The role of sense of coherence and physical activity in positive and negative affect of Turkish adolescents.

PubMed

Oztekin, Ceyda; Tezer, Esin

2009-01-01

This study investigated the role of sense of coherence and total physical activity in positive and negative affect. Participants were 376 (169 female, 206 male, and 1 missing value) student volunteers from different faculties of Middle East Technical University. Three questionnaires: Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC), Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire (PAAQ), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered to the students together with the demographic information sheet. Two separate stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictive power of sense of coherence and total physical activity on positive and negative affect scores. Results revealed that both sense of coherence and total physical activity predicted the positive affect whereas only the sense of coherence predicted the negative affect on university students. Findings are discussed in light of sense of coherence, physical activity, and positive and negative affect literature.

Acute and Cumulative Effects of Vinyasa Yoga on Affect and Stress among College Students Participating in an Eight-week Yoga Program: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Gaskins, Ronnesia B; Jennings, Ernestine; Thind, Herpreet; Becker, Bruce M; Bock, Beth C

2014-01-01

College students are vulnerable to a critical period in developmental maturation, facing rigorous academic work and learning how to function independently. Western aerobic exercise (WAE), such as running and bicycling, has been shown to improve mood and relieve stress. However, college students often have low levels of physical activity. Yoga is an ancient physical and mental practice that may affect mood and stress. However, rigorous studies examining the psychological effects of yoga are rare in peerreviewed Western journals. The aim of this research was to establish preliminary evidence for the acute effects of Vinyasa yoga on affect and stress in young-adult college students. Twenty healthy college students age 18 years and older were recruited to participate in this pilot study. Participants attended a Vinyasa yoga class at a local studio twice weekly for 8 weeks. Affect and stress were assessed before and after each yoga session. Measures included the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS) and the Cohen Perceived Stress scale. Positive affect scores increased significantly (p < 0.05) for 14 of the 16 yoga sessions (mean increase = 23.2%). Negative affect decreased significantly from pre- to postyoga (p < 0.05) for 15 of the 16 sessions (mean decrease = 22%). Repeated measures ANOVAs examining pre-post composite scores across all 8 weeks showed significant changes in PANAS, but not stress scores. Findings suggest that yoga practice is associated with acute improvements in affect in a young-adult college population. Future research is needed to examine the extent to which different types of yoga address the needs of different college sub-populations (e.g., eating disordered, overweight/obese, sedentary, and smokers).

Validation of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Schiehser, Dawn M; Ayers, Catherine R; Liu, Lin; Lessig, Stephanie; Song, David S; Filoteo, J Vincent

2013-03-01

Fatigue is a common symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD); however, a multidimensional scale that measures the impact of fatigue on functioning has yet to be validated in this population. The aim of this study was to examine the validity of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), a self-report measure that assesses the effects of fatigue on physical, cognitive, and psychosocial functioning, in a sample of nondemented PD patients. PD patients (N = 100) completed the MFIS, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X), and several additional measures of psychosocial, cognitive, and motor functioning. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and item analysis using Cronbach's alpha were conducted to determine structural validity and internal consistency of the MFIS. Correlational analyses were performed between the MFIS and the PANAS-X fatigue subscale to evaluate convergent validity and between the MFIS and measures of depression, anxiety, apathy, and disease-related symptoms to determine divergent validity. The PCA identified two viable MFIS subscales: a cognitive subscale and a combination of the original scale's physical and psychosocial subscales as one factor. Item analysis revealed high internal consistency of all 21 items and the items within the two subscales. The MFIS had strong convergent validity with the PANAS-X fatigue subscale and adequate divergent validity with measures of disease stage, motor function, and cognition. Overall, this study demonstrates that the MFIS is a valid multidimensional measure that can be used to evaluate the impact of fatigue on cognitive and physical/social functioning in PD patients without dementia. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Common Factor Mechanisms in Clinical Practice and Their Relationship with Outcome.

PubMed

Gaitan-Sierra, Carolina; Hyland, Michael E

2015-01-01

This study investigates three common factor mechanisms that could affect outcome in clinical practice: response expectancy, the affective expectation model and motivational concordance. Clients attending a gestalt therapy clinic (30 clients), a sophrology (therapeutic technique) clinic (33 clients) and a homeopathy clinic (31 clients) completed measures of expectancy and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) before their first session. After 1 month, they completed PANAS and measures of intrinsic motivation, perceived effort and empowerment. Expectancy was not associated with better outcome and was no different between treatments. Although some of the 54 clients who endorsed highest expectations showed substantial improvement, others did not: 19 had no change or deteriorated in positive affect, and 18 had the same result for negative affect. Intrinsic motivation independently predicted changes in negative affect (β = -0.23). Intrinsic motivation (β = 0.24), effort (β = 0.23) and empowerment (β = 0.20) independently predicted positive affect change. Expectancy (β = -0.17) negatively affected changes in positive affect. Clients found gestalt and sophrology to be more intrinsically motivating, empowering and effortful compared with homeopathy. Greater improvement in mood was found for sophrology and gestalt than for homeopathy clients. These findings are inconsistent with response expectancy as a common factor mechanism in clinical practice. The results support motivational concordance (outcome influenced by the intrinsic enjoyment of the therapy) and the affective expectation model (high expectations can lead for some clients to worse outcome). When expectancy correlates with outcome in some other studies, this may be due to confound between expectancy and intrinsic enjoyment. Common factors play an important role in outcome. Intrinsic enjoyment of a therapeutic treatment is associated with better outcome. Active engagement with a therapeutic treatment improves outcome. Unrealistic expectations about a therapeutic treatment can have a negative impact on outcome. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Measuring positive and negative affect and physiological hyperarousal among Serbian youth.

PubMed

Stevanovic, Dejan; Laurent, Jeff; Lakic, Aneta

2013-01-01

This study extended previous cross-cultural work regarding the tripartite model of anxiety and depression by developing Serbian translations of the Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children (PANAS-C), the Physiological Hyperarousal Scale for Children (PH-C), and the Affect and Arousal Scale (AFARS). Characteristics of the scales were examined using 449 students (M age = 12.61 years). Applying item retention criteria established in other studies, PH-C, PANAS-C, and AFARS translations with psychometric properties similar to English-language versions were identified. Preliminary validation of the scales was conducted using a subset of 194 students (M age = 12.37 years) who also completed measures of anxiety and depression. Estimates of reliability, patterns of correlations among scales, and age and gender differences were consistent with previous studies with English-speaking samples. Findings regarding scale validity were mixed, although consistent with existing literature. Serbian translations of the PH-C, PANAS-C, and AFARS mirror the original English-language scales in terms of both strengths and weaknesses.

Higher cardio-respiratory fitness is associated with increased mental and physical quality of life in people with bipolar disorder: A controlled pilot study.

PubMed

Vancampfort, Davy; Hagemann, Noemi; Wyckaert, Sabine; Rosenbaum, Simon; Stubbs, Brendon; Firth, Joseph; Schuch, Felipe B; Probst, Michel; Sienaert, Pascal

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether cardiorespiratory fitness among outpatients with bipolar disorder is associated with health related quality of life (HRQL) and explore differences versus healthy controls. Outpatients with bipolar disorder and healthy controls matched for age, sex and body mass index completed the 36-item Short Form Health Survey, the Positive-and-Negative-Affect-Schedule (PANAS), a maximal cardiorespiratory fitness test, and wore a Sensewear Armband to measure physical activity and sedentary behavior for eight days. Unpaired t-tests, Pearson correlations and backward regression analyses were performed. Outpatients with bipolar disorder (n = 20; 14♀; 47.9 ± 7.9 years) had a significantly lower physical and mental HRQL than healthy controls (n = 20; 14♀; 47.8 ± 7.6 years), a lower maximum oxygen uptake (VO 2 max) and were more sedentary. While no significant correlates were found for HRQL in controls, higher VO 2 max values and lower PANAS negative affect scores predicted better physical and mental HRQL in people with bipolar disorder. The final regression model explained 68% and 58% of the variability in physical and mental HRQL respectively. Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with mental and physical HRQL among people with bipolar disorder. The current study offers novel targets for scientific investigation and clinical interventions to increase HRQL in people with bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation.

PubMed

Ding, Xiaoqian; Tang, Yi-Yuan; Tang, Rongxiang; Posner, Michael I

2014-03-19

One form of meditation intervention, the integrative body-mind training (IBMT) has been shown to improve attention, reduce stress and change self-reports of mood. In this paper we examine whether short-term IBMT can improve performance related to creativity and determine the role that mood may play in such improvement. Forty Chinese undergraduates were randomly assigned to short-term IBMT group or a relaxation training (RT) control group. Mood and creativity performance were assessed by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) questionnaire respectively. As predicted, the results indicated that short-term (30 min per day for 7 days) IBMT improved creativity performance on the divergent thinking task, and yielded better emotional regulation than RT. In addition, cross-lagged analysis indicated that both positive and negative affect may influence creativity in IBMT group (not RT group). Our results suggested that emotion-related creativity-promoting mechanism may be attributed to short-term meditation.

PERCEIVED RACISM AND NEGATIVE AFFECT: ANALYSES OF TRAIT AND STATE MEASURES OF AFFECT IN A COMMUNITY SAMPLE

PubMed Central

BRONDOLO, ELIZABETH; BRADY, NISHA; THOMPSON, SHOLA; TOBIN, JONATHAN N.; CASSELLS, ANDREA; SWEENEY, MONICA; MCFARLANE, DELANO; CONTRADA, RICHARD J.

2008-01-01

Racism is a significant psychosocial stressor that is hypothesized to have negative psychological and physical health consequences. The Reserve Capacity Model (Gallo & Matthews, 2003) suggests that low socioeconomic status may influence health through its effects on negative affect. We extend this model to study the effects of racism, examining the association of lifetime perceived racism to trait and daily negative affect. A multiethnic sample of 362 American–born Black and Latino adults completed the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire–Community Version (PEDQ–CV). Trait negative affect was assessed with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and state negative affect was measured using ecological momentary assessments (EMA), in the form of an electronic diary. Analyses revealed a significant relationship of lifetime perceived racism to both daily negative affect and trait negative affect, even when controlling for trait hostility and socioeconomic status. The relationship of perceived racism to negative affect was moderated by education, such that the relationships were strongest for those with less than a high school education. The findings support aspects of the Reserve Capacity Model and identify pathways through which perceived racism may affect health status. PMID:19079772

Investigation of air quality on mood

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isaac, L.

2017-12-01

My project evaluated the effect of air quality on mood. We quantified people's mood using an online survey and then looked at the relationship between mood and pm 2.5 and ozone concentrations. Mood was quantified using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). I found that with increasing ozone AQI the positive score for mood decreased and the negative score for mood increased. The trend was not significant (p=0.414 for positive and p=0.158 for negative). I also found that the positive score decreased with increasing PM2.5 AQI (p=0.19); however there was no pattern between the negative scores and PM 2.5 AQI. In summary, air quality does look to have a negative effect on mood; however more data is needed to confirm this relationship.

Transcranial infrared laser stimulation produces beneficial cognitive and emotional effects in humans.

PubMed

Barrett, D W; Gonzalez-Lima, F

2013-01-29

This is the first controlled study demonstrating the beneficial effects of transcranial laser stimulation on cognitive and emotional functions in humans. Photobiomodulation with red to near-infrared light is a novel intervention shown to regulate neuronal function in cell cultures, animal models, and clinical conditions. Light that intersects with the absorption spectrum of cytochrome oxidase was applied to the forehead of healthy volunteers using the laser diode CG-5000, which maximizes tissue penetration and has been used in humans for other indications. We tested whether low-level laser stimulation produces beneficial effects on frontal cortex measures of attention, memory and mood. Reaction time in a sustained-attention psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) was significantly improved in the treated (n=20) vs. placebo control (n=20) groups, especially in high novelty-seeking subjects. Performance in a delayed match-to-sample (DMS) memory task showed also a significant improvement in treated vs. control groups as measured by memory retrieval latency and number of correct trials. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X), which tracks self-reported positive and negative affective (emotional) states over time, was administered immediately before treatment and 2 weeks after treatment. The PANAS showed that while participants generally reported more positive affective states than negative, overall affect improved significantly in the treated group due to more sustained positive emotional states as compared to the placebo control group. These data imply that transcranial laser stimulation could be used as a non-invasive and efficacious approach to increase brain functions such as those related to cognitive and emotional dimensions. Transcranial infrared laser stimulation has also been proven to be safe and successful at improving neurological outcome in humans in controlled clinical trials of stroke. This innovative approach could lead to the development of non-invasive, performance-enhancing interventions in healthy humans and in those in need of neuropsychological rehabilitation. Copyright © 2012 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urdu translation and validation of shorter version of Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) on Pakistani bank employees.

PubMed

Akhter, Noreen

2017-10-01

To translate, adapt and validate shorter version of positive affect and negative affect scale on Pakistani corporate employees. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi from October 2014 to December 2015. The study was completed into two independent parts. In part one, the scale was translated by forward translation. Then it was pilot-tested and administered on customer services employees from commercial banks and the telecommunication sector. Data of the pilot study was analysed by using exploratory factor analysis to extract the initial factor of positive affect and negative affect scale. Part two comprised the main study. Commercial bank employees were included in the sample using convenient sampling technique. Data of the main study was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis in order to establish construct validity of positive affect and negative affect scale. There were145 participants in the first part of the study and 495 in the second. Results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure of positive affect and negative affect scale suggesting that the scale has two distinct domains, i.e. positive affect and negative affect. The shorter version of positive affect and negative affect scale was found to be a valid and reliable measure.

[The Effects of Neurofeedback Training on Physical, Psychoemotional Stress Response and Self-Regulation for Late Adolescence: A Non-Randomized Trial].

PubMed

Choi, Moon Ji; Park, Wan Ju

2018-04-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of neurofeedback training for reducing stress and enhancing self-regulation in late adolescence to identify the possibility of use for nursing intervention. A nonequivalent control group pre-post quasi-experimental design was used. Participants were 78 late adolescents assigned to the experimental group (n=39) that received the neurofeedback training and the control group (n=39). Data were collected on heart rate variability (HRV) and skin conductance level (SCL) to assess stress-biomarker response. The questionnaire contained 164 items from: Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and Self-regulatory Ability scale. The neurofeedback training was based on the general adaptation syndrome and body-mind medicine. The intervention was conducted in a total of 10 sessions for 30 minutes per session with high-beta, theta and sensory motor rhythm training on scalp at central zero. There were significant difference in standard deviation of normal to normal interval (p=.036) in HRV and SCL (p=.029) of stress-biomarker response between the two groups. Negative affect (p=.036) in PANAS and obsessive compulsive (p=.023) and depression (p<.001) in SCL-90-R were statistically significant. Self-regulation mode (p=.004) in self-regulation ability scale showed a significant difference between the two groups. The results indicated that the neurofeedback training is effective in stress-biomarkers, psychoemotional stress response and self-regulation. Therefore, neurofeedback training using neuroscientific approach based on brain-mind-body model can be used as an effective nursing intervention for late adolescents in clinics and communities for effective stress responses. © 2018 Korean Society of Nursing Science.

Rasch analysis of measurement instruments capturing psychological personal factors in persons with spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Peter, Claudio; Schulenberg, Stefan E; Buchanan, Erin M; Prodinger, Birgit; Geyh, Szilvia

2016-02-01

To evaluate the metric properties of distinct measures of psychological personal factors comprising feelings, beliefs, motives, and patterns of experience and behaviour assessed in the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study (SwiSCI), using Rasch methodology. SwiSCI Pathway 2 is a community-based, nationwide, cross-sectional survey for persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) (n = 511). The Rasch partial credit model was used for each subscale of the Positive Affect Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Appraisal of Life Events Scale (ALE), Purpose in Life test - Short Form (PIL-SF), and the Big Five Inventory-K (BFI-K). The measures were unidimensional, with the exception of the positive affect items of the PANAS, where pairwise t-tests resulted in 10% significant cases, indicating multidimensionality. The BFI-K subscale agreeableness revealed low reliability (0.53). Other reliability estimates ranged between 0.61 and 0.89. Ceiling and floor effects were found for most measures. SCI-related differential item functioning (DIF) was rarely found. Language DIF was identified for several items of the BFI-K, PANAS and the ALE, but not for the PIL-SF. A majority of the measures satisfy the assumptions of the Rasch model, including unidimensionality. Invariance across language versions still represents a major challenge.

Positive affect, negative affect, and physiological hyperarousal among referred and nonreferred youths.

PubMed

Laurent, Jeff; Joiner, Thomas E; Catanzaro, Salvatore J

2011-12-01

The Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children (PANAS-C) and the Physiological Hyperarousal Scale for Children (PH-C) seem ideal measures for school mental health screenings, because they are theory based, psychometrically sound, and brief. This study provides descriptive information and preliminary cutoff scores in an effort to increase the practical utility of the measures. Scores on the PANAS-C Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) scales and the PH-C were compared for a general sample of schoolchildren (n = 226), a group of students referred for special education services (n = 83), and youths on an inpatient psychiatric unit (n = 37). Expected patterns of scores emerged for the general school and referred school samples, although only scores on the PH-C were statistically significantly different. Differences in scores between the general school and inpatient samples were significant for all 3 scales. Differences in scores between the referred school and inpatient samples were significant for the NA scale and the PH-C but not for the PA scale. In addition, we used traditional self-report measures to form groups of normal, anxious, depressed, and mixed anxious and depressed youths. Again, predicted general patterns of PA, NA and PH scores were supported, although statistical differences were not always evident. In particular, scores on the PH-C for the anxious and depressed groups were inconsistent with predictions. Possible reasons related to sample and scale issues are discussed. Finally, preliminary cutoff scores were proposed for the PANAS-C scales and the PH-C.

Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background One form of meditation intervention, the integrative body-mind training (IBMT) has been shown to improve attention, reduce stress and change self-reports of mood. In this paper we examine whether short-term IBMT can improve performance related to creativity and determine the role that mood may play in such improvement. Methods Forty Chinese undergraduates were randomly assigned to short-term IBMT group or a relaxation training (RT) control group. Mood and creativity performance were assessed by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) questionnaire respectively. Results As predicted, the results indicated that short-term (30 min per day for 7 days) IBMT improved creativity performance on the divergent thinking task, and yielded better emotional regulation than RT. In addition, cross-lagged analysis indicated that both positive and negative affect may influence creativity in IBMT group (not RT group). Conclusions Our results suggested that emotion-related creativity-promoting mechanism may be attributed to short-term meditation. PMID:24645871

Affective Induction and Creative Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernández-Abascal, Enrique G.; Díaz, María D. Martín

2013-01-01

Three studies explored the relation between affect and production of creative divergent thinking, assessed with the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Figural TTCT). In the first study, general, positive, and negative affect, assessed with the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) were compared with creative production. In the second study,…

Role of religious involvement and spirituality in functioning among African Americans with cancer: testing a mediational model

PubMed Central

Holt, Cheryl L.; Wang, Min Qi; Caplan, Lee; Schulz, Emily; Blake, Victor; Southward, Vivian L.

2013-01-01

The present study tested a mediational model of the role of religious involvement, spirituality, and physical/emotional functioning in a sample of African American men and women with cancer. Several mediators were proposed based on theory and previous research, including sense of meaning, positive and negative affect, and positive and negative religious coping. One hundred patients were recruited through oncologist offices, key community leaders and community organizations, and interviewed by telephone. Participants completed an established measure of religious involvement, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-SP-12 version 4), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Meaning in Life Scale, the Brief RCOPE, and the SF-12, which assesses physical and emotional functioning. Positive affect completely mediated the relationship between religious behaviors and emotional functioning. Though several other constructs showed relationships with study variables, evidence of mediation was not supported. Mediational models were not significant for the physical functioning outcome, nor were there significant main effects of religious involvement or spirituality for this outcome. Implications for cancer survivorship interventions are discussed. PMID:21222026

Emotion dysregulation mediates the relationship between child maltreatment and psychopathology: A structural equation model.

PubMed

Jennissen, Simone; Holl, Julia; Mai, Hannah; Wolff, Sebastian; Barnow, Sven

2016-12-01

The present study investigated the mediating effects of emotion dysregulation on the relationship between child maltreatment and psychopathology. An adult sample (N=701) from diverse backgrounds of psychopathology completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and the negative affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in a cross-sectional online survey. Correlational analyses showed that all types of child maltreatment were uniformly associated with emotion dysregulation, and dimensions of emotion dysregulation were strongly related to psychopathology. Limited access to strategies for emotion regulation emerged as the most powerful predictor. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that emotion dysregulation partially mediated the relationship between child maltreatment and psychopathology, even after controlling for shared variance with negative affect. These findings emphasize the importance of emotion dysregulation as a possible mediating mechanism in the association between child maltreatment and later psychopathology. Additionally, interventions targeting specific emotion regulation strategies may be effective to reduce psychopathology in victims of child maltreatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patients as teachers: a randomised controlled trial on the use of personal stories of harm to raise awareness of patient safety for doctors in training.

PubMed

Jha, Vikram; Buckley, Hannah; Gabe, Rhian; Kanaan, Mona; Lawton, Rebecca; Melville, Colin; Quinton, Naomi; Symons, Jools; Thompson, Zoe; Watt, Ian; Wright, John

2015-01-01

Patient safety training often provides learners with a health professional's perspective rather than the patient's. Personal narratives of health-related harm allow patients to share their stories with health professionals to influence clinical behaviour by rousing emotions and improving attitudes to safety. This study measured the impact of patient narratives used to train junior doctors in patient safety. An open, multi-centre, two-arm, parallel design randomised controlled trial was conducted in the North Yorkshire East Coast Foundation School (NYECFS). The intervention consisted of 1-h-long patient narratives followed by discussion. The control arm received conventional faculty-delivered teaching. The Attitude to Patient Safety Questionnaire (APSQ) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were used to measure the impact of the intervention. 142 trainees received the intervention; 141 the control teaching. There was no evidence of a difference in post-intervention APSQ scores between the groups. There was a statistically significant difference in the underlying distribution of both post PA (positive affect) and post NA (negative affect) scores between the groups on the PANAS (p<0.001) with indications of both higher PA and NA scores in the intervention group. Involving patients with experiences of safety incidents in training has an ideological appeal and seems an obvious choice in designing safety interventions. On the basis of our primary outcome measure, we were unable to demonstrate effectiveness of the intervention in changing general attitudes to safety compared to control. While the intervention may impact on emotional engagement and learning about communication, we remain uncertain whether this will translate into improved behaviours in the clinical context or indeed if there are any negative effects. Grant reference no. RP-PG-0108-10049. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Alexithymia, emotional dysregulation, and recovery from alcoholism: therapeutic response to assessment of mood.

PubMed

Krentzman, Amy R; Higgins, Margaret M; Staller, Karen M; Klatt, Emily S

2015-06-01

This study is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial that tested the effects of a gratitude intervention on well-being in a sample of individuals in outpatient treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Follow-up qualitative interviews unexpectedly revealed that participants found the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to be helpful to their recovery in the ways that it asked them to identify and rate their emotions. Participant statements were purposively sampled and analyzed using grounded theory methods to produce a conceptual framework illustrating the process of mood identification and its sequelae. Evidence of existing alexithymia and emotional dysregulation, dominance of negative mood, and increasing ability to identify, accept, and regulate mood as part of recovery was found. Findings suggest that emotion regulation is a compelling topic for those in recovery from AUD, and may deserve a more prominent role in treatment. © The Author(s) 2015.

Predictors of subjective well-being among college youth in Lebanon.

PubMed

Ayyash-Abdo, Huda; Alamuddin, Rayane

2007-06-01

The authors investigated the prevalence and predictors of subjective well-being (SWB) in a particular Middle Eastern culture: that of Lebanon. The authors examined personality constructs of self-esteem, optimism, and positive affect in relation to SWB. The authors surveyed a sample of 689 individuals between the ages of 17 and 24 by using four instruments with established cross-cultural validity: (a) the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; E. Diener, R. Emmons, R. J. Larsen, & S. Griffin, 1985), (b) the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; D. Watson, L. A. Clark, & A. Tellegen, 1988), (c) the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE; M. Rosenberg, 1965), and (d) the revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R; M. F. Scheier, C. S. Carver, & M. W. Bridges, 1994). The results indicated that college youth's SWB was positively correlated with self-esteem, optimism, and positive affect. Examining the demographic variable of gender, the authors found that men had higher scores on positive affect than did women. A trend emerged that suggested that language dominance and socioeconomic status were associated with SWB levels. The results suggest that internal personality constructs are more predictive of satisfaction with life than are demographic variables.

The link between hypomania risk and creativity: The role of heightened behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity.

PubMed

Kim, Bin-Na; Kwon, Seok-Man

2017-06-01

The relationship between bipolar disorder (BD) and creativity is well-known; however, relatively little is known about its potential mechanism. We investigated whether heightened behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity may mediate such relationship. Korean young adults (N=543) completed self-report questionnaires that included the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS), the Behavioral Activation System(BAS) Scale, the Everyday Creativity Scale (ECS), the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale (ASRM). Correlational, hierarchical regression and mediation analyses using bootstrap confidence intervals were conducted. As predicted, BAS sensitivity was associated with self-reported creativity as well as hypomania risk and symptoms. Even when positive affect was controlled, BAS sensitivity predicted incrementally significant variance in explaining creativity. In mediation analysis, BAS sensitivity partially mediated the relation between hypomania risk and creativity. Reliance on self-report measures in assessing creativity and usage of non-clinical sample. BAS sensitivity was related not only to mood pathology but also to creativity. As a basic affective temperament, BAS sensitivity may help explain incompatible sides of adaptation associated with BD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of Single-Session Group Mantra-meditation on Salivary Immunoglobulin A and Affective State: A Psychoneuroimmunology Viewpoint.

PubMed

Torkamani, Fatemeh; Aghayousefi, Alireza; Alipour, Ahmad; Nami, Mohammad

Based on existing psychoneuroimmunological insights, the present study aimed at investigating possible effects of a single-session group mantra-meditation on salivary immunoglobulin A (s-IgA) and affective states. A controlled pretest-posttest study enrolled 30 healthy women (mean age 44 ± 3 years) through a multi-stage random sampling method from yoga clubs in Shiraz (Feb-Dec, 2016). Subjects were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. Participants in both the groups attended a structured introductory lecture about mantra-meditation after which those in the experimental group meditated for 20min. Saliva samples were collected after the intervention, and the participants' affective states were examined by a qualified clinical psychologist blinded to the intervention using the positive and negative affect schedule questionnaire at sequential time-points, i.e., baseline, post-meditation, and one hour later. Similar assessments were done for the control group subjects. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to test saliva samples for the IgA titer. The s-IgA and the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) test results were statistically evaluated using an analysis of variance. The mean s-IgA titer in the experimental group at 'post-meditation' and '1-hour later' time-points were found to be statistically different from those of the control group (P < .05). In addition, results indicated a significant change in affect among experimental group subjects as compared to controls (P < .05). Our findings suggest that "group mantra-meditation" training even for a single session may positively influence some immunological components and improve affective states. As a simple and low-cost psychoneurobehavioral intervention, this method may offer mental-health benefits at nursing homes as well as group-therapies. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Positive Affect, Negative Affect, and Physiological Hyperarousal among Referred and Nonreferred Youths

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laurent, Jeff; Joiner, Thomas E., Jr.; Catanzaro, Salvatore J.

2011-01-01

The Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children (PANAS-C) and the Physiological Hyperarousal Scale for Children (PH-C) seem ideal measures for school mental health screenings, because they are theory based, psychometrically sound, and brief. This study provides descriptive information and preliminary cutoff scores in an effort to increase the…

A validation of well-being and happiness surveys for administration via the Internet.

PubMed

Howell, Ryan T; Rodzon, Katrina S; Kurai, Mark; Sanchez, Amy H

2010-08-01

Internet research is appealing because it is a cost- and time-efficient way to access a large number of participants; however, the validity of Internet research for important subjective well-being (SWB) surveys has not been adequately assessed. The goal of the present study was to validate the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X; Watson & Clark, 1994), and the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999) for use on the Internet. This study compared the quality of data collected using paper-based (paper-and-pencil version in a lab setting), computer-based (Web-based version in a lab setting), and Internet (Web-based version on a computer of the participant's choosing) surveys for these three measures of SWB. The paper-based and computer-based experiment recruited two college student samples; the Internet experiments recruited a college student sample and an adult sample responding to ads on different social-networking Web sites. This study provides support for the reliability, validity, and generalizability of the Internet format of the SWLS, PANAS-X, and SHS. Across the three experiments, the results indicate that the computer-based and Internet surveys had means, standard deviations, reliabilities, and factor structures that were similar to those of the paper-based versions. The discussion examines the difficulty of higher attrition for the Internet version, the need to examine reverse-coded items in the future, and the possibility that unhappy individuals are more likely to participate in Internet surveys of SWB.

Sleep quality predicts positive and negative affect but not vice versa. An electronic diary study in depressed and healthy individuals.

PubMed

Bouwmans, Mara E J; Bos, Elisabeth H; Hoenders, H J Rogier; Oldehinkel, Albertine J; de Jonge, Peter

2017-01-01

The exact nature of the complex relationship between sleep and affect has remained unclear. This study investigated the temporal order of change in sleep and affect in participants with and without depression. 27 depressed patients and 27 pair-matched healthy controls assessed their sleep in the morning and their affect 3 times a day for 30 consecutive days in their natural environment. Daily sleep quality and average positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) were used to examine whether changes in sleep quality preceded or followed changes in PA and NA, and whether this was different for patients and healthy controls. Second, presumptive mediating factors were investigated. We hypothesized that fatigue mediated the effect of changes in sleep quality on subsequent PA/NA, and that rumination mediated the effect of changes in PA/NA on subsequent sleep quality. Multilevel models showed that changes in sleep quality predicted changes in PA (B=0.08, p<0.001) and NA (B=-0.06, p<0.001), but not the other way around (PA: B=0.03, p=0.70, NA: B=-0.05, p=0.60). Fatigue was found to be a significant mediator of the relationship between sleep quality and PA (Indirect Effect=0.03, p<0.001), and between sleep quality and NA (Indirect Effect=-0.02, p=0.01). Rumination was not investigated because of non-significant associations between PA/NA and sleep quality. The associations were not different for patients and controls. The analyses were restricted to self-reported sleep quality, and conclusions about causality could not be drawn. Improvements in sleep quality predicted improvements in affect the following day, partly mediated by fatigue. Treatment of sleep symptoms would benefit affect in clinical care and beyond. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Extreme Metal Music and Anger Processing

PubMed Central

Sharman, Leah; Dingle, Genevieve A.

2015-01-01

The claim that listening to extreme music causes anger, and expressions of anger such as aggression and delinquency have yet to be substantiated using controlled experimental methods. In this study, 39 extreme music listeners aged 18–34 years were subjected to an anger induction, followed by random assignment to 10 min of listening to extreme music from their own playlist, or 10 min silence (control). Measures of emotion included heart rate and subjective ratings on the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). Results showed that ratings of PANAS hostility, irritability, and stress increased during the anger induction, and decreased after the music or silence. Heart rate increased during the anger induction and was sustained (not increased) in the music condition, and decreased in the silence condition. PANAS active and inspired ratings increased during music listening, an effect that was not seen in controls. The findings indicate that extreme music did not make angry participants angrier; rather, it appeared to match their physiological arousal and result in an increase in positive emotions. Listening to extreme music may represent a healthy way of processing anger for these listeners. PMID:26052277

Measuring positive and negative affect in older adults over 56 days: comparing trait level scoring methods using the partial credit model.

PubMed

Erbacher, Monica K; Schmidt, Karen M; Boker, Steven M; Bergeman, Cindy S

2012-01-01

Positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) are important constructs in health and well-being research. Good longitudinal measurement is crucial to conducting meaningful research on relationships between affect, health, and well-being across the lifespan. One common affect measure, the PANAS, has been evaluated thoroughly with factor analysis, but not with Racsh-based latent trait models (RLTMs) such as the Partial Credit Model (PCM), and not longitudinally. Current longitudinal RLTMs can computationally handle few occasions of data. The present study compares four methods of anchoring PCMs across 56 occasions to longitudinally evaluate the psychometric properties of the PANAS plus additional items. Anchoring item parameters on mean parameter values across occasions produced more desirable results than using no anchor, using first occasion parameters as anchors, or allowing anchor values to vary across occasions. Results indicated problems with NA items, including poor category utilization, gaps in the item distribution, and a lack of easy-to-endorse items. PA items had much more desirable psychometric qualities.

Influence of a Dissection Video Clip on Anxiety, Affect, and Self-Efficacy in Educational Dissection: A Treatment Study

PubMed Central

Randler, Christoph; Demirhan, Eda; Wüst-Ackermann, Peter; Desch, Inga H.

2016-01-01

In science education, dissections of animals are an integral part of teaching, but they often evoke negative emotions. We aimed at reducing negative emotions (anxiety, negative affect [NA]) and increasing positive affect (PA) and self-efficacy by an experimental intervention using a predissection video to instruct students about fish dissection. We compared this treatment with another group that watched a life history video about the fish. The participants were 135 students studying to become biology teachers. Seventy received the treatment with the dissection video, and 65 viewed the life history video. We applied a pre/posttest treatment-comparison design and used the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the State–Trait–Anxiety Inventory for State (STAI-S), and a self-efficacy measure three times: before the lesson (pretest), after the film treatment (posttest 1), and after the dissection (posttest 2). The dissection film group scored higher in PA, NA, and state anxiety (STAI-S) after the dissection video treatment and higher in self-efficacy after the dissection. The life history group showed no differences between the pretest and posttest 1. The dissection film has clear benefits—increasing PA and self-efficacy—that come at the cost of higher NA and higher STAI-S. PMID:27290738

Influence of a Dissection Video Clip on Anxiety, Affect, and Self-Efficacy in Educational Dissection: A Treatment Study.

PubMed

Randler, Christoph; Demirhan, Eda; Wüst-Ackermann, Peter; Desch, Inga H

2016-01-01

In science education, dissections of animals are an integral part of teaching, but they often evoke negative emotions. We aimed at reducing negative emotions (anxiety, negative affect [NA]) and increasing positive affect (PA) and self-efficacy by an experimental intervention using a predissection video to instruct students about fish dissection. We compared this treatment with another group that watched a life history video about the fish. The participants were 135 students studying to become biology teachers. Seventy received the treatment with the dissection video, and 65 viewed the life history video. We applied a pre/posttest treatment-comparison design and used the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory for State (STAI-S), and a self-efficacy measure three times: before the lesson (pretest), after the film treatment (posttest 1), and after the dissection (posttest 2). The dissection film group scored higher in PA, NA, and state anxiety (STAI-S) after the dissection video treatment and higher in self-efficacy after the dissection. The life history group showed no differences between the pretest and posttest 1. The dissection film has clear benefits - increasing PA and self-efficacy - that come at the cost of higher NA and higher STAI-S.

Emotion dysregulation and negative affect: Laboratory and EMA investigations in smokers.

PubMed

MacIntyre, Jessica M; Ruscio, Aimee C; Brede, Emily; Waters, Andrew J

2018-06-01

Difficulties in emotion regulation are associated with addictive behaviors, including smoking. Difficulties in emotion regulation may underlie large, rapid changes in negative affect that can increase likelihood of relapse. We investigated the association between emotion regulation ability and negative affect in smokers assessed both in the laboratory and in the field using Ecological Momentary Assessment. Adult community smokers ( N  = 44) carried a personal digital assistant (PDA) for two weeks and were instructed to complete assessments of negative affect multiple times per day. Participants were instructed that they could smoke as much or as little as they liked. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were completed at three lab visits. Participants with higher average DERS scores reported greater negative affect at lab visits. When a participant reported a DERS score at a lab visit higher than their individual average, they also reported higher negative affect at that lab visit. Participants with higher baseline DERS scores reported more labile negative affect during EMA than those with lower baseline DERS scores, and they also reported a higher maximum level of negative affect during EMA. Overall, the findings suggest that changes in emotion regulation are associated with negative affect and that emotion regulation ability is related to both the intensity and lability of negative affect. A better understanding of momentary changes in emotion regulation and negative affect may lead to improved interventions for preventing substance use relapse.

Self-Reported Mental Health Predicts Acute Respiratory Infection.

PubMed

Maxwell, Lizzie; Barrett, Bruce; Chase, Joseph; Brown, Roger; Ewers, Tola

2015-06-01

Poor mental health conditions, including stress and depression, have been recognized as a risk factor for the development of acute respiratory infection. Very few studies have considered the role of general mental health in acute respiratory infection occurrence. The aim of this analysis is to determine if overall mental health, as assessed by the mental component of the Short Form 12 Health Survey, predicts incidence, duration, or severity of acute respiratory infection. Data utilized for this analysis came from the National Institute of Health-funded Meditation or Exercise for Preventing Acute Respiratory Infection (MEPARI) and MEPARI-2 randomized controlled trials examining the effects of meditation or exercise on acute respiratory infection among adults aged > 30 years in Madison, Wisconsin. A Kendall tau rank correlation compared the Short Form 12 mental component, completed by participants at baseline, with acute respiratory infection incidence, duration, and area-under-the-curve (global) severity, as assessed by the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey. Participants were recruited from Madison, Wis, using advertisements in local media. Short Form 12 mental health scores significantly predicted incidence (P = 0.037) of acute respiratory infection, but not duration (P = 0.077) or severity (P = 0.073). The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) negative emotion measure significantly predicted global severity (P = 0.036), but not incidence (P = 0.081) or duration (P = 0.125). Mindful Attention Awareness Scale scores significantly predicted incidence of acute respiratory infection (P = 0.040), but not duration (P = 0.053) or severity (P = 0.70). The PHQ-9, PSS-10, and PANAS positive measures did not show significant predictive associations with any of the acute respiratory infection outcomes. Self-reported overall mental health, as measured by the mental component of Short Form 12, predicts acute respiratory infection incidence.

The effect of group-based exercise on cognitive performance and mood in seniors residing in intermediate care and self-care retirement facilities: a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Brown, A K; Liu-Ambrose, T; Tate, R; Lord, S R

2009-08-01

To determine the effect of a general group-based exercise programme on cognitive performance and mood among seniors without dementia living in retirement villages. Randomised controlled trial. Four intermediate care and four self-care retirement village sites in Sydney, Australia. 154 seniors (19 men, 135 women; age range 62 to 95 years), who were residents of intermediate care and self-care retirement facilities. Participants were randomised to one of three experimental groups: (1) a general group-based exercise (GE) programme composed of resistance training and balance training exercises; (2) a flexibility exercise and relaxation technique (FR) programme; or (3) no-exercise control (NEC). The intervention groups (GE and FR) participated in 1-hour exercise classes twice a week for a total period of 6 months. Using standard neuropsychological tests, we assessed cognitive performance at baseline and at 6-month re-test in three domains: (1) fluid intelligence; (2) visual, verbal and working memory; and (3) executive functioning. We also assessed mood using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The GE programme significantly improved cognitive performance of fluid intelligence compared with FR or NEC. There were also significant improvements in the positive PANAS scale within both the GE and FR groups and an indication that the two exercise programmes reduced depression in those with initially high GDS scores. Our GE programme significantly improved cognitive performance of fluid intelligence in seniors residing in retirement villages compared with our FR programme and the NEC group. Furthermore, both group-based exercise programmes were beneficial for certain aspects of mood within the 6-month intervention period.

Psoriasis lesions are associated with specific types of emotions. Emotional profile in psoriasis.

PubMed

Martín-Brufau, Ramón; Romero-Brufau, Santiago; Martín-Gorgojo, Alejandro; Brufau Redondo, Carmen; Corbalan, Javier; Ulnik, Jorge

2015-01-01

At present there is still controversy about the relationship between emotional stress and psoriasis lesions. Most of the published literature does not include the broad spectrum of emotional response. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between skin lesions and emotional state in a large sample of patients with psoriasis. 823 psoriasis patients were recruited (mean age 45.9 years, 55.7% female) and answered two online questionnaires: lesion severity and current extension were evaluated using a self-administered psoriasis severity index (SAPASI); emotional state was assessed using the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS). Second order factors were calculated and correlated with the SAPASI. We found positive associations between the extent and severity of skin lesions and the negative and submissive emotions, a negative correlation with dominance emotions and no association with positive emotions. Our data supports the relationship between emotions and skin lesions. It also allows for discrimination of the associations between psoriasis lesions and the specific type of emotions.

Obesity and the relationship with positive and negative affect.

PubMed

Pasco, Julie A; Williams, Lana J; Jacka, Felice N; Brennan, Sharon L; Berk, Michael

2013-05-01

To examine the cross-sectional association between overweight and obesity and positive and negative affect. Participants included 273 women, aged 29-84 years, who were enrolled in the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (GOS). Weight and height were measured and overweight and obesity determined from body mass index (BMI; kg/m(2)) according to WHO criteria. Medical history and lifestyle exposures were assessed by questionnaire. Positive and negative affect scores were derived using the validated 20-item Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and categorised into tertiles. A pattern of greater negative affect scores was observed for increasing levels of BMI. Setting normal weight as the referent category, the odds for having a negative affect score in the highest tertile were sequentially increased for women who were overweight (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 0.72-2.40) and obese (OR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.02-3.73). The association between obesity and increased negative affect was diminished by adjusting for physical illness (adjusted OR = 1.76, 95% CI: 0.91-3.42). These associations were not substantially influenced by positive affect score or other exposures. No association was detected between BMI categories and positive affect scores. We report data suggesting that obesity is associated with greater negative affect scores, reflecting emotions such as distress, anger, disgust, fear and shame, and that this association is attenuated by physical illness. Further investigations are now warranted to explore possible mechanistic interplay between pathological, neurobiological and psychosocial factors.

Examining Career Readiness and Positive Affect in a Group of College Students with Disabilities: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sears, Susann Heft; Strauser, David R.; Wong, Alex W. K.

2014-01-01

Data were collected from 47 college students with disabilities at a large Midwestern university using the Career Thoughts Inventory ([CTI]; Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, Saunders, 1996) and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale ([PANAS]; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Initial results revealed no significant differences for CTI total,…

Don't worry, be active: positive affect and habitual physical activity.

PubMed

Pasco, Julie A; Jacka, Felice N; Williams, Lana J; Brennan, Sharon L; Leslie, Eva; Berk, Michael

2011-12-01

The aim of ths study was to examine the association between habitual physical activity and positive and negative affect. This cross-sectional study included 276 women aged 20 +, from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study. Habitual physical activity and other lifestyle exposures were assessed by questionnaire, concurrent with anthropometric assessments. Physical activity was categorized as very active, moderately active or sedentary. Positive and negative affect scores were derived from the validated 20 item Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) self-report and were categorized into tertiles. There was a pattern of lower positive affect scores for lower levels of physical activity. With very active as the reference category, the odds for having a positive affect score in the highest tertile were sequentially lower for those who were moderately active (OR = 0.53, 95%CI 0.28-1.01) and sedentary (OR = 0.28, 95%CI 0.10-0.75). Associations were sustained after adjusting for body mass index and polypharmacy (OR = 0.50, 95%CI 0.26-0.96 and OR = 0.25, 95%CI 0.09-0.72, respectively). These associations were not explained by age, negative affect score or other exposures. No association was detected between physical activity and negative affect scores. This study reports that higher positive affect scores, encompassing emotions such as interest, excitement, enthusiasm and alertness, are associated with higher levels of habitual physical activity. These observations warrant further investigations into possible mechanistic interplay between neurobiological and psychosocial factors that underpin this association.

Psychological distress in cancer survivors: the further development of an item bank.

PubMed

Smith, Adam B; Armes, Jo; Richardson, Alison; Stark, Dan P

2013-02-01

Assessment of psychological distress by patient report is necessary to meet patients' needs throughout the cancer journey. We have previously developed an item bank to assess psychological distress but not evaluated it for cancer survivors. Our first aim in this study was to test whether we could extend our item bank to include cancer survivors. The second aim was to examine whether the item bank could assess positive affect as a single construct alongside negative psychological symptoms. Responses from 1315 cancer survivors to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) were considered for inclusion in a pre-existing item bank created from a heterogeneous sample of 4914 cancer patients. Differential item functioning (DIF) was used to assess whether HADS responses drawn from the two samples were equivalent. Common-item equating was used to anchor the shared (HADS) items, whilst the PANAS items were added. Item fit was evaluated at each stage, and misfitting items were removed. Unidimensionality was assessed with a principal components factor analysis. The DIF analysis did not reveal any differences between the HADS item locations from the two samples. Three misfitting PANAS items were removed, resulting in a final unidimensional bank of 80 items with good internal reliability (α = 0.85). The new item bank is valid for use across the cancer journey, including cancer survivors, and modestly improves the assessment of all levels of psychological distress and positive psychological function. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Odor Emotional Quality Predicts Odor Identification.

PubMed

Bestgen, Anne-Kathrin; Schulze, Patrick; Kuchinke, Lars

2015-09-01

It is commonly agreed upon a strong link between emotion and olfaction. Odor-evoked memories are experienced as more emotional compared with verbal, visual, and tactile stimuli. Moreover, the emotional quality of odor cues increases memory performance, but contrary to this, odors are poor retrieval cues for verbal labels. To examine the relation between the emotional quality of an odor and its likelihood of identification, this study evaluates how normative emotion ratings based on the 3-dimensional affective space model (that includes valence, arousal, and dominance), using the Self-Assessment Manikin by Bradley and Lang (Bradley MM, Lang PJ. 1994. Measuring emotion: the Self-Assessment Manikin and the Semantic Differential. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 25(1):49-59.) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A. 1988. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol. 54(6):1063-1070.) predict the identification of odors in a multiple choice condition. The best fitting logistic regression model includes squared valence and dominance and thus, points to a significant role of specific emotional features of odors as a main clue for odor identification. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

When endocrinology and democracy collide: emotions, cortisol and voting at national elections.

PubMed

Waismel-Manor, Israel; Ifergane, Gal; Cohen, Hagit

2011-11-01

Faced with stressful experiences, such as uncertainty or novelty, the adrenal glands secrete glucocorticoid hormones to help us cope with stress. Since many decision-making situations are stressful, there is reason to believe that voting is a stressful event. In this study, we asked voters in Israel's national election (N=113) to report on their general affective state immediately before entering the polling place using the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and to provide us with a saliva sample through which we could evaluate their cortisol levels. Compared to a second sample of voters who reported their affective state on election night (N=70), we found that voters at the ballot box had higher positive and negative affect. Moreover, our voters at the polling place exhibited cortisol levels that were significantly higher than their own normal levels obtained on a similar day, and significantly higher than those of a second control group sampled the day after the elections (N=6). Our data demonstrate that elections are exciting, yet stressful events, and it is this stress, among other factors, that elevates the cortisol levels of voters. Since elevated cortisol has been found to affect memory consolidation, impair memory retrieval and lead to risk-seeking behavior, we discuss how these outcomes of elevated cortisol levels may affect voting in general and the field of electoral studies in particular. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

Trans fatty acid intake is related to emotional affect in the Adventist Health Study-2.

PubMed

Ford, Patricia A; Jaceldo-Siegl, Karen; Lee, Jerry W; Tonstad, Serena

2016-06-01

Trans fatty acids in Western diets increase health risks, and have been associated with the risk of depression. We hypothesized that intakes of trans fatty acids (primarily from margarines and baked goods) were inversely associated with positive affect and positively associated with negative affect in a longitudinal study. Church attendees residing in North America completed a food frequency questionnaire in 2002-6 as part of the Adventist Health Study-2. A subset in which we excluded participants with established cardiovascular disease (n=8,771) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in 2006-7. The associations between dietary intakes of fatty acids to positive and negative affect were tested with linear regression analysis controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, education, body mass index, exercise, sleep, sleep squared, Mediterranean diet, total energy intake and alcohol. Intakes of trans fatty acids were inversely associated with positive affect (β=-0.06, B=-0.27 [95% CI -0.37, -0.17], p<.001) and positively associated with negative affect (β=0.05, B=0.21 [95% CI 0.11, 0.31], p<.001). In comparison, we found no association between n-3 polyunsatured fatty acids (PUFA) intakes with affect. The n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio was inversely associated with positive affect (β=-0.03, B=-0.34 [95% CI -0.58, -0.10], p=0.006). The findings suggest that a lower dietary trans fatty acid intake has beneficial effects on emotional affect while the n-6: n-3 ratio is detrimental to positive affect. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Negative Affect Prior to and Following Overeating-Only, Loss of Control Eating-Only, and Binge Eating Episodes in Obese Adults

PubMed Central

Berg, Kelly C.; Crosby, Ross D.; Cao, Li; Crow, Scott J.; Engel, Scott G.; Wonderlich, Stephen A.; Peterson, Carol B.

2015-01-01

Objective The objective was to examine the trajectory of five types of negative affect (global negative affect, fear, guilt, hostility, sadness) prior to and following three types of eating episodes (overeating in the absence of loss of control [OE-only], loss of control eating in the absence of overeating [LOC-only], and binge eating) among obese adults using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Method Fifty obese adults (84% female) completed a two-week EMA protocol during which they were asked to record all eating episodes and rate each episode on continua of overeating and loss of control. Momentary measures of global negative affect, fear, guilt, hostility, and sadness were assessed using an abbreviated version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Trajectories for each of the five types of negative affect were modeled prior to and following episodes of OE-only, LOC-only, and binge eating. Results Consistent with previous findings, global negative affect and Guilt increased prior to and decreased following binge eating episodes (all ps<.05). Guilt also decreased following OE-only episodes (p<.05). Discussion These results are consistent with the affect regulation model of binge eating and suggest that binge eating may function to regulate global negative affect, and more specifically, guilt among obese adults. These data suggest that the relationship between negative affect and binge eating may not be unique to individuals with clinical eating disorders and indicate that targeting negative affect may be an effective strategy for the treatment of binge eating in the context of obesity. PMID:25808854

Negative affect prior to and following overeating-only, loss of control eating-only, and binge eating episodes in obese adults.

PubMed

Berg, Kelly C; Crosby, Ross D; Cao, Li; Crow, Scott J; Engel, Scott G; Wonderlich, Stephen A; Peterson, Carol B

2015-09-01

The objective was to examine the trajectory of five types of negative affect (global negative affect, fear, guilt, hostility, sadness) prior to and following three types of eating episodes (overeating in the absence of loss of control [OE-only], loss of control eating in the absence of overeating [LOC-only], and binge eating) among obese adults using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Fifty obese adults (84% female) completed a two-week EMA protocol during which they were asked to record all eating episodes and rate each episode on continua of overeating and loss of control. Momentary measures of global negative affect, fear, guilt, hostility, and sadness were assessed using an abbreviated version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Trajectories for each of the five types of negative affect were modeled prior to and following episodes of OE-only, LOC-only, and binge eating. Consistent with previous findings, global negative affect and Guilt increased prior to and decreased following binge eating episodes (all ps < .05). Guilt also decreased following OE-only episodes (p < .05). These results are consistent with the affect regulation model of binge eating and suggest that binge eating may function to regulate global negative affect, and more specifically, guilt among obese adults. These data suggest that the relationship between negative affect and binge eating may not be unique to individuals with clinical eating disorders and indicate that targeting negative affect may be an effective strategy for the treatment of binge eating in the context of obesity. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Treatment adherence and subjective well-being in HIV/AIDS infection.

PubMed

Reis, Ana Catarina Rodrigues da Silva; Guerra, Marina Natália Prista; Lencastre, Leonor Mendes de Freitas Queirós E

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between treatment adherence and subjective well-being (positive and negative affects and satisfaction with life) in HIV/AIDS infection. The empirical study was conducted at two Portuguese hospitals (Porto and Lisbon) with a sample of 197 outpatients diagnosed with HIV/AIDS attending the Infectology service and on antiretroviral medication, during a 6-month period (February-July 2009). All patients were asked for voluntary fulfillment of the questionnaire which recorded information on different socio-demographic variables. Clinical records were inspected in order to collect additional clinical information from the patients. The "Questionnaire to Assess Adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment-HIV" was used in order to assess the adherence degree in Portuguese version of Reis et al. The Portuguese versions of "Positive and Negative Affect Schedule" (PANAS) and the "Satisfaction with Life Scale" were used to measure subjective well-being. The study collected evidence on the positive correlation between therapeutic adherence (assessed by CEAT-VIH) and positive affect, as well as between adherence and satisfaction with life. Differences in therapeutic adherence and positive affect according to some clinical variables were also found. The multiplicity and the interaction of several determinants are being considered in the adjustment process during treatment for HIV/AIDS. The results may have implications for the psychological intervention directed at improving adherence to antiretroviral therapy.

Positive affect and cognitive decline: a 12-year follow-up of the Maastricht Aging Study.

PubMed

Berk, Lotte; van Boxtel, Martin; Köhler, Sebastian; van Os, Jim

2017-12-01

In cross-sectional studies, positive affect (PA) has been associated with higher levels of cognitive functioning. This study examined whether positive affect (PA) is associated with change in cognitive function over 12 years in an adult population sample. Participants (n = 258), aged 40 to 82 years, were drawn from a subsample of the Maastricht Aging Study (MAAS) and assessed at baseline, 6 years and 12 years. PA was measured at baseline with a Dutch translation of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). PA scores and associations with cognitive decline were tested in random-effects models. Controlling for demographics and depressive symptoms, there was no significant association with PA scores and decline in memory (χ 2  = 1.52; df = 2; P = 0.47), executive functions (χ 2  = 0.99; df = 2; P = 0.61), and information processing speed (χ 2  = 0.52; df = 2; P = 0.77) at 6- and 12-year follow-up. PA did not predict cognitive change over time. These findings question the extent of protective effects of PA on cognitive aging in adulthood, and are discussed in terms of age range and types of measures used for PA and cognition. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Novel chronotherapeutic rectal aminophylline delivery system for therapy of asthma.

PubMed

Shiohira, Hideo; Fujii, Makiko; Koizumi, Naoya; Kondoh, Masuo; Watanabe, Yoshiteru

2009-09-08

The aim of this study was to develop a new chronotherapeutic pharmaceutical preparation as a sustained-release suppository for prevention and therapeutic use against bronchial asthma in the early morning. Sustained-release hollow-type (SR-HT) suppositories using sodium alginate (Alg-Na), sodium polyacrylate (PANa) or polyacrylate-PANa co-polymer (PA-PANa) as gelling polymers (gel agent) were prepared and pharmaceutical characteristics of these suppositories were investigated. Type A SR-HT suppositories comprised a suppository shell prepared with oleaginous base and containing aminophylline only or aminophylline with Alg-Na or PANa in the cavity (hollow space). Type B SR-HT suppositories comprised a suppository shell prepared with oleaginous base and gel agent (30%), with aminophylline in the hollow space. In drug-release studies, the acrylate polymer-containing suppositories showed linearity of delayed release rate, providing significantly decreased the highest concentration of theophylline in plasma (C(max)) and delayed the time required to reach C(max) (t(max)) and the mean residence time (MRT) after rectal administrated in rabbits. In particular, suppositories containing PA-PANa maintained significantly higher theophylline concentrations than control suppositories at 12h after rectal administration. Furthermore, histopathological examination indicated that these suppositories using acrylate polymers did not result in rectal lesions. The SR-HT suppository, particularly using PA-PANa as a gel agent, may thus be useful against nocturnal symptoms of asthma. In this study, we confirmed new formulation of sustained-release suppository for chronotherapy of theophylline using oily base material in combination with polymer such as PA-PANa. The hollow-type suppository containing oleaginous base and hydrophilic polymer in the shell could be useful device for rectal administration of various drugs with prolongation of plasma concentration.

Change in drawing placement: A measure of change in mood state reflective of hemispheric lateralization of emotion.

PubMed

Butler, Tracy R; O'Mara, Erin M; Wilson, Josephine F

2018-04-26

The Valence Hypothesis of cerebral lateralization of emotion suggests greater right hemisphere activation during negative mood and greater left hemisphere activation during positive mood. This can manifest as visual field attentional bias. Here, study participants completed an assessment of current mood state (PANAS) and made a drawing (Drawing 1). To induce positive or negative mood, participants played a game; then, the winner read a script depicting a positive interpersonal interaction and the loser read a script depicting a negative interpersonal interaction. Participants then drew a second picture (Drawing 2) and completed the PANAS. We hypothesized that the game outcome would change current mood state and hemispheric activation, which would be reflected in drawing placement. The placement of Drawing 2 moved right for winners and left for losers. Winners experienced a greater increase in positive affect from Time 1 to Time 2 than losers and had decreased negative affect from Time 1. Losers had decreased positive affect from Time 1 and had a greater increase in negative affect from Time 1 to Time 2 than winners. Our results suggest that change in current mood state may be objectively observed by evaluating hemispatial bias reflective of brain hemispheric activation with drawings. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reward system and temporal pole contributions to affective evaluation during a first person shooter video game.

PubMed

Mathiak, Krystyna A; Klasen, Martin; Weber, René; Ackermann, Hermann; Shergill, Sukhwinder S; Mathiak, Klaus

2011-07-12

Violent content in video games evokes many concerns but there is little research concerning its rewarding aspects. It was demonstrated that playing a video game leads to striatal dopamine release. It is unclear, however, which aspects of the game cause this reward system activation and if violent content contributes to it. We combined functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) with individual affect measures to address the neuronal correlates of violence in a video game. Thirteen male German volunteers played a first-person shooter game (Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror) during fMRI measurement. We defined success as eliminating opponents, and failure as being eliminated themselves. Affect was measured directly before and after game play using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Failure and success events evoked increased activity in visual cortex but only failure decreased activity in orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus. A negative correlation between negative affect and responses to failure was evident in the right temporal pole (rTP). The deactivation of the caudate nucleus during failure is in accordance with its role in reward-prediction error: it occurred whenever subject missed an expected reward (being eliminated rather than eliminating the opponent). We found no indication that violence events were directly rewarding for the players. We addressed subjective evaluations of affect change due to gameplay to study the reward system. Subjects reporting greater negative affect after playing the game had less rTP activity associated with failure. The rTP may therefore be involved in evaluating the failure events in a social context, to regulate the players' mood.

Association of Lower Spiritual Well-Being, Social Support, Self-Esteem, Subjective Well-Being, Optimism and Hope Scores With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Dementia.

PubMed

Dos Santos, Sabrina B; Rocha, Gabrielli P; Fernandez, Liana L; de Padua, Analuiza C; Reppold, Caroline T

2018-01-01

Introduction: Positive psychology (PP) constructs contribute significantly to a better quality of life for people with various diseases. There are still few studies that have evaluated the evolution of these aspects during the progression of dementia. Objective: To compare the scores for self-esteem, life satisfaction, affect, spirituality, hope, optimism and perceived support network between elderly people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), mild dementia and moderate dementia and control group. Methods: Cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 66 healthy controls, 15 elderly people with MCI, 25 with mild dementia and 22 with moderate dementia matched by age, gender, and schooling. The instruments used were: Spirituality Self Rating Scale (SSRS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Medical Outcomes Study's Social Support Scale, Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R), and Adult Dispositional Hope Scale (ADHS). Results: The scores for spiritual well-being, social support, self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, optimism, negative affect, and hope differed significantly between the groups ( p < 0.05). The individuals with MCI and mild dementia had lower spiritual well-being, social support, self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, optimism and hope scores, and higher negative affect scores compared with the controls. The scores for PP constructs did not differ between the group of people with moderate dementia and the control group. Conclusion: Dementia was found to impact several PP constructs in the early stages of the disease. For individuals with greater cognitive impairment, anosognosia appears to suppress the disease's impact on these constructs.

Psychometric properties of the Greek TCI-R and its clinical correlates: schizotypy and the self-regulation of affective and cognitive functioning.

PubMed

Giakoumaki, Stella G; Karagiannopoulou, Leda; Rózsa, Sándor; Zouraraki, Chrysoula; Karamaouna, Penny; Cloninger, C Robert

2016-01-01

Background. The revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) measures Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality. The average effects of individual temperament and character traits have been associated with schizotypy and with impaired regulation of affect and cognition. We extended prior research by testing predictions about the association of specific multidimensional configurations of temperament and character traits on schizotypy, affect balance, and self-perceived cognitive functioning. Method. A well-educated sample of native Greeks (N = 483), completed a new Greek translation of the TCI-R, as well as the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), the Positive/Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ). The factor structure of the TCI-R was examined with exploratory and confirmatory tests. Associations between reported measures were examined with correlational and regression analyses. Results. The TCI-R had good psychometric properties as expected from studies in other countries. As predicted, specific configurations of temperament and character were associated with schizotypy, negative affect balance, and cognitive lapses. The "Borderline/Explosive temperament" (high Novelty Seeking, high Harm Avoidance, low Reward Dependence), "Schizotypal/Disorganized character" (low Self-directedness, low Cooperativeness, high Self-transcendence), and "Low Ego Strength/Fragile" profile (high Harm Avoidance, low Persistence, low Self-Directedness) were each strongly associated with higher stereotypy, negative affect balance (low positive affect and high negative affect), and subjective cognitive lapses compared to their contrast groups. Discussion. Multidimensional TCI profiles are strongly related to individual differences in schizotypy and self-reported regulation of affect and cognition. The Greek translation of the TCI-R is psychometrically sound and useful for clinical assessment and research.

Psychometric properties of the Greek TCI-R and its clinical correlates: schizotypy and the self-regulation of affective and cognitive functioning

PubMed Central

Karagiannopoulou, Leda; Rózsa, Sándor; Zouraraki, Chrysoula; Karamaouna, Penny; Cloninger, C. Robert

2016-01-01

Background. The revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) measures Cloninger’s psychobiological model of personality. The average effects of individual temperament and character traits have been associated with schizotypy and with impaired regulation of affect and cognition. We extended prior research by testing predictions about the association of specific multidimensional configurations of temperament and character traits on schizotypy, affect balance, and self-perceived cognitive functioning. Method. A well-educated sample of native Greeks (N = 483), completed a new Greek translation of the TCI-R, as well as the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), the Positive/Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ). The factor structure of the TCI-R was examined with exploratory and confirmatory tests. Associations between reported measures were examined with correlational and regression analyses. Results. The TCI-R had good psychometric properties as expected from studies in other countries. As predicted, specific configurations of temperament and character were associated with schizotypy, negative affect balance, and cognitive lapses. The “Borderline/Explosive temperament” (high Novelty Seeking, high Harm Avoidance, low Reward Dependence), “Schizotypal/Disorganized character” (low Self-directedness, low Cooperativeness, high Self-transcendence), and “Low Ego Strength/Fragile” profile (high Harm Avoidance, low Persistence, low Self-Directedness) were each strongly associated with higher stereotypy, negative affect balance (low positive affect and high negative affect), and subjective cognitive lapses compared to their contrast groups. Discussion. Multidimensional TCI profiles are strongly related to individual differences in schizotypy and self-reported regulation of affect and cognition. The Greek translation of the TCI-R is psychometrically sound and useful for clinical assessment and research. PMID:27019787

Could autonomous motivation hold the key to successfully implementing lifestyle changes in affective disorders? A multicentre cross sectional study.

PubMed

Vancampfort, Davy; Madou, Tomas; Moens, Herman; De Backer, Tanja; Vanhalst, Patrick; Helon, Chris; Naert, Pieter; Rosenbaum, Simon; Stubbs, Brendon; Probst, Michel

2015-07-30

There is a need for theoretically-based research on the motivational processes linked to the adoption and maintenance of an active lifestyle in people with affective disorders. Within the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) framework, we investigated the SDT tenets in people with major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder by examining the factor structure of the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2 (BREQ-2) and by investigating associations between motivation, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) scores. A total of 165 patients (105 ♀) (45.6 ± 14.2 years) agreed to participate. An exploratory factor analysis demonstrated sufficient convergence with the original factor for amotivation, and external and introjected regulation. The items of identified and intrinsic regulation loaded on the same factor, which was labelled autonomous regulation. Significant correlations were found between the total IPAQ score and the subscales amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation and autonomous regulation. The relative autonomy index (RAI) was associated with the PANAS scores. Differences in RAI were found between physically inactive and active participants. Our results suggest that in people with affective disorders the level of autonomous motivation may play an important role in the adoption and maintenance of health promoting behaviours. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teachers' Affective Well-being and Teaching Experience: The Protective Role of Perceived Emotional Intelligence.

PubMed

Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo; Gutiérrez-Cobo, María J; Rodriguez-Corrales, Juan; Cabello, Rosario

2017-01-01

Teaching is a highly emotional and demanding profession. Developing emotional well-being among teachers will benefit not only the teachers themselves, but also their students. Previous studies have shown the protective role of emotional intelligence (EI) as well as inconsistencies in the years of teaching experience variable on positive and negative work-specific variables. The aim of the present study was to analyze how EI and years of teaching experience are related to affective well-being in teachers. Further, we analyze the moderator role of perceived EI on the link between level of teaching experience and affective well-being. For these purpose, 524 teachers from different Spanish public schools took part in the study. They first completed the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24) for measuring perceived EI, which evaluates three scales: Attention to one's Feelings (Attention), Emotional Clarity (Clarity), and Mood Repair (Repair). Secondly, they completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) for affective well-being, which measures Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA). Finally, teachers indicated their years of teaching experience. The results revealed that teaching experience and attention variables are counterproductive in determining lower PA and higher NA, respectively. Clarity and Repair appeared to be a significant determinant of PA and NA, with higher Clarity and Repair determining higher PA and lower NA. Moderator analyses showed how teaching experience significantly decreased PA in teachers who had average or low levels of Repair, but not for those with higher levels of this variable, emphasizing the important role of Repair as a protector of affective well-being in teachers. Limitations and future areas for research are discussed.

Teachers’ Affective Well-being and Teaching Experience: The Protective Role of Perceived Emotional Intelligence

PubMed Central

Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo; Gutiérrez-Cobo, María J.; Rodriguez-Corrales, Juan; Cabello, Rosario

2017-01-01

Teaching is a highly emotional and demanding profession. Developing emotional well-being among teachers will benefit not only the teachers themselves, but also their students. Previous studies have shown the protective role of emotional intelligence (EI) as well as inconsistencies in the years of teaching experience variable on positive and negative work-specific variables. The aim of the present study was to analyze how EI and years of teaching experience are related to affective well-being in teachers. Further, we analyze the moderator role of perceived EI on the link between level of teaching experience and affective well-being. For these purpose, 524 teachers from different Spanish public schools took part in the study. They first completed the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24) for measuring perceived EI, which evaluates three scales: Attention to one’s Feelings (Attention), Emotional Clarity (Clarity), and Mood Repair (Repair). Secondly, they completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) for affective well-being, which measures Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA). Finally, teachers indicated their years of teaching experience. The results revealed that teaching experience and attention variables are counterproductive in determining lower PA and higher NA, respectively. Clarity and Repair appeared to be a significant determinant of PA and NA, with higher Clarity and Repair determining higher PA and lower NA. Moderator analyses showed how teaching experience significantly decreased PA in teachers who had average or low levels of Repair, but not for those with higher levels of this variable, emphasizing the important role of Repair as a protector of affective well-being in teachers. Limitations and future areas for research are discussed. PMID:29312074

Orbitofrontal structural markers of negative affect in alcohol dependence and their associations with heavy relapse-risk at 6 months post-treatment.

PubMed

Zois, E; Vollstädt-Klein, S; Hoffmann, S; Reinhard, I; Charlet, K; Beck, A; Jorde, A; Kirsch, M; Walter, H; Heinz, A; Kiefer, F

2017-10-01

Alcohol relapse is often occurring to regulate negative affect during withdrawal. On the neurobiological level, alcoholism is associated with gray matter (GM) abnormalities in regions that regulate emotional experience such as the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). However, no study to our knowledge has investigated the neurobiological unpinning of affect in alcoholism at early withdrawal and the associations of OFC volume with long-term relapse risk. One hundred and eighty-two participants were included, 95 recently detoxified alcohol dependent patients (ADP) and 87 healthy controls (HC). We measured affective states using the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS). We collected T1-weighted brain structural images and performed Voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Findings revealed GM volume decrease in alcoholics in the prefrontal cortex (including medial OFC), anterior cingulate gyrus, and insula. GM volume in the medial OFC was positively associated with NA in the ADP group. Cox regression analysis predicted that risk to heavy relapse at 6 months increases with decreased GM volume in the medial OFC. Negative affect during alcohol withdrawal was positively associated with OFC volume. What is more, increased GM volume in the OFC also moderated risk to heavy relapse at 6 months. Reduced GM in the OFC poses as risk to recovery from alcohol dependence and provides valuable insights into transient negative affect states during withdrawal that can trigger relapse. Implications exist for therapeutic interventions signifying the OFC as a neurobiological marker to relapse and could explain the inability of ADP to regulate internal negative affective states. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Sex differences in physiological and affective responses to stress in remitted depression.

PubMed

Bagley, Sara L; Weaver, Terri L; Buchanan, Tony W

2011-08-03

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with alterations in stress physiology. Severe melancholic depression is characterized by hypercortisolism, but community dwelling mildly depressed individuals and those with remitted MDD have shown reduced or normal reactivity to stress. There are also pronounced sex differences both in the incidence of MDD and in stress reactivity. To explore the relationships among depression history, sex differences, and stress, we examined stress reactivity in people with and without a history of MDD. Twenty-two participants with remitted MDD (12 men and 10 women) and 36 never depressed comparison participants (22 men and 14 women) participated in the study. Cortisol and alpha-amylase (sAA) were sampled from saliva before, 10 min after, and 30 min after the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Participants filled out the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) before and after they underwent the TSST. Women with remitted MDD showed reduced cortisol response to the TSST compared with the never MDD women, while men with remitted MDD showed comparable cortisol reactivity to the never depressed men. The groups did not differ on sAA reactivity to stress. The remitted MDD group (overall and men and women separately) reported greater negative affect both before and after stress compared to the never depressed group. Women from both groups reported greater post-stress negative affect than men. In contrast, men from both groups reported higher positive affect before and after stress than women. Given that the sex difference findings were not dependent on depression history, self-reported affective differences in response to stress may predate depressive symptoms and contribute to sex differences in depression incidence. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reward system and temporal pole contributions to affective evaluation during a first person shooter video game

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Violent content in video games evokes many concerns but there is little research concerning its rewarding aspects. It was demonstrated that playing a video game leads to striatal dopamine release. It is unclear, however, which aspects of the game cause this reward system activation and if violent content contributes to it. We combined functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) with individual affect measures to address the neuronal correlates of violence in a video game. Results Thirteen male German volunteers played a first-person shooter game (Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror) during fMRI measurement. We defined success as eliminating opponents, and failure as being eliminated themselves. Affect was measured directly before and after game play using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Failure and success events evoked increased activity in visual cortex but only failure decreased activity in orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus. A negative correlation between negative affect and responses to failure was evident in the right temporal pole (rTP). Conclusions The deactivation of the caudate nucleus during failure is in accordance with its role in reward-prediction error: it occurred whenever subject missed an expected reward (being eliminated rather than eliminating the opponent). We found no indication that violence events were directly rewarding for the players. We addressed subjective evaluations of affect change due to gameplay to study the reward system. Subjects reporting greater negative affect after playing the game had less rTP activity associated with failure. The rTP may therefore be involved in evaluating the failure events in a social context, to regulate the players' mood. PMID:21749711

Adsorption of ethoxylated styrene oxide and polyacrylic acid and mixtures there of on organic pigment.

PubMed

Wijting, W K; Laven, J; van Benthem, R A T M; de With, G

2008-11-01

The adsorption of two polymeric surfactants on an organic pigment was investigated. As surfactants the anionic polyacrylic acid sodium salt (PANa, M(W)=15,000) and a non-ionic block copolymer surfactant based on styrene oxide (SO) and ethylene oxide (EO) (M(W)=1500) were used. The adsorption behavior was analyzed by size exclusion chromatography of the supernatant after centrifugation of the pigment dispersions. It was found that PANa has no affinity to the pigment, whereas SO-EO has a strong affinity to the pigment surface. Competitive adsorption of PANa and SO-EO was not observed. Addition of SO-EO yields stable dispersions.

Association of Lower Spiritual Well-Being, Social Support, Self-Esteem, Subjective Well-Being, Optimism and Hope Scores With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Dementia

PubMed Central

dos Santos, Sabrina B.; Rocha, Gabrielli P.; Fernandez, Liana L.; de Padua, Analuiza C.; Reppold, Caroline T.

2018-01-01

Introduction: Positive psychology (PP) constructs contribute significantly to a better quality of life for people with various diseases. There are still few studies that have evaluated the evolution of these aspects during the progression of dementia. Objective: To compare the scores for self-esteem, life satisfaction, affect, spirituality, hope, optimism and perceived support network between elderly people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), mild dementia and moderate dementia and control group. Methods: Cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 66 healthy controls, 15 elderly people with MCI, 25 with mild dementia and 22 with moderate dementia matched by age, gender, and schooling. The instruments used were: Spirituality Self Rating Scale (SSRS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Medical Outcomes Study’s Social Support Scale, Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R), and Adult Dispositional Hope Scale (ADHS). Results: The scores for spiritual well-being, social support, self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, optimism, negative affect, and hope differed significantly between the groups (p < 0.05). The individuals with MCI and mild dementia had lower spiritual well-being, social support, self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, optimism and hope scores, and higher negative affect scores compared with the controls. The scores for PP constructs did not differ between the group of people with moderate dementia and the control group. Conclusion: Dementia was found to impact several PP constructs in the early stages of the disease. For individuals with greater cognitive impairment, anosognosia appears to suppress the disease’s impact on these constructs. PMID:29666594

Impacts of social support on symptoms in Brazilian women with fibromyalgia.

PubMed

Freitas, Rodrigo Pegado de Abreu; Andrade, Sandra Cristina de; Spyrides, Maria Helena Constantino; Micussi, Maria Thereza Albuquerque Barbosa Cabral; Sousa, Maria Bernardete Cordeiro de

We aimed to assess the impact of social support on symptoms in Brazilian women with FM. An observational, descriptive study enrolling 66 women who met the 1990 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Social support was measured by the Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS), functionality was evaluated using the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), depression was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), anxiety was measured using the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAS), affectivity was measured by Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and algometry was carried out to record pressure pain threshold (PPth) and tolerance (PPTo) at 18 points recommended by the ACR. Patients were divided into normal (NSS) or poor social support (PSS) groups with PSS defined as having a MOS-SSS score below the 25th percentile of the entire sample. Mann-Whitney or Unpaired t-test were used to compare intergroup variables and Fisher's for categorical variables. Analysis of covariance and Pearson correlation test were used. No differences in sociodemographic variables between PSS and NSS were found. Differences between NSS and PSS groups were observed for all four subcategories of social support and MOS-SSS total score. Significant differences between NSS and PSS on depression (p=0.007), negative affect (p=0.025) and PPTh (p=0.016) were found. Affectionate subcategory showed positive correlation between pain and positive affect in PSS. Positive social interaction subcategory showed a negative correlation between FIQ and depression state. Therefore social support appears to contribute to ameliorate mental and physical health in FM. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of a Community Reintegration Outpatient Program Service for Community-Dwelling Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed Central

Bain, Patricia; Hébert, Debbie; Hitzig, Sander L.

2014-01-01

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of a community reintegration outpatient (CROP) service for promoting well-being and community participation following spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants. Community-dwelling adults (N = 14) with traumatic and nontraumatic SCI. Interventions. The CROP service is a 12-week (1 × week; 120 minutes) interprofessional closed therapeutic education service. Main Outcome Measure(s). Moorong Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES); Impact on Participation and Autonomy (IPA); Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS); Coping Inventory of Stressful Situations (CISS); World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF); semistructured qualitative interviews. Methods. Twenty-one participants were recruited from two subsequent CROP services, with only 14 persons completing all data assessments. Data were collected at baseline (week 0), at exit (week 12), and at a three-month follow-up. Semistructured interviews were conducted at exit. Results. Self-efficacy (MSES) and positive affect (PANAS) improved from baseline to exit (P < .05), but the changes were not maintained at follow-up. Qualitative analysis identified four major themes related to therapeutic benefits: (1) role of self; (2) knowledge acquisition; (3) skill application; and (4) group processes. Conclusions. Participation in a therapeutic education service has the potential to improve well-being in persons with SCI, but there is a need to identify strategies to maintain long-term gains. PMID:25574397

Burnout Subtypes and Absence of Self-Compassion in Primary Healthcare Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Montero-Marin, Jesus; Zubiaga, Fernando; Cereceda, Maria; Piva Demarzo, Marcelo Marcos; Trenc, Patricia; Garcia-Campayo, Javier

2016-01-01

Background Primary healthcare professionals report high levels of distress and burnout. A new model of burnout has been developed to differentiate three clinical subtypes: ‘frenetic’, ‘underchallenged’ and ‘worn-out’. The aim of this study was to confirm the validity and reliability of the burnout subtype model in Spanish primary healthcare professionals, and to assess the explanatory power of the self-compassion construct as a possible protective factor. Method The study employed a cross-sectional design. A sample of n = 440 Spanish primary healthcare professionals (214 general practitioners, 184 nurses, 42 medical residents) completed the Burnout Clinical Subtype Questionnaire (BCSQ-36), the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS), the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The factor structure of the BCSQ-36 was estimated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) by the unweighted least squares method from polychoric correlations. Internal consistency (R) was assessed by squaring the correlation between the latent true variable and the observed variables. The relationships between the BCSQ-36 and the other constructs were analysed using Spearman’s r and multiple linear regression models. Results The structure of the BCSQ-36 fit the data well, with adequate CFA indices for all the burnout subtypes. Reliability was adequate for all the scales and sub-scales (R≥0.75). Self-judgement was the self-compassion factor that explained the frenetic subtype (Beta = 0.36; p<0.001); isolation explained the underchallenged (Beta = 0.16; p = 0.010); and over-identification the worn-out (Beta = 0.25; p = 0.001). Other significant associations were observed between the different burnout subtypes and the dimensions of the MBI-GS, UWES and PANAS. Conclusions The typological definition of burnout through the BCSQ-36 showed good structure and appropriate internal consistence in Spanish primary healthcare professionals. The negative self-compassion dimensions seem to play a relevant role in explaining the burnout profiles in this population, and they should be considered when designing specific treatments and interventions tailored to the specific vulnerability of each subtype. PMID:27310426

Emotional Processes in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgeries with Extracorporeal Circulation in View of Selected Indicators of the Inflammatory Condition

PubMed Central

Płotek, Włodzimierz; Pielok, Joanna; Cybulski, Marcin; Samborska, Regina

2015-01-01

Background The aim of this study was to describe positive and negative emotions in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgeries with extracorporeal circulation and the correlations between emotions and basic indicators of the inflammatory condition: C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, body temperature, and leukocyte count. Material/Methods Standardized tools were used to select 52 patients (aged 47–63 years, 6 women – 11.5% and 46 men – 88.5%) without dementia or depression. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was used to examine positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI X1 and X2) was used to examine the anxiety level. The patients underwent CABG surgery according to a common anesthesia protocol and for 5 consecutive days they were observed in the ward, where selected indicators of the inflammatory condition were monitored. Results A detailed description of the results of examinations of emotions was presented. The patients with low PA-trait level, high NA-trait level, and high anxiety-trait level (STAI X2) exhibited statistically significantly higher body temperatures than the other patients in the postoperative period. The patients with high NA-trait and anxiety-state levels (STAI X1) had statistically significantly lower CRP levels in the postoperative period than the patients with low NA-trait and anxiety-state levels (STAI X1). Conclusions Patients undergoing CABG operations express both positive and negative affects. The changes in the inflammatory markers are expressed mostly by CRP concentration. There exist relationships between the result of tests assessing emotions and the markers of the inflammatory condition. PMID:25573296

Distinct trajectories of positive and negative affect after colorectal cancer diagnosis.

PubMed

Ciere, Yvette; Janse, Moniek; Almansa, Josué; Visser, Annemieke; Sanderman, Robbert; Sprangers, Mirjam A G; Ranchor, Adelita V; Fleer, Joke

2017-06-01

Insight into trajectories of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) across the cancer continuum may improve understanding of the nature of adjustment problems. The primary aim of this study was to identify subgroups of patients with distinct trajectories of PA and NA following diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Secondary to this aim, the co-occurrence between trajectories and their association with goal-related processes was explored. CRC patients (n = 186) completed questionnaires within 1 month, 7 months, and 18 months after diagnosis. Multilevel models were used to study the trajectory of PA and NA, as measured with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Four classes with distinct PA trajectories were identified: low (18.8%), increasing (6.7%), moderate (68.2%), and high (6.3%); 2 trajectories of NA emerged: low (36.3%) and moderate (63.7%). There was no significant association between PA and NA trajectory class probabilities. The average trajectory of PA covaried with levels of goal disturbance and goal reengagement over time, while the average NA trajectory covaried with goal disturbance and goal disengagement. Compared with the general population, our sample of cancer patients suffered from a lack of positive emotions, but not a high presence of negative emotions. About one fifth of patients reported low PA up to 18 months after diagnosis and may benefit from supportive care. Furthermore, the trajectory of PA was independent of that of NA and related with a distinct goal adjustment process (i.e., goal disengagement vs. goal reengagement). This finding indicates the need to tailor psychological care to the nature of the adjustment problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

PANATIKI: A Network Access Control Implementation Based on PANA for IoT Devices

PubMed Central

Sanchez, Pedro Moreno; Lopez, Rafa Marin; Gomez Skarmeta, Antonio F.

2013-01-01

Internet of Things (IoT) networks are the pillar of recent novel scenarios, such as smart cities or e-healthcare applications. Among other challenges, these networks cover the deployment and interaction of small devices with constrained capabilities and Internet protocol (IP)-based networking connectivity. These constrained devices usually require connection to the Internet to exchange information (e.g., management or sensing data) or access network services. However, only authenticated and authorized devices can, in general, establish this connection. The so-called authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) services are in charge of performing these tasks on the Internet. Thus, it is necessary to deploy protocols that allow constrained devices to verify their credentials against AAA infrastructures. The Protocol for Carrying Authentication for Network Access (PANA) has been standardized by the Internet engineering task force (IETF) to carry the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), which provides flexible authentication upon the presence of AAA. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first deep study of the feasibility of EAP/PANA for network access control in constrained devices. We provide light-weight versions and implementations of these protocols to fit them into constrained devices. These versions have been designed to reduce the impact in standard specifications. The goal of this work is two-fold: (1) to demonstrate the feasibility of EAP/PANA in IoT devices; (2) to provide the scientific community with the first light-weight interoperable implementation of EAP/PANA for constrained devices in the Contiki operating system (Contiki OS), called PANATIKI. The paper also shows a testbed, simulations and experimental results obtained from real and simulated constrained devices. PMID:24189332

PANATIKI: a network access control implementation based on PANA for IoT devices.

PubMed

Moreno Sanchez, Pedro; Marin Lopez, Rafa; Gomez Skarmeta, Antonio F

2013-11-01

Internet of Things (IoT) networks are the pillar of recent novel scenarios, such as smart cities or e-healthcare applications. Among other challenges, these networks cover the deployment and interaction of small devices with constrained capabilities and Internet protocol (IP)-based networking connectivity. These constrained devices usually require connection to the Internet to exchange information (e.g., management or sensing data) or access network services. However, only authenticated and authorized devices can, in general, establish this connection. The so-called authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) services are in charge of performing these tasks on the Internet. Thus, it is necessary to deploy protocols that allow constrained devices to verify their credentials against AAA infrastructures. The Protocol for Carrying Authentication for Network Access (PANA) has been standardized by the Internet engineering task force (IETF) to carry the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), which provides flexible authentication upon the presence of AAA. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first deep study of the feasibility of EAP/PANA for network access control in constrained devices. We provide light-weight versions and implementations of these protocols to fit them into constrained devices. These versions have been designed to reduce the impact in standard specifications. The goal of this work is two-fold: (1) to demonstrate the feasibility of EAP/PANA in IoT devices; (2) to provide the scientific community with the first light-weight interoperable implementation of EAP/PANA for constrained devices in the Contiki operating system (Contiki OS), called PANATIKI. The paper also shows a testbed, simulations and experimental results obtained from real and simulated constrained devices.

Mindfulness, Resilience, and Burnout Subtypes in Primary Care Physicians: The Possible Mediating Role of Positive and Negative Affect.

PubMed

Montero-Marin, Jesús; Tops, Mattie; Manzanera, Rick; Piva Demarzo, Marcelo M; Álvarez de Mon, Melchor; García-Campayo, Javier

2015-01-01

Primary care health professionals suffer from high levels of burnout. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the associations of mindfulness and resilience with the features of the burnout types (overload, lack of development, neglect) in primary care physicians, taking into account the potential mediating role of negative and positive affect. A cross-sectional design was used. Six hundred and twenty-two Spanish primary care physicians were recruited from an online survey. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and Burnout Clinical Subtype Questionnaire (BCSQ-12) questionnaires were administered. Polychoric correlation matrices were calculated. The unweighted least squares (ULS) method was used for developing structural equation modeling. Mindfulness and resilience presented moderately high associations (φ = 0.46). Links were found between mindfulness and overload (γ = -0.25); resilience and neglect (γ = -0.44); mindfulness and resilience, and negative affect (γ = -0.30 and γ = -0.35, respectively); resilience and positive affect (γ = 0.70); negative affect and overload (β = 0.36); positive affect and lack of development (β = -0.16). The links between the burnout types reached high and positive values between overload and lack of development (β = 0.64), and lack of development and neglect (β = 0.52). The model was a very good fit to the data (GFI = 0.96; AGFI = 0.96; RMSR = 0.06; NFI = 0.95; RFI = 0.95; PRATIO = 0.96). Interventions addressing both mindfulness and resilience can influence burnout subtypes, but their impact may occur in different ways, potentially mediated by positive and negative affect. Both sorts of trainings could constitute possible tools against burnout; however, while mindfulness seems a suitable intervention for preventing its initial stages, resilience may be more effective for treating its advanced stages.

Child temperament, parent emotions, and perceptions of the child's feeding experience.

PubMed

Hughes, Sheryl O; Shewchuk, Richard M

2012-05-29

Associations between parent and child characteristics and how they influence the approach parents take toward children in the feeding environment have not been examined extensively, especially in low-income minority families who are at a higher risk for obesity. The primary aim of the study was to examine positive and negative parent emotions as potential mediators of the relationship between child temperament and parents' perceptions of strategy effectiveness and problems encountered in feeding children fruit and vegetables. Participants were low-income families (n = 639, 73% minority, children aged 3-5 years) participating in Head Start programs in two states. Parents completed the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and measures of strategy effectiveness (teachable moments, practical methods, restriction, and enhanced availability) and problems encountered (vegetable characteristics, child attributions for dislike, external influences, and parental demands) in feeding children fruit and vegetables. Positive parent emotions partially mediated the relationship between child Effortful Control and strategy effectiveness and fully mediated the relationship between Surgency and strategy effectiveness. Although negative parent emotions were associated with increased perception of problems in feeding children fruit and vegetables, the relationship between Negative Affectivity and problems in feeding was partially mediated by negative parent emotions. Positive parent emotions facilitated perceived effectiveness of feeding strategies, with child Effortful Control and Surgency instrumental to this process. Understanding mechanisms in parent-child feeding is important when developing interventions designed to promote healthy child eating behaviors.

Sub-Saharan Africa Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-20

SIGN CONTRACT TO IMPROVE TELECOMMUNICATIONS MB171512 Dakar PANA in English 1431 GMT 17 Dec 86 [Text] Ndola (Zambia), 17 Dec ( ZANA /PANA)—Zambia...rice produc- tion. Sikasula told the official Zambia News Agency ZANA today that he was highly impressed by the work being carried out by the Chinese...rights their almost total reliance on the goodwill of the farmer often leaves them in poor hous- ing, far from medical services and trapped in

Effect of negative emotions evoked by light, noise and taste on trigeminal thermal sensitivity.

PubMed

Yang, Guangju; Baad-Hansen, Lene; Wang, Kelun; Xie, Qiu-Fei; Svensson, Peter

2014-11-07

Patients with migraine often have impaired somatosensory function and experience headache attacks triggered by exogenous stimulus, such as light, sound or taste. This study aimed to assess the influence of three controlled conditioning stimuli (visual, auditory and gustatory stimuli and combined stimuli) on affective state and thermal sensitivity in healthy human participants. All participants attended four experimental sessions with visual, auditory and gustatory conditioning stimuli and combination of all stimuli, in a randomized sequence. In each session, the somatosensory sensitivity was tested in the perioral region with use of thermal stimuli with and without the conditioning stimuli. Positive and Negative Affect States (PANAS) were assessed before and after the tests. Subject based ratings of the conditioning and test stimuli in addition to skin temperature and heart rate as indicators of arousal responses were collected in real time during the tests. The three conditioning stimuli all induced significant increases in negative PANAS scores (paired t-test, P ≤0.016). Compared with baseline, the increases were in a near dose-dependent manner during visual and auditory conditioning stimulation. No significant effects of any single conditioning stimuli were observed on trigeminal thermal sensitivity (P ≥0.051) or arousal parameters (P ≥0.057). The effects of combined conditioning stimuli on subjective ratings (P ≤0.038) and negative affect (P = 0.011) were stronger than those of single stimuli. All three conditioning stimuli provided a simple way to evoke a negative affective state without physical arousal or influence on trigeminal thermal sensitivity. Multisensory conditioning had stronger effects but also failed to modulate thermal sensitivity, suggesting that so-called exogenous trigger stimuli e.g. bright light, noise, unpleasant taste in patients with migraine may require a predisposed or sensitized nervous system.

Clinical and evoked pain, personality traits, and emotional states: can familial confounding explain the associations?

PubMed

Strachan, Eric; Poeschla, Brian; Dansie, Elizabeth; Succop, Annemarie; Chopko, Laura; Afari, Niloofar

2015-01-01

Pain is a complex phenomenon influenced by context and person-specific factors. Affective dimensions of pain involve both enduring personality traits and fleeting emotional states. We examined how personality traits and emotional states are linked with clinical and evoked pain in a twin sample. 99 female twin pairs were evaluated for clinical and evoked pain using the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and dolorimetry, and completed the 120-item International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), and ratings of stress and mood. Using a co-twin control design we examined a) the relationship of personality traits and emotional states with clinical and evoked pain and b) whether genetics and common environment (i.e. familial factors) may account for the associations. Neuroticism was associated with the sensory component of the MPQ; this relationship was not confounded by familial factors. None of the emotional state measures was associated with the MPQ. PANAS negative affect was associated with lower evoked pressure pain threshold and tolerance; these associations were confounded by familial factors. There were no associations between IPIP traits and evoked pain. A relationship exists between neuroticism and clinical pain that is not confounded by familial factors. There is no similar relationship between negative emotional states and clinical pain. In contrast, the relationship between negative emotional states and evoked pain is strong while the relationship with enduring personality traits is weak. The relationship between negative emotional states and evoked pain appears to be non-causal and due to familial factors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of hormonal contraceptives on mental rotation and verbal fluency.

PubMed

Griksiene, Ramune; Ruksenas, Osvaldas

2011-09-01

Cognitive abilities, such as verbal fluency and mental rotation, are most sensitive to changes in sex steroids but poorly studied in the context of hormonal contraceptive usage. Therefore, we investigated the performance of mental rotation and verbal fluency in young (21.5±1.8 years) healthy oral contraceptive (OC) users (23 women) and non-users (20 women) during the follicular, ovulatory and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Salivary 17β-estradiol, progesterone and testosterone levels were assayed to evaluate hormonal differences between groups and the phases of the menstrual cycle. To assess the effects of progestins having androgenic/anti-androgenic properties, OC users were subdivided into the third and new generation OC users. In addition, positive and negative affects as factors possibly affecting cognitive performance were evaluated. Salivary 17β-estradiol and progesterone levels were significantly lower in hormonal contraception users. Level of salivary testosterone was slightly lower in the OC users group with significant difference only during ovulatory phase. Naturally cycling women performed better on verbal fluency task as compared to OC users. Subjects who used the third generation (androgenic) OCs generated significantly fewer words as compared to new generation (anti-androgenic) OC users and non-users. The third generation OC users demonstrated significantly longer RT in MRT task as compared to non-users. The MRT, verbal fluency and mood parameters did not depend on the phase of menstrual cycle. The parameters of the PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) scales did not differ between OC users and non-users. Our findings show that hormonal contraception has an impact on verbal and spatial abilities. Different performances between users of oral contraceptives with androgenic and anti-androgenic properties suggest an essential role for the progestins contained in OCs on cognitive performance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sex modulates approach systems and impulsivity in substance dependence.

PubMed

Perry, Robert I; Krmpotich, Theodore; Thompson, Laetitia L; Mikulich-Gilbertson, Susan K; Banich, Marie T; Tanabe, Jody

2013-11-01

Personality traits such as pathological engagement in approach behaviors, high levels of impulsivity and heightened negative affect are consistently observed in substance dependent individuals (SDI). The clinical course of addiction has been shown to differ between sexes. For example, women increase their rates of consumption of some drugs of abuse more quickly than men. Despite the potential influence of personality and sex on features of addiction, few studies have investigated the interaction of these factors in substance dependence. Fifty-one SDI (26 males, 25 females) and 66 controls (41 males, 25 females) completed the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Activation System (BIS/BAS) Scales, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X). Data were analyzed with 2×2 ANCOVAs testing for main effects of group, sex and group by sex interactions, adjusting for education level. Significant group by sex interactions were observed for BAS scores [F(1,116)=7.03, p<.01] and Barratt Motor Impulsiveness [F(1,116)=6.11, p<.02] with female SDI showing the highest approach tendencies and impulsivity followed by male SDI, male controls, and finally female controls. SDI scored higher on negative affect [F(1,116)=25.23, p<.001] than controls. Behavioral Inhibition System scores were higher in women than men [F(1,116)=14.03, p<.001]. Higher BAS and motor impulsivity in SDI women relative to SDI men and control women suggest that personality traits that have been previously associated with drug use may be modulated by sex. These factors may contribute to differences in the disease course observed in male compared to female drug users. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

German validation of the BIDQ-S questionnaire on body image disturbance in idiopathic scoliosis.

PubMed

Wetterkamp, Mark; Thielsch, Meinald T; Gosheger, Georg; Boertz, Patrick; Terheyden, Jan Henrik; Schulte, Tobias L

2017-02-01

The Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire-Scoliosis (BIDQ-S) is a seven-item questionnaire inquiring into patients' worries about back shape and associated problems at school, at work, with friends or family, and whether the patients are avoiding certain activities. The aim of this study was to translate the BIDQ-S into German (G-BIDQ-S), test its reliability, and establish its convergent, divergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity. In a prospective cohort study, 259 patients with idiopathic scoliosis (mean age 30.2; 221 female; mean Cobb angle 43.8°) completed the G-BIDQ-S; Scoliosis Research Society 22-r (SRS 22-r); Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9); Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS); Questionnaire on Body Dysmorphic Symptoms (FKS); and WHO-5 Well-Being Index. Healthy control individuals matched by age, sex and BMI (n = 149; mean age 36.1; 133 female; BMI = 23.0) answered the same questions to establish discriminant validity. Discriminant statistics, and Pearson and Spearman correlations were calculated. The G-BIDQ-S proved to be one-factorial, internally consistent (Cronbach alpha = 0.87), and stable over time (total score 2.22 vs. 2.21 during retest; retest reliability r = 0.79, P < 0.001). It correlated significantly with the mean SRS 22-r (r = -0.72, P < 0.001) and with Cobb angles (r = 0.30, P < 0.001)-convergent validity; much less with body mass index (r = 0.19, P < 0.001)-divergent validity; and with the PANAS (r = 0.55, P < 0.001), PHQ-9 (r = 0.53, P < 0.001), FKS (r = 0.67, P < 0.001), and WHO-5 (r = -0.54, P < 0.001)-concurrent validity. The G-BIDQ-S also showed discriminant validity, with a strong difference between the scoliosis group (total score 2.19) and the control group (total score 1.13; P < 0.001). The G-BIDQ-S showed good internal consistency, reliability, and convergent, divergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity. This questionnaire is the first one inquiring into patients' body image disturbances that has been validated and is available in German.

The Quality of Life in Pregnant Women Conceiving Through in Vitro Fertilization.

PubMed

Globevnik Velikonja, Vislava; Lozej, Tina; Leban, Gaja; Verdenik, Ivan; Vrtačnik Bokal, Eda

2016-03-01

The aim was to determine whether pregnant women conceiving through in vitro fertilization (IVF) differ from those conceiving spontaneously in terms of psychological well-being and the quality of life. In a prospective study we included 75 women conceived after IVF and 78 who conceived spontaneously in the same time period (control group). All the women were sent a self-report questionnaire about demographic and reproductive history, health, pregnancy concerns, containing Subjective Quality of Life Scale (QLS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Zung Self-Assessment Anxiety Scale (SAS); obstetric and newborn's data were obtained from medical records. Response rate was 66.6% in the IVF and 83.3% in control group. The mean women's age was 33.8 years in the IVF, and 32.5 years in the control group (NS). There were no significant differences between groups on the most of the outcome measures assessing psychological status. IVF mothers were just less satisfied in "friend/acquaintances" (P=0.03), a higher percentage had sexual problems prior to conception (P=0.03); the length of hospitalization during pregnancy was longer (P=0.02), and the preterm delivery rate was higher (P=0.01). Withingroup changes over gestation time indicated that IVF women, not controls, showed an increase in positive affect (P=0.04) and purpose in life (P=0.05). IVF women are inclined to social isolation. Despite more medical problems during pregnancy, they reported improved positive emotions and purpose in life as the pregnancy progressed.

The Quality of Life in Pregnant Women Conceiving Through in Vitro Fertilization

PubMed Central

GLOBEVNIK VELIKONJA, Vislava; LOZEJ, Tina; LEBAN, Gaja; VERDENIK, Ivan; VRTAČNIK BOKAL, Eda

2016-01-01

Objective The aim was to determine whether pregnant women conceiving through in vitro fertilization (IVF) differ from those conceiving spontaneously in terms of psychological well-being and the quality of life. Methods In a prospective study we included 75 women conceived after IVF and 78 who conceived spontaneously in the same time period (control group). All the women were sent a self-report questionnaire about demographic and reproductive history, health, pregnancy concerns, containing Subjective Quality of Life Scale (QLS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Zung Self-Assessment Anxiety Scale (SAS); obstetric and newborn’s data were obtained from medical records. Response rate was 66.6% in the IVF and 83.3% in control group. Results The mean women’s age was 33.8 years in the IVF, and 32.5 years in the control group (NS). There were no significant differences between groups on the most of the outcome measures assessing psychological status. IVF mothers were just less satisfied in “friend/acquaintances” (P=0.03), a higher percentage had sexual problems prior to conception (P=0.03); the length of hospitalization during pregnancy was longer (P=0.02), and the preterm delivery rate was higher (P=0.01). Withingroup changes over gestation time indicated that IVF women, not controls, showed an increase in positive affect (P=0.04) and purpose in life (P=0.05). Conclusions IVF women are inclined to social isolation. Despite more medical problems during pregnancy, they reported improved positive emotions and purpose in life as the pregnancy progressed. PMID:27647083

Psychological Effects of a 1-Month Meditation Retreat on Experienced Meditators: The Role of Non-attachment.

PubMed

Montero-Marin, Jesus; Puebla-Guedea, Marta; Herrera-Mercadal, Paola; Cebolla, Ausias; Soler, Joaquim; Demarzo, Marcelo; Vazquez, Carmelo; Rodríguez-Bornaetxea, Fernando; García-Campayo, Javier

2016-01-01

Background: There are few studies devoted to assessing the impact of meditation-intensive retreats on the well-being, positive psychology, and personality of experienced meditators. We aimed to assess whether a 1-month Vipassana retreat: (a) would increase mindfulness and well-being; (b) would increase prosocial personality traits; and (c) whether psychological changes would be mediated and/or moderated by non-attachment. Method: A controlled, non-randomized, pre-post-intervention trial was used. The intervention group was a convenience sample ( n = 19) of experienced meditators who participated in a 1-month Vipassana meditation retreat. The control group ( n = 19) comprised matched experienced meditators who did not take part in the retreat. During the retreat, the mean duration of daily practice was 8-9 h, the diet was vegetarian and silence was compulsory. The Experiences Questionnaire (EQ), Non-attachment Scale (NAS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), Temperament Character Inventory Revised (TCI-R-67), Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Self-Other Four Immeasurables (SOFI) and the MINDSENS Composite Index were administered. ANCOVAs and linear regression models were used to assess pre-post changes and mediation/moderation effects. Results: Compared to controls, retreatants showed increases in non-attachment, observing, MINDSENS, positive-affect, balance-affect, and cooperativeness; and decreases in describing, negative-others, reward-dependence and self-directedness. Non-attachment had a mediating role in decentring, acting aware, non-reactivity, negative-affect, balance-affect and self-directedness; and a moderating role in describing and positive others, with both mediating and moderating effects on satisfaction with life. Conclusions: A 1-month Vipassana meditation retreat seems to yield improvements in mindfulness, well-being, and personality, even in experienced meditators. Non-attachment might facilitate psychological improvements of meditation, making it possible to overcome possible ceiling effects ascribed to non-intensive practices.

Psychological Effects of a 1-Month Meditation Retreat on Experienced Meditators: The Role of Non-attachment

PubMed Central

Montero-Marin, Jesus; Puebla-Guedea, Marta; Herrera-Mercadal, Paola; Cebolla, Ausias; Soler, Joaquim; Demarzo, Marcelo; Vazquez, Carmelo; Rodríguez-Bornaetxea, Fernando; García-Campayo, Javier

2016-01-01

Background: There are few studies devoted to assessing the impact of meditation-intensive retreats on the well-being, positive psychology, and personality of experienced meditators. We aimed to assess whether a 1-month Vipassana retreat: (a) would increase mindfulness and well-being; (b) would increase prosocial personality traits; and (c) whether psychological changes would be mediated and/or moderated by non-attachment. Method: A controlled, non-randomized, pre-post-intervention trial was used. The intervention group was a convenience sample (n = 19) of experienced meditators who participated in a 1-month Vipassana meditation retreat. The control group (n = 19) comprised matched experienced meditators who did not take part in the retreat. During the retreat, the mean duration of daily practice was 8–9 h, the diet was vegetarian and silence was compulsory. The Experiences Questionnaire (EQ), Non-attachment Scale (NAS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), Temperament Character Inventory Revised (TCI-R-67), Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Self-Other Four Immeasurables (SOFI) and the MINDSENS Composite Index were administered. ANCOVAs and linear regression models were used to assess pre-post changes and mediation/moderation effects. Results: Compared to controls, retreatants showed increases in non-attachment, observing, MINDSENS, positive-affect, balance-affect, and cooperativeness; and decreases in describing, negative-others, reward-dependence and self-directedness. Non-attachment had a mediating role in decentring, acting aware, non-reactivity, negative-affect, balance-affect and self-directedness; and a moderating role in describing and positive others, with both mediating and moderating effects on satisfaction with life. Conclusions: A 1-month Vipassana meditation retreat seems to yield improvements in mindfulness, well-being, and personality, even in experienced meditators. Non-attachment might facilitate psychological improvements of meditation, making it possible to overcome possible ceiling effects ascribed to non-intensive practices. PMID:28018270

Exploring the Wisdom Structure: Validation of the Spanish New Short Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS) and Its Explanatory Power on Psychological Health-Related Variables.

PubMed

García-Campayo, Javier; Del Hoyo, Yolanda L; Barceló-Soler, Alberto; Navarro-Gil, Mayte; Borao, Luis; Giarin, Veronica; Tovar-Garcia, R Raziel; Montero-Marin, Jesus

2018-01-01

Introduction: Personal wisdom has demonstrated important implications for the health of individuals. The aim of the present study was to validate a Spanish version of the Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS), exploring the structure of a possible general factor, and assessing its explanatory power on psychological health-related variables. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used, with a total sample of 624 Spanish participants recruited on the Internet and randomly split into two halves. The following instruments were applied: 3D-WS, Purpose in Life (PIL), Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Factorial structures were analyzed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA), and the general factor was characterized by using bifactor models. The explanatory power of the 3D-WS was established by multiple regression. Results: The original long and short versions of the 3D-WS were not replicated in the first subsample using EFA, and there was a high rate of cross-loadings. Thus, a new short 3D-WS was proposed by ordering the original items according to factorial weights. This three-correlated-factor (reflective, cognitive, and affective) proposal was tested by means of CFA in the second subsample, with adequate psychometrics and invariance, and a good fit (χ 2 /df = 1.98; CFI = 0.946; RMSEA = 0.056; 90% CI = 0.040-0.072). A bifactor structure, in which the reflective trait of wisdom was integrated into a general factor (G-Reflective) improved the model fit (χ 2 /df = 1.85; CFI = 0.959; RMSEA = 0.052; 90% CI = 0.035-0.070). The explained common variance of G-Reflective was 0.53; therefore, the new short 3D-WS should not be considered essentially unidimensional. The new short 3D-WS showed positive relationships with the PIL and PANAS-positive, and negative associations with the MSBS, PANAS-negative and DERS, contributing to explain all the referred variables. These results were consistent across subsamples. Conclusion: The new short 3D-WS appears to be a reliable instrument for measuring wisdom in the Spanish general population. The reflective facet might influence the cognitive and affective wisdom components through the G-Reflective general factor. There seems to be a high explanatory power of the 3D-WS on psychological health-related variables. This study will facilitate the development of future research and psychological knowledge regarding wisdom.

From Decent Work to Decent Lives: Positive Self and Relational Management (PS&RM) in the Twenty-First Century

PubMed Central

Di Fabio, Annamaria; Kenny, Maureen E.

2016-01-01

The aim of the present study is to empirically test the theoretical model, Positive Self and Relational Management (PS&RM), for a sample of 184 Italian university students. The PS&RM model specifies the development of individuals' strengths, potentials, and talents across the lifespan and with regard to the dialect of self in relationship. PS&RM is defined theoretically by three constructs: Positive Lifelong Life Management, Positive Lifelong Self-Management, Positive Lifelong Relational Management. The three constructs are operationalized as follows: Positive Lifelong Life Management is measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Meaningful Life Measure (MLM), and the Authenticity Scale (AS); Positive Lifelong Self-Management is measured by the Intrapreneurial Self-Capital Scale (ISC), the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS), and the Life Project Reflexivity Scale (LPRS); and Positive Lifelong Relational Management is measured by the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue), the Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Positive Relational Management Scale (PRMS). Confirmatory factor analysis of the PS&RM model was completed using structural equation modeling. The theoretical PS&RM model was empirically tested as defined by the three hypothesized constructs. Empirical support for this model offers a framework for further research and the design of preventive interventions to promote decent work and decent lives in the twenty-first century. PMID:27047406

Non-visual biological effects of light on human cognition, alertness, and mood

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Huaye; Wang, Huihui; Shen, Junfei; Sun, Peng; Xie, Ting; Zhang, Siman; Zheng, Zhenrong

2017-09-01

Light exerts non-visual effects on a wide range of biological functions and behavior apart from the visual effect. Light can regulate human circadian rhythms, like the secretion of melatonin and cortisol. Light also has influence on body's physiological parameters, such as blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. However, human cognitive performance, alertness and mood under different lighting conditions have not been considered thoroughly especially for the complicated visual task like surgical operating procedure. In this paper, an experiment was conducted to investigate the cognition, alertness and mood of healthy participants in a simulated operating room (OR) in the hospital. A LED surgical lamp was used as the light source, which is mixed by three color LEDs (amber, green and blue). The surgical lamp is flexible on both spectrum and intensity. Exposed to different light settings, which are varied from color temperature and luminance, participants were asked to take psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) for alertness measurement, alphabet test for cognitive performance measurement, positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) for mood measurement. The result showed the participants' cognitive performance, alertness and mood are related to the color temperature and luminance of the LED light. This research will have a guidance for the surgical lighting environment, which can not only enhance doctors' efficiency during the operations, but also create a positive and peaceful surgical lighting environment.

Short and Long Term Effects of Left and Bilateral Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Schizophrenia Patients with Auditory Verbal Hallucinations: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Bais, Leonie; Vercammen, Ans; Stewart, Roy; van Es, Frank; Visser, Bert; Aleman, André; Knegtering, Henderikus

2014-01-01

Background Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left temporo-parietal junction area has been studied as a treatment option for auditory verbal hallucinations. Although the right temporo-parietal junction area has also shown involvement in the genesis of auditory verbal hallucinations, no studies have used bilateral stimulation. Moreover, little is known about durability effects. We studied the short and long term effects of 1 Hz treatment of the left temporo-parietal junction area in schizophrenia patients with persistent auditory verbal hallucinations, compared to sham stimulation, and added an extra treatment arm of bilateral TPJ area stimulation. Methods In this randomized controlled trial, 51 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and persistent auditory verbal hallucinations were randomly allocated to treatment of the left or bilateral temporo-parietal junction area or sham treatment. Patients were treated for six days, twice daily for 20 minutes. Short term efficacy was measured with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Auditory Hallucinations Rating Scale (AHRS), and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). We included follow-up measures with the AHRS and PANAS at four weeks and three months. Results The interaction between time and treatment for Hallucination item P3 of the PANSS showed a trend for significance, caused by a small reduction of scores in the left group. Although self-reported hallucination scores, as measured with the AHRS and PANAS, decreased significantly during the trial period, there were no differences between the three treatment groups. Conclusion We did not find convincing evidence for the efficacy of left-sided rTMS, compared to sham rTMS. Moreover, bilateral rTMS was not superior over left rTMS or sham in improving AVH. Optimizing treatment parameters may result in stronger evidence for the efficacy of rTMS treatment of AVH. Moreover, future research should consider investigating factors predicting individual response. Trial Registration Dutch Trial Register NTR1813 PMID:25329799

Positive and Negative Affect in Clinic-Referred Youth With ADHD.

PubMed

Okado, Izumi; Mueller, Charles W; Nakamura, Brad J

2016-01-01

To examine self-reported positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) among youth with ADHD (only and comorbid) and other non-ADHD-referred youth in an ethnically diverse clinical sample. Semi-structured interviews identified 80 pure ADHD, 284 ADHD plus one or more comorbidities, and 730 non-ADHD youth (e.g., other diagnoses or no diagnosis). The Positive and Negative Affect Scale-Children (PANAS-C) was used to assess affective states. Even after controlling for the influence of potential confounds, youth with only ADHD reported higher PA and lower NA than other clinic-referred youth. The ADHD-comorbid group reported higher PA than the "non-ADHD" group, but these groups did not differ on level of NA. ADHD subtype did not influence results. Among clinic-referred youth, ADHD is associated with higher levels of PA and when there are no comorbid disorders, lower levels of NA. © The Author(s) 2013.

Subscales measuring symptoms of non-specific depression, anhedonia, and anxiety in the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.

PubMed

Tuohy, Alan; McVey, Cynthia

2008-06-01

There has been considerable research and clinical interest in the comorbidity of anxiety and depression in the post-partum period, and specifically in the possibility that the commonly used Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) incorporates an anxiety component. We hypothesized that the recommended version of factor analysis (Fabrigar, Wegener, MacCallum, & Strahan, 1999) would identify such covert dimensions more reliably than the commonly used principal components analysis with varimax rotation and eigenvalues greater than 1. Principal axis factor extraction with parallel analysis and oblique (direct quartimin) factor rotation was applied to the 10 EPDS items. The study used a sample of recent mothers recruited and assessed via e-mail and the Internet (N=440). In addition to the EPDS, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS) were also administered. Three factors were found, which were identified as 'non-specific depressive symptoms', 'anhedonia', and 'anxietal symptoms' subscales, respectively. These subscales were regressed on the HADS anxiety and depression and the PANAS positive and negative affectivity scales, with results substantially consistent with current structural models of the taxonomy of the emotional disorders. The data were obtained from a self-selected non-clinical sample. In addition, it is known that the use of computer-based assessment may tend to inflate self-report scores. It was concluded that there is now sufficient evidence that clinicians should not assume the EPDS to be unidimensional, but should assess all three subscales when screening for susceptibility to post-partum depression and/or post-partum anxiety.

Affective alterations in patients with Cushing's syndrome in remission are associated with decreased BDNF and cortisone levels.

PubMed

Valassi, E; Crespo, I; Keevil, B G; Aulinas, A; Urgell, E; Santos, A; Trainer, P J; Webb, S M

2017-02-01

Affective alterations and poorer quality of life often persist in patients with Cushing's syndrome (CS) in remission. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) regulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and is highly expressed in brain areas controlling mood and response to stress. Our aims were to assess affective alterations after long-term remission of CS and evaluate whether they are associated with serum BDNF, salivary cortisol (SalF) and/or cortisone (SalE) concentrations. Thirty-six CS patients in remission (32 females/4 males; mean age (±s.d.), 48.8 ± 11.8 years; median duration of remission, 72 months) and 36 gender-, age- and BMI-matched controls were included. Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Positive Affect Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and EuroQoL and CushingQoL questionnaires were completed and measured to evaluate anxiety, depression, stress perception and quality of life (QoL) respectively. Salivary cortisol was measured using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/TMS). BDNF was measured in serum using an ELISA. Remitted CS patients showed worse scores in all questionnaires than controls: STAI (P < 0.001), BDI (P < 0.001), CES-D (P < 0.001), PANAS (P < 0.01), PSS (P < 0.01) and EuroQoL (P < 0.01). A decrease in BDNF was observed in CS vs controls (P = 0.038), and low BDNF was associated with more anxiety (r = -0.247, P = 0.037), depression (r = -0.249, P = 0.035), stress (r = -0.277, P = 0.019) and affective balance (r = 0.243, P = 0.04). Morning salivary cortisone was inversely associated with trait anxiety (r = -0.377, P = 0.040) and depressed affect (r = -0.392, P = 0.032) in CS patients. Delay to diagnosis was associated with depressive symptoms (BDI-II: r = 0.398, P = 0.036 and CES-D: r = 0.449, P = 0.017) and CushingQoL scoring (r = -0.460, P < 0.01). Low BDNF levels are associated with affective alterations in 'cured' CS patients, including depression, anxiety and impaired stress perception. Elevated levels of SalE might also be related to poor affective status in these patients. © 2017 European Society of Endocrinology.

Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault: The possible role of rheology

USGS Publications Warehouse

ten Brink, Uri S.; Miller, Nathaniel; Andrews, Brian; Brothers, Daniel; Haeussler, Peter J.

2018-01-01

The Pacific/North America (PA/NA) plate boundary between Vancouver Island and Alaska is similar to the PA/NA boundary in California in its kinematic history and the rate and azimuth of current relative motion, yet their deformation styles are distinct. The California plate boundary shows a broad zone of parallel strike slip and thrust faults and folds, whereas the 49‐mm/yr PA/NA relative plate motion in Canada and Alaska is centered on a single, narrow, continuous ~900‐km‐long fault, the Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF). Using gravity analysis, we propose that this plate boundary is centered on the continent/ocean boundary (COB), an unusual location for continental transform faults because plate boundaries typically localize within the continental lithosphere, which is weaker. Because the COB is a boundary between materials of contrasting elastic properties, once a fault is established there, it will probably remain stable. We propose that deformation progressively shifted to the COB in the wake of Yakutat terrane's northward motion along the margin. Minor convergence across the plate boundary is probably accommodated by fault reactivation on Pacific crust and by an eastward dipping QCF. Underthrusting of Pacific slab under Haida Gwaii occurs at convergence angles >14°–15° and may have been responsible for the emergence of the archipelago. The calculated slab entry dip (5°–8°) suggests that the slab probably does not extend into the asthenosphere. The PA/NA plate boundary at the QCF can serve as a structurally simple site to investigate the impact of rheology and composition on crustal deformation and the initiation of slab underthrusting.

Mood and its association with metabolic health in adolescents: a longitudinal study, EarlyBird 65.

PubMed

Jeffery, Alison N; Hyland, Michael E; Hosking, Joanne; Wilkin, Terence J

2014-12-01

Mood comprises two main traits - positive and negative affect, both associated with depression and anxiety. Studies in children have linked depression with obesity, but the association with metabolic health is unclear. To explore the relationship between mood and metabolic health in adolescents. We studied 208 healthy children (115 boys) enrolled in the longitudinal EarlyBird Diabetes Study, and reviewed at 7 and 16 yr. Participants completed the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule - Child Form (PANAS-C) at 16yr to assess positive and negative affect, together representing mood. Measures at 7 and 16 yr: body mass index (BMI), fat (%; dual energy X-ray absorptiometry), physical activity (accelerometer), metabolic risk z-score comprising homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), triglycerides, total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio and blood pressure. Pubertal development was determined by age at peak height velocity. Positive affect was higher in boys than girls, (50 vs. 46, p = 0.001), negative affect higher in girls than boys (26 vs. 22, p < 0.001). Those with lower mood were fatter (r = -0.24, p < 0.001), had higher HOMA-IR (r = -0.12, p = 0.05), higher cholesterol:HDL ratio (r = -0.14, p = 0.02), were less active (r = 0.20, p = 0.003) and had earlier pubertal development (r = 0.19, p = 0.004). Inverse associations between mood and metabolic risk z-score and change in metabolic risk z-score 7-16yr (β = -0.26, p = 0.006, and -0.40, p = 0.004, respectively) were independent of adiposity, physical activity and puberty and sex. Low mood in healthy children is associated with poorer metabolic health independently of adiposity. These findings may have implications for the physical and mental health of contemporary youngsters, given their increasing obesity and cardiometabolic risk. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cognitive and affective mechanisms linking trait mindfulness to craving among individuals in addiction recovery.

PubMed

Garland, Eric L; Roberts-Lewis, Amelia; Kelley, Karen; Tronnier, Christine; Hanley, Adam

2014-04-01

The present study aimed to identify affective, cognitive, and conative mediators of the relation between trait mindfulness and craving in data culled from an urban sample of 165 persons (in abstinence verified by urinalysis) entering into residential treatment for substance use disorders between 2010 and 2012. Multivariate path analysis adjusting for age, gender, education level, employment status, and substance use frequency indicated that the association between the total trait mindfulness score on the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and alcohol/drug craving was statistically mediated by negative affect (measured by the PANAS, beta = -.13) and cognitive reappraisal (measured by the CERQ, beta = -.08), but not by readiness to change (measured by the URICA, beta = -.001). Implications for mindfulness-oriented treatment of persons with substance use disorders are discussed. The study's limitations are noted.

The relationship between subjective perception and the psychological effects of patients in spatial isolation.

PubMed

Ibert, Fabienne; Eckstein, Monika; Günther, Frank; Mutters, Nico T

2017-01-01

Background: Spatial isolation is a common infection control measure, but negative psychological effects are often neglected. We investigated which factors influence the perception of single room isolated patients. Methods: In the present correlative cross-sectional study, 32 isolated patients have been interviewed within three departments of the Heidelberg University Hospital, one of Germany's largest hospitals. The following questionnaires were used: 10-Item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and a self-developed questionnaire to evaluate the individual experience of isolation. Data were analysed using correlation and regression analysis. Results: A significant positive correlation was found between the isolation period and anxiety (r=.42, p<.05). Interestingly, a significant positive correlation was demonstrated between the duration of contact to nursing staff and negative daydreaming (r=.89, p<.01). The activity watching television was associated with higher levels of anxiety (r=.38, p<.05). Surfing the internet had a positive relationship with thinking about beautiful things (r=.41, p<.05). Conclusions: Our study results have implications how to improve the psychological situation of patients during spatial isolation. Contact between nursing staff and patients is crucial, since this contact significantly associated with negative daydreaming, probably due to increased neediness of emotional and physical care in some patients. The duration of the isolation has an influence on the experience of anxiety. Activities to cope with the isolation, however, not always have positive effects on the well-being of the patient.

Emotion experience and frailty in a sample of Italian community-dwelling older adults

PubMed Central

Mulasso, Anna; Argiolu, Laura; Roppolo, Mattia; Azucar, Danny; Rabaglietti, Emanuela

2017-01-01

Frailty increases individual vulnerability to external stressors and involves high risk for adverse geriatric outcomes. To date, few studies have addressed the role of emotion perception and its association with frailty in aged populations. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore whether a significant association between frailty and emotional experience exists in a sample of Italian community-dwelling older adults. Our sample consisted of 104 older adults (age 76±8 years; 59.6% women) living in Piedmont, Italy. Frailty was measured using the Italian version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), and emotion perception was measured with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The Mini–Mental State Examination was used as a screening tool for cognitive functions (people with a score ≤20 points were excluded). One-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), adjusted for interesting variables, and post hoc tests were performed where appropriate. According to the TFI, 57.7% of participants resulted as frail. Analysis showed a significant greater severity of frailty in the low positive affect (PA) group compared to the high PA group. Similarly, those with high negative affect (NA) showed significantly higher levels of frailty than the low NA group. As expected, significant differences for frailty were also found among the groups composed of 1) people with high PA and low NA, 2) people with low PA or high NA, and 3) people with low PA and high NA. Post hoc tests showed a greater severity of frailty in the second and in the third groups compared to the first one. Lastly, robust participants aged >75 years showed higher levels of PA than the group aged between 60 and 75 years. These findings demonstrate that both PA and NA may influence frailty, giving new insights for the evaluation and prevention of frailty in older adults. PMID:29238176

[An attempt to construct a Japanese version of the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT)].

PubMed

Shimoda, Shunsuke; Okubo, Nobutoshi; Kobayashi, Mai; Sato, Shigetaka; Kitamura, Hideya

2014-08-01

The Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT) is an instrument for the indirect assessment of positive and negative affect. A Japanese version of the IPANAT was developed and its reliability and validity were examined. In Study 1, factor analysis identified two independent factors that could be interpreted as implicit positive and negative affect, which corresponded to the original version. The Japanese IPANAT also had sufficient internal consistency and acceptable test-retest reliability. In Study 2, we demonstrated that the Japanese IPANAT was associated with explicit state affect (e.g., PANAS), extraversion, and neuroticism, which indicated its adequate construct validity. In Study 3, we examined the extent to which the Japanese IPANAT was sensitive to changes in affect by assessing a set of IPANAT items after the presentation of positive, negative, or neutral photographs. The results indicated that the Japanese IPANAT was sufficiently sensitive to changes in affect resulting from affective stimuli. Taken together, these studies suggest that the Japanese version of the IPANAT is a useful instrument for the indirect assessment of positive and negative affect.

Dull to Social Acceptance Rather than Sensitivity to Social Ostracism in Interpersonal Interaction for Depression: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence from Cyberball Tasks.

PubMed

Zhang, Qing; Li, Xiaosi; Wang, Kai; Zhou, Xiaoqin; Dong, Yi; Zhang, Lei; Xie, Wen; Mu, Jingjing; Li, Hongchen; Zhu, Chunyan; Yu, Fengqiong

2017-01-01

Objectives: Impairments in interpersonal relationships in depression present as irritability, pessimism, and withdrawal, and play an important role in the onset and maintenance of the disorder. However, we know little about the neurological causes of this impaired interpersonal function. This study used the event-related brain potential (ERP) version of the Cyberball paradigm to investigate the emotions and neural activities in depressive patients during social inclusion and exclusion simultaneously to explore neuropsychological mechanisms. Methods: Electrophysiological data were recorded when 27 depressed patients and 23 healthy controls (HCs) performed a virtual ball tossing game (Cyberball) during which the participants believed they were playing with two other co-players over the internet. The Cyberball paradigm included two other conditions; inclusion during which participants received the ball with the same probability as the other players to experience a feeling of acceptance, and exclusion during which the participants experienced a feeling of ostracism when the other two players threw the ball with each other. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was used as a baseline and after each block during the Cyberball to assess positive and negative effects. In addition, a brief Need-Threat Scale (NTS) was used to assess the fulfillment of basic needs of subjects after each block and 10 min after ostracism. Moreover, the relationship between the ERP data of depression and clinical symptoms was analyzed. Results: Exclusion compared to inclusion Cyberball caused a decrease in positive affect and an increase in negative affect. The group differences were only found in the positive affect. Moreover, patients reported a lower level of basic needs than did HCs after social inclusion, but a similar level of basic needs after social exclusion. At the electrophysiological level, patients showed decreased P3 amplitudes compared to HCs in social inclusion, and P3 amplitudes were borderline negatively correlated with their scores of anhedonia symptoms. Limitations: A limitation of our study was that the subjects' criteria were different. Conclusions: The behavioral and electrophysiological results indicated that the interpersonal problems in depressive patients were mainly due to deficits in processing the pleasurable social stimuli rather than aversive social cues.

Beyond Disease: Happiness, Goals, and Meanings among Persons with Multiple Sclerosis and Their Caregivers.

PubMed

Delle Fave, Antonella; Bassi, Marta; Allegri, Beatrice; Cilia, Sabina; Falautano, Monica; Goretti, Benedetta; Grobberio, Monica; Minacapelli, Eleonora; Pattini, Marianna; Pietrolongo, Erika; Valsecchi, Manuela; Amato, Maria Pia; Lugaresi, Alessandra; Patti, Francesco

2017-01-01

The experience of persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their caregivers is usually investigated in terms of emotional distress and health-related quality of life, while well-being indicators remain largely underexplored. In addition, findings are often interpreted from the clinical perspective, neglecting socio-cultural aspects that may crucially contribute to individuals' functioning. At the methodological level, most studies rely on scaled instruments, not allowing participants to freely express their needs and resources. Based on the bio-psycho-social perspective endorsed by the International Classification of Functioning, well-being indicators were investigated among 62 persons with MS (PwMS), their 62 caregivers and two control groups, matched by age and gender. Participants completed the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Eudaimonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation instrument (EHHI). EHHI provides information on participants' happiness, goals and meanings through scaled and open-ended questions, contextualized within major life domains. No relevant differences emerged among PwMS and caregivers, compared with the respective control groups, as concerns life domains associated with happiness, goals and meaning. Participants across groups prominently mentioned family, highlighting its intrinsic value and its relevance as a sharing context; health did not represent a major theme for PwMS; community, society and religion/spirituality issues were substantially neglected by all participants. PwMS and caregivers reported lower levels of positive affect than their control groups, while no substantial differences emerged for negative affect, happiness and meaningfulness levels in life and across most domains. Results suggest that the experience of MS is associated with well-being in relevant life domains, such as family and close relationships. Although PwMS and caregivers identified a lower number of goals and meaning-related opportunities compared to control groups, they showed a positive adjustment to disease through the development of personal and family resources. These assets are often undervalued by health professionals and social institutions, while they could be fruitfully exploited through the active involvement of PwMS and their families as expert and exemplary informants in initiatives aimed at promoting the well-being of individuals and communities.

Beyond Disease: Happiness, Goals, and Meanings among Persons with Multiple Sclerosis and Their Caregivers

PubMed Central

Delle Fave, Antonella; Bassi, Marta; Allegri, Beatrice; Cilia, Sabina; Falautano, Monica; Goretti, Benedetta; Grobberio, Monica; Minacapelli, Eleonora; Pattini, Marianna; Pietrolongo, Erika; Valsecchi, Manuela; Amato, Maria Pia; Lugaresi, Alessandra; Patti, Francesco

2017-01-01

The experience of persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their caregivers is usually investigated in terms of emotional distress and health-related quality of life, while well-being indicators remain largely underexplored. In addition, findings are often interpreted from the clinical perspective, neglecting socio-cultural aspects that may crucially contribute to individuals' functioning. At the methodological level, most studies rely on scaled instruments, not allowing participants to freely express their needs and resources. Based on the bio-psycho-social perspective endorsed by the International Classification of Functioning, well-being indicators were investigated among 62 persons with MS (PwMS), their 62 caregivers and two control groups, matched by age and gender. Participants completed the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Eudaimonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation instrument (EHHI). EHHI provides information on participants' happiness, goals and meanings through scaled and open-ended questions, contextualized within major life domains. No relevant differences emerged among PwMS and caregivers, compared with the respective control groups, as concerns life domains associated with happiness, goals and meaning. Participants across groups prominently mentioned family, highlighting its intrinsic value and its relevance as a sharing context; health did not represent a major theme for PwMS; community, society and religion/spirituality issues were substantially neglected by all participants. PwMS and caregivers reported lower levels of positive affect than their control groups, while no substantial differences emerged for negative affect, happiness and meaningfulness levels in life and across most domains. Results suggest that the experience of MS is associated with well-being in relevant life domains, such as family and close relationships. Although PwMS and caregivers identified a lower number of goals and meaning-related opportunities compared to control groups, they showed a positive adjustment to disease through the development of personal and family resources. These assets are often undervalued by health professionals and social institutions, while they could be fruitfully exploited through the active involvement of PwMS and their families as expert and exemplary informants in initiatives aimed at promoting the well-being of individuals and communities PMID:29326635

The relationship between subjective perception and the psychological effects of patients in spatial isolation

PubMed Central

Ibert, Fabienne; Eckstein, Monika; Günther, Frank; Mutters, Nico T.

2017-01-01

Background: Spatial isolation is a common infection control measure, but negative psychological effects are often neglected. We investigated which factors influence the perception of single room isolated patients. Methods: In the present correlative cross-sectional study, 32 isolated patients have been interviewed within three departments of the Heidelberg University Hospital, one of Germany’s largest hospitals. The following questionnaires were used: 10-Item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and a self-developed questionnaire to evaluate the individual experience of isolation. Data were analysed using correlation and regression analysis. Results: A significant positive correlation was found between the isolation period and anxiety (r=.42, p<.05). Interestingly, a significant positive correlation was demonstrated between the duration of contact to nursing staff and negative daydreaming (r=.89, p<.01). The activity watching television was associated with higher levels of anxiety (r=.38, p<.05). Surfing the internet had a positive relationship with thinking about beautiful things (r=.41, p<.05). Conclusions: Our study results have implications how to improve the psychological situation of patients during spatial isolation. Contact between nursing staff and patients is crucial, since this contact significantly associated with negative daydreaming, probably due to increased neediness of emotional and physical care in some patients. The duration of the isolation has an influence on the experience of anxiety. Activities to cope with the isolation, however, not always have positive effects on the well-being of the patient. PMID:28840091

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial evaluating the effect of intranasal insulin on cognition and mood in individuals with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Cha, Danielle S; Best, Michael W; Bowie, Christopher R; Gallaugher, Laura Ashley; Woldeyohannes, Hanna O; Soczynska, Joanna K; Lewis, Gary; MacQueen, Glenda; Sahakian, Barbara J; Kennedy, Sidney H; Lui, Jane P; Mansur, Rodrigo B; McIntyre, Roger S

2017-03-01

Cognitive dysfunction in major depressive disorder (MDD) is identified as a primary therapeutic target; no current treatment is approved for the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in MDD. We examined whether intranasal insulin offered a beneficial effect across measures of cognitive function in adults with MDD. Thirty-five adults (18-65 years of age: 47.09±9.89) meeting criteria for a major depressive episode as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-IV-Treatment Revised were included in this randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design study. Subjects were not stratified based on baseline cognitive deficit. Subjects were randomized to 4 weeks of either intranasal insulin 40 International Units (IU) taken four times a day (i.e., morning, afternoon, evening, and before bed) (QID) (n=19) or placebo (n=16). No between group differences were observed in change from baseline on total Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score (25.98±2.81), in either of the Positive or Negative subscales of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), or on a global index of neurocognition. The possibility of practice and/or carry over effect could not be excluded. Methodological refinement (e.g., stratification of subjects based on baseline cognitive deficit) may have augmented assay sensitivity. Intranasal insulin did not demonstrate statistically significant improvements on overall mood, aspects of emotional processing, neurocognitive function, or self-reported quality of life patient reported outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mindfulness meditation improves emotion regulation and reduces drug abuse.

PubMed

Tang, Yi-Yuan; Tang, Rongxiang; Posner, Michael I

2016-06-01

The core clinical symptoms of addiction include an enhanced incentive for drug taking (craving), impaired self-control (impulsivity and compulsivity), emotional dysregulation (negative mood) and increased stress reactivity. Symptoms related to impaired self-control involve reduced activity in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), adjacent prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and other brain areas. Behavioral training such as mindfulness meditation can increase the function of control networks including those leading to improved emotion regulation and thus may be a promising approach for the treatment of addiction. In a series of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), we tested whether increased ACC/mPFC activity is related to better self-control abilities in executive functions, emotion regulation and stress response in healthy and addicted populations. After a brief mindfulness training (Integrative Body-Mind Training, IBMT), we used the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Profile of Mood States (POMS) to measure emotion regulation, salivary cortisol for the stress response and fMRI for brain functional and DTI structural changes. Relaxation training was used to serve as an active control. In both smokers and nonsmokers, improved self-control abilities in emotion regulation and stress reduction were found after training and these changes were related to increased ACC/mPFC activity following training. Compared with nonsmokers, smokers showed reduced ACC/mPFC activity in the self-control network before training, and these deficits were ameliorated after training. These results indicate that promoting emotion regulation and improving ACC/mPFC brain activity can help for addiction prevention and treatment. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Psychometric properties of the Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised among a sample of non-clinical Iranian women.

PubMed

Ghassami, Maryam; Asghari, Ali; Shaeeri, Mohammad R; Soltaninejad, Zahra; Safarinejad, Mohammad R

2014-10-01

The present study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of a Persian version of the Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised (P-FSDS-R) among a sample of healthy Iranian women. A total of 562 healthy Iranian women completed a battery of questionnaires, including the P-FSDS-R, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS), Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS) and Locke-Wallace-Marital Adjustment Test (LWMAT). The factor structure and the convergent and divergent validity of the P-FSDS-R were examined, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and Pearson product-moment correlations, respectively. To examine the discriminant validity of the P-FSDS-R, data collected from 562 healthy participants were compared with data from 108 women with sexual problems who completed the P-FSDS-R measure. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the P-FSDS-R is conceptualized within a one - factor model. The results also indicate that the P-FSDS-R has good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Significant correlations in the predicted directions between the P-FSDS-R scores and the scores of DASS, PANAS and LWMAT support both the convergent and divergent validity of the FSDS-R. The results also indicate that the scores of the P-FSDS-R tests significantly differentiated women with and without sexual problems. In general, these findings support the reliability and the validity of the P-FSDS-R among Iranian women.

Physical activity measurement in older adults: relationships with mental health.

PubMed

Parker, Sarah J; Strath, Scott J; Swartz, Ann M

2008-10-01

This study examined the relationship between physical activity (PA) and mental health among older adults as measured by objective and subjective PA-assessment instruments. Pedometers (PED), accelerometers (ACC), and the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) were administered to measure 1 week of PA among 84 adults age 55-87 (mean = 71) years. General mental health was measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWL). Linear regressions revealed that PA estimated by PED significantly predicted 18.1%, 8.3%, and 12.3% of variance in SWL and positive and negative affect, respectively, whereas PA estimated by the PASE did not predict any mental health variables. Results from ACC data were mixed. Hotelling-William tests between correlation coefficients revealed that the relationship between PED and SWL was significantly stronger than the relationship between PASE and SWL. Relationships between PA and mental health might depend on the PA measure used.

Trait positive and negative emotionality differentially associate with diurnal cortisol activity.

PubMed

Miller, Karissa G; Wright, Aidan G C; Peterson, Laurel M; Kamarck, Thomas W; Anderson, Barbara A; Kirschbaum, Clemens; Marsland, Anna L; Muldoon, Matthew F; Manuck, Stephen B

2016-06-01

Inter-individual variability in metrics of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) activity, such as the slope of the diurnal decline in cortisol, cortisol awakening response (CAR), and total cortisol output, have been found to associate inversely with trait ratings of extraversion and positive affect (E/PA) and positively with neuroticism and negative affect (N/NA) in some, but not all, investigations. These inconsistencies may partly reflect varied intensity of cortisol sampling among studies and reliance on self-rated traits, which are subject to reporting biases and limitations of introspection. Here, we further examined dispositional correlates of HPA activity in 490 healthy, employed midlife volunteers (M age=43 years; 54% Female; 86% white). Trait ratings were requested from participants and 2 participant-elected informants using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Extraversion and Neuroticism dimensions of NEO personality inventories. CAR was assessed as percent increase in cortisol levels from awakening to 30min after awakening; and the diurnal slope and total output of cortisol [Area Under the Curve (AUC)] were determined from cortisol measurements taken at awakening, +4 and +9h later, and bedtime, across 3 workdays. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate multi-informant E/PA and N/NA factors. We used 3days of measurement as indicators to model each of the three latent cortisol factors (slope, CAR, and AUC). With the two latent emotionality and three latent cortisol indices included there was good fit to the data (χ(2)(200)=278.38, p=0.0002; RMSEA=0.028, 90% CI=0.02-0.04; CFI/TLI=0.97/0.96; SRMR=0.04). After controlling for covariates (age, sex, race), results showed higher latent E/PA associated with a steeper diurnal slope (Standardized β=-0.19, p=0.02) and smaller CAR (Standardized β=-0.26, p=0.004), whereas N/NA did not associate with any cortisol metric (Standardized β's=-0.12 to 0.13, p's=0.10 to 0.53). These findings suggest that positive emotionality may be more closely associated with indices of diurnal cortisol release than negative emotionality. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trait Positive and Negative Emotionality Differentially Associate with Diurnal Cortisol Activity

PubMed Central

Miller, Karissa G.; Wright, Aidan G.C.; Peterson, Laurel M.; Kamarck, Thomas W.; Anderson, Barbara A.; Kirschbaum, Clemens; Marsland, Anna L.; Muldoon, Matthew F.; Manuck, Stephen B.

2016-01-01

Summary Inter-individual variability in metrics of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) activity, such as the slope of the diurnal decline in cortisol, cortisol awakening response (CAR), and total cortisol output, have been found to associate inversely with trait ratings of extraversion and positive affect (E/PA) and positively with neuroticism and negative affect (N/NA) in some, but not all, investigations. These inconsistencies may partly reflect varied intensity of cortisol sampling among studies and reliance on self-rated traits, which are subject to reporting biases and limitations of introspection. Here, we further examined dispositional correlates of HPA activity in 490 healthy, employed midlife volunteers (M age= 43 years; 54% Female; 86% white). Trait ratings were requested from participants and 2 participant-elected informants using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Extraversion and Neuroticism dimensions of NEO personality inventories. CAR was assessed as percent increase in cortisol levels from awakening to 30 minutes after awakening; and the diurnal slope and total output of cortisol [Area Under the Curve (AUC)] were determined from cortisol measurements taken at awakening, +4 and +9 hours later, and bedtime, across 3 workdays. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate multi-informant E/PA and N/NA factors. We used 3 days of measurement as indicators to model each of the three latent cortisol factors (slope, CAR, and AUC). With the two latent emotionality and three latent cortisol indices included there was good fit to the data (χ2(200)= 278.38, p= .0002; RMSEA= .028, 90% CI= .02–.04; CFI/TLI= .97/.96; SRMR= .04). After controlling for covariates (age, sex, race), results showed higher latent E/PA associated with a steeper diurnal slope (Standardized β= −.19, p= .02) and smaller CAR (Standardized β= −.26, p= .004), whereas N/NA did not associate with any cortisol metric (Standardized β’s= −.12 to .13, p’s= .10 to .53). These findings suggest that positive emotionality may be more closely associated with indices of diurnal cortisol release than negative emotionality. PMID:26986092

Depression and anxiety symptoms among women who carry the FMR1 premutation: impact of raising a child with fragile X syndrome is moderated by CRHR1 polymorphisms.

PubMed

Hunter, Jessica Ezzell; Leslie, Mary; Novak, Gloria; Hamilton, Debra; Shubeck, Lisa; Charen, Krista; Abramowitz, Ann; Epstein, Michael P; Lori, Adriana; Binder, Elisabeth; Cubells, Joseph F; Sherman, Stephanie L

2012-07-01

The fragile X mental retardation gene, FMR1, contains a polymorphic CGG repeat in the 5'-untranslated region of exon 1. Once unstable, this repeat is capable of expansion across generations. Women who carry a premutation allele (55-199 repeats) are at risk of passing on a full mutation allele (>200 repeats) to their offspring. A full mutation leads to the most common form of inherited intellectual disability, fragile X syndrome (FXS). Mounting evidence suggests that premutation carriers may be vulnerable to symptoms of anxiety and depression. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that among women who carry a premutation, the stress of raising a child with FXS would be moderated by genetic factors influencing endogenous cortisol responses, which could in turn modulate anxiety and depression symptoms. To this end, we genotyped single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the corticotrophin releasing hormone receptor 1 locus (CRHR1) in 460 women. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing symptoms of depression [Centers for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD)], anxiety [State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI)], and mood [Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)]. Results indicate a statistically significant interaction between CRHR1 genotype and the status of raising a child with FXS to predict social anxiety symptoms reported on the SPAI (rs7209436, P = 0.0001). Our data suggest that genetic variants in CRHR1 that associate with differential cortisol activation may also modulate levels of anxiety related to the stress of raising a child with FXS among women who carry an FMR1 premutation. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sex differences in the relationship of regional dopamine release to affect and cognitive function in striatal and extrastriatal regions using positron emission tomography and [¹⁸F]fallypride.

PubMed

Riccardi, Patrizia; Park, Sohee; Anderson, Sharlet; Doop, Mikisha; Ansari, M Sib; Schmidt, Dennis; Baldwin, Ronald

2011-02-01

The purpose of this study was to examine sex differences in the correlations of d-amphetamine (d-AMPH) induced displacements of [¹⁸F]fallypride in striatal and extrastriatal regions in relation to affect and cognition. Seven male and six female healthy subjects, whose mean age was 25.9 years, underwent positron emission tomography (PET) with [¹⁸F]fallypride at baseline and 3 h after a 0.43 mg/kg oral dose of d-AMPH. Percent displacements in striatal and extrastriatal regions were calculated using regions of interest (ROI) analysis and on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Subjects underwent neuropsychological testing prior to the baseline PET study and one hour after d-AMPH administration for the second PET. In order to examine the subjective effect of d-AMPH, subjects rated PANAS at baseline and after administration of amphetamine. Correlations of changes in cognition and affect with regional dopamine (DA) release revealed several significant sex related differences. The results of this study demonstrate in vivo sex related differences in the relationship of regional DA release to affect and cognitive function. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Understanding abiotic stress tolerance mechanisms in soybean: a comparative evaluation of soybean response to drought and flooding stress.

PubMed

Mutava, Raymond N; Prince, Silvas Jebakumar K; Syed, Naeem Hasan; Song, Li; Valliyodan, Babu; Chen, Wei; Nguyen, Henry T

2015-01-01

Many sources of drought and flooding tolerance have been identified in soybean, however underlying molecular and physiological mechanisms are poorly understood. Therefore, it is important to illuminate different plant responses to these abiotic stresses and understand the mechanisms that confer tolerance. Towards this goal we used four contrasting soybean (Glycine max) genotypes (PI 567690--drought tolerant, Pana--drought susceptible, PI 408105A--flooding tolerant, S99-2281--flooding susceptible) grown under greenhouse conditions and compared genotypic responses to drought and flooding at the physiological, biochemical, and cellular level. We also quantified these variations and tried to infer their role in drought and flooding tolerance in soybean. Our results revealed that different mechanisms contribute to reduction in net photosynthesis under drought and flooding stress. Under drought stress, ABA and stomatal conductance are responsible for reduced photosynthetic rate; while under flooding stress, accumulation of starch granules played a major role. Drought tolerant genotypes PI 567690 and PI 408105A had higher plastoglobule numbers than the susceptible Pana and S99-2281. Drought stress increased the number and size of plastoglobules in most of the genotypes pointing to a possible role in stress tolerance. Interestingly, there were seven fibrillin proteins localized within the plastoglobules that were up-regulated in the drought and flooding tolerant genotypes PI 567690 and PI 408105A, respectively, but down-regulated in the drought susceptible genotype Pana. These results suggest a potential role of Fibrillin proteins, FBN1a, 1b and 7a in soybean response to drought and flooding stress. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

A convenient method of obtaining percentile norms and accompanying interval estimates for self-report mood scales (DASS, DASS-21, HADS, PANAS, and sAD).

PubMed

Crawford, John R; Garthwaite, Paul H; Lawrie, Caroline J; Henry, Julie D; MacDonald, Marie A; Sutherland, Jane; Sinha, Priyanka

2009-06-01

A series of recent papers have reported normative data from the general adult population for commonly used self-report mood scales. To bring together and supplement these data in order to provide a convenient means of obtaining percentile norms for the mood scales. A computer program was developed that provides point and interval estimates of the percentile rank corresponding to raw scores on the various self-report scales. The program can be used to obtain point and interval estimates of the percentile rank of an individual's raw scores on the DASS, DASS-21, HADS, PANAS, and sAD mood scales, based on normative sample sizes ranging from 758 to 3822. The interval estimates can be obtained using either classical or Bayesian methods as preferred. The computer program (which can be downloaded at www.abdn.ac.uk/~psy086/dept/MoodScore.htm) provides a convenient and reliable means of supplementing existing cut-off scores for self-report mood scales.

Bodily Explorations in Space: Social Experience of a Multimodal Art Installation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacucci, Giulio; Spagnolli, Anna; Chalambalakis, Alessandro; Morrison, Ann; Liikkanen, Lassi; Roveda, Stefano; Bertoncini, Massimo

We contribute with an extensive field study of a public interactive art installation that applies multimodal interface technologies. The installation is part of a Theater production on Galileo Galilei and includes: projected galaxies that are generated and move according to motion of visitors changing colour depending on their voices; projected stars that configure themselves around shadows of visitors. In the study we employ emotion scales (PANAS), qualitative analysis of questionnaire answers and video-recordings. PANAS rates indicate dominantly positive feelings, further described in the subjective verbalizations as gravitating around interest, ludic pleasure and transport. Through the video analysis, we identified three phases in the interaction with the artwork (circumspection, testing, play) and two pervasive features of these phases (experience sharing and imitation), which were also found in the verbalizations. Both video and verbalisations suggest that visitor’s experience and ludic pleasure are rooted in the embodied, performative interaction with the installation, and is negotiated with the other visitors.

Psychological benefits 2 and 4 weeks after a single treatment with near infrared light to the forehead: a pilot study of 10 patients with major depression and anxiety.

PubMed

Schiffer, Fredric; Johnston, Andrea L; Ravichandran, Caitlin; Polcari, Ann; Teicher, Martin H; Webb, Robert H; Hamblin, Michael R

2009-12-08

Many studies have reported beneficial effects from the application of near-infrared (NIR) light photobiomodulation (PBM) to the body, and one group has reported beneficial effects applying it to the brain in stroke patients. We have reported that the measurement of a patient's left and right hemispheric emotional valence (HEV) may clarify data and guide lateralized treatments. We sought to test whether a NIR treatment could 1. improve the psychological status of patients, 2. show a relationship between immediate psychological improvements when HEV was taken into account, and 3. show an increase in frontal pole regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and 4. be applied without side effects. We gave 10 patients, (5 M/5 F) with major depression, including 9 with anxiety, 7 with a past history of substance abuse (6 with an opiate abuse and 1 with an alcohol abuse history), and 3 with post traumatic stress disorder, a baseline standard diagnostic interview, a Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), a Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and a Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). We then gave four 4-minute treatments in a random order: NIR to left forehead at F3, to right forehead at F4, and placebo treatments (light off) at the same sites. Immediately following each treatment we repeated the PANAS, and at 2-weeks and at 4-weeks post treatment we repeated all 3 rating scales. During all treatments we recorded total hemoglobin (cHb), as a measure of rCBF with a commercial NIR spectroscopy device over the left and the right frontal poles of the brain. At 2-weeks post treatment 6 of 10 patients had a remission (a score

The effects of mind-body training on stress reduction, positive affect, and plasma catecholamines.

PubMed

Jung, Ye-Ha; Kang, Do-Hyung; Jang, Joon Hwan; Park, Hye Yoon; Byun, Min Soo; Kwon, Soo Jin; Jang, Go-Eun; Lee, Ul Soon; An, Seung Chan; Kwon, Jun Soo

2010-07-26

This study was designed to assess the association between stress, positive affect and catecholamine levels in meditation and control groups. The meditation group consisted of 67 subjects who regularly engaged in mind-body training of "Brain-Wave Vibration" and the control group consisted of 57 healthy subjects. Plasma catecholamine (norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (E), and dopamine (DA)) levels were measured, and a modified form of the Stress Response Inventory (SRI-MF) and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) were administered. The meditation group showed higher scores on positive affect (p=.019) and lower scores on stress (p<.001) compared with the control group. Plasma DA levels were also higher in the meditation (p=.031) than in the control group. The control group demonstrated a negative correlation between stress and positive affects (r=-.408, p=.002), whereas this correlation was not observed in the meditation group. The control group showed positive correlations between somatization and NE/E (r=.267, p=.045) and DA/E (r=.271, p=.042) ratios, whereas these correlations did not emerge in the meditation group. In conclusion, these results suggest that meditation as mind-body training is associated with lower stress, higher positive affect and higher plasma DA levels when comparing the meditation group with the control group. Thus, mind-body training may influence stress, positive affect and the sympathetic nervous system including DA activity. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evidence of a two-step process and pathway dependency in the thermodynamics of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)/poly(sodium acrylate) complexation.

PubMed

Vitorazi, L; Ould-Moussa, N; Sekar, S; Fresnais, J; Loh, W; Chapel, J-P; Berret, J-F

2014-12-21

Recent studies have pointed out the importance of polyelectrolyte assembly in the elaboration of innovative nanomaterials. Beyond their structures, many important questions on the thermodynamics of association remain unanswered. Here, we investigate the complexation between poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) and poly(sodium acrylate) (PANa) chains using a combination of three techniques: isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), static and dynamic light scattering and electrophoresis. Upon addition of PDADMAC to PANa or vice-versa, the results obtained by the different techniques agree well with each other, and reveal a two-step process. The primary process is the formation of highly charged polyelectrolyte complexes of size 100 nm. The secondary process is the transition towards a coacervate phase made of rich and poor polymer droplets. The binding isotherms measured are accounted for using a phenomenological model that provides the thermodynamic parameters for each reaction. Small positive enthalpies and large positive entropies consistent with a counterion release scenario are found throughout this study. Furthermore, this work stresses the importance of the underestimated formulation pathway or mixing order in polyelectrolyte complexation.

Emotion regulation and risk taking: predicting risky choice in deliberative decision making.

PubMed

Panno, Angelo; Lauriola, Marco; Figner, Bernd

2013-01-01

Only very recently has research demonstrated that experimentally induced emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) affect risky choice (e.g., Heilman et al., 2010). However, it is unknown whether this effect also operates via habitual use of emotion regulation strategies in risky choice involving deliberative decision making. We investigated the role of habitual use of emotion regulation strategies in risky choice using the "cold" deliberative version of the Columbia Card Task (CCT; Figner et al., 2009). Fifty-three participants completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003) and--one month later--the CCT and the PANAS. Greater habitual cognitive reappraisal use was related to increased risk taking, accompanied by decreased sensitivity to changes in probability and loss amount. Greater habitual expressive suppression use was related to decreased risk taking. The results show that habitual use of reappraisal and suppression strategies predict risk taking when decisions involve predominantly cognitive-deliberative processes.

Elevated carbon dioxide increases salicylic acid in Glycine max.

PubMed

Casteel, Clare L; Segal, Lauren M; Niziolek, Olivia K; Berenbaum, May R; DeLucia, Evan H

2012-12-01

Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) are increasing in the atmosphere, affecting soybean (Glycine max L.) phytohormone signaling and herbivore resistance. Whether the impact of elevated CO(2) on phytohormones and induced defenses is a generalized response within this species is an open question. We examined jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) under ambient and elevated CO(2) concentrations with and without Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newman) damage and artificial damage across six soybean cultivars (HS93-4118, Pana, IA 3010, Loda, LN97-15076, and Dwight). Elevated CO(2) reduced constitutive levels of JA and related transcripts in some but not all soybean cultivars. In contrast to the variation in JA, constitutive levels of salicylic were increased universally among soybean cultivars grown under elevated CO(2). Variation in hormonal signaling may underpin observed variation in the response of insect herbivores and pathogens to plants grown under elevated CO(2).

User requirements for a patient scheduling system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zimmerman, W.

1979-01-01

A rehabilitation institute's needs and wants from a scheduling system were established by (1) studying the existing scheduling system and the variables that affect patient scheduling, (2) conducting a human-factors study to establish the human interfaces that affect patients' meeting prescribed therapy schedules, and (3) developing and administering a questionnaire to the staff which pertains to the various interface problems in order to identify staff requirements to minimize scheduling problems and other factors that may limit the effectiveness of any new scheduling system.

Learning outcomes of in-person and virtual field-based geoscience instruction at Grand Canyon National Park: complementary mixed-methods analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semken, S. C.; Ruberto, T.; Mead, C.; Bruce, G.; Buxner, S.; Anbar, A. D.

2017-12-01

Students with limited access to field-based geoscience learning can benefit from immersive, student-centered virtual-reality and augmented-reality field experiences. While no digital modalities currently envisioned can truly supplant field-based learning, they afford students access to geologically illustrative but inaccessible places on Earth and beyond. As leading producers of immersive virtual field trips (iVFTs), we investigate complementary advantages and disadvantages of iVFTs and in-person field trips (ipFTs). Settings for our mixed-methods study were an intro historical-geology class (n = 84) populated mostly by non-majors and an advanced Southwest geology class (n = 39) serving mostly majors. Both represent the diversity of our urban Southwestern research university. For the same credit, students chose either an ipFT to the Trail of Time (ToT) Exhibition at Grand Canyon National Park (control group) or an online Grand Canyon iVFT (experimental group), in the same time interval. Learning outcomes for each group were identically drawn from elements of the ToT and assessed using pre/post concept sketching and inquiry exercises. Student attitudes and cognitive-load factors for both groups were assessed pre/post using the PANAS instrument (Watson et al., 1998) and with affective surveys. Analysis of pre/post concept sketches indicated improved knowledge in both groups and classes, but more so in the iVFT group. PANAS scores from the intro class showed the ipFT students having significantly stronger (p = .004) positive affect immediately prior to the experience than the iVFT students, possibly reflecting their excitement about the trip to come. Post-experience, the two groups were no longer significantly different, possibly due to the fatigue associated with a full-day ipFT. Two lines of evidence suggest that the modalities were comparable in expected effectiveness. First, the information relevant for the concept sketch was specifically covered in both modalities. Second, coding using the ICAP Framework (Chi & Wylie, 2014) suggests that the modalities are qualitatively similar, with each being predominantly active or passive and rarely reaching the constructive or interactive levels. This leaves other factors such as cognitive load to explain the differential learning outcomes by modality.

Validation of the Spanish version of the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS).

PubMed

Alda, Marta; Minguez, Joaquin; Montero-Marin, Jesús; Gili, Margalida; Puebla-Guedea, Marta; Herrera-Mercadal, Paola; Navarro-Gil, Mayte; Garcia-Campayo, Javier

2015-05-15

Boredom, which is a common problem in the general population, has been associated with several psychiatric disorders. The Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS) was developed, based on a theoretically and empirically grounded definition of boredom, to assess this construct. The aim of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Spanish validated version of the MSBS in a multi-age sample recruited from the general population. The patients (N = 303) were recruited from primary care settings. In addition to the sociodemographic variables and the MSBS, the General Health Questionnaire 28 items (GHQ-28), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Negative subscale and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) were administered. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to analyse the dimensionality of the MSBS. Cronbach's α coefficient was used to analyse the internal consistency of the scale. The consistency of the MSBS over time (test-retest reliability) was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient. The construct validity was examined by calculating Pearson's r correlations between the MSBS with theoretically related and unrelated constructs. Cronbach's α for MSBS was 0.89 (95 % CI, 0.87-0.92), ranging from 0.75 to 0.83 for the 5 subscales. The characteristics of the final sample (N = 303) were that the participants were primarily female (66.77 %) with a mean age of 49.32 years (SD, 11.46) and primarily European (94.71 %). The CFA of the MSBS confirmed that the original five-factor model showed good fit indices: CFI = .96; GFI = .94; SRMR = .05; and RMSEA = .06 [.05-.08]. Cronbach's α for MSBS was 0.89 (95 % CI, 0.87-0.92), ranging from 0.75 to 0.83 for the 5 subscales. The MSBS showed a test-retest coefficient measured with an ICC of 0.90 (95 % CI, 0.88-0.92). The ICC for the 5 subscales ranged from 0.81 to 0.89. The MSBS showed a significant negative correlation with MAAS and a significant positive correlation with the GHQ (total score and subscales) and PANAS-Negative Affect. The Spanish version of the MSBS has been validated as a reliable instrument for measuring boredom in the general population. This study will facilitate the assessment of boredom for clinical and research purposes in Spanish-speaking populations.

Environmental Technology Verification Report for Avante International Technology, Inc., PanaSec Mobile Personnel and Asset Visibility System

EPA Science Inventory

Ths test simulated through routine land transportation routes and across international ports of entry in the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez trade area. RFID tags were attached to four of each container type for a total of 12 containers which were loaded onto a standard 53-foot semi-truck...

The impact of binaural beats on creativity

PubMed Central

Reedijk, Susan A.; Bolders, Anne; Hommel, Bernhard

2013-01-01

Human creativity relies on a multitude of cognitive processes, some of which are influenced by the neurotransmitter dopamine. This suggests that creativity could be enhanced by interventions that either modulate the production or transmission of dopamine directly, or affect dopamine-driven processes. In the current study we hypothesized that creativity can be influenced by means of binaural beats, an auditory illusion that is considered a form of cognitive entrainment that operates through stimulating neuronal phase locking. We aimed to investigate whether binaural beats affect creative performance at all, whether they affect divergent thinking, convergent thinking, or both, and whether possible effects may be mediated by the individual striatal dopamine level. Binaural beats were presented at alpha and gamma frequency. Participants completed a divergent and a convergent thinking task to assess two important functions of creativity, and filled out the Positive And Negative Affect Scale—mood State questionnaire (PANAS-S) and an affect grid to measure current mood. Dopamine levels in the striatum were estimated using spontaneous eye blink rates (EBRs). Results showed that binaural beats, regardless of the presented frequency, can affect divergent but not convergent thinking. Individuals with low EBRs mostly benefitted from alpha binaural beat stimulation, while individuals with high EBRs were unaffected or even impaired by both alpha and gamma binaural beats. This suggests that binaural beats, and possibly other forms of cognitive entrainment, are not suited for a one-size-fits-all approach, and that individual cognitive-control systems need to be taken into account when studying cognitive enhancement methods. PMID:24294202

The impact of binaural beats on creativity.

PubMed

Reedijk, Susan A; Bolders, Anne; Hommel, Bernhard

2013-01-01

Human creativity relies on a multitude of cognitive processes, some of which are influenced by the neurotransmitter dopamine. This suggests that creativity could be enhanced by interventions that either modulate the production or transmission of dopamine directly, or affect dopamine-driven processes. In the current study we hypothesized that creativity can be influenced by means of binaural beats, an auditory illusion that is considered a form of cognitive entrainment that operates through stimulating neuronal phase locking. We aimed to investigate whether binaural beats affect creative performance at all, whether they affect divergent thinking, convergent thinking, or both, and whether possible effects may be mediated by the individual striatal dopamine level. Binaural beats were presented at alpha and gamma frequency. Participants completed a divergent and a convergent thinking task to assess two important functions of creativity, and filled out the Positive And Negative Affect Scale-mood State questionnaire (PANAS-S) and an affect grid to measure current mood. Dopamine levels in the striatum were estimated using spontaneous eye blink rates (EBRs). Results showed that binaural beats, regardless of the presented frequency, can affect divergent but not convergent thinking. Individuals with low EBRs mostly benefitted from alpha binaural beat stimulation, while individuals with high EBRs were unaffected or even impaired by both alpha and gamma binaural beats. This suggests that binaural beats, and possibly other forms of cognitive entrainment, are not suited for a one-size-fits-all approach, and that individual cognitive-control systems need to be taken into account when studying cognitive enhancement methods.

Affective reactivity to cry sounds predicts young women's reactivity and behavior in a simulated caregiving task.

PubMed

Gustafson, Gwen E; Bisson, Jennifer B; MacDonald, Jillian M; Green, James A

2017-09-13

Different populations of adults (experienced vs. inexperienced caregivers, men vs. women, abusive vs. nonabusive parents, etc.) have been reported to differ in their affective reactions to the sounds of infant crying. These differences are thought to impact caregiving behavior and, in some instances, to affect long-term outcomes for infants. There can be great intra-group variation, however, even when group differences are significant; modeling developmental process will require a finer grained approach. We have undertaken a pair of studies intended to validate the Negative Affect Scale (NA) from the PANAS as a measure of individuals' affective reactivity to cry sounds. In Study 1, 306 young women who were not yet mothers listened either to infant crying or to birdsong. The results supported the NA as a measure of reactivity to crying. In Study 2, a new sample of 301 young women listened to crying in a screening task; a group of "high reactors" (n=21) and a group of "low reactors" (n=22) then participated in a simulated caregiving situation. Individuals' affective reactivity to the caregiving simulation mirrored their affective reactivity in the screening task, and rates and overall organization of caregiving behavior differed between the groups. Changes in negative affect, then, appear to be both a result of infant crying and a determinant of some aspects of caregiving behavior. Further studies will extend these laboratory results to real infants and their caregivers, and further validate the NA as a measure of individual differences in reactivity to cry sounds. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Haptoglobin Phenotype Among Arab Patients With Mental Disorders.

PubMed

Armaly, Zaher; Farhat, Kamal; Kinaneh, Safa; Farah, Joseph

2018-03-01

Depression, schizophrenia and panic disorder are common mental disorders in the community and hospitalized patients. These mental disorders negatively affect life quality and even expectancy of life. Haptoglobin (Hp) phenotype (Hp 1-1, 1-2, or 2-2) is associated with risk for cardiovascular diseases, but its association with psychiatric disorders, a growing concern in the modern society, has not been studied thoroughly. The aim of the study was to examine whether Hp phenotype is associated with common mental disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and panic disorder. The study included 92 Arab patients with mental disorders, and among them 44 suffered from schizophrenia (mean age 39 ± 1.5 years), 17 from depression (mean age 44.5 ± 3.1 years), 31 from panic disorder (mean age of 44.9 ± 2.7 years), and 206 healthy Arab control subjects with a mean age of 42.6 ± 0.9 years. Beck's depression inventory assessment and Hamilton depression scale were administered for depression and panic disorder diagnosis. Schizophrenia was evaluated with positive and negative affect schedule (Panas) test. All mental disorders were evaluated by clinical review. Blood analysis for Hp phenotype was performed. Diagnosis was made using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders axis to correlate depression with Hp phenotype. In mentally healthy controls, 10.7% were Hp 1-1, 38.8% Hp 2-1, and 50.5% Hp 2-2. In patients with the studied psychiatric disorders, Hp phenotype was comparable to healthy subjects; 8.7% were Hp 1-1, 50% Hp 2-1, and 41.3% Hp 2-2. When Hp phenotyping was analyzed in the psychiatric subgroups, Hp 2-1 was more common among depressed and schizophrenic patients, as compared with healthy subjects (58.8% and 52.3% vs. 38.8%). In patients who suffer from panic disorder, Hp phenotype distribution was 6.5% Hp 1-1, 41.9% Hp 2-1, and 51.6% Hp 2-2, suggesting a lower prevalence among Hp 1-1 phenotype. Arab patients who carry Hp 2-1 phenotype may be at risk to develop depression or schizophrenia more than the general healthy population. In contrast, Hp 1-1 subjects have a lower prevalence of panic disorder.

Reliability Generalization: An Examination of the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leue, Anja; Lange, Sebastian

2011-01-01

The assessment of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) by means of the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule has received a remarkable popularity in the social sciences. Using a meta-analytic tool--namely, reliability generalization (RG)--population reliability scores of both scales have been investigated on the basis of a random…

46 CFR 525.2 - Terminal schedules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... scrap, new assembled motor vehicles, waste paper and paper waste in terminal schedules. (2) Marine... MARITIME COMMISSION REGULATIONS AFFECTING OCEAN SHIPPING IN FOREIGN COMMERCE MARINE TERMINAL OPERATOR SCHEDULES § 525.2 Terminal schedules. (a) Marine terminal operator schedules. A marine terminal operator, at...

46 CFR 525.2 - Terminal schedules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... scrap, new assembled motor vehicles, waste paper and paper waste in terminal schedules. (2) Marine... MARITIME COMMISSION REGULATIONS AFFECTING OCEAN SHIPPING IN FOREIGN COMMERCE MARINE TERMINAL OPERATOR SCHEDULES § 525.2 Terminal schedules. (a) Marine terminal operator schedules. A marine terminal operator, at...

Affect and neural activity in women with PTSD during a task of emotional interference.

PubMed

Brown, Wilson J; Wojtalik, Jessica A; Dewey, Daniel; Bruce, Steven E; Yang, Zhen; Sheline, Yvette I

2016-11-01

The current study sought to determine the relationship between self-reported dimensions of affect and activation in brain regions associated with emotion regulation in PTSD during a task of non-conscious emotional processing in interpersonal trauma survivors with PTSD and healthy controls. Participants included 52 women diagnosed with PTSD and 18 female healthy controls. All participants completed a clinical assessment including the SCID, CAPS, and PANAS followed by a functional MRI assessment including a task of implicit emotional conflict. When PTSD participants were oriented to fearful faces, negative affect (NA) was inversely related to activation in the left amygdala and positive affect (PA) was inversely related to activation in the right amygdala. When ignoring fearful faces, NA was positively associated with activation in the right parahippocampal gyrus and PA was inversely related to activation in the left hippocampus. Similar results were observed in healthy controls regarding PA. However, NA was not significantly related to any region of interest in healthy controls. Limitations include the homogeneity of the healthy controls with regard to racial diversity, results may only be specific to female interpersonal trauma survivors with PTSD, and neutral faces within the conflict task may be perceived as negative by clinical samples. Persistent, increased NA may represent a proxy for disruptions in emotional processing in interpersonal trauma survivors with PTSD. As such, clinicians may prioritize increasing emotional awareness through emotion regulation and/or distress tolerance strategies in this population. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the relationship of spiritual well-being to depression and quality of life for persons with spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Wilson, Catherine S; Forchheimer, Martin; Heinemann, Allen W; Warren, Anne Marie; McCullumsmith, Cheryl

2017-03-01

This study sought to describe the association between spiritual well-being, demographic characteristics, quality of life (QOL) and depressive symptoms following spinal cord injury (SCI). We hypothesized QOL and depressed mood would both be explained by extent of spiritual well-being, and meaning-focused (M&P) spirituality would have a stronger impact than faith-focused spirituality. 210 individuals with SCI were screened as part of a randomized control trial of venlafaxine XR for major depressive disorder (MDD). 204 completed all measures: Patient Health Questionniare-9 (PHQ-9) assessed depression, the FACIT-Sp assessed spiritual well-being, the Neuro-QOL PAWB scale assessed QOL, and the PANAS assessed affect. Approximately 26% had major depression. Bivariate correlations of scores on PAWB and PANAS and FACIT-Sp showed that all four scales had strong associations with those on PAWB (p < 0.0005). As hypothesized, both the M&P and Faith scales of the FACIT-Sp were significant predictors of QOL (β = 0.544; p < 0.0005 and β = 0.151; p = 0.004), though only the M&P scale was an independently significant predictor of likely MDD. The findings support that spirituality, as measured by the FACIT-Sp, is strongly associated with QOL and likelihood of MDD. Assessment of spirituality should be included along with more traditional psychological measurements to better inform treatment. Implications for Rehabilitation Spiritual beliefs can contribute to quality of life and may help moderate depressive symptoms that accompany chronic illness and disability, suggesting that rehabilitation professionals should address spirituality in working with their patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). While spiritual issues are often deferred to pastoral counselors during hospitalization, it is clear that addressing these is not the domain of one discipline and does not end upon inpatient discharge. In addressing spirituality, clinicians should tap the spiritual strengths present in their clients, whether meaning/peace-focused or religious, understanding that spirituality involves more than religiosity and also that having a sense of meaning and peace appears to be of great importance.

Sub-Saharan Africa Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-03-04

GUINEA GHANA President Obiang Arrives in Nigeria for Talks (Lagos Domestic Service, 29-31 Jan 87; PANA, 1 Feb 87) 32 Babangida Praises...Minister 70 Grant From Japan 70 NIGERIA NNPC Supports OPEC Policy; Issues New Quotas (AFRICA ECONOMIC DIGEST, 3-9 Jan 87) 71 Naira Slips, Central...Domestic Service in Amharic 0900 GMT 15 Jan 87 EA] /12913 CS0: 3400/894 31 EQUATORIAL GUINEA PRESIDENT OBIANG ARRIVES IN NIGERIA FOR TALKS Babangida

JPRS Report Environmental Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-08-28

127 157 The impact of the polluted air on the ecosystem in our country is increasing. This is also documented by the data on forests negatively...Dakar PANA 11 Aug] 11 CHINA Environmental Impact of Increased Fossil Fuel Burning Assessed [ZHONGGUO HUANJING BAO 22 Feb, 6 Mar] 13 Report on Laws...the INPE a brother institute of NASA. Talks on other means of cooperation were dis- cussed. One very interesting proposal is investigating the impact

Synthesis and sensing properties of D5h pentagonal silver star nanoparticles.

PubMed

Cathcart, Nicole; Coombs, Neil; Gourevich, Ilya; Kitaev, Vladimir

2016-11-03

In this work, we use silver decahedral nanoparticle (AgDeNP) seeds to synthesize pentagonal silver stars (AgStDeNPs) and study the sensing properties of these nanoparticles. The regrowth process of AgStDeNPs is kinetically-controlled, so the purity of the seed NPs is critical to avoid secondary deposition in the highly non-equilibrium reduction. To control the regrowth process, surface blocking with sodium polyacrylate (PANa) was implemented. PANa moderates rough silver nanostructures typically obtained by reduction with ascorbic acid. To modulate polymer binding to the surface and thus to tune surface blocking, pH served as a key synthetic parameter. Under optimal regrowth conditions, new sliver was deposited on the highest energy sites of the decahedra - the vertices of the rims - to yield pentagonal stars. The universality of this regrowth process was established with several different seed particles. The sharpness and size of the stellated tips are tunable by the amount of added silver. Gold deposition onto AgStDeNPs enables the preparation of diverse structures with enhanced stability. Ease of transformation, e.g. rounding, of star branches opens a promising venue for enhanced SPR sensing. Also, AgStDeNPs enable femtomolar detection of 5,5-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) in SERS.

SMART operational field test evaluation : schedule adherence report : final report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-06-01

Among the paratransit (termed Community Transit within SMART) performance indicators likely to be affected by SMARTs implementation of automated scheduling and dispatch (ASD) is schedule adherence. Schedule adherence refers to a variety of measure...

Changed nursing scheduling for improved safety culture and working conditions - patients' and nurses' perspectives.

PubMed

Kullberg, Anna; Bergenmar, Mia; Sharp, Lena

2016-05-01

To evaluate fixed scheduling compared with self-scheduling for nursing staff in oncological inpatient care with regard to patient and staff outcomes. Various scheduling models have been tested to attract and retain nursing staff. Little is known about how these schedules affect staff and patients. Fixed scheduling and self-scheduling have been studied to a small extent, solely from a staff perspective. We implemented fixed scheduling on two of four oncological inpatient wards. Two wards kept self-scheduling. Through a quasi-experimental design, baseline and follow-up measurements were collected among staff and patients. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire was used among staff, as well as study-specific questions for patients and staff. Fixed scheduling was associated with less overtime and fewer possibilities to change shifts. Self-scheduling was associated with more requests from management for short notice shift changes. The type of scheduling did not affect patient-reported outcomes. Fixed scheduling should be considered in order to lower overtime. Further research is necessary and should explore patient outcomes to a greater extent. Scheduling is a core task for nurse managers. Our study suggests fixed scheduling as a strategy for managers to improve the effective use of resources and safety. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

15 CFR 710.4 - Overview of scheduled chemicals and examples of affected industries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... examples of affected industries. 710.4 Section 710.4 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and Foreign Trade (Continued) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE CHEMICAL... REGULATIONS (CWCR) § 710.4 Overview of scheduled chemicals and examples of affected industries. The following...

Moldova versus Russian Hybrid Threat: A Question of National Will

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-10

significant extent. Geography The Republic of Moldova is located in Europe, North-West of the Black Sea (47 00 N , 29 00 E). It has an area of 33,851...91 Vitalie Ciobanu, Organizarea Institutiei Militare a Republicii Moldova (Chisinau, Moldova: Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova, 2011...militarizat pana- n dinti,” last updated March 21, 2016, accessed March 21, 2016, http://basarabiapress.info/documente- secrete-aeroportul-de-la-tiraspol

Affective personality as cognitive-emotional presymptom profiles regulatory for self-reported health predispositions.

PubMed

Archer, T; Adolfsson, B; Karlsson, E

2008-08-01

Three studies that examined the links between affective personality, as constructed from responses to the Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) Scale (PANAS), and individuals' self-report of self-esteem, intrinsic motivation and Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) depression in high school students and persons in working occupations are described. Self-report estimations of several other neuropsychiatric and psychosocial variables including, the Uppsala Sleep Inventory (USI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) test, Dispositional optimism, Locus of control, the Subjective Stress Experience test (SSE) and the Stress-Energy (SE) test, were also derived. Marked effects due to affective personality type upon somatic and psychological stress, anxiety and depression, self-esteem, internal and external locus of control, optimism, stress and energy, intrinsic motivation, external regulation, identified regulation, major sleep problems, problems falling asleep, and psychophysiological problems were observed; levels of self-esteem, self-motivation and BDI-depression all produced substantial effects on health and well-being. Regression analyses indicated PA was predicted by dispositional optimism (thrice), energy (thrice), and intrinsic motivation, and counter predicted by depression (twice) and stress (twice); and NA by anxiety (twice), stress (twice), psychological stress, identified regulation, BDI depression and psychophysiological problems, and counter predicted by internal locus of control and self-esteem. BDI-depression was predicted by negative affect, major sleep problems and psychophysiological problems (Study III), self-esteem by dispositional optimism and energy, and counter predicted by anxiety, depression and stress (Study I), and intrinsic motivation by dispositional optimism, energy, PA and self-esteem (Study II). These convergent findings are interpreted from a perspective of the cognitive-emotional expressions underlying behavioural or presymptomatic profiles presenting predispositions for health or ill health.

Positive and Negative Affect as Links Between Social Anxiety and Depression: Predicting Concurrent and Prospective Mood Symptoms in Unipolar and Bipolar Mood Disorders.

PubMed

Cohen, Jonah N; Taylor Dryman, M; Morrison, Amanda S; Gilbert, Kirsten E; Heimberg, Richard G; Gruber, June

2017-11-01

The co-occurrence of social anxiety and depression is associated with increased functional impairment and a more severe course of illness. Social anxiety disorder is unique among the anxiety disorders in sharing an affective profile with depression, characterized by low levels of positive affect (PA) and high levels of negative affect (NA). Yet it remains unclear how this shared affective profile contributes to the covariation of social anxiety and depressive symptoms. We examined whether self-reported PA and NA accounted for unique variance in the association between social anxiety and depressive symptoms across three groups (individuals with remitted bipolar disorder, type I [BD; n = 32], individuals with remitted major depressive disorder [MDD; n = 31], and nonpsychiatric controls [n = 30]) at baseline and follow-ups of 6 and 12 months. Low levels of PA, but not NA, accounted for unique variance in both concurrent and prospective associations between social anxiety and depression in the BD group; in contrast, high levels of NA, but not PA, accounted for unique variance in concurrent and prospective associations between social anxiety and depression in the MDD group. Limitations include that social anxiety and PA/NA were assessed concurrently and all measurement was self-report. Few individuals with MDD/BD met current diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder. There was some attrition at follow-up assessments. Results suggest that affective mechanisms may contribute to the high rates of co-occurrence of social anxiety and depression in both MDD and BD. Implications of the differential role of PA and NA in the relationship between social anxiety and depression in MDD and BD and considerations for treatment are discussed. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Cancer Patients Enrolled in a Smoking Cessation Clinical Trial: Characteristics and Correlates of Smoking Rate and Nicotine Dependence.

PubMed

Miele, Andrew; Thompson, Morgan; Jao, Nancy C; Kalhan, Ravi; Leone, Frank; Hogarth, Lee; Hitsman, Brian; Schnoll, Robert

2018-01-01

A substantial proportion of cancer patients continue to smoke after their diagnosis but few studies have evaluated correlates of nicotine dependence and smoking rate in this population, which could help guide smoking cessation interventions. This study evaluated correlates of smoking rate and nicotine dependence among 207 cancer patients. A cross-sectional analysis using multiple linear regression evaluated disease, demographic, affective, and tobacco-seeking correlates of smoking rate and nicotine dependence. Smoking rate was assessed using a timeline follow-back method. The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence measured levels of nicotine dependence. A multiple linear regression predicting nicotine dependence showed an association with smoking to alleviate a sense of addiction from the Reasons for Smoking scale and tobacco-seeking behavior from the concurrent choice task ( p < .05), but not with affect measured by the HADS and PANAS ( p > .05). Multiple linear regression predicting prequit showed an association with smoking to alleviate addiction ( p < .05). ANOVA showed that Caucasian participants reported greater rates of smoking compared to other races. The results suggest that behavioral smoking cessation interventions that focus on helping patients to manage tobacco-seeking behavior, rather than mood management interventions, could help cancer patients quit smoking.

Diminished facial emotion expression and associated clinical characteristics in Anorexia Nervosa.

PubMed

Lang, Katie; Larsson, Emma E C; Mavromara, Liza; Simic, Mima; Treasure, Janet; Tchanturia, Kate

2016-02-28

This study aimed to investigate emotion expression in a large group of children, adolescents and adults with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and investigate the associated clinical correlates. One hundred and forty-one participants (AN=66, HC= 75) were recruited and positive and negative film clips were used to elicit emotion expressions. The Facial Activation Coding system (FACES) was used to code emotion expression. Subjective ratings of emotion were collected. Individuals with AN displayed less positive emotions during the positive film clip compared to healthy controls (HC). There was no significant difference between the groups on the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). The AN group displayed emotional incongruence (reporting a different emotion to what would be expected given the stimuli, with limited facial affect to signal the emotion experienced), whereby they reported feeling significantly higher rates of negative emotion during the positive clip. There were no differences in emotion expression between the groups during the negative film clip. Despite this individuals with AN reported feeling significantly higher levels of negative emotions during the negative clip. Diminished positive emotion expression was associated with more severe clinical symptoms, which could suggest that these individuals represent a group with serious social difficulties, which may require specific attention in treatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of LED-backlit computer screen and emotional selfregulation on human melatonin production.

PubMed

Sroykham, Watchara; Wongsawat, Yodchanan

2013-01-01

Melatonin is a circadian hormone transmitted via suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus and sympathetic nervous system to the pineal gland. It is a hormone necessary to many human functions such as immune, cardiovascular, neuron and sleep/awake functions. Since melatonin enhancement or suppression is reported to be closely related to the photic information from retina, in this paper, we aim further to study both the lighting condition and the emotional self-regulation in different lighting conditions together with their effects on the production of human melatonin. In this experiment, five participants are in three light exposure conditions by LED backlit computer screen (No light, Red light (∼650nm) and Blue light (∼470nm)) for 30 minute (8-8:30pm), then they are collected saliva both before and after the experiments. After the experiment, the participants are also asked to answer the emotional self-regulation questionnaire of PANAS and BRUMS regarding each light exposure condition. These results show that positive mood mean difference of PANAS between no light and red light is significant with p=0.001. Tension, depression, fatigue, confusion and vigor from BRUMS are not significantly changed while we can observe the significant change in anger mood. Finally, we can also report that the blue light of LED-backlit computer screen significantly suppress melatonin production (91%) more than red light (78%) and no light (44%).

"Give, but Give until It Hurts": The Modulatory Role of Trait Emotional Intelligence on the Motivation to Help.

PubMed

Agnoli, Sergio; Pittarello, Andrea; Hysenbelli, Dorina; Rubaltelli, Enrico

2015-01-01

Two studies investigated the effect of trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI) on people's motivation to help. In Study 1, we developed a new computer-based paradigm that tested participants' motivation to help by measuring their performance on a task in which they could gain a hypothetical amount of money to help children in need. Crucially, we manipulated participants' perceived efficacy by informing them that they had been either able to save the children (positive feedback) or unable to save the children (negative feedback). We measured trait EI using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) and assessed participants' affective reactions during the experiment using the PANAS-X. Results showed that high and low trait EI participants performed differently after the presentation of feedback on their ineffectiveness in helping others in need. Both groups showed increasing negative affective states during the experiment when the feedback was negative; however, high trait EI participants better managed their affective reactions, modulating the impact of their emotions on performance and maintaining a high level of motivation to help. In Study 2, we used a similar computerized task and tested a control situation to explore the effect of trait EI on participants' behavior when facing failure or success in a scenario unrelated to helping others in need. No effect of feedback emerged on participants' emotional states in the second study. Taken together our results show that trait EI influences the impact of success and failure on behavior only in affect-rich situation like those in which people are asked to help others in need.

Cancer-related identity and positive affect in survivors of prostate cancer.

PubMed

Bellizzi, Keith M; Blank, Thomas O

2007-03-01

Despite a shift in the cancer culture and language used to describe individuals diagnosed with this disease, the extent to which individuals with cancer adopt a particular cancer-related identity and the impact of these identities in relation to their well-being is virtually unknown. Using a cross-sectional study design and a metropolitan tumor registry, a mail questionnaire to examine post-treatment quality of life was sent to prostate cancer (PCa) survivors. The sample consisted of 490 PCa survivors, ranging in age from 49-88 (M = 69.7; SD = 7.8), one to eight years after diagnosis. The outcome measure used in these analyses was the PANAS to assess positive and negative affect. The most frequently reported cancer-related identity was "someone who has had PCa" (57%). The least reported self view was "victim" (1%). Twenty-six percent of men self-identified as "survivors" while 6% thought of themselves as "cancer conquerors." Only 9% self-identified as a "patient." Multivariate analyses, adjusted for potential confounders, show respondents who identified themselves as "survivors" or "cancer conquerors" reported significantly higher scores on positive affect than men who self-identified as "patients" (p < .001). Although the majority of respondents identified themselves as "someone who has had cancer," identifying as a "survivor" or "someone who has conquered cancer" appears to have adaptive value for positive mood. Those who perceive themselves as survivors of prostate cancer may derive some benefit in well-being associated with this self assessment.

14 CFR 323.16 - Listings in schedule publications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Listings in schedule publications. 323.16... schedule publications. Each air carrier filing a notice under § 323.3 (a)(2), (a)(4), (a)(5), or (c) shall continue to list the affected flights in all generally-distributed schedule publications in which the...

14 CFR 323.16 - Listings in schedule publications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Listings in schedule publications. 323.16... schedule publications. Each air carrier filing a notice under § 323.3 (a)(2), (a)(4), (a)(5), or (c) shall continue to list the affected flights in all generally-distributed schedule publications in which the...

14 CFR 323.16 - Listings in schedule publications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Listings in schedule publications. 323.16... schedule publications. Each air carrier filing a notice under § 323.3 (a)(2), (a)(4), (a)(5), or (c) shall continue to list the affected flights in all generally-distributed schedule publications in which the...

40 CFR 63.1102 - Compliance schedule.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 10 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Compliance schedule. 63.1102 Section 63.1102 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED... Technology Standards § 63.1102 Compliance schedule. (a) General requirements. Affected sources, as defined in...

Home ovulation tests and stress in women trying to conceive: a randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

Tiplady, S.; Jones, G.; Campbell, M.; Johnson, S.; Ledger, W.

2013-01-01

STUDY QUESTION Does the use of a digital home ovulation test have any effect on the level of stress in women seeking to conceive? SUMMARY ANSWER No difference was found in levels of stress between women using digital ovulation tests to time intercourse compared with women who were trying to conceive without any additional aids: in addition, their use did not negatively impact time to conception in users but may provide additional benefits, including an increased understanding of the menstrual cycle, reassurance and confidence in focusing conception attempts to the correct time in the cycle. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY It has been suggested that timing of intercourse in such a way that it coincides with ovulation by using ovulation tests can lead to emotional distress; however, no study has been conducted to investigate this hypothesis specifically, until now. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE AND DURATION The study was performed over two complete menstrual cycles as a prospective, randomized, controlled trial including quantitative and qualitative methods. The intervention (test) group were given digital ovulation tests to time intercourse to the most fertile time of the cycle and the control group were provided with the current National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for increasing the chances of conception (intercourse every 2–3 days) and asked not to use any additional methods to time when ovulation occurs. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING AND METHODS A total of 210 women who were seeking to conceive were recruited from the general UK population. A total of 115 women were randomized to the test group and 95 to the control group through block randomization. The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used to measure subjective stress levels, the Short-Form 12 health survey was used as a measure of general health and well-being and urine samples were measured for biochemical markers of stress including urinary cortisol. Qualitative data were collected in the form of a telephone interview upon study completion. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE There was no evidence for a difference either in total stress as measured using the PSS or in total positive or negative affect using the PANAS questionnaire between the test and control groups at any time point for the duration of the study. During cycle 1, for example, on Day 6, the difference in total stress score (test–control) was −0.62 [95% confidence interval (CI) −2.47 to 1.24] and on the day of the LH surge, it was 0.53 (95% CI −1.38 to 2.44). In addition, no correlation was observed between time trying to conceive and levels of stress, or between age and levels of stress, and no evidence was found to show that stress affected whether or not a pregnancy was achieved. There is also no evidence that the biochemistry measurements are related to whether a pregnancy was achieved or of a difference in biochemistry between the treatment groups. The use of digital ovulation tests did not negatively affect time to conception and with an adequately sized study, could potentially show improvement. To ensure that the results of this study were not affected by chance, we used a number of different methods for measuring stress, each of which had been independently validated. LIMITATIONS AND REASONS FOR CAUTION Randomization occurred before the start of the study because of the need to provide the ovulation tests in readiness for Day 6 of the first cycle. As a consequence, a number of women fell pregnant during this period (22 and 13 in the test and control groups, respectively). A further 15 women were either lost to follow-up or withdrew consent prior to study start. Pregnancy rate was higher overall in the test group, so to ensure that there were sufficient data from women who failed to become pregnant in the test group, we implemented an additional biased recruitment. This second cohort may have been different from the first, although no significant differences were observed between the two phases of recruitment for any of the information collected upon admission to the study. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Women who seek medical advice while trying to conceive should not be discouraged by health care professionals from using digital ovulation tests in order to time intercourse. The cohort of women recruited to this study initially had no evidence of infertility and were looking to conceive in a non-medical setting. A separate study to assess the impact of home ovulation tests in a subfertile population would be of interest and complementary to the present study. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS This study was funded by SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics, GmbH, manufacturer of Clearblue® pregnancy and ovulation tests. SPD Development Company Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH; together referred to as SPD. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT01084304 (www.clinicaltrials.gov). PMID:23081872

Phosphorylation and Methylation of Proteasomal Proteins of the Haloarcheon Haloferax volcanii

DOE PAGES

Humbard, Matthew A.; Reuter, Christopher J.; Zuobi-Hasona, Kheir; ...

2010-01-01

Promore » teasomes are composed of 20S core particles (CPs) of α - and β -type subunits that associate with regulatory particle AAA ATPases such as the proteasome-activating nucleotidase (PAN) complexes of archaea. In this study, the roles and additional sites of post-translational modification of proteasomes were investigated using the archaeonHaloferax volcaniias a model. Indicative of phosphorylation, phosphatase-sensitive isoforms of α 1 and α 2 were detected by 2-DE immunoblot. To map these and other potential sites of post-translational modification, proteasomes were purified and analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Using this approach, several phosphosites were mapped including α 1 Thr147, α 2 Thr13/Ser14 and PAN-A Ser340. Multiple methylation sites were also mapped to α 1 , thus, revealing a new type of proteasomal modification. bing the biological role of α 1 and PAN-A phosphorylation by site-directed mutagenesis revealed dominant negative phenotypes for cell viability and/or pigmentation for α 1 variants including Thr147Ala, Thr158Ala and Ser58Ala. AnH. volcaniiRio1p Ser/Thr kinase homolog was purified and shown to catalyze autophosphorylation and phosphotransfer to α 1 . The α 1 variants in Thr and Ser residues that displayed dominant negative phenotypes were significantly reduced in their ability to accept phosphoryl groups from Rio1p, thus, providing an important link between cell physiology and proteasomal phosphorylation.« less

“Give, but Give until It Hurts”: The Modulatory Role of Trait Emotional Intelligence on the Motivation to Help

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Two studies investigated the effect of trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI) on people’s motivation to help. In Study 1, we developed a new computer-based paradigm that tested participants’ motivation to help by measuring their performance on a task in which they could gain a hypothetical amount of money to help children in need. Crucially, we manipulated participants’ perceived efficacy by informing them that they had been either able to save the children (positive feedback) or unable to save the children (negative feedback). We measured trait EI using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire–Short Form (TEIQue-SF) and assessed participants’ affective reactions during the experiment using the PANAS-X. Results showed that high and low trait EI participants performed differently after the presentation of feedback on their ineffectiveness in helping others in need. Both groups showed increasing negative affective states during the experiment when the feedback was negative; however, high trait EI participants better managed their affective reactions, modulating the impact of their emotions on performance and maintaining a high level of motivation to help. In Study 2, we used a similar computerized task and tested a control situation to explore the effect of trait EI on participants’ behavior when facing failure or success in a scenario unrelated to helping others in need. No effect of feedback emerged on participants’ emotional states in the second study. Taken together our results show that trait EI influences the impact of success and failure on behavior only in affect-rich situation like those in which people are asked to help others in need. PMID:26121350

Origin of the ca. 50 Ma Linzizong shoshonitic volcanic rocks in the eastern Gangdese arc, southern Tibet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, An-Lin; Wang, Qing; Zhu, Di-Cheng; Zhao, Zhi-Dan; Liu, Sheng-Ao; Wang, Rui; Dai, Jin-Gen; Zheng, Yuan-Chuan; Zhang, Liang-Liang

2018-04-01

The origin of the Eocene shoshonitic rocks within the upper part of the extensive Linzizong volcanic succession (i.e., the Pana Formation) in the Gangdese arc, southern Tibet remains unclear, inhibiting the detailed investigations on the crust-mantle interaction and mantle dynamics that operate the generation of the coeval magmatic flare-up in the arc. We report mineral composition, zircon U-Pb age and zircon Hf isotope, whole-rock element and Sr-Nd-Hf isotope data for the Pana Formation volcanic rocks from Pangduo, eastern Gangdese arc in southern Tibet. The Pana volcanic rocks from Pangduo include basalts, basaltic andesites, and dacites. SIMS and LA-ICPMS zircon U-Pb dating indicates that the Pangduo dacites were erupted at 50 ± 1 Ma, representing the volcanic equivalent of the coeval Gangdese Batholith that define a magmatic flare-up at 51 ± 1 Ma. The Pangduo volcanic rocks are exclusively shoshonitic, differing from typical subduction-related calc-alkaline volcanic rocks. The basalts have positive whole-rock ƐNd(t) (+1.7) and ƐHf(t) (+3.8) with high Zr abundances (121-169 ppm) and Zr/Y ratios (4.3-5.2), most likely derived from the partial melting of an enriched garnet-bearing lithospheric mantle that was metasomatized by subduction-related components with input from asthenosphere. Compared to the basalts, similar trace elemental patterns and decreased whole-rock ƐNd(t) (-3.5 to -3.3) and ƐHf(t) (-2.5 to -1.6) of the basaltic andesites can be attributed to the input of the ancient basement-derived material of the central Lhasa subterrane into the basaltic magmas. The coherent whole-rock Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic compositions ((87Sr/86Sr)i = 0.7064-0.7069, ƐNd(t) = -6.0 to -5.2, ƐHf(t) = -5.6 to -5.0) and varying zircon ƐHf(t) (-6.0 to +4.1) of the dacites can be interpreted by the partial melting of a hybrid lower crust source (juvenile and ancient lower crust) with incorporation of basement-derived components. Calculations of zircon-Ti temperature and whole-rock zircon saturation temperature of the dacites, and clinopyroxene crystallization temperature of the basalts suggest that the Pangduo volcanic rocks are most likely derived from the high-temperature melting of the lithosphere (including lithospheric mantle and overlying continental crust) as a result of the slab breakoff of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere.

Particle swarm optimization based space debris surveillance network scheduling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Hai; Liu, Jing; Cheng, Hao-Wen; Zhang, Yao

2017-02-01

The increasing number of space debris has created an orbital debris environment that poses increasing impact risks to existing space systems and human space flights. For the safety of in-orbit spacecrafts, we should optimally schedule surveillance tasks for the existing facilities to allocate resources in a manner that most significantly improves the ability to predict and detect events involving affected spacecrafts. This paper analyzes two criteria that mainly affect the performance of a scheduling scheme and introduces an artificial intelligence algorithm into the scheduling of tasks of the space debris surveillance network. A new scheduling algorithm based on the particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed, which can be implemented in two different ways: individual optimization and joint optimization. Numerical experiments with multiple facilities and objects are conducted based on the proposed algorithm, and simulation results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Simulated annealing with probabilistic analysis for solving traveling salesman problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Pei-Yee; Lim, Yai-Fung; Ramli, Razamin; Khalid, Ruzelan

2013-09-01

Simulated Annealing (SA) is a widely used meta-heuristic that was inspired from the annealing process of recrystallization of metals. Therefore, the efficiency of SA is highly affected by the annealing schedule. As a result, in this paper, we presented an empirical work to provide a comparable annealing schedule to solve symmetric traveling salesman problems (TSP). Randomized complete block design is also used in this study. The results show that different parameters do affect the efficiency of SA and thus, we propose the best found annealing schedule based on the Post Hoc test. SA was tested on seven selected benchmarked problems of symmetric TSP with the proposed annealing schedule. The performance of SA was evaluated empirically alongside with benchmark solutions and simple analysis to validate the quality of solutions. Computational results show that the proposed annealing schedule provides a good quality of solution.

A criterion autoscheduler for long range planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sponsler, Jeffrey L.

1994-01-01

A constraint-based scheduling system called SPIKE is used to create long-term schedules for the Hubble Space Telescope. A meta-level scheduler called the Criterion Autoscheduler for Long range planning (CASL) was created to guide SPIKE's schedule generation according to the agenda of the planning scientists. It is proposed that sufficient flexibility exists in a schedule to allow high level planning heuristics to be applied without adversely affected crucial constraints such as spacecraft efficiency. This hypothesis is supported by test data which is described.

On a New Schedule: Transitions to Adulthood and Family Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furstenberg, Frank F., Jr.

2010-01-01

Frank Furstenberg examines how the newly extended timetable for entering adulthood is affecting, and being affected by, the institution of the Western, particularly the American, family. He reviews a growing body of research on the family life of young adults and their parents and draws out important policy implications of the new schedule for the…

Employee Responses to Flexible Work Schedules: An Inter-Organization, Inter-System Comparison.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pierce, Jon L.; Newstrom, John W.

1982-01-01

Compared employee affective and behavioral responses to four work schedules--a fixed-hour schedule and three variations of flexible working hours. Hypothesized systematic differences in employee responses reflecting increased flexibility were not supported. Employees generally responded more favorably to flexible hour systems as contrasted with…

Personality and the perception of health and happiness.

PubMed

Cloninger, C Robert; Zohar, Ada H

2011-01-01

Health is a state of physical, mental, and social well-being. Personality traits measure individual differences in adaptive functioning and mental health, but little is known about how well personality accounts for health's affective aspects (i.e., "happiness") and its non-affective aspects (i.e., "wellness") in the general population. 1102 volunteer representatives of the Sharon area of Israel completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (PSS), and the subjective health assessment of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Multidimensional personality profiles were used to evaluate the linear and non-linear effects of interactions among dimensions on different aspects of well-being. Self-directedness was strongly associated with all aspects of well-being regardless of interactions with other dimensions. Cooperativeness was strongly associated with perceived social support, and weakly with other aspects of well-being, particularly when Self-directedness was low. Self-transcendence was strongly associated with positive emotions when the influence of the other character dimensions was taken into account. Personality explained nearly half the variance in happiness and more than one-third of the variance in wellness. Our data are cross-sectional and self-reported, so they are subject to personal perceptual bias. The emotional, social, and physical aspects of well-being are interdependent, but specific configurations of TCI Self-directedness, Cooperativeness, and Self-transcendence influence them differentially. Interactions among different combinations of character traits have strong effects on the perception of both wellness and happiness. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

25 CFR 547.12 - What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II gaming system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.12 What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II... software, files, data, and prize schedules. (2) Downloads of software, games, prize schedules, or other... performed in a manner that will not affect game play. (5) Downloads shall not affect the integrity of...

25 CFR 547.12 - What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II gaming system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.12 What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II... software, files, data, and prize schedules. (2) Downloads of software, games, prize schedules, or other... performed in a manner that will not affect game play. (5) Downloads shall not affect the integrity of...

25 CFR 547.12 - What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II gaming system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.12 What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II... software, files, data, and prize schedules. (2) Downloads of software, games, prize schedules, or other... performed in a manner that will not affect game play. (5) Downloads shall not affect the integrity of...

Southwestern Cooperative Educational Laboratory Interaction Observation Schedule (SCIOS): A System for Analyzing Teacher-Pupil Interaction in the Affective Domain.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bemis, Katherine A.; Liberty, Paul G.

The Southwestern Cooperative Interaction Observation Schedule (SCIOS) is a classroom observation instrument designed to record pupil-teacher interaction. The classification of pupil behavior is based on Krathwohl's (1964) theory of the three lowest levels of the affective domain. The levels are (1) receiving: the learner should be sensitized to…

Reactive Scheduling in Multipurpose Batch Plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narayani, A.; Shaik, Munawar A.

2010-10-01

Scheduling is an important operation in process industries for improving resource utilization resulting in direct economic benefits. It has a two-fold objective of fulfilling customer orders within the specified time as well as maximizing the plant profit. Unexpected disturbances such as machine breakdown, arrival of rush orders and cancellation of orders affect the schedule of the plant. Reactive scheduling is generation of a new schedule which has minimum deviation from the original schedule in spite of the occurrence of unexpected events in the plant operation. Recently, Shaik & Floudas (2009) proposed a novel unified model for short-term scheduling of multipurpose batch plants using unit-specific event-based continuous time representation. In this paper, we extend the model of Shaik & Floudas (2009) to handle reactive scheduling.

5 CFR 530.307 - OPM review and adjustment of special rate schedules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... a review of one or more special rate schedules. (b) OPM may designate lead agencies to assist in the... affected agency is responsible for submitting complete supporting data upon request to OPM or the lead... recruitment or retention of qualified employees, OPM may discontinue the schedule or rate range. Consistent...

Does Block Scheduling Live Up to Its Promise?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCoy, Mary Helen S.; Taylor, Dianne L.

This paper examines how block scheduling affects teachers' perceptions of school climate. It is based on information taken from 21 high schools in a southern state that used 4X4 block scheduling. Data were collected through interviews, a survey instrument that measured teacher perceptions of climate, and focus groups. Based on results from the…

Effects of orally administered lavender essential oil on responses to anxiety-provoking film clips.

PubMed

Bradley, Belinda F; Brown, Stephen L; Chu, Simon; Lea, Robert W

2009-06-01

Lavender odour is commonly used to alleviate mild anxiety. Double blind studies are difficult to conduct with odours, and there are few reliable investigations of lavender's efficacy. Orally administered lavender capsules (placebo, 100, 200 microl) were tested in a randomised between-subjects (n = 97) double-blind study. Film clips were used to elicit anxiety. Measures included anxiety, State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), mood, positive and negative affect scale (PANAS), heart rate (HR), galvanic skin response (GSR), and heart rate variation (HRV). Following baseline measurements capsules were administered. Participants viewed a neutral film clip, then an anxiety-provoking and light-hearted recovery film clip. For the 200 microl lavender dose during the neutral film clip there was a trend towards reduced state anxiety, GSR and HR and increased HRV. In the anxiety-eliciting film, lavender was mildly beneficial in females but only on HRV measures. In males sympathetic arousal increased during the anxiety film (GSR). HRV significantly increased at 200 microl during all three film clips in females, suggesting decreased anxiety. These findings suggest that lavender has anxiolytic effects in humans under conditions of low anxiety, but these effects may not extend to conditions of high anxiety.

Adaptation and Validation of the Basque Version of the Emotional Creativity Inventory in Higher Education.

PubMed

Soroa, Goretti; Aritzeta, Aitor; Balluerka, Nekane; Gorostiaga, Arantxa

2016-06-03

Emotional creativity is defined as the ability to feel and express emotions in a new, effective and authentic way. There are currently no Basque-language self-report instruments to provide valid and reliable measures of this construct. Thus, this paper describes the process of adapting and validating the Emotional Creativity Inventory (ECI) for the Basque-speaking population. The sample was comprised of 594 higher education students (388 women and 206 men) aged between 18 and 32 years old (Mage = 20.47; SD = 2.48). The Basque version of the ECI was administered along with the TMMS-23, NEO PI-R, and PANAS. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on the Basque ECI corroborated the original scale's three-factor structure (preparedness, novelty, and effectiveness/authenticity). Those dimensions showed acceptable indexes of internal consistency (α = .80, .83, and .83) and temporal stability (r = .70, .69, and .74). The study also provided some evidence of external validity (p < .05) based on the relationships found between emotional creativity and emotional intelligence, personality, affect, and sex. The Basque ECI can be regarded as a useful tool to evaluate perceived emotional creativity during the preparation and verification phases of the creative process.

Homework schedule: an important factor associated with shorter sleep duration among Chinese school-aged children.

PubMed

Li, Shenghui; Yang, Qian; Chen, Zhe; Jin, Xingming; Jiang, Fan; Shen, Xiaoming

2014-09-03

This study was designed to examine the hypothesis that homework schedule has adverse impacts on Chinese children's sleep-wake habits and sleep duration. A random sample of 19,299 children aged 5.08 to 11.99 years old participated in a large, cross-sectional survey. A parent-administered questionnaire was completed to quantify children's homework schedule and sleep behaviors. Generally, it was demonstrated that more homework schedule was significantly associated with later bedtime, later wake time, and shorter sleep duration. Among all sleep variables, bedtime and sleep duration during weekdays appeared to be most affected by homework schedule, especially homework schedule during weekdays.

Young Children's Affective Decision-Making in a Gambling Task: Does Difficulty in Learning the Gain/Loss Schedule Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gao, Shan; Wei, Yonggang; Bai, Junjie; Lin, Chongde; Li, Hong

2009-01-01

This research investigated the development of affective decision-making (ADM) during early childhood, in particular role of difficulty in learning a gain/loss schedule. In Experiment 1, we administrated the Children's Gambling Task (CGT) to 60 Chinese children aged 3 and 4, replicating the results obtained by Kerr and Zelazo [Kerr, A., & Zelazo,…

The Effects of Various High School Scheduling Models on Student Achievement in Michigan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pickell, Russell E.

2017-01-01

This study reviews research and data to determine whether student achievement is affected by the high school scheduling model, and whether changes in scheduling models result in statistically significant changes in student achievement, as measured by the ACT Composite, ACT English Language Arts, and ACT Math scores. The high school scheduling…

The Effects of Chlordiazepoxide and d-Amphetamine during a Three-Component Multiple Schedule

PubMed Central

Romanowich, Paul; Lamb, R. J.

2013-01-01

Multiple schedules have been used in behavioral pharmacology research to show that a drug’s effect on behavior can be a function of the schedule of reinforcement that supports that behavior. However, less research has examined whether the context of the schedule of reinforcement in a multiple schedule can change the drug’s effect on behavior. We examined the effects of acute chlordiazepoxide and d-amphetamine injections on the behavior of two groups of pigeons trained on a three-component multiple schedule with identical schedules of reinforcement in the first and last components. For one group of pigeons reinforcement was unavailable during the middle component (decreased-middle-component). For the second group reinforcement rate was higher during the middle component than during the first or third components (increased-middle-component). In the decreased-middle-component group, chlordiazepoxide (3.2-32 mg/kg) decreased third-component response rates less than it decreased responding in the first component. Conversely, in the increased-middle-component group, chlordiazepoxide (3.2-10 mg/kg) decreased third-component response rates more than in the first component. In both groups, d-amphetamine did not differentially affect response rates across components. These results are consistent with previous research showing that drugs can differentially affect responding to two different schedules of reinforcement during the same session, and suggest that pharmacological preparations may be helpful in elucidating the mechanisms that control multiple schedule interactions. PMID:23633164

Implementation and Evaluation of Self-Scheduling in a Hospital System.

PubMed

Wright, Christina; McCartt, Peggy; Raines, Diane; Oermann, Marilyn H

Inflexible work schedules affect job satisfaction and influence nurse turnover. Job satisfaction is a significant predictor of nurse retention. Acute care hospitals report that job satisfaction is influenced by autonomy and educational opportunity. This project discusses implementation of computer-based self-scheduling in a hospital system and its impact. It is important for staff development educators to be aware that self-scheduling may play a key role in autonomy, professional development, turnover, and hospital costs.

Environmental Impact Analysis Process, Winnersville Weapons Range, Lanier and Lowndes Counties, Georgia

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-11-01

TFW) currently has F-4 aircraft but is scheduled to convert to quieter F-16 aircraft during the early phases of range operation. Even with this...are in the unacceptable range (above 75dBA) according to HUD Standards. If training schedules /purposes allow, we suggest the following: - Flight... schedules should minimize night flights or be scheduled as early as possible. This, however, would not accommodate any affected people that may work at

How Heterogeneity Affects the Design of Hadoop MapReduce Schedulers: A State-of-the-Art Survey and Challenges.

PubMed

Pandey, Vaibhav; Saini, Poonam

2018-06-01

MapReduce (MR) computing paradigm and its open source implementation Hadoop have become a de facto standard to process big data in a distributed environment. Initially, the Hadoop system was homogeneous in three significant aspects, namely, user, workload, and cluster (hardware). However, with growing variety of MR jobs and inclusion of different configurations of nodes in the existing cluster, heterogeneity has become an essential part of Hadoop systems. The heterogeneity factors adversely affect the performance of a Hadoop scheduler and limit the overall throughput of the system. To overcome this problem, various heterogeneous Hadoop schedulers have been proposed in the literature. Existing survey works in this area mostly cover homogeneous schedulers and classify them on the basis of quality of service parameters they optimize. Hence, there is a need to study the heterogeneous Hadoop schedulers on the basis of various heterogeneity factors considered by them. In this survey article, we first discuss different heterogeneity factors that typically exist in a Hadoop system and then explore various challenges that arise while designing the schedulers in the presence of such heterogeneity. Afterward, we present the comparative study of heterogeneous scheduling algorithms available in the literature and classify them by the previously said heterogeneity factors. Lastly, we investigate different methods and environment used for evaluation of discussed Hadoop schedulers.

The many faces of a face: Comparing stills and videos of facial expressions in eight dimensions (SAVE database).

PubMed

Garrido, Margarida V; Lopes, Diniz; Prada, Marília; Rodrigues, David; Jerónimo, Rita; Mourão, Rui P

2017-08-01

This article presents subjective rating norms for a new set of Stills And Videos of facial Expressions-the SAVE database. Twenty nonprofessional models were filmed while posing in three different facial expressions (smile, neutral, and frown). After each pose, the models completed the PANAS questionnaire, and reported more positive affect after smiling and more negative affect after frowning. From the shooting material, stills and 5 s and 10 s videos were edited (total stimulus set = 180). A different sample of 120 participants evaluated the stimuli for attractiveness, arousal, clarity, genuineness, familiarity, intensity, valence, and similarity. Overall, facial expression had a main effect in all of the evaluated dimensions, with smiling models obtaining the highest ratings. Frowning expressions were perceived as being more arousing, clearer, and more intense, but also as more negative than neutral expressions. Stimulus presentation format only influenced the ratings of attractiveness, familiarity, genuineness, and intensity. The attractiveness and familiarity ratings increased with longer exposure times, whereas genuineness decreased. The ratings in the several dimensions were correlated. The subjective norms of facial stimuli presented in this article have potential applications to the work of researchers in several research domains. From our database, researchers may choose the most adequate stimulus presentation format for a particular experiment, select and manipulate the dimensions of interest, and control for the remaining dimensions. The full stimulus set and descriptive results (means, standard deviations, and confidence intervals) for each stimulus per dimension are provided as supplementary material.

Impaired intuition in patients with major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Remmers, Carina; Topolinski, Sascha; Dietrich, Detlef E; Michalak, Johannes

2015-06-01

In daily life, many decisions of minor and major importance have to be made. Thereby, intuitive judgments serve as useful guides and help us to adapt to our environment. People with major depressive disorder (MDD) often have difficulties to come to decisions. Is their intuition impaired? Since this question has not been addressed until now, the present study explored intuition in MDD. Depressed patients (n = 29) and healthy control participants (n = 27) completed the Judgment of Semantic Coherence Task, a well-established paradigm used in basic cognitive research to measure intuition. Furthermore, participants' severity of depressive symptoms (BDI-II), negative affect (PANAS), and rumination (RSQ) were assessed. All participants were interviewed with the SCID. Depressed patients showed impaired intuition compared to healthy control participants. In the depressed sample, negative affect accounts for the association between rumination and impaired intuition. Results further reveal that negative affect overall mediates the depression-intuition relationship. Patients with diminished ability to concentrate or indecisiveness had lower intuition indices compared to patients who did not fulfil this diagnostic criterion of MDD. The study introduces the phenomenon of intuition into depression research. Additionally, these results extent findings from basic research showing that induced negative mood as well difficulties to down-regulate negative affect impair intuitive coherence judgments. Current results indicate that the negative affectivity of patients is the crucial mediator in the association between depression and impaired intuition. Limitations of the study as well as the potential etiological role of intuition in MDD are discussed. The finding that intuition is impaired in depressed patients extends our knowledge as to the cognitive profile of patients with MDD. Patients who suffer from indecisiveness have lower intuition indices compared to patients who do not fulfill this diagnostic criterion of MDD. Due to the cross-sectional design, final conclusions as to the etiological role of intuition in MDD cannot be drawn. The question remains open whether impaired intuition is specific to MDD. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Work and family conflicts in employees with spinal cord injury and their caregiving partners.

PubMed

Fekete, C; Siegrist, J; Tough, H; Brinkhof, M W G

2018-01-01

Cross-sectional, observational. To investigate the association of conflicts between work and family life with indicators of health and to examine the antecedents of those conflicts in employees with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their caregiving partners. Community, Switzerland. Data from employed persons with SCI (n=79) and caregiving partners (n=93) who participated in the pro-WELL study were used. Logistic and tobit regressions were performed to assess the association of work-family and family-work conflicts with health indicators, namely mental health (36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)), vitality (SF-36), well-being (WHOQoL BREF) and positive and negative affect (Positive and Negative Affect Scale short form (PANAS-S)). Own and partners' engagement in productive activities and socioeconomic circumstances were evaluated as potential antecedents of work-family and family-work conflicts using logistic regression. Work-family conflicts were related to reduced mental health (caregiving partners only), vitality and well-being. Family-work conflicts were linked to reduced mental health, vitality, well-being and positive affect in SCI and to reduced vitality in caregiving partners. Persons with lower income (SCI only) and lower subjective social position reported more conflicts than persons with higher income and higher subjective position. Higher workload increased work-family conflicts in caregiving partners and decreased family-work conflicts in SCI. Education, amount of caregiving, care-receiving and partners' employment status were not associated with the occurrence of conflicts. The optimal balance between work and family life is important to promote mental health, vitality and well-being in employees with SCI and their caregiving partners. This is especially true in employees perceiving their social position as low and in caregivers with a high workload.

High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex affects performance in Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART).

PubMed

Guo, Heng; Zhang, Zhuoran; Da, Shu; Sheng, Xiaotian; Zhang, Xichao

2018-02-01

Studies on risk preferences have long been of great concern and have examined the neural basis underlying risk-based decision making. However, studies using conventional transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) revealed that bilateral stimulation could change risk propensity with limited evidence of precisely focalized unilateral high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS). The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of HD-tDCS focalizing the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on risk-taking behavior during the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). This study was designed as a between-subject, single-blind, sham-controlled experiment. University students were randomly assigned to three groups: the anodal group (F3 anode, AF3, F1, F5, FC3 returned), the cathodal group (F3 cathodal, AF3, F1, F5, FC3 returned) and the sham group. Subsequently, 1.5-mA 20-min HD-tDCS was applied during the BART, and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), the Sensation Seeking Scale-5 (SSS-5), and the Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Approach System scale (BIS/BAS) were measured as control variables. The cathodal group earned less total money than the sham group, and no significant difference was observed between the anodal group and the sham group. These results showed that, to some extent, focalized unilateral cathodal HD-tDCS on left DLPFC could change performance during risky tasks and diminish risky decision making. Further studies are needed to investigate the dose effect and electrode distribution of HD-tDCS during risky tasks and examine synchronous brain activity to show the neural basis.

Work and family conflicts in employees with spinal cord injury and their caregiving partners

PubMed Central

Fekete, C; Siegrist, J; Tough, H; Brinkhof, M W G

2018-01-01

Study design: Cross-sectional, observational. Objectives: To investigate the association of conflicts between work and family life with indicators of health and to examine the antecedents of those conflicts in employees with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their caregiving partners. Setting: Community, Switzerland. Methods: Data from employed persons with SCI (n=79) and caregiving partners (n=93) who participated in the pro-WELL study were used. Logistic and tobit regressions were performed to assess the association of work–family and family–work conflicts with health indicators, namely mental health (36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)), vitality (SF-36), well-being (WHOQoL BREF) and positive and negative affect (Positive and Negative Affect Scale short form (PANAS-S)). Own and partners’ engagement in productive activities and socioeconomic circumstances were evaluated as potential antecedents of work–family and family–work conflicts using logistic regression. Results: Work–family conflicts were related to reduced mental health (caregiving partners only), vitality and well-being. Family–work conflicts were linked to reduced mental health, vitality, well-being and positive affect in SCI and to reduced vitality in caregiving partners. Persons with lower income (SCI only) and lower subjective social position reported more conflicts than persons with higher income and higher subjective position. Higher workload increased work–family conflicts in caregiving partners and decreased family–work conflicts in SCI. Education, amount of caregiving, care-receiving and partners’ employment status were not associated with the occurrence of conflicts. Conclusion: The optimal balance between work and family life is important to promote mental health, vitality and well-being in employees with SCI and their caregiving partners. This is especially true in employees perceiving their social position as low and in caregivers with a high workload. PMID:28853447

Many intercity travelers face longer travel schedules

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-10-01

Since 1995, scheduled travel times for direct : intercity air, bus, and rail service without an en : route transfer have measurably lengthened in : most major-market city-pairs. : Long-haul rail city-pairs affected by service : changes and short-...

Docetaxel in combination with epirubicin in metastatic breast cancer: pharmacokinetic interactions.

PubMed

Ceruti, M; Tagini, V; Recalenda, V; Arpicco, S; Cattel, L; Airoldi, M; Bumma, C

1999-01-01

Epirubicin (75 mg/m2) and docetaxel (75 mg/m2) were administered to 16 patients affected by metastatic breast cancer following two different schedules: (1) docetaxel as infusion administered 1 h after epirubicin administration (schedule A); and (2) docetaxel as infusion immediately (10 min) after the end of epirubicin i.v. bolus administration (schedule B). Experimental non-compartmental analyses such as AUC and Css, were affected very little by the drug combination, irrespective of whether the administration of docetaxel was immediately after the epirubicin bolus (10 min) or delayed (1 h). However, serum levels showed evidence of transient drug interaction: in schedule A, docetaxel infusion was associated with a transient increase of plasma epirubicin in correspondence with Cssmax of docetaxel. Bi-compartmental analysis showed a significant difference in epirubicin clearance between protocols A and B. It is suggested that polysorbate 80, used in minimal amounts to formulate docetaxel, may interfere with epirubicin plasma level.

Changing Workplaces to Reduce Work-Family Conflict: Schedule Control in a White-Collar Organization

PubMed Central

Kelly, Erin L.; Moen, Phyllis; Tranby, Eric

2011-01-01

Work-family conflicts are common and consequential for employees, their families, and work organizations. Can workplaces be changed to reduce work-family conflict? Previous research has not been able to assess whether workplace policies or initiatives succeed in reducing work-family conflict or increasing work-family fit. Using longitudinal data collected from 608 employees of a white-collar organization before and after a workplace initiative was implemented, we investigate whether the initiative affects work-family conflict and fit, whether schedule control mediates these effects, and whether work demands, including long hours, moderate the initiative’s effects on work-family outcomes. Analyses clearly demonstrate that the workplace initiative positively affects the work-family interface, primarily by increasing employees’ schedule control. This study points to the importance of schedule control for our understanding of job quality and for management policies and practices. PMID:21580799

Changing Workplaces to Reduce Work-Family Conflict: Schedule Control in a White-Collar Organization.

PubMed

Kelly, Erin L; Moen, Phyllis; Tranby, Eric

2011-04-01

Work-family conflicts are common and consequential for employees, their families, and work organizations. Can workplaces be changed to reduce work-family conflict? Previous research has not been able to assess whether workplace policies or initiatives succeed in reducing work-family conflict or increasing work-family fit. Using longitudinal data collected from 608 employees of a white-collar organization before and after a workplace initiative was implemented, we investigate whether the initiative affects work-family conflict and fit, whether schedule control mediates these effects, and whether work demands, including long hours, moderate the initiative's effects on work-family outcomes. Analyses clearly demonstrate that the workplace initiative positively affects the work-family interface, primarily by increasing employees' schedule control. This study points to the importance of schedule control for our understanding of job quality and for management policies and practices.

40 CFR Table 6 to Subpart Fff of... - Site-Specific Compliance Schedules and Increments of Progress a

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 8 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Site-Specific Compliance Schedules and... Constructed on or Before September 20, 1994 Pt. 62, Subpt. FFF, Table 6 Table 6 to Subpart FFF of Part 62—Site-Specific Compliance Schedules and Increments of Progress a Affected facilities at the following MWC sites...

40 CFR Table 6 to Subpart Fff of... - Site-Specific Compliance Schedules and Increments of Progress a

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 8 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Site-Specific Compliance Schedules and... Constructed on or Before September 20, 1994 Pt. 62, Subpt. FFF, Table 6 Table 6 to Subpart FFF of Part 62—Site-Specific Compliance Schedules and Increments of Progress a Affected facilities at the following MWC sites...

Factors Associated With Pediatrician Responses to Alternative Immunization Schedule Requests.

PubMed

Mohanty, Salini; Feemster, Kristen A; Buttenheim, Alison; Moser, Charlotte A; Field, Robert I; Mayer, Whitney; Carroll-Scott, Amy

2018-02-01

We conducted a cross-sectional online survey among 4 chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics from July through October 2014 to describe characteristics of pediatricians and practices associated with practice-level responses to alternative immunization schedule requests. Among 374 pediatricians, 58% reported frequent alternative immunization schedule requests and 24% reported feeling comfortable using them. Pediatricians who work in practices that accommodate alternative immunization schedule requests have increased odds of having a high frequency of alternative immunization schedule requests, and beliefs that relationships with families would be negatively affected if they refused requests. Practices that discontinue care to families who request alternative immunization schedules have increased odds of being a private group practice and having a formal office vaccine policy. Pediatricians are frequently asked to use alternative immunization schedules and many are not comfortable using them. Practice-level responses to alternative immunization schedules are associated with characteristics of pediatricians and practices.

Rethinking the Clockwork of Work: Why Schedule Control May Pay Off at Work and at Home.

PubMed

Kelly, Erin L; Moen, Phyllis

2007-11-01

Many employees face work-life conflicts and time deficits that negatively affect their health, well-being, effectiveness on the job, and organizational commitment. Many organizations have adopted flexible work arrangements but not all of them increase schedule control, that is, employees' control over when, where, and how much they work. This article describes some limitations of flexible work policies, proposes a conceptual model of how schedule control impacts work-life conflicts, and describes specific ways to increase employees' schedule control, including best practices for implementing common flexible work policies and Best Buy's innovative approach to creating a culture of schedule control.

Comparing Types of Financial Incentives to Promote Walking: An Experimental Test.

PubMed

Burns, Rachel J; Rothman, Alexander J

2018-04-19

Offering people financial incentives to increase their physical activity is an increasingly prevalent intervention strategy. However, little is known about the relative effectiveness of different types of incentives. This study tested whether incentives based on specified reinforcement types and schedules differentially affected the likelihood of meeting a walking goal and explored if observed behavioural changes may have been attributable to the perceived value of the incentive. A 2 (reinforcement type: cash reward, deposit contract) × 2 (schedule: fixed, variable) between-subjects experiment with a hanging control condition was conducted over 8 weeks (n = 153). Although walking was greater in the incentive conditions relative to the control condition, walking did not differ across incentive conditions. Exploratory analyses indicated that the perceived value of the incentive was associated with the likelihood of meeting the walking goal, but was not affected by reinforcement type or schedule. The reinforcement type and schedule manipulations tested in this study did not differentially affect walking. Given that walking behaviour was associated with perceived value, designing incentive strategies that optimise the perceived value of the incentive may be a promising avenue for future research. © 2018 The International Association of Applied Psychology.

Second-order schedules of token reinforcement with pigeons: effects of fixed- and variable-ratio exchange schedules.

PubMed

Foster, T A; Hackenberg, T D; Vaidya, M

2001-09-01

Pigeons' key pecks produced food under second-order schedules of token reinforcement, with light-emitting diodes serving as token reinforcers. In Experiment 1, tokens were earned according to a fixed-ratio 50 schedule and were exchanged for food according to either fixed-ratio or variable-ratio exchange schedules, with schedule type varied across conditions. In Experiment 2, schedule type was varied within sessions using a multiple schedule. In one component, tokens were earned according to a fixed-ratio 50 schedule and exchanged according to a variable-ratio schedule. In the other component, tokens were earned according to a variable-ratio 50 schedule and exchanged according to a fixed-ratio schedule. In both experiments, the number of responses per exchange was varied parametrically across conditions, ranging from 50 to 400 responses. Response rates decreased systematically with increases in the fixed-ratio exchange schedules, but were much less affected by changes in the variable-ratio exchange schedules. Response rates were consistently higher under variable-ratio exchange schedules than tinder comparable fixed-ratio exchange schedules, especially at higher exchange ratios. These response-rate differences were due both to greater pre-ratio pausing and to lower local rates tinder the fixed-ratio exchange schedules. Local response rates increased with proximity to food under the higher fixed-ratio exchange schedules, indicative of discriminative control by the tokens.

Turning lemonade into lemons: Dampening appraisals reduce positive affect and increase negative affect during positive activity scheduling.

PubMed

Burr, Leigh-Anne; Javiad, Mahmood; Jell, Grace; Werner-Seidler, Aliza; Dunn, Barnaby D

2017-04-01

The way individuals appraise positive emotions may modulate affective experience during positive activity scheduling. Individuals may either engage in dampening appraisals (e.g., think "this is too good to last") or amplifying appraisals (e.g., think "I deserve this"). A cross-over randomized design was used to examine the consequences of these appraisal styles. Participants (N = 43) rated positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) during four daily walks in pleasant locations, whilst following dampening, emotion-focus amplifying (focusing on how good one feels), self-focus amplifying (focusing on positive self qualities), or control instructions. There was no difference between the two amplifying and control conditions, which all increased PA and reduced NA during the walks. However, the dampening condition significantly differed from all other conditions, reducing PA and increasing NA during the walk. Individual differences in anhedonia symptoms did not significantly moderate the pattern of findings. This evidence supports the view that dampening appraisals may be one mechanism driving anhedonia and may account for why positive activity scheduling can sometimes backfire when utilized in the clinic. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fatigue in repeated-sprint exercise is related to muscle power factors and reduced neuromuscular activity.

PubMed

Mendez-Villanueva, Alberto; Hamer, Peter; Bishop, David

2008-07-01

The purpose of this study was (1) to determine the relationship between each individual's anaerobic power reserve (APR) [i.e., the difference between the maximum anaerobic (Pana) and aerobic power (Paer)] and fatigability during repeated-sprint exercise and (2) to examine the acute effects of repeated sprints on neuromuscular activity, as evidenced by changes in the surface electromyogram (EMG) signals. Eight healthy males carried out tests to determine Pana (defined as the highest power output attained during a 6-s cycling sprint), Paer (defined as the highest power output achieved during a progressive, discontinuous cycling test to failure) and a repeated cycling sprint test (10 x 6-s max sprints with 30 s rest). Peak power output (PPO) and mean power output (MPO) were calculated for each maximal 6-s cycling bout. Root mean square (RMS) was utilized to quantify EMG activity from the vastus lateralis (VL) muscle of the right leg. Over the ten sprints, PPO and MPO decreased by 24.6 and 28.3% from the maximal value (i.e., sprint 1), respectively. Fatigue index during repeated sprints was significantly correlated with APR (R = 0.87; P < 0.05). RMS values decreased over the ten sprints by 14.6% (+/-6.3%). There was a strong linear relationship (R2 = 0.97; P < 0.05) between the changes in MPO and EMG RMS from the vastus lateralis muscle during the ten sprints. The individual advantage in fatigue-resistance when performing a repeated sprint task was related with a lower anaerobic power reserve. Additionally, a suboptimal net motor unit activity might also impair the ability to repeatedly generate maximum power outputs.

Smart geo-energy village development by using cascade direct use of geothermal energy in Bonjol, West Sumatera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasetya, Novrisal; Erwinsyah Umra Lubis, Defry; Raharjo, Dharmawan; Miryani Saptadji, Nenny; Pratama, Heru Berian

2017-12-01

West Sumatera is a province which has a huge geothermal potential - approximately 6% of Indonesia’s total geothermal potential which equals to 1,656 MWe. One of the significant reserves located in Bonjol subdistrict which accounts for more than 50 MWe. The energy from geothermal manifestation in Bonjol can be utilized prior to indirect development. Manifestation at the rate 3 kg/s and 87 °C will flow to cascading system consisting several applications, arranged in order from high to low temperature to efficiently use the excessive energy. The direct use application selected is based on the best potential commodities as well as temperature constraint of heat source. The objective of this paper is to perform a conceptual design for the first cascade direct use of geothermal energy in Indonesia to establish Bonjol Smart Geo-Energy Village which will be transformed as the center of agricultural, stockbreeding, tourism as well as cultural site. A comprehenssive research was performed through remote survey area, evaluation featured product, analysis of heat loss and heat exchange in cascade system. From potential commodities, the three applications selected are cocoa drying and egg hatching incubation machine as well as new tourism site called Terapi Panas Bumi. The optimum temperature for cocoa drying is 62°C with the moisture content 7% which consumes 78 kW for one tones cocoa dried. Whereas, egg incubation system consists of two chamber with the same temperature 40°C for each room and relative humidity 55% and 70%. For the last stage, Terapi Panas Bumi works in temperature 40°C. Based on the result technical and economical aspect, it exhibits cascade direct use of geothermal energy is very recommended to develop.

The impact of hemodialysis schedules on the day of the week of hospitalization for cardiovascular and infectious diseases, over a period of 20 years

PubMed Central

Banshodani, Masataka; Fukuma, Shingo; Moriishi, Misaki; Shintaku, Sadanori; Tsuchiya, Shinichiro

2017-01-01

There have been no studies as yet that have evaluated how hemodialysis (HD) schedules affect the day of the week of hospitalization for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and infectious diseases (IDs), over a period of time. Herein, we performed a retrospective observational cohort study (1995–2014) evaluating 11,111 hospitalizations in 1,953 patients with end-stage renal disease, receiving HD 3 times a week (following either a Monday-Wednesday-Friday [MWF] schedule or a Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday [TTS] schedule) or receiving frequent HD (FHD) at least 4 times a week. Overall, hospitalization rates for CVDs and IDs were the highest on Monday in the MWF schedule and Tuesday in the TTS schedule compared to the average rates for all the days of the week. When generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used in conjunction with robust variance estimators of each type of CVD, the risk for pulmonary edema was found to be significantly higher on Sunday and Monday in the MWF schedule and Monday and Tuesday in the TTS schedule. For both cerebrovascular and ischemic heart disease, the risks were significantly higher on Tuesday in the MWF schedule and Wednesday in the TTS schedule. Moreover, there were significant differences in the day of the week risks among the various CVD types. On trend analysis, the overall hospitalization rate for CVDs on the first HD day did not decrease (P = 0.2); however, the hospitalization rate for IDs on the first HD day significantly decreased (P = 0.02) over a span of 20 years. When GEEs were used in the case of FHD patients with severe heart failure, the hospitalization rate on the first HD day (Monday) significantly decreased after FHD initiation (P = 0.04). It was found that HD schedules affected the day of the week of hospitalization for CVDs. FHD may lower the day of the week risk. PMID:28700621

Scheduling lessons learned from the Autonomous Power System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ringer, Mark J.

1992-01-01

The Autonomous Power System (APS) project at NASA LeRC is designed to demonstrate the applications of integrated intelligent diagnosis, control, and scheduling techniques to space power distribution systems. The project consists of three elements: the Autonomous Power Expert System (APEX) for Fault Diagnosis, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR); the Autonomous Intelligent Power Scheduler (AIPS) to efficiently assign activities start times and resources; and power hardware (Brassboard) to emulate a space-based power system. The AIPS scheduler was tested within the APS system. This scheduler is able to efficiently assign available power to the requesting activities and share this information with other software agents within the APS system in order to implement the generated schedule. The AIPS scheduler is also able to cooperatively recover from fault situations by rescheduling the affected loads on the Brassboard in conjunction with the APEX FDIR system. AIPS served as a learning tool and an initial scheduling testbed for the integration of FDIR and automated scheduling systems. Many lessons were learned from the AIPS scheduler and are now being integrated into a new scheduler called SCRAP (Scheduler for Continuous Resource Allocation and Planning). This paper will service three purposes: an overview of the AIPS implementation, lessons learned from the AIPS scheduler, and a brief section on how these lessons are being applied to the new SCRAP scheduler.

Rethinking the Clockwork of Work: Why Schedule Control May Pay Off at Work and at Home

PubMed Central

Kelly, Erin L.; Moen, Phyllis

2014-01-01

The problem and the solution Many employees face work–life conflicts and time deficits that negatively affect their health, well-being, effectiveness on the job, and organizational commitment. Many organizations have adopted flexible work arrangements but not all of them increase schedule control, that is, employees’ control over when, where, and how much they work. This article describes some limitations of flexible work policies, proposes a conceptual model of how schedule control impacts work–life conflicts, and describes specific ways to increase employees’ schedule control, including best practices for implementing common flexible work policies and Best Buy’s innovative approach to creating a culture of schedule control. PMID:25598711

An investigation of the impact of prolonged waiting times on blood donors in Ireland.

PubMed

McKeever, T; Sweeney, M R; Staines, A

2006-02-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of prolonged queuing times on blood donors, by measuring their satisfaction levels, and positive and negative affects. As donation times have increased over the past number of years within the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, this is an important issue to examine in a climate where voluntary donors are becoming scarce and demands on people's time are increasing. Eighty-five blood donors were sampled from one urban and one rural blood donor clinic. The respondents conducted a questionnaire by means of face-to-face interview, while waiting in the clinic. The questionnaire contained the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), and a waiting satisfaction scale. Both actual and perceived waiting times of the donors were noted. Waiting time was found to be negatively related to satisfaction. Inexperienced donors expressed higher levels of negative affect than experienced donors. Urban donors were significantly more satisfied than rural donors. There was a significant difference in perceived waiting time between lone donors and those queuing in a group, with those waiting alone perceiving their wait as shorter. While all respondents stated that they intended to donate again, over one-third stated that prolonged waiting times would be their most likely deterrent. However, only 15% stated that long queuing times might actually prevent them from donating in the future, and almost all respondents said that they would recommend donation to a friend, despite long queuing times. Although our results show that the respondents were not satisfied with current waiting times, it did not seem to affect their future intentions to donate. These findings provide some optimism for the future of blood donation in Ireland, as they suggest a strong sense of commitment to donation within the population sampled. Future research could explore the application of 'the service industry' approach to waiting times to blood donation clinics.

Laparoendoscopic Single-site Surgery (LESS) for Prophylactic Salpingo-oophorectomy Improves Cosmetic Satisfaction Compared to Standard Laparoscopy.

PubMed

Miailhe, Gregoire; Dauchy, Sarah; Bentivegna, Enrica; Gouy, Sebastien; Charles, Cecile; Delaloge, Suzette; Morice, Philippe; Uzan, Catherine

2015-11-01

Less invasive prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (PBSO) may diminish the general consequences of surgery for BRCA mutation carriers. The objective of the present study was to compare the psychological impact and satisfaction following minimal-invasive laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) versus that observed with the standard procedure. This prospective longitudinal study was proposed to all consecutive patients who underwent ambulatory PBSO between January 2012 and January 2014 at our Center. The psychological impact and esthetic satisfaction were prospectively studied. Patients rated their satisfaction using the 4-grade Likert scale. Their emotional state and postoperative pain were explored respectively with validated questionnaires (IES-R, PANAS) and the Verbal Numerical Rating Scale (VNRS). Operative outcomes were also analyzed. Twenty patients underwent LESS PBSO and 10 patients had the standard laparoscopic (SL) PBSO. The mean satisfaction scores were significantly higher in the LESS group one month and six months after surgery. Both groups reported a reduction of intrusive thoughts and negative affects after surgery. Postoperative pain and operative outcomes were similar. A significant improvement of cosmetic satisfaction after LESS compared to SL could help patients accept PBSO. The emotional impact of PBSO is not modified by ambulatory LESS. Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Efficient Trajectory Options Allocation for the Collaborative Trajectory Options Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodionova, Olga; Arneson, Heather; Sridhar, Banavar; Evans, Antony

2017-01-01

The Collaborative Trajectory Options Program (CTOP) is a Traffic Management Initiative (TMI) intended to control the air traffic flow rates at multiple specified Flow Constrained Areas (FCAs), where demand exceeds capacity. CTOP allows flight operators to submit the desired Trajectory Options Set (TOS) for each affected flight with associated Relative Trajectory Cost (RTC) for each option. CTOP then creates a feasible schedule that complies with capacity constraints by assigning affected flights with routes and departure delays in such a way as to minimize the total cost while maintaining equity across flight operators. The current version of CTOP implements a Ration-by-Schedule (RBS) scheme, which assigns the best available options to flights based on a First-Scheduled-First-Served heuristic. In the present study, an alternative flight scheduling approach is developed based on linear optimization. Results suggest that such an approach can significantly reduce flight delays, in the deterministic case, while maintaining equity as defined using a Max-Min fairness scheme.

Study of the impact of cruise speed on scheduling and productivity of commercial transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bond, E. Q.; Carroll, E. A.; Flume, R. A.

1977-01-01

A comparison is made between airplane productivity and utilization levels derived from commercial airline type schedules which were developed for two subsonic and four supersonic cruise speed aircraft. The cruise speed component is the only difference between the schedules which are based on 1995 passenger demand forecasts. Productivity-to-speed relationships were determined for the three discrete route systems: North Atlantic, Trans-Pacific, and North-South America. Selected combinations of these route systems were also studied. Other areas affecting the productivity-to-speed relationship such as aircraft design range and scheduled turn time were examined.

Scheduling for energy and reliability management on multiprocessor real-time systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Xuan

Scheduling algorithms for multiprocessor real-time systems have been studied for years with many well-recognized algorithms proposed. However, it is still an evolving research area and many problems remain open due to their intrinsic complexities. With the emergence of multicore processors, it is necessary to re-investigate the scheduling problems and design/develop efficient algorithms for better system utilization, low scheduling overhead, high energy efficiency, and better system reliability. Focusing cluster schedulings with optimal global schedulers, we study the utilization bound and scheduling overhead for a class of cluster-optimal schedulers. Then, taking energy/power consumption into consideration, we developed energy-efficient scheduling algorithms for real-time systems, especially for the proliferating embedded systems with limited energy budget. As the commonly deployed energy-saving technique (e.g. dynamic voltage frequency scaling (DVFS)) will significantly affect system reliability, we study schedulers that have intelligent mechanisms to recuperate system reliability to satisfy the quality assurance requirements. Extensive simulation is conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms on reduction of scheduling overhead, energy saving, and reliability improvement. The simulation results show that the proposed reliability-aware power management schemes could preserve the system reliability while still achieving substantial energy saving.

Comparing fixed-amount and progressive-amount DRO Schedules for tic suppression in youth with chronic tic disorders.

PubMed

Capriotti, Matthew R; Turkel, Jennifer E; Johnson, Rachel A; Espil, Flint M; Woods, Douglas W

2017-01-01

Chronic tic disorders (CTDs) involve motor and/or vocal tics that often cause substantial distress and impairment. Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) schedules of reinforcement produce robust, but incomplete, reductions in tic frequency in youth with CTDs; however, a more robust reduction may be needed to affect durable clinical change. Standard, fixed-amount DRO schedules have not commonly yielded such reductions, so we evaluated a novel, progressive-amount DRO schedule, based on its ability to facilitate sustained abstinence from functionally similar behaviors. Five youth with CTDs were exposed to periods of baseline, fixed-amount DRO (DRO-F), and progressive-amount DRO (DRO-P). Both DRO schedules produced decreases in tic rate and increases in intertic interval duration, but no systematic differences were seen between the two schedules on any dimension of tic occurrence. The DRO-F schedule was generally preferred to the DRO-P schedule. Possible procedural improvements and other future directions are discussed. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Age, Stress, and Emotional Complexity: Results from Two Studies of Daily Experiences

PubMed Central

Scott, Stacey B.; Sliwinski, Martin J.; Mogle, Jacqueline A.; Almeida, David M.

2014-01-01

Experiencing positive and negative emotions together (i.e., co-occurrence) has been described as a marker of positive adaptation during stress and a strength of socio-emotional aging. Using data from daily diary (N=2,022; ages 33-84) and ecological momentary assessment (N=190; ages 20-80) studies, we evaluate the utility of a common operationalization of co-occurrence, the within-person correlation between positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Then we test competing predictions regarding when co-occurrence will be observed and whether age differences will be present. Results indicate that the correlation is not an informative indicator of co-occurrence. Although correlations were stronger and more negative when stressors occurred (typically interpreted as lower co-occurrence), objective counts of emotion reports indicated that positive and negative emotions were more 3 to 4 times likely to co-occur when stressors were reported. This suggests that co-occurrence reflects the extent to which negative emotions intrude on typically positive emotional states, rather than the extent to which people maintain positive emotions during stress. The variances of both PA and NA increased at stressor reports, indicating that individuals reported a broader not narrower range of emotion during stress. Finally, older age was associated with less variability in NA and a lower likelihood of co-occurring positive and negative emotions. In sum, these findings cast doubt on the utility of the PA-NA correlation as an index of emotional co-occurrence, and question notion that greater emotional cooccurrence represents either a typical or adaptive emotional state in adults. PMID:25244477

Interacting with Nature Improves Cognition and Affect for Individuals with Depression

PubMed Central

Berman, Marc G.; Kross, Ethan; Krpan, Katherine M.; Askren, Mary K.; Burson, Aleah; Deldin, Patricia J.; Kaplan, Stephen; Sherdell, Lindsey; Gotlib, Ian H.; Jonides, John

2012-01-01

Background This study aimed to explore whether walking in nature may be beneficial for individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). Healthy adults demonstrate significant cognitive gains after nature walks, but it was unclear whether those same benefits would be achieved in a depressed sample as walking alone in nature might induce rumination, thereby worsening memory and mood. Methods Twenty individuals diagnosed with MDD participated in this study. At baseline, mood and short term memory span were assessed using the PANAS and the backwards digit span (BDS) task, respectively. Participants were then asked to think about an unresolved negative autobiographical event to prime rumination, prior to taking a 50 minute walk in either a natural or urban setting. After the walk, mood and short-term memory span were reassessed. The following week, participants returned to the lab and repeated the entire procedure, but walked in the location not visited in the first session (i.e., a counterbalanced within-subjects design). Results Participants exhibited significant increases in memory span after the nature walk relative to the urban walk, p < .001, ηp2= .53 (a large effect-size). Participants also showed increases in mood, but the mood effects did not correlate with the memory effects, suggesting separable mechanisms and replicating previous work. Limitations Sample size and participants’ motivation. Conclusions These findings extend earlier work demonstrating the cognitive and affective benefits of interacting with nature to individuals with MDD. Therefore, interacting with nature may be useful clinically as a supplement to existing treatments for MDD. PMID:22464936

Interacting with nature improves cognition and affect for individuals with depression.

PubMed

Berman, Marc G; Kross, Ethan; Krpan, Katherine M; Askren, Mary K; Burson, Aleah; Deldin, Patricia J; Kaplan, Stephen; Sherdell, Lindsey; Gotlib, Ian H; Jonides, John

2012-11-01

This study aimed to explore whether walking in nature may be beneficial for individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). Healthy adults demonstrate significant cognitive gains after nature walks, but it was unclear whether those same benefits would be achieved in a depressed sample as walking alone in nature might induce rumination, thereby worsening memory and mood. Twenty individuals diagnosed with MDD participated in this study. At baseline, mood and short term memory span were assessed using the PANAS and the backwards digit span (BDS) task, respectively. Participants were then asked to think about an unresolved negative autobiographical event to prime rumination, prior to taking a 50-min walk in either a natural or urban setting. After the walk, mood and short-term memory span were reassessed. The following week, participants returned to the lab and repeated the entire procedure, but walked in the location not visited in the first session (i.e., a counterbalanced within-subjects design). Participants exhibited significant increases in memory span after the nature walk relative to the urban walk, p<.001, η(p)(2)=.53 (a large effect-size). Participants also showed increases in mood, but the mood effects did not correlate with the memory effects, suggesting separable mechanisms and replicating previous work. Sample size and participants' motivation. These findings extend earlier work demonstrating the cognitive and affective benefits of interacting with nature to individuals with MDD. Therefore, interacting with nature may be useful clinically as a supplement to existing treatments for MDD. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

32 CFR 701.40 - Background.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... OFFICIAL RECORDS AVAILABILITY OF DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY RECORDS AND PUBLICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY DOCUMENTS AFFECTING THE PUBLIC FOIA Fees § 701.40 Background. (a) The DON follows the uniform fee schedule... Freedom of Information Act Fee Schedule and Guidelines. (b) Fees reflect direct costs for search; review...

Separating the effects of interreinforcement time and number of interreinforcement responses1

PubMed Central

Neuringer, Allen J.; Schneider, Bruce A.

1968-01-01

The relative importance of interreinforcement time and interreinforcement responses was evaluated by varying each independently. To do this, a blackout was presented after each nonreinforced response under both fixed-ratio and fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement. Manipulating the blackout duration under the fixed-ratio schedule caused interreinforcement time to vary without affecting the number of interreinforcement responses. Pigeons' post-reinforcement and post-blackout response latencies were found to increase linearly with interreinforcement time. Under the fixed-interval schedule, the same blackout manipulations changed the number of interreinforcement responses without affecting interreinforcement time. Post-reinforcement and post-blackout response latencies under this condition were approximately constant. These results suggest that responding is controlled by interreinforcement time and is not influenced by the number of responses emitted between reinforcements. PMID:16811313

76 FR 66248 - Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, Negotiator Nominations and Schedule of Committee Meetings...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-26

... by the topics proposed for negotiation. We request nominations for individual negotiators who... meetings are set out in the Schedule for Negotiations section under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, below... represent the interests significantly affected by the topics proposed for negotiations. In so doing, we will...

Irrigation scheduling as affected by field capacity and wilting point water content from different data sources

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil water content at field capacity and wilting point water content is critical information for irrigation scheduling, regardless of soil water sensor-based method (SM) or evapotranspiration (ET)-based method. Both methods require knowledge on site-specific and soil-specific Management Allowable De...

Blood Glucose Levels and Problem Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valdovinos, Maria G.; Weyand, David

2006-01-01

The relationship between varying blood glucose levels and problem behavior during daily scheduled activities was examined. The effects that varying blood glucose levels had on problem behavior during daily scheduled activities were examined. Prior research has shown that differing blood glucose levels can affect behavior and mood. Results of this…

15 CFR 710.4 - Overview of scheduled chemicals and examples of affected industries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Commerce and Foreign Trade (Continued) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION REGULATIONS GENERAL INFORMATION AND OVERVIEW OF THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Overview of scheduled chemicals and...

Comparison of the effects of antipsychotic drugs on the schedule-controlled behavior of squirrel monkeys and pigeons.

PubMed

Barrett, J E

1983-04-01

Lever pressing by squirrel monkeys and key pecking by pigeons were maintained under a multiple 3-min fixed-interval (FI), 30-response fixed-ratio (FR) schedule by the presentation of food. These responses, which differed under the two schedules, but were similar for both species, were used to compare the effects of antipsychotic compounds from different pharmacological classes. Except for differences in potency levels, the effects of intermediate doses of haloperidol and molindone were similar in monkeys and pigeons; these compounds decreased responding under the fixed-interval schedule at doses that did not affect fixed-ratio responding. Similar effects also occurred with chlorpromazine, promazine and thiothixene in pigeons. With monkeys, however, intermediate doses of promazine decreased fixed-ratio responding more than responding maintained under the fixed-interval schedule, while chlorpromazine and thiothixene produced similar effects on responding under both schedules. The effects of novel antipsychotic, clozapine, differed from those of the other agents in both monkeys and pigeons. With both species clozapine increased fixed interval responding at doses that did not affect responding under the fixed-ratio schedule. Doses required to reduce responding at least 50% were approximately 5 to 160 times greater for pigeons than for monkeys for all drugs except clozapine which was equipotent in both species. In monkeys the order of potency was haloperidol greater than molindone = thiothixene greater than chlorpromazine greater than clozapine greater than promazine, whereas in pigeons the order was haloperidol greater than thiothixene greater than clozapine greater than molindone greater than promazine greater than chlorpromazine.

To Determine the Method of Scheduling Surgery to Optimize Utilization of Surgical Resources at Landstuhl Army Regional Medical Center

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-05-01

exceed one manyear. 5. The new scheduling system will be more responsive to the dynanic forces that affect the use of surgical resources. a. Elective...will be removed when the OR is relocated to the new addition (see Figure 3 for floor design of future OR location). The OR Scheduling System The days of...obtaining new appointment openings. This would insure that the names on the waiting list are rotating regularly. Identified Problems With The Current

Schedule Matters: Understanding the Relationship between Schedule Delays and Costs on Overruns

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majerowicz, Walt; Shinn, Stephen A.

2016-01-01

This paper examines the relationship between schedule delays and cost overruns on complex projects. It is generally accepted by many project practitioners that cost overruns are directly related to schedule delays. But what does "directly related to" actually mean? Some reasons or root causes for schedule delays and associated cost overruns are obvious, if only in hindsight. For example, unrealistic estimates, supply chain difficulties, insufficient schedule margin, technical problems, scope changes, or the occurrence of risk events can negatively impact schedule performance. Other factors driving schedule delays and cost overruns may be less obvious and more difficult to quantify. Examples of these less obvious factors include project complexity, flawed estimating assumptions, over-optimism, political factors, "black swan" events, or even poor leadership and communication. Indeed, is it even possible the schedule itself could be a source of delay and subsequent cost overrun? Through literature review, surveys of project practitioners, and the authors' own experience on NASA programs and projects, the authors will categorize and examine the various factors affecting the relationship between project schedule delays and cost growth. The authors will also propose some ideas for organizations to consider to help create an awareness of the factors which could cause or influence schedule delays and associated cost growth on complex projects.

76 FR 66880 - Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, Negotiator Nominations and Schedule of Committee Meetings...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-28

... are significantly affected by the topics proposed for negotiation. We request nominations for... locations of the committee meetings are set out in the Schedule for Negotiations section under SUPPLEMENTARY... topics proposed for negotiations. In so doing, we will follow the requirement in Section 492(b)(1) of the...

15 CFR 710.4 - Overview of scheduled chemicals and examples of affected industries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... WEAPONS CONVENTION REGULATIONS GENERAL INFORMATION AND OVERVIEW OF THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION... Schedule 2 chemicals may be useful in the production of chemical weapons, they also have legitimate uses in... may be useful in the production of chemical weapons, they also have legitimate uses in areas such as...

Examining the Relationship between Class Scheduling and Student Achievement in College Algebra

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallo, Michael A.; Odu, Michael

2009-01-01

This study examines the relationship between scheduling (3-, 2-, and 1-day-per-week classes) and achievement in college algebra. The study is grounded in spacing effect theory, which examines how variations in the frequency and timing of instruction affect student learning, and involves 116 Florida community college students. Regression analyses…

77 FR 60743 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Schedule F, Part II and III (Form 1040)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-04

... Farming. DATES: Written comments should be received on or before December 3, 2012 to be assured of... Loss From Farming. OMB Number: 1545-1976. Form Number: Schedule F, Part II and III (Form 1040... collection. Affected Public: Businesses and other for-profit organizations, Farming. Estimated Number of...

Contingency rescheduling of spacecraft operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Britt, Daniel L.; Geoffroy, Amy L.; Gohring, John R.

1988-01-01

Spacecraft activity scheduling was a focus of attention in artificial intelligence recently. Several scheduling systems were devised which more-or-less successfully address various aspects of the activity scheduling problem, though most of these are not yet mature, with the notable expection of NASA's ESP. Few current scheduling systems, however, make any attempt to deal fully with the problem of modifying a schedule in near-real-time in the event of contingencies which may arise during schedule execution. These contingencies can include resources becoming unavailable unpredictably, a change in spacecraft conditions or environment, or the need to perform an activity not scheduled. In these cases it becomes necessary to repair an existing schedule, disrupting ongoing operations as little as possible. Normal scheduling is just a part of that which must be accomplished during contingency rescheduling. A prototype system named MAESTRO was developed for spacecraft activity scheduling. MAESTRO is briefly described with a focus on recent work in the area of real-time contingency handling. Included is a discussion of some of the complexities of the scheduling problem and how they affect contingency rescheduling, such as temporal constraints between activities, activities which may be interrupted and continued in any of several ways, and different ways to choose a resource complement which will allow continuation of an activity. Various heuristics used in MAESTRO for contingency rescheduling is discussed, as are operational concerns such as interaction of the scheduler with spacecraft subsystems controllers.

Sleepiness and recovery in schedule change and the eighty-four hour workweek.

PubMed

Nordin, M; Knutsson, A

2001-12-01

The aims were to evaluate sleepiness and recovery during a schedule change, and during an 84-hours workweek. The control group (16 men) stayed on a six-week schedule, whereas the intervention group (12 men) transferred to a seven-week schedule. Sleepiness was estimated, using the KSS-scale, four times during the first and the third night in the fifth or sixth shift week. Recovery was assessed through four estimations on days one, three and five during the week off. Statistical testing was carried out using repeated measurement ANOVA. Sleepiness at night was affected by night (F = 4.90, p < 0.05) and hour (F = 33.64, p < 0.001) in both groups. The intervention group was sleepier during the first recovery day compared to the control group (F = 4.02, p < 0.05). Analysis of the 84-hour-week showed an effect of night (F = 8.98, p < 0.05) and hour (F = 71.60, p < 0.001) on night work, and day (F = 22.49, p < 0.01) and hour (F = 6.66, p < 0.05) on recovery. Sleepiness was more pronounced on the first recovery day (F = 23.08, p < 0.01). The seven-week schedule showed no effect that differed from that of the control group on sleepiness during the night shift. After the 84-hour workweek the workers recovered in about three days. The new schedules may affect the first recovery day negatively.

Effects of an irregular bedtime schedule on sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and fatigue among university students in Taiwan.

PubMed

Kang, Jiunn-Horng; Chen, Shih-Ching

2009-07-19

An irregular bedtime schedule is a prevalent problem in young adults, and could be a factor detrimentally affecting sleep quality. The goal of the present study was to explore the association between an irregular bedtime schedule and sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and fatigue among undergraduate students in Taiwan. A total of 160 students underwent a semi-structured interview and completed a survey comprising 4 parts: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and a rating of irregular bedtime frequency. Participants were grouped into 3 groups in terms of irregular bedtime frequency: low, intermediate, or high according to their 2-week sleep log. To screen for psychological disorders or distress that may have affected responses on the sleep assessment measures, the Chinese health questionnaire-12 (CHQ-12) was also administered. We found an increase in bedtime schedule irregularity to be significantly associated with a decrease in average sleep time per day (Spearman r = -0.22, p = 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that irregular bedtime frequency and average sleep time per day were correlated with PSQI scores, but not with ESS or FSS scores. A significant positive correlation between irregular bedtime frequency and PSQI scores was evident in the intermediate (partial r = 0.18, p = 0.02) and high (partial r = 0.15, p = 0.05) frequency groups as compared to low frequency group. The results of our study suggest a high prevalence of both an irregular bedtime schedule and insufficient sleep among university students in Taiwan. Students with an irregular bedtime schedule may experience poor sleep quality. We suggest further research that explores the mechanisms involved in an irregular bedtime schedule and the effectiveness of interventions for improving this condition.

Enhanced Software for Scheduling Space-Shuttle Processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barretta, Joseph A.; Johnson, Earl P.; Bierman, Rocky R.; Blanco, Juan; Boaz, Kathleen; Stotz, Lisa A.; Clark, Michael; Lebovitz, George; Lotti, Kenneth J.; Moody, James M.;

[Estimating emergency hospital admissions to gauge short-term effects of air pollution: evaluation of health data quality].

PubMed

Bois de Fer, Béatrice; Host, Sabine; Chardon, Benoît; Chatignoux, Edouard; Beaujouan, Laure; Brun-Ney, Dominique; Grémy, Isabelle

2009-01-01

The study of the short-term effects and health impact of air pollution is carrier out by the ERPURS regional surveillance program which utilizes hospitalization data obtained from the French hospital information system (PMSI) to determine these links. This system does not permit the distinction between emergency hospital admissions from scheduled ones, which cannot be related to short term changes in air pollution levels. This study examines how scheduled admissions affect the quality of the health indicators used to estimate air pollution effects. This indicator is compared to three new emergency hospitalisation indicators reconstructed based on data from the public hospitals in Paris, partly from the PMSI data and partly with data from an on-line emergency network that regroups all of the computerized emergency services. According to the pathology, scheduled admissions present a difficulty which affects the capacity to highlight the weakest risks with any precision.

Sensibility study in a flexible job shop scheduling problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curralo, Ana; Pereira, Ana I.; Barbosa, José; Leitão, Paulo

2013-10-01

This paper proposes the impact assessment of the jobs order in the optimal time of operations in a Flexible Job Shop Scheduling Problem. In this work a real assembly cell was studied: the AIP-PRIMECA cell at the Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis, in France, which is considered as a Flexible Job Shop problem. The problem consists in finding the machines operations schedule, taking into account the precedence constraints. The main objective is to minimize the batch makespan, i.e. the finish time of the last operation completed in the schedule. Shortly, the present study consists in evaluating if the jobs order affects the optimal time of the operations schedule. The genetic algorithm was used to solve the optimization problem. As a conclusion, it's assessed that the jobs order influence the optimal time.

Firefighter Shift Schedules Affect Sleep Quality.

PubMed

Billings, Joel; Focht, Will

2016-03-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of firefighter sleep quality across department shift schedules. Sleep quality was assessed using a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in a sample of 109 male career firefighters from six fire departments in three Southwestern US states. The three shift schedules studied were 24on/48off, 48on/96off, and Kelly. Seventy-three percent of firefighters report poor sleep quality. The 24on/48off shift schedule is associated with the best sleep quality and Kelly is associated with the worst sleep quality. Firefighters working second jobs report significantly poorer sleep quality than those who do not. Shift schedules that disrupt normal circadian rhythms more result in poorer sleep quality, which can lead to less effective emergency response and increased risk to firefighter health and safety.

A comparison of second and third generations combined oral contraceptive pills' effect on mood.

PubMed

Shahnazi, Mahnaz; Farshbaf Khalili, Azizeh; Ranjbar Kochaksaraei, Fatemeh; Asghari Jafarabadi, Mohammad; Gaza Banoi, Kamal; Nahaee, Jila; Bayati Payan, Somayeh

2014-08-01

Most women taking combined oral contraceptives (COCs) are satisfied with their contraceptive method. However, one of the most common reasons reported for discontinuation of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) is mood deterioration. This study aimed to compare effects of the second and third generation oral contraceptive pills on the mood of reproductive women. This randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial was conducted in reproductive women at health centers in Tehran, Iran. Participants were randomized into the second and third generation oral contraceptive groups. Positive and negative moods were recorded using positive affect, negative affect scale (PANAS) tools at the end the second and fourth months of the study. Data analysis was carried out using ANOVA and P Values < 0.05 was considered significant. Statistically significant difference was seen in positive and negative mood changes in women receiving contraceptive pills. The second generation oral contraceptive pills resulted in a decrease in positive mood (95% CI: 43.39 to 38.32 in second month and 43.39 to 26.05 in four month) and increase in negative mood (95% CI: 14.23 to 22.04 in second month and 14.23 to 32.26 in four month - P < 0.001), but the third generation led to an increase in positive mood (95% CI: 22.42 to 25.60 in second month and 22.42 to 33.87 in four month) and decrease in negative mood (95% CI: 36.78 to 31.97 in second month and 36.78 to 22.65 in four month - P < 0.001). Third generation combined oral contraceptive pills have a better effect on mood in women in reproductive ages than the second generation pills. It can be recommended as a proper combined oral contraceptive in Iran.

A Comparison of Second and Third Generations Combined Oral Contraceptive Pills’ Effect on Mood

PubMed Central

Shahnazi, Mahnaz; Farshbaf Khalili, Azizeh; Ranjbar Kochaksaraei, Fatemeh; Asghari Jafarabadi, Mohammad; Gaza Banoi, Kamal; Nahaee, Jila; Bayati Payan, Somayeh

2014-01-01

Background: Most women taking combined oral contraceptives (COCs) are satisfied with their contraceptive method. However, one of the most common reasons reported for discontinuation of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) is mood deterioration. Objectives: This study aimed to compare effects of the second and third generation oral contraceptive pills on the mood of reproductive women. Materials and Methods: This randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial was conducted in reproductive women at health centers in Tehran, Iran. Participants were randomized into the second and third generation oral contraceptive groups. Positive and negative moods were recorded using positive affect, negative affect scale (PANAS) tools at the end the second and fourth months of the study. Data analysis was carried out using ANOVA and P Values < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Statistically significant difference was seen in positive and negative mood changes in women receiving contraceptive pills. The second generation oral contraceptive pills resulted in a decrease in positive mood (95% CI: 43.39 to 38.32 in second month and 43.39 to 26.05 in four month) and increase in negative mood (95% CI: 14.23 to 22.04 in second month and 14.23 to 32.26 in four month - P < 0.001), but the third generation led to an increase in positive mood (95% CI: 22.42 to 25.60 in second month and 22.42 to 33.87 in four month) and decrease in negative mood (95% CI: 36.78 to 31.97 in second month and 36.78 to 22.65 in four month - P < 0.001). Conclusions: Third generation combined oral contraceptive pills have a better effect on mood in women in reproductive ages than the second generation pills. It can be recommended as a proper combined oral contraceptive in Iran. PMID:25389478

Age, stress, and emotional complexity: results from two studies of daily experiences.

PubMed

Scott, Stacey B; Sliwinski, Martin J; Mogle, Jacqueline A; Almeida, David M

2014-09-01

Experiencing positive and negative emotions together (i.e., co-occurrence) has been described as a marker of positive adaptation during stress and a strength of socioemotional aging. Using data from daily diary (N = 2,022; ages 33-84) and ecological momentary assessment (N = 190; ages 20-80) studies, we evaluate the utility of a common operationalization of co-occurrence, the within-person correlation between positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Then we test competing predictions regarding when co-occurrence will be observed and whether age differences will be present. Results indicate that the correlation is not an informative indicator of co-occurrence. Although correlations were stronger and more negative when stressors occurred (typically interpreted as lower co-occurrence), objective counts of emotion reports indicated that positive and negative emotions were 3 to 4 times more likely to co-occur when stressors were reported. This suggests that co-occurrence reflects the extent to which negative emotions intrude on typically positive emotional states, rather than the extent to which people maintain positive emotions during stress. The variances of both PA and NA increased at stressor reports, indicating that individuals reported a broader not narrower range of emotion during stress. Finally, older age was associated with less variability in NA and a lower likelihood of co-occurring positive and negative emotions. In sum, these findings cast doubt on the utility of the PA-NA correlation as an index of emotional co-occurrence, and question notion that greater emotional co-occurrence represents either a typical or adaptive emotional state in adults. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS): normative data and latent structure in a large non-clinical sample.

PubMed

Crawford, John R; Henry, Julie D

2003-06-01

To provide UK normative data for the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) and test its convergent, discriminant and construct validity. Cross-sectional, correlational and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The DASS was administered to a non-clinical sample, broadly representative of the general adult UK population (N = 1,771) in terms of demographic variables. Competing models of the latent structure of the DASS were derived from theoretical and empirical sources and evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. Correlational analysis was used to determine the influence of demographic variables on DASS scores. The convergent and discriminant validity of the measure was examined through correlating the measure with two other measures of depression and anxiety (the HADS and the sAD), and a measure of positive and negative affectivity (the PANAS). The best fitting model (CFI =.93) of the latent structure of the DASS consisted of three correlated factors corresponding to the depression, anxiety and stress scales with correlated error permitted between items comprising the DASS subscales. Demographic variables had only very modest influences on DASS scores. The reliability of the DASS was excellent, and the measure possessed adequate convergent and discriminant validity Conclusions: The DASS is a reliable and valid measure of the constructs it was intended to assess. The utility of this measure for UK clinicians is enhanced by the provision of large sample normative data.

Scheduling Future Water Supply Investments Under Uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huskova, I.; Matrosov, E. S.; Harou, J. J.; Kasprzyk, J. R.; Reed, P. M.

2014-12-01

Uncertain hydrological impacts of climate change, population growth and institutional changes pose a major challenge to planning of water supply systems. Planners seek optimal portfolios of supply and demand management schemes but also when to activate assets whilst considering many system goals and plausible futures. Incorporation of scheduling into the planning under uncertainty problem strongly increases its complexity. We investigate some approaches to scheduling with many-objective heuristic search. We apply a multi-scenario many-objective scheduling approach to the Thames River basin water supply system planning problem in the UK. Decisions include which new supply and demand schemes to implement, at what capacity and when. The impact of different system uncertainties on scheme implementation schedules are explored, i.e. how the choice of future scenarios affects the search process and its outcomes. The activation of schemes is influenced by the occurrence of extreme hydrological events in the ensemble of plausible scenarios and other factors. The approach and results are compared with a previous study where only the portfolio problem is addressed (without scheduling).

15 CFR 710.4 - Overview of scheduled chemicals and examples of affected industries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... provides examples of the types of industries that may be affected by the CWCR (parts 710 through 729 of...) Batteries; (vi) Cyanic acid; (vii) Toiletries, including perfumes and scents; (viii) Organic phosphate...

15 CFR 710.4 - Overview of scheduled chemicals and examples of affected industries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... provides examples of the types of industries that may be affected by the CWCR (parts 710 through 729 of...) Batteries; (vi) Cyanic acid; (vii) Toiletries, including perfumes and scents; (viii) Organic phosphate...

Tissue preparation for immunocytochemistry.

PubMed Central

Williams, J H; Mepham, B L; Wright, D H

1997-01-01

AIMS: To investigate the effect of tissue preparation on immunostaining and to establish whether there is a standard tissue preparation schedule that allows optimal demonstration of all antigens. METHODS: Blocks of tonsil were subjected to variations to a standard fixation, processing, and section preparation schedule. The sections were stained with five antibodies-L26 (CD20), UCHL1 (CD45RO), CD3, vimentin, and anti-kappa light chain--using the streptavidinbiotin immunostaining technique. When further investigation was necessary, other tissues and antibodies were used and where weak immunostaining was obtained the use of microwave pretreatment to improve staining was tested. RESULTS: Several factors involved in fixation were found to affect immunoreactivity. These included the duration, pH, and type of fixative used. In tissue processing only temperature and the duration of the dehydration and wax infiltration steps affected immunoreactivity. Of all the factors investigated, the temperature and duration of the section drying had the greatest effect. In contrast, long term storage of cut sections before immunostaining had no effect on the reactivity of the antibodies tested. Antibodies were found to be affected by alterations to tissue preparation by varying degrees, UCHL1 and vimentin being the most susceptible to changes in fixation and L26 to changes in processing. Where weak staining occurred, microwave pretreatment was generally found to eliminate the problem. CONCLUSIONS: There is no standard tissue preparation schedule for the optimal demonstration of all antigens. Factors involved in all aspects of tissue preparation can affect immunoreactivity, so it is important that precise details of the preparation schedule are given when reporting immunocytochemical studies, rather than using the general term "routinely fixed and processed". Images PMID:9215127

The GBT Dynamic Scheduling System: A New Scheduling Paradigm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Neil, K.; Balser, D.; Bignell, C.; Clark, M.; Condon, J.; McCarty, M.; Marganian, P.; Shelton, A.; Braatz, J.; Harnett, J.; Maddalena, R.; Mello, M.; Sessoms, E.

2009-09-01

The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is implementing a new Dynamic Scheduling System (DSS) designed to maximize the observing efficiency of the telescope while ensuring that none of the flexibility and ease of use of the GBT is harmed and that the data quality of observations is not adversely affected. To accomplish this, the GBT DSS is implementing a dynamic scheduling system which schedules observers, rather than running scripts. The DSS works by breaking each project into one or more sessions which have associated observing criteria such as RA, Dec, and frequency. Potential observers may also enter dates when members of their team will not be available for either on-site or remote observing. The scheduling algorithm uses those data, along with the predicted weather, to determine the most efficient schedule for the GBT. The DSS provides all observers at least 24 hours notice of their upcoming observing. In the uncommon (< 20%) case where the actual weather does not match the predictions, a backup project, chosen from the database, is run instead. Here we give an overview of the GBT DSS project, including the ranking and scheduling algorithms for the sessions, the scheduling probabilities generation, the web framework for the system, and an overview of the results from the beta testing which were held from June - September, 2008.

How social exclusion modulates social information processing: A behavioural dissociation between facial expressions and gaze direction

PubMed Central

Gallucci, Marcello; Ricciardelli, Paola

2018-01-01

Social exclusion is a painful experience that is felt as a threat to the human need to belong and can lead to increased aggressive and anti-social behaviours, and results in emotional and cognitive numbness. Excluded individuals also seem to show an automatic tuning to positivity: they tend to increase their selective attention towards social acceptance signals. Despite these effects known in the literature, the consequences of social exclusion on social information processing still need to be explored in depth. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of social exclusion on processing two features that are strictly bound in the appraisal of the meaning of facial expressions: gaze direction and emotional expression. In two experiments (N = 60, N = 45), participants were asked to identify gaze direction or emotional expressions from facial stimuli, in which both these features were manipulated. They performed these tasks in a four-block crossed design after being socially included or excluded using the Cyberball game. Participants’ empathy and self-reported emotions were recorded using the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and PANAS questionnaires. The Need Threat Scale and three additional questions were also used as manipulation checks in the second experiment. In both experiments, excluded participants showed to be less accurate than included participants in gaze direction discrimination. Modulatory effects of direct gaze (Experiment 1) and sad expression (Experiment 2) on the effects of social exclusion were found on response times (RTs) in the emotion recognition task. Specific differences in the reaction to social exclusion between males and females were also found in Experiment 2: excluded male participants tended to be less accurate and faster than included male participants, while excluded females showed a more accurate and slower performance than included female participants. No influence of social exclusion on PANAS or EQ scores was found. Results are discussed in the context of the importance of identifying gaze direction in appraisal theories. PMID:29617410

School Schedules Affect Sleep Timing in Children and Contribute to Partial Sleep Deprivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anacleto, Tâmile Stella; Adamowicz, Taísa; Simões da Costa Pinto, Laura; Louzada, Fernando Mazzilli

2014-01-01

Although the environmental light/dark cycle is the main zeitgeber for the human species, the social cues seem to be important in the synchronization of circadian rhythms. In Brazil, the existence of two school schedules--one with only morning classes (MG) and other with only afternoon classes (AG)--allows the investigation of the effect of school…

The Long-Term Effects of Rape on Lifestyle and Psychological Functioning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esper, Jody A.; Runge, Christopher J.

Research has shown rape to be an act of violence which affects the lives of many individuals each year. For many survivors of rape, effects on psychological functioning and lifestyle may endure for many years. This study was undertaken to develop and pilot the Rape Assessment Schedule, an interview schedule designed to assess the very long-term…

Unsociable Work? Nonstandard Work Schedules, Family Relationships, and Children's Well-Being

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strazdins, Lyndall; Clements, Mark S.; Korda, Rosemary J.; Broom, Dorothy H.; D'Souza, Rennie M.

2006-01-01

Many children live in families where one or both parents work evenings, nights, or weekends. Do these work schedules affect family relationships or well-being? Using cross-sectional survey data from dual-earner Canadian families (N=4,306) with children aged 2-11 years (N=6,156), we compared families where parents worked standard weekday times with…

Dose Schedule and Enhanced Conversational Recast Treatment for Children with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyers-Denman, Christina N.; Plante, Elena

2016-01-01

Purpose: Dosage has been identified as an important element of treatment that may affect treatment efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of dose schedule for treatment of grammatical morphology deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method: Sixteen 4-to-5-year-old children with SLI participated in a…

How partial reinforcement of food cues affects the extinction and reacquisition of appetitive responses. A new model for dieting success?

PubMed

van den Akker, Karolien; Havermans, Remco C; Bouton, Mark E; Jansen, Anita

2014-10-01

Animals and humans can easily learn to associate an initially neutral cue with food intake through classical conditioning, but extinction of learned appetitive responses can be more difficult. Intermittent or partial reinforcement of food cues causes especially persistent behaviour in animals: after exposure to such learning schedules, the decline in responding that occurs during extinction is slow. After extinction, increases in responding with renewed reinforcement of food cues (reacquisition) might be less rapid after acquisition with partial reinforcement. In humans, it may be that the eating behaviour of some individuals resembles partial reinforcement schedules to a greater extent, possibly affecting dieting success by interacting with extinction and reacquisition. Furthermore, impulsivity has been associated with less successful dieting, and this association might be explained by impulsivity affecting the learning and extinction of appetitive responses. In the present two studies, the effects of different reinforcement schedules and impulsivity on the acquisition, extinction, and reacquisition of appetitive responses were investigated in a conditioning paradigm involving food rewards in healthy humans. Overall, the results indicate both partial reinforcement schedules and, possibly, impulsivity to be associated with worse extinction performance. A new model of dieting success is proposed: learning histories and, perhaps, certain personality traits (impulsivity) can interfere with the extinction and reacquisition of appetitive responses to food cues and they may be causally related to unsuccessful dieting. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Scheduling Algorithm for Cloud Computing System Based on the Driver of Dynamic Essential Path.

PubMed

Xie, Zhiqiang; Shao, Xia; Xin, Yu

2016-01-01

To solve the problem of task scheduling in the cloud computing system, this paper proposes a scheduling algorithm for cloud computing based on the driver of dynamic essential path (DDEP). This algorithm applies a predecessor-task layer priority strategy to solve the problem of constraint relations among task nodes. The strategy assigns different priority values to every task node based on the scheduling order of task node as affected by the constraint relations among task nodes, and the task node list is generated by the different priority value. To address the scheduling order problem in which task nodes have the same priority value, the dynamic essential long path strategy is proposed. This strategy computes the dynamic essential path of the pre-scheduling task nodes based on the actual computation cost and communication cost of task node in the scheduling process. The task node that has the longest dynamic essential path is scheduled first as the completion time of task graph is indirectly influenced by the finishing time of task nodes in the longest dynamic essential path. Finally, we demonstrate the proposed algorithm via simulation experiments using Matlab tools. The experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm can effectively reduce the task Makespan in most cases and meet a high quality performance objective.

A Scheduling Algorithm for Cloud Computing System Based on the Driver of Dynamic Essential Path

PubMed Central

Xie, Zhiqiang; Shao, Xia; Xin, Yu

2016-01-01

To solve the problem of task scheduling in the cloud computing system, this paper proposes a scheduling algorithm for cloud computing based on the driver of dynamic essential path (DDEP). This algorithm applies a predecessor-task layer priority strategy to solve the problem of constraint relations among task nodes. The strategy assigns different priority values to every task node based on the scheduling order of task node as affected by the constraint relations among task nodes, and the task node list is generated by the different priority value. To address the scheduling order problem in which task nodes have the same priority value, the dynamic essential long path strategy is proposed. This strategy computes the dynamic essential path of the pre-scheduling task nodes based on the actual computation cost and communication cost of task node in the scheduling process. The task node that has the longest dynamic essential path is scheduled first as the completion time of task graph is indirectly influenced by the finishing time of task nodes in the longest dynamic essential path. Finally, we demonstrate the proposed algorithm via simulation experiments using Matlab tools. The experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm can effectively reduce the task Makespan in most cases and meet a high quality performance objective. PMID:27490901

Effectiveness of cytopenia prophylaxis for different filgrastim and pegfilgrastim schedules in a chemotherapy mouse model

PubMed Central

Scholz, Markus; Ackermann, Manuela; Emmrich, Frank; Loeffler, Markus; Kamprad, Manja

2009-01-01

Objectives Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) is widely used to treat neutropenia during cytotoxic chemotherapy. The optimal scheduling of rhG-CSF is unknown and can hardly be tested in clinical studies due to numerous therapy parameters affecting outcome (chemotherapeutic regimen, rhG-CSF schedules, individual covariables). Motivated by biomathematical model simulations, we aim to investigate different rhG-CSF schedules in a preclinical chemotherapy mouse model. Methods The time course of hematotoxicity was studied in CD-1 mice after cyclophosphamide (CP) administration. Filgrastim was applied concomitantly in a 2 × 3-factorial design of two dosing options (2 × 20 μg and 4 × 10 μg) and three timing options (directly, one, and two days after CP). Alternatively, a single dose of 40 μg pegfilgrastim was applied at the three timing options. The resulting cytopenia was compared among the schedules. Results Dosing and timing had a significant influence on the effectiveness of filgrastim schedules whereas for pegfilgrastim the timing effect was irrelevant. The best filgrastim and pegfilgrastim schedules exhibited equivalent toxicity. Monocytes dynamics performed analogously to granulocytes. All schedules showed roughly the same lymphotoxicity. Conclusion We conclude that effectiveness of filgrastim application depends heavily on its scheduling during chemotherapy. There is an optimum of timing. Dose splitting is better than concentrated applications. Effectiveness of pegfilgrastim is less dependent on timing. PMID:19707393

Effectiveness of cytopenia prophylaxis for different filgrastim and pegfilgrastim schedules in a chemotherapy mouse model.

PubMed

Scholz, Markus; Ackermann, Manuela; Emmrich, Frank; Loeffler, Markus; Kamprad, Manja

2009-01-01

Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) is widely used to treat neutropenia during cytotoxic chemotherapy. The optimal scheduling of rhG-CSF is unknown and can hardly be tested in clinical studies due to numerous therapy parameters affecting outcome (chemotherapeutic regimen, rhG-CSF schedules, individual covariables). Motivated by biomathematical model simulations, we aim to investigate different rhG-CSF schedules in a preclinical chemotherapy mouse model. The time course of hematotoxicity was studied in CD-1 mice after cyclophosphamide (CP) administration. Filgrastim was applied concomitantly in a 2 x 3-factorial design of two dosing options (2 x 20 mug and 4 x 10 mug) and three timing options (directly, one, and two days after CP). Alternatively, a single dose of 40 mug pegfilgrastim was applied at the three timing options. The resulting cytopenia was compared among the schedules. Dosing and timing had a significant influence on the effectiveness of filgrastim schedules whereas for pegfilgrastim the timing effect was irrelevant. The best filgrastim and pegfilgrastim schedules exhibited equivalent toxicity. Monocytes dynamics performed analogously to granulocytes. All schedules showed roughly the same lymphotoxicity. We conclude that effectiveness of filgrastim application depends heavily on its scheduling during chemotherapy. There is an optimum of timing. Dose splitting is better than concentrated applications. Effectiveness of pegfilgrastim is less dependent on timing.

"The stone which the builders rejected...": Delay of reinforcement and response rate on fixed-interval and related schedules.

PubMed

Wearden, J H; Lejeune, Helga

2006-02-28

The article deals with response rates (mainly running and peak or terminal rates) on simple and on some mixed-FI schedules and explores the idea that these rates are determined by the average delay of reinforcement for responses occurring during the response periods that the schedules generate. The effects of reinforcement delay are assumed to be mediated by a hyperbolic delay of reinforcement gradient. The account predicts that (a) running rates on simple FI schedules should increase with increasing rate of reinforcement, in a manner close to that required by Herrnstein's equation, (b) improving temporal control during acquisition should be associated with increasing running rates, (c) two-valued mixed-FI schedules with equiprobable components should produce complex results, with peak rates sometimes being higher on the longer component schedule, and (d) that effects of reinforcement probability on mixed-FI should affect the response rate at the time of the shorter component only. All these predictions were confirmed by data, although effects in some experiments remain outside the scope of the model. In general, delay of reinforcement as a determinant of response rate on FI and related schedules (rather than temporal control on such schedules) seems a useful starting point for a more thorough analysis of some neglected questions about performance on FI and related schedules.

Dialysis outcomes and analysis of practice patterns suggests the dialysis schedule affects day-of-week mortality

PubMed Central

Zhang, Hui; Schaubel, Douglas E; Kalbfleisch, John D; Bragg-Gresham, Jennifer L; Robinson, Bruce M; Pisoni, Ronald L; Canaud, Bernard; Jadoul, Michel; Akiba, Takashi; Saito, Akira; Port, Friedrich K; Saran, Rajiv

2012-01-01

The risk of death for hemodialysis patients is thought to be highest on the days following the longest interval without dialysis (usually Mondays and Tuesdays); however, existing results are inconclusive. To clarify this we analyzed Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) data of 22,163 hemodialysis patients from the United States, Europe and Japan. Our study focused on the association between dialysis schedule and day-of-week of all-cause, cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality with day-of-week coding as a time-dependent covariate. The models were adjusted for dialysis schedule, age, country, DOPPS Phase I or II, and other demographic and clinical covariates comparing mortality on each day to the 7-day average. Patients on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday (MFW) schedule had elevated all-cause mortality on Monday, and those on a Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday (TTS) schedule increased risk of mortality on Tuesday in all 3 regions. The association between day-of-week mortality and schedule was generally stronger for cardiovascular than non-cardiovascular mortality, and most pronounced in the United States. Unexpectedly, Japanese patients on a MWF schedule had a higher risk of non-cardiovascular mortality on Fridays, and European patients on a TTS schedule experienced an elevated cardiovascular mortality on Saturdays. Thus, future studies are needed to evaluate the influence of practice patterns on schedule-specific mortality and factors that could modulate this effect. PMID:22297673

Incubation lighting schedules and their interaction with matched or mismatched post hatch lighting schedules: Effects on broiler bone development and leg health at slaughter age.

PubMed

van der Pol, Carla W; van Roovert-Reijrink, Inge A M; Aalbers, Gerald; Kemp, Bas; van den Brand, Henry

2017-10-01

The incidence of leg pathologies in broiler chickens with a developmental origin may be decreased by stimulating embryonic bone development through lighting schedules during incubation, but this may depend on post hatch lighting conditions. Aim was to investigate how lighting schedules during incubation and their interactions with matched or mismatched lighting schedules post hatch affected bone development and leg health at slaughter age. In a 3×2 factorial designed experiment, eggs were incubated under continuous cool white LED light (Inc 24L ), 16h of light, 8h of darkness (Inc 16L:8D ), or continuous darkness (Inc 24D ) from set till hatch. After hatch, broilers were housed under continuous light (PH 24L , to match Inc 24L and Inc 24D ) or 16h of light, 8h of darkness (PH 16L:8D , to match Inc 16L:8D ). Gait scores were determined on D21, D28, and D34. After slaughter on D35, legs were scored for varus-valgus deformities, rotated tibia, tibial dyschondroplasia, bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO), epiphyseolysis, and epiphyseal plate abnormalities from 1=absent to 4=severe. Femur and tibia dimensions and mineral density were determined. Inc 24L led to more epiphyseal plate abnormalities than Inc 16L:8D or Inc 24D . Inc 24D led to more BCO than Inc 16L:8D . Gait scores on D21, D28, and D34, and bone dimensions did not differ between treatments. Inc 24L led to higher femur mineral density than Inc 24D with Inc 16L:8D intermediate. Providing a chicken with a matched post hatch lighting schedule did not affect most measurements of bone development and health. It can be concluded that a circadian incubation lighting schedule may improve leg health in broilers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coordination of appointments for anesthesia care outside of operating rooms using an enterprise-wide scheduling system.

PubMed

Dexter, Franklin; Xiao, Yan; Dow, Angella J; Strader, Melissa M; Ho, Danny; Wachtel, Ruth E

2007-12-01

An anesthesia department implemented scheduling of anesthetics outside of operating rooms (non-OR) by clerks and nurses from other departments using its hospital's enterprise-wide scheduling system. Observational studies chronicled the change over 2 yr as non-OR time was allocated by specialty, and nonanesthesia clerks and nurses scheduled anesthesia teams. Experimental studies investigated how tabular and graphical displays affected the scheduling of milestones (e.g., NPO times) and appointments before anesthetics. Anesthetics performed in allocated time increased progressively from 0% to 75%. Scheduling of anesthetics by nonanesthesia clerks and nurses increased progressively from 0% to 77%. Consistency of patient instructions was improved. The quality of resulting schedules was good. Implementation was not associated with worsening of multiple operational measures of performance such as cancellation rates, turnover times, or complaints. However, schedulers struggled to understand fasting and arrival times of patients, despite using a web site with statistically generated values in tabular formats. Experiments revealed that people ignored their knowledge that anesthetics can start earlier than scheduled. Participants made good decisions with both tabular and graphical displays when scheduling appointments preceding anesthesia. Enterprise-wide scheduling can coordinate anesthetics with other appointments on the same date and improve consistency and accuracy of patient instructions customized to the probability of an anesthetic starting early. The usefulness of implementation depends on the value in having more patient-centered care and/or in having patients arrive just in time for non-OR anesthesia, surgery, or regional block placement (e.g., at facilities with limited physical space).

Container volume and subirrigation schedule influence Quercus variabilis seedling growth and nutrient status in the nursery and field

Treesearch

Qiaoyu Sun; R. Kasten Dumroese; Yong Liu

2018-01-01

Container volume and irrigation management affect seedling growth in the nursery and field. We evaluated the effects of container volumes (D40, 656 ml; D60, 983 ml) and subirrigation schedules (85%, 75%, 65%, and 55% of 100% total substrate moisture content, TSMC) on seedling growth in a greenhouse and outplanting performance of Chinese cork oak (Quercus variabilis...

Benefit Assessment for Metroplex Tactical Runway Configuration Management (mTRCM) in a Simulated Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phojanamongkolkij, Nipa; Oseguera-Lohr, Rosa M.; Lohr, Gary W.; Robbins, Steven W.; Fenbert, James W.; Hartman, Christopher L.

2015-01-01

The System-Oriented Runway Management (SORM) concept is a collection of capabilities focused on a more efficient use of runways while considering all of the factors that affect runway use. Tactical Runway Configuration Management (TRCM), one of the SORM capabilities, provides runway configuration and runway usage recommendations, and monitoring the active runway configuration for suitability given existing factors. This report focuses on the metroplex environment, with two or more proximate airports having arrival and departure operations that are highly interdependent. The myriad of factors that affect metroplex opeations require consideration in arriving at runway configurations that collectively best serve the system as a whole. To assess the metroplex TRCM (mTRCM) benefit, the performance metrics must be compared with the actual historical operations. The historical configuration schedules can be viewed as the schedules produced by subject matter experts (SMEs), and therefore are referred to as the SMEs' schedules. These schedules were obtained from the FAA's Aviation System Performance Metrics (ASPM) database; this is the most representative information regarding runway configuration selection by SMEs. This report focused on a benefit assessment of total delay, transit time, and throughput efficiency (TE) benefits using the mTRCM algorithm at representative volumes for today's traffic at the New York metroplex (N90).

Strategies used by women workers to reconcile family responsibilities with atypical work schedules in the service sector.

PubMed

Barthe, B; Messing, K; Abbas, L

2011-01-01

Workers' attempts to accommodate family needs may be considered illegitimate in the paid work sphere. Their attempts at work-family balancing (WFB) in that sphere can remain invisible, even when those attempts require considerable energy. Since identification of WFB strategies can potentially lead to suggestions to improve management practices, we report an attempt to find them in the work sphere. 14 care aides in a Québec residence for seniors and 2~schedule managers were recruited. Qualitative ergonomic analysis was employed. 24 hours observation; interviews of nursing and human resources staff; qualitative ergonomic analysis by two researchers; feedback collected from meetings with management and union. Strategies for schedule choice were compared between care aides with heavier vs. lighter family responsibilities. For workers with heavier family responsibilities, choice of work schedules was almost entirely conditioned by family considerations, leaving little leeway to manage workers' own health protection. Family constraints affected activity at work, and strategies for handling family constraints could potentially be affected by changes in work organization. Managers should encourage full discussion of work-family balancing strategies if they wish to adapt their working conditions to the workers, and ergonomists should include this balancing as a facet of work activity, despite possible negative consequences.

Sustained-release theophylline and nocturnal asthma, once-daily and unequal dosing schedules.

PubMed

Smolensky, M H; D'Alonzo, G E; Kunkel, G; Barnes, P J

1987-01-01

Many asthmatic patients experience aggravation of symptoms overnight resulting in disruption of their sleep. Sustained-release theophylline represents at this time a major bronchodilator medication which possesses a sufficient duration of activity to avert the nocturnal breathing distress of asthma. Circadian rhythm-adapted theophylline schedules consisting of unequal dosing--more or all the drug taken in the evening--have proven efficacious in clinical investigations for certain patients. Although the kinetic behavior of some formulations is affected by food, the circadian rhythm-adapted schedules represent a significant step forward toward the goal of optimizating sustained-release theophyllines for patients who experience nighttime symptoms.

46 CFR 525.1 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... MARITIME COMMISSION REGULATIONS AFFECTING OCEAN SHIPPING IN FOREIGN COMMERCE MARINE TERMINAL OPERATOR... terminal schedule during which cargo may occupy space assigned to it on terminal property, including off... usages, customs or modes of operation which in any way affect, determine or change the rates, charges or...

46 CFR 525.1 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... MARITIME COMMISSION REGULATIONS AFFECTING OCEAN SHIPPING IN FOREIGN COMMERCE MARINE TERMINAL OPERATOR... terminal schedule during which cargo may occupy space assigned to it on terminal property, including off... usages, customs or modes of operation which in any way affect, determine or change the rates, charges or...

46 CFR 525.1 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... MARITIME COMMISSION REGULATIONS AFFECTING OCEAN SHIPPING IN FOREIGN COMMERCE MARINE TERMINAL OPERATOR... terminal schedule during which cargo may occupy space assigned to it on terminal property, including off... usages, customs or modes of operation which in any way affect, determine or change the rates, charges or...

Optimizing Air Transportation Service to Metroplex Airports. Par 2; Analysis Using the Airline Schedule Optimization Model (ASOM)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donoue, George; Hoffman, Karla; Sherry, Lance; Ferguson, John; Kara, Abdul Qadar

2010-01-01

The air transportation system is a significant driver of the U.S. economy, providing safe, affordable, and rapid transportation. During the past three decades airspace and airport capacity has not grown in step with demand for air transportation; the failure to increase capacity at the same rate as the growth in demand results in unreliable service and systemic delay. This report describes the results of an analysis of airline strategic decision-making that affects geographic access, economic access, and airline finances, extending the analysis of these factors using historic data (from Part 1 of the report). The Airline Schedule Optimization Model (ASOM) was used to evaluate how exogenous factors (passenger demand, airline operating costs, and airport capacity limits) affect geographic access (markets-served, scheduled flights, aircraft size), economic access (airfares), airline finances (profit), and air transportation efficiency (aircraft size). This analysis captures the impact of the implementation of airport capacity limits, as well as the effect of increased hedged fuel prices, which serve as a proxy for increased costs per flight that might occur if auctions or congestion pricing are imposed; also incorporated are demand elasticity curves based on historical data that provide information about how passenger demand is affected by airfare changes.

Tolerance to cocaine's effects on schedule-controlled behavior: role of delay between pause-ending responses and reinforcement.

PubMed

Macaskill, Anne C; Branch, Marc N

2012-01-01

The schedule of reinforcement under which behavior is maintained is an important contributor to whether tolerance to the behavioral effects of cocaine develops. Schedule parameter value (for example, fixed-ratio size) has been shown to affect the development of tolerance under some schedule types but not others, but the specific procedural variables causing this effect remain to be identified. To date, schedule-parameter-related tolerance has developed when a longer pause after reinforcement does not lead to a shorter delay between the response that ends the pause and reinforcement. The current study investigated the importance of this variable in pigeons using a multiple chained Fixed-Ratio 1, Fixed-Time x schedule, in which the first key peck in a trial produced a stimulus change and initiated a delay at the end of which food was presented regardless of whether or not additional pecks were made during the delay. Dose-response curves were assessed before, during and after chronic (daily) administration of cocaine. Tolerance to the pause-increasing effects of cocaine occurred to a similar degree regardless of the scheduled time between the end of the pause and reinforcement. Therefore, the relationship between pause length and delay to reinforcement does not provide an explanation for schedule-parameter-related tolerance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Food-deprivation effects on punished schedule-induced drinking in rats.

PubMed Central

Lamas, E; Pellón, R

1995-01-01

Food-deprived rats (at 80% of their free-feeding weights) were exposed to a fixed-time 60-s schedule of food-pellet presentation and developed schedule-induced drinking. Lick-dependent signaled delays (10 s) to food presentation led to decreased drinking, which recovered when the signaled delays were discontinued. A major effect of this punishment contingency was to increase the proportion of interpellet intervals without any licks. The drinking of yoked control rats, which received food at the same times as those exposed to the signaled delay contingency (masters), was not consistently reduced. When food-deprivation level was changed to 90%, all master and yoked control rats showed decreases in punished or unpunished schedule-induced drinking. When the body weights were reduced to 70%, most master rats increased punished behavior to levels similar to those of unpunished drinking. This effect was not observed for yoked controls. Therefore, body-weight loss increased the resistance of schedule-induced drinking to reductions by punishment. Food-deprivation effects on punished schedule-induced drinking are similar to their effects on food-maintained lever pressing. This dependency of punishment on food-deprivation level supports the view that schedule-induced drinking can be modified by the same variables that affect operant behavior in general. PMID:7622981

Toward an understanding of the impact of production pressure on safety performance in construction operations.

PubMed

Han, Sanguk; Saba, Farzaneh; Lee, Sanghyun; Mohamed, Yasser; Peña-Mora, Feniosky

2014-07-01

It is not unusual to observe that actual schedule and quality performances are different from planned performances (e.g., schedule delay and rework) during a construction project. Such differences often result in production pressure (e.g., being pressed to work faster). Previous studies demonstrated that such production pressure negatively affects safety performance. However, the process by which production pressure influences safety performance, and to what extent, has not been fully investigated. As a result, the impact of production pressure has not been incorporated much into safety management in practice. In an effort to address this issue, this paper examines how production pressure relates to safety performance over time by identifying their feedback processes. A conceptual causal loop diagram is created to identify the relationship between schedule and quality performances (e.g., schedule delays and rework) and the components related to a safety program (e.g., workers' perceptions of safety, safety training, safety supervision, and crew size). A case study is then experimentally undertaken to investigate this relationship with accident occurrence with the use of data collected from a construction site; the case study is used to build a System Dynamics (SD) model. The SD model, then, is validated through inequality statistics analysis. Sensitivity analysis and statistical screening techniques further permit an evaluation of the impact of the managerial components on accident occurrence. The results of the case study indicate that schedule delays and rework are the critical factors affecting accident occurrence for the monitored project. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impaired micturition reflex caused by acute selective dorsal or ventral root(s) rhizotomy in anesthetized rats.

PubMed

Liao, Jiuan-Miaw; Cheng, Chen-Li; Lee, Shin-Da; Chen, Gin-Den; Chen, Kuo-Jung; Yang, Chao-Hsun; Pan, Shwu-Fen; Chen, Mei-Jung; Huang, Pei-Chen; Lin, Tzer-Bin

2006-01-01

To clarify the contributions of parasympathetic inputs and outputs to the micturition reflex. Intra-vesical pressure (IVP), external urethral sphincter electromyogram (EMG), pelvic afferent nerve activities (PANA), and pelvic efferent nerve activities (PENA) as well as the time-derived IVP (dIVP, an index of bladder contractility) were evaluated in intact and acute dorsal or ventral root(s) rhizotomized (DRX and VRX, respectively) rats. In DRX rats, when compared with that in intact stage, the voiding frequency was decreased (75 +/- 15% of intact, P < 0.05, n = 8), while the threshold pressure to trigger voiding contractions was significantly increased (187 +/- 75% of intact, P < 0.05, n = 8). In addition, several insufficient contractions (5.3 +/- 3.5 contractions/voiding, P < 0.05, n = 8) occurred in ahead of each voiding contraction. On the other hand, in VRX rats, the peak and rebound IVP were significantly decreased (90 +/- 3.5% and 75 +/- 11.3% of intact, P < 0.01, n = 8), while the threshold pressure was not affected (102 +/- 11% of intact, P = NS, n = 8). The time-derived parameters were significantly decreased in VRX (peak dIVP, 78 +/- 10.2%, rebound dIVP, 75 +/- 15.6%, minimal dIVP, 68 +/- 14% of intact, P < 0.01, n = 8) but only peak dIVP was decreased (85 +/- 11% of intact, P < 0.01, n = 8) in DRX rats. Acute selective DRX and VRX rat can be an animal model to investigate peripheral neural control in micturition functions.

24 CFR 1000.530 - What corrective and remedial actions will HUD request or recommend to address performance...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... URBAN DEVELOPMENT NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ACTIVITIES Recipient Monitoring, Oversight and Accountability... is repeated; (2) Request the recipient to submit progress schedules for completing activities or... incur costs for the affected activity; (4) Recommend that the recipient redirect funds from affected...

24 CFR 1000.530 - What corrective and remedial actions will HUD request or recommend to address performance...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... URBAN DEVELOPMENT NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ACTIVITIES Recipient Monitoring, Oversight and Accountability... is repeated; (2) Request the recipient to submit progress schedules for completing activities or... incur costs for the affected activity; (4) Recommend that the recipient redirect funds from affected...

Full-Day or Half-Day Kindergarten? ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rothenberg, Dianne

This ERIC Digest examines how changing family patterns have affected the full-day/half-day kindergarten issue, discussing why schools are currently considering alternative scheduling and describing the advantages and disadvantages of each type of program. The following changing family patterns affecting the choice of full-day kindergarten programs…

Divorce

MedlinePlus

Divorce is the legal breakup of a marriage. Like every major life change, divorce is stressful. It affects finances, living arrangements, household jobs, schedules, and more. If the family includes children, ...

Space shuttle system program definition. Volume 4: Cost and schedule report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

The supporting cost and schedule data for the second half of the Space Shuttle System Phase B Extension Study is summarized. The major objective for this period was to address the cost/schedule differences affecting final selection of the HO orbiter space shuttle system. The contending options under study included the following booster launch configurations: (1) series burn ballistic recoverable booster (BRB), (2) parallel burn ballistic recoverable booster (BRB), (3) series burn solid rocket motors (SRM's), and (4) parallel burn solid rocket motors (SRM's). The implications of varying payload bay sizes for the orbiter, engine type for the ballistics recoverable booster, and SRM motors for the solid booster were examined.

Effects of maneuver dynamics on drag polars of the X-29A forward-swept-wing aircraft with automatic wing camber control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hicks, John W.; Moulton, Bryan J.

1988-01-01

The camber control loop of the X-29A FSW aircraft was designed to furnish the optimum L/D for trimmed, stabilized flight. A marked difference was noted between automatic wing camber control loop behavior in dynamic maneuvers and in stabilized flight conditions, which in turn affected subsonic aerodynamic performance. The degree of drag level increase was a direct function of maneuver rate. Attention is given to the aircraft flight drag polar effects of maneuver dynamics in light of wing camber control loop schedule. The effect of changing camber scheduling to better track the optimum automatic camber control L/D schedule is discussed.

Fertility of the male alpaca: effect of daily consecutive breeding.

PubMed

Bravo, P W; Solis, P; Ordoñez, C; Alarcon, V

1997-04-01

The fertility of the male alpaca under different frequencies of daily consecutive matings was evaluated. Fifteen adult male Huacaya alpacas were divided randomly into three groups of five each to breed lactating female alpacas. The schedule of daily matings was two, four and six consecutive breeding per group and for nine consecutive days. Ovulation was determined by progesterone at seven days after breeding. Pregnancy was determined by ultrasonography at 15 and 30 days after breeding. Two hundred and eighty females were bred with some males not fulfilling their schedule of breeding. There were differences (P < 0.05) in the fertility rate of males breeding two and four times daily (76%) in contrast to 59% for males breeding six times. There were also differences (P < 0.05) in the fertility of individual males. Length of copulation was affected (P < 0.05) by schedule of matings, day of breeding and male. Ovulation was independent of length of copulation. Overall, it seems the fertility of the male alpaca is affected significantly when consecutive matings are over four times a day and for nine consecutive days.

Controller Strategies for Automation Tool Use under Varying Levels of Trajectory Prediction Uncertainty

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morey, Susan; Prevot, Thomas; Mercer, Joey; Martin, Lynne; Bienert, Nancy; Cabrall, Christopher; Hunt, Sarah; Homola, Jeffrey; Kraut, Joshua

2013-01-01

A human-in-the-loop simulation was conducted to examine the effects of varying levels of trajectory prediction uncertainty on air traffic controller workload and performance, as well as how strategies and the use of decision support tools change in response. This paper focuses on the strategies employed by two controllers from separate teams who worked in parallel but independently under identical conditions (airspace, arrival traffic, tools) with the goal of ensuring schedule conformance and safe separation for a dense arrival flow in en route airspace. Despite differences in strategy and methods, both controllers achieved high levels of schedule conformance and safe separation. Overall, results show that trajectory uncertainties introduced by wind and aircraft performance prediction errors do not affect the controllers' ability to manage traffic. Controller strategies were fairly robust to changes in error, though strategies were affected by the amount of delay to absorb (scheduled time of arrival minus estimated time of arrival). Using the results and observations, this paper proposes an ability to dynamically customize the display of information including delay time based on observed error to better accommodate different strategies and objectives.

ComprehensiveBench: a Benchmark for the Extensive Evaluation of Global Scheduling Algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilla, Laércio L.; Bozzetti, Tiago C.; Castro, Márcio; Navaux, Philippe O. A.; Méhaut, Jean-François

2015-10-01

Parallel applications that present tasks with imbalanced loads or complex communication behavior usually do not exploit the underlying resources of parallel platforms to their full potential. In order to mitigate this issue, global scheduling algorithms are employed. As finding the optimal task distribution is an NP-Hard problem, identifying the most suitable algorithm for a specific scenario and comparing algorithms are not trivial tasks. In this context, this paper presents ComprehensiveBench, a benchmark for global scheduling algorithms that enables the variation of a vast range of parameters that affect performance. ComprehensiveBench can be used to assist in the development and evaluation of new scheduling algorithms, to help choose a specific algorithm for an arbitrary application, to emulate other applications, and to enable statistical tests. We illustrate its use in this paper with an evaluation of Charm++ periodic load balancers that stresses their characteristics.

Maglev guideway cost and construction schedule assessment

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

Plotkin, D.; Kim, S.

1997-05-01

A summary of construction cost and scheduling information is presented for four maglev guideway designs on an example route from Baltimore, MD to Newark, NJ. This work results from the National Maglev Initiative (NMI), a government-industry effort from 1989 to 1994. The system design concepts used as a basis for developing cost and construction scheduling information, were submitted by four industry consortia solely for this analysis, and represent their own unpublished designs. The detailed cost and construction schedule analyses cover the main guideway only. A summary estimate was made for stations, power distribution systems, maintenance facilities, and other types ofmore » infrastructure. The results of the analyses indicate a number of design aspects which must receive further consideration by future designers. These aspects will affect the practical and economic construction and long-term maintenance of a high-speed maglev guideway.« less

BEHAVIORAL MOMENTUM AND ACCUMULATION OF MASS IN MULTIPLE SCHEDULES

PubMed Central

Craig, Andrew R.; Cunningham, Paul J.; Shahan, Timothy A.

2015-01-01

Behavioral momentum theory suggests that the relation between a discriminative-stimulus situation and reinforcers obtained in that context (i.e., the Pavlovian stimulus–reinforcer relation) governs persistence of operant behavior. Within the theory, a mass-like aspect of behavior has been shown to be a power function of predisruption reinforcement rates. Previous investigations of resistance to change in multiple schedules, however, have been restricted to examining response persistence following protracted periods of stability in reinforcer rates within a discriminative situation. Thus, it is unclear how long a stimulus–reinforcer relation must be in effect prior to disruption in order to affect resistance to change. The present experiment examined resistance to change of pigeon’s key pecking following baseline conditions where reinforcer rates that were correlated with discriminative-stimulus situations changed. Across conditions, one multiple-schedule component arranged either relatively higher rates or lower rates of variable-interval food delivery, while the other component arranged the opposite rate. These schedules alternated between multiple-schedule components across blocks of sessions such that reinforcer rates in the components were held constant for 20, 5, 3, 2, or 1 session(s) between alternations. Resistance to extinction was higher in the component that most recently was associated with higher rates of food delivery in all conditions except when schedules alternated daily or every other day. These data suggest that resistance to change in multiple schedules is related to recently experienced reinforcer rates but only when multiple-schedule components are associated with specific reinforcer rates for several sessions. PMID:25787824

Improving outpatient access and patient experiences in academic ambulatory care.

PubMed

O'Neill, Sarah; Calderon, Sherry; Casella, Joanne; Wood, Elizabeth; Carvelli-Sheehan, Jayne; Zeidel, Mark L

2012-02-01

Effective scheduling of and ready access to doctor appointments affect ambulatory patient care quality, but these are often sacrificed by patients seeking care from physicians at academic medical centers. At one center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the authors developed interventions to improve the scheduling of appointments and to reduce the access time between telephone call and first offered appointment. Improvements to scheduling included no redirection to voicemail, prompt telephone pickup, courteous service, complete registration, and effective scheduling. Reduced access time meant being offered an appointment with a physician in the appropriate specialty within three working days of the telephone call. Scheduling and access were assessed using monthly "mystery shopper" calls. Mystery shoppers collected data using standardized forms, rated the quality of service, and transcribed their interactions with schedulers. Monthly results were tabulated and discussed with clinical leaders; leaders and frontline staff then developed solutions to detected problems. Eighteen months after the beginning of the intervention (in June 2007), which is ongoing, schedulers had gone from using 60% of their registration skills to over 90%, customer service scores had risen from 2.6 to 4.9 (on a 5-point scale), and average access time had fallen from 12 days to 6 days. The program costs $50,000 per year and has been associated with a 35% increase in ambulatory volume across three years. The authors conclude that academic medical centers can markedly improve the scheduling process and access to care and that these improvements may result in increased ambulatory care volume.

Comparison of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and pregnanolone with existing pharmacotherapies for alcohol abuse on ethanol- and food-maintained responding in male rats.

PubMed

Hulin, Mary W; Lawrence, Michelle N; Amato, Russell J; Weed, Peter F; Winsauer, Peter J

2015-03-01

The present study compared two putative pharmacotherapies for alcohol abuse and dependence, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and pregnanolone, with two Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pharmacotherapies, naltrexone and acamprosate. Experiment 1 assessed the effects of different doses of DHEA, pregnanolone, naltrexone, and acamprosate on both ethanol- and food-maintained responding under a multiple fixed-ratio (FR)-10 FR-20 schedule, respectively. Experiment 2 assessed the effects of different mean intervals of food presentation on responding for ethanol under a FR-10 variable-interval (VI) schedule, whereas Experiment 3 assessed the effects of a single dose of each drug under a FR-10 VI-80 schedule. In Experiment 1, all four drugs dose-dependently decreased response rate for both food and ethanol, although differences in the rate-decreasing effects were apparent among the drugs. DHEA and pregnanolone decreased ethanol-maintained responding more potently than food-maintained responding, whereas the reverse was true for naltrexone. Acamprosate decreased responding for both reinforcers with equal potency. In Experiment 2, different mean intervals of food presentation significantly affected the number of food reinforcers obtained per session; however, changes in the number of food reinforcements did not significantly affect responding for ethanol. Under the FR-10 VI-80 schedule in Experiment 3, only naltrexone significantly decreased both the dose of alcohol presented and blood ethanol concentration (BEC). Acamprosate and pregnanolone had no significant effects on any of the dependent measures, whereas DHEA significantly decreased BEC, but did not significantly decrease response rate or the dose presented. In summary, DHEA and pregnanolone decreased ethanol-maintained responding more potently than food-maintained responding under a multiple FR-10 FR-20 schedule, and were more selective for decreasing ethanol self-administration than either naltrexone or acamprosate under that schedule. Experiment 2 showed that ethanol intake was relatively independent of the interval of reinforcement in the food-maintained component, and Experiment 3 showed that naltrexone was the most effective drug at the doses tested when the interval for food reinforcement was low and maintained under a variable-interval schedule. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and pregnanolone with existing pharmacotherapies for alcohol abuse on ethanol- and food-maintained responding in male rats

PubMed Central

Hulin, Mary W.; Lawrence, Michelle N.; Amato, Russell J.; Weed, Peter F.; Winsauer, Peter J.

2015-01-01

The present study compared two putative pharmacotherapies for alcohol abuse and dependence, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and pregnanolone, with two Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pharmacotherapies, naltrexone and acamprosate. Experiment 1 assessed the effects of different doses of DHEA, pregnanolone, naltrexone, and acamprosate on both ethanol- and food-maintained responding under a multiple fixed-ratio (FR)-10 FR-20 schedule, respectively. Experiment 2 assessed the effects of different mean intervals of food presentation on responding for ethanol under an FR-10 variable-interval (VI) schedule, whereas Experiment 3 assessed the effects of a single dose of each drug under a FR-10 VI-80 schedule. In Experiment 1, all four drugs dose-dependently decreased response rate for both food and ethanol, although differences in the rate-decreasing effects were apparent among the drugs. DHEA and pregnanolone decreased ethanol-maintained responding more potently than food-maintained responding, whereas the reverse was true for naltrexone. Acamprosate decreased responding for both reinforcers with equal potency. In Experiment 2, different mean intervals of food presentation significantly affected the number of food reinforcers obtained per session; however, changes in the number of food reinforcements did not significantly affect responding for ethanol. Under the FR-10 VI-80 schedule in Experiment 3, only naltrexone significantly decreased both the dose of alcohol presented and blood ethanol concentration (BEC). Acamprosate and pregnanolone had no significant effects on any of the dependent measures, whereas DHEA significantly decreased BEC, but did not significantly decrease response rate or the dose presented. In summary, DHEA and pregnanolone decreased ethanol-maintained responding more potently than food-maintained responding under a multiple FR-10 FR-20 schedule, and were more selective for decreasing ethanol self-administration than either naltrexone or acamprosate under that schedule. Experiment 2 showed that ethanol intake was relatively independent of the density of reinforcement in the food-maintained component, and Experiment 3 showed that naltrexone was the most effective drug at the doses tested when the density for food reinforcement was low and maintained under a variable-interval schedule. PMID:25620274

Complementary Research on Student Geoscience Learning at Grand Canyon by Means of In-situ and Virtual Modalities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semken, S. C.; Ruberto, T.; Mead, C.; Bruce, G.; Buxner, S.; Anbar, A. D.

2016-12-01

Education through exploration—typically in the field—is fundamental in geoscience. But not all students enjoy equal access to field-based learning, while technological advances afford ever more immersive, rich, and student-centered virtual field experiences. No virtual modalities yet conceived can supplant field-based learning, but logistical and financial contraints can render them the only practical option for enabling most students to explore pedagogically powerful but inaccessible places located across and even beyond Earth. We are producers of a growing portfolio of immersive virtual field trips (iVFTs) situated around the globe, and engaged in research on iVFT effectiveness. Our methods are more complementary than comparative, given that virtual and in-situ modalities have distinct advantages and disadvantages. In the case of iVFTs, these factors have not yet been well-studied. We conducted a mixed-methods complementary study in an introductory historical-geology class (n = 120) populated mostly by non-majors and representing the diversity of our large urban Southwestern research university. For the same course credit, students chose either an in-person field trip (ipFT) to Grand Canyon National Park (control group) or an online Grand Canyon iVFT (experimental group) to be done in the same time interval. We collected quantitative and qualitative data from both groups before, during, and after both interventions. Learning outcomes based on content elements of the Trail of Time Exhibition at Grand Canyon were assessed using pre/post concept sketching and formative inquiry exercises. Student attitudes and novelty-space factors were assessed pre- and post-intervention using the PANAS instrument of Watson and Clark and with questionnaires tailored to each modality. Coding and comparison of pre/post concept sketches showed improved conceptual knowledge in both groups, but more so in the experimental (iVFT) group. Emergent themes from the pre/post questionnaires and PANAS yielded testable ideas to enhance iVFT usability and ipFT accessibility and did not indicate a clear preference for either modality, but they do support the value of iVFTs as pedagogically sound geoscience learning experiences.

Contagious flexibility? A study on whether schedule flexibility facilitates work-life enrichment.

PubMed

Pedersen, Vivi Bach; Jeppesen, Hans Jeppe

2012-08-01

Schedule flexibility defines an important generating resource for work-life enrichment; however, our knowledge about how such spillovers take place is limited. This multiple case study examines how workers from different working time contexts with varying levels of schedule flexibility experience work-life interplay. Given the adopted explorative design, it is important to interpret the findings in a tentative light. Nonetheless, the study offers important insight into work-life enrichment that may guide future research in this field. The findings indicate that schedule flexibility may act as a boundary-spanning resource owing to the agency potential it offers workers. Thus, it seemed that flexible schedule opportunities enabled workers to engage more fully in personal life activities, which in turn had a positive influence on their work involvement through positive affect. Such positive role engagements appeared, however, to be greatly determined by workers' boundary management and by time conditions of work and family. In conclusion, the major findings and limitation of the study are discussed against existing research and theory. © 2012 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2012 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

76 FR 41371 - Impact of Reducing the Mixture Concentration Threshold for Commercial Schedule 3 Chemical...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-13

...The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is seeking public comments on the impact of amending the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations (CWCR) to reduce the concentration level at which the CWCR exempt certain mixtures containing Schedule 3 chemicals from the declaration requirements that apply to Schedule 3 chemical production and the reporting requirements that apply to exports and imports of Schedule 3 chemicals under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). BIS is considering amending the CWCR declaration requirements that apply to the production of Schedule 3 chemicals to conform with the low concentration exemption adopted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in 2003, which applies when the concentration of any single Schedule 3 chemical in a mixture is ``30% or less,'' by weight or volume (whichever yields the lesser percent). Currently, the CWCR do not require the quantity of a Schedule 3 chemical contained in a mixture to be counted for declaration or reporting purposes if the concentration of the Schedule 3 chemical in the mixture is ``less than 80%'' by volume or weight (whichever yields the lesser percent). The current low concentration level was implemented in accordance with requirements set forth in the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act (CWCIA). Accordingly, publication and implementation of regulatory changes affecting this low concentration exemption level would be contingent upon amendment of the CWCIA by the Congress. In addition, consistent with U.S. national discretion, BIS is considering amending the CWCR reporting requirements for exports and imports of Schedule 3 chemicals by reducing the low concentration exemption that applies to certain mixtures containing Schedule 3 chemicals from the current low concentration level of ``less than 80%'' of a Schedule 3 chemical by volume or weight (whichever yields the lesser percent) to a concentration of ``30% or less.''

Multi-Satellite Scheduling Approach for Dynamic Areal Tasks Triggered by Emergent Disasters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, X. N.; Zhai, X. J.; Tang, H.; Wu, L. X.

2016-06-01

The process of satellite mission scheduling, which plays a significant role in rapid response to emergent disasters, e.g. earthquake, is used to allocate the observation resources and execution time to a series of imaging tasks by maximizing one or more objectives while satisfying certain given constraints. In practice, the information obtained of disaster situation changes dynamically, which accordingly leads to the dynamic imaging requirement of users. We propose a satellite scheduling model to address dynamic imaging tasks triggered by emergent disasters. The goal of proposed model is to meet the emergency response requirements so as to make an imaging plan to acquire rapid and effective information of affected area. In the model, the reward of the schedule is maximized. To solve the model, we firstly present a dynamic segmenting algorithm to partition area targets. Then the dynamic heuristic algorithm embedding in a greedy criterion is designed to obtain the optimal solution. To evaluate the model, we conduct experimental simulations in the scene of Wenchuan Earthquake. The results show that the simulated imaging plan can schedule satellites to observe a wider scope of target area. We conclude that our satellite scheduling model can optimize the usage of satellite resources so as to obtain images in disaster response in a more timely and efficient manner.

Design of a universal logic block for fault-tolerant realization of any logic operation in trapped-ion quantum circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goudarzi, H.; Dousti, M. J.; Shafaei, A.; Pedram, M.

2014-05-01

This paper presents a physical mapping tool for quantum circuits, which generates the optimal universal logic block (ULB) that can, on average, perform any logical fault-tolerant (FT) quantum operations with the minimum latency. The operation scheduling, placement, and qubit routing problems tackled by the quantum physical mapper are highly dependent on one another. More precisely, the scheduling solution affects the quality of the achievable placement solution due to resource pressures that may be created as a result of operation scheduling, whereas the operation placement and qubit routing solutions influence the scheduling solution due to resulting distances between predecessor and current operations, which in turn determines routing latencies. The proposed flow for the quantum physical mapper captures these dependencies by applying (1) a loose scheduling step, which transforms an initial quantum data flow graph into one that explicitly captures the no-cloning theorem of the quantum computing and then performs instruction scheduling based on a modified force-directed scheduling approach to minimize the resource contention and quantum circuit latency, (2) a placement step, which uses timing-driven instruction placement to minimize the approximate routing latencies while making iterative calls to the aforesaid force-directed scheduler to correct scheduling levels of quantum operations as needed, and (3) a routing step that finds dynamic values of routing latencies for the qubits. In addition to the quantum physical mapper, an approach is presented to determine the single best ULB size for a target quantum circuit by examining the latency of different FT quantum operations mapped onto different ULB sizes and using information about the occurrence frequency of operations on critical paths of the target quantum algorithm to weigh these latencies. Experimental results show an average latency reduction of about 40 % compared to previous work.

"Developing culturally sensitive affect scales for global mental health research and practice: Emotional balance, not named syndromes, in Indian Adivasi subjective well-being".

PubMed

Snodgrass, Jeffrey G; Lacy, Michael G; Upadhyay, Chakrapani

2017-08-01

We present a perspective to analyze mental health without either a) imposing Western illness categories or b) adopting local or "native" categories of mental distress. Our approach takes as axiomatic only that locals within any culture share a cognitive and verbal lexicon of salient positive and negative emotional experiences, which an appropriate and repeatable set of ethnographic procedures can elicit. Our approach is provisionally agnostic with respect to either Western or native nosological categories, and instead focuses on persons' relative frequency of experiencing emotions. Putting this perspective into practice in India, our ethnographic fieldwork (2006-2014) and survey analysis (N = 219) resulted in a 40-item Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), which we used to assess the mental well-being of Indigenous persons (the tribal Sahariya) in the Indian states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Generated via standard cognitive anthropological procedures that can be replicated elsewhere, measures such as this possess features of psychiatric scales favored by leaders in global mental health initiatives. Though not capturing locally named distress syndromes, our scale is nonetheless sensitive to local emotional experiences, frames of meaning, and "idioms of distress." By sharing traits of both global and also locally-derived diagnoses, approaches like ours can help identify synergies between them. For example, employing data reduction techniques such as factor analysis-where diagnostic and screening categories emerge inductively ex post facto from emotional symptom clusters, rather than being deduced or assigned a priori by either global mental health experts or locals themselves-reveals hidden overlaps between local wellness idioms and global ones. Practically speaking, our perspective, which assesses both emotional frailty and also potential sources of emotional resilience and balance, while eschewing all named illness categories, can be deployed in mental health initiatives in ways that minimize stigma and increase both the acceptability and validity of assessment instruments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Psychological correlates of violent and non-violent Hong Kong juvenile probationers.

PubMed

Chan, Heng Choon Oliver; Chui, Wing Hong

2012-01-01

There is little known about Hong Kong juvenile offenders on probation. The purpose of this study was to compare Hong Kong juvenile violent with non-violent probationers on static demographic and psychological variables. The study comprised 109 male juvenile probationers aged 14-20 years (M = 16.97, SD = 1.44) in community transitional housing; 34 were adjudicated for violent offenses, while 75 were non-violent. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Social Bonding Scale-Theft (SBS-T), Social Bonding Scale-Violent Crime (SBS-VC), Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS), Impulsiveness Scale-Short Form (IS-SF) and CRIME-PICS II were administered to measure self-esteem, life satisfaction, social bond, positive and negative affect, impulsivity, pro-offending attitudes, and self-perceived life problems. Data on onset age of delinquent behavior, age of first adjudication, number of prior adjudications, and frequency of self-reported delinquency in the past year were also collected. t-tests were consistent with significant differences for violent offenders including higher self-esteem (p < 0.05). Non-violent offenders self-reported significantly more theft (p < 0.05) with a tendency to deny victim hurt more often (p < 0.01); 76.5% of violent offenders self-reported both violent and non-violent crime, while 58.7% of non-violent offenders reported only non-violent crime. For violent and non-violent offenders, the onset of delinquency was inversely related to the frequency of self-reported delinquency. Using ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression analyses, self-anticipated violent reoffending risk was predicted by age of onset, frequency of self-reported delinquency, social bond (inversely), and impulsivity, while non-violent reoffending risk was predicted by the number of prior convictions and self-reported delinquency. Only two psychological correlates, social bond and impulsivity, were related to violent delinquency; interventions are suggested. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Standardizing ADOS Domain Scores: Separating Severity of Social Affect and Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hus, Vanessa; Gotham, Katherine; Lord, Catherine

2014-01-01

Standardized Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) scores provide a measure of autism severity that is less influenced by child characteristics than raw totals (Gotham et al. in "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders," 39(5), 693-705 2009). However, these scores combine symptoms from the Social Affect (SA) and Restricted…

The Relationship between Social Affect and Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors Measured on the ADOS-2 and Maternal Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schutte, Claire; Richardson, Wendy; Devlin, Morgan; Hill, Jeanna; Ghossainy, Maliki; Hewitson, Laura

2018-01-01

This study investigated categories of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition and their association with maternal stress. Social affect and restricted and repetitive behaviors were compared with levels of maternal stress, measured by the Parenting Stress Index, in 102 children…

Feeding modality affects muscle protein deposition by influencing protein synthesis, but not degradation in muscle of neonatal pigs

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Neonatal pigs can serve as dual-use models for nutrition research in animal agriculture and biomedical fields. To determine how feeding modality by either intermittent bolus or continuous schedule affects protein anabolism and catabolism, neonatal pigs (n = 6/group, 9-d-old) were overnight fasted (F...

Exploring Neural Correlates of Different Dimensions in Drug Craving Self-Reports among Heroin Dependents.

PubMed

Hassani-Abharian, Peyman; Ganjgahi, Habib; Tabatabaei-Jafari, Hosein; Oghabian, Mohammad Ali; Mokri, Azarakhsh; Ekhtiari, Hamed

2015-10-01

Drug craving could be described as a motivational state which drives drug dependents towards drug seeking and use. Different types of self-reports such as craving feeling, desire and intention, wanting and need, imagery of use, and negative affect have been attributed to this motivational state. By using subjective self-reports for different correlates of drug craving along with functional neuroimaging with cue exposure paradigm, we investigated the brain regions that could correspond to different dimensions of subjective reports for heroin craving. A total of 25 crystalline-heroin smokers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), while viewing heroin-related and neutral cues presented in a block-design task. During trial intervals, subjects verbally reported their subjective feeling of cue induced craving (CIC). After fMRI procedure, participants reported the intensity of their "need for drug use" and "drug use imagination" on a 0-100 visual analog scale (VAS). Afterwards, they completed positive and negative affect scale (PANAS) and desire for drug questionnaire (DDQ) with 3 components of "desire and intention to drug use," "negative reinforcement," and "loss of control." The study showed significant correlation between "subjective feeling of craving" and activation of the left and right anterior cingulate cortex, as well as right medial frontal gyrus. Furthermore, the "desire and intention to drug use" was correlated with activation of the left precentral gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, and left middle frontal gyrus. Subjects also exhibited significant correlation between the "need for drug use" and activation of the right inferior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and right parahippocampal gyrus. Correlation between subjective report of "heroin use imagination" and activation of the cerebellar vermis was also observed. Another significant correlation was between the "negative affect" and activation of the left precuneus, right putamen, and right middle temporal gyrus. This preliminary study proposes different neural correlates for various dimensions of subjective craving self-reports. It could reflect multidimensionality of cognitive functions corresponding with drug craving. These cognitive functions could represent their motivational and affective outcomes in a single item "subjective craving feeling" or in self-reports with multiple dissociable items, such as intention, need, imagination, or negative feeling. The new psychological models of drug craving for covering various dimensions of subjective craving self-reports based on their neurocognitive correspondence could potentially modify craving assessments in addiction medicine.

Fractional Programming for Communication Systems—Part II: Uplink Scheduling via Matching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Kaiming; Yu, Wei

2018-05-01

This two-part paper develops novel methodologies for using fractional programming (FP) techniques to design and optimize communication systems. Part I of this paper proposes a new quadratic transform for FP and treats its application for continuous optimization problems. In this Part II of the paper, we study discrete problems, such as those involving user scheduling, which are considerably more difficult to solve. Unlike the continuous problems, discrete or mixed discrete-continuous problems normally cannot be recast as convex problems. In contrast to the common heuristic of relaxing the discrete variables, this work reformulates the original problem in an FP form amenable to distributed combinatorial optimization. The paper illustrates this methodology by tackling the important and challenging problem of uplink coordinated multi-cell user scheduling in wireless cellular systems. Uplink scheduling is more challenging than downlink scheduling, because uplink user scheduling decisions significantly affect the interference pattern in nearby cells. Further, the discrete scheduling variable needs to be optimized jointly with continuous variables such as transmit power levels and beamformers. The main idea of the proposed FP approach is to decouple the interaction among the interfering links, thereby permitting a distributed and joint optimization of the discrete and continuous variables with provable convergence. The paper shows that the well-known weighted minimum mean-square-error (WMMSE) algorithm can also be derived from a particular use of FP; but our proposed FP-based method significantly outperforms WMMSE when discrete user scheduling variables are involved, both in term of run-time efficiency and optimizing results.

Scheduling elective surgeries: the tradeoff among bed capacity, waiting patients and operating room utilization using goal programming.

PubMed

Li, Xiangyong; Rafaliya, N; Baki, M Fazle; Chaouch, Ben A

2017-03-01

Scheduling of surgeries in the operating rooms under limited competing resources such as surgical and nursing staff, anesthesiologist, medical equipment, and recovery beds in surgical wards is a complicated process. A well-designed schedule should be concerned with the welfare of the entire system by allocating the available resources in an efficient and effective manner. In this paper, we develop an integer linear programming model in a manner useful for multiple goals for optimally scheduling elective surgeries based on the availability of surgeons and operating rooms over a time horizon. In particular, the model is concerned with the minimization of the following important goals: (1) the anticipated number of patients waiting for service; (2) the underutilization of operating room time; (3) the maximum expected number of patients in the recovery unit; and (4) the expected range (the difference between maximum and minimum expected number) of patients in the recovery unit. We develop two goal programming (GP) models: lexicographic GP model and weighted GP model. The lexicographic GP model schedules operating rooms when various preemptive priority levels are given to these four goals. A numerical study is conducted to illustrate the optimal master-surgery schedule obtained from the models. The numerical results demonstrate that when the available number of surgeons and operating rooms is known without error over the planning horizon, the proposed models can produce good schedules and priority levels and preference weights of four goals affect the resulting schedules. The results quantify the tradeoffs that must take place as the preemptive-weights of the four goals are changed.

49 CFR 234.263 - Relays.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... affects the proper functioning of a crossing warning system shall be tested at least once every four years... on four year intervals shall be completed in accordance with the following schedule: (1) Not less...

A random-key encoded harmony search approach for energy-efficient production scheduling with shared resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia-Santiago, C. A.; Del Ser, J.; Upton, C.; Quilligan, F.; Gil-Lopez, S.; Salcedo-Sanz, S.

2015-11-01

When seeking near-optimal solutions for complex scheduling problems, meta-heuristics demonstrate good performance with affordable computational effort. This has resulted in a gravitation towards these approaches when researching industrial use-cases such as energy-efficient production planning. However, much of the previous research makes assumptions about softer constraints that affect planning strategies and about how human planners interact with the algorithm in a live production environment. This article describes a job-shop problem that focuses on minimizing energy consumption across a production facility of shared resources. The application scenario is based on real facilities made available by the Irish Center for Manufacturing Research. The formulated problem is tackled via harmony search heuristics with random keys encoding. Simulation results are compared to a genetic algorithm, a simulated annealing approach and a first-come-first-served scheduling. The superior performance obtained by the proposed scheduler paves the way towards its practical implementation over industrial production chains.

Implementation Learning and Forgetting Curve to Scheduling in Garment Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muhamad Badri, Huda; Deros, Baba Md; Syahri, M.; Saleh, Chairul; Fitria, Aninda

2016-02-01

The learning curve shows the relationship between time and the cumulative number of units produced which using the mathematical description on the performance of workers in performing repetitive works. The problems of this study is level differences in the labors performance before and after the break which affects the company's production scheduling. The study was conducted in the garment industry, which the aims is to predict the company production scheduling using the learning curve and forgetting curve. By implementing the learning curve and forgetting curve, this paper contributes in improving the labors performance that is in line with the increase in maximum output 3 hours productive before the break are 15 unit product with learning curve percentage in the company is 93.24%. Meanwhile, the forgetting curve improving maximum output 3 hours productive after the break are 11 unit product with the percentage of forgetting curve in the company is 92.96%. Then, the obtained 26 units product on the productive hours one working day is used as the basic for production scheduling.

Contamination Sources Effects Analysis (CSEA) - A Tool to Balance Cost/Schedule While Managing Facility Availability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilcox, Margaret

2008-01-01

A CSEA is similar to a Failure Modes Effects Analysis (FMEA). A CSEA tracks risk, deterrence, and occurrence of sources of contamination and their mitigation plans. Documentation is provided spanning mechanical and electrical assembly, precision cleaning, thermal vacuum bake-out, and thermal vacuum testing. These facilities all may play a role in contamination budgeting and reduction ultimately affecting test and flight. With a CSEA, visibility can be given to availability of these facilities, test sequencing and trade-offs. A cross-functional team including specialty engineering, contamination control, electrostatic dissipation, manufacturing, testing, and material engineering participate in an exercise that identifies contaminants and minimizes the complexity of scheduling these facilities considering their volatile schedules. Care can be taken in an efficient manner to insure correct cleaning processes are employed. The result is reduction in cycle time ("schedule hits"), reduced cost due to rework, reduced risk and improved communication and quality while achieving adherence to the Contamination Control Plan.

Self-certification and employee training of mail-order distributors of scheduled listed chemical products. Interim final rule with request for comment.

PubMed

2011-04-13

On October 12, 2010, the President signed the Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act of 2010 (MEA). It establishes new requirements for mail-order distributors of scheduled listed chemical products. Mail-order distributors must now self-certify to DEA in order to sell scheduled listed chemical products at retail. Sales at retail are those sales intended for personal use; mail-order distributors that sell scheduled listed chemical products not intended for personal use, e.g., sale to a university, are not affected by the new law. This self-certification must include a statement that the mail-order distributor understands each of the requirements that apply under part 1314 and agrees to comply with these requirements. Additionally, mail-order distributors are now required to train their employees prior to self certification. DEA is promulgating this rule to incorporate the statutory provisions and make its regulations consistent with the new requirements and other existing regulations related to self-certification.

Optimizing Music Learning: Exploring How Blocked and Interleaved Practice Schedules Affect Advanced Performance.

PubMed

Carter, Christine E; Grahn, Jessica A

2016-01-01

Repetition is the most commonly used practice strategy by musicians. Although blocks of repetition continue to be suggested in the pedagogical literature, work in the field of cognitive psychology suggests that repeated events receive less processing, thereby reducing the potential for long-term learning. Motor skill learning and sport psychology research offer an alternative. Instead of using a blocked practice schedule, with practice completed on one task before moving on to the next task, an interleaved schedule can be used, in which practice is frequently alternated between tasks. This frequent alternation involves more effortful processing, resulting in increased long-term learning. The finding that practicing in an interleaved schedule leads to better retention than practicing in a blocked schedule has been labeled the "contextual interference effect." While the effect has been observed across a wide variety of fields, few studies have researched this phenomenon in a music-learning context, despite the broad potential for application to music practice. This study compared the effects of blocked and interleaved practice schedules on advanced clarinet performance in an ecologically valid context. Ten clarinetists were given one concerto exposition and one technical excerpt to practice in a blocked schedule (12 min per piece) and a second concerto exposition and technical excerpt to practice in an interleaved schedule (3 min per piece, alternating until a total of 12 min of practice were completed on each piece). Participants sight-read the four pieces prior to practice and performed them at the end of practice and again one day later. The sight-reading and two performance run-throughs of each piece were recorded and given to three professional clarinetists to rate using a percentage scale. Overall, whenever there was a ratings difference between the conditions, pieces practiced in the interleaved schedule were rated better than those in the blocked schedule, although results varied across raters. Participant questionnaires also revealed that the interleaved practice schedule had positive effects on factors such as goal setting, focus, and mistake identification. Taken together, these results suggest that an interleaved practice schedule may be a more effective practice strategy than continuous repetition in a music-learning context.

Optimizing Music Learning: Exploring How Blocked and Interleaved Practice Schedules Affect Advanced Performance

PubMed Central

Carter, Christine E.; Grahn, Jessica A.

2016-01-01

Repetition is the most commonly used practice strategy by musicians. Although blocks of repetition continue to be suggested in the pedagogical literature, work in the field of cognitive psychology suggests that repeated events receive less processing, thereby reducing the potential for long-term learning. Motor skill learning and sport psychology research offer an alternative. Instead of using a blocked practice schedule, with practice completed on one task before moving on to the next task, an interleaved schedule can be used, in which practice is frequently alternated between tasks. This frequent alternation involves more effortful processing, resulting in increased long-term learning. The finding that practicing in an interleaved schedule leads to better retention than practicing in a blocked schedule has been labeled the “contextual interference effect.” While the effect has been observed across a wide variety of fields, few studies have researched this phenomenon in a music-learning context, despite the broad potential for application to music practice. This study compared the effects of blocked and interleaved practice schedules on advanced clarinet performance in an ecologically valid context. Ten clarinetists were given one concerto exposition and one technical excerpt to practice in a blocked schedule (12 min per piece) and a second concerto exposition and technical excerpt to practice in an interleaved schedule (3 min per piece, alternating until a total of 12 min of practice were completed on each piece). Participants sight-read the four pieces prior to practice and performed them at the end of practice and again one day later. The sight-reading and two performance run-throughs of each piece were recorded and given to three professional clarinetists to rate using a percentage scale. Overall, whenever there was a ratings difference between the conditions, pieces practiced in the interleaved schedule were rated better than those in the blocked schedule, although results varied across raters. Participant questionnaires also revealed that the interleaved practice schedule had positive effects on factors such as goal setting, focus, and mistake identification. Taken together, these results suggest that an interleaved practice schedule may be a more effective practice strategy than continuous repetition in a music-learning context. PMID:27588014

Influence of temporal context on value in the multiple-chains and successive-encounters procedures.

PubMed

O'Daly, Matthew; Angulo, Samuel; Gipson, Cassandra; Fantino, Edmund

2006-05-01

This set of studies explored the influence of temporal context across multiple-chain and multiple-successive-encounters procedures. Following training with different temporal contexts, the value of stimuli sharing similar reinforcement schedules was assessed by presenting these stimuli in concurrent probes. The results for the multiple-chain schedule indicate that temporal context does impact the value of a conditioned reinforcer consistent with delay-reduction theory, such that a stimulus signaling a greater reduction in delay until reinforcement has greater value. Further, nonreinforced stimuli that are concurrently presented with the preferred terminal link also have greater value, consistent with value transfer. The effects of context on value for conditions with the multiple-successive-encounters procedure, however, appear to depend on whether the search schedule or alternate handling schedule was manipulated, as well as on whether the tested stimuli were the rich or lean schedules in their components. Overall, the results help delineate the conditions under which temporal context affects conditioned-reinforcement value (acting as a learning variable) and the conditions under which it does not (acting as a performance variable), an issue of relevance to theories of choice.

Parental Work Schedules and Adolescent Risky Behaviors

PubMed Central

Han, Wen-Jui; Miller, Daniel P.; Waldfogel, Jane

2013-01-01

Using a large contemporary data set, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Supplement (NLSY-CS), this paper examines the effects of parental work schedules on adolescent risky behaviors at age 13 or 14 and the mechanisms that might explain them. Structural equation modeling suggests mothers who worked more often at night spent significantly less time with children and had lower quality home environments, and these mediators were significantly linked to adolescent risky behaviors. Similar effects were not found for evening work schedules, while other types of maternal and paternal nonstandard work schedules were linked to higher parental knowledge of children’s whereabouts, which led to lower levels of adolescent risky behaviors. Subgroup analyses revealed that males, those in families with low incomes, and those whose mothers never worked at professional jobs may particularly be affected by mothers working at nights, due to spending less time together, having a lower degree of maternal closeness, and experiencing lower quality home environments. In addition, the effects of maternal night shifts were particularly pronounced if children were in the preschool or middle-childhood years when their mothers worked those schedules. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed. PMID:20822236

Vectorization of a penalty function algorithm for well scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Absar, I.

1984-01-01

In petroleum engineering, the oil production profiles of a reservoir can be simulated by using a finite gridded model. This profile is affected by the number and choice of wells which in turn is a result of various production limits and constraints including, for example, the economic minimum well spacing, the number of drilling rigs available and the time required to drill and complete a well. After a well is available it may be shut in because of excessive water or gas productions. In order to optimize the field performance a penalty function algorithm was developed for scheduling wells. For an example with some 343 wells and 15 different constraints, the scheduling routine vectorized for the CYBER 205 averaged 560 times faster performance than the scalar version.

Health Coaching Reduces HbA1c in Type 2 Diabetic Patients From a Lower-Socioeconomic Status Community: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Wayne, Noah; Perez, Daniel F; Kaplan, David M; Ritvo, Paul

2015-10-05

Adoptions of health behaviors are crucial for maintaining good health after type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) diagnoses. However, adherence to glucoregulating behaviors like regular exercise and balanced diet can be challenging, especially for people living in lower-socioeconomic status (SES) communities. Providing cost-effective interventions that improve self-management is important for improving quality of life and the sustainability of health care systems. To evaluate a health coach intervention with and without the use of mobile phones to support health behavior change in patients with type 2 diabetes. In this noninferiority, pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT), patients from two primary care health centers in Toronto, Canada, with type 2 diabetes and a glycated hemoglobin/hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level of ≥7.3% (56.3 mmol/mol) were randomized to receive 6 months of health coaching with or without mobile phone monitoring support. We hypothesized that both approaches would result in significant HbA1c reductions, although health coaching with mobile phone monitoring would result in significantly larger effects. Participants were evaluated at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. The primary outcome was the change in HbA1c from baseline to 6 months (difference between and within groups). Other outcomes included weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), satisfaction with life, depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), positive and negative affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule [PANAS]), and quality of life (Short Form Health Survey-12 [SF-12]). A total of 138 patients were randomized and 7 were excluded for a substudy; of the remaining 131, 67 were allocated to the intervention group and 64 to the control group. Primary outcome data were available for 97 participants (74.0%). While both groups reduced their HbA1c levels, there were no significant between-group differences in change of HbA1c at 6 months using intention-to-treat (last observation carried forward [LOCF]) (P=.48) or per-protocol (P=.83) principles. However, the intervention group did achieve an accelerated HbA1c reduction, leading to a significant between-group difference at 3 months (P=.03). This difference was reduced at the 6-month follow-up as the control group continued to improve, achieving a reduction of 0.81% (8.9 mmol/mol) (P=.001) compared with a reduction of 0.84% (9.2 mmol/mol)(P=.001) in the intervention group. Intervention group participants also had significant decreases in weight (P=.006) and waist circumference (P=.01) while controls did not. Both groups reported improvements in mood, satisfaction with life, and quality of life. Health coaching with and without access to mobile technology appeared to improve glucoregulation and mental health in a lower-SES, T2DM population. The accelerated improvement in the mobile phone group suggests the connectivity provided may more quickly improve adoption and adherence to health behaviors within a clinical diabetes management program. Overall, health coaching in primary care appears to lead to significant benefits for patients from lower-SES communities with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02036892; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02036892 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6b3cJYJOD).

Health Coaching Reduces HbA1c in Type 2 Diabetic Patients From a Lower-Socioeconomic Status Community: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Wayne, Noah; Perez, Daniel F; Kaplan, David M

2015-01-01

Background Adoptions of health behaviors are crucial for maintaining good health after type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) diagnoses. However, adherence to glucoregulating behaviors like regular exercise and balanced diet can be challenging, especially for people living in lower-socioeconomic status (SES) communities. Providing cost-effective interventions that improve self-management is important for improving quality of life and the sustainability of health care systems. Objective To evaluate a health coach intervention with and without the use of mobile phones to support health behavior change in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods In this noninferiority, pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT), patients from two primary care health centers in Toronto, Canada, with type 2 diabetes and a glycated hemoglobin/hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level of ≥7.3% (56.3 mmol/mol) were randomized to receive 6 months of health coaching with or without mobile phone monitoring support. We hypothesized that both approaches would result in significant HbA1c reductions, although health coaching with mobile phone monitoring would result in significantly larger effects. Participants were evaluated at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. The primary outcome was the change in HbA1c from baseline to 6 months (difference between and within groups). Other outcomes included weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), satisfaction with life, depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), positive and negative affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule [PANAS]), and quality of life (Short Form Health Survey-12 [SF-12]). Results A total of 138 patients were randomized and 7 were excluded for a substudy; of the remaining 131, 67 were allocated to the intervention group and 64 to the control group. Primary outcome data were available for 97 participants (74.0%). While both groups reduced their HbA1c levels, there were no significant between-group differences in change of HbA1c at 6 months using intention-to-treat (last observation carried forward [LOCF]) (P=.48) or per-protocol (P=.83) principles. However, the intervention group did achieve an accelerated HbA1c reduction, leading to a significant between-group difference at 3 months (P=.03). This difference was reduced at the 6-month follow-up as the control group continued to improve, achieving a reduction of 0.81% (8.9 mmol/mol) (P=.001) compared with a reduction of 0.84% (9.2 mmol/mol)(P=.001) in the intervention group. Intervention group participants also had significant decreases in weight (P=.006) and waist circumference (P=.01) while controls did not. Both groups reported improvements in mood, satisfaction with life, and quality of life. Conclusions Health coaching with and without access to mobile technology appeared to improve glucoregulation and mental health in a lower-SES, T2DM population. The accelerated improvement in the mobile phone group suggests the connectivity provided may more quickly improve adoption and adherence to health behaviors within a clinical diabetes management program. Overall, health coaching in primary care appears to lead to significant benefits for patients from lower-SES communities with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02036892; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02036892 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6b3cJYJOD) PMID:26441467

50 CFR 20.104 - Seasons, limits, and shooting hours for rails, woodcock, and common (Wilson's) snipe.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) TAKING, POSSESSION, TRANSPORTATION...] Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting annual regulatory schedules for this section, see...

50 CFR 20.104 - Seasons, limits, and shooting hours for rails, woodcock, and common (Wilson's) snipe.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) TAKING, POSSESSION, TRANSPORTATION...] Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting annual regulatory schedules for this section, see...

50 CFR 20.104 - Seasons, limits, and shooting hours for rails, woodcock, and common (Wilson's) snipe.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) TAKING, POSSESSION, TRANSPORTATION...] Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting annual regulatory schedules for this section, see...

50 CFR 20.104 - Seasons, limits, and shooting hours for rails, woodcock, and common (Wilson's) snipe.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) TAKING, POSSESSION, TRANSPORTATION...] Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting annual regulatory schedules for this section, see...

75 FR 31816 - Records Schedules; Availability and Request for Comments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-04

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50 CFR 20.103 - Seasons, limits, and shooting hours for mourning and white-winged doves and wild pigeons.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) TAKING, POSSESSION...] Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting annual regulatory schedules for this section, see...

50 CFR 20.103 - Seasons, limits, and shooting hours for mourning and white-winged doves and wild pigeons.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) TAKING, POSSESSION...] Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting annual regulatory schedules for this section, see...

50 CFR 20.103 - Seasons, limits, and shooting hours for mourning and white-winged doves and wild pigeons.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) TAKING, POSSESSION...] Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting annual regulatory schedules for this section, see...

50 CFR 20.103 - Seasons, limits, and shooting hours for mourning and white-winged doves and wild pigeons.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) TAKING, POSSESSION...] Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting annual regulatory schedules for this section, see...

Solute Concentration at a Pumping Well in Non-Gaussian Random Aquifers under Time-Varying Operational Schedules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Libera, A.; de Barros, F.; Riva, M.; Guadagnini, A.

2016-12-01

Managing contaminated groundwater systems is an arduous task for multiple reasons. First, subsurface hydraulic properties are heterogeneous and the high costs associated with site characterization leads to data scarcity (therefore, model predictions are uncertain). Second, it is common for water agencies to schedule groundwater extraction through a temporal sequence of pumping rates to maximize the benefits to anthropogenic activities and minimize the environmental footprint of the withdrawal operations. The temporal variability in pumping rates and aquifer heterogeneity affect dilution rates of contaminant plumes and chemical concentration breakthrough curves (BTCs) at the well. While contaminant transport under steady-state pumping is widely studied, the manner in which a given time-varying pumping schedule affects contaminant plume behavior is tackled only marginally. At the same time, most studies focus on the impact of Gaussian random hydraulic conductivity (K) fields on transport. Here, we systematically analyze the significance of the random space function (RSF) model characterizing K in the presence of distinct pumping operations on the uncertainty of the concentration BTC at the operating well. We juxtapose Monte Carlo based numerical results associated with two models: (a) a recently proposed Generalized Sub-Gaussian model which allows capturing non-Gaussian statistical scaling features of RSFs such as hydraulic conductivity, and (b) the commonly used Gaussian field approximation. Our novel results include an appraisal of the coupled effect of (a) the model employed to depict the random spatial variability of K and (b) transient flow regime, as induced by a temporally varying pumping schedule, on the concentration BTC at the operating well. We systematically quantify the sensitivity of the uncertainty in the contaminant BTC to the RSF model adopted for K (non-Gaussian or Gaussian) in the presence of diverse well pumping schedules. Results contribute to determine conditions under which any of these two key factors prevails on the other.

Effects of SKF-83566 and haloperidol on performance on progressive ratio schedules maintained by sucrose and corn oil reinforcement: quantitative analysis using a new model derived from the Mathematical Principles of Reinforcement (MPR).

PubMed

Olarte-Sánchez, C M; Valencia-Torres, L; Cassaday, H J; Bradshaw, C M; Szabadi, E

2013-12-01

Mathematical models can assist the interpretation of the effects of interventions on schedule-controlled behaviour and help to differentiate between processes that may be confounded in traditional performance measures such as response rate and the breakpoint in progressive ratio (PR) schedules. The effects of a D1-like dopamine receptor antagonist, 8-bromo-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-3-methyl-5-phenyl-1H-3-benzazepin-7-ol hydrobromide (SKF-83566), and a D2-like receptor antagonist, haloperidol, on rats' performance on PR schedules maintained by sucrose and corn oil reinforcers were assessed using a new model derived from Killeen's (Behav Brain Sci 17:105-172, 1994) Mathematical Principles of Reinforcement. Separate groups of rats were trained under a PR schedule using sucrose or corn oil reinforcers. SKF-83566 (0.015 and 0.03 mg kg(-1)) and haloperidol (0.05 and 0.1 mg kg(-1)) were administered intraperitoneally (five administrations of each treatment). Running and overall response rates in successive ratios were analysed using the new model, and estimates of the model's parameters were compared between treatments. Haloperidol reduced a (the parameter expressing incentive value) in the case of both reinforcers, but did not affect the parameters related to response time and post-reinforcement pausing. SKF-83566 reduced a and k (the parameter expressing sensitivity of post-reinforcement pausing to the prior inter-reinforcement interval) in the case of sucrose, but did not affect any of the parameters in the case of corn oil. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that blockade of both D1-like and D2-like receptors reduces the incentive value of sucrose, whereas the incentive value of corn oil is more sensitive to blockade of D2-like than D1-like receptors.

Shift work and the assessment and management of shift work disorder (SWD).

PubMed

Wright, Kenneth P; Bogan, Richard K; Wyatt, James K

2013-02-01

Nearly 20% of the labor force worldwide, work shifts that include work hours outside 07:00 h to 18:00 h. Shift work is common in many occupations that directly affect the health and safety of others (e.g., protective services, transportation, healthcare), whereas quality of life, health, and safety during shift work and the commute home can affect workers in any field. Increasing evidence indicates that shift-work schedules negatively influence worker physiology, health, and safety. Shift work disrupts circadian sleep and alerting cycles, resulting in disturbed daytime sleep and excessive sleepiness during the work shift. Moreover, shift workers are at risk for shift work disorder (SWD). This review focuses on shift work and the assessment and management of sleepiness and sleep disruption associated with shift work schedules and SWD. Management strategies include approaches to promote sleep, wakefulness, and adaptation of the circadian clock to the imposed work schedule. Additional studies are needed to further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the health risks of shift work, understanding which shift workers are at most risk of SWD, to investigate treatment options that address the health and safety burdens associated with shift work and SWD, and to further develop and assess the comparative effectiveness of countermeasures and treatment options. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Taming Wild Horses: The Need for Virtual Time-based Scheduling of VMs in Network Simulations

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

Yoginath, Srikanth B; Perumalla, Kalyan S; Henz, Brian J

2012-01-01

The next generation of scalable network simulators employ virtual machines (VMs) to act as high-fidelity models of traffic producer/consumer nodes in simulated networks. However, network simulations could be inaccurate if VMs are not scheduled according to virtual time, especially when many VMs are hosted per simulator core in a multi-core simulator environment. Since VMs are by default free-running, on the outset, it is not clear if, and to what extent, their untamed execution affects the results in simulated scenarios. Here, we provide the first quantitative basis for establishing the need for generalized virtual time scheduling of VMs in network simulators,more » based on an actual prototyped implementations. To exercise breadth, our system is tested with multiple disparate applications: (a) a set of message passing parallel programs, (b) a computer worm propagation phenomenon, and (c) a mobile ad-hoc wireless network simulation. We define and use error metrics and benchmarks in scaled tests to empirically report the poor match of traditional, fairness-based VM scheduling to VM-based network simulation, and also clearly show the better performance of our simulation-specific scheduler, with up to 64 VMs hosted on a 12-core simulator node.« less

The impact of junior doctors' worktime arrangements on their fatigue and well-being.

PubMed

Tucker, Philip; Brown, Menna; Dahlgren, Anna; Davies, Gwyneth; Ebden, Philip; Folkard, Simon; Hutchings, Hayley; Akerstedt, Torbjörn

2010-11-01

Many doctors report working excessively demanding schedules that comply with the European Working Time Directive (EWTD). We compared groups of junior doctors working on different schedules in order to identify which features of schedule design most negatively affected their fatigue and well-being in recent weeks. Completed by 336 doctors, the questionnaires focused on the respondents' personal circumstances, work situation, work schedules, sleep, and perceptions of fatigue, work-life balance and psychological strain. Working 7 consecutive nights was associated with greater accumulated fatigue and greater work-life interference, compared with working just 3 or 4 nights. Having only 1 rest day after working nights was associated with increased fatigue. Working a weekend on-call between 2 consecutive working weeks was associated with increased work-life interference. Working frequent on-calls (either on weekends or during the week) was associated with increased work-life interference and psychological strain. Inter-shift intervals of <10 hours were associated with shorter periods of sleep and increased fatigue. The number of hours worked per week was positively associated with work-life interference and fatigue on night shifts. The current findings identify parameters, in addition to those specified in the EWTD, for designing schedules that limit their impact on doctors' fatigue and well-being.

Scheduling Aircraft Landings under Constrained Position Shifting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balakrishnan, Hamsa; Chandran, Bala

2006-01-01

Optimal scheduling of airport runway operations can play an important role in improving the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS). Methods that compute the optimal landing sequence and landing times of aircraft must accommodate practical issues that affect the implementation of the schedule. One such practical consideration, known as Constrained Position Shifting (CPS), is the restriction that each aircraft must land within a pre-specified number of positions of its place in the First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) sequence. We consider the problem of scheduling landings of aircraft in a CPS environment in order to maximize runway throughput (minimize the completion time of the landing sequence), subject to operational constraints such as FAA-specified minimum inter-arrival spacing restrictions, precedence relationships among aircraft that arise either from airline preferences or air traffic control procedures that prevent overtaking, and time windows (representing possible control actions) during which each aircraft landing can occur. We present a Dynamic Programming-based approach that scales linearly in the number of aircraft, and describe our computational experience with a prototype implementation on realistic data for Denver International Airport.

Hybrid Rendering with Scheduling under Uncertainty

PubMed Central

Tamm, Georg; Krüger, Jens

2014-01-01

As scientific data of increasing size is generated by today’s simulations and measurements, utilizing dedicated server resources to process the visualization pipeline becomes necessary. In a purely server-based approach, requirements on the client-side are minimal as the client only displays results received from the server. However, the client may have a considerable amount of hardware available, which is left idle. Further, the visualization is put at the whim of possibly unreliable server and network conditions. Server load, bandwidth and latency may substantially affect the response time on the client. In this paper, we describe a hybrid method, where visualization workload is assigned to server and client. A capable client can produce images independently. The goal is to determine a workload schedule that enables a synergy between the two sides to provide rendering results to the user as fast as possible. The schedule is determined based on processing and transfer timings obtained at runtime. Our probabilistic scheduler adapts to changing conditions by shifting workload between server and client, and accounts for the performance variability in the dynamic system. PMID:25309115

The Relationship Between Trust-in-God, Positive and Negative Affect, and Hope.

PubMed

Fadardi, Javad S; Azadi, Zeinab

2017-06-01

We aimed to test the relationships between Trust-in-God, positive and negative affect, and feelings of hope. A sample of university students (N = 282, 50 % female) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Adult Dispositional Hope Scale, and a Persian measure of Trust-in-God for Muslims. The results of a series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that Trust-in-God was positively associated with participants' scores for hope and positive affect but was negatively associated with their scores for negative affect. The results support the relationship between Trust-in-God and indices of mental health.

Alaska Crustal Deformation: Finite Element Modeling Constrained by Geologic and Very Long Baseline Interferometry Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lundgren, Paul; Saucier, Fraancois; Palmer, Randy; Langon, Marc

1995-01-01

We compute crustal motions in Alaska by calculating the finite element solution for an elastic spherical shell problem. The method we use allows the finite element mesh to include faults and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) baseline rates of change. Boundary conditions include Pacific-North American (PA-NA) plate motions. The solution is constrained by the oblique orientation of the Fairweather-Queen Charlotte strike-slip faults relative to the PA-NA relative motion direction and the oblique orientation from normal convergence of the eastern Aleutian trench fault systems, as well as strike-shp motion along the Denali and Totschunda fault systems. We explore the effects that a range of fault slip constraints and weighting of VLBI rates of change has on the solution. This allows us to test the motion on faults, such as the Denali fault, where there are conflicting reports on its present-day slip rate. We find a pattern of displacements which produce fault motions generally consistent with geologic observations. The motion of the continuum has the general pattern of radial movement of crust to the NE away from the Fairweather-Queen Charlotte fault systems in SE Alaska and Canada. This pattern of crustal motion is absorbed across the Mackenzie Mountains in NW Canada, with strike-slip motion constrained along the Denali and Tintina fault systems. In south central Alaska and the Alaska forearc oblique convergence at the eastern Aleutian trench and the strike-shp motion of the Denali fault system produce a counterclockwise pattern of motion which is partially absorbed along the Contact and related fault systems in southern Alaska and is partially extruded into the Bering Sea and into the forearc parallel the Aleutian trench from the Alaska Peninsula westward. Rates of motion and fault slip are small in western and northern Alaska, but the motions we compute are consistent with the senses of strike-slip motion inferred geologically along the Kaltag, Kobuk Trench, and Thompson Creek faults and with the normal faulting observed in NW Alaska near Nome. The nonrigid behavior of our finite element solution produces patterns of motion that would not have been expected from rigid block models: strike-slip faults can exist in a continuum that has motion mostly perpendicular to their strikes, and faults can exhibit along-strike differences in magnitudes and directions.

Energy-driven scheduling algorithm for nanosatellite energy harvesting maximization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slongo, L. K.; Martínez, S. V.; Eiterer, B. V. B.; Pereira, T. G.; Bezerra, E. A.; Paiva, K. V.

2018-06-01

The number of tasks that a satellite may execute in orbit is strongly related to the amount of energy its Electrical Power System (EPS) is able to harvest and to store. The manner the stored energy is distributed within the satellite has also a great impact on the CubeSat's overall efficiency. Most CubeSat's EPS do not prioritize energy constraints in their formulation. Unlike that, this work proposes an innovative energy-driven scheduling algorithm based on energy harvesting maximization policy. The energy harvesting circuit is mathematically modeled and the solar panel I-V curves are presented for different temperature and irradiance levels. Considering the models and simulations, the scheduling algorithm is designed to keep solar panels working close to their maximum power point by triggering tasks in the appropriate form. Tasks execution affects battery voltage, which is coupled to the solar panels through a protection circuit. A software based Perturb and Observe strategy allows defining the tasks to be triggered. The scheduling algorithm is tested in FloripaSat, which is an 1U CubeSat. A test apparatus is proposed to emulate solar irradiance variation, considering the satellite movement around the Earth. Tests have been conducted to show that the scheduling algorithm improves the CubeSat energy harvesting capability by 4.48% in a three orbit experiment and up to 8.46% in a single orbit cycle in comparison with the CubeSat operating without the scheduling algorithm.

The role of response force on the persistence and structure of behavior during extinction.

PubMed

Pinkston, Jonathan W; Foss, Erica K

2018-01-01

Behavior Momentum Theory has emerged as a prominent account of resistance to change in both basic and applied research. Although laboratory studies often define precise, repeatable responses, application research often deals with response classes that may vary widely along a number of dimensions. In general, Behavior Momentum Theory has not addressed how response dimensions impact resistance to change, providing an opportunity to expand the model in new directions. Four rats pressed a force transducer under a multiple variable interval (VI) 60-s VI 60-s schedule of reinforcement. In one component, responses satisfied the schedule only if the response force fell within a "low" force band requirement; responses in the other schedule were required to satisfy a "high" force band. Once responding stabilized, extinction was programmed for three sessions. Then, the procedures were replicated. The results showed that response force came under discriminative control, but force requirements had no impact on resistance to extinction. In a follow-up condition, the schedule was changed to a multiple VI 30-s VI 120-s schedule and the low-force band operated in both components. The results showed that behavior maintained by the VI 30-s schedule was generally more resistant to extinction. A secondary analysis showed that force distributions created under baseline maintained during extinction. Overall, the results suggest that differential response force requirements prevailing in steady state do not affect the course of extinction. © 2018 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Analysis of crimes committed against scheduled tribes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khadse, Vivek P.; Akhil, P.; Anto, Christopher; Gnanasigamani, Lydia J.

2017-11-01

One of the curses to the society is a crime which has a deep impact on the society. Victims of crimes are the one who is impacted the most. All communities in the world are affected by crime and the criminal justice system, but largely impacted communities are the backward classes. There are many cases reported of crime committed against scheduled tribes from the year 2005 till date. This paper states the analysis of Crimes Committed against Scheduled Tribes in the year 2015 in various states and union territories in India. In this study, Multiple Linear regression techniques have been used to analyze the crimes committed against scheduled tribes’ community in India. This study compares the number of cases reported to the police station and rate of crime committed in different states in India. It also states the future prediction of the crime that would happen. It will also predict the number of cases of crime committed against the scheduled tribe that can be reported in future. The dataset which has been used in this study is taken from official Indian government repository for crimes which include different information of crimes committed against scheduled tribes in different states and union territories measured under the population census of the year 2011. This study will help different Indian states and union territory government to analyze and predict the future crimes that may occur and take appropriate measures against it before the actual crime would occur.

Impact of Feed Delivery Pattern on Aerial Particulate Matter and Behavior of Feedlot Cattle †

PubMed Central

Mitloehner, Frank M.; Dailey, Jeff W.; Morrow, Julie L.; McGlone, John J.

2017-01-01

Simple Summary Fine particulate matter (with less than 2.5 microns diameter; aka PM2.5) are a human and animal health concern because they can carry microbes and chemicals into the lungs. Particulate matter (PM) in general emitted from cattle feedlots can reach high concentrations. When feedlot cattle were given an altered feeding schedule (ALT) that more closely reflected their biological feeding times compared with conventional morning feeding (CON), PM2.5 generation at peak times was substantially lowered. Average daily generation of PM2.5 was decreased by 37% when cattle behavior was redirected away from PM-generating behaviors and toward evening feeding behaviors. Behavioral problems such as agonistic (i.e., aggressive) and bulling (i.e., mounting each other) behaviors also were reduced several fold among ALT compared with CON cattle. Intake of feed was less and daily body weight gain tended to be less with the altered feeding schedule while efficiency of feed utilization was not affected. Although ALT may pose a challenge in feed delivery and labor scheduling, cattle had fewer behavioral problems and reduced PM2.5 generation when feed delivery times matched with the natural drive to eat in a crepuscular pattern. Abstract Fine particulate matter with less than 2.5 microns diameter (PM2.5) generated by cattle in feedlots is an environmental pollutant and a potential human and animal health issue. The objective of this study was to determine if a feeding schedule affects cattle behaviors that promote PM2.5 in a commercial feedlot. The study used 2813 crossbred steers housed in 14 adjacent pens at a large-scale commercial West Texas feedlot. Treatments were conventional feeding at 0700, 1000, and 1200 (CON) or feeding at 0700, 1000, and 1830 (ALT), the latter feeding time coincided with dusk. A mobile behavior lab was used to quantify behaviors of steers that were associated with generation of PM2.5 (e.g., fighting, mounting of peers, and increased locomotion). PM2.5 samplers measured respirable particles with a mass median diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) every 15 min over a period of 7 d in April and May. Simultaneously, the ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, precipitation, air pressure, and solar radiation were measured with a weather station. Elevated downwind PM2.5 concentrations were measured at dusk, when cattle that were fed according to the ALT vs. the CON feeding schedule, demonstrated less PM2.5-generating behaviors (p < 0.05). At dusk, steers on ALT vs. CON feeding schedules ate or were waiting to eat (standing in second row behind feeding cattle) at much greater rates (p < 0.05). Upwind PM2.5 concentrations were similar between the treatments. Downwind PM2.5 concentrations averaged over 24 h were lower from ALT compared with CON pens (0.072 vs. 0.115 mg/m3, p < 0.01). However, dry matter intake (DMI) was less (p < 0.05), and average daily gain (ADG) tended to be less (p < 0.1) in cattle that were fed according to the ALT vs. the CON feeding schedules, whereas feed efficiency (aka gain to feed, G:F) was not affected. Although ALT feeding may pose a challenge in feed delivery and labor scheduling, cattle exhibited fewer PM2.5-generating behaviors and reduced generation of PM2.5 when feed delivery times matched the natural desires of cattle to eat in a crepuscular pattern. PMID:28257061

Apple orchard pest control strategies affect bird communities in southeastern France.

PubMed

Bouvier, Jean-Charles; Ricci, Benoît; Agerberg, Julia; Lavigne, Claire

2011-01-01

Birds are regarded as appropriate biological indicators of how changes in agricultural practices affect the environment. They are also involved in the biocontrol of pests. In the present study, we provide an assessment of the impact of pest control strategies on bird communities in apple orchards in southeastern France. We compared the structure (abundance, species richness, and diversity) of breeding bird communities in 15 orchards under conventional or organic pest control over a three-year period (2003-2005). Pest control strategies and their evolution over time were characterized by analyzing farmers' treatment schedules. The landscape surrounding the orchards was characterized using a Geographic Information System. We observed 30 bird species overall. Bird abundance, species richness, and diversity were all affected by pest control strategies, and were highest in organic orchards and lowest in conventional orchards during the three study years. The pest control strategy affected insectivores more than granivores. We further observed a tendency for bird communities in integrated pest management orchards to change over time and become increasingly different from communities in organic orchards, which also corresponded to changes in treatment schedules. These findings indicate that within-orchard bird communities may respond quickly to changes in pesticide use and may, in turn, influence biocontrol of pests by birds. © 2010 SETAC.

Scheduling Diet for Diabetes Mellitus Patients using Genetic Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syahputra, M. F.; Felicia, V.; Rahmat, R. F.; Budiarto, R.

2017-01-01

Diabetes Melitus (DM) is one of metabolic diseases which affects on productivity and lowers the human resources quality. This disease can be controlled by maintaining and regulating balanced and healthy lifestyle especially for daily diet. However, nowadays, there is no system able to help DM patient to get any information of proper diet. Therefore, an approach is required to provide scheduling diet every day in a week with appropriate nutrition for DM patients to help them regulate their daily diet for healing this disease. In this research, we calculate the number of caloric needs using Harris-Benedict equation and propose genetic algorithm for scheduling diet for DM patient. The results show that the greater the number of individuals, the greater the more the possibility of changes in fitness score approaches the best fitness score. Moreover, the greater the created generation, the more the opportunites to obtain best individual with fitness score approaching 0 or equal to 0.

Does the benefits schedule of cash assistance programs affect the purchase of temptation goods? Evidence from Peru.

PubMed

White, Justin S; Basu, Sanjay

2016-03-01

A critique of cash assistance programs is that beneficiaries may spend the money on "temptation goods" such as alcohol and tobacco. We exploit a change in the payment schedule of Peru's conditional cash transfer program to identify the impact of benefit receipt frequency on the purchase of temptation goods. We use annual household data among cross-sectional and panel samples to analyze the effect of the policy change on the share of the household budget devoted to four categories of temptation goods. Using a difference-in-differences estimation approach, we find that larger, less frequent payments increased the expenditure share of alcohol by 55-80% and sweets by 10-40%, although the absolute magnitudes of these effects are small. Our study suggests that less frequent benefits scheduling may lead cash recipients to make certain types of temptation purchases. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Shuttle Rocket Motor Program: NASA should delay awarding some construction contracts. Report to the Chair, Subcommittee on Government Activities and Transportation, Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Even though the executive branch has proposed terminating the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) program, NASA is proceeding with all construction activity planned for FY 1992 to avoid schedule slippage if the program is reinstated by Congress. However, NASA could delay some construction activities for at least a few months without affecting the current launch data schedule. For example, NASA could delay Yellow Creek's motor storage and dock projects, Stennis' dock project, and Kennedy's rotation processing and surge facility and dock projects. Starting all construction activities as originally planned could result in unnecessarily incurring additional costs and termination liability if the funding for FY 1993 is not provided. If Congress decides to continue the program, construction could still be completed in time to avoid schedule slippage.

Contemporary Work and Family Issues Affecting Marriage and Cohabitation Among Low-Income Single Mothers

PubMed Central

Joshi, Pamela; Quane, James M.; Cherlin, Andrew J.

2015-01-01

In this paper, we advance and test an integrative model of the effects of employment status, nonstandard work schedules, male employment, and women’s perceptions of economic instability on union formation among low-income single mothers. Based on longitudinal data from 1,299 low-income mothers from the 3-city Welfare Study, results indicate that employment status alone is not significantly associated with whether women marry or cohabit. We find that nonemployed mothers and mothers working nonstandard schedules were less likely to marry compared to those working standard schedules. Mothers’ perceptions of economic well-being were associated with marriage at Wave 2. In contrast, cohabitation outcomes were not explained by economic factors, but were related to the perception of child care support. The policy implications of these results are discussed, in particular, as they relate to welfare reform’s work and family goals. PMID:26478647

Profit-based conventional resource scheduling with renewable energy penetration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reddy, K. Srikanth; Panwar, Lokesh Kumar; Kumar, Rajesh; Panigrahi, B. K.

2017-08-01

Technological breakthroughs in renewable energy technologies (RETs) enabled them to attain grid parity thereby making them potential contenders for existing conventional resources. To examine the market participation of RETs, this paper formulates a scheduling problem accommodating energy market participation of wind- and solar-independent power producers (IPPs) treating both conventional and RETs as identical entities. Furthermore, constraints pertaining to penetration and curtailments of RETs are restructured. Additionally, an appropriate objective function for profit incurred by conventional resource IPPs through reserve market participation as a function of renewable energy curtailment is also proposed. The proposed concept is simulated with a test system comprising 10 conventional generation units in conjunction with solar photovoltaic (SPV) and wind energy generators (WEG). The simulation results indicate that renewable energy integration and its curtailment limits influence the market participation or scheduling strategies of conventional resources in both energy and reserve markets. Furthermore, load and reliability parameters are also affected.

Contemporary Work and Family Issues Affecting Marriage and Cohabitation Among Low-Income Single Mothers.

PubMed

Joshi, Pamela; Quane, James M; Cherlin, Andrew J

2009-12-01

In this paper, we advance and test an integrative model of the effects of employment status, nonstandard work schedules, male employment, and women's perceptions of economic instability on union formation among low-income single mothers. Based on longitudinal data from 1,299 low-income mothers from the 3-city Welfare Study, results indicate that employment status alone is not significantly associated with whether women marry or cohabit. We find that nonemployed mothers and mothers working nonstandard schedules were less likely to marry compared to those working standard schedules. Mothers' perceptions of economic well-being were associated with marriage at Wave 2. In contrast, cohabitation outcomes were not explained by economic factors, but were related to the perception of child care support. The policy implications of these results are discussed, in particular, as they relate to welfare reform's work and family goals.

Drug effects on multiple and concurrent schedules of ethanol- and food-maintained behaviour: context-dependent selectivity

PubMed Central

Ginsburg, B C; Lamb, R J

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Drugs that more potently or effectively reduce ethanol-maintained behaviour versus an alternative are considered selective and are considered promising pharmacotherapies for alcoholism. Such results are often obtained using separate groups or multiple schedules where ethanol and the alternative are available alone or sequentially. Recently, we observed that when ethanol and food were available sequentially under a multiple schedule, fluvoxamine and varenicline were selective; yet this selectivity disappeared when ethanol and food were concurrently available. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH We examined the generality of these findings by comparing doses of several drugs required to decrease ethanol- and food-maintained responding under a multiple schedule and under a concurrent schedule. Effects were determined for chlordiazepoxide, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI), meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP), morphine, naltrexone and d-amphetamine. KEY RESULTS Under the multiple schedule, ED50 values for decreases in ethanol-maintained responding were significantly different and lower than ED50s for decreases in food-maintained responding (demonstrating selectivity) for each drug except for chlordiazepoxide (which was equipotent) and naltrexone (which did not affect responding). However, this selectivity vanished or even inverted under the concurrent schedule, such that ED50 values for decreasing ethanol- and food-maintained responding were not different (or, following DOI, the ED50 for food-maintained responding was lower than for ethanol-maintained responding). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Results are consistent with those seen following fluvoxamine and varenicline administration, and suggest that selectivity is assay-dependent. These results indicate the need for careful interpretation of selective drug effects, especially when obtained in situations where ethanol or the alternative is the only programmed reinforcement available. PMID:24697498

Drug effects on multiple and concurrent schedules of ethanol- and food-maintained behaviour: context-dependent selectivity.

PubMed

Ginsburg, B C; Lamb, R J

2014-07-01

Drugs that more potently or effectively reduce ethanol-maintained behaviour versus an alternative are considered selective and are considered promising pharmacotherapies for alcoholism. Such results are often obtained using separate groups or multiple schedules where ethanol and the alternative are available alone or sequentially. Recently, we observed that when ethanol and food were available sequentially under a multiple schedule, fluvoxamine and varenicline were selective; yet this selectivity disappeared when ethanol and food were concurrently available. We examined the generality of these findings by comparing doses of several drugs required to decrease ethanol- and food-maintained responding under a multiple schedule and under a concurrent schedule. Effects were determined for chlordiazepoxide, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI), meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP), morphine, naltrexone and d-amphetamine. Under the multiple schedule, ED50 values for decreases in ethanol-maintained responding were significantly different and lower than ED50 s for decreases in food-maintained responding (demonstrating selectivity) for each drug except for chlordiazepoxide (which was equipotent) and naltrexone (which did not affect responding). However, this selectivity vanished or even inverted under the concurrent schedule, such that ED50 values for decreasing ethanol- and food-maintained responding were not different (or, following DOI, the ED50 for food-maintained responding was lower than for ethanol-maintained responding). Results are consistent with those seen following fluvoxamine and varenicline administration, and suggest that selectivity is assay-dependent. These results indicate the need for careful interpretation of selective drug effects, especially when obtained in situations where ethanol or the alternative is the only programmed reinforcement available. © 2014 The British Pharmacological Society.

Optimized Hypervisor Scheduler for Parallel Discrete Event Simulations on Virtual Machine Platforms

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

Yoginath, Srikanth B; Perumalla, Kalyan S

2013-01-01

With the advent of virtual machine (VM)-based platforms for parallel computing, it is now possible to execute parallel discrete event simulations (PDES) over multiple virtual machines, in contrast to executing in native mode directly over hardware as is traditionally done over the past decades. While mature VM-based parallel systems now offer new, compelling benefits such as serviceability, dynamic reconfigurability and overall cost effectiveness, the runtime performance of parallel applications can be significantly affected. In particular, most VM-based platforms are optimized for general workloads, but PDES execution exhibits unique dynamics significantly different from other workloads. Here we first present results frommore » experiments that highlight the gross deterioration of the runtime performance of VM-based PDES simulations when executed using traditional VM schedulers, quantitatively showing the bad scaling properties of the scheduler as the number of VMs is increased. The mismatch is fundamental in nature in the sense that any fairness-based VM scheduler implementation would exhibit this mismatch with PDES runs. We also present a new scheduler optimized specifically for PDES applications, and describe its design and implementation. Experimental results obtained from running PDES benchmarks (PHOLD and vehicular traffic simulations) over VMs show over an order of magnitude improvement in the run time of the PDES-optimized scheduler relative to the regular VM scheduler, with over 20 reduction in run time of simulations using up to 64 VMs. The observations and results are timely in the context of emerging systems such as cloud platforms and VM-based high performance computing installations, highlighting to the community the need for PDES-specific support, and the feasibility of significantly reducing the runtime overhead for scalable PDES on VM platforms.« less

77 FR 35618 - Establishment of Area Navigation (RNAV) Routes; Southwestern United States

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-14

... (NAS) and provide substitute route segments for portions of VOR Federal airways V-16 and V-202. DATES... for portions of VOR Federal airways V-16 and V-202 that will be affected by the scheduled...

48 CFR 2852.233-70 - Protests filed directly with the Department of Justice.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... time as the scheduling conference, depending on availability of the necessary parties. (f) Oral... economic interest would be affected by the award of a contract or by the failure to award a contract. (b) A...

Scheduling the Remediation of Port Hope: Logistical and Regulatory Challenges of a Multiple Site Urban Remediation Project - 13119

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

Ferguson Jones, Andrea; Lee, Angela; Palmeter, Tim

2013-07-01

The Port Hope Project is part of the larger CAN$1.28 billion Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI), a community-based program for the development and implementation of a safe, local, long-term management solution for historic Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) in the Municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington, Ontario, Canada. Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) is the Project Proponent, Public Works and Government Services (PWGSC) is managing the procurement of services and the MMM Group Limited - Conestoga Rovers and Associates Joint Venture (MMM-CRA Joint Venture) is providing detailed design and construction oversight and administration services for the Project. The Port Hope Projectmore » includes the construction of a long-term waste management facility (LTWMF) in the Municipality of Port Hope and the remediation of 18 (eighteen) large-scale LLRW, numerous small-scale sites still being identified and industrial sites within the Municipality. The total volume to be remediated is over one million cubic metres and will come from sites that include temporary storage sites, ravines, beaches, parks, private commercial and residential properties and vacant industrial sites all within the urban area of Port Hope. Challenges that will need to be overcome during this 10 year project include: - Requirements stipulated by the Environmental Assessment (EA) that affect Project logistics and schedule. - Coordination of site remediation with the construction schedule at the LTWMF. - Physical constraints on transport routes and at sites affecting production rates. - Despite being an urban undertaking, seasonal constrains for birds and fish (i.e., nesting and spawning seasons). - Municipal considerations. - Site-specific constraints. - Site interdependencies exist requiring consideration in the schedule. Several sites require the use of an adjacent site for staging. (authors)« less

Parametric changes in response equilibrium during an intra-cranial self stimulation (ICSS) task: can reward value be assessed independently of absolute threshold?

PubMed

Easterling, K W; Holtzman, S G

1997-01-01

Traditional ICSS methodologies have attempted to evaluate changes in the rewarding value of brain stimulation by assessing the lowest value of the stimulation that will support responding. However, orderly changes in suprathreshold indicants of hedonic magnitude such as titration point have been shown. In the present experiments, rats were trained to respond on two ICSS autotitration schedules in which every response on one lever produced stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle, and every Xth response decreased either the stimulation current or the stimulation frequency. At any time, a response on a second "reset" lever restored the stimulation current or frequency available on the stimulation lever to its starting level and operationally defined changes in "reward value". In order to study this titration point measure, two response requirements (responses/stepdown; step size) and two stimulation parameters (initial stimulation level; train duration) were systematically varied. Under both current and frequency titration schedules, data indicated that response rate and titration point remained stable over repeated trials and multiple testing days--parameters being constant. Across all conditions, compared to the frequency titration schedule, subjects responding under the current titration schedule showed significantly higher titration points and lower rates of responding. Indicating the independence of rate and titration point data, parametric manipulations did not affect titration point and rate data concurrently. Results support the conclusion that titration point is a relative measure of "reward value" that is generally independent of response rate, but that is affected by manipulations that alter the amount of stimulation available between "resets". Additional work is needed in order to determine the relationship between the magnitude of stimulation needed to maintain minimal responding and that needed to maintain response equilibrium in an autotitration task.

The Utility of Impulsive Bias and Altered Decision Making as Predictors of Drug Efficacy and Target Selection: Rethinking Behavioral Screening for Antidepressant Drugs.

PubMed

Marek, Gerard J; Day, Mark; Hudzik, Thomas J

2016-03-01

Cognitive dysfunction may be a core feature of major depressive disorder, including affective processing bias, abnormal response to negative feedback, changes in decision making, and increased impulsivity. Accordingly, a translational medicine paradigm predicts clinical action of novel antidepressants by examining drug-induced changes in affective processing bias. With some exceptions, these concepts have not been systematically applied to preclinical models to test new chemical entities. The purpose of this review is to examine whether an empirically derived behavioral screen for antidepressant drugs may screen for compounds, at least in part, by modulating an impulsive biasing of responding and altered decision making. The differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) 72-second schedule is an operant schedule with a documented fidelity for discriminating antidepressant drugs from nonantidepressant drugs. However, a theoretical basis for this empirical relationship has been lacking. Therefore, this review will discuss whether response bias toward impulsive behavior may be a critical screening characteristic of DRL behavior requiring long inter-response times to obtain rewards. This review will compare and contrast DRL behavior with the five-choice serial reaction time task, a test specifically designed for assessing motoric impulsivity, with respect to psychopharmacological testing and the neural basis of distributed macrocircuits underlying these tasks. This comparison suggests that the existing empirical basis for the DRL 72-second schedule as a pharmacological screen for antidepressant drugs is complemented by a novel hypothesis that altering impulsive response bias for rodents trained on this operant schedule is a previously unrecognized theoretical cornerstone for this screening paradigm. Copyright © 2016 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

The Total Body Irradiation Schedule Affects Acute Leukemia Relapse After Matched T Cell–Depleted Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

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

Aristei, Cynthia, E-mail: cynthia.aristei@unipg.it; Carotti, Alessandra; Palazzari, Elisa

Purpose: We sought to determine whether the total body irradiation (TBI) schedule affected outcome in patients with acute leukemia in complete remission who received T cell–depleted allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from HLA identical siblings. Methods and Materials: The study recruited 55 patients (median age, 48 years; age range, 20-66 years; 30 men and 25 women; 34 with acute myeloid leukemia and 21 with acute lymphoid leukemia). Hyperfractionated TBI (HTBI) (1.2 Gy thrice daily for 4 days [for a total dose of 14.4 Gy] from day −12 to day −9) was administered to 29 patients. Single-dose TBI (STBI) (8 Gy, at a median dose rate of 10.7 cGy/minmore » on day −9) was given to 26 patients. Results: All patients achieved primary, sustained engraftment with full donor-type chimerism. At 10 years, the overall cumulative incidence of transplant-related mortality was 11% (SE, ±0.1%). It was 7% (SE, ±0.2%) after HTBI and 15% (SE, ±0.5%) after STBI (P=.3). The overall cumulative incidence of relapse was 33% (SE, ±0.5). It was 13% (SE, ±0.5%) after HTBI and 46% (SE, ±1%) after STBI (P=.02). The overall probability of disease-free survival (DFS) was 59% (SE, ±7%). It was 67% (SE, ±0.84%) after HTBI and 37% (SE, ±1.4%) after STBI (P=.01). Multivariate analyses showed the TBI schedule was the only risk factor that significantly affected relapse and DFS (P=.01 and P=.03, respectively). Conclusions: In patients with acute leukemia, HTBI is more efficacious than STBI in eradicating minimal residual disease after HLA-matched T cell–depleted hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, thus affecting DFS.« less

Variable training does not lead to better motor learning compared to repetitive training in children with and without DCD when exposed to active video games.

PubMed

Bonney, Emmanuel; Jelsma, Dorothee; Ferguson, Gillian; Smits-Engelsman, Bouwien

2017-03-01

Little is known about the influence of practice schedules on motor learning and skills transfer in children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Understanding how practice schedules affect motor learning is necessary for motor skills development and rehabilitation. The study investigated whether active video games (exergames) training delivered under variable practice led to better learning and transfer than repetitive practice. 111 children aged 6-10 years (M=8.0, SD=1.0) with no active exergaming experience were randomized to receive exergames training delivered under variable (Variable Game Group (VGG), n=56) or repetitive practice schedule (Repetitive Game Group (RGG), n=55). Half the participants were identified as DCD using the DSM-5 criteria, while the rest were typically developing (TD), age-matched children. Both groups participated in two 20min sessions per week for 5 weeks. Both participant groups (TD and DCD) improved equally well on game performance. There was no significant difference in positive transfer to balance tasks between practice schedules (Repetitive and Variable) and participant groups (TD and DCD). Children with and without DCD learn balance skills quite well when exposed to exergames. Gains in learning and transfer are similar regardless of the form of practice schedule employed. This is the first paper to compare the effect of practice schedules on learning in children with DCD and those with typical development. No differences in motor learning were found between repetitive and variable practice schedules. When children with and without DCD spend the same amount of time on exergames, they do not show any differences in acquisition of motor skills. Transfer of motor skills is similar in children with and without DCD regardless of differences in practice schedules. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and validity data of the Brazilian Internet Study on Temperament and Psychopathology (BRAINSTEP).

PubMed

Lara, Diogo R; Ottoni, Gustavo L; Brunstein, Miriam G; Frozi, Julia; de Carvalho, Hudson W; Bisol, Luísa W

2012-12-10

The internet provides a research opportunity for psychiatry and psychology. This article presents the development and preliminary data of a large web-survey created to study how temperament relates to other psychological measures, behavior and psychiatric disorders. We used the Affective and Emotional Composite Temperament Scale (AFECTS) to evaluate temperament and we selected several self-report instruments to evaluate behavior, psychological constructs and mental disorders. The system provides anonymous psychological (phase 1) and psychiatric (phase 2) feedback and includes questions to assess the validity of the answers. Each phase has around 450 questions. This system was broadcast utilizing Brazilian media. After the exclusion of 21.5% of the volunteers (those who failed the validation questions), 41,427 participants concluded the first part of the system (mean age=31.2±10.5 yrs, 26.9% males), and 21,836 (mean age=32.5±10.9 yrs, 25.1% males) completed phase 2. Around 25% have received a psychiatric diagnosis from a mental health professional. Demographic and temperament profiles of those who completed either only 80 questions, only phase 1, or the whole system were similar. The rate of non-serious answers (e.g. on bizarre behaviors) was very low and congruency of answers was very high. The internal consistency of classical trait scales (TCI-R and PANAS) was high (Cronbach's alpha>0.80) for all dimensions. Relatively high dropout rate due to the length of the process and an overrepresentation of female, young and well-educated subjects. The BRAINSTEP provides valid and abundant data on psychological and psychiatric measures. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Deficiency in adipocyte chemokine receptor CXCR4 exacerbates obesity and compromises thermoregulatory responses of brown adipose tissue in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity

PubMed Central

Yao, Longbiao; Heuser-Baker, Janet; Herlea-Pana, Oana; Zhang, Nan; Szweda, Luke I.; Griffin, Timothy M.; Barlic-Dicen, Jana

2014-01-01

The chemokine receptor CXCR4 is expressed on adipocytes and macrophages in adipose tissue, but its role in this tissue remains unknown. We evaluated whether deficiency in either adipocyte or myeloid leukocyte CXCR4 affects body weight (BW) and adiposity in a mouse model of high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obesity. We found that ablation of adipocyte, but not myeloid leukocyte, CXCR4 exacerbated obesity. The HFD-fed adipocyte-specific CXCR4-knockout (AdCXCR4ko) mice, compared to wild-type C57BL/6 control mice, had increased BW (average: 52.0 g vs. 35.5 g), adiposity (average: 49.3 vs. 21.0% of total BW), and inflammatory leukocyte content in white adipose tissue (WAT), despite comparable food intake. As previously reported, HFD feeding increased uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) expression (fold increase: 3.5) in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of the C57BL/6 control mice. However, no HFD-induced increase in UCP1 expression was observed in the AdCXCR4ko mice, which were cold sensitive. Thus, our study suggests that adipocyte CXCR4 limits development of obesity by preventing excessive inflammatory cell recruitment into WAT and by supporting thermogenic activity of BAT. Since CXCR4 is conserved between mouse and human, the newfound role of CXCR4 in mouse adipose tissue may parallel the role of this chemokine receptor in human adipose tissue.—Yao, L., Heuser-Baker, J., Herlea-Pana, O., Zhang, N., Szweda, L. I., Griffin, T. M., Barlic-Dicen, J. Deficiency in adipocyte chemokine receptor CXCR4 exacerbates obesity and compromises thermoregulatory responses of brown adipose tissue in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. PMID:25016030

78 FR 54240 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-03

... Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National... England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Committee to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from...

77 FR 57076 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-17

... Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National... England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Groundfish Advisory Panel to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ...

75 FR 19608 - Recreation Resource Advisory Committees

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-15

...;and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, #0;delegations of authority... tourism official to represent the State; b. A person who represents affected Indian tribes; and c. A... reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses for regularly scheduled committee meetings. All Recreation RAC...

76 FR 7823 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-11

... Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice; public meeting. SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Research Steering Committee (Committee), in February 2011, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the...

Harvesting Productionin Uneven-Aged Loblolly-Shortleaf Pine Stands:The Crossett Farm Forestry Forties

Treesearch

R. Kluender; B. Stokes; S. Woodfin

1992-01-01

Twostands managed using uneven-aged techniques werehar- vested aspar-t of a5-year entry schedule. Felling and skidding productivity varied significantly with average stem diameter and volume and was affected by diameter distribution of the removed material.

Understanding and Implementing Limited IRB Review

EPA Science Inventory

• The Common Rule regulations that govern human subjects research were revised in January 2017, and are currently scheduled to take effect in July 2018. Among the many changes that affect researchers and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) is a new process for “Limited...

Personality and affect characteristics of outpatients with depression.

PubMed

Petrocelli, J V; Glaser, B A; Calhoun, G B; Campbell, L F

2001-08-01

This investigation was designed to examine the relationship between depression severity and personality disorders measured by the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (Millon, 1987) and affectivity measured by the Positive Affectivity/Negative Affectivity Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Discriminant analyses were employed to identify the personality and affective dimensions that maximally discriminate between 4 different levels of depressive severity. Differences between the 4 levels of depressive severity are suggestive of unique patterns of personality characteristics. Discriminant analysis showed that 74.8% of the cases were correctly classified by a single linear discriminant function, and that 61% of the variance in depression severity was accounted for by selected personality and affect variables. Results extend current conceptualizations of comorbidity and are discussed with respect to depression severity.

Unification theory of optimal life histories and linear demographic models in internal stochasticity.

PubMed

Oizumi, Ryo

2014-01-01

Life history of organisms is exposed to uncertainty generated by internal and external stochasticities. Internal stochasticity is generated by the randomness in each individual life history, such as randomness in food intake, genetic character and size growth rate, whereas external stochasticity is due to the environment. For instance, it is known that the external stochasticity tends to affect population growth rate negatively. It has been shown in a recent theoretical study using path-integral formulation in structured linear demographic models that internal stochasticity can affect population growth rate positively or negatively. However, internal stochasticity has not been the main subject of researches. Taking account of effect of internal stochasticity on the population growth rate, the fittest organism has the optimal control of life history affected by the stochasticity in the habitat. The study of this control is known as the optimal life schedule problems. In order to analyze the optimal control under internal stochasticity, we need to make use of "Stochastic Control Theory" in the optimal life schedule problem. There is, however, no such kind of theory unifying optimal life history and internal stochasticity. This study focuses on an extension of optimal life schedule problems to unify control theory of internal stochasticity into linear demographic models. First, we show the relationship between the general age-states linear demographic models and the stochastic control theory via several mathematical formulations, such as path-integral, integral equation, and transition matrix. Secondly, we apply our theory to a two-resource utilization model for two different breeding systems: semelparity and iteroparity. Finally, we show that the diversity of resources is important for species in a case. Our study shows that this unification theory can address risk hedges of life history in general age-states linear demographic models.

Unification Theory of Optimal Life Histories and Linear Demographic Models in Internal Stochasticity

PubMed Central

Oizumi, Ryo

2014-01-01

Life history of organisms is exposed to uncertainty generated by internal and external stochasticities. Internal stochasticity is generated by the randomness in each individual life history, such as randomness in food intake, genetic character and size growth rate, whereas external stochasticity is due to the environment. For instance, it is known that the external stochasticity tends to affect population growth rate negatively. It has been shown in a recent theoretical study using path-integral formulation in structured linear demographic models that internal stochasticity can affect population growth rate positively or negatively. However, internal stochasticity has not been the main subject of researches. Taking account of effect of internal stochasticity on the population growth rate, the fittest organism has the optimal control of life history affected by the stochasticity in the habitat. The study of this control is known as the optimal life schedule problems. In order to analyze the optimal control under internal stochasticity, we need to make use of “Stochastic Control Theory” in the optimal life schedule problem. There is, however, no such kind of theory unifying optimal life history and internal stochasticity. This study focuses on an extension of optimal life schedule problems to unify control theory of internal stochasticity into linear demographic models. First, we show the relationship between the general age-states linear demographic models and the stochastic control theory via several mathematical formulations, such as path–integral, integral equation, and transition matrix. Secondly, we apply our theory to a two-resource utilization model for two different breeding systems: semelparity and iteroparity. Finally, we show that the diversity of resources is important for species in a case. Our study shows that this unification theory can address risk hedges of life history in general age-states linear demographic models. PMID:24945258

Enhancements of evolutionary algorithm for the complex requirements of a nurse scheduling problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tein, Lim Huai; Ramli, Razamin

2014-12-01

Over the years, nurse scheduling is a noticeable problem that is affected by the global nurse turnover crisis. The more nurses are unsatisfied with their working environment the more severe the condition or implication they tend to leave. Therefore, the current undesirable work schedule is partly due to that working condition. Basically, there is a lack of complimentary requirement between the head nurse's liability and the nurses' need. In particular, subject to highly nurse preferences issue, the sophisticated challenge of doing nurse scheduling is failure to stimulate tolerance behavior between both parties during shifts assignment in real working scenarios. Inevitably, the flexibility in shifts assignment is hard to achieve for the sake of satisfying nurse diverse requests with upholding imperative nurse ward coverage. Hence, Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) is proposed to cater for this complexity in a nurse scheduling problem (NSP). The restriction of EA is discussed and thus, enhancement on the EA operators is suggested so that the EA would have the characteristic of a flexible search. This paper consists of three types of constraints which are the hard, semi-hard and soft constraints that can be handled by the EA with enhanced parent selection and specialized mutation operators. These operators and EA as a whole contribute to the efficiency of constraint handling, fitness computation as well as flexibility in the search, which correspond to the employment of exploration and exploitation principles.

Some effects of overall rate of earning reinforcers on run lengths and visit durations.

PubMed

Macdonall, James S

2006-07-01

In a concurrent schedule, responding at each alternative is controlled by a pair of schedules that arrange reinforcers for staying at that alternative and reinforcers for switching to the other alternative. Each pair of schedules operates only while at the associated alternative. When only one pair of stay and switch schedules is presented, the rates of earning reinforcers for staying divided by the rates of earning reinforcers for switching controls the mean number responses in a visit and the mean duration of visits. The purpose of the present experiment was to see whether the sum of the rates of earning stay and switch reinforcers changed the way that run length and visit duration were affected by the ratio of the rates of stay to switch reinforcers. Rats were exposed to pairs of stay and switch schedules that varied both the ratio of the rates of earning stay and switch reinforcers and the sum of the rates of earning stay and switch reinforcers. Run lengths and visit durations were joint functions of the ratio of the rates of earning stay and switch reinforcers and the sum of the rates of earning stay and switch reinforcers. These results shows that the effect of the ratio of the sum of the rates of earning stay and switch reinforcers results from processes operating at the alternative, rather than from processes operating at both alternatives.

Schedule-induced masseter EMG in facial pain subjects vs. no-pain controls.

PubMed

Gramling, S E; Grayson, R L; Sullivan, T N; Schwartz, S

1997-02-01

Empirical reports suggest that oral habits (e.g., teeth clenching) may be behavioral mediators linking stress to muscle hyperreactivity and the development of facial pain. Another report suggests that excessive behavioral adjuncts develop in conjunction with fixed-time stimulus presentation. The present study assessed the extent to which the oral habits exhibited by facial pain patients are schedule-induced. Subjects with Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) symptomatology (n = 15) and pain-free controls (n = 15) participated in a 4-phase experiment (adaptation, baseline, task, recovery) designed to elicit schedule-induced behaviors. Self-report of oral habits and negative affect were recorded after each phase. Objective measures of oral habits were obtained via behavioral observation and masseter EMG recordings. Results revealed that negative arousal significantly increased during the fixed-time (FT) task and was also associated with increased oral habits among the TMD subjects. Moreover, 40% of the TMD subjects and none of the controls exhibited a pattern of EMG elevations in the early part of the inter-stimulus interval that met a strict criteria for scheduled-induced behavior per se. Taken together, these results suggest that the TMD subjects were engaging in schedule-induced oral habits. The adjunctive behavior literature seems to provide a plausible explanation as to how oral habits develop and are maintained in TMD patients, despite their painful consequences.

Biparental incubation-scheduling: no experimental evidence for major energetic constraints

PubMed Central

Cresswell, Will; Rutten, Anne L.; Valcu, Mihai; Kempenaers, Bart

2015-01-01

Incubation is energetically demanding, but it is debated whether these demands constrain incubation-scheduling (i.e., the length, constancy, and timing of incubation bouts) in cases where both parents incubate. Using 2 methods, we experimentally reduced the energetic demands of incubation in the semipalmated sandpiper, a biparental shorebird breeding in the harsh conditions of the high Arctic. First, we decreased the demands of incubation for 1 parent only by exchanging 1 of the 4 eggs for an artificial egg that heated up when the focal bird incubated. Second, we reanalyzed the data from the only published experimental study that has explicitly tested energetic constraints on incubation-scheduling in a biparentally incubating species (Cresswell et al. 2003). In this experiment, the energetic demands of incubation were decreased for both parents by insulating the nest cup. We expected that the treated birds, in both experiments, would change the length of their incubation bouts, if biparental incubation-scheduling is energetically constrained. However, we found no evidence that heating or insulation of the nest affected the length of incubation bouts: the combined effect of both experiments was an increase in bout length of 3.6min (95% CI: −33 to 40), which is equivalent to a 0.5% increase in the length of the average incubation bout. These results demonstrate that the observed biparental incubation-scheduling in semipalmated sandpipers is not primarily driven by energetic constraints and therefore by the state of the incubating bird, implying that we still do not understand the factors driving biparental incubation-scheduling. PMID:25713473

Biparental incubation-scheduling: no experimental evidence for major energetic constraints.

PubMed

Bulla, Martin; Cresswell, Will; Rutten, Anne L; Valcu, Mihai; Kempenaers, Bart

2015-01-01

Incubation is energetically demanding, but it is debated whether these demands constrain incubation-scheduling (i.e., the length, constancy, and timing of incubation bouts) in cases where both parents incubate. Using 2 methods, we experimentally reduced the energetic demands of incubation in the semipalmated sandpiper, a biparental shorebird breeding in the harsh conditions of the high Arctic. First, we decreased the demands of incubation for 1 parent only by exchanging 1 of the 4 eggs for an artificial egg that heated up when the focal bird incubated. Second, we reanalyzed the data from the only published experimental study that has explicitly tested energetic constraints on incubation-scheduling in a biparentally incubating species (Cresswell et al. 2003). In this experiment, the energetic demands of incubation were decreased for both parents by insulating the nest cup. We expected that the treated birds, in both experiments, would change the length of their incubation bouts, if biparental incubation-scheduling is energetically constrained. However, we found no evidence that heating or insulation of the nest affected the length of incubation bouts: the combined effect of both experiments was an increase in bout length of 3.6min (95% CI: -33 to 40), which is equivalent to a 0.5% increase in the length of the average incubation bout. These results demonstrate that the observed biparental incubation-scheduling in semipalmated sandpipers is not primarily driven by energetic constraints and therefore by the state of the incubating bird, implying that we still do not understand the factors driving biparental incubation-scheduling.

Analyzing the nursing organizational structure and process from a scheduling perspective.

PubMed

Maenhout, Broos; Vanhoucke, Mario

2013-09-01

The efficient and effective management of nursing personnel is of critical importance in a hospital's environment comprising approximately 25 % of the hospital's operational costs. The nurse organizational structure and the organizational processes highly affect the nurses' working conditions and the provided quality of care. In this paper, we investigate the impact of different nurse organization structures and different organizational processes for a real-life situation in a Belgian university hospital. In order to make accurate nurse staffing decisions, the employed solution methodology incorporates shift scheduling characteristics in order to overcome the deficiencies of the many phase-specific methodologies that are proposed in the academic literature.

X-ray satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

The 3rd Quarter Status Report on DFVLR's ROSAT project confirms that with regard to technical performance and costs the project is on schedule. The valid schedule for engineering model and flight model completion on May 7, 1985 leads to a launch date on October 30, 1987. Progress in each department is compared to and explained with regard to the milestone plan. Continued problems with the gold damping of the FM-mirror system and contamination of the sterile rooms where the mirrors are stored have led to postponement of milestone 7. It is not yet completely clear to what extent all successive milestones will be affected by this factor.

Nursing faculty academic incivility: perceptions of nursing students and faculty.

PubMed

Muliira, Joshua K; Natarajan, Jansi; van der Colff, Jacoba

2017-12-13

Incivility in nursing education can adversely affect the academic environment, the learning outcomes, and safety. Nursing faculty (NF) and nursing students (NS) contribute to the academic incivility. Little is known about the extent of NF academic incivility in the Middle East region. This study aimed at exploring the perceptions and extent of NF academic incivility in an undergraduate nursing program of a public university in Oman. A cross sectional survey was used to collect data from 155 undergraduate NS and 40 NF about faculty academic incivility. Data was collected using the Incivility in Nursing Education Survey. The majority of NS and NF had similar perceptions about disruptive faculty behaviors. The incidence of faculty incivility was low (Mean = 1.5). The disruptive behaviors with the highest incidence were arriving late for scheduled activities, leaving schedule activities early, cancelling scheduled activities without warning, ineffective teaching styles and methods, and subjective grading. The most common uncivil faculty behaviors reported by participants were general taunts or disrespect to other NF, challenges to other faculty knowledge or credibility, and general taunts or disrespect to NS. The relatively low level of NF academic incivility could still affect the performance of some students, faculty, and program outcomes. Academic institutions need to ensure a policy of zero tolerance to all academic incivility, and regular monitoring and evaluation as part of the prevention strategies.

A novel approach to evaluating the UK childhood immunisation schedule: estimating the effective coverage vector across the entire vaccine programme.

PubMed

Crowe, Sonya; Utley, Martin; Walker, Guy; Panovska-Griffiths, Jasmina; Grove, Peter; Pagel, Christina

2015-12-29

The availability of new vaccines can prompt policy makers to consider changes to the routine childhood immunisation programme in the UK. Alterations to one aspect of the schedule may have implications for other areas of the programme (e.g. adding more injections could reduce uptake of vaccines featuring later in the schedule). Colleagues at the Department of Health (DH) in the UK therefore wanted to know whether assessing the impact across the entire programme of a proposed change to the UK schedule could lead to different decisions than those made on the current case-by-case basis. This work is a first step towards addressing this question. A novel framework for estimating the effective coverage against all of the diseases within a vaccination programme was developed. The framework was applied to the current (August 2015) UK childhood immunisation programme, plausible extensions to it in the foreseeable future (introducing vaccination against Meningitis B and/or Hepatitis B) and a "what-if" scenario regarding a Hepatitis B vaccine scare that was developed in close collaboration with DH. Our applications of the framework demonstrate that a programme-view of hypothetical changes to the schedule is important. For example, we show how introducing Hepatitis B vaccination could negatively impact aspects of the current programme by reducing uptake of vaccines featuring later in the schedule, and illustrate that the potential benefits of introducing any new vaccine are susceptible to behaviour changes affecting uptake (e.g. a vaccine scare). We show how it may be useful to consider the potential benefits and scheduling needs of all vaccinations on the horizon of interest rather than those of an individual vaccine in isolation, e.g. how introducing Meningitis B vaccination could saturate the early (2-month) visit, thereby potentially restricting scheduling options for Hepatitis B immunisation should it be introduced to the programme in the future. Our results demonstrate the potential benefit of considering the programme-wide impact of changes to an immunisation schedule, and our framework is an important step in the development of a means for systematically doing so.

A bi-objective integer programming model for partly-restricted flight departure scheduling

PubMed Central

Guan, Wei; Zhang, Wenyi; Jiang, Shixiong; Fan, Lingling

2018-01-01

The normal studies on air traffic departure scheduling problem (DSP) mainly deal with an independent airport in which the departure traffic is not affected by surrounded airports, which, however, is not a consistent case. In reality, there still exist cases where several commercial airports are closely located and one of them possesses a higher priority. During the peak hours, the departure activities of the lower-priority airports are usually required to give way to those of higher-priority airport. These giving-way requirements can inflict a set of changes on the modeling of departure scheduling problem with respect to the lower-priority airports. To the best of our knowledge, studies on DSP under this condition are scarce. Accordingly, this paper develops a bi-objective integer programming model to address the flight departure scheduling of the partly-restricted (e.g., lower-priority) one among several adjacent airports. An adapted tabu search algorithm is designed to solve the current problem. It is demonstrated from the case study of Tianjin Binhai International Airport in China that the proposed method can obviously improve the operation efficiency, while still realizing superior equity and regularity among restricted flows. PMID:29715299

A bi-objective integer programming model for partly-restricted flight departure scheduling.

PubMed

Zhong, Han; Guan, Wei; Zhang, Wenyi; Jiang, Shixiong; Fan, Lingling

2018-01-01

The normal studies on air traffic departure scheduling problem (DSP) mainly deal with an independent airport in which the departure traffic is not affected by surrounded airports, which, however, is not a consistent case. In reality, there still exist cases where several commercial airports are closely located and one of them possesses a higher priority. During the peak hours, the departure activities of the lower-priority airports are usually required to give way to those of higher-priority airport. These giving-way requirements can inflict a set of changes on the modeling of departure scheduling problem with respect to the lower-priority airports. To the best of our knowledge, studies on DSP under this condition are scarce. Accordingly, this paper develops a bi-objective integer programming model to address the flight departure scheduling of the partly-restricted (e.g., lower-priority) one among several adjacent airports. An adapted tabu search algorithm is designed to solve the current problem. It is demonstrated from the case study of Tianjin Binhai International Airport in China that the proposed method can obviously improve the operation efficiency, while still realizing superior equity and regularity among restricted flows.

Automatic scheduling of outages of nuclear power plants with time windows. Final report, January-December 1995

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

Gomes, C.

This report describes a successful project for transference of advanced AI technology into the domain of planning of outages of nuclear power plants as part of DOD`s dual-use program. ROMAN (Rome Lab Outage Manager) is the prototype system that was developed as a result of this project. ROMAN`s main innovation compared to the current state-of-the-art of outage management tools is its capability to automatically enforce safety constraints during the planning and scheduling phase. Another innovative aspect of ROMAN is the generation of more robust schedules that are feasible over time windows. In other words, ROMAN generates a family of schedulesmore » by assigning time intervals as start times to activities rather than single start times, without affecting the overall duration of the project. ROMAN uses a constraint satisfaction paradigm combining a global search tactic with constraint propagation. The derivation of very specialized representations for the constraints to perform efficient propagation is a key aspect for the generation of very fast schedules - constraints are compiled into the code, which is a novel aspect of our work using an automatic programming system, KIDS.« less

DECISION ANALYSIS OF INCINERATION COSTS IN SUPERFUND SITE REMEDIATION

EPA Science Inventory

This study examines the decision-making process of the remedial design (RD) phase of on-site incineration projects conducted at Superfund sites. Decisions made during RD affect the cost and schedule of remedial action (RA). Decision analysis techniques are used to determine the...

75 FR 78976 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-17

... Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National... England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Habitat/MPA/Ecosystem Committee, in January, 2011, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic...

The 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) Outbreak: Selected Legal Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-21

primarily against marginalized, nonwhite persons underscores the need for legal oversight —if only so that affected communities can be assured of the absence...settings. Potential strategies and or guidance addressing telecommuting , alternative schedules, or modified operating hours for retail establishments

The 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) Outbreak: Selected Legal Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-06

used primarily against marginalized, nonwhite persons underscores the need for legal oversight —if only so that affected communities can be assured of...traditional or alternative settings. Potential strategies and or guidance addressing telecommuting , alternative schedules, or modified operating hours

76 FR 70420 - New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC); Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-14

...), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice; public meeting. SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Research Steering Committee (Committee), in November, 2011, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in...

75 FR 66072 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-27

... Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Research Steering Committee (Committee), in November, 2010, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in...

76 FR 17381 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-29

... Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice; public meeting. SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Research Steering Committee (Committee), in April, 2011, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive...

76 FR 10561 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-25

... Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Research Steering Committee (Committee), in March, 2011, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the...

76 FR 31304 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-31

... Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National... England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a joint public meeting of its Skate Committee and Advisory Panel, in June, 2011, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the...

Successful associateship agreements.

PubMed

Crafton, B C

1997-08-01

When evaluating potential associateship agreements, dentists need to recognize and understand how status, noncompete clauses, scheduling and compensation affect the strength of an associateship agreement. Dentists should not enter an associateship agreement without fully understanding the agreement and its obligations or without the help of an accountant and an attorney.

Effects of Creative Thinking and Its Personality Determinants on Negative Emotion Regulation.

PubMed

Chiu, Fa-Chung; Hsu, Chih-Chun; Lin, Yao-Nan; Liu, Cheng-Hong; Chen, Hsueh-Chih; Lin, Chi-Hsiang

2018-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between creativity and negative emotion, and the effects of integrating creative insight into the reappraisal process on negative emotions. In Study 1, participants' creativity and baseline anxiety levels were measured; then anxiety was induced, and anxiety levels were reassessed. In Study 2, participants wrote about past negative events and then completed the positive and negative affect schedule. They were split into three groups (insight reappraisal, simple reappraisal, or control groups); each of them received a separate intervention, and then they completed positive and negative affect schedule again. In Study 3, participants were randomly assigned to insight reappraisal or control groups; apart from measuring cognitive changes, the procedures were identical to Study 2. All participants were undergraduate students. Results showed that flexibility, originality, risk-taking, and complexity are negatively correlated with anxiety, and that insight reappraisal can induce insight experience and enhance cognitive changes, and reduce negative emotional responses. Therefore, integrating creative insight into the reappraisal process can enhance its effectiveness in reducing negative emotions.

Cortisol, reaction time test and health among offshore shift workers.

PubMed

Harris, Anette; Waage, Siri; Ursin, Holger; Hansen, Ase Marie; Bjorvatn, Bjørn; Eriksen, Hege R

2010-10-01

The stress hormone cortisol shows a pronounced endogenous diurnal rhythm, which is affected by the sleep/wake cycle, meals and activity. Shift work and especially night work disrupts the sleep/wake cycle and causes a desynchronization of the natural biological rhythms. Therefore, different shift schedules may have different impact on performance at work and health. The purpose was to study if health, reaction time, and the cortisol rhythm were negatively affected when a group of shift workers changed their work schedule from ordinary day-night shift (fixed shift) to "swing shift". 19 healthy workers on a Norwegian oil rig participated in the study. They worked 2 weeks offshore followed by 4 weeks off work. The ordinary schedule consisted of 12-h day shift and 12-h night shift every other work period (14 days or nights=fixed shift). "Swing shift" involved 1 week of night shift, followed by 1 week of day shift during the work period. All participants worked ordinary day-night shift when baseline data were collected (questionnaires, saliva cortisol, and reaction time during work). After collection of baseline data the workers changed their work schedule to "swing shift", for every working period, and 9 months later the same data were collected. "Swing shift" did not give any negative health effects or any negative changes in reaction time during the day they shifted from night work to day work. Personnel adapted to night shift within a week regardless of schedule, but recovery from night shift took longer time. During swing shift the cortisol rhythm went back towards a normal rhythm in the second week, but it was not returned completely to normal values when they returned home for the 4 weeks off period. However, the cortisol rhythms were readapted to normal values after 1 week at home. For personnel returning home directly from 14 consecutive night shifts, cortisol adaptation was not complete after 1 week at home. We found no increase in health complaints from swing shift or reaction time in the shift from night to day work. Recovery from night shift takes longer time. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimizing the arrival, waiting, and NPO times of children on the day of pediatric endoscopy procedures.

PubMed

Smallman, Bettina; Dexter, Franklin

2010-03-01

Research in predictive variability of operating room (OR) times has been performed using data from multidisciplinary, tertiary hospitals with mostly adult patients. In this article, we discuss case-duration prediction for children receiving general anesthesia for endoscopy. We critique which of the several types of OR management decisions dependent on accuracy of prediction are relevant to series (lists) of brief pediatric anesthetics. OR information system data were obtained for all children (aged 18 years and younger) undergoing a gastroenterology procedure with an anesthesiologist over 21 months. Summaries of data were used for a qualitative, systematic review of prior studies to learn which apply to brief pediatric cases. Patient arrival times were changed to be based on the statistical method relating actual and scheduled start times (Wachtel and Dexter, Anesth Analg 2007;105:127-40). Even perfect case-duration prediction would not affect whether a brief case was performed on a certain date and/or in a certain OR. There was no evidence of usefulness in calculating the probability that one case would last longer than another or in resequencing cases to influence postanesthesia care unit staffing or patient waiting from scheduled start times. The only decision for which the accuracy of case-duration prediction mattered was for the shortest time that preceding cases in the OR may take. Knowledge of the preceding procedures in the OR was not useful for that purpose because there were hundreds of combinations of preceding procedures and some cases cancelled. Instead, patient ready times were chosen based on 5% lower prediction bounds for ratios of actual to scheduled OR times. The approach was useful based on a 30% reduction in patient waiting times from scheduled start times with corresponding expected reductions in average and peak numbers of patients in the holding area. For brief pediatric OR anesthetics, predictive variability of case durations matters principally to the extent that it affects appropriate patient ready times. Such times should not be chosen by having patients start fasting, arrive, and be ready fixed numbers of hours before their scheduled start times.

7 CFR 1951.223 - Reamortization.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... delinquent amount. Accrued interest will be at the rate currently reflected in Finance Office records. (1... government's interest will remain adequately protected if the security position will be affected. (3) Notes...; and (E) The interest rate. (iii) A payment will be due on the next scheduled due date. Deferment of...

46 CFR 276.2 - Reporting requirement-partial repayment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Administration on account of the operation of such vessel in other than exclusively foreign trade must be shown in Balance Sheet Account No. 430; and a schedule reflecting the details of the manner in which the... 276.2 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REGULATIONS AFFECTING SUBSIDIZED...

46 CFR 276.2 - Reporting requirement-partial repayment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Administration on account of the operation of such vessel in other than exclusively foreign trade must be shown in Balance Sheet Account No. 430; and a schedule reflecting the details of the manner in which the... 276.2 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REGULATIONS AFFECTING SUBSIDIZED...

14 CFR 23 - Certification and Balance Sheet Elements

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... consideration received shall be reported. (2) “Other Paid-In Capital” shall include the difference between the... cross-referenced to the affected account or accounts. Schedule B-7 Airframe and Aircraft Engine... both passengers and cargo in combination. Data pertaining to aircraft engines shall be reported in...

What hinders teachers in using computer and video games in the classroom? Exploring factors inhibiting the uptake of computer and video games.

PubMed

Baek, Young Kyun

2008-12-01

The purpose of this study is to identify factors inhibiting teachers' use of computer and video games in the classroom setting and to examine the degree to which teaching experience and gender affect attitudes toward using games. Six factors that hinder teachers' use of games in the classroom were discovered: Inflexibility of curriculum, Negative effects of gaming, Students' lack of readiness, Lack of supporting materials, Fixed class schedules, and Limited budgets. Lack of supporting material, Fixed class schedules, and Limited budgets were factors that female teachers believed to be more serious obstacles to game use in the classroom than male teachers did. Experienced teachers, more so than inexperienced teachers, believed that adopting games in teaching was hindered by Inflexibility of curriculum and Negative effects of gaming. On the other hand, inexperienced teachers, more so than experienced teachers, believed that adopting games in teaching is less hindered by Lack of supporting materials and Fixed class schedules.

2016 Rio Olympic Games: Can the schedule of events compromise athletes' performance?

PubMed

Rosa, João Paulo P; Rodrigues, Dayane F; Silva, Andressa; de Moura Simim, Mário Antônio; Costa, Varley T; Noce, Franco; de Mello, Marco Túlio

2016-01-01

The organizing committee of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games recently announced that some of the preliminary and final competitions will be held at night. The present article discusses the potential harmful effects of these late-night competitions on sleep, circadian rhythms and athletic performance during the Olympic Games. Specifically, night-time competition could lead to injury and may compromise an athlete's decision-making, attentional, physiological and other processes. Consequently, these impacts could negatively affect the performance of athletes and their teams. Thus, it is suggested that technical commissions take special care when creating strategies to minimize harm to the athletes by considering factors such as light exposure, melatonin intake, sleep hygiene and scheduled naps, and training at local competition time. Furthermore, it is necessary for specialists in chronobiology and sleep to engage with members of the national teams to develop an activity schedule for physical, technical, tactical and psychological preparation that accounts for circadian rhythms, thereby creating the best possible environment for the athletes to achieve their ideal performance.

Optimal scheduling and its Lyapunov stability for advanced load-following energy plants with CO 2 capture

DOE PAGES

Bankole, Temitayo; Jones, Dustin; Bhattacharyya, Debangsu; ...

2017-11-03

In this study, a two-level control methodology consisting of an upper-level scheduler and a lower-level supervisory controller is proposed for an advanced load-following energy plant with CO 2 capture. With the use of an economic objective function that considers fluctuation in electricity demand and price at the upper level, optimal scheduling of energy plant electricity production and carbon capture with respect to several carbon tax scenarios is implemented. The optimal operational profiles are then passed down to corresponding lower-level supervisory controllers designed using a methodological approach that balances control complexity with performance. Finally, it is shown how optimal carbon capturemore » and electricity production rate profiles for an energy plant such as the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant are affected by electricity demand and price fluctuations under different carbon tax scenarios. As a result, the paper also presents a Lyapunov stability analysis of the proposed scheme.« less

Spacelab system analysis: The modified free access protocol: An access protocol for communication systems with periodic and Poisson traffic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ingels, Frank; Owens, John; Daniel, Steven

1989-01-01

The protocol definition and terminal hardware for the modified free access protocol, a communications protocol similar to Ethernet, are developed. A MFA protocol simulator and a CSMA/CD math model are also developed. The protocol is tailored to communication systems where the total traffic may be divided into scheduled traffic and Poisson traffic. The scheduled traffic should occur on a periodic basis but may occur after a given event such as a request for data from a large number of stations. The Poisson traffic will include alarms and other random traffic. The purpose of the protocol is to guarantee that scheduled packets will be delivered without collision. This is required in many control and data collection systems. The protocol uses standard Ethernet hardware and software requiring minimum modifications to an existing system. The modification to the protocol only affects the Ethernet transmission privileges and does not effect the Ethernet receiver.

Optimal scheduling and its Lyapunov stability for advanced load-following energy plants with CO 2 capture

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

Bankole, Temitayo; Jones, Dustin; Bhattacharyya, Debangsu

In this study, a two-level control methodology consisting of an upper-level scheduler and a lower-level supervisory controller is proposed for an advanced load-following energy plant with CO 2 capture. With the use of an economic objective function that considers fluctuation in electricity demand and price at the upper level, optimal scheduling of energy plant electricity production and carbon capture with respect to several carbon tax scenarios is implemented. The optimal operational profiles are then passed down to corresponding lower-level supervisory controllers designed using a methodological approach that balances control complexity with performance. Finally, it is shown how optimal carbon capturemore » and electricity production rate profiles for an energy plant such as the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant are affected by electricity demand and price fluctuations under different carbon tax scenarios. As a result, the paper also presents a Lyapunov stability analysis of the proposed scheme.« less

Emission rates of regulated pollutants from on-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Sandip D.; Johnson, Kent C.; Wayne Miller, J.; Cocker, David R.

Emissions from heavy-duty diesel (HDD) vehicles are affected by many factors. Changes in engine technology, operating mode, fuel properties, vehicle speed and ambient conditions can have significant effects on emission rates of regulated species. This paper presents the results of on-road emissions testing of 11 HDD vehicles (model years 1996-2000) over the ARB Four Phase driving schedule and the urban dynamometer driving schedule (UDDS). Emission rates were found to be highly dependent on vehicle operating mode. Per mile NO x emission rates for vehicle operation at low speeds, in simulated congested traffic, were three times higher per mile emissions then while cruising on the freeway. Comparisons of NO x emission factors to EMFAC baseline emission factors were within 5-40% for vehicles of various model years tested over the UDDS. A comparison of NO x emission factors for a weighted average of the ARB four phase driving schedule yielded values within 17-57% of EMFAC values. Generally, particulate matter (PM) emission rates were lower than EMFAC values.

Negotiating on location, timing, duration, and participant in agent-mediated joint activity-travel scheduling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Huiye; Ronald, Nicole; Arentze, Theo A.; Timmermans, Harry J. P.

2013-10-01

Agent-based simulation has become an important modeling approach in activity-travel analysis. Social activities account for a large amount of travel and have an important effect on activity-travel scheduling. Participants in joint activities usually have various options regarding location, participants, and timing and take different approaches to make their decisions. In this context, joint activity participation requires negotiation among agents involved, so that conflicts among the agents can be addressed. Existing mechanisms do not fully provide a solution when utility functions of agents are nonlinear and non-monotonic. Considering activity-travel scheduling in time and space as an application, we propose a novel negotiation approach, which takes into account these properties, such as continuous and discrete issues, and nonlinear and non-monotonic utility functions, by defining a concession strategy and a search mechanism. The results of experiments show that agents having these properties can negotiate efficiently. Furthermore, the negotiation procedure affects individuals’ choices of location, timing, duration, and participants.

Fast Missile Boat Project Planning using CPM and What If Analysis Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silvianita; Firmansyah, R.; Rosyid, D. M.; Suntoyo; Chamelia, D. M.

2018-03-01

This paper discusses analysis of fast ship missile project planning with CPM and What If analysis.The poor performance can cause project delay and cost overruns, these two things often occur in a project management. Scheduling has an important role to control the project. Good scheduling is required because it will affect the product quality. Scheduling is useful to manage the activities so that the project completion time can be as short as possible and it is used to determine the costs of the project are in optimum condition. The alternatives that can be used to overcome the delay project namely increasing labor and equipment.Project planning can be done to determine whether the project is already in an optimum condition. Alternatives that can be used to overcome the delay in the project is to increase labor and equipment, the next is to look for the optimum solution taking into account the duration and gain of each alternative.

Scheduling for Parallel Supercomputing: A Historical Perspective of Achievable Utilization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, James Patton; Nitzberg, Bill

1999-01-01

The NAS facility has operated parallel supercomputers for the past 11 years, including the Intel iPSC/860, Intel Paragon, Thinking Machines CM-5, IBM SP-2, and Cray Origin 2000. Across this wide variety of machine architectures, across a span of 10 years, across a large number of different users, and through thousands of minor configuration and policy changes, the utilization of these machines shows three general trends: (1) scheduling using a naive FIFO first-fit policy results in 40-60% utilization, (2) switching to the more sophisticated dynamic backfilling scheduling algorithm improves utilization by about 15 percentage points (yielding about 70% utilization), and (3) reducing the maximum allowable job size further increases utilization. Most surprising is the consistency of these trends. Over the lifetime of the NAS parallel systems, we made hundreds, perhaps thousands, of small changes to hardware, software, and policy, yet, utilization was affected little. In particular these results show that the goal of achieving near 100% utilization while supporting a real parallel supercomputing workload is unrealistic.

Evaluation of distributed practice schedules on retention of a newly acquired surgical skill: a randomized trial.

PubMed

Mitchell, Erica L; Lee, Dae Y; Sevdalis, Nick; Partsafas, Aaron W; Landry, Gregory J; Liem, Timothy K; Moneta, Gregory L

2011-01-01

practice influences new skill acquisition. The aim of this study was to prospectively investigate the impact of practice distribution (weekly vs monthly) on complex motor skill (end-side vascular anastomosis) acquisition and 4-month retention. twenty-four surgical interns were randomly assigned to weekly training for 4 weeks or monthly training for 4 months, with equal total training times. Performance was assessed before training, immediately after training, after the completion of distributed training, and 4 months later. there was no statistical difference in surgical skill acquisition and retention between the weekly and monthly scheduled groups, as measured by procedural checklist scores, global rating scores of operative performance, final product analysis, and overall performance or assessment of operative "competence." distributed practice results in improvement and retention of a newly acquired surgical skill independent of weekly or monthly practice schedules. Flexibility in a surgical skills laboratory curriculum is possible without adversely affecting training. 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Probabilistic modeling of condition-based maintenance strategies and quantification of its benefits for airliners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pattabhiraman, Sriram

Airplane fuselage structures are designed with the concept of damage tolerance, wherein small damage are allowed to remain on the airplane, and damage that otherwise affect the safety of the structure are repaired. The damage critical to the safety of the fuselage are repaired by scheduling maintenance at pre-determined intervals. Scheduling maintenance is an interesting trade-off between damage tolerance and cost. Tolerance of larger damage would require less frequent maintenance and hence, a lower cost, to maintain a certain level of reliability. Alternatively, condition-based maintenance techniques have been developed using on-board sensors, which track damage continuously and request maintenance only when the damage size crosses a particular threshold. This effects a tolerance of larger damage than scheduled maintenance, leading to savings in cost. This work quantifies the savings of condition-based maintenance over scheduled maintenance. The work also quantifies converting the cost savings into weight savings. Structural health monitoring will need time to be able to establish itself as a stand-alone system for maintenance, due to concerns on its diagnosis accuracy and reliability. This work also investigates the effect of synchronizing structural health monitoring system with scheduled maintenance. This work uses on-board SHM equipment skip structural airframe maintenance (a subsect of scheduled maintenance), whenever deemed unnecessary while maintain a desired level of safety of structure. The work will also predict the necessary maintenance for a fleet of airplanes, based on the current damage status of the airplanes. The work also analyses the possibility of false alarm, wherein maintenance is being requested with no critical damage on the airplane. The work use SHM as a tool to identify lemons in a fleet of airplanes. Lemons are those airplanes that would warrant more maintenance trips than the average behavior of the fleet.

How shift scheduling practices contribute to fatigue amongst freight rail operating employees: Findings from Canadian accident investigations.

PubMed

Rudin-Brown, Christina M; Harris, Sarah; Rosberg, Ari

2018-02-01

Canada's freight rail system moves 70% of the country's surface goods and almost half of all exports (RAC, 2016). These include dangerous goods. Anonymous survey of freight rail operating employees conducted by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC, 2014) revealed that many do not report getting enough sleep because of their work schedules, and that fatigue may be affecting their performance at work. Besides general impairments in attention and cognitive functioning, fatigue in railway operating employees slows reaction time to safety alarms and impairs conformance to train operating requirements. Shift scheduling practices can contribute to sleep-related fatigue by restricting sleep opportunities, requiring extended periods of wakefulness and by disrupting daily (circadian) rhythms. The primary goal of accident investigation is to identify causal and contributing factors so that similar occurrences can be prevented. A database search of Transportation Safety Board (TSB) rail investigation reports published in the 21-year period from 1995 to 2015 identified 18 that cited sleep-related fatigue of freight rail operating employees as a causal, contributing, or risk finding. This number represents about 20% of TSB rail investigations from the same period in which a human factors aspect of freight train activities was a primary cause. Exploration of accident themes suggests that management of fatigue and shift scheduling in the freight rail industry is a complex issue that is often not conducive to employee circadian rhythms and sleep requirements. It also suggests that current shift scheduling and fatigue management practices may be insufficient to mitigate the associated safety risk. Railway fatigue management systems that are based on the principles of modern sleep science are needed to improve scheduling practices and mitigate the ongoing safety risk. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distinct Contributions of Dopamine in the Dorsolateral Striatum and Nucleus Accumbens Shell to the Reinforcing Properties of Cocaine

PubMed Central

Veeneman, Maartje M J; Broekhoven, Mark H; Damsteegt, Ruth; Vanderschuren, Louk J M J

2012-01-01

Dopaminergic neurotransmission in the dorsal and ventral striatum is thought to be involved in distinct aspects of cocaine addiction. Ventral striatal dopamine mediates the acute reinforcing properties of cocaine, whereas dopamine in the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) is thought to become involved in later stages of the addiction process to mediate well-established cue-controlled drug seeking. However, it is unclear whether the DLS also has a role in the reinforcing properties of cocaine itself. Therefore, we systematically investigated the involvement of dopamine in dorsal and ventral striatal regions in cocaine self-administration, using various schedules of reinforcement in animals with limited drug taking experience. Intra-DLS infusion of the dopamine receptor antagonist α-flupenthixol did not affect the acquisition of cocaine self-administration, increased cocaine self-administration under a fixed ratio-1 (FR-1) schedule of reinforcement, caused a rightward and downward shift of the dose–response curve of cocaine under an FR-1 schedule of reinforcement and decreased responding for cocaine under a progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement. Infusion of α-flupenthixol into the ventral nucleus accumbens (NAcc) shell inhibited the acquisition of cocaine self-administration, reduced responding for the drug under FR-1 and PR schedules of reinforcement, and caused a downward shift of the dose–response curve of cocaine self-administration under an FR-1 schedule of reinforcement. These data show that dopamine in both the DLS and NAcc shell is involved in cocaine reinforcement. We suggest that the DLS and the NAcc shell mediate somewhat distinct facets of the reinforcing properties of cocaine, related to its rewarding and motivational aspects, respectively. PMID:21918505

A survey of the relationship between work schedule and its effect on the fatigue of rescue personnel in Isfahan with a standard method of CIS202

PubMed Central

Habibi, Ehsanollah; Soury, Shiva; Vardanjani, Hassan Rajabi; Khodarahmi, Behnam; Dehghan, Habibollah; Hosseini, Mohsen; Esmaeli, Hamid; Khademi, Abolfazl

2015-01-01

Context: Fatigue is a factor that can have negative effects on family life, social relationship and work. Work schedule is one of the affective factors on personnel's fatigue in different jobs. In this study, the work schedule and its effect on rescue personnel in Isfahan are explored. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between work schedules and fatigue among rescue personnel. Settings and Design: This study is periodical and has been conducted on 72 employees of rescue personnel in Isfahan. Materials and Methods: Random sampling was done and the primary data that was collected through fatigue assessment questionnaire after being conducted as a pilot study on 10% of samples were collected to confirm the validity of this study. Finally, the data was given to SPSS11.5 software and were analyzed by descriptive statistics and linear digression. Results: The results showed that from the statistical point of view some parts of work schedules like work hours satisfaction, resting time and work order on total fatigue are effective in linear and inverse way but the item “predictibility of work conditions” does not have a meaningful relationship with total fatigue. Furthermore, the results showed that there is a meaningful and inverse relationship with work hours, resting time and work order with mental fatigue and also the work schedule has a meaningful, linear and inverse relation with mental fatigue and total fatigue. Conclusions: By increasing the satisfaction of working hours, increasing resting time and also with an increase of work order the total fatigue of rescue personnel will decrease. PMID:27462640

The Role of Physical Activity and Feeding Schedule on the Kinetics of Inhaled and Oral Toluene in Rats

EPA Science Inventory

This manuscript provides new information regarding factors that affect the toxicokinetics of toluene, a hazardous air pollutant with acute neurotoxic activity. Toluene is a prototype compound of the class of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have similar CNS activity and k...

78 FR 26756 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-08

... in to a golf course or online when a tee-time is scheduled online. There are no forms that have been... daily business transactions difficult at the golf courses. Affected Public: Individuals or households... Collection Respondents are golf patrons who provide business to the Air Force Golf Courses. The information...

40 CFR 63.192 - Standard.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... product, as all operations collocated within a building or structure or as all affected operations at the... construction and reconstruction provisions of § 63.5(a), (b)(1), (b)(3), (d) (except the review is limited to... the intention to conduct a performance test at least 30 days before the performance test is scheduled...

36 CFR 1001.5 - Closures and public use limits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... the Presidio Trust, adversely affect the natural, aesthetic, scenic or cultural values of the area... public health and safety, protection of environmental or scenic values, protection of natural or cultural...) Establish, for all or a portion of the area administered by the Presidio Trust, a reasonable schedule of...

78 FR 79672 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-31

...The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Herring Advisory Panel to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

A Survey of Factors Influencing High School Start Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolfson, Amy R.; Carskadon, Mary A.

2005-01-01

The present study surveyed high school personnel regarding high school start times, factors influencing school start times, and decision making around school schedules. Surveys were analyzed from 345 secondary schools selected at random from the National Center for Educational Statistics database. Factors affecting reported start times included…

Evidence-Based Diagnosis: Incorporating Diagnostic Instruments into Clinical Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doss, Amanda Jensen

2005-01-01

This article is intended to serve as a practical guide for practitioners interested in incorporating evidence-based diagnosis (EBD) instruments into their clinical practices to refine the diagnostic process. Three measures are used to illustrate this process, the DISC-IV (Shaffer et al., 2000), the Schedule for Affective Disorders and…

Factors Affecting Student Choices of Instructional Methodologies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gold, Ben K.

To identify factors that caused the majority of students at Los Angeles City College to prefer the traditional lecture-discussion approach to the media approach, questionnaires were administered to students in three courses--three media and two traditional. Over 200 usable questionnaires were returned. Because of scheduling variations and other…

40 CFR 86.1229-85 - Dynamometer load determination and fuel temperature profile.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... specified driving schedule. The design of the laboratory facility should include consideration of any parameters that may affect fuel temperatures, such as solar loading, pavement heat, and relative wind... be at least 125 °F throughout the driving period. Pavement temperature shall be measured and recorded...

40 CFR 86.1229-85 - Dynamometer load determination and fuel temperature profile.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... specified driving schedule. The design of the laboratory facility should include consideration of any parameters that may affect fuel temperatures, such as solar loading, pavement heat, and relative wind... be at least 125 °F throughout the driving period. Pavement temperature shall be measured and recorded...

40 CFR 86.1229-85 - Dynamometer load determination and fuel temperature profile.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... specified driving schedule. The design of the laboratory facility should include consideration of any parameters that may affect fuel temperatures, such as solar loading, pavement heat, and relative wind... be at least 125 °F throughout the driving period. Pavement temperature shall be measured and recorded...

40 CFR 86.1229-85 - Dynamometer load determination and fuel temperature profile.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... specified driving schedule. The design of the laboratory facility should include consideration of any parameters that may affect fuel temperatures, such as solar loading, pavement heat, and relative wind... be at least 125 °F throughout the driving period. Pavement temperature shall be measured and recorded...

An Evaluation of Student Outcomes by Course Duration in Online Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Melanie; Chametzky, Barry; Burrus, Scott W.; Walters, Kelley J.

2013-01-01

To facilitate student learning and ensure financial stability, leaders in higher education institutions offering online degrees and programs are adopting flexible course schedules with shorter terms. The literature does not include many evaluations demonstrating how shorter duration terms and courses might affect student achievement. In this…

20 CFR 416.1436 - Time and place for a hearing before an administrative law judge.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME FOR THE AGED, BLIND, AND DISABLED Determinations, Administrative Review Process... the scheduled hearing because of a serious physical or mental condition, incapacitating injury, or... efficient administration of the hearing process. Factors affecting the impact of the change include, but are...

14 CFR Section 23 - Certification and Balance Sheet Elements

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... consideration received shall be reported. (2) “Other Paid-In Capital” shall include the difference between the... cross-referenced to the affected account or accounts. Schedule B-7 Airframe and Aircraft Engine... both passengers and cargo in combination. Data pertaining to aircraft engines shall be reported in...

14 CFR Section 23 - Certification and Balance Sheet Elements

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... consideration received shall be reported. (2) “Other Paid-In Capital” shall include the difference between the... cross-referenced to the affected account or accounts. Schedule B-7 Airframe and Aircraft Engine... both passengers and cargo in combination. Data pertaining to aircraft engines shall be reported in...

7 CFR 1739.19 - Reporting and oversight requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... annual basis until the Project is complete and the funds are expended by the applicant. Recipients are to... following: (1) A comparison of actual accomplishments to the objectives established for that period; (2) A... may affect the attainment of overall Project objectives, prevent the meeting of time schedules or...

Studies on the flight medical aspects of the German Lufthansa non-stop route from Frankfurt to Rio de Janeiro, part 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wegmann, H. M.; Klein, K. E.; Goeters, K. M.; Samel, A.

1982-01-01

The problem of crew size for regularly scheduled flights between Frankfurt and Rio de Janeiro is discussed. Factors affecting crew performance are examined, comparisons are drawn to regulations of other countries and crew questionnaires and tests are presented.

Future Cities Engineering: Early Engineering Interventions in the Middle Grades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCue, Camille; James, David

2008-01-01

This paper describes qualitative and quantitative research conducted with middle school students participating in a Future Cities Engineering course. Insights were sought regarding both affective and cognitive changes which transpired during the one-semester schedule of activities focused on modeling the infrastructure of a city built 150 years in…

Sleep, the Athlete, and Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walters, Peter Hudson

2002-01-01

Presents information to help athletic coaches and trainers gain a better understanding of what happens during sleep and how sleep can affect performance, outlining three practical suggestions for helping athletes improve their sleep quality (identify and obtain the amount of sleep one needs, keep a regular sleep schedule, and create an optimal…

A Three-Stage Enhanced Reactive Power and Voltage Optimization Method for High Penetration of Solar

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

Ke, Xinda; Huang, Renke; Vallem, Mallikarjuna R.

This paper presents a three-stage enhanced volt/var optimization method to stabilize voltage fluctuations in transmission networks by optimizing the usage of reactive power control devices. In contrast with existing volt/var optimization algorithms, the proposed method optimizes the voltage profiles of the system, while keeping the voltage and real power output of the generators as close to the original scheduling values as possible. This allows the method to accommodate realistic power system operation and market scenarios, in which the original generation dispatch schedule will not be affected. The proposed method was tested and validated on a modified IEEE 118-bus system withmore » photovoltaic data.« less

Comparison of affect changes during the ovulatory phase in women with and without hormonal contraceptives.

PubMed

Ocampo Rebollar, Ana; Menéndez Balaña, Francisco J; Conde Pastor, Montserrat

2017-04-01

Studies about affect changes during the menstrual cycle and the role of hormones in these changes have yielded contradictory results. Often research has focused on the pre-menstrual phase, with few studies paying specific attention to the affect changes around ovulation. In this research thirty women completed a daily questionnaire measuring the positive and negative affect during their menstrual cycle. These women were divided in two groups: hormonally-contracepting and naturally-cycling. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule was used to measure the affect. A Digital Ovulation Test was used to determine the day of ovulation in the participants not taking hormonal contraceptives by measuring the Luteinizing Hormone peak. The differences in positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) between groups were examined. The results indicate that during the ovulatory phase, PA scores are significantly higher in naturally-cycling women than hormonally-contracepting women.

Goal management tendencies predict trajectories of adjustment to lower limb amputation up to 15 months post rehabilitation discharge.

PubMed

Coffey, Laura; Gallagher, Pamela; Desmond, Deirdre; Ryall, Nicola; Wegener, Stephen T

2014-10-01

To explore patterns of change in positive affect, general adjustment to lower-limb amputation, and self-reported disability from rehabilitation admission to 15 months postdischarge, and to examine whether goal pursuit and goal adjustment tendencies predict either initial status or rates of change in these outcomes, controlling for sociodemographic and clinical covariates. Prospective cohort study with 4 time points (t1: on admission; t2: 6wk postdischarge; t3: 6mo postdischarge; t4: 15mo postdischarge). Inpatient rehabilitation. Consecutive sample (N=98) of persons aged ≥18 years with major lower-limb amputation. Not applicable. Positive affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; general adjustment subscale of the Trinity Amputation and Prosthesis Experience Scales-Revised; and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0. Positive affect decreased from t1 to t4 for the overall sample, whereas general adjustment increased. Self-reported disability scores remained stable over this period. Stronger goal pursuit tendencies were associated with greater positive affect at t1, and stronger goal adjustment tendencies were associated with more favorable initial scores on each outcome examined. With regard to rates of change, stronger goal pursuit tendencies buffered against decreases in positive affect and promoted decreases in self-reported disability over time, whereas stronger goal adjustment tendencies enhanced increases in general adjustment to lower-limb amputation. Greater use of goal pursuit and goal adjustment strategies appears to promote more favorable adjustment to lower-limb amputation over time across a range of important rehabilitation outcomes. Copyright © 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Distributed practice. The more the merrier? A randomised bronchoscopy simulation study.

PubMed

Bjerrum, Anne Sofie; Eika, Berit; Charles, Peder; Hilberg, Ole

2016-01-01

The distribution of practice affects the acquisition of skills. Distributed practice has shown to be more effective for skills acquisition than massed training. However, it remains unknown as to which is the most effective distributed practice schedule for learning bronchoscopy skills through simulation training. This study compares two distributed practice schedules: One-day distributed practice and weekly distributed practice. Twenty physicians in training were randomly assigned to one-day distributed or weekly distributed bronchoscopy simulation practice. Performance was assessed with a pre-test, a post-test after each practice session, and a 4-week retention test using previously validated simulator measures. Data were analysed with repeated measures ANOVA. No interaction was found between group and test (F(4,72) <1.68, p>0.16), except for the measure 'percent-segments-entered', and no main effect of group was found for any of the measures (F(1,72)< 0.87, p>0.36), which indicates that there was no difference between the learning curves of the one-day distributed practice schedule and the weekly distributed practice schedule. We found no difference in effectiveness of bronchoscopy skills acquisition between the one-day distributed practice and the weekly distributed practice. This finding suggests that the choice of bronchoscopy training practice may be guided by what best suits the clinical practice.

Determinants of choice for pigeons and humans on concurrent-chains schedules of reinforcement.

PubMed

Belke, T W; Pierce, W D; Powell, R A

1989-09-01

Concurrent-chains schedules of reinforcement were arranged for humans and pigeons. Responses of humans were reinforced with tokens exchangeable for money, and key pecks of 4 birds were reinforced with food. Variable-interval 30-s and 40-s schedules operated in the terminal links of the chains. Condition 1 exposed subjects to variable-interval 90-s and variable-interval 30-s initial links, respectively. Conditions 2 and 3 arranged equal initial-link schedules of 40 s or 120 s. Experimental conditions tested the descriptive adequacy of five equations: reinforcement density, delay reduction, modified delay reduction, matching and maximization. Results based on choice proportions and switch rates during the initial links showed that pigeons behaved in accord with delay-reduction models, whereas humans maximized overall rate of reinforcement. As discussed by Logue and associates in self-control research, different types of reinforcement may affect sensitivity to delay differentially. Pigeons' responses were reinforced with food, a reinforcer that is consumable upon presentation. Humans' responses were reinforced with money, a reinforcer exchanged for consumable reinforcers after it was earned. Reinforcers that are immediately consumed may generate high sensitivity to delay and behavior described as delay reduction. Reinforces with longer times to consumption may generate low sensitivity to delay and behavior that maximizes overall payoff.

The algorithm for duration acceleration of repetitive projects considering the learning effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Hongtao; Wang, Keke; Du, Yang; Wang, Liwan

2018-03-01

Repetitive project optimization problem is common in project scheduling. Repetitive Scheduling Method (RSM) has many irreplaceable advantages in the field of repetitive projects. As the same or similar work is repeated, the proficiency of workers will be correspondingly low to high, and workers will gain experience and improve the efficiency of operations. This is learning effect. Learning effect is one of the important factors affecting the optimization results in repetitive project scheduling. This paper analyzes the influence of the learning effect on the controlling path in RSM from two aspects: one is that the learning effect changes the controlling path, the other is that the learning effect doesn't change the controlling path. This paper proposes corresponding methods to accelerate duration for different types of critical activities and proposes the algorithm for duration acceleration based on the learning effect in RSM. And the paper chooses graphical method to identity activities' types and considers the impacts of the learning effect on duration. The method meets the requirement of duration while ensuring the lowest acceleration cost. A concrete bridge construction project is given to verify the effectiveness of the method. The results of this study will help project managers understand the impacts of the learning effect on repetitive projects, and use the learning effect to optimize project scheduling.

Resistance to change and frequency of response-dependent stimuli uncorrelated with reinforcement.

PubMed

Podlesnik, Christopher A; Jimenez-Gomez, Corina; Ward, Ryan D; Shahan, Timothy A

2009-09-01

Stimuli uncorrelated with reinforcement have been shown to enhance response rates and resistance to disruption; however, the effects of different rates of stimulus presentations have not been assessed. In two experiments, we assessed the effects of adding different rates of response-dependent brief stimuli uncorrelated with primary reinforcement on relative response rates and resistance to change. In both experiments, pigeons responded on variable-interval 60-s schedules of food reinforcement in two components of a multiple schedule, and brief response-dependent keylight-color changes were added to one or both components. Although relative response rates were not systematically affected in either experiment, relative resistance to presession feeding and extinction were. In Experiment 1, adding stimuli on a variable-interval schedule to one component of a multiple schedule either at a low rate (1 per min) for one group or at a high rate (4 per min) for another group similarly increased resistance to disruption in the components with added stimuli. When high and low rates of stimuli were presented across components (i.e., within subjects) in Experiment 2, however, relative resistance to disruption was greater in the component presenting stimuli at a lower rate. These results suggest that stimuli uncorrelated with food reinforcement do not strengthen responding in the same way as primary reinforcers.

Segmentation along the Queen Charlotte Fault: The long-lived influence of plate-motion rotation and Explorer Ridge fracture zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, N. C.; Walton, M. A. L.; Brothers, D. S.; Haeussler, P. J.; Ten Brink, U. S.; Conrad, J. E.; Kluesner, J.; Andrews, B. D.

2017-12-01

The Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF) generally tracks the flow line for Pacific/North America (Pa/NA) relative motion since 20 Ma, indicating that the plate boundary localized along an optimally oriented small circle geometry. Rotation in Pa/NA motion at 10—12 Ma caused the QCF south of 53 N to be oblique to plate motion by 10—20. This oblique convergence appears to be accommodated in part by underthrusting of the Pacific Plate beneath Haida Gwaii and in part by slip on faults west of the QCF. On the west side of the QCF, a series of ridges and small basins oriented subparallel to either the QCF or relative plate motion form a 40-km-wide terrace. New high-resolution seismic reflection data image the seaward edge of the ridges as a vertical contact between horizontal or sometimes downwarped deep-sea sediments and west-vergent anticlinal structures within the ridges, supporting earlier interpretations that these ridges have accommodated some component of oblique motion. We argue that the ridges originated as step overs from fracture zones on Explorer Ridge, analogous to the current fault geometry at the southernmost end of the QCF. There, the Revere-Dellwood Fracture Zone (RDFZ) overlaps the QCF for 120 km and connects to the QCF via a more-optimally oriented extensional right step. 3.9—6.4 Mw strike-slip earthquakes along the RDFZ and a lack of contractional seafloor morphologies along the QCF south of the RDFZ-QCF right step suggest that the step over and reactivation along the RDFZ accommodates a majority of plate motion in this region. Kinematic reconstruction of ridges from 54—56 N indicates that they also originated in a similar location, potentially as right steps from either the RDFZ or Sovanco Fracture Zone. Similarly, the RDFZ flow path is coincident with a truncation of seafloor magnetic anomalies and the outer edge of the ridge-bounded terrace, which both parallel the QCF since at least the onset of Explorer Ridge spreading at 8 Ma. The RDFZ-QCF right step marks the southern extent of rupture during the 2012 Mw 7.8 and 1949 M 8.1 Haida Gwaii earthquakes, suggesting that it forms a rupture barrier. Between 54—56 N, ridge-QCF intersections mark other major rupture boundaries, and, in some places, are associated with small pull-apart basins, suggesting that relic step overs continue to control segmentation along the QCF.

Cross-Sectional Examination of Patient and Therapist Factors Affecting Participation in Physical Therapy in Acute Care Hospital Settings.

PubMed

Young, Daniel L; Moonie, Sheniz; Bungum, Tim

2017-01-01

Research has demonstrated benefits of early and continued physical therapy for patients in acute care hospitals. Despite known benefits, scheduled sessions do not always result in treatment. Reported percentages for nontreatment are 15% to 25%. Understanding when and why nontreatment occurs is fundamental to future interventions to reduce it and provide patients with needed services. The study objective was to describe nontreatment and the extent to which attributes of the patient, physical therapist, and environment affect its occurrence at a suburban community hospital. This was a cross-sectional study. Medical records for 1,252 patients who were scheduled for 6,246 physical therapy sessions were reviewed. Therapist demographics were collected via a questionnaire. Therapist sexes were equally represented, and most therapists were nonwhite and worked full time at the hospital. The nontreatment percentage for individual therapists ranged from 5.4% to 23.2%. This percentage was 1.3% for the first scheduled session but nearly 20% for the remaining sessions. In more than 30% of nontreatment events, the specific therapist attempting treatment was not identified. Patients were much less likely to experience nontreatment if they were scheduled for therapy on a Tuesday or if they were in the hospital for a musculoskeletal condition. Sunday had a particularly high percentage of nontreatment. The participants were recruited from a single hospital. The specific therapist associated with nontreatment events was not always known. Hospital and rehabilitation department policies and culture for weekend therapy staffing should be evaluated in light of the high percentage of nontreatment on Sunday. The impact of patient diagnosis on nontreatment must be evaluated further and may reflect hospital culture. Future research efforts should be designed to obtain data on the assigned therapist for all instances of nontreatment. © 2017 American Physical Therapy Association

Positive affect and sleep in spousal Alzheimer caregivers: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

von Känel, Roland; Mausbach, Brent T; Ancoli-Israel, Sonia; Mills, Paul J; Dimsdale, Joel E; Patterson, Thomas L; Grant, Igor

2014-09-03

This article examines the longitudinal relation between positive affect (PA) and sleep in 126 spousal Alzheimer's disease caregivers. Caregivers underwent 4 yearly assessments for the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the self-rated Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and actigraphy to objectify nighttime total sleep time, wake after sleep onset, and percentage of sleep. Increased levels of PA and a greater positivity (i.e., positive-to-negative affect) ratio were significantly associated with better subjective sleep over the entire study period. Yearly increases in PA-even when controlling for negative affect (NA)-and in the positivity ratio were also associated with better subjective sleep. PA and actigraphy measures showed no significant relations. Increased PA is longitudinally associated with better sleep in dementia caregivers largely independent of NA.

Development of an Observational Rating Schedule for Preschool Children's Peer-Group Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cunningham, Jo Lynn; Boger, Robert P.

The feasiblity of an observational rating scale which would provide objective, reliable and quantifiable measures of social and affective behavior was investigated. The Observation of Socialization Behavior (OSB), focusing on peer-group behavior of pre-school children and designed for use in unstructured situations was developed. Two forms of the…

78 FR 48674 - Announcement of the IRIS Public Meeting Schedule for Calendar Years 2013 and 2014; Announcement...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-09

...; methodological considerations that could affect the interpretation of or confidence in study results; and... summarizing key characteristics and findings from critical studies that EPA proposes to consider in..., screening studies for consideration, and selecting studies to include in evidence tables, are responsive to...

77 FR 37349 - Amendment of Prohibited Payment Option Under Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plan of Plan Sponsor...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-21

... schedule, timing, commencement, medium of distribution (for example, in cash or in kind), election rights... the plan if certain specified conditions are satisfied. These proposed regulations would affect... under a single life annuity (plus any social security supplements described in the last sentence of...

Psychiatric Adjustment in the Year after Meningococcal Disease in Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shears, Daniel; Nadel, Simon; Gledhill, Julia; Gordon, Fabiana; Garralda, M. Elena

2007-01-01

Objective: To assess psychiatric status after meningococcal disease. Method: Cohort study of 66 children (34 boys, 32 girls) ages 4 to 17 years admitted to pediatric hospitals with meningococcal disease. The main outcome measure was psychiatric disorder (1-year period and point prevalence on the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia…

7 CFR 273.16 - Disqualification for intentional Program violation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... has been scheduled. If mailed, the notice shall be sent either first class mail or certified mail... sent using first class mail and is returned as undeliverable, the hearing may still be held. (ii) If no... free legal representation, the notice shall advise the affected individual of the availability of the...

7 CFR 273.16 - Disqualification for intentional Program violation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... has been scheduled. If mailed, the notice shall be sent either first class mail or certified mail... sent using first class mail and is returned as undeliverable, the hearing may still be held. (ii) If no... free legal representation, the notice shall advise the affected individual of the availability of the...

3 CFR - Advancing Pay Equality in the Federal Government and Learning From Successful Practices

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... agencies (agencies) affect the compensation of similarly situated men and women, and to promote gender pay... address any gender pay gap in the Federal workforce. This strategy shall include: (a) analysis of whether changes to the General Schedule classification system would assist in addressing any gender pay gap; (b...

Effects of within-Class Differences in Sample Responding on Acquired Sample Equivalence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Urcuioli, Peter J.; Vasconcelos, Maarco

2008-01-01

Two experiments examined whether acquired sample equivalence in many-to-one matching was affected by variation in sample-response requirements. In each experiment, pigeons responded on either identical or different response schedules to the sample stimuli that occasioned the same reinforced comparison choice (i.e., to the within-class samples).…

37 CFR 203.6 - Schedule of fees and methods of payment for services rendered.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: POLICIES AND... chapter, or have been established by the Register of Copyrights or Library of Congress pursuant to the... for time spent in resolving legal or policy issues affecting access to Office records. No charge will...

Impact of feed delivery pattern on aerial particulate matter and behavior of feedlot cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Fine particulate matter (PM) generated by cattle in feedlots is an environmental pollutant and a potential human and animal health issue. The objective of this study was to determine if a feeding schedule affects cattle behaviors that promote PM in a commercial feedlot. The study used 2,813 crossbre...

Curriculum Change Management and Workload

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alkahtani, Aishah

2017-01-01

This study examines the ways in which Saudi teachers have responded or are responding to the challenges posed by a new curriculum. It also deals with issues relating to workload demands which affect teachers' performance when they apply a new curriculum in a Saudi Arabian secondary school. In addition, problems such as scheduling and sharing space…

Psychopathology in Williams Syndrome: The Effect of Individual Differences across the Life Span

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dodd, Helen F.; Porter, Melanie A.

2009-01-01

This research aimed to comprehensively explore psychopathology in Williams syndrome (WS) across the life span and evaluate the relationship between psychopathology and age category (child or adult), gender, and cognitive ability. The parents of 50 participants with WS, ages 6-50 years, were interviewed using the Schedule for Affective Disorders…

Intensive Education: How It Affects Teachers' and Students' Work Conditions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fallon, Karin

This qualitative study of a high school using intensive education shows how teaching and learning were improved when teachers taught and students attended one class daily for 6 weeks. Intensive education is an alternative scheduling and organizational format that reduces class size and extends class length by having teachers and students in one…

18 CFR 1302.7 - Compliance reviews and conduct of investigations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... to take necessary specified steps within a stated period of time to come into compliance with Title... affected by the review; (iii) The opportunity to make, at any time prior to receipt of the final TVA... schedule under which the review will be conducted and a determination of compliance or noncompliance made...

Affectionate Writing Reduces Total Cholesterol: Two Randomized, Controlled Trials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Floyd, Kory; Mikkelson, Alan C.; Hesse, Colin; Pauley, Perry M.

2007-01-01

In two 5-week trials, healthy college students were randomly assigned either to experimental or control groups. Participants in the experimental groups wrote about their affection for significant friends, relatives, and/or romantic partners for 20 minutes on three separate occasions; on the same schedule, those in the control groups wrote about…

75 FR 78681 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-16

...The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Skate Committee in January, 2011 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

77 FR 17459 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-26

...The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Whiting Oversight Committee on April 17, 2012 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

Kids and Sleep: How a Lack of ZZZ's Can Affect Those A's and B's.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engelhardt, Christin L.; Walsh, James K.

1993-01-01

Sleepy students may not reach their full potential. Most sleepiness results from sleep disorders, circadian factors, or schedules with too little sleep. Consequences of sleepiness include decreased performance, worsened mood, and potential for danger. Parents and professionals must understand the need for sleep and help students obtain enough…

Hip-Hop Viewed through the Prisms of Race and Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hikes, Zenobia L.

2004-01-01

As the nation's premier historically Black college for women, the Spelman community prides itself on addressing issues of race and gender through critical thinking and meaningful dialogue--asking questions and seeking answers to the nuances of history and popular culture that relate to and affect Black women. The scheduled visit to the Spelman…

40 CFR 62.14575 - What must I do if I close my CISWI unit and then restart it?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... FACILITIES AND POLLUTANTS Federal Plan Requirements for Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units That Commenced Construction On or Before November 30, 1999 Compliance Schedule and Increments of... retrofit construction of control devices so that when the affected CISWI unit is brought online, all...

Factors Affecting Turnover Intention for New Graduate Nurses in Three Transition Periods for Job and Work Environment Satisfaction.

PubMed

Yu, Mi; Kang, Kyung Ja

2016-03-01

The turnover rate of new graduate nurses in Korea is twice that of all Korean nurses; job/work environment satisfaction is a known risk factor. The authors examined these factors in new graduate nurses at various transition periods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using stratified sampling from nine regions of Korea, and 443 new graduate nurses were enrolled. Job/work environment satisfaction and turnover intention were measured. Stepwise multiple regression analysis identified the factors affecting turnover intention. The factors differed through the transition periods. At 0 to 6 months, the factors were work schedule, desired hospital, orientation duration, becoming part of a team, professional development, and practical support; at 7 to 12 months, the factors were work schedule and desired hospital; and at 13 to 18 months, the factor was professional development, which accounted for 31%, 22.9%, and 12.6%, respectively, of the reasons for turnover intention. Reducing turnover intention requires consideration of the influential factors at each transition period. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

KSC-2011-1117

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-01-12

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians prepare to transfer NASA's Glory spacecraft to a processing dolly. Next, technicians will take off Glory's protective covering before it is encapsulated in a protective payload fairing for flight. In early February, Glory is scheduled to be transported Space Launch Complex 576-E where it will be joined with the Taurus XL rocket, which is manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corp. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Ed Henry, VAFB

KSC-2011-1114

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-01-12

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians prepare to remove the shipping container surrounding NASA's Glory spacecraft. Next, technicians will take off Glory's protective covering before it is encapsulated in a protective payload fairing for flight. In early February, Glory is scheduled to be transported Space Launch Complex 576-E where it will be joined with the Taurus XL rocket, which is manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corp. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Ed Henry, VAFB

KSC-2011-1118

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-01-12

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Glory spacecraft is transferring to a processing dolly. Next, technicians will take off Glory's protective covering before it is encapsulated in a protective payload fairing for flight. In early February, Glory is scheduled to be transported Space Launch Complex 576-E where it will be joined with the Taurus XL rocket, which is manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corp. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Ed Henry, VAFB

KSC-2011-1113

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-01-12

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the shipping container surrounding NASA's Glory spacecraft is ready for removal. Next, technicians will take off Glory's protective covering before it is encapsulated in a protective payload fairing for flight. In early February, Glory is scheduled to be transported Space Launch Complex 576-E where it will be joined with the Taurus XL rocket, which is manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corp. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Ed Henry, VAFB

KSC-2011-1115

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-01-12

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians remove the shipping container surrounding NASA's Glory spacecraft. Next, technicians will take off Glory's protective covering before it is encapsulated in a protective payload fairing for flight. In early February, Glory is scheduled to be transported Space Launch Complex 576-E where it will be joined with the Taurus XL rocket, which is manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corp. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Ed Henry, VAFB

KSC-2011-1119

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-01-12

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Glory spacecraft is situated on a dolly and ready for processing. Next, technicians will take off Glory's protective covering before it is encapsulated in a protective payload fairing for flight. In early February, Glory is scheduled to be transported Space Launch Complex 576-E where it will be joined with the Taurus XL rocket, which is manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corp. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Ed Henry, VAFB

KSC-2011-1116

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-01-12

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians remove the shipping container surrounding NASA's Glory spacecraft. Next, technicians will take off Glory's protective covering before it is encapsulated in a protective payload fairing for flight. In early February, Glory is scheduled to be transported Space Launch Complex 576-E where it will be joined with the Taurus XL rocket, which is manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corp. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Ed Henry, VAFB

A technique for lowering risks during contract negotiations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lehman, D. H.

1986-01-01

In this day and age of sophisticated weapon and space system procurements, negotiations of the statement of work, technical requirements, and schedule may be as protracted as the negotiation of costs and profit. A major problem facing the program manager during contract negotiations is what affect changes in schedule, technical requirements, and contract terms have on the price. In many instances, after the statement of work has been redrafted, the contractor will be obliged to reprice the work, either on the spot or after a short recess in the negotiations. In this paper, a method for organizing the negotiation process is presented to reduce the risks incurred by the seller. The method is built upon regression analysis and two illustrative examples of its use are provided.

Medicare program; delay in implementing the adjustments to the practice expense relative value units under the physician fee schedule for calendar year 1998--HCFA. Notice of intent to regulate.

PubMed

1997-10-31

This notice identifies provisions in the Medicare physician fee schedule regulations that are affected by enactment of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA 1997). Section 4505 of the BBA 1997 postpones implementation of a resource-based practice expense relative value unit system until January 1, 1999 and provides for a 4-year transition. In addition, it provides for an adjustment for practice expense relative value units for 1998. It also requires publication of a new proposed rule for practice expense by May 1, 1998, thus requiring significant revision of our proposal contained in the proposed rule published June 18, 1997 (62 FR 33158).

Sex-dependent effects of periadolescent exposure to the cannabinoid agonist CP-55,940 on morphine self-administration behaviour and the endogenous opioid system.

PubMed

Biscaia, Miguel; Fernández, Beatriz; Higuera-Matas, Alejandro; Miguéns, Miguel; Viveros, Maria-Paz; García-Lecumberri, Carmen; Ambrosio, Emilio

2008-04-01

Early cannabinoid consumption may predispose individuals to the misuse of addictive drugs later in life. However, there is a lack of experimental evidence as to whether cannabinoid exposure during adolescence might differently affect opiate reinforcing efficacy and the opioid system in adults of both sexes. Our aim was to examine whether periadolescent chronic exposure to the cannabinoid agonist CP-55,940 could exert sex-dependent effects on morphine reinforcing and the opioid system in adulthood. Morphine reinforcing was studied under a progressive ratio (PR) reinforcement schedule in adult male and female rats that previously acquired morphine self-administration under a fixed ratio 1 (FR1) schedule. Binding levels and functionality of mu-opioid receptors were also evaluated. Periadolescent cannabinoid exposure altered morphine self-administration and the opioid system in adult rats in a sex-dependent manner. CP-55,940-exposed males exhibited higher self-administration rates under a FR1, but not under a PR schedule. In females, CP-55,940 did not modify morphine self-administration under either schedule. Moreover, CP-55,940 also increased mu-opioid receptor levels in the subcallosal streak of pre-treated animals and decreased mu-opioid receptor functionality in the nucleus accumbens shell but again, only in males. Our data indicate that adult male rats exposed to the cannabinoid in adolescence self-administer more morphine than females, but only when the demands required by the schedule of reinforcement are low, which might be related to the decrease in mu-opioid receptor functionality in the NAcc-shell observed in these animals.

Evolution of resistance to anti-cancer therapy during general dosing schedules

PubMed Central

Foo, Jasmine; Michor, Franziska

2009-01-01

Anti-cancer drugs targeted to specific oncogenic pathways have shown promising therapeutic results in the past few years; however, drug resistance remains an important obstacle for these therapies. Resistance to these drugs can emerge due to a variety of reasons including genetic or epigenetic changes which alter the binding site of the drug target, cellular metabolism or export mechanisms. Obtaining a better understanding of the evolution of resistant populations during therapy may enable the design of more effective therapeutic regimens which prevent or delay progression of disease due to resistance. In this paper, we use stochastic mathematical models to study the evolutionary dynamics of resistance under time-varying dosing schedules and pharmacokinetic effects. The populations of sensitive and resistant cells are modeled as multi-type non-homogeneous birth-death processes in which the drug concentration affects the birth and death rates of both the sensitive and resistant cell populations in continuous time. This flexible model allows us to consider the effects of generalized treatment strategies as well as detailed pharmacokinetic phenomena such as drug elimination and accumulation over multiple doses. We develop estimates for the probability of developing resistance and moments of the size of the resistant cell population. With these estimates, we optimize treatment schedules over a subspace of tolerated schedules to minimize the risk of disease progression due to resistance as well as locate ideal schedules for controlling the population size of resistant clones in situations where resistance is inevitable. Our methodology can be used to describe dynamics of resistance arising due to a single (epi)genetic alteration in any tumor type. PMID:20004211

Self-administration of nicotine and cigarette smoke extract in adolescent and adult rats.

PubMed

Gellner, Candice A; Belluzzi, James D; Leslie, Frances M

2016-10-01

Although smoking initiation typically occurs during adolescence, most preclinical studies of tobacco use involve adult animals. Furthermore, their focus is largely on nicotine alone, even though cigarette smoke contains thousands of constituents. The present study therefore aimed to determine whether aqueous constituents in cigarette smoke affect acquisition of nicotine self-administration during adolescence in rats. Adolescent and adult male rats, aged postnatal day (P) 25 and 85, respectively, were food trained on a fixed ratio 1 (FR1) schedule, then allowed to self-administer one of 5 doses of nicotine (0, 3.75, 7.5, 15, or 30 μg/kg) or aqueous cigarette smoke extract (CSE) with equivalent nicotine content. Three progressively more difficult schedules of reinforcement, FR1, FR2, and FR5, were used. Both adolescent and adult rats acquired self-administration of nicotine and CSE. Nicotine and CSE similarly increased non-reinforced responding in adolescents, leading to enhanced overall drug intake as compared to adults. When data were corrected for age-dependent alterations in non-reinforced responding, adolescents responded more for low doses of nicotine and CSE than adults at the FR1 reinforcement schedule. No differences in adolescent responding for the two drugs were seen at this schedule, whereas adults had fewer responses for CSE than for nicotine. However, when the reinforcement schedule was increased to FR5, animals dose-dependently self-administered both nicotine and CSE, but no drug or age differences were observed. These data suggest that non-nicotine tobacco smoke constituents do not influence the reinforcing effect of nicotine in adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Multi-core processing and scheduling performance in CMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernández, J. M.; Evans, D.; Foulkes, S.

2012-12-01

Commodity hardware is going many-core. We might soon not be able to satisfy the job memory needs per core in the current single-core processing model in High Energy Physics. In addition, an ever increasing number of independent and incoherent jobs running on the same physical hardware not sharing resources might significantly affect processing performance. It will be essential to effectively utilize the multi-core architecture. CMS has incorporated support for multi-core processing in the event processing framework and the workload management system. Multi-core processing jobs share common data in memory, such us the code libraries, detector geometry and conditions data, resulting in a much lower memory usage than standard single-core independent jobs. Exploiting this new processing model requires a new model in computing resource allocation, departing from the standard single-core allocation for a job. The experiment job management system needs to have control over a larger quantum of resource since multi-core aware jobs require the scheduling of multiples cores simultaneously. CMS is exploring the approach of using whole nodes as unit in the workload management system where all cores of a node are allocated to a multi-core job. Whole-node scheduling allows for optimization of the data/workflow management (e.g. I/O caching, local merging) but efficient utilization of all scheduled cores is challenging. Dedicated whole-node queues have been setup at all Tier-1 centers for exploring multi-core processing workflows in CMS. We present the evaluation of the performance scheduling and executing multi-core workflows in whole-node queues compared to the standard single-core processing workflows.

Impact of Feed Delivery Pattern on Aerial Particulate Matter and Behavior of Feedlot Cattle.

PubMed

Mitloehner, Frank M; Dailey, Jeff W; Morrow, Julie L; McGlone, John J

2017-03-01

Fine particulate matter with less than 2.5 microns diameter (PM 2.5 ) generated by cattle in feedlots is an environmental pollutant and a potential human and animal health issue. The objective of this study was to determine if a feeding schedule affects cattle behaviors that promote PM 2.5 in a commercial feedlot. The study used 2813 crossbred steers housed in 14 adjacent pens at a large-scale commercial West Texas feedlot. Treatments were conventional feeding at 0700, 1000, and 1200 (CON) or feeding at 0700, 1000, and 1830 (ALT), the latter feeding time coincided with dusk. A mobile behavior lab was used to quantify behaviors of steers that were associated with generation of PM 2.5 (e.g., fighting, mounting of peers, and increased locomotion). PM 2.5 samplers measured respirable particles with a mass median diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) every 15 min over a period of 7 d in April and May. Simultaneously, the ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, precipitation, air pressure, and solar radiation were measured with a weather station. Elevated downwind PM 2.5 concentrations were measured at dusk, when cattle that were fed according to the ALT vs. the CON feeding schedule, demonstrated less PM 2.5 -generating behaviors ( p < 0.05). At dusk, steers on ALT vs. CON feeding schedules ate or were waiting to eat (standing in second row behind feeding cattle) at much greater rates ( p < 0.05). Upwind PM 2.5 concentrations were similar between the treatments. Downwind PM 2.5 concentrations averaged over 24 h were lower from ALT compared with CON pens (0.072 vs. 0.115 mg/m³, p < 0.01). However, dry matter intake (DMI) was less ( p < 0.05), and average daily gain (ADG) tended to be less ( p < 0.1) in cattle that were fed according to the ALT vs. the CON feeding schedules, whereas feed efficiency (aka gain to feed, G:F) was not affected. Although ALT feeding may pose a challenge in feed delivery and labor scheduling, cattle exhibited fewer PM 2.5 -generating behaviors and reduced generation of PM 2.5 when feed delivery times matched the natural desires of cattle to eat in a crepuscular pattern.

[Effect of low-intensity 900 MHz frequency electromagnetic radiation on rat liver and blood serum enzyme activities].

PubMed

Nersesova, L S; Petrosian, M S; Gazariants, M G; Mkrtchian, Z S; Meliksetian, G O; Pogosian, L G; Akopian, Zh I

2014-01-01

The comparative analysis of the rat liver and blood serum creatine kinase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and purine nucleoside phosphorylase post-radiation activity levels after a total two-hour long single and fractional exposure of the animals to low-intensity 900 MHz frequency electromagnetic field showed that the most sensitive enzymes to the both schedules of radiation are the liver creatine kinase, as well as the blood serum creatine kinase and alkaline phosphatase. According to the comparative analysis of the dynamics of changes in the activity level of the liver and blood serum creatine kinase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and purine nucleoside phosphorylase, both single and fractional radiation schedules do not affect the permeability of a hepatocyte cell membrane, but rather cause changes in their energetic metabolism. The correlation analysis of the post-radiation activity level changes of the investigated enzymes did not reveal a clear relationship between them. The dynamics of post-radiation changes in the activity of investigated enzyme levels following a single and short-term fractional schedules of radiation did not differ essentially.

Vehicle Scheduling Schemes for Commercial and Emergency Logistics Integration

PubMed Central

Li, Xiaohui; Tan, Qingmei

2013-01-01

In modern logistics operations, large-scale logistics companies, besides active participation in profit-seeking commercial business, also play an essential role during an emergency relief process by dispatching urgently-required materials to disaster-affected areas. Therefore, an issue has been widely addressed by logistics practitioners and caught researchers' more attention as to how the logistics companies achieve maximum commercial profit on condition that emergency tasks are effectively and performed satisfactorily. In this paper, two vehicle scheduling models are proposed to solve the problem. One is a prediction-related scheme, which predicts the amounts of disaster-relief materials and commercial business and then accepts the business that will generate maximum profits; the other is a priority-directed scheme, which, firstly groups commercial and emergency business according to priority grades and then schedules both types of business jointly and simultaneously by arriving at the maximum priority in total. Moreover, computer-based simulations are carried out to evaluate the performance of these two models by comparing them with two traditional disaster-relief tactics in China. The results testify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed models. PMID:24391724

Vehicle scheduling schemes for commercial and emergency logistics integration.

PubMed

Li, Xiaohui; Tan, Qingmei

2013-01-01

In modern logistics operations, large-scale logistics companies, besides active participation in profit-seeking commercial business, also play an essential role during an emergency relief process by dispatching urgently-required materials to disaster-affected areas. Therefore, an issue has been widely addressed by logistics practitioners and caught researchers' more attention as to how the logistics companies achieve maximum commercial profit on condition that emergency tasks are effectively and performed satisfactorily. In this paper, two vehicle scheduling models are proposed to solve the problem. One is a prediction-related scheme, which predicts the amounts of disaster-relief materials and commercial business and then accepts the business that will generate maximum profits; the other is a priority-directed scheme, which, firstly groups commercial and emergency business according to priority grades and then schedules both types of business jointly and simultaneously by arriving at the maximum priority in total. Moreover, computer-based simulations are carried out to evaluate the performance of these two models by comparing them with two traditional disaster-relief tactics in China. The results testify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed models.

Reducing elective general surgery cancellations at a Canadian hospital

PubMed Central

Azari-Rad, Solmaz; Yontef, Alanna L.; Aleman, Dionne M.; Urbach, David R.

2013-01-01

Background In Canadian hospitals, which are typically financed by global annual budgets, overuse of operating rooms is a financial risk that is frequently managed by cancelling elective surgical procedures. It is uncertain how different scheduling rules affect the rate of elective surgery cancellations. Methods We used discrete event simulation modelling to represent perioperative processes at a hospital in Toronto, Canada. We tested the effects of the following 3 scenarios on the number of surgical cancellations: scheduling surgeons’ operating days based on their patients’ average length of stay in hospital, sequencing surgical procedures by average duration and variance, and increasing the number of post-surgical ward beds. Results The number of elective cancellations was reduced by scheduling surgeons whose patients had shorter average lengths of stay in hospital earlier in the week, sequencing shorter surgeries and those with less variance in duration earlier in the day, and by adding up to 2 additional beds to the postsurgical ward. Conclusion Discrete event simulation modelling can be used to develop strategies for improving efficiency in operating rooms. PMID:23351498

75 FR 15353 - Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Model A330-200 and -300 Series Airplanes, and A340-200, -300...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-29

... all applicable corrective actions (replacing damaged parts). This supplemental NPRM would also require... of time that corresponds to the normal scheduled maintenance for most affected operators. In light of... ``before further flight'' for doing the corrective actions specified in paragraphs (f)(1)(i), (f)(1)(ii...

Project Helps High-Schoolers Shore up on Shut-Eye

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brydolf, Carol

2011-01-01

It's not news to most parents of adolescents that teenagers' sleep cycles operate in an alternate universe. A growing body of research shows that American teenagers are so at odds with conventional work and school schedules that they suffer from sleep deficits serious enough to affect their moods, health, and academic performance. Yet the vast…

Self-Regulation and Inhibition in Comorbid ADHD Children: An Evaluation of Executive Functions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sarkis, Stephanie Moulton; Sarkis, Elias H.; Marshall, David; Archer, James

2005-01-01

The relationship between executive function and comorbid diagnoses in ADHD children is examined. One hundred six children between 7 and 15 years of age are assessed using the Tower of London (TOL), a test of executive function, and the Kiddie Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Present and Lifetime Version, a diagnostic interview.…

Repeated Cocaine Experience Facilitates Sucrose-Reinforced Operant Responding in Enriched and Isolated Rats

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Emily D.; Gehrke, Brenda J.; Green, Thomas A.; Zentall, Thomas R.; Bardo, Michael T.

2007-01-01

The purpose of the present experiment was to determine whether repeated cocaine exposure differentially affects sucrose-reinforced operant responding in rats raised in an enriched condition (EC) or an isolated condition (IC). Specifically, the performance of EC and IC rats pressing a lever for sucrose under a high fixed-ratio schedule (FR 30)…

The Effects of Session Length on Demand Functions Generated Using FR Schedules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, T. Mary; Kinloch, Jennifer; Poling, Alan

2011-01-01

In comparing open and closed economies, researchers often arrange shorter sessions under the former condition than under the latter. Several studies indicate that session length per se can affect performance and there are some data that indicate that this variable can influence demand functions. To provide further data, the present study exposed…

A Study of Career Development, Learning Motivation, and Learning Satisfaction of Adult Learners in Unconventional Scheduling Graduate Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chu, Hui-Chin; Hsieh, Mei-Chi; Chang, Shan-Chih

2007-01-01

The study aimed at investigating the relationships among career development, learning motivation, and learning satisfaction of adult learners in master's programs at S University. Questionnaires were distributed with 211 valid returns (71%). The results indicated that some of the demographics are factors affecting both of the learners' learning…

Communication and Trust: Change at the Onset of Appointment to the Superintendency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zepeda, Sally J.; Mayers, R. Stewart

2013-01-01

In this case, a new superintendent has communicated what he perceives as a needed change affecting students and teachers on several campuses and a seemingly short timeline for making the decision to move off a block schedule. The abrupt nature of the announcement, combined with the circumstances surrounding the superintendent's recent hiring has…

78 FR 45969 - Trade Barriers That U.S. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Perceive as Affecting Exports to the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-30

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 332-541] Trade Barriers That U.S. Small and... Investigation and Scheduling of Hearing AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission. ACTION... 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1332(g)), the U.S. International Trade Commission...

PROPOSED CURRICULUM PROGRAM FOR TEXAS MIGRATORY CHILDREN.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas Education Agency, Austin.

INTENSIVE THOUGHT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE PROBLEM OF EDUCATING CHILDREN OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN TEXAS. A SURVEY WAS MADE TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF MIGRANT CHILDREN, GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS AFFECTED AND PATTERNS OF MIGRATION. A 6 MONTH SCHOOL SCHEDULE WAS EVOLVED, OFFERING 1,050 HOURS OF INSTRUCTION, 8 HOURS A DAY FOR APPROXIMATELY 27 WEEKS FROM DECEMBER…

The 4-Day School Week. The Informed Educator Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donis-Keller, Christine

2010-01-01

This "Informed Educator" examines the use of a 4-day school week as a way to reduce expenses while using limited resources most effectively. Discussion focuses on various models of 4-day week schedules, what to do during the fifth day, and how 4-day school weeks affect extracurricular activities. Detailed discussion of financial savings, student…

Variation in Teacher Salaries in Georgia: Does the Property Tax Base Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winters, John V.

2009-01-01

There is a great deal of variation in teacher salaries across school districts. This is important because districts that pay low salaries are likely to have greater trouble recruiting and retaining quality teachers. Regression analysis reveals that local supplements--payments exceeding the state minimum salary schedule--are affected by a number of…

Evaluation of Visual Arts Lesson Gains According to the Learning Steps of Cognitive, Affective Psychomotor Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tataroglu, Eylem

2012-01-01

Primary education (1-8 Grades) Visual Arts Instruction Schedule is a program built up and constituted by a commission composed of academicians and specialist teachers in their fields within the body of Ministry of National Education in year 2006 on the basis of "constructivist approach" philosophy of education. Instruction Schedule…

Complex Psychiatric Comorbidity of Treatment-Seeking Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Anxiety Symptoms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hepburn, Susan L.; Stern, Jessica A.; Blakeley-Smith, Audrey; Kimel, Lila K.; Reaven, Judith A.

2014-01-01

This descriptive study examines the complexity of psychiatric comorbidity in treatment-seeking youth with ASD and anxiety symptoms. Forty-two parents of youth with ASD and anxiety (ages 8-14) completed a structured diagnostic interview (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version). Youth…

40 CFR 86.129-94 - Road load power, test weight, inertia weight class determination, and fuel temperature profile.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... specified driving schedule. The design of the laboratory facility should include consideration of any parameters that may affect fuel temperatures, such as solar loading, pavement heat, and relative wind... be at least 125 °F throughout the driving period. Pavement temperature shall be measured and recorded...

40 CFR 86.129-94 - Road load power, test weight, inertia weight class determination, and fuel temperature profile.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... specified driving schedule. The design of the laboratory facility should include consideration of any parameters that may affect fuel temperatures, such as solar loading, pavement heat, and relative wind... be at least 125 °F throughout the driving period. Pavement temperature shall be measured and recorded...

40 CFR 86.129-94 - Road load power, test weight, inertia weight class determination, and fuel temperature profile.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... specified driving schedule. The design of the laboratory facility should include consideration of any parameters that may affect fuel temperatures, such as solar loading, pavement heat, and relative wind... be at least 125 °F throughout the driving period. Pavement temperature shall be measured and recorded...

40 CFR 86.129-94 - Road load power, test weight, inertia weight class determination, and fuel temperature profile.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... specified driving schedule. The design of the laboratory facility should include consideration of any parameters that may affect fuel temperatures, such as solar loading, pavement heat, and relative wind... be at least 125 °F throughout the driving period. Pavement temperature shall be measured and recorded...

40 CFR 86.129-94 - Road load power, test weight, inertia weight class determination, and fuel temperature profile.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... specified driving schedule. The design of the laboratory facility should include consideration of any parameters that may affect fuel temperatures, such as solar loading, pavement heat, and relative wind... be at least 125 °F throughout the driving period. Pavement temperature shall be measured and recorded...

A Closer Look: The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balmer, Mary

2013-01-01

School districts may be affected by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 with regard to fixed assets management and education entities. The act avoids the scheduled increases to individual income tax rates for most Americans and extends a host of expired and expiring tax provisions for both individuals and businesses. The provisions described…

Validation of the Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes (ChIPS) with Psychiatrically Hospitalized Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swenson, Lance P.; Esposito-Smythers, Christianne; Hunt, Jeffrey I.; Hollander, Beth L. G.; Dyl, Jennifer; Rizzo, Christie J.; Steinley, Douglas L.; Spirito, Anthony

2007-01-01

A study was conducted to examine the concurrent validity of the Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes (ChIPS) for adolescent inpatients aged 12 to 18. The results reveal moderate agreement between ChIPS diagnoses and Schedule for Affective Disorder sand Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version diagnoses.

Interactive Learning with Java Applets: Using Interactive, Web-Based Java Applets to Present Science in a Concrete, Meaningful Manner

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corder, Greg

2005-01-01

Science teachers face challenges that affect the quality of instruction. Tight budgets, limited resources, school schedules, and other obstacles limit students' opportunities to experience science that is visual and interactive. Incorporating web-based Java applets into science instruction offers a practical solution to these challenges. The…

78 FR 78823 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-27

...The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a joint public meeting of its Skate Oversight Committee and Skate Advisory Panel on January 15, 2014 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

5 CFR 530.304 - Establishing or increasing special rates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... otherwise payable to a category of employees in one or more areas or locations, grades or levels... made in one or more of the remaining rates of the affected grade or level. For any given grade, a.... A special rate may not exceed the rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule. (b) The circumstances...

76 FR 30306 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-25

...The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee on June 14-15, 2011 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

75 FR 23244 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-03

...The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Joint Skate Committee and Advisory Panel, in May, 2010, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

76 FR 43266 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-20

...The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee, on August 9-10, 2011, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.