal properties at cryogenic temperatures. In the following we compile the information available to date and show a possible roadmap for additive manufacturing applications of parts and components typically used in cryogenic engineering designs.

  6. Gaining Ground in the Middle School Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better. A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes. The Informed Educator Series

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Educational Research Service, 2011

    2011-01-01

    This "Informed Educator" draws content from several reports as well as a PowerPoint presentation that describe findings from a study conducted by EdSource and its research partners from Stanford University and the American Institutes for Research. The project--Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better--focused on…

  7. 50 CFR 23.25 - What additional information is required on a non-Party CITES document?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ....25 What additional information is required on a non-Party CITES document? (a) Purpose. Under Article... Certification (1) Export (i) For Appendix-I and -II specimens, the Scientific Authority has advised that the...

  8. Stacked Transformer for Driver Gain and Receive Signal Splitting

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Driscoll, Kevin R.

    2013-01-01

    In a high-speed signal transmission system that uses transformer coupling, there is a need to provide increased transmitted signal strength without adding active components. This invention uses additional transformers to achieve the needed gain. The prior art uses stronger drivers (which require an IC redesign and a higher power supply voltage), or the addition of another active component (which can decrease reliability, increase power consumption, reduce the beneficial effect of serializer/deserializer preemphasis or deemphasis, and/or interfere with fault containment mechanisms), or uses a different transformer winding ratio (which requires redesign of the transformer and may not be feasible with high-speed signals that require a 1:1 winding ratio). This invention achieves the required gain by connecting the secondaries of multiple transformers in series. The primaries of these transformers are currently either connected in parallel or are connected to multiple drivers. There is also a need to split a receive signal to multiple destinations with minimal signal loss. Additional transformers can achieve the split. The prior art uses impedance-matching series resistors that cause a loss of signal. Instead of causing a loss, most instantiations of this invention would actually provide gain. Multiple transformers are used instead of multiple windings on a single transformer because multiple windings on the same transformer would require a redesign of the transformer, and may not be feasible with high-speed transformers that usually require a bifilar winding with a 1:1 ratio. This invention creates the split by connecting the primaries of multiple transformers in series. The secondary of each transformer is connected to one of the intended destinations without the use of impedance-matching series resistors.

  9. Examining the provisional guidelines for weight gain in twin pregnancies: a retrospective cohort study.

    PubMed

    Lutsiv, Olha; Hulman, Adam; Woolcott, Christy; Beyene, Joseph; Giglia, Lucy; Armson, B Anthony; Dodds, Linda; Neupane, Binod; McDonald, Sarah D

    2017-09-29

    Weight gain during pregnancy has an important impact on maternal and neonatal health. Unlike the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations for weight gain in singleton pregnancies, those for twin gestations are termed "provisional", as they are based on limited data. The objectives of this study were to determine the neonatal and maternal outcomes associated with gaining weight below, within and above the IOM provisional guidelines on gestational weight gain in twin pregnancies, and additionally, to explore ranges of gestational weight gain among women who delivered twins at the recommended gestational age and birth weight, and those who did not. A retrospective cohort study of women who gave birth to twins at ≥20 weeks gestation, with a birth weight ≥ 500 g was conducted in Nova Scotia, Canada (2003-2014). Our primary outcome of interest was small for gestational age (<10th percentile). In order to account for gestational age at delivery, weekly rates of 2nd and 3rd trimester weight gain were used to categorize women as gaining below, within, or above guidelines. We performed traditional regression analyses for maternal outcomes, and to account for the correlated nature of the neonatal outcomes in twins, we used generalized estimating equations (GEE). A total of 1482 twins and 741 mothers were included, of whom 27%, 43%, and 30% gained below, within, and above guidelines, respectively. The incidence of small for gestational age in these three groups was 30%, 21%, and 20%, respectively, and relative to gaining within guidelines, the adjusted odds ratios were 1.44 (95% CI 1.01-2.06) for gaining below and 0.92 (95% CI 0.62-1.36) for gaining above. The gestational weight gain in women who delivered twins at 37-42 weeks with average birth weight ≥ 2500 g and those who delivered twins outside of the recommend ranges were comparable to each other and the IOM recommendations. While gestational weight gain below guidelines for twins was associated with some

  10. 75 FR 35119 - 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Form DS-4085 Application for Additional Visa...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-21

    ... DS-4085 Application for Additional Visa Pages or Miscellaneous Passport Services, OMB Control Number... of Information Collection: Application for Additional Visa Pages or Miscellaneous Passport Services.... Originating Office: Bureau of Consular Affairs, Passport Services CA/PPT. Form Number: DS-4085. Respondents...

  11. 21 CFR 71.4 - Samples; additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL COLOR... samples of the color additive, articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in... additive, or articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in which the color...

  12. 21 CFR 71.4 - Samples; additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL COLOR... samples of the color additive, articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in... additive, or articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in which the color...

  13. 21 CFR 71.4 - Samples; additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL COLOR... samples of the color additive, articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in... additive, or articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in which the color...

  14. 21 CFR 71.4 - Samples; additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL COLOR... samples of the color additive, articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in... additive, or articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in which the color...

  15. 21 CFR 71.4 - Samples; additional information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL COLOR... samples of the color additive, articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in... additive, or articles used as components thereof, or of the food, drug, or cosmetic in which the color...

  16. Hearing in noisy environments: noise invariance and contrast gain control

    PubMed Central

    Willmore, Ben D B; Cooke, James E; King, Andrew J

    2014-01-01

    Contrast gain control has recently been identified as a fundamental property of the auditory system. Electrophysiological recordings in ferrets have shown that neurons continuously adjust their gain (their sensitivity to change in sound level) in response to the contrast of sounds that are heard. At the level of the auditory cortex, these gain changes partly compensate for changes in sound contrast. This means that sounds which are structurally similar, but have different contrasts, have similar neuronal representations in the auditory cortex. As a result, the cortical representation is relatively invariant to stimulus contrast and robust to the presence of noise in the stimulus. In the inferior colliculus (an important subcortical auditory structure), gain changes are less reliably compensatory, suggesting that contrast- and noise-invariant representations are constructed gradually as one ascends the auditory pathway. In addition to noise invariance, contrast gain control provides a variety of computational advantages over static neuronal representations; it makes efficient use of neuronal dynamic range, may contribute to redundancy-reducing, sparse codes for sound and allows for simpler decoding of population responses. The circuits underlying auditory contrast gain control are still under investigation. As in the visual system, these circuits may be modulated by factors other than stimulus contrast, forming a potential neural substrate for mediating the effects of attention as well as interactions between the senses. PMID:24907308

  17. Accurate in silico prediction of species-specific methylation sites based on information gain feature optimization.

    PubMed

    Wen, Ping-Ping; Shi, Shao-Ping; Xu, Hao-Dong; Wang, Li-Na; Qiu, Jian-Ding

    2016-10-15

    As one of the most important reversible types of post-translational modification, protein methylation catalyzed by methyltransferases carries many pivotal biological functions as well as many essential biological processes. Identification of methylation sites is prerequisite for decoding methylation regulatory networks in living cells and understanding their physiological roles. Experimental methods are limitations of labor-intensive and time-consuming. While in silicon approaches are cost-effective and high-throughput manner to predict potential methylation sites, but those previous predictors only have a mixed model and their prediction performances are not fully satisfactory now. Recently, with increasing availability of quantitative methylation datasets in diverse species (especially in eukaryotes), there is a growing need to develop a species-specific predictor. Here, we designed a tool named PSSMe based on information gain (IG) feature optimization method for species-specific methylation site prediction. The IG method was adopted to analyze the importance and contribution of each feature, then select the valuable dimension feature vectors to reconstitute a new orderly feature, which was applied to build the finally prediction model. Finally, our method improves prediction performance of accuracy about 15% comparing with single features. Furthermore, our species-specific model significantly improves the predictive performance compare with other general methylation prediction tools. Hence, our prediction results serve as useful resources to elucidate the mechanism of arginine or lysine methylation and facilitate hypothesis-driven experimental design and validation. The tool online service is implemented by C# language and freely available at http://bioinfo.ncu.edu.cn/PSSMe.aspx CONTACT: jdqiu@ncu.edu.cnSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights

  18. Qualitative analysis of gain spectra of InGaAlAs/InP lasing nano-heterostructure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lal, Pyare; Yadav, Rashmi; Sharma, Meha; Rahman, F.; Dalela, S.; Alvi, P. A.

    2014-08-01

    This paper deals with the studies of lasing characteristics along with the gain spectra of compressively strained and step SCH based In0.71Ga0.21Al0.08As/InP lasing nano-heterostructure within TE polarization mode, taking into account the variation in well width of the single quantum well of the nano-heterostructure. In addition, the compressive conduction and valence bands dispersion profiles for quantum well of the material composition In0.71Ga0.21Al0.08As at temperature 300 K and strain 1.12% have been studied using 4 × 4 Luttinger Hamiltonian. For the proposed nano-heterostructure, the quantum well width dependence of differential gain, refractive index change and relaxation oscillation frequency with current density have been studied. Moreover, the G-J characteristics of the nano-heterostructure at different well widths have also been investigated, that provided significant information about threshold current density, threshold gain and transparency current density. The results obtained in the study of nano-heterostructure suggest that the gain and relaxation oscillation frequency both are decreased with increasing quantum well width but the required lasing wavelength is found to shift towards higher values. On behalf of qualitative analysis of the structure, the well width of 6 nm is found more suitable for lasing action at the wavelength of 1.55 μm due to minimum optical attenuation and minimum dispersion within the waveguide. The results achieved are, therefore, very important in the emerging area of nano-optoelectronics.

  19. Comparing gains and losses.

    PubMed

    McGraw, A Peter; Larsen, Jeff T; Kahneman, Daniel; Schkade, David

    2010-10-01

    Loss aversion in choice is commonly assumed to arise from the anticipation that losses have a greater effect on feelings than gains, but evidence for this assumption in research on judged feelings is mixed. We argue that loss aversion is present in judged feelings when people compare gains and losses and assess them on a common scale. But many situations in which people judge and express their feelings lack these features. When judging their feelings about an outcome, people naturally consider a context of similar outcomes for comparison (e.g., they consider losses against other losses). This process permits gains and losses to be normed separately and produces psychological scale units that may not be the same in size or meaning for gains and losses. Our experiments show loss aversion in judged feelings for tasks that encourage gain-loss comparisons, but not tasks that discourage them, particularly those using bipolar scales.

  20. Internal gain in Er-doped As₂S₃ chalcogenide planar waveguides.

    PubMed

    Yan, Kunlun; Vu, Khu; Madden, Steve

    2015-03-01

    Low-loss erbium-doped As₂S₃ planar waveguides are fabricated by cothermal evaporation and plasma etching. Internal gain in the telecommunications band is demonstrated for the first time in any chalcogenide glass and additionally in a thin film planar waveguide amplifier configuration.

  1. Active rc filter permits easy trade-off of amplifier gain and sensitivity to gain

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kerwin, W. J.; Shaffer, C. V.

    1968-01-01

    Passive RC network was designed with zeros of transmission in the right half of the complex frequency plane in the feedback loop of a simple negative-gain amplifier. The proper positioning provides any desired trade-off between amplifier gain and sensitivity to amplifier gain.

  2. Graphene Distributed Amplifiers: Generating Desirable Gain for Graphene Field-Effect Transistors

    PubMed Central

    Lyu, Hongming; Lu, Qi; Huang, Yilin; Ma, Teng; Zhang, Jinyu; Wu, Xiaoming; Yu, Zhiping; Ren, Wencai; Cheng, Hui-Ming; Wu, Huaqiang; Qian, He

    2015-01-01

    Ever since its discovery, graphene bears great expectations in high frequency electronics due to its irreplaceably high carrier mobility. However, it has long been blamed for the weakness in generating gains, which seriously limits its pace of development. Distributed amplification, on the other hand, has successfully been used in conventional semiconductors to increase the amplifiers’ gain-bandwidth product. In this paper, distributed amplification is first applied to graphene. Transmission lines phase-synchronize paralleled graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs), combining the gain of each stage in an additive manner. Simulations were based on fabricated GFETs whose fT ranged from 8.5 GHz to 10.5 GHz and fmax from 12 GHz to 14 GHz. A simulated four-stage graphene distributed amplifier achieved up to 4 dB gain and 3.5 GHz bandwidth, which could be realized with future IC processes. A PCB level graphene distributed amplifier was fabricated as a proof of circuit concept. PMID:26634442

  3. Reducing alcohol consumption to minimize weight gain and facilitate smoking cessation among military beneficiaries.

    PubMed

    Sobell, Mark B; Peterson, Alan L; Sobell, Linda Carter; Brundige, Antoinette; Hunter, Christopher M; Hunter, Christine M; Goodie, Jeffrey L; Agrawal, Sangeeta; Hrysko-Mullen, Ann S; Isler, William C

    2017-12-01

    Smoking cessation-related weight gain can have significant negative health and career consequences for military personnel. Alcohol reduction combined with smoking cessation may decrease weight gain and relapse. A randomized clinical trial of military beneficiaries compared a standard smoking cessation (i.e., brief informational) intervention (N=159), with a brief motivational smoking cessation intervention that emphasized reduced drinking to lessen caloric intake and minimize weight gain (N=158). Participants who received the motivational intervention were significantly more likely to quit smoking at the 3-month follow-up (p=0.02), but the differences were not maintained at 6 (p=0.18) or 12months (p=0.16). Neither weight change nor alcohol reduction distinguished the 2 groups. Smoking cessation rates at 12months (motivational group=32.91%, informational group=25.79%) were comparable to previous studies, but successful cessation was not mediated by reduced drinking. Alcohol reduction combined with smoking cessation did not result in decreased weight gain or improved outcomes. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  4. Binocular contrast-gain control for natural scenes: Image structure and phase alignment.

    PubMed

    Huang, Pi-Chun; Dai, Yu-Ming

    2018-05-01

    In the context of natural scenes, we applied the pattern-masking paradigm to investigate how image structure and phase alignment affect contrast-gain control in binocular vision. We measured the discrimination thresholds of bandpass-filtered natural-scene images (targets) under various types of pedestals. Our first experiment had four pedestal types: bandpass-filtered pedestals, unfiltered pedestals, notch-filtered pedestals (which enabled removal of the spatial frequency), and misaligned pedestals (which involved rotation of unfiltered pedestals). Our second experiment featured six types of pedestals: bandpass-filtered, unfiltered, and notch-filtered pedestals, and the corresponding phase-scrambled pedestals. The thresholds were compared for monocular, binocular, and dichoptic viewing configurations. The bandpass-filtered pedestal and unfiltered pedestals showed classic dipper shapes; the dipper shapes of the notch-filtered, misaligned, and phase-scrambled pedestals were weak. We adopted a two-stage binocular contrast-gain control model to describe our results. We deduced that the phase-alignment information influenced the contrast-gain control mechanism before the binocular summation stage and that the phase-alignment information and structural misalignment information caused relatively strong divisive inhibition in the monocular and interocular suppression stages. When the pedestals were phase-scrambled, the elimination of the interocular suppression processing was the most convincing explanation of the results. Thus, our results indicated that both phase-alignment information and similar image structures cause strong interocular suppression. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Regression analysis of informative current status data with the additive hazards model.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Shishun; Hu, Tao; Ma, Ling; Wang, Peijie; Sun, Jianguo

    2015-04-01

    This paper discusses regression analysis of current status failure time data arising from the additive hazards model in the presence of informative censoring. Many methods have been developed for regression analysis of current status data under various regression models if the censoring is noninformative, and also there exists a large literature on parametric analysis of informative current status data in the context of tumorgenicity experiments. In this paper, a semiparametric maximum likelihood estimation procedure is presented and in the method, the copula model is employed to describe the relationship between the failure time of interest and the censoring time. Furthermore, I-splines are used to approximate the nonparametric functions involved and the asymptotic consistency and normality of the proposed estimators are established. A simulation study is conducted and indicates that the proposed approach works well for practical situations. An illustrative example is also provided.

  6. Improved Gain Microstrip Patch Antenna

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-08-06

    08-2015 Publication Improved Gain Microstrip Patch Antenna David A. Tonn Naval Under Warfare Center Division, Newport 1176 Howell St., Code 00L...GAIN MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST [0001] The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the...patch antenna having increased gain, and an apparatus for increasing the gain and bandwidth of an existing microstrip patch antenna . (2) Description

  7. Pharmacogenetics of leptin in antipsychotic-associated weight gain and obesity-related complications

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Amy K; Bishop, Jefrey R

    2013-01-01

    Second-generation antipsychotics can greatly improve symptoms of psychosis-spectrum disorders. Unfortunately, these drugs are associated with weight gain, which increases a patient’s risk for developing chronic diseases including Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or other obesity-related complications. There are interindividual differences in weight gain resulting from antipsychotic drug use that may be explained by pharmacodynamic characteristics of these agents as well as clinical factors. In addition, genetic variations in pathways associated with satiety are increasingly recognized as potential contributors to antipsychotic-associated weight gain. Polymorphisms in the leptin gene, as well as the leptin receptor gene, are potential pharmacogenetic markers associated with these outcomes. This article summarizes evidence for the associations of the leptin gene and the leptin receptor gene polymorphisms with antipsychotic-induced weight gain, potential mechanisms underlying these relationships, and discusses areas for future pharmacogenetic investigation. PMID:21787190

  8. Keldysh meets Lindblad: Correlated Gain and Loss in Higher Order Perturbation Theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stace, Tom; Mueller, Clemens

    Motivated by correlated decay processes driving gain, loss and lasing in driven artificial quantum systems, we develop a theoretical technique using Keldysh diagrammatic perturbation theory to derive a Lindblad master equation that goes beyond the usual second order perturbation theory. We demonstrate the method on the driven dissipative Rabi model, including terms up to fourth order in the interaction between the qubit and both the resonator and environment. This results in a large class of Lindblad dissipators and associated rates which go beyond the terms that have previously been proposed to describe similar systems. All of the additional terms contribute to the system behaviour at the same order of perturbation theory. We then apply these results to analyse the phonon-assisted steady-state gain of a microwave field driving a double quantum-dot in a resonator. We show that resonator gain and loss are substantially affected by dephasing- assisted dissipative processes in the quantum-dot system. These additional processes, which go beyond recently proposed polaronic theories, are in good quantitative agreement with experimental observations.

  9. Coherence and interlimb force control: Effects of visual gain.

    PubMed

    Kang, Nyeonju; Cauraugh, James H

    2018-03-06

    Neural coupling across hemispheres and homologous muscles often appears during bimanual motor control. Force coupling in a specific frequency domain may indicate specific bimanual force coordination patterns. This study investigated coherence on pairs of bimanual isometric index finger force while manipulating visual gain and task asymmetry conditions. We used two visual gain conditions (low and high gain = 8 and 512 pixels/N), and created task asymmetry by manipulating coefficient ratios imposed on the left and right index finger forces (0.4:1.6; 1:1; 1.6:0.4, respectively). Unequal coefficient ratios required different contributions from each hand to the bimanual force task resulting in force asymmetry. Fourteen healthy young adults performed bimanual isometric force control at 20% of their maximal level of the summed force of both fingers. We quantified peak coherence and relative phase angle between hands at 0-4, 4-8, and 8-12 Hz, and estimated a signal-to-noise ratio of bimanual forces. The findings revealed higher peak coherence and relative phase angle at 0-4 Hz than at 4-8 and 8-12 Hz for both visual gain conditions. Further, peak coherence and relative phase angle values at 0-4 Hz were larger at the high gain than at the low gain. At the high gain, higher peak coherence at 0-4 Hz collapsed across task asymmetry conditions significantly predicted greater signal-to-noise ratio. These findings indicate that a greater level of visual information facilitates bimanual force coupling at a specific frequency range related to sensorimotor processing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Sudden gains in exposure-focused cognitive-behavioral group therapy for panic disorder.

    PubMed

    Nogueira-Arjona, Raquel; Santacana, Martí; Montoro, María; Rosado, Silvia; Guillamat, Roser; Vallès, Vicenç; Fullana, Miquel A

    2017-11-01

    In the context of psychological treatment, a sudden gain is a large and enduring improvement in symptom severity that occurs between two single therapy sessions. The influence of sudden gains on long-term outcomes and functional impairment in anxiety disorders is not well understood, and little is known with regard to panic disorder in particular. In addition, previous research on patients with anxiety disorders has produced inconsistent results regarding the relationship between sudden gains and cognitive change. We examined the incidence of sudden gains in a large sample (n = 116) of panic disorder patients undergoing exposure-focused cognitive-behavioral group therapy, and compared panic severity, functional impairment, and cognitive change in patients with and without sudden gains at posttreatment and 6-month follow-up. Participants who experienced sudden gains displayed lower levels of panic severity and functional impairment at posttreatment and 6-month follow-up than those who did not experience sudden gains. However, we observed no difference in cognitive changes between groups, either at posttreatment or at follow-up. Our results demonstrate that the beneficial effects of sudden gains on therapeutic outcomes not only extend to long-term and functional outcome measures but are also evident in less cognitive (i.e., exposure-focused) forms of psychological treatment. Sudden gains are common in panic disorder patients undergoing exposure-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy. Sudden gains during exposure-focused therapy are linked to greater improvement in panic disorder severity and functional impairment. The positive impact of sudden gains on panic disorder severity and functional impairment is maintained in the long term. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Age differences in gain- and loss-motivated attention.

    PubMed

    Williams, Ryan S; Biel, Anna Lena; Dyson, Benjamin J; Spaniol, Julia

    2017-02-01

    Adaptive gain theory (Aston-Jones & Cohen, 2005) suggests that the phasic release of norepinephrine (NE) to cortical areas reflects changes in the utility of ongoing tasks. In the context of aging, this theory raises interesting questions, given that the motivations of older adults differ from those of younger adults. According to socioemotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999), aging is associated with greater emphasis on emotion-regulation goals, leading older adults to prioritize positive over negative information. This suggests that the phasic release of NE in response to threatening stimuli may be diminished in older adults. In the present study, younger adults (aged 18-34years) and older adults (60-82years) completed the Attention Network Test (ANT), modified to include an incentive manipulation. A behavioral index of attentional alerting served as a marker of phasic arousal. For younger adults, this marker correlated with the effect of both gain and loss incentives on performance. For older adults, in contrast, the correlation between phasic arousal and incentive sensitivity held for gain incentives only. These findings suggest that the enlistment of phasic NE activity may be specific to approach-oriented motivation in older adults. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  12. Adaptive Sparse Representation for Source Localization with Gain/Phase Errors

    PubMed Central

    Sun, Ke; Liu, Yimin; Meng, Huadong; Wang, Xiqin

    2011-01-01

    Sparse representation (SR) algorithms can be implemented for high-resolution direction of arrival (DOA) estimation. Additionally, SR can effectively separate the coherent signal sources because the spectrum estimation is based on the optimization technique, such as the L1 norm minimization, but not on subspace orthogonality. However, in the actual source localization scenario, an unknown gain/phase error between the array sensors is inevitable. Due to this nonideal factor, the predefined overcomplete basis mismatches the actual array manifold so that the estimation performance is degraded in SR. In this paper, an adaptive SR algorithm is proposed to improve the robustness with respect to the gain/phase error, where the overcomplete basis is dynamically adjusted using multiple snapshots and the sparse solution is adaptively acquired to match with the actual scenario. The simulation results demonstrate the estimation robustness to the gain/phase error using the proposed method. PMID:22163875

  13. Temporal structure and gain-loss asymmetry for real and artificial stock indices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Siven, Johannes Vitalis; Lins, Jeffrey Todd

    2009-11-01

    Previous research has shown that for stock indices, the most likely time until a return of a particular size has been observed is longer for gains than for losses. We demonstrate that this so-called gain-loss asymmetry vanishes if the temporal dependence structure is destroyed by scrambling the time series. We also show that an artificial index constructed by a simple average of a number of individual stocks display gain-loss asymmetry—this allows us to explicitly analyze the dependence between the index constituents. We consider mutual information and correlation-based measures and show that the stock returns indeed have a higher degree of dependence in times of market downturns than upturns.

  14. Orbital angular momentum modes of high-gain parametric down-conversion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beltran, Lina; Frascella, Gaetano; Perez, Angela M.; Fickler, Robert; Sharapova, Polina R.; Manceau, Mathieu; Tikhonova, Olga V.; Boyd, Robert W.; Leuchs, Gerd; Chekhova, Maria V.

    2017-04-01

    Light beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM) are convenient carriers of quantum information. They can also be used for imparting rotational motion to particles and providing high resolution in imaging. Due to the conservation of OAM in parametric down-conversion (PDC), signal and idler photons generated at low gain have perfectly anti-correlated OAM values. It is interesting to study the OAM properties of high-gain PDC, where the same OAM modes can be populated with large, but correlated, numbers of photons. Here we investigate the OAM spectrum of high-gain PDC and show that the OAM mode content can be controlled by varying the pump power and the configuration of the source. In our experiment, we use a source consisting of two nonlinear crystals separated by an air gap. We discuss the OAM properties of PDC radiation emitted by this source and suggest possible modifications.

  15. Association of gestational weight gain expectations with advice on actual weight gain

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    To examine pregnant women's gestational weight gain expectations/advice from various sources (i.e., self, family/friends, physician) and the impact of these sources of expectations/advice on actual measured gestational weight gain. Pregnant women (n=230, 87.4% Caucasian, second pregnancy) in a cohor...

  16. Development and Pilot Testing of the Eating4two Mobile Phone App to Monitor Gestational Weight Gain.

    PubMed

    Knight-Agarwal, Catherine; Davis, Deborah Lee; Williams, Lauren; Davey, Rachel; Cox, Robert; Clarke, Adam

    2015-06-05

    The number of pregnant women with a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m(2) or more is increasing, which has important implications for antenatal care. Various resource-intensive interventions have attempted to assist women in managing their weight gain during pregnancy with limited success. A mobile phone app has been proposed as a convenient and cost-effective alternative to face-to-face interventions. This paper describes the process of developing and pilot testing the Eating4Two app, which aims to provide women with a simple gestational weight gain (GWG) calculator, general dietary information, and the motivation to achieve a healthy weight gain during pregnancy. The project involved the development of app components, including a graphing function that allows the user to record their weight throughout the pregnancy and to receive real-time feedback on weight gain progress and general information on antenatal nutrition. Stakeholder consultation was used to inform development. The app was pilot tested with 10 pregnant women using a mixed method approach via an online survey, 2 focus groups, and 1 individual interview. The Eating4Two app took 7 months to develop and evaluate. It involved several disciplines--including nutrition and dietetics, midwifery, public health, and information technology--at the University of Canberra. Participants found the Eating4Two app to be a motivational tool but would have liked scales or other markers on the graph that demonstrated exact weight gain. They also liked the nutrition information; however, many felt it should be formatted in a more user friendly way. The Eating4Two app was viewed by participants in our study as an innovative support system to help motivate healthy behaviors during pregnancy and as a credible resource for accessing nutrition-focused information. The feedback provided by participants will assist with refining the current prototype for use in a clinical intervention trial.

  17. An Examination of the Addition of Video Informed Reflective Practice to the Active Support Toolkit

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, Peter; Appleton, Philippa; Williams, Rosie

    2017-01-01

    Background: This study evaluated a package of Active Support (AS), which included standard training with additional video informed reflective practice. Materials & Methods: The training package was implemented as part of a service improvement initiative in four residential intellectual disability homes, using a concurrent multiple baseline…

  18. Weight Gain during Pregnancy

    MedlinePlus

    ... Global Map Premature Birth Report Cards Careers Archives Pregnancy Before or between pregnancies Nutrition, weight & fitness Prenatal ... fitness > Weight gain during pregnancy Weight gain during pregnancy E-mail to a friend Please fill in ...

  19. Asthma Triggers: Gain Control

    MedlinePlus

    ... Centers Asthma Contact Us Share Asthma Triggers: Gain Control Breathing Freely: Controlling Asthma Triggers This video features ... Air Quality: Biological Pollutants Help Your Child Gain Control Over Asthma Top of Page Molds About Molds ...

  20. Informed Additive Literacy Instruction for ELLs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bauer, Eurydice Bouchereau

    2009-01-01

    There are numerous reasons why schools struggle to provide English-language learners (ELLs) with additive literacy instruction. One reason for this is the lack of available trained bilingual teachers, mainstream teachers who have not received adequate training on how to teach ELLs, and the current political climate that appears to support an…

  1. Understanding the nature of information seeking behavior in critical care: implications for the design of health information technology.

    PubMed

    Kannampallil, Thomas G; Franklin, Amy; Mishra, Rashmi; Almoosa, Khalid F; Cohen, Trevor; Patel, Vimla L

    2013-01-01

    Information in critical care environments is distributed across multiple sources, such as paper charts, electronic records, and support personnel. For decision-making tasks, physicians have to seek, gather, filter and organize information from various sources in a timely manner. The objective of this research is to characterize the nature of physicians' information seeking process, and the content and structure of clinical information retrieved during this process. Eight medical intensive care unit physicians provided a verbal think-aloud as they performed a clinical diagnosis task. Verbal descriptions of physicians' activities, sources of information they used, time spent on each information source, and interactions with other clinicians were captured for analysis. The data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. We found that the information seeking process was exploratory and iterative and driven by the contextual organization of information. While there was no significant differences between the overall time spent paper or electronic records, there was marginally greater relative information gain (i.e., more unique information retrieved per unit time) from electronic records (t(6)=1.89, p=0.1). Additionally, information retrieved from electronic records was at a higher level (i.e., observations and findings) in the knowledge structure than paper records, reflecting differences in the nature of knowledge utilization across resources. A process of local optimization drove the information seeking process: physicians utilized information that maximized their information gain even though it required significantly more cognitive effort. Implications for the design of health information technology solutions that seamlessly integrate information seeking activities within the workflow, such as enriching the clinical information space and supporting efficient clinical reasoning and decision-making, are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All

  2. Target-matched insertion gain derived from three different hearing aid selection procedures.

    PubMed

    Punch, J L; Shovels, A H; Dickinson, W W; Calder, J H; Snead, C

    1995-11-01

    Three hearing aid selection procedures were compared to determine if any one was superior in producing prescribed real-ear insertion gain. For each of three subject groups, 12 in-the-ear style hearing aids with Class D circuitry and similar dispenser controls were ordered from one of three manufacturers. Subject groups were classified based on the type of information included on the hearing aid order form: (1) the subject's audiogram, (2) a three-part matrix specifying the desired maximum output, full-on gain, and frequency response slope of the hearing aid, or (3) the desired 2-cc coupler full-in grain of the hearing aid, based on real-ear coupler difference (RECD) measurements. Following electroacoustic adjustments aimed at approximating a commonly used target insertion gain formula, results revealed no significant differences among any of the three selection procedures with respect to obtaining acceptable insertion gain values.

  3. Water quality in Gaines Creek and Gaines Creek arm of Eufaula Lake, Oklahoma

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kurklin, J.K.

    1990-01-01

    Based on samples collected from May 1978 to May 1980 and analyzed for major anions, nitrogen, trace elements, phytoplankton, and bacteria, the water in Gaines Creek and the Gaines Creek arm of Eufaula Lake was similar with respect to suitability for municipal use. Water from Gaines Creek had a pH range of 5.7 to 7.6 and a maximum specific conductance of 97 microsiemens per centimeter at 25o Celsius, whereas water from the Gaines Creek arm of Eufaula Lake had a pH range of 6.0 to 9.2 and a maximum specific conductance of 260 microsiemens per centimeter at 25o Celsius. Dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, and specific conductance values for the lake varied with depth. With the exceptions of cadmium, iron, lead, and manganese, trace-element determinations of samples were within recommended national primary and secondary drinking-water standards. When compared to the National Academy of Sciences water-quality criteria, phytoplankton and bacteria counts exceeded recommendations; however, water from either Gaines Creek or Eufaula Lake could be treated similarly and used as a municipal water supply.

  4. Mechanisms of Gain Control by Voltage-Gated Channels in Intrinsically-Firing Neurons

    PubMed Central

    Patel, Ameera X.; Burdakov, Denis

    2015-01-01

    Gain modulation is a key feature of neural information processing, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In single neurons, gain can be measured as the slope of the current-frequency (input-output) relationship over any given range of inputs. While much work has focused on the control of basal firing rates and spike rate adaptation, gain control has been relatively unstudied. Of the limited studies on gain control, some have examined the roles of synaptic noise and passive somatic currents, but the roles of voltage-gated channels present ubiquitously in neurons have been less explored. Here, we systematically examined the relationship between gain and voltage-gated ion channels in a conductance-based, tonically-active, model neuron. Changes in expression (conductance density) of voltage-gated channels increased (Ca2+ channel), reduced (K+ channels), or produced little effect (h-type channel) on gain. We found that the gain-controlling ability of channels increased exponentially with the steepness of their activation within the dynamic voltage window (voltage range associated with firing). For depolarization-activated channels, this produced a greater channel current per action potential at higher firing rates. This allowed these channels to modulate gain by contributing to firing preferentially at states of higher excitation. A finer analysis of the current-voltage relationship during tonic firing identified narrow voltage windows at which the gain-modulating channels exerted their effects. As a proof of concept, we show that h-type channels can be tuned to modulate gain by changing the steepness of their activation within the dynamic voltage window. These results show how the impact of an ion channel on gain can be predicted from the relationship between channel kinetics and the membrane potential during firing. This is potentially relevant to understanding input-output scaling in a wide class of neurons found throughout the brain and other nervous systems

  5. The Value of Survival Gains in Pancreatic Cancer from Novel Treatment Regimens.

    PubMed

    MacEwan, Joanna P; Yin, Wes; Kaura, Satyin; Khan, Zeba M

    2017-02-01

    Metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC) is associated with low survival, with less than 10% of patients surviving 5 years. Recent therapies improve survival outcomes where few alternative therapies exist, but few economic analyses measure the value of survival gains attributable to new therapies. To estimate the value of survival gains in advanced or mPC attributable to the introduction of novel treatment regimens. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate real-world survival gains associated with the introduction of gemcitabine (GEM) for patients diagnosed with stage IV or unstaged mPC in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program cancer registries. Then, evidence from clinical trials was used to evaluate the survival gains associated with nab-paclitaxel + gemcitabine (nP +GEM) and FOLFIRINOX (FFX) relative to GEM. The survival estimates and clinical trial evidence were used to calibrate an economic model and assess the cumulative value of survival gains in mPC to patients. Costs of treatment were calculated based on published cost-effectiveness studies. We estimated that the introduction of GEM in 1996 was associated with a hazard ratio of 0.920 (P < 0.05) and an increase in median survival from 3.1 to 4.5 months. Results suggested that the value of survival gains attributable to GEM equaled about $71,000 per patient, while the value attributable to nP + GEM was an additional $56,700. Estimates for the value of survival gains per patient, net of total incremental lifetime treatment costs (drugs, adverse events, and other costs), were $50,294 for GEM and an additional $31,900 for nP + GEM. Clinical trials and cost-effectiveness studies reported an overall survival gain from FFX that was larger than, but statistically similar to, nP + GEM and had greater risk of adverse events and total incremental costs. We estimated that the total value of survival gains to mPC patients, net of total costs, associated with GEM was up to $47

  6. Decision-making for risky gains and losses among college students with Internet gaming disorder.

    PubMed

    Yao, Yuan-Wei; Chen, Pin-Ru; Li, Song; Wang, Ling-Jiao; Zhang, Jin-Tao; Yip, Sarah W; Chen, Gang; Deng, Lin-Yuan; Liu, Qin-Xue; Fang, Xiao-Yi

    2015-01-01

    Individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) tend to exhibit disadvantageous risky decision-making not only in their real life but also in laboratory tasks. Decision-making is a complex multifaceted function and different cognitive processes are involved in decision-making for gains and losses. However, the relationship between impaired decision-making and gain versus loss processing in the context of IGD is poorly understood. The main aim of the present study was to separately evaluate decision-making for risky gains and losses among college students with IGD using the Cups task. Additionally, we further examined the effects of outcome magnitude and probability level on decision-making related to risky gains and losses respectively. Sixty college students with IGD and 42 matched healthy controls (HCs) participated. Results indicated that IGD subjects exhibited generally greater risk taking tendencies than HCs. In comparison to HCs, IGD subjects made more disadvantageous risky choices in the loss domain (but not in the gain domain). Follow-up analyses indicated that the impairment was associated to insensitivity to changes in outcome magnitude and probability level for risky losses among IGD subjects. In addition, higher Internet addiction severity scores were associated with percentage of disadvantageous risky options in the loss domain. These findings emphasize the effect of insensitivity to losses on disadvantageous decisions under risk in the context of IGD, which has implications for future intervention studies.

  7. Maintenance of gains following experiential therapies for depression.

    PubMed

    Ellison, Jennifer A; Greenberg, Leslie S; Goldman, Rhonda N; Angus, Lynne

    2009-02-01

    Follow-up data across an 18-month period are presented for 43 adults who had been randomly assigned and had responded to short-term client-centered (CC) and emotion-focused (EFT) therapies for major depression. Long-term effects of these short-term therapies were evaluated using relapse rates, number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic weeks, survival times across an 18-month follow-up, and group comparisons on self-report indices at 6- and 18-month follow-up among those clients who responded to the acute treatment phase. EFT treatment showed superior effects across 18 months in terms of less depressive relapse and greater number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic weeks, and the probability of maintaining treatment gains was significantly more likely in the EFT treatment than in the CC treatment. In addition, follow-up self-report results demonstrated significantly greater effects for EFT clients on reduction of depression and improvement of self-esteem, and there were trends in favor of EFT, in comparison with CC, on reduction of general symptom distress and interpersonal problems. Maintenance of treatment gains following an empathic relational treatment appears to be enhanced by the addition of specific experiential and gestalt-derived emotion-focused interventions. Clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are presented.

  8. Saccharin and aspartame, compared with sucrose, induce greater weight gain in adult Wistar rats, at similar total caloric intake levels.

    PubMed

    Feijó, Fernanda de Matos; Ballard, Cíntia Reis; Foletto, Kelly Carraro; Batista, Bruna Aparecida Melo; Neves, Alice Magagnin; Ribeiro, Maria Flávia Marques; Bertoluci, Marcello Casaccia

    2013-01-01

    It has been suggested that the use of nonnutritive sweeteners (NNSs) can lead to weight gain, but evidence regarding their real effect in body weight and satiety is still inconclusive. Using a rat model, the present study compares the effect of saccharin and aspartame to sucrose in body weight gain and in caloric intake. Twenty-nine male Wistar rats received plain yogurt sweetened with 20% sucrose, 0.3% sodium saccharin or 0.4% aspartame, in addition to chow and water ad libitum, while physical activity was restrained. Measurements of cumulative body weight gain, total caloric intake, caloric intake of chow and caloric intake of sweetened yogurt were performed weekly for 12 weeks. Results showed that addition of either saccharin or aspartame to yogurt resulted in increased weight gain compared to addition of sucrose, however total caloric intake was similar among groups. In conclusion, greater weight gain was promoted by the use of saccharin or aspartame, compared with sucrose, and this weight gain was unrelated to caloric intake. We speculate that a decrease in energy expenditure or increase in fluid retention might be involved. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Antipsychotic-induced weight gain: a comprehensive research synthesis.

    PubMed

    Allison, D B; Mentore, J L; Heo, M; Chandler, L P; Cappelleri, J C; Infante, M C; Weiden, P J

    1999-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to estimate and compare the effects of antipsychotics-both the newer ones and the conventional ones-on body weight. A comprehensive literature search identified 81 English- and non-English-language articles that included data on weight change in antipsychotic-treated patients. For each agent, a meta-analysis and random effects metaregression estimated the weight change after 10 weeks of treatment at a standard dose. A comprehensive narrative review was also conducted on all articles that did not yield quantitative information but did yield important qualitative information. Placebo was associated with a mean weight reduction of 0.74 kg. Among conventional agents, mean weight change ranged from a reduction of 0.39 kg with molindone to an increase of 3.19 kg with thioridazine. Among newer antipsychotic agents, mean increases were as follows: clozapine, 4.45 kg; olanzapine, 4.15 kg; sertindole, 2.92 kg; risperidone, 2.10 kg; and ziprasidone, 0.04 kg. Insufficient data were available to evaluate quetiapine at 10 weeks. Both conventional and newer antipsychotics are associated with weight gain. Among the newer agents, clozapine appears to have the greatest potential to induce weight gain, and ziprasidone the least. The differences among newer agents may affect compliance with medication and health risk.

  10. Leading Gainful Employment Metric Reporting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Powers, Kristina; MacPherson, Derek

    2016-01-01

    This chapter will address the importance of intercampus involvement in reporting of gainful employment student-level data that will be used in the calculation of gainful employment metrics by the U.S. Department of Education. The authors will discuss why building relationships within the institution is critical for effective gainful employment…

  11. Gain control by layer six in cortical circuits of vision.

    PubMed

    Olsen, Shawn R; Bortone, Dante S; Adesnik, Hillel; Scanziani, Massimo

    2012-02-22

    After entering the cerebral cortex, sensory information spreads through six different horizontal neuronal layers that are interconnected by vertical axonal projections. It is believed that through these projections layers can influence each other's response to sensory stimuli, but the specific role that each layer has in cortical processing is still poorly understood. Here we show that layer six in the primary visual cortex of the mouse has a crucial role in controlling the gain of visually evoked activity in neurons of the upper layers without changing their tuning to orientation. This gain modulation results from the coordinated action of layer six intracortical projections to superficial layers and deep projections to the thalamus, with a substantial role of the intracortical circuit. This study establishes layer six as a major mediator of cortical gain modulation and suggests that it could be a node through which convergent inputs from several brain areas can regulate the earliest steps of cortical visual processing.

  12. Gaining insight in the behaviour of imidazolium-based ionic liquids as additives in reversed-phase liquid chromatography for the analysis of basic compounds.

    PubMed

    Ubeda-Torres, M T; Ortiz-Bolsico, C; García-Alvarez-Coque, M C; Ruiz-Angel, M J

    2015-02-06

    In reversed-phase liquid chromatography in the absence of additives, cationic basic compounds give rise to broad and asymmetrical peaks as a result of ionic interactions with residual free silanols on silica-based stationary phases. Ionic liquids (ILs), added to the mobile phase, have been suggested as alternatives to amines to block the activity of silanols. However, the dual character of ILs should be considered: both cation and anion may be adsorbed on the stationary phase, thereby creating a double asymmetrical layer positively or negatively charged, depending on the relative adsorption of both ions. In this work, a study of the performance of six imidazolium-based ILs (the chlorides and tetrafluoroborates of 1-ethyl-, 1-butyl- and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium) as modifiers of the chromatographic behaviour of a group of 10 β-blockers is performed, and compared with triethylamine and dimethyloctylamine. In order to gain more insight in the behaviour of ILs in RPLC, the changes in the nature of the chromatographic system, at increasing concentration of the additives, were followed based on retention and peak shape modelling. The multiple interactions that amines and ILs experience inside the chromatographic system suggest that the suppressing potency should be measured based on the shape of chromatographic peaks and not on the changes in retention. The ILs 1-hexyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride and tetrafluoroborate offered the most interesting features for the separation of the basic drugs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Effects of neurobehavioral assessment on feeding and weight gain in preterm neonates.

    PubMed

    Senn, Theresa E; Espy, Kimberly Andrews

    2003-04-01

    Neonatal intensive care unit personnel and parents often are concerned that developmental assessment will tire preterm neonates and impair their feeding ability and subsequent weight gain. Therefore, the amount of fluid consumed by 108 preterm neonates (addition, the weight gain of 35 preterm neonates who were administered the NAPI was compared with that of a matched control group of 35 preterm neonates who were not administered the NAPI. There were no differences in the amount of fluid consumed before and after NAPI administration, and there were no differences in weight gain between neonates who were and were not administered the NAPI. The effects of NAPI administration did not differ as a function of gestational age group. Therefore, the NAPI can be administered safely to preterm neonates without affecting feeding performance or weight gain.

  14. Hidradenitis suppurativa gains increasing interest on World Wide Web: a source for patient information?

    PubMed

    Hessam, Schapoor; Salem, Johannes; Bechara, Falk G; Haferkamp, Axel; Heidenreich, Axel; Paffenholz, Pia; Sand, Michael; Tsaur, Igor; Borgmann, Hendrik

    2017-07-01

    Gathering health information from Internet websites is increasingly utilized by patients. No data exist about hidradenitis suppurativa (HS)-related online health information. Thus, we aimed to study the quality, popularity, readability, and timeliness of the most frequented websites on HS. Google Trends was used to evaluate the public interest in HS. An Internet search on Google was performed for the terms "hidradenitis suppurativa," "acne inversa," and "Verneuil's disease." Readability scores, HONcode quality certification, Alexa popularity rank, and content were assessed. Google search queries on HS have steadily risen in the last 10 years. The website analysis revealed 39 unique websites, which were difficult to read. Ten websites (26%) had HONcode quality certification, and the median (IQR) Alexa popularity rank was 48871 (2333-361275). Thirteen websites (33%) yielded disease-specific photos with a median rating between "quite useful" and "uncertain." A therapy option with adalimumab was mentioned on 11 websites (28%). In addition to an increasing interest, we found a broad variation in the quality, readability, popularity, and timeliness of content on HS-related websites. Improvement of the quality and readability of HS-related websites is desirable to potentially raise disease awareness and contribute to an earlier presentation of patients suffering with undiagnosed HS. © 2017 The International Society of Dermatology.

  15. Information Dominance: Informations Role in Influencing Decision Making

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-03-01

    AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE INFORMATION DOMINANCE : INFORMATION’S ROLE IN INFLUENCING DECISION MAKING 5. FUNDING...unlimited INFORMATION DOMINANCE : INFORMATION’S ROLE IN INFLUENCING DECISION MAKING Geoffrey C. Gaines Lieutenant, United States Navy B.S...NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited INFORMATION

  16. Dantrolene Reduces the Threshold and Gain for Shivering

    PubMed Central

    Lin, Chun-Ming; Neeru, Sharma; Doufas, Anthony G.; Liem, Edwin; Shah, Yunus Muneer; Wadhwa, Anupama; Lenhardt, Rainer; Bjorksten, Andrew; Kurz, Andrea

    2005-01-01

    Dantrolene is used for treatment of life-threatening hyperthermia, yet its thermoregulatory effects are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that dantrolene reduces the threshold (triggering core temperature) and gain (incremental increase) of shivering. With IRB approval and informed consent, healthy volunteers were evaluated on two random days: control and dantrolene (≈2.5 mg/kg plus a continuous infusion). In study 1, 9 men were warmed until sweating was provoked and then cooled until arterio-venous shunt constriction and shivering occurred. Sweating was quantified on the chest using a ventilated capsule. Absolute right middle fingertip blood flow was quantified using venous-occlusion volume plethysmography. A sustained increase in oxygen consumption identified the shivering threshold. In study 2, 9 men were given cold Ringer's solution IV to reduce core temperature ≈2°C/h. Cooling was stopped when shivering intensity no longer increased with further core cooling. The gain of shivering was the slope of oxygen consumption vs. core temperature regression. In Study 1, sweating and vasoconstriction thresholds were similar on both days. In contrast, shivering threshold decreased 0.3±0.3°C, P=0.004, on the dantrolene day. In Study 2, dantrolene decreased the shivering threshold from 36.7±0.2 to 36.3±0.3°C, P=0.01 and systemic gain from 353±144 to 211±93 ml·min−1·°C−1, P=0.02. Thus, dantrolene substantially decreased the gain of shivering, but produced little central thermoregulatory inhibition. PMID:15105208

  17. Serotonin Decreases the Gain of Visual Responses in Awake Macaque V1.

    PubMed

    Seillier, Lenka; Lorenz, Corinna; Kawaguchi, Katsuhisa; Ott, Torben; Nieder, Andreas; Pourriahi, Paria; Nienborg, Hendrikje

    2017-11-22

    Serotonin, an important neuromodulator in the brain, is implicated in affective and cognitive functions. However, its role even for basic cortical processes is controversial. For example, in the mammalian primary visual cortex (V1), heterogenous serotonergic modulation has been observed in anesthetized animals. Here, we combined extracellular single-unit recordings with iontophoresis in awake animals. We examined the role of serotonin on well-defined tuning properties (orientation, spatial frequency, contrast, and size) in V1 of two male macaque monkeys. We find that in the awake macaque the modulatory effect of serotonin is surprisingly uniform: it causes a mainly multiplicative decrease of the visual responses and a slight increase in the stimulus-selective response latency. Moreover, serotonin neither systematically changes the selectivity or variability of the response, nor the interneuronal correlation unexplained by the stimulus ("noise-correlation"). The modulation by serotonin has qualitative similarities with that for a decrease in stimulus contrast, but differs quantitatively from decreasing contrast. It can be captured by a simple additive change to a threshold-linear spiking nonlinearity. Together, our results show that serotonin is well suited to control the response gain of neurons in V1 depending on the animal's behavioral or motivational context, complementing other known state-dependent gain-control mechanisms. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Serotonin is an important neuromodulator in the brain and a major target for drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders. Nonetheless, surprisingly little is known about how it shapes information processing in sensory areas. Here we examined the serotonergic modulation of visual processing in the primary visual cortex of awake behaving macaque monkeys. We found that serotonin mainly decreased the gain of the visual responses, without systematically changing their selectivity, variability, or covariability. This

  18. Serotonin Decreases the Gain of Visual Responses in Awake Macaque V1

    PubMed Central

    Seillier, Lenka; Lorenz, Corinna; Kawaguchi, Katsuhisa; Ott, Torben; Pourriahi, Paria

    2017-01-01

    Serotonin, an important neuromodulator in the brain, is implicated in affective and cognitive functions. However, its role even for basic cortical processes is controversial. For example, in the mammalian primary visual cortex (V1), heterogenous serotonergic modulation has been observed in anesthetized animals. Here, we combined extracellular single-unit recordings with iontophoresis in awake animals. We examined the role of serotonin on well-defined tuning properties (orientation, spatial frequency, contrast, and size) in V1 of two male macaque monkeys. We find that in the awake macaque the modulatory effect of serotonin is surprisingly uniform: it causes a mainly multiplicative decrease of the visual responses and a slight increase in the stimulus-selective response latency. Moreover, serotonin neither systematically changes the selectivity or variability of the response, nor the interneuronal correlation unexplained by the stimulus (“noise-correlation”). The modulation by serotonin has qualitative similarities with that for a decrease in stimulus contrast, but differs quantitatively from decreasing contrast. It can be captured by a simple additive change to a threshold-linear spiking nonlinearity. Together, our results show that serotonin is well suited to control the response gain of neurons in V1 depending on the animal's behavioral or motivational context, complementing other known state-dependent gain-control mechanisms. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Serotonin is an important neuromodulator in the brain and a major target for drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders. Nonetheless, surprisingly little is known about how it shapes information processing in sensory areas. Here we examined the serotonergic modulation of visual processing in the primary visual cortex of awake behaving macaque monkeys. We found that serotonin mainly decreased the gain of the visual responses, without systematically changing their selectivity, variability, or covariability. This

  19. Patients retrieving additional information via the Internet: a trend analysis in a Swedish population, 2000-05.

    PubMed

    Rahmqvist, Mikael; Bara, Ana-Claudia

    2007-01-01

    To examine the trends over five years for patients' seeking online additional health information about their disease/health problem to what the doctor has been giving, and investigate any differences in information-seeking behaviour according to age, gender, self-perceived health status, living area, and type of medical encounter. Data from three independent surveys conducted in 2000, 2002, and 2005 of a population with a recent experience of outpatient care[n]typesetter: please remove blue shading here and elsewhere[/n], including 24,800 respondents aged between 20 and 95, were analysed in a trend analysis and a logistic regression regarding background factors that may influence the seeking behaviour. During the study period, there was a significant increase in Internet use in most age groups. The total use among men 20-95 years old increased from 7% in 2000 to 18% in 2005 and from 9% to 25% for women respectively. The predictors for using the Internet as a source of information were: age, gender, self-perceived health status, living area, and the type of medical encounter (first or repeated). In 2005, women aged 20-49 used the Internet as a source to a significantly greater extent than men, even when all background factors were controlled for (OR 1.46 and CI 1.21-1.77). Swedish patients, especially the young and middle-aged, are to a substantial degree using the Internet to gather additional information on their disease. The benefits of this increase include more informed patients; however, there are inherent quality issues that require strategies for ensuring public access to high-quality health information online.

  20. Gain Modulation in the Central Nervous System: Where Behavior, Neurophysiology, and Computation Meet

    PubMed Central

    SALINAS, EMILIO; SEJNOWSKI, TERRENCE J.

    2010-01-01

    Gain modulation is a nonlinear way in which neurons combine information from two (or more) sources, which may be of sensory, motor, or cognitive origin. Gain modulation is revealed when one input, the modulatory one, affects the gain or the sensitivity of the neuron to the other input, without modifying its selectivity or receptive field properties. This type of modulatory interaction is important for two reasons. First, it is an extremely widespread integration mechanism; it is found in a plethora of cortical areas and in some subcortical structures as well, and as a consequence it seems to play an important role in a striking variety of functions, including eye and limb movements, navigation, spatial perception, attentional processing, and object recognition. Second, there is a theoretical foundation indicating that gain-modulated neurons may serve as a basis for a general class of computations, namely, coordinate transformations and the generation of invariant responses, which indeed may underlie all the brain functions just mentioned. This article describes the relationships between computational models, the physiological properties of a variety of gain-modulated neurons, and some of the behavioral consequences of damage to gain-modulated neural representations. PMID:11597102

  1. Proliferation capacity of T-lymphocytes is affected transiently after a long-term weight gain in Beagle dogs.

    PubMed

    Van de Velde, H; Janssens, G P J; Rochus, K; Duchateau, L; Scharek-Tedin, L; Zentek, J; Nguyen, P; Cox, E; Buyse, J; Biourge, V; Hesta, M

    2013-04-15

    Across species obesity is associated with several disorders but in companion animals little information is available on the impact of chronic obesity on immune competence. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether weight gain and stable obese bodyweight affects the immune cell response. Obesity was induced in eight adult healthy beagle dogs (weight gain group; WGG) by a weight gain period (WGP) of 47 weeks, which was immediately followed by a period (stable period: SP) of stable obesity of 26 weeks. Eight adult healthy beagle dogs were included as a control group (CG) and remained at their ideal bodyweight throughout the entire study. Body composition was measured at five intervening time-points. Concentration of serum leptin and inflammatory cytokines, functionality of lymphocytes and phagocytic activity of neutrophils and monocytes were evaluated at ten intervening time-points. Serum leptin concentration was rising during the WGP in the WGG but went to lower concentrations during the SP. At the end of long-term weight gain, a decreased mitogen-induced proliferation of T-lymphocytes was noted but this alteration seemed to be transient after stabilization of bodyweight. This finding may imply an altered immune response for dogs with different energy balances. However, no systemic low grade inflammation or alteration in other immune cell functions was observed. Consequently it is suggested that the change in energy balance during the onset of obesity (becoming obese versus being obese), evokes an additional obesity-related disorder in dogs, i.e. impaired T-lymphocyte immune function. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Maintaining vigorous activity attenuates 7-yr weight gain in 8340 runners.

    PubMed

    Williams, Paul T

    2007-05-01

    Body weight generally increases with aging in Western societies. Although training studies show that exercise produces acute weight loss, it is unclear whether the long-term maintenance of vigorous exercise attenuates the trajectory of age-related weight gain. Specifically, prior studies have not tested whether the maintenance of physical activity, in the absence of any change in activity, prevents weight gain. Prospective study of 6119 male and 2221 female runners whose running distances changed < 5 km x wk(-1) between baseline and follow-up surveys 7 yr later. On average, men who maintained modest (0-23 km x wk(-1)), intermediate (24-47 km x wk(-1)), or prolonged running distances (> or = 48 km x wk(-1)) all gained weight through age 64; however, those who maintained > or = 48 km x wk(-1) had one half the average annual weight gain of those who maintained < 24 km x wk(-1). For example, between the ages of 35 and 44 in men and 30 and 39 yr in women, those who maintained < 24 km x wk(-1) gained, on average, 2.1 and 2.9 kg more per decade than those averaging > 48 km x wk(-1). Age-related weight gain, and its attenuation by maintained exercise, were both greater in younger than in older men. Men's gains in waist circumference with age, and its attenuation by maintaining running, were the same in older and younger men. Regardless of age, women increased their body weight, waist circumference, and hip circumference over time, and these measurements were attenuated in proportion to their maintained running distance. In both sexes, running disproportionately prevented more extreme increases in weight. As they aged, men and women gained less weight in proportion to their levels of sustained vigorous activity. This long-term beneficial effect is in addition to the acute weight loss that occurs with increased activity.

  3. On Selecting Commercial Information Systems

    PubMed Central

    Möhr, J.R.; Sawinski, R.; Kluge, A.; Alle, W.

    1984-01-01

    As more commercial information systems become available, the methodology for their selection gains importance. An instances where the method employed for the selection of laboratory information systems was multilevel assessment. The method is described and the experience gained in the project is summarized and discussed. Evidence is provided that the employed method is comprehensive, reproducible, valid and economic.

  4. 40 CFR 141.154 - Required additional health information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... skin damage and circulatory problems. (2) May write its own educational statement, but only in... MCL: (1) Must include a short informational statement about the impacts of nitrate on children using... its effects on children. The statement must include the following information: If present, elevated...

  5. Invention and Gain Analysis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weber, Robert J.; Dixon, Stacey

    1989-01-01

    Gain analysis is applied to the invention of the sewing needle as well as different sewing implements and modes of sewing. The analysis includes a two-subject experiment. To validate the generality of gain heuristics and underlying switching processes, the invention of the assembly line is also analyzed. (TJH)

  6. Weight gain in children on oxcarbazepine monotherapy.

    PubMed

    Garoufi, Anastasia; Vartzelis, George; Tsentidis, Charalambos; Attilakos, Achilleas; Koemtzidou, Evangelia; Kossiva, Lydia; Katsarou, Eustathia; Soldatou, Alexandra

    2016-05-01

    Studies of the effect of oxcarbazepine (OXC) on body growth of children with epilepsy are rare and their results are controversial. To the contrary, many studies have shown significant weight gain following valproate (VPA) treatment. To prospectively evaluate the effect of OXC monotherapy on growth patterns of children with epilepsy and compare it with the effect of VPA monotherapy. Fifty-nine otherwise healthy children, aged 3.7-15.9 years, with primary generalized, partial or partial with secondary generalization seizure disorder, were included in the study. Twenty six children were placed on OXC and thirty three on VPA monotherapy. Body weight (BW), height and body mass index (BMI) as well as their standard deviation scores (SDS), were evaluated prior to as well as 8 months post initiation of OXC or VPA therapy. Eight months post OXC-treatment, BW, SDS-BW, BMI and SDS-BMI increased significantly. The increase was similar to that observed in the VPA group. An additional 15.4% of children in the OXC group and 21.2% in the VPA group became overweight or obese. The effect of both OXC and VPA therapy on linear growth did not reach statistical significance. Similarly to VPA, OXC monotherapy resulted in a significant weight gain in children with epilepsy. Careful monitoring for excess weight gain along with counseling on adapting a healthy lifestyle should be offered to children on OXC therapy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Self-reported causes of weight gain: among prebariatric surgery patients.

    PubMed

    Ferguson, Sarah; Al-Rehany, Layla; Tang, Cathy; Gougeon, Lorraine; Warwick, Katie; Madill, Janet

    2013-01-01

    Bariatric surgery is accepted by the medical community as the most effective treatment for obesity; however, weight regain after surgery remains common. Long-term weight loss and weight maintenance may be aided when dietitians who provide perioperative care understand the causes of weight gain leading to bariatric surgery. In this study, the most common causes for weight gain were examined among prebariatric surgery patients. A retrospective chart review was conducted for 160 patients enrolled in a bariatric surgery program. Data were collected for 20 variables: puberty, pregnancy, menopause, change in living environment, change in job/career, financial problems, quitting smoking, drug or alcohol use, medical condition, surgery, injury affecting mobility, chronic pain, dieting, others' influence over diet, abuse, mental health condition, stress, death of a loved one, divorce/end of a relationship, and other causes. Frequency distribution and chi-square tests were performed using SPSS. Sixty-three percent of participants selected stress as a cause of weight gain, while 56% selected dieting. Significant differences existed between women and men in the selection of dieting and change in living environment. This information may allow dietitians to better identify causes for weight gain leading to bariatric surgery, and to address these causes appropriately before and after surgery.

  8. When size matters: attention affects performance by contrast or response gain.

    PubMed

    Herrmann, Katrin; Montaser-Kouhsari, Leila; Carrasco, Marisa; Heeger, David J

    2010-12-01

    Covert attention, the selective processing of visual information in the absence of eye movements, improves behavioral performance. We found that attention, both exogenous (involuntary) and endogenous (voluntary), can affect performance by contrast or response gain changes, depending on the stimulus size and the relative size of the attention field. These two variables were manipulated in a cueing task while stimulus contrast was varied. We observed a change in behavioral performance consonant with a change in contrast gain for small stimuli paired with spatial uncertainty and a change in response gain for large stimuli presented at one location (no uncertainty) and surrounded by irrelevant flanking distracters. A complementary neuroimaging experiment revealed that observers' attention fields were wider with than without spatial uncertainty. Our results support important predictions of the normalization model of attention and reconcile previous, seemingly contradictory findings on the effects of visual attention.

  9. Development and Pilot Testing of the Eating4two Mobile Phone App to Monitor Gestational Weight Gain

    PubMed Central

    Davis, Deborah Lee; Williams, Lauren; Davey, Rachel; Cox, Robert; Clarke, Adam

    2015-01-01

    Background The number of pregnant women with a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m2 or more is increasing, which has important implications for antenatal care. Various resource-intensive interventions have attempted to assist women in managing their weight gain during pregnancy with limited success. A mobile phone app has been proposed as a convenient and cost-effective alternative to face-to-face interventions. Objective This paper describes the process of developing and pilot testing the Eating4Two app, which aims to provide women with a simple gestational weight gain (GWG) calculator, general dietary information, and the motivation to achieve a healthy weight gain during pregnancy. Methods The project involved the development of app components, including a graphing function that allows the user to record their weight throughout the pregnancy and to receive real-time feedback on weight gain progress and general information on antenatal nutrition. Stakeholder consultation was used to inform development. The app was pilot tested with 10 pregnant women using a mixed method approach via an online survey, 2 focus groups, and 1 individual interview. Results The Eating4Two app took 7 months to develop and evaluate. It involved several disciplines--including nutrition and dietetics, midwifery, public health, and information technology--at the University of Canberra. Participants found the Eating4Two app to be a motivational tool but would have liked scales or other markers on the graph that demonstrated exact weight gain. They also liked the nutrition information; however, many felt it should be formatted in a more user friendly way. Conclusions The Eating4Two app was viewed by participants in our study as an innovative support system to help motivate healthy behaviors during pregnancy and as a credible resource for accessing nutrition-focused information. The feedback provided by participants will assist with refining the current prototype for use in a clinical intervention

  10. Loop gain stabilizing with an all-digital automatic-gain-control method for high-precision fiber-optic gyroscope.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Yue; Zhang, Chunxi; Li, Lijing; Song, Lailiang; Chen, Wen

    2016-06-10

    For a fiber-optic gyroscope (FOG) using electronic dithers to suppress the dead zone, without a fixed loop gain, the deterministic compensation for the dither signals in the control loop of the FOG cannot remain accurate, resulting in the dither residuals in the FOG rotation rate output and the navigation errors in the inertial navigation system. An all-digital automatic-gain-control method for stabilizing the loop gain of the FOG is proposed. By using a perturbation square wave to measure the loop gain of the FOG and adding an automatic gain control loop in the conventional control loop of the FOG, we successfully obtain the actual loop gain and make the loop gain converge to the reference value. The experimental results show that in the case of 20% variation in the loop gain, the dither residuals are successfully eliminated and the standard deviation of the FOG sampling outputs is decreased from 2.00  deg/h to 0.62  deg/h (sampling period 2.5 ms, 10 points smoothing). With this method, the loop gain of the FOG can be stabilized over the operation temperature range and in the long-time application, which provides a solid foundation for the engineering applications of the high-precision FOG.

  11. Interventions to reduce weight gain in schizophrenia.

    PubMed

    Faulkner, G; Cohn, T; Remington, G

    2007-01-24

    Weight gain is common for people with schizophrenia and this has serious implications for health and well being. To determine the effects of both pharmacological (excluding medication switching) and non pharmacological strategies for reducing or preventing weight gain in people with schizophrenia. We searched key databases and the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's trials register (April 2006), reference sections within relevant papers, hand searched key journals, and contacted the first author of each relevant study and other experts to collect further information. We included all clinical randomised controlled trials comparing any pharmacological or non pharmacological intervention for weight gain (diet and exercise counselling) with standard care or other treatments for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses. We reliably selected, quality assessed and extracted data from studies. As weight is a continuous outcome measurement, weighted mean differences (WMD) of the change from baseline were calculated. The primary outcome measure was weight loss. Twenty-three randomised controlled trials met the inclusion criteria for this review. Five trials assessed a cognitive/behavioural intervention and eighteen assessed a pharmacological adjunct. In terms of prevention, two cognitive/behavioural trials showed significant treatment effect (mean weight change) at end of treatment (n=104, 2 RCTs, WMD -3.38 kg CI -4.2 to -2.0). Pharmacological adjunct treatments were significant with a modest prevention of weight gain (n=274, 6 RCTs, WMD - 1.16 kg CI -1.9 to -0.4). In terms of treatments for weight loss, we found significantly greater weight reduction in the cognitive behavioural intervention group (n=129, 3 RCTs, WMD -1.69 kg CI -2.8 to -0.6) compared with standard care. Modest weight loss can be achieved with selective pharmacological and non pharmacological interventions. However, interpretation is limited by the small number of studies, small sample size

  12. Weight gain following treatment of hyperthyroidism.

    PubMed

    Dale, J; Daykin, J; Holder, R; Sheppard, M C; Franklyn, J A

    2001-08-01

    Patients frequently express concern that treating hyperthyroidism will lead to excessive weight gain. This study aimed to determine the extent of, and risk factors for, weight gain in an unselected group of hyperthyroid patients. We investigated 162 consecutive hyperthyroid patients followed for at least 6 months. Height, weight, clinical features, biochemistry and management were recorded at each clinic visit. Documented weight gain was 5.42 +/- 0.46 kg (mean +/- SE) and increase in BMI was 8.49 +/- 0.71%, over a mean 24.2 +/- 1.6 months. Pre-existing obesity, Graves' disease causing hyperthyroidism, weight loss before presentation and length of follow-up each independently predicted weight gain. Patients treated with thionamides or radioiodine gained a similar amount of weight (thionamides, n = 87, 5.16 +/- 0.63 kg vs. radioiodine, n = 62, 4.75 +/- 0.57 kg, P = 0.645), but patients who underwent thyroidectomy (n = 13) gained more weight (10.27 +/- 2.56 kg vs. others, P = 0.007). Development of hypothyroidism (even transiently) was associated with weight gain (never hypothyroid, n = 102, 4.57 +/- 0.52 kg, transiently hypothyroid, n = 29, 5.37 +/- 0.85 kg, on T4, n = 31, 8.06 +/- 1.42 kg, P = 0.014). This difference remained after correcting for length of follow-up. In the whole cohort, weight increased by 3.95 +/- 0.40 kg at 1 year (n = 144) to 9.91 +/- 1.62 kg after 4 years (n = 27) (P = 0.008), representing a mean weight gain of 3.66 +/- 0.44 kg/year. We have demonstrated marked weight gain after treatment of hyperthyroidism. Pre-existing obesity, a diagnosis of Graves' disease and prior weight loss independently predicted weight gain and weight continued to rise with time. Patients who became hypothyroid, despite T4 replacement, gained most weight.

  13. Study of gain-coupled distributed feedback laser based on high order surface gain-coupled gratings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gao, Feng; Qin, Li; Chen, Yongyi; Jia, Peng; Chen, Chao; Cheng, LiWen; Chen, Hong; Liang, Lei; Zeng, Yugang; Zhang, Xing; Wu, Hao; Ning, Yongqiang; Wang, Lijun

    2018-03-01

    Single-longitudinal-mode, gain-coupled distributed feedback (DFB) lasers based on high order surface gain-coupled gratings are achieved. Periodic surface metal p-contacts with insulated grooves realize gain-coupled mechanism. To enhance gain contrast in the quantum wells without the introduction of effective index-coupled effect, groove length and depth were well designed. Our devices provided a single longitudinal mode with the maximum CW output power up to 48.8 mW/facet at 971.31 nm at 250 mA without facet coating, 3dB linewidth (<3.2 pm) and SMSR (>39 dB). Optical bistable characteristic was observed with a threshold current difference. Experimentally, devices with different cavity lengths were contrasted on power-current and spectrum characteristics. Due to easy fabrication technique and stable performance, it provides a method of fabricating practical gain-coupled distributed feedback lasers for commercial applications.

  14. Where Non-Science Majors Get Information about Science and How They Rate that Information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buxner, Sanlyn; Impey, Chris; Nieberding, Megan; Romine, James

    2014-11-01

    College non-science major courses represent one of the last science courses many students will ever take. We report on a study of 400 undergraduate non-majors students enrolled in introductory astronomy courses at the University of Arizona to gain insight into where they get their information about science and their perception of that information. Students completed an online survey during the 2013-2014 school year. In addition to demographic information, students reported where they obtained information about science when they want to know something both for their own knowledge as well as information for a course assignment. They reported their interest in different science topics, rated the reliability of different sources of information, and reported how important science was to their life, including their future career choice.Overall, students reported getting information from a variety of online sources when looking up a topic for their own knowledge, including internet searches (71%), Wikipedia (46%), and online science sites (e.g. NASA) (45%). When asked where they got information for course assignments, most reported from assigned readings (82%) but a large percentage still reported getting information from online sources such as internet searches (60%), Wikipedia (30%) and online science sites (e.g. NASA) (20%). Overall, students rated professors/teachers and textbooks at the most reliable sources of scientific information and rated social media sites, blogs and Wikipedia as the least reliable sources of scientific information. Additionally, friends and family members were rated as less reliable sources of scientific information than similar information found on multiple websites. Students’ interest in science and self-reported knowledge in science was positively correlated. There was a significant positive correlation between those who reported that they liked science and felt that science was important to their future career. Overall, our results are

  15. Stress effects on framed decisions: there are differences for gains and losses.

    PubMed

    Pabst, Stephan; Brand, Matthias; Wolf, Oliver T

    2013-01-01

    Recent studies have shown that acute stress can lead to riskier decision making. Yet, the underlying mechanisms of the stress effects on decisions under risk remain poorly understood. To gain a better understanding of decision-making processes and potential strategy application under stress, we investigated decision making in pure gain and loss domains with unequal expected values (EVs) across alternatives. We conducted an experimental study with a 2 × 2 design (stress vs. no stress and gain domain vs. loss domain). The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was utilized to induce acute stress. Controls performed the placebo-TSST (p-TSST). To validate the stress response we measured salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase concentrations. We used a modified version of the Game of Dice Task (GDT) to assess decision-making performance in a gain and a loss domain. Results showed that non-stressed participants made less risky decisions in the gain domain compared to those of the loss domain. This behavior is in accordance with previous studies and indicates the stability of the framing effect in even more complex tasks with changing EVs across alternatives. Stress did not alter risk taking behavior in the gain domain. Yet, in the loss domain stressed participants made less risky decisions compared to controls. Additionally, the data support earlier findings of longer reaction times in loss compared to gain domains due to higher cognitive effort for loss-framed decisions. It is discussed that stress may lead to reduced amygdala activation, which has been found to reduce riskier decisions in a loss domain. With respect to earlier results of riskier decisions in tasks that unite both gain and loss domains, it is discussed whether stress leads to a stronger evaluation of high gains and a neglect of losses.

  16. Random Photon Absorption Model Elucidates How Early Gain Control in Fly Photoreceptors Arises from Quantal Sampling

    PubMed Central

    Song, Zhuoyi; Zhou, Yu; Juusola, Mikko

    2016-01-01

    Many diurnal photoreceptors encode vast real-world light changes effectively, but how this performance originates from photon sampling is unclear. A 4-module biophysically-realistic fly photoreceptor model, in which information capture is limited by the number of its sampling units (microvilli) and their photon-hit recovery time (refractoriness), can accurately simulate real recordings and their information content. However, sublinear summation in quantum bump production (quantum-gain-nonlinearity) may also cause adaptation by reducing the bump/photon gain when multiple photons hit the same microvillus simultaneously. Here, we use a Random Photon Absorption Model (RandPAM), which is the 1st module of the 4-module fly photoreceptor model, to quantify the contribution of quantum-gain-nonlinearity in light adaptation. We show how quantum-gain-nonlinearity already results from photon sampling alone. In the extreme case, when two or more simultaneous photon-hits reduce to a single sublinear value, quantum-gain-nonlinearity is preset before the phototransduction reactions adapt the quantum bump waveform. However, the contribution of quantum-gain-nonlinearity in light adaptation depends upon the likelihood of multi-photon-hits, which is strictly determined by the number of microvilli and light intensity. Specifically, its contribution to light-adaptation is marginal (≤ 1%) in fly photoreceptors with many thousands of microvilli, because the probability of simultaneous multi-photon-hits on any one microvillus is low even during daylight conditions. However, in cells with fewer sampling units, the impact of quantum-gain-nonlinearity increases with brightening light. PMID:27445779

  17. 41 CFR 102-79.111 - Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts? 102-79.111 Section 102-79.111 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System (Continued) FEDERAL...

  18. 41 CFR 102-79.111 - Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts? 102-79.111 Section 102-79.111 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System (Continued) FEDERAL...

  19. 41 CFR 102-79.111 - Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts? 102-79.111 Section 102-79.111 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System (Continued) FEDERAL...

  20. 41 CFR 102-79.111 - Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Where may Executive agencies find additional information on Integrated Workplace concepts? 102-79.111 Section 102-79.111 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System (Continued) FEDERAL...

  1. 41 CFR 102-75.140 - In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications, what information must an Executive agency transmit with the Report of Excess Real Property (Standard Form 118)? 102-75.140 Section 102-75.140 Public Contracts and Property...

  2. 41 CFR 102-75.140 - In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications, what information must an Executive agency transmit with the Report of Excess Real Property (Standard Form 118)? 102-75.140 Section 102-75.140 Public Contracts and Property...

  3. 41 CFR 102-75.140 - In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications, what information must an Executive agency transmit with the Report of Excess Real Property (Standard Form 118)? 102-75.140 Section 102-75.140 Public Contracts and Property...

  4. 41 CFR 102-75.140 - In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications, what information must an Executive agency transmit with the Report of Excess Real Property (Standard Form 118)? 102-75.140 Section 102-75.140 Public Contracts and Property...

  5. 41 CFR 102-75.140 - In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false In addition to the title report, and all necessary environmental information and certifications, what information must an Executive agency transmit with the Report of Excess Real Property (Standard Form 118)? 102-75.140 Section 102-75.140 Public Contracts and Property...

  6. A qualitative study of gestational weight gain goal setting.

    PubMed

    Criss, Shaniece; Oken, Emily; Guthrie, Lauren; Hivert, Marie-France

    2016-10-20

    Gestational weight gain (GWG) is an important predictor of short and long-term pregnancy outcomes for both mother and child, and women who set a GWG goal are more likely to gain within recommended ranges. Little information is available regarding potentially modifiable factors that underlie a woman's GWG goals. Our aims were to explore women's perceptions regarding factors that affect GWG, their understanding of appropriate GWG, their goal-setting experiences including patient-health care provider (HCP) conversations, and supportive interventions they would most like to help them achieve the recommended GWG. We conducted nine in-depth interviews and seven focus groups with a total of 33 Boston, Massachusetts (MA) area women who were pregnant and had delivered within the prior 6 months. We recorded and transcribed all interviews. Two investigators independently coded resulting transcripts. We managed data using MAXQDA2 and conducted a content analysis. Perceived factors that contributed to GWG goal-setting included the mother's weight control behaviors concerning exercise and diet-including a "new way of eating for two" and "semblance of control", experiences during prior pregnancies, conversations with HCPs, and influence from various information sources. Women focused on behaviors with consistent messaging across multiple sources of information, but mainly trusted their HCP, valued one-to-one conversations with them about GWG, preferred that the HCP initiate the conversation about GWG goals, and would be open to have the conversation started based on visual aid based on their own GWG progression. Pregnant women highly value discussions with their HCP to set GWG goals. Pregnant women view their clinicians as the most reliable source of information and believe that clinicians should open weight-related discussions throughout pregnancy.

  7. Optimization of control gain by operator adjustment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kruse, W.; Rothbauer, G.

    1973-01-01

    An optimal gain was established by measuring errors at 5 discrete control gain settings in an experimental set-up consisting of a 2-dimensional, first-order pursuit tracking task performed by subjects (S's). No significant experience effect on optimum gain setting was found in the first experiment. During the second experiment, in which control gain was continuously adjustable, high experienced S's tended to reach the previously determined optimum gain quite accurately and quickly. Less experienced S's tended to select a marginally optimum gain either below or above the experimentally determined optimum depending on initial control gain setting, although mean settings of both groups were equal. This quick and simple method is recommended for selecting control gains for different control systems and forcing functions.

  8. Dynamic modulation of visual and electrosensory gains for locomotor control

    PubMed Central

    Sutton, Erin E.; Demir, Alican; Stamper, Sarah A.; Fortune, Eric S.; Cowan, Noah J.

    2016-01-01

    Animal nervous systems resolve sensory conflict for the control of movement. For example, the glass knifefish, Eigenmannia virescens, relies on visual and electrosensory feedback as it swims to maintain position within a moving refuge. To study how signals from these two parallel sensory streams are used in refuge tracking, we constructed a novel augmented reality apparatus that enables the independent manipulation of visual and electrosensory cues to freely swimming fish (n = 5). We evaluated the linearity of multisensory integration, the change to the relative perceptual weights given to vision and electrosense in relation to sensory salience, and the effect of the magnitude of sensory conflict on sensorimotor gain. First, we found that tracking behaviour obeys superposition of the sensory inputs, suggesting linear sensorimotor integration. In addition, fish rely more on vision when electrosensory salience is reduced, suggesting that fish dynamically alter sensorimotor gains in a manner consistent with Bayesian integration. However, the magnitude of sensory conflict did not significantly affect sensorimotor gain. These studies lay the theoretical and experimental groundwork for future work investigating multisensory control of locomotion. PMID:27170650

  9. Optical antenna gain. I - Transmitting antennas

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Klein, B. J.; Degnan, J. J.

    1974-01-01

    The gain of centrally obscured optical transmitting antennas is analyzed in detail. The calculations, resulting in near- and far-field antenna gain patterns, assume a circular antenna illuminated by a laser operating in the TEM-00 mode. A simple polynomial equation is derived for matching the incident source distribution to a general antenna configuration for maximum on-axis gain. An interpretation of the resultant gain curves allows a number of auxiliary design curves to be drawn that display the losses in antenna gain due to pointing errors and the cone angle of the beam in the far field as a function of antenna aperture size and its central obscuration. The results are presented in a series of graphs that allow the rapid and accurate evaluation of the antenna gain which may then be substituted into the conventional range equation.

  10. Postcessation weight gain concern as a barrier to smoking cessation: Assessment considerations and future directions.

    PubMed

    Germeroth, Lisa J; Levine, Michele D

    2018-01-01

    Concern about postcessation weight gain may be one potential barrier to quitting smoking. In this 'mini-review' of recent literature, we summarize findings on the relationship between postcessation weight gain concern and smoking cessation, and evaluate varied use of postcessation weight gain concern assessments and potential moderators of the postcessation weight gain concern-cessation association. We conducted a search using the terms "smoking" OR "smoking cessation" AND "weight concern" for articles published between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2016. We identified 17 studies assessing postcessation weight gain concern, seven of which evaluated the postcessation weight gain concern-cessation association. The relationship between postcessation weight gain concern and smoking cessation was mixed. Recent studies varied in their assessments of postcessation weight gain concern, many of which were not validated and assessed correlates of this construct. Studies varied in their adjustment of demographic (e.g., sex), smoking-specific (e.g., smoking level), and weight-specific (e.g., body mass index) variables. The use of non-validated assessments and variability in testing covariates/moderators may contribute to conflicting results regarding the postcessation weight gain concern-cessation relationship. We recommend validating an assessment of postcessation weight gain concern, maintaining vigilance in testing and reporting covariates/moderators, and investigating trajectories of this construct over time and by smoking status to inform future assessment and intervention efforts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Associations of neighbourhood walkability indices with weight gain.

    PubMed

    Koohsari, Mohammad Javad; Oka, Koichiro; Shibata, Ai; Liao, Yung; Hanibuchi, Tomoya; Owen, Neville; Sugiyama, Takemi

    2018-04-03

    Inconsistent associations of neighbourhood walkability with adults' body weight have been reported. Most studies examining the relationships of walkability and adiposity are cross-sectional in design. We examined the longitudinal relationships of two walkability indices - conventional walkability and space syntax walkability, and their individual components, with weight change among adults over four years. Data were from the Physical Activity in Localities and Community study in Adelaide, Australia. In 2003-2004, 2650 adults living in 154 Census Collection Districts (CCDs) returned baseline questionnaires; in 2007-2008, the follow-up survey was completed by 1098. Participants reported their weight at baseline and at follow-up. Neighbourhood walkability indices were calculated using geographic information systems and space syntax software. Linear marginal models using generalized estimating equations with robust standard errors were fitted to examine associations of the two walkability indices and their individual components with the weight at follow-up, adjusting for baseline weight, socio-demographic variables, and spatial clustering at the level of CCD. The overall mean weight gain over four years was 1.5 kg. The two walkability indices were closely correlated (r = 0.76, p < 0.01). No significant associations were found between the overall neighbourhood walkability indices and weight change. Among walkability components, there was a marginally significant negative association between space syntax measure of street integration and weight change: one standard deviation increment in street integration was associated with 0.31 kg less weight gain (p = 0.09). Using a prospective study design and a novel space-syntax based measure of walkability, we were not able to identify relationships between neighbourhood walkability with weight gain. This is consistent with other inconclusive findings on the built environment and obesity. Research on the built

  12. Factors Influencing Student Gains from Undergraduate Research Experiences at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

    PubMed Central

    Daniels, Heather; Grineski, Sara E.; Collins, Timothy W.; Morales, Danielle X.; Morera, Osvaldo; Echegoyen, Lourdes

    2016-01-01

    Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) confer many benefits to students, including improved self-confidence, better communication skills, and an increased likelihood of pursuing science careers. Additionally, UREs may be particularly important for racial/ethnic minority students who are underrepresented in the science workforce. We examined factors hypothetically relevant to underrepresented minority student gains from UREs at a Hispanic-serving institution, such as mentoring quality, family income, being Latino/a, and caring for dependents. Data came from a 2013 survey of University of Texas at El Paso students engaged in 10 URE programs (n = 227). Using generalized linear models (GzLMs) and adjusting for known covariates, we found that students who reported receiving higher-quality mentorship, spending more hours caring for dependents, and receiving more programmatic resources experienced significantly greater gains from their URE in all three areas we examined (i.e., thinking and working like a scientist, personal gains, and gains in skills). In two of three areas, duration of the URE was positive and significant. Being Latino/a was positive and significant only in the model predicting personal gains. Across the three models, quality of mentorship was the most important correlate of gains. This suggests that providing training to faculty mentors involved in UREs may improve student outcomes and increase program efficacy. PMID:27521234

  13. Associations of the pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain with pregnancy outcomes in Taiwanese women.

    PubMed

    Tsai, I-Hsien; Chen, Chih-Ping; Sun, Fang-Ju; Wu, Chia-Hsun; Yeh, Sung-Ling

    2012-01-01

    Pre-pregnancy weight and gestational weight gain (GWG) are important factors in both maternal and infant outcomes. Little information is available in relation to different levels of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and body weight gain on obstetric outcomes in Taiwan. This study investigated the associations between pregnancy complications with pre-pregnant BMI and GWG, in Taiwanese women. Data were extracted from a delivery room information bank on all women delivering singleton babies in a medical center. Eight hundred and sixty pregnant women were included. The collected variables included basic information, GWG, and pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. Pregnant women were categorized according to their pre-pregnant BMI and GWG to evaluate the impacts of pre-pregnant BMI and maternal weight gain on the risk of pregnancy complications. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed, and odds ratios were calculated. Pre-pregnancy BMI>=24 kg/m2 increased the risks of gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, and preterm labor. Preeclampsia and Cesarean delivery were positively associated with high weight gains (>18 kg), whereas a low birth weight and preterm labor were strongly associated with low weight gains (<10 kg). A higher birth weight was found with a GWG of >14 kg in women who were underweight and normal weight before pregnancy. An appropriate maternal BMI (18.5-24 kg/m2) at conception followed by a suitable gestational weight gain (10-14 kg) has substantial impact on the overall health of pregnant women and would lead to better obstetric management for Taiwanese women.

  14. What drives sleep-dependent memory consolidation: greater gain or less loss?

    PubMed

    Fenn, Kimberly M; Hambrick, David Z

    2013-06-01

    When memory is tested after a delay, performance is typically better if the retention interval includes sleep. However, it is unclear what accounts for this well-established effect. It is possible that sleep enhances the retrieval of information, but it is also possible that sleep protects against memory loss that normally occurs during waking activity. We developed a new research approach to investigate these possibilities. Participants learned a list of paired-associate items and were tested on the items after a 12-h interval that included waking or sleep. We analyzed the number of items gained versus the number of items lost across time. The sleep condition showed more items gained and fewer items lost than did the wake condition. Furthermore, the difference between the conditions (favoring sleep) in lost items was greater than the difference in gain, suggesting that loss prevention may primarily account for the effect of sleep on declarative memory consolidation. This finding may serve as an empirical constraint on theories of memory consolidation.

  15. Biodiversity gains from efficient use of private sponsorship for flagship species conservation

    PubMed Central

    Bennett, Joseph R.; Maloney, Richard; Possingham, Hugh P.

    2015-01-01

    To address the global extinction crisis, both efficient use of existing conservation funding and new sources of funding are vital. Private sponsorship of charismatic ‘flagship’ species conservation represents an important source of new funding, but has been criticized as being inefficient. However, the ancillary benefits of privately sponsored flagship species conservation via actions benefiting other species have not been quantified, nor have the benefits of incorporating such sponsorship into objective prioritization protocols. Here, we use a comprehensive dataset of conservation actions for the 700 most threatened species in New Zealand to examine the potential biodiversity gains from national private flagship species sponsorship programmes. We find that private funding for flagship species can clearly result in additional species and phylogenetic diversity conserved, via conservation actions shared with other species. When private flagship species funding is incorporated into a prioritization protocol to preferentially sponsor shared actions, expected gains can be more than doubled. However, these gains are consistently smaller than expected gains in a hypothetical scenario where private funding could be optimally allocated among all threatened species. We recommend integrating private sponsorship of flagship species into objective prioritization protocols to sponsor efficient actions that maximize biodiversity gains, or wherever possible, encouraging private donations for broader biodiversity goals. PMID:25808885

  16. Clinical Assessment of Weight Gain with Atypical Antipsychotics - Blonanserin vs Amisulpride.

    PubMed

    Deepak, T S; Raveesh, B N; Parashivamurthy, B M; Kumar, Ms Narendra; Majgi, Sumanth Mallikarjuna; Nagesh, H N

    2015-06-01

    Atypical antipsychotics appear to have the greatest potential to induce weight gain. Antipsychotic-induced weight gain is the one of main cause of non-compliance and discontinuation of treatment, often resulting in the relapse of psychosis. To compare the weight gain between amisulpride and blonanserin treatment, in persons with psychosis. Fifty six subjects with psychosis attending psychiatry department at KR Hospital, Mysore were randomized into two equal groups. After obtaining informed consent, subjects of group I received amisulpride tablets 200 mg BD, and group II received blonanserin tablets 4 mg BD, for eight weeks. Body weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist Hip Ratio (WHR) were measured at baseline, 4 weeks and 8 weeks. The mean weight gain with amisulpride at 4 weeks was 2.73 kg (5.21%) and at 8 weeks was 4.34 kg (8.28%) from the baseline. The mean weight gain with blonanserin at 4 weeks was 1.77 kg (3.46%) and at 8 weeks was 3.46 kg (6.75%) from the baseline. The mean BMI increase at 8 weeks with amisulpride was 1.66 ± 0.56 and with blonanserin was 1.34 ± 0.77. The mean WHR increase at 8 weeks with amisulpride was 0.036 ± 0.026 and with blonanserin was 0.029 ± 0.020. There was statistically significant increase in weight, BMI and WHR associated with both blonanserin and amisulpride at 8 weeks. But there was no statistically significant difference in those parameters between blonanserin and amisulpride, at eight weeks. Even though there was no significant difference in the weight gain caused by blonanserin, in comparison with amisulpride, both these drugs individually caused significant weight gain at 8 weeks, which is in contrast with the earlier studies, which needs to be further evaluated.

  17. Clinical Assessment of Weight Gain with Atypical Antipsychotics - Blonanserin vs Amisulpride

    PubMed Central

    Raveesh, BN; Parashivamurthy, BM; Kumar, MS Narendra; Majgi, Sumanth Mallikarjuna; Nagesh, HN

    2015-01-01

    Background Atypical antipsychotics appear to have the greatest potential to induce weight gain. Antipsychotic-induced weight gain is the one of main cause of non-compliance and discontinuation of treatment, often resulting in the relapse of psychosis. Objective To compare the weight gain between amisulpride and blonanserin treatment, in persons with psychosis. Materials and Methods Fifty six subjects with psychosis attending psychiatry department at KR Hospital, Mysore were randomized into two equal groups. After obtaining informed consent, subjects of group I received amisulpride tablets 200 mg BD, and group II received blonanserin tablets 4 mg BD, for eight weeks. Body weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist Hip Ratio (WHR) were measured at baseline, 4 weeks and 8 weeks. Results The mean weight gain with amisulpride at 4 weeks was 2.73 kg (5.21%) and at 8 weeks was 4.34 kg (8.28%) from the baseline. The mean weight gain with blonanserin at 4 weeks was 1.77 kg (3.46%) and at 8 weeks was 3.46 kg (6.75%) from the baseline. The mean BMI increase at 8 weeks with amisulpride was 1.66 ± 0.56 and with blonanserin was 1.34 ± 0.77. The mean WHR increase at 8 weeks with amisulpride was 0.036 ± 0.026 and with blonanserin was 0.029 ± 0.020. There was statistically significant increase in weight, BMI and WHR associated with both blonanserin and amisulpride at 8 weeks. But there was no statistically significant difference in those parameters between blonanserin and amisulpride, at eight weeks. Conclusion Even though there was no significant difference in the weight gain caused by blonanserin, in comparison with amisulpride, both these drugs individually caused significant weight gain at 8 weeks, which is in contrast with the earlier studies, which needs to be further evaluated. PMID:26266134

  18. The Importance of 'Likes': The Interplay of Message Framing, Source, and Social Endorsement on Credibility Perceptions of Health Information on Facebook.

    PubMed

    Borah, Porismita; Xiao, Xizhu

    2018-01-01

    Online sources not only permeate the information-seeking environment of the younger generation, but also have profound influence in shaping their beliefs and behaviors. In this landscape, examining the factors responsible for credibility perceptions of online information is fundamental, particularly for health-related information. Using a 2 (frames: gain vs. loss) × 2 (source: expert vs. non-expert) × 2 (social endorsement: high vs. low) randomized between-subjects experimental design, this study examines the effect of health message framing and the moderating effects of social endorsement and source type on credibility perceptions of Facebook posts. Testing across two issues--physical activity and alcohol consumption--findings indicate that the gain-framed message was perceived as most credible. Additionally, significant three-way interactions suggest that social endorsement and source type affect the relationship between message framing and credibility perceptions. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that a gain-framed message from an expert source with high number of 'likes' is considered the most credible message. These findings have significant implications for information gathering from social media sources, such as the influence of 'likes' on health information.

  19. 40 CFR Table 42 to Subpart Uuu of... - Additional Information for Initial Notification of Compliance Status

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Notification of Compliance Status 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... Refineries: Catalytic Cracking Units, Catalytic Reforming Units, and Sulfur Recovery Units Pt. 63, Subpt. UUU, Table 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63—Additional Information for Initial Notification of...

  20. 40 CFR Table 42 to Subpart Uuu of... - Additional Information for Initial Notification of Compliance Status

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Notification of Compliance Status 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... Refineries: Catalytic Cracking Units, Catalytic Reforming Units, and Sulfur Recovery Units Pt. 63, Subpt. UUU, Table 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63—Additional Information for Initial Notification of...

  1. Age-related changes in decision making: comparing informed and noninformed situations.

    PubMed

    Van Duijvenvoorde, Anna C K; Jansen, Brenda R J; Bredman, Joren C; Huizenga, Hilde M

    2012-01-01

    Advantageous decision making progressively develops into early adulthood, most specifically in complex and motivationally salient decision situations in which direct feedback on gains and losses is provided (Figner & Weber, 2011). However, the factors that underlie this developmental improvement in decision making are still not well understood. The current study therefore investigates 2 potential factors, long-term memory and working memory, by assigning a large developmental sample (7-29 years of age) to a condition with either high or low demands on long-term and working memory. The first condition featured an age-adapted version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994; i.e., a noninformed situation), whereas the second condition provided an external store where explicit information on gains, losses, and probabilities per choice option was presented (i.e., an informed situation). Consistent with previous developmental IGT studies, children up to age 12 did not learn to prefer advantageous options in the noninformed condition. In contrast, all age groups learned to prefer the advantageous options in the informed conditions, although a slight developmental increase in advantageous decision making remained. These results indicate that lowering dependence on long-term and working memory improves children's advantageous decision making. The results additionally suggest that other factors, like inhibitory control processes, may play an additional role in the development of advantageous decision making.

  2. Alternative Fuels Data Center: Little Rock Gains Momentum with Natural Gas

    Science.gov Websites

    BusesA> Little Rock Gains Momentum with Natural Gas Buses to someone by E-mail Share Alternative on compressed natural gas. For information about this project, contact Arkansas Clean Cities Public Television Related Videos Photo of a car Hydrogen Powers Fuel Cell Vehicles in California Nov. 18

  3. Optical antenna gain. III - The effect of secondary element support struts on transmitter gain

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Klein, B. J.; Degnan, J. J.

    1976-01-01

    The effect of a secondary-element spider support structure on optical antenna transmitter gain is analyzed. An expression describing the influence of the struts on the axial gain, in both the near and far fields, is derived as a function of the number of struts and their width. It is found that, for typical systems, the struts degrade the on-axis gain by less than 0.4 dB, and the first side-lobe level is not increased significantly. Contour plots have also been included to show the symmetry of the far-field distributions for three- and four-support members.

  4. Rate and Gain Limitations of MSGC's and MGC's Combined with GEM and other Preamplification Structures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fonte, P.; Peskov, V.; Ramsey, B. D.

    1998-01-01

    We have studied the rate and gain limits of diamond-coated Microstrip Gas Counters (MSGC's) and Micro-Gap Counters (MGC's) when combined with various preamplification structures: Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM), Parallel-Plate Avalanche Chamber (PPAC) or a MICROMEGAS-type structure. Measurements were done both with X rays and alpha particles with various detector geometries and in different gas mixtures at pressures from 0.05 to 10 atm. The results obtained varied significantly with detector design, gas mixture and pressure, but some general features can be identified. We found that in all cases, bare MSGC'S, MGC'S, PPAC's and MICROMEGAS, the maximum achievable gain drops with rate. The addition of preamplification structures significantly increases the gain of MSGC's and MGC'S, but this gain is still rate dependent. There would seem to be a general rate-dependent effect governing the usable gain of all these detectors. We speculate on possible mechanisms for this effect, and identify a safe, spark-free, operation zone for each system (detector + preamplification structure) in the rate-gain coordinate plane.

  5. Education and Library Services for Community Information Utilities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farquhar, John A.

    The concept of "computer utility"--the provision of computing and information service by a utility in the form of a national network to which any person desiring information could gain access--has been gaining interest among the public and among the technical community. This report on planning community information utilities discusses the…

  6. Genetic gain and economic values of selection strategies including semen traits in three- and four-way crossbreeding systems for swine production.

    PubMed

    González-Peña, D; Knox, R V; MacNeil, M D; Rodriguez-Zas, S L

    2015-03-01

    Four semen traits: volume (VOL), concentration (CON), progressive motility of spermatozoa (MOT), and abnormal spermatozoa (ABN) provide complementary information on boar fertility. Assessment of the impact of selection for semen traits is hindered by limited information on economic parameters. Objectives of this study were to estimate economic values for semen traits and to evaluate the genetic gain when these traits are incorporated into traditional selection strategies in a 3-tier system of swine production. Three-way (maternal nucleus lines A and B and paternal nucleus line C) and 4-way (additional paternal nucleus line D) crossbreeding schemes were compared. A novel population structure that accommodated selection for semen traits was developed. Three selection strategies were simulated. Selection Strategy I (baseline) encompassed selection for maternal traits: number of pigs born alive (NBA), litter birth weight (LBW), adjusted 21-d litter weight (A21), and number of pigs at 21 d (N21); and paternal traits: number of days to 113.5 kg (D113), backfat (BF), ADG, feed efficiency (FE), and carcass lean % (LEAN). Selection Strategy II included Strategy I and the number of usable semen doses per collection (DOSES), a function of the 4 semen traits. Selection Strategy III included Strategy I and the 4 semen traits individually. The estimated economic values of VOL, CON, MOT, ABN, and DOSES for 7 to 1 collections/wk ranged from $0.21 to $1.44/mL, $0.12 to $0.83/10 spermatozoa/mm, $0.61 to $12.66/%, -$0.53 to -$10.88/%, and $2.01 to $41.43/%, respectively. The decrease in the relative economic values of semen traits and DOSES with higher number of collections per wk was sharper between 1 and 2.33 collections/wk than between 2.33 and 7 collections/wk. The higher economic value of MOT and ABN relative to VOL and CON could be linked to the genetic variances and covariances of these traits. Average genetic gains for the maternal traits were comparable across strategies

  7. Laser-driven electron acceleration in a plasma channel with an additional electric field

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cheng, Li-Hong; Xue, Ju-Kui, E-mail: xuejk@nwnu.edu.cn; Liu, Jie, E-mail: liu-jie@iapcm.ac.cn

    2016-05-15

    We examine the electron acceleration in a two-dimensional plasma channel under the action of a laser field and an additional static electric field. We propose to design an appropriate additional electric field (its direction and location), in order to launch the electron onto an energetic trajectory. We find that the electron acceleration strongly depends on the coupled effects of the laser polarization, the direction, and location of the additional electric field. The additional electric field affects the electron dynamics by changing the dephasing rate. Particularly, a suitably designed additional electric field leads to a considerable energy gain from the lasermore » pulse after the interaction with the additional electric field. The electron energy gain from the laser with the additional electric field can be much higher than that without the additional electric field. This engineering provides a possible means for producing high energetic electrons.« less

  8. Annual measurements of gain and loss in aboveground carbon density

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baccini, A.; Walker, W. S.; Carvalho, L.; Farina, M.; Sulla-menashe, D. J.; Houghton, R. A.

    2017-12-01

    Tropical forests hold large stores of carbon, but their net carbon balance is uncertain. Land use and land-cover change (LULCC) are believed to release between 0.81 and 1.14 PgC yr-1, while intact native forests are thought to be a net carbon sink of approximately the same magnitude. Reducing the uncertainty of these estimates is not only fundamental to the advancement of carbon cycle science but is also of increasing relevance to national and international policies designed to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (e.g., REDD+). Contemporary approaches to estimating the net carbon balance of tropical forests rely on changes in forest area between two periods, typically derived from satellite data, together with information on average biomass density. These approaches tend to capture losses in biomass due to deforestation (i.e., wholesale stand removals) but are limited in their sensitivity to forest degradation (e.g., selective logging or single-tree removals), which can account for additional biomass losses on the order of 47-75% of deforestation. Furthermore, while satellite-based estimates of forest area loss have been used successfully to estimate associated carbon losses, few such analyses have endeavored to determine the rate of carbon sequestration in growing forests. Here we use 12 years (2003-2014) of pantropical satellite data to quantify net annual changes in the aboveground carbon density of woody vegetation (MgC ha-1yr-1), providing direct, measurement-based evidence that the world's tropical forests are a net carbon source of 425.2 ± 92.0 Tg C yr-1. This net release of carbon consists of losses of 861.7 ± 80.2 Tg C yr-1 and gains of -436.5 ± 31.0 Tg C yr-1 . Gains result from forest growth; losses result from reductions in forest area due to deforestation and from reductions in biomass density within standing forests (degradation), with the latter accounting for 68.9% of overall losses. Our findings advance previous research

  9. Sharing Regional Cooperative Gains From Reusing Effluent for Irrigation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dinar, Ariel; Yaron, Dan; Kannai, Yakar

    1986-03-01

    This paper is concerned with the allocation of cost and benefits from regional cooperation, with respect to reuse of municipal effluent for irrigation at the Ramla region of Israel. An efficient regional solution provides the maximal regional income which has to be redistributed among the town and several farms. Different allocations based on marginal cost pricing and schemes from cooperative game theory like the core, Shapley value, generalized Shapley value, and nucleolus are applied. The town and farm A have the main additional gains according to all allocation schemes presented. Advantages and disadvantages of these allocation schemes are examined in order to suggest a fair and acceptable allocation of the regional cooperative gains. Although no method has been preferred, the marginal cost pricing was found to be unacceptable by the participants. The conclusion is that the theory of cooperative games may provide guidelines while comparing the different solutions.

  10. Raman gain and nonlinear optical absorption measurements in a low-loss silicon waveguide

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rong, Haisheng; Liu, Ansheng; Nicolaescu, Remus; Paniccia, Mario; Cohen, Oded; Hak, Dani

    2004-09-01

    We fabricated a low-loss (˜0.22dB/cm) rib waveguide (WG) in silicon-on-insulator with a small effective core area of ˜1.57μm2 and measured the stimulated Raman scattering gain in the WG. We obtained 2.3dB Raman gain in a 4.8-cm-long S-shaped WG using a 1455nm pump laser with a cw power of 0.9W measured before the WG. In addition, we observed nonlinear dependence of Raman gain and optical propagation loss as a function of the pump power. Our study shows that this mainly is due to two-photon absorption (TPA) induced free carrier absorption in the silicon WG. We experimentally determined the TPA induced free carrier lifetime of 25ns, which agrees well with our modeling.

  11. 32 CFR Appendix A to Part 1285 - Gaining Access to DLA Records

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Part 1285 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY MISCELLANEOUS DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROGRAM Pt. 1285, App. A Appendix A to Part 1285—Gaining Access to DLA Records I. General The Defense Logistics Agency was established pursuant to...

  12. 32 CFR Appendix A to Part 1285 - Gaining Access to DLA Records

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Part 1285 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY MISCELLANEOUS DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROGRAM Pt. 1285, App. A Appendix A to Part 1285—Gaining Access to DLA Records I. General The Defense Logistics Agency was established pursuant to...

  13. 32 CFR Appendix A to Part 1285 - Gaining Access to DLA Records

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Part 1285 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY MISCELLANEOUS DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROGRAM Pt. 1285, App. A Appendix A to Part 1285—Gaining Access to DLA Records I. General The Defense Logistics Agency was established pursuant to...

  14. Determination of the STIS CCD Gain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riley, Allyssa; Monroe, TalaWanda; Lockwood, Sean

    2016-09-01

    This report summarizes the analysis and absolute gain results of the STIS Cycle 23 special calibration program 14424 that was designed to measure the gain of amplifiers A, C and D at nominal gain settings of 1 and 4 e-/DN. We used the mean-variance technique and the results indicate a <3.5% change in the gain for amplifier D from when it was originally calculated pre-flight. We compared these values to previous measurements from Cycles 17 through 23. This report outlines the observations, methodology, and results of the mean-variance technique.

  15. Measurement of Antenna Bore-Sight Gain

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fortinberry, Jarrod; Shumpert, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    The absolute or free-field gain of a simple antenna can be approximated using standard antenna theory formulae or for a more accurate prediction, numerical methods may be employed to solve for antenna parameters including gain. Both of these methods will result in relatively reasonable estimates but in practice antenna gain is usually verified and documented via measurements and calibration. In this paper, a relatively simple and low-cost, yet effective means of determining the bore-sight free-field gain of a VHF/UHF antenna is proposed by using the Brewster angle relationship.

  16. Automating the evaluation of flood damages: methodology and potential gains

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eleutério, Julian; Martinez, Edgar Daniel

    2010-05-01

    The evaluation of flood damage potential consists of three main steps: assessing and processing data, combining data and calculating potential damages. The first step consists of modelling hazard and assessing vulnerability. In general, this step of the evaluation demands more time and investments than the others. The second step of the evaluation consists of combining spatial data on hazard with spatial data on vulnerability. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a fundamental tool in the realization of this step. GIS software allows the simultaneous analysis of spatial and matrix data. The third step of the evaluation consists of calculating potential damages by means of damage-functions or contingent analysis. All steps demand time and expertise. However, the last two steps must be realized several times when comparing different management scenarios. In addition, uncertainty analysis and sensitivity test are made during the second and third steps of the evaluation. The feasibility of these steps could be relevant in the choice of the extent of the evaluation. Low feasibility could lead to choosing not to evaluate uncertainty or to limit the number of scenario comparisons. Several computer models have been developed over time in order to evaluate the flood risk. GIS software is largely used to realise flood risk analysis. The software is used to combine and process different types of data, and to visualise the risk and the evaluation results. The main advantages of using a GIS in these analyses are: the possibility of "easily" realising the analyses several times, in order to compare different scenarios and study uncertainty; the generation of datasets which could be used any time in future to support territorial decision making; the possibility of adding information over time to update the dataset and make other analyses. However, these analyses require personnel specialisation and time. The use of GIS software to evaluate the flood risk requires personnel with

  17. 40 CFR Table 42 to Subpart Uuu of... - Additional Information for Initial Notification of Compliance Status

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Notification of Compliance Status 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL..., Subpt. UUU, Table 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63—Additional Information for Initial Notification... source or vent associated with an affected source not subject to the requirements of subpart UUU. 2...

  18. 40 CFR Table 42 to Subpart Uuu of... - Additional Information for Initial Notification of Compliance Status

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Notification of Compliance Status 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL..., Subpt. UUU, Table 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63—Additional Information for Initial Notification... source or vent associated with an affected source not subject to the requirements of subpart UUU. 2...

  19. 40 CFR Table 42 to Subpart Uuu of... - Additional Information for Initial Notification of Compliance Status

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Notification of Compliance Status 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL..., Subpt. UUU, Table 42 Table 42 to Subpart UUU of Part 63—Additional Information for Initial Notification... source or vent associated with an affected source not subject to the requirements of subpart UUU. 2...

  20. Did people "buy" what was "sold"? A qualitative evaluation of a contingent valuation survey information set for gains in life expectancy.

    PubMed

    Baker, R; Bartczak, A; Chilton, S; Metcalf, H

    2014-01-15

    A number of stated preferences studies have estimated a monetary value for the gains in life expectancy resulting from pollution control, using a Value of a Life Year (VOLY) approach. However, life expectancy gains are a complex concept and no attempt has been made, to date, to investigate peoples' understanding of what it is they are being asked to value. Past practice has been to focus on the outcome of a policy i.e. a gain to the average person of X months', providing no details on how the individual receives, or experiences this gain, a potentially important attribute to value. This paper sets up and reports the results from a structured debriefing exercise to qualitatively investigate an alternative approach which explicitly emphasises how this gain is delivered (on-going reductions in the risk of death). We find that, for the majority of respondents, the approach is effective in communicating the on-going nature of the gain and reduces or eliminates the use of the (incorrect) heuristic that it is an 'add-on' at the end of life, in poor health. Further refinements are required, however, to communicate the cumulative nature of these risk reductions and the lack of impact on quality of life. The lesson for stated preference studies in general is that structured debriefings can be very useful, highlighting such issues as the persistence of ill-defined attributes and the difficulties that respondents may encounter setting aside their preferences over attributes of the good that should not be included in the valuation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. When good is stickier than bad: Understanding gain/loss asymmetries in sequential framing effects.

    PubMed

    Sparks, Jehan; Ledgerwood, Alison

    2017-08-01

    Considerable research has demonstrated the power of the current positive or negative frame to shape people's current judgments. But humans must often learn about positive and negative information as they encounter that information sequentially over time. It is therefore crucial to consider the potential importance of sequencing when developing an understanding of how humans think about valenced information. Indeed, recent work looking at sequentially encountered frames suggests that some frames can linger outside the context in which they are first encountered, sticking in the mind so that subsequent frames have a muted effect. The present research builds a comprehensive account of sequential framing effects in both the loss and the gain domains. After seeing information about a potential gain or loss framed in positive terms or negative terms, participants saw the same issue reframed in the opposing way. Across 5 studies and 1566 participants, we find accumulating evidence for the notion that in the gain domain, positive frames are stickier than negative frames for novel but not familiar scenarios, whereas in the loss domain, negative frames are always stickier than positive frames. Integrating regulatory focus theory with the literatures on negativity dominance and positivity offset, we develop a new and comprehensive account of sequential framing effects that emphasizes the adaptive value of positivity and negativity biases in specific contexts. Our findings highlight the fact that research conducted solely in the loss domain risks painting an incomplete and oversimplified picture of human bias and suggest new directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  2. Interventions to reduce weight gain in schizophrenia

    PubMed Central

    Faulkner, Guy; Cohn, Tony; Remington, Gary

    2014-01-01

    Background Weight gain is common for people with schizophrenia and this has serious implications for health and well being. Objectives To determine the effects of both pharmacological (excluding medication switching) and non pharmacological strategies for reducing or preventing weight gain in people with schizophrenia. Search methods We searched key databases and the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group’s trials register (April 2006), reference sections within relevant papers, hand searched key journals, and contacted the first author of each relevant study and other experts to collect further information. Selection criteria We included all clinical randomised controlled trials comparing any pharmacological or non pharmacological intervention for weight gain (diet and exercise counselling) with standard care or other treatments for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses. Data collection and analysis We reliably selected, quality assessed and extracted data from studies. As weight is a continuous outcome measurement, weighted mean differences (WMD) of the change from baseline were calculated. The primary outcome measure was weight loss. Main results Twenty-three randomised controlled trials met the inclusion criteria for this review. Five trials assessed a cognitive/behavioural intervention and eighteen assessed a pharmacological adjunct. In terms of prevention, two cognitive/behavioural trials showed significant treatment effect (mean weight change) at end of treatment (n=104, 2 RCTs, WMD −3.38 kg CI −4.2 to −2.0). Pharmacological adjunct treatments were significant with a modest prevention of weight gain (n=274, 6 RCTs, WMD − 1.16 kg CI −1.9 to −0.4). In terms of treatments for weight loss, we found significantly greater weight reduction in the cognitive behavioural intervention group (n=129, 3 RCTs, WMD −1.69 kg CI −2.8 to −0.6) compared with standard care. Authors’ conclusions Modest weight loss can be achieved with selective

  3. Loss-induced super scattering and gain-induced absorption.

    PubMed

    Feng, Simin

    2016-01-25

    Giant transmission and reflection of a finite bandwidth are demonstrated at the same wavelength when the electromagnetic wave is incident on a subwavelength array of parity-time (PT) symmetric dimers embedded in a metallic film. Remarkably, this phenomenon vanishes if the metallic substrate is lossless while keeping other parameters unchanged. Moreover super scattering can also occur when increasing the loss of the dimers while keeping the gain unchanged. When the metafilm is adjusted to the vicinity of an exceptional point, tuning either the substrate dissipation or the loss of the dimers can lead to supper scattering in stark contrast to what would be expected in conventional systems. In addition, increasing the gain of the dimers can increase the absorption near the exceptional point. These phenomena indicate that the PT-synthetic plasmonic metafilm can function as a thinfilm PT-plasmonic laser or absorber depending on the tuning parameter. One implication is that super radiation is possible from a cavity by tuning cavity dissipation or lossy element inside the cavity.

  4. Biodiversity gains from efficient use of private sponsorship for flagship species conservation.

    PubMed

    Bennett, Joseph R; Maloney, Richard; Possingham, Hugh P

    2015-04-22

    To address the global extinction crisis, both efficient use of existing conservation funding and new sources of funding are vital. Private sponsorship of charismatic 'flagship' species conservation represents an important source of new funding, but has been criticized as being inefficient. However, the ancillary benefits of privately sponsored flagship species conservation via actions benefiting other species have not been quantified, nor have the benefits of incorporating such sponsorship into objective prioritization protocols. Here, we use a comprehensive dataset of conservation actions for the 700 most threatened species in New Zealand to examine the potential biodiversity gains from national private flagship species sponsorship programmes. We find that private funding for flagship species can clearly result in additional species and phylogenetic diversity conserved, via conservation actions shared with other species. When private flagship species funding is incorporated into a prioritization protocol to preferentially sponsor shared actions, expected gains can be more than doubled. However, these gains are consistently smaller than expected gains in a hypothetical scenario where private funding could be optimally allocated among all threatened species. We recommend integrating private sponsorship of flagship species into objective prioritization protocols to sponsor efficient actions that maximize biodiversity gains, or wherever possible, encouraging private donations for broader biodiversity goals. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  5. A weight-gain-for-gestational-age z score chart for the assessment of maternal weight gain in pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Hutcheon, Jennifer A; Platt, Robert W; Abrams, Barbara; Himes, Katherine P; Simhan, Hyagriv N; Bodnar, Lisa M

    2013-05-01

    To establish the unbiased relation between maternal weight gain in pregnancy and perinatal health, a classification for maternal weight gain is needed that is uncorrelated with gestational age. The goal of this study was to create a weight-gain-for-gestational-age percentile and z score chart to describe the mean, SD, and selected percentiles of maternal weight gain throughout pregnancy in a contemporary cohort of US women. The study population was drawn from normal-weight women with uncomplicated, singleton pregnancies who delivered at the Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, 1998-2008. Analyses were based on a randomly selected subset of 648 women for whom serial prenatal weight measurements were available through medical chart record abstraction (6727 weight measurements). The pattern of maternal weight gain throughout gestation was estimated by using a random-effects regression model. The estimates were used to create a chart with the smoothed means, percentiles, and SDs of gestational weight gain for each week of pregnancy. This chart allows researchers to express total weight gain as an age-standardized z score, which can be used in epidemiologic analyses to study the association between pregnancy weight gain and adverse or physiologic pregnancy outcomes independent of gestational age.

  6. I owe you: age-related similarities and differences in associative memory for gains and losses.

    PubMed

    Castel, Alan D; Friedman, Michael C; McGillivray, Shannon; Flores, Cynthia C; Murayama, Kou; Kerr, Tyson; Drolet, Aimee

    2016-09-01

    Older adults often experience associative memory impairments but can sometimes remember important information. The current experiments investigate potential age-related similarities and differences associate memory for gains and losses. Younger and older participants were presented with faces and associated dollar amounts, which indicated how much money the person "owed" the participant, and were later given a cued recall test for the dollar amount. Experiment 1 examined face-dollar amount pairs while Experiment 2 included negative dollar amounts to examine both gains and losses. While younger adults recalled more information relative to older adults, both groups were more accurate in recalling the correct value associated with high-value faces compared to lower-value faces and remembered gist-information about the values. However, negative values (losses) did not have a strong impact on recall among older adults versus younger adults, illustrating important associative memory differences between younger and older adults.

  7. I Owe You: Age-Related Similarities and Differences in Associative Memory for Gains and Losses

    PubMed Central

    Castel, Alan D.; Friedman, Michael C.; McGillivray, Shannon; Flores, Cynthia C.; Murayama, Kou; Kerr, Tyson; Drolet, Aimee

    2016-01-01

    Older adults often experience associative memory impairments but can sometimes remember important information. The current experiments investigate potential age-related similarities and differences associate memory for gains and losses. Younger and older participants were presented with faces and associated dollar amounts, which indicated how much money the person “owed” the participant, and were later given a cued recall test for the dollar amount. Experiment 1 examined face-dollar amount pairs while Experiment 2 included negative dollar amounts to examine both gains and losses. While younger adults recalled more information relative to older adults, both groups were more accurate in recalling the correct value associated with high value faces compared to lower value faces and remembered gist-information about the values. However, negative values (losses) did not have a strong impact on recall among older adults versus younger adults, illustrating important associative memory differences between younger and older adults. PMID:26847137

  8. DRD2 Promoter Region Variation Predicts Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain in First Episode Schizophrenia

    PubMed Central

    Lencz, Todd; Robinson, Delbert G.; Napolitano, Barbara; Sevy, Serge; Kane, John M.; Goldman, David; Malhotra, Anil K.

    2010-01-01

    Many antipsychotic medications carry a substantial liability for weight gain, and one mechanism common to all antipsychotics is binding to the dopamine D2 receptor. We therefore examined the relationship between −141C Ins/Del (rs1799732), a functional promoter region polymorphism in DRD2, and antipsychotic-induced weight gain in 58 first episode schizophrenia patients enrolled in a randomized trial of risperidone (RIS) vs. olanzapine (OLZ). Carriers of the deletion allele (n=29) were compared to Ins/Ins homozygotes (non-carriers, n=29) in a mixed model encompassing 10 weight measurements over 16 weeks. Deletion allele carriers demonstrated significantly more weight gain after 6 weeks of treatment regardless of assigned medication. While deletion carriers were prescribed higher doses of OLZ (but not RIS), dose did not appear to account for the genotype effects on weight gain. Given previous evidence that deletion carriers demonstrate reduced symptom response to medication, additional study of appropriate treatment options for these patients appears warranted. PMID:20664489

  9. Nitrogen-addition effects on leaf traits and photosynthetic carbon gain of boreal forest understory shrubs.

    PubMed

    Palmroth, Sari; Bach, Lisbet Holm; Nordin, Annika; Palmqvist, Kristin

    2014-06-01

    Boreal coniferous forests are characterized by fairly open canopies where understory vegetation is an important component of ecosystem C and N cycling. We used an ecophysiological approach to study the effects of N additions on uptake and partitioning of C and N in two dominant understory shrubs: deciduous Vaccinium myrtillus in a Picea abies stand and evergreen Vaccinium vitis-idaea in a Pinus sylvestris stand in northern Sweden. N was added to these stands for 16 and 8 years, respectively, at rates of 0, 12.5, and 50 kg N ha(-1) year(-1). N addition at the highest rate increased foliar N and chlorophyll concentrations in both understory species. Canopy cover of P. abies also increased, decreasing light availability and leaf mass per area of V. myrtillus. Among leaves of either shrub, foliar N content did not explain variation in light-saturated CO2 exchange rates. Instead photosynthetic capacity varied with stomatal conductance possibly reflecting plant hydraulic properties and within-site variation in water availability. Moreover, likely due to increased shading under P. abies and due to water limitations in the sandy soil under P. sylvestris, individuals of the two shrubs did not increase their biomass or shift their allocation between above- and belowground parts in response to N additions. Altogether, our results indicate that the understory shrubs in these systems show little response to N additions in terms of photosynthetic physiology or growth and that changes in their performance are mostly associated with responses of the tree canopy.

  10. The impact of recombination on short-term selection gain in plant breeding experiments.

    PubMed

    McClosky, Benjamin; Tanksley, Steven D

    2013-09-01

    Recombination is a requirement for response to selection, but researchers still debate whether increasing recombination beyond normal levels will result in significant gains in short-term selection. We tested this hypothesis, in the context of plant breeding, through a series of simulation experiments comparing short-term selection response (≤20 cycles) between populations with normal levels of recombination and similar populations with unconstrained recombination (i.e., free recombination). We considered additive and epistatic models and examined a wide range of values for key design variables: selection cycles, QTL number, heritability, linkage phase, selection intensity and population size. With few exceptions, going from normal to unconstrained levels of recombination produced only modest gains in response to selection (≈11 % on average). We then asked how breeders might capture some of this theoretical gain by increasing recombination through either (1) extra rounds of mating or (2) selection of highly recombinant individuals via use of molecular markers/maps. All methods tested captured less than half of the potential gain, but our analysis indicates that the most effective method is to select for increased recombination and the trait simultaneously. This recommendation is based on evidence of a favorable interaction between trait selection and the impact of recombination on selection gains. Finally, we examined the relative contributions of the two components of meiotic recombination, chromosome assortment and crossing over, to short-term selection gain. Depending primarily on the presence of trait selection pressure, chromosome assortment alone accounted for 40-75 % of gain in response to short-term selection.

  11. Comparison of Video Head Impulse Test (vHIT) Gains Between Two Commercially Available Devices and by Different Gain Analytical Methods.

    PubMed

    Lee, Sang Hun; Yoo, Myung Hoon; Park, Jun Woo; Kang, Byung Chul; Yang, Chan Joo; Kang, Woo Suk; Ahn, Joong Ho; Chung, Jong Woo; Park, Hong Ju

    2018-06-01

    To evaluate whether video head impulse test (vHIT) gains are dependent on the measuring device and method of analysis. Prospective study. vHIT was performed in 25 healthy subjects using two devices simultaneously. vHIT gains were compared between these instruments and using five different methods of comparing position and velocity gains during head movement intervals. The two devices produced different vHIT gain results with the same method of analysis. There were also significant differences in the vHIT gains measured using different analytical methods. The gain analytic method that compares the areas under the velocity curve (AUC) of the head and eye movements during head movements showed lower vHIT gains than a method that compared the peak velocities of the head and eye movements. The former method produced the vHIT gain with the smallest standard deviation among the five procedures tested in this study. vHIT gains differ in normal subjects depending on the device and method of analysis used, suggesting that it is advisable for each device to have its own normal values. Gain calculations that compare the AUC of the head and eye movements during the head movements show the smallest variance.

  12. Can LENR Energy Gains Exceed 1000?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nagel, David J.

    2011-03-01

    Energy gain is defined as the energy realized from reactions divided by the energy required to produce those reactions. Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) have already been measured to significantly exceed the energy gain of 10 projected from ITER,possibly 15 years from now. Electrochemical experiments using the Pd-D system have shown energy gains exceeding 10. Gas phase experiments with the Ni-H system were reported to yield energy gains of over 100. Neither of these reports has been adequately verified or reproduced. However, the question in the title still deserves consideration. If, as thought by many, it is possible to trigger nuclear reactions that yield MeV energies with chemical energies of the order of eV, then the most optimistic expectation is that LENR gains could approach one million. Hence, the very tentative answer to the question above is yes. However, if LENR could be initiated with some energy cost, and then continue to ``burn,'' very high energy gains might be realized. Consider a match and a pile of dry logs. The phenomenon termed ``heat after death'' will be examined to see if it might be the initial evidence for nuclear ``burning.''

  13. Controlling gain one photon at a time

    PubMed Central

    Schwartz, Gregory W; Rieke, Fred

    2013-01-01

    Adaptation is a salient property of sensory processing. All adaptational or gain control mechanisms face the challenge of obtaining a reliable estimate of the property of the input to be adapted to and obtaining this estimate sufficiently rapidly to be useful. Here, we explore how the primate retina balances the need to change gain rapidly and reliably when photons arrive rarely at individual rod photoreceptors. We find that the weakest backgrounds that decrease the gain of the retinal output signals are similar to those that increase human behavioral threshold, and identify a novel site of gain control in the retinal circuitry. Thus, surprisingly, the gain of retinal signals begins to decrease essentially as soon as background lights are detectable; under these conditions, gain control does not rely on a highly averaged estimate of the photon count, but instead signals from individual photon absorptions trigger changes in gain. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00467.001 PMID:23682314

  14. 20 CFR 10.332 - What additional medical information will OWCP require to support continuing payment of benefits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What additional medical information will OWCP require to support continuing payment of benefits? 10.332 Section 10.332 Employees' Benefits OFFICE OF... COMPENSATION UNDER THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION ACT, AS AMENDED Medical and Related Benefits Medical...

  15. Weight Gain and Metabolic Consequences of Risperidone in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Scahill, Lawrence; Jeon, Sangchoon; Boorin, Susan J.; McDougle, Christopher J.; Aman, Michael G.; Dziura, James; McCracken, James T.; Caprio, Sonia; Arnold, L. Eugene; Nicol, Ginger; Deng, Yanhong; Challa, Saankari A.; Vitiello, Benedetto

    2016-01-01

    Objective We examine weight gain and metabolic consequences of risperidone monotherapy in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method This was a 24-week, multisite, randomized trial of risperidone only versus risperidone plus parent training in 124 children (mean age 6.9 ± 2.35 years; 105 boys, 19 girls) with ASD and serious behavioral problems. We monitored height, weight, waist circumference, and adverse effects during the trial. Fasting blood samples were obtained pretreatment and at Week 16. Results In 97 patients with a mean of 22.9 ± 2.8 weeks risperidone exposure, there was a 5.4 ± 3.4 kg weight gain over 24 weeks (p < .0001); waist circumference increased from 60.7 ± 10.4 cm to 66.8 ± 11.3 cm (p <. 0001). At baseline 60.8% (59 of 97) patients were classified as having normal weight; by Week 24, only 29.4% (25 of 85) remained in that group. Growth curve analysis showed a significant change in body mass index (BMI) z-scores from pretreatment to Week 24 (p<.0001). This effect was significantly greater for patients with reported increased appetite in the first 8 weeks. From pretreatment to Week 16, there were significant increases in glucose (p=.02), hemoglobin A1c (p=.01), insulin (p <.0001), homeostatic model assessment–insulin resistance (HOMA-IR; p< .001), alanine aminotransferase (p=.01), and leptin (p < .0001). Adiponectin declined (p =.003). At baseline, 7 patients met conventional criteria for metabolic syndrome; by Week 16, 12 additional patients were so classified. Conclusion Rapid weight gain with risperidone treatment may promote the cascade of biochemical indices associated with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Appetite, weight, waist circumference, liver function tests, blood lipids, and glucose warrant monitoring. Clinical trial registration information Drug and Behavioral Therapy for Children With Pervasive Developmental Disorders; http://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT00080145 PMID:27126856

  16. The benefit of using additional hydrological information from earth observations and reanalysis data on water allocation decisions in irrigation districts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaune, Alexander; López, Patricia; Werner, Micha; de Fraiture, Charlotte

    2017-04-01

    Hydrological information on water availability and demand is vital for sound water allocation decisions in irrigation districts, particularly in times of water scarcity. However, sub-optimal water allocation decisions are often taken with incomplete hydrological information, which may lead to agricultural production loss. In this study we evaluate the benefit of additional hydrological information from earth observations and reanalysis data in supporting decisions in irrigation districts. Current water allocation decisions were emulated through heuristic operational rules for water scarce and water abundant conditions in the selected irrigation districts. The Dynamic Water Balance Model based on the Budyko framework was forced with precipitation datasets from interpolated ground measurements, remote sensing and reanalysis data, to determine the water availability for irrigation. Irrigation demands were estimated based on estimates of potential evapotranspiration and coefficient for crops grown, adjusted with the interpolated precipitation data. Decisions made using both current and additional hydrological information were evaluated through the rate at which sub-optimal decisions were made. The decisions made using an amended set of decision rules that benefit from additional information on demand in the districts were also evaluated. Results show that sub-optimal decisions can be reduced in the planning phase through improved estimates of water availability. Where there are reliable observations of water availability through gauging stations, the benefit of the improved precipitation data is found in the improved estimates of demand, equally leading to a reduction of sub-optimal decisions.

  17. Modification of saccadic gain by reinforcement

    PubMed Central

    Paeye, Céline; Wallman, Josh

    2011-01-01

    Control of saccadic gain is often viewed as a simple compensatory process in which gain is adjusted over many trials by the postsaccadic retinal error, thereby maintaining saccadic accuracy. Here, we propose that gain might also be changed by a reinforcement process not requiring a visual error. To test this hypothesis, we used experimental paradigms in which retinal error was removed by extinguishing the target at the start of each saccade and either an auditory tone or the vision of the target on the fovea was provided as reinforcement after those saccades that met an amplitude criterion. These reinforcement procedures caused a progressive change in saccade amplitude in nearly all subjects, although the rate of adaptation differed greatly among subjects. When we reversed the contingencies and reinforced those saccades landing closer to the original target location, saccade gain changed back toward normal gain in most subjects. When subjects had saccades adapted first by reinforcement and a week later by conventional intrasaccadic step adaptation, both paradigms yielded similar degrees of gain changes and similar transfer to new amplitudes and to new starting positions of the target step as well as comparable rates of recovery. We interpret these changes in saccadic gain in the absence of postsaccadic retinal error as showing that saccade adaptation is not controlled by a single error signal. More generally, our findings suggest that normal saccade adaptation might involve general learning mechanisms rather than only specialized mechanisms for motor calibration. PMID:21525366

  18. Potential uncertainty reduction in model-averaged benchmark dose estimates informed by an additional dose study.

    PubMed

    Shao, Kan; Small, Mitchell J

    2011-10-01

    A methodology is presented for assessing the information value of an additional dosage experiment in existing bioassay studies. The analysis demonstrates the potential reduction in the uncertainty of toxicity metrics derived from expanded studies, providing insights for future studies. Bayesian methods are used to fit alternative dose-response models using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation for parameter estimation and Bayesian model averaging (BMA) is used to compare and combine the alternative models. BMA predictions for benchmark dose (BMD) are developed, with uncertainty in these predictions used to derive the lower bound BMDL. The MCMC and BMA results provide a basis for a subsequent Monte Carlo analysis that backcasts the dosage where an additional test group would have been most beneficial in reducing the uncertainty in the BMD prediction, along with the magnitude of the expected uncertainty reduction. Uncertainty reductions are measured in terms of reduced interval widths of predicted BMD values and increases in BMDL values that occur as a result of this reduced uncertainty. The methodology is illustrated using two existing data sets for TCDD carcinogenicity, fitted with two alternative dose-response models (logistic and quantal-linear). The example shows that an additional dose at a relatively high value would have been most effective for reducing the uncertainty in BMA BMD estimates, with predicted reductions in the widths of uncertainty intervals of approximately 30%, and expected increases in BMDL values of 5-10%. The results demonstrate that dose selection for studies that subsequently inform dose-response models can benefit from consideration of how these models will be fit, combined, and interpreted. © 2011 Society for Risk Analysis.

  19. Active medium gain study of electric-discharge oxygen-iodine laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kolobyanin, Yuriy; Adamenkov, Yuriy; Vyskubenko, Boris; Goryachev, Leonid; Ilyin, Sergey; Kalashnik, Anatoliy; Rakhimova, Tatiana; Rogozhnikov, Georgiy

    2007-05-01

    The paper reports on experimental studies of the active medium gain in supersonic electric-discharge oxygen-iodine laser (DOIL) based on traveling mw discharge. The measurements have included: absolute concentration, yield, and energy efficiency of production of SO in pure oxygen and oxygen-helium mixes at an oxygen partial pressure 3 to 15 Torr. For the gas flow to get rid of atomic oxygen, both heterogeneous mercury oxide coatings of the tube walls and homogeneous additives to the work mix, such as nitrogen oxide, have been used. The active medium of DOIL was formed using a nozzle array of the type of ejector sized as 10*50 mm2. The singlet oxygen-helium mix was supplied through three rows of sonic cylindrical nozzles, while the iodine-carrier gas mix - through two rows of supersonic conical nozzles with a half-opening angle of 10°(arc). The gas-phase iodine was produced in a quartz cell filled with iodine crystals. Room-temperature iodine vapors were picked up with a carrier gas (nitrogen or helium) and thus delivered into the nozzle array. The active medium was investigated by the high-resolution laser diode spectroscopy approach that used the laser type Vortex 6025 purchased from New Focus, Inc. The laser medium gain factor was determined by the intra-cavity approach having a sensitivity about 1*10 -6 cm -1. The static temperature of the medium was determined from the measurements of gain half-width. The gain of the active medium of electric-discharge OIL has been investigated. The DOIL in use was operating on a mix composed as O II:He=1:1 at a total pressure of 6 Torr and flowrate - about 1 mmol/s. With helium as an iodine carrier gas at a flowrate ~3 mmol/s, we have recorded a positive gain in the DOIL medium.

  20. Multimodal Pilot Behavior in Multi-Axis Tracking Tasks with Time-Varying Motion Cueing Gains

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zaal, P. M. T; Pool, D. M.

    2014-01-01

    In a large number of motion-base simulators, adaptive motion filters are utilized to maximize the use of the available motion envelope of the motion system. However, not much is known about how the time-varying characteristics of such adaptive filters affect pilots when performing manual aircraft control. This paper presents the results of a study investigating the effects of time-varying motion filter gains on pilot control behavior and performance. An experiment was performed in a motion-base simulator where participants performed a simultaneous roll and pitch tracking task, while the roll and/or pitch motion filter gains changed over time. Results indicate that performance increases over time with increasing motion gains. This increase is a result of a time-varying adaptation of pilots' equalization dynamics, characterized by increased visual and motion response gains and decreased visual lead time constants. Opposite trends are found for decreasing motion filter gains. Even though the trends in both controlled axes are found to be largely the same, effects are less significant in roll. In addition, results indicate minor cross-coupling effects between pitch and roll, where a cueing variation in one axis affects the behavior adopted in the other axis.

  1. Variable gain for a wind turbine pitch control

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Seidel, R. C.; Birchenough, A. G.

    1981-01-01

    The gain variation is made in the software logic of the pitch angle controller. The gain level is changed depending upon the level of power error. The control uses low gain for low pitch activity the majority of the time. If the power exceeds ten percent offset above rated, the gain is increased to a higher gain to more effectively limit power. A variable gain control functioned well in tests on the Mod-0 wind turbine.

  2. Contrast Gain Control in Auditory Cortex

    PubMed Central

    Rabinowitz, Neil C.; Willmore, Ben D.B.; Schnupp, Jan W.H.; King, Andrew J.

    2011-01-01

    Summary The auditory system must represent sounds with a wide range of statistical properties. One important property is the spectrotemporal contrast in the acoustic environment: the variation in sound pressure in each frequency band, relative to the mean pressure. We show that neurons in ferret auditory cortex rescale their gain to partially compensate for the spectrotemporal contrast of recent stimulation. When contrast is low, neurons increase their gain, becoming more sensitive to small changes in the stimulus, although the effectiveness of contrast gain control is reduced at low mean levels. Gain is primarily determined by contrast near each neuron's preferred frequency, but there is also a contribution from contrast in more distant frequency bands. Neural responses are modulated by contrast over timescales of ∼100 ms. By using contrast gain control to expand or compress the representation of its inputs, the auditory system may be seeking an efficient coding of natural sounds. PMID:21689603

  3. Dietary fat and weight gain among women in the Nurses' Health Study.

    PubMed

    Field, Alison E; Willett, Walter C; Lissner, Lauren; Colditz, Graham A

    2007-04-01

    To assess the association of dietary fat and weight gain among adult women and to investigate whether offspring of overweight parents have a greater predisposition to weight gain due to intake of dietary fat. This was an 8-year follow-up of 41,518 women in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), a population-based, prospective cohort. The women were 41 to 68 years of age, free of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes in 1986 when "baseline" weight and diet were assessed. Eight years later (1994), changes in weight and dietary intake were assessed. Linear regression models were used to relate change in weight to fat intake and change in fat intake, using the percentage of energy from carbohydrate as the comparison, adjusted for age, BMI in 1986, leisure time physical activity, time spent sitting, percent of calories from protein, and change in percentage of calories from protein. Overall, there was a weak positive association between total fat intake (beta=0.11) and weight gain. Increases in monosaturated and polyunsaturated fat were not associated with weight gain, but increases in animal fat, saturated fat, and trans fat had a positive association with weight change. There was not strong evidence of effect modification by parental weight status (p=0.7 to 0.8 for percentage of calories from total fat, animal fat, and vegetable fat); however, the associations were stronger among the overweight compared with leaner women (p<0.05 for percentage of calories from each type of fat). Among overweight women, for every one percentage increase in percentage of calories from trans fat, women gained an additional 2.3 lb (95% confidence interval, 1.80 to 2.86). Our results show that, overall, percent of calories from fat has only a weak positive association with weight gain; however, percentage of calories from animal, saturated, and trans fat has stronger associations. There was no clear evidence that the diet-weight gain association was stronger among offspring of overweight

  4. Computer algorithm for coding gain

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dodd, E. E.

    1974-01-01

    Development of a computer algorithm for coding gain for use in an automated communications link design system. Using an empirical formula which defines coding gain as used in space communications engineering, an algorithm is constructed on the basis of available performance data for nonsystematic convolutional encoding with soft-decision (eight-level) Viterbi decoding.

  5. 31 CFR 26.5 - Upgrades and additional environmental information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... information. 26.5 Section 26.5 Money and Finance: Treasury Office of the Secretary of the Treasury... environmental information. (a) Environmental category upgrades. If the WGMA and the Department of the Treasury... environmental analysis planned by the MDB is insufficient, the Department of the Treasury will instruct the...

  6. 31 CFR 26.5 - Upgrades and additional environmental information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... information. 26.5 Section 26.5 Money and Finance: Treasury Office of the Secretary of the Treasury... environmental information. (a) Environmental category upgrades. If the WGMA and the Department of the Treasury... environmental analysis planned by the MDB is insufficient, the Department of the Treasury will instruct the...

  7. 31 CFR 26.5 - Upgrades and additional environmental information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... information. 26.5 Section 26.5 Money and Finance: Treasury Office of the Secretary of the Treasury... environmental information. (a) Environmental category upgrades. If the WGMA and the Department of the Treasury... environmental analysis planned by the MDB is insufficient, the Department of the Treasury will instruct the...

  8. Direct measurements of fluorine atom concentration, gain length and small signal gain in an hydrogen fluoride overtone laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wisniewski, Charles F.; Hewett, Kevin B.; Manke, Gerald C., II; Randall Truman, C.; Hager, Gordon D.

    2003-03-01

    Experimental techniques have been developed to directly measure the concentration of fluorine atoms, the gain length and the small signal gain in a hydrogen fluoride 5 cm slit nozzle laser. A gas phase titration technique was utilized to measure the fluorine atom concentration using HCl as the titrant. The gain length was measured using a pitot probe to locate the interface of the primary flow with the high Mach number shroud flows. A tunable diode laser was utilized to perform small signal gain measurements on HF overtone ( ν=2→0) transitions.

  9. Simulation of quitting smoking in the military shows higher lifetime medical spending more than offset by productivity gains.

    PubMed

    Yang, Wenya; Dall, Timothy M; Zhang, Yiduo; Zhang, Shiping; Arday, David R; Dorn, Patricia W; Jain, Anjali

    2012-12-01

    Despite the documented benefits of quitting smoking, studies have found that smokers who quit may have higher lifetime medical costs, in part because of increased risk for medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, brought on by associated weight gain. Using a simulation model and data on 612,332 adult smokers in the US Department of Defense's TRICARE Prime health plan in 2008, we estimated that cessation accompanied by weight gain would increase average life expectancy by 3.7 years, and that the average lifetime reduction in medical expenditures from improved health ($5,600) would be offset by additional expenditures resulting from prolonged life ($7,300). Results varied by age and sex: For females ages 18-44 at time of cessation, there would be net savings of $1,200 despite additional medical expenditures from prolonged life. Avoidance of weight gain after quitting smoking would increase average life expectancy by four additional months and reduce mean extra spending resulting from prolonged life by $700. Overall, the average net lifetime health care cost increase of $1,700 or less per ex-smoker would be modest and, for employed people, more than offset by even one year's worth of productivity gains. These results boost the case for smoking cessation programs in the military in particular, along with not selling cigarettes in commissaries or at reduced prices.

  10. Phenolic plant metabolites as bioactive food and feed additives

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Functional additives in food and animal feed formulations are gaining acceptance as consumers and producers recognize the health benefits associated with certain natural plant products. Phenolic compounds in particular have emerged as a class of compounds with antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifun...

  11. Effects of Gain Changes on RPM Performance

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lousteau, Angela L; York, Robbie Lynn; Livesay, Jake

    2012-03-01

    sensitivity gains are less than 5% (Fig. 6). ORNL does not consider this slight increase in sensitivity to be a worthwhile pursuit. Second, increasing the ULD will increase sensitivity a few percent (Fig. 7); however, it is not clear that the slight increase in sensitivity is worth the effort required to make the change (e.g., reliability, cost, etc.). Additionally, while the monitor would be more sensitive to HEU, it would also be more sensitive to NORM. Third, the sensitivity of the system remains approximately the same whether it is calibrated to a small source on contact or a large source far away (Fig. 6). This affirms that no changes to the existing calibration procedure are necessary.« less

  12. Gain-phase modulation in chirped-pulse amplification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shen, Yijie; Gao, Gan; Meng, Yuan; Fu, Xing; Gong, Mali

    2017-10-01

    The cross-modulation between the gain and chirped phase in chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated. We propose a gain-phase coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation (GPC-NLSE) for solving chirped-pulse propagation in a nonlinear gain medium involved in the gain-phase modulation (GPM) process. With the GPC-NLSE, the space-time-frequency-dependent gain, chirped phase, pulse, and spectrum evolutions can be precisely calculated. Moreover, a short-length high-gain Yb-doped fiber CPA experiment is presented in which a self-steepening distortion of the seed pulse is automatically compensated after amplification. This phenomenon can be explained by the GPM theory whereas conventional models cannot. The experimental results for the temporal and spectral intensities show excellent agreement with our theory. Our GPM theory paves the way for further investigations of the finer structures of the pulse and spectrum in CPA systems.

  13. Noiseless intensity amplification of repetitive signals by coherent addition using the temporal Talbot effect

    PubMed Central

    Maram, Reza; Van Howe, James; Li, Ming; Azaña, José

    2014-01-01

    Amplification of signal intensity is essential for initiating physical processes, diagnostics, sensing, communications and measurement. During traditional amplification, the signal is amplified by multiplying the signal carriers through an active gain process, requiring the use of an external power source. In addition, the signal is degraded by noise and distortions that typically accompany active gain processes. We show noiseless intensity amplification of repetitive optical pulse waveforms with gain from 2 to ~20 without using active gain. The proposed method uses a dispersion-induced temporal self-imaging (Talbot) effect to redistribute and coherently accumulate energy of the original repetitive waveforms into fewer replica waveforms. In addition, we show how our passive amplifier performs a real-time average of the wave-train to reduce its original noise fluctuation, as well as enhances the extinction ratio of pulses to stand above the noise floor. Our technique is applicable to repetitive waveforms in any spectral region or wave system. PMID:25319207

  14. Eigenvalue assignment by minimal state-feedback gain in LTI multivariable systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ataei, Mohammad; Enshaee, Ali

    2011-12-01

    In this article, an improved method for eigenvalue assignment via state feedback in the linear time-invariant multivariable systems is proposed. This method is based on elementary similarity operations, and involves mainly utilisation of vector companion forms, and thus is very simple and easy to implement on a digital computer. In addition to the controllable systems, the proposed method can be applied for the stabilisable ones and also systems with linearly dependent inputs. Moreover, two types of state-feedback gain matrices can be achieved by this method: (1) the numerical one, which is unique, and (2) the parametric one, in which its parameters are determined in order to achieve a gain matrix with minimum Frobenius norm. The numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method.

  15. Optimal PID gain schedule for hydrogenerators

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Orelind, G.; Wozniak, L.; Medanic, J.

    1989-09-01

    This paper describes the development and testing of a digital gain switching governor for hydrogenerators. Optimal gains were found at different load points by minimizing a quadratic performance criterion prior to controller operating. During operation, the gain sets are switched in depending on the gate position and speed error magnitude. With gain switching operating, the digital governor was shown to have a substantial reduction of noise on the command signal and up to 42% faster responses to power requests. Non-linear control strategies enabled the digital governor to have a 2.5% to 2% reduction in speed overshoot on startups, and anmore » 8% to 1% reduction in undershoot on load rejections as compared to the analog.« less

  16. Sudden Gains During Therapy of Social Phobia

    PubMed Central

    Hofmann, Stefan G.; Schulz, Stefan M.; Meuret, Alicia E.; Moscovitch, David A.; Suvak, Michael

    2007-01-01

    The present study investigated the phenomenon of sudden gains in 107 participants with social phobia (social anxiety disorder) who received either cognitive–behavioral group therapy or exposure group therapy without explicit cognitive interventions, which primarily used public speaking situations as exposure tasks. Twenty-two out of 967 session-to-session intervals met criteria for sudden gains, which most frequently occurred in Session 5. Individuals with sudden gains showed similar improvements in the 2 treatment groups. Although cognitive–behavioral therapy was associated with more cognitive changes than exposure therapy, cognitive changes did not precede sudden gains. In general, the results of this study question the clinical significance of sudden gains in social phobia treatment. PMID:16881776

  17. No pain, no gain: pain behaviour in the armed forces.

    PubMed

    Harper, Phil

    Pain is a unique phenomenon that is difficult to express and is influenced by many different factors, including cultural expectations. A dichotomy exists within the British Armed Forces between pain being seen as necessary--the "no pain, no gain" view--and the opposite image of stoical service personnel who suppress their emotions--the "roughie-toughie" image. This dichotomy was explored through an ethnographic study of pain behaviour experienced during a training course. Pain behaviour was found to be consistent with cultural expectations and this supported the "no pain, no gain" perspective. Physical and psychological pain were expressed differently, reinforcing the western, scientific mind-body dichotomy. In addition, personnel frequently tried to suppress their pain and this supported the "roughie-toughie" philosophy. Thus, pain expression varies according to the context in which it occurs. Nurses need to be aware of this to ensure they interpret and manage their patients' pain appropriately.

  18. Soft Drinks and Weight Gain: How Strong Is the Link?

    PubMed Central

    Wolff, Emily; Dansinger, Michael L.

    2008-01-01

    Context Soft drink consumption in the United States has tripled in recent decades, paralleling the dramatic increases in obesity prevalence. The purpose of this clinical review is to evaluate the extent to which current scientific evidence supports a causal link between sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption and weight gain. Evidence acquisition MEDLINE search of articles published in all languages between 1966 and December 2006 containing key words or medical subheadings, such as “soft drinks” and “weight.” Additional articles were obtained by reviewing references of retrieved articles, including a recent systematic review. All reports with cross-sectional, prospective cohort, or clinical trial data in humans were considered. Evidence synthesis Six of 15 cross-sectional and 6 of 10 prospective cohort studies identified statistically significant associations between soft drink consumption and increased body weight. There were 5 clinical trials; the two that involved adolescents indicated that efforts to reduce sugar-sweetened soft drinks slowed weight gain. In adults, 3 small experimental studies suggested that consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks caused weight gain; however, no trial in adults was longer than 10 weeks or included more than 41 participants. No trial reported the effects on lipids. Conclusions Although observational studies support the hypothesis that sugar-sweetened soft drinks cause weight gain, a paucity of hypothesis-confirming clinical trial data has left the issue open to debate. Given the magnitude of the public health concern, larger and longer intervention trials should be considered to clarify the specific effects of sugar-sweetened soft drinks on body weight and other cardiovascular risk factors. PMID:18924641

  19. Website Use and Effects of Online Information About Tobacco Additives Among the Dutch General Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    PubMed Central

    Crutzen, Rik; Kienhuis, Anne S; Talhout, Reinskje; de Vries, Hein

    2017-01-01

    Background As a legal obligation, the Dutch government publishes online information about tobacco additives to make sure that it is publicly available. Little is known about the influence this website (”tabakinfo”) has on visitors and how the website is evaluated by them. Objective This study assesses how visitors use the website and its effect on their knowledge, risk perception, attitude, and smoking behavior. The study will also assess how the website is evaluated by visitors using a sample of the Dutch general population, including smokers and nonsmokers. Methods A randomized controlled trial was conducted, recruiting participants from an online panel. At baseline, participants (N=672) were asked to fill out an online questionnaire about tobacco additives. Next, participants were randomly allocated to either one of two experimental groups and invited to visit the website providing information about tobacco additives (either with or without a database containing product-specific information) or to a control group that had no access to the website. After 3 months, follow-up measurements took place. Results At follow-up (n=492), no statistically significant differences were found for knowledge, risk perception, attitude, or smoking behavior between the intervention and control groups. Website visits were positively related to younger participants (B=–0.07, 95% CI –0.12 to –0.01; t11=–2.43, P=.02) and having a low risk perception toward tobacco additives (B=–0.32, 95% CI –0.63 to –0.02; t11=–2.07, P=.04). In comparison, having a lower education (B=–0.67, 95% CI –1.14 to –0.17; t11=–2.65, P=.01) was a significant predictor for making less use of the website. Furthermore, the website was evaluated less positively by smokers compared to nonsmokers (t324=–3.55, P<.001), and males compared to females (t324=–2.21, P=.02). Conclusions The website did not change perceptions of tobacco additives or smoking behavior. Further research is

  20. Website Use and Effects of Online Information About Tobacco Additives Among the Dutch General Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

    PubMed

    Reinwand, Dominique A; Crutzen, Rik; Kienhuis, Anne S; Talhout, Reinskje; de Vries, Hein

    2017-03-14

    As a legal obligation, the Dutch government publishes online information about tobacco additives to make sure that it is publicly available. Little is known about the influence this website ("tabakinfo") has on visitors and how the website is evaluated by them. This study assesses how visitors use the website and its effect on their knowledge, risk perception, attitude, and smoking behavior. The study will also assess how the website is evaluated by visitors using a sample of the Dutch general population, including smokers and nonsmokers. A randomized controlled trial was conducted, recruiting participants from an online panel. At baseline, participants (N=672) were asked to fill out an online questionnaire about tobacco additives. Next, participants were randomly allocated to either one of two experimental groups and invited to visit the website providing information about tobacco additives (either with or without a database containing product-specific information) or to a control group that had no access to the website. After 3 months, follow-up measurements took place. At follow-up (n=492), no statistically significant differences were found for knowledge, risk perception, attitude, or smoking behavior between the intervention and control groups. Website visits were positively related to younger participants (B=-0.07, 95% CI -0.12 to -0.01; t 11 =-2.43, P=.02) and having a low risk perception toward tobacco additives (B=-0.32, 95% CI -0.63 to -0.02; t 11 =-2.07, P=.04). In comparison, having a lower education (B=-0.67, 95% CI -1.14 to -0.17; t 11 =-2.65, P=.01) was a significant predictor for making less use of the website. Furthermore, the website was evaluated less positively by smokers compared to nonsmokers (t 324 =-3.55, P<.001), and males compared to females (t 324 =-2.21, P=.02). The website did not change perceptions of tobacco additives or smoking behavior. Further research is necessary to find out how online information can be used to effectively

  1. Adaptation without parameter change: Dynamic gain control in motion detection

    PubMed Central

    Borst, Alexander; Flanagin, Virginia L.; Sompolinsky, Haim

    2005-01-01

    Many sensory systems adapt their input-output relationship to changes in the statistics of the ambient stimulus. Such adaptive behavior has been measured in a motion detection sensitive neuron of the fly visual system, H1. The rapid adaptation of the velocity response gain has been interpreted as evidence of optimal matching of the H1 response to the dynamic range of the stimulus, thereby maximizing its information transmission. Here, we show that correlation-type motion detectors, which are commonly thought to underlie fly motion vision, intrinsically possess adaptive properties. Increasing the amplitude of the velocity fluctuations leads to a decrease of the effective gain and the time constant of the velocity response without any change in the parameters of these detectors. The seemingly complex property of this adaptation turns out to be a straightforward consequence of the multidimensionality of the stimulus and the nonlinear nature of the system. PMID:15833815

  2. CONDITIONS FOR CSR MICROBUNCHING GAIN SUPPRESSION

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tsai, Cheng Ying; Douglas, David R.; Li, Rui

    The coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) of a high brightness electron beam traversing a series of dipoles, such as transport arcs, may result in phase space degradation. On one hand, the CSR can perturb electron transverse motion in dispersive regions along the beamline, causing emittance growth. On the other hand, the CSR effect on the longitudinal beam dynamics could result in microbunching gain enhancement. For transport arcs, several schemes have been proposed* to suppress the CSR-induced emittance growth. Similarly, several scenarios have been introduced** to suppress CSR-induced microbunching gain, which however mostly aim for linac-based machines. In this paper we trymore » to provide sufficient conditions for suppression of CSR-induced microbunching gain along a transport arc, analogous to*. Several example lattices are presented, with the relevant microbunching analyses carried out by our semi-analytical Vlasov solver***. The simulation results show that lattices satisfying the proposed conditions indeed have microbunching gain suppressed. We expect this analysis can shed light on lattice design approach that could suppress the CSR-induced microbunching gain.« less

  3. Would You Do It Again? Relationship Skills Gained in a Long-Distance Relationship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mietzner, Sara; Lin Li-Wen

    2005-01-01

    This study examined if experienced long-distance relationship (LDR) participants would be willing to be involved in a LDR again. In addition, although positive and negative outcomes have been reported in LDRs research, very little research investigated relationship skills gained during a LDR. Students in a Midwestern university completed…

  4. The welfare gain from replacing the health insurance tax exclusion with lump-sum tax credits.

    PubMed

    Liu, Liqun; Rettenmaier, Andrew J; Saving, Thomas R

    2011-06-01

    This paper analyzes the welfare gain from replacing the tax exclusion of employer-provided health insurance with a lump-sum tax credit. It differs from earlier studies in that we look at the welfare cost of health insurance tax exclusion as coming directly from excessive health insurance rather than from overconsumption of medical care and that we account for the labor market effect of the tax exclusion on welfare. Both differences work to produce a smaller tax reform welfare gain. For a set of mid-range parameter values, the welfare gain is about 21% of current health insurance tax expenditures. In addition, government tax expenditures would fall by 38%, and health insurance spending would fall by 77% after the reform.

  5. Evaluation of balloon trajectory forecast routines for GAINS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Collander, R.; Girz, C.

    The Global Air-ocean IN-situ System (GAINS) is a global observing system designed to augment current environmental observing and monitoring networks. GAINS is a network of long-duration, stratospheric platforms that carry onboard sensors and hundreds of dropsondes to acquire meteorological, air chemistry, and climate data over oceans and in remote land regions of the globe. Although GAINS platforms will include balloons and Remotely Operated Aircraft (ROA), the scope of this paper is limited to balloon-based platforms. A primary goal of GAINS balloon test flights is post-flight recovery of the balloon shell and payload, which requires information on the expected flight path and landing site prior to launch. Software has been developed for the prediction of the balloon trajectory and landing site, with separate versions written to generate predictions based upon rawinsonde data and model output. Balloon positions are calculated in 1-min increments based on wind data from the closest rawinsonde site or model grid point, given a known launch point, ascent and descent rate and flight duration. For short flights (< 6h), rawinsonde winds interpolated to 10-mb levels are used for trajectory calculations. Predictions for flight durations of 6 to 48h are based upon the initialization and 3 h forecast wind fields from NOAA's global aviation- (AVN) and Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) models. Given a limited number of actual balloon launches, trajectories computed from a chronological series of hourly RUC initializations are used as the baseline for comparison purposes. These baseline trajectories are compared to trajectory predictions from the rawinsonde and model-based versions on a monthly and seasonal basis over a 1-year period (January 1 - December 31, 2001) for flight durations of 3h, 6h and 48h. Predicted trajectories diverge from the baseline path, with the divergence increasing with increasing time. We examine the zonal, meridional and net magnitudes of these deviations, and

  6. The development and feasibility of an online aphasia group intervention and networking program - TeleGAIN.

    PubMed

    Pitt, Rachelle; Theodoros, Deborah; Hill, Anne J; Russell, Trevor

    2017-09-04

    Aphasia group therapy offers many benefits, however people with aphasia report difficulty accessing groups and speech-language pathologists are faced with many challenges in providing aphasia group therapy. Telerehabilitation may offer an alternative service delivery option. An online aphasia group therapy program - Telerehabilitation Group Aphasia Intervention and Networking (TeleGAIN) - has been developed according to the guidelines of the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for complex interventions. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of TeleGAIN and the results of a pilot trial to determine feasibility and acceptability. The development of TeleGAIN was informed through literature reviews in relevant topic areas, consideration of expert opinion and application of the social cognitive theory. TeleGAIN was then modelled through a feasibility pilot trial with four people with aphasia. TeleGAIN appeared to be feasible and acceptable to participants and able to be implemented as planned. Participant satisfaction with treatment was high and results suggested some potential for improvements in language functioning and communication-related quality of life. TeleGAIN appeared to be feasible and acceptable, however the study highlighted issues related to technology, clinical implementation and participant-specific factors that should be addressed prior to a larger trial.

  7. Information regarding restorative dentistry for new graduates.

    PubMed

    Kalsi, A S; Lewis, N J; Hemmings, K W

    2016-10-07

    A recent national survey has shown the need for clarification regarding the various disciplines encompassed by restorative dentistry and their respective training pathways. This document aims to address this by outlining the remit of restorative dentistry, in addition to the various job roles involved. This information is being disseminated by the British Society for Restorative Dentistry, and given the relevance to referrers and those looking for insight into the speciality, it has been reproduced here. Roles within the speciality range from dentists with special interests to specialists and consultants, whether primarily academic or clinical. The choice that a new graduate may make to choose a specific route will likely depend on a number of factors, often specific to each individual. Guidance on ways to gain experience and sources of further information are also provided.

  8. Heat gain from thermal radiation through protective clothing with different insulation, reflectivity and vapour permeability.

    PubMed

    Bröde, Peter; Kuklane, Kalev; Candas, Victor; Den Hartog, Emiel A; Griefahn, Barbara; Holmér, Ingvar; Meinander, Harriet; Nocker, Wolfgang; Richards, Mark; Havenith, George

    2010-01-01

    The heat transferred through protective clothing under long wave radiation compared to a reference condition without radiant stress was determined in thermal manikin experiments. The influence of clothing insulation and reflectivity, and the interaction with wind and wet underclothing were considered. Garments with different outer materials and colours and additionally an aluminised reflective suit were combined with different number and types of dry and pre-wetted underwear layers. Under radiant stress, whole body heat loss decreased, i.e., heat gain occurred compared to the reference. This heat gain increased with radiation intensity, and decreased with air velocity and clothing insulation. Except for the reflective outer layer that showed only minimal heat gain over the whole range of radiation intensities, the influence of the outer garments' material and colour was small with dry clothing. Wetting the underclothing for simulating sweat accumulation, however, caused differing effects with higher heat gain in less permeable garments.

  9. Weight gain - unintentional

    MedlinePlus

    ... Cushing syndrome Underactive thyroid, or low thyroid (hypothyroidism) Polycystic ovary syndrome Menopause Pregnancy Bloating, or swelling due to a buildup of fluid in the tissues can cause weight gain. This may be due to menstruation, heart ...

  10. Dressed Gain from the Parametrically Amplified Four-Wave Mixing Process in an Atomic Vapor.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Zhaoyang; Wen, Feng; Che, Junling; Zhang, Dan; Li, Changbiao; Zhang, Yanpeng; Xiao, Min

    2015-10-14

    With a forward cone emitting from the strong pump laser in a thermal rubidium atomic vapor, we investigate the non-degenerate parametrically amplified four-wave mixing (PA-FWM) process with dressing effects in a three-level "double-Λ" configuration both theoretically and experimentally. By seeding a weak probe field into the Stokes or anti-Stokes channel of the FWM, the gain processes are generated in the bright twin beams which are called conjugate and probe beams, respectively. However, the strong dressing effect of the pump beam will dramatically affect the gain factors both in the probe and conjugate channels, and can inevitably impose an influence on the quantum effects such as entangled degree and the quantum noise reduction between the two channels. We systematically investigate the intensity evolution of the dressed gain processes by manipulating the atomic density, the Rabi frequency and the frequency detuning. Such dressing effects are also visually evidenced by the observation of Autler-Townes splitting of the gain peaks. The investigation can contribute to the development of quantum information processing and quantum communications.

  11. Dressed Gain from the Parametrically Amplified Four-Wave Mixing Process in an Atomic Vapor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Zhaoyang; Wen, Feng; Che, Junling; Zhang, Dan; Li, Changbiao; Zhang, Yanpeng; Xiao, Min

    2015-10-01

    With a forward cone emitting from the strong pump laser in a thermal rubidium atomic vapor, we investigate the non-degenerate parametrically amplified four-wave mixing (PA-FWM) process with dressing effects in a three-level “double-Λ” configuration both theoretically and experimentally. By seeding a weak probe field into the Stokes or anti-Stokes channel of the FWM, the gain processes are generated in the bright twin beams which are called conjugate and probe beams, respectively. However, the strong dressing effect of the pump beam will dramatically affect the gain factors both in the probe and conjugate channels, and can inevitably impose an influence on the quantum effects such as entangled degree and the quantum noise reduction between the two channels. We systematically investigate the intensity evolution of the dressed gain processes by manipulating the atomic density, the Rabi frequency and the frequency detuning. Such dressing effects are also visually evidenced by the observation of Autler-Townes splitting of the gain peaks. The investigation can contribute to the development of quantum information processing and quantum communications.

  12. Comparative genomics analysis of Lactobacillus species associated with weight gain or weight protection

    PubMed Central

    Drissi, F; Merhej, V; Angelakis, E; El Kaoutari, A; Carrière, F; Henrissat, B; Raoult, D

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Some Lactobacillus species are associated with obesity and weight gain while others are associated with weight loss. Lactobacillus spp. and bifidobacteria represent a major bacterial population of the small intestine where lipids and simple carbohydrates are absorbed, particularly in the duodenum and jejunum. The objective of this study was to identify Lactobacillus spp. proteins involved in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism associated with weight modifications. METHODS: We examined a total of 13 complete genomes belonging to seven different Lactobacillus spp. previously associated with weight gain or weight protection. We combined the data obtained from the Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology, Batch CD-Search and Gene Ontology to classify gene function in each genome. RESULTS: We observed major differences between the two groups of genomes. Weight gain-associated Lactobacillus spp. appear to lack enzymes involved in the catabolism of fructose, defense against oxidative stress and the synthesis of dextrin, L-rhamnose and acetate. Weight protection-associated Lactobacillus spp. encoded a significant gene amount of glucose permease. Regarding lipid metabolism, thiolases were only encoded in the genome of weight gain-associated Lactobacillus spp. In addition, we identified 18 different types of bacteriocins in the studied genomes, and weight gain-associated Lactobacillus spp. encoded more bacteriocins than weight protection-associated Lactobacillus spp. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study revealed that weight protection-associated Lactobacillus spp. have developed defense mechanisms for enhanced glycolysis and defense against oxidative stress. Weight gain-associated Lactobacillus spp. possess a limited ability to breakdown fructose or glucose and might reduce ileal brake effects. PMID:24567124

  13. Comparative genomics analysis of Lactobacillus species associated with weight gain or weight protection.

    PubMed

    Drissi, F; Merhej, V; Angelakis, E; El Kaoutari, A; Carrière, F; Henrissat, B; Raoult, D

    2014-02-24

    Some Lactobacillus species are associated with obesity and weight gain while others are associated with weight loss. Lactobacillus spp. and bifidobacteria represent a major bacterial population of the small intestine where lipids and simple carbohydrates are absorbed, particularly in the duodenum and jejunum. The objective of this study was to identify Lactobacillus spp. proteins involved in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism associated with weight modifications. We examined a total of 13 complete genomes belonging to seven different Lactobacillus spp. previously associated with weight gain or weight protection. We combined the data obtained from the Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology, Batch CD-Search and Gene Ontology to classify gene function in each genome. We observed major differences between the two groups of genomes. Weight gain-associated Lactobacillus spp. appear to lack enzymes involved in the catabolism of fructose, defense against oxidative stress and the synthesis of dextrin, L-rhamnose and acetate. Weight protection-associated Lactobacillus spp. encoded a significant gene amount of glucose permease. Regarding lipid metabolism, thiolases were only encoded in the genome of weight gain-associated Lactobacillus spp. In addition, we identified 18 different types of bacteriocins in the studied genomes, and weight gain-associated Lactobacillus spp. encoded more bacteriocins than weight protection-associated Lactobacillus spp. The results of this study revealed that weight protection-associated Lactobacillus spp. have developed defense mechanisms for enhanced glycolysis and defense against oxidative stress. Weight gain-associated Lactobacillus spp. possess a limited ability to breakdown fructose or glucose and might reduce ileal brake effects.

  14. Is Weight Gain after Smoking Cessation Inevitable?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Talcott, Gerald W.; And Others

    1995-01-01

    Studied weight gain after smoking cessation in a naturalistic setting where all smokers quit and risk factors for postcessation weight gain were modified. Results showed no significant weight changes for smokers who quit. Suggests that an intensive program featuring dietary guidelines and increased physical activity can attenuate weight gain. (RJM)

  15. Upweighting rare favourable alleles increases long-term genetic gain in genomic selection programs.

    PubMed

    Liu, Huiming; Meuwissen, Theo H E; Sørensen, Anders C; Berg, Peer

    2015-03-21

    The short-term impact of using different genomic prediction (GP) models in genomic selection has been intensively studied, but their long-term impact is poorly understood. Furthermore, long-term genetic gain of genomic selection is expected to improve by using Jannink's weighting (JW) method, in which rare favourable marker alleles are upweighted in the selection criterion. In this paper, we extend the JW method by including an additional parameter to decrease the emphasis on rare favourable alleles over the time horizon, with the purpose of further improving the long-term genetic gain. We call this new method dynamic weighting (DW). The paper explores the long-term impact of different GP models with or without weighting methods. Different selection criteria were tested by simulating a population of 500 animals with truncation selection of five males and 50 females. Selection criteria included unweighted and weighted genomic estimated breeding values using the JW or DW methods, for which ridge regression (RR) and Bayesian lasso (BL) were used to estimate marker effects. The impacts of these selection criteria were compared under three genetic architectures, i.e. varying numbers of QTL for the trait and for two time horizons of 15 (TH15) or 40 (TH40) generations. For unweighted GP, BL resulted in up to 21.4% higher long-term genetic gain and 23.5% lower rate of inbreeding under TH40 than RR. For weighted GP, DW resulted in 1.3 to 5.5% higher long-term gain compared to unweighted GP. JW, however, showed a 6.8% lower long-term genetic gain relative to unweighted GP when BL was used to estimate the marker effects. Under TH40, both DW and JW obtained significantly higher genetic gain than unweighted GP. With DW, the long-term genetic gain was increased by up to 30.8% relative to unweighted GP, and also increased by 8% relative to JW, although at the expense of a lower short-term gain. Irrespective of the number of QTL simulated, BL is superior to RR in maintaining

  16. Calculating the Effect of External Shading on the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient of Windows

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kohler, Christian; Shukla, Yash; Rawal, Rajan

    Current prescriptive building codes have limited ways to account for the effect of solar shading, such as overhangs and awnings, on window solar heat gains. We propose two new indicators, the adjusted Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (aSHGC) which accounts for external shading while calculating the SHGC of a window, and a weighted SHGC (SHGCw) which provides a seasonal SHGC weighted by solar intensity. We demonstrate a method to calculate these indices using existing tools combined with additional calculations. The method is demonstrated by calculating the effect of an awning on a clear double glazing in New Delhi.

  17. Development of the Exercise Motives and Gains Inventory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Strömmer, Sofia T.; Ingledew, David K.; Markland, David

    2015-01-01

    There are existing measures of exercise motives (what people want from exercise), but corresponding measures of gains (what people get) are needed, because motives and gains could influence each other and together influence other variables. An exercise motives and gains inventory (EMGI) was developed by creating gains scales to complement existing…

  18. Value of information and natural resources decision-making

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Williams, Byron K.; Johnson, Fred A.

    2015-01-01

    Though the potential for information to measurably improve management has been highlighted for several decades, in recent years the “value of information” has surfaced with increasing frequency in natural resources. However, the use of this phrase belies the fact that many in natural resources have only a limited understanding about what it actually means, how to measure it, and what to do with it. We introduce and describe several forms of the value of information in a context of the management of renewable natural resources. The value of information is discussed in terms of a potential gain in value with the addition of new information, as well as a loss in value associated with the absence of information. Value metrics are developed for uncertainty about resource status as well as resource processes and responses to management. We provide a common notation for the metrics of value, and discuss linkages of the value of information to strategic approaches such as adaptive resources management and partially observable decision processes.

  19. Exploring the Design and Role of Mobile Apps for Healthcare Providers to Find Teratogenic Information

    PubMed Central

    Lie, Lily; Shetty, Vishwas; Gupta, Karan; Polifka, Janine E; Markham, Glen; Albee, Sarah; Collins, Carol; Hsieh, Gary

    2017-01-01

    Healthcare providers (HCPs) caring for pregnant patients often need information on drug risks to the embryo or fetus, but such complex information takes time to find and is difficult to convey on an app. In this work, we first surveyed 167 HCPs to understand their current teratogen information-seeking practices to help inform our general design goals. Using the insights gained, we then designed a prototype of a mobile app and tested it with 22 HCPs. We learned that HCP ’s information needs in this context can be grouped into 3 types: to understand, to decide, and to explain. Different sets of information and features may be needed to support these different needs. Further, while some HCPs had concerns about appearing unprofessional and unknowledgeable when using the app in front of patients, many did not. They noted that incorporating mobile information apps into practice improves information access, can help signal care and technology-savviness, in addition to providing an opportunity to engage and educate patients. Implications for design and additional features for reference apps for HCPs are discussed. PMID:29854178

  20. Nicotine Replacement: Effects on Postcessation Weight Gain.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gross, Janet; And Others

    1989-01-01

    Examined nicotine replacement effects on postcessation weight gain in smoking cessation volunteers. Randomly assigned abstinent subjects to active nicotine or placebo gum conditions for 10 weeks. Analyses revealed strong evidence for gum effect on weight gain, with active gum users gaining mean total of 3.8 pounds compared with 7.8 pounds for…

  1. Collaborating to optimize nursing students' agency information technology use.

    PubMed

    Fetter, Marilyn S

    2009-01-01

    As the learning laboratory for gaining actual patient care experience, clinical agencies play an essential role in nursing education. With an information technology revolution transforming healthcare, nursing programs are eager for their students to learn the latest informatics systems and technologies. However, many healthcare institutions are struggling to meet their own information technology needs and report limited resources and other as barriers to nursing student training. In addition, nursing students' information technology access and use raise security and privacy concerns. With the goal of a fully electronic health record by 2014, it is imperative that agencies and educational programs collaborate. They need to establish educationally sound, cost-effective, and secure policies and procedures for managing students' use of information technology systems. Strategies for evaluating options, selecting training methods, and ensuring data security are shared, along with strategies that may reap clinical, economic, and educational benefits. Students' information technology use raises numerous issues that the nursing profession must address to participate in healthcare's transformation into the digital age.

  2. Insulin detemir attenuates food intake, body weight gain and fat mass gain in diet-induced obese Sprague-Dawley rats.

    PubMed

    Rojas, J M; Printz, R L; Niswender, K D

    2011-07-04

    Initiation and intensification of insulin therapy commonly causes weight gain, a barrier to therapy. A contrasting body of evidence indicates that insulin functions as an adiposity negative feedback signal and reduces food intake, weight gain and adiposity via action in the central nervous system. Basal insulin analogs, detemir (Det) and glargine (Glar), have been associated with less hypoglycemia compared with neutral protamine hagedorn insulin, and Det with less weight gain, especially in patients with higher body mass index (BMI). We sought to determine whether insulin therapy per se causes body weight and fat mass gain when delivered via a clinically relevant subcutaneous (SC) route in the absence of hypoglycemia and glycosuria in non-diabetic lean and diet-induced obese rats. Rats were exposed to either a low-fat diet (LFD; 13.5% fat) or high-fat diet (HFD; 60% fat), and received Det (0.5 U kg(-1)), Glar (0.2 U kg(-1)) or vehicle (Veh) SC once daily for 4 weeks. These dosages of insulin were equipotent in rats with respect to blood-glucose concentration and did not induce hypoglycemia. As predicted by current models of energy homeostasis, neither insulin Det nor Glar therapy affected food intake and weight gain in LFD rats. Det treatment significantly attenuated food intake, body weight gain and fat mass gain relative to the Glar and Veh in high-fat fed animals, mirroring observations in humans. That neither insulin group gained excess weight, suggests weight gain with SC basal insulin therapy may not be inevitable. Our data further suggest that Det possesses a unique property to attenuate the development of obesity associated with a HFD.

  3. 33 CFR 403.6 - Additional information. [Rule 6

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE JOINT TOLLS REVIEW BOARD § 403.6 Additional.... [Rule 6] [24 FR 9307, Nov. 18, 1959; 24 FR 10445, Dec. 23, 1959. Redesignated at 47 FR 13805, Apr. 1...

  4. Genetic gains from selection for fiber traits in Gossypium hirsutum L.

    PubMed

    de Faria, G M P; Sanchez, C F B; de Carvalho, L P; da Silva Oliveira, M; Cruz, C D

    2016-11-21

    Brazil is among the five largest producers of cotton in the world, cultivating the species Gossypium hirsutum L. r. latifolium Hutch. The cultivars should have good fiber quality as well as yield. Genetic improvement of fiber traits requires the study of the genetic structure of the populations under improvement, leading to the identification of promising parent plants. To this end, it is important to acquire some information, such as estimates of genetic variance components and heritability coefficients, which will support the appropriate choice of the breeding strategy to be employed as well as enable the estimation of gains from selection. This study aimed to evaluate some agronomic characteristics, such as fiber quality and yield, estimating genetic parameters for the purpose of predicting earnings. Twelve cultivars of cotton, including four male progenitors (CNPA 01-42, BRS Verde, Glandless, and Okra leaf) and eight female progenitors (Delta opal, CNPA 7H, Aroeira, Antares, Sucupira, Facual, Precoce 3, and CNPA 8H), were used in performing crosses according to design I, proposed by Comstock and Robinson (1948). The experimental design was a randomized block with four replications. We observed genetic variability among all traits as well as higher efficiency of selection for the gains related to traits. Our results showed that the combined selection presented the highest genetic gains for all traits. For fiber length, the female/male selection and the combined selection resulted in the highest genetic gain.

  5. Power Smoothing of a Variable-Speed Wind Turbine Generator in Association With the Rotor-Speed-Dependent Gain

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kim, Yeonhee; Kang, Moses; Muljadi, Eduard

    This paper proposes a power-smoothing scheme for a variable-speed wind turbine generator (WTG) that can smooth out the WTG's fluctuating power caused by varying wind speeds, and thereby keep the system frequency within a narrow range. The proposed scheme employs an additional loop based on the system frequency deviation that operates in conjunction with the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control loop. Unlike the conventional, fixed-gain scheme, its control gain is modified with the rotor speed. In the proposed scheme, the control gain is determined by considering the ratio of the output of the additional loop to that of themore » MPPT loop. To improve the contribution of the scheme toward maintaining the frequency while ensuring the stable operation of WTGs, in the low rotor speed region, the ratio is set to be proportional to the rotor speed; in the high rotor speed region, the ratio remains constant. The performance of the proposed scheme is investigated under varying wind conditions for the IEEE 14-bus system. The simulation results demonstrate that the scheme successfully operates regardless of the output power fluctuation of a WTG by adjusting the gain with the rotor speed, and thereby improves the frequency-regulating capability of a WTG.« less

  6. Two additional principles for determining which species to monitor.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Howard B; Rhodes, Jonathan R; Possingham, Hugh P

    2015-11-01

    Monitoring to detect population declines is widespread, but also costly. There is, consequently, a need to optimize monitoring to maximize cost-effectiveness. Here we develop a quantitative decision analysis framework for how to optimally allocate resources for monitoring among species. By keeping the framework simple, we analytically establish two new principles about which species are optimal to monitor for detecting declines: (1) those that lie on the boundary between species being allocated resources for conservation action and species that are not and (2) those with the greatest uncertainty in whether they are declining. These two principles are in addition to other factors that are also important in monitoring decisions, such as complementarity. We demonstrate the efficacy of these principles when other factors are not present, and show how the two principles can be combined. This analysis demonstrates that the most cost-effective species to monitor are ones where the information gained from monitoring is most likely to change the allocation of funds for action, not necessarily the most vulnerable or endangered. We suggest these results are general and apply to all ecological monitoring, not just of biological species: monitoring and information are only valuable when they are likely to change how people act.

  7. Associations Among Obesity, Acute Weight Gain, and Response to Treatment with Olanzapine in Adolescent Schizophrenia

    PubMed Central

    Correll, Christoph U.; Tohen, Mauricio; DelBello, Melissa P.; Ganocy, Stephen J.; Findling, Robert L.; Chang, Kiki

    2013-01-01

    Abstract Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between body weight and illness characteristics, including weight gain and therapeutic efficacy, in adolescents with schizophrenia. Methods Adolescents ages 13–17 years (n=107) with American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) schizophrenia enrolled in a 6 week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing olanzapine and placebo. Therapeutic response was assessed by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale for Children (BPRS-C). Secondary outcomes included the Clinical Global Impressions-Severity (CGI-S) scale and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Obesity was defined as sex-/age-adjusted body mass index (BMI)≥95th percentile. Linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between weight gain and psychiatric symptom improvement; logistic regression was conducted to identify predictors of baseline obesity. Results Weight gain was significantly correlated with greater BPRS-C reduction among olanzapine-treated subjects (r=−0.31, p<0.01), whereas a trend was observed among placebo-treated subjects (r=−0.31, p=0.08). However, this relationship became nonsignificant when analyses were controlled for duration of olanzapine treatment (p=0.12), and a treatment by weight gain interaction did not emerge in a repeated-measures mixed model analysis that included time in the study (t=1.27, p=0.21). Additionally, weight gain ≥7% was not significantly associated with response or remission. Among 17 adolescents (16%) with obesity at study entry, obesity was not significantly associated with endpoint BPRS-C illness severity. However, girls (p=0.03), individuals hospitalized within the past year (p=0.02), and those with less severe overall (p=0.03) and negative symptoms (p=0.003) according to the CGI-S and PANSS negative subscale, respectively, were more likely to be obese at baseline. Conclusion Baseline obesity was

  8. The relative persuasiveness of gain-framed versus loss-Framed HIV testing message: evidence from a field experiment in northwest Ethiopia.

    PubMed

    Bekalu, Mesfin Awoke; Eggermont, Steven

    2014-01-01

    This study assessed the relative advantages of gain- versus loss-framed messages for promoting HIV testing among a sample of urban and rural residents in northwest Ethiopia. The authors randomly assigned 394 participants to read gain-framed (n = 196) or loss-framed (n = 198) HIV testing message prepared in a form of brochure. Experience with HIV testing, concern about and information needs on HIV/AIDS, and urbanity versus rurality significantly moderated the effects of framing on intention to test for HIV. A gain-frame advantage was found among urbanites, participants with high experience with HIV testing, and those with high concern about and information needs on HIV/AIDS, suggesting a more likely construal of HIV testing as a prevention behavior among these individuals. In contrast, a loss-frame advantage was found among ruralites and participants with low concern about and information needs on HIV/AIDS, suggesting a more likely construal of HIV testing as a detection behavior among such individuals. Moreover, gain- and loss-framing led to similar outcomes among individuals with low levels of experience with HIV testing, with a slight advantage for the loss-framed message. All of the framing effects obtained were of small to medium size.

  9. Toward Understanding the Nature of a Partnership between an Elementary Classroom Teacher and an Informal Science Educator

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weiland, Ingrid S.; Akerson, Valarie L.

    2013-01-01

    This study explored the nature of the relationship between a fifth-grade teacher and an informal science educator as they planned and implemented a life science unit in the classroom, and sought to define this relationship in order to gain insight into the roles of each educator. In addition, student learning as a result of instruction was…

  10. Information sampling behavior with explicit sampling costs

    PubMed Central

    Juni, Mordechai Z.; Gureckis, Todd M.; Maloney, Laurence T.

    2015-01-01

    The decision to gather information should take into account both the value of information and its accrual costs in time, energy and money. Here we explore how people balance the monetary costs and benefits of gathering additional information in a perceptual-motor estimation task. Participants were rewarded for touching a hidden circular target on a touch-screen display. The target’s center coincided with the mean of a circular Gaussian distribution from which participants could sample repeatedly. Each “cue” — sampled one at a time — was plotted as a dot on the display. Participants had to repeatedly decide, after sampling each cue, whether to stop sampling and attempt to touch the hidden target or continue sampling. Each additional cue increased the participants’ probability of successfully touching the hidden target but reduced their potential reward. Two experimental conditions differed in the initial reward associated with touching the hidden target and the fixed cost per cue. For each condition we computed the optimal number of cues that participants should sample, before taking action, to maximize expected gain. Contrary to recent claims that people gather less information than they objectively should before taking action, we found that participants over-sampled in one experimental condition, and did not significantly under- or over-sample in the other. Additionally, while the ideal observer model ignores the current sample dispersion, we found that participants used it to decide whether to stop sampling and take action or continue sampling, a possible consequence of imperfect learning of the underlying population dispersion across trials. PMID:27429991

  11. Side-information-dependent correlation channel estimation in hash-based distributed video coding.

    PubMed

    Deligiannis, Nikos; Barbarien, Joeri; Jacobs, Marc; Munteanu, Adrian; Skodras, Athanassios; Schelkens, Peter

    2012-04-01

    In the context of low-cost video encoding, distributed video coding (DVC) has recently emerged as a potential candidate for uplink-oriented applications. This paper builds on a concept of correlation channel (CC) modeling, which expresses the correlation noise as being statistically dependent on the side information (SI). Compared with classical side-information-independent (SII) noise modeling adopted in current DVC solutions, it is theoretically proven that side-information-dependent (SID) modeling improves the Wyner-Ziv coding performance. Anchored in this finding, this paper proposes a novel algorithm for online estimation of the SID CC parameters based on already decoded information. The proposed algorithm enables bit-plane-by-bit-plane successive refinement of the channel estimation leading to progressively improved accuracy. Additionally, the proposed algorithm is included in a novel DVC architecture that employs a competitive hash-based motion estimation technique to generate high-quality SI at the decoder. Experimental results corroborate our theoretical gains and validate the accuracy of the channel estimation algorithm. The performance assessment of the proposed architecture shows remarkable and consistent coding gains over a germane group of state-of-the-art distributed and standard video codecs, even under strenuous conditions, i.e., large groups of pictures and highly irregular motion content.

  12. S-SIMS and MetA-SIMS study of organic additives in thin polymer coatings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adriaensen, L.; Vangaever, F.; Lenaerts, J.; Gijbels, R.

    2006-07-01

    In the present study a methodology for TOF-S-SIMS measurements is developed to gain information on the distribution of molecules on and in polymer coatings (thickness ˜100 μm). Experiments were carried out on model systems consisting of one or more additive-containing polyvinylbutyral coatings. Several organic additives were selected: carbocyanine dyes, basonyl blue and the pharmaceutical risperidone. The additives have been measured as pure compounds on a Si substrate to obtain good reference spectra. After optimisation of the sample preparation method, the coatings were embedded in epoxy resin and stored in an oven (60 °C) for 24 h. Cross-sections were made by means of a microtome. S-SIMS spectra were taken on the prepared cross-sections before and after Au was deposited on the sample surface. Compared to the untreated samples, the Au covered samples give rise to more intense secondary ion signals. Generally, signals of the intact cations were more intense than those of the fragment ions. Apart from mass spectra, images of the additive distribution in the coatings could also be acquired by recording structural ion signals. It was possible to make secondary ion images of the additive molecule ions with a (sub)-micrometer lateral resolution.

  13. Personality type influence the gestational weight gain.

    PubMed

    Franik, Grzegorz; Lipka, Nela; Kopyto, Katarzyna; Kopocińska, Joanna; Owczarek, Aleksander; Sikora, Jerzy; Madej, Paweł; Chudek, Jerzy; Olszanecka-Glinianowicz, Magdalena

    2017-08-01

    Pregnancy is frequently followed by the development of obesity. Aside from psychological factors, hormonal changes influence weight gain in pregnant women. We attempted to assess the potential association between personality type and the extent of gestational weight gain. The study group involved 773 women after term delivery (age 26.3 ± 3.9 years, body mass before pregnancy 61.2 ± 11.1 kg). Weight gain during pregnancy was calculated by using self-reported body mass prior to and during the 38th week of pregnancy. Personality type was assessed using the Polish version of the Framingham Type A Behavior Patterns Questionnaire (adapted by Juczynski). Two hundred forty-six (31.8%) study subjects represented type A personalities, 272 (35.2%) type B and 255 (33.0%) an indirect type. Gestational weight gain was related to the behavior patterns questionnaire score and age. In women <30 years with type A personality, the weight gain was higher than in women with type B behavior of the same age. In women >30, the gestational weight gain was larger for type B personalities. Type A personality and increased urgency in younger pregnant women increases the risk of developing obesity during pregnancy in women below 30 years old. A higher level of competitiveness demonstrates a risk factor of excessive weight gain during pregnancy regardless of age.

  14. Preference for gain- or loss-framed electronic cigarette prevention messages.

    PubMed

    Kong, Grace; Cavallo, Dana A; Camenga, Deepa R; Morean, Meghan E; Krishnan-Sarin, Suchitra

    2016-11-01

    Effective electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) prevention messages are needed to combat the rising popularity/uptake of e-cigarettes among youth. We examined preferences for e-cigarette prevention messages that either emphasized gains (e.g., You save money by not using e-cigarettes) or losses (e.g., You spend money by using e-cigarettes) among adolescents and young adults. Using surveys in two middle schools, four high schools, and one college in CT (N=5405), we assessed students' preferences for gain- or loss-framed e-cigarette prevention messages related to four themes: financial cost, health risks, addiction potential, and social labeling as a smoker. We also assessed whether preferences for each message framing theme differed by sex, school level, cigarette-use status, and e-cigarette use-status. We also examined whether preference for message framing differed by cigarette and e-cigarette susceptibility status among never e-cigarette users. Overall, loss-framing was preferred for message themes related to health risks, addiction potential, and social labeling as a smoker, whereas gain-framing was preferred for message themes related to financial cost. Logistic regression analyses showed that 1) females preferred loss-framed messages for all themes relative to males, 2) lifetime e-cigarette users preferred loss-framed health risks and social labeling messages relative to never users, and 3) high school students preferred gain-framed social labeling messages relative to college students. The preference for message framing did not differ by cigarette or e-cigarette susceptibility. Preference for message framing differed by themes and individual characteristics. This formative research could inform the construction of persuasive e-cigarette prevention messages. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  15. IQ Gains in Argentina between 1964 and 1998

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Flynn, James R.; Rossi-Case, Lilia

    2012-01-01

    The literature on IQ gains in Latin America is sparse. We estimate gains on Raven's Progressive Matrices in the city of La Plata (Argentina) between 1964 and 1998. The gains are robust at the top of the curve as well as at the bottom. Therefore, they are contrary to the hypothesis that nutrition played a major role in recent Argentine IQ gains.…

  16. Different gain/loss sensitivity and social adaptation ability in gifted adolescents during a public goods game.

    PubMed

    Chung, Dongil; Yun, Kyongsik; Kim, Jin Ho; Jang, Bosun; Jeong, Jaeseung

    2011-02-16

    Gifted adolescents are considered to have high IQs with advanced mathematical and logical performances, but are often thought to suffer from social isolation or emotional mal-adaptation to the social group. The underlying mechanisms that cause stereotypic portrayals of gifted adolescents are not well known. We aimed to investigate behavioral performance of gifted adolescents during social decision-making tasks to assess their affective and social/non-social cognitive abilities. We examined cooperation behaviors of 22 gifted and 26 average adolescents during an iterative binary public goods (PG) game, a multi-player social interaction game, and analyzed strategic decision processes that include cooperation and free-riding. We found that the gifted adolescents were more cooperative than average adolescents. Particularly, comparing the strategies for the PG game between the two groups, gifted adolescents were less sensitive to loss, yet were more sensitive to gain. Additionally, the behavioral characteristics of average adolescents, such as low trust of the group and herding behavior, were not found in gifted adolescents. These results imply that gifted adolescents have a high cognitive ability but a low ability to process affective information or to adapt in social groups compared with average adolescents. We conclude that gain/loss sensitivity and the ability to adapt in social groups develop to different degrees in average and gifted adolescents.

  17. Attentional capture by evaluative stimuli: gain- and loss-connoting colors boost the additional-singleton effect.

    PubMed

    Wentura, Dirk; Müller, Philipp; Rothermund, Klaus

    2014-06-01

    In a valence induction task, one color acquired positive valence by indicating the chance to win money (in the case of fast and correct responses), and a different color acquired negative valence by indicating the danger to lose money (in the case of slow or incorrect responses). In the additional-singleton trials of a visual search task, the task-irrelevant singleton color was either the positive one, the negative one, or one of two neutral colors. We found an additional-singleton effect (i.e., longer RTs with a singleton color than in the no-singleton control condition). This effect was significantly increased for the two valent colors (with no differences between them) relative to the two neutral colors (with no differences between them, either). This result favors the hypothesis that the general relevance of stimuli elicits attentional capture, rather than the negativity bias hypothesis.

  18. Effect of gonadectomy on AgRP-induced weight gain in rats.

    PubMed

    Goodin, Sean Z; Kiechler, Alicia R; Keichler, Alicia R; Smith, Marissa; Wendt, Donna; Strader, April D

    2008-12-01

    Agouti-related peptide (AgRP), the endogenous antagonist to the melanocortin 3 and 4 receptors, elicits robust hyperphagia and weight gain in rodents when administered directly into the central nervous system. The relative influence of AgRP to cause weight gain in rodents partially depends on the activity level of the melanocortin agonist-producing proopiomelanocortin neurons. Both proopiomelanocortin and AgRP neurons within the arcuate nucleus receive energy storage information from circulating peripheral signals such as leptin and insulin. Another modulator of AgRP activity includes the cell surface molecule syndecan-3. Because leptin and insulin affect food intake in a sexually dimorphic way in rodents and syndecan-3-deficient mice regulate adiposity levels through distinct physiological mechanisms, we hypothesized that AgRP-induced weight gain would also be sexually dimorphic in rats. In the present study, the behavioral and physiological effects of centrally-administered AgRP in male and female were investigated. In male rats, AgRP (1 nmol) induced 5 days (P < 0.0001) of significantly elevated feeding compared with vehicle-treated controls, while females displayed 3 days of hyperphagia (P < 0.05). However, 1 wk after the injection, both male and female rats gained the same percent body weight (6%). Interestingly, female rats exhibited a greater reduction in energy expenditure (Vo2) following AgRP compared with male rats (P < 0.05). Removal of the gonads did not alter cumulative food intake in male or female rats but did attenuate the dramatic reduction in Vo2 exhibited by females. Both intact and gonadectomized rats demonstrated significantly increased respiratory quotient supporting the anabolic action of AgRP (P < 0.01). These findings are novel in that they reveal sex-specific underlying physiology used to achieve weight gain following central AgRP in rats.

  19. Obesity, weight gain, and ovarian cancer risk in African American women.

    PubMed

    Bandera, Elisa V; Qin, Bo; Moorman, Patricia G; Alberg, Anthony J; Barnholtz-Sloan, Jill S; Bondy, Melissa; Cote, Michele L; Funkhouser, Ellen; Peters, Edward S; Schwartz, Ann G; Terry, Paul; Schildkraut, Joellen M

    2016-08-01

    Although there is growing evidence that higher adiposity increases ovarian cancer risk, little is known about its impact in African American (AA) women, the racial/ethnic group with the highest prevalence of obesity. We evaluated the impact of body mass index (BMI) 1 year before diagnosis and weight gain since age 18 years on ovarian cancer risk in a population-based case-control study in AA women in 11 geographical areas in the US. Cases (n = 492) and age and site matched controls (n = 696) were identified through rapid case ascertainment and random-digit-dialing, respectively. Information was collected on demographic and lifestyle factors, including self-reported height, weight at age 18 and weight 1 year before diagnosis/interview. Multivariable logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusting for potential covariates. Obese women had elevated ovarian cancer risk, particularly for BMI ≥ 40 kg/m(2) compared to BMI <25 (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.12-2.66; p for trend: 0.03). There was also a strong association with weight gain since age 18 (OR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.07-2.16; p for trend: 0.02) comparing the highest to lowest quartile. In stratified analyses by menopausal status, the association with BMI and weight gain was limited to postmenopausal women, with a 15% (95% CI: 1.05-1.23) increase in risk per 5 kg/m(2) of BMI and 6% (95% CI: 1.01-1.10) increase in risk per 5 kg of weight gain. Excluding hormone therapy users essentially did not change results. Obesity and excessive adult weight gain may increase ovarian cancer risk in post-menopausal AA women. © 2016 UICC.

  20. Sub-250nm room temperature optical gain from AlGaN materials with strong compositional fluctuations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pecora, Emanuele; Zhang, Wei; Sun, Haiding; Nikiforov, A.; Yin, Jian; Paiella, Roberto; Moustakas, Theodore; Dal Negro, Luca

    2013-03-01

    Compact and portable deep-UV LEDs and laser sources are needed for a number of engineering applications including optical communications, gas sensing, biochemical agent detection, disinfection, biotechnology and medical diagnostics. We investigate the deep-UV optical emission and gain properties of AlxGa1-xN/AlyGa1-yN multiple quantum wells structure. These structures were grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on 6H-SiC substrates resulting in either homogeneous wells or various degrees of band-structure compositional fluctuations in the form of cluster-like features within the wells. We measured the TE-polarized amplified spontaneous emission in the sample with cluster-like features and quantified the optical absorption/gain coefficients and gain spectra by the Variable Stripe Length (VSL) technique under ultrafast optical pumping. We report blue-shift and narrowing of the emission, VSL traces, gain spectra, polarization studies, and the validity of the Schalow-Townes relation to demonstrate a maximum net modal gain of 120 cm-1 at 250 nm in the sample with strong compositional fluctuations. Moreover, we measure a very low gain threshold (15 μJ/cm2) . On the other hand, we found that samples with homogeneous quantum wells lead to absorption only. In addition, we report gain measurements in graded-index-separate-confined heterostructure (GRINSCH) designed to increase the device optical confinement factor.

  1. Development of an immunochromatographic assay for the detection of the feed additive zilpaterol

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Zilpaterol is a beta-adrenergic agonist feed additive approved in the United States to increase weight gain and improve feed efficiency of cattle. Countries which ban beta-adrenergic agonist feed additives can reject imported beef products that contain zilpaterol. Therefore, efficient, portable, a...

  2. Prestimulus neural oscillations inhibit visual perception via modulation of response gain.

    PubMed

    Chaumon, Maximilien; Busch, Niko A

    2014-11-01

    The ongoing state of the brain radically affects how it processes sensory information. How does this ongoing brain activity interact with the processing of external stimuli? Spontaneous oscillations in the alpha range are thought to inhibit sensory processing, but little is known about the psychophysical mechanisms of this inhibition. We recorded ongoing brain activity with EEG while human observers performed a visual detection task with stimuli of different contrast intensities. To move beyond qualitative description, we formally compared psychometric functions obtained under different levels of ongoing alpha power and evaluated the inhibitory effect of ongoing alpha oscillations in terms of contrast or response gain models. This procedure opens the way to understanding the actual functional mechanisms by which ongoing brain activity affects visual performance. We found that strong prestimulus occipital alpha oscillations-but not more anterior mu oscillations-reduce performance most strongly for stimuli of the highest intensities tested. This inhibitory effect is best explained by a divisive reduction of response gain. Ongoing occipital alpha oscillations thus reflect changes in the visual system's input/output transformation that are independent of the sensory input to the system. They selectively scale the system's response, rather than change its sensitivity to sensory information.

  3. Chocolate-candy consumption and three-year weight gain among postmenopausal U.S. women

    PubMed Central

    Greenberg, James A.; Manson, JoAnn E.; Buijsse, Brian; Wang, Lu; Allison, Matthew A.; Neuhouser, Marian L.; Tinker, Lesley; Waring, Molly E.; Isasi, Carmen R.; Martin, Lisa W.; Thomson, Cynthia A.

    2014-01-01

    OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that greater chocolate-candy intake is associated with more weight gain in postmenopausal women. DESIGN AND METHODS Prospective cohort study involving 107,243 post-menopausal American women aged 50–79 years (mean=60.7) at enrolment in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), with three-year follow up. Chocolate-candy consumption was assessed by food frequency questionnaire and body weight was measured. Linear mixed models, adjusted for demographic, socio-economic, anthropomorphic and behavioral variables, were used to test our main hypotheses. RESULTS Compared to women who ate a 1 oz (~28 g) serving of chocolate candy <1 per month, those who ate this amount 1 per month to <1 per week, 1 per week to < 3 per week and ≥3 per week showed greater three-year prospective weight gains (kg) of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.66, 0.85), 0.95 (0.84, 1.06) and 1.40 (1.27, 1.53), respectively, (p for linear trend<0.0001). Each additional 1 oz/day was associated with a greater three-year weight gain (kg) of 0.92 (0.80, 1.05). The weight gain in each chocolate-candy intake level increased as BMI increased above the normal range (18.5–25 kg/m2), and as age decreased. CONCLUSIONS Greater chocolate-candy intake was associated with greater prospective weight gain in this cohort of post-menopausal women. PMID:25644711

  4. Chocolate-candy consumption and 3-year weight gain among postmenopausal U.S. women.

    PubMed

    Greenberg, James A; Manson, JoAnn E; Buijsse, Brian; Wang, Lu; Allison, Matthew A; Neuhouser, Marian L; Tinker, Lesley; Waring, Molly E; Isasi, Carmen R; Martin, Lisa W; Thomson, Cynthia A

    2015-03-01

    To test the hypothesis that greater chocolate-candy intake is associated with more weight gain in postmenopausal women. A prospective cohort study involved 107,243 postmenopausal American women aged 50-79 years (mean = 60.7) at enrollment in the Women's Health Initiative, with 3-year follow-up. Chocolate-candy consumption was assessed by food frequency questionnaire, and body weight was measured. Linear mixed models, adjusted for demographic, socio economic, anthropomorphic, and behavioral variables, were used to test our main hypotheses. Compared with women who ate a 1 oz (∼28 g) serving of chocolate candy <1 per month, those who ate this amount 1 per month to <1 per week, 1 per week to < 3 per week and ≥3 per week showed greater 3-year prospective weight gains (kg) of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.66, 0.85), 0.95 (0.84, 1.06), and 1.40 (1.27, 1.53), respectively, (P for linear trend<0.0001). Each additional 1 oz/day was associated with a greater 3-year weight gain (kg) of 0.92 (0.80, 1.05). The weight gain in each chocolate-candy intake level increased as BMI increased above the normal range (18.5-25 kg/m(2)), and was inversely associated with age. Greater chocolate-candy intake was associated with greater prospective weight gain in this cohort of postmenopausal women. © 2015 The Obesity Society.

  5. Review of Extracting Information From the Social Web for Health Personalization

    PubMed Central

    Karlsen, Randi; Bonander, Jason

    2011-01-01

    In recent years the Web has come into its own as a social platform where health consumers are actively creating and consuming Web content. Moreover, as the Web matures, consumers are gaining access to personalized applications adapted to their health needs and interests. The creation of personalized Web applications relies on extracted information about the users and the content to personalize. The Social Web itself provides many sources of information that can be used to extract information for personalization apart from traditional Web forms and questionnaires. This paper provides a review of different approaches for extracting information from the Social Web for health personalization. We reviewed research literature across different fields addressing the disclosure of health information in the Social Web, techniques to extract that information, and examples of personalized health applications. In addition, the paper includes a discussion of technical and socioethical challenges related to the extraction of information for health personalization. PMID:21278049

  6. The relation between promotional spending on drugs and their therapeutic gain: a cohort analysis

    PubMed Central

    Lexchin, Joel

    2017-01-01

    Background: Whether drug promotion helps or hinders appropriate prescribing by physicians is debated. This study examines the most heavily promoted drugs and the therapeutic value of those drugs to help determine whether doctors should be using promotional material to inform themselves about drugs. Methods: Lists were constructed of the 50 most heavily promoted drugs (amount of money spent on journal advertisements and visits by sales representatives) and the 50 top-selling drugs (by dollar value) for 2013, 2014 and 2015. Therapeutic gain was determined by examining ratings from the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board and the French drug bulletin Prescrire International and was categorized as major, moderate or little to none. For each of the 3 years, the number of drugs in the 3 therapeutic categories for drugs in both groups was compared. The amount and proportion of money spent on promotion for drugs in each of the 3 therapeutic categories for the 3 years was also determined. Results: Therapeutic ratings were available for 42 of 79 of the most heavily promoted drugs over the 3 years and for 40 of 61 of the top-selling drugs. Nearly all the money spent on promotion in each of the 3 years went to drugs with little to no therapeutic gain. The distribution of therapeutic gain for drugs in both groups was statistically significantly different only in 2013 (p = 0.04). Interpretation: Most of the money spent on promotion went to drugs that offer little to no therapeutic gain. This result calls into question whether doctors should read journal advertisements or see sales representatives to acquire information about important medical therapies. PMID:28912143

  7. Optimizing Gestational Weight Gain With the Eating4Two Smartphone App: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

    PubMed

    Davis, Deborah; Davey, Rachel; Williams, Lauren T; Foureur, Maralyn; Nohr, Ellen; Knight-Agarwal, Catherine; Lawlis, Tanya; Oats, Jeremy; Skouteris, Helen; Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Matthew

    2018-05-30

    Approximately 50% of women gain excessive weight in pregnancy. Optimizing gestational weight gain is important for the short- and long-term health of the childbearing woman and her baby. Despite this, there is no recommendation for routine weighing in pregnancy, and weight is a topic that many maternity care providers avoid. Resource-intensive interventions have mainly targeted overweight and obese women with variable results. Few studies have examined the way that socioeconomic status might influence the effectiveness or acceptability of an intervention to participants. Given the scale of the problem of maternal weight gain, maternity services will be unlikely to sustain resource intensive interventions; therefore, innovative strategies are required to assist women to manage weight gain in pregnancy. The primary aim of the trial was to examine the effectiveness of the Eating4Two smartphone app in assisting women of all body mass index categories to optimize gestational weight gain. Secondary aims include comparing childbirth outcomes and satisfaction with antenatal care and examining the way that relative advantage and disadvantage might influence engagement with and acceptability of the intervention. This randomized controlled trial will randomize 1330 women to control or intervention groups in 3 regions of different socioeconomic status. Women will be recruited from clinical and social media sites. The intervention group will be provided with access to the Eating4Two mobile phone app which provides nutrition and dietary information specifically tailored for pregnancy, advice on food serving sizes, and a graph that illustrates women's weight change in relation to the range recommended by the Institute of Medicine. Women will be encouraged to use the app to prompt conversations with their maternity care providers about weight gain in pregnancy. The control group will receive routine antenatal care. Recruitment has commenced though the recruitment rate is slower

  8. Gain scheduling - Potential hazards and possible remedies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shamma, Jeff S.; Athans, Michael

    1991-01-01

    A common gain scheduling rule-of-thumb is to schedule on a slow variable. In this work, it is shown how current gain scheduling practice is necessarily limited to slow variations in the scheduling variable. These limitations are revealed to be consequences of fundamental control concepts. Furthermore, it is shown how a formulation of the gain scheduling procedure can lead toward ultimately removing these restrictions.

  9. Effect of a multimedia-assisted informed consent procedure on the information gain, satisfaction, and anxiety of cataract surgery patients.

    PubMed

    Tipotsch-Maca, Saskia M; Varsits, Ralph M; Ginzel, Christian; Vecsei-Marlovits, Pia V

    2016-01-01

    To assess whether a multimedia-assisted preoperative informed consent procedure has an effect on patients' knowledge concerning cataract surgery, satisfaction with the informed consent process, and reduction in anxiety levels. Hietzing Hospital, Vienna, Austria. Prospective randomized controlled clinical trial. Patients participated in an informed consent procedure for age-related cataract surgery that included the standard approach only (reading the information brochure and having a standardized face-to-face discussion) or supplemented with a computer-animated video. The main outcome was information retention assessed by a questionnaire. Further outcome measures used were the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Visual Function-14 score, and an assessment of satisfaction. The study included 123 patients (64 in standard-only group; 59 in computer-animated video group). Both groups scored well on the questionnaire; however, patients who watched the video performed better (82% retention versus 72%) (P = .002). Scores tended to decrease with increasing age (r = -0.25, P = .005); however, this decrease was smaller in the group that watched the video. Both groups had elevated anxiety levels (means in video group: anxiety concerning the current situation [S-anxiety] = 63.8 ± 9.6 [SD], general tendency toward anxiety [T-anxiety] = 65.5 ± 7.9; means in control group: S-anxiety = 61.9 ± 10.3, T-anxiety = 66.2 ± 7.8). A high level of information retention was achieved using an informed consent procedure consisting of an information brochure and a standardized face-to-face discussion. A further increase in information retention was achieved, even with increasing patient age, by adding a multimedia presentation. No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned. Copyright © 2016 ASCRS and ESCRS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. [Antipsychotic-induced weight gain--pharmacogenetic studies].

    PubMed

    Olajossy-Hilkesberger, Luiza; Godlewska, Beata; Marmurowska-Michałowskal, Halina; Olajossy, Marcin; Landowski, Jerzy

    2006-01-01

    Drug-naive patients with schizophrenia often present metabolic abnormalities and obesity. Weight gain may be the side effect of treatment with many antipsychotic drugs. Genetic effects, besides many other factors, are known to influence obesity in patients with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics. Numerous studies of several genes' polymorphisms have been performed. -759C/T polymorphism of 5HT2C gene attracted most attention. In 5 independent studies of this polymorphism the association between T allele with the lower AP-induced weight gain was detected. No associations could be detected between weight gain and other polymorphisms of serotonergic system genes as well as histaminergic system genes. Studies of adrenergic and dopaminergic system have neither produced any unambiguous results. Analysis of the newest candidate genes (SAP-25, leptin gene) confirmed the role of genetic factors in AP-induced weight gain. It is worth emphasising, that the studies have been conducted in relatively small and heterogenic groups and that various treatment strategies were used.

  11. Gain-adaptive vector quantization for medium-rate speech coding

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chen, J.-H.; Gersho, A.

    1985-01-01

    A class of adaptive vector quantizers (VQs) that can dynamically adjust the 'gain' of codevectors according to the input signal level is introduced. The encoder uses a gain estimator to determine a suitable normalization of each input vector prior to VQ coding. The normalized vectors have reduced dynamic range and can then be more efficiently coded. At the receiver, the VQ decoder output is multiplied by the estimated gain. Both forward and backward adaptation are considered and several different gain estimators are compared and evaluated. An approach to optimizing the design of gain estimators is introduced. Some of the more obvious techniques for achieving gain adaptation are substantially less effective than the use of optimized gain estimators. A novel design technique that is needed to generate the appropriate gain-normalized codebook for the vector quantizer is introduced. Experimental results show that a significant gain in segmental SNR can be obtained over nonadaptive VQ with a negligible increase in complexity.

  12. Early Number Skills Gains and Mathematics Achievement: Intervening to Establish Successful Early Mathematics Trajectories

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shanley, Lina; Clarke, Ben; Doabler, Christian T.; Kurtz-Nelson, Evangeline; Fien, Hank

    2017-01-01

    Early number skills, comprised of both informal and formal skills, are associated with later mathematics achievement. Thus, the development of foundational early number skills is an important aspect of early mathematics instruction. This study explored relations between early number skills gains and mathematics achievement for students at risk for…

  13. National Science Resources Center Project to Improve Science Teaching in Elementary Schools. Appendix C. Elementary Science Information Database

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-12-01

    individual particles. They mix the powders with water and perform tests with heat, iodine, and vinegar in order to gain additional information about the...illusions ; light ; fermentation ; chromatography ; moon ; astronomy AN SCIENCE - A PROCESS APPROACH, PART G focuses on experimentation, incorporating all...skills ; flowers plants astronomy ; animals ; sensory perception ; vision ; optical illusions ; eyes ; density ; viscosity ; fermentation ; moon

  14. Delivering pump light to a laser gain element while maintaining access to the laser beam

    DOEpatents

    Beach, Raymond J.; Honea, Eric C.; Payne, Stephen A.

    2001-01-01

    A lens duct is used for pump delivery and the laser beam is accessed through an additional component called the intermediate beam extractor which can be implemented as part of the gain element, part of the lens duct or a separate component entirely.

  15. 26 CFR 1.737-1 - Recognition of precontribution gain.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... Property A1 and Property A2 is long-term, U.S.-source capital gain or loss. The character of gain on Property A3 is long-term, foreign-source capital gain. B contributes Property B, nondepreciable real... long-term, U.S.-source capital gain ($10,000 gain on Property A1 and $8,000 loss on Property A2) and $1...

  16. 93-133 GHz Band InP High-Electron-Mobility Transistor Amplifier with Gain-Enhanced Topology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sato, Masaru; Shiba, Shoichi; Matsumura, Hiroshi; Takahashi, Tsuyoshi; Nakasha, Yasuhiro; Suzuki, Toshihide; Hara, Naoki

    2013-04-01

    In this study, we developed a new type of high-frequency amplifier topology using 75-nm-gate-length InP-based high-electron-mobility transistors (InP HEMTs). To enhance the gain for a wide frequency range, a common-source common-gate hybrid amplifier topology was proposed. A transformer-based balun placed at the input of the amplifier generates differential signals, which are fed to the gate and source terminals of the transistor. The amplified signal is outputted at the drain node. The simulation results show that the hybrid topology exhibits a higher gain from 90 to 140 GHz than that of the conventional common-source or common-gate amplifier. The two-stage amplifier fabricated using the topology exhibits a small signal gain of 12 dB and a 3-dB bandwidth of 40 GHz (93-133 GHz), which is the largest bandwidth and the second highest gain reported among those of published 120-GHz-band amplifiers. In addition, the measured noise figure was 5 dB from 90 to 100 GHz.

  17. Gain and energy storage in holmium YLF

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Storm, Mark E.; Deyst, John P.

    1991-01-01

    It is demonstrated that Q-switched holmium lasers are capable of high-gain and high-energy operation at 300 K. Small-signal gain coefficients of 0.50 and 0.12/cm have been measured in YLF and YAG, respectively. Small-signal gains of 0.50/cm are comparable to those achievable in Nd:YAG and are not typical of low-gain materials. This large gain in the Ho:YLF material is made possible by operating the amplifier in the ground state depletion mode. The amplifier performance data and associated analysis presented demonstrate that efficient energy storage is possible with very high excited state ion densities of the Ho 5I7 upper laser level. This is an important result since upconversion can limit the 5I7 population. Although upconversion was still present in this experiment, it was possible to achieve efficient energy storage, demonstrating that the problem is manageable even at high excitation densities in YLF.

  18. [Atypical antipsychotic-induced weight gain].

    PubMed

    Godlewska, Beata R; Olajossy-Hilkesberger, Luiza; Marmurowska-Michałowska, Halina; Olajossy, Marcin; Landowski, Jerzy

    2006-01-01

    Introduction of a new group of antipsychotic drugs, called atypical because of the proprieties differing them from classical neuroleptics, gave hope for the beginning of a new era in treatment of psychoses, including schizophrenia. Different mechanisms of action not only resulted in a broader spectrum of action and high efficacy but also in a relative lack of extrapiramidal symptoms. However, atypical neuroleptics are not totally free from adverse effects. Symptoms such as sedation, metabolic changes and weight gain, often very quick and severe - present also in the case of classical drugs, but put to the background by extrapiramidal symptoms--have become prominent. Weight gain is important both from the clinical and subjective point of view--as associated with serious somatic consequences and as a source of enormous mental distress. These problems are addressed in this review, with the focus on weight gain associated with the use of specific atypical neuroleptics.

  19. High current gain transistor laser

    PubMed Central

    Liang, Song; Qiao, Lijun; Zhu, Hongliang; Wang, Wei

    2016-01-01

    A transistor laser (TL), having the structure of a transistor with multi-quantum wells near its base region, bridges the functionality gap between lasers and transistors. However, light emission is produced at the expense of current gain for all the TLs reported up to now, leading to a very low current gain. We propose a novel design of TLs, which have an n-doped InP layer inserted in the emitter ridge. Numerical studies show that a current flow aperture for only holes can be formed in the center of the emitter ridge. As a result, the common emitter current gain can be as large as 143.3, which is over 15 times larger than that of a TL without the aperture. Besides, the effects of nonradiative recombination defects can be reduced greatly because the flow of holes is confined in the center region of the emitter ridge. PMID:27282466

  20. Optimal gains for a single polar orbiting satellite

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Banfield, Don; Ingersoll, A. P.; Keppenne, C. L.

    1993-01-01

    Gains are the spatial weighting of an observation in its neighborhood versus the local values of a model prediction. They are the key to data assimilation, as they are the direct measure of how the data are used to guide the model. As derived in the broad context of data assimilation by Kalman and in the context of meteorology, for example, by Rutherford, the optimal gains are functions of the prediction error covariances between the observation and analysis points. Kalman introduced a very powerful technique that allows one to calculate these optimal gains at the time of each observation. Unfortunately, this technique is both computationally expensive and often numerically unstable for dynamical systems of the magnitude of meteorological models, and thus is unsuited for use in PMIRR data assimilation. However, the optimal gains as calculated by a Kalman filter do reach a steady state for regular observing patterns like that of a satellite. In this steady state, the gains are constants in time, and thus could conceivably be computed off-line. These steady-state Kalman gains (i.e., Wiener gains) would yield optimal performance without the computational burden of true Kalman filtering. We proposed to use this type of constant-in-time Wiener gain for the assimilation of data from PMIRR and Mars Observer.

  1. Psychosocial working conditions and weight gain among employees.

    PubMed

    Lallukka, T; Laaksonen, M; Martikainen, P; Sarlio-Lähteenkorva, S; Lahelma, E

    2005-08-01

    To study the associations between psychosocial working conditions and weight gain. Data from postal questionnaires (response rate 67%) sent to 40- to 60-y-old women (n=7093) and men (n=1799) employed by the City of Helsinki in 2000-2002 were analysed. Weight gain during the previous 12 months was the outcome variable in logistic regression analyses. Independent variables included Karasek's job demands and job control, work fatigue, working overtime, work-related mental strain, social support and the work-home interface. The final models were adjusted for age, education, marital status, physical strain and body mass index. In the previous 12 months, 25% of women and 19% of men reported weight gain. Work fatigue and working overtime were associated with weight gain in both sexes. Women who were dissatisfied with combining paid work and family life were more likely to have gained weight. Men with low job demands were less likely to have gained weight. All of these associations were independent of each other. Few work-related factors were associated with weight gain. However, our study suggests that work fatigue and working overtime are potential risk factors for weight gain. These findings need to be confirmed in prospective studies.

  2. Weight gain as a barrier to smoking cessation among military personnel.

    PubMed

    Russ, C R; Fonseca, V P; Peterson, A L; Blackman, L R; Robbins, A S

    2001-01-01

    To assess the relationships between active-duty military status, military weight standards, concern about weight gain, and anticipated relapse after smoking cessation. Cross-sectional study. Hospital-based tobacco cessation program. Two hundred fifty-two enrollees, of 253 eligible, to a tobacco cessation program in 1999 (135 men, 117 women; 43% on active duty in the military). Independent variables included gender, body mass index (weight/height2), and military status. Dependent variables included about weight gain with smoking cessation and anticipated relapse. In multivariate regression analyses that controlled for gender and body mass index, active-duty military status was associated with an elevated level of concern about weight gain (1.9-point increase on a 10-point scale; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0- to 2.8-point increase), as well as higher anticipated relapse (odds ratio [OR] = 3.6; 95% CI, 1.3 to 9.8). Among subjects who were close to or over the U.S. Air Force maximum allowable weight for height, the analogous OR for active-duty military status was 6.9 (p = .02). Occupational weight standards or expectations may pose additional barriers for individuals contemplating or attempting smoking cessation, as they do among active-duty military personnel. These barriers are likely to hinder efforts to decrease smoking prevalence in certain groups.

  3. Informal Assessment of Older Readers' Abilities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siedow, Mary Dunn

    1991-01-01

    Explores the utility of an informal reading inventory for assessing the reading abilities of college students. Determines the amount and kinds of information that can be learned from an informal reading inventory. Determines whether information gained from the Advanced Reading Inventory differed qualitatively from that obtained from the Nelson…

  4. Low-template methods yield limited extra information for PowerPlex® Fusion 6C profiling.

    PubMed

    Duijs, Francisca; van de Merwe, Linda; Sijen, Titia; Benschop, Corina C G

    2018-06-01

    Advances in autosomal DNA profiling systems enable analyzing increased numbers of short tandem repeat (STR) loci in one reaction. Increasing the number of STR loci increases the amount of information that may be obtained from a (crime scene) sample. In this study, we examined whether even more allelic information can be obtained by applying low-template methods. To this aim, the performance of the PowerPlex® Fusion 6C STR typing system was assessed when increasing the number of PCR cycles or enhancing the capillary electrophoresis (CE) injection settings. Results show that applying these low-template methods yields limited extra information and comes at cost of more background noise. In addition, the gain in detection of alleles was much smaller when compared to the gain when applying low-template methods to the 15-loci AmpFLSTR® NGM™ system. Consequently, the PowerPlex® Fusion 6C STR typing system was implemented using standard settings only; low-template methods were not implemented for our routine forensic casework. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Effects of internal gain assumptions in building energy calculations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christensen, C.; Perkins, R.

    1981-01-01

    The utilization of direct solar gains in buildings can be affected by operating profiles, such as schedules for internal gains, thermostat controls, and ventilation rates. Building energy analysis methods use various assumptions about these profiles. The effects of typical internal gain assumptions in energy calculations are described. Heating and cooling loads from simulations using the DOE 2.1 computer code are compared for various internal gain inputs: typical hourly profiles, constant average profiles, and zero gain profiles. Prototype single-family-detached and multifamily-attached residential units are studied with various levels of insulation and infiltration. Small detached commercial buildings and attached zones in large commercial buildings are studied with various levels of internal gains. The results indicate that calculations of annual heating and cooling loads are sensitive to internal gains, but in most cases are relatively insensitive to hourly variations in internal gains.

  6. Correcting the Normalized Gain for Guessing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stewart, John; Stewart, Gay

    2010-01-01

    The normalized gain, "g", has been an important tool for the characterization of conceptual improvement in physics courses since its use in Hake's extensive study on conceptual learning in introductory physics. The normalized gain is calculated from the score on a pre-test administered before instruction and a post-test administered…

  7. Inadequate gestational weight gain and adverse pregnancy outcomes among normal weight women in China

    PubMed Central

    Wen, Tingyuan; Lv, Yanwei

    2015-01-01

    Objective: The objective of the paper is to find the association between inadequate gestational weight gain and pregnancy outcomes in normal weight women in China. Method: A retrospective study was conducted among 13,776 normal weight pregnant women who received antenatal care and delivered singleton infants at the participating hospital during August, 2009 to July, 2013. Adverse pregnancy outcomes like low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, birth asphyxia, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission and length of hospital stay were compared and analyzed between two groups with inadequate and adequate gestational weight gain. Results: According to the IOM recommendations, inadequate gestational weight gain was found to be 14.7% in this study. Women with inadequate gestational weight gain (GWG) were found to be at a higher risk for LBW (aOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.75, 2.86) and preterm birth (aOR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.21, 1.67) than those in the adequate gestational weight gain group, after adjusting for monthly family income, maternal education, occupation, and whether they received any advice regarding benefits of gestational weight gain and residential area. However, inadequate GWG was not associated with longer hospital stay (aOR = 1.13, 95% CI: 0.91-1.43) in adjusted model. In addition, the rate of birth asphyxia and NICU admission were similar in both groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Normal weight pregnant women with GWG below the recommended AIOM 2009 guidelines were found to be at an increased risk of low birth weight and preterm birth. PMID:25932249

  8. Inadequate gestational weight gain and adverse pregnancy outcomes among normal weight women in China.

    PubMed

    Wen, Tingyuan; Lv, Yanwei

    2015-01-01

    The objective of the paper is to find the association between inadequate gestational weight gain and pregnancy outcomes in normal weight women in China. A retrospective study was conducted among 13,776 normal weight pregnant women who received antenatal care and delivered singleton infants at the participating hospital during August, 2009 to July, 2013. Adverse pregnancy outcomes like low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, birth asphyxia, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission and length of hospital stay were compared and analyzed between two groups with inadequate and adequate gestational weight gain. According to the IOM recommendations, inadequate gestational weight gain was found to be 14.7% in this study. Women with inadequate gestational weight gain (GWG) were found to be at a higher risk for LBW (aOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.75, 2.86) and preterm birth (aOR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.21, 1.67) than those in the adequate gestational weight gain group, after adjusting for monthly family income, maternal education, occupation, and whether they received any advice regarding benefits of gestational weight gain and residential area. However, inadequate GWG was not associated with longer hospital stay (aOR = 1.13, 95% CI: 0.91-1.43) in adjusted model. In addition, the rate of birth asphyxia and NICU admission were similar in both groups (P > 0.05). Normal weight pregnant women with GWG below the recommended AIOM 2009 guidelines were found to be at an increased risk of low birth weight and preterm birth.

  9. Subcutaneous administration of monosodium glutamate to pregnant mice reduces weight gain in pups during lactation.

    PubMed

    Park, Ji-Hun; Choi, Tae-Saeng

    2016-04-01

    Administering monosodium glutamate (MSG) to neonatal rodents induces obesity and type 2 diabetes. In addition, several studies have shown that MSG administered to pregnant animals can cross the placenta and reach the foetus. The present study was performed to investigate the effects of administering MSG to pregnant ICR mice on dam and neonatal growth. Pregnant mice were treated with 60 or 120 mg MSG once daily from day 5 of pregnancy to one day before parturition by subcutaneous injection. In addition, the body weights of the neonates were determined until nine weeks of age. The birth weights of neonates were not different between the control and MSG-treated groups. However, MSG treatment resulted in a lower body weight gain of neonates during lactation. In addition, this underweight of the MSG-treated group at weaning returned to normal compared with the control group at five weeks of age. Cross-fostering experiments indicated that the lower body weight gain of neonates in the MSG-treated group during lactation was due to its effects on the dam. Serum prolactin levels and mammary gland development of the mice were examined next to determine the reasons for this lactation problem. Although there were no differences in prolactin levels, morphological analyses of the mammary glands revealed apparent differences, including low numbers and altered phenotype of alveoli, between the control and MSG-treated groups. Taken together, our results show that treating pregnant mice with excess MSG induced lower neonate body weight gain during lactation. © The Author(s) 2015.

  10. 20 CFR 220.141 - Substantial gainful activity, defined.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ...) Substantial work activity. Substantial work activity is work activity that involves doing significant physical... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Substantial gainful activity, defined. 220... RETIREMENT ACT DETERMINING DISABILITY Substantial Gainful Activity § 220.141 Substantial gainful activity...

  11. 20 CFR 220.141 - Substantial gainful activity, defined.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ...) Substantial work activity. Substantial work activity is work activity that involves doing significant physical... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Substantial gainful activity, defined. 220... RETIREMENT ACT DETERMINING DISABILITY Substantial Gainful Activity § 220.141 Substantial gainful activity...

  12. Complying with physician gain-sharing restrictions.

    PubMed

    O'Hare, P K

    1998-05-01

    Many IDSs are considering implementing gain-sharing programs as a way to motivate their physicians to provide high-quality, cost-effective services. Before embarking on such programs, however, IDSs need to understand the legal requirements associated with such programs to ensure that the gain-sharing arrangement is in compliance with Federal law.

  13. Information Literacy: Partnerships for Power.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Breivik, Patricia Senn; Senn, J. A.

    1993-01-01

    Describes the partnerships between teacher-librarians and principals, teachers, community members, public librarians, and businesses that school children need to gain information literacy skills. Descriptions, which are adapted from the forthcoming book "Information Literacy: Resources for Elementary School Leaders," include the…

  14. Radiation hardness of thin Low Gain Avalanche Detectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kramberger, G.; Carulla, M.; Cavallaro, E.; Cindro, V.; Flores, D.; Galloway, Z.; Grinstein, S.; Hidalgo, S.; Fadeyev, V.; Lange, J.; Mandić, I.; Medin, G.; Merlos, A.; McKinney-Martinez, F.; Mikuž, M.; Quirion, D.; Pellegrini, G.; Petek, M.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Seiden, A.; Zavrtanik, M.

    2018-05-01

    Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGAD) are based on a n++-p+-p-p++ structure where an appropriate doping of the multiplication layer (p+) leads to high enough electric fields for impact ionization. Gain factors of few tens in charge significantly improve the resolution of timing measurements, particularly for thin detectors, where the timing performance was shown to be limited by Landau fluctuations. The main obstacle for their operation is the decrease of gain with irradiation, attributed to effective acceptor removal in the gain layer. Sets of thin sensors were produced by two different producers on different substrates, with different gain layer doping profiles and thicknesses (45, 50 and 80 μm). Their performance in terms of gain/collected charge and leakage current was compared before and after irradiation with neutrons and pions up to the equivalent fluences of 5 ṡ 1015 cm-2. Transient Current Technique and charge collection measurements with LHC speed electronics were employed to characterize the detectors. The thin LGAD sensors were shown to perform much better than sensors of standard thickness (∼300 μm) and offer larger charge collection with respect to detectors without gain layer for fluences < 2 ṡ 1015 cm-2. Larger initial gain prolongs the beneficial performance of LGADs. Pions were found to be more damaging than neutrons at the same equivalent fluence, while no significant difference was found between different producers. At very high fluences and bias voltages the gain appears due to deep acceptors in the bulk, hence also in thin standard detectors.

  15. Effect of body image on pregnancy weight gain.

    PubMed

    Mehta, Ushma J; Siega-Riz, Anna Maria; Herring, Amy H

    2011-04-01

    The majority of women gain more weight during pregnancy than what is recommended. Since gestational weight gain is related to short and long-term maternal health outcomes, it is important to identify women at greater risk of not adhering to guidelines. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between body image and gestational weight gain. The Body Image Assessment for Obesity tool was used to measure ideal and current body sizes in 1,192 women participating in the Pregnancy, Infection and Nutrition Study. Descriptive and multivariable techniques were used to assess the effects of ideal body size and discrepancy score (current-ideal body sizes), which reflected the level of body dissatisfaction, on gestational weight gain. Women who preferred to be thinner had increased risk of excessive gain if they started the pregnancy at a BMI ≤26 kg/m(2) but a decreased risk if they were overweight or obese. Comparing those who preferred thin body silhouettes to those who preferred average size silhouettes, low income women had increased risk of inadequate weight gain [RR = 1.76 (1.08, 2.88)] while those with lower education were at risk of excessive gain [RR = 1.11 (1.00, 1.22)]. Our results revealed that body image was associated with gestational weight gain but the relationship is complex. Identifying factors that affect whether certain women are at greater risk of gaining outside of guidelines may improve our ability to decrease pregnancy-related health problems.

  16. Educational mobility and weight gain over 13 years in a longitudinal study of young women.

    PubMed

    Holowko, Natalie; Jones, Mark; Tooth, Leigh; Koupil, Ilona; Mishra, Gita

    2014-11-25

    Limited evidence exists about the role of education and own educational mobility on body weight trajectory. A better understanding of how education influences long term weight gain can help us to design more effective health policies. Using random effects models, the association between i) highest education (n = 10 018) and ii) educational mobility over a 9 year period (n = 9 907) and weight gain was analysed using five waves of data (over 13 years) from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health 1973-78 cohort (from 18-23 years to 31-36 years). Highest educational attainment was inversely associated with weight at baseline and weight gain over 13 years. Compared to high educated women, those with a low (12 years or less) or intermediate (trade/certificate/diploma) education, respectively, weighed an additional 2.6 kg (95% CI:1.9 to 3.1) and 2.5 kg (95% CI:1.9 to 3.3) at baseline and gained an additional 3.9 kg (95% CI:2.6 to 5.2) and 3.1 kg (95% CI:2.6 to 3.9) over 13 years. Compared to women who remained with a low education, women with the greatest educational mobility had similar baseline weight to the women who already had a high education at baseline (2.7 kg lighter (95% CI:-3.7 to -1.8) and 2.7 kg lighter (95% CI:-3.4 to -1.9), respectively) and similarly favourable weight gain (gaining 3.1 kg less (95% CI:-4.0 to -2.21) and 4.2 kg less (95% CI:-4.8 to -3.4) over the 13 years, respectively). While educational attainment by mid-thirties was positively associated with better weight management, women's weight was already different in young adult age, before their highest education was achieved. These findings highlight a potential role of early life factors and personality traits which may influence both education and weight outcomes.

  17. Brillouin gain enhancement in nano-scale photonic waveguide

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nouri Jouybari, Soodabeh

    2018-05-01

    The enhancement of stimulated Brillouin scattering in nano-scale waveguides has a great contribution in the improvement of the photonic devices technology. The key factors in Brillouin gain are the electrostriction force and radiation pressure generated by optical waves in the waveguide. In this article, we have proposed a new scheme of nano-scale waveguide in which the Brillouin gain is considerably improved compared to the previously-reported schemes. The role of radiation pressure in the Brillouin gain was much higher than the role of the electrostriction force. The Brillouin gain strongly depends on the structural parameters of the waveguide and the maximum value of 12127 W-1 m-1 is obtained for the Brillouin gain.

  18. Method and system for edge cladding of laser gain media

    DOEpatents

    Bayramian, Andrew James; Caird, John Allyn; Schaffers, Kathleen Irene

    2014-03-25

    A gain medium operable to amplify light at a gain wavelength and having reduced transverse ASE includes an input surface and an output surface opposing the input surface. The gain medium also includes a central region including gain material and extending between the input surface and the output surface along a longitudinal optical axis of the gain medium. The gain medium further includes an edge cladding region surrounding the central region and extending between the input surface and the output surface along the longitudinal optical axis of the gain medium. The edge cladding region includes the gain material and a dopant operable to absorb light at the gain wavelength.

  19. Attentional Gain Control of Ongoing Cortical Speech Representations in a “Cocktail Party”

    PubMed Central

    Kerlin, Jess R.; Shahin, Antoine J.; Miller, Lee M.

    2010-01-01

    Normal listeners possess the remarkable perceptual ability to select a single speech stream among many competing talkers. However, few studies of selective attention have addressed the unique nature of speech as a temporally extended and complex auditory object. We hypothesized that sustained selective attention to speech in a multi-talker environment would act as gain control on the early auditory cortical representations of speech. Using high-density electroencephalography and a template-matching analysis method, we found selective gain to the continuous speech content of an attended talker, greatest at a frequency of 4–8 Hz, in auditory cortex. In addition, the difference in alpha power (8–12 Hz) at parietal sites across hemispheres indicated the direction of auditory attention to speech, as has been previously found in visual tasks. The strength of this hemispheric alpha lateralization, in turn, predicted an individual’s attentional gain of the cortical speech signal. These results support a model of spatial speech stream segregation, mediated by a supramodal attention mechanism, enabling selection of the attended representation in auditory cortex. PMID:20071526

  20. Cognitive Control of Eating: the Role of Memory in Appetite and Weight Gain.

    PubMed

    Higgs, Suzanne; Spetter, Maartje S

    2018-03-01

    The present review organises the recent literature on the role of memory in eating behaviours and provides an overview of the current evidence relating to the associations between memory and weight gain. Research over the last few years has highlighted working memory as an important cognitive process that underpins many aspects of appetite control. Recent work on episodic memory and appetite has replicated work showing that manipulating memory for recent eating affects later consumption and extended this work to examine associations between individual differences in memory and eating behaviours. Poorer episodic memory ability is related to a reduced sensitivity to internal states of hunger and satiety and a tendency towards uncontrolled eating. There is also recent evidence to suggest that working memory and episodic memory impairments are related to weight gain and high BMI. Working memory and episodic memory are core cognitive processes that are critical for food-related decision-making, and disruption to these processes contributes to problems with appetite control and weight gain, which suggests that weight loss programmes might be improved by the addition of cognitive training.

  1. A new metasurface reflective structure for simultaneous enhancement of antenna bandwidth and gain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ullah, M. Habib; Islam, M. T.

    2014-08-01

    A new bi-layered metasurface reflective structure (MRS) on a high-permittivity, low-loss, ceramic-filled, bio-plastic, sandwich-structured, dielectric substrate is proposed for the simultaneous enhancement of the bandwidth and gain of a dual band patch antenna. By incorporating the MRS with a 4 mm air gap between the MRS and the antenna, the bandwidth and gain of the dual band patch antenna are significantly enhanced. The reflection coefficient (S11 < -10 dB) bandwidth of the proposed MRS-loaded antenna increased by 240% (178%), and the average peak gain improved by 595% (128%) compared to the antenna alone in the lower (upper) band. Incremental improvements of the magnitude and directional patterns have been observed from the measured radiation patterns at the three resonant frequencies of 0.9 GHz, 3.7 GHz and 4.5 GHz. The effects of different configurations of the radiating patch and the ground plane on the reflection coefficient have been analyzed. In addition, the voltage standing wave ratio and input impedance have also been validated using a Smith chart.

  2. A variable-gain output feedback control design methodology

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Halyo, Nesim; Moerder, Daniel D.; Broussard, John R.; Taylor, Deborah B.

    1989-01-01

    A digital control system design technique is developed in which the control system gain matrix varies with the plant operating point parameters. The design technique is obtained by formulating the problem as an optimal stochastic output feedback control law with variable gains. This approach provides a control theory framework within which the operating range of a control law can be significantly extended. Furthermore, the approach avoids the major shortcomings of the conventional gain-scheduling techniques. The optimal variable gain output feedback control problem is solved by embedding the Multi-Configuration Control (MCC) problem, previously solved at ICS. An algorithm to compute the optimal variable gain output feedback control gain matrices is developed. The algorithm is a modified version of the MCC algorithm improved so as to handle the large dimensionality which arises particularly in variable-gain control problems. The design methodology developed is applied to a reconfigurable aircraft control problem. A variable-gain output feedback control problem was formulated to design a flight control law for an AFTI F-16 aircraft which can automatically reconfigure its control strategy to accommodate failures in the horizontal tail control surface. Simulations of the closed-loop reconfigurable system show that the approach produces a control design which can accommodate such failures with relative ease. The technique can be applied to many other problems including sensor failure accommodation, mode switching control laws and super agility.

  3. A bootstrapped, low-noise, and high-gain photodetector for shot noise measurement

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhou, Haijun; Yang, Wenhai; Li, Zhixiu

    2014-01-15

    We presented a low-noise, high-gain photodetector based on the bootstrap structure and the L-C (inductance and capacitance) combination. Electronic characteristics of the photodetector, including electronic noise, gain and frequency response, and dynamic range, were verified through a single-frequency Nd:YVO{sub 4} laser at 1064 nm with coherent output. The measured shot noise of 50 μW laser was 13 dB above the electronic noise at the analysis frequency of 2 MHz, and 10 dB at 3 MHz. And a maximum clearance of 28 dB at 2 MHz was achieved when 1.52 mW laser was illuminated. In addition, the photodetector showed excellent linearitiesmore » for both DC and AC amplifications in the laser power range between 12.5 μW and 1.52 mW.« less

  4. The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR): a comprehensive database and web-based information retrieval, analysis, and visualization system for a model plant

    PubMed Central

    Huala, Eva; Dickerman, Allan W.; Garcia-Hernandez, Margarita; Weems, Danforth; Reiser, Leonore; LaFond, Frank; Hanley, David; Kiphart, Donald; Zhuang, Mingzhe; Huang, Wen; Mueller, Lukas A.; Bhattacharyya, Debika; Bhaya, Devaki; Sobral, Bruno W.; Beavis, William; Meinke, David W.; Town, Christopher D.; Somerville, Chris; Rhee, Seung Yon

    2001-01-01

    Arabidopsis thaliana, a small annual plant belonging to the mustard family, is the subject of study by an estimated 7000 researchers around the world. In addition to the large body of genetic, physiological and biochemical data gathered for this plant, it will be the first higher plant genome to be completely sequenced, with completion expected at the end of the year 2000. The sequencing effort has been coordinated by an international collaboration, the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative (AGI). The rationale for intensive investigation of Arabidopsis is that it is an excellent model for higher plants. In order to maximize use of the knowledge gained about this plant, there is a need for a comprehensive database and information retrieval and analysis system that will provide user-friendly access to Arabidopsis information. This paper describes the initial steps we have taken toward realizing these goals in a project called The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) (www.arabidopsis.org). PMID:11125061

  5. 24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

  6. 24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

  7. 24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

  8. 24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

  9. 24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

  10. Optical properties of nanowire metamaterials with gain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lima, Joaquim; Adam, Jost; Rego, Davi; Esquerre, Vitaly; Bordo, Vladimir

    2016-11-01

    The transmittance, reflectance and absorption of a nanowire metamaterial with optical gain are numerically simulated and investigated. It is assumed that the metamaterial is represented by aligned silver nanowires embedded into a semiconductor matrix, made of either silicon or gallium phosphide. The gain in the matrix is modeled by adding a negative imaginary part to the dielectric function of the semiconductor. It is found that the optical coefficients of the metamaterial depend on the gain magnitude in a non-trivial way: they can both increase and decrease with gain depending on the lattice constant of the metamaterial. This peculiar behavior is explained by the field redistribution between the lossy metal nanowires and the amplifying matrix material. These findings are significant for a proper design of nanowire metamaterials with low optical losses for diverse applications.

  11. Information Use Differences in Hot and Cold Risk Processing: When Does Information About Probability Count in the Columbia Card Task?

    PubMed

    Markiewicz, Łukasz; Kubińska, Elżbieta

    2015-01-01

    This paper aims to provide insight into information processing differences between hot and cold risk taking decision tasks within a single domain. Decision theory defines risky situations using at least three parameters: outcome one (often a gain) with its probability and outcome two (often a loss) with a complementary probability. Although a rational agent should consider all of the parameters, s/he could potentially narrow their focus to only some of them, particularly when explicit Type 2 processes do not have the resources to override implicit Type 1 processes. Here we investigate differences in risky situation parameters' influence on hot and cold decisions. Although previous studies show lower information use in hot than in cold processes, they do not provide decision weight changes and therefore do not explain whether this difference results from worse concentration on each parameter of a risky situation (probability, gain amount, and loss amount) or from ignoring some parameters. Two studies were conducted, with participants performing the Columbia Card Task (CCT) in either its Cold or Hot version. In the first study, participants also performed the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) to monitor their ability to override Type 1 processing cues (implicit processes) with Type 2 explicit processes. Because hypothesis testing required comparison of the relative importance of risky situation decision weights (gain, loss, probability), we developed a novel way of measuring information use in the CCT by employing a conjoint analysis methodology. Across the two studies, results indicated that in the CCT Cold condition decision makers concentrate on each information type (gain, loss, probability), but in the CCT Hot condition they concentrate mostly on a single parameter: probability of gain/loss. We also show that an individual's CRT score correlates with information use propensity in cold but not hot tasks. Thus, the affective dimension of hot tasks inhibits correct

  12. Association between gestational weight gain and perinatal outcomes in women with chronic hypertension.

    PubMed

    Yee, Lynn M; Caughey, Aaron B; Cheng, Yvonne W

    2017-09-01

    Gestational weight gain above or below the 2009 National Academy of Medicine guidelines has been associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Although it has been well established that excess gestational weight gain is associated with the development of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, the relationship between gestational weight gain and adverse perinatal outcomes among women with pregestational (chronic) hypertension is less clear. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between gestational weight gain above and below National Academy of Medicine guidelines and perinatal outcomes in a large, population-based cohort of women with chronic hypertension. This is a population-based retrospective cohort study of women with chronic hypertension who had term, singleton, vertex births in the United States from 2012 through 2014. Prepregnancy body mass index was calculated using self-reported prepregnancy weight and height. Women were categorized into 4 groups based on gestational weight gain and prepregnancy body mass index: (1) weight gain less than, (2) weight gain within, (3) weight gain 1-19 lb in excess of, and (4) weight gain ≥20 lb in excess of the National Academy of Medicine guidelines. The χ 2 tests and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used for statistical comparisons. Stratified analyses by body mass index category were additionally performed. In this large birth cohort, 101,259 women met criteria for inclusion. Compared to hypertensive women who had gestational weight gain within guidelines, hypertensive women with weight gain ≥20 lb over National Academy of Medicine guidelines were more likely to have eclampsia (adjusted odds ratio, 1.93; 95% confidence interval, 1.54-2.42) and cesarean delivery (adjusted odds ratio, 1.60; 95% confidence interval, 1.50-1.70). Excess weight gain ≥20 lb over National Academy of Medicine guidelines was also associated with increased odds of 5-minute Apgar <7 (adjusted

  13. New Discovery About Middle-Age Weight Gain

    MedlinePlus

    ... Middle-Age Weight Gain Follow us Photo: AdobeStock New Discovery About Middle-Age Weight Gain A TEAM ... findings could lead to the development of a new type of weight-loss medication. SOURCE: NIH Research ...

  14. Σ-Δ modulator for a programmable gain, low-power, high-linearity automotive sensor interface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de la Rosa, Jose M.; Medeiro, Fernando; Perez-Verdu, Belen; del Rio, Rocio; Rodriguez-Vazquez, Angel

    2003-04-01

    Smart sensors play a critical role in modern automotive electronic systems, covering a wide range of data capturing functions and operating under adverse environmental conditions - temperature range of [-40¦C,175¦C]. In such sensors, the signal provided by transducers is composed of an offset voltage, which depends on the manufacturing process, and a low-frequency signal carrying the information. In practice, the offset voltage is subject to temperature variations, thus causing a shifting of the signal range to be measured. Therefore, the measuring circuit driving the sensor, normally formed by a low-noise preamplifier and an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), must accommodate the complete range of possible offsets and real signals. In this scenario, the use of ADCs based on Sigma-Delta Modulators (SDMs) is convenient for several reasons. On the one hand, the noise-shaping performed by SDMs allows to achieve high resolution (16-17bits), in the band of interest (10-20kHz), with less power consumption than full Nyquist ADCs. On the other hand, the action of feedback renders SDMs very linear, and high-linearity is a must for automotive applications. Last but not least, the robustness of SDMs with respect to circuit imperfections make them suitable to include programmable gain without significant performance degradation. This feature allows to accommodate the complete range of possible offsets and information signals in a sensor interface with relaxed specifications for the preamplifier circuitry. This paper describes the design and implementation of a third-order cascade (2-1) SDM with programmable gain in a 0.35mm CMOS technology - the type of technology commonly employed for automotive applications (deep submicron is mostly employed for telecom). It is capable of handling signals up to 20-kHz bandwidth with 17-bit resolution. The programmable gain is implemented by a capacitor array whose unitary capacitors are connected or disconnected depending on the value of

  15. Weight gain in women diagnosed with breast cancer.

    PubMed

    Demark-Wahnefried, W; Rimer, B K; Winer, E P

    1997-05-01

    This review of the literature indicates that weight gain is a common observation among women after the diagnosis of breast cancer. Gains in weight range from 0 to 50 lb and are influenced by menopausal status; nodal status; and the type, duration, and intensity of treatment. Weight gain appears to be greater among premenopausal women; among those who are node positive; and among those receiving higher dose, longer duration, and multiagent regimens. Psychosocial research suggests that weight gain has a profoundly negative impact on quality of life in patients with breast cancer. Recent findings also suggest that weight gain during therapy may increase the risk of recurrence and decrease survival. Although weight gain in patients with breast cancer is clinically well appreciated, little research has been conducted to investigate the underlying mechanisms of energy imbalance. Changes in rates of metabolism, physical activity, and dietary intake are all plausible mechanisms and call for more research. Further study will provide valuable insight into the problem of weight gain and encourage effective interventions to improve the quality and quantity of life for the woman with breast cancer. Until more is known, however, dietetics practitioners will have to monitor and work individually with patients with breast cancer and use empirical approaches to achieve the important goal of weight management.

  16. Gain Shift Corrections at Chi-Nu

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Brown, Tristan Brooks; Devlin, Matthew James

    Ambient conditions have the potential to cause changes in liquid scintillator detector gain that vary with time and temperature. These gain shifts can lead to poor resolution in both energy as well as pulse shape discrimination. In order to correct for these shifts in the Chi-Nu high energy array, a laser system has been developed for calibration of the pulse height signals.

  17. Predicting risk of substantial weight gain in German adults-a multi-center cohort approach.

    PubMed

    Bachlechner, Ursula; Boeing, Heiner; Haftenberger, Marjolein; Schienkiewitz, Anja; Scheidt-Nave, Christa; Vogt, Susanne; Thorand, Barbara; Peters, Annette; Schipf, Sabine; Ittermann, Till; Völzke, Henry; Nöthlings, Ute; Neamat-Allah, Jasmine; Greiser, Karin-Halina; Kaaks, Rudolf; Steffen, Annika

    2017-08-01

    A risk-targeted prevention strategy may efficiently utilize limited resources available for prevention of overweight and obesity. Likewise, more efficient intervention trials could be designed if selection of subjects was based on risk. The aim of the study was to develop a risk score predicting substantial weight gain among German adults. We developed the risk score using information on 15 socio-demographic, dietary and lifestyle factors from 32 204 participants of five population-based German cohort studies. Substantial weight gain was defined as gaining ≥10% of weight between baseline and follow-up (>6 years apart). The cases were censored according to the theoretical point in time when the threshold of 10% baseline-based weight gain was crossed assuming linearity of weight gain. Beta coefficients derived from proportional hazards regression were used as weights to compute the risk score as a linear combination of the predictors. Cross-validation was used to evaluate the score's discriminatory accuracy. The cross-validated c index (95% CI) was 0.71 (0.67-0.75). A cutoff value of ≥475 score points yielded a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 63%. The corresponding positive and negative predictive values were 10.4% and 97.6%, respectively. The proposed risk score may support healthcare providers in decision making and referral and facilitate an efficient selection of subjects into intervention trials. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.

  18. Predicting risk of substantial weight gain in German adults—a multi-center cohort approach

    PubMed Central

    Bachlechner, Ursula; Boeing, Heiner; Haftenberger, Marjolein; Schienkiewitz, Anja; Scheidt-Nave, Christa; Vogt, Susanne; Thorand, Barbara; Peters, Annette; Schipf, Sabine; Ittermann, Till; Völzke, Henry; Nöthlings, Ute; Neamat-Allah, Jasmine; Greiser, Karin-Halina; Kaaks, Rudolf

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Background A risk-targeted prevention strategy may efficiently utilize limited resources available for prevention of overweight and obesity. Likewise, more efficient intervention trials could be designed if selection of subjects was based on risk. The aim of the study was to develop a risk score predicting substantial weight gain among German adults. Methods We developed the risk score using information on 15 socio-demographic, dietary and lifestyle factors from 32 204 participants of five population-based German cohort studies. Substantial weight gain was defined as gaining ≥10% of weight between baseline and follow-up (>6 years apart). The cases were censored according to the theoretical point in time when the threshold of 10% baseline-based weight gain was crossed assuming linearity of weight gain. Beta coefficients derived from proportional hazards regression were used as weights to compute the risk score as a linear combination of the predictors. Cross-validation was used to evaluate the score’s discriminatory accuracy. Results The cross-validated c index (95% CI) was 0.71 (0.67–0.75). A cutoff value of ≥475 score points yielded a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 63%. The corresponding positive and negative predictive values were 10.4% and 97.6%, respectively. Conclusions The proposed risk score may support healthcare providers in decision making and referral and facilitate an efficient selection of subjects into intervention trials. PMID:28013243

  19. Candy and the Brain: Neural Response to Candy Gains and Losses

    PubMed Central

    Luking, Katherine R; Barch, Deanna M

    2013-01-01

    Incentive processing is a critical component of a host of cognitive processes including attention, motivation, and learning. Neuroimaging studies have clarified the neural systems underlying processing of primary and secondary rewards in adults. However, current reward paradigms have hindered comparison across these reward types as well as between age groups. To address methodological issues regarding timing of incentive delivery (during versus post-scan) and the age-appropriateness of the incentive type we utilized fMRI and a modified version of a card guessing game (CGG), where candy pieces delivered post-scan served as the reinforcer, to investigate neural responses to incentives. Healthy young adults aged 22–26 years won and lost large and small amounts of candy based on their ability to guess the number on a mystery card. BOLD activity was compared following candy gain (large/small), loss (large/small) and neutral feedback. During candy gains, adults recruited regions typically involved in response to monetary and other rewards such as the caudate, putamen, and orbitofrontal cortex. During losses, adults displayed greater deactivation in the hippocampus compared to neutral and gain feedback. Additionally, individual difference analyses suggested a negative relationship between reward sensitivity (assessed by behavioral inhibition/behavioral activation scales) and the difference between high and low magnitude losses in the caudate and lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Also within the striatum greater punishment sensitivity was positively related to the difference in activity following high compared to low gains. Overall these results show strong overlap with those from previous monetary versions of the CGG and provide a baseline for future work with developmental populations. PMID:23519971

  20. Candy and the brain: neural response to candy gains and losses.

    PubMed

    Luking, Katherine R; Barch, Deanna M

    2013-09-01

    Incentive processing is a critical component of a host of cognitive processes, including attention, motivation, and learning. Neuroimaging studies have clarified the neural systems underlying processing of primary and secondary rewards in adults. However, current reward paradigms have hindered comparisons across these reward types as well as between age groups. To address methodological issues regarding the timing of incentive delivery (during scan vs. postscan) and the age-appropriateness of the incentive type, we utilized fMRI and a modified version of a card-guessing game (CGG), in which candy pieces delivered postscan served as the reinforcer, to investigate neural responses to incentives. Healthy young adults 22-26 years of age won and lost large and small amounts of candy on the basis of their ability to guess the number on a mystery card. BOLD activity was compared following candy gain (large/small), loss (large/small), and neutral feedback. During candy gains, adults recruited regions typically involved in response to monetary and other rewards, such as the caudate, putamen, and orbitofrontal cortex. During losses, they displayed greater deactivation in the hippocampus than in response to neutral and gain feedback. Additionally, individual-difference analyses suggested a negative relationship between reward sensitivity (assessed by the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Activation Scales) and the difference between high- and low-magnitude losses in the caudate and lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Also within the striatum, greater punishment sensitivity was positively related to the difference in activity following high as compared to low gains. Overall, these results show strong overlap with those from previous monetary versions of the CGG and provide a baseline for future work with developmental populations.

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