A fan dam for Tulare Lake, California, and implications for the Wisconsin glacial history of the Sierra Nevada.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Atwater, B.F.

1986-01-01

Four stratigraphically consistent 14C dates on peat and wood give an age of 26 000 yr BP for the start of Tulare Lake's late Wisconsin transgression. An earlier enlargement of Tulare Lake probably resulted from a fan dam produced by the penultimate major (Tahoe) glaciation of the Sierra Nevada. Average sedimentation rates inferred from depths to a 600 000-yr-old clay and from radiocarbon dates indicate that this earlier lake originated no later than 100 000 yr BP. The Tahoe glaciation therefore is probably pre- Wisconsin. -from Authors

Rotational and X-ray luminosity evolution of high-B radio pulsars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benli, Onur; Ertan, Ünal

2018-05-01

In continuation of our earlier work on the long-term evolution of the so-called high-B radio pulsars (HBRPs) with measured braking indices, we have investigated the long-term evolution of the remaining five HBRPs for which braking indices have not been measured yet. This completes our source-by-source analyses of HBRPs in the fallback disc model that was also applied earlier to anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs), soft gamma repeaters (SGRs), and dim isolated neutron stars (XDINs). Our results show that the X-ray luminosities and the rotational properties of these rather different neutron star populations can be acquired by neutron stars with fallback discs as a result of differences in their initial conditions, namely the initial disc mass, initial period and the dipole field strength. For the five HBRPs, unlike for AXPs, SGRs and XDINs, our results do not constrain the dipole field strengths of the sources. We obtain evolutionary paths leading to the properties of HBRPs in the propeller phase with dipole fields sufficiently strong to produce pulsed radio emission.

Factors associated with late diagnosis of HIV infection and missed opportunities for earlier testing.

PubMed

Gullón, Alejandra; Verdejo, José; de Miguel, Rosa; Gómez, Ana; Sanz, Jesús

2016-10-01

Late diagnosis (LD) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection continues to be a significant problem that increases disease burden both for patients and for the public health system. Guidelines have been updated in order to facilitate earlier HIV diagnosis, introducing "indicator condition-guided HIV testing". In this study, we analysed the frequency of LD and associated risk factors. We retrospectively identified those cases that could be considered missed opportunities for an earlier diagnosis. All patients newly diagnosed with HIV infection who attended Hospital La Princesa, Madrid (Spain) between 2007 and 2014 were analysed. We collected epidemiological, clinical and immunological data. We also reviewed electronic medical records from the year before the HIV diagnosis to search for medical consultations due to clinical indicators. HIV infection was diagnosed in 354 patients. The median CD4 count at presentation was 352 cells/mm(3). Overall, 158 patients (50%) met the definition of LD, and 97 (30.7%) the diagnosis of advanced disease. LD was associated with older age and was more frequent amongst immigrants. Heterosexual relations and injection drug use were more likely to be the reasons for LD than relations between men who have sex with men. During the year preceding the diagnosis, 46.6% of the patients had sought medical advice owing to the presence of clinical indicators that should have led to HIV testing. Of those, 24 cases (14.5%) were classified as missed opportunities for earlier HIV diagnosis because testing was not performed. According to these results, all health workers should pursue early HIV diagnosis through the proper implementation of HIV testing guidelines. Such an approach would prove directly beneficial to the patient and indirectly beneficial to the general population through the reduction in the risk of transmission.

Mineralization of mandibular third molars can estimate chronological age--Brazilian indices.

PubMed

de Oliveira, Fernando Toledo; Capelozza, Ana Lúcia Álvares; Lauris, José Roberto Pereira; de Bullen, Izabel Regina Fischer Rubira

2012-06-10

Forensic age estimation is an important element of anthropological research, as it produces one of the primary sources of data that researchers use to establish the identity of a person living or the identity of unknown bodily remains. The aim of this study was to determine if the chronology of third molar mineralization could be an accurate indicator of estimated age in a sample Brazilian population. If so, mineralization could determine the probability of an individual being 18 years or older. The study evaluated 407 panoramic radiographs of males and females from the past 5 years in order to assess the mineralization status of the mandibular third molars. The evaluation was carried out using an adaptation of Demirjian's system. The results indicated a strong correlation between chronological age and the mineralization of the mandibular third molars. The results indicated that modern Brazilian generation tends to demonstrate an earlier mandibular third molar mineralization than older Brazilian generation and people of other nationalities. Males reached developmental stages slightly earlier than females, but statistically significant differences between the sex were not found. The probability that an individual with third molar mineralization stage H had reached an age of 18 years or older was 96.8-98.6% for males and females, respectively. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sources of Variability in Children’s Language Growth

PubMed Central

Huttenlocher, Janellen; Waterfall, Heidi; Vasilyeva, Marina; Vevea, Jack; Hedges, Larry V.

2010-01-01

The present longitudinal study examines the role of caregiver speech in language development, especially syntactic development, using 47 parent-child pairs of diverse SES background from 14 to 46 months. We assess the diversity (variety) of words and syntactic structures produced by caregivers and children. We use lagged correlations to examine language growth and its relation to caregiver speech. Results show substantial individual differences among children, and indicate that diversity of earlier caregiver speech significantly predicts corresponding diversity in later child speech. For vocabulary, earlier child speech also predicts later caregiver speech, suggesting mutual influence. However, for syntax, earlier child speech does not significantly predict later caregiver speech, suggesting a causal flow from caregiver to child. Finally, demographic factors, notably SES, are related to language growth, and are, at least partially, mediated by differences in caregiver speech, showing the pervasive influence of caregiver speech on language growth. PMID:20832781

Success Factors for Corporate Woman Executives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keown, Charles F. Jr.; Keown, Ada Lewis

1982-01-01

Interviewed 21 women executives who entered the job market in the 1960s and achieved success in corporate management. Compared profiles with an earlier study. Results indicated that being an only or first child and having a college education are still important, but not crucial, factors for success. (Author/RC)

The Effects of Single-Sex and Coeducational Secondary Schooling on Girls' Achievement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daly, Peter

1996-01-01

The effect of coeducational and single-sex secondary schooling on female students' academic achievement was examined. Reexamination of earlier survey data from Northern Ireland studied six outcomes related to student performance on public examinations. Results indicated a small achievement advantage for single-sex schooling (not significant…

Lexical Reading in Dysfluent Readers of German

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gangl, Melanie; Moll, Kristina; Jones, Manon W.; Banfi, Chiara; Schulte-Körne, Gerd; Landerl, Karin

2018-01-01

Dyslexia in consistent orthographies like German is characterized by dysfluent reading, which is often assumed to result from failure to build up an orthographic lexicon and overreliance on decoding. However, earlier evidence indicates effects of lexical processing at least in some German dyslexic readers. We investigated variations in reading…

Maladaptive Perfectionism, Adult Attachment, and Self-Esteem in College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Kenneth G.; Lopez, Frederick G.

2004-01-01

Extending an earlier study that found high self-esteem to modify the impact of otherwise maladaptive perfectionism on depression, the current study used adult attachment theory to explore the link between perfectionism, self-esteem, and depression in college students. Results indicated that self-esteem buffered the effects of maladaptive…

Collaborative Online Professional Development for Teachers in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teräs, Hanna

2016-01-01

Enhancing teaching quality has become a priority for many universities. The need for high-quality professional development for university teachers is therefore crucial. Earlier research has indicated that isolated workshops often fail to result in significant changes in teaching practice. It has been suggested that the desired transformation…

Cognitive Determinants of Fixation Location during Picture Viewing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loftus, Geoffrey R.; Mackworth, Norman H.

1978-01-01

Adult subjects viewed pictures at brief intervals, testing their reactions to informative objects--those not redundant with or predictive of the rest of the picture, such as a tractor in an underwater scene. Results indicated that observers fixate earlier, more often, and longer on informative objects. (Author/SJL)

Experiences of Discrimination among Chinese American Adolescents and the Consequences for Socioemotional and Academic Development

PubMed Central

Benner, Aprile D.; Kim, Su Yeong

2009-01-01

This longitudinal study examined the influences of discrimination on socioemotional adjustment and academic performance for a sample of 444 Chinese American adolescents. Using autoregressive and cross-lagged techniques, results indicate that discrimination in early adolescence predicted depressive symptoms, alienation, school engagement, and grades in middle adolescence, but early socioemotional adjustment and academic performance did not predict later experiences of discrimination. Further, our investigation of whether earlier or contemporaneous experiences of discrimination influenced developmental outcomes in middle adolescence indicated differential effects, with contemporaneous experiences of discrimination affecting socioemotional adjustment, while earlier discrimination was more influential for academic performance. Finally, we found a persistent negative effect of acculturation on the link between discrimination and adolescents’ developmental outcomes, such that those adolescents who were more acculturated (in this case, higher in American orientation) experienced more deleterious effects of discrimination on both socioemotional and academic outcomes. PMID:19899924

Later endogenous circadian temperature nadir relative to an earlier wake time in older people

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duffy, J. F.; Dijk, D. J.; Klerman, E. B.; Czeisler, C. A.

1998-01-01

The contribution of the circadian timing system to the age-related advance of sleep-wake timing was investigated in two experiments. In a constant routine protocol, we found that the average wake time and endogenous circadian phase of 44 older subjects were earlier than that of 101 young men. However, the earlier circadian phase of the older subjects actually occurred later relative to their habitual wake time than it did in young men. These results indicate that an age-related advance of circadian phase cannot fully account for the high prevalence of early morning awakening in healthy older people. In a second study, 13 older subjects and 10 young men were scheduled to a 28-h day, such that they were scheduled to sleep at many circadian phases. Self-reported awakening from scheduled sleep episodes and cognitive throughput during the second half of the wake episode varied markedly as a function of circadian phase in both groups. The rising phase of both rhythms was advanced in the older subjects, suggesting an age-related change in the circadian regulation of sleep-wake propensity. We hypothesize that under entrained conditions, these age-related changes in the relationship between circadian phase and wake time are likely associated with self-selected light exposure at an earlier circadian phase. This earlier exposure to light could account for the earlier clock hour to which the endogenous circadian pacemaker is entrained in older people and thereby further increase their propensity to awaken at an even earlier time.

Freezing of soft spheres: A critical test for weighted-density-functional theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laird, Brian B.; Kroll, D. M.

1990-10-01

We study the freezing properties of systems with inverse-power and Yukawa interactions (soft spheres), using recently developed weighted-density-functional theories. We find that the modified weighted-density-functional approximation (MWDA) of Denton and Ashcroft yields results for the liquid to face-centered-cubic (fcc) structure transition that represent a significant improvement over those of earlier ``second-order'' density-functional freezing theories; however, this theory, like the earlier ones, fails to predict any liquid to body-centered-cubic (bcc) transition, even under conditions where the computer simulations indicate that this should be the equilibrium solid structure. In addition, we show that both the modified effective-liquid approximation (MELA) of Baus [J. Phys. Condens. Matter 2, 2111 (1990)] and the generalized effective-liquid approximation of Lutsko and Baus [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 761 (1990)], while giving excellent results for the freezing of hard spheres, fail completely to predict freezing into either fcc or bcc solid phases for soft inverse-power potentials. We also give an alternate derivation of the MWDA that makes clearer its connection to earlier theories.

A meta-analysis of longitudinal associations between substance use and interpersonal attachment security.

PubMed

Fairbairn, Catharine E; Briley, Daniel A; Kang, Dahyeon; Fraley, R Chris; Hankin, Benjamin L; Ariss, Talia

2018-05-01

Substance use has long been associated with close relationship distress. Although the direction of influence for this association has not been established, it has often been assumed that substance use is the causal agent and that close relationship distress is the effect. But research seeking to establish temporal precedence in this link has produced mixed findings. Further, theoretical models of substance use and close relationship processes present the plausibility of the inverse pathway-that insecure close relationships may serve as a vulnerability factor for the development of later substance problems. The current review applies an attachment-theoretical framework to the association between close social bonds and substance use and substance-related problems. Targeting longitudinal studies of attachment and substance use, we examined 665 effect sizes drawn from 34 samples (total N = 56,721) spanning time frames ranging from 1 month to 20 years (M = 3.8 years). Results revealed a significant prospective correlation between earlier attachment and later substance use (r = -.11, 95% CI [-.14, -0.08]). Further, cross-lagged coefficients were calculated which parsed auto-regressive effects, indicating that lower attachment security temporally preceded increases in substance use (r = -.05, 95% CI [-.06, -.04]). Analyses further indicated that the pathway from earlier attachment to later substance use was significantly stronger than that from earlier substance use to later attachment. Results also revealed several moderators of the attachment-substance use link. These findings suggest that insecure attachment may be a vulnerability factor for substance use, and indicate close relationship quality as a promising line of inquiry in research on substance use disorder risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Associations between Substance Use and Interpersonal Attachment Security

PubMed Central

Fairbairn, Catharine E.; Briley, Daniel A.; Kang, Dahyeon; Fraley, R. Chris; Hankin, Benjamin L.; Ariss, Talia

2018-01-01

Substance use has long been associated with close relationship distress. While the direction of influence for this association has not been established, it has often been assumed that substance use is the causal agent and that close relationship distress is the effect. But research seeking to establish temporal precedence in this link has produced mixed findings. Further, theoretical models of substance use and close relationship processes present the plausibility of the inverse pathway—that insecure close relationships may serve as a vulnerability factor for the development of later substance problems. The current review applies an attachment-theoretical framework to the association between close social bonds and substance use and substance-related problems. Targeting longitudinal studies of attachment and substance use, we examined 665 effect sizes drawn from 34 samples (total N=56,721) spanning time frames ranging from 1 month to 20 years (M=3.8 years). Results revealed a significant prospective correlation between earlier attachment and later substance use (r =−.11, 95%CI=−.14 to −0.08). Further, cross-lagged coefficients were calculated which parsed auto-regressive effects, indicating that lower attachment security temporally preceded increases in substance use (r=−.05, 95%CI=−.06 to −.04). Analyses further indicated that the pathway from earlier attachment to later substance use was significantly stronger than that from earlier substance use to later attachment. Results also revealed several moderators of the attachment-substance use link. These findings suggest that insecure attachment may be a vulnerability factor for substance use, and indicate close relationship quality as a promising line of inquiry in research on substance use disorder risk. PMID:29494194

Syndromic surveillance of influenza activity in Sweden: an evaluation of three tools.

PubMed

Ma, T; Englund, H; Bjelkmar, P; Wallensten, A; Hulth, A

2015-08-01

An evaluation was conducted to determine which syndromic surveillance tools complement traditional surveillance by serving as earlier indicators of influenza activity in Sweden. Web queries, medical hotline statistics, and school absenteeism data were evaluated against two traditional surveillance tools. Cross-correlation calculations utilized aggregated weekly data for all-age, nationwide activity for four influenza seasons, from 2009/2010 to 2012/2013. The surveillance tool indicative of earlier influenza activity, by way of statistical and visual evidence, was identified. The web query algorithm and medical hotline statistics performed equally well as each other and to the traditional surveillance tools. School absenteeism data were not reliable resources for influenza surveillance. Overall, the syndromic surveillance tools did not perform with enough consistency in season lead nor in earlier timing of the peak week to be considered as early indicators. They do, however, capture incident cases before they have formally entered the primary healthcare system.

Climate change is affecting altitudinal migrants and hibernating species.

PubMed

Inouye, D W; Barr, B; Armitage, K B; Inouye, B D

2000-02-15

Calendar date of the beginning of the growing season at high altitude in the Colorado Rocky Mountains is variable but has not changed significantly over the past 25 years. This result differs from growing evidence from low altitudes that climate change is resulting in a longer growing season, earlier migrations, and earlier reproduction in a variety of taxa. At our study site, the beginning of the growing season is controlled by melting of the previous winter's snowpack. Despite a trend for warmer spring temperatures the average date of snowmelt has not changed, perhaps because of the trend for increased winter precipitation. This disjunction between phenology at low and high altitudes may create problems for species, such as many birds, that migrate over altitudinal gradients. We present data indicating that this already may be true for American robins, which are arriving 14 days earlier than they did in 1981; the interval between arrival date and the first date of bare ground has grown by 18 days. We also report evidence for an effect of climate change on hibernation behavior; yellow-bellied marmots are emerging 38 days earlier than 23 years ago, apparently in response to warmer spring air temperatures. Migrants and hibernators may experience problems as a consequence of these changes in phenology, which may be exacerbated if climate models are correct in their predictions of increased winter snowfall in our study area. The trends we report for earlier formation of permanent snowpack and for a longer period of snow cover also have implications for hibernating species.

Climate change is affecting altitudinal migrants and hibernating species

PubMed Central

Inouye, David W.; Barr, Billy; Armitage, Kenneth B.; Inouye, Brian D.

2000-01-01

Calendar date of the beginning of the growing season at high altitude in the Colorado Rocky Mountains is variable but has not changed significantly over the past 25 years. This result differs from growing evidence from low altitudes that climate change is resulting in a longer growing season, earlier migrations, and earlier reproduction in a variety of taxa. At our study site, the beginning of the growing season is controlled by melting of the previous winter's snowpack. Despite a trend for warmer spring temperatures the average date of snowmelt has not changed, perhaps because of the trend for increased winter precipitation. This disjunction between phenology at low and high altitudes may create problems for species, such as many birds, that migrate over altitudinal gradients. We present data indicating that this already may be true for American robins, which are arriving 14 days earlier than they did in 1981; the interval between arrival date and the first date of bare ground has grown by 18 days. We also report evidence for an effect of climate change on hibernation behavior; yellow-bellied marmots are emerging 38 days earlier than 23 years ago, apparently in response to warmer spring air temperatures. Migrants and hibernators may experience problems as a consequence of these changes in phenology, which may be exacerbated if climate models are correct in their predictions of increased winter snowfall in our study area. The trends we report for earlier formation of permanent snowpack and for a longer period of snow cover also have implications for hibernating species. PMID:10677510

Genetic structure and gene flow among European corn borer populations from the Great Plains to the Appalachians of North America

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Earlier population genetic spatial analysis of European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis, populations sampled along transects indicated, surprisingly, that there is no genetic differentiation between populations separated by as much as 720 km. This unanticipated result suggests either that Euro...

Whence comets?

PubMed

A'Hearn, Michael F

2006-12-15

Recent advances in cometary science have indicated the importance of mixing of materials in the disk where the planets of our solar system formed. Now, the results from the Stardust Discovery Mission unambiguously show that even more extensive and earlier mixing of the material took place, raising new challenges for theories of the protoplanetary disk and the formation of comets.

Psychological Profiles of Purging Bulimics, Repeat Dieters, and Controls.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dykens, Elisabeth M.; Gerrard, Meg

1986-01-01

Results indicated psychopathic deviance, mania, and physical self-esteem separated bulimics from nonbulimics and accounted for 78 percent of the explained variance. In addition, bulimics engaged in sexual activities and in the adolescent acting-out behaviors of drug and alcohol use more frequently, and at an earlier age, than did the two…

International Content as Hidden Curriculum in Business Statistics: An Overlooked Opportunity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sebastianelli, Rose; Trussler, Susan

2006-01-01

We revisit the issue of internationalizing the required course in business statistics as a means for introducing international subject matter earlier in the undergraduate business curriculum. A survey of sophomore business students indicates that their level of international knowledge is poor. The results are strikingly similar to a decade ago.…

Characterization of Mental Retardation and Autism in Children's Books.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dyches, Tina Taylor; Prater, Mary Anne; Cramer, Sharon F.

2001-01-01

A study involving 12 books, six picture books and six chapter books, examined how individuals with mental retardation and autism are depicted in children's literature. Results indicate characters were portrayed as making more choices in their lives and were educated in more inclusive environments than in an earlier study. (Contains references.)…

Demography, Education, and Democracy: global trends and the case of Iran.

PubMed

Lutz, Wolfgang; Cuaresma, Jesús Crespo; Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal

2010-01-01

Reconstructions and projections of populations by age, sex, and educational attainment for 120 countries since 1970 are used to assess the global relationship between improvements in human capital and democracy. Democracy is measured by the Freedom House indicator of political rights. Similar to an earlier study on the effects of improving educational attainment on economic growth, the greater age detail of this new dataset resolves earlier ambiguities about the effect of improving education as assessed using a global set of national time series. The results show consistently strong effects of improving overall levels of educational attainment, of a narrowing gender gap in education, and of fertility declines and the subsequent changes in age structure on improvements in the democracy indicator. This global relationship is then applied to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Over the past two decades Iran has experienced the world's most rapid fertility decline associated with massive increases in female education. The results show that based on the experience of 120 countries since 1970, Iran has a high chance of significant movement toward more democracy over the following two decades.

Differences in the timing of reproduction between urban and forest European blackbirds (Turdus merula): result of phenotypic flexibility or genetic differences?

PubMed Central

Partecke, Jesko; Van't Hof, Thomas; Gwinner, Eberhard

2004-01-01

Species which have settled in urban environments are exposed to different conditions from their wild conspecifics. A previous comparative study of an urban and a forest-living European blackbird population had revealed a three weeks earlier onset of gonadal growth in urban individuals. These physiological adjustments are either the result of genetic differences that have evolved during the urbanization process, or of phenotypic flexibility resulting from the bird's exposure to the different environmental conditions of town or forest. To identify which of these two mechanisms causes the differences in reproductive timing, hand-reared birds originating from the urban and the forest populations were kept in identical conditions. The substantial differences in the timing of reproduction between urban and forest birds known from the field did not persist under laboratory conditions, indicating that temporal differences in reproductive timing between these two populations are mainly a result of phenotypic flexibility. Nevertheless, urban males initiated plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion and testicular development earlier than forest males in their first reproductive season. Moreover, plasma LH concentration and follicle size declined earlier in urban females than in forest females, suggesting that genetic differences are also involved and might contribute to the variations in the timing of reproduction in the wild. PMID:15451688

Changing trends in barriers to cataract surgery in India.

PubMed

Vaidyanathan, K; Limburg, H; Foster, A; Pandey, R M

1999-01-01

Cataract is a major cause of blindness in Asia. Efforts in India to provide cataract surgical services have had limited success in reaching the cataract-blind population. Earlier studies identified the major barriers to cataract surgery as poverty, lack of transportation or felt need, or sex related; and the critical barriers in rural areas as lack of awareness, difficult access, and cost. Compared with these earlier data, the results of the present study in Karnataka State indicate a shift in the character of the barriers. They now appear to be more related to case selection and service provision. These shifts are analysed and alternative strategies to increase the uptake to cataract surgery are recommended.

Elevated CO2 further lengthens growing season under warming conditions.

PubMed

Reyes-Fox, Melissa; Steltzer, Heidi; Trlica, M J; McMaster, Gregory S; Andales, Allan A; LeCain, Dan R; Morgan, Jack A

2014-06-12

Observations of a longer growing season through earlier plant growth in temperate to polar regions have been thought to be a response to climate warming. However, data from experimental warming studies indicate that many species that initiate leaf growth and flowering earlier also reach seed maturation and senesce earlier, shortening their active and reproductive periods. A conceptual model to explain this apparent contradiction, and an analysis of the effect of elevated CO2--which can delay annual life cycle events--on changing season length, have not been tested. Here we show that experimental warming in a temperate grassland led to a longer growing season through earlier leaf emergence by the first species to leaf, often a grass, and constant or delayed senescence by other species that were the last to senesce, supporting the conceptual model. Elevated CO2 further extended growing, but not reproductive, season length in the warmed grassland by conserving water, which enabled most species to remain active longer. Our results suggest that a longer growing season, especially in years or biomes where water is a limiting factor, is not due to warming alone, but also to higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations that extend the active period of plant annual life cycles.

Secure Infant-Mother Attachment Buffers the Effect of Early-Life Stress on Age of Menarche.

PubMed

Sung, Sooyeon; Simpson, Jeffry A; Griskevicius, Vladas; Kuo, Sally I-Chun; Schlomer, Gabriel L; Belsky, Jay

2016-05-01

Prior research indicates that being reared in stressful environments is associated with earlier onset of menarche in girls. In this research, we examined (a) whether these effects are driven by exposure to certain dimensions of stress (harshness or unpredictability) during the first 5 years of life and (b) whether the negative effects of stress on the timing of menarche are buffered by secure infant-mother attachment. Results revealed that (a) exposure to greater harshness (but not unpredictability) during the first 5 years of life predicted earlier menarche and (b) secure infant-mother attachment buffered girls from this effect of harsh environments. By connecting attachment research to its evolutionary foundations, these results illuminate how environmental stressors and relationships early in life jointly affect pubertal timing. © The Author(s) 2016.

Sub-grid scale precipitation in ALCMs: re-assessing the land surface sensitivity using a single column model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pitman, Andrew J.; Yang, Zong-Liang; Henderson-Sellers, Ann

1993-10-01

The sensitivity of a land surface scheme to the distribution of precipitation within a general circulation model's grid element is investigated. Earlier experiments which showed considerable sensitivity of the runoff and evaporation simulation to the distribution of precipitation are repeated in the light of other results which show no sensitivity of evaporation to the distribution of precipitation. Results show that while the earlier results over-estimated the sensitivity of the surface hydrology to the precipitation distribution, the general conclusion that the system is sensitive is supported. It is found that changing the distribution of precipitation from falling over 100% of the grid square to falling over 10% leads to a reduction in evaporation from 1578 mm y-1 to 1195 mm y -1 while runoff increases from 278 mm y-1 to 602 mm y-1. The sensitivity is explained in terms of evaporation being dominated by available energy when precipitation falls over nearly the entire grid square, but by moisture availability (mainly intercepted water) when it falls over little of the grid square. These results also indicate that earlier work using stand-alone forcing to drive land surface schemes ‘off-line’, and to investigate the sensitivity of land surface codes to various parameters, leads to results which are non-repeatable in single column simulations.

A Five Year Analysis of Female vs. Male College Students' Persistence to Graduation: One Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoner, Kenneth L.; DeRidder, Janet Waller

1982-01-01

Recent literature indicates sex is related to retention with more men persisting to graduation. In this University of Tennessee (Knoxville) study, analysis according to sex classification produced results contrary to the latest research findings: rather than males, females tended to graduate earlier or on schedule proportionately more frequently…

Absence of preserved glucosamine and amino acids in fossil crustacean exoskeletons

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

Schimmelmann, A.; Krause, R.G.F.; DeNiro, M.J.

1988-01-01

No glucosamine and only traces of amino acids were detected in kerogen prepared from fossil crustacean exoskeletons. The elemental C/N ratios of the kerogen samples were above 20, indicating that most of the organic nitrogen was eliminated from the chitin biopolymer during diagenesis. The results contradict earlier reports of the stability of chitin during fossilization.

E-Business Education: A Quantitative Review of Program Attributes and Offerings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Novitzki, James E.

This paper reviews several previous studies of course offerings in a large number of Electronic Business/Commerce concentrations in both MBA and MS programs. Results from these earlier studies indicate that there is no apparent consensus in what knowledge is core to the Electronic Business/Commerce concentration. This study takes data from these…

Forest industry hunt-lease programs in the south: implications for managers

Treesearch

Allan Marsinko; David Guynn; Don F., II Roach

1998-01-01

Selected characteristics of forest industry hunt lease programs in the southern United States were evaluated for the 1994 calendar year. Results were compared with earlier similar surveys. Utilization of the leased lands by lessees has increased over the last 5 years. There were also indications that the intensity of wildlife management on these lands has increased...

Testing the Association Between Traditional and Novel Indicators of County-Level Structural Racism and Birth Outcomes among Black and White Women.

PubMed

Chambers, Brittany D; Erausquin, Jennifer Toller; Tanner, Amanda E; Nichols, Tracy R; Brown-Jeffy, Shelly

2017-12-07

Despite decreases in infants born premature and at low birth weight in the United States (U.S.), racial disparities between Black and White women continue. In response, the purpose of this analysis was to examine associations between both traditional and novel indicators of county-level structural racism and birth outcomes among Black and White women. We merged individual-level data from the California Birth Statistical Master Files 2009-2013 with county-level data from the United States (U.S.) Census American Community Survey. We used hierarchical linear modeling to examine Black-White differences among 531,170 primiparous women across 33 California counties. Traditional (e.g., dissimilarity index) and novel indicators (e.g., Black to White ratio in elected office) were associated with earlier gestational age and lower birth weight among Black and White women. A traditional indicator was more strongly associated with earlier gestational age for Black women than for White women. This was the first study to empirically demonstrate that structural racism, measured by both traditional and novel indicators, is associated with poor health and wellbeing of infants born to Black and White women. However, findings indicate traditional indicators of structural racism, rather than novel indicators, better explain racial disparities in birth outcomes. Results also suggest the need to develop more innovative approaches to: (1) measure structural racism at the county-level and (2) reform public policies to increase integration and access to resources.

Environmental exposure to benzene: an update.

PubMed Central

Wallace, L

1996-01-01

During the 1990s, several large-scale studies of benzene concentrations in air, food, and blood have added to our knowledge of its environmental occurrence. In general, the new studies have confirmed the earlier findings of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Total Exposure Assessment Methodology (TEAM) studies and other large-scale studies in Germany and the Netherlands concerning the levels of exposure and major sources. For example, the new studies found that personal exposures exceeded indoor concentrations of benzene, which in turn exceeded outdoor concentrations. The new studies of food concentrations have confirmed earlier indications that food is not an important pathway for benzene exposure. The results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on blood levels in a nationwide sample of 883 persons are in good agreement with the concentrations in exhaled breath measured in about 800 persons a decade earlier in the TEAM studies. Major sources of exposure continue to be active and passive smoking, auto exhaust, and driving or riding in automobiles. New methods in breath and blood sampling and analysis offer opportunities to investigate short-term peak exposures and resulting body burden under almost any conceivable field conditions. PMID:9118882

Snowmelt timing, phenology, and growing season length in conifer forests of Crater Lake National Park, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Leary, Donal S.; Kellermann, Jherime L.; Wayne, Chris

2018-02-01

Anthropogenic climate change is having significant impacts on montane and high-elevation areas globally. Warmer winter temperatures are driving reduced snowpack in the western USA with broad potential impacts on ecosystem dynamics of particular concern for protected areas. Vegetation phenology is a sensitive indicator of ecological response to climate change and is associated with snowmelt timing. Human monitoring of climate impacts can be resource prohibitive for land management agencies, whereas remotely sensed phenology observations are freely available at a range of spatiotemporal scales. Little work has been done in regions dominated by evergreen conifer cover, which represents many mountain regions at temperate latitudes. We used moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data to assess the influence of snowmelt timing and elevation on five phenology metrics (green up, maximum greenness, senescence, dormancy, and growing season length) within Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, USA from 2001 to 2012. Earlier annual mean snowmelt timing was significantly correlated with earlier onset of green up at the landscape scale. Snowmelt timing and elevation have significant explanatory power for phenology, though with high variability. Elevation has a moderate control on early season indicators such as snowmelt timing and green up and less on late-season variables such as senescence and growing season length. PCA results show that early season indicators and late season indicators vary independently. These results have important implications for ecosystem dynamics, management, and conservation, particularly of species such as whitebark pine ( Pinus albicaulis) in alpine and subalpine areas.

Measuring pilot workload in a motion base simulator. III - Synchronous secondary task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kantowitz, Barry H.; Bortolussi, Michael R.; Hart, Sandra G.

1987-01-01

This experiment continues earlier research of Kantowitz et al. (1983) conducted in a GAT-1 motion-base trainer to evaluate choice-reaction secondary tasks as measures of pilot work load. The earlier work used an asynchronous secondary task presented every 22 sec regardless of flying performance. The present experiment uses a synchronous task presented only when a critical event occurred on the flying task. Both two- and four-choice visual secondary tasks were investigated. Analysis of primary flying-task results showed no decrement in error for altitude, indicating that the key assumption necessary for using a choice secondary task was satisfied. Reaction times showed significant differences between 'easy' and 'hard' flight scenarios as well as the ability to discriminate among flight tasks.

Combining satellite derived phenology with climate data for climate change impact assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivits, E.; Cherlet, M.; Tóth, G.; Sommer, S.; Mehl, W.; Vogt, J.; Micale, F.

2012-05-01

The projected influence of climate change on the timing and volume of phytomass production is expected to affect a number of ecosystem services. In order to develop coherent and locally effective adaptation and mitigation strategies, spatially explicit information on the observed changes is needed. Long-term variations of the vegetative growing season in different environmental zones of Europe for 1982-2006 have been derived by analysing time series of GIMMS NDVI data. The associations of phenologically homogenous spatial clusters to time series of temperature and precipitation data were evaluated. North-east Europe showed a trend to an earlier and longer growing season, particularly in the northern Baltic areas. Despite the earlier greening up large areas of Europe exhibited rather stable season length indicating the shift of the entire growing season to an earlier period. The northern Mediterranean displayed a growing season shift towards later dates while some agglomerations of earlier and shorter growing season were also seen. The correlation of phenological time series with climate data shows a cause-and-effect relationship over the semi natural areas consistent with results in literature. Managed ecosystems however appear to have heterogeneous change pattern with less or no correlation to climatic trends. Over these areas climatic trends seemed to overlap in a complex manner with more pronounced effects of local biophysical conditions and/or land management practices. Our results underline the importance of satellite derived phenological observations to explain local nonconformities to climatic trends for climate change impact assessment.

Timing of large earthquakes during the past 500 years along the Santa Cruz Mountains segment of the San Andreas fault at Mill Canyon, near Watsonville, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fumal, Thomas E.

2012-01-01

A paleoseismic investigation across the Santa Cruz Mountains section of the San Andreas fault at Mill Canyon indicates that four surface‐rupturing earthquakes have occurred there during the past ~500  years. At this site, right‐lateral fault slip has moved a low shutter ridge across the mouth of the canyon, ponding latest Holocene sediments. These alluvial deposits are deformed along a narrow zone of faulting. There is excellent evidence for a 1906 (M 7.8) and three earlier earthquakes consisting of well‐developed fissures, scarps, and colluvial wedges. Deformation resulting from the earlier earthquakes is comparable to that from 1906, suggesting they also were large‐magnitude events. The earthquake prior to 1906 occurred either about A.D. 1750 (1711–1770) or A.D. 1855 (1789–1904), depending on assumptions incorporated into two alternative OxCal models. If the later age range is correct, then the earthquake may have been a historical early‐to‐mid‐nineteenth‐century earthquake, possibly the A.D. 1838 earthquake. Both models are viable, and there is no way to select one over the other with the available data. Two earlier earthquakes occurred about A.D. 1690 (1660–1720) and A.D. 1522 (1454–1605). Using OxCal, recalculation of the age of the reported penultimate earthquake reported from the Grizzly Flat site, located about 10 km northwest of Mill Canyon, indicates it occurred about A.D. 1105–1545, earlier than any of the past three earthquakes, and possibly correlates to the fourth earthquake at Mill Canyon.

Stresses in acoustically excited panels and shuttle insulation tiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otalvo, I. U.

1976-01-01

Natural vibration and acoustic response results are presented for a 36 x 18 inch panel with 18 6 x 6-inch tiles of 1.0, 1.6 and 2.3 inch thicknesses. Computed results for an untiled panel are compared with experiments performed earlier. Natural frequency and acoustic response comparisons are also given for independent analyses performed upon tiled and untiled panels. The results indicate the general applicability of the computer programs developed for use as shuttle design and analysis tools.

Computer-based visual communication in aphasia.

PubMed

Steele, R D; Weinrich, M; Wertz, R T; Kleczewska, M K; Carlson, G S

1989-01-01

The authors describe their recently developed Computer-aided VIsual Communication (C-VIC) system, and report results of single-subject experimental designs probing its use with five chronic, severely impaired aphasic individuals. Studies replicate earlier results obtained with a non-computerized system, demonstrate patient competence with the computer implementation, extend the system's utility, and identify promising areas of application. Results of the single-subject experimental designs clarify patients' learning, generalization, and retention patterns, and highlight areas of performance difficulties. Future directions for the project are indicated.

Coping strategies and health symptoms among women and men in a downsizing organisation.

PubMed

Torkelson, Eva; Muhonen, Tuija

2003-06-01

This study examined how women and men cope with stress during a period of organizational change and how the coping strategies are related to health. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 98 female and male administrators of health care service working in a Swedish governmental County Council during a period of downsizing. In line with earlier studies, the results showed women to be more likely than men to endorse the emotion-focused strategies of Seeking Social Support and Focus on and Venting of Emotions. Contrary to earlier studies the men did not report using problem-focused strategies more frequently than the women. The results of a regression analysis indicated that the reported use of problem-focused strategies did not contribute significantly to the explained variance in health. Instead, the emotion-focused strategy Denial explained a significant proportion of variance in the health problems. No sex differences in reported health problems were found.

Space Weather Research in the Equatorial Region: A Philosophical Reinforcement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chukwuma, Victor; Odunaike, Rasaki; Laoye, John

Investigations using radio waves reflected from the ionosphere, at high-and mid-latitudes indicate that ionospheric absorption can strongly increase following geomagnetic storms; which appears to suggest some definite relationship between ionospheric radio wave absorption and geomagnetic storms at these latitudes. However, corresponding earlier studies in the equatorial region did not appear to show any explicit relationship between ionospheric radio wave absorption and geomagnetic storm activity. This position appeared acceptable to the existing scientific paradigm, until in an act of paradigm shift, by a change of storm selection criteria, some more recent space weather investigations in the low latitudes showed that ionospheric radio wave absorption in the equatorial region clearly increases after intense storms. Given that these results in the equatorial region stood against the earlier results, this paper presently attempts to highlight their philosophical underpinning and posit that they constitute a scientific statement.

Profiles of High-Performing STEM Majors. ACT Research Report Series 2017-2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westrick, Paul

2017-01-01

Building upon the research findings in an earlier ACT Research Report (Westrick, 2016), this study used data from 119,131 students at 26 four-year institutions to make comparisons between STEM majors earning semester GPAs of 3.0 or higher and their STEM peers earning semester GPAs less than 3.0. The results indicate that the higher-performing…

Social Competence in Preschool Children: Replication of Results and Clarification of a Hierarchical Measurement Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santos, Antonio J.; Peceguina, Ines; Daniel, Joao R.; Shin, Nana; Vaughn, Brian E.

2013-01-01

This study tested assumptions and conclusions reached in an earlier confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) study of the social competence (SC) construct for preschool children. Two samples (total N = 408; a new Portuguese sample and one from US samples that had participated in the original study) contributed data. Seven SC indicators were tested for…

ApoE Genotype and Alzheimer's Disease in Adults with Down Syndrome: Meta-Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prashner, V. P.; Chowdhury, T. A.; Rowe, B. R.; Bain, S. C.

1997-01-01

ApoE gene polymorphism was examined in 100 adults with Down syndrome with and without dementia (Alzheimer's disease) and 346 control subjects. Additionally, a meta analysis of studies (total N=480 subjects) was performed. Results indicated a similar incidence of the gene across groups but subjects with the allele tended to an earlier onset of…

Does Speech Emerge from Earlier Appearing Oral Motor Behaviors?.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Christopher A.; Ruark, Jacki L.

1996-01-01

This study of the oral motor behaviors of seven toddlers (age 15 months) may be interpreted to indicate that: (1) mandibular coordination follows a developmental continuum from earlier emerging behaviors, such as chewing and sucking, through babbling, to speech, or (2) unique task demands give rise to distinct mandibular coordinative constraints…

Changes toward earlier streamflow timing across western North America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stewart, I.T.; Cayan, D.R.; Dettinger, M.D.

2005-01-01

The highly variable timing of streamflow in snowmelt-dominated basins across western North America is an important consequence, and indicator, of climate fluctuations. Changes in the timing of snowmelt-derived streamflow from 1948 to 2002 were investigated in a network of 302 western North America gauges by examining the center of mass for flow, spring pulse onset dates, and seasonal fractional flows through trend and principal component analyses. Statistical analysis of the streamflow timing measures with Pacific climate indicators identified local and key large-scale processes that govern the regionally coherent parts of the changes and their relative importance. Widespread and regionally coherent trends toward earlier onsets of springtime snowmelt and streamflow have taken place across most of western North America, affecting an area that is much larger than previously recognized. These timing changes have resulted in increasing fractions of annual flow occurring earlier in the water year by 1-4 weeks. The immediate (or proximal) forcings for the spatially coherent parts of the year-to-year fluctuations and longer-term trends of streamflow timing have been higher winter and spring temperatures. Although these temperature changes are partly controlled by the decadal-scale Pacific climate mode [Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO)], a separate and significant part of the variance is associated with a springtime warming trend that spans the PDO phases. ?? 2005 American Meteorological Society.

Lunar crater depths from orbiter IV long-focus photographs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Arthur, D.W.G.

1974-01-01

The paper presents method and results for the determination of the depths of more than 1900 small lunar craters from measures of shadows on the long-focus pictures obtained by Lunar Orbiter IV. The method for converting the measured shadow length into the true length in nature of the shadow hypotenuse is new and is applicable to other planetary bodies provided comparable spacecraft ephemerides are available. The measures were made with a simple surveyor's plotting scale on the standard Orbiter IV photographic enlargements. The results indicate that the smaller lunar (D < 30 km) craters are appreciably deeper than is indicated by earlier work using imagery obtained at terrestrial observatories. ?? 1974.

Geographic differentiation of domesticated einkorn wheat and possible Neolithic migration routes.

PubMed

Brandolini, A; Volante, A; Heun, M

2016-09-01

To analyse the spread of domesticated einkorn into Europe, 136 landraces, 9 wild einkorns and 3 Triticum urartu were fingerprinted by the diversity array technology sequence (DArT-seq) marker technology. The obtained 3455 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers confirmed earlier results about the separation of wild and domesticated einkorn from T. urartu and about the pinpointing of the domesticated forms to the Karacadağ Mountains (Turkey). Further analyses identified two major domesticated landrace einkorn groups, one relating to the Prealpine region and the other to the Maghreb/Iberian region. The previously published four geographical provenance groups were mostly identified in our results. The earlier reported unique position of the Maghreb/Iberia einkorns cannot be confirmed, as the three landrace clusters we identified with STRUCTURE also occur in the remaining einkorn, although at different frequencies. The results are discussed with respect to the spreading of domesticated einkorn into Western Europe and two possible Neolithic migration routes are indicated.

Lexical stress encoding in single word production estimated by event-related brain potentials.

PubMed

Schiller, Niels O

2006-09-27

An event-related brain potentials (ERPs) experiment was carried out to investigate the time course of lexical stress encoding in language production. Native speakers of Dutch viewed a series of pictures corresponding to bisyllabic names which were either stressed on the first or on the second syllable and made go/no-go decisions on the lexical stress location of those picture names. Behavioral results replicated a pattern that was observed earlier, i.e. faster button-press latencies to initial as compared to final stress targets. The electrophysiological results indicated that participants could make a lexical stress decision significantly earlier when picture names had initial than when they had final stress. Moreover, the present data suggest the time course of lexical stress encoding during single word form formation in language production. When word length is corrected for, the temporal interval for lexical stress encoding specified by the current ERP results falls into the time window previously identified for phonological encoding in language production.

Establishing the thermal threshold of the tropical mussel Perna viridis in the face of global warming.

PubMed

Goh, B P L; Lai, C H

2014-08-30

With increasing recognition that maximum oxygen demand is the unifying limit in tolerance, the first line of thermal sensitivity is, as a corollary, due to capacity limitations at a high level of organisational complexity before individual, molecular or membrane functions become disturbed. In this study the tropical mussel Perna viridis were subjected to temperature change of 0.4 °C per hour from ambient to 8-36 °C. By comparing thermal mortality against biochemical indices (hsp70, gluthathione), physiological indices (glycogen, FRAP, NRRT) and behavioural indices (clearance rate), a hierarchy of thermal tolerance was therein elucidated, ranging from systemic to cellular to molecular levels. Generally, while biochemical indices indicated a stress signal much earlier than the more integrated behavioural indices, failure of the latter (indicating a tolerance limit and transition to pejus state) occurred much earlier than the other indices tending towards thermal extremities at both ends of the thermal spectrum. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The association of socio-economic position across the life course and age at menopause: the British Women's Heart and Health Study.

PubMed

Lawlor, Debbie A; Ebrahim, Shah; Smith, George Davey

2003-12-01

To assess the association of indicators of adverse socio-economic position from across the life course with age at menopause. Cross sectional study as part of the British Women's Heart and Health Study. 23 British towns. Three thousand and five hundred and thirteen women aged 60-79 years from a total cohort of 4286. Women who underwent a hysterectomy or oophorectomy prior to their 'natural' menopause or who were taking hormone replacement therapy around the perimenopausal period and for whom a biological age at menopause could not be calculated were excluded from this study. Age at menopause. Most of the 10 indicators of adverse socio-economic position from childhood through to adulthood were linearly associated with a younger age at menopause. In age adjusted analyses, women from manual social classes in childhood began their menopause on average 0.68 years (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.11, 1.3) earlier than those from non-manual social classes. Those who lived in a house as a child without a bathroom began their menopause 0.47 years (95% CI 0.12, 0.82) earlier than those with a bathroom. Those who shared a bedroom began 0.36 years (95% CI 0.03, 0.70) earlier than those who had their own bedroom and finally those who lived in a household with no access to a car as a child began their menopause 0.47 years (95% CI 0.02, 0.95) earlier than those with access to a car. Adult indicators of adverse socio-economic position were similarly associated with earlier age at menopause. Age at completing full time education was not substantively associated with age at menopause. The inverse associations between each of the indicators of both childhood and adult socio-economic position and age at menopause were not importantly affected by adjustment for other reproductive factors but they attenuated by between 6% and 21% with adjustment for adult smoking and body mass index. The inverse associations between each of the childhood indicators of socio-economic position only and age at menopause attenuated markedly (between 12% and 70%) with adjustment for adult leg length. There was a cumulative effect of disadvantage across the life course demonstrated by a strong linear trend between a composite score of the 10 socio-economic indicators and young age at menopause. The age at onset of menopause for women who had 9 or 10 adverse socio-economic indicators was on average 1.70 years (95% CI 0.36, 3.0) younger than that of women with none or only one indicator. Adverse socio-economic circumstances in childhood, as well as in adulthood, are associated with an earlier age at menopause. The association between childhood deprivation and early menopause may at least in part be mediated via exposures, such as childhood diet, which affect both linear growth and age at menopause.

Do Secular Trends in Skeletal Maturity Occur Equally in Both Sexes?

PubMed

Duren, Dana L; Nahhas, Ramzi W; Sherwood, Richard J

2015-08-01

Skeletal maturity assessment provides information on a child's physical development and expectations based on chronological age. Given recently recognized trends for earlier maturity in a variety of systems, most notably puberty, examination of sex-specific secular trends in skeletal maturation is important. For the orthopaedist, recent trends and changes in developmental timing can affect clinical management (eg, treatment timing) if they are currently based on outdated sources. (1) Has the male or female pediatric skeleton experienced a secular trend for earlier maturation over the past 80 years? (2) Do all indicators of maturity trend in the same direction (earlier versus later)? In this retrospective study, a total of 1240 children were examined longitudinally through hand-wrist radiographs for skeletal maturity based on the Fels method. All subjects participate in the Fels Longitudinal Study based in Ohio and were born between 1930 and 1964 for the "early" cohort and between 1965 and 2001 for the "recent" cohort. Sex-specific secular trends were estimated for (1) mean relative skeletal maturity through linear mixed models; and (2) median age of maturation for individual maturity indicators through logistic regression and generalized estimating equations. Overall relative skeletal maturity was significantly advanced in the recent cohort (maximum difference of 5 months at age 13 years for girls, 4 months at age 15 years for boys). For individual maturity indicators, the direction and magnitude of secular trends varied by indicator type and sex. The following statistically significant secular trends were found: (1) earlier maturation of indicators of fusion in both sexes (4 months for girls, 3 months for boys); (2) later maturation of indicators of projection in long bones in both sexes (3 months for girls, 2 months for boys); (3) earlier maturation of indicators of density (4 months) and projection (3 months) in carpals and density in long bones (6 months), for girls only; and (4) later maturation of indicators of long bone shape (3 months) for boys only. A secular trend has occurred in the tempo of maturation of individual components of the pediatric skeleton, and it has occurred in a sex-specific manner. The mosaic nature of this trend, with both earlier and later maturation of individual components of the skeletal age phenotype, calls for greater attention to specific aspects of maturation in addition to the overall skeletal age estimate. The Fels method is currently the most robust method for capturing these components, and future work by our group will deliver an updated, user-friendly version of the Fels assessment tool. Appreciation of sex-specific secular changes in maturation is important for clinical management, including treatment timing, of orthopaedic patients, because children today exhibit a different pattern of maturation than children on whom original maturity assessments were based (including Fels and Greulich-Pyle).

First on the List: Effectiveness at Self-Regulation and Prioritizing Difficult Exercise Goal Pursuit

PubMed Central

Delose, Julie E.; vanDellen, Michelle R.; Hoyle, Rick H.

2015-01-01

Identifying and understanding the goal pursuit strategies that distinguish effective self-regulators from less effective self-regulators is important for elucidating how individuals achieve their goals. We suggest that the timing of plans for difficult goal pursuits is one differentiation. A pilot study shows that effective self-regulators tend to believe they are best suited to pursue difficult goals earlier in the day, and two studies provide evidence that effective and less effective self-regulators differ in the timing of their plans for difficult goal pursuits. Results indicate that when exercising is perceived as difficult goal pursuit, effective self-regulators prioritize that difficult goal pursuit by planning to exercise earlier in the day whereas less effective self-regulators plan exercise for later in the day. PMID:26957951

Waist circumference in 6-12-year-old children: The Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP).

PubMed

Fredriksen, Per Morten; Skår, Angelica; Mamen, Asgeir

2018-05-01

With overweight and obesity increasing worldwide, it has become ever more important to monitor the development and distribution of adiposity in children. This study investigated how the measurements of waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in children 6-12 years old relate to earlier studies. In 2015, 2271 children (boys, n = 1150) were measured for height, weight, and WC. Parental education level was used as a measure of socioeconomic status. A significant increase in WC with age was revealed for both sexes ( p < .0001). Boys at 10 and 12 years had a larger WC than girls; otherwise no difference between sexes was found. The WHtR decreased with age for girls ( p < .0001); 14% of the sample displayed a WHtR ≥ 0.50. Comparison with earlier studies showed a higher WC and WHtR despite no change in weight and body mass index. WC and WHtR are recommended as tools for identifying central obesity in children. The results indicate increased WC in 6-12-year-old children compared with earlier findings.

Pajarito Plateau archaeological surveys and excavations. II

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

Steen, C R

1982-04-01

Los Alamos National Laboratory continues its archaeological program of data gathering and salvage excavations. Sites recently added to the archaeological survey are described, as well as the results of five excavations. Among the more interesting and important discoveries are (1) the apparently well-established local use of anhydrous lime, and (2) a late pre-Columbian use of earlier house sites and middens for garden plots. Evidence indicated that the local puebloan population was the result of an expansion of upper Rio Grande peoples, not an influx of migrants.

Almost Ten Years Later: An Analysis of Ethnic Inclusion in Public Relations Textbooks and Reference Books for the Years 1991-1997 as Compared to Kern-Foxworth's Analysis of Books for the Years 1979-1988.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannon, Sandra Wills

A study examined the contents of 18 public relations textbooks published between 1991-1997 to determine the quality of minority inclusion. Results indicated that, of the 8,071 pages examined, 97 pages included minorities. Findings suggest that the results of this study were not significantly different from those of a similar, earlier study of…

Comparison of calculations and measurements of neutron leakage from the Little Boy replica

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

Forehand, H.M.; Whalen, P.P.; Malenfant, R.E.

1984-01-01

Measurements of the neutron leakage spectra from 0.6 to 10 MeV are compared with several calculations and earlier measurements of coarse models of Little Boy. Results indicate excellent agreement except at the nose of the device where the neutron exit path is longer, and neutron streaming through geometric discontinuities may present problems. As a result of the agreement, the longstanding difference between calculations and measurements of the Ichiban critical asembly can be resolved: the results reported in 1965 were not correct.

Low-cost EEG-based sleep detection.

PubMed

Van Hal, Bryan; Rhodes, Samhita; Dunne, Bruce; Bossemeyer, Robert

2014-01-01

A real-time stage 1 sleep detection system using a low-cost single dry-sensor EEG headset is described. This device issues an auditory warning at the onset of stage 1 sleep using the "NeuroSky Mindset," an inexpensive commercial entertainment-based headset. The EEG signal is filtered into low/high alpha and low/high beta frequency bands which are analyzed to indicate the onset of sleep. Preliminary results indicate an 81% effective rate of detecting sleep with all failures being false positives of sleep onset. This device was able to predict and respond to the onset of drowsiness preceding stage 1 sleep allowing for earlier warnings with the result of fewer sleep-related accidents.

Seasonal greening of an Arctic ecosystem in response to early snowmelt and climate warming: do plant community responses differ from species responses?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steltzer, H.; Weintraub, M. N.; Sullivan, P.; Wallenstein, M. D.; Schimel, J.; Darrouzet-Nardi, A.; Shory, R.; Livensperger, C.; Melle, C.; Segal, A. D.; Daly, K.; Tsosie, T.

2011-12-01

In the Arctic and around the world, earlier plant growth and a longer growing season are indications that warmer temperatures or other global changes are changing the seasonality of the Earth's ecosystems. These changes in plant life histories have multi-trophic level consequences that affect food webs and biogeochemical cycles. Both the response of the plant community and of individual species can affect food and habitat resources for animals or nutrient resources for microbes. Our aim was to determine if the response of an Arctic plant community differs from individual species responses to climate change. For two years in an early snowmelt and climate warming experiment in moist acidic tussock tundra, we observed the seasonal greening of the ecosystem through near-surface measurements of surface greenness and through direct observations of the timing of plant life history events for five to eight common species that differ in growth form. In 2010 when snowmelt was accelerated by 4 days, earlier snowmelt alone or in combination with climate warming extended the life history of the dominant graminoids (E. vaginatum and C. bigelowii) and willow (S. pulchra) by 3 to 4 days. For these species, new leaf production began earlier, while the timing of senescence was similar to the controls. The effect of earlier snowmelt on the life histories of birch (B. nana) and cranberry (V. vitis-idaea) was less, but warming alone tended to increase life history duration. Warming led to earlier leaf expansion for birch and delayed senescence for cranberry. We found that the onset of greening for the plant community began four days earlier, due to the earlier loss of snow cover, and that warming accelerated the rate of greening. Peak season ended 4 days earlier in response to earlier snowmelt and climate warming, due to earlier senescence by birch. In 2011, our manipulation of the snowpack by increasing energy absorption accelerated snowmelt by 15 days and control plots were snowfree on almost the same date as in 2010. As a result greening began earlier and may have led to more varied effects on life history events among the species. In the Arctic, individual species and the plant community green up as soon as the snow is gone, creating food resources and hiding places for animals and a nutrient sink for available nitrogen. If warming temperatures also cue earlier animal development or arrival, resources should be available for most species. However, an early onset to growth can lead to early senescence for some plant species and shift the timing of peak season for the plant community. Animals that depend on late season resources may be affected, unless they can utilize the plant species for which senescence is delayed.

Low pressure ultraviolet studies for inactivation of Giardia muris cysts.

PubMed

Hayes, S L; Rice, E W; Ware, M W; Schaefer, F W

2003-01-01

The research was initiated to confirm earlier ultraviolet (u.v.) light inactivation studies performed on Giardia cysts using excystation as the viability indicator. Following this, a comparison of in vitro excystation and animal infectivity was performed for assessing cyst viability after exposure to low-pressure u.v. irradiation. Cysts of Giardia muris were inactivated using a low-pressure u.v. light source. Giardia muris was employed as a surrogate for the human pathogen Giardia lamblia. Cyst viability was determined by both in vitro excystation and animal infectivity. Cyst doses were counted using a flow cytometer for the animal infectivity experiments. Using in vitro excystation as the viability indicator, fluences as high as approximately 200 mJ cm(-2) did not prevent some cysts from excysting, thus verifying earlier work. Using animal infectivity, u.v. fluences of 1.4, 1.9 and 2.3 mJ cm(-2) yielded log10 reductions ranging from 0.3 to >or= 4.4. Results indicate that in vitro excystation is not a reliable indicator of G. muris cyst viability after u.v. disinfection. Very low doses of u.v. light rendered G. muris cysts non-infective in the mouse model employed. Data presented represent the only complete u.v. inactivation curve for G. muris. This research provides evidence that u.v. can be an effective barrier against Giardia spp. in the treatment of drinking water supplies.

Introduction of enhanced recovery for elective caesarean section enabling next day discharge: a tertiary centre experience.

PubMed

Wrench, I J; Allison, A; Galimberti, A; Radley, S; Wilson, M J

2015-05-01

The widespread adoption of enhanced recovery programmes in various surgical specialties has resulted in patient benefits including reduced morbidity, reduced length of stay and an earlier return to normal activities. This evidence, along with the increased financial pressures in the UK National Health Service, has led many units to consider introducing such a programme for obstetric surgery. We report our experience in setting up an enhanced recovery programme for women undergoing elective caesarean section and a prospective analysis of factors that influence length of stay. An enhanced recovery pathway was designed by a multidisciplinary team and introduced in March 2012. Factors influencing length of stay were determined using a log normal model. The proportion of women discharged on Day 1 increased from 1.6% in the first quarter of 2012 to 25.2% in the first quarter of 2014. The 30-day readmission rate was 4.4% for those discharged on Day 1 and 5.6% for Day 2. Earlier gestation, multiple birth, intention to breast feed, longer surgery and more time in the post-anaesthesia recovery unit were all independently associated with a longer postoperative stay. Women presenting for obstetric surgery with the indication "one previous caesarean section" were more likely to leave hospital earlier compared to most other indications. An enhanced recovery programme was successfully introduced into our unit. Many of the interventions were straightforward and could be adopted easily elsewhere. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A combination of body condition measurements is more informative than conventional condition indices: temporal variation in body condition and corticosterone in brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis).

PubMed

Waye, Heather L; Mason, Robert T

2008-02-01

The body condition index is a common method for quantifying the energy reserves of individual animals. Because good body condition is necessary for reproduction in many species, body condition indices can indicate the potential reproductive output of a population. Body condition is related to glucocorticoid production, in that low body condition is correlated to high concentrations of corticosterone in reptiles. We compared the body condition index and plasma corticosterone levels of brown tree snakes on Guam in 2003 to those collected in 1992/1993 to determine whether that population still showed the chronic stress and poor condition apparent in the earlier study. We also examined the relationship between fat mass, body condition and plasma corticosterone concentrations as indicators of physiological condition of individuals in the population. Body condition was significantly higher in 2003 than in the earlier sample for mature male and female snakes, but not for juveniles. The significantly lower levels of corticosterone in all three groups in 2003 suggests that although juveniles did not have significantly improved energy stores they, along with the mature males and females, were no longer under chronic levels of stress. Although the wet season of 2002 was unusually rainy, low baseline levels of corticosterone measured in 2000 indicate that the improved body condition of snakes in 2003 is likely the result of long-term changes in prey populations rather than annual variation in response to environmental conditions.

Perturbative calculation of two-photon double electron ionization of helium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, I. A.; Kheifets, A. S.

2008-05-01

We report the total integrated cross-section (TICS) of two-photon double ionization of helium in the photon energy range from 40 to 54 eV. We compute the TICS in the lowest order perturbation theory (LOPT) using the length and Kramers-Henneberger gauges of the electromagnetic interaction. Our findings indicate that the LOPT gives results for the TICS in agreement with our earlier non-perturbative calculations.

Military Forges Path Forward to Reduce Contingency Basing Energy Requirements

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

for environmental control. Unlike earlier phase change materials APChICs replace fluid modules with capillary structures that reduce bulk and...potential leaks. Initial test results indicate the power demand to heat and cool a shelter can be significantly reduced using composite insulation...instrumented our 18 month Joint Net Zero study at the National Training Center and captured on separate recorders, data on power draw of HVAC units and

Second chronological supplement to the Carcinogenic Potency Database: standardized results of animal bioassays published through December 1984 and by the National Toxicology Program through May 1986.

PubMed Central

Gold, L S; Slone, T H; Backman, G M; Magaw, R; Da Costa, M; Lopipero, P; Blumenthal, M; Ames, B N

1987-01-01

This paper is the second chronological supplement to the Carcinogenic Potency Database, published earlier in this journal (1,2,4). We report here results of carcinogenesis bioassays published in the general literature between January 1983 and December 1984, and in Technical Reports of the National Cancer Institute/National Toxicology Program between January 1983 and May 1986. This supplement includes results of 525 long-term, chronic experiments of 199 test compounds, and reports the same information about each experiment in the same plot format as the earlier papers: e.g., the species and strain of test animal, the route and duration of compound administration, dose level and other aspects of experimental protocol, histopathology and tumor incidence, TD50 (carcinogenic potency) and its statistical significance, dose response, author's opinion about carcinogenicity, and literature citation. We refer the reader to the 1984 publications for a description of the numerical index of carcinogenic potency (TD50), a guide to the plot of the database, and a discussion of the sources of data, the rationale for the inclusion of particular experiments and particular target sites, and the conventions adopted in summarizing the literature. The three plots of the database are to be used together, since results of experiments published in earlier plots are not repeated. Taken together, the three plots include results for more than 3500 experiments on 975 chemicals. Appendix 14 is an index to all chemicals in the database and indicates which plot(s) each chemical appears in. PMID:3691431

Association of timing of menarche with depressive symptoms and depression in adolescence: Mendelian randomisation study

PubMed Central

Sequeira, Maija-Eliina; Lewis, Sarah J.; Bonilla, Carolina; Smith, George Davey; Joinson, Carol

2017-01-01

Background Observational studies report associations between early menarche and higher levels of depressive symptoms and depression. However, no studies have investigated whether this association is causal. Aims To determine whether earlier menarche is a causal risk factor for depressive symptoms and depression in adolescence. Method The associations between a genetic score for age at menarche and depressive symptoms at 14, 17 and 19 years, and depression at 18 years, were examined using Mendelian randomisation analysis techniques. Results Using a genetic risk score to indicate earlier timing of menarche, we found that early menarche is associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms at 14 years (odds ratio per risk allele 1.02, 95% CI 1.005–1.04, n = 2404). We did not find an association between the early menarche risk score and depressive symptoms or depression after age 14. Conclusions Our results provide evidence for a causal effect of age at menarche on depressive symptoms at age 14. PMID:27491534

Nonresident Fatherhood and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: A Comparison of Siblings Approach

PubMed Central

Ryan, Rebecca M.

2017-01-01

Although voluminous research has linked nonresident fatherhood to riskier sexual behavior in adolescence, including earlier sexual debut, neither the causality of that link nor the mechanism accounting for it has been well-established. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979—the Young Adult Survey (CNLSY-YA), the present study addresses both questions by comparing the sexual development of siblings discordant for age at father departure from the home and examining results across behavioral (age at first intercourse), biological (pubertal timing), and cognitive (attitudes about childbearing and marriage) sexual outcomes (N = 5,542). Findings indicate that nonresident fatherhood, beginning either at birth or during middle childhood, leads to an earlier sexual debut for girls, but not for boys, an effect likely explained by weak parental monitoring rather than an accelerated reproductive strategy. PMID:25621757

Fetal fibronectin, cervical length, and the risk of preterm birth in patients with an ultrasound or physical exam indicated cervical cerclage.

PubMed

Kim, Renita S; Gupta, Simi; Lam-Rachlin, Jennifer; Saltzman, Daniel H; Rebarber, Andrei; Fox, Nathan S

2016-11-01

The objective of this study is to estimate the risk of preterm birth in patients with an ultrasound or physical exam indicated cervical cerclage based on the results of fetal fibronectin (fFN) and cervical length (CL) screening. Retrospective cohort of patients with a singleton pregnancy and an ultrasound or physical exam indicated Shirodkar cerclage placed by one maternal-fetal medicine practice from November 2005 to January 2015. Patients routinely underwent serial CL and fFN testing from 22 to 32 weeks. Based on ROC curve analysis, a short CL was defined as ≤15 mm. All fFN and CL results included are from after the cerclage placement. One hundred and four patients were included. Seventy eight (75%) patients had an ultrasound-indicated cerclage and 26 (25%) patients had a physical exam-indicated cerclage. A positive fFN was associate with preterm birth <32 weeks (15.6% versus 4.2%, p = 0.043),  <35 weeks (37.5% versus 11.1%, p = 0.002),  <37 weeks (65.6% versus 20.8%, p < 0.001), and earlier gestational ages at delivery (35.2 ± 3.9 versus 37.4 ± 2.9, p = 0.001). A short CL was also associated with preterm birth <35 weeks (50.0% versus 11.9%, p < 0.01), preterm birth <37 weeks (55.0% versus 29.8%, p = 0.033), and earlier gestational ages at delivery (34.8 ± 4.1 versus 37.2 ± 3.0, p = 0.004). The risk of preterm birth <32,  <35, and <37 weeks increased significantly with the number of abnormal markers. In patients with an ultrasound or physical exam indicated cerclage, a positive fFN and a short CL are both associated with preterm birth. The risk of preterm birth increases with the number of abnormal biomarkers.

Sampling And Resolution Enhancement Techniques For The Infrared Analysis Of Adsorbed Proteins.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuller, Michael P.; Singh, Bal R.

1989-12-01

In this report, we have analyzed the secondary structures of the dichain form of tetanus neurotoxin using. FT-IR and circular dichroic spectroscopies for a-helix, β-sheets, β-turns and random coils. These results indicate that the secondary structures are significantly different from those reported in earlier studies in that it shows much higher content of ordered structures (~50%) which could be significant for the function of the neurotoxin.

Contributions from associative and explicit sequence knowledge to the execution of discrete keying sequences.

PubMed

Verwey, Willem B

2015-05-01

Research has provided many indications that highly practiced 6-key sequences are carried out in a chunking mode in which key-specific stimuli past the first are largely ignored. When in such sequences a deviating stimulus occasionally occurs at an unpredictable location, participants fall back to responding to individual stimuli (Verwey & Abrahamse, 2012). The observation that in such a situation execution still benefits from prior practice has been attributed to the possibility to operate in an associative mode. To better understand the contribution to the execution of keying sequences of motor chunks, associative sequence knowledge and also of explicit sequence knowledge, the present study tested three alternative accounts for the earlier finding of an execution rate increase at the end of 6-key sequences performed in the associative mode. The results provide evidence that the earlier observed execution rate increase can be attributed to the use of explicit sequence knowledge. In the present experiment this benefit was limited to sequences that are executed at the moderately fast rates of the associative mode, and occurred at both the earlier and final elements of the sequences. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Efficiency of a postoperative treatment after rotator cuff repair with a continuous passive motion device (CPM)].

PubMed

Michael, J W-P; König, D P; Imhoff, A B; Martinek, V; Braun, S; Hübscher, M; Koch, C; Dreithaler, B; Bernholt, J; Preis, S; Loew, M; Rickert, M; Speck, M; Bös, L; Bidner, A; Eysel, P

2005-01-01

The main objective of this study was to prove that a postoperative combined continuous passive motion (CPM) and physiotherapy treatment protocol (CPM group) can achieve 90 degrees active abduction in the shoulder joint earlier than physiotherapy alone (PT group). The indication was a complete tear of the rotator cuff. The study was conducted under in-patient and out-patient conditions. 55 patients were included in this study. The prospective, randomized multicenter study design complies with DIN EN 540. The primary endpoint was the time span until 90 degrees active abduction was achieved by the patients. Patients in the CPM group reached the primary endpoint on average 12 days earlier than the control group. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.0292). Analyzing the secondary endpoints, e. g., pain and disablement, the results in the CPM group showed again advantages of the combined treatment protocol (CPM + physiotherapy). The postoperative treatment of a total tear of the rotator cuff with a combined continuous passive motion and physiotherapy protocol provided a significantly earlier range of motion in the shoulder joint than physiotherapy alone. There was no report of CPM-related adverse effects.

Type of iconicity influences children's comprehension of gesture.

PubMed

Hodges, Leslie E; Özçalışkan, Şeyda; Williamson, Rebecca

2018-02-01

Children produce iconic gestures conveying action information earlier than the ones conveying attribute information (Özçalışkan, Gentner, & Goldin-Meadow, 2014). In this study, we ask whether children's comprehension of iconic gestures follows a similar pattern, also with earlier comprehension of iconic gestures conveying action. Children, ages 2-4years, were presented with 12 minimally-informative speech+iconic gesture combinations, conveying either an action (e.g., open palm flapping as if bird flying) or an attribute (e.g., fingers spread as if bird's wings) associated with a referent. They were asked to choose the correct match for each gesture in a forced-choice task. Our results showed that children could identify the referent of an iconic gesture conveying characteristic action earlier (age 2) than the referent of an iconic gesture conveying characteristic attribute (age 3). Overall, our study identifies ages 2-3 as important in the development of comprehension of iconic co-speech gestures, and indicates that the comprehension of iconic gestures with action meanings is easier than, and may even precede, the comprehension of iconic gestures with attribute meanings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatial variability and trends of seasonal snowmelt processes over Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arndt, S.; Haas, C.

2017-12-01

Snow is one of the key drivers determining the seasonal energy and mass budgets of sea ice in the Southern Ocean. Here, we analyze radar backscatter time series from the European Remote Sensing Satellites (ERS)-1 and-2 scatterometers, from the Quick Scatterometer (QSCAT), and from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) in order to observe the regional and inter-annual variability of Antarctic snowmelt processes from 1992 to 2014. On perennial ice, seasonal backscatter changes show two different snowmelt stages: A weak backscatter rise indicating the initial warming and metamorphosis of the snowpack (pre-melt), followed by a rapid rise indicating the onset of internal snowmelt and thaw-freeze cycles (snowmelt). In contrast, similar seasonal backscatter cycles are absent on seasonal ice, preventing the periodic retrieval of spring/summer transitions. This may be due to the dominance of ice bottom melt over snowmelt, leading to flooding and ice disintegration before strong snowmelt sets in. Resulting snowmelt onset dates on perennial sea ice show the expected latitudinal gradient from early melt onsets (mid-November) in the northern Weddell Sea towards late (end-December) or even absent snowmelt conditions further south. This result is likely related to seasonal variations in solar shortwave radiation (absorption). In addition, observations with different microwave frequencies allow to detect changing snow properties at different depths. We show that short wavelengths of passive microwave observations indicate earlier pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates than longer wavelength scatterometer observations, in response to earlier warming of upper snow layers compared to lower snow layers. Similarly, pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates retrieved from Ku-Band radars were earlier by an average of 11 and 23 days, respectively, than those retrieved from C-Band. This time difference was used to correct melt onset dates retrieved from Ku-Band to compile a consistent time series from 1992 to 2014. The subsequent regression analysis showed that no significant temporal trend in the retrieved snowmelt onset dates can be observed, but strong inter-annual variability. This absence of any notable changes in snowmelt behavior is in line with the small observed temporal changes of the Antarctic sea ice cover and atmospheric warming

Transient radiative energy transfer in incompressible laminar flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tiwari, S. N.; Singh, D. J.

1987-01-01

Analysis and numerical procedures are presented to investigate the transient radiative interactions of nongray absorbing-emitting species in laminar fully-developed flows between two parallel plates. The particular species considered are OH, CO, CO2, and H2O and different mixtures of these. Transient and steady-state results are obtained for the temperaure distribution and bulk temperature for different plate spacings, wall temperatures, and pressures. Results, in general, indicate that the rate of radiative heating can be quite high during earlier times. This information is useful in designing thermal protection systems for transient operations.

Climate-induced alteration of hydrologic indicators in the Athabasca River Basin, Alberta, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eum, Hyung-Il; Dibike, Yonas; Prowse, Terry

2017-01-01

The hydrologic response of the Athabasca River Basin (ARB) in Alberta to projected changes in the future climate is investigated using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) process-based and distributed hydrologic model. The model forcings are derived from a selected set of GCMs from the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) statistically downscaled to a higher resolution (10 km) over Canada. Twelve hydrologic indicators that represent the magnitude and timing of the hydrologic regimes are evaluated for three 30-year time periods centered at the 1990s, 2050s and 2080s to identify significant alterations of hydrologic regimes between the reference and the two future periods using a t-test at 5% significance level. Hydrologic alteration factors (HAF) are also evaluated for each hydrologic indicator using the range of variability approach (RVA) to investigate projected changes in the distribution of these indicators. The results show increases in spring and winter flows for the two future periods at all hydrometric stations within the basin, resulting in an extended period of spring freshet. A higher rate of increase is projected for the stations located at the upper reach of the river because of the combined effects of increased precipitation and earlier snowmelt resulting from a warming climate. By contrast, summer flows are projected to decrease by up to 21% on average in the 2080s over most of the mainstem stations because of earlier snowmelt, increased evapotranspiration and no significant increase in summer precipitation. A water-management rule that optimizes impacts of water withdrawal from the lower reach of the Athabasca River under the current condition is also applied to the future scenarios to assess its relative performance under the projected climate conditions. The results indicate possible improvement in the water resources system performance in terms of increased reliability and resilience and reduced vulnerability during the two future periods as compared with those in the reference period mainly because of the projected increases in spring and winter flows, which has the potential to offset an expected future water deficit.

Primary care in Switzerland gains strength.

PubMed

Djalali, Sima; Meier, Tatjana; Hasler, Susann; Rosemann, Thomas; Tandjung, Ryan

2015-06-01

Although there is widespread agreement on health- and cost-related benefits of strong primary care in health systems, little is known about the development of the primary care status over time in specific countries, especially in countries with a traditionally weak primary care sector such as Switzerland. The aim of our study was to assess the current strength of primary care in the Swiss health care system and to compare it with published results of earlier primary care assessments in Switzerland and other countries. A survey of experts and stakeholders with insights into the Swiss health care system was carried out between February and March 2014. The study was designed as mixed-modes survey with a self-administered questionnaire based on a set of 15 indicators for the assessment of primary care strength. Forty representatives of Swiss primary and secondary care, patient associations, funders, health care authority, policy makers and experts in health services research were addressed. Concordance between the indicators of a strong primary care system and the real situation in Swiss primary care was rated with 0-2 points (low-high concordance). A response rate of 62.5% was achieved. Participants rated concordance with five indicators as 0 (low), with seven indicators as 1 (medium) and with three indicators as 2 (high). In sum, Switzerland achieved 13 of 30 possible points. Low scores were assigned because of the following characteristics of Swiss primary care: inequitable local distribution of medical resources, relatively low earnings of primary care practitioners compared to specialists, low priority of primary care in medical education and training, lack of formal guidelines for information transfer between primary care practitioners and specialists and disregard of clinical routine data in the context of medical service planning. Compared to results of an earlier assessment in Switzerland, an improvement of seven indicators could be stated since 1995. As a result, Switzerland previously classified as a country with low primary care strength was reclassified as country with intermediate primary care strength compared to 14 other countries. Low scored characteristics represent possible targets of future health care reforms. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Global Solar Magnetology and Reference Points of the Solar Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obridko, V. N.; Shelting, B. D.

2003-11-01

The solar cycle can be described as a complex interaction of large-scale/global and local magnetic fields. In general, this approach agrees with the traditional dynamo scheme, although there are numerous discrepancies in the details. Integrated magnetic indices introduced earlier are studied over long time intervals, and the epochs of the main reference points of the solar cycles are refined. A hypothesis proposed earlier concerning global magnetometry and the natural scale of the cycles is verified. Variations of the heliospheric magnetic field are determined by both the integrated photospheric i(B r )ph and source surface i(B r )ss indices, however, their roles are different. Local fields contribute significantly to the photospheric index determining the total increase in the heliospheric magnetic field. The i(B r )ss index (especially the partial index ZO, which is related to the quasi-dipolar field) determines narrow extrema. These integrated indices supply us with a “passport” for reference points, making it possible to identify them precisely. A prominent dip in the integrated indices is clearly visible at the cycle maximum, resulting in the typical double-peak form (the Gnevyshev dip), with the succeeding maximum always being higher than the preceding maximum. At the source surface, this secondary maximum significantly exceeds the primary maximum. Using these index data, we can estimate the progression expected for the 23rd cycle and predict the dates of the ends of the 23rd and 24th cycles (the middle of 2007 and December 2018, respectively).

Nonresident fatherhood and adolescent sexual behavior: a comparison of siblings approach.

PubMed

Ryan, Rebecca M

2015-02-01

Although voluminous research has linked nonresident fatherhood to riskier sexual behavior in adolescence, including earlier sexual debut, neither the causality of that link nor the mechanism accounting for it has been well-established. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979-the Young Adult Survey (CNLSY-YA), the present study addresses both questions by comparing the sexual development of siblings discordant for age at father departure from the home and examining results across behavioral (age at first intercourse), biological (pubertal timing), and cognitive (attitudes about childbearing and marriage) sexual outcomes (N = 5,542). Findings indicate that nonresident fatherhood, beginning either at birth or during middle childhood, leads to an earlier sexual debut for girls, but not for boys, an effect likely explained by weak parental monitoring rather than an accelerated reproductive strategy. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Nonlinear structure-composition relationships in the Ge 1-ySn y/Si(100) (y<0.15) system

DOE PAGES

Beeler, R.; Roucka, R.; Chizmeshya, A. V. G.; ...

2011-07-26

The compositional dependence of the cubic lattice parameter in Ge 1-ySn y alloys has been revisited. Large 1000-atom supercell ab initio simulations confirm earlier theoretical predictions that indicate a positive quadratic deviation from Vegard's law, albeit with a somewhat smaller bowing coefficient, θ = 0.047 Å, than found from 64-atom cell simulations (θ = 0.063 Å). On the other hand, measurements from an extensive set of alloy samples with compositions y < 0.15 reveal a negative deviation from Vegard's law. The discrepancy with earlier experimental data, which supported the theoretical results, is traced back to an unexpected compositional dependence ofmore » the residual strain after growth on Si substrates. The experimental bowing parameter for the relaxed lattice constant of the alloys is found to be θ = -0.066 Å. Possible reasons for the disagreement between theory and experiment are discussed in detail.« less

Calcium ionization balance and argon/calcium abundance in solar flares

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonucci, E.; Marocchi, D.; Gabriel, A. H.; Doschek, G. A.

1987-12-01

An earlier analysis of solar flare calcium spectra from XRP and P78-1 aimed at measuring the calcium ionization balance resulted in an ambiguity due to a line blend between the calcium q line and an Ar XVII line. In the present work the calcium line 'r' is included in the analysis in order to resolve this problem. It is shown that the correct calcium ionization balance is that indicated in the earlier paper as corresponding to an argon/calcium abundance ratio of 0.2. The argon/calcium abundance ratio in the group of solar flares studied is shown to be 0.2 + or - 0.2. It is further argued that while the abundance of heavy elements may be enhanced in energetic flare events, this enhancement is less for argon than for calcium, leading to an argon/calcium ratio smaller than that present in the quiet sun.

Pupillary dynamics reveal computational cost in sentence planning.

PubMed

Sevilla, Yamila; Maldonado, Mora; Shalóm, Diego E

2014-01-01

This study investigated the computational cost associated with grammatical planning in sentence production. We measured people's pupillary responses as they produced spoken descriptions of depicted events. We manipulated the syntactic structure of the target by training subjects to use different types of sentences following a colour cue. The results showed higher increase in pupil size for the production of passive and object dislocated sentences than for active canonical subject-verb-object sentences, indicating that more cognitive effort is associated with more complex noncanonical thematic order. We also manipulated the time at which the cue that triggered structure-building processes was presented. Differential increase in pupil diameter for more complex sentences was shown to rise earlier as the colour cue was presented earlier, suggesting that the observed pupillary changes are due to differential demands in relatively independent structure-building processes during grammatical planning. Task-evoked pupillary responses provide a reliable measure to study the cognitive processes involved in sentence production.

Possible existence of wormholes in the central regions of halos

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

Rahaman, Farook, E-mail: rahaman@iucaa.ernet.in; Salucci, P., E-mail: salucci@sissa.it; INFN, Sezione di Trieste, Via Valerio 2, 34127, Trieste

2014-11-15

An earlier study (Rahaman, et al., 2014 and Kuhfittig, 2014) has demonstrated the possible existence of wormholes in the outer regions of the galactic halo, based on the Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW) density profile. This paper uses the Universal Rotation Curve (URC) dark matter model to obtain analogous results for the central parts of the halo. This result is an important compliment to the earlier result, thereby confirming the possible existence of wormholes in most of the spiral galaxies. - Highlights: • Earlier we showed possible existence of wormholes in the outer regions of halo. • We obtain here analogous results for themore » central parts of the galactic halo. • Our result is an important compliment to the earlier result. • This confirms possible existence of wormholes in most of the spiral galaxies.« less

Are young first and second generation immigrants at a disadvantage in the Australian labor market?

PubMed

Maani, S A

1994-01-01

"This paper examines the assimilation hypothesis for young adult first- and second-generation immigrants in Australia. Models of the total weeks of unemployment and the number of spells of unemployment are examined as indicators of relative labor market conditions. The study differs from earlier work by focusing on young first- and second-generation immigrants and by utilizing information over four consecutive years of the Australian Longitudinal Survey (ALS) data, a comprehensive data set compiled for 1985-1988. The results consistently indicate that even when controlling for qualifications, both first- and second-generation immigrants are at a disadvantage." excerpt

Brief Report: Applying an Indicator Set to Survey the Health of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Europe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walsh, Patricia Noonan

2008-01-01

This report gives an account of applying a health survey tool by the "Pomona" Group that earlier documented the process of developing a set of health indicators for people with intellectual disabilities in Europe. The "Pomona" health indicator set mirrors the much larger set of health indicators prepared by the European…

Desire, longing and vanity: emotions behind successful return to work for women on long-term sick leave.

PubMed

Ahrberg, Y; Landstad, B J; Bergroth, A; Ekholm, J

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to identify situations and phenomena that have simplified returning to work for women on long-term sick leave. Seven women who were exposed to a relatively large number of risk factors that normally are associated with difficulties in returning to work. In-depth interviews with qualitative content analysis. The analysis indicated four main categories of factors: The Individual, Interactions, Surrounding Resources, and Situations. In each of the main categories structural factors exist and it appears that these have been of significant importance to the women in their return to work. These are presented as Key Factors and they are: clarification of--and the need for--support in the personal process of change; desire, longing, and vanity; respectful interactions between the individual and people in her surroundings; the structure and content of the rehabilitation clinic; the importance of the perceived reality; and the individual's sense of control during the work related rehabilitation process. The results mostly revealed phenomena that have been indicated and described in earlier research studies. However, emotions such as desire, longing and vanity as motivation and driving forces behind a return to work have not been earlier described.

Event-related potentials during visual selective attention in children of alcoholics.

PubMed

van der Stelt, O; Gunning, W B; Snel, J; Kok, A

1998-12-01

Event-related potentials were recorded from 7- to 18-year-old children of alcoholics (COAs, n = 50) and age- and sex-matched control children (n = 50) while they performed a visual selective attention task. The task was to attend selectively to stimuli with a specified color (red or blue) in an attempt to detect the occurrence of target stimuli. COAs manifested a smaller P3b amplitude to attended-target stimuli over the parietal and occipital scalp than did the controls. A more specific analysis indicated that both the attentional relevance and the target properties of the eliciting stimulus determined the observed P3b amplitude differences between COAs and controls. In contrast, no significant group differences were observed in attention-related earlier occurring event-related potential components, referred to as frontal selection positivity, selection negativity, and N2b. These results represent neurophysiological evidence that COAs suffer from deficits at a late (semantic) level of visual selective information processing that are unlikely a consequence of deficits at earlier (sensory) levels of selective processing. The findings support the notion that a reduced visual P3b amplitude in COAs represents a high-level processing dysfunction indicating their increased vulnerability to alcoholism.

Sensitivity ranking for freshwater invertebrates towards hydrocarbon contaminants.

PubMed

Gerner, Nadine V; Cailleaud, Kevin; Bassères, Anne; Liess, Matthias; Beketov, Mikhail A

2017-11-01

Hydrocarbons have an utmost economical importance but may also cause substantial ecological impacts due to accidents or inadequate transportation and use. Currently, freshwater biomonitoring methods lack an indicator that can unequivocally reflect the impacts caused by hydrocarbons while being independent from effects of other stressors. The aim of the present study was to develop a sensitivity ranking for freshwater invertebrates towards hydrocarbon contaminants, which can be used in hydrocarbon-specific bioindicators. We employed the Relative Sensitivity method and developed the sensitivity ranking S hydrocarbons based on literature ecotoxicological data supplemented with rapid and mesocosm test results. A first validation of the sensitivity ranking based on an earlier field study has been conducted and revealed the S hydrocarbons ranking to be promising for application in sensitivity based indicators. Thus, the first results indicate that the ranking can serve as the core component of future hydrocarbon-specific and sensitivity trait based bioindicators.

Clinical and Epidemiological Studies on Rickettsial Infections.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-06-01

investigations currently or fo Tly undertaken with the collaboration or spotof the following or n’iztiona- 1) In, Ethiopia : Naval Medical Research Uit-S.. 2) In B...data from the continuing studies in Burma ocanplement and extend our earlier investigati6ns in Ethiopia , we now sumarize those results frm the Ethiopian...TESTS COMPARING RATES IN RATTUS RATTUS A14D MUS MUSCULUS WITH OTHER RODENTS (INDOORS AND OUTDOORS) IN ETHIOPIA , WITH INDICATION OP THEIR MAJOR

Supra-normal age-linked retrograde amnesia: lessons from an older amnesic (H.M.).

PubMed

MacKay, Donald G; Hadley, Christopher

2009-05-01

MacKay and James (2001) demonstrated greater-than-normal retrograde amnesia (RA) for lexical-semantic information in amnesic H.M., a deficit that worsened with aging or represented supranormal age-linked RA (SARA). The present experiments extend these earlier observations to new types of information. Experiment 1 participants (H.M. and carefully matched memory-normal controls) named pictures on the Boston Naming Test and H.M. correctly named reliably fewer pictures with low frequency names, he produced unusual naming errors, and he benefited reliably less than the controls from phonological cues to the target word. Experiment 2 participants recalled irregularly-spelled aspects of familiar words in a two-choice recognition memory task and H.M. chose the correct spelling reliably less often than the controls. Experiment 3 participants read low frequency words aloud at age 73 and H.M. produced reliably more reading errors than the controls. Results of all three experiments indicate supranormal RA (SRA) for information once familiar to H.M. and comparisons with earlier studies using similar or identical stimuli indicated that H.M.'s SRA has worsened with aging from 1980 to 1999. In short, H.M. exhibits SARA for phonological and orthographic information, consistent with the MacKay and James results and with interactions between aging and amnesia predicted under binding theory. Copyright 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Advanced Atherogenic Index for the Assessment of Consolidated Lipid Risk in Premature Coronary Artery Disease Patients in India.

PubMed

Bansal, Sanjiv Kumar; Agarwal, Sarita; Daga, Mridul Kumar

2016-01-01

The high prevalence, severity, and prematurity of coronary artery disease (CAD) in the Indian population cannot be completely explained by the conventional lipid parameters and the existing lipid indices. To calculate newly defined advanced atherogenic index (AAI) in premature CAD patients and compare it between cases and controls and Correlate its values with the existing indices. One hundred and twenty premature CAD patients and an equal number of age and sex matched healthy individuals were included in this study. Lipid profile and nonconventional lipid parameters like oxidized Low density lipoprotein (OX LDL), small dense LDL (SD LDL), lipoprotein (a) apolipoprotein B (Apo B), and apolipoprotein A1 (Apo A1) were estimated and their values were used to define AAI and existing lipid indices like AI, lipid tetrad index (LTI) and lipid pentad index (LPI). The mean age of cases and controls was 37.29 + 4.50 and 36.13 + 3.53 years, respectively. The value of AAI was highly significant in cases (3461.22 ± 45.20) as compared to controls (305.84 ± 21.80). AAI has shown better statistical significance and correlation (P < 0.0001, r = 0.737) as compared to the earlier indices such as AI (P < 0.01, r = 0.52), LTI (P < 0.001, r = 0.677) and LPI (P < 0.001, r = 0.622) in premature CAD. Kolmogorov D statistic and cumulative distribution function plot has shown that AAI can discriminate cases and controls more accurately as compared to the earlier indices. Statistically AAI appears to be a better marker of consolidated lipid risk in premature CAD patients as compared to the earlier indices.

Arctic Indicators of Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanitski, D.; Druckenmiller, M.; Fetterer, F. M.; Gerst, M.; Intrieri, J. M.; Kenney, M. A.; Meier, W.; Overland, J. E.; Stroeve, J. C.; Trainor, S.

2016-12-01

The Arctic is undergoing unprecedented change. Indicators of change enable better decision-making at the community to policy levels. The results presented here focus on a subset of physical, biological, societal, and economic indicators of Arctic change recommended in one of a group of papers emanating from the earlier National Climate Indicators System (NCIS) work led by Kenney et al. (2016). The intent of the NCIS was to establish a "system of physical, natural, and societal indicators that communicate and inform decisions about key aspects of the physical climate, climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and preparedness" in support of the sustained U.S. National Climate Assessment. Our analysis, guided by a tailored selection and recommendation criteria, resulted in a list of "existing" indicators, as well as those "in development", "recommended", and "aspirational". A goal of this effort is to identify a set of both lagging and leading indicators that is based on reliable and sustained data sources with known user communities. We intend for these indicators to guide decision-makers in their responses to climate change, and ideally help inform decisions of groups like the Arctic Council and U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) as they develop plans and priorities.

Negative effects of climate warming on maize yield are reversed by the changing of sowing date and cultivar selection in Northeast China.

PubMed

Liu, Zhijuan; Hubbard, Kenneth G; Lin, Xiaomao; Yang, Xiaoguang

2013-11-01

Northeast China (NEC) accounts for about 30% of the nation's maize production in China. In the past three decades, maize yields in NEC have increased under changes in climate, cultivar selection and crop management. It is important to investigate the contribution of these changing factors to the historical yield increases to improve our understanding of how we can ensure increased yields in the future. In this study, we use phenology observations at six sites from 1981 to 2007 to detect trends in sowing dates and length of maize growing period, and then combine these observations with in situ temperature data to determine the trends of thermal time in the maize growing period, as a measure of changes in maize cultivars. The area in the vicinity of these six sites accounts for 30% of NEC's total maize production. The agricultural production systems simulator, APSIM-Maize model, was used to separate the impacts of changes in climate, sowing dates and thermal time requirements on maize phenology and yields. In NEC, sowing dates trended earlier in four of six sites and maturity dates trended later by 4-21 days. Therefore, the period from sowing to maturity ranged from 2 to 38 days longer in 2007 than it was in 1981. Our results indicate that climate trends alone would have led to a negative impact on maize. However, results from the adaptation assessments indicate that earlier sowing dates increased yields by up to 4%, and adoption of longer season cultivars caused a substantial increase in yield ranging from 13% to 38% over the past 27 years. Therefore, earlier sowing dates and introduction of cultivars with higher thermal time requirements in NEC have overcome the negative effects of climate change and turned what would have otherwise been a loss into a significant increase in maize yield. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Rectifying an Honest Error in World University Rankings: A Solution to the Problem of Indicator Weight Discrepancies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soh, Kaycheng

2013-01-01

Discrepancies between the nominal and attained indicator weights misinform rank consumers as to the relative importance of the indicators. This may lead to unwarranted institutional judgements and misdirected actions, causing resources being wasted unnecessarily. As a follow-up to two earlier studies, data from the Academic Ranking of World…

Difficulties in detecting behavioral symptoms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration across cultures

PubMed Central

Papatriantafyllou, J. D.; Viskontas, I. V.; Papageorgiou, S.G.; Miller, B. L.; Pavlic, D.; Bingol, A.; Yener, G.

2009-01-01

Cross-cultural studies of neurodegenerative disorders are especially important when the disease in question is difficult to diagnose, particularly if symptoms of the illness include behavioral disturbances that may be interpreted differently in different cultures. One such disease is frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), an early-age-of-onset dementia that disproportionately affects social behavior. We report the demographic and neuropsychological characteristics of more than 300 patients diagnosed with FTLD in the United States (US), Greece and Turkey. We find that patients with the frontal variant of FTLD (FTD) are diagnosed at an earlier age and report earlier symptom onset in the US, than in Greece or Turkey. Furthermore, neuropsychological measures indicate that at diagnosis, FTD patients in the US are less impaired than patients in Greece and Turkey. Patients with FTD in Greece and Turkey are diagnosed later in the disease, presumably because their behavioral symptoms are not easily detected by the medical system in these countries. Our study underscores the need to create culturally-appropriate indices of the behavioral symptoms of FTLD, so that patients may be diagnosed and treated at an earlier stage. PMID:18695586

Difficulties in detecting behavioral symptoms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration across cultures.

PubMed

Papatriantafyllou, John D; Viskontas, Indre V; Papageorgiou, Sokratis G; Miller, Bruce L; Pavlic, Danijela; Bingol, Ayse; Yener, Gorsev

2009-01-01

Cross-cultural studies of neurodegenerative disorders are especially important when the disease in question is difficult to diagnose, particularly if symptoms of the illness include behavioral disturbances that may be interpreted differently in different cultures. One such disease is frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), an early-age-of-onset dementia that disproportionately affects social behavior. We report the demographic and neuropsychologic characteristics of more than 300 patients diagnosed with FTLD in the United States, Greece, and Turkey. We find that patients with the frontal variant of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are diagnosed at an earlier age and report earlier symptom onset in the United States than in Greece or Turkey. Furthermore, neuropsychologic measures indicate that at diagnosis, FTD patients in the United States are less impaired than patients in Greece and Turkey. Patients with FTD in Greece and Turkey are diagnosed later in the disease, presumably because their behavioral symptoms are not easily detected by the medical system in these countries. Our study underscores the need to create culturally appropriate indices of the behavioral symptoms of FTLD, so that patients may be diagnosed and treated at an earlier stage.

[Effects of low temperature on dormancy breaking and growth after planting in bulbs of Tulipa edulis].

PubMed

Yang, Ying; Zhu, Zai-Biao; Guo, Qiao-Sheng; Miao, Yuan-Yuan; Ma, Hong-Liang; Yang, Xiao-Hua

2015-01-01

The effect of low temperature storage on dormancy breaking, sprouting and growth after planting of Tulipa edulis was studied. The results showed that starch content and activity of amylases significantly decreased during 10 weeks of cold storage, soluble protein content raised at first then decreased, and the peak appeared at the 6th week. However, total soluble sugar content which in- creased slowly at first than rose sharply and reducing sugar content increased during the storage duration. The bulbs with cold storage treatment rooted in the 6th week, which was about 2 weeks earlier than room temperature storage, but there were less new roots in the late period of storage. After stored at a low temperature, bud lengths were longer than that with room temperature treatment. Cold storage treatment could promote earlier emergence, shorten germination time, prolong growth period and improve the yield of bulb, but rarely affect the emergence rate. It was not beneficial to flowering and fruiting. The results indicated that 6-8 weeks of cold storage was deemed to be the key period of dormancy breaking preliminary.

Cyclotron production of 48V via natTi(d,x)48V nuclear reaction; a promising radionuclide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Usman, A. R.; Khandaker, M. U.; Haba, H.

2017-06-01

In this experimental work, we studied the excitation function of natTi(d,x)48V nuclear reactions from 24 MeV down to threshold energy. Natural titanium foils were arranged in the popular stacked-foil method and activated with deuteron beam generated from an AVF cyclotron at RIKEN, Wako, Japan. The emitted γ activities from the activated foils were measured using an offline γ-ray spectrometry. The present results were analyzed, compared with earlier published experimental data and also with the evaluated data of Talys code. Our new measured data agree with some of the earlier reported experimental data while a partial agreement is found with the evaluated theoretical data. In addition to the use of 48V as a beam intensity monitor, recent studies indicate its potentials as calibrating source in PET cameras and also as a (radioactive) label for medical applications. The results are also expected to further enrich the experimental database and also to play an important role in nuclear reactions model codes design.

Loneliness over time: The crucial role of social anxiety.

PubMed

Lim, Michelle H; Rodebaugh, Thomas L; Zyphur, Michael J; Gleeson, John F M

2016-07-01

Loneliness is known to be associated with multiple adverse physical outcomes, including higher mortality and morbidity risk. However, the impact of loneliness on mental health is less well researched, with most studies assessing how loneliness relates to depressive symptoms alone. We hypothesized that 2 mental health symptoms that relate to the fear of others-social anxiety and paranoia-would contribute to loneliness. We examined how loneliness relates to social anxiety, paranoia, and depression symptoms in a general community sample aged 18-87 years old (N = 1,010). We administered online measures over 3 time points across a 6-month period. In a cross-lagged structural equation model controlling for trait levels and prior states, our results indicated that earlier loneliness positively predicted future states of social anxiety, paranoia, and depression. However, in the same model, earlier social anxiety was the only predictor of future loneliness. These results suggest that loneliness may be a potential antecedent to emerging mental health symptoms and that identifying and treating co-occurring social anxiety symptoms may reduce the severity of loneliness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Effect of thermal stresses on the mechanism of tooth pain.

PubMed

Oskui, Iman Z; Ashtiani, Mohammed N; Hashemi, Ata; Jafarzadeh, Hamid

2014-11-01

Daily hot and cold thermal loadings on teeth may result in structural deformation, mechanical stress, and pain signaling. The aim of this study was to compare the adverse effects of hot and cold beverages on an intact tooth and, then, to provide physical evidence to support the hydrodynamic theory of tooth pain sensation mechanism. Three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed on a premolar model subjected to hot and cold thermal loadings. Elapsed times for heat diffusion and stress detection at the pulp-dentin junction were calculated as measures of the pain sensation. Extreme tensile stress within the enamel resulted in damage in cold loadings. Also, extreme values of stress at the pulpal wall occurred 21.6 seconds earlier than extreme temperatures in hot and cold loadings. The intact tooth was remarkably vulnerable to cold loading. Earlier changes in mechanical stress rather than temperature at the pulp-dentin junction indicate that the dental pain caused by hot or cold beverages may be based on the hydrodynamic theory. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Turbulent flow in a 180 deg bend: Modeling and computations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaul, Upender K.

1989-01-01

A low Reynolds number k-epsilon turbulence model was presented which yields accurate predictions of the kinetic energy near the wall. The model is validated with the experimental channel flow data of Kreplin and Eckelmann. The predictions are also compared with earlier results from direct simulation of turbulent channel flow. The model is especially useful for internal flows where the inflow boundary condition of epsilon is not easily prescribed. The model partly derives from some observations based on earlier direct simulation results of near-wall turbulence. The low Reynolds number turbulence model together with an existing curvature correction appropriate to spinning cylinder flows was used to simulate the flow in a U-bend with the same radius of curvature as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Turn-Around Duct (TAD). The present computations indicate a space varying curvature correction parameter as opposed to a constant parameter as used in the spinning cylinder flows. Comparison with limited available experimental data is made. The comparison is favorable, but detailed experimental data is needed to further improve the curvature model.

A New Understanding of the Europa Atmosphere and Limits on Geophysical Activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shemansky, D. E.; Yung, Y. L.; Liu, X.; Yoshii, J.; Hansen, C. J.; Hendrix, A. R.; Esposito, L. W.

2014-12-01

Deep extreme ultraviolet spectrograph exposures of the plasma sheet at the orbit of Europa, obtained in 2001 using the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph experiment, have been analyzed to determine the state of the gas. The results are in basic agreement with earlier results, in particular with Voyager encounter measurements of electron density and temperature. Mass loading rates and lack of detectable neutrals in the plasma sheet, however, are in conflict with earlier determinations of atmospheric composition and density at Europa. A substantial fraction of the plasma species at the Europa orbit are long-lived sulfur ions originating at Io, with ~25% derived from Europa. During the outward radial diffusion process to the Europa orbit, heat deposition forces a significant rise in plasma electron temperature and latitudinal size accompanied with conversion to higher order ions, a clear indication that mass loading from Europa is very low. Analysis of far ultraviolet spectra from exposures on Europa leads to the conclusion that earlier reported atmospheric measurements have been misinterpreted. The results in the present work are also in conflict with a report that energetic neutral particles imaged by the Cassini ion and neutral camera experiment originate at the Europa orbit. An interpretation of persistent energetic proton pitch angle distributions near the Europa orbit as an effect of a significant population of neutral gas is also in conflict with the results of the present work. The general conclusion drawn here is that Europa is geophysically far less active than inferred in previous research, with mass loading of the plasma sheet <=4.5 × 1025 atoms s-1 two orders of magnitude below earlier published calculations. Temporal variability in the region joining the Io and Europa orbits, based on the accumulated evidence, is forced by the response of the system to geophysical activity at Io. No evidence for the direct injection of H2O into the Europa atmosphere or from Europa into the magnetosphere system, as has been observed at Enceladus in the Saturn system, is obtained in the present investigation.

A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF THE EUROPA ATMOSPHERE AND LIMITS ON GEOPHYSICAL ACTIVITY

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

Shemansky, D. E.; Liu, X.; Yoshii, J.

2014-12-20

Deep extreme ultraviolet spectrograph exposures of the plasma sheet at the orbit of Europa, obtained in 2001 using the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph experiment, have been analyzed to determine the state of the gas. The results are in basic agreement with earlier results, in particular with Voyager encounter measurements of electron density and temperature. Mass loading rates and lack of detectable neutrals in the plasma sheet, however, are in conflict with earlier determinations of atmospheric composition and density at Europa. A substantial fraction of the plasma species at the Europa orbit are long-lived sulfur ions originating at Io, with ∼25%more » derived from Europa. During the outward radial diffusion process to the Europa orbit, heat deposition forces a significant rise in plasma electron temperature and latitudinal size accompanied with conversion to higher order ions, a clear indication that mass loading from Europa is very low. Analysis of far ultraviolet spectra from exposures on Europa leads to the conclusion that earlier reported atmospheric measurements have been misinterpreted. The results in the present work are also in conflict with a report that energetic neutral particles imaged by the Cassini ion and neutral camera experiment originate at the Europa orbit. An interpretation of persistent energetic proton pitch angle distributions near the Europa orbit as an effect of a significant population of neutral gas is also in conflict with the results of the present work. The general conclusion drawn here is that Europa is geophysically far less active than inferred in previous research, with mass loading of the plasma sheet ≤4.5 × 10{sup 25} atoms s{sup –1} two orders of magnitude below earlier published calculations. Temporal variability in the region joining the Io and Europa orbits, based on the accumulated evidence, is forced by the response of the system to geophysical activity at Io. No evidence for the direct injection of H{sub 2}O into the Europa atmosphere or from Europa into the magnetosphere system, as has been observed at Enceladus in the Saturn system, is obtained in the present investigation.« less

Animal Detection in Natural Images: Effects of Color and Image Database

PubMed Central

Zhu, Weina; Drewes, Jan; Gegenfurtner, Karl R.

2013-01-01

The visual system has a remarkable ability to extract categorical information from complex natural scenes. In order to elucidate the role of low-level image features for the recognition of objects in natural scenes, we recorded saccadic eye movements and event-related potentials (ERPs) in two experiments, in which human subjects had to detect animals in previously unseen natural images. We used a new natural image database (ANID) that is free of some of the potential artifacts that have plagued the widely used COREL images. Color and grayscale images picked from the ANID and COREL databases were used. In all experiments, color images induced a greater N1 EEG component at earlier time points than grayscale images. We suggest that this influence of color in animal detection may be masked by later processes when measuring reation times. The ERP results of go/nogo and forced choice tasks were similar to those reported earlier. The non-animal stimuli induced bigger N1 than animal stimuli both in the COREL and ANID databases. This result indicates ultra-fast processing of animal images is possible irrespective of the particular database. With the ANID images, the difference between color and grayscale images is more pronounced than with the COREL images. The earlier use of the COREL images might have led to an underestimation of the contribution of color. Therefore, we conclude that the ANID image database is better suited for the investigation of the processing of natural scenes than other databases commonly used. PMID:24130744

Reduced pressure ice fog technique for controlled ice nucleation during freeze-drying.

PubMed

Patel, Sajal M; Bhugra, Chandan; Pikal, Michael J

2009-01-01

A method to achieve controlled ice nucleation during the freeze-drying process using an ice fog technique was demonstrated in an earlier report. However, the time required for nucleation was about 5 min, even though only one shelf was used, which resulted in Ostwald ripening (annealing) in some of the vials that nucleated earlier than the others. As a result, the ice structure was not optimally uniform in all the vials. The objective of the present study is to introduce a simple variation of the ice fog method whereby a reduced pressure in the chamber is utilized to allow more rapid and uniform freezing which is also potentially easier to scale up. Experiments were conducted on a lab scale freeze dryer with sucrose as model compound at different concentration, product load, and fill volume. Product resistance during primary drying was measured using manometric temperature measurement. Specific surface area of the freeze-dried cake was also determined. No difference was observed either in average product resistance or specific surface area for the different experimental conditions studied, indicating that with use of the reduced pressure ice fog technique, the solutions nucleated at very nearly the same temperature (-10 degrees C). The striking feature of the "Reduced Pressure Ice Fog Technique" is the rapid ice nucleation (less than a minute) under conditions where the earlier procedure required about 5 min; hence, effects of variable Ostwald ripening were not an issue.

Inheritance of dermatoglyphic asymmetry and diversity traits in twins based on factor: variance decomposition analysis.

PubMed

Karmakar, Bibha; Malkin, Ida; Kobyliansky, Eugene

2013-06-01

Dermatoglyphic asymmetry and diversity traits from a large number of twins (MZ and DZ) were analyzed based on principal factors to evaluate genetic effects and common familial environmental influences on twin data by the use of maximum likelihood-based Variance decomposition analysis. Sample consists of monozygotic (MZ) twins of two sexes (102 male pairs and 138 female pairs) and 120 pairs of dizygotic (DZ) female twins. All asymmetry (DA and FA) and diversity of dermatoglyphic traits were clearly separated into factors. These are perfectly corroborated with the earlier studies in different ethnic populations, which indicate a common biological validity perhaps exists of the underlying component structures of dermatoglyphic characters. Our heritability result in twins clearly showed that DA_F2 is inherited mostly in dominant type (28.0%) and FA_F1 is additive (60.7%), but no significant difference in sexes was observed for these factors. Inheritance is also very prominent in diversity Factor 1, which is exactly corroborated with our previous findings. The present results are similar with the earlier results of finger ridge count diversity in twin data, which suggested that finger ridge count diversity is under genetic control.

Modeling of Nitrogen Oxides Emissions from CFB Combustion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kallio, S.; Keinonen, M.

In this work, a simplified description of combustion and nitrogen oxides chemistry was implemented in a 1.5D model framework with the aim to compare the results with ones earlier obtained with a detailed reaction scheme. The simplified chemistry was written using 12 chemical components. Heterogeneous chemistry is given by the same models as in the earlier work but the homogeneous and catalytic reactions have been altered. The models have been taken from the literature. The paper describes the numerical model with emphasis on the chemistry submodels. A simulation of combustion of bituminous coal in the Chalmers 12 MW boiler is conducted and the results are compared with the results obtained earlier with the detailed chemistry description. The results are also compared with measured O2, CO, NO and N2O profiles. The simplified reaction scheme produces equally good results as earlier obtained with the more elaborate chemistry description.

On the Search for the Amino Acids on the Lunar Surface as it Relates to Other Extraterrestrial Bodies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoover, Richard B.; Kolb, Vera M.

2009-01-01

The early search for the amino acids on the lunar surface fines indicated such a low amount of the amino acids that it was deemed insignifi cant. While the later studies seemed to depart in some ways from the earlier results, they were not pursued. In this paper we critically ev aluate the results from the Apollo missions from the new perspective with considerations of the sensitivity of the instrumentation availabl e at the time. We discuss the possible relevance of the lunar results to the findings of the amino acids on the surfaces of other extraterrestrial bodies, such as Mars.

Spatial structure of the neck and acceleration processes in a micropinch

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

Dolgov, A. N., E-mail: alnikdolgov@mail.ru; Klyachin, N. A., E-mail: NAKlyachin@mephi.ru; Prokhorovich, D. E., E-mail: prokhorovich73@mail.ru

2016-12-15

It is shown that the spatial structure of the micropinch neck during the transition from magnetohydrodynamic to radiative compression and the bremsstrahlung spectrum of the discharge in the photon energy range of up to 30 keV depend on the configuration of the inner electrode of the coaxial electrode system of the micropinch discharge. Analysis of the experimental results indicates that the acceleration processes in the electron component of the micropinch plasma develop earlier than radiative compression.

Control of Nitrogen Dioxide in Stack Emission by Reaction with Ammonia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Metzler, A. J.; Stevenson, E. F.

1970-01-01

The development of an acid base gas-phase reaction system which utilizes anhydrous ammonia as the reactant to remove nitrogen dioxide from hydrazine-nitrogen tetroxide rocket combustion exhaust is reported. This reaction reduced NO2 levels in exhaust emissions so that the resulting stack emission is completely white instead of the earlier observed typical reddish-brown coloration. Preliminary analyses indicate the importance of reaction time and ammonia concentration on removal efficiency and elimination of the health hazard to individuals with respiratory problems.

Missed opportunities for earlier diagnosis of HIV in patients who presented with advanced HIV disease: a retrospective cohort study

PubMed Central

Levy, Itzchak; Maor, Yasmin; Mahroum, Naim; Olmer, Liraz; Wieder, Anat; Litchevski, Vladislav; Mor, Orna; Rahav, Galia

2016-01-01

Objective To quantify and characterise missed opportunities for earlier HIV diagnosis in patients diagnosed with advanced HIV. Design A retrospective observational cohort study. Setting A central tertiary medical centre in Israel. Measures The proportion of patients with advanced HIV, the proportion of missed opportunities to diagnose them earlier, and the rate of clinical indicator diseases (CIDs) in those patients. Results Between 2010 and 2015, 356 patients were diagnosed with HIV, 118 (33.4%) were diagnosed late, 57 (16%) with advanced HIV disease. Old age (OR=1.45 (95% CI 1.16 to 1.74)) and being heterosexual (OR=2.65 (95% CI 1.21 to 5.78)) were significant risk factors for being diagnosed late. All patients with advanced disease had at least one CID that did not lead to an HIV test in the 5 years prior to AIDS diagnosis. The median time between CID and AIDS diagnosis was 24 months (IQR 10–30). 60% of CIDs were missed by a general practitioner and 40% by a specialist. Conclusions Missed opportunities to early diagnosis of HIV occur in primary and secondary care. Lack of national guidelines, lack of knowledge regarding CIDs and communication barriers with patients may contribute to a late diagnosis of HIV. PMID:28186940

Unique Dental Morphology of Homo floresiensis and Its Evolutionary Implications

PubMed Central

Kaifu, Yousuke; Kono, Reiko T.; Sutikna, Thomas; Saptomo, Emanuel Wahyu; Jatmiko

2015-01-01

Homo floresiensis is an extinct, diminutive hominin species discovered in the Late Pleistocene deposits of Liang Bua cave, Flores, eastern Indonesia. The nature and evolutionary origins of H. floresiensis’ unique physical characters have been intensively debated. Based on extensive comparisons using linear metric analyses, crown contour analyses, and other trait-by-trait morphological comparisons, we report here that the dental remains from multiple individuals indicate that H. floresiensis had primitive canine-premolar and advanced molar morphologies, a combination of dental traits unknown in any other hominin species. The primitive aspects are comparable to H. erectus from the Early Pleistocene, whereas some of the molar morphologies are more progressive even compared to those of modern humans. This evidence contradicts the earlier claim of an entirely modern human-like dental morphology of H. floresiensis, while at the same time does not support the hypothesis that H. floresiensis originated from a much older H. habilis or Australopithecus-like small-brained hominin species currently unknown in the Asian fossil record. These results are however consistent with the alternative hypothesis that H. floresiensis derived from an earlier Asian Homo erectus population and experienced substantial body and brain size dwarfism in an isolated insular setting. The dentition of H. floresiensis is not a simple, scaled-down version of earlier hominins. PMID:26624612

Neonatal amygdala lesions advance pubertal timing in female rhesus macaques

PubMed Central

Stephens, Shannon B.Z.; Raper, Jessica; Bachevalier, Jocelyne; Wallen, Kim

2014-01-01

Summary Social context influences the timing of puberty in both humans and nonhuman primates, such as delayed first ovulation in low-ranking rhesus macaques, but the brain region(s) mediating the effects of social context on pubertal timing are unknown. The amygdala is important for responding to social information and thus, is a potential brain region mediating the effects of social context on pubertal timing. In this study, female rhesus macaques living in large, species-typical, social groups received bilateral neurotoxic amygdala lesions at one month of age and pubertal timing was examined beginning at 14 months of age. Pubertal timing was affected in neonatal amygdala-lesioned females (Neo-A), such that they experienced significantly earlier menarche and first ovulation than did control females (Neo-C). Duration between menarche and first ovulation did not differ between Neo-A and Neo-C females, indicating earlier first ovulation in Neo-A females was likely a consequence of earlier menarche. Social rank of Neo-A females was related to age at menarche, but not first ovulation, and social rank was not related to either event in Neo-C females. It is more likely that amygdalectomy affects pubertal timing through its modulation of GABA-ergic mechanisms rather than as a result of the removal of a social-contextual inhibition on pubertal timing. PMID:25462903

Characterization of a 12-pdr wrought-iron cannonball from the Akko 1 shipwreck

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

Cvikel, D.; Ashkenazi, D., E-mail: dana@eng.tau.ac.il; Stern, A.

2013-09-15

The Akko 1 shipwreck, discovered in Akko harbor, Israel, is the remains of an eastern Mediterranean brig built at the beginning of the 19th century. Among other finds, eleven cannonballs were found in the shipwreck and three of them were retrieved. Two of the cannonballs, the 9- and 24-pdrs, have been studied previously. The present study of the 12-pdr cannonball included γ-rays radiographic testing, XRF analysis, density measurements, optical microscopy and SEM-EDS observation, OES analysis and microhardness tests. The investigation included characterization of the composition, microstructure and slag analysis. The results revealed a quite homogenous microstructure of α-ferrite phase, withmore » glassy, wüstite and fayalite slags, as typical for a wrought-iron—annealed product, a more complicated and an earlier technology, compared to the 9- and 24-pdr that were made of cast-iron. Ferritic cannonballs are extremely rare, especially in the 19th century, when cannonballs were manufactured of cast iron by the sand casting process. The different manufacturing methods may indicate a different place of fabrication, and an apparently earlier production date for the 12-pdr, which might have even been used as ballast. - Highlights: • Three cannonballs were retrieved from the 19th century Akko 1 shipwreck. • The 12-pdr differs from the 9- and 24-pdr cannonballs previously studied. • The 12-pdr was made of high quality annealed wrought-iron, not of cast-iron. • The technology used indicates a date earlier than the middle of the 19th century. • Perhaps the 12-pdr belonged to another navy than the other two or used as ballast.« less

Reticulocyte count

MedlinePlus

Anemia - reticulocyte ... A higher than normal reticulocytes count may indicate: Anemia due to red blood cells being destroyed earlier than normal ( hemolytic anemia ) Bleeding Blood disorder in a fetus or newborn ( ...

Earlier snowmelt and warming lead to earlier but not necessarily more plant growth.

PubMed

Livensperger, Carolyn; Steltzer, Heidi; Darrouzet-Nardi, Anthony; Sullivan, Patrick F; Wallenstein, Matthew; Weintraub, Michael N

2016-01-01

Climate change over the past ∼50 years has resulted in earlier occurrence of plant life-cycle events for many species. Across temperate, boreal and polar latitudes, earlier seasonal warming is considered the key mechanism leading to earlier leaf expansion and growth. Yet, in seasonally snow-covered ecosystems, the timing of spring plant growth may also be cued by snowmelt, which may occur earlier in a warmer climate. Multiple environmental cues protect plants from growing too early, but to understand how climate change will alter the timing and magnitude of plant growth, experiments need to independently manipulate temperature and snowmelt. Here, we demonstrate that altered seasonality through experimental warming and earlier snowmelt led to earlier plant growth, but the aboveground production response varied among plant functional groups. Earlier snowmelt without warming led to early leaf emergence, but often slowed the rate of leaf expansion and had limited effects on aboveground production. Experimental warming alone had small and inconsistent effects on aboveground phenology, while the effect of the combined treatment resembled that of early snowmelt alone. Experimental warming led to greater aboveground production among the graminoids, limited changes among deciduous shrubs and decreased production in one of the dominant evergreen shrubs. As a result, we predict that early onset of the growing season may favour early growing plant species, even those that do not shift the timing of leaf expansion. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company.

Canadian Eskimo permanent tooth emergence timing.

PubMed

Mayhall, J T; Belier, P L; Mayhall, M F

1978-08-01

To identify the times of emergence of the permanent teeth of Canadian Eskimos (Inuit), 368 children and adolescents were examined. The presence or absence of all permanent teeth except the third molars was recorded and these data subjected to probit analysis. Female emergence times were advanced over males. Generally, the Inuit of both sexes showed statistically significant earlier emergence times than Montreal children, except for the incisors. The present results do not support hypotheses indicating that premature extraction of the deciduous teeth advances the emergence of their succedaneous counterparts. There is some indication the controls of deciduous tooth emergence continue to play some part in emergence of the permanent dentition, especially the first permanent teeth that emerge.

Prediction of adverse pregnancy outcome in monochorionic- diamniotic twin pregnancies complicated by selective fetal growth restriction.

PubMed

Monaghan, Caitriona; Kalafat, Erkan; Binder, Julia; Thilaganathan, Baskaran; Khalil, Asma

2018-04-28

To identify key factors implicated in adverse perinatal outcome in monochorionic twin pregnancies complicated by selective fetal growth restriction. This is a retrospective cohort study conducted in a single tertiary referral centre included all monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twin pregnancies complicated by selective fetal growth restriction (sFGR). The presence of co-existing twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) was noted. Fetal biometry and Doppler indices, including the umbilical artery (UA) and ductus venosus (DV), were recorded at the time of diagnosis. The type of sFGR was diagnosed according to the pattern of end-diastolic flow (EDF) in the UA of the smaller twin. DV pulsatility indices were converted to z-scores and estimated fetal weight (EFW) values to centiles, to correct for gestational age (GA). Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine for independent predictors of adverse perinatal outcome. Adverse perinatal outcome was defined according to survival and included both intra-uterine fetal demise and neonatal death of the FGR twin. We analysed 104 pregnancies complicated by sFGR. Sixty-six (63.5%) were diagnosed with type I and 38 (36.5%) with type II at initial presentation. Pregnancies complicated by type II sFGR were diagnosed (median GA 19.6 weeks' vs 21.5 weeks, p=0.012) and delivered (median GA 30.4 weeks' vs 32.57 weeks; p=0.055) earlier and are associated with increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes (intrauterine demise of the smaller twin 19.7% vs 10.6%, p=0.001), when compared to type I sFGR. Twin pregnancies complicated by sFGR, whether type I or II, resulting in intrauterine demise have a significantly earlier onset of diagnosis (p<0.001), earlier GA at delivery (p<0.05), higher DV pulsatility index (p<0.05), and lower birth weight (BW) centile of the smaller twin (p<0.01) when compared to pregnancies resulting in livebirth. Co-existing TTTS had no significant impact on the perinatal outcome of pregnancies diagnosed with either type I or type II sFGR (p>0.05 for both). Earlier GA at diagnosis (HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.56-0.88; p=0.002), type II sFGR (HR 3.53, 95% CI 1.37-9.07; p=0.008) and higher DV PI z scores (HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.12-1.65; p=0.001) were significantly associated with increased risk of adverse perinatal outcome of the smaller twin. Pregnancies complicated by type II sFGR are diagnosed significantly earlier and are associated with increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes when compared to type I. Co-existing TTTS has no significant impact on the perinatal outcome of pregnancies diagnosed with either type I or type II sFGR. Earlier GA at diagnosis, type II sFGR and higher DV PI z scores are significantly associated with increased risk of adverse perinatal outcome for the smaller twin. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The clinical learning environment and supervision by staff nurses: developing the instrument.

PubMed

Saarikoski, Mikko; Leino-Kilpi, Helena

2002-03-01

The aims of this study were (1) to describe students' perceptions of the clinical learning environment and clinical supervision and (2) to develop an evaluation scale by using the empirical results of this study. The data were collected using the Clinical Learning Environment and Supervision instrument (CLES). The instrument was based on the literature review of earlier studies. The derived instrument was tested empirically in a study involving nurse students (N=416) from four nursing colleges in Finland. The results demonstrated that the method of supervision, the number of separate supervision sessions and the psychological content of supervisory contact within a positive ward atmosphere are the most important variables in the students' clinical learning. The results also suggest that ward managers can create the conditions of a positive ward culture and a positive attitude towards students and their learning needs. The construct validity of the instrument was analysed by using exploratory factor analysis. The analysis indicated that the most important factor in the students' clinical learning is the supervisory relationship. The two most important factors constituting a 'good' clinical learning environment are the management style of the ward manager and the premises of nursing on the ward. The results of the factor analysis support the theoretical construction of the clinical learning environment modelled by earlier empirical studies.

Continuous Calibration Improvement in Solar Reflective Bands: Landsat 5 Through Landsat 8

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mishra, Nischal; Helder, Dennis; Barsi, Julia; Markham, Brian

2016-01-01

Launched in February 2013, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on-board Landsat 8 continues to perform exceedingly well and provides high science quality data globally. Several design enhancements have been made in the OLI instrument relative to prior Landsat instruments: pushbroom imaging which provides substantially improved Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), spectral bandpasses refinement to avoid atmospheric absorption features, 12 bit data resolution to provide a larger dynamic range that limits the saturation level, a set of well-designed onboard calibrators to monitor the stability of the sensor. Some of these changes such as refinements in spectral bandpasses compared to earlier Landsats and well-designed on-board calibrator have a direct impact on the improved radiometric calibration performance of the instrument from both the stability of the response and the ability to track the changes. The on-board calibrator lamps and diffusers indicate that the instrument drift is generally less than 0.1% per year across the bands. The refined bandpasses of the OLI indicate that temporal uncertainty of better than 0.5% is possible when the instrument is trended over vicarious targets such as Pseudo Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS), a level of precision that was never achieved with the earlier Landsat instruments. The stability measurements indicated by on-board calibrators and PICS agree much better compared to the earlier Landsats, which is very encouraging and bodes well for the future Landsat missions too.

CONTINUOUS CALIBRATION IMPROVEMENT: LANDSAT 5 THROUGH LANDSAT 8

PubMed Central

Mishra, Nischal; Helder, Dennis; Barsi, Julia; Markham, Brian

2018-01-01

Launched in February 2013, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on-board Landsat 8 continues to perform exceedingly well and provides high science quality data globally. Several design enhancements have been made in the OLI instrument relative to prior Landsat instruments: pushbroom imaging which provides substantially improved Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), spectral bandpasses refinement to avoid atmospheric absorption features, 12 bit data resolution to provide a larger dynamic range that limits the saturation level, a set of well-designed onboard calibrators to monitor the stability of the sensor. Some of these changes such as refinements in spectral bandpasses compared to earlier Landsats and well-designed on-board calibrator have a direct impact on the improved radiometric calibration performance of the instrument from both the stability of the response and the ability to track the changes. The on-board calibrator lamps and diffusers indicate that the instrument drift is generally less than 0.1% per year across the bands. The refined bandpasses of the OLI indicate that temporal uncertainty of better than 0.5% is possible when the instrument is trended over vicarious targets such as Pseudo Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS), a level of precision that was never achieved with the earlier Landsat instruments. The stability measurements indicated by on-board calibrators and PICS agree much better compared to the earlier Landsats, which is very encouraging and bodes well for the future Landsat missions too. PMID:29449747

FACTORING TO FIT OFF DIAGONALS.

DTIC Science & Technology

imply an upper bound on the number of factors. When applied to somatotype data, the method improved substantially on centroid solutions and indicated a reinterpretation of earlier factoring studies. (Author)

Relationships between age at menarche, walking gait base of support, and stance phase frontal plane knee biomechanics in adolescent females

PubMed Central

Grannis, Kimberly A.; Sherwood, Richard J.; Duren, Dana L

2016-01-01

Background Age at menarche impacts patterns of pubertal growth and skeletal development. These effects may carry over into variation in biomechanical profiles involved in sports-related traumatic and overuse knee injuries. The present study investigated whether age at menarche is a potential indicator of knee injury risk through its influence on knee biomechanics during normal walking. Objective To test the hypothesis that earlier menarche is related to post-pubertal biomechanical risk factors for knee injuries, including a wider, more immature gait base of support, and greater valgus knee angles and moments. Design Cross-sectional observational study. Setting University research facility. Participants Healthy, post-menarcheal, adolescent females. Methods Age at menarche was obtained by recall questionnaire. Pubertal growth and anthropometric data were collected using standard methods. Biomechanical data were taken from tests of walking gait at self-selected speed. Reflective marker position data were collected using a three-dimensional quantitative motion analysis system, and three force plates recorded kinetic data. Main Outcome Measures Age at menarche; growth and anthropometric measurements; base of support; static knee frontal plane angle; dynamic knee frontal plane angles and moments during stance. Results Earlier menarche was significantly correlated with abbreviated pubertal growth and post-pubertal retention of immature traits, including a wider base of support. Earlier menarche and wider base of support were both correlated with more valgus static knee angles, more valgus knee abduction angles and moments at foot-strike, and a more valgus peak knee abduction angle during stance. Peak knee abduction moment during stance was not correlated with age at menarche or base of support. Conclusions Earlier menarche and its effects on growth are associated with retention of a relatively immature gait base of support and a tendency for static and dynamic valgus knee alignment. This biomechanical profile may put girls with earlier menarche at higher risk for sports-related knee injuries. PMID:27485675

Changes to the structure of Sphingomonas spp. communities associated with biodegradation of the herbicide isoproturon in soil.

PubMed

Shi, Shengjing; Bending, Gary D

2007-04-01

The phenyl-urea herbicide isoproturon is a major contaminant of surface and ground-water in agricultural catchments. Earlier work suggested that within-field spatial variation of isoproturon degradation rate resulted from interactions between catabolizing Sphingomonas spp. and pH. In the current study, changes to the structure of Sphingomonas communities during isoproturon catabolism were investigated using Sphingomonas-specific 16S rRNA gene primers. Growth-linked catabolism at high-pH (>7.5) sites was associated with the appearance of multiple new denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) bands. At low-pH sites, there was no change in DGGE banding at sites in which there was cometabolism, but at sites in which there was growth-linked catabolism, degradation was associated with the appearance of a new band not present at high pH sites. Sequencing of DGGE bands indicated that a strain related to Sphingomonas mali proliferated at low pH sites, while strain Sphingomonas sp. SRS2, a catabolic strain identified in earlier work, together with several further Sphingomonas spp., proliferated at high-pH sites. The data indicate that degradation was associated with complex changes to the structure of Sphingomonas spp. communities, the precise nature of which was spatially variable.

New morphological information on, and species of placoderm fish Africanaspis (Arthrodira, Placodermi) from the Late Devonian of South Africa.

PubMed

Gess, Robert W; Trinajstic, Kate M

2017-01-01

Here we present a new species of placoderm fish, Africanaspis edmountaini sp. nov., and redescribe Africanaspis doryssa on the basis of new material collected from the type locality of Africanaspis. The new material includes the first head shields of Africanaspis doryssa in addition to soft anatomy for both taxa. Hitherto Africanaspis was entirely described from trunk armour and no record of body and fin outlines had been recorded. In addition the first record of embryonic and juvenile specimens of Africanaspis doryssa is presented and provides a growth series from presumed hatchlings to presumed adults. The presence of a greater number of juveniles compared to adults indicates that the Waterloo Farm fossil site in South Africa represents the first nursery site of arthrodire placoderms known from a cold water environment. The preservation of an ontogenetic series demonstrates that variation within the earlier known sample, initially considered to have resulted from ontogenetic change, instead indicates the presence of a second, less common species Africanaspis edmountaini sp. nov. There is some faunal overlap between the Waterloo Farm fossil site and faunas described from Strud in Belgium and Red Hill, Pennsylvania, in north America, supporting the concept of a more cosmopolitan vertebrate fauna in the Famennian than earlier in the Devonian.

New morphological information on, and species of placoderm fish Africanaspis (Arthrodira, Placodermi) from the Late Devonian of South Africa

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Here we present a new species of placoderm fish, Africanaspis edmountaini sp. nov., and redescribe Africanaspis doryssa on the basis of new material collected from the type locality of Africanaspis. The new material includes the first head shields of Africanaspis doryssa in addition to soft anatomy for both taxa. Hitherto Africanaspis was entirely described from trunk armour and no record of body and fin outlines had been recorded. In addition the first record of embryonic and juvenile specimens of Africanaspis doryssa is presented and provides a growth series from presumed hatchlings to presumed adults. The presence of a greater number of juveniles compared to adults indicates that the Waterloo Farm fossil site in South Africa represents the first nursery site of arthrodire placoderms known from a cold water environment. The preservation of an ontogenetic series demonstrates that variation within the earlier known sample, initially considered to have resulted from ontogenetic change, instead indicates the presence of a second, less common species Africanaspis edmountaini sp. nov. There is some faunal overlap between the Waterloo Farm fossil site and faunas described from Strud in Belgium and Red Hill, Pennsylvania, in north America, supporting the concept of a more cosmopolitan vertebrate fauna in the Famennian than earlier in the Devonian. PMID:28379973

Review of genotoxicity biomonitoring studies of glyphosate-based formulations

PubMed Central

Kier, Larry D.

2015-01-01

Abstract Human and environmental genotoxicity biomonitoring studies involving exposure to glyphosate-based formulations (GBFs) were reviewed to complement an earlier review of experimental genotoxicity studies of glyphosate and GBFs. The environmental and most of the human biomonitoring studies were not informative because there was either a very low frequency of GBF exposure or exposure to a large number of pesticides without analysis of specific pesticide effects. One pesticide sprayer biomonitoring study indicated there was not a statistically significant relationship between frequency of GBF exposure reported for the last spraying season and oxidative DNA damage. There were three studies of human populations in regions of GBF aerial spraying. One study found increases for the cytokinesis-block micronucleus endpoint but these increases did not show statistically significant associations with self-reported spray exposure and were not consistent with application rates. A second study found increases for the blood cell comet endpoint at high exposures causing toxicity. However, a follow-up to this study 2 years after spraying did not indicate chromosomal effects. The results of the biomonitoring studies do not contradict an earlier conclusion derived from experimental genotoxicity studies that typical GBFs do not appear to present significant genotoxic risk under normal conditions of human or environmental exposures. PMID:25687244

Ultrafast photoconductivity of undoped cuprates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dodge, J. Steven; Farahani, Amir; Petersen, Jesse; Liang, Ruixing; Bozovic, Ivan

2010-03-01

Using a visible pump-THz probe technique, we studied the ultrafast transient photoconductivity of the insulating cuprate La2CuO4, and compared it with earlier measurements of Sr2CuO2Cl2 and YBa2Cu3O6. In all these compounds, we observe a rapid onset of photoconductivity that is followed by a non-exponential relaxation on a picosecond time scales, the dynamics of which are independent of photocarrier concentration ranging from 0.2 to 1.5 percent. The photoconductivity decay is qualitatively similar to the decay of the photoinduced gap absorption in Sr2CuO2Cl2,footnotetextJ. S. Dodge, arXiv:0910.5048 indicating a common origin for the two effects. Assuming a quantum efficiency of unity, the estimated peak mobility for all three compounds is within 0.1-0.4 cm^2/V.s; this is lower than the Hall mobility in chemically doped systems with similar carrier concentrations,footnotetext Ando et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 017001 (2001) but orders of magnitude larger than earlier DC photoconductivity results.footnotetextThio et al, Phys. Rev. B 42, 10800 (1990) The similarity of the peak photoconductivity across three different compounds indicates that it is an intrinsic feature of the copper oxide plane.

Earlier Detection of Tumor Treatment Response Using Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Imaging with Oscillating Gradients

PubMed Central

Colvin, Daniel C.; Loveless, Mary E.; Does, Mark D.; Yue, Zou; Yankeelov, Thomas E.; Gore, John C.

2011-01-01

An improved method for detecting early changes in tumors in response to treatment, based on a modification of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, has been demonstrated in an animal model. Early detection of therapeutic response in tumors is important both clinically and in pre-clinical assessments of novel treatments. Non-invasive imaging methods that can detect and assess tumor response early in the course of treatment, and before frank changes in tumor morphology are evident, are of considerable interest as potential biomarkers of treatment efficacy. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging is sensitive to changes in water diffusion rates in tissues that result from structural variations in the local cellular environment, but conventional methods mainly reflect changes in tissue cellularity and do not convey information specific to micro-structural variations at sub-cellular scales. We implemented a modified imaging technique using oscillating gradients of the magnetic field for evaluating water diffusion rates over very short spatial scales that are more specific for detecting changes in intracellular structure that may precede changes in cellularity. Results from a study of orthotopic 9L gliomas in rat brains indicate that this method can detect changes as early as 24 hours following treatment with 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU), when conventional approaches do not find significant effects. These studies suggest that diffusion imaging using oscillating gradients may be used to obtain an earlier indication of treatment efficacy than previous magnetic resonance imaging methods. PMID:21190804

Importance of recent shifts in soil thermal dynamics on growing season length, productivity, and carbon sequestration in terrestrial high-latitude ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Euskirchen, E.S.; McGuire, A.D.; Kicklighter, D.W.; Zhuang, Q.; Clein, Joy S.; Dargaville, R.J.; Dye, D.G.; Kimball, J.S.; McDonald, K.C.; Melillo, J.M.; Romanovsky, V.E.; Smith, N.V.

2006-01-01

In terrestrial high-latitude regions, observations indicate recent changes in snow cover, permafrost, and soil freeze-thaw transitions due to climate change. These modifications may result in temporal shifts in the growing season and the associated rates of terrestrial productivity. Changes in productivity will influence the ability of these ecosystems to sequester atmospheric CO2. We use the terrestrial ecosystem model (TEM), which simulates the soil thermal regime, in addition to terrestrial carbon (C), nitrogen and water dynamics, to explore these issues over the years 1960-2100 in extratropical regions (30-90??N). Our model simulations show decreases in snow cover and permafrost stability from 1960 to 2100. Decreases in snow cover agree well with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite observations collected between the years 1972 and 2000, with Pearson rank correlation coefficients between 0.58 and 0.65. Model analyses also indicate a trend towards an earlier thaw date of frozen soils and the onset of the growing season in the spring by approximately 2-4 days from 1988 to 2000. Between 1988 and 2000, satellite records yield a slightly stronger trend in thaw and the onset of the growing season, averaging between 5 and 8 days earlier. In both, the TEM simulations and satellite records, trends in day of freeze in the autumn are weaker, such that overall increases in growing season length are due primarily to earlier thaw. Although regions with the longest snow cover duration displayed the greatest increase in growing season length, these regions maintained smaller increases in productivity and heterotrophic respiration than those regions with shorter duration of snow cover and less of an increase in growing season length. Concurrent with increases in growing season length, we found a reduction in soil C and increases in vegetation C, with greatest losses of soil C occurring in those areas with more vegetation, but simulations also suggest that this trend could reverse in the future. Our results reveal noteworthy changes in snow, permafrost, growing season length, productivity, and net C uptake, indicating that prediction of terrestrial C dynamics from one decade to the next will require that large-scale models adequately take into account the corresponding changes in soil thermal regimes. ?? 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The Clinical Impact of Rapid, Direct MALDI-ToF Identification of Bacteria from Positive Blood Cultures.

PubMed

French, Kathryn; Evans, Jason; Tanner, Hannah; Gossain, Savita; Hussain, Abid

2016-01-01

Faster identification of bacterial isolates from blood cultures can enable earlier clinical intervention for patients with sepsis. We evaluated the clinical impact of direct identification of micro-organisms from positive blood cultures using MALDI-ToF. Positive blood cultures with organisms seen on Gram stain were included over a four week period. For each patient case, comparison was made between the clinical advice given on day one with only a Gram stain result, and the follow up advice given on day two with the benefit of organism identification. Culture results were then compared with direct MALDI-ToF identification. For 73 of 115 cases (63.5%), direct organism identification was obtained by MALDI-ToF. Of those 73, 70 (95.5%) had a result concordant with that of the plate culture. In 28 of the 115 cases (24.3%) direct MALDI-ToF identification on day one would have had a clear clinical benefit. In 11 cases it would have helped to identify the potential source of bacteraemia. In 11 cases it would have indicated a different antibiotic regimen on day one, with five patients receiving appropriate antibiotics 24 hours earlier. For 14 cases the blood culture isolate could have been designated as unlikely to be clinically significant. We have demonstrated that organism identification on day one of blood culture positivity can have a direct clinical impact. Faster identification using MALDI-ToF assists the clinician in assessing the significance of a blood culture isolate on day one. It can allow earlier appropriate choice of antimicrobial agent, even in the absence of susceptibility testing, and help narrow down the potential source of infection providing a focus for further investigation in a more timely way than conventional techniques alone.

New formulae for Zagreb indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cangul, Ismail Naci; Yurttas, Aysun; Togan, Muge; Cevik, Ahmet Sinan

2017-07-01

In this paper, we study with some graph descriptors also called topological indices. These descriptors are useful in determination of some properties of chemical structures and preferred to some earlier descriptors as they are more practical. Especially the first and second Zagreb indices together with the first and second multiplicative Zagreb indices are considered and they are calculated in terms of the smallest and largest vertex degrees and vertex number for some well-known classes of graphs.

The Impact of Changing Snowmelt Timing on Non-Irrigated Crop Yield in Idaho

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murray, E. M.; Cobourn, K.; Flores, A. N.; Pierce, J. L.; Kunkel, M. L.

2013-12-01

The impacts of climate change on water resources have implications for both agricultural production and grower welfare. Many mountainous regions in the western U.S. rely on snowmelt as the dominant surface water source, and in Idaho, reconstructions of spring snowmelt timing have demonstrated a trend toward earlier, more variable snowmelt dates within the past 20 years. This earlier date and increased variability in snowmelt timing have serious implications for agriculture, but there is considerable uncertainty about how agricultural impacts vary by region, crop-type, and practices like irrigation vs. dryland farming. Establishing the relationship between snowmelt timing and agricultural yield is important for understanding how changes in large-scale climatic indices (like snowmelt date) may be associated with changes in agricultural yield. This is particularly important where local practitioner behavior is influenced by historically observed relationships between these climate indices and yield. In addition, a better understanding of the influence of changes in snowmelt on non-irrigated crop yield may be extrapolated to better understand how climate change may alter biomass production in non-managed ecosystems. To investigate the impact of snowmelt date on non-irrigated crop yield, we developed a multiple linear regression model to predict historical wheat and barley yield in several Idaho counties as a function of snowmelt date, climate variables (precipitation and growing degree-days), and spatial differences between counties. The relationship between snowmelt timing and non-irrigated crop yield at the county level is strong in many of the models, but differs in magnitude and direction for the two different crops. Results show interesting spatial patterns of variability in the correlation between snowmelt timing and crop yield. In four southern counties that border the Snake River Plain and one county bordering Oregon, non-irrigated wheat and/or barley yield are significantly lower in years with early snowmelt timing, on average (P < 0.10). In contrast, in northern Idaho, barley yield is significantly higher in years with early snowmelt timing. Overall, this statistical modeling exercise indicates that the trend toward earlier snowmelt date may positively impact non-irrigated crop yield in some regions of Idaho, while negatively impacting yield in other areas. Additional research is necessary to identify spatial controls on the variable relationship between snowmelt timing and yield. Regional variability in the response of crops to changes in snowmelt timing may indicate that external factors (e.g. higher amounts of summer rain in northern vs. southern Idaho) may play an important role in crop yield. This study indicates that targeted regional analysis is necessary to determine the influence of climate change on agriculture, as local variability can cause the same forcing to produce opposite results.

Growing Season Conditions Mediate the Dependence of Aspen on Redistributed Snow Under Climate Change.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soderquist, B.; Kavanagh, K.; Link, T. E.; Seyfried, M. S.; Strand, E. K.

2016-12-01

Precipitation regimes in many semiarid ecosystems are becoming increasingly dominated by winter rainfall as a result of climate change. Across these regions, snowpack plays a vital role in the distribution and timing of soil moisture availability. Rising temperatures will result in a more uniform distribution of soil moisture, advanced spring phenology, and prolonged growing seasons. Productive and wide ranging tree species like aspen, Populus tremuloides, may experience increased vulnerability to drought and mortality resulting from both reduced snowpack and increased evaporative demand during the growing season. We simulated the net primary production (NPP) of aspen stands spanning the rain:snow transition zone in the Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory (RCCZO) in southwest Idaho, USA. Within the RCCZO, the total amount of precipitation has remained unchanged over the past 50 years, however the percentage of the precipitation falling as snow has declined by approximately 4% per decade at mid-elevation sites. The biogeochemical process model Biome-BGC was used to simulate aspen NPP at three stands located directly below snowdrifts that provide melt water late into the spring. After adjusting precipitation inputs to account for the redistribution of snow, we assessed climate change impacts on future aspen productivity. Mid-century (2046-2065) aspen NPP was simulated using temperature projections from a multi-model average under high emission conditions using the Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA) data set. While climate change simulations indicated over a 20% decrease in annual NPP for some years, NPP rates for other mid-century years remained relatively unchanged due to variations in growing season conditions. Mid-century years with the largest decreases in NPP typically showed increased spring transpiration rates resulting from earlier leaf flush combined with warmer spring conditions. During these years, the onset of drought stress occurred earlier due to increased early season soil moisture use and higher summer vapor pressure deficits. These results indicate that vegetation response to decreased snowpack can result in significant drought stress although phenological shifts that better align leaf production and precipitation ameliorate this response in some years. Precipitation regimes in many semiarid ecosystems are becoming increasingly dominated by winter rainfall as a result of climate change. Across these regions, snowpack plays a vital role in the distribution and timing of soil moisture availability. Rising temperatures will result in a more uniform distribution of soil moisture, advanced spring phenology, and prolonged growing seasons. Productive and wide ranging tree species like aspen, Populus tremuloides, may experience increased vulnerability to drought and mortality resulting from both reduced snowpack and increased evaporative demand during the growing season. We simulated the net primary production (NPP) of aspen stands spanning the rain:snow transition zone in the Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory (RCCZO) in southwest Idaho, USA. Within the RCCZO, the total amount of precipitation has remained unchanged over the past 50 years, however the percentage of the precipitation falling as snow has declined by approximately 4% per decade at mid-elevation sites. The biogeochemical process model Biome-BGC was used to simulate aspen NPP at three stands located directly below snowdrifts that provide melt water late into the spring. After adjusting precipitation inputs to account for the redistribution of snow, we assessed climate change impacts on future aspen productivity. Mid-century (2046-2065) aspen NPP was simulated using temperature projections from a multi-model average under high emission conditions using the Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA) data set. While climate change simulations indicated over a 20% decrease in annual NPP for some years, NPP rates for other mid-century years remained relatively unchanged due to variations in growing season conditions. Mid-century years with the largest decreases in NPP typically showed increased spring transpiration rates resulting from earlier leaf flush combined with warmer spring conditions. During these years, the onset of drought stress occurred earlier due to increased early season soil moisture use and higher summer vapor pressure deficits. These results indicate that vegetation response to decreased snowpack can result in significant drought stress although phenological shifts that better align leaf production and precipitation ameliorate this response in some years.

Accumulation, metabolism and toxicity of parathion in tadpoles

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

Hall, R.J.

1990-04-01

Earlier work exposing tadpoles to organophosphorus pesticides indicated the great resistance of tadpoles of the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) to these chemicals and their surprising ability to accumulate parathion and fenthion from water. These qualities seemed to make them an ideal model with which to test a hypothesis advanced by Burke and Ferguson, who noted that parathion is more toxic to resistant mosquitofish in static water than in flowing water--a reversal of the pattern normally seen. They believed that highly toxic metabolite paraoxon was produced by the fish and that its buildup in static systems resulted in the unexpected mortality. Amphibiansmore » have been shown to produce paraoxon and to accumulate the parent compound parathion to levels that are potentially hazardous to other organisms. In the course of examining paraoxon production by tadpoles, it would also be possible to learn more about their patterns of parathion uptake and elimination. Retention of residues is also a matter of concern given the high levels observed in the earlier studies.« less

Fibroblast Growth Factors Stimulate Hair Growth through β-Catenin and Shh Expression in C57BL/6 Mice

PubMed Central

Lin, Wei-hong; Xiang, Li-Jun; Shi, Hong-Xue; Zhang, Jian; Jiang, Li-ping; Cai, Ping-tao; Lin, Zhen-Lang; Lin, Bei-Bei; Huang, Yan; Zhang, Hai-Lin; Fu, Xiao-Bing; Guo, Ding-Jiong; Li, Xiao-Kun; Wang, Xiao-Jie; Xiao, Jian

2015-01-01

Growth factors are involved in the regulation of hair morphogenesis and cycle hair growth. The present study sought to investigate the hair growth promoting activities of three approved growth factor drugs, fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF-10), acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-1), and basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2), and the mechanism of action. We observed that FGFs promoted hair growth by inducing the anagen phase in telogenic C57BL/6 mice. Specifically, the histomorphometric analysis data indicates that topical application of FGFs induced an earlier anagen phase and prolonged the mature anagen phase, in contrast to the control group. Moreover, the immunohistochemical analysis reveals earlier induction of β-catenin and Sonic hedgehog (Shh) in hair follicles of the FGFs-treated group. These results suggest that FGFs promote hair growth by inducing the anagen phase in resting hair follicles and might be a potential hair growth-promoting agent. PMID:25685806

Biological and climate factors co-regulated spatial-temporal dynamics of vegetation autumn phenology on the Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zu, Jiaxing; Zhang, Yangjian; Huang, Ke; Liu, Yaojie; Chen, Ning; Cong, Nan

2018-07-01

Climate change is receiving mounting attentions from various fields and phenology is a commonly used indicator signaling vegetation responses to climate change. Previous phenology studies have mostly focused on vegetation greening-up and its climatic driving factors, while autumn phenology has been barely touched upon. In this study, vegetation phenological metrics were extracted from MODIS NDVI data and their temporal and spatial patterns were explored on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The results showed that the start of season (SOS) has significantly earlier trend in the first decade, while the end of season (EOS) has slightly (not significant) earlier trend. In the spatial dimension, similar patterns were also identified. The SOS plays a more significant role in regulating vegetation growing season length than EOS does. The EOS and driving effects from each factor exhibited spatially heterogeneous patterns. Biological factor is the dominant factor regulating the spatial pattern of EOS, while climate factors control its inter-annual variation.

Supersaturation, droplet spectra, and turbulent mixing in clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gerber, H.

1990-01-01

Much effort has recently gone into explaining the observed broad precoalescence size distribution of droplets in cloud and fogs, because this differs from the results of condensational growth calculations which lead to much narrower distributions. A good example of droplet size-distribution broadening was observed on flight 17 (25 July) of the NRL tethered balloon during the 1987 FIRE San Nicolas Island IFO. These observations caused the interactions between cloud microphysics and turbulent mixing to be re-examined. The findings of Broadwell and Breidenthal (1982) who conducted laboratory and theoretical studies of mixing in shear flow, and those of Baker et al. (1984) who applied the earlier work to mixing in clouds, were used. Rather than looking at the 25 July case at SNI, earlier fog observations made at SUNY (6 Oct. 1982) which also indicated that shear-induced mixing was taking place, and which had a better collection of microphysical measurements including more precise supersaturation measurements and detailed vertical profiles of meteorological parameters were chosen instead.

Effects of Mismatched Pictures on Retention of Illustrated Prose.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peeck, Joan

A study was conducted to test the findings of two earlier studies (Peeck l974 and Pressley l983) on the effects of occasional mismatches between verbal and pictorial content in children's retention of illustrated prose. While the Peeck study indicated a considerable impact of mismatched pictures, the Pressley study indicated that with some…

Association between Small Fetuses and Puberty Timing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Deng, Xu; Li, Wenyan; Luo, Yan; Liu, Shudan; Wen, Yi; Liu, Qin

2017-01-01

Background: Epidemiological studies reporting the effect of small fetuses (SF) on puberty development have shown inconsistent results. Objective: To examine current study evidence and determine the strength and direction of the association between SF and puberty timing. Methods: PubMed, OVID, Web of Science, EBSCO, and four Chinese databases were searched from their date of inception to February 2016. All cohort studies that examined the association between SF and puberty timing in children were identified. Two reviewers independently screened the studies, assessed the quality of included studies, and extracted the data. The quality of the included cohort studies was assessed by the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Risk ratio (RR), Weighted Mean Difference (WMD), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and pooled by RevMan5.3 (Cochrane Collaboration, London, UK). Results: A total of 10 cohort studies involving 2366 subjects was included in the final analysis. The pooled estimates showed that SF did not significantly increase the number of pubertal children in boys (RR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.82 to 1.15), or in girls (RR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.79 to 1.04). Compared with the control group, the SF group had an earlier onset of puberty in girls (WMD: −0.64; 95% CI: −1.21 to −0.06), and in precocious pubarche (PP) girls (WMD: −0.10; 95% CI: −0.13 to −0.07). There was no difference in the onset of puberty in boys (WMD: −0.48; 95% CI: −1.45 to 0.50) between SF and control groups. The pooled result indicated an earlier age at menarche in girls born small for gestational age (WMD: −0.30; 95% CI: −0.58 to −0.03), but no difference in the age at menarche in the SF group of PP girls. Conclusions: SF may be associated with an earlier age of onset of puberty, especially among girls, as well as earlier age at menarche for girls. Well-designed studies with larger sample sizes and long-term follow-up among different countries and ethnicities are needed. PMID:29137163

Earlier Vegetation Activity Onset Enhances Springtime Water-use Efficiency in Temperate and Boreal Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, J.; Wang, Y.

2017-12-01

Ecosystem-scale water-use efficiency (EWUE), defined as the ratio of gross primary productivity (GPP) to evapotranspiration (ET), is an important indicator for understanding how water couples with the carbon cycle under global change. Relationships between EWUE and abiotic environmental factors (e.g. climatic factors, atmospheric CO2concentration and nitrogen deposition) have been widely investigated, but the variations in EWUE in response to biotic controls remain little understood. Here, we argue that phenology plays an important role in the regulation of EWUE by analyzing springtime EWUE responses to variability of the GPP-based vegetation activity onset (VAO) in temperate and boreal ecosystems using both satellite and flux-tower observations. Based on MODIS productions during 2000-2014, we found that spring EWUE widely significantly increased with the earlier VAO mainly in the mid- and high latitudes (over 50°N), southwestern China and mid-western North America. When AVO advanced a 10-day, the spring EWUE would increase on average by 0.17±0.09 g C kg-1 H2O in temperate and continental climates after removing the effect of environmental factors. The main response patterns of EWUE to phenology suggest that an increase in spring EWUE with an earlier VAO are mainly because the increase in GPP is relatively larger in magnitude compared to that of ET, or due to an increase in GPP accompanied by a decrease in ET, resulting from an advanced VAO. The credibility of the results is also supported by the local-scale observations. By analyzing 66 site-years of flux and meteorological data obtained from 8 temperate deciduous broadleaf forest sites across North America and Europe, spring EWUE increased 0.42±0.08 g C kg-1 H2O with a 10-day advance of VAO across all sites after controlling for environmental factors, mainly because an earlier VAO could lead to a steeper increase in GPP than in ET. Our results and conclusions highlight that phenological factors cannot be ignored in relation to the regulation of coupled carbon-water cycling, especially at the beginning of the growing season.

Association between Small Fetuses and Puberty Timing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Deng, Xu; Li, Wenyan; Luo, Yan; Liu, Shudan; Wen, Yi; Liu, Qin

2017-11-13

Background : Epidemiological studies reporting the effect of small fetuses (SF) on puberty development have shown inconsistent results. Objective : To examine current study evidence and determine the strength and direction of the association between SF and puberty timing. Methods : PubMed, OVID, Web of Science, EBSCO, and four Chinese databases were searched from their date of inception to February 2016. All cohort studies that examined the association between SF and puberty timing in children were identified. Two reviewers independently screened the studies, assessed the quality of included studies, and extracted the data. The quality of the included cohort studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Risk ratio (RR), Weighted Mean Difference (WMD), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and pooled by RevMan5.3 (Cochrane Collaboration, London, UK). Results : A total of 10 cohort studies involving 2366 subjects was included in the final analysis. The pooled estimates showed that SF did not significantly increase the number of pubertal children in boys (RR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.82 to 1.15), or in girls (RR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.79 to 1.04). Compared with the control group, the SF group had an earlier onset of puberty in girls (WMD: -0.64; 95% CI: -1.21 to -0.06), and in precocious pubarche (PP) girls (WMD: -0.10; 95% CI: -0.13 to -0.07). There was no difference in the onset of puberty in boys (WMD: -0.48; 95% CI: -1.45 to 0.50) between SF and control groups. The pooled result indicated an earlier age at menarche in girls born small for gestational age (WMD: -0.30; 95% CI: -0.58 to -0.03), but no difference in the age at menarche in the SF group of PP girls. Conclusions : SF may be associated with an earlier age of onset of puberty, especially among girls, as well as earlier age at menarche for girls. Well-designed studies with larger sample sizes and long-term follow-up among different countries and ethnicities are needed.

Stable isotope analysis of temporal variation in the diets of pre-fledged Laughing Gulls

USGS Publications Warehouse

Knoff, A.J.; Macko, S.A.; Erwin, R.M.; Brown, K.M.

2002-01-01

The *13C, *15N, and *34S stable isotopic values of feathers from pre-fledged Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla) in coastal Virginia and Jamaica Bay, New York were used to examine dietary variation during the nestling period. The tip portions of the feathers were used to indicate diet during the initiation of primary feather growth, whereas the base portions indicated diet during the period immediately prior to fledging. The results indicate that diets of the nestlings in Virginia moved to a higher trophic level during the period prior to fledging, however the New York nestlings did not appear to undergo any appreciable dietary change during this period. Overall, nestlings from both colonies consumed proportionately more foods of marine origin than freshwater or terrestrial. Therefore, the results do not support those of earlier studies that suggested that partially developed salt glands in young gulls might restrict the diet to more terrestrial or freshwater prey in the early stages of nestling growth.

Influence of cutting time on brush response: implications for herbivory in linear (transportation) corridors.

PubMed

Rea, Roy V; Child, Kenneth N; Spata, David P; MacDonald, Douglas

2007-08-01

An experiment was conducted to determine the influence the time of brush-cutting can have on plant regrowth and attractiveness to herbivores that browse in linear corridors. The influence of cutting time on leaf flush and senescence, shoot morphometry, and biomass was measured for 3 consecutive years after initial brush-cutting. Results indicate that morphological and phenological attributes of three woody deciduous plants were influenced by the timing of brush-cutting for up to 3 years after initial cutting. Brush-cutting generally stimulated plants to produce larger than normal shoots and delay leaf senescence. The degree to which plants were affected, however, varied with the timing of initial cutting and the species in question. Generally, plants cut later in the year resprouted more vigorously and were taller in the third year after cutting but produced less overall biomass than when cut earlier. In the years following brush-cutting, plants cut earlier flushed leaves earlier in the spring but delayed leaf senescence in the fall when compared to uncut controls. Results of these trials suggest that brush-cutting time influences plant response and several plant attributes known to influence plant attractiveness to moose and other herbivores. We therefore recommend that roadside and railside vegetation management plans consider the influence of cutting time on plant regrowth. Such considerations can ensure that brush is cut to reduce the attractiveness of plant regrowth in these linear corridors, reduce the utilization of such brush by herbivores, and, as such, mitigate collision risk between motorists and herbivores such as moose.

Association Between Initial Age of Exposure to Childhood Abuse and Cognitive Control: Preliminary Evidence.

PubMed

Mackiewicz Seghete, Kristen L; DePrince, Anne P; Banich, Marie T

2018-05-22

Cognitive control, which relies on the protracted development of frontal-parietal regions into adolescence, is a brain process that may be particularly vulnerable to the impact of childhood abuse. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine associations between the age of onset of childhood abuse and alterations to the neural mechanisms supporting cognitive control in early adulthood, which have not been previously examined. During fMRI scanning, participants completed hybrid block/event-related versions of a classic color-word Stroop task as well as emotional Stroop tasks (threat and positive words). Participants were young adult women (N = 15; age range: 23-30 years) who had a history of childhood physical or sexual abuse that began prior to 13 years of age. Results indicated that earlier age of onset of childhood abuse was robustly associated with increased transient (i.e., event-related) recruitment of medial cognitive control regions in the classic color-word paradigm as well as with less suppression of medial frontal regions that are part of the default mode network, βs = -.16 to -.87. In comparison, increased activation in dorsolateral prefrontal regions was associated with earlier age of abuse onset under conditions of sustained (i.e., blocked) cognitive control in the emotional Stroop task for blocks of positive distracting words versus fixation, βs = -.50 to -.60. These results provide preliminary evidence that earlier age of exposure to childhood abuse impacts the functional activation of neural systems involved in cognitive control in adulthood. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Monetary incentives at retrieval promote recognition of involuntarily learned emotional information.

PubMed

Yan, Chunping; Li, Yunyun; Zhang, Qin; Cui, Lixia

2018-03-07

Previous studies have suggested that the effects of reward on memory processes are affected by certain factors, but it remains unclear whether the effects of reward at retrieval on recognition processes are influenced by emotion. The event-related potential was used to investigate the combined effect of reward and emotion on memory retrieval and its neural mechanism. The behavioral results indicated that the reward at retrieval improved recognition performance under positive and negative emotional conditions. The event-related potential results indicated that there were significant interactions between the reward and emotion in the average amplitude during recognition, and the significant reward effects from the frontal to parietal brain areas appeared at 130-800 ms for positive pictures and at 190-800 ms for negative pictures, but there were no significant reward effects of neutral pictures; the reward effect of positive items appeared relatively earlier, starting at 130 ms, and that of negative pictures began at 190 ms. These results indicate that monetary incentives at retrieval promote recognition of involuntarily learned emotional information.

The importance of job training to job satisfaction of older workers.

PubMed

Leppel, Karen; Brucker, Eric; Cochran, Jeremy

2012-01-01

If job training has positive impacts on worker satisfaction, then job training can have desirable consequences for an organization that result both directly through its effects on productivity and indirectly through its effects on job satisfaction. Furthermore, the aging of the workforce implies that older workers will become increasingly important to firms and to the economy. This study, therefore, seeks to examine the relationship between job training and job satisfaction, focusing in particular on U.S. workers born in 1964 or earlier. The results of ordered logit regression analysis indicate that availability and quality of training received directly affect job satisfaction.

Tunable properties of light propagation in photonic liquid crystal fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szaniawska, K.; Nasilowski, T.; Woliński, T. R.; Thienpont, H.

2006-12-01

Tunable properties of light propagation in photonic crystal fibers filled with liquid crystals, called photonic liquid crystal fibers (PLCFs) are presented. The propagation properties of PLCFs strongly depend on contrast between refractive indices of the solid core (pure silica glass) and liquid crystals (LCs) filing the holes of the fiber. Due to relatively strong thermo-optical effect, we can change the refractive index of the LC by changing its temperature. Numerical analysis of light propagation in PLCF, based on two simulation methods, such as finite difference (FD) and multipole method (MM) is presented. The numerical results obtained are in good agreement with our earlier experimental results presented elsewhere [1].

Adapting to a Warmer Ocean—Seasonal Shift of Baleen Whale Movements over Three Decades

PubMed Central

Ramp, Christian; Delarue, Julien; Palsbøll, Per J.; Sears, Richard; Hammond, Philip S.

2015-01-01

Global warming poses particular challenges to migratory species, which face changes to the multiple environments occupied during migration. For many species, the timing of migration between summer and winter grounds and also within-season movements are crucial to maximise exploitation of temporarily abundant prey resources in feeding areas, themselves adapting to the warming planet. We investigated the temporal variation in the occurrence of fin (Balaenoptera physalus) and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in a North Atlantic summer feeding ground, the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada), from 1984 to 2010 using a long-term study of individually identifiable animals. These two sympatric species both shifted their date of arrival at a previously undocumented rate of more than 1day per year earlier over the study period thus maintaining the approximate 2-week difference in arrival of the two species and enabling the maintenance of temporal niche separation. However, the departure date of both species also shifted earlier but at different rates resulting in increasing temporal overlap over the study period indicating that this separation may be starting to erode. Our analysis revealed that the trend in arrival was strongly related to earlier ice break-up and rising sea surface temperature, likely triggering earlier primary production. The observed changes in phenology in response to ocean warming are a remarkable example of phenotypic plasticity and may partly explain how baleen whales were able to survive a number of changes in climate over the last several million years. However, it is questionable whether the observed rate of change in timing can be maintained. Substantial modification to the distribution or annual life cycle of these species might be required to keep up with the ongoing warming of the oceans. PMID:25785462

Adapting to a warmer ocean--seasonal shift of baleen whale movements over three decades.

PubMed

Ramp, Christian; Delarue, Julien; Palsbøll, Per J; Sears, Richard; Hammond, Philip S

2015-01-01

Global warming poses particular challenges to migratory species, which face changes to the multiple environments occupied during migration. For many species, the timing of migration between summer and winter grounds and also within-season movements are crucial to maximise exploitation of temporarily abundant prey resources in feeding areas, themselves adapting to the warming planet. We investigated the temporal variation in the occurrence of fin (Balaenoptera physalus) and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in a North Atlantic summer feeding ground, the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada), from 1984 to 2010 using a long-term study of individually identifiable animals. These two sympatric species both shifted their date of arrival at a previously undocumented rate of more than 1 day per year earlier over the study period thus maintaining the approximate 2-week difference in arrival of the two species and enabling the maintenance of temporal niche separation. However, the departure date of both species also shifted earlier but at different rates resulting in increasing temporal overlap over the study period indicating that this separation may be starting to erode. Our analysis revealed that the trend in arrival was strongly related to earlier ice break-up and rising sea surface temperature, likely triggering earlier primary production. The observed changes in phenology in response to ocean warming are a remarkable example of phenotypic plasticity and may partly explain how baleen whales were able to survive a number of changes in climate over the last several million years. However, it is questionable whether the observed rate of change in timing can be maintained. Substantial modification to the distribution or annual life cycle of these species might be required to keep up with the ongoing warming of the oceans.

Do emotional support and classroom organization earlier in the year set the stage for higher quality instruction?

PubMed

Curby, Timothy W; Rimm-Kaufman, Sara E; Abry, Tashia

2013-10-01

Many teachers believe that providing greater emotional and organizational supports in the beginning of the year strengthens their ability to teach effectively as the year progresses. Some interventions, such as the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach, explicitly embed this sequence into professional development efforts. We tested the hypothesis that earlier emotional and organizational supports set the stage for improved instruction later in the year in a sample of third- and fourth-grade teachers enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of the RC approach. Further, we examined the extent to which the model generalized for teachers using varying levels of RC practices as well as whether or not teachers were in the intervention or control groups. Teachers' emotional, organizational, and instructional interactions were observed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) on five occasions throughout the year. Results indicated a reciprocal relation between emotional and instructional supports. Specifically, higher levels of emotional support earlier in the year predicted higher instructional support later in the year. Also, higher levels of instructional support earlier in the year predicted higher emotional support later in the year. Classroom organization was not found to have longitudinal associations with the other domains across a year. This pattern was robust when controlling for the use of RC practices as well as across intervention and control groups. Further, teachers' use of RC practices predicted higher emotional support and classroom organization throughout the year, suggesting the malleability of this teacher characteristic. Discussion highlights the connection between teachers' emotional and instructional supports and how the use of RC practices improves teachers' emotionally supportive interactions with students. Copyright © 2013 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physician-directed injury prevention for young skiers and snowboarders

PubMed Central

Macnab, Andrew J; Cadman, Robert E; Greenlaw, Julia V

1998-01-01

Based on earlier studies of ski injury, which indicated that youths were at increased risk of injury, that males were most likely to injure the head or face and that females were most likely to injure the knee, a study to identify factors relevant for physicians to use in injury prevention initiatives was undertaken. The authors then conducted a search for effective injury prevention strategies using MEDLINE. The results of both undertakings were the basis for proposed guidelines for prevention strategies that physicians can use when counselling skiers and snowboarders. PMID:20401274

A photometric map of interstellar reddening within 100 PC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, C. L.; Johnston, L.; Crawford, D. L.

1982-12-01

Color excesses and distances are calculated for 300 bright, northern, late F stars using uvby beta photometric indices. The data allow an extension of the earlier maps by Perry and Johnston of the spatial distribution of interstellar reddening into the local (r less than 100 pc) solar neighborhood. Some definite conclusions are made regarding the distribution of interstellar dust in the northern hemisphere and within 300 pc of the sun by merging these results and the polarimetric observations by Tinbergen (1982) for 180 stars within 35 pc of the sun.

[Benefits and disadvantages of telemedicine].

PubMed

Daragó, László; Jung, Zsófia; Ispán, Fanni; Bendes, Rita; Dinya, Elek

2013-07-28

Telemedicine is used more and more frequently worldwide. It is increasingly popular in North America, Australia, South Africa, as well as the Scandinavian countries. However, it is not commonly used in Hungary despite various attempts, which is presumably due to earlier dismissive governmental attitude. In this paper the authors analyze ethical, legal and financial aspects of telemedicine from the viewpoints of physicians and patients, too. The results indicate that it cannot be clearly decided whether telemedicine is worth to apply at present. Further, introduction of telemedicine should be based on experience gained in local application.

Plant phenological records in northern Finland since the 18th century as retrieved from databases, archives and diaries for biometeorological research.

PubMed

Holopainen, Jari; Helama, Samuli; Lappalainen, Hanna; Gregow, Hilppa

2013-05-01

Plant phenological data from northern Finland, compiled from several sources, were examined as potential biometeorological indicators of climate change since the 18th century. A common feature of individual series was their sporadic nature. In addition to waning enthusiasm, wartime hardships and crop failures had caused gaps in recording observations during the 18th and 19th centuries. The present study's challenge was to combine separate records, as retrieved from several historical archives and personal diaries, into a single continuous series. To avoid possible biases due to the variability of data availability each year, each phenomenon-specific mean series was transformed into normalized site-specific index series. These series were compared to each other and to a regional instrumental temperature series (years 1802-2011). The inter-phenomena correlations were high. Moreover, a strong biometeorological response of the phenological series, most especially to monthly mean temperature in May, and seasonally to the April through June temperatures, was identified. This response focused on slightly later spring months compared to the responses in an earlier study conducted for southern Finland. The findings encouraged us to compute a total phenological index series as an average of all available phenomenon-specific index series for northern Finland. The earliest phenological springs were found as a cluster in the recent end of the record, whereas the anomalously-late phenological spring could be found through the centuries. This finding could indicate that potential future warming could result in an earlier onset of phenological springs (i.e. as experienced by the plants), with a remaining possibility of late phenological springs. To conclude, it was shown that the indices are reliable biometeorological indicators of the April through June temperature variations and thus of the climate variability in the region.

Portrayals of teen smoking, drinking, and drug use in recent popular movies.

PubMed

Stern, Susannah; Morr, Lindsey

2013-01-01

Studies indicate that films can influence adolescents' attitudes toward and initiation of substance use. It is therefore important to periodically assess film content to assess the types of imagery adolescents are likely to encounter. This study content analyzed teen characters in top films featuring teenagers from 2007, 2008, and 2009 to assess smoking, drinking, and drug use portrayals. Results indicate a relatively low incidence of smoking and drug use. However, one in five teen characters are shown drinking. Overall, substance use depictions have diminished considerably compared with films released at the earlier end of the decade. However, consequences of substance use were infrequently depicted, and characters seldom refused invitations to drink or do drugs. Given these findings, some potentially counterproductive outcomes are discussed.

Evolution of Rotor Wake in Swirling Flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

El-Haldidi, Basman; Atassi, Hafiz; Envia, Edmane; Podboy, Gary

2000-01-01

A theory is presented for modeling the evolution of rotor wakes as a function of axial distance in swirling mean flows. The theory, which extends an earlier work to include arbitrary radial distributions of mean swirl, indicates that swirl can significantly alter the wake structure of the rotor especially at large downstream distances (i.e., for moderate to large rotor-stator spacings). Using measured wakes of a representative scale model fan stage to define the mean swirl and initial wake perturbations, the theory is used to predict the subsequent evolution of the wakes. The results indicate the sensitivity of the wake evolution to the initial profile and the need to have complete and consistent initial definition of both velocity and pressure perturbations.

X-Ray Probes of Cosmic Star Formation History

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghosh, Pranab; White, Nicholas E.

2001-01-01

We discuss the imprints left by a cosmological evolution of the star formation rate (SFR) on the evolution of X-ray luminosities Lx of normal galaxies, using the scheme earlier proposed by us, wherein the evolution of LX of a galaxy is driven by the evolution of its X-ray binary population. As indicated in our earlier work, the profile of Lx with redshift can both serve as a diagnostic probe of the SFR profile and constrain evolutionary models for X-ray binaries. We report here the first calculation of the expected evolution of X-ray luminosities of galaxies, updating our work by using a suite of more recently developed SFR profiles that span the currently plausible range. The first Chandra deep imaging results on Lx evolution are beginning to probe the SFR profile of bright spiral galaxies; the early results are consistent with predictions based on current SFR models. Using these new SFR profiles, the resolution of the "birthrate problem" of low-mass X-ray binaries and recycled, millisecond pulsars in terms of an evolving global SFR is more complete. We discuss the possible impact of the variations in the SFR profile of individual galaxies and galaxy types.

Perception-action coupling in complex game play: Exploring the quiet eye in contested basketball jump shots.

PubMed

Klostermann, André; Panchuk, Derek; Farrow, Damian

2018-05-01

The duration of the final fixation before movement initiation - a gaze strategy labelled quiet eye - has been found to explain differences in motor expertise and performance in precision tasks. To date, research only addressed this phenomenon in situations without adversarial constraints. In the present study, we compared the quiet-eye behaviour of intermediately-skilled and highly-skilled basketball players in defended vs. undefended game situations. We predicted differences in quiet-eye duration as a function of skill and performance particularly resulting from late quiet-eye offsets. Results indicated performance-enhancing effects of long quiet-eye durations in the defended but not in the undefended game situation. Furthermore, in line with our prediction, later quiet-eye offsets were associated with superior performance elucidating the phenomenon's relevance in online-demanding motor tasks. Further, earlier quiet-eye onsets were linked to successful performance supporting earlier suggestions that it is not only the duration but also the timing that matters. These findings not only extend the positive effects of the quiet eye in motor performance to dynamic game-play situations but also support the role of the quiet eye in response to programming and information processing respectively.

Lateralization of high-frequency transposed stimuli under conditions of binaural interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernstein, Leslie R.; Trahiotis, Constantine

2005-04-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether binaural interference would occur if ITD-based extents of laterality were measured using high-frequency transposed stimuli as targets. The results of an earlier study [L. R. Bernstein and C. Trahiotis, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116, 3062-3069 (2004)], which focused on threshold-ITDs rather than extents of laterality, suggested that high-frequency transposed stimuli might be immune to binaural interference effects resulting from the addition of a spectrally-remote, low-frequency interferer. In contrast to the earlier findings, the data from this study indicate that high-frequency transposed targets can, indeed, be susceptible to binaural interference. High-frequency transposed targets, even when presented along with an interferer, yielded greater extents of ITD-based laterality than did Gaussian noise targets presented in isolation. That is, the enhanced potency of ITDs conveyed by transposed stimuli persisted even in the presence of a low-frequency interferer. Predictions made using an extension of the model of Heller and Trahiotis [L. M. Heller and C. Trahiotis, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 99, 3632-3637 (1996)] accounted well for binaural interference obtained with conventional Gaussian noise targets but generally over-predicted the amounts of interference found with the transposed targets.

Combining the role of convenience and consideration set size in explaining fish consumption in Norway.

PubMed

Rortveit, Asbjorn Warvik; Olsen, Svein Ottar

2009-04-01

The purpose of this study is to explore how convenience orientation, perceived product inconvenience and consideration set size are related to attitudes towards fish and fish consumption. The authors present a structural equation model (SEM) based on the integration of two previous studies. The results of a SEM analysis using Lisrel 8.72 on data from a Norwegian consumer survey (n=1630) suggest that convenience orientation and perceived product inconvenience have a negative effect on both consideration set size and consumption frequency. Attitude towards fish has the greatest impact on consumption frequency. The results also indicate that perceived product inconvenience is a key variable since it has a significant impact on attitude, and on consideration set size and consumption frequency. Further, the analyses confirm earlier findings suggesting that the effect of convenience orientation on consumption is partially mediated through perceived product inconvenience. The study also confirms earlier findings suggesting that the consideration set size affects consumption frequency. Practical implications drawn from this research are that the seafood industry would benefit from developing and positioning products that change beliefs about fish as an inconvenient product. Future research for other food categories should be done to enhance the external validity.

Earlier flowering did not alter pollen limitation in an early flowering shrub under short-term experimental warming.

PubMed

Pan, Cheng-Chen; Feng, Qi; Zhao, Ha-Lin; Liu, Lin-De; Li, Yu-Lin; Li, Yu-Qiang; Zhang, Tong-Hui; Yu, Xiao-Ya

2017-06-05

In animal pollinated plants, phenological shifts caused by climate change may have important ecological consequences. However, no empirical evidence exists at present on the consequences that flowering phenology shifts have on the strength of pollen limitation under experimental warming. Here, we investigated the effects of experimental warming on flowering phenology, flower density, reproductive success, and pollen limitation intensity in Caragana microphylla and evaluated whether earlier flowering phenology affected plant reproduction and the level of pollen limitation using warmed and unwarmed open top chambers in the Horqin Sandy Land of Inner Mongolia, northern China. The results of this study indicated that artificial warming markedly advanced flower phenology rather than extending the duration of the flowering. Additionally, warming was found to significantly reduce flower density which led to seed production reduction, since there were insignificant effects observed on fruit set and seed number per fruit. Experimental floral manipulations showed that warming did not affect pollen limitation. These results revealed the negative effects of advanced phenology induced by warming on flower density and reproductive output, as well as the neutral effects on reproductive success and pollen limitation intensity of long surviving plants.

Net carbon uptake has increased through warming-induced changes in temperate forest phenology

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

Keenan, Trevor; Gray, Josh; Friedl, Mark

2014-01-01

The timing of phenological events exerts a strong control over ecosystem function and leads to multiple feedbacks to the climate system1. Phenology is inherently sensitive to temperature (though the exact sensitivity is disputed2) and recent warming is reported to have led to earlier spring, later autumn3,4 and increased vegetation activity5,6. Such greening could be expected to enhance ecosystem carbon uptake7,8, though reports also suggest decreased uptake for boreal forests4,9. Here we assess changes in phenology of temperate forests over the eastern US during the past two decades, and quantify the resulting changes in forest carbon storage. We combine long-term groundmore » observations of phenology, satellite indices, and ecosystem-scale carbon dioxide flux measurements, along with 18 terrestrial biosphere models. We observe a strong trend of earlier spring and later autumn. In contrast to previous suggestions4,9 we show that carbon uptake through photosynthesis increased considerably more than carbon release through respiration for both an earlier spring and later autumn. The terrestrial biosphere models tested misrepresent the temperature sensitivity of phenology, and thus the effect on carbon uptake. Our analysis of the temperature-phenology-carbon coupling suggests a current and possible future enhancement of forest carbon uptake due to changes in phenology. This constitutes a negative feedback to climate change, and is serving to slow the rate of warming.« less

Climate Change Impacts on the Los Angeles Aqueducts Water Sources: 21st Century Hydrologic Projections for Owens Valley and Mono Lake Watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costa-Cabral, M. C.; Roy, S. B.; Maurer, E. P.; Mills, W. B.; Chen, L.

2011-12-01

Precipitation from the Eastern Sierra Nevada watersheds of Owens Lake and Mono Lake is one of the main water sources, and the one of highest quality, for Los Angeles' more than 4 million people. Winter snow is stored in the large snowpack reservoir, and meltwater (~0.2-0.5 million acre-feet) is delivered annually to the city in the dry season by the 340-mile long Los Angeles Aqueduct system, operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. We identify plausible scenarios of future climate conditions in the Owens-Mono watersheds over the 21st century based on CMIP3 results for 16 global climate models (GCMs) statistically downscaled to 1/8° and greenhouse gas emission scenarios A2 and B1; and we evaluate the consequent hydrologic impacts using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrologic model. Such climate scenarios have large and unquantifiable associated uncertainty and do not represent predictions, but are considered to be plausible under the current state of knowledge. We applied VIC to the Owens-Mono watersheds and calibrated the model using monthly streamflow records provided by LADWP. Of most interest to Los Angeles' water supply are the projections for the snowpack and the dry-season hydrograph that relies on snowmelt. Our results indicate future increases in the fraction of precipitation falling as rain rather than snow, from a historical value of about 20% to 20-30% by mid-century and 28-52% by end of century (depending on the GCM) for scenario A2. As a result, the snowpack's peak snow water equivalent (SWE) is projected to decline by most GCMs. The SWE peak is also projected to shift toward earlier dates (by a few days by mid-century and by a GCM-average of 2 weeks by end of century under emissions scenario A2). The diminished SWE, earlier SWE peak and earlier melt associated with rising temperatures result in earlier hydrograph peaks, a shift in the date marking the passage of half of the year's hydrograph volume (by more than one month by end of century for some GCMs under A2), and declining dry-season streamflows feeding the Los Angeles aqueducts.

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

Li, Xuecao; Zhou, Yuyu; Asrar, Ghassem R.

The influence of urbanization on vegetation phenology is gaining considerable attention due to its implications for human health, cycling of carbon and other nutrients in Earth system. In this study, we examined the relationship between change in vegetation phenology and urban size, an indicator of urbanization, for the conterminous United States. We studied more than 4500 urban clusters of varying size to determine the impact of urbanization on plant phenology, with the aids of remotely sensed observations since 2003–2012. We found that phenology cycle (changes in vegetation greenness) in urban areas starts earlier (start of season, SOS) and ends latermore » (end of season, EOS), resulting in a longer growing season length (GSL), when compared to the respective surrounding urban areas. The average difference of GSL between urban and rural areas over all vegetation types, considered in this study, is about 9 days.Also, the extended GSL in urban area is consistent among different climate zones in the United States, whereas their magnitudes are varying across regions. We found that a tenfold increase in urban size could result in an earlier SOS of about 1.3 days and a later EOS of around 2.4 days. As a result, the GSL could be extended by approximately 3.6 days with a range of 1.6–6.5 days for 25th ~ 75th quantiles, with a median value of about 2.1 days. For different vegetation types, the phenology response to urbanization, as defined by GSL, ranges from 1 to 4 days. In conclusion, the quantitative relationship between phenology and urbanization is of great use for developing improved models of vegetation phenology dynamics under future urbanization, and for developing change indicators to assess the impacts of urbanization on vegetation phenology.« less

Response of vegetation phenology to urbanization in the conterminous United States

DOE PAGES

Li, Xuecao; Zhou, Yuyu; Asrar, Ghassem R.; ...

2016-12-18

The influence of urbanization on vegetation phenology is gaining considerable attention due to its implications for human health, cycling of carbon and other nutrients in Earth system. In this study, we examined the relationship between change in vegetation phenology and urban size, an indicator of urbanization, for the conterminous United States. We studied more than 4500 urban clusters of varying size to determine the impact of urbanization on plant phenology, with the aids of remotely sensed observations since 2003–2012. We found that phenology cycle (changes in vegetation greenness) in urban areas starts earlier (start of season, SOS) and ends latermore » (end of season, EOS), resulting in a longer growing season length (GSL), when compared to the respective surrounding urban areas. The average difference of GSL between urban and rural areas over all vegetation types, considered in this study, is about 9 days.Also, the extended GSL in urban area is consistent among different climate zones in the United States, whereas their magnitudes are varying across regions. We found that a tenfold increase in urban size could result in an earlier SOS of about 1.3 days and a later EOS of around 2.4 days. As a result, the GSL could be extended by approximately 3.6 days with a range of 1.6–6.5 days for 25th ~ 75th quantiles, with a median value of about 2.1 days. For different vegetation types, the phenology response to urbanization, as defined by GSL, ranges from 1 to 4 days. In conclusion, the quantitative relationship between phenology and urbanization is of great use for developing improved models of vegetation phenology dynamics under future urbanization, and for developing change indicators to assess the impacts of urbanization on vegetation phenology.« less

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

Li, Xuecao; Zhou, Yuyu; Asrar, Ghassem R.

The influence of urbanization on vegetation phenology is gaining considerable attention due to its implications for human health, cycling of carbon and other nutrients in Earth system. In this study, we examined the relationship between change in vegetation phenology and urban size, an indicator of urbanization, for the conterminous United States. We studied more than 4500 urban clusters of varying size to determine the impact of urbanization on plant phenology, with the aids of remotely sensed observations since 2003–2012. We found that phenology cycle (changes in vegetation greenness) in rural areas starts earlier (start of season, SOS) and ends latermore » (end of season, EOS), resulting in a longer growing season length (GSL), when compared to the respective surrounding urban areas. The average difference of GSL between urban and rural areas over all vegetation types, considered in this study, is about 9 days. Also, the extended GSL in urban area is consistent among different climate zones in the United States, whereas their magnitudes are varying across regions. We found that a tenfold increase in urban size could result in an earlier SOS of about 1.3 days and a later EOS of around 2.4 days. As a result, the GSL could be extended by approximately 3.6 days with a range of 1.6–6.5 days for 25th ~ 75th quantiles, with a median value of about 2.1 days. For different vegetation types, the phenology response to urbanization, as defined by GSL, ranges from 1 to 4 days. The quantitative relationship between phenology and urbanization is of great use for developing improved models of vegetation phenology dynamics under future urbanization, and for developing change indicators to assess the impacts of urbanization on vegetation phenology.« less

The effects of speech controls on performance in advanced helicopters in a double stimulation paradigm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bortolussi, Michael R.; Vidulich, Michael A.

1991-01-01

The potential benefit of speech as a control modality has been investigated with mixed results. Earlier studies suggests that speech controls can reduce the potential of manual control overloads and improve time-sharing performance. However, these benefits were not without costs. Pilots reported higher workload levels associated with the use of speech controls. To further investigate these previous findings, an experiment was conducted in a simulation of an advanced single-pilot, scout/attack helicopter at NASA-Ames' ICAB (interchangeable cab) facility. Objective performance data suggested that speech control modality was effective in reducing interference of discrete, time-shared responses during continuous flight control activity. Subjective ratings, however, indicated that the speech control modality increased workload. Post-flight debriefing indicated that these results were mainly due to the increased effort to speak precisely to a less than perfect voice recognition system.

New technique for study on isotopic fractionation between sea water and foraminiferal growing processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cang, Shuxi; Shackleton, N. J.

1990-12-01

The stable isotopic δ18O and δ13C composition of foraminiferal shell calcite varies as a function of many factors including temperature and salinity. In order to understand and interpret the variations in the isotopic composition of foraminiferal shell calcite, research has been recently focused on the role of the “vital effects”. Our examination of the lamella structure of several recent planktonic foraminifera indicates that the secretion of sequential lamellae results in multiple lamillae on earlier chambers and a single lamella on the final chamber. We used a very simple procedure to separate the individual whole test of foraminifera into several chambers and measured the isotopic composition of each growth stage chamber. The results indicate that the stable isotopic composition (carbon and oxygen), particularly that of the last two chambers, of the foraminiferal test varies as a function of the individual growing process.

High contrast sensitivity for visually guided flight control in bumblebees.

PubMed

Chakravarthi, Aravin; Kelber, Almut; Baird, Emily; Dacke, Marie

2017-12-01

Many insects rely on vision to find food, to return to their nest and to carefully control their flight between these two locations. The amount of information available to support these tasks is, in part, dictated by the spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity of their visual systems. Here, we investigate the absolute limits of these visual properties for visually guided position and speed control in Bombus terrestris. Our results indicate that the limit of spatial vision in the translational motion detection system of B. terrestris lies at 0.21 cycles deg -1 with a peak contrast sensitivity of at least 33. In the perspective of earlier findings, these results indicate that bumblebees have higher contrast sensitivity in the motion detection system underlying position control than in their object discrimination system. This suggests that bumblebees, and most likely also other insects, have different visual thresholds depending on the behavioral context.

Decision tree rating scales for workload estimation: Theme and variations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wierwille, W. W.; Skipper, J. H.; Rieger, C. A.

1984-01-01

The Modified Cooper-Harper (MCH) scale which is a sensitive indicator of workload in several different types of aircrew tasks was examined. The study determined if variations of the scale might provide greater sensitivity and the reasons for the sensitivity of the scale. The MCH scale and five newly devised scales were examined in two different aircraft simulator experiments in which pilot loading was treated as an independent variable. It is indicated that while one of the new scales may be more sensitive in a given experiment, task dependency is a problem. The MCH scale exhibits consistent senstivity and remains the scale recommended for general use. The MCH scale results are consistent with earlier experiments. The rating scale experiments are reported and the questionnaire results which were directed to obtain a better understanding of the reasons for the relative sensitivity of the MCH scale and its variations are described.

Influence of garlic, synthetic 1,2,4-triasole derivative and herbal preparation echinovit C on selected indices of turkey-hens non-specific immunity.

PubMed

Truchliński, J; Krauze, M; Cendrowska-Pinkosz, M; Modzelewska-Banachiewicz, B

2006-01-01

Successful results of earlier studies on testing the immune-modulating and anti-microbial properties of 1,2,4-triasole derivative as well as benefitial application of natural bio-stimulators in animal's prophylaxis and treatment inspired us to undertake further investigations. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the prophylaxis effects of two natural immune-modulating agents, garlic (Allium sativum) extract and Echinovit C preparation and synthetic derivative of 1,2,4-triasole on non-specific immunity indices in slaughter turkey-hens. The results obtained suggest that the strongest stimulatory effect is exerted by garlic followed by 1,2,4-triasole derivative and Echinacea juice. Immune-modulating action of the substances applied was manifested by an increase in cellular immune parameters: the percentage of phagocyting cells, NBT-positive granulocytes and lysozyme level.

Low-latitude Temperatures, Pressures, and Winds on Saturn from Cassini Radio Occultations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flasar, F. M.; Schinder, P. J.; Kliore, A. J.; French, R. G.; Marouf, E. A.; Nagy, A.; Rappaport, N. J.; Anabtawi, A.; Asmar, S.; Barbinis, E.; Fleischman, D. U.; Goltz, G. L.; Johnston, D. V.; Rochblatt, D.; McGhee, C. A.

2005-12-01

We present results from 12 ingress and egress soundings done within 10 degrees of Saturn's equator. Above the 100-mbar level, near the tropopause, the vertical profiles of temperature are marked by undulatory structure that may be associated with vertically propagating waves. Below the 200-mbar level, in the upper troposphere, the vertical profiles are smoother, and the overall trend of temperatures is to increase away from the equator. This implies a decay of the zonal winds with altitude. The zonal winds can actually be inferred directly from the meridional gradient in pressure, without the need of a boundary condition on the winds. We summarize results of these calculations. This is of interest because recent cloud tracking studies have indicated lower equatorial winds than found earlier, but whether this indicates a real change in the winds at a given altitude or a change in the altitudes of the features tracked is controversial.

Hydroclimatic alteration increases vulnerability of montane meadows in the Sierra Nevada, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viers, J. H.; Peek, R.; Purdy, S. E.; Emmons, J. D.; Yarnell, S. M.

2012-12-01

Meadow ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada (California, USA) have been maintained by the interplay of biotic and abiotic forces, where hydrological functions bridge aquatic and terrestrial realms. Meadows are not only key habitat for fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammals alike, but also provide enumerable ecosystem services to humans, not limited to regulating services (eg, water filtration), provisioning services (eg, grazing), and aesthetics. Using hydroclimatic models and spatial distribution models of indicator species, a range wide assessment was conducted to assess and synthesize the vulnerability of meadow ecosystems to hydroclimatic alteration, a result of regional climate change. Atmospheric warming is expected to result in a greater fraction of total precipitation falling as winter rain (rather than snow) and earlier snowmelt. These predicted changes will likely cause more precipitation-driven runoff in winter and reduced snowmelt runoff in spring, leading to reduced annual runoff and a general shift in runoff timing to earlier in the year. These profound effects have consequences for hydrological cycling and meadow functioning, though such changes will not occur steadily through time or uniformly across the range, and each individual meadow will respond as a function of its composition and land use history. Most vulnerable is groundwater recharge, a fundamental component of meadow hydrology. As a result of shortened snow melt period and absence of diel snowmelt fluxes that would otherwise gradually refill meadow aquifers, recharge is expected to decline due to less infiltration. Diminished water tables will likely stress hydric and mesic vegetation, promoting more xeric conditions. Coupled with greater magnitude stream flows, these conditions promote channel incision and ultimate state shift to non-meadow conditions. The biological effects of hydroclimatic alteration, such as lower mean annual flow and earlier timing, will result in an overall decrease in available habitat for aquatic species, particularly for cold water fishes (ie, salmonids and sculpins). Earlier timing and longer low flow duration will force aquatic biota to withstand more days at thermally challenging temperatures, potentially promoting non-native species. Decreased mean annual flow, less overall snow volume, and warmer daily air temperatures will potentially decrease the number of days of standing water available for amphibian reproduction. A core strategy for maintaining meadow ecosystems, ecosystem services, and dependent biodiversity is to reduce vulnerabilities, such as unstable stream banks that promote cycles of incision, and increase resilience to disturbance, such as actively removing encroaching vegetation that can overtap water tables and build up wildfire fuels. Reducing meadow vulnerability to hydroclimatic alteration and ensuring sustained ecosystem services will require active ecosystem management (ie, managed for indicator species, but with focus on hydrological functioning); coordinated hydrological management (ie, conservation action and removal of stressors coordinated across all ownerships and management regimes); and effective communication to minimize human activities that reduce resilience, as well as improve human

Adaptation to suspensory locomotion in Australopithecus sediba.

PubMed

Rein, Thomas R; Harrison, Terry; Carlson, Kristian J; Harvati, Katerina

2017-03-01

Australopithecus sediba is represented by well-preserved fossilized remains from the locality of Malapa, South Africa. Recent work has shown that the combination of features in the limb skeleton of A. sediba was distinct from that of earlier species of Australopithecus, perhaps indicating that this species moved differently. The bones of the arm and forearm indicate that A. sediba was adapted to suspensory and climbing behaviors. We used a geometric morphometric approach to examine ulnar shape, potentially identifying adaptations to forelimb suspensory locomotion in A. sediba. Results indicated suspensory capabilities in this species and a stronger forelimb suspensory signal than has been documented in Australopithecus afarensis. Our study confirms the adaptive significance of functional morphological traits for arboreal movements in the locomotor repertoire of A. sediba and provides important insight into the diversity and mosaic nature of locomotor adaptations among early hominins. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Cannabis Use and Cognitive Reserve on Age at Onset and Psychosis Outcomes in First-Episode Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Leeson, Verity C.; Harrison, Isobel; Ron, Maria A.; Barnes, Thomas R. E.; Joyce, Eileen M.

2012-01-01

Objective: Cannabis use is associated with a younger age at onset of psychosis, an indicator of poor prognosis, but better cognitive function, a positive prognostic indicator. We aimed to clarify the role of age at onset and cognition on outcomes in cannabis users with first-episode schizophrenia as well as the effect of cannabis dose and cessation of use. Methods: Ninety-nine patients without alcohol or substance abuse other than cannabis were divided into lifetime users and never-users of cannabis and compared on measures of premorbid function, cognition, and clinical outcome. Results: Cannabis users demonstrated better cognition at psychosis onset, which was explained by higher premorbid IQ. They also showed better social function and neither measure changed over the subsequent 15 months. Cannabis users had an earlier age at onset of psychosis, and there was a strong linear relationship between age at first cannabis use and age at onset of both prodromal and psychotic symptoms. Cannabis use spontaneously declined over time with 3-quarters of users giving up altogether. Later age at first cannabis use predicted earlier cessation of use and this in turn was linked to fewer positive psychotic symptoms and days in hospital during the first 2 years. Conclusions: Cannabis use brings forward the onset of psychosis in people who otherwise have good prognostic features indicating that an early age at onset can be due to a toxic action of cannabis rather than an intrinsically more severe illness. Many patients abstain over time, but in those who persist, psychosis is more difficult to treat. PMID:21389110

Frost trends and their estimated impact on yield in the Australian wheatbelt

PubMed Central

Zheng, Bangyou; Chapman, Scott C.; Christopher, Jack T.; Frederiks, Troy M.; Chenu, Karine

2015-01-01

Radiant spring frosts occurring during reproductive developmental stages can result in catastrophic yield loss for wheat producers. To better understand the spatial and temporal variability of frost, the occurrence and impact of frost events on rain-fed wheat production was estimated across the Australian wheatbelt for 1957–2013 using a 0.05 ° gridded weather data set. Simulated yield outcomes at 60 key locations were compared with those for virtual genotypes with different levels of frost tolerance. Over the last six decades, more frost events, later last frost day, and a significant increase in frost impact on yield were found in certain regions of the Australian wheatbelt, in particular in the South-East and West. Increasing trends in frost-related yield losses were simulated in regions where no significant trend of frost occurrence was observed, due to higher mean temperatures accelerating crop development and causing sensitive post-heading stages to occur earlier, during the frost risk period. Simulations indicated that with frost-tolerant lines the mean national yield could be improved by up to 20% through (i) reduced frost damage (~10% improvement) and (ii) the ability to use earlier sowing dates (adding a further 10% improvement). In the simulations, genotypes with an improved frost tolerance to temperatures 1 °C lower than the current 0 °C reference provided substantial benefit in most cropping regions, while greater tolerance (to 3 °C lower temperatures) brought further benefits in the East. The results indicate that breeding for improved reproductive frost tolerance should remain a priority for the Australian wheat industry, despite warming climates. PMID:25922479

Shifting diet, shifting culture? A bioarchaeological approach to island dietary development on Iron-Age Öland, Baltic Sea.

PubMed

Wilhelmson, Helene

2017-06-01

The diet and subsistence in Iron-Age Öland is debated as earlier studies and different archaeological sources seemingly provide conflicting interpretations. The objectives of this study are therefore to: (i) add new insights on diet and (ii) investigate the chronological variation in detail. It is common in studies of diet to investigate differences between datasets defined by archaeological periods (determined by artefact typology), but it is rare to explore whether these dietary changes are, in fact, well correlated with these temporal categories or not. Stable isotope analysis of 108 individuals and 25 animals was used to interpret diet in comparison with data from earlier studies. Different values of TLE (Trophic Level Effect) for δ 15 N were compared for interpretations of diet. Of the 108 individuals, 42 were subjected to 14 C analysis in this study. The isotopes from Iron-Age animals on Öland indicate that the local, contemporary ecology is specific. The human isotope values show chronological development both when pooled in chronological groups by typology and by more specific 14 C chronology. The new samples of animals as well as the use of 5‰ TLE for δ 15 N values results in the diet reinterpreted as mainly domesticate-based, with at least two shifts in diet occurring in the Iron Age. The use of 14 C dates in connection with the stable isotope results indicates a dietary transition occurring between 200 BC and AD 200, a date range that spans two typologically determined time periods. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Contemporary Trends in Onset and Completion of Puberty, Gain in Height and Adiposity.

PubMed

Biro, Frank M; Kiess, Wieland

2016-01-01

Recent studies have documented earlier pubertal maturation in both girls and boys. Several factors have been proposed to account for earlier maturation. Epidemiologic studies have indicated that genetic factors are the most important influence contributing to the variability in the onset of puberty. Studies have also noted the association of elevated BMI with earlier puberty in girls, although the relationship between BMI and onset of puberty in boys is less consistent. The relationship of BMI and onset of puberty may be mediated by several factors, including leptin and kisspeptin, changes in bioavailable sex hormones, and environmental exposures. Recently, there have been genome-wide meta-analyses examining onset of puberty and anthropometric traits that may provide insight into the relationships of BMI, height velocity, and pubertal timing. Newer fields of investigation include examination of epigenetic modification. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Climate change and decadal shifts in the phenology of larval fishes in the California Current ecosystem

PubMed Central

Asch, Rebecca G.

2015-01-01

Climate change has prompted an earlier arrival of spring in numerous ecosystems. It is uncertain whether such changes are occurring in Eastern Boundary Current Upwelling ecosystems, because these regions are subject to natural decadal climate variability, and regional climate models predict seasonal delays in upwelling. To answer this question, the phenology of 43 species of larval fishes was investigated between 1951 and 2008 off southern California. Ordination of the fish community showed earlier phenological progression in more recent years. Thirty-nine percent of seasonal peaks in larval abundance occurred earlier in the year, whereas 18% were delayed. The species whose phenology became earlier were characterized by an offshore, pelagic distribution, whereas species with delayed phenology were more likely to reside in coastal, demersal habitats. Phenological changes were more closely associated with a trend toward earlier warming of surface waters rather than decadal climate cycles, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and North Pacific Gyre Oscillation. Species with long-term advances and delays in phenology reacted similarly to warming at the interannual time scale as demonstrated by responses to the El Niño Southern Oscillation. The trend toward earlier spawning was correlated with changes in sea surface temperature (SST) and mesozooplankton displacement volume, but not coastal upwelling. SST and upwelling were correlated with delays in fish phenology. For species with 20th century advances in phenology, future projections indicate that current trends will continue unabated. The fate of species with delayed phenology is less clear due to differences between Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change models in projected upwelling trends. PMID:26159416

Has climate change shifted US maize planting times?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butler, E.; Stine, A.; Huybers, P.

2012-12-01

Global warming has been accompanied by an earlier onset of spring phenological events across a range of ecosystems. However, the degree to which humans have adapted planting schedules to a changing climate remains an open question; the leading hypotheses for earlier planting are improved hardiness of cultivars and farming equipment. Here we examine the relationship between historical temperature and precipitation from 549 weather stations from the United States Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) with planting schedules from 20 states in the United States Department of Agriculture/National Agriculture Statistics Service (USDA/NASS) database. We construct an empirical model to relate yearly weather conditions to predict planting dates and compare this to the spatial distribution of climate conditions and mean planting times. Evidence for a relationship between climate and planting schedules indicates that planting schedules for US maize have been adapted to yearly variations and overall changes in climatology. As one might expect, hotter temperatures lead to earlier plantings while greater precipitation leads to later planting. These findings serve to indicate extant adaptation between US farmers and climate change, and will aid in forecasting future shifts to planting schedules as climate continues to change. Furthermore, the statistical model should also be useful for estimating planting times for states and years for which records do not otherwise exist.

Contemporary evolution of plant reproductive strategies under global change is revealed by stored seeds.

PubMed

Thomann, M; Imbert, E; Engstrand, R C; Cheptou, P-O

2015-04-01

Global change is expected to impose new selection pressures on natural populations. Phenotypic responses, such as earlier phenology in response to climate warming, have been repeatedly observed in the field. The recent pollinator decline is also expected to change selection on reproductive traits in flowering plants. However, it remains unclear whether short-term adaptation of plant reproductive strategies occurs in response to global change. In this study, we report the evolution of some important reproductive traits of the annual self-incompatible weed Centaurea cyanus. In a common garden experiment, we germinated stored seeds, sampled 18 years apart from the same location, in a region where warmer springs and indices of pollinator decline have been reported. Compared to the ancestral population (1992), our results showed that plants of the descendant population (2010) flowered earlier and also produced larger capitula with longer receptivity and a larger floral display. QST -FST comparisons indicated that natural selection has likely contributed to the evolution of some of the traits investigated. Lower FST within temporal samples than among spatial samples further suggests a limited role of gene flow from neighbouring populations. We therefore propose that trait shifts could partly be due to adaptation to global change. © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Radial and latitudinal gradients in the solar internal angular velocity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rhodes, Edward J., Jr.; Cacciani, Alessandro; Korzennik, Sylvain G.; Tomczyk, Steven; Ulrich, Roger K.; Woodard, Martin F.

1988-01-01

The frequency splittings of intermediate-degree (3 to 170 deg) p-mode oscillations obtained from a 16-day subset of observations were analyzed. Results show evidence for both radial and latitudinal gradients in the solar internal angular velocity. From 0.6 to 0.95 solar radii, the solar internal angular velocity increases systematically from 440 to 463 nHz, corresponding to a positive radial gradient of 66 nHz/solar radius for that portion of the solar interior. Analysis also indicates that the latitudinal differential rotation gradient which is seen at the solar surface persists throughout the convection zone, although there are indications that the differential rotation might disappear entirely below the base of the convection zone. The analysis was extended to include comparisons with additional observational studies and between earlier results and the results of additional inversions of several of the observational datasets. All the comparisons reinforce conclusions regarding the existence of radial and latitudinal gradients in the internal angular velocity.

Change in Ice Thaw Dates for Selected U.S. Lakes, 1905-2015

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This figure shows the change in the ice-off date, or date of ice thawing and breakup, for 14 U.S. lakes during the period from 1905 to 2015. All of the lakes have red circles with negative numbers, which represent earlier thaw dates. Larger circles indicate larger changes. For more information: www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/indicators

Formation of O2-methylthymine in poly(dA-dT) on methylation with N-methyl-N-nitrosourea and dimethyl sulphate. Evidence that O2-methylthymine does not miscode during DNA synthesis.

PubMed Central

Saffhill, R; Abbott, P J

1978-01-01

The alternating co-polymer has been methylated with either N methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) or dimethyl sulphate (DMS) and the levels of the various methylated thymidines (O2-methylthymidine, 3-methylthymidine and O4-methylthymidine) measured. MNU produced all three compounds whereas DMS only produced 3-methylthymidine and O2-methylthymidine at detectable levels. These results have been combined with our earlier results concerning the misincorporation of dGMP with E. coli DNA polymerase using MNU-methylated poly(dA-dT). These results indicate that O2-methylthymidine does not miscode during DNA synthesis. PMID:353735

Changes in the timing of snowmelt and streamflow in Colorado: A response to recent warming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clow, David W.

2010-01-01

Trends in the timing of snowmelt and associated runoff in Colorado were evaluated for the 1978-2007 water years using the regional Kendall test (RKT) on daily snow-water equivalent (SWE) data from snowpack telemetry (SNOTEL) sites and daily streamflow data from headwater streams. The RKT is a robust, nonparametric test that provides an increased power of trend detection by grouping data from multiple sites within a given geographic region. The RKT analyses indicated strong, pervasive trends in snowmelt and streamflow timing, which have shifted toward earlier in the year by a median of 2-3 weeks over the 29-yr study period. In contrast, relatively few statistically significant trends were detected using simple linear regression. RKT analyses also indicated that November-May air temperatures increased by a median of 0.9 degrees C decade-1, while 1 April SWE and maximum SWE declined by a median of 4.1 and 3.6 cm decade-1, respectively. Multiple linear regression models were created, using monthly air temperatures, snowfall, latitude, and elevation as explanatory variables to identify major controlling factors on snowmelt timing. The models accounted for 45% of the variance in snowmelt onset, and 78% of the variance in the snowmelt center of mass (when half the snowpack had melted). Variations in springtime air temperature and SWE explained most of the interannual variability in snowmelt timing. Regression coefficients for air temperature were negative, indicating that warm temperatures promote early melt. Regression coefficients for SWE, latitude, and elevation were positive, indicating that abundant snowfall tends to delay snowmelt, and snowmelt tends to occur later at northern latitudes and high elevations. Results from this study indicate that even the mountains of Colorado, with their high elevations and cold snowpacks, are experiencing substantial shifts in the timing of snowmelt and snowmelt runoff toward earlier in the year.

Risk determinants of acute mountain sickness in trekkers in the Nepali Himalaya: a 24-year follow-up.

PubMed

McDevitt, Marion; McIntosh, Scott E; Rodway, George; Peelay, Jitsupa; Adams, Doug L; Kayser, Bengt

2014-06-01

Exposure to altitude may lead to acute mountain sickness (AMS) in nonacclimatized individuals. We surveyed AMS prevalence and potential risk factors in trekkers crossing a 5400-m pass in Nepal and compared the results with those of 2 similar studies conducted 12 and 24 years earlier. In April 2010, 500 surveys were distributed to English-speaking trekkers at 3500 m on their way to 5400 m, of which 332 (66%) surveys were returned complete. Acute mountain sickness was quantified with the Lake Louise Scoring System (LLSS, cutoff ≥3 and ≥5) and the Environmental Statistical Questionnaire III AMS-C score (ESQ-III, cutoff ≥0.7). We surveyed demographics, body mass index (BMI), smoking habit, rate of ascent, awareness of AMS, and acetazolamide use. Prevalence of AMS was 22%, 23%, and 48% (ESQ-III ≥0.7, LLSS ≥5, and LLSS ≥3, respectively) lower when compared with earlier studies. Risk factors for AMS were younger age, female sex, higher BMI, and smoking habit. Forty-two percent had elementary knowledge about the risk and prevention of AMS. Forty-four percent used acetazolamide. Trekkers took longer to climb from 3500 to 5400 m than in earlier studies. Prevalence of AMS continued to decline over a period of 24 years, likely as a result of slower ascent and increased use of acetazolamide. The AMS risk factors of younger age, female sex, and high BMI are consistent with prior studies. Awareness of risk and prevention of AMS remains low, indicating an opportunity to better educate trekkers and potentially further reduce AMS prevalence. Copyright © 2014 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Semantic and Phonological Encoding Times in Adults Who Stutter: Brain Electrophysiological Evidence

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Purpose Some psycholinguistic theories of stuttering propose that language production operates along a different time course in adults who stutter (AWS) versus typically fluent adults (TFA). However, behavioral evidence for such a difference has been mixed. Here, the time course of semantic and phonological encoding in picture naming was compared in AWS (n = 16) versus TFA (n = 16) by measuring 2 event-related potential (ERP) components: NoGo N200, an ERP index of response inhibition, and lateralized readiness potential, an ERP index of response preparation. Method Each trial required a semantic judgment about a picture in addition to a phonemic judgment about the target label of the picture. Judgments were mapped onto a dual-choice (Go–NoGo/left–right) push-button response paradigm. On each trial, ERP activity time-locked to picture onset was recorded at 32 scalp electrodes. Results NoGo N200 was detected earlier to semantic NoGo trials than to phonemic NoGo trials in both groups, replicating previous evidence that semantic encoding generally precedes phonological encoding in language production. Moreover, N200 onset was earlier to semantic NoGo trials in TFA than in AWS, indicating that semantic information triggering response inhibition became available earlier in TFA versus AWS. In contrast, the time course of N200 activity to phonemic NoGo trials did not differ between groups. Lateralized readiness potential activity was influenced by strategic response preparation and, thus, could not be used to index real-time semantic and phonological encoding. Conclusion NoGo N200 results point to slowed semantic encoding in AWS versus TFA. Discussion considers possible factors in slowed semantic encoding in AWS and how fluency might be impacted by slowed semantic encoding. PMID:28973156

Trajectory tracking and backfitting techniques against theater ballistic missiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hutchins, Robert G.; Britt, Patrick T.

1999-10-01

Since the SCUD launches in the Gulf War, theater ballistic missile (TBM) systems have become a growing concern for the US military. Detection, fast track initiation, backfitting for launch point determination, and tracking and engagement during boost phase or shortly after booster cutoff are goals that grow in importance with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This paper focuses on track initiation and backfitting techniques, as well as extending some earlier results on tracking a TBM during boost phase cutoff. Results indicate that Kalman techniques are superior to third order polynomial extrapolations in estimating the launch point, and that some knowledge of missile parameters, especially thrust, is extremely helpful in track initiation.

Influence of electric field on the hydrogen bond network of methanol.

PubMed

Suresh, S J; Prabhu, Arun Laxman; Arora, Abhinav

2007-04-07

The understanding of the structure of hydrogen (H) bonding liquids in electric (E) fields is important in the context of several areas of research, such as electrochemistry, surface science, and thermodynamics of electrolyte solutions. We had earlier presented a general thermodynamic framework for this purpose, and had shown that the application of E field enhances H-bond interactions among water molecules. The present investigation with methanol suggests a different result-the H-bond structure, as indicated by the average number of H bonds per molecule, goes through a maxima with increasing field strength. This result is explained based on the symmetry in the location of the H-bonding sites in the two types of molecules.

Engine-over-the-wing noise research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reshotko, M.; Goodykoontz, J. H.; Dorsch, R. G.

1973-01-01

Acoustic measurements for large model eingine-over-the-wing (EOW) research configurations having both conventional and powered lift applications were taken for flap positions typical of takeoff and approach and at locations simulating flyover and sideline. The results indicate that the noise is shielded by the wing and redirected above it, making the EOW concept a prime contender for quiet aircraft. The large-scale noise data are in agreement with earlier small-model results. Below the wing, the EOW configuration is about 10 PNdb quieter than the engine-under-the-wing externally-blown-flap for powered lift, and up to 10 db quieter than the nozzle alone at high frequencies for conventional lift applications.

Ultrasonic actuation for MEMS dormancy-related stiction reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaajakari, Ville; Kan, Shyi-Herng; Lin, Li-Jen; Lal, Amit; Rodgers, M. Steven

2000-08-01

The use of ultrasonic pulses incident on surface micromachines has been shown to reduce dormancy-related failure. We applied ultrasonic pulses from the backside of a silicon substrate carrying SUMMiT processed surface micromachined rotors, used earlier as ultrasonic motors. The amplitude of the pulses was less than what is required to actuate the rotor (sub-threshold actuation). By controlling the ultrasonic pulse exposure time it was found that pulsed samples had smaller actuation voltages as compared to non-pulsed samples after twelve-hour dormancy. This result indicates that the micromachine stiction to surfaces during dormant period can be effectively eliminated, resulting in long-term stability of surface micromachines in critical applications.

A study of the effects of long-term exposure to fuels and fluids on the behavior of advanced composite materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tanimoto, E. Y.

1981-01-01

The periodic testing and evaluation of graphite/epoxy and Kevlar/epoxy material systems after subjecting test specimens to prolonged exposure to several laboratory-controlled environments deemed typical of normal aircraft operations is discussed. It is noted that specimen immersion in water or water-based fluids resulted in the greatest effect on the mechanical properties tested. Also, the environmental fluids showed a tendency to affect Kevlar/epoxy systems at an earlier exposure period than the graphite/epoxy systems. Results also indicate mechanical property strength retention generally being lower for the Kevlar/epoxy systems when compared to the corresponding graphite/epoxy systems in similar environments, after prolonged exposure.

A Centralized Display for Mission Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trujillo, Anna C.

2004-01-01

Humans traditionally experience a vigilance decrement over extended periods of time on reliable systems. One possible solution to aiding operators in monitoring is to use polar-star displays that will show deviations from normal in a more salient manner. The primary objectives of this experiment were to determine if polar-star displays aid in monitoring and preliminary diagnosis of the aircraft state. This experiment indicated that the polar-star display does indeed aid operators in detecting and diagnosing system events. Subjects were able to notice system events earlier and they subjectively reported the polar-star display helped them in monitoring, noticing an event, and diagnosing an event. Therefore, these results indicate that the polar-star display used for monitoring and preliminary diagnosis improves performance in these areas for system related events.

Structural and electronic evolution of Cr[subscript 2]O[subscript 3] on compression to 55 GPa

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

Dera, Przemyslaw; Lavina, Barbara; Meng, Yue

2016-08-15

Synchrotron single-crystal x-ray diffraction experiments have been performed on corundum-type Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} up to a pressure of 55 GPa in Ne and He pressure transmitting media. Diffraction experiments were complemented by measurements of optical absorption spectra with single crystal samples up to 60 GPa. Results of the diffraction data analysis rule out the earlier reported monoclinic distortion at 15-30 GPa, but indicate evidence of two discontinuous transitions of electronic or magnetic nature, most likely associated with a change in magnetic ordering and charge transfer. The compression mechanism established from single crystal refinements indicates much smaller distortion of the Cr{supmore » 3+} coordination environment than was previously assumed.« less

A statewide evaluation of the effectiveness of media literacy training to prevent tobacco use among adolescents.

PubMed

Pinkleton, Bruce E; Weintraub Austin, Erica; Cohen, Marilyn; Miller, Autumn; Fitzgerald, Erin

2007-01-01

Researchers used a quasi-experiment (N = 723) conducted in the field and using both pretests and posttests to carry out a theory-based evaluation of the effectiveness of a media literacy curriculum implemented in Washington state. Results showed that reflective thinking concerning media message about tobacco increased for all media literacy participants, whether or not they had used tobacco previously. Changes in reflective thinking affected a range of decision-making indicators. Lesson participants who had not used tobacco demonstrated greater change at earlier stages of decision making in ways that suggested a greater understanding of the persuasive techniques used by tobacco manufacturers, on indicators such as perceived realism, desirability, and similarity. Lesson participants who had tried tobacco demonstrated greater change at later stages of decision making on indicators such as perceived peer norms for tobacco use, identification with tobacco-related portrayals, and expectancies for tobacco use. All participants also showed increases in their ability and motivations to resist smoking-related influences. Overall, the results suggest that media literacy has important and somewhat different effects on those who have and those who have not experimented with tobacco use. The results also show the importance of measuring cognitive and affective indicators of decision making that may change gradually as participants gain experience putting lessons learned into action.

Evidence for early metamorphosis of sea lampreys in the Chippewa River, Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morkert, Sidney B.; Swink, William D.; Seelye, James G.

1998-01-01

We determined age at metamorphosis to the juvenile or parasitic phase for sea lampreysPetromyzon marinus in a highly productive Great Lakes tributary to determine if the age at metamorphosis was earlier than expected. Ages determined from statoliths, a structure analogous to otoliths in teleost fishes, indicated that many sea lampreys collected from the Chippewa River, Michigan, in September 1995 were undergoing metamorphosis at age 2, at least 1 year earlier than previously observed. In all, 141 newly metamorphosed lampreys were examined, and 81% were estimated to be only 2 years old. The length-frequency distribution of newly metamorphosed sea lampreys in the Chippewa River also indicated the possibility of metamorphsis at age 2, but to a lesser extent than indicated by statolith aging. The Chippewa River is a highly productive stream that might require more frequent treatment than previously suspected. More careful examination of other highly productive streams is needed to determine if, and to what extent, sea lampreys metamorphose at age 2 in the Chippewa River and other Great Lakes tributaries.

A 250,000-year climatic record from great basin vein calcite: Implications for Milankovitch theory

USGS Publications Warehouse

Winograd, I.J.; Szabo, B. J.; Coplen, T.B.; Riggs, A.C.

1988-01-01

A continuous record of oxygen-18 (??18O) variations in the continental hydrosphere during the middle-to-late Pleistocene has been obtained from a uranium-series dated calcitic vein in the southern Great Basin. The vein was deposited from ground water that moved through Devils Hole - an open fault zone at Ash Meadows, Nevada - between 50 and 310 ka (thousand years ago). The configuration of the ??18O versus time curve closely resembles the marine and Antarctic ice core (Vostok) ??18O curves; however, the U-Th dates indicate that the last interglacial stage (marine oxygen isotope stage 5) began before 147 ?? 3 ka, at least 17,000 years earlier than indicated by the marine ??18O record and 7,000 years earlier than indicated by the less well dated Antarctic ??18O record. This discrepancy and other differences in the timing of key climatic events suggest that the indirectly dated marine ??18O chronology may need revision and that orbital forcing may not be the principal cause of the Pleistocene ice ages.

Oil development and conservation in Arctic America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reed, J.C.

1972-01-01

As in his earlier article to which reference is made, the author stresses the need for more background information and a much greater research effort before problems of environmental protection from oil developments in northern Alaska can be effectively tackled. Meanwhile, there are indications that the earlier estimates of around ten thousand million barrels should be raised-perhaps to about five times as much. There has moreover been a great increate also in the known and probable gas reserves in northern Canada-particularly in the Arctic Archipelago. In spite of planned automation, people will be needed for development-including Eskimos and Indians, whose interests will be widely protected under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of December 1971. The International Biological Programme 'Tundra Biome' projects have accumulated much new information, including the results to be expected from disturbing the tundra seriously, and means of preventing or repairing damage to it. There is much interest in Alaska and Canada in protection of the northern environment, and in the former the US National Environmental Policy Act is already leading to stricter control of some developments. ?? 1972.

Structural diversity and dynamics of genomic replication origins in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

PubMed Central

Cotobal, Cristina; Segurado, Mónica; Antequera, Francisco

2010-01-01

DNA replication origins (ORI) in Schizosaccharomyces pombe colocalize with adenine and thymine (A+T)-rich regions, and earlier analyses have established a size from 0.5 to over 3 kb for a DNA fragment to drive replication in plasmid assays. We have asked what are the requirements for ORI function in the chromosomal context. By designing artificial ORIs, we have found that A+T-rich fragments as short as 100 bp without homology to S. pombe DNA are able to initiate replication in the genome. On the other hand, functional dissection of endogenous ORIs has revealed that some of them span a few kilobases and include several modules that may be as short as 25–30 contiguous A+Ts capable of initiating replication from ectopic chromosome positions. The search for elements with these characteristics across the genome has uncovered an earlier unnoticed class of low-efficiency ORIs that fire late during S phase. These results indicate that ORI specification and dynamics varies widely in S. pombe, ranging from very short elements to large regions reminiscent of replication initiation zones in mammals. PMID:20094030

Brief virtual reality therapy for public speaking anxiety.

PubMed

Harris, Sandra R; Kemmerling, Robert L; North, Max M

2002-12-01

The primary goal of this research program was to investigate the effectiveness of virtual reality therapy (VRT) in reducing public speaking anxiety of university students. The prevalence and impact of public speaking anxiety as a type of Social Phobia are discussed. Studies of VRT as an emerging treatment for psychological problems are reviewed. In the present study, eight students completed VRT individual treatment and post-testing, and six students in a Wait-List control group completed post-testing. Assessment measures included four self-report inventories, self-report of Subjective Units of Discomfort during exposure to VRT and physiological measurements of heart rate during speaking tasks. Four weekly individual exposure treatment sessions of approximately 15 min each were conducted by the author serving as therapist. Results on self-report and physiological measures appear to indicate that four virtual reality treatment sessions were effective in reducing public speaking anxiety in university students, corroborating earlier studies of VRT's effectiveness as a psychotherapeutic modality. Future research directions are discussed, primarily the need for research on younger populations, to assess the effectiveness of VRT for earlier intervention with public speaking anxiety.

Results of Russian geomagnetic observatories in the 19th century: magnetic activity, 1841-1862

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nevanlinna, H.; Häkkinen, L.

2010-04-01

Hourly (spot readings) magnetic data (H- and D-components) were digitized from Russian yearbook tables for the years 1850-1862 from four observatories. The pdf pictures for digitization were taken by a normal digital camera. The database obtained consists of about 900 000 single data points. The time series of hourly magnetic values reveal slow secular variations (declination only) as well as transient and regular geomagnetic variations of external origin. The quality and homogeneity of the data is satisfactory. Daily Ak-indices were calculated using the index algorithm that has been earlier applied to 19th century data from Helsinki (Finland) as well as modern magnetic observatory recordings. The activity index series derived from the Russian data is consistent with earlier activity index series for 1850-1862. The digitized index data series derived in this study was extended back to 1841 by including magnetic C9 activity index data available from a Russian observatory (St. Petersburg). Magnetic data rescued here is well suitable for various reconstructions for studies of the long-term variation of the space weather in the 19th century.

Transactional Relations between Motivational Beliefs and Help Seeking from Teachers and Peers across Adolescence.

PubMed

Amemiya, Jamie; Wang, Ming-Te

2017-08-01

Adolescents often avoid seeking academic help when needed, making it important to understand the motivational processes that support help seeking behavior. Using expectancy-value theory as a framework, this study examined transactional relations between motivational beliefs (i.e., academic self-concept or academic importance) and seeking help from teachers and peers across adolescence (i.e., from approximately age 12 to 17 years). Data were collected from 1479 adolescents (49% female; 61.9% African American, 31.2% European American, 6.9% other race). Analyses were conducted with cross-lagged panel models using three waves of data from seventh, ninth, and eleventh grade. Results indicated that both academic self-concept and academic importance were associated with increases in teacher help seeking in earlier adolescence, but were associated only with increases in peer help seeking in later adolescence. Help-seeking behavior positively influenced motivational beliefs, with teacher help seeking increasing academic self-concept earlier in adolescence and peer help seeking increasing academic importance later in adolescence. These transactional relations differed by adolescents' prior achievement and racial background, but not by adolescents' gender.

Chemical Properties of Elements 99 and 100 [Einsteinium and Fermium

DOE R&D Accomplishments Database

Seaborg, G. T.; Thompson, S. G.; Harvey, B. G.; Choppin, G. R.

1954-07-23

A description of some of the chemical properties and of the methods used in the separations of elements 99 [Einsteinium] and 100 [Fermium] are given. The new elements exhibit the properties expected for the tenth and eleventh actinide elements. Attempts to produce an oxidation state greater than III of element 99 have been unsuccessful. In normal aqueous media only the III state of element 100 appears to exist. The relative spacings of the elution peaks of the new elements in some separations with ion exchange resin columns are the same as the relative spacings of the homologous lanthanide elements. The results of experiments involving cation exchange resins with very concentrated hydrochloric acid eluant show that the new elements, like the earlier actinides, are more strongly complexed than the lanthanides. The new elements also exist partially as anions in concentrated hydrochloric acid, as do earlier actinide elements, and they may be partially separated from each other by means of ion exchange resins. With some eluants interesting reversals of elution positions are observed in the region Bk-Cf-99-100, indicating complex ion formation involving unusual factors.

Automated Detection of Sepsis Using Electronic Medical Record Data: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Despins, Laurel A

Severe sepsis and septic shock are global issues with high mortality rates. Early recognition and intervention are essential to optimize patient outcomes. Automated detection using electronic medical record (EMR) data can assist this process. This review describes automated sepsis detection using EMR data. PubMed retrieved publications between January 1, 2005 and January 31, 2015. Thirteen studies met study criteria: described an automated detection approach with the potential to detect sepsis or sepsis-related deterioration in real or near-real time; focused on emergency department and hospitalized neonatal, pediatric, or adult patients; and provided performance measures or results indicating the impact of automated sepsis detection. Detection algorithms incorporated systemic inflammatory response and organ dysfunction criteria. Systems in nine studies generated study or care team alerts. Care team alerts did not consistently lead to earlier interventions. Earlier interventions did not consistently translate to improved patient outcomes. Performance measures were inconsistent. Automated sepsis detection is potentially a means to enable early sepsis-related therapy but current performance variability highlights the need for further research.

Family members' involvement in psychiatric care: experiences of the healthcare professionals' approach and feeling of alienation.

PubMed

Ewertzon, M; Lützén, K; Svensson, E; Andershed, B

2010-06-01

The involvement of family members in psychiatric care is important for the recovery of persons with psychotic disorders and subsequently reduces the burden on the family. Earlier qualitative studies suggest that the participation of family members can be limited by how they experience the professionals' approach, which suggests a connection to the concept of alienation. Thus, the aim of this study was in a national sample investigate family members' experiences of the psychiatric health care professionals' approach. Data were collected by the Family Involvement and Alienation Questionnaire. The median level and quartiles were used to describe the distributions and data were analysed with non-parametric statistical methods. Seventy family members of persons receiving psychiatric care participated in the study. The results indicate that a majority of the participants respond that they have experiencing a negative approach from the professionals, indicating lack of confirmation and cooperation. The results also indicate that a majority of the participants felt powerlessness and social isolation in the care being provided, indicating feelings of alienation. A significant but weak association was found between the family members' experiences of the professionals' approach and their feelings of alienation.

Complete theory of symmetry-based indicators of band topology.

PubMed

Po, Hoi Chun; Vishwanath, Ashvin; Watanabe, Haruki

2017-06-30

The interplay between symmetry and topology leads to a rich variety of electronic topological phases, protecting states such as the topological insulators and Dirac semimetals. Previous results, like the Fu-Kane parity criterion for inversion-symmetric topological insulators, demonstrate that symmetry labels can sometimes unambiguously indicate underlying band topology. Here we develop a systematic approach to expose all such symmetry-based indicators of band topology in all the 230 space groups. This is achieved by first developing an efficient way to represent band structures in terms of elementary basis states, and then isolating the topological ones by removing the subset of atomic insulators, defined by the existence of localized symmetric Wannier functions. Aside from encompassing all earlier results on such indicators, including in particular the notion of filling-enforced quantum band insulators, our theory identifies symmetry settings with previously hidden forms of band topology, and can be applied to the search for topological materials.Understanding the role of topology in determining electronic structure can lead to the discovery, or appreciation, of materials with exotic properties such as protected surface states. Here, the authors present a framework for identifying topologically distinct band-structures for all 3D space groups.

Population Inversion and Gain Measurements for X-Ray Laser Development in Magnetically Confined Plasma Column in Fiscal Year 1984.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-03-20

lasing action, indicates an enhancement of the CVI 182 A line, and also population inversion for the Li-like CIV, OVI, FVII and NeVIII ions. Time...shot. Results with the carbon fibers were encouraging in that a maximum gain-length product of ki - 3.0 (k = 7.5 cm- 1 ) at 182 A was observed. The...particular, the OVI 173 A line, increased by a factor of 2 to 3 in comparison to our earlier data. V. 8 The CVI 182 A line was observed in time integrated

Preserved figure-ground segregation and symmetry perception in visual neglect.

PubMed

Driver, J; Baylis, G C; Rafal, R D

1992-11-05

A central controversy in current research on visual attention is whether figures are segregated from their background preattentively, or whether attention is first directed to unstructured regions of the image. Here we present neurological evidence for the former view from studies of a brain-injured patient with visual neglect. His attentional impairment arises after normal segmentation of the image into figures and background has taken place. Our results indicate that information which is neglected and unavailable to higher levels of visual processing can nevertheless be processed by earlier stages in the visual system concerned with segmentation.

Effects of the Original Versus Revised Bloom's Taxonomy on Lesson Planning Skills: A Turkish Study Among Pre-Service Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bümen, Nilay T.

2007-07-01

The original taxonomy of educational objectives, developed by Benjamin S.␣Bloom and his associates in the 1950s, was revised several decades later by a group of educationists and cognitive psychologists, who developed a revised taxonomy (RT). This article describes a Turkish study carried out among a group of pre-service teachers in order to compare the influence of the two systems on lesson planning skills. The results confirmed other studies that have indicated a number of advantages of the revised system over the earlier one.

Orthoclinostatic test as one of the methods for evaluating the human functional state

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doskin, V. A.; Gissen, L. D.; Bomshteyn, O. Z.; Merkin, E. N.; Sarychev, S. B.

1980-01-01

The possible use of different methods to evaluate the autonomic regulation in hygienic studies were examined. The simplest and most objective tests were selected. It is shown that the use of the optimized standards not only makes it possible to detect earlier unfavorables shifts, but also permits a quantitative characterization of the degree of impairment in the state of the organism. Precise interpretation of the observed shifts is possible. Results indicate that the standards can serve as one of the criteria for evaluating the state and can be widely used in hygienic practice.

Rovibrational states of interstitial H2 in Si

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koch, S.; Lavrov, E. V.; Weber, J.

2011-06-01

Rovibrational Q(J) transitions of the interstitial H2 molecule in Si have been investigated by Raman scattering in the temperature range 90-388 K. In accordance with an earlier suggestion [M. Hiller, E. V. Lavrov, and J. Weber, Phys. Rev. BPRBMDO1098-012110.1103/PhysRevB.74.235214 74, 235214 (2006)], it is shown that the Q(2) transition of para hydrogen couples to the TAX phonon of Si and appears in the Raman spectra at temperatures above 200 K. The results presented also indicate that the rotational J=3 state of ortho hydrogen is resonantly coupled to the OΓ phonon.

Metamorphic and structural evidence for significant vertical displacement along the Ross Lake fault zone, a major orogen-parallel shear zone in the Cordillera of western North America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baldwin, J.A.; Whitney, D.L.; Hurlow, H.A.

1997-01-01

Results of an investigation of the petrology and structure of the Skymo complex and adjacent terranes constrain the amount, timing, and sense of motion on a segment of the > 600-km-long Late Cretaceous - early Tertiary Ross Lake fault zone (RLFZ), a major orogen-parallel shear zone in the Cordillera of western North America. In the study area in the North Cascades, Washington state, the RLFZ accommodated significant pre-middle Eocene vertical displacement, and it juxtaposes the Skymo complex with upper amphibolite facies (650??-690??C and 6-7 kbar) Skagit Gneiss of the North Cascades crystalline core to the SW and andalusite-bearing phyllite of the Little Jack terrane (Intermontane superterrane) to the NE. The two main lithologic units of the Skymo complex, a primitive mafic intrusion and a fault-bounded block of granulite facies metasedimentary rocks, are unique in the North Cascades. Granulite facies conditions were attained during high-temperature (> 800??C), low pressure (??? 4 kbar) contact metamorphism associated with intrusion of the mafic magma. P-T estimates and reaction textures in garnet-orthopyroxene gneiss suggest that contact metamorphism followed earlier, higher pressure regional metamorphism. There is no evidence that the Skagit Gneiss experienced high-T - low-P contact metamorphism. In the Little Jack terrane, however, texturally late cordierite ?? spinel and partial replacement of andalusite by sillimanite near the terrane's fault contact with Skymo gabbro suggest that the Little Jack terrane experienced high-T (??? 600??C) - low-P (??? 4 kbar) contact metamorphism following earlier low-grade regional metamorphism. Similarities in the protoliths of metasedimentary rocks in the Skymo and Little Jack indicate that they may be part of the same terrane. Differences in pressure estimates for the Little Jack versus Skymo for regional metamorphism that preceded contact metamorphism indicate vertical displacement of ??? 10 km (west side up) on the strand of the RLFZ that now separates the two structural blocks. High-angle faults in the study area are dextral-reverse mylonitic shear zones that experienced later brittle normal slip. Vertical motion on these shear zones before intrusion of Skymo gabbro can account for metamorphic discontinuities indicated by P-T results. The terranes have also been internally deformed by nonintersecting but coeval dextral and sinistral shear zones that formed after the terranes were brought together in the RLFZ and intruded by Eocene dikes. These results show that the RLFZ has accommodated significant vertical displacement but perhaps no more than tens of kilometers of early Tertiary lateral movement. Structural evidence for earlier, large-magnitude strike-slip displacement is not preserved.

Invertebrate Paleontology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldmann, Rodney M.

1983-01-01

Indicating that, although no broad conceptual notions in invertebrate paleontology were proposed during 1982, a large number of excellent papers focusing on testing, modifying, and documenting earlier speculations were published or presented at professional meetings. Highlights of papers, conferences, and research studies are provided (including…

Adolescent online cyberbullying in Greece: the impact of parental online security practices, bonding, and online impulsiveness.

PubMed

Floros, Georgios D; Siomos, Konstantinos E; Fisoun, Virginia; Dafouli, Evaggelia; Geroukalis, Dimitrios

2013-06-01

The introduction of new technological media worldwide has had a number of unfortunate side effects for some adolescents, including cases of bullying others through the new media (cyberbullying) and over-involvement to the point of addiction. We examine the epidemiology of cyberbullying in a Greek setting, compare it with earlier data, determine the impact of any related psychosocial factors, and propose measures to combat the phenomenon. A cross-sectional study of the entire adolescent high-school student population of the island of Kos examined the relationship between their experiences of Internet cyberbullying and respective parental characteristics, including aspects of psychological bonding and online security measures. The sample consisted of 2017 students (51.8% boys, 48.2% girls). Comparisons are made with results obtained from an earlier survey in the same setting, 2 years earlier. There was a significant rise in reported experiences of Internet cyberbullying over the 2-year period. Security practices exercised by parents had a protective role with regards to whether a child had been cyberbullied, yet failed to prevent the perpetration of online victimization. A regression model indicated that impulsive use of the Internet and related online activities were predictive of whether an adolescent victimized others online. Cyberbullying frequency with regards to both victims and victimizers was high and associated with online impulsiveness, pointing to the possible existence of some commonalities. Further research is necessary to ascertain common underlying psychological factors and neurobiology. © 2013, American School Health Association.

Within-Subject Correlation Analysis to Detect Functional Areas Associated With Response Inhibition.

PubMed

Yamasaki, Tomoko; Ogawa, Akitoshi; Osada, Takahiro; Jimura, Koji; Konishi, Seiki

2018-01-01

Functional areas in fMRI studies are often detected by brain-behavior correlation, calculating across-subject correlation between the behavioral index and the brain activity related to a function of interest. Within-subject correlation analysis is also employed in a single subject level, which utilizes cognitive fluctuations in a shorter time period by correlating the behavioral index with the brain activity across trials. In the present study, the within-subject analysis was applied to the stop-signal task, a standard task to probe response inhibition, where efficiency of response inhibition can be evaluated by the stop-signal reaction time (SSRT). Since the SSRT is estimated, by definition, not in a trial basis but from pooled trials, the correlation across runs was calculated between the SSRT and the brain activity related to response inhibition. The within-subject correlation revealed negative correlations in the anterior cingulate cortex and the cerebellum. Moreover, the dissociation pattern was observed in the within-subject analysis when earlier vs. later parts of the runs were analyzed: negative correlation was dominant in earlier runs, whereas positive correlation was dominant in later runs. Regions of interest analyses revealed that the negative correlation in the anterior cingulate cortex, but not in the cerebellum, was dominant in earlier runs, suggesting multiple mechanisms associated with inhibitory processes that fluctuate on a run-by-run basis. These results indicate that the within-subject analysis compliments the across-subject analysis by highlighting different aspects of cognitive/affective processes related to response inhibition.

An environmental generalised Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indicator and an environmental generalised Hicks-Moorsteen productivity index.

PubMed

Abad, A

2015-09-15

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an environmental generalised productivity indicator and its ratio-based counterpart. The innovative environmental generalised total factor productivity measures inherit the basic structure of both Hicks-Moorsteen productivity index and Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indicator. This methodological contribution shows that these new environmental generalised total factor productivity measures yield the earlier standard Hicks-Moorsteen index and Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen indicator, as well as environmental performance index, as special cases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Equity of Public School Finance in Missouri: 1977-1981. A Research Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Sharon; Walker, Anne

Updated were statistics of an earlier study done by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) in 1980, entitled "The Missouri School Finance Study." The recent results differed from the earlier study's, illustrating the extent to which revenues per pupil depended on local property wealth and income. The results of the first study…

Testing a growth efficiency hypothesis with continental-scale phenological variations of common and cloned plants.

PubMed

Liang, Liang; Schwartz, Mark D

2014-10-01

Variation in the timing of plant phenology caused by phenotypic plasticity is a sensitive measure of how organisms respond to weather and climate variability. Although continental-scale gradients in climate and consequential patterns in plant phenology are well recognized, the contribution of underlying genotypic difference to the geography of phenology is less well understood. We hypothesize that different temperate plant genotypes require varying amount of heat energy for resuming annual growth and reproduction as a result of adaptation and other ecological and evolutionary processes along climatic gradients. In particular, at least for some species, the growing degree days (GDD) needed to trigger the same spring phenology events (e.g., budburst and flower bloom) may be less for individuals originated from colder climates than those from warmer climates. This variable intrinsic heat energy requirement in plants can be characterized by the term growth efficiency and is quantitatively reflected in the timing of phenophases-earlier timing indicates higher efficiency (i.e., less heat energy needed to trigger phenophase transitions) and vice versa compared to a standard reference (i.e., either a uniform climate or a uniform genotype). In this study, we tested our hypothesis by comparing variations of budburst and bloom timing of two widely documented plants from the USA National Phenology Network (i.e., red maple-Acer rubrum and forsythia-Forsythia spp.) with cloned indicator plants (lilac-Syringa x chinensis 'Red Rothomagensis') at multiple eastern US sites. Our results indicate that across the accumulated temperature gradient, the two non-clonal plants showed significantly more gradual changes than the cloned plants, manifested by earlier phenology in colder climates and later phenology in warmer climates relative to the baseline clone phenological response. This finding provides initial evidence supporting the growth efficiency hypothesis, and suggests more work is warranted. More studies investigating genotype-determined phenological variations will be useful for better understanding and prediction of the continental-scale patterns of biospheric responses to climate change.

A Study of the Adequacy of College Students' Vocabulary for Reading the Daily Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greif, Ivo P.

A study of the vocabulary adequacy of college students using words from a daily newspaper duplicated an earlier study using words from "Reader's Digest" which indicated a low level of adequacy. Two groups of 295 and 397 college juniors and seniors in teacher education courses indicated on a list of 80 words taken from a daily newspaper which ones…

Earlier Snowmelt Changes the Ratio Between Early and Late Season Forest Productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knowles, J. F.; Molotch, N. P.; Trujillo, E.; Litvak, M. E.

2017-12-01

Future projections of declining snowpack and increasing potential evaporation associated with climate warming are predicted to advance the timing of snowmelt in mountain ecosystems globally. This scenario has direct implications for snowmelt-driven forest productivity, but the net effect of temporally shifting moisture dynamics is unknown with respect to the annual carbon balance. Accordingly, this study uses both satellite- and tower-based observations to document the forest productivity response to snowpack and potential evaporation variability between 1989 and 2012 throughout the southern Rocky Mountain ecoregion, USA. These results show that a combination of low snow accumulation and record high potential evaporation in 2012 resulted in the 34-year minimum ecosystem productivity that could be indicative of future conditions. Moreover, early and late season productivity were significantly and inversely related, suggesting that future shifts toward earlier or reduced snowmelt could increase late-season moisture stress to vegetation and thus restrict productivity despite a longer growing season. This relationship was further subject to modification by summer precipitation, and the controls on the early/late season productivity ratio are explored within the context of ecosystem carbon storage in the future. Any perturbation to the carbon cycle at this scale represents a potential feedback to climate change since snow-covered forests represent an important global carbon sink.

Plasma Hsp90 Level as a Marker of Early Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Engraftment and Progression in Mice

PubMed Central

de Vasconcellos, Jaíra Ferreira; Brandalise, Silvia Regina; Nowill, Alexandre Eduardo; Yunes, José Andrés

2015-01-01

Current monitoring of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in living mice is based on FACS analysis of blood hCD45+ cells. In this work, we evaluated the use of human IGFBP2, B2M or Hsp90 as soluble markers of leukemia. ELISA for B2M and IGFBP2 resulted in high background levels in healthy animals, precluding its use. Conversely, plasma levels of Hsp90 showed low background and linear correlation to FACS results. In another experiment, we compared Hsp90 levels with percentage of hCD45+ cells in blood, bone marrow, liver and spleen of animals weekly sacrificed. Hsp90 levels proved to be a superior method for the earlier detection of ALL engraftment and correlated linearly to ALL burden and progression in all compartments, even at minimal residual disease levels. Importantly, the Hsp90/hCD45+ ratio was not altered when animals were treated with dexamethasone or a PI3K inhibitor, indicating that chemotherapy does not directly interfere with leukemia production of Hsp90. In conclusion, plasma Hsp90 was validated as a soluble biomarker of ALL, useful for earlier detection of leukemia engraftment, monitoring leukemia kinetics at residual disease levels, and pre-clinical or mouse avatar evaluations of anti-leukemic drugs. PMID:26068922

Measures of extents of laterality for high-frequency ``transposed'' stimuli under conditions of binaural interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernstein, Leslie R.; Trahiotis, Constantine

2005-09-01

Our purpose in this study was to determine whether across-frequency binaural interference would occur if ITD-based extents of laterality were measured using high-frequency transposed stimuli as targets. The results of an earlier study [L. R. Bernstein and C. Trahiotis, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116, 3062-3069 (2004)], which focused on threshold-ITDs, rather than extents of laterality, suggested that high-frequency transposed stimuli might be ``immune'' to binaural interference effects resulting from the addition of a spectrally remote, low-frequency interferer. In contrast to the earlier findings, the data from this study indicate that high-frequency transposed targets are susceptible to binaural interference. Nevertheless, high-frequency transposed targets, even when presented along with an interferer, yielded greater extents of ITD-based laterality than did high-frequency Gaussian noise targets presented in isolation. That is, the ``enhanced potency'' of ITDs conveyed by transposed stimuli persisted, even in the presence of a low-frequency interferer. Predictions made using an extension of the model of Heller and Trahiotis [L. M. Heller and C. Trahiotis, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 99, 3632-3637 (1996)] accounted well for across-frequency binaural interference obtained with conventional Gaussian noise targets but, in all but one case, overpredicted the amounts of interference found with the transposed targets.

Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids: A Lost Decade for Change

PubMed Central

Chan, Zoe Yee Ting; McPherson, Bradley

2015-01-01

Background. Hearing aids sold directly to consumers in retail stores or through the internet, without individual prescription by audiological professionals, are termed over-the-counter (OTC) devices. This study aimed to determine whether there was any change in the electroacoustic characteristics of OTC devices compared to research carried out a decade earlier. The previous results indicated that most OTC devices were low-frequency-emphasis devices and were unsuitable for elderly people with presbycusis, who were likely to be the major consumers of these products. Methods. Ten OTC devices were selected and their electroacoustic performance was measured. Appropriate clients for the OTC devices were derived, using four linear prescription formulae, and OTC suitability for elderly persons with presbycusis was investigated. Results. OTC electroacoustic characteristics were similar to those in the earlier study. Most OTC devices were not acoustically appropriate for potential consumers with presbycusis. Although several of the devices could match prescriptive targets for individuals with presbycusis, their poor electroacoustic performance—including ineffective volume control function, high equivalent input noise, and irregular frequency response—may override their potential benefit. Conclusion. The low-cost OTC devices were generally not suitable for the main consumers of these products, and there has been little improvement in the appropriateness of these devices over the past decade. PMID:26557701

On the room-temperature phase diagram of high pressure hydrogen: an ab initio molecular dynamics perspective and a diffusion Monte Carlo study.

PubMed

Chen, Ji; Ren, Xinguo; Li, Xin-Zheng; Alfè, Dario; Wang, Enge

2014-07-14

The finite-temperature phase diagram of hydrogen in the region of phase IV and its neighborhood was studied using the ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) and the ab initio path-integral molecular dynamics (PIMD). The electronic structures were analyzed using the density-functional theory (DFT), the random-phase approximation, and the diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) methods. Taking the state-of-the-art DMC results as benchmark, comparisons of the energy differences between structures generated from the MD and PIMD simulations, with molecular and dissociated hydrogens, respectively, in the weak molecular layers of phase IV, indicate that standard functionals in DFT tend to underestimate the dissociation barrier of the weak molecular layers in this mixed phase. Because of this underestimation, inclusion of the quantum nuclear effects (QNEs) in PIMD using electronic structures generated with these functionals leads to artificially dissociated hydrogen layers in phase IV and an error compensation between the neglect of QNEs and the deficiencies of these functionals in standard ab initio MD simulations exists. This analysis partly rationalizes why earlier ab initio MD simulations complement so well the experimental observations. The temperature and pressure dependencies for the stability of phase IV were also studied in the end and compared with earlier results.

Improvement of workload estimation techniques in piloting tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wierwille, W. W.

1984-01-01

The Modified Cooper-Harper (MCH) scale has been shown to be a sensitive indicator of workload in several different types of aircrew tasks. The MCH scale, which is a 10 point scale, and five newly devised scales were examined in two different aircraft simulator experiments in which pilot loading was treated as an independent variable. The five scales included a 15 point scale, computerized versions of the MCH and 15 point scales, a scale in which the decision tree was removed, and one in which a 15 point left-to-right format was used. The results indicate that while one of the new scales may be more sensitive in a given experiment, task dependency is a problem. The MCH scale on the other hand exhibits consistent sensitivity and remains the scale recommended for general use. The MCH scale results are consistent with earlier experiments also. The results of the rating scale experiments are presented and the questionnaire results which were directed at obtaining a better understanding of the reasons for the relative sensitivity of the MCH scale and its variations are described.

The global aerosol-climate model ECHAM-HAM, version 2: sensitivity to improvements in process representations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, K.; O'Donnell, D.; Kazil, J.; Stier, P.; Kinne, S.; Lohmann, U.; Ferrachat, S.; Croft, B.; Quaas, J.; Wan, H.; Rast, S.; Feichter, J.

2012-03-01

This paper introduces and evaluates the second version of the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM-HAM. Major changes have been brought into the model, including new parameterizations for aerosol nucleation and water uptake, an explicit treatment of secondary organic aerosols, modified emission calculations for sea salt and mineral dust, the coupling of aerosol microphysics to a two-moment stratiform cloud microphysics scheme, and alternative wet scavenging parameterizations. These revisions extend the model's capability to represent details of the aerosol lifecycle and its interaction with climate. Sensitivity experiments are carried out to analyse the effects of these improvements in the process representation on the simulated aerosol properties and global distribution. The new parameterizations that have largest impact on the global mean aerosol optical depth and radiative effects turn out to be the water uptake scheme and cloud microphysics. The former leads to a significant decrease of aerosol water contents in the lower troposphere, and consequently smaller optical depth; the latter results in higher aerosol loading and longer lifetime due to weaker in-cloud scavenging. The combined effects of the new/updated parameterizations are demonstrated by comparing the new model results with those from the earlier version, and against observations. Model simulations are evaluated in terms of aerosol number concentrations against measurements collected from twenty field campaigns as well as from fixed measurement sites, and in terms of optical properties against the AERONET measurements. Results indicate a general improvement with respect to the earlier version. The aerosol size distribution and spatial-temporal variance simulated by HAM2 are in better agreement with the observations. Biases in the earlier model version in aerosol optical depth and in the Ångström parameter have been reduced. The paper also points out the remaining model deficiencies that need to be addressed in the future.

Phenological observations since the Linnean time in Finland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubin, E.; Poikolainen, J.; Karhu, J.; Terhivuo, J.

2012-04-01

The Finnish National Phenological Network was established in 1996 by the Finnish Forest Research Institute in collaboration with other research institutes and universities. The Network investigates the timing of phenological phases of forest plants in relation to climate factors, develops real time information to the internet and studies digital techniques as tools for monitoring. Monitoring is done troughout the growth period, focusing on nine forest tree species and two dwarf shrubs. The results can be followed in real time at: http://www.metla.fi/metinfo/fenologia/index-en.htm. The results indicate that spring phenophases usually advanced with respect to climatic conditions, but there were also differences between the years. The research period started in 1995 is relatively short and the results indicates that long-term monitoring is needed in order to detect true trends in the impacts of climate on plant phenology. The Finnish National Phenological Network has therefore collaborated with the Finnish Museum of Natural History and analysed historical phenological data based on voluntary monitoring. The oldest phenological observation series based on voluntary observers started in Finland in 1752. The long-term data shows an advancement in the timing of bud burst by five days per 100 years in Prunus padus. The onset of flowering in the rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) has become correspondingly earlier in Finland at the rate of three days per century. In the conference the focus is on a historical long-term dataset as well as on the newer Finnish National Phenological Network established for monitoring annual phenological events taking place in the same individual plants. The latest results of the network will be updated with the earlier presented historical data. Phenological monitoring is nowadays more important than ever especially in boreal regions, where spring temperatures are elevated. Compilation and documentation of observations on plant phenophases play a key role in working out the rate of global dimate change. The timing of spring phenolgy will be discussed in the conference.

Histone acetylation regulates the time of replication origin firing.

PubMed

Vogelauer, Maria; Rubbi, Liudmilla; Lucas, Isabelle; Brewer, Bonita J; Grunstein, Michael

2002-11-01

The temporal firing of replication origins throughout S phase in yeast depends on unknown determinants within the adjacent chromosomal environment. We demonstrate here that the state of histone acetylation of surrounding chromatin is an important regulator of temporal firing. Deletion of RPD3 histone deacetylase causes earlier origin firing and concurrent binding of the replication factor Cdc45p to origins. In addition, increased acetylation of histones in the vicinity of the late origin ARS1412 by recruitment of the histone acetyltransferase Gcn5p causes ARS1412 alone to fire earlier. These data indicate that histone acetylation is a direct determinant of the timing of origin firing.

Trend of earlier spring in central Europe continued

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ungersböck, Markus; Jurkovic, Anita; Koch, Elisabeth; Lipa, Wolfgang; Scheifinger, Helfried; Zach-Hermann, Susanne

2013-04-01

Modern phenology is the study of the timing of recurring biological events in the animal and plant world, the causes of their timing with regard to biotic and abiotic forces, and the interrelation among phases of the same or different species. The relationship between phenology and climate explains the importance of plant phenology for Climate Change studies. Plants require light, water, oxygen mineral nutrients and suitable temperature to grow. In temperate zones the seasonal life cycle of plants is primarily controlled by temperature and day length. Higher spring air temperatures are resulting in an earlier onset of the phenological spring in temperate and cool climate. On the other hand changes in phenology due to climate change do have impact on the climate system itself. Vegetation is a dynamic factor in the earth - climate system and has positive and negative feedback mechanisms to the biogeochemical and biogeophysical fluxes to the atmosphere Since the mid of the 1980s spring springs earlier in Europe and autumn is shifting back to the end of the year resulting in a longer vegetation period. The advancement of spring can be clearly attributed to temperature increase in the months prior to leaf unfolding and flowering, the timing of autumn is more complex and cannot easily be attributed to one or some few parameters. To demonstrate that the observed advancement of spring since the mid of 1980s is pro-longed in 2001 to 2010 and the delay of fall and the lengthening of the growing season is confirmed in the last decade we picked out several indicator plants from the PEP725 database www.pep725.eu. The PEP725 database collects data from different European network operators and thus offers a unique compilation of phenological observations; the database is regularly updated. The data follow the same classification scheme, the so called BBCH coding system so they can be compared. Lilac Syringa vulgaris, birch Betula pendula, beech Fagus and horse chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum are well represented in the PEP725 database. Flowering of lilac Syringa vulgaris is also used in the US as spring indicator . The flowering and/or leaf unfolding dates of lilac, horse chestnut show a clear advance to an earlier entrance in the last two decades 1991 to 2000 and 2001 to 2010 compared with the reference period 1961 to 1990, being more pronounced in northwestern regions of Central Europe. The growing season defined here as time span between leaf unfolding and leaf coloration of birch and beech has been lengthening up to two weeks in 2001 to 2010 compared to 1961 to 1990 in northeastern parts of Central Europe.

The ultrastructure of book lung development in the bark scorpion Centruroides gracilis (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Near the end of the nineteenth century the hypothesis was presented for the homology of book lungs in arachnids and book gills in the horseshoe crab. Early studies with the light microscope showed that book gill lamellae are formed by outgrowth and possibly some invagination (infolding) of hypodermis (epithelium) from the posterior surface of opisthosomal limb buds. Scorpion book lungs are formed near the bilateral sites of earlier limb buds. Hypodermal invaginations in the ventral opisthosoma result in spiracles and sac-like cavities (atria). In early histological sections of embryo book lungs, widening of the atrial entrance of some lamellae (air channels, air sacs, saccules) was interpreted as an indication of invagination as hypothesized for book gill lamellae. The hypodermal infolding was thought to produce the many rows of lamellar precursor cells anterior to the atrium. The ultrastructure of scorpion book lung development is compared herein with earlier investigations of book gill formation. Results In scorpion embryos, there is ingression (inward migration) of atrial hypodermal cells rather than invagination or infolding of the atrial hypodermal layer. The ingressing cells proliferate and align in rows anterior to the atrium. Their apical-basal polarity results in primordial air channels among double rows of cells. The cuticular walls of the air channels are produced by secretion from the apical surfaces of the aligned cells. Since the precursor cells are in rows, their secreted product is also in rows (i.e., primordial air channels, saccules). For each double row of cells, their opposed basal surfaces are gradually separated by a hemolymph channel of increasing width. Conclusions The results from this and earlier studies show there are differences and similarities in the formation of book lung and book gill lamellae. The homology hypothesis for these respiratory organs is thus supported or not supported depending on which developmental features are emphasized. For both organs, when the epithelial cells are in position, their apical-basal polarity results in alternate page-like channels of hemolymph and air or water with outward directed hemolymph saccules for book gills and inward directed air saccules for book lungs. PMID:21791110

Comparative characterization of digestate versus pig slurry and cow manure - Chemical composition and effects on soil microbial activity.

PubMed

Risberg, Kajsa; Cederlund, Harald; Pell, Mikael; Arthurson, Veronica; Schnürer, Anna

2017-03-01

The growing number of biogas plants in Europe has resulted in increased production of nutrient-rich digestate with great potential as fertilizer for arable land. The nutrient composition of digestate varies with the substrate treated in the biogas plant and may contain compounds that stimulate or inhibit soil microbial activity. This study compared 20 digestates (D) with 10 pig slurries (PS) and 10 cow manures (CM) regarding their chemical content and their effect on soil microbial activities, i.e. potential ammonia oxidation rate (PAO) and soil respiration. The results showed no significant differences within the D group when divided based on substrate type. i.e. manure dominated vs. other organic waste materials in any of the tests. In general D contained significantly higher concentrations of ammonium while the concentrations of total carbon and volatile fatty acids were higher in PS and CM than in D. The D showed both stimulating and inhibiting effects on PAO, while all CM and all PS except one showed inhibiting effects on PAO. However, PAO activity was negatively correlated with the content of volatile fatty acids in the residues indicating that these compounds may be the cause of the inhibition. The maximum respiration activity (h peakmax ) was lower and the time point for the maximum respiration activity (t peakmax ) occurred earlier for D compared with CM and PS. This earlier peak time could be indicative of a high proportion of easily degradable carbon in D compared with PS and CM. However, the utilization rate of carbon, i.e. the proportion of added organic C converted to CO 2 -C during 12days, did not differ significantly between D, PS and CM, indicating that overall carbon quality in the different fertilizers was still roughly comparable. In short, our results suggest that digestates were different compared with PS and CM but without posing a higher risk with respect to their impact on soil microbial activity. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Pathways of proton release in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zimanyi, L.; Varo, G.; Chang, M.; Ni, B.; Needleman, R.; Lanyi, J. K.

1992-01-01

The pH dependencies of the rate constants in the photocycles of recombinant D96N and D115N/D96N bacteriorhodopsins were determined from time-resolved difference spectra between 70 ns and 420 ms after photoexcitation. The results were consistent with the model suggested earlier for proteins containing D96N substitution: BR hv----K----L----M1----M2----BR. Only the M2----M1 back-reaction was pH-dependent: its rate increased with increasing [H+] between pH 5 and 8. We conclude from quantitative analysis of this pH dependency that its reverse, the M1----M2 reaction, is linked to the release of a proton from a group with a pKa = 5.8. This suggests a model for wild-type bacteriorhodopsin in which at pH greater than 5.8 the transported proton is released on the extracellular side from this as yet unknown group and on the 100-microseconds time scale, but at pH less than 5.8, the proton release occurs from another residue and later in the photocycle most likely directly from D85 during the O----BR reaction. We postulate, on the other hand, that proton uptake on the cytoplasmic side will be by D96 and during the N----O reaction regardless of pH. The proton kinetics as measured with indicator dyes confirmed the unique prediction of this model: at pH greater than 6, proton release preceded proton uptake, but at pH less than 6, the release was delayed until after the uptake. The results indicated further that the overall M1----M2 reaction includes a second kinetic step in addition to proton release; this is probably the earlier postulated extracellular-to-cytoplasmic reorientation switch in the proton pump.

Effects of Nativity, Length of Residence, and County-Level Foreign-Born Density on Mental Health Among Older Adults in the U.S

PubMed Central

Choi, Sunha; Kim, Giyeon

2016-01-01

Using the 2004–2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data that are linked to county-level data from the Area Health Resources Files, this study examined whether the healthy immigrant effect applies to mental health of foreign-born older adults. Additionally, testing a protective ethnic density effect on older foreign-born individuals’ mental health, this study examined how the percentage of foreign-born population in the county affected the relationship between older adults’ immigration status (U.S.-nativity and length of residence in the U.S.) and their mental health status. The sample included 29,011 individuals (level-1) from 920 counties (level-2) across 50 states and D.C. Using the Mental Component Summary of the Short-Form 12, the Kessler Index (K-6), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2), U.S.-born individuals (n = 24,225), earlier immigrants (≥15 years in the U.S.; n = 3866), and recent immigrants (<15 years in the U.S.; n = 920) were compared. The results indicate that recent immigrants showed worse mental health on all three measures compared with U.S.-born individuals and on the K-6 and PHQ-2 compared with earlier immigrants. Higher county-level foreign-born densities were associated with worse mental health status of individuals. However, the significant interactions found in the full conditional multilevel models indicated that the high foreign-born density functioned as a risk factor for worse mental health only among recent immigrants but not among the U.S.-born. In conclusion, the results revealed the vulnerability of older recent immigrants, especially those living in the counties with high foreign-born densities. PMID:26910461

Effects of Nativity, Length of Residence, and County-Level Foreign-Born Density on Mental Health Among Older Adults in the U.S.

PubMed

Choi, Sunha; Kim, Giyeon; Lee, Sungkyu

2016-12-01

Using the 2004-2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data that are linked to county-level data from the Area Health Resources Files, this study examined whether the healthy immigrant effect applies to mental health of foreign-born older adults. Additionally, testing a protective ethnic density effect on older foreign-born individuals' mental health, this study examined how the percentage of foreign-born population in the county affected the relationship between older adults' immigration status (U.S.-nativity and length of residence in the U.S.) and their mental health status. The sample included 29,011 individuals (level-1) from 920 counties (level-2) across 50 states and D.C. Using the Mental Component Summary of the Short-Form 12, the Kessler Index (K-6), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2), U.S.-born individuals (n = 24,225), earlier immigrants (≥15 years in the U.S.; n = 3866), and recent immigrants (<15 years in the U.S.; n = 920) were compared. The results indicate that recent immigrants showed worse mental health on all three measures compared with U.S.-born individuals and on the K-6 and PHQ-2 compared with earlier immigrants. Higher county-level foreign-born densities were associated with worse mental health status of individuals. However, the significant interactions found in the full conditional multilevel models indicated that the high foreign-born density functioned as a risk factor for worse mental health only among recent immigrants but not among the U.S.-born. In conclusion, the results revealed the vulnerability of older recent immigrants, especially those living in the counties with high foreign-born densities.

Size, skills, and suffrage: Motivated distortions in perceived formidability of political leaders

PubMed Central

Blaker, Nancy M.; Pollet, Thomas V.

2017-01-01

Research shows that perception of physical size and status are positively associated. The current study was developed to replicate and extend earlier research on height perceptions of political leaders, indicating that supporters perceive their leaders as taller than non-supporters do, and winners are perceived as taller after the elections, while losers are perceived as shorter after the elections (winner/loser effects). Individuals use greater height and strength as indications of greater physical formidability. We hypothesized that in-group leaders’ height and strength, but not weight, would be overestimated more compared to out-group leaders’, and that this status-size association is not only driven by dominance, but also by prestige. We also tested whether previously found gender effects in estimates were due to using one’s own height as an anchor, and we used an improved methodological approach by relying on multiple measurements of physical formidability and a within-subject design for testing winner/loser effects. The results of a two-part longitudinal study (self-selected sample via voting advice website; NWave1 = 2,011; NWave2 = 322) suggest that estimated physical formidability of political leaders is affected by motivated perception, as prestige was positively associated with estimated formidability, and in-group leaders were estimated more formidable than out-group leaders. We conclude that distortions in judged formidability related to social status are the result of motivated social perception in order to promote group functioning and leadership. Although we did not replicate a winner-effect (greater estimations of formidability after winning the elections), we did find some evidence for a loser-effect. Earlier suggestions that men make larger estimations than women because of their own larger body size are not supported. Implications for theory and future research are discussed. PMID:29267275

A Decade of Change: An Institutional Experience with Breast Surgery in 1995 and 2005

PubMed Central

Guth, Amber A.; Shanker, Beth Ann; Roses, Daniel F.; Axelrod, Deborah; Singh, Baljit; Toth, Hildegard; Shapiro, Richard L.; Hiotis, Karen; Diflo, Thomas; Cangiarella, Joan F.

2008-01-01

Introduction: With the adoption of routine screening mammography, breast cancers are being diagnosed at earlier stages, with DCIS now accouting for 22.5% of all newly diagnosed breast cancers. This has been attributed to both increased breast cancer awareness and improvements in breast imaging techniques. How have these changes, including the increased use of image-guided sampling techniques, influenced the clinical practice of breast surgery? Methods: The institutional pathology database was queried for all breast surgeries, including breast reconstruction, performed in 1995 and 2005. Cosmetic procedures were excluded. The results were analysed utilizing the Chi-square test. Results: Surgical indications changed during 10-year study period, with an increase in preoperatively diagnosed cancers undergoing definitive surgical management. ADH, and to a lesser extent, ALH, became indications for surgical excision. Fewer surgical biopsies were performed for indeterminate abnormalities on breast imaging, due to the introduction of stereotactic large core biopsy. While the rate of benign breast biopsies remained constant, there was a higher percentage of precancerous and DCIS cases in 2005. The overall rate of mastectomy decreased from 36.8% in 1995 to 14.5% in 2005. With the increase in sentinel node procedures, the rate of ALND dropped from 18.3% to 13.7%. Accompanying the increased recognition of early-stage cancers, the rate of positive ALND also decreased, from 43.3% to 25.0%. Conclusions: While the rate of benign breast biopsies has remained constant over a recent 10-year period, fewer diagnostic surgical image-guided biopsies were performed in 2005. A greater percentage of patients with breast cancer or preinvasive disease have these diagnoses determined before surgery. More preinvasive and Stage 0 cancers are undergoing surgical management. Earlier stage invasive cancers are being detected, reflected by the lower incidence of axillary nodal metastases. PMID:21655372

Frost trends and their estimated impact on yield in the Australian wheatbelt.

PubMed

Zheng, Bangyou; Chapman, Scott C; Christopher, Jack T; Frederiks, Troy M; Chenu, Karine

2015-06-01

Radiant spring frosts occurring during reproductive developmental stages can result in catastrophic yield loss for wheat producers. To better understand the spatial and temporal variability of frost, the occurrence and impact of frost events on rain-fed wheat production was estimated across the Australian wheatbelt for 1957-2013 using a 0.05 ° gridded weather data set. Simulated yield outcomes at 60 key locations were compared with those for virtual genotypes with different levels of frost tolerance. Over the last six decades, more frost events, later last frost day, and a significant increase in frost impact on yield were found in certain regions of the Australian wheatbelt, in particular in the South-East and West. Increasing trends in frost-related yield losses were simulated in regions where no significant trend of frost occurrence was observed, due to higher mean temperatures accelerating crop development and causing sensitive post-heading stages to occur earlier, during the frost risk period. Simulations indicated that with frost-tolerant lines the mean national yield could be improved by up to 20% through (i) reduced frost damage (~10% improvement) and (ii) the ability to use earlier sowing dates (adding a further 10% improvement). In the simulations, genotypes with an improved frost tolerance to temperatures 1 °C lower than the current 0 °C reference provided substantial benefit in most cropping regions, while greater tolerance (to 3 °C lower temperatures) brought further benefits in the East. The results indicate that breeding for improved reproductive frost tolerance should remain a priority for the Australian wheat industry, despite warming climates. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

Tipping a SPRUCE tree over - how extreme heat and desiccation may push southern boreal species beyond their capacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warren, J.; Childs, J.; Ward, E. J.; Wullschleger, S.; Hanson, P. J.

2016-12-01

Since August 2015, the Spruce and Peatland Responses under Climatic and Environmental Change (SPRUCE) climate change experiment (http://mnspruce.ornl.gov/) in Northern Minnesota, USA, has exposed 13 m diameter plots of an ombrotrophic Picea mariana - Ericaceous shrub - Sphagnum bog ecosystem to long-term temperature (T) (0 to +9 °C) and since June 2016, elevated CO2 treatments (ambient or + 500 ppm). In addition to their direct impacts, the T and CO2 treatments have dramatically impacted soil water availability, vapor pressure deficit and # days dew point is reached. We examined plant water relations of Picea mariana (black spruce), Larix laricina (tamarack), and several Ericaceous shrubs including seasonal patterns of water potential (ψ), in addition to sap flow in the in trees. Granier-style thermal dissipation sensors were calibrated in situ (outside plots) by cutting instrumented trees and measuring their actual water uptake. Maximum summer T in N Minnesota reaches 35 °C, and optimal photosynthetic activity for P. mariana at the site peaks between 35-38°C. Treatments have resulted in air T reaching 45°C in the warmest plots resulting in substantial physiological stress. Pretreatment sap flow typically began by late May and was fairly constant over the season until declining in mid-September and ceasing as temperatures dropped below zero. Once the T treatments began, sap flow began earlier in the spring and continued later in the fall indicating an expanded physiological season that can result in plant vulnerability to extreme cold events. Indeed, foliar damage was evident in warmer plots following a spring freeze event in 2016. In addition, the drying heat has resulted in additional foliar damage, indicated by large reductions in predawn water potentials (even in the spring), quicker drying following rain events, and water stress reached earlier in the day. Midday mean summer ψ was -1.5 MPa for P. mariana foliage, higher than the co-occurring L. laricina (-2.0 MPa), but lower than shrubs (-1.1 MPa). Based on hydraulic measurements of excised tissue, P. mariana foliage remained higher that its turgor loss point (TLP), while midday L. laricina foliage often reached its TLP. Initial results indicate the potential for shifts in community composition due to differential heat and water stress among the species.

Statistical analysis of the magnetization signatures of impact basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabasova, L. R.; Wieczorek, M. A.

2017-09-01

We quantify the magnetic signatures of the largest lunar impact basins using recent mission data and robust statistical bounds, and obtain an early activity timeline for the lunar core dynamo which appears to peak earlier than indicated by Apollo paleointensity measurements.

The Timing of First Marriage: Are There Religious Variations?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Xiaohe; Hudspeth, Clark D.; Bartkowski, John P.

2005-01-01

Using survey data from a nationally representative sample, this article explores how marriage timing varies across major religious denominations. Survival analysis indicates that net of statistical controls, Catholics, moderate Protestants, conservative Protestants, and Mormons marry significantly earlier than their unaffiliated counterparts. This…

Reduced-Order Kalman Filtering for Processing Relative Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayard, David S.

2008-01-01

A study in Kalman-filter theory has led to a method of processing relative measurements to estimate the current state of a physical system, using less computation than has previously been thought necessary. As used here, relative measurements signifies measurements that yield information on the relationship between a later and an earlier state of the system. An important example of relative measurements arises in computer vision: Information on relative motion is extracted by comparing images taken at two different times. Relative measurements do not directly fit into standard Kalman filter theory, in which measurements are restricted to those indicative of only the current state of the system. One approach heretofore followed in utilizing relative measurements in Kalman filtering, denoted state augmentation, involves augmenting the state of the system at the earlier of two time instants and then propagating the state to the later time instant.While state augmentation is conceptually simple, it can also be computationally prohibitive because it doubles the number of states in the Kalman filter. When processing a relative measurement, if one were to follow the state-augmentation approach as practiced heretofore, one would find it necessary to propagate the full augmented state Kalman filter from the earlier time to the later time and then select out the reduced-order components. The main result of the study reported here is proof of a property called reduced-order equivalence (ROE). The main consequence of ROE is that it is not necessary to augment with the full state, but, rather, only the portion of the state that is explicitly used in the partial relative measurement. In other words, it suffices to select the reduced-order components first and then propagate the partial augmented state Kalman filter from the earlier time to the later time; the amount of computation needed to do this can be substantially less than that needed for propagating the full augmented Kalman state filter.

JPL Test Effectiveness Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shreck, Stephanie; Sharratt, Stephen; Smith, Joseph F.; Strong, Edward

2008-01-01

1) The pilot study provided meaningful conclusions that are generally consistent with the earlier Test Effectiveness work done between 1992 and 1994: a) Analysis of pre-launch problem/failure reports is consistent with earlier work. b) Analysis of post-launch early mission anomaly reports indicates that there are more software issues in newer missions, and the no-test category for identification of post-launch failures is more significant than in the earlier analysis. 2) Future work includes understanding how differences in Missions effect these analyses: a) There are large variations in the number of problem reports and issues that are documented by the different Projects/Missions. b) Some missions do not have any reported environmental test anomalies, even though environmental tests were performed. 3) Each project/mission has different standards and conventions for filling out the PFR forms, the industry may wish to address this issue: a) Existing problem reporting forms are to document and track problems, failures, and issues (etc.) for the projects, to ensure high quality. b) Existing problem reporting forms are not intended for data mining.

The value of shoe size for prediction of the timing of the pubertal growth spurt

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Knowing the timing of the pubertal growth spurt of the spine, represented by sitting height, is essential for the prognosis and therapy of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. There are several indicators that reflect growth or remaining growth of the patient. For example, distal body parts have their growth spurt earlier in adolescence, and therefore the growth of the foot can be an early indicator for the growth spurt of sitting height. Shoe size is a good alternative for foot length, since patients can remember when they bought new shoes and what size these shoes were. Therefore the clinician already has access to some longitudinal data at the first visit of the patient to the outpatient clinic. The aim of this study was to describe the increase in shoe size during adolescence and to determine whether the timing of the peak increase could be an early indicator for the timing of the peak growth velocity of sitting height. Methods Data concerning shoe sizes of girls and boys were acquired from two large shoe shops from 1991 to 2008. The longitudinal series of 242 girls and 104 boys were analysed for the age of the "peak increase" in shoe size, as well as the age of cessation of foot growth based on shoe size. Results The average peak increase in shoe size occurred at 10.4 years (SD 1.1) in girls and 11.5 years (SD 1.5) in boys. This was on average 1.3 years earlier than the average peak growth velocity of sitting height in girls, and 2.5 years earlier in boys. The increase in shoe size diminishes when the average peak growth velocity of sitting height takes place at respectively 12.0 (SD 0.8) years in girls, and 13.7 (SD 1.0) years in boys. Conclusions Present data suggest that the course of the shoe size of children visiting the outpatient clinic can be a useful first tool for predicting the timing of the pubertal growth spurt of sitting height, as a representative for spinal length. This claim needs verification by direct comparison of individual shoe size and sitting height data and than a step forward can be made in clinical decision making regarding adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. PMID:21251310

Ferrographic and spectrographic analysis of oil sampled before and after failure of a jet engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, W. R., Jr.

1980-01-01

An experimental gas turbine engine was destroyed as a result of the combustion of its titanium components. Several engine oil samples (before and after the failure) were analyzed with a Ferrograph as well as plasma, atomic absorption, and emission spectrometers. The analyses indicated that a lubrication system failure was not a causative factor in the engine failure. Neither an abnormal wear mechanism, nor a high level of wear debris was detected in the oil sample from the engine just prior to the test in which the failure occurred. However, low concentrations of titanium were evident in this sample and samples taken earlier. After the failure, higher titanium concentrations were detected in oil samples taken from different engine locations. Ferrographic analysis indicated that most of the titanium was contained in spherical metallic debris after the failure.

Characterization of carbon in sediment-hosted disseminated gold deposits, north central Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leventhal, Joel; Hofstra, Albert; ,

1990-01-01

The gray, dark gray and black colors of the sediments and the presence of pyrite in the Carlin, Jerritt Canyon, Horse Canyon, Betze, and Gold Acres sediment-hosted disseminated gold (SHDG) deposits indicate that these rocks are not oxidized with respect to carbon and iron sulfide. The organic matter in the host rocks of SHDG deposits in north-central Nevada is cryptocrystalline graphite with dimensions of 30 to 70 A (0.003 to 0.007 ??) that was formed at temperatures of 250 to 300??C. These results indicate that north-central Nevada was subjected to pumpellyite-actinolite to lowermost greenschist facies conditions prior to mineralization. The hydrothermal fluids that produced the gold deposits had little, if any, effect on the thermal maturity and crystallinity of the cryptocrystalline graphite produced by the earlier thermal event.

Algal layer ratios as indicators of air pollutant effects in Permelia sulcata

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bennett, J.P.

2002-01-01

Parmelia sulcata Taylor is generally believed to be fairly pollution tolerant, and consequently it is sometimes collected in urban and/or polluted localities. The condition of these specimens, however, is not always luxuriant and healthy. This study tested the hypothesis that total thallus and algal layer thickness, and the algal layer ratio would be thinner in polluted areas, thus allowing these characters to be used a indicators of air pollutant effects. Herbarium specimens were studied from 16 different localities varying in pollution level. The thallus and algal layers and ratio were not affected by year or locality of sampling, but decreased 11, 31 and 21% respectively between low and high pollution level localities. These results agreed with earlier studies using other species, but further work is needed to clarify the effects of geography and substrate on these phenomena.

Rebalancing Spatial Attention: Endogenous Orienting May Partially Overcome the Left Visual Field Bias in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation.

PubMed

Śmigasiewicz, Kamila; Hasan, Gabriel Sami; Verleger, Rolf

2017-01-01

In dynamically changing environments, spatial attention is not equally distributed across the visual field. For instance, when two streams of stimuli are presented left and right, the second target (T2) is better identified in the left visual field (LVF) than in the right visual field (RVF). Recently, it has been shown that this bias is related to weaker stimulus-driven orienting of attention toward the RVF: The RVF disadvantage was reduced with salient task-irrelevant valid cues and increased with invalid cues. Here we studied if also endogenous orienting of attention may compensate for this unequal distribution of stimulus-driven attention. Explicit information was provided about the location of T1 and T2. Effectiveness of the cue manipulation was confirmed by EEG measures: decreasing alpha power before stream onset with informative cues, earlier latencies of potentials evoked by T1-preceding distractors at the right than at the left hemisphere when T1 was cued left, and decreasing T1- and T2-evoked N2pc amplitudes with informative cues. Importantly, informative cues reduced (though did not completely abolish) the LVF advantage, indicated by improved identification of right T2, and reflected by earlier N2pc latency evoked by right T2 and larger decrease in alpha power after cues indicating right T2. Overall, these results suggest that endogenously driven attention facilitates stimulus-driven orienting of attention toward the RVF, thereby partially overcoming the basic LVF bias in spatial attention.

Water vapor-nitrogen absorption at CO2 laser frequencies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, J. C.; Thomas, M. E.; Nordstrom, R. J.; Damon, E. K.; Long, R. K.

1979-01-01

The paper reports the results of a series of pressure-broadened water vapor absorption measurements at 27 CO2 laser frequencies between 935 and 1082 kaysers. Both multiple traversal cell and optoacoustic (spectrophone) techniques were utilized together with an electronically stabilized CW CO2 laser. Comparison of the results obtained by these two methods shows remarkable agreement, indicating a precision which has not been previously achieved in pressure-broadened studies of water vapor. The data of 10.59 microns substantiate the existence of the large (greater than 200) self-broadening coefficients determined in an earlier study by McCoy. In this work, the case of water vapor in N2 at a total pressure of 1 atm has been treated.

Core-level binding energy shifts in Pt Ru nanoparticles: A puzzle resolved

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewera, Adam; Zhou, Wei Ping; Hunger, Ralf; Jaegermann, Wolfram; Wieckowski, Andrzej; Yockel, Scott; Bagus, Paul S.

2007-10-01

Synchrotron measurements of Pt and Ru core-level binding energies, BE's, in Pt-Ru nanoparticles, as a function of Pt content, quantify earlier indications that the Pt 4f BE shift is much larger than the Ru 3d BE shift. A complementary theoretical analysis relates the BE shifts to changes in the metal-metal distances as the composition of the nanoparticle changes. We establish that the large Pt and small Ru BE shifts arise from the different response of these metals to changes in the bond distances, an unexpected result. Our results give evidence that the magnitudes of the BE shifts depend on whether the d band is open, as for Ru, or essentially filled, as for Pt.

Children With ADHD Show Impairments in Multiple Stages of Information Processing in a Stroop Task: An ERP Study.

PubMed

Kóbor, Andrea; Takács, Ádám; Bryce, Donna; Szűcs, Dénes; Honbolygó, Ferenc; Nagy, Péter; Csépe, Valéria

2015-01-01

This study investigated the role of impaired inhibitory control as a factor underlying attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children with ADHD and typically developing children completed an animal Stroop task while electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. The lateralized readiness potential and event-related brain potentials associated with perceptual and conflict processing were analyzed. Children with ADHD were slower to give correct responses irrespective of congruency, and slower to prepare correct responses in the incongruent condition. This delay could result from enhanced effort allocation at earlier processing stages, indicated by differences in P1, N1, and conflict sustained potential. Results suggest multiple deficits in information processing rather than a specific response inhibition impairment.

The comparison of road safety survey answers between web-panel and face-to-face; Dutch results of SARTRE-4 survey.

PubMed

Goldenbeld, C; de Craen, S

2013-09-01

In the Netherlands, a comparison of an online and a face-to-face sample of car drivers was made to study differences on a number of selected questions from the SARTRE-4 road safety survey. Contrary to expectations, there was no indication that online respondents were more likely to come from higher educated or more privileged social groups. Confirming earlier research, the results indicated that online respondents were less inclined to give socially desirable answers and were less inclined to use more extreme ratings in their opinions about measures. Contrary to expectations, face-to-face respondents did not tend to give more positive answers in judgment of road safety measures. Weighting to make samples comparable on gender, age, and education had almost no effect on outcomes. The implications for a transition from face-to-face survey to online panel method are discussed. Copyright © 2013 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physics Metacognition Inventory Part II: Confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taasoobshirazi, Gita; Bailey, MarLynn; Farley, John

2015-11-01

The Physics Metacognition Inventory was developed to measure physics students' metacognition for problem solving. In one of our earlier studies, an exploratory factor analysis provided evidence of preliminary construct validity, revealing six components of students' metacognition when solving physics problems including knowledge of cognition, planning, monitoring, evaluation, debugging, and information management. The college students' scores on the inventory were found to be reliable and related to students' physics motivation and physics grade. However, the results of the exploratory factor analysis indicated that the questionnaire could be revised to improve its construct validity. The goal of this study was to revise the questionnaire and establish its construct validity through a confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, a Rasch analysis was applied to the data to better understand the psychometric properties of the inventory and to further evaluate the construct validity. Results indicated that the final, revised inventory is a valid, reliable, and efficient tool for assessing student metacognition for physics problem solving.

Peptide-induced emesis in dogs: possible relevance to radiation-induced emesis. Final report Oct 80-Sep 81

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

Carpenter, D.O.

1982-09-01

Results of earlier investigators indicate that radioemesis is mediated by some humoral agent(s). Peptides are likely candiates since they exert a number of biological effects and are released from storage sites by various stimuli, including radiation. Peptides at various concentrations were injected singly intravenously into conscious dogs, and the dog's emetic response was observed. Of the peptides tested, neurotensin, angiotensin II, vasopressin, oxytocin, and TRH produced consistent emetic responses. Inhibition of drug-induced emesis was studied both centrally (chlorpromazine) and peripherally (domperidone) acting dopamine antagonists. Results indicate inhibition by chlorpromazine, which crosses the blood brain barrier, but only partial blockade bymore » domperidone, which does not cross the blood brain barrier. Preliminary studies were conducted attempting to characterize types of receptors on area postrema neurons. Single-cell recordings from these neurons, challenged by iontophoretic administration of various neurotransmitters, show stimulation by glutamic acid and serotonin and inhibiiton by norepinephrine.« less

Epiphyseal union of the cervical vertebral centra: its relationship to skeletal age and maturation of thoracic vertebral centra.

PubMed

Albert, Midori A; Maier, Christopher A

2013-11-01

Epiphyseal union stages for cervical vertebral centra (ring epiphyses) were documented for 55 individuals (females and males, ages 14-27 years) from the Terry Collection, using the Albert and Maples method 1, to examine both its relationship to age at death and to thoracic data collected from the same individuals using the same method. Results showed a moderate correlation between cervical ring union and age (r = 0.63, p = 0.000), and a fairly low correlation between cervical and thoracic ring union (r = 0.41, p = 0.002). Paired samples t-tests yielded a statistically significant difference between cervical and thoracic union mean values (p = 0.01). Union progressed earlier in cervical vertebrae and in females. Results indicated fairly substantial variation in both sexes. Findings may serve as a basic guideline for estimating a general age range at death for unknown skeletal remains and to corroborate findings from other skeletal age indicators. © 2013 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

The role of the DLPFC in inductive reasoning of MCI patients and normal agings: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Yang, YanHui; Liang, PeiPeng; Lu, ShengFu; Li, KunCheng; Zhong, Ning

2009-08-01

Previous studies of young people have revealed that the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays an important role in inductive reasoning. An fMRI experiment was performed in this study to examine whether the left DLPFC was involved in inductive reasoning of MCI patients and normal aging, and whether the activation pattern of this region was different between MCI patients and normal aging. The fMRI results indicated that MCI patients had no difference from normal aging in behavior performance (reaction time and accuracy) and the activation pattern of DLPFC. However, the BOLD response of the DLPFC region for MCI patients was weaker than that for normal aging, and the functional connectivity between the bilateral DLPFC regions for MCI patients was significantly higher than for normal aging. Taken together, these results indicated that DLPFC plays an important role in inductive reasoning of aging, and the functional abnormity of DLPFC may be an earlier marker of MCI before structural alterations.

Changing snow seasonality in the highlands of Kyrgyzstan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomaszewska, Monika A.; Henebry, Geoffrey M.

2018-06-01

Few studies have examined changing snow seasonality in Central Asia. Here, we analyzed changes in the seasonality of snow cover across Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) over 14 years from 2002/03–2015/16 using the most recent version (v006) of MODIS Terra and Aqua 8 day snow cover composites (MOD10A2/MYD10A2). We focused on three metrics of snow seasonality—first date of snow, last date of snow, and duration of snow season—and used nonparametric trends tests to assess the significance and direction of trends. We evaluated trends at three administration scales and across elevation. We used two techniques to assure that our identification of significant trends was not resulting from random spatial variation. First, we report only significant trends (positive or negative) that are at least twice as prevalent as the converse trends. Second, we use a two-stage analysis at the national scale to identify asymmetric directional changes in snow seasonality. Results show that more territory has been experiencing earlier onset of snow than earlier snowmelt, and roughly equivalent areas have been experiencing longer and shorter duration of snow seasons in the past 14 years. The changes are not uniform across KGZ, with significant shifts toward earlier snow arrival in western and central KGZ and significant shifts toward earlier snowmelt in eastern KGZ. The duration of the snow season has significantly shortened in western and eastern KGZ and significantly lengthened in northern and southwestern KGZ. Duration is significantly longer where the snow onset was significantly earlier or the snowmelt significantly later. There is a general trend of significantly earlier snowmelt below 3400 m and the area of earlier snowmelt is 15 times greater in eastern than western districts. Significant trends in the Aqua product were less prevalent than in the Terra product, but the general trend toward earlier snowmelt was also evident in Aqua data.

Earlier Age at Menopause, Work and Tobacco Smoke Exposure

PubMed Central

Fleming, Lora E; Levis, Silvina; LeBlanc, William G; Dietz, Noella A; Arheart, Kristopher L; Wilkinson, James D; Clark, John; Serdar, Berrin; Davila, Evelyn P; Lee, David J

2009-01-01

Objective Earlier age at menopause onset has been associated with increased all cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality risks. Risk of earlier age at menopause associated with primary and secondary tobacco smoke exposure was assessed. Design Cross-sectional study using a nationally representative sample of US women. Methods 7596 women participants (representing an estimated 79 million US women) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III were asked: time since last menstrual period, occupation, and tobacco use (including home and workplace secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure). Blood cotinine and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels were assessed. Logistic regressions for the odds of earlier age at menopause, stratified on race/ethnicity in women 25-50 years and adjusted for survey design, were controlled for age, BMI, education, tobacco smoke exposure, and occupation. Results Among 5029 US women ≥ 25 years with complete data, earlier age at menopause was found among all smokers, and among service and manufacturing industry sector workers. Among women age 25-50 years, there was an increased risk of earlier age at menopause with both primary smoking and with SHS exposure, particularly among Black women. Conclusions Primary tobacco use and SHS exposure were associated with an increased odds of earlier age at menopause in a representative sample of US women. Earlier age at menopause was found for some women worker groups with greater potential occupational SHS exposure. Thus, control of SHS exposures in the workplace may decrease the risk of mortality and morbidity associated with earlier age at menopause in US women workers. PMID:18626414

Biological consequences of earlier snowmelt from desert dust deposition in alpine landscapes.

PubMed

Steltzer, Heidi; Landry, Chris; Painter, Thomas H; Anderson, Justin; Ayres, Edward

2009-07-14

Dust deposition to mountain snow cover, which has increased since the late 19(th) century, accelerates the rate of snowmelt by increasing the solar radiation absorbed by the snowpack. Snowmelt occurs earlier, but is decoupled from seasonal warming. Climate warming advances the timing of snowmelt and early season phenological events (e.g., the onset of greening and flowering); however, earlier snowmelt without warmer temperatures may have a different effect on phenology. Here, we report the results of a set of snowmelt manipulations in which radiation-absorbing fabric and the addition and removal of dust from the surface of the snowpack advanced or delayed snowmelt in the alpine tundra. These changes in the timing of snowmelt were superimposed on a system where the timing of snowmelt varies with topography and has been affected by increased dust loading. At the community level, phenology exhibited a threshold response to the timing of snowmelt. Greening and flowering were delayed before seasonal warming, after which there was a linear relationship between the date of snowmelt and the timing of phenological events. Consequently, the effects of earlier snowmelt on phenology differed in relation to topography, which resulted in increasing synchronicity in phenology across the alpine landscape with increasingly earlier snowmelt. The consequences of earlier snowmelt from increased dust deposition differ from climate warming and include delayed phenology, leading to synchronized growth and flowering across the landscape and the opportunity for altered species interactions, landscape-scale gene flow via pollination, and nutrient cycling.

New Version of Pimentel Report Is Learning Resource for Young People.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zurer, Pamela

1987-01-01

Reviews National Research Council's (NRC) book, "Opportunities in Chemistry: Today and Tomorrow." Describes the difference between this volume and the NRC's earlier version, "Opportunities in Chemistry." Discusses the initial circulation of the new volume. Indicates how to obtain the new volume. (CW)

Early Predictors of Middle School Fraction Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Drew H.; Siegler, Robert S.; Geary, David C.

2014-01-01

Recent findings that earlier fraction knowledge predicts later mathematics achievement raise the question of what predicts later fraction knowledge. Analyses of longitudinal data indicated that whole number magnitude knowledge in first grade predicted knowledge of fraction magnitudes in middle school, controlling for whole number arithmetic…

Electroculture for crop enhancement by air anions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pohl, H. A.; Todd, G. W.

1981-12-01

Electroculture, the practice of applying strong electric fields or other sources of small air ions to growing plants, has potential to markedly increase crop production and to speed crop growth. The considerable evidence for its effectiveness, and the studies of the mechanisms for its actions are discussed. A mild current of air anions (4 pA/cm2) stimulates bean crop growth and also earlier blossoming and increased growth in the annual, Exacum affine (Persian violet), as well as in seedling geraniums. The present results would indicate that the growing period required until the plants reach a saleable stage of maturity can be shortened by about two weeks under greenhouse conditions.

On the use of Godhavn H-component as an indicator of the interplanetary sector polarity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Svalgaard, L.

1974-01-01

An objective method of inferring the polarity of the interplanetary magnetic field using the H-component at Godhavn is presented. The objectively inferred polarities are compared with a subjective index inferred earlier. It is concluded that no significant difference exists between the two methods. The inferred polarities derived from Godhavn H is biased by the (slp) sub q signature in the sense that during summer prolonged intervals of geomagnetic calm will result in inferred Away polarity regardless of the actual sector polarity. This bias does not significantly alter the large scale structure of the inferred sector structure.

Depth profiles of Mn-53 in lunar rocks and soils

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Imamura, M.; Nishiizumi, K.; Honda, M.; Finkel, R. C.; Arnold, J. R.; Kohl, C. P.

1974-01-01

Results of measurements of cosmic-ray-produced Mn-53 taken down the length of the Apollo 16 deep drill core are presented. They indicate that the lunar regolith has been unmixed, on a meter scale, for the past 5 million years at the location of this core. The data are in agreement with earlier Mn-53 measurements on the Apollo 15 drill core. Mn-53 activity profiles in 14310, 12002, and 14321 are compared to each other; all three rocks have probably been on the lunar surface long enough to saturate their solar cosmic-ray-produced Mn-53 (half-life = 3.7 m.y.) activity.

Verifying visual properties in sentence verification facilitates picture recognition memory.

PubMed

Pecher, Diane; Zanolie, Kiki; Zeelenberg, René

2007-01-01

According to the perceptual symbols theory (Barsalou, 1999), sensorimotor simulations underlie the representation of concepts. We investigated whether recognition memory for pictures of concepts was facilitated by earlier representation of visual properties of those concepts. During study, concept names (e.g., apple) were presented in a property verification task with a visual property (e.g., shiny) or with a nonvisual property (e.g., tart). Delayed picture recognition memory was better if the concept name had been presented with a visual property than if it had been presented with a nonvisual property. These results indicate that modality-specific simulations are used for concept representation.

Project Towards No Drug Abuse (TND): Needs Assessment of a Social Service Referral Telephone Program for High Risk Youth

PubMed Central

SUSSMAN, STEVE; SKARA, SILVANA; PUMPUANG, PATCHAREEYA

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to conduct a needs assessment of a potential social service resource telephone program component among high risk youth who received the Project Towards No Drug Abuse (TND) classroom-based program (approximately 1 year earlier). Results supported youths’ overwhelming receptiveness of a social service referral program. The vast majority of respondents indicated a strong desire for resource and referral information on vocational, educational, recreational, transportation, and mental health and drug counseling. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of the provision of social service resource information on drug use among emerging adults. PMID:18720266

A laser flash photolysis kinetics study of the reaction OH + H2O2 yields HO2 + H2O

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wine, P. H.; Semmes, D. H.; Ravishankara, A. R.

1981-01-01

Absolute rate constants for the reaction are reported as a function of temperature over the range 273-410 K. OH radicals are produced by 266 nm laser photolysis of H2O2 and detected by resonance fluorescence. H2O2 concentrations are determined in situ in the slow flow system by UV photometry. The results confirm the findings of two recent discharge flow-resonance fluorescence studies that the title reaction is considerably faster, particularly at temperatures below 300 K, than all earlier studies had indicated. A table giving kinetic data from the reaction is included.

Relations of Machiavellian behavior with sales performance of stockbrokers.

PubMed

Aziz, Abdul; May, Kim; Crotts, John C

2002-04-01

The hypothesis of a relationship between Machiavellian behavior and sales performance of Christie and Geis was tested with a sample of 110 stockbrokers. Scores on a measure called the Machiavellian Behavior scale were positively and significantly correlated with two self-reported measures of sales performance of the stock-brokers. Present results together with those of two earlier studies supported the hypothesis that salespeople with a Machiavellian orientation are likely to be more sucessful. Analysis of the data also indicated predictive validity and acceptable internal consistency of the Machiavellian Behavior scale. Limitations of the present study and a need for further research are discussed.

Parents' detection of early signs in their children having an autistic spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Sivberg, Bengt

2003-12-01

The study aimed to describe parents' views of their early perception and detection that something was wrong with their child and to give a comprehensive description of early signs to help primary health care nurses to focus on relevant symptoms. Participants were 66 parents from a total of 37 families, a population-based sample from a Swedish county. Interview data were analyzed by manifest content analysis. The results indicated a few critical periods: around the birth, early speech development, and school start. The diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders was delayed. The parents' reports were congruent with earlier observation studies.

A quantum diffusion law

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satpathi, Urbashi; Sinha, Supurna; Sorkin, Rafael D.

2017-12-01

We analyse diffusion at low temperature by bringing the fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) to bear on a physically natural, viscous response-function R(t) . The resulting diffusion-law exhibits several distinct regimes of time and temperature, each with its own characteristic rate of spreading. As with earlier analyses, we find logarithmic spreading in the quantum regime, indicating that this behavior is robust. A consistent R(t) must satisfy the key physical requirements of Wightman positivity and passivity, and we prove that ours does so. We also prove in general that these two conditions are equivalent when the FDT holds. Given current technology, our diffusion law can be tested in a laboratory with ultra cold atoms.

Fate of napropamide herbicide in selected Malaysian soils.

PubMed

Sadegh-Zadeh, Fardin; Wahid, Samsuri A; Seh-Bardan, Bahi J; Othman, Radziah; Omar, Dzolkhifli

2012-01-01

This study was carried out to determine the sorption-desorption, degradation and leaching of napropamide in selected Malaysian soils. The sorption capacities of the selected Malaysian soils for napropamide were the following in descending order: Linau > Teringkap > Gunung Berinchang > Jambu > Rudua > Baging soil. The results indicate that napropamide degradation decreased with increasing soil sorption capacity. Napropamide was leached out earlier in the Baging soil than the other soils. Overall, the application of napropamide in the selected Malaysian soils would not pose a threat to the environment except in soil with low organic matter and clay content and high hydraulic conductivity, such as the Baging soil.

Sexual behavior of unmarried Colombian University students: a five-year follow-up.

PubMed

Alzate, H

1984-04-01

The results of a 5-year follow-up survey on the sexual behavior of unmarried Colombian University students are reported. On the whole, these findings corroborate the earlier data. Coital incidences of 93.9% among males and 38.3% among females, as well as the important role prostitution still plays in the sexual lives of males, show that the double standard is much in force. However, there are indicators of its erosion, such as male students' decreasing reliance on prostitutes as sources of sexual outlet and the appreciable incidence of female premarital coitus, which could reach 50% among those students that eventually marry.

Continuum limit of electrostatic gyrokinetic absolute equilibrium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jian-Zhou

2012-06-01

Electrostatic gyrokinetic absolute equilibria with continuum velocity field are obtained through the partition function and through the Green function of the functional integral. The new results justify and explain the prescription for quantization/discretization or taking the continuum limit of velocity. The mistakes in the Appendix D of our earlier work [J.-Z. Zhu and G. W. Hammett, Phys. Plasmas 17, 122307 (2010)] are explained and corrected. If the lattice spacing for discretizing velocity is big enough, all the invariants could concentrate at the lowest Fourier modes in a negative-temperature state, which might indicate a possible variation of the dual cascade picture in 2D plasma turbulence.

Micro-Loans, Insecticide-Treated Bednets, and Malaria: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Orissa, India.

PubMed

Tarozzi, Alessandro; Mahajan, Aprajit; Blackburn, Brian; Kopf, Dan; Krishnan, Lakshmi; Yoong, Joanne

2014-07-01

We describe findings from the first large-scale cluster randomized controlled trial in a developing country that evaluates the uptake of a health-protecting technology, insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs), through micro-consumer loans, as compared to free distribution and control conditions. Despite a relatively high price, 52 percent of sample households purchased ITNs, highlighting the role of liquidity constraints in explaining earlier low adoption rates. We find mixed evidence of improvements in malaria indices. We interpret the results and their implications within the debate about cost sharing, sustainability and liquidity constraints in public health initiatives in developing countries.

A Parallel Independent Component Analysis Approach to Investigate Genomic Influence on Brain Function

PubMed Central

Liu, Jingyu; Demirci, Oguz; Calhoun, Vince D.

2009-01-01

Relationships between genomic data and functional brain images are of great interest but require new analysis approaches to integrate the high-dimensional data types. This letter presents an extension of a technique called parallel independent component analysis (paraICA), which enables the joint analysis of multiple modalities including interconnections between them. We extend our earlier work by allowing for multiple interconnections and by providing important overfitting controls. Performance was assessed by simulations under different conditions, and indicated reliable results can be extracted by properly balancing overfitting and underfitting. An application to functional magnetic resonance images and single nucleotide polymorphism array produced interesting findings. PMID:19834575

A Parallel Independent Component Analysis Approach to Investigate Genomic Influence on Brain Function.

PubMed

Liu, Jingyu; Demirci, Oguz; Calhoun, Vince D

2008-01-01

Relationships between genomic data and functional brain images are of great interest but require new analysis approaches to integrate the high-dimensional data types. This letter presents an extension of a technique called parallel independent component analysis (paraICA), which enables the joint analysis of multiple modalities including interconnections between them. We extend our earlier work by allowing for multiple interconnections and by providing important overfitting controls. Performance was assessed by simulations under different conditions, and indicated reliable results can be extracted by properly balancing overfitting and underfitting. An application to functional magnetic resonance images and single nucleotide polymorphism array produced interesting findings.

Superficial temporal arteriovenous fistula as a complication of rhytidectomy.

PubMed

Kominami, Shushi; Watanabe, Akira; Akimoto, Masahiro; Kobayashi, Shiro; Teramoto, Akira

2012-03-01

A 67-year-old woman who had undergone rhytidectomy 5 years before her presentation experienced increasing pulsatile tinnitus on the left side that had begun 2 years earlier. Angiography revealed a direct arteriovenous fistula between the superficial temporal artery and superficial temporal vein in front of her left ear. There was a scar from the earlier cosmetic surgery at the site. The fistula was embolized with N-butyl cyanoacrylate, and her tinnitus disappeared. We posit that the fistula was a complication of rhytidectomy and that a small arteriovenous fistula formed at the time of surgery and enlarged over time. This case indicates that arteriovenous fistulae can occur as a delayed complication of cosmetic surgery.

Restrained Proton Indicator in Combined Quantum-Mechanics/Molecular-Mechanics Dynamics Simulations of Proton Transfer through a Carbon Nanotube.

PubMed

Duster, Adam W; Lin, Hai

2017-09-14

Recently, a collective variable "proton indicator" was purposed for tracking an excess proton solvated in bulk water in molecular dynamics simulations. In this work, we demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing the position of this proton indicator as a reaction coordinate to model an excess proton migrating through a hydrophobic carbon nanotube in combined quantum-mechanics/molecular-mechanics simulations. Our results indicate that applying a harmonic restraint to the proton indicator in the bulk solvent near the nanotube pore entrance leads to the recruitment of water molecules into the pore. This is consistent with an earlier study that employed a multistate empirical valence bond potential and a different representation (center of excess charge) of the proton. We attribute this water recruitment to the delocalized nature of the solvated proton, which prefers to be in high-dielectric bulk solvent. While water recruitment into the pore is considered an artifact in the present simulations (because of the artificially imposed restraint on the proton), if the proton were naturally restrained, it could assist in building water wires prior to proton transfer through the pore. The potential of mean force for a proton translocation through the water-filled pore was computed by umbrella sampling, where the bias potentials were applied to the proton indicator. The free energy curve and barrier heights agree reasonably with those in the literature. The results suggest that the proton indicator can be used as a reaction coordinate in simulations of proton transport in confined environments.

Changing Snow Cover and Stream Discharge in the Western United States - Wind River Range, Wyoming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Dorothy K.; Foster, James L.; DiGirolamo, Nicolo E.; Barton, Jonathan S.; Riggs, George A.

2011-01-01

Earlier onset of springtime weather has been documented in the western United States over at least the last 50 years. Because the majority (>70%) of the water supply in the western U.S. comes from snowmelt, analysis of the declining spring snowpack has important implications for the management of water resources. We studied ten years of Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow-cover products, 40 years of stream discharge and meteorological station data and 30 years of snow-water equivalent (SWE) SNOw Telemetry (SNOTEL) data in the Wind River Range (WRR), Wyoming. Results show increasing air temperatures for.the 40-year study period. Discharge from streams in WRR drainage basins show lower annual discharge and earlier snowmelt in the decade of the 2000s than in the previous three decades. Changes in streamflow may be related to increasing air temperatures which are probably contributing to a reduction in snow cover, although no trend of either increasingly lower streamflow or earlier snowmelt was observed within the decade of the 2000s. And SWE on 1 April does not show an expected downward trend from 1980 to 2009. The extent of snow cover derived from the lowest-elevation zone of the WRR study area is strongly correlated (r=0.91) with stream discharge on 1 May during the decade of the 2000s. The strong relationship between snow cover and streamflow indicates that MODIS snow-cover maps can be used to improve management of water resources in the drought-prone western U.S.

Assessing the reliability and validity of the Chinese Sexual Assault Symptom Scale (C-SASS): scale development and validation.

PubMed

Wang, Chang-Hwai; Lee, Jin-Chuan; Yuan, Yu-Hsi

2014-01-01

The purpose of this research is to establish and verify the psychometric and structural properties of the self-report Chinese Sexual Assault Symptom Scale (C-SASS) to assess the trauma experienced by Chinese victims of sexual assault. An earlier version of the C-SASS was constructed using a modified list of the same trauma symptoms administered to an American sample and used to develop and validate the Sexual Assault Symptom Scale II (SASS II). The rationale of this study is to revise the earlier version of the C-SASS, using a larger and more representative sample and more robust statistical analysis than in earlier research, to permit a more thorough examination of the instrument and further confirm the dimensions of sexual assault trauma in Chinese victims of rape. In this study, a sample of 418 victims from northern Taiwan was collected to confirm the reliability and validity of the C-SASS. Exploratory factor analysis yielded five common factors: Safety Fears, Self-Blame, Health Fears, Anger and Emotional Lability, and Fears About the Criminal Justice System. Further tests of the validity and composite reliability of the C-SASS were provided by the structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicated that the C-SASS was a brief, valid, and reliable instrument for assessing sexual assault trauma among Chinese victims in Taiwan. The scale can be used to evaluate victims in sexual assault treatment centers around Taiwan, as well as to capture the characteristics of sexual assault trauma among Chinese victims.

Intrusive rocks of the Wadi Hamad Area, North Eastern Desert, Egypt: Change of magma composition with maturity of Neoproterozoic continental island arc and the role of collisional plutonism in the differentiation of arc crust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basta, Fawzy F.; Maurice, Ayman E.; Bakhit, Bottros R.; Azer, Mokhles K.; El-Sobky, Atef F.

2017-09-01

The igneous rocks of the Wadi Hamad area are exposed in the northernmost segment of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS). These rocks represent part of crustal section of Neoproterozoic continental island arc which is intruded by late to post-collisional alkali feldspar granites. The subduction-related intrusives comprise earlier gabbro-diorites and later granodiorites-granites. Subduction setting of these intrusives is indicated by medium- to high-K calc-alkaline affinity, Ta-Nb troughs on the spider diagrams and pyroxene and biotite compositions similar to those crystallized from arc magmas. The collisional alkali feldspar granites have high-K highly fractionated calc-alkaline nature and their spider diagrams almost devoid of Ta-Nb troughs. The earlier subduction gabbro-diorites have lower alkalis, LREE, Nb, Zr and Hf values compared with the later subduction granodiorites-granites, which display more LILE-enriched spider diagrams with shallower Ta-Nb troughs, reflecting variation of magma composition with arc evolution. The later subduction granitoids were generated by lower degree of partial melting of mantle wedge and contain higher arc crustal component compared with the earlier subduction gabbro-diorites. The highly silicic alkali feldspar granites represent extensively evolved melts derived from partial melting of intermediate arc crustal sources during the collisional stage. Re-melting of arc crustal sources during the collisional stage results in geochemical differentiation of the continental arc crust and the silicic collisional plutonism drives the composition of its upper part towards that of mature continental crust.

The impact of new (orphan) drug approvals on premature mortality from rare diseases in the United States and France, 1999-2007.

PubMed

Lichtenberg, Frank R

2013-02-01

This paper investigates the impact of the introduction of new orphan drugs on premature mortality from rare diseases using longitudinal, disease-level data obtained from a number of major databases. The analysis is performed using data from two countries: the United States (during the period 1999-2006) and France (during the period 2000-2007). For both countries, we estimate models using two alternative definitions of premature mortality, several alternative criteria for inclusion in the set of rare diseases, and several values of the potential lag between new drug approvals and premature mortality reduction. Both the United States and French estimates indicate that, overall, premature mortality from rare diseases is unrelated to the cumulative number of drugs approved 0-2 years earlier but is significantly inversely related to the cumulative number of drugs approved 3-4 years earlier. This delay is not surprising, since most patients probably do not have access to a drug until several years after it has been launched. Although the estimates for the two countries are qualitatively similar, the estimated magnitudes of the US coefficients are about four times as large as the magnitudes of the French coefficients. This may be partly due to greater errors in measuring dates of drug introduction in France. Also, access to new drugs may be more restricted in France than it is in the United States. Our estimates indicate that, in the United States, potential years of life lost to rare diseases before age 65 (PYLL65) declined at an average annual rate of 3.3% and that, in the absence of lagged new drug approvals, PYLL65 would have increased at a rate of 0.9%. Since the US population aged 0-64 was increasing at the rate of 1.0% per year, this means that PYLL65 per person under 65 would have remained approximately constant. The reduction in the US growth rate of PYLL65 attributable to lagged new drug approvals was 4.2%. In France, PYLL65 declined at an average annual rate of 1.8%. The estimates imply that, in the absence of lagged new drug approvals, it would have declined at a rate of 0.6%. The reduction in the French growth rate of PYLL65 attributable to lagged new drug approvals was 1.1%. Earlier access to orphan drugs could result in earlier reductions in premature mortality from rare diseases.

Late introduction of fish and eggs is associated with increased risk of allergy development – results from the FARMFLORA birth cohort

PubMed Central

Jonsson, K.; Barman, M.; Brekke, H. K.; Hesselmar, B.; Johansen, S.; Sandberg, A.-S.; Wold, A. E.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The prevalence of allergy is markedly low in children growing up on farms. An increasing number of studies indicate that the timing of food introduction may affect allergy development. We aimed to investigate if protection against allergy in farm environments may be mediated through differences in food-introduction practices between farm and non-farm families, using an explorative approach. Twenty-eight farm and 37 non-farm children were included in the FARMFLORA birth cohort. Practices of breastfeeding and introduction of formulas and complementary foods were collected by questionnaires at 6, 12, and 18 months of age. Allergy was diagnosed by pediatricians at 3 years of age. The only difference in food-introduction practices observed between farm and non-farm children was an earlier introduction of nuts in farmers (median month: 11 [IQR: 8–6] in farmers, 15 [12–19] in non-farmers). One farm child (4%) and 10 non-farm children (27%) were allergic at 3 years of age. Lower risk of allergy development was associated with early exclusive breastfeeding (continuous variable; OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.39–0.89), but also having received eggs (OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.13–0.54) and fish (logistic regression not applicable, P = 0.01 in likelihood ratio testing [χ2]) at 10 months of age or earlier compared to later. Our results were not affected by reverse causation, as judged by a questionnaire sent to the families in retrospect. Timing of introduction of complementary foods is unlikely to contribute to the lower risk of allergy among farm children. Although early exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a lower rate of allergy development, postponed introduction of complementary foods might increase the risk of developing allergy. Owing to the limited sample size, our results are only indicative, but support prior findings. PMID:29151834

pH preference and avoidance responses of adult brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and brown trout Salmo trutta.

PubMed

Fost, B A; Ferreri, C P

2015-03-01

The pH preferred and avoided by wild, adult brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and brown trout Salmo trutta was examined in a series a laboratory tests using gradual and steep-gradient flow-through aquaria. The results were compared with those published for the observed segregation patterns of juvenile S. fontinalis and S. trutta in Pennsylvania streams. The adult S. trutta tested showed a preference for pH 4·0 while adult S. fontinalis did not prefer any pH within the range tested. Salmo trutta are not found in Pennsylvania streams with a base-flow pH < 5·8 which suggests that S. trutta prefer pH well above 4·0. Adult S. trutta displayed a lack of avoidance at pH below 5·0, as also reported earlier for juveniles. The avoidance pH of wild, adult S. fontinalis (between pH 5·5 and 6·0) and S. trutta (between pH 6·5 and 7·0) did not differ appreciably from earlier study results for the avoidance pH of juvenile S. fontinalis and S. trutta. A comparison of c.i. around these avoidance estimates indicates that avoidance pH is similar among adult S. fontinalis and S. trutta in this study. The limited overlap of c.i. for avoidance pH values for the two species, however, suggests that some S. trutta will display avoidance at a higher pH when S. fontinalis will not. The results of this study indicate that segregation patterns of adult S. fontinalis and S. trutta in Pennsylvania streams could be related to pH and that competition with S. trutta could be mediating the occurrence of S. fontinalis at some pH levels. © 2015 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Late introduction of fish and eggs is associated with increased risk of allergy development - results from the FARMFLORA birth cohort.

PubMed

Jonsson, K; Barman, M; Brekke, H K; Hesselmar, B; Johansen, S; Sandberg, A-S; Wold, A E

2017-01-01

The prevalence of allergy is markedly low in children growing up on farms. An increasing number of studies indicate that the timing of food introduction may affect allergy development. We aimed to investigate if protection against allergy in farm environments may be mediated through differences in food-introduction practices between farm and non-farm families, using an explorative approach. Twenty-eight farm and 37 non-farm children were included in the FARMFLORA birth cohort. Practices of breastfeeding and introduction of formulas and complementary foods were collected by questionnaires at 6, 12, and 18 months of age. Allergy was diagnosed by pediatricians at 3 years of age. The only difference in food-introduction practices observed between farm and non-farm children was an earlier introduction of nuts in farmers (median month: 11 [IQR: 8-6] in farmers, 15 [12-19] in non-farmers). One farm child (4%) and 10 non-farm children (27%) were allergic at 3 years of age. Lower risk of allergy development was associated with early exclusive breastfeeding (continuous variable; OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.39-0.89), but also having received eggs (OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.13-0.54) and fish (logistic regression not applicable, P  = 0.01 in likelihood ratio testing [χ 2 ]) at 10 months of age or earlier compared to later. Our results were not affected by reverse causation, as judged by a questionnaire sent to the families in retrospect. Timing of introduction of complementary foods is unlikely to contribute to the lower risk of allergy among farm children. Although early exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a lower rate of allergy development, postponed introduction of complementary foods might increase the risk of developing allergy. Owing to the limited sample size, our results are only indicative, but support prior findings.

An integrated model for the assessment of global water resources Part 2: Applications and assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanasaki, N.; Kanae, S.; Oki, T.; Masuda, K.; Motoya, K.; Shirakawa, N.; Shen, Y.; Tanaka, K.

2008-07-01

To assess global water resources from the perspective of subannual variation in water availability and water use, an integrated water resources model was developed. In a companion report, we presented the global meteorological forcing input used to drive the model and six modules, namely, the land surface hydrology module, the river routing module, the crop growth module, the reservoir operation module, the environmental flow requirement module, and the anthropogenic withdrawal module. Here, we present the results of the model application and global water resources assessments. First, the timing and volume of simulated agriculture water use were examined because agricultural use composes approximately 85% of total consumptive water withdrawal in the world. The estimated crop calendar showed good agreement with earlier reports for wheat, maize, and rice in major countries of production. In major countries, the error in the planting date was ±1 mo, but there were some exceptional cases. The estimated irrigation water withdrawal also showed fair agreement with country statistics, but tended to be underestimated in countries in the Asian monsoon region. The results indicate the validity of the model and the input meteorological forcing because site-specific parameter tuning was not used in the series of simulations. Finally, global water resources were assessed on a subannual basis using a newly devised index. This index located water-stressed regions that were undetected in earlier studies. These regions, which are indicated by a gap in the subannual distribution of water availability and water use, include the Sahel, the Asian monsoon region, and southern Africa. The simulation results show that the reservoir operations of major reservoirs (>1 km3) and the allocation of environmental flow requirements can alter the population under high water stress by approximately -11% to +5% globally. The integrated model is applicable to assessments of various global environmental projections such as climate change.

Response of vegetation phenology to urbanization in the conterminous United States.

PubMed

Li, Xuecao; Zhou, Yuyu; Asrar, Ghassem R; Mao, Jiafu; Li, Xiaoma; Li, Wenyu

2017-07-01

The influence of urbanization on vegetation phenology is gaining considerable attention due to its implications for human health, cycling of carbon and other nutrients in Earth system. In this study, we examined the relationship between change in vegetation phenology and urban size, an indicator of urbanization, for the conterminous United States. We studied more than 4500 urban clusters of varying size to determine the impact of urbanization on plant phenology, with the aids of remotely sensed observations since 2003-2012. We found that phenology cycle (changes in vegetation greenness) in urban areas starts earlier (start of season, SOS) and ends later (end of season, EOS), resulting in a longer growing season length (GSL), when compared to the respective surrounding urban areas. The average difference of GSL between urban and rural areas over all vegetation types, considered in this study, is about 9 days. Also, the extended GSL in urban area is consistent among different climate zones in the United States, whereas their magnitudes are varying across regions. We found that a tenfold increase in urban size could result in an earlier SOS of about 1.3 days and a later EOS of around 2.4 days. As a result, the GSL could be extended by approximately 3.6 days with a range of 1.6-6.5 days for 25th ~ 75th quantiles, with a median value of about 2.1 days. For different vegetation types, the phenology response to urbanization, as defined by GSL, ranges from 1 to 4 days. The quantitative relationship between phenology and urbanization is of great use for developing improved models of vegetation phenology dynamics under future urbanization, and for developing change indicators to assess the impacts of urbanization on vegetation phenology. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Lung-cancer mortality among Vermont granite workers: factors influencing exposure–response evaluation

PubMed Central

Vacek, Pamela M; Callas, Peter W

2017-01-01

Objective To understand why 2 studies relating crystalline silica exposure to lung-cancer mortality in Vermont granite workers yielded conflicting results. Methods Data used in the 2 studies were linked to identify discrepancies. Mortality data and employment histories from the earlier study were revised based on data obtained in the later study. SMR were computed and Poisson regressions corresponding to those in the earlier study were performed using the original and revised data. Analyses were repeated with the addition of workers omitted from the earlier study. Results After correction of incomplete mortality and employment information in the original data, the overall SMR for the cohort in the earlier study increased from 1.17 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.36) to 1.39 (95% CI 1.22 to 1.59), and was similar to the SMR of 1.37 observed in the later study (95% CI 1.23 to 1.52). The exposure–response relationship was attenuated, particularly when person-years in all exposure categories were included in the analysis. Inclusion of additional workers had a smaller impact on the SMRs but further attenuated the exposure–response relationship. Conclusions Differing results from the 2 studies are partly attributable to incomplete vital status and work history information used in the earlier study, as well as differences in cohort inclusion criteria. However, differences in length of follow-up and other factors likely play a larger role. PMID:27821675

Return of hunger following a relatively high carbohydrate breakfast is associated with earlier recorded glucose peak and nadir

PubMed Central

Chandler-Laney, Paula C.; Morrison, Shannon A.; Goree, Laura Lee T.; Ellis, Amy C.; Casazza, Krista; Desmond, Renee; Gower, Barbara A

2014-01-01

Objective To test the hypothesis that a breakfast meal with high carbohydrate/ low fat results in an earlier increase in postprandial glucose and insulin, a greater decrease below baseline in postprandial glucose, and an earlier return of appetite, compared to a low carbohydrate/high fat meal. Design Overweight but otherwise healthy adults (n=64) were maintained on one of two eucaloric diets: high carbohydrate/low fat (HC/LF; 55:27:18% kcals from carbohydrate: fat: protein) versus low carbohydrate/high fat (LC/HF; 43:39:18% kcals from carbohydrate: fat: protein). After 4 weeks of acclimation to the diets, participants underwent a meal test during which circulating glucose and insulin and self-reported hunger and fullness, were measured before and after consumption of breakfast from their assigned diets. Results The LC/HF meal resulted in a later time at the highest and lowest recorded glucose, higher glucose concentrations at 3 and 4 hours post-meal, and lower insulin incremental area under the curve. Participants consuming the LC/HF meal reported lower appetite 3 and 4 hours following the meal, a response that was associated with the timing of the highest and lowest recorded glucose. Conclusions Modest increases in meal carbohydrate content at the expense of fat content may facilitate weight gain over the long-term by contributing to an earlier rise and fall of postprandial glucose concentrations and an earlier return of appetite. PMID:24819342

AGE-DEPENDENT EFFECTS OF AROCLOR 1254 ON CALCIUM UPTAKE BY SUBCELLULAR ORGANELLES IN SELECTED BRAIN REGIONS OF RATS.

EPA Science Inventory

Earlier reports from our laboratory have indicated that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) affect signal transduction mechanisms in brain, including Ca2+ homeostasis, phosphoinositol hydrolysis, and protein kinase C (PKC) translocation in mature neurons and adult brain homogenate p...

LOW PRESSURE ULTRAVIOLET STUDIES FOR INACTIVIATION OF GIARDIA MURIS CYSTS

EPA Science Inventory

This research was initiated to confirm and expand the current database for the inactiviation of Giardia spp. using ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The path taken was to confirm earlier UV research that used excystation as the indication of viability. In this study, an in vitro excyst...

The influence of post-veraison foliar potassium applications on table grape quality

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sugar concentration and skin color (for pigmented table grape cultivars) are primary indicators of maturity and are important for marketing purposes. Treatments that accelerate sugar and pigment development enable earlier harvest. Early harvest not only improves marketing, it reduces risks of losses...

21 CFR 640.101 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... to 1 percent protein with 0.15 molar sodium chloride. (c) Turbidity. The product shall be free of...) and (3)) whichever date is earlier. (e) Labeling. In addition to complying with all applicable labeling required in this subchapter, labeling shall indicate that: (1) There is no prescribed potency for...

Results of the Simulation of the HTR-Proteus Core 4.2 Using PEBBED-COMBINE: FY10 Report

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

Hans Gougar

2010-07-01

ABSTRACT The Idaho National Laboratory’s deterministic neutronics analysis codes and methods were applied to the computation of the core multiplication factor of the HTR-Proteus pebble bed reactor critical facility. This report is a follow-on to INL/EXT-09-16620 in which the same calculation was performed but using earlier versions of the codes and less developed methods. In that report, results indicated that the cross sections generated using COMBINE-7.0 did not yield satisfactory estimates of keff. It was concluded in the report that the modeling of control rods was not satisfactory. In the past year, improvements to the homogenization capability in COMBINE havemore » enabled the explicit modeling of TRIS particles, pebbles, and heterogeneous core zones including control rod regions using a new multi-scale version of COMBINE in which the 1-dimensional discrete ordinate transport code ANISN has been integrated. The new COMBINE is shown to yield benchmark quality results for pebble unit cell models, the first step in preparing few-group diffusion parameters for core simulations. In this report, the full critical core is modeled once again but with cross sections generated using the capabilities and physics of the improved COMBINE code. The new PEBBED-COMBINE model enables the exact modeling of the pebbles and control rod region along with better approximation to structures in the reflector. Initial results for the core multiplication factor indicate significant improvement in the INL’s tools for modeling the neutronic properties of a pebble bed reactor. Errors on the order of 1.6-2.5% in keff are obtained; a significant improvement over the 5-6% error observed in the earlier This is acceptable for a code system and model in the early stages of development but still too high for a production code. Analysis of a simpler core model indicates an over-prediction of the flux in the low end of the thermal spectrum. Causes of this discrepancy are under investigation. New homogenization techniques and assumptions were used in this analysis and as such, they require further confirmation and validation. Further refinement and review of the complex Proteus core model are likely to reduce the errors even further.« less

An Analysis of the Dimensionality of the Pupil Control Ideology Scale.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Steve; And Others

1985-01-01

The present study replicated an earlier investigation using the Pupil Control Ideology (PCI). The findings were congruent with earlier results. Consequently, it was recommended that the PCI should be refined and that the 10 item, unidimensional scale should be used in future investigations. (Author/LMO)

Design evolution enhances patient compliance for low-intensity pulsed ultrasound device usage

PubMed Central

Pounder, Neill M; Jones, John T; Tanis, Kevin J

2016-01-01

Poor patient compliance or nonadherence with prescribed treatments can have a significant unfavorable impact on medical costs and clinical outcomes. In the current study, voice-of-the-customer research was conducted to aid in the development of a next-generation low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) bone healing product. An opportunity to improve patient compliance reporting was identified, resulting in the incorporation into the next-generation device of a visual calendar that provides direct feedback to the patient, indicating days for which they successfully completed treatment. Further investigation was done on whether inclusion of the visual calendar improved patient adherence to the prescribed therapy (20 minutes of daily treatment) over a 6-month period. Thus, 12,984 data files were analyzed from patients prescribed either the earlier- or the next-generation LIPUS device. Over the 6-month period, overall patient compliance was 83.8% with the next-generation LIPUS device, compared with 74.2% for the previous version (p<0.0001). Incorporation of the calendar feature resulted in compliance never decreasing below 76% over the analysis period, whereas compliance with the earlier-generation product fell to 51%. A literature review on the LIPUS device shows a correlation between clinical effectiveness and compliance rates more than 70%. Incorporation of stakeholder feedback throughout the design and innovation process of a next-generation LIPUS device resulted in a measurable improvement in patient adherence, which may help to optimize clinical outcomes. PMID:27942237

The effect of age on word-stem cued recall: a behavioral and electrophysiological study.

PubMed

Osorio, Alexandra; Ballesteros, Soledad; Fay, Séverine; Pouthas, Viviane

2009-09-15

The present study investigated the effects of aging on behavioral cued-recall performance and on the neural correlates of explicit memory using event-related potentials (ERPs) under shallow and deep encoding conditions. At test, participants were required to complete old and new three-letter word stems using the letters as retrieval cues. The main results were as follows: (1) older participants exhibited the same level of explicit memory as young adults with the same high level of education. Moreover older adults benefited as much as young ones from deep processing at encoding; (2) brain activity at frontal sites showed that the shallow old/new effect developed and ended earlier for older than young adults. In contrast, the deep old/new effect started later for older than for young adults and was sustained up to 1000 ms in both age groups. Moreover, the results suggest that the frontal old/new effect was bilateral but greater over the right than the left electrode sites from 600 ms onward; (3) there were no differences at parietal sites between age groups: the old/new effect developed from 400 ms under both encoding conditions and was sustained up to 1000 ms under the deep condition but ended earlier (800 ms) under the shallow condition. These ERP results indicate significant age-related changes in brain activity associated with the voluntary retrieval of previously encoded information, in spite of similar behavioral performance of young and older adults.

Early Childhood Maltreatment and Girls' Sexual Behavior: The Mediating Role of Pubertal Timing.

PubMed

Ryan, Rebecca M; Mendle, Jane; Markowitz, Anna J

2015-09-01

Although links between early childhood maltreatment and girls' sexual behavior in adolescence have been well established, it is unclear whether different forms of maltreatment are differentially associated with sexual outcomes and whether distinct mechanisms explain associations across maltreatment types. Using data from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the present study examines whether physical abuse, sexual abuse, and physical neglect in early childhood differentially predict girls' age at first intercourse and number of sexual partners in early adulthood. The study also tests whether early pubertal timing mediates the link between early maltreatment and sexual behavior (N = 6,364). Findings indicate that early sexual and physical abuse were equally predictive of earlier age at first intercourse and a greater number of sexual partners, but that only the sexual abuse-age at first intercourse link was mediated by early puberty. These results suggest that sexual abuse and physical abuse are associated with earlier and riskier sexual behavior in girls relative to no maltreatment and to similar degrees. However, only the link between sexual abuse and sexual behavior involves a biological mechanism manifested in early pubertal timing. Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Terminal decline of episodic memory and perceptual speed in a biracial population.

PubMed

Wilson, Robert S; Rajan, Kumar B; Barnes, Lisa L; Jansen, Willemijn; Amofa, Priscilla; Weuve, Jennifer; Evans, Denis A

2018-05-01

We compared trajectories of terminal cognitive decline in older Black (n = 3372) and White (n = 1756) persons from a defined population who completed tests of episodic memory and perceptual speed at 3-year intervals for up to 18 years. During a mean of 9.9 years of observation, 1608 Black persons and 902 White persons died. Preterminal decline of episodic memory did not differ by race. Terminal episodic memory decline began earlier in Black persons (mean of 4.3 years before death) than in White persons (mean = 3.9 years) and progressed more slowly. By contrast, terminal decline of perceptual speed began earlier in White persons (mean = 5.0 years) than in Black persons (mean = 4.5 years). Rate of perceptual speed decline was more rapid in White persons than in Black persons in both the preterminal and terminal periods. The results indicate that terminal cognitive decline occurs in Black persons but suggest that the rate of cognitive decline during the terminal period is less rapid in Black persons than in White persons.

On validation of the rain climatic zone designations for Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obiyemi, O. O.; Ibiyemi, T. S.; Ojo, J. S.

2017-07-01

In this paper, validation of rain climatic zone classifications for Nigeria is presented based on global radio-climatic models by the International Telecommunication Union-Radiocommunication (ITU-R) and Crane. Rain rate estimates deduced from several ground-based measurements and those earlier estimated from the precipitation index on the Tropical Rain Measurement Mission (TRMM) were employed for the validation exercise. Although earlier classifications indicated that Nigeria falls into zones P, Q, N, and K for the ITU-R designations, and zones E and H for Crane's climatic zone designations, the results however confirmed that the rain climatic zones across Nigeria can only be classified into four, namely P, Q, M, and N for the ITU-R designations, while the designations by Crane exhibited only three zones, namely E, G, and H. The ITU-R classification was found to be more suitable for planning microwave and millimeter wave links across Nigeria. The research outcomes are vital in boosting the confidence level of system designers in using the ITU-R designations as presented in the map developed for the rain zone designations for estimating the attenuation induced by rain along satellite and terrestrial microwave links over Nigeria.

The evolution of bacterial resistance against bacteriophages in the horse chestnut phyllosphere is general across both space and time.

PubMed

Koskella, Britt; Parr, Nicole

2015-08-19

Insight to the spatial and temporal scales of coevolution is key to predicting the outcome of host-parasite interactions and spread of disease. For bacteria infecting long-lived hosts, selection to overcome host defences is just one factor shaping the course of evolution; populations will also be competing with other microbial species and will themselves be facing infection by bacteriophage viruses. Here, we examine the temporal and spatial patterns of bacterial adaptation against natural phage populations from within leaves of horse chestnut trees. Using a time-shift experiment with both sympatric and allopatric phages from either contemporary or earlier points in the season, we demonstrate that bacterial resistance is higher against phages from the past, regardless of spatial sympatry or how much earlier in the season phages were collected. Similarly, we show that future bacterial hosts are more resistant to both sympatric and allopatric phages than contemporary bacterial hosts. Together, our results suggest the evolution of relatively general bacterial resistance against phages in nature and are contrasting to previously observed patterns of phage adaptation to bacteria from the same tree hosts over the same time frame, indicating a potential asymmetry in coevolutionary dynamics.

The evolution of bacterial resistance against bacteriophages in the horse chestnut phyllosphere is general across both space and time

PubMed Central

Koskella, Britt; Parr, Nicole

2015-01-01

Insight to the spatial and temporal scales of coevolution is key to predicting the outcome of host–parasite interactions and spread of disease. For bacteria infecting long-lived hosts, selection to overcome host defences is just one factor shaping the course of evolution; populations will also be competing with other microbial species and will themselves be facing infection by bacteriophage viruses. Here, we examine the temporal and spatial patterns of bacterial adaptation against natural phage populations from within leaves of horse chestnut trees. Using a time-shift experiment with both sympatric and allopatric phages from either contemporary or earlier points in the season, we demonstrate that bacterial resistance is higher against phages from the past, regardless of spatial sympatry or how much earlier in the season phages were collected. Similarly, we show that future bacterial hosts are more resistant to both sympatric and allopatric phages than contemporary bacterial hosts. Together, our results suggest the evolution of relatively general bacterial resistance against phages in nature and are contrasting to previously observed patterns of phage adaptation to bacteria from the same tree hosts over the same time frame, indicating a potential asymmetry in coevolutionary dynamics. PMID:26150663

Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins in processed ball clay from the United States.

PubMed

Ferrario, Joseph; Byrne, Christian; Schaum, John

2007-04-01

Processed ball clays commonly used by the ceramic art industry in the United States were collected from retail suppliers and analyzed for the presence and concentration of the 2,3,7,8-Cl substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs). The average PCDD toxic equivalent (TEQ) concentrations of these processed ball clays was approximately 800 pg/g (TEQ-WHO) with characteristic congener profiles and isomer distributions similar to patterns of previously analyzed raw and processed ball clays. The PCDF concentrations were below the average limit of detection (LOD) of 0.5 pg/g. Correlation analyses reveal no significant relationship between total organic carbon (TOC) and either individual, homologues, and total tetra-through octa-chlorinated PCDD congeners, or TEQ concentrations of the processed ball clays. The results are consistent with earlier studies on levels of PCDDs in ball clays. Data from earlier studies indicated that dioxins may be released to the environment during the processing of raw clay or the firing process used in commercial ceramic facilities. The presence of dioxin in the clays also raises concerns about potential occupational exposure for individuals involved in the mining/processing of ball clay, ceramics manufacturing and ceramic artwork.

A microcosm of musical expression. III. Contributions of timing and dynamics to the aesthetic impression of pianists' performances of the initial measures of Chopin's Etude in E major.

PubMed

Repp, B H

1999-07-01

Four judges repeatedly assessed the overall aesthetic quality of more than 100 recorded performances of the opening of Chopin's Etude in E major on a 10-point scale. The judgments, which exhibited reasonable reliability and modest intercorrelations, were entered into regression analyses with 16 independent variables derived from earlier objective analyses of the expressive timing and dynamics of the performances [Repp, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104, 1085-1100 (1998); 105, 1972-1988 (1999)]. Only between 9% and 18% of the variance in the judges' ratings was accounted for. By contrast, timing variables accounted for 53% of the variance in one judge's ratings of synthesized performances that varied in timing only and mimicked the timing patterns of the original performances. These results indicate, first, that the aesthetic impression of the original recordings rested primarily on aspects other than those measured (such as texture, tone, or aspects of timing and dynamics that eluded the earlier analyses) and, second, that very different patterns of timing and dynamics are aesthetically acceptable for the same music, provided that other, aesthetically more crucial performance aspects are present.

What You See Depends on Your Point of View: Comparison of Greenness Indices Across Spatial and Temporal Scales and What That Means for Mule Deer Migration and Fitness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, B. W.; Chong, G.; Steltzer, H.; Aikens, E.; Morisette, J. T.; Talbert, C.; Talbert, M.; Shory, R.; Krienert, J. M.; Gurganus, D.

2015-12-01

Climate change models for the north­ern Rocky Mountains predict warming and changes in water availability that may alter vegetation. Changes to vegetation may include timing of plant life-history events, or phenology, such as green-up, flower­ing, and senescence. These changes could make forage available earlier in the growing season, but shifts in phenol­ogy may also result in earlier senescence (die-off or dormancy) and reduced overall production. Greenness indices such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are regularly used to quantify greenness over large areas using remotely sensed reflectance data. The timing and scale of current satellite data, however, may be insufficient to capture fine-scale differences in phenology that are important indicators of habitat quality. The Wyoming Range Mule Deer herd is one of the largest in the west but it declined precipitously in the early 1990s and has not recovered. Accurate measurement of greenness over space and time would allow managers to better understand the role of plant phenology and productivity in mule deer population dynamics, for example. To connect spatial and temporal patterns of plant productivity with habitat quality, we compare greenness patterns (MODIS data) with migratory mule deer movement (GPS collars). Sagebrush systems provide winter habitat for mule deer. To understand sagebrush phenology as an indicator of productivity, we constructed NDVI time series and compared dates of phenological stages and magnitudes of greenness from three perspectives: at-surface/species-specific (mantis sensors: downward looking, <1m above vegetation); near surface/site-specific (PhenoCam: oblique, 2m); and satellite/landscape-scale (varied platforms). Greenness indices from these sensors contribute unique insights to understanding vegetation phenology, snow cover and reflectance. Understanding phenology and productivity at multiple scales can help guide resource management decisions related to habitat quality, and evaluate what remotely sensed phenology measurements mean on the ground. Monitoring changes in phenology and productivity over the long-term can provide insight into ecosystem responses to climate change.

The association between cannabis use and earlier age at onset of schizophrenia and other psychoses: meta-analysis of possible confounding factors.

PubMed

Myles, Nicholas; Newall, Hannah; Nielssen, Olav; Large, Matthew

2012-01-01

A recent meta-analysis showed that the mean age of onset of psychosis among cannabis users was almost three years earlier than that of non-cannabis users. However, because cannabis users usually smoke tobacco, the use of tobacco might independently contribute to the earlier onset of psychosis. We aimed to use meta-analysis to compare the extent to which cannabis and tobacco use are each associated with an earlier age at onset of schizophrenia and other psychoses. We also examined other factors that might have contributed to the finding of an earlier age of onset among cannabis users, including the proportion of males in the samples, the diagnostic inclusion criteria and aspects of study quality. The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and ISI Web of Science, were searched for English-language peer-reviewed publications that reported age at onset of schizophrenia and other psychoses separately for cannabis users and non-users, or for tobaccosmokers and non-smokers. Meta-analysis showed that the age at onset of psychosis for cannabis users was 32 months earlier than for cannabis non-users (SMD=- 0.399, 95%CI -0.493 - -0.306, z=-8.34, p < 0.001), and was two weeks later in tobacco smokers compared with non-smokers (SMD=0.002, 95%CI -0.094 - 0.097, z=0.03, p=0.974). The main results were not affected by subgroup analyses examining studies of a single sex, the methods for making psychiatric diagnoses and measures of study quality. The results suggest that the association between cannabis use and earlier onset of psychosis is robust and is not the result either of tobacco smoking by cannabis using patients or the other potentially confounding factors we examined. This supports the hypothesis that, in some patients, cannabis use plays a causal role in the development of schizophrenia and raises the possibility of treating schizophrenia with new pharmacological treatments that have an affinity for endo-cannabinoid receptors.

Subsurface imaging of an abandoned solid waste landfill site in Norman, Oklahoma

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zume, J.T.; Tarhule, A.; Christenson, S.

2006-01-01

Leachate plume emanating from an old unlined municipal landfill site near the city of Norman, Oklahoma, is discharging into the underlying alluvial aquifer. Subsurface imaging techniques, electrical resistivity tomography and electrical conductivity (EC) logging, were used on the site to detect and map the position of the leachate plume. Anomalous EC zones, delineated with the two methods, correlated with the occurrence of the plume detected by water chemistry analyses from multilevel monitoring wells. Specific conductance, a potential indicator of leachate contamination, ranged from 1861 to 7710 ??S/cm in contaminated zones and from 465 to 2180 ??S/cm in uncontaminated ground water. Results are in agreement with those from earlier studies that the leachate plume emerges from the landfill along preferential pathways. Additionally, there are indications that the leading edge of the plume has migrated, at least, 200 m away from the landfill in the direction of ground water flow. ?? 2006 National Ground Water Association.

Far-field brainstem responses evoked by vestibular and auditory stimuli exhibit increases in interpeak latency as brain temperature is decreased

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffman, L. F.; Horowitz, J. M.

1984-01-01

The effect of decreasing of brain temperature on the brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) in rats was investigated. Voltage pulses, applied to a piezoelectric crystal attached to the skull, were used to evoke stimuli in the auditory system by means of bone-conducted vibrations. The responses were recorded at 37 C and 34 C brain temperatures. The peaks of the BAER recorded at 34 C were delayed in comparison with the peaks from the 37 C wave, and the later peaks were more delayed than the earlier peaks. These results indicate that an increase in the interpeak latency occurs as the brain temperature is decreased. Preliminary experiments, in which responses to brief angular acceleration were used to measure the brainstem vestibular evoked response (BVER), have also indicated increases in the interpeak latency in response to the lowering of brain temperature.

There Is No Joy like Malicious Joy: Schadenfreude in Young Children

PubMed Central

Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G.; Ahronberg-Kirschenbaum, Dorin; Bauminger-Zviely, Nirit

2014-01-01

Human emotions are strongly shaped by the tendency to compare the relative state of oneself to others. Although social comparison based emotions such as jealousy and schadenfreude (pleasure in the other misfortune) are important social emotions, little is known about their developmental origins. To examine if schadenfreude develops as a response to inequity aversion, we assessed the reactions of children to the termination of unequal and equal triadic situations. We demonstrate that children as early as 24 months show signs of schadenfreude following the termination of an unequal situation. Although both conditions involved the same amount of gains, the children displayed greater positive expressions following the disruption of the unequal as compared to the equal condition, indicating that inequity aversion can be observed earlier than reported before. These results support an early evolutionary origin of inequity aversion and indicate that schadenfreude has evolved as a response to unfairness. PMID:24988446

Near-ambient ozone concentrations reduce the vigor of Betula and Populus species in Finland.

PubMed

Oksanen, Elina; Manninen, Sirkku; Vapaavuori, Elina; Holopainen, Toini

2009-12-01

In this review the main growth responses of Finnish birch (Betula pendula, B. pubescens) and aspen species (Populus tremula and P. tremuloides x P. tremula) are correlated with ozone exposure, indicated as the AOT40 value. Data are derived from 23 different laboratory, open-top chamber, and free-air fumigation experiments. Our results indicate that these tree species are sensitive to increasing ozone concentrations, though high intraspecific variation exists. The roots are the most vulnerable targets in both genera. These growth reductions, determined from trees grown under optimal nutrient and water supply, were generally accompanied by increased visible foliar injuries, carbon allocation toward defensive compounds, reduced carbohydrate contents of leaves, impaired photosynthesis processes, disturbances in stomatal function, and earlier autumn senescence. Because both genera have shown complex ozone defense and response mechanisms, which are modified by variable environmental conditions, a mechanistically based approach is necessary for accurate ozone risk assessment.

Almost thinking counterfactually: children's understanding of close counterfactuals.

PubMed

Beck, Sarah R; Guthrie, Carlie

2011-01-01

Saying something "almost happened" indicates that one is considering a close counterfactual world. Previous evidence suggested that children start to consider these close counterfactuals at around 2 years of age (P. L. Harris, 1997), substantially earlier than they pass other tests of counterfactual thinking. However, this success appears to result from false positives. In Experiment 1 (N = 41), 3- and 4-year-olds could identify a character who almost completed an action when the comparison did not complete it. However, in Experiments 1 and 2 (N = 98), children performed poorly when the comparison character completed the action. In Experiment 3 (N = 28), 5- and 6-year-olds consistently passed the task, indicating that they made appropriate counterfactual interpretations of the "almost" statements. This understanding of close counterfactuals proved more difficult than standard counterfactuals. © 2011 The Authors. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Acoustic emission characterization of steel fibre reinforced concrete during bending

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aggelis, D. G.; Soulioti, D. V.; Sapouridis, N.; Barkoula, N. M.; Paipetis, A. S.; Matikas, T. E.

2010-04-01

The acoustic emission (AE) behaviour of steel fibre reinforced concrete is studied in this paper. The experiments were conducted in four-point bending with concurrent monitoring of AE signals. The sensors used, were of broadband response in order to capture a wide range of fracturing phenomena. The results indicate that AE parameters undergo significant changes much earlier than the final fracture of the specimens, even if the AE hit rate seems approximately constant. Specifically, the Ib-value which takes into account the amplitude distribution of the recent AE hits decreases when the load reaches about 60-70 % of its maximum value. Additionally, the average frequency of the signals decreases abruptly when a fracture incident occurs, indicating that matrix cracking events produce higher frequencies than fibre pull-out events. It is concluded that proper study of AE parameters enables the characterization of structural health of large structures in cases where remote monitoring is applied.

Visual speech influences speech perception immediately but not automatically.

PubMed

Mitterer, Holger; Reinisch, Eva

2017-02-01

Two experiments examined the time course of the use of auditory and visual speech cues to spoken word recognition using an eye-tracking paradigm. Results of the first experiment showed that the use of visual speech cues from lipreading is reduced if concurrently presented pictures require a division of attentional resources. This reduction was evident even when listeners' eye gaze was on the speaker rather than the (static) pictures. Experiment 2 used a deictic hand gesture to foster attention to the speaker. At the same time, the visual processing load was reduced by keeping the visual display constant over a fixed number of successive trials. Under these conditions, the visual speech cues from lipreading were used. Moreover, the eye-tracking data indicated that visual information was used immediately and even earlier than auditory information. In combination, these data indicate that visual speech cues are not used automatically, but if they are used, they are used immediately.

The Pulley Ridge deep reef is not a stable refugia through time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slattery, Marc; Moore, Steve; Boye, Lauren; Whitney, Samantha; Woolsey, Allison; Woolsey, Max

2018-06-01

The deep reef refugia hypothesis (DRRH) suggests that mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) represent a sanctuary for various coral reef taxa from impacts of natural and anthropogenic stressors. The Pulley Ridge FL mesophotic reef was surveyed using unmanned vehicles and technical diving in 2015 and compared to vehicle surveys in 2003, to test the DRRH. The MCE sites surveyed consisted of at least 25 species of algae ( 50% cover), 18 species of scleractinian corals (< 1% cover), 67 species of sponges (1-2% cover), in addition to 83 species of fish. The percent cover data indicate a significant decline of coral and sponges, and a significant increase in algae, relative to surveys conducted about a decade earlier. While the cause of this change is unknown, our results indicate that some mesophotic reefs may not be stable refugia for coral reef biodiversity and seed banks for resilience of damaged shallow reefs.

Third chronological supplement to the carcinogenic potency database: standardized results of animal bioassays published through December 1986 and by the National Toxicology Program through June 1987.

PubMed Central

Gold, L S; Slone, T H; Backman, G M; Eisenberg, S; Da Costa, M; Wong, M; Manley, N B; Rohrbach, L; Ames, B N

1990-01-01

This paper is the third chronological supplement to the Carcinogenic Potency Database that first appeared in this journal in 1984. We report here results of carcinogenesis bioassays published in the general literature between January 1985 and December 1986, and in Technical Reports of the National Toxicology Program between June 1986 and June 1987. This supplement includes results of 337 long-term, chronic experiments of 121 compounds, and reports the same information about each experiment in the same plot format as the earlier papers, e.g., the species and strain of animal, the route and duration of compound administration, dose level, and other aspects of experimental protocol, histopathology, and tumor incidence, TD50 (carcinogenic potency) and its statistical significance, dose response, opinion of the author about carcinogenicity, and literature citation. The reader needs to refer to the 1984 publication for a guide to the plot of the database, a complete description of the numerical index of carcinogenic potency, and a discussion of the sources of data, the rationale for the inclusion of particular experiments and particular target sites, and the conventions adopted in summarizing the literature. The four plots of the database are to be used together as results published earlier are not repeated. In all, the four plots include results for approximately 4000 experiments on 1050 chemicals. Appendix 14 of this paper is an alphabetical index to all chemicals in the database and indicates which plot(s) each chemical appears in. A combined plot of all results from the four separate papers, that is ordered alphabetically by chemical, is available from the first author, in printed form or on computer tape or diskette. PMID:2351123

General Definitions of Work and Heat in Thermodynamic Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gislason, Eric A.; Craig, Norman C.

1987-01-01

Argues that previous definitions of work and heat are inappropriate. Presents new definitions that are formulated using experimental quantities, claiming that they apply equally well to reversible and irreversible processes. Indicates some of the problems with earlier definitions and applies the new definitions to the First Law of thermodynamics.…

The Economic Cost of Homosexuality: Multilevel Analyses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baumle, Amanda K.; Poston, Dudley, Jr.

2011-01-01

This article builds on earlier studies that have examined "the economic cost of homosexuality," by using data from the 2000 U.S. Census and by employing multilevel analyses. Our findings indicate that partnered gay men experience a 12.5 percent earnings penalty compared to married heterosexual men, and a statistically insignificant earnings…

12 CFR 403.5 - Declassification and downgrading.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... classification markings shall be lined through a statement placed on the cover or first page to indicate the... markings on each page shall be cancelled; otherwise, the statement on the cover or first page shall... taken earlier than originally scheduled, or the duration of classification is extended, the authority...

12 CFR 403.5 - Declassification and downgrading.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... classification markings shall be lined through a statement placed on the cover or first page to indicate the... markings on each page shall be cancelled; otherwise, the statement on the cover or first page shall... taken earlier than originally scheduled, or the duration of classification is extended, the authority...

Infant-Mother Vocalization Patterns: A Replication and Extension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilbourne, Brock K.; Ginsburg, Gerald P.

This study reports a replication of an earlier study by Kilbourne and Ginsberg (1980) which indicated the occurrence of a transition from predominantly coacting to predominantly alternating infant-mother vocalization patterns. In addition, the present study examined the modulating influences of nursing activity and mother's focus of attention upon…

TOWARDS AN INDEX OF AQUATIC VERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGE INTEGRITY FOR STREAMS AND RIVERS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON

EPA Science Inventory

This research expands upon earlier Indices of Biotic Integrity (IBI) efforts that have been developed for the Northwest including the Willamette Valley IBI and the Coast Range coldwater IBI. This Oregon/Washington IBI presently being developed encompasses a broader geographic sca...

Polarity at Many Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flannery, Maura C.

2004-01-01

An attempt is made to find how polarity arises and is maintained, which is a central issue in development. It is a fundamental attribute of living things and cellular polarity is also important in the development of multicellular organisms and controversial new work indicates that polarization in mammals may occur much earlier than previously…

An Association Account of False Belief Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Bruin, L. C.; Newen, A.

2012-01-01

The elicited-response false belief task has traditionally been considered as reliably indicating that children acquire an understanding of false belief around 4 years of age. However, recent investigations using spontaneous-response tasks suggest that false belief understanding emerges much earlier. This leads to a developmental paradox: if young…

Antinomies of Ideologies and Situationality of Education Language Politics in Multilingual Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Odugu, Desmond Ikenna

2015-01-01

Widespread scholarly and political attention to language-related inequities in the 20th century precipitated a spate of orientations to language planning in multilingual societies. While various orientations indicate a shift from earlier deficit to affirmative views of multilingualism, vigorous debates persist about the logical and pragmatic…

Parent-Reported Repetitive Behavior in Toddlers on the Autism Spectrum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schertz, Hannah H.; Odom, Samuel L.; Baggett, Baggett M.; Sideris, John H.

2016-01-01

Toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were assessed on the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R), which we found to have acceptable internal consistency. Stereotypical subscale scores showed a negligible association with cognitive level, but correlated more strongly with adaptive and social indicators. Relative to earlier reported RBS-R…

GIS Teacher Training: Empirically-Based Indicators of Effectiveness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Höhnle, Steffen; Fögele, Janis; Mehren, Rainer; Schubert, Jan Christoph

2016-01-01

In spite of various actions, the implementation of GIS (geographic information systems) in German schools is still very low. In the presented research, teaching experts as well as teaching novices were presented with empirically based constraints for implementation stemming from an earlier survey. In the process of various group discussions, the…

Facial Structure Analysis Separates Autism Spectrum Disorders into Meaningful Clinical Subgroups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Obafemi-Ajayi, Tayo; Miles, Judith H.; Takahashi, T. Nicole; Qi, Wenchuan; Aldridge, Kristina; Zhang, Minqi; Xin, Shi-Qing; He, Ying; Duan, Ye

2015-01-01

Varied cluster analysis were applied to facial surface measurements from 62 prepubertal boys with essential autism to determine whether facial morphology constitutes viable biomarker for delineation of discrete Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) subgroups. Earlier study indicated utility of facial morphology for autism subgrouping (Aldridge et al. in…

We, the American Women, No. 2. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dion, Mavis Jackson

Using data from the 1980 census and earlier censuses this booklet briefly profiles women in the American population and the changes in their educational levels, workforce participation, income levels, marital status, and roles as mothers. Graphs are used throughout to highlight these changes. Census figures indicate that women are now the majority…

Work and Marital Happiness among African Americans.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ball, Richard E.

This study investigated the relationships between the employment statuses of African American husbands and wives, and their marital happiness. Data for 234 husbands and 292 wives were obtained from the 1980-86 General Social Surveys. The data corroborated earlier findings that African American husbands indicated greater marital happiness than did…

Indicators of Late Emerging Reading-Accuracy Difficulties in Australian Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galletly, Susan A.; Knight, Bruce Allen; Dekkers, John; Galletly, Tracey A.

2009-01-01

Late-emerging reading-accuracy difficulties are those found present in older students not showing reading-accuracy difficulties when tested in earlier years (Leach, Scarborough and Rescorla, 2003). This paper discusses the constructs of reading-accuracy and late-emerging reading-accuracy difficulties. It then discusses data from a cross-sectional…

Student Support through Personal Development Planning: Retrospection and Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clegg, Sue; Bufton, Serena

2008-01-01

This article presents an analysis of higher education students' retrospective meaning making of their experiences of personal development planning (PDP). An earlier study of first year students had indicated that students rarely reflected on their own meta-cognitive processes and were preoccupied with practical study skill matters, particularly…

21 CFR 640.101 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... diluted to 1 percent protein with 0.15 molar sodium chloride. (c) Turbidity. The product shall be free of...) and (3)) whichever date is earlier. (e) Labeling. In addition to complying with all applicable labeling required in this subchapter, labeling shall indicate that: (1) There is no prescribed potency for...

21 CFR 640.101 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... diluted to 1 percent protein with 0.15 molar sodium chloride. (c) Turbidity. The product shall be free of...) and (3)) whichever date is earlier. (e) Labeling. In addition to complying with all applicable labeling required in this subchapter, labeling shall indicate that: (1) There is no prescribed potency for...

21 CFR 640.101 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... diluted to 1 percent protein with 0.15 molar sodium chloride. (c) Turbidity. The product shall be free of...) and (3)) whichever date is earlier. (e) Labeling. In addition to complying with all applicable labeling required in this subchapter, labeling shall indicate that: (1) There is no prescribed potency for...

21 CFR 640.101 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... diluted to 1 percent protein with 0.15 molar sodium chloride. (c) Turbidity. The product shall be free of...) and (3)) whichever date is earlier. (e) Labeling. In addition to complying with all applicable labeling required in this subchapter, labeling shall indicate that: (1) There is no prescribed potency for...

Trends in mortality and biological stress in a medieval polish urban population.

PubMed

Betsinger, Tracy K; DeWitte, Sharon

2017-12-01

Urbanization in pre-modern populations may have had a variety of consequences related to population crowding. However, research on the effects of urbanization have provided inconsistent results regarding the biological impact of this transition on human populations. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that urbanization caused an increase in overall biological stress in a medieval (10th-13th centuries AD) Polish population. A human skeletal sample (n=164) was examined for the presence of porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, linear enamel hypoplasia, periosteal reaction, and specific infectious diseases. Prevalence rates were compared among three temporal samples: initial urbanization, early urbanization, and later urbanization. Results indicate no significant trends for any of the pathological conditions. Cox proportional hazards analyses, however, revealed a significant increase in the risk of death over time, which supports the hypothesis. These results reflect the necessity of using multiple analyses to address bioarchaeological questions. The lack of significant results from skeletal indicators may be due to an earlier urbanization trend in the population. This study illustrates that the association of urbanization with elevated biological stress is complicated and dependent on various factors, including culture and time period. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Refractive indices at visible wavelengths of soot emitted from buoyant turbulent diffusion flames

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

Wu, J.S.; Krishnan, S.K.; Faeth, G.M.

1996-11-01

Measurements of the optical properties of soot, emphasizing refractive indices, are reported for visible wavelengths. The experiments considered soot in the fuel-lean (overfire) region of buoyant turbulent diffusion flames in the long residence time regime where soot properties are independent of position in the overfire region and residence time. Flames fueled with acetylene, propylene, ethylene and propane burning in still air provided a range of soot physical and structure properties. Measurements included soot composition, density, structure, gravimetric volume fraction, scattering properties and absorption properties. These data were analyzed to find soot fractal dimensions, refractive indices and dimensionless extinction coefficients, assumingmore » Rayleigh-Debye-Gans scattering for polydisperse mass fractal aggregates (RDG-PFA theory). RDG-PFA theory was successfully evaluated, based on measured scattering patterns. Soot fractal dimensions were independent of both fuel type and wavelength, yielding a mean value of 1.77 with a standard deviation of 0.04. Refractive indices were independent of fuel type within experimental uncertainties and were in reasonably good agreement with earlier measurements for soot in the fuel-lean region of diffusion flames due to Dalzell and Sarofim (1969). Dimensionless extinction coefficients were independent of both fuel type and wavelength, yielding a mean value of 5.1 with a standard deviation of 0.5, which is lower than earlier measurements for reasons that still must be explained.« less

Latittudinal and energy dependence of energetic neutral atom spectral indices measured by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer

DOE PAGES

Desai, M. I.; Allegrini, F.; Dayeh, M. A.; ...

2015-03-30

Here, we investigate the latitudinal and energy dependence of the globally distributed 0.5-6 keV energetic neutral atom (ENA) spectra measured by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) during the first 3 yrs of the mission. Our results are: (1) the ENA spectral indices at the two lowest energies (0.89 and 1.47 keV) exhibit no clear trend with ecliptic latitude θ, while those at ~2.29 and ~3.41 keV exhibit a clear latitudinal pattern; flatter spectra occur above 60° latitude and steeper spectra occur ±30° of the equator. (2) The latitudinal dependence of the spectral indices at different energies can be represented bymore » the cosine function γ =a 0 + a 1 cos (a 2θ) with unique offsets, amplitudes, and phase angles; the higher energy ENA indices transition to successively larger amplitudes within ±45° of the equator. The results confirm the previously reported latitudinal organization of the ENA spectra and their remarkable similarity to that of the solar wind (SW) speed observed by Ulysses in the inner heliosphere. And while earlier studies showed that the ~0.5-6 keV globally distributed ENA spectral indices could be represented as single power laws over much of the sky, our new results indicate that this is an over-simplification because the spectral indices have an energy and latitude dependence. Furthermore, this dependence is an important factor that must be taken into consideration by models and simulations that seek to map the IBEX ENA observations back to the latitudinal profile of the SW speed structure observed in the inner heliosphere.« less

Can local staff reliably assess their own programs? A confirmatory test-retest study of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling data collectors in Uganda.

PubMed

Beckworth, Colin A; Anguyo, Robert; Kyakulaga, Francis Cranmer; Lwanga, Stephen K; Valadez, Joseph J

2016-08-17

Data collection techniques that routinely provide health system information at the local level are in demand and needed. LQAS is intended for use by local health teams to collect data at the district and sub-district levels. Our question is whether local health staff produce biased results as they are responsible for implementing the programs they also assess. This test-retest study replicates on a larger scale an earlier LQAS reliability assessment in Uganda. We conducted in two districts an LQAS survey using 15 local health staff as data collectors. A week later, the data collectors swapped districts, where they acted as disinterested non-local data collectors, repeating the LQAS survey with the same respondents. We analysed the resulting two data sets for agreement using Cohens' Kappa. The average Kappa score for the knowledge indicators was k = 0.43 (SD = 0.16) and for practice indicators k = 0.63 (SD = 0.17). These scores show moderate agreement for knowledge indicators and substantial agreement for practice indicators. Analyses confirm that respondents were more knowledgeable on retest; no evidence of bias was found for practice indicators. The findings of this study are remarkably similar to those produced in the first reliability study. There is no evidence that using local healthcare staff to collect LQAS data biases data collection in an LQAS study. The bias observed in the knowledge indicators was most likely due to a 'practice effect', whereby respondents increased their knowledge as a result of completing the first survey; no corresponding effect was seen in the practice indicators.

Latitudinal and Energy Dependence of Energetic Neutral Atom Spectral Indices Measured by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desai, M. I.; Allegrini, F.; Dayeh, M. A.; Funsten, H.; Heerikhuisen, J.; McComas, D. J.; Fuselier, S. A.; Pogorelov, N.; Schwadron, N. A.; Zank, G. P.; Zirnstein, E. J.

2015-04-01

We investigate the latitudinal and energy dependence of the globally distributed 0.5-6 keV energetic neutral atom (ENA) spectra measured by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) during the first 3 yrs of the mission. Our results are: (1) the ENA spectral indices at the two lowest energies (0.89 and 1.47 keV) exhibit no clear trend with ecliptic latitude θ, while those at ˜2.29 and ˜3.41 keV exhibit a clear latitudinal pattern; flatter spectra occur above 60° latitude and steeper spectra occur ±30° of the equator. (2) The latitudinal dependence of the spectral indices at different energies can be represented by the cosine function γ ={{a}0}+{{a}1}cos ({{a}2}θ ) with unique offsets, amplitudes, and phase angles; the higher energy ENA indices transition to successively larger amplitudes within ±45° of the equator. Our results confirm the previously reported latitudinal organization of the ENA spectra and their remarkable similarity to that of the solar wind (SW) speed observed by Ulysses in the inner heliosphere. While earlier studies showed that the ˜0.5-6 keV globally distributed ENA spectral indices could be represented as single power laws over much of the sky, our new results indicate that this is an over-simplification because the spectral indices have an energy and latitude dependence. This dependence is an important factor that must be taken into consideration by models and simulations that seek to map the IBEX ENA observations back to the latitudinal profile of the SW speed structure observed in the inner heliosphere.

The effects of timing of grazing on plant and arthropod communities in high-elevation grasslands.

PubMed

Davis, Stacy C; Burkle, Laura A; Cross, Wyatt F; Cutting, Kyle A

2014-01-01

Livestock grazing can be used as a key management tool for maintaining healthy ecosystems. However, the effectiveness of using grazing to modify habitat for species of conservation concern depends on how the grazing regime is implemented. Timing of grazing is one grazing regime component that is less understood than grazing intensity and grazer identity, but is predicted to have important implications for plant and higher trophic level responses. We experimentally assessed how timing of cattle grazing affected plant and arthropod communities in high-elevation grasslands of southwest Montana to better evaluate its use as a tool for multi-trophic level management. We manipulated timing of grazing, with one grazing treatment beginning in mid-June and the other in mid-July, in two experiments conducted in different grassland habitat types (i.e., wet meadow and upland) in 2011 and 2012. In the upland grassland experiment, we found that both early and late grazing treatments reduced forb biomass, whereas graminoid biomass was only reduced with late grazing. Grazing earlier in the growing season versus later did not result in greater recovery of graminoid or forb biomass as expected. In addition, the density of the most ubiquitous grassland arthropod order (Hemiptera) was reduced by both grazing treatments in upland grasslands. A comparison of end-of-season plant responses to grazing in upland versus wet meadow grasslands revealed that grazing reduced graminoid biomass in the wet meadow and forb biomass in the upland, irrespective of timing of grazing. Both grazing treatments also reduced end-of-season total arthropod and Hemiptera densities and Hemiptera biomass in both grassland habitat types. Our results indicate that both early and late season herbivory affect many plant and arthropod characteristics in a similar manner, but grazing earlier may negatively impact species of conservation concern requiring forage earlier in the growing season.

Earlier and greater hand pre-shaping in the elderly: a study based on kinematic analysis of reaching movements to grasp objects.

PubMed

Tamaru, Yoshiki; Naito, Yasuo; Nishikawa, Takashi

2017-11-01

Elderly people are less able to manipulate objects skilfully than young adults. Although previous studies have examined age-related deterioration of hand movements with a focus on the phase after grasping objects, the changes in the reaching phase have not been studied thus far. We aimed to examine whether changes in hand shape patterns during the reaching phase of grasping movements differ between young adults and the elderly. Ten healthy elderly adults and 10 healthy young adults were examined using the Simple Test for Evaluating Hand Functions and kinetic analysis of hand pre-shaping reach-to-grasp tasks. The results were then compared between the two groups. For kinetic analysis, we measured the time of peak tangential velocity of the wrist and the inter-fingertip distance (the distance between the tips of the thumb and index finger) at different time points. The results showed that the elderly group's performance on the Simple Test for Evaluating Hand Functions was significantly lower than that of the young adult group, irrespective of whether the dominant or non-dominant hand was used, indicating deterioration of hand movement in the elderly. The peak tangential velocity of the wrist in either hand appeared significantly earlier in the elderly group than in the young adult group. The elderly group also showed larger inter-fingertip distances with arch-like fingertip trajectories compared to the young adult group for all object sizes. To perform accurate prehension, elderly people have an earlier peak tangential velocity point than young adults. This allows for a longer adjustment time for reaching and grasping movements and for reducing errors in object prehension by opening the hand and fingers wider. Elderly individuals gradually modify their strategy based on previous successes and failures during daily living to compensate for their decline in dexterity and operational capabilities. © 2017 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.

Focus of attention in an activity-based scheduler

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sadeh, Norman; Fox, Mark S.

1989-01-01

Earlier research in job shop scheduling has demonstrated the advantages of opportunistically combining order-based and resource-based scheduling techniques. An even more flexible approach is investigated where each activity is considered a decision point by itself. Heuristics to opportunistically select the next decision point on which to focus attention (i.e., variable ordering heuristics) and the next decision to be tried at this point (i.e., value ordering heuristics) are described that probabilistically account for both activity precedence and resource requirement interactions. Preliminary experimental results indicate that the variable ordering heuristic greatly increases search efficiency. While least constraining value ordering heuristics have been advocated in the literature, the experimental results suggest that other value ordering heuristics combined with our variable-ordering heuristic can produce much better schedules without significantly increasing search.

Cloud-radiation interactions - Effects of cirrus optical thickness feedbacks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Somerville, Richard C. J.; Iacobellis, Sam

1987-01-01

The paper is concerned with a cloud-radiation feedback mechanism which may be an important component of the climate changes expected from increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other trace greenhouse gases. A major result of the study is that cirrus cloud optical thickness feedbacks may indeed tend to increase the surface warming due to trace gas increases. However, the positive feedback from cirrus appears to be generally weaker than the negative effects due to lower clouds. The results just confirm those of earlier research indicating that the net effect of cloud optical thickness feedbacks may be a negative feedback which may substantially (by a factor of about 2) reduce the surface warming due to the doubling of CO2, even in the presence of cirrus clouds.

Three-dimensional separation for interaction of shock waves with turbulent boundary layers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldberg, T. J.

1973-01-01

For the interaction of shock waves with turbulent boundary layers, obtained experimental three-dimensional separation results and correlations with earlier two-dimensional and three-dimensional data are presented. It is shown that separation occurs much earlier for turbulent three-dimensional than for two-dimensional flow at hypersonic speeds.

Double Helical Gear Performance Results in High Speed Gear Trains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Handschuh, Robert F.; Ehinger, Ryan; Sinusas, Eric; Kilmain, Charles

2009-01-01

The operation of high speed gearing systems in the transmissions of tiltrotor aircraft has an effect on overall propulsion system efficiency. Recent work has focused on many aspects of high-speed helical gear trains as would be used in tiltrotor aircraft such as operational characteristics, comparison of analytical predictions to experimental data and the affect of superfinishing on transmission performance. Baseline tests of an aerospace quality system have been conducted in the NASA Glenn High-Speed Helical Gear Train Test Facility and have been described in earlier studies. These earlier tests had utilized single helical gears. The results that will be described in this study are those attained using double helical gears. This type of gear mesh can be configured in this facility to either pump the air-oil environment from the center gap between the meshing gears to the outside of tooth ends or in the reverse direction. Tests were conducted with both inward and outward air-oil pumping directions. Results are compared to the earlier baseline results of single helical gears.

Double Helical Gear Performance Results in High Speed Gear Trains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Handschuh, Robert F.; Ehinger, Ryan; Sinusas, Eric; Kilmain, Charles

2010-01-01

The operation of high speed gearing systems in the transmissions of tiltrotor aircraft has an effect on overall propulsion system efficiency. Recent work has focused on many aspects of high-speed helical gear trains as would be used in tiltrotor aircraft such as operational characteristics, comparison of analytical predictions to experimental data and the affect of superfinishing on transmission performance. Baseline tests of an aerospace quality system have been conducted in the NASA Glenn High-Speed Helical Gear Train Test Facility and have been described in earlier studies. These earlier tests had utilized single helical gears. The results that will be described in this study are those attained using double helical gears. This type of gear mesh can be configured in this facility to either pump the air-oil environment from the center gap between the meshing gears to the outside of tooth ends or in the reverse direction. Tests were conducted with both inward and outward air-oil pumping directions. Results are compared to the earlier baseline results of single helical gears.

Sibling conflict in middle childhood predicts children's adjustment in early adolescence.

PubMed

Stocker, Clare M; Burwell, Rebecca A; Briggs, Megan L

2002-03-01

Associations between sibling conflict in middle childhood and psychological adjustment in early adolescence were studied in a sample of 80 boys and 56 girls. Parents and children provided self-report data about family relationships and children's adjustment. Parents' hostility to children was assessed from videotaped interactions. Results showed that sibling conflict at Time 1 predicted increases in children's anxiety, depressed mood, and delinquent behavior 2 years later. Moreover, earlier sibling conflict at Time 1 accounted for unique variance in young adolescents' Time 2 anxiety, depressed mood, and delinquent behavior above and beyond the variance explained by earlier maternal hostility and marital conflict. Children's adjustment at Time 1 did not predict sibling conflict at Time 2. Results highlight the unique significance of the earlier sibling relationship for young adolescents' psychological adjustment.

Signs of η Carinae Outburst in Artifacts of Ancient Bolivia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teames, Sallie

Recent HST and X-ray photos of η Carinae reveal the bipolar gaseous lobes--the Homunculus Nebula--created by the star's "Great Eruption of 1843." From debris gases on the outskirts beyond the two gaseous lobes, astrophysicists surmise an earlier outburst. The 1999 Chandra X-ray photo of the horseshoe-shaped outer nebula surrounding the bipolar lobes indicates an earlier outburst occurring over a thousand years ago. Because η Carinae is so far south, it is entirely possible that the outburst would not have been seen by the Chinese and other observers in the northern hemisphere. Researchers are looking for possible recordings by early southern hemisphere observers. Pre-Incan artifacts excavated in Bolivia may provide an answer. In the script and artwork carvings on a monolith stone statue, an artifact of the Tiahuanacan culture, are signs possibly depicting the earlier outburst of η Carinae--the recordings of a star that suddenly brightened in their night sky. Two small stones from the same era and also found on the south shore of Lake Titicaca may also show depictions related to this brightening.

Density-dependent recruitment of the bloater (Coregonus hoyi) in Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, Edward H.; Eck, Gary W.

1992-01-01

Density-dependent recruitment of the bloater (Coregonus hoyi) in Lake Michigan during and after recovery of the population in about 1977-1983 was best reflected in the fit of the Beverton-Holt recruitment function to age -1 and -2 recruits and estimated eggs of parents surveyed with trawls. A lower growth rate and lower lipid content of bloaters at higher population densities and no evidence of cannibalism supported the conclusion that recruitment is resource limited when alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) abundance is low. Predation on larvae by alewives was indicated in earlier studies as the probable cause of depressed recruitment of bloaters before their recovery, which coincided with declining alewife abundance. This negative interaction masked any bloater stock-recruitment relation in the earlier period.

Potential effect of atmospheric warming on grapevine phenology and post-harvest heat accumulation across a range of climates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Andrew; Mathews, Adam J.; Holzapfel, Bruno P.

2016-09-01

Carbohydrates are accumulated within the perennial structure of grapevines when their production exceeds the requirements of reproduction and growth. The period between harvest and leaf-fall (the post-harvest period) is a key period for carbohydrate accumulation in relatively warmer grape-growing regions. The level of carbohydrate reserves available for utilisation in the following season has an important effect on canopy growth and yield potential and is therefore an important consideration in vineyard management. In a warming climate, the post-harvest period is lengthening and becoming warmer, evidenced through studies in wine regions worldwide that have correlated recent air temperature increases with changing grapevine phenology. Budbreak, flowering, veraison, and harvest have all been observed to be occurring earlier than in previous decades. Additionally, the final stage of the grapevine phenological cycle, leaf-fall, occurs later. This study explored the potential for increased post-harvest carbohydrate accumulation by modelling heat accumulation following harvest dates for the recent climate (1975-2004) and two warmer climate projections with mean temperature anomalies of +1.26 and +2.61 °C. Summaries of post-harvest heat accumulation between harvest and leaf-fall were produced for each of Australia's Geographical Indications (wine regions) to provide comparisons from the base temperatures to projected warmer conditions across a range of climates. The results indicate that for warmer conditions, all regions observe earlier occurring budbreak and harvest as well as increasing post-harvest growing degree days accumulation before leaf-fall. The level of increase varies depending upon starting climatic condition, with cooler regions experiencing the greatest change.

Sleep stage dynamics in neocortex and hippocampus.

PubMed

Durán, Ernesto; Oyanedel, Carlos N; Niethard, Niels; Inostroza, Marion; Born, Jan

2018-06-01

Mammalian sleep comprises the stages of slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Additionally, a transition state is often discriminated which in rodents is termed intermediate stage (IS). Although these sleep stages are thought of as unitary phenomena affecting the whole brain in a congruent fashion, recent findings have suggested that sleep stages can also appear locally restricted to specific networks and regions. Here, we compared in rats sleep stages and their transitions between neocortex and hippocampus. We simultaneously recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) from skull electrodes over frontal and parietal cortex and the local field potential (LFP) from the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus. Results indicate a high congruence in the occurrence of sleep and SWS (>96.5%) at the different recording sites. Congruence was lower for REM sleep (>87%) and lowest for IS (<36.5%). Incongruences occurring at sleep stage transitions were most pronounced for REM sleep which in 36.6 per cent of all epochs started earlier in hippocampal LFP recordings than in the other recordings, with an average interval of 17.2 ± 1.1 s between REM onset in the hippocampal LFP and the parietal EEG (p < 0.001). Earlier REM onset in the hippocampus was paralleled by a decrease in muscle tone, another hallmark of REM sleep. These findings indicate a region-specific regulation of REM sleep which has clear implications not only for our understanding of the organization of sleep, but possibly also for the functions, e.g. in memory formation, that have been associated with REM sleep.

Development of a Climate Record of Tropospheric and Stratospheric Column Ozone from Satellite Remote Sensing: Evidence of an Early Recovery of Global Stratospheric Ozone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ziemke, Jerald R.; Chandra, Sushil

2012-01-01

Ozone data beginning October 2004 from the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) are used to evaluate the accuracy of the Cloud Slicing technique in effort to develop long data records of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone and for studying their long-term changes. Using this technique, we have produced a 32-yr (1979-2010) long record of tropospheric and stratospheric column ozone from the combined Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and OMI. Analyses of these time series suggest that the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is the dominant source of inter-annual variability of stratospheric ozone and is clearest in the Southern Hemisphere during the Aura time record with related inter-annual changes of 30- 40 Dobson Units. Tropospheric ozone for the long record also indicates a QBO signal in the tropics with peak-to-peak changes varying from 2 to 7 DU. The most important result from our study is that global stratospheric ozone indicates signature of a recovery occurring with ozone abundance now approaching the levels of year 1980 and earlier. The negative trends in stratospheric ozone in both hemispheres during the first 15 yr of the record are now positive over the last 15 yr and with nearly equal magnitudes. This turnaround in stratospheric ozone loss is occurring about 20 yr earlier than predicted by many chemistry climate models. This suggests that the Montreal Protocol which was first signed in 1987 as an international agreement to reduce ozone destroying substances is working well and perhaps better than anticipated.

Developmental Programming: Impact of Prenatal Testosterone Excess on Insulin Sensitivity, Adiposity, and Free Fatty Acid Profile in Postpubertal Female Sheep

PubMed Central

Veiga-Lopez, A.; Moeller, J.; Patel, D.; Ye, W.; Pease, A.; Kinns, J.

2013-01-01

Prenatal T excess causes reproductive and metabolic disruptions including insulin resistance, attributes of women with polycystic ovary syndrome. This study tested whether increases in visceral adiposity, adipocyte size, and total free fatty acids underlie the insulin resistance seen in prenatal T-treated female sheep. At approximately 16 months of age, insulin resistance and adipose tissue partitioning were determined via hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp and computed tomography, respectively, in control and prenatal T-treated females. Three months later, adipocyte size and free fatty acid composition were determined. Results revealed that at the postpubertal time points tested, insulin sensitivity was increased, visceral adiposity and adipocyte size in both the sc and the visceral compartments were reduced, and circulating palmitic acid was increased in prenatal T-treated females relative to controls. In parallel studies, 20-month-old prenatal T-treated females tended to have increased basal insulin to glucose ratio. Relative to earlier findings of reduced insulin sensitivity of prenatal T-treated females during early life and adulthood, these findings of increased insulin sensitivity and reduced adiposity postpubertally are suggestive of a period of developmental adaptation. The disruption observed in free fatty acid metabolism a few months later correspond to a time point when the insulin sensitivity indices of prenatal T-treated animals appear to shift toward insulin resistance. In summary, current findings of improved insulin sensitivity and reduced visceral adiposity in postpubertal prenatal T-treated sheep relative to our earlier findings of reduced insulin sensitivity during early postnatal life and adulthood are indicative of a period of developmental adaptation. PMID:23525243

Climate change alters the reproductive phenology and investment of a lacustrine fish, the three-spine stickleback.

PubMed

Hovel, Rachel A; Carlson, Stephanie M; Quinn, Thomas P

2017-06-01

High-latitude lakes are particularly sensitive to the effects of global climate change, demonstrating earlier ice breakup, longer ice-free seasons, and increased water temperatures. Such physical changes have implications for diverse life-history traits in taxa across entire lake food webs. Here, we use a five-decade time series from an Alaskan lake to explore effects of climate change on growth and reproduction of a widely distributed lacustrine fish, the three-spine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used multivariate autoregressive state-space (MARSS) models to describe trends in the mean length for multiple size classes and to explore the influence of physical (date of ice breakup, surface water temperature) and biological (density of con- and heterospecifics) factors. As predicted, mean size of age 1 and older fish at the end of the growing season increased across years with earlier ice breakup and warmer temperatures. In contrast, mean size of age 0 fish decreased over time. Overall, lower fish density and warmer water temperatures were associated with larger size for all cohorts. Earlier ice breakup was associated with larger size for age 1 and older fish but, paradoxically, with smaller size of age 0 fish. To explore this latter result, we used mixing models on age 0 size distributions, which revealed an additional cohort in years with early ice breakup, lowering the mean size of age 0 fish. Moreover, early ice breakup was associated with earlier breeding, evidenced by earlier capture of age 0 fish. Our results suggest that early ice breakup altered both timing and frequency of breeding; three-spine stickleback spawned earlier and more often in response to earlier ice breakup date. While previous studies have shown the influence of changing conditions in northern lakes on breeding timing and growth, this is the first to document increased breeding frequency, highlighting another pathway by which climate change can alter the ecology of northern lakes. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Can Biannual Ultrasound Surveillance Detect Smaller Second Cancers or Detect Cancers Earlier in Patients with Breast Cancer History?

PubMed

You, Jai Kyung; Song, Mi Kyung; Kim, Min Jung; Kim, Eun-Kyung; Moon, Hee Jung; Youk, Ji Hyun; Yoon, Jung Hyun; Park, Vivian Youngjean; Park, Seho; Kim, Seung Il; Park, Byeong-Woo

2018-07-01

The aim of the work described here was to evaluate whether surveillance with biannual ultrasound (US) plus annual mammography (biannual group) for women with a history of breast cancer surgery results in earlier detection or in the detection of smaller second cancers than annual US plus mammography (annual group). Additionally, we compared the prevalence of distant metastases or palpable second cancers between the biannual and annual groups. The institutional review board of our institution approved this retrospective study, and patient consent was waived. Between January 2011 and December 2012, we retrospectively reviewed the clinical and imaging follow-up of 3023 patients with mammographic and US surveillance after breast cancer surgery to assess second cancers detected by local surveillance (locoregional recurrence, contralateral breast cancer or distant metastasis). The biannual and annual groups were divided with respect to the mean surveillance interval and compared with respect to clinicopathologic findings. Multivariable logistic regression with propensity score methods was used to examine the effect of the type of surveillance on outcomes. As for the size of the second cancer, no difference was seen between the biannual and annual groups (12.8 ± 6.6 mm vs. 14.1 ± 7.1 mm, p = 0.461); neither was there a significant difference between the groups in the presence of symptoms at the time of diagnosis of the second cancer (17.0% [8/47] vs. 10% [2/20], p = 0.711). Regardless of detection by local surveillance, the prevalence of distant metastases did not differ between the two groups (1.1% [27/2370] vs. 1.0% [7/653], p = 0.88) on univariate or multivariate analysis. The results of our retrospective study indicate that second cancers detected by biannual US surveillance in patients with a history of breast cancer surgery are not smaller and do not occur earlier than those detected by annual US surveillance. However, a randomized controlled study is required to verify these results before they can be generalized to clinical practice. Copyright © 2018 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The relation between time of presentation and the sleep disturbing effects of nocturnally occurring jet aircraft flyovers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levere, T. E.; Bartus, R. T.; Hart, F. D.

1972-01-01

The research describes the sleep disturbing effects of jet aircraft flyover noise as it occurs at different times during the night. The results indicate that individuals respond statistically more, in terms of greater cortical desynchronization, during the first and last thirds of the night. During the middle third, while there is still a significant amount of cortical desynchronization in response to the jet aircraft noise, this is always less than that which occurs earlier or later in the night. The implications of this data are that it might be possible to reduce the disruptive effects of at least certain extrinsic sonic stimulation by appropriate scheduling.

[The indices of free-radical oxidation in the umbilical cord blood and placenta of inhabitants of the Altai Territory].

PubMed

Guliaeva, N V; Brusovanik, V I; Lazareva, N A; Libe, M L; Mikhalev, S L; Onufriev, M V; Cherniavskaia, L I

1999-01-01

Free-radical processes were studied in the umbilical blood and placenta of women from the regions of the Altai Territory, which were affected to different extents by nuclear tests on the Semipalatinsk grounds in 1949-1965. The data was obtained, which suggest changes of free-radical processes, from studied materials from women in labor in the regions most affected by the consequences of tests. The activity of erythrocytic superoxide dismutase was decreased, thus suggesting the formation of structural-functional defects of the erythrocytes. The data corresponds to the results obtained earlier when studying free-radical processes in the venous blood samples from female residents of the Altai Territory.

[Cognitive function in patients with systemic sclerosis].

PubMed

Straszecka, J; Jonderko, G; Kucharz, E J; Brzezińska-Wcisło, L; Kotulska, A; Bogdanowski, T

1997-09-01

Central nervous system involvement is seldom reported in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Cognitive functions were determined in 21 patients with definite SSc and 42 healthy controls. Thyroid function was also measured in order to eliminate the effect of hypothyroidism on cognitive functioning. It was found that the SSc patients with normal thyroid function showed defective long-term and recent memory, learning ability, criticism, perception and visuo-perceptual skills, their simple reaction time was prolonged. Similar but less advanced cognitive defects were shown in the SSc patients with overt or latent hypothyroidism. The obtained results indicate that the central nervous system involvement is more common in patients with SSc than it has been reported earlier.

Magnetic field configuration associated with solar gamma ray flares in June, 1991

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hagyard, M. J.; West, E. A.; Smith, J. E.; Trussart, F.-M.; Kenney, E. G.

1992-01-01

The vector magnetic field configuration of the solar active region AR 6659 that produced very high levels of flare activity in Jun. 1991 is described. The morphology and evolution of the photospheric fields are described for the period 7-10 Jun., and the flares taking place around these dates and their locations relative to the photospheric fields are indicated. By comparing the observed vector field with the potential field calculated from the observed line-of-sight flux, we identify the nonpotential characteristics of the fields along the magnetic neutral lines where the flares were observed. These results are compared with those from the earlier study of gamma-ray flares.

Developmental Dynamics of Emotion and Cognition Processes in Preschoolers

PubMed Central

Blankson, A. Nayena; O’Brien, Marion; Leerkes, Esther M.; Marcovitch, Stuart; Calkins, Susan D.; Weaver, Jennifer Miner

2012-01-01

Dynamic relations during the preschool years across processes of control and understanding in the domains of emotion and cognition were examined. Participants were 263 children (42% non-white) and their mothers who were seen first when the children were 3 years old and again when they were 4. Results indicated dynamic dependence among the processes studied. Specifically, change in cognitive processes of control and understanding were dependent upon initial levels of the other processes. Changes in emotion control and understanding were not predicted by earlier performance in the other processes. Findings are discussed with regard to the constructs of control and understanding and the developmental interrelations among emotion and cognitive processes. PMID:22925076

Seasonal-to-Interannual Precipitation Variability and Predictability in a Coupled Land-Atmosphere System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koster, Randal D.; Suarez, M. J.; Heiser, M.

1998-01-01

In an earlier GCM study, we showed that interactive land surface processes generally contribute more to continental precipitation variance than do variable sea surface temperatures (SSTs). A new study extends this result through an analysis of 16-member ensembles of multi-decade GCM simulations. We can now show that in many regions, although land processes determine the amplitude of the interannual precipitation anomalies, variable SSTs nevertheless control their timing. The GCM data can be processed into indices that describe geographical variations in (1) the potential for seasonal-to-interannual prediction, and (2) the extent to which the predictability relies on the proper representation of land-atmosphere feedback.

New forecasting methodology indicates more disease and earlier mortality ahead for today's younger Americans.

PubMed

Reither, Eric N; Olshansky, S Jay; Yang, Yang

2011-08-01

Traditional methods of projecting population health statistics, such as estimating future death rates, can give inaccurate results and lead to inferior or even poor policy decisions. A new "three-dimensional" method of forecasting vital health statistics is more accurate because it takes into account the delayed effects of the health risks being accumulated by today's younger generations. Applying this forecasting technique to the US obesity epidemic suggests that future death rates and health care expenditures could be far worse than currently anticipated. We suggest that public policy makers adopt this more robust forecasting tool and redouble efforts to develop and implement effective obesity-related prevention programs and interventions.

Human Cells Display Reduced Apoptotic Function Relative to Chimpanzee Cells

PubMed Central

McDonald, John F.

2012-01-01

Previously published gene expression analyses suggested that apoptotic function may be reduced in humans relative to chimpanzees and led to the hypothesis that this difference may contribute to the relatively larger size of the human brain and the increased propensity of humans to develop cancer. In this study, we sought to further test the hypothesis that humans maintain a reduced apoptotic function relative to chimpanzees by conducting a series of apoptotic function assays on human, chimpanzee and macaque primary fibroblastic cells. Human cells consistently displayed significantly reduced apoptotic function relative to the chimpanzee and macaque cells. These results are consistent with earlier findings indicating that apoptotic function is reduced in humans relative to chimpanzees. PMID:23029431

Employment of Gibbs-Donnan-based concepts for interpretation of the properties of linear polyelectrolyte solutions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marinsky, J.A.; Reddy, M.M.

1991-01-01

Earlier research has shown that the acid dissociation and metal ion complexation equilibria of linear, weak-acid polyelectrolytes and their cross-linked gel analogues are similarly sensitive to the counterion concentration levels of their solutions. Gibbs-Donnan-based concepts, applicable to the gel, are equally applicable to the linear polyelectrolyte for the accommodation of this sensitivity to ionic strength. This result is presumed to indicate that the linear polyelectrolyte in solution develops counterion-concentrating regions that closely resemble the gel phase of their analogues. Advantage has been taken of this description of linear polyelectrolytes to estimate the solvent uptake by these regions. ?? 1991 American Chemical Society.

Is it really naked? On cosmic censorship in string theory

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

Frolov, Andrei V.

We investigate the possibility of cosmic censorship violation in string theory using a characteristic double-null code, which penetrates horizons and is capable of resolving the spacetime all the way to the singularity. We perform high-resolution numerical simulations of the evolution of negative mass initial scalar field profiles, which were argued to provide a counterexample to cosmic censorship conjecture for AdS-asymptotic spacetimes in five-dimensional supergravity. In no instances formation of naked singularity is seen. Instead, numerical evidence indicates that black holes form in the collapse. Our results are consistent with earlier numerical studies, and explicitly show where the 'no black hole'more » argument breaks.« less

Examining the genetic and environmental associations among spelling, reading fluency, reading comprehension and a high stakes reading test in a combined sample of third and fourth grade students

PubMed Central

Little, Callie W.

2015-01-01

The present study is an examination of the genetic and environmental effects on the associations among reading fluency, spelling and earlier reading comprehension on a later reading comprehension outcome (FCAT) in a combined sample of 3rd and 4th grade students using data from the 2011-2012 school year of the Florida Twin project on Reading (Taylor et al., 2013). A genetically sensitive model was applied to the data with results indicating a common genetic component among all four measures, along with shared and non-shared environmental influences common between reading fluency, spelling and FCAT. PMID:26770052

Atlantic wolf-fish Anarhichas lupus population diversity: growth and maturation.

PubMed

Gunnarsson, Á

2014-02-01

Biological data from 1125 female Atlantic wolf-fish Anarhichas lupus were collected during 2002-2006 at their main spawning and fishing grounds in Iceland. The results demonstrated substantial annual variation in growth and maturity of female A. lupus. The fast growing females mature earlier than the slow growing ones. In addition, females mature at a larger size and greater age in warmer temperatures than colder ones. There was a strong negative relationship between temperature and growth, which may indicate that the sea temperature west of Iceland has risen above the optimum for growth of female A. lupus and thereby reduced the reproductive potential of the species. © 2014 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

A petrographical and geochemical study of quartzose nodules, country rocks, and dike rocks from the Upheaval Dome structure, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koeberl, Christian; Plescia, J. B.; Hayward, Chris L.; Reimold, Wolf Uwe

1999-11-01

Upheaval Dome, in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA, is a unique structure on the Colorado Plateau. It has earlier been interpreted as an impact structure or as a pinched-off salt diapir. Some subrounded quartzose fragments were found in a ring depression near the eastern margin of the structure and, based on vesicularity and apparent flow structure, the fragments were earlier interpreted researchers as "impactites". Our petrographic studies show no indication of a high-temperature history and are in agreement with a slow, low-temperature formation of the quartz nodules. Compositionally, the lag deposit samples are almost pure SiO2. They show no chemical similarity to any of the possible target rocks (e.g., Navajo Sandstone), from which they should have formed by melting if they were impactites. Instead, the samples have relatively high contents of elements that indicate fluid interaction (e.g., hydrothermal growth), such as As, Sb, Ba, and U, and show positive Ce anomalies. Thus, we interpret the "lag deposit samples" as normal low-temperature (hydrothermally-grown?) quartz that show no indication of being impact-derived. In addition, a petrographic and geochemical analysis of a series of dike samples yielded no evidence for shock metamorphism or a meteoritic component.

Release of bacterial spores from inner walls of a stainless steel cup subjected to thermal stress

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolochow, H.; Chatigny, M. A.; Herbert, J.

1974-01-01

In an earlier report thermal stresses, simulating those expected on a Mars Lander, dislodged approximately 0.01% of an aerosol deposited surface burden, as did a landing shock of 8-10 G deceleration. This work confirms earlier results and demonstrates that release rate is not dependent on surface burden.

Predicting SAT Performance from Advanced Course Content and Timing of Matriculation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patterson, Jonathan Sparks

2012-01-01

As record numbers of students are applying to selective colleges and universities, students are attempting to set themselves apart from their peers by taking rigorous advanced courses in high school. The race for improving a student's academic record has resulted in more and more students taking these courses earlier and earlier in their high…

From alcohol initiation to tolerance to problems: Discordant twin modeling of a developmental process

PubMed Central

Deutsch, Arielle R.; Slutske, Wendy S.; Lynskey, Michael T.; Bucholz, Kathleen K.; Madden, Pamela A. F.; Heath, Andrew C.; Martin, Nicholas G.

2017-01-01

The current study examined a stage-based alcohol use trajectory model to test for potential causal effects of earlier drinking milestones on later drinking milestones in a combined sample of two cohorts of Australian monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twins (N = 7,398, age M = 30.46, SD = 2.61, 61% mal 56% monozygotic twins). Ages of drinking, drunkenness, regular drinking, tolerance, first nontolerance alcohol use disorder symptom, and alcohol use disorder symptom onsets were assessed retrospectively. Ages of milestone attainment (i.e., age-of-onset) and time between milestones (i.e., time-to-even were examined via frailty models within a multilevel discordant twin design. For age-of-onset models, earlier ages of onset of antecedent drinking milestones increased hazards for earlier ages of onset for more proximal subsequent drinking milestones. For the time-to-event models, however, earlier ag of onset for the “starting” milestone decreased risk for a shorter time period between the starting and the “ending” milestone. Earlier age of onset of intermediate milestones between starting and ending drinking milestones had the opposite effect, increasing risk for a shorter time period between the starti and ending milestones. These results are consistent with a causal effect of an earlier age of drinking milestone onset on temporally proximal subsequent drinking milestones. PMID:27417028

[Impact of quality-indicator-based measures to improve the treatment of acute poisoning in pediatric emergency patients].

PubMed

Martínez Sánchez, Lidia; Trenchs Sainz de la Maza, Victoria; Azkunaga Santibáñez, Beatriz; Nogué-Xarau, Santiago; Ferrer Bosch, Nuria; García González, Elsa; Luaces I Cubells, Carles

2016-02-01

To analyze the impact of quality-indicator-based measures for improving quality of care for acute poisoning in pediatric emergency departments. Recent assessments of quality indicators were compared with benchmark targets and with results from previous studies. The first study evaluated 6 basic indicators in the pediatric emergency departments of members of to the working group on poisoning of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Emergency Medicine (GTI-SEUP). The second study evaluated 20 indicators in a single emergency department of GTI-SEUP members. Based on the results of those studies, the departments implemented the following corrective measures: creation of a team for gastric lavage follow-up, preparation of a new GTI-SEUP manual on poisoning, implementation of a protocol for poisoning incidents, and creation of specific poisoning-related fields for computerized patient records. The benchmark targets were reached on 4 quality indicators in the first study. Improvements were seen in the availability of protocols, as indicators exceeded the target in all the pediatric emergency departments (vs 29.2% of the departments in an earlier study, P < .001). No other significant improvements were observed. In the second study the benchmarks were reached on 13 indicators. Improvements were seen in compliance with incident reporting to the police (recently, 44.4% vs 19.2% previously, P = .036), case registration in the minimum basic data set (51.0% vs 1.9%, P < .001), and a trend toward increased administration of activated carbon within 2 hours (93.1% vs 83.5%, P = .099). No other significant improvements were seen. The corrective measures led to improvements in some quality indicators. There is still room for improvement in these emergency departamens' care of pediatric poisoning.

Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) Fuselage Structural Design for Weight Reduction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mukhopadhyay, V.

2005-01-01

Structural analysis and design of efficient pressurized fuselage configurations for the advanced Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) flight vehicle is a challenging problem. Unlike a conventional cylindrical pressurized fuselage, stress level in a box type BWB fuselage is an order of magnitude higher, because internal pressure primarily results in bending stress instead of skin-membrane stress. In addition, resulting deformation of aerodynamic surface could significantly affect performance advantages provided by lifting body. The pressurized composite conformal multi-lobe tanks of X-33 type space vehicle also suffered from similar problem. In the earlier BWB design studies, Vaulted Ribbed Shell (VLRS), Flat Ribbed Shell (FRS); Vaulted shell Honeycomb Core (VLHC) and Flat sandwich shell Honeycomb Core (FLHC) concepts were studied. The flat and vaulted ribbed shell concepts were found most efficient. In a recent study, a set of composite sandwich panel and cross-ribbed panel were analyzed. Optimal values of rib and skin thickness, rib spacing, and panel depth were obtained for minimal weight under stress and buckling constraints. In addition, a set of efficient multi-bubble fuselage (MBF) configuration concept was developed. The special geometric configuration of this concept allows for balancing internal cabin pressure load efficiently, through membrane stress in inner-stiffened shell and inter-cabin walls, while the outer-ribbed shell prevents buckling due to external resultant compressive loads. The initial results from these approximate finite element analyses indicate progressively lower maximum stresses and deflections compared to the earlier study. However, a relative comparison of the FEM weight per unit floor area of the segment unit indicates that the unit weights are still relatively higher that the conventional B777 type cylindrical or A380 type elliptic fuselage design. Due to the manufacturing concern associated with multi-bubble fuselage, a Y braced box-type fuselage alternative with special resin-film injected (RFI) stitched carbon composite with foam-core was designed by Boeing under a NASA research contract for the 480 passenger version. It is shown that this configuration can be improved to a modified multi-bubble fuselage which has better stress distribution, for same material and dimension.

The spectral response of Buxus sempervirens to different types of environmental stress - A laboratory experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Jong, Steven M.; Addink, Elisabeth A.; Hoogenboom, Priscilla; Nijland, Wiebe

2012-11-01

The European Mediterranean regions are expected to encounter drier summer conditions and warmer temperatures for the winter of +2 °C and of +5 °C for the summer in the next six decennia. As a result the natural vegetation will face harsher conditions due to lower water availability, longer summer droughts and higher temperatures resulting in plant stress conditions. To monitor vegetation conditions like stress and leaf area index dynamics in our study area in Mediterranean France we use earth observation techniques like imaging spectroscopy. To assist image analysis interpretation we carried out a laboratory experiment to investigate the spectral and visible response of Buxus sempervirens, a common Mediterranean species, to five different types of stress: drought, drought-and-heat, light deprivation, total saturation and chlorine poisoning. For 52 days plants were subjected to stress. We collected data on the visible and spectral signs, and calculated thirteen vegetation indices. The plant's response time to different stress types varied from 10 to 32 days. Spectroscopic techniques revealed plant stress up to 15 days earlier than visual inspection. Visible signs of stress of the plants included curling and shrinking of the leaves, de-colouring of the leaves, leaves becoming breakable, opening up of the plant's canopy and sagging of the branches. Spectral signs of stress occurred first in the water absorption bands at 1450 and 1940 nm, followed by reduced absorption in the visible wavelengths, and next by reduced reflectance in near infrared. Light deprivation did not result in any stress signs, while drought, drought and heat and chlorine poisoning resulted in significant stress. The spectral response did not show differences for different stress types. Analysis of the vegetation indices identified the Carter-2 (R695/R760), the Red-Green Index (R690/R550) and the Vogelman-2 (R734 - R747)/(R715 + R726) as the best performing ones to identify stress. The lab experiment shows that spectroscopic techniques are useful to detect stress status of plants and in an earlier stage than visible signs of stress become apparent, but that spectroscopy does not reveal the type of plant stress.

Childhood hair product use and earlier age at menarche in a racially diverse study population: a pilot study.

PubMed

James-Todd, Tamarra; Terry, Mary Beth; Rich-Edwards, Janet; Deierlein, Andrea; Senie, Ruby

2011-06-01

Previous studies suggest that hair products containing endocrine disrupting chemicals could alter puberty. We evaluated the association between childhood hair product use and age at menarche in a racially diverse study population. We recruited 300 African-American, African-Caribbean, Hispanic, and white women from the New York City metropolitan area who were between 18-77 years of age. Data were collected retrospectively on hair oil, lotion, leave-in conditioner, perm, and other types of hair products used before age 13. Recalled age at menarche ranged from 8 to 19 years. We used multivariable binomial regression to evaluate the association between hair product use and age at menarche (<12 vs. ≥12), adjusting for potential confounders. African-Americans were more likely to use hair products and reached menarche earlier than other racial/ethnic groups. Women reporting childhood hair oil use had a risk ratio of 1.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-1.9) for earlier menarche, adjusting for race/ethnicity and year of birth. Hair perm users had an increased risk for earlier menarche (adjusted risk ratio = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.8). Other types of hair products assessed in this study were not associated with earlier menarche. Childhood hair oil and perm use were associated with earlier menarche. If replicated, these results suggest that hair product use may be important to measure in evaluating earlier age at menarche. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural Correlates of Expert Visuomotor Performance in Badminton Players.

PubMed

Hülsdünker, Thorben; Strüder, Heiko K; Mierau, Andreas

2016-11-01

Elite/skilled athletes participating in sports that require the initiation of targeted movements in response to visual cues under critical time pressure typically outperform nonathletes in a visuomotor reaction task. However, the exact physiological mechanisms of this advantage remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the neurophysiological processes contributing to superior visuomotor performance in athletes using visual evoked potential (VEP). Central and peripheral determinants of visuomotor reaction time were investigated in 15 skilled badminton players and 28 age-matched nonathletic controls. To determine the speed of visual signal perception in the cortex, chromatic and achromatic pattern reversal stimuli were presented, and VEP values were recorded with a 64-channel EEG system. Further, a simple visuomotor reaction task was performed to investigate the transformation of the visual into a motor signal in the brain as well as the timing of muscular activation. Amplitude and latency of VEP (N75, P100, and N145) revealed that the athletes did not significantly differ from the nonathletes. However, visuomotor reaction time was significantly reduced in the athletes compared with nonathletes (athletes = 234.9 ms, nonathletes = 260.3 ms, P = 0.015). This was accompanied by an earlier activation of the premotor and supplementary motor areas (athletes = 163.9 ms, nonathletes = 199.1 ms, P = 0.015) as well as an earlier EMG onset (athletes = 167.5 ms, nonathletes = 206.5 ms, P < 0.001). The latency of premotor and supplementary motor area activation was correlated with EMG onset (r = 0.41) and visuomotor reaction time (r = 0.43). The results of this study indicate that superior visuomotor performance in athletes originates from faster visuomotor transformation in the premotor and supplementary motor cortical regions rather than from earlier perception of visual signals in the visual cortex.

Modeling the association between HR variability and illness in elite swimmers

PubMed Central

Hellard, Philippe; Guimaraes, Fanny; Avalos, Marta; Houel, Nicolas; Hausswirth, Christophe; Toussaint, Jean François

2011-01-01

Purpose To determine whether heart rate variability, an indirect measure of autonomic control, is associated with upper respiratory tract and pulmonary infections, muscular affections and all-type pathologies in elite swimmers. Methods Seven elite international and 11 national swimmers were followed weekly for two years. The indexes of cardiac autonomic regulation in supine and orthostatic position were assessed as explanatory variables by time-domain (SD1, SD2) and spectral analyses (high frequency- HF; 0.15 Hz-0.40Hz, low frequency-LF; 0.04-0.15 Hz and HF/LF ratio) of heart rate variability. Logistic mixed models described the relationship between the explanatory variables and the risk of upper respiratory tract and pulmonary infections, muscular affections and all-type pathologies. Results The risk of all-type pathologies was higher for national swimmers and in winter (p<0.01). An increase in the parasympathetic indexes (HF, SD1) in supine position assessed one week earlier was linked to a higher risk of upper respiratory tract and pulmonary infections (p<0.05), and to a higher risk of muscular affections (increase in HF, p<0.05). Multivariate analyses showed: (1) a higher all-type pathologies risk in winter, and for an increase in the total power of heart rate variability associated with a decline SD1 in supine position; (2) a higher all-type pathologies risk in winter associated with a decline in HF assessed one week earlier in orthostatic position; and (3) a higher risk of muscular affections in winter associated with a decrease SD1 and an increase LF in orthostatic position. Conclusion Swimmers’ health maintenance requires particular attention when autonomic balance shows a sudden increase in parasympathetic indices in supine position assessed one week earlier evolving toward sympathetic predominance in supine and orthostatic positions. PMID:21085039

Urbanization may reduce the risk of frost damage to spring flowers: A case study of two shrub species in South Korea

PubMed Central

Gim, Hyeon-Ju; Kim, Jinwon; Lee, Eun Ju

2018-01-01

Regional warming, owing to urbanization, leads to earlier spring phenological events and may expose plants to hard freeze damage. This study examined the influence of urbanization on the risk of frost damage to spring flowers in South Korea from 1973 to 2015. For the analysis period, we categorized 25 cities into two groups: those showing rapid population growth (rPG) ≥ 200,000, including 13 cities, and those showing no or decreased population growth (nPG), including 12 cities. We then investigated the time from the last frost dates (LFDs) in spring to the first flowering dates (FFDs) for each group. The rPG group experienced significant spring warming of 0.47°C per decade, resulting in earlier LFDs and FFDs. For this group, the advancement of LFD was more rapid than that of FFD, and the days between these two dates increased from 0.42 to 0.47 days per decade, implying a reduced risk of frost damage. Spring warming and the advancement of FFDs and LFDs were relatively small for the nPG group, and the LFDs were rather delayed. Consequently, the days between LFDs and FFDs were reduced from −1.05 to −1.67 days per decade, indicating an increased risk of frost damage. The contrasting changes in the frost-damage risk between the two city groups can be attributed to distinct urban warming at night, which makes the LFDs substantially earlier in the rPG group. Therefore, this study suggests that the warming associated with urbanization may lessen the risk of spring frost damage to plants in rapidly growing urban areas. PMID:29415073

Urbanization may reduce the risk of frost damage to spring flowers: A case study of two shrub species in South Korea.

PubMed

Gim, Hyeon-Ju; Ho, Chang-Hoi; Kim, Jinwon; Lee, Eun Ju

2018-01-01

Regional warming, owing to urbanization, leads to earlier spring phenological events and may expose plants to hard freeze damage. This study examined the influence of urbanization on the risk of frost damage to spring flowers in South Korea from 1973 to 2015. For the analysis period, we categorized 25 cities into two groups: those showing rapid population growth (rPG) ≥ 200,000, including 13 cities, and those showing no or decreased population growth (nPG), including 12 cities. We then investigated the time from the last frost dates (LFDs) in spring to the first flowering dates (FFDs) for each group. The rPG group experienced significant spring warming of 0.47°C per decade, resulting in earlier LFDs and FFDs. For this group, the advancement of LFD was more rapid than that of FFD, and the days between these two dates increased from 0.42 to 0.47 days per decade, implying a reduced risk of frost damage. Spring warming and the advancement of FFDs and LFDs were relatively small for the nPG group, and the LFDs were rather delayed. Consequently, the days between LFDs and FFDs were reduced from -1.05 to -1.67 days per decade, indicating an increased risk of frost damage. The contrasting changes in the frost-damage risk between the two city groups can be attributed to distinct urban warming at night, which makes the LFDs substantially earlier in the rPG group. Therefore, this study suggests that the warming associated with urbanization may lessen the risk of spring frost damage to plants in rapidly growing urban areas.

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

Van de Sande, Jesse; Franx, Marijn; Labbe, Ivo

Recent photometric studies have shown that early-type galaxies at fixed stellar mass were smaller and denser at earlier times. In this Letter, we assess that finding by deriving the dynamical mass of such a compact quiescent galaxy at z = 1.8. We have obtained a high-quality spectrum with full UV-NIR wavelength coverage of galaxy NMBS-C7447 using X-Shooter on the Very Large Telescope. We determined a velocity dispersion of 294 {+-} 51 km s{sup -1}. Given this velocity dispersion and the effective radius of 1.64 {+-} 0.15 kpc (as determined from Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 F160W observations) wemore » derive a dynamical mass of (1.7 {+-} 0.5) x 10{sup 11} M{sub sun}. Comparison of the full spectrum with stellar population synthesis models indicates that NMBS-C774 has a relatively young stellar population (0.40 Gyr) with little or no star formation and a stellar mass of M{sub *} {approx} 1.5 x 10{sup 11} M{sub sun}. The dynamical and photometric stellar masses are in good agreement. Thus, our study supports the conclusion that the mass densities of quiescent galaxies were indeed higher at earlier times, and this earlier result is not caused by systematic measurement errors. By combining available spectroscopic measurements at different redshifts, we find that the velocity dispersion at fixed dynamical mass was a factor of {approx}1.8 higher at z = 1.8 compared with z = 0. Finally, we show that the apparent discrepancies between the few available velocity dispersion measurements at z > 1.5 are consistent with the intrinsic scatter of the mass-size relation.« less

Semantic and Phonological Encoding Times in Adults Who Stutter: Brain Electrophysiological Evidence.

PubMed

Maxfield, Nathan D

2017-10-17

Some psycholinguistic theories of stuttering propose that language production operates along a different time course in adults who stutter (AWS) versus typically fluent adults (TFA). However, behavioral evidence for such a difference has been mixed. Here, the time course of semantic and phonological encoding in picture naming was compared in AWS (n = 16) versus TFA (n = 16) by measuring 2 event-related potential (ERP) components: NoGo N200, an ERP index of response inhibition, and lateralized readiness potential, an ERP index of response preparation. Each trial required a semantic judgment about a picture in addition to a phonemic judgment about the target label of the picture. Judgments were mapped onto a dual-choice (Go-NoGo/left-right) push-button response paradigm. On each trial, ERP activity time-locked to picture onset was recorded at 32 scalp electrodes. NoGo N200 was detected earlier to semantic NoGo trials than to phonemic NoGo trials in both groups, replicating previous evidence that semantic encoding generally precedes phonological encoding in language production. Moreover, N200 onset was earlier to semantic NoGo trials in TFA than in AWS, indicating that semantic information triggering response inhibition became available earlier in TFA versus AWS. In contrast, the time course of N200 activity to phonemic NoGo trials did not differ between groups. Lateralized readiness potential activity was influenced by strategic response preparation and, thus, could not be used to index real-time semantic and phonological encoding. NoGo N200 results point to slowed semantic encoding in AWS versus TFA. Discussion considers possible factors in slowed semantic encoding in AWS and how fluency might be impacted by slowed semantic encoding.

Females and Minorities in TV Ads in 1987 Saturday Children's Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riffe, Daniel; And Others

1989-01-01

Examines how females and minorities are represented on children's Saturday morning television commercials, focusing on how often they are present, settings in which they are portrayed, and types of White-minority interactions. Finds that more women and minorities are present in advertisements than earlier studies indicated, but that White males…

Egg-citing Sixth Graders in Science: A Creative Activity in Cell Structure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mersch, Margaret; Bryant, Napolean, Jr.

1976-01-01

Sixth-grade pupils at St. Vivian's school recently studied a science lesson on distinguishing between plant and animal cells. Observation of pupils indicated that learning was occurring, but the enthusiasm they had exhibited in earlier science lessons was obviously lacking. Article discussed a model, designed to stimulate learning processes, from…

Adolescents' Declining Motivation to Learn Science: A Follow-Up Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vedder-Weiss, Dana; Fortus, David

2012-01-01

This is a mix methods follow-up study in which we reconfirm the findings from an earlier study [Vedder-Weiss & Fortus [2011] "Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48(2)", 199-216]. The findings indicate that adolescents' declining motivation to learn science, which was found in many previous studies [Galton [2009] "Moving to…

Appropriateness Measurement with Polychotomous Item Response Models and Standardized Indices. Measurement Series, 84-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drasgow, Fritz; And Others

The test scores of some examinees on a multiple-choice test may not provide adequate measures of their abilities. The goal of appropriateness measurement is to identify such individuals. Earlier theoretical and experimental work considered examinees answering all, or almost all, test items. This article reports research that extends…

Quality of Life in South Africa--The First Ten Years of Democracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moller, Valerie

2007-01-01

South Africa celebrated ten years of democracy in 2004. This special issue of "Social Indicators Research" ("SIR") reviews developments that have impacted on the quality of life of ordinary South Africans during the transition period. The issue updates an earlier volume of "SIR" (Volume 41) published in 1997 and as a…

Expectancies for Sexually Abused Children: Evidence of Perceiver Bias

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saathoff-Wells, Tara; Culp, Rex E.; Yancey, Candace T.

2005-01-01

We investigated perceiver bias in relation to children labeled as sexually abused. Building on recent research indicating that adults perceive children with such a label as having more behavioral problems and lower achievement, we replicated and expanded upon an earlier study. We tested undergraduate students (N = 699), who judged a six-year old…

Rhetorics of Professional Change: Assembling the Means to Act Differently?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reeves, Jenny; I'Anson, John

2014-01-01

In an earlier study of learning on a practice-based postgraduate programme participants indicated that certain artefacts were critically important in enabling them to gain "permission" to act differently in their schools. Picking up on this suggestion, this study begins to explore how looking at the composition of texts by teachers as a…

Algebra: A Challenge at the Crossroads of Policy and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stein, Mary Kay; Kaufman, Julia Heath; Sherman, Milan; Hillen, Amy F.

2011-01-01

The authors review what is known about early and universal algebra, including who is getting access to algebra and student outcomes associated with algebra course taking in general and specifically with universal algebra policies. The findings indicate that increasing numbers of students, some of whom are underprepared, are taking algebra earlier.…

49 CFR 230.112 - Wheels and tires.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... wheels mounted on the same axle shall not vary more than 1/4 inch. (d) Tire thickness. Wheels may not have tires with a minimum thickness less than that indicated in the table in this paragraph (d). When... the minimum thickness of tires may be as much below the limits specified earlier in this paragraph (d...

Operational tests of two viscous DAP fire retardants

Treesearch

James B. Davis;  Clinton B. Phillips;  Dean L. Dibble;  Leo V. Steck

1963-01-01

Operational tests conducted from air tanker bases in California in 1962 confirmed earlier laboratory and field studies and showed that viscous solutions of diammonium phosphate (DAP) are more effective than any other presently known fire retardant. These tests also indicated that corrosion is not a serious problem if inhibitors are used and equipment is...

Intermediate Decoding Skills. NetNews. Volume 4, Number 4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LDA of Minnesota, 2004

2004-01-01

Intermediate decoding refers to word analysis skills that are beyond a beginning, one-syllable level as described in an earlier NetNews issue, yet are just as important for building adult level reading proficiency. Research from secondary settings indicates that struggling readers in middle school or high school programs often read between the…

Understanding the Effect Size of Lisdexamfetamine Dimesylate for Treating ADHD in Children and Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faraone, Stephen V.

2012-01-01

Objective: An earlier meta-analysis of pediatric clinical trials indicated that lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX) had a greater effect size than other stimulant medications. This work tested the hypothesis that the apparent increased efficacy was artifactual. Method: The authors assessed two potential artifacts: an unusually high precision of…

Revision and Factor Analysis of a Death Anxiety Scale.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thorson, James A.; Powell, F. C.

Earlier research on death anxiety using the 34-item scale developed by Nehrke-Templer-Boyar (NTB) indicated that females and younger persons have significantly higher death anxiety. To simplify a death anxiety scale for use with different age groups, and to determine the conceptual factors actually measured by the scale, a revised 25-item…

Comparison of Electron Imaging Modes for Dimensional Measurements in the Scanning Electron Microscope.

PubMed

Postek, Michael T; Vladár, András E; Villarrubia, John S; Muto, Atsushi

2016-08-01

Dimensional measurements from secondary electron (SE) images were compared with those from backscattered electron (BSE) and low-loss electron (LLE) images. With the commonly used 50% threshold criterion, the lines consistently appeared larger in the SE images. As the images were acquired simultaneously by an instrument with the capability to operate detectors for both signals at the same time, the differences cannot be explained by the assumption that contamination or drift between images affected the SE, BSE, or LLE images differently. Simulations with JMONSEL, an electron microscope simulator, indicate that the nanometer-scale differences observed on this sample can be explained by the different convolution effects of a beam with finite size on signals with different symmetry (the SE signal's characteristic peak versus the BSE or LLE signal's characteristic step). This effect is too small to explain the >100 nm discrepancies that were observed in earlier work on different samples. Additional modeling indicates that those discrepancies can be explained by the much larger sidewall angles of the earlier samples, coupled with the different response of SE versus BSE/LLE profiles to such wall angles.

Impact of a structured ICU training programme in resource-limited settings in Asia.

PubMed

Haniffa, Rashan; Lubell, Yoel; Cooper, Ben S; Mohanty, Sanjib; Alam, Shamsul; Karki, Arjun; Pattnaik, Rajya; Maswood, Ahmed; Haque, R; Pangeni, Raju; Schultz, Marcus J; Dondorp, Arjen M

2017-01-01

To assess the impact on ICU performance of a modular training program in three resource-limited general adult ICUs in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. A modular ICU training programme was evaluated using performance indicators from June 2009 to June 2012 using an interrupted time series design with an 8 to 15 month pre-intervention and 18 to 24 month post-intervention period. ICU physicians and nurses trained in Europe and the USA provided training for ICU doctors and nurses. The training program consisted of six modules on basic intensive care practices of 2-3 weeks each over 20 months. The performance indicators consisting of ICU mortality, time to ICU discharge, rate at which patients were discharged alive from the ICU, discontinuation of mechanical ventilation or vasoactive drugs and duration of antibiotic use were extracted. Stepwise changes and changes in trends associated with the intervention were analysed. Pre-Training ICU mortality in Rourkela (India), and Patan (Nepal) Chittagong (Bangladesh), was 28%, 41% and 62%, respectively, compared to 30%, 18% and 51% post-intervention. The intervention was associated with a stepwise reduction in cumulative incidence of in-ICU mortality in Chittagong (adjusted subdistribution hazard ratio [aSHR] (95% CI): 0.62 (0.40, 0.97), p = 0.03) and Patan (aSHR 0.16 (0.06, 0.41), p<0.001), but not in Rourkela (aSHR: 1.17 (0.75, 1.82), p = 0.49). The intervention was associated with earlier discontinuation of vasoactive drugs at Rourkela (adjusted hazard ratio for weekly change [aHR] 1.08 (1.03, 1.14), earlier discontinuation of mechanical ventilation in Chittagong (aHR 2.97 (1.24, 7.14), p = 0.02), and earlier ICU discharge in Patan (aHR 1.87 (1.02, 3.43), p = 0.04). This structured training program was associated with a decrease in ICU mortality in two of three sites and improvement of other performance indicators. A larger cluster randomised study assessing process outcomes and longer-term indicators is warranted.

A Mathematical Model for the Middle Ear Ventilation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molnárka, G.; Miletics, E. M.; Fücsek, M.

2008-09-01

The otitis media is one of the mostly existing illness for the children, therefore investigation of the human middle ear ventilation is an actual problem. In earlier investigations both experimental and theoretical approach one can find in ([l]-[3]). Here we give a new mathematical and computer model to simulate this ventilation process. This model able to describe the diffusion and flow processes simultaneously, therefore it gives more precise results than earlier models did. The article contains the mathematical model and some results of the simulation.

Contextual cueing effects despite spatially cued target locations.

PubMed

Schankin, Andrea; Schubö, Anna

2010-07-01

Reaction times (RT) to targets are faster in repeated displays relative to novel ones when the spatial arrangement of the distracting items predicts the target location (contextual cueing). It is assumed that visual-spatial attention is guided more efficiently to the target resulting in reduced RTs. In the present experiment, contextual cueing even occurred when the target location was previously peripherally cued. Electrophysiologically, repeated displays elicited an enhanced N2pc component in both conditions and resulted in an earlier onset of the stimulus-locked lateralized readiness potential (s-LRP) in the cued condition and in an enhanced P3 in the uncued condition relative to novel displays. These results indicate that attentional guidance is less important than previously assumed but that other cognitive processes, such as attentional selection (N2pc) and response-related processes (s-LRP, P3) are facilitated by context familiarity.

Response of the North American corn belt to climate warming, CO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1983-08-01

The climate of the North American corn belt was characterized to estimate the effects of climatic change on that agricultural region. Heat and moisture characteristics of the current corn belt were identified and mapped based on a simulated climate for a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The result was a map of the projected corn belt corresponding to the simulated climatic change. Such projections were made with and without an allowance for earlier planting dates that could occur under a CO2-induced climatic warming. Because the direct effects of CO2 increases on plants, improvements in farm technology, and plant breeding are not considered, the resulting projections represent an extreme or worst case. The results indicate that even for such a worst case, climatic conditions favoring corn production would not extend very far into Canada. Climatic buffering effects of the Great Lakes would apparently retard northeastward shifts in corn-belt location.

Distances to White Dwarf Stars from HIPPARCOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Provencal, J.; Shipman, H.; Hoeg, E.; Thejll, P.

1996-12-01

We will present the results of a HIPPARCOS campaign to determine the distances to a number of white dwarf stars and we will discuss their implications. For bright stars, HIPPARCOS parallaxes have uncertainties that approach 1 milliarcsecond and thus they are considerably more accurate than earlier, ground-based parallaxes. Our most important finding is that the positions of important white dwarf stars in the mass-radius diagram, used to test our understanding of stellar degeneracy, have not changed appreciably. As a result the well known puzzles associated with 40 Eri B are still with us. The HIPPARCOS results indicate that the important binary V 471 Tau is a member of the Hyades cluster. The calibration star G 191-B2B is only an optical companion to the star G 191-B2A; these two objects are at different distances. The analysis of HIPPARCOS data has been supported by a grant from NASA.

Differential fitness of allelic isozymes in the marine gastropods Littorina punctata and Littorina neritoides, exposed to the environmental stress of the combined effects of cadmium and mercury pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavie, Batia; Nevo, Eviatar

1987-07-01

The present study tested the separate and the interactive pollution effects of cadmium and mercury on the electrophoretically detected allelic isozyme frequencies of the enzyme phosphoglucose isomerase for two species of littoral marine gastropods — Littorina punctata and L. neritoides — and the enzyme amino peptidase for L. neritoides. Our results indicate differential survivorship of allelic isozyme genotypes specific for each type of pollutant and for their interaction, as well as trends common to all pollutants. Theoretically the results reflect the adaptive nature of at least some allozymic genotypes in these marine gastropods and seem inconsistent with the neutral theory of allozyme polymorphisms. Practically, the results reinforce earlier conclusions that changes in the frequency of allelic isozymes may be used as a genetic monitor of pollution.

Paternal Hostility and Maternal Hostility in European American and African American Families.

PubMed

Wu, Ed Y; Reeb, Ben T; Martin, Monica J; Gibbons, Frederick X; Simons, Ronald L; Conger, Rand D

2014-06-01

The authors examined the hypothesized influence of maternal and paternal hostility on youth delinquency over time. The investigation addressed significant gaps in earlier research on parental hostility, including the neglect of father effects, especially in African American families. Using prospective, longitudinal data from community samples of European American (n = 422) and African American (n = 272) 2-parent families, the authors examined the independent effects of paternal and maternal hostility on youth delinquency. The results indicated that paternal hostility significantly predicted relative increases in youth delinquent behaviors above and beyond the effects of maternal hostility; conversely, maternal hostility did not predict youth delinquency after controlling for paternal hostility. Multiple-group analyses yielded similar results for both ethnic groups and for boys and girls. These results underscore the importance of including both parents in research on diverse families. Neglecting fathers provides an incomplete account of parenting in relation to youth development.

Utilization of dipeptide/protein based diets in larval and juvenile Koi carp--post-prandial free amino acid levels.

PubMed

Kwasek, K; Zhang, Y; Dabrowski, K

2010-02-01

We have shown previously that diets in which the nitrogen portion is based on synthetic dipeptides (PP) resulted in weight gain by rainbow trout alevins when free amino acid (FAA) based diets did not. However, the protein-based diet used as a control in the previous study resulted in a significantly better performance of fish than peptide- or FAA based diet fed fish. Therefore, the objectives of our study were (i) to test how stomachless fish respond to peptide-based diets, (ii) to evaluate PP and protein-PP mixture diets and (iii) to examine if post-prandial response to FAA concentrations in the fish body can be used as an indicator of the availability of dietary amino acid sources. The first experiment was conducted with a 4-day old Koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) larvae and included groups fed a casein-gelatin (CG) based diet, a commercial diet and live Artemia nauplii. In the second experiment, fish fed live Artemia for 3 weeks (69 +/- 12 mg) were placed in glass aquaria in triplicate per dietary treatment. Four diets provided equivalent amounts of nitrogen in the form of a CG, a PP, a 50% PP and 50% CG (PP50) mix and as FAA. Fish were fed at 1 and 3 h intervals, and the survival and growth were monitored during the second and third weeks of experiments 1 and 2 respectively. Following the completion of feeding, juvenile carp were sampled prior to feeding and 3 h after a meal. Whole body FAA analyses were carried out. We observed marginal suitability of the CG diet for larval Koi carp, as earlier indicated in common carp. Juvenile Koi carp fed the CG diet achieved 236 +/- 19 mg, whereas PP50, PP and FAA diet fed fish grew to 140 +/- 37, 70 +/- 8 and 73 +/- 5 mg respectively. Free amino acids in the fish body, and in particular indispensable amino acids (IDAA), were excellent indicators of dietary availability. The present experiment shows that a dietary 1:1 ratio of protein to synthetic PPs results in better growth, survival and whole body IDAA concentrations in relation to FAA- and PP-based diets confirming earlier reports on the use of synthetic PP-based diets, although this diet does not match the performance of complete protein, CG-based diet.

Color discrimination, color naming and color preferences in 80-year olds.

PubMed

Wijk, H; Berg, S; Sivik, L; Steen, B

1999-06-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate color discrimination, color naming and color preference in a random sample of 80-year-old men and women. Knowledge of color perception in old age can be of value when using color contrast, cues and codes in the environment to promote orientation and function. The color naming test indicated that the colors white, black, yellow, red, blue and green promoted recognition to the highest degree among all subjects. A gender-related difference, in favor of women, occurred in naming five of the mixed colors. Women also used more varied color names than men. Color discrimination was easier in the red and yellow area than in the blue and green area. This result correlates positively with visual function on far sight, and negatively with diagnosis of a cataract. The preference order for seven colors put blue, green and red at the top, and brown at the bottom, hence agreeing with earlier studies, and indicating that the preference order for colors remains relatively stable also in old age. This result should be considered when designing environments for old people.

School Mobility and Developmental Outcomes in Young Adulthood

PubMed Central

Herbers, Janette E.; Reynolds, Arthur J.; Chen, Chin-Chih

2014-01-01

School mobility has been shown to increase the risk of poor achievement, behavior problems, grade retention, and high school drop-out. Using data over 25 years from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, we investigated the unique risk of school moves on a variety of young adult outcomes including educational attainment, occupational prestige, depression symptoms, and criminal arrests. We also investigated how the timing of school mobility, whether earlier or later in the academic career, may differentially predict these outcomes over and above associated risks. Results indicate that students who experience more school changes between kindergarten and twelfth grade are less likely to complete high school on time, complete fewer years of school, attain lower levels of occupational prestige, are more likely to experience symptoms of depression, and are more likely to be arrested as adults. Furthermore, the number of school moves predicted above and beyond associated risks such as residential mobility and family poverty. When timing of school mobility was examined, results indicated more negative outcomes associated with moves later in the grade school career, particularly between fourth and eighth grade. PMID:23627959

Dreams Fulfilled and Shattered: Determinants of Segmented Assimilation in the Second Generation*

PubMed Central

Haller, William; Portes, Alejandro; Lynch, Scott M.

2013-01-01

We summarize prior theories on the adaptation process of the contemporary immigrant second generation as a prelude to presenting additive and interactive models showing the impact of family variables, school contexts and academic outcomes on the process. For this purpose, we regress indicators of educational and occupational achievement in early adulthood on predictors measured three and six years earlier. The Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), used for the analysis, allows us to establish a clear temporal order among exogenous predictors and the two dependent variables. We also construct a Downward Assimilation Index (DAI), based on six indicators and regress it on the same set of predictors. Results confirm a pattern of segmented assimilation in the second generation, with a significant proportion of the sample experiencing downward assimilation. Predictors of the latter are the obverse of those of educational and occupational achievement. Significant interaction effects emerge between these predictors and early school contexts, defined by different class and racial compositions. Implications of these results for theory and policy are examined. PMID:24223437

Relationship Between Satellite-Derived Snow Cover and Snowmelt-Runoff Timing and Stream Power in the Wind River Range, Wyoming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Dorothy K.; Foster, James L.; DiGirolamo, Nicolo E.; Riggs, George A.

2010-01-01

Earlier onset of springtime weather including earlier snowmelt has been documented in the western United States over at least the last 50 years. Because the majority (>70%) of the water supply in the western U.S. comes from snowmelt, analysis of the declining spring snowpack (and shrinking glaciers) has important implications for streamflow management. The amount of water in a snowpack influences stream discharge which can also influence erosion and sediment transport by changing stream power, or the rate at which a stream can do work such as move sediment and erode the stream bed. The focus of this work is the Wind River Range (WRR) in west-central Wyoming. Ten years of Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow-cover, cloud- gap-filled (CGF) map products and 30 years of discharge and meteorological station data are studied. Streamflow data from six streams in the WRR drainage basins show lower annual discharge and earlier snowmelt in the decade of the 2000s than in the previous three decades, though no trend of either lower streamflow or earlier snowmelt was observed using MODIS snow-cover maps within the decade of the 2000s. Results show a statistically-significant trend at the 95% confidence level (or higher) of increasing weekly maximum air temperature (for three out of the five meteorological stations studied) in the decade of the 1970s, and also for the 40-year study period. MODIS-derived snow cover (percent of basin covered) measured on 30 April explains over 89% of the variance in discharge for maximum monthly streamflow in the decade of the 2000s using Spearman rank correlation analysis. We also investigated stream power for Bull Lake Creek Above Bull Lake from 1970 to 2009; a statistically-significant end toward reduced stream power was found (significant at the 90% confidence level). Observed changes in streamflow and stream power may be related to increasing weekly maximum air temperature measured during the 40-year study period. The strong relationship between percent of basin covered and streamflow indicates that MODIS data is useful for predicting streamflow, leading to improved reservoir management

How early can the seeding dates of spring wheat be under current and future climate in Saskatchewan, Canada?

PubMed

He, Yong; Wang, Hong; Qian, Budong; McConkey, Brian; DePauw, Ron

2012-01-01

Shorter growing season and water stress near wheat maturity are the main factors that presumably limit the yield potential of spring wheat due to late seeding in Saskatchewan, Canada. Advancing seeding dates can be a strategy to help producers mitigate the impact of climate change on spring wheat. It is unknown, however, how early farmers can seed while minimizing the risk of spring frost damage and the soil and machinery constraints. This paper explores early seeding dates of spring wheat on the Canadian Prairies under current and projected future climate. To achieve this, (i) weather records from 1961 to 1990 were gathered at three sites with different soil and climate conditions in Saskatchewan, Canada; (ii) four climate databases that included a baseline (treated as historic weather climate during the period of 1961-1990) and three climate change scenarios (2040-2069) developed by the Canadian global climate model (GCM) with the forcing of three greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenarios (A2, A1B and B1); (iii) seeding dates of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under baseline and projected future climate were predicted. Compared with the historical record of seeding dates, the predicted seeding dates were advanced under baseline climate for all sites using our seeding date model. Driven by the predicted temperature increase of the scenarios compared with baseline climate, all climate change scenarios projected significantly earlier seeding dates than those currently used. Compared to the baseline conditions, there is no reduction in grain yield because precipitation increases during sensitive growth stages of wheat, suggesting that there is potential to shift seeding to an earlier date. The average advancement of seeding dates varied among sites and chosen scenarios. The Swift Current (south-west) site has the highest potential for earlier seeding (7 to 11 days) whereas such advancement was small in the Melfort (north-east, 2 to 4 days) region. The extent of projected climate change in Saskatchewan indicates that growers in this region have the potential of earlier seeding. The results obtained in this study may be used for adaptation assessments of seeding dates under possible climate change to mitigate the impact of potential warming.

Quality of life at the retirement transition: Life course pathways in an early 'baby boom' birth cohort.

PubMed

Wildman, Josephine M; Moffatt, Suzanne; Pearce, Mark

2018-06-01

Promoting quality of life (QoL) in later life is an important policy goal. However, studies using prospective data to explore the mechanisms by which earlier events influence QoL in older age are lacking. This study is the first to use prospective data to investigate pathways by which a range of measures of life-course socioeconomic status contribute to later-life QoL. The study uses data from the Newcastle Thousand Families Study cohort (N = 1142), an early 'baby-boom' birth cohort born in 1947 in Newcastle upon Tyne, an industrial city in north-east England. Using prospective survey data collected between birth and later adulthood (N = 393), a path analysis investigated the effects and relative contributions of a range of life-course socioeconomic factors to QoL at age 62-64 measured using the CASP-19 scale. Strong positive effects on later-life QoL were found for advantaged occupational status in mid-life and better self-reported health, employment and mortgage-freedom in later adulthood. Significant positive indirect effects on QoL were found from social class at birth and achieved education level, mediated through later-life socioeconomic advantage. Experiencing no adverse events by age five had a large total positive effect on QoL at age 62-64, comprising a direct effect and indirect effects, mediated through education, mid-life social class and later-life self-reported health. Results support a pathway model with the effects of factors in earlier life acting via later-life factors, and an accumulation model with earlier-life factors having large total, cumulative effects on later-life QoL. The presence of a direct effect of adverse childhood events by age five on QoL suggests a 'critical period' and indicates that policies across the life-course are needed to promote later-life QoL, with policies directed towards older adults perhaps too late to 'undo the damage' of earlier adverse events. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationship Between Satellite-Derived Snow Cover and Snowmelt-Runoff Timing and Stream Power in the Wind River Range, Wyoming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Dorothy K.; Foster, James L.; Riggs, George A.; DiGirolano, Nocolo E.

2010-01-01

Earlier onset of springtime weather including earlier snowmelt has been documented in the western United States over at least the last 50 years. Because the majority (>70%) of the water supply in the western U.S. comes from snowmelt, analysis of the declining spring snowpack (and shrinking glaciers) has important implications for streamflow management. The amount of water in a snowpack influences stream discharge which can also influence erosion and sediment transport by changing stream power, or the rate at which a stream can do work such as move sediment and erode the stream bed. The focus of this work is the Wind River Range (WRR) in west-central Wyoming. Ten years of Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow-cover, cloud- gap-filled (CGF) map products and 30 years of discharge and meteorological station a are studied. Streamflow data from six streams in the WRR drainage basins show lower annual discharge and earlier snowmelt in the decade of the 2000s than in the previous three decades, though no trend of either lower streamflow or earlier snowmelt was observed using MODIS snow-cover maps within the decade of the 2000s. Results show a statistically-significant trend at the 95% confidence level (or higher) of increasing weekly maximum air temperature (for three out of the five meteorological stations studied) in the decade of the 1970s, and also for the 40-year study period. MODIS- derived snow cover (percent of basin covered) measured on 30 April explains over 89% of the variance in discharge for maximum monthly streamflow in the decade of the 2000s using Spearman rank correlation analysis. We also investigated stream power for Bull Lake Creek Above Bull Lake from 1970 to 2009; a statistically-significant trend toward reduced stream power was found (significant at the 90% confidence level). Observed changes in streamflow and stream power may be related to increasing weekly maximum air temperature measured during the 40-year study period. The strong relationship between percent of basin covered and streamflow indicates that MODIS data is useful for predicting streamflow, leading to improved reservoir management.

Transformation in the pharmaceutical industry: transformation-induced quality risks--a survey.

PubMed

Shafiei, Nader; Ford, James L; Morecroft, Charles W; Lisboa, Paulo J; Taylor, Mark J; Mouzughi, Yusra

2013-01-01

This paper is the fourth in a series that explores ongoing transformation in the pharmaceutical industry and its impact on pharmaceutical quality from the perspective of risk identification. The aim of this paper is to validate proposed quality risks through elicitation of expert opinion and define the resultant quality risk model. Expert opinion was obtained using a questionnaire-based survey with participants with recognized expertise in pharmaceutical regulation, product lifecycle, or technology. The results of the survey validate the theoretical and operational evidence in support of the four main pharmaceutical transformation triggers previously identified. The quality risk model resulting from the survey indicated a firm relationship between the pharmaceutical quality risks and regulatory compliance outcomes during the marketing approval and post-marketing phases of the product lifecycle and a weaker relationship during the pre-market evaluation phase. In this paper through conduct of an expert opinion survey the proposed quality risks carried forward from an earlier part of the research are validated and resultant quality risk model is defined. The survey results validate the theoretical and operational evidence previously identified. The quality risk model indicates that transformation-related risks have a larger regulatory compliance impact during product approval, manufacturing, distribution, and commercial use than during the development phase.

The cortical basis of true memory and false memory for motion.

PubMed

Karanian, Jessica M; Slotnick, Scott D

2014-02-01

Behavioral evidence indicates that false memory, like true memory, can be rich in sensory detail. By contrast, there is fMRI evidence that true memory for visual information produces greater activity in earlier visual regions than false memory, which suggests true memory is associated with greater sensory detail. However, false memory in previous fMRI paradigms may have lacked sufficient sensory detail to recruit earlier visual processing regions. To investigate this possibility in the present fMRI study, we employed a paradigm that produced feature-specific false memory with a high degree of visual detail. During the encoding phase, moving or stationary abstract shapes were presented to the left or right of fixation. During the retrieval phase, shapes from encoding were presented at fixation and participants classified each item as previously "moving" or "stationary" within each visual field. Consistent with previous fMRI findings, true memory but not false memory for motion activated motion processing region MT+, while both true memory and false memory activated later cortical processing regions. In addition, false memory but not true memory for motion activated language processing regions. The present findings indicate that true memory activates earlier visual regions to a greater degree than false memory, even under conditions of detailed retrieval. Thus, the dissociation between previous behavioral findings and fMRI findings do not appear to be task dependent. Future work will be needed to assess whether the same pattern of true memory and false memory activity is observed for different sensory modalities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative Study of foF2 Measurements with IRI-2007 Model Predictions During Extended Solar Minimum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zakharenkova, I. E.; Krankowski, A.; Bilitza, D.; Cherniak, Iu.V.; Shagimuratov, I.I.; Sieradzki, R.

2013-01-01

The unusually deep and extended solar minimum of cycle 2324 made it very difficult to predict the solar indices 1 or 2 years into the future. Most of the predictions were proven wrong by the actual observed indices. IRI gets its solar, magnetic, and ionospheric indices from an indices file that is updated twice a year. In recent years, due to the unusual solar minimum, predictions had to be corrected downward with every new indices update. In this paper we analyse how much the uncertainties in the predictability of solar activity indices affect the IRI outcome and how the IRI values calculated with predicted and observed indices compared to the actual measurements.Monthly median values of F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) derived from the ionosonde measurements at the mid-latitude ionospheric station Juliusruh were compared with the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2007) model predictions. The analysis found that IRIprovides reliable results that compare well with actual measurements, when the definite (observed and adjusted) indices of solar activityare used, while IRI values based on earlier predictions of these indices noticeably overestimated the measurements during the solar minimum.One of the principal objectives of this paper is to direct attention of IRI users to update their solar activity indices files regularly.Use of an older index file can lead to serious IRI overestimations of F-region electron density during the recent extended solar minimum.

The Temporal Courses of Phonological and Orthographic Encoding in Handwritten Production in Chinese: An ERP Study

PubMed Central

Zhang, Qingfang; Wang, Cheng

2016-01-01

A central issue in written production concerns how phonological codes influence the output of orthographic codes. We used a picture-word interference paradigm combined with the event-related potential technique to investigate the temporal courses of phonological and orthographic activation and their interplay in Chinese writing. Distractors were orthographically related, phonologically related, orthographically plus phonologically related, or unrelated to picture names. The behavioral results replicated the classic facilitation effect for all three types of relatedness. The ERP results indicated an orthographic effect in the time window of 370–500 ms (onset latency: 370 ms), a phonological effect in the time window of 460–500 ms (onset latency: 464 ms), and an additive pattern of both effects in both time windows, thus indicating that orthographic codes were accessed earlier than, and independent of, phonological codes in written production. The orthographic activation originates from the semantic system, whereas the phonological effect results from the activation spreading from the orthographic lexicon to the phonological lexicon. These findings substantially strengthen the existing evidence that shows that access to orthographic codes is not mediated by phonological information, and they provide important support for the orthographic autonomy hypothesis. PMID:27605911

Participation in Pre-High School Football and Neurological, Neuroradiological, and Neuropsychological Findings in Later Life: A Study of 45 Retired National Football League Players.

PubMed

Solomon, Gary S; Kuhn, Andrew W; Zuckerman, Scott L; Casson, Ira R; Viano, David C; Lovell, Mark R; Sills, Allen K

2016-05-01

A recent study found that an earlier age of first exposure (AFE) to tackle football was associated with long-term neurocognitive impairment in retired National Football League (NFL) players. To assess the association between years of exposure to pre-high school football (PreYOE) and neuroradiological, neurological, and neuropsychological outcome measures in a different sample of retired NFL players. Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Forty-five former NFL players were included in this study. All participants prospectively completed extensive history taking, a neurological examination, brain magnetic resonance imaging, and a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. To measure the associations between PreYOE and these outcome measures, multiple regression models were utilized while controlling for several covariates. After applying a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, none of the neurological, neuroradiological, or neuropsychological outcome measures yielded a significant relationship with PreYOE. A second Bonferroni-corrected analysis of a subset of these athletes with self-reported learning disability yielded no significant relationships on paper-and-pencil neurocognitive tests but did result in a significant association between learning disability and computerized indices of visual motor speed and reaction time. The current study failed to replicate the results of a prior study, which concluded that an earlier AFE to tackle football might result in long-term neurocognitive deficits. In 45 retired NFL athletes, there were no associations between PreYOE and neuroradiological, neurological, and neuropsychological outcome measures. © 2016 The Author(s).

Quercus pollen season dynamics in the Iberian peninsula: response to meteorological parameters and possible consequences of climate change.

PubMed

Garcia-Mozo, Herminia; Galan, Carmen; Jato, Victoria; Belmonte, Jordina; de la Guardia, Consuelo; Fernandez, Delia; Gutierrez, Montserrat; Aira, M; Roure, Joan; Ruiz, Luis; Trigo, Mar; Dominguez-Vilches, Eugenio

2006-01-01

The main characteristics of the Quercus pollination season were studied in 14 different localities of the Iberian Peninsula from 1992-2004. Results show that Quercus flowering season has tended to start earlier in recent years, probably due to the increased temperatures in the pre-flowering period, detected at study sites over the second half of the 20th century. A Growing Degree Days forecasting model was used, together with future meteorological data forecast using the Regional Climate Model developed by the Hadley Meteorological Centre, in order to determine the expected advance in the start of Quercus pollination in future years. At each study site, airborne pollen curves presented a similar pattern in all study years, with different peaks over the season attributable in many cases to the presence of several species. High pollen concentrations were recorded, particularly at Mediterranean sites. This study also proposes forecasting models to predict both daily pollen values and annual pollen emission. All models were externally validated using data for 2001 and 2004, with acceptable results. Finally, the impact of the highly-likely climate change on Iberian Quercus pollen concentration values was studied by applying RCM meteorological data for different future years, 2025, 2050, 2075 and 2099. Results indicate that under a doubled CO(2) scenario at the end of the 21st century Quercus pollination season could start on average one month earlier and airborne pollen concentrations will increase by 50 % with respect to current levels, with higher values in Mediterranean inland areas.

The Lake Urmia environmental disaster in Iran: A look at aerosol pollution.

PubMed

Hossein Mardi, Ali; Khaghani, Ali; MacDonald, Alexander B; Nguyen, Phu; Karimi, Neamat; Heidary, Parisa; Karimi, Nima; Saemian, Peyman; Sehatkashani, Saviz; Tajrishy, Massoud; Sorooshian, Armin

2018-08-15

Lake Urmia (LU) once was the second largest hypersaline lake in the world, covering up to 6000km 2 , but has undergone catastrophic desiccation in recent years resulting in loss of 90% of its area and extensive coverage by playas and marshlands that represent a source of salt and dust. This study examines daily Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) between 2001 and 2015 over northwestern Iran, which encompasses LU. Intriguingly, salt emissions from the LU surface associated with ongoing desiccation do not drive the study region's AOD profile, whereas pollution transported from other regions and emissions around LU are more important. Signatures of increasing local crustal emissions are most evident outside of the peak dust season (January, February, and October) and on the periphery of LU. AOD has generally increased in the latter half of the study period with the onset of the AOD ramp-up starting a month earlier in the spring season when comparing 2009-2015 versus earlier years. Results indicate that suppression of emissions on the LU border is critical as the combined area of salt and salty soil bodies around LU have increased by two orders of magnitude in the past two decades, and disturbing these areas via activities such as grazing and salt harvesting on the lake surface can have more detrimental impacts on regional pollution as compared to benefits. These results have important implications for public health, climate, the hydrological cycle, and pollution control efforts. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Seasonal Transitions and the Westerly Jet in the Holocene East Asian Summer Monsoon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiang, J. C. H.; Kong, W.; Swenson, L. M.

2016-12-01

The Holocene East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) evolution was previously characterized as a trend towards weaker monsoon intensity paced by orbital insolation. We argue that this evolution is more accurately characterized as changes in the transition timing and duration of the EASM seasonal stages (Spring, pre Mei-Yu, Mei-Yu, Midsummer), and tied to the north-south displacement of the westerlies relative to Tibet. To this end, we employ atmospheric general circulation model time-slice simulations across the Holocene, and objectively identify the transition timing and duration of the EASM seasonal stages. Compared to the late Holocene, we find an earlier onset of Mei-Yu and an earlier transition from Mei-Yu to Summer in the early-mid Holocene, resulting in a shortened Mei-Yu and prolonged Summer stage. These changes are accompanied by an earlier northward positioning of the westerlies relative to Tibet. Our hypothesis provides a more satisfactory explanation for two key observations of Holocene East Asian climate: the `asynchronous Holocene optimum', and changes to East Asian dustiness. Our results highlight a key difference in the way that the East Asian monsoon dynamically responds to precessional insolation changes compared to the other monsoons. For other monsoon systems, changes to the land-ocean contrast drive changes to monsoon intensity. While this also occurs for the East Asian monsoon, more importantly changes to the meridional position of the westerlies relative to the Tibetan Plateau determine the timing of seasonal transitions; a northward shift triggers earlier seasonal rainfall transitions and in particular a shorter Mei-Yu and longer Midsummer stage. By similar reasoning, changes to obliquity also strongly affect East Asian summer monsoon seasonality, with a larger tilt resulting in earlier northward shift of the westerlies.

Cholesterol testing and results

MedlinePlus

... profile results; Hyperlipidemia-results; Lipid disorder test results; Heart disease - cholesterol results ... at an earlier age if you have: Diabetes Heart disease Stroke High blood pressure A strong family history ...

The fifth plot of the Carcinogenic Potency Database: results of animal bioassays published in the general literature through 1988 and by the National Toxicology Program through 1989.

PubMed Central

Gold, L S; Manley, N B; Slone, T H; Garfinkel, G B; Rohrbach, L; Ames, B N

1993-01-01

This paper is the fifth plot of the Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB) that first appeared in this journal in 1984 (1-5). We report here results of carcinogenesis bioassays published in the general literature between January 1987 and December 1988, and in technical reports of the National Toxicology Program between July 1987 and December 1989. This supplement includes results of 412 long-term, chronic experiments of 147 test compounds and reports the same information about each experiment in the same plot format as the earlier papers: the species and strain of test animal, the route and duration of compound administration, dose level and other aspects of experimental protocol, histopathology and tumor incidence, TD50 (carcinogenic potency) and its statistical significance, dose response, author's opinion about carcinogenicity, and literature citation. We refer the reader to the 1984 publications (1,5,6) for a guide to the plot of the database, a complete description of the numerical index of carcinogenic potency, and a discussion of the sources of data, the rationale for the inclusion of particular experiments and particular target sites, and the conventions adopted in summarizing the literature. The five plots of the database are to be used together, as results of individual experiments that were published earlier are not repeated. In all, the five plots include results of 4487 experiments on 1136 chemicals. Several analyses based on the CPDB that were published earlier are described briefly, and updated results based on all five plots are given for the following earlier analyses: the most potent TD50 value by species, reproducibility of bioassay results, positivity rates, and prediction between species.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) PMID:8354183

Population ecology of turbot and brill: What can we learn from two rare flatfish species?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Hammen, Tessa; Poos, Jan Jaap; van Overzee, Harriët M. J.; Heessen, Henk J. L.; Magnusson, Arni; Rijnsdorp, Adriaan D.

2013-11-01

Turbot and brill are widely distributed in the Northeast Atlantic but occur at low abundance. They are ecologically very similar and closely related. The low abundance and the similarities make them particularly interesting to study the population dynamics because it raises the questions how the populations can sustain themselves at low abundances and how turbot and brill avoid strong interspecific competition. Knowledge of both species is hampered by lack of analysed data. The main objective of this study is therefore to increase the knowledge of turbot and brill and in particular to compare the two species in order to address the above questions. Based on biological samples collected in the North Sea, we calculated seasonal von Bertalanffy growth parameters, maturity ogives, monthly gonado-somatic indices (GSI) and condition factors (Fulton's K) and indices of inter- and intraspecific mean crowding and compared the results for turbot and brill. The main differences between the two species were found in their spawning period, with brill having a more protracted spawning period. Brill also showed an earlier peak in their GSI values, suggesting an earlier start of their spawning period. The mean crowding showed that interspecific competition was lower than intraspecific competition. The exploitation pattern was also studied. Turbot and brill are exploited as a bycatch species in the mixed demersal fishery. We found that productivity is highest in areas where the maximum temperature is close to the optimal temperature for growth (16-18 °C) and landings decrease where salinity falls below ~ 5 psu (turbot) and ~ 15 psu (brill). Recent fishing mortality rates of North Sea turbot are around 0.5-0.7, but there is no indication that recruitment is impaired at low levels of spawning stock biomass. We conclude that although both species have similar ecological characteristics, differences may reduce inter-specific competition.

[Indications for genetic amniocentesis investigated at the Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics, and Oncologic Gynecology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Collegium Medicum, Bydgoszcz].

PubMed

Sadłecki, Paweł; Walentowicz-Sadłecka, Małgorzata; Pasińska, Magdalena; Adamczak, Rafał; Grabiec, Marek

2014-06-01

Genetic amniocentesis (GA) is the most common prenatal diagnostic test. One of the main indications for GA is maternal age of > or = 35 years. In many countries, the age indication has been replaced by an assessment of individual risk for chromosomal abnormalities, calculated on the basis of maternal age, pregnancy duration, as well as a combination of biochemical and ultrasound markers. The aim of the study was to investigate indications for and results of GA performed between 2010-2012 at the Department of Gynecology Obstetrics, and Oncologic Gynecology Nicolaus Copernicus University Collegium Medicum, Bydgoszcz. A total of 632 GA tests were performed at the Department of Gynecology Obstetrics, and Oncologic Gynecology Nicolaus Copernicus University Collegium Medicum, Bydgoszcz. Average maternal age was 34 (between 17 and 47 years), with patients < 35 constituting 47.9% (N = 303), and patients > or = 35 constituting 52.1% (N = 329) of the investigated group. Indications for GA as well as test results were analyzed in relation to maternal age. The result of earlier non-invasive tests were also analyzed. Abnormal ultrasound findings, combined with abnormal first-trimester screening results, were the most common indication (46.53%) for GA in patients < 35 years, whereas abnormal first-trimester screening results, combined with a history of obstetric complications, were the reason for GA in patients > or = 35 years. Mean time of GA was 16 gestational weeks in both groups. Abnormal karyotype was detected in 74 (11.7%) cases. 13 or any other abnormal karyotypes occurrence were observed in both age groups. GA-related complications (miscarriage/intrauterine fetal death) occurred in 9 (1.42%) cases. If performed properly GA between 15 and 20 weeks of pregnancy is a harmless procedure both, for the mother and the fetus, associated with an acceptable complication rate. Prenatal screening for the most common malformations and chromosomal aberrations should be offered to all pregnant women in Poland, regardless of their age.

Gender disparities in scholarly productivity within academic otolaryngology departments.

PubMed

Eloy, Jean Anderson; Svider, Peter; Chandrasekhar, Sujana S; Husain, Qasim; Mauro, Kevin M; Setzen, Michael; Baredes, Soly

2013-02-01

To examine whether there are gender disparities in scholarly productivity within academic otolaryngology departments, as measured by academic rank and the h-index, a published, objective measure of research contributions that quantifies the number and significance of papers published by a given author. Analysis of bibliometric data of academic otolaryngologists. Faculty listings from academic otolaryngology departments were used to determine academic rank and gender. The Scopus database was used to determine h-index and publication range (in years) of these faculty members. In addition, 20 randomly chosen institutions were used to compare academic otolaryngologists to faculty members in other surgical specialties. Mean h-indices increased through the rank of professor. Among academic otolaryngologists, men had significantly higher h-indices than women, a finding also noted on examination of faculty members from other specialties. Men had higher research productivity rates at earlier points in their career than women did. The productivity rates of women increased and equaled or surpassed those of men later in their careers. Men had higher absolute h-index values at junior academic ranks. Women academic otolaryngologists of senior rank had higher absolute h-indices than their male counterparts. The h-index measures research significance in an objective manner and indicates that although men have higher overall research productivity in academic otolaryngology, women demonstrate a different productivity curve. Women produce less research output earlier in their careers than men do, but at senior levels, they equal or exceed the research productivity of men.

Prebiotic phosphorus chemistry reconsidered

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwartz, A. W.; Orgel, L. E. (Principal Investigator)

1997-01-01

The available evidence indicates that the origin of life on Earth certainly occurred earlier than 3.5 billion years ago and perhaps substantially earlier. The time available for the chemical evolution which must have preceded this event is more difficult to estimate. Both endogenic and exogenic contributions to chemical evolution have been considered; i.e., from chemical reactions in a primitive atmosphere, or by introduction in the interiors of comets and/or meteorites. It is argued, however, that the phosphorus chemistry of Earth's earliest hydrosphere, whether primarily exogenic or endogenic in origin, was most likely dominated by compounds less oxidized than phosphoric acid and its esters. A scenario is presented for the early production of a suite of reactive phosphonic acid derivatives, the properties of which may have foreshadowed the later appearance of biophosphates.

Studying the effect on system preference by varying coproduct allocation in creating life-cycle inventory.

PubMed

Curran, Mary Ann

2007-10-15

How one models the input and output data for a life-cycle assessment (LCA) can greatly affect the results. Although much attention has been paid to allocation methodology by researchers in the field, specific guidance is still lacking: Earlier research focused on the effects of applying various allocation schemes to industrial processes when creating life-cycle inventories. To determine the impact of different allocation approaches upon product choice, this study evaluated the gas- and water-phase emissions during the production, distribution, and use of three hypothetical fuel systems (data that represent conventional gasoline and gasoline with 8.7 and 85% ethanol were used as the basis for modeling). This paper presents an explanation of the allocation issue and the results from testing various allocation schemes (weight, volume, market value, energy, and demand-based) when viewed across the entire system. Impact indicators for global warming, ozone depletion, and human health noncancer (water impact) were lower for the ethanol-containing fuels, while impact indicators for acidification, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, human health criteria, and photochemical smog were lower for conventional gasoline (impacts for the water-related human health cancer category showed mixed results). The relative ranking of conventional gasoline in relation to the ethanol-containing fuels was consistent in all instances, suggesting that, in this case study, the choice of allocation methodology had no impact on indicating which fuel has lower environmental impacts.

Delivery performance of conventional aircraft by terminal-area, time-based air traffic control: A real-time simulation evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Credeur, Leonard; Houck, Jacob A.; Capron, William R.; Lohr, Gary W.

1990-01-01

A description and results are presented of a study to measure the performance and reaction of airline flight crews, in a full workload DC-9 cockpit, flying in a real-time simulation of an air traffic control (ATC) concept called Traffic Intelligence for the Management of Efficient Runway-scheduling (TIMER). Experimental objectives were to verify earlier fast-time TIMER time-delivery precision results and obtain data for the validation or refinement of existing computer models of pilot/airborne performance. Experimental data indicated a runway threshold, interarrival-time-error standard deviation in the range of 10.4 to 14.1 seconds. Other real-time system performance parameters measured include approach speeds, response time to controller turn instructions, bank angles employed, and ATC controller message delivery-time errors.

Weighting for sex acts to understand the spread of STI on networks.

PubMed

Moslonka-Lefebvre, Mathieu; Bonhoeffer, Sebastian; Alizon, Samuel

2012-10-21

Human sexual networks exhibit a heterogeneous structure where few individuals have many partners and many individuals have few partners. Network theory predicts that the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STI) on such networks should exhibit striking properties (e.g. rapid spread). However, these properties cannot be found in epidemiological data. Current network models typically assume a constant STI transmission risk per partnership, which is unrealistic because it implies that sexual activity is proportional to the number of partners and that individuals have the same activity with each partner. We develop a framework that allows us to weight any sexual network based on biological assumptions. Our results indicate that STI spreading on the resulting weighted networks do not have heterogeneous-related properties, which is consistent with data and earlier studies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Climate change and sexual size dimorphism in an Arctic spider

PubMed Central

Høye, Toke Thomas; Hammel, Jörg U.; Fuchs, Thomas; Toft, Søren

2009-01-01

Climate change is advancing the onset of the growing season and this is happening at a particularly fast rate in the High Arctic. However, in most species the relative fitness implications for males and females remain elusive. Here, we present data on 10 successive cohorts of the wolf spider Pardosa glacialis from Zackenberg in High-Arctic, northeast Greenland. We found marked inter-annual variation in adult body size (carapace width) and this variation was greater in females than in males. Earlier snowmelt during both years of its biennial maturation resulted in larger adult body sizes and a skew towards positive sexual size dimorphism (females bigger than males). These results illustrate the pervasive influence of climate on key life-history traits and indicate that male and female responses to climate should be investigated separately whenever possible. PMID:19435831

Trends and uncertainties in budburst projections of Norway spruce in Northern Europe.

PubMed

Olsson, Cecilia; Olin, Stefan; Lindström, Johan; Jönsson, Anna Maria

2017-12-01

Budburst is regulated by temperature conditions, and a warming climate is associated with earlier budburst. A range of phenology models has been developed to assess climate change effects, and they tend to produce different results. This is mainly caused by different model representations of tree physiology processes, selection of observational data for model parameterization, and selection of climate model data to generate future projections. In this study, we applied (i) Bayesian inference to estimate model parameter values to address uncertainties associated with selection of observational data, (ii) selection of climate model data representative of a larger dataset, and (iii) ensembles modeling over multiple initial conditions, model classes, model parameterizations, and boundary conditions to generate future projections and uncertainty estimates. The ensemble projection indicated that the budburst of Norway spruce in northern Europe will on average take place 10.2 ± 3.7 days earlier in 2051-2080 than in 1971-2000, given climate conditions corresponding to RCP 8.5. Three provenances were assessed separately (one early and two late), and the projections indicated that the relationship among provenance will remain also in a warmer climate. Structurally complex models were more likely to fail predicting budburst for some combinations of site and year than simple models. However, they contributed to the overall picture of current understanding of climate impacts on tree phenology by capturing additional aspects of temperature response, for example, chilling. Model parameterizations based on single sites were more likely to result in model failure than parameterizations based on multiple sites, highlighting that the model parameterization is sensitive to initial conditions and may not perform well under other climate conditions, whether the change is due to a shift in space or over time. By addressing a range of uncertainties, this study showed that ensemble modeling provides a more robust impact assessment than would a single phenology model run.

Association of deformation and fluid events in the central Brooks Range fold-and-thrust belt, Northern Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Thomas E.; Potter, Christopher J.; O'Sullivan, Paul B.; Shelton, Kevin L.; Underwood, Michael B.

2003-01-01

Ocentral Brooks Range consists of two superposed north-directed contractional orogens, one formed between 140-120 Ma and the other at ~60-45 Ma. The older orogen was an arc-continent collisional zone characterized by far-traveled allochthons and relatively low structural relief. The younger orogen is a retroarc thrust belt with relatively low amounts of shortening and high structural relief. Folding and thrusting of the younger episode is superimposed on the thin-skinned deformational wedge of the earlier orogen and also produced a frontal triangle zone in a thick sequence of mid-Cretaceous foreland basin sediments to the north. Stable isotope compositions of calcite and quartz veins indicate two fluid events including: (1) an earlier, higher-temperature (~250-300° C) event that produced veins in deformed Devonian clastic rocks, and (2) a younger, lower-temperature (~150° C) event that deposited veins in deformed Mississippian through Albian strata. The fluids in the first event had variable d18O values, but nearly constant d13C values buffered by limestone lithologies. The vein-forming fluids in the second event had similarly variable d18O values, but with distinctly lower d13C values as a result of oxidation of organic matter and/or methane. Zircon fission track ages demonstrate cooling to temperatures below 200° C between 140-120 Ma for the Devonian rocks, whereas zircon and apatite fission track ages show that Mississippian to Albian rocks were never heated above 200° C and cooled below 110-90° C at ~60-45 Ma. These data are interpreted as indicating that the older, high-temperature fluid event was active during thrusting at 120-140 Ma, and the younger fluid event during deformation at ~60-45 Ma. The data and results presented in this poster will be published in early 2004 in Moore and others (in press).

Shift Work and Cognitive Flexibility: Decomposing Task Performance.

PubMed

Cheng, Philip; Tallent, Gabriel; Bender, Thomas John; Tran, Kieulinh Michelle; Drake, Christopher L

2017-04-01

Deficits in cognitive functioning associated with shift work are particularly relevant to occupational performance; however, few studies have examined how cognitive functioning is associated with specific components of shift work. This observational study examined how circadian phase, nocturnal sleepiness, and daytime insomnia in a sample of shift workers ( N = 30) were associated with cognitive flexibility during the night shift. Cognitive flexibility was measured using a computerized task-switching paradigm, which produces 2 indexes of flexibility: switch cost and set inhibition. Switch cost represents the additional cognitive effort required in switching to a different task and can impact performance when multitasking is involved. Set inhibition is the efficiency in returning to previously completed tasks and represents the degree of cognitive perseveration, which can lead to reduced accuracy. Circadian phase was measured via melatonin assays, nocturnal sleepiness was assessed using the Multiple Sleep Latency Test, and daytime insomnia was assessed using the Insomnia Severity Index. Results indicated that those with an earlier circadian phase, insomnia, and sleepiness exhibited reduced cognitive flexibility; however, specific components of cognitive flexibility were differentially associated with circadian phase, insomnia, and sleepiness. Individuals with an earlier circadian phase (thus more misaligned to the night shift) exhibited larger switch costs, which was also associated with reduced task efficiency. Shift workers with more daytime insomnia demonstrated difficulties with cognitive inhibition, whereas nocturnal sleepiness was associated with difficulties in reactivating previous tasks. Deficits in set inhibition were also related to reduced accuracy and increased perseverative errors. Together, this study indicates that task performance deficits in shift work are complex and are variably impacted by different mechanisms. Future research may examine phenotypic differences in shift work and the associated consequences. Results also suggest that fatigue risk management strategies may benefit from increased scope and specificity in assessment of sleep, sleepiness, and circadian rhythms in shift workers.

Early life stress accelerates behavioral and neural maturation of the hippocampus in male mice.

PubMed

Bath, K; Manzano-Nieves, G; Goodwill, H

2016-06-01

Early life stress (ELS) increases the risk for later cognitive and emotional dysfunction. ELS is known to truncate neural development through effects on suppressing cell birth, increasing cell death, and altering neuronal morphology, effects that have been associated with behavioral profiles indicative of precocious maturation. However, how earlier silencing of growth drives accelerated behavioral maturation has remained puzzling. Here, we test the novel hypothesis that, ELS drives a switch from growth to maturation to accelerate neural and behavioral development. To test this, we used a mouse model of ELS, fragmented maternal care, and a cross-sectional dense sampling approach focusing on hippocampus and measured effects of ELS on the ontogeny of behavioral development and biomarkers of neural maturation. Consistent with previous work, ELS was associated with an earlier developmental decline in expression of markers of cell proliferation (Ki-67) and differentiation (doublecortin). However, ELS also led to a precocious arrival of Parvalbumin-positive cells, led to an earlier switch in NMDA receptor subunit expression (marker of synaptic maturity), and was associated with an earlier rise in myelin basic protein expression (key component of the myelin sheath). In addition, in a contextual fear-conditioning task, ELS accelerated the timed developmental suppression of contextual fear. Together, these data provide support for the hypothesis that ELS serves to switch neurodevelopment from processes of growth to maturation and promotes accelerated development of some forms of emotional learning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sexual Violence Victimization History and Sexual Risk Indicators in a Community-Based Urban Cohort of “Mostly Heterosexual” and Heterosexual Young Women

PubMed Central

Austin, S. Bryn; Roberts, Andrea L.; Corliss, Heather L.; Molnar, Beth E.

2008-01-01

Objectives. We sought to examine sexual violence victimization in childhood and sexual risk indicators in young adulthood in a primarily Latina and Black cohort of “mostly heterosexual” and heterosexual women in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Methods. In 2000, a comprehensive survey that assessed sexual orientation, sexual risk indicators, and sexual abuse victimization was completed by 391 young women (aged 18 to 24 years) who had participated in PHDCN. We used multivariable regression methods to examine sexual orientation group differences in sexual risk indicators and to assess whether childhood sexual abuse may mediate relationships. Results. Compared with self-reported heterosexual women, self-reported “mostly heterosexual” women were more likely to report having been the victim of childhood sexual abuse, to have had a sexually transmitted infection, to report an earlier age of first sexual intercourse, and to have had more sexual partners. Childhood sexual abuse did not mediate relationships between sexual orientation and sexual risk indicators. Conclusions. Our findings add to the evidence that “mostly heterosexual” women experience greater health risk than do heterosexual women. In addition, “mostly heterosexual” women are at high risk for having experienced childhood sexual abuse. PMID:17901440

Use of a unipedal standing test to assess the ambulation reacquisition time during the early postoperative stage after hip fracture in elderly Japanese: prospective study.

PubMed

Murata, Koichi; Sugitani, Shigeki; Yoshioka, Hiroki; Noguchi, Takashi; Aoto, Toshiyuki; Nakamura, Takashi

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to predict the ambulation reacquisition time after hip fracture in elderly people using the unipedal standing test during the early postoperative stage. Patients with an intertrochanteric fracture treated with internal fixation (n = 35) and patients with a femoral neck fracture treated with hemiarthroplasty (n = 22) were included. A unipedal standing test using the nonoperated leg was performed on days 3 and 7 after the operation. Among the patients with an intertrochanteric fracture, those with a positive result on the unipedal standing test on postoperative day (POD) 3 attained gait with parallel guide bars (BG) and walker-assisted gait (WG) significantly earlier than did patients with a negative result on the unipedal standing test. Patients with a positive result on the unipedal standing test on POD 7 attained BG, WG, and cane-assisted gait (CG) significantly earlier than did patients with a negative test. Among patients with a femoral neck fracture, those with a positive unipedal standing test result on POD 3 attained BG, WG, and CG significantly earlier than did patients with a negative test. Those with a positive test result on POD 7 attained BG, WG, and CG significantly earlier than did patients with a negative test. The unipedal standing test given during the early postoperative stage is a good test for predicting the ambulation reacquisition time. Moreover, it gives information that can help determine the need for subacute rehabilitation and about discharge planning and health service provision.

The immunological capacity in the larvae of Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas.

PubMed

Song, Xiaorui; Wang, Hao; Xin, Lusheng; Xu, Jiachao; Jia, Zhihao; Wang, Lingling; Song, Linsheng

2016-02-01

As the immune system has not fully developed during early developmental stages, bivalve larvae are more susceptible for pathogens, which frequently leads to the significant mortality in hatcheries. In the present study, the development of immune system and its response against bacteria challenge were investigated in order to characterize the repertoire of immunological capacity of Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas during the ontogenesis. The phagocytosis was firstly observed in the early D-veliger larvae (17 hpf), especially in their velum site, which indicated the appearance of functional hemocytes during early D-veliger larvae stage. The whole-mount immunofluorescence assay of three pattern recognition receptors (integrin β-1, caspase-3 and C-type lectin 3) and one immune effector gene (IL17-5) was performed in blastula, early D-veliger and umbo larvae, suggested that velum and digestive gland were the potential sites of immune system in the larvae. The lowest activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) and hydrolytic enzyme (lysozyme), as well as descended expression levels of 12 immune genes at the transition between embryogenesis and planktonic, indicated that the larvae at hatching (9 hpf) were in hypo-immunity. While the ascending activities of enzymes and expression levels of seven immune genes during the trochophore stage (15 hpf) suggested the initiation of immune system. The steadily increasing trend of all the 12 candidate genes at the early umbo larvae (120 h) hinted that the immune system was well developed at this stage. After bacterial challenge, some immune recognition (TLR4) and immune effector (IL17-5 and defh2) genes were activated in blastula stage (4 hpf), and other immune genes were up regulated in D-veliger larvae, indicating that the zygotic immune system could respond earlier against the bacterial challenge during its development. These results indicated that the cellular and humoral immune components appeared at trochophore stage, and the cellular immune system was activated with its occurrence, while the humoral immune system executed until the early umbo larval stage. The immune system emerged earlier to aid larvae in defending bacterial challenge during the early stages of oyster development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geologic and paleoseismic study of the Lavic Lake fault at Lavic Lake Playa, Mojave Desert, Southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rymer, M.J.; Seitz, G.G.; Weaver, K.D.; Orgil, A.; Faneros, G.; Hamilton, J.C.; Goetz, C.

2002-01-01

Paleoseismic investigations of the Lavic Lake fault at Lavic Lake playa place constraints on the timing of a possible earlier earthquake along the 1999 Hector Mine rupture trace and reveal evidence of the timing of the penultimate earthquake on a strand of the Lavic Lake fault that did not rupture in 1999. Three of our four trenches, trenches A, B, and C, were excavated across the 1999 Hector Mine rupture; a fourth trench, D, was excavated across a vegetation lineament that had only minor slip at its southern end in 1999. Trenches A-C exposed strata that are broken only by the 1999 rupture; trench D exposed horizontal bedding that is locally warped and offset by faults. Stratigraphic evidence for the timing of an earlier earthquake along the 1999 rupture across Lavic Lake playa was not exposed. Thus, an earlier event, if there was one along that rupture trace, predates the lowest stratigraphic level exposed in our trenches. Radiocarbon dating of strata near the bottom of trenches constrains a possible earlier event to some time earlier than about 4950 B.C. Buried faults revealed in trench D are below a vegetation lineament at the ground surface. A depositional contact about 80 cm below the ground surface acts as the upward termination of fault breaks in trench D. Thus, this contact may be the event horizon for a surface-rupturing earthquake prior to 1999-the penultimate earthquake on the Lavic Lake fault. Radiocarbon ages of detrital charcoal samples from immediately below the event horizon indicate that the earthquake associated with the faulting occurred later than A.D. 260. An approximately 1300-year age difference between two samples at about the same stratigraphic level below the event horizon suggests the potential for a long residence time of detrital charcoal in the area. Coupled with a lack of bioturbation that could introduce young organic material into the stratigraphic section, the charcoal ages provide only a maximum bounding age; thus, the recognized event may be younger. There is abundant, subtle evidence for pre-1999 activity of the Lavic Lake fault in the playa area, even though the fault was not mapped near the playa prior to the Hector Mine earthquake. The most notable indicators for long-term presence of the fault are pronounced, persistent vegetation lineaments and uplifted basalt exposures. Primary and secondary slip occurred in 1999 on two southern vegetation lineaments, and minor slip locally formed on a northern lineament; trench exposures across the northern vegetation lineament revealed the post-A.D. 260 earthquake, and a geomorphic trough extends northward into alluvial fan deposits in line with this lineament. The presence of two basalt exposures in Lavic lake playa indicates the presence of persistent compressional steps and uplift along the fault. Fault-line scarps are additional geomorphic markers of repeated slip events in basalt exposures.

Dimensionality and Reliability of Letter Writing in 3- to 5-Year-Old Preschool Children

PubMed Central

Puranik, Cynthia S.; Petscher, Yaacov; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2015-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the dimensionality and reliability of letter writing skills in preschool children with the aim of determining whether a sequence existed in how children learn to write the letters of the alphabet. Additionally, we examined gender differences in the development of letter writing skills. 471 children aged 3 to 5 years old completed a letter writing task. Results from factor analyses indicated that letter writing represented a unidimensional skill. Similar to research findings that the development of letter-names and letter-sound knowledge varies in acquisition, our findings indicate that the ability to write some letters is acquired earlier than the ability to write other letters. Although there appears to be an approximate sequence for the easiest and most difficult letters, there appears to be a less clear sequence for letters in the middle stages of development. Overall, girls had higher letter writing scores compared to boys. Gender differences regarding difficulty writing specific letters was less conclusive; however, results indicated that when controlling for ability level, girls had a higher probability of writing a letter correctly than boys. Implications of these findings for the assessment and instruction of letter writing are discussed. PMID:26346443

Chinese children's early knowledge about writing.

PubMed

Zhang, Lan; Yin, Li; Treiman, Rebecca

2017-09-01

Much research on literacy development has focused on learners of alphabetic writing systems. Researchers have hypothesized that children learn about the formal characteristics of writing before they learn about the relations between units of writing and units of speech. We tested this hypothesis by examining young Chinese children's understanding of writing. Mandarin-speaking 2- to 5-year-olds completed a graphic task, which tapped their knowledge about the formal characteristics of writing, and a phonological task, which tapped their knowledge about the correspondence between Chinese characters and syllables. The 3- to 5-year-olds performed better on the graphic task than the phonological task, indicating that learning how writing appears visually begins earlier than learning that writing corresponds to linguistic units, even in a writing system in which written units correspond to syllables. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Learning about writing's visual form, how it looks, is an important part of emergent literacy. Knowledge of how writing symbolizes linguistic units may emerge later. What does this study add? We test the hypothesis that Chinese children learn about writing's visual form earlier than its symbolic nature. Chinese 3- to 5- year-olds know more about visual features than character-syllable links. Results show learning of the visual appearance of a notation system is developmentally precocious. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

On the origin of mongrels: evolutionary history of free-breeding dogs in Eurasia

PubMed Central

Pilot, Małgorzata; Malewski, Tadeusz; Moura, Andre E.; Grzybowski, Tomasz; Oleński, Kamil; Ruść, Anna; Kamiński, Stanisław; Ruiz Fadel, Fernanda; Mills, Daniel S.; Alagaili, Abdulaziz N.; Mohammed, Osama B.; Kłys, Grzegorz; Okhlopkov, Innokentiy M.; Suchecka, Ewa; Bogdanowicz, Wiesław

2015-01-01

Although a large part of the global domestic dog population is free-ranging and free-breeding, knowledge of genetic diversity in these free-breeding dogs (FBDs) and their ancestry relations to pure-breed dogs is limited, and the indigenous status of FBDs in Asia is still uncertain. We analyse genome-wide SNP variability of FBDs across Eurasia, and show that they display weak genetic structure and are genetically distinct from pure-breed dogs rather than constituting an admixture of breeds. Our results suggest that modern European breeds originated locally from European FBDs. East Asian and Arctic breeds show closest affinity to East Asian FBDs, and they both represent the earliest branching lineages in the phylogeny of extant Eurasian dogs. Our biogeographic reconstruction of ancestral distributions indicates a gradual westward expansion of East Asian indigenous dogs to the Middle East and Europe through Central and West Asia, providing evidence for a major expansion that shaped the patterns of genetic differentiation in modern dogs. This expansion was probably secondary and could have led to the replacement of earlier resident populations in Western Eurasia. This could explain why earlier studies based on modern DNA suggest East Asia as the region of dog origin, while ancient DNA and archaeological data point to Western Eurasia. PMID:26631564

On the origin of mongrels: evolutionary history of free-breeding dogs in Eurasia.

PubMed

Pilot, Małgorzata; Malewski, Tadeusz; Moura, Andre E; Grzybowski, Tomasz; Oleński, Kamil; Ruść, Anna; Kamiński, Stanisław; Ruiz Fadel, Fernanda; Mills, Daniel S; Alagaili, Abdulaziz N; Mohammed, Osama B; Kłys, Grzegorz; Okhlopkov, Innokentiy M; Suchecka, Ewa; Bogdanowicz, Wiesław

2015-12-07

Although a large part of the global domestic dog population is free-ranging and free-breeding, knowledge of genetic diversity in these free-breeding dogs (FBDs) and their ancestry relations to pure-breed dogs is limited, and the indigenous status of FBDs in Asia is still uncertain. We analyse genome-wide SNP variability of FBDs across Eurasia, and show that they display weak genetic structure and are genetically distinct from pure-breed dogs rather than constituting an admixture of breeds. Our results suggest that modern European breeds originated locally from European FBDs. East Asian and Arctic breeds show closest affinity to East Asian FBDs, and they both represent the earliest branching lineages in the phylogeny of extant Eurasian dogs. Our biogeographic reconstruction of ancestral distributions indicates a gradual westward expansion of East Asian indigenous dogs to the Middle East and Europe through Central and West Asia, providing evidence for a major expansion that shaped the patterns of genetic differentiation in modern dogs. This expansion was probably secondary and could have led to the replacement of earlier resident populations in Western Eurasia. This could explain why earlier studies based on modern DNA suggest East Asia as the region of dog origin, while ancient DNA and archaeological data point to Western Eurasia. © 2015 The Author(s).

Advances in Electronic-Nose Technologies for the Detection of Volatile Biomarker Metabolites in the Human Breath

PubMed Central

Wilson, Alphus D.

2015-01-01

Recent advancements in the use of electronic-nose (e-nose) devices to analyze human breath profiles for the presence of specific volatile metabolites, known as biomarkers or chemical bio-indicators of specific human diseases, metabolic disorders and the overall health status of individuals, are providing the potential for new noninvasive tools and techniques useful to point-of-care clinical disease diagnoses. This exciting new area of electronic disease detection and diagnosis promises to yield much faster and earlier detection of human diseases and disorders, allowing earlier, more effective treatments, resulting in more rapid patient recovery from various afflictions. E-nose devices are particularly suited for the field of disease diagnostics, because they are sensitive to a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and can effectively distinguish between different complex gaseous mixtures via analysis of electronic aroma sensor-array output profiles of volatile metabolites present in the human breath. This review provides a summary of some recent developments of electronic-nose technologies, particularly involving breath analysis, with the potential for providing many new diagnostic applications for the detection of specific human diseases associated with different organs in the body, detectable from e-nose analyses of aberrant disease-associated VOCs present in air expired from the lungs. PMID:25738426

Age at onset of major depressive disorder in Han Chinese women: Relationship with clinical features and family history☆

PubMed Central

Yang, Fuzhong; Li, Yihan; Xie, Dong; Shao, Chunhong; Ren, Jianer; Wu, Wenyuan; Zhang, Ning; Zhang, Zhen; Zou, Ying; Zhang, Jiulong; Qiao, Dongdong; Gao, Chengge; Li, Youhui; Hu, Jian; Deng, Hong; Wang, Gang; Du, Bo; Wang, Xumei; Liu, Tiebang; Gan, Zhaoyu; Peng, Juyi; Wei, Bo; Pan, Jiyang; Chen, Honghui; Sun, Shufan; Jia, Hong; Liu, Ying; Chen, Qiaoling; Wang, Xueyi; Cao, Juling; Lv, Luxian; Chen, Yunchun; Ha, Baowei; Ning, Yuping; Chen, YiPing; Kendler, Kenneth S.; Flint, Jonathan; Shi, Shenxun

2011-01-01

Background Individuals with early-onset depression may be a clinically distinct group with particular symptom patterns, illness course, comorbidity and family history. This question has not been previously investigated in a Han Chinese population. Methods We examined the clinical features of 1970 Han Chinese women with DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD) between 30 and 60 years of age across China. Analysis of linear, logistic and multiple logistic regression models was used to determine the association between age at onset (AAO) with continuous, binary and discrete characteristic clinical features of MDD. Results Earlier AAO was associated with more suicidal ideation and attempts and higher neuroticism, but fewer sleep, appetite and weight changes. Patients with an earlier AAO were more likely to suffer a chronic course (longer illness duration, more MDD episodes and longer index episode), increased rates of MDD in their parents and a lower likelihood of marriage. They tend to have higher comorbidity with anxiety disorders (general anxiety disorder, social phobia and agoraphobia) and dysthymia. Conclusions Early AAO in MDD may be an index of a more severe, highly comorbid and familial disorder. Our findings indicate that the features of MDD in China are similar to those reported elsewhere in the world. PMID:21782247

The effect of pavement markings on driving behaviour in curves: a simulator study.

PubMed

Ariën, Caroline; Brijs, Kris; Vanroelen, Giovanni; Ceulemans, Wesley; Jongen, Ellen M M; Daniels, Stijn; Brijs, Tom; Wets, Geert

2017-05-01

This study investigates the effect of two pavement markings (transverse rumble strips (TRS) and a backward pointing herringbone pattern (HP)) on speed and lateral control in and nearby curves. Two real-world curves with strong indications of a safety problem were replicated as realistic as possible in the simulator. Results show that both speed and lateral control differ between the curves. These behavioural differences are probably due to curve-related dissimilarities with respect to geometric alignment, cross-sectional design and speed limit. TRS and HP both influenced mean speed and mean acceleration/deceleration but not lateral control. TRS generated an earlier and more stable speed reduction than HP which induced significant speed reductions along the curve. The TRS gives drivers more time to generate the right expectations about the upcoming curve. When accidents occur primarily near the curve entry, TRS is recommended. The HP has the potential to reduce accidents at the curve end. Practitioner Summary: Two pavement markings (transversal rumble strips and HP) nearby dangerous curves were investigated in the driving simulator. TRS generated an earlier and more stable speed reduction than HP which induced speed reductions along the curve. The TRS gives drivers more time to generate right expectations about the upcoming curve.

Comorbidity of obsessive-compulsive disorder with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: Does it imply a specific subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder?

PubMed

Garyfallos, George; Katsigiannopoulos, Konstantinos; Adamopoulou, Aravela; Papazisis, Georgios; Karastergiou, Anastasia; Bozikas, Vasilios P

2010-05-15

The present study examined whether the comorbidity of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) constitute a specific subtype of OCD. The study sample consisted of 146 consecutive outpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of OCD. Diagnoses were established using MINI, IPDE, YBOCS and YBOCS-SC. OCD patients with comorbid OCPD were compared with OCD patients without OCPD on various sociodemographic and clinical variables. Almost one third of the OCD subjects met criteria for comorbid OCPD. OCD+OCPD patients had a significantly earlier age at onset of initial OC symptoms, earlier age at onset of OCD and more obsessions and compulsions than pure obsessions compared to the patients with OCDOCPD. OCD+OCPD patients also had a higher rate of comorbidity with avoidant personality disorder and showed more impairment in global functioning. There were not differences between the two sub-groups on severity of OCD symptoms and also on type of OCD onset. Our results indicate that the comorbidity of OCD with OCPD is associated with a number of specific clinical characteristics of OCD. These findings in conjunction with of current clinical, family and genetic studies provide some initial evidence that OCD comorbid with OCPD constitute a specific subtype of OCD. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electro-cortical implicit race bias does not vary with participants’ race or sex

PubMed Central

Mallan, Kimberley M.; Martin, Frances H.; Terry, Deborah J.; Smith, Joanne R.

2011-01-01

Earlier research found evidence for electro-cortical race bias towards black target faces in white American participants irrespective of the task relevance of race. The present study investigated whether an implicit race bias generalizes across cultural contexts and racial in- and out-groups. An Australian sample of 56 Chinese and Caucasian males and females completed four oddball tasks that required sex judgements for pictures of male and female Chinese and Caucasian posers. The nature of the background (across task) and of the deviant stimuli (within task) was fully counterbalanced. Event-related potentials (ERPs) to deviant stimuli recorded from three midline sites were quantified in terms of mean amplitude for four components: N1, P2, N2 and a late positive complex (LPC; 350–700 ms). Deviants that differed from the backgrounds in sex or race elicited enhanced LPC activity. These differences were not modulated by participant race or sex. The current results replicate earlier reports of effects of poser race relative to background race on the LPC component of the ERP waveform. In addition, they indicate that an implicit race bias occurs regardless of participant’s or poser’s race and is not confined to a particular cultural context. PMID:21097957

The phenology of Arctic Ocean surface warming.

PubMed

Steele, Michael; Dickinson, Suzanne

2016-09-01

In this work, we explore the seasonal relationships (i.e., the phenology) between sea ice retreat, sea surface temperature (SST), and atmospheric heat fluxes in the Pacific Sector of the Arctic Ocean, using satellite and reanalysis data. We find that where ice retreats early in most years, maximum summertime SSTs are usually warmer, relative to areas with later retreat. For any particular year, we find that anomalously early ice retreat generally leads to anomalously warm SSTs. However, this relationship is weak in the Chukchi Sea, where ocean advection plays a large role. It is also weak where retreat in a particular year happens earlier than usual, but still relatively late in the season, primarily because atmospheric heat fluxes are weak at that time. This result helps to explain the very different ocean warming responses found in two recent years with extreme ice retreat, 2007 and 2012. We also find that the timing of ice retreat impacts the date of maximum SST, owing to a change in the ocean surface buoyancy and momentum forcing that occurs in early August that we term the Late Summer Transition (LST). After the LST, enhanced mixing of the upper ocean leads to cooling of the ocean surface even while atmospheric heat fluxes are still weakly downward. Our results indicate that in the near-term, earlier ice retreat is likely to cause enhanced ocean surface warming in much of the Arctic Ocean, although not where ice retreat still occurs late in the season.

Sociality and individual fitness in yellow-bellied marmots: insights from a long-term study (1962-2001).

PubMed

Oli, Madan K; Armitage, Kenneth B

2003-08-01

Theoretical and empirical studies suggest that the age of first reproduction (the age at which reproduction begins) can have a substantial influence on population dynamics and individual fitness. Using complete survival and reproductive histories of 428 female yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) from a 40-year study (1962-2001), we investigated causes and fitness consequences of delayed maturity. Most females (86%) died without reproducing. The age of first reproduction of females that survived to reproduce at least once (n=60) ranged from 2 to 6 years. Females maturing later did not have a larger lifetime number of successful reproductive events or offspring production, nor did they experience improved survival. Females reproducing earlier had a higher fitness than those that delayed maturity. These results suggest that the net cost of early maturity was less than fitness benefits associated with early onset of reproduction, and that age of first reproduction in our study population is under substantial directional selection favoring early maturity. We conclude that female yellow-bellied marmots delay onset of reproduction not because of fitness benefits of foregoing reproduction at an earlier age, but due to the social suppression of reproduction by older, reproductive females, which enhances their own fitness to the detriment of the fitness of young females. Our results indicate that female yellow-bellied marmots that survive to reproduce may act to increase their own direct fitness, and that social suppression of reproduction of young females is a part of that strategy.

Recombinant truncated nucleocapsid protein as antigen in a novel immunoglobulin M capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection.

PubMed

Yu, Fuxun; Le, Mai Quynh; Inoue, Shingo; Hasebe, Futoshi; Parquet, Maria del Carmen; Morikawa, Shigeru; Morita, Kouichi

2007-02-01

We report the development of an immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) by using recombinant truncated SARS-CoV nucleocapsid protein as the antigen. The newly developed MAC-ELISA had a specificity and sensitivity of 100% as evaluated by using sera from healthy volunteers and patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS. Using serial serum samples collected from SARS patients, the times to seroconversion were determined by IgM antibody detection after SARS-CoV infection. The median time to seroconversion detection was 8 days (range, 5 to 17 days) after disease onset, and the seroconversion rates after the onset of illness were 33% by the first week, 97% by the second week, and 100% by the third week. Compared with the results of our previous report on the detection of IgG, the median seroconversion time by IgM detection was 3 days earlier and the seroconversion rate by the second week after the illness for IgM was significantly higher than by IgG assay. Our results indicating that the IgM response appears earlier than IgG after SARS-CoV infection in consistent with those for other pathogens. Our newly developed MAC-ELISA system offers a new alternative for the confirmation of SARS-CoV infection.

Recombinant Truncated Nucleocapsid Protein as Antigen in a Novel Immunoglobulin M Capture Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Diagnosis of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection▿

PubMed Central

Yu, Fuxun; Le, Mai Quynh; Inoue, Shingo; Hasebe, Futoshi; Parquet, Maria del Carmen; Morikawa, Shigeru; Morita, Kouichi

2007-01-01

We report the development of an immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) by using recombinant truncated SARS-CoV nucleocapsid protein as the antigen. The newly developed MAC-ELISA had a specificity and sensitivity of 100% as evaluated by using sera from healthy volunteers and patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS. Using serial serum samples collected from SARS patients, the times to seroconversion were determined by IgM antibody detection after SARS-CoV infection. The median time to seroconversion detection was 8 days (range, 5 to 17 days) after disease onset, and the seroconversion rates after the onset of illness were 33% by the first week, 97% by the second week, and 100% by the third week. Compared with the results of our previous report on the detection of IgG, the median seroconversion time by IgM detection was 3 days earlier and the seroconversion rate by the second week after the illness for IgM was significantly higher than by IgG assay. Our results indicating that the IgM response appears earlier than IgG after SARS-CoV infection in consistent with those for other pathogens. Our newly developed MAC-ELISA system offers a new alternative for the confirmation of SARS-CoV infection. PMID:17202310

Why reread? Evidence from garden-path and local coherence structures.

PubMed

Christianson, Kiel; Luke, Steven G; Hussey, Erika K; Wochna, Kacey L

2017-07-01

Two eye-tracking experiments were conducted to compare the online reading and offline comprehension of main verb/reduced relative garden-path sentences and local coherence sentences. Rereading of early material in garden-path reduced relatives should be revisionary, aimed at reanalysing an earlier misparse; however, rereading of early material in a local coherence reduced relative need only be confirmatory, as the original parse of the earlier portion of these sentences is ultimately correct. Results of online and offline measures showed that local coherence structures elicited signals of reading disruption that arose earlier and lasted longer, and local coherence comprehension was also better than garden path comprehension. Few rereading measures in either sentence type were predicted by structural features of these sentences, nor was rereading related to comprehension accuracy, which was extremely low overall. Results are discussed with respect to selective reanalysis and good-enough processing.

PIEDRA WILDERNESS STUDY AREA, COLORADO.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Condon, Steven M.; Brown, S. Don

1984-01-01

The Pedra Wilderness Study Area, located approximately 30 mi northeast of Durango, Colorado, was evaluated for its mineral-resource potential. Geochemical and geophysical studies indicate little promise for the occurrence of mineral or energy resources in this area. This conclusion is supported by the findings of the earlier study and is suggested by the absence of significant mining activity in the area.

Student Perceptions of the Value of Career Development Learning to a Work-Integrated Learning Course in Exercise Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reddan, Gregory; Rauchle, Maja

2012-01-01

Work-integrated learning has become a significant feature of Australian universities over the past decade. Earlier research indicates that some form of career development is essential to prepare undergraduate students for a competitive employment market. The 2008 National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (NAGCAS) Symposium sought…

Honors Thesis Preparation: Evidence of the Benefits of Structured Curricula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engel, Steven

2016-01-01

A recent study of honors curricula across the nation indicates that 75.6% of honors programs and colleges at four-year institutions have thesis or capstone requirements (Savage and Cognard-Black). In addition to institutions with thesis requirements, many more also have the option for students to complete theses. For example, an earlier study…

The Assessment of Intelligence in Boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mearig, Judith S.

1979-01-01

Challenges assumptions and research procedures leading to the position that below-average intellectual potential is an integral part of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. A study of 58 boys (ages 5 to 18) from urban, suburban, and rural settings indicated IQ range of 59 to 131 and no evidence of significant verbal deficit (reported in earlier studies).…

"Narrow and Filthy Alleys of the City?": The Residential Settlement Patterns of Black Southern Migrants to the North.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tolnay, Stewart E.; Crowder, Kyle D.; Adelman, Robert M.

2000-01-01

Analysis of the 1970 Neighborhood Characteristics Public Use Microdata Sample indicates that recent (1965-70) southern Black migrants to the North resided in the "best" neighborhoods (less poverty, segregation, and family instability), while earlier Black migrants lived in the worst neighborhoods. Recent migrants also received the…

Early Predictors of ASD in Young Children Using a Nationally Representative Data Set

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeans, Laurie M.; Santos, Rosa Milagros; Laxman, Daniel J.; McBride, Brent A.; Dyer, W. Justin

2013-01-01

Current clinical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) occurs between 3 and 4 years of age, but increasing evidence indicates that intervention begun earlier may improve outcomes. Using secondary analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data set, the current study identifies early predictors prior to the diagnosis of…

Exploring Teacher Concerns of Pre-Collegiate Urban Teaching Academy Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fletcher, Edward C., Jr.; Dicicco, Michael

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the concerns of a group of pre-collegiate students enrolled in an urban teaching academy (UTA) program were unique or similar to those found in earlier studies using Fuller's model as a framework for analysis. Using an instrumental case study approach, findings indicated that the UTA students…

Use of an Explicit Rule Decreases Procrastination in University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Paul E.; Perrin, Christopher J.; Salo, Allen; Deschaine, Elyssa; Johnson, Beth

2016-01-01

The procrastination behavior of students from a small rural university was decreased by presenting them with a rule indicating that a sooner final due date for a writing assignment would be contingent on procrastination during earlier phases of the paper. A counterbalanced AB BA design was used to measure the effects of the rule-based treatment…

The Impact of Financial Literacy Education on Subsequent Financial Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mandell, Lewis; Klein, Linda Schmid

2009-01-01

This study examined the differential impact on 79 high school students of a personal financial management course completed 1 to 4 years earlier. This study used a matched sample design based on a school system's records to identify students who had and had not taken a course in personal financial management. The findings indicated that those who…

Sibling Conflict in Middle Childhood: Influence of Maternal Context and Mother-Sibling Interaction over Four Years.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howe, Nina; Fiorentino, Lisa M.; Gariepy, Nadine

2003-01-01

Investigated: (1) influence of maternal context on frequency and types of conflicts of sibling dyads in middle childhood, and (2) the stability of maternal and sibling interaction over 4 years. Found that maternal presence depressed conflict frequency and aggression. Earlier patterns of family interaction were related to later indices of sibling…

The Play Behavior and Play Materials of Blind and Sighted Infants and Preschoolers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troster, H.; Brambring, M.

1994-01-01

Analysis of questionnaires completed by parents of 91 young blind children and 74 matched sighted children indicated that sighted children engaged in more complex levels of play at an earlier age; blind children interacted less frequently with other children than did sighted children; blind children preferred tactile-auditory games and toys; and…

Online Counselling: Learning from Writing Therapy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Jeannie

2002-01-01

This article aims to extend an earlier review of some of the research into writing therapy and to indicate how it could be applied to online counseling. It also refers to some of the literature on online counseling, which, together with the writing therapy research, informed the decision to offer an online service to staff in a university setting.…

Business Students' Perception of Sales Careers: Differences between Students in Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karakaya, Fahri; Quigley, Charles; Bingham, Frank; Hari, Juerg; Nasir, Aslihan

2014-01-01

This research measures perceptual differences between sales and sales careers among business students studying in the United States, Switzerland, and Turkey. Earlier studies indicate that selling and a sales career are not viewed favorably by students in the United States and several other countries. This study expands on prior studies by…

Change Management and the SENCo Role: Developing Key Performance Indicators in the Strategic Development of Inclusivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Done, Liz; Murphy, Mike; Watt, Mia

2016-01-01

This article follows an earlier publication highlighting the changing role of special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCos) in England. SENCos are now required to manage change strategically and deliver inclusive school cultures. School-based action research undertaken by a teacher studying for the postgraduate National Award for SEN…

Feeding Practices and Expectations among Middle-Class Anglo and Puerto Rican Mothers of 12-Month-Old Infants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schulze, Pamela A.; Harwood, Robin L.; Schoelmerich, Axel

2001-01-01

Investigated differences in beliefs and practices about infant feeding among middle class Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers. Interviews and observations indicated that Anglo mothers reported earlier attainment of self-feeding and more emphasis on child rearing goals related to self-maximization. Puerto Rican mothers reported later attainment of…

School-Based Mental Health and Behavioral Programs for Low-Income, Urban Youth: A Systematic and Meta-Analytic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farahmand, Farahnaz K.; Grant, Kathryn E.; Polo, Antonio J.; Duffy, Sophia N.; Dubois, David L.

2011-01-01

A systematic and meta-analytic review was conducted of the effectiveness of school-based mental health and behavioral programs for low-income, urban youth. Applying criteria from an earlier systematic review (Rones & Hoagwood, 2000) of such programs for all populations indicated substantially fewer effective programs for low-income, urban…

Monitoring land surface albedo and vegetation dynamics using high spatial and temporal resolution synthetic data from Landsat and MODIS BRDF/albedo product

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Climate warming over the past half century has led to observable changes in vegetation phenology and growing season length; which can be measured globally using remote sensing derived vegetation indices. Previous studies in mid- and high northern latitude systems show temperature driven earlier spri...

Practical strategies of black walnut genetic improvement—an update

Treesearch

George Rink; J.W. Van Sambeek; Phil O' Connor; Mark Coggeshall

2017-01-01

The ultimate goal of any tree improvement program is the large-scale production and distribution of genetically improved seedlings. In black walnut, projections based on earlier research indicate that genetically improved seedlings could provide growth improvement of between 15 to 25 percent by using seed or seedlings of the proper geographic origin (Bey 1980; Clausen...

Career Planning & Placement Survey: An Operational Profile, 1987.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagle, Rhea A.; Rehrig, Norita H.

A survey of college and university career planning and placement directors was conducted in 1987 with a response rate of 67% (N=880). Findings were compared to data from earlier surveys conducted in 1981 and in 1975. Eight-five percent of the offices responding indicated that they had a centralized structure; 58.1% had the word "career" in their…

Another Look at the Burger Court and Freedom of Expression: A Textual Approach to First Amendment Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walden, Ruth

An analysis of the Supreme Court's First Amendment decisions under Chief Justice Warren Burger does not indicate any pattern of repudiation of doctrinal advances made by earlier courts. Like its predecessors, the Burger Court has dealt most frequently with First Amendment cases requiring definition and interpretation of government abridgement. In…

An evaluation of corn earworm damage and thresholds in soybean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, Brian Patrick

Interactions between corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), and soybean, Glycine max L. (Merrill), were investigated in the Mid-South to evaluate thresholds and damage levels. Field studies were conducted in both indeterminate and determinate modern cultivars to evaluate damage, critical injury levels, and soybean response to simulated corn earworm injury. Field studies were also conducted to evaluate the response of indeterminate cultivars to infestations of corn earworm. Field studies were also conducted to investigate the relationship between pyrethroid insecticide application and corn earworm oviposition in soybean. Results of field studies involving simulated corn earworm damage indicated the need for a dynamic threshold that becomes more conservative as soybean phenology progressed through the reproductive growth stages. This suggested that soybean was more tolerant to fruit loss during the earlier reproductive stages and was able to compensate for fruit loss better during this time than at later growth stages. Results of field studies involving infestations of corn earworm indicated that current thresholds are likely too liberal. This resulted in economic injury level tables being constructed based upon a range of crop values and control costs, however, a general action threshold was also recommended for indeterminate soybean in the Mid-South. Field study results investigating the relationship of pyrethroid application and corn earworm oviposition indicated that even in the presence of an insecticide, corn earworm prefers to oviposit in the upper portion of the canopy, as well as on the leaves as opposed to all other plant parts, consistent with all previous literature.

Quantitative electroencephalography in a swine model of blast-induced brain injury.

PubMed

Chen, Chaoyang; Zhou, Chengpeng; Cavanaugh, John M; Kallakuri, Srinivasu; Desai, Alok; Zhang, Liying; King, Albert I

2017-01-01

Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to examine brain activity abnormalities earlier after blast exposure using a swine model to develop a qEEG data analysis protocol. Anaesthetized swine were exposed to 420-450 Kpa blast overpressure and survived for 3 days after blast. EEG recordings were performed at 15 minutes before the blast and 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours and 1, 2 and 3 days post-blast using surface recording electrodes and a Biopac 4-channel data acquisition system. Off-line quantitative EEG (qEEG) data analysis was performed to determine qEEG changes. Blast induced qEEG changes earlier after blast exposure, including a decrease of mean amplitude (MAMP), an increase of delta band power, a decrease of alpha band root mean square (RMS) and a decrease of 90% spectral edge frequency (SEF90). This study demonstrated that qEEG is sensitive for cerebral injury. The changes of qEEG earlier after the blast indicate the potential of utilization of multiple parameters of qEEG for diagnosis of blast-induced brain injury. Early detection of blast induced brain injury will allow early screening and assessment of brain abnormalities in soldiers to enable timely therapeutic intervention.

The relationship between sleep habits and academic performance in dental students in Croatia.

PubMed

Valic, M; Pecotic, R; Lusic, L; Peros, K; Pribudic, Z; Dogas, Z

2014-11-01

It is well accepted that sleep and lifestyle habits affect academic success in students. However, sleep patterns and sleep problems amongst dental students have been insufficiently addressed in the literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate sleep habits of dental students and the relationship between sleep habits and academic performance. A self-administered questionnaire on sleep habits, academic performance and lifestyle was administered. The participants were 447 dental students from Split University Dental Medicine School and Zagreb University Dental Medicine School from the six academic years. The subjects were classified into two groups based on academic success (high-performing vs. low-performing students) for comparison of sleep and lifestyle habits. Amongst the whole group of students, average bedtime and wake time during weekday was significantly earlier compared with weekend. Main findings indicate that students with high academic performance had earlier bedtimes during weekdays and weekends, earlier wake times during weekends and shorter sleep latency compared with low academic performing students. Self-reported academic performance of dental students in Croatia is associated with timing of sleep and wakefulness, rather than with total sleep time duration. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development and testing of a magnetic position sensor system for automotive and avionics applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobs, Bryan C.; Nelson, Carl V.

2001-08-01

A magnetic sensor system has been developed to measure the 3-D location and orientation of a rigid body relative to an array of magnetic dipole transmitters. A generalized solution to the measurement problem has been formulated, allowing the transmitter and receiver parameters (position, orientation, number, etc.) to be optimized for various applications. Additionally, the method of images has been used to mitigate the impact of metallic materials in close proximity to the sensor. The resulting system allows precise tracking of high-speed motion in confined metal environments. The sensor system was recently configured and tested as an abdomen displacement sensor for an automobile crash-test dummy. The test results indicate a positional accuracy of approximately 1 mm rms during 20 m/s motions. The dynamic test results also confirmed earlier covariance model predictions, which were used to optimize the sensor geometry. A covariance analysis was performed to evaluate the applicability of this magnetic position system for tracking a pilot's head motion inside an aircraft cockpit. Realistic design parameters indicate that a robust tracking system, consisting of lightweight pickup coils mounted on a pilot's helmet, and an array of transmitter coils distributed throughout a cockpit, is feasible. Recent test and covariance results are presented.

Double-strangeness production in {bar p}Xe annihilation at low energy in the DIANA chamber

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

Barmin, V.V.; Barylov, V.G.; Chernukha, S.F.

1994-09-01

From the analysis of about 10{sup 5} annihilations of antiprotons at rest and in flight (0.4 - 0.9 GeV/c) on Xe nuclei, new results are presented for the final state K{sup 0}{sub s}SX (S = K{sup 0}{sub s}, K{sup {minus}}, {Lambda}, {Sigma}{sup 0}, {Sigma}{sup +-}). From these results and from earlier results for the final state K{sup +}SX, inclusive and semiinclusive yields are determined, giving virtually all strange channels. The effective strangeness contents were deduced to be 5.5% at rest and 5.3% in flight. In addition to 14 events reported earlier in the final states K{sup +}K{sup +}X and K{supmore » +}K{sup 0}{sub s}{Lambda}X and based on an analysis of 5.4 x 10{sup 5} annihilations, three new events were found in a further analysis of 10{sup 5} annihilations. The new events, together with the revised yields and momentum and mass distributions, are presented. The results confirm earlier results on the effective mass of {Lambda}{Lambda} and a determination of the preferable cascade process.« less

Abrupt climate change and transient climates during the Paleogene: a marine perspective.

PubMed

Zachos, J C; Lohmann, K C; Walker, J C; Wise, S W

1993-03-01

Detailed investigations of high latitude sequences recently collected by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) indicate that periods of rapid climate change often culminated in brief transient climates, with more extreme conditions than subsequent long term climates. Two examples of such events have been identified in the Paleogene; the first in latest Paleocene time in the middle of a warming trend that began several million years earlier: the second in earliest Oligocene time near the end of a Middle Eocene to Late Oligocene global cooling trend. Superimposed on the earlier event was a sudden and extreme warming of both high latitude sea surface and deep ocean waters. Imbedded in the latter transition was an abrupt decline in high latitude temperatures and the brief appearance of a full size continental ice-sheet on Antarctica. In both cases the climate extremes were not stable, lasting for less than a few hundred thousand years, indicating a temporary or transient climate state. Geochemical and sedimentological evidence suggest that both Paleogene climate events were accompanied by reorganizations in ocean circulation, and major perturbations in marine productivity and the global carbon cycle. The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum was marked by reduced oceanic turnover and decreases in global delta 13C and in marine productivity, while the Early Oligocene glacial maximum was accompanied by intensification of deep ocean circulation and elevated delta 13C and productivity. It has been suggested that sudden changes in climate and/or ocean circulation might occur as a result of gradual forcing as certain physical thresholds are exceeded. We investigate the possibility that sudden reorganizations in ocean and/or atmosphere circulation during these abrupt transitions generated short-term positive feedbacks that briefly sustained these transient climatic states.

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

Tabeshian, Maryam; Wiegert, Paul A., E-mail: mtabeshi@uwo.ca

Structures observed in debris disks may be caused by gravitational interaction with planetary or stellar companions. These perturbed disks are often thought to indicate the presence of planets and offer insights into the properties of both the disk and the perturbing planets. Gaps in debris disks may indicate a planet physically present within the gap, but such gaps can also occur away from the planet’s orbit at mean-motion resonances (MMRs), and this is the focus of our interest here. We extend our study of planet–disk interaction through MMRs, presented in an earlier paper, to systems in which the perturbing planetmore » has moderate orbital eccentricity, a common occurrence in exoplanetary systems. In particular, a new result is that the 3:1 MMR becomes distinct at higher eccentricity, while its effects are absent for circular planetary orbits. We also only consider gravitational interaction with a planetary body of at least 1 M {sub J}. Our earlier work shows that even a 1 Earth mass planet can theoretically open an MMR gap; however, given the narrow gap that can be opened by a low-mass planet, its observability would be questionable. We find that the widths, locations, and shapes of two prominent structures, the 2:1 and 3:1 MMRs, could be used to determine the mass, semimajor axis, and eccentricity of the planetary perturber and present an algorithm for doing so. These MMR structures can be used to narrow the position and even determine the planetary properties (such as mass) of any inferred but as-yet-unseen planets within a debris disk. We also briefly discuss the implications of eccentric disks on brightness asymmetries and their dependence on the wavelengths with which these disks are observed.« less