Contribution of extended family history in assessment of risk for breast and colon cancer.

PubMed

Solomon, Benjamin L; Whitman, Todd; Wood, Marie E

2016-09-01

Family history is important for identifying candidates for high risk cancer screening and referral for genetic counseling. We sought to determine the percentage of individuals who would be eligible for high risk cancer screening or genetic referral and testing if family history includes an extended (vs limited) family history. Family histories were obtained from 626 women at UVMMC associated mammography centers from 2001 to 2002. ACS guidelines were used to determine eligibility for high risk breast or colon cancer screening. Eligibility for referral for genetic counseling for hereditary breast and colon cancer was determined using the Referral Screening Tool and Amsterdam II screening criteria, respectively. All family histories were assessed for eligibility by a limited history (first degree relatives only) and extended history (first and second degree relatives). Four hundred ninety-nine histories were eligible for review. 18/282 (3.6 %) and 62/123 (12 %) individuals met criteria for high risk breast and colon cancer screening, respectively. 13/18 (72 %) in the high risk breast cancer screening group and 12/62 (19 %) in the high risk colon cancer screening group met criteria based upon an extended family history. 9/282 (1.8 %) and 31/123 (6.2 %) individuals met criteria for genetic counseling referral and testing for breast and colon cancer, respectively. 2/9 (22 %) of individuals in the genetic breast cancer screening group and 21/31 (68 %) individuals in the genetic colon cancer screening group met criteria based upon extended family history. This is one of the first studies to suggest that first degree family history alone is not adequate for identification of candidates for high risk screening and referral for genetic counseling for hereditary breast and colon cancer syndromes. A larger population is needed to further validate this data.

Collective Action Problem in Heterogeneous Groups with Punishment and Foresight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, Logan; Shrestha, Mahendra Duwal; Vose, Michael D.; Gavrilets, Sergey

2018-03-01

The collective action problem can easily undermine cooperation in groups. Recent work has shown that within-group heterogeneity can under some conditions promote voluntary provisioning of collective goods. Here we generalize this work for the case when individuals can not only contribute to the production of collective goods, but also punish free-riders. To do this, we extend the standard theory by allowing individuals to have limited foresight so they can anticipate actions of their group-mates. For humans, this is a realistic assumption because we possess a "theory of mind". We use agent-based simulations to study collective actions that aim to overcome challenges from nature or win competition with neighboring groups. We contrast the dynamics of collective action in egalitarian and hierarchical groups. We show that foresight allows groups to overcome both the first- and second-order free-rider problems. While foresight increases cooperation, it does not necessarily result in higher payoffs. We show that while between-group conflicts promotes within-group cooperation, the effects of cultural group selection on cooperation are relatively small. Our models predict the emergence of a division of labor in which more powerful individuals specialize in punishment while less powerful individuals mostly contribute to the production of collective goods.

The benefits of cooling boar semen in long-term extenders prior to cryopreservation on sperm quality characteristics.

PubMed

Wasilewska, K; Zasiadczyk, Ł; Fraser, L; Mogielnicka-Brzozowska, M; Kordan, W

2016-10-01

This study investigated the effects of long-term extenders on post-thaw sperm quality characteristics following different holding times (HT) of boar semen at 17 and 10°C. Sperm-rich fractions, collected from five boars, were diluted in Androhep(®) Plus (AHP), Androstar(®) Plus (ASP), Safecell(®) Plus and TRIXcell(®) Plus (TCP) extenders. The extended semen samples were held for 2 hr at 17°C (HT 1) and additionally for 24 hr at 10°C (HT 2), after they were evaluated and frozen. CASA sperm motility and motion patterns, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), plasma membrane integrity (PMI) and normal apical ridge (NAR) acrosome integrity were assessed in the pre-freeze and frozen-thawed semen. The Vybrant Apoptosis Assay Kit was used to analyse the proportions of viable and plasma membrane apoptotic-like changes in spermatozoa. Results indicated that boar variability, extender and HT significantly affected the sperm quality characteristics, particularly after freezing-thawing. Differences in the pre-freeze semen were more marked in the sperm motion patterns between the HTs. Pre-freeze semen in HT 2 showed significantly higher VCL and VAP, whereas no marked effects were observed in the sperm membrane integrity and viability (YO-PRO-1(-) /PI(-) ) among the extenders. Post-thaw sperm TMOT and PMOT were significantly higher in the AHP and ASP extenders of HT 2 group, whereas VSL, VCL and VAP were markedly lower in the TCP extender. Furthermore, spermatozoa from the AHP- and ASP-extended semen of HT 2 group were characterized by higher MMP, PMI and NAR acrosome integrity following freezing-thawing. In most of the extenders, the incidence of frozen-thawed spermatozoa with apoptotic-like changes was greater in HT 1. The findings of this study indicate that holding of boar semen at 10°C for 24 hr in long-term preservation extenders modulates post-thaw sperm quality characteristics in an extender-dependent manner. These results will further contribute to the improvement in the cryopreservation technology of boar semen. © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Parent-adolescent conflict in teenagers with ADHD and ODD.

PubMed

Edwards, G; Barkley, R A; Laneri, M; Fletcher, K; Metevia, L

2001-12-01

Eighty-seven male teens (ages 12-18 years) with ADHD/ODD and their parents were compared to 32 male teens and their parents in a community control (CC) group on mother, father, and teen ratings of parent-teen conflict and communication quality, parental self-reports of psychological adjustment, and direct observations of parent-teen problem-solving interactions during a neutral and conflict discussion. Parents and teens in the ADHD/ODD group rated themselves as having significantly more issues involving parent-teen conflict, more anger during these conflict discussions, and more negative communication generally, and used more aggressive conflict tactics with each other than did parents and teens in the CC group. During a neutral discussion, only the ADHD/ODD teens demonstrated more negative behavior. During the conflict discussion, however, the mothers, fathers, and teens in the ADHD/ODD group displayed more negative behavior, and the mothers and teens showed less positive behavior than did participants in the CC group. Differences in conflicts related to sex of parent were evident on only a few measures. Both mother and father self-rated hostility contributed to the level of mother-teen conflict whereas father self-rated hostility and anxiety contributed to father-teen conflict beyond the contribution made by level of teen ODD and ADHD symptoms. Results replicated past studies of mother-child interactions in ADHD/ODD children, extended these results to teens with these disorders, showed that greater conflict also occurs in father-teen interactions, and found that degree of parental hostility, but not ADHD symptoms, further contributed to levels of parent-teen conflict beyond the contribution made by severity of teen ADHD and ODD symptoms.

Women and couples in isolated extreme environments: Applications for long-duration missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leon, Gloria R.; Sandal, Gro M.

2003-08-01

Expedition teams provide a number of analogs relevant to crew selection for long-duration space missions. Three groups were studied that varied in team composition. Group 1 was a two woman international dyad that traversed the Antarctic continent in 97 days. Similarities in problem solving approach, respect for each other's opinions, and a collaborative process of decision making were evident. Group 2 was composed of four women, all from different countries, engaged in a six week trek across Greenland. The most important factors in overcoming interpersonal difficulties and contributing to the successful completion of the expedition were mutual respect and motivation to maintain positive and supportive relationships. Group 3 consisted of three married couples from different countries icelocked on a boat in the High Arctic for a 9 month period. The emotional support of and ability to confide in their partner were extremely important in alleviating interpersonal tensions, and contributed to the generally effective functioning of the group. Women add an element of emotional support and help to other team members that is not as evident in all-male groups. Selection of couples with strong bonds to each other is another paradigm for crew selection for extended missions.

Socialization and Selection Effects in the Association between Weight Conscious Peer Groups and Thin-Ideal Internalization: A Co-Twin Control Study

PubMed Central

Burt, S. Alexandra; O’Connor, Shannon; Thompson, J. Kevin; Klump, Kelly L.

2016-01-01

Affiliation with weight conscious peer groups is theorized to increase thin-ideal internalization through socialization processes. However, selection effects could contribute if genetic and/or environmental predispositions lead to affiliation with weight conscious peers. Co-twin control methodology was used to examine socialization and selection effects in 614 female twins (ages 8–15) from the Michigan State University Twin Registry (MSUTR). Thin-ideal internalization and peer group characteristics were assessed via self-report questionnaires. Results suggested the presence of both socialization and selection effects. In terms of socialization, twins who reported increased exposure to weight conscious peers relative to their co-twins had elevated thin-ideal internalization scores, regardless of zygosity. However, associations between weight conscious peers and thin-ideal internationalization within twin pairs were attenuated, suggesting that genetic and shared environmental selection effects also contribute. Findings significantly extend previous work by confirming the presence of socialization processes and highlighting selection processes to be examined in future longitudinal research. PMID:26859605

Time perception and reproduction in young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Barkley, R A; Murphy, K R; Bush, T

2001-07-01

Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 104) were compared with a control group (n = 64) on time estimation and reproduction tasks. Results were unaffected by ADHD subtype or gender. The ADHD group provided larger time estimations than the control group, particularly at long intervals. This became nonsignificant after controlling for IQ. The ADHD group made shorter reproductions than did the control group (15- and 60-s intervals) and greater reproduction errors (12-, 45-, 60-s durations). These differences remained after controlling for IQ and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder, depression, and anxiety. Only the level of anxiety contributed to errors (at 12-s duration) beyond the level of ADHD. Results extended findings on time perception in ADHD children to adults and ruled out comorbidity as the basis of the errors.

Mothers may shape the variations in social organization among gorillas

PubMed Central

Gray, Maryke; Breuer, Thomas; Manguette, Marie; Stokes, Emma J.; Uwingeli, Prosper; Mburanumwe, Innocent; Kagoda, Edwin; Robbins, Martha M.

2016-01-01

When mothers continue to support their offspring beyond infancy, they can influence the fitness of those offspring, the strength of social relationships within their groups, and the life-history traits of their species. Using up to 30 years of demographic data from 58 groups of gorillas in two study sites, this study extends such findings by showing that mothers may also contribute to differences in social organization between closely related species. Female mountain gorillas remained with their sons for significantly longer than western gorillas, which may explain why male philopatry and multimale groups are more common among mountain gorillas. The presence of the putative father and other familiar males did not vary significantly between species, and we found only limited support for the socio-ecological theory that the distribution of adult males is influenced by the distribution of females. Within each gorilla species, variations in those distributions may also reflect the different stages in the typical life cycle of a group. Collectively, our results highlight the potentially far-reaching consequences of maternal support that extends beyond infancy, and they illustrate the opportunity to incorporate additional factors into phylogenetic analyses of variations in social organization, including studies of human evolution. PMID:27853570

Putting It All Together: Final Comments

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-05-19

about 10 s 0 0 ( Gy @® ®- =@ 10. Intended rationality ( 100 sec and up ) Figure 3: Soar as a unified theory of cognition . task. The problem then...GROUP Herb Simon. unified. theories of cognition ,- cognitive 7science; ac-hitectures; Soar,,,--p-- 19. ABSTRACT (Continue on reverse if necessary’,and...appreciation this paper is supposed to contribute, provide another. And a recent extended reflection by the author on Unified Theories of Cognition (The

Research Highlights. Extending Health Care Insurance to Specific Populations: Profile of RAND Work

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-01-01

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, 1985), insured workers in firms with 20 or more employees can continue their health benefits at 102...approaches to providing coverage for these groups. to employees . Indeed, 60 percent of uninsured non-elderly workers are employed in small firms... workers . Employers would make regular, tax-deductible contributions to the MSA; an em- ployee could draw on the MSA to cover health care expenses

A-3 scientific results - extragalactic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwartz, D. A.

1979-01-01

The results of the HEAO A-3 experiment are summarized. Specific contributions of the experiment to extragalactic astronomy are emphasized. The discovery of relatively condensed X-ray emission in the cores of those clusters of galaxies which are dominated by a giant elliptical or cD galaxy, the discovery of extended X-ray emitting plasma in groups of galaxies, and the demonstration that BL Lac objects are a class of X-ray sources are among the topics discussed.

Randomization Does Not Help Much, Comparability Does

PubMed Central

Saint-Mont, Uwe

2015-01-01

According to R.A. Fisher, randomization “relieves the experimenter from the anxiety of considering innumerable causes by which the data may be disturbed.” Since, in particular, it is said to control for known and unknown nuisance factors that may considerably challenge the validity of a result, it has become very popular. This contribution challenges the received view. First, looking for quantitative support, we study a number of straightforward, mathematically simple models. They all demonstrate that the optimism surrounding randomization is questionable: In small to medium-sized samples, random allocation of units to treatments typically yields a considerable imbalance between the groups, i.e., confounding due to randomization is the rule rather than the exception. In the second part of this contribution, the reasoning is extended to a number of traditional arguments in favour of randomization. This discussion is rather non-technical, and sometimes touches on the rather fundamental Frequentist/Bayesian debate. However, the result of this analysis turns out to be quite similar: While the contribution of randomization remains doubtful, comparability contributes much to a compelling conclusion. Summing up, classical experimentation based on sound background theory and the systematic construction of exchangeable groups seems to be advisable. PMID:26193621

Strategies for Developing Family Nursing Communities of Practice Through Social Media.

PubMed

Isaacson, Kris; Looman, Wendy S

2017-02-01

This discussion article presents communities of practice (CoPs) and bridging social capital as conceptual frameworks to demonstrate how social media can be leveraged for family nursing knowledge, scholarship, and practice. CoPs require a shared domain of interest, exchange of resources, and dedication to expanding group knowledge. Used strategically and with a professional presence, mainstream social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube can support the family nurse in developing and contributing to CoPs related to family nursing. This article presents four strategies-curate, connect, collaborate, and contribute-for establishing and growing a social media presence that fits one's professional goals and time availability. Family nurses who leverage social media using these strategies can strengthen existing CoPs and at the same time bridge networks to reach new audiences, such as family advocacy groups, policy makers, educators, practitioners, and a wide array of other extended networks.

Conditional Solvation Thermodynamics of Isoleucine in Model Peptides and the Limitations of the Group-Transfer Model

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

The hydration thermodynamics of the amino acid X relative to the reference G (glycine) or the hydration thermodynamics of a small-molecule analog of the side chain of X is often used to model the contribution of X to protein stability and solution thermodynamics. We consider the reasons for successes and limitations of this approach by calculating and comparing the conditional excess free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of hydration of the isoleucine side chain in zwitterionic isoleucine, in extended penta-peptides, and in helical deca-peptides. Butane in gauche conformation serves as a small-molecule analog for the isoleucine side chain. Parsing the hydrophobic and hydrophilic contributions to hydration for the side chain shows that both of these aspects of hydration are context-sensitive. Furthermore, analyzing the solute–solvent interaction contribution to the conditional excess enthalpy of the side chain shows that what is nominally considered a property of the side chain includes entirely nonobvious contributions of the background. The context-sensitivity of hydrophobic and hydrophilic hydration and the conflation of background contributions with energetics attributed to the side chain limit the ability of a single scaling factor, such as the fractional solvent exposure of the group in the protein, to map the component energetic contributions of the model-compound data to their value in the protein. But ignoring the origin of cancellations in the underlying components the group-transfer model may appear to provide a reasonable estimate of the free energy for a given error tolerance. PMID:24650057

Molecular regulation of plant cell wall extensibility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cosgrove, D. J.

1998-01-01

Gravity responses in plants often involve spatial and temporal changes in cell growth, which is regulated primarily by controlling the ability of the cell wall to extend. The wall is thought to be a cellulose-hemicellulose network embedded in a hydrated matrix of complex polysaccharides and a small amount of structural protein. The wall extends by a form of polymer creep, which is mediated by expansins, a novel group of wall-loosening proteins. Expansins were discovered during a molecular dissection of the "acid growth" behavior of cell walls. Expansin alters the rheology of plant walls in profound ways, yet its molecular mechanism of action is still uncertain. It lacks detectable hydrolytic activity against the major components of the wall, but it is able to disrupt noncovalent adhesion between wall polysaccharides. The discovery of a second family of expansins (beta-expansins) sheds light on the biological role of a major group of pollen allergens and implies that expansins have evolved for diverse developmental functions. Finally, the contribution of other processes to wall extensibility is briefly summarized.

How insurance affects altruistic provision in threshold public goods games.

PubMed

Zhang, Jianlei; Zhang, Chunyan; Cao, Ming

2015-03-13

The occurrence and maintenance of cooperative behaviors in public goods systems have attracted great research attention across multiple disciplines. A threshold public goods game requires a minimum amount of contributions to be collected from a group of individuals for provision to occur. Here we extend the common binary-strategy combination of cooperation and defection by adding a third strategy, called insured cooperation, which corresponds to buying an insurance covering the potential loss resulted from the unsuccessful public goods game. Particularly, only the contributing agents can opt to be insured, which is an effort decreasing the amount of the potential loss occurring. Theoretical computations suggest that when agents face the potential aggregate risk in threshold public goods games, more contributions occur with increasing compensation from insurance. Moreover, permitting the adoption of insurance significantly enhances individual contributions and facilitates provision, especially when the required threshold is high. This work also relates the strategy competition outcomes to different allocation rules once the resulted contributions exceed the threshold point in populations nested within a dilemma.

Sustainable production of wood and non-wood forest products: Proceedings of IUFRO Division 5 Research Groups 5.11 and 5.12, Rotorua, New Zealand, March 11–15, 2003.

Treesearch

E.M. Donoghue; G.L. Benson; J.L. Chamberlain

2004-01-01

This proceedings is a collection of 18 papers and extended abstracts based on talks presented at the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) All Division 5 Conference, held in Rotorua, New Zealand, March 11–15, 2003. This conference emphasized the many ways that forest products research can contribute to sustainable choices in forest management....

Phenotype definition and development--contributions from Group 7.

PubMed

Wilcox, Marsha A; Paterson, Andrew D

2009-01-01

The papers in Genetic Analysis Workshop 16 Group 7 covered a wide range of topics. The effects of confounder misclassification and selection bias on association results were examined by one group. Another focused on bias introduced by various methods of accounting for treatment effects. Two groups used related methods to derive phenotypic traits. They used different analytic strategies for genetic associations with non-overlapping results (but because they used different sets of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and significance criteria, this is not surprising). Another group relied on the well-characterized definition of type 2 diabetes to show benefits of a novel predictive test. Transmission-ratio distortion was the focus of another paper. The results were extended to show a potential secondary benefit of the test to identify potentially mis-called SNPs. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A four-component Fock-space coupled cluster investigation of the HM(CO)5, (M = Mn, Re) photoelectron spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikoobakht, Behnam; Siebert, Max; Pernpointner, Markus

2015-11-01

In this work, we readdress the photoelectron spectra of the HM(CO)5, (M=Mn, Re) carbonyl complexes by applying four-component Fock-space coupled cluster (FSCC) methods for their calculation in order to extend earlier studies based on less demanding approaches. The final-state characterisation was based on group theoretical considerations of the contributing orbitals and allowed for an unambiguous assignment. Energy level diagrams show the effect of spin-orbit (SO) coupling starting from scalar relativistic results and for the heavy representative HRe(CO)5 nonadditivity effects of SO and electron correlation can be observed requiring a consistent treatment of both contributions.

The Jewish contribution to medicine. Part III. The 19th and 20th centuries in the USA.

PubMed

Dubovsky, H

1989-08-05

The Jewish hospital movement in the USA, which started in the last century for Jews as foreign immigrants and was extended to the general population this century, is an extensive organisation. Refugee physicians from Europe laid the foundations of Jewish medical involvement in medicine in the USA with Abraham Jacobi, the founder of paediatrics, Landsteiner, who discovered blood grouping, and Waksman, who evolved streptomycin. Other eminent workers, such as the Flexner brothers in medical education and research, Libman, who pioneered blood culture in the USA, and Salk and Sabin with the poliomyelitis vaccine were prominent in the major contribution of Jews to medicine in the USA.

A conformational study of protonated noradrenaline by UV-UV and IR dip double resonance laser spectroscopy combined with an electrospray and a cold ion trap method.

PubMed

Wako, Hiromichi; Ishiuchi, Shun-Ichi; Kato, Daichi; Féraud, Géraldine; Dedonder-Lardeux, Claude; Jouvet, Christophe; Fujii, Masaaki

2017-05-03

The conformer-selected ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) spectra of protonated noradrenaline were measured using an electrospray/cryogenic ion trap technique combined with photo-dissociation spectroscopy. By comparing the UV photo dissociation (UVPD) spectra with the UV-UV hole burning (HB) spectra, it was found that five conformers coexist under ultra-cold conditions. Based on the spectral features of the IR dip spectra of each conformer, two different conformations on the amine side chain were identified. Three conformers (group I) were assigned to folded and others (group II) to extended structures by comparing the observed IR spectra with the calculated ones. Observation of the significantly less-stable extended conformers strongly suggests that the extended structures are dominant in solution and are detected in the gas phase by kinetic trapping. The conformers in each group are assignable to rotamers of OH orientations in the catechol ring. By comparing the UV-UV HB spectra and the calculated Franck-Condon spectra obtained by harmonic vibrational analysis of the S 1 state, with the aid of relative stabilization energies of each conformer in the S 0 state, the absolute orientations of catechol OHs of the observed five conformers were successfully determined. It was found that the 0-0 transition of one folded conformer is red-shifted by about 1000 cm -1 from the others. The significant red-shift was explained by a large contribution of the πσ* state to S 1 in the conformer in which an oxygen atom of the meta-OH group is close to the ammonium group.

Group choreography: mechanisms orchestrating the collective movement of border cells

PubMed Central

Montell, Denise J.; Yoon, Wan Hee; Starz-Gaiano, Michelle

2014-01-01

Cell movements are essential for animal development and homeostasis but also contribute to disease. Moving cells typically extend protrusions towards a chemoattractant, adhere to the substrate, contract and detach at the rear. It is less clear how cells that migrate in interconnected groups in vivo coordinate their behaviour and navigate through natural environments. The border cells of the Drosophila melanogaster ovary have emerged as an excellent model for the study of collective cell movement, aided by innovative genetic, live imaging, and photomanipulation techniques. Here we provide an overview of the molecular choreography of border cells and its more general implications. PMID:23000794

Partial deoxygenation of extender improves sperm quality, reduces lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species during cryopreservation of buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) semen.

PubMed

Balamurugan, B; Ghosh, S K; Lone, S A; Prasad, J K; Das, G K; Katiyar, R; Mustapha, Abdul Rahman; Kumar, Ajay; Verma, M R

2018-02-01

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of partial deoxygenation of extender on sperm quality, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) during cryopreservation of semen. Semen extender was prepared freshly and split into three sub-extenders [Extender I: control (non-deoxygenated), Extender II (partially deoxygenated by using LN 2 flushing) and Extender III (partially deoxygenated mechanically by vacuum pump)]. Amounts of dissolved oxygen (DO) were determined in all the three extenders and also in post-thaw semen. Ejaculates with mass motility of  ≥3+ and individual progressive motility of 70% or greater were collected from Murrah buffalo bulls and utilized in the study. Each semen sample was divided into Groups I (diluted with Extender I), II (diluted with Extender II) and III (diluted Extender III) with a maximum of 60 × 10 6 sperm/mL. French mini straws (0.25 mL) were filled with the extended semen samples, sealed with polyvinyl alcohol powder, kept for 3 h at 5 °C for equilibration and then stored in an automatic programmable freezer until the temperature of straws reached -145 °C followed by plunging the straws into liquid nitrogen (-196 °C). Semen samples were evaluated at pre-freeze and post-thaw stages for various variables [sperm motility, live sperm count, acrosomal integrity, hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) response, LPO and ROS concentrations]. The mean DO was less (P < 0.05) in Extender II as compared to I and III. The DO was less (P < 0.05) in Group II (semen extended with Extender II) as compared with III (semen extended with Extender III) and I (semen extended with Extender I). The percentages for sperm motility, viability and intact acrosomes (PIA) were greater (P < 0.05) in Groups II and III as compared to the control group at the pre-freeze stage, while at the post-thaw stage, percentages of sperm motility, viability, PIA and HOS response were greater (P < 0.05) in Group II as compared with the control group and Group III. Pre-freeze HOS response (%) was greater (P < 0.05) in Group II as compared with the control and Group III. At the pre-freeze stage, sperm LPO and ROS were less (P < 0.05) in Groups II and III as compared with the control and at post-thaw stage, spermatic LPO and ROS concentrations were less (P < 0.05) in Group II than in the control group and Group III. In conclusion, partial deoxygenation of extender improves sperm quality, reduces sperm LPO and ROS concentrations in buffalo during cryopreservation. Partial deoxygenation of the extender with LN 2 flushing may be one of the ways for improving quality and fertility of frozen-thawed buffalo sperm. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Deep Chandra observations of HCG 16. II. The development of the intra-group medium in a spiral-rich group

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

O'Sullivan, E.; Vrtilek, J. M.; David, L. P.

2014-10-01

We use a combination of deep Chandra X-ray observations and radio continuum imaging to investigate the origin and current state of the intra-group medium (IGM) in the spiral-rich compact group HCG 16. We confirm the presence of a faint (L {sub X,} {sub bolo} = 1.87{sub −0.66}{sup +1.03}×10{sup 41} erg s{sup –1}), low-temperature (0.30{sub −0.05}{sup +0.07} keV) IGM extending throughout the ACIS-S3 field of view, with a ridge linking the four original group members and extending to the southeast, as suggested by previous ROSAT and XMM-Newton observations. This ridge contains 6.6{sub −3.3}{sup +3.9}× 10{sup 9} M {sub ☉} of hotmore » gas and is at least partly coincident with a large-scale H I tidal filament, indicating that the IGM in the inner part of the group is highly multi-phase. We present evidence that the group is not yet virialized, and show that gas has probably been transported from the starburst winds of NGC 838 and NGC 839 into the surrounding IGM. Considering the possible origin of the IGM, we argue that material ejected by galactic winds may have played a significant role, contributing 20%-40% of the observed hot gas in the system.« less

Acting in solidarity: Testing an extended dual pathway model of collective action by bystander group members.

PubMed

Saab, Rim; Tausch, Nicole; Spears, Russell; Cheung, Wing-Yee

2015-09-01

We examined predictors of collective action among bystander group members in solidarity with a disadvantaged group by extending the dual pathway model of collective action, which proposes one efficacy-based and one emotion-based path to collective action (Van Zomeren, Spears, Fischer, & Leach, 2004). Based on two proposed functions of social identity performance (Klein, Spears, & Reicher, 2007), we distinguished between the efficacy of collective action at consolidating the identity of a protest movement and its efficacy at achieving social change (political efficacy). We expected identity consolidation efficacy to positively predict collective action tendencies directly and indirectly via political efficacy. We also expected collective action tendencies to be positively predicted by moral outrage and by sympathy in response to disadvantaged outgroup's suffering. These hypotheses were supported in two surveys examining intentions to protest for Palestine in Britain (Study 1), and intentions to attend the June 4th vigil in Hong Kong to commemorate the Tiananmen massacre among a sample of Hong Kong citizens (Study 2). The contributions of these findings to research on the dual pathway model of collective action and the different functions of collective action are discussed. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Speed of perceptual grouping in acquired brain injury.

PubMed

Kurylo, Daniel D; Larkin, Gabriella Brick; Waxman, Richard; Bukhari, Farhan

2014-09-01

Evidence exists that damage to white matter connections may contribute to reduced speed of information processing in traumatic brain injury and stroke. Damage to such axonal projections suggests a particular vulnerability to functions requiring integration across cortical sites. To test this prediction, measurements were made of perceptual grouping, which requires integration of stimulus components. A group of traumatic brain injury and cerebral vascular accident patients and a group of age-matched healthy control subjects viewed arrays of dots and indicated the pattern into which stimuli were perceptually grouped. Psychophysical measurements were made of perceptual grouping as well as processing speed. The patient group showed elevated grouping thresholds as well as extended processing time. In addition, most patients showed progressive slowing of processing speed across levels of difficulty, suggesting reduced resources to accommodate increased demands on grouping. These results support the prediction that brain injury results in a particular vulnerability to functions requiring integration of information across the cortex, which may result from dysfunction of long-range axonal connection.

Disaster Impact Across Cultural Groups: Comparison of Whites, African Americans, and Latinos

PubMed Central

Price, Matthew; McCauley, Jenna L.; Ruggiero, Kenneth J.

2015-01-01

The current study extends knowledge regarding the differential impact of natural disasters among White, African American, and Latino survivors of Hurricane Ike through its use of a large, regional sample recruited via representative sampling procedures to examine the associations between cultural identification and disaster impact, including loss, damage, and negative mental health outcomes. Consistent with previous research, results indicated disparities between cultural groups with regard to disaster exposure. Additionally, type of disaster impact was differentially associated with PTSD and depression status dependent on cultural group. Specifically, the extent of personal disaster exposure, property damage, and loss of services made significant contributions to PTSD status among White survivors. African-Americans were more likely than White and Latino Ike survivors to endorse post-disaster PTSD and depression and endorsement of depression was predicted by severity of property damage. With respect to Latino respondents, only the extent of personal disaster exposure significantly contributed to both PTSD and depression status. Implications of the current findings are discussed with regard to future disaster preparedness and response efforts and the implementation and evaluation of community-based disaster resources. PMID:23709270

Improved conception rates in sows inseminated with cryopreserved boar spermatozoa prepared with a more optimal combination of osmolality and glycerol in the freezing extender.

PubMed

Okazaki, Tetsuji; Abe, Shouhachiro; Shimada, Masayuki

2009-04-01

Cryoprotectant agents (CPAs) are added in freezing extenders to prevent intracellular ice crystal formation. However, it has been reported that high dose of CPAs confer toxicity on spermatozoa. Recently, the reduction of intracellular water by a high osmolality solution has also resulted in the suppression of ice crystal formation in spermatozoa, suggesting that the optimal combination of glycerol concentration and freezing extender osmolality could contribute to the development of effective sperm cryopreservation techniques. In this study, we investigated the motility, membrane and acrosomal integrity of frozen-thawed boar spermatozoa treated with freezing extender (NSF) of varying osmolalities (300, 400, 500 mOsm/kg) and final concentrations of glycerol (0.5, 1, 2, 3%). The spermatozoa that were treated at 400 mOsm/kg and 2% glycerol showed significantly higher rates of motility and membrane integrity compared with those in other treatment groups. In addition, the conception and implantation rates of swine artificially inseminated with spermatozoa frozen by the novel freezing extender (conception; 79%, implantation; 57.5%) were significantly higher than those of frozen-thawed spermatozoa treated in the conventional NSF (300 mOsm/kg, 3% glycerol) (conception; 29%, implantation; 33.8%). From these results, we concluded that the novel hyperosmotic (400 mOsm/kg) and low-glycerol (final concentration 2%) freezing extender is beneficial for the cryopreservation of boar spermatozoa.

Behavioral and biological interactions with small groups in confined microsocieties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brady, J. V.; Emurian, H. H.

1982-01-01

Requirements for high levels of human performance in the unfamiliar and stressful environments associated with space missions necessitate the development of research-based technological procedures for maximizing the probability of effective functioning at all levels of personnel participation. Where the successful accomplishment of such missions requires the coordinated contributions of several individuals collectively identified with the achievement of a common objective, the conditions for characterizing a team, crew, or functional group are operationally defined. For the most part, studies of group performances under operational conditions which emphasize relatively long exposure to extended mission environments have been limited by the constraints imposed on experimental manipulations to identify critical effectiveness factors. On the other hand, laboratory studies involving relatively brief exposures to contrived task situations have been considered of questionable generality to operational settings requiring realistic group objectives.

The search for extended infrared emission near interacting and active galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Appleton, Philip N.

1991-01-01

The following subject areas are covered: the search for extended far IR emission; the search for extended emission in galaxy groups; a brief review of the flattening algorithm; the target groups; extended emission from groups and intergalactic HI clouds; and morphological image processing.

Leadership Practices that Contribute to Extended Presidential Tenure and the Development of High-Performing Community Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poole, David

2012-01-01

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify and better understand leadership styles and practices that contribute to extended presidential tenure and the development of high-performing community colleges. Profiles were developed drawing from the six California community college chancellors, presidents, and superintendent/presidents who…

How temperament and personality contribute to the maladjustment of children with autism.

PubMed

De Pauw, Sarah S W; Mervielde, Ivan; Van Leeuwen, Karla G; De Clercq, Barbara J

2011-02-01

To test the spectrum hypothesis--postulating that clinical and non-clinical samples are primarily differentiated by mean-level differences--, this study evaluates differences in parent-rated temperament, personality and maladjustment among a low-symptom (N = 81), a high-symptom (N = 94) ASD-group, and a comparison group (N = 500). These classic spectrum hypothesis tests are extended by adding tests for similarity in variances, reliabilities and patterns of covariation between relevant variables. Children with ASD exhibit more extreme means, except for dominance. The low- and high-symptom ASD-groups are primarily differentiated by mean sociability and internal distress. Striking similarities in reliability and pattern of covariation of variables suggest that comparable processes link traits to maladaptation in low- and high-symptom children with ASD and in children with and without autism.

The coverage of a random sample from a biological community.

PubMed

Engen, S

1975-03-01

A taxonomic group will frequently have a large number of species with small abundances. When a sample is drawn at random from this group, one is therefore faced with the problem that a large proportion of the species will not be discovered. A general definition of quantitative measures of "sample coverage" is proposed, and the problem of statistical inference is considered for two special cases, (1) the actual total relative abundance of those species that are represented in the sample, and (2) their relative contribution to the information index of diversity. The analysis is based on a extended version of the negative binomial species frequency model. The results are tabulated.

Evolving beta-lactamase epidemiology in Enterobacteriaceae from Italian nationwide surveillance, October 2013: KPC-carbapenemase spreading among outpatients.

PubMed

Giani, Tommaso; Antonelli, Alberto; Caltagirone, Mariasofia; Mauri, Carola; Nicchi, Jessica; Arena, Fabio; Nucleo, Elisabetta; Bracco, Silvia; Pantosti, Annalisa; Luzzaro, Francesco; Pagani, Laura; Rossolini, Gian Maria

2017-08-03

Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), AmpC-type beta-lactamases (ACBLs) and carbapenemases are among the most important resistance mechanisms in Enterobacteriaceae. This study investigated the presence of these resistance mechanisms in consecutive non-replicate isolates of Escherichia coli (n = 2,352), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 697), and Proteus mirabilis (n = 275) from an Italian nationwide cross-sectional survey carried out in October 2013. Overall, 15.3% of isolates were non-susceptible to extended-spectrum cephalosporins but susceptible to carbapenems (ESCR-carbaS), while 4.3% were also non-susceptible to carbapenems (ESCR-carbaR). ESCR-carbaS isolates were contributed by all three species, with higher proportions among isolates from inpatients (20.3%) but remarkable proportions also among those from outpatients (11.1%). Most ESCR-carbaS isolates were ESBL-positive (90.5%), and most of them were contributed by E. coli carrying bla CTX-M group 1 genes. Acquired ACBLs were less common and mostly detected in P. mirabilis. ESCR-carbaR isolates were mostly contributed by K. pneumoniae (25.1% and 7.7% among K. pneumoniae isolates from inpatients and outpatients, respectively), with bla KPC as the most common carbapenemase gene. Results showed an increasing trend for both ESBL and carbapenemase producers in comparison with previous Italian surveys, also among outpatients. This article is copyright of The Authors, 2017.

Northward dispersal of sea kraits (Laticauda semifasciata) beyond their typical range

PubMed Central

Park, Jaejin; Kim, Il-Hun; Fong, Jonathan J.; Koo, Kyo-Soung; Choi, Woo-Jin; Tsai, Tein-Shun

2017-01-01

Marine reptiles are declining globally, and recent climate change may be a contributing factor. The study of sea snakes collected beyond their typical distribution range provides valuable insight on how climate change affects marine reptile populations. Recently, we collected 12 Laticauda semifasciata (11 females, 1 male) from the waters around southern South Korea—an area located outside its typical distribution range (Japan, China including Taiwan, Philippines and Indonesia). We investigated the genetic origin of Korean specimens by analyzing mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (Cytb) sequences. Six individuals shared haplotypes with a group found in Taiwan-southern Ryukyu Islands, while the remaining six individuals shared haplotypes with a group encompassing the entire Ryukyu Archipelago. These results suggest L. semifasciata moved into Korean waters from the Taiwan-Ryukyu region via the Taiwan Warm Current and/or the Kuroshio Current, with extended survival facilitated by ocean warming. We highlight several contributing factors that increase the chances that L. semifasciata establishes new northern populations beyond the original distribution range. PMID:28644894

Standard partial molar volumes of some aqueous alkanolamines and alkoxyamines at temperatures up to 325 degrees C: functional group additivity in polar organic solutes under hydrothermal conditions.

PubMed

Bulemela, E; Tremaine, Peter R

2008-05-08

Apparent molar volumes of dilute aqueous solutions of monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA), N,N-dimethylethanolamine (DMEA), ethylethanolamine (EAE), 2-diethylethanolamine (2-DEEA), and 3-methoxypropylamine (3-MPA) and their salts were measured at temperatures from 150 to 325 degrees C and pressures as high as 15 MPa. The results were corrected for the ionization and used to obtain the standard partial molar volumes, Vo2. A three-parameter equation of state was used to describe the temperature and pressure dependence of the standard partial molar volumes. The fitting parameters were successfully divided into functional group contributions at all temperatures to obtain the standard partial molar volume contributions. Including literature results for alcohols, carboxylic acids, and hydroxycarboxylic acids yielded the standard partial molar volume contributions of the functional groups >CH-, >CH2, -CH3, -OH, -COOH, -O-, -->N, >NH, -NH2, -COO-Na+, -NH3+Cl-, >NH2+Cl-, and -->NH+Cl- over the range (150 degrees C

Point counts from clustered populations: Lessons from an experiment with Hawaiian crows

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayward, G.D.; Kepler, C.B.; Scott, J.M.

1991-01-01

We designed an experiment to identify factors contributing most to error in counts of Hawaiian Crow or Alala (Corvus hawaiiensis) groups that are detected aurally. Seven observers failed to detect calling Alala on 197 of 361 3-min point counts on four transects extending from cages with captive Alala. A detection curve describing the relation between frequency of flock detection and distance typified the distribution expected in transect or point counts. Failure to detect calling Alala was affected most by distance, observer, and Alala calling frequency. The number of individual Alala calling was not important in detection rate. Estimates of the number of Alala calling (flock size) were biased and imprecise: average difference between number of Alala calling and number heard was 3.24 (.+-. 0.277). Distance, observer, number of Alala calling, and Alala calling frequency all contributed to errors in estimates of group size (P < 0.0001). Multiple regression suggested that number of Alala calling contributed most to errors. These results suggest that well-designed point counts may be used to estimate the number of Alala flocks but cast doubt on attempts to estimate flock size when individuals are counted aurally.

Factors contributing to the effectiveness of four school-based sexual violence interventions.

PubMed

Clinton-Sherrod, A Monique; Morgan-Lopez, Antonio A; Gibbs, Deborah; Hawkins, Stephanie R; Hart, Laurie; Ball, Barbara; Irvin, Neil; Littler, Nicole

2009-01-01

This study extends past research by examining factors associated with changes in attitudes, knowledge, and intended behaviors related to sexual assault. This study included 1,182 participants from four unique multiple-session school-based sexual violence interventions. Implementation and participant factors examined include single- versus mixed-gender groups, group setting versus classroom lecture setting, and participant gender. Participants completed self-administered, paper-and-pencil pre- and postsurveys. A significant desired overall effect was found on participants' reports of positive attitudes, beliefs, and behavior regarding sexual harassment and personal boundaries and positive dating relationship norms (from pretest to posttest). There were steeper increases over time in both measures, with larger mixed-gender/single-gender differences among boys than among girls. Differences in the impact of participating in mixed- versus single-gender groups depended on classroom versus small group settings. The implications of these findings are discussed for sexual assault prevention programs.

Two new species of gorgonian octocorals from the Tropical Eastern Pacific Biogeographic Region (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Gorgoniidae)

PubMed Central

Breedy, Odalisca; Williams, Gary C; Guzman, Hector M

2013-01-01

Abstract The gorgoniid Eugorgia is exclusively an eastern Pacific genus. It has a wide geographic and bathymetric range of distribution, found from California to Perú and extends down to 65 m deep. Two new species are herein described. The morphological characters were analyzed and illustrated by light and scanning electron microscopy. Eugorgia beebei sp. n. can be distinguished by its white, ascending, sparse colony growth. Eugorgia mutabilis sp. n. can be distinguished by its white colony that changes color after collection, and the conspicuous sharp-crested disc sclerites. From a morphological point of view the new species are related to the daniana-group, the rubens-group and the siedenburgae-group of Eugorgia; their affiliations, and the proposal of a new group are discussed. These new species increases the number of species in the genus to 15, and contribute to the knowledge of the eastern Pacific octocoral biodiversity. PMID:24294084

International collaborative donor project.

PubMed

Ríos Zambudio, Antonio

2018-02-01

The International Donor Collaborative Project (PCID) research group was created in 1996 in Spain with the aim of promoting research in the field of organ donation and transplantation, led by Spanish surgeons. During this period they have developed the questionnaires of the PCID, both the attitude towards cadaver and live donation, which are the most used questionnaires in publications in indexed journals. They have been the driving group of stratified studies representative of the populations under study, and of the performance of multivariate statistical analyzes in the field of psycho-social research in organ donation and transplantation. The main contributions of the group focus on the analysis of health center professionals and emerging migrant groups. In recent years, studies have been extended to the United States, Latin America (mainly Mexico) and Europe. Copyright © 2017 AEC. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Molecular interactions in nanocellulose assembly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishiyama, Yoshiharu

2017-12-01

The contribution of hydrogen bonds and the London dispersion force in the cohesion of cellulose is discussed in the light of the structure, spectroscopic data, empirical molecular-modelling parameters and thermodynamics data of analogue molecules. The hydrogen bond of cellulose is mainly electrostatic, and the stabilization energy in cellulose for each hydrogen bond is estimated to be between 17 and 30 kJ mol-1. On average, hydroxyl groups of cellulose form hydrogen bonds comparable to those of other simple alcohols. The London dispersion interaction may be estimated from empirical attraction terms in molecular modelling by simple integration over all components. Although this interaction extends to relatively large distances in colloidal systems, the short-range interaction is dominant for the cohesion of cellulose and is equivalent to a compression of 3 GPa. Trends of heat of vaporization of alkyl alcohols and alkanes suggests a stabilization by such hydroxyl group hydrogen bonding to be of the order of 24 kJ mol-1, whereas the London dispersion force contributes about 0.41 kJ mol-1 Da-1. The simple arithmetic sum of the energy is consistent with the experimental enthalpy of sublimation of small sugars, where the main part of the cohesive energy comes from hydrogen bonds. For cellulose, because of the reduced number of hydroxyl groups, the London dispersion force provides the main contribution to intermolecular cohesion. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue `New horizons for cellulose nanotechnology'.

Arousal-state modulation in children with AD/HD.

PubMed

Benikos, Nicholas; Johnstone, Stuart J

2009-01-01

To investigate the effect of arousal-state modulation, via manipulation of stimulus event-rate, on response inhibition in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) using behavioural and ERP measures. Eighteen children with AD/HD, aged 7-14years, and 18 age-and sex-matched controls performed a cued visual Go/Nogo task (70% Go) with stimuli presented at fast, medium and slow event-rates. Task performance and ERPs to Warning, Go and Nogo stimuli, as well as preparation between the S1-S2 interval, were examined for group differences. AD/HD subjects displayed poorer response inhibition during the fast condition, accompanied by a reduced Nogo P3. Group differences during the fast rate extended to Warning cues, with the AD/HD group showing ERP evidence of atypical orienting/preparation, as indexed by the early and late CNV, and early sensory/attentive processing prior to S2. Although deficient response inhibition has been proposed as the core deficit in AD/HD, the results of the present study highlight the key role of energetic factors. Furthermore, group differences found to cues suggest that this effect extends to the processing of task-irrelevant stimuli. This was the first ERP Go/Nogo task investigation using three event-rates, and the results support the theory that state factors may contribute to response inhibition deficits in AD/HD.

Refined counting of necklaces in one-loop N=4 SYM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, Ryo

2017-06-01

We compute the grand partition function of N=4 SYM at one-loop in the SU(2) sector with general chemical potentials, extending the results of Pólya's theorem. We make use of finite group theory, applicable to all orders of perturbative 1 /N c expansion. We show that only the planar terms contribute to the grand partition function, which is therefore equal to the grand partition function of an ensemble of {XXX}_{1/2} spin chains. We discuss how Hagedorn temperature changes on the complex plane of chemical potentials.

Big Gods: Extended prosociality or group binding?

PubMed

Galen, Luke W

2016-01-01

Big Gods are described as having a "prosocial" effect. However, this conflates parochialism (group cohesion) with cooperation extended to strangers or out-group members. An examination of the cited experimental studies indicates that religion is actually associated with increased within-group parochialism, rather than extended or universal prosociality, and that the same general mechanisms underlie both religious and secular effects.

75 FR 35643 - Extended Carryback of Losses to or from a Consolidated Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-23

... Extended Carryback of Losses to or from a Consolidated Group AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS... extend the standard two-year carryback period for an additional period of up to three years (Extended... enactment of the Act (November 6, 2009) to revoke such election in order to take advantage of the Extended...

Lempel-Ziv complexity analysis of one dimensional cellular automata.

PubMed

Estevez-Rams, E; Lora-Serrano, R; Nunes, C A J; Aragón-Fernández, B

2015-12-01

Lempel-Ziv complexity measure has been used to estimate the entropy density of a string. It is defined as the number of factors in a production factorization of a string. In this contribution, we show that its use can be extended, by using the normalized information distance, to study the spatiotemporal evolution of random initial configurations under cellular automata rules. In particular, the transfer information from time consecutive configurations is studied, as well as the sensitivity to perturbed initial conditions. The behavior of the cellular automata rules can be grouped in different classes, but no single grouping captures the whole nature of the involved rules. The analysis carried out is particularly appropriate for studying the computational processing capabilities of cellular automata rules.

Lempel-Ziv complexity analysis of one dimensional cellular automata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Estevez-Rams, E.; Lora-Serrano, R.; Nunes, C. A. J.; Aragón-Fernández, B.

2015-12-01

Lempel-Ziv complexity measure has been used to estimate the entropy density of a string. It is defined as the number of factors in a production factorization of a string. In this contribution, we show that its use can be extended, by using the normalized information distance, to study the spatiotemporal evolution of random initial configurations under cellular automata rules. In particular, the transfer information from time consecutive configurations is studied, as well as the sensitivity to perturbed initial conditions. The behavior of the cellular automata rules can be grouped in different classes, but no single grouping captures the whole nature of the involved rules. The analysis carried out is particularly appropriate for studying the computational processing capabilities of cellular automata rules.

Extended Year, Extended Contracts: Increasing Teacher Salary Options.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gandara, Patricia

1992-01-01

Reports on an attempt to raise teacher salaries through an extended contract made possible through year-round school schedules. Teacher satisfaction with the 1987 experiment in three California schools (the Orchard Plan) has been high. Elements that have contributed to job satisfaction are discussed. (SLD)

Family caregiving or caregiving alone: who helps the helper?

PubMed

Sims-Gould, Joanie; Martin-Matthews, Anne

2007-01-01

This study advances the understanding of family caregiving by examining the relationship between adult children caregivers and their helpers. Specifically, it focuses on examining "who helps whom" and extends analyses beyond the dyadic focus of caregiving in later life. The focus on helping and caregiving addresses the variety of contributions and responsibilities involving not only the caregiver who was the target respondent in this research, but also others identified as helpers in the provision of care. The data for this study are derived from the Work and Eldercare Research group of CARNET: The Canadian Aging Research Network. Secondary analysis of CARNET data focuses on data collected from 250 individuals with significant caregiving responsibilities for at least one older person. Findings extend Kahn & Antonucci's convoys of social support model (1981) and Cantor's model of social care (1991) by disentangling some of the dimensions of helping and caregiving, such as the distinction between direct and assistive help.

Extending Students' Mathematical Thinking during Whole-Group Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cengiz, Nesrin; Kline, Kate; Grant, Theresa J.

2011-01-01

Studies show that extending students' mathematical thinking during whole-group discussions is a challenging undertaking. To better understand what extending student thinking looks like and how teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) supports teachers in their efforts to extend student thinking, the teaching of six experienced…

New perspectives for "non-classical" molecules: heavy [1.1.1]propellanes of group 14.

PubMed

Nied, Dominik; Breher, Frank

2011-07-01

Heavy analogues of hydrocarbons intrigue chemists for a number of reasons, not least because they are often fundamentally different from their carbon counterparts and have remained a challenge for both experimentalists and theoreticians for a long time. The appealing properties of [1.1.1]propellanes of group 14 consisting of inverted tetrahedral bridgehead atoms can mainly be attributed to the particular bonding between the latter. More than 20 years after the first member of this family has been published, several contributions to this area have impressively extended the spectrum of these so-called main-group biradicaloids. Still in its infancy, further perspectives for these "non-classical" molecules are now arising. In this tutorial review, early findings and recent developments in this area are presented. Particular attention is drawn on the relationship of unusual structures and unusual reactivities of main-group element compounds in general and in particular of heavy propellane scaffolds of group 14.

Ovulation induced by mucosa vaginal absorption of buserelin and triptorelin in rabbit.

PubMed

Viudes-de-Castro, M P; Lavara, R; Marco-Jiménez, F; Cortell, C; Vicente, J S

2007-10-15

The aim of this study was to evaluate the supplementation of semen extender with two synthetic GnRH analogues (buserelin and triptorelin) to induce ovulation in rabbit does submitted to artificial insemination. In a first experiment, 255 receptive multiparous does were inseminated with 0.5 mL of Tris-citrate-glucose extender supplemented or not with two GnRH synthetic analogues. Experimental groups were: NC (not supplemented extender), PC (not supplemented extender and does treated with 1 microg of buserelin i.m.), B2 (2 microg per female buserelin supplemented extender), B5 (5 microg per female buserelin supplemented extender), T2 (2 microg per female triptorelin supplemented extender) and T5 (5 microg per female triptorelin supplemented extender). Thirteen does of NC females ovulated, reaching an ovulation rate similar to the other groups. Ovulation rate was similar in all groups (11.4-12.5). The efficiency of ovulation induction was very low (32.5%) in NC group and showed the higher results in PC females (97.8%). Only B5 females reached similar ovulation induction response than PC group. In a second experiment, 702 receptive does were inseminated to compare fertility and prolificacy parameters from the conventional insemination technique (control group, females treated with 1 microg per female of buserelin intramuscularly) versus a supplementation with buserelin or triptorelin (5 microg per female) in semen extender (B5 and T5 groups, respectively). Fertility and prolificacy parameters were similar among the groups (77.8% fertility rate, 73.9% kindling rate, 9.4 live born and 9.9 total born). This study demonstrate the possibility of ovulation induction in rabbits by adding two GnRH synthetic analogues in the seminal doses and open up new prospects for changing rabbit insemination procedures.

The influence of sea ice, wind speed and marine mammals on Southern Ocean ambient sound.

PubMed

Menze, Sebastian; Zitterbart, Daniel P; van Opzeeland, Ilse; Boebel, Olaf

2017-01-01

This paper describes the natural variability of ambient sound in the Southern Ocean, an acoustically pristine marine mammal habitat. Over a 3-year period, two autonomous recorders were moored along the Greenwich meridian to collect underwater passive acoustic data. Ambient sound levels were strongly affected by the annual variation of the sea-ice cover, which decouples local wind speed and sound levels during austral winter. With increasing sea-ice concentration, area and thickness, sound levels decreased while the contribution of distant sources increased. Marine mammal sounds formed a substantial part of the overall acoustic environment, comprising calls produced by Antarctic blue whales ( Balaenoptera musculus intermedia ), fin whales ( Balaenoptera physalus ), Antarctic minke whales ( Balaenoptera bonaerensis ) and leopard seals ( Hydrurga leptonyx ). The combined sound energy of a group or population vocalizing during extended periods contributed species-specific peaks to the ambient sound spectra. The temporal and spatial variation in the contribution of marine mammals to ambient sound suggests annual patterns in migration and behaviour. The Antarctic blue and fin whale contributions were loudest in austral autumn, whereas the Antarctic minke whale contribution was loudest during austral winter and repeatedly showed a diel pattern that coincided with the diel vertical migration of zooplankton.

The influence of sea ice, wind speed and marine mammals on Southern Ocean ambient sound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menze, Sebastian; Zitterbart, Daniel P.; van Opzeeland, Ilse; Boebel, Olaf

2017-01-01

This paper describes the natural variability of ambient sound in the Southern Ocean, an acoustically pristine marine mammal habitat. Over a 3-year period, two autonomous recorders were moored along the Greenwich meridian to collect underwater passive acoustic data. Ambient sound levels were strongly affected by the annual variation of the sea-ice cover, which decouples local wind speed and sound levels during austral winter. With increasing sea-ice concentration, area and thickness, sound levels decreased while the contribution of distant sources increased. Marine mammal sounds formed a substantial part of the overall acoustic environment, comprising calls produced by Antarctic blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia), fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) and leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx). The combined sound energy of a group or population vocalizing during extended periods contributed species-specific peaks to the ambient sound spectra. The temporal and spatial variation in the contribution of marine mammals to ambient sound suggests annual patterns in migration and behaviour. The Antarctic blue and fin whale contributions were loudest in austral autumn, whereas the Antarctic minke whale contribution was loudest during austral winter and repeatedly showed a diel pattern that coincided with the diel vertical migration of zooplankton.

Surface vibrational structure at alkane liquid/vapor interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esenturk, Okan; Walker, Robert A.

2006-11-01

Broadband vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS) has been used to examine the surface structure of alkane liquid/vapor interfaces. The alkanes range in length from n-nonane (C9H20) to n-heptadecane (C17H36), and all liquids except heptadecane are studied at temperatures well above their bulk (and surface) freezing temperatures. Intensities of vibrational bands in the CH stretching region acquired under different polarization conditions show systematic, chain length dependent changes. Data provide clear evidence of methyl group segregation at the liquid/vapor interface, but two different models of alkane chain structure can predict chain length dependent changes in band intensities. Each model leads to a different interpretation of the extent to which different chain segments contribute to the anisotropic interfacial region. One model postulates that changes in vibrational band intensities arise solely from a reduced surface coverage of methyl groups as alkane chain length increases. The additional methylene groups at the surface must be randomly distributed and make no net contribution to the observed VSF spectra. The second model considers a simple statistical distribution of methyl and methylene groups populating a three dimensional, interfacial lattice. This statistical picture implies that the VSF signal arises from a region extending several functional groups into the bulk liquid, and that the growing fraction of methylene groups in longer chain alkanes bears responsibility for the observed spectral changes. The data and resulting interpretations provide clear benchmarks for emerging theories of molecular structure and organization at liquid surfaces, especially for liquids lacking strong polar ordering.

Contributions of sex, testosterone, and androgen receptor CAG repeat number to virtual Morris water maze performance.

PubMed

Nowak, Nicole T; Diamond, Michael P; Land, Susan J; Moffat, Scott D

2014-03-01

The possibility that androgens contribute to the male advantage typically found on measures of spatial cognition has been investigated using a variety of approaches. To date, evidence to support the notion that androgens affect spatial cognition in healthy young adults is somewhat equivocal. The present study sought to clarify the association between testosterone (T) and spatial performance by extending measurements of androgenicity to include both measures of circulating T as well as an androgen receptor-specific genetic marker. The aims of this study were to assess the contributions of sex, T, and androgen receptor CAG repeat number (CAGr) on virtual Morris water task (vMWT) performance in a group of healthy young men and women. The hypothesis that men would outperform women on vMWT outcomes was supported. Results indicate that CAGr may interact with T to impact navigation performance and suggest that consideration of androgen receptor sensitivity is an important consideration in evaluating hormone-behavior relationships. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Emergence of a Temporally Extended Self and Factors that Contribute to Its Development: From Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazaridis, Mary

2013-01-01

The main aims of the current research were to determine when children develop a temporally extended self (TES) and what factors contribute to its development. However, in order to address these aims it was important to, first, assess whether the test of delayed self-recognition (DSR) is a valid measure for the development of the TES, and, second,…

Improved sensitivity of the rapid screen of mild traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

De Monte, Veronica Eileen; Geffen, Gina Malke; May, Christopher Randall; McFarland, Ken

2010-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in an emergency department sample. A total of 246 (186 male, 60 female) cases of mTBI and 102 (65 male and 37 female) cases of orthopedic injuries were tested within 24 hours of injury. Mild TBI patients performed more poorly on all subtests of the Rapid Screen of Concussion (RSC) and completed fewer symbols on Digit Symbol than did orthopedic controls. RSC scores predicted group membership better than chance, and Digit Symbol scores contributed significantly to predicting group membership over and above the contribution of the RSC, resulting in 70.4% sensitivity and 74% specificity for the extended protocol. The results of this study indicate that learning and memory, orientation, and speed of information processing are impaired immediately following mTBI. Furthermore, a brief battery of tests that include word recall, orientation, and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test could assess the severity of dysfunction following mTBI, and assist in clinical decision making regarding discharge, return to routine activities, and management of the effects of injury.

Extended cold snare polypectomy for small colorectal polyps increases the R0 resection rate.

PubMed

Abe, Yasuhiro; Nabeta, Haruaki; Koyanagi, Ryota; Nakamichi, Taro; Hirashima, Hayato; Lefor, Alan Kawarai; Shinozaki, Satoshi

2018-02-01

 Despite widespread use of cold snare polypectomy (CSP), the R0 resection rate is not well documented. We perform extended CSP, resecting polyps with a > 1 mm circumferential margin. The aim of this study is to compare the R0 resection rate of extended CSP with conventional CSP and to assess safety. From April 2014 to September 2016, 712 non-pedunculated colorectal polyps, < 10 mm in size, resected using CSP from 316 patients were retrospectively analyzed.  We divided lesions into conventional CSP (n = 263) and extended CSP groups (n = 449). The baseline characteristics of these two groups were not significantly different in univariate or multivariate analyses. Sessile polyps comprised 94 % (668/712), and the remaining were flat-elevated polyps. Mean size of polyps (±standard deviation) was 4.2 ± 1.5 mm. The most frequent pathology was low grade adenoma (97 %, 689/712). The R0 resection rate was significantly higher in the extended CSP group (439/449 [98 %]) than in the conventional CSP group (222/263 [84 %], P  < 0.001). There was no delayed bleeding or perforation in either group (conventional CSP group, 0/263, 95 % confidence interval: 0.0 - 1.4 % and extended CSP group, 0/449, 95 % confidence interval: 0.0 - 0.8 %).  Extended CSP results in a higher R0 resection rate compared with conventional CSP. Extended CSP did not result in a higher rate of delayed bleeding or perforation. Extended CSP is a safe and promising procedure for endoscopic resection of non-pedunculated colorectal polyps < 10 mm in size.

Rigid Calabi-Yau threefolds, Picard Eisenstein series and instantons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bao, L.; Kleinschmidt, A.; Nilsson, B. E. W.; Persson, D.; Pioline, B.

2013-12-01

Type IIA string theory compactified on a rigid Calabi-Yau threefold gives rise to a classical moduli space that carries an isometric action of U(2, 1). Various quantum corrections break this continuous isometry to a discrete subgroup. Focussing on the case where the intermediate Jacobian of the Calabi-Yau admits complex multiplication by the ring of quadratic imaginary integers d, we argue that the remaining quantum duality group is an arithmetic Picard modular group PU(2, 1; d). Based on this proposal we construct an Eisenstein series invariant under this duality group and study its non-Abelian Fourier expansion. This allows the prediction of non-perturbative effects, notably the contribution of D2- and NS5-brane instantons. The present work extends our previous analysis in 0909.4299 which was restricted to the special case of the Gaussian integers 1 = Bbb Z[i].

Spatio-temporal evolution of the 2011 Prague, Oklahoma aftershock sequence revealed using subspace detection and relocation

USGS Publications Warehouse

McMahon, Nicole D; Aster, Richard C.; Yeck, William; McNamara, Daniel E.; Benz, Harley M.

2017-01-01

The 6 November 2011 Mw 5.7 earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma is the second largest earthquake ever recorded in the state. A Mw 4.8 foreshock and the Mw 5.7 mainshock triggered a prolific aftershock sequence. Utilizing a subspace detection method, we increase by fivefold the number of precisely located events between 4 November and 5 December 2011. We find that while most aftershock energy is released in the crystalline basement, a significant number of the events occur in the overlying Arbuckle Group, indicating that active Meeker-Prague faulting extends into the sedimentary zone of wastewater disposal. Although the number of aftershocks in the Arbuckle Group is large, comprising ~40% of the aftershock catalog, the moment contribution of Arbuckle Group earthquakes is much less than 1% of the total aftershock moment budget. Aftershock locations are sparse in patches that experienced large slip during the mainshock.

Contribution of hydrophobic effect to the sorption of phenanthrene, 9-phenanthrol and 9, 10-phenanthrenequinone on carbon nanotubes.

PubMed

Peng, Hongbo; Zhang, Di; Pan, Bo; Peng, Jinhui

2017-02-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), with diverse sources and acute toxicity, are categorized as priority pollutants. Previous studies have stated that the hydrophobic effect controls PAH sorption, but no study has been conducted to quantify the exact contribution of the hydrophobic effect. Considering the well-defined structure of carbon nanotubes and their stable chemical composition in organic solvents, three multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were selected as a model adsorbent. Phenanthrene (PHE) and its degradation intermediates 9-phenanthrol (PTR) and 9, 10-phenanthrenequinone (PQN) were used as model adsorbates. To quantify the contribution of the hydrophobic effect for these three chemicals, the effect of organic solvent (methanol and hexadecane) was investigated. Adsorption isotherms for PHE, PTR and PQN were well fitted by the Freundlich isotherm model. A positive relationship between adsorption affinities of these three chemicals and specific surface area (SSA) was observed in hexadecane but not in water or methanol. Other factors should be included other than SSA. Adsorption of PQN on MWCNTs with oxygen functional groups was higher than that on pristine MWCNTs due to π-π EDA interactions. The contribution of hydrophobic effect was 50%-85% for PHE, suggesting that hydrophobic effect was the predominant mechanism. This contribution was lower than 30% for PTR/PQN on functionalized MWCNTs. Hydrogen bonds control the adsorption of PTR, and π-π bonding interactions control PQN sorption after screening out the hydrophobic effect in hexadecane. Hydrophobic effect is the control mechanism for nonpolar chemicals, while functional groups of CNTs and solvent types control the adsorption of polar compounds. Extended work on quantifying the relationship between chemical structure and the contribution of the hydrophobic effect will provide a useful technique for PAH fate modeling. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of the amino acid contribution to the folding degree of proteins.

PubMed

Estrada, Ernesto

2004-03-01

The folding degree index (Estrada, Bioinformatics 2002;18:697-704) is extended to account for the contribution of amino acids to folding. First, the mathematical formalism for extending the folding degree index is presented. Then, the amino acid contributions to folding degree of several proteins are used to analyze its relation to secondary structure. The possibilities of using these contributions in helping or checking the assignation of secondary structure to amino acids are also introduced. The influence of external factors to the amino acids contribution to folding degree is studied through the temperature effect on ribonuclease A. Finally, the analysis of 3D protein similarity through the use of amino acid contributions to folding degree is studied by selecting a series of lysozymes. These results are compared to that obtained by sequence alignment (2D similarity) and 3D superposition of the structures, showing the uniqueness of the current approach. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Symmetry Analysis of Gauge-Invariant Field Equations via a Generalized Harrison-Estabrook Formalism.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papachristou, Costas J.

The Harrison-Estabrook formalism for the study of invariance groups of partial differential equations is generalized and extended to equations that define, through their solutions, sections on vector bundles of various kinds. Applications include the Dirac, Yang-Mills, and self-dual Yang-Mills (SDYM) equations. The latter case exhibits interesting connections between the internal symmetries of SDYM and the existence of integrability characteristics such as a linear ("inverse scattering") system and Backlund transformations (BT's). By "verticalizing" the generators of coordinate point transformations of SDYM, nine nonlocal, generalized (as opposed to local, point) symmetries are constructed. The observation is made that the prolongations of these symmetries are parametric BT's for SDYM. It is thus concluded that the entire point group of SDYM contributes, upon verticalization, BT's to the system.

Neurocognitive markers of cognitive impairment: exploring the roles of speed and inconsistency.

PubMed

Dixon, Roger A; Garrett, Douglas D; Lentz, Tanya L; MacDonald, Stuart W S; Strauss, Esther; Hultsch, David F

2007-05-01

A well-known challenge for research in the cognitive neuropsychology of aging is to distinguish between the deficits and changes associated with normal aging and those indicative of early cognitive impairment. In a series of 2 studies, the authors explored whether 2 neurocognitive markers, speed (mean level) and inconsistency (intraindividual variability), distinguished between age groups (64-73 and 74-90+ years) and cognitive status groups (nonimpaired, mildly impaired, and moderately impaired). Study 1 (n = 416) showed that both level and inconsistency distinguished between the age and 2 cognitive status (not impaired, mildly impaired) groups, with a modest tendency for inconsistency to predict group membership over and above mean level. Study 2 (n = 304) replicated these results but extended them because of the qualifying effects associated with the unique moderately impaired oldest group. Specifically, not only were the groups more firmly distinguished by both indicators of speed, but evidence for the differential contribution of performance inconsistency was stronger. Neurocognitive markers of speed and inconsistency may be leading indicators of emerging cognitive impairment. (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved

Estimating Atomic Contributions to Hydration and Binding Using Free Energy Perturbation.

PubMed

Irwin, Benedict W J; Huggins, David J

2018-06-12

We present a general method called atom-wise free energy perturbation (AFEP), which extends a conventional molecular dynamics free energy perturbation (FEP) simulation to give the contribution to a free energy change from each atom. AFEP is derived from an expansion of the Zwanzig equation used in the exponential averaging method by defining that the system total energy can be partitioned into contributions from each atom. A partitioning method is assumed and used to group terms in the expansion to correspond to individual atoms. AFEP is applied to six example free energy changes to demonstrate the method. Firstly, the hydration free energies of methane, methanol, methylamine, methanethiol, and caffeine in water. AFEP highlights the atoms in the molecules that interact favorably or unfavorably with water. Finally AFEP is applied to the binding free energy of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease to lopinavir, and AFEP reveals the contribution of each atom to the binding free energy, indicating candidate areas of the molecule to improve to produce a more strongly binding inhibitor. FEP gives a single value for the free energy change and is already a very useful method. AFEP gives a free energy change for each "part" of the system being simulated, where part can mean individual atoms, chemical groups, amino acids, or larger partitions depending on what the user is trying to measure. This method should have various applications in molecular dynamics studies of physical, chemical, or biochemical phenomena, specifically in the field of computational drug discovery.

Extended antiretroviral prophylaxis to reduce breast-milk HIV-1 transmission.

PubMed

Kumwenda, Newton I; Hoover, Donald R; Mofenson, Lynne M; Thigpen, Michael C; Kafulafula, George; Li, Qing; Mipando, Linda; Nkanaunena, Kondwani; Mebrahtu, Tsedal; Bulterys, Marc; Fowler, Mary Glenn; Taha, Taha E

2008-07-10

Effective strategies are urgently needed to reduce mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) through breast-feeding in resource-limited settings. Women with HIV-1 infection who were breast-feeding infants were enrolled in a randomized, phase 3 trial in Blantyre, Malawi. At birth, the infants were randomly assigned to one of three regimens: single-dose nevirapine plus 1 week of zidovudine (control regimen) or the control regimen plus daily extended prophylaxis either with nevirapine (extended nevirapine) or with nevirapine plus zidovudine (extended dual prophylaxis) until the age of 14 weeks. Using Kaplan-Meier analyses, we assessed the risk of HIV-1 infection among infants who were HIV-1-negative on DNA polymerase-chain-reaction assay at birth. Among 3016 infants in the study, the control group had consistently higher rates of HIV-1 infection from the age of 6 weeks through 18 months. At 9 months, the estimated rate of HIV-1 infection (the primary end point) was 10.6% in the control group, as compared with 5.2% in the extended-nevirapine group (P<0.001) and 6.4% in the extended-dual-prophylaxis group (P=0.002). There were no significant differences between the two extended-prophylaxis groups. The frequency of breast-feeding did not differ significantly among the study groups. Infants receiving extended dual prophylaxis had a significant increase in the number of adverse events (primarily neutropenia) that were deemed to be possibly related to a study drug. Extended prophylaxis with nevirapine or with nevirapine and zidovudine for the first 14 weeks of life significantly reduced postnatal HIV-1 infection in 9-month-old infants. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00115648.) 2008 Massachusetts Medical Society

Outcomes of an extended-infusion piperacillin-tazobactam protocol implementation in a community teaching hospital adult intensive care unit.

PubMed

Schmees, Patrick M; Bergman, Scott J; Strader, Brandi D; Metzke, Megan E; Pointer, Sarah; Valenti, Kristine M

2016-06-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcome differences between patients receiving piperacillin-tazobactam pre- and post-implementation of an extended infusion dosing protocol in a community teaching hospital adult intensive care unit. On December 19th, 2011, extended infusion dosing of piperacillin-tazobactam was implemented at St. John's Hospital's intensive and cardiac care units (ICU/CCU) following IRB-approval. This is a historical case-control cohort study involving review of electronic medical charts of patients who received traditional or extended infusion therapy. Data was collected for patients that received piperacillin-tazobactam in the ICU/CCU from December 19th, 2010 through March 19th, 2011 for traditional infusion and from December 19th, 2011 through March 19th, 2012 for extended infusion. Primary endpoints were ICU/CCU mortality at discharge and length of stay. The study included 113 patients with 52 in the traditional-infusion group and 61 extended-infusion group. There was no statistically significant difference in the primary end-point of ICU/CCU mortality between the two groups (14.8% vs. 21.1%; p = 0.374). In the extended infusion group, there was a shorter length of ICU and CCU stay (8.32 vs. 12.06 days; p = 0.025) and shorter length of hospital stay (11.32 vs. 19.7 days; p = 0.006). The extended-infusion group showed a decrease in cost of therapy that was statistically significant ($120.21 vs. $155.17; p = 0.035). Adverse drug effects did not differ between the two study groups. This study showed that treatment with extended-infusion piperacillin-tazobactam therapy improved patient outcomes while maintaining patient safety and decreasing costs. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

Empirical support for global integrated assessment modeling: Productivity trends and technological change in developing countries' agriculture and electric power sectors

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

Sathaye, Jayant A.

2000-04-01

Integrated assessment (IA) modeling of climate policy is increasingly global in nature, with models incorporating regional disaggregation. The existing empirical basis for IA modeling, however, largely arises from research on industrialized economies. Given the growing importance of developing countries in determining long-term global energy and carbon emissions trends, filling this gap with improved statistical information on developing countries' energy and carbon-emissions characteristics is an important priority for enhancing IA modeling. Earlier research at LBNL on this topic has focused on assembling and analyzing statistical data on productivity trends and technological change in the energy-intensive manufacturing sectors of five developing countries,more » India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and South Korea. The proposed work will extend this analysis to the agriculture and electric power sectors in India, South Korea, and two other developing countries. They will also examine the impact of alternative model specifications on estimates of productivity growth and technological change for each of the three sectors, and estimate the contribution of various capital inputs--imported vs. indigenous, rigid vs. malleable-- in contributing to productivity growth and technological change. The project has already produced a data resource on the manufacturing sector which is being shared with IA modelers. This will be extended to the agriculture and electric power sectors, which would also be made accessible to IA modeling groups seeking to enhance the empirical descriptions of developing country characteristics. The project will entail basic statistical and econometric analysis of productivity and energy trends in these developing country sectors, with parameter estimates also made available to modeling groups. The parameter estimates will be developed using alternative model specifications that could be directly utilized by the existing IAMs for the manufacturing, agriculture, and electric power sectors.« less

Feasible and promising modified trans-subxiphoid thoracoscopic extended thymectomy for patients with myasthenia gravis.

PubMed

Shiomi, Kazu; Kitamura, Eiji; Ono, Mototsugu; Kondo, Yasuto; Naito, Masahito; Mikubo, Masashi; Matsui, Yoshio; Nishiyama, Kazutoshi; Suda, Takashi; Satoh, Yukitoshi

2018-03-01

We have used a promising, minimally invasive thoracoscopic technique of extended thymectomy for patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). The aim of this study was to report our promising technique, a modified single-port trans-subxiphoid approach (MTXA) and to compare perioperative outcomes and effects on MG between our approach and sternotomy. We retrospectively reviewed records of all patients undergoing extended thymectomy for MG and/or thymoma between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2016. The patients were divided into the MTXA group and Sternotomy group. Of the 50 consecutive patients undergoing extended thymectomy for MG, finally, 13 patients undergoing our MTXA extended thymectomy technique were compared with 20 patients undergoing extended thymectomy via sternotomy. Intraoperative blood loss, postoperative length of stay, and C-reactive protein value on postoperative day 1 were significantly more favorable in the MTXA group than the Sternotomy group (P<0.0001, P=0.0040 and P=0.0073, respectively). Furthermore, no significant differences in the frequency of patients with improvement of their Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis score and/or MG-Activities of Daily Living scale, decrease in the serum level of acetylcholine receptor antibody, and dose reduction of oral prednisone were seen between the two groups. Our approach to extended thymectomy might be more favorable than sternotomy in patients with MG.

A Measurement of the Galaxy Group-Thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Effect Cross-Correlation Function

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

Vikram, Vinu; Lidz, Adam; Jain, Bhuvnesh

2017-01-09

Stacking cosmic microwave background maps around known galaxy clusters and groups provides a powerful probe of the distribution of hot gas in these systems via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. A stacking analysis allows one to detect the average SZ signal around low-mass haloes, to extend measurements out to large scales and measure the redshift dependence of the SZ background. Motivated by these exciting prospects, we measure the two-point cross-correlation function between similar to 380 000 galaxy groups (at z = 0.01-0.2) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Compton-y parameter maps constructed by the Planck collaboration. We find statistically significantmore » correlations in each of six separate mass bins, with halo masses ranging from 1011.5 to 1015.5 M(circle dot)h(-1). We compare with halo models of the SZ signal, which describe the stacked measurement in terms of one-halo and two-halo contributions. The onehalo term quantifies the average pressure profile around the groups in a mass bin, while the two-halo term describes the contribution of correlated neighbouring haloes. For the massive groups, we find clear evidence for the one-and two-halo regimes, while groups with mass below 1013M(circle dot)h(-1) are dominated by the two-halo term, given the resolution of Planck data. We use the signal in the two-halo regime to determine the bias-weighted electron pressure of the Universe: < bPe > = 1.50 +/- 0.226 x 10(-7) keV cm(-3) (sigma) at z approximate to 0.15.« less

A Measurement of the Galaxy Group-Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Cross-Correlation Function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vikram, Vinu; Lidz, Adam; Jain, Bhuvnesh

2017-05-01

Stacking cosmic microwave background maps around known galaxy clusters and groups provides a powerful probe of the distribution of hot gas in these systems via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. A stacking analysis allows one to detect the average SZ signal around low-mass haloes, to extend measurements out to large scales and measure the redshift dependence of the SZ background. Motivated by these exciting prospects, we measure the two-point cross-correlation function between ˜380 000 galaxy groups (at z = 0.01-0.2) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Compton-y parameter maps constructed by the Planck collaboration. We find statistically significant correlations in each of six separate mass bins, with halo masses ranging from 1011.5 to 1015.5 M⊙ h-1. We compare with halo models of the SZ signal, which describe the stacked measurement in terms of one-halo and two-halo contributions. The one-halo term quantifies the average pressure profile around the groups in a mass bin, while the two-halo term describes the contribution of correlated neighbouring haloes. For the massive groups, we find clear evidence for the one- and two-halo regimes, while groups with mass below 1013 M⊙ h-1 are dominated by the two-halo term, given the resolution of Planck data. We use the signal in the two-halo regime to determine the bias-weighted electron pressure of the Universe: = 1.50 ± 0.226 × 10-7 keV cm-3 (1σ) at z ≈ 0.15.

Constraints on Composition, Structure and Evolution of the Lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bianchini, Gianluca; Bonadiman, Costanza; Aulbach, Sonja; Schutt, Derek

2015-05-01

The idea for this special issue was triggered at the Goldschmidt Conference held in Florence (August 25-30, 2013), where we convened a session titled "Integrated Geophysical-Geochemical Constraints on Composition and Structure of the Lithosphere". The invitation to contribute was extended not only to the session participants but also to a wider spectrum of colleagues working on related topics. Consequently, a diverse group of Earth scientists encompassing geophysicists, geodynamicists, geochemists and petrologists contributed to this Volume, providing a comprehensive overview on the nature and evolution of lithospheric mantle by combining studies that exploit different types of data and interpretative approaches. The integration of geochemical and geodynamic datasets and their interpretation represents the state of the art in our knowledge of the lithosphere and beyond, and could serve as a blueprint for future strategies in concept and methodology to advance our knowledge of this and other terrestrial reservoirs.

Setting scientific standards: publishing in medical societies in nineteenth-century Belgium.

PubMed

Vandendriessche, Joris

2014-01-01

This article examines the publishing procedures of nineteenth-century medical societies, using the Medical Society of Ghent (Belgium) as a case study. It argues, more precisely, that the introduction of formalized review procedures in medical societies can be considered part of the emergence of a professional scientific culture in the first half of the nineteenth century. First, by participating in these procedures physicians took on different stylized roles, for example of the contributing author, the righteous judge, or the punctual secretary, and articulated new professional values such as contributing to science. Second, the publishing procedures of medical societies also provide insight into the mechanisms of reaching consensus in nineteenth-century medicine. By developing new scientific genres, such as the published meeting report, medical societies aimed to extend the community of peers beyond the group of society members and establish trust and agreement throughout the medical community.

Globalisation and national trends in nutrition and health: A grouped fixed-effects approach to intercountry heterogeneity.

PubMed

Oberlander, Lisa; Disdier, Anne-Célia; Etilé, Fabrice

2017-09-01

Using a panel dataset of 70 countries spanning 42 years (1970-2011), we investigate the distinct effects of social globalisation and trade openness on national trends in markers of diet quality (supplies of animal proteins, free fats and sugar, average body mass index, and diabetes prevalence). Our key methodological contribution is the application of a grouped fixed-effects estimator, which extends linear fixed-effects models. The grouped fixed-effects estimator partitions our sample into distinct groups of countries in order to control for time-varying unobserved heterogeneity that follows a group-specific pattern. We find that increasing social globalisation has a significant impact on the supplies of animal protein and sugar available for human consumption, as well as on mean body mass index. Specific components of social globalisation such as information flows (via television and the Internet) drive these results. Trade openness has no effect on dietary outcomes or health. These findings suggest that the social and cultural aspects of globalisation should receive greater attention in research on the nutrition transition. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The efficacy of endoscopic submucosal dissection for colorectal tumors extending to the dentate line.

PubMed

Matsumoto, Satohiro; Mashima, Hirosato

2017-06-01

Although endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is becoming the mainstay of the treatment strategies, rather than surgical treatment, for colorectal tumors extending to the dentate line, ESD is technically more difficult. This study was aimed at assessing the usefulness of ESD for the treatment of colorectal tumors extending to the dentate line. This study included 531 patients with colorectal tumors who underwent colorectal ESD between 2008 and 2015. They were divided into three groups: rectal tumors extending to the dentate line (anorectal group), those not extending to the dentate line (proximal rectal group), and colonic tumors (colonic group), and a retrospective comparative analysis was carried out. Of the total patients, 18 (3.4%) had lesions extending to the dentate line area. The procedure times were 103.4 ± 84.0, 80.4 ± 64.3, and 71.8 ± 52.3 min, respectively (P = 0.0318). All the patients in the anorectal group were operated by operators who had performed at least 20 colorectal ESDs (P < 0.0001). No significant difference among the three groups was found in the en bloc resection rate, complete resection rate, or curative resection rate. Although no significant difference in the incidence of perforation was observed among the three groups, intraoperative bleeding was observed in 61% of the patients in the anorectal group (P < 0.0001). ESD is an effective treatment strategy for colorectal tumors extending to the dentate line. However, it seems that anorectal ESD, which is technically more difficult than colorectal ESD, should be performed by operators with ample experience in performing ESD.

The influence of sea ice, wind speed and marine mammals on Southern Ocean ambient sound

PubMed Central

van Opzeeland, Ilse; Boebel, Olaf

2017-01-01

This paper describes the natural variability of ambient sound in the Southern Ocean, an acoustically pristine marine mammal habitat. Over a 3-year period, two autonomous recorders were moored along the Greenwich meridian to collect underwater passive acoustic data. Ambient sound levels were strongly affected by the annual variation of the sea-ice cover, which decouples local wind speed and sound levels during austral winter. With increasing sea-ice concentration, area and thickness, sound levels decreased while the contribution of distant sources increased. Marine mammal sounds formed a substantial part of the overall acoustic environment, comprising calls produced by Antarctic blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia), fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) and leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx). The combined sound energy of a group or population vocalizing during extended periods contributed species-specific peaks to the ambient sound spectra. The temporal and spatial variation in the contribution of marine mammals to ambient sound suggests annual patterns in migration and behaviour. The Antarctic blue and fin whale contributions were loudest in austral autumn, whereas the Antarctic minke whale contribution was loudest during austral winter and repeatedly showed a diel pattern that coincided with the diel vertical migration of zooplankton. PMID:28280544

Effects of Storage Temperature and Semen Extender on Stored Canine Semen

PubMed Central

HORI, Tatsuya; YOSHIKUNI, Ryuta; KOBAYASHI, Masanori; KAWAKAMI, Eiichi

2013-01-01

ABSTRACT The objective of the present study was to determine an optimum temperature and extender for short-term transport of canine ejaculated semen. There was no significant difference in the qualities of semen diluted with two kinds of extender, egg yolk Tris-citrate fructose (EYT-FC) or glucose (EYT-GC) extender, between the 2, 8 or 12 and the 4°C control groups during storage for up to 48 hr, while the 16–24°C groups showed decreased sperm motility during storage for 48 hr. However, the 2°C group showed slightly lower sperm motility and slightly higher sperm abnormality than the 4°C group. Therefore, we concluded that semen qualities can be maintained for up to 48 hr when canine semen samples are extended with EYT-FC or EYT-GC and stored at a temperature in the range of 4–12°C. PMID:24088408

Extended Education's Role: Facilitating Higher Education to Historically Underrepresented Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Scott D.; Statham, Russel D.; Zelezny, Lynnette

2013-01-01

Extended Education, the home for outreach and access, is an often overlooked resource for accomplishing the university's mission. This article focuses on the role Extended Education has played in serving underrepresented minority groups in the California Central Valley. Through both description and analytical review of data generated from the…

Differential contributions of archaeal ammonia oxidizer ecotypes to nitrification in coastal surface waters

PubMed Central

Smith, Jason M; Casciotti, Karen L; Chavez, Francisco P; Francis, Christopher A

2014-01-01

The occurrence of nitrification in the oceanic water column has implications extending from local effects on the structure and activity of phytoplankton communities to broader impacts on the speciation of nitrogenous nutrients and production of nitrous oxide. The ammonia-oxidizing archaea, responsible for carrying out the majority of nitrification in the sea, are present in the marine water column as two taxonomically distinct groups. Water column group A (WCA) organisms are detected at all depths, whereas Water column group B (WCB) are present primarily below the photic zone. An open question in marine biogeochemistry is whether the taxonomic definition of WCA and WCB organisms and their observed distributions correspond to distinct ecological and biogeochemical niches. We used the natural gradients in physicochemical and biological properties that upwelling establishes in surface waters to study their roles in nitrification, and how their activity—ascertained from quantification of ecotype-specific ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) genes and transcripts—varies in response to environmental fluctuations. Our results indicate a role for both ecotypes in nitrification in Monterey Bay surface waters. However, their respective contributions vary, due to their different sensitivities to surface water conditions. WCA organisms exhibited a remarkably consistent level of activity and their contribution to nitrification appears to be related to community size. WCB activity was less consistent and primarily constrained to colder, high nutrient and low chlorophyll waters. Overall, the results of our characterization yielded a strong, potentially predictive, relationship between archaeal amoA gene abundance and the rate of nitrification. PMID:24553472

Getting Them There, Keeping Them There: Benefits of an Extended School Day Program for High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furrer, Carrie J.; Magnuson, Linda; Suggs, Joseph W.

2012-01-01

Over a decade of research has demonstrated the positive effects of extended school day programs on various elementary and middle school student outcomes, both in the short and long term. The efficacy of extended school day programs in promoting academic outcomes among high school students is less well understood. This study contributes to the…

The Extended Mission Rover (EMR)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shields, W.; Halecki, Anthony; Chung, Manh; Clarke, Ken; Frankle, Kevin; Kassemkhani, Fariba; Kuhlhoff, John; Lenzini, Josh; Lobdell, David; Morgan, Sam

1992-01-01

A key component in ensuring America's status as a leader in the global community is its active pursuit of space exploration. On the twentieth anniversary of Apollo 11, President George Bush challenged the nation to place a man on the moon permanently and to conduct human exploration of Mars in the 21st century. The students of the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering hope to make a significant contribution to this challenge, America's Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), with their participation in the NASA/USRA Advanced Design Program. The project selected by the 1991/1992 Aerospace Design group is the design of an Extended Mission Rover (EMR) for use on the lunar surface. This vehicle will serve as a mobile base to provide future astronauts with a 'shirt-sleeve' living and working environment. Some of the proposed missions are planetary surface exploration, construction and maintenance, hardware setup, and in situ resource experimentation. This vehicle will be put into use in the 2010-2030 time frame.

Exploring family communication about sickle cell disease in adolescence.

PubMed

Graff, J Carolyn; Hankins, Jane; Graves, Rebecca J; Robitaille, Kimberly Y; Roberts, Ruth; Cejda, Katherine; Hardy, Belinda T; Johnson, Margery; Porter, Jerlym S

2012-01-01

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a lifelong disorder that involves progressive organ damage and requires ongoing medical attention to prevent and treat episodic acute complications. Children with SCD need ongoing monitoring and extra attention that may be stressful to family members. Communication within families can help resolve family stress and may be associated with medical follow-up and management of SCD. Focus groups were conducted with 12 African American families to explore the communication that occurred within and outside of the family from the perspectives of adolescents with SCD, siblings, and parents. Factors that influence family communication were explored. The extended family was an important social network and resource to adolescents, siblings, and parents. Family member knowledge of SCD was an important factor that influenced communication about SCD; adolescents and parents communicated more easily than siblings and also reported having more knowledge of SCD than siblings. Future research focusing on the knowledge of immediate and extended family members and their recognition of their contribution to the child with SCD is recommended.

The Y-chromosome landscape of the Philippines: extensive heterogeneity and varying genetic affinities of Negrito and non-Negrito groups

PubMed Central

Delfin, Frederick; Salvador, Jazelyn M; Calacal, Gayvelline C; Perdigon, Henry B; Tabbada, Kristina A; Villamor, Lilian P; Halos, Saturnina C; Gunnarsdóttir, Ellen; Myles, Sean; Hughes, David A; Xu, Shuhua; Jin, Li; Lao, Oscar; Kayser, Manfred; Hurles, Matthew E; Stoneking, Mark; De Ungria, Maria Corazon A

2011-01-01

The Philippines exhibits a rich diversity of people, languages, and culture, including so-called ‘Negrito' groups that have for long fascinated anthropologists, yet little is known about their genetic diversity. We report here, a survey of Y-chromosome variation in 390 individuals from 16 Filipino ethnolinguistic groups, including six Negrito groups, from across the archipelago. We find extreme diversity in the Y-chromosome lineages of Filipino groups with heterogeneity seen in both Negrito and non-Negrito groups, which does not support a simple dichotomy of Filipino groups as Negrito vs non-Negrito. Filipino non-recombining region of the human Y chromosome lineages reflect a chronology that extends from after the initial colonization of the Asia-Pacific region, to the time frame of the Austronesian expansion. Filipino groups appear to have diverse genetic affinities with different populations in the Asia-Pacific region. In particular, some Negrito groups are associated with indigenous Australians, with a potential time for the association ranging from the initial colonization of the region to more recent (after colonization) times. Overall, our results indicate extensive heterogeneity contributing to a complex genetic history for Filipino groups, with varying roles for migrations from outside the Philippines, genetic drift, and admixture among neighboring groups. PMID:20877414

Effects of prior cocaine self-administration on cognitive performance in female cynomolgus monkeys.

PubMed

Kromrey, Sarah A; Gould, Robert W; Nader, Michael A; Czoty, Paul W

2015-06-01

Cocaine use has been associated with cognitive impairments that may contribute to poor treatment outcomes. However, the degree to which these deficits extend into periods of abstinence has not been completely elucidated. This study tested whether prior experience self-administering cocaine affected acquisition of two cognitive tasks in 16 adult female cynomolgus monkeys. Seven monkeys had previously self-administered cocaine but had not had access to cocaine for 2 months at the start of this study. After monkeys were trained to respond on a touchscreen, associative learning and behavioral flexibility were assessed using a stimulus discrimination (SD) and reversal (SDR) task from the CANTAB battery. Performance on this task was monitored over the subsequent 3 months. Additionally, working memory was assessed with a delayed match-to-sample (DMS) task. Cocaine-naïve monkeys required fewer total trials and made fewer errors and omissions before acquiring the SD and SDR tasks compared with monkeys who had previously self-administered cocaine; two monkeys in the latter group did not acquire the task. However, this cognitive impairment dissipated over several months of exposure to the task. The number of sessions for touch training and delays required to establish a performance-based curve on the DMS task did not differ between groups. Results suggest that cocaine exposure can impair the ability to learn a novel task requiring behavioral inhibition and flexibility, even after an extended period of abstinence. However, this deficit did not extend to maintenance of the task or to acquisition of a working memory task.

Alkyltributylphosphonium chloride ionic liquids: synthesis, physicochemical properties and crystal structure.

PubMed

Adamová, Gabriela; Gardas, Ramesh L; Nieuwenhuyzen, Mark; Puga, Alberto V; Rebelo, Luís Paulo N; Robertson, Allan J; Seddon, Kenneth R

2012-07-21

A series of alkyltributylphosphonium chloride ionic liquids, prepared from tributylphosphine and the respective 1-chloroalkane, C(n)H(2n+1)Cl (where n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 or 14), is reported. This work is a continuation of an extended series of tetraalkylphosphonium ionic liquids, where the focus is on the variability of n and its impact on the physical properties, such as melting points/glass transitions, thermal stability, density and viscosity. Experimental density and viscosity data were interpreted using QPSR and group contribution methods and the crystal structure of propyl(tributyl)phosphonium chloride is detailed.

Challenges and opportunities in social neuroscience

PubMed Central

Cacioppo, John T.; Decety, Jean

2010-01-01

Social species are so characterized because they form organizations that extend beyond the individual. The goal of social neuroscience is to investigate the biological mechanisms that underlie these social structures, processes, and behavior and the influences between social and neural structures and processes. Such an endeavor is challenging because it necessitates the integration of multiple levels. Mapping across systems and levels (from genome to social groups and cultures) requires interdisciplinary expertise, comparative studies, innovative methods, and integrative conceptual analysis. Examples of how social neuroscience is contributing to our understanding of the functions of the brain and nervous system are described, and societal implications of social neuroscience are considered. PMID:21251011

The public goods game with a new form of shared reward

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chunyan; Chen, Zengqiang

2016-10-01

Altruistic contribution to a common good evenly enjoyed by all group members is hard to explain because of the greater benefits obtained by a defector than a cooperator. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to resolve the collective dilemma over the years, including rewards for altruism. An underrated and easily ignored phenomenon is that the altruistic behaviors of cooperators not only directly enhance the benefits of their game opponents, but also indirectly produce good influences to other allied members in their surroundings (e.g. relatives or friends). Here we propose a shared reward, in the form of extensive benefits, to extend the traditional definition of the public goods game. Mathematical analysis using the Moran process helps us to obtain the fixation probability for one ‘mutant’ cooperator to invade and dominate the whole defecting population. Results suggest that a tunable parameter exists, above a certain critical value of which natural selection favors cooperation over defection. In addition, analytical results with replicator dynamics show that this critical value influencing the evolution of altruism is closely correlated with the population size, the gaming group size and the synergy factor of the public goods game. These results, based on an extended notion of shared reward and extensive benefits, are expected to provide novel explanations for the emergence of altruistic behaviors.

Extended Fenske-Hall LCAO MO calculations of core-level shifts in solid P compounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franke, R.; Chassé, T.; Reinhold, J.; Streubel, P.; Szargan, R.

1997-08-01

Extended Fenske-Hall LCAO-MO ΔSCF calculations on solids modelled as H-pseudoatom saturated clusters are reported. The computational results verify the experimentally obtained initial-state (effective atomic charges, Madelung potential) and relaxation-energy contributions to the XPS phosphorus core-level binding energy shifts measured in Na 3PO 3S, Na 3PO 4, Na 2PO 3F and NH 4PF 6 in reference to red phosphorus. It is shown that the different initial-state contributions observed in the studied phosphates are determined by local and nonlocal terms while the relaxation-energy contributions are mainly dependent on the nature of the nearest neighbors of the phosphorus atom.

Neural network integration during the perception of in-group and out-group members.

PubMed

Greven, Inez M; Ramsey, Richard

2017-11-01

Group biases guide social interactions by promoting in-group favouritism, but the neural mechanisms underpinning group biases remain unclear. While neuroscience research has shown that distributed brain circuits are associated with seeing in-group and out-group members as "us" and "them", it is less clear how these networks exchange signals. This fMRI study uses functional connectivity analyses to investigate the contribution of functional integration to group bias modulation of person perception. Participants were assigned to an arbitrary group and during scanning they observed bodies of in-group or out-group members that cued the recall of positive or negative social knowledge. The results showed that functional coupling between perceptual and cognitive neural networks is tuned to particular combinations of group membership and social knowledge valence. Specifically, coupling between body perception and theory-of-mind networks is biased towards seeing a person that had previously been paired with information consistent with group bias (positive for in-group and negative for out-group). This demonstrates how brain regions associated with visual analysis of others and belief reasoning exchange and integrate signals when evaluating in-group and out-group members. The results update models of person perception by showing how and when interplay occurs between perceptual and extended systems when developing a representation of another person. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The role of paediatric nurses in medication safety prior to the implementation of electronic prescribing: a qualitative case study.

PubMed

Farre, Albert; Heath, Gemma; Shaw, Karen; Jordan, Teresa; Cummins, Carole

2017-04-01

Objectives To explore paediatric nurses' experiences and perspectives of their role in the medication process and how this role is enacted in everyday practice. Methods A qualitative case study on a general surgical ward of a paediatric hospital in England, one year prior to the planned implementation of ePrescribing. Three focus groups and six individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, involving 24 nurses. Focus groups and interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymized and subjected to thematic analysis. Results Two overarching analytical themes were identified: the centrality of risk management in nurses' role in the medication process and the distributed nature of nurses' medication risk management practices. Nurses' contribution to medication safety was seen as an intrinsic feature of a role that extended beyond just preparing and administering medications as prescribed and placed nurses at the heart of a dynamic set of interactions, practices and situations through which medication risks were managed. These findings also illustrate the collective nature of patient safety. Conclusions Both the recognized and the unrecognized contributions of nurses to the management of medications needs to be considered in the design and implementation of ePrescribing systems.

Effect of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) seminal plasma on the post-thaw quality of ram semen cryopreserved in a soybean lecithin-based or egg yolk-based extender.

PubMed

Ustuner, Burcu; Alcay, Selim; Toker, M Berk; Nur, Zekariya; Gokce, Elif; Sonat, Fusun Ak; Gul, Zulfiye; Duman, Muhammed; Ceniz, Cafer; Uslu, Aydın; Sagirkaya, Hakan; Soylu, M Kemal

2016-01-01

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of rainbow trout seminal plasma (RTSP) (0.1%, 1% and 10%) in extenders containing either egg yolk or lecithin for use in Awassi ram semen cryopreservation. Pooled sperm were diluted in a two-step dilution method to a final concentration of 1/5 (semen/extender) in egg yolk or lecithin extender containing no RTSP, 0.1%, 1% or 10% RTSP (v/v). Semen samples were assessed for sperm motility, plasma membrane integrity [hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST) and Hoechst 33258] and defective acrosomes [FITC-conjugated Pisum sativum agglutinin (PSA-FITC)] at the following five time points: after dilution with extender A; after equilibration; and post-thaw at 0h, 3h and 5h. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was examined only after thawing. Freezing and thawing procedures (dilution, equilibration and post-thaw incubation at 0h, 3h and 5h) negatively affected the motility (P<0.001) and acrosome integrity (P<0.001). Additionally, freezing and thawing negatively affected the plasma membrane integrity, as determined by the HOST and Hoechst 33258 (P<0.001). The extender group affected the motility (P<0.001) and the HOST results (P<0.001). Levels of MDA in the egg yolk extender with 1% RTSP group were significantly lower than in the lecithin control group (P<0.05). In conclusion, the egg yolk extender groups that were supplemented with 10% and 1% RTSP provided greater cryoprotective effects for semen survivability during 5h incubation than the other extender groups. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Extended letrozole regimen versus clomiphene citrate for superovulation in patients with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination: A randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to compare the efficacy of extended letrozole regimen with clomiphene citrate in women with unexplained infertility undergoing superovulation and intrauterine insemination (IUI). Methods Two hundred and fourteen patients with unexplained infertility were randomized into two equal groups using computer generated list and were treated by either letrozole 2.5 mg/day from cycle day 1 to 9 (extended letrozole group, 211 cycles) or clomiphene citrate 100 mg/day from cycle day 3 to 7 (clomiphene citrate group,210 cycles). Intrauterine insemination was performed 36 to 40 hours after HCG administration. Results Both groups were comparable with regard to number of mature follicles (2.24 +/- 0.80 Vs 2.13 +/- 0.76) and the day of HCG administration. Serum estradiol was significantly greater in clomiphene citrate group (356 +/- 151 Vs 822 +/- 302 pg/ml, P = < 0.001) and the endometrial thickness was significantly greater in extended letrozole group (9.10 +/- 1.84 Vs 8.18 +/- 1.93 mm, P = < 0.001).The pregnancy rate per cycle and cumulative pregnancy rate were significantly greater in extended letrozole group (18.96% Vs 11.43% and 37.73% Vs 22.86%, respectively). Conclusion The extended letrozole regimen had a superior efficacy as compared with clomiphene citrate in patients of unexplained infertility undergoing superovulation and IUI. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01232075 PMID:21693030

Effect of Prophylactic Extended-Infusion Carboplatin on Incidence of Hypersensitivity Reactions in Patients with Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Peritoneal Carcinomas.

PubMed

Pasternak, Amy L; Link, Nicholas A; Richardson, Carolyn M; Rose, Peter G

2016-07-01

To determine whether extended-infusion carboplatin, initiated at approximately the eighth cumulative carboplatin cycle and prior to development of carboplatin hypersensitivity, reduces the incidence of carboplatin hypersensitivity reactions in patients with ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer. Retrospective chart review. Large integrated health system. A total of 326 patients with ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who received at least eight cumulative cycles of carboplatin between January 2007 and September 2014 were included. Of these, 161 patients received all doses of carboplatin infused over 30 or 60 minutes (standard-infusion group [total of 1317 carboplatin cycles]), and 165 patients received the 3-hour extended infusion of carboplatin administered at approximately the eighth cumulative cycle and prior to development of a hypersensitivity reaction (extended-infusion group [total of 1527 carboplatin cycles]). Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups, except significantly more patients in the extended-infusion group received triple premedication therapy prior to infusion (p<0.001). Hypersensitivity reactions occurred in 64 patients (40%) who received standard-infusion carboplatin and 40 patients (24.2%) who received extended-infusion carboplatin (p=0.0027). The median cycle of hypersensitivity reaction development did not differ significantly between the groups: 9 cycles in patients who received standard-infusion versus 11 cycles in patients who received extended-infusion carboplatin (p=0.06). Through regression analysis, the premedication regimen received prior to carboplatin infusion was the only variable significantly associated with hypersensitivity reactions (odds ratio 0.59, 95% confidence interval 0.36-0.97, p=0.038). Patients who received extended-infusion carboplatin experienced a lower incidence of hypersensitivity reactions than patients who received standard-infusion carboplatin, which may be attributed to the triple premedication regimen received more frequently in patients in the extended-infusion group. © 2016 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

Open Group Transformations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batalin, Igor; Marnelius, Robert

Open groups whose generators are in arbitrary involutions may be quantized within a ghost extended framework in terms of a nilpotent BFV-BRST charge operator. Previously we have shown that generalized quantum Maurer-Cartan equations for arbitrary open groups may be extracted from the quantum connection operators and that they also follow from a simple quantum master equation involving an extended nilpotent BFV-BRST charge and a master charge. Here we give further details of these results. In addition we establish the general structure of the solutions of the quantum master equation. We also construct an extended formulation whose properties are determined by the extended BRST charge in the master equation.

38 CFR 52.30 - Recognition and certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Healthcare Group (114), of the action taken. (2) For each facility recognized as a State home, the director..., Geriatrics and Extended Care Strategic Healthcare Group (114), of the certification, provisional... Chief Consultant, Geriatrics and Extended Care Strategic Healthcare Group (114). The letter will include...

A taxonomic revision of the Cymindis (Pinacodera) limbata species group (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini), including description of a new species from Florida, U.S.A.

PubMed Central

Hunting, Wesley M.

2013-01-01

Abstract The Cymindis (Pinacodera) limbata species group (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini) is a precinctive New World taxon with ranges extended from portions of temperate southeastern Canada and the U.S.A. through the montane regions of Mexico, south to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The group is distinguishable from all other members of the subgenus Pinacodera by males possessing a distinctive sclerite (endophallic plate) at the apex of the endophallus. In the past, a lack of material and misunderstandings of range of variation within species have contributed to confusion about how many species there really are. This revision of the limbata species group includes a classification, a key to groups within the subgenus Pinacodera and species within the limbata group, descriptions of species, re-rankings and new synonymies. In total 10 taxa are treated, with 6 new synonyms proposed, 1 new combination introduced and 1 new species described: Cymindis (Pinacodera) rufostigma (type locality: Archbold Biological Station, Highlands County, Florida, U.S.A.). Each taxon is characterized in terms of structural features of adults, habitat, geographical distribution, and chorological affinities. Available ecological information and treatments of variation are included. PMID:23653501

Inductive reasoning and doubt in obsessive compulsive disorder.

PubMed

O'Connor, Kieron; Wilson, Samantha; Taillon, Annie; Pélissier, Marie-Claude; Audet, Jean-Sebastien

2018-06-01

Previous studies show that individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) accord more importance than healthy controls (HC) to alternative conclusions, resulting in increased doubt regarding an initial conclusion. The goal of the present study was to replicate and extend this finding. Eighteen participants diagnosed with OCD and 16 HC completed the Reasoning with Inductive Arguments Task (RIAT), which operationalizes doubt as change in confidence towards a conclusion after alternative conclusions are presented. To examine conditions that facilitate doubt, the impact of alternative conclusions that both supported and contradicted the initial conclusion was compared, as well as the effect of neutral and OCD-relevant item content. Both the OCD and HC groups decreased confidence after contradicting conclusions, but only the HC group increased confidence when presented with supporting conclusions. Furthermore, decrease in confidence in the OCD group correlated with OCD symptom severity. The RIAT could be adapted to better take into account of OCD subtypes. Doubt generation may contribute to obsessional doubting. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Students Working Online for Group Projects: A Test of an Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Eddie W. L.

2017-01-01

This study examined an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model that specified factors affecting students' intentions to collaborate online for group work. Past behaviour, past experience and actual behavioural control were incorporated in the extended TPB model. The mediating roles of attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural…

Does Extended Pre Quit Bupropion Aid in Extinguishing Smoking Behavior?

PubMed

Hawk, Larry W; Ashare, Rebecca L; Rhodes, Jessica D; Oliver, Jason A; Cummings, Kenneth Michael; Mahoney, Martin C

2015-11-01

Understanding the mechanisms by which bupropion promotes smoking cessation may lead to more effective treatment. To the extent that reduced smoking reinforcement is one such mechanism, a longer duration of pre quit bupropion treatment should promote extinction of smoking behavior. We evaluated whether 4 weeks of pre quit bupropion (extended run-in) results in greater pre quit reductions in smoking rate and cotinine and, secondarily, greater short-term abstinence, than standard 1 week of pre quit bupropion (standard run-in). Adult smokers (n = 95; 48 females) were randomized to a standard run-in group (n = 48; 3-week placebo, then 1-week bupropion pre quit) or an extended run-in group (4-week pre quit bupropion; n = 47). Both groups received group behavioral counseling and 7 weeks of post quit bupropion. Smoking rate (and craving, withdrawal, and subjective effects) was collected daily during the pre quit period; biochemical data (cotinine and carbon monoxide) were collected at study visits. During the pre quit period, the extended run-in group exhibited a greater decrease in smoking rate, compared to the standard run-in group, interaction p = .03. Cigarette craving and salivary cotinine followed a similar pattern, though the latter was evident only among women. Biochemically verified 4-week continuous abstinence rates were higher in the extended run-in group (53%) than the standard run-in group (31%), p = .033. The extended use of bupropion prior to a quit attempt reduces smoking behavior during the pre quit period and improved short-term abstinence rates. The data are consistent with an extinction-of-reinforcement model and support further investigation of extended run-in bupropion therapy for smoking cessation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A Trial of Extending Hemodialysis Hours and Quality of Life.

PubMed

Jardine, Meg J; Zuo, Li; Gray, Nicholas A; de Zoysa, Janak R; Chan, Christopher T; Gallagher, Martin P; Monaghan, Helen; Grieve, Stuart M; Puranik, Rajesh; Lin, Hongli; Eris, Josette M; Zhang, Ling; Xu, Jinsheng; Howard, Kirsten; Lo, Serigne; Cass, Alan; Perkovic, Vlado

2017-06-01

The relationship between increased hemodialysis hours and patient outcomes remains unclear. We randomized (1:1) 200 adult recipients of standard maintenance hemodialysis from in-center and home-based hemodialysis programs to extended weekly (≥24 hours) or standard (target 12-15 hours, maximum 18 hours) hemodialysis hours for 12 months. The primary outcome was change in quality of life from baseline assessed by the EuroQol 5 dimension instrument (3 level) (EQ-5D). Secondary outcomes included medication usage, clinical laboratory values, vascular access events, and change in left ventricular mass index. At 12 months, median weekly hemodialysis hours were 24.0 (interquartile range, 23.6-24.0) and 12.0 (interquartile range, 12.0-16.0) in the extended and standard groups, respectively. Change in EQ-5D score at study end did not differ between groups (mean difference, 0.04 [95% confidence interval, -0.03 to 0.11]; P =0.29). Extended hours were associated with lower phosphate and potassium levels and higher hemoglobin levels. Blood pressure (BP) did not differ between groups at study end. Extended hours were associated with fewer BP-lowering agents and phosphate-binding medications, but were not associated with erythropoietin dosing. In a substudy with 95 patients, we detected no difference between groups in left ventricular mass index (mean difference, -6.0 [95% confidence interval, -14.8 to 2.7] g/m 2 ; P =0.18). Five deaths occurred in the extended group and two in the standard group ( P =0.44); two participants in each group withdrew consent. Similar numbers of patients experienced vascular access events in the two groups. Thus, extending weekly hemodialysis hours did not alter overall EQ-5D quality of life score, but was associated with improvement in some laboratory parameters and reductions in medication burden. (Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00649298). Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Microfossils from the Neoarchean Campbell Group, Griqualand West Sequence of the Transvaal Supergroup, and their paleoenvironmental and evolutionary implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Altermann, W.; Schopf, J. W.

1995-01-01

The oldest filament- and colonial coccoid-containing microbial fossil assemblage now known is described here from drill core samples of stromatolitic cherty limestones of the Neoarchean, approximately 2600-Ma-old Campbell Group (Ghaap Plateau Dolomite, Lime Acres Member) obtained at Lime Acres, northern Cape Province, South Africa. The assemblage is biologically diverse, including entophysalidacean (Eoentophysalis sp.), probable chroococcacean (unnamed colonial coccoids), and oscillatoriacean cyanobacteria (Eomycetopsis cf. filiformis, and Siphonophycus transvaalensis), as well as filamentous fossil bacteria (Archaeotrichion sp.); filamentous possible microfossils (unnamed hematitic filaments) also occur. The Campbell Group microorganisms contributed to the formation of stratiform and domical to columnar stromatolitic reefs in shallow subtidal to intertidal environments of the Transvaal intracratonic sea. Although only moderately to poorly preserved, they provide new evidence regarding the paleoenvironmental setting of the Campbell Group sediments, extend the known time-range of entophysalidacean cyanobacteria by more than 400 million years, substantiate the antiquity and role in stromatolite formation of Archean oscillatoriacean cyanobacteria, and document the exceedingly slow (hypobradytelic) evolutionary rate characteristic of this early evolving prokaryotic lineage.

[Representations of the body: with the word one group of adolescents from popular classes].

PubMed

Braga, Patrícia Déa; Molina, Maria del Carmen Bisi; de Figueiredo, Túlio Alberto Martins

2010-01-01

In view of the great body aesthetic concern demonstrated by a group of adolescents from popular classes, this study had the purpose of getting to know and analyze the social representations of the body. It investigated the qualitative approach carried out with adolescent workers from the Centro Salesiano do Menor, in Vitória, Espírito Santo State. A random sample was selected from a group of 334 individuals. Eight girls and seven boys were approached by means of non-structured interview. From the analysis of their speeches, a categorization was performed and the theory of the Social Representations was used for discussion. The results pointed out that body perception, for boys as well as for girls, are focused on the ideas of proportionality, normality and perfection. Regarding the consequences of not having an ideal body, both stated situations such as: exclusion, illnesses, unhappiness and even death. In-depth knowledge on opinion, thoughts and feelings of the adolescents relative to the body, may contribute to subside interventions in this group, extending significantly the scope of professional performance in the health sector.

Shot Group Statistics for Small Arms Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

standard deviation. Analysis is presented as applied to one , n-round shot group and then is extended to treat multiple, n-round shot groups. A...dispersion measure for multiple, n-round shot groups can be constructed by selecting one of the dispersion measures listed above, measuring the dispersion of...as applied to one , n-round shot group and then is extended to treat multiple, n-round shot groups. A dispersion measure for multiple, n- round shot

Cryopreservation of ram semen with antioxidant supplemented soybean lecithin-based extenders and impacts on incubation resilience.

PubMed

Toker, M Berk; Alcay, Selim; Gokce, Elif; Ustuner, Burcu

2016-06-01

The scope of this study was investigation the affects of various antioxidants on 1% soybean lecithin-based semen extenders for ram semen cryopreservation. Ejaculates, collected via electrically stimulated ejaculation, that have a thick consistency, rapid wave motion (3-5 on a 0-5 scale) and >75% initial motility were pooled. The pooled samples were split into four equal aliquots as 5 mM Methionine, 5 mM Cysteamine, 1 mM Cysteine and a sample of antioxidant-free control group. Each sample group was diluted to a ratio of 1/5 (semen/extender, v/v) as final concentration and two step dilution method was used for cryopreservation. Extender groups were assessed for sperm motility, plasma membrane functional integrity using hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST), damaged acrosome using FITC-Pisum sativum agglutinin (PSA-FITC) and DNA integrity using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL). Semen samples also incubated for 6 h in humidified air with 5% CO2 at 39 °C to evaluate post-thaw incubation resilience of semen characteristics. The results showed that freezing and thawing procedures had negative effects on motility (P < 0.05), plasma membrane integrity (P < 0.05) and acrosomal integrity (P < 0.05). After 6 h of incubation time, the Cysteine supplemented extender group yielded significantly higher results than other extender groups in terms of spermatological parameters. Furthermore MDA levels in the antioxidant groups were lower than control group (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, there were no significant differences among antioxidant groups. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Extending the Administration Time of the Letter Fluency Test Increases Sensitivity to Cognitive Status in Aging

PubMed Central

Holtzer, R.; Goldin, Y.; Donovick, P.J.

2010-01-01

We examined whether extending the administration time of letter fluency from one minute per letter trial (standard administration) to two minutes increased the sensitivity of this test to cognitive status in aging. Participants (mean age = 84.6) were assigned to cognitive impairment (n=20) and control (n=40) groups. Pearson correlations and scatter plot analyses showed that associations between the Dementia Rating Scale scores and letter fluency were higher and less variable when performance on the latter was extended to two minutes. ANOVA showed that the cognitive impairment group generated fewer words in the second minute of the letter fluency task compared to the control group. Finally, discriminant function analyses revealed that extending the letter fluency trials to two minutes increased discrimination between the control and cognitive impairment groups. PMID:19449244

Contribution of Small-Scale Correlated Fluctuations of Microstructural Properties of a Spatially Extended Geophysical Target Under the Assessment of Radar Backscatter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yurchak, Boris S.

2010-01-01

The study of the collective effects of radar scattering from an aggregation of discrete scatterers randomly distributed in a space is important for better understanding the origin of the backscatter from spatially extended geophysical targets (SEGT). We consider the microstructure irregularities of a SEGT as the essential factor that affect radar backscatter. To evaluate their contribution this study uses the "slice" approach: particles close to the front of incident radar wave are considered to reflect incident electromagnetic wave coherently. The radar equation for a SEGT is derived. The equation includes contributions to the total backscatter from correlated small-scale fluctuations of the slice's reflectivity. The correlation contribution changes in accordance with an earlier proposed idea by Smith (1964) based on physical consideration. The slice approach applied allows parameterizing the features of the SEGT's inhomogeneities.

Optimal Surgery for Mid-Transverse Colon Cancer: Laparoscopic Extended Right Hemicolectomy Versus Laparoscopic Transverse Colectomy.

PubMed

Matsuda, Takeru; Sumi, Yasuo; Yamashita, Kimihiro; Hasegawa, Hiroshi; Yamamoto, Masashi; Matsuda, Yoshiko; Kanaji, Shingo; Oshikiri, Taro; Nakamura, Tetsu; Suzuki, Satoshi; Kakeji, Yoshihiro

2018-04-02

Although the feasibility and safety of laparoscopic surgery for transverse colon cancer have been shown by the recent studies, the optimal laparoscopic approach for mid-transverse colon cancer is controversial. We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with the mid-transverse colon cancer at our institutions between January 2007 and April 2017. Thirty-eight and 34 patients who received extended right hemicolectomy and transverse colectomy, respectively, were enrolled. There were no significant differences in operating time, blood loss, and hospital stay between the two groups. Postoperative complications developed in 10 of 34 patients (29.4%; wound infection: 2 cases, anastomotic leakage: 2 cases, bowel obstruction: 1 case, incisional hernia: 2 cases, others: 3 cases) for the transverse colectomy group and in 4 of 38 patients (10.5%; wound infection: 1 case, anastomotic leakage: 0 case, bowel obstruction: 2 cases, incisional hernia: 0 case, others: 1 case) for the extended right hemicolectomy group (P = 0.014). Although the median number of harvested #221 and #222 LNs was similar between the two groups (6 vs. 8, P = 0.710, and 3 vs. 2, P = 0.256, respectively), that of #223 was significantly larger in extended right hemicolectomy than in transverse colectomy (3 vs. 1, P = 0.038). The 5-year disease-free and overall survival rates were 92.4 and 90.3% for the extended right hemicolectomy group, and 95.7 and 79.6% for the transverse colectomy group (P = 0.593 and P = 0.638, respectively). Laparoscopic extended right hemicolectomy and laparoscopic transverse colectomy offer similar oncological outcomes for mid-transverse colon cancer. Laparoscopic extended right hemicolectomy might be associated with fewer postoperative complications.

General-Purpose Genotype or How Epigenetics Extend the Flexibility of a Genotype

PubMed Central

Massicotte, Rachel; Angers, Bernard

2012-01-01

This project aims at investigating the link between individual epigenetic variability (not related to genetic variability) and the variation of natural environmental conditions. We studied DNA methylation polymorphisms of individuals belonging to a single genetic lineage of the clonal diploid fish Chrosomus eos-neogaeus sampled in seven geographically distant lakes. In spite of a low number of informative fragments obtained from an MSAP analysis, individuals of a given lake are epigenetically similar, and methylation profiles allow the clustering of individuals in two distinct groups of populations among lakes. More importantly, we observed a significant pH variation that is consistent with the two epigenetic groups. It thus seems that the genotype studied has the potential to respond differentially via epigenetic modifications under variable environmental conditions, making epigenetic processes a relevant molecular mechanism contributing to phenotypic plasticity over variable environments in accordance with the GPG model. PMID:22567383

"It's almost expected": rural Australian Aboriginal women's reflections on smoking initiation and maintenance: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Passey, Megan E; Gale, Jennifer T; Sanson-Fisher, Robert W

2011-12-09

Despite declining smoking rates among the general Australian population, rates among Indigenous Australians remain high, with 47% of the Indigenous population reporting daily smoking - twice that of other Australians. Among women, smoking rates are highest in younger age groups, with more than half of Aboriginal women smoking during pregnancy. A lack of research focused on understanding the social context of smoking by Aboriginal women in rural Australia limits our ability to reduce these rates. This study aimed to explore the factors contributing to smoking initiation among rural Aboriginal women and girls and the social context within which smoking behaviour occurs. We conducted three focus groups with 14 Aboriginal women and service providers and 22 individual interviews with Aboriginal women from four rural communities to explore their perceptions of the factors contributing to smoking initiation among Aboriginal girls. Four inter-related factors were considered important to understanding the social context in which girls start smoking: colonisation and the introduction of tobacco; normalization of smoking within separate Aboriginal social networks; disadvantage and stressful lives; and the importance of maintaining relationships within extended family and community networks. Within this context, young girls use smoking to attain status and as a way of asserting Aboriginal identity and group membership, a way of belonging, not of rebelling. Family and social structures were seen as providing strong support, but limited the capacity of parents to influence children not to smoke. Marginalization was perceived to contribute to limited aspirations and opportunities, leading to pleasure-seeking in the present rather than having goals for the future. The results support the importance of addressing contextual factors in any strategies aimed at preventing smoking initiation or supporting cessation among Aboriginal girls and women. It is critical to acknowledge Aboriginal identity and culture as a source of empowerment; and to recognise the role of persistent marginalization in contributing to the high prevalence and initiation of smoking.

"It's almost expected": rural Australian Aboriginal women's reflections on smoking initiation and maintenance: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Despite declining smoking rates among the general Australian population, rates among Indigenous Australians remain high, with 47% of the Indigenous population reporting daily smoking - twice that of other Australians. Among women, smoking rates are highest in younger age groups, with more than half of Aboriginal women smoking during pregnancy. A lack of research focused on understanding the social context of smoking by Aboriginal women in rural Australia limits our ability to reduce these rates. This study aimed to explore the factors contributing to smoking initiation among rural Aboriginal women and girls and the social context within which smoking behaviour occurs. Methods We conducted three focus groups with 14 Aboriginal women and service providers and 22 individual interviews with Aboriginal women from four rural communities to explore their perceptions of the factors contributing to smoking initiation among Aboriginal girls. Results Four inter-related factors were considered important to understanding the social context in which girls start smoking: colonisation and the introduction of tobacco; normalization of smoking within separate Aboriginal social networks; disadvantage and stressful lives; and the importance of maintaining relationships within extended family and community networks. Within this context, young girls use smoking to attain status and as a way of asserting Aboriginal identity and group membership, a way of belonging, not of rebelling. Family and social structures were seen as providing strong support, but limited the capacity of parents to influence children not to smoke. Marginalization was perceived to contribute to limited aspirations and opportunities, leading to pleasure-seeking in the present rather than having goals for the future. Conclusions The results support the importance of addressing contextual factors in any strategies aimed at preventing smoking initiation or supporting cessation among Aboriginal girls and women. It is critical to acknowledge Aboriginal identity and culture as a source of empowerment; and to recognise the role of persistent marginalization in contributing to the high prevalence and initiation of smoking. PMID:22152218

Effect of gamma-oryzanol-enriched rice bran oil on quality of cryopreserved boar semen.

PubMed

Kaeoket, Kampon; Donto, Sarayut; Nualnoy, Pinatta; Noiphinit, Jutarat; Chanapiwat, Panida

2012-09-01

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of gamma-oryzanol-enriched -rice bran oil on the quality of cryopreserved boar semen. Ten boars provided semen of proven motility and morphology for this study. The semen was divided into three portions in which lactose-egg yolk (LEY) extender used to resuspend the centrifuged sperm pellet was supplemented with 2 types of rice bran oils, at a gamma-oryzanol concentration of 0 mg/ml of lactose egg yolk (LEY) freezing extender (group A, control), 0.1 mg/ml(0.16 mMol) of freezing extender (group B) and 0.1 mg/ml of freezing extender (group C). Semen suspensions were loaded in medium straws (0.5 ml) and placed in a controlled-rate freezer. After cryopreservation, frozen semen samples were thawed and investigated for progressive motility, viability and acrosomal integrity. There was a significantly higher percentage of progressive motility (34 versus 47.0 and 48.5, P<0.001), viability (35.5 versus 48.1 and 50.1, P<0.001) and acrosomal integrity (39.8 versus 50.8 and 54.9, P<0.001) in the gamma-oryzanol-enriched rice bran oil-supplemented groups (groups B, C) than in the control group (group C), respectively. In conclusion, addition of gamma-oryzanol-enriched rice bran oil to LEY freezing extender is appropriated for improving the quality of frozen-thawed boar semen.

Might extended education decrease inequalities in health?-a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Ljungdahl, Sofia; Bremberg, Sven G

2015-08-01

Health is substantially worse in less educated people, and extended education might potentially improve their health. A prerequisite for a beneficial health effect of education is that the effect is absolute. An absolute effect of education means that the health effect comes about independently of any effect on other persons. A relative effect, on the other hand, only contributes to individual competitiveness in relation to others. Studies of natural experiments of extended compulsory education, and other educational-policy changes, provide an option for the analysis of absolute effects of education. Published studies, however, present conflicting results. A meta-analysis was performed of European studies where the health effects of extended compulsory or secondary level education on low-educated individuals were investigated. Twenty-two relevant publications were identified. The meta-analysis indicated statistically significant favourable effects of educational reforms on rates of mortality, self-reported poor health and obesity. The effects were, however, small, 1-4%. An educational reform that typically added one educational year in the least educated group was associated with a mean 2.1% reduction in mortality in men before age 40. This effect might be compared with the total educational gradients of mortality rates in Swedish men at ages 30-64. One extra year of education after compulsory education corresponds to a 41% reduction in mortality, which is 20 times more than the absolute effect of education found in this meta-analysis. Thus, it unlikely that extended compulsory education will substantially improve the health of the least educated individuals. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Evolution of RNA-Protein Interactions: Non-Specific Binding Led to RNA Splicing Activity of Fungal Mitochondrial Tyrosyl-tRNA Synthetases

PubMed Central

Lamech, Lilian T.; Mallam, Anna L.; Lambowitz, Alan M.

2014-01-01

The Neurospora crassa mitochondrial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (mtTyrRS; CYT-18 protein) evolved a new function as a group I intron splicing factor by acquiring the ability to bind group I intron RNAs and stabilize their catalytically active RNA structure. Previous studies showed: (i) CYT-18 binds group I introns by using both its N-terminal catalytic domain and flexibly attached C-terminal anticodon-binding domain (CTD); and (ii) the catalytic domain binds group I introns specifically via multiple structural adaptations that occurred during or after the divergence of Peziomycotina and Saccharomycotina. However, the function of the CTD and how it contributed to the evolution of splicing activity have been unclear. Here, small angle X-ray scattering analysis of CYT-18 shows that both CTDs of the homodimeric protein extend outward from the catalytic domain, but move inward to bind opposite ends of a group I intron RNA. Biochemical assays show that the isolated CTD of CYT-18 binds RNAs non-specifically, possibly contributing to its interaction with the structurally different ends of the intron RNA. Finally, we find that the yeast mtTyrRS, which diverged from Pezizomycotina fungal mtTyrRSs prior to the evolution of splicing activity, binds group I intron and other RNAs non-specifically via its CTD, but lacks further adaptations needed for group I intron splicing. Our results suggest a scenario of constructive neutral (i.e., pre-adaptive) evolution in which an initial non-specific interaction between the CTD of an ancestral fungal mtTyrRS and a self-splicing group I intron was “fixed” by an intron RNA mutation that resulted in protein-dependent splicing. Once fixed, this interaction could be elaborated by further adaptive mutations in both the catalytic domain and CTD that enabled specific binding of group I introns. Our results highlight a role for non-specific RNA binding in the evolution of RNA-binding proteins. PMID:25536042

Evolution of RNA-protein interactions: non-specific binding led to RNA splicing activity of fungal mitochondrial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetases.

PubMed

Lamech, Lilian T; Mallam, Anna L; Lambowitz, Alan M

2014-12-01

The Neurospora crassa mitochondrial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (mtTyrRS; CYT-18 protein) evolved a new function as a group I intron splicing factor by acquiring the ability to bind group I intron RNAs and stabilize their catalytically active RNA structure. Previous studies showed: (i) CYT-18 binds group I introns by using both its N-terminal catalytic domain and flexibly attached C-terminal anticodon-binding domain (CTD); and (ii) the catalytic domain binds group I introns specifically via multiple structural adaptations that occurred during or after the divergence of Peziomycotina and Saccharomycotina. However, the function of the CTD and how it contributed to the evolution of splicing activity have been unclear. Here, small angle X-ray scattering analysis of CYT-18 shows that both CTDs of the homodimeric protein extend outward from the catalytic domain, but move inward to bind opposite ends of a group I intron RNA. Biochemical assays show that the isolated CTD of CYT-18 binds RNAs non-specifically, possibly contributing to its interaction with the structurally different ends of the intron RNA. Finally, we find that the yeast mtTyrRS, which diverged from Pezizomycotina fungal mtTyrRSs prior to the evolution of splicing activity, binds group I intron and other RNAs non-specifically via its CTD, but lacks further adaptations needed for group I intron splicing. Our results suggest a scenario of constructive neutral (i.e., pre-adaptive) evolution in which an initial non-specific interaction between the CTD of an ancestral fungal mtTyrRS and a self-splicing group I intron was "fixed" by an intron RNA mutation that resulted in protein-dependent splicing. Once fixed, this interaction could be elaborated by further adaptive mutations in both the catalytic domain and CTD that enabled specific binding of group I introns. Our results highlight a role for non-specific RNA binding in the evolution of RNA-binding proteins.

Stressors of caregivers of school-age children with epilepsy and use of community resources.

PubMed

Saburi, Gladys

2011-06-01

Childhood epilepsy causes multiple stressors, difficulty in adjustment, and disruptions in family relations. This study sought to identify stressors of caregivers of school-age children and to assess whether use of community resources alleviates or contributes to caregiver stress. Stressors refer to concern about the child, communication with healthcare providers, changes in family relationships, interaction with school, and support within the community. A caregiver refers to the person who had looked after the child for the past 6-12 months. Support groups, religious or worship groups, counseling services, and traditional and spiritual faith healers were the community resources that were addressed. Face-to-face interviews were conducted on a convenience sample of 46 caregivers. A three-part structured interview schedule was used to describe demographic data, stressors of caregivers, and use of community resources. The top 6 stressors were the inability to get antiepileptic drugs, the deep pain or sadness caused by the child's seizures, caregiving (which was predominantly by mothers), limited help from the extended family, inadequate information on side effects of drugs, and inadequate information on seizures. The most commonly used community resource was religious or worship groups, with epilepsy support groups being least used. To alleviate caregiver stress, it is important that healthcare providers routinely assess the effect of seizures on caregivers and refer those requiring counseling, advocate for more male and extended family involvement in caregiving and provide adequate information on side effects of drugs and on seizures as standard practice. Nurses in developed countries should incorporate religious activities among complementary and alternative medicine interventions to reduce caregiver stress. Spiritual faith healers should be encouraged to refer clients with epilepsy for drug therapy and counseling.

Demographically corrected norms for African Americans and Caucasians on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised, Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised, Stroop Color and Word Test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test 64-Card Version.

PubMed

Norman, Marc A; Moore, David J; Taylor, Michael; Franklin, Donald; Cysique, Lucette; Ake, Chris; Lazarretto, Deborah; Vaida, Florin; Heaton, Robert K

2011-08-01

Memory and executive functioning are two important components of clinical neuropsychological (NP) practice and research. Multiple demographic factors are known to affect performance differentially on most NP tests, but adequate normative corrections, inclusive of race/ethnicity, are not available for many widely used instruments. This study compared demographic contributions for widely used tests of verbal and visual learning and memory (Brief Visual Memory Test-Revised, Hopkins Verbal Memory Test-Revised) and executive functioning (Stroop Color and Word Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-64) in groups of healthy Caucasians (n = 143) and African Americans (n = 103). Demographic factors of age, education, gender, and race/ethnicity were found to be significant factors on some indices of all four tests. The magnitude of demographic contributions (especially age) was greater for African Americans than for Caucasians on most measures. New, demographically corrected T-score formulas were calculated for each race/ethnicity. The rates of NP impairment using previously published normative standards significantly overestimated NP impairment in African Americans. Utilizing the new demographic corrections developed and presented herein, NP impairment rates were comparable between the two race/ethnicities and were unrelated to the other demographic characteristics (age, education, gender) in either race/ethnicity group. Findings support the need to consider extended demographic contributions to neuropsychological test performance in clinical and research settings.

Dissociable meta-analytic brain networks contribute to coordinated emotional processing.

PubMed

Riedel, Michael C; Yanes, Julio A; Ray, Kimberly L; Eickhoff, Simon B; Fox, Peter T; Sutherland, Matthew T; Laird, Angela R

2018-06-01

Meta-analytic techniques for mining the neuroimaging literature continue to exert an impact on our conceptualization of functional brain networks contributing to human emotion and cognition. Traditional theories regarding the neurobiological substrates contributing to affective processing are shifting from regional- towards more network-based heuristic frameworks. To elucidate differential brain network involvement linked to distinct aspects of emotion processing, we applied an emergent meta-analytic clustering approach to the extensive body of affective neuroimaging results archived in the BrainMap database. Specifically, we performed hierarchical clustering on the modeled activation maps from 1,747 experiments in the affective processing domain, resulting in five meta-analytic groupings of experiments demonstrating whole-brain recruitment. Behavioral inference analyses conducted for each of these groupings suggested dissociable networks supporting: (1) visual perception within primary and associative visual cortices, (2) auditory perception within primary auditory cortices, (3) attention to emotionally salient information within insular, anterior cingulate, and subcortical regions, (4) appraisal and prediction of emotional events within medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices, and (5) induction of emotional responses within amygdala and fusiform gyri. These meta-analytic outcomes are consistent with a contemporary psychological model of affective processing in which emotionally salient information from perceived stimuli are integrated with previous experiences to engender a subjective affective response. This study highlights the utility of using emergent meta-analytic methods to inform and extend psychological theories and suggests that emotions are manifest as the eventual consequence of interactions between large-scale brain networks. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Extended Family and Children's Educational Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaeger, Mads Meier

2012-01-01

Research on family background and educational success focuses almost exclusively on two generations: parents and children. This study argues that the extended family contributes significantly to the total effect of family background on educational success. Analyses using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study show that, net of family factors shared by…

Pragmatic Abilities of Children with Williams Syndrome: A Longitudinal Examination

PubMed Central

John, Angela E.; Dobson, Lauren A.; Thomas, Lauren E.; Mervis, Carolyn B.

2012-01-01

Prior research has indicated that pragmatics is an area of particular weakness for individuals with Williams syndrome (WS). To further address this aspect of the WS social phenotype, we used an individual differences approach to consider both cross-sectional and longitudinal relations among different pragmatic abilities for 14 children with WS, taking into account individual differences in non-verbal reasoning abilities. We also considered the relations between pragmatic abilities and expressive vocabulary ability. Participants were tested at two time points: as 4-year-olds during a 30-min play session with their mothers (Time 1) and an average of 5.87 years later during a one-on-one conversation with a familiar researcher (Time 2). Children’s intellectual and expressive vocabulary abilities were assessed at both time points. Results indicated that the ability to verbally contribute information beyond what was required in response to a question (ExtendQ) was significantly related to the ability to verbally contribute new information in the absence of a question (ExtendS) both at age 4 years and during primary school. At age 4, both the ability to pair verbalizations with eye contact in triadic interactions (secondary intersubjectivity) and expressive vocabulary ability were related to both ExtendQ and ExtendS. Finally, both ExtendQ and the ability to pair verbalizations with eye contact (intersubjectivity) at age 4 years predicted ExtendQ at age 9–12 years. The theoretical implications of our findings and the importance of early pragmatic language intervention for children who have WS are discussed. PMID:22719734

Water supply management using an extended group fuzzy decision-making method: a case study in north-eastern Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minatour, Yasser; Bonakdari, Hossein; Zarghami, Mahdi; Bakhshi, Maryam Ali

2015-09-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a group fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making method to be applied in rating problems associated with water resources management. Thus, here Chen's group fuzzy TOPSIS method extended by a difference technique to handle uncertainties of applying a group decision making. Then, the extended group fuzzy TOPSIS method combined with a consistency check. In the presented method, initially linguistic judgments are being surveyed via a consistency checking process, and afterward these judgments are being used in the extended Chen's fuzzy TOPSIS method. Here, each expert's opinion is turned to accurate mathematical numbers and, then, to apply uncertainties, the opinions of group are turned to fuzzy numbers using three mathematical operators. The proposed method is applied to select the optimal strategy for the rural water supply of Nohoor village in north-eastern Iran, as a case study and illustrated example. Sensitivity analyses test over results and comparing results with project reality showed that proposed method offered good results for water resources projects.

Fertility and flow cytometry study of frozen-thawed sperm in cryopreservation medium supplemented with soybean lecithin.

PubMed

Masoudi, R; Sharafi, M; Zareh Shahneh, A; Towhidi, A; Kohram, H; Esmaeili, V; Shahverdi, A; Davachi, N Dadashpour

2016-08-01

Semen cryopreservation can provide genetic resources for a large number of females from a small number of superior males. Optimization of cryopreservation media to achieve the highest quality of post-thaw semen is crucial. Soybean lecithin has evaluated as a plant-based cryoprotectant for substitution of egg yolk in ram semen extender. Flow cytometric and fertility assessments were applied following cryopreservation procedure in two experimental groups (SL group: extender containing 1% w/v soybean lecithin and EY group: extender containing 20% v/v egg yolk). The higher percentage of live sperm and the lower percentage of dead sperm were obtained in SL (47.66 ± 1.38, 52.33 ± 1.69, respectively) extender compared to EY (41.16 ± 1.38, 58.83 ± 1.69). For motion characteristics, plasma membrane integrity, acrosome integrity and mitochondria activity, no significant difference was observed between SL and EY extenders. In artificial insemination experiment, there was no significant difference in pregnancy rate, lambing rate and twining rate between SL and EY extenders. It can be concluded that SL extender can be an efficient alternative extender to preserve ram sperm during cryopreservation procedure without adverse effects. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Large-Scale Computation of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Shifts for Paramagnetic Solids Using CP2K.

PubMed

Mondal, Arobendo; Gaultois, Michael W; Pell, Andrew J; Iannuzzi, Marcella; Grey, Clare P; Hutter, Jürg; Kaupp, Martin

2018-01-09

Large-scale computations of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) shifts for extended paramagnetic solids (pNMR) are reported using the highly efficient Gaussian-augmented plane-wave implementation of the CP2K code. Combining hyperfine couplings obtained with hybrid functionals with g-tensors and orbital shieldings computed using gradient-corrected functionals, contact, pseudocontact, and orbital-shift contributions to pNMR shifts are accessible. Due to the efficient and highly parallel performance of CP2K, a wide variety of materials with large unit cells can be studied with extended Gaussian basis sets. Validation of various approaches for the different contributions to pNMR shifts is done first for molecules in a large supercell in comparison with typical quantum-chemical codes. This is then extended to a detailed study of g-tensors for extended solid transition-metal fluorides and for a series of complex lithium vanadium phosphates. Finally, lithium pNMR shifts are computed for Li 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 , for which detailed experimental data are available. This has allowed an in-depth study of different approaches (e.g., full periodic versus incremental cluster computations of g-tensors and different functionals and basis sets for hyperfine computations) as well as a thorough analysis of the different contributions to the pNMR shifts. This study paves the way for a more-widespread computational treatment of NMR shifts for paramagnetic materials.

Atrophic degeneration of cerebellum impairs both the reactive and the proactive control of movement in the stop signal paradigm.

PubMed

Olivito, Giusy; Brunamonti, Emiliano; Clausi, Silvia; Pani, Pierpaolo; Chiricozzi, Francesca R; Giamundo, Margherita; Molinari, Marco; Leggio, Maria; Ferraina, Stefano

2017-10-01

The cognitive control of movement suppression, including performance monitoring, is one of the core properties of the executive system. A complex cortical and subcortical network involving cerebral cortex, thalamus, subthalamus, and basal ganglia has been regarded as the neural substrate of inhibition of programmed movements. Using the countermanding task, a suitable tool to explore behavioral components of movement suppression, the contribution of the cerebellum in the proactive control and monitoring of voluntary action has been recently described in patients affected by focal lesions involving in particular the cerebellar dentate nucleus. Here, we evaluated the performance on the countermanding task in a group of patients with cerebellar degeneration, in which the cerebellar cortex was diffusely affected, and showed that they display additionally a longer latency in countermanding engaged movements. Overall, the present data confirm the role of the cerebellum in executive control of action inhibition by extending the contribution to reactive motor suppression.

Identification of a Novel Mutation in the ABCA4 Gene in a Chinese Family with Retinitis Pigmentosa Using Exome Sequencing.

PubMed

Huang, Xiangjun; Yuan, Lamei; Xu, Hongbo; Zheng, Wen; Cao, Yanna; Yi, Junhui; Guo, Yi; Yang, Zhijian; Li, Yu; Deng, Hao

2018-02-05

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of hereditary, degenerative retinal disorders characterized by progressive retinal dysfunction, outer retina cell loss, and retinal tissue atrophy. It eventually leads to tunnel vision and legal, or total blindness. Here we aimed to reveal the causal gene and mutation contributing to the development of autosomal recessive RP (arRP) in a consanguineous family. A novel homozygous mutation, c.4845delT (p.K1616Rfs*46), in the ATP-binding cassette subfamily A member 4gene ( ABCA4 ) was identified. It may reduce ABCA4 protein activity, leading to progressive degeneration of both rod and cone photoreceptors. The study extends the arRP genotypic spectrum and confirms a genotype-phenotype relationship. This study may also disclose some new clues for RP genetic causes and pathogenesis, as well as clinical and genetic diagnosis. The research findings may contribute to improvement in clinical care, therapy, genetic screening, and counseling. ©2018 The Author(s).

Dissociation between diurnal cycles in locomotor activity, feeding behavior and hepatic PERIOD2 expression in chronic alcohol-fed mice

PubMed Central

Zhou, Peng; Werner, John H.; Lee, Donghoon; Sheppard, Aaron D.; Liangpunsakul, Suthat; Duffield, Giles E.

2015-01-01

Chronic alcohol consumption contributes to fatty liver disease. Our studies revealed that the hepatic circadian clock is disturbed in alcohol-induced hepatic steatosis, and effects of chronic alcohol administration upon the clock itself may contribute to steatosis. We extended these findings to explore the effects of chronic alcohol treatment on daily feeding and locomotor activity patterns. Mice were chronically pair-fed ad libitum for 4 weeks using the Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet, with calorie-controlled liquid and standard chow diets as control groups. Locomotor activity, feeding activity, and real-time bioluminescence recording of PERIOD2::LUCIFERASE expression in tissue explants were measured. Mice on liquid control and chow diets exhibited normal profiles of locomotor activity, with a ratio of 22:78% day/night activity and a peak during early night. This pattern was dramatically altered in alcohol-fed mice, marked by a 49:51% ratio and the absence of a distinct peak. While chow-diet fed mice had a normal 24:76% ratio of feeding activity, with a peak in the early night, this pattern was dramatically altered in both liquid-diet groups: mice had a 43:57% ratio, and an absence of a distinct peak. Temporal differences were also observed between the two liquid-diet groups during late day. Cosinor analysis revealed a ~4-h and ~6-h shift in the alcohol-fed group feeding and locomotor activity rhythms, respectively. Analysis of hepatic PER2 expression revealed that the molecular clock in alcohol-fed and control liquid-diet mice was shifted by ~11 h and ~6 h, respectively. No differences were observed in suprachiasmatic nucleus explants, suggesting that changes in circadian phase in the liver were generated independently from the central clock. These results suggest that chronic alcohol consumption and a liquid diet can differentially modulate the daily rhythmicity of locomotor and feeding behaviors, aspects that might contribute to disturbances in the circadian timing system and development of hepatic steatosis. PMID:25960184

A theoretical study of complexes formed between cations and curved aromatic systems: electrostatics does not always control cation-π interaction.

PubMed

Carrazana-García, Jorge A; Cabaleiro-Lago, Enrique M; Rodríguez-Otero, Jesús

2017-04-19

The present work studies the interaction of two extended curved π-systems (corannulene and sumanene) with various cations (sodium, potassium, ammonium, tetramethylammonium, guanidinium and imidazolium). Polyatomic cations are models of groups found in important biomolecules in which cation-π interaction plays a fundamental role. The results indicate an important size effect: with extended π systems and cations of the size of potassium and larger, dispersion is much more important than has been generally recognized for cation-π interactions. In most of the systems studied here, the stability of the cation-π complexes is the result of a balanced combination of electrostatic, induction and dispersion contributions. None of the systems studied here owes its stability to the electrostatic interaction more than 42%. Induction dominates stabilization in complexes with sodium, and in some of the potassium and ammonium complexes. In complexes with large cations and with flat cations dispersion is the major stabilizing contribution and can provide more than 50% of the stabilization energy. This implies that theoretical studies of the cation-π interaction involving large or even medium-size fragments require a level of calculation capable of properly modelling dispersion. The separation between the cation and the π system is another important factor to take into account, especially when the fragments of the cation-π complex are bound (for example, to a protein backbone) and cannot interact at the most favourable distance.

Extending the Impact of RAC1b Overexpression to Follicular Thyroid Carcinomas

PubMed Central

Faria, Márcia; Capinha, Liliana; Simões-Pereira, Joana; Bugalho, Maria João; Silva, Ana Luísa

2016-01-01

RAC1b is a hyperactive variant of the small GTPase RAC1 known to be a relevant molecular player in different cancers. Previous studies from our group lead to the evidence that its overexpression in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is associated with an unfavorable prognosis. In the present study, we intended to extend the analysis of RAC1b expression to thyroid follicular neoplasms and to seek for clinical correlations. RAC1b expression levels were determined by RT-qPCR in thyroid follicular tumor samples comprising 23 follicular thyroid carcinomas (FTCs) and 33 follicular thyroid adenomas (FTAs). RAC1b was found to be overexpressed in 33% of carcinomas while no RAC1b overexpression was documented among follicular adenomas. Patients with a diagnosis of FTC were divided into two groups based on longitudinal evolution and final outcome. RAC1b overexpression was significantly associated with both the presence of distant metastases (P = 0.01) and poorer clinical outcome (P = 0.01) suggesting that, similarly to that previously found in PTCs, RAC1b overexpression in FTCs is also associated with worse outcomes. Furthermore, the absence of RAC1b overexpression in follicular adenomas hints its potential as a molecular marker likely to contribute, in conjunction with other putative markers, to the preoperative differential diagnosis of thyroid follicular lesions. PMID:27127508

Evaluation of the benefits of low back pain patients' education workshops during spa therapy.

PubMed

Gremeaux, Vincent; Benaïm, Charles; Poiraudeau, Serge; Hérisson, Christian; Dupeyron, Arnaud; Coudeyre, Emmanuel

2013-01-01

To evaluate the medium-term impact of education workshops on low back pain (LBP) in the setting of a thermal spa on: fear-avoidance beliefs, disability, pain, and satisfaction. Randomized prospective alternate-month design-type study including 360 individuals having thermal spa therapy for LBP: 188 in the intervention group (three standardized education workshops lasting 1 h 30 each and usual thermal therapy for 3 weeks), 172 in the control group (usual thermal therapy and non-standardized verbal information). The principal analysis criterion was the difference in the fear-avoidance beliefs (physical FABQ) score between baseline and 6 months after the therapy; secondary criteria were: evolution of disability (Quebec Scale) and pain intensity (Visual Analogue Scale), and satisfaction with the information received. There was a significant reduction in the physical FABQ score at 6 months (P<0.05), and this reduction was more marked in the intervention group (-5.8±0.7 vs. -2±0.72 points out of 24; P<0.0001). Disability and pain significantly decreased in both groups (P<0.05), with no difference between groups. These workshops also had a significant effect on satisfaction with the information received. Standardized education workshops have a beneficial impact on LBP and contribute to an improvement in the medical services provided during spa therapy by reducing the effect of fear-avoidance beliefs as well as relieving pain. Extending the use of such workshops could contribute to enhance the positive impact of spa therapy in the management of chronic disabling diseases. Copyright © 2012 Société française de rhumatologie. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Extended Stay: Factors Contributing to Success or Failure When African Presidents Attempt to Amend Constitutions to Hold on to Power

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

not. Specifically, the study focuses on societal factors that impose constraints upon leaders attempting to extend or abolish term limits, paying...others have not. Specifically, the study focuses on societal factors that impose constraints upon leaders attempting to extend or abolish term limits... case methodology, the study investigates Blaise Compaore’s twenty-seven-year rule in Burkina Faso, comparing his successful extension of his mandate

Changes in the Influence of Alcohol-Paired Stimuli on Alcohol Seeking across Extended Training

PubMed Central

Corbit, Laura H.; Janak, Patricia H.

2016-01-01

Previous work has demonstrated that goal-directed control of alcohol-seeking and other drug-related behaviors is reduced following extended self-administration and drug exposure. Here, we examined how the magnitude of stimulus influences on responding changes across similar training and drug exposure. Rats self-administered alcohol or sucrose for 2 or 8 weeks. Previous work has shown that 8 weeks, but not 2 weeks of self-administration produces habitual alcohol seeking. Next, all animals received equivalent Pavlovian conditioning sessions where a discrete stimulus predicted the delivery of alcohol or sucrose. Finally, the impact of the stimuli on ongoing instrumental responding was examined in a Pavlovian–instrumental transfer (PIT) test. While a significant PIT effect was observed following 2 weeks of either alcohol or sucrose self-administration, the magnitude of this effect was greater following 8 weeks of training. The specificity of the PIT effect appeared unchanged by extended training. While it is well established that evaluation of the outcome of responding contributes less to behavioral control following extended training and/or drug exposure, our data indicate that reward–predictive stimuli have a stronger contribution to responding after extended training. Together, these findings provide insight into the factors that control behavior after extended drug use, which will be important for developing effective methods for controlling and ideally reducing these behaviors. PMID:27777560

Pastoral power in the community pharmacy: A Foucauldian analysis of services to promote patient adherence to new medicine use.

PubMed

Waring, Justin; Latif, Asam; Boyd, Matthew; Barber, Nick; Elliott, Rachel

2016-01-01

Community pharmacists play a growing role in the delivery of primary healthcare. This has led many to consider the changing power of the pharmacy profession in relation to other professions and patient groups. This paper contributes to these debates through developing a Foucauldian analysis of the changing dynamics of power brought about by extended roles in medicines management and patient education. Examining the New Medicine Service, the study considers how both patient and pharmacist subjectivities are transformed as pharmacists seek to survey patient's medicine use, diagnose non-adherence to prescribed medicines, and provide education to promote behaviour change. These extended roles in medicines management and patient education expand the 'pharmacy gaze' to further aspects of patient health and lifestyle, and more significantly, established a form of 'pastoral power' as pharmacists become responsible for shaping patients' self-regulating subjectivities. In concert, pharmacists are themselves enrolled within a new governing regime where their identities are conditioned by corporate and policy rationalities for the modernisation of primary care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Generalized causal mediation and path analysis: Extensions and practical considerations.

PubMed

Albert, Jeffrey M; Cho, Jang Ik; Liu, Yiying; Nelson, Suchitra

2018-01-01

Causal mediation analysis seeks to decompose the effect of a treatment or exposure among multiple possible paths and provide casually interpretable path-specific effect estimates. Recent advances have extended causal mediation analysis to situations with a sequence of mediators or multiple contemporaneous mediators. However, available methods still have limitations, and computational and other challenges remain. The present paper provides an extended causal mediation and path analysis methodology. The new method, implemented in the new R package, gmediation (described in a companion paper), accommodates both a sequence (two stages) of mediators and multiple mediators at each stage, and allows for multiple types of outcomes following generalized linear models. The methodology can also handle unsaturated models and clustered data. Addressing other practical issues, we provide new guidelines for the choice of a decomposition, and for the choice of a reference group multiplier for the reduction of Monte Carlo error in mediation formula computations. The new method is applied to data from a cohort study to illuminate the contribution of alternative biological and behavioral paths in the effect of socioeconomic status on dental caries in adolescence.

Extended findings of Brain Metabolite Normalization in MA-Dependent Subjects Across Sustained Abstinence: A Proton MRS Study

PubMed Central

Salo, Ruth; Buonocore, Michael H.; Leamon, Martin; Natsuaki, Yutaka; Waters, Christy; Moore, Charles D.; Galloway, Gantt P.; Nordahl, Thomas E.

2010-01-01

Objective The goal of the present study was to extend our previous findings on long-term methamphetamine (MA) use and drug abstinence on brain metabolite levels in an expanded group of MA-dependent individuals. Methods Seventeen MA abusers with sustained drug abstinence (1 year to 5 years), 30 MA abusers with short-term drug abstinence (1 month to 6 months) and 24 non-substance using controls were studied using MR spectroscopy (MRS). MRS measures of NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr and Cho/NAA were obtained in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and in the primary visual cortex (PVC). Results ACC-Cho/NAA values were abnormally high in the short-term abstinent group compared to controls [F(1,52)=18.76, p<0.0001]. No differences were observed between controls and the long-term abstinent group [F(1,39)=0.97, p=0.97]. New evidence of lower ACC-NAA/Cr levels were observed in the short-term abstinent MA abusers compared to controls [F(1,52)=23.05, p<0.0001] and long-term abstinent MA abusers [F(1,45)=7.06, p=0.01]. No differences were observed between long-term abstinent MA abusers and controls [F(1,39)=0.48, p=0.49]. Conclusions The new findings of relative NAA/Cr normalization across periods of abstinence suggest that adaptive changes following cessation of MA abuse may be broader than initially thought. These changes may contribute to some degree of normalization of neuronal function in the ACC. PMID:20739127

Using Literacy Booster Groups To Maintain and Extend Reading Recovery Success in the Primary Grades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacKenzie, Karla K.

2001-01-01

Describes a comprehensive school literacy program for primary students and looks specifically at one component, Literacy Booster Groups. Notes that in Booster Groups, former Reading Recovery students receive extra support to maintain and extend literacy progress. Concludes that students who were once functioning at the bottom of their class are…

Modulation of network pacemaker neurons by oxygen at the anaerobic threshold.

PubMed

Hill, Andrew A V; Simmers, John; Meyrand, Pierre; Massabuau, Jean-Charles

2012-07-01

Previous in vitro and in vivo studies showed that the frequency of rhythmic pyloric network activity in the lobster is modulated directly by oxygen partial pressure (PO(2)). We have extended these results by (1) increasing the period of exposure to low PO(2) and by (2) testing the sensitivity of the pyloric network to changes in PO(2) that are within the narrow range normally experienced by the lobster (1 to 6 kPa). We found that the pyloric network rhythm was indeed altered by changes in PO(2) within the range typically observed in vivo. Furthermore, a previous study showed that the lateral pyloric constrictor motor neuron (LP) contributes to the O(2) sensitivity of the pyloric network. Here, we expanded on this idea by testing the hypothesis that pyloric pacemaker neurons also contribute to pyloric O(2) sensitivity. A 2-h exposure to 1 kPa PO(2), which was twice the period used previously, decreased the frequency of an isolated group of pacemaker neurons, suggesting that changes in the rhythmogenic properties of these cells contribute to pyloric O(2) sensitivity during long-term near-anaerobic (anaerobic threshold, 0.7-1.2 kPa) conditions.

In situ optical properties of foliar flavonoids: Implication for non-destructive estimation of flavonoid content.

PubMed

Gitelson, Anatoly; Chivkunova, Olga; Zhigalova, Tatiana; Solovchenko, Alexei

2017-11-01

Flavonoids are a ubiquitous multifunctional group of phenolics of paramount importance for the terrestrial plants involved in protection from biotic and abiotic stresses, color and chemical signaling and other functions. Deciphering of in situ absorption of foliar Flv is important but was thought to be impossible due to a strong overlap with other pigments, complex in situ chemistry of Flv and sophisticated leaf optics. We deduced in situ absorbance of foliar Flv and introduced a concept of specific absorbance spectrum indicative of each pigment group contribution to light absorption and provided a rationale for the choice of spectral bands for non-destructive assessment of Flv in leaves with variable content of other pigments including anthocyanins. Only a narrow band 400-430nm was suitable for Flv assessment, however the effect of other pigments remained substantial, so subtraction of their contribution was necessary. The devised leaf absorbance-based algorithm allowed estimating Flv with error below 21%. Absorption by Flv in plant tissues might extend into the blue and can be commensurate to that of chlorophylls and carotenoids. The potential capacity of Flv to shield the cell in situ from the visible light might be essential for assessments of high light stress tolerance of plants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Improved GGIW-PHD filter for maneuvering non-ellipsoidal extended targets or group targets tracking based on sub-random matrices.

PubMed

Liang, Zhibing; Liu, Fuxian; Gao, Jiale

2018-01-01

For non-ellipsoidal extended targets and group targets tracking (NETT and NGTT), using an ellipsoid to approximate the target extension may not be accurate enough because of the lack of shape and orientation information. In consideration of this, we model a non-ellipsoidal extended target or target group as a combination of multiple ellipsoidal sub-objects, each represented by a random matrix. Based on these models, an improved gamma Gaussian inverse Wishart probability hypothesis density (GGIW-PHD) filter is proposed to estimate the measurement rates, kinematic states, and extension states of the sub-objects for each extended target or target group. For maneuvering NETT and NGTT, a multi-model (MM) approach based GGIW-PHD (MM-GGIW-PHD) filter is proposed. The common and the individual dynamics of the sub-objects belonging to the same extended target or target group are described by means of the combination between the overall maneuver model and the sub-object models. For the merging of updating components, an improved merging criterion and a new merging method are derived. A specific implementation of prediction partition with pseudo-likelihood method is presented. Two scenarios for non-maneuvering and maneuvering NETT and NGTT are simulated. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.

Improved GGIW-PHD filter for maneuvering non-ellipsoidal extended targets or group targets tracking based on sub-random matrices

PubMed Central

Liu, Fuxian; Gao, Jiale

2018-01-01

For non-ellipsoidal extended targets and group targets tracking (NETT and NGTT), using an ellipsoid to approximate the target extension may not be accurate enough because of the lack of shape and orientation information. In consideration of this, we model a non-ellipsoidal extended target or target group as a combination of multiple ellipsoidal sub-objects, each represented by a random matrix. Based on these models, an improved gamma Gaussian inverse Wishart probability hypothesis density (GGIW-PHD) filter is proposed to estimate the measurement rates, kinematic states, and extension states of the sub-objects for each extended target or target group. For maneuvering NETT and NGTT, a multi-model (MM) approach based GGIW-PHD (MM-GGIW-PHD) filter is proposed. The common and the individual dynamics of the sub-objects belonging to the same extended target or target group are described by means of the combination between the overall maneuver model and the sub-object models. For the merging of updating components, an improved merging criterion and a new merging method are derived. A specific implementation of prediction partition with pseudo-likelihood method is presented. Two scenarios for non-maneuvering and maneuvering NETT and NGTT are simulated. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. PMID:29444144

The effect of extended wake on postural control in young adults.

PubMed

Smith, Simon S; Cheng, Tiffany; Kerr, Graham K

2012-09-01

The sleep-wake cycle is a major determinant of locomotor activity in humans, and the neural and physiological processes necessary for optimum postural control may be impaired by an extension of the wake period into habitual sleep time. There is growing evidence for such a contribution from sleep-related factors, but great inconsistency in the methods used to assess this contribution, particularly in control for circadian phase position. Postural control was assessed at hourly intervals across 14 h of extended wake in nine young adult participants. Force plate parameters of medio-lateral and anterior-posterior sway, centre of pressure (CoP) trace length, area, and velocity were assessed with eyes open and eyes closed over 3-min periods. A standard measure of psychomotor vigilance was assessed concurrently under constant routine conditions. After controlling for individual differences in circadian phase position, a significant effect of extended wake was found for anterior-posterior sway and for psychomotor vigilance. These data suggest that extended wake may increase the risk of a fall or other consequences of impaired postural control.

Long-term outcomes and recurrence patterns of standard versus extended pancreatectomy for pancreatic head cancer: a multicenter prospective randomized controlled study.

PubMed

Jang, Jin-Young; Kang, Jae Seung; Han, Youngmin; Heo, Jin Seok; Choi, Seong Ho; Choi, Dong Wook; Park, Sang Jae; Han, Sung-Sik; Yoon, Dong Sup; Park, Joon Seong; Yu, Hee Chul; Kang, Koo Jeong; Kim, Sang Geol; Lee, Hongeun; Kwon, Wooil; Yoon, Yoo-Seok; Han, Ho-Seong; Kim, Sun-Whe

2017-07-01

Our previous randomized controlled trial revealed no difference in 2-year overall survival (OS) between extended and standard resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The present study evaluated the 5-year OS and recurrence patterns according to the extent of pancreatectomy. Between 2006 and 2009, 169 consecutive patients were prospectively enrolled and randomized to standard (n = 83) or extended resection (n = 86) groups to compare 5-year OS rate, long-term recurrence patterns and factors associated with long-term survival. The surgical R0 rate was similar between the standard and extended groups (85.5 vs. 90.7%, P = 0.300). Five-year OS (18.4 vs. 14.4%, P = 0.388), 5-year disease-free survival (14.8 vs. 14.0%, P = 0.531), and overall recurrence rates (74.7 vs. 69.9%, P = 0.497) were not significantly different between the two groups, although the incidence of peritoneal seeding was higher in the extended group (25 vs. 8.1%, P = 0.014). Extended pancreatectomy does not have better short-term and long-term survival outcomes, and shows similar R0 rates and overall recurrence rates compared with standard pancreatectomy. Extended pancreatectomy does not have to be performed routinely for all cases of resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma, especially considering its associated increased morbidity shown in our previous study. © 2017 Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery.

Conceptualisation of ageing in relation to factors of importance for extending working life - a review.

PubMed

Nilsson, Kerstin

2016-07-01

The aim of this study was to explore and understand the complexity of ageing in relation to factors of importance for extending working life. Discourse analysis of documents was used in an integrative review including 128 articles. Four different conceptualisation of ageing are shown to affect older workers' ability to extend their working life: (a) biological ageing people's health in relation to their physical and mental work environment, their pace of work and recuperation needs; (b) chronological ageing statutory retirement age and policies and economic incentives devised for older workers by society, unions and organisations/enterprises; (c) social ageing inclusion in different social groups, the attitude of managers, organisations and family members, the leisure activities and surrounding environment; and (d) mental/cognitive ageing self-crediting, motivating and meaningful activities, competence and skills in working life. CONCLUSIONS SOCIETIES TODAY FOCUS MOSTLY ON CHRONOLOGICAL AGEING AND ARE LOOKING TO INCREASE THE RETIREMENT AGE WITH REGARD TO STATUTORY PENSION SYSTEMS, EG BEYOND 65 YEARS OF AGE THE INTER-RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHRONOLOGICAL, MENTAL, BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL AGEING AND THE NINE AREAS IDENTIFIED AS BEING IMPORTANT TO OLDER WORKERS IN THESE RESPECTS NEED TO BE CONSIDERED WHEN AIMING TO PROVIDE A SUSTAINABLE WORKING LIFE FOR THE INCREASING NUMBERS OF OLDER WORKERS IN MODERN SOCIETY THE THEORETICAL MODEL DEVELOPED IS A CONTRIBUTION TO THE CRITICAL DEBATE THAT CAN BE APPLIED BY SOCIETIES, EMPLOYERS AND MANAGERS IN ORDER TO PROVIDE OLDER WORKERS WITH AN INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE EXTENDED WORKING LIFE. © 2016 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

Simulation of aquifer tests and ground-water flowpaths at the local scale in fractured shales and sandstones of the Brunswick Group and Lockatong Formation, Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goode, Daniel J.; Senior, Lisa A.

2000-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey, as part of technical assistance to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has constructed and calibrated models of local-scale ground-water flow in and near Lansdale, Pa., where numerous sources of industrial contamination have been consolidated into the North Penn Area 6 Superfund Site. The local-scale models incorporate hydrogeologic structure of northwest-dipping beds with uniform hydraulic properties identified in previous studies. Computations associated with mapping the dipping-bed structure into the three-dimensional model grid are handled by a preprocessor using a programmed geographic information system (GIS). Hydraulic properties are identified by calibration of the models using measured water levels during pumping and recovery from aquifer tests at three sites. Reduced flow across low-permeability beds is explicitly simulated. The dipping high-permeability beds are extensive in the strike direction but are of limited extent in the dip direction. This model structure yields ground-water-flow patterns characteristic of anisotropic aquifers; preferred flow is in the strike direction. The transmissivities of high-permeability beds in the local-scale models range from 142 to 1,900 ft2/d (feet squared per day) (13 to 177 m2/d). The hydraulic conductivities of low-permeability parts of the aquifer range from 9.6 x 10-4 to 0.26 ft/d (feet per day) (2.9 x 10-4 to 0.079 m/d). Storage coefficients and specific storage are very low, indicating the confined nature of the aquifer system. The calibrated models are used to simulate contributing areas of wells under alternative, hypothetical ground-water-management practices. Predictive contributing areas indicate the general characteristics of ground-water flow towards wells in the Lansdale area. Recharge to wells in Lansdale generally comes from infiltration near the well and over an area that extends upgradient from the well. The contributing areas for two wells pumping at 10 gal/min (gallons per minute) extend about 1,500 ft (feet) upgradient from the wells. The contributing area is more complex at ground-water divides and can extend in more than one direction to capture recharge from more than 3,300 ft away, for pumping at a rate of 30 gal/min. Locally, all recharge in the area of the pumping well is not captured; recharge in the downgradient direction about 150 ft from the pumping well will flow to other discharge locations.

Proposal of an Extended Taxonomy of Serious Games for Health Rehabilitation.

PubMed

Rego, Paula Alexandra; Moreira, Pedro Miguel; Reis, Luís Paulo

2018-06-29

Serious Games is a field of research that has evolved substantially with valuable contributions to many application domains and areas. Patients often consider traditional rehabilitation approaches to be repetitive and boring, making it difficult for them to maintain their ongoing interest and assure the completion of the treatment program. Since the publication of our first taxonomy of Serious Games for Health Rehabilitation (SGHR), many studies have been published with game prototypes in this area. Based on literature review, our goal is to propose an updated taxonomy taking into account the works, updates, and innovations in game criteria that have been researched since our first publication in 2010. In addition, we aim to present the validation mechanism used for the proposed extended taxonomy. Based on a literature review in the area and on the analysis of the contributions made by other researchers, we propose an extended taxonomy for SGHR. For validating the taxonomy proposal, a questionnaire was designed to use on a survey among experts in the area. An extended taxonomy for SGHR was proposed. As we have identified that, in general, and besides the mechanisms associated with the adoption of a given taxonomy, there were no reported validation mechanisms for the proposals, we designed a mechanism to validate our proposal. The mechanism uses a questionnaire addressed to a sample of researchers and professionals with experience and expertise in domains of knowledge interrelated with SGHR, such as Computer Graphics, Game Design, Interaction Design, Computer Programming, and Health Rehabilitation. The extended taxonomy proposal for health rehabilitation serious games provides the research community with a tool to fully characterize serious games. The mechanism designed for validating the taxonomy proposal is another contribution of this work.

Relativistic extended Thomas-Fermi calculations with exchange term contributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haddad, S.; Weigel, M. K.

1994-10-01

In this investigation we present self-consistent relativistic extended Thomas-Fermi (ETF) and extended Thomas-Fermi-Fock (ETFF) approaches, derived from the semiclassical treatment of the relativistic nuclear Hartree-Fock problem. The approximations are used to describe the ground-state properties of finite nuclei. The resulting equations are solved numerically for several one-boson-exchange (OBE) lagrangians. The results are discussed and compared with the outcome of full quantal Hartree and Hartree-Fock calculations, other semiclassical treatments and experimental data.

Radio Properties of the BAT AGNs: the FIR-radio Relation, the Fundamental Plane, and the Main Sequence of Star Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Krista Lynne; Mushotzky, Richard F.; Vogel, Stuart; Shimizu, Thomas T.; Miller, Neal

2016-12-01

We conducted 22 GHz 1″ JVLA imaging of 70 radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the Swift-BAT survey. We find radio cores in all but three objects. The radio morphologies of the sample fall into three groups: compact and core-dominated, extended, and jet-like. We spatially decompose each image into core flux and extended flux, and compare the extended radio emission with that predicted from previous Herschel observations using the canonical FIR-radio relation. After removing the AGN contribution to the FIR and radio flux densities, we find that the relation holds remarkably well despite the potentially different star formation physics in the circumnuclear environment. We also compare our core radio flux densities with predictions of coronal models and scale-invariant jet models for the origin of radio emission in radio-quiet AGNs, and find general consistency with both models. However, we find that the L R/L X relation does not distinguish between star formation and non-relativistic AGN-driven outflows as the origin of radio emission in radio-quiet AGNs. Finally, we examine where objects with different radio morphologies fall in relation to the main sequence (MS) of star formation, and conclude that those AGNs that fall below the MS, as X-ray selected AGNs have been found to do, have core-dominated or jet-like 22 GHz morphologies.

Open Group Transformations Within the Sp(2)-Formalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batalin, Igor; Marnelius, Robert

Previously we have shown that open groups whose generators are in arbitrary involutions may be quantized within a ghost extended framework in terms of the nilpotent BFV-BRST charge operator. Here we show that they may also be quantized within an Sp(2)-frame in which there are two odd anticommuting operators called Sp(2)-charges. Previous results for finite open group transformations are generalized to the Sp(2)-formalism. We show that in order to define open group transformations on the whole ghost extended space we need Sp(2)-charges in the nonminimal sector which contains dynamical Lagrange multipliers. We give an Sp(2)-version of the quantum master equation with extended Sp(2)-charges and a master charge of a more involved form, which is proposed to represent the integrability conditions of defining operators of connection operators and which therefore should encode the generalized quantum Maurer-Cartan equations for arbitrary open groups. General solutions of this master equation are given in explicit form. A further extended Sp(2)-formalism is proposed in which the group parameters are quadrupled to a supersymmetric set and from which all results may be derived.

Extended micro objects as dark matter particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belotsky, K.; Rubin, S.; Svadkovsky, I.

2017-05-01

Models of various forms of composite dark matter (DM) predicted by particle theory and the DM constituents formed by gravity that are not reduced to new elementary particle candidates are discussed. Main attention is paid to a gravitational origin of the DM. The influence of extended mass spectrum of primordial black holes on observational limits is considered. It is shown that non-uniformly deformed extra space can be considered as point-like masses which possess only gravitational interaction with each other and with the ordinary particles. The recently discussed six-dimensional stable wormholes could contribute to the DM. The contribution of dark atoms is also considered.

Comparison of limb kinematics between collected and lengthened (medium/extended) trot in two groups of dressage horses on two different surfaces.

PubMed

Walker, V A; Tranquille, C A; Newton, J R; Dyson, S J; Brandham, J; Northrop, A J; Murray, R C

2017-09-01

Dressage horses are often asked to work in lengthened paces during training and competition, but to date there is limited information about the biomechanics of dressage-specific paces. Preliminary work has shown increased fetlock extension in extended compared with collected paces, but further investigation of the kinematic differences between collected, medium and extended trot in dressage horses is warranted. Investigation of the effect of collected vs. medium/extended trot on limb kinematics of dressage horses. Prospective kinematic evaluation. Twenty clinically sound horses in active dressage training were used. Group 1: Ten young horses (≤6 years) were assessed at collected and medium trot and Group 2: Ten mature horses (≥9 years) were assessed at collected and extended trot. All horses were evaluated on two different surfaces. High speed motion capture (240 Hz) was used to determine kinematic variables. Fore- and hindlimb angles were measured at mid-stance. Descriptive statistics and mixed effect multilevel regression analyses were performed. Speed and stride length were reduced and stride duration increased at collected compared with medium/extended trot. Lengthened trot (medium/extended trot) was associated with increased fetlock extension in both the fore- and hindlimbs in both groups of horses. Changes were greater in mature horses compared with young horses. Shoulder and carpus angles were associated with forelimb fetlock angle. Hock angle was not significantly influenced by pace. Surface had no effect on fetlock or hock angles. Only 2D motion analysis was carried out. Results may have differed in horses with more extreme gait characteristics. Medium/extended trot increases extension of the fore- and hindlimb fetlock joints compared with collected trot in both young and mature dressage horses, respectively. © 2017 EVJ Ltd.

Influence of rate of force application during compression on tablet capping.

PubMed

Sarkar, Srimanta; Ooi, Shing Ming; Liew, Celine Valeria; Heng, Paul Wan Sia

2015-04-01

Root cause and possible processing remediation of tablet capping were investigated using a specially designed tablet press with an air compensator installed above the precompression roll to limit compression force and allow extended dwell time in the precompression event. Using acetaminophen-starch (77.9:22.1) as a model formulation, tablets were prepared by various combinations of precompression and main compression forces, set precompression thickness, and turret speed. The rate of force application (RFA) was the main factor contributing to the tablet mechanical strength and capping. When target force above the force required for strong interparticulate bond formation, the resultant high RFA contributed to more pronounced air entrapment, uneven force distribution, and consequently, stratified densification in compact together with high viscoelastic recovery. These factors collectively had contributed to the tablet capping. As extended dwell time assisted particle rearrangement and air escape, a denser and more homogenous packing in the die could be achieved. This occurred during the extended dwell time when a low precompression force was applied, followed by application of main compression force for strong interparticulate bond formation that was the most beneficial option to solve capping problem. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

Cooling circuit for a gas turbine bucket and tip shroud

DOEpatents

Willett, Fred Thomas

2004-07-13

An open cooling circuit for a gas turbine airfoil and associated tip shroud includes a first group of cooling holes internal to the airfoil and extending in a radially outward direction generally along a leading edge of the airfoil; a second group of cooling holes internal to the airfoil and extending in a radially outward direction generally along a trailing edge of the airfoil. A common plenum is formed in the tip shroud in direct communication with the first and second group of cooling holes, but a second plenum may be provided for the second group of radial holes. A plurality of exhaust holes extends from the plenum(s), through the tip shroud and opening along a peripheral edge of the tip shroud.

Respiratory muscle weakness and respiratory muscle training in severely disabled multiple sclerosis patients.

PubMed

Gosselink, R; Kovacs, L; Ketelaer, P; Carton, H; Decramer, M

2000-06-01

To evaluate the contribution of respiratory muscle weakness (part 1) and respiratory muscle training (part 2) to pulmonary function, cough efficacy, and functional status in patients with advanced multiple sclerosis (MS). Survey (part 1) and randomized controlled trial (part 2). Rehabilitation center for MS. Twenty-eight bedridden or wheelchair-bound MS patients (part 1); 18 patients were randomly assigned to a training group (n = 9) or a control group (n = 9) (part 2). The training group (part 2) performed three series of 15 contractions against an expiratory resistance (60% maximum expiratory pressure [PEmax]) two times a day, whereas the control group performed breathing exercises to enhance maximal inspirations. Forced vital capacity (FVC), inspiratory, and expiratory muscle strength (PImax and PEmax), neck flexion force (NFF), cough efficacy by means of the Pulmonary Index (PI), and functional status by means of the Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Part 1 revealed a significantly reduced FVC (43% +/- 26% predicted), PEmax (18% +/- 8% predicted), and PImax (27% +/- 11% predicted), whereas NFF was only mildly reduced (93% +/- 26% predicted). The PI (median score, 10) and EDSS (median score, 8.5) were severely reduced. PEmax was significantly correlated to FVC, EDSS, and PI (r = .77, -.79, and -.47, respectively). In stepwise multiple regression analysis. PEmax was the only factor contributing to the explained variance in FVC (R2 = .60), whereas body weight (R2 = .41) was the only factor for the PI. In part 2, changes in PImax and PEmax tended to be higher in the training group (p = .06 and p = .07, respectively). The PI was significantly improved after 3 months of training compared with the control group (p < .05). After 6 months, the PI remained significantly better in the training group. Expiratory muscle strength was significantly reduced and related to FVC, cough efficacy, and functional status. Expiratory muscle training tended to enhance inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength. In addition, subjectively and objectively rated cough efficacy improved significantly and lasted for 3 months after training cessation.

Effect of Extended 30 μg Ethinyl Estradiol with Continuous Low-Dose Ethinyl Estradiol and Cyclic 20 μg Ethinyl Estradiol Oral Contraception on Adolescent Bone Density: A Randomized Trial.

PubMed

Gersten, Janet; Hsieh, Jennifer; Weiss, Herman; Ricciotti, Nancy A

2016-12-01

To compare changes in lumbar spine bone mineral density after 12 months of a 91-day extended regimen or 28-day combined oral contraceptive with those in a healthy reference group not using hormonal contraceptives. Phase 2, multicenter, open-label, randomized, controlled study. Forty-five academic centers, clinical research centers, and community practices in the United States. Eight hundred twenty-nine postmenarcheal adolescent girls aged 12-18 years. Adolescents were randomly assigned to 91-day levonorgestrel (LNG)/ethinyl estradiol (EE) extended regimen (84 days of LNG 150 μg/EE 30 μg with 7 days of EE 10 μg [LNG/EE extended regimen]) or 28 days of LNG/EE (21 days of LNG 100 μg/EE 20 μg with 7 days of placebo [LNG/EE 21/7]) for 12 months. A reference group not seeking hormonal contraception was also evaluated. The primary end point was mean percent change in lumbar spine bone mineral density measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Of 1361 adolescents randomized/enrolled, 829 were included in the primary analysis. Mean changes in lumbar spine bone mineral density were +2.26% with LNG/EE extended regimen, +1.45% with LNG/EE 21/7, and +2.50% in the reference group. Noninferiority of the LNG/EE extended regimen compared with the reference group was shown. A statistically significant treatment difference was found between LNG/EE 21/7 and the reference group (1.05%; 95% confidence interval, 0.61%-1.49%) but not between LNG/EE extended regimen and the reference group (0.23%; 95% confidence interval, -0.20% to 0.67%). No new safety signals were noted. Compared with the reference group, bone accrual was statistically significantly lower among LNG/EE 21/7 users but not among LNG/EE 30-μg extended regimen users. Additional research is needed to clarify the clinical relevance of these findings. Copyright © 2016 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Why Should We All Be Cultural Psychologists? Lessons From the Study of Social Cognition.

PubMed

Wang, Qi

2016-09-01

I call the attention of psychologists to the pivotal role of cultural psychology in extending and enriching research programs. I argue that it is not enough to simply acknowledge the importance of culture and urge psychologists to practice cultural psychology in their research. I deconstruct five assumptions about cultural psychology that seriously undermine its contribution to the building of a true psychological science, including that cultural psychology (a) is only about finding group differences, (b) does not appertain to group similarities, (c) concerns only group-level analysis, (d) is irrelevant to basic psychological processes, and (e) is used only to confirm the generalizability of theories. I discuss how cultural psychology can provide unique insights into psychological processes and further equip researchers with additional tools to understand human behavior. Drawing lessons from the 20 years of cultural research that my colleagues and I have done on the development of social cognition, including autobiographical memory, future thinking, self, and emotion knowledge, I demonstrate that incorporating cultural psychology into research programs is not only necessary but also feasible. © The Author(s) 2016.

Why Should We All Be Cultural Psychologists? Lessons from the Study of Social Cognition

PubMed Central

Wang, Qi

2016-01-01

I call the attention of psychologists to the pivotal role of cultural psychology in extending and enriching research programs. I argue that it is not enough to simply acknowledge the importance of culture, and urge psychologists to practice cultural psychology in their research. I deconstruct five assumptions about cultural psychology that seriously undermine its contribution to the building of a true psychological science, including that cultural psychology 1) is only about finding group differences; 2) does not care about group similarities; 3) only concerns group-level analysis; 4) is irrelevant to basic psychological processes; and 5) is only to confirm the generalizability of theories. I discuss how cultural psychology can provide unique insights into psychological processes and further equip researchers with additional tools to understand human behavior. Drawing lessons from the 20 years of cultural research that my colleagues and I have done on the development of social cognition, including autobiographical memory, future thinking, self, and emotion knowledge, I demonstrate that incorporating cultural psychology into a research program is not only necessary but also feasible. PMID:27694456

Extended Attention Span Training System: Video Game Neurotherapy for Attention Deficit Disorder.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pope, Alan T.; Bogart, Edward H.

1996-01-01

Describes the Extended Attention Span Training (EAST) system for modifying attention deficits, which takes the concept of biofeedback one step further by making a video game more difficult as the player's brain waves indicate that attention is waning. Notes contributions of this technology to neuropsychology and neurology, where the emphasis is on…

Cooperative Learning Groups and the Evolution of Human Adaptability : (Another Reason) Why Hermits Are Rare in Tonga and Elsewhere.

PubMed

Bell, Adrian Viliami; Hernandez, Daniel

2017-03-01

Understanding the prevalence of adaptive culture in part requires understanding the dynamics of learning. Here we explore the adaptive value of social learning in groups and how formal social groups function as effective mediums of information exchange. We discuss the education literature on Cooperative Learning Groups (CLGs), which outlines the potential of group learning for enhancing learning outcomes. Four qualities appear essential for CLGs to enhance learning: (1) extended conversations, (2) regular interactions, (3) gathering of experts, and (4) incentives for sharing knowledge. We analyze these four qualities within the context of a small-scale agricultural society using data we collected in 2010 and 2012. Through an analysis of surveys, interviews, and observations in the Tongan islands, we describe the role CLGs likely plays in facilitating individuals' learning of adaptive information. Our analysis of group affiliation, membership, and topics of conversation suggest that the first three CLG qualities reflect conditions for adaptive learning in groups. We utilize ethnographic anecdotes to suggest the fourth quality is also conducive to adaptive group learning. Using an evolutionary model, we further explore the scope for CLGs outside the Tongan socioecological context. Model analysis shows that environmental volatility and migration rates among human groups mediate the scope for CLGs. We call for wider attention to how group structure facilitates learning in informal settings, which may be key to assessing the contribution of groups to the evolution of complex, adaptive culture.

Extended high dose letrozole regimen versus short low dose letrozole regimen as an adjuvant to gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist protocol in poor responders undergoing IVF-ET.

PubMed

Fouda, Usama M; Sayed, Ahmed M

2011-12-01

To compare the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of extended high dose letrozole regimen/HPuFSH-gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist (GnRHant) protocol with short low dose letrozole regimen/HPuFSH-GnRHant protocol in poor responders undergoing IVF-ET. In this randomized controlled trial, 136 women who responded poorly to GnRH agonist long protocol in their first IVF cycle were randomized into two equal groups using computer generated list and were treated in the second IVF cycle by either extended letrozole regimen (5 mg/day during the first 5 days of cycle and 2.5 mg/day during the subsequent 3 days) combined with HPuFSH-GnRHant protocol or short letrozole regimen (2.5 mg/day from cycle day 3-7) combined with HPuFSH-GnRHant protocol. There were no significant differences between both groups with regard to number of oocytes retrieved and clinical pregnancy rate (5.39 ± 2.08 vs. 5.20 ± 1.88 and 22.06% vs. 16.18%, respectively).The total gonadotropins dose and medications cost per cycle were significantly lower in extended letrozole group (44.87 ± 9.16 vs. 59.97 ± 14.91 ampoules and 616.52 ± 94.97 vs. 746.84 ± 149.21 US Dollars ($), respectively).The cost-effectiveness ratio was 2794 $ in extended letrozole group and 4616 $ in short letrozole group. Extended letrozole regimen/HPuFSH-GnRHant protocol was more cost-effective than short letrozole regimen/HPuFSH-GnRHant protocol in poor responders undergoing IVF-ET.

The Knowledge Gap Versus the Belief Gap and Abstinence-Only Sex Education.

PubMed

Hindman, Douglas Blanks; Yan, Changmin

2015-08-01

The knowledge gap hypothesis predicts widening disparities in knowledge of heavily publicized public affairs issues among socioeconomic status groups. The belief gap hypothesis extends the knowledge gap hypothesis to account for knowledge and beliefs about politically contested issues based on empirically verifiable information. This analysis of 3 national surveys shows belief gaps developed between liberals and conservatives regarding abstinence-only sex education; socioeconomic status-based knowledge gaps did not widen. The findings partially support both belief gap and knowledge gap hypotheses. In addition, the unique contributions of exposure to Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC in this process were investigated. Only exposure to Fox News was linked to beliefs about abstinence-only sex education directly and indirectly through the cultivation of conservative ideology.

Survey on Ontology Mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Junwu

To create a sharable semantic space in which the terms from different domain ontology or knowledge system, Ontology mapping become a hot research point in Semantic Web Community. In this paper, motivated factors of ontology mapping research are given firstly, and then 5 dominating theories and methods, such as information accessing technology, machine learning, linguistics, structure graph and similarity, are illustrated according their technology class. Before we analyses the new requirements and takes a long view, the contributions of these theories and methods are summarized in details. At last, this paper suggest to design a group of semantic connector with the ability of migration learning for OWL-2 extended with constrains and the ontology mapping theory of axiom, so as to provide a new methodology for ontology mapping.

[Efficacy analysis of proximally extended resection for locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy].

PubMed

Qin, Qiyuan; Kuang, Yingyi; Ma, Tenghui; Wu, Yali; Wang, Huaiming; Pi, Yanna; Wang, Hui; Wang, Lei

2017-11-25

To evaluate the short-term outcomes and perioperative safety of proximally extended resection for locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. From colorectal cancer database in The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, a cohort of patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy(1.8-2.0 Gy per day, 25-28 fractions, concurrent fluorouracil-based chemotherapy) followed by curative sphincter-preserving surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer between May 2016 and June 2017 were retrospectively identified. Exclusion criteria were synchronous colon cancer, intraoperatively confirmed distal metastasis, multiple visceral resection, and emergency operation. Thirty-one patients underwent proximal extended resection and two were excluded for incomplete extended resection, then 29 patients were enrolled as the extended group. Using propensity scores matching with 1/1 ration, 29 locally advanced rectal cancer patients who underwent conventional resection after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy at the same time were matched as the conventional group. Clinical data of two groups were analyzed, and the baseline characteristics and short-term outcomes were compared using the t test, χ 2 test, or Mann-Whitney U test. Two groups were well balanced with respect to the baseline characteristics after propensity score matching. As compared with conventional group, patients in extended group had longer surgical specimen [(18.8±5.1) cm vs.(11.6±3.4) cm, t=6.314, P=0.000] and longer proximal resection margin [(14.8±5.5) cm vs.(8.2±3.0) cm, t=5.725, P=0.000], but also had longer total operating time [(322.4±100.7) min vs.(254.6±70.3) min, t=2.975, P=0.004] and more intraoperative blood loss [100(225) ml vs. 100(50) ml, Z=-2.403, P=0.016]. No significant differences were observed in the length of distal resection margin, ratio of positive resection margin, number of retrieved lymph node, time of analgesic use, time of draining tube use, time to first flatus, time to first oral diet, and postoperative hospital stay. During the perioperative period of 30 days, the morbidity of complication in extended group and conventional group was 17.2%(5/29) and 34.5% (10/29), respectively (P=0.134). Proximally extended resection is a radical and safe surgical alternative for locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, which can potentially reduce the risk of anastomosis complication.

Trehalose improves semen antioxidant enzymes activity, post-thaw quality, and fertility in Nili Ravi buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis).

PubMed

Iqbal, Sajid; Andrabi, Syed Murtaza Hassan; Riaz, Amjad; Durrani, Aneela Zameer; Ahmad, Nasim

2016-03-15

Our objectives were to study the effect of trehalose in extender on (1) antioxidant enzymes profile during cryopreservation (after dilution, before freezing, and after thawing), (2) in vitro quality (after thawing), and (3) in vivo fertility of Nili Ravi buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) bull spermatozoa. Semen samples (n = 20) from four buffalo bulls were diluted in Tris-citric acid-based extender having different concentrations of trehalose (0.0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 mM) and frozen in French straws. At post dilution, profile of sperm catalase (U/mL) was higher (P < 0.05) in extenders containing 15, 30, and 45 mM of trehalose as compared to control. Although profiles of superoxide dismutase (U/mL) and total glutathione (μM) were higher (P < 0.05) in extenders containing 15 and 30 mM of trehalose as compared to control. At prefreezing, sperm catalase, superoxide dismutase, and total glutathione profiles were higher (P < 0.05) in all the treatment groups as compared to control. At post thawing, the profiles of catalase and total glutathione were higher (P < 0.05) in extender containing 30-mM trehalose as compared to other treatment groups and control. Whereas, profile of superoxide dismutase was higher (P < 0.05) in extenders containing 30, 45, and 60 mM of trehalose as compared to control and 15mM group. Post thaw total sperm motility (%) was higher (P < 0.05) in extender containing 30-mM trehalose as compared to control and 15 and 60-mM groups. Although sperm progressive motility (%), rapid velocity (%), average path velocity (μm/s), straight line velocity (μm/s), curvilinear velocity (μm/s), plasma membrane (structural and functional, %), acrosome (%), and DNA (%) integrity were higher (P < 0.05) in extender containing 30 mM trehalose as compared to other treatment groups and control. The fertility rates (61% vs. 43%) were higher (P < 0.05) in buffaloes inseminated with semen doses cryopreserved in extender containing 30 mM of trehalose than the control. It is concluded that addition of 30-mM trehalose in extender improves the semen antioxidant enzymes activity, post thaw quality, and fertility in Nili Ravi buffaloes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Extended Duration Nocturnal Hemodialysis and Changes in Plasma Metabolite Profiles.

PubMed

Kalim, Sahir; Wald, Ron; Yan, Andrew T; Goldstein, Marc B; Kiaii, Mercedeh; Xu, Dihua; Berg, Anders H; Clish, Clary; Thadhani, Ravi; Rhee, Eugene P; Perl, Jeffrey

2018-03-07

In-center, extended duration nocturnal hemodialysis has been associated with variable clinical benefits, but the effect of extended duration hemodialysis on many established uremic solutes and other components of the metabolome is unknown. We determined the magnitude of change in metabolite profiles for patients on extended duration nocturnal hemodialysis. In a 52-week prospective, observational study, we followed 33 patients receiving conventional thrice weekly hemodialysis who converted to nocturnal hemodialysis (7-8 hours per session, three times per week). A separate group of 20 patients who remained on conventional hemodialysis (3-4 hours per session, three times per week) served as a control group. For both groups, we applied liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolite profiling on stored plasma samples collected from all participants at baseline and after 1 year. We examined longitudinal changes in 164 metabolites among those who remained on conventional hemodialysis and those who converted to nocturnal hemodialysis using Wilcoxon rank sum tests adjusted for multiple comparisons (false discovery rate <0.05). On average, the nocturnal group had 9.6 hours more dialysis per week than the conventional group. Among 164 metabolites, none changed significantly from baseline to study end in the conventional group. Twenty-nine metabolites changed in the nocturnal group, 21 of which increased from baseline to study end (including all branched-chain amino acids). Eight metabolites decreased after conversion to nocturnal dialysis, including l-carnitine and acetylcarnitine. By contrast, several established uremic retention solutes, including p -cresol sulfate, indoxyl sulfate, and trimethylamine N -oxide, did not change with extended dialysis. Across a wide array of metabolites examined, extended duration hemodialysis was associated with modest changes in the plasma metabolome, with most differences relating to metabolite increases, despite increased dialysis time. Few metabolites showed reduction with more dialysis, and no change in several established uremic toxins was observed. Copyright © 2018 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Impact of target area selection in 125 Iodine seed brachytherapy on locoregional recurrence in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

PubMed

Yan, Wei-Liang; Lv, Jin-Shuang; Guan, Zhi-Yu; Wang, Li-Yang; Yang, Jing-Kui; Liang, Ji-Xiang

2017-05-01

Computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous implantation of 125 Iodine radioactive seeds requires the precise arrangement of seeds by tumor shape. We tested whether selecting target areas, including subclinical areas around tumors, can influence locoregional recurrence in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We divided 82 patients with NSCLC into two groups. Target areas in group 1 (n = 40) were defined along tumor margins based on lung-window CT. Target areas in group 2 (n = 42) were extended by 0.5 cm in all dimensions outside tumor margins. Preoperative plans for both groups were based on a treatment plan system, which guided 125 I seed implantation. Six months later, patients underwent chest CT to evaluate treatment efficacy (per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1). We compared locoregional recurrences between the groups after a year of follow-up. We then used the treatment plan system to extend target areas for group 1 patients by 0.5 cm (defined as group 3 data) and compared these hypothetical group 3 planned seeds with the actual seed numbers used in group 1 patients. All patients successfully underwent implantation; none died during the follow-up period. Recurrence was significantly lower in group 2 than in group 1 ( P  < 0.05). Group 1 patients and group 3 data significantly differed in seed numbers ( P  < 0.01). Our results imply that extending the implantation area for 125 I seeds can decrease recurrence risk by eradicating cancerous lymph-duct blockades within the extended areas. © 2017 The Authors. Thoracic Cancer published by China Lung Oncology Group and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

An integrated open framework for thermodynamics of reactions that combines accuracy and coverage.

PubMed

Noor, Elad; Bar-Even, Arren; Flamholz, Avi; Lubling, Yaniv; Davidi, Dan; Milo, Ron

2012-08-01

The laws of thermodynamics describe a direct, quantitative relationship between metabolite concentrations and reaction directionality. Despite great efforts, thermodynamic data suffer from limited coverage, scattered accessibility and non-standard annotations. We present a framework for unifying thermodynamic data from multiple sources and demonstrate two new techniques for extrapolating the Gibbs energies of unmeasured reactions and conditions. Both methods account for changes in cellular conditions (pH, ionic strength, etc.) by using linear regression over the ΔG(○) of pseudoisomers and reactions. The Pseudoisomeric Reactant Contribution method systematically infers compound formation energies using measured K' and pK(a) data. The Pseudoisomeric Group Contribution method extends the group contribution method and achieves a high coverage of unmeasured reactions. We define a continuous index that predicts the reversibility of a reaction under a given physiological concentration range. In the characteristic physiological range 3μM-3mM, we find that roughly half of the reactions in Escherichia coli's metabolism are reversible. These new tools can increase the accuracy of thermodynamic-based models, especially in non-standard pH and ionic strengths. The reversibility index can help modelers decide which reactions are reversible in physiological conditions. Freely available on the web at: http://equilibrator.weizmann.ac.il. Website implemented in Python, MySQL, Apache and Django, with all major browsers supported. The framework is open-source (code.google.com/p/milo-lab), implemented in pure Python and tested mainly on Linux. ron.milo@weizmann.ac.il Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

An integrated open framework for thermodynamics of reactions that combines accuracy and coverage

PubMed Central

Noor, Elad; Bar-Even, Arren; Flamholz, Avi; Lubling, Yaniv; Davidi, Dan; Milo, Ron

2012-01-01

Motivation: The laws of thermodynamics describe a direct, quantitative relationship between metabolite concentrations and reaction directionality. Despite great efforts, thermodynamic data suffer from limited coverage, scattered accessibility and non-standard annotations. We present a framework for unifying thermodynamic data from multiple sources and demonstrate two new techniques for extrapolating the Gibbs energies of unmeasured reactions and conditions. Results: Both methods account for changes in cellular conditions (pH, ionic strength, etc.) by using linear regression over the ΔG○ of pseudoisomers and reactions. The Pseudoisomeric Reactant Contribution method systematically infers compound formation energies using measured K′ and pKa data. The Pseudoisomeric Group Contribution method extends the group contribution method and achieves a high coverage of unmeasured reactions. We define a continuous index that predicts the reversibility of a reaction under a given physiological concentration range. In the characteristic physiological range 3μM–3mM, we find that roughly half of the reactions in Escherichia coli's metabolism are reversible. These new tools can increase the accuracy of thermodynamic-based models, especially in non-standard pH and ionic strengths. The reversibility index can help modelers decide which reactions are reversible in physiological conditions. Availability: Freely available on the web at: http://equilibrator.weizmann.ac.il. Website implemented in Python, MySQL, Apache and Django, with all major browsers supported. The framework is open-source (code.google.com/p/milo-lab), implemented in pure Python and tested mainly on Linux. Contact: ron.milo@weizmann.ac.il Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:22645166

The role of older children and adults in wild poliovirus transmission.

PubMed

Blake, Isobel M; Martin, Rebecca; Goel, Ajay; Khetsuriani, Nino; Everts, Johannes; Wolff, Christopher; Wassilak, Steven; Aylward, R Bruce; Grassly, Nicholas C

2014-07-22

As polio eradication inches closer, the absence of poliovirus circulation in most of the world and imperfect vaccination coverage are resulting in immunity gaps and polio outbreaks affecting adults. Furthermore, imperfect, waning intestinal immunity among older children and adults permits reinfection and poliovirus shedding, prompting calls to extend the age range of vaccination campaigns even in the absence of cases in these age groups. The success of such a strategy depends on the contribution to poliovirus transmission by older ages, which has not previously been estimated. We fit a mathematical model of poliovirus transmission to time series data from two large outbreaks that affected adults (Tajikistan 2010, Republic of Congo 2010) using maximum-likelihood estimation based on iterated particle-filtering methods. In Tajikistan, the contribution of unvaccinated older children and adults to transmission was minimal despite a significant number of cases in these age groups [reproduction number, R = 0.46 (95% confidence interval, 0.42-0.52) for >5-y-olds compared to 2.18 (2.06-2.45) for 0- to 5-y-olds]. In contrast, in the Republic of Congo, the contribution of older children and adults was significant [R = 1.85 (1.83-4.00)], perhaps reflecting sanitary and socioeconomic variables favoring efficient virus transmission. In neither setting was there evidence for a significant role of imperfect intestinal immunity in the transmission of poliovirus. Bringing the immunization response to the Tajikistan outbreak forward by 2 wk would have prevented an additional 130 cases (21%), highlighting the importance of early outbreak detection and response.

The role of older children and adults in wild poliovirus transmission

PubMed Central

Blake, Isobel M.; Martin, Rebecca; Goel, Ajay; Khetsuriani, Nino; Everts, Johannes; Wolff, Christopher; Wassilak, Steven; Aylward, R. Bruce; Grassly, Nicholas C.

2014-01-01

As polio eradication inches closer, the absence of poliovirus circulation in most of the world and imperfect vaccination coverage are resulting in immunity gaps and polio outbreaks affecting adults. Furthermore, imperfect, waning intestinal immunity among older children and adults permits reinfection and poliovirus shedding, prompting calls to extend the age range of vaccination campaigns even in the absence of cases in these age groups. The success of such a strategy depends on the contribution to poliovirus transmission by older ages, which has not previously been estimated. We fit a mathematical model of poliovirus transmission to time series data from two large outbreaks that affected adults (Tajikistan 2010, Republic of Congo 2010) using maximum-likelihood estimation based on iterated particle-filtering methods. In Tajikistan, the contribution of unvaccinated older children and adults to transmission was minimal despite a significant number of cases in these age groups [reproduction number, R = 0.46 (95% confidence interval, 0.42–0.52) for >5-y-olds compared to 2.18 (2.06–2.45) for 0- to 5-y-olds]. In contrast, in the Republic of Congo, the contribution of older children and adults was significant [R = 1.85 (1.83–4.00)], perhaps reflecting sanitary and socioeconomic variables favoring efficient virus transmission. In neither setting was there evidence for a significant role of imperfect intestinal immunity in the transmission of poliovirus. Bringing the immunization response to the Tajikistan outbreak forward by 2 wk would have prevented an additional 130 cases (21%), highlighting the importance of early outbreak detection and response. PMID:25002465

Long-Term Outcomes and Discard Rate of Kidneys by Decade of Extended Criteria Donor Age

PubMed Central

Messina, Maria; Diena, Davide; Dellepiane, Sergio; Guzzo, Gabriella; Lo Sardo, Luca; Fop, Fabrizio; Segoloni, Giuseppe P.; Amoroso, Antonio; Magistroni, Paola

2017-01-01

Background and objectives Extended criteria donors represent nowadays a main resource for kidney transplantation, and recovery criteria are becoming increasingly inclusive. However, the limits of this approach are not clear as well as the effects of extreme donor ages on long-term kidney transplantation outcomes. To address these issues, we performed a retrospective study on extended criteria donor kidney transplantation. Design, setting, participants, & measurements In total, 647 consecutive extended criteria donor kidney transplantations performed over 11 years (2003–2013) were included. Donor, recipient, and procedural variables were classified according to donor age decades (group A, 50–59 years old [n=91]; group B, 60–69 years old [n=264]; group C, 70–79 years old [n=265]; and group D, ≥80 years old [n=27]). Organs were allocated in single- or dual-kidney transplantation after a multistep evaluation including clinical and histologic criteria. Long-term outcomes and main adverse events were analyzed among age groups and in either single- or dual-kidney transplantation. Kidney discard rate incidence and causes were evaluated. Results Median follow-up was 4.9 years (25th; 75th percentiles: 2.7; 7.6 years); patient and graft survival were comparable among age groups (5-year patient survival: group A, 87.8%; group B, 88.1%; group C, 88.0%; and group D, 90.1%; P=0.77; graft survival: group A, 74.0%; group B, 74.2%; group C, 75.2%; and group D, 65.9%; P=0.62) and between dual-kidney transplantation and single-kidney transplantation except for group D, with a better survival for dual-kidney transplantation (P=0.04). No difference was found analyzing complications incidence or graft function over time. Kidney discard rate was similar in groups A, B, and C (15.4%, 17.7%, and 20.1%, respectively) and increased in group D (48.2%; odds ratio, 5.1 with A as the reference group; 95% confidence interval, 2.96 to 8.79). Conclusions Discard rate and long-term outcomes are similar among extended criteria donor kidney transplantation from donors ages 50–79 years old. Conversely, discard rate was strikingly higher among kidneys from octogenarian donors, but appropriate selection provides comparable long-term outcomes, with better graft survival for dual-kidney transplantation. PMID:27979977

Long-Term Outcomes and Discard Rate of Kidneys by Decade of Extended Criteria Donor Age.

PubMed

Messina, Maria; Diena, Davide; Dellepiane, Sergio; Guzzo, Gabriella; Lo Sardo, Luca; Fop, Fabrizio; Segoloni, Giuseppe P; Amoroso, Antonio; Magistroni, Paola; Biancone, Luigi

2017-02-07

Extended criteria donors represent nowadays a main resource for kidney transplantation, and recovery criteria are becoming increasingly inclusive. However, the limits of this approach are not clear as well as the effects of extreme donor ages on long-term kidney transplantation outcomes. To address these issues, we performed a retrospective study on extended criteria donor kidney transplantation. In total, 647 consecutive extended criteria donor kidney transplantations performed over 11 years (2003-2013) were included. Donor, recipient, and procedural variables were classified according to donor age decades (group A, 50-59 years old [n=91]; group B, 60-69 years old [n=264]; group C, 70-79 years old [n=265]; and group D, ≥80 years old [n=27]). Organs were allocated in single- or dual-kidney transplantation after a multistep evaluation including clinical and histologic criteria. Long-term outcomes and main adverse events were analyzed among age groups and in either single- or dual-kidney transplantation. Kidney discard rate incidence and causes were evaluated. Median follow-up was 4.9 years (25th; 75th percentiles: 2.7; 7.6 years); patient and graft survival were comparable among age groups (5-year patient survival: group A, 87.8%; group B, 88.1%; group C, 88.0%; and group D, 90.1%; P=0.77; graft survival: group A, 74.0%; group B, 74.2%; group C, 75.2%; and group D, 65.9%; P=0.62) and between dual-kidney transplantation and single-kidney transplantation except for group D, with a better survival for dual-kidney transplantation (P=0.04). No difference was found analyzing complications incidence or graft function over time. Kidney discard rate was similar in groups A, B, and C (15.4%, 17.7%, and 20.1%, respectively) and increased in group D (48.2%; odds ratio, 5.1 with A as the reference group; 95% confidence interval, 2.96 to 8.79). Discard rate and long-term outcomes are similar among extended criteria donor kidney transplantation from donors ages 50-79 years old. Conversely, discard rate was strikingly higher among kidneys from octogenarian donors, but appropriate selection provides comparable long-term outcomes, with better graft survival for dual-kidney transplantation. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Association of soybean-based extenders with field fertility of stored ram (Ovis aries) semen: a randomized double-blind parallel group design.

PubMed

Khalifa, Tarek; Lymberopoulos, Aristotelis; Theodosiadou, Ekaterini

2013-02-01

Two consecutive randomized double-blind field fertility experiments were conducted over a 4-month period and aimed at evaluating the association of two commercial soybean lecithin-based extenders (AndroMed [Minitub, Tiefenbach, Germany] and BioXcell [IMV Technologies, L'Aigle, France]) with pregnancy rates of chilled-stored (CS) and frozen-thawed (FT) ram semen. Semen samples with more than 2 × 10(9) sperm per mL and 70% progressive motile spermatozoa were collected via an artificial vagina from twelve proven fertile Chios rams, split-diluted with the above mentioned extenders, packaged in 0.25 mL straws and either stored at 5 ± 1 °C for 30 to 36 hours or frozen and thawed. Non-lactating multiparous ewes were inseminated in progestagen-synchronized estrus either with CS (AndroMed: N = 212 and BioXcell: N = 206; intracervical AI) or with FT (AndroMed: N = 114 and BioXcell: N = 92; laparoscopic intrauterine AI) semen. Ovulation was confirmed in all ewes based on determination of blood plasma progesterone (>1 ng/mL) 8 days post AI. Ewes were screened for pregnancy diagnosis by transabdominal ultrasonography 65 days post AI. BioXcell was superior to AndroMed in preserving the fertilizing potential of CS (P < 0.05) and FT (P < 0.005) semen. In AndroMed-stored semen, young rams (1.5-2.5 years old, N = 8) had a pregnancy rate (59.1%; 124/210) lower than that (72.4%; 84/116) of mature rams (4.5 to 5.5 years, N = 4; P < 0.025). Compared with AndroMed extender, processing of young ram semen in BioXcell extender improved pregnancy rates of CS (66.7%; 88/132 vs. 83.9%; 94/112; P < 0.005) and FT (46.2%; 36/78 vs. 71.0%; 44/62; P < 0.01) spermatozoa. Both extenders were similarly effective in preserving pregnancy rates of mature ram semen (P > 0.05). Ram-by-extender interactions were significant for pregnancy rates of CS and FT semen. Irrespective of extenders, overall pregnancy rates after intracervical and intrauterine AI were 75.1% and 62.2%, respectively (P < 0.001). In conclusion, BioXcell is a suitable extender for short- and long-term storage of ram semen. Selection of the ewes, farms, and extenders for intracervical AI programs can contribute to satisfactory fertility rates with semen preserved more than 24 hours at 5 °C. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Connected, disconnected and strange quark contributions to HVP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bijnens, Johan; Relefors, Johan

2016-11-01

We calculate all neutral vector two-point functions in Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) to two-loop order and use these to estimate the ratio of disconnected to connected contributions as well as contributions involving the strange quark. We extend the ratio of -1/10 derived earlier in two flavour ChPT at one-loop order to a large part of the higher order contributions and discuss corrections to it. Our final estimate of the ratio disconnected to connected is negative and a few % in magnitude.

A randomized, double-blind study of hydromorphone hydrochloride extended-release tablets versus oxycodone hydrochloride extended-release tablets for cancer pain: efficacy and safety in Japanese cancer patients (EXHEAL: a Phase III study of EXtended-release HydromorphonE for cAncer pain reLief).

PubMed

Inoue, Satoshi; Saito, Yoji; Tsuneto, Satoru; Aruga, Etsuko; Ide, Azusa; Kakurai, Yasuyuki

2017-01-01

In Japan, there are limited options for switching opioid analgesics. Hydromorphone is an opioid analgesic that is routinely used instead of morphine for cancer pain; however, it is not yet available in Japan. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of hydromorphone (DS-7113b) extended-release tablets in opioid-naïve patients with cancer pain not relieved by non-opioid analgesics. This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial. A double-dummy method was used for blinding. Each randomized subject received either hydromorphone extended-release tablets plus placebo oxycodone hydrochloride extended-release tablets 4 mg/day (n=88) or placebo hydromorphone extended-release tablets plus oxycodone hydrochloride extended-release tablets 10 mg/day (n=93) orally for 7 days (once-daily dosing for hydromorphone and twice-daily dosing for oxycodone). The doses were adjusted as necessary. Efficacy was evaluated by change in visual analog scale (VAS) score from baseline to completion of treatment. The between-group difference in least squares mean changes in VAS score from baseline to completion or discontinuation of treatment was -0.4 mm (95% CI -5.9 to 5 mm) by analysis of covariance where the baseline VAS score was used as a covariate. The upper limit of the 95% CI was below 10 mm, which was predefined as the noninferiority limit. This verified the noninferiority of hydromorphone tablets relative to oxycodone tablets. The incidence of adverse events was 80.7% (71 of 88) in the hydromorphone group and 83.7% (77 of 93) in the oxycodone group. The most common adverse events were nausea, vomiting, somnolence, diarrhea, and constipation, most of which are commonly observed with opioid analgesics. The efficacy and safety of hydromorphone extended-release tablets were equivalent to those of the oxycodone extended-release formulation.

An Instrument for Every Child: A Study on Long-Term Effects of Extended Music Education in German Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krupp-Schleußner, Valerie; Lehmann-Wermser, Andreas

2018-01-01

Does extended music education during primary school foster long-term musical participation? What other factors contribute to long-term musical participation? In our study on "Impacts and Long-Term Effects of Musical Participation," we investigate how the German programme "An Instrument for Every Child (JeKi)," which fosters the…

Effects of air-sea interaction on extended-range prediction of geopotential height at 500 hPa over the northern extratropical region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xujia; Zheng, Zhihai; Feng, Guolin

2018-04-01

The contribution of air-sea interaction on the extended-range prediction of geopotential height at 500 hPa in the northern extratropical region has been analyzed with a coupled model form Beijing Climate Center and its atmospheric components. Under the assumption of the perfect model, the extended-range prediction skill was evaluated by anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC), root mean square error (RMSE), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The coupled model has a better prediction skill than its atmospheric model, especially, the air-sea interaction in July made a greater contribution for the improvement of prediction skill than other months. The prediction skill of the extratropical region in the coupled model reaches 16-18 days in all months, while the atmospheric model reaches 10-11 days in January, April, and July and only 7-8 days in October, indicating that the air-sea interaction can extend the prediction skill of the atmospheric model by about 1 week. The errors of both the coupled model and the atmospheric model reach saturation in about 20 days, suggesting that the predictable range is less than 3 weeks.

Synthesis and characterization of highly photoresponsive fullerenyl dyads with a close chromophore antenna–C60 contact and effective photodynamic potential†

PubMed Central

Padmawar, Prashant A.; Rogers-Haley, Joy E.; So, Grace; Canteenwala, Taizoon; Thota, Sammaiah; Tan, Loon-Seng; Pritzker, Kenneth; Huang, Ying-Ying; Sharma, Sulbha K.; Kurup, Divya Balachandran; Hamblin, Michael R.; Wilson, Brian; Urbas, Augustine

2010-01-01

We report the synthesis of a new class of photoresponsive C60–DCE–diphenylaminofluorene nanostructures and their intramolecular photoinduced energy and electron transfer phenomena. Structural modification was made by chemical conversion of the keto group in C60(>DPAF-Cn) to a stronger electron-withdrawing 1,1-dicyanoethylenyl (DCE) unit leading to C60(>CPAF-Cn) with an increased electronic polarization of the molecule. The modification also led to a large bathochromic shift of the major band in visible spectrum giving measureable absorption up to 600 nm and extended the photoresponsive capability of C60–DCE–DPAF nanostructures to longer red wavelengths than C60(>DPAF-Cn). Accordingly, C60(>CPAF-Cn) may allow 2γ-PDT using a light wavelength of 1000–1200 nm for enhanced tissue penetration depth. Production efficiency of singlet oxygen by closely related C60(>DPAF-C2M) was found to be comparable with that of tetraphenylporphyrin photosensitizer. Remarkably, the 1O2 quantum yield of C60(>CPAF-C2M) was found to be nearly 6-fold higher than that of C60(>DPAF-C2M), demonstrating the large light-harvesting enhancement of the CPAF-C2M moiety and leading to more efficient triplet state generation of the C60> cage moiety. This led to highly effective killing of HeLa cells by C60(>CPAF-C2M) via photodynamic therapy (200 J cm−2 white light). We interpret the phenomena in terms of the contributions by the extended π-conjugation and stronger electron-withdrawing capability associated with the 1,1-dicyanoethylenyl group compared to that of the keto group. PMID:20890406

The hemostatic activity of cryopreserved platelets is mediated by phosphatidylserine-expressing platelets and platelet microparticles.

PubMed

Johnson, Lacey; Coorey, Craig P; Marks, Denese C

2014-08-01

Cryopreservation of platelets (PLTs) at -80°C with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) can extend the shelf life from 5 days to 2 years. Cryopreserved PLTs are reported to have a greater in vivo hemostatic effect than liquid-stored PLTs. As such, the aim of this study was to understand the mechanisms responsible for the hemostatic potential of cryopreserved PLTs and the contribution of the reconstitution solution to this activity. DMSO (5% final concentration) was added to buffy coat-derived PLTs, followed by prefreeze removal of DMSO and storage at -80°C. Cryopreserved PLTs (n=8 per group) were thawed at 37°C, reconstituted with either 1 unit of thawed frozen plasma or PLT additive solution (PAS-G). In vitro assays were performed before freezing and after thawing to assess the hemostatic activity of PLTs. Cryopreserved PLTs expressed high levels of phosphatidylserine and contained significantly more phosphatidylserine-positive PLT microparticles than liquid-stored PLTs. This was accompanied by a significant decrease in the time to clot formation and clot strength, as measured by thromboelastography. The supernatant from cryopreserved PLTs was sufficient to reduce the phosphatidylserine-dependent clotting time and increase the thrombin generation potential. Overall, plasma-reconstituted cryopreserved PLTs were more procoagulant than those reconstituted in PAS-G. PLT cryopreservation results in the generation of phosphatidylserine-expressing PLT microparticles which contribute to the hemostatic activity. Understanding the hemostatic activity of these components may assist in extending the use of these specialized components beyond military applications. © 2014 Australian Red Cross Blood Service. Transfusion © 2014 AABB.

Who would you like to be like? Family, village, and national role models among Black youth in rural South Africa

PubMed Central

Madhavan, Sangeetha; Crowell, Jacqueline

2015-01-01

In this paper, we examine how Black youth in rural South Africa construct role models and connect them to their own life aspirations. We pay particular attention to individual and group identity development in shaping these perceptions. Based on analysis of qualitative data from 99 Black male and female youth aged 14–22, we find that 1) the choice of role models reflects a balancing strategy to reconcile individual and group identity development; 2) while the reasons they give for choosing role models are aligned with dominant models of upward mobility in the new South Africa (and globally), our respondents are also attuned to the difficulty of attaining such success and 3) the choices underscore the continued importance of close and extended kin amidst an increasingly ego focused life strategy aimed at individual status attainment. These findings can contribute to strengthening the effectiveness of intervention programs aimed at strengthening positive influences in the lives of Black youth in South Africa. PMID:26005284

Facial resemblance to emotions: group differences, impression effects, and race stereotypes.

PubMed

Zebrowitz, Leslie A; Kikuchi, Masako; Fellous, Jean-Marc

2010-02-01

The authors used connectionist modeling to extend previous research on emotion overgeneralization effects. Study 1 demonstrated that neutral expression male faces objectively resemble angry expressions more than female faces do, female faces objectively resemble surprise expressions more than male faces do, White faces objectively resemble angry expressions more than Black or Korean faces do, and Black faces objectively resemble happy and surprise expressions more than White faces do. Study 2 demonstrated that objective resemblance to emotion expressions influences trait impressions even when statistically controlling possible confounding influences of attractiveness and babyfaceness. It further demonstrated that emotion overgeneralization is moderated by face race and that racial differences in emotion resemblance contribute to White perceivers' stereotypes of Blacks and Asians. These results suggest that intergroup relations may be strained not only by cultural stereotypes but also by adaptive responses to emotion expressions that are overgeneralized to groups whose faces subtly resemble particular emotions. Copyright 2009 APA, all rights reserved

Functional approach in estimation of cultural ecosystem services of recreational areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sautkin, I. S.; Rogova, T. V.

2018-01-01

The article is devoted to the identification and analysis of cultural ecosystem services of recreational areas from the different forest plant functional groups in the suburbs of Kazan. The study explored two cultural ecosystem services supplied by forest plants by linking these services to different plant functional traits. Information on the functional traits of 76 plants occurring in the forest ecosystems of the investigated area was collected from reference books on the biological characteristics of plant species. Analysis of these species and traits with the Ward clustering method yielded four functional groups with different potentials for delivering ecosystem services. The results show that the contribution of species diversity to services can be characterized through the functional traits of plants. This proves that there is a stable relationship between biodiversity and the quality and quantity of ecosystem services. The proposed method can be extended to other types of services (regulating and supporting). The analysis can be used in the socio-economic assessment of natural ecosystems for recreation and other uses.

Evaluation of Offline Models Used to Simulate Components of the Permafrost Carbon Feedback: Experience from the Permafrost Carbon Network Model Integration Group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGuire, A. D.

2016-12-01

The Model Integration Group of the Permafrost Carbon Network (see http://www.permafrostcarbon.org/) has conducted studies to evaluate the sensitivity of offline terrestrial permafrost and carbon models to both historical and projected climate change. These studies indicate that there is a wide range of (1) initial states permafrost extend and carbon stocks simulated by these models and (2) responses of permafrost extent and carbon stocks to both historical and projected climate change. In this study, we synthesize what has been learned about the variability in initial states among models and the driving factors that contribute to variability in the sensitivity of responses. We conclude the talk with a discussion of efforts needed by (1) the modeling community to standardize structural representation of permafrost and carbon dynamics among models that are used to evaluate the permafrost carbon feedback and (2) the modeling and observational communities to jointly develop data sets and methodologies to more effectively benchmark models.

Effect of Gynostemma Pentaphyllum polysaccharide on boar spermatozoa quality following freezing-thawing.

PubMed

Hu, Jian-Hong; Li, Qing-Wang; Zhang, Ting; Jiang, Zhong-Liang

2009-12-01

Gynostemma Pentaphyllum Polysaccharide (GPP) was added at concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mg/ml to the extenders used to freeze boar semen and its effects on the quality of frozen-thawed sperm were assessed. The sperm motility was significantly higher in the extenders containing 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml GPP, as compared to other groups (P<0.05). The extender supplemented with 0.5 mg/ml GPP favored the highest intact membrane and intact acrosome percentages in comparison with other groups (P<0.05), respectively. The mitochondrial activity was significantly higher at the concentrations of 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/ml GPP than that of other treatments, and the control group (P<0.05). In biochemical assays, the extender supplemented with 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml GPP significantly improved SOD levels, compared to other groups (P>0.05). However, the extenders supplemented with GPP did not cause significant differences in levels of CAT and GSH-Px, compared to the control (P>0.05). In summary, GPP exhibited a dose-related response and the lower concentration produced greater protective effect. According to the standard semen quality parameters and antioxidant activities measured in this study, the concentration of 0.5 mg/ml GPP caused a beneficial cryoprotective effects on the quality of frozen-thawed boar semen. It is proposed that an extender containing 0.5 mg/ml GPP could be used as cryoprotective medium of better efficiency.

Fertility response of artificial insemination methods in sheep with fresh and frozen-thawed semen.

PubMed

Masoudi, Reza; Zare Shahneh, Ahmad; Towhidi, Armin; Kohram, Hamid; Akbarisharif, Abbas; Sharafi, Mohsen

2017-02-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the fertility response of artificial insemination (AI) methods with fresh and frozen sperm in sheep. In experiment 1, one hundred and fifty fat tailed Zandi ewes were assigned into 3 equal groups and inseminated with three AI methods consisting of vaginal, laparoscopic and trans-cervical AI with fresh semen. In experiment 2, a factorial study (3 AI methods × 2 extenders) was used to analyze the effects of three AI methods and two freezing extenders containing soybean lecithin (SL) or Egg yolk (EY) on reproductive performance of 300 fat tailed Zandi ewes. Also, total motility, progressive motility, viability and lipid peroxidation of semen were evaluated after freeze-thawing in two extenders. In result, there was no significant difference among three AI methods when fresh semen was used. In experiment 2, the highest percentage of pregnancy rate, parturition rate and lambing rate were obtained in laparoscopic AI group (P < 0.05). Although pregnancy rate, parturition rate and lambing rate in trans-cervical group were higher (P < 0.05) than vaginal group, the results were not as high as laparoscopic group. No difference was observed between SL and EY extenders and their performance was close to each other. It can be concluded that although no difference was observed on reproductive performance for fresh semen, trans-cervical AI was more efficient than vaginal method when frozen-thawed semen was used, but its efficiency was not as high as laparoscopic method. Also, SL extender can be an efficient alternative extender to preserve ram sperm during cryopreservation procedure without adverse effects of EY. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

An Ancestral Recombination Graph for Diploid Populations with Skewed Offspring Distribution

PubMed Central

Birkner, Matthias; Blath, Jochen; Eldon, Bjarki

2013-01-01

A large offspring-number diploid biparental multilocus population model of Moran type is our object of study. At each time step, a pair of diploid individuals drawn uniformly at random contributes offspring to the population. The number of offspring can be large relative to the total population size. Similar “heavily skewed” reproduction mechanisms have been recently considered by various authors (cf. e.g., Eldon and Wakeley 2006, 2008) and reviewed by Hedgecock and Pudovkin (2011). Each diploid parental individual contributes exactly one chromosome to each diploid offspring, and hence ancestral lineages can coalesce only when in distinct individuals. A separation-of-timescales phenomenon is thus observed. A result of Möhle (1998) is extended to obtain convergence of the ancestral process to an ancestral recombination graph necessarily admitting simultaneous multiple mergers of ancestral lineages. The usual ancestral recombination graph is obtained as a special case of our model when the parents contribute only one offspring to the population each time. Due to diploidy and large offspring numbers, novel effects appear. For example, the marginal genealogy at each locus admits simultaneous multiple mergers in up to four groups, and different loci remain substantially correlated even as the recombination rate grows large. Thus, genealogies for loci far apart on the same chromosome remain correlated. Correlation in coalescence times for two loci is derived and shown to be a function of the coalescence parameters of our model. Extending the observations by Eldon and Wakeley (2008), predictions of linkage disequilibrium are shown to be functions of the reproduction parameters of our model, in addition to the recombination rate. Correlations in ratios of coalescence times between loci can be high, even when the recombination rate is high and sample size is large, in large offspring-number populations, as suggested by simulations, hinting at how to distinguish between different population models. PMID:23150600

Neural activity tied to reading predicts individual differences in extended-text comprehension

PubMed Central

Mossbridge, Julia A.; Grabowecky, Marcia; Paller, Ken A.; Suzuki, Satoru

2013-01-01

Reading comprehension depends on neural processes supporting the access, understanding, and storage of words over time. Examinations of the neural activity correlated with reading have contributed to our understanding of reading comprehension, especially for the comprehension of sentences and short passages. However, the neural activity associated with comprehending an extended text is not well-understood. Here we describe a current-source-density (CSD) index that predicts individual differences in the comprehension of an extended text. The index is the difference in CSD-transformed event-related potentials (ERPs) to a target word between two conditions: a comprehension condition with words from a story presented in their original order, and a scrambled condition with the same words presented in a randomized order. In both conditions participants responded to the target word, and in the comprehension condition they also tried to follow the story in preparation for a comprehension test. We reasoned that the spatiotemporal pattern of difference-CSDs would reflect comprehension-related processes beyond word-level processing. We used a pattern-classification method to identify the component of the difference-CSDs that accurately (88%) discriminated good from poor comprehenders. The critical CSD index was focused at a frontal-midline scalp site, occurred 400–500 ms after target-word onset, and was strongly correlated with comprehension performance. Behavioral data indicated that group differences in effort or motor preparation could not explain these results. Further, our CSD index appears to be distinct from the well-known P300 and N400 components, and CSD transformation seems to be crucial for distinguishing good from poor comprehenders using our experimental paradigm. Once our CSD index is fully characterized, this neural signature of individual differences in extended-text comprehension may aid the diagnosis and remediation of reading comprehension deficits. PMID:24223540

Tempol Moderately Extends Survival in a hSOD1G93A ALS Rat Model by Inhibiting Neuronal Cell Loss, Oxidative Damage and Levels of Non-Native hSOD1G93A Forms

PubMed Central

Linares, Edlaine; Seixas, Luciana V.; dos Prazeres, Janaina N.; Ladd, Fernando V. L.; Ladd, Aliny A. B. L.; Coppi, Antonio A.; Augusto, Ohara

2013-01-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive dysfunction and death of motor neurons by mechanisms that remain unclear. Evidence indicates that oxidative mechanisms contribute to ALS pathology, but classical antioxidants have not performed well in clinical trials. Cyclic nitroxides are an alternative worth exploring because they are multifunctional antioxidants that display low toxicity in vivo. Here, we examine the effects of the cyclic nitroxide tempol (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidine-1-oxyl) on ALS onset and progression in transgenic female rats over-expressing the mutant hSOD1G93A . Starting at 7 weeks of age, a high dose of tempol (155 mg/day/rat) in the rat´s drinking water had marginal effects on the disease onset but decelerated disease progression and extended survival by 9 days. In addition, tempol protected spinal cord tissues as monitored by the number of neuronal cells, and the reducing capability and levels of carbonylated proteins and non-native hSOD1 forms in spinal cord homogenates. Intraperitoneal tempol (26 mg/rat, 3 times/week) extended survival by 17 days. This group of rats, however, diverted to a decelerated disease progression. Therefore, it was inconclusive whether the higher protective effect of the lower i.p. dose was due to higher tempol bioavailability, decelerated disease development or both. Collectively, the results show that tempol moderately extends the survival of ALS rats while protecting their cellular and molecular structures against damage. Thus, the results provide proof that cyclic nitroxides are alternatives worth to be further tested in animal models of ALS. PMID:23405225

A Randomized Trial of Brief Versus Extended Seizure Prophylaxis After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

PubMed

Human, Theresa; Diringer, Michael N; Allen, Michelle; Zipfel, Gregory J; Chicoine, Michael; Dacey, Ralph; Dhar, Rajat

2018-04-01

Seizures occur in 10-20% of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), predominantly in the acute phase. However, anticonvulsant prophylaxis remains controversial, with studies suggesting a brief course may be adequate and longer exposure may be associated with worse outcomes. Nonetheless, in the absence of controlled trials to inform practice, patients continue to receive variable chemoprophylaxis. The objective of this study was to compare brief versus extended seizure prophylaxis after aneurysmal SAH. We performed a prospective, single-center, randomized, open-label trial of a brief (3-day) course of levetiracetam (LEV) versus extended treatment (until hospital discharge). The primary outcome was in-hospital seizure. Secondary outcomes included drug discontinuation and functional outcome. Eighty-four SAH patients had been randomized when the trial was terminated due to slow enrollment. In-hospital seizures occurred in three (9%) of 35 in the brief LEV group versus one (2%) of 49 in the extended group (p = 0.2). Ten (20%) of the extended group discontinued LEV prematurely, primarily due to sedation. Four of five seizures (including one pre-randomization) occurred in patients with early brain injury (EBI) on computed tomography (CT) scans (adjusted OR 12.5, 95% CI 1.2-122, p = 0.03). Good functional outcome (mRS 0-2) was more likely in the brief LEV group (83 vs. 61%, p = 0.04). This study was underpowered to demonstrate superiority of extended LEV for seizure prophylaxis, although a trend to benefit was seen. Seizures primarily occurred in those with radiographic EBI, suggesting targeted prophylaxis may be preferable. Larger trials are required to evaluate optimal chemoprophylaxis in SAH, especially in light of worse outcomes in those receiving extended treatment.

Antioxidant effect of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extract in soybean lecithin-based semen extender following freeze-thawing process of ram sperm.

PubMed

Motlagh, Mahdi Khodaei; Sharafi, Mohsen; Zhandi, Mahdi; Mohammadi-Sangcheshmeh, Abdollah; Shakeri, Malak; Soleimani, Masoud; Zeinoaldini, Saeed

2014-10-01

The aim of current study was to evaluate effect of rosemary aqueous extract on post-thawed ram sperm quality in a soybean lecithin-based (SL) extender. Ram semen samples were obtained, extended with SL extender and supplemented with 0% (SL-R0), 2% (SL-R2), 4% (SL-R4), 6% (SL-R6), and 8% (SL-R8) rosemary aqueous extract. Following equilibration, the straws were frozen, and then plunged into the liquid nitrogen. After thawing, sperm motility and velocity parameters, plasma membrane functionality, viability, acrosomal and capacitation status were evaluated. Membrane lipid peroxidation was also analyzed through the malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration. Our results showed that SL-R4 and SL-R6 groups resulted in higher (p < 0.05) percentages of total motility, progressive motility, and plasma membrane functionality, as compared with other groups. Highest (p < 0.05) viable and lowest (p < 0.05) dead spermatozoa were observed in SL-R6 group compared to the other groups. The acrosomal and capacitation status were not affected (p > 0.05) by different levels of rosemary aqueous extract. Lower (p < 0.05) MDA concentration has been observed in SL-R4 and SL-R6 groups. The results of this study demonstrate that supplementation of SL extender with rosemary aqueous extract influences post-thawed ram sperm quality in a dose dependent manner. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Extended treatment for cigarette smoking cessation: a randomized control trial.

PubMed

Laude, Jennifer R; Bailey, Steffani R; Crew, Erin; Varady, Ann; Lembke, Anna; McFall, Danielle; Jeon, Anna; Killen, Diana; Killen, Joel D; David, Sean P

2017-08-01

To test the potential benefit of extending cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) relative to not extending CBT on long-term abstinence from smoking. Two-group parallel randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomized to receive non-extended CBT (n = 111) or extended CBT (n = 112) following a 26-week open-label treatment. Community clinic in the United States. A total of 219 smokers (mean age: 43 years; mean cigarettes/day: 18). All participants received 10 weeks of combined CBT + bupropion sustained release (bupropion SR) + nicotine patch and were continued on CBT and either no medications if abstinent, continued bupropion + nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) if increased craving or depression scores, or varenicline if still smoking at 10 weeks. Half the participants were randomized at 26 weeks to extended CBT (E-CBT) to week 48 and half to non-extended CBT (no additional CBT sessions). The primary outcome was expired CO-confirmed, 7-day point-prevalence (PP) at 52- and 104-week follow-up. Analyses were based on intention-to-treat. PP abstinence rates at the 52-week follow-up were comparable across non-extended CBT (40%) and E-CBT (39%) groups [odds ratio (OR) = 0.99; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.55, 1.78]. A similar pattern was observed across non-extended CBT (39%) and E-CBT (33%) groups at the 104-week follow-up (OR = 0.79; 95% CI= 0.44, 1.40). Prolonging cognitive-behavioral therapy from 26 to 48 weeks does not appear to improve long-term abstinence from smoking. © 2017 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Vibrational contribution to molecular polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, P. K. K.; Santry, D. P.

1980-09-01

The vibrational averaging theory of Kern and Matcha is extended, at the harmonic level of approximation, to the case where the molecular property under investigation can itself lead indirectly to a perturbation of the vibrational levels of the molecule. It is found that contributions arising from this perturbation can be significant, especially for molecular hyperpolarizabilities.

Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions: Alice H. Eagly

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Psychologist, 2009

2009-01-01

Alice H. Eagly, winner of the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions, is cited for her work in the field of social psychology, the psychology of gender, and the use of meta-analytic techniques. She envisions a psychology that extends from individual cognitions to societal structures. In addition to the citation, a biography and selected…

Predicting Early Spelling: The Contribution of Children's Early Literacy, Private Speech during Spelling, Behavioral Regulation, and Parental Spelling Support

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aram, Dorit; Abiri, Shimrit; Elad, Lili

2014-01-01

The present study aimed to extend understanding of preschoolers' early spelling using the Vygotskian ("Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes," Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1978) paradigm of child development. We assessed the contribution of maternal spelling support in predicting children's word…

The Contribution of Outdoor Recreation and Outdoor Education to the Economy of Scotland: Case Studies and Preliminary Findings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higgins, Peter

2000-01-01

Outdoor recreation and education contribute substantially to the Scottish economy. Outdoor recreation generates considerable tourism income, much of it in rural areas, and also extends the traditional tourist season. Outdoor education centers are significant employers in certain rural areas. In addition, "therapeutic" outdoor programs…

Opportunities for GEOGLAM to contribute to Food Systems Sustainability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LeZaks, D.; Jahn, M.

2013-12-01

Since the GEO Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEO-GLAM) community of practice was formed, there has been much interest in how this community can be leveraged to address a series of challenges that has received recognition from a variety of stakeholder groups across acacemia, government, the private sector and multilateral international organizations. This talk will review the collaborative network that has formed around the on-going and planned activities of GEOGLAM, and how future research and development activities within and around GEOGLAM can contribute to the innovation ecosystem around agricultural monitoring and how monitoring activities can contribute to informing decision processes from stakeholders ranging from farmers to policy-makers and other key stakeholders. These collaborative activities revolve around sharing data, information, knowledge, analytics, improved reflections of risks, and opportunities related to humanity's sustainable provisioning at the land/water/energy nexus. The goal of extending GEOGLAMs collaborative activities is to mobilize aligned assets and commitments to set up more ordered approaches to describing and managing the dynamics of food systems, viewed more holistically as sets of nested geospatially and temporally explicit processes. A special focus will be given to how information assets originating from within GEOGLAM can be used to support a coherent visualization of the world's food systems along with improving representation of the resource bases upon which our survival depends

Item-location binding in working memory: is it hippocampus-dependent?

PubMed

Allen, Richard J; Vargha-Khadem, Faraneh; Baddeley, Alan D

2014-07-01

A general consensus is emerging that the hippocampus has an important and active role in the creation of new long-term memory representations of associations or bindings between elements. However, it is less clear whether this contribution can be extended to the creation of temporary bound representations in working memory, involving the retention of small numbers of items over short delays. We examined this by administering a series of recognition and recall tests of working memory for colour-location binding and object-location binding to a patient with highly selective hippocampal damage (Jon), and groups of control participants. Jon achieved high levels of accuracy in all working memory tests of recognition and recall binding across retention intervals of up to 10s. In contrast, Jon performed at chance on an unexpected delayed test of the same object-location binding information. These findings indicate a clear dissociation between working memory and long-term memory, with no evidence for a critical hippocampal contribution to item-location binding in working memory. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Variation of lifespan in multiple strains, and effects of dietary restriction and BmFoxO on lifespan in silkworm, Bombyx mori.

PubMed

Song, Jiangbo; Tang, Dongmei; Li, Zhiquan; Tong, Xiaoling; Zhang, Jianfei; Han, Minjin; Hu, Hai; Lu, Cheng; Dai, Fangyin

2017-01-31

Established animal models have accelerated our understanding of the mechanisms involved in lifespan determination. However, more experimental animals are required to clarify the complex mechanisms behind the phenomena of aging and lifespan. In this study, we reported the variation of lifespan in nine distinct silkworm strains. Lifespan correlated significantly with BmFoxO gene expression in the representative silkworm strains tested (Xiafang, Dazao-N, and N4). In general, the female silkworm was longer lived than the male of the same strain. Dietary restriction extended the silkworm lifespan compared with that of silkworms fed ad libitum. The expression of BmFoxO was significantly elevated in the dietary restriction group on day 3 of the 4th instar and day 3 of the 5th instar, suggesting that BmFoxO contributes to dietary restriction-mediated lifespan extension. The RNA interference and overexpression of the BmFoxO gene significantly shortened and extended the silkworm adulthood, respectively. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the silkworm might serve as a promising experimental animal to explore the complex biological mechanisms of lifespan determination.

The Ultraviolet and Infrared Star Formation Rates of Compact Group Galaxies: An Expanded Sample

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lenkic, Laura; Tzanavaris, Panayiotis; Gallagher, Sarah C.; Desjardins, Tyler D.; Walker, Lisa May; Johnson, Kelsey E.; Fedotov, Konstantin; Charlton, Jane; Cardiff, Ann H.; Durell, Pat R.

2016-01-01

Compact groups of galaxies provide insight into the role of low-mass, dense environments in galaxy evolution because the low velocity dispersions and close proximity of galaxy members result in frequent interactions that take place over extended time-scales. We expand the census of star formation in compact group galaxies by Tzanavaris et al. (2010) and collaborators with Swift UVOT, Spitzer IRAC and MIPS 24 m photometry of a sample of 183 galaxies in 46 compact groups. After correcting luminosities for the contribution from old stellar populations, we estimate the dust-unobscured star formation rate (SFRUV) using the UVOT uvw2 photometry. Similarly, we use the MIPS 24 m photometry to estimate the component of the SFR that is obscured by dust (SFRIR). We find that galaxies which are MIR-active (MIR-red), also have bluer UV colours, higher specific SFRs, and tend to lie in Hi-rich groups, while galaxies that are MIR-inactive (MIR-blue) have redder UV colours, lower specific SFRs, and tend to lie in Hi-poor groups. We find the SFRs to be continuously distributed with a peak at about 1 M yr1, indicating this might be the most common value in compact groups. In contrast, the specific SFR distribution is bimodal, and there is a clear distinction between star-forming and quiescent galaxies. Overall, our results suggest that the specific SFR is the best tracer of gas depletion and galaxy evolution in compact groups.

RADIO PROPERTIES OF THE BAT AGNs: THE FIR–RADIO RELATION, THE FUNDAMENTAL PLANE, AND THE MAIN SEQUENCE OF STAR FORMATION

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

Smith, Krista Lynne; Mushotzky, Richard F.; Vogel, Stuart

We conducted 22 GHz 1″ JVLA imaging of 70 radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the Swift -BAT survey. We find radio cores in all but three objects. The radio morphologies of the sample fall into three groups: compact and core-dominated, extended, and jet-like. We spatially decompose each image into core flux and extended flux, and compare the extended radio emission with that predicted from previous Herschel observations using the canonical FIR–radio relation. After removing the AGN contribution to the FIR and radio flux densities, we find that the relation holds remarkably well despite the potentially different star formation physics inmore » the circumnuclear environment. We also compare our core radio flux densities with predictions of coronal models and scale-invariant jet models for the origin of radio emission in radio-quiet AGNs, and find general consistency with both models. However, we find that the L {sub R}/ L {sub X} relation does not distinguish between star formation and non-relativistic AGN-driven outflows as the origin of radio emission in radio-quiet AGNs. Finally, we examine where objects with different radio morphologies fall in relation to the main sequence (MS) of star formation, and conclude that those AGNs that fall below the MS, as X-ray selected AGNs have been found to do, have core-dominated or jet-like 22 GHz morphologies.« less

Training Efficiency and Transfer Success in an Extended Real-Time Functional MRI Neurofeedback Training of the Somatomotor Cortex of Healthy Subjects

PubMed Central

Auer, Tibor; Schweizer, Renate; Frahm, Jens

2015-01-01

This study investigated the level of self-regulation of the somatomotor cortices (SMCs) attained by an extended functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neurofeedback training. Sixteen healthy subjects performed 12 real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback training sessions within 4 weeks, involving motor imagery of the dominant right as well as the non-dominant left hand. Target regions of interests in the SMC were individually localized prior to the training by overt finger movements. The feedback signal (FS) was defined as the difference between fMRI activation in the contra- and ipsilateral SMC and visually presented to the subjects. Training efficiency was determined by an off-line general linear model analysis determining the fMRI percent signal changes in the SMC target areas accomplished during the neurofeedback training. Transfer success was assessed by comparing the pre- and post-training transfer task, i.e., the neurofeedback paradigm without the presentation of the FS. Group results show a distinct increase in feedback performance (FP) in the transfer task for the trained group compared to a matched untrained control group, as well as an increase in the time course of the training, indicating an efficient training and a successful transfer. Individual analysis revealed that the training efficiency was not only highly correlated to the transfer success but also predictive. Trainings with at least 12 efficient training runs were associated with a successful transfer outcome. A group analysis of the hemispheric contributions to the FP showed that it is mainly driven by increased fMRI activation in the contralateral SMC, although some individuals relied on ipsilateral deactivation. Training and transfer results showed no difference between left- and right-hand imagery, with a slight indication of more ipsilateral deactivation in the early right-hand trainings. PMID:26500521

Novel Plasmid-Encoded Ceftazidime-Hydrolyzing CTX-M-53 Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase from Salmonella enterica Serotypes Westhampton and Senftenberg▿

PubMed Central

Doublet, Benoît; Granier, Sophie A.; Robin, Frédéric; Bonnet, Richard; Fabre, Laëtitia; Brisabois, Anne; Cloeckaert, Axel; Weill, François-Xavier

2009-01-01

We describe the characterization of a novel CTX-M β-lactamase from Salmonella enterica. Four S. enterica isolates (three of serotype Westhampton and one of serotype Senftenberg) resistant to extended-spectrum cephalosporins (cefotaxime and ceftazidime) were recovered in 2004 from living cockles in three supermarkets located in distant geographic areas in France, which got their supplies from the same fishery. The isolates were found to produce a novel extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) belonging to the CTX-M-1 phylogenetic group and named CTX-M-53. The CTX-M-53 β-lactamase harbored the substitution Asp240Gly, like the CTX-M-15 enzyme, which is specifically implicated in a higher catalytic efficiency against ceftazidime. The blaCTX-M-53 gene was located on a mobilizable 11-kb plasmid, pWES-1. The complete sequence of pWES-1 revealed the presence of a novel insertion sequence, ISSen2, and an IS26 element upstream and downstream of the blaCTX-M-53 gene, respectively; however, transposition assays of the blaCTX-M-53 gene were unsuccessful. IS26 elements may have contributed to the acquisition of the blaCTX-M-53 gene. Interestingly, the mobilization module of the pWES-1 plasmid was similar to that of quinolone resistance plasmids (carrying the qnrS2 gene) from aquatic sources. Although belonging to two serotypes differentiated on the basis of the O-antigen structure (E1 or E4 groups), the isolates were found to be genetically indistinguishable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Multilocus sequence typing showed that the isolates of serotype Westhampton had a sequence type, ST14, common among isolates of serotype Senftenberg. This is the first characterization of the CTX-M-53 ESBL, which represents an additional ceftazidime-hydrolyzing CTX-M enzyme. PMID:19273683

Balancing the Fair Treatment of Others While Preserving Group Identity and Autonomy

PubMed Central

Killen, Melanie; Elenbaas, Laura; Rutland, Adam

2016-01-01

Social exclusion and inclusion from groups, as well as the distribution of resources, are fundamental aspects of social life, and serve as sources of conflicts that bear on issues of fairness and equality, beginning in childhood. For the most part, research on social exclusion and allocation of resources has not focused on the issue of group membership. Yet, social exclusion from groups and the denial of resources reflect societal issues pertaining to social inequality and its counterpoint, fair treatment of others. Social inequality occurs when opportunities and resources are distributed unevenly in society, often through group norms about allocation that reflect socially defined categories of persons. This occurs at multiple levels of societal organization, from experiences of exclusion in childhood such as being left out of a play activity, to being denied access to resources as a member of a group. These situations extend to larger level experiences in the adult world concerning social exclusion from voting, for example, or participation in educational institutions. Thus, most decisions regarding social exclusion and the denial of resources involve considerations of group identity and group membership, implicitly or explicitly, which contribute to prejudice and bias, even though this has rarely been investigated in developmental science. Current research illustrating the role of group identity and autonomy regarding decision-making about social exclusion and the denial of resources is reviewed from the Social Reasoning Developmental model, one that integrates social domain theory and developmental social identity theories to investigate how children use moral, conventional, and psychological judgments to evaluate contexts reflecting group identity, group norms, and intergroup dynamics. PMID:27175034

Balancing the Fair Treatment of Others While Preserving Group Identity and Autonomy.

PubMed

Killen, Melanie; Elenbaas, Laura; Rutland, Adam

2016-04-01

Social exclusion and inclusion from groups, as well as the distribution of resources, are fundamental aspects of social life, and serve as sources of conflicts that bear on issues of fairness and equality, beginning in childhood. For the most part, research on social exclusion and allocation of resources has not focused on the issue of group membership. Yet, social exclusion from groups and the denial of resources reflect societal issues pertaining to social inequality and its counterpoint, fair treatment of others. Social inequality occurs when opportunities and resources are distributed unevenly in society, often through group norms about allocation that reflect socially defined categories of persons. This occurs at multiple levels of societal organization, from experiences of exclusion in childhood such as being left out of a play activity, to being denied access to resources as a member of a group. These situations extend to larger level experiences in the adult world concerning social exclusion from voting, for example, or participation in educational institutions. Thus, most decisions regarding social exclusion and the denial of resources involve considerations of group identity and group membership, implicitly or explicitly, which contribute to prejudice and bias, even though this has rarely been investigated in developmental science. Current research illustrating the role of group identity and autonomy regarding decision-making about social exclusion and the denial of resources is reviewed from the Social Reasoning Developmental model, one that integrates social domain theory and developmental social identity theories to investigate how children use moral, conventional, and psychological judgments to evaluate contexts reflecting group identity, group norms, and intergroup dynamics.

Multiple Counseling in Open and Closed Time-Extended Groups.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chambers, W. M.

The open time-extended group, run by multiple counselors, adds a facilitating dimension to the counseling function--a dimension that exemplifies the concepts of self-growth and self-actualization by first providing the atmosphere for the client and then by allowing him to progress at his own rate and to a depth which he determines. An open group…

Effectiveness of extended contact interventions for weight management delivered via text messaging: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Job, J R; Fjeldsoe, B S; Eakin, E G; Reeves, M M

2018-04-01

Extended contact interventions provide support for continued weight management (weight loss/prevention of weight regain) following a weight loss intervention. Text messages offer a medium for delivery in a potentially cost-effective, broad-reach manner. This study aims to examine (i) the effectiveness of extended contact, text message interventions for adults in supporting weight management, and (ii) which intervention characteristics are common to those that are effective. A systematic database search (to 19 September 2016) was conducted. Meta-analyses were performed to quantify the average weight changes (kg) during the extended contact intervention, net of control (if a control group was present) and within-group. Seven studies were eligible for inclusion. The pooled effect of the extended contact intervention compared with control (n = 3 studies) was -0.82 kg (95% confidence interval -1.43, -0.21), while the pooled within-group weight loss (n = 6 studies) during the extended contact interventions was -2.16 kg (95% confidence interval -3.40, -0.91). Interventions considered 'effective' (n = 4) were more likely to be >12 weeks duration, compared with interventions considered 'ineffective' (n = 3). Evidence from the small number of studies reviewed suggests that extended contact, text message-delivered interventions are effective. Further research is required to elucidate effective intervention components and the longer-term impact on weight, diet and physical activity behaviour. © 2017 World Obesity Federation.

Community gardening: a parsimonious path to individual, community, and environmental resilience.

PubMed

Okvat, Heather A; Zautra, Alex J

2011-06-01

The goal of this paper is to introduce community gardening as a promising method of furthering well-being and resilience on multiple levels: individual, social group, and natural environment. We examine empirical evidence for the benefits of gardening, and we advocate the development and testing of social ecological models of community resilience through examination of the impact of community gardens, especially in urban areas. The definition of community is extended beyond human social ties to include connections with other species and the earth itself, what Berry (1988) has called an Earth community. We discuss the potential contribution of an extensive network of community gardens to easing the global climate change crisis and address the role of community psychologists in community gardening research and policy-oriented action.

Analysis of passenger acceptance of commercial flights having characteristics similar to STOL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuhlthau, A. R.; Jacobson, I. D.

1973-01-01

Previous work in the development of quantitative models for the prediction of passenger reaction to motion and vehicle environment parameters in flight was extended to include a class of aircraft appropriate for low-density, short-haul service. The results indicate that it is possible to obtain quantitative response inputs from an usually small special test-subject group which will be representative of the general traveling public. Additional data which indicate the importance of comfort as a factor in evaluating ride quality was obtained, and identification of the factors which contribute to judgments regarding comfort level was improved. Seat comfort and seat spacing is very vital in the smaller aircraft. Mathematical modeling applied in conjuction with passenger reaction data was shown to be very useful for establishing ride-quality design criteria.

[Combined hormonal contraception in cycles artificially extended].

PubMed

Bustillos-Alamilla, Edgardo; Zepeda-Zaragoza, J; Hernández-Ruiz, M A; Briones-Landa, Carlos Humberto

2010-01-01

To compare the bleeding patterns, satisfaction and tolerability of 3 different contraceptive in an extended regimens in the service of Family Planning of the North Central Hospital of PEMEX. Healthy, adult women with desire of contraception for one year (N 120) were randomly assigned to receive oral contraceptive drospirenone/ethinyl E2 (group1), the norelgestromin/ethinyl E2 transdermal patch (group 2) and vaginal ring etonogestrel/ ethinyl E2 (group 3) in an extended regimen (42 consecutive days, 1 hormone-free week). Study assessments were conducted at scheduled visits at the time of initial screening, at baseline after 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Subjects recorded menstrual associated symptoms bleeding data and completed satisfaction questionnaires. Subjects and investigators provided overall assessments of the regimens. Extended use of 3 different contraceptive resulted in fewer bleeding days in every group (66.6%, 55% and 58.3% P 0.0024), and less mastalgia and menstrual pain. Subjects were highly satisfied with three regimens (93.3%, 96.6% and 91.6% P 0.00421). Although not mayor adverse events were reported with this regimen, there was an increase in spotting days; it decreased with each successive cycle of therapy. Efficacy and safety were similar to those reported for traditional cycle. Extended-contraceptive regimen delays menses and reduces bleeding, a profile that may be preferred by women who seek flexibility with their contraceptive method.

Constrained Stochastic Extended Redundancy Analysis.

PubMed

DeSarbo, Wayne S; Hwang, Heungsun; Stadler Blank, Ashley; Kappe, Eelco

2015-06-01

We devise a new statistical methodology called constrained stochastic extended redundancy analysis (CSERA) to examine the comparative impact of various conceptual factors, or drivers, as well as the specific predictor variables that contribute to each driver on designated dependent variable(s). The technical details of the proposed methodology, the maximum likelihood estimation algorithm, and model selection heuristics are discussed. A sports marketing consumer psychology application is provided in a Major League Baseball (MLB) context where the effects of six conceptual drivers of game attendance and their defining predictor variables are estimated. Results compare favorably to those obtained using traditional extended redundancy analysis (ERA).

Review of extended producer responsibility: A case study approach.

PubMed

Gupt, Yamini; Sahay, Samraj

2015-07-01

Principles of extended producer responsibility have been the core of most of the recent policies and legislation dealing with the end-of-life management of recyclable goods. This article makes an exploratory review of 27 cases of extended producer responsibility from developed and developing economies with and without informal recycling, to ascertain the most important aspect of extended producer responsibility. A comparative analysis of the cases with respect to role of stakeholders in the upstream and downstream stages of the extended producer responsibility has been carried out. Further, the study uses exploratory factor analysis to determine the important aspects of the extended producer responsibility in practice using 13 variables identified from the review. Findings of the comparative analysis reveal that financial responsibility of the producers and separate collecting and recycling agencies contributed significantly to the success of the extended producer responsibility-based environmental policies. Regulatory provisions, take-back responsibility and financial flow come out to be the three most important aspects of the extended producer responsibility. Presence of informal sector had a negative impact on the regulatory provisions. The outcomes of this study could serve as a guideline for designing of effective extended producer responsibility-based policies. © The Author(s) 2015.

Application of the Extended Completeness Relation to the Absorbing Boundary Condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwasaki, Masataka; Otani, Reiji; Ito, Makoto

The strength function of the linear response by the external field is calculated in the formalism of the absorbing boundary condition (ABC). The dipole excitation of a schematic two-body system is treated in the present study. The extended completeness relation, which is assumed on the analogy of the formulation in the complex scaling method (CSM), is applied to the calculation of the strength function. The calculation of the strength function is successful in the present formalism and hence, the extended completeness relation seems to work well in the ABC formalism. The contributions from the resonance and the non-resonant continuum are also analyzed according to the decomposition of the energy levels in the extended completeness relation.

Relation of Three Mechanisms of Working Memory to Children's Complex Span Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magimairaj, Beula; Montgomery, James; Marinellie, Sally; McCarthy, John

2009-01-01

There is a paucity of research examining the relative contribution of the different mechanisms of working memory (short-term storage [STM], processing speed) to children's complex memory span. This study served to replicate and extend the few extant studies that have examined the issue. In this study, the relative contribution of three mechanisms…

The nonrelativistic limit of (central-extended) Poincaré group and some consequences for quantum actualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ardenghi, Juan S.; Castagnino, M.; Campoamor-Stursberg, R.

2009-10-01

The nonrelativistic limit of the centrally extended Poincaré group is considered and their consequences in the modal Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics are discussed [O. Lombardi and M. Castagnino, Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys 39, 380 (2008); J. Phys, Conf. Ser. 128, 012014 (2008)]. Through the assumption that in quantum field theory the Casimir operators of the Poincaré group actualize, the nonrelativistic limit of the latter group yields to the actualization of the Casimir operators of the Galilei group, which is in agreement with the actualization rule of previous versions of modal Hamiltonian interpretation [Ardenghi et al., Found. Phys. (submitted)].

The KMOS Cluster Survey (KCS). III. Fundamental Plane of Cluster Galaxies at z ≃ 1.80 in JKCS 041

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prichard, Laura J.; Davies, Roger L.; Beifiori, Alessandra; Chan, Jeffrey C. C.; Cappellari, Michele; Houghton, Ryan C. W.; Mendel, J. Trevor; Bender, Ralf; Galametz, Audrey; Saglia, Roberto P.; Stott, John P.; Wilman, David J.; Lewis, Ian J.; Sharples, Ray; Wegner, Michael

2017-12-01

We present data for 16 galaxies in the overdensity JKCS 041 at z≃ 1.80 as part of the K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph (KMOS) Cluster Survey (KCS). With 20 hr integrations, we have obtained deep absorption-line spectra from which we derived velocity dispersions for seven quiescent galaxies. We combined photometric parameters derived from Hubble Space Telescope images with the dispersions to construct a fundamental plane (FP) for quiescent galaxies in JKCS 041. From the zero-point evolution of the FP, we derived a formation redshift for the galaxies of {z}{form}=3.0+/- 0.3, corresponding to a mean age of 1.4 ± 0.2 Gyr. We tested the effect of structural and velocity dispersion evolution on our FP zero-point and found a negligible contribution when using dynamical mass-normalized parameters (˜ 3 % ) but a significant contribution from stellar-mass-normalized parameters (˜ 42 % ). From the relative velocities of the galaxies, we probed the 3D structure of these 16 confirmed members of JKCS 041 and found that a group of galaxies in the southwest of the overdensity had systematically higher velocities. We derived ages for the galaxies in the different groups from the FP. We found that the east-extending group had typically older galaxies ({2.1}-0.2+0.3 Gyr) than those in the southwest group (0.3 ± 0.2 Gyr). Although based on small numbers, the overdensity dynamics, morphology, and age results could indicate that JKCS 041 is in formation and may comprise two merging groups of galaxies. This result could link large-scale structure to ages of galaxies for the first time at this redshift. Based on observations obtained at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), Paranal, Chile (ESO program IDs: 095.A-0137(A) and 096.A-0189(A)).

P, C and T: Different Properties on the Kinematical Level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dvoeglazov, Valeriy V.

2018-04-01

We study the discrete symmetries (P,C and T) on the kinematical level within the extended Poincaré Group. On the basis of the Silagadze research, we investigate the question of the definitions of the discrete symmetry operators both on the classical level, and in the secondary-quantization scheme. We study the physical contents within several bases: light-front formulation, helicity basis, angular momentum basis, and so on, on several practical examples. We analize problems in construction of the neutral particles in the the (1/2, 0) + (0, 1/2) representation, the (1, 0) + (0, 1) and the (1/2, 1/2) representations of the Lorentz Group. As well known, the photon has the quantum numbers 1‑, so the (1, 0) + (0, 1) representation of the Lorentz group is relevant to its description. We have ambiguities in the definitions of the corresponding operators P, C; T, which lead to different physical consequences. It appears that the answers are connected with the helicity basis properties, and commutations/anticommutations of the corresponding operators, P, C, T, and C 2, P 2, (CP)2 properties. This contribution is the review paper of my previous work [2, 3].

Annual modulation experiments, galactic models and WIMPs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudson, Robert G.

Our task in the paper is to examine some recent experiments (in the period 1996-2002) bearing on the issue of whether there is dark matter in the universe in the form of neutralino WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles). Our main focus is an experiment performed by the DAMA group that claims to have found an 'annual modulation signature' for the WIMP. DAMA's result has been hotly contested by two other groups, EDELWEISS and CDMS, and we study the details of the experiments performed by all three groups. Our goal is to investigate the philosophic and sociological implications of this controversy. Particularly, using an innovative theoretical strategy suggested by (Copi, C. and L. M. Krauss (2003). Comparing interaction rate detectors for weakly interacting massive particles with annual modulation detectors. Physical Review D, 67, 103 507), we suggest a new way of resolving discordant experimental data (extending a previous analysis by (Franklin, A. (2002). Selectivity and discord. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press). In addition, we are in a position to contribute substantively to the debate between realists and constructive empiricists. Finally, from a sociological standpoint, we remark that DAMA's work has been valuable in mobilizing other research teams and providing them with a critical focus.

Weak Lie symmetry and extended Lie algebra

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

Goenner, Hubert

2013-04-15

The concept of weak Lie motion (weak Lie symmetry) is introduced. Applications given exhibit a reduction of the usual symmetry, e.g., in the case of the rotation group. In this context, a particular generalization of Lie algebras is found ('extended Lie algebras') which turns out to be an involutive distribution or a simple example for a tangent Lie algebroid. Riemannian and Lorentz metrics can be introduced on such an algebroid through an extended Cartan-Killing form. Transformation groups from non-relativistic mechanics and quantum mechanics lead to such tangent Lie algebroids and to Lorentz geometries constructed on them (1-dimensional gravitational fields).

Extending the Use of Spanish Computer-Assisted Anomia Rehabilitation Program (CARP-2) in People with Aphasia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adrian, Jose A.; Gonzalez, Mercedes; Buiza, Juan J.; Sage, Karen

2011-01-01

Purpose: To extend the use of the Spanish Computer-assisted Anomia Rehabilitation Program (CARP-2) for anomia from a single case to a group of 15 people with aphasia. To evaluate whether the treatment is active (Phase 1) for this group (Robey & Schultz, 1998), providing potential explanations as to why. Methods: Fifteen participants with chronic…

An Extended Optional Infinitive Stage in German-Speaking Children with Specific Language Impairment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Mabel L.; Noll, Karen Ruff; Grimm, Hannelore

1997-01-01

Predictions were formulated for extended Optional Infinitives (OIs) stage in German-speaking children with specific language impairment and evaluated in clinical sample of 8 SLI German-speaking children, ages 4; 0 to 4; 8; and control group of 8 younger utterance-equivalent children, ages 2; 1 to 2; 7. Samples reveal that affected group more…

Object grouping based on real-world regularities facilitates perception by reducing competitive interactions in visual cortex

PubMed Central

Kaiser, Daniel; Stein, Timo; Peelen, Marius V.

2014-01-01

In virtually every real-life situation humans are confronted with complex and cluttered visual environments that contain a multitude of objects. Because of the limited capacity of the visual system, objects compete for neural representation and cognitive processing resources. Previous work has shown that such attentional competition is partly object based, such that competition among elements is reduced when these elements perceptually group into an object based on low-level cues. Here, using functional MRI (fMRI) and behavioral measures, we show that the attentional benefit of grouping extends to higher-level grouping based on the relative position of objects as experienced in the real world. An fMRI study designed to measure competitive interactions among objects in human visual cortex revealed reduced neural competition between objects when these were presented in commonly experienced configurations, such as a lamp above a table, relative to the same objects presented in other configurations. In behavioral visual search studies, we then related this reduced neural competition to improved target detection when distracter objects were shown in regular configurations. Control studies showed that low-level grouping could not account for these results. We interpret these findings as reflecting the grouping of objects based on higher-level spatial-relational knowledge acquired through a lifetime of seeing objects in specific configurations. This interobject grouping effectively reduces the number of objects that compete for representation and thereby contributes to the efficiency of real-world perception. PMID:25024190

The efficacy of porous hydroxyapatite bone chip as an extender of local bone graft in posterior lumbar interbody fusion.

PubMed

Kim, Hyoungmin; Lee, Choon-Ki; Yeom, Jin-Sup; Lee, Jae-Hyup; Lee, Ki-Ho; Chang, Bong-Soon

2012-07-01

To evaluate whether a synthetic bone chip made of porous hydroxyapatite can effectively extend local decompressed bone graft in instrumented posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). 130 patients, 165 segments, who had undergone PLIF with cages and instrumentation for single or double level due to degenerative conditions, were investigated retrospectively by independent blinded observer. According to the material of graft, patients were divided into three groups. HA group (19 patients, 25 segments): with hydroxyapatite bone chip in addition to autologous local decompressed bone, IBG group (25 patients, 28 segments): with autologous iliac crest bone graft in addition to local decompressed bone and LB group (86 patients, 112 segments): with local decompressed bone only. Radiologic and clinical outcome were compared among groups and postoperative complications, transfusion, time and cost of operation and duration of hospitalization were also investigated. Radiologic fusion rate and clinical outcome were not different. Economic cost, transfusion and hospital stay were also similar. But operation time was significantly longer in IBG group than in other groups. There were no lasting complications associated with HA and LB group with contrast to five cases with persisting donor site pain in IBG group. Porous hydroxyapatite bone chip is a useful bone graft extender in PLIF when used in conjunction with local decompressed bone.

Survival benefit of pancreaticoduodenectomy in a Japanese fashion for a limited group of patients with pancreatic head cancer.

PubMed

Takao, Sonshin; Shinchi, Hiroyuki; Maemura, Kosei; Kurahara, Hiroshi; Natsugoe, Shoji; Aikou, Takashi

2008-01-01

To evaluate the clinical benefit of pancreaticoduodenectomy in a Japanese fashion for patients with pancreatic head cancer. One hundred and one patients underwent pancreatectomy for pancreatic head cancer between 1980 and 2001. Of these, 40 patients in the extended resection (ER) group had an extended lymphadenectomy and neural plexus dissection as a Japanese fashion, while 61 patients in the conventional resection (CR) group. Tumor status, morbidity, mortality, survival and pattern of recurrence were retrospectively studied. The incidence of R0 operations in the ER group was higher than that in the CR group (p<0.01). The actuarial 5-year survival rate (30.6%) of patients with pStage IIA or IIB in the ER group was significantly higher than that (8.2%) in the CR group (p=0.04) because local recurrence (47%) in the CR group was higher than that (25%) in the ER group (p=0.02). In an immunohistochemical study of isolated tumor cells (ITCs), 13 patients (57%) with lymph node ITCs were included in the 23 pN0 patients. Pancreaticoduodenectomy in a Japanese fashion with an adequate extended resection might bring a survival benefit for patients with pStage IIA or IIB pancreatic head cancer.

Effects of ground-water withdrawals on flow in the Sauk River Valley Aquifer and on streamflow in the Cold Spring area, Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindgren, R.J.

2001-01-01

The simulated contributing areas for selected watersupply wells in the Cold Spring area generally extend to and possibly beyond the model boundaries to the north and to the southeast. The contributing areas for the Gold'n Plump Poultry Processing Plant supply wells extend: (1) to the Sauk River, (2) to the north to and possibly beyond to the northern model boundary, and (3) to the southeast to and possibly beyond the southeastern model boundary. The primary effects of projected increased ground-water withdrawals of 0.23 cubic feet per second (7.5 percent increase) were to: (1) decrease outflow from the Sauk River Valley aquifer through constant-head boundaries and (2) decrease leakage from the valley unit of the Sauk River Valley aquifer to the streams. No appreciable differences were discernible between the simulated steady-state contributing areas to wells with 1998 pumpage and those with the projected pumpage.

Extended Household Transitions, Race/Ethnicity, and Early Childhood Cognitive Outcomes*

PubMed Central

Mollborn, Stefanie; Fomby, Paula; Dennis, Jeff A.

2012-01-01

Beyond mothers’ union status transitions, other adults’ transitions into and out of the household contribute to family instability, particularly in early childhood. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (N≅8,550), this study examines associations between extended household transitions and age 2 cognitive development. A substantial minority of toddlers experiences these transitions, and their consequences vary by household member type, entry versus exit, and race/ethnicity. Extended household transitions predict lower cognitive scores for white children, but the selection of low-socioeconomic status families into extended households explains these disparities. Grandparent transitions predict significantly higher cognitive scores for African American and Latino children than whites, and some “other adult” transitions predict higher scores for Latinos than African Americans and whites. Extended household transitions’ consequences are independent of co-occurring residential moves and partner transitions. Findings suggest that studying extended household transitions is useful for understanding children’s early development, and their consequences vary by race/ethnicity. PMID:23017924

Evaluation of Extended-Wear Hearing Technology for Children with Hearing Loss.

PubMed

Wolfe, Jace; Schafer, Erin; Martella, Natalie; Morais, Mila; Mann, Misty

2015-01-01

Research shows that many older children and teenagers who have mild to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss do not use their hearing instruments during all waking hours. A variety of reasons may contribute toward this problem, including concerns about cosmetics associated with hearing aid use and the inconvenience of daily maintenance associated with hearing instruments. Extended-wear hearing instruments are inserted into the wearer's ear canal by an audiologist and are essentially invisible to outside observers. The goal of this study was to evaluate the potential benefits and limitations associated with use of extended-wear hearing instruments in a group of children with hearing loss. A two-way repeated measures design was used to examine performance differences obtained with the participants' daily-wear hearing instruments versus that obtained with extended-wear hearing instruments. Sixteen children, ages 10-17 yr old, with sensorineural hearing loss ranging from mild to moderately severe. Probe microphone measures were completed to evaluate the aided output of device. Behavioral test measures included word recognition in quiet, sentence recognition in noise, aided warble-tone thresholds, and psychophysical loudness scaling. Questionnaires were also administered to evaluate subjective performance with each hearing technology. Data logging suggested that many participants were not using their daily-wear hearing instruments during all waking hours (mean use was less than 6 h/day). Real ear probe microphone measurements indicated that a closer fit to the Desired Sensation Level Version 5 prescriptive targets was achieved with the children's daily-wear instruments when compared to the extended-wear instruments. There was no statistically significant difference in monosyllabic word recognition at 50 or 60 dBA obtained with the two hearing technologies. Sentence recognition in noise obtained with use of the extended-wear devices was, however, significantly better than what was obtained with the daily-wear hearing aids. Aided warble-tone thresholds indicated significantly better audibility for low-level sounds with use of the daily-wear hearing technology, but loudness scaling results produced mixed results. Specifically, the participants generally reported greater loudness perception with use of their daily-wear hearing aids at 2000 Hz, but use of the extended-wear hearing technology provided greater loudness perception at 4000 Hz. Finally, the participants reported higher levels of subjective performance with use of the extended-wear hearing instruments. Although some measures suggested that daily-wear hearing instruments provided better audibility than the extended-wear hearing devices, word recognition in quiet was similar with use of the two technologies, and sentence recognition in noise was better with the extended-wear hearing technology. In addition, the participants in this study reported better subjective benefit associated with the use of extended-wear hearing technology. Collectively, the results of this study suggest that extended-wear hearing technology is a viable option for older children and teenagers with mild to moderately severe hearing loss. American Academy of Audiology.

Collinear integration affects visual search at V1.

PubMed

Chow, Hiu Mei; Jingling, Li; Tseng, Chia-huei

2013-08-29

Perceptual grouping plays an indispensable role in figure-ground segregation and attention distribution. For example, a column pops out if it contains element bars orthogonal to uniformly oriented element bars. Jingling and Tseng (2013) have reported that contextual grouping in a column matters to visual search behavior: When a column is grouped into a collinear (snakelike) structure, a target positioned on it became harder to detect than on other noncollinear (ladderlike) columns. How and where perceptual grouping interferes with selective attention is still largely unknown. This article contributes to this little-studied area by asking whether collinear contour integration interacts with visual search before or after binocular fusion. We first identified that the previously mentioned search impairment occurs with a distractor of five or nine elements but not one element in a 9 × 9 search display. To pinpoint the site of this effect, we presented the search display with a short collinear bar (one element) to one eye and the extending collinear bars to the other eye, such that when properly fused, the combined binocular collinear length (nine elements) exceeded the critical length. No collinear search impairment was observed, implying that collinear information before binocular fusion shaped participants' search behavior, although contour extension from the other eye after binocular fusion enhanced the effect of collinearity on attention. Our results suggest that attention interacts with perceptual grouping as early as V1.

Environmental influences on antibody-enhanced dengue disease outcomes.

PubMed

Diniz, Daniel Guerreiro; Fôro, César Augusto Raiol; Turiel, Maíra C Pereira; Sosthenes, Marcia C K; Demachki, Sâmia; Gomes, Giovanni Freitas; Rego, Carla M Damasceno; Magalhães, Marina Cutrim; Pinho, Brunno Gomes; Ramos, Juliana Pastana; Casseb, Samir M Moraes; Brito, Maysa de Vasconcelos; da Silva, Eliana Vieira Pinto; Nunes, Marcio Roberto Teixeira; Diniz, José Antonio Picanço; Cunningham, Colm; Perry, Victor Hugh; Vasconcelos, Pedro F Costa; Diniz, Cristovam W Picanço

2012-12-01

Because an enriched environment (EE) enhances T-cell activity and T-lymphocytes contribute to immunopathogenesis during heterologous dengue virus (DENV) infections, we hypothesised that an EE increases dengue severity. To compare single serotype (SS) and antibody-enhanced disease (AED) infections regimens, serial intraperitoneal were performed with DENV3 (genotype III) infected brain homogenate or anti-DENV2 hyperimmune serum followed 24 h later by DENV3 (genotype III) infected brain homogenate. Compared AED for which significant differences were detected between the EE and impoverished environmental (IE) groups (Kaplan-Meyer log-rank test, p = 0.0025), no significant differences were detected between the SS experimental groups (Kaplan-Meyer log-rank test, p = 0.089). Survival curves from EE and IE animals infected with the AED regimen were extended after corticoid injection and this effect was greater in the EE than in the IE group (Kaplan-Meyer log-rank test, p = 0.0162). Under the AED regimen the EE group showed more intense clinical signs than the IE group. Dyspnoea, tremor, hunched posture, ruffled fur, immobility, pre-terminal paralysis, shock and death were associated with dominant T-lymphocytic hyperplasia and presence of viral antigens in the liver and lungs. We propose that the increased expansion of these memory T-cells and serotype cross-reactive antibodies facilitates the infection of these cells by DENV and that these events correlate with disease severity in an EE.

Perceptions of the activity, the social climate, and the self during group exercise classes regulate intrinsic satisfaction

PubMed Central

Maher, Jaclyn P.; Gottschall, Jinger S.; Conroy, David E.

2015-01-01

Engaging in regular physical activity is a challenging task for many adults. Intrinsic satisfaction with exercise classes is thought to promote adherence to physical activity. This study examined the characteristics of exercise classes that impact within-person changes in intrinsic satisfaction over the course of an extended group exercise program. A 30-week physical activity trial was conducted with assessments at the end of each class. Community-living adults (n = 29) were instructed to complete at least six group exercise classes each week and, following each exercise class, complete a questionnaire asking about the characteristics of the class and the participant’s evaluation of the class. Intrinsic satisfaction was high, on average, but varied as much within-person from class-to-class as it did between exercisers. Participants reported the greatest intrinsic satisfaction when classes placed greater emphasis on exercisers’ involvement with the group task, feelings of competence, and encouragement from the instructor. For the most part, exercise classes that were more intense than usual were perceived by exercisers as less intrinsically satisfying. Some overall characteristics of the exercise classes were also associated with intrinsic satisfaction. The social and motivational characteristics of group exercise classes contribute to exercisers’ intrinsic satisfaction with classes and attention to those dynamics, as well as the intensity of the exercise, may improve adherence for exercise regimens. PMID:26347696

Perceptions of the activity, the social climate, and the self during group exercise classes regulate intrinsic satisfaction.

PubMed

Maher, Jaclyn P; Gottschall, Jinger S; Conroy, David E

2015-01-01

Engaging in regular physical activity is a challenging task for many adults. Intrinsic satisfaction with exercise classes is thought to promote adherence to physical activity. This study examined the characteristics of exercise classes that impact within-person changes in intrinsic satisfaction over the course of an extended group exercise program. A 30-week physical activity trial was conducted with assessments at the end of each class. Community-living adults (n = 29) were instructed to complete at least six group exercise classes each week and, following each exercise class, complete a questionnaire asking about the characteristics of the class and the participant's evaluation of the class. Intrinsic satisfaction was high, on average, but varied as much within-person from class-to-class as it did between exercisers. Participants reported the greatest intrinsic satisfaction when classes placed greater emphasis on exercisers' involvement with the group task, feelings of competence, and encouragement from the instructor. For the most part, exercise classes that were more intense than usual were perceived by exercisers as less intrinsically satisfying. Some overall characteristics of the exercise classes were also associated with intrinsic satisfaction. The social and motivational characteristics of group exercise classes contribute to exercisers' intrinsic satisfaction with classes and attention to those dynamics, as well as the intensity of the exercise, may improve adherence for exercise regimens.

Contributions to Pursuit-Evasion Game Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oyler, Dave Wilson

This dissertation studies adversarial conflicts among a group of agents moving in the plane, possibly among obstacles, where some agents are pursuers and others are evaders. The goal of the pursuers is to capture the evaders, where capture requires a pursuer to be either co-located with an evader, or in close proximity. The goal of the evaders is to avoid capture. These scenarios, where different groups compete to accomplish conflicting goals, are referred to as pursuit-evasion games, and the agents are called players. Games featuring one pursuer and one evader are analyzed using dominance, where a point in the plane is said to be dominated by a player if that player is able to reach the point before the opposing players, regardless of the opposing players' actions. Two generalizations of the Apollonius circle are provided. One solves games with environments containing obstacles, and the other provides an alternative solution method for the Homicidal Chauffeur game. Optimal pursuit and evasion strategies based on dominance are provided. One benefit of dominance analysis is that it extends to games with many players. Two foundational games are studied; one features multiple pursuers against a single evader, and the other features a single pursuer against multiple evaders. Both are solved using dominance through a reduction to single pursuer, single evader games. Another game featuring competing teams of pursuers is introduced, where an evader cooperates with friendly pursuers to rendezvous before being captured by adversaries. Next, the assumption of complete and perfect information is relaxed, and uncertainties in player speeds, player positions, obstacle locations, and cost functions are studied. The sensitivity of the dominance boundary to perturbations in parameters is provided, and probabilistic dominance is introduced. The effect of information is studied by comparing solutions of games with perfect information to games with uncertainty. Finally, a pursuit law is developed that requires minimal information and highlights a limitation of dominance regions. These contributions extend pursuit-evasion game theory to a number of games that have not previously been solved, and in some cases, the solutions presented are more amenable to implementation than previous methods.

Method of operating a neutronic reactor

DOEpatents

Woods, Wallace K.

1976-05-25

1. A method of operating a reactor having an active portion of a given length between a charging end and a discharging end, a first end region of the reactor extending from the charging end for one-quarter to one-third of said given length, a second end region extending from the discharging end for one-quarter to one-third of said given length, and a middle region extending between said end regions, said method comprising the steps of inserting end to end in the active region through the charging end a first group of bodies filling the middle region and a second group of bodies filling the first end region, irradiating the first and second groups of bodies while in the middle and first end regions, removing the first group from the reactor through the second end region, shifting the second group through the middle region to the second end region, inserting new first and second groups of bodies through the charging face into the middle and first end regions of the reactor, respectively, and irradiating the original second group and the new first and second groups while in the second end, middle, and first end regions, respectively, removing the original second group and the new first group from the reactor through the second end region, shifting the new second group through the middle region to the second end region, and irradiating the new second group again, whereby the first groups of bodies are irradiated only once and the second groups are irradiated twice.

Vocabulary Intervention for Kindergarten Students: Comparing Extended Instruction to Embedded Instruction and Incidental Exposure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coyne, Michael D.; McCoach, D. Betsy; Kapp, Sharon

2007-01-01

The purpose of the two studies reported in this article was to evaluate the effectiveness of extended vocabulary instruction during storybook reading with kindergarten students within a small-group intervention setting. Extended vocabulary instruction is characterized by explicit teaching that includes both contextual and definitional information,…

Interface conductance modal analysis of lattice matched InGaAs/InP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordiz, Kiarash; Henry, Asegun

2016-05-01

We studied the heat conduction at InGaAs/InP interfaces and found that the total value of interface conductance was quite high ˜830 MW m-2 K-1. The modal contributions to the thermal interface conductance (TIC) were then investigated to determine the mode responsible. Using the recently developed interface conductance modal analysis method, we showed that more than 70% of the TIC arises from extended modes in the system. The lattice dynamics calculations across the interface revealed that, unlike any other interfaces previously studied, the different classes of vibration around the interface of InGaAs/InP naturally segregate into distinct regions with respect to frequency. In addition, interestingly, the entire region of frequency overlap between the sides of the interface is occupied by extended modes, whereby the two materials vibrate together with a single frequency. We also mapped the correlations between modes, which showed that the contribution by extended modes to the TIC primarily arises from coupling to the modes that have the same frequencies of vibration (i.e., autocorrelations). Moreover, interfacial modes despite their low population still contribute more than 6% to interfacial thermal transport. The analysis sheds light on the nature of heat conduction by different classes of vibration that exist in interfacial systems, which has technological relevance to applications such as thermophotovoltaics and optoelectronics.

Extended Narrow-Line Region in Seyfert Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Congiu, Enrico; Contini, Marcella.; Ciroi, Stefano; Cracco, Valentina; Di Mille, Francesco; Berton, Marco; Frezzato, Michele; La Mura, Giovanni; Rafanelli, Piero

2017-10-01

We present our recent results about the extended narrow-line region (ENLR) of two nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies (IC 5063 and NGC 7212) obtained by modelling the observed line profiles and spectra with composite models (photoionization+shocks) in the different regions surrounding the AGN. Then, we compare the Seyfert 2 ENLRs with the very extended one recently discovered in the narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy Mrk 783. We have found several evidences of interaction between the ISM of the galaxies and their radio jets, such as a) the contribution of shocks in ionizing the high velocity gas, b) the complex kinematics showed by the profile of the emission lines, c) the high fragmentation of matter, etc. The results suggest that the ENLR of IC 5063 have a hollow bi-conical shape, with one edge aligned to the galaxy disk, which may cause some kind of dependence on velocity of the ionization parameter. Regarding the Mrk 783 properties, it is found that the extension of the optical emission is almost twice the size of the radio one and it seems due to the AGN activity, although there is contamination by star formation around 12 arcsec from the nucleus. Diagnostic diagrams excluded the contribution of star formation in IC 5063 and NGC 7212, while the shock contribution was used to explain the spectra emitted by their high velocity gas.

A group contribution method for associating chain molecules based on the statistical associating fluid theory (SAFT-γ)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lymperiadis, Alexandros; Adjiman, Claire S.; Galindo, Amparo; Jackson, George

2007-12-01

A predictive group-contribution statistical associating fluid theory (SAFT-γ) is developed by extending the molecular-based SAFT-VR equation of state [A. Gil-Villegas et al. J. Chem. Phys. 106, 4168 (1997)] to treat heteronuclear molecules which are formed from fused segments of different types. Our models are thus a heteronuclear generalization of the standard models used within SAFT, comparable to the optimized potentials for the liquid state OPLS models commonly used in molecular simulation; an advantage of our SAFT-γ over simulation is that an algebraic description for the thermodynamic properties of the model molecules can be developed. In our SAFT-γ approach, each functional group in the molecule is modeled as a united-atom spherical (square-well) segment. The different groups are thus characterized by size (diameter), energy (well depth) and range parameters representing the dispersive interaction, and by shape factor parameters (which denote the extent to which each group contributes to the overall molecular properties). For associating groups a number of bonding sites are included on the segment: in this case the site types, the number of sites of each type, and the appropriate association energy and range parameters also have to be specified. A number of chemical families (n-alkanes, branched alkanes, n-alkylbenzenes, mono- and diunsaturated hydrocarbons, and n-alkan-1-ols) are treated in order to assess the quality of the SAFT-γ description of the vapor-liquid equilibria and to estimate the parameters of various functional groups. The group parameters for the functional groups present in these compounds (CH3, CH2, CH3CH, ACH, ACCH2, CH2, CH , and OH) together with the unlike energy parameters between groups of different types are obtained from an optimal description of the pure component phase equilibria. The approach is found to describe accurately the vapor-liquid equilibria with an overall %AAD of 3.60% for the vapor pressure and 0.86% for the saturated liquid density. The fluid phase equilibria of some larger compounds comprising these groups, which are not included in the optimization database and some binary mixtures are examined to confirm the predictive capability of the SAFT-γ approach. A key advantage of our method is that the binary interaction parameters between groups can be estimated directly from an examination of pure components alone. This means that as a first approximation the fluid-phase equilibria of mixtures of compounds comprising the groups considered can be predicted without the need for any adjustment of the binary interaction parameters (which is common in other approaches). The special case of molecular models comprising tangentially bonded (all-atom and united-atom) segments is considered separately; we comment on the adequacy of such models in representing the properties of real molecules.

A group contribution method for associating chain molecules based on the statistical associating fluid theory (SAFT-gamma).

PubMed

Lymperiadis, Alexandros; Adjiman, Claire S; Galindo, Amparo; Jackson, George

2007-12-21

A predictive group-contribution statistical associating fluid theory (SAFT-gamma) is developed by extending the molecular-based SAFT-VR equation of state [A. Gil-Villegas et al. J. Chem. Phys. 106, 4168 (1997)] to treat heteronuclear molecules which are formed from fused segments of different types. Our models are thus a heteronuclear generalization of the standard models used within SAFT, comparable to the optimized potentials for the liquid state OPLS models commonly used in molecular simulation; an advantage of our SAFT-gamma over simulation is that an algebraic description for the thermodynamic properties of the model molecules can be developed. In our SAFT-gamma approach, each functional group in the molecule is modeled as a united-atom spherical (square-well) segment. The different groups are thus characterized by size (diameter), energy (well depth) and range parameters representing the dispersive interaction, and by shape factor parameters (which denote the extent to which each group contributes to the overall molecular properties). For associating groups a number of bonding sites are included on the segment: in this case the site types, the number of sites of each type, and the appropriate association energy and range parameters also have to be specified. A number of chemical families (n-alkanes, branched alkanes, n-alkylbenzenes, mono- and diunsaturated hydrocarbons, and n-alkan-1-ols) are treated in order to assess the quality of the SAFT-gamma description of the vapor-liquid equilibria and to estimate the parameters of various functional groups. The group parameters for the functional groups present in these compounds (CH(3), CH(2), CH(3)CH, ACH, ACCH(2), CH(2)=, CH=, and OH) together with the unlike energy parameters between groups of different types are obtained from an optimal description of the pure component phase equilibria. The approach is found to describe accurately the vapor-liquid equilibria with an overall %AAD of 3.60% for the vapor pressure and 0.86% for the saturated liquid density. The fluid phase equilibria of some larger compounds comprising these groups, which are not included in the optimization database and some binary mixtures are examined to confirm the predictive capability of the SAFT-gamma approach. A key advantage of our method is that the binary interaction parameters between groups can be estimated directly from an examination of pure components alone. This means that as a first approximation the fluid-phase equilibria of mixtures of compounds comprising the groups considered can be predicted without the need for any adjustment of the binary interaction parameters (which is common in other approaches). The special case of molecular models comprising tangentially bonded (all-atom and united-atom) segments is considered separately; we comment on the adequacy of such models in representing the properties of real molecules.

Costs of Recruiting Couples to a Clinical Trial

PubMed Central

Sadler, Georgia Robins; Ko, Celine M.; Malcarne, Vanessa L.; Banthia, Rajni; Gutierrez, Ivan; Varni, James W.

2009-01-01

Multiple barriers contribute to the slow recruitment of participants to research studies, which in turn extends the time required to translate promising scientific discoveries into proven therapeutic interventions. A small but growing literature is developing on the extraordinary costs of recruiting participants to studies, and thereby demonstrating that underestimating the cost of participant recruitment can contribute to these recruitment problems. These recruitment challenges and costs are exacerbated when the participants’ study eligibility is determined by relatively narrowly defined illness parameters. Recruitment challenges are further compounded when dyads (two individuals engaged in a sociologically significant relationship, such as husbands and wives, siblings or extended families) must be recruited to an illness-focused study. For these latter groups, there are no data to guide researchers in how to anticipate those participant recruitment costs. This paper describes the staff costs for a variety of strategies used to recruit participants to a randomized supportive care study for couples who were within 18 months of a prostate cancer diagnosis. Pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar for the period, the average cost of staff time was $288 per recruited and enrolled dyad, plus a promised additional $100 incentive for study retention. Within the strategies used, the staff costs per recruited dyad ranged from $ 152 to $1,688. Accrual per strategy ranged from zero to 107 enrolled couples. When asked for secondary sources of information about the study, many participants reported more than one source of study referral, reflective of the multifaceted recruitment strategies deployed. In spite of innovative, culturally competent, and broad based recruitment methods, attainment of a diverse sample was difficult to accomplish in this study. Having estimates of the actual cost of recruiting dyads to research studies can help investigators prepare realistic study budgets. PMID:17218166

Extending the Use of Highly Porous and Functionalized MOFs to Th(IV) Capture.

PubMed

Zhang, Nan; Yuan, Li-Yong; Guo, Wen-Lu; Luo, Shi-Zhong; Chai, Zhi-Fang; Shi, Wei-Qun

2017-08-02

Thorium separation has recently become a hot topic because of the potential application of thorium as a future nuclear fuel, while metal-organic framework (MOF) materials have received much attention in the separation field due to their unique properties. Herein, a highly porous and stable MOF, UiO-66, and its carboxyl derivatives (UiO-66-COOH and UiO-66-(COOH) 2 ) were synthesized and explored for the first time for Th(IV) capture from a weak acidic solution. Although the introduction of carboxyl groups into UiO-66 leads to an obvious decrease in the surface area and pore volume, the adsorbability toward Th(IV) is greatly enhanced. At pH = 3.0, the saturated sorption capacity for Th(IV) into UiO-66-(COOH) 2 reached 350 mg/g, representing one of the largest values for Th(IV) capture by solid extraction. Moreover, the functionalized MOFs show fast sorption kinetics and desirable selectivity toward Th(IV) over a range of competing metal ions. A possible mechanism for the selective recognition of Th(IV) by these MOFs was explored on the basis of extended X-ray absorption fine structure and Fourier transform infrared analysis. It is concluded that UiO-66-COOH and UiO-66-(COOH) 2 sorb Th(IV) through the coordination of carboxyl anions in the pores of the MOFs, whereas in the case of UiO-66, both the precipitation and the exchange with the organic solvent contribute to the Th(IV) uptake. This study contributes to the assessment of the feasibility of MOFs applied in actinides separation and better understanding of actinides sorption behavior in this kind of hybrid porous solid materials.

Genome-wide association analysis of red blood cell traits in African Americans: the COGENT Network

PubMed Central

Chen, Zhao; Tang, Hua; Qayyum, Rehan; Schick, Ursula M.; Nalls, Michael A.; Handsaker, Robert; Li, Jin; Lu, Yingchang; Yanek, Lisa R.; Keating, Brendan; Meng, Yan; van Rooij, Frank J.A.; Okada, Yukinori; Kubo, Michiaki; Rasmussen-Torvik, Laura; Keller, Margaux F.; Lange, Leslie; Evans, Michele; Bottinger, Erwin P.; Linderman, Michael D.; Ruderfer, Douglas M.; Hakonarson, Hakon; Papanicolaou, George; Zonderman, Alan B.; Gottesman, Omri; Thomson, Cynthia; Ziv, Elad; Singleton, Andrew B.; Loos, Ruth J.F.; Sleiman, Patrick M.A.; Ganesh, Santhi; McCarroll, Steven; Becker, Diane M.; Wilson, James G.; Lettre, Guillaume; Reiner, Alexander P.

2013-01-01

Laboratory red blood cell (RBC) measurements are clinically important, heritable and differ among ethnic groups. To identify genetic variants that contribute to RBC phenotypes in African Americans (AAs), we conducted a genome-wide association study in up to ∼16 500 AAs. The alpha-globin locus on chromosome 16pter [lead SNP rs13335629 in ITFG3 gene; P < 1E−13 for hemoglobin (Hgb), RBC count, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), MCH and MCHC] and the G6PD locus on Xq28 [lead SNP rs1050828; P < 1E − 13 for Hgb, hematocrit (Hct), MCV, RBC count and red cell distribution width (RDW)] were each associated with multiple RBC traits. At the alpha-globin region, both the common African 3.7 kb deletion and common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) appear to contribute independently to RBC phenotypes among AAs. In the 2p21 region, we identified a novel variant of PRKCE distinctly associated with Hct in AAs. In a genome-wide admixture mapping scan, local European ancestry at the 6p22 region containing HFE and LRRC16A was associated with higher Hgb. LRRC16A has been previously associated with the platelet count and mean platelet volume in AAs, but not with Hgb. Finally, we extended to AAs the findings of association of erythrocyte traits with several loci previously reported in Europeans and/or Asians, including CD164 and HBS1L-MYB. In summary, this large-scale genome-wide analysis in AAs has extended the importance of several RBC-associated genetic loci to AAs and identified allelic heterogeneity and pleiotropy at several previously known genetic loci associated with blood cell traits in AAs. PMID:23446634

Impact of Group Work and Extended Essay Writing on Online Advanced Placement Program® Student Performance. Research Report. ETS RR-07-22

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Handwerk, Phil

2007-01-01

Online high schools are growing significantly in number, popularity, and function. However, little empirical data has been published about the effectiveness of these institutions. This research examined the frequency of group work and extended essay writing among online Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) students, and how these tasks may have…

Extending the Contribution of Albert Camus to Educational Thought: An Analysis of "The Rebel"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curzon-Hobson, Aidan

2014-01-01

The purpose of this article is to make a case for "The Rebel" as an important educational text. Discussing "The Rebel" in this way for the first time, the goal is to try and demonstrate that the work could have a unique contribution; in particular there might be a number of similarities between Camus and educational thinkers…

Recruitment and selection in violent extremist organizations: Exploring what industrial and organizational psychology might contribute.

PubMed

Hunter, Samuel T; Shortland, Neil D; Crayne, Matthew P; Ligon, Gina S

2017-04-01

For many terrorist organizations, also known as violent extremist organizations (VEOs), their ability to perpetuate violence is often contingent upon successful recruitment and selection of organizational members. Although academic work on terrorist recruitment and selection has improved in recent years, researchers have generally focused more heavily on aspects of radicalization rather than organization attraction and entry. Moreover, a number of terrorism scholars have lamented the lack of conceptual frameworks with which to interpret and extend findings linked to recruitment and selection, specifically. In light of these difficulties, we propose that considering literature bases outside of terrorism may be useful in extending lines of inquiry and offering alternative ways of thinking about how terrorist organizations operate. Specifically, we draw on Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Human Resource Management, and Organizational Behavior literature bases to offer alternative and extended modes of thought on terrorist recruitment and selection. In doing so, we believe both terrorism and more traditional organizational scholars can make substantive and novel contributions to future investigations of increasingly pressing issues surrounding violent extremism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Efficacy of quilting sutures and fibrin sealant together for prevention of seroma in extended latissimus dorsi flap donor sites.

PubMed

Shin, In Soo; Lee, Dong Won; Lew, Dae Hyun

2012-09-01

The extended latissimus dorsi flap is important for breast reconstruction. Unfortunately, donor site seroma is the most common complication of extended latissimus dorsi flap for breast reconstruction. Although using fibrin sealant in the donor site reduces the rate of seroma formation, donor site seroma remains a troublesome complication. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of the combination of quilting sutures and fibrin sealant in the latissimus dorsi donor site for the prevention of seroma. Forty-six patients who underwent breast reconstruction with extended latissimus flap were enrolled in the study. The patients received either fibrin sealant (group 1, n=25) or a combination of fibrin sealant and quilting sutures (group 2, n=21) in the extended latissimus dorsi donor site. Outcome measures were obtained from the incidence, volume of postoperative seroma, total drainage amount, indwelling period of drainage, and duration of hospital stay. The incidence of seroma was 76% in group 1 and 42.9% in group 2 (P=0.022). We also found significant reductions in seroma volume (P=0.043), total drainage amount (P=0.002), indwelling period of drainage (P=0.01), and frequency of aspiration (P=0.043). The quilting sutures did not affect the rate of drainage, tube reinsertion, or hospital stay. The use of quilting sutures combined with fibrin sealant on the latissimus dorsi flap donor site is helpful for reducing the overall seroma volume, frequency of aspiration, and total drainage amount.

Impulsive choice and pre-exposure to delays: iv. effects of delay- and immediacy-exposure training relative to maturational changes in impulsivity.

PubMed

Renee Renda, C; Rung, Jillian M; Hinnenkamp, Jay E; Lenzini, Stephanie N; Madden, Gregory J

2018-04-23

Impulsive choice describes preference for smaller, sooner rewards over larger, later rewards. Excessive delay discounting (i.e., rapid devaluation of delayed rewards) underlies some impulsive choices, and is observed in many maladaptive behaviors (e.g., substance abuse, gambling). Interventions designed to reduce delay discounting may provide therapeutic gains. One such intervention provides rats with extended training with delayed reinforcers. When compared to a group given extended training with immediate reinforcers, delay-exposed rats make significantly fewer impulsive choices. To what extent is this difference due to delay-exposure training shifting preference toward self-control or immediacy-exposure training (the putative control group) shifting preference toward impulsivity? The current study compared the effects of delay- and immediacy-exposure training to a no-training control group and evaluated within-subject changes in impulsive choice across 51 male Wistar rats. Delay-exposed rats made significantly fewer impulsive choices than immediacy-exposed and control rats. Between-group differences in impulsive choice were not observed in the latter two groups. While delay-exposed rats showed large, significant pre- to posttraining reductions in impulsive choice, immediacy-exposed and control rats showed small reductions in impulsive choice. These results suggest that extended training with delayed reinforcers reduces impulsive choice, and that extended training with immediate reinforcers does not increase impulsive choice. © 2018 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

California Fires

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2014-05-15

... title:  Smoke from Station Fire Blankets Southern California     View Larger Image ... that had not burned in decades, and years of extended drought contributed to the explosive growth of wildfires throughout southern ...

A better outlook for schizophrenics living in extended families.

PubMed

El-Islam, E F

1979-10-01

Cases of schizophrenia and schizophreniform attacks living in extended families have been compared to cases with similar diagnoses in nuclear families. Both diagnostic groups living in extended families presented earlier: they had lower rates of withdrawal symptoms and higher rates of behavioural disturbances and subjective suffering. Inter-generational conflict was a significantly more common precipitating factor in patients living in extended families; this was therapeutically utilized to induce family support. Patients from extended families had a lower tendency to deteriorate into with drawn, affectively blunted residual states.

Effect of Daily Contact Lens Cleaning on Ocular Adverse Events during Extended Wear.

PubMed

Ozkan, Jerome; Rathi, Varsha M; de la Jara, Percy Lazon; Naduvilath, Thomas; Holden, Brien A; Willcox, Mark D P

2015-02-01

The purpose of the study was to assess what effect daily cleaning of contact lenses with a multipurpose disinfection solution (MPDS), during 30 nights extended wear, would have on contact lens-related adverse events. This was a prospective, open-label, randomized, controlled, parallel-group, 3-month clinical study in which 193 participants were dispensed with lotrafilcon A silicone hydrogel lenses for a 30-day extended-wear schedule and with lenses replaced monthly. Participants were randomized to a control or test group. Test subjects were required to remove lenses daily after waking, clean them with the MPDS, and reinsert the lenses. Control subjects wore lenses without removal for 30 days extended wear. Handling-related lens contamination was assessed at the baseline visit. There was no significant difference between the test and control groups for the incidence of significant corneal infiltrative events (1.3 vs. 4.9%, p = 0.368), total corneal infiltrative events (2.6 vs. 4.9%, p = 0.682), or mechanical events (1.3 vs. 2.5%, p = 1.00). The test group had greater corneal staining (p < 0.047) and fewer mucin balls (p = 0.033). Handling-related lens contamination (unworn lenses) resulted in isolation of Gram-positive bacteria from 92.5% of test lenses compared with 87.5% of control lenses (p = 0.712). Gram-negative bacteria were isolated from 5% of test subjects compared with 2.5% of control subjects (p = 1.00). Fungus was isolated from 2.5% of subjects in both the test and control groups (p = 1.00). The intervention of daily morning cleaning of the lens surface with an MPDS during extended wear did not significantly influence the incidence of adverse events.

The shell galaxy NGC4104 in an X-ray group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lima Neto, G. B.; Durret, F.; Laganá, T.; Machado, R. E. G.; Martinet, N.

2017-07-01

Groups of galaxies are expected to collapse early in the history of the universe, in particular the so-called Fossil Groups, with a central galaxy that grows at the bottom of the gravitational potential well by cannibalizing smaller galaxies and/or by major mergers. An evidence of galactic cannibalism is the feature known as shells or ripples in early-type galaxies Shell galaxies are believed to be the result of a minor merger of a dwarf with an elliptical galaxy, resulting in a series of faint concentric ripples in surface brightness observed throughout the main stellar component. This contribution presents very deep r and g imaging of NGC 4104 - the brightest galaxy of an X-ray emitting group - obtained with MegaCam on the 3.6 m CFHT. Using both iraf/ellipse and galfit 2D image-fitting programs, we show the presence of strong shell features and an extended stellar halo around the group brightest galaxy. We have run a series of N-body simulations in order to gain insight on the dynamical process that shaped NGC 4104. Numerical modeling suggests a recent (around 5 Gyrs ago) collision occurred with a dwarf galaxy, which may have also led to a central absorption feature observed in the galaxy center. Moreover, given the magnitude gap between the first and second brightest galaxies, it seems that we are witnessing the formation of an object that falls within the fossil group classification.

High-resolution 25 μm Imaging of the Disks around Herbig Ae/Be Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honda, M.; Maaskant, K.; Okamoto, Y. K.; Kataza, H.; Yamashita, T.; Miyata, T.; Sako, S.; Fujiyoshi, T.; Sakon, I.; Fujiwara, H.; Kamizuka, T.; Mulders, G. D.; Lopez-Rodriguez, E.; Packham, C.; Onaka, T.

2015-05-01

We imaged circumstellar disks around 22 Herbig Ae/Be stars at 25 μm using Subaru/COMICS and Gemini/T-ReCS. Our sample consists of an equal number of objects from each of the two categories defined by Meeus et al.; 11 group I (flaring disk) and II (flat disk) sources. We find that group I sources tend to show more extended emission than group II sources. Previous studies have shown that the continuous disk is difficult to resolve with 8 m class telescopes in the Q band due to the strong emission from the unresolved innermost region of the disk. This indicates that the resolved Q-band sources require a hole or gap in the disk material distribution to suppress the contribution from the innermost region of the disk. As many group I sources are resolved at 25 μm, we suggest that many, but not all, group I Herbig Ae/Be disks have a hole or gap and are (pre-)transitional disks. On the other hand, the unresolved nature of many group II sources at 25 μm supports the idea that group II disks have a continuous flat disk geometry. It has been inferred that group I disks may evolve into group II through the settling of dust grains into the mid-plane of the protoplanetary disk. However, considering the growing evidence for the presence of a hole or gap in the disk of group I sources, such an evolutionary scenario is unlikely. The difference between groups I and II may reflect different evolutionary pathways of protoplanetary disks. Based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, via the time exchange program between Subaru and the Gemini Observatory. The Subaru Telescope is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

An extended approach for computing the critical properties in the two-and three-dimensional lattices within the effective-field renormalization group method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Albuquerque, Douglas F.; Santos-Silva, Edimilson; Moreno, N. O.

2009-10-01

In this letter we employing the effective-field renormalization group (EFRG) to study the Ising model with nearest neighbors to obtain the reduced critical temperature and exponents ν for bi- and three-dimensional lattices by increasing cluster scheme by extending recent works. The technique follows up the same strategy of the mean field renormalization group (MFRG) by introducing an alternative way for constructing classical effective-field equations of state takes on rigorous Ising spin identities.

The Extended African American Family: A Pragmatic Strategy That Blunts the Blade of Injustice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ford, Donna Yvette; And Others

1991-01-01

Considers the extended African-American family, beginning with a historical perspective of the nuclear family and other family arrangements. The importance of the group rather than the individual for African-American culture is explored. Analyses of the function of the extended family indicate its role in adaptation and survival. (SLD)

Effects of Extended Time Allotments on Reading Comprehension Performance of College Students with and without Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewandowski, Lawrence; Cohen, Justin; Lovett, Benjamin J.

2013-01-01

Students with disabilities often receive test accommodations in schools and on high-stakes tests. Students with learning disabilities (LD) represent the largest disability group in schools, and extended time the most common test accommodation requested by such students. This pairing persists despite controversy over the validity of extended time…

Possible Very Distant or Optically Dark Cluster of Galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vikhlinin, Alexey; Mushotzky, Richard (Technical Monitor)

2003-01-01

The goal of this proposal was an XMM followup observation of the extended X-ray source detected in our ROSAT PSPC cluster survey. Approximately 95% of extended X-ray sources found in the ROSAT data were optically identified as clusters of galaxies. However, we failed to find any optical counterparts for C10952-0148. Two possibilities remained prior to the XMM observation: (1) This is was a very distant or optically dark cluster of galaxies, too faint in the optical, in which case XMM would easily detect extended X-ray emission and (2) this was a group of point-like sources, blurred to a single extended source in the ROSAT data, but easily resolvable by XMM due to a better energy resolution. The XMM data have settled the case --- C10952-0148 is a group of 7 relatively bright point sources located within 1 square arcmin. All but one source have no optical counterparts down to I=22. Potentially, this can be an interesting group of quasars at a high redshift. We are planning further optical and infrared followup of this system.

The price of racial bias: intergroup negotiations in the ultimatum game.

PubMed

Kubota, Jennifer T; Li, Jian; Bar-David, Eyal; Banaji, Mahzarin R; Phelps, Elizabeth A

2013-12-01

Existing stereotypes about Black Americans may influence perceptions of intent during financial negotiations. In this study, we explored whether the influence of race on economic decisions extends to choices that are costly to the decision maker. We investigated whether racial group membership contributes to differential likelihood of rejection of objectively equal unfair monetary offers. In the Ultimatum Game, players accept or reject proposed splits of money. Players keep accepted splits, but if a player rejects an offer, both the player and the proposer receive nothing. We found that participants accepted more offers and lower offer amounts from White proposers than from Black proposers, and that this pattern was accentuated for participants with higher implicit race bias. These findings indicate that participants are willing to discriminate against Black proposers even at a cost to their own financial gain.

'Anyone can edit', not everyone does: Wikipedia's infrastructure and the gender gap.

PubMed

Ford, Heather; Wajcman, Judy

2017-08-01

Feminist STS has long established that science's provenance as a male domain continues to define what counts as knowledge and expertise. Wikipedia, arguably one of the most powerful sources of information today, was initially lauded as providing the opportunity to rebuild knowledge institutions by providing greater representation of multiple groups. However, less than ten percent of Wikipedia editors are women. At one level, this imbalance in contributions and therefore content is yet another case of the masculine culture of technoscience. This is an important argument and, in this article, we examine the empirical research that highlights these issues. Our main objective, however, is to extend current accounts by demonstrating that Wikipedia's infrastructure introduces new and less visible sources of gender disparity. In sum, our aim here is to present a consolidated analysis of the gendering of Wikipedia.

The Price of Racial Bias: Intergroup Negotiations in the Ultimatum Game

PubMed Central

Kubota, Jennifer T.; Li, Jian; Bar-David, Eyal; Banaji, Mahzarin R.; Phelps, Elizabeth A.

2014-01-01

Existing stereotypes about Black Americans may influence perceptions of intent during financial negotiations. In this study, we explored whether the influence of race on economic decisions extends to choices that are costly to the decision maker. We investigated whether racial group membership contributes to differential likelihood of rejection of objectively equal unfair monetary offers. In the Ultimatum Game, players accept or reject proposed splits of money. Players keep accepted splits, but if a player rejects an offer, both the player and the proposer receive nothing. We found that participants accepted more offers and lower offer amounts from White proposers than from Black proposers, and that this pattern was accentuated for participants with higher implicit race bias. These findings indicate that participants are willing to discriminate against Black proposers even at a cost to their own financial gain. PMID:24121413

Role of the limbic system in dependence on drugs.

PubMed

Rodríguez de Fonseca, F; Navarro, M

1998-08-01

The limbic system is a group of structurally and functionally related areas of the brain that provides the anatomical substrate for emotions and motivated behaviour, including the circuitry for the stress response and reward-related events. This system is strongly implicated in drug abuse from the pleasure and/or positive side associated with acute exposure to the dysphoria and craving associated with withdrawal. The contribution of the main cortical and subcortical elements of the limbic system to drug dependence is briefly reviewed in the present work with a focus on the role of the extended amygdala and its connections as well as on the peripheral feedback signals mediated by adrenal glucocorticoids. The elucidation of the neuroadaptive responses of the limbic system to chronic drug exposure will undoubtedly help to design rational strategies for the treatment of addiction.

Enhanced external and culturally sensitive attributions after extended intercultural contact.

PubMed

Vollhardt, Johanna Ray

2010-06-01

This study examined the effect of close and extended intercultural contact on attributions for behaviour of out-group members. Specifically, it was hypothesized that extended intercultural contact would enhance the ability to make external and culturally sensitive attributions for ambiguous behaviour of out-group members, while decreasing the common tendency to overestimate internal factors. A content analysis of open-ended attributions supported these hypotheses, revealing that majority group members in Germany who had hosted an exchange student from another continent used significantly less internal and more external as well as culturally sensitive attributions to explain the behaviour described in critical intercultural incidents, compared to future hosts. The effect remained significant when controlling for perspective taking and prior intercultural experience. Moreover, the hypothesis was supported for scenarios describing different cultural groups (regardless of the exchange students' country of origin), suggesting a generalized effect. Problems of selection bias are discussed, and the importance of studying a range of positive outcomes of intercultural contact is emphasized.

Extended versus peripancreatic lymph node dissection for the treatment of left-sided pancreatic cancer

PubMed Central

Lee, Huisong; Choi, Seong Ho; Choi, Dong Wook

2017-01-01

Purpose The pathways of lymphatic metastases differ according to the tumor location in pancreatic cancer patients. However, it is unclear whether extended lymph node dissection (LND) is essential for all left-sided pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the survival outcomes according to the extent of LND and tumor location in patients with left-sided pancreatic cancer. Methods January 2005 to December 2013, we retrospectively identified 107 patients who underwent curative intent surgery for left-sided pancreatic cancer. The left-sided pancreatic cancer was defined as a tumor located in pancreatic body or tail. The extent of LND was divided into 2 groups: extended LND and peripancreatic LND. The extended LND group included celiac and superior mesenteric LNs. Results We included 107 patients with left-sided pancreatic cancer; 59 patients with pancreatic body cancer and 48 patients with pancreatic tail cancer. The median follow-up period was 17 months (range, 3–110 months). Fifty patients with pancreatic body cancer and 30 patients with pancreatic tail cancer underwent extended LND. In patients with pancreatic body cancer, extended LND was associated with improved disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.010) and overall survival (P = 0.014). However, extended LND was not associated with DFS in patients with pancreatic tail cancer. Conclusion Extended LND could improve survival in patients with pancreatic body cancer. However, extended LND had no survival benefit for the treatment of pancreatic tail cancer. PMID:28580345

Extended versus peripancreatic lymph node dissection for the treatment of left-sided pancreatic cancer.

PubMed

Lee, Huisong; Heo, Jin Seok; Choi, Seong Ho; Choi, Dong Wook

2017-06-01

The pathways of lymphatic metastases differ according to the tumor location in pancreatic cancer patients. However, it is unclear whether extended lymph node dissection (LND) is essential for all left-sided pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the survival outcomes according to the extent of LND and tumor location in patients with left-sided pancreatic cancer. January 2005 to December 2013, we retrospectively identified 107 patients who underwent curative intent surgery for left-sided pancreatic cancer. The left-sided pancreatic cancer was defined as a tumor located in pancreatic body or tail. The extent of LND was divided into 2 groups: extended LND and peripancreatic LND. The extended LND group included celiac and superior mesenteric LNs. We included 107 patients with left-sided pancreatic cancer; 59 patients with pancreatic body cancer and 48 patients with pancreatic tail cancer. The median follow-up period was 17 months (range, 3-110 months). Fifty patients with pancreatic body cancer and 30 patients with pancreatic tail cancer underwent extended LND. In patients with pancreatic body cancer, extended LND was associated with improved disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.010) and overall survival (P = 0.014). However, extended LND was not associated with DFS in patients with pancreatic tail cancer. Extended LND could improve survival in patients with pancreatic body cancer. However, extended LND had no survival benefit for the treatment of pancreatic tail cancer.

Background sounds contribute to spectrotemporal plasticity in primary auditory cortex.

PubMed

Moucha, Raluca; Pandya, Pritesh K; Engineer, Navzer D; Rathbun, Daniel L; Kilgard, Michael P

2005-05-01

The mammalian auditory system evolved to extract meaningful information from complex acoustic environments. Spectrotemporal selectivity of auditory neurons provides a potential mechanism to represent natural sounds. Experience-dependent plasticity mechanisms can remodel the spectrotemporal selectivity of neurons in primary auditory cortex (A1). Electrical stimulation of the cholinergic nucleus basalis (NB) enables plasticity in A1 that parallels natural learning and is specific to acoustic features associated with NB activity. In this study, we used NB stimulation to explore how cortical networks reorganize after experience with frequency-modulated (FM) sweeps, and how background stimuli contribute to spectrotemporal plasticity in rat auditory cortex. Pairing an 8-4 kHz FM sweep with NB stimulation 300 times per day for 20 days decreased tone thresholds, frequency selectivity, and response latency of A1 neurons in the region of the tonotopic map activated by the sound. In an attempt to modify neuronal response properties across all of A1 the same NB activation was paired in a second group of rats with five downward FM sweeps, each spanning a different octave. No changes in FM selectivity or receptive field (RF) structure were observed when the neural activation was distributed across the cortical surface. However, the addition of unpaired background sweeps of different rates or direction was sufficient to alter RF characteristics across the tonotopic map in a third group of rats. These results extend earlier observations that cortical neurons can develop stimulus specific plasticity and indicate that background conditions can strongly influence cortical plasticity.

Rifaximin Reduces the Number and Severity of Intestinal Lesions Associated With Use of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in Humans.

PubMed

Scarpignato, Carmelo; Dolak, Werner; Lanas, Angel; Matzneller, Peter; Renzulli, Cecilia; Grimaldi, Maria; Zeitlinger, Markus; Bjarnason, Ingvar

2017-04-01

The intestinal microbiota might contribute to enteropathy associated with use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), but there have been few human studies of this association. We performed a placebo-controlled study to determine whether a delayed-release antibiotic formulation (rifaximin-extended intestinal release [EIR]) prevents the development of intestinal lesions in subjects taking daily NSAIDs. Sixty healthy volunteers (median age, 26 y; 42% female) were given the NSAID diclofenac (75 mg twice daily) plus omeprazole (20 mg once daily), and either rifaximin-EIR (400 mg) or placebo, twice daily for 14 days. Subjects were assessed by videocapsule endoscopy at baseline and after 2 weeks of treatment. The primary end point was the proportion of subjects developing at least 1 small-bowel mucosal break at week 2. Secondary end points were the change in the mean number of mucosal lesions and the number of subjects with large erosions and/or ulcers after 14 days of exposure. We detected mucosal breaks in 20% of subjects given rifaximin and in 43% of subjects given placebo (P = .05 in the post hoc sensitivity analysis). None of the subjects in the rifaximin group developed large lesions, compared with 9 subjects in the placebo group (P < .001). Our findings indicate that intestinal bacteria contribute to the development of NSAID-associated enteropathy in human beings. Clinical trial no: EudraCT 2013-000730-36. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Aberrant functioning of the putamen links delusions, antipsychotic drug dose, and compromised connectivity in first episode psychosis--Preliminary fMRI findings.

PubMed

Raij, Tuukka T; Mäntylä, Teemu; Kieseppä, Tuula; Suvisaari, Jaana

2015-08-30

The dopamine theory proposes the relationship of delusions to aberrant signaling in striatal circuitries that can be normalized with dopamine D2 receptor-blocking drugs. Localization of such circuitries, as well as their upstream and downstream signaling, remains poorly known. We collected functional magnetic resonance images from first-episode psychosis patients and controls during an audiovisual movie. Final analyses included 20 patients and 20 controls; another sample of 10 patients and 10 controls was used to calculate a comparison signal-time course. We identified putamen circuitry in which the signal aberrance (poor correlation with the comparison signal time course) was predicted by the dopamine theory, being greater in patients than controls; correlating positively with delusion scores; and correlating negatively with antipsychotic-equivalent dosage. In Granger causality analysis, patients showed a compromised contribution of the cortical salience network to the putamen and compromised contribution of the putamen to the default mode network. Results were corrected for multiple comparisons at the cluster level with primary voxel-wise threshold p < 0.005 for the salience network contribution, but liberal primary threshold p < 0.05 was used in other group comparisons. If replicated in larger studies, these findings may help unify and extend current hypotheses on dopaminergic dysfunction, salience processing and pathogenesis of delusions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Universal seesaw and 0νββ in new 3331 left-right symmetric model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borah, Debasish; Patra, Sudhanwa

2017-08-01

We consider a class of left-right symmetric model with enlarged gauge group SU(3)c × SU(3)L × SU(3)R × U(1)X without having scalar bitriplet. In the absence of scalar bitriplet, there is no Dirac mass term for fermions including usual quarks and leptons. We introduce new isosinglet vector-like fermions so that all the fermions get their masses through a universal seesaw mechanism. We extend our discussion to neutrino mass and its implications in neutrinoless double beta decay (0 νββ). We show that for TeV scale SU(3)R gauge bosons, the heavy-light neutrino mixing contributes dominantly to 0 νββ that can be observed at ongoing experiments. The new physics contributions arising from purely left-handed currents via exchange of keV scale right-handed neutrinos and the so called mixed helicity λ-diagram can saturate the KamLANDZen bound. We show that the right handed neutrinos in this model can have mass in the sub keV range and can be long lived compared to the age of the Universe. The contributions of these right handed neutrinos to flavour physics observables like μ → eγ and muon g - 2 is also discussed. Towards the end we also comment on different possible symmetry breaking patterns of this enlarged gauge symmetry to that of the standard model.

Uncovering the formation and selection of benzylmalonyl-CoA from the biosynthesis of splenocin and enterocin reveals a versatile way to introduce amino acids into polyketide carbon scaffolds.

PubMed

Chang, Chenchen; Huang, Rong; Yan, Yan; Ma, Hongmin; Dai, Zheng; Zhang, Benying; Deng, Zixin; Liu, Wen; Qu, Xudong

2015-04-01

Selective modification of carbon scaffolds via biosynthetic engineering is important for polyketide structural diversification. Yet, this scope is currently restricted to simple aliphatic groups due to (1) limited variety of CoA-linked extender units, which lack aromatic structures and chemical reactivity, and (2) narrow acyltransferase (AT) specificity, which is limited to aliphatic CoA-linked extender units. In this report, we uncovered and characterized the first aromatic CoA-linked extender unit benzylmalonyl-CoA from the biosynthetic pathways of splenocin and enterocin in Streptomyces sp. CNQ431. Its synthesis employs a deamination/reductive carboxylation strategy to convert phenylalanine into benzylmalonyl-CoA, providing a link between amino acid and CoA-linked extender unit synthesis. By characterization of its selection, we further validated that AT domains of splenocin, and antimycin polyketide synthases are able to select this extender unit to introduce the phenyl group into their dilactone scaffolds. The biosynthetic machinery involved in the formation of this extender unit is highly versatile and can be potentially tailored for tyrosine, histidine and aspartic acid. The disclosed aromatic extender unit, amino acid-oriented synthetic pathway, and aromatic-selective AT domains provides a systematic breakthrough toward current knowledge of polyketide extender unit formation and selection, and also opens a route for further engineering of polyketide carbon scaffolds using amino acids.

The transverse musculo-cutaneous gracilis flap for breast reconstruction: How to avoid complications.

PubMed

Bodin, Frédéric; Dissaux, Caroline; Dupret-Bories, Agnes; Schohn, Thomas; Fiquet, Caroline; Bruant-Rodier, Catherine

2016-01-01

The transverse musculocutaneous gracilis (TMG) flap has become a common solution for breast reconstruction. However, the safe skin paddle limits are not yet understood. In this study, we attempted to address this issue based on our experiences with inferior and posterior skin paddle extension. Forty-four breast reconstructions with TMG flaps performed between November 2010 and January 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. For the first 20 cases, the flap skin paddle was extended 3 cm posteriorly to the middle thigh (group 1). For the next 20 flaps (group 2), the posterior tip was limited to this line, whereas more fat was recruited inferiorly. In the four cases of group 3, the skin flap was extended posteriorly with a second vascular pedicle from the profunda artery perforator (PAP) flap. The weights and the dimensions of the flaps, operating durations, and postoperative complications of the entire series were analyzed. Groups 1 and 2 were statistically compared. Flap complications were statistically more frequent in group 1 compared with group 2 (45 vs. 0%, P = 0.0012); 40% posterior flap tip necrosis was observed in group 1. Conversely, donor site complications were statistically more frequent in group 2 than in group 1 (40 vs. 5%, P = 0.019) with 35% inner thigh dehiscence. In the TMG with extended PAP flap group, the operating duration was 77 min longer compared with the rest of the series with no donor site complications. In one case, limited necrosis occurred at the anterior skin tip. Harvesting the posterior portion of the TMG up to the middle of the posterior thigh may lead to partial flap necrosis. Extending subcutaneous fat removal under the inferior skin incision may increase the risk of donor site complications. Adding a second vascular pedicle from the PAP flap may improve posterior TMG tip perfusion at the expense of a longer operation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effect of vitamin E and selenium nanoparticles on post-thaw variables and oxidative status of rooster semen.

PubMed

Safa, Soroush; Moghaddam, Gholamali; Jozani, Raziallah Jafari; Daghigh Kia, Hossein; Janmohammadi, Hossein

2016-11-01

This study was conducted to determine the combined effects of adding vitamin E (VitE) and selenium nanoparticle (Nano-Se) as antioxidant supplements to rooster semen extender for freezing. Semen samples were collected from 12 White Leghorn roosters and pooled. Subsequently, the samples were divided into nine equal groups using modified Beltsville extender. Extenders were supplemented with either two amounts of VitE (5 and 10μg/mL) or two amounts of Nano-Se (1% and 2%) or a combination of both VitE and Nano-Se, and no antioxidants extender (control group). Using 5μg/mL VitE and 1% of Nano-Se improved (P<0.05) total sperm motility (79.28±3.86%), progressive sperm motility (18.03±1.02%), sperm viability (81.46±2.16%) and integrity of the sperm membrane (77.21±2.12%) after the freeze-thawing process compared with control group (54.08±3.86%, 10.96±1.02%, 60.53±2.16%, and 54.47±2.12%; respectively). Also, extenders supplemented with 5μg/mL Vit E or 5μg/mL VitE and 1% Nano-Se had a lesser malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration compared to control extender (1.15±0.32, and 1.29±0.32, respectively). Total abnormal morphology of sperm was decreased (P<0.05) by adding 5 or 10μg/mL VitE alone or in combined with 1% or 2% Nano-Se. Moreover, extenders containing Nano-Se demonstrated greater glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity compared to other extenders. Catalase (CAT) activity was greater in extender supplemented with 10μg/mL VitE and 2% Nano-Se. Moreover, higher TAC was observed in extenders supplemented with VitE and Nano-Se. It can be concluded that addition of 5μg/mL vitamin E in combined with 1% Nano-Se improved the post-thawing quality and oxidative variables of rooster semen. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Processing Conjugated-Diene-Containing Polymers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bell, Vernon L.; Havens, Stephen J.

1987-01-01

Diels-Alder reaction used to cross-linked thermoplastics. Process uses Diels-Alder reaction to cross-link and/or extend conjugated-diene-containing polymers by reacting them with bis-unsaturated dienophiles results in improved polymer properties. Quantities of diene groups required for cross-linking varies from very low to very high concentrations. Process also used to extend, or build up molecular weights of, low-molecular-weight linear polymers with terminal conjugated dienic groups.

The influence of the hippocampus and declarative memory on word use: Patients with amnesia use less imageable words

PubMed Central

Hilverman, Caitlin; Cook, Susan Wagner; Duff, Melissa C.

2018-01-01

Hippocampal functioning contributes to our ability to generate multifaceted, imagistic event representations. Patients with hippocampal damage produce event narratives that contain fewer details and fewer imagistic features. We hypothesized that impoverished memory representations would influence language at the word level, yielding words lower in imageability and concreteness. We tested this by examining language produced by patients with bilateral hippocampal damage and severe declarative memory impairment, and brain-damaged and healthy comparison groups. Participants described events from the real past, imagined past, imagined present, and imagined future. We analyzed the imageability and concreteness of words used. Patients with amnesia used words that were less imageable than those of comparison groups across time periods, even when accounting for the amount of episodic detail in narratives. Moreover, all participants used words that were relatively more imageable when discussing real past events than other time periods. Taken together, these findings suggest that the memory that we have for an event affects how we talk about that event, and this extends all the way to the individual words that we use. PMID:28970108

Benthic colonization in newly ice-free soft-bottom areas in an Antarctic fjord

PubMed Central

Servetto, Natalia; Torre, Luciana; Sahade, Ricardo

2017-01-01

Extended glacier retreat is among the main consequences of the rapid warming of the West Antarctic Peninsula. Particularly, in the inner part of Potter Cove (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) large areas are now exposed to open sea conditions owing to the retreat of Fourcade glacier. During the 2010 austral summer, underwater photographic surveys were undertaken by SCUBA diving up to 30 m in these new ice-free areas 80 m from the glacier front. Our main aim was to investigate colonization and early succession of the benthic assemblages on soft-bottom areas. Here, we reported a total of 1,146 animals belonging to 13 taxa. Filter-feeders comprised the largest trophic group and sessile fauna showed much higher coverages and densities than mobile fauna at all depths. The most abundant groups were ascidians and bryozoans, which together comprised ~90% of all taxa documented. In a region where most of marine-terminating glaciers are in retreat, these results are an important contribution to improve our knowledge on colonization in the newly ice-free areas. PMID:29117262

Benthic colonization in newly ice-free soft-bottom areas in an Antarctic fjord.

PubMed

Lagger, Cristian; Servetto, Natalia; Torre, Luciana; Sahade, Ricardo

2017-01-01

Extended glacier retreat is among the main consequences of the rapid warming of the West Antarctic Peninsula. Particularly, in the inner part of Potter Cove (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) large areas are now exposed to open sea conditions owing to the retreat of Fourcade glacier. During the 2010 austral summer, underwater photographic surveys were undertaken by SCUBA diving up to 30 m in these new ice-free areas 80 m from the glacier front. Our main aim was to investigate colonization and early succession of the benthic assemblages on soft-bottom areas. Here, we reported a total of 1,146 animals belonging to 13 taxa. Filter-feeders comprised the largest trophic group and sessile fauna showed much higher coverages and densities than mobile fauna at all depths. The most abundant groups were ascidians and bryozoans, which together comprised ~90% of all taxa documented. In a region where most of marine-terminating glaciers are in retreat, these results are an important contribution to improve our knowledge on colonization in the newly ice-free areas.

Roles of nuclear weak rates on the evolution of degenerate cores in stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, Toshio; Tsunodaa, Naofumi; Tsunoda, Yuhsuke; Shimizu, Noritaka; Otsuka, Takaharu

2018-01-01

Electron-capture and β-decay rates in stellar environments are evaluated with the use of new shell-model Hamiltonians for sd-shell and pf-shell nuclei as well as for nuclei belonging to the island of inversion. Important role of the nuclear weak rates on the final evolution of stellar degenerate cores is presented. The weak interaction rates for sd-shell nuclei are calculated to study nuclear Urca processes in O-Ne-Mg cores of stars with 8-10 M⊙ (solar mass) and their effects on the final fate of the stars. Nucleosynthesis of iron-group elements in Type Ia supernova explosions are studied with the weak rates for pf-shell nuclei. The problem of the neutron-rich iron-group isotope over-production compared to the solar abundances is shown to be nearly solved with the use of the new rates and explosion model of slow defraglation with delayed detonation. Evaluation of the weak rates is extended to the island of inversion and the region of neutron-rich nuclei near 78Ni, where two major shells contribute to their configurations.

Stability and Control CFD Investigations of a Generic 53 Degree Swept UCAV Configuration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frink, Neal T.

2014-01-01

NATO STO Task Group AVT-201 on "Extended Assessment of Reliable Stability & Control Prediction Methods for NATO Air Vehicles" is studying various computational approaches to predict stability and control parameters for aircraft undergoing non-linear flight conditions. This paper contributes an assessment through correlations with wind tunnel data for the state of aerodynamic predictive capability of time-accurate RANS methodology on the group's focus configuration, a 53deg swept and twisted lambda wing UCAV, undergoing a variety of roll, pitch, and yaw motions. The vehicle aerodynamics is dominated by the complex non-linear physics of round leading-edge vortex flow separation. Correlations with experimental data are made for static longitudinal/lateral sweeps, and at varying frequencies of prescribed roll/pitch/yaw sinusoidal motion for the vehicle operating with and without control surfaces. The data and the derived understanding should prove useful to the AVT-201 team and other researchers who are developing techniques for augmenting flight simulation models from low-speed CFD predictions of aircraft traversing non-linear regions of a flight envelope.

Modeling Physical Processes at the Nanoscale—Insight into Self-Organization of Small Systems (abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proykova, Ana

2009-04-01

Essential contributions have been made in the field of finite-size systems of ingredients interacting with potentials of various ranges. Theoretical simulations have revealed peculiar size effects on stability, ground state structure, phases, and phase transformation of systems confined in space and time. Models developed in the field of pure physics (atomic and molecular clusters) have been extended and successfully transferred to finite-size systems that seem very different—small-scale financial markets, autoimmune reactions, and social group reactions to advertisements. The models show that small-scale markets diverge unexpectedly fast as a result of small fluctuations; autoimmune reactions are sequences of two discontinuous phase transitions; and social groups possess critical behavior (social percolation) under the influence of an external field (advertisement). Some predicted size-dependent properties have been experimentally observed. These findings lead to the hypothesis that restrictions on an object's size determine the object's total internal (configuration) and external (environmental) interactions. Since phases are emergent phenomena produced by self-organization of a large number of particles, the occurrence of a phase in a system containing a small number of ingredients is remarkable.

Social networks and cooperation in hunter-gatherers.

PubMed

Apicella, Coren L; Marlowe, Frank W; Fowler, James H; Christakis, Nicholas A

2012-01-25

Social networks show striking structural regularities, and both theory and evidence suggest that networks may have facilitated the development of large-scale cooperation in humans. Here, we characterize the social networks of the Hadza, a population of hunter-gatherers in Tanzania. We show that Hadza networks have important properties also seen in modernized social networks, including a skewed degree distribution, degree assortativity, transitivity, reciprocity, geographic decay and homophily. We demonstrate that Hadza camps exhibit high between-group and low within-group variation in public goods game donations. Network ties are also more likely between people who give the same amount, and the similarity in cooperative behaviour extends up to two degrees of separation. Social distance appears to be as important as genetic relatedness and physical proximity in explaining assortativity in cooperation. Our results suggest that certain elements of social network structure may have been present at an early point in human history. Also, early humans may have formed ties with both kin and non-kin, based in part on their tendency to cooperate. Social networks may thus have contributed to the emergence of cooperation.

Coarse Graining to Investigate Membrane Induced Peptide Folding of Anticancer Peptides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganesan, Sai; Xu, Hongcheng; Matysiak, Silvina

Information about membrane induced peptide folding mechanisms using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations is a challenge due to time and length scale issues.We recently developed a low resolution Water Explicit Polarizable PROtein coarse-grained Model by adding oppositely charged dummy particles inside protein backbone beads.These two dummy particles represent a fluctuating dipole,thus introducing structural polarization into the coarse-grained model.With this model,we were able to achieve significant α- β secondary structure content de novo,without any added bias.We extended the model to zwitterionic and anionic lipids,by adding oppositely charged dummy particles inside polar beads, to capture the ability of the head group region to form hydrogen bonds.We use zwitterionic POPC and anionic POPS as our model lipids, and a cationic anticancer peptide,SVS1,as our model peptide.We have characterized the driving forces for SVS1 folding on lipid bilayers with varying anionic and zwitterionic lipid compositions.Based on our results, dipolar interactions between peptide backbone and lipid head groups contribute to stabilize folded conformations.Cooperativity in folding is induced by both intra peptide and membrane-peptide interaction.

Intra-group Stigma: Examining Peer Relationships Among Women in Recovery for Addictions.

PubMed

Gunn, Alana J; Canada, Kelli E

This grounded theory study explores how women with histories of addiction perceive stigma while in treatment. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 women participating in a residential drug treatment center. Previous research has found that support from peers during recovery can be critical to managing illnesses. In fact, researchers have postulated that peers can be a more effective form of support than even family. This study extends existing literature indicating that peer support systems can be supportive, however they can also can be perceived as negative support that impose stigmas. Findings reveal that women perceive stigmas due to how various types of drug use violate societal expectations and conflict with notions of deservingness. Specifically, the "hard users" (i.e., women who use heroin or crack cocaine) perceive stigmas regarding how their drug use violates norms of womanhood. Moreover, the "soft users" (i.e., those who use alcohol or marijuana) perceive stigmas that their drug use is considered undeserving of support. This paper explores the factors that contribute to stigma amongst populations who potentially face marginalization from larger society. Implications for treatment and group work are discussed.

Affective norms for 720 French words rated by children and adolescents (FANchild).

PubMed

Monnier, Catherine; Syssau, Arielle

2017-10-01

FANchild (French Affective Norms for Children) provides norms of valence and arousal for a large corpus of French words (N = 720) rated by 908 French children and adolescents (ages 7, 9, 11, and 13). The ratings were made using the Self-Assessment Manikin (Lang, 1980). Because it combines evaluations of arousal and valence and includes ratings provided by 7-, 9-, 11-, and 13-year-olds, this database complements and extends existing French-language databases. Good response reliability was observed in each of the four age groups. Despite a significant level of consensus, we found age differences in both the valence and arousal ratings: Seven- and 9-year-old children gave higher mean valence and arousal ratings than did the other age groups. Moreover, the tendency to judge words positively (i.e., positive bias) decreased with age. This age- and sex-related database will enable French-speaking researchers to study how the emotional character of words influences their cognitive processing, and how this influence evolves with age. FANchild is available at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catherine_Monnier/contributions .

Dynamics of human serum albumin studied by acoustic relaxation spectroscopy.

PubMed

Hushcha, T; Kaatze, U; Peytcheva, A

Sonic absorption spectra of solutions of human serum albumin (SA) in water and in aqueous phosphate buffer systems have been measured between 0.2 and 2000 MHz at different temperatures (15-35 degrees C), pH values (1.8-12.3), and protein concentrations (1-40 g/L). Several spectra, indicating relaxation processes in the whole frequency range, have been found. The spectra at neutral pH could be fitted well with an analytical function consisting of the asymptotic high frequency absorption and two relaxation contributions, a Debye-type relaxation term with discrete relaxation time and a term with asymmetric continuous distribution of relaxation times. Both relaxation contributions were observed in water and in buffer solutions and increased with protein concentration. The contribution represented by a Debye-type term is practically independent of temperature and was attributed to cooperative conformational changes of the polypeptide chain featuring a relaxation time of about 400 ns. The distribution of the relaxation times corresponding to the second relaxation contribution was characterized by a short time cutoff, between about 0.02 and 0.4 ns depending on temperature, and a long time tail extending to microseconds. Such relaxation behavior was interpreted in terms of solute-solvent interactions reflecting various hydration layers of HSA molecules. At acid and alkaline pH, an additional Debye-type contribution with relaxation time in the range of 30-100 ns exists. It seems to be due to proton transfer reactions of protein side-chain groups. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of these processes have been estimated from these first measurements to indicate the potential of acoustic spectra for the investigation of the elementary kinetics of albumin processes. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers, 2004

Solvophobic and solvophilic contributions in the water-to-aqueous guanidinium chloride transfer free energy of model peptides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomar, Dheeraj S.; Ramesh, Niral; Asthagiri, D.

2018-06-01

We study the solvation free energy of two different conformations (helix and extended) of two different peptides (deca-alanine and deca-glycine) in two different solvents (water and aqueous guanidinium chloride, GdmCl). The free energies are obtained using the quasichemical organization of the potential distribution theorem, an approach that naturally provides the repulsive (solvophobic or cavity) and attractive (solvophilic) contributions to solvation. The solvophilic contribution is further parsed into a chemistry contribution arising from solute interaction with the solvent in the first solvation shell and a long-range contribution arising from non-specific interactions between the solute and the solvent beyond the first solvation shell. The cavity contribution is obtained for two different envelopes, ΣS E, which theory helps identify as the solvent excluded volume, and ΣG, a larger envelope beyond which solute-solvent interactions are Gaussian. The ΣS E envelope is independent of the solvent, as expected on the basis of the insensitivity to the solvent type of the distance of closest approach between protein heavy atoms and solvent heavy atoms, but contrary to the intuition based on treating solvent constituents as spheres of some effective radii. For both envelopes, the cavity contribution in water is proportional to the surface area of the envelope. The same does not hold for GdmCl(aq), revealing the limitation of using molecular area to assess solvation energetics. The ΣG-cavity contribution predicts that GdmCl(aq) should favor the more compact state, contrary to the role of GdmCl in unfolding proteins. The chemistry contribution attenuates this effect, but still the net local (chemistry plus ΣG-packing) contribution is inadequate in capturing the role of GdmCl. With the inclusion of the long-range contribution, which is dominated by van der Waals interaction, aqueous GdmCl favors the extended conformation over the compact conformation. Our finding emphasizes the importance of weak, but attractive, long-range dispersion interactions in protein solution thermodynamics.

Solvophobic and solvophilic contributions in the water-to-aqueous guanidinium chloride transfer free energy of model peptides.

PubMed

Tomar, Dheeraj S; Ramesh, Niral; Asthagiri, D

2018-06-14

We study the solvation free energy of two different conformations (helix and extended) of two different peptides (deca-alanine and deca-glycine) in two different solvents (water and aqueous guanidinium chloride, GdmCl). The free energies are obtained using the quasichemical organization of the potential distribution theorem, an approach that naturally provides the repulsive (solvophobic or cavity) and attractive (solvophilic) contributions to solvation. The solvophilic contribution is further parsed into a chemistry contribution arising from solute interaction with the solvent in the first solvation shell and a long-range contribution arising from non-specific interactions between the solute and the solvent beyond the first solvation shell. The cavity contribution is obtained for two different envelopes, Σ SE , which theory helps identify as the solvent excluded volume, and Σ G , a larger envelope beyond which solute-solvent interactions are Gaussian. The Σ SE envelope is independent of the solvent, as expected on the basis of the insensitivity to the solvent type of the distance of closest approach between protein heavy atoms and solvent heavy atoms, but contrary to the intuition based on treating solvent constituents as spheres of some effective radii. For both envelopes, the cavity contribution in water is proportional to the surface area of the envelope. The same does not hold for GdmCl(aq), revealing the limitation of using molecular area to assess solvation energetics. The Σ G -cavity contribution predicts that GdmCl(aq) should favor the more compact state, contrary to the role of GdmCl in unfolding proteins. The chemistry contribution attenuates this effect, but still the net local (chemistry plus Σ G -packing) contribution is inadequate in capturing the role of GdmCl. With the inclusion of the long-range contribution, which is dominated by van der Waals interaction, aqueous GdmCl favors the extended conformation over the compact conformation. Our finding emphasizes the importance of weak, but attractive, long-range dispersion interactions in protein solution thermodynamics.

The Contributions of Memory and Vocabulary to Non-Verbal Ability Scores in Adolescents with Intellectual Disability

PubMed Central

Mungkhetklang, Chantanee; Bavin, Edith L.; Crewther, Sheila G.; Goharpey, Nahal; Parsons, Carl

2016-01-01

It is usually assumed that performance on non-verbal intelligence tests reflects visual cognitive processing and that aspects of working memory (WM) will be involved. However, the unique contribution of memory to non-verbal scores is not clear, nor is the unique contribution of vocabulary. Thus, we aimed to investigate these contributions. Non-verbal test scores for 17 individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and 39 children with typical development (TD) of similar mental age were compared to determine the unique contribution of visual and verbal short-term memory (STM) and WM and the additional variance contributed by vocabulary scores. No significant group differences were found in the non-verbal test scores or receptive vocabulary scores, but there was a significant difference in expressive vocabulary. Regression analyses indicate that for the TD group STM and WM (both visual and verbal) contributed similar variance to the non-verbal scores. For the ID group, visual STM and verbal WM contributed most of the variance to the non-verbal test scores. The addition of vocabulary scores to the model contributed greater variance for both groups. More unique variance was contributed by vocabulary than memory for the TD group, whereas for the ID group memory contributed more than vocabulary. Visual and auditory memory and vocabulary contributed significantly to solving visual non-verbal problems for both the TD group and the ID group. However, for each group, there were different weightings of these variables. Our findings indicate that for individuals with TD, vocabulary is the major factor in solving non-verbal problems, not memory, whereas for adolescents with ID, visual STM, and verbal WM are more influential than vocabulary, suggesting different pathways to achieve solutions to non-verbal problems. PMID:28082922

Tear analysis in contact lens wearers.

PubMed Central

Farris, R L

1985-01-01

Tear analysis in contact lens wearers was compared with tear analysis in aphakics without contact lens wear and normal phakic patients. Subjects were divided into five groups: group 1, aphakic without contact lens; group 2, phakic with daily-wear hard contact lens; group 3, phakic with daily-wear soft contact lens; group 4, phakic with extended-wear soft contact lens; and group 5, aphakic with extended-wear soft contact lens. The experimental groups were compared with age- and sex-matched control groups for statistical analysis of tear variables by means of the Student's t-test. The variables measured were tear osmolarity, tear albumin, and lysozyme and lactoferrin concentrations in basal and reflex tears. Highly significant elevations of tear osmolarity were found in aphakic subjects without contact lenses. Less significant differences in tear osmolarity were found in phakic subjects with hard daily-wear lenses or with extended-wear soft lenses. Tear albumin, lysozyme, and lactoferrin in basal and reflex tears were not significantly different in the different groups of contact lens wearers or in the group of aphakic subjects without contact lenses compared with their control groups. Individual variations in tear albumin, lysozyme, and lactoferrin appeared to be responsible for the inability to demonstrate significant differences in tear composition in association with the wearing of different types of contact lenses. Older and aphakic patients demonstrated a tendency to have increased concentrations of proteins in the tears compared with younger, phakic contact lens wearers and normal controls without contact lenses. PMID:3914131

Impact of Prophylactic Conversion to an Extended Infusion Schedule to Prevent Hypersensitivity Reactions in Ovarian Cancer Patients during Carboplatin Retreatment

PubMed Central

O’Cearbhaill, Roisin; Zhou, Qin; Iasonos, Alexia; Hensley, Martee L.; Tew, William P.; Aghajanian, Carol; Spriggs, David R.; Lichtman, Stuart M.; Sabbatini, Paul J.

2015-01-01

Objective Repeated exposure to carboplatin can lead to hypersensitivity reactions during retreatment with carboplatin. This may prevent its further use in platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer patients. At our institution, an increasing proportion of patients are prophylactically converted to an extended schedule of infusion after 8 cycles of carboplatin. We sought to determine whether an incrementally increasing, extended 3-hour infusion of carboplatin was associated with a lower rate of hypersensitivity reactions compared to the standard 30-minute schedule in sequentially treated patients. Methods We performed a retrospective electronic medical record review of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer retreated with carboplatin at our institution from 01/98–12/08. Results Seven hundred seventy-seven patients with relapsed ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer were retreated with carboplatin and met study inclusion criteria. Of these, 117 (17%) developed hypersensitivity reactions during second-line or greater carboplatin-based treatment for recurrent disease. Only 6 (3.4%) of the 174 patients who received the extended schedule developed hypersensitivity reactions (0% grade 4; 1.7% grade 3) compared to 111 (21%) of 533 patients in the standard schedule group (12% grade 4; 77% grade 3). The first hypersensitivity episode occurred after a median of 16 platinum (carboplatin and cisplatin) treatments in the extended group compared to 9 in the standard group. Using the Fisher-exact test, there was an association with a reduced incidence of hypersensitivity reactions with the extended infusion schedule (P<0.001). Conclusion Our data suggest appropriate premedication and prophylactic conversion to an extended infusion during carboplatin retreatment may reduce hypersensitivity reactions. PMID:19944454

Survival Benefit of Japanese Extended Lymphadenectomy for Clinically Node-Negative and Node-Positive Colorectal Cancers.

PubMed

Ouchi, Akira; Komori, Koji; Kimura, Kenya; Kinoshita, Takashi; Shimizu, Yasuhiro; Nagino, Masato

2018-02-01

The impact of extended lymphadenectomy for colorectal cancer is still not sufficiently clear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the survival benefit of extended lymphadenectomy compared with nonextended lymphadenectomy for clinically node-negative and node-positive colorectal cancers. The present study was a retrospective cohort study that used prospectively collected data and a propensity score matching method. The present study was conducted at a single specialized colorectal surgery department. Of the 1314 patients who underwent radical resection with nonextended or extended lymphadenectomy between 1988 and 2007, we included 711 and 603 patients in the cN0 and cN1/2 series. Propensity score matching was applied, and 141 and 63 pairs were extracted from the cN0 and cN1/2 series. Disease-free survival, cancer-specific survival, and overall survival of the 2 groups were calculated and compared. In the cN0 series, no differences were observed in the long-term outcomes between the nonextended and extended groups. In the cN1/2 series, the disease-free survival, cancer-specific survival and overall survival were significantly higher (log rank, p = 0.04, p = 0.02, and p = 0.01, respectively), and the frequency of local recurrence was significantly lower (p = 0.04) in the extended group. The present study was limited by its nonrandomized retrospective design. Extended lymphadenectomy demonstrated a good inhibitory effect on the local recurrence rate and led to improved disease-free survival, cancer-specific survival, and overall survival of patients in the cN1/2 series. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A517.

Sperm characteristics following freezing in extenders supplemented with whole egg yolk and different concentrations of low-density lipoproteins in the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu).

PubMed

Souza, Ana Liza Paz; Lima, Gabriela Liberalino; Peixoto, Gislayne Christianne Xavier; de Souza Castelo, Thibério; Oliveira, Maria Glaucia Carlos; de Paula, Valéria Veras; Silva, Alexandre Rodrigues

2015-12-01

The aim of the current study was to compare sperm quality characteristics of the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) following freezing in extenders supplemented with whole egg yolk and different concentrations of low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Semen from 11 adult males was obtained by electroejaculation and evaluated for sperm motility, vigor, morphology as well as membrane integrity analyzed by the hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test and a fluorescent staining. Moreover, the semen was diluted in a Tris-based extender containing 20% egg yolk (control group) or 5, 10 or 20% LDL (treatment groups). The semen samples were frozen in liquid nitrogen and thawed in a water bath for 60s at 37°C. The treatments did not affect (p>0.05) sperm vigor, morphology or membrane integrity analyzed by the HOS test. However, post-thaw sperm motility was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the extender supplemented with 20% LDL (36.4 ± 5.3%) compared with the egg yolk extender and extender supplemented with 10% LDL. Furthermore, the percentage of membrane-intact frozen-thawed spermatozoa analyzed by the fluorescent staining was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the extender supplemented with 20% LDL (27.4 ± 6.5%) than in the other groups. In conclusion, 20% LDL can be used to substitute the whole egg yolk as a cryoprotective additive for freezing semen of the collared peccary. Copyright © 2015 Society for Biology of Reproduction & the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn. Published by Elsevier Urban & Partner Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.

Contribution of Charged Groups to the Enthalpic Stabilization of the Folded States of Globular Proteins

PubMed Central

Dadarlat, Voichita M.; Post, Carol Beth

2016-01-01

In this paper we use the results from all atom MD simulations of proteins and peptides to assess individual contribution of charged atomic groups to the enthalpic stability of the native state of globular proteins and investigate how the distribution of charged atomic groups in terms of solvent accessibility relates to protein enthalpic stability. The contributions of charged groups is calculated using a comparison of nonbonded interaction energy terms from equilibrium simulations of charged amino acid dipeptides in water (the “unfolded state”) and charged amino acids in globular proteins (the “folded state”). Contrary to expectation, the analysis shows that many buried, charged atomic groups contribute favorably to protein enthalpic stability. The strongest enthalpic contributions favoring the folded state come from the carboxylate (COO−) groups of either Glu or Asp. The contributions from Arg guanidinium groups are generally somewhat stabilizing, while NH3+ groups from Lys contribute little toward stabilizing the folded state. The average enthalpic gain due to the transfer of a methyl group in an apolar amino acid from solution to the protein interior is described for comparison. Notably, charged groups that are less exposed to solvent contribute more favorably to protein native-state enthalpic stability than charged groups that are solvent exposed. While solvent reorganization/release has favorable contributions to folding for all charged atomic groups, the variation in folded state stability among proteins comes mainly from the change in the nonbonded interaction energy of charged groups between the unfolded and folded states. A key outcome is that the calculated enthalpic stabilization is found to be inversely proportional to the excess charge density on the surface, in support of an hypothesis proposed previously. PMID:18303881

The Contribution of Tidal Fluvial Habitats in the Columbia River Estuary to the Recovery of Diverse Salmon ESUs

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-05-01

Chinook salmon (presumably subyearling) was the most prevalent life-history type detected at the Russian Island and Woody Island sites. The number of...Extend and refine the computational grid We extended the Virtual Columbia River to include regions upstream of Beaver Army, which previously served as...the Columbia River above Beaver Army and particularly above the confluence of the Willamette River. That process of calibration is highly iterative

[Preliminary analysis about influence of porcelain thickness on interfacial crack of PFM].

PubMed

Zhu, Ziyuan; Zhang, Baowei; Zhang, Xiuyin; Xu, Kan; Fang, Ruhua; Wang, Dongmei

2002-01-01

This study was about the influence of porcelain thickness on crack at interface. The effect of porcelain thickness on the flaw at the interface between porcelain and metal was studied in three groups with porcelain thickness of 0.5 mm, 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm (metal thickness of 0.5 mm) by means of moire interferometre and interfacial fracture mechanics. The parameter Jc was compared among the three groups and the growing of the flaw was observed. Jc and the extreme strength of group with porcelain thickness of 0.5 mm (2.813 N/m and 9.979 N) were lower than those of the groups with porcelain thickness of 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm (5.395 N/m, 19.134 N and 5.429 N/m, 19.256 N). Flaws extend along the interface in the groups with porcelain thickness of 1.5 mm and 0.5 mm. (1) Fracture resistance of the interface in the groups with porcelain thickness of 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm is similar and it decreases in the group with 0.5 mm thick porcelain. (2) When porcelain is 1.5 mm or 0.5 mm thick, flaws will extend along the interface. When porcelain is 2.5 mm thick, flaws will extend into the porcelain layer.

Modeling microbial diversity in anaerobic digestion through an extended ADM1 model.

PubMed

Ramirez, Ivan; Volcke, Eveline I P; Rajinikanth, Rajagopal; Steyer, Jean-Philippe

2009-06-01

The anaerobic digestion process comprises a whole network of sequential and parallel reactions, of both biochemical and physicochemical nature. Mathematical models, aiming at understanding and optimization of the anaerobic digestion process, describe these reactions in a structured way, the IWA Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1) being the most well established example. While these models distinguish between different microorganisms involved in different reactions, to our knowledge they all neglect species diversity between organisms with the same function, i.e. performing the same reaction. Nevertheless, available experimental evidence suggests that the structure and properties of a microbial community may be influenced by process operation and on their turn also determine the reactor functioning. In order to adequately describe these phenomena, mathematical models need to consider the underlying microbial diversity. This is demonstrated in this contribution by extending the ADM1 to describe microbial diversity between organisms of the same functional group. The resulting model has been compared with the traditional ADM1 in describing experimental data of a pilot-scale hybrid Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Filter Bed (UASFB) reactor, as well as in a more detailed simulation study. The presented model is further shown useful in assessing the relationship between reactor performance and microbial community structure in mesophilic CSTRs seeded with slaughterhouse wastewater when facing increasing levels of ammonia.

Maintaining Life Satisfaction in Adolescence: Affective Mediators of the Influence of Perceived Emotional Intelligence on Overall Life Satisfaction Judgments in a Two-Year Longitudinal Study.

PubMed

Sánchez-Álvarez, Nicolás; Extremera, Natalio; Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo

2015-01-01

Much attention has been paid to the psychological processes underlying the improvement in mood states and human well-being, particularly during adolescence. Theoretical and empirical research suggests that emotional skills may play a role in enhancing perceived well-being; however, the mechanisms involved in during adolescence are unclear. The purpose of this study was to extend understanding by investigating the potential mediators of the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and life satisfaction in a 2-years study. Participants were 269 high school students (145 girls and 124 boys) who completed the self-report perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale three times at 1-year intervals. The three-step longitudinal design corroborated earlier research indicating that positive and negative affect mediate the relationships between EI and life satisfaction. Students with high PEI tended to have more positive experiences and fewer negative experiences, which contributed to their greater life satisfaction. No sex differences were found in the multi-group analyses, suggesting that the causal relationships are similar in both sexes. These findings extend our understanding of the complex network of relationships involving PEI and life satisfaction in adolescence. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.

Searching for the missing baryons in clusters

PubMed Central

Rasheed, Bilhuda; Bahcall, Neta; Bode, Paul

2011-01-01

Observations of clusters of galaxies suggest that they contain fewer baryons (gas plus stars) than the cosmic baryon fraction. This “missing baryon” puzzle is especially surprising for the most massive clusters, which are expected to be representative of the cosmic matter content of the universe (baryons and dark matter). Here we show that the baryons may not actually be missing from clusters, but rather are extended to larger radii than typically observed. The baryon deficiency is typically observed in the central regions of clusters (∼0.5 the virial radius). However, the observed gas-density profile is significantly shallower than the mass-density profile, implying that the gas is more extended than the mass and that the gas fraction increases with radius. We use the observed density profiles of gas and mass in clusters to extrapolate the measured baryon fraction as a function of radius and as a function of cluster mass. We find that the baryon fraction reaches the cosmic value near the virial radius for all groups and clusters above . This suggests that the baryons are not missing, they are simply located in cluster outskirts. Heating processes (such as shock-heating of the intracluster gas, supernovae, and Active Galactic Nuclei feedback) likely contribute to this expanded distribution. Upcoming observations should be able to detect these baryons. PMID:21321229

AWOB: A Collaborative Workbench for Astronomers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, J. W.; Lemson, G.; Bulatovic, N.; Makarenko, V.; Vogler, A.; Voges, W.; Yao, Y.; Kiefl, R.; Koychev, S.

2015-09-01

We present the Astronomers Workbench (AWOB1), a web-based collaboration and publication platform for a scientific project of any size, developed in collaboration between the Max-Planck institutes of Astrophysics (MPA) and Extra-terrestrial Physics (MPE) and the Max-Planck Digital Library (MPDL). AWOB facilitates the collaboration between geographically distributed astronomers working on a common project throughout its whole scientific life cycle. AWOB does so by making it very easy for scientists to set up and manage a collaborative workspace for individual projects, where data can be uploaded and shared. It supports inviting project collaborators, provides wikis, automated mailing lists, calendars and event notification and has a built in chat facility. It allows the definition and tracking of tasks within projects and supports easy creation of e-publications for the dissemination of data and images and other resources that cannot be added to submitted papers. AWOB extends the project concept to larger scale consortia, within which it is possible to manage working groups and sub-projects. The existing AWOB instance has so far been limited to Max-Planck members and their collaborators, but will be opened to the whole astronomical community. AWOB is an open-source project and its source code is available upon request. We intend to extend AWOB's functionality also to other disciplines, and would greatly appreciate contributions from the community.

Application of Resorbable Poly(Lactide-co-Glycolide) with Entangled Hyaluronic Acid as an Autograft Extender for Posterolateral Intertransverse Lumbar Fusion in Rabbits

PubMed Central

Oliver, Rema A.; Gage, Gary; Yu, Yan; Bell, David; Bellemore, Jeremy; Adkisson, Huston Davis

2011-01-01

Facilitating fusion between bony segments in a reliable and reproducible manner using a synthetic bone graft material has a number of benefits for the surgeon as well as the patient. Although autograft remains the gold standard, associated comorbidities continue to drive the development of new biomaterials for use in spinal fusion. The ability of autograft alone and autograft combined with a radiolucent biomaterial composed of resorbable osteoconductive poly(lactide-co-glycolide) with entangled hyaluronic acid to facilitate fusion was examined in a single-level noninstrumented posterolateral intertransverse lumbar fusion model in New Zealand White rabbits. Progressive bone formation was demonstrated radiographically for the extender group (synthetic biomaterial plus autograft) between 3 and 6 months. Computed tomography revealed a new cortical shell in the fusion mass at 3 and 6 months for both study groups. Tensile testing at 6 months demonstrated that the quality of bone formed between the intertransverse space was equivalent for both study groups. Histologic evaluation of the fusion mass revealed new bone on and adjacent to the transverse processes with the synthetic biomaterial group that extended laterally, supporting the osteoconductive nature of the material. Histological evidence of endochondral bone growth in the intertransverse space was observed for the autograft plus synthetic biomaterial group. Bone remodeling, new marrow spaces, and peripheral cortices were observed for each study group at 3 months that matured by 6 months. These findings support the use of a radiolucent biosynthetic material comprising poly(lactide-co-glycolide) with integrated hyaluronic acid as an autograft extender for lumbar intertransverse fusion. PMID:20712417

Encountering Carl Rogers: His Views on Facilitating Groups.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Landreth, Garry L.

1984-01-01

Presents Carl Rogers' views on facilitating groups, as expressed in a telephone dialogue seminar with graduate students in counselor education at North Texas State University. Discusses extended group marathons, cocounseling, nonverbal group exercises and the future of group work. (JAC)

Low Vision Rehabilitation: A Comparison of Traditional and Extended Teaching Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scanlan, Judith M.; Cuddeford, Joan E.

2004-01-01

The purpose of the study was to determine the outcomes of a low vision service that made use of an extended period of education when assisting clients with age-related macular degeneration to use low vision devices. Extended teaching time made a significant difference to the experimental group, not only in the ability to read, but in their overall…

Long-term consumption of beef extended with soy protein by men, women and children: II. Effects on iron status.

PubMed

Bodwell, C E; Miles, C W; Morris, E; Prather, E S; Mertz, W; Canary, J J

1987-01-01

The iron status of men, women and children consuming beef extended with soy protein was evaluated by measuring serum ferritin and clinical parameters of iron status during a six-month study. Fifty-two families (245 participants) were randomly assigned to consume, for 180 days, 1 of 7 beef products: all beef, beef extended with either soy isolate, soy concentrate or soy flour (20% reconstituted soy product, 80% beef), or beef extended with each of the three soy products fortified with 60 mg Fe and 25 mg Zn/100 g protein. The beef product was consumed by the subjects as their principal source of protein for 1 meal a day (children 1-18 yr) or 1-2 meals a day (11 per week; adult men and women). A control group consumed their usual self-selected diets. No evidence was found that consumption of beef extended with soy protein deleteriously affected the iron status of men, women or children. Consumption of beef extended with soy protein, at the levels used in this study, by military men and women and by school lunch participants would not appear to impose a risk in these population groups.

Facilitator and Participant Use of Facebook in a Community-Based Intervention for Parents: The InFANT Extend Program.

PubMed

Downing, Katherine L; Campbell, Karen J; van der Pligt, Paige; Hesketh, Kylie D

2017-12-01

Social networking sites such as Facebook afford new opportunities for behavior-change interventions. Although often used as a recruitment tool, few studies have reported the use of Facebook as an intervention component to facilitate communication between researchers and participants. The aim of this study was to examine facilitator and participant use of a Facebook component of a community-based intervention for parents. First-time parent groups participating in the intervention arm of the extended Infant Feeding, Activity and Nutrition Trial (InFANT Extend) Program were invited to join their own private Facebook group. Facilitators mediated the Facebook groups, using them to share resources with parents, arrange group sessions, and respond to parent queries. Parents completed process evaluation questionnaires reporting on the usefulness of the Facebook groups. A total of 150 parents (from 27 first-time parent groups) joined their private Facebook group. There were a mean of 36.9 (standard deviation 11.1) posts/group, with the majority being facilitator posts. Facilitator administration posts (e.g., arranging upcoming group sessions) had the highest average comments (4.0), followed by participant health/behavior questions (3.5). The majority of participants reported that they enjoyed being a part of their Facebook group; however, the frequency of logging on to their groups' page declined over the 36 months of the trial, as did their perceived usefulness of the group. Facebook appears to be a useful administrative tool in this context. Parents enjoyed being part of their Facebook group, but their reported use of and engagement with Facebook declined over time.

Pathogenic human viruses in coastal waters

USGS Publications Warehouse

Griffin, Dale W.; Donaldson, Kim A.; Paul, J.H.; Rose, Joan B.

2003-01-01

This review addresses both historical and recent investigations into viral contamination of marine waters. With the relatively recent emergence of molecular biology-based assays, a number of investigations have shown that pathogenic viruses are prevalent in marine waters being impacted by sewage. Research has shown that this group of fecal-oral viral pathogens (enteroviruses, hepatitis A viruses, Norwalk viruses, reoviruses, adenoviruses, rotaviruses, etc.) can cause a broad range of asymptomatic to severe gastrointestinal, respiratory, and eye, nose, ear, and skin infections in people exposed through recreational use of the water. The viruses and the nucleic acid signature survive for an extended period in the marine environment. One of the primary concerns of public health officials is the relationship between the presence of pathogens and the recreational risk to human health in polluted marine environments. While a number of studies have attempted to address this issue, the relationship is still poorly understood. A contributing factor to our lack of progress in the field has been the lack of sensitive methods to detect the broad range of both bacterial and viral pathogens. The application of new and advanced molecular methods will continue to contribute to our current state of knowledge in this emerging and

Comparative study of scarf and extended chevron osteotomies for correction of hallux valgus.

PubMed

Vopat, Bryan G; Lareau, Craig R; Johnson, Julie; Reinert, Steven E; DiGiovanni, Christopher W

2013-12-01

Scarf and chevron osteotomies are two described treatments for the correction of hallux valgus deformity, but they have traditionally been employed for different levels of severity. We hypothesized that there would be no statistically significant difference between the results of these two treatments. This study is a retrospective review of 70 consecutive patients treated operatively for moderate and severe hallux valgus malalignment. The two groups based on their operative treatment: scarf osteotomy (Group A) and extended chevron osteotomy (Group B). Preoperative and postoperative hallux valgus angle (HVA), intermetatarsal angle and distal metatarsal articular angle (DMAA) were measured at final follow-up. Charts were also assessed to determine the postoperative rate of satisfaction, stiffness, and pain. There were no statistically significant differences between Groups A and B with regard to the HVA preoperatively and postoperatively. The DMAA was statistically significantly higher for Group B both preoperatively (p=0.0403) and postoperatively (p<0.0001). The differences in HVA correction and IMA correction were not statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences with regard to post-operative stiffness, pain, and satisfaction. The scarf and extended chevron osteotomies are capable of adequately reducing the HVA and IMA in patients with moderate to severe hallux valgus. These two techniques yielded similar patient outcomes in terms of stiffness, pain and satisfaction. Based on these results, we recommend both the scarf and extended chevron osteotomy as acceptable forms of correction for moderate to severe hallux valgus.

Schizophrenia spectrum and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in autism spectrum disorder and controls.

PubMed

Gadow, Kenneth D

2012-10-01

This study compared the differential severity of specific symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and child psychiatry outpatient referrals (controls). Each group was further subdivided into subgroups with and without co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children with ASD (n = 147) and controls (n = 335) were evaluated with parent and teacher versions of a psychometrically established DSM-IV-referenced rating scale. The two ASD groups (with and without ADHD) had a larger number of more severe SSD symptoms than their respective control groups (with and without ADHD), extending the observation of an association between ASD and SSD to subgroups with and without co-occurring ADHD. The ASD groups exhibited more severe schizoid personality symptoms than controls, but findings for schizophrenia symptoms were mixed. The ASD + ADHD group generally had more severe disorganized thought, disorganized behavior, and negative schizophrenia symptoms than controls (with and without ADHD); nevertheless, findings varied according to ADHD status (present versus absent), individual symptom (symptom specificity), and informant (informant specificity). Ratings of hallucinations and delusions indicated mild severity and few group differences. Negative symptoms such as inappropriate emotional reactions evidenced considerable group divergence. Findings provide additional support for an interrelation between ASD and SSD symptoms and the differential influence of neurobehavioral syndromes on co-occurring symptom severity, underscore the multidimensionality of SSD in children with ASD, and suggest how symptom phenotypes may contribute to a better understanding of the etiology, nosology, and possibly clinical management. Copyright © 2012 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A framework for investigation into extended enterprise resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erol, Ozgur; Sauser, Brian J.; Mansouri, Mo

2010-05-01

This article proposes a framework for investigation into 'extended enterprise resilience' based on the key attributes of enterprise resilience in the context of extended enterprises. Such attributes, namely agility, flexibility, adaptability and connectivity, are frequently defined as supporting attributes of enterprise resilience, but the issue is how they can be more effectively applied to extended enterprises. The role of information technology in assisting connectivity and collaboration is frequently recognised as contributing to resilience on all levels, and will likewise be employed on the level of extended enterprise systems. The proposed framework is based on the expanded application of two primary enablers of enterprise resilience: (i) the capability of an enterprise to connect systems, people, processes and information in a way that allows enterprise to become more connected and responsive to the dynamics of its environment, stakeholders and competitors; (ii) the alignment of information technology with business goals. The former requires inter- and intra-level interoperability and integration within the extended enterprises, and the latter requires modelling of the underlying technology infrastructure and creation of a consolidated view of, and access to, all available resources in the extended enterprises that can be attained by well-defined enterprise architecture.

Advantages of the L-incision approach comprising a combination of left anterior thoracotomy and upper half-median sternotomy for aortic arch aneurysms.

PubMed

Oishi, Yasuhisa; Sonoda, Hiromichi; Tanoue, Yoshihisa; Nishida, Takahiro; Tokunaga, Shigehiko; Nakashima, Atsuhiro; Shiokawa, Yuichi; Tominaga, Ryuji

2011-09-01

Although surgical outcomes of total arch replacement have improved, the strategy for extended arch aneurysms remains controversial. We have applied the L-incision approach (combination of left anterior thoracotomy and upper half-median sternotomy) for total arch replacement for single-stage repair of extensive arch aneurysms. We retrospectively reviewed the operative outcomes of patients who underwent total arch or extended total arch replacement for degenerative aneurysms from 1999 to 2010. Operations were performed via median sternotomy in 47 patients (M group) and the L-incision approach was used in 38 patients (L group). Through the L-incision approach, we were able to complete distal anastomosis below the pulmonary hilus. The L-incision approach has advantages of reducing selective antegrade cerebral perfusion and lower body circulatory arrest times compared with the M group. Recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and renal dysfunction were less frequent in the L group than those in the M group. Respiratory dysfunction and wound infection were similar between the groups. Hospital mortalities were 5.3% in the L group and 6.4% in the M group. The L-incision approach has similar or better postoperative outcomes compared with the median sternotomy approach. This approach could be useful for single-stage extended total arch replacement with relatively low risk.

Environmental sub models for a macroeconomic model: agricultural contribution to climate change and acidification in Denmark.

PubMed

Jensen, Trine S; Jensen, Jørgen D; Hasler, Berit; Illerup, Jytte B; Andersen, Frits M

2007-01-01

Integrated modelling of the interaction between environmental pressure and economic development is a useful tool to evaluate environmental consequences of policy initiatives. However, the usefulness of such models is often restricted by the fact that these models only include a limited set of environmental impacts, which are often energy-related emissions. In order to evaluate the development in the overall environmental pressure correctly, these model systems must be extended. In this article an integrated macroeconomic model system of the Danish economy with environmental modules of energy related emissions is extended to include the agricultural contribution to climate change and acidification. Next to the energy sector, the agricultural sector is the most important contributor to these environmental themes and subsequently the extended model complex calculates more than 99% of the contribution to both climate change and acidification. Environmental sub-models are developed for agriculture-related emissions of CH(4), N(2)O and NH(3). Agricultural emission sources related to the production specific activity variables are mapped and emission dependent parameters are identified in order to calculate emission coefficients. The emission coefficients are linked to the economic activity variables of the Danish agricultural production. The model system is demonstrated by projections of agriculture-related emissions in Denmark under two alternative sets of assumptions: a baseline projection of the general economic development and a policy scenario for changes in the husbandry sector within the agricultural sector.

EFFECT OF SOLID MEDIUM DURING COOLED STORAGE ON STALLION SPERM PARAMETERS.

PubMed

Santos, F C; Corcini, C D; Costa, V G; Gheller, S M; Nogueira, C E; da Rosa Curcio, B; Varel, A S

2015-01-01

Solid storage medium prevents cellular sedimentation, reduces metabolic demand via limiting movement, and avoids the modification of an extender composition in the sedimentary microenvironment. It has been proven to prolong spermatozoa viability in mammalians. This experiment aims to evaluate the effect of cool storage in solid phase extender on stallion sperms. Semen was collected from 10 Crioulo stallions (n=30) and submitted to treatments: control group (semen extender) and groups with gelatin addition in different concentrations (semen extender + 1%, 2% and 3%). Seminal analyses included motility, mitochondrial functionality, plasma membrane integrity, DNA and acrosome at 0; 24; 48 and 72 hours during cooled storage at 5 degree C. Motility, mitochondrial functionality, plasma membrane and acrosome integrity declined during storage time, with no statistical difference between treatments. DNA integrity did not significantly change during storage period. Solid medium was not harmful and did not improved stallion sperm parameters during cooled storage.

Delineation of areas contributing recharge to selected public-supply wells in Glacial Valley-Fill and Wetland Settings, Rhode Island

USGS Publications Warehouse

Friesz, Paul J.

2004-01-01

Areas contributing recharge and sources of water to one proposed and seven present public-supply wells, screened in sand and gravel deposits and clustered in three study areas, were determined on the basis of calibrated, steady-state ground-water-flow models representing average hydrologic conditions. The area contributing recharge to a well is defined as the surface area where water recharges the ground water and then flows toward and discharges to the well. In Cumberland and Lincoln, public-supply well fields on opposite sides of the Blackstone River are in a narrow valley bordered by steep hillslopes. Ground-water-level and river-stage measurements indicated that river water was infiltrating the aquifer and flowing toward the wells during pumping conditions. Simulated areas contributing recharge to the Cumberland well field operating alone for both average (324 gallons per minute) and maximum (1,000 gallons per minute) pumping rates extend on both sides of the river to the lateral model boundaries, which is the contact between the valley and uplands. The area contributing recharge at the average pumping rate is about 0.05 square mile and the well field derives 72 percent of pumped water from upland runoff. At the maximum pumping rate, the area contributing recharge extends farther up and down the valley to 0.12 square mile and the primary source of water to the well field was infiltrated river water (53 percent). Upland areas draining toward the areas contributing recharge encompass 0.58 and 0.66 square mile for the average and maximum rates, respectively. By incorporating the backup Lincoln well-field withdrawals (2,083 gallons per minute) into the model, the area contributing recharge to the Cumberland well field operating at its maximum rate is reduced to 0.08 square mile; part of the simulated area which contributes recharge to the Cumberland well field when it is operating alone contributes instead to the Lincoln well field when both well fields are pumped. The Cumberland well field compensates by increasing the percentage of water it withdraws from the river by 11 percent. The upland area draining toward the Cumberland contributing area is 0.55 square mile. The area contributing recharge to the Lincoln well field is 0.08 square mile and infiltrated river water contributes 88 percent of the total water; the upland area draining toward the contributing area is 0.34 square mile. In North Smithfield, a public-supply well in a valley-fill setting is close to Trout Brook Pond, which is an extension of the Lower Slatersville Reservoir. A comparison of water levels from the pond and underlying sediments indicates that water is not infiltrated from Trout Brook Pond when the supply well is pumped at its maximum rate of 200 gallons per minute. Simulated areas contributing recharge for the maximum pumping rate and for the estimated maximum yield, 500 gallons per minute, of a proposed replacement well extend to the ground-water divides on both sides of Trout Brook Pond. For the 200 gallons-per-minute rate, the area contributing recharge is 0.23 square mile; the well derives almost all of its water from intercepted ground water that normally discharges to surface-water bodies. For the pumping rate of 500 gallons per minute, the area contributing recharge is 0.45 square mile. The increased pumping rate is balanced by additional intercepted ground water and by inducing 25 percent of the total withdrawn water from surface water. In Westerly, one public-supply well is in a watershed where the primarily hydrologic feature is a wetland. Water levels in piezometers surrounding the well site indicated a downward vertical gradient and the potential for water in the wetland to infiltrate the underlying aquifer. The simulated area contributing recharge for the average pumping rate (240 gallons per minute) and for the maximum pumping rate (700 gallons per minute) extends to the surrounding uplands (surficial materials not covered by t

Conventional vs. extended-cycle oral contraceptives on the quality of sexual life: comparison between two regimens containing 3 mg drospirenone and 20 µg ethinyl estradiol.

PubMed

Caruso, Salvatore; Iraci Sareri, Marco; Agnello, Carmela; Romano, Mattea; Lo Presti, Lucia; Malandrino, Chiara; Cianci, Antonio

2011-05-01

Women may use new oral contraceptives (OC) having flexible extended-cycle regimens with a reduced hormone-free interval. To study the changes of the quality of sexual life in users of the traditional 21/7 or extended-cycle 24/4 OC regimens both containing 3 mg drospirenone and 20 µg ethinyl estradiol. One hundred fifteen women (age range 18-37 years) were enrolled. Fifty-four women were randomly placed on traditional OC standard regimen, administered for 21 days, followed by a 7-day hormone-free interval (group A); and 61 women were placed on extended-cycle OC regimen covering 24 days of the cycle with a 4-day hormone-free interval (group B). The Short Form-36 (SF-36) validate questionnaire to assess quality of life (QoL) and the Short Personal Experience Questionnaire (SPEQ) to measure the changes of sexual behavior were administered before starting OC intake and at the 3rd and 6th cycle follow-ups. The SF-36 and the SPEQ questionnaires. Group A women reported QoL improvement during the 6th cycle on all the scales (P < 0.05). Group B women reported QoL improvement during the 3rd and 6th cycle (P < 0.05). Satisfaction with sexual activity, arousal, orgasm, and desire increased during the 3rd cycle in women on the group B (P < 0.05). Group A women did not report any change in all SPEQ items. At the 6th cycle, group B women reported better sexual experience than baseline in all SPEQ items (P < 0.05). All subjects who were affected by dyspareunia before OC intake reported decreased genital pain associated with intercourse at the 3rd and 6th cycle of both OC regimens (P < 0.05). Women could use OCs in a subjective flexible modality. The extended-cycle OC might produce positive effects on the quality of sexual life, enforcing the concept of tailoring an OC to a woman. © 2011 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Quantitative Assessment of CRAND Contribution to the Inner Belt Electron Intensity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, K.; Li, X.; Selesnick, R.; Schiller, Q. A.; Zhao, H.; Baker, D. N.; Temerin, M. A.

2017-12-01

Following the direct identification and measurements of Cosmic Ray Albedo Neutron Decay (CRAND) produced electrons near the inner edge of the inner belt by Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE)1, we extend the study by addressing more comprehensive questions: (1) what is the relative CRAND contribution to the inner belt compared with electrons injected from further out? (2) How does this relative contribution vary with geomagnetic activity and electron energy? (3) What is the solar cycle dependence of CRAND electrons? In order to answer the above questions, extended data of relativistic electrons in the inner belt are needed for a much longer time period and also finer energy resolution is required. Therefore, we will show results regarding the above questions based on data including other low Earth orbit measurements in addition to CSSWE, such as SAMPEX/PET, DEMETER/IDP, and PROBA-V/EPT. [1] Li, Xinlin, Richard Selesnick, Quintin Schiller, Kun Zhang, Hong Zhao, Daniel Baker, and Michael Temerin (2017), Direct detection of albedo neutron decay electrons at the inner edge of the radiation belt and determination of neutron density in near-Earth space, Nature, under review.

The Contribution of TOMS and UARS Data to Our Understanding of Ozone Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhartia, Pawan K.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Both TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) and UARS (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite) have operated over an extended period, and generated data sets of sufficient accuracy to be of use in determining ozone change (TOMS) and some of the underlying causes (UARS). The basic scientific products have been used for model validation and assimilation to extend our understanding of stratospheric processes. TOMS on Nimbus-7, Earth-Probe, and QuikTOMS, and UARS have led to the next generation of instruments onboard the EOS platforms. Algorithms used for TOMS and UARS are being applied to the new data sets and extended to analysis of European satellite data (e.g., GOME)

Exploring the impact of high intensity interval training on adolescents' objectively measured physical activity: Findings from a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Costigan, Sarah A; Ridgers, Nicola D; Eather, Narelle; Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Harris, Nigel; Lubans, David R

2018-05-01

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) may be effective for accumulating VPA. However, the contribution of HIIT to overall physical activity is unknown. Our primary aim was to explore the impact of school-based HIIT on physical activity. The secondary aim was to explore within-individual changes in physical activity after participating in HIIT. Participants [n = 65; 15.8(0.6)years] were randomized to a HIIT or control group. Intervention groups participated in three HIIT sessions/week. GENEActiv accelerometers assessed objective physical activity at baseline and week-one, to detect changes in MPA and VPA. Intervention effects were examined using linear mixed models and evidence of a change in physical activity (i.e., compensation) were examined using multilevel linear regression models. The group-by-time interaction effects for MPA and VPA were small and moderate, respectively. Adjusted difference between groups for VPA was 1.70 min/day, 95%CI -1.96 to 5.36; p = 0.354; d = 0.55). Embedding HIIT within the school-day had a moderate effect on VPA compared to controls. Compensation analyses (i.e., individual level) suggested that adolescents were more active on days when they participated in HIIT. Further studies are needed to test the effects of HIIT on adolescents' physical activity over extended time periods.

FRESH ACTIVITY IN OLD SYSTEMS: RADIO AGNs IN FOSSIL GROUPS OF GALAXIES

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

Hess, Kelley M.; Wilcots, Eric M.; Hartwick, Victoria L., E-mail: hess@ast.uct.ac.za, E-mail: ewilcots@astro.wisc.edu, E-mail: vhartwick@wisc.edu

2012-08-15

We present the first systematic 1.4 GHz Very Large Array radio continuum survey of fossil galaxy group candidates. These are virialized systems believed to have assembled over a gigayear in the past through the merging of galaxy group members into a single, isolated, massive elliptical galaxy and featuring an extended hot X-ray halo. We use new photometric and spectroscopic data from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 to determine that three of the candidates are clearly not fossil groups. Of the remaining 30 candidates, 67% contain a radio-loud (L{sub 1.4GHz} > 10{sup 23} W Hz{sup -1}) active galactic nucleusmore » (AGN) at the center of their dominant elliptical galaxy. We find a weak correlation between the radio luminosity of the AGN and the X-ray luminosity of the halo suggesting that the AGN contributes to energy deposition into the intragroup medium. We only find a correlation between the radio and optical luminosity of the central elliptical galaxy when we include X-ray-selected, elliptically dominated non-fossil groups, indicating a weak relationship between AGN strength and the mass assembly history of the groups. The dominant elliptical galaxy of fossil groups is on average roughly an order of magnitude more luminous than normal group elliptical galaxies in optical, X-ray, and radio luminosities and our findings are consistent with previous results that the radio-loud fraction in elliptical galaxies is linked to the stellar mass of a population. The current level of activity in fossil groups suggests that AGN fueling continues long after the last major merger. We discuss several possibilities for fueling the AGN at the present epoch.« less

Different pathological features and prognosis in gastric cancer patients coming from high-risk and low-risk areas of Italy.

PubMed

Marrelli, Daniele; Pedrazzani, Corrado; Corso, Giovanni; Neri, Alessandro; Di Martino, Marianna; Pinto, Enrico; Roviello, Franco

2009-07-01

To compare clinicopathological features and long-term outcome in gastric cancer patients coming from high-risk and low-risk areas of Italy. Better survival rates have been reported from countries with higher incidence of gastric cancer. Data regarding 829 patients coming from Tuscany (group A) and 143 patients coming from Southern Italy (group B) were analyzed. Mean follow-up time was 56 +/- 57 months; it was 85 +/- 63 months in surviving patients or not tumor-related deaths. Prognostic factors were investigated by multivariate analysis with Cox proportional hazard model after verifying the assumption of proportionality of the risk associated with covariates. Lauren diffuse-mixed histotype, younger age, extended lymphadenectomy, and advanced stages were more common in group B. Gastric cancer-related 10-year survival probability was 48% in group A versus 29% in group B (log-rank test: P < 0.001). By multivariate analysis, geographic area was confirmed as a significant prognostic factor (hazard ratio for group B vs. group A: 1.52, 95% confidence interval: 1.12-2.06, P = 0.006). The influence of this factor on long-term survival was independent from other clinical, surgical, and pathologic factors, and was notable in neoplasms involving the serosa (10-year survival probability: 15% in group A vs. 3% in group B, log-rank test: P = 0.005). Patients coming from low-risk area of Italy showed distinct pathologic features, more advanced stage, and worse prognosis when compared with patients coming from high-risk area. These findings may be indicative of different tumor biology, and may contribute to partly explain worldwide geographic variability in prognosis reported in different series.

Six low-penetrance SNPs for the estimation of breast cancer heritability: A family-based study in Caucasian Italian patients

PubMed Central

De Summa, Simona; Graziano, Francesca; Pilato, Brunella; Pinto, Rosamaria; Danza, Katia; Lacalamita, Rosanna; Serratì, Simona; Sambiasi, Domenico; Grassi, Mario; Tommasi, Stefania

2017-01-01

Breast cancer is a malignancy with a strong heritable component. Genetic counseling has been principally focused on families carrying high-penetrance breast cancer 1/2, early onset genes. Current modeling suggests that the majority of the unexplained fraction of familial risk is likely to be explained by a polygenic model. The aim of the present study was to estimate the heritability (h2) of breast cancer susceptibility through the analysis of 6 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), nuclear mitotic apparatus protein 1, cyclin D1, cytochrome C oxidase copper chaperone, fibroblast growth factor receptor 2, TOX high mobility group box family member 3 and solute carrier family 4 member 7. These 6 SNPs, previously identified by genome-wide association studies, were considered to evaluate the additive and common environmental components that contribute to the development of breast cancer in nuclear (pedigrees including only first degree relationships) and in extended families (with at most third degree relationships). A total of 22 extended pedigrees, subsequently split into 52 nuclear pedigrees were analyzed. An example of splitting process from extended to nuclear pedigree is shown in Fig. 1. Firstly, an underline latent continuous trait (Y*) using breast cancer status and information of 6 breast cancer-associated SNPs was calculated. This novel trait summarized the susceptibility of breast cancer in each individual. Secondly, the h2 of Y* was estimated using an additive polygenic-common environment-unique error model. h2 was evaluated in extended and immediate pedigrees, obtaining comparable results. h2 accounts for ~40% of the total phenotypic variance, indicating a fairly strong additive genetic effect of breast cancer susceptibility. The present study indicated the importance of the evaluation and consideration of these six SNPs, which can be used as instrumental variables in order to obtain improved genetic models that are useful for h2 analysis. PMID:28943953

Sperm Quality during Storage Is Not Affected by the Presence of Antibiotics in EquiPlus Semen Extender but Is Improved by Single Layer Centrifugation

PubMed Central

Spergser, Joachim; Kuhl, Juliane; Schmidt, Kathrin; Johannisson, Anders

2017-01-01

Contamination of semen with bacteria arises during semen collection and handling. This bacterial contamination is typically controlled by adding antibiotics to semen extenders but intensive usage of antibiotics can lead to the development of bacterial resistance and may be detrimental to sperm quality. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of antibiotics in a semen extender on sperm quality and to investigate the effects of removal of bacteria by modified Single Layer Centrifugation (MSLC) through a colloid. Semen was collected from six adult pony stallions (three ejaculates per male). Aliquots of extended semen were used for MSLC with Equicoll, resulting in four treatment groups: control and MSLC in extender with antibiotics (CA and SA, respectively); control and MSLC in extender without antibiotics (CW and SW, respectively). Sperm motility, membrane integrity, mitochondrial membrane potential and chromatin integrity were evaluated daily by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) and flow cytometry. There were no differences in sperm quality between CA and CW, or between SA and SW, although progressive motility was negatively correlated to total bacterial counts at 0 h. However, MSLC groups showed higher mean total motility (P < 0.001), progressive motility (P < 0.05), membrane integrity (P < 0.0001) and mitochondrial membrane potential (P < 0.05), as well as better chromatin integrity (P < 0.05), than controls. Sperm quality remained higher in the MSLC groups than controls throughout storage. These results indicate that sperm quality was not adversely affected by the presence of antibiotics but was improved considerably by MSLC. PMID:29267226

Dark energy and extended dark matter halos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chernin, A. D.; Teerikorpi, P.; Valtonen, M. J.; Dolgachev, V. P.; Domozhilova, L. M.; Byrd, G. G.

2012-03-01

The cosmological mean matter (dark and baryonic) density measured in the units of the critical density is Ωm = 0.27. Independently, the local mean density is estimated to be Ωloc = 0.08-0.23 from recent data on galaxy groups at redshifts up to z = 0.01-0.03 (as published by Crook et al. 2007, ApJ, 655, 790 and Makarov & Karachentsev 2011, MNRAS, 412, 2498). If the lower values of Ωloc are reliable, as Makarov & Karachentsev and some other observers prefer, does this mean that the Local Universe of 100-300 Mpc across is an underdensity in the cosmic matter distribution? Or could it nevertheless be representative of the mean cosmic density or even be an overdensity due to the Local Supercluster therein. We focus on dark matter halos of groups of galaxies and check how much dark mass the invisible outer layers of the halos are able to host. The outer layers are usually devoid of bright galaxies and cannot be seen at large distances. The key factor which bounds the size of an isolated halo is the local antigravity produced by the omnipresent background of dark energy. A gravitationally bound halo does not extend beyond the zero-gravity surface where the gravity of matter and the antigravity of dark energy balance, thus defining a natural upper size of a system. We use our theory of local dynamical effects of dark energy to estimate the maximal sizes and masses of the extended dark halos. Using data from three recent catalogs of galaxy groups, we show that the calculated mass bounds conform with the assumption that a significant amount of dark matter is located in the invisible outer parts of the extended halos, sufficient to fill the gap between the observed and expected local matter density. Nearby groups of galaxies and the Virgo cluster have dark halos which seem to extend up to their zero-gravity surfaces. If the extended halo is a common feature of gravitationally bound systems on scales of galaxy groups and clusters, the Local Universe could be typical or even an overdense region, with a low density contrast ~1.

Effect on post-cryopreserved semen characteristics of Holstein bulls of adding combinations of vitamin C and either catalase or reduced glutathione to Tris extender.

PubMed

Eidan, Sajeda M

2016-04-01

This study was undertaken to investigate the influence of adding combinations of vitamin C to Tris extender with either catalase or reduced glutathione on post-cryopreserved semen characteristics of Holstein bulls for different preservation periods (cooling at 5°C, 48 h, 1, 2 and 3 months post cryopreservation, PC). Seven Holstein bulls of 2.5-3 years of age were used in this experiment. Semen was collected via artificial vagina in one ejaculate per bull per week for the 7 week experimental period. Pooled semen was equally divided into three treatments using Tris extender. Combinations of vitamin C (2.5mM) were added with either catalase (100 IU/ml, T2) or reduced glutathione (2mM, T3) to Tris extender and comparisons in response were made with the control group (Tris extender, T1). Individual sperm motility (IM), viability (V), plasma membrane integrity (PMI), and acrosome integrity (AI) were assessed during all periods of the study along with Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations and freezing ability. The IM was greater (P ≤ 0.01) in the T2 as compared with the T1 group at all periods of the study. Furthermore, the IM were greater (P ≤ 0.01) in the T3 as compared with the T1 group at the 48 h time period and at 3 months PC. The V, PMI and AI were greater (P ≤ 0.01) in T2 and T3 as compared with the T1 group at all the experimental periods. The MDA was greater (P ≤ 0.01) in the T2 as compared with the T1 group at 3 months PC. In conclusion, there was improved semen quality if semen of Holstein bulls was collected and stored in combinations of vitamin C with either catalase (T2) or reduced glutathione (T3) being added to Tris extender. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Equine spermatozoal motility and fertility associated with the incorporation of d-(+)-mannose into semen extender.

PubMed

King, Sheryl S; Speiser, Stephanie A; Jones, Karen L; Apgar, Gary A; Wessels, Sarah E

2006-04-01

Mannose is capable of decreasing bacterial attachment to the uterine mucosa in mares. Bacteria gain entry into the mare's uterus during breeding; therefore, a practical method to deliver mannose to the uterus is to incorporate it into semen extenders. The effect of mannose on spermatozoal motility and subsequent sperm fertilizing capability is unknown. The present study evaluated progressive spermatozoal motility in semen extender formulations incorporating mannose and assessed the fertility of mares inseminated with a mannose-containing semen extender. In Experiment 1, progressive spermatozoal motility in extender mixtures containing 0 mannose (control), 25, 37 or 49 mg/mL mannose was evaluated at 20 degrees C or 5 degrees C holding temperatures for 0, 12, 24 and 48 h post-dilution. Measures were repeated three times using five stallions of proven fertility. High concentrations of mannose in the extender affected progressive motility beyond the time and temperature effects noted in the controls. Extender containing only mannose sugar (49 mg/mL) displayed an immediate depression in progressive motility compared with controls (45.5% versus 62.9%, respectively; P<0.001). The 37 mg/mL mannose extender had a less dramatic decrease in motility (P<0.05) and only after storage at 5 degrees C for > or =12h (48.7% versus 58.0%, respectively). Extender with 25 mg/mL mannose performed no differently than the control formulation under all conditions. In Experiment 2, two groups of mares (n=11 each) were inseminated with 500 x 10(6) progressively motile spermatozoa extended in a traditional skim milk (control) extender or the 37 mg/mL mannose extender preparation. A single-cycle pregnancy rate of 72% was achieved by both groups. Present data suggest that a semen extender containing up to 37 mg/mL mannose could maintain motile spermatozoa for on-farm use and 25 mg/mL mannose concentrations preserved motility during long-term cooling. Likewise, sperm extended with up to 37 mg/mL of mannose had the same fertilizing capability as sperm in traditional extender mixtures.

Responsive Image Inline Filter

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

Freeman, Ian

2016-10-20

RIIF is a contributed module for the Drupal php web application framework (drupal.org). It is written as a helper or sub-module of other code which is part of version 8 "core Drupal" and is intended to extend its functionality. It allows Drupal to resize images uploaded through the user-facing text editor within the Drupal GUI (a.k.a. "inline images") for various browser widths. This resizing is already done foe other images through the parent "Responsive Image" core module. This code extends that functionality to inline images.

Limited Retinacular Vessel Damage Does Not Compromise Femoral Head Perfusion During Hip Arthroscopy - Can the Vascular Safe Zone be Extended?

PubMed Central

Nawabi, Danyal H.; Bedi, Asheesh; Kelly, Bryan T.

2015-01-01

Objectives: The utilization of hip arthroscopy for FAI is on the rise. Hip arthroscopy has been shown to be safe to the blood supply of the femoral head when performing femoral osteochondroplasty. There are no reports of avascular necrosis of the femoral head after hip arthroscopy from cohort studies. Arthroscopic safe zones have been identified, based on femoral head vascularity studies, that extend from the lateral synovial fold anterior to 12 o clock to the medial synovial fold at 6 o clock. However, advances in technique have allowed for treatment of more extensile posterolateral cam deformities with both arthroscopic and open approaches, and may therefore place a portion of the retinacular vessels at risk for injury. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of an extended arthroscopic femoroplasty on femoral head vascularity. We hypothesized that limited retinacular vessel damage by extending a cam resection posterior to 12 o clock would not cause a significant reduction in femoral head perfusion. Methods: Ten fresh-frozen cadaveric specimens with an intact pelvis and bilateral femurs were used. The mean patient age was 66 years (range, 64-69). Each pelvis was randomized to either the Standard Resection (SR) or Wide Resection (WR) group. In the SR group, bone was resected with a motorized burr from the lateral synovial fold at 12 o clock to the medial synovial fold, at a depth of 10mm. In the WR group, bone was resected as in the SR group but was then extended posterolaterally to 11 o clock, damaging the intervening vessels. For each pelvis, one hip was the experimental side and the contralateral hip served as a matched control. Arteriotomy was performed and the medial femoral circumflex artery origin was cannulated. After unilateral arthroscopic resection, all specimens underwent a gadolinium-enhanced MRI with a validated, quantitative protocol. A CT scan was then performed to confirm the zones of osseous resection. Contrast enhancement on MRI was quantified in four quadrants of the femoral head using custom analysis software. Statistical analysis was performed using a two-sided unpaired t-test to assess differences in femoral head perfusion between the specimens in both groups. Results: MRI quantification revealed that the perfusion of the entire femoral head was reduced by a mean of 5.0 ± 3.9% compared to the matched control side in the SR group. In contrast, femoral head perfusion was reduced by a mean of 11.1 ± 16.1% compared to the matched control side in the WR group. The reduction in femoral head perfusion between the SR and WR groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.49). There were no significant differences between groups (p > 0.32). Postoperative CT scans confirmed that all osseous resections in the SR group were within the 12 to 6 o clock arc and all osseous resections in the WR group extended posteriorly beyond 12 o clock but not posterior to 11 o clock. Conclusion: Posterolateral retinacular vessel damage not extending past 11 o clock results in 11% reduction in femoral head perfusion when performing arthroscopic femoral osteochondroplasty. This drop in perfusion is not significantly different to the reduction in perfusion observed when performing osseous resection within previously recognized vascular safe zones. These findings lend support to the use of hip arthroscopy to address extensile cam deformities, but must also be interpreted with caution as further encroachment on the retinacular vessels may result in a dangerous drop in perfusion.

Extended vertical lower trapezius island myocutaneous flap versus pectoralis major myocutaneous flap for reconstruction in recurrent oral and oropharyngeal cancer.

PubMed

Chen, Wei-Liang; Wang, You-Yuan; Zhang, Da-Ming; Fan, Song; Lin, Zhao-Yu

2016-04-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the use of an extended vertical lower trapezius island myocutaneous flap (TIMF) and a pectoralis major myocutaneous flap (PMMF). A total of 39 patients with advanced recurrent oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) underwent salvage surgery followed by placement of either an extended lower vertical TIMF or PMMF for reconstruction. Twenty-one patients received extended lower vertical TIMFs, whereas 18 received PMMFs. The pedicle length of the TIMF was longer than that of the PMMF, and the skin paddle of the TIMF was both wider and longer than the PMMF. No major complication developed in any of the patients. The TIMF group experienced a lower rate of minor flap failure than did the PMMF group. Use of an extended vertical lower TIMF, which has a longer pedicle flap and a larger skin paddle than a PMMF, is optimal for reconstruction of major defects. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E159-E164, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Extending Sociocultural Theory to Group Creativity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawyer, Keith

2012-01-01

Sociocultural theory focuses on group processes through time, and argues that group phenomena cannot be reduced to explanation in terms of the mental states or actions of the participating individuals. This makes sociocultural theory particularly useful in the analysis of group creativity and group learning, because both group creativity and group…

Contribution of Food Groups to Energy and Nutrient Intakes in Five Developed Countries.

PubMed

Auestad, Nancy; Hurley, Judith S; Fulgoni, Victor L; Schweitzer, Cindy M

2015-06-08

Economic growth in developing countries and globalization of the food sector is leading to increasingly similar food consumption patterns worldwide. The aim of this study was to describe similarities and differences in the contributions of main food groups to energy and nutrient intakes in five developed countries across three continents. We obtained summary reports of national food consumption survey data from Australia, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States. Survey years spanned 2003-2012; sample size ranged from 1444 to 17,386. To mitigate heterogeneity of food groups across countries, we recategorized each survey's reported food groups and subgroups into eight main food groups and, for three countries, a ninth "mixed dishes" group. We determined the percent contribution of each food group to mean daily intakes of energy, saturated fat, sodium, fiber, and ten vitamins and minerals that are commonly under-consumed. Differences in findings from surveys utilizing a foods-as-consumed versus a disaggregated or ingredients approach to food group composition and contributions from the milk and milk products group, a source of several under-consumed nutrients, were explored. Patterns of food group contributions to energy and nutrient intakes were generally similar across countries. Some differences were attributable to the analytical approach used by the surveys. For the meat/protein, milk and milk products, vegetables, and fruit groups, percent contributions to key nutrient intakes exceeded percent contributions to energy intake. The mixed dishes group provided 10%-20% of total daily energy and a similar 10%-25% of the daily intake of several nutrients. This descriptive study contributes to an understanding of food group consumption patterns in developed countries.

Contribution of Food Groups to Energy and Nutrient Intakes in Five Developed Countries

PubMed Central

Auestad, Nancy; Hurley, Judith S.; Fulgoni, Victor L.; Schweitzer, Cindy M.

2015-01-01

Economic growth in developing countries and globalization of the food sector is leading to increasingly similar food consumption patterns worldwide. The aim of this study was to describe similarities and differences in the contributions of main food groups to energy and nutrient intakes in five developed countries across three continents. We obtained summary reports of national food consumption survey data from Australia, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States. Survey years spanned 2003–2012; sample size ranged from 1444 to 17,386. To mitigate heterogeneity of food groups across countries, we recategorized each survey’s reported food groups and subgroups into eight main food groups and, for three countries, a ninth “mixed dishes” group. We determined the percent contribution of each food group to mean daily intakes of energy, saturated fat, sodium, fiber, and ten vitamins and minerals that are commonly under-consumed. Differences in findings from surveys utilizing a foods-as-consumed versus a disaggregated or ingredients approach to food group composition and contributions from the milk and milk products group, a source of several under-consumed nutrients, were explored. Patterns of food group contributions to energy and nutrient intakes were generally similar across countries. Some differences were attributable to the analytical approach used by the surveys. For the meat/protein, milk and milk products, vegetables, and fruit groups, percent contributions to key nutrient intakes exceeded percent contributions to energy intake. The mixed dishes group provided 10%–20% of total daily energy and a similar 10%–25% of the daily intake of several nutrients. This descriptive study contributes to an understanding of food group consumption patterns in developed countries. PMID:26061017

Medical Students' Empathy for Vulnerable Groups: Results From a Survey and Reflective Writing Assignment.

PubMed

Wellbery, Caroline; Saunders, Pamela A; Kureshi, Sarah; Visconti, Adam

2017-12-01

As medical education curricula increasingly acknowledge the contributions of the social determinants of health to individual health, new methods of engaging students in the care of vulnerable groups are needed. Empathy is one way to connect students with patients, but little is known about how to nurture students' empathy on behalf of populations. This study examined the relationship between individual and social empathy as groundwork for cultivating students' empathy for vulnerable groups. In 2014-2015, first-year medical students completed the Social Empathy Index at the start and end of a two-semester population health course, and they completed a reflective writing assignment exploring the challenges of caring for vulnerable patients. Pre- and posttest mean survey scores were compared, and reflective writing assignments were analyzed for themes concerning social empathy. Data from 130 students were analyzed. Scores for the contextual understanding of systemic barriers domain increased significantly. There was a trend toward increased cumulative social empathy scores that did not reach statistical significance. Students' essays revealed three themes relating to individual empathy as the foundation for social empathy; civic and moral obligations; and the role of institutional practices in caring for vulnerable groups. This study extends understanding of empathy beyond care for the individual to include care for vulnerable groups. Thus, social empathy may function as a valuable concept in developing curricula to support students' commitment to care for the underserved. Educators first need to address the many barriers students cited that impede both individual and social empathy.

Reduced Perfusion in Broca’s Area in Developmental Stuttering

PubMed Central

Desai, Jay; Huo, Yuankai; Wang, Zhishun; Bansal, Ravi; Williams, Steven C. R.; Lythgoe, David; Zelaya, Fernando O.; Peterson, Bradley S.

2016-01-01

Objective To study resting cerebral blood flow in children and adults with developmental stuttering. Methods We acquired pulsed arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging data in 26 participants with stuttering and 36 healthy, fluent controls. While covarying for age, sex, and IQ, we compared perfusion values voxel-wise across diagnostic groups and assessed correlations of perfusion with stuttering severity within the stuttering group and with measures of motor speed in both groups. Results We detected lower regional Cerebral Blood Flow (rCBF) at rest in the stuttering group compared to healthy controls in Broca’s area bilaterally and the superior frontal gyrus. rCBF values in Broca’s area bilaterally correlated inversely with the severity of stuttering and extended posteriorly into other portions of the language loop. We also found increased rCBF in cerebellar nuclei and parietal cortex in the stuttering group compared to healthy controls. Findings were unchanged in child-only analyses and when excluding participants with comorbid illnesses or those taking medication. Conclusions rCBF is reduced in Broca’s region in persons who stutter. More severe stuttering is associated with even greater reductions in rCBF to Broca’s region, additive to the underlying putative trait reduction in rCBF relative to control values. Moreover, a greater abnormality in rCBF in the posterior language loop is associated with more severe symptoms, suggesting that a common pathophysiology throughout the language loop likely contributes to stuttering severity. PMID:28035724

Enzyme-modified electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buth, Felix; Donner, Andreas; Stutzmann, Martin; Garrido, Jose A.

2012-10-01

Organic solution-gated field-effect transistors (SGFETs) can be operated at low voltages in aqueous environments, paving the way to the use of organic semiconductors in bio-sensing applications. However, it has been shown that these devices exhibit only a rather weak sensitivity to standard electrolyte parameters such as pH and ionic strength. In order to increase the sensitivity and to add specificity towards a given analyte, the covalent attachment of functional groups and enzymes to the device surface would be desirable. In this contribution we demonstrate that enzyme modified organic SGFETs can be used for the in-situ detection of penicillin in the low μM regime. In a first step, silane molecules with amine terminal groups are grafted to α-sexithiophene-based thin film transistors. Surface characterization techniques like X-ray photoemission confirm the modification of the surface with these functional groups, which are stable in standard aqueous electrolytes. We show that the presence of surface-bound amphoteric groups (e.g. amino or carboxylic moieties) increases the pH-sensitivity of the organic SGFETs. In addition, these groups serve as anchoring sites for the attachment of the enzyme penicillinase. The resulting enzyme-FETs are used for the detection of penicillin, enabling the study of the influence of the buffer strength and the pH of the electrolyte on the enzyme kinetics. The functionalization of the organic FETs shown here can be extended to a large variety of enzymes, allowing the specific detection of different chemical and biochemical analytes.

Reduced perfusion in Broca's area in developmental stuttering.

PubMed

Desai, Jay; Huo, Yuankai; Wang, Zhishun; Bansal, Ravi; Williams, Steven C R; Lythgoe, David; Zelaya, Fernando O; Peterson, Bradley S

2017-04-01

To study resting cerebral blood flow in children and adults with developmental stuttering. We acquired pulsed arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging data in 26 participants with stuttering and 36 healthy, fluent controls. While covarying for age, sex, and IQ, we compared perfusion values voxel-wise across diagnostic groups and assessed correlations of perfusion with stuttering severity within the stuttering group and with measures of motor speed in both groups. We detected lower regional Cerebral Blood Flow (rCBF) at rest in the stuttering group compared with healthy controls in Broca's area bilaterally and the superior frontal gyrus. rCBF values in Broca's area bilaterally correlated inversely with the severity of stuttering and extended posteriorly into other portions of the language loop. We also found increased rCBF in cerebellar nuclei and parietal cortex in the stuttering group compared with healthy controls. Findings were unchanged in child-only analyses and when excluding participants with comorbid illnesses or those taking medication. rCBF is reduced in Broca's region in persons who stutter. More severe stuttering is associated with even greater reductions in rCBF to Broca's region, additive to the underlying putative trait reduction in rCBF relative to control values. Moreover, a greater abnormality in rCBF in the posterior language loop is associated with more severe symptoms, suggesting that a common pathophysiology throughout the language loop likely contributes to stuttering severity. Hum Brain Mapp 38:1865-1874, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

COMPASS: A computational model to predict changes in MMSE scores 24-months after initial assessment of Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Zhu, Fan; Panwar, Bharat; Dodge, Hiroko H; Li, Hongdong; Hampstead, Benjamin M; Albin, Roger L; Paulson, Henry L; Guan, Yuanfang

2016-10-05

We present COMPASS, a COmputational Model to Predict the development of Alzheimer's diSease Spectrum, to model Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. This was the best-performing method in recent crowdsourcing benchmark study, DREAM Alzheimer's Disease Big Data challenge to predict changes in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores over 24-months using standardized data. In the present study, we conducted three additional analyses beyond the DREAM challenge question to improve the clinical contribution of our approach, including: (1) adding pre-validated baseline cognitive composite scores of ADNI-MEM and ADNI-EF, (2) identifying subjects with significant declines in MMSE scores, and (3) incorporating SNPs of top 10 genes connected to APOE identified from functional-relationship network. For (1) above, we significantly improved predictive accuracy, especially for the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) group. For (2), we achieved an area under ROC of 0.814 in predicting significant MMSE decline: our model has 100% precision at 5% recall, and 91% accuracy at 10% recall. For (3), "genetic only" model has Pearson's correlation of 0.15 to predict progression in the MCI group. Even though addition of this limited genetic model to COMPASS did not improve prediction of progression of MCI group, the predictive ability of SNP information extended beyond well-known APOE allele.

Routine pelvic drainage not required after open or robotic radical prostatectomy.

PubMed

Sharma, Satish; Kim, Hyung Lae; Mohler, James L

2007-02-01

To determine whether radical prostatectomy requires urinary drainage. All patients with clinically localized prostate cancer had complete clinical and pathologic information recorded prospectively in a database. The criteria for omission of pelvic drainage were successful bladder neck preservation; urethrovesical anastomosis performed using 6 interrupted sutures in open cases or 12 continuous sutures in robotic cases; and a watertight urethrovesical anastomosis on irrigation. Most patients were discharged on the first or second postoperative day. The catheters were removed routinely on postoperative day 9. A pelvic drain was not placed in 78% of 325 consecutive patients. A drain was omitted in 73% of 225 open cases and 90% of 100 robotic cases. The recovery of continence and the complication rates were similar between the two groups with and without pelvic drainage. Complications occurred in 11% of the group with pelvic drainage and 6% in the group without pelvic drainage. In the past 2 years, 17 of 126 patients required pelvic drainage. The frequency of complications in robotic versus open procedures was similar (chi-square test, P >0.05). Pelvic drainage may be omitted after radical prostatectomy when the urethrovesical anastomosis is performed well. Drainage omission could contribute to shortened hospital stays and reduced costs, without added complications. These benefits can be extended safely to patients undergoing open or robotic radical prostatectomy.

Metabolomic analysis reveals altered metabolic pathways in a rat model of gastric carcinogenesis.

PubMed

Gu, Jinping; Hu, Xiaomin; Shao, Wei; Ji, Tianhai; Yang, Wensheng; Zhuo, Huiqin; Jin, Zeyu; Huang, Huiying; Chen, Jiacheng; Huang, Caihua; Lin, Donghai

2016-09-13

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most malignant tumors with a poor prognosis. Alterations in metabolic pathways are inextricably linked to GC progression. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. We performed NMR-based metabolomic analysis of sera derived from a rat model of gastric carcinogenesis, revealed significantly altered metabolic pathways correlated with the progression of gastric carcinogenesis. Rats were histologically classified into four pathological groups (gastritis, GS; low-grade gastric dysplasia, LGD; high-grade gastric dysplasia, HGD; GC) and the normal control group (CON). The metabolic profiles of the five groups were clearly distinguished from each other. Furthermore, significant inter-metabolite correlations were extracted and used to reconstruct perturbed metabolic networks associated with the four pathological stages compared with the normal stage. Then, significantly altered metabolic pathways were identified by pathway analysis. Our results showed that oxidative stress-related metabolic pathways, choline phosphorylation and fatty acid degradation were continually disturbed during gastric carcinogenesis. Moreover, amino acid metabolism was perturbed dramatically in gastric dysplasia and GC. The GC stage showed more changed metabolite levels and more altered metabolic pathways. Two activated pathways (glycolysis; glycine, serine and threonine metabolism) substantially contributed to the metabolic alterations in GC. These results lay the basis for addressing the molecular mechanisms underlying gastric carcinogenesis and extend our understanding of GC progression.

Investigating a computerised test of the Stroop effect extended by inclusion of a third, more difficult task.

PubMed

Federmann, Rolf; Goldsmith, Robert; Bäckström, Martin

2007-04-01

A validation study of a computerised test recently developed involving the Stroop effect, extended here by inclusion of a third, more difficult test series, is presented. Three groups of men belonging to the Swedish armed forces and adjudged to differ in their qualifications (20, 32, and 19 men of levels 1, 2, and 3, respectively) and a fourth group of 18 men convicted of serious crimes of violence were given this test, termed the Stress Strategy Test. Discriminant analysis of the test's 12 variables (four for each of the three test series) yielded a discriminant power of 65% for the total group, highest for the level 1 group (80%) and for the nonmilitary group (72%), results substantially better than obtained for the original version of the test with use of similar subject groups.

Brief and Extended Alcohol Cue Exposure Effects on Craving and Attentional Bias

PubMed Central

Ramirez, Jason J.; Monti, Peter M.; Colwill, Ruth M.

2015-01-01

Past research has shown that underage college student drinkers (UCSDs) report increased subjective craving and exhibit stronger attentional biases to alcohol following alcohol cue exposure. To date, less research has examined whether momentary decreases in alcohol craving are associated with reductions in attentional bias. One experimental manipulation that has been used to produce within-session decreases in alcohol craving is to extend the duration of laboratory-based alcohol cue exposure protocols. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of both brief and extended alcohol cue exposure on subjective craving and attentional bias among UCSDs. Eighty participants were randomized either to a group that received a short in vivo alcohol cue exposure period (Group Short Exposure [SE], two 3-min blocks) or to a group that received a long exposure period (Group Long Exposure [LE], six 3-min blocks). Both groups completed a visual probe task before and after cue exposure to assess changes in attentional bias. Analyses revealed no group differences in mean craving or mean attentional bias before or after cue exposure. Further, exploratory analyses revealed no sex differences in our measures of craving or attentional bias. For Group LE, but not Group SE, within-session changes in craving positively predicted within-session changes in attentional bias. However, further analyses revealed that this relationship was significant only for female participants in the LE Group. Implications for treatments that aim to reduce craving or attentional bias are discussed. PMID:26053323

Bleeding profile of a flexible extended regimen of ethinylestradiol/drospirenone in US women: an open-label, three-arm, active-controlled, multicenter study.

PubMed

Jensen, Jeffrey T; Garie, Sona Grossova; Trummer, Dietmar; Elliesen, Jörg

2012-08-01

Unscheduled bleeding may affect satisfaction and compliance with extended oral contraceptive (OC) regimens. The bleeding patterns of two variants of a flexible dosing regimen designed to manage intracyclic bleeding problems during extended cycles were compared with that of a conventional OC regimen. This was a 1-year, open-label, active-controlled, Phase 3 study conducted in the USA. Healthy women (18-45 years) received an ethinylestradiol (EE) 20 mcg/drospirenone 3 mg OC in two flexible extended regimens or in a conventional 24/4 (i.e., 28-day) regimen. The primary regimen [management of intracyclic bleeding (flexible(MIB)) regimen] was an extended dosing regimen that required subjects to initiate 4-day tablet-free intervals after 3 days of breakthrough bleeding/spotting. An alternative extended regimen [active period control (flexible(APC)) regimen] allowed subjects to initiate a 4-day tablet-free interval irrespective of the occurrence of bleeding. Bleeding profiles were compared between treatments. Efficacy and safety outcomes were also assessed. The full analysis set comprised 1864 women (flexible(MIB), N=1406; flexible(APC), N=232; conventional 24/4, N=226). Over 1 year, subjects in the flexible(MIB) group experienced significantly fewer (mean±SD, 40±30) bleeding/spotting days than those in the conventional 24/4 group (52±35). The corresponding value in the flexible(APC) group was 47±33 days. The pregnancy rate in the flexible(MIB) group was 1.65 per 100 woman-years (95% confidence interval, 0.96-2.65). All three regimens were well tolerated. A flexible(MIB) dosing regimen of EE 20 mcg/drospirenone 3 mg is associated with good contraceptive efficacy and fewer bleeding/spotting days than the conventional 24/4 regimen. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unifying Temporal and Structural Credit Assignment Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agogino, Adrian K.; Tumer, Kagan

2004-01-01

Single-agent reinforcement learners in time-extended domains and multi-agent systems share a common dilemma known as the credit assignment problem. Multi-agent systems have the structural credit assignment problem of determining the contributions of a particular agent to a common task. Instead, time-extended single-agent systems have the temporal credit assignment problem of determining the contribution of a particular action to the quality of the full sequence of actions. Traditionally these two problems are considered different and are handled in separate ways. In this article we show how these two forms of the credit assignment problem are equivalent. In this unified frame-work, a single-agent Markov decision process can be broken down into a single-time-step multi-agent process. Furthermore we show that Monte-Carlo estimation or Q-learning (depending on whether the values of resulting actions in the episode are known at the time of learning) are equivalent to different agent utility functions in a multi-agent system. This equivalence shows how an often neglected issue in multi-agent systems is equivalent to a well-known deficiency in multi-time-step learning and lays the basis for solving time-extended multi-agent problems, where both credit assignment problems are present.

Caregiver information search behavior for alternative transportation.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-08-01

Numerous factors contribute to cessation of driving, ranging from a decline in cognitive : capability to a decrease in overall physical health. When driving cessation occurs, : responsibility often falls on adult child caregivers to extend the person...

Global adjustment for creating extended panoramic images in video-dermoscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faraz, Khuram; Blondel, Walter; Daul, Christian

2017-07-01

This contribution presents a fast global adjustment scheme exploiting SURF descriptor locations for constructing large skin mosaics. Precision in pairwise image registration is well-preserved while significantly reducing the global mosaicing error.

1978 continuously reinforced concrete pavement workshop : a summary report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1978-09-01

This report is intended to summarize the views expressed by t he participants at the 1978 CRCP Workshop. The author extends his appreciation to the participants for their significant contributions to the Workshop.

Application of Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide Photovoltaic Cells to Extend the Endurance and Capabilities of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

Group V element to make them n or p material. Another common group of semiconductors are called III–V compounds , such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), or...these compounds used for photovoltaics are Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), and Copper Indium Gallium DiSelenide, commonly referred to as CIGS [49]. Figure...INDIUM GALLIUM DISELENIDE PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS TO EXTEND THE ENDURANCE AND CAPABILITIES OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES by William R. Hurd

Solution of differential equations by application of transformation groups

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Driskell, C. N., Jr.; Gallaher, L. J.; Martin, R. H., Jr.

1968-01-01

Report applies transformation groups to the solution of systems of ordinary differential equations and partial differential equations. Lies theorem finds an integrating factor for appropriate invariance group or groups can be found and can be extended to partial differential equations.

Boar variability in sperm cryo-tolerance after cooling of semen in different long-term extenders at various temperatures.

PubMed

Wasilewska, K; Fraser, L

2017-10-01

This study investigated individual boar variability in the quality of pre-freeze (PF) and post-thaw (PT) semen cooled in different long-term (LT) extenders and for different holding times (HT). Sperm rich fractions were diluted with Androhep ® Plus (AHP), Androstar ® Plus (ASP), Safecell ® Plus (SCP) and TRIXcell ® Plus (TCP) extenders, stored for 2h at 17°C (HT 1) and additionally for 24h at 10°C (HT 2) and the samples were subsequently evaluated and frozen. Besides the analysis of CASA sperm variables, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), plasma membrane integrity (PMI), normal apical ridge (NAR) acrosome integrity, and viability (YO-PRO-1 - /PI - ) of sperm were assessed in the PF and PT semen. Results indicated that boar, extender and HT group affected the sperm quality characteristics. There were great variations in PMOT and the sperm motion patterns of the PF semen among the boars. Differences in the HT groups of the PF semen, with respect to the sperm membrane integrity, were less marked among the boars. Consistent variations in TMOT and PMOT in the PT semen were observed among the boars, being greater in the HT 2 group. Most of the CASA-analyzed sperm motion patterns were greater in the HT 2 group of the PT semen. Furthermore, sperm MMP, PMI and viability were greater in the HT 2 group of the PT semen in most of the boars, while consistent differences were observed among the boars for sperm NAR acrosome integrity in either HT group. The significant effect of the cryopreservation process on the sperm membrane proteome was evident from the number of protein bands, detected in the electrophoretic profiles of sperm of the HT 1 and HT 2 groups. The electrophoretic profiles of the PF and PT semen among boars with poor and good semen freezability, however, differed with respect to the abundance and types of sperm membrane-associated proteins. The overall results of this study provided evidence that there are differences among boars in response to the different cooling regimens, and that cooling of extended semen for a 24-h period at 10°C modulated the functions of sperm in an extender-dependent manner, rendering the cells less susceptible to cryo-induced damage. It is suggested that the findings of this study have the potential to improve the technology of boar semen cryopreservation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of diluents and plasma on honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) drone frozen-thawed semen fertility.

PubMed

Gül, Aziz; Şahinler, Nuray; Onal, Ali G; Hopkins, Brandon K; Sheppard, Walter S

2017-10-01

Cryopreservation is an advanced method used to protect germplasm in liquid nitrogen. Honey bees are of special interest to protect because of their pollination activity and critical role in agriculture. There has been important progress in the cryopreservation of honey bee germplasm in recent years, leading to practical recovery of genetic material for breeding purposes following freezing. However, there remains room for improvement and the goal of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different "extenders" added post-thaw on the fertilization rate of cryopreserved honey bee semen. The purpose of adding extender post-thaw was to dilute the cryoprotectant to remove chemicals after centrifugation because of potential adverse effects. The control consisted of frozen-thawed semen without the addition of an extender; treatment groups included the addition of one of the following extenders: glucose solution, fresh ram semen plasma, fresh honey bee semen plasma, extender solution. All of the above treatments and frozen-thawed control were compared to fresh semen. For each group, 15 virgin queens were instrumentally inseminated with the semen-diluent solution and introduced into nucleus colonies to determine the brood patterns of the queens. Percentages of worker brood produced in the fresh semen, frozen-thawed semen control, glucose, fresh ram semen plasma, fresh honey bee semen plasma, and extender solution supplemented groups were 98.±1.1%, 47.0 ± 0.9%, 3.0 ± 0.8%, 0.3 ± 0.1%, 48.1 ± 4.1% and 40.3 ± 2.4%, respectively. Similiarly, spermatozoa numbers in the spermathecae of the same treatment groups were 3.6 × 10 6 , 1.6 × 10 6 , 7.3 × 10 5 , 4.7 × 10 5 , 8.1 × 10 5 , and 4.6 × 10 5 spermatozoa for the same treatment, respectively. The differences in both worker brood percentage and sperm count in the spermatheca were statistically significant (P < 0.01) among all treatment groups, except the frozen-thawed control group and fresh drone semen plasma group. We found a positive correlation between sperm count in the spermatheca and the percentage of worker brood (r = 0.91). With the exception of fresh honey bee semen plasma, the fertility rate was reduced following the addition of various plasmas and diluents post-freezing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bowel function and quality of life after superior mesenteric nerve plexus transection in right colectomy with D3 extended mesenterectomy.

PubMed

Thorsen, Y; Stimec, B; Andersen, S N; Lindstrom, J C; Pfeffer, F; Oresland, T; Ignjatovic, D

2016-07-01

The aim of this study was to ascertain the impact of injury to the superior mesenteric nerve plexus caused by right colectomy with D3 extended mesenterectomy as performed in the prospective multicenter trial: "Safe Radical D3 Right Hemicolectomy for Cancer through Preoperative Biphasic Multi-detector Computed Tomography" in which all soft tissue surrounding the superior mesenteric vessels from the level of the middle colic artery to that of the ileocolic artery was removed. Bowel function and gastrointestinal quality of life in two consecutive cohorts that underwent right colectomy with and without D3 extended mesenterectomy were compared. Main outcome measures were the Diarrhea Assessment Scale (DAS) and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI). The data were collected prospectively through telephone interviews. Forty-nine patients per group, comparable for age, sex, length of bowel resected but with significantly shorter follow-up time in the experimental group, were included. There was no difference in total DAS scores, subscores or additional questions except for higher bowel frequency scores in the D3 group (p = 0.02). Comparison of total GIQLI scores and subscales showed no difference between groups. Regression analysis with correction for confounding factors showed 0.48 lower bowel frequency scores in the D2 group (p = 0.022). Within the D3 group presence of jejunal arteries cranial to the D3 dissection area showed 1.78 lower DAS scores and 0.7 lower bowel frequency scores. Small bowel denervation after right colectomy with D3 extended mesenterectomy leads to increased bowel frequency but does not impact gastrointestinal quality of life. Individual anatomical variants can affect postoperative bowel function differently despite standardized surgery.

Sleep extension normalizes ERP of waking auditory sensory gating in healthy habitually short sleeping individuals.

PubMed

Gumenyuk, Valentina; Korzyukov, Oleg; Roth, Thomas; Bowyer, Susan M; Drake, Christopher L

2013-01-01

Chronic sleep loss has been associated with increased daytime sleepiness, as well as impairments in memory and attentional processes. In the present study, we evaluated the neuronal changes of a pre-attentive process of wake auditory sensory gating, measured by brain event-related potential (ERP)--P50 in eight normal sleepers (NS) (habitual total sleep time (TST) 7 h 32 m) vs. eight chronic short sleeping individuals (SS) (habitual TST ≤6 h). To evaluate the effect of sleep extension on sensory gating, the extended sleep condition was performed in chronic short sleeping individuals. Thus, one week of time in bed (6 h 11 m) corresponding to habitual short sleep (hSS), and one week of extended time (∼ 8 h 25 m) in bed corresponding to extended sleep (eSS), were counterbalanced in the SS group. The gating ERP assessment was performed on the last day after each sleep condition week (normal sleep and habitual short and extended sleep), and was separated by one week with habitual total sleep time and monitored by a sleep diary. We found that amplitude of gating was lower in SS group compared to that in NS group (0.3 µV vs. 1.2 µV, at Cz electrode respectively). The results of the group × laterality interaction showed that the reduction of gating amplitude in the SS group was due to lower amplitude over the left hemisphere and central-midline sites relative to that in the NS group. After sleep extension the amplitude of gating increased in chronic short sleeping individuals relative to their habitual short sleep condition. The sleep condition × frontality interaction analysis confirmed that sleep extension significantly increased the amplitude of gating over frontal and central brain areas compared to parietal brain areas.

A contribution to regional stratigraphic correlations of the Afro-Brazilian depression - The Dom João Stage (Brotas Group and equivalent units - Late Jurassic) in Northeastern Brazilian sedimentary basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuchle, Juliano; Scherer, Claiton Marlon dos Santos; Born, Christian Correa; Alvarenga, Renata dos Santos; Adegas, Felipe

2011-04-01

The Dom João Stage comprises an interval with variable thickness between 100 and 1200 m, composed of fluvial, eolian and lacustrine deposits of Late Jurassic age, based mainly on the lacustrine ostracod fauna (although the top deposits may extend into the Early Cretaceous). These deposits comprise the so-called Afro-Brazilian Depression, initially characterized as containing the Brotas Group of the Recôncavo Basin (which includes the Aliança and the Sergi Formations) and subsequently extended into the Tucano, Jatobá, Camamu, Almada, Sergipe, Alagoas and Araripe Basins in northeastern Brazil, encompassing the study area of this paper. The large occurrence area of the Dom João Stage gives rise to discussions about the depositional connectivity between the basins, and the real extension of sedimentation. In the first studies of this stratigraphic interval, the Dom João Stage was strictly associated with the rift phase, as an initial stage (decades of 1960-70), but subsequent analyses considered the Dom João as an intracratonic basin or pre-rift phase - without any relation to the active mechanics of a tectonic syn-rift phase (decades of 1980-2000). The present work developed an evolutionary stratigraphic and tectonic model, based on the characterization of depositional sequences, internal flooding surfaces, depositional systems arrangement and paleoflow directions. Several outcrops on the onshore basins were used to build composite sections of each basin, comprising facies, architectural elements, depositional systems, stratigraphic and lithostratigraphic frameworks, and paleocurrents. In addition to that, over a hundred onshore and offshore exploration wells were used (only 21 of which are showed) to map the depositional sequences and generate correlation sections. These show the characteristics and relations of the Dom João Stage in each studied basin, and they were also extended to the Gabon Basin. The results indicate that there were two main phases during the Dom João Stage, in which distinctive sedimentary environments were developed, reflecting depositional system arrangements, paleoflow directions were diverse, and continuous or compartmented basins were developed.

Structural and molecular dynamics studies of a C1-oxidizing lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase from Heterobasidion irregulare reveal amino acids important for substrate recognition

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

Liu, Bing; Kognole, Abhishek A.; Wu, Miao

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are a group of recently discovered enzymes that play important roles in the decomposition of recalcitrant polysaccharides. Here, we report the biochemical, structural, and computational characterization of an LPMO from the white-rot fungus Heterobasidion irregulare (HiLPMO9B). This enzyme oxidizes cellulose at the C1 carbon of glycosidic linkages. The crystal structure of HiLPMO9B was determined at 2.1 A resolution using X-ray crystallography. Unlike the majority of the currently available C1-specific LPMO structures, the HiLPMO9B structure contains an extended L2 loop, connecting ..beta..-strands ..beta..2 and ..beta..3 of the ..beta..-sandwich structure. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations suggest roles for bothmore » aromatic and acidic residues in the substrate binding of HiLPMO9B, with the main contribution from the residues located on the extended region of the L2 loop (Tyr20) and the LC loop (Asp205, Tyr207, and Glu210). Asp205 and Glu210 were found to be involved in the hydrogen bonding with the hydroxyl group of the C6 carbon of glucose moieties directly or via a water molecule. Two different binding orientations were observed over the course of the MD simulations. In each orientation, the active-site copper of this LPMO preferentially skewed toward the pyranose C1 of the glycosidic linkage over the targeted glycosidic bond. This study provides additional insight into cellulose binding by C1-specific LPMOs, giving a molecular-level picture of active site substrate interactions.« less

Assessing communications effectiveness in meeting corporate goals of public health organizations.

PubMed

Brown, Gordon D; Bopp, Kenneth D; Boren, Suzanne Austin

2005-01-01

Much evaluation of health communications in public health is considered from a program perspective of smoking cessation, weight reduction, education on sexually transmitted diseases, etc. These studies have advanced the knowledge base of communications theory and evaluation and have contributed to program effectiveness. In program-based evaluation the communications process is structured as part of the program itself. This article extends program-based communications evaluation to view communications from the perspective of the consumer and how effectively public health departments respond to consumer expectations. It develops a conceptual model for evaluating elements of communications such as its importance in defining mission and goals within the community, managing strategic constituencies, and enlisting individuals and groups as customers and co-producers of health. It gives a broader perspective on how communications in public heath organizations are managed and a basis for assessing whether they are being managed effectively.

Interpersonal Coordination: Methods, Achievements, and Challenges

PubMed Central

Cornejo, Carlos; Cuadros, Zamara; Morales, Ricardo; Paredes, Javiera

2017-01-01

Research regarding interpersonal coordination can be traced back to the early 1960s when video recording began to be utilized in communication studies. Since then, technological advances have extended the range of techniques that can be used to accurately study interactional phenomena. Although such a diversity of methods contributes to the improvement of knowledge concerning interpersonal coordination, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain a comprehensive view of the field. In the present article, we review the main capture methods by describing their major findings, levels of description and limitations. We group them into three categories: video analysis, motion tracking, and psychophysiological and neurophysiological techniques. Revised evidence suggests that interpersonal coordination encompasses a family of morphological and temporal synchronies at different levels and that it is closely related to the construction and maintenance of a common social and affective space. We conclude by arguing that future research should address methodological challenges to advance the understanding of coordination phenomena. PMID:29021769

Aggression Among Male Migrant Farmworkers Living in Camps in Eastern North Carolina.

PubMed

Kraemer Diaz, Anne E; Weir, Maria M; Isom, Scott; Quandt, Sara A; Chen, Haiying; Arcury, Thomas A

2016-06-01

The living and working arrangements of migrant farmworkers in North Carolina are shaped by grower provided housing, codified by the US Department of Labor's H-2A temporary worker program. Growers typically dictate all facets about residences, living conditions, and even food acquirements. Farmworker camps likely contribute to aggression because of the forced relationships among a small group of people that live, work and recreate together for extended time periods. Participants in the study consisted of 371 farmworkers living in 183 camps. The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale was used to assess aggression among migrant farmworkers. Results indicated that aggressive acts were prevalent among the farmworkers, but the frequency of aggressive acts was low. The most common aggressive act was minor psychological aggression. Results also indicated that alcohol misuse was a common characteristic for both victims and perpetrators and the majority of aggressive acts occurred later in the agricultural season.

Isolated populations of the bush-cricket Pholidoptera frivaldszkyi (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) in Russia suggest a disjunct area of the species distribution

PubMed Central

Kaňuch, Peter; Dorková, Martina; Mikhailenko, Andrey P.; Polumordvinov, Oleg A.; Jarčuška, Benjamín; Krištín, Anton

2017-01-01

Abstract Phylogenetic analysis and assessment of the species status of mostly isolated populations of Pholidoptera frivaldszkyi in south-western Russia occurring far beyond the accepted area of the species distribution in the Carpathian-Balkan region were performed. Using the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene fragment, we found a very low level of genetic diversity in these populations. Phylogeographic reconstruction did not support recent introduction events but rather historical range fragmentation. The grouping of the Russian and Romanian haplotypes in a distinct phylogenetic clade suggests that the pre-glacial range of P. frivaldszkyi had extended towards the Ponto-Caspian region, with considerable gene flow between different refugia. However, post-glacial northward expansion of the species from supposed Caucasus refugia contributed most likely to the current disjunct distribution of this relict-like bush-cricket. PMID:28769628

Isolated populations of the bush-cricket Pholidoptera frivaldszkyi (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) in Russia suggest a disjunct area of the species distribution.

PubMed

Kaňuch, Peter; Dorková, Martina; Mikhailenko, Andrey P; Polumordvinov, Oleg A; Jarčuška, Benjamín; Krištín, Anton

2017-01-01

Phylogenetic analysis and assessment of the species status of mostly isolated populations of Pholidoptera frivaldszkyi in south-western Russia occurring far beyond the accepted area of the species distribution in the Carpathian-Balkan region were performed. Using the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene fragment, we found a very low level of genetic diversity in these populations. Phylogeographic reconstruction did not support recent introduction events but rather historical range fragmentation. The grouping of the Russian and Romanian haplotypes in a distinct phylogenetic clade suggests that the pre-glacial range of P. frivaldszkyi had extended towards the Ponto-Caspian region, with considerable gene flow between different refugia. However, post-glacial northward expansion of the species from supposed Caucasus refugia contributed most likely to the current disjunct distribution of this relict-like bush-cricket.

Molecular Dynamical Simulation of Thermal Conductivity in Amorphous Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deangelis, Freddy; Henry, Asegun

While current descriptions of thermal transport exists for well-ordered materials such as crystal latices, new methods are needed to describe thermal transport in disordered materials, including amorphous solids. Because such structures lack periodic, long-range order, a group velocity cannot be defined for thermal modes of vibration; thus, the phonon gas model cannot be applied to these structures. Instead, a new framework must be applied to analyze such materials. Using a combination of density functional theory and molecular dynamics, we have analyzed thermal transport in amorphous structures, chiefly amorphous germanium. The analysis allows us to categorize vibrational modes as propagons, diffusons, or locons, and to determine how they contribute to thermal conductivity within amorphous structures. This method is also being extended to other disordered structures such as amorphous polymers. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-1148903.

Nagano, Japan 1998

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-02-06

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this stunning view of Japan’ four largest islands on February 20, 2004. The snow-covered southern arm of Hokkaido extends into the upper left corner. Honshu, Japan’s largest island, curves across the center of the image. Shikoku, right, and Kyushu, left, form the southern tip of the group. Japan is mostly mountainous, and, as the dusting of snow in this image shows, is cold in the north and more tropical in the south. A single red dot marks the location of an active fire. Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Structure–kinetic relationship study of CDK8/CycC specific compounds

PubMed Central

Schneider, Elisabeth V.; Böttcher, Jark; Huber, Robert; Maskos, Klaus; Neumann, Lars

2013-01-01

In contrast with the very well explored concept of structure–activity relationship, similar studies are missing for the dependency between binding kinetics and compound structure of a protein ligand complex, the structure–kinetic relationship. Here, we present a structure–kinetic relationship study of the cyclin-dependent kinase 8 (CDK8)/cyclin C (CycC) complex. The scaffold moiety of the compounds is anchored in the kinase deep pocket and extended with diverse functional groups toward the hinge region and the front pocket. These variations can cause the compounds to change from fast to slow binding kinetics, resulting in an improved residence time. The flip of the DFG motif (“DMG” in CDK8) to the inactive DFG-out conformation appears to have relatively little influence on the velocity of binding. Hydrogen bonding with the kinase hinge region contributes to the residence time but has less impact than hydrophobic complementarities within the kinase front pocket. PMID:23630251

Utilizing online tools to increase volunteer ombudsmen presence in long-term care.

PubMed

Shelley, Greg K; Castro, Carmen; Cron, Stanley G

2015-01-01

In this descriptive study, former and current volunteer ombudsmen (n = 65) completed an online survey and Chi-square analyses were used to determine group differences in order to examine the impact of internet-based communication on the recruitment and retention of volunteer long-term care ombudsmen. The results showed that the program's shift to internet-based recruitment and communication methods helped increase the number of volunteers by 50% and contributed to a positive shift in role perception and satisfaction. Consequently, the proliferation of internet and social media usage permits greater volunteer management opportunities than previously were available. These tools also allow for consistency of message, extended training opportunities, and recourse to resources at need which permit ombudsmen volunteers to identify more readily with the role of resident advocate and receive greater performance satisfaction as it relates to that role. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem energetic implications of parasite and free-living biomass in three estuaries

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kuris, Armand M.; Hechinger, Ryan F.; Shaw, Jenny C.; Whitney, Kathleen L.; Aguirre-Macedo, Leopoldina; Boch, Charlie A.; Dobson, Andrew P.; Dunham, Eleca J.; Fredensborg, Brian L.; Huspeni, Todd C.; Lorda, Julio; Mababa, Luzviminda; Mancini, Frank T.; Mora, Adrienne B.; Pickering, Maria; Talhouk, Nadia L.; Torchin, Mark E.; Lafferty, Kevin D.

2008-01-01

Parasites can have strong impacts but are thought to contribute little biomass to ecosystems. We quantified the biomass of free-living and parasitic species in three estuaries on the Pacific coast of California and Baja California. Here we show that parasites have substantial biomass in these ecosystems. We found that parasite biomass exceeded that of top predators. The biomass of trematodes was particularly high, being comparable to that of the abundant birds, fishes, burrowing shrimps and polychaetes. Trophically transmitted parasites and parasitic castrators subsumed more biomass than did other parasitic functional groups. The extended phenotype biomass controlled by parasitic castrators sometimes exceeded that of their uninfected hosts. The annual production of free-swimming trematode transmission stages was greater than the combined biomass of all quantified parasites and was also greater than bird biomass. This biomass and productivity of parasites implies a profound role for infectious processes in these estuaries.

'The New Degree?' Constructing Internships in the Third Sector.

PubMed

Leonard, Pauline; Halford, Susan; Bruce, Katie

2016-04-01

The recent economic recession has impacted substantially on the graduate labour market, with many graduates now struggling to find secure employment in professional careers. In this context, temporary, unpaid 'internships' have emerged as increasingly important as a 'way in' to work for this group. Yet while there has been much media and policy debate on internships, academic consideration has been scant. This article begins to address this knowledge gap by drawing on a study of interns in a third sector environmental organisation. The research findings reveal that unpaid internships were rationalised through a complex mix of political motivations, career ambitions and lifestyle aims, but these intersected in important ways with social class. These findings are not only of empirical interest, contributing to our knowledge of graduate negotiations of precarity, but also of theoretical value, extending our understanding of young people's agency and motivations in transitions into work.

Multi-neuron intracellular recording in vivo via interacting autopatching robots

PubMed Central

Holst, Gregory L; Singer, Annabelle C; Han, Xue; Brown, Emery N

2018-01-01

The activities of groups of neurons in a circuit or brain region are important for neuronal computations that contribute to behaviors and disease states. Traditional extracellular recordings have been powerful and scalable, but much less is known about the intracellular processes that lead to spiking activity. We present a robotic system, the multipatcher, capable of automatically obtaining blind whole-cell patch clamp recordings from multiple neurons simultaneously. The multipatcher significantly extends automated patch clamping, or 'autopatching’, to guide four interacting electrodes in a coordinated fashion, avoiding mechanical coupling in the brain. We demonstrate its performance in the cortex of anesthetized and awake mice. A multipatcher with four electrodes took an average of 10 min to obtain dual or triple recordings in 29% of trials in anesthetized mice, and in 18% of the trials in awake mice, thus illustrating practical yield and throughput to obtain multiple, simultaneous whole-cell recordings in vivo. PMID:29297466

Towards a definition of orphaned and vulnerable children.

PubMed

Skinner, Donald; Tsheko, N; Mtero-Munyati, S; Segwabe, M; Chibatamoto, P; Mfecane, S; Chandiwana, B; Nkomo, N; Tlou, S; Chitiyo, G

2006-11-01

The HIV epidemic presents challenges including orphans and a large mass of children rendered vulnerable by the epidemic and other societal forces. Focus on orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) is important, but needs accurate definition. Twelve focus group interviews of service providers, leaders in these communities, OVC and their caretakers were conducted at six project sites across Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe to extend this definition. The loss of a parent through death or desertion is an important aspect of vulnerability. Additional factors leading to vulnerability included severe chronic illness of a parent or caregiver, poverty, hunger, lack of access to services, inadequate clothing or shelter, overcrowding, deficient caretakers, and factors specific to the child, including disability, direct experience of physical or sexual violence, or severe chronic illness. Important questions raised in this research include the long-term implications for the child and community, and the contribution of culture systems.

Watching film for the first time: how adult viewers interpret perceptual discontinuities in film.

PubMed

Schwan, Stephan; Ildirar, Sermin

2010-07-01

Although film, television, and video play an important role in modern societies, the extent to which the similarities of cinematographic images to natural, unmediated conditions of visual experience contribute to viewers' comprehension is largely an open question. To address this question, we compared 20 inexperienced adult viewers from southern Turkey with groups of medium- and high-experienced adult viewers from the same region. In individual sessions, each participant was shown a set of 14 film clips that included a number of perceptual discontinuities typical for film. The viewers' interpretations were recorded and analyzed. The findings show that it is not the similarity to conditions of natural perception but the presence of a familiar line of action that determines the comprehensibility of films for inexperienced viewers. In the absence of such a line of action, extended prior experience is required for appropriate interpretation of cinematographic images such as those we investigated in this study.

‘The New Degree?’ Constructing Internships in the Third Sector

PubMed Central

Leonard, Pauline; Halford, Susan; Bruce, Katie

2015-01-01

The recent economic recession has impacted substantially on the graduate labour market, with many graduates now struggling to find secure employment in professional careers. In this context, temporary, unpaid ‘internships’ have emerged as increasingly important as a ‘way in’ to work for this group. Yet while there has been much media and policy debate on internships, academic consideration has been scant. This article begins to address this knowledge gap by drawing on a study of interns in a third sector environmental organisation. The research findings reveal that unpaid internships were rationalised through a complex mix of political motivations, career ambitions and lifestyle aims, but these intersected in important ways with social class. These findings are not only of empirical interest, contributing to our knowledge of graduate negotiations of precarity, but also of theoretical value, extending our understanding of young people’s agency and motivations in transitions into work. PMID:27524840

A Mission Concept Based on the ISECG Human Lunar Surface Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gruener, J. E.; Lawrence, S. J.

2017-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is participating in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG), working together with 13 other space agencies to advance a long-range human space exploration strategy. The ISECG has developed a Global Exploration Roadmap (GER) that reflects the coordinated international dialog and continued preparation for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit - beginning with the International Space Station (ISS) and continuing to the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and Mars [1]. The roadmap demonstrates how initial capabilities can enable a variety of missions in the lunar vicinity, responding to individual and common goals and objectives, while contributing to building partnerships required for sustainable human space exploration that delivers value to the public. The current GER includes three different near-term themes: exploration of a near-Earth asteroid, extended duration crew missions in cis-lunar space, and humans to the lunar surface.

Hispanic fertility, immigration, and race in the twenty-first century

PubMed Central

Parrado, Emilio A.; Flippen, Chenoa A.

2012-01-01

In this paper we systematically describe the connection between immigration and fertility in light of the increasing nativist reaction to Hispanic groups. We follow a life-course perspective to directly link migration and fertility transitions. The analysis combines original qualitative and quantitative data collected in Durham/Chapel Hill, NC as well as national level information from the Current Population Survey. The qualitative data provides a person-centered approach to the connection between migration and fertility that we then extend in quantitative analyses. Results demonstrate that standard demographic measures that treat migration and fertility as separate processes considerably distort the childbearing experience of immigrant women, inflating fertility estimates for Hispanics as a whole. Once this connection is taken into consideration the fertility levels of Hispanic women are much lower than those reported with standard measures and the fertility-specific contribution of Hispanics to U.S. population growth is much reduced. PMID:23066430

Creation of Rydberg Polarons in a Bose Gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, Richard

2017-04-01

In this talk we review the theory of various types of Bose polarons that can be realized in ultracold atomic systems. We then report the spectroscopic observation of Rydberg polarons in a Bose gas which is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. This novel type of polaron is created by excitation of Rydberg atoms in a strontium Bose-Einstein condensate and it is distinguished by the occupation of a large number bound molecular states. The cross-over from few-body bound molecular oligomers to many-body polaron features is described with a functional determinant theory that solves an extended Froehlich Hamiltonian for an impurity in a Bose gas. The detailed analysis of the red-detuned tail of the excitation spectrum describes the contribution from the region of highest density in the condensate and provides a clear signature of Rydberg polarons. This work has been performed in collaboration with groups at Rice University, Harvard University, and the TU Vienna.

Performance analysis of FET microwave devices by use of extended spectral-element time-domain method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheng, Yijun; Xu, Kan; Wang, Daoxiang; Chen, Rushan

2013-05-01

The extended spectral-element time-domain (SETD) method is employed to analyse field effect transistor (FET) microwave devices. In order to impose the contribution of the FET microwave devices into the electromagnetic simulation, the SETD method is extended by introducing a lumped current term into the vector Helmholtz equation. The change of currents on each lumped component can be expressed by the change of voltage via corresponding models of equivalent circuit. The electric fields around the lumped component must be influenced by the change of voltage on each lumped component, and vice versa. So a global coupling about the EM-circuit can be built directly. The fully explicit solving scheme is maintained in this extended SETD method and the CPU time can be saved spontaneously. Three practical FET microwave devices are analysed in this article. The numerical results demonstrate the ability and accuracy of this method.

Continuous glucose monitors: use of waveform versus glycemic values in the improvements of glucose control, quality of life, and fear of hypoglycemia.

PubMed

Walker, Tomas C; Yucha, Carolyn B

2014-05-01

How patients are benefitting from continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) remains poorly understood. The focus on numerical glucose values persists, even though access to the glucose waveform and rate of change may contribute more to improved control. This pilot study compared outcomes of patients using CGMs with or without access to the numerical values on their CGM. Ten persons with type 1 diabetes, naïve to CGM use, enrolled in a 12-week study. Subjects were randomly assigned to either unmodified CGM receivers, or to CGM receivers that had their numerical values obscured but otherwise functioned normally. HbA1c, quality of life (QLI-D), and fear of hypoglycemia (HFS) were assessed, at baseline and at week 12. Baseline HbA1c for the entire group was 7.46 ± 1.27%. At week 12 the experimental group HbA1c reduction was 1.5 ± 0.9% (p < .05), the control group's reduction was 0.06 ± 0.61% (p > .05). Repeated measures testing revealed no significant difference in HbA1c reduction between groups. Both groups had reductions in HFS; these reductions were statistically significant within groups (p < .05), but not between groups. QLI-D indices demonstrated improvements (p < .05) in QLI-D total and the health and family subscales, but not between groups. The results of this pilot study suggest that benefits of CGM extend beyond reductions in HbA1c to reductions in fear of hypoglycemia and improvements in quality of life. The display of a numerical glucose value did not improve control when compared to numerically blinded units. © 2014 Diabetes Technology Society.

A Shift in the Role of Glutamatergic Signaling in the Nucleus Accumbens Core with the Development of an Addicted Phenotype

PubMed Central

Doyle, Susan E.; Ramôa, Carolina; Garber, Garrett; Newman, Joshua; Toor, Shaun; Lynch, Wendy J.

2014-01-01

Background While dopamine signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) plays a well-established role in motivating cocaine use in early “non-addicted” stages, recent evidence suggests that other signaling pathways may be critical once addiction has developed. Given the importance of glutamatergic signaling in the NAc for drug-seeking and relapse, here we examined its role in motivating cocaine self-administration under conditions known to produce either a “non-addicted” or an “addicted” phenotype. Methods Following acquisition, male and female Sprague Dawley rats were given either short access (3 fixed-ratio 1 sessions, 20 infusions/day) or extended 24-hr access (10 days; 4 trials/hr; up to 96 infusions/day) to cocaine. Following a 14-day abstinence period, motivation for cocaine was assessed under a progressive-ratio schedule, and once stable, the effects of intra-NAc infusions of the glutamate AMPA/KA receptor antagonist CNQX (0.0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.1 μg/side) were determined. As an additional measure for the development of an addicted phenotype, separate groups of rats were screened under an extinction/cue-induced reinstatement procedure following abstinence from short versus extended access self-administration. Results Motivation for cocaine and levels of extinction and reinstatement responding were markedly higher following extended versus short access self-administration confirming the development of an addicted phenotype in the extended access group. CNQX dose-dependently reduced motivation for cocaine in the extended access group, but was without effect in the short access group. Conclusions These results suggest that the role of glutamatergic signaling in the NAc, though not essential for motivating cocaine use in “non-addicted” stages, becomes critical once addiction has developed. PMID:24629536

The Changing Motivations of Students' Use of Lecture Podcasts across a Semester: An Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moss, Nathan D.; Hamilton, Kyra; White, Katherine M.; Hansen, Julie

2015-01-01

We extended the previous work of Moss, O'Connor and White, to include a measure of group norms within the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), to examine the influences on students' decisions to use lecture podcasts as part of their learning. Participants (N?=?90) completed the extended TPB predictors before semester began (Time 1) and mid-semester…

75 FR 51324 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-19

... Organizations; NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Relating To Extend the Cut-Off Time... Deliveries) of the Rules of the Boston Options Exchange Group, LLC (``BOX'') to extend the cut-off time to... proposed rule change is to amend Chapter VII, Section 1 of the BOX Trading Rules to extend the cut-off time...

Some quality aspects of fish patties prepared from an Indian major carp, Labeo rohita (Ham.).

PubMed

Sehgal, H S; Shahi, Meenakshi; Sehgal, G K; Thind, S S

2008-05-01

Six different types of fish patties were prepared from de-boned meat of three weight groups (250 500 g, 501-750 g, and 751-1,000 g) of an Indian major carp, Labeo rohita, using two extenders (boiled potato and corn flour). The weight of the fish and the type of the extender affected the nutritional quality of the patties. Cooking lowered the crude protein but increased the total lipid, total soluble sugars, and contents of the patties. Cooking yield increased with an increase in the weight of the fish. Similarly, the use of corn flour as the extender resulted in a higher cooking yield and higher fat retention capacity than boiled potato. The type of extender had no effect on the water-holding capacity of the patties. The weight of the fish and the extender had no significant effect on appearance, colour, flavour, taste, and the overall acceptability of the product. However, the patties prepared from 250-500 g and 501-750 g weight groups with corn flour as the extender had a significantly higher score for their texture. The total plate count suggested that the patties were safe (from microbiological point of view) up to a storage period of 80 days.

A qualitative evaluation of a group phone-based weight loss intervention for rural breast cancer survivors: Themes and mechanisms of success.

PubMed

Fazzino, Tera L; Sporn, Nora J; Befort, Christie A

2016-07-01

Obesity is prevalent in breast cancer survivors and is a significant risk factor for recurrence and mortality. Weight management interventions for survivors have been diverse in design (in-person vs. phone-based, group vs. individual) and yielded varying weight loss results. Given these issues, participants themselves may provide insight into treatment-based factors that contributed to their weight loss outcomes. Here, we report qualitative results from interviews with survivors in a group phone-based weight loss intervention, with the objective of identifying mechanisms that facilitated or hindered adherence and weight loss. We explored interest in paying for continued treatment as an indicator of dissemination potential. Individual interviews were conducted with 186 rural, obese breast cancer survivors upon completion of a 6-month weight loss intervention that produced clinically meaningful weight loss (>5 %) in 91 % of participants. A thematic analysis of the interview data was performed. Five themes were identified as impacting adherence and success: (1) accountability; (2) importance of the group, with varying levels of connectedness; (3) dietary convenience; (4) difficulty maintaining intervention components that required more effort; and (5) importance of internal motivation to attributions of physical activity success or failure. Most were interested in paying to continue the program if it were extended beyond the study. Key intervention components that participants attributed to their success included supportive group processes and convenience. Results highlight the group phone-based approach as a potential venue for disseminating an effective weight loss program for breast cancer survivors. NCT01441011.

Workers' Well-Being and Productivity: The Role of Bargaining.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayer, Jean

1983-01-01

Bargaining that makes available facilities for satisfaction of workers' basic needs can contribute to increased productivity, which in turn enhances competitiveness. Such bargaining can be an effective means of extending and reinforcing national economic planning. (SK)

Factors affecting consumer acceptance and use of child restraint systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-01-01

The causes of consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with child restraint systems were studied, and factors contributing to non-use and misuse were identified. Thirty-two families used several different child restraint models for extended periods, ...

BRAIN TUMOR SEGMENTATION WITH SYMMETRIC TEXTURE AND SYMMETRIC INTENSITY-BASED DECISION FORESTS.

PubMed

Bianchi, Anthony; Miller, James V; Tan, Ek Tsoon; Montillo, Albert

2013-04-01

Accurate automated segmentation of brain tumors in MR images is challenging due to overlapping tissue intensity distributions and amorphous tumor shape. However, a clinically viable solution providing precise quantification of tumor and edema volume would enable better pre-operative planning, treatment monitoring and drug development. Our contributions are threefold. First, we design efficient gradient and LBPTOP based texture features which improve classification accuracy over standard intensity features. Second, we extend our texture and intensity features to symmetric texture and symmetric intensity which further improve the accuracy for all tissue classes. Third, we demonstrate further accuracy enhancement by extending our long range features from 100mm to a full 200mm. We assess our brain segmentation technique on 20 patients in the BraTS 2012 dataset. Impact from each contribution is measured and the combination of all the features is shown to yield state-of-the-art accuracy and speed.

From migration to settlement: the pathways, migration modes and dynamics of neurons in the developing brain

PubMed Central

HATANAKA, Yumiko; ZHU, Yan; TORIGOE, Makio; KITA, Yoshiaki; MURAKAMI, Fujio

2016-01-01

Neuronal migration is crucial for the construction of the nervous system. To reach their correct destination, migrating neurons choose pathways using physical substrates and chemical cues of either diffusible or non-diffusible nature. Migrating neurons extend a leading and a trailing process. The leading process, which extends in the direction of migration, determines navigation, in particular when a neuron changes its direction of migration. While most neurons simply migrate radially, certain neurons switch their mode of migration between radial and tangential, with the latter allowing migration to destinations far from the neurons’ site of generation. Consequently, neurons with distinct origins are intermingled, which results in intricate neuronal architectures and connectivities and provides an important basis for higher brain function. The trailing process, in contrast, contributes to the late stage of development by turning into the axon, thus contributing to the formation of neuronal circuits. PMID:26755396

Application of modified extended method in CREAM for safety inspector in coal mines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jinhe; Zhang, Xiaohong; Zeng, Jianchao

2018-01-01

Safety inspector often performs duties in circumstances contributes to the oc currence of human failures. Therefore, the paper aims at quantifying human failure pro bability (HFP) of safety inspector during the coal mine operation with cognitive reliabi lity and error analysis method (CREAM). Whereas, some shortcomings of this approa ch that lacking considering the applicability of the common performance condition (C PC), and the subjective of evaluating CPC level which weaken the accuracy of the qua ntitative prediction results. A modified extended method in CREAM which is able to a ddress these difficulties with a CPC framework table is proposed, and the proposed me thodology is demonstrated by the virtue of a coal-mine accident example. The results a re expected to be useful in predicting HFP of safety inspector and contribute to the enh ancement of coal mine safety.

Effectiveness of Injectable Extended-Release Naltrexone vs Daily Buprenorphine-Naloxone for Opioid Dependence: A Randomized Clinical Noninferiority Trial.

PubMed

Tanum, Lars; Solli, Kristin Klemmetsby; Latif, Zill-E-Huma; Benth, Jurate Šaltyte; Opheim, Arild; Sharma-Haase, Kamni; Krajci, Peter; Kunøe, Nikolaj

2017-12-01

To date, extended-release naltrexone hydrochloride has not previously been compared directly with opioid medication treatment (OMT), currently the most commonly prescribed treatment for opioid dependence. To determine whether treatment with extended-release naltrexone will be as effective as daily buprenorphine hydrochloride with naloxone hydrochloride in maintaining abstinence from heroin and other illicit substances in newly detoxified individuals. A 12-week, multicenter, outpatient, open-label randomized clinical trial was conducted at 5 urban addiction clinics in Norway between November 1, 2012, and December 23, 2015; the last follow-up was performed on October 23, 2015. A total of 232 adult opioid-dependent (per DSM-IV criteria) individuals were recruited from outpatient addiction clinics and detoxification units and assessed for eligibility. Intention-to-treat analyses of efficacy end points were performed with all randomized participants. Randomization to either daily oral flexible dose buprenorphine-naloxone, 4 to 24 mg/d, or extended-release naltrexone hydrochloride, 380 mg, administered intramuscularly every fourth week for 12 weeks. Primary end points (protocol) were the randomized clinical trial completion rate, the proportion of opioid-negative urine drug tests, and number of days of use of heroin and other illicit opioids. Secondary end points included number of days of use of other illicit substances. Safety was assessed by adverse event reporting. Of 159 participants, mean (SD) age was 36 (8.6) years and 44 (27.7%) were women. Eighty individuals were randomized to extended-release naltrexone and 79 to buprenorphine-naloxone; 105 (66.0%) completed the trial. Retention in the extended-release naltrexone group was noninferior to the buprenorphine-naloxone group (difference, -0.1; with 95% CI, -0.2 to 0.1; P = .04), with mean (SD) time of 69.3 (25.9) and 63.7 (29.9) days, correspondingly (P = .33, log-rank test). Treatment with extended-release naltrexone showed noninferiority to buprenorphine-naloxone on group proportion of total number of opioid-negative urine drug tests (mean [SD], 0.9 [0.3] and 0.8 [0.4], respectively, difference, 0.1 with 95% CI, -0.04 to 0.2; P < .001) and use of heroin (mean difference, -3.2 with 95% CI, -4.9 to -1.5; P < .001) and other illicit opioids (mean difference, -2.7 with 95% CI, -4.6 to -0.9; P < .001). Superiority analysis showed significantly lower use of heroin and other illicit opioids in the extended-release naltrexone group. No significant differences were found between the treatment groups regarding most other illicit substance use. Extended-release naltrexone was as effective as buprenorphine-naloxone in maintaining short-term abstinence from heroin and other illicit substances and should be considered as a treatment option for opioid-dependent individuals. clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01717963.

Time utilization, productivity and costs of solo and extended duty auxiliary dental practice.

PubMed

Tan, H H; van Gemert, H G

1977-07-01

A study was conducted to compare the time utilization of the dentist, and productivity and costs for solo (one dentist, one chairside assistant and one treatment room) and extended duty settings (one dentist, two extended duty dental hygienists, one chairside assistant and two treatment rooms). Only amalgam and composite restorations done in a general group practice were included. In the extended duty setting the dentist spent more time in managerial activities and less time in treatment than in the solo setting. Nevertheless, the dentist in the extended duty setting produced 53% more restorations as compared with solo practice. The cost ratio of solo to extended duty practice was computed to 1:1.52. From the point of view of microeconomics, the extended duty setting was found no worse than the solo setting.

Extending the Instructional Systems Development Methodology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neill, Colin E.

1993-01-01

Describes ways that components of Information Engineering (IE) methodology can be used by training system developers to extend Instructional Systems Development (ISD) methodology. Aspects of IE that are useful in ISD are described, including requirements determination, group facilitation, integrated automated tool support, and prototyping.…

Extended pancreatectomy as defined by the ISGPS: useful in selected cases of pancreatic cancer but invaluable in other complex pancreatic tumors.

PubMed

Mitra, Abhishek; Pai, Esha; Dusane, Rohit; Ranganathan, Priya; DeSouza, Ashwin; Goel, Mahesh; Shrikhande, Shailesh V

2018-03-01

Extended pancreatectomy aimed at R0 resection of pancreatic tumors with adjacent vessel and organ involvement may be the only option for cure. This study was done with an objective to analyze the short- and long-term outcomes of extended pancreatic resections. All pancreatectomies performed between 2006 and 2015 were included. The pancreatectomies were classified as standard or extended, as per the International Study Group for Pancreatic Surgery. All surgical complications and terminologies were according to Clavien-Dindo classification and International Study Group for Pancreatic Surgery guidelines. Morbidity and mortality were primary outcomes and disease-free survival was a secondary outcome. Sixty-three extended and 620 standard pancreatectomies were performed. Major morbidity (Clavien grades III, IV and V) (37 vs. 29%, p = 0.21) and mortality (6 vs. 4%, p = 0.3) for extended pancreatectomies were comparable to those for standard pancreatectomies. Blood loss > 855 ml, need for blood transfusion, and tumor size were independent risk factors for morbidity, and the latter two for mortality. Standard pancreatectomies were associated with better 3-year disease-free survival than extended pancreatectomies (67 vs. 41%, p < 0.001). Extended pancreatectomies resulted in a significantly better median disease-free survival for non-pancreatic adenocarcinoma vs. pancreatic adenocarcinoma (33.3 vs. 9.5 months, p = 0.01). Extended pancreatectomies resulted in similar peri-operative morbidity and mortality compared to standard pancreatectomies. Although the survival of patients undergoing these complex procedures is inferior to standard pancreatectomies, they should be undertaken not only in selected cases of pancreatic cancer but even more so in other complex pancreatic tumors.

Marital enqing: an examination of its relationship to spousal contributions, sacrifices, and family stress in Chinese marriages.

PubMed

Chen, Fu-Mei; Li, Tsui-Shan

2007-08-01

The purpose of this study was to extend understanding of Chinese couples' enqing, a culturally specific component of marital affection that involves the expression of feelings of gratitude and admiration toward one's spouse. In this study, the authors examined family stress, spousal contributions, and sacrifices to study their possible effects on enqing in Chinese marriages. Participants were 455 married people living in northern Taiwan. Overall, the results highlighted the importance of spousal contributions and sacrifices in the development of marital enqing. Additionally, the results indicated that family stress moderated the spousal economic contribution--enqing relationship and the spousal sacrifices--enqing relationship for wives, but not for husbands.

Open groups of constraints. Integrating arbitrary involutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batalin, Igor; Marnelius, Robert

1998-11-01

A new type of quantum master equation is presented which is expressed in terms of a recently introduced quantum antibracket. The equation involves only two operators: an extended nilpotent BFV-BRST charge and an extended ghost charge. It is proposed to determine the generalized quantum Maurer-Cartan equations for arbitrary open groups. These groups are the integration of constraints in arbitrary involutions. The only condition for this is that the constraint operators may be embedded in an odd nilpotent operator, the BFV-BRST charge. The proposal is verified at the quasigroup level. The integration formulas are also used to construct a generating operator for quantum antibrackets of operators in arbitrary involutions.

Conformational analysis investigation into the influence of nano-porosity of ultra-permeable ultra-selective polyimides on its diffusivity as potential membranes for use in the "green" separation of natural gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madkour, Tarek M.

2013-08-01

Nano-porous polymers of intrinsic microporosity, PIM, have exhibited excellent permeability and selectivity characteristics that could be utilized in an environmentally friendly gas separation process. A full understanding of the mechanism through which these membranes effectively and selectively allow for the permeation of specific gases will lead to further development of these membranes. Three factors obviously influenced the conformational behavior of these polymers, which are the presence of electronegative atoms, the presence of non-linearity in the polymeric backbones (backbone kinks) and the presence of bulky side groups on the polymeric chains. The dipole moment increased sharply with the presence of backbone kinks more than any other factor. Replacing the fluorine atoms with bulky alkyl groups didn't influence the dipole moment greatly indicating that the size of the side chains had much less dramatic influence on the dipole moment than having a bent backbone. Similarly, the presence of the backbone kinks in the polymeric chains influenced the polymeric chains to assume less extended configuration causing the torsional angles around the interconnecting bonds unable to cross the high potential energy barriers. The presence of the bulky side groups also caused the energy barriers of the cis-configurations to increase dramatically, which prevented the polymeric segments from experiencing full rotation about the connecting bonds. For these polymers, it was clear that the fully extended configurations are the preferred configurations in the absence of strong electronegative atoms, backbones kinks or bulky side groups. The addition of any of these factors to the polymeric structures resulted in the polymeric chains being forced to assume less extended configurations. Rather interestingly, the length or bulkiness of the side groups didn't affect the end-to-end distance distribution to a great deal since the presence of quite large bulky side chain such as the pentyl group has caused the polymeric chains to revert back to the fully extended configurations possibly due to the quite high potential energy barriers that the chains have to cross to reach the less extended configurational states.

HLA-inferred extended haplotype disparity level is more relevant than the level of HLA mismatch alone for the patients survival and GvHD in T cell-replate hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from unrelated donor.

PubMed

Nowak, Jacek; Nestorowicz, Klaudia; Graczyk-Pol, Elzbieta; Mika-Witkowska, Renata; Rogatko-Koros, Marta; Jaskula, Emilia; Koscinska, Katarzyna; Madej, Sylwia; Tomaszewska, Agnieszka; Nasilowska-Adamska, Barbara; Szczepinski, Andrzej; Halaburda, Kazimierz; Dybko, Jaroslaw; Kuliczkowski, Kazimierz; Czerw, Tomasz; Giebel, Sebastian; Holowiecki, Jerzy; Baranska, Malgorzata; Pieczonka, Anna; Wachowiak, Jacek; Czyz, Anna; Gil, Lidia; Lojko-Dankowska, Anna; Komarnicki, Mieczyslaw; Bieniaszewska, Maria; Kucharska, Agnieszka; Hellmann, Andrzej; Gronkowska, Anna; Jedrzejczak, Wieslaw W; Markiewicz, Miroslaw; Koclega, Anna; Kyrcz-Krzemien, Slawomira; Mielcarek, Monika; Kalwak, Krzysztof; Styczynski, Jan; Wysocki, Mariusz; Drabko, Katarzyna; Wojcik, Beata; Kowalczyk, Jerzy; Gozdzik, Jolanta; Pawliczak, Daria; Gwozdowicz, Slawomir; Dziopa, Joanna; Szlendak, Urszula; Witkowska, Agnieszka; Zubala, Marta; Gawron, Agnieszka; Warzocha, Krzysztof; Lange, Andrzej

2018-06-01

Serious risks in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) including graft versus host disease (GvHD) and mortality are associated with HLA disparity between donor and recipient. The increased risks might be dependent on disparity in not-routinely-tested multiple polymorphisms in genetically dense MHC region, being organized in combinations of two extended MHC haplotypes (Ehp). We assessed the clinical role of donor-recipient Ehp disparity levels in N = 889 patients by the population-based detection of HLA allele phase mismatch. We found increased GvHD incidences and mortality rates with increasing Ehp mismatch level even with the same HLA mismatch level. In multivariate analysis HLA mismatch levels were excluded from models and Ehp disparity level remained independent prognostic factor for high grade acute GvHD (p = 0.000037, HR = 10.68, 95%CI 5.50-32.5) and extended chronic GvHD (p < 0.000001, HR = 15.51, CI95% 5.36-44.8). In group with single HLA mismatch, patients with double Ehp disparity had worse 5-year overall survival (45% vs. 56%, p = 0.00065, HR = 4.05, CI95% 1.69-9.71) and non-relapse mortality (40% vs. 31%, p = 0.00037, HR = 5.63, CI95% 2.04-15.5) than patients with single Ehp disparity. We conclude that Ehp-linked factors contribute to the high morbidity and mortality in recipients given HLA-mismatched unrelated transplant and Ehp matching should be considered in clinical HSCT. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Inactivation of the central nucleus of the amygdala reduces the effect of punishment on cocaine self-administration in rats.

PubMed

Xue, YueQiang; Steketee, Jeffery D; Sun, WenLin

2012-03-01

Continued cocaine use despite the negative consequences is a hallmark of cocaine addiction. One such consequence is punishment, which is often used by society to curb cocaine use. Unfortunately, we know little about the mechanism involved in regulation by punishment of cocaine use. The fact that cocaine addicts continue to use cocaine despite potentially severe punishment suggests that the mechanism may be impaired. Such impairment is expected to critically contribute to compulsive cocaine use. This study was aimed at testing the hypothesis that the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeN) plays a critical role in such regulation. To this end, rats were trained to press a lever to self-administer cocaine under a chained schedule: a response on one lever (cocaine-seeking lever) led to access to the other lever (cocaine-taking lever), on which a response was reinforced by cocaine and cues. Thereafter, responses on the seeking lever were punished by footshock with a probability of 0.5. Cocaine self-administration (SA) was significantly suppressed by punishment in an intensity-dependent manner. Interestingly, rats trained with daily 6-h (extended access) but not 2-h (limited access) sessions showed resistance to the lower intensity of punishment. Inactivation of the CeN induced a robust anti-punishment effect in both groups. These data provided evidence that the CeN is a critical neural substrate involved in regulation by punishment of cocaine SA. Rats with a history of extended cocaine SA appeared to be less sensitive to punishment. The decreased sensitivity could result from the neuroplastic changes induced by extended cocaine SA in the CeN. © 2012 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2012 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Inactivation of the central nucleus of the amygdala reduces the effect of punishment on cocaine self-administration in rats

PubMed Central

Xue, YueQiang; Steketee, Jeffery D.; Sun, WenLin

2012-01-01

Continued cocaine use despite the negative consequences is a hallmark of cocaine addiction. One such consequence is punishment that is often used by society to curb cocaine use. Unfortunately, we know little about the mechanism involved in regulation by punishment of cocaine use. The fact that cocaine addicts continue cocaine use despite potential severe punishment suggests that the mechanism may be impaired. Such impairment is expected to critically contribute to compulsive cocaine use. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the central nucleus of amygdala (CeN) plays a critical role in such regulation. To this end, rats were trained to press a lever to self-administer cocaine under a chained schedule: a response on one lever (cocaine-seeking lever) led to access to the other lever (cocaine-taking lever) on which a response was reinforced by cocaine and cues. Thereafter, responses on the seeking lever were punished by footshock with a probability of 0.5. Cocaine self-administration (SA) was significantly suppressed by punishment in an intensity-dependent manner. Interestingly, rats trained with daily 6-h (extended access) but not 2-h (limited access) sessions showed resistance to the lower intensity of punishment. Inactivation of the CeN induced a robust anti-punishment effect in both groups. These data provided evidence that the CeN is a critical neural substrate involved in regulation by punishment of cocaine SA. Rats with a history of extended cocaine SA appeared to be less sensitive to punishment. The decreased sensitivity could result from the neuroplastic changes induced by extended cocaine SA in the CeN. PMID:22304754

The relative contributions of parents and siblings to child and adolescent development.

PubMed

Tucker, Corinna Jenkins; Updegraff, Kimberly

2009-01-01

Guided by an ecological framework, we explore how siblings' and parents' roles, relationships, and activities are intertwined in everyday life, providing unique and combined contributions to development. In a departure from past research that emphasized the separate contributions of siblings and parents to individual development, we find that examining the conjoint or interactive effects of sibling and parent influences promises to extend our understanding of the role of family in children's and adolescents' social, emotional, and cognitive development. Understood within the context of family and sociocultural characteristics, siblings' unique roles as agents of socialization are illuminated.

HZEFRG1: An energy-dependent semiempirical nuclear fragmentation model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, Lawrence W.; Wilson, John W.; Tripathi, Ram K.; Norbury, John W.; Badavi, Francis F.; Khan, Ferdous

1993-01-01

Methods for calculating cross sections for the breakup of high-energy heavy ions by the combined nuclear and coulomb fields of the interacting nuclei are presented. The nuclear breakup contributions are estimated with an abrasion-ablation model of heavy ion fragmentation that includes an energy-dependent, mean free path. The electromagnetic dissociation contributions arising from the interacting coulomb fields are estimated by using Weizsacker-Williams theory extended to include electric dipole and electric quadrupole contributions. The complete computer code that implements the model is included as an appendix. Extensive comparisons of cross section predictions with available experimental data are made.

Martin Bergmann: The Last 21 Years.

PubMed

Feiner, Kenneth

2015-06-01

Martin Bergmann has contributed to our understanding of psychoanalysis for more than sixty years. A review of his contributions to psychoanalysis was completed in 1994, when Bergmann was 83 years old. Consideration of his remarkable productivity in the last twenty years clearly demonstrates the need to update this review. In these years, he extended his writing on the history of psychoanalysis, added to his contributions to an understanding of love, advanced ideas about psychoanalytic technique, and wrote two books on Shakespeare, as well as doing work in anthropology, sociology, literature, history, and religious studies. This paper reviews that work.

Student Perceptions of Small-Group Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florez, Ida Rose; McCaslin, Mary

2008-01-01

Background/Context: Elementary school teachers regularly arrange students in small groups for learning activities. A rich literature discusses various types of small-group learning formats and how those formats affect achievement. Few studies, however, have examined students' perceptions of small-group learning experiences. Our work extends the…

Timing and petroleum sources for the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group oil sands of northern Alberta based on 4-D modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Higley, D.K.; Lewan, M.D.; Roberts, L.N.R.; Henry, M.

2009-01-01

The Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group oil sands of northern Alberta have an estimated 270.3 billion m3 (BCM) (1700 billion bbl) of in-place heavy oil and tar. Our study area includes oil sand accumulations and downdip areas that partially extend into the deformation zone in western Alberta. The oil sands are composed of highly biodegraded oil and tar, collectively referred to as bitumen, whose source remains controversial. This is addressed in our study with a four-dimensional (4-D) petroleum system model. The modeled primary trap for generated and migrated oil is subtle structures. A probable seal for the oil sands was a gradual updip removal of the lighter hydrocarbon fractions as migrated oil was progressively biodegraded. This is hypothetical because the modeling software did not include seals resulting from the biodegradation of oil. Although the 4-D model shows that source rocks ranging from the Devonian-Mississippian Exshaw Formation to the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group coals and Ostracode-zone-contributed oil to Mannville Group reservoirs, source rocks in the Jurassic Fernie Group (Gordondale Member and Poker Chip A shale) were the initial and major contributors. Kinetics associated with the type IIS kerogen in Fernie Group source rocks resulted in the early generation and expulsion of oil, as early as 85 Ma and prior to the generation from the type II kerogen of deeper and older source rocks. The modeled 50% peak transformation to oil was reached about 75 Ma for the Gordondale Member and Poker Chip A shale near the west margin of the study area, and prior to onset about 65 Ma from other source rocks. This early petroleum generation from the Fernie Group source rocks resulted in large volumes of generated oil, and prior to the Laramide uplift and onset of erosion (???58 Ma), which curtailed oil generation from all source rocks. Oil generation from all source rocks ended by 40 Ma. Although the modeled study area did not include possible western contributions of generated oil to the oil sands, the amount generated by the Jurassic source rocks within the study area was 475 BCM (2990 billion bbl). Copyright ?? 2009. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

CHARACTERIZATION OF INFLAMMATORY GENE EXPRESSION AND GALECTIN-3 FUNCTION AFTER SPINAL CORD INJURY IN MICE

PubMed Central

Pajoohesh-Ganji, Ahdeah; Knoblach, Susan M.; Faden, Alan I.; Byrnes, Kimberly R.

2012-01-01

Inflammation has long been implicated in secondary tissue damage after spinal cord injury (SCI). Our previous studies of inflammatory gene expression in rats after SCI revealed two temporally correlated clusters: the first was expressed early after injury and the second was up-regulated later, with peak expression at 1–2 weeks and persistent up-regulation through 6 months. To further address the role of inflammation after SCI, we examined inflammatory genes in a second species, mice, through 28 days after SCI. Using anchor gene clustering analysis, we found similar expression patterns for both the acute and chronic gene clusters previously identified after rat SCI. The acute group returned to normal expression levels by 7 days post-injury. The chronic group, which included C1qB, p22phox and galectin-3, showed peak expression at 7 days and remained up-regulated through 28 days. Immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis showed that the protein expression of these genes was consistent with the mRNA expression. Further exploration of the role of one of these genes, galectin-3, suggests that galectin-3 may contribute to secondary injury. In summary, our findings extend our prior gene profiling data by demonstrating the chronic expression of a cluster of microglial associated inflammatory genes after SCI in mice. Moreover, by demonstrating that inhibition of one such factor improves recovery, the findings suggest that such chronic up-regulation of inflammatory processes may contribute to secondary tissue damage after SCI, and that there may be a broader therapeutic window for neuroprotection than generally accepted. PMID:22884909

THE MINIMUM OF SOLAR CYCLE 23: AS DEEP AS IT COULD BE?

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

Muñoz-Jaramillo, Andrés; Longcope, Dana W.; Senkpeil, Ryan R.

2015-05-01

In this work we introduce a new way of binning sunspot group data with the purpose of better understanding the impact of the solar cycle on sunspot properties and how this defined the characteristics of the extended minimum of cycle 23. Our approach assumes that the statistical properties of sunspots are completely determined by the strength of the underlying large-scale field and have no additional time dependencies. We use the amplitude of the cycle at any given moment (something we refer to as activity level) as a proxy for the strength of this deep-seated magnetic field. We find that themore » sunspot size distribution is composed of two populations: one population of groups and active regions and a second population of pores and ephemeral regions. When fits are performed at periods of different activity level, only the statistical properties of the former population, the active regions, are found to vary. Finally, we study the relative contribution of each component (small-scale versus large-scale) to solar magnetism. We find that when hemispheres are treated separately, almost every one of the past 12 solar minima reaches a point where the main contribution to magnetism comes from the small-scale component. However, due to asymmetries in cycle phase, this state is very rarely reached by both hemispheres at the same time. From this we infer that even though each hemisphere did reach the magnetic baseline, from a heliospheric point of view the minimum of cycle 23 was not as deep as it could have been.« less

Background sounds contribute to spectrotemporal plasticity in primary auditory cortex

PubMed Central

Moucha, Raluca; Pandya, Pritesh K.; Engineer, Navzer D.; Rathbun, Daniel L.

2010-01-01

The mammalian auditory system evolved to extract meaningful information from complex acoustic environments. Spectrotemporal selectivity of auditory neurons provides a potential mechanism to represent natural sounds. Experience-dependent plasticity mechanisms can remodel the spectrotemporal selectivity of neurons in primary auditory cortex (A1). Electrical stimulation of the cholinergic nucleus basalis (NB) enables plasticity in A1 that parallels natural learning and is specific to acoustic features associated with NB activity. In this study, we used NB stimulation to explore how cortical networks reorganize after experience with frequency-modulated (FM) sweeps, and how background stimuli contribute to spectrotemporal plasticity in rat auditory cortex. Pairing an 8–4 kHz FM sweep with NB stimulation 300 times per day for 20 days decreased tone thresholds, frequency selectivity, and response latency of A1 neurons in the region of the tonotopic map activated by the sound. In an attempt to modify neuronal response properties across all of A1 the same NB activation was paired in a second group of rats with five downward FM sweeps, each spanning a different octave. No changes in FM selectivity or receptive field (RF) structure were observed when the neural activation was distributed across the cortical surface. However, the addition of unpaired background sweeps of different rates or direction was sufficient to alter RF characteristics across the tonotopic map in a third group of rats. These results extend earlier observations that cortical neurons can develop stimulus specific plasticity and indicate that background conditions can strongly influence cortical plasticity PMID:15616812

The Cognitive Challenges of Flying a Remotely Piloted Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hobbs, Alan; Cardoza, Colleen; Null, Cynthia

2016-01-01

A large variety of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) designs are currently in production or in development. These aircraft range from small electric quadcopters that are flown close to the ground within visual range of the operator, to larger systems capable of extended flight in airspace shared with conventional aircraft. Before RPA can operate routinely and safely in civilian airspace, we need to understand the unique human factors associated with these aircraft. The task of flying an RPA in civilian airspace involves challenges common to the operation of other highly-automated systems, but also introduces new considerations for pilot perception, decision-making, and action execution. RPA pilots participated in focus groups where they were asked to recall critical incidents that either presented a threat to safety, or highlighted a case where the pilot contributed to system resilience or mission success. Ninety incidents were gathered from focus-groups. Human factor issues included the impact of reduced sensory cues, traffic separation in the absence of an out-the-window view, control latencies, vigilance during monotonous and ultra-long endurance flights, control station design considerations, transfer of control between control stations, the management of lost link procedures, and decision-making during emergencies. Some of these concerns have received significant attention in the literature, or are analogous to human factors of manned aircraft. The presentation will focus on issues that are poorly understood, and have not yet been the subject of extensive human factors study. Although many of the reported incidents were related to pilot error, the participants also provided examples of the positive contribution that humans make to the operation of highly-automated systems.

ROSAT observations of compact groups of galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pildis, Rachel A.; Bregman, Joel N.; Evrard, August E.

1995-01-01

We have systematically analyzed a sample of 13 new and archival ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) observations of compact groups of galaxies: 12 Hickson compact groups plus the NCG 2300 group. We find that approximately two-thirds of the groups have extended X-ray emission and, in four of these, the emission is resolved into diffuse emission from gas at a temperature of kT approximately 1 keV in the group potential. All but one of the groups with extended emission have a spiral fraction of less than 50%. The baryon fraction of groups with diffuse emission is 5%-19%, similar to the values in clusters of galaxies. However, with a single exception (HCG 62), the gas-to-stellar mass ratio in our groups has a median value near 5%, somewhat greater than the values for individual early-type galaxies and two orders of magnitude than in clusters of galaxies. The X-ray luminosities of individual group galaxies are comparable to those of similar field galaxies, although the L(sub X)-L(sub B) relation for early-type galaxies may be flatter in compact groups than in the field.

Source-to-exposure assessment with the Pangea multi-scale framework - case study in Australia.

PubMed

Wannaz, Cedric; Fantke, Peter; Lane, Joe; Jolliet, Olivier

2018-01-24

Effective planning of airshed pollution mitigation is often constrained by a lack of integrative analysis able to relate the relevant emitters to the receptor populations at risk. Both emitter and receptor perspectives are therefore needed to consistently inform emission and exposure reduction measures. This paper aims to extend the Pangea spatial multi-scale multimedia framework to evaluate source-to-receptor relationships of industrial sources of organic pollutants in Australia. Pangea solves a large compartmental system in parallel by block to determine arrays of masses at steady-state for 100 000+ compartments and 4000+ emission scenarios, and further computes population exposure by inhalation and ingestion. From an emitter perspective, radial spatial distributions of population intakes show high spatial variation in intake fractions from 0.68 to 33 ppm for benzene, and from 0.006 to 9.5 ppm for formaldehyde, contrasting urban, rural, desert, and sea source locations. Extending analyses to the receptor perspective, population exposures from the combined emissions of 4101 Australian point sources are more extended for benzene that travels over longer distances, versus formaldehyde that has a more local impact. Decomposing exposure per industrial sector shows petroleum and steel industry as the highest contributing industrial sectors for benzene, whereas the electricity sector and petroleum refining contribute most to formaldehyde exposures. The source apportionment identifies the main sources contributing to exposure at five locations. Overall, this paper demonstrates high interest in addressing exposures from both an emitter perspective well-suited to inform product oriented approaches such as LCA, and from a receptor perspective for health risk mitigation.

Integrating parasitology and marine ecology: Seven challenges towards greater synergy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poulin, Robert; Blasco-Costa, Isabel; Randhawa, Haseeb S.

2016-07-01

Despite their very different historical origins as scientific disciplines, parasitology and marine ecology have already combined successfully to make important contributions to our understanding of the functioning of natural ecosystems. For example, robust assessments of the contribution of parasites to ecosystem biomass and energetics, and of their impact on community-wide biodiversity and food web structure, have all been made for the first time in marine systems. Nevertheless, for the marriage between parasitology and marine ecology to remain fruitful, several challenges must first be overcome. We discuss seven such challenges on the road to a greater synergy between these disciplines: (1) Raising awareness of parasitism as an ecological force by increasing the proportion of articles about parasites and diseases in marine ecology journals; (2) Making greater use of theory and conceptual frameworks from marine ecology to guide parasitological research; (3) Speeding up or at least maintaining the current rate at which marine parasites are found and described; (4) Elucidating a greater proportion of life cycles in all major groups of marine parasites; (5) Increasing the number of host-parasite model systems on which our knowledge is based; (6) Extending parasitological research offshore and into ocean depths; and (7) Developing, as needed, new epidemiological theory and transmission models for the marine environment. None of these challenges is insurmountable, and addressing just a few of them should guarantee that parasitology and marine ecology will continue to join forces and make further substantial contributions.

The Properties of HPMC:PEO Extended Release Hydrophilic Matrices and their Response to Ionic Environments.

PubMed

Hu, Anran; Chen, Chen; Mantle, Michael D; Wolf, Bettina; Gladden, Lynn F; Rajabi-Siahboomi, Ali; Missaghi, Shahrzad; Mason, Laura; Melia, Colin D

2017-05-01

Investigate the extended release behaviour of compacts containing mixtures of hydrophilic HPMC and PEO in hydrating media of differing ionic strengths. The extended release behaviour of various HPMC:PEO compacts was investigated using dissolution testing, confocal microscopy and magnetic resonance imaging, with respect to polymer ratio and ionic strength of the hydrating media. Increasing HPMC content gave longer extended release times, but a greater sensitivity to high ionic dissolution environments. Increasing PEO content reduced this sensitivity. The addition of PEO to a predominantly HPMC matrix reduced release rate sensitivity to high ionic environments. Confocal microscopy of early gel layer development showed the two polymers appeared to contribute independently to gel layer structure whilst together forming a coherent and effective diffusion barrier. There was some evidence that poorly swollen HPMC particles added a tortuosity barrier to the gel layer in high ionic strength environments, resulting in prolonged extended release. MRI provides unique, non-invasive spatially resolved information from within the HPMC:PEO compacts that furthers our understanding of USP 1 and USP 4 dissolution data. Confocal microscopy and MRI data show that combinations of HPMC and PEO have advantageous extended release properties, in comparison with matrices containing a single polymer.

SPICE-Based Python Packages for ESA Solar System Exploration Mission's Geometry Exploitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costa, M.; Grass, M.

2018-04-01

This contribution outlines three Python packages to provide an enhanced and extended usage of SPICE Toolkit APIS providing higher-level functions and data quick-look capabilities focused on European Space Agency solar system exploration missions.

The effect of a disease management algorithm and dedicated postacute coronary syndrome clinic on achievement of guideline compliance: results from the parkland acute coronary event treatment study.

PubMed

Yorio, Jeff; Viswanathan, Sundeep; See, Raphael; Uchal, Linda; McWhorter, Jo Ann; Spencer, Nali; Murphy, Sabina; Khera, Amit; de Lemos, James A; McGuire, Darren K

2008-01-01

The application of disease management algorithms by physician extenders has been shown to improve therapeutic adherence in selected populations. It is unknown whether this strategy would improve adherence to secondary prevention goals after acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) in a largely indigent county hospital setting. Patients admitted for ACS were randomized at the time of discharge to usual follow-up care versus the same care with the addition of a physician extender visit. Physician extender visits were conducted according to a treatment algorithm based on contemporary practice guidelines. Groups were compared using the primary end point of achievement of low-density lipoprotein treatment goals at 3 months after discharge and achievement of additional evidence-based practice goals. One hundred forty consecutive patients were randomized. A similar proportion of patients returned for study follow-up in both groups at 3 months (54 [79%]/68 in the usual care group vs 57 [79%]/72 in the intervention group; P = 0.97). Among those completing the 3-month visit, a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level less than 100 mg/dL was achieved in 37 (69%) of the usual care patients compared with 35 (57%) of those in the intervention group (P = 0.43). There was no statistical difference in implementation of therapeutic lifestyle changes (smoking cessation, cardiac rehabilitation, or exercise) between groups. Prescription rates of evidence-based therapeutics at 3 months were similar in both groups. The implementation of a post-ACS clinic run by a physician extender applying a disease management algorithm did not measurably improve adherence to evidence-based secondary prevention treatment goals. Despite initially high rates of evidence-based treatment at discharge, adherence with follow-up appointments and sustained implementation of evidence-based therapies remains a significant challenge in this high-risk cohort.

Outcome of urinary tract infections caused by extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in children.

PubMed

Tratselas, Athanasios; Iosifidis, Elias; Ioannidou, Maria; Saoulidis, Stamatis; Kollios, Konstantinos; Antachopoulos, Charalampos; Sofianou, Danai; Roilides, Emmanuel J

2011-08-01

The outcome of patients with urinary tract infections caused by extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL)-producing bacteria (cases) was compared with that of matched controls with urinary tract infections caused by non-extended spectrum β-lactamases-producing isolates. Significantly, more case patients received inappropriate empiric therapy than controls. Nevertheless, clinical and microbiologic outcomes as well as formation of renal scars did not differ between the 2 groups.

Multiscale Computational Modeling of the Nanostructure of Solid Dispersions of Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose Acetate Succinate (HPMCAS) and Phenytoin.

PubMed

Huang, Wenjun; Mandal, Taraknath; Larson, Ronald G

2017-10-02

We recently developed coarse-grained (CG) force fields for hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMCAS) polymers and the model drug molecule phenytoin, and a continuum transport model to study the polymer-drug nanostructures presented during a dissolution test after solvation of solid dispersion particles. We model the polymer-drug interactions that contribute to suppression of drug aggregation, release, and crystal growth during the dissolution process, and we take these as indicators of polymer effectiveness. We find that the size and the intermolecular interaction strength of the functional group and the drug loading concentration are the major factors that impact the effectiveness of the polymeric excipient. The hydroxypropyl acetyl group is the most effective functional group, followed by the acetyl group, while the deprotonated succinyl group is the least effective functional group, except that the deprotonated succinyl group at the 6-position is very effective in slowing down the phenytoin crystal growth. Our simulation results thus suggest HPMCAS with higher acetyl and lower succinyl content is more effective in promoting phenytoin solubility in dissolution media, and polymers become less effective when drug loading becomes high (i.e., 50% of the mass of the polymer/drug solid dispersion), agreeing with previous experimental studies. In addition, our transport model indicates that the drug release time from a solid dispersion particle of 2 μm diameter is less than 10 min, correlating well with the experimental time scale for a typical dissolution profile to reach maximum peak concentration. Our modeling effort, therefore, provides new avenues to understand the dissolution behavior of complex HPMCAS-phenytoin solid dispersions and offers a new design tool to optimize the formulation. Moreover, the systematic and robust approach used in our computational models can be extended to other polymeric excipients and drug candidates.

Enhancing Motor Network Activity Using Real-Time Functional MRI Neurofeedback of Left Premotor Cortex

PubMed Central

Marins, Theo F.; Rodrigues, Erika C.; Engel, Annerose; Hoefle, Sebastian; Basílio, Rodrigo; Lent, Roberto; Moll, Jorge; Tovar-Moll, Fernanda

2015-01-01

Neurofeedback by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique of potential therapeutic relevance that allows individuals to be aware of their own neurophysiological responses and to voluntarily modulate the activity of specific brain regions, such as the premotor cortex (PMC), important for motor recovery after brain injury. We investigated (i) whether healthy human volunteers are able to up-regulate the activity of the left PMC during a right hand finger tapping motor imagery (MI) task while receiving continuous fMRI-neurofeedback, and (ii) whether successful modulation of brain activity influenced non-targeted motor control regions. During the MI task, participants of the neurofeedback group (NFB) received ongoing visual feedback representing the level of fMRI responses within their left PMC. Control (CTL) group participants were shown similar visual stimuli, but these were non-contingent on brain activity. Both groups showed equivalent levels of behavioral ratings on arousal and MI, before and during the fMRI protocol. In the NFB, but not in CLT group, brain activation during the last run compared to the first run revealed increased activation in the left PMC. In addition, the NFB group showed increased activation in motor control regions extending beyond the left PMC target area, including the supplementary motor area, basal ganglia and cerebellum. Moreover, in the last run, the NFB group showed stronger activation in the left PMC/inferior frontal gyrus when compared to the CTL group. Our results indicate that modulation of PMC and associated motor control areas can be achieved during a single neurofeedback-fMRI session. These results contribute to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of MI-based neurofeedback training, with direct implications for rehabilitation strategies in severe brain disorders, such as stroke. PMID:26733832

Family climates: family factors specific to disturbed eating and bulimia nervosa.

PubMed

Laliberté, M; Boland, F J; Leichner, P

1999-09-01

More than a decade of research has characterized the families of individuals with bulimia and bulimia anorexia (Anorexia Nervosa, Binge/Purging Type) as less expressive, less cohesive, and experiencing more conflicts than normal control families. This two-part study investigated variables believed more directly related to disturbed eating and bulimia as contributing to a "family climate for eating disorders." In Study 1. a nonclinical sample of 324 women who had just left home for college and a sample of 121 mothers evaluated their families. Principal-components analyses revealed the same factor structure for both students and mothers, with Family Body Satisfaction, Family Social Appearance Orientation, and Family Achievement Emphasis loading together, representing the hypothesized family climate for eating disorders: the remaining variables loaded with the more traditional family process variables (conflict, cohesion, expressiveness), representing a more general family dysfunction. As predicted, the family climate for eating disorders factor score was a more powerful predictor of disturbed eating. Study 2 extended these findings into a clin ical population, examining whether the family climate for eating disorders variables would distinguish individuals with bulimia from both depressed and healthy controls. Groups of eating-disordered patients (n = 40) and depressed (n = 17) and healthy (n = 27) controls completed family measures. The eating-disordered group scored significantly higher on family climate variables than control groups. Family process variables distinguished clinical groups (depressed and eating disordered) from healthy controls, but not from one another. Controlling for depression removed group differences on family process variables, but family climate variables continued to distinguish the eating-disordered group from both control groups. Indications for further research are discussed.

Decentralized learning in Markov games.

PubMed

Vrancx, Peter; Verbeeck, Katja; Nowé, Ann

2008-08-01

Learning automata (LA) were recently shown to be valuable tools for designing multiagent reinforcement learning algorithms. One of the principal contributions of the LA theory is that a set of decentralized independent LA is able to control a finite Markov chain with unknown transition probabilities and rewards. In this paper, we propose to extend this algorithm to Markov games--a straightforward extension of single-agent Markov decision problems to distributed multiagent decision problems. We show that under the same ergodic assumptions of the original theorem, the extended algorithm will converge to a pure equilibrium point between agent policies.

Gender differences in treatment and clinical characteristics among patients receiving extended release naltrexone.

PubMed

Herbeck, Diane M; Jeter, Kira E; Cousins, Sarah J; Abdelmaksoud, Reham; Crèvecoeur-MacPhail, Desirée

2016-01-01

Further research is needed to investigate real-world acceptability of extended-release naltrexone for alcohol and opioid use disorders, and potential gender differences. This study examines treatment and clinical characteristics among men and women receiving extended-release naltrexone in a large, publicly funded substance use disorder treatment system (N = 465; 52% female). Patient demographics, treatment characteristics, and the number of extended-release naltrexone doses received were collected from administrative data and treatment program staff. Additionally, patients provided information on experiences with extended-release naltrexone in an open-ended format at 1, 2, and 3 weeks following their first injection. For a subsample of patients (N = 220), alcohol/opioid cravings and specific adverse effects were also assessed. Compared to men, women reported experiencing a higher rate and mean number of adverse effects. Overall, craving scores showed substantial reductions over time. However, among patients taking extended-release naltrexone for alcohol use, women showed a significantly greater reduction in craving scores compared to men. No gender differences were observed in the number of extended-release naltrexone doses received. Although women may have a greater need for additional support in managing early adverse effects, extended-release naltrexone as an adjunct to psychosocial treatment may be an acceptable and promising treatment approach for both men and women, and particularly for women prescribed extended-release naltrexone for alcohol use. This study contributes further information on patients' experiences during the early course of extended-release naltrexone treatment in real-world settings. Understanding these experiences may assist policy makers and treatment providers in addressing challenges of implementing this treatment into wider practice.

Statics and dynamics of free and hydrogen-bonded OH groups at the air/water interface.

PubMed

Vila Verde, Ana; Bolhuis, Peter G; Campen, R Kramer

2012-08-09

We use classical atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of two water models (SPC/E and TIP4P/2005) to investigate the orientation and reorientation dynamics of two subpopulations of OH groups belonging to water molecules at the air/water interface at 300 K: those OH groups that donate a hydrogen bond (called "bonded") and those that do not (called "free"). Free interfacial OH groups reorient in two distinct regimes: a fast regime from 0 to 1 ps and a slow regime thereafter. Qualitatively similar behavior was reported by others for free OH groups near extended hydrophobic surfaces. In contrast, the net reorientation of bonded OH groups occurs at a rate similar to that of bulk water. This similarity in reorientation rate results from compensation of two effects: decreasing frequency of hydrogen-bond breaking/formation (i.e., hydrogen-bond exchange) and faster rotation of intact hydrogen bonds. Both changes result from the decrease in density at the air/water interface relative to the bulk. Interestingly, because of the presence of capillary waves, the slowdown of hydrogen-bond exchange is significantly smaller than that reported for water near extended hydrophobic surfaces, but it is almost identical to that reported for water near small hydrophobic solutes. In this sense water at the air/water interface has characteristics of water of hydration of both small and extended hydrophobic solutes.

Effect of alpha-lipoic acid on boar spermatozoa quality during freezing-thawing.

PubMed

Shen, Tao; Jiang, Zhong-Liang; Li, Cong-Jun; Hu, Xiao-Chen; Li, Qing-Wang

2016-04-01

Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is known to be a natural antioxidant. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the cryoprotective effect of ALA on the motility of boar spermatozoa and its antioxidant effect on boar spermatozoa during freezing-thawing. Different concentrations (2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 or 10.0 mg/ml) of ALA were added to the extender used to freeze boar semen, and the effects on the quality and endogenous antioxidant enzyme activities of frozen-thawed spermatozoa were assessed. The results indicated that the addition of ALA to the extender resulted in a higher percentage of motile spermatozoa post-thaw (P < 0.05). The activities of superoxide dismutase, lactate dehydrogenase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and catalase improved after adding ALA to the extender (P < 0.05). Artificial insemination results showed that pregnancy rate and litter size were significantly higher at 6.0 mg/ml in the ALA group than in the control group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, ALA conferred a cryoprotective capacity to the extender used for boar semen during the process of freezing-thawing, and the optimal concentration of ALA for the frozen extender was 6.0 mg/ml.

Domestic Violence in Arab Society: A Comparison of Arab and Jewish Women in Shelters in Israel.

PubMed

Ben-Porat, Anat; Levy, Drorit; Kattoura, Ola; Dekel, Rachel; Itzhaky, Haya

2017-09-01

The aim of the current study was to address a gap in the literature by determining prevalence, specific types of violence, and risk factors of intimate partner violence (IPV) among Israeli born Arab women compared with Israeli born Jewish women. The following measures were compared: demographic and socioeconomic measures; measures relating to the characteristics of the violence, that is, the three types of violence (physical, emotional, and verbally threatening), sense of danger, and history of violence in childhood; family support levels; and perpetrator characteristics. The sample consisted of 154 Israeli born Arab women and 149 Israeli born Jewish women who were staying in shelters for victims of domestic violence in Israel. A comparison of the two groups revealed that the Arab women were exposed to more physical violence and received less family support than did their Jewish counterparts. The proportion of Arab perpetrators with access to weapons was higher than that of Jewish perpetrators, whereas the proportion of police complaints against Jewish perpetrators was higher than that against Arab perpetrators. Arab women were also younger, less educated, and less a part of the workforce than Jewish women. The contribution of the woman's age to the variance in levels of physical violence was negative and significant. In contrast, the contribution of her sense of danger, and various perpetrator characteristics, was positive. Moreover, the interaction between sense of danger × ethnicity contributed significantly to levels of violence. This study extends the existing knowledge about the contribution of ethnicity as one of many variables that play a role in the lives of women who are victims of domestic violence and highlights the need to develop, in particular, unique individual, community, and social interventions for Arab women in Israeli society.

Analysis of anthropogenic contributions to record high Australian summer rainfall (2010-2012) using CMIP5 simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Sophie; Karoly, David

2013-04-01

Changes in extreme climate events pose significant challenges for both human and natural systems. Some climate extremes are likely to become "more frequent, more widespread and/or more intense during the 21st century" (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007) due to anthropogenic climate change. Particularly in Australia, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has a relationship to the relative frequency of temperature and precipitation extremes. In this study, we investigate the record high two-summer rainfall observed in Australia (2010-2011 and 2011-2012). This record rainfall occurred in association with a two year extended La Niña event and resulted in severe and extensive flooding. We examine simulated changes in seasonal-scale rainfall extremes in the Australian region in a suite of models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). In particular, we utilise the novel CMIP5 detection and attribution historical experiments with various forcings (natural forcings only and greenhouse gas forcings only) to examine the impact of various anthropogenic forcings on seasonal-scale extreme rainfall across Australia. Using these standard detection and attribution experiments over the period of 1850 to 2005, we examine La Niña contributions to the 2-season record rainfall, as well as the longer-term climate change contribution to rainfall extremes. Was there an anthropogenic influence in the record high Australian summer rainfall over 2010 to 2012, and if so, how much influence? Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007), Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by S. Solomon et al., 996 pp., Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, U. K.

Can we direct organ allocation based on predicted outcome? Hepatocellular carcinoma outside of UCSF criteria or retransplant?

PubMed

Rochon, Caroline; Sheiner, Patricia; Mahadevappa, Basant; Gunasekaran, Ganesh; Sharma, Joyti; Wolf, David C; Facciuto, Marcelo

2012-06-01

In this study, we ask between patients with graft failure listed for retransplant and patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) outside of UCSF criteria, who has the greater survival benefit with transplantation? This is a retrospective analysis, of liver transplant (LT) patients, done between February 2002 and December 2009 at our center. Patients were included in the "extended HCC" group if their tumor was pathologically beyond UCSF criteria at LT and in the "redo" group if they underwent LT for graft failure occurring more than 3 months after the initial LT. Extended criteria donors (ECDs) were defined as donors above 70 years old, DCD, serology positive for HCV, and split grafts. There were 25 redos and 37 extended HCC patients. Use of ECDs or high donor risk index organs was associated with poor outcome in both groups (P = 0.005). Overall, the extended HCC population had a much better survival than redos, both at 1 and 3 years. These two very different but high risk patient populations have very different survival rates. At a time where regulatory agencies demand more and more with regards to transplant outcomes, we think the transplant community has to reflect on whether allocation justice and fair access to transplant are respected if we start allocating organs based on outcomes.

The Extended Language Network: A Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies on Text Comprehension

PubMed Central

Ferstl, Evelyn C.; Neumann, Jane; Bogler, Carsten; von Cramon, D. Yves

2010-01-01

Language processing in context requires more than merely comprehending words and sentences. Important subprocesses are inferences for bridging successive utterances, the use of background knowledge and discourse context, and pragmatic interpretations. The functional neuroanatomy of these text comprehension processes has only recently been investigated. Although there is evidence for right-hemisphere contributions, reviews have implicated the left lateral prefrontal cortex, left temporal regions beyond Wernicke’s area, and the left dorso-medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) for text comprehension. To objectively confirm this extended language network and to evaluate the respective contribution of right hemisphere regions, meta-analyses of 23 neuroimaging studies are reported here. The analyses used replicator dynamics based on activation likelihood estimates. Independent of the baseline, the anterior temporal lobes (aTL) were active bilaterally. In addition, processing of coherent compared with incoherent text engaged the dmPFC and the posterior cingulate cortex. Right hemisphere activations were seen most notably in the analysis of contrasts testing specific subprocesses, such as metaphor comprehension. These results suggest task dependent contributions for the lateral PFC and the right hemisphere. Most importantly, they confirm the role of the aTL and the fronto-medial cortex for language processing in context. PMID:17557297

A data-driven decomposition approach to model aerodynamic forces on flapping airfoils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raiola, Marco; Discetti, Stefano; Ianiro, Andrea

2017-11-01

In this work, we exploit a data-driven decomposition of experimental data from a flapping airfoil experiment with the aim of isolating the main contributions to the aerodynamic force and obtaining a phenomenological model. Experiments are carried out on a NACA 0012 airfoil in forward flight with both heaving and pitching motion. Velocity measurements of the near field are carried out with Planar PIV while force measurements are performed with a load cell. The phase-averaged velocity fields are transformed into the wing-fixed reference frame, allowing for a description of the field in a domain with fixed boundaries. The decomposition of the flow field is performed by means of the POD applied on the velocity fluctuations and then extended to the phase-averaged force data by means of the Extended POD approach. This choice is justified by the simple consideration that aerodynamic forces determine the largest contributions to the energetic balance in the flow field. Only the first 6 modes have a relevant contribution to the force. A clear relationship can be drawn between the force and the flow field modes. Moreover, the force modes are closely related (yet slightly different) to the contributions of the classic potential models in literature, allowing for their correction. This work has been supported by the Spanish MINECO under Grant TRA2013-41103-P.

Building Relationships within Extended Field Placements in Elementary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Michelle; McCartney, Holly

2015-01-01

Researchers, using qualitative methodology, investigated whether an extended model for organizing fieldwork could potentially elevate the skills, knowledge, and dispositions of Elementary (prek-6) teacher candidates in this study. Questionnaires, focus group interviews, and observations from the pre-service and veteran teachers provided data on…

Supporting Interdisciplinary Collaboration Through Reusable Free Software. A Research Student Experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dimech, C.

2013-12-01

In this contribution, I present a critical evaluation of my experience as a research student conducting an interdisciplinary project that bridges the world of geoscience with that of astronomy. The major challenge consists in studying and modifying existing geophysical software to work with synthetic solar data not obtained by direct measurement but useful for testing and evaluation, and data released from the satellite HINODE and the Solar Dynamics Observatory. I have been fortunate to collaborate closely with multiple geoscientists keen to share their software codes and help me understand their implementations so I can extend the methodology to solve problems in solar physics. Moreover, two additional experiences have helped me develop my research and collaborative skills. First was an opportunity to involve an undergraduate student, and secondly, my participation at the GNU Hackers Meeting in Paris. Three aspects that need particular attention to enhance the collective productivity of any group of individuals keen to extend existing codes to achieve further interdisciplinary goals have been identified. (1) The production of easily reusable code that users can study and modify even when large sets of computations are involved. (2) The transformation of solutions into tools that are 100% free software. (3) The harmonisation of collaborative interactions that effectively tackle the two aforementioned tasks. Each one will be discussed in detail during this session based on my experience as a research student.

The relationship between education and health among incarcerated men and women in the United States.

PubMed

Nowotny, Kathryn M; Masters, Ryan K; Boardman, Jason D

2016-09-01

This paper contributes to research on the education-health association by extending the scope of inquiry to adult inmates. Not only are inmates excluded from most nationally representative studies of health but they also represent a highly select group in terms of both education and health. As such, our study provides new information about the health of incarcerated populations and it extends the generalizability of the education-health association beyond the non-institutionalized population. We use a prison-level fixed-effects regression model with the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities (n = 287 facilities) to evaluate the effects of education on a standardized morbidity scale of 11 lifetime and current health conditions among incarcerated men (n = 10,493) and women (n = 2,797). Education prior to incarceration is negatively associated with lifetime health problems for both women and men and the association is stronger among women. Among inmates who enter prison with less than a GED level of education, attaining a GED in prison is associated with better current health outcomes for men, but not women. The generalization of the education-health association among prisoners further highlights the fundamental nature of education as a health promotive resource. Discussed are the implications for the education-health literature in general and health promotion efforts among incarcerated adults specifically.

Two-dimensional extended fluid model for a dc glow discharge with nonlocal ionization source term

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rafatov, Ismail; Bogdanov, Eugeny; Kudryavtsev, Anatoliy

2013-09-01

Numerical techniques applied to the gas discharge plasma modelling are generally grouped into fluid and kinetic (particle) methods, and their combinations which lead to the hybrid models. Hybrid models usually employ Monte Carlo method to simulate fast electron dynamics, while slow plasma species are described as fluids. However, since fast electrons contribution to these models is limited to deriving the ionization rate distribution, their effect can be expressed by the analytical approximation of the ionization source function, and then integrating it into the fluid model. In the context of this approach, we incorporated effect of fast electrons into the ``extended fluid model'' of glow discharge, using two spatial dimensions. Slow electrons, ions and excited neutral species are described by the fluid plasma equations. Slow electron transport (diffusion and mobility) coefficients as well as electron induced reaction rates are determined from the solutions of the electron Boltzmann equation. The self-consistent electric field is calculated using the Poisson equation. We carried out test calculations for the discharge in argon gas. Comparison with the experimental data as well as with the hybrid model results exhibits good applicability of the proposed model. The work was supported by the joint research grant from the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) 212T164 and Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR).

Extending the theory of realistic conflict to competition in institutional settings: intergroup status and outcome.

PubMed

Echebarria-Echabe, Agustin; Guede, Emilia Fernández

2003-12-01

The authors analyzed the extent to which the Theory of Realistic Conflict can be extended to institutional settings in which groups are not actively involved in decisions but are passive targets of decisions taken by an institutional authority (the rector). A negative interdependence between the in-group (psychology) and a high- or low-status outgroup (engineering versus nursing) was established by an institutional authority (the rector). The competition (induced by the rector) was beneficial (an increase in the budget previously invested in the faculty) or detrimental (a decrease in the budget) for the in-group. The results confirmed that competition affects mutual attitudes, images, and behaviors of groups even if the groups are passive targets of decisions that the institutional authority makes. Moreover, competition--regardless of whether beneficial or detrimental--deteriorated images of and attitudes toward high-status out-groups. In contrast, competition improved images and opinions about low-status out-groups, but only in the loss condition.

Implicit attentional bias for facial emotion in dissociative seizures: Additional evidence.

PubMed

Pick, Susannah; Mellers, John D C; Goldstein, Laura H

2018-03-01

This study sought to extend knowledge about the previously reported preconscious attentional bias (AB) for facial emotion in patients with dissociative seizures (DS) by exploring whether the finding could be replicated, while controlling for concurrent anxiety, depression, and potentially relevant cognitive impairments. Patients diagnosed with DS (n=38) were compared with healthy controls (n=43) on a pictorial emotional Stroop test, in which backwardly masked emotional faces (angry, happy, neutral) were processed implicitly. The group with DS displayed a significantly greater AB to facial emotion relative to controls; however, the bias was not specific to negative or positive emotions. The group effect could not be explained by performance on standardized cognitive tests or self-reported depression/anxiety. The study provides additional evidence of a disproportionate and automatic allocation of attention to facial affect in patients with DS, including both positive and negative facial expressions. Such a tendency could act as a predisposing factor for developing DS initially, or may contribute to triggering individuals' seizures on an ongoing basis. Psychological interventions such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or AB modification might be suitable approaches to target this bias in clinical practice. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fictive kinship as it mediates learning, resiliency, perseverance, and social learning of inner-city high school students of color in a college physics class

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexakos, Konstantinos; Jones, Jayson K.; Rodriguez, Victor H.

2011-12-01

In this hermeneutic study we explore how fictive kinship (kin-like close personal friendship) amongst high school students of color mediated their resiliency, perseverance, and success in a college physics class. These freely chosen, processual friendships were based on emotional and material support, motivation, and caring for each other, as well as trust, common interests, and goals. Such close bonds contributed in creating a safe and supportive emotional space and allowed for friendly, cooperative competition within the physics classroom. Friends became the role models, source of support, and motivation for the fictive kinship group as well as for each other, as the group became the role model, source of support, and motivation for the individuals in it. Because of their friendships with one another, physics talk was extended and made part of their personal interactions outside the classroom. These social relationships and safe spaces helped the students cope and persevere despite their initial conflicting expectations of their success in physics. Our research thus expands on the concept of social learning by exploring student friendships and how they frame and mediate such a process.

Using Machine Learning to Discover Latent Social Phenotypes in Free-Ranging Macaques

PubMed Central

Madlon-Kay, Seth; Brent, Lauren J. N.; Heller, Katherine A.; Platt, Michael L.

2017-01-01

Investigating the biological bases of social phenotypes is challenging because social behavior is both high-dimensional and richly structured, and biological factors are more likely to influence complex patterns of behavior rather than any single behavior in isolation. The space of all possible patterns of interactions among behaviors is too large to investigate using conventional statistical methods. In order to quantitatively define social phenotypes from natural behavior, we developed a machine learning model to identify and measure patterns of behavior in naturalistic observational data, as well as their relationships to biological, environmental, and demographic sources of variation. We applied this model to extensive observations of natural behavior in free-ranging rhesus macaques, and identified behavioral states that appeared to capture periods of social isolation, competition over food, conflicts among groups, and affiliative coexistence. Phenotypes, represented as the rate of being in each state for a particular animal, were strongly and broadly influenced by dominance rank, sex, and social group membership. We also identified two states for which variation in rates had a substantial genetic component. We discuss how this model can be extended to identify the contributions to social phenotypes of particular genetic pathways. PMID:28754001

“An Effect That is Deeper Than Beating” Family Violence in Jordanian Women

PubMed Central

Morse, Diane S; Paldi, Yael; Egbarya, Samah Salaime; Clark, Cari Jo

2012-01-01

This study informs healthcare approaches to gender-based family violence through focus groups with Jordanian women. The authors conducted a thematic qualitative analysis of 12 focus groups among 70 married, divorced, or widowed women about their experiences and beliefs regarding family violence. Five themes relevant to healthcare providers were identified. Three of the themes addressed participant-perceived causes of gender-based family violence: 1) unmet gender role expectations, 2) stigma and social norms, and 3) extended family roles. The fourth theme reflects effects on victims. The fifth theme reflects protective qualities and help seeking behaviors. The themes identified in the analysis reveal multiple ways that gender-based family violence can contribute to health problems and that it can be kept secret by Jordanian women as patients. Potential clues are described for the violence which may not be typically explored in a medical encounter. Additional ways that Jordanian families may seek help from other family or clergy instead of police and family violence agencies are described. Implications of these results for healthcare providers who care both for Jordanians and Arab immigrants in Western cultures are discussed. PMID:22329396

Manifestations of metacognitive activity during the collaborative planning of chemistry practical investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathabathe, Kgadi Clarrie; Potgieter, Marietjie

2017-07-01

This paper elaborates a process followed to characterise manifestations of cognitive regulation during the collaborative planning of chemistry practical investigations. Metacognitive activity was defined as the demonstration of planning, monitoring, control and evaluation of cognitive activities by students while carrying out the chemistry task. Inherent in collaborative learning is the social aspect of metacognition, which in this study was evidenced in social cognitive regulation (notably of intra- and interpersonal metacognitive regulations) as groups of students went about planning their practical investigations. Discussions of two of the learning groups (n = 4; n = 3) as they planned the extended practical investigation were recorded, transcribed and analysed for indicators of any inherent metacognitive activity. The process of characterising the manifestations of metacognition resulted in the development of a coding system which specifies not only the regulatory strategies at play but the type of regulation (self or other), the area of regulation (cognition, task performance or behaviour) as well as the depth of regulatory contributions (high or low). The fine-grained coding system allowed for a finer theoretical elucidation of the social nature of metacognition. The implications of this study for metacognition and chemistry education research are highlighted.

Intra-group Stigma: Examining Peer Relationships Among Women in Recovery for Addictions

PubMed Central

Gunn, Alana J.; Canada, Kelli E.

2015-01-01

This grounded theory study explores how women with histories of addiction perceive stigma while in treatment. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 women participating in a residential drug treatment center. Previous research has found that support from peers during recovery can be critical to managing illnesses. In fact, researchers have postulated that peers can be a more effective form of support than even family. This study extends existing literature indicating that peer support systems can be supportive, however they can also can be perceived as negative support that impose stigmas. Findings reveal that women perceive stigmas due to how various types of drug use violate societal expectations and conflict with notions of deservingness. Specifically, the “hard users” (i.e., women who use heroin or crack cocaine) perceive stigmas regarding how their drug use violates norms of womanhood. Moreover, the “soft users” (i.e., those who use alcohol or marijuana) perceive stigmas that their drug use is considered undeserving of support. This paper explores the factors that contribute to stigma amongst populations who potentially face marginalization from larger society. Implications for treatment and group work are discussed. PMID:26617439

Baseline response rates affect resistance to change.

PubMed

Kuroda, Toshikazu; Cook, James E; Lattal, Kennon A

2018-01-01

The effect of response rates on resistance to change, measured as resistance to extinction, was examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, responding in transition from a variable-ratio schedule and its yoked-interval counterpart to extinction was compared with pigeons. Following training on a multiple variable-ratio yoked-interval schedule of reinforcement, in which response rates were higher in the former component, reinforcement was removed from both components during a single extended extinction session. Resistance to extinction in the yoked-interval component was always either greater or equal to that in the variable-ratio component. In Experiment 2, resistance to extinction was compared for two groups of rats that exhibited either high or low response rates when maintained on identical variable-interval schedules. Resistance to extinction was greater for the lower-response-rate group. These results suggest that baseline response rate can contribute to resistance to change. Such effects, however, can only be revealed when baseline response rate and reinforcement rate are disentangled (Experiments 1 and 2) from the more usual circumstance where the two covary. Furthermore, they are more cleanly revealed when the programmed contingencies controlling high and low response rates are identical, as in Experiment 2. © 2017 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Social Networks and Cooperation in Hunter-Gatherers

PubMed Central

Apicella, Coren L.; Marlowe, Frank W.; Fowler, James H.; Christakis, Nicholas A.

2011-01-01

Social networks exhibit striking structural regularities1,2, and theory and evidence suggest that they may have played a role in the development of large-scale cooperation in humans3–7. Here, we characterize the social networks of the Hadza, an evolutionarily relevant population of hunter-gatherers8. We show that Hadza networks exhibit important properties also seen in modernized networks, including a skewed degree distribution, degree assortativity, transitivity, reciprocity, geographic decay, and homophily. Moreover, we demonstrate that Hadza camps exhibit high between-group and low within-group variation in public goods game donations. Network ties are also more likely between people who give the same amount, and the similarity in cooperative behaviour extends up to two degrees of separation. Finally, social distance appears to be as important as genetic relatedness and physical proximity in explaining assortativity in cooperation. Our results suggest that certain elements of social network structure may have been present at an early point in human history; that early humans may have formed ties with both kin and non-kin based, in part, on their tendency to cooperate; and that social networks may have contributed to the emergence of cooperation. PMID:22281599

The role of biotin and oxamate in the carboxyl transferase reaction of pyruvate carboxylase

PubMed Central

Lietzan, Adam D.; Lin, Yi; St. Maurice, Martin

2014-01-01

Pyruvate carboxylase (PC) is a biotin-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the MgATP-dependent carboxylation of pyruvate to oxaloacetate, an important anaplerotic reaction in central metabolism. During catalysis, carboxybiotin is translocated to the carboxyltransferase domain where the carboxyl group is transferred to the acceptor substrate, pyruvate. Many studies on the carboxyltransferase domain of PC have demonstrated an enhanced oxaloacetate decarboxylation activity in the presence of oxamate and it has been shown that oxamate accepts a carboxyl group from carboxybiotin during oxaloacetate decarboxylation. The X-ray crystal structure of the carboxyltransferase domain from Rhizobium etli PC reveals that oxamate is positioned in the active site in an identical manner to the substrate, pyruvate, and kinetic data are consistent with the oxamate-stimulated decarboxylation of oxaloacetate proceeding through a simple ping-pong bi bi mechanism in the absence of the biotin carboxylase domain. Additionally, analysis of truncated PC enzymes indicates that the BCCP domain devoid of biotin does not contribute directly to the enzymatic reaction and conclusively demonstrates a biotin-independent oxaloacetate decarboxylation activity in PC. These findings advance the description of catalysis in PC and can be extended to the study of related biotin-dependent enzymes. PMID:25157442

The Effects of the A Matter of Balance Program on Falls and Physical Risk of Falls, Tampa, Florida, 2013.

PubMed

Chen, Tuo-Yu; Edwards, Jerri D; Janke, Megan C

2015-09-24

This study investigated the effects of the A Matter of Balance (MOB) program on falls and physical risk factors of falling among community-dwelling older adults living in Tampa, Florida, in 2013. A total of 110 adults (52 MOB, 58 comparison) were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Data on falls, physical risk of falling, and other known risk factors of falling were collected at baseline and at the end of the program. Multivariate analysis of covariance with repeated measures and logistic regressions were used to investigate the effects of this program. Participants in the MOB group were less likely to have had a fall and had significant improvements in their physical risk of falling compared with adults in the comparison group. No significant effects of the MOB program on recurrent falls or the number of falls reported were found. This study contributes to our understanding of the MOB program and its effectiveness in reducing falls and the physical risk of falling among older adults. The findings support extended use of this program to reduce falls and physical risk of falling among older adults.

Postural sway and regional cerebellar volume in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

PubMed Central

Hove, Michael J.; Zeffiro, Thomas A.; Biederman, Joseph; Li, Zhi; Schmahmann, Jeremy; Valera, Eve M.

2015-01-01

Objective Motor abnormalities, including impaired balance and increased postural sway, are commonly reported in children with ADHD, but have yet to be investigated in adults with ADHD. Furthermore, although these abnormalities are thought to stem from cerebellar deficits, evidence for an association between the cerebellum and these motor deficits has yet to be provided for either adults or children with ADHD. Method In this study, we measured postural sway in adults with ADHD and controls, examining the relationship between sway and regional cerebellar gray matter volume. Thirty-two ADHD and 28 control participants completed various standing-posture tasks on a Wii balance board. Results Postural sway was significantly higher for the ADHD group compared to the healthy controls. Higher sway was positively associated with regional gray matter volume in the right posterior cerebellum (lobule VIII/IX). Conclusion These findings show that sway abnormalities commonly reported in children with ADHD are also present in adults, and for the first time show a relationship between postural control atypicalities and the cerebellum in this group. Our findings extend the literature on motor abnormalities in ADHD and contribute to our knowledge of their neural substrate. PMID:26106567

Dynamics of Hydration Water in Sugars and Peptides Solutions

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

Perticaroli, Stefania; Nakanishi, Masahiro; Pashkovski, Eugene

2013-01-01

We analyzed solute and solvent dynamics of sugars and peptides aqueous solutions using extended epolarized light scattering (EDLS) and broadband dielectric spectroscopies (BDS). Spectra measured with both techniques reveal the same mechanism of rotational diffusion of peptides molecules. In the case of sugars, this solute reorientational relaxation can be isolated by EDLS measurements, whereas its ontribution to the dielectric spectra is almost negligible. In the presented analysis, we characterize the hydration water in terms of hydration number and retardation ratio between relaxation times of hydration and bulk water. Both techniques provide similar estimates of . The retardation imposed on themore » hydration water by sugars is 3.3 1.3 and involves only water molecules hydrogen-bonded (HB) to solutes ( 3 water molecules per sugar OH-group). In contrast, polar peptides cause longer range erturbations beyond the first hydration shell, and between 2.8 and 8, increasing with the number of chemical groups engaged in HB formation. We demonstrate that chemical heterogeneity and specific HB interactions play a crucial role in hydration dynamics around polar solutes. The obtained results help to disentangle the role of excluded volume and enthalpic contributions in dynamics of hydration water at the interface with biological molecules.« less

Strategies for Maintaining a Support Group.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paulson, Pearl R.

This manual is concerned with helping already-established support groups maintain themselves over an extended period of time. It helps facilitators apply principles for addressing such problems as dissension within the group, poor attendance, losing sight of the group's purpose, and overdependence on a leader. The manual contains questionnaires to…

Contribution of highway capital to industry and national productivity growth

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1973-10-01

The report contains the authors initial efforts aimed at extending the steady state freeway model for optimizing freeway traffic flow to a non-steady state model. The steady-state model does not allow reaction to continuously changing conditions whic...

Illicit Drugs and the Environment

EPA Science Inventory

Beginning in the 1970s, the range of chemicals recognized as contributing to widespread contamination of the environment began to be extended to pharmaceuticals, with the topic beginning to attract broader scientific attention around the mid-1990s (Daughton 2009a). Occurring gen...

Basin Contributions to the Stratigraphy of the Apollo 16 Landing Site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haskin, Larry A.

2001-01-01

Ejecta deposit modeling suggests that the megaregolith at the Apollo 16 landing site is dominated by Imbrium and Serenitatis ejecta, and Nectaris ejecta are a minor componen Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.t.

Snowmass Computing Frontier: Computing for the Cosmic Frontier, Astrophysics, and Cosmology

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

Connolly, A.; Habib, S.; Szalay, A.

2013-11-12

This document presents (off-line) computing requrements and challenges for Cosmic Frontier science, covering the areas of data management, analysis, and simulations. We invite contributions to extend the range of covered topics and to enhance the current descriptions.

Effects of water-soluble Laminaria japonica polysaccharide 3 (LJP-P3) on bull cryopreservation sperm.

PubMed

Zheng, Yuxin; Zhang, Nina; Liu, Shujie; Li, Qingwang; Jiang, Zhongliang

2017-12-01

In this study, water-soluble Laminaria japonica polysaccharide3 (LJP-P3) was investigated for the cryoprotective effects on bull sperm. Five concentrations of LJP-P3 with 0.1, 1, 10, 50 and 100 mmol/L were added into the extenders of bull semen, respectively, and the effects on quality of sperm after freezing-thawing were assessed. The results showed that the kinematic parameters of bull sperm including linear motile sperm (LM), curvilinear line velocity (VCL) value, straight line velocity (VSL) and velocity of the average path (VAP) were greater in the extenders containing LJP-P3 (P<0.05). In comparison to those of other treatments and control group the extenders containing 1.0, 10.0 and 50.0 mmol/L of LJP-P3 led to higher percentage of mitochondrial activity and sperm membrane integrity(P<0.05), and the acrosome integrity of bull cryopreservation sperm were significantly improved in all treatment groups. Moreover, the higher GSH-Px, SOD and CAT levels in bull cryopreservation sperm were favored from the extenders of 10.0, 50.0 and 100.0 mmol/L LJP-P3 added (P<0.05) compared with other treatments and control group. In addition, the results of artificial insemination showed that both the pregnancy rate and the number of calving were higher in the group of semen containing 10 mmol/L of LJP-P3 than that of control group (P <0.05). In summary, LJP-P3 exhibited a greater cryoprotective effect to bull sperm and the most suitable concentration of LJP-P3 is 10.0 mmol/L. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The use of OK-432 to prevent seroma in extended latissimus dorsi flap donor site after breast reconstruction.

PubMed

Yang, Yinlong; Chen, Yizuo; Qu, Jinmiao; Zhang, Xiaohua; Pan, Yifei

2015-01-01

The extended latissimus dorsi (LD) flap has become a preferred method of breast reconstruction. However, donor site seroma is the most common complication of LD flap reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of OK-432 on postoperative drainage and seroma formation in the site of the LD myocutaneous flap donor site. A retrospective study was conducted on 49 patients who underwent immediate breast reconstruction with extended LD flaps between July 2008 and September 2013. The patients received either OK-432 (OK-432 group, n = 24) or not (control group, n = 25) in the extended LD donor site. Outcome measures were obtained from the incidence and volume of postoperative seroma, total volume of back drains, the total drainage, indwelling period of drainage, and frequency of aspiration. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of age, body mass index, and flap size. The incidence of seroma was 41.7% in the OK-432 group and 72% in the control group (P = 0.032). There were also significant reductions in volume of postoperative seroma (P = 0.021), total drainage volume (P < 0.001), total volume of back drains (P < 0.001), indwelling period of drainage (P = 0.004), and frequency of aspiration (P = 0.008). The use of OK-432 is a feasible option for the reduction or prevention of seroma formation at the donor site in patients undergoing immediate breast reconstruction using a LD myocutaneous flap for breast cancer. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do age and extended culture affect the architecture of the zona pellucida of human oocytes and embryos?

PubMed

Kilani, Suha S; Cooke, Simon; Kan, Andrew K; Chapman, Michael G

2006-02-01

Advanced female age and extended in vitro culture have both been implicated in zona pellucida (ZP) hardening and thickening. This study aimed to determine the influence of (i) the woman's age and (ii) prolonged in vitro culture of embryos on ZP thickness and density using non-invasive polarized light (LC-PolScope) microscopy. ZP thickness and density (measured as retardance) were determined in oocytes, embryos and blastocysts in women undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in two age groups (older, > 38 years; younger, < or = 38 years). A total of 193 oocytes from 29 patients were studied. The younger group contained 100 oocytes and the older group 93 oocytes. The ZP was significantly thicker in metaphase II oocytes in the older group compared with the younger group (mean +/- SD: 24.1 +/- 2.5 microm vs 23.1 +/- 3.3 microm; p = 0.01) but ZP density was equal (2.8 +/- 0.7 nm). By day 2 of culture, embryos from the two groups had similar ZP thickness (22.2 +/- 2.2 microm vs 21.7 +/- 1.6 microm; p = 0.28) and density (2.9 +/- 0.7 nm vs 2.8 +/- 0.8 nm; p = 0.57). For the embryos cultured to blastocyst (older: n = 20; younger: n = 18) ZP thickness was similar in the two groups (19.2 +/- 2.7 microm vs 19.1 +/- 5.0 microm; p = 0.8) but thinner than on day 2. The older group had significantly denser ZP than the younger group (4.2 +/- 0.5 nm vs 3.3 +/- 1.0 nm, p < 0.01). Blastocysts from both groups had significantly denser ZP than their corresponding day 2 embryos (older: 4.2 +/- 0.5 nm vs 2.9 +/- 0.7 nm, p < 0.001; younger: 3.3 +/- 1.0 nm vs 2.8 +/- 0.8 nm, p = 0.013). It is concluded that there is little relationship between ZP thickness and its density as measured by polarized light microscopy. While ZP thickness decreases with extended embryo culturing, the density of the ZP increases. ZP density increases in both age groups with extended culture and, interestingly, more in embryos from older compared with younger women.

Contributions of the Central Extended Amygdala to Fear and Anxiety.

PubMed

Shackman, Alexander J; Fox, Andrew S

2016-08-03

It is widely thought that phasic and sustained responses to threat reflect dissociable circuits centered on the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce) and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), the two major subdivisions of the central extended amygdala. Early versions of this hypothesis remain highly influential and have been incorporated into the National Institute of Mental Health Research Research Domain Criteria framework. However, new observations encourage a different perspective. Anatomical studies show that the Ce and BST form a tightly interconnected unit, where different kinds of threat-relevant information can be integrated and used to assemble states of fear and anxiety. Imaging studies in humans and monkeys show that the Ce and BST exhibit similar functional profiles. Both regions are sensitive to a range of aversive challenges, including uncertain or temporally remote threat; both covary with concurrent signs and symptoms of fear and anxiety; both show phasic responses to short-lived threat; and both show heightened activity during sustained exposure to diffusely threatening contexts. Mechanistic studies demonstrate that both regions can control the expression of fear and anxiety during sustained exposure to diffuse threat. These observations compel a reconsideration of the central extended amygdala's contributions to fear and anxiety and its role in neuropsychiatric disease. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/368050-14$15.00/0.

Contributions of the Central Extended Amygdala to Fear and Anxiety

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

It is widely thought that phasic and sustained responses to threat reflect dissociable circuits centered on the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce) and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), the two major subdivisions of the central extended amygdala. Early versions of this hypothesis remain highly influential and have been incorporated into the National Institute of Mental Health Research Research Domain Criteria framework. However, new observations encourage a different perspective. Anatomical studies show that the Ce and BST form a tightly interconnected unit, where different kinds of threat-relevant information can be integrated and used to assemble states of fear and anxiety. Imaging studies in humans and monkeys show that the Ce and BST exhibit similar functional profiles. Both regions are sensitive to a range of aversive challenges, including uncertain or temporally remote threat; both covary with concurrent signs and symptoms of fear and anxiety; both show phasic responses to short-lived threat; and both show heightened activity during sustained exposure to diffusely threatening contexts. Mechanistic studies demonstrate that both regions can control the expression of fear and anxiety during sustained exposure to diffuse threat. These observations compel a reconsideration of the central extended amygdala's contributions to fear and anxiety and its role in neuropsychiatric disease. PMID:27488625

ALFALFA and WSRT Imaging of Extended H I Features in the Leo Cloud of Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leisman, Lukas; Haynes, Martha P.; Giovanelli, Riccardo; Józsa, Gyula; Adams, Elizabeth A. K.; Hess, Kelley M.

2016-12-01

We present Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) H I observations of a well-studied region of the Leo Cloud, which includes the NGC 3227 group and the NGC 3190 group. We detect optically dark H I tails and plumes with extents potentially exceeding 600 kpc, well beyond the field of view of previous observations. These H I features contain ˜40 per cent of the total H I mass in the NGC 3227 group and ˜10 per cent of the NGC 3190 group. We also present Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) maps which show the complex morphology of the extended emission in the NGC 3227 group. We comment on previously proposed models of the interactions in these groups and the implications for the scale of group processing through interactions. Motivated by the extent of the H I plumes, we place the H I observations in the context of the larger loose group, demonstrating the need for future sensitive, wide field H I surveys to understand the role of group processing in galaxy evolution.

Movement trajectory smoothness is not associated with the endpoint accuracy of rapid multi-joint arm movements in young and older adults

PubMed Central

Poston, Brach; Van Gemmert, Arend W.A.; Sharma, Siddharth; Chakrabarti, Somesh; Zavaremi, Shahrzad H.; Stelmach, George

2013-01-01

The minimum variance theory proposes that motor commands are corrupted by signal-dependent noise and smooth trajectories with low noise levels are selected to minimize endpoint error and endpoint variability. The purpose of the study was to determine the contribution of trajectory smoothness to the endpoint accuracy and endpoint variability of rapid multi-joint arm movements. Young and older adults performed arm movements (4 blocks of 25 trials) as fast and as accurately as possible to a target with the right (dominant) arm. Endpoint accuracy and endpoint variability along with trajectory smoothness and error were quantified for each block of trials. Endpoint error and endpoint variance were greater in older adults compared with young adults, but decreased at a similar rate with practice for the two age groups. The greater endpoint error and endpoint variance exhibited by older adults were primarily due to impairments in movement extent control and not movement direction control. The normalized jerk was similar for the two age groups, but was not strongly associated with endpoint error or endpoint variance for either group. However, endpoint variance was strongly associated with endpoint error for both the young and older adults. Finally, trajectory error was similar for both groups and was weakly associated with endpoint error for the older adults. The findings are not consistent with the predictions of the minimum variance theory, but support and extend previous observations that movement trajectories and endpoints are planned independently. PMID:23584101

Steeply-dipping extension fractures in the Newark basin, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Herman, G.C.

2009-01-01

Late Triassic and Early Jurassic bedrock in the Newark basin is pervasively fractured as a result of Mesozoic rifting of the east-central North American continental margin. Tectonic rifting imparted systematic sets of steeply-dipping, en ??chelon, Mode I, extension fractures in basin strata including ordinary joints and veins. These fractures are arranged in transitional-tensional arrays resembling normal dip-slip shear zones. They contributed to crustal stretching, sagging, and eventual faulting of basin rift deposits. Extension fractures display progressive linkage and spatial clustering that probably controlled incipient fault growth. They cluster into three prominent strike groups correlated to early, intermediate, and late-stage tectonic events reflecting about 50- 60?? of counterclockwise rotation of incremental stretching directions. Finite strain analyses show that extension fractures allowed the stretching of basin strata by a few percent, and these fractures impart stratigraphic dips up to a few degrees in directions opposing fracture dips. Fracture groups display three-dimensional spatial variability but consistent geometric relations. Younger fractures locally cut across and terminate against older fractures having more complex vein-cement morphologies and bed-normal folds from stratigraphic compaction. A fourth, youngest group of extension fractures occur sporadically and strike about E-W in obliquely inverted crustal blocks. A geometric analysis of overlapping fracture sets shows how fracture groups result from incremental rotation of an extending tectonic plate, and that old fractures can reactivate with oblique slip components in the contemporary, compressive stress regime. ?? 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differential regional gray matter volumes in patients with on-line game addiction and professional gamers

PubMed Central

Han, Doug Hyun; Lyoo, In Kyoon; Renshaw, Perry F.

2015-01-01

Patients with on-line game addiction (POGA) and professional video game players play video games for extended periods of time, but experience very different consequences for their on-line game play. Brain regions consisting of anterior cingulate, thalamus and occpito-temporal areas may increase the likelihood of becoming a pro-gamer or POGA. Twenty POGA, seventeen pro-gamers, and eighteen healthy comparison subjects (HC) were recruited. All magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on a 1.5 Tesla Espree MRI scanner (SIEMENS, Erlangen, Germany). Voxel-wise comparisons of gray matter volume were performed between the groups using the two-sample t-test with statistical parametric mapping (SPM5). Compared to HC, the POGA group showed increased impulsiveness and perseverative errors, and volume in left thalamus gray matter, but decreased gray matter volume in both inferior temporal gyri, right middle occipital gyrus, and left inferior occipital gyrus, compared with HC. Pro-gamers showed increased gray matter volume in left cingulate gyrus, but decreased gray matter volume in left middle occipital gyrus and right inferior temporal gyrus compared with HC. Additionally, the pro-gamer group showed increased gray matter volume in left cingulate gyrus and decreased left thalamus gray matter volume compared with the POGA group. The current study suggests that increased gray matter volumes of the left cingulate gyrus in pro-gamers and of the left thalamus in POGA may contribute to the different clinical characteristics of pro-gamers and POGA. PMID:22277302

No smoke without fire: The impact of future friends on adolescent smoking behaviour.

PubMed

Mercken, L; Candel, M; van Osch, L; de Vries, H

2011-02-01

This study examined the impact of future friends and the contribution of different social influence and selection processes in predicting adolescents' smoking behaviour by extending the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). We investigated the impact of previous smoking, direct pressure from friends, descriptive norms of present and future friends, smoking-based selection of future friends, and distinguished between reciprocal and desired friends. A longitudinal design with three measurements was used. METHODSL: The sample consisted of 1,475 Dutch high school students (mean age = 12.7 years) that participated as a control group in the European Smoking prevention Framework Approach study at three measurements. Structural equation modelling revealed that adolescent smoking was influenced by intention, previous smoking, descriptive norms of parents and siblings, and that desired as well as reciprocal friends were selected based on similar smoking behaviour. Future friends indirectly influenced adolescent smoking through intention, as did attitude, subjective norms of parents and siblings, previous smoking, and descriptive norms of reciprocal friends and siblings. The present results suggest that descriptive norms and selection of friends need to be considered as major factors explaining smoking behaviour among adolescents besides the TPB components. These insights contribute to the further refinement of smoking prevention strategies. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Building the second version of the World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map (WDMAM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lesur, Vincent; Hamoudi, Mohamed; Choi, Yujin; Dyment, Jérôme; Thébault, Erwan

2016-02-01

The World Digital Anomaly Map (WDMAM) is a worldwide compilation of near-surface magnetic data. We present here a candidate for the second version of the WDMAM and its characteristics. This candidate has been evaluated by a group of independent reviewers and has been adopted as the official second version of the WDMAM during the 26th general assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geomagnetism (IUGG). The way this compilation has been built is described with some details. A global magnetic field model of the lithosphere contribution, parameterised by spherical harmonics, has been derived up to degree and order 800. The model information content has been evaluated by computing local spectra. Further, the compatibility of the anomaly field displayed by the WDMAM with a pure induced magnetisation is tested by comparison with the main field strength. These studies allowed an analysis of the compilation in terms of strength and wavelength content. They confirm the extremely smooth and weak contribution of the magnetic field generated in the lithosphere over Western Europe. This apparent weakness possibly extends to the Northern African continent. However, a global analysis remains difficult to achieve given the sparseness of good quality data over very large area of oceans and continents. The WDMAM and related information can be downloaded at http://www.wdmam.org/.

Nuclear magnetic resonance and restrained molecular dynamics studies of the interaction of an epidermal growth factor-derived peptide with protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B.

PubMed

Glover, N R; Tracey, A S

1999-04-20

The epidermal growth factor-derived (EGFR988) fluorophosphonate peptide, DADE(F2Pmp)L, is a potent (30 pM) inhibitor of the protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP1B. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) transferred nuclear Overhauser effect (nOe) experiments have been used to determine the conformation of DADE(F2Pmp)L while bound in the active site of PTP1B. When bound, the peptide adopts an extended beta-strand conformation. Molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulations allowed the elucidation of the sources of many of the interactions leading to binding of this inhibitor. Electrostatic, hydrophobic, and hydrogen-bonding interactions were all found to contribute significantly to its binding. However, despite the overall tight binding of this inhibitor, the N-terminal and adjacent residue of the peptide were virtually unrestrained in their motion. The major contributions to binding arose from hydrophobic interactions at the leucine and at the aromatic center, hydrogen bonding to the pro-R fluorine of the fluorophosphonomethyl group, and electrostatic interactions involving the carboxylate functionalities of the aspartate and glutamate residues. These latter two residues were found to form tight contacts with surface recognition elements (arginine and lysine) situated near the active-site cleft.

Specific contributions of basal ganglia and cerebellum to the neural tracking of rhythm.

PubMed

Nozaradan, Sylvie; Schwartze, Michael; Obermeier, Christian; Kotz, Sonja A

2017-10-01

How specific brain networks track rhythmic sensory input over time remains a challenge in neuroimaging work. Here we show that subcortical areas, namely the basal ganglia and the cerebellum, specifically contribute to the neural tracking of rhythm. We tested patients with focal lesions in either of these areas and healthy controls by means of electroencephalography (EEG) while they listened to rhythmic sequences known to induce selective neural tracking at a frequency corresponding to the most-often perceived pulse-like beat. Both patients and controls displayed neural responses to the rhythmic sequences. However, these response patterns were different across groups, with patients showing reduced tracking at beat frequency, especially for the more challenging rhythms. In the cerebellar patients, this effect was specific to the rhythm played at a fast tempo, which places high demands on the temporally precise encoding of events. In contrast, basal ganglia patients showed more heterogeneous responses at beat frequency specifically for the most complex rhythm, which requires more internal generation of the beat. These findings provide electrophysiological evidence that these subcortical structures selectively shape the neural representation of rhythm. Moreover, they suggest that the processing of rhythmic auditory input relies on an extended cortico-subcortico-cortical functional network providing specific timing and entrainment sensitivities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of isocratic retention models for hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic separation of native and fluorescently labeled oligosaccharides.

PubMed

Česla, Petr; Vaňková, Nikola; Křenková, Jana; Fischer, Jan

2016-03-18

In this work, we have investigated retention of maltooligosaccharides and their fluorescent derivatives in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography using four different stationary phases. The non-derivatized maltooligosaccharides (maltose to maltoheptaose) and their derivatives with 2-aminobenzoic acid, 2-aminobenzamide, 2-aminopyridine and 8-aminonaphthalene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid were analyzed on silica gel, aminopropyl silica, amide (carbamoyl-bonded silica) and ZIC-HILIC zwitterionic sulfobetain bonded phase. The partitioning of the analytes between the bulk mobile phase and adsorbed water-rich layer, polar and ionic interactions of analytes with stationary phase have been evaluated and compared. The effects of the mobile phase additives (0.1% (v/v) of acetic acid and ammonium acetate in concentration range 5-30 mmol L(-1)) on retention were described. The suitability of different models for prediction of retention was tested including linear solvent strength model, quadratic model, mixed-mode model, and empirical Neue-Kuss model. The mixed-mode model was extended to the parameter describing the contribution of monomeric glucose unit to the retention of non-derivatized and derivatized maltooligosaccharides, which was used for evaluation of contribution of both, oligosaccharide backbone and end-group to retention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Learning with Multiple Representations: Extending Multimedia Learning beyond the Lab

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eilam, Billie; Poyas, Yael

2008-01-01

The present study extended multimedia learning principles beyond the lab to an ecologically valid setting (homework). Eighteen information cards were used to perform three homework tasks. The control group students learned from single representation (SR) cards that presented all information as printed text. The multiple representation (MR) group…

A randomized clinical trial comparing an extended-use hygroscopic condenser humidifier with heated-water humidification in mechanically ventilated patients.

PubMed

Kollef, M H; Shapiro, S D; Boyd, V; Silver, P; Von Harz, B; Trovillion, E; Prentice, D

1998-03-01

To determine the safety and cost-effectiveness of mechanical ventilation with an extended-use hygroscopic condenser humidifier (Duration; Nellcor Puritan-Bennett; Eden Prairie, Minn) compared with mechanical ventilation with heated-water humidification. Prospective randomized clinical trial. Medical and surgical ICUs of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, a university-affiliated teaching hospital. Three hundred ten consecutive qualified patients undergoing mechanical ventilation. Patients requiring mechanical ventilation were randomly assigned to receive humidification with either an extended-use hygroscopic condenser humidifier (for up to the first 7 days of mechanical ventilation) or heated-water humidification. Occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia, endotracheal tube occlusion, duration of mechanical ventilation, lengths of intensive care and hospitalization, acquired multiorgan dysfunction, and hospital mortality. One hundred sixty-three patients were randomly assigned to receive humidification with an extended-use hygroscopic condenser humidifier, and 147 patients were randomly assigned to receive heated-water humidification. The two groups were similar at the time of randomization with regard to demographic characteristics, ICU admission diagnoses, and severity of illness. Risk factors for the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia were also similar during the study period for both treatment groups. Ventilator-associated pneumonia was seen in 15 (9.2%) patients receiving humidification with an extended-use hygroscopic condenser humidifier and in 15 (10.2%) patients receiving heated-water humidification (relative risk, 0.90; 95% confidence interval=0.46 to 1.78; p=0.766). No statistically significant differences for hospital mortality, duration of mechanical ventilation, lengths of stay in the hospital ICU, or acquired organ system derangements were found between the two treatment groups. No episode of endotracheal tube occlusion occurred during the study period in either treatment group. The total cost of providing humidification was $2,605 for patients receiving a hygroscopic condenser humidifier compared with $5,625 for patients receiving heated-water humidification. Our findings suggest that the initial application of an extended-use hygroscopic condenser humidifier is a safe and more cost-effective method of providing humidification to patients requiring mechanical ventilation compared with heated-water humidification.

One-dimensional continuum electronic structure with the density-matrix renormalization group and its implications for density-functional theory.

PubMed

Stoudenmire, E M; Wagner, Lucas O; White, Steven R; Burke, Kieron

2012-08-03

We extend the density matrix renormalization group to compute exact ground states of continuum many-electron systems in one dimension with long-range interactions. We find the exact ground state of a chain of 100 strongly correlated artificial hydrogen atoms. The method can be used to simulate 1D cold atom systems and to study density-functional theory in an exact setting. To illustrate, we find an interacting, extended system which is an insulator but whose Kohn-Sham system is metallic.

Testing and extending the group engagement model: linkages between social identity, procedural justice, economic outcomes, and extrarole behavior.

PubMed

Blader, Steven L; Tyler, Tom R

2009-03-01

Two field studies tested and extended the group engagement model (Tyler & Blader, 2000, Tyler & Blader, 2003) by examining the model with regard to employee extrarole behavior. Consistent with the group engagement model's predictions, results of these studies indicate that the social identities employees form around their work groups and their organizations are strongly related to whether employees engage in extrarole behaviors. Moreover, the studies demonstrated that social identity explains the impact of other factors that have previously been linked to extrarole behavior. In particular, the findings indicate that social identity mediates the effect of procedural justice judgments and economic outcomes on supervisor ratings of extrarole behavior. Overall, these studies provide compelling indication that social identity is an important determinant of behavior within work organizations and provide strong support for the application of the group engagement model in organizational settings. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

The effects of focused attention training (FOCAL) on the duration of novice drivers' glances inside the vehicle

PubMed Central

Pradhan, A.K.; Divekar, G.; Masserang, K.; Romoser, M.; Zafian, T.; Blomberg, R.D.; Thomas, F.D.; Reagan, I.; Knodler, M.; Pollatsek, A.; Fisher, D.L.

2011-01-01

Several studies have documented that the failure of drivers to attend to the forward roadway for a period lasting longer than 2-3 seconds is a major cause of highway crashes. Moreover, several studies have demonstrated that novice drivers are more likely to glance away from the roadway than experienced drivers for extended periods when attempting to do a task inside the vehicle. The present study examines the efficacy of a PC-based training program (FOCAL) designed to teach novice drivers not to glance away for these extended periods of time. A FOCAL-trained group was compared to a placebo-trained group in an on-road test, and the FOCAL-trained group made significantly fewer glances away from the roadway that were more than 2 seconds than the placebo-trained group. Other measures indicated an advantage for the FOCAL-trained group as well. PMID:21973003

Extended Versus Narrow-spectrum Antibiotics in the Management of Uncomplicated Appendicitis in Children: A Propensity-matched Comparative Effectiveness Study.

PubMed

Cameron, Danielle B; Melvin, Patrice; Graham, Dionne A; Glass, Charity C; Serres, Stephanie K; Kronman, Matthew P; Saito, Jacqueline M; Rangel, Shawn J

2018-07-01

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of extended versus narrow spectrum antibiotics in preventing surgical site infections (SSIs) and hospital revisits in children with uncomplicated appendicitis. There is a paucity of high-quality evidence in the pediatric literature comparing the effectiveness of extended versus narrow-spectrum antibiotics in the prevention of SSIs associated with uncomplicated appendicitis. Clinical data from the ACS NSQIP-Pediatric Appendectomy Pilot Project were merged with antibiotic utilization data from the Pediatric Health Information System database for patients undergoing appendectomy for uncomplicated appendicitis at 17 hospitals from January 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015. Patients who received piperacillin/tazobactam (extended spectrum) were compared with those who received either cefoxitin or ceftriaxone with metronidazole (narrow spectrum) after propensity matching on demographic and severity characteristics. Study outcomes were 30-day SSI and hospital revisit rates. Of the 1389 patients included, 39.1% received piperacillin/tazobactam (range by hospital: 0% to 100%), and the remainder received narrow-spectrum agents. No differences in demographics or severity characteristics were found between groups following matching. In the matched analysis, the rates of SSI were similar between groups [extended spectrum: 2.4% vs narrow spectrum 1.8% (odds ratio, OR: 1.05, 95% confidence interval, 95% CI 0.34-3.26)], as was the rate of revisits [extended spectrum: 7.9% vs narrow spectrum 5.1% (OR: 1.46, 95% CI 0.75-2.87)]. Use of extended-spectrum antibiotics was not associated with lower rates of SSI or hospital revisits when compared with narrow-spectrum antibiotics in children with uncomplicated appendicitis. Our results challenge the routine use of extended-spectrum antibiotics observed at many hospitals, particularly given the increasing incidence of antibiotic-resistant organisms.

Effect of magnetized extender on sperm membrane integrity and development of oocytes in vitro fertilized with liquid storage boar semen.

PubMed

Lee, Sang-Hee; Park, Choon-Keun

2015-03-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a magnetized extender on sperm membrane damage and development of oocytes in vitro fertilized with liquid storage boar semen. Before semen dilution, extender was flowed through a neodymium magnet (0, 2000, 4000 and 6000G) for 5min and collected semen was preserved for 168h at 18°C. In results, plasma membrane integrity with live sperm was significantly higher in semen treated with extenders magnetized at 4000G than sperm treated with extenders magnetized at 0G during semen preservation for 120-168h (p<0.05). In addition, acrosomal membrane damage was significantly lower in semen treated with extenders magnetized at 4000 and 6000G compared to 0 and 2000G during semen preservation for 168h (p<0.05). And mitochondrial membrane damage with all sperm was significantly lower in semen treated with extenders magnetized at 2000G than other groups during semen preservation for 168h. The ability of semen to achieve successful in vitro fertilization was also not significantly different among the groups during preservation. However, when the semen was preserved for 168h, the blastocyst formation rates were significantly higher at 6000G compared to 0 and 2000G (p<0.05). In conclusion, these results suggest that highly magnetized semen extender could protect the sperm membrane from damage, and improve the ability of rates of in vitro blastocyst development and magnetized semen diluter is beneficial for long liquid preservation of boar semen. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

INTERMITTENT ACCESS TO A NUTRITIONALLY COMPLETE HIGH-FAT DIET ATTENUATES ALCOHOL DRINKING IN RATS

PubMed Central

Sirohi, Sunil; Van Cleef, Arriel; Davis, Jon F.

2017-01-01

Binge eating disorder and alcohol use disorder (AUD) frequently co-occur in the presence of other psychiatric conditions. Data suggest that binge eating engages similar behavioral and neurochemical processes common to AUD, which might contribute to the etiology or maintenance of alcoholism. However, it is unclear how binge feeding behavior and alcohol intake interact to promote initiation or maintenance of AUD. We investigated the impact of binge-like feeding on alcohol intake and anxiety-like behavior in male Long Evans rats. Rats received chow (controls) or extended intermittent access (24 hr twice a week; Int-HFD) to a nutritionally complete high-fat diet for six weeks. Standard rodent chow was available ad-libitum to all groups and food intake was measured. Following HFD exposure, 20.0% ethanol, 2.0% sucrose intake and endocrine peptide levels were evaluated. Anxiety-like behavior was measured using a light-dark (LD) box apparatus. Rats in the Int-HFD group displayed a binge-like pattern of feeding (alternations between caloric overconsumption and voluntary caloric restriction). Surprisingly, alcohol intake was significantly attenuated in the Int-HFD group whereas sugar consumption was unaffected. Plasma acyl-ghrelin levels were significantly elevated in the Int-HFD group, whereas glucagon-like peptide-1 levels did not change. Moreover, rats in the Int-HFD group spent more time in the light side of the LD box compared to controls, indicating that binge-like feeding induced anxiolytic effects. Collectively, these data suggest that intermittent access to HFD attenuates alcohol intake through reducing anxiety-like behavior, a process potentially controlled by elevated plasma ghrelin levels. PMID:27998722

Introducing ionic and/or hydrogen bonds into the SAM//Ga2O3 top-interface of Ag(TS)/S(CH2)nT//Ga2O3/EGaIn junctions.

PubMed

Bowers, Carleen M; Liao, Kung-Ching; Yoon, Hyo Jae; Rappoport, Dmitrij; Baghbanzadeh, Mostafa; Simeone, Felice C; Whitesides, George M

2014-06-11

Junctions with the structure Ag(TS)/S(CH2)nT//Ga2O3/EGaIn (where S(CH2)nT is a self-assembled monolayer, SAM, of n-alkanethiolate bearing a terminal functional group T) make it possible to examine the response of rates of charge transport by tunneling to changes in the strength of the interaction between T and Ga2O3. Introducing a series of Lewis acidic/basic functional groups (T = -OH, -SH, -CO2H, -CONH2, and -PO3H) at the terminus of the SAM gave values for the tunneling current density, J(V) in A/cm(2), that were indistinguishable (i.e., differed by less than a factor of 3) from the values observed with n-alkanethiolates of equivalent length. The insensitivity of the rate of tunneling to changes in the terminal functional group implies that replacing weak van der Waals contact interactions with stronger hydrogen- or ionic bonds at the T//Ga2O3 interface does not change the shape (i.e., the height or width) of the tunneling barrier enough to affect rates of charge transport. A comparison of the injection current, J0, for T = -CO2H, and T = -CH2CH3--two groups having similar extended lengths (in Å, or in numbers of non-hydrogen atoms)--suggests that both groups make indistinguishable contributions to the height of the tunneling barrier.

Estimation of Environment-Related Properties of Chemicals for Design of Sustainable Processes: Development of Group-Contribution+ (GC+) Property Models and Uncertainty Analysis

EPA Science Inventory

The aim of this work is to develop group-contribution+ (GC+) method (combined group-contribution (GC) method and atom connectivity index (CI) method) based property models to provide reliable estimations of environment-related properties of organic chemicals together with uncert...

Meal types as sources for intakes of fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains among Norwegian adults.

PubMed

Myhre, Jannicke B; Løken, Elin B; Wandel, Margareta; Andersen, Lene F

2015-08-01

To study how different meals contribute to intakes of fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains in a group of Norwegian adults and in subgroups of this population. Moreover, to investigate the consequences of skipping the meal contributing most to the intake of each food group (main contributing meal). Cross-sectional dietary survey in Norwegian adults. Dietary data were collected using two non-consecutive telephone-administered 24 h recalls. The recorded meal types were breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper/evening meal and snacks. Nationwide, Norway (2010-2011). Adults aged 18-70 years (n 1787). Dinner was the main contributing meal for fish and vegetables, while snacks were the main contributing meal for fruit intake. For whole grains, breakfast was the main contributing meal. The main contributing meal did not change for any of the food groups when studying subgroups of the participants according to intake of each food group, educational level or age. A substantially lower intake of the food groups in question was found on days when the main contributing meal was skipped. Intakes of fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains largely depend on one meal type. Inclusion of these foods in other meals in addition to the main contributing meal, preferably replacing energy-dense nutrient-poor foods, should be promoted.

Female Longitudinal Anal Muscles or Conjoint Longitudinal Coats Extend into the Subcutaneous Tissue along the Vaginal Vestibule: A Histological Study Using Human Fetuses

PubMed Central

Arakawa, Takashi; Abe, Hiroshi; Rodríguez-Vízquez, Jose Francisco; Murakami, Gen; Sugihara, Kenichi

2013-01-01

Purpose It is still unclear whether the longitudinal anal muscles or conjoint longitudinal coats (CLCs) are attached to the vagina, although such an attachment, if present, would appear to make an important contribution to the integrated supportive system of the female pelvic floor. Materials and Methods Using immunohistochemistry for smooth muscle actin, we examined semiserial frontal sections of 1) eleven female late-stage fetuses at 28-37 weeks of gestation, 2) two female middle-stage fetus (2 specimens at 13 weeks), and, 3) six male fetuses at 12 and 37 weeks as a comparison of the morphology. Results In late-stage female fetuses, the CLCs consistently (11/11) extended into the subcutaneous tissue along the vaginal vestibule on the anterior side of the external anal sphincter. Lateral to the CLCs, the external anal sphincter also extended anteriorly toward the vaginal side walls. The anterior part of the CLCs originated from the perimysium of the levator ani muscle without any contribution of the rectal longitudinal muscle layer. However, in 2 female middle-stage fetuses, smooth muscles along the vestibulum extended superiorly toward the levetor ani sling. In male fetuses, the CLCs were separated from another subcutaneous smooth muscle along the scrotal raphe (posterior parts of the dartos layer) by fatty tissue. Conclusion In terms of topographical anatomy, the female anterior CLCs are likely to correspond to the lateral extension of the perineal body (a bulky subcutaneous smooth muscle mass present in adult women), supporting the vaginal vestibule by transmission of force from the levator ani. PMID:23549829

The Effectiveness of Various Attitude Indicator Display Sizes and Extended Horizon Lines on Attitude Maintenance in a Part-Task Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comstock, J. Raymond, Jr.; Jones, Leslie C.; Pope, Alan T.

2003-01-01

Spatial disorientation (SD) is a constant contributing factor to the rate of fatal aviation accidents. SD occurs as a result of perceptual errors that can be attributed in part to the inefficient presentation of synthetic orientation cues via the attitude indicator when external visual conditions are poor. Improvements in the design of the attitude indicator may help to eliminate instrumentation as a factor in the onset of SD. The goal of the present study was to explore several display concepts that may contribute to an improved attitude display. Specifically, the effectiveness of various display sizes, some that are used in current and some that are anticipated in future attitude displays that may incorporate Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) concepts, was assessed. In addition, a concept known as an extended horizon line or Malcolm Horizon (MH) was applied and evaluated. Paired with the MH, the novel concept of a fixed reference line representing the central horizontal plane of the aircraft was also tested. Subjects performance on an attitude control task and secondary math workload task was measured across the various display sizes and conditions. The results, with regard to display size, confirmed the bigger is better concept, yielding better performance with the larger display sizes. A clear and significant improvement in attitude task performance was found with the addition of the extended horizon line. The extended or MH seemed to equalize attitude performance across display sizes, even for a central or foveal display as small as three inches in width.

In-group defense, out-group aggression, and coordination failures in intergroup conflict.

PubMed

De Dreu, Carsten K W; Gross, Jörg; Méder, Zsombor; Giffin, Michael; Prochazkova, Eliska; Krikeb, Jonathan; Columbus, Simon

2016-09-20

Intergroup conflict persists when and because individuals make costly contributions to their group's fighting capacity, but how groups organize contributions into effective collective action remains poorly understood. Here we distinguish between contributions aimed at subordinating out-groups (out-group aggression) from those aimed at defending the in-group against possible out-group aggression (in-group defense). We conducted two experiments in which three-person aggressor groups confronted three-person defender groups in a multiround contest game (n = 276; 92 aggressor-defender contests). Individuals received an endowment from which they could contribute to their group's fighting capacity. Contributions were always wasted, but when the aggressor group's fighting capacity exceeded that of the defender group, the aggressor group acquired the defender group's remaining resources (otherwise, individuals on both sides were left with the remainders of their endowment). In-group defense appeared stronger and better coordinated than out-group aggression, and defender groups survived roughly 70% of the attacks. This low success rate for aggressor groups mirrored that of group-hunting predators such as wolves and chimpanzees (n = 1,382 cases), hostile takeovers in industry (n = 1,637 cases), and interstate conflicts (n = 2,586). Furthermore, whereas peer punishment increased out-group aggression more than in-group defense without affecting success rates (Exp. 1), sequential (vs. simultaneous) decision-making increased coordination of collective action for out-group aggression, doubling the aggressor's success rate (Exp. 2). The relatively high success rate of in-group defense suggests evolutionary and cultural pressures may have favored capacities for cooperation and coordination when the group goal is to defend, rather than to expand, dominate, and exploit.

Effect of cyclodextrin-loaded cholesterol conjugates on plasma membrane viability of Piau swine breed frozen/thawed spermatozoa.

PubMed

Pinho, R O; Lima, D M A; Shiomi, H H; Siqueira, J B; Silveira, C O; Faria, V R; Lopes, P S; Guimarães, S E F; Guimarães, J D

2016-08-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of cyclodextrin-loaded cholesterol conjugates addition to freezing extenders on plasma membrane viability of frozen-thawed spermatozoa of the Piau swine breed. Twenty semen samples were used from five males. The freezing extender was based on lactose-egg yolk extender, added to 2% glycerol, 3% dimethylacetamide. The addition of cyclodextrin-loaded cholesterol conjugates was performed after centrifugation, when semen was diluted with the cooling extender. Four groups were subjected to the following treatment: without addition (group 1); 1.5 mg of cyclodextrin-loaded cholesterol/120 × 10(6) sperm (group 2); 1.5 mg of cyclodextrin-loaded cholestanol/120 × 10(6) sperm (group 3); 1.5 mg of cyclodextrin-loaded desmosterol/120 × 10(6) sperm (group 4). To check post-thawing sperm quality sperm motility and sperm morphology evaluation were used. Additionally, to check sperm viability the hypoosmotic swelling test, supravital staining, and fluorescent assay were used. The mean values recorded for total sperm motility of semen immediately after thawing were 54.5 ± 5.8, 55.5 ± 5.3, 53.7 ± 6.7, and 52.5 ± 6.6% respectively for groups one to four, without difference between themselves (p > 0.05). Regarding fluorescent assay the results were 28.3 ± 13.2, 26.9 ± 12.2, 22.2 ± 11.4, and 32.0 ± 15.3% respectively for groups one to four, also without difference between groups (p > 0,05). Similarly, complementary tests for evaluating the integrity and functionality of the plasma membrane showed no difference between treatments (p > 0.05). In conclusion, use of cyclodextrin-loaded cholesterol conjugates added to the plasma membrane of sperm did not demonstrate any additive effect on increasing and/or maintaining sperm motility. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thermochemical data and additivity group values for ten species of o-xylene low-temperature oxidation mechanism.

PubMed

Canneaux, Sébastien; Vandeputte, Romain; Hammaecher, Catherine; Louis, Florent; Ribaucour, Marc

2012-01-12

o-Xylene could be a good candidate to represent the family of aromatic hydrocarbons in a surrogate fuel. This study uses computational chemistry to calculate standard enthalpies of formation at 298 K, Δ(f)H°(298 K), standard entropies at 298 K, S°(298 K), and standard heat capacities C(p)°(T) over the temperature range 300 K to 1500 K for ten target species present in the low-temperature oxidation mechanism of o-xylene: o-xylene (1), 2-methylbenzyl radical (2), 2-methylbenzylperoxy radical (3), 2-methylbenzyl hydroperoxide (4), 2-(hydroperoxymethyl)benzyl radical (5), 2-(hydroperoxymethyl)benzaldehyde (6), 1-ethyl-2-methylbenzene (7), 2,3-dimethylphenol (8), 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde (9), and 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde (10). Δ(f)H°(298 K) values are weighted averages across the values calculated using five isodesmic reactions and five composite calculation methods: CBS-QB3, G3B3, G3MP2, G3, and G4. The uncertainty in Δ(f)H°(298 K) is also evaluated. S°(298 K) and C(p)°(T) values are calculated at B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level of theory from molecular properties and statistical thermodynamics through evaluation of translational, rotational, vibrational, and electronic partition functions. S°(298 K) and C(p)°(300 K) values are evaluated using the rigid-rotor-harmonic-oscillator model. C(p)°(T) values at T ≥ 400 K are calculated by treating separately internal rotation contributions and translational, external rotational, vibrational, and electronic contributions. The thermochemical properties of six target species are used to develop six new additivity groups taking into account the interaction between two substituents in ortho (ORT/CH2OOH/ME, ORT/ET/ME, ORT/CHO/OH, ORT/CHO/CH2OOH) or meta (MET/CHO/OH) positions, and the interaction between three substituents (ME/ME/OH123) located one beside the other (positions numbered 1, 2, 3) for two- or three-substituted benzenic species. Two other additivity groups are also developed using the thermochemical properties of benzenic species taken from the literature: the C/CB/H2/OO and the CB/CO groups. These groups extend the capacities of the group additivity method to deal with substituted benzenic species.

Stirling Convertor Extended Operation Testing and Data Analysis at GRC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cornell, Peggy A.; Lewandowski, Edward J.; Oriti, Salvatore M.; Wilson, Scott D.

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on extended operation testing and data analysis of free-piston Stirling convertors at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). Extended operation testing is essential to the development of radioisotope power systems and their potential use for long duration missions. To document the reliability of the convertors, regular monitoring and analysis of the extended operation data is particularly valuable; allowing us to better understand and quantity the long life characteristics of the convertors. Further, investigation and comparison of the extended operation data to baseline performance data provides us an opportunity for understanding system behavior should any off-nominal performance occur. GRC currently has 14 Stirling convertors under 24-hour unattended extended operation testing, including two operating the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator Engineering Unit (ASRG-EU). 10 of the 14 Stirling convertors at GRC are the Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASC) developed by Sunpower, Incorporated. These are highly efficient (up to > 33.5% conversion efficiency), low mass convertors that have evolved through technologically progressive convertor builds. The remaining four convertors at GRC are Technology Demonstration Convertors (TDC) from Infinia Corporation. They have achieved> 27% conversion efficiency and have accumulated over 178,000 of the total 250,622 hours of extended operation currently at GRC. A synopsis of the Stirling convertor extended operation testing and data analysis at NASA GRC is presented in this paper, as well as how this testing has contributed to the Stirling convertor's progression toward flight.

Role of Colleges in Adult Education--Adjustments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathias, Irene

1978-01-01

If colleges are to be relevant to the needs of India, they must plan and implement programs of direct benefit to the community and thus contribute to the nation's resolve to extend adult education programs within the next five years to combat illiteracy. (LBH)

Estimating costs and benefits of emissions reduction strategies for transit by extending the TRIMMS model : [summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-01-01

Floridas remarkable transportation infrastructure is a key to its economic vitality, but transportation is also the single largest contributor to air pollution. Pollutants such as greenhouse gases (GHG) degrade air quality and contribute to climat...

Stirling Convertor Extended Operation Testing and Data Analysis at Glenn Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cornell, Peggy A.; Lewandowski, Edward J.; Oriti, Salvatore M.; Wilson, Scott D.

2010-01-01

Extended operation of Stirling convertors is essential to the development of radioisotope power systems and their potential use for longduration missions. To document the reliability of the convertors, regular monitoring and analysis of the extended operation data is particularly valuable, allowing us to better understand and quantify long-life characteristics of the convertors. Furthermore, investigation and comparison of the extended operation data to baseline performance data provides an opportunity to understand system behavior should any off-nominal performance occur. Glenn Research Center (GRC) has tested 16 Stirling convertors under 24-hr unattended extended operation, including four that have operated in a thermal vacuum environment and two that are operating in the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator Engineering Unit. Ten of the sixteen convertors are the Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASC) developed by Sunpower, Inc. with GRC. These are highly efficient (conversion efficiency of up to 38 percent for the ASC-1), low-mass convertors that have evolved through technologically progressive convertor builds. Six convertors at GRC are Technology Demonstration Convertors from Infinia Corporation. They have achieved greater than 27 percent conversion efficiency and have accumulated over 185,000 of the total 265,000 hr of extended operation at GRC. This paper presents the extended operation testing and data analysis of free-piston Stirling convertors at NASA GRC as well as how these tests have contributed to the Stirling convertor s progression toward flight.

Jule Gregory Charney

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smagorinsky, J.

Twelve years ago, Jule Charney was honored by AGU when he was named the 38th William Bowie medalist for having epitomized the Bowie criteria of outstanding contribution to fundamental geophysics and for unselfish cooperation in research.Fifty years of Bowie awards were celebrated at a Special Session of the AGU Spring Meeting held in Baltimore, Md., in May. It is a very special distinction that AGU has selected Charney, among others, from a truly impressive field of superachievers, as one meriting extended recall of his contributions and his place in history.

Sleep Extension Normalizes ERP of Waking Auditory Sensory Gating in Healthy Habitually Short Sleeping Individuals

PubMed Central

Gumenyuk, Valentina; Korzyukov, Oleg; Roth, Thomas; Bowyer, Susan M.; Drake, Christopher L.

2013-01-01

Chronic sleep loss has been associated with increased daytime sleepiness, as well as impairments in memory and attentional processes. In the present study, we evaluated the neuronal changes of a pre-attentive process of wake auditory sensory gating, measured by brain event-related potential (ERP) – P50 in eight normal sleepers (NS) (habitual total sleep time (TST) 7 h 32 m) vs. eight chronic short sleeping individuals (SS) (habitual TST ≤6 h). To evaluate the effect of sleep extension on sensory gating, the extended sleep condition was performed in chronic short sleeping individuals. Thus, one week of time in bed (6 h 11 m) corresponding to habitual short sleep (hSS), and one week of extended time (∼ 8 h 25 m) in bed corresponding to extended sleep (eSS), were counterbalanced in the SS group. The gating ERP assessment was performed on the last day after each sleep condition week (normal sleep and habitual short and extended sleep), and was separated by one week with habitual total sleep time and monitored by a sleep diary. We found that amplitude of gating was lower in SS group compared to that in NS group (0.3 µV vs. 1.2 µV, at Cz electrode respectively). The results of the group × laterality interaction showed that the reduction of gating amplitude in the SS group was due to lower amplitude over the left hemisphere and central-midline sites relative to that in the NS group. After sleep extension the amplitude of gating increased in chronic short sleeping individuals relative to their habitual short sleep condition. The sleep condition × frontality interaction analysis confirmed that sleep extension significantly increased the amplitude of gating over frontal and central brain areas compared to parietal brain areas. PMID:23520548

Antioxidant effect of quercetin in an extender containing DMA or glycerol on freezing capacity of goat semen.

PubMed

Seifi-Jamadi, Afshin; Ahmad, Ejaz; Ansari, Mahdi; Kohram, Hamid

2017-04-01

This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of quercetin as a non-enzymatic antioxidant in combination with glycerol or Dimethylacetamide (DMA), on freezability of goat semen. Ejaculates from four healthy mature Mahabadi goats were collected using an artificial vagina. After primary processing, semen was pooled and extended by egg yolk based extender supplemented with different concentrations of quercetin (10 or 20 μM) along with 5% glycerol or DMA. The extended semen was frozen and sperm motility parameters, viability, abnormality, membrane integrity and lipid peroxidation were assessed after thawing. Results showed that sperm viability, total motility, progressive motility, straightness (STR) and linearity (LIN) were higher (P < 0.05), and abnormality percentage and MDA concentration were lower (P < 0.05) in extender containing DMA. Similarly, higher (P < 0.05) total motility, progressive motility, viability and membrane integrity along with lower (P < 0.05) MDA level were noted in Q10 group. The lowest (P < 0.05) MDA level was observed in DMA extender containing moderate level of quercetin (Q10D). Also the STR was higher (P < 0.05) in Q10D compared to Q10G and Q20G groups. In conclusion, supplementation of extender with 10 μM quercetin in combination with DMA improves the goat sperm motion kinetics and suppresses lipid peroxidation after freezing and thawing. Furthermore, DMA is more effective cryoprotectant for the freezing of goat sperm. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impaired Recognition of Facially Expressed Emotions in Different Groups of Patients with Sleep Disorders.

PubMed

Crönlein, Tatjana; Langguth, Berthold; Eichhammer, Peter; Busch, Volker

2016-01-01

Recently it has been shown that acute sleep loss has a direct impact on emotional processing in healthy individuals. Here we studied the effect of chronically disturbed sleep on emotional processing by investigating two samples of patients with sleep disorders. 25 patients with psychophysiologic insomnia (23 women and 2 men, mean age: 51.6 SD; 10.9 years), 19 patients with sleep apnea syndrome (4 women and 15 men, mean age: 51.9; SD 11.1) and a control sample of 24 subjects with normal sleep (15 women and 9 men, mean age 45.3; SD 8.8) completed a Facial Expressed Emotion Labelling (FEEL) task, requiring participants to categorize and rate the intensity of six emotional expression categories: anger, anxiety, fear, happiness, disgust and sadness. Differences in FEEL score and its subscales among the three samples were analysed using ANOVA with gender as a covariate. Both patients with psychophysiologic insomnia and patients with sleep apnea showed significantly lower performance in the FEEL test as compared to the control group. Differences were seen in the scales happiness and sadness. Patient groups did not differ from each other. By demonstrating that previously known effects of acute sleep deprivation on emotional processing can be extended to persons experiencing chronically disturbed sleep, our data contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between sleep loss and emotions.

Social, cultural and environmental influences on child activity and eating in Australian migrant communities.

PubMed

Green, J; Waters, E; Haikerwal, A; O'Neill, C; Raman, S; Booth, M L; Gibbons, K

2003-11-01

This study set out to examine the socio-cultural, familial and environmental factors influencing health, eating habits and patterns of physical activity contributing to child and adolescent overweight and obesity. Semi-structured, community-based interviews were conducted with contrasting key informant three-generation families; and generation by generation focus groups of grandparents, parents and children from four cultural communities in the state of Victoria, Australia. Purposive sampling occurred from Turkish, Greek, Indian and Chinese communities that have migrated to Australia within the last three generations (n = 160, eight families, 47 children aged 5-15 years, 29 parents, 42 grandparents). Evidence of two-way influences on eating and physical activity across three generations was evident, with children reporting the greatest cross-cultural diversity. A range of dietary restrictions was reported across all cultural groups. Efforts to foster healthy eating and lifestyle patterns within communities were evident. Parents, as a generation in particular, felt the need for more access to education and support regarding healthy limits for pre-puberty and puberty stages. There is a dynamic influence of culture on many aspects of family lifestyle across three generations. To achieve successful intervention design, childhood obesity researchers need to collaborate with diverse groups and communities. Considering the role and influence of extended family, a multigenerational, whole-of-community approach beyond that of parent and child populations ought to be considered.

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

Falcón, R. M.; Núñez, J.

Based on the traditional concept of isotopism, extended isotopisms were introduced by the authors in 2006 in order to provide a fundamental basis to the isotheory of Santilli. Since that first attempt, distinct studies on extended isotopisms have focused on the construction of partial Latin squares having a Santilli autotopism in their autotopism group. In order to deal with new structures, we introduce in this paper the concept of extended pseudoisotopism. This is based on the use of onto linear transformations that are not necessarily injective. Some examples are exposed throughout the paper.

Development of a hot intergalactic medium in spiral-rich galaxy groups: the example of HCG 16

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vrtilek, Jan M.; O'Sullivan, Ewan; David, Laurence P.; Giacintucci, Simona; Zezas, Andreas; Mamon, Gary; Ponman, Trevor J; Raychaudhury, Somak

2014-08-01

Galaxy groups provide the environment in which the majority of galaxies evolve, with low velocity dispersions and small galaxy separations that are conducive to tidal interactions and mergers between group members. X-ray observations reveal the frequent presence of hot gas in groups, with larger quantities linked to early-type galaxies, whereas cold gas is common in spiral-dominated groups. Clarification of the origin and role of the hot medium is central to the understanding of the evolution of the galaxy population and of all phases of the IGM.We here report on the nuclear activity, star formation and the high luminosity X-ray binary populations of the spiral-dominated, likely not yet virialized, group HCG 16, as well as on its intra-group medium, based principally on deep (150 ks) Chandra X-ray observations of the group, as well as new Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) 610 MHz radio data. We confirm the presence of obscured active nuclei in NGC 833 and NGC 835, and identify what may be a previously unrecognized nuclear source in NGC 838; all are variable. NGC 838 and NGC 839 are both starburst-dominated systems, with galactic superwinds that show X-ray and radio evidence of IGM interaction, but only weak nuclear activity; NGC 848 is also dominated by emission from its starburst.We confirm the existence of a faint, extended low-temperature (0.3 keV) intra-group medium, a subject of some uncertainty in earlier studies. The diffuse emission is strongest in a ridge linking the four principal galaxies, and is at least partly coincident with a large-scale HI tidal filament, indicating that the IGM in the inner part of the group is highly multi-phase. We conclude that starburst winds and shock-heating of stripped HI may play an important role in the early stages of IGM formation, with galactic winds contributing 20-40% of the observed hot gas in the system.

Quantifying reactivity for electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions with Hirshfeld charge.

PubMed

Liu, Shubin

2015-03-26

An electrophilic aromatic substitution is a process where one atom or group on an aromatic ring is replaced by an incoming electrophile. The reactivity and regioselectivity of this category of reactions is significantly impacted by the group that is already attached to the aromatic ring. Groups promoting substitution at the ortho/para and meta position are called ortho/para and meta directing groups, respectively. Earlier, we have shown that regioselectivity of the electrophilic aromatic substitution is dictated by the nucleophilicity of the substituted aromatic ring, which is proportional to the Hirshfeld charge on the regioselective site. Ortho/para directing groups have the largest negative charge values at the ortho/para positions, whereas meta directing groups often have the largest negative charge value at the meta position. The electron donation or acceptance feature of a substitution group is irrelevant to the regioselectivity. In this contribution, we extend our previous study by quantifying the reactivity for this kind of reactions. To that end, we examine the transition-state structure and activation energy of an identity reaction for a series of monosubstituted-benzene molecules reacting with hydrogen fluoride using BF3 as the catalyst in the gas phase. A total of 18 substitution groups will be considered, nine of which are ortho/para directing and the other nine groups meta directing. From this study, we found that the barrier height of these reactions strongly correlates with the Hirshfeld charge on the regioselective site for both ortho/para and meta directing groups, with the correlation coefficient R(2) both better than 0.96. We also discovered a less accurate correlation between the barrier height and HOMO energy. These results reconfirm the validity and effectiveness of employing the Hirshfeld charge as a reliable descriptor of both reactivity and regioselectivity for this vastly important category of chemical transformations.

Hereditary angioedema with normal C1 inhibitor in a French cohort: Clinical characteristics and response to treatment with icatibant.

PubMed

Bouillet, Laurence; Boccon-Gibod, Isabelle; Launay, David; Gompel, Anne; Kanny, Gisele; Fabien, Vincent; Fain, Oliver

2017-03-01

The clinical characteristics and icatibant-treatment outcomes of patients with hereditary angioedema with normal C1 inhibitor (HAE-nC1 INH) are limited. We retrospectively analyzed data from French HAE patients enrolled in the Icatibant Outcome Survey registry (from July 2009 to September 2013) to compare disease characteristics and the effectiveness and safety of acute icatibant-treated angioedema attacks in patients with HAE-nC1 INH, HAE with C1 INH deficiency (type I), or dysfunction (type II). One center in Grenoble contributed 22 patients with HAE-nC1 INH and a family history of HAE while 15 centers across France contributed 153 patients with HAE type I and seven patients with HAE type II. Patients with HAE-nC1 INH compared to HAE type I, respectively, were more likely to be female (88.1% vs. 63.4%), older at median age of disease onset (21 years vs. 15 years), and have a greater rate of abdominal (80% vs. 61%) and laryngeal (23% vs. 14%) attacks. Icatibant was effective in both groups though the median time to resolution of attack was significantly longer in the HAE-nC1 INH group (20.0 h, 37 attacks) versus the HAE type I group (14.0 h, 67 attacks). Icatibant was self-administered for 96.1% of attacks in patients with HAE-nC1 INH and 75.8% in patients with HAE type I. No serious adverse side effects related to icatibant were reported. These data help further define the disease characteristics of HAE-nC1 INH in the French population and extend the limited data reporting the safe and effective use of icatibant in acute treatment of angioedema in French patients diagnosed with HAE-nC1 INH.

Hereditary angioedema with normal C1 inhibitor in a French cohort: Clinical characteristics and response to treatment with icatibant

PubMed Central

Boccon‐Gibod, Isabelle; Launay, David; Gompel, Anne; Kanny, Gisele; Fabien, Vincent; Fain, Oliver

2017-01-01

Abstract Introduction The clinical characteristics and icatibant‐treatment outcomes of patients with hereditary angioedema with normal C1 inhibitor (HAE‐nC1 INH) are limited. Methods We retrospectively analyzed data from French HAE patients enrolled in the Icatibant Outcome Survey registry (from July 2009 to September 2013) to compare disease characteristics and the effectiveness and safety of acute icatibant‐treated angioedema attacks in patients with HAE‐nC1 INH, HAE with C1 INH deficiency (type I), or dysfunction (type II). Results One center in Grenoble contributed 22 patients with HAE‐nC1 INH and a family history of HAE while 15 centers across France contributed 153 patients with HAE type I and seven patients with HAE type II. Patients with HAE‐nC1 INH compared to HAE type I, respectively, were more likely to be female (88.1% vs. 63.4%), older at median age of disease onset (21 years vs. 15 years), and have a greater rate of abdominal (80% vs. 61%) and laryngeal (23% vs. 14%) attacks. Icatibant was effective in both groups though the median time to resolution of attack was significantly longer in the HAE‐nC1 INH group (20.0 h, 37 attacks) versus the HAE type I group (14.0 h, 67 attacks). Icatibant was self‐administered for 96.1% of attacks in patients with HAE‐nC1 INH and 75.8% in patients with HAE type I. No serious adverse side effects related to icatibant were reported. Conclusions These data help further define the disease characteristics of HAE‐nC1 INH in the French population and extend the limited data reporting the safe and effective use of icatibant in acute treatment of angioedema in French patients diagnosed with HAE‐nC1 INH. PMID:28250922

Standardization of the Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty technique: Outcomes of the first 450 consecutive cases.

PubMed

Satué, M; Rodríguez-Calvo-de-Mora, M; Naveiras, M; Cabrerizo, J; Dapena, I; Melles, G R J

2015-08-01

To evaluate the clinical outcome of the first 450 consecutive cases after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), as well as the effect of standardization of the technique. Comparison between 3 groups: Group I: (cases 1-125), as the extended learning curve; Group II: (cases 126-250), transition to technique standardization; Group III: (cases 251-450), surgery with standardized technique. Best corrected visual acuity, endothelial cell density, pachymetry and intra- and postoperative complications were evaluated before, and 1, 3 and 6 months after DMEK. At 6 months after surgery, 79% of eyes reached a best corrected visual acuity of≥0.8 and 43%≥1.0. Mean preoperative endothelial cell density was 2,530±220 cells/mm2 and 1,613±495 at 6 months after surgery. Mean pachymetry measured 668±92 μm and 526±46 μm pre- and (6 months) postoperatively, respectively. There were no significant differences in best corrected visual acuity, endothelial cell density and pachymetry between the 3 groups (P > .05). Graft detachment presented in 17.3% of the eyes. The detachment rate declined from 24% to 12%, and the rate of secondary surgeries from 9.6% to 3.5%, from group I to III respectively. Visual outcomes and endothelial cell density after DMEK are independent of the technique standardization. However, technique standardization may have contributed to a lower graft detachment rate and a relatively low number of secondary interventions required. As such, DMEK may become the first choice of treatment in corneal endothelial disease. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Oftalmología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Relationships Among Chondrite Groups as Inferred from Presolar-Grain Abundances

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huss, G. R.; Meshik, A. P.; Hohenberg, C. M.; Smith, J. B.

2002-01-01

Presolar-grain abundances show that C chondrites consist of two quite distinct groups, those containing primitive material, and those consisting of processed material. Ordinary chondrites are intermediate in many properties between these groups. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.