Qualitative research methods: key features and insights gained from use in infection prevention research.

PubMed

Forman, Jane; Creswell, John W; Damschroder, Laura; Kowalski, Christine P; Krein, Sarah L

2008-12-01

Infection control professionals and hospital epidemiologists are accustomed to using quantitative research. Although quantitative studies are extremely important in the field of infection control and prevention, often they cannot help us explain why certain factors affect the use of infection control practices and identify the underlying mechanisms through which they do so. Qualitative research methods, which use open-ended techniques, such as interviews, to collect data and nonstatistical techniques to analyze it, provide detailed, diverse insights of individuals, useful quotes that bring a realism to applied research, and information about how different health care settings operate. Qualitative research can illuminate the processes underlying statistical correlations, inform the development of interventions, and show how interventions work to produce observed outcomes. This article describes the key features of qualitative research and the advantages that such features add to existing quantitative research approaches in the study of infection control. We address the goal of qualitative research, the nature of the research process, sampling, data collection and analysis, validity, generalizability of findings, and presentation of findings. Health services researchers are increasingly using qualitative methods to address practical problems by uncovering interacting influences in complex health care environments. Qualitative research methods, applied with expertise and rigor, can contribute important insights to infection prevention efforts.

Comparing personal insight gains due to consideration of a recent dream and consideration of a recent event using the Ullman and Schredl dream group methods

PubMed Central

Edwards, Christopher L.; Malinowski, Josie E.; McGee, Shauna L.; Bennett, Paul D.; Ruby, Perrine M.; Blagrove, Mark T.

2015-01-01

There have been reports and claims in the psychotherapeutic literature that the consideration of recent dreams can result in personal realizations and insight. There is theoretical support for these claims from work on rapid eye movement (REM) sleep having a function of the consolidation of emotional memories and the creative formation of connections between new and older memories. To investigate these claims, 11 participants (10 females, one male) reported and considered a recent home dream in a dream discussion group that following the “Appreciating dreams” method of Montague Ullman. The group ran 11 times, each participant attending and participating once. A further nine participants (seven females, two males) reported and considered a recent home dream in a group that followed the “Listening to the dreamer” method of Michael Schredl. The two studies each had a control condition where the participant also reported a recent event, the consideration of which followed the same technique as was followed for the dream report. Outcomes of the discussions were assessed by the participants on the Gains from Dream Interpretation (GDI) scale, and on its counterpart, the Gains from Event Interpretation scale. High ratings on the GDI experiential-insight subscale were reported for both methods, when applied to dreams, and for the Ullman method Exploration-Insight ratings for the dream condition were significantly higher than for the control event condition. In the Ullman method, self-assessment of personal insight due to consideration of dream content was also significantly higher than for the event consideration condition. The findings support the view that benefits can be obtained from the consideration of dream content, in terms of identifying the waking life sources of dream content, and because personal insight may also occur. To investigate the mechanisms for the findings, the studies should be repeated with REM and non-REM dream reports, hypothesizing greater

Teaching Goal-Setting for Weight-Gain Prevention in a College Population: Insights from the CHOICES Study.

PubMed

Gardner, Jolynn; Kjolhaug, Jerri; Linde, Jennifer A; Sevcik, Sarah; Lytle, Leslie A

2013-01-01

This article describes the effectiveness of goal setting instruction in the CHOICES (Choosing Healthy Options in College Environments and Settings) study, an intervention evaluating the effectiveness of weight gain prevention strategies for 2-year college students. Four hundred and forty-one participants from three community colleges were recruited. Participants randomized into the intervention (n=224) enrolled in a course that taught strategies to help maintain or achieve a healthy weight. Participants were instructed in SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-based) and behavioral goal-setting practices. Throughout the course, participants set goals related to improving their sleep, stress-management, exercise, and nutrition." Intervention participants set four hundred eighteen goals. Each goal was carefully evaluated. The efforts to teach behavioral goal-setting strategies were largely successful; however efforts to convey the intricacies of SMART goal-setting were not as successful. Implications for effective teaching of skills in setting SMART behavioral goals were realized in this study. The insights gained from the goal-setting activities of this study could be used to guide educators who utilize goals to achieve health behavior change. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that very clear and directed instruction be provided in addition to multiple opportunities for goal-setting practice. Implications for future interventions involving education about goal-setting activities are discussed.

Intentions to Prevent Weight Gain in Older and Younger Adults; The Importance of Perceived Health and Appearance Consequences.

PubMed

Beeken, Rebecca J; Mahdi, Sundus; Johnson, Fiona; Meisel, Susanne F

2018-01-01

This study investigates whether health and appearance consequences predict intentions to prevent weight gain and whether these relationships differ in younger versus older adults and in men versus women. UK adults aged 18-26 years (younger adults; n = 584) or >45 years (older adults; n = 107) participated in an online survey. Logistic regression assessed associations between intentions to avoid gaining weight and age, gender as well as perceived negative consequences of weight gain for health and appearance. Co-variates were ethnicity, education, weight perception and perceived weight gain vulnerability. Interactions between age, gender and perceived health and appearance consequences of weight gain were also tested. Perceived negative appearance consequences of weight gain predicted weight gain prevention intentions (OR = 9.3, p < 0.001). Health concerns were not a significant predictor of intentions overall but were a strong predictor for older adults (age × health concern interaction: OR = 13.6, p > 0.01). Concerns about feeling unattractive predict intentions to prevent weight gain. However, health consequences of weight gain are only important motivators for older adults. Future research should identify ways to shift the focus of young people from appearance concerns towards the health benefits of maintaining a healthy weight. © 2018 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.

Improving participant selection in disease management programmes: insights gained from propensity score stratification.

PubMed

Linden, Ariel; Adams, John L

2008-10-01

While the randomized controlled trial (RCT) remains the gold-standard study design for evaluating treatment effect, outcomes researchers turn to powerful quasi-experimental designs when only observational studies can be conducted. Within these designs, propensity score matching is one of the most popular to evaluate disease management (DM) programme effectiveness. Given that DM programmes generally have a much smaller number of participants than non-participants in the population, propensity score matching will typically result in all or nearly all participants finding successful matches, while most of the non-participants in the population remain unmatched and thereby excluded from the analysis. By excluding data from the unmatched population, the effect of non-treatment in the remaining population with the disease is not captured. In the present study, we examine changes in hospitalization rates stratified by propensity score quintiles across the entire population allowing us to gain insight as to how well the programme chose its participants, or if the programme could have been effective on those individuals not explicitly targeted for the intervention. These data indicate the presence of regression to the mean, and suggest that the DM programme may be overly limited to only the highest strata when there is evidence of a potential benefit for those in all the lower strata as well.

Point of View: The Importance of Teaching Neuroscience Research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Jeremy

2016-01-01

This column shares reflections or thoughtful opinions on issues of broad interest to the community. This month's issue discusses the importance of the insights that are gained through neuroscience research.

How to gain insight into the polydispersity of tannins: a combined MS and LC study.

PubMed

Mouls, Laetitia; Hugouvieux, Virginie; Mazauric, Jean-Paul; Sommerer, Nicolas; Mazerolles, Gérard; Fulcrand, Hélène

2014-12-15

In the context of the potential health benefits of food polyphenols, the bioavailability of tannins (i.e. proanthocyanidins) is a major issue, which is strongly influenced by the polydispersity and the degree of polymerisation of tannins. The average degree of polymerisation (DP) of tannins is usually determined using depolymerisation methods, which do not provide any information about their polymer distribution. Moreover, it is still a challenge to characterise tannin fractions of high polydispersity and/or containing polymers of high molecular weights, due to the limit of detection of direct mass spectrometry (MS) analysis methods. In the present work, the polydispersity of several tannin fractions is investigated by two complementary methods: a MALDI-MS method and a semi-preparative sub-fractionation. Using a combination of these methods we are able to gain insight into the DP distributions of the fractions consisting of tannins of medium and high DP. Moreover combining analyses can be useful to assess and compare the DP distributions of most tannin fractions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Height gain during early childhood is an important predictor of schooling and mathematics ability outcomes.

PubMed

Gandhi, Mihir; Ashorn, Per; Maleta, Kenneth; Teivaanmäki, Tiina; Duan, Xiaolian; Cheung, Yin Bun

2011-08-01

To examine the association between height gain at different stages of early childhood and schooling and cognitive outcomes in 12-year-old Malawian children. A prospective cohort study looking at the growth and development of 325 rural Malawian children. Main outcome measures were highest school grade completed, number of times repeating grades and percentage of correctly answered mathematical questions at 12 years of age. Height-for-age at 1 month and conditional height gain for 6, 18 and 60 months were used as predictors. Ordinal logistic and linear regression analyses were used to estimate the association and adjust for confounder. The conditional height gain during 18-60 months was positively associated with mathematics test results (p=0.003) and negatively associated with number of times repeating grades (p=0.011). It was not significantly associated with highest grade completed (p=0.194) if those who never attended school were included as having completed zero grade, but was positively (p=0.049) associated with this outcome among those who ever attended school. Height gain during the 18-60 months period of age was related to schooling and mathematics ability at age 12 years. The importance of promoting catch-up growth after the period when stunting is common should receive attention. © 2011 The Author(s)/Acta Paediatrica © 2011 Foundation Acta Paediatrica.

How Pregnant African-American Women View Pregnancy Weight Gain

PubMed Central

Groth, Susan W.; Morrison-Beedy, Dianne; Meng, Ying

2012-01-01

Objective To gain insight into how low-income, pregnant African-American women viewed their weight gain while pregnant and how they managed their weight during pregnancy. Design Descriptive study using three focus groups. Setting Women were recruited from urban prenatal care sites and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) services in a medium-sized urban Northeastern city. Participants Twenty-six adult, low-income, pregnant African-American women, aged 18–39; the majority were within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Methods Three focus groups were conducted utilizing open-ended questions related to pregnancy weight gain. Content analysis was used to analyze the verbatim transcripts. Analysis focused on meaning, intention and context. Groups were compared and contrasted at the within and between group levels to identify themes. Results Four themes were identified that provided insight into how women viewed their pregnancy weight gain and managed weight gain during pregnancy: (a) pregnancy weight gain: no matter how much means a healthy baby; (b) weight retention: it happens; (c) there is a limit: weight gain impact on appearance; and (d) watching and waiting: plans for controlling weight. Conclusion Low-income African-American women, though cognizant of the likelihood of retention of weight following pregnancy, are not focused on limiting their gestational weight gain. The cultural acceptance of a larger body size along with the belief that gaining more weight is indicative of a healthy infant present challenges for interventions to limit excessive gestational weight gain. PMID:22789036

The "Gainful Employment Rule" and Student Loan Defaults: How the Policy Frame Overlooks Important Normative Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serna, Gabriel

2014-01-01

This essay examines normative aspects of the gainful employment rule and how the policy frame and image miss important implications for student aid policy. Because the economic and social burdens associated with the policy are typically borne by certain socioeconomic and ethnic groups, the policy frame and image do not identify possible negative…

Dreaming and insight

PubMed Central

Edwards, Christopher L.; Ruby, Perrine M.; Malinowski, Josie E.; Bennett, Paul D.; Blagrove, Mark T.

2013-01-01

This paper addresses claims that dreams can be a source of personal insight. Whereas there has been anecdotal backing for such claims, there is now tangential support from findings of the facilitative effect of sleep on cognitive insight, and of REM sleep in particular on emotional memory consolidation. Furthermore, the presence in dreams of metaphorical representations of waking life indicates the possibility of novel insight as an emergent feature of such metaphorical mappings. In order to assess whether personal insight can occur as a result of the consideration of dream content, 11 dream group discussion sessions were conducted which followed the Ullman Dream Appreciation technique, one session for each of 11 participants (10 females, 1 male; mean age = 19.2 years). Self-ratings of deepened self-perception and personal gains from participation in the group sessions showed that the Ullman technique is an effective procedure for establishing connections between dream content and recent waking life experiences, although wake life sources were found for only 14% of dream report text. The mean Exploration-Insight score on the Gains from Dream Interpretation questionnaire was very high and comparable to outcomes from the well-established Hill (1996) therapist-led dream interpretation method. This score was associated between-subjects with pre-group positive Attitude Toward Dreams (ATD). The need to distinguish “aha” experiences as a result of discovering a waking life source for part of a dream, from “aha” experiences of personal insight as a result of considering dream content, is discussed. Difficulties are described in designing a control condition to which the dream report condition can be compared. PMID:24550849

Controlling the gain contribution of background emitters in few-quantum-dot microlasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gericke, F.; Segnon, M.; von Helversen, M.; Hopfmann, C.; Heindel, T.; Schneider, C.; Höfling, S.; Kamp, M.; Musiał, A.; Porte, X.; Gies, C.; Reitzenstein, S.

2018-02-01

We provide experimental and theoretical insight into single-emitter lasing effects in a quantum dot (QD)-microlaser under controlled variation of background gain provided by off-resonant discrete gain centers. For that purpose, we apply an advanced two-color excitation concept where the background gain contribution of off-resonant QDs can be continuously tuned by precisely balancing the relative excitation power of two lasers emitting at different wavelengths. In this way, by selectively exciting a single resonant QD and off-resonant QDs, we identify distinct single-QD signatures in the lasing characteristics and distinguish between gain contributions of a single resonant emitter and a countable number of off-resonant background emitters to the optical output of the microlaser. Our work addresses the important question whether single-QD lasing is feasible in experimentally accessible systems and shows that, for the investigated microlaser, the single-QD gain needs to be supported by the background gain contribution of off-resonant QDs to reach the transition to lasing. Interestingly, while a single QD cannot drive the investigated micropillar into lasing, its relative contribution to the emission can be as high as 70% and it dominates the statistics of emitted photons in the intermediate excitation regime below threshold.

Recent advances in biosynthetic modeling of nitric oxide reductases and insights gained from nuclear resonance vibrational and other spectroscopic studies

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

Chakraborty, Saumen; Reed, Julian; Sage, Timothy

This Forum Article focuses on recent advances in structural and spectroscopic studies of biosynthetic models of nitric oxide reductases (NORs). NORs are complex metalloenzymes found in the denitrification pathway of Earth's nitrogen cycle where they catalyze the proton-dependent twoelectron reduction of nitric oxide (NO) to nitrous oxide (N 2O). While much progress has been made in biochemical and biophysical studies of native NORs and their variants, a. clear mechanistic understanding of this important metalloenzyme related to its function is still elusive. We report herein UV vis and nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy (NRVS) studies of mononitrosylated intermediates of the NOR reactionmore » of a biosynthetic model. The ability to selectively substitute metals at either heme or nonheme metal sites allows the introduction of independent 57Fe probe atoms at either site, as well as allowing the preparation of analogues of stable reaction intermediates by replacing either metal with a redox inactive metal. Together with previous structural and spectroscopic results, we summarize insights gained from studying these biosynthetic models toward understanding structural features responsible for the NOR activity and its mechanism. As a result, the outlook on NOR modeling is also discussed, with an emphasis on the design of models capable of catalytic turnovers designed based on close mimics of the secondary coordination sphere of native NORs.« less

Developmental gains in visuospatial memory predict gains in mathematics achievement.

PubMed

Li, Yaoran; Geary, David C

2013-01-01

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

Developmental Gains in Visuospatial Memory Predict Gains in Mathematics Achievement

PubMed Central

Li, Yaoran; Geary, David C.

2013-01-01

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

Gaining insights into the consequences of target-mediated drug disposition of monoclonal antibodies using quasi-steady-state approximations.

PubMed

Grimm, Hans Peter

2009-10-01

Target-mediated drug disposition (TMDD) is frequently reported for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and is linked to the high affinity and high specificity of antibody molecules for their target. Understanding TMDD of a monoclonal antibody should go beyond the empirical description of its non-linear PK since valuable insights on the antibody-target interaction itself can be gained. This makes its mechanistic understanding precious for the drug development process, in particular for the optimization of new antibody molecules, for the design and interpretation of pharmacokinetic studies, and possibly even for the evaluation of efficacy and dose selection of drug candidates. Using the observation that the molecular (microscopic) processes are usually much more rapid than the pharmacokinetic (macroscopic) processes, a series of quasi-steady-state conditions on the microscopic level is proposed to bridge the gap between simple empirical and complex mechanistic descriptions of TMDD. These considerations show the impact of parameters such as target turnover, target expression, and target accessibility on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of monoclonal antibodies.

Facilitating insights with a user adaptable dashboard, illustrated by airport connectivity data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dobraja, Ieva; Kraak, Menno-Jan; Engelhardt, Yuri

2018-05-01

Since the movement data exist, there have been approaches to collect and analyze them to get insights. This kind of data is often heterogeneous, multiscale and multi-temporal. Those interested in spatio-temporal patterns of movement data do not gain insights from textual descriptions. Therefore, visualization is required. As spatio-temporal movement data can be complex because size and characteristics, it is even challenging to create an overview of it. Plotting all the data on the screen will not be the solution as it likely will result into cluttered images where no data exploration is possible. To ensure that users will receive the information they are interested in, it is important to provide a graphical data representation environment where exploration to gain insights are possible not only in the overall level but at sub-levels as well. A dashboard would be a solution the representation of heterogeneous spatio- temporal data. It provides an overview and helps to unravel the complexity of data by splitting data in multiple data representation views. The adaptability of dashboard will help to reveal the information which cannot be seen in the overview.

Using Twitter Data to Gain Insights into E-cigarette Marketing and Locations of Use: An Infoveillance Study

PubMed Central

Kim, Annice E; Hopper, Timothy; Simpson, Sean; Nonnemaker, James; Lieberman, Alicea J; Hansen, Heather; Porter, Lauren

2015-01-01

Background Marketing and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other electronic nicotine delivery devices have increased exponentially in recent years fueled, in part, by marketing and word-of-mouth communications via social media platforms, such as Twitter. Objective This study examines Twitter posts about e-cigarettes between 2008 and 2013 to gain insights into (1) marketing trends for selling and promoting e-cigarettes and (2) locations where people use e-cigarettes. Methods We used keywords to gather tweets about e-cigarettes between July 1, 2008 and February 28, 2013. A randomly selected subset of tweets was manually coded as advertising (eg, marketing, advertising, sales, promotion) or nonadvertising (eg, individual users, consumers), and classification algorithms were trained to code the remaining data into these 2 categories. A combination of manual coding and natural language processing methods was used to indicate locations where people used e-cigarettes. Additional metadata were used to generate insights about users who tweeted most frequently about e-cigarettes. Results We identified approximately 1.7 million tweets about e-cigarettes between 2008 and 2013, with the majority of these tweets being advertising (93.43%, 1,559,508/1,669,123). Tweets about e-cigarettes increased more than tenfold between 2009 and 2010, suggesting a rapid increase in the popularity of e-cigarettes and marketing efforts. The Twitter handles tweeting most frequently about e-cigarettes were a mixture of e-cigarette brands, affiliate marketers, and resellers of e-cigarette products. Of the 471 e-cigarette tweets mentioning a specific place, most mentioned e-cigarette use in class (39.1%, 184/471) followed by home/room/bed (12.5%, 59/471), school (12.1%, 57/471), in public (8.7%, 41/471), the bathroom (5.7%, 27/471), and at work (4.5%, 21/471). Conclusions Twitter is being used to promote e-cigarettes by different types of entities and the online marketplace is more

Using Twitter Data to Gain Insights into E-cigarette Marketing and Locations of Use: An Infoveillance Study.

PubMed

Kim, Annice E; Hopper, Timothy; Simpson, Sean; Nonnemaker, James; Lieberman, Alicea J; Hansen, Heather; Guillory, Jamie; Porter, Lauren

2015-11-06

Marketing and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other electronic nicotine delivery devices have increased exponentially in recent years fueled, in part, by marketing and word-of-mouth communications via social media platforms, such as Twitter. This study examines Twitter posts about e-cigarettes between 2008 and 2013 to gain insights into (1) marketing trends for selling and promoting e-cigarettes and (2) locations where people use e-cigarettes. We used keywords to gather tweets about e-cigarettes between July 1, 2008 and February 28, 2013. A randomly selected subset of tweets was manually coded as advertising (eg, marketing, advertising, sales, promotion) or nonadvertising (eg, individual users, consumers), and classification algorithms were trained to code the remaining data into these 2 categories. A combination of manual coding and natural language processing methods was used to indicate locations where people used e-cigarettes. Additional metadata were used to generate insights about users who tweeted most frequently about e-cigarettes. We identified approximately 1.7 million tweets about e-cigarettes between 2008 and 2013, with the majority of these tweets being advertising (93.43%, 1,559,508/1,669,123). Tweets about e-cigarettes increased more than tenfold between 2009 and 2010, suggesting a rapid increase in the popularity of e-cigarettes and marketing efforts. The Twitter handles tweeting most frequently about e-cigarettes were a mixture of e-cigarette brands, affiliate marketers, and resellers of e-cigarette products. Of the 471 e-cigarette tweets mentioning a specific place, most mentioned e-cigarette use in class (39.1%, 184/471) followed by home/room/bed (12.5%, 59/471), school (12.1%, 57/471), in public (8.7%, 41/471), the bathroom (5.7%, 27/471), and at work (4.5%, 21/471). Twitter is being used to promote e-cigarettes by different types of entities and the online marketplace is more diverse than offline product offerings and

Mining Login Data for Actionable Student Insight

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agnihotri, Lalitha; Aghababyan, Ani; Mojarad, Shirin; Riedesel, Mark; Essa, Alfred

2015-01-01

Student login data is a key resource for gaining insight into their learning experience. However, the scale and the complexity of this data necessitate a thorough exploration to identify potential actionable insights, thus rendering it less valuable compared to student achievement data. To compensate for the underestimation of login data…

Decomposition of potential efficiency gains from hospital mergers in Greece.

PubMed

Flokou, Angeliki; Aletras, Vassilis; Niakas, Dimitris

2017-12-01

This paper evaluates the technical efficiency of 71 Greek public hospitals and examines potential efficiency gains from 13 candidate mergers among them. Efficiency assessments are performed using bootstrapped Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) whilst merger analysis is conducted by applying the Bogetoft and Wang methodology which allows the overall potential merger gains to be decomposed into three main components of inefficiency, namely technical (or learning), scope (or harmony) and scale (or size) effects. Thus, the analysis provides important insights not only on the magnitude of the potential total efficiency gains but also on their sources. The overall analysis is conducted in the context of a complete methodological framework where methods for outlier detection, returns to scale identification, and bias corrections for DEA estimations are also applied. Mergers are analyzed under the assumptions of constant, variable and non-decreasing returns to scale in an input oriented DEA model with three inputs and three outputs. The main finding of the study indicates that almost all mergers show substantial potential room for efficiency improvement, which is mainly attributed to the pre-merger technical inefficiencies of the individual hospitals and therefore it might be possible to be achieved without the need of implementing full-scale mergers. The same -though, at a lower extent- applies to the harmony effect whilst the size effect shows marginal or even negative gains.

Machine learning of big data in gaining insight into successful treatment of hypertension.

PubMed

Koren, Gideon; Nordon, Galia; Radinsky, Kira; Shalev, Varda

2018-06-01

Despite effective medications, rates of uncontrolled hypertension remain high. Treatment protocols are largely based on randomized trials and meta-analyses of these studies. The objective of this study was to test the utility of machine learning of big data in gaining insight into the treatment of hypertension. We applied machine learning techniques such as decision trees and neural networks, to identify determinants that contribute to the success of hypertension drug treatment on a large set of patients. We also identified concomitant drugs not considered to have antihypertensive activity, which may contribute to lowering blood pressure (BP) control. Higher initial BP predicts lower success rates. Among the medication options and their combinations, treatment with beta blockers appears to be more commonly effective, which is not reflected in contemporary guidelines. Among numerous concomitant drugs taken by hypertensive patients, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), and HMG CO-A reductase inhibitors (statins) significantly improved the success rate of hypertension. In conclusions, machine learning of big data is a novel method to identify effective antihypertensive therapy and for repurposing medications already on the market for new indications. Our results related to beta blockers, stemming from machine learning of a large and diverse set of big data, in contrast to the much narrower criteria for randomized clinic trials (RCTs), should be corroborated and affirmed by other methods, as they hold potential promise for an old class of drugs which may be presently underutilized. These previously unrecognized effects of PPIs and statins have been very recently identified as effective in lowering BP in preliminary clinical observations, lending credibility to our big data results.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2018-06-01

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

The Most Important Things Learned About Violence and Trauma in the Past 20 Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Bonnie E.

2005-01-01

In the past 2 decades, important insights have been gained regarding violence and trauma. Complications occur in how violence and trauma, their causes, and their effects on victims should be defined. Violence and abuse to women- physical, sexual, and emotional - are not rare events and are most often perpetrated by partners or acquaintances rather…

Leading Gainful Employment Metric Reporting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Kristina; MacPherson, Derek

2016-01-01

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

Dispersion relations for 1D high-gain FELs

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

Webb, S.D.; Litvinenko, V.N.

2010-08-23

We present analytical results for the one-dimensional dispersion relation for high-gain FELs. Using kappa-n distributions, we obtain analytical relations between the dispersion relations for various order kappa distributions. Since an exact solution exists for the kappa-1 (Lorentzian) distribution, this provides some insight into the number of modes on the way to the Gaussian distribution.

Gaining insights from social media language: Methodologies and challenges.

PubMed

Kern, Margaret L; Park, Gregory; Eichstaedt, Johannes C; Schwartz, H Andrew; Sap, Maarten; Smith, Laura K; Ungar, Lyle H

2016-12-01

Language data available through social media provide opportunities to study people at an unprecedented scale. However, little guidance is available to psychologists who want to enter this area of research. Drawing on tools and techniques developed in natural language processing, we first introduce psychologists to social media language research, identifying descriptive and predictive analyses that language data allow. Second, we describe how raw language data can be accessed and quantified for inclusion in subsequent analyses, exploring personality as expressed on Facebook to illustrate. Third, we highlight challenges and issues to be considered, including accessing and processing the data, interpreting effects, and ethical issues. Social media has become a valuable part of social life, and there is much we can learn by bringing together the tools of computer science with the theories and insights of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Electrical gain in interband cascade infrared photodetectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2018-03-01

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

Gaining insight into how women conceptualize satisfaction: Western Australian women's perception of their maternity care experiences.

PubMed

Lewis, Lucy; Hauck, Yvonne L; Ronchi, Fiona; Crichton, Caroline; Waller, Liana

2016-02-04

The concept of maternal satisfaction is challenging, as women's and clinicians' expectations and experiences can differ. Our aim was to investigate women's experiences of maternity care in an urban tertiary obstetric setting, to gain insight into conceptualization of satisfaction across the childbirth continuum. This mixed method study was conducted at a public maternity hospital in Western Australia. A questionnaire was sent to 733 women two weeks post birth, which included an invitation for an audio-recorded, telephone interview. Frequency distributions and univariate comparisons were employed for quantitative data. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was undertaken to extract common themes. A total of 54% (399 of 733) returned the questionnaire. Quantitative results indicated that women were less likely to feel: involved if they did not have a spontaneous vaginal birth (P = 0.020); supported by a midwife if they had a caesarean (P = <0.001); or supported by an obstetrician if they had a spontaneous vaginal birth (P = <0.001). Qualitative findings emerged from 63 interviews which highlighted the influence that organization of care, resources and facilities had on women's satisfaction. These paradigms unfolded as three broad themes constructed by four sub-themes, each illustrating a dichotomy of experiences. The first theme 'how care was provided' encompassed: familiar faces versus a different one every time and the best place to be as opposed to so disappointed. The second theme 'attributes of staff' included: above and beyond versus caring without caring and in good hands as opposed to handled incorrectly. The third theme 'engaged in care' incorporated: explained everything versus did not know why and had a choice as opposed to did not listen to my needs. Quantitative analysis confirmed that the majority of women surveyed were satisfied. Mode of birth influenced women's perception of being involved with their birth. Being able to explore the

Christian Learner: Wisdom and Gaining Knowledge Equals Joy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagle, Bonne

2012-01-01

When a Christian learner gains insight that learning is needed and takes the appropriate action to learn the knowledge and apply it, there will be joy and satisfaction with learning. The premise for this paper is in the Bible verse Ecclesiastes 2:26: (NASB) "For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy..."…

Perceived Incidence and Importance of Lay-Ideas on Ionizing Radiation: Results of a Delphi-Study among Radiation-Experts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eijkelhof, H. M. C.; And Others

1990-01-01

Described are lay-ideas which may exist about ionizing radiation, the importance of these ideas for risk management, and the relationships between various lay-ideas. Lay-ideas were used to gain a better insight into the problems of learning about ionizing radiation and to construct appropriate teaching materials and strategies. (KR)

Effect of the INSIGHT Responsive Parenting Intervention on Rapid Infant Weight Gain and Overweight Status at Age 1 Year: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Savage, Jennifer S; Birch, Leann L; Marini, Michele; Anzman-Frasca, Stephanie; Paul, Ian M

2016-08-01

Rapid infant weight gain is associated with later obesity, but interventions to prevent rapid infant growth and reduce risk for overweight status in infancy are lacking. To examine the effect of a responsive parenting (RP) intervention on infant weight gain between birth and 28 weeks and overweight status at age 1 year. The Intervention Nurses Start Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT) study is an ongoing randomized clinical trial comparing an RP intervention designed to prevent childhood obesity with a safety control. The study includes primiparous mother-newborn dyads (n = 291) and was conducted at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, in addition to home visits. Enrollment was initiated in January 2012, and evaluable population analyses for this study were conducted between April 2015 and November 2015. At 2 weeks post partum, initial intervention materials appropriate to the assigned treatment group were mailed to the participant's home. Research nurses conducted home visits at 3 weeks, 16 weeks, 28 weeks, and 40 weeks, and a research center visit occurred at 1 year. The Intervention Nurses Start Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories curriculum included messages about infant feeding, sleep hygiene, active social play, emotion regulation, and growth record education. The control group received a developmentally appropriate home safety intervention also delivered by nurse home visitors. Conditional weight gain from birth to 28 weeks was calculated. General linear models examined intervention effect on conditional weight gain. The intervention's effect on infant weight-for-length percentiles was tested using analysis of variance. Logistic regression compared the odds of overweight status (weight for length ≥95th percentile) at 1 year as a function of conditional weight gain. Of the mothers included in the study, 246 were white (88%), 260 were non-Hispanic (93%), 210 were married (75%), and 201 were working full

Phylogeographic insights into cryptic glacial refugia.

PubMed

Provan, Jim; Bennett, K D

2008-10-01

The glacial episodes of the Quaternary (2.6 million years ago-present) were a major factor in shaping the present-day distributions of extant flora and fauna, with expansions and contractions of the ice sheets rendering large areas uninhabitable for most species. Fossil records suggest that many species survived glacial maxima by retreating to refugia, usually at lower latitudes. Recently, phylogeographic studies have given support to the existence of previously unknown, or cryptic, refugia. Here we summarise many of these insights into the glacial histories of species in cryptic refugia gained through phylogeographic approaches. Understanding such refugia might be important as the Earth heads into another period of climate change, in terms of predicting the effects on species distribution and survival.

Handling Handicap Complaints Requires Special Insights.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wirth, George N.

1979-01-01

In the two years that the Michigan Civil Rights Commission has been enforcing legislation prohibiting discrimination against handicapped persons, some valuable insights have been gained into how these complaints must be handled in ways different from other types of discrimination complaints. (Author/EB)

Effects of perturbation relative phase on transverse mode instability gain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zervas, Michalis N.

2018-02-01

We have shown that the relative phase between the fundamental fiber mode and the transverse perturbation affects significantly the local transverse modal instability (TMI) gain. The gain variation is more pronounced as the core diameter increases. This finding can be used in conjunction with other proposed approaches to develop efficient strategies for mitigating TMI in high power fiber amplifiers and lasers. It also provides some physical insight on the physical origin of the observed large differences in the TMI threshold dependence on core diameter for narrow and broad linewidth operation.

Edemagenic gain and interstitial fluid volume regulation.

PubMed

Dongaonkar, R M; Quick, C M; Stewart, R H; Drake, R E; Cox, C S; Laine, G A

2008-02-01

Under physiological conditions, interstitial fluid volume is tightly regulated by balancing microvascular filtration and lymphatic return to the central venous circulation. Even though microvascular filtration and lymphatic return are governed by conservation of mass, their interaction can result in exceedingly complex behavior. Without making simplifying assumptions, investigators must solve the fluid balance equations numerically, which limits the generality of the results. We thus made critical simplifying assumptions to develop a simple solution to the standard fluid balance equations that is expressed as an algebraic formula. Using a classical approach to describe systems with negative feedback, we formulated our solution as a "gain" relating the change in interstitial fluid volume to a change in effective microvascular driving pressure. The resulting "edemagenic gain" is a function of microvascular filtration coefficient (K(f)), effective lymphatic resistance (R(L)), and interstitial compliance (C). This formulation suggests two types of gain: "multivariate" dependent on C, R(L), and K(f), and "compliance-dominated" approximately equal to C. The latter forms a basis of a novel method to estimate C without measuring interstitial fluid pressure. Data from ovine experiments illustrate how edemagenic gain is altered with pulmonary edema induced by venous hypertension, histamine, and endotoxin. Reformulation of the classical equations governing fluid balance in terms of edemagenic gain thus yields new insight into the factors affecting an organ's susceptibility to edema.

Insight in Schizophrenia: Relationship to Positive, Negative and Neurocognitive Dimensions

PubMed Central

Joseph, Boban; Narayanaswamy, Janardhanan C.; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan

2015-01-01

Impairment of insight is considered as the hallmark of schizophrenia. Substantial proportion of patients with schizophrenia has either poor or absent insight. Insight is a multidimensional and dynamic construct which appears to have intricate links with other symptom dimensions of the psychotic illness. A better appreciation of the association that insight shares with other symptom clusters in psychosis could help us in gaining knowledge about aetiology, prognosis and treatment-related facets of the disorder. This is likely to have critical implications in the understanding and therapeutics of schizophrenia. PMID:25722504

Evaluating realized genetic gains from tree improvement.

Treesearch

J.B. St. Clair

1993-01-01

Tree improvement has become an essential part of the management of forest lands for wood production, and predicting yields and realized gains from forests planted with genetically-improved trees will become increasingly important. This paper discusses concepts of tree improvement and genetic gain important to growth and yield modeling, and reviews previous studies of...

Temporally evolving gain mechanisms of attention in macaque area V4.

PubMed

Sani, Ilaria; Santandrea, Elisa; Morrone, Maria Concetta; Chelazzi, Leonardo

2017-08-01

Cognitive attention and perceptual saliency jointly govern our interaction with the environment. Yet, we still lack a universally accepted account of the interplay between attention and luminance contrast, a fundamental dimension of saliency. We measured the attentional modulation of V4 neurons' contrast response functions (CRFs) in awake, behaving macaque monkeys and applied a new approach that emphasizes the temporal dynamics of cell responses. We found that attention modulates CRFs via different gain mechanisms during subsequent epochs of visually driven activity: an early contrast-gain, strongly dependent on prestimulus activity changes (baseline shift); a time-limited stimulus-dependent multiplicative modulation, reaching its maximal expression around 150 ms after stimulus onset; and a late resurgence of contrast-gain modulation. Attention produced comparable time-dependent attentional gain changes on cells heterogeneously coding contrast, supporting the notion that the same circuits mediate attention mechanisms in V4 regardless of the form of contrast selectivity expressed by the given neuron. Surprisingly, attention was also sometimes capable of inducing radical transformations in the shape of CRFs. These findings offer important insights into the mechanisms that underlie contrast coding and attention in primate visual cortex and a new perspective on their interplay, one in which time becomes a fundamental factor. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We offer an innovative perspective on the interplay between attention and luminance contrast in macaque area V4, one in which time becomes a fundamental factor. We place emphasis on the temporal dynamics of attentional effects, pioneering the notion that attention modulates contrast response functions of V4 neurons via the sequential engagement of distinct gain mechanisms. These findings advance understanding of attentional influences on visual processing and help reconcile divergent results in the literature. Copyright © 2017 the

Laboratory Studies of Vibrational Relaxation: Important Insights for Mesospheric OH

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalogerakis, K. S.; Matsiev, D.

2016-12-01

The hydroxyl radical has a key role in the chemistry and energetics of the Earth's middle atmosphere. A detailed knowledge of the rate constants and relevant pathways for OH(high v) vibrational relaxation by atomic and molecular oxygen and their temperature dependence is absolutely critical for understanding mesospheric OH and extracting reliable chemical heating rates from atmospheric observations. We have developed laser-based experimental approaches to study the complex collisional energy transfer processes involving the OH radical and other relevant atmospheric species. Previous work in our laboratory indicated that the total removal rate constant for OH(v = 9) + O at room temperature is more than one order of magnitude larger than that for removal by O2. Thus, O atoms are expected to significantly influence the intensity and vibrational distribution extracted from the Meinel OH(v) emissions. We will report our most recent laboratory experiments that corroborate the aforementioned result for fast OH(v = 9) + O and provide important new insights on the mechanistic pathways involved. We will also highlight relevant atmospheric implications, including warranted revisions of current mesospheric OH models. Research supported by SRI International Internal R&D and NSF Aeronomy grant AGS-1441896. Previously supported by NASA Geospace Science grant NNX12AD09G.

The Mediating Role of Insight for Long-Term Improvements in Psychodynamic Therapy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johansson, Paul; Hoglend, Per; Ulberg, Randi; Amlo, Svein; Marble, Alice; Bogwald, Kjell-Petter; Sorbye, Oystein; Sjaastad, Mary Cosgrove; Heyerdahl, Oscar

2010-01-01

Objective: According to psychoanalytic theory, interpretation of transference leads to increased insight that again leads to improved interpersonal functioning over time. In this study, we performed a full mediational analysis to test whether insight gained during treatment mediates the long-term effects of transference interpretation in dynamic…

The role of insight in exploratory psychodynamic psychotherapy.

PubMed

Høglend, P; Engelstad, V; Sørbye, O; Heyerdahl, O; Amlo, S

1994-12-01

Psychoanalytic theory holds that dynamic insight is used for self-observation and self-analysis during and after explorative therapy. Such self-analysis is held to lead to stable dynamic change. Within a sample of 43 moderately disturbed out-patients, pre-treatment level of insight was associated with treatment length, with not being an early or late drop-out, and with receiving additional psychotherapy during a four-year follow-up period. Pre-treatment level of insight turned out to be not directly correlated with outcome two and four years after therapy. However, level of insight was significantly correlated with outcome in interaction with treatment length. Gain of insight measured at two-year follow-up was the strongest predictor of overall dynamic change four years after therapy, compared with all the other outcome assessments made at two-year follow-up.

Some User's Insights Into ADIFOR 2.0D

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Giesy, Daniel P.

2002-01-01

Some insights are given which were gained by one user through experience with the use of the ADIFOR 2.0D software for automatic differentiation of Fortran code. These insights are generally in the area of the user interface with the generated derivative code - particularly the actual form of the interface and the use of derivative objects, including "seed" matrices. Some remarks are given as to how to iterate application of ADIFOR in order to generate second derivative code.

Clinical and cognitive insight in patients with acute-phase psychosis: Association with treatment and neuropsychological functioning.

PubMed

Poyraz, Burç Çağri; Arikan, Mehmet Kemal; Poyraz, Cana Aksoy; Turan, Şenol; Kani, Ayşe Sakalli; Aydin, Eser; İnce, Ezgi

2016-10-01

The severity of psychopathology cannot fully explain deficits in the multi-dimensional construct of insight. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlates and associations of clinical and cognitive insight in patients in an acute phase of psychosis and to analyse the impact of acute treatment on these variables. This study examined 47 inpatients who were recently hospitalized with acute exacerbation of schizophrenia. All subjects were assessed at both admission and discharge with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Schedule for the Assessment of Insight-Expanded Version (SAI-E), Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS), and a neurocognition battery. Patients with schizophrenia gained clinical insight after treatment. Cognitive insight did not change significantly after treatment. Insight showed significant negative correlations with positive symptoms and general psychopathology, but not with negative symptoms. Clinical insight was not associated with neuropsychological functioning in this cohort. Gaining clinical insight in the acute phase of illness was associated with the remission of positive symptoms, but not with neuropsychological functioning. Some significant correlations between clinical and cognitive insights were detected, which suggests that cognitive insight contributes to clinical insight but is not treatment-dependent. Long-term treatment may be required to understand the contribution of insight to the outcome of patients with schizophrenia.

Drought as a driver of declining boreal forest growth: Integrating forest inventory measurements with models to gain insight into underlying mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trugman, A. T.; Medvigy, D.; Anderegg, W.; Caspersen, J.; Zeng, H.; Pacala, S. W.

2016-12-01

Boreal forests contain over 30% of Earth's terrestrial carbon and are an important component of the land carbon sink. However, the future ability of the boreal forest to maintain a net carbon sink is uncertain and depends on potentially compensating interactions of CO2 fertilization, warmer temperatures, and hotter drought conditions. Observational studies have attributed drought as a major driver of recent declines in growth and increases in mortality in many parts of the North American boreal forest. Yet, most vegetation models have a simplistic representation of vegetation water stress and fail to capture drought-associated growth and mortality trends, impacting our ability to accurately forecast the effects of climate change on the boreal forest. Here, we show additional evidence for widespread declines in boreal tree growth and increasing insect-related mortality in aspen trees based on a mixed model analysis of the Cooperative Alaska Forest Inventory. Our findings indicate that the growth decline is controlled by high midsummer potential evapotranspiration that overpowers any CO2 fertilization signal. We also observe a possible shift in the distribution of angiosperm and gymnosperm, a biological transition that could impact long-term local carbon dynamics. Using insight gained from our mixed model analysis, we perform a regional-scale model evaluation using the boreal forest version of Ecosystem Demography model 2 that includes a dynamic soil organic layer, 7 boreal-specific plant functional types, and a fully mechanistic plant hydraulic scheme. We then use both the Alaskan and Canadian Forest Inventories to constrain our hypotheses and assess whether drought related growth declines can be better attributed to tree drought response from (1) carbon starvation, (2) permanent damage of hydraulic machinery, or (3) delayed recovery of hydraulic machinery. Under each of these scenarios we forecast how drought potentially impacts decadal-scale boreal carbon dynamics.

Chromobacterium violaceum: important insights for virulence and biotechnological potential by exoproteomic studies.

PubMed

Ciprandi, Alessandra; da Silva, Wanderson Marques; Santos, Agenor Valadares; de Castro Pimenta, Adriano Monteiro; Carepo, Marta Sofia Peixe; Schneider, Maria Paula Cruz; Azevedo, Vasco; Silva, Artur

2013-07-01

Chromobacterium violaceum is a beta-proteobacterium with high biotechnological potential, found in tropical environments. This bacterium causes opportunistic infections in both humans and animals, that can spread throughout several tissues, quickly leading to the death of the host. Genomic studies identified potential mechanisms of pathogenicity but no further studies were done to confirm the expression of these systems. In this study 36 unique protein entries were identified in databank from a two-dimensional profile of C. violaceum secreted proteins. Chromobacterium violaceum exoproteomic preliminary studies confirmed the production of proteins identified as virulence factors (such as a collagenase, flagellum proteins, metallopeptidases, and toxins), allowing us to better understand its pathogenicity mechanisms. Biotechnologically interesting proteins (such as chitinase and chitosanase) were also identified among the secreted proteins, as well as proteins involved in the transport and capture of amino acids, carbohydrates, and oxidative stress protection. Overall, the secreted proteins identified provide us important insights on pathogenicity mechanisms, biotechnological potential, and environment adaptation of C. violaceum.

Correcting the Normalized Gain for Guessing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, John; Stewart, Gay

2010-01-01

The normalized gain, "g", has been an important tool for the characterization of conceptual improvement in physics courses since its use in Hake's extensive study on conceptual learning in introductory physics. The normalized gain is calculated from the score on a pre-test administered before instruction and a post-test administered…

Sleep does not facilitate insight in older adults.

PubMed

Debarnot, Ursula; Rossi, Marta; Faraguna, Ugo; Schwartz, Sophie; Sebastiani, Laura

2017-04-01

Sleep has been shown to foster the process of insight generation in young adults during problem solving activities. Aging is characterized by substantial changes in sleep architecture altering memory consolidation. Whether sleep might promote the occurrence of insight in older adults as well has not yet been tested experimentally. To address this issue, we tested healthy young and old volunteers on an insight problem solving task, involving both explicit and implicit features, before and after a night of sleep or a comparable wakefulness period. Data showed that insight emerged significantly less frequently after a night of sleep in older adults compared to young. Moreover, there was no difference in the magnitude of insight occurrence following sleep and daytime -consolidation in aged participants. We further found that acquisition of implicit knowledge in the task before sleep potentiated the gain of insight in young participants, but this effect was not observed in aged participants. Overall, present findings demonstrate that a period of sleep does not significantly promote insight in problem solving in older adults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global insights into high temperature and drought stress regulated genes by RNA-Seq in economically important oilseed crop Brassica juncea.

PubMed

Bhardwaj, Ankur R; Joshi, Gopal; Kukreja, Bharti; Malik, Vidhi; Arora, Priyanka; Pandey, Ritu; Shukla, Rohit N; Bankar, Kiran G; Katiyar-Agarwal, Surekha; Goel, Shailendra; Jagannath, Arun; Kumar, Amar; Agarwal, Manu

2015-01-21

Brassica juncea var. Varuna is an economically important oilseed crop of family Brassicaceae which is vulnerable to abiotic stresses at specific stages in its life cycle. Till date no attempts have been made to elucidate genome-wide changes in its transcriptome against high temperature or drought stress. To gain global insights into genes, transcription factors and kinases regulated by these stresses and to explore information on coding transcripts that are associated with traits of agronomic importance, we utilized a combinatorial approach of next generation sequencing and de-novo assembly to discover B. juncea transcriptome associated with high temperature and drought stresses. We constructed and sequenced three transcriptome libraries namely Brassica control (BC), Brassica high temperature stress (BHS) and Brassica drought stress (BDS). More than 180 million purity filtered reads were generated which were processed through quality parameters and high quality reads were assembled de-novo using SOAPdenovo assembler. A total of 77750 unique transcripts were identified out of which 69,245 (89%) were annotated with high confidence. We established a subset of 19110 transcripts, which were differentially regulated by either high temperature and/or drought stress. Furthermore, 886 and 2834 transcripts that code for transcription factors and kinases, respectively, were also identified. Many of these were responsive to high temperature, drought or both stresses. Maximum number of up-regulated transcription factors in high temperature and drought stress belonged to heat shock factors (HSFs) and dehydration responsive element-binding (DREB) families, respectively. We also identified 239 metabolic pathways, which were perturbed during high temperature and drought treatments. Analysis of gene ontologies associated with differentially regulated genes forecasted their involvement in diverse biological processes. Our study provides first comprehensive discovery of B. juncea

Gaining insights into reactive fluid-fractured rock systems using the temporal moments of a tracer breakthrough curve.

PubMed

Mukhopadhyay, Sumit; Liu, H-H; Spycher, N; Kennedy, B M

2014-03-01

In this paper, we show that the tracer breakthrough curves (BTCs), when the tracer chemically interacts with the solid matrix of a fractured rock, are considerably different than when it does not. Of particular interest, is the presence of a long pseudo steady state zone in the BTCs, where the tracer concentration is more or less constant over a long period of time. However, such a zone of constant concentration is not visible when either the tracer does not interact with the solid, or does so at an extremely fast rate. We show that these characteristics of the BTCs could be correlated to the parameters of the system. We develop expressions for the mean residence time and its variance for a chemically active and inactive tracer. We show that chemical interaction between the tracer and the solid increases the mean residence time and the increase depends on the distribution coefficient. We also show that the variance of residence time for a chemically active tracer is much larger than that for an inactive tracer, and it depends on both the distribution coefficient and the rate of chemical reaction. We verify these calculations against synthetic tracer BTCs, where the temporal moments are calculated by numerically integrating the tracer evolution curves. Even though we developed the mathematical expressions assuming an idealized fracture-matrix system, we believe that the mathematical expressions developed in this paper can be useful in gaining insights into reactive transport in a real fractured rock system. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Weight gain in freshman college students and perceived health

PubMed Central

de Vos, Paul; Hanck, Christoph; Neisingh, Marjolein; Prak, Dennis; Groen, Henk; Faas, Marijke M.

2015-01-01

Background We determined body weight increase in first year Dutch college students. We had the objective to determine whether the awareness of the unhealthy lifestyle raised concerns and willingness to change habits. Methods Body weight, heartbeat, BMI, body fat percentages, and blood pressure values were collected from 1095 students. Comprehensive statistical analysis was performed on the data. Results The students had a mean weight gain of 1.1 kg and an average BMI gain of 0.35. Members of a student corps gained significantly more weight (1.6 ± 3.1 kg) than non-members (1.0 ± 2.5 kg), while students who are living independently gained an average of 0.5 kg more than students living with their parents (p < 0.05). Approximately 40% of the students changed their eating patterns and 30.7% of the students consumed more alcohol. Conclusions Students experienced hindrance in physical exercise and mental well-being. Students with a high BMI without irregular eating habits were willing to change their lifestyle. However, students who had irregular lifestyles exhibited the lowest willingness to change their eating behaviors and to lose weight. Our study provides insight into means by which adolescents at high risk for weight gain can be approached to improve experienced quality of life. PMID:26844076

[Insight into illness: an overview of the concept focusing on schizophrenia].

PubMed

Bottlender, Ronald; Hloucal, Teresa-Maria

2010-03-01

Insight into illness is key to successful treatment. Poor insight, especially in schizophrenia, is, however, quite a frequent phenomenon that is also associated with poor adherence to treatment and a variety of unfavorable outcome parameters. On that background, the concept of insight into illness has gained new reseach interest during the last 10 years. The present review aims to report new findings regarding conceptual changes of insight, findings on the etiology, contributing factors as well as the assessment and methods to develop insight. Based on a review of the literature, results from more recent studies on insight into illness will be presented. Insight into illness is a complex, multidimensional, strongly culturally embedded phenomenon that is influenced by a variety of factors. The etiology of insight still remains poorly understood but is likely to be multifactorial including psychological, neuropsychological and organic reasons. Further research is needed, in particularly regarding therapeutical techniques to improve insight into illness.

Scoring the importance of tropical forest landscapes with local people: patterns and insights.

PubMed

Sheil, Douglas; Liswanti, Nining

2006-07-01

Good natural resource management is scarce in many remote tropical regions. Improved management requires better local consultation, but accessing and understanding the preferences and concerns of stakeholders can be difficult. Scoring, where items are numerically rated in relation to each other, is simple and seems applicable even in situations where capacity and funds are limited, but managers rarely use such methods. Here we investigate scoring with seven indigenous communities threatened by forest loss in Kalimantan, Indonesia. We aimed to clarify the forest's multifaceted importance, using replication, cross-check exercises, and interviews. Results are sometimes surprising, but generally explained by additional investigation that sometimes provides new insights. The consistency of scoring results increases in line with community literacy and wealth. Various benefits and pitfalls are identified and examined. Aside from revealing and clarifying local preferences, scoring has unexplored potential as a quantitative technique. Scoring is an underappreciated management tool with wide potential.

Perceiving the moral dimension of practice: insights from Murdoch, Vetlesen, and Aristotle.

PubMed

Scott, P Anne

2006-07-01

This paper situates the moral domain of practice within the context of a particular description of nursing practice - one that sees human interaction at the heart of that practice. Such a description fits not only with professional rhetoric but also with literature from patients and recent empirical work exploring the nature of nursing practice. Martha Levine in her 1977 description of ethics, within the context of nursing practice, indicated that what was important from an ethical perspective was how we interact with each other, with patients and colleagues, on a daily basis. What enables such interaction to display moral sensitivity, insight into patient need, and a focus on the good for the patient? Of relevance when answering this question is the empirical evidence indicating that professional socialization, as a nurse or a doctor, may dull the individual's moral sense. If this is the case, cognizance needs to be taken of such evidence when identifying theoretical approaches from mainstream ethics that may provide insight and value for nurse education. It is suggested that such insight and value can be gained from a consideration of the work of Aristotle, Murdoch, and Vetlesen.

A novel heart rate control model provides insights linking LF-HRV behavior to the open-loop gain.

PubMed

Dvir, Hila; Bobrovsky, Ben Zion; Gabbay, Uri

2013-09-20

Low-frequency heart rate variability (LF-HRV) at rest has already been successfully modeled as self-sustained oscillations in a nonlinear control loop, but these models fail to simulate LF-HRV decreases either during aerobic exercise or in heart failure patients. Following control engineering practices, we assume the existence of a biological excitation (dither) within the heart rate control loop that softens the nonlinearity and studied LF-HRV behavior in a dither-embedded model. We adopted the Ottesen model with some revisions and induced a dither of high-frequency stochastic perturbations. We simulated scenarios of a healthy subject at rest and during aerobic exercise (by decreasing peripheral vascular resistance) and a heart failure patient (by decreasing stroke volume). The simulations resembled physiological LF-HRV behavior, i.e., LF-HRV decreased during aerobic exercise and in the heart failure patient. The simulations exhibited LF-HRV dependency on the open-loop gain, which is related to the product of the feedback gain and the feed forward gain. We are the first to demonstrate that LF-HRV may be dependent on the open-loop gain. Accordingly, reduced open-loop gain results in decreased LF-HRV, and vice versa. Our findings explain a well-known but unexplained observed phenomenon of reduced LF-HRV both in heart failure patients and in healthy subjects performing aerobic exercise. These findings have implications on how changes in LF-HRV can be interpreted physiologically, a necessary step towards the clinical utilization of LF-HRV. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Focusing on Short-Term Achievement Gains Fails to Produce Long-Term Gains

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grissmer, David W.; Ober, David R.; Beekman, John A.

2014-01-01

The short-term emphasis engendered by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused research predominantly on unraveling the complexities and uncertainties in assessing short-term results, rather than developing methods and assessing results over the longer term. In this paper we focus on estimating long-term gains and address questions important to…

Contrast Gain Control in Auditory Cortex

PubMed Central

Rabinowitz, Neil C.; Willmore, Ben D.B.; Schnupp, Jan W.H.; King, Andrew J.

2011-01-01

Summary The auditory system must represent sounds with a wide range of statistical properties. One important property is the spectrotemporal contrast in the acoustic environment: the variation in sound pressure in each frequency band, relative to the mean pressure. We show that neurons in ferret auditory cortex rescale their gain to partially compensate for the spectrotemporal contrast of recent stimulation. When contrast is low, neurons increase their gain, becoming more sensitive to small changes in the stimulus, although the effectiveness of contrast gain control is reduced at low mean levels. Gain is primarily determined by contrast near each neuron's preferred frequency, but there is also a contribution from contrast in more distant frequency bands. Neural responses are modulated by contrast over timescales of ∼100 ms. By using contrast gain control to expand or compress the representation of its inputs, the auditory system may be seeking an efficient coding of natural sounds. PMID:21689603

Working wonders? investigating insight with magic tricks.

PubMed

Danek, Amory H; Fraps, Thomas; von Müller, Albrecht; Grothe, Benedikt; Ollinger, Michael

2014-02-01

We propose a new approach to differentiate between insight and noninsight problem solving, by introducing magic tricks as problem solving domain. We argue that magic tricks are ideally suited to investigate representational change, the key mechanism that yields sudden insight into the solution of a problem, because in order to gain insight into the magicians' secret method, observers must overcome implicit constraints and thus change their problem representation. In Experiment 1, 50 participants were exposed to 34 different magic tricks, asking them to find out how the trick was accomplished. Upon solving a trick, participants indicated if they had reached the solution either with or without insight. Insight was reported in 41.1% of solutions. The new task domain revealed differences in solution accuracy, time course and solution confidence with insight solutions being more likely to be true, reached earlier, and obtaining higher confidence ratings. In Experiment 2, we explored which role self-imposed constraints actually play in magic tricks. 62 participants were presented with 12 magic tricks. One group received verbal cues, providing solution relevant information without giving the solution away. The control group received no informative cue. Experiment 2 showed that participants' constraints were suggestible to verbal cues, resulting in higher solution rates. Thus, magic tricks provide more detailed information about the differences between insightful and noninsightful problem solving, and the underlying mechanisms that are necessary to have an insight. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Predicting the Effects of Sexual Assault Research Participation: Reactions, Perceived Insight, and Help-Seeking.

PubMed

Kirkner, Anne; Relyea, Mark; Ullman, Sarah E

2016-09-01

This study examined effects of participating in survey research for women sexual assault survivors with other trauma histories to understand the role of study participation on perceived insight and long-term help-seeking behaviors. A diverse sample of 1,863 women from a large Midwestern city participated in a 3-year study on women's experiences with sexual assault. Regression analyses were conducted to (a) examine predictors of immediate positive and negative reactions to survey participation and (b) assess the impact of the survey on perceived insight and women's long-term help-seeking behavior. Overall, most women in the study had a higher positive than negative reaction to the survey (92%), with a significant proportion indicating they sought additional services as a result of participation (55%). Women with child sexual abuse (CSA), more emotion dysregulation, and more characterological self-blame had more negative reactions to the survey, whereas those with more education and individual adaptive coping had more positive reactions. Women who said they gained insight from answering survey questions were most likely to seek additional help. This study extends the literature by examining cumulative trauma and postassault symptoms in relation to the effects of survey participation. This is also the first study of women sexual assault survivors to find a relationship between gaining perceived insight from research and subsequent help-seeking. Participating in sexual assault research may help survivors gain greater insight into their recovery, which can lead them to seek out more resources for their ongoing trauma-related problems.

Monitoring air quality in California's Central Valley with aircraft and continuous mountaintop observations - attribution insights gained by considering the scalar budget equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faloona, I. C.; Trousdell, J.; Caputi, D.; Conley, S. A.

2017-12-01

Ozone is one of the six criteria pollutants established by the US EPA's Clean Air Act, and one of two that still routinely violates federal standards as it is a secondary pollutant and therefore subject to indirect control strategies on complex, non-linear atmospheric chemistry. While improvements have been seen in many regions where ozone controls are in place, gains in California's San Joaquin Valley have lagged many other districts across the state. We present airborne measurements from several different campaigns in the valley (DISCOVER-AQ, ArvinO3, and CABOTS) along with data from a mountaintop monitoring site on its upwind side near the Pacific coast that has been operational for 5 years, and we shed light on several outstanding questions concerning air pollution in California's vast Central Valley. The framework of analysis is centered on the primitive equation of any atmospheric constituent - the scalar budget equation. By measuring each term in this equation, we gain insights into the relative impacts of exogenous (due to long range transport) vs. endogenous ozone (due to local photochemical production). We further argue that small aircraft campaigns with an emphasis on scalar budgeting sorties are a cost-effective tool in uncovering specific shortcomings of regional air quality models (e.g., lateral boundary conditions can be tested by comparing horizontal advection, turbulence parameterizations by comparing vertical fluxes, and chemical mechanisms by comparing net photochemical production rates.) In the case of NOx and CH4, for instance, we find that solving for surface emissions points toward inventory underestimates of both species by at least a factor of two. We discuss possible causes of these discrepancies, and suggest other ways to specifically vet aspects of regional air quality models with airborne measurements of meteorological and chemical variables.

Continuation of Gradual Weight Gain Necessary for the Onset of Puberty May Be Responsible for Obesity Later in Life

PubMed Central

Lehrer, Steven

2016-01-01

A continuation of the gradual weight gain necessary for the onset of puberty may be responsible for obesity later in life. Hypothetically, a group of brain nuclei form components of a single pubertal clock mechanism that drives pre-pubertal weight gain and governs the onset of puberty and fertility. No mechanism evolved to shut off pre-pubertal and pubertal weight and body fat gain after puberty. The weight gain continues unabated throughout life. A better understanding of the mechanism of puberty and pre-pubertal weight gain could provide new insights into obesity and diseases associated with obesity such as type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, heart disease, depression, etc. PMID:26562472

Quantifying the mechanisms of domain gain in animal proteins.

PubMed

Buljan, Marija; Frankish, Adam; Bateman, Alex

2010-01-01

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

InSight Cruise Stage and Lander in Assembly

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-05-27

Spacecraft specialists in a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, are working on NASA's InSight spacecraft in this January 2015 scene from the mission's assembly and testing phase. At center is the cruise stage, which will serve multiple functions during the flight from Earth to Mars. In the background is the InSight lander. InSight, for Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, will investigate the deep interior of Mars to gain information about how rocky planets, including Earth, formed and evolved. The mission is scheduled for launch from California in March 2016 and landing on Mars in September 2016. Note: After thorough examination, NASA managers have decided to suspend the planned March 2016 launch of the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission. The decision follows unsuccessful attempts to repair a leak in a section of the prime instrument in the science payload. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19403

Neural correlates of insight in dreaming and psychosis.

PubMed

Dresler, Martin; Wehrle, Renate; Spoormaker, Victor I; Steiger, Axel; Holsboer, Florian; Czisch, Michael; Hobson, J Allan

2015-04-01

The idea that dreaming can serve as a model for psychosis has a long and honourable tradition, however it is notoriously speculative. Here we demonstrate that recent research on the phenomenon of lucid dreaming sheds new light on the debate. Lucid dreaming is a rare state of sleep in which the dreamer gains insight into his state of mind during dreaming. Recent electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data for the first time allow very specific hypotheses about the dream-psychosis relationship: if dreaming is a reasonable model for psychosis, then insight into the dreaming state and insight into the psychotic state should share similar neural correlates. This indeed seems to be the case: cortical areas activated during lucid dreaming show striking overlap with brain regions that are impaired in psychotic patients who lack insight into their pathological state. This parallel allows for new therapeutic approaches and ways to test antipsychotic medication. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Relationship between insight, violence and diagnoses in psychotic patients].

PubMed

Lera Calatayud, Guillem; Herrero Sebastián, Neus; Aguilar García-Iturrospe, Eduardo; González Piqueras, José Carlos; Sanjuán Arias, Julio; Leal Cercós, Carmen

2012-01-01

Lack of insight is a common clinical problem in psichiatric patients, but few times has been properly studied until recently. Patients with good insight tend to show a better treatment adherence with a better prognosis and swow less hostility. This study aims to investigate whether there is a relationship between the hostility degree and insight or not and to anlalyze if there are insight quantitative differences between the patients regarding their diagnoses. 168 psychotic patients were studied (including 86 patients with schizophrenia and 43 with bipolar disorder). PANNS P7 (hostility) item and G14 (poor impulse control) were analized in order to assess patients' violence and G12 in order to assess insight. All these data was correlated. It was also analyzed the PANSS results of schizophrenic vs bipolar patients regarding insight and hostility separately looking for a more homogenic pull of patients. Patients with greater hostility showed a worse impulse control and poorer insight than the rest. Schizophrenic patients showed a greater hostility and lower insight than bipolar patients. Lack of insight may lead to a greater hostility and worse impulse control. Therapeutic interventions adressed to improve insight could indirectly lower hostility and gain a better impulse control for psychotic patients. Copyright © 2010 SEP y SEPB. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Temperature Measurement by a Nanoscale Electron Probe Using Energy Gain and Loss Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Idrobo, Juan Carlos; Lupini, Andrew R.; Feng, Tianli; Unocic, Raymond R.; Walden, Franklin S.; Gardiner, Daniel S.; Lovejoy, Tracy C.; Dellby, Niklas; Pantelides, Sokrates T.; Krivanek, Ondrej L.

2018-03-01

Heat dissipation in integrated nanoscale devices is a major issue that requires the development of nanoscale temperature probes. Here, we report the implementation of a method that combines electron energy gain and loss spectroscopy to provide a direct measurement of the local temperature in the nanoenvironment. Loss and gain peaks corresponding to an optical-phonon mode in boron nitride were measured from room temperature to ˜1600 K . Both loss and gain peaks exhibit a shift towards lower energies as the sample is heated up. First-principles calculations of the temperature-induced phonon frequency shifts provide insights into the origin of this effect and confirm the experimental data. The experiments and theory presented here open the doors to the study of anharmonic effects in materials by directly probing phonons in the electron microscope.

Teachers' Planning Processes: Seeking Insights from Australian Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, Peter; Clarke, Doug M.; Albright, James; Clarke, David J.; Farrell, Lesley; Freebody, Peter; Gerrard, Jessica; Michels, Deborah

2012-01-01

The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics (AC:M) prompts consideration of planning processes teachers typically use (as a whole school, in grade levels, and at the classroom level). In order to gain insights into the nature of the planning decisions teachers make, Australian teachers drawn from every state and territory were invited to respond to a…

The Growing Importance of CNVs: New Insights for Detection and Clinical Interpretation

PubMed Central

Valsesia, Armand; Macé, Aurélien; Jacquemont, Sébastien; Beckmann, Jacques S.; Kutalik, Zoltán

2013-01-01

Differences between genomes can be due to single nucleotide variants, translocations, inversions, and copy number variants (CNVs, gain or loss of DNA). The latter can range from sub-microscopic events to complete chromosomal aneuploidies. Small CNVs are often benign but those larger than 500 kb are strongly associated with morbid consequences such as developmental disorders and cancer. Detecting CNVs within and between populations is essential to better understand the plasticity of our genome and to elucidate its possible contribution to disease. Hence there is a need for better-tailored and more robust tools for the detection and genome-wide analyses of CNVs. While a link between a given CNV and a disease may have often been established, the relative CNV contribution to disease progression and impact on drug response is not necessarily understood. In this review we discuss the progress, challenges, and limitations that occur at different stages of CNV analysis from the detection (using DNA microarrays and next-generation sequencing) and identification of recurrent CNVs to the association with phenotypes. We emphasize the importance of germline CNVs and propose strategies to aid clinicians to better interpret structural variations and assess their clinical implications. PMID:23750167

Insights into sleep's role for insight: Studies with the number reduction task

PubMed Central

Verleger, Rolf; Rose, Michael; Wagner, Ullrich; Yordanova, Juliana; Kolev, Vasil

2013-01-01

In recent years, vibrant research has developed on “consolidation” during sleep: To what extent are newly experienced impressions reprocessed or even restructured during sleep? We used the number reduction task (NRT) to study if and how sleep does not only reiterate new experiences but may even lead to new insights. In the NRT, covert regularities may speed responses. This implicit acquisition of regularities may become explicitly conscious at some point, leading to a qualitative change in behavior which reflects this insight. By applying the NRT at two consecutive sessions separated by an interval, we investigated the role of sleep in this interval for attaining insight at the second session. In the first study, a night of sleep was shown to triple the number of participants attaining insight above the base rate of about 20%. In the second study, this hard core of 20% discoverers differed from other participants in their task-related EEG potentials from the very beginning already. In the third study, the additional role of sleep was specified as an effect of the deep-sleep phase of slow-wave sleep on participants who had implicitly acquired the covert regularity before sleep. It was in these participants that a specific increase of EEG during slow-wave sleep in the 10-12 Hz band was obtained. These results support the view that neuronal memory reprocessing during slow-wave sleep restructures task-related representations in the brain, and that such restructuring promotes the gain of explicit knowledge. PMID:24605175

Why It's Important for Children to Learn History.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caughron, Thomas Marshall

1986-01-01

We cannot assume that youngsters will be drawn to a study of the past on their own initiative, and the public education system has dismissed the study of history as irrelevant. Native-born Americans cannot gain the same insights through osmosis that foreign-born citizens acquire through supervised study. (MT)

[Atypical antipsychotic-induced weight gain].

PubMed

Godlewska, Beata R; Olajossy-Hilkesberger, Luiza; Marmurowska-Michałowska, Halina; Olajossy, Marcin; Landowski, Jerzy

2006-01-01

Introduction of a new group of antipsychotic drugs, called atypical because of the proprieties differing them from classical neuroleptics, gave hope for the beginning of a new era in treatment of psychoses, including schizophrenia. Different mechanisms of action not only resulted in a broader spectrum of action and high efficacy but also in a relative lack of extrapiramidal symptoms. However, atypical neuroleptics are not totally free from adverse effects. Symptoms such as sedation, metabolic changes and weight gain, often very quick and severe - present also in the case of classical drugs, but put to the background by extrapiramidal symptoms--have become prominent. Weight gain is important both from the clinical and subjective point of view--as associated with serious somatic consequences and as a source of enormous mental distress. These problems are addressed in this review, with the focus on weight gain associated with the use of specific atypical neuroleptics.

Theory of mind correlates with clinical insight but not cognitive insight in patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Zhang, Qi; Li, Xu; Parker, Giverny J; Hong, Xiao-Hong; Wang, Yi; Lui, Simon S Y; Neumann, David L; Cheung, Eric F C; Shum, David H K; Chan, Raymond C K

2016-03-30

Research on the relationship between insight and social cognition, in particular Theory of Mind (ToM), in schizophrenia has yielded mixed findings to date. Very few studies, however, have assessed both clinical insight and cognitive insight when examining their relationships with ToM in schizophrenia. The current study thus investigated the relationship between clinical insight, cognitive insight, and ToM in a sample of 56 patients with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls. Twenty-seven patients were classified as low in clinical insight according to their scores on the 'insight' item (G12) of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Moreover, cognitive insight and ToM were assessed with the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) and the Yoni task, respectively. The results indicated that patients with poor clinical insight performed worse on tasks of second-order cognitive and affective ToM, while the ToM performance of patients with high clinical insight was equivalent to that of healthy controls. Furthermore, while clinical insight was correlated with ToM and clinical symptoms, cognitive insight did not correlate with clinical insight, ToM, or clinical symptoms. Clinical insight thus appears to be an important factor related to ToM in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

PubMed

Clerkin, Elise M; Teachman, Bethany A; Smith-Janik, Shannan B

2008-11-01

The current study investigates sudden gains (rapid symptom reduction) in group cognitive-behavioral therapy for panic disorder. Sudden gains occurring after session 2 of treatment predicted overall symptom reduction at treatment termination and some changes in cognitive biases. Meanwhile, sudden gains occurring immediately following session 1 were not associated with symptom reduction or cognitive change. Together, this research points to the importance of examining sudden gains across the entire span of treatment, as well as the potential role of sudden gains in recovery from panic disorder.

Gain and energy storage in holmium YLF

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Storm, Mark E.; Deyst, John P.

1991-01-01

It is demonstrated that Q-switched holmium lasers are capable of high-gain and high-energy operation at 300 K. Small-signal gain coefficients of 0.50 and 0.12/cm have been measured in YLF and YAG, respectively. Small-signal gains of 0.50/cm are comparable to those achievable in Nd:YAG and are not typical of low-gain materials. This large gain in the Ho:YLF material is made possible by operating the amplifier in the ground state depletion mode. The amplifier performance data and associated analysis presented demonstrate that efficient energy storage is possible with very high excited state ion densities of the Ho 5I7 upper laser level. This is an important result since upconversion can limit the 5I7 population. Although upconversion was still present in this experiment, it was possible to achieve efficient energy storage, demonstrating that the problem is manageable even at high excitation densities in YLF.

Application variables and their influence on forest herbicide efficacy and selectivity: gaining understanding and control

Treesearch

James H. Miller

1998-01-01

Available research is reviewed on the interactions of application variables, herbicides, and species. Objectives of this review are to gain insights into why variation occurs with herbicide performance, how current knowledge might be applied to enhance efficacy and consistency, and research pathways that should foster integration of application-efficacy models. A...

Sudden Gains in Group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Panic Disorder

PubMed Central

Clerkin, Elise M.; Teachman, Bethany A.; Smith-Janik, Shannan B.

2008-01-01

The current study investigates sudden gains (rapid symptom reduction) in group cognitive-behavioral therapy for panic disorder. Sudden gains occurring after session 2 of treatment predicted overall symptom reduction at treatment termination and some changes in cognitive biases. Meanwhile, sudden gains occurring immediately following session 1 were not associated with symptom reduction or cognitive change. Together, this research points to the importance of examining sudden gains across the entire span of treatment, as well as the potential role of sudden gains in recovery from panic disorder. PMID:18804199

Weight gain and smoking: perceptions and experiences of obese quitline participants.

PubMed

Bush, Terry; Hsu, Clarissa; Levine, Michele D; Magnusson, Brooke; Miles, Lyndsay

2014-11-27

Weight gain that commonly accompanies smoking cessation can undermine a person's attempt to quit and increase the risk for metabolic disorders. Research indicates that obese smokers have more weight concerns and gain more weight after quitting than non-obese smokers, yet little is known about possible reasons for these outcomes. We sought to gain an understanding of obese smokers' experiences of quitting and their attitudes and beliefs about the association between smoking and weight gain. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with obese smokers who called a state tobacco quitline. Interviewers elicited discussion of obese smokers' thoughts about smoking, the effects of quitting on change in weight, challenges they faced with quitting, and how quitlines might better serve their needs. Participants (n = 29) discussed their fear of gaining weight after quitting, their beliefs about smoking and their weight and significant experiences related to quitting. Participants' awareness of weight gain associated with quitting was based on prior experience or observation of others who quit. Most viewed cessation as their primary goal and discussed other challenges as being more important than their weight, such as managing stress or coping with a chronic health condition. Although weight gain was viewed as less important than quitting, many talked about changes they had made to mitigate the anticipated weight gain. Weight gain is a concern for obese smokers interested in quitting. Understanding the relative importance of body weight and other challenges related to smoking cessation can help tailor interventions for the specific group of smokers who are obese and interested in smoking cessation.

Soleus H-reflex gain in humans walking and running under simulated reduced gravity

PubMed Central

Ferris, Daniel P; Aagaard, Per; Simonsen, Erik B; Farley, Claire T; Dyhre-Poulsen, Poul

2001-01-01

The Hoffmann (H-) reflex is an electrical analogue of the monosynaptic stretch reflex, elicited by bypassing the muscle spindle and directly stimulating the afferent nerve. Studying H-reflex modulation provides insight into how the nervous system centrally modulates stretch reflex responses. A common measure of H-reflex gain is the slope of the relationship between H-reflex amplitude and EMG amplitude. To examine soleus H-reflex gain across a range of EMG levels during human locomotion, we used simulated reduced gravity to reduce muscle activity. We hypothesised that H-reflex gain would be independent of gravity level. We recorded EMG from eight subjects walking (1.25 m s−1) and running (3.0 m s−1) at four gravity levels (1.0, 0.75, 0.5 and 0.25 G (Earth gravity)). We normalised the stimulus M-wave and resulting H-reflex to the maximal M-wave amplitude (Mmax) elicited throughout the stride to correct for movement of stimulus and recording electrodes relative to nerve and muscle fibres. Peak soleus EMG amplitude decreased by ≈30% for walking and for running over the fourfold change in gravity. As hypothesised, slopes of linear regressions fitted to H-reflex versus EMG data were independent of gravity for walking and running (ANOVA, P > 0.8). The slopes were also independent of gait (P > 0.6), contrary to previous studies. Walking had a greater y-intercept (19.9%Mmax) than running (-2.5%Mmax; P < 0.001). At all levels of EMG, walking H-reflex amplitudes were higher than running H-reflex amplitudes by a constant amount. We conclude that the nervous system adjusts H-reflex threshold but not H-reflex gain between walking and running. These findings provide insight into potential neural mechanisms responsible for spinal modulation of the stretch reflex during human locomotion. PMID:11136869

Soleus H-reflex gain in humans walking and running under simulated reduced gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferris, D. P.; Aagaard, P.; Simonsen, E. B.; Farley, C. T.; Dyhre-Poulsen, P.

2001-01-01

The Hoffmann (H-) reflex is an electrical analogue of the monosynaptic stretch reflex, elicited by bypassing the muscle spindle and directly stimulating the afferent nerve. Studying H-reflex modulation provides insight into how the nervous system centrally modulates stretch reflex responses.A common measure of H-reflex gain is the slope of the relationship between H-reflex amplitude and EMG amplitude. To examine soleus H-reflex gain across a range of EMG levels during human locomotion, we used simulated reduced gravity to reduce muscle activity. We hypothesised that H-reflex gain would be independent of gravity level.We recorded EMG from eight subjects walking (1.25 m s-1) and running (3.0 m s-1) at four gravity levels (1.0, 0.75, 0.5 and 0.25 G (Earth gravity)). We normalised the stimulus M-wave and resulting H-reflex to the maximal M-wave amplitude (Mmax) elicited throughout the stride to correct for movement of stimulus and recording electrodes relative to nerve and muscle fibres. Peak soleus EMG amplitude decreased by 30% for walking and for running over the fourfold change in gravity. As hypothesised, slopes of linear regressions fitted to H-reflex versus EMG data were independent of gravity for walking and running (ANOVA, P > 0.8). The slopes were also independent of gait (P > 0.6), contrary to previous studies. Walking had a greater y-intercept (19.9% Mmax) than running (-2.5% Mmax; P < 0.001). At all levels of EMG, walking H-reflex amplitudes were higher than running H-reflex amplitudes by a constant amount. We conclude that the nervous system adjusts H-reflex threshold but not H-reflex gain between walking and running. These findings provide insight into potential neural mechanisms responsible for spinal modulation of the stretch reflex during human locomotion.

A Haven for Learning: Gaining Professional Knowledge through Sincere Conversation in an Online Reading Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Deborah A.

2014-01-01

As an educator teaching an online course for the first time, I observed that the teachers in my class engaged in meaningful and sincere conversation and gained deep insight and greater awareness about their practice. Sincere conversation obviously differs from brief verbal exchanges operating at the surface level. It is conversation that invites…

The Practice of Field Ecology: Insights for Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowen, G. Michael; Roth, Wolff-Michael

2007-01-01

In the past several years a number of authors have suggested that science education could benefit from insights gained by research in the social studies of science that documents and theorises science as it is actually done. There currently exist two gaps in the literature. First, most research in science studies are concerned with the practices…

Translation in Language Teaching: Insights from Professional Translator Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carreres, Angeles; Noriega-Sanchez, Maria

2011-01-01

The past three decades have seen vast changes in attitudes towards translation, both as an academic discipline and as a profession. The insights we have gained in recent years, in particular in the area of professional translator training, call for a reassessment of the role of translation in language teaching. Drawing on research and practices in…

Reciprocity, culture and human cooperation: previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment

PubMed Central

Gächter, Simon; Herrmann, Benedikt

2008-01-01

Understanding the proximate and ultimate sources of human cooperation is a fundamental issue in all behavioural sciences. In this paper, we review the experimental evidence on how people solve cooperation problems. Existing studies show without doubt that direct and indirect reciprocity are important determinants of successful cooperation. We also discuss the insights from a large literature on the role of peer punishment in sustaining cooperation. The experiments demonstrate that many people are ‘strong reciprocators’ who are willing to cooperate and punish others even if there are no gains from future cooperation or any other reputational gains. We document this in new one-shot experiments, which we conducted in four cities in Russia and Switzerland. Our cross-cultural approach allows us furthermore to investigate how the cultural background influences strong reciprocity. Our results show that culture has a strong influence on positive and in especially strong negative reciprocity. In particular, we find large cross-cultural differences in ‘antisocial punishment’ of pro-social cooperators. Further cross-cultural research and experiments involving different socio-demographic groups document that the antisocial punishment is much more widespread than previously assumed. Understanding antisocial punishment is an important task for future research because antisocial punishment is a strong inhibitor of cooperation. PMID:19073476

Reciprocity, culture and human cooperation: previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment.

PubMed

Gächter, Simon; Herrmann, Benedikt

2009-03-27

Understanding the proximate and ultimate sources of human cooperation is a fundamental issue in all behavioural sciences. In this paper, we review the experimental evidence on how people solve cooperation problems. Existing studies show without doubt that direct and indirect reciprocity are important determinants of successful cooperation. We also discuss the insights from a large literature on the role of peer punishment in sustaining cooperation. The experiments demonstrate that many people are 'strong reciprocators' who are willing to cooperate and punish others even if there are no gains from future cooperation or any other reputational gains. We document this in new one-shot experiments, which we conducted in four cities in Russia and Switzerland. Our cross-cultural approach allows us furthermore to investigate how the cultural background influences strong reciprocity. Our results show that culture has a strong influence on positive and in especially strong negative reciprocity. In particular, we find large cross-cultural differences in 'antisocial punishment' of pro-social cooperators. Further cross-cultural research and experiments involving different socio-demographic groups document that the antisocial punishment is much more widespread than previously assumed. Understanding antisocial punishment is an important task for future research because antisocial punishment is a strong inhibitor of cooperation.

Gaining perspective: the effects of message frame on viewer attention to and recall of osteoporosis prevention print advertisements.

PubMed

O'Malley, Deborah A; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E

2013-11-01

This study examined how framed messages affect viewer attention to and cognitive processing of osteoporosis prevention print ads. Attention was measured with eye tracking technology. Cognitive processing was assessed through masked recall. A total of 60 college-aged women viewed 12 gain-framed, 12 loss-framed, and 12 neutral-framed ads. Number of fixations, dwell time, and recall of gain-framed osteoporosis prevention ads were higher than loss-framed or neutral-framed ads, p < .01. Message recall was positively correlated with the number of fixations and dwell time for the gain-framed and neutral-framed messages, p < .01. These findings provide preliminary insight into potential mechanisms underlying message framing effects.

Mechanism of the metallic metamaterials coupled to the gain material

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

Huang, Zhixiang; Droulias, Sotiris; Koschny, Thomas

2014-11-10

In this study, we present evidence of strong coupling between the gain material and the metallic metamaterials. It is of vital importance to understand the mechanism of the coupling of metamaterials with the gain medium. Using a four-level gain system, the numerical pump-probe experiments are performed in several configurations (split–ring resonators (SRRs), inverse SRRs and fishnets) of metamaterials, demonstrating reduction of the resonator damping in all cases and hence the possibility for loss compensation. We find that the differential transmittance ΔT/T can be negative in different SRR configurations, such as SRRs on the top of the gain substrate, gain inmore » the SRR gap and gain covering the SRR structure, while in the fishnet metamaterial with gain ΔT/T is positive.« less

Perceived Importance of Dietary Protein to Prevent Weight Gain: A National Survey among Midlife Women

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aldrich, Noel D.; Perry, Courtney; Thomas, William; Raatz, Susan K.; Reicks, Marla

2013-01-01

Objective: Evaluate reported use of the practice of "eating more protein" to prevent weight gain among midlife women. Design: Cross-sectional national survey. Participants: One thousand eight hundred twenty-four midlife women (40-60 y) from the 9 United States geographic regions, primarily married (71%), white (76%), and well educated; half were…

Teaching Goal-Setting for Weight-Gain Prevention in a College Population: Insights from the CHOICES Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardner, Jolynn; Kjolhaug, Jerri; Linde, Jennifer A.; Sevcik, Sarah; Lytle, Leslie A.

2013-01-01

Purpose: This article describes the effectiveness of goal setting instruction in the CHOICES (Choosing Healthy Options in College Environments and Settings) study, an intervention evaluating the effectiveness of weight gain prevention strategies for 2-year college students. Methods: Four hundred and forty-one participants from three community…

Simulations on false gain in recombination-pumped soft-X-ray lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozaki, T.; Kuroda, H.

1997-10-01

Numerical investigations are performed on false gain due to axial plasma expansion, which is expected to be important in initial proof-of-principle studies of recombination-pumped soft-X-ray lasers with extended capabilities. Modelling calculations of experiments with slab boron nitride targets reveal large false gain coefficients approaching 20 cm-1 in the case of plasmas with short active medium lengths. The false gain in the case of fiber targets is found to be of equal magnitude to that for slabs in the case of plasmas with less than 0.1 cm active medium lengths. Calculations for slab targets predict that adopting a tolerance of ǃ cm-1 for gain will severely restrict the time and the active medium length of the plasma that can be used for error-free observations, while those for fiber targets are found to be considerably relaxed. The effects of false gain in the 54.2 + Na Balmer ! laser is also investigated, again revealing the importance of this phenomena under optimum gain conditions.

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

PubMed Central

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

2007-01-01

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

The development of insight and its relationship with suicidality over one year follow-up in patients with first episode psychosis.

PubMed

Barrett, Elizabeth A; Mork, Erlend; Færden, Ann; Nesvåg, Ragnar; Agartz, Ingrid; Andreassen, Ole A; Melle, Ingrid

2015-03-01

Insight into psychosis has been linked to suicidality, although inconsistently. The co-variation between insight and suicidality over time is under-investigated. The aim of the present study was to investigate predictors of suicidality in patients with first episode of psychosis (FEP) over one year, focusing on the relationship between insight and suicidality. Patients with FEP (n=146) were interviewed as soon as possible after treatment starts and at one year follow-up. At baseline 37% of patients were suicidal, significantly reduced to 20% at follow-up. The effect of insight on suicidality was in different directions at different time-points, with insight at baseline increasing and insight at follow-up decreasing the risk of suicidality at follow-up. Patients with stable levels of insight across baseline and follow-up did not differ in risk for suicidality at follow-up. However, patients who lost insight from baseline to follow-up were more often suicidal at follow-up, whilst patients who gained insight were more seldom suicidal at follow-up. Other predictors of suicidality at follow-up were more depressive episodes before study entry, longer duration of untreated psychosis, more suicide attempts six months prior to follow-up, and depression at follow-up. The results indicate that the effect of insight on suicidality in FEP-patients depends on time of assessment and of changes in insight. Gaining insight during treatment was associated with reduced risk for suicidality, whilst losing insight had the opposite effect, underlining the need to monitor insight over time and tailor interventions according to illness phase. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cycle training induces muscle hypertrophy and strength gain: strategies and mechanisms.

PubMed

Ozaki, Hayao; Loenneke, J P; Thiebaud, R S; Abe, T

2015-03-01

Cycle training is widely performed as a major part of any exercise program seeking to improve aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health. However, the effect of cycle training on muscle size and strength gain still requires further insight, even though it is known that professional cyclists display larger muscle size compared to controls. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to discuss the effects of cycle training on muscle size and strength of the lower extremity and the possible mechanisms for increasing muscle size with cycle training. It is plausible that cycle training requires a longer period to significantly increase muscle size compared to typical resistance training due to a much slower hypertrophy rate. Cycle training induces muscle hypertrophy similarly between young and older age groups, while strength gain seems to favor older adults, which suggests that the probability for improving in muscle quality appears to be higher in older adults compared to young adults. For young adults, higher-intensity intermittent cycling may be required to achieve strength gains. It also appears that muscle hypertrophy induced by cycle training results from the positive changes in muscle protein net balance.

Insight in schizophrenia: a review.

PubMed

Dam, Jesper

2006-01-01

The issue of insight in schizophrenia must be assumed to be one of the most important aspects of the clinical examination. Comprehensive studies have shown that between 50% and 80% of all patients suffering from schizophrenia do not believe that they have a disorder. In recent years, poor insight in schizophrenia has been the subject of increasing interest, as manifested in a number of studies discussed in the present review. Some of these studies focus on insight correlated to various parameters such as psychopathology, neuropsychology, clinical relevance and compliance. Other studies refer to more theoretical implications, among these the issue of defining the concept of insight: whether insight can be seen as a "primary" phenomenon in schizophrenia, and whether insight may be graduated, dimensioned or increased. Several authors have developed rating scales in an attempt to obtain a measure for the degree or dimension of insight. Here, the range of parameters employed gives an excellent impression of the complexity of the concept of insight. In the concluding discussion, a phenomenological aspect is brought in, in an attempt to place the concept of insight in relation to disturbances of the self in schizophrenia and to primary symptoms in schizophrenia, amongst these autism.

Serotonin Affects Movement Gain Control in the Spinal Cord

PubMed Central

Glaser, Joshua I.; Deng, Linna; Thompson, Christopher K.; Stevenson, Ian H.; Wang, Qining; Hornby, Thomas George; Heckman, Charles J.; Kording, Konrad P.

2014-01-01

A fundamental challenge for the nervous system is to encode signals spanning many orders of magnitude with neurons of limited bandwidth. To meet this challenge, perceptual systems use gain control. However, whether the motor system uses an analogous mechanism is essentially unknown. Neuromodulators, such as serotonin, are prime candidates for gain control signals during force production. Serotonergic neurons project diffusely to motor pools, and, therefore, force production by one muscle should change the gain of others. Here we present behavioral and pharmaceutical evidence that serotonin modulates the input–output gain of motoneurons in humans. By selectively changing the efficacy of serotonin with drugs, we systematically modulated the amplitude of spinal reflexes. More importantly, force production in different limbs interacts systematically, as predicted by a spinal gain control mechanism. Psychophysics and pharmacology suggest that the motor system adopts gain control mechanisms, and serotonin is a primary driver for their implementation in force production. PMID:25232107

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

PubMed Central

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

2013-01-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2013-01-01

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

Gaining Insight of Fetal Brain Development with Diffusion MRI and Histology

PubMed Central

Huang, Hao; Vasung, Lana

2013-01-01

Human brain is extraordinarily complex and yet its origin is a simple tubular structure. Its development during the fetal period is characterized by a series of accurately organized events which underlie the mechanisms of dramatic structural changes during fetal development. Revealing detailed anatomy at different stages of human fetal brain development provides insight on understanding not only this highly ordered process, but also the neurobiological foundations of cognitive brain disorders such as mental retardation, autism, schizophrenia, bipolar and language impairment. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and histology are complementary tools which are capable of delineating the fetal brain structures at both macroscopic and microscopic level. In this review, the structural development of the fetal brains has been characterized with DTI and histology. Major components of the fetal brain, including cortical plate, fetal white matter and cerebral wall layer between the ventricle and subplate, have been delineated with DTI and histology. Anisotropic metrics derived from DTI were used to quantify the microstructural changes during the dynamic process of human fetal cortical development and prenatal development of other animal models. Fetal white matter pathways have been traced with DTI-based tractography to reveal growth patterns of individual white matter tracts and corticocortical connectivity. These detailed anatomical accounts of the structural changes during fetal period may provide the clues of detecting developmental and cognitive brain disorders at their early stages. The anatomical information from DTI and histology may also provide reference standards for diagnostic radiology of premature newborns. PMID:23796901

The Importance of Leadership and Learning Organizations

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

qualities that allow a person to make the right decision in any situation.6 Skills are the knowledge and abilities gained to perform the required duties...leader can make improvements to meet changes in the situational environment. Leaders base their knowledge on experiences, education, and insight that they...front of them with the assets available to them. They are able to manage a variety of tasks with different priorities and demands. The Army is re

Awareness and Habit: Important Factors in Physical Activity in Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kremers, Stef P. J.; Dijkman, Marieke A. M.; de Meij, Judith S. B.; Jurg, Merlin E.; Brug, Johannes

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the extent to which Dutch children are aware of their own physical activity level, and to what extent children's physical activity is habitual. Special attention was paid to the potential moderating effect of "awareness" and "habit strength" on the association between…

Flow-mediated dilation: can new approaches provide greater mechanistic insight into vascular dysfunction in preeclampsia and other diseases?

PubMed

Weissgerber, Tracey L

2014-11-01

Endothelial dysfunction is a key feature of preeclampsia and may contribute to increased cardiovascular disease risk years after pregnancy. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is a non-invasive endothelial function test that predicts cardiovascular event risk. New protocols allow researchers to measure three components of the FMD response: FMD, low flow-mediated constriction, and shear stimulus. This review encourages researchers to think beyond "low FMD" by examining how these three components may provide additional insights into the mechanisms and location of vascular dysfunction. The review then examines what FMD studies reveal about vascular dysfunction in preeclampsia while highlighting opportunities to gain greater mechanistic insight from new protocols. Studies using traditional protocols show that FMD is low in mid-pregnancy prior to preeclampsia, at diagnosis, and for 3 years post-partum. However, FMD returns to normal by 10 years post-partum. Studies using new protocols are needed to gain more mechanistic insight.

Effect of body image on pregnancy weight gain.

PubMed

Mehta, Ushma J; Siega-Riz, Anna Maria; Herring, Amy H

2011-04-01

The majority of women gain more weight during pregnancy than what is recommended. Since gestational weight gain is related to short and long-term maternal health outcomes, it is important to identify women at greater risk of not adhering to guidelines. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between body image and gestational weight gain. The Body Image Assessment for Obesity tool was used to measure ideal and current body sizes in 1,192 women participating in the Pregnancy, Infection and Nutrition Study. Descriptive and multivariable techniques were used to assess the effects of ideal body size and discrepancy score (current-ideal body sizes), which reflected the level of body dissatisfaction, on gestational weight gain. Women who preferred to be thinner had increased risk of excessive gain if they started the pregnancy at a BMI ≤26 kg/m(2) but a decreased risk if they were overweight or obese. Comparing those who preferred thin body silhouettes to those who preferred average size silhouettes, low income women had increased risk of inadequate weight gain [RR = 1.76 (1.08, 2.88)] while those with lower education were at risk of excessive gain [RR = 1.11 (1.00, 1.22)]. Our results revealed that body image was associated with gestational weight gain but the relationship is complex. Identifying factors that affect whether certain women are at greater risk of gaining outside of guidelines may improve our ability to decrease pregnancy-related health problems.

Structural insights into binding of inhibitors to soluble epoxide hydrolase gained by fragment screening and X-ray crystallography.

PubMed

Amano, Yasushi; Yamaguchi, Tomohiko; Tanabe, Eiki

2014-04-15

Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is a component of the arachidonic acid cascade and is a candidate target for therapies for hypertension or inflammation. Although many sEH inhibitors are available, their scaffolds are not structurally diverse, and knowledge of their specific interactions with sEH is limited. To obtain detailed structural information about protein-ligand interactions, we conducted fragment screening of sEH, analyzed the fragments using high-throughput X-ray crystallography, and determined 126 fragment-bound structures at high resolution. Aminothiazole and benzimidazole derivatives were identified as novel scaffolds that bind to the catalytic triad of sEH with good ligand efficiency. We further identified fragment hits that bound to subpockets of sEH called the short and long branches. The water molecule conserved in the structure plays an important role in binding to the long branch, whereas Asp496 and the main chain of Phe497 form hydrogen bonds with fragment hits in the short branch. Fragment hits and their crystal structures provide structural insights into ligand binding to sEH that will facilitate the discovery of novel and potent inhibitors of sEH. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gaining insight of fetal brain development with diffusion MRI and histology.

PubMed

Huang, Hao; Vasung, Lana

2014-02-01

Human brain is extraordinarily complex and yet its origin is a simple tubular structure. Its development during the fetal period is characterized by a series of accurately organized events which underlie the mechanisms of dramatic structural changes during fetal development. Revealing detailed anatomy at different stages of human fetal brain development provides insight on understanding not only this highly ordered process, but also the neurobiological foundations of cognitive brain disorders such as mental retardation, autism, schizophrenia, bipolar and language impairment. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and histology are complementary tools which are capable of delineating the fetal brain structures at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. In this review, the structural development of the fetal brains has been characterized with DTI and histology. Major components of the fetal brain, including cortical plate, fetal white matter and cerebral wall layer between the ventricle and subplate, have been delineated with DTI and histology. Anisotropic metrics derived from DTI were used to quantify the microstructural changes during the dynamic process of human fetal cortical development and prenatal development of other animal models. Fetal white matter pathways have been traced with DTI-based tractography to reveal growth patterns of individual white matter tracts and corticocortical connectivity. These detailed anatomical accounts of the structural changes during fetal period may provide the clues of detecting developmental and cognitive brain disorders at their early stages. The anatomical information from DTI and histology may also provide reference standards for diagnostic radiology of premature newborns. Copyright © 2013 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the maximum off-axis gain of symmetrical pencil-beam antennas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sawitz, P. H.

1977-01-01

For a general class of symmetrical pencil-beam antennas, the gain at a given off-axis angle can be maximized by choosing the proper antenna size. The maximum gain at the given angle relative to the on-axis gain is independent of the given angle and dependent only on the main-beam pattern. It is computed here for four commonly used gain functions. Its value, in all cases, is close to 4 dB. This result is important in the definition of service areas for communication and broadcast satellites.

Process Evaluation of a School-Based Weight Gain Prevention Program: The Dutch Obesity Intervention in Teenagers (DOiT)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, A. S.; Chinapaw, M. J. M.; Brug, J.; van Mechelen, W.

2009-01-01

Health promotion programs benefit from an accompanying process evaluation since it can provide more insight in the strengths and weaknesses of a program. A process evaluation was conducted to assess the reach, implementation, satisfaction and maintenance of a school-based program aimed at the prevention of excessive weight gain among Dutch…

Some Problems and Insights in the Lexicography of Two Non-Kindred Languages: Spanish and Swahili.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Githiora, Chege

2001-01-01

Discusses problems and insights gained during the preparation of a bilingual dictionary of Spanish--a Romance and ultimately Indo-European language--and Swahili, a coastal Bantu language of the Niger-Congo stock of African languages. (Author/VWL)

Insights on STEM Careers

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

Wendelberger, Joanne Roth

2014-11-05

This presentation will provide career advice for individuals seeking to go beyond just having a job to building a successful career in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Careful planning can be used to turn a job into a springboard for professional advancement and personal satisfaction. Topics to be addressed include setting priorities, understanding career ladders, making tough choices, overcoming stereotypes and assumptions by others, networking, developing a professional identify, and balancing a career with family and other personal responsibilities. Insights on the transition from individual technical work to leadership will also be provided. The author will drawmore » upon experiences gained in academic, industrial, and government laboratory settings, as well as extensive professional service and community involvement.« less

Quantum-mechanical analysis of low-gain free-electron laser oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fares, H.; Yamada, M.; Chiadroni, E.; Ferrario, M.

2018-05-01

In the previous classical theory of the low-gain free-electron laser (FEL) oscillators, the electron is described as a point-like particle, a delta function in the spatial space. On the other hand, in the previous quantum treatments, the electron is described as a plane wave with a single momentum state, a delta function in the momentum space. In reality, an electron must have statistical uncertainties in the position and momentum domains. Then, the electron is neither a point-like charge nor a plane wave of a single momentum. In this paper, we rephrase the theory of the low-gain FEL where the interacting electron is represented quantum mechanically by a plane wave with a finite spreading length (i.e., a wave packet). Using the concepts of the transformation of reference frames and the statistical quantum mechanics, an expression for the single-pass radiation gain is derived. The spectral broadening of the radiation is expressed in terms of the spreading length of an electron, the relaxation time characterizing the energy spread of electrons, and the interaction time. We introduce a comparison between our results and those obtained in the already known classical analyses where a good agreement between both results is shown. While the correspondence between our results and the classical results are shown, novel insights into the electron dynamics and the interaction mechanism are presented.

Flow-mediated Dilation: Can New Approaches Provide Greater Mechanistic Insight into Vascular Dysfunction in Preeclampsia and Other Diseases?

PubMed Central

Weissgerber, Tracey L.

2015-01-01

Endothelial dysfunction is a key feature of preeclampsia, and may contribute to increased cardiovascular disease risk years after pregnancy. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is a non-invasive endothelial function test that predicts cardiovascular event risk. New protocols allow researchers to measure three components of the FMD response: FMD, low flow-mediated constriction and the shear stimulus. This review encourages researchers to think beyond “low FMD” by examining how these three components may provide additional insights into the mechanisms and location of vascular dysfunction. The review then examines what FMD studies reveal about vascular dysfunction in preeclampsia, while highlighting opportunities to gain greater mechanistic insight from new protocols. Studies using traditional protocols show that FMD is low in mid-pregnancy prior to preeclampsia, at diagnosis, and for three years post-partum. However, FMD returns to normal by ten years post-partum. Studies using new protocols are needed to gain more mechanistic insight. PMID:25182159

Sexoanalysis: a new insight-oriented treatment approach for sexual disorders.

PubMed

Ravart, M; Côté, H

1992-01-01

Sexoanalysis is an innovative therapeutic approach for the treatment of complex sexual disorders. This approach integrates current knowledge on sexual/erotic development pathology within a psychodynamic framework to help patients gain insight on the secondary gains, anxieties, and intrapsychic issues that are at the roots of their sexual problem. The treatment process essentially focuses on the analysis of sexual fantasies and the modification of maladaptive erotic imagery. The present authors present a brief overview of sexoanalytic theory and describe how sexoanalysis can resolve sexual disorders, improve sexual/erotic functioning, and promote sexual maturity. A clinical illustration is provided to help further clarify the sexoanalytic treatment process and demonstrate the use and utility of this promising sexotherapeutic approach.

The Importance of Lake Overflow Floods for Early Martian Landscape Evolution: Insights From Licus Vallis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goudge, T. A.; Fassett, C. I.

2017-01-01

Open-basin lake outlet valleys are incised when water breaches the basin-confining topography and overflows. Outlet valleys record this flooding event and provide insight into how the lake and surrounding terrain evolved over time. Here we present a study of the paleolake outlet Licus Vallis, a >350 km long, >2 km wide, >100 m deep valley that heads at the outlet breach of an approx.30 km diameter impact crater. Multiple geomorphic features of this valley system suggest it records a more complex evolution than formation from a single lake overflow flood. This provides unique insight into the paleohydrology of lakes on early Mars, as we can make inferences beyond the most recent phase of activity..

Gestational Weight Gain and its Relation with Birth Weight of the Newborn.

PubMed

Thapa, Meena; Paneru, Rupa

2017-01-01

Gestational weight gain is an important predictor of the health of the newborn. It is affected by body mass index of the women. This study was conducted to find out gestational weight gain according to Institute of Medicine 2009 recommendation and relationship of newborn birth weight to body mass index and gestational weight gain of the women. It was cross sectional, hospital based study. The women, who attended at term pregnancy for delivery and having recorded first trimester body weight, were included in the study. Their body mass index was calculated and they were stratified into 4 groups according to body mass index. The gestational weight gain was calculated by subtracting first trimester body weight from body weight at the time of admission for delivery. All the women were followed till delivery. The newborn birth weight was taken immediately after delivery. A total of 227 women were enrolled in the study. More than half of the women had normal body mass index. There were 84 (37%) overweight and obese women. Mean gestational weight gain was 10.21 kg, and mean weight of the newborn was 3.05 kg. There were equal number of women who had adequate weight gain and less weight gain according to recommendation. Excess weight gain was seen in 34 (15%) women. Women of higher body mass index and women who had gain more weight during pregnancy had larger newborns. Body mass index and gestational weight gain of the women were important predictors of birth weight of the newborn. There is a positive correlation between gestational weight gain of the women and birth weight of the newborn.

Modal gain characteristics of a 2 μm InGaSb/AlGaAsSb passively mode-locked quantum well laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiang; Wang, Hong; Qiao, Zhongliang; Guo, Xin; Ng, Geok Ing; Zhang, Yu; Niu, Zhichuan; Tong, Cunzhu; Liu, Chongyang

2017-12-01

Passive mode locking with a fundamental repetition rate at ˜18.46 GHz is demonstrated in a two-section InGaSb/AlGaAsSb quantum well laser emitting at 2 μm. Modal gain characteristics of the laser are investigated by performing the Hakki-Paoli method to gain better insight into the impact of the absorber bias voltage (Va) on the light output. The lasing action moves to longer wavelengths markedly with increasing negative Va. The light output contains more longitudinal modes in the mode locking regime if the gain bandwidth is larger at a certain Va. Our findings provide guidelines for output characteristics of the mode-locked laser.

Stressors associated with dyspnea in childhood: patients' insights and a case report.

PubMed

Anbar, Ran D

2004-10-01

To highlight the concept that stress can be associated with dyspnea in children. A chart review identified 22 patients (age range, 9-17 years) referred to a pediatric pulmonologist, who were offered instruction in self-hypnosis for treatment of dyspnea that persisted despite medical therapy. Patients were offered the opportunity to use hypnosis to gain insight into the causes of their dyspnea. The dyspnea resolved in 18 of the 22 patients within 1 month of instruction in self-hypnosis for relaxation and symptom reduction. Eight of the 22 patients (age range, 11-16 years) chose to use hypnosis for insight. Using automatic word processing, they explained that their dyspnea was associated with stressful situations, or that it reduced the chances of having to experience an uncomfortable situation. For example, a girl with dyspnea resulting from vocal cord dysfunction realized during hypnosis that she developed her symptom in order to prevent herself from talking about information that might cause discomfort were it disclosed. As soon as the patient decided that she could trust herself to handle the information appropriately, her symptom resolved. Dyspnea may provide patients with a way of expressing their reactions to perceived or anticipated stress. Thus, stress reduction interventions may prove very helpful in resolving this symptom. However, in some cases gaining an insight into the potential cause of the dyspnea may increase the effectiveness of therapy.

Automatic Gain Control in Compact Spectrometers.

PubMed

Protopopov, Vladimir

2016-03-01

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

New insights from well responses to fluctuations in barometric pressure

USGS Publications Warehouse

Butler, J.J.; Jin, W.; Mohammed, G.A.; Reboulet, E.C.

2011-01-01

Hydrologists have long recognized that changes in barometric pressure can produce changes in water levels in wells. The barometric response function (BRF) has proven to be an effective means to characterize this relationship; we show here how it can also be utilized to glean valuable insights into semi-confined aquifer systems. The form of the BRF indicates the degree of aquifer confinement, while a comparison of BRFs between wells sheds light on hydrostratigraphic continuity. A new approach for estimating hydraulic properties of aquitards from BRFs has been developed and verified. The BRF is not an invariant characteristic of a well; in unconfined or semi-confined aquifers, it can change with conditions in the vadose zone. Field data from a long-term research site demonstrate the hydrostratigraphic insights that can be gained from monitoring water levels and barometric pressure. Such insights should be of value for a wide range of practical applications. ?? 2010 The Author(s). Journal compilation ?? 2010 National Ground Water Association.

The Principal's Role in Promoting Academic Gain.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gullatt, David E.; Lofton, Brenda D.

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

Genomics of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Insights Gained by Studying Monogenic Young-Onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

PubMed

Hiraki, Linda T; Silverman, Earl D

2017-08-01

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic, autoimmune, multisystem disease with a heterogeneous clinical phenotype. Genome-wide association studies have identified multiple susceptibility loci, but these explain a fraction of the estimated heritability. This is partly because within the broad spectrum of SLE are monogenic diseases that tend to cluster in patients with young age of onset, and in families. This article highlights insights into the pathogenesis of SLE provided by these monogenic diseases. It examines genetic causes of complement deficiency, abnormal interferon production, and abnormalities of tolerance, resulting in monogenic SLE with overlapping clinical features, autoantibodies, and shared inflammatory pathways. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spectral gain measurements of quantum confined emitters, and design and fabrication of intersubband quantum box laser structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsvid, Gene

Semiconductor laser active regions are commonly characterized by photo- and electro-luminescence (PL, EL) and cavity length analysis. However quantitative spectral information is not readily extracted from PL and EL data and comparison of different active region materials can be difficult. More quantifiable spectral information is contained in the optical gain spectra. This work reports on spectral gain studies, using multi-segmented interband devices, of InGaAs quantum well and quantum dot active regions grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Using the fundamental connection between gain and spontaneous emission spectra, the spontaneous radiative current and spontaneous radiative efficiency is evaluated for these active regions. The spectral gain and spontaneous radiative efficiency measurements of 980 nm emitting InGaAs quantum well (QW) material provides a benchmark comparison to previous results obtained on highly-strained, 1200 nm emitting InGaAs QW material. These studies provide insight into carrier recombination and the role of the current injection efficiency in InGaAs QW lasers. The spectral gain of self-assembled MOCVD grown InGaAs quantum dots (QD) active regions are also investigated, allowing for comparison to InGaAs QW material. The second part of my talk will cover intersubband-transition QW and quantum-box (QB) lasers. Quantum cascade (QC) lasers have emerged as compact and technologically important light sources in the mid-infrared (IR) and far-IR wavelength ranges infringing on the near-IR and terahertz spectral regions respectively. However, the overall power conversion efficiency, so-called wallplug efficiency, of the best QC lasers, emitting around 5 microns, is ˜9% in CW operation and very unlikely to exceed 15%. In order to dramatically improve the wallplug efficiency of mid-IR lasers (i.e., to about 50%), intersubband QB (IQB) lasers have been proposed. The basic idea, the optimal design and the progress towards the

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

PubMed

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

2010-11-01

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

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

PubMed Central

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

2012-01-01

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

Genomic Insights into Cardiomyopathies: A Comparative Cross-Species Review

PubMed Central

Simpson, Siobhan; Rutland, Paul; Rutland, Catrin Sian

2017-01-01

In the global human population, the leading cause of non-communicable death is cardiovascular disease. It is predicted that by 2030, deaths attributable to cardiovascular disease will have risen to over 20 million per year. This review compares the cardiomyopathies in both human and non-human animals and identifies the genetic associations for each disorder in each species/taxonomic group. Despite differences between species, advances in human medicine can be gained by utilising animal models of cardiac disease; likewise, gains can be made in animal medicine from human genomic insights. Advances could include undertaking regular clinical checks in individuals susceptible to cardiomyopathy, genetic testing prior to breeding, and careful administration of breeding programmes (in non-human animals), further development of treatment regimes, and drugs and diagnostic techniques. PMID:29056678

Dynamic Excitatory and Inhibitory Gain Modulation Can Produce Flexible, Robust and Optimal Decision-making

PubMed Central

Niyogi, Ritwik K.; Wong-Lin, KongFatt

2013-01-01

value. Our work provides insights into the simultaneous and rapid modulation of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal gains, which enables flexible, robust, and optimal decision-making. PMID:23825935

The Schistosoma mansoni phylome: using evolutionary genomics to gain insight into a parasite's biology.

PubMed

Silva, Larissa Lopes; Marcet-Houben, Marina; Nahum, Laila Alves; Zerlotini, Adhemar; Gabaldón, Toni; Oliveira, Guilherme

2012-11-13

Schistosoma mansoni is one of the causative agents of schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease that affects about 237 million people worldwide. Despite recent efforts, we still lack a general understanding of the relevant host-parasite interactions, and the possible treatments are limited by the emergence of resistant strains and the absence of a vaccine. The S. mansoni genome was completely sequenced and still under continuous annotation. Nevertheless, more than 45% of the encoded proteins remain without experimental characterization or even functional prediction. To improve our knowledge regarding the biology of this parasite, we conducted a proteome-wide evolutionary analysis to provide a broad view of the S. mansoni's proteome evolution and to improve its functional annotation. Using a phylogenomic approach, we reconstructed the S. mansoni phylome, which comprises the evolutionary histories of all parasite proteins and their homologs across 12 other organisms. The analysis of a total of 7,964 phylogenies allowed a deeper understanding of genomic complexity and evolutionary adaptations to a parasitic lifestyle. In particular, the identification of lineage-specific gene duplications pointed to the diversification of several protein families that are relevant for host-parasite interaction, including proteases, tetraspanins, fucosyltransferases, venom allergen-like proteins, and tegumental-allergen-like proteins. In addition to the evolutionary knowledge, the phylome data enabled us to automatically re-annotate 3,451 proteins through a phylogenetic-based approach rather than solely sequence similarity searches. To allow further exploitation of this valuable data, all information has been made available at PhylomeDB (http://www.phylomedb.org). In this study, we used an evolutionary approach to assess S. mansoni parasite biology, improve genome/proteome functional annotation, and provide insights into host-parasite interactions. Taking advantage of a proteome

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

PubMed

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

2015-02-06

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

Nutritional status and weight gain in pregnant women.

PubMed

Sato, Ana Paula Sayuri; Fujimori, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

This study described the nutritional status of 228 pregnant women and the influence of this on birth weight. This is a retrospective study, developed in a health center in the municipality of São Paulo, with data obtained from medical records. Linear regression analysis was carried out. An association was verified between the initial and final nutritional status (p<0.001). The mean of total weight gain in the pregnant women who began the pregnancy underweight was higher compared those who started overweight/obese (p=0.005). Weight gain was insufficient for 43.4% of the pregnant women with adequate initial weight and for 36.4% of all the pregnant women studied. However, 37.1% of those who began the pregnancy overweight/obese finished with excessive weight gain, a condition that ultimately affected almost a quarter of the pregnant women. Anemia and low birth weight were uncommon, however, in the linear regression analysis, birth weight was associated with weight gain (p<0.05). The study highlights the importance of nutritional care before and during pregnancy to promote maternal-infant health.

Insights on the poster preparation and presentation process.

PubMed

Moore, L W; Augspurger, P; King, M O; Proffitt, C

2001-05-01

Dissemination of research findings and effective clinical innovations is key to the growth and development of the nursing profession. Several avenues exist for the dissemination of information. One forum for communication that has gained increased recognition over the past decade is the poster presentation. Poster presentations are often a significant part of regional, national, and international nursing conferences. Although posters are frequently used to disseminate information to the nursing community, little is reported about actual poster presenters' experiences with preparation and presentation of their posters. The purpose of this article is to present insights derived from information shared by poster presenters regarding the poster preparation and presentation process. Such insights derived from the personal experiences of poster presenters may assist others to efficiently and effectively prepare and present scholarly posters that disseminate information to the nursing community. Copyright 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company

Punish the Perpetrator or Compensate the Victim? Gain vs. Loss Context Modulate Third-Party Altruistic Behaviors.

PubMed

Liu, Yingjie; Li, Lin; Zheng, Li; Guo, Xiuyan

2017-01-01

Third-party punishment and third-party compensation are primary responses to observed norms violations. Previous studies mostly investigated these behaviors in gain rather than loss context, and few study made direct comparison between these two behaviors. We conducted three experiments to investigate third-party punishment and third-party compensation in the gain and loss context. Participants observed two persons playing Dictator Game to share an amount of gain or loss, and the proposer would propose unfair distribution sometimes. In Study 1A, participants should decide whether they wanted to punish proposer. In Study 1B, participants decided to compensate the recipient or to do nothing. This two experiments explored how gain and loss contexts might affect the willingness to altruistically punish a perpetrator, or to compensate a victim of unfairness. Results suggested that both third-party punishment and compensation were stronger in the loss context. Study 2 directly compare third-party punishment and third-party compensation in the both contexts, by allowing participants choosing between punishment, compensation and keeping. Participants chose compensation more often than punishment in the loss context, and chose more punishments in the gain context. Empathic concern partly explained between-context differences of altruistic compensation and punishment. Our findings provide insights on modulating effect of context on third-party altruistic decisions.

Novel Insights into the Health Importance of Natural Honey

PubMed Central

Ajibola, Abdulwahid

2015-01-01

Honey is a sweet, flavourful liquid substance with several beneficial constituents. Extensive research has shown the therapeutic promise of the use of honey in enhancing health values and improving body systems. This manuscript documents the ancient medicinal uses of honey and provides evidence-based data demonstrating its benefits in animal models, patients, and healthy individuals. Several reports by various researchers are discussed regarding health indices and biomarkers used following apitherapy. These include physiological processes in virtually all animal and human organs. The responses of body systems after oral and systemic administration of honey are also mentioned. Honey is also evaluated for its wide acceptability as a complementary and alternative medicine for most ailments. All types of honey exhibit different biochemical activities and show greater variability in their potency as apitherapeutic agents than conventional medicines. The mechanisms of action conferring honey’s protective effects, as suggested by various authors, are documented. These entail synergistic interaction of the bioactive physical and chemical constituents of honey to produce the desired beneficial effects. The use of apitherapy in synergy with chemotherapy to manage microbial and cancer ailments is also helpful in reducing drug-induced cytotoxicity. The mechanistic insights into the overall protective, preventive, and therapeutic effects of honey portend the presence of a unique factor, a ‘synergistic multiple ingredients factor’, designated SMIF. PMID:28239264

The mediating role of insight for long-term improvements in psychodynamic therapy.

PubMed

Johansson, Paul; Høglend, Per; Ulberg, Randi; Amlo, Svein; Marble, Alice; Bøgwald, Kjell-Petter; Sørbye, Oystein; Sjaastad, Mary Cosgrove; Heyerdahl, Oscar

2010-06-01

According to psychoanalytic theory, interpretation of transference leads to increased insight that again leads to improved interpersonal functioning over time. In this study, we performed a full mediational analysis to test whether insight gained during treatment mediates the long-term effects of transference interpretation in dynamic psychotherapy. This study is a randomized clinical trial with a dismantling design. One hundred outpatients seeking psychotherapy for depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and interpersonal problems were randomly assigned to 1 year of weekly sessions of dynamic psychotherapy with transference interpretation or to the same type and duration of treatment with the same therapists but without the use of transference interpretation. Interpersonal functioning and insight were measured pretreatment, posttreatment, and 1 year and 3 years after treatment termination. Contrary to common expectation, patients with a life-long pattern of low quality of object relations and personality disorder pathology profited more from therapy with transference interpretation than from therapy with no transference interpretation. This long-term effect was mediated by an increase in the level of insight during treatment. Insight seems to be a key mechanism of change in dynamic psychotherapy. Our results bridge the gap between clinical theory and empirical research.

Insights into the mechanism of copper-tolerance in Fibroporia radiculosa: The biosynthesis of oxalate

Treesearch

Katie Jenkins; Carol A. Clausen; Frederick Green; Susan V. Diehl

2015-01-01

Copper is currently used as the key component in wood preservatives despite the known tolerance of many brown-rot Basidiomycetes. Copper-tolerant fungi, like Fibroporia radiculosa, produce and accumulate high levels of oxalate when exposed to copper. To gain insight into the mechanism of oxalate production, four F. radiculosa...

New Insights from Rodent Models of Fatty Liver Disease

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Abstract Rodent models of fatty liver disease are essential research tools that provide a window into disease pathogenesis and a testing ground for prevention and treatment. Models come in many varieties involving dietary and genetic manipulations, and sometimes both. High-energy diets that induce obesity do not uniformly cause fatty liver disease; this has prompted close scrutiny of specific macronutrients and nutrient combinations to determine which have the greatest potential for hepatotoxicity. At the same time, diets that do not cause obesity or the metabolic syndrome but do cause severe steatohepatitis have been exploited to study factors important to progressive liver injury, including cell death, oxidative stress, and immune activation. Rodents with a genetic predisposition to overeating offer yet another model in which to explore the evolution of fatty liver disease. In some animals that overeat, steatohepatitis can develop even without resorting to a high-energy diet. Importantly, these models and others have been used to document that aerobic exercise can prevent or reduce fatty liver disease. This review focuses primarily on lessons learned about steatohepatitis from manipulations of diet and eating behavior. Numerous additional insights about hepatic lipid metabolism, which have been gained from genetically engineered mice, are also mentioned. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 15, 535–550. PMID:21126212

Contextualized perceptions of movement as a source of expanded insight: People with multiple sclerosis' experience with physiotherapy.

PubMed

Normann, Britt; Sørgaard, Knut W; Salvesen, Rolf; Moe, Siri

2013-01-01

The hospitals' outpatient clinics for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) are important in the health care. Research regarding physiotherapy in such clinics is limited. The purpose was to investigate how PwMS perceive movement during single sessions of physiotherapy in a hospital's outpatient clinic, and what do these experiences mean for the patient's insight into their movement disturbances? Qualitative research interviews were performed with a purposive sample of 12 PwMS and supplemented with seven videotaped sessions. Content analysis was performed. The results indicate that contextualized perceptions of movement appear to be an essential source for PwMS to gain expanded insight with regard to their individual movement disturbances regardless of their ambulatory status. The contextualization implies that perceptions of movement are integrated with the physiotherapist's explanations regarding optimizing gait and balance or other activities of daily life. Perceptions of improvement in body part movement and/or functional activities are vital to enhancing their understanding of their individual movement disorders, and they may provide expanded insight regarding future possibilities and limitations involving everyday tasks. The implementation of movements, which transforms the perceived improvement into self-assisted exercises, appeared to be meaningful. Contextualized perceptions of improvements in movement may strengthen the person's sense of ownership and sense of agency and thus promote autonomy and self-encouragement. The findings underpin the importance of contextualized perceptions of movement based on exploration of potential for change, as an integrated part of information and communication in the health care for PwMS. Further investigations are necessary to deepen our knowledge.

Cognitive Enhancers for Facilitating Drug Cue Extinction: Insights from Animal Models

PubMed Central

Nic Dhonnchadha, Bríd Áine; Kantak, Kathleen M.

2011-01-01

Given the success of cue exposure (extinction) therapy combined with a cognitive enhancer for reducing anxiety, it is anticipated that this approach will prove more efficacious than exposure therapy alone in preventing relapse in individuals with substance use disorders. Several factors may undermine the efficacy of exposure therapy for substance use disorders, but we suspect that neurocognitive impairments associated with chronic drug use are an important contributing factor. Numerous insights on these issues are gained from research using animal models of addiction. In this review, the relationship between brain sites whose learning, memory and executive functions are impaired by chronic drug use and brain sites that are important for effective drug cue extinction learning is explored first. This is followed by an overview of animal research showing improved treatment outcome for drug addiction (e.g. alcohol, amphetamine, cocaine, heroin) when explicit extinction training is conducted in combination with acute dosing of a cognitive-enhancing drug. The mechanism by which cognitive enhancers are thought to exert their benefits is by facilitating consolidation of drug cue extinction memory after activation of glutamatergic receptors. Based on the encouraging work in animals, factors that may be important for the treatment of drug addiction are considered. PMID:21295059

Cognitive enhancers for facilitating drug cue extinction: insights from animal models.

PubMed

Nic Dhonnchadha, Bríd Áine; Kantak, Kathleen M

2011-08-01

Given the success of cue exposure (extinction) therapy combined with a cognitive enhancer for reducing anxiety, it is anticipated that this approach will prove more efficacious than exposure therapy alone in preventing relapse in individuals with substance use disorders. Several factors may undermine the efficacy of exposure therapy for substance use disorders, but we suspect that neurocognitive impairments associated with chronic drug use are an important contributing factor. Numerous insights on these issues are gained from research using animal models of addiction. In this review, the relationship between brain sites whose learning, memory and executive functions are impaired by chronic drug use and brain sites that are important for effective drug cue extinction learning is explored first. This is followed by an overview of animal research showing improved treatment outcome for drug addiction (e.g. alcohol, amphetamine, cocaine, heroin) when explicit extinction training is conducted in combination with acute dosing of a cognitive-enhancing drug. The mechanism by which cognitive enhancers are thought to exert their benefits is by facilitating consolidation of drug cue extinction memory after activation of glutamatergic receptors. Based on the encouraging work in animals, factors that may be important for the treatment of drug addiction are considered. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Extensive Gains and Losses of Olfactory Receptor Genes in Mammalian Evolution

PubMed Central

Niimura, Yoshihito; Nei, Masatoshi

2007-01-01

Odor perception in mammals is mediated by a large multigene family of olfactory receptor (OR) genes. The number of OR genes varies extensively among different species of mammals, and most species have a substantial number of pseudogenes. To gain some insight into the evolutionary dynamics of mammalian OR genes, we identified the entire set of OR genes in platypuses, opossums, cows, dogs, rats, and macaques and studied the evolutionary change of the genes together with those of humans and mice. We found that platypuses and primates have <400 functional OR genes while the other species have 800–1,200 functional OR genes. We then estimated the numbers of gains and losses of OR genes for each branch of the phylogenetic tree of mammals. This analysis showed that (i) gene expansion occurred in the placental lineage each time after it diverged from monotremes and from marsupials and (ii) hundreds of gains and losses of OR genes have occurred in an order-specific manner, making the gene repertoires highly variable among different orders. It appears that the number of OR genes is determined primarily by the functional requirement for each species, but once the number reaches the required level, it fluctuates by random duplication and deletion of genes. This fluctuation seems to have been aided by the stochastic nature of OR gene expression. PMID:17684554

Exploring the diet and lifestyle changes contributing to weight gain among Australian West African women following migration: A qualitative study.

PubMed

Babatunde-Sowole, Olutoyin O; Power, Tamara; Davidson, Patricia; Ballard, Charlotte; Jackson, Debra

2018-04-10

This paper reports on women's experiences of weight gain and obesity as they became acculturated to the Australian diet and lifestyle. Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have a much higher risk of obesity than the native population when settling in industrialised countries. Qualitative. Women in this study reported weight gain post-migration. This was attributed to increased access to a wide variety of food including takeaway food and more sedentary lifestyles. Obesity has long-term consequences for health and well-being. Further research is needed to support a healthy transition to life in Australia. Gaining insight into the underlying reasons that West African immigrants to Australia become obese could contribute to assisting health professionals design culturally appropriate interventions and health education programmes to support new arrivals.

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

PubMed Central

SALINAS, EMILIO; SEJNOWSKI, TERRENCE J.

2010-01-01

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

Gain weighted eigenspace assignment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davidson, John B.; Andrisani, Dominick, II

1994-01-01

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

New insights into biogeochemical processing gained from sub-daily river monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halliday, S. J.; Wade, A. J.; Skeffington, R. A.; Bowes, M.; Palmer-Felgate, E.; Loewenthal, M.; Jarvie, H.; Neal, C.; Reynolds, B.; Gozzard, E.; Newman, J.

2012-12-01

This talk will focus on the insights obtained from sub-daily hydrochemical monitoring for a sustained time periods (> 1 year), at multiple sites within a catchment and across different catchment types. Sub-daily instream hydrochemical dynamics were investigated, using non-stationary time-series analysis techniques, for two catchments representative of upland and lowland UK. The River Hafren at Plynlimon, mid-Wales drains an upland catchment where half the land cover is unmanaged moorland and the other half is first generation plantation forestry. The Hafren was monitored at two sites on a 7-hourly basis, between March 2007 and January 2009, using a Xian automatic sampler. The River Enborne, Berkshire, southeast England, is a rural lowland catchment, impacted by agricultural runoff, and septic tank and sewage treatment works discharges. The Enborne was monitored on an hourly basis between November 2009 and February 2012, using in situ field deployable analytical equipment to measure: Total Reactive Phosphorus (TRP: Systea Micromac C), Nitrate (Hach-Lange Nitratax), pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and water temperature (YSI 6600 Multi-parameter sonde). The results reveal complex diurnal patterns which exhibit seasonal changes in phase and amplitude, and are influenced by both flow conditions and nutrient sources. The comparison of the upland and lowland nitrate time series highlights how the different nitrogen sources within each system results in marked differences in the seasonal and diurnal dynamics, with a seasonal maximum in winter and a single peak diurnal cycle in the upland system, compared to a summer maximum and a two peak diurnal cycle in the lowland system. The analysis of TRP and nitrate concentrations in the Enborne catchment, in combination with flow, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and water temperature, allowed the main processes controlling the observed sub-daily nutrient dynamics to be investigated. The different monitoring approaches adopted

Course of insight in manic episode.

PubMed

Kumar, A; Kumar, S; Khan, N M; Mishra, S

2013-01-01

Insight is an important factor associated with non compliance and poor outcome. Poor level of insight has been described as a characteristic in patients with acute bipolar disorder with more unawareness in social consequences with increasing severity in manic episode. Main aim of study was to see the baseline and longitudinal relationship between dimensions of insight with improvement in psychopathology. Forty four patients diagnosed with mania, were selected from an inpatient setting at Institute of Mental Health and Hospital, Agra with mean age of 31.07(±9.00) years. They were assessed at base line and were followed up weekly or psychopathology and insight. The Young's mania rating scale for psychopathology and insight was assessed on three dimensions of SUMD. Twenty five patients eventually completed the study. There was a positive correlation with global insight and with psychopathology consistent in longitudinal follow-up (P<0.05), but not correlating for awareness for achieved effect of medication and social consequences. Linear regression showed a positive relationship at the first and second week of assessment of SUMD and YMRS scores (P=0.001; 0.019). Improvement in insight is graded in a manic episode as compared to psychopathology. There is slower improvement in awareness of social consequences of mental disorder. It means that improvement in psychopathology may not necessarily indicate remission and need further supervision to improve insight and hence monitoring.

New insights gained on mechanisms of low-energy proton-induced SEUs by minimizing energy straggle

DOE PAGES

Dodds, Nathaniel Anson; Dodd, Paul E.; Shaneyfelt, Marty R.; ...

2015-12-01

In this study, we present low-energy proton single-event upset (SEU) data on a 65 nm SOI SRAM whose substrate has been completely removed. Since the protons only had to penetrate a very thin buried oxide layer, these measurements were affected by far less energy loss, energy straggle, flux attrition, and angular scattering than previous datasets. The minimization of these common sources of experimental interference allows more direct interpretation of the data and deeper insight into SEU mechanisms. The results show a strong angular dependence, demonstrate that energy straggle, flux attrition, and angular scattering affect the measured SEU cross sections, andmore » prove that proton direct ionization is the dominant mechanism for low-energy proton-induced SEUs in these circuits.« less

Genetic correlates of insight in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Xavier, Rose Mary; Vorderstrasse, Allison; Keefe, Richard S E; Dungan, Jennifer R

2018-05-01

Insight in schizophrenia is clinically important as it is associated with several adverse outcomes. Genetic contributions to insight are unknown. We examined genetic contributions to insight by investigating if polygenic risk scores (PRS) and candidate regions were associated with insight. Schizophrenia case-only analysis of the Clinical Antipsychotics Trials of Intervention Effectiveness trial. Schizophrenia PRS was constructed using Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) leave-one out GWAS as discovery data set. For candidate regions, we selected 105 schizophrenia-associated autosomal loci and 11 schizophrenia-related oligodendrocyte genes. We used regressions to examine PRS associations and set-based testing for candidate analysis. We examined data from 730 subjects. Best-fit PRS at p-threshold of 1e-07 was associated with total insight (R 2 =0.005, P=0.05, empirical P=0.054) and treatment insight (R 2 =0.005, P=0.048, empirical P=0.048). For models that controlled for neurocognition, PRS significantly predicted treatment insight but at higher p-thresholds (0.1 to 0.5) but did not survive correction. Patients with highest polygenic burden had 5.9 times increased risk for poor insight compared to patients with lowest burden. PRS explained 3.2% (P=0.002, empirical P=0.011) of variance in poor insight. Set-based analyses identified two variants associated with poor insight- rs320703, an intergenic variant (within-set P=6e-04, FDR P=0.046) and rs1479165 in SOX2-OT (within-set P=9e-04, FDR P=0.046). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study examining genetic basis of insight. We provide evidence for genetic contributions to impaired insight. Relevance of findings and necessity for replication are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Performance bounds for nonlinear systems with a nonlinear ℒ2-gain property

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Huan; Dower, Peter M.

2012-09-01

Nonlinear ℒ2-gain is a finite gain concept that generalises the notion of conventional (linear) finite ℒ2-gain to admit the application of ℒ2-gain analysis tools of a broader class of nonlinear systems. The computation of tight comparison function bounds for this nonlinear ℒ2-gain property is important in applications such as small gain design. This article presents an approximation framework for these comparison function bounds through the formulation and solution of an optimal control problem. Key to the solution of this problem is the lifting of an ℒ2-norm input constraint, which is facilitated via the introduction of an energy saturation operator. This admits the solution of the optimal control problem of interest via dynamic programming and associated numerical methods, leading to the computation of the proposed bounds. Two examples are presented to demonstrate this approach.

The Intervention Nurses Start Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT) study.

PubMed

Paul, Ian M; Williams, Jennifer S; Anzman-Frasca, Stephanie; Beiler, Jessica S; Makova, Kateryna D; Marini, Michele E; Hess, Lindsey B; Rzucidlo, Susan E; Verdiglione, Nicole; Mindell, Jodi A; Birch, Leann L

2014-07-18

Because early life growth has long-lasting metabolic and behavioral consequences, intervention during this period of developmental plasticity may alter long-term obesity risk. While modifiable factors during infancy have been identified, until recently, preventive interventions had not been tested. The Intervention Nurses Starting Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT). Study is a longitudinal, randomized, controlled trial evaluating a responsive parenting intervention designed for the primary prevention of obesity. This "parenting" intervention is being compared with a home safety control among first-born infants and their parents. INSIGHT's central hypothesis is that responsive parenting and specifically responsive feeding promotes self-regulation and shared parent-child responsibility for feeding, reducing subsequent risk for overeating and overweight. 316 first-time mothers and their full-term newborns were enrolled from one maternity ward. Two weeks following delivery, dyads were randomly assigned to the "parenting" or "safety" groups. Subsequently, research nurses conduct study visits for both groups consisting of home visits at infant age 3-4, 16, 28, and 40 weeks, followed by annual clinic-based visits at 1, 2, and 3 years. Both groups receive intervention components framed around four behavior states: Sleeping, Fussy, Alert and Calm, and Drowsy. The main study outcome is BMI z-score at age 3 years; additional outcomes include those related to patterns of infant weight gain, infant sleep hygiene and duration, maternal responsiveness and soothing strategies for infant/toddler distress and fussiness, maternal feeding style and infant dietary content and physical activity. Maternal outcomes related to weight status, diet, mental health, and parenting sense of competence are being collected. Infant temperament will be explored as a moderator of parenting effects, and blood is collected to obtain genetic predictors of weight status. Finally, second

Food groups and weight gain in Japanese men.

PubMed

Ibe, Y; Takahashi, Y; Sone, H

2014-06-01

Identifying subjects at high risk of weight gain according to consumption of food groups is important for individualizing nutritional education, but prospective studies of this issue have been few. We determined whether intake of specific food groups could predict future weight gain. We evaluated data from health checkups on 1236 Japanese men aged 28 to 87 years in 2005 and 2006. Dietary intake was assessed by a 24-h dietary recall at baseline. Weight change was measured after 1 year. Weight increased in 44.7% (n = 553) of participants. Multivariate regression analysis involving many food groups showed a significant association between sugar intake and weight gain after adjustment for age, body mass index (BMI), total energy intake, alcohol, smoking and regular physical exercise (β = 0.22, P = 0.04). The effect of intake of 'fats and oils' was significant when adjusted for age and BMI, however, it became insignificant after adjustment for age, BMI and total energy intake. Intake of sugar, which was evaluated as a food group, was predictive of subsequent weight gain among Japanese men, even after adjustment for many confounders. This corroborates the evidence so far concerning the links between sugar intake and weight gain. Further long-term research is required to give robust recommendation to the public. © 2014 The Authors. Clinical Obesity © 2014 International Association for the Study of Obesity.

Insights into the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Challenges for Implementing Technology Education: Case Studies of Queensland Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finger, Glenn; Houguet, Belinda

2009-01-01

This study, embedded within the "Researching School Change in Technology Education" (RSCTE) project in Queensland, Australia, aimed to gain insights into the intrinsic and extrinsic challenges experienced by teachers during the implementation of technology education within primary school settings. The official publication and launch of…

Punish the Perpetrator or Compensate the Victim? Gain vs. Loss Context Modulate Third-Party Altruistic Behaviors

PubMed Central

Liu, Yingjie; Li, Lin; Zheng, Li; Guo, Xiuyan

2017-01-01

Third-party punishment and third-party compensation are primary responses to observed norms violations. Previous studies mostly investigated these behaviors in gain rather than loss context, and few study made direct comparison between these two behaviors. We conducted three experiments to investigate third-party punishment and third-party compensation in the gain and loss context. Participants observed two persons playing Dictator Game to share an amount of gain or loss, and the proposer would propose unfair distribution sometimes. In Study 1A, participants should decide whether they wanted to punish proposer. In Study 1B, participants decided to compensate the recipient or to do nothing. This two experiments explored how gain and loss contexts might affect the willingness to altruistically punish a perpetrator, or to compensate a victim of unfairness. Results suggested that both third-party punishment and compensation were stronger in the loss context. Study 2 directly compare third-party punishment and third-party compensation in the both contexts, by allowing participants choosing between punishment, compensation and keeping. Participants chose compensation more often than punishment in the loss context, and chose more punishments in the gain context. Empathic concern partly explained between-context differences of altruistic compensation and punishment. Our findings provide insights on modulating effect of context on third-party altruistic decisions. PMID:29234295

The evolution of insight, paranoia and depression during early schizophrenia.

PubMed

Drake, R J; Pickles, A; Bentall, R P; Kinderman, P; Haddock, G; Tarrier, N; Lewis, S W

2004-02-01

How insight, paranoia and depression evolve in relation to each other during and after the first episode of schizophrenia is poorly understood but of clinical importance. Serial assessments over 18 months were made using multiple instruments in a consecutive sample of 257 patients with first episode DSM-IV non-affective psychosis. Repeated measures of paranoia, insight, depression and self-esteem were analysed using structural equation modelling, to examine the direction of relationships over time after controlling for confounds. Depression was predicted directly by greater insight, particularly at baseline, and by greater paranoia at every stage of follow-up. Neither relationship was mediated by self-esteem, although there was a weak association of lower self-esteem with greater depression and better insight. Paranoia was not strongly associated with insight. Duration of untreated psychosis and substance use at baseline predicted depression at 18 months. In first-episode psychosis, good insight predicts depression. Subsequently, paranoia is the strongest predictor. Neither effect is mediated by low self-esteem. Effective treatment of positive symptoms is important in preventing and treating low mood in early schizophrenia.

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

PubMed Central

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

2016-01-01

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

Comparing gains and losses.

PubMed

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

2010-10-01

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

The importance of multilocus sequence typing: cautionary tales from the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa.

PubMed

Nunney, L; Elfekih, S; Stouthamer, R

2012-05-01

Microbial identification methods have evolved rapidly over the last few decades. One such method is multilocus sequence typing (MLST). MLST is a powerful tool for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of pathogens and to gain insight into their genetic diversity. We illustrate the importance of accurate typing by reporting on three problems that have arisen in the study of a single bacterial species, the plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa. Two of these were particularly serious since they concerned contamination of important research material that has had detrimental consequences for Xylella research: the contamination of DNA used in the sequencing of an X. fastidiosa genome (Ann-1) with DNA from another X. fastidiosa strain, and the unrecognized mislabeling of a strain (Temecula1) distributed from a culture collection (ATCC). We advocate the routine use of MLST to define strains maintained in culture collections and emphasize the importance of confirming the purity of DNA submitted for sequencing. We also present a third example that illustrates the value of MLST in guiding the choice of taxonomic types. Beyond these situations, there is a strong case for MLST whenever an isolate is used experimentally, especially where genotypic differences are suspected to influence the outcome.

Derivation of sideband gain ratio for Herschel/HIFI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kester, Do; Higgins, Ronan; Teyssier, David

2017-03-01

Context. Heterodyne mixers are commonly used for high-resolution spectroscopy at radio telescopes. When used as a double sideband system, the accurate flux calibration of spectral lines acquired by those detectors is highly dependent on the system gains in the respective mixer sidebands via the so-called sideband gain ratio (SBR). As such, the SBR was one of the main contributors to the calibration uncertainty budget of the Herschel/HIFI instrument. Aims: We want to determine the HIFI instrument sideband gain ratio for all bands on a fine frequency grid and within an accuracy of a few percent. Methods: We introduce a novel technique involving in-orbit HIFI data that is bootstrapped onto standard methods involving laboratory data measurements of the SBR. We deconvolved the astronomical data to provide a proxy of the expected signal at every frequency channel, and extracted the sideband gain ratios from the residuals of that process. Results: We determine the HIFI sideband gain ratio to an accuracy varying between 1 and 4%, with degraded accuracy in higher frequency ranges, and at places where the reliability of the technique is lower. These figures were incorporated into the HIFI data processing pipeline and improved the overall flux uncertainty of the legacy data from this instrument. Conclusions: We demonstrate that a modified sideband deconvolution algorithm, using astronomical data in combination with gas cell measurements, can be used to generate an accurate and fine-granularity picture of the sideband gain ratio behaviour of a heterodyne receiver. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.

Organizational and technological insight as important factors for successful implementation of IT.

PubMed

Nikula, R E

1999-01-01

Politicians and hospital management in Sweden and Denmark focus on IT and especially Electronic Patient Record, EPR as a tool for changes that will lead to better economy as well as better quality and service to the patients. These changes are not direct effects of the new medium for patient records but indirect effects due to the possibilities embedded in the new technology. To ensure that the implementation is successful, i.e. leads to changes in organization structure and workflow, we need tools to prepare clinicians and management. The focus of this paper is the individual insight in technology and organization and it proposes a model to assess and categorize the possibilities of individuals and groups to participate in and make an implementation process powerful.

Gain selection method and model for coupled propulsion and airframe systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, P. C.

1982-01-01

A longitudinal model is formulated for an advanced fighter from three subsystem models: the inlet, the engine, and the airframe. Notable interaction is found in the coupled system. A procedure, based on eigenvalue sensitivities, is presented which indicates the importance of the feedback gains to the optimal solution. This allows ineffectual gains to be eliminated; thus, hardware and expense may be saved in the realization of the physical controller.

Novel Insights into Tree Biology and Genome Evolution as Revealed Through Genomics.

PubMed

Neale, David B; Martínez-García, Pedro J; De La Torre, Amanda R; Montanari, Sara; Wei, Xiao-Xin

2017-04-28

Reference genome sequences are the key to the discovery of genes and gene families that determine traits of interest. Recent progress in sequencing technologies has enabled a rapid increase in genome sequencing of tree species, allowing the dissection of complex characters of economic importance, such as fruit and wood quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Although the number of reference genome sequences for trees lags behind those for other plant species, it is not too early to gain insight into the unique features that distinguish trees from nontree plants. Our review of the published data suggests that, although many gene families are conserved among herbaceous and tree species, some gene families, such as those involved in resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and in the synthesis and transport of sugars, are often expanded in tree genomes. As the genomes of more tree species are sequenced, comparative genomics will further elucidate the complexity of tree genomes and how this relates to traits unique to trees.

Microscopic insights into the protein-stabilizing effect of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO).

PubMed

Ma, Jianqiang; Pazos, Ileana M; Gai, Feng

2014-06-10

Although it is widely known that trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), an osmolyte used by nature, stabilizes the folded state of proteins, the underlying mechanism of action is not entirely understood. To gain further insight into this important biological phenomenon, we use the C≡N stretching vibration of an unnatural amino acid, p-cyano-phenylalanine, to directly probe how TMAO affects the hydration and conformational dynamics of a model peptide and a small protein. By assessing how the lineshape and spectral diffusion properties of this vibration change with cosolvent conditions, we are able to show that TMAO achieves its protein-stabilizing ability through the combination of (at least) two mechanisms: (i) It decreases the hydrogen bonding ability of water and hence the stability of the unfolded state, and (ii) it acts as a molecular crowder, as suggested by a recent computational study, that can increase the stability of the folded state via the excluded volume effect.

Gaining insight into the physics of dynamic atomic force microscopy in complex environments using the VEDA simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiracofe, Daniel; Melcher, John; Raman, Arvind

2012-01-01

Dynamic atomic force microscopy (dAFM) continues to grow in popularity among scientists in many different fields, and research on new methods and operating modes continues to expand the resolution, capabilities, and types of samples that can be studied. But many promising increases in capability are accompanied by increases in complexity. Indeed, interpreting modern dAFM data can be challenging, especially on complicated material systems, or in liquid environments where the behavior is often contrary to what is known in air or vacuum environments. Mathematical simulations have proven to be an effective tool in providing physical insight into these non-intuitive systems. In this article we describe recent developments in the VEDA (virtual environment for dynamic AFM) simulator, which is a suite of freely available, open-source simulation tools that are delivered through the cloud computing cyber-infrastructure of nanoHUB (www.nanohub.org). Here we describe three major developments. First, simulations in liquid environments are improved by enhancements in the modeling of cantilever dynamics, excitation methods, and solvation shell forces. Second, VEDA is now able to simulate many new advanced modes of operation (bimodal, phase-modulation, frequency-modulation, etc.). Finally, nineteen different tip-sample models are available to simulate the surface physics of a wide variety different material systems including capillary, specific adhesion, van der Waals, electrostatic, viscoelasticity, and hydration forces. These features are demonstrated through example simulations and validated against experimental data, in order to provide insight into practical problems in dynamic AFM.

Gaining insight into the physics of dynamic atomic force microscopy in complex environments using the VEDA simulator.

PubMed

Kiracofe, Daniel; Melcher, John; Raman, Arvind

2012-01-01

Dynamic atomic force microscopy (dAFM) continues to grow in popularity among scientists in many different fields, and research on new methods and operating modes continues to expand the resolution, capabilities, and types of samples that can be studied. But many promising increases in capability are accompanied by increases in complexity. Indeed, interpreting modern dAFM data can be challenging, especially on complicated material systems, or in liquid environments where the behavior is often contrary to what is known in air or vacuum environments. Mathematical simulations have proven to be an effective tool in providing physical insight into these non-intuitive systems. In this article we describe recent developments in the VEDA (virtual environment for dynamic AFM) simulator, which is a suite of freely available, open-source simulation tools that are delivered through the cloud computing cyber-infrastructure of nanoHUB (www.nanohub.org). Here we describe three major developments. First, simulations in liquid environments are improved by enhancements in the modeling of cantilever dynamics, excitation methods, and solvation shell forces. Second, VEDA is now able to simulate many new advanced modes of operation (bimodal, phase-modulation, frequency-modulation, etc.). Finally, nineteen different tip-sample models are available to simulate the surface physics of a wide variety different material systems including capillary, specific adhesion, van der Waals, electrostatic, viscoelasticity, and hydration forces. These features are demonstrated through example simulations and validated against experimental data, in order to provide insight into practical problems in dynamic AFM.

Building Capacity for Tracking Human Capital Development and Its Mobility across State Lines. Policy Insights

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prescott, Brian T.

2014-01-01

This issue of "Policy Insights" provides a review of the past five years of the cost and value of higher education, which have gained increased policymaker, consumer, and media attention. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) has worked with four of its member states (Hawai'i, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) to…

Improving graduation rates for African Americans in drug court: Importance of human relationships and barriers to gaining and sustaining employment.

PubMed

Gallagher, John Robert; Nordberg, Anne; Dibley, Alyssa R

2017-11-16

Drug courts have been an important part of the criminal justice system since 1989. They continue to expand throughout the United States because nearly three decades of research has shown that they are more effective than other interventions, such as traditional probation. There is a pattern, though, in some drug courts where African Americans are less likely to graduate than their Caucasian counterparts. This qualitative study explores this phenomenon by asking African American participants (n = 31) their views on the most helpful aspects of drug court and how drug court could be more helpful in supporting them in graduating the program. Participants felt that the respect and compassion they received from the drug court judge and their case managers, as well as the camaraderie they developed with other participants, was an aspect of drug court that supported them in graduating the program. Next, participants felt that graduation rates would improve if drug court better supported them in gaining employment or sustaining the employment they already had. Implications for drug court practice are discussed.

Simple sugar intake and hepatocellular carcinoma: epidemiological and mechanistic insight.

PubMed

Laguna, Juan Carlos; Alegret, Marta; Roglans, Núria

2014-12-22

Sugar intake has dramatically increased during the last few decades. Specifically, there has been a clear trend towards higher consumption of fructose and high fructose corn syrup, which are the most common added sugars in processed food, soft drinks and other sweetened beverages. Although still controversial, this rising trend in simple sugar consumption has been positively associated with weight gain and obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Interestingly, all of these metabolic alterations have also been related to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. The purpose of this review is to discuss the evidence coming from epidemiological studies and data from animal models relating the consumption of simple sugars, and specifically fructose, with an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and to gain insight into the putative molecular mechanisms involved.

Talking Time, Seeing Time: The Importance of Attending to Time in Financial Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pournara, Craig

2015-01-01

Through analysing a critical incident where a small group of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers work together on an annuities problem, we gain insight into the ways in which students make use of timelines and attend to time in their talk. Drawing on Lave and Wenger's notion of transparency, I argue that it was only when time became visible…

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

1968-01-01

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

Excess pregnancy weight gain and long-term obesity: one decade later.

PubMed

Rooney, Brenda L; Schauberger, Charles W

2002-08-01

To estimate the impact of excess pregnancy weight gain and failure to lose weight by 6 months postpartum on excess weight 8-10 years later. Seven hundred ninety-five women were observed through pregnancy and 6 months postpartum to examine factors that affect weight loss. Weight was recorded 10 years later through a medical record review to examine the impact of retained weight on long-term obesity. Overall weight change at last follow-up and body mass index (BMI) were examined by pregnancy weight gain appropriateness according to the Institute of Medicine guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy. Of the original cohort, 540 women had a documented weight beyond 5 years (mean = 8.5 years). The average weight gain from prepregnancy to follow-up was 6.3 kg. There was no difference in weight gain by prepregnancy BMI. Women who gained less than the recommended amount during their pregnancy were 4.1 kg heavier at follow-up, those gaining the recommended amount were 6.5 kg heavier, and those gaining more than recommended were 8.4 kg heavier (P =.01). Women who lost all pregnancy weight by 6 months postpartum were 2.4 kg heavier at follow-up than women with retained weight, who weighed 8.3 kg more at follow-up (P =.01). Women who breast-fed and women who participated in aerobic exercise also had significantly lower weight gains. Excess weight gain and failure to lose weight after pregnancy are important and identifiable predictors of long-term obesity. Breast-feeding and exercise may be beneficial to control long-term weight.

Intuition, insight, and the right hemisphere: Emergence of higher sociocognitive functions

PubMed Central

McCrea, Simon M

2010-01-01

Intuition is the ability to understand immediately without conscious reasoning and is sometimes explained as a ‘gut feeling’ about the rightness or wrongness of a person, place, situation, temporal episode or object. In contrast, insight is the capacity to gain accurate and a deep understanding of a problem and it is often associated with movement beyond existing paradigms. Examples include Darwin, Einstein and Freud’s theories of natural selection, relativity, or the unconscious; respectively. Many cultures name these concepts and acknowledge their value, and insight is recognized as particularly characteristic of eminent achievements in the arts, sciences and politics. Considerable data suggests that these two concepts are more related than distinct, and that a more distributed intuitive network may feed into a predominately right hemispheric insight-based functional neuronal architecture. The preparation and incubation stages of insight may rely on the incorporation of domain-specific automatized expertise schema associated with intuition. In this manuscript the neural networks associated with intuition and insight are reviewed. Case studies of anomalous subjects with ability–achievement discrepancies are summarized. This theoretical review proposes the prospect that atypical localization of cognitive modules may enhance intuitive and insightful functions and thereby explain individual achievement beyond that expected by conventionally measured intelligence tests. A model and theory of intuition and insight’s neuroanatomical basis is proposed which could be used as a starting point for future research and better understanding of the nature of these two distinctly human and highly complex poorly understood abilities. PMID:22110327

Improved Gain Microstrip Patch Antenna

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-06

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

Qualitative descriptive study exploring schizophrenia and the everyday effect of medication-induced weight gain.

PubMed

Vandyk, Amanda Digel; Baker, Cynthia

2012-08-01

Weight gain and obesity are serious side effects of the medications used to manage psychotic disorders and successful, long-term weight loss interventions are not yet available. One reason for this may be that current interventions are designed without consideration of the patient's perspective. The purpose of this study was to explore the subjective experience of weight and lifestyle from the perspective of people with schizophrenia. A qualitative, constructivist research design was used and conversational interviews were conducted with 18 purposefully recruited participants from an outpatient clinic at a psychiatric hospital in Eastern Ontario. Data were analysed according to the method of constant comparison and three central themes emerged: a life altering diagnosis, weight management as complex, and today's experiences shape tomorrow's outcomes. Weight management was seen as difficult yet important to the participants. The findings of this study provide insight into the views and opinions of the participants regarding weight and lifestyle and may be used to support the design of tailored heath initiatives for persons with mental illness. © 2012 The Authors. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing © 2012 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Cooking increases net energy gain from a lipid-rich food.

PubMed

Groopman, Emily E; Carmody, Rachel N; Wrangham, Richard W

2015-01-01

Starch, protein, and lipid are three major sources of calories in the human diet. The unique and universal human practice of cooking has been demonstrated to increase the energy gained from foods rich in starch or protein. Yet no studies have tested whether cooking has equivalent effects on the energy gained from lipid-rich foods. Using mice as a model, we addressed this question by examining the impact of cooking on the energy gained from peanuts, a lipid-rich oilseed, and compared this impact against that of nonthermal processing (blending). We found that cooking consistently increased the energy gained per calorie, whereas blending had no detectable energetic benefits. Assessment of fecal fat excretion showed increases in lipid digestibility when peanuts were cooked, and examination of diet microstructure revealed concomitant alterations to the integrity of cell walls and the oleosin layer of proteins that otherwise shield lipids from digestive lipases. Both effects were consistent with the greater energy gain observed with cooking. Our findings highlight the importance of cooking in increasing dietary energy returns for humans, both past and present. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Information Gain Based Dimensionality Selection for Classifying Text Documents

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

Dumidu Wijayasekara; Milos Manic; Miles McQueen

2013-06-01

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

Insight in schizophrenia: involvement of self-reflection networks?

PubMed

van der Meer, Lisette; de Vos, Annerieke E; Stiekema, Annemarie P M; Pijnenborg, Gerdina H M; van Tol, Marie-José; Nolen, Willem A; David, Anthony S; Aleman, André

2013-11-01

Impaired insight is a common feature in psychosis and an important predictor of variables such as functional outcome, prognosis, and treatment adherence. A cognitive process that may underlie insight in psychosis is self-reflection, or the conscious evaluation of one's traits and characteristics. The current study aims to investigate the neural correlates of self-reflective processing and its relationship with insight in schizophrenia. Forty-seven schizophrenia patients and 21 healthy controls performed a self-reflection task in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. The tasks comprised a self-reflection, close other-reflection, and a semantic (baseline) condition. Insight scores were obtained with the Schedule of Assessment of Insight Expanded. In addition, cognitive insight scores were obtained (Beck Cognitive Insight Scale [BCIS]). Schizophrenia patients demonstrated less activation in the posterior cingulate cortex in the self- and other-reflection conditions and less activation in the precuneus in the other-reflection condition compared with healthy controls. Better insight was associated with greater response in the inferior frontal gyrus, anterior insula, and inferior parietal lobule during self-reflection. In addition, better cognitive insight was associated with higher activation in ventromedial prefrontal cortex during self-reflection. In the current study, evidence for a relationship between self-reflection and insight in patients with schizophrenia was found in brain areas related to self-reflection, self/other distinction and source attribution. The findings support the rationale for a treatment that is currently under evaluation, which attempts to increase insight by enhancing self-reflection.

Mechanistic insights into the impact of Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma on human epithelial cell lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dezest, Marlène; Chavatte, Laurent; Bourdens, Marion; Quinton, Damien; Camus, Mylène; Garrigues, Luc; Descargues, Pascal; Arbault, Stéphane; Burlet-Schiltz, Odile; Casteilla, Louis; Clément, Franck; Planat, Valérie; Bulteau, Anne-Laure

2017-01-01

Compelling evidence suggests that Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma (CAPP) has potential as a new cancer therapy. However, knowledge about cellular signaling events and toxicity subsequent to plasma treatment is still poorly documented. The aim of this study was to focus on the interaction between 3 different types of plasma (He, He-O2, He-N2) and human epithelial cell lines to gain better insight into plasma-cell interaction. We provide evidence that reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) are inducing cell death by apoptosis and that the proteasome, a major intracellular proteolytic system which is important for tumor cell growth and survival, is a target of (He or He-N2) CAPP. However, RONS are not the only actors involved in cell death; electric field and charged particles could play a significant role especially for He-O2 CAPP. By differential label-free quantitative proteomic analysis we found that CAPP triggers antioxidant and cellular defense but is also affecting extracellular matrix in keratinocytes. Moreover, we found that malignant cells are more resistant to CAPP treatment than normal cells. Taken together, our findings provide insight into potential mechanisms of CAPP-induced proteasome inactivation and the cellular consequences of these events.

Large conservation gains possible for global biodiversity facets.

PubMed

Pollock, Laura J; Thuiller, Wilfried; Jetz, Walter

2017-06-01

Different facets of biodiversity other than species numbers are increasingly appreciated as critical for maintaining the function of ecosystems and their services to humans. While new international policy and assessment processes such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recognize the importance of an increasingly global, quantitative and comprehensive approach to biodiversity protection, most insights are still focused on a single facet of biodiversity-species. Here we broaden the focus and provide an evaluation of how much of the world's species, functional and phylogenetic diversity of birds and mammals is currently protected and the scope for improvement. We show that the large existing gaps in the coverage for each facet of diversity could be remedied by a slight expansion of protected areas: an additional 5% of the land has the potential to more than triple the protected range of species or phylogenetic or functional units. Further, the same areas are often priorities for multiple diversity facets and for both taxa. However, we find that the choice of conservation strategy has a fundamental effect on outcomes. It is more difficult (that is, requires more land) to maximize basic representation of the global biodiversity pool than to maximize local diversity. Overall, species and phylogenetic priorities are more similar to each other than they are to functional priorities, and priorities for the different bird biodiversity facets are more similar than those of mammals. Our work shows that large gains in biodiversity protection are possible, while also highlighting the need to explicitly link desired conservation objectives and biodiversity metrics. We provide a framework and quantitative tools to advance these goals for multi-faceted biodiversity conservation.

Large conservation gains possible for global biodiversity facets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollock, Laura J.; Thuiller, Wilfried; Jetz, Walter

2017-06-01

Different facets of biodiversity other than species numbers are increasingly appreciated as critical for maintaining the function of ecosystems and their services to humans. While new international policy and assessment processes such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recognize the importance of an increasingly global, quantitative and comprehensive approach to biodiversity protection, most insights are still focused on a single facet of biodiversity—species. Here we broaden the focus and provide an evaluation of how much of the world’s species, functional and phylogenetic diversity of birds and mammals is currently protected and the scope for improvement. We show that the large existing gaps in the coverage for each facet of diversity could be remedied by a slight expansion of protected areas: an additional 5% of the land has the potential to more than triple the protected range of species or phylogenetic or functional units. Further, the same areas are often priorities for multiple diversity facets and for both taxa. However, we find that the choice of conservation strategy has a fundamental effect on outcomes. It is more difficult (that is, requires more land) to maximize basic representation of the global biodiversity pool than to maximize local diversity. Overall, species and phylogenetic priorities are more similar to each other than they are to functional priorities, and priorities for the different bird biodiversity facets are more similar than those of mammals. Our work shows that large gains in biodiversity protection are possible, while also highlighting the need to explicitly link desired conservation objectives and biodiversity metrics. We provide a framework and quantitative tools to advance these goals for multi-faceted biodiversity conservation.

Hearing in noisy environments: noise invariance and contrast gain control

PubMed Central

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

2014-01-01

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

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

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

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

Weight Gain during Pregnancy

MedlinePlus

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

Asthma Triggers: Gain Control

MedlinePlus

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

Noise Power Spectrum Measurements in Digital Imaging With Gain Nonuniformity Correction.

PubMed

Kim, Dong Sik

2016-08-01

The noise power spectrum (NPS) of an image sensor provides the spectral noise properties needed to evaluate sensor performance. Hence, measuring an accurate NPS is important. However, the fixed pattern noise from the sensor's nonuniform gain inflates the NPS, which is measured from images acquired by the sensor. Detrending the low-frequency fixed pattern is traditionally used to accurately measure NPS. However, detrending methods cannot remove high-frequency fixed patterns. In order to efficiently correct the fixed pattern noise, a gain-correction technique based on the gain map can be used. The gain map is generated using the average of uniformly illuminated images without any objects. Increasing the number of images n for averaging can reduce the remaining photon noise in the gain map and yield accurate NPS values. However, for practical finite n , the photon noise also significantly inflates NPS. In this paper, a nonuniform-gain image formation model is proposed and the performance of the gain correction is theoretically analyzed in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). It is shown that the SNR is O(√n) . An NPS measurement algorithm based on the gain map is then proposed for any given n . Under a weak nonuniform gain assumption, another measurement algorithm based on the image difference is also proposed. For real radiography image detectors, the proposed algorithms are compared with traditional detrending and subtraction methods, and it is shown that as few as two images ( n=1 ) can provide an accurate NPS because of the compensation constant (1+1/n) .

New High Gain Target Design for a Laser Fusion Power Plant

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-06-07

target with a minimum energy gain, about 100. Demonstration of ignition or low gain is only important for fusion energy if it leads into a target concept...nonlinear saturation of these instabilities. Our approach is to try to avoid them. 4. A Development Path to Fusion Energy The laser and target concept...on the exact date required to develop fusion energy , it would be worthwhile for a power plant development program to provide enough time and funds

Gaining insight into the Clinical Practice Guideline development processes: qualitative study in a workshop to implement the GRADE proposal in Spain

PubMed Central

Calderón, Carlos; Rotaeche, Rafael; Etxebarria, Arritxu; Marzo, Mercé; Rico, Rosa; Barandiaran, Marta

2006-01-01

Background The GRADE method represents a new approach to grading the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations in the preparation of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG). In the context of a pilot study to assess the implementability of the system in Spain, we considered it relevant to gain an insight into the significance of the perceptions and attitudes expressed by the actual experts participating in the system try-out. Methods Qualitative research with an ethnographic approach, through non-participant observation and focus groups within the context of a consensus workshop in which 19 CPG experts participated to evaluate the GRADE proposal using 12 evidence tables taken from hypertension, asthma and arthritis CPGs. The interventions were recorded, under a guarantee of confidentiality. The transcriptions and field notes were analyzed, based on a sociological discourse analysis model, and the provisional findings were re-sent to participants in order to improve their validity. Results 1) Certain problems over procedure and terminology hindered the acceptance of this new method as a common reference system for the preparation of CPGs. 2). A greater closeness to clinical practice was accompanied by concerns over value judgments and subjectivity, with a demand for greater explicitness in the consensus process. 3). The type of "evidence" on which the guidelines are based, how and by whom the evidence is prepared, and what the role of the different actors should be, all constitute unresolved concerns in the CPG preparation and implementation processes. 4). The grading process is not neutral: professional background, prior experience and the degree of leadership all condition the participants' input and interactions. Conclusion The findings obtained allow the quantitative evaluation to be better interpreted and, in turn, go beyond the particularities of the GRADE method. Adaptation to the complexities of clinical practice, the need for carefully designed multi

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

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kurklin, J.K.

1990-01-01

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

USDA Climate Hubs - delivering usable information and tools to farmers, ranchers and forest land managers - Communication insights from the Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, R.; Steele, R.

2016-12-01

The USDA Climate Hubs were established in 2014 to develop and deliver science-based, region-specific information and technologies, with USDA agencies and partners, to agricultural and natural resource managers to enable climate-informed decision-making. In the two and half years of existence, our regional leads have gained insights into communicating with the agricultural and forestry communities throughout the different regions of the country. Perspectives differ somewhat among regions and sectors. This talk will share those various insights.

Improving Public Engagement With Climate Change: Five "Best Practice" Insights From Psychological Science.

PubMed

van der Linden, Sander; Maibach, Edward; Leiserowitz, Anthony

2015-11-01

Despite being one of the most important societal challenges of the 21st century, public engagement with climate change currently remains low in the United States. Mounting evidence from across the behavioral sciences has found that most people regard climate change as a nonurgent and psychologically distant risk-spatially, temporally, and socially-which has led to deferred public decision making about mitigation and adaptation responses. In this article, we advance five simple but important "best practice" insights from psychological science that can help governments improve public policymaking about climate change. Particularly, instead of a future, distant, global, nonpersonal, and analytical risk that is often framed as an overt loss for society, we argue that policymakers should (a) emphasize climate change as a present, local, and personal risk; (b) facilitate more affective and experiential engagement; (c) leverage relevant social group norms; (d) frame policy solutions in terms of what can be gained from immediate action; and (e) appeal to intrinsically valued long-term environmental goals and outcomes. With practical examples we illustrate how these key psychological principles can be applied to support societal engagement and climate change policymaking. © The Author(s) 2015.

Insights to regenerate materials: learning from nature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Aznar, J. M.; Valero, C.; Gómez-Benito, M. J.; Javierre, E.

2016-08-01

Self-healing materials, both biological and engineered, integrate the ability to repair themselves and recover their functionality using the resources inherently available to them. Although significant advances have been made, in recent years, for the design of different concepts of self-healing materials, this work aims to provide some insights into how living materials are able to regenerate or heal when a fracture or injury occurs. The main sensors that regulate this adaptive and regenerative behavior are the cells. These are able to sense the mechanical alterations in their surroundings and regulate their activity in order to remove dead tissue and/or create new tissue. Therefore, understanding how cells are able to regenerate tissues under complex and multiphysics conditions can define the biomimetics guidelines to heal through inert or traditional engineering materials. In this work, we present a combination of experiments and different kinds of multiscale and multiphysics models in order to understand how mechanics regulate some mechanisms at cell and tissue level. This combination of results aims to gain insight into the development of novel strategies for self-healing materials, mimicking the behavior induced by cells and biological tissues.

The Independent Importance of Pre-pregnancy Weight and Gestational Weight Gain for the Prevention of Large-for Gestational Age Brazilian Newborns.

PubMed

Mastroeni, Marco F; Czarnobay, Sandra A; Kroll, Caroline; Figueirêdo, Katherinne B W; Mastroeni, Silmara S B S; Silva, Jean C; Khan, Mohammad K A; Loehr, Sarah; Veugelers, Paul J

2017-04-01

Objectives To study the independent effect of pre-pregnancy weight, gestational weight gain (GWG), and other important risk factors on newborn birth weight. Methods Baseline data of 435 adult women and their singletons born between January and February 2012 at a public hospital in Brazil were used. Logistic regression was applied to determine the independent importance of pre-pregnancy weight and GWG for large for gestational age (LGA) newborns. Results Among all mothers, 37.9 % were overweight and obese before pregnancy and 45.3 % experienced excessive GWG. Among the newborns, 24.4 % were classified as LGA. Univariate analysis showed an association of family income, GWG, pre-pregnancy BMI and excessive GWG with LGA newborns. Smoking before and during pregnancy was associated with a decreased likelihood of giving birth to an LGA newborn compared to mothers who did not smoke. After adjustment for confounding variables, age at birth of first child, GWG, HbA1c and pre-pregnancy weight-GWG were significant and independent determinants of giving birth to an LGA newborn. Mothers with pre-pregnancy overweight and excessive GWG were more likely to deliver an LGA newborn (OR 2.54, P < 0.05) compared to mothers who were normal weight and experienced adequate GWG. Conclusions for Practice Age at first birth of child, GWG, HbA1c and pre-pregnancy overweight combined with excessive GWG are independent determinants of LGA newborns. The results of this study suggest that both primary prevention of overweight in women of childbearing age and management of GWG may be important strategies to reduce the number of LGA newborns and, consequently, the long-term public health burden of obesity.

Gain-framed messages do not motivate sun protection: a meta-analytic review of randomized trials comparing gain-framed and loss-framed appeals for promoting skin cancer prevention.

PubMed

O'Keefe, Daniel J; Wu, Daisy

2012-06-01

Persuading people to undertake actions to prevent skin cancer is an important public health challenge. A number of studies have compared the effectiveness of gain-framed and loss-framed appeals in this domain, often expecting gain-framed appeals to be more persuasive. A meta-analytic review (k = 33, N = 4,168), however, finds no significant difference in the persuasiveness of gain- and loss-framed appeals for encouraging skin cancer prevention. This conclusion is unaffected by differences in the specific protective action advocated or by differences in the kind of outcomes invoked. But the results offer an intimation that men might be more susceptible to framing variations in this domain--with loss-framed appeals potentially having a persuasive advantage.

Insights Gained into Arts and Smarts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viadero, Debra

2008-01-01

Findings released this week from three years of studies by neuroscientists and psychologists at seven universities help amplify scientists' understanding of how training in the arts might contribute to improving the general thinking skills of children and adults. The idea that the arts, and music in particular, could make children smarter in other…

Insights Gained from Forensic Analysis with MELCOR of the Fukushima-Daiichi Accidents.

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

Andrews, Nathan C.; Gauntt, Randall O.

Since the accidents at Fukushima-Daiichi, Sandia National Laboratories has been modeling these accident scenarios using the severe accident analysis code, MELCOR. MELCOR is a widely used computer code developed at Sandia National Laboratories since ~1982 for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Insights from the modeling of these accidents is being used to better inform future code development and potentially improved accident management. To date, our necessity to better capture in-vessel thermal-hydraulic and ex-vessel melt coolability and concrete interactions has led to the implementation of new models. The most recent analyses, presented in this paper, have been in support of themore » of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency’s (OECD/NEA) Benchmark Study of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (BSAF) Project. The goal of this project is to accurately capture the source term from all three releases and then model the atmospheric dispersion. In order to do this, a forensic approach is being used in which available plant data and release timings is being used to inform the modeled MELCOR accident scenario. For example, containment failures, core slumping events and lower head failure timings are all enforced parameters in these analyses. This approach is fundamentally different from a blind code assessment analysis often used in standard problem exercises. The timings of these events are informed by representative spikes or decreases in plant data. The combination of improvements to the MELCOR source code resulting from analysis previous accident analysis and this forensic approach has allowed Sandia to generate representative and plausible source terms for all three accidents at Fukushima Daiichi out to three weeks after the accident to capture both early and late releases. In particular, using the source terms developed by MELCOR, the MACCS software code, which models atmospheric dispersion

It's a kind of magic-what self-reports can reveal about the phenomenology of insight problem solving.

PubMed

Danek, Amory H; Fraps, Thomas; von Müller, Albrecht; Grothe, Benedikt; Öllinger, Michael

2014-01-01

Magic tricks usually remain a mystery to the observer. For the sake of science, we offered participants the opportunity to discover the magician's secret method by repeatedly presenting the same trick and asking them to find out how the trick worked. In the context of insightful problem solving, the present work investigated the emotions that participants experience upon solving a magic trick. We assumed that these emotions form the typical "Aha! experience" that accompanies insightful solutions to difficult problems. We aimed to show that Aha! experiences can be triggered by magic tricks and to systematically explore the phenomenology of the Aha! experience by breaking it down into five previously postulated dimensions. 34 video clips of different magic tricks were presented up to three times to 50 participants who had to find out how the trick was accomplished, and to indicate whether they had experienced an Aha! during the solving process. Participants then performed a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessment of their Aha! experiences which was repeated after 14 days to control for its reliability. 41% of all suggested solutions were accompanied by an Aha! experience. The quantitative assessment remained stable across time in all five dimensions. Happiness was rated as the most important dimension. This primacy of positive emotions was also reflected in participants' qualitative self-reports which contained more emotional than cognitive aspects. Implementing magic tricks as problem solving task, we could show that strong Aha! experiences can be triggered if a trick is solved. We could at least partially capture the phenomenology of Aha! by identifying one prevailing aspect (positive emotions), a new aspect (release of tension upon gaining insight into a magic trick) and one less important aspect (impasse).

It's a kind of magic—what self-reports can reveal about the phenomenology of insight problem solving

PubMed Central

Danek, Amory H.; Fraps, Thomas; von Müller, Albrecht; Grothe, Benedikt; Öllinger, Michael

2014-01-01

Magic tricks usually remain a mystery to the observer. For the sake of science, we offered participants the opportunity to discover the magician's secret method by repeatedly presenting the same trick and asking them to find out how the trick worked. In the context of insightful problem solving, the present work investigated the emotions that participants experience upon solving a magic trick. We assumed that these emotions form the typical “Aha! experience” that accompanies insightful solutions to difficult problems. We aimed to show that Aha! experiences can be triggered by magic tricks and to systematically explore the phenomenology of the Aha! experience by breaking it down into five previously postulated dimensions. 34 video clips of different magic tricks were presented up to three times to 50 participants who had to find out how the trick was accomplished, and to indicate whether they had experienced an Aha! during the solving process. Participants then performed a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessment of their Aha! experiences which was repeated after 14 days to control for its reliability. 41% of all suggested solutions were accompanied by an Aha! experience. The quantitative assessment remained stable across time in all five dimensions. Happiness was rated as the most important dimension. This primacy of positive emotions was also reflected in participants' qualitative self-reports which contained more emotional than cognitive aspects. Implementing magic tricks as problem solving task, we could show that strong Aha! experiences can be triggered if a trick is solved. We could at least partially capture the phenomenology of Aha! by identifying one prevailing aspect (positive emotions), a new aspect (release of tension upon gaining insight into a magic trick) and one less important aspect (impasse). PMID:25538658

Insight in Schizophrenia: Involvement of Self-Reflection Networks?

PubMed Central

de Vos, Annerieke E.

2013-01-01

Background: Impaired insight is a common feature in psychosis and an important predictor of variables such as functional outcome, prognosis, and treatment adherence. A cognitive process that may underlie insight in psychosis is self-reflection, or the conscious evaluation of one’s traits and characteristics. The current study aims to investigate the neural correlates of self-reflective processing and its relationship with insight in schizophrenia. Methods: Forty-seven schizophrenia patients and 21 healthy controls performed a self-reflection task in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. The tasks comprised a self-reflection, close other-reflection, and a semantic (baseline) condition. Insight scores were obtained with the Schedule of Assessment of Insight Expanded. In addition, cognitive insight scores were obtained (Beck Cognitive Insight Scale [BCIS]). Results: Schizophrenia patients demonstrated less activation in the posterior cingulate cortex in the self- and other-reflection conditions and less activation in the precuneus in the other-reflection condition compared with healthy controls. Better insight was associated with greater response in the inferior frontal gyrus, anterior insula, and inferior parietal lobule during self-reflection. In addition, better cognitive insight was associated with higher activation in ventromedial prefrontal cortex during self-reflection. Conclusion: In the current study, evidence for a relationship between self-reflection and insight in patients with schizophrenia was found in brain areas related to self-reflection, self/other distinction and source attribution. The findings support the rationale for a treatment that is currently under evaluation, which attempts to increase insight by enhancing self-reflection. PMID:23104865

Altered reward anticipation: Potential explanation for weight gain in schizophrenia?

PubMed

Grimm, Oliver; Kaiser, Stefan; Plichta, Michael M; Tobler, Philippe N

2017-04-01

Obesity and weight gain are severe complications of mental illness, especially schizophrenia. They result from changes in lifestyle and nutrition, side effects of medication and other, less well-understood factors. Recent studies suggest that obesity and weight gain are linked to psychopathology. Specifically, severe psychopathology is associated with greater weight dysregulation, typically weight gain. However, our knowledge about the neuroscientific basis of weight gain in schizophrenia is currently limited. We propose that altered reward anticipation, which in turn is related to striatal dopaminergic dysregulation, may explain why obesity is more prevalent in individuals with mental illness. We review evidence that reward anticipation and weight change are linked by a core deficit in dopaminergic striatal circuits. Several lines of evidence, running from animal studies to preclinical and clinical studies, suggest that striatal dopaminergic neurotransmission is a major hub for the regulation of eating behavior and that dopamine links eating behavior to other motivated behavior. From this perspective, the present review outlines a unifying perspective on dopaminergic reward anticipation as a theoretical frame to link weight gain, medication effects and psychopathology. We derive important but open empirical questions and present perspectives for new therapeutic concepts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long, paired A'A/Pahoehoe flows of Mauna Loa: Volcanological significance and insights they provide into volcano plumbing systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowland, Scott K.; Walker, George P. L.

1987-01-01

The long lava flows of Mauna Loa, Hawaii have been cited as Earth's closed analogs to the large Martian flows. It is therefore important to understand the flow mechanics and characteristics of the Mauna Loa flows and to make use of these in an attempt to gain insights into Martian eruptive processes. Two fundamentally different kinds of long lava flows can be distinguished on Hawaiian volcanoes as in Martian flows. The two kinds may have identical initial viscosities, chemical compositions, flow lengths, and flow volumes, but their flow mechanisms and thermal energy budgets are radically different. One travels a distance set by the discharge rate as envisaged by Walker and Wadge, and the other travels a distance set mainly by the eruption duration and ground slope. In the Mauna Loa lavas, yield strength becomes an important flow morphology control only in the distal part of a'a lavas. The occurrence of paired flows on Mauna Loa yields insights into the internal plumbing systems of the volcano, and it is significant that all of the volume of the a'a flow must be stored in a magma chamber before eruption, while none of the volume of the pahoehoe needs to be so stored. Differentiation between the two kinds of flows on images of Martian volcanoes is possible and hence an improved understanding of these huge structures is acquired.

The Intervention Nurses Start Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT) study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Because early life growth has long-lasting metabolic and behavioral consequences, intervention during this period of developmental plasticity may alter long-term obesity risk. While modifiable factors during infancy have been identified, until recently, preventive interventions had not been tested. The Intervention Nurses Starting Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT). Study is a longitudinal, randomized, controlled trial evaluating a responsive parenting intervention designed for the primary prevention of obesity. This “parenting” intervention is being compared with a home safety control among first-born infants and their parents. INSIGHT’s central hypothesis is that responsive parenting and specifically responsive feeding promotes self-regulation and shared parent–child responsibility for feeding, reducing subsequent risk for overeating and overweight. Methods/Design 316 first-time mothers and their full-term newborns were enrolled from one maternity ward. Two weeks following delivery, dyads were randomly assigned to the “parenting” or “safety” groups. Subsequently, research nurses conduct study visits for both groups consisting of home visits at infant age 3–4, 16, 28, and 40 weeks, followed by annual clinic-based visits at 1, 2, and 3 years. Both groups receive intervention components framed around four behavior states: Sleeping, Fussy, Alert and Calm, and Drowsy. The main study outcome is BMI z-score at age 3 years; additional outcomes include those related to patterns of infant weight gain, infant sleep hygiene and duration, maternal responsiveness and soothing strategies for infant/toddler distress and fussiness, maternal feeding style and infant dietary content and physical activity. Maternal outcomes related to weight status, diet, mental health, and parenting sense of competence are being collected. Infant temperament will be explored as a moderator of parenting effects, and blood is collected to obtain genetic

Occupational therapists' self-insight into their referral prioritisation policies for clients with mental health needs.

PubMed

Harries, Priscilla Ann; Gilhooly, Kenneth J

2010-12-01

Obtaining valid accounts of professionals' thinking is dependent upon experts' capacity for self-insight. Self-insight has implications for developing professional decision making, facilitating education and promoting agreement among therapists. The aim of this study was to examine occupational therapists' self-insight into their referral prioritisation policies. A total of 40 occupational therapists individually rated the importance that differing types of referral content had on their prioritisation of referrals. These subjective policies were then correlated with their objective referral prioritisation policies that had been previously statistically derived. Self-insight was found to be moderate but with wide variation across individuals and across referral information used. Self-insight on cues that were important to the decision was found to be better than on those cues not so important to the decision.   Occupational therapists have similar levels of self-insight to other professional groups. The 'attention hypothesis' may explain why self-insight varied across referral information used. © 2010 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal © 2010 Australian Association of Occupational Therapists.

Gaining and maintaining commitment to large-scale change in healthcare organizations.

PubMed

Narine, L; Persaud, D D

2003-08-01

Healthcare administrators have sought to improve the quality of healthcare services by using organizational change as a lever. Unfortunately, evaluations of organizational change efforts in areas such as total quality management (TQM), continuous quality improvement (CQI), and organizational restructuring have indicated that these change programmes have not fulfilled their promise in improving service delivery. Furthermore, there are no easy answers as to why so many large-scale change programmes are unsuccessful. The aim of this analysis is to provide insights into practices that may be utilized to improve the chances of successful change management. It is proposed that in order to effect change, implementers must first gain commitment to the change. This is done by ensuring organizational readiness for change, surfacing dissatisfaction with the present state, communicating a clear vision of the proposed change, promoting participation in the change effort, and developing a clear and consistent communication plan. However gaining commitment is not enough. Many change programmes have been initially perceived as being successful but long-term success has been elusive. Therefore, maintaining commitment during the uncertainty associated with the transition period is imperative. This can be done by successfully managing the transition using action steps such as consolidating change using feedback mechanisms and making the change a permanent part of the organization's culture.

Molecular evolution of the CPP-like gene family in plants: insights from comparative genomics of Arabidopsis and rice.

PubMed

Yang, Zefeng; Gu, Shiliang; Wang, Xuefeng; Li, Wenjuan; Tang, Zaixiang; Xu, Chenwu

2008-09-01

CPP-like genes are members of a small family which features the existence of two similar Cys-rich domains termed CXC domains in their protein products and are distributed widely in plants and animals but do not exist in yeast. The members of this family in plants play an important role in development of reproductive tissue and control of cell division. To gain insights into how CPP-like genes evolved in plants, we conducted a comparative phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary analysis of the CPP-like gene family in Arabidopsis and rice. The results of phylogeny revealed that both gene loss and species-specific expansion contributed to the evolution of this family in Arabidopsis and rice. Both intron gain and intron loss were observed through intron/exon structure analysis for duplicated genes. Our results also suggested that positive selection was a major force during the evolution of CPP-like genes in plants, and most amino acid residues under positive selection were disproportionately located in the region outside the CXC domains. Further analysis revealed that two CXC domains and sequences connecting them might have coevolved during the long evolutionary period.

Gain-Framed Messages Do Not Motivate Sun Protection: A Meta-Analytic Review of Randomized Trials Comparing Gain-Framed and Loss-Framed Appeals for Promoting Skin Cancer Prevention

PubMed Central

O’Keefe, Daniel J.; Wu, Daisy

2012-01-01

Persuading people to undertake actions to prevent skin cancer is an important public health challenge. A number of studies have compared the effectiveness of gain-framed and loss-framed appeals in this domain, often expecting gain-framed appeals to be more persuasive. A meta-analytic review (k = 33, N = 4,168), however, finds no significant difference in the persuasiveness of gain- and loss-framed appeals for encouraging skin cancer prevention. This conclusion is unaffected by differences in the specific protective action advocated or by differences in the kind of outcomes invoked. But the results offer an intimation that men might be more susceptible to framing variations in this domain—with loss-framed appeals potentially having a persuasive advantage. PMID:22829794

When encoding yields remembering: insights from event-related neuroimaging.

PubMed Central

Wagner, A D; Koutstaal, W; Schacter, D L

1999-01-01

To understand human memory, it is important to determine why some experiences are remembered whereas others are forgotten. Until recently, insights into the neural bases of human memory encoding, the processes by which information is transformed into an enduring memory trace, have primarily been derived from neuropsychological studies of humans with select brain lesions. The advent of functional neuroimaging methods, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has provided a new opportunity to gain additional understanding of how the brain supports memory formation. Importantly, the recent development of event-related fMRI methods now allows for examination of trial-by-trial differences in neural activity during encoding and of the consequences of these differences for later remembering. In this review, we consider the contributions of PET and fMRI studies to the understanding of memory encoding, placing a particular emphasis on recent event-related fMRI studies of the Dm effect: that is, differences in neural activity during encoding that are related to differences in subsequent memory. We then turn our attention to the rich literature on the Dm effect that has emerged from studies using event-related potentials (ERPs). It is hoped that the integration of findings from ERP studies, which offer higher temporal resolution, with those from event-related fMRI studies, which offer higher spatial resolution, will shed new light on when and why encoding yields subsequent remembering. PMID:10466153

Insight: demographic differences and associations with one-year outcome in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

PubMed

Wiffen, Benjamin D R; Rabinowitz, Jonathan; Fleischhacker, W Wolfgang; David, Anthony S

2010-10-01

Insight is increasingly seen as an important variable for study in psychotic illness, particularly in relation to treatment adherence. This study aims to quantify the association of insight with outcome, sociodemographic variables and diagnosis in a large stable patient sample. Data are from a one-year, open-label, international, multicenter trial (n=670) of long-acting risperidone in adult symptomatically stable patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Psychopathology and insight were quantified using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Patients were assessed at four time points over the year of the study. 31.2% of the sample showed clinically significant deficits in insight at baseline. There were no differences based on sex, but significant differences in age and diagnosis, with oldest patients and schizophrenia patients (cf., schizoaffective disorder) showing more deficits. Baseline insight impairment was correlated with change in PANSS score at one year (r=-0.243, p<0.001). Recursive partitioning showed that, of those whose symptoms improved, those whose insight also improved were more likely to complete the trial. Insight is important above and beyond the effects of symptoms for predicting continuation in drug trials. This may have implications for the design and analysis of such trials, as well as suggesting the importance of targeting insight in treatment to increase likelihood of adherence to treatment. There also appear to be small but significant differences in insight based on age and diagnosis within the schizophrenia spectrum.

Insights gained through Marte Meo counselling: experiences of nurses in dementia specific care units.

PubMed

Einang Alnes, Rigmor; Kirkevold, Marit; Skovdahl, Kirsti

2011-06-01

This study sought to uncover what nurses perceived to have learned, during their participation in video supported counselling, based on Marte Meo principles, in four dementia specific care units. This was a descriptive qualitative study. Data were collected through 12 individual and four focus group interviews. In addition, supplementary data from two video recordings and one written log were included. Findings emerged through content analysis and re-examination of the text based on the initial analysis. The nurses experienced that they acquired new knowledge about the residents through Marte Meo Counselling (MMC), resulting in improved capability to interpret the residents` expressions, and increased awareness of the residents' competence. New knowledge about themselves as nurses also emerged; they recognised how their actions entailed consequences for the interaction, in turn making them conscious of the usefulness of taking time, pacing their interactions, maintaining eye contact and describing the situation in words when the interaction took place. This appeared to increase the resident's perception of being able to cope. This study indicates that MMC helped the nurses to gain knowledge about how to improve interactions with residents suffering from dementia. Further research is warranted into the effectiveness of MMC. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Acculturation and gestational weight gain in a predominantly Puerto Rican population.

PubMed

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

2012-11-21

Identifying risk factors that affect excess weight gain during pregnancy is critical, especially among women who are at a higher risk for obesity. The goal of this study was to determine if acculturation, a possible risk factor, was associated with gestational weight gain in a predominantly Puerto Rican population. We utilized data from Proyecto Buena Salud, a prospective cohort study of Hispanic women in Western Massachusetts, United States. Height, weight and gestational age were abstracted from medical records among participants with full-term pregnancies (n=952). Gestational weight gain was calculated as the difference between delivery and prepregnancy weight. Acculturation (measured via a psychological acculturation scale, generation in the US, place of birth and spoken language preference) was assessed in early pregnancy. Adjusting for age, parity, perceived stress, gestational age, and prepregnancy weight, women who had at least one parent born in Puerto Rico/Dominican Republic (PR/DR) and both grandparents born in PR/DR had a significantly higher mean total gestational weight gain (0.9 kg for at least one parent born in PR/DR and 2.2 kg for grandparents born in PR/DR) and rate of weight gain (0.03 kg/wk for at least one parent born in PR/DR and 0.06 kg/wk for grandparents born in PR/DR) vs. women who were of PR/DR born. Similarly, women born in the US had significantly higher mean total gestational weight gain (1.0 kg) and rate of weight gain (0.03 kg/wk) vs. women who were PR/ DR born. Spoken language preference and psychological acculturation were not significantly associated with total or rate of pregnancy weight gain. We found that psychological acculturation was not associated with gestational weight gain while place of birth and higher generation in the US were significantly associated with higher gestational weight gain. We interpret these findings to suggest the potential importance of the US "obesogenic" environment in influencing unhealthy

Invention and Gain Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weber, Robert J.; Dixon, Stacey

1989-01-01

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

Insights into enzymatic halogenation from computational studies

PubMed Central

Senn, Hans M.

2014-01-01

The halogenases are a group of enzymes that have only come to the fore over the last 10 years thanks to the discovery and characterization of several novel representatives. They have revealed the fascinating variety of distinct chemical mechanisms that nature utilizes to activate halogens and introduce them into organic substrates. Computational studies using a range of approaches have already elucidated many details of the mechanisms of these enzymes, often in synergistic combination with experiment. This Review summarizes the main insights gained from these studies. It also seeks to identify open questions that are amenable to computational investigations. The studies discussed herein serve to illustrate some of the limitations of the current computational approaches and the challenges encountered in computational mechanistic enzymology. PMID:25426489

Strain-specific estimation of epidemic success provides insights into the transmission dynamics of tuberculosis

PubMed Central

Rasigade, Jean-Philippe; Barbier, Maxime; Dumitrescu, Oana; Pichat, Catherine; Carret, Gérard; Ronnaux-Baron, Anne-Sophie; Blasquez, Ghislaine; Godin-Benhaim, Christine; Boisset, Sandrine; Carricajo, Anne; Jacomo, Véronique; Fredenucci, Isabelle; Pérouse de Montclos, Michèle; Flandrois, Jean-Pierre; Ader, Florence; Supply, Philip; Lina, Gérard; Wirth, Thierry

2017-01-01

The transmission dynamics of tuberculosis involves complex interactions of socio-economic and, possibly, microbiological factors. We describe an analytical framework to infer factors of epidemic success based on the joint analysis of epidemiological, clinical and pathogen genetic data. We derive isolate-specific, genetic distance-based estimates of epidemic success, and we represent success-related time-dependent concepts, namely epidemicity and endemicity, by restricting analysis to specific time scales. The method is applied to analyze a surveillance-based cohort of 1,641 tuberculosis patients with minisatellite-based isolate genotypes. Known predictors of isolate endemicity (older age, native status) and epidemicity (younger age, sputum smear positivity) were identified with high confidence (P < 0.001). Long-term epidemic success also correlated with the ability of Euro-American and Beijing MTBC lineages to cause active pulmonary infection, independent of patient age and country of origin. Our results demonstrate how important insights into the transmission dynamics of tuberculosis can be gained from active surveillance data. PMID:28349973

The Importance of Emotional Insight in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa: An Adolescent Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rupa, Megha; Girimaji, Satish; Muthuswamy, Selvi; Jacob, Preeti; Ravi, Malavika

2013-01-01

Anorexia nervosa is a rare but sever psychiatric disorder in adolescence, with chronicity and death being the most feared consequence. Emotional Insight into one's problem is considered a key determinant of success in therapy. The following case study of a 14-year-old client, describes the process of therapy as it unfolded across 45 sessions. An…

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

PubMed

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

2016-06-10

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

Stability analysis of Hawaiian Island flanks using insight gained from strength testing of the HSDP core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Nick; Watters, Robert J.; Schiffman, Peter

2008-04-01

Hawaiian Island flank failures are recognized as the largest landslide events on Earth, reaching volumes of several thousand cubic kilometers and lengths of over 200 km and occurring on an average of once every 100 000 years. The 3.1 km deep Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project (HSDP) enabled an investigation of the rock mass strength variations on the island of Hawaii [Schiffman, P., Watters, R.J., Thompson, N., Walton, A.W., 2006. Hyaloclastites and the slope stability of Hawaiian volcanoes: insights from the Hawaiian Scientific Drilling Project's 3-km drill core. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 151 (1-3): 217-228]. This study builds on that of Schiffman et al. [Schiffman, P., Watters, R.J., Thompson, N., Walton, A.W., 2006. Hyaloclastites and the slope stability of Hawaiian volcanoes: Insights from the Hawaiian Scientific Drilling Project's 3-km drill core. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 151 (1-3): 217-228] by considering more in-depth rock mass classification and strength testing methods of the HSDP core. Geotechnical core logging techniques combined with laboratory strength testing methods show that rock strength differences exist within the edifice. Comparing the rock strength parameters obtained from the various volcano lithologies identified weak zones, suggesting the possible location of future slip surfaces for large flank failures. Relatively weak rock layers were recognized within poorly consolidated hyaloclastite zones, with increases in strength based on degree of alteration. Subaerial and submarine basalt flows are found to be significantly stronger. With the aid of digital elevation models, cross-sections have been developed of key flank areas on the island of Hawaii. Limit equilibrium slope stability analyses are performed on each cross-section using various failure criteria for the rock mass strength calculations. Based on the stability analyses the majority of the slopes analyzed are considered stable. In cases

MPIC: a mitochondrial protein import components database for plant and non-plant species.

PubMed

Murcha, Monika W; Narsai, Reena; Devenish, James; Kubiszewski-Jakubiak, Szymon; Whelan, James

2015-01-01

In the 2 billion years since the endosymbiotic event that gave rise to mitochondria, variations in mitochondrial protein import have evolved across different species. With the genomes of an increasing number of plant species sequenced, it is possible to gain novel insights into mitochondrial protein import pathways. We have generated the Mitochondrial Protein Import Components (MPIC) Database (DB; http://www.plantenergy.uwa.edu.au/applications/mpic) providing searchable information on the protein import apparatus of plant and non-plant mitochondria. An in silico analysis was carried out, comparing the mitochondrial protein import apparatus from 24 species representing various lineages from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) and algae to Homo sapiens (human) and higher plants, including Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), Oryza sativa (rice) and other more recently sequenced plant species. Each of these species was extensively searched and manually assembled for analysis in the MPIC DB. The database presents an interactive diagram in a user-friendly manner, allowing users to select their import component of interest. The MPIC DB presents an extensive resource facilitating detailed investigation of the mitochondrial protein import machinery and allowing patterns of conservation and divergence to be recognized that would otherwise have been missed. To demonstrate the usefulness of the MPIC DB, we present a comparative analysis of the mitochondrial protein import machinery in plants and non-plant species, revealing plant-specific features that have evolved. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Weight gain following treatment of hyperthyroidism.

PubMed

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

2001-08-01

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

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2018-03-01

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

Stoking the Dialogue on the Domains of Transformative Learning Theory: Insights From Research With Faith-Based Organizations in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moyer, Joanne M.; Sinclair, A. John

2016-01-01

Transformative learning theory is applied in a variety of fields, including archaeology, religious studies, health care, the physical sciences, environmental studies, and natural resource management. Given the breadth of the theory's application, it needs to be adaptable to broad contexts. This article shares insights gained from applying the…

Health Literacy Predicts Cardiac Knowledge Gains in Cardiac Rehabilitation Participants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mattson, Colleen C.; Rawson, Katherine; Hughes, Joel W.; Waechter, Donna; Rosneck, James

2015-01-01

Objective: Health literacy is increasingly recognised as a potentially important patient characteristic related to patient education efforts. We evaluated whether health literacy would predict gains in knowledge after completion of patient education in cardiac rehabilitation. Method: This was a re-post observational analysis study design based on…

Creating insight when the literature is absent: the circle of advisors.

PubMed

Batcheller, Joyce; Yoder-Wise, Patricia S

2011-01-01

When changes happen as rapidly as they do today, the literature is often absent. Although related literature may be available to substantiate a direction to take when faced with some issue to resolve, that literature may be vague in terms of its applicability within health care. The idea of a circle of advisors was instituted to gain insight from experts who had faced similar challenges and often had extensive networks of shared experiences. The use of a sequential dialog identified specific talents to be developed in a chief nurse executive enculturation program.

Optimization of control gain by operator adjustment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kruse, W.; Rothbauer, G.

1973-01-01

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

Shigella Diversity and Changing Landscape: Insights for the Twenty-First Century

PubMed Central

Anderson, Mark; Sansonetti, Philippe J.; Marteyn, Benoit S.

2016-01-01

Shigella is a pathovar of Escherichia coli comprising four groups, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Shigella dysenteriae, and Shigella boydii, each of them, with the exception of S.sonnei, comprising several serotypes. Shigella accounts for the majority of dysentery causing infections occurring world-wide each year. Recent advancements in the Shigella field have led to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying host epithelial cell invasion and immune cell function manipulation, mainly using S. flexneri as a model. Host-cell invasion is the final step of the infection process, as Shigella's virulence strategy relies also on its ability to survive hostile conditions during its journey through the gastro-intestinal tract, to compete with the host microbiota and to cross the intestinal mucus layer. Hence, the diversity of the virulence strategies among the different Shigella species has not yet been deeply investigated, which might be an important step to understand the epidemiological spreading of Shigella species worldwide and a key aspect for the validation of novel vaccine candidates. The recent development of high-throughput screening and sequencing methods will facilitate these complex comparison studies. In this review we discuss several of the major avenues that the Shigella research field has taken over the past few years and hopefully gain some insights into the questions that remain surrounding this important human pathogen. PMID:27148494

Goals-feedback conditions and episodic memory: Mechanisms for memory gains in older and younger adults.

PubMed

West, Robin L; Dark-Freudeman, Alissa; Bagwell, Dana K

2009-02-01

Research has established that challenging memory goals always lead to score increases for younger adults, and can increase older adults' scores under supportive conditions. This study examined beliefs and on-task effort as potential mechanisms for these self-regulatory gains, in particular to learn whether episodic memory gains across multiple trials of shopping list recall are controlled by the same factors for young and old people. Goals with feedback led to higher recall and strategic categorisation than a control condition. Strategy usage was the strongest predictor of gains over trials for both age groups. Age, goal condition, and effort also predicted scores across the entire sample. Older adults' gains, but not younger adults' gains, were affected significantly by the interaction of self-efficacy beliefs and goal condition, and condition interacted with locus of control to predict younger adult gains. These results emphasise the importance of self-regulatory effort and positive beliefs for facilitating goal-related memory gains.

Optical antenna gain. I - Transmitting antennas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

1974-01-01

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

Science: Aquatic Toxicology Matures, Gains Importance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dagani, Ron

1980-01-01

Reviews recent advances in aquatic toxicology, whose major goal is to protect diverse aquatic organisms and whole ecological communities from the dire effects of man-made chemicals. Current legislation is reviewed. Differences in mammalian and aquatic toxicology are listed, and examples of research in aquatic toxicology are discussed. (CS)

New insights into the nanostructure of innovative thin film solar cells gained by positron annihilation spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eijt, S. W. H.; Shi, W.; Mannheim, A.; Butterling, M.; Schut, H.; Egger, W.; Dickmann, M.; Hugenschmidt, C.; Shakeri, B.; Meulenberg, R. W.; Callewaert, V.; Saniz, R.; Partoens, B.; Barbiellini, B.; Bansil, A.; Melskens, J.; Zeman, M.; Smets, A. H. M.; Kulbak, M.; Hodes, G.; Cahen, D.; Brück, E.

2017-01-01

Recent studies showed that positron annihilation methods can provide key insights into the nanostructure and electronic structure of thin film solar cells. In this study, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) is applied to investigate CdSe quantum dot (QD) light absorbing layers, providing evidence of positron trapping at the surfaces of the QDs. This enables one to monitor their surface composition and electronic structure. Further, 2D-Angular Correlation of Annihilation Radiation (2D-ACAR) is used to investigate the nanostructure of divacancies in photovoltaic-high-quality a-Si:H films. The collected momentum distributions were converted by Fourier transformation to the direct space representation of the electron-positron autocorrelation function. The evolution of the size of the divacancies as a function of hydrogen dilution during deposition of a-Si:H thin films was examined. Finally, we present a first positron Doppler Broadening of Annihilation Radiation (DBAR) study of the emerging class of highly efficient thin film solar cells based on perovskites.

Substrate effects in high gain, low operating voltage SnSe2 photoconductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishna, Murali; Kallatt, Sangeeth; Majumdar, Kausik

2018-01-01

High gain photoconductive devices find wide spread applications in low intensity light detection. Ultra-thin layered materials have recently drawn a lot of attention from researchers in this regard. However, in general, a large operating voltage is required to obtain large responsivity in these devices. In addition, the characteristics are often confounded by substrate induced trap effects. Here we report multi-layer SnSe2 based photoconductive devices using two different structures: (1) SiO2 substrate supported inter-digitated electrode (IDE), and (2) suspended channel. The IDE device exhibits a responsivity of ≈ {10}3 A W-1 and ≈ 8.66× {10}4 A W-1 at operating voltages of 1 mV and 100 mV, respectively—a superior low voltage performance over existing literature on planar 2D structures. However, the responsivity reduces by more than two orders of magnitude, while the transient response improves for the suspended device—providing insights into the critical role played by the channel-substrate interface in the gain mechanism. The results, on one hand, are promising for highly sensitive photoconductive applications consuming ultra-low power, and on the other hand, show a generic methodology that could be applied to other layered material based photoconductive devices as well for extracting the intrinsic behavior.

Gaining Insights from Candida Biofilm Heterogeneity: One Size Does Not Fit All

PubMed Central

Kean, Ryan; Delaney, Christopher; Rajendran, Ranjith; Sherry, Leighann; Metcalfe, Rebecca; Thomas, Rachael; McLean, William; Williams, Craig; Ramage, Gordon

2018-01-01

Despite their clinical significance and substantial human health burden, fungal infections remain relatively under-appreciated. The widespread overuse of antibiotics and the increasing requirement for indwelling medical devices provides an opportunistic potential for the overgrowth and colonization of pathogenic Candida species on both biological and inert substrates. Indeed, it is now widely recognized that biofilms are a highly important part of their virulence repertoire. Candida albicans is regarded as the primary fungal biofilm forming species, yet there is also increasing interest and growing body of evidence for non-Candida albicans species (NCAS) biofilms, and interkingdom biofilm interactions. C. albicans biofilms are heterogeneous structures by definition, existing as three-dimensional populations of yeast, pseudo-hyphae, and hyphae, embedded within a self-produced extracellular matrix. Classical molecular approaches, driven by extensive studies of laboratory strains and mutants, have enhanced our knowledge and understanding of how these complex communities develop, thrive, and cause host-mediated damage. Yet our clinical observations tell a different story, with differential patient responses potentially due to inherent biological heterogeneity from specific clinical isolates associated with their infections. This review explores some of the recent advances made in an attempt to explore the importance of working with clinical isolates, and what this has taught us. PMID:29371505

Material gain engineering in GeSn/Ge quantum wells integrated with an Si platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mączko, H. S.; Kudrawiec, R.; Gladysiewicz, M.

2016-09-01

It is shown that compressively strained Ge1-xSnx/Ge quantum wells (QWs) grown on a Ge substrate with 0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.2 and width of 8 nm ≤ d ≤ 14 nm are a very promising gain medium for lasers integrated with an Si platform. Such QWs are type-I QWs with a direct bandgap and positive transverse electric mode of material gain, i.e. the modal gain. The electronic band structure near the center of Brillouin zone has been calculated for various Ge1-xSnx/Ge QWs with use of the 8-band kp Hamiltonian. To calculate the material gain for these QWs, occupation of the L valley in Ge barriers has been taken into account. It is clearly shown that this occupation has a lot of influence on the material gain in the QWs with low Sn concentrations (Sn < 15%) and is less important for QWs with larger Sn concentration (Sn > 15%). However, for QWs with Sn > 20% the critical thickness of a GeSn layer deposited on a Ge substrate starts to play an important role. Reduction in the QW width shifts up the ground electron subband in the QW and increases occupation of the L valley in the barriers instead of the Γ valley in the QW region.

Big insights from small volumes: deciphering complex leukocyte behaviors using microfluidics

PubMed Central

Irimia, Daniel; Ellett, Felix

2016-01-01

Inflammation is an indispensable component of the immune response, and leukocytes provide the first line of defense against infection. Although the major stereotypic leukocyte behaviors in response to infection are well known, the complexities and idiosyncrasies of these phenotypes in conditions of disease are still emerging. Novel tools are indispensable for gaining insights into leukocyte behavior, and in the past decade, microfluidic technologies have emerged as an exciting development in the field. Microfluidic devices are readily customizable, provide tight control of experimental conditions, enable high precision of ex vivo measurements of individual as well as integrated leukocyte functions, and have facilitated the discovery of novel leukocyte phenotypes. Here, we review some of the most interesting insights resulting from the application of microfluidic approaches to the study of the inflammatory response. The aim is to encourage leukocyte biologists to integrate these new tools into increasingly more sophisticated experimental designs for probing complex leukocyte functions. PMID:27194799

Domestication and Breeding of Tomatoes: What have We Gained and What Can We Gain in the Future?

PubMed Central

Bai, Yuling; Lindhout, Pim

2007-01-01

Background It has been shown that a large variation is present and exploitable from wild Solanum species but most of it is still untapped. Considering the thousands of Solanum accessions in different gene banks and probably even more that are still untouched in the Andes, it is a challenge to exploit the diversity of tomato. What have we gained from tomato domestication and breeding and what can we gain in the future? Scope This review summarizes progress on tomato domestication and breeding and current efforts in tomato genome research. Also, it points out potential challenges in exploiting tomato biodiversity and depicts future perspectives in tomato breeding with the emerging knowledge from tomato-omics. Conclusions From first domestication to modern breeding, the tomato has been continually subjected to human selection for a wide array of applications in both science and commerce. Current efforts in tomato breeding are focused on discovering and exploiting genes for the most important traits in tomato germplasm. In the future, breeders will design cultivars by a process named ‘breeding by design’ based on the combination of science and technologies from the genomic era as well as their practical skills. PMID:17717024

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

1976-01-01

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

High-gain magnetized inertial fusion.

PubMed

Slutz, Stephen A; Vesey, Roger A

2012-01-13

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

Gaining Access to Hidden Populations: Strategies for Gaining Cooperation of Drug Sellers/Dealers and Their Families in Ethnographic Research

PubMed Central

Dunlap, Eloise; Johnson, Bruce D.

2009-01-01

Summary This article examines strategies for gaining the cooperation of drug sellers and their families in order to conduct ethnographic research. The strategies were developed during an eight year study of drug dealers in New York City. A key element in gaining the ability to talk with and observe drug dealers and their family members was the availability of funds to compensate respondents for interviews and other expenses associated with building and maintaining rapport. Access to more successful crack sellers and dealers rested upon the right contacts. The “right contact” is a critical element. Locating a trusted “go-between” was adapted from strategies employed by cocaine sellers to arrange transactions involving large quantities of drugs. Such transactions rely upon a trusted associate of a dealer, the “go-between,” who performs various roles and assumes risks the dealer wishes to avoid. The role of the go-between became important when ethnographers attempted to reach drug dealers for research purposes. Favors and trust are central components in the equation of access to the dealer and his family. Favors are a part of drug dealers' interaction patterns: everyone owes someone else a favor. Such reciprocity norms exist independently of the amount of drugs involved and outlast any particular transaction. Reputations and favors are related. This framework of favors, trust, and reciprocity provides a basis for the ethnographer to gain an introduction to dealers and sellers. The “go-between” is critical because he/she explains the ethnographer's role to the dealer and helps arrange an initial meeting between the ethnographer and the seller. Once the go-between has provided an initial introduction, the ethnographer marshals the communication skills necessary to convince the dealer to allow further contact and conversations. This article examines the ritual of initial conversation within its cultural framework. Developing rapport requires showing

The importance of the Non Obese Diabetic (NOD) mouse model in autoimmune diabetes

PubMed Central

Pearson, James A; Wong, F. Susan; Wen, Li

2016-01-01

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the pancreatic infiltration of immune cells resulting in T cell-mediated destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells. The successes of the Non Obese Diabetic (NOD) mouse model have come in multiple forms including identifying key genetic and environmental risk factors e.g. Idd loci and effects of microorganisms including the gut microbiota, respectively, and how they may contribute to disease susceptibility and pathogenesis. Furthermore, the NOD model also provides insights into the roles of the innate immune cells as well as the B cells in contributing to the T cell-mediated disease. Unlike many autoimmune disease models, the NOD mouse develops spontaneous disease and has many similarities to human T1D. Through exploiting these similarities many targets have been identified for immune-intervention strategies. Although many of these immunotherapies did not have a significant impact on human T1D, they have been shown to be effective in the NOD mouse in early stage disease, which is not equivalent to trials in newly-diagnosed patients with diabetes. However, the continued development of humanized NOD mice would enable further clinical developments, bringing T1D research to a new translational level. Therefore, it is the aim of this review to discuss the importance of the NOD model in identifying the roles of the innate immune system and the interaction with the gut microbiota in modifying diabetes susceptibility. In addition, the role of the B cells will also be discussed with new insights gained through B cell depletion experiments and the impact on translational developments. Finally, this review will also discuss the future of the NOD mice and the development of humanized NOD mice, providing novel insights into human T1D. PMID:26403950

Determination of the STIS CCD Gain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riley, Allyssa; Monroe, TalaWanda; Lockwood, Sean

2016-09-01

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

Measurement of Antenna Bore-Sight Gain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fortinberry, Jarrod; Shumpert, Thomas

2016-01-01

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

Association of global weather changes with acute coronary syndromes: gaining insights from clinical trials data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakal, Jeffrey A.; Ezekowitz, Justin A.; Westerhout, Cynthia M.; Boersma, Eric; Armstrong, Paul W.

2013-05-01

The aim of this study was to develop a method for the identification of global weather parameters and patient characteristics associated with a type of heart attack in which there is a sudden partial blockage of a coronary artery. This type of heart attack does not demonstrate an elevation of the ST segment on an electrocardiogram and is defined as a non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). Data from the Global Summary of the Day database was linked with the enrollment and baseline data for a phase III international clinical trial in NSTE-ACS in four 48-h time periods covering the week prior to the clinical event that prompted enrollment in the study. Meteorological events were determined by standardizing the weather data from enrollment dates against an empirical distribution from the month prior. These meteorological events were then linked to the patients' geographic region, demographics and comorbidities to identify potential susceptible populations. After standardization, changes in temperature and humidity demonstrated an association with the enrollment event. Additionally there appeared to be an association with gender, region and a history of stroke. This methodology may provide a useful global insight into assessing the biometeorologic component of diseases from international data.

Sand waves in environmental flows: Insights gained by coupling large-eddy simulation with morphodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sotiropoulos, Fotis; Khosronejad, Ali

2016-02-01

Sand waves arise in subaqueous and Aeolian environments as the result of the complex interaction between turbulent flows and mobile sand beds. They occur across a wide range of spatial scales, evolve at temporal scales much slower than the integral scale of the transporting turbulent flow, dominate river morphodynamics, undermine streambank stability and infrastructure during flooding, and sculpt terrestrial and extraterrestrial landscapes. In this paper, we present the vision for our work over the last ten years, which has sought to develop computational tools capable of simulating the coupled interactions of sand waves with turbulence across the broad range of relevant scales: from small-scale ripples in laboratory flumes to mega-dunes in large rivers. We review the computational advances that have enabled us to simulate the genesis and long-term evolution of arbitrarily large and complex sand dunes in turbulent flows using large-eddy simulation and summarize numerous novel physical insights derived from our simulations. Our findings explain the role of turbulent sweeps in the near-bed region as the primary mechanism for destabilizing the sand bed, show that the seeds of the emergent structure in dune fields lie in the heterogeneity of the turbulence and bed shear stress fluctuations over the initially flatbed, and elucidate how large dunes at equilibrium give rise to energetic coherent structures and modify the spectra of turbulence. We also discuss future challenges and our vision for advancing a data-driven simulation-based engineering science approach for site-specific simulations of river flooding.

IQ Gains and the Binet Decrements.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flynn, James R.

1984-01-01

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

A Neuropsychological Approach to Understanding Risk-Taking for Potential Gains and Losses

PubMed Central

Levin, Irwin P.; Xue, Gui; Weller, Joshua A.; Reimann, Martin; Lauriola, Marco; Bechara, Antoine

2012-01-01

Affective neuroscience has helped guide research and theory development in judgment and decision-making by revealing the role of emotional processes in choice behavior, especially when risk is involved. Evidence is emerging that qualitatively and quantitatively different processes may be involved in risky decision-making for gains and losses. We start by reviewing behavioral work by Kahneman and Tversky (1979) and others, which shows that risk-taking differs for potential gains and potential losses. We then turn to the literature in decision neuroscience to support the gain versus loss distinction. Relying in part on data from a new task that separates risky decision-making for gains and losses, we test a neural model that assigns unique mechanisms for risky decision-making involving potential losses. Included are studies using patients with lesions to brain areas specified as important in the model and studies with healthy individuals whose brains are scanned to reveal activation in these and other areas during risky decision-making. In some cases, there is evidence that gains and losses are processed in different regions of the brain, while in other cases the same region appears to process risk in a different manner for gains and losses. At a more general level, we provide strong support for the notion that decisions involving risk-taking for gains and decisions involving risk-taking for losses represent different psychological processes. At a deeper level, we present mounting evidence that different neural structures play different roles in guiding risky choices in these different domains. Some structures are differentially activated by risky gains and risky losses while others respond uniquely in one domain or the other. Taken together, these studies support a clear functional dissociation between risk-taking for gains and risk-taking for losses, and further dissociation at the neural level. PMID:22347161

Examination of clinical and cognitive insight in acute schizophrenia patients.

PubMed

Greenberger, Cheryl; Serper, Mark R

2010-07-01

Lack of insight or awareness of illness is a hallmark feature of schizophrenic illness and has become an increasingly important area of investigation. Although clinical insight focuses on awareness of illness factors, the concept of cognitive insight focuses on the cognitive processes involved in correcting erroneous judgments and certainty about mistaken judgments. The present study was aimed at further investigating the clinical utility and the statistical coherence of the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) (Beck et al., 2004) in acute schizoaffective and schizophrenia (SZ) patients. The present study examined the internal consistency of the scale, as well as its discriminative and predictive validity relative to a well-established traditional measure of clinical insight in a sample of 50 DSM-IV diagnosed SZ patients, presenting for acute inpatient treatment. The BCIS was found to be an internally consistent and a coherent measure of cognitive insight. The BCIS was unassociated with clinical insight, indicating the 2 constructs share little empirical overlap. Cognitive insight was found to be inversely associated with patients' severity of autistic preoccupation symptoms such that those individuals with more cognitive insight, exhibited fewer autistic/cognitive symptoms. Patients' clinical insight, however, was found to be inversely associated specifically with patients' severity of depression. Additionally, clinical insight was also found to be more impaired in patients residing in nursing home environments relative to their counterparts living in less restrictive settings when outside the hospital. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship between clinical and cognitive insight constructs to SZ symptom domains.

New Insights in Tropospheric Ozone and its Variability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oman, Luke D.; Douglass, Anne R.; Ziemke, Jerry R.; Rodriquez, Jose M.

2011-01-01

We have produced time-slice simulations using the Goddard Earth Observing System Version 5 (GEOS-5) coupled to a comprehensive stratospheric and tropospheric chemical mechanism. These simulations are forced with observed sea surface temperatures over the past 25 years and use constant specified surface emissions, thereby providing a measure of the dynamically controlled ozone response. We examine the model performance in simulating tropospheric ozone and its variability. Here we show targeted comparisons results from our simulations with a multi-decadal tropical tropospheric column ozone dataset obtained from satellite observations of total column ozone. We use SHADOZ ozonesondes to gain insight into the observed vertical response and compare with the simulated vertical structure. This work includes but is not limited to ENSO related variability.

Affording shared responsibility for universal coverage: insights from California.

PubMed

Curtis, Rick; Neuschler, Ed

2009-01-01

This paper presents key insights from California's recent experience in developing a plan for universal health coverage with "shared responsibility" among individuals, employers, and governments. A major challenge was finding an acceptable balance among the goals of affordability, equity, and cost to the state. Although reform did not pass, the state's approach-particularly differences from Massachusetts regarding modest-income workers and related employer and public roles-provides important insights for federal reform.

How AGN Jets Heat the Intracluster Medium—Insights from Hydrodynamic Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, H.-Y. Karen; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2016-10-01

Feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is believed to prevent catastrophic cooling in galaxy clusters. However, how the feedback energy is transformed into heat, and how the AGN jets heat the intracluster medium (ICM) isotropically, still remain elusive. In this work, we gain insights into the relative importance of different heating mechanisms using three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations including cold gas accretion and momentum-driven jet feedback, which are the most successful models to date in terms of reproducing the properties of cool cores. We find that there is net heating within two “jet cones” (within ∼30° from the axis of jet precession) where the ICM gains entropy by shock heating and mixing with the hot thermal gas within bubbles. Outside the jet cones, the ambient gas is heated by weak shocks, but not enough to overcome radiative cooling, therefore, forming a “reduced” cooling flow. Consequently, the cluster core is in a process of “gentle circulation” over billions of years. Within the jet cones, there is significant adiabatic cooling as the gas is uplifted by buoyantly rising bubbles; outside the cones, energy is supplied by the inflow of already-heated gas from the jet cones as well as adiabatic compression as the gas moves toward the center. In other words, the fluid dynamics self-adjusts such that it compensates and transports the heat provided by the AGN, and hence no fine-tuning of the heating profile of any process is necessary. Throughout the cluster evolution, turbulent energy is only at the percent level compared to gas thermal energy, and thus turbulent heating is not the main source of heating in our simulation.

"Structure and dynamics in complex chemical systems: Gaining new insights through recent advances in time-resolved spectroscopies.” ACS Division of Physical Chemistry Symposium presented at the Fall National ACS Meeting in Boston, MA, August 2015

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

Crawford, Daniel

8-Session Symposium on STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS IN COMPLEX CHEMICAL SYSTEMS: GAINING NEW INSIGHTS THROUGH RECENT ADVANCES IN TIME-RESOLVED SPECTROSCOPIES. The intricacy of most chemical, biochemical, and material processes and their applications are underscored by the complex nature of the environments in which they occur. Substantial challenges for building a global understanding of a heterogeneous system include (1) identifying unique signatures associated with specific structural motifs within the heterogeneous distribution, and (2) resolving the significance of each of multiple time scales involved in both small- and large-scale nuclear reorganization. This symposium focuses on the progress in our understanding of dynamics inmore » complex systems driven by recent innovations in time-resolved spectroscopies and theoretical developments. Such advancement is critical for driving discovery at the molecular level facilitating new applications. Broad areas of interest include: Structural relaxation and the impact of structure on dynamics in liquids, interfaces, biochemical systems, materials, and other heterogeneous environments.« less

Postnatal Weight Gain Modifies Severity and Functional Outcome of Oxygen-Induced Proliferative Retinopathy

PubMed Central

Stahl, Andreas; Chen, Jing; Sapieha, Przemyslaw; Seaward, Molly R.; Krah, Nathan M.; Dennison, Roberta J.; Favazza, Tara; Bucher, Felicitas; Löfqvist, Chatarina; Ong, Huy; Hellström, Ann; Chemtob, Sylvain; Akula, James D.; Smith, Lois E.H.

2010-01-01

In clinical studies, postnatal weight gain is strongly associated with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). However, animal studies are needed to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms of how postnatal weight gain affects the severity of ROP. In the present study, we identify nutritional supply as one potent parameter that affects the extent of retinopathy in mice with identical birth weights and the same genetic background. Wild-type pups with poor postnatal nutrition and poor weight gain (PWG) exhibit a remarkably prolonged phase of retinopathy compared to medium weight gain or extensive weight gain pups. A high (r2 = 0.83) parabolic association between postnatal weight gain and oxygen-induced retinopathy severity is observed, as is a significantly prolonged phase of proliferative retinopathy in PWG pups (20 days) compared with extensive weight gain pups (6 days). The extended retinopathy is concomitant with prolonged overexpression of retinal vascular endothelial growth factor in PWG pups. Importantly, PWG pups show low serum levels of nonfasting glucose, insulin, and insulin-like growth factor-1 as well as high levels of ghrelin in the early postoxygen-induced retinopathy phase, a combination indicative of poor metabolic supply. These differences translate into visual deficits in adult PWG mice, as demonstrated by impaired bipolar and proximal neuronal function. Together, these results provide evidence for a pathophysiological correlation between poor postnatal nutritional supply, slow weight gain, prolonged retinal vascular endothelial growth factor overexpression, protracted retinopathy, and reduced final visual outcome. PMID:21056995

Postnatal weight gain modifies severity and functional outcome of oxygen-induced proliferative retinopathy.

PubMed

Stahl, Andreas; Chen, Jing; Sapieha, Przemyslaw; Seaward, Molly R; Krah, Nathan M; Dennison, Roberta J; Favazza, Tara; Bucher, Felicitas; Löfqvist, Chatarina; Ong, Huy; Hellström, Ann; Chemtob, Sylvain; Akula, James D; Smith, Lois E H

2010-12-01

In clinical studies, postnatal weight gain is strongly associated with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). However, animal studies are needed to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms of how postnatal weight gain affects the severity of ROP. In the present study, we identify nutritional supply as one potent parameter that affects the extent of retinopathy in mice with identical birth weights and the same genetic background. Wild-type pups with poor postnatal nutrition and poor weight gain (PWG) exhibit a remarkably prolonged phase of retinopathy compared to medium weight gain or extensive weight gain pups. A high (r(2) = 0.83) parabolic association between postnatal weight gain and oxygen-induced retinopathy severity is observed, as is a significantly prolonged phase of proliferative retinopathy in PWG pups (20 days) compared with extensive weight gain pups (6 days). The extended retinopathy is concomitant with prolonged overexpression of retinal vascular endothelial growth factor in PWG pups. Importantly, PWG pups show low serum levels of nonfasting glucose, insulin, and insulin-like growth factor-1 as well as high levels of ghrelin in the early postoxygen-induced retinopathy phase, a combination indicative of poor metabolic supply. These differences translate into visual deficits in adult PWG mice, as demonstrated by impaired bipolar and proximal neuronal function. Together, these results provide evidence for a pathophysiological correlation between poor postnatal nutritional supply, slow weight gain, prolonged retinal vascular endothelial growth factor overexpression, protracted retinopathy, and reduced final visual outcome.

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

PubMed

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

2010-12-01

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

Insights into abnormal hemostasis in the Quebec platelet disorder from analyses of clot lysis.

PubMed

Diamandis, M; Adam, F; Kahr, W H A; Wang, P; Chorneyko, K A; Arsenault, A L; Rivard, G E; Hayward, C P M

2006-05-01

The Quebec platelet disorder (QPD) is inherited and characterized by delayed-onset bleeding following hemostatic challenge. Other characteristics include increased expression and storage of active urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) in platelets in the setting of normal to increased u-PA in plasma. There is also consumption of platelet plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and increased generation of plasmin in platelets accompanied by proteolysis of stored alpha-granule proteins, including Factor V. Although fibrinolysis has been proposed to contribute to QPD bleeding, the effects of QPD blood and platelets on clot lysis have not been evaluated. We used thromboelastography (TEG), biochemical evaluations of whole blood clot lysis, assessments of clot ultrastructure, and perfusion of blood over preformed fibrin to gain insights into the disturbed hemostasis in the QPD. Thromboelastography was not sensitive to the increased u-PA in QPD blood. However, there was abnormal plasmin generation in QPD whole blood clots, generated at low shear, with biochemical evidence of increased fibrinolysis. The incorporation of QPD platelets into a forming clot led to progressive disruption of fibrin and platelet aggregates unless drugs were added to inhibit plasmin. In whole blood perfusion studies, QPD platelets showed normal adherence to fibrin, but their adhesion was followed by accelerated fibrinolysis. The QPD is associated with "gain-of-function" abnormalities that increase the lysis of forming or preformed clots. These findings suggest accelerated fibrinolysis is an important contributor to QPD bleeding.

Proteomics of eukaryotic microorganisms: The medically and biotechnologically important fungal genus Aspergillus.

PubMed

Kniemeyer, Olaf

2011-08-01

Fungal species of the genus Aspergillus play significant roles as model organisms in basic research, as "cell factories" for the production of organic acids, pharmaceuticals or industrially important enzymes and as pathogens causing superficial and invasive infections in animals and humans. The release of the genome sequences of several Aspergillus sp. has paved the way for global analyses of protein expression in Aspergilli including the characterisation of proteins, which have not designated any function. With the application of proteomic methods, particularly 2-D gel and LC-MS/MS-based methods, first insights into the composition of the proteome of Aspergilli under different growth and stress conditions could be gained. Putative targets of global regulators led to the improvement of industrially relevant Aspergillus strains and so far not described Aspergillus antigens have already been discovered. Here, I review the recent proteome data generated for the species Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus oryzae. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Learner Agency and Non-Native Speaker Identity in Pedagogical Lingua Franca Conversations: Insights from Intercultural Telecollaboration in Foreign Language Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kohn, Kurt; Hoffstaedter, Petra

2017-01-01

This article discusses insights gained from a case study on telecollaboration for intercultural communication in foreign language school contexts. Focus was on non-native English and German lingua franca conversations between pairs of students (aged 14-16, B1 level) from schools in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Telecollaboration…

Trends and determinants of weight gains among OECD countries: an ecological study.

PubMed

Nghiem, S; Vu, X-B; Barnett, A

2018-06-01

Obesity has become a global issue with abundant evidence to indicate that the prevalence of obesity in many nations has increased over time. The literature also reports a strong association between obesity and economic development, but the trend that obesity growth rates may converge over time has not been examined. We propose a conceptual framework and conduct an ecological analysis on the relationship between economic development and weight gain. We also test the hypothesis that weight gain converges among countries over time and examine determinants of weight gains. This is a longitudinal study of 34 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in the years 1980-2008 using publicly available data. We apply a dynamic economic growth model to test the hypothesis that the rate of weight gains across countries may converge over time. We also investigate the determinants of weight gains using a longitudinal regression tree analysis. We do not find evidence that the growth rates of body weight across countries converged for all countries. However, there were groups of countries in which the growth rates of body weight converge, with five groups for males and seven groups for females. The predicted growth rates of body weight peak when gross domestic product (GDP) per capita reaches US$47,000 for males and US$37,000 for females in OECD countries. National levels of consumption of sugar, fat and alcohol were the most important contributors to national weight gains. National weight gains follow an inverse U-shape curve with economic development. Excessive calorie intake is the main contributor to weight gains. Copyright © 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Video analysis for insight and coding: Examples from tutorials in introductory physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherr, Rachel E.

2009-12-01

The increasing ease of video recording offers new opportunities to create richly detailed records of classroom activities. These recordings, in turn, call for research methodologies that balance generalizability with interpretive validity. This paper shares methodology for two practices of video analysis: (1) gaining insight into specific brief classroom episodes and (2) developing and applying a systematic observational protocol for a relatively large corpus of video data. These two aspects of analytic practice are illustrated in the context of a particular research interest but are intended to serve as general suggestions.

Convergent Evolution towards High Net Carbon Gain Efficiency Contributes to the Shade Tolerance of Palms (Arecaceae).

PubMed

Ma, Ren-Yi; Zhang, Jiao-Lin; Cavaleri, Molly A; Sterck, Frank; Strijk, Joeri S; Cao, Kun-Fang

2015-01-01

Most palm species occur in the shaded lower strata of tropical rain forests, but how their traits relate to shade adaptation is poorly understood. We hypothesized that palms are adapted to the shade of their native habitats by convergent evolution towards high net carbon gain efficiency (CGEn), which is given by the maximum photosynthetic rate to dark respiration rate ratio. Leaf mass per area, maximum photosynthetic rate, dark respiration and N and P concentrations were measured in 80 palm species grown in a common garden, and combined with data of 30 palm species growing in their native habitats. Compared to other species from the global leaf economics data, dicotyledonous broad-leaved trees in tropical rainforest or other monocots in the global leaf economics data, palms possessed consistently higher CGEn, achieved by lowered dark respiration and fairly high foliar P concentration. Combined phylogenetic analyses of evolutionary signal and trait evolution revealed convergent evolution towards high CGEn in palms. We conclude that high CGEn is an evolutionary strategy that enables palms to better adapt to shady environments than coexisting dicot tree species, and may convey advantages in competing with them in the tropical forest understory. These findings provide important insights for understanding the evolution and ecology of palms, and for understanding plant shade adaptations of lower rainforest strata. Moreover, given the dominant role of palms in tropical forests, these findings are important for modelling carbon and nutrient cycling in tropical forest ecosystems.

Current saturation and voltage gain in bilayer graphene field effect transistors.

PubMed

Szafranek, B N; Fiori, G; Schall, D; Neumaier, D; Kurz, H

2012-03-14

The emergence of graphene with its unique electrical properties has triggered hopes in the electronic devices community regarding its exploitation as a channel material in field effect transistors. Graphene is especially promising for devices working at frequencies in the 100 GHz range. So far, graphene field effect transistors (GFETs) have shown cutoff frequencies up to 300 GHz, while exhibiting poor voltage gains, another important figure of merit for analog high frequency applications. In the present work, we show that the voltage gain of GFETs can be improved significantly by using bilayer graphene, where a band gap is introduced through a vertical electric displacement field. At a displacement field of -1.7 V/nm the bilayer GFETs exhibit an intrinsic voltage gain up to 35, a factor of 6 higher than the voltage gain in corresponding monolayer GFETs. The transconductance, which limits the cutoff frequency of a transistor, is not degraded by the displacement field and is similar in both monolayer and bilayer GFETs. Using numerical simulations based on an atomistic p(z) tight-binding Hamiltonian we demonstrate that this approach can be extended to sub-100 nm gate lengths. © 2012 American Chemical Society

Using Item Response Theory to Evaluate LSCI Learning Gains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlingman, Wayne M.; Prather, E. E.; Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars CATS

2012-01-01

Analyzing the data from the recent national study using the Light and Spectroscopy Concept Inventory (LSCI), this project uses Item Response Theory (IRT) to investigate the learning gains of students as measured by the LSCI. IRT provides a theoretical model to generate parameters accounting for students’ abilities. We use IRT to measure changes in students’ abilities to reason about light from pre- to post-instruction. Changes in students’ abilities are compared by classroom to better understand the learning that is taking place in classrooms across the country. We compare the average change in ability for each classroom to the Interactivity Assessment Score (IAS) to provide further insight into the prior results presented from this data set. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Assessing computerized eye tracking technology for gaining insight into expert interpretation of the 12-lead electrocardiogram: an objective quantitative approach.

PubMed

Bond, R R; Zhu, T; Finlay, D D; Drew, B; Kligfield, P D; Guldenring, D; Breen, C; Gallagher, A G; Daly, M J; Clifford, G D

2014-01-01

It is well known that accurate interpretation of the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) requires a high degree of skill. There is also a moderate degree of variability among those who interpret the ECG. While this is the case, there are no best practice guidelines for the actual ECG interpretation process. Hence, this study adopts computerized eye tracking technology to investigate whether eye-gaze can be used to gain a deeper insight into how expert annotators interpret the ECG. Annotators were recruited in San Jose, California at the 2013 International Society of Computerised Electrocardiology (ISCE). Each annotator was recruited to interpret a number of 12-lead ECGs (N=12) while their eye gaze was recorded using a Tobii X60 eye tracker. The device is based on corneal reflection and is non-intrusive. With a sampling rate of 60Hz, eye gaze coordinates were acquired every 16.7ms. Fixations were determined using a predefined computerized classification algorithm, which was then used to generate heat maps of where the annotators looked. The ECGs used in this study form four groups (3=ST elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI], 3=hypertrophy, 3=arrhythmias and 3=exhibiting unique artefacts). There was also an equal distribution of difficulty levels (3=easy to interpret, 3=average and 3=difficult). ECGs were displayed using the 4x3+1 display format and computerized annotations were concealed. Precisely 252 expert ECG interpretations (21 annotators×12 ECGs) were recorded. Average duration for ECG interpretation was 58s (SD=23). Fleiss' generalized kappa coefficient (Pa=0.56) indicated a moderate inter-rater reliability among the annotators. There was a 79% inter-rater agreement for STEMI cases, 71% agreement for arrhythmia cases, 65% for the lead misplacement and dextrocardia cases and only 37% agreement for the hypertrophy cases. In analyzing the total fixation duration, it was found that on average annotators study lead V1 the most (4.29s), followed by leads V2 (3.83s

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

PubMed

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

2013-05-01

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

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2018-01-01

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

Understanding public preferences for prioritizing health care interventions in England: does the type of health gain matter?

PubMed

Mason, Helen; Baker, Rachel; Donaldson, Cam

2011-04-01

Health care budgets are finite and decisions must be made about which interventions to provide and, by implication, which will not be provided. The aim of this study was to investigate what features of health care interventions, including the type of health gain, are important to members of the public in England in making priority-setting decisions and to understand why. Q methodology was used with 52 members of the public in north east England. Respondents rank ordered 36 health care interventions from those they would give highest priority to through to those they would give lowest priority to. A form of factor analysis was used to reveal a small number of shared viewpoints. Five factors emerged: 'life saving to maximize the size of the health gain', 'everyone deserves a chance at life', '(potential for) own benefit', 'maximum benefit for (perceived) lowest cost' and 'quality of life and social responsibility'. There were different views about which interventions should be given priority. Respondents considered not only the type of health gain received from an intervention as important, but also the size of the health gain, who received the health gain and an individual's personal responsibility. Aspects other than health gain need to be considered when soliciting the public's views of priorities for health care interventions.

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

PubMed

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

2013-01-01

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

The importance of immunohistochemical analyses in evaluating the phenotype of Kv channel knockout mice.

PubMed

Menegola, Milena; Clark, Eliana; Trimmer, James S

2012-06-01

To gain insights into the phenotype of voltage-gated potassium (Kv)1.1 and Kv4.2 knockout mice, we used immunohistochemistry to analyze the expression of component principal or α subunits and auxiliary subunits of neuronal Kv channels in knockout mouse brains. Genetic ablation of the Kv1.1 α subunit did not result in compensatory changes in the expression levels or subcellular distribution of related ion channel subunits in hippocampal medial perforant path and mossy fiber nerve terminals, where high levels of Kv1.1 are normally expressed. Genetic ablation of the Kv4.2 α subunit did not result in altered neuronal cytoarchitecture of the hippocampus. Although Kv4.2 knockout mice did not exhibit compensatory changes in the expression levels or subcellular distribution of the related Kv4.3 α subunit, we found dramatic decreases in the cellular and subcellular expression of specific Kv channel interacting proteins (KChIPs) that reflected their degree of association and colocalization with Kv4.2 in wild-type mouse and rat brains. These studies highlight the insights that can be gained by performing detailed immunohistochemical analyses of Kv channel knockout mouse brains. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2012 International League Against Epilepsy.

Association between insight, cognitive insight, positive symptoms and violence in patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Ekinci, Okan; Ekinci, Asli

2013-04-01

Violence is a significant clinical and public concern and is a frequent occurrence in patients with schizophrenia. The relationship between insight and violence remains controversial. In addition, there is a lack of research on insight, cognitive insight, demographic and psychopathologic variables in violent versus nonviolent schizophrenia patients. We aimed to compare insight, cognitive insight, psychopathological and demographic variables in violent and nonviolent subjects suffering from schizophrenia. In addition, we aimed to determine the demographic and clinical predictors of violent behaviour in patients with schizophrenia. We recruited 133 schizophrenic patients without concomitant substance abuse or axis II disorder. Diagnoses were based on the SCID-I and SCID-II. Violent behaviours were assessed using the Overt Aggression Scale. Insight and cognitive insight were assessed with the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder and the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale, respectively. We compared 47 patients with violent schizophrenia with 86 nonviolent patients. Non-violent patients had more severe depression, lower scores on positive symptoms, better clinical insight, more self-reflectivity and higher R-C index scores than did violent patients. In addition, history of violence, lower self-reflectiveness, worse clinical insight and delusion severity were significant predictors of violence in schizophrenia. The present study suggests that the inclusion of insight and cognitive insight may increase the prediction of violence in this population. In addition, clinicians should consider using non-pharmacological techniques that are based on cognitive behaviour therapy and enhance insight, particularly cognitive insight, among patients with schizophrenia who exhibit violent behaviour.

Neuroimaging Insights into the Pathophysiology of Sleep Disorders

PubMed Central

Desseilles, Martin; Dang-Vu, Thanh; Schabus, Manuel; Sterpenich, Virginie; Maquet, Pierre; Schwartz, Sophie

2008-01-01

Neuroimaging methods can be used to investigate whether sleep disorders are associated with specific changes in brain structure or regional activity. However, it is still unclear how these new data might improve our understanding of the pathophysiology underlying adult sleep disorders. Here we review functional brain imaging findings in major intrinsic sleep disorders (i.e., idiopathic insomnia, narcolepsy, and obstructive sleep apnea) and in abnormal motor behavior during sleep (i.e., periodic limb movement disorder and REM sleep behavior disorder). The studies reviewed include neuroanatomical assessments (voxel-based morphometry, magnetic resonance spectroscopy), metabolic/functional investigations (positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging), and ligand marker measurements. Based on the current state of the research, we suggest that brain imaging is a useful approach to assess the structural and functional correlates of sleep impairments as well as better understand the cerebral consequences of various therapeutic approaches. Modern neuroimaging techniques therefore provide a valuable tool to gain insight into possible pathophysiological mechanisms of sleep disorders in adult humans. Citation: Desseilles M; Dang-Vu TD; Schabus M; Sterpenich V; Maquet P; Schwartz S. Neuroimaging insights into the pathophysiology of sleep disorders. SLEEP 2008;31(6):777–794. PMID:18548822

Insights on activation enthalpy for non-Schmid slip in body-centered cubic metals

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

Hale, Lucas M.; Lim, Hojun; Zimmerman, Jonathan A.

2014-12-18

We use insights gained from atomistic simulation to develop an activation enthalpy model for dislocation slip in body-centered cubic iron. Furthermore, using a classical potential that predicts dislocation core stabilities consistent with ab initio predictions, we quantify the non-Schmid stress-dependent effects of slip. The kink-pair activation enthalpy is evaluated and a model is identified as a function of the general stress state. Thus, our model enlarges the applicability of the classic Kocks activation enthalpy model to materials with non-Schmid behavior.

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

PubMed

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

2018-06-01

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

Can LENR Energy Gains Exceed 1000?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagel, David J.

2011-03-01

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

Predictors of Language Gains Among School-Age Children With Language Impairment in the Public Schools.

PubMed

Justice, Laura M; Jiang, Hui; Logan, Jessica A; Schmitt, Mary Beth

2017-06-10

This study aimed to identify child-level characteristics that predict gains in language skills for children with language impairment who were receiving therapy within the public schools. The therapy provided represented business-as-usual speech/language treatment provided by speech-language pathologists in the public schools. The sample included 272 kindergartners and first-graders with language impairment who participated in a larger study titled "Speech-Therapy Experiences in the Public Schools." Multilevel regression analyses were applied to examine the extent to which select child-level characteristics, including age, nonverbal cognition, memory, phonological awareness, vocabulary, behavior problems, and self-regulation, predicted children's language gains over an academic year. Pratt indices were computed to establish the relative importance of the predictors of interest. Phonological awareness and vocabulary skill related to greater gains in language skills, and together they accounted for nearly 70% of the explained variance, or 10% of total variance at child level. Externalizing behavior, nonverbal cognition, and age were also potentially important predictors of language gains. This study significantly advances our understanding of the characteristics of children that may contribute to their language gains while receiving therapy in the public schools. Researchers can explore how these characteristics may serve to moderate treatment outcomes, whereas clinicians can assess how these characteristics may factor into understanding treatment responses.

Controlling gain one photon at a time

PubMed Central

Schwartz, Gregory W; Rieke, Fred

2013-01-01

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

Regional Homogeneity Predicts Creative Insight: A Resting-State fMRI Study.

PubMed

Lin, Jiabao; Cui, Xuan; Dai, Xiaoying; Mo, Lei

2018-01-01

Creative insight plays an important role in our daily life. Previous studies have investigated the neural correlates of creative insight by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), however, the intrinsic resting-state brain activity associated with creative insight is still unclear. In the present study, we used regional homogeneity (ReHo) as an index in resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) to identify brain regions involved in individual differences in creative insight, which was compued by the response time (RT) of creative Chinese character chunk decomposition. The findings indicated that ReHo in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)/caudate nucleus (CN) and angular gyrus (AG)/superior temporal gyrus (STG)/inferior parietal lobe (IPL) negatively predicted creative insight. Furthermore, these findings suggested that spontaneous brain activity in multiple regions related to breaking and establishing mental sets, goal-directed solutions exploring, shifting attention, forming new associations and emotion experience contributes to creative insight. In conclusion, the present study provides new evidence to further understand the cognitive processing and neural correlates of creative insight.

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

PubMed Central

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

2015-01-01

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

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

PubMed Central

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

2013-01-01

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

The influence of place on weight gain during early childhood: a population-based, longitudinal study.

PubMed

Carter, Megan Ann; Dubois, Lise; Tremblay, Mark S; Taljaard, Monica

2013-04-01

The objective of this paper was to determine the influence of place factors on weight gain in a contemporary cohort of children while also adjusting for early life and individual/family social factors. Participants from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development comprised the sample for analysis (n = 1,580). A mixed-effects regression analysis was conducted to determine the longitudinal relationship between these place factors and standardized BMI, from age 4 to 10 years. The average relationship with time was found to be quadratic (rate of weight gain increased over time). Neighborhood material deprivation was found to be positively related to weight gain. Social deprivation, social disorder, and living in a medium density area were inversely related, while no association was found for social cohesion. Early life factors and genetic proxies appeared to be important in explaining weight gain in this sample. This study suggests that residential environments may play a role in childhood weight change; however, pathways are likely to be complex and interacting and perhaps not as important as early life factors and genetic proxies. Further work is required to clarify these relationships.

Cognitive insight in schizophrenia patients and their biological parents: a pilot study.

PubMed

Raffard, Stéphane; Bortolon, Catherine; Macgregor, Alexandra; Norton, Joanna; Boulenger, Jean-Philippe; El Haj, Mohamad; Capdevielle, Delphine

2014-11-01

Clinical insight in schizophrenia patients is partly associated with familial environment but has been poorly studied to date. We aimed to explore (1) the relationship between parents' cognitive insight and their offspring's; (2) the relationship between parents' cognitive insight and their clinical insight into the disease of their offspring; and (3) the clinical and cognitive determinants of cognitive insight in parents. Cognitive insight was assessed in 37 patient-biological parent pairs/dyads with the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS). Other measures included the Scale to assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder and cognitive assessments. We found no significant association between parents' cognitive insight and their offspring's. Conversely, a positive association between parents' cognitive insight and parents' insight into their offspring's symptoms was found. Better awareness of their offspring's specific symptoms was associated with lower levels of overconfidence in one's beliefs and with BCIS total score. BCIS Self-Certainty and BCIS total score were associated with better executive functioning and verbal comprehension. Better insight into their offspring's symptoms is associated with cognitive insight in biological parents of schizophrenia patients. Our results support the integration of cognitive intervention targeting parents' cognitive flexibility in family psychoeducational programs and provide an important first step towards developing a more refined understanding of the factors involved in insight into symptoms of illness in parents of schizophrenia patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Kohler's Insight Revisited.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Windholtz, George

1985-01-01

Psychology textbooks frequently present Wolfgang Kohler's two-stick experiment with chimpanzees as having demonstrated insight in learning. Studies that replicated Kohler's work support his findings but not his interpretation in terms of insightful solution. The uncritical inclusion of Kohler's insight interpretation in texts is not warranted in…

Application of automatic gain control for radiometer diagnostic in SST-1 tokamak.

PubMed

Makwana, Foram R; Siju, Varsha; Edappala, Praveenlal; Pathak, S K

2017-12-01

This paper describes the characterisation of a negative feedback type of automatic gain control (AGC) circuit that will be an integral part of the heterodyne radiometer system operating at a frequency range of 75-86 GHz at SST-1 tokamak. The developed AGC circuit is a combination of variable gain amplifier and log amplifier which provides both gain and attenuation typically up to 15 dB and 45 dB, respectively, at a fixed set point voltage and it has been explored for the first time in tokamak radiometry application. The other important characteristics are that it exhibits a very fast response time of 390 ns to understand the fast dynamics of electron cyclotron emission and can operate at very wide input RF power dynamic range of around 60 dB that ensures signal level within the dynamic range of the detection system.

Modification of saccadic gain by reinforcement

PubMed Central

Paeye, Céline; Wallman, Josh

2011-01-01

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

A Temperature-Based Gain Calibration Technique for Precision Radiometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parashare, Chaitali Ravindra

Detecting extremely weak signals in radio astronomy demands high sensitivity and stability of the receivers. The gain of a typical radio astronomy receiver is extremely large, and therefore, even very small gain instabilities can dominate the received noise power and degrade the instrument sensitivity. Hence, receiver stabilization is of prime importance. Gain variations occur mainly due to ambient temperature fluctuations. We take a new approach to receiver stabilization, which makes use of active temperature monitoring and corrects for the gain fluctuations in post processing. This approach is purely passive and does not include noise injection or switching for calibration. This system is to be used for the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER), which is being developed to detect the extremely faint neutral hydrogen (HI) signature of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). The epoch of reionization refers to the period in the history of the Universe when the first stars and galaxies started to form. When there are N antenna elements in the case of a large scale array, all elements may not be subjected to the same environmental conditions at a given time. Hence, we expect to mitigate the gain variations by monitoring the physical temperature of each element of the array. This stabilization approach will also benefit experiments like EDGES (Experiment to Detect the Global EoR Signature) and DARE (Dark Ages Radio Explorer), which involve a direct measurement of the global 21 cm signal using a single antenna element and hence, require an extremely stable system. This dissertation focuses on the development and evaluation of a calibration technique that compensates for the gain variations caused due to temperature fluctuations of the RF components. It carefully examines the temperature dependence of the components in the receiver chain. The results from the first-order field instrument, called a Gainometer (GoM), highlight the issue with the cable

Variable gain for a wind turbine pitch control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seidel, R. C.; Birchenough, A. G.

1981-01-01

The gain variation is made in the software logic of the pitch angle controller. The gain level is changed depending upon the level of power error. The control uses low gain for low pitch activity the majority of the time. If the power exceeds ten percent offset above rated, the gain is increased to a higher gain to more effectively limit power. A variable gain control functioned well in tests on the Mod-0 wind turbine.

Historical account on gaining insights on the mechanism of crown gall tumorigenesis induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens

PubMed Central

Kado, Clarence I.

2014-01-01

The plant tumor disease known as crown gall was not called by that name until more recent times. Galls on plants were described by Malpighi (1679) who believed that these extraordinary growth are spontaneously produced. Agrobacterium was first isolated from tumors in 1897 by Fridiano Cavara in Napoli, Italy. After this bacterium was recognized to be the cause of crown gall disease, questions were raised on the mechanism by which it caused tumors on a variety of plants. Numerous very detailed studies led to the identification of Agrobacterium tumefaciens as the causal bacterium that cleverly transferred a genetic principle to plant host cells and integrated it into their chromosomes. Such studies have led to a variety of sophisticated mechanisms used by this organism to aid in its survival against competing microorganisms. Knowledge gained from these fundamental discoveries has opened many avenues for researchers to examine their primary organisms of study for similar mechanisms of pathogenesis in both plants and animals. These discoveries also advanced the genetic engineering of domesticated plants for improved food and fiber. PMID:25147542

Computer algorithm for coding gain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dodd, E. E.

1974-01-01

Development of a computer algorithm for coding gain for use in an automated communications link design system. Using an empirical formula which defines coding gain as used in space communications engineering, an algorithm is constructed on the basis of available performance data for nonsystematic convolutional encoding with soft-decision (eight-level) Viterbi decoding.

Association of Gestational Weight Gain With Maternal and Infant Outcomes

PubMed Central

Goldstein, Rebecca F.; Abell, Sally K.; Ranasinha, Sanjeeva; Misso, Marie; Boyle, Jacqueline A.; Black, Mary Helen; Li, Nan; Hu, Gang; Corrado, Francesco; Rode, Line; Kim, Young Ju; Haugen, Margaretha; Song, Won O.; Kim, Min Hyoung; Bogaerts, Annick; Devlieger, Roland; Chung, Judith H.

2017-01-01

Importance Body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain are increasing globally. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) provided specific recommendations regarding the ideal gestational weight gain. However, the association between gestational weight gain consistent with theIOM guidelines and pregnancy outcomes is unclear. Objective To perform a systematic review, meta-analysis, and metaregression to evaluate associations between gestational weight gain above or below the IOM guidelines (gain of 12.5-18 kg for underweight women [BMI <18.5]; 11.5-16 kg for normal-weight women [BMI 18.5-24.9]; 7-11 kg for overweight women [BMI 25-29.9]; and 5-9 kg for obese women [BMI ≥30]) and maternal and infant outcomes. Data Sources and Study Selection Search of EMBASE, Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews, MEDLINE, and MEDLINE In-Process between January 1, 1999, and February 7, 2017, for observational studies stratified by prepregnancy BMI category and total gestational weight gain. Data Extraction and Synthesis Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers. Odds ratios (ORs) and absolute risk differences (ARDs) per live birth were calculated using a random-effects model based on a subset of studies with available data. Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcomes were small for gestational age (SGA), preterm birth, and large for gestational age (LGA). Secondary outcomes were macrosomia, cesarean delivery, and gestational diabetes mellitus. Results Of 5354 identified studies, 23 (n = 1 309 136 women) met inclusion criteria. Gestational weight gain was below or above guidelines in 23% and 47% of pregnancies, respectively. Gestational weight gain below the recommendations was associated with higher risk of SGA (OR, 1.53 [95% CI, 1.44-1.64]; ARD, 5% [95% CI, 4%-6%]) and preterm birth (OR, 1.70 [1.32-2.20]; ARD, 5% [3%-8%]) and lower risk of LGA (OR, 0.59 [0.55-0.64]; ARD, −2% [−10% to −6%]) and macrosomia (OR, 0.60 [0.52-0.68]; ARD, −2% [−3% to −1

Insights into software development in Japan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duvall, Lorraine M.

1992-01-01

The interdependence of the U.S.-Japanese economies makes it imperative that we in the United States understand how business and technology developments take place in Japan. We can gain insight into these developments in software engineering by studying the context in which Japanese software is developed, the practices that are used, the problems encountered, the setting surrounding these problems, and the resolution of these problems. Context includes the technological and sociological characteristics of the software development environment, the software processes applied, personnel involved in the development process, and the corporate and social culture surrounding the development. Presented in this paper is a summary of results of a study that addresses these issues. Data for this study was collected during a three month visit to Japan where the author interviewed 20 software managers representing nine companies involved in developing software in Japan. These data are compared to similar data from the United States in which 12 managers from five companies were interviewed.

Gaining Insight into an Organization's Fixed Assets.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardy, Elisabet

2003-01-01

Discusses issues related to school district implementation of June 2001 Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 34 designed to change how schools report fixed assets. Includes planning for GASB implementation, conducting fixed-asset inventories, and making time for GASB reporting. (PKP)

Gaining Insight into Hispanic Students' Postsecondary Plans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Neel A.

2012-01-01

While the growth of the Hispanic population in the United States is outpacing other ethnicities, college enrollment and graduation rates of Hispanic students continue to lag behind other groups. This longitudinal, qualitative case study explored when, how, and why a sample of Hispanic high school seniors at a large high school in North Central…

Adaptive Gain-based Stable Power Smoothing of a DFIG

DOE PAGES

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

2017-11-01

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

Adaptive Gain-based Stable Power Smoothing of a DFIG

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

Muljadi, Eduard; Lee, Hyewon; Hwang, Min

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

Advanced imaging in COPD: insights into pulmonary pathophysiology

PubMed Central

Milne, Stephen

2014-01-01

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) involves a complex interaction of structural and functional abnormalities. The two have long been studied in isolation. However, advanced imaging techniques allow us to simultaneously assess pathological processes and their physiological consequences. This review gives a comprehensive account of the various advanced imaging modalities used to study COPD, including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the nuclear medicine techniques positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Some more recent developments in imaging technology, including micro-CT, synchrotron imaging, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and electrical impedance tomography (EIT), are also described. The authors identify the pathophysiological insights gained from these techniques, and speculate on the future role of advanced imaging in both clinical and research settings. PMID:25478198

Direct measurements of fluorine atom concentration, gain length and small signal gain in an hydrogen fluoride overtone laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wisniewski, Charles F.; Hewett, Kevin B.; Manke, Gerald C., II; Randall Truman, C.; Hager, Gordon D.

2003-03-01

Experimental techniques have been developed to directly measure the concentration of fluorine atoms, the gain length and the small signal gain in a hydrogen fluoride 5 cm slit nozzle laser. A gas phase titration technique was utilized to measure the fluorine atom concentration using HCl as the titrant. The gain length was measured using a pitot probe to locate the interface of the primary flow with the high Mach number shroud flows. A tunable diode laser was utilized to perform small signal gain measurements on HF overtone ( ν=2→0) transitions.

Gene expression analysis of aquatic angiosperms podostemaceae to gain insight into the evolution of their enigmatic morphology.

PubMed

Koi, Satoshi; Katayama, Natsu

2013-01-01

Podostemaceae is a family of aquatic angiosperms growing submerged on rocks in fast-flowing water and called moss-like or alga-like riverweeds. It evolved remarkable innovations to adapt to such an extreme environment, one of which is reduced shoots borne on roots adhering to rock surface. Recent observations revealed that the basal subfamily Tristichoideae, like most other angiosperms, has typical shoot apical meristems (SAMs). In species of the subfamily Podostemoideae, however, shoot apical meristems (SAMs) are not formed during development and new leaves arise from the meristematic basal region of preexisting leaves. The genetic basis of this shoot organogenesis process, e.g., the expression patterns of genes homologous to transcription factors regulating shoot development, is essential to better understand the evolution of Podostemaceae. A gene expression analysis found that the SAM-less Podostemoideae leaf has mixed identity of SAM and leaf, and provided insight into the evolution of the shoot in Podostemaceae.

Polyurethane foam pica in a patient with excessive interdialytic weight gain

PubMed Central

Iyasere, Osasuyi; Allington, Ying; Cafferkey, Michele

2010-01-01

Maintaining fluid balance in haemodialysis patients is important because of the adverse effects of excessive interdialytic weight gain. This often requires fluid restriction that patients often struggle with. We report a case of a 31-year-old female diabetic patient on haemodialysis with repeated excessive interdialytic weight gains despite fluid restriction and dry weight adjustment. It was subsequently discovered that she devised an unusual, albeit unsuccessful, strategy of eating the polyurethane foam from her dialysis chair while increasing her fluid intake hoping that it would absorb excess water in the gut! This under-diagnosed phenomenon known as pica has been reported in renal patients with substances such as ice, clay and baking soda. PMID:22767521

Transcriptomes and expression profiling of deep-sea corals from the Red Sea provide insight into the biology of azooxanthellate corals.

PubMed

Yum, Lauren K; Baumgarten, Sebastian; Röthig, Till; Roder, Cornelia; Roik, Anna; Michell, Craig; Voolstra, Christian R

2017-07-25

Despite the importance of deep-sea corals, our current understanding of their ecology and evolution is limited due to difficulties in sampling and studying deep-sea environments. Moreover, a recent re-evaluation of habitat limitations has been suggested after characterization of deep-sea corals in the Red Sea, where they live at temperatures of above 20 °C at low oxygen concentrations. To gain further insight into the biology of deep-sea corals, we produced reference transcriptomes and studied gene expression of three deep-sea coral species from the Red Sea, i.e. Dendrophyllia sp., Eguchipsammia fistula, and Rhizotrochus typus. Our analyses suggest that deep-sea coral employ mitochondrial hypometabolism and anaerobic glycolysis to manage low oxygen conditions present in the Red Sea. Notably, we found expression of genes related to surface cilia motion that presumably enhance small particle transport rates in the oligotrophic deep-sea environment. This is the first study to characterize transcriptomes and in situ gene expression for deep-sea corals. Our work offers several mechanisms by which deep-sea corals might cope with the distinct environmental conditions present in the Red Sea As such, our data provide direction for future research and further insight to organismal response of deep-sea coral to environmental change and ocean warming.

Gain-phase modulation in chirped-pulse amplification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Yijie; Gao, Gan; Meng, Yuan; Fu, Xing; Gong, Mali

2017-10-01

The cross-modulation between the gain and chirped phase in chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated. We propose a gain-phase coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation (GPC-NLSE) for solving chirped-pulse propagation in a nonlinear gain medium involved in the gain-phase modulation (GPM) process. With the GPC-NLSE, the space-time-frequency-dependent gain, chirped phase, pulse, and spectrum evolutions can be precisely calculated. Moreover, a short-length high-gain Yb-doped fiber CPA experiment is presented in which a self-steepening distortion of the seed pulse is automatically compensated after amplification. This phenomenon can be explained by the GPM theory whereas conventional models cannot. The experimental results for the temporal and spectral intensities show excellent agreement with our theory. Our GPM theory paves the way for further investigations of the finer structures of the pulse and spectrum in CPA systems.

Optimal PID gain schedule for hydrogenerators

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

Orelind, G.; Wozniak, L.; Medanic, J.

1989-09-01

This paper describes the development and testing of a digital gain switching governor for hydrogenerators. Optimal gains were found at different load points by minimizing a quadratic performance criterion prior to controller operating. During operation, the gain sets are switched in depending on the gate position and speed error magnitude. With gain switching operating, the digital governor was shown to have a substantial reduction of noise on the command signal and up to 42% faster responses to power requests. Non-linear control strategies enabled the digital governor to have a 2.5% to 2% reduction in speed overshoot on startups, and anmore » 8% to 1% reduction in undershoot on load rejections as compared to the analog.« less

Sudden Gains During Therapy of Social Phobia

PubMed Central

Hofmann, Stefan G.; Schulz, Stefan M.; Meuret, Alicia E.; Moscovitch, David A.; Suvak, Michael

2007-01-01

The present study investigated the phenomenon of sudden gains in 107 participants with social phobia (social anxiety disorder) who received either cognitive–behavioral group therapy or exposure group therapy without explicit cognitive interventions, which primarily used public speaking situations as exposure tasks. Twenty-two out of 967 session-to-session intervals met criteria for sudden gains, which most frequently occurred in Session 5. Individuals with sudden gains showed similar improvements in the 2 treatment groups. Although cognitive–behavioral therapy was associated with more cognitive changes than exposure therapy, cognitive changes did not precede sudden gains. In general, the results of this study question the clinical significance of sudden gains in social phobia treatment. PMID:16881776

Learning in Out-of-Class Experiences: The Importance of Professional Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hund, Alycia M.; Bueno, Daisy

2015-01-01

Our goal was to document professional skills and attitudes gained via out-of-class teaching and research experiences during the undergraduate years. Qualitative analysis of reflection papers revealed that students noted gains in professional skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, and intrapersonal skills. Importantly, students also…

CONDITIONS FOR CSR MICROBUNCHING GAIN SUPPRESSION

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

Tsai, Cheng Ying; Douglas, David R.; Li, Rui

The coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) of a high brightness electron beam traversing a series of dipoles, such as transport arcs, may result in phase space degradation. On one hand, the CSR can perturb electron transverse motion in dispersive regions along the beamline, causing emittance growth. On the other hand, the CSR effect on the longitudinal beam dynamics could result in microbunching gain enhancement. For transport arcs, several schemes have been proposed* to suppress the CSR-induced emittance growth. Similarly, several scenarios have been introduced** to suppress CSR-induced microbunching gain, which however mostly aim for linac-based machines. In this paper we trymore » to provide sufficient conditions for suppression of CSR-induced microbunching gain along a transport arc, analogous to*. Several example lattices are presented, with the relevant microbunching analyses carried out by our semi-analytical Vlasov solver***. The simulation results show that lattices satisfying the proposed conditions indeed have microbunching gain suppressed. We expect this analysis can shed light on lattice design approach that could suppress the CSR-induced microbunching gain.« less

The Importance of Mathematical Models to Scientific Discovery: A Case Study on the Feeding Mechanism of the Goliath Grouper "Epinephelus itajara"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huber, Daniel; Jones, Leslie; Helminski, Christine

2015-01-01

The use of collaborative problem solving within mathematics education is imperative in this day and age of integrative science. The formation of interdisciplinary teams of mathematicians and scientists to investigate crucial problems is on the rise, as greater insight can be gained from an interdisciplinary perspective. Mathematical modelling, in…

Structural and Mechanistic Insights into Unusual Thiol Disulfide Oxidoreductase

PubMed Central

Garcin, Edwige B.; Bornet, Olivier; Elantak, Latifa; Vita, Nicolas; Pieulle, Laetitia; Guerlesquin, Françoise; Sebban-Kreuzer, Corinne

2012-01-01

Cytoplasmic desulfothioredoxin (Dtrx) from the anaerobe Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough has been identified as a new member of the thiol disulfide oxidoreductase family. The active site of Dtrx contains a particular consensus sequence, CPHC, never seen in the cytoplasmic thioredoxins and generally found in periplasmic oxidases. Unlike canonical thioredoxins (Trx), Dtrx does not present any disulfide reductase activity, but it presents instead an unusual disulfide isomerase activity. We have used NMR spectroscopy to gain insights into the structure and the catalytic mechanism of this unusual Dtrx. The redox potential of Dtrx (−181 mV) is significantly less reducing than that of canonical Trx. A pH dependence study allowed the determination of the pKa of all protonable residues, including the cysteine and histidine residues. Thus, the pKa values for the thiol group of Cys31 and Cys34 are 4.8 and 11.3, respectively. The His33 pKa value, experimentally determined for the first time, differs notably as a function of the redox states, 7.2 for the reduced state and 4.6 for the oxidized state. These data suggest an important role for His33 in the molecular mechanism of Dtrx catalysis that is confirmed by the properties of mutant DtrxH33G protein. The NMR structure of Dtrx shows a different charge repartition compared with canonical Trx. The results presented are likely indicative of the involvement of this protein in the catalysis of substrates specific of the anaerobe cytoplasm of DvH. The study of Dtrx is an important step toward revealing the molecular details of the thiol-disulfide oxidoreductase catalytic mechanism. PMID:22128175

HOW AGN JETS HEAT THE INTRACLUSTER MEDIUM—INSIGHTS FROM HYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATIONS

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

Karen Yang, H.-Y.; Reynolds, Christopher S., E-mail: hsyang@astro.umd.edu

Feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is believed to prevent catastrophic cooling in galaxy clusters. However, how the feedback energy is transformed into heat, and how the AGN jets heat the intracluster medium (ICM) isotropically, still remain elusive. In this work, we gain insights into the relative importance of different heating mechanisms using three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations including cold gas accretion and momentum-driven jet feedback, which are the most successful models to date in terms of reproducing the properties of cool cores. We find that there is net heating within two “jet cones” (within ∼30° from the axis of jet precession)more » where the ICM gains entropy by shock heating and mixing with the hot thermal gas within bubbles. Outside the jet cones, the ambient gas is heated by weak shocks, but not enough to overcome radiative cooling, therefore, forming a “reduced” cooling flow. Consequently, the cluster core is in a process of “gentle circulation” over billions of years. Within the jet cones, there is significant adiabatic cooling as the gas is uplifted by buoyantly rising bubbles; outside the cones, energy is supplied by the inflow of already-heated gas from the jet cones as well as adiabatic compression as the gas moves toward the center. In other words, the fluid dynamics self-adjusts such that it compensates and transports the heat provided by the AGN, and hence no fine-tuning of the heating profile of any process is necessary. Throughout the cluster evolution, turbulent energy is only at the percent level compared to gas thermal energy, and thus turbulent heating is not the main source of heating in our simulation.« less

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

PubMed

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

2015-04-22

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

Efficacy of ranitidine in olanzapine-induced weight gain: a dose-response study.

PubMed

Mehta, Varun S; Ram, Daya

2016-12-01

Weight gain has long been recognized as a side-effect of atypical antipsychotic drugs. Numerous new approaches have been tried for prevention of weight gain, the H2 blockers being one of them. The study was conducted with the aim to evaluate the efficacy of ranitidine in olanzapine-induced weight gain at two fixed doses of 150 and 300 mg day -1 . Seventy-five inpatients with an ICD-10-DCR diagnosis of schizophrenia as their first episode were randomized into three groups of 25 patients each, receiving 150 mg day -1 ranitidine, 300 mg day -1 ranitidine and third group receiving only olanzapine. Their weight and body mass index (BMI) were measured at baseline and at intervals of 4 and 8 weeks. All patients were comparable with respect to their weight and BMI at baseline. When a change in the weight and BMI was assessed at 4 and 8 weeks from baseline, no significant difference was observed between the three groups. Ranitidine at doses of 150 and 300 mg day -1 when combined with olanzapine was ineffective in attenuating olanzapine-induced weight gain. The likely reasons could be the use of low doses for a shorter period of time, or mechanisms other than H2 receptors might play an important role in weight gain. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Body weight gain induced by a newer antipsychotic agent reversed as negative symptoms improved.

PubMed

Koga, M; Nakayama, K

2005-07-01

We describe a patient in whom improvement in negative symptoms contributed to early weight loss and subsequent long-term improvement in weight management. Case report. A 26-year-old woman with schizophrenia gained 7 kg over the course of 1 year after starting treatment with olanzapine. However, as negative symptoms gradually improved with treatment, she became motivated to diet and exercise regularly. She quickly lost 9 kg and subsequently maintained optimal weight (55 kg; body mass index, 24.1 kg/m(2) ). Important strategies for minimizing weight gain in patients taking antipsychotic agents include improving negative symptoms of avolition and apathy, regular monitoring of body weight and potential medical consequences of overweight and obesity, and educating the patient about the importance of diet and regular exercise.

Measuring Adaptive Coping of Hospitalized Patients With a Severe Medical Condition: The Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire.

PubMed

Boezeman, Edwin J; Hofhuis, José G M; Hovingh, Aly; Cox, Christopher E; de Vries, Reinout E; Spronk, Peter E

2016-09-01

Adaptive coping strategies are associated with less psychological distress. However, there is no brief, specific, and validated instrument for assessing adaptive coping among seriously ill patients. Our objective was to examine the validity and patient-proxy agreement of a novel instrument, the Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire. A cross-sectional design which included two related studies. A single university-affiliated Dutch hospital. Hospitalized patients (study 1) and ICU-patients and proxies (study 2). None. Study 1 (n = 103 hospitalized patients) addressed the Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire's performance relative to questionnaires addressing similar content areas. Coping subscales of the BRIEF COPE, Illness Cognition Questionnaire, and Utrecht Coping List were used as comparator measures in testing the construct validity of the Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire-subscales (fighting spirit, toughness, redefinition, positivism, and non-acceptance). The Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire had good internal consistency (0.64 ≤ α ≤ 0.79), a clear initial factor structure, and fair convergent (0.24 ≤ r ≤ 0.50) and divergent (r, ≤ 0.12) construct validity. Study 2 examined the performance of the Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire among 100 ICU patients and their close family members. This study showed that the Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire has good structural validity (confirmatory factor analyses with Comparative Fit Index > 0.90 and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation < 0.08) and moderate (r, 0.37; non-acceptance) to strong (r, > 0.50; fighting spirit, toughness, redefinition, and positivism) patient-close proxy agreement. Overall, the Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire has good psychometric properties. ICU clinicians can use the Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire to gain insight in adaptive coping style of patients through ratings of patients or their close family members.

Insight in first-episode psychosis.

PubMed

McEvoy, Joseph P; Johnson, Jackie; Perkins, Diana; Lieberman, Jeffrey A; Hamer, Robert M; Keefe, Richard S E; Tohen, Mauricio; Glick, Ira D; Sharma, Tonmoy

2006-10-01

We report here a study examining the relationships between insight and psychopathology, cognitive performance, brain volume and co-morbid depression in 251 patients experiencing a first episode of psychosis, who were then randomly assigned to 2 years of double-blind treatment with either olanzapine or haloperidol. Repeated measures of insight were obtained at baseline and 12, 24, 52 and 104 weeks by the Insight and Treatment Attitudes Questionnaire (ITAQ). Older age, female gender and white ethnicity were associated with more insight. Higher total, positive, negative and general psychopathology scores on the Positive and Negative Syndromes Scale (PANSS) were associated with less insight. Higher depression scores were associated with more insight. Better neurocognitive function and large brain volumes were associated with more insight. More insight throughout the study was associated with longer time to medication non-adherence. However, baseline insight was not significantly related to the probability of discontinuing the study before 2 years. Insight improved significantly over the course of the study, but the improvement in insight was not significantly different between the two antipsychotic treatment groups. Multiple factors contribute to insight. Patients experiencing a first episode of psychosis who have little insight are at increased risk of discontinuing their medication.

The effects of control-display gain on performance of race car drivers in an isometric braking task.

PubMed

de Winter, J C F; de Groot, S

2012-12-01

To minimise lap times during car racing, it is important to build up brake forces rapidly and maintain precise control. We examined the effect of the amplification factor (gain) between brake pedal force and a visually represented output value on a driver's ability to track a target value. The test setup was a formula racing car cockpit fitted with an isometric brake pedal. Thirteen racing drivers performed tracking tasks with four control-display gains and two target functions: a step function (35 trials per gain) and a multisine function (15 trials per gain). The control-display gain had only minor effects on root mean-squared error between output value and target value, but it had large effects on build-up speed, overshoot, within-participants variability, and self-reported physical load. The results confirm the hypothesis that choosing an optimum gain involves balancing stability against physical effort.

Weight gain - unintentional

MedlinePlus

... Cushing syndrome Underactive thyroid, or low thyroid (hypothyroidism) Polycystic ovary syndrome Menopause Pregnancy Bloating, or swelling due to a buildup of fluid in the tissues can cause weight gain. This may be due to menstruation, heart ...

Psychophysiological prediction of choice: relevance to insight and drug addiction

PubMed Central

Moeller, Scott J.; Hajcak, Greg; Parvaz, Muhammad A.; Dunning, Jonathan P.; Volkow, Nora D.

2012-01-01

An important goal of addiction research and treatment is to predict behavioural responses to drug-related stimuli. This goal is especially important for patients with impaired insight, which can interfere with therapeutic interventions and potentially invalidate self-report questionnaires. This research tested (i) whether event-related potentials, specifically the late positive potential, predict choice to view cocaine images in cocaine addiction; and (ii) whether such behaviour prediction differs by insight (operationalized in this study as self-awareness of image choice). Fifty-nine cocaine abusers and 32 healthy controls provided data for the following laboratory components that were completed in a fixed-sequence (to establish prediction): (i) event-related potential recordings while passively viewing pleasant, unpleasant, neutral and cocaine images, during which early (400–1000 ms) and late (1000–2000 ms) window late positive potentials were collected; (ii) self-reported arousal ratings for each picture; and (iii) two previously validated tasks: one to assess choice for viewing these same images, and the other to group cocaine abusers by insight. Results showed that pleasant-related late positive potentials and arousal ratings predicted pleasant choice (the choice to view pleasant pictures) in all subjects, validating the method. In the cocaine abusers, the predictive ability of the late positive potentials and arousal ratings depended on insight. Cocaine-related late positive potentials better predicted cocaine image choice in cocaine abusers with impaired insight. Another emotion-relevant event-related potential component (the early posterior negativity) did not show these results, indicating specificity of the late positive potential. In contrast, arousal ratings better predicted respective cocaine image choice (and actual cocaine use severity) in cocaine abusers with intact insight. Taken together, the late positive potential could serve as a biomarker

Excessive weight gain after pregnancy in urban areas: one important area to prevent diabetes.

PubMed

Bhattarai, Madhur Dev; Singh, Dhruba Lall

2005-12-01

Diabetes has been found to be common in people, including the women of child bearing age, in urban Nepal. There is a custom of feeding the women with foods rich in calories and fats, as much as possible, after delivery. Weights of 200 women of urban Kathmandu before the first pregnancy and 6 months and 1 year after delivery were studied. The mean + SD of weights before pregnancy, six months after delivery and one year after delivery were 51.3 + 4.9, 67.2 + 6.3 and 63.4 + 6.4 respectively. Similarly, the mean + SD of body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy, six months after delivery and one year after delivery were 21.3 + 1.8, 27.9 + 2.5 and 26.7 + 2.8 respectively. The average increases in weight and BMI six months after delivery were 15.9 kg and 6.6; the increases from the basal values were statistically significant (p<0.01). Six months later the average increased weight and BMI decreased by 3.8 kg and 1.2 respectively. Thus, the average increases in weight and BMI one year after first pregnancy were 12.1 kg and 5.4; the increases from the basal values were statistically significant (p<0.01). The women seemed to have difficulty in losing weight gained. In view of the problem of overweight, the custom of excess feeding after delivery seems required to be discouraged in urban areas to prevent subsequent gestational and type 2 diabetes in women and the population.

Is Weight Gain after Smoking Cessation Inevitable?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talcott, Gerald W.; And Others

1995-01-01

Studied weight gain after smoking cessation in a naturalistic setting where all smokers quit and risk factors for postcessation weight gain were modified. Results showed no significant weight changes for smokers who quit. Suggests that an intensive program featuring dietary guidelines and increased physical activity can attenuate weight gain. (RJM)

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2016-06-01

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

Determinants of Weight Gain during the First Two Years of Life—The GECKO Drenthe Birth Cohort

PubMed Central

Küpers, Leanne K.; L’Abée, Carianne; Bocca, Gianni; Stolk, Ronald P.; Sauer, Pieter J. J.; Corpeleijn, Eva

2015-01-01

Objectives To explain weight gain patterns in the first two years of life, we compared the predictive values of potential risk factors individually and within four different domains: prenatal, nutrition, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors. Methods In a Dutch population-based birth cohort, length and weight were measured in 2475 infants at 1, 6, 12 and 24 months. Factors that might influence weight gain (e.g. birth weight, parental BMI, breastfeeding, hours of sleep and maternal education) were retrieved from health care files and parental questionnaires. Factors were compared with linear regression to best explain differences in weight gain, defined as changes in Z-score of weight-for-age and weight-for-length over 1–6, 6–12 and 12–24 months. In a two-step approach, factors were first studied individually for their association with growth velocity, followed by a comparison of the explained variance of the four domains. Results Birth weight and type of feeding were most importantly related to weight gain in the first six months. Breastfeeding versus formula feeding showed distinct growth patterns in the first six months, but not thereafter. From six months onwards, the ability to explain differences in weight gain decreased substantially (from R2 total = 38.7% to R2 total<7%). Conclusion Birth weight and breast feeding were most important to explain early weight gain, especially in the first six months of life. After the first six months of life other yet undetermined factors start to play a role. PMID:26192417

Structural basis for the regulation of nuclear import of Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) by phosphorylation of the nuclear localization signal

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

Nakada, Ryohei; Hirano, Hidemi; Structural Biology Research Center, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) is expressed in every EBV-positive tumor and is essential for the maintenance, replication, and transcription of the EBV genome in the nucleus of host cells. EBNA1 is a serine phosphoprotein, and it has been shown that phosphorylation of S385 in the nuclear localization signal (NLS) of EBNA1 increases the binding affinity to the nuclear import adaptor importin-α1 as well as importin-α5, and stimulates nuclear import of EBNA1. To gain insights into how phosphorylation of the EBNA1 NLS regulates nuclear import, we have determined the crystal structures of two peptide complexes of importin-α1: onemore » with S385-phosphorylated EBNA1 NLS peptide, determined at 2.0 Å resolution, and one with non-phosphorylated EBNA1 NLS peptide, determined at 2.2 Å resolution. The structures show that EBNA1 NLS binds to the major and minor NLS-binding sites of importin-α1, and indicate that the binding affinity of the EBNA1 NLS to the minor NLS-binding site could be enhanced by phosphorylation of S385 through electrostatic interaction between the phosphate group of phospho-S385 and K392 of importin-α1 (corresponding to R395 of importin-α5) on armadillo repeat 8. - Highlights: • Nuclear import of EBNA1 can be regulated by phosphorylation of NLS. • Crystal structures of importin-α1 bound to the NLS peptides of EBNA1 are solved. • Structures provide insights into how phosphorylation can regulate nuclear import.« less

The Importance of Positive Discipline Approach in Making Students Gain Multimedia Course Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Özan, Mukadder Boydak

2015-01-01

In this study, the importance of multimedia contents for effective learning, effective classroom management and building behaviors within the framework of positive discipline approach was emphasized. A questionnaire consisting of 24 items, whose validity and reliability were established, was prepared. The questionnaire was administered to 1474…

InSight Encapsulation

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-16

In the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, Mars lander is encapsulated in its payload fairing. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. The spacecraft will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018.

Development of the Exercise Motives and Gains Inventory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strömmer, Sofia T.; Ingledew, David K.; Markland, David

2015-01-01

There are existing measures of exercise motives (what people want from exercise), but corresponding measures of gains (what people get) are needed, because motives and gains could influence each other and together influence other variables. An exercise motives and gains inventory (EMGI) was developed by creating gains scales to complement existing…

New Insights on Subsurface Imaging of Carbon Nanotubes in Polymer Composites via Scanning Electron Microscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhao, Minhua; Ming, Bin; Kim, Jae-Woo; Gibbons, Luke J.; Gu, Xiaohong; Nguyen, Tinh; Park, Cheol; Lillehei, Peter T.; Villarrubia, J. S.; Vladar, Andras E.;

DNA mismatch repair proteins MLH1 and PMS2 can be imported to the nucleus by a classical nuclear import pathway.

PubMed

de Barros, Andrea C; Takeda, Agnes A S; Dreyer, Thiago R; Velazquez-Campoy, Adrian; Kobe, Boštjan; Fontes, Marcos R M

2018-03-01

MLH1 and PMS2 proteins form the MutLα heterodimer, which plays a major role in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) in humans. Mutations in MMR-related proteins are associated with cancer, especially with colon cancer. The N-terminal region of MutLα comprises the N-termini of PMS2 and MLH1 and, similarly, the C-terminal region of MutLα is composed by the C-termini of PMS2 and MLH1, and the two are connected by linker region. The nuclear localization sequences (NLSs) necessary for the nuclear transport of the two proteins are found in this linker region. However, the exact NLS sequences have been controversial, with different sequences reported, particularly for MLH1. The individual components are not imported efficiently, presumably due to their C-termini masking their NLSs. In order to gain insights into the nuclear transport of these proteins, we solved the crystal structures of importin-α bound to peptides corresponding to the supposed NLSs of MLH1 and PMS2 and performed isothermal titration calorimetry to study their binding affinities. Both putative MLH1 and PMS2 NLSs can bind to importin-α as monopartite NLSs, which is in agreement with some previous studies. However, MLH1-NLS has the highest affinity measured by a natural NLS peptide, suggesting a major role of MLH1 protein in nuclear import compared to PMS2. Finally, the role of MLH1 and PMS2 in the nuclear transport of the MutLα heterodimer is discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. and Société Française de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved.

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

PubMed

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

2017-09-29

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

Nicotine Replacement: Effects on Postcessation Weight Gain.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gross, Janet; And Others

1989-01-01

Examined nicotine replacement effects on postcessation weight gain in smoking cessation volunteers. Randomly assigned abstinent subjects to active nicotine or placebo gum conditions for 10 weeks. Analyses revealed strong evidence for gum effect on weight gain, with active gum users gaining mean total of 3.8 pounds compared with 7.8 pounds for…

Insight Is Not in the Problem: Investigating Insight in Problem Solving across Task Types.

PubMed

Webb, Margaret E; Little, Daniel R; Cropper, Simon J

2016-01-01

The feeling of insight in problem solving is typically associated with the sudden realization of a solution that appears obviously correct (Kounios et al., 2006). Salvi et al. (2016) found that a solution accompanied with sudden insight is more likely to be correct than a problem solved through conscious and incremental steps. However, Metcalfe (1986) indicated that participants would often present an inelegant but plausible (wrong) answer as correct with a high feeling of warmth (a subjective measure of closeness to solution). This discrepancy may be due to the use of different tasks or due to different methods in the measurement of insight (i.e., using a binary vs. continuous scale). In three experiments, we investigated both findings, using many different problem tasks (e.g., Compound Remote Associates, so-called classic insight problems, and non-insight problems). Participants rated insight-related affect (feelings of Aha-experience, confidence, surprise, impasse, and pleasure) on continuous scales. As expected we found that, for problems designed to elicit insight, correct solutions elicited higher proportions of reported insight in the solution compared to non-insight solutions; further, correct solutions elicited stronger feelings of insight compared to incorrect solutions.

Insight Is Not in the Problem: Investigating Insight in Problem Solving across Task Types

PubMed Central

Webb, Margaret E.; Little, Daniel R.; Cropper, Simon J.

2016-01-01

The feeling of insight in problem solving is typically associated with the sudden realization of a solution that appears obviously correct (Kounios et al., 2006). Salvi et al. (2016) found that a solution accompanied with sudden insight is more likely to be correct than a problem solved through conscious and incremental steps. However, Metcalfe (1986) indicated that participants would often present an inelegant but plausible (wrong) answer as correct with a high feeling of warmth (a subjective measure of closeness to solution). This discrepancy may be due to the use of different tasks or due to different methods in the measurement of insight (i.e., using a binary vs. continuous scale). In three experiments, we investigated both findings, using many different problem tasks (e.g., Compound Remote Associates, so-called classic insight problems, and non-insight problems). Participants rated insight-related affect (feelings of Aha-experience, confidence, surprise, impasse, and pleasure) on continuous scales. As expected we found that, for problems designed to elicit insight, correct solutions elicited higher proportions of reported insight in the solution compared to non-insight solutions; further, correct solutions elicited stronger feelings of insight compared to incorrect solutions. PMID:27725805

Factors Important for Work Participation Among Older Workers with Depression, Cardiovascular Disease, and Osteoarthritis: A Mixed Method Study.

PubMed

Boot, Cécile R L; de Kruif, Anja Th C M; Shaw, William S; van der Beek, Allard J; Deeg, Dorly J; Abma, Tineke

2016-06-01

Purpose The aim of this study was to gain insight into differences and similarities in factors important for work participation in older (58-65 years) workers among three different chronic diseases: depression (D), cardiovascular disease (C), and osteoarthritis (O). Methods A mixed method design was used, with a qualitative part (in-depth interviews) with 14 patients with D, C or O and a quantitative part based on the 2002-2003 cohort of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. We analysed and compared 3-year (response 93 %) predictors of paid work in 239 participants with D, C, or O using regression analyses. The qualitative findings were integrated with the quantitative findings aiming at complementarity. Results Common factors important for work participation were: working at baseline; male gender; lower age; partner with paid work; better physical and mental health; and higher mastery scores. The qualitative analyses added autonomy in work and provided contextual information regarding the perceived importance of working as factors important for participation in paid work. For D and C, work gave purpose in life and enhanced social contacts. Participation in work was perceived as necessary to structure life only for D. Conclusion Most factors important for work participation were similar for D, C, and O. However, the interviews revealed that for D, the context and the meaning attributed to these factors differed.

Insulin detemir attenuates food intake, body weight gain and fat mass gain in diet-induced obese Sprague-Dawley rats.

PubMed

Rojas, J M; Printz, R L; Niswender, K D

2011-07-04

Initiation and intensification of insulin therapy commonly causes weight gain, a barrier to therapy. A contrasting body of evidence indicates that insulin functions as an adiposity negative feedback signal and reduces food intake, weight gain and adiposity via action in the central nervous system. Basal insulin analogs, detemir (Det) and glargine (Glar), have been associated with less hypoglycemia compared with neutral protamine hagedorn insulin, and Det with less weight gain, especially in patients with higher body mass index (BMI). We sought to determine whether insulin therapy per se causes body weight and fat mass gain when delivered via a clinically relevant subcutaneous (SC) route in the absence of hypoglycemia and glycosuria in non-diabetic lean and diet-induced obese rats. Rats were exposed to either a low-fat diet (LFD; 13.5% fat) or high-fat diet (HFD; 60% fat), and received Det (0.5 U kg(-1)), Glar (0.2 U kg(-1)) or vehicle (Veh) SC once daily for 4 weeks. These dosages of insulin were equipotent in rats with respect to blood-glucose concentration and did not induce hypoglycemia. As predicted by current models of energy homeostasis, neither insulin Det nor Glar therapy affected food intake and weight gain in LFD rats. Det treatment significantly attenuated food intake, body weight gain and fat mass gain relative to the Glar and Veh in high-fat fed animals, mirroring observations in humans. That neither insulin group gained excess weight, suggests weight gain with SC basal insulin therapy may not be inevitable. Our data further suggest that Det possesses a unique property to attenuate the development of obesity associated with a HFD.

Physical Behavior in Older Persons during Daily Life: Insights from Instrumented Shoes.

PubMed

Moufawad El Achkar, Christopher; Lenoble-Hoskovec, Constanze; Paraschiv-Ionescu, Anisoara; Major, Kristof; Büla, Christophe; Aminian, Kamiar

2016-08-03

Activity level and gait parameters during daily life are important indicators for clinicians because they can provide critical insights into modifications of mobility and function over time. Wearable activity monitoring has been gaining momentum in daily life health assessment. Consequently, this study seeks to validate an algorithm for the classification of daily life activities and to provide a detailed gait analysis in older adults. A system consisting of an inertial sensor combined with a pressure sensing insole has been developed. Using an algorithm that we previously validated during a semi structured protocol, activities in 10 healthy elderly participants were recorded and compared to a wearable reference system over a 4 h recording period at home. Detailed gait parameters were calculated from inertial sensors. Dynamics of physical behavior were characterized using barcodes that express the measure of behavioral complexity. Activity classification based on the algorithm led to a 93% accuracy in classifying basic activities of daily life, i.e., sitting, standing, and walking. Gait analysis emphasizes the importance of metrics such as foot clearance in daily life assessment. Results also underline that measures of physical behavior and gait performance are complementary, especially since gait parameters were not correlated to complexity. Participants gave positive feedback regarding the use of the instrumented shoes. These results extend previous observations in showing the concurrent validity of the instrumented shoes compared to a body-worn reference system for daily-life physical behavior monitoring in older adults.

Meiotic Nondisjunction: Insights into the Origin and Significance of Aneuploidy in Human Spermatozoa.

PubMed

Ioannou, Dimitrios; Tempest, Helen G

2015-01-01

Chromosome aneuploidy refers to changes in the chromosome complement of a genome and can include gain or loss of genetic material. The human genome is delicately balanced, and for the most part perturbations in the chromosome complement are often incompatible with embryonic development. The importance and clinical relevance of paternally derived aneuploidy is often overshadowed by the large maternal contribution; as a result, the paternal contribution to pregnancy loss due to chromosome aneuploidy is rarely considered within the clinic. However, there is increasing evidence to suggest that certain men have significantly higher levels of sperm aneuploidy, which is mirrored by an increase in aneuploidy within their embryos and offspring. Therefore, the paternal contribution to aneuploidy at least for some individuals may have greater clinical significance than is currently perceived. Thus, the main focus of this chapter is to provide insights into the origin and clinical relevance of paternally derived aneuploidy. Furthermore, this section will review the general mechanisms through which aneuploidy arises during spermatogenesis and how numerical (whole chromosome) and structural chromosome aberrations (cytogenetically visible or submicroscopic) may lead to clinically relevant aneuploidy potentially resulting in pregnancy loss, congenital malformations, and cognitive impairment.

Coverage Gains After the Affordable Care Act Among the Uninsured in Minnesota.

PubMed

Call, Kathleen Thiede; Lukanen, Elizabeth; Spencer, Donna; Alarcón, Giovann; Kemmick Pintor, Jessie; Baines Simon, Alisha; Gildemeister, Stefan

2015-11-01

We determined whether and how Minnesotans who were uninsured in 2013 gained health insurance coverage in 2014, 1 year after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded Medicaid coverage and enrollment. Insurance status and enrollment experiences came from the Minnesota Health Insurance Transitions Study (MH-HITS), a follow-up telephone survey of children and adults in Minnesota who had no health insurance in the fall of 2013. ACA had a tempered success in Minnesota. Outreach and enrollment efforts were effective; one half of those previously uninsured gained coverage, although many reported difficulty signing up (nearly 62%). Of the previously uninsured who gained coverage, 44% obtained their coverage through MNsure, Minnesota's insurance marketplace. Most of those who remained uninsured heard of MNsure and went to the Web site. Many still struggled with the enrollment process or reported being deterred by the cost of coverage. Targeting outreach, simplifying the enrollment process, focusing on affordability, and continuing funding for in-person assistance will be important in the future.

Interaural Level Difference Dependent Gain Control and Synaptic Scaling Underlying Binaural Computation

PubMed Central

Xiong, Xiaorui R.; Liang, Feixue; Li, Haifu; Mesik, Lukas; Zhang, Ke K.; Polley, Daniel B.; Tao, Huizhong W.; Xiao, Zhongju; Zhang, Li I.

2013-01-01

Binaural integration in the central nucleus of inferior colliculus (ICC) plays a critical role in sound localization. However, its arithmetic nature and underlying synaptic mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we showed in mouse ICC neurons that the contralateral dominance is created by a “push-pull”-like mechanism, with contralaterally dominant excitation and more bilaterally balanced inhibition. Importantly, binaural spiking response is generated apparently from an ipsilaterally-mediated scaling of contralateral response, leaving frequency tuning unchanged. This scaling effect is attributed to a divisive attenuation of contralaterally-evoked synaptic excitation onto ICC neurons with their inhibition largely unaffected. Thus, a gain control mediates the linear transformation from monaural to binaural spike responses. The gain value is modulated by interaural level difference (ILD) primarily through scaling excitation to different levels. The ILD-dependent synaptic scaling and gain adjustment allow ICC neurons to dynamically encode interaural sound localization cues while maintaining an invariant representation of other independent sound attributes. PMID:23972599

Genome-wide sequencing of longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) provides insights into molecular basis of its polyphenol-rich characteristics

PubMed Central

Lin, Yuling; Min, Jiumeng; Lai, Ruilian; Wu, Zhangyan; Chen, Yukun; Yu, Lili; Cheng, Chunzhen; Jin, Yuanchun; Tian, Qilin; Liu, Qingfeng; Liu, Weihua; Zhang, Chengguang; Lin, Lixia; Hu, Yan; Zhang, Dongmin; Thu, Minkyaw; Zhang, Zihao; Liu, Shengcai; Zhong, Chunshui; Fang, Xiaodong; Wang, Jian; Yang, Huanming

2017-01-01

Abstract Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.), an important subtropical fruit in the family Sapindaceae, is grown in more than 10 countries. Longan is an edible drupe fruit and a source of traditional medicine with polyphenol-rich traits. Tree size, alternate bearing, and witches' broom disease still pose serious problems. To gain insights into the genomic basis of longan traits, a draft genome sequence was assembled. The draft genome (about 471.88 Mb) of a Chinese longan cultivar, “Honghezi,” was estimated to contain 31 007 genes and 261.88 Mb of repetitive sequences. No recent whole-genome-wide duplication event was detected in the genome. Whole-genome resequencing and analysis of 13 cultivated D. longan accessions revealed the extent of genetic diversity. Comparative transcriptome studies combined with genome-wide analysis revealed polyphenol-rich and pathogen resistance characteristics. Genes involved in secondary metabolism, especially those from significantly expanded (DHS, SDH, F3΄H, ANR, and UFGT) and contracted (PAL, CHS, and F3΄5΄H) gene families with tissue-specific expression, may be important contributors to the high accumulation levels of polyphenolic compounds observed in longan fruit. The high number of genes encoding nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) and leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase proteins, as well as the recent expansion and contraction of the NBS-LRR family, suggested a genomic basis for resistance to insects, fungus, and bacteria in this fruit tree. These data provide insights into the evolution and diversity of the longan genome. The comparative genomic and transcriptome analyses provided information about longan-specific traits, particularly genes involved in its polyphenol-rich and pathogen resistance characteristics. PMID:28368449

Trainees' Perceived Knowledge Gain Unrelated to the Training Domain: The Joint Action of Impression Management and Motives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiaburu, Dan S.; Huang, Jason L.; Hutchins, Holly M.; Gardner, Richard G.

2014-01-01

Trainees' knowledge gains represent an important outcome in human resource development. In this research, we tested a model examining the joint influence of social desirability (impression management, self-deception) and motives (need for power, need for approval) on trainees' self-reported knowledge gain. We conducted a study with…

InSight Encapsulation

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-16

In the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers encapsulate NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, Mars lander in its payload fairing. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. The spacecraft will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018.

Personality type influence the gestational weight gain.

PubMed

Franik, Grzegorz; Lipka, Nela; Kopyto, Katarzyna; Kopocińska, Joanna; Owczarek, Aleksander; Sikora, Jerzy; Madej, Paweł; Chudek, Jerzy; Olszanecka-Glinianowicz, Magdalena

2017-08-01

Pregnancy is frequently followed by the development of obesity. Aside from psychological factors, hormonal changes influence weight gain in pregnant women. We attempted to assess the potential association between personality type and the extent of gestational weight gain. The study group involved 773 women after term delivery (age 26.3 ± 3.9 years, body mass before pregnancy 61.2 ± 11.1 kg). Weight gain during pregnancy was calculated by using self-reported body mass prior to and during the 38th week of pregnancy. Personality type was assessed using the Polish version of the Framingham Type A Behavior Patterns Questionnaire (adapted by Juczynski). Two hundred forty-six (31.8%) study subjects represented type A personalities, 272 (35.2%) type B and 255 (33.0%) an indirect type. Gestational weight gain was related to the behavior patterns questionnaire score and age. In women <30 years with type A personality, the weight gain was higher than in women with type B behavior of the same age. In women >30, the gestational weight gain was larger for type B personalities. Type A personality and increased urgency in younger pregnant women increases the risk of developing obesity during pregnancy in women below 30 years old. A higher level of competitiveness demonstrates a risk factor of excessive weight gain during pregnancy regardless of age.

IQ Gains in Argentina between 1964 and 1998

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flynn, James R.; Rossi-Case, Lilia

2012-01-01

The literature on IQ gains in Latin America is sparse. We estimate gains on Raven's Progressive Matrices in the city of La Plata (Argentina) between 1964 and 1998. The gains are robust at the top of the curve as well as at the bottom. Therefore, they are contrary to the hypothesis that nutrition played a major role in recent Argentine IQ gains.…

Association between prefrontal N-acetylaspartate and insight in psychotic disorders.

PubMed

Larabi, Daouia I; Liemburg, Edith J; Pijnenborg, Gerdina H M; Sibeijn-Kuiper, Anita; de Vos, Annerieke E; Bais, Leonie; Knegtering, Henderikus; Ćurčić-Blake, Branislava; Aleman, André

2017-01-01

Insight is impaired in most patients with psychosis and has been associated with poorer prognosis. The exact neural basis of impaired insight is still unknown, but it may involve disrupted prefrontal neural connectivity. Numerous studies have indeed found white matter (WM) abnormalities in psychosis. The association between prefrontal WM abnormalities and insight has not been studied yet by means of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H-MRS). 1 H-MRS can be used to measure N-acetylaspartate (NAA), which is considered to be a marker of neuronal integrity. We measured insight with the Birchwood Insight Scale (BIS) as well as item G12 of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in 88 patients with psychosis. Prefrontal WM concentrations of NAA and ratios of NAA to creatine (Cr) were assessed with 1 H-MRS. Nonparametric partial correlational analyses were conducted between NAA concentrations and insight controlling for illness duration, standardized antipsychotic dose, symptom scores, voxel grey matter content and voxel cerebrospinal fluid content. We found a significant correlation between reduced NAA/Cr ratios and poorer insight as measured with the BIS, which remained significant after additional correction for full width at half maximum, signal/noise and age. This is the first study reporting a relationship between lower prefrontal concentrations of a marker of neuronal integrity and impaired insight, providing further evidence that prefrontal pathology may play an important role in impaired insight in psychosis. This may be explained by the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in several executive and metacognitive functions, such as cognitive flexibility and perspective taking. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Insight and subjective measures of quality of life in chronic schizophrenia.

PubMed

Siu, Cynthia O; Harvey, Philip D; Agid, Ofer; Waye, Mary; Brambilla, Carla; Choi, Wing-Kit; Remington, Gary

2015-09-01

Lack of insight is a well-established phenomenon in schizophrenia, and has been associated with reduced rater-assessed functional performance but increased self-reported well-being in previous studies. The objective of this study was to examine factors that might influence insight (as assessed by the Insight and Treatment Attitudes Questionnaire [ITAQ] or PANSS item G12) and subjective quality-of-life (as assessed by Lehman QoL Interview [LQOLI]), using the large National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) dataset. Uncooperativeness was assessed by PANSS item G8 ("Uncooperativeness"). In the analysis, we found significant moderating effects for insight on the relationships of subjective life satisfaction assessment to symptom severity (as assessed by CGI-S score), objective everyday functioning (as assessed by rater-administered Heinrichs-Carpenter Quality of Life scale), clinically rated uncooperativeness (as assessed by PANSS G8), and discontinuation of treatment for all causes (all P > 0.05 for statistical interaction between insight and subject QoL). Patients with chronic schizophrenia who reported being "pleased" or "delighted" on LQOLI were found to have significantly lower neurocognitive reasoning performance and poorer insight (ITAQ total score). Our findings underscore the importance of reducing cognitive and insight impairments for both treatment compliance and improved functional outcomes.

The relative persuasiveness of gain- and loss-framed messages for promoting vaccination: a meta-analytic review.

PubMed

O'Keefe, Daniel J; Nan, Xiaoli

2012-01-01

Vaccination against disease is a powerful public health tool, and persuading people to be vaccinated is a correspondingly important challenge. A number of studies have compared the effectiveness of gain-framed and loss-framed appeals in this domain, often expecting gain-framed appeals to be more persuasive. A meta-analytic review (k = 32, N = 11,814), however, finds no significant difference in the persuasiveness of gain- and loss-framed appeals for encouraging vaccination. This conclusion is unaffected by differences in the phrasing of the outcomes invoked or by differences in the specific vaccination advocated. But the results contain a hint that parents might be more persuaded to vaccinate their children by loss-framed than by gain-framed appeals. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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

PubMed

Yechiam, Eldad; Zahavi, Gal; Arditi, Eli

2015-08-01

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

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Stu Spath, InSight program manager, Lockheed Martin Space, left, and Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager, NASA JPL, discuss NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Development of Source-Receptor matrix over South Korea in support of GAINS-Korea model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, K. C.; Woo, J. H.; Kim, H. K.; Lee, Y. M.; Kim, Y.; Heyes, C.; Lee, J. B.; Song, C. K.; Han, J.

2014-12-01

A comprehensive and combined analysis of air pollution and climate change could reveal important synergies of emission control measures, which could be of high policy relevance. IIASA's GAINS model (The Greenhouse gas - Air pollution Interactions and Synergies) has been developed as a tool to identify emission control strategies that achieve given targets on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions at least costs. The GAINS-Korea Model, which is being jointly developed by Konkuk University and IIASA, should play an important role in understanding the impact of air quality improvements across the regions in Korea. Source-Receptor relationships (S-R) is an useful methodology in air pollution studies to determine the areas of origin of chemical compounds at receptor point, and thus be able to target actions to reduce pollutions. The GAINS model can assess the impact of emission reductions of sources on air quality in receptor regions based on S-R matrix, derived from chemical transport model. In order to develop S-R matrix for GAINS-Korea, the CAMx model with PSAT/OSAT tools was applied in this study. The coarse domain covers East Asia, and a nesting domain as main research area was used for Korea peninsula. To evaluate of S-R relationships, a modeling domain is divided into sixteen regions over South Korea with three outside of S. Korea countries (China, N. Korea and Japan) for estimating transboundary contributions. The results of our analysis will be presented at the conference.

Development of landsat-5 thematic mapper internal calibrator gain and offset table

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barsi, J.A.; Chander, G.; Micijevic, E.; Markham, B.L.; Haque, Md. O.

2008-01-01

The National Landsat Archive Production System (NLAPS) has been the primary processing system for Landsat data since U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS) started archiving Landsat data. NLAPS converts raw satellite data into radiometrically and geometrically calibrated products. NLAPS has historically used the Internal Calibrator (IC) to calibrate the reflective bands of the Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM), even though the lamps in the IC were less stable than the TM detectors, as evidenced by vicarious calibration results. In 2003, a major effort was made to model the actual TM gain change and to update NLAPS to use this model rather than the unstable IC data for radiometric calibration. The model coefficients were revised in 2007 to reflect greater understanding of the changes in the TM responsivity. While the calibration updates are important to users with recently processed data, the processing system no longer calculates the original IC gain or offset. For specific applications, it is useful to have a record of the gain and offset actually applied to the older data. Thus, the NLAPS calibration database was used to generate estimated daily values for the radiometric gain and offset that might have been applied to TM data. This paper discusses the need for and generation of the NLAPSIC gain and offset tables. A companion paper covers the application of and errors associated with using these tables.

In A Survey, Marked Inconsistency In How Oncologists Judged Value Of High-Cost Cancer Drugs In Relation To Gains In Survival

PubMed Central

Ubel, Peter A.; Berry, Scott R.; Nadler, Eric; Bell, Chaim M.; Kozminski, Michael A.; Palmer, Jennifer A.; Evans, William K.; Strevel, Elizabeth L.; Neumann, Peter J.

2013-01-01

Amid calls for physicians to become better stewards of the nation’s health care resources, it is important to gain insight into how physicians think about the cost-effectiveness of new treatments. Expensive new cancer treatments that can extend life raise questions about whether physicians are prepared to make “value for money” tradeoffs when treating patients. We asked oncologists in the United States and Canada how much benefit, in additional months of life expectancy, a new drug would need to provide to justify its cost and warrant its use in an individual patient. The majority of oncologists agreed that a new cancer treatment that might add a year to a patient’s life would be worthwhile if the cost was less than $100,000. But when given a hypothetical case of an individual patient to review, the oncologists also endorsed a hypothetical drug whose cost might be as high as $250,000 per life-year gained. The results show that oncologists are not consistent in deciding how many months an expensive new therapy should extend a person’s life before the cost of therapy is justified. Moreover, the benefit that oncologists demand from new treatments in terms of length of survival does not necessarily increase according to the price of the treatment. The findings suggest that policy makers should find ways to improve how physicians are educated on the use of cost-effectiveness information and to influence physician decision making through clinical guidelines that incorporate cost-effectiveness information. PMID:22492887

Call it a monster for lack of anything else: narrative insight in psychosis.

PubMed

Roe, David; Hasson-Ohayon, Ilanit; Kravetz, Shlomo; Yanos, Phil T; Lysaker, Paul H

2008-12-01

Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia often appear to be unaware of having an illness or actively reject their diagnostic label. It is unclear, however, how this lack of awareness relates to important outcomes. Broadening the definition of awareness to include "narrative insight" may clarify this issue. The objective of this study was to identify profiles of narrative insight and test how these relate to standardized measure of insight. Sixty-five individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders participated in an assessment that included the Scale of Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD) and an in-depth semi-structured interview. Qualitative analysis revealed 5 central themes related to insight on the basis of which each interview was then rated. Cluster analysis of these ratings resulted in 4 profiles of narrative insight: (1) accepts illness/rejects label, (2) rejects illness/searches for a name (3) passive insight of illness and label, and (4) integrative insight. The SUMD differentiated between individuals assigned to profile 2 who showed low insight to their illness and those assigned to the other profiles of narrative insight, but could not differentiate between them. Results support the claim that illness narratives are multifaceted and that traditional measures of insight may not be sensitive to different ways in which people understand their illness.

Induced seismicity provides insight into why earthquake ruptures stop.

PubMed

Galis, Martin; Ampuero, Jean Paul; Mai, P Martin; Cappa, Frédéric

2017-12-01

Injection-induced earthquakes pose a serious seismic hazard but also offer an opportunity to gain insight into earthquake physics. Currently used models relating the maximum magnitude of injection-induced earthquakes to injection parameters do not incorporate rupture physics. We develop theoretical estimates, validated by simulations, of the size of ruptures induced by localized pore-pressure perturbations and propagating on prestressed faults. Our model accounts for ruptures growing beyond the perturbed area and distinguishes self-arrested from runaway ruptures. We develop a theoretical scaling relation between the largest magnitude of self-arrested earthquakes and the injected volume and find it consistent with observed maximum magnitudes of injection-induced earthquakes over a broad range of injected volumes, suggesting that, although runaway ruptures are possible, most injection-induced events so far have been self-arrested ruptures.

Induced seismicity provides insight into why earthquake ruptures stop

PubMed Central

Galis, Martin; Ampuero, Jean Paul; Mai, P. Martin; Cappa, Frédéric

2017-01-01

Injection-induced earthquakes pose a serious seismic hazard but also offer an opportunity to gain insight into earthquake physics. Currently used models relating the maximum magnitude of injection-induced earthquakes to injection parameters do not incorporate rupture physics. We develop theoretical estimates, validated by simulations, of the size of ruptures induced by localized pore-pressure perturbations and propagating on prestressed faults. Our model accounts for ruptures growing beyond the perturbed area and distinguishes self-arrested from runaway ruptures. We develop a theoretical scaling relation between the largest magnitude of self-arrested earthquakes and the injected volume and find it consistent with observed maximum magnitudes of injection-induced earthquakes over a broad range of injected volumes, suggesting that, although runaway ruptures are possible, most injection-induced events so far have been self-arrested ruptures. PMID:29291250

Gain scheduling - Potential hazards and possible remedies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shamma, Jeff S.; Athans, Michael

1991-01-01

A common gain scheduling rule-of-thumb is to schedule on a slow variable. In this work, it is shown how current gain scheduling practice is necessarily limited to slow variations in the scheduling variable. These limitations are revealed to be consequences of fundamental control concepts. Furthermore, it is shown how a formulation of the gain scheduling procedure can lead toward ultimately removing these restrictions.

[Antipsychotic-induced weight gain--pharmacogenetic studies].

PubMed

Olajossy-Hilkesberger, Luiza; Godlewska, Beata; Marmurowska-Michałowskal, Halina; Olajossy, Marcin; Landowski, Jerzy

2006-01-01

Drug-naive patients with schizophrenia often present metabolic abnormalities and obesity. Weight gain may be the side effect of treatment with many antipsychotic drugs. Genetic effects, besides many other factors, are known to influence obesity in patients with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics. Numerous studies of several genes' polymorphisms have been performed. -759C/T polymorphism of 5HT2C gene attracted most attention. In 5 independent studies of this polymorphism the association between T allele with the lower AP-induced weight gain was detected. No associations could be detected between weight gain and other polymorphisms of serotonergic system genes as well as histaminergic system genes. Studies of adrenergic and dopaminergic system have neither produced any unambiguous results. Analysis of the newest candidate genes (SAP-25, leptin gene) confirmed the role of genetic factors in AP-induced weight gain. It is worth emphasising, that the studies have been conducted in relatively small and heterogenic groups and that various treatment strategies were used.

Insights from a Modular Interdisciplinary Laboratory Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouvier-Brown, N. C.; Carmona, V.

2016-12-01

A laboratory curriculum is naturally oriented towards "hands on" and problem-based learning. An earth science course, like chemical ecology, has the additional advantage of interdisciplinary education. Our Chemical Ecology course at Loyola Marymount University was structured as a small modular workshop. Students first gained hands-on experience with each analytical technique in the laboratory. The class then discussed these first datasets, delved into lecture topics, and tweaked their experimental procedures. Lastly, students were given time to design and execute their own experiments and present their findings. Three-to-four class periods were allotted for each laboratory topic. Detailed information and student reflections will be presented from the Spectroscopy module. Students used the Folin-Ciocalteau reagent method to extract the phenolic content of vegetation and/or soils. Because phenols are produced by plants for defense, this spectroscopic laboratory activity provided insight on allelopathy using analytical chemistry. Students were extremely engaged and learned not only the lab theory and technique, but also its application to our local ecology.

Insight in schizophrenia and risk of suicide: a systematic update.

PubMed

López-Moríñigo, Javier D; Ramos-Ríos, Ramón; David, Anthony S; Dutta, Rina

2012-05-01

Suicide has been shown to represent the major single cause of premature death among patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Insight has been proposed to increase such risk. However, this subject has not been sufficiently investigated, and inconclusive results have been reported. The objective of this study is to systematically examine the role of insight in the risk of suicide attempts and completed suicide among patients with schizophrenia and related disorders. Articles assessing insight and suicidality in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders published between 1977 and 2010 were reviewed. A MEDLINE search strategy was used to identify studies using keywords. Application of meta-analytic techniques to selected studies was not possible because of important methodological differences between them. Fifteen studies met predetermined selection criteria. Ten failed to demonstrate a positive association between insight and risk for suicide. There is little evidence to support the suggestion that insight may represent a risk factor for suicide in patients with schizophrenia. If there is an association between such risk and insight, it appears to be mediated by other variables such as depression and, above all, hopelessness. Further studies with larger samples and longer follow-up periods in naturalistic conditions, in which insight should be evaluated from a multidimensional approach, are required to analyze this issue in depth, given the crucial implications that it may have on the development of a model for suicide prevention in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gain-adaptive vector quantization for medium-rate speech coding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, J.-H.; Gersho, A.

1985-01-01

A class of adaptive vector quantizers (VQs) that can dynamically adjust the 'gain' of codevectors according to the input signal level is introduced. The encoder uses a gain estimator to determine a suitable normalization of each input vector prior to VQ coding. The normalized vectors have reduced dynamic range and can then be more efficiently coded. At the receiver, the VQ decoder output is multiplied by the estimated gain. Both forward and backward adaptation are considered and several different gain estimators are compared and evaluated. An approach to optimizing the design of gain estimators is introduced. Some of the more obvious techniques for achieving gain adaptation are substantially less effective than the use of optimized gain estimators. A novel design technique that is needed to generate the appropriate gain-normalized codebook for the vector quantizer is introduced. Experimental results show that a significant gain in segmental SNR can be obtained over nonadaptive VQ with a negligible increase in complexity.

Human listeners provide insights into echo features used by dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) to discriminate among objects.

PubMed

Delong, Caroline M; Au, Whitlow W L; Harley, Heidi E; Roitblat, Herbert L; Pytka, Lisa

2007-08-01

Echolocating bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) discriminate between objects on the basis of the echoes reflected by the objects. However, it is not clear which echo features are important for object discrimination. To gain insight into the salient features, the authors had a dolphin perform a match-to-sample task and then presented human listeners with echoes from the same objects used in the dolphin's task. In 2 experiments, human listeners performed as well or better than the dolphin at discriminating objects, and they reported the salient acoustic cues. The error patterns of the humans and the dolphin were compared to determine which acoustic features were likely to have been used by the dolphin. The results indicate that the dolphin did not appear to use overall echo amplitude, but that it attended to the pattern of changes in the echoes across different object orientations. Human listeners can quickly identify salient combinations of echo features that permit object discrimination, which can be used to generate hypotheses that can be tested using dolphins as subjects.

Research Supervision: An Important Site of Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMichael, M. Jane; McKee, Margaret

2008-01-01

Supervision of students engaged in research projects and theses is an important site of teaching. Schon's (1987) well-known framework-educating for reflective practice-proves aptly suited for this teaching forum, offering insights for research supervision at multiple university levels. Conceptually, a research and writing studio where a practicum…

26 CFR 1.737-1 - Recognition of precontribution gain.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... Property A1 and Property A2 is long-term, U.S.-source capital gain or loss. The character of gain on Property A3 is long-term, foreign-source capital gain. B contributes Property B, nondepreciable real... long-term, U.S.-source capital gain ($10,000 gain on Property A1 and $8,000 loss on Property A2) and $1...

Self-disorders and schizophrenia: a phenomenological reappraisal of poor insight and noncompliance.

PubMed

Henriksen, Mads G; Parnas, Josef

2014-05-01

Poor insight into illness is considered the primary cause of treatment noncompliance in schizophrenia. In this article, we critically discuss the predominant conceptual accounts of poor insight, which consider it as an ineffective self-reflection, caused either by psychological defenses or impaired metacognition. We argue that these accounts are at odds with the phenomenology of schizophrenia, and we propose a novel account of poor insight. We suggest that the reason why schizophrenia patients have no or only partial insight and consequently do not comply with treatment is rooted in the nature of their anomalous self-experiences (ie, self- disorders) and the related articulation of their psychotic symptoms. We argue that self-disorders destabilize the patients' experiential framework, thereby weakening their basic sense of reality (natural attitude) and enabling another sense of reality (solipsistic attitude) to emerge and coexist. This coexistence of attitudes, which Bleuler termed "double bookkeeping," is, in our view, central to understanding what poor insight in schizophrenia really is. We suggest that our phenomenologically informed account of poor insight may have important implications for early intervention, psychoeducation, and psychotherapy for schizophrenia.

High current gain transistor laser

PubMed Central

Liang, Song; Qiao, Lijun; Zhu, Hongliang; Wang, Wei

2016-01-01

A transistor laser (TL), having the structure of a transistor with multi-quantum wells near its base region, bridges the functionality gap between lasers and transistors. However, light emission is produced at the expense of current gain for all the TLs reported up to now, leading to a very low current gain. We propose a novel design of TLs, which have an n-doped InP layer inserted in the emitter ridge. Numerical studies show that a current flow aperture for only holes can be formed in the center of the emitter ridge. As a result, the common emitter current gain can be as large as 143.3, which is over 15 times larger than that of a TL without the aperture. Besides, the effects of nonradiative recombination defects can be reduced greatly because the flow of holes is confined in the center region of the emitter ridge. PMID:27282466

Optimal gains for a single polar orbiting satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Banfield, Don; Ingersoll, A. P.; Keppenne, C. L.

1993-01-01

Gains are the spatial weighting of an observation in its neighborhood versus the local values of a model prediction. They are the key to data assimilation, as they are the direct measure of how the data are used to guide the model. As derived in the broad context of data assimilation by Kalman and in the context of meteorology, for example, by Rutherford, the optimal gains are functions of the prediction error covariances between the observation and analysis points. Kalman introduced a very powerful technique that allows one to calculate these optimal gains at the time of each observation. Unfortunately, this technique is both computationally expensive and often numerically unstable for dynamical systems of the magnitude of meteorological models, and thus is unsuited for use in PMIRR data assimilation. However, the optimal gains as calculated by a Kalman filter do reach a steady state for regular observing patterns like that of a satellite. In this steady state, the gains are constants in time, and thus could conceivably be computed off-line. These steady-state Kalman gains (i.e., Wiener gains) would yield optimal performance without the computational burden of true Kalman filtering. We proposed to use this type of constant-in-time Wiener gain for the assimilation of data from PMIRR and Mars Observer.

Psychosocial working conditions and weight gain among employees.

PubMed

Lallukka, T; Laaksonen, M; Martikainen, P; Sarlio-Lähteenkorva, S; Lahelma, E

2005-08-01

To study the associations between psychosocial working conditions and weight gain. Data from postal questionnaires (response rate 67%) sent to 40- to 60-y-old women (n=7093) and men (n=1799) employed by the City of Helsinki in 2000-2002 were analysed. Weight gain during the previous 12 months was the outcome variable in logistic regression analyses. Independent variables included Karasek's job demands and job control, work fatigue, working overtime, work-related mental strain, social support and the work-home interface. The final models were adjusted for age, education, marital status, physical strain and body mass index. In the previous 12 months, 25% of women and 19% of men reported weight gain. Work fatigue and working overtime were associated with weight gain in both sexes. Women who were dissatisfied with combining paid work and family life were more likely to have gained weight. Men with low job demands were less likely to have gained weight. All of these associations were independent of each other. Few work-related factors were associated with weight gain. However, our study suggests that work fatigue and working overtime are potential risk factors for weight gain. These findings need to be confirmed in prospective studies.

Molecular-level insights into intrinsic peroxidase-like activity of nanocarbon oxides.

PubMed

Zhao, Ruisheng; Zhao, Xiang; Gao, Xingfa

2015-01-12

Nanocarbon oxides have been proved to possess great peroxidase-like activity, catalyzing the oxidation of many peroxidase substrates, such as 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride (OPD), accompanied by a significant color change. This chromogenic reaction is widely used to detect glucose and occult blood. The chromogenic reaction was intensively investigated with density functional theory and molecular-level insights into the nature of peroxidase-like activity were gained. A radical mechanism was unraveled and the carboxyl groups of nanocarbon oxides were identified as the reactive sites. Aromatic domains connected with the carboxyl groups were critical to the peroxidase-like activity. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Nova Upgrade: A proposed ICF facility to demonstrate ignition and gain, revision 1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1992-07-01

The present objective of the national Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) Program is to determine the scientific feasibility of compressing and heating a small mass of mixed deuterium and tritium (DT) to conditions at which fusion occurs and significant energy is released. The potential applications of ICF will be determined by the resulting fusion energy yield (amount of energy produced) and gain (ratio of energy released to energy required to heat and compress the DT fuel). Important defense and civilian applications, including weapons physics, weapons effects simulation, and ultimately the generation of electric power will become possible if yields of 100 to 1,000 MJ and gains exceeding approximately 50 can be achieved. Once ignition and propagating bum producing modest gain (2 to 10) at moderate drive energy (1 to 2 MJ) has been achieved, the extension to high gain (greater than 50) is straightforward. Therefore, the demonstration of ignition and modest gain is the final step in establishing the scientific feasibility of ICF. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) proposes the Nova Upgrade Facility to achieve this demonstration by the end of the decade. This facility would be constructed within the existing Nova building at LLNL for a total cost of approximately $400 M over the proposed FY 1995-1999 construction period. This report discusses this facility.

African American and White women׳s perceptions of weight gain, physical activity, and nutrition during pregnancy.

PubMed

Whitaker, Kara M; Wilcox, Sara; Liu, Jihong; Blair, Steven N; Pate, Russell R

2016-03-01

To describe African American and White women's perceptions of weight gain, physical activity, and nutrition during pregnancy and to explore differences in perceptions by race. Qualitative interview study. Two Ob/Gyn clinics in South Carolina, USA. Thirty pregnant women (15 African American, 15 White) between 20 and 30 weeks gestation, equally represented across pre-pregnancy BMI categories (10 normal weight, 10 overweight, and 10 obese). White women more frequently described intentions to meet weight gain, physical activity, and dietary guidelines in pregnancy than African American women. African American women were more concerned with inadequate weight gain while White women more commonly expressed concerns about excessive weight gain. More White women discussed the importance of physical activity for weight management. Regardless of race, few women described risks of excessive weight gain or benefits of physical activity as it relates to the baby's health. The primary cited barrier of healthy eating was the high cost of fresh produce. Several knowledge gaps as well as race differences were identified in women's perceptions and intentions toward weight gain, physical activity, and nutrition during pregnancy. Future interventions should seek to educate women about common misperceptions. It may be necessary to culturally tailor gestational weight gain interventions to optimise health outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the integration of protein-protein interaction networks with gene expression and 3D structural data: What can be gained?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertolazzi, Paola; Bock, Mary Ellen; Guerra, Concettina; Paci, Paola; Santoni, Daniele

2014-06-01

The biological role of proteins has been analyzed from different perspectives, initially by considering proteins as isolated biological entities, then as cooperating entities that perform their function by interacting with other molecules. There are other dimensions that are important for the complete understanding of the biological processes: time and location. However a protein is rarely annotated with temporal and spatial information. Experimental Protein-Proteins Interaction (PPI) data are static; furthermore they generally do not include transient interactions which are a considerable fraction of the interactome of many organisms. One way to incorporate temporal and condition information is to use other sources of information, such as gene expression data and 3D structural data. Here we review work done to understand the insight that can be gained by enriching PPI data with gene expression and 3D structural data. In particular, we address the following questions: Can the dynamics of a single protein or of an interaction be accurately derived from these data? Can the assembly-disassembly of protein complexes be traced over time? What type of topological changes occur in a PPI network architecture over time?

Effects of internal gain assumptions in building energy calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christensen, C.; Perkins, R.

1981-01-01

The utilization of direct solar gains in buildings can be affected by operating profiles, such as schedules for internal gains, thermostat controls, and ventilation rates. Building energy analysis methods use various assumptions about these profiles. The effects of typical internal gain assumptions in energy calculations are described. Heating and cooling loads from simulations using the DOE 2.1 computer code are compared for various internal gain inputs: typical hourly profiles, constant average profiles, and zero gain profiles. Prototype single-family-detached and multifamily-attached residential units are studied with various levels of insulation and infiltration. Small detached commercial buildings and attached zones in large commercial buildings are studied with various levels of internal gains. The results indicate that calculations of annual heating and cooling loads are sensitive to internal gains, but in most cases are relatively insensitive to hourly variations in internal gains.

Prognostic relevance of 20q13 gains in sporadic colorectal cancers: a FISH analysis.

PubMed

Aust, D E; Muders, M; Köhler, A; Schmidt, M; Diebold, J; Müller, C; Löhrs, U; Waldman, F M; Baretton, G B

2004-08-01

Amplification of 20q13 is a frequent chromosomal alteration in solid tumors and harbors a number of putative oncogenes (CAS/CSE1-L, NABC1, or Aurora2). Amplifications on 20q13 have been identified as an independent prognostic marker indicating worse survival in breast and ovarian cancer. However, little is known about the prognostic significance of 20q13 gains in sporadic colorectal cancers. The aim of this study was to correlate 20q13 gains in sporadic colorectal cancers with other known prognostic factors, tumor progression, and overall survival. Nuclei were extracted from 146 paraffin-embedded colorectal cancers of different UICC stages and used for fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with a directly labeled probe for 20q13.2 (VYSIS). Signals were counted in 120 nuclei per sample. 20q13 was considered gained when > or =40% of the nuclei showed 3 or more FISH signals. Statistical correlations were tested with log-rank tests and Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Signal numbers for 20q13.2 were gained in 78 cases (53%). Cases with gains on 20q13.2 showed worse outcome than cases without: the gain of 20q13.2 was an independent prognostic marker for overall survival (P=0.006) as well as tumor progression (P=0.012) in univariate and multivariate analyses. Gains on 20q13.2 did not correlate with tumor stage. However, there was a significant association between 20q13.2 gains and tumor location in the left-sided colon and an inverse correlation between histologic grade and 20q13.2 gains. These data indicate that gains on 20q13.2 correlate with faster tumor progression and worse patient survival independent from tumor size and lymph node involvement. Therefore, alterations on 20q13 are an important biological event in colorectal tumor progression with independent prognostic relevance.

Seizure drawings: insight into the self-image of children with epilepsy.

PubMed

Stafstrom, Carl E; Havlena, Janice

2003-02-01

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that is associated with numerous psychological challenges, especially in children. Drawings have been underutilized as a method to obtain insight into psychological issues in children with epilepsy. We asked 105 children with epilepsy, ages 5 to 18 years, to draw a picture of what it is like to have a seizure. Across ages and epilepsy syndromes, the drawings showed evidence of impaired self-concept, low self-esteem, and a sense of helplessness and vulnerability. Overall, the drawings of human figures were less developed than expected for chronological age. In some drawings, indicators of underlying depression were found. When considered by epilepsy syndrome or seizure type, some specific artistic features were noted. Children with simple partial (motor) seizures drew distorted body parts, especially limbs. Those with complex partial seizures depicted sensory symptoms and mental status changes such as confusion. Children with generalized tonic-clonic seizures showed shaking extremities. Drawings by children with absence seizures illustrated mainly staring. In conclusion, drawings are a powerful method to examine the self-concept of children with epilepsy and gain insight into their feelings about themselves and their world.

"Gaining or losing": The importance of the perspective in primary care health services valuation.

PubMed

Martín-Fernández, Jesús; Ariza-Cardiel, Gloria; Peña-Longobardo, Luz Mª; Polentinos-Castro, Elena; Oliva-Moreno, Juan; Gil-Lacruz, Ana Isabel; Medina-Palomino, Héctor; Del Cura-González, Isabel

2017-01-01

Economic theory classifies an intervention as socially beneficial if the total Willingness to Pay (WTP) of those who gain exceeds the total Willingness to accept (WTA) of those who are harmed. This paper examines the differences in health system users' valuation of a health care service in primary care setting based on the WTP and WTA perspectives, discussing the impact of personal and service variables, including risk attitudes, on these disparities. Six hundred and sixty two subjects who asked for care in health centres in the Region of Madrid (Spain) were interviewed, using the contingent valuation method to estimate WTP and WTA. Patient sociodemographic characteristics, health needs, satisfaction with the service and risk attitude and behaviour under risk (measured by self-reported scales and lottery games respectively) were collected. Generalised Linear Models were used to estimate the association between the explanatory variables and the WTA/WTP ratio. We obtained the WTA/WTP ratio for 570 subjects (mean 1.66 CI 95%: 1.53-1.79; median 1, interquartile range 1-2). People with higher education or in high social groups expressed WTA values closest to WTP. The opposite occurred in patients with the greatest health needs or who were born abroad. Self-reported expression of risk aversion appeared also related to increases in the WTA/WTP ratio. Satisfaction with the service evaluated was the most influential factor in the WTA/WTP ratio. Health need, difficulty in obtaining substitutes and satisfaction with the service could serve for profiling people averse to loss for health care services in primary care setting. Self-reported expression of risk aversion could also be related to increases in the WTA/WTP ratio. This would mean that these characteristics should be taken into account both in the design and implementation of new healthcare interventions, as in the making decision for disinvestment.

Thermal Unfolding Simulations of Bacterial Flagellin: Insight into its Refolding Before Assembly

PubMed Central

Chng, Choon-Peng; Kitao, Akio

2008-01-01

Flagellin is the subunit of the bacterial filament, the micrometer-long propeller of a bacterial flagellum. The protein is believed to undergo unfolding for transport through the channel of the filament and to refold in a chamber at the end of the channel before being assembled into the growing filament. We report a thermal unfolding simulation study of S. typhimurium flagellin in aqueous solution as an attempt to gain atomic-level insight into the refolding process. Each molecule comprises two filament-core domains {D0, D1} and two hypervariable-region domains {D2, D3}. D2 can be separated into subdomains D2a and D2b. We observed a similar unfolding order of the domains as reported in experimental thermal denaturation. D2a and D3 exhibited high thermal stability and contained persistent three-stranded β-sheets in the denatured state which could serve as folding cores to guide refolding. A recent mutagenesis study on flagellin stability seems to suggest the importance of the folding cores. Using crude size estimates, our data suggests that the chamber might be large enough for either denatured hypervariable-region domains or filament-core domains, but not whole flagellin; this implicates a two-staged refolding process. PMID:18263660

Measurement and analysis of the conversion gain degradation of the CIS detectors in harsh radiation environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zujun; Xue, Yuanyuan; Guo, Xiaoqiang; Bian, Jingying; Yao, Zhibin; He, Baoping; Ma, Wuying; Sheng, Jiangkun; Dong, Guantao; Liu, Yan

2018-07-01

The conversion gain of the CMOS image sensor (CIS) is one of the most important key parameters to the CIS detector. The conversion gain degradation induced by radiation damage will seriously affect the performances of the CIS detector. The experiments of the CISs irradiated by protons, neutrons, and gamma rays are presented. The CISs have 4 Megapixels and pinned photodiode (PPD) pixel architecture with a standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The conversion gains versus the proton fluence (including the proton ionizing dose), neutron fluence and gamma total ionizing dose are presented, respectively. The mechanisms of the conversion gain degradation induced by radiation damage are analyzed in details. The investigations will help to improve the PPD CIS detector design, reliability and applicability for applications in the harsh radiation environments such as space and nuclear environments.

Evaluating the generalization of math fact fluency gains across paper and computer performance modalities.

PubMed

Duhon, Gary J; House, Sara H; Stinnett, Terry A

2012-06-01

Computer-based interventions are being used more in the classroom. Student responses to these interventions often contribute to decisions making regarding important outcomes. It is important to understand the effect of these interventions within the context of the intervention as well as across related context. The current study examined the generalization of math fact fluency gains resulting from a computer-based intervention to paper-and-pencil performance. A total of 31 second grade students completed fluency drills on the computer or with paper and pencil. Pretest-posttest performance on both computer and paper and pencil for all students was evaluated using a doubly multivariate repeated measure ANOVA. Results indicated that gains achieved on the computer did not generalize to paper-and-pencil performance. Copyright © 2012 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The association between inadequate gestational weight gain and infant mortality among U.S. infants born in 2002.

PubMed

Davis, Regina R; Hofferth, Sandra L

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative importance of inadequate gestational weight gain as a cause of infant mortality. Birth and infant death certificate data were obtained from a random sample of 100,000 records from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) 2002 Birth Cohort Linked Birth/Infant Death Data File. Descriptive and proportional hazards regression analyses were used to assess the odds of infant mortality associated with inadequate gestational weight gain compared to normal weight gain. Nearly 30% of women experienced inadequate weight gain. Infants born to women with inadequate gestational weight gain had odds of infant death that were 2.23 times the odds for infants born to women with normal weight gain. Increased odds remained after adjustment for gestational age, low birth weight, maternal age, maternal education, and maternal race. Among racial or ethnic subgroups, African American women were 1.3 times as likely as white women to have an infant die, but they were no more likely to have an infant die than white women if they had inadequate weight gain. There is a substantial and significant association between inadequate gestational weight gain and infant death that does not differ by race, ethnic group membership, or maternal age.

Elevated CO2 stimulates marsh elevation gain, counterbalancing sea-level rise

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langley, J.A.; McKee, K.L.; Cahoon, D.R.; Cherry, J.A.; Megonigala, J.P.

2009-01-01

Tidal wetlands experiencing increased rates of sea-level rise (SLR) must increase rates of soil elevation gain to avoid permanent conversion to open water. The maximal rate of SLR that these ecosystems can tolerate depends partly on mineral sediment deposition, but the accumulation of organic matter is equally important for many wetlands. Plant productivity drives organic matter dynamics and is sensitive to global change factors, such as rising atmospheric CO2 concentration. It remains unknown how global change will influence organic mechanisms that determine future tidal wetland viability. Here, we present experimental evidence that plant response to elevated atmospheric [CO2] stimulates biogenic mechanisms of elevation gain in a brackish marsh. Elevated CO2 (ambient + 340 ppm) accelerated soil elevation gain by 3.9 mm yr−1in this 2-year field study, an effect mediated by stimulation of below-ground plant productivity. Further, a companion greenhouse experiment revealed that the CO2 effect was enhanced under salinity and flooding conditions likely to accompany future SLR. Our results indicate that by stimulating biogenic contributions to marsh elevation, increases in the greenhouse gas, CO2, may paradoxically aid some coastal wetlands in counterbalancing rising seas.

Elevated CO2 stimulates marsh elevation gain, counterbalancing sea-level rise.

PubMed

Langley, J Adam; McKee, Karen L; Cahoon, Donald R; Cherry, Julia A; Megonigal, J Patrick

2009-04-14

Tidal wetlands experiencing increased rates of sea-level rise (SLR) must increase rates of soil elevation gain to avoid permanent conversion to open water. The maximal rate of SLR that these ecosystems can tolerate depends partly on mineral sediment deposition, but the accumulation of organic matter is equally important for many wetlands. Plant productivity drives organic matter dynamics and is sensitive to global change factors, such as rising atmospheric CO(2) concentration. It remains unknown how global change will influence organic mechanisms that determine future tidal wetland viability. Here, we present experimental evidence that plant response to elevated atmospheric [CO(2)] stimulates biogenic mechanisms of elevation gain in a brackish marsh. Elevated CO(2) (ambient + 340 ppm) accelerated soil elevation gain by 3.9 mm yr(-1) in this 2-year field study, an effect mediated by stimulation of below-ground plant productivity. Further, a companion greenhouse experiment revealed that the CO(2) effect was enhanced under salinity and flooding conditions likely to accompany future SLR. Our results indicate that by stimulating biogenic contributions to marsh elevation, increases in the greenhouse gas, CO(2), may paradoxically aid some coastal wetlands in counterbalancing rising seas.

Elevated CO2 stimulates marsh elevation gain, counterbalancing sea-level rise

PubMed Central

Langley, J. Adam; McKee, Karen L.; Cahoon, Donald R.; Cherry, Julia A.; Megonigal, J. Patrick

2009-01-01

Tidal wetlands experiencing increased rates of sea-level rise (SLR) must increase rates of soil elevation gain to avoid permanent conversion to open water. The maximal rate of SLR that these ecosystems can tolerate depends partly on mineral sediment deposition, but the accumulation of organic matter is equally important for many wetlands. Plant productivity drives organic matter dynamics and is sensitive to global change factors, such as rising atmospheric CO2 concentration. It remains unknown how global change will influence organic mechanisms that determine future tidal wetland viability. Here, we present experimental evidence that plant response to elevated atmospheric [CO2] stimulates biogenic mechanisms of elevation gain in a brackish marsh. Elevated CO2 (ambient + 340 ppm) accelerated soil elevation gain by 3.9 mm yr−1 in this 2-year field study, an effect mediated by stimulation of below-ground plant productivity. Further, a companion greenhouse experiment revealed that the CO2 effect was enhanced under salinity and flooding conditions likely to accompany future SLR. Our results indicate that by stimulating biogenic contributions to marsh elevation, increases in the greenhouse gas, CO2, may paradoxically aid some coastal wetlands in counterbalancing rising seas. PMID:19325121

20 CFR 220.141 - Substantial gainful activity, defined.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...) Substantial work activity. Substantial work activity is work activity that involves doing significant physical... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Substantial gainful activity, defined. 220... RETIREMENT ACT DETERMINING DISABILITY Substantial Gainful Activity § 220.141 Substantial gainful activity...

20 CFR 220.141 - Substantial gainful activity, defined.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) Substantial work activity. Substantial work activity is work activity that involves doing significant physical... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Substantial gainful activity, defined. 220... RETIREMENT ACT DETERMINING DISABILITY Substantial Gainful Activity § 220.141 Substantial gainful activity...

Complying with physician gain-sharing restrictions.

PubMed

O'Hare, P K

1998-05-01

Many IDSs are considering implementing gain-sharing programs as a way to motivate their physicians to provide high-quality, cost-effective services. Before embarking on such programs, however, IDSs need to understand the legal requirements associated with such programs to ensure that the gain-sharing arrangement is in compliance with Federal law.

Production of biorenewable styrene: utilization of biomass-derived sugars and insights into toxicity.

PubMed

Lian, Jieni; McKenna, Rebekah; Rover, Marjorie R; Nielsen, David R; Wen, Zhiyou; Jarboe, Laura R

2016-05-01

Fermentative production of styrene from glucose has been previously demonstrated in Escherichia coli. Here, we demonstrate the production of styrene from the sugars derived from lignocellulosic biomass depolymerized by fast pyrolysis. A previously engineered styrene-producing strain was further engineered for utilization of the anhydrosugar levoglucosan via expression of levoglucosan kinase. The resulting strain produced 240 ± 3 mg L(-1) styrene from pure levoglucosan, similar to the 251 ± 3 mg L(-1) produced from glucose. When provided at a concentration of 5 g L(-1), pyrolytic sugars supported styrene production at titers similar to those from pure sugars, demonstrating the feasibility of producing this important industrial chemical from biomass-derived sugars. However, the toxicity of contaminant compounds in the biomass-derived sugars and styrene itself limit further gains in production. Styrene toxicity is generally believed to be due to membrane damage. Contrary to this prevailing wisdom, our quantitative assessment during challenge with up to 200 mg L(-1) of exogenously provided styrene showed little change in membrane integrity; membrane disruption was observed only during styrene production. Membrane fluidity was also quantified during styrene production, but no changes were observed relative to the non-producing control strain. This observation that styrene production is much more damaging to the membrane integrity than challenge with exogenously supplied styrene provides insight into the mechanism of styrene toxicity and emphasizes the importance of verifying proposed toxicity mechanisms during production instead of relying upon results obtained during exogenous challenge.

Managing daily life with age-related sensory loss: cognitive resources gain in importance.

PubMed

Heyl, Vera; Wahl, Hans-Werner

2012-06-01

This paper investigates the role of cognitive resources in everyday functioning, comparing visually impaired, hearing impaired, and sensory unimpaired older adults. According to arguments that cognitive resources are of increased importance and a greater awareness of cognitive restrictions exists among sensory impaired individuals, in particular among visually impaired individuals, we hypothesized differential relationships between resources and outcomes when comparing sensory impaired and sensory unimpaired older adults. Findings are based on samples of 121 visually impaired, 116 hearing impaired, and 150 sensory unimpaired older adults (M = 82 years). Results from a sample of 43 dual sensory impaired older adults are reported for comparison. Assessment relied on established instruments (e.g., WAIS-R, ADL/IADL). Structural equation modeling showed that cognitive resources and behavior-related everyday functioning were more strongly related in the sensory impaired groups as compared to the sensory unimpaired group. Cognitive resources and evaluation of everyday functioning were significantly linked only among the sensory impaired groups. When medical condition was controlled for, these effects persisted. It is concluded that both cognitive training as well as psychosocial support may serve as important additions to classic vision and hearing loss rehabilitation. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

[Eating attitudes, attitudes related to weight gain, and body satisfaction of pregnant adolescents].

PubMed

Oliboni, Carolina Marques; Alvarenga, Marle Dos Santos

2015-12-01

To assess attitudes about eating, weight gain and body image of pregnant adolescents. Pregnant adolescents (n=67) were assessed using the Body Image Questionnaire, the Attitude towards Weight Gain during Pregnancy scale (AWGP) and questions about risk behaviors for eating disorders and unhealthy weight control practices. Associations between variables were analyzed by ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson and Spearman tests. The influence of the independent variables regarding skipping meals, body satisfaction and binge eating was evaluated by logistic regression. The average age of the adolescents was 15.3 years (SD=1.14) and their average gestational age was 21.9 weeks (SD=6.53). The average AWGP score was 52.6 points, indicating a positive attitude towards weight gain, and 82.1% of the pregnant girls were satisfied with their bodies. Obese girls had more body dissatisfaction (p=0.001), and overweight girls thought more about food (p=0.02) and eating (p=0.03). The frequency of reported binge eating was 41.8%, and the frequency of skipping meals was 19%. Regression analysis showed that the current Body Mass Index (p=0.03; OR=1.18) and the importance of body awareness and fitness before pregnancy (p=0.03; OR=4.63) were predictors of skipping meals. Higher socioeconomic level (p=0.04; OR=0.55) and greater concern with weight gain (p=0.03; OR=0.32) predicted binge eating. Even though the majority of the pregnant adolescents had positive attitudes toward weight gain and body satisfaction, those heavier and more concerned with weight gain had a higher risk of unhealthy attitudes, while those of lower social class, less concerned with weight gain and less embarrassed about their bodies during pregnancy, had a lower risk of unhealthy attitudes.

Radiation hardness of thin Low Gain Avalanche Detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kramberger, G.; Carulla, M.; Cavallaro, E.; Cindro, V.; Flores, D.; Galloway, Z.; Grinstein, S.; Hidalgo, S.; Fadeyev, V.; Lange, J.; Mandić, I.; Medin, G.; Merlos, A.; McKinney-Martinez, F.; Mikuž, M.; Quirion, D.; Pellegrini, G.; Petek, M.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Seiden, A.; Zavrtanik, M.

2018-05-01

Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGAD) are based on a n++-p+-p-p++ structure where an appropriate doping of the multiplication layer (p+) leads to high enough electric fields for impact ionization. Gain factors of few tens in charge significantly improve the resolution of timing measurements, particularly for thin detectors, where the timing performance was shown to be limited by Landau fluctuations. The main obstacle for their operation is the decrease of gain with irradiation, attributed to effective acceptor removal in the gain layer. Sets of thin sensors were produced by two different producers on different substrates, with different gain layer doping profiles and thicknesses (45, 50 and 80 μm). Their performance in terms of gain/collected charge and leakage current was compared before and after irradiation with neutrons and pions up to the equivalent fluences of 5 ṡ 1015 cm-2. Transient Current Technique and charge collection measurements with LHC speed electronics were employed to characterize the detectors. The thin LGAD sensors were shown to perform much better than sensors of standard thickness (∼300 μm) and offer larger charge collection with respect to detectors without gain layer for fluences < 2 ṡ 1015 cm-2. Larger initial gain prolongs the beneficial performance of LGADs. Pions were found to be more damaging than neutrons at the same equivalent fluence, while no significant difference was found between different producers. At very high fluences and bias voltages the gain appears due to deep acceptors in the bulk, hence also in thin standard detectors.

Genetic gains from selection for fiber traits in Gossypium hirsutum L.

PubMed

de Faria, G M P; Sanchez, C F B; de Carvalho, L P; da Silva Oliveira, M; Cruz, C D

2016-11-21

Brazil is among the five largest producers of cotton in the world, cultivating the species Gossypium hirsutum L. r. latifolium Hutch. The cultivars should have good fiber quality as well as yield. Genetic improvement of fiber traits requires the study of the genetic structure of the populations under improvement, leading to the identification of promising parent plants. To this end, it is important to acquire some information, such as estimates of genetic variance components and heritability coefficients, which will support the appropriate choice of the breeding strategy to be employed as well as enable the estimation of gains from selection. This study aimed to evaluate some agronomic characteristics, such as fiber quality and yield, estimating genetic parameters for the purpose of predicting earnings. Twelve cultivars of cotton, including four male progenitors (CNPA 01-42, BRS Verde, Glandless, and Okra leaf) and eight female progenitors (Delta opal, CNPA 7H, Aroeira, Antares, Sucupira, Facual, Precoce 3, and CNPA 8H), were used in performing crosses according to design I, proposed by Comstock and Robinson (1948). The experimental design was a randomized block with four replications. We observed genetic variability among all traits as well as higher efficiency of selection for the gains related to traits. Our results showed that the combined selection presented the highest genetic gains for all traits. For fiber length, the female/male selection and the combined selection resulted in the highest genetic gain.

Brillouin gain enhancement in nano-scale photonic waveguide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nouri Jouybari, Soodabeh

2018-05-01

The enhancement of stimulated Brillouin scattering in nano-scale waveguides has a great contribution in the improvement of the photonic devices technology. The key factors in Brillouin gain are the electrostriction force and radiation pressure generated by optical waves in the waveguide. In this article, we have proposed a new scheme of nano-scale waveguide in which the Brillouin gain is considerably improved compared to the previously-reported schemes. The role of radiation pressure in the Brillouin gain was much higher than the role of the electrostriction force. The Brillouin gain strongly depends on the structural parameters of the waveguide and the maximum value of 12127 W-1 m-1 is obtained for the Brillouin gain.

Method and system for edge cladding of laser gain media

DOEpatents

Bayramian, Andrew James; Caird, John Allyn; Schaffers, Kathleen Irene

2014-03-25

A gain medium operable to amplify light at a gain wavelength and having reduced transverse ASE includes an input surface and an output surface opposing the input surface. The gain medium also includes a central region including gain material and extending between the input surface and the output surface along a longitudinal optical axis of the gain medium. The gain medium further includes an edge cladding region surrounding the central region and extending between the input surface and the output surface along the longitudinal optical axis of the gain medium. The edge cladding region includes the gain material and a dopant operable to absorb light at the gain wavelength.

Educational attainment and gestational weight gain among US mothers

PubMed Central

Cohen, Alison K.; Kazi, Chandni; Headen, Irene; Rehkopf, David H.; Hendrick, C. Emily; Patil, Divya; Abrams, Barbara

2016-01-01

Background Education is an important social determinant of many health outcomes, but the relationship between educational attainment and the amount of weight gained over the course of a woman's pregnancy (gestational weight gain (GWG)) has not been clearly established. Methods We used data from 1979-2010 for women in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (n= 6344 pregnancies from 2769 women). We used generalized estimating equations to estimate the association between educational attainment and GWG adequacy (as defined by 2009 Institute of Medicine guidelines), controlling for diverse social factors from across the life course (e.g., income, wealth, educational aspirations and expectations) and considering effect measure modification by race/ethnicity and pre-pregnancy overweight status. Results In most cases, women with more education had increased odds of gaining a recommended amount of gestational weight, independent of educational aspirations and educational expectations and relatively robust to sensitivity analyses. This trend manifested itself in a few different ways. Those with less education had higher odds of inadequate GWG than those with more education. Among those who were not overweight pre-pregnancy, those with less education had higher odds of excessive GWG than college graduates. Among women who were white, those with less than a high school degree had higher odds of excessive GWG than those with more education. Conclusion The relationship between educational attainment and GWG is nuanced and nonlinear. PMID:27372419

Insight in paranoia: The role of experiential avoidance and internalized stigma.

PubMed

Valiente, Carmen; Provencio, Maria; Espinosa, Regina; Duque, Almudena; Everts, Franziska

2015-05-01

Evidence suggests that insight in psychosis has been related to treatment adherence, recovery and good prognosis, but also to depression, low self-esteem, and diminished quality of life. Thus, insight might not be advantageous under all circumstances. Internalized-stigma (i.e. self-acceptance of stigmatizing images of illness) and experiential avoidance (i.e. unwillingness to experience negative private events) have been proposed as moderating variables between insight, and psychological health variables and/or distress. We investigated the patterns of association of insight with satisfaction with life, self-esteem, depression, anxiety and psychotic psychopathology as moderated by self-stigmatizing beliefs and experiential avoidance, in a sample of 47 participants with persecutory beliefs and diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder. Moderation analyses confirm the importance of internalized-stigma and experiential avoidance. The presence of insight was associated with more depression when there were high levels of self-stigma. Whereas, the absence of insight was associated with a greater life satisfaction when there were high levels of experiential avoidance. To summarize, our results help understand the complex relationship between insight, psychological health variables and emotional distress, pointing to a differential pattern of moderation for negative and positive outcomes. We discuss the implications of these results for research and treatment of paranoia. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impaired insight into illness and cognitive insight in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: Resting state functional connectivity

PubMed Central

Gerretsen, Philip; Menon, Mahesh; Mamo, David C.; Fervaha, Gagan; Remington, Gary; Pollock, Bruce G.; Graff-Guerrero, Ariel

2015-01-01

Background Impaired insight into illness (clinical insight) in schizophrenia has negative effects on treatment adherence and clinical outcomes. Schizophrenia is described as a disorder of disrupted brain connectivity. In line with this concept, resting state networks (RSNs) appear differentially affected in persons with schizophrenia. Therefore, impaired clinical, or the related construct of cognitive insight (which posits that impaired clinical insight is a function of metacognitive deficits), may reflect alterations in RSN functional connectivity (fc). Based on our previous research, which showed that impaired insight into illness was associated with increased left hemisphere volume relative to right, we hypothesized that impaired clinical insight would be associated with increased connectivity in the DMN with specific left hemisphere brain regions. Methods Resting state MRI scans were acquired for participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (n = 20). Seed-to-voxel and ROI-to-ROI fc analyses were performed using the CONN-fMRI fc toolbox v13 for established RSNs. Clinical and cognitive insight were measured with the Schedule for the Assessment of Insight—Expanded Version and Beck Cognitive Insight Scale, respectively, and included as the regressors in fc analyses. Results As hypothesized, impaired clinical insight was associated with increased connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) with the left angular gyrus, and also in the self-referential network (SRN) with the left insula. Cognitive insight was associated with increased connectivity in the dorsal attention network (DAN) with the right inferior frontal cortex (IFC) and left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Conclusion Increased connectivity in DMN and SRN with the left angular gyrus and insula, respectively, may represent neural correlates of impaired clinical insight in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and is consistent with the literature attributing impaired insight to left

A variable-gain output feedback control design methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halyo, Nesim; Moerder, Daniel D.; Broussard, John R.; Taylor, Deborah B.

1989-01-01

A digital control system design technique is developed in which the control system gain matrix varies with the plant operating point parameters. The design technique is obtained by formulating the problem as an optimal stochastic output feedback control law with variable gains. This approach provides a control theory framework within which the operating range of a control law can be significantly extended. Furthermore, the approach avoids the major shortcomings of the conventional gain-scheduling techniques. The optimal variable gain output feedback control problem is solved by embedding the Multi-Configuration Control (MCC) problem, previously solved at ICS. An algorithm to compute the optimal variable gain output feedback control gain matrices is developed. The algorithm is a modified version of the MCC algorithm improved so as to handle the large dimensionality which arises particularly in variable-gain control problems. The design methodology developed is applied to a reconfigurable aircraft control problem. A variable-gain output feedback control problem was formulated to design a flight control law for an AFTI F-16 aircraft which can automatically reconfigure its control strategy to accommodate failures in the horizontal tail control surface. Simulations of the closed-loop reconfigurable system show that the approach produces a control design which can accommodate such failures with relative ease. The technique can be applied to many other problems including sensor failure accommodation, mode switching control laws and super agility.

What determines social capital in a social-ecological system? Insights from a network perspective.

PubMed

Barnes-Mauthe, Michele; Gray, Steven Allen; Arita, Shawn; Lynham, John; Leung, PingSun

2015-02-01

Social capital is an important resource that can be mobilized for purposive action or competitive gain. The distribution of social capital in social-ecological systems can determine who is more productive at extracting ecological resources and who emerges as influential in guiding their management, thereby empowering some while disempowering others. Despite its importance, the factors that contribute to variation in social capital among individuals have not been widely studied. We adopt a network perspective to examine what determines social capital among individuals in social-ecological systems. We begin by identifying network measures of social capital relevant for individuals in this context, and review existing evidence concerning their determinants. Using a complete social network dataset from Hawaii's longline fishery, we employ social network analysis and other statistical methods to empirically estimate these measures and determine the extent to which individual stakeholder attributes explain variation within them. We find that ethnicity is the strongest predictor of social capital. Measures of human capital (i.e., education, experience), years living in the community, and information-sharing attitudes are also important. Surprisingly, we find that when controlling for other factors, industry leaders and formal fishery representatives are generally not well connected. Our results offer new quantitative insights on the relationship between stakeholder diversity, social networks, and social capital in a coupled social-ecological system, which can aid in identifying barriers and opportunities for action to overcome resource management problems. Our results also have implications for achieving resource governance that is not only ecologically and economically sustainable, but also equitable.

What Determines Social Capital in a Social-Ecological System? Insights from a Network Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes-Mauthe, Michele; Gray, Steven Allen; Arita, Shawn; Lynham, John; Leung, PingSun

2015-02-01

Social capital is an important resource that can be mobilized for purposive action or competitive gain. The distribution of social capital in social-ecological systems can determine who is more productive at extracting ecological resources and who emerges as influential in guiding their management, thereby empowering some while disempowering others. Despite its importance, the factors that contribute to variation in social capital among individuals have not been widely studied. We adopt a network perspective to examine what determines social capital among individuals in social-ecological systems. We begin by identifying network measures of social capital relevant for individuals in this context, and review existing evidence concerning their determinants. Using a complete social network dataset from Hawaii's longline fishery, we employ social network analysis and other statistical methods to empirically estimate these measures and determine the extent to which individual stakeholder attributes explain variation within them. We find that ethnicity is the strongest predictor of social capital. Measures of human capital (i.e., education, experience), years living in the community, and information-sharing attitudes are also important. Surprisingly, we find that when controlling for other factors, industry leaders and formal fishery representatives are generally not well connected. Our results offer new quantitative insights on the relationship between stakeholder diversity, social networks, and social capital in a coupled social-ecological system, which can aid in identifying barriers and opportunities for action to overcome resource management problems. Our results also have implications for achieving resource governance that is not only ecologically and economically sustainable, but also equitable.

Revealing the arc dynamics in a gliding arc plasmatron: a better insight to improve CO2 conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramakers, Marleen; Medrano, Jose A.; Trenchev, Georgi; Gallucci, Fausto; Bogaerts, Annemie

2017-12-01

A gliding arc plasmatron (GAP) is very promising for CO2 conversion into value-added chemicals, but to further improve this important application, a better understanding of the arc behavior is indispensable. Therefore, we study here for the first time the dynamic arc behavior of the GAP by means of a high-speed camera, for different reactor configurations and in a wide range of operating conditions. This allows us to provide a complete image of the behavior of the gliding arc. More specifically, the arc body shape, diameter, movement and rotation speed are analyzed and discussed. Clearly, the arc movement and shape relies on a number of factors, such as gas turbulence, outlet diameter, electrode surface, gas contraction and buoyance force. Furthermore, we also compare the experimentally measured arc movement to a state-of-the-art 3D-plasma model, which predicts the plasma movement and rotation speed with very good accuracy, to gain further insight in the underlying mechanisms. Finally, we correlate the arc dynamics with the CO2 conversion and energy efficiency, at exactly the same conditions, to explain the effect of these parameters on the CO2 conversion process. This work is important for understanding and optimizing the GAP for CO2 conversion.

Impact of Energy Gain and Subsystem Characteristics on Fusion Propulsion Performance Balances

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chakrabarti, Suman; Schmidt, George R.

2000-01-01

Rapid transportation of large payloads and human crews to destinations throughout the solar system will require propulsion systems having not only very high exhaust velocities (I (sub sp) greater than or equal to 10 (exp 4) to 10 (exp 5) sec) but also extremely low mass-power ratios (alpha less than or equal to 10 (exp -1) kg/kW). Such low a are difficult to achieve with power-limited propulsion systems. but may be attainable with fusion and other high I (sub SP) nuclear concepts that produce energy within the propellant. The magnitude of this energy gain is of fundamental importance. It must be large enough to sustain the nuclear process while still providing a high jet power relative to the massive power-intensive subsystems associated with these types of concepts. This paper evaluates the energy gain and mass-power characteristics required for a consistent with 1-year roundtrip planetary missions ranging up to 100 AU. Central to this analysis is an equation for overall system a, which is derived from the power balance of a generalized "gain-limited" propulsion system. Results show that the gain required to achieve alpha approximately 10 (exp -1) kg/kW with foreseeable subsystem technology can vary from 50 to as high as 10,000, which is 2 to 5 orders of magnitude greater than current state-of-the art. However, order of magnitude improvements in propulsion subsystem mass and efficiency could reduce gain requirements to 10 to 1,000 - still a very challenging goal.

Coverage Gains After the Affordable Care Act Among the Uninsured in Minnesota

PubMed Central

Lukanen, Elizabeth; Spencer, Donna; Alarcón, Giovann; Kemmick Pintor, Jessie; Baines Simon, Alisha; Gildemeister, Stefan

2015-01-01

Objectives. We determined whether and how Minnesotans who were uninsured in 2013 gained health insurance coverage in 2014, 1 year after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded Medicaid coverage and enrollment. Methods. Insurance status and enrollment experiences came from the Minnesota Health Insurance Transitions Study (MH-HITS), a follow-up telephone survey of children and adults in Minnesota who had no health insurance in the fall of 2013. Results. ACA had a tempered success in Minnesota. Outreach and enrollment efforts were effective; one half of those previously uninsured gained coverage, although many reported difficulty signing up (nearly 62%). Of the previously uninsured who gained coverage, 44% obtained their coverage through MNsure, Minnesota’s insurance marketplace. Most of those who remained uninsured heard of MNsure and went to the Web site. Many still struggled with the enrollment process or reported being deterred by the cost of coverage. Conclusions. Targeting outreach, simplifying the enrollment process, focusing on affordability, and continuing funding for in-person assistance will be important in the future. PMID:26447912

The evaluation of a mass media campaign aimed at weight gain prevention among young Dutch adults.

PubMed

Wammes, Birgitte; Oenema, Anke; Brug, Johannes

2007-11-01

The objective was to evaluate a 3-year nationwide mass media campaign aimed at preventing weight gain. The campaign was aimed primarily at raising awareness of the importance of weight-gain prevention and bringing these issues to the attention of the Dutch public. Eleven serial, independent, cross-sectional, population-based telephone surveys were used to assess campaign awareness and impact (N ranged between 483 and 493 for each of the 11 surveys). The surveys were conducted before and after six campaign waves. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were used to test for trends over time and for differences among the surveys for campaign awareness, message recall, perceived body weight status, overweight-related risk perceptions, attitudes, perceived social support, self-efficacy expectations, and motivations for preventing weight gain. Campaign awareness ranged from 61% after the 1st campaign wave to 88.4% after the final wave. The campaign's television broadcasting activities were an important source of campaign awareness, from both the campaign's television commercials and television-based free publicity. Message recall ranged from 41.9% to 68.1%. Small positive differences were found in attitudes, perceived social support, and intentions for preventing weight gain. Additionally, the results suggest mixed effects on self-efficacy expectations and a negative effect on risk perception. The campaign resulted in high campaign awareness, especially as a result of television commercials and free publicity on television. The results suggest that the campaign was able to create more positive attitudes and motivation but lower risk perceptions and efficacy for preventing weight gain.

Information gains from cosmological probes

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

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

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

New insight on the S100A1-STIP1 complex highlights the important relationship between allostery and entropy in protein function.

PubMed

Nucci, Nathaniel V

2017-08-17

Calcium signaling serves as a nexus of many vital cellular processes. Of particular importance is the role the calcium signaling plays in the prevention of protein misfolding, and the S100 family of calcium-binding proteins is a key player in this pathway. While the S100 proteins carry out a range of roles, the interaction of S100A1 and the stress-inducible phosphoprotein 1 (STIP1) has been shown to be particularly important. A recent study by Maciejewski et al. in Biochemical Journal ( Biochemical Journal (2017) 474 , 1853-1866) revealed new insights into the nature of the S100A1-STIP1 interaction. Not only did the present paper indicate the stoichiometry of binding for this interaction (three S100A1 dimers : one STIP1), it also demonstrated that the binding interaction is highly co-operative and that each S100A1-STIP1-binding interaction is entropically driven. The findings presented raise important new questions regarding the relationship between entropy and allostery in protein function. Recently, the dynamical underpinnings of allostery in protein function have become a topic of increased interest. A broad range of investigations have demonstrated that allostery can be mediated by entropic processes such as changes in the flexibility of the protein backbone and in the range of motions explored by side chains. The S100A1-STIP1 complex as described by Maciejewski et al. suggests a new system in which an allosteric-binding interaction driven by entropic processes may be systematically dissected in the future. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

PV Calibration Insights | NREL

Science.gov Websites

PV Calibration Insights PV Calibration Insights The Photovoltaic (PV) Calibration Insights blog will provide updates on the testing done by the NREL PV Device Performance group. This NREL research group measures the performance of any and all technologies and sizes of PV devices from around the world

A comparison of insight in body dysmorphic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

PubMed

Phillips, Katharine A; Pinto, Anthony; Hart, Ashley S; Coles, Meredith E; Eisen, Jane L; Menard, William; Rasmussen, Steven A

2012-10-01

Insight/delusionality of beliefs is an important dimension of psychopathology across psychiatric disorders. This construct is of increasing interest in obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Even though OCD and BDD are considered closely related, no prior study has compared these disorders across a range of categories of global insight (excellent, good, fair, poor, absent/delusional), and only one study has compared these disorders on individual components of insight. Using the reliable and valid Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS), this study examined insight/delusionality of OCD- or BDD-related beliefs in 211 individuals with primary OCD versus 68 individuals with primary BDD. In both disorders, levels of insight spanned the full range, from excellent to absent (i.e., delusional beliefs). However, the distribution of BABS scores across insight categories differed significantly by disorder, with the majority of OCD subjects showing excellent or good insight, and the majority of BDD subjects showing poor or absent insight. Compared to OCD subjects, BDD subjects had significantly poorer insight both overall (total BABS score) and on all individual BABS items. BABS score was significantly correlated with BDD and OCD severity, but in regressions it accounted for only 21% of the variance in OCD and 28% in BDD. In summary, both global insight and its individual components are poorer in BDD than in OCD, which has implications for research and clinical care, as well as understanding of the relationship between these disorders. Disorder severity is associated with but not equivalent to insight/delusionality. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

Paternal and maternal obesity but not gestational weight gain is associated with type 1 diabetes

PubMed Central

Magnus, Maria C; Olsen, Sjurdur F; Granstrom, Charlotta; Lund-Blix, Nicolai A; Svensson, Jannet; Johannesen, Jesper; Fraser, Abigail; Skrivarhaug, Torild; Joner, Geir; Njølstad, Pål R; Størdal, Ketil; Stene, Lars C

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Our objective was to examine the associations of parental body mass index (BMI) and maternal gestational weight gain with childhood-onset type 1 diabetes. Comparing the associations of maternal and paternal BMI with type 1 diabetes in the offspring will provide further insight into the role of unmeasured confounding by characteristics linked to BMI in both parents. Methods We studied 132 331 children participating in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) and the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) who were born between February 1998 and July 2009. Exposures of interest included parental BMI and maternal gestational weight gain obtained by maternal report. We used Cox-proportional hazards regression to examine the risk of type 1 diabetes (n=499 cases), which was ascertained by national childhood diabetes registers. Results The incidence of type 1 diabetes was 32.7 per 100 000 person-years in MoBa and 28.5 per 100 000 person-years in DNBC. Both maternal pre-pregnancy obesity, adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.41 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 1.89] and paternal obesity, adjusted HR 1.51 (95% CI: 1.11, 2.04), were associated with childhood-onset type 1 diabetes. The associations were similar after mutual adjustment. In contrast, maternal total gestational weight gain was not associated with childhood-onset type 1 diabetes, adjusted HR 1.00 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.02) per kilogram increase. Conclusions Our study suggests that the association between maternal obesity and childhood-onset type 1 diabetes is not likely explained by intrauterine mechanisms, but possibly rather by unknown environmental factors influencing BMI in the family. PMID:29415279

Genetics of antipsychotic-induced weight gain: update and current perspectives.

PubMed

Kao, Amy C C; Müller, Daniel J

2013-12-01

Antipsychotic medications are used to effectively treat various symptoms for different psychiatric conditions. Unfortunately, antipsychotic-induced weight gain (AIWG) is a common side effect that frequently results in obesity and secondary medical conditions. Twin and sibling studies have indicated that genetic factors are likely to be highly involved in AIWG. Over recent years, there has been considerable progress in this area, with several consistently replicated findings, as well as the identification of new genes and implicated pathways. Here, we will review the most recent genetic studies related to AIWG using the Medline database (PubMed) and Google Scholar. Among the steadiest findings associated with AIWG are serotonin 2C receptors (HTR2C) and leptin promoter gene variants, with more recent studies implicating MTHFR and, in particular, MC4R genes. Additional support was reported for the HRH1, BDNF, NPY, CNR1, GHRL, FTO and AMPK genes. Notably, some of the reported variants appear to have relatively large effect sizes. These findings have provided insights into the mechanisms involved in AIWG and will help to develop predictive genetic tests in the near future.

Optical properties of nanowire metamaterials with gain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lima, Joaquim; Adam, Jost; Rego, Davi; Esquerre, Vitaly; Bordo, Vladimir

2016-11-01

The transmittance, reflectance and absorption of a nanowire metamaterial with optical gain are numerically simulated and investigated. It is assumed that the metamaterial is represented by aligned silver nanowires embedded into a semiconductor matrix, made of either silicon or gallium phosphide. The gain in the matrix is modeled by adding a negative imaginary part to the dielectric function of the semiconductor. It is found that the optical coefficients of the metamaterial depend on the gain magnitude in a non-trivial way: they can both increase and decrease with gain depending on the lattice constant of the metamaterial. This peculiar behavior is explained by the field redistribution between the lossy metal nanowires and the amplifying matrix material. These findings are significant for a proper design of nanowire metamaterials with low optical losses for diverse applications.

New Discovery About Middle-Age Weight Gain

MedlinePlus

... Middle-Age Weight Gain Follow us Photo: AdobeStock New Discovery About Middle-Age Weight Gain A TEAM ... findings could lead to the development of a new type of weight-loss medication. SOURCE: NIH Research ...

Multiple network-constrained regressions expand insights into influenza vaccination responses.

PubMed

Avey, Stefan; Mohanty, Subhasis; Wilson, Jean; Zapata, Heidi; Joshi, Samit R; Siconolfi, Barbara; Tsang, Sui; Shaw, Albert C; Kleinstein, Steven H

2017-07-15

Systems immunology leverages recent technological advancements that enable broad profiling of the immune system to better understand the response to infection and vaccination, as well as the dysregulation that occurs in disease. An increasingly common approach to gain insights from these large-scale profiling experiments involves the application of statistical learning methods to predict disease states or the immune response to perturbations. However, the goal of many systems studies is not to maximize accuracy, but rather to gain biological insights. The predictors identified using current approaches can be biologically uninterpretable or present only one of many equally predictive models, leading to a narrow understanding of the underlying biology. Here we show that incorporating prior biological knowledge within a logistic modeling framework by using network-level constraints on transcriptional profiling data significantly improves interpretability. Moreover, incorporating different types of biological knowledge produces models that highlight distinct aspects of the underlying biology, while maintaining predictive accuracy. We propose a new framework, Logistic Multiple Network-constrained Regression (LogMiNeR), and apply it to understand the mechanisms underlying differential responses to influenza vaccination. Although standard logistic regression approaches were predictive, they were minimally interpretable. Incorporating prior knowledge using LogMiNeR led to models that were equally predictive yet highly interpretable. In this context, B cell-specific genes and mTOR signaling were associated with an effective vaccination response in young adults. Overall, our results demonstrate a new paradigm for analyzing high-dimensional immune profiling data in which multiple networks encoding prior knowledge are incorporated to improve model interpretability. The R source code described in this article is publicly available at https

From tectonics to tractors: New insight into Earth's changing surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larsen, I. J.

2017-12-01

Weathering and erosion of rock and the transport of sediment continually modify Earth's surface. The transformation and transfer of material by both natural and anthropogenic processes drives global cycles and influences the habitability of our planet. By quantitatively linking erosional and depositional landforms to the processes that form them, we better understand how Earth's surface will evolve in the future, and gain the ability to look into the past to recognize how planetary surfaces evolved when environments were drastically different than today. Many of the recent advances in our understanding of the processes that influence landscape evolution have been driven by the development and application of tools such as cosmogenic nuclides, computational models, and digital topographic data. Here I present results gleaned from applying these tools to a diverse set of landscapes, where erosion is driven by factors ranging from tectonics to tractors, to provide insight into the mechanics, chemistry, and history of Earth's changing surface. I will first examine the landslide response of hillslopes in the Himalaya to spatial gradients in tectonic forcing to assess the paradigm of threshold hillslopes. Second, I will present soil production and chemical weathering rates measured in the Southern Alps of New Zealand to determine the relationship between physical erosion and chemical weathering in one of Earth's most rapidly uplifting landscapes, and discuss the implications for proposed links between mountain uplift and global climate. Third, I will discuss results from numerical flood simulations used to explore the interplay between outburst flood hydraulics and canyon incision in the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington, and explore the implications for reconstructing discharge in flood-carved canyons on Earth and Mars. Finally, I will present new work that couples high resolution spectral and topographic data to estimate the spatial extent of agriculturally

NCCN Guidelines Insights: Multiple Myeloma, Version 3.2018.

PubMed

Kumar, Shaji K; Callander, Natalie S; Alsina, Melissa; Atanackovic, Djordje; Biermann, J Sybil; Castillo, Jorge; Chandler, Jason C; Costello, Caitlin; Faiman, Matthew; Fung, Henry C; Godby, Kelly; Hofmeister, Craig; Holmberg, Leona; Holstein, Sarah; Huff, Carol Ann; Kang, Yubin; Kassim, Adetola; Liedtke, Michaela; Malek, Ehsan; Martin, Thomas; Neppalli, Vishala T; Omel, James; Raje, Noopur; Singhal, Seema; Somlo, George; Stockerl-Goldstein, Keith; Weber, Donna; Yahalom, Joachim; Kumar, Rashmi; Shead, Dorothy A

2018-01-01

The NCCN Guidelines for Multiple Myeloma provide recommendations for diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, including supportive-care, and follow-up for patients with myeloma. These NCCN Guidelines Insights highlight the important updates/changes specific to the myeloma therapy options in the 2018 version of the NCCN Guidelines. Copyright © 2018 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Insight change in psychosis: relationship with neurocognition, social cognition, clinical symptoms and phase of illness.

PubMed

Quee, P J; van der Meer, L; Krabbendam, L; de Haan, L; Cahn, W; Wiersma, D; van Beveren, N; Pijnenborg, G H M; Mulder, C L; Bruggeman, R; Aleman, A

2014-02-01

Impaired insight is an important and prevalent symptom of psychosis. It remains unclear whether cognitive disturbances hamper improvements in insight. We investigated the neurocognitive, social cognitive, and clinical correlates of changes in insight. One hundred and fifty-four patients with a psychotic disorder were assessed at baseline (T0 ) and after three years (T3 ) with the Birchwood Insight Scale, the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale, measures of neurocognition and social cognition. Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine to what extend neurocognition, social cognition, clinical symptoms and phase of illness could uniquely predict insight change. Subsequently, changes in these factors were related to insight change. Better neurocognitive performance and fewer clinical symptoms at baseline explained insight improvements. The additional effect of clinical symptoms over and above the contribution of neurocognition was significant. Together, these factors explained 10% of the variance. Social cognition and phase of illness could not predict insight change. Changes in clinical symptoms, but not changes in neurocognitive performance were associated with insight change. Neurocognitive abilities may predict, in part, the development of insight in psychosis. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Importance of tributary streams for rainbow trout reproduction: insights from a small stream in Georgia and a bi-genomic approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee, D.; Lack, Justin B.; Van Den Bussche, Ronald A.; Long, James M.

2012-01-01

Tributaries of tailwater fisheries in the southeastern USA have been used for spawning by stocked rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), but their importance may have been underestimated using traditional fish survey methods such as electrofishing and redd counts. We used a bi-genomic approach, mitochondrial DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellite loci, to estimate the number of spawning adults in one small tributary (Cabin Creek) of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, where rainbow trout are known to spawn and have successful recruitment. We extracted and analysed DNA from seven mature male rainbow trout and four juveniles that were captured in February 2006 in Cabin Creek and from 24 young-of-year (YOY) trout that were captured in April 2006. From these samples, we estimated that 24 individuals were spawning to produce the amount of genetic variation observed in the juveniles and YOY, although none of the mature males we sampled were indicated as sires. Analysis of the mitochondrial D-loop region identified four distinct haplotypes, suggesting that individuals representing four maternal lineages contributed to the offspring. Our analyses indicated that many more adults were spawning in this system than previously estimated with direct count methods and provided insight into rainbow trout spawning behavior.

Gain Shift Corrections at Chi-Nu

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

Brown, Tristan Brooks; Devlin, Matthew James

Ambient conditions have the potential to cause changes in liquid scintillator detector gain that vary with time and temperature. These gain shifts can lead to poor resolution in both energy as well as pulse shape discrimination. In order to correct for these shifts in the Chi-Nu high energy array, a laser system has been developed for calibration of the pulse height signals.

Business Process-Based Resource Importance Determination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fenz, Stefan; Ekelhart, Andreas; Neubauer, Thomas

Information security risk management (ISRM) heavily depends on realistic impact values representing the resources’ importance in the overall organizational context. Although a variety of ISRM approaches have been proposed, well-founded methods that provide an answer to the following question are still missing: How can business processes be used to determine resources’ importance in the overall organizational context? We answer this question by measuring the actual importance level of resources based on business processes. Therefore, this paper presents our novel business process-based resource importance determination method which provides ISRM with an efficient and powerful tool for deriving realistic resource importance figures solely from existing business processes. The conducted evaluation has shown that the calculation results of the developed method comply to the results gained in traditional workshop-based assessments.

Self-disorders and Schizophrenia: A Phenomenological Reappraisal of Poor Insight and Noncompliance

PubMed Central

Henriksen, Mads G.

2014-01-01

Poor insight into illness is considered the primary cause of treatment noncompliance in schizophrenia. In this article, we critically discuss the predominant conceptual accounts of poor insight, which consider it as an ineffective self-reflection, caused either by psychological defenses or impaired metacognition. We argue that these accounts are at odds with the phenomenology of schizophrenia, and we propose a novel account of poor insight. We suggest that the reason why schizophrenia patients have no or only partial insight and consequently do not comply with treatment is rooted in the nature of their anomalous self-experiences (ie, self- disorders) and the related articulation of their psychotic symptoms. We argue that self-disorders destabilize the patients’ experiential framework, thereby weakening their basic sense of reality (natural attitude) and enabling another sense of reality (solipsistic attitude) to emerge and coexist. This coexistence of attitudes, which Bleuler termed “double bookkeeping,” is, in our view, central to understanding what poor insight in schizophrenia really is. We suggest that our phenomenologically informed account of poor insight may have important implications for early intervention, psychoeducation, and psychotherapy for schizophrenia. PMID:23798710

The importance and development of ball control and (self-reported) self-regulatory skills in basketball players for different positions.

PubMed

Te Wierike, Sanne Cornelia Maria; Huijgen, Barbara Catharina Helena; Jonker, Laura; Elferink-Gemser, Marije Titia; Visscher, Chris

2018-03-01

This study first investigated the importance of ball control and (self-reported) self-regulatory skills in achieving the elite level in basketball. The second aim was to gain insight into the development of, and association between ball control and (self-reported) self-regulatory skills that contribute to achieving the elite level, with taking into account positional differences. Talented male players (N = 73; age 16.56 ± 1.96) completed the STARtest to measure ball control and a questionnaire to measure (self-reported) self-regulation from 2008-2012. Results showed that (self-reported) reflective skills were most important to achieve the elite level (OR = 11.76; P < 0.05). There was no significant improvement in (self-reported) reflection over time for guards, forwards, and centers. Improvement in ball control was evident for guards (r = -0.65; P < 0.05). Furthermore, guards and forwards had better ball control compared to centers (P < 0.01). For those two positions, negative correlations were found between (self-reported) reflection and ball control, i.e., higher reflection was related to better ball control (guards r = -0.19; forwards r = -0.18) in contrast to centers (r = 0.34). It is concluded that (self-reported) reflective skills are important to achieve the elite level, while ball control seems especially important for guards.

Gaining hope and self-confidence-An interview study of women's experience of treatment by art therapy for severe fear of childbirth.

PubMed

Wahlbeck, Helén; Kvist, Linda J; Landgren, Kajsa

2017-10-31

Fear of childbirth is a serious problem that can have negative effects on both women and babies and to date treatment options are limited. The aim of this study was to elucidate the experience of undergoing art therapy in women with severe fear of childbirth. Nineteen women residing in Sweden, who had undergone art therapy for severe fear of childbirth, were interviewed during 2011-2013 about their experiences of the treatment. All women had received both support from a specialist team of midwives and treatment by an art therapist who was also a midwife. The women were interviewed three months after giving birth. The transcribed interviews were analysed with a phenomenological hermeneutical method. A main theme and three themes emerged from the analysis. The main theme was Gaining hope and self confidence. The three themes were; Carrying heavy baggage, Creating images as a catalyst for healing and Gaining new insights and abilities. Through the use of images and colours the women gained access to difficult emotions and the act of painting helped them visualize these emotions and acted as a catalyst for the healing process. Art therapy was well accepted by the women. Through sharing their burden of fear by creating visible images, they gained hope and self-confidence in the face of their impending childbirth. The results may contribute to knowledge about the feasibility of treating fear of childbirth by art therapy. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Cognitive insight: A systematic review.

PubMed

Van Camp, L S C; Sabbe, B G C; Oldenburg, J F E

2017-07-01

Cognitive insight is the ability to re-evaluate thoughts and beliefs in order to make thoughtful conclusions. It differs from clinical insight, as it focuses on more general metacognitive processes. Therefore, it could be relevant to diverse disorders and non-clinical subjects. There is a growing body of research on cognitive insight in individuals with and without psychosis. This review has summarised the current state of the art regarding this topic. We conclude that while cognitive insight in its current form seems valid for use in individuals with psychosis, it is less so for individuals without psychosis. Additionally, higher cognitive insight not always leads to better psychological functioning. For instance, higher levels of self-reflection are often associated with depressive mood. We therefore recommend the sub-components of cognitive insight to be studied separately. Also, it is unclear what position cognitive insight takes within the spectrum of metacognitive processes and how it relates to other self-related concepts that have been defined previously in literature. Combining future and past research on cognitive insight and its analogue concepts will help in the formation of a uniform definition that fits all subjects discussed here. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Gains in accuracy from averaging ratings of abnormality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swensson, Richard G.; King, Jill L.; Gur, David; Good, Walter F.

1999-05-01

Six radiologists used continuous scales to rate 529 chest-film cases for likelihood of five separate types of abnormalities (interstitial disease, nodules, pneumothorax, alveolar infiltrates and rib fractures) in each of six replicated readings, yielding 36 separate ratings of each case for the five abnormalities. Analyses for each type of abnormality estimated the relative gains in accuracy (area below the ROC curve) obtained by averaging the case-ratings across: (1) six independent replications by each reader (30% gain), (2) six different readers within each replication (39% gain) or (3) all 36 readings (58% gain). Although accuracy differed among both readers and abnormalities, ROC curves for the median ratings showed similar relative gains in accuracy. From a latent-variable model for these gains, we estimate that about 51% of a reader's total decision variance consisted of random (within-reader) errors that were uncorrelated between replications, another 14% came from that reader's consistent (but idiosyncratic) responses to different cases, and only about 35% could be attributed to systematic variations among the sampled cases that were consistent across different readers.

Particulate Matter over the Western Mediterranean sea: new insights gained from data collected during the 2011, 2012 and 2015 CNR research cruise campaigns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castagna, Jessica; D'Amore, Francesco; Naccarato, Attilio; Moretti, Sacha; Mannarino, Valentino; Bencardino, Mariantonia; Sprovieri, Francesca; Pirrone, Nicola

2017-04-01

The Mediterranean basin, due to its unique geographic position and its peculiar meteo-climatic conditions, appears to be an area with a relevant pollution load. Significant is the contribution of dense ship traffic and highly industrialized population centres surrounding the basin itself but a large influence is also due to geological sources like Saharan dust and volcanic ashes. The transport of both natural dust and anthropogenic aerosols into the marine environment involves considerable interest, not least for its potential impact on marine ecosystems, world climate and air quality. However, whereas there is already a large monitoring database measuring air pollution at surface land-based sites and in ports, there is a relatively little information on atmospheric aerosol directly measured at sea. In order to fill in the gap of observations in the Mediterranean basin and to gain more insight into the atmospheric dynamical and chemical mechanisms leading to high surface Particulate Matter (PM) levels, the Institute of Atmospheric Pollution of the National Research Council (CNR-IIA), since 2003, has started regular ship-borne measurements over the Mediterranean Sea. In the present work we will specifically focus on PM observations obtained, travelling on the sea, during three cruise campaigns performed during autumn 2011, summer 2012 and summer 2015, along different tracks and almost covering the Western Mediterranean sector. We specifically recorded two, gravimetrically determined, PM size fraction mass concentrations (PM2.5 and PM10), whose major and trace elemental composition was subsequently obtained by chemical analysis with an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). Overall, we obtained 40 days of data observations whose analysis contributes to investigate the causes of aerosol pollution in this area. Data on PM mass concentrations showed a quite high variability ranging from 10.5 to 38.8 μg.m-3 for the PM10, and from 5.5 to 29.7 μg.m-3 for

Sudden gains in exposure therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

PubMed

Collins, Lindsey M; Coles, Meredith E

2017-06-01

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

Potential gains from hospital mergers in Denmark.

PubMed

Kristensen, Troels; Bogetoft, Peter; Pedersen, Kjeld Moeller

2010-12-01

The Danish hospital sector faces a major rebuilding program to centralize activity in fewer and larger hospitals. We aim to conduct an efficiency analysis of hospitals and to estimate the potential cost savings from the planned hospital mergers. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate a cost frontier. Based on this analysis, we calculate an efficiency score for each hospital and estimate the potential gains from the proposed mergers by comparing individual efficiencies with the efficiency of the combined hospitals. Furthermore, we apply a decomposition algorithm to split merger gains into technical efficiency, size (scale) and harmony (mix) gains. The motivation for this decomposition is that some of the apparent merger gains may actually be available with less than a full-scale merger, e.g., by sharing best practices and reallocating certain resources and tasks. Our results suggest that many hospitals are technically inefficient, and the expected "best practice" hospitals are quite efficient. Also, some mergers do not seem to lower costs. This finding indicates that some merged hospitals become too large and therefore experience diseconomies of scale. Other mergers lead to considerable cost reductions; we find potential gains resulting from learning better practices and the exploitation of economies of scope. To ensure robustness, we conduct a sensitivity analysis using two alternative returns-to-scale assumptions and two alternative estimation approaches. We consistently find potential gains from improving the technical efficiency and the exploitation of economies of scope from mergers.

Adversity magnifies the importance of social information in decision-making.

PubMed

Pérez-Escudero, Alfonso; de Polavieja, Gonzalo G

2017-11-01

Decision-making theories explain animal behaviour, including human behaviour, as a response to estimations about the environment. In the case of collective behaviour, they have given quantitative predictions of how animals follow the majority option. However, they have so far failed to explain that in some species and contexts social cohesion increases when conditions become more adverse (i.e. individuals choose the majority option with higher probability when the estimated quality of all available options decreases). We have found that this failure is due to modelling simplifications that aided analysis, like low levels of stochasticity or the assumption that only one choice is the correct one. We provide a more general but simple geometric framework to describe optimal or suboptimal decisions in collectives that gives insight into three different mechanisms behind this effect. The three mechanisms have in common that the private information acts as a gain factor to social information: a decrease in the privately estimated quality of all available options increases the impact of social information, even when social information itself remains unchanged. This increase in the importance of social information makes it more likely that agents will follow the majority option. We show that these results quantitatively explain collective behaviour in fish and experiments of social influence in humans. © 2017 The Authors.

Optomechanical transistor with mechanical gain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2018-04-01

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

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Stu Spath, InSight program manager, Lockheed Martin Space, discusses NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager, NASA JPL, right, discusses NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator, NASA JPL, discusses NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Recent Advances in Type-2-Cell-Mediated Immunity: Insights from Helminth Infection.

PubMed

Harris, Nicola L; Loke, P'ng

2017-12-19

Type-2-cell-mediated immune responses play a critical role in mediating both host-resistance and disease-tolerance mechanisms during helminth infections. Recently, type 2 cell responses have emerged as major regulators of tissue repair and metabolic homeostasis even under steady-state conditions. In this review, we consider how studies of helminth infection have contributed toward our expanding cellular and molecular understanding of type-2-cell-mediated immunity, as well as new areas such as the microbiome. By studying how these successful parasites form chronic infections without overt pathology, we are gaining additional insights into allergic and inflammatory diseases, as well as normal physiology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Symmetric Gain Optoelectronic Mixers for LADAR

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

photodetector in the receiver is used as an optoelectronic mixer (OEM). Adding gain to the optoelectronic mixer allows the following transimpedance ...output is the low frequency difference signal, several orders of magnitude lower than the LO signal. Therefore, the gain of the transimpedance ... amplifier (TZA) following the photodetector can be increased, improving LADAR range. The metal-semiconductor- metal (MSM) Schottky detector is such a

Gain curves and hydrodynamic modeling for shock ignition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lafon, M.; Ribeyre, X.; Schurtz, G.

2010-05-01

Ignition of a precompressed thermonuclear fuel by means of a converging shock is now considered as a credible scheme to obtain high gains for inertial fusion energy. This work aims at modeling the successive stages of the fuel time history, from compression to final thermonuclear combustion, in order to provide the gain curves of shock ignition (SI). The leading physical mechanism at work in SI is pressure amplification, at first by spherical convergence, and by collision with the shock reflected at center during the stagnation process. These two effects are analyzed, and ignition conditions are provided as functions of the shock pressure and implosion velocity. Ignition conditions are obtained from a non-isobaric fuel assembly, for which we present a gain model. The corresponding gain curves exhibit a significantly lower ignition threshold and higher target gains than conventional central ignition.

[Insight and psychiatric dangerousness: A review of the literature].

PubMed

Bonnet, S; Lacambre, M; Schandrin, A; Capdevielle, D; Courtet, P

2017-04-01

assessment of violence, a minority of prospective studies and the lack of systematic consideration of possible confounding variables. However, the ability of the patient to perceive their illness is an important element to be considered in assessing the dangerousness both medically and legally. Higher belief flexibility and lower confidentiality of individual judgment, which reflect greater cognitive insight, may be associated with a lower incidence of violence, in particular in schizophrenia by decreasing the degree of confidence related to psychotic symptoms. In the growing efforts to reduce stigma associated with mental illness, it is important to identify a subgroup of patients at risk of violence and provide them with targeted treatment. In this sense, it seems important in the future to continue in this field of research to determine if the lack of insight is a covariate of a worsened condition or a specific violence risk factor per se. Copyright © 2016 L’Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Estimating QALY gains in applied studies: a review of cost-utility analyses published in 2010.

PubMed

Wisløff, Torbjørn; Hagen, Gunhild; Hamidi, Vida; Movik, Espen; Klemp, Marianne; Olsen, Jan Abel

2014-04-01

Reimbursement agencies in several countries now require health outcomes to be measured in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), leading to an immense increase in publications reporting QALY gains. However, there is a growing concern that the various 'multi-attribute utility' (MAU) instruments designed to measure the Q in the QALY yield disparate values, implying that results from different instruments are incommensurable. By reviewing cost-utility analyses published in 2010, we aim to contribute to improved knowledge on how QALYs are currently calculated in applied analyses; how transparently QALY measurement is presented; and how large the expected incremental QALY gains are. We searched Embase, MEDLINE and NHS EED for all cost-utility analyses published in 2010. All analyses that had estimated QALYs gained from health interventions were included. Of the 370 studies included in this review, 48% were pharmacoeconomic evaluations. Active comparators were used in 71% of studies. The median incremental QALY gain was 0.06, which translates to 3 weeks in best imaginable health. The EQ-5D-3L is the dominant instrument used. However, reporting of how QALY gains are estimated is generally inadequate. In 55% of the studies there was no reference to which MAU instrument or direct valuation method QALY data came from. The methods used for estimating expected QALY gains are not transparently reported in published papers. Given the wide variation in utility scores that different methodologies may assign to an identical health state, it is important for journal editors to require a more transparent way of reporting the estimation of incremental QALY gains.

Gestational Weight Gain: Association with Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes.

PubMed

Hannaford, Karen E; Tuuli, Methodius G; Odibo, Linda; Macones, George A; Odibo, Anthony O

2017-01-01

Background  It is unclear how adherence to the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) guidelines for weight gain affects pregnancy outcomes. Objective  We investigated how weight gain outside the IOM's recommendations affects the risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Study Design  We performed a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study including singleton, nonanomalous fetuses. The risks of small for gestational age (SGA), macrosomia, preeclampsia, cesarean delivery, gestational diabetes, or preterm birth were calculated for patients who gained weight below or above the IOM's recommendations based on body mass index category. A time-to-event analysis was performed to account for gestational age at delivery. A Cox proportional model was fit to estimate hazard ratios accounting for possible confounders. Results  Women who gained weight below recommendations were 2.5 times more likely to deliver SGA and twice as likely to deliver preterm. Normal-weight patients who gained below recommendations were 2.5 times more likely to deliver SGA and twice as likely to deliver preterm. Obese patients who gained inadequate weight were 2.5 times more likely to deliver SGA. Conclusion  Among normal-weight patients, adhering to IOM recommendations may prevent growth abnormalities and preterm delivery. Among obese patients, a minimum weight gain requirement may prevent SGA infants. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Antidepressants and Weight Gain

MedlinePlus

... 2015;37:46. Blumenthal SR, et al. An electronic health records study of long-term weight gain following antidepressant ... your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy ...

Antipsychotic-induced weight gain: a comprehensive research synthesis.

PubMed

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

1999-11-01

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

Sound pressure gain produced by the human middle ear.

PubMed

Kurokawa, H; Goode, R L

1995-10-01

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

Musicianship enhances ipsilateral and contralateral efferent gain control to the cochlea.

PubMed

Bidelman, Gavin M; Schneider, Amy D; Heitzmann, Victoria R; Bhagat, Shaum P

2017-02-01

Human hearing sensitivity is easily compromised with overexposure to excessively loud sounds, leading to permanent hearing damage. Consequently, finding activities and/or experiential factors that distinguish "tender" from "tough" ears (i.e., acoustic vulnerability) would be important for identifying people at higher risk for hearing damage. To regulate sound transmission and protect the inner ear against acoustic trauma, the auditory system modulates gain control to the cochlea via biological feedback of the medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferents, a neuronal pathway linking the lower brainstem and cochlear outer hair cells. We hypothesized that a salient form of auditory experience shown to have pervasive neuroplastic benefits, namely musical training, might act to fortify hearing through tonic engagement of these reflexive pathways. By measuring MOC efferent feedback via otoacoustic emissions (cochlear emitted sounds), we show that dynamic ipsilateral and contralateral cochlear gain control is enhanced in musically-trained individuals. Across all participants, MOC strength was correlated with the years of listeners' training suggested that efferent gain control is experience dependent. Our data provide new evidence that intensive listening experience(s) (e.g., musicianship) can strengthen the ipsi/contralateral MOC efferent system and sound regulation to the inner ear. Implications for reducing acoustic vulnerability to damaging sounds are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Welfare Gains from Financial Liberalization

PubMed Central

Townsend, Robert M.; Ueda, Kenichi

2010-01-01

Financial liberalization has been a controversial issue, as empirical evidence for growth enhancing effects is mixed. Here, we find sizable welfare gains from liberalization (cost to repression), though the gain in economic growth is ambiguous. We take the view that financial liberalization is a government policy that alters the path of financial deepening, while financial deepening is endogenously chosen by agents given a policy and occurs in transition towards a distant steady state. This history-dependent view necessitates the use of simulation analysis based on a growth model. Our application is a specific episode: Thailand from 1976 to 1996. PMID:20806055

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Social media guest listen as Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator, NASA JPL, discusses NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Cortical thickness and low insight into symptoms in enduring schizophrenia.

PubMed

Emami, Seema; Guimond, Synthia; Mallar Chakravarty, M; Lepage, Martin

2016-01-01

Poor insight is a common, multidimensional phenomenon in patients with schizophrenia, associated with poorer outcomes and treatment non-adherence. Yet scant research has investigated the neuronal correlates of insight into symptoms (IS), a dimension of insight that may be particularly significant in enduring schizophrenia. Sixty-six patients with enduring schizophrenia (duration >4years) and 33 healthy controls completed MRI scanning and IQ, depression, and anxiety assessments. The Scale to Assess Insight-Expanded (SAI-E) measured insight into patients' four most prominent symptoms and patients were classified into two groups: low IS (0-2; n=33), and high IS (>2; n=33). We evaluated the association between cortical thickness (CT) and insight into symptoms using two methods: (1) a between-patients region-of-interest analysis in the insula, superior temporal gyrus (STG) and frontal lobe; and (2) a whole-brain exploratory regression between patient and controls. Brain regions were segmented using a neuroanatomical atlas and vertex-wise CT analyses were conducted with CIVET, covaried for age and sex. ROI analysis revealed thinner insula cortex in patients with low IS (p<0.05, surviving FDR correction). Patients with low IS also showed significantly thinner right insula, STG, and parahippocampal cortex compared to healthy controls (p<0.05, surviving FDR correction). Regions of observed CT reductions have been hypothesized to subserve self-monitoring, error awareness, and ability to identify hallucinations. Results highlight an important association between right insula abnormalities and impaired IS in schizophrenia. The diverse clinical presentation of patients further suggests an independent relationship between symptomology and insight-related differences in CT that has been previously unexplored in enduring schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Antipsychotic induced weight gain in schizophrenia:mechanisms and management.

PubMed

Rege, Sanil

2008-05-01

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

Fluxes through plant metabolic networks: measurements, predictions, insights and challenges.

PubMed

Kruger, Nicholas J; Ratcliffe, R George

2015-01-01

Although the flows of material through metabolic networks are central to cell function, they are not easy to measure other than at the level of inputs and outputs. This is particularly true in plant cells, where the network spans multiple subcellular compartments and where the network may function either heterotrophically or photoautotrophically. For many years, kinetic modelling of pathways provided the only method for describing the operation of fragments of the network. However, more recently, it has become possible to map the fluxes in central carbon metabolism using the stable isotope labelling techniques of metabolic flux analysis (MFA), and to predict intracellular fluxes using constraints-based modelling procedures such as flux balance analysis (FBA). These approaches were originally developed for the analysis of microbial metabolism, but over the last decade, they have been adapted for the more demanding analysis of plant metabolic networks. Here, the principal features of MFA and FBA as applied to plants are outlined, followed by a discussion of the insights that have been gained into plant metabolic networks through the application of these time-consuming and non-trivial methods. The discussion focuses on how a system-wide view of plant metabolism has increased our understanding of network structure, metabolic perturbations and the provision of reducing power and energy for cell function. Current methodological challenges that limit the scope of plant MFA are discussed and particular emphasis is placed on the importance of developing methods for cell-specific MFA.

Extensive intron gain in the ancestor of placental mammals

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Genome-wide studies of intron dynamics in mammalian orthologous genes have found convincing evidence for loss of introns but very little for intron turnover. Similarly, large-scale analysis of intron dynamics in a few vertebrate genomes has identified only intron losses and no gains, indicating that intron gain is an extremely rare event in vertebrate evolution. These studies suggest that the intron-rich genomes of vertebrates do not allow intron gain. The aim of this study was to search for evidence of de novo intron gain in domesticated genes from an analysis of their exon/intron structures. Results A phylogenomic approach has been used to analyse all domesticated genes in mammals and chordates that originated from the coding parts of transposable elements. Gain of introns in domesticated genes has been reconstructed on well established mammalian, vertebrate and chordate phylogenies, and examined as to where and when the gain events occurred. The locations, sizes and amounts of de novo introns gained in the domesticated genes during the evolution of mammals and chordates has been analyzed. A significant amount of intron gain was found only in domesticated genes of placental mammals, where more than 70 cases were identified. De novo gained introns show clear positional bias, since they are distributed mainly in 5' UTR and coding regions, while 3' UTR introns are very rare. In the coding regions of some domesticated genes up to 8 de novo gained introns have been found. Intron densities in Eutheria-specific domesticated genes and in older domesticated genes that originated early in vertebrates are lower than those for normal mammalian and vertebrate genes. Surprisingly, the majority of intron gains have occurred in the ancestor of placentals. Conclusions This study provides the first evidence for numerous intron gains in the ancestor of placental mammals and demonstrates that adequate taxon sampling is crucial for reconstructing intron evolution. The

InSight Lift & Mate

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-23

At Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers position NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, Mars lander atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. The spacecraft will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018.

InSight Lift & Mate

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-23

Encapsulated in its payload fairing NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, Mars lander is prepared for transport to Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. The spacecraft will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018.

InSight Battery Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-20

In the gantry at Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician prepares batteries for installation in NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, Mars lander. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. The spacecraft will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018.

InSight Battery Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-20

In the gantry at Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers prepare batteries for installation in NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, Mars lander. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. The spacecraft will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018.

A generalized predictive model for direct gain

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

Givoni, B.

In the correlational model for direct gain developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a list of constants applicable to different types of buildings or passive solar systems was specified separately for each type. In its original form, the model was applicable only to buildings similar in their heat capacity, type of glazing, or night insulation to the types specified by the model. While maintaining the general form of the predictive equations, the new model, the predictive model for direct gain (PMDG), replaces the constants with functions dependent upon the thermal properties of the building, or the components of themore » solar system, or both. By this transformation, the LANL model for direct gain becomes a generalized one. The new model predicts the performance of buildings heated by direct gain with any heat capacity, glazing, and night insulation as functions of their thermophysical properties and climatic conditions.« less

Microwave gain medium with negative refractive index.

PubMed

Ye, Dexin; Chang, Kihun; Ran, Lixin; Xin, Hao

2014-12-19

Artificial effective media are attractive because of the fantastic applications they may enable, such as super lensing and electromagnetic invisibility. However, the inevitable loss due to their strongly dispersive nature is one of the fundamental challenges preventing such applications from becoming a reality. In this study, we demonstrate an effective gain medium based on negative resistance, to overcompensate the loss of a conventional passive metamaterial, meanwhile keeping its original negative-index property. Energy conservation-based theory, full-wave simulation and experimental measurement show that a fabricated sample consisting of conventional sub-wavelength building blocks with embedded microwave tunnel diodes exhibits a band-limited Lorentzian dispersion simultaneously with a negative refractive index and a net gain. Our work provides experimental evidence to the assertion that a stable net gain in negative-index gain medium is achievable, proposing a potential solution for the critical challenge current metamateiral technology faces in practical applications.

Sensory gain control (amplification) as a mechanism of selective attention: electrophysiological and neuroimaging evidence.

PubMed Central

Hillyard, S A; Vogel, E K; Luck, S J

1998-01-01

Both physiological and behavioral studies have suggested that stimulus-driven neural activity in the sensory pathways can be modulated in amplitude during selective attention. Recordings of event-related brain potentials indicate that such sensory gain control or amplification processes play an important role in visual-spatial attention. Combined event-related brain potential and neuroimaging experiments provide strong evidence that attentional gain control operates at an early stage of visual processing in extrastriate cortical areas. These data support early selection theories of attention and provide a basis for distinguishing between separate mechanisms of attentional suppression (of unattended inputs) and attentional facilitation (of attended inputs). PMID:9770220

Propagating modes in gain-guided optical fibers.

PubMed

Siegman, A E

2003-08-01

Optical fibers in which gain-guiding effects are significant or even dominant compared with conventional index guiding may become of practical interest for future high-power single-mode fiber lasers. I derive the propagation characteristics of symmetrical slab waveguides and cylindrical optical fibers having arbitrary amounts of mixed gain and index guiding, assuming a single uniform transverse profile for both the gain and the refractive-index steps. Optical fibers of this type are best characterized by using a complex-valued v-squared parameter in place of the real-valued v parameter commonly used to describe conventional index-guided optical fibers.

Pregnant women's perceptions of gestational weight gain: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative research.

PubMed

Vanstone, Meredith; Kandasamy, Sujane; Giacomini, Mita; DeJean, Deirdre; McDonald, Sarah D

2017-10-01

Excess gestational weight gain has numerous negative health outcomes for women and children, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and cesarean section (maternal) and high birth weight, trauma at birth, and asphyxia (infants). Excess weight gain in pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of long-term obesity in both mothers and children. Despite a concerted public health effort, the proportion of pregnant women gaining weight in excess of national guidelines continues to increase. To understand this phenomenon and offer suggestions for improving interventions, we conducted a systematic review of qualitative research on pregnant women's perceptions and experiences of weight gain in pregnancy. We used the methodology of qualitative meta-synthesis to analyze 42 empirical qualitative research studies conducted in high-income countries and published between 2005 and 2015. With this synthesis, we provide an account of the underlying factors and circumstances (barriers, facilitators, and motivators) that pregnant women identify as important for appropriate weight gain. We also offer a description of the strategies identified by pregnant women as acceptable and appropriate ways to promote healthy weight gain. Through our integrative analysis, we identify women's common perception on the struggle to enact health behaviors and physical, social, and environmental factors outside of their control. Effective and sensitive interventions to encourage healthy weight gain in pregnancy must consider the social environment in which decisions about weight take place. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Adequacy of Prenatal Care and Gestational Weight Gain

PubMed Central

Crandell, Jamie L.; Jones-Vessey, Kathleen

2016-01-01

Abstract Background: The goal of prenatal care is to maximize health outcomes for a woman and her fetus. We examined how prenatal care is associated with meeting the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines for gestational weight gain. Sample: The study used deidentified birth certificate data supplied by the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. The sample included 197,354 women (≥18 years) who delivered singleton full-term infants in 2011 and 2012. Methods: A generalized multinomial model was used to identify how adequate prenatal care was associated with the odds of gaining excessive or insufficient weight during pregnancy according to the 2009 IOM guidelines. The model adjusted for prepregnancy body size, sociodemographic factors, and birth weight. Results: A total of 197,354 women (≥18 years) delivered singleton full-term infants. The odds ratio (OR) for excessive weight gain was 2.44 (95% CI 2.37–2.50) in overweight and 2.33 (95% CI 2.27–2.40) in obese women compared with normal weight women. The OR for insufficient weight gain was 1.15 (95% CI 1.09–1.22) for underweight and 1.34 (95% CI 1.30–1.39) for obese women compared with normal weight women. Prenatal care at the inadequate or intermediate levels was associated with insufficient weight gain (OR: 1.32, 95% CI 1.27–1.38; OR: 1.15, 95% CI 1.09–1.21, respectively) compared with adequate prenatal care. Women with inadequate care were less likely to gain excessive weight (OR: 0.88, 95% CI 0.86–0.91). Conclusions: Whereas prenatal care was effective for preventing insufficient weight gain regardless of prepregnancy body size, educational background, and racial/ethnic group, there were no indications that adequate prenatal care was associated with reduced risk for excessive gestational weight gain. Further research is needed to improve prenatal care programs for preventing excess weight gain. PMID:26741198

Effects of having a baby on weight gain.

PubMed

Brown, Wendy J; Hockey, Richard; Dobson, Annette J

2010-02-01

Women often blame weight gain in early adulthood on having a baby. The aim was to estimate the weight gain attributable to having a baby, after disentangling the effects of other factors that influence weight change at this life stage. A longitudinal study of a randomly selected cohort of 6458 Australian women, aged 18-23 years in 1996, was conducted. Self-report mailed surveys were completed in 1996, 2000, 2003, and 2006, and data were analyzed in 2008. On average, women gained weight at the rate of 0.93% per year (95% CI=0.89, 0.98) or 605 g/year (95% CI=580, 635) for a 65-kg woman. Over the 10-year study period, partnered women with one baby gained almost 4 kg more, and those with a partner but no baby gained 1.8 kg more, than unpartnered childless women (after adjustment for other significant factors: initial BMI and age; physical activity, sitting time, energy intake (2003); education level, hours in paid work, and smoking). Having a baby has a marked effect on 10-year weight gain, but there is also an effect attributable to getting married or living with a partner. Social and lifestyle as well as energy balance variables should be considered when developing strategies to prevent weight gain in young adult women. Copyright 2010 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.