Try to See It My Way: The Discursive Function of Idiosyncratic Mathematical Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrahamson, Dor; Gutierrez, Jose F.; Baddorf, Anna K.

2012-01-01

What are the nature, forms, and roles of metaphors in mathematics instruction? We present and closely analyze three examples of idiosyncratic metaphors produced during one-to-one tutorial clinical interviews with 11-year-old participants as they attempted to use unfamiliar artifacts and procedures to reason about realistic probability problems.…

Drugp-Induced Rhabdomyolysis Atlas (DIRA) for idiosyncratic adverse drug reaction management.

PubMed

Wen, Zhining; Liang, Yu; Hao, Yingyi; Delavan, Brian; Huang, Ruili; Mikailov, Mike; Tong, Weida; Li, Menglong; Liu, Zhichao

2018-06-11

Drug-induced rhabdomyolysis (DIR) is an idiosyncratic and fatal adverse drug reaction (ADR) characterized in severe muscle injuries accompanied by multiple-organ failure. Limited knowledge regarding the pathophysiology of rhabdomyolysis is the main obstacle to developing early biomarkers and prevention strategies. Given the lack of a centralized data resource to curate, organize, and standardize widespread DIR information, here we present a Drug-Induced Rhabdomyolysis Atlas (DIRA) that provides DIR-related information, including: a classification scheme for DIR based on drug labeling information; postmarketing surveillance data of DIR; and DIR drug property information. To elucidate the utility of DIRA, we used precision dosing, concomitant use of DIR drugs, and predictive modeling development to exemplify strategies for idiosyncratic ADR (IADR) management. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A social ecology approach to understanding urban ecosystems and landscapes

Treesearch

J. Morgan Grove; Karen E. Hinson; Robert J. Northrop

2003-01-01

The shape and dynamics of cities are the result of physical, biological, and social forces. We include the term dynamic to emphasize that cities change over time and are the result of both idiosyncratic events and dominant trends. To begin to understand the patterns and processes of cities, we approach the idiosyncratic and dominant - whether it is physical, biological...

Brief Report: Simulations Suggest Heterogeneous Category Learning and Generalization in Children with Autism Is a Result of Idiosyncratic Perceptual Transformations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mercado, Eduardo, III; Church, Barbara A.

2016-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) sometimes have difficulties learning categories. Past computational work suggests that such deficits may result from atypical representations in cortical maps. Here we use neural networks to show that idiosyncratic transformations of inputs can result in the formation of feature maps that impair…

The Impact of Precaution and Practice on the Performance of a Risky Motor Task

PubMed Central

Keren, Hila; Boyer, Pascal; Mort, Joel; Eilam, David

2013-01-01

The association between threat perception and motor execution, mediated by evolved precaution systems, often results in ritual-like behavior, including many idiosyncratic acts that seem irrelevant to the task at hand. This study tested the hypothesis that threat-detection during performance of a risky motor task would result in idiosyncratic activity that is not necessary for task completion. We asked biology students to follow a particular set of instructions in mixing three solutions labeled “bio-hazardous” and then repeat this operation with “non-hazardous” substances (or vice versa). We observed a longer duration of the overall performance, a greater repertoire of acts, longer maximal act duration, and longer mean duration of acts in the “risky” task when it was performed before the “non-risky” task. Some, but not all, of these differences were eliminated when a “non-risky” task preceded the “risky” one. The increased performance of idiosyncratic unnecessary activity is in accordance with the working hypothesis of the present study: ritualized idiosyncratic activities are performed in response to a real or illusionary threat, as a means to alleviate anxiety. PMID:25379241

The cognitive roles of behavioral variability: idiosyncratic acts as the foundation of identity and as transitional, preparatory, and confirmatory phases.

PubMed

Eilam, David

2015-02-01

Behavior in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), in habitual daily tasks, and in sport and cultural rituals is deconstructed into elemental acts and categorized into common acts, performed by all individuals completing a similar task, and idiosyncratic acts, not performed by all individuals. Never skipped, common acts establish the pragmatic part of motor tasks. Repetitive performance of a few common acts renders rituals a rigid form, whereby common acts may serve as memes for cultural transmission. While idiosyncratic acts are not pragmatically necessary for task completion, they fulfill important cognitive roles. They form a long preparatory phase in tasks that involve high stakes, and a long confirmatory phase in OCD rituals. Idiosyncratic acts also form transitional phases between motor tasks, and are involved in establishing identity and preserving the flexibility necessary for adapting to varying circumstances. Behavioral variability, as manifested in idiosyncrasy, thus does not seem to be a noise or by-product of motor activity, but an essential cognitive component that has been preserved in the evolution of behavioral patterns, similar to the genetic variability in biology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive world: Neuropsychology of individual differences.

PubMed

Ardila, Alfredo; Rosselli, Monica

2018-01-01

It is proposed that depending upon the specific pattern of cognitive abilities, each individual lives in an idiosyncratic "cognitive world." Brain pathology can be associated with some disturbed abilities, and frequently experiential changes (i.e., how the world is understood) are observed. Because these patients often are aware of their intellectual changes, they may represent excellent models to illustrate the diversity of cognitive interpretations an individual can have about the surrounding environmental conditions. Four neuropsychology cases are presented to illustrate this point: (a) prosopagnosia associated with spatial agnosia; (b) Gerstmann's syndrome; (c) dysexecutive syndrome due to a head injury; and, (d) patient with Capgras' syndrome associated with a left temporal cyst. It is further emphasized that non-brain damaged people present an enormous-but usually overlooked-dispersion in different cognitive domains, resulting in specific and idiosyncratic patterns of cognitive abilities. It is concluded that the concept of "cognitive world" in neuropsychology can parallel the concept of "perceptual world" introduced by von Uexküll in biology, which assumes that different animal species live in idiosyncratic perceptual worlds, available and knowable by the differences in their sensory system abilities. That is, different individuals live in idiosyncratic cognitive worlds, owing to their differences in cognitive abilities.

Pervasive influence of idiosyncratic associative biases during facial emotion recognition.

PubMed

El Zein, Marwa; Wyart, Valentin; Grèzes, Julie

2018-06-11

Facial morphology has been shown to influence perceptual judgments of emotion in a way that is shared across human observers. Here we demonstrate that these shared associations between facial morphology and emotion coexist with strong variations unique to each human observer. Interestingly, a large part of these idiosyncratic associations does not vary on short time scales, emerging from stable inter-individual differences in the way facial morphological features influence emotion recognition. Computational modelling of decision-making and neural recordings of electrical brain activity revealed that both shared and idiosyncratic face-emotion associations operate through a common biasing mechanism rather than an increased sensitivity to face-associated emotions. Together, these findings emphasize the underestimated influence of idiosyncrasies on core social judgments and identify their neuro-computational signatures.

Creating flexible work arrangements through idiosyncratic deals.

PubMed

Hornung, Severin; Rousseau, Denise M; Glaser, Jürgen

2008-05-01

A survey of 887 employees in a German government agency assessed the antecedents and consequences of idiosyncratic arrangements individual workers negotiated with their supervisors. Work arrangements promoting the individualization of employment conditions, such as part-time work and telecommuting, were positively related to the negotiation of idiosyncratic deals ("i-deals"). Worker personal initiative also had a positive effect on i-deal negotiation. Two types of i-deals were studied: flexibility in hours of work and developmental opportunities. Flexibility i-deals were negatively related and developmental i-deals positively related to work-family conflict and working unpaid overtime. Developmental i-deals were also positively related to increased performance expectations and affective organizational commitment, while flexibility i-deals were unrelated to either. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Brief Report: Simulations Suggest Heterogeneous Category Learning and Generalization in Children with Autism is a Result of Idiosyncratic Perceptual Transformations.

PubMed

Mercado, Eduardo; Church, Barbara A

2016-08-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) sometimes have difficulties learning categories. Past computational work suggests that such deficits may result from atypical representations in cortical maps. Here we use neural networks to show that idiosyncratic transformations of inputs can result in the formation of feature maps that impair category learning for some inputs, but not for other closely related inputs. These simulations suggest that large inter- and intra-individual variations in learning capacities shown by children with ASD across similar categorization tasks may similarly result from idiosyncratic perceptual encoding that is resistant to experience-dependent changes. If so, then both feedback- and exposure-based category learning should lead to heterogeneous, stimulus-dependent deficits in children with ASD.

Causal judgment from contingency information: relation between subjective reports and individual tendencies in judgment.

PubMed

White, P A

2000-04-01

In two experiments, participants made causal judgments from contingency information for problems with different objective contingencies. After the judgment task, the participants reported how their judgments had changed following each type of contingency information. Some reported idiosyncratic tendencies--in other words, tendencies contrary to those expected under associative-learning and normative rule induction models of contingency judgment. These idiosyncratic reports tended to be better predictors of the judgments of those who made them than did the models. The results are consistent with the view that causal judgment from contingency information is made, at least in part, by deliberative use of acquired and sometimes idiosyncratic notions of evidential value, the outcomes of which tend, in aggregate, to be highly correlated with the outcomes of normative procedures.

Idiosyncratic Gesture Use in Atypical Language Development, and Its Interaction with Speech Rhythm, Word Juncture, Syntax, Pragmatics and Discourse: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Sara J.; Perkins, Michael R.; Sowden, Hannah

2012-01-01

Very little is known about the use of gesture by children with developmental language disorders (DLDs). This case study of "Lucy", a child aged 4;10 with a DLD, expands on what is known and in particular focuses on a type of idiosyncratic "rhythmic gesture" (RG) not previously reported. A fine-grained qualitative analysis was carried out of video…

Clinical presentation and management of drug-induced agranulocytosis.

PubMed

Andrès, Emmanuel; Zimmer, Jacques; Mecili, Mustapha; Weitten, Thierry; Alt, Martine; Maloisel, Frédéric

2011-04-01

In this article, we report and discuss the clinical presentation and management of idiosyncratic drug-induced agranulocytosis (neutrophil count <0.5 × 10(9)/l). Idiosyncratic drug-induced agranulocytosis remains a potentially serious adverse event owing to the frequency of severe sepsis with severe deep tissue infections (e.g., pneumonia), septicemia and septic shock in approximately two-thirds of all hospitalized patients. However, several prognostic factors have recently been identified that may be helpful in practice to identify 'susceptible' patients. Old age (>65 years), septicemia or shock, metabolic disorders such as renal failure and a neutrophil count below 0.1 × 10(9)/l are currently consensually accepted as poor prognostic factors. In this potentially life-threatening disorder, modern management with broad-spectrum antibiotics and hematopoietic growth factors (particularly granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) is likely to improve prognosis. Thus, with appropriate management, the mortality rate from idiosyncratic drug-induced agranulocytosis is currently approximately 5%.

Idiosyncratic Patterns of Representational Similarity in Prefrontal Cortex Predict Attentional Performance.

PubMed

Lee, Jeongmi; Geng, Joy J

2017-02-01

The efficiency of finding an object in a crowded environment depends largely on the similarity of nontargets to the search target. Models of attention theorize that the similarity is determined by representations stored within an "attentional template" held in working memory. However, the degree to which the contents of the attentional template are individually unique and where those idiosyncratic representations are encoded in the brain are unknown. We investigated this problem using representational similarity analysis of human fMRI data to measure the common and idiosyncratic representations of famous face morphs during an identity categorization task; data from the categorization task were then used to predict performance on a separate identity search task. We hypothesized that the idiosyncratic categorical representations of the continuous face morphs would predict their distractability when searching for each target identity. The results identified that patterns of activation in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) as well as in face-selective areas in the ventral temporal cortex were highly correlated with the patterns of behavioral categorization of face morphs and search performance that were common across subjects. However, the individually unique components of the categorization behavior were reliably decoded only in right LPFC. Moreover, the neural pattern in right LPFC successfully predicted idiosyncratic variability in search performance, such that reaction times were longer when distractors had a higher probability of being categorized as the target identity. These results suggest that the prefrontal cortex encodes individually unique components of categorical representations that are also present in attentional templates for target search. Everyone's perception of the world is uniquely shaped by personal experiences and preferences. Using functional MRI, we show that individual differences in the categorization of face morphs between two identities could be decoded from the prefrontal cortex and the ventral temporal cortex. Moreover, the individually unique representations in prefrontal cortex predicted idiosyncratic variability in attentional performance when looking for each identity in the "crowd" of another morphed face in a separate search task. Our results reveal that the representation of task-related information in prefrontal cortex is individually unique and preserved across categorization and search performance. This demonstrates the possibility of predicting individual behaviors across tasks with patterns of brain activity. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/371257-12$15.00/0.

On Idiosyncratic Systems. Part I. Idiosyncratic Systems. Part II. On Being Creative with Computer Aided Design.

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-03-31

the machine properly infer his graphical intentions. The graphics are presumed to be a mixture of projective geometry ( the inter- H section of planes ...conditions lecture to the Societe de Psychologie in Paris most conducive ; nor for the psychological explana— (quoted in Ghiselin [17]) Henri Poincare ...information pro- more wit h frustration than accomplishment. His air vided , the individual will attempt to fi;;d a new planes , submar ines and d i v e r t

The generic danger and the idiosyncratic support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Temme, Arnaud; Nijp, Jelmer; van der Meij, Marijn; Samia, Jalal; Masselink, Rens

2016-04-01

This contribution argues two main points. First, that generic landscapes used in some modelling studies sometimes have properties or cause simulation results that are unrealistic. Such initially flat or straight-sloped landscapes, sometimes with minor random perturbations, e.g. form the backdrop for ecological simulations of vegetation growth and competition that predict catastrophic shifts. Exploratory results for semi-arid systems suggest that the results based on these generic landscapes are end-members from a distribution of results, rather than an unbiased, typical outcome. Apparently, the desire to avoid idiosyncrasy has unintended consequences. Second, we argue and illustrate that in fact new insights often come from close inspection of idiosyncratic case studies. Our examples from landslide systems, connectivity and soil formation show how a central role for the case study - either in empirical work or to provide model targets - has advanced our understanding. Both points contribute to the conclusion that it is dangerous to forget about annoying, small-scale, idiosyncratic and, indeed, perhaps bad-ass case studies in Earth Sciences.

The Possible Mechanism of Idiosyncratic Lapatinib-Induced Liver Injury in Patients Carrying Human Leukocyte Antigen-DRB1*07:01

PubMed Central

Hirasawa, Makoto; Hagihara, Katsunobu; Okudaira, Noriko; Izumi, Takashi

2015-01-01

Idiosyncratic lapatinib-induced liver injury has been reported to be associated with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DRB1*07:01. In order to investigate its mechanism, interaction of lapatinib with HLA-DRB1*07:01 and its ligand peptide derived from tetanus toxoid, has been evaluated in vitro. Here we show that lapatinib enhances binding of the ligand peptide to HLA-DRB1*07:01. Furthermore in silico molecular dynamics analysis revealed that lapatinib could change the β chain helix in the HLA-DRB1*07:01 specifically to form a tightly closed binding groove structure and modify a large part of the binding groove. These results indicate that lapatinib affects the ligand binding to HLA-DRB1*07:01 and idiosyncratic lapatinib-induced liver injury might be triggered by this mechanism. This is the first report showing that the clinically available drug can enhance the binding of ligand peptide to HLA class II molecules in vitro and in silico. PMID:26098642

Drug Induced Liver Injury: Can Biomarkers Assist RUCAM in Causality Assessment?

PubMed Central

Teschke, Rolf; Schulze, Johannes; Eickhoff, Axel; Danan, Gaby

2017-01-01

Drug induced liver injury (DILI) is a potentially serious adverse reaction in a few susceptible individuals under therapy by various drugs. Health care professionals facing DILI are confronted with a wealth of drug-unrelated liver diseases with high incidence and prevalence rates, which can confound the DILI diagnosis. Searching for alternative causes is a key element of RUCAM (Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method) to assess rigorously causality in suspected DILI cases. Diagnostic biomarkers as blood tests would be a great help to clinicians, regulators, and pharmaceutical industry would be more comfortable if, in addition to RUCAM, causality of DILI can be confirmed. High specificity and sensitivity are required for any diagnostic biomarker. Although some risk factors are available to evaluate liver safety of drugs in patients, no valid diagnostic or prognostic biomarker exists currently for idiosyncratic DILI when a liver injury occurred. Identifying a biomarker in idiosyncratic DILI requires detailed knowledge of cellular and biochemical disturbances leading to apoptosis or cell necrosis and causing leakage of specific products in blood. As idiosyncratic DILI is typically a human disease and hardly reproducible in animals, pathogenetic events and resulting possible biomarkers remain largely undisclosed. Potential new diagnostic biomarkers should be evaluated in patients with DILI and RUCAM-based established causality. In conclusion, causality assessment in cases of suspected idiosyncratic DILI is still best achieved using RUCAM since specific biomarkers as diagnostic blood tests that could enhance RUCAM results are not yet available. PMID:28398242

Anthropology and affect: a consideration of the idiosyncratic dimension of human behaviour.

PubMed

Izmirlian, H

1977-01-01

In this paper a theoretical perspective is presented in which affect occupies a central position and behaviour is viewed in terms of different degrees of affective expression. Such behaviour is conceptualized in terms of three models: a structural model, a rational model and a psychological model. While the first two models are frequently encountered in the literature, the psychological model has not received explicit formulation, although, as shown here, it is crucial in understanding certain forms of idiosyncratic behaviour that have political and social relevance.

Animal-to-Animal Variation in Odor Preference and Neural Representation of Odors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honegger, Kyle; Smith, Matthew; Turner, Glenn; de Bivort, Benjamin

Across any population of animals, individuals exhibit diverse behaviors and reactions to sensory stimuli like tastes and odors. While idiosyncratic behavior is ubiquitous, its biological basis is poorly understood. In this talk, I will present evidence that individual fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) display idiosyncratic olfactory behaviors and discuss our ongoing efforts to map these behavioral differences to variation in neural circuits. Using a high-throughput, single-fly assay for odor preference, we have demonstrated that highly inbred flies display substantial animal-to-animal variability, beyond that expected from experimental error, and that these preferences persist over days. Using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, we are beginning to examine the idiosyncrasy of neural coding in the fly olfactory pathway and find that the odor responses of individual processing channels in the antennal lobe can vary substantially from fly to fly. These results imply that individual differences in neural coding may be used to predict the idiosyncratic behavior of an individual - a hypothesis we are currently testing by imaging neural activity from flies after measuring their odor preferences.

Idiosyncratic Brain Activation Patterns Are Associated with Poor Social Comprehension in Autism

PubMed Central

Tyszka, J. Michael; Adolphs, Ralph; Kennedy, Daniel P.

2015-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) features profound social deficits but neuroimaging studies have failed to find any consistent neural signature. Here we connect these two facts by showing that idiosyncratic patterns of brain activation are associated with social comprehension deficits. Human participants with ASD (N = 17) and controls (N = 20) freely watched a television situation comedy (sitcom) depicting seminaturalistic social interactions (“The Office”, NBC Universal) in the scanner. Intersubject correlations in the pattern of evoked brain activation were reduced in the ASD group—but this effect was driven entirely by five ASD subjects whose idiosyncratic responses were also internally unreliable. The idiosyncrasy of these five ASD subjects was not explained by detailed neuropsychological profile, eye movements, or data quality; however, they were specifically impaired in understanding the social motivations of characters in the sitcom. Brain activation patterns in the remaining ASD subjects were indistinguishable from those of control subjects using multiple multivariate approaches. Our findings link neurofunctional abnormalities evoked by seminaturalistic stimuli with a specific impairment in social comprehension, and highlight the need to conceive of ASD as a heterogeneous classification. PMID:25855192

Topiramate-Induced Somnambulism in a Migraineur: A Probable Idiosyncratic Adverse Effect

PubMed Central

Mathew, Thomas; Sarma, G. R. K.; Nadig, Raghunandan; Varghese, Raji

2012-01-01

Somnambulism (sleepwalking) is a disorder of arousal that falls under “parasomnia” group and is more common in children. These phenomena occur as primary sleep events or secondary to systemic disease or can be drug induced. Medications that can cause sleepwalking include neuroleptics, hypnotics, lithium, amitriptyline, and β-blockers.1 This report presents an unusual adverse effect of topiramate on sleep in a patient with migraine. Citation: Mathew T; Sarma GRK; Nadig R; Varghese R. Topiramate-induced somnambulism in a migraineur: a probable idiosyncratic adverse effect. J Clin Sleep Med 2012;8(2):197-198. PMID:22505867

The pricing effect of the common pattern in firm-level idiosyncratic volatility: Evidence from A-Share stocks of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Zhi; Shu, Tengjia; Yin, Libo

2018-05-01

Inspired by Herskovic et al. (2016), we investigate the pricing effect of the firm-level common idiosyncratic volatility (CIV) in China's A-Share market. Return tests indicate that lower CIV risk loadings bring higher returns significantly, while the pricing function of market volatility (MV) is inconsistent. Strategy that goes long the highest CIV-beta quintile and short the lowest CIV-beta quintile brings an annualized average return of 5%-7%. Our findings supplement Herskovic et al. (2016) by confirming a significantly negative relationship between CIV and stock returns in a developing market.

Bioactivation of drugs in the skin: relationship to cutaneous adverse drug reactions.

PubMed

Sharma, Amy M; Uetrecht, Jack

2014-02-01

Drug-induced skin rashes are poorly understood idiosyncratic reactions, and current methods cannot predict their occurrence. Most idiosyncratic drug reactions are thought to be caused by chemically reactive metabolites, and the skin is a frequent site of idiosyncratic reactions; however, the skin has a very limited capacity to metabolize drugs. To balance this, the skin represents a protective barrier with a very active immune response against pathogens and other types of skin injury. Therefore its response to reactive metabolites is quite different from that of the liver. The purpose of this review is to integrate emerging findings into proposed mechanisms of drug and carcinogen metabolism in the skin that are likely responsible for rashes and other immune responses of the skin. Current evidence suggests the skin possesses significant sulfotransferase and flavin monooxygenases activities, but very low cytochromes P450 activity. However, there are skin-specific P450s that are not present in the liver. The manner in which the skin responds to neoantigens through local antigen presentation and innate immune sensing is reviewed with a focus on insights gained from the contact hypersensitivity (CHS) field. The roles of keratinocytes and Langerhans cells, and the emerging function of NOD-like receptors, are highlighted.

Toxins in Botanical Dietary Supplements: Blue Cohosh Components Disrupt Cellular Respiration and Mitochondrial Membrane Potential

PubMed Central

Datta, Sandipan; Mahdi, Fakhri; Ali, Zulfiqar; Jekabsons, Mika B.; Khan, Ikhlas A.; Nagle, Dale G.; Zhou, Yu-Dong

2014-01-01

Certain botanical dietary supplements have been associated with idiosyncratic organ-specific toxicity. Similar toxicological events, caused by drug-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, have forced the withdrawal or U.S. FDA “Black Box” warnings of major pharmaceuticals. To assess the potential mitochondrial liability of botanical dietary supplements, extracts from 352 authenticated plant samples used in traditional Chinese, Ayurvedic, and Western herbal medicine were evaluated for the ability to disrupt cellular respiration. Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) methanol extract exhibited mitochondriotoxic activity. Used by some U.S. midwives to help induce labor, blue cohosh has been associated with perinatal stroke, acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, multiple organ injury, and neonatal shock. The potential link between mitochondrial disruption and idiosyncratic herbal intoxication prompted further examination. The C. thalictroides methanol extract and three saponins, cauloside A (1), saponin PE (2), and cauloside C (3) exhibited concentration- and time-dependent mitochondriotoxic activities. Upon treatment, cell respiration rate rapidly increased and then dramatically decreased within minutes. Mechanistic studies revealed that C. thalictroides constituents impair mitochondrial function by disrupting membrane integrity. These studies provide a potential etiological link between this mitochondria-sensitive form of cytotoxicity and idiosyncratic organ damage. PMID:24328138

Do aggressive people play violent computer games in a more aggressive way? Individual difference and idiosyncratic game-playing experience.

PubMed

Peng, Wei; Liu, Ming; Mou, Yi

2008-04-01

ABSTRACT This study investigates whether individual difference influences idiosyncratic experience of game playing. In particular, we examine the relationship between the game player's physical-aggressive personality and the aggressiveness of the player's game playing in violence-oriented video games. Screen video stream of 40 individual participants' game playing was captured and content analyzed. Participants' physical aggression was measured before the game play. The results suggest that people with more physical-aggressive personality engage in a more aggressive style of playing, after controlling the differences of gender and previous gaming experience. Implications of these findings and direction for future studies are discussed.

Idiosyncratic drug-induced agranulocytosis or acute neutropenia.

PubMed

Andrès, Emmanuel; Maloisel, Frédéric

2008-01-01

Idiosyncratic drug-induced agranulocytosis or acute neutropenia is an adverse event resulting in a neutrophil count of under 0.5 x 10/l. Patients with such severe neutropenia are likely to experience life-threatening and sometimes fatal infections. Over the last 20 years, the incidence of idiosyncratic drug-induced agranulocytosis or acute neutropenia has remained stable at 2.4-15.4 cases per million, despite the emergence of new causative drugs: antibiotics (beta-lactam and cotrimoxazole), antiplatelet agents (ticlopidine), antithyroid drugs, sulfasalazine, neuroleptics (clozapine), antiepileptic agents (carbamazepine), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents and dipyrone. Drug-induced agranulocytosis remains a serious adverse event due to the occurrence of severe sepsis with severe deep infections (such as pneumonia), septicemia and septic shock in around two thirds of patients. In this setting, old age (>65 years), septicemia or shock, metabolic disorders such as renal failure, and a neutrophil count under 0.1 x 10/l are poor prognostic factors. Nevertheless with appropriate management using preestablished procedures, with intravenous broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy and hematopoietic growth factors, the mortality rate is currently around 5%. Given the increased life expectancy and subsequent longer exposure to drugs, as well as the development of new agents, healthcare professionals should be aware of this adverse event and its management.

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

Gandhi, Adarsh, E-mail: adarsh.gandhi@nih.gov; Guo, Tao, E-mail: tguo4@jhu.edu; Shah, Pranav

Inflammation is a major component of idiosyncratic adverse drug reactions (IADRs). To understand the molecular mechanism of inflammation-mediated IADRs, we determined the role of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathway in idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity of the anti-psychotic drug, chlorpromazine (CPZ). Activation of TLRs recruits the first adaptor protein, Toll-interleukin 1 receptor domain containing adaptor protein (TIRAP) to the TIR domain of TLRs leading to the activation of the downstream kinase, c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK). Prolonged activation of JNK leads to cell-death. We hypothesized that activation of TLR2 by lipoteichoic acid (LTA) or TLR4 by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) will augment the hepatotoxicity of CPZmore » by TIRAP-dependent mechanism involving prolonged activation of JNK. Adult male C57BL/6, TIRAP{sup +/+} and TIRAP{sup −/−} mice were pretreated with saline, LPS (2 mg/kg) or LTA (6 mg/kg) for 30 min or 16 h followed by CPZ (5 mg/kg) or saline (vehicle) up to 24 h. We found that treatment of mice with CPZ in presence of LPS or LTA leads to ∼ 3–4 fold increase in serum ALT levels, a marked reduction in hepatic glycogen content, significant induction of serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α and prolonged JNK activation, compared to LPS or LTA alone. Similar results were observed in TIRAP{sup +/+} mice, whereas the effects of LPS or LTA on CPZ-induced hepatotoxicity were attenuated in TIRAP{sup −/−} mice. For the first time, we show that inflammation-mediated hepatotoxicity of CPZ is dependent on TIRAP, and involves prolonged JNK activation in vivo. Thus, TIRAP-dependent pathways may be targeted to predict and prevent inflammation-mediated IADRs. -- Highlights: ► Inflammation augments the toxicity of an idiosyncratic hepatotoxin chlorpromazine. ► Activation of Toll-like receptors by LPS or LTA induces chlorpromazine toxicity. ► Sustained stress kinase (JNK) activation is associated with chlorpromazine toxicity. ► These studies provide novel mechanistic insights into idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity.« less

Typing Style and the Use of Different Sources of Information during Typing: An Investigation Using Self-Reports

PubMed Central

Rieger, Martina; Bart, Victoria K. E.

2016-01-01

We investigated to what extent different sources of information are used in typing on a computer keyboard. Using self-reports 10 finger typists and idiosyncratic typists estimated how much attention they pay to different sources of information during copy typing and free typing and how much they use them for error detection. 10 finger typists reported less attention to the keyboard and the fingers and more attention to the template and the screen than idiosyncratic typists. The groups did not differ in attention to touch/kinaesthesis in copy typing and free typing, but 10 finger typists reported more use of touch/kinaesthesis in error detection. This indicates that processing of tactile/kinaesthetic information may occur largely outside conscious control, as long as no errors occur. 10 finger typists reported more use of internal prediction of movement consequences for error detection than idiosyncratic typists, reflecting more precise internal models. Further in copy typing compared to free typing attention to the template is required, thus leaving less attentional capacity for other sources of information. Correlations showed that higher skilled typists, regardless of typing style, rely more on sources of information which are usually associated with 10 finger typing. One limitation of the study is that only self-reports were used. We conclude that typing task, typing proficiency, and typing style influence how attention is distributed during typing. PMID:28018256

Typing Style and the Use of Different Sources of Information during Typing: An Investigation Using Self-Reports.

PubMed

Rieger, Martina; Bart, Victoria K E

2016-01-01

We investigated to what extent different sources of information are used in typing on a computer keyboard. Using self-reports 10 finger typists and idiosyncratic typists estimated how much attention they pay to different sources of information during copy typing and free typing and how much they use them for error detection. 10 finger typists reported less attention to the keyboard and the fingers and more attention to the template and the screen than idiosyncratic typists. The groups did not differ in attention to touch/kinaesthesis in copy typing and free typing, but 10 finger typists reported more use of touch/kinaesthesis in error detection. This indicates that processing of tactile/kinaesthetic information may occur largely outside conscious control, as long as no errors occur. 10 finger typists reported more use of internal prediction of movement consequences for error detection than idiosyncratic typists, reflecting more precise internal models. Further in copy typing compared to free typing attention to the template is required, thus leaving less attentional capacity for other sources of information. Correlations showed that higher skilled typists, regardless of typing style, rely more on sources of information which are usually associated with 10 finger typing. One limitation of the study is that only self-reports were used. We conclude that typing task, typing proficiency, and typing style influence how attention is distributed during typing.

Idiosyncratic characteristics of saccadic eye movements when viewing different visual environments.

PubMed

Andrews, T J; Coppola, D M

1999-08-01

Eye position was recorded in different viewing conditions to assess whether the temporal and spatial characteristics of saccadic eye movements in different individuals are idiosyncratic. Our aim was to determine the degree to which oculomotor control is based on endogenous factors. A total of 15 naive subjects viewed five visual environments: (1) The absence of visual stimulation (i.e. a dark room); (2) a repetitive visual environment (i.e. simple textured patterns); (3) a complex natural scene; (4) a visual search task; and (5) reading text. Although differences in visual environment had significant effects on eye movements, idiosyncrasies were also apparent. For example, the mean fixation duration and size of an individual's saccadic eye movements when passively viewing a complex natural scene covaried significantly with those same parameters in the absence of visual stimulation and in a repetitive visual environment. In contrast, an individual's spatio-temporal characteristics of eye movements during active tasks such as reading text or visual search covaried together, but did not correlate with the pattern of eye movements detected when viewing a natural scene, simple patterns or in the dark. These idiosyncratic patterns of eye movements in normal viewing reveal an endogenous influence on oculomotor control. The independent covariance of eye movements during different visual tasks shows that saccadic eye movements during active tasks like reading or visual search differ from those engaged during the passive inspection of visual scenes.

Instabilities in large economies: aggregate volatility without idiosyncratic shocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonart, Julius; Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe; Landier, Augustin; Thesmar, David

2014-10-01

We study a dynamical model of interconnected firms which allows for certain market imperfections and frictions, restricted here to be myopic price forecasts and slow adjustment of production. Whereas the standard rational equilibrium is still formally a stationary solution of the dynamics, we show that this equilibrium becomes linearly unstable in a whole region of parameter space. When agents attempt to reach the optimal production target too quickly, coordination breaks down and the dynamics becomes chaotic. In the unstable, ‘turbulent’ phase, the aggregate volatility of the total output remains substantial even when the amplitude of idiosyncratic shocks goes to zero or when the size of the economy becomes large. In other words, crises become endogenous. This suggests an interesting resolution of the ‘small shocks, large business cycles’ puzzle.

Intermingling and disordered logic as influences on schizophrenic 'thought disorders'.

PubMed

Harrow, M; Prosen, M

1978-10-01

A technique was devised to elicit bizarre or idiosyncratic responses from 30 young schizophrenics, who were then re-interviewed a week later to determine the reasons for each patient's idiosyncratic verbalizations. Taped interviews of the schizophrenics, scored along a series of rating scales, indicated: (1) An overt mechanism involved in bizarre schizophrenic language is a tendency to intermingle into their responses material from their current and past experiences. (2) Careful analysis suggests that the seemingly bizarre intermingled material of schizophrenics usually is close to the original "correct" topic. (3) The bizarre intermingled material is related to the patients' personal lives. (4) The intermingled material does not usually represent a failure to screen out or repress primitive drive dominated sexual or aggressive material. (5) Disordered logic was not a major factor in accounting for bizarre schizophrenic language.

HIGH DIMENSIONAL COVARIANCE MATRIX ESTIMATION IN APPROXIMATE FACTOR MODELS.

PubMed

Fan, Jianqing; Liao, Yuan; Mincheva, Martina

2011-01-01

The variance covariance matrix plays a central role in the inferential theories of high dimensional factor models in finance and economics. Popular regularization methods of directly exploiting sparsity are not directly applicable to many financial problems. Classical methods of estimating the covariance matrices are based on the strict factor models, assuming independent idiosyncratic components. This assumption, however, is restrictive in practical applications. By assuming sparse error covariance matrix, we allow the presence of the cross-sectional correlation even after taking out common factors, and it enables us to combine the merits of both methods. We estimate the sparse covariance using the adaptive thresholding technique as in Cai and Liu (2011), taking into account the fact that direct observations of the idiosyncratic components are unavailable. The impact of high dimensionality on the covariance matrix estimation based on the factor structure is then studied.

Narrative Performance of Optimal Outcome Children and Adolescents with a History of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

PubMed Central

Suh, Joyce; Eigsti, Inge-Marie; Naigles, Letitia; Barton, Marianne; Kelley, Elizabeth; Fein, Deborah

2014-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have traditionally been considered a lifelong condition; however, a subset of people makes such significant improvements that they no longer meet diagnostic criteria for an ASD. The current study examines whether these “optimal outcome” (OO) children and adolescents continue to have subtle pragmatic language deficits. The narratives of 15 OO individuals, 15 high-functioning individuals with an ASD (HFA), and 15 typically developing peers (TD) were evaluated. Despite average cognitive functioning, the ASD group produced narratives with fewer central “gist” descriptions, more ambiguous pronominal referents, idiosyncratic language, speech dysfluency (more repetitions and self-corrections), and were less likely to name story characters. The OO participants displayed only very subtle pragmatic and higher-level language deficits (idiosyncratic language and self-correction dysfluency). PMID:24500659

Minimizing AED adverse effects: improving quality of life in the interictal state in epilepsy care.

PubMed

St Louis, Erik K; Louis, Erik K

2009-06-01

The goals of epilepsy therapy are to achieve seizure freedom while minimizing adverse effects of treatment. However, producing seizure-freedom is often overemphasized, at the expense of inducing adverse effects of treatment. All antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have the potential to cause dose-related, "neurotoxic" adverse effects (i.e., drowsiness, fatigue, dizziness, blurry vision, and incoordination). Such adverse effects are common, especially when initiating AED therapy and with polytherapy. Dose-related adverse effects may be obviated in most patients by dose reduction of monotherapy, reduction or elimination of polytherapy, or substituting for a better tolerated AED. Additionally, all older and several newer AEDs have idiosyncratic adverse effects which usually require withdrawal in an affected patient, including serious rash (i.e., Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis), hematologic dyscrasias, hepatotoxicity, teratogenesis in women of child bearing potential, bone density loss, neuropathy, and severe gingival hyperplasia. Unfortunately, occurrence of idiosyncratic AED adverse effects cannot be predicted or, in most cases, prevented in susceptible patients. This article reviews a practical approach for the definition and identification of adverse effects of epilepsy therapies, and reviews the literature demonstrating that adverse effects result in detrimental quality of life in epilepsy patients. Strategies for minimizing AED adverse effects by reduction or elimination of AED polytherapy, appropriately employing drug-sparing therapies, and optimally administering AEDs are outlined, including tenets of AED selection, titration, therapeutic AED laboratory monitoring, and avoidance of chronic idiosyncratic adverse effects.

Idiosyncratic risk in the Dow Jones Eurostoxx50 Index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daly, Kevin; Vo, Vinh

2008-07-01

Recent evidence by Campbell et al. [J.Y. Campbell, M. Lettau B.G. Malkiel, Y. Xu, Have individual stocks become more volatile? An empirical exploration of idiosyncratic risk, The Journal of Finance (February) (2001)] shows an increase in firm-level volatility and a decline of the correlation among stock returns in the US. In relation to the Euro-Area stock markets, we find that both aggregate firm-level volatility and average stock market correlation have trended upwards. We estimate a linear model of the market risk-return relationship nested in an EGARCH(1, 1)-M model for conditional second moments. We then show that traditional estimates of the conditional risk-return relationship, that use ex-post excess-returns as the conditioning information set, lead to joint tests of the theoretical model (usually the ICAPM) and of the Efficient Market Hypothesis in its strong form. To overcome this problem we propose alternative measures of expected market risk based on implied volatility extracted from traded option prices and we discuss the conditions under which implied volatility depends solely on expected risk. We then regress market excess-returns on lagged market implied variance computed from implied market volatility to estimate the relationship between expected market excess-returns and expected market risk.We investigate whether, as predicted by the ICAPM, the expected market risk is the main factor in explaining the market risk premium and the latter is independent of aggregate idiosyncratic risk.

Disorders of Nonverbal Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Starkweather, C. Woodruff

1977-01-01

The author explores the idea that nonverbal communication can be disordered, describes several types of nonverbal disorders (such as impaired eye movement, inappropriate body movements, idiosyncratic mannerisms, and voice disorders), explains sources of nonverbal disorders, and suggests therapeutic procedures. (IM)

Modeling Being "Lost": Imperfect Situation Awareness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Middleton, Victor E.

2011-01-01

Being "lost" is an exemplar of imperfect Situation Awareness/Situation Understanding (SA/SU) -- information/knowledge that is uncertain, incomplete, and/or just wrong. Being "lost" may be a geo-spatial condition - not knowing/being wrong about where to go or how to get there. More broadly, being "lost" can serve as a metaphor for uncertainty and/or inaccuracy - not knowing/being wrong about how one fits into a larger world view, what one wants to do, or how to do it. This paper discusses using agent based modeling (ABM) to explore imperfect SA/SU, simulating geo-spatially "lost" intelligent agents trying to navigate in a virtual world. Each agent has a unique "mental map" -- its idiosyncratic view of its geo-spatial environment. Its decisions are based on this idiosyncratic view, but behavior outcomes are based on ground truth. Consequently, the rate and degree to which an agent's expectations diverge from ground truth provide measures of that agent's SA/SU.

HIGH DIMENSIONAL COVARIANCE MATRIX ESTIMATION IN APPROXIMATE FACTOR MODELS

PubMed Central

Fan, Jianqing; Liao, Yuan; Mincheva, Martina

2012-01-01

The variance covariance matrix plays a central role in the inferential theories of high dimensional factor models in finance and economics. Popular regularization methods of directly exploiting sparsity are not directly applicable to many financial problems. Classical methods of estimating the covariance matrices are based on the strict factor models, assuming independent idiosyncratic components. This assumption, however, is restrictive in practical applications. By assuming sparse error covariance matrix, we allow the presence of the cross-sectional correlation even after taking out common factors, and it enables us to combine the merits of both methods. We estimate the sparse covariance using the adaptive thresholding technique as in Cai and Liu (2011), taking into account the fact that direct observations of the idiosyncratic components are unavailable. The impact of high dimensionality on the covariance matrix estimation based on the factor structure is then studied. PMID:22661790

Functional Analysis of Problem Behavior: A Systematic Approach for Identifying Idiosyncratic Variables

PubMed Central

Roscoe, Eileen M.; Schlichenmeyer, Kevin J.; Dube, William V.

2015-01-01

When inconclusive functional analysis (FA) outcomes occur, a number of modifications have been made to enhance the putative establishing operation or consequence associated with behavioral maintenance. However, a systematic method for identifying relevant events to test during modified FAs has not been evaluated. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a technology for systematically identifying events to test in a modified FA after an initial FA led to inconclusive outcomes. Six individuals whose initial FA showed little or no responding or high levels only in the control condition participated. An indirect assessment (IA) questionnaire developed for identifying idiosyncratic variables was administered, and a descriptive analysis (DA) was conducted. Results from the IA only or a combination of the IA and DA were used to inform modified FA test and control conditions. Conclusive FA outcomes were obtained with five of the six participants during the modified FA phase. PMID:25930176

Idiosyncratic responding during movie-watching predicted by age differences in attentional control

PubMed Central

Campbell, Karen L.; Shafto, Meredith A.; Wright, Paul; Tsvetanov, Kamen A.; Geerligs, Linda; Cusack, Rhodri; Tyler, Lorraine K.; Brayne, Carol; Bullmore, Ed; Calder, Andrew; Cusack, Rhodri; Dalgleish, Tim; Duncan, John; Henson, Rik; Matthews, Fiona; Marslen-Wilson, William; Rowe, James; Shafto, Meredith; Campbell, Karen; Cheung, Teresa; Davis, Simon; Geerligs, Linda; Kievit, Rogier; McCarrey, Anna; Price, Darren; Taylor, Jason; Tsvetanov, Kamen; Williams, Nitin; Bates, Lauren; Emery, Tina; Erzinçlioglu, Sharon; Gadie, Andrew; Gerbase, Sofia; Georgieva, Stanimira; Hanley, Claire; Parkin, Beth; Troy, David; Allen, Jodie; Amery, Gillian; Amunts, Liana; Barcroft, Anne; Castle, Amanda; Dias, Cheryl; Dowrick, Jonathan; Fair, Melissa; Fisher, Hayley; Goulding, Anna; Grewal, Adarsh; Hale, Geoff; Hilton, Andrew; Johnson, Frances; Johnston, Patricia; Kavanagh-Williamson, Thea; Kwasniewska, Magdalena; McMinn, Alison; Norman, Kim; Penrose, Jessica; Roby, Fiona; Rowland, Diane; Sargeant, John; Squire, Maggie; Stevens, Beth; Stoddart, Aldabra; Stone, Cheryl; Thompson, Tracy; Yazlik, Ozlem; Dixon, Marie; Barnes, Dan; Hillman, Jaya; Mitchell, Joanne; Villis, Laura; Tyler, Lorraine K.

2015-01-01

Much is known about how age affects the brain during tightly controlled, though largely contrived, experiments, but do these effects extrapolate to everyday life? Naturalistic stimuli, such as movies, closely mimic the real world and provide a window onto the brain's ability to respond in a timely and measured fashion to complex, everyday events. Young adults respond to these stimuli in a highly synchronized fashion, but it remains to be seen how age affects neural responsiveness during naturalistic viewing. To this end, we scanned a large (N = 218), population-based sample from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) during movie-watching. Intersubject synchronization declined with age, such that older adults' response to the movie was more idiosyncratic. This decreased synchrony related to cognitive measures sensitive to attentional control. Our findings suggest that neural responsivity changes with age, which likely has important implications for real-world event comprehension and memory. PMID:26359527

A Dynamic Network Model to Explain the Development of Excellent Human Performance

PubMed Central

Den Hartigh, Ruud J. R.; Van Dijk, Marijn W. G.; Steenbeek, Henderien W.; Van Geert, Paul L. C.

2016-01-01

Across different domains, from sports to science, some individuals accomplish excellent levels of performance. For over 150 years, researchers have debated the roles of specific nature and nurture components to develop excellence. In this article, we argue that the key to excellence does not reside in specific underlying components, but rather in the ongoing interactions among the components. We propose that excellence emerges out of dynamic networks consisting of idiosyncratic mixtures of interacting components such as genetic endowment, motivation, practice, and coaching. Using computer simulations we demonstrate that the dynamic network model accurately predicts typical properties of excellence reported in the literature, such as the idiosyncratic developmental trajectories leading to excellence and the highly skewed distributions of productivity present in virtually any achievement domain. Based on this novel theoretical perspective on excellent human performance, this article concludes by suggesting policy implications and directions for future research. PMID:27148140

A Text Searching Tool to Identify Patients with Idiosyncratic Drug-Induced Liver Injury.

PubMed

Heidemann, Lauren; Law, James; Fontana, Robert J

2017-03-01

Idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an uncommon but important cause of liver disease that is challenging to diagnose and identify in the electronic medical record (EMR). To develop an accurate, reliable, and efficient method of identifying patients with bonafide DILI in an EMR system. In total, 527,000 outpatient and ER encounters in an EPIC-based EMR were searched for potential DILI cases attributed to eight drugs. A searching algorithm that extracted 200 characters of text around 14 liver injury terms in the EMR were extracted and collated. Physician investigators reviewed the data outputs and used standardized causality assessment methods to adjudicate the potential DILI cases. A total of 101 DILI cases were identified from the 2564 potential DILI cases that included 62 probable DILI cases, 25 possible DILI cases, nine historical DILI cases, and five allergy-only cases. Elimination of the term "liver disease" from the search strategy improved the search recall from 4 to 19 %, while inclusion of the four highest yield liver injury terms further improved the positive predictive value to 64 % but reduced the overall case detection rate by 47 %. RUCAM scores of the 57 probable DILI cases were generally high and concordant with expert opinion causality assessment scores. A novel text searching tool was developed that identified a large number of DILI cases from a widely used EMR system. A computerized extraction of dictated text followed by the manual review of text snippets can rapidly identify bona fide cases of idiosyncratic DILI.

Relationships Between Intellectual Factors And Coping In Physical Rehabilitation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fogel, Max L.; Rosillo, Ronald H.

1973-01-01

Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) prorated IQ and subtest scores were related to improvement in physical rehabilitation. Independent psychiatric ratings evaluated physical improvement in patients from admission to discharge. In physical rehabilitation intelligence apparently may interact differentially with idiosyncratic attributes…

Emotions and Golf Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Alexander B.; Tenenbaum, Gershon; English, R. William

2006-01-01

A multiple case study investigation is reported in which emotions and performance were assessed within the probabilistic individual zone of optimal functioning (IZOF) model (Kamata, Tenenbaum, & Hanin, 2002) to develop idiosyncratic emotion-performance profiles. These profiles were incorporated into a psychological skills training (PST)…

Why Can You "Have a Drink" When You Can't "*Have an Eat?"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wierzbicka, Anna

1982-01-01

Argues that sentences in the "have a V" frame are not idiosyncratic, but exhibit orderly and systematic behavior and are governed by strict semantic rules. Discusses 10 subtypes, each with a slightly different semantic formula. (EKN)

Organizational Structure at the Crossroads.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Person, Ruth

1994-01-01

Because colleges and universities have adopted new information technology idiosyncratically, formal structures to manage and govern its use have not evolved at the same pace. In creating such structures, issues to be considered include centralization vs. decentralization, attitudes toward change, institutional diversity, entrepreneurial spirit,…

Differential Rationality and Personal Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fincher, Cameron

This publication discusses differential rationality; it asserts that the development of institutions, professions, and individuals involves the differentiation of forms and styles of thinking and knowing that are, in various ways, idiosyncratic. Based on this understanding, differential rationality can be seen as a developmental construct that…

Communication in the Chinese Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ngwainmbi, Emmanuel K.

2004-01-01

This study investigates cultural (idiosyncratic, linguistic) aspects of interpersonal & cross-cultural interactions in a Chinese learning environment. It explains the relationship between the Chinese academic community (CAL) in a university in Beijing, China and American professors (AAS) and how the CAL negotiates meaning through verbal…

Post-Doctoral Training Program in Bio-Behavioral Breast Cancer Research

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-01

therapy with a particular interest in Rational Emotive- Behavior Therapy ( REBT ) and its application to clinical populations, including breast cancer...Implication for my idiosyncratic practice of REBT . Psychological Annals of Oradea State University (Annalele Universitatii din Oradea-Psihologie), 4: 29-55

On Learning and Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoenfeld, Alan H.

2017-01-01

The challenge of "educational" assessments--assessments that advance the purposes of learning and instruction--is to provide useful information regarding students' progress towards the goals of instruction in ways that are reliable and not idiosyncratic. In this commentary, the author indicates that the challenges are actually more…

Instructing the Online Catalog User.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, William

1986-01-01

This essay offers suggestions to make online public access catalogs (OPACs) less idiosyncratic and more usable. Discussion covers qualitative difference between online catalog and predecessors, challenge of debunking assumptions, skills for success, maintaining an instructional perspective, catalog development for the people by the people, and the…

Memory Errors Reveal a Bias to Spontaneously Generalize to Categories

PubMed Central

Sutherland, Shelbie L.; Cimpian, Andrei; Leslie, Sarah-Jane; Gelman, Susan A.

2014-01-01

Much evidence suggests that, from a young age, humans are able to generalize information learned about a subset of a category to the category itself. Here, we propose that—beyond simply being able to perform such generalizations—people are biased to generalize to categories, such that they routinely make spontaneous, implicit category generalizations from information that licenses such generalizations. To demonstrate the existence of this bias, we asked participants to perform a task in which category generalizations would distract from the main goal of the task, leading to a characteristic pattern of errors. Specifically, participants were asked to memorize two types of novel facts: quantified facts about sets of kind members (e.g., facts about all or many stups) and generic facts about entire kinds (e.g., facts about zorbs as a kind). Moreover, half of the facts concerned properties that are typically generalizable to an animal kind (e.g., eating fruits and vegetables), and half concerned properties that are typically more idiosyncratic (e.g., getting mud in their hair). We predicted that—because of the hypothesized bias—participants would spontaneously generalize the quantified facts to the corresponding kinds, and would do so more frequently for the facts about generalizable (rather than idiosyncratic) properties. In turn, these generalizations would lead to a higher rate of quantified-to-generic memory errors for the generalizable properties. The results of four experiments (N = 449) supported this prediction. Moreover, the same generalizable-versus-idiosyncratic difference in memory errors occurred even under cognitive load, which suggests that the hypothesized bias operates unnoticed in the background, requiring few cognitive resources. In sum, this evidence suggests the presence of a powerful bias to draw generalizations about kinds. PMID:25327964

Feedback and the Reconstruction of Meaning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langer, Philip; And Others

This investigation of the impact of feedback upon scrambled discourse was intended to show the effects of idiosyncratic processing and to provide a more sensitive indicator of feedback usefulness. Learner schemata, text organization, and feedback strategies interact in processing discourse, although past research has favored limited models…

Genomic Indicators in the blood predict drug-induced liver injury

EPA Science Inventory

Hepatotoxicity and other forms of liver injury stemming from exposure to toxicants and idiosyncratic drug reactions are major concerns during the drug discovery process. Animal model systems have been utilized in an attempt to extrapolate the risk of harmful agents to humans and...

Idiosyncratic responding during movie-watching predicted by age differences in attentional control.

PubMed

Campbell, Karen L; Shafto, Meredith A; Wright, Paul; Tsvetanov, Kamen A; Geerligs, Linda; Cusack, Rhodri; Tyler, Lorraine K

2015-11-01

Much is known about how age affects the brain during tightly controlled, though largely contrived, experiments, but do these effects extrapolate to everyday life? Naturalistic stimuli, such as movies, closely mimic the real world and provide a window onto the brain's ability to respond in a timely and measured fashion to complex, everyday events. Young adults respond to these stimuli in a highly synchronized fashion, but it remains to be seen how age affects neural responsiveness during naturalistic viewing. To this end, we scanned a large (N = 218), population-based sample from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) during movie-watching. Intersubject synchronization declined with age, such that older adults' response to the movie was more idiosyncratic. This decreased synchrony related to cognitive measures sensitive to attentional control. Our findings suggest that neural responsivity changes with age, which likely has important implications for real-world event comprehension and memory. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Idiosyncratic species effects confound size-based predictions of responses to climate change.

PubMed

Twomey, Marion; Brodte, Eva; Jacob, Ute; Brose, Ulrich; Crowe, Tasman P; Emmerson, Mark C

2012-11-05

Understanding and predicting the consequences of warming for complex ecosystems and indeed individual species remains a major ecological challenge. Here, we investigated the effect of increased seawater temperatures on the metabolic and consumption rates of five distinct marine species. The experimental species reflected different trophic positions within a typical benthic East Atlantic food web, and included a herbivorous gastropod, a scavenging decapod, a predatory echinoderm, a decapod and a benthic-feeding fish. We examined the metabolism-body mass and consumption-body mass scaling for each species, and assessed changes in their consumption efficiencies. Our results indicate that body mass and temperature effects on metabolism were inconsistent across species and that some species were unable to meet metabolic demand at higher temperatures, thus highlighting the vulnerability of individual species to warming. While body size explains a large proportion of the variation in species' physiological responses to warming, it is clear that idiosyncratic species responses, irrespective of body size, complicate predictions of population and ecosystem level response to future scenarios of climate change.

Murburn Concept: A Molecular Explanation for Hormetic and Idiosyncratic Dose Responses.

PubMed

Parashar, Abhinav; Gideon, Daniel Andrew; Manoj, Kelath Murali

2018-01-01

Recently, electron transfers and catalyses in a bevy of redox reactions mediated by hemeproteins were explained by murburn concept. The term "murburn" is abstracted from " mur ed burn ing " or " m ild u n r estricted burn ing " and connotes a novel " m olecule- u nbound ion- r adical " interaction paradigm. Quite unlike the genetic regulations and protein-level affinity-based controls that govern order and specificity/selectivity in conventional treatments, murburn concept is based on stochastic/thermodynamic regulatory principles. The novel insight necessitates a "reactivity outside the active-site" perspective, because select redox enzymatic activity is obligatorily mediated via diffusible radical/species. Herein, reactions employing key hemeproteins (as exemplified by CYP2E1) establish direct experimental connection between "additive-influenced redox catalysis" and "unusual dose responses" in reductionist and physiological milieu. Thus, direct and conclusive molecular-level experimental evidence is presented, supporting the mechanistic relevance of murburn concept in "maverick" concentration-based effects brought about by additives. Therefore, murburn concept could potentially explain several physiological hormetic and idiosyncratic dose responses.

Idiosyncratic deals and employee outcomes: the mediating roles of social exchange and self-enhancement and the moderating role of individualism.

PubMed

Liu, Jun; Lee, Cynthia; Hui, Chun; Kwan, Ho Kwong; Wu, Long-Zeng

2013-09-01

The majority of studies on idiosyncratic employment arrangements ("i-deals") are based on social exchange theory. The authors suggest that self-enhancement theory, in addition to social exchange, can be used to explain the effects of i-deals. Using a multisource sample including 230 employees and 102 supervisors from 2 Chinese companies, the authors adopt a 3-wave lagged design to examine the mediating roles of social exchange and self-enhancement and the moderating role of individualism in the relationships between i-deals and employee outcomes, as indicated by proactive behaviors and affective commitment. The results of bootstrapping analyses confirm the mediating effects of social exchange and self-enhancement. In addition, employees with high levels of individualism are more receptive to self-enhancement effects; in contrast, employees with low levels of individualism are more receptive to social exchange effects. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Bilingual Idiosyncratic Dimensions of Language Attitudes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santello, Marco

2015-01-01

The goal of this study is to identify new dimensions of language attitudes to allow for both their multidimensionality and possible language-specificity stemming from local sociolinguistic environments. Adopting a two-step methodology comprising (1) elicitation of adjectives in group interviews and (2) employment of the semantic differential…

The Role of Idiomorphs in Emergent Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neumann, Michelle M.; Neumann, David L.

2012-01-01

Psycholinguistics coined the term idiomorph to describe idiosyncratic invented word-like units that toddlers use to refer to familiar objects during their early language development (Haslett & Samter, 1997; Otto, 2008; Reich, 1986; Scovel, 2004; Werner & Kaplan, 1963). Idiomorphs act as "words" because their meanings and phonetic pronunciations…

Narrative Therapies with Children and Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Craig, Ed.; Nylund, David, Ed.

Through transcripts and case examples this book explores how drama, art, play, and humor can be used to engage children of different ages in therapy and to honor their idiosyncratic language, knowledge, and perspectives. Chapters are: (1) "Introduction: Comparing Traditional Therapies with Narrative Approaches" (C. Smith); (2) "'I…

Cognitions of Ordinary Events: Their Relationship to Depression.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hindin, David A.; And Others

Beck's cognitive theory and the reformulated learned helplessness model suggest that there is a negative idiosyncratic cognitive style that characterizes the way depressed individuals appraise events which is causally associated with depression. Although a few researchers have recognized the importance of examining appraisals of everyday events,…

Practical Tools to Foster Harmonic Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Erik

2013-01-01

Among the elements required to develop a comprehensive understanding of music is students' ability to perceive, recognize, and label the harmonies they hear. Harmonic dictation is among the strategies that teachers have traditionally chosen to help students develop harmonic awareness. However, the highly idiosyncratic ways that students approach…

Clinical Effects of Naltrexone on Autistic Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zingarelli, Gene; And Others

1992-01-01

Eight young adults (ages 19-39) with autism were given the opiate antagonist naltrexone to control self-injurious behavior and maladaptive idiosyncratic mannerisms. Although one subject appeared to have partial decreases in maladaptive behaviors, the drug did not clearly reduce the self-injurious and other maladaptive behaviors of the subjects.…

Learning and Classroom Preferences of Gifted Eighth Graders: A Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samardzija, Nadine; Peterson, Jean Sunde

2015-01-01

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore how academically gifted eighth graders experience learning, with special attention to learning and classroom preferences. Twenty-three students were interviewed individually. The central phenomenon was that their learning preferences were complex, nuanced, and idiosyncratic, and…

The Changing Nature of Jobs: A Paraprofessional Time Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Carol P.

1996-01-01

This study examined job descriptions (1975, 1981, 1990) of three paraprofessional jobs in an academic library technical services department at a small, private liberal arts college to determine changes occurring as a result of automation. It found no significant differences. Although changes were more idiosyncratic than expected, they may indicate…

Welsh Bilinguals' English Spelling: An Error Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

James, Carl; And Others

1993-01-01

The extent to which the second-language English spelling of young Welsh-English bilinguals is systematically idiosyncratic was examined from free compositions written by 10- to 11-year-old children. A model is presented of the second-language spelling process in the form of a "decision tree." (Contains 29 references.) (Author/LB)

Where the Grass Grows Again: Knowledge Exchange in the Sustainable Agriculture Movement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassanein, Neva; Kloppenburg, Jack R., Jr.

1995-01-01

Intensive rotational grazing by Wisconsin dairy farmers represents a local expression of the sustainable agriculture movement. Contrary to interpretations that view local knowledge in agriculture as idiosyncratic, these graziers use horizontal forms of organizing and information exchange to overcome the limits of personal experience and share…

Insurance within the Firm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guiso, Luigi; Pistaferri, Luigi; Schivardi, Fabiano

2005-01-01

We evaluate the allocation of risk between firms and their workers using matched employer-employee panel data. Unlike previous contributions, this paper focuses on idiosyncratic shocks to the firm, which are the correct empirical counterpart of the theoretical notion of diversifiable risk. We allow for both temporary and permanent shocks to output…

Identifying Discourses of Moderation in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adie, Lenore; Lloyd, Margaret; Beutel, Denise

2013-01-01

Moderation of student assessment is a critical component of teaching and learning in contemporary universities. Yet, despite this, it tends to be marked by idiosyncratic and sporadic processes informed by liminal understanding. This paper, in the light of forthcoming radical national requirements for the declaration of moderation processes in…

Flexibility of Household Structure: Child Fostering Decisions in Burkina Faso

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akresh, Richard

2009-01-01

Using data I collected in Africa, this paper examines a household's decision to adjust its size through child fostering, an institution where biological parents temporarily send children to live with other families. Households experiencing negative idiosyncratic income shocks, child gender imbalances, located further from primary schools, or with…

In Defense of Freedom: Horace L. Traubel and the "Conservator."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bussel, Alan

Philadelphia poet and journalist Horace L. Traubel's work as biographer of Walt Whitman has overshadowed his role as crusading editor. Traubel (1858-1919) devoted 30 years to publishing the "Conservator," a monthly newspaper that reflected its editor's idiosyncratic philosophy and crusaded persistently for libertarian principles. He made…

On the evolution of hoarding, risk-taking, and wealth distribution in nonhuman and human populations

PubMed Central

Bergstrom, Theodore C.

2014-01-01

This paper applies the theory of the evolution of risk-taking in the presence of idiosyncratic and environmental risks to the example of food hoarding by animals and explores implications of the resulting theory for human attitudes toward risk. PMID:25024179

Giving you the business - Competitive pricing of selected Predicasts' databases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jack, Robert F.

1987-01-01

The pricing policies of different data-base services offering Predicast data bases are examined from a user perspective. The services carrying these data bases are listed; the problems introduced by varying exchange rates and seemingly idiosyncratic price structures are discussed; and numerous specific examples are given.

Career Success: Constructing a Multidimensional Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dries, Nicky; Pepermans, Roland; Carlier, Olivier

2008-01-01

A multidimensional model of career success was developed aiming to be more inclusive than existing models. In a first study, 22 managers were asked to tell the story of their careers. At the end of each interview, idiosyncratic career success "construct ladders" were constructed for each interviewee through an interactive process with the…

Art and Psychopathology: The Message of Outsider Art.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esman, Aaron H.

1988-01-01

The relationship between art and mental illness is examined in the untrained "outsider artist," one whose style, though highly idiosyncratic, conforms to certain formal criteria and is usually initiated at a time of intense psychic crisis. Photographs and discussions of the paintings and sculptures of psychotic artists are presented. (JW)

Shared Understanding and Idiosyncratic Expression in Early Vocabularies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayor, Julien; Plunkett, Kim

2014-01-01

To what extent do toddlers have shared vocabularies? We examined CDI data collected from 14,607 infants and toddlers in five countries and measured the amount of variability between individual lexicons during development for both comprehension and production. Early lexicons are highly overlapping. However, beyond 100 words, toddlers share more…

Conceptualizing the Roles of Mentor Teachers during Student Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Brandon M.; Cuenca, Alexander

2012-01-01

The field-based mentoring of student teachers is often an idiosyncratic and nuanced practice in which mentors' conceptualizations of their interactions with student teachers are generated through personal experiences with teacher education. If teacher educators and programs are to strengthen the tie between campus and field-based teacher…

Establishing Verbal Repertoires in Children with Autism Using Function-Based Video Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plavnick, Joshua B.; Ferreri, Summer J.

2011-01-01

Previous research suggests that language-training procedures for children with autism might be enhanced following an assessment of conditions that evoke emerging verbal behavior. The present investigation examined a methodology to teach recognizable mands based on environmental variables known to evoke participants' idiosyncratic communicative…

77 FR 3646 - Products Containing Imidazolines Equivalent to 0.08 Milligrams or More

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-25

... congestion and/or ophthalmic irritation. Products containing imidazolines can cause serious adverse reactions... unpredictable, idiosyncratic reaction (i.e., a drug effect that occurs in a small number of people due to age..., and death associated with cardiac reactions in adults. Other systemic side effects can include...

Generative and Item-Specific Knowledge of Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Emily Ida Popper

2016-01-01

The ability to generate novel utterances compositionally using generative knowledge is a hallmark property of human language. At the same time, languages contain non-compositional or idiosyncratic items, such as irregular verbs, idioms, etc. This dissertation asks how and why language achieves a balance between these two systems--generative and…

Questionnaire of Executive Function for Dancers: An Ecological Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Alina; Rodriguez, Mabel; Quevedo, Liliana; de Cossio, Lourdes Fernandez; Borges, Ariel; Reyes, Alicia; Corral, Roberto; Blanco, Florentino; Alvarez, Miguel

2012-01-01

There is a current debate about the ecological validity of executive function (EF) tests. Consistent with the verisimilitude approach, this research proposes the Ballet Executive Scale (BES), a self-rating questionnaire that assimilates idiosyncratic executive behaviors of classical dance community. The BES was administrated to 149 adolescents,…

False-Positive Tangible Outcomes of Functional Analyses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rooker, Griffin W.; Iwata, Brian A.; Harper, Jill M.; Fahmie, Tara A.; Camp, Erin M.

2011-01-01

Functional analysis (FA) methodology is the most precise method for identifying variables that maintain problem behavior. Occasionally, however, results of an FA may be influenced by idiosyncratic sensitivity to aspects of the assessment conditions. For example, data from several studies suggest that inclusion of a tangible condition during an FA…

Presidential Survival in Tough Times.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowen, Raymond C.

Surviving the position of college president requires the development of a presidential survival kit filled with idiosyncratic items not normally associated with formal educational training. Strength, agility, control, and the ability to improvise are some of the talents required of a college president. In addition, the longevity and success of a…

Heterogeneity of Student Perceptions of the Classroom Climate: A Latent Profile Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schenke, Katerina; Ruzek, Erik; Lam, Arena C.; Karabenick, Stuart A.; Eccles, Jacquelynne S.

2017-01-01

Student perceptions are a pivotal point of measurement for understanding why classroom learning environments are effective. Yet there is some evidence that student perceptions cannot be reliably aggregated at the classroom level and, instead, could represent idiosyncratic experiences of students. The present study examines whether heterogeneity in…

Morphological Idiosyncracies in Classical Arabic: Evidence Favoring Lexical Representations over Rules.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Ann M.

A lexical representational analysis of Classical Arabic is proposed that captures a generalization that McCarthy's (1979, 1981) autosegmental analysis misses, namely that idiosyncratic characteristics of the derivational binyanim in Arabic are lexical, not morphological. This analysis captures that generalization by treating all the idiosyncracies…

Admonitory Behavioral Norms of Campus Housing and Residence Life Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Maureen E.; Hirschy, Amy S.; Braxton, John M.

2016-01-01

To protect the welfare of students, staff, and other clients in housing and residence life (HRL), administrators must understand what behaviors are unacceptable. Professionals might make idiosyncratic and unconstrained decisions when there is no conduct code or set of informal rules. Informal rules may become norms comprising normative structures…

Identifying specific erotic cues in sexual deviations by audiotaped descriptions.

PubMed Central

Abel, G G; Blanchard, E B; Barlow, D H; Mavissakalian, M

1975-01-01

Using audiotaped descriptions of sexual experiences and a direct measure of penile erection, it is possible to specify more precisely erotic cues in sexual deviates. Results indicated that such cues are highly idiosyncratic. Some tentative conclusions and suggested application for the method are discussed. PMID:1184490

Does Mood Change How We Organize Digital Files?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massey, Charlotte

2017-01-01

Retrieving files from one's computer is done daily and is an essential part of completing most tasks at work, yet surprisingly little research has examined the ways that people structure and organize their files. Management of personal digital information is a challenging task that users approach idiosyncratically. Large individual differences…

On CALL: One Approach to Improving Services for Students with Low-Incidence Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradley-Johnson, Sharon; Johnson, C. Merle; Drevon, Daniel D.

2015-01-01

Students with low-incidence disabilities frequently receive less than optimal psychoeducational services because the specialized tests and instructional materials required to meet their idiosyncratic needs often are unavailable due to budget constraints, inadequate training of school personnel, and the difficulty school personnel have keeping…

You Say "dientito," I Say "dentito": Navigating Complex Word Formation in Second Language Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Matthew T.; Gerfen, Chip

2017-01-01

Native speakers seamlessly marshal morphological resources to create new words, displaying striking consistency even where multiple options are available, as when a stem contains a phonological alternation. This is true even when these options appear to be idiosyncratically applied in existing words. For example, in derived words, the alternation…

12 CFR 217.153 - Internal models approach (IMA).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...-regulated institution must have one or more models that: (i) Assess the potential decline in value of its... idiosyncratic risk. (2) The Board-regulated institution's model must produce an estimate of potential losses for its modeled equity exposures that is no less than the estimate of potential losses produced by a VaR...

New Learning: A Charter for Change in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalantzis, Mary; Cope, Bill

2012-01-01

In this moment of tremendous change, investing in old ways of doing education is not the best way forward. In offering a Charter for Change we recognise that knowledge and learning will be pivotal to the social and personal transformations necessary to address the idiosyncratic challenges of our times. The transformed economic system emerging from…

The Enactment of Professional Learning Policies: Performativity and Multiple Ontologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riveros, Augusto; Viczko, Melody

2015-01-01

While teacher learning has become a locus of school reform across many international settings, there is relatively little examination of the idiosyncratic ways in which policy discourses on teacher learning are enacted in schools. In this paper, we aim to investigate how these policy discourses are translated and configured into practices and…

Perceived Effects of Emotion Intensity on Athletic Performance: A Contingency-Based Individualized Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robazza, Claudio; Bortoli, Laura; Hanin, Yuri

2006-01-01

This study, based on the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning model, examined the perceived effect of idiosyncratic emotions and bodily symptoms on athletic performance along the entire emotion-intensity range. The participants were 35 elite Italian athletes, 16 women and 19 men, competing in either figure skating or gymnastics. Idiosyncratic…

Conducting Rigorous Survey Research in the Study of School-Based Consultation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazel, Cynthia E.; Newman, Daniel S.; Barrett, Courtenay A.

2016-01-01

The evidence base for school-based consultation practice and training is limited by a small number of studies, possibly due to unique challenges in researching consultation. For example, there are myriad variables to measure and idiosyncratic cultural and contextual factors to account for when investigating what works, for whom, and in what…

Inter-Rater Variability as Mutual Disagreement: Identifying Raters' Divergent Points of View

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gingerich, Andrea; Ramlo, Susan E.; van der Vleuten, Cees P. M.; Eva, Kevin W.; Regehr, Glenn

2017-01-01

Whenever multiple observers provide ratings, even of the same performance, inter-rater variation is prevalent. The resulting "idiosyncratic rater variance" is considered to be unusable error of measurement in psychometric models and is a threat to the defensibility of our assessments. Prior studies of inter-rater variation in clinical…

Wilderness visitor experiences: A selective review of 50 years of research

Treesearch

David N. Cole

2012-01-01

Two of the foremost conclusions from 50 years of research on wilderness visitors are that experiences are highly idiosyncratic and visitors are highly adaptable. The reasons people visit wilderness, their experiential aspirations, and their experiences in wilderness vary greatly among people and within people from visit to visit. Along with people's adaptability...

Mobile Learning and High-Profiling Language Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vinther, Jane

2012-01-01

The number of students learning a second or foreign language and participating in instruction in languages other than English has been in decline for some time. This seems to be a general tendency across nations albeit for a variety of reasons idiosyncratic to the particular national conditions. This paper gives an account of a diversified…

Differential Item Functioning Amplification and Cancellation in a Reading Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bao, Han; Dayton, C. Mitchell; Hendrickson, Amy B.

2009-01-01

When testlet effects and item idiosyncratic features are both considered to be the reasons of DIF in educational tests using testlets (Wainer & Kiely, 1987) or item bundles (Rosenbaum, 1988), it is interesting to investigate the phenomena of DIF amplification and cancellation due to the interactive effects of these two factors. This research…

The Development of Individual Learners in an L2 Listening Strategies Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeldham, Michael; Gruba, Paul

2016-01-01

This study examined the idiosyncratic development of second language (L2) learners in a listening strategies course. The progress of four Taiwanese EFL learners was examined longitudinally through a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques as the learners participated in a course combining direct instruction of strategies with their…

Discourse in Flux

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sfard, Anna

2005-01-01

More than 2 decades have passed since Geoffrey Saxe's first visit to Papua New Guinea, when he began his inquiry into the highly idiosyncratic counting system of Oksapmin's people. As evidenced by his account, a quarter of a century is a period long enough to make historical shifts visible. The point of departure for this commentary on…

Aspects of a Neoteric Approach to Advance Students' Ability to Conjecture, Prove, or Disprove

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLoughlin, M. Padraig M. M.

2010-01-01

The author of this paper suggests several neoteric, unconventional, idiosyncratic, or unique approaches to beginning Set Theory that he found seems to work well in building students' introductory understanding of the Foundations of Mathematics. This paper offers some ideas on how the author uses certain "unconventional" definitions and…

Exercises for Keeping Pianists' Hands in Top Form

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perlmutter, Adam

2009-01-01

Some pianists have idiosyncratic ways of keeping their hands and fingers relaxed. Glenn Gould, for example, religiously soaked his digits in hot water before performing or recording. While the jury is still out on the effectiveness of Gould's routine, there are plenty of other exercises and practices that will keep a pianist's fingers limber.…

9 Is Always on Top: Assessing the Automaticity of Synaesthetic Number-Forms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jarick, Michelle; Dixon, Michael J.; Smilek, Daniel

2011-01-01

For number-form synaesthetes, digits occupy idiosyncratic spatial locations. Atypical to the mental number line that extends horizontally, the synaesthete (L) experiences the numbers 1-10 vertically. We used a spatial cueing task to demonstrate that L's attention could be automatically directed to locations within her number-space--being faster to…

The (Im)Materiality of Literacy: The Significance of Subjectivity to New Literacies Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burnett, Cathy; Merchant, Guy; Pahl, Kate; Rowsell, Jennifer

2014-01-01

This article deconstructs the online and offline experience to show its complexities and idiosyncratic nature. It proposes a theoretical framework designed to conceptualise aspects of meaning-making across on- and offline contexts. In arguing for the "(im)materiality" of literacy, it makes four propositions which highlight the complex…

Predators of Knowledge Construction: Interpreting Students' Metacognition in an Amusement Park Physics Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, David; Nashon, Samson

2007-01-01

It is recognized widely that learning is a dynamic and idiosyncratic process of construction and reconstruction of concepts in response to new experiences. It is influenced by the learner's prior knowledge, motivation, and sociocultural context. This study investigated how year 11 and 12 physics students' metacognition influences the development…

On Comparing Multilingual Societies: The Linguistic Situation of the Slavic Minorities in the Republic of Austria.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eichinger, Ludwig M.; Jodlbauer, Ralph

1987-01-01

Examples of the Croats in the Burgenland and the Slovenes in Carinthia (Slavic minorities in Austria) are presented to illustrate the importance of comparing different multilingual communities to make a typologically relevant description of them to understand typological similarities and certain idiosyncratic characteristics. (Author/CB)

General Education at UNC-Chapel Hill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schalin, Jay; Robinson, Jenna Ashley

2013-01-01

The general education program at UNC-Chapel Hill has abandoned the concept of a core curriculum. Instead, students choose their "required" classes from lists of thousands of courses that may be as narrow and idiosyncratic as Love, Sex and Marriage in Soviet Culture (RUSS 277) or The Gardens, Shrines and Temples of Japan (ASIA 586).…

Vocational and Technical Education in Lebanon: Strategic Issues and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karam, Gebran

2006-01-01

The current status of the Lebanese vocational and technical education (VTE) system is assessed and the strategic issues and challenges facing it are identified. In addition to the economic and social challenges that are common to many developing countries, the Lebanese system suffers from idiosyncratic problems, which may require innovative and…

Idiosyncratic Genetic Specificity for Neurolinguistic Systems: A Cause of Atypical or Delayed Language Acquisition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamendella, John T.

The diagnostic problem presented by children without obvious neurological, cognitive, genetic, emotional or environmental basis for their atypical or delayed language development is discussed. One unresolved issue is whether the deficits of such dysphasic children are linguistic or are more fundamental cognitive or perceptuomotor deficits. A…

We Cannot Teach What We Don't Know: Indiana Teachers Talk about Global Citizenship Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rapoport, Anatoli

2010-01-01

Globalization significantly influences the very notion of citizenship by challenging the key principle of citizenship as idiosyncratically nation or nation-state related concept.Therefore, the discourse of global citizenship is getting more attention in programmatic educational texts and curricula. However, unlike their colleagues in Europe,…

Navigating Deep Time: Landmarks for Time from the Big Bang to the Present

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delgado, Cesar

2013-01-01

People make sense of the world by comparing and relating new information to their existing landmarks. Each individual may have different landmarks, developed through idiosyncratic experiences. Identifying specific events that constitute landmarks for a group of learners may help instructors in gauging students' prior knowledge and in planning…

AGU Presidential Forum: Science and Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winchester, S.

2011-12-01

British author and journalist Simon Winchester has a knack for finding fascinating people and events to write about. Fueled by curiosity, passion, and a journalist's instinct for what makes "good copy," Winchester has explored the obscure, arcane, and idiosyncratic, resulting in bestselling books that have been called "extraordinary," "mesmerizing" and "both epic and intimate."

Cyclical Dynamics in Idiosyncratic Labor Market Risk.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Storesletten, Kjetil; Telmer, Chris I.; Yaron, Amir

2004-01-01

Is individual labor income more risky in recessions? This is a difficult question to answer because existing panel data sets are so short. To address this problem, we develop a generalized method of moments estimator that conditions on the macroeeonomic history that each member of the panel has experienced. Variation in the cross-sectional…

The Geography of Political Communication: Effects of Regional Variations in Campaign Advertising on Citizen Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Jaeho

2011-01-01

This study explores whether and how campaign-induced changes in local information environments influence citizens' everyday communication activities. The empirical analysis in this study centers on a comparison of two New Jersey media markets that showed idiosyncratic differences in the amount of political advertising during the 2000 presidential…

Spanish as a World Language: The Interplay of Globalized Localization and Localized Globalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nino-Murcia, Mercedes; Godenzzi, Juan Carlos; Rothman, Jason

2008-01-01

This article argues that two movements in constant interplay operate within the historical trajectory of the Spanish language: the localization that becomes globalized and the globalization that becomes localized. Equally, this article illustrates how, at the same time that Spanish is expanding in the world, new idiosyncratic and localized forms…

A Functional Analysis of Gestural Behaviors Emitted by Young Children with Severe Developmental Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferreri, Summer J.; Plavnick, Joshua B.

2011-01-01

Many children with severe developmental disabilities emit idiosyncratic gestures that may function as verbal operants (Sigafoos et al., 2000). This study examined the effectiveness of a functional analysis methodology to identify the variables responsible for gestures emitted by 2 young children with severe developmental disabilities. Potential…

Performance processes within affect-related performance zones: a multi-modal investigation of golf performance.

PubMed

van der Lei, Harry; Tenenbaum, Gershon

2012-12-01

Individual affect-related performance zones (IAPZs) method utilizing Kamata et al. (J Sport Exerc Psychol 24:189-208, 2002) probabilistic model of determining the individual zone of optimal functioning was utilized as idiosyncratic affective patterns during golf performance. To do so, three male golfers of a varsity golf team were observed during three rounds of golf competition. The investigation implemented a multi-modal assessment approach in which the probabilistic relationship between affective states and both, performance process and performance outcome, measures were determined. More specifically, introspective (i.e., verbal reports) and objective (heart rate and respiration rate) measures of arousal were incorporated to examine the relationships between arousal states and both, process components (i.e., routine consistency, timing), and outcome scores related to golf performance. Results revealed distinguishable and idiosyncratic IAPZs associated with physiological and introspective measures for each golfer. The associations between the IAPZs and decision-making or swing/stroke execution were strong and unique for each golfer. Results are elaborated using cognitive and affect-related concepts, and applications for practitioners are provided.

Ideas versus labor: what do children value in artistic creation?

PubMed

Li, Vivian; Shaw, Alex; Olson, Kristina R

2013-04-01

As scientists, we primarily award authorship, as well as legal patents, to those who generate ideas, often without formally crediting others who executed the actual experiments. However, little is known about how and when people come to value ideas. Here, we investigate whether young children also value ideas over labor. In Study 1, we found that 4 and 6 year olds preferred pictures containing their ideas to those containing their labor. In Study 2 we rule out an alternative explanation-that children simply favor pictures containing their idiosyncratic preferences-by discovering that 6 year olds, but not 4 year olds chose a picture they mistakenly believed contained their idea, over a picture that contained their idiosyncratic preferences. Consistent with these results, using a third-party design in Study 3, we found that 6 year olds, but not 4 year olds favored a person who only contributed an idea over another who only contributed labor in awarding ownership. Across three studies, these results suggest that by 6 years old, children value ideas over labor. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative social grooming networks in captive chimpanzees and bonobos.

PubMed

Rodrigues, Michelle A; Boeving, Emily R

2018-06-21

Despite similar dispersal patterns, models of Pan sociality emphasize sex differences in social bonding between the two species. Such disparities are attributed to hypothesized differences in environmental selective pressures that structure association patterns. However, recent research documents greater within-species variation in social bonds in both species. Here, we examine grooming networks in captive chimpanzees at the North Carolina Zoo, and captive bonobos at the Columbus Zoo. We hypothesized that male-female grooming relationships would be the strongest in both species, but that males and females of both species would not significantly differ between centrality, strength, or clustering. Via Mantel tests, we found that neither bonobos (t = - 0.070, r = - 0.009, two-tailed p = 0.942) nor chimpanzees (t = - 0.495, r = - 0.0939, two-tailed p = 0.6205) had significant differences in grooming between or within sexes. Neither species had significant sex differences in centrality, strength, or clustering. To account for idiosyncratic factors affecting grooming distribution, we examined the effect of origin, kinship, and group tenure on social network position. We found that wild-born bonobos exhibited greater eigenvector centrality (t = - 2.592, df = 9, p = 0.29) and strength (t = - 2.401; df = 9, p = 0.040), and group tenure was significantly correlated with strength (r = 0.608; N = 11, p - 0 = 0.47). None of these factors varied with social network position in chimpanzees. Our findings suggest that in captive settings, idiosyncratic factors related to individual history play a greater role in structuring social networks. Such variation may point to the behavioral flexibility inherent in fission-fusion networks, and mirror between-site variation found in wild chimpanzees. However, some idiosyncratic factors shaping captive networks may be an artifact of captivity.

Doing No Harm and Getting It Right: Guidelines for Ethical Research with Immigrant Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hernández, María G.; Nguyen, Jacqueline; Casanova, Saskias; Suárez-Orozco, Carola; Saetermoe, Carrie L.

2013-01-01

This chapter provides a guide to research logistics and ethics in studying immigrant families. The authors outline major pragmatic issues in research design and data collection to which all scholars must attend, although current practices often do not respond to the idiosyncratic issues related to vulnerable immigrant populations (e.g.,…

Expressive Movement of High School Choral Musicians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rohwer, Debbie; Rohwer, Mark

2014-01-01

There is a need for a musical ensemble study that can describe the idiosyncratic, authentic movements that choral musicians make in a performance setting. In addition, it could benefit teachers to know whether those who score highest on a measure of expressive performance also tend to be strong performers. If this is the case, then the link…

The Influence of Learning Methods on Collaboration: Prior Repeated Retrieval Enhances Retrieval Organization, Abolishes Collaborative Inhibition, and Promotes Post-Collaborative Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congleton, Adam R.; Rajaram, Suparna

2011-01-01

Research on collaborative memory has unveiled the counterintuitive yet robust phenomenon that collaboration impairs group recall. A candidate explanation for this "collaborative inhibition" effect is the disruption of people's idiosyncratic retrieval strategies during collaboration, and it is hypothesized that employing methods that improve one's…

Attuning: A Communication Process between People with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disability and Their Interaction Partners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffiths, Colin; Smith, Martine

2016-01-01

Background: People with severe and profound intellectual disability typically demonstrate a limited ability to communicate effectively. Most of their communications are non-verbal, often idiosyncratic and ambiguous. This article aims to identify the process that regulates communications of this group of people with others and to describe the…

Allowing Idiosyncratic Learners to Thrive: Policy Implications of a Study of School-within-a-School Gifted Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Dona; Kitchen, Julian

2007-01-01

School-within-a-school programs are an alternative school choice that can provide differentiated learning opportunities for academically gifted students, but they are often politically contentious. In a recent study, we interviewed 530 students and teachers in gifted and regular streams in three publicly funded secondary schools with different…

How Far Dare an Evaluator Go Toward Saving the World?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stake, Bob

2004-01-01

This is a statement on advocacy, activism, confluence of interest, and uncertainty, perhaps with a surprise ending. No two professional evaluators are the same but many use similar methods. Still, each person will use a method in a somewhat idiosyncratic way. Especially in the interpretation of data, personality and experience have a play.…

Deep Time Framework: A Preliminary Study of U.K. Primary Teachers' Conceptions of Geological Time and Perceptions of Geoscience.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trend, Roger David

2001-01-01

Studies (n=51) inservice school teachers with regard to their orientations toward geoscience phenomena in general and deep time in particular. Aims to identify the nature of idiosyncratic conceptions of deep time and propose a curricular Deep Time Framework for teacher education. (Contains 29 references.) (Author/YDS)

The Treatment of Food Selectivity and Other Feeding Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matson, Johnny L.; Fodstad, Jill C.

2009-01-01

Food selectivity and other feeding problems are endemic in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Additionally, many of the challenging behaviors which fall into this category are idiosyncratic to ASD. A technology is beginning to emerge regarding methods to lessen and effectively treat these issues which, if unchecked, can result in poor…

Mapping a Space of Biography: Karl Triebold and the Waldschule of Senne I-Bielefeld (c.1923-1939)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thyssen, Geert

2012-01-01

Starting from a "life geography" of Karl Triebold, a leading figure in open-air education, this article provides an understanding of the seemingly ordinary but still idiosyncratic development of a German open-air school. Triebold's life's work, the fight against tuberculosis, conceived as character education through healthy occupation,…

Relieving Consumer Overindebtedness in South Africa: Policy Reviews and Recommendations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ssebagala, Ralph Abbey

2017-01-01

A large fraction of South African consumers are highly leveraged, inadequately insured, and/or own little to no assets of value, which increases their exposure not only to idiosyncratic risk but also to severe indebtedness and/or default. This scenario can present negative ramifications that lead well beyond the confines of individual households.…

The Location of Sales Offices and the Attraction of Cities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holmes, Thomas J.

2005-01-01

This paper examines how manufacturers locate sales offices across cities. Sales office costs are assumed to have four components: a fixed cost, a frictional cost for out-of-town sales, a cost-reducing knowledge spillover related to city size, and an idiosyncratic match quality for each firm-city pair. A simple theoretical model is developed and is…

Comprehension of Students with or without Learning Disabilities: Identification of Narrative Themes and Idiosyncratic Text Representations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Joanna P.

1993-01-01

Ten learning-disabled adolescents (LDs) performed a reading comprehension task below the level of same-age nondisabled students (NLDs) but at the same level as younger NLDs (YNDs). On a measure of incipient awareness of theme, LDs scored below YNDs. Why LDs have difficulty getting the point is discussed. (SLD)

Youth Violence in Central America: Discourses and Policies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peetz, Peter

2011-01-01

The article analyzes the social construction of youth violence in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and El Salvador on the one hand, and the related security policies of the three states, on the other. In each country, there is an idiosyncratic way of constructing youth violence and juvenile delinquency. Also, each country has its own manner of reaction to…

An Enquiry into the Professional Competence of Inclusive Education Teachers in Beijing: Attitudes, Knowledge, Skills, and Agency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mu, Guanglun Michael; Wang, Yan; Wang, Zhiqiang; Feng, Yajing; Deng, Meng; Liang, Songmei

2015-01-01

Attitudes, knowledge, and skills are widely recognised as the three pillars of professional competence of inclusive education teachers. Studies emerging from the Chinese context consider these three pillars important for the practice of Learning in Regular Classrooms--an idiosyncratic Chinese form of inclusive education. Our mixed methods study…

Rapid Learning of an Abstract Language-Specific Category: Polish Children's Acquisition of the Instrumental Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dabrowska, Ewa; Tomasello, Michael

2008-01-01

Rapid acquisition of linguistic categories or constructions is sometimes regarded as evidence of innate knowledge. In this paper, we examine Polish children's early understanding of an idiosyncratic, language-specific construction involving the instrumental case--which could not be due to innate knowledge. Thirty Polish-speaking children aged 2; 6…

Using the Experience Sampling Method in the Context of Contingency Management for Substance Abuse Treatment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Husky, Mathilde M.; Mazure, Carolyn M.; Carroll, Kathleen M.; Barry, Danielle; Petry, Nancy M.

2008-01-01

Contingency management (CM) treatments have been shown to be effective in reducing substance use. This manuscript illustrates how the experience sampling method (ESM) can depict behavior and behavior change and can be used to explore CM treatment mechanisms. ESM characterizes idiosyncratic patterns of behavior and offers the potential to determine…

77 FR 73294 - Requirements for Child-Resistant Packaging: Products Containing Imidazolines Equivalent to 0.08...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-10

... serious adverse reactions, such as central nervous system (CNS) depression, decreased heart rate, and... stability testing, which is intended to increase the rate at which the degradation reactions take place. The..., idiosyncratic reaction (i.e., a drug effect that occurs in a small number of people due to age, genetics, or...

Perceived Control and Hedonic Tone Dynamics during Performance in Elite Shooters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robazza, Claudio; Bertollo, Maurizio; Filho, Edson; Hanin, Yuri; Bortoli, Laura

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the individuals' dynamics of perceived control and hedonic tone over time, with respect to the 4 performance states as conceptualized within the multiaction plan (MAP) model. We expected to find idiosyncratic and differentiated trends over time in the scores of perceived control and hedonic…

Using Additional Analyses to Clarify the Functions of Problem Behavior: An Analysis of Two Cases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Payne, Steven W.; Dozier, Claudia L.; Neidert, Pamela L.; Jowett, Erica S.; Newquist, Matthew H.

2014-01-01

Functional analyses (FA) have proven useful for identifying contingencies that influence problem behavior. Research has shown that some problem behavior may only occur in specific contexts or be influenced by multiple or idiosyncratic variables. When these contexts or sources of influence are not assessed in an FA, further assessment may be…

Converging Higher Education Systems in a Global Setting: The Example of France and India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pilkington, Marc

2014-01-01

We present a comparative survey between the French and Indian higher education systems. In spite of their respective idiosyncratic features, we show that the two countries have both evolved comprehensively toward a knowledge-based society, in order to ensure the prosperity of their citizens. Secondly, we single out a threefold convergence between…

Passage Rating: Level 4 versus Level 5 Characteristics in the Russian Text Typology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Podoprigora, Serguei A.

2010-01-01

This article outlines the findings of typological differences between the Level 4 (L4) and Level 5 (L5) of the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) in the Russian passages, as explored through the comparative linguistic and content analysis of highly abstract and idiosyncratic philosophical, literary and colloquial perspectives on culture,…

Infantile Autism. A Clinical and Phenomenological-Anthropological Investigation Taking Language as the Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bosch, Gerhard

A clinical and phenomenological-anthropological investigation taking language as the guide, the study of infantile autism concentrates upon an analysis of the idiosyncratic language of autistic children and of what is revealed by the way they use it. Following the presentation of very detailed case histories of five of the autistic children…

Enhancing Access to and Quality of Basic Education through Head Teachers' Leadership Functions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oni, J. O.; Jegede, A. A.; Osisami, R. A.; Illo, C. O.; Lawal, R. O.; Fabinu, F. A.

2016-01-01

Basic education is the fundamental requirement for idiosyncratic and societal development. The individual child needs to have access to it and acquire it qualitatively. The sum total of all the knowledge attitude, skills and competences that the Nigerian child today acquires have been declared to be on the decline. Every stakeholder: teacher,…

Comparison of Native and Non-Native English Language Teachers' Evaluation of EFL Learners' Speaking Skills: Conflicting or Identical Rating Behaviour?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ekmekçi, Emrah

2016-01-01

Assessing speaking skills is regarded as a complex and hard process compared with the other language skills. Considering the idiosyncratic characteristics of EFL learners, oral proficiency assessment issue becomes even more important. Keeping this situation in mind, judgements and reliability of raters need to be consistent with each other. This…

A Few of My Favorite Things: Nothing Wrong with "Stuff"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenman, Jim

2007-01-01

This column is focused on a simple theme: the idiosyncratic furnishings, equipment, and stuff that the author would have in any center where young children are going to spend a good chunk of their childhood. Here, the author presents the "good stuff" he doesn't want to do without which can also promote success in school and life. Furthermore he…

Demographically idiosyncratic responses to climate change and rapid Pleistocene diversification of the walnut genus Juglans (Juglandaceae) revealed by whole-genome sequences

Treesearch

Wei-Ning Bai; Peng-Cheng Yan; Bo-Wen Zhang; Keith E. Woeste; Kui Lin; Da-Yong Zhang

2018-01-01

Whether species demography and diversification are driven primarily by extrinsic environmental changes such as climatic oscillations in the Quaternary or by intrinsic biological interactions like coevolution between antagonists is a matter of active debate. In fact, their relative importance can be assessed by tracking past population fluctuations over considerable...

The Pervasiveness of 1/f Scaling in Speech Reflects the Metastable Basis of Cognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kello, Christopher T.; Anderson, Gregory G.; Holden, John G.; Van Orden, Guy C.

2008-01-01

Human neural and behavioral activities have been reported to exhibit fractal dynamics known as "1/f noise," which is more aptly named "1/f scaling." Some argue that 1/f scaling is a general and pervasive property of the dynamical substrate from which cognitive functions are formed. Others argue that it is an idiosyncratic property of…

The Influences of Progression Type and Distortion on the Perception of Terminal Power Chords

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juchniewicz, Jay; Silverman, Michael J.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the tonal perception and restoration of thirds within power chords with the instruments and sounds idiosyncratic to the Western rock/pop genre. Four separate chord sequences were performed on electric guitar in four versions; as full chord and power chord versions as well as under both clean-tone and…

A Paradox or a Culture of Acceptance? The Idiosyncratic Workforce Delivering Health Education in Lower Secondary Government Schools in Western Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barwood, Donna; Penney, Dawn; Cunningham, Christine

2017-01-01

Internationally, research has repeatedly highlighted the marginal and apparently precarious position of Health and Physical Education (HPE) in schools. It has also consistently identified staffing as a key concern in relation to prospects for quality teaching and learning. This paper reports on mixed-methods research that has specifically…

"Writing It in English": Script Choices among Young Multilingual Muslims in the UK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosowsky, Andrey

2010-01-01

Much attention has been paid in the literature to matters of script choice vis-a-vis languages. This attention, however, has focused on script choice in a national and political context. By contrast, there has not been any significant attention paid to more local and idiosyncratic instances of script choice operating on an individual and community…

Social Theories of Learning: A Need for a New Paradigm in Mathematics Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jorgensen, Robyn

2014-01-01

This paper is theoretical in orientation and explores the limitations of the current field of mathematics education which has been dominated by social theories of learning. It is proposed that the field is approaching its limits for these theories and there is a need for shift that moves from the idiosyncratic possibilities of subjective meaning…

Idiosyncratic Presentation of Cemento-Osseous Dysplasia - An in Depth Analysis Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography.

PubMed

Chennoju, Sai Kiran; Pachigolla, Ramaswamy; Govada, Vanya Mahitha; Alapati, Satish; Balla, Smitha

2016-05-01

Bone dysplasias comprise of a condition where the normal bone is replaced with fibrous tissue. Periapical Cemento-Osseous Dysplasia (PCOD) is a benign fibro-osseous condition where bone tissue is supplanted with fibrous tissue and cementum-like material. This condition affects mostly mandibular anterior region and rarely occurs in the maxilla. PCOD is seen above 30 years of age and has slight female predilection. Generally the teeth related to such lesions appear to be vital and are usually asymptomatic. These lesions are mostly seen during routine radiographic examination whose presentation may vary from complete radiolucency to dense radiopacity. The advent of Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) has brought a massive change in the field of dentistry which has become an important tool for diagnosis. Hence we hereby present an unusual case of cemento-osseous dysplasia in an unfamiliar location with an atypical presentation. The shape of the pathology was completely idiosyncratic and different from an orthodox lesion of COD, as the lesion was observed to grow out of the palatal surface with a prominent palatal expansion. This case highlights the importance of CBCT in radiographic diagnosis and in evaluating the characteristics of such lesion, which present with high diagnostic dilemma.

Mechanisms of Adaptation and Progression in Idiosyncratic Drug Induced Liver Injury, Clinical Implications

PubMed Central

Dara, Lily; Liu, Zhang-Xu; Kaplowitz, Neil

2015-01-01

In the past decade our understanding of idiosyncratic drug induced liver injury (IDILI) and the contribution of genetic susceptibility and the adaptive immune system to the pathogenesis of this disease process has grown tremendously. One of the characteristics of IDILI is that it occurs rarely and only in a subset of individuals with a presumed susceptibility to the drug. Despite a clear association between single nucleotide polymorphisms in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes and certain drugs that cause IDILI, not all individuals with susceptible HLA genotypes develop clinically significant liver injury when exposed to drugs. The adaptation hypothesis has been put forth as an explanation for why only a small percentage of susceptible individuals develop overt IDILI and severe injury, while the majority with susceptible genotypes develop only mild abnormalities that resolve spontaneously upon continuation of the drug. This spontaneous resolution is referred to as clinical adaptation. Failure to adapt or defective adaptation leads to clinically significant liver injury. In this review we explore the immuno-tolerant microenvironment of the liver and the mechanisms of clinical adaptation in IDILI with a focus on the role of immune-tolerance and cellular adaptive responses. PMID:26484420

Idiosyncratic gesture use in atypical language development, and its interaction with speech rhythm, word juncture, syntax, pragmatics and discourse: a case study.

PubMed

Howard, Sara J; Perkins, Michael R; Sowden, Hannah

2012-10-01

Very little is known about the use of gesture by children with developmental language disorders (DLDs). This case study of 'Lucy', a child aged 4;10 with a DLD, expands on what is known and in particular focuses on a type of idiosyncratic "rhythmic gesture" (RG) not previously reported. A fine-grained qualitative analysis was carried out of video recordings of Lucy in conversation with the first author. This revealed that Lucy's RG was closely integrated in complex ways with her use of other gesture types, speech rhythm, word juncture, syntax, pragmatics, discourse, visual processing and processing demands generally. Indeed, the only satisfactory way to explain it was as a partial byproduct of such interactions. These findings support the theoretical accounts of gesture which see it as just one component of a multimodal, integrated signalling system (e.g. Goldin-Meadow, S. (2000). Beyond words: The importance of gesture to researchers and learners. Child Development, 71(1), 231-239), and emergentist accounts of communication impairment which regard compensatory adaptation as integral (e.g. Perkins, M. R. (2007). Pragmatic Impairment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.).

Beliefs about expectations moderate the influence of expectations on pain perception.

PubMed

Handley, Ian M; Fowler, Stephanie L; Rasinski, Heather M; Helfer, Suzanne G; Geers, Andrew L

2013-03-01

Expectations congruently influence, or bias, pain perception. Recent social psychological research reveals that individuals differ in the extent to which they believe in expectation biases and that individuals who believe in expectation biases may adjust for this bias in their perceptions and reactions. That is, idiosyncratic beliefs about expectations can moderate the influence of expectations on experience. Prior research has not examined whether idiosyncratic beliefs about expectations can alter the degree to which one's expectations influence pain perception. Using a laboratory pain stimulus, we examined the possibility that beliefs about expectation biases alter pain responses following both pain- and placebo-analgesic expectations. Participants' beliefs about expectation biases were measured. Next, participants were randomly assigned to receive either a pain expectation or a placebo-analgesia expectation prior to a cold-pressor task. After the task, participants rated their pain. Beliefs about expectation biases significantly influenced pain reports. Specifically, pain reports were more influenced by provided expectations the less participants believed in expectation biases (i.e., pain expectations resulted in more pain than analgesia expectations). Beliefs about the expectation bias are an important and under-examined predictor of pain and placebo analgesia.

Family members' unique perspectives of the family: examining their scope, size, and relations to individual adjustment.

PubMed

Jager, Justin; Bornstein, Marc H; Putnick, Diane L; Hendricks, Charlene

2012-06-01

Using the McMaster Family Assessment Device (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983) and incorporating the perspectives of adolescent, mother, and father, this study examined each family member's "unique perspective" or nonshared, idiosyncratic view of the family. We used a modified multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analysis that (a) isolated for each family member's 6 reports of family dysfunction the nonshared variance (a combination of variance idiosyncratic to the individual and measurement error) from variance shared by 1 or more family members and (b) extracted common variance across each family member's set of nonshared variances. The sample included 128 families from a U.S. East Coast metropolitan area. Each family member's unique perspective generalized across his or her different reports of family dysfunction and accounted for a sizable proportion of his or her own variance in reports of family dysfunction. In addition, after holding level of dysfunction constant across families and controlling for a family's shared variance (agreement regarding family dysfunction), each family member's unique perspective was associated with his or her own adjustment. Future applications and competing alternatives for what these "unique perspectives" reflect about the family are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Family Members' Unique Perspectives of the Family: Examining their Scope, Size, and Relations to Individual Adjustment

PubMed Central

Jager, Justin; Bornstein, Marc H.; Diane, L. Putnick; Hendricks, Charlene

2012-01-01

Using the Family Assessment Device (FAD; Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983) and incorporating the perspectives of adolescent, mother, and father, this study examined each family member's “unique perspective” or non-shared, idiosyncratic view of the family. To do so we used a modified multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analysis that (1) isolated for each family member's six reports of family dysfunction the non-shared variance (a combination of variance idiosyncratic to the individual and measurement error) from variance shared by one or more family members and (2) extracted common variance across each family member's set of non-shared variances. The sample included 128 families from a U.S. East Coast metropolitan area. Each family member's unique perspective generalized across his or her different reports of family dysfunction and accounted for a sizable proportion of his or her own variance in reports of family dysfunction. Additionally, after holding level of dysfunction constant across families and controlling for a family's shared variance (agreement regarding family dysfunction), each family member's unique perspective was associated with his or her own adjustment. Future applications and competing alternatives for what these “unique perspectives” reflect about the family are discussed. PMID:22545933

Is Memory Search Governed by Universal Principles or Idiosyncratic Strategies?

PubMed Central

Healey, M. Karl; Kahana, Michael J.

2013-01-01

Laboratory paradigms have provided an empirical foundation for much of psychological science. Some have argued, however, that such paradigms are highly susceptible to idiosyncratic strategies and that rather than reflecting fundamental cognitive principles, many findings are artifacts of averaging across participants who employ different strategies. We develop a set of techniques to rigorously test the extent to which average data are distorted by such strategy differences and apply these techniques to free recall data from the Penn Electrophysiology of Encoding and Retrieval Study (PEERS). Recall initiation showed evidence of subgroups: the majority of participants initiate recall from the last item in the list, but one subgroup show elevated initiation probabilities for items 2–4 back from the end of the list and another showed elevated probabilities for the beginning of the list. By contrast, serial position curves and temporal and semantic clustering functions were remarkably consistent, with almost every participant exhibiting a recognizable version of the average function, suggesting that these functions reflect fundamental principles of the memory system. The approach taken here can serve as a model for evaluating the extent to which other laboratory paradigms are influenced by individual differences in strategy use. PMID:23957279

Are there shared environmental influences on adolescent behavior? Evidence from a study of adoptive siblings.

PubMed

Buchanan, Jacob P; McGue, Matt; Keyes, Margaret; Iacono, William G

2009-09-01

The failure to identify specific non-shared environmental influences on behavior coupled with the belief that shared environmental factors contribute minimally to individual differences in behavior has led to the concern that major environmental determinants of behavior may be idiosyncratic, and therefore undetectable. We used data on adoptive (N = 246) and biologically related (N = 130) same-sex sibling pairs (mean ages = 16.1 years older sibling; 13.8 years younger sibling) from the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS) to determine whether non-idiosyncratic environmental factors shared by siblings contributed to individual differences in a diverse set of behavioral outcomes. Evidence for shared environmental influence was sought for eight composite measures covering a wide array of adolescent functioning: Academic Achievement, Total IQ, Substance Use Disorders, Externalizing Disorders, Internalizing Disorders, Peer Groups, Disinhibited Personality, and Negative Emotionality. For six of eight composites, significant shared environmental effects, accounting for 14-22% of the variance, were observed for these same-sex sibling pairs. These findings support the use of adoptive sibling designs to directly estimate shared environmental effects and implicate the existence of systematic environmental influences on behavior that are potentially detectable.

Changing the Lines in the Coloring Book

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-05-18

multitude of SCADA programmers creates a multitude of idiosyncratic programs, making it very difficult to know how to hack into large numbers of them...an observed pattern of hacking that would alert authorities seems not to have been discussed.) However, some SCADAs are not physically connected to the...normal hacking . Simultaneously, it would identify software vulnerabilities in other products and design viruses and worms for attacking them. (The

A Methodological Study Evaluating a Pretutorial Computer-Compiled Instructional Program in High School Physics Instruction Initiated from Student-Teacher Selected Instructional Objectives. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, B. Charles; Denton, Jon J.

A study sought to develop and evaluate an instructional model which utilized the computer to produce individually prescribed instructional guides to account for the idiosyncratic variations among students in physics classes at the secondary school level. The students in the treatment groups were oriented toward the practices of selecting…

Ecological and life-history traits explain recent boundary shifts in elevation and latitude of western North American songbirds

Treesearch

Sonya K. Auer; David I. King

2014-01-01

Species are expected to move uphill or poleward in response to climate change, yet their distributions show idiosyncratic responses; many species are moving in the predicted direction, but others are not shifting at all or are shifting downhill or towards the equator. Fundamental questions remain about the causes of interspecific variation in range responses and...

Can You Know Me Better? An Exploratory Study Combining Behavioural and Physiological Measurements for an Objective Assessment of Sensory Responsiveness in a Child with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lima, Mariely; Silva, Karine; Magalhaes, Ana; Amaral, Isabel; Pestana, Helena; de Sousa, Liliana

2012-01-01

Background: Sensory assessment of individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) can be difficult for several reasons, including the idiosyncratic reactions that these individuals exhibit to environmental stimuli. This case report presents a combination of behavioural and physiological measurements aimed at providing an…

Topiramate-induced somnambulism in a migraineur: a probable idiosyncratic adverse effect.

PubMed

Mathew, Thomas; Sarma, G R K; Nadig, Raghunandan; Varghese, Raji

2012-04-15

Somnambulism (sleepwalking) is a disorder of arousal that falls under "parasomnia" group and is more common in children. These phenomena occur as primary sleep events or secondary to systemic disease or can be drug induced. Medications that can cause sleepwalking include neuroleptics, hypnotics, lithium, amitriptyline, and β-blockers. This report presents an unusual adverse effect of topiramate on sleep in a patient with migraine.

The Psychometric Properties of the Socio-Moral Reflection Measure-Short Form and the Moral Theme Inventory for Men with and without Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langdon, Peter E.; Murphy, Glynis H.; Clare, Isabel C. H.; Palmer, Emma J.

2010-01-01

Drawing conclusions from the literature regarding the moral development of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) is difficult because of the use of unstandardised and idiosyncratic measures. In order to address this short-coming, a moral reasoning production measure (the Socio-Moral Reflection Measure-Short Form; SRM-SF) and a recognition…

Proverb interpretation in schizophrenia: the significance of symptomatology and cognitive processes.

PubMed

Sponheim, Scott R; Surerus-Johnson, Christa; Leskela, Jennie; Dieperink, Michael E

2003-12-15

Although clinicians have patients interpret proverbs in mental status exams for psychosis, there are few empirical studies investigating the significance of proverb interpretation. In schizophrenia patients, we found abstraction positively correlated with overall intelligence but no symptom measures, concreteness negatively correlated with overall intelligence, executive functioning, attention, and memory, and bizarre-idiosyncratic responses associated with positive formal thought disorder but no cognitive functions.

Reward versus Reinforcement Possibilities of the Merit Pay System.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-01-14

highly idiosyncratic manner, so that a given figure may represent a sufficient wage or bonus for person A and an insufficient wage or bonus for...properties of reinforcers may be stable over certain employee characteristics or job variables. What are these defining charateristics ? Past research...has shown that if members of a group of workers differ on social class or race (Quinn, Staines & McCullough, 1974), educational level (Campbell

Scientific coats of arms.

PubMed

Fara, Patricia

2005-09-01

With their mythical creatures and arcane symbolism, coats of arms seem to have little connection with modern science. Yet despite its chivalric origins, the ancient language of heraldry has long fascinated famous scientists. Although this idiosyncratic tradition was parodied by Victorian geologists, who laughingly replaced unicorns and griffins with images of dinosaurs that they had recently discovered, it has been perpetuated since by Ernest Rutherford, who liked to present himself as a new alchemist.

Pragmatic and Idiosyncratic Acts in Human Everyday Routines: The Counterpart of Compulsive Rituals

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-25

Mort3, and David Eilam1 1Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv 69978, Israel 2Departments of Psychology and Anthropology, Washington...Introduction Repetitive actions are prevalent in normal and abnormal behavior [7]. In normal behavior, repetitive performance takes the form of...unconscious as repository of chronic goals and motives, in: Gollwitzer PM, Bargh JA, Editors. The psychology of action: Linking cognition and

Gross domestic product growth rates as confined Lévy flights: Towards a unifying theory of economic growth rate fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lera, Sandro Claudio; Sornette, Didier

2018-01-01

A model that combines economic growth rate fluctuations at the microscopic and macroscopic levels is presented. At the microscopic level, firms are growing at different rates while also being exposed to idiosyncratic shocks at the firm and sector levels. We describe such fluctuations as independent Lévy-stable fluctuations, varying over multiple orders of magnitude. These fluctuations are aggregated and measured at the macroscopic level in averaged economic output quantities such as GDP. A fundamental question is thereby to what extent individual firm size fluctuations can have a noticeable impact on the overall economy. We argue that this question can be answered by considering the Lévy fluctuations as embedded in a steep confining potential well, ensuring nonlinear mean-reversal behavior, without having to rely on microscopic details of the system. The steepness of the potential well directly controls the extent to which idiosyncratic shocks to firms and sectors are damped at the level of the economy. Additionally, the theory naturally accounts for business cycles, represented in terms of a bimodal economic output distribution and thus connects two so far unrelated fields in economics. By analyzing 200 years of U.S. gross domestic product growth rates, we find that the model is in good agreement with the data.

Gross domestic product growth rates as confined Lévy flights: Towards a unifying theory of economic growth rate fluctuations.

PubMed

Lera, Sandro Claudio; Sornette, Didier

2018-01-01

A model that combines economic growth rate fluctuations at the microscopic and macroscopic levels is presented. At the microscopic level, firms are growing at different rates while also being exposed to idiosyncratic shocks at the firm and sector levels. We describe such fluctuations as independent Lévy-stable fluctuations, varying over multiple orders of magnitude. These fluctuations are aggregated and measured at the macroscopic level in averaged economic output quantities such as GDP. A fundamental question is thereby to what extent individual firm size fluctuations can have a noticeable impact on the overall economy. We argue that this question can be answered by considering the Lévy fluctuations as embedded in a steep confining potential well, ensuring nonlinear mean-reversal behavior, without having to rely on microscopic details of the system. The steepness of the potential well directly controls the extent to which idiosyncratic shocks to firms and sectors are damped at the level of the economy. Additionally, the theory naturally accounts for business cycles, represented in terms of a bimodal economic output distribution and thus connects two so far unrelated fields in economics. By analyzing 200 years of U.S. gross domestic product growth rates, we find that the model is in good agreement with the data.

Atrophying pityriasis versicolor as an idiosyncratic T cell-mediated response to Malassezia: A case series.

PubMed

Levy, Jonathan Michael Stephen; Magro, Cynthia

2017-04-01

Atrophying pityriasis versicolor (PV), first described in 1971, is a rare variant in which lesions appear atrophic. We sought to determine the pathophysiology of atrophying PV. A retrospective chart review identified 6 cases of atrophying PV. In all cases, routine light microscopy, an elastic tissue stain, and immunohistochemical assessment for the expression of CD3, CD4, CD8, GATA3 and CXCR3 was performed. All cases demonstrated hyperkeratosis with intracorneal infiltration by pathogenic hyphal forms as well as epidermal attenuation and papillary dermal elastolysis. A supervening, mild-to-moderate, superficial lymphocytic infiltrate was noted and characterized by a focal CD8 + T cell-mediated interface dermatitis along with a mixed T-cell infiltrate composed of GATA3 + and CXCR3 + T cells. Small sample size and the loss of some patients to follow-up. Atrophying PV represents the sequelae of a mixed helper T-cell (T H 1 and T H 2) idiosyncratic immune response to Malassezia and can present as a protracted dermatosis that may clinically mimic an atypical lymphocytic infiltrate. T H 1 cytokines can recruit histiocytes, a source of elastases, and upregulate matrix metalloproteinase activity, which may contribute to epidermal atrophy. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Non-chemotherapy drug-induced neutropenia - an update.

PubMed

Andrès, Emmanuel; Mourot-Cottet, Rachel

2017-11-01

To date, non-chemotherapy drug-induced severe neutropenia (neutrophil count of ≤0.5 x 10 9 /L) also called idiosyncratic drug-induced agranulocytosis is little discussed in the literature. In the present paper, we report and discuss the clinical data and management of this rare disorder. Areas covered: To do this, we carried out a review of the literature using PubMed database of the US National Library of Medicine. We also used data from the American Society of Hematology educational books, textbooks of Hematology and Internal medicine, and information gleaned from international meetings. Expert opinion: Idiosyncratic agranulocytosis remains a potentially serious adverse event due to the frequency of severe sepsis with severe deep tissue infections (e.g., pneumonia), septicemia, and septic shock in approximately two-thirds of all hospitalized patients. In this context, several prognostic factors have been identified that may be helpful when identifying 'susceptible' patients. Old age (>65 years), septicemia or shock, renal failure, and a neutrophil count ≤0.1 × 10 9 /L have been consensually accepted as poor prognostic factors. In our experience, modern management with pre-established procedures, intravenous broad-spectrum antibiotics and hematopoietic growth factors (particularly G-CSF) is likely to improve the prognosis. Thus with appropriate management, the mortality rate is currently between 5 to 10%.

Idiosyncratic Presentation of Cemento-Osseous Dysplasia – An in Depth Analysis Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

PubMed Central

Pachigolla, Ramaswamy; Govada, Vanya Mahitha; Alapati, Satish; Balla, Smitha

2016-01-01

Bone dysplasias comprise of a condition where the normal bone is replaced with fibrous tissue. Periapical Cemento-Osseous Dysplasia (PCOD) is a benign fibro-osseous condition where bone tissue is supplanted with fibrous tissue and cementum-like material. This condition affects mostly mandibular anterior region and rarely occurs in the maxilla. PCOD is seen above 30 years of age and has slight female predilection. Generally the teeth related to such lesions appear to be vital and are usually asymptomatic. These lesions are mostly seen during routine radiographic examination whose presentation may vary from complete radiolucency to dense radiopacity. The advent of Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) has brought a massive change in the field of dentistry which has become an important tool for diagnosis. Hence we hereby present an unusual case of cemento-osseous dysplasia in an unfamiliar location with an atypical presentation. The shape of the pathology was completely idiosyncratic and different from an orthodox lesion of COD, as the lesion was observed to grow out of the palatal surface with a prominent palatal expansion. This case highlights the importance of CBCT in radiographic diagnosis and in evaluating the characteristics of such lesion, which present with high diagnostic dilemma. PMID:27437374

Preventing Drug-Induced Liver Injury: How Useful Are Animal Models?

PubMed

Ballet, François

2015-01-01

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the most common organ toxicity encountered in regulatory animal toxicology studies required prior to the clinical development of new drug candidates. Very few reports have evaluated the value of these studies for predicting DILI in humans. Indeed, compounds inducing liver toxicity in regulatory toxicology studies are not always correlated with a risk of DILI in humans. Conversely, compounds associated with the occurrence of DILI in phase 3 studies or after market release are often tested negative in regulatory toxicology studies. Idiosyncratic DILI is a rare event that is precipitated in an individual by the simultaneous occurrence of several critical factors. These factors may relate to the host (e.g. human leukocyte antigen polymorphism, inflammation), the drug (e.g. reactive metabolites) or the environment (e.g. diet/microbiota). This type of toxicity therefore cannot be detected in conventional animal toxicology studies. Several animal models have recently been proposed for the identification of drugs with the potential to cause idiosyncratic DILI: rats treated with lipopolysaccharide, Sod2(+/-) mice, panels of inbred mouse strains or chimeric mice with humanized livers. These models are not suitable for use in the prospective screening of new drug candidates. Humans therefore constitute the best model for predicting and assessing idiopathic DILI. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Auditory Multi-Stability: Idiosyncratic Perceptual Switching Patterns, Executive Functions and Personality Traits

PubMed Central

Farkas, Dávid; Denham, Susan L.; Bendixen, Alexandra; Tóth, Dénes; Kondo, Hirohito M.; Winkler, István

2016-01-01

Multi-stability refers to the phenomenon of perception stochastically switching between possible interpretations of an unchanging stimulus. Despite considerable variability, individuals show stable idiosyncratic patterns of switching between alternative perceptions in the auditory streaming paradigm. We explored correlates of the individual switching patterns with executive functions, personality traits, and creativity. The main dimensions on which individual switching patterns differed from each other were identified using multidimensional scaling. Individuals with high scores on the dimension explaining the largest portion of the inter-individual variance switched more often between the alternative perceptions than those with low scores. They also perceived the most unusual interpretation more often, and experienced all perceptual alternatives with a shorter delay from stimulus onset. The ego-resiliency personality trait, which reflects a tendency for adaptive flexibility and experience seeking, was significantly positively related to this dimension. Taking these results together we suggest that this dimension may reflect the individual’s tendency for exploring the auditory environment. Executive functions were significantly related to some of the variables describing global properties of the switching patterns, such as the average number of switches. Thus individual patterns of perceptual switching in the auditory streaming paradigm are related to some personality traits and executive functions. PMID:27135945

Person-specific theory of mind in medial pFC.

PubMed

Welborn, B Locke; Lieberman, Matthew D

2015-01-01

Although research on theory of mind has strongly implicated the dorsomedial pFC (incuding medial BA 8 and BA 9), the unique contributions of medial pFC (MPFC; corresponding to medial BA 10) to mentalizing remain uncertain. The extant literature has considered the possibility that these regions may be specialized for self-related cognition or for reasoning about close others, but evidence for both accounts has been inconclusive. We propose a novel theoretical framework: MPFC selectively implements "person-specific theories of mind" (ToMp) representing the unique, idiosyncratic traits or attributes of well-known individuals. To test this hypothesis, we used fMRI to assess MPFC responses in Democratic and Republican participants as they evaluated more or less subjectively well-known political figures. Consistent with the ToMp account, MPFC showed greater activity to subjectively well-known targets, irrespective of participants' reported feelings of closeness or similarity. MPFC also demonstrated greater activity on trials in which targets (whether politicians or oneself) were judged to be relatively idiosyncratic, making a generic theory of mind inapplicable. These results suggest that MPFC may supplement the generic theory of mind process, with which dorsomedial pFC has been associated, by contributing mentalizing capacities tuned to individuated representations of specific well-known others.

Universal and idiosyncratic characteristic lengths in bacterial genomes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Junier, Ivan; Frémont, Paul; Rivoire, Olivier

2018-05-01

In condensed matter physics, simplified descriptions are obtained by coarse-graining the features of a system at a certain characteristic length, defined as the typical length beyond which some properties are no longer correlated. From a physics standpoint, in vitro DNA has thus a characteristic length of 300 base pairs (bp), the Kuhn length of the molecule beyond which correlations in its orientations are typically lost. From a biology standpoint, in vivo DNA has a characteristic length of 1000 bp, the typical length of genes. Since bacteria live in very different physico-chemical conditions and since their genomes lack translational invariance, whether larger, universal characteristic lengths exist is a non-trivial question. Here, we examine this problem by leveraging the large number of fully sequenced genomes available in public databases. By analyzing GC content correlations and the evolutionary conservation of gene contexts (synteny) in hundreds of bacterial chromosomes, we conclude that a fundamental characteristic length around 10–20 kb can be defined. This characteristic length reflects elementary structures involved in the coordination of gene expression, which are present all along the genome of nearly all bacteria. Technically, reaching this conclusion required us to implement methods that are insensitive to the presence of large idiosyncratic genomic features, which may co-exist along these fundamental universal structures.

Augmentation of Psychotherapy through Alternative Preconscious Priming: A Case Series Exploring Effects on Residual Symptoms

PubMed Central

Zidani, Melha; Audet, Jean-Sébastien; Borgeat, François; Aardema, Frederick; O’Connor, Kieron Philip; Khazaal, Yasser

2017-01-01

The current paper describes a case series using a new strategy for facilitating change based on Augmentation of Psychotherapy through Alternative Preconscious Priming (APAP) (1) in the treatment of eight treatment-resistant patients suffering from social phobia or generalized anxiety disorder. The patients had previously only shown a partial response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) despite good treatment adherence. The patients completed APAP using a computerized program, which consisted of three steps during which alternative, more functional thoughts and beliefs relevant to the idiosyncratic difficulties experienced by the patients were formulated. Subsequently, these formulations were recorded and mixed with masking relaxing music, which the patient listened to in a passive state twice daily for 20 min for a period of 8 weeks. This case series aimed to assess the effect and acceptability of APAP using quantitative and qualitative measures administered before, after, and 16 weeks’ posttreatment. Results showed a reduction in dysfunctional idiosyncratic thoughts reported by most patients, as well as mild improvements in anxiety and important improvements in quality of life. APAP could be a valuable addition to CBT by facilitating or enhancing cognitive and symptom change. Further studies are needed to confirm these promising results. PMID:28197107

Smiles in face matching: Idiosyncratic information revealed through a smile improves unfamiliar face matching performance.

PubMed

Mileva, Mila; Burton, A Mike

2018-06-19

Unfamiliar face matching is a surprisingly difficult task, yet we often rely on people's matching decisions in applied settings (e.g., border control). Most attempts to improve accuracy (including training and image manipulation) have had very limited success. In a series of studies, we demonstrate that using smiling rather than neutral pairs of images brings about significant improvements in face matching accuracy. This is true for both match and mismatch trials, implying that the information provided through a smile helps us detect images of the same identity as well as distinguishing between images of different identities. Study 1 compares matching performance when images in the face pair display either an open-mouth smile or a neutral expression. In Study 2, we add an intermediate level, closed-mouth smile, to identify the effect of teeth being exposed, and Study 3 explores face matching accuracy when only information about the lower part of the face is available. Results demonstrate that an open-mouth smile changes the face in an idiosyncratic way which aids face matching decisions. Such findings have practical implications for matching in the applied context where we typically use neutral images to represent ourselves in official documents. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Regulation of Glutathione in a Rat Diploid Hepatic Epithelial Cell Line

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

supporting the contention that they are not pre-neoplastic (60). Metabolic cooperation by gap- junctional intercellular communication has been demonstrated...counted. The resulting population statistics allowed calculation and display of cycle-specific cell characteristics and compartment transit times (see...was repeated in chinese hamster V79 cells to see if the effect is idiosyncratic. It is not - V79 cells respond to CYC in the same fashion as WB344(s) if

Food Consumption, Restraint, and Stress

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-09-05

obese individual’s idiosyncratic eating response. The dependent measure was the number of cashews eaten during a "thinking task" in which the...subject viewed several objects (including the nuts ) and were asked to think about and feel free to touch, feel, or doodle with the toys, or eat the... cashews . As predicted by the authors, obese subjects’ eating increased significantly in the anxious condition, and normal weight subjects’ eating was

Battle-Wise: Seeking Time-Information Superiority in Networked Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-01

idiosyncratic and thus not repeatable—each person’s perceptions , experiences, and thought processes are different. This makes it difficult to rely on... perception management’ is central to the conduct of its war with the West.”26 It does not require dedicated information-network infrastructure or expensive...to leave a house after several failed attempts to fight flare-ups in the first floor kitchen. The chief attributed his decision to extrasensory

Memory Reactivation Predicts Resistance to Retroactive Interference: Evidence from Multivariate Classification and Pattern Similarity Analyses

PubMed Central

Rugg, Michael D.

2016-01-01

Memory reactivation—the reinstatement of processes and representations engaged when an event is initially experienced—is believed to play an important role in strengthening and updating episodic memory. The present study examines how memory reactivation during a potentially interfering event influences memory for a previously experienced event. Participants underwent fMRI during the encoding phase of an AB/AC interference task in which some words were presented twice in association with two different encoding tasks (AB and AC trials) and other words were presented once (DE trials). The later memory test required retrieval of the encoding tasks associated with each of the study words. Retroactive interference was evident for the AB encoding task and was particularly strong when the AC encoding task was remembered rather than forgotten. We used multivariate classification and pattern similarity analysis (PSA) to measure reactivation of the AB encoding task during AC trials. The results demonstrated that reactivation of generic task information measured with multivariate classification predicted subsequent memory for the AB encoding task regardless of whether interference was strong and weak (trials for which the AC encoding task was remembered or forgotten, respectively). In contrast, reactivation of neural patterns idiosyncratic to a given AB trial measured with PSA only predicted memory when the strength of interference was low. These results suggest that reactivation of features of an initial experience shared across numerous events in the same category, but not features idiosyncratic to a particular event, are important in resisting retroactive interference caused by new learning. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Reactivating a previously encoded memory is believed to provide an opportunity to strengthen the memory, but also to return the memory to a labile state, making it susceptible to interference. However, there is debate as to how memory reactivation elicited by a potentially interfering event influences subsequent retrieval of the memory. The findings of the current study indicate that reactivating features idiosyncratic to a particular experience during interference only influences subsequent memory when interference is relatively weak. Critically, reactivation of generic contextual information predicts subsequent source memory when retroactive interference is either strong and weak. The results indicate that reactivation of generic information about a prior episode mitigates forgetting due to retroactive interference. PMID:27076433

An Analysis: U.S. Participation in the OECD Committee on Scientific and Technological Policy (CSTP),

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-11-01

differences between business and labor on many issues relating to transfer of technology, both parties recognize the importance of continuing...Small Business Administration, which maintains an Office of Advocacy, headed by a chief counsel for advocacy. That office issued a report on Small...factors may have colored the U.S. relationship to the study. One is somewhat idiosyncratic and concerns the way in which small business issues are framed

A tale of two textbooks: Experiments in genre.

PubMed

Kaiser, David

2012-03-01

Though the notion of a scientific textbook has been around for almost three centuries, the category has hardly been stable. The plasticity of the textbook genre may be illustrated by recent variations as well as long-term trends. In this brief essay I examine two idiosyncratic but highly successful physics books, each published in the mid 1970s, whose production, marketing, and adoption reveal some of the slippage between such categories as textbook, scholarly monograph, and popular best seller.

The mitochondrial genome sequence of Enterobius vermicularis (Nematoda: Oxyurida)--an idiosyncratic gene order and phylogenetic information for chromadorean nematodes.

PubMed

Kang, Seokha; Sultana, Tahera; Eom, Keeseon S; Park, Yung Chul; Soonthornpong, Nathan; Nadler, Steven A; Park, Joong-Ki

2009-01-15

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence was determined for the human pinworm Enterobius vermicularis (Oxyurida: Nematoda) and used to infer its phylogenetic relationship to other major groups of chromadorean nematodes. The E. vermicularis genome is a 14,010-bp circular DNA molecule that encodes 36 genes (12 proteins, 22 tRNAs, and 2 rRNAs). This mtDNA genome lacks atp8, as reported for almost all other nematode species investigated. Phylogenetic analyses (maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, neighbor joining, and Bayesian inference) of nucleotide sequences for the 12 protein-coding genes of 25 nematode species placed E. vermicularis, a representative of the order Oxyurida, as sister to the main Ascaridida+Rhabditida group. Tree topology comparisons using statistical tests rejected an alternative hypothesis favoring a closer relationship among Ascaridida, Spirurida, and Oxyurida, which has been supported from most studies based on nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences. Unlike the relatively conserved gene arrangement found for most chromadorean taxa, E. vermicularis mtDNA gene order is very unique, not sharing similarity to any other nematode species reported to date. This lack of gene order similarity may represent idiosyncratic gene rearrangements unique to this specific lineage of the oxyurids. To more fully understand the extent of gene rearrangement and its evolutionary significance within the nematode phylogenetic framework, additional mitochondrial genomes representing a greater evolutionary diversity of species must be characterized.

Coexposure of mice to trovafloxacin and lipopolysaccharide, a model of idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity, results in a unique gene expression profile and interferon gamma-dependent liver injury.

PubMed

Shaw, Patrick J; Ditewig, Amy C; Waring, Jeffrey F; Liguori, Michael J; Blomme, Eric A; Ganey, Patricia E; Roth, Robert A

2009-01-01

The antibiotic trovafloxacin (TVX) has caused severe idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity in people, whereas levofloxacin (LVX) has not. Mice cotreated with TVX and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), but not with LVX and LPS, develop severe hepatocellular necrosis. Mice were treated with TVX and/or LPS, and hepatic gene expression changes were measured before liver injury using gene array. Hepatic gene expression profiles from mice treated with TVX/LPS clustered differently from those treated with LPS or TVX alone. Several of the probe sets expressed differently in TVX/LPS-treated mice were involved in interferon (IFN) signaling and the janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway. A time course of plasma concentrations of IFN-gamma and interleukin (IL)-18, which directly induces IFN-gamma production, revealed that both cytokines were selectively increased in TVX/LPS-treated mice. Both IL-18(-/-) and IFN-gamma(-/-) mice were significantly protected from TVX/LPS-induced liver injury. In addition, IFN-gamma(-/-) mice had decreased plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-18, and IL-1beta when compared to wild-type mice. In conclusion, the altered expression of genes involved in IFN signaling in TVX/LPS-treated mice led to the finding that IL-18 and IFN-gamma play a critical role in TVX/LPS-induced liver injury.

Minimizing DILI risk in drug discovery - A screening tool for drug candidates.

PubMed

Schadt, S; Simon, S; Kustermann, S; Boess, F; McGinnis, C; Brink, A; Lieven, R; Fowler, S; Youdim, K; Ullah, M; Marschmann, M; Zihlmann, C; Siegrist, Y M; Cascais, A C; Di Lenarda, E; Durr, E; Schaub, N; Ang, X; Starke, V; Singer, T; Alvarez-Sanchez, R; Roth, A B; Schuler, F; Funk, C

2015-12-25

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a leading cause of acute hepatic failure and a major reason for market withdrawal of drugs. Idiosyncratic DILI is multifactorial, with unclear dose-dependency and poor predictability since the underlying patient-related susceptibilities are not sufficiently understood. Because of these limitations, a pharmaceutical research option would be to reduce the compound-related risk factors in the drug-discovery process. Here we describe the development and validation of a methodology for the assessment of DILI risk of drug candidates. As a training set, 81 marketed or withdrawn compounds with differing DILI rates - according to the FDA categorization - were tested in a combination of assays covering different mechanisms and endpoints contributing to human DILI. These include the generation of reactive metabolites (CYP3A4 time-dependent inhibition and glutathione adduct formation), inhibition of the human bile salt export pump (BSEP), mitochondrial toxicity and cytotoxicity (fibroblasts and human hepatocytes). Different approaches for dose- and exposure-based calibrations were assessed and the same parameters applied to a test set of 39 different compounds. We achieved a similar performance to the training set with an overall accuracy of 79% correctly predicted, a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 82%. This test system may be applied in a prospective manner to reduce the risk of idiosyncratic DILI of drug candidates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neural responses to nostalgia-evoking music modeled by elements of dynamic musical structure and individual differences in affective traits.

PubMed

Barrett, Frederick S; Janata, Petr

2016-10-01

Nostalgia is an emotion that is most commonly associated with personally and socially relevant memories. It is primarily positive in valence and is readily evoked by music. It is also an idiosyncratic experience that varies between individuals based on affective traits. We identified frontal, limbic, paralimbic, and midbrain brain regions in which the strength of the relationship between ratings of nostalgia evoked by music and blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal was predicted by affective personality measures (nostalgia proneness and the sadness scale of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales) that are known to modulate the strength of nostalgic experiences. We also identified brain areas including the inferior frontal gyrus, substantia nigra, cerebellum, and insula in which time-varying BOLD activity correlated more strongly with the time-varying tonal structure of nostalgia-evoking music than with music that evoked no or little nostalgia. These findings illustrate one way in which the reward and emotion regulation networks of the brain are recruited during the experiencing of complex emotional experiences triggered by music. These findings also highlight the importance of considering individual differences when examining the neural responses to strong and idiosyncratic emotional experiences. Finally, these findings provide a further demonstration of the use of time-varying stimulus-specific information in the investigation of music-evoked experiences. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reconstructing spectral cues for sound localization from responses to rippled noise stimuli.

PubMed

Van Opstal, A John; Vliegen, Joyce; Van Esch, Thamar

2017-01-01

Human sound localization in the mid-saggital plane (elevation) relies on an analysis of the idiosyncratic spectral shape cues provided by the head and pinnae. However, because the actual free-field stimulus spectrum is a-priori unknown to the auditory system, the problem of extracting the elevation angle from the sensory spectrum is ill-posed. Here we test different spectral localization models by eliciting head movements toward broad-band noise stimuli with randomly shaped, rippled amplitude spectra emanating from a speaker at a fixed location, while varying the ripple bandwidth between 1.5 and 5.0 cycles/octave. Six listeners participated in the experiments. From the distributions of localization responses toward the individual stimuli, we estimated the listeners' spectral-shape cues underlying their elevation percepts, by applying maximum-likelihood estimation. The reconstructed spectral cues resulted to be invariant to the considerable variation in ripple bandwidth, and for each listener they had a remarkable resemblance to the idiosyncratic head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). These results are not in line with models that rely on the detection of a single peak or notch in the amplitude spectrum, nor with a local analysis of first- and second-order spectral derivatives. Instead, our data support a model in which the auditory system performs a cross-correlation between the sensory input at the eardrum-auditory nerve, and stored representations of HRTF spectral shapes, to extract the perceived elevation angle.

Epigenetic differences between monozygotic twins discordant for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) provide clues to disease pathogenesis.

PubMed

Young, Paul E; Kum Jew, Stephen; Buckland, Michael E; Pamphlett, Roger; Suter, Catherine M

2017-01-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating late-onset neurodegenerative disorder in which only a small proportion of patients carry an identifiable causative genetic lesion. Despite high heritability estimates, a genetic etiology for most sporadic ALS remains elusive. Here we report the epigenetic profiling of five monozygotic twin pairs discordant for ALS, four with classic ALS and one with the progressive muscular atrophy ALS variant, in whom previous whole genome sequencing failed to uncover a genetic basis for their disease discordance. By studying cytosine methylation patterns in peripheral blood DNA we identified thousands of large between-twin differences at individual CpGs. While the specific sites of differences were mostly idiosyncratic to a twin pair, a proportion involving GABA signalling were common to all ALS individuals. For both idiosyncratic and common sites the differences occurred within genes and pathways related to neurobiological functions or dysfunctions, some of particular relevance to ALS such as glutamate metabolism and the Golgi apparatus. All four classic ALS patients were epigenetically older than their unaffected co-twins, suggesting accelerated aging in multiple tissues in this disease. In conclusion, widespread changes in methylation patterns were found in ALS-affected co-twins, consistent with an epigenetic contribution to disease. These DNA methylation findings could be used to develop blood-based ALS biomarkers, gain insights into disease pathogenesis, and provide a reference for future large-scale ALS epigenetic studies.

Drug-induced idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity: prevention strategy developed after the troglitazone case.

PubMed

Ikeda, Toshihiko

2011-01-01

Troglitazone induced an idiosyncratic, hepatocellular injury-type hepatotoxicity in humans. Statistically, double null genotype of glutathione S-transferase isoforms, GSTT1 and GSTM1, was a risk factor, indicating a low activity of the susceptible patients in scavenging chemically reactive metabolites. CYP3A4 and CYP2C8 were involved in the metabolic activation and CYP3A4 was inducible by repeated administrations of troglitazone. The genotype analysis, however, indicated that the metabolic idiosyncrasy resides in the degradation of but not in the production of the toxic metabolites of troglitazone. Antibody against hepatic aldolase B was detected in the case patients, suggesting involvement of immune reaction in the toxic mechanism. Troglitazone induced apoptotic cell death in human hepatocytes at a high concentration, and this property may have served as the immunological danger signal, which is thought to play an important role in activating immune reactions. Hypothesis is proposed in analogy to the virus-induced hepatitis. After the troglitazone-case, pharmaceutical companies implemented screening systems for chemically reactive metabolites at early stage of drug development, taking both the amount of covalent binding to the proteins in vitro and the assumed clinical dose level into consideration. At the post-marketing stage, gene analyses of the case patients, if any, to find pharmacogenetic biomarkers could be a powerful tool for contraindicating to the risky patients.

Idiosyncratic Adverse Drug Reactions: Current Concepts

PubMed Central

Naisbitt, Dean J.

2013-01-01

Idiosyncratic drug reactions are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality for patients; they also markedly increase the uncertainty of drug development. The major targets are skin, liver, and bone marrow. Clinical characteristics suggest that IDRs are immune mediated, and there is substantive evidence that most, but not all, IDRs are caused by chemically reactive species. However, rigorous mechanistic studies are very difficult to perform, especially in the absence of valid animal models. Models to explain how drugs or reactive metabolites interact with the MHC/T-cell receptor complex include the hapten and P-I models, and most recently it was found that abacavir can interact reversibly with MHC to alter the endogenous peptides that are presented to T cells. The discovery of HLA molecules as important risk factors for some IDRs has also significantly contributed to our understanding of these adverse reactions, but it is not yet clear what fraction of IDRs have a strong HLA dependence. In addition, with the exception of abacavir, most patients who have the HLA that confers a higher IDR risk with a specific drug will not have an IDR when treated with that drug. Interindividual differences in T-cell receptors and other factors also presumably play a role in determining which patients will have an IDR. The immune response represents a delicate balance, and immune tolerance may be the dominant response to a drug that can cause IDRs. PMID:23476052

Risk Factors in Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome

PubMed Central

Gupta, Vinay; Magon, Rakesh; Mishra, B.P.; Sidhu, G.B.S.; Mahajan, Ranjiv

2003-01-01

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is an uncommon but potentially serious idiosyncratic response to neuroleptic antipsychotics. It usually affects young males, but the risk has been seen to increase with certain factors including the administration practices of antipsychotic neuroleptics in these individuals. Even though no predictors for NMS are yet known, this article highlights the findings on certain risk factors as seen from a series of fifteen patients who developed NMS. Cautious use of neuroleptics in those at risk, early recognition and institution of immediate management is important. PMID:21206810

Risk factors in neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

PubMed

Gupta, Vinay; Magon, Rakesh; Mishra, B P; Sidhu, G B S; Mahajan, Ranjiv

2003-01-01

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is an uncommon but potentially serious idiosyncratic response to neuroleptic antipsychotics. It usually affects young males, but the risk has been seen to increase with certain factors including the administration practices of antipsychotic neuroleptics in these individuals. Even though no predictors for NMS are yet known, this article highlights the findings on certain risk factors as seen from a series of fifteen patients who developed NMS. Cautious use of neuroleptics in those at risk, early recognition and institution of immediate management is important.

Eye-movements and ongoing task processing.

PubMed

Burke, David T; Meleger, Alec; Schneider, Jeffrey C; Snyder, Jim; Dorvlo, Atsu S S; Al-Adawi, Samir

2003-06-01

This study tests the relation between eye-movements and thought processing. Subjects were given specific modality tasks (visual, gustatory, kinesthetic) and assessed on whether they responded with distinct eye-movements. Some subjects' eye-movements reflected ongoing thought processing. Instead of a universal pattern, as suggested by the neurolinguistic programming hypothesis, this study yielded subject-specific idiosyncratic eye-movements across all modalities. Included is a discussion of the neurolinguistic programming hypothesis regarding eye-movements and its implications for the eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing theory.

Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptom in a Patient with Pneumonia and Hyperthyroidism.

PubMed

Jin, Hualiang; Wang, Limin; Ye, Jian

2017-01-01

Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms syndrome is an idiosyncratic drug reaction characterized by fever, skin eruption, lymph node enlargement, and internal organ involvement. We report a case of a patient with pneumonia who developed clinical manifestations of fever, rash, lymphadenopathy, hypereosinophilia, and visceral involvement (renal failure and eosinophilic pneumonitis) caused by methimazole. The patient improved remarkably with drug withdrawal. A high index of clinical suspicion is emphasized to facilitate prompt diagnosis of medication-related adverse effect and its discontinuation.

Warrior culture, spirituality, and prayer.

PubMed

Malmin, Mark

2013-09-01

Research has shown an increase in suicides by military veterans and law enforcement officers in the United States. Etiologic research elucidates warrior culture and subculture as contributing factors of this pathology. This paper examines the idiosyncratic nature and influence of warrior culture and subculture and offers recommendations to promote culture change. Faith-based spirituality and prayer are examined as adjunct modalities for stress management and emotional healing. Further research is recommended to assess the associated hidden cost factors and long-term financial impact of warrior culture on society.

Severe excessive daytime sleepiness induced by hydroxyurea.

PubMed

Revol, Bruno; Joyeux-Faure, Marie; Albahary, Marie-Victoire; Gressin, Remy; Mallaret, Michel; Pepin, Jean-Louis; Launois, Sandrine H

2017-06-01

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) has been reported with many drugs, either as an extension of a hypnotic effect (e.g. central nervous system depressants) or as an idiosyncratic response of the patient. Here, we report unexpected and severe subjective and objective EDS induced by hydroxyurea therapy, with a favorable outcome after withdrawal. Clinical history, sleep log, polysomnography, and multiple sleep latency tests confirming the absence of other EDS causes are presented. © 2016 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

Role of CYP2E1 immunoglobulin G4 subclass antibodies and complement in pathogenesis of idiosyncratic drug-induced hepatitis.

PubMed

Njoku, Dolores B; Mellerson, Jenelle L; Talor, Monica V; Kerr, Douglas R; Faraday, Nauder R; Outschoorn, Ingrid; Rose, Noel R

2006-02-01

Idiosyncratic drug-induced hepatitis (IDDIH) is the third most common cause for acute liver failure in the United States. Previous studies have attempted to identify susceptible patients or early stages of disease with various degrees of success. To determine if total serum immunoglobulin subclasses, CYP2E1-specific subclass autoantibodies, complement components, or immune complexes could distinguish persons with IDDIH from others exposed to drugs, we studied persons exposed to halogenated volatile anesthetics, which have been associated with IDDIH and CYP2E1 autoantibodies. We found that patients with anesthetic-induced IDDIH had significantly elevated levels of CYP2E1-specific immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) autoantibodies, while anesthetic-exposed healthy persons had significantly elevated levels of CYP2E1-specific IgG1 autoantibodies. Anesthetic IDDIH patients had significantly lower levels of C4a, C3a, and C5a compared to anesthetic-exposed healthy persons. C1q- and C3d-containing immune complexes were significantly elevated in anesthetic-exposed persons. In conclusion, our data suggest that anesthetic-exposed persons develop CYP2E1-specific IgG1 autoantibodies which may form detectable circulating immune complexes subsequently cleared by classical pathway activation of the complement system. Persons susceptible to anesthetic-induced IDDIH develop CYP2E1-specific IgG4 autoantibodies which form small, nonprecipitating immune complexes that escape clearance because of their size or by direct inhibition of complement activation.

Predicting future coexistence in a North American ant community

PubMed Central

Bewick, Sharon; Stuble, Katharine L; Lessard, Jean-Phillipe; Dunn, Robert R; Adler, Frederick R; Sanders, Nathan J

2014-01-01

Global climate change will remodel ecological communities worldwide. However, as a consequence of biotic interactions, communities may respond to climate change in idiosyncratic ways. This makes predictive models that incorporate biotic interactions necessary. We show how such models can be constructed based on empirical studies in combination with predictions or assumptions regarding the abiotic consequences of climate change. Specifically, we consider a well-studied ant community in North America. First, we use historical data to parameterize a basic model for species coexistence. Using this model, we determine the importance of various factors, including thermal niches, food discovery rates, and food removal rates, to historical species coexistence. We then extend the model to predict how the community will restructure in response to several climate-related changes, such as increased temperature, shifts in species phenology, and altered resource availability. Interestingly, our mechanistic model suggests that increased temperature and shifts in species phenology can have contrasting effects. Nevertheless, for almost all scenarios considered, we find that the most subordinate ant species suffers most as a result of climate change. More generally, our analysis shows that community composition can respond to climate warming in nonintuitive ways. For example, in the context of a community, it is not necessarily the most heat-sensitive species that are most at risk. Our results demonstrate how models that account for niche partitioning and interspecific trade-offs among species can be used to predict the likely idiosyncratic responses of local communities to climate change. PMID:24963378

In vitro screening techniques for reactive metabolites for minimizing bioactivation potential in drug discovery.

PubMed

Prakash, Chandra; Sharma, Raman; Gleave, Michelle; Nedderman, Angus

2008-11-01

Drug induced toxicity remains one of the major reasons for failures of new pharmaceuticals, and for the withdrawal of approved drugs from the market. Efforts are being made to reduce attrition of drug candidates, and to minimize their bioactivation potential in the early stages of drug discovery in order to bring safer compounds to the market. Therefore, in addition to potency and selectivity; drug candidates are now selected on the basis of acceptable metabolism/toxicology profiles in preclinical species. To support this, new approaches have been developed, which include extensive in vitro methods using human and animal hepatic cellular and subcellular systems, recombinant human drug metabolizing enzymes, increased automation for higher-throughput screens, sensitive analytical technologies and in silico computational models to assess the metabolism aspects of the new chemical entities. By using these approaches many compounds that might have serious adverse reactions associated with them are effectively eliminated before reaching clinical trials, however some toxicities such as those caused by idiosyncratic responses, are not detected until a drug is in late stages of clinical trials or has become available to the market. One of the proposed mechanisms for the development of idiosyncratic drug toxicity is the bioactivation of drugs to form reactive metabolites by drug metabolizing enzymes. This review discusses the different approaches to, and benefits of using existing in vitro techniques, for the detection of reactive intermediates in order to minimize bioactivation potential in drug discovery.

Illicit Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use

PubMed Central

Kanayama, Gen; Hudson, James I.; Pope, Harrison G.

2009-01-01

The anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are a family of hormones that includes testosterone and its derivatives. These substances have been used by elite athletes since the 1950s, but they did not become widespread drugs of abuse in the general population until the 1980s. Thus, knowledge of the medical and behavioral effects of illicit AAS use is still evolving. Surveys suggest that many millions of boys and men, primarily in Western countries, have abused AAS to enhance athletic performance or personal appearance. AAS use among girls and women is much less common. Taken in supraphysiologic doses, AAS show various long-term adverse medical effects, especially cardiovascular toxicity. Behavioral effects of AAS include hypomanic or manic symptoms, sometimes accompanied by aggression or violence, which usually occur while taking AAS, and depressive symptoms occurring during AAS withdrawal. However, these symptoms are idiosyncratic and afflict only a minority of illicit users; the mechanism of these idiosyncratic responses remains unclear. AAS users may also ingest a range of other illicit drugs, including both “body-image” drugs to enhance physical appearance or performance, and classical drugs of abuse. In particular, AAS users appear particularly prone to opioid use. There may well be a biological basis for this association, since both human and animal data suggest that AAS and opioids may share similar brain mechanisms. Finally, AAS may cause a dependence syndrome in a substantial minority of users. AAS dependence may pose a growing public health problem in future years, but remains little studied. PMID:19769977

Reconstructing spectral cues for sound localization from responses to rippled noise stimuli

PubMed Central

Vliegen, Joyce; Van Esch, Thamar

2017-01-01

Human sound localization in the mid-saggital plane (elevation) relies on an analysis of the idiosyncratic spectral shape cues provided by the head and pinnae. However, because the actual free-field stimulus spectrum is a-priori unknown to the auditory system, the problem of extracting the elevation angle from the sensory spectrum is ill-posed. Here we test different spectral localization models by eliciting head movements toward broad-band noise stimuli with randomly shaped, rippled amplitude spectra emanating from a speaker at a fixed location, while varying the ripple bandwidth between 1.5 and 5.0 cycles/octave. Six listeners participated in the experiments. From the distributions of localization responses toward the individual stimuli, we estimated the listeners’ spectral-shape cues underlying their elevation percepts, by applying maximum-likelihood estimation. The reconstructed spectral cues resulted to be invariant to the considerable variation in ripple bandwidth, and for each listener they had a remarkable resemblance to the idiosyncratic head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). These results are not in line with models that rely on the detection of a single peak or notch in the amplitude spectrum, nor with a local analysis of first- and second-order spectral derivatives. Instead, our data support a model in which the auditory system performs a cross-correlation between the sensory input at the eardrum-auditory nerve, and stored representations of HRTF spectral shapes, to extract the perceived elevation angle. PMID:28333967

Epigenetic differences between monozygotic twins discordant for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) provide clues to disease pathogenesis

PubMed Central

Young, Paul E.; Kum Jew, Stephen; Buckland, Michael E.; Pamphlett, Roger

2017-01-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating late-onset neurodegenerative disorder in which only a small proportion of patients carry an identifiable causative genetic lesion. Despite high heritability estimates, a genetic etiology for most sporadic ALS remains elusive. Here we report the epigenetic profiling of five monozygotic twin pairs discordant for ALS, four with classic ALS and one with the progressive muscular atrophy ALS variant, in whom previous whole genome sequencing failed to uncover a genetic basis for their disease discordance. By studying cytosine methylation patterns in peripheral blood DNA we identified thousands of large between-twin differences at individual CpGs. While the specific sites of differences were mostly idiosyncratic to a twin pair, a proportion involving GABA signalling were common to all ALS individuals. For both idiosyncratic and common sites the differences occurred within genes and pathways related to neurobiological functions or dysfunctions, some of particular relevance to ALS such as glutamate metabolism and the Golgi apparatus. All four classic ALS patients were epigenetically older than their unaffected co-twins, suggesting accelerated aging in multiple tissues in this disease. In conclusion, widespread changes in methylation patterns were found in ALS-affected co-twins, consistent with an epigenetic contribution to disease. These DNA methylation findings could be used to develop blood-based ALS biomarkers, gain insights into disease pathogenesis, and provide a reference for future large-scale ALS epigenetic studies. PMID:28797086

Testing the hypothesis that vitamin C deficiency is a risk factor for clozapine-induced agranulocytosis using guinea pigs and ODS rats.

PubMed

Ip, Julia; Wilson, John X; Uetrecht, Jack P

2008-04-01

The use of clozapine is limited by a relatively high incidence of drug-induced agranulocytosis. Clozapine is oxidized by bone marrow cells to a reactive nitrenium ion. Although many idiosyncratic drug reactions are immune-mediated, the fact that patients with a history of clozapine-induced agranulocytosis do not immediately develop agranulocytosis on rechallenge suggests that some other factor may be responsible for the idiosyncratic nature of this reaction. The reactive nitrenium ion is very rapidly reduced back to clozapine by vitamin C, and many schizophrenic patients are vitamin C deficient. We set out to test the hypothesis that vitamin C deficiency is a major risk factor for clozapine-induced agranulocytosis using a vitamin C deficient guinea pig model. Although the vitamin C deficient guinea pigs did not develop agranulocytosis, the amount of clozapine covalent binding in these animals was less than we had previously observed in samples from rats and humans. Therefore, we studied ODS rats that also cannot synthesize vitamin C. Vitamin C deficient ODS rats also did not develop agranulocytosis, and furthermore, although covalent binding in the bone marrow was greater than that in the guinea pig, it was not increased in the vitamin C deficient ODS rats relative to ODS rats that had adequate vitamin C in their diet. Therefore, it is very unlikely that vitamin C deficiency is a major risk factor for clozapine-induced agranulocytosis.

Mirror writing and a dissociative identity disorder.

PubMed

Le, Catherine; Smith, Joyce; Cohen, Lewis

2009-01-01

Individuals with dissociative identity disorder (DID) have been known to show varied skills and talents as they change from one dissociative state to another. For example, case reports have described people who have changed their handedness or have spoken foreign languages during their dissociative states. During an interview with a patient with DID, a surprising talent emerged when she wrote a sentence for the Folstein Mini-Mental State Exam-mirror writing. It is not known whether her mirror writing had a deeper level of meaning; however, it does emphasize the idiosyncratic nature of dissociative identity disorder.

Outsider Art and the autistic creator.

PubMed

Cardinal, Roger

2009-05-27

Outsider Art (art brut) is defined as a mode of original artistic expression which thrives on its independence, shunning the public sphere and the art market. Such art can be highly idiosyncratic and secretive, and reflects the individual creator's attempt to construct a coherent, albeit strange, private world. Certain practitioners of what may be termed autistic art are examined in the light of this definition; their work is considered as evidence not of a medical condition but of an expressive intentionality entirely worthy of the interest of those drawn to the aesthetic experience.

Stridor and dysphagia associated with subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson disease.

PubMed

Fagbami, Oluwakemi Y; Donato, Anthony A

2011-11-01

Refractory symptoms in Parkinson disease show good response to deep brain stimulation (DBS). This procedure improves United Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale scores and reduces dyskinesias, whereas speech and swallowing dysfunction typically do not improve and may even worsen. Rarely, DBS can cause idiosyncratic dystonias of muscle groups, including those of the neck and throat. The authors describe a patient experiencing stridor and dysphagia with confirmed pulmonary restriction and aspiration following subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulator adjustment, with a resolution of symptoms and signs when the stimulator was switched off.

Application of evolutionary games to modeling carcinogenesis.

PubMed

Swierniak, Andrzej; Krzeslak, Michal

2013-06-01

We review a quite large volume of literature concerning mathematical modelling of processes related to carcinogenesis and the growth of cancer cell populations based on the theory of evolutionary games. This review, although partly idiosyncratic, covers such major areas of cancer-related phenomena as production of cytotoxins, avoidance of apoptosis, production of growth factors, motility and invasion, and intra- and extracellular signaling. We discuss the results of other authors and append to them some additional results of our own simulations dealing with the possible dynamics and/or spatial distribution of the processes discussed.

Climatic Warmth and National Wealth: Some Culture-Level Determinants of National Character Stereotypes

PubMed Central

McCrae, Robert R.; Terracciano, Antonio; Realo, Anu; Allik, Jüri

2009-01-01

National character stereotypes are widely shared, but do not reflect assessed levels of personality traits. In this article we present data illustrating the divergence of stereotypes and assessed personality traits in north and south Italy, test hypotheses about the associations of temperature and national wealth with national character stereotypes in 49 cultures, and explore possible links to national values and beliefs. Results suggest that warmth and wealth are common determinants of national stereotypes, but that there are also idiosyncratic influences on the perceptions of individual nations. PMID:20046546

Climatic Warmth and National Wealth: Some Culture-Level Determinants of National Character Stereotypes.

PubMed

McCrae, Robert R; Terracciano, Antonio; Realo, Anu; Allik, Jüri

2007-12-01

National character stereotypes are widely shared, but do not reflect assessed levels of personality traits. In this article we present data illustrating the divergence of stereotypes and assessed personality traits in north and south Italy, test hypotheses about the associations of temperature and national wealth with national character stereotypes in 49 cultures, and explore possible links to national values and beliefs. Results suggest that warmth and wealth are common determinants of national stereotypes, but that there are also idiosyncratic influences on the perceptions of individual nations.

Idiosyncratic Findings in Trichoscopy of Tinea Capitis: Comma, Zigzag Hairs, Corkscrew, and Morse Code-like Hair

PubMed Central

Elghblawi, Ebtisam

2016-01-01

Dermoscopy is a method of growing significance in the diagnoses of dermatological pigmented skin diseases. However, in my case, mycology culture was negative and successful treatment was given on the basis of trichoscopy and wood lamp examination. I hereby describe a young boy with tinea capitis, multiple “comma hairs” and “zigzag hair” and a subtle additional feature “Morse code-like hair” when intensification was applied. Dermatoscopic aspects found skin Type 2 in a child of as a distinctive dermoscopic finding. PMID:28442876

Idiosyncratic Findings in Trichoscopy of Tinea Capitis: Comma, Zigzag Hairs, Corkscrew, and Morse Code-like Hair.

PubMed

Elghblawi, Ebtisam

2016-01-01

Dermoscopy is a method of growing significance in the diagnoses of dermatological pigmented skin diseases. However, in my case, mycology culture was negative and successful treatment was given on the basis of trichoscopy and wood lamp examination. I hereby describe a young boy with tinea capitis, multiple "comma hairs" and "zigzag hair" and a subtle additional feature "Morse code-like hair" when intensification was applied. Dermatoscopic aspects found skin Type 2 in a child of as a distinctive dermoscopic finding.

Outsider Art and the autistic creator

PubMed Central

Cardinal, Roger

2009-01-01

Outsider Art (art brut) is defined as a mode of original artistic expression which thrives on its independence, shunning the public sphere and the art market. Such art can be highly idiosyncratic and secretive, and reflects the individual creator's attempt to construct a coherent, albeit strange, private world. Certain practitioners of what may be termed autistic art are examined in the light of this definition; their work is considered as evidence not of a medical condition but of an expressive intentionality entirely worthy of the interest of those drawn to the aesthetic experience. PMID:19528031

Youth-violence prevention in the aftermath of the San Diego East county school shootings: a qualitative assessment of community explanatory models.

PubMed

Palinkas, Lawrence A; Prussing, Erica; Landsverk, John; Reznik, Vivian

2003-01-01

In March, 2001, 2 separate incidents of school shootings occurred within the same school district in San Diego's East County. To examine community explanatory models of the causes of the school shootings and strategies for preventing such events. A qualitative study was undertaken in 4 East County communities over a 6-month period following the 2 events. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 85 community residents identified through maximum variation sampling. Interview transcripts were analyzed by coding consensus, co-occurrence and comparison, using NVivo text analysis software. Four sets of theories as to the cause of these events were identified, based on the following: 1) unique or idiosyncratic characteristics of the 2 shooters (newcomer to community who was a victim of bullying, victim of child abuse with a history of mental illness), 2) universal factors (culture of violence, violence in the media), 3) family-centered characteristics (single-parent households, dysfunctional relationships), and 4) community-specific characteristics (reputation for social intolerance, widespread access to guns). Beliefs in family-centered and community-centered theories of etiology were associated with optimism in preventing such events from occurring in the future through increased recognition and response to problem behaviors, while beliefs in idiosyncratic or universal determinants of youth violence were associated with pessimistic assessments of prevention. In this community, youth-violence-prevention programs that focus on taking responsibility for recognizing and responding to problem behaviors in at-risk youth are more likely to gain community support and participation than programs that focus on increased security, surveillance, or behavior change.

Mental health policy development in the States: the piecemeal nature of transformational change.

PubMed

Garfield, Rachel L

2009-10-01

Transformation--systemic, sweeping changes to promote recovery and consumerism--is a pervasive theme in discussions of U.S. mental health policy. State systems are a fundamental component of national transformation plans. However, it is not clear how the vision of transformation will be balanced against the idiosyncratic political forces that traditionally characterize state policy making. This article examines the development of state mental health policy to assess whether and how it reflects the broader context of transformation versus political forces. Analysis used qualitative evidence collected from semistructured interviews in four states (California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New Mexico), which were chosen to capture variation in geography and population, health systems, and political environment. Interviewees included 35 key mental health officials, directors of principal mental health consumer and family advocacy groups, and executives of major mental health provider groups. Interviews were conducted between May 2007 and March 2008. Many recent state policy priorities in mental health are consistent with the overall goals of transformation, but some are particular to a state's circumstance. The case studies showed that these priorities are largely shaped by executive control, stakeholder interests, and crises. There is mixed evidence on whether these drivers of state priorities reflect an underlying transformative process. States' mental health policies are largely guided by the problems and resources of the states: sometimes these forces dovetail with nationwide transformation goals and processes, and sometimes they are idiosyncratic to a particular state. Thus, although states can play an integral role in forwarding transformation, their own mental health policy agendas are not eclipsed by this nationwide movement.

Addressing the crisis of GP recruitment and retention: a systematic review.

PubMed

Marchand, Catherine; Peckham, Stephen

2017-04-01

The numbers of GPs and training places in general practice are declining, and retaining GPs in their practices is an increasing problem. To identify evidence on different approaches to retention and recruitment of GPs, such as intrinsic versus extrinsic motivational determinants. Synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research using seven electronic databases from 1990 onwards (Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Health Management Information Consortium [HMIC], Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (Cinahl), PsycINFO, and the Turning Research Into Practice [TRIP] database). A qualitative approach to reviewing the literature on recruitment and retention of GPs was used. The studies included were English-language studies from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. The titles and abstracts of 138 articles were reviewed and analysed by the research team. Some of the most important determinants to increase recruitment in primary care were early exposure to primary care practice, the fit between skills and attributes, and a significant experience in a primary care setting. Factors that seemed to influence retention were subspecialisation and portfolio careers, and job satisfaction. The most important determinants of recruitment and retention were intrinsic and idiosyncratic factors, such as recognition, rather than extrinsic factors, such as income. Although the published evidence relating to GP recruitment and retention is limited, and most focused on attracting GPs to rural areas, the authors found that there are clear overlaps between strategies to increase recruitment and retention. Indeed, the most influential factors are idiosyncratic and intrinsic to the individuals. © British Journal of General Practice 2017.

Addressing the crisis of GP recruitment and retention: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Marchand, Catherine; Peckham, Stephen

2017-01-01

Background The numbers of GPs and training places in general practice are declining, and retaining GPs in their practices is an increasing problem. Aim To identify evidence on different approaches to retention and recruitment of GPs, such as intrinsic versus extrinsic motivational determinants. Design and setting Synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research using seven electronic databases from 1990 onwards (Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Health Management Information Consortium [HMIC], Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (Cinahl), PsycINFO, and the Turning Research Into Practice [TRIP] database). Method A qualitative approach to reviewing the literature on recruitment and retention of GPs was used. The studies included were English-language studies from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. The titles and abstracts of 138 articles were reviewed and analysed by the research team. Results Some of the most important determinants to increase recruitment in primary care were early exposure to primary care practice, the fit between skills and attributes, and a significant experience in a primary care setting. Factors that seemed to influence retention were subspecialisation and portfolio careers, and job satisfaction. The most important determinants of recruitment and retention were intrinsic and idiosyncratic factors, such as recognition, rather than extrinsic factors, such as income. Conclusion Although the published evidence relating to GP recruitment and retention is limited, and most focused on attracting GPs to rural areas, the authors found that there are clear overlaps between strategies to increase recruitment and retention. Indeed, the most influential factors are idiosyncratic and intrinsic to the individuals. PMID:28289014

Idiosyncratic heart rate response in men during sexual arousal.

PubMed

Rowland, David L; Crawford, Sara B

2011-05-01

Heart rate, sensitive to sympathetic activation, is known to change during sexual arousal and therefore may be a useful tool for investigating psychosomatic differences between sexually functional and dysfunctional men. However, heart rate during arousal also tends to be highly variable across individual men, making its predictability based on group patterns relatively poor. We wanted to determine whether individual men show idiosyncratic heart rate patterns during sexual arousal, that is, whether they exhibit consistent patterns across similar (though not identical) stimulus situations. Agreement between heart rates under the two conditions, visual sexual stimulation (VSS) and VSS + vibrotactile (VIB), was assessed using the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC).   Thirty-eight men, 25 of whom were diagnosed with premature ejaculation (PE), were monitored for penile response and heart rate under two similar (though not identical) conditions: a 9-minute erotic video (VSS), then a 9-minute erotic video combined with vibrotactile penile stimulation (VSS + VIB). CCC for men with PE was 0.65; for the sexually functional comparison group, CCC was 0.82. For both groups combined, CCC was 0.71. For all groupings, the CCC was relatively high, indicating agreement in heart rate from one session to the next within individual men. Despite high intersubject variation in heart rate patterns, individual men show signature heart rates across similar sexual stimulus sessions. Such stereotypy helps explain previous inconsistent findings and may also serve as a marker for the effectiveness of treatments designed to improve ejaculatory control in men with PE. © 2011 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Secondary invasions of noxious weeds associated with control of invasive Tamarix are frequent, idiosyncratic and persistent

USGS Publications Warehouse

González, Eduardo; Sher, Anna A.; Anderson, Robert M.; Bay, Robin F.; Bean, Daniel W.; Bissonnete, Gabriel J.; Cooper, David J.; Dohrenwend, Kara; Eichhorst, Kim D.; El Waer, Hisham; Kennard, Deborah K.; Harms-Weissinger, Rebecca; Henry, Annie L.; Makarick, Lori J.; Ostoja, Steven M.; Reynolds, Lindsay V.; Robinson, W. Wright; Shafroth, Patrick B.; Tabacchi, Erich

2017-01-01

Control of invasive species within ecosystems may induce secondary invasions of non-target invaders replacing the first alien. We used four plant species listed as noxious by local authorities in riparian systems to discern whether 1) the severity of these secondary invasions was related to the control method applied to the first alien; and 2) which species that were secondary invaders persisted over time. In a collaborative study by 16 research institutions, we monitored plant species composition following control of non-native Tamarix trees along southwestern U.S. rivers using defoliation by an introduced biocontrol beetle, and three physical removal methods: mechanical using saws, heavy machinery, and burning in 244 treated and 79 untreated sites across six U.S. states. Physical removal favored secondary invasions immediately after Tamarix removal (0–3 yrs.), while in the biocontrol treatment, secondary invasions manifested later (> 5 yrs.). Within this general trend, the response of weeds to control was idiosyncratic; dependent on treatment type and invader. Two annual tumbleweeds that only reproduce by seed (Bassia scoparia and Salsola tragus) peaked immediately after physical Tamarix removal and persisted over time, even after herbicide application. Acroptilon repens, a perennial forb that vigorously reproduces by rhizomes, and Bromus tectorum, a very frequent annual grass before removal that only reproduces by seed, were most successful at biocontrol sites, and progressively spread as the canopy layer opened. These results demonstrate that strategies to control Tamarix affect secondary invasions differently among species and that time since disturbance is an important, generally overlooked, factor affecting response.

Molecular evolution of the insect chemoreceptor gene superfamily in Drosophila melanogaster.

PubMed

Robertson, Hugh M; Warr, Coral G; Carlson, John R

2003-11-25

The insect chemoreceptor superfamily in Drosophila melanogaster is predicted to consist of 62 odorant receptor (Or) and 68 gustatory receptor (Gr) proteins, encoded by families of 60 Or and 60 Gr genes through alternative splicing. We include two previously undescribed Or genes and two previously undescribed Gr genes; two previously predicted Or genes are shown to be alternative splice forms. Three polymorphic pseudogenes and one highly defective pseudogene are recognized. Phylogenetic analysis reveals deep branches connecting multiple highly divergent clades within the Gr family, and the Or family appears to be a single highly expanded lineage within the superfamily. The genes are spread throughout the Drosophila genome, with some relatively recently diverged genes still clustered in the genome. The Gr5a gene on the X chromosome, which encodes a receptor for the sugar trehalose, has transposed from one such tandem cluster of six genes at cytological location 64, as has Gr61a, and all eight of these receptors might bind sugars. Analysis of intron evolution suggests that the common ancestor consisted of a long N-terminal exon encoding transmembrane domains 1-5 followed by three exons encoding transmembrane domains 6-7. As many as 57 additional introns have been acquired idiosyncratically during the evolution of the superfamily, whereas the ancestral introns and some of the older idiosyncratic introns have been lost at least 48 times independently. Altogether, these patterns of molecular evolution suggest that this is an ancient superfamily of chemoreceptors, probably dating back at least to the origin of the arthropods.

Molecular evolution of the insect chemoreceptor gene superfamily in Drosophila melanogaster

PubMed Central

Robertson, Hugh M.; Warr, Coral G.; Carlson, John R.

2003-01-01

The insect chemoreceptor superfamily in Drosophila melanogaster is predicted to consist of 62 odorant receptor (Or) and 68 gustatory receptor (Gr) proteins, encoded by families of 60 Or and 60 Gr genes through alternative splicing. We include two previously undescribed Or genes and two previously undescribed Gr genes; two previously predicted Or genes are shown to be alternative splice forms. Three polymorphic pseudogenes and one highly defective pseudogene are recognized. Phylogenetic analysis reveals deep branches connecting multiple highly divergent clades within the Gr family, and the Or family appears to be a single highly expanded lineage within the superfamily. The genes are spread throughout the Drosophila genome, with some relatively recently diverged genes still clustered in the genome. The Gr5a gene on the X chromosome, which encodes a receptor for the sugar trehalose, has transposed from one such tandem cluster of six genes at cytological location 64, as has Gr61a, and all eight of these receptors might bind sugars. Analysis of intron evolution suggests that the common ancestor consisted of a long N-terminal exon encoding transmembrane domains 1-5 followed by three exons encoding transmembrane domains 6-7. As many as 57 additional introns have been acquired idiosyncratically during the evolution of the superfamily, whereas the ancestral introns and some of the older idiosyncratic introns have been lost at least 48 times independently. Altogether, these patterns of molecular evolution suggest that this is an ancient superfamily of chemoreceptors, probably dating back at least to the origin of the arthropods. PMID:14608037

Hepatotoxicity associated with metformin therapy in treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

PubMed

Cone, Catherine J; Bachyrycz, Amy M; Murata, Glen H

2010-10-01

To report a case of idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity associated with metformin in the treatment of type 2 diabetes with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A 61-year-old obese man presented with jaundice, nausea, fatigue, and an unintentional weight loss 2 weeks following initiation of metformin. Laboratory findings revealed aminotransferase values 10-15 times the upper limit of normal. Potential causative agents, including metformin, simvastatin, and Niaspan (extended-release niacin), were discontinued. Two months later, the patient's signs and symptoms had resolved and aminotransferase values returned to normal. An objective causality assessment revealed that the adverse reaction was probably associated with metformin. Since numerous medications and disease states can cause abnormalities in liver enzymes, it is important for providers to be able to distinguish the cause(s) and take appropriate actions. This can take a great deal of time and effort in patients with multiple medications and comorbidities. In this patient's case, viral hepatitis, worsening NAFLD, and the concomitant drugs were highly suspected. As hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors offer substantial cardiovascular benefits and as metformin is a first-line agent in helping to lower blood glucose concentrations and to normalize the metabolic profile in type 2 diabetes, reintroduction of metformin and simvastatin would likely be beneficial. This is a case report of metformin-induced hepatotoxicity. As the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and subsequent metabolic effects increases in the US, metformin use will likewise increase. As potential for increased idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity associated with metformin use is likely to occur, clinicians should be vigilant.

An Animal Model of Abacavir-Induced HLA-Mediated Liver Injury.

PubMed

Song, Binbin; Aoki, Shigeki; Liu, Cong; Susukida, Takeshi; Ito, Kousei

2018-04-01

Genome-wide association studies indicate that several idiosyncratic adverse drug reactions are highly associated with specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. For instance, abacavir, a human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase inhibitor, induces multiorgan toxicity exclusively in patients carrying the HLA-B*57:01 allele. However, the underlying mechanism is unclear due to a lack of appropriate animal models. Previously, we developed HLA-B*57:01 transgenic mice and found that topical application of abacavir to the ears induced proliferation of CD8+ lymphocytes in local lymph nodes. Here, we attempted to reproduce abacavir-induced liver injury in these mice. However, oral administration of abacavir alone to HLA-B*57:01 transgenic mice did not increase levels of the liver injury marker alanine aminotransferase. Considering the importance of innate immune activation in mouse liver, we treated mice with CpG oligodeoxynucleotide, a toll-like receptor 9 agonist, plus abacavir. This resulted in a marked increase in alanine aminotransferase, pathological changes in liver, increased numbers of activated CD8+ T cells, and tissue infiltration by immune cells exclusively in HLA-B*57:01 transgenic mice. These results indicate that CpG oligodeoxynucleotide-induced inflammatory reactions and/or innate immune activation are necessary for abacavir-induced HLA-mediated liver injury characterized by infiltration of CD8+ T cells. Thus, we developed the first mouse model of HLA-mediated abacavir-induced idiosyncratic liver injury. Further investigation will show that the proposed HLA-mediated liver injury model can be applied to other combinations of drugs and HLA types, thereby improving drug development and contributing to the development of personalized medicine.

Incidence of adverse drug reactions in adult medical inpatients.

PubMed

Bowman, L; Carlstedt, B C; Black, C D

1994-10-01

This study was a prospective observational study of ADR occurrence and evaluation in adult internal medicine inpatients conducted over a 120-day period. Clinical pharmacists screened for ADRs at a county hospital in Indianapolis, IN. Patient information was reviewed on admission, every four days during hospitalization, and at discharge. ADRs occurring after hospital admission were assessed for causality, severity, pharmacological type (i.e., augmented pharmacology versus idiosyncratic reaction) and affected organ system. Nurse and pharmacist reports, incident reports, physician consults, patient transfers to critical care units, and serum drug concentration reports were additional means of ADR identification. Overall, 23.1% of patients experienced an ADR while 2.6% of the 11,702 drug exposures resulted in an ADR. Patients aged greater than 65 years (29.6% vs. 20.5% for younger patients) and females (26.2% vs. 20% for males) were at higher risk for ADR development (p < 0.05). Length of hospital stay was longer (13.3 days vs. 6.7 days; p < 0.05) and drug exposures more frequent for patients experiencing ADRs (p < 0.001). Furosemide elicited the most ADRs with 36 in 244 patient exposures (14.7%). Diltiazem, enalapril, heparin, trimterene/hydrochlorothiazide combination and captopril were also frequently implicated. ADRs were classified as mild (35.9%), moderate (52.6%), and severe (10.2%). Organ systems most commonly affected were the metabolic/hematologic (32.9%), gastrointestinal (17.8%), genitourinary (11.8%), and cardiovascular (10.5%). Over 30% of events were idiosyncratic reactions. ADR incidence was consistent with previous literature. Many frequently implicated medications were newer agents and the severity of events was less than previously reported.

Role of CYP2E1 Immunoglobulin G4 Subclass Antibodies and Complement in Pathogenesis of Idiosyncratic Drug-Induced Hepatitis

PubMed Central

Njoku, Dolores B.; Mellerson, Jenelle L.; Talor, Monica V.; Kerr, Douglas R.; Faraday, Nauder R.; Outschoorn, Ingrid; Rose, Noel R.

2006-01-01

Idiosyncratic drug-induced hepatitis (IDDIH) is the third most common cause for acute liver failure in the United States. Previous studies have attempted to identify susceptible patients or early stages of disease with various degrees of success. To determine if total serum immunoglobulin subclasses, CYP2E1-specific subclass autoantibodies, complement components, or immune complexes could distinguish persons with IDDIH from others exposed to drugs, we studied persons exposed to halogenated volatile anesthetics, which have been associated with IDDIH and CYP2E1 autoantibodies. We found that patients with anesthetic-induced IDDIH had significantly elevated levels of CYP2E1-specific immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) autoantibodies, while anesthetic-exposed healthy persons had significantly elevated levels of CYP2E1-specific IgG1 autoantibodies. Anesthetic IDDIH patients had significantly lower levels of C4a, C3a, and C5a compared to anesthetic-exposed healthy persons. C1q- and C3d-containing immune complexes were significantly elevated in anesthetic-exposed persons. In conclusion, our data suggest that anesthetic-exposed persons develop CYP2E1-specific IgG1 autoantibodies which may form detectable circulating immune complexes subsequently cleared by classical pathway activation of the complement system. Persons susceptible to anesthetic-induced IDDIH develop CYP2E1-specific IgG4 autoantibodies which form small, nonprecipitating immune complexes that escape clearance because of their size or by direct inhibition of complement activation. PMID:16467335

[Geomagnetic field variation in early ontogenesis as a risk factor for oncopathology].

PubMed

Iamshanov, V A

2003-01-01

The data on 534 cancer patients with tumors of 15 different sites were evaluated to elucidate the influence of geomagnetic field (GMF) in certain months of the pre- and early postnatal periods on future incidence of cancer. We identified neoplasms of the breast, lung, urinary bladder, hypophysis, ovary, prostate, liver, Hodgkin's disease, lymphoma and, possibly, gastric cancer as GMF-dependent. This relationship appeared to be idiosyncratic with every cancer variety. It was negligible in cases of esophagus, thyroid, uterine cervix and colorectal cancer. GMF variations as a carcinogenic factor in early ontogenesis can be assessed quantitatively.

The non-equilibrium nature of culinary evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinouchi, Osame; Diez-Garcia, Rosa W.; Holanda, Adriano J.; Zambianchi, Pedro; Roque, Antonio C.

2008-07-01

Food is an essential part of civilization, with a scope that ranges from the biological to the economic and cultural levels. Here, we study the statistics of ingredients and recipes taken from Brazilian, British, French and Medieval cookery books. We find universal distributions with scale invariant behaviour. We propose a copy-mutate process to model culinary evolution that fits our empirical data very well. We find a cultural 'founder effect' produced by the non-equilibrium dynamics of the model. Both the invariant and idiosyncratic aspects of culture are accounted for by our model, which may have applications in other kinds of evolutionary processes.

Health Care Exceptionalism? Performance and Allocation in the US Health Care Sector

PubMed Central

Chandra, Amitabh; Finkelstein, Amy; Sacarny, Adam; Syverson, Chad

2016-01-01

The conventional wisdom for the healthcare sector is that idiosyncratic features leave little scope for market forces to allocate consumers to higher performance producers. However, we find robust evidence - across several different conditions and performance measures - that higher quality hospitals have higher market shares and grow more over time. The relationship between performance and allocation is stronger among patients who have greater scope for hospital choice, suggesting that patient demand plays an important role in allocation. Our findings suggest that healthcare may have more in common with “traditional” sectors subject to market forces than often assumed. PMID:27784907

The DSM-III concept of organic brain syndrome.

PubMed

Fox, H A

1983-04-01

The shortcomings of the DSM-II classification of organic brain syndrome are described, including the limitation of the concept to the global brain disorders; the idiosyncratic use of the terms acute and chronic; and the unsatisfactory categories psychotic and nonpsychotic. Organic brain syndrome is defined according to DSM-III and the 10 separate brain syndrome categories are outlined. The diagnostic criteria for each category are listed and the general principles underlying the criteria are described. Finally, the goals of the authors' of DSM-III to enhance diagnostic reliability and validity are discussed and the impact of the new nomenclature is assessed.

Edema associated with quetiapine

PubMed Central

Koleva, Hristina K.; Erickson, Mark A.; Vanderlip, Erik R.; Tansey, Janeta; Mac, Joseph; Fiedorowicz, Jess G.

2010-01-01

Background Edema associated with quetiapine has been described in only one case report to date and represents a potentially serious adverse reaction. Methods We present a case series of three patients who developed bilateral leg edema following initiation of quetiapine. Results One of these patients had a recurrence of edema with subsequent rechallenge. Another patient developed quetiapine-induced edema following a prior episode of olanzapine-induced edema. All the cases present a compelling temporal relationship between the drug challenge and the adverse event. Conclusions Prompt recognition and intervention with discontinuation of the offending agent is important for this potentially serious, seemingly idiosyncratic, vascular complication. PMID:19439156

Protecting children: intuition and awareness in the work of health visitors.

PubMed

Ling, M S; Luker, K A

2000-09-01

Protecting children: intuition and awareness in the work of health visitors This paper is based upon an ethnographic study of a group of health visitors engaged in child protection work. The purpose of this paper is to explore the meanings individual health visitors attach to events concerned with identifying children who may be at risk of harm from child abuse, and also the idiosyncratic nature of health visiting in this complex but everyday social situation. The paper focuses on understanding the importance of a particular form of knowledge which the health visitors referred to as 'intuitive awareness'.

[Book review] The known birds of North and Middle America: Distribution and variation, migrations, changes, hybrids, etc, Part I, Hirundinidae to Mimidae, Certhiidae

USGS Publications Warehouse

Banks, Richard C.; Phillips, R.

1991-01-01

"Known Birds" is the culmination of Allan Phillips' long and productive career in elucidating the taxonomy and relationships of North American, particularly Mexican, birds. It reflects many years of largely independent work in the field, museum, and library. Although Part I includes contributions by Robert W. Dickerman, Amadeo M. Rea, and J. Dan Webster, the series (Part II will be available by the time this long-overdue review of Part I appears) reflects Phillips' views of avian systematics and his idiosyncratic scientific philosophy.

A Devil's dictionary for mental health

PubMed Central

Timms, Philip

2017-01-01

Clinical psychiatry, for all its emphasis on scientific rigour, is mediated mainly by words rather than by numbers. As with other professional areas, it has developed its own set of jargon words and phrases. Many of these are not the technical terms traditionally seen as jargon, but standard English words and phrases used in an idiosyncratic way. They therefore go unnoticed as jargon, while enfeebling our communications. I have used the template of Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary to highlight some examples, with the aim of helping us all to talk, write and, perhaps, think more clearly. PMID:29018547

Ivermectin toxicosis in a dog.

PubMed

Hopkins, K D; Marcella, K L; Strecker, A E

1990-07-01

A 5-year-old male Doberman Pinscher was examined after ingesting an equine paste dewormer containing approximately 115 mg of ivermectin. Clinical signs consisted of profound hypothermia, mild dehydration, dilated unresponsive pupils, localized muscle group fasciculations around the face and hind limbs, and no response to any external stimuli. Twelve days after parenteral administration of isotonic fluids and IV administration of dexamethasone and dimethyl sulfoxide, the dog returned to a clinically normal neurologic state. Ivermectin toxicosis has been reported frequently in Collies; however, other breeds may have idiosyncratic reactions to low doses. Patients with severe toxicosis should eventually recover completely if given appropriate intensive care.

Idiosyncratic responses to climate-driven forest fragmentation and marine incursions in reed frogs from Central Africa and the Gulf of Guinea Islands.

PubMed

Bell, Rayna C; Parra, Juan L; Badjedjea, Gabriel; Barej, Michael F; Blackburn, David C; Burger, Marius; Channing, Alan; Dehling, Jonas Maximilian; Greenbaum, Eli; Gvoždík, Václav; Kielgast, Jos; Kusamba, Chifundera; Lötters, Stefan; McLaughlin, Patrick J; Nagy, Zoltán T; Rödel, Mark-Oliver; Portik, Daniel M; Stuart, Bryan L; VanDerWal, Jeremy; Zassi-Boulou, Ange Ghislain; Zamudio, Kelly R

2017-10-01

Organismal traits interact with environmental variation to mediate how species respond to shared landscapes. Thus, differences in traits related to dispersal ability or physiological tolerance may result in phylogeographic discordance among co-distributed taxa, even when they are responding to common barriers. We quantified climatic suitability and stability, and phylogeographic divergence within three reed frog species complexes across the Guineo-Congolian forests and Gulf of Guinea archipelago of Central Africa to investigate how they responded to a shared climatic and geological history. Our species-specific estimates of climatic suitability through time are consistent with temporal and spatial heterogeneity in diversification among the species complexes, indicating that differences in ecological breadth may partly explain these idiosyncratic patterns. Likewise, we demonstrated that fluctuating sea levels periodically exposed a land bridge connecting Bioko Island with the mainland Guineo-Congolian forest and that habitats across the exposed land bridge likely enabled dispersal in some species, but not in others. We did not find evidence that rivers are biogeographic barriers across any of the species complexes. Despite marked differences in the geographic extent of stable climates and temporal estimates of divergence among the species complexes, we recovered a shared pattern of intermittent climatic suitability with recent population connectivity and demographic expansion across the Congo Basin. This pattern supports the hypothesis that genetic exchange across the Congo Basin during humid periods, followed by vicariance during arid periods, has shaped regional diversity. Finally, we identified many distinct lineages among our focal taxa, some of which may reflect incipient or unrecognized species. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A mouse model of severe halothane hepatitis based on human risk factors.

PubMed

Dugan, Christine M; MacDonald, Allen E; Roth, Robert A; Ganey, Patricia E

2010-05-01

Halothane (2-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoro-ethane) is an inhaled anesthetic that induces severe, idiosyncratic liver injury, i.e., "halothane hepatitis," in approximately 1 in 20,000 human patients. We used known human risk factors (female sex, adult age, and genetics) as well as probable risk factors (fasting and inflammatory stress) to develop a murine model with characteristics of human halothane hepatitis. Female and male BALB/cJ mice treated with halothane developed dose-dependent liver injury within 24 h; however, the liver injury was severe only in females. Livers had extensive centrilobular necrosis, inflammatory cell infiltrate, and steatosis. Fasting rendered mice more sensitive to halothane hepatotoxicity, and 8-week-old female mice were more sensitive than males of the same age or than younger (4-week-old) females. C57BL/6 mice were insensitive to halothane, suggesting a strong genetic predisposition. In halothane-treated females, plasma concentration of tumor necrosis factor-alpha was greater than in males, and neutrophils were recruited to liver more rapidly and to a greater extent. Anti-CD18 serum attenuated halothane-induced liver injury in female mice, suggesting that neutrophil migration, activation, or both are required for injury. Coexposure of halothane-treated male mice to lipopolysaccharide to induce modest inflammatory stress converted their mild hepatotoxic response to a pronounced, female-like response. This is the first animal model of an idiosyncratic adverse drug reaction that is based on human risk factors and produces reproducible, severe hepatitis from halothane exposure with lesions characteristic of human halothane hepatitis. Moreover, these results suggest that a more robust innate immune response underlies the predisposition of female mice to halothane hepatitis.

Stable individual characteristics in the perception of multiple embedded patterns in multistable auditory stimuli

PubMed Central

Denham, Susan; Bõhm, Tamás M.; Bendixen, Alexandra; Szalárdy, Orsolya; Kocsis, Zsuzsanna; Mill, Robert; Winkler, István

2014-01-01

The ability of the auditory system to parse complex scenes into component objects in order to extract information from the environment is very robust, yet the processing principles underlying this ability are still not well understood. This study was designed to investigate the proposal that the auditory system constructs multiple interpretations of the acoustic scene in parallel, based on the finding that when listening to a long repetitive sequence listeners report switching between different perceptual organizations. Using the “ABA-” auditory streaming paradigm we trained listeners until they could reliably recognize all possible embedded patterns of length four which could in principle be extracted from the sequence, and in a series of test sessions investigated their spontaneous reports of those patterns. With the training allowing them to identify and mark a wider variety of possible patterns, participants spontaneously reported many more patterns than the ones traditionally assumed (Integrated vs. Segregated). Despite receiving consistent training and despite the apparent randomness of perceptual switching, we found individual switching patterns were idiosyncratic; i.e., the perceptual switching patterns of each participant were more similar to their own switching patterns in different sessions than to those of other participants. These individual differences were found to be preserved even between test sessions held a year after the initial experiment. Our results support the idea that the auditory system attempts to extract an exhaustive set of embedded patterns which can be used to generate expectations of future events and which by competing for dominance give rise to (changing) perceptual awareness, with the characteristics of pattern discovery and perceptual competition having a strong idiosyncratic component. Perceptual multistability thus provides a means for characterizing both general mechanisms and individual differences in human perception. PMID:24616656

Stable individual characteristics in the perception of multiple embedded patterns in multistable auditory stimuli.

PubMed

Denham, Susan; Bõhm, Tamás M; Bendixen, Alexandra; Szalárdy, Orsolya; Kocsis, Zsuzsanna; Mill, Robert; Winkler, István

2014-01-01

The ability of the auditory system to parse complex scenes into component objects in order to extract information from the environment is very robust, yet the processing principles underlying this ability are still not well understood. This study was designed to investigate the proposal that the auditory system constructs multiple interpretations of the acoustic scene in parallel, based on the finding that when listening to a long repetitive sequence listeners report switching between different perceptual organizations. Using the "ABA-" auditory streaming paradigm we trained listeners until they could reliably recognize all possible embedded patterns of length four which could in principle be extracted from the sequence, and in a series of test sessions investigated their spontaneous reports of those patterns. With the training allowing them to identify and mark a wider variety of possible patterns, participants spontaneously reported many more patterns than the ones traditionally assumed (Integrated vs. Segregated). Despite receiving consistent training and despite the apparent randomness of perceptual switching, we found individual switching patterns were idiosyncratic; i.e., the perceptual switching patterns of each participant were more similar to their own switching patterns in different sessions than to those of other participants. These individual differences were found to be preserved even between test sessions held a year after the initial experiment. Our results support the idea that the auditory system attempts to extract an exhaustive set of embedded patterns which can be used to generate expectations of future events and which by competing for dominance give rise to (changing) perceptual awareness, with the characteristics of pattern discovery and perceptual competition having a strong idiosyncratic component. Perceptual multistability thus provides a means for characterizing both general mechanisms and individual differences in human perception.

Early establishment of trees at the alpine treeline: idiosyncratic species responses to temperature-moisture interactions

PubMed Central

Loranger, Hannah; Zotz, Gerhard; Bader, Maaike Y.

2016-01-01

On a global scale, temperature is the main determinant of arctic and alpine treeline position. However on a local scale, treeline form and position vary considerably due to other climatic factors, tree species ecology and life-stage-dependent responses. For treelines to advance poleward or uphill, the first steps are germination and seedling establishment. These earliest life stages may be major bottlenecks for treeline tree populations and will depend differently on climatic conditions than adult trees. We investigated the effect of soil temperature and moisture on germination and early seedling survival in a field experiment in the French Alps near the local treeline (2100 m a.s.l.) using passive temperature manipulations and two watering regimes. Five European treeline tree species were studied: Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus cembra, Pinus uncinata and Sorbus aucuparia. In addition, we monitored the germination response of three of these species to low temperatures under controlled conditions in growth chambers. The early establishment of these trees at the alpine treeline was limited either by temperature or by moisture, the sensitivity to one factor often depending on the intensity of the other. The results showed that the relative importance of the two factors and the direction of the effects are highly species-specific, while both factors tend to have consistent effects on both germination and early seedling survival within each species. We show that temperature and water availability are both important contributors to establishment patterns of treeline trees and hence to species-specific forms and positions of alpine treelines. The observed idiosyncratic species responses highlight the need for studies including several species and life-stages to create predictive power concerning future treeline dynamics. PMID:27402618

Early establishment of trees at the alpine treeline: idiosyncratic species responses to temperature-moisture interactions.

PubMed

Loranger, Hannah; Zotz, Gerhard; Bader, Maaike Y

2016-01-01

On a global scale, temperature is the main determinant of arctic and alpine treeline position. However on a local scale, treeline form and position vary considerably due to other climatic factors, tree species ecology and life-stage-dependent responses. For treelines to advance poleward or uphill, the first steps are germination and seedling establishment. These earliest life stages may be major bottlenecks for treeline tree populations and will depend differently on climatic conditions than adult trees. We investigated the effect of soil temperature and moisture on germination and early seedling survival in a field experiment in the French Alps near the local treeline (2100 m a.s.l.) using passive temperature manipulations and two watering regimes. Five European treeline tree species were studied: Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus cembra, Pinus uncinata and Sorbus aucuparia In addition, we monitored the germination response of three of these species to low temperatures under controlled conditions in growth chambers. The early establishment of these trees at the alpine treeline was limited either by temperature or by moisture, the sensitivity to one factor often depending on the intensity of the other. The results showed that the relative importance of the two factors and the direction of the effects are highly species-specific, while both factors tend to have consistent effects on both germination and early seedling survival within each species. We show that temperature and water availability are both important contributors to establishment patterns of treeline trees and hence to species-specific forms and positions of alpine treelines. The observed idiosyncratic species responses highlight the need for studies including several species and life-stages to create predictive power concerning future treeline dynamics. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company.

Idiosyncratic Drug Induced Liver Injury in African-Americans Is Associated With Greater Morbidity and Mortality Compared to Caucasians.

PubMed

Chalasani, Naga; Reddy, K Rajender K; Fontana, Robert J; Barnhart, Huiman; Gu, Jiezhun; Hayashi, Paul H; Ahmad, Jawad; Stolz, Andrew; Navarro, Victor; Hoofnagle, Jay H

2017-09-01

Idiosyncratic drug induced liver injury (DILI) is a rare but potentially serious liver disorder and a major cause of significant liver injury. Limited data exist on racial differences in DILI incidence, presentation, and course. We compared the causative agents, clinical features, and outcomes of DILI among self-described African-Americans and non-Hispanic whites (Caucasians) enrolled in the DILIN Prospective Study. Individuals with definite, highly likely, or probable DILI enrolled between September 2004 and February 2016 were included in this analysis. 144 African-Americans and 841 Caucasian patients met the eligibility criteria. Causal medications varied by race: trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole being the most common cause among African-Americans (7.6 vs. 3.6%) followed by methyldopa (4 vs. <1%), phenytoin (5 vs. <1%), isoniazid (4 vs. 4%), and amoxicillin/clavulanate (4.1 vs. 13.4%). The severity of illness, however, tended to be greater in African-Americans than Caucasians as determined by peak mean bilirubin (14.3 vs. 12.8 mg/dl), INR (1.9 vs. 1.6), and DILIN severity score (3.0 vs. 2.6). The frequency of severe cutaneous reactions was significantly higher in African-Americans (2.1 vs. 0.36% in Caucasians, P=0.048). African-Americans also had higher rates of hospitalization (76.7 vs. 57.6%, P<0.001), liver transplantation or liver related death by 6 months (10.2 vs. 5.8%, P=0.02 after controlling for selected covariates), and chronic DILI (24 vs. 16%, P=0.06). The most common DILI causative agents differ between African-Americans and Caucasians. African-Americans are more likely to have severe cutaneous reactions and more severe liver injury leading to worse outcomes, including death and liver transplant.

Speeded processing of grammar and tool knowledge in Tourette’s syndrome

PubMed Central

Walenski, Matthew; Mostofsky, Stewart H.; Ullman, Michael T.

2007-01-01

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a developmental disorder characterized by motor and verbal tics. The tics, which are fast and involuntary, result from frontal/basal-ganglia abnormalities that lead to unsuppressed behaviors. Language has not been carefully examined in TS. We tested the processing of two basic aspects of language: idiosyncratic and rule-governed linguistic knowledge. Evidence suggests that idiosyncratic knowledge (e.g., in irregular past-tense formation; bring-brought) is stored in a mental lexicon that depends on the temporal-lobe-based declarative memory system that also underlies conceptual knowledge. In contrast, evidence suggests that rule-governed combination (e.g., in regular past-tenses; walk + -ed) takes place in a mental grammar that relies on the frontal/basal-ganglia based procedural memory system, which also underlies motor skills such as how to use a hammer. We found that TS children were significantly faster than typically-developing control children at producing rule-governed past-tenses (slip-slipped, plim-plimmed, bring-bringed) but not irregular and other unpredictable past-tenses (bring-brought, splim-splam). They were also faster than controls at naming pictures of manipulated (hammer) but not non-manipulated (elephant) items. These data were not explained by a wide range of potentially confounding subject- and item-level factors. The results suggest that the processing of procedurally-based knowledge, both of grammar and of manipulated objects, is particularly speeded in TS. The frontal/basal-ganglia abnormalities may thus lead not only to tics, but to a wider range of rapid behaviors, including in the cognitive processing of rule-governed forms in language and other types of procedural knowledge. PMID:17493643

Can Neurotypical Individuals Read Autistic Facial Expressions? Atypical Production of Emotional Facial Expressions in Autism Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Biotti, Federica; Catmur, Caroline; Press, Clare; Happé, Francesca; Cook, Richard; Bird, Geoffrey

2015-01-01

The difficulties encountered by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) when interacting with neurotypical (NT, i.e. nonautistic) individuals are usually attributed to failure to recognize the emotions and mental states of their NT interaction partner. It is also possible, however, that at least some of the difficulty is due to a failure of NT individuals to read the mental and emotional states of ASD interaction partners. Previous research has frequently observed deficits of typical facial emotion recognition in individuals with ASD, suggesting atypical representations of emotional expressions. Relatively little research, however, has investigated the ability of individuals with ASD to produce recognizable emotional expressions, and thus, whether NT individuals can recognize autistic emotional expressions. The few studies which have investigated this have used only NT observers, making it impossible to determine whether atypical representations are shared among individuals with ASD, or idiosyncratic. This study investigated NT and ASD participants’ ability to recognize emotional expressions produced by NT and ASD posers. Three posing conditions were included, to determine whether potential group differences are due to atypical cognitive representations of emotion, impaired understanding of the communicative value of expressions, or poor proprioceptive feedback. Results indicated that ASD expressions were recognized less well than NT expressions, and that this is likely due to a genuine deficit in the representation of typical emotional expressions in this population. Further, ASD expressions were equally poorly recognized by NT individuals and those with ASD, implicating idiosyncratic, rather than common, atypical representations of emotional expressions in ASD. Autism Res 2016, 9: 262–271. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:26053037

Polymorphism in glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) is associated with sulfamethoxazole-induced hypersensitivity in HIV/AIDS patients

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is a commonly used antibiotic for prevention of infectious diseases associated with HIV/AIDS and immune-compromised states. SMX-induced hypersensitivity is an idiosyncratic cutaneous drug reaction with genetic components. Here, we tested association of candidate genes involved in SMX bioactivation and antioxidant defense with SMX-induced hypersensitivity. Results Seventy seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 14 candidate genes were genotyped and assessed for association with SMX-induced hypersensitivity, in a cohort of 171 HIV/AIDS patients. SNP rs761142 T > G, in glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), was significantly associated with SMX-induced hypersensitivity, with an adjusted p value of 0.045. This result was replicated in a second cohort of 249 patients (p = 0.025). In the combined cohort, heterozygous and homozygous carriers of the minor G allele were at increased risk of developing hypersensitivity (GT vs TT, odds ratio = 2.2, 95% CL 1.4-3.7, p = 0.0014; GG vs TT, odds ratio = 3.3, 95% CL 1.6 – 6.8, p = 0.0010). Each minor allele copy increased risk of developing hypersensitivity 1.9 fold (95% CL 1.4 – 2.6, p = 0.00012). Moreover, in 91 human livers and 84 B-lymphocytes samples, SNP rs761142 homozygous G allele carriers expressed significantly less GCLC mRNA than homozygous TT carriers (p < 0.05). Conclusions rs761142 in GCLC was found to be associated with reduced GCLC mRNA expression and with SMX-induced hypersensitivity in HIV/AIDS patients. Catalyzing a critical step in glutathione biosynthesis, GCLC may play a broad role in idiosyncratic drug reactions. PMID:22824134

Clinical characteristics and penile afferent neuronal function in patients with primary delayed ejaculation.

PubMed

Xia, J-D; Han, Y-F; Pan, F; Zhou, L-H; Chen, Y; Dai, Y-T

2013-09-01

Primary delayed ejaculation (DE) is a relatively uncommon condition and has not been studied broadly. In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and penile afferent neuronal function using somatosensory evoked potentials in patients with primary DE. Twenty-four patients with primary DE and 24 age-matched normally potent men were enrolled in this study. Results indicated that patients with primary DE had remarkably higher frequency of masturbatory activity (especially, some with idiosyncratic styles), lower night emissions, longer intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT), higher anxiety and depression states (p = 0.010, p = 0.017, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001 respectively). In addition, the mean penile shaft sensory threshold values in the patients were considerably higher than those in the healthy men (p < 0.001). Mean latencies of dorsal nerve somatosensory evoked potential DNSEP were 4.32 ms longer in the DE group than those in the control group (p < 0.001). However, the latencies of glans penis somatosensory evoked potential (GPSEP) between the two group showed no significant difference (p = 0.985). At the same time, in comparison with the control group, the amplitudes of DNSEP were considerably lower in the DE group (p = 0.016), but not in the amplitudes of GPSEP (p = 0.934). This study indicates that the patients with primary DE appear to have penile shaft rather than glans hyposensitivity and hypoexcitability, and adaptation to a certain masturbatory technique (higher and idiosyncratic) may be related to the causes of primary DE, which is also associated with lower night emissions, longer IELT, higher anxiety and depression states. © 2013 American Society of Andrology and European Academy of Andrology.

Behavioral, Modeling, and Electrophysiological Evidence for Supramodality in Human Metacognition.

PubMed

Faivre, Nathan; Filevich, Elisa; Solovey, Guillermo; Kühn, Simone; Blanke, Olaf

2018-01-10

Human metacognition, or the capacity to introspect on one's own mental states, has been mostly characterized through confidence reports in visual tasks. A pressing question is to what extent results from visual studies generalize to other domains. Answering this question allows determining whether metacognition operates through shared, supramodal mechanisms or through idiosyncratic, modality-specific mechanisms. Here, we report three new lines of evidence for decisional and postdecisional mechanisms arguing for the supramodality of metacognition. First, metacognitive efficiency correlated among auditory, tactile, visual, and audiovisual tasks. Second, confidence in an audiovisual task was best modeled using supramodal formats based on integrated representations of auditory and visual signals. Third, confidence in correct responses involved similar electrophysiological markers for visual and audiovisual tasks that are associated with motor preparation preceding the perceptual judgment. We conclude that the supramodality of metacognition relies on supramodal confidence estimates and decisional signals that are shared across sensory modalities. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Metacognitive monitoring is the capacity to access, report, and regulate one's own mental states. In perception, this allows rating our confidence in what we have seen, heard, or touched. Although metacognitive monitoring can operate on different cognitive domains, we ignore whether it involves a single supramodal mechanism common to multiple cognitive domains or modality-specific mechanisms idiosyncratic to each domain. Here, we bring evidence in favor of the supramodality hypothesis by showing that participants with high metacognitive performance in one modality are likely to perform well in other modalities. Based on computational modeling and electrophysiology, we propose that supramodality can be explained by the existence of supramodal confidence estimates and by the influence of decisional cues on confidence estimates. Copyright © 2018 the authors 0270-6474/18/380263-15$15.00/0.

The effect of input data transformations on object-based image analysis

PubMed Central

LIPPITT, CHRISTOPHER D.; COULTER, LLOYD L.; FREEMAN, MARY; LAMANTIA-BISHOP, JEFFREY; PANG, WYSON; STOW, DOUGLAS A.

2011-01-01

The effect of using spectral transform images as input data on segmentation quality and its potential effect on products generated by object-based image analysis are explored in the context of land cover classification in Accra, Ghana. Five image data transformations are compared to untransformed spectral bands in terms of their effect on segmentation quality and final product accuracy. The relationship between segmentation quality and product accuracy is also briefly explored. Results suggest that input data transformations can aid in the delineation of landscape objects by image segmentation, but the effect is idiosyncratic to the transformation and object of interest. PMID:21673829

Climate Change: A Multidisciplinary Approach, Second Edition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirk-Davidoff, Daniel

2008-07-01

William Burroughs, who died in November 2007, was a wonderfully clear and evocative writer. Chapter 3 of his last work, Climate Change: A Multidisciplinary Approach, begins with the loveliest four-paragraph description of the general circulation of the Earth's atmosphere I have ever encountered. His writing also shines in his descriptions of the climate record of the past few thousand years, and in his introduction to the measurement of climate change. Unfortunately, the book is marred by inconsistencies in its treatment of climate dynamics, as well as by a number of idiosyncratic choices of emphasis that detract from the book's quality as a general introduction to the science of climate change.

A Mobile Computing Solution for Collecting Functional Analysis Data on a Pocket PC

PubMed Central

Jackson, James; Dixon, Mark R

2007-01-01

The present paper provides a task analysis for creating a computerized data system using a Pocket PC and Microsoft Visual Basic. With Visual Basic software and any handheld device running the Windows Moble operating system, this task analysis will allow behavior analysts to program and customize their own functional analysis data-collection system. The program will allow the user to select the type of behavior to be recorded, choose between interval and frequency data collection, and summarize data for graphing and analysis. We also provide suggestions for customizing the data-collection system for idiosyncratic research and clinical needs. PMID:17624078

Spacetime from Entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swingle, Brian

2018-03-01

This is an idiosyncratic colloquium-style review of the idea that spacetime and gravity can emerge from entanglement. Drawing inspiration from the conjectured duality between quantum gravity in anti de Sitter space and certain conformal field theories, we argue that tensor networks can be used to define a discrete geometry that encodes entanglement geometrically. With the additional assumption that a continuum limit can be taken, the resulting geometry necessarily obeys Einstein's equations. The discussion takes the point of view that the emergence of spacetime and gravity is a mysterious phenomenon of quantum many-body physics that we would like to understand. We also briefly discuss possible experiments to detect emergent gravity in highly entangled quantum systems.

Gaussian Processes for Prediction of Homing Pigeon Flight Trajectories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mann, Richard; Freeman, Robin; Osborne, Michael; Garnett, Roman; Meade, Jessica; Armstrong, Chris; Biro, Dora; Guilford, Tim; Roberts, Stephen

2009-12-01

We construct and apply a stochastic Gaussian Process (GP) model of flight trajectory generation for pigeons trained to home from specific release sites. The model shows increasing predictive power as the birds become familiar with the sites, mirroring the animal's learning process. We show how the increasing similarity between successive flight trajectories can be used to infer, with increasing accuracy, an idealised route that captures the repeated spatial aspects of the bird's flight. We subsequently use techniques associated with reduced-rank GP approximations to objectively identify the key waypoints used by each bird to memorise its idiosyncratic habitual route between the release site and the home loft.

Isotretinoin, depression and suicide: a review of the evidence

PubMed Central

Magin, Parker; Pond, Dimity; Smith, Wayne

2005-01-01

There is currently considerable controversy regarding a proposed causal relationship between the use of isotretinoin and depression and suicide. A search was made of the MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsychINFO databases using the search terms ‘isotretinoin’, ‘depression’ and ‘suicide’. Despite numerous case reports linking isotretinoin to depression, suicidal ideation and suicide, there is, as yet, no clear proof of an association. While isotretinoin, used to treat acne vulgaris, has not been demonstrated to be associated with depression or suicide, the possibility of a relatively rare idiosyncratic adverse effect remains. GPs have a role in the clinical application of these findings. PMID:15720936

Endosperm: food for humankind and fodder for scientific discoveries.

PubMed

Li, Jing; Berger, Frédéric

2012-07-01

The endosperm is an essential constituent of seeds in flowering plants. It originates from a fertilization event parallel to the fertilization that gives rise to the embryo. The endosperm nurtures embryo development and, in some species including cereals, stores the seed reserves and represents a major source of food for humankind. Endosperm biology is characterized by specific features, including idiosyncratic cellular controls of cell division and epigenetic controls associated with parental genomic imprinting. This review attempts a comprehensive summary of our current knowledge of endosperm development and highlights recent advances in this field. © 2012 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2012 New Phytologist Trust.

Collective states in social systems with interacting learning agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semeshenko, Viktoriya; Gordon, Mirta B.; Nadal, Jean-Pierre

2008-08-01

We study the implications of social interactions and individual learning features on consumer demand in a simple market model. We consider a social system of interacting heterogeneous agents with learning abilities. Given a fixed price, agents repeatedly decide whether or not to buy a unit of a good, so as to maximize their expected utilities. This model is close to Random Field Ising Models, where the random field corresponds to the idiosyncratic willingness to pay. We show that the equilibrium reached depends on the nature of the information agents use to estimate their expected utilities. It may be different from the systems’ Nash equilibria.

Reconceptualizing the Archetypal Trickster in Audre Lorde's Zami: A New Spelling of My Name.

PubMed

Saber, Yomna

2015-01-01

Carl Jung categorizes the trickster as a psychological archetype and sets certain parameters for it. This article examines Audre Lorde's trickster Afrekete in Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982) and poses the question of how typically archetypal a Black, female, lesbian trickster can be. Lorde occupies an idiosyncratic position in the canon in terms of race, gender, and sexual orientation. She bestows new qualities on her trickster coming from the peripheries she dwells in and challenges the Jungian model. Through Afrekete's linguistic dexterity and sexual identity, Lorde transforms the trickster from being seemingly innocuous into a figure of resistance grounded in lesbian erotica.

[Anticonvulsant Hypersensitivity Syndrome: A Case Report].

PubMed

Valderrama Escudero, Felipe; Montoya González, Laura Elisa

2014-01-01

DRESS syndrome (skin reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms) is an idiosyncratic drug reaction characterized by rash, fever, lymphadenopathy, and internal organ dysfunction. This case report is on a patient with bipolar affective disorder who presented with a systemic inflammatory response associated with the use of valproic acid, and an important activation of symptoms when used with other drugs with a different pharmacological action mechanism. The diagnosis of DRESS syndrome is primarily by exclusion, and its detection may be difficult, which could potentially become fatal for the patient. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Adam (MDMA) and Eve (MDEA) misuse: an immunohistochemical study on three fatal cases.

PubMed

Fineschi, V; Centini, F; Mazzeo, E; Turillazzi, E

1999-09-30

Three fatal cases of MDMA/MDEA misuse have been examined. These referred to white males between 19 and 20 years of age, in which post-mortem toxicology showed the presence of MDMA (in one case), MDEA (in one case) and both (in one case). The clinical data were analysed and the histopathological findings were studied following immunohistochemical investigations. A complete immunohistochemical study has made it possible to demonstrate rhabdomyolysis and myoglobinuria with alterations of the organs typical of a DIC. Clinical, histopathological and toxicological data suggest that severe or fatal complications following ecstasy ingestion could be related to idiosyncratic response.

Iron and its complexation by phenolic cellular metabolites

PubMed Central

Chobot, Vladimir

2010-01-01

Iron is a transition metal that forms chelates and complexes with various organic compounds, also with phenolic plant secondary metabolites. The ligands of iron affect the redox potential of iron. Electrons may be transferred either to hydroxyl radicals, hydrogen peroxide or molecular oxygen. In the first case, oxidative stress is decreased, in the latter two cases, oxidative stress is increased. This milieu-dependent mode of action may explain the non-linear mode of action of juglone and other secondary metabolites. Attention to this phenomenon may help to explain idiosyncratic and often nonlinear effects that result in biological assays. Current chemical assays are discussed that help to explore these aspects of redox chemistry. PMID:20592800

Construction of an advanced software tool for planetary atmospheric modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedland, Peter; Keller, Richard M.; Mckay, Christopher P.; Sims, Michael H.; Thompson, David E.

1993-01-01

Scientific model-building can be a time intensive and painstaking process, often involving the development of large complex computer programs. Despite the effort involved, scientific models cannot be distributed easily and shared with other scientists. In general, implemented scientific models are complicated, idiosyncratic, and difficult for anyone but the original scientist/programmer to understand. We propose to construct a scientific modeling software tool that serves as an aid to the scientist in developing, using and sharing models. The proposed tool will include an interactive intelligent graphical interface and a high-level domain-specific modeling language. As a testbed for this research, we propose to develop a software prototype in the domain of planetary atmospheric modeling.

Bone marrow hypoplasia associated with fenbendazole administration in a dog.

PubMed

Gary, Anthony T; Kerl, Marie E; Wiedmeyer, Charles E; Turnquist, Susan E; Cohn, Leah A

2004-01-01

A 1.5-year-old Doberman pinscher was presented with sudden-onset of fever and malaise. Twelve days prior to presentation, fenbendazole therapy was initiated for a suspected lungworm infection. Results of a complete blood count on presentation showed pancytopenia, while histopathological evaluation of a bone marrow core sample revealed bone marrow hypoplasia of undetermined etiology. Bactericidal antibiotics and fluid therapy, as well as discontinuation of fenbendazole administration, led to a complete resolution of clinical and hematological abnormalities within 15 days. An idiosyncratic reaction to fenbendazole was suspected based on the absence of infectious, neoplastic, autoimmune, and toxic etiologies, as well as resolution of clinical signs and pancytopenia upon drug withdrawal.

[Cognitive therapy has been shown to be effective in panic disorder].

PubMed

d'Elia, G; Holsten, F

1998-10-28

Cognitive therapists suggest panic disorder to result from 'catastrophic' misinterpretation of bodily sensations. The patient suffering from panic disorder consistently misinterprets normal anxiety responses, such as racing heart, breathlessness or dizziness, as indicating impending disaster. Cognitive therapists, who challenge the traditional view of anxiety as 'free-floating' and irrational, argue that the patient's anxiety is an understandable response to their misinterpretations, and advocate a treatment method based on the patient's specific cognitive make-up and on the principle of collaborative empiricism. The patient is gently guided to identify and challenge idiosyncratic cognitions, and to consider alternative interpretations of danger signs. The article provides an outline of the treatment method and its empirical support.

Importing Freud: first-wave psychoanalysis, interwar social sciences, and the interdisciplinary foundations of an American social theory.

PubMed

Gitre, Edward J K

2010-01-01

For all that has been written about Freud, one of the most significant sites for his initial importation into the U.S. remains largely unexamined: namely, within and through the social sciences. During these early years, social scientists were attracted to psychoanalysis for reasons that were not only personal and idiosyncratic, but also intellectual, social, and professional. Focusing on the University of Chicago's Division of Social Sciences and using oral histories, students records, course materials, as well as published sources, this essay explores this varied attraction and its substantive impact upon American social theory vis-à-vis the ideals and ideology of "social adjustment."

A note to the musculoskeletal physiotherapist.

PubMed

Zusman, Max

2012-01-01

Musculoskeletal (formerly manipulative) physiotherapy is widely used for the rehabilitation of patients with common musculoskeletal pain and related disability. As part of its progress from largely empirical beginnings to becoming basic sciences informed this sub-specialty of the physiotherapy profession has developed a profound interest in pain mechanisms, causal and therapeutic. It is of some concern, however, that the use of pain terminology and classification among the fraternity has tended to be typically idiosyncratic and at times inaccurate. This is not only confusing to followers of the wider medical science literature. It also compromises clear communication between the physiotherapist and fellow orthodox health care professionals. This 'note' restates the acknowledged pain terminology and its applicability to recognised pain categories.

Construction of an advanced software tool for planetary atmospheric modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedland, Peter; Keller, Richard M.; Mckay, Christopher P.; Sims, Michael H.; Thompson, David E.

1992-01-01

Scientific model-building can be a time intensive and painstaking process, often involving the development of large complex computer programs. Despite the effort involved, scientific models cannot be distributed easily and shared with other scientists. In general, implemented scientific models are complicated, idiosyncratic, and difficult for anyone but the original scientist/programmer to understand. We propose to construct a scientific modeling software tool that serves as an aid to the scientist in developing, using and sharing models. The proposed tool will include an interactive intelligent graphical interface and a high-level domain-specific modeling language. As a test bed for this research, we propose to develop a software prototype in the domain of planetary atmospheric modeling.

Extracting the sovereigns’ CDS market hierarchy: A correlation-filtering approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

León, Carlos; Leiton, Karen; Pérez, Jhonatan

2014-12-01

This paper employs correlation-into-distance mapping techniques and a minimal spanning tree-based correlation-filtering methodology on 36 sovereign CDS spread time-series in order to identify the sovereigns’ informational hierarchy. The resulting hierarchy (i) concurs with sovereigns’ eigenvector centrality; (ii) confirms the importance of geographical and credit rating clustering; (iii) identifies Russia, Turkey and Brazil as regional benchmarks; (iv) reveals the idiosyncratic nature of Japan and United States; (v) confirms that a small set of common factors affects the system; (vi) suggests that lower-medium grade rated sovereigns are the most influential, but also the most prone to contagion; and (vii) suggests the existence of a “Latin American common factor”.

Attention to individual identities modulates face processing.

PubMed

Ruz, María; Aranda, Clara; Sarmiento, Beatriz R; Sanabria, Daniel

2015-05-01

The ability of attention to apply in a flexible manner to several types of information at various stages of processing has been studied extensively. However, the susceptibility of these effects to the nature of the idiosyncratic items being attended is less understood. In the current study, we used symbolic cues to orient the attention of participants to the subsequent appearance of the face of a famous person (the former king of Spain) or an unfamiliar face. These were matched in perceptual characteristics. Behavioral effects showed that face-specific attention optimized response speed in an orthogonal task when the target matched the cue (valid trials) compared to when it did not (invalid trials). According to topographical analyses of the electrophysiological data, the famous and unfamiliar faces engaged dissociable brain circuits in two different temporal windows, from 144 to 300 ms after target processing, and at a later 456-492 ms epoch. In addition, orienting attention to specific faces modulated the perceptual stages reflected in the P1 and N170 potentials but with a different laterality pattern that depended on the familiarity of the faces. Whereas only attention to the famous face enhanced the P1 potential at left posterior electrodes, with no corresponding effect for the unfamiliar face at this stage, the N170 was modulated at left posterior sites for the famous item and at right homologous electrodes for the unfamiliar face. Intermediate processing stages, previously linked to facial identity processing indexed by the P2 and N2 potentials, reflected item familiarity but were not affected by the cueing manipulation. At the P3 level, attention influenced again item processing but did so in an equivalent manner for the famous and unfamiliar face. Our results, showing that identity-specific attention modulates perceptual stages of facial processing at different locations depending on idiosyncratic stimulus familiarity, may inform comparison of studies employing items with different degrees of novelty.

Comparative Gene Expression Profiles Induced by PPARγ and PPARα/γ Agonists in Human Hepatocytes

PubMed Central

Rogue, Alexandra; Lambert, Carine; Jossé, Rozenn; Antherieu, Sebastien; Spire, Catherine; Claude, Nancy; Guillouzo, André

2011-01-01

Background Several glitazones (PPARγ agonists) and glitazars (dual PPARα/γ agonists) have been developed to treat hyperglycemia and, simultaneously, hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia, respectively. However, most have caused idiosyncratic hepatic or extrahepatic toxicities through mechanisms that remain largely unknown. Since the liver plays a key role in lipid metabolism, we analyzed changes in gene expression profiles induced by these two types of PPAR agonists in human hepatocytes. Methodology/Principal Findings Primary human hepatocytes and the well-differentiated human hepatoma HepaRG cells were exposed to different concentrations of two PPARγ (troglitazone and rosiglitazone) and two PPARα/γ (muraglitazar and tesaglitazar) agonists for 24 h and their transcriptomes were analyzed using human pangenomic Agilent microarrays. Principal Component Analysis, hierarchical clustering and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis® revealed large inter-individual variability in the response of the human hepatocyte populations to the different compounds. Many genes involved in lipid, carbohydrate, xenobiotic and cholesterol metabolism, as well as inflammation and immunity, were regulated by both PPARγ and PPARα/γ agonists in at least a number of human hepatocyte populations and/or HepaRG cells. Only a few genes were selectively deregulated by glitazars when compared to glitazones, indicating that PPARγ and PPARα/γ agonists share most of their target genes. Moreover, some target genes thought to be regulated only in mouse or to be expressed in Kupffer cells were also found to be responsive in human hepatocytes and HepaRG cells. Conclusions/Significance This first comprehensive analysis of gene regulation by PPARγ and PPARα/γ agonists favor the conclusion that glitazones and glitazars share most of their target genes and induce large differential changes in gene profiles in human hepatocytes depending on hepatocyte donor, the compound class and/or individual compound, thereby supporting the occurrence of idiosyncratic toxicity in some patients. PMID:21533120

Paying attention to saccadic intrusions.

PubMed

Gowen, E; Abadi, R V; Poliakoff, E

2005-12-01

Fixation to a target in primary gaze is invariably interrupted by physiological conjugate saccadic intrusions (SI). These small idiosyncratic eye movements (usually <1 degrees in amplitude) take the form of an initial horizontal fast eye movement away from the desired eye position, followed after a variable duration by a return saccade or drift. As the aetiology of SI is still unclear, it was the aim of this study to investigate whether SI are related to exogenous or endogenous attentional processes. This was achieved by varying (a) the "bottom-up" target viewing conditions (target presence, servo control of the target, target background, target size) and (b) the 'top-down' attentional state (instruction change--'look' or 'hold eyes steady' and passive fixation versus active--'respond to change' fixation) in 13 subjects (the number of participants in each task varied between 7 and 11). We also manipulated the orientation of pure exogenous attention through a cue-target task, during which subjects were required to respond to a target, preceded by a non-informative cue by either pressing a button or making a saccade towards the target. SI amplitude, duration, frequency and direction were measured. SI amplitude was found to be significantly higher when the target was absent and SI frequency significantly lower during open loop conditions. Target size and background influenced SI behaviour in an idiosyncratic manner, although there was a trend for subjects to exhibit lower SI frequencies and amplitudes when a patterned background was present and larger SI amplitudes with larger target sizes. SI frequency decreased during the "hold eyes steady" passive command as well as during active fixation but SI direction was not influenced by the exogenous cue-target task. These results suggest that SI are related to endogenous rather than exogenous attention mechanisms. Our experiments lead us to propose that SI represent shifts in endogenous attention that reflect a baseline attention state present during laboratory fixation tasks and may prove to be a useful tool to explore higher cortical control of fixation.

Idiosyncratic responses of grizzly bear habitat to climate change based on projected food resource changes.

PubMed

Roberts, David R; Nielsen, Scott E; Stenhouse, Gordon B

2014-07-01

Climate change vulnerability assessments for species of conservation concern often use species distribution and ecological niche modeling to project changes in habitat. One of many assumptions of these approaches is that food web dependencies are consistent in time and environmental space. Species at higher trophic levels that rely on the availability of species at lower trophic levels as food may be sensitive to extinction cascades initiated by changes in the habitat of key food resources. Here we assess climate change vulnerability for Ursus arctos (grizzly bears) in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains using projected changes to 17 of the most commonly consumed plant food items. We used presence-absence information from 7088 field plots to estimate ecological niches and to project changes in future distributions of each species. Model projections indicated idiosyncratic responses among food items. Many food items persisted or even increased, although several species were found to be vulnerable based on declines or geographic shifts in suitable habitat. These included Hedysarum alpinum (alpine sweet vetch), a critical spring and autumn root-digging resource when little else is available. Potential habitat loss was also identified for three fruiting species of lower importance to bears: Empetrum nigrum (crowberry), Vaccinium scoparium (grouseberry), and Fragaria virginiana (strawberry). A general trend towards uphill migration of bear foods may result in higher vulnerability to bear populations at low elevations, which are also those that are most likely to have human-bear conflict problems. Regardless, a wide diet breadth of grizzly bears, as well as wide environmental niches of most food items, make climate change a much lower threat to grizzly bears than other bear species such as polar bears and panda bears. We cannot exclude, however, future alterations in human behavior and land use resulting from climate change that may reduce survival rates.

Processing of a Subliminal Rebus during Sleep: Idiosyncratic Primary versus Secondary Process Associations upon Awakening from REM- versus Non-REM-Sleep

PubMed Central

Steinig, Jana; Bazan, Ariane; Happe, Svenja; Antonetti, Sarah; Shevrin, Howard

2017-01-01

Primary and secondary processes are the foundational axes of the Freudian mental apparatus: one horizontally as a tendency to associate, the primary process, and one vertically as the ability for perspective taking, the secondary process. Primary process mentation is not only supposed to be dominant in the unconscious but also, for example, in dreams. The present study tests the hypothesis that the mental activity during REM-sleep has more characteristics of the primary process, while during non-REM-sleep more secondary process operations take place. Because the solving of a rebus requires the ability to non-contexually condensate the literal reading of single stimuli into a new one, rebus solving is a primary process operation by excellence. In a replication of the dream-rebus study of Shevrin and Fisher (1967), a rebus, which consisted of an image of a comb (German: “Kamm”) and an image of a raft (German: “Floß”), resulting in the German rebus word “kampflos” (Engl.: without a struggle), was flashed subliminally (at 1 ms) to 20 participants before going to sleep. Upon consecutive awakenings participants were asked for a dream report, free associations and an image description. Based on objective association norms, there were significantly more conceptual associations referring to Kamm and Floß indexing secondary process mentation when subjects were awakened from non-REM sleep as compared to REM-awakenings. There were not significantly more rebus associations referring to kampflos indexing primary process mentation when awakened from REM-sleep as compared to non-REM awakenings. However, when the associations were scored on the basis of each subject’s individual norms, there was a rebus effect with more idiosyncratic rebus associations in awakenings after REM than after non-REM-sleep. Our results support the general idea that REM-sleep is characterized by primary process thinking, while non-REM-sleep mentation follows the rules of the secondary process. PMID:29209244

Determinants of bird species richness, endemism, and island network roles in Wallacea and the West Indies: is geography sufficient or does current and historical climate matter?

PubMed Central

Dalsgaard, Bo; Carstensen, Daniel W; Fjeldså, Jon; Maruyama, Pietro K; Rahbek, Carsten; Sandel, Brody; Sonne, Jesper; Svenning, Jens-Christian; Wang, Zhiheng; Sutherland, William J

2014-01-01

Island biogeography has greatly contributed to our understanding of the processes determining species' distributions. Previous research has focused on the effects of island geography (i.e., island area, elevation, and isolation) and current climate as drivers of island species richness and endemism. Here, we evaluate the potential additional effects of historical climate on breeding land bird richness and endemism in Wallacea and the West Indies. Furthermore, on the basis of species distributions, we identify island biogeographical network roles and examine their association with geography, current and historical climate, and bird richness/endemism. We found that island geography, especially island area but also isolation and elevation, largely explained the variation in island species richness and endemism. Current and historical climate only added marginally to our understanding of the distribution of species on islands, and this was idiosyncratic to each archipelago. In the West Indies, endemic richness was slightly reduced on islands with historically unstable climates; weak support for the opposite was found in Wallacea. In both archipelagos, large islands with many endemics and situated far from other large islands had high importance for the linkage within modules, indicating that these islands potentially act as speciation pumps and source islands for surrounding smaller islands within the module and, thus, define the biogeographical modules. Large islands situated far from the mainland and/or with a high number of nonendemics acted as links between modules. Additionally, in Wallacea, but not in the West Indies, climatically unstable islands tended to interlink biogeographical modules. The weak and idiosyncratic effect of historical climate on island richness, endemism, and network roles indicates that historical climate had little effects on extinction-immigration dynamics. This is in contrast to the strong effect of historical climate observed on the mainland, possibly because surrounding oceans buffer against strong climate oscillations and because geography is a strong determinant of island richness, endemism and network roles. PMID:25505528

[Some criminological and psychopathologic reflexions about serial crimes].

PubMed

Romi, Juan Carlos

2011-01-01

This article reviews the concept of serial crime, including murder as well as any action for the purpose of inflicting bodily harm upon any person. It characterizes three types of multi-murderers: serial killers, mass murderers, and spree killers. These offenders often have a specific (ritual) behavior that is idiosyncratic and repeated on each crime, which allows the psychological profiling of the murderer. Examples, a psychopathological background, and a description of both their criminal behavior and dynamics are provided for each of these criminals. They are further classified according to their different motivations: psychotic, prophetic or enlightened, pleasure, secondary or pecuniary profits, power or control. Finally, the author shares his personal experience over 20 years in the assessment of sexual offenders.

Burden of illness and research investments in translational sciences for pharmaceuticals in metastatic cancers.

PubMed

Wang, Wei-Jhih; Robertson, Justin C; Basu, Anirban

2017-01-01

To explore whether investments in translational sciences for six metastatic cancers follow idiosyncratic returns to those investments rather than levels of burden of illness (BI). Associate the number of translational clinical trials in the USA involving oncolytic drugs approved during 2008-2013 and the level (in 2008) and changes (2002-2008 and 2008-2014) in cancer-specific years of life lost. Investments in trials were positively associated only with contemporary changes in BI (2008-2014). The relationship was stronger for government-sponsored comparative-effectiveness trials than for industry. Translational research investments follow anticipated changes to BI levels. Systematic quantification of these expected returns from specific investments can help guide investment decisions in translational health sciences and generate productive dialogue across stakeholders.

Science/art - art/science: case studies of the development of a professional art product

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

Sesko, S.C.; Marchant, M.

1997-02-24

Objective was to follow the cognitive and creative processes demonstrated by student research participants as they integrated a developing knowledge of ``big`` science, as practiced at LLNL, into a personal and idiosyncratic visual, graphical, or multimedia product. The participants, all non-scientists, involved in this process, attended a series of design classes, sponsored by LLNL at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena CA. As a result of this study, we have become interested in the possibility of similar characteristics between scientists and artists. We have also become interested in the different processes that can be used to teach sciencemore » to non-scientists, so that they are able to understand and portray scientific information.« less

Estimating time-varying conditional correlations between stock and foreign exchange markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tastan, Hüseyin

2006-02-01

This study explores the dynamic interaction between stock market returns and changes in nominal exchange rates. Many financial variables are known to exhibit fat tails and autoregressive variance structure. It is well-known that unconditional covariance and correlation coefficients also vary significantly over time and multivariate generalized autoregressive model (MGARCH) is able to capture the time-varying variance-covariance matrix for stock market returns and changes in exchange rates. The model is applied to daily Euro-Dollar exchange rates and two stock market indexes from the US economy: Dow-Jones Industrial Average Index and S&P500 Index. The news impact surfaces are also drawn based on the model estimates to see the effects of idiosyncratic shocks in respective markets.

Communication Intervention for Young Children with Severe Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Via Telehealth.

PubMed

Simacek, Jessica; Dimian, Adele F; McComas, Jennifer J

2017-03-01

Young children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and Rett syndrome often experience severe communication impairments. This study examined the efficacy of parent-implemented communication assessment and intervention with remote coaching via telehealth on the acquisition of early communication skills of three young children with ASD (2) and Rett syndrome (1). Efficacy of the intervention was evaluated using single-case experimental designs. First, functional assessment was used to identify idiosyncratic/potentially communicative responses and contexts for each child. Next, parents implemented functional communication training (FCT). All of the children acquired the targeted communication responses. The findings support the efficacy of telehealth as a service delivery model to coach parents on intervention strategies for their children's early communication skills.

Smoke and mirrors - the politics and culture of air pollution

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

E. Melanie DuPuis

2004-01-15

From the coal factory chimneys in Manchester, England in the late nineteenth century to the smog hanging over Los Angeles, USA in the late twentieth century, air pollution has long been one of the greatest threats to our environment. In this important collection of original essays, the leading environmental scientists and social scientists examine the politics of air pollution policies and help us to understand the ways these policies have led to, idiosyncratic, effective, ineffective, and even disastrous choices about what we choose to put into and take out of the air. Offering historical, contemporary and cross-national perspectives, this volumemore » provides a refreshing new approach to understanding how air pollution policies have evolved over time.« less

East-West paths to unconventional computing.

PubMed

Adamatzky, Andrew; Akl, Selim; Burgin, Mark; Calude, Cristian S; Costa, José Félix; Dehshibi, Mohammad Mahdi; Gunji, Yukio-Pegio; Konkoli, Zoran; MacLennan, Bruce; Marchal, Bruno; Margenstern, Maurice; Martínez, Genaro J; Mayne, Richard; Morita, Kenichi; Schumann, Andrew; Sergeyev, Yaroslav D; Sirakoulis, Georgios Ch; Stepney, Susan; Svozil, Karl; Zenil, Hector

2017-12-01

Unconventional computing is about breaking boundaries in thinking, acting and computing. Typical topics of this non-typical field include, but are not limited to physics of computation, non-classical logics, new complexity measures, novel hardware, mechanical, chemical and quantum computing. Unconventional computing encourages a new style of thinking while practical applications are obtained from uncovering and exploiting principles and mechanisms of information processing in and functional properties of, physical, chemical and living systems; in particular, efficient algorithms are developed, (almost) optimal architectures are designed and working prototypes of future computing devices are manufactured. This article includes idiosyncratic accounts of 'unconventional computing' scientists reflecting on their personal experiences, what attracted them to the field, their inspirations and discoveries. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hunger induced changes in food choice. When beggars cannot be choosers even if they are allowed to choose.

PubMed

Hoefling, Atilla; Strack, Fritz

2010-06-01

The present work was to examine the influence of food deprivation on food choice. For this purpose hungry versus satiated subjects were presented with a series of choices between two snacks in a complete block design of pairwise comparisons. Snacks systematically varied with respect to subjects' idiosyncratic taste preferences (preferred versus un-preferred snack), portion size (large portion versus very small portion), and availability in terms of time (immediately available versus available only after a substantial time delay). Food choices were analyzed with a conjoint analysis which corroborated the assumption that food deprivation decreases the relative importance of taste preference and increases the importance of immediate availability of food. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

'Where is the damned collection?' Charles Davies Sherborn's listing of named natural science collections and its successors.

PubMed

Taylor, Michael A

2016-01-01

C. D. Sherborn published in 1940, under the imprint of Cambridge University Press but at his own expense, Where is the - Collection? This idiosyncratic listing of named natural science collections, and their fates, was useful, but incomplete, and uneven in its accuracy. It is argued that those defects were inevitable, given Sherborn's age and wartime conditions, and that what might seem one of Sherborn's less impressive works was in fact a pioneering work highly influential in stimulating the production of successor works now much used in curation, and in systematic and descriptive biology and palaeontology. The book also contributed to the development of collections research in the natural sciences, and the history of collections and of museums.

At a Loss for Words: Nosological Impotence in the Search for Justice.

PubMed

Weiss, Kenneth J

2016-03-01

The assessment and trial of Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Breivik, including disparate opinions about his sanity, raise questions about distinguishing "bad" from "mad." Although he was ultimately found criminally responsible, the tenacity and pervasiveness of his beliefs suggested delusional thinking. The author reflects on the difficulty psychiatrists have with nomenclature generally and on the application of imprecise classification to criminal justice. Ideally, a classification system should "carve nature at its joints." Barring that, psychiatry needs operational definitions to appreciate the differences between idiosyncratic, psychotic thinking, and shared subcultural beliefs or ideologies. The concept of extreme overvalued belief provides a basis for making this distinction, when applied in the criminal justice context. © 2016 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

Interaction of depth probes and style of depiction

PubMed Central

van Doorn, Andrea J.; Koenderink, Jan J.; Leyssen, Mieke H. R.; Wagemans, Johan

2012-01-01

We study the effect of stylistic differences on the nature of pictorial spaces as they appear to an observer when looking into a picture. Four pictures chosen from diverse styles of depiction were studied by 2 different methods. Each method addresses pictorial depth but draws on a different bouquet of depth cues. We find that the depth structures are very similar for 8 observers, apart from an idiosyncratic depth scaling (up to a factor of 3). The differences between observers generalize over (very different) pictures and (very different) methods. They are apparently characteristic of the person. The differences between depths as sampled by the 2 methods depend upon the style of the picture. This is the case for all observers except one. PMID:23145306

[Toxic epidermal necrolysis associated with acute infection by Mycoplasma pneumoniae].

PubMed

Calvano, Roberta Amelia; Scacchi, María Florencia; Sojo, Magdalena María; Díaz, Silvia Marta; Volonteri, Victoria Inés; Giachetti, Ana Claudia

2013-01-01

Erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis represent different manifestations of the same spectrum of severe idiosyncratic cutaneous reactions to drugs and to a lesser extent are associated with infectous agents. Among these, Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the most frequent. We report the case of a female patient aged 5 years, with a toxic epidermal necrolysis associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, which begins with a fever accompanied by a generalized rash with involvement of the mucous membranes. IgM serology for Mycoplasma pneumoniae was positive and initial biopsy was compatible with erythema multiforme major. The patient was treated with corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulin, plasmapheresis and strict care to prevent superinfection and sequels. After 31 days of hospitalization the patient was discharged from hospital.

Project on Elite Athlete Commitment (PEAK): III. An examination of the external validity across gender, and the expansion and clarification of the Sport Commitment Model.

PubMed

Scanlan, Tara K; Russell, David G; Magyar, T Michelle; Scanlan, Larry A

2009-12-01

The Sport Commitment Model was further tested using the Scanlan Collaborative Interview Method to examine its generalizability to New Zealand's elite female amateur netball team, the Silver Ferns. Results supported or clarified Sport Commitment Model predictions, revealed avenues for model expansion, and elucidated the functions of perceived competence and enjoyment in the commitment process. A comparison and contrast of the in-depth interview data from the Silver Ferns with previous interview data from a comparable elite team of amateur male athletes allowed assessment of model external validity, tested the generalizability of the underlying mechanisms, and separated gender differences from discrepancies that simply reflected team or idiosyncratic differences.

Artificial intelligence support for scientific model-building

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.

1992-01-01

Scientific model-building can be a time-intensive and painstaking process, often involving the development of large and complex computer programs. Despite the effort involved, scientific models cannot easily be distributed and shared with other scientists. In general, implemented scientific models are complex, idiosyncratic, and difficult for anyone but the original scientific development team to understand. We believe that artificial intelligence techniques can facilitate both the model-building and model-sharing process. In this paper, we overview our effort to build a scientific modeling software tool that aids the scientist in developing and using models. This tool includes an interactive intelligent graphical interface, a high-level domain specific modeling language, a library of physics equations and experimental datasets, and a suite of data display facilities.

Integrating Grid Services into the Cray XT4 Environment

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

NERSC; Cholia, Shreyas; Lin, Hwa-Chun Wendy

2009-05-01

The 38640 core Cray XT4"Franklin" system at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) is a massively parallel resource available to Department of Energy researchers that also provides on-demand grid computing to the Open Science Grid. The integration of grid services on Franklin presented various challenges, including fundamental differences between the interactive and compute nodes, a stripped down compute-node operating system without dynamic library support, a shared-root environment and idiosyncratic application launching. Inour work, we describe how we resolved these challenges on a running, general-purpose production system to provide on-demand compute, storage, accounting and monitoring services through generic gridmore » interfaces that mask the underlying system-specific details for the end user.« less

Do potential SETI signals need to be decontaminated?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrigan, Richard A., Jr.

2006-01-01

Biological contamination from space samples is a remote but accepted possibility. Signals received by searches for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) could also contain harmful information in the spirit of a computer virus, the so-called "SETI Hacker" hypothesis. Over the last four decades extraterrestrial intelligence searches have given little consideration to this possibility. Some argue that information in an extraterrestrial signal could not attack a terrestrial computer because the computer logic and code is idiosyncratic and constitutes an impenetrable firewall. Suggestions are given on how to probe these arguments. Measures for decontaminating extraterrestrial intelligence signals (ETI) are discussed. Modifications to the current SETI detection protocol may be appropriate. Beyond that, the potential character of ETI message content requires much broader discussion.

Clinical implications of contemporary gender theory.

PubMed

Kulish, Nancy

2010-04-01

The current intellectual scene in psychoanalysis is marked by vigorous theoretical controversies about gender. The ideas being debated have important implications for clinical work, which have not been thoroughly explicated or integrated into common practice. These implications include the following: gender can accrue idiosyncratic meanings; gender identity is considered fluid and rigidity of gender identity deemed problematic; gender-related conflicts are typically described as divergent; analysis of superego conflicts related to gender becomes particularly important; and, finally, gender-related biases are seen as inevitable and must be taken into account in the clinical situation. A detailed clinical example illustrates the application of these ideas. While the more dramatic cases related to gender have been more frequent subjects of study, conflicts about gender are everyday occurrences for our patients and deserve further attention.

Personal semantics: at the crossroads of semantic and episodic memory.

PubMed

Renoult, Louis; Davidson, Patrick S R; Palombo, Daniela J; Moscovitch, Morris; Levine, Brian

2012-11-01

Declarative memory is usually described as consisting of two systems: semantic and episodic memory. Between these two poles, however, may lie a third entity: personal semantics (PS). PS concerns knowledge of one's past. Although typically assumed to be an aspect of semantic memory, it is essentially absent from existing models of knowledge. Furthermore, like episodic memory (EM), PS is idiosyncratically personal (i.e., not culturally-shared). We show that, depending on how it is operationalized, the neural correlates of PS can look more similar to semantic memory, more similar to EM, or dissimilar to both. We consider three different perspectives to better integrate PS into existing models of declarative memory and suggest experimental strategies for disentangling PS from semantic and episodic memory. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating and treating neurobehavioral symptoms in professional American football players

PubMed Central

Possin, Katherine L.; Hess, Christopher P.; Huang, Eric J.; Grinberg, Lea T.; Nolan, Amber L.; Cohn-Sheehy, Brendan I.; Ghosh, Pia M.; Lanata, Serggio; Merrilees, Jennifer; Kramer, Joel H.; Berger, Mitchel S.; Miller, Bruce L.; Yaffe, Kristine; Rabinovici, Gil D.

2015-01-01

Summary In the aftermath of multiple high-profile cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in professional American football players, physicians in clinical practice are likely to face an increasing number of retired football players seeking evaluation for chronic neurobehavioral symptoms. Guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of these patients are sparse. Clinical criteria for a diagnosis of CTE are under development. The contribution of CTE vs other neuropathologies to neurobehavioral symptoms in these players remains unclear. Here we describe the experience of our academic memory clinic in evaluating and treating a series of 14 self-referred symptomatic players. Our aim is to raise awareness in the neurology community regarding the different clinical phenotypes, idiosyncratic but potentially treatable symptoms, and the spectrum of underlying neuropathologies in these players. PMID:26336629

Purpose-driven biomaterials research in liver-tissue engineering.

PubMed

Ananthanarayanan, Abhishek; Narmada, Balakrishnan Chakrapani; Mo, Xuejun; McMillian, Michael; Yu, Hanry

2011-03-01

Bottom-up engineering of microscale tissue ("microtissue") constructs to recapitulate partially the complex structure-function relationships of liver parenchyma has been realized through the development of sophisticated biomaterial scaffolds, liver-cell sources, and in vitro culture techniques. With regard to in vivo applications, the long-lived stem/progenitor cell constructs can improve cell engraftment, whereas the short-lived, but highly functional hepatocyte constructs stimulate host liver regeneration. With regard to in vitro applications, microtissue constructs are being adapted or custom-engineered into cell-based assays for testing acute, chronic and idiosyncratic toxicities of drugs or pathogens. Systems-level methods and computational models that represent quantitative relationships between biomaterial scaffolds, cells and microtissue constructs will further enable their rational design for optimal integration into specific biomedical applications. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Methylphenidate induction of complex visual hallucinations.

PubMed

Halevy, Ayelet; Shuper, Avinoam

2009-08-01

A 15-year-old boy with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) presented with complex visual hallucinations of rats running around and touching and smelling him soon after receiving a first low dose of methylphenidate. The hallucinations resolved upon discontinuation of the drug. Reintroduction of the drug 7 years later at an even lower dose had the same effect. Other cases of vivid complex hallucinations of living creatures associated with methylphenidate have been reported in the literature. The pathogenetic mechanism is still unknown. In our case, the occurrence of hallucinations after a very low dose of the drug on 2 occasions may suggest an idiosyncratic reaction. The phenomenon might also be explained by a drug-induced dysfunction of the monoamine transmitters. Given the wide use of methylphenidate, clinicians should be aware of this possible side effect.

Family ties: constructing family time in low-income families.

PubMed

Tubbs, Carolyn Y; Roy, Kevin M; Burton, Linda M

2005-03-01

"Family time" is reflected in the process of building and fortifying family relationships. Whereas such time, free of obligatory work, school, and family maintenance activities, is purchased by many families using discretionary income, we explore how low-income mothers make time for and give meaning to focused engagement and relationship development with their children within time constraints idiosyncratic to being poor and relying on welfare. Longitudinal ethnographic data from 61 low-income African American, European American, and Latina American mothers were analyzed to understand how mothers construct family time during daily activities such as talking, play, and meals. We also identify unique cultural factors that shape family time for low-income families, such as changing temporal orientations, centrality of television time, and emotional burdens due to poverty. Implications for family therapy are also discussed.

Motivation.

PubMed

Chambers, David W

2007-01-01

Motivation is short-term focused energy. The oldest theories of motivation explain motivated activity as effort to overcome primary deficiencies, such as hunger or boredom. Such theories are difficult to apply because individuals learn idiosyncratic secondary motives as alternative ways of responding to these needs. Three prominent needs theories are discussed: Herzberg's theory of hygiene and motivational factors; McClelland's needs for achievement, power, and affiliation; and Maslow's hierarchy and theory of self-actualization. A second approach to motivation holds that individuals may be thought of as engaging in rational processes to maximize their self-interests. The presented examples of this approach include Vroom's expectancy theory, Adam's theory of inequality, and the Porter-Lawler model that addresses the question of whether satisfaction leads to high performance or vice versa. Finally, several theories of motivation as life orientation are developed.

Plasticity of the aging brain: new directions in cognitive neuroscience.

PubMed

Gutchess, Angela

2014-10-31

Cognitive neuroscience has revealed aging of the human brain to be rich in reorganization and change. Neuroimaging results have recast our framework around cognitive aging from one of decline to one emphasizing plasticity. Current methods use neurostimulation approaches to manipulate brain function, providing a direct test of the ways that the brain differently contributes to task performance for younger and older adults. Emerging research into emotional, social, and motivational domains provides some evidence for preservation with age, suggesting potential avenues of plasticity, alongside additional evidence for reorganization. Thus, we begin to see that aging of the brain, amidst interrelated behavioral and biological changes, is as complex and idiosyncratic as the brain itself, qualitatively changing over the life span. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Phonological universals constrain the processing of nonspeech stimuli.

PubMed

Berent, Iris; Balaban, Evan; Lennertz, Tracy; Vaknin-Nusbaum, Vered

2010-08-01

Domain-specific systems are hypothetically specialized with respect to the outputs they compute and the inputs they allow (Fodor, 1983). Here, we examine whether these 2 conditions for specialization are dissociable. An initial experiment suggests that English speakers could extend a putatively universal phonological restriction to inputs identified as nonspeech. A subsequent comparison of English and Russian participants indicates that the processing of nonspeech inputs is modulated by linguistic experience. Striking, qualitative differences between English and Russian participants suggest that they rely on linguistic principles, both universal and language-particular, rather than generic auditory processing strategies. Thus, the computation of idiosyncratic linguistic outputs is apparently not restricted to speech inputs. This conclusion presents various challenges to both domain-specific and domain-general accounts of cognition. 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Decision Makers Use Norms, Not Cost-Benefit Analysis, When Choosing to Conceal or Reveal Unfair Rewards

PubMed Central

Heimann, Marco; Girotto, Vittorio; Legrenzi, Paolo; Bonnefon, Jean-François

2013-01-01

We introduce the Conceal or Reveal Dilemma, in which individuals receive unfair benefits, and must decide whether to conceal or to reveal this unfair advantage. This dilemma has two important characteristics: it does not lend itself easily to cost-benefit analysis, neither to the application of any strong universal norm. As a consequence, it is ideally suited to the study of interindividual and intercultural variations in moral-economic norms. In this paper we focus on interindividual variations, and we report four studies showing that individuals cannot be swayed by financial incentives to conceal or to reveal, and follow instead fixed, idiosyncratic strategies. We discuss how this result can be extended to individual and cultural variations in the tendency to display or to hide unfair rewards. PMID:24066040

Cerebral vasculopathy after 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine ingestion.

PubMed

Ambrose, Josiah B; Bennett, Heather D; Lee, Han S; Josephson, S Andrew

2010-05-01

4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine (2C-B) is a designer-drug variant of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) whose recreational use has increased significantly over the last 10 years. Neurologic consequences of 2C-B usage are currently unknown. A 43-year-old woman experienced severe headaches within 48 hours of taking liquid 2C-B, after which time she developed progressive encephalopathy and quadraparesis, which did not improve over several months. MRA and cerebral angiogram imaging demonstrated profound vascular abnormalities of large, medium, and small-caliber vessels with subsequent watershed infarction. Brain biopsy and cerebrospinal fluid studies ruled out an inflammatory process. This case demonstrates an idiosyncratic and devastating neurologic response to 2C-B, a recreational drug whose popularity has increased with widespread availability of online guides for its synthesis.

Phylogenetic responses of forest trees to global change.

PubMed

Senior, John K; Schweitzer, Jennifer A; O'Reilly-Wapstra, Julianne; Chapman, Samantha K; Steane, Dorothy; Langley, Adam; Bailey, Joseph K

2013-01-01

In a rapidly changing biosphere, approaches to understanding the ecology and evolution of forest species will be critical to predict and mitigate the effects of anthropogenic global change on forest ecosystems. Utilizing 26 forest species in a factorial experiment with two levels each of atmospheric CO2 and soil nitrogen, we examined the hypothesis that phylogeny would influence plant performance in response to elevated CO2 and nitrogen fertilization. We found highly idiosyncratic responses at the species level. However, significant, among-genetic lineage responses were present across a molecularly determined phylogeny, indicating that past evolutionary history may have an important role in the response of whole genetic lineages to future global change. These data imply that some genetic lineages will perform well and that others will not, depending upon the environmental context.

Proposal for constructing an advanced software tool for planetary atmospheric modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.; Sims, Michael H.; Podolak, Esther; Mckay, Christopher P.; Thompson, David E.

1990-01-01

Scientific model building can be a time intensive and painstaking process, often involving the development of large and complex computer programs. Despite the effort involved, scientific models cannot easily be distributed and shared with other scientists. In general, implemented scientific models are complex, idiosyncratic, and difficult for anyone but the original scientist/programmer to understand. We believe that advanced software techniques can facilitate both the model building and model sharing process. We propose to construct a scientific modeling software tool that serves as an aid to the scientist in developing and using models. The proposed tool will include an interactive intelligent graphical interface and a high level, domain specific, modeling language. As a testbed for this research, we propose development of a software prototype in the domain of planetary atmospheric modeling.

Calling for Help? Considering Function and Meaning when Patients Drunk-Dial Psychotherapists

PubMed Central

Serafini, Kelly; LaPaglia, Donna; Steinfeld, Matthew

2013-01-01

Drunk-dialing is a term documented in both popular culture and academic literatures to describe a behavior in which a person contacts another individual by phone while intoxicated. In our collective clinical experience we have found that clients drunk-dial their clinicians too, particularly while in substance use treatment, and yet there is a noticeable absence of research on the topic to guide clinical decision-making within a process-based understanding of these events. As the parameters within which psychotherapy takes place become increasingly technologized, a literature base to document clients’ idiosyncratic use of technology will become increasingly necessary and useful. We provide a brief review of the existing research on drunk-dialing and conclude with specific questions to guide future research and practice. PMID:24023519

Decision makers use norms, not cost-benefit analysis, when choosing to conceal or reveal unfair rewards.

PubMed

Heimann, Marco; Girotto, Vittorio; Legrenzi, Paolo; Bonnefon, Jean-François

2013-01-01

We introduce the Conceal or Reveal Dilemma, in which individuals receive unfair benefits, and must decide whether to conceal or to reveal this unfair advantage. This dilemma has two important characteristics: it does not lend itself easily to cost-benefit analysis, neither to the application of any strong universal norm. As a consequence, it is ideally suited to the study of interindividual and intercultural variations in moral-economic norms. In this paper we focus on interindividual variations, and we report four studies showing that individuals cannot be swayed by financial incentives to conceal or to reveal, and follow instead fixed, idiosyncratic strategies. We discuss how this result can be extended to individual and cultural variations in the tendency to display or to hide unfair rewards.

Hepatotoxicity by Drugs: The Most Common Implicated Agents

PubMed Central

Björnsson, Einar S.

2016-01-01

Idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an underreported and underestimated adverse drug reaction. Information on the documented hepatotoxicity of drugs has recently been made available by a website that can be accessed in the public domain: LiverTox (http://livertox.nlm.nih.gov). According to critical analysis of the hepatotoxicity of drugs in LiverTox, 53% of drugs had at least one case report of convincing reports of liver injury. Only 48 drugs had more than 50 case reports of DILI. Amoxicillin-clavulanate is the most commonly implicated agent leading to DILI in the prospective series. In a recent prospective study, liver injury due to amoxicillin-clavulanate was found to occur in approximately one out of 2300 users. Drugs with the highest risk of DILI in this study were azathioprine and infliximab. PMID:26861310

A case of aminoglycosides induced retinal toxicity treated with megadoses of steroids and an intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex(®)).

PubMed

Hernández Pardines, F; Tapia-Quijada, H; Hueso-Abancens, J R

2016-06-01

The case is described of a patient who had a sudden loss of vision in her right eye after glaucoma surgery. A diagnosis of retinal toxicity due to tobramycin (an aminoglycoside) was reached, which was characterised by retinal whitening with a red cherry stain, macular oedema, and vasculitis that progressed to papillary and macular atrophy with arteriolar sclerosis. Given the severity of symptoms an early attempt was made with megadoses of steroids and an intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex®, Allergan S.A.), without response. Aminoglycoside toxicity is a rare, idiosyncratic, very serious complication for which there is no effective treatment. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Oftalmología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

A meta-analysis suggesting that the relationship between biodiversity and risk of zoonotic pathogen transmission is idiosyncratic.

PubMed

Salkeld, Daniel J; Padgett, Kerry A; Jones, James Holland

2013-05-01

Zoonotic pathogens are significant burdens on global public health. Because they are transmitted to humans from non-human animals, the transmission dynamics of zoonoses are necessarily influenced by the ecology of their animal hosts and vectors. The 'dilution effect' proposes that increased species diversity reduces disease risk, suggesting that conservation and public health initiatives can work synergistically to improve human health and wildlife biodiversity. However, the meta-analysis that we present here indicates a weak and highly heterogeneous relationship between host biodiversity and disease. Our results suggest that disease risk is more likely a local phenomenon that relies on the specific composition of reservoir hosts and vectors, and their ecology, rather than patterns of species biodiversity. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

‘Where is the damned collection?’ Charles Davies Sherborn’s listing of named natural science collections and its successors

PubMed Central

Taylor, Michael A.

2016-01-01

Abstract C. D. Sherborn published in 1940, under the imprint of Cambridge University Press but at his own expense, Where is the – Collection? This idiosyncratic listing of named natural science collections, and their fates, was useful, but incomplete, and uneven in its accuracy. It is argued that those defects were inevitable, given Sherborn’s age and wartime conditions, and that what might seem one of Sherborn’s less impressive works was in fact a pioneering work highly influential in stimulating the production of successor works now much used in curation, and in systematic and descriptive biology and palaeontology. The book also contributed to the development of collections research in the natural sciences, and the history of collections and of museums. PMID:26877654

Archived DNA reveals fisheries and climate induced collapse of a major fishery.

PubMed

Bonanomi, Sara; Pellissier, Loïc; Therkildsen, Nina Overgaard; Hedeholm, Rasmus Berg; Retzel, Anja; Meldrup, Dorte; Olsen, Steffen Malskær; Nielsen, Anders; Pampoulie, Christophe; Hemmer-Hansen, Jakob; Wisz, Mary Susanne; Grønkjær, Peter; Nielsen, Einar Eg

2015-10-22

Fishing and climate change impact the demography of marine fishes, but it is generally ignored that many species are made up of genetically distinct locally adapted populations that may show idiosyncratic responses to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. Here, we track 80 years of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) population dynamics in West Greenland using DNA from archived otoliths in combination with fish population and niche based modeling. We document how the interacting effects of climate change and high fishing pressure lead to dramatic spatiotemporal changes in the proportions and abundance of different genetic populations, and eventually drove the cod fishery to a collapse in the early 1970s. Our results highlight the relevance of fisheries management at the level of genetic populations under future scenarios of climate change.

Intelligently deciphering unintelligible designs: algorithmic algebraic model checking in systems biology

PubMed Central

Mishra, Bud

2009-01-01

Systems biology, as a subject, has captured the imagination of both biologists and systems scientists alike. But what is it? This review provides one researcher's somewhat idiosyncratic view of the subject, but also aims to persuade young scientists to examine the possible evolution of this subject in a rich historical context. In particular, one may wish to read this review to envision a subject built out of a consilience of many interesting concepts from systems sciences, logic and model theory, and algebra, culminating in novel tools, techniques and theories that can reveal deep principles in biology—seen beyond mere observations. A particular focus in this review is on approaches embedded in an embryonic program, dubbed ‘algorithmic algebraic model checking’, and its powers and limitations. PMID:19364723

An audit of the use of definitions of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

PubMed

Byard, Roger W; Marshall, Drew

2007-11-01

Given that there are a number of contradictions in the SIDS literature and that the definition of SIDS that was relied upon to authenticate cases in reports is not always specified, an audit of publications was undertaken. Fifty papers dealing with SIDS that were published in 2005 were reviewed. The majority (58%) of reports had either not specified a definition of SIDS, or had used non-standard or idiosyncratic definitions. Of the papers that had documented a definition: 30% used the 1989 NICHD definition, 10% used the 2004 San Diego definition, and 2% used the 1969 Seattle definition. Failure to use standard published definitions of SIDS and/or to clearly specify the definition that has been followed may severely hamper the evaluation of SIDS research.

Archived DNA reveals fisheries and climate induced collapse of a major fishery

PubMed Central

Bonanomi, Sara; Pellissier, Loïc; Therkildsen, Nina Overgaard; Hedeholm, Rasmus Berg; Retzel, Anja; Meldrup, Dorte; Olsen, Steffen Malskær; Nielsen, Anders; Pampoulie, Christophe; Hemmer-Hansen, Jakob; Wisz, Mary Susanne; Grønkjær, Peter; Nielsen, Einar Eg

2015-01-01

Fishing and climate change impact the demography of marine fishes, but it is generally ignored that many species are made up of genetically distinct locally adapted populations that may show idiosyncratic responses to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. Here, we track 80 years of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) population dynamics in West Greenland using DNA from archived otoliths in combination with fish population and niche based modeling. We document how the interacting effects of climate change and high fishing pressure lead to dramatic spatiotemporal changes in the proportions and abundance of different genetic populations, and eventually drove the cod fishery to a collapse in the early 1970s. Our results highlight the relevance of fisheries management at the level of genetic populations under future scenarios of climate change. PMID:26489934

Archived DNA reveals fisheries and climate induced collapse of a major fishery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonanomi, Sara; Pellissier, Loïc; Therkildsen, Nina Overgaard; Hedeholm, Rasmus Berg; Retzel, Anja; Meldrup, Dorte; Olsen, Steffen Malskær; Nielsen, Anders; Pampoulie, Christophe; Hemmer-Hansen, Jakob; Wisz, Mary Susanne; Grønkjær, Peter; Nielsen, Einar Eg

2015-10-01

Fishing and climate change impact the demography of marine fishes, but it is generally ignored that many species are made up of genetically distinct locally adapted populations that may show idiosyncratic responses to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. Here, we track 80 years of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) population dynamics in West Greenland using DNA from archived otoliths in combination with fish population and niche based modeling. We document how the interacting effects of climate change and high fishing pressure lead to dramatic spatiotemporal changes in the proportions and abundance of different genetic populations, and eventually drove the cod fishery to a collapse in the early 1970s. Our results highlight the relevance of fisheries management at the level of genetic populations under future scenarios of climate change.

Perturbation of bile acid homeostasis is an early pathogenesis event of drug induced liver injury in rats

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

Yamazaki, Makoto; Miyake, Manami; Sato, Hiroko

2013-04-01

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a significant consideration for drug development. Current preclinical DILI assessment relying on histopathology and clinical chemistry has limitations in sensitivity and discordance with human. To gain insights on DILI pathogenesis and identify potential biomarkers for improved DILI detection, we performed untargeted metabolomic analyses on rats treated with thirteen known hepatotoxins causing various types of DILI: necrosis (acetaminophen, bendazac, cyclosporine A, carbon tetrachloride, ethionine), cholestasis (methapyrilene and naphthylisothiocyanate), steatosis (tetracycline and ticlopidine), and idiosyncratic (carbamazepine, chlorzoxasone, flutamide, and nimesulide) at two doses and two time points. Statistical analysis and pathway mapping of the nearly 1900 metabolitesmore » profiled in the plasma, urine, and liver revealed diverse time and dose dependent metabolic cascades leading to DILI by the hepatotoxins. The most consistent change induced by the hepatotoxins, detectable even at the early time point/low dose, was the significant elevations of a panel of bile acids in the plasma and urine, suggesting that DILI impaired hepatic bile acid uptake from the circulation. Furthermore, bile acid amidation in the hepatocytes was altered depending on the severity of the hepatotoxin-induced oxidative stress. The alteration of the bile acids was most evident by the necrosis and cholestasis hepatotoxins, with more subtle effects by the steatosis and idiosyncratic hepatotoxins. Taking together, our data suggest that the perturbation of bile acid homeostasis is an early event of DILI. Upon further validation, selected bile acids in the circulation could be potentially used as sensitive and early DILI preclinical biomarkers. - Highlights: ► We used metabolomics to gain insights on drug induced liver injury (DILI) in rats. ► We profiled rats treated with thirteen hepatotoxins at two doses and two time points. ► The toxins decreased the liver's ability to uptake bile acid from the circulation. ► Oxidative stress induced by the toxins altered bile acid biosynthesis in the liver. ► Selected bile acids in the plasma and urine could be sensitive DILI biomarkers.« less

The Tacit 'Quantum' of Meeting the Aesthetic Sign; Contextualize, Entangle, Superpose, Collapse or Decohere.

PubMed

Broekaert, Jan

2018-01-01

The semantically ambiguous nature of the sign and aspects of non-classicality of elementary matter as described by quantum theory show remarkable coherent analogy. We focus on how the ambiguous nature of the image, text and art work bears functional resemblance to the dynamics of contextuality , entanglement , superposition , collapse and decoherence as these phenomena are known in quantum theory. These quantumlike properties in linguistic signs have previously been identified in formal descritions of e.g. concept combinations and mental lexicon representations and have been reported on in the literature. In this approach the informationalized, communicated, mediatized conceptual configuration-of e.g. the art work-in the personal reflected mind behaves like a quantum state function in a higher dimensional complex space, in which it is time and again contextually collapsed and further cognitively entangled (Aerts et al. in Found Sci 4:115-132, 1999; in Lect Notes Comput Sci 7620:36-47, 2012). The observer-consumer of signs becomes the empowered 'produmer' (Floridi in The philosophy of information, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011) creating the cognitive outcome of the interaction, while loosing most of any 'classical givenness' of the sign (Bal and Bryson in Art Bull 73:174-208, 1991). These quantum-like descriptions are now developed here in four example aesthetic signs; the installation Mist room by Ann Veronica Janssens (2010), the installation Sections of a happy moment by David Claerbout (2010), the photograph The Falling Man by Richard Drew (New York Times, p. 7, September 12, 2001) and the documentary Huicholes. The Last Peyote Guardians by Vilchez and Stefani (2014). Our present work develops further the use of a previously developed quantum model for concept representation in natural language. In our present approach of the aesthetic sign, we extend to individual -idiosyncratic-observer contexts instead of socially shared group contexts, and as such also include multiple idiosyncratic creation of meaning and experience. This irreducible superposition emerges as the core feature of the aesthetic sign and is most critically embedded in the 'no-interpretation' interpretation of the documentary signal.

Mental Contrasting of a Negative Future with a Positive Reality Regulates State Anxiety

PubMed Central

Brodersen, Gunnar; Oettingen, Gabriele

2017-01-01

Mental contrasting of a desired future with impeding reality is a self-regulatory strategy fostering goal pursuit. However, there is little research on mental contrasting of a negative future with a positive reality. We conducted two experiments, each with four experimental conditions, investigating the effects of mental contrasting a negative future with a positive reality on state anxiety: participants who mentally contrasted a negative future regarding a bacterial epidemic (Study 1, N = 199) or an idiosyncratic negative event (Study 2, N = 206) showed less state anxiety than participants who imagined the negative future only or who reverse contrasted; participants who mentally elaborated on the positive reality also showed less state anxiety. Our findings suggest that mental contrasting of a negative future helps people reduce disproportional anxiety regarding a negative future. PMID:28979223

Melancholy, Acculturation, and Relief: A Brief Essay on the Religion of Ordinarity.

PubMed

Shin, Hyon-Uk

2018-04-01

Han is not an idiosyncratic, psychological experience that is peculiar to Koreans, but a multifaceted mode of melancholy experienced by many and various people. What makes this psychological experience particularly familiar to Koreans, however, is that this phenomenon is colored by various, macroscopic factors common in the Korean context, such as sociocultural rigidness, historical instability, political feudality, and economic vulnerability. In this sense, han is an acculturated, multifaceted melancholy. Not only that, it has developed its own religiousness, the goal of which is the restoration of ordinarity, because the state of han premises extraordinary, abnormal, or tension-provoking situations. The explicit and implicit religious idioms developing in the religion of han, such as tongsung-kido and wishing-for-blessing, evolve around this religious telos, helping individuals in Korea restore and live ordinarity.

Thelytokous parthenogenesis in eusocial Hymenoptera.

PubMed

Rabeling, Christian; Kronauer, Daniel J C

2013-01-01

Female parthenogenesis, or thelytoky, is particularly common in solitary Hymenoptera. Only more recently has it become clear that many eusocial species also regularly reproduce thelytokously, and here we provide a comprehensive overview. Especially in ants, thelytoky underlies a variety of idiosyncratic life histories with unique evolutionary and ecological consequences. In all eusocial species studied, thelytoky probably has a nuclear genetic basis and the underlying cytological mechanism retains high levels of heterozygosity. This is in striking contrast to many solitary wasps, in which thelytoky is often induced by cytoplasmic bacteria and results in an immediate loss of heterozygosity. These differences are likely related to differences in haplodiploid sex determination mechanisms, which in eusocial species usually require heterozygosity for female development. At the same time, haplodiploidy might account for important preadaptations that can help explain the apparent ease with which Hymenoptera transition between sexual and asexual reproduction.

Burden of illness and research investments in translational sciences for pharmaceuticals in metastatic cancers

PubMed Central

Wang, Wei-Jhih; Robertson, Justin C; Basu, Anirban

2017-01-01

Aim: To explore whether investments in translational sciences for six metastatic cancers follow idiosyncratic returns to those investments rather than levels of burden of illness (BI). Methods: Associate the number of translational clinical trials in the USA involving oncolytic drugs approved during 2008–2013 and the level (in 2008) and changes (2002–2008 and 2008–2014) in cancer-specific years of life lost. Results: Investments in trials were positively associated only with contemporary changes in BI (2008–2014). The relationship was stronger for government-sponsored comparative-effectiveness trials than for industry. Conclusion: Translational research investments follow anticipated changes to BI levels. Systematic quantification of these expected returns from specific investments can help guide investment decisions in translational health sciences and generate productive dialogue across stakeholders. PMID:27934549

Concurrent credit portfolio losses

PubMed Central

Sicking, Joachim; Schäfer, Rudi

2018-01-01

We consider the problem of concurrent portfolio losses in two non-overlapping credit portfolios. In order to explore the full statistical dependence structure of such portfolio losses, we estimate their empirical pairwise copulas. Instead of a Gaussian dependence, we typically find a strong asymmetry in the copulas. Concurrent large portfolio losses are much more likely than small ones. Studying the dependences of these losses as a function of portfolio size, we moreover reveal that not only large portfolios of thousands of contracts, but also medium-sized and small ones with only a few dozens of contracts exhibit notable portfolio loss correlations. Anticipated idiosyncratic effects turn out to be negligible. These are troublesome insights not only for investors in structured fixed-income products, but particularly for the stability of the financial sector. JEL codes: C32, F34, G21, G32, H81. PMID:29425246

Advice to a young scientist (by someone who doesn't know how to give it).

PubMed

Denic, Vladimir

2015-11-01

While trying to extract original and general advice from the details of my career, I realized this might not be possible. My path, like those of so many others, had too many idiosyncratic twists and turns that had to work out just the way they did to be mined for generally useful strategies. So I abandon the conceit of advice and simply give you my story. There are many like it, but this one is mine. Take what you wish from it. © 2015 Denic. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Predicting length of children's psychiatric hospitalizations: an "ecologic" approach.

PubMed

Mossman, D; Songer, D A; Baker, D G

1991-08-01

This article describes the development and validation of a simple and modestly successful model for predicting inpatient length of stay (LOS) at a state-funded facility providing acute to long term care for children and adolescents in Ohio. Six variables--diagnostic group, legal status at time of admission, attending physician, age, sex, and county of residence--explained 30% of the variation in log10LOS in the subgroup used to create the model, and 26% of log10LOS variation in the cross-validation subgroup. The model also identified LOS outliers with moderate accuracy (ROC area = .68-0.76). The authors attribute the model's success to inclusion of variables that are correlated to idiosyncratic "ecologic" factors as well as variables related to severity of illness. Future attempts to construct LOS models may adopt similar approaches.

Perceptions of entitativity and attitude change.

PubMed

Rydell, Robert J; McConnell, Allen R

2005-01-01

The current work explored the properties of groups that lead them to be persuasive and the processes through which such persuasion occurs. Because more entitative groups induce greater levels of information processing, their arguments should receive greater elaboration, leading to persuasion when members of groups present strong (vs. weak) counter attitudinal arguments. Experiment 1 explored these hypotheses by examining if idiosyncratic perceptions of group entitativity and manipulations of argument strength affect attitude change and argument elaboration. Experiment 2 experimentally manipulated group entitativity and argument strength independently to examine the causal relationship between entitativity, attitude change, and argument elaboration. In both experiments, it was found that groups greater in entitativity were more persuasive when presenting strong (vs. weak) arguments and induced greater argument elaboration. Implications for our understanding of entitativity, persuasion, and information processing about social groups are discussed.

Crop-to-wild gene flow, introgression and possible fitness effects of transgenes.

PubMed

Jenczewski, Eric; Ronfort, Joëlle; Chèvre, Anne-Marie

2003-01-01

Crop-to-wild gene flow has received close attention over the past ten years in connection with the development and cultivation of transgenic crops. In this paper, we review key examples of crop/wild sympatry and overlapping flowering phenology, pollen and seed dispersal, the barriers to hybridisation and introgression, the evolution and fate of interspecific hybrids, their fitness, and the potential cost of transgenes. We pay particular attention to ways in which the evolution and divergence between crops and their wild relatives may interfere with these successive steps. Our review suggests that crop-to-weed gene flow is highly idiosyncratic and that crop gene dispersion will certainly be very difficult to preclude totally. Future directions for research should thus focus on the long-term establishment and effects of transgenes on natural communities.

Comparing Book- and Tablet-Based Picture Activity Schedules: Acquisition and Preference.

PubMed

Giles, Aimee; Markham, Victoria

2017-09-01

Picture activity schedules consist of a sequence of images representing the order of tasks for a person to complete. Although, picture activity schedules have traditionally been presented in a book format, recently picture activity schedules have been evaluated on technological devices such as an iPod™ touch. The present study compared the efficiency of picture activity schedule acquisition on book- and tablet-based modalities. In addition, participant preference for each modality was assessed. Three boys aged below 5 years with a diagnosis of autism participated. Participants were taught to follow the schedules using both modalities. Following mastery of each modality of picture activity schedule, a concurrent-chains preference assessment was conducted to evaluate participant preference for each modality. Differences in acquisition rates across the two modalities were marginal. Preference for book- or tablet-based schedules was idiosyncratic across participants.

Severe valproate induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy successfully managed with peritoneal dialysis.

PubMed

Kumar, Amandeep; Suri, Ashish; Sharma, Bhawani S

2014-07-01

Valproic acid (VPA) is a commonly used drug for epilepsy, psychiatric disorders and migraine and is frequently used in neurosurgical intensive care units. Though most of its side-effects are mild and transient, certain idiosyncratic side-effects have been attributed to VPA. Valproate induced hyperammonemia (VIH) is one such side-effect. VIH can produce symptoms of encephalopathy known as valproate induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy (VHE). VIH and VHE usually respond to withdrawal of VPA. However, in some cases VHE can be unresponsive to supportive measures and severe enough to be life-threatening. In such cases, dialysis can be used to rapidly reverse hyperammonemia and VHE and can prove to be a lifesaving measure. We report such a case of VIH and life-threatening VHE in a postoperative neurosurgical patient that was managed successfully with peritoneal dialysis.

The unconscious and the creative process.

PubMed

Horner, Althea J

2006-01-01

Both psychologist and writer, the author describes the creative process from research, psychological, psychoanalytic, and personal experiential perspectives. The approaches of Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, and W. Somerset Maugham to their work are very different, illustrating that the expression of creativity is idiosyncratic and unique. Examples of the author's creative process are also presented. Creativity can be used to help the writer come to terms with and to master his or her conflicts as described by Ray Bradbury. It can also be used simply to discharge those conflicts without coming to terms with them as was the work of Sylvia Plath. The relation between dreaming and creativity is discussed. Creativity is viewed not only as a vehicle for self-expression but also as a vehicle for self-discovery. The therapist's creativity and its relevance to the treatment process is also pointed out.

Impact of a century of climate change on small-mammal communities in Yosemite National Park, USA.

PubMed

Moritz, Craig; Patton, James L; Conroy, Chris J; Parra, Juan L; White, Gary C; Beissinger, Steven R

2008-10-10

We provide a century-scale view of small-mammal responses to global warming, without confounding effects of land-use change, by repeating Grinnell's early-20th century survey across a 3000-meter-elevation gradient that spans Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Using occupancy modeling to control for variation in detectability, we show substantial ( approximately 500 meters on average) upward changes in elevational limits for half of 28 species monitored, consistent with the observed approximately 3 degrees C increase in minimum temperatures. Formerly low-elevation species expanded their ranges and high-elevation species contracted theirs, leading to changed community composition at mid- and high elevations. Elevational replacement among congeners changed because species' responses were idiosyncratic. Though some high-elevation species are threatened, protection of elevation gradients allows other species to respond via migration.

Building the Scientific Modeling Assistant: An interactive environment for specialized software design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.

1991-01-01

The construction of scientific software models is an integral part of doing science, both within NASA and within the scientific community at large. Typically, model-building is a time-intensive and painstaking process, involving the design of very large, complex computer programs. Despite the considerable expenditure of resources involved, completed scientific models cannot easily be distributed and shared with the larger scientific community due to the low-level, idiosyncratic nature of the implemented code. To address this problem, we have initiated a research project aimed at constructing a software tool called the Scientific Modeling Assistant. This tool provides automated assistance to the scientist in developing, using, and sharing software models. We describe the Scientific Modeling Assistant, and also touch on some human-machine interaction issues relevant to building a successful tool of this type.

Shared liking and association valence for representational art but not abstract art.

PubMed

Schepman, Astrid; Rodway, Paul; Pullen, Sarah J; Kirkham, Julie

2015-01-01

We examined the finding that aesthetic evaluations are more similar across observers for representational images than for abstract images. It has been proposed that a difference in convergence of observers' tastes is due to differing levels of shared semantic associations (Vessel & Rubin, 2010). In Experiment 1, student participants rated 20 representational and 20 abstract artworks. We found that their judgments were more similar for representational than abstract artworks. In Experiment 2, we replicated this finding, and also found that valence ratings given to associations and meanings provided in response to the artworks converged more across observers for representational than for abstract art. Our empirical work provides insight into processes that may underlie the observation that taste for representational art is shared across individual observers, while taste for abstract art is more idiosyncratic.

Relocation Decisions and Constructing the Meaning of Home: A Phenomenological Study of the Transition into a Nursing Home

PubMed Central

Johnson, Rebecca A.; Bibbo, Jessica

2014-01-01

The transition from community dwelling to a nursing home is a common, though idiosyncratic, experience in the United States. This study employed an interpretive phenomenological approach to uncover how eight older adults in nursing homes in the Midwestern U.S. constructed the meaning of home shortly following the relocation and again approximately two months later. The degree to which the individual had been involved in the decision making process was also explored as it related to the meaning of home within the nursing home setting. The majority of individuals did not consider the facility to be “home,” but actively changed their attitudes toward the facility and themselves to better adjust to the setting. The findings demonstrate the importance of autonomy in older adults’ definitions of home. PMID:24984908

CrowdMapping: A Crowdsourcing-Based Terminology Mapping Method for Medical Data Standardization.

PubMed

Mao, Huajian; Chi, Chenyang; Huang, Boyu; Meng, Haibin; Yu, Jinghui; Zhao, Dongsheng

2017-01-01

Standardized terminology is the prerequisite of data exchange in analysis of clinical processes. However, data from different electronic health record systems are based on idiosyncratic terminology systems, especially when the data is from different hospitals and healthcare organizations. Terminology standardization is necessary for the medical data analysis. We propose a crowdsourcing-based terminology mapping method, CrowdMapping, to standardize the terminology in medical data. CrowdMapping uses a confidential model to determine how terminologies are mapped to a standard system, like ICD-10. The model uses mappings from different health care organizations and evaluates the diversity of the mapping to determine a more sophisticated mapping rule. Further, the CrowdMapping model enables users to rate the mapping result and interact with the model evaluation. CrowdMapping is a work-in-progress system, we present initial results mapping terminologies.

A commentary on the associations among 'food addiction', binge eating disorder, and obesity: Overlapping conditions with idiosyncratic clinical features.

PubMed

Davis, Caroline

2017-08-01

This commentary discusses the evidence linking patterns of compulsive overeating, such as binge eating and grazing, with a putative psychopathological condition known commonly as 'food addiction'. It also addresses their distinctiveness as independent - albeit overlapping - clinical entities. Discussions focus largely on their respective clinical features and neuropsychobiological associations. Despite semantic issues about the appropriateness of the food-addiction label, there is accumulating evidence that some vulnerable individuals display addictive symptoms in relation to their consumption of certain highly rewarding foods. It is also argued in this paper that despite a positive relationship between obesity and addictive tendencies towards food, it is over-inclusive to model obesity as an addiction disorder, especially given the multi-faceted etiology and current pervasiveness of weight gain worldwide. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Famous people and genetic disorders: from monarchs to geniuses--a portrait of their genetic illnesses.

PubMed

Ho, Nicola C; Park, Susan S; Maragh, Kevin D; Gutter, Emily M

2003-04-15

Famous people with genetic disorders have always been a subject of interest because such news feeds the curiosity the public has for celebrities. It gives further insight into their lives and provides a medical basis for any unexplained or idiosyncratic feature or behavior they exhibit. It draws admiration from society of those who excel in their specialized fields despite the impositions of their genetic illnesses and also elicits sympathy even in the most casual observer. Such news certainly catapults a rare genetic disorder into the realm of public awareness. We hereby present six famous figures: King George III, Toulouse-Lautrec, Queen Victoria, Nicolo Paganini, Abraham Lincoln, and Vincent van Gogh, all of whom made a huge indelible mark in either the history of politics or that of the arts. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Concurrent credit portfolio losses.

PubMed

Sicking, Joachim; Guhr, Thomas; Schäfer, Rudi

2018-01-01

We consider the problem of concurrent portfolio losses in two non-overlapping credit portfolios. In order to explore the full statistical dependence structure of such portfolio losses, we estimate their empirical pairwise copulas. Instead of a Gaussian dependence, we typically find a strong asymmetry in the copulas. Concurrent large portfolio losses are much more likely than small ones. Studying the dependences of these losses as a function of portfolio size, we moreover reveal that not only large portfolios of thousands of contracts, but also medium-sized and small ones with only a few dozens of contracts exhibit notable portfolio loss correlations. Anticipated idiosyncratic effects turn out to be negligible. These are troublesome insights not only for investors in structured fixed-income products, but particularly for the stability of the financial sector. JEL codes: C32, F34, G21, G32, H81.

Values conflicts in professional-community collaborations.

PubMed

Sabin, James E

2010-01-01

GAP/I and INP+ represent markedly divergent cultures and therefore highlight the opportunities and strains associated with professional-community collaborations. I believe, however, that the factors that emerge from studying GAP/I-INP+ are not idiosyncratic and are relevant for other professional-community dyads. Every such partnership is likely to require some form of bridging mechanism to serve the same purposes as Mr Varghese's role did. The task of creating a zone of optimal tension may be less familiar than the need to build bridges but it is no less important. Tension between partners with significantly different cultural backgrounds has tremendous potential for generating misunderstanding and distrust. Avoiding tension-laden issues is likely to entail significant cost, whether in the form of resentment, distrust, withdrawal, or settling for a lesser outcome than could be achieved. Finally, creating and sustaining the potential for constructive tension typically requires the humble virtues associated with servant-leadership: patience, persistence and understanding.

Directed evolution of a synthetic phylogeny of programmable Trp repressors.

PubMed

Ellefson, Jared W; Ledbetter, Michael P; Ellington, Andrew D

2018-04-01

As synthetic regulatory programs expand in sophistication, an ever increasing number of biological components with predictable phenotypes is required. Regulators are often 'part mined' from a diverse, but uncharacterized, array of genomic sequences, often leading to idiosyncratic behavior. Here, we generate an entire synthetic phylogeny from the canonical allosteric transcription factor TrpR. Iterative rounds of positive and negative compartmentalized partnered replication (CPR) led to the exponential amplification of variants that responded with high affinity and specificity to halogenated tryptophan analogs and novel operator sites. Fourteen repressor variants were evolved with unique regulatory profiles across five operators and three ligands. The logic of individual repressors can be modularly programmed by creating heterodimeric fusions, resulting in single proteins that display logic functions, such as 'NAND'. Despite the evolutionarily limited regulatory role of TrpR, vast functional spaces exist around this highly conserved protein scaffold and can be harnessed to create synthetic regulatory programs.

A Philatelic Ramble through Chemistry (by Edgar Heilbronner and Foil A. Miller)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabinovich, Daniel

1998-08-01

Wiley-VCH: New York, 1998. 268 pp. ISBN 3-906390-17-9. $200.00. A philatelic ramble? My Merriam Webster's dictionary says that a ramble is, among other things, a leisurely excursion for pleasure. I think the title of the book under review could not have been more appropriate. A Philatelic Ramble through Chemistry is, indeed, an enjoyable overview of the world of chemistry as pictured on postage stamps and other philatelic materials. More than a thousand (!) color illustrations enhance Heilbronner and Miller's idiosyncratic writing, which combines engaging historical essays with fascinating anecdotes. Although the idea of using stamps in teaching chemistry is not new (see, for example, the "Chemistry on Stamps" series in this Journal in the 1980s), the authors succeed in presenting their stories with unusual charm and wit, aimed at a broad audience, chemists and philatelists alike.

Feeling torn when everything seems right: semantic incongruence causes felt ambivalence.

PubMed

Gebauer, Jochen E; Maio, Gregory R; Pakizeh, Ali

2013-06-01

The co-occurrence of positive and negative attributes of an attitude object typically accounts for less than a quarter of the variance in felt ambivalence toward these objects, rendering this evaluative incongruence insufficient for explaining felt ambivalence. The present research tested whether another type of incongruence, semantic incongruence, also causes felt ambivalence. Semantic incongruence arises from inconsistencies in the descriptive content of attitude objects' attributes (e.g., attributes that are not mutually supportive), independent of these attributes' valences. Experiment 1 manipulated evaluative and semantic incongruence using valence norms and semantic norms. Both of these norm-based manipulations independently predicted felt ambivalence, and, in Experiment 2, they even did so over and above self-based incongruence (i.e., participants' idiosyncratic perceptions of evaluative and semantic incongruence). Experiments 3a and 3b revealed that aversive dissonant feelings play a role in the effects of evaluative incongruence, but not semantic incongruence, on felt ambivalence.

Getting what you want: How fit between desired and received leader sensitivity influences emotion and counterproductive work behavior.

PubMed

Rupprecht, Elizabeth A; Kueny, Clair Reynolds; Shoss, Mindy K; Metzger, Andrew J

2016-10-01

We challenge the intuitive belief that greater leader sensitivity is always associated with desirable outcomes for employees and organizations. Specifically, we argue that followers' idiosyncratic desires for, and perceptions of, leader sensitivity behaviors play a key role in how followers react to their leader's sensitivity. Moreover, these resulting affective experiences are likely to have important consequences for organizations, specifically as they relate to employee counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Drawing from supplies-values (S-V) fit theory and the stressor-emotion model of CWB, the current study focuses on the affective and behavioral consequences of fit between subordinates' ideal leader sensitivity behavior preferences and subordinates' perceptions of their actual leader's sensitivity behaviors. Polynomial regression analyses reveal that congruence between ideal and actual leader sensitivity influences employee negative affect and, consequently, engagement in counterproductive work behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

A dialectical perspective on informed consent to treatment: an examination of radiologists' dilemmas and negotiations.

PubMed

Olufowote, James Olumide

2011-06-01

Informed consent to treatment (ICT), designed to honor patient autonomy, has been an important subject of inquiry in many disciplines. To foreground the dynamic and dilemmatic tendencies of ICT practice implied by previous inquiries, I advanced relational dialectics theory into the realm of physicians' experiences with ICT. On performing a dialectical analysis of transcripts from focus group discussions with radiologists, I found them experiencing four primary tensions: (a) between simple and complex ICT; (b) between radiologist and patient control; (c) between standardized and idiosyncratic practice (involving struggles between documentation and conversational process, and between vague and detailed language use); and (d) between withholding and disclosing alternatives. Moreover, I drew on concepts from relational dialectics theory to capture the various ways radiologists negotiate these dialectics. I conclude with practical applications for physician and patient training and interprofessional coordination.

Sensory Coding by Cerebellar Mossy Fibres through Inhibition-Driven Phase Resetting and Synchronisation

PubMed Central

Holtzman, Tahl; Jörntell, Henrik

2011-01-01

Temporal coding of spike-times using oscillatory mechanisms allied to spike-time dependent plasticity could represent a powerful mechanism for neuronal communication. However, it is unclear how temporal coding is constructed at the single neuronal level. Here we investigate a novel class of highly regular, metronome-like neurones in the rat brainstem which form a major source of cerebellar afferents. Stimulation of sensory inputs evoked brief periods of inhibition that interrupted the regular firing of these cells leading to phase-shifted spike-time advancements and delays. Alongside phase-shifting, metronome cells also behaved as band-pass filters during rhythmic sensory stimulation, with maximal spike-stimulus synchronisation at frequencies close to the idiosyncratic firing frequency of each neurone. Phase-shifting and band-pass filtering serve to temporally align ensembles of metronome cells, leading to sustained volleys of near-coincident spike-times, thereby transmitting synchronised sensory information to downstream targets in the cerebellar cortex. PMID:22046297

Pathophysiology of dysarthria in cerebral palsy.

PubMed Central

Neilson, P D; O'Dwyer, N J

1981-01-01

Electromyograms were recorded with hooked-wire electrodes from sixteen lip, tongue and jaw muscles in six normal and seven cerebral palsied adult subjects during a variety of speech and non-speech tasks. The recorded patterns of muscle activity fail to support a number of theories concerning the pathophysiology of dysarthria in cerebral palsy. There was no indication of weakness in individual articulator muscles. There was no evidence of uncontrolled sustained background activity or of abnormal tonic stretch reflex responses in lip or tongue muscles. Primitive or pathological reflexes could not be elicited by orofacial stimulation. No imbalance between positive and negative oral responses was observed. The view that random involuntary movement disrupts essentially normal voluntary control in athetosis was not supported. Each cerebral palsied subject displayed an idiosyncratic pattern of abnormal muscle activity which was reproduced across repetitions of the same phrase, indicating a consistent defect in motor programming. PMID:7334387

Recovery in Psychosis from a Service User Perspective: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis of Current Qualitative Evidence.

PubMed

Wood, L; Alsawy, S

2017-11-29

There is a growing number of qualitative accounts regarding recovery from psychosis from a service user perspective. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of these qualitative accounts. A thematic synthesis was utilised to synthesise and analyse seventeen studies included in the review. Studies were included if they used a qualitative methodology to explore service users' experiences of recovery from psychosis as a primary research question. All included studies were subjected to a quality assessment. The analysis outlined three subordinate themes: the recovery journey, facilitators of recovery (e.g. faith and spirituality, personal agency and hope), and barriers to recovery (e.g. stigma and discrimination, negative effects of mental health services and medication). Recovery is an idiosyncratic process but includes key components which are important to people who experience psychosis. These should be explored within clinical practice.

Finding Spirits in Spirituality: What are We Measuring in Spirituality and Health Research?

PubMed

Laird, Lance D; Curtis, Cara E; Morgan, Jonathan R

2017-02-01

What are we asking when we ask about spirituality? When research subjects check survey boxes for "religiosity" and "spirituality" measures on health surveys, those of us who use them often assume that these responses indicate a relationship with-or reaction against-normative, conventional, Protestant-shaped religious practice and experience. We present a qualitative interview study of 13 low-income mothers with a history of depression, analyzing their descriptions of spiritual and religious coping practices. On the basis of a focused analysis of four mother's narratives, we argue that conventional survey answers may frequently hide more than they reveal about people's cultural, religious, and idiosyncratic experiences with ghosts, spirits, magic, and haunting presences that are relevant, sometimes integral, to illness and healing. We demonstrate that listening to participants' narratives challenges researchers' unconsciously normative assumptions and ought to help us reshape our understanding of the ways spirituality and religion influence health in a hyperdiverse society.

Disambiguating authenticity: Interpretations of value and appeal.

PubMed

O'Connor, Kieran; Carroll, Glenn R; Kovács, Balázs

2017-01-01

While shaping aesthetic judgment and choice, socially constructed authenticity takes on some very different meanings among observers, consumers, producers and critics. Using a theoretical framework positing four distinct meanings of socially constructed authenticity-type, moral, craft, and idiosyncratic-we aim to document empirically the unique appeal of each type. We develop predictions about the relationships between attributed authenticity and corresponding increases in the value ascribed to it through: (1) consumer value ratings, (2) willingness to pay, and (3) behavioral choice. We report empirical analyses from a research program of three multi-method studies using (1) archival data from voluntary consumer evaluations of restaurants in an online review system, (2) a university-based behavioral lab experiment, and (3) an online survey-based experiment. Evidence is consistent across the studies and suggests that perceptions of four distinct subtypes of socially constructed authenticity generate increased appeal and value even after controlling for option quality. Findings suggest additional directions for research on authenticity.

Genetic variation in adaptability and pleiotropy in budding yeast

PubMed Central

Mitchell, James Kameron; Bloom, Joshua S; Kruglyak, Leonid

2017-01-01

Evolution can favor organisms that are more adaptable, provided that genetic variation in adaptability exists. Here, we quantify this variation among 230 offspring of a cross between diverged yeast strains. We measure the adaptability of each offspring genotype, defined as its average rate of adaptation in a specific environmental condition, and analyze the heritability, predictability, and genetic basis of this trait. We find that initial genotype strongly affects adaptability and can alter the genetic basis of future evolution. Initial genotype also affects the pleiotropic consequences of adaptation for fitness in a different environment. This genetic variation in adaptability and pleiotropy is largely determined by initial fitness, according to a rule of declining adaptability with increasing initial fitness, but several individual QTLs also have a significant idiosyncratic role. Our results demonstrate that both adaptability and pleiotropy are complex traits, with extensive heritable differences arising from naturally occurring variation. PMID:28826486

Large scale rigidity-based flexibility analysis of biomolecules

PubMed Central

Streinu, Ileana

2016-01-01

KINematics And RIgidity (KINARI) is an on-going project for in silico flexibility analysis of proteins. The new version of the software, Kinari-2, extends the functionality of our free web server KinariWeb, incorporates advanced web technologies, emphasizes the reproducibility of its experiments, and makes substantially improved tools available to the user. It is designed specifically for large scale experiments, in particular, for (a) very large molecules, including bioassemblies with high degree of symmetry such as viruses and crystals, (b) large collections of related biomolecules, such as those obtained through simulated dilutions, mutations, or conformational changes from various types of dynamics simulations, and (c) is intended to work as seemlessly as possible on the large, idiosyncratic, publicly available repository of biomolecules, the Protein Data Bank. We describe the system design, along with the main data processing, computational, mathematical, and validation challenges underlying this phase of the KINARI project. PMID:26958583

Metabolism and bioactivation of the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline in human liver microsomes and human urine.

PubMed

Zhou, Xin; Chen, Chang; Zhang, Fangrong; Zhang, Yang; Feng, Yuling; Ouyang, Hui; Xu, Yong; Jiang, Hongliang

2016-07-01

Amitriptyline is a widely used tricyclic antidepressant, but the metabolic studies were conducted almost 20 years ago using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet detector or radiolabeled methods. First, multiple ion monitoring (MIM)- enhanced product ion (EPI) scan was used to obtain the diagnostic ions or neutral losses in human liver microsome incubations with amitriptyline. Subsequently, predicted multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)-EPI scan was used to identify the metabolites in human urine with the diagnostic ions or neutral losses. Finally, product ion filtering and neutral loss filtering were used as the data mining tools to screen metabolites. Consequently, a total of 28 metabolites were identified in human urine after an oral administration using LC-MS/MS. An integrated workflow using LC-MS/MS was developed to comprehensively profile the metabolites of amitriptyline in human urine, in which five N-acetyl-l-cysteine conjugates were characterized as tentative biomarkers for idiosyncratic toxicity.

Bridging the gap between the technological singularity and mainstream medicine: highlighting a course on technology and the future of medicine.

PubMed

Solez, Kim; Bernier, Ashlyn; Crichton, Joel; Graves, Heather; Kuttikat, Preeti; Lockwood, Ross; Marovitz, William F; Monroe, Damon; Pallen, Mark; Pandya, Shawna; Pearce, David; Saleh, Abdullah; Sandhu, Neelam; Sergi, Consolato; Tuszynski, Jack; Waugh, Earle; White, Jonathan; Woodside, Michael; Wyndham, Roger; Zaiane, Osmar; Zakus, David

2013-09-09

The "technological singularity" is defined as that putative point in time forecasted to occur in the mid twenty-first century when machines will become smarter than humans, leading humans and machines to merge. It is hypothesized that this event will have a profound influence on medicine and population health. This work describes a new course on Technology and the Future of Medicine developed by a diverse, multi-disciplinary group of faculty members at a Canadian university. The course began as a continuous professional learning course and was later established as a recognized graduate course. We describe the philosophy of the course, the barriers encountered in course development, and some of the idiosyncratic solutions that were developed to overcome these, including the use of YouTube audience retention analytics. We hope that this report might provide a useful template for other institutions attempting to set up similar programs.

Some Behaviorial Science Measurement Concerns and Proposals.

PubMed

Nesselroade, John R; Molenaar, Peter C M

2016-01-01

Primarily from a measurement standpoint, we question some basic beliefs and procedures characterizing the scientific study of human behavior. The relations between observed and unobserved variables are key to an empirical approach to building explanatory theories and we are especially concerned about how the former are used as proxies for the latter. We believe that behavioral science can profitably reconsider the prevailing version of this arrangement because of its vulnerability to limiting idiosyncratic aspects of observed/unobserved variable relations. We describe a general measurement approach that takes into account idiosyncrasies that should be irrelevant to the measurement process but can intrude and may invalidate it in ways that distort and weaken relations among theoretically important variables. To clarify further our major concerns, we briefly describe one version of the measurement approach that fundamentally supports the individual as the primary unit of analysis orientation that we believe should be preeminent in the scientific study of human behavior.

The cold reading technique.

PubMed

Dutton, D L

1988-04-15

For many people, belief in the paranormal derives from personal experience of face-to-face interviews with astrologers, palm readers, aura and Tarot readers, and spirit mediums. These encounters typically involve cold reading, a process in which a reader makes calculated guesses about a client's background and problems and, depending on the reaction, elaborates a reading which seems to the client so uniquely appropriate that it carries with it the illusion of having been produced by paranormal means. The cold reading process is shown to depend initially on the Barnum effect, the tendency for people to embrace generalized personality descriptions as idiosyncratically their own. Psychological research into the Barnum effect is critically reviewed, and uses of the effect by a professional magician are described. This is followed by detailed analysis of the cold reading performances of a spirit medium. Future research should investigate the degree to which cold readers may have convinced themselves that they actually possess psychic or paranormal abilities.

Dual processing and diagnostic errors.

PubMed

Norman, Geoff

2009-09-01

In this paper, I review evidence from two theories in psychology relevant to diagnosis and diagnostic errors. "Dual Process" theories of thinking, frequently mentioned with respect to diagnostic error, propose that categorization decisions can be made with either a fast, unconscious, contextual process called System 1 or a slow, analytical, conscious, and conceptual process, called System 2. Exemplar theories of categorization propose that many category decisions in everyday life are made by unconscious matching to a particular example in memory, and these remain available and retrievable individually. I then review studies of clinical reasoning based on these theories, and show that the two processes are equally effective; System 1, despite its reliance in idiosyncratic, individual experience, is no more prone to cognitive bias or diagnostic error than System 2. Further, I review evidence that instructions directed at encouraging the clinician to explicitly use both strategies can lead to consistent reduction in error rates.

Neutrophilic dermatitis and immune-mediated haematological disorders in a dog: suspected adverse reaction to carprofen.

PubMed

Mellor, P J; Roulois, A J A; Day, M J; Blacklaws, B A; Knivett, S J; Herrtage, M E

2005-05-01

This report describes the clinical and pathological findings of a suspected idiosyncratic adverse drug reaction in a young dog. The patient presented with sudden onset, severe skin lesions together with episodes of collapse. Investigations revealed a neutrophilic dermatitis with vasculitis, immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia and thrombocytopenia. Similar pathology has been described in human cases of Sweet's syndrome. The chronology of events suggested an adverse drug reaction to carprofen, although two antibiotics had been prescribed within the dog's recent history. Lymphocyte transformation tests were performed and tended to exclude both antibiotics as the cause of the reaction. To the authors' knowledge, lymphocyte transformation tests have not previously been described with regard to drug hypersensitivity assessment in the veterinary literature, and this is the first peer-reviewed case report of neutrophilic dermatitis and vasculitis with immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia and thrombocytopenia occurring as a suspected adverse drug reaction to carprofen in the dog.

Professional perspectives on sexual sadism.

PubMed

McLawsen, Julia E; Jackson, Rebecca L; Vannoy, Steven D; Gagliardi, Gregg J; Scalora, Mario J

2008-09-01

Significant controversy surrounds the diagnosis of sexual sadism. Research suggests that many characteristics attributed to sexual sadists fail to differentiate sexual offenders with and without this diagnosis. Furthermore, when there are differences between sadists and nonsadists, "sadistic" features are frequently associated with nonsadists. Finally, diagnosticians appear to use idiosyncratic methods to diagnose sexual sadism. These findings raise concerns about the reliability and validity of a diagnosis of sexual sadism, particularly with respect to how professionals conceptualize this diagnosis. This study examines how professionals understand the relative importance of behaviors associated with sadistic versus nonsadistic sexual offending. Professionals rated behaviors according to their "essentialness" for this diagnosis. Results show that professionals rated behaviors associated with three out of four conceptualizations of sexual sadism as significantly more essential to making a diagnosis of sexual sadism, compared to behaviors associated with nonsadistic sexual offending. Results suggest that professionals reliably discriminate between sadistic and nonsadistic offense behaviors.

Kidnapping in Taiwan: the significance of geographic proximity, improvisation, and fluidity.

PubMed

Yang, Shu-Lung; Wu, Bohsiu; Huang, Shih-Long

2007-06-01

Kidnapping had been rare in Taiwan until recently. Several high-profile cases in the late 1990s, victimizing both Taiwanese citizens and foreigners, startled the island state. This study is the first systematic examination of the social dynamics involved in kidnapping. Data came from court cases, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews from incarcerated inmates. Results showed that kidnappers' financial crises and friendships with ringleaders were two primary motives. Most kidnapping cases involved a small number of offenders who form an ad hoc kidnapping group. Victims were not randomly chosen and share a geographic tie with the offenders. The process of kidnapping is idiosyncratic in nature, as most kidnappers improvised their plans. The negotiation phase in kidnapping is done hastily, and the amount of ransom is often a compromised result of offenders' needs, victim's family's financial status, timing, and the offenders' perception of risks. Ways to prevent kidnapping are also discussed in this article.

Standardization of pitch-range settings in voice acoustic analysis.

PubMed

Vogel, Adam P; Maruff, Paul; Snyder, Peter J; Mundt, James C

2009-05-01

Voice acoustic analysis is typically a labor-intensive, time-consuming process that requires the application of idiosyncratic parameters tailored to individual aspects of the speech signal. Such processes limit the efficiency and utility of voice analysis in clinical practice as well as in applied research and development. In the present study, we analyzed 1,120 voice files, using standard techniques (case-by-case hand analysis), taking roughly 10 work weeks of personnel time to complete. The results were compared with the analytic output of several automated analysis scripts that made use of preset pitch-range parameters. After pitch windows were selected to appropriately account for sex differences, the automated analysis scripts reduced processing time of the 1,120 speech samples to less than 2.5 h and produced results comparable to those obtained with hand analysis. However, caution should be exercised when applying the suggested preset values to pathological voice populations.

Flipping the switch: power, social dominance, and expectancies of mental energy change.

PubMed

Egan, Patrick M; Hirt, Edward R

2015-03-01

Research suggests that high levels of interpersonal power can promote enhanced executive functioning capabilities. The present work explored whether this effect is contingent upon expectancies concerning power's downstream cognitive consequences. Study 1 showed that social dominance orientation (SDO) predicted idiosyncratic expectancies of mental energy change toward interpersonal power. Study 2 showed that SDO moderated the executive functioning changes associated with interpersonal power and that this moderation effect was contingent upon changes in perceived mental depletion. Study 3 showed that directly manipulating expectancies of mental energy change concerning interpersonal power moderated the executive functioning consequences of power and that this moderation effect was contingent upon SDO and changes in perceived mental depletion. Together, the present findings underscore the importance of expectancies and individual differences in understanding the effects of interpersonal power. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

The price elasticity of demand for heroin: matched longitudinal and experimental evidence#

PubMed Central

Olmstead, Todd A.; Alessi, Sheila M.; Kline, Brendan; Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo; Petry, Nancy M.

2015-01-01

This paper reports estimates of the price elasticity of demand for heroin based on a newly constructed dataset. The dataset has two matched components concerning the same sample of regular heroin users: longitudinal information about real-world heroin demand (actual price and actual quantity at daily intervals for each heroin user in the sample) and experimental information about laboratory heroin demand (elicited by presenting the same heroin users with scenarios in a laboratory setting). Two empirical strategies are used to estimate the price elasticity of demand for heroin. The first strategy exploits the idiosyncratic variation in the price experienced by a heroin user over time that occurs in markets for illegal drugs. The second strategy exploits the experimentally-induced variation in price experienced by a heroin user across experimental scenarios. Both empirical strategies result in the estimate that the conditional price elasticity of demand for heroin is approximately −0.80. PMID:25702687

The origin of risk aversion

PubMed Central

Zhang, Ruixun; Brennan, Thomas J.; Lo, Andrew W.

2014-01-01

Risk aversion is one of the most basic assumptions of economic behavior, but few studies have addressed the question of where risk preferences come from and why they differ from one individual to the next. Here, we propose an evolutionary explanation for the origin of risk aversion. In the context of a simple binary-choice model, we show that risk aversion emerges by natural selection if reproductive risk is systematic (i.e., correlated across individuals in a given generation). In contrast, risk neutrality emerges if reproductive risk is idiosyncratic (i.e., uncorrelated across each given generation). More generally, our framework implies that the degree of risk aversion is determined by the stochastic nature of reproductive rates, and we show that different statistical properties lead to different utility functions. The simplicity and generality of our model suggest that these implications are primitive and cut across species, physiology, and genetic origins. PMID:25453072

Finding meaning in first episode psychosis: experience, agency, and the cultural repertoire.

PubMed

Larsen, John Aggergaard

2004-12-01

The article examines individuals' attempts to generate meaning following their experiences with psychosis. The inquiry is based on a person-centered ethnographic study of a Danish mental health community program for early intervention in schizophrenia and involves longitudinal interviews with 15 of its participants. The article takes an existential anthropological perspective emphasizing agency and cultural phenomenology to investigate how individuals draw on resources from the cultural repertoire to make sense of personally disturbing experiences during their psychosis. It is suggested that the concept of "system of explanation" has advantages over, for example, "illness narrative" and "explanatory model" when demonstrating how some individuals engage in the creative analytic and theory-building work of bricolage, selecting, adding, and combining various systems of explanation. Delusions are equally derived from the cultural repertoire but are constructed as dogmatic explanations that are idiosyncratic to the individual who holds them.

Polya's bees: A model of decentralized decision-making.

PubMed

Golman, Russell; Hagmann, David; Miller, John H

2015-09-01

How do social systems make decisions with no single individual in control? We observe that a variety of natural systems, including colonies of ants and bees and perhaps even neurons in the human brain, make decentralized decisions using common processes involving information search with positive feedback and consensus choice through quorum sensing. We model this process with an urn scheme that runs until hitting a threshold, and we characterize an inherent tradeoff between the speed and the accuracy of a decision. The proposed common mechanism provides a robust and effective means by which a decentralized system can navigate the speed-accuracy tradeoff and make reasonably good, quick decisions in a variety of environments. Additionally, consensus choice exhibits systemic risk aversion even while individuals are idiosyncratically risk-neutral. This too is adaptive. The model illustrates how natural systems make decentralized decisions, illuminating a mechanism that engineers of social and artificial systems could imitate.

Mechanisms of Drug Toxicity and Relevance to Pharmaceutical Development

PubMed Central

Guengerich, F. Peter

2016-01-01

Toxicity has been estimated to be responsible for the attrition of ~ 1/3 of drug candidates and is a major contributor to the high cost of drug development, particularly when not recognized until late in the clinical trials or post-marketing. The causes of drug toxicity can be organized in several ways and include mechanism-based (on-target) toxicity, immune hypersensitivity, off-target toxicity, and bioactivation/covalent modification. In addition, idiosyncratic responses are rare but one of the most problematic issues; several hypotheses for these have been advanced. Although covalent binding of drugs to proteins was described almost 40 years ago, the significance to toxicity has been difficult to establish; recent literature in this field is considered. The development of more useful biomarkers and short-term assays for rapid screening of drug toxicity early in the drug discovery/development process is a major goal, and some progress has been made using “omics” approaches. PMID:20978361

On the different "worlds" of intra-organizational knowledge management: Understanding idiosyncratic variation in MNC cross-site knowledge-sharing practices.

PubMed

Kasper, Helmut; Lehrer, Mark; Mühlbacher, Jürgen; Müller, Barbara

2013-02-01

This qualitative field study investigated cross-site knowledge sharing in a small sample of multinational corporations in three different MNC business contexts (global, multidomestic, transnational). The results disclose heterogeneous "worlds" of MNC knowledge sharing, ultimately raising the question as to whether the whole concept of MNC knowledge sharing covers a sufficiently unitary phenomenon to be meaningful. We derive a non-exhaustive typology of MNC knowledge-sharing practices: self-organizing knowledge sharing, technocratic knowledge sharing, and best practice knowledge sharing. Despite its limitations, this typology helps to elucidate a number of issues, including the latent conflict between two disparate theories of MNC knowledge sharing, namely "sender-receiver" and "social learning" theories (Noorderhaven & Harzing, 2009). More generally, we develop the term "knowledge contextualization" to highlight the way that firm-specific organizational features pre-define which knowledge is considered to be of special relevance for intra-organizational sharing.

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

Hill, David P.; D’Eustachio, Peter; Berardini, Tanya Z.

The concept of a biological pathway, an ordered sequence of molecular transformations, is used to collect and represent molecular knowledge for a broad span of organismal biology. Representations of biomedical pathways typically are rich but idiosyncratic presentations of organized knowledge about individual pathways. Meanwhile, biomedical ontologies and associated annotation files are powerful tools that organize molecular information in a logically rigorous form to support computational analysis. The Gene Ontology (GO), representing Molecular Functions, Biological Processes and Cellular Components, incorporates many aspects of biological pathways within its ontological representations. Here we present a methodology for extending and refining the classes inmore » the GO for more comprehensive, consistent and integrated representation of pathways, leveraging knowledge embedded in current pathway representations such as those in the Reactome Knowledgebase and MetaCyc. With carbohydrate metabolic pathways as a use case, we discuss how our representation supports the integration of variant pathway classes into a unified ontological structure that can be used for data comparison and analysis.« less

ANALYSES OF RESPONSE–STIMULUS SEQUENCES IN DESCRIPTIVE OBSERVATIONS

PubMed Central

Samaha, Andrew L; Vollmer, Timothy R; Borrero, Carrie; Sloman, Kimberly; Pipkin, Claire St. Peter; Bourret, Jason

2009-01-01

Descriptive observations were conducted to record problem behavior displayed by participants and to record antecedents and consequences delivered by caregivers. Next, functional analyses were conducted to identify reinforcers for problem behavior. Then, using data from the descriptive observations, lag-sequential analyses were conducted to examine changes in the probability of environmental events across time in relation to occurrences of problem behavior. The results of the lag-sequential analyses were interpreted in light of the results of functional analyses. Results suggested that events identified as reinforcers in a functional analysis followed behavior in idiosyncratic ways: after a range of delays and frequencies. Thus, it is possible that naturally occurring reinforcement contingencies are arranged in ways different from those typically evaluated in applied research. Further, these complex response–stimulus relations can be represented by lag-sequential analyses. However, limitations to the lag-sequential analysis are evident. PMID:19949537

Is primate tool use special? Chimpanzee and New Caledonian crow compared

PubMed Central

McGrew, W. C.

2013-01-01

The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is well-known in both nature and captivity as an impressive maker and user of tools, but recently the New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) has been championed as being equivalent or superior to the ape in elementary technology. I systematically compare the two taxa, going beyond simple presence/absence scoring of tool-using and -making types, on four more precise aspects of material culture: (i) types of associative technology (tools used in combination); (ii) modes of tool making; (iii) modes of tool use; and (iv) functions of tool use. I emphasize tool use in nature, when performance is habitual or customary, rather than in anecdotal or idiosyncratic. On all four measures, the ape shows more variety than does the corvid, especially in modes and functions that go beyond extractive foraging. However, more sustained field research is required on the crows before this contrast is conclusive. PMID:24101630

Using NMR chemical shifts to calculate the propensity for structural order and disorder in proteins.

PubMed

Tamiola, Kamil; Mulder, Frans A A

2012-10-01

NMR spectroscopy offers the unique possibility to relate the structural propensities of disordered proteins and loop segments of folded peptides to biological function and aggregation behaviour. Backbone chemical shifts are ideally suited for this task, provided that appropriate reference data are available and idiosyncratic sensitivity of backbone chemical shifts to structural information is treated in a sensible manner. In the present paper, we describe methods to detect structural protein changes from chemical shifts, and present an online tool [ncSPC (neighbour-corrected Structural Propensity Calculator)], which unites aspects of several current approaches. Examples of structural propensity calculations are given for two well-characterized systems, namely the binding of α-synuclein to micelles and light activation of photoactive yellow protein. These examples spotlight the great power of NMR chemical shift analysis for the quantitative assessment of protein disorder at the atomic level, and further our understanding of biologically important problems.

Sensory perception: lessons from synesthesia: using synesthesia to inform the understanding of sensory perception.

PubMed

Harvey, Joshua Paul

2013-06-01

Synesthesia, the conscious, idiosyncratic, repeatable, and involuntary sensation of one sensory modality in response to another, is a condition that has puzzled both researchers and philosophers for centuries. Much time has been spent proving the condition's existence as well as investigating its etiology, but what can be learned from synesthesia remains a poorly discussed topic. Here, synaesthesia is presented as a possible answer rather than a question to the current gaps in our understanding of sensory perception. By first appreciating the similarities between normal sensory perception and synesthesia, one can use what is known about synaesthesia, from behavioral and imaging studies, to inform our understanding of "normal" sensory perception. In particular, in considering synesthesia, one can better understand how and where the different sensory modalities interact in the brain, how different sensory modalities can interact without confusion - the binding problem - as well as how sensory perception develops.

False-positive tangible outcomes of functional analyses.

PubMed

Rooker, Griffin W; Iwata, Brian A; Harper, Jill M; Fahmie, Tara A; Camp, Erin M

2011-01-01

Functional analysis (FA) methodology is the most precise method for identifying variables that maintain problem behavior. Occasionally, however, results of an FA may be influenced by idiosyncratic sensitivity to aspects of the assessment conditions. For example, data from several studies suggest that inclusion of a tangible condition during an FA may be prone to a false-positive outcome, although the extent to which tangible reinforcement routinely produces such outcomes is unknown. We examined susceptibility to tangible reinforcement by determining whether a new response was acquired more readily when exposed to a tangible contingency relative to others commonly used in an FA (Study 1), and whether problem behavior known not to have a social function nevertheless emerged when exposed to tangible reinforcement (Study 2). Results indicated that inclusion of items in the tangible condition should be done with care and that selection should be based on those items typically found in the individual's environment.

The laureate as celebrity genius: How Scientific American's John Horgan profiled Nobel Prize winners.

PubMed

Fahy, Declan

2018-05-01

When scientists become Nobel laureates, they become famous in science and public life, but few studies have examined the nature of their scientific celebrity. This article examines how Scientific American portrayed laureates in order to identify and explain core features of Nobel fame. It examines the portrayals of seven laureates - Francis Crick, Linus Pauling, Hans Bethe, Murray Gell-Mann, Brian Josephson, Philip Anderson and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar - in magazine profiles written between 1992 and 1995 by science writer John Horgan. Its textual analysis finds the scientists are portrayed as combining the sociological characteristics of genius, including enormous productivity and lasting impact, with the representational characteristics of celebrities, such as the merging of public and private lives. Their form of scientific celebrity is grounded in their field-changing research, which is presented as a product of their idiosyncratic personalities. Nobel science is presented as knowledge created by an ultra-elite of exceptional individuals.

Patterns of racial and educational assortative mating in Brazil.

PubMed

Gullickson, Aaron; Torche, Florencia

2014-06-01

Exchange of racial for educational status has been documented for black/white marriages in the United States. Exchange may be an idiosyncratic feature of U.S. society, resulting from unusually strong racial boundaries historically developed there. We examine status exchange across racial lines in Brazil. In contrast to the United States, Brazil features greater fluidity of racial boundaries and a middle tier of "brown" individuals. If exchange is contingent on strong racial boundaries, it should be weak or non-existent in Brazilian society. Contrary to this expectation, we find strong evidence of status exchange. However, this pattern results from a generalized penalty for darkness, which induces a negative association between higher education and marrying darker spouses ("market exchange") rather than from a direct trading of resources by partners ("dyadic exchange"). The substantive and methodological distinction between market and dyadic exchange helps clarify and integrate prior findings in the status exchange literature.

Perception of social interaction compresses subjective duration in an oxytocin-dependent manner

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Communication through body gestures permeates our daily life. Efficient perception of the message therein reflects one’s social cognitive competency. Here we report that such competency is manifested temporally as shortened subjective duration of social interactions: motion sequences showing agents acting communicatively are perceived to be significantly shorter in duration as compared with those acting noncommunicatively. The strength of this effect is negatively correlated with one’s autistic-like tendency. Critically, intranasal oxytocin administration restores the temporal compression effect in socially less proficient individuals, whereas the administration of atosiban, a competitive antagonist of oxytocin, diminishes the effect in socially proficient individuals. These findings indicate that perceived time, rather than being a faithful representation of physical time, is highly idiosyncratic and ingrained with one’s personality trait. Moreover, they suggest that oxytocin is involved in mediating time perception of social interaction, further supporting the role of oxytocin in human social cognition. PMID:29784084

Progressing From Initially Ambiguous Functional Analyses: Three Case Examples

PubMed Central

Tiger, Jeffrey H.; Fisher, Wayne W.; Toussaint, Karen A.; Kodak, Tiffany

2009-01-01

Most often functional analyses are initiated using a standard set of test conditions, similar to those described by Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, and Richman (1982/1994). These test conditions involve the careful manipulation of motivating operations, discriminative stimuli, and reinforcement contingencies to determine the events related to the occurrence and maintenance of problem behavior. Some individuals display problem behavior that is occasioned and reinforced by idiosyncratic or otherwise unique combinations of environmental antecedents and consequences of behavior, which are unlikely to be detected using these standard assessment conditions. For these individuals, modifications to the standard test conditions or the inclusion of novel test conditions may result in clearer assessment outcomes. The current study provides three case examples of individuals whose functional analyses were initially undifferentiated; however, modifications to the standard conditions resulted in the identification of behavioral functions and the implementation of effective function-based treatments. PMID:19233611

Examination of efficacious, efficient, and socially valid error-correction procedures to teach sight words and prepositions to children with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Kodak, Tiffany; Campbell, Vincent; Bergmann, Samantha; LeBlanc, Brittany; Kurtz-Nelson, Eva; Cariveau, Tom; Haq, Shaji; Zemantic, Patricia; Mahon, Jacob

2016-09-01

Prior research shows that learners have idiosyncratic responses to error-correction procedures during instruction. Thus, assessments that identify error-correction strategies to include in instruction can aid practitioners in selecting individualized, efficacious, and efficient interventions. The current investigation conducted an assessment to compare 5 error-correction procedures that have been evaluated in the extant literature and are common in instructional practice for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Results showed that the assessment identified efficacious and efficient error-correction procedures for all participants, and 1 procedure was efficient for 4 of the 5 participants. To examine the social validity of error-correction procedures, participants selected among efficacious and efficient interventions in a concurrent-chains assessment. We discuss the results in relation to prior research on error-correction procedures and current instructional practices for learners with ASD. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Neurolinguistic Relativity: How Language Flexes Human Perception and Cognition

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

The time has come, perhaps, to go beyond merely acknowledging that language is a core manifestation of the workings of the human mind and that it relates interactively to all aspects of thinking. The issue, thus, is not to decide whether language and human thought may be ineluctably linked (they just are), but rather to determine what the characteristics of this relationship may be and to understand how language influences—and may be influenced by—nonverbal information processing. In an attempt to demystify linguistic relativity, I review neurolinguistic studies from our research group showing a link between linguistic distinctions and perceptual or conceptual processing. On the basis of empirical evidence showing effects of terminology on perception, language‐idiosyncratic relationships in semantic memory, grammatical skewing of event conceptualization, and unconscious modulation of executive functioning by verbal input, I advocate a neurofunctional approach through which we can systematically explore how languages shape human thought. PMID:27642191

Influence on bone metabolism of dietary trace elements, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and vitamins.

PubMed

Sarazin, M; Alexandre, C; Thomas, T

2000-01-01

Osteoporosis is a multifactorial disease driven primarily by the genetic factors that control bone metabolism. Among environmental factors, diet may play a key role, affording a target for low-cost intervention. Calcium and vitamin D are well known to affect bone metabolism. Other nutrients may influence bone mass changes; for instance, a number of trace elements and vitamins other than vitamin D are essential to many of the steps of bone metabolism. A wide variety of foods provide these nutrients, and in industrialized countries deficiencies are more often due to idiosyncratic eating habits than to cultural influences. Both culture and vogue influence the amount of carbohydrate, fat, and protein in the typical diet. In children, the current trend is to reduce protein and to increase carbohydrate and fat. Data from epidemiological and animal studies suggest that this may adversely affect bone mass and the fracture risk.

Methods for the behavioral, educational, and social sciences: an R package.

PubMed

Kelley, Ken

2007-11-01

Methods for the Behavioral, Educational, and Social Sciences (MBESS; Kelley, 2007b) is an open source package for R (R Development Core Team, 2007b), an open source statistical programming language and environment. MBESS implements methods that are not widely available elsewhere, yet are especially helpful for the idiosyncratic techniques used within the behavioral, educational, and social sciences. The major categories of functions are those that relate to confidence interval formation for noncentral t, F, and chi2 parameters, confidence intervals for standardized effect sizes (which require noncentral distributions), and sample size planning issues from the power analytic and accuracy in parameter estimation perspectives. In addition, MBESS contains collections of other functions that should be helpful to substantive researchers and methodologists. MBESS is a long-term project that will continue to be updated and expanded so that important methods can continue to be made available to researchers in the behavioral, educational, and social sciences.

High-Dimensional Mutant and Modular Thermodynamic Cycles, Molecular Switching, and Free Energy Transduction

PubMed Central

Carter, Charles W.

2017-01-01

Understanding how distinct parts of proteins produce coordinated behavior has driven and continues to drive advances in protein science and enzymology. However, despite consensus about the conceptual basis for allostery, the idiosyncratic nature of allosteric mechanisms resists general approaches. Computational methods can identify conformational transition states from structural changes, revealing common switching mechanisms that impose multistate behavior. Thermodynamic cycles use factorial perturbations to measure coupling energies between side chains in molecular switches that mediate shear during domain motion. Such cycles have now been complemented by modular cycles that measure energetic coupling between separable domains. For one model system, energetic coupling between domains has been shown to be quantitatively equivalent to that between dynamic side chains. Linkages between domain motion, switching residues, and catalysis make nucleoside triphosphate hydrolysis conditional on domain movement, confirming an essential yet neglected aspect of free energy transduction and suggesting the potential generality of these studies. PMID:28375734

The origin of risk aversion.

PubMed

Zhang, Ruixun; Brennan, Thomas J; Lo, Andrew W

2014-12-16

Risk aversion is one of the most basic assumptions of economic behavior, but few studies have addressed the question of where risk preferences come from and why they differ from one individual to the next. Here, we propose an evolutionary explanation for the origin of risk aversion. In the context of a simple binary-choice model, we show that risk aversion emerges by natural selection if reproductive risk is systematic (i.e., correlated across individuals in a given generation). In contrast, risk neutrality emerges if reproductive risk is idiosyncratic (i.e., uncorrelated across each given generation). More generally, our framework implies that the degree of risk aversion is determined by the stochastic nature of reproductive rates, and we show that different statistical properties lead to different utility functions. The simplicity and generality of our model suggest that these implications are primitive and cut across species, physiology, and genetic origins.

The idiosyncratic nature of confidence

PubMed Central

Navajas, Joaquin; Hindocha, Chandni; Foda, Hebah; Keramati, Mehdi; Latham, Peter E; Bahrami, Bahador

2017-01-01

Confidence is the ‘feeling of knowing’ that accompanies decision making. Bayesian theory proposes that confidence is a function solely of the perceived probability of being correct. Empirical research has suggested, however, that different individuals may perform different computations to estimate confidence from uncertain evidence. To test this hypothesis, we collected confidence reports in a task where subjects made categorical decisions about the mean of a sequence. We found that for most individuals, confidence did indeed reflect the perceived probability of being correct. However, in approximately half of them, confidence also reflected a different probabilistic quantity: the perceived uncertainty in the estimated variable. We found that the contribution of both quantities was stable over weeks. We also observed that the influence of the perceived probability of being correct was stable across two tasks, one perceptual and one cognitive. Overall, our findings provide a computational interpretation of individual differences in human confidence. PMID:29152591

Modality dependency of familiarity ratings of Japanese words.

PubMed

Amano, S; Kondo, T; Kakehi, K

1995-07-01

Familiarity ratings for a large number of aurally and visually presented Japanese words wer measured for 11 subjects, in order to investigate the modality dependency of familiarity. The correlation coefficient between auditory and visual ratings was .808, which is lower than that observed for English words, suggesting that a substantial portion of the mental lexicon is modality dependent. It was shown that the modality dependency is greater for low-familiarity words than it is for medium- or high-familiarity words. This difference between the low- and the medium- or high-familiarity words has a relationship to orthography. That is, the dependency is larger in words consisting only of kanji, which may have multiple pronunciations and usually represent meaning, than it is in words consisting only of hiragana or katakana, which have a single pronunciation and usually do not represent meaning. These results indicate that the idiosyncratic characteristics of Japanese orthography contribute to the modality dependency.

Neurolinguistic Relativity: How Language Flexes Human Perception and Cognition.

PubMed

Thierry, Guillaume

2016-09-01

The time has come, perhaps, to go beyond merely acknowledging that language is a core manifestation of the workings of the human mind and that it relates interactively to all aspects of thinking. The issue, thus, is not to decide whether language and human thought may be ineluctably linked (they just are), but rather to determine what the characteristics of this relationship may be and to understand how language influences-and may be influenced by-nonverbal information processing. In an attempt to demystify linguistic relativity, I review neurolinguistic studies from our research group showing a link between linguistic distinctions and perceptual or conceptual processing. On the basis of empirical evidence showing effects of terminology on perception, language-idiosyncratic relationships in semantic memory, grammatical skewing of event conceptualization, and unconscious modulation of executive functioning by verbal input, I advocate a neurofunctional approach through which we can systematically explore how languages shape human thought.

Pyogranulomatous mural folliculitis in a cat treated with methimazole.

PubMed

Castro López, Jorge; Lloret, Albert; Ravera, Ivan; Nadal, Aina; Ferrer, Lluís; Bardagí, Mar

2014-06-01

An 11-year-old spayed female domestic shorthair cat was presented for polydipsia, hyperactivity and bilateral thyroid gland enlargement. Total T4 (TT4) was in the upper interval range; therefore, an early hyperthyroidism was suspected. A treatment trial with methimazole was started, as the owner refused further tests. Six months later the owner stopped the treatment. One year later, clinical signs persisted and TT4 was still in the upper interval range. Methimazole was re-introduced but 48 h later the cat presented non-pruritic alopecia with erythema, scales and perilesional yellowish crusts. Pyogranulomatous mural folliculitis was diagnosed by histopatological examination of the skin biopsies. Methimazole was withdrawn and macroscopic lesions healed and disappeared histologically in 15 days. An idiosyncratic drug reaction to methimazole was suspected. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of feline pyogranulomatous mural folliculitis likely secondary to an adverse drug reaction to methimazole administration. © ISFM and AAFP 2013.

Perception of social interaction compresses subjective duration in an oxytocin-dependent manner.

PubMed

Liu, Rui; Yuan, Xiangyong; Chen, Kepu; Jiang, Yi; Zhou, Wen

2018-05-22

Communication through body gestures permeates our daily life. Efficient perception of the message therein reflects one's social cognitive competency. Here we report that such competency is manifested temporally as shortened subjective duration of social interactions: motion sequences showing agents acting communicatively are perceived to be significantly shorter in duration as compared with those acting noncommunicatively. The strength of this effect is negatively correlated with one's autistic-like tendency. Critically, intranasal oxytocin administration restores the temporal compression effect in socially less proficient individuals, whereas the administration of atosiban, a competitive antagonist of oxytocin, diminishes the effect in socially proficient individuals. These findings indicate that perceived time, rather than being a faithful representation of physical time, is highly idiosyncratic and ingrained with one's personality trait. Moreover, they suggest that oxytocin is involved in mediating time perception of social interaction, further supporting the role of oxytocin in human social cognition. © 2018, Liu et al.

Natural restoration of degraded rangeland ecosystem in Heshan hilly land

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hai, R.; Weibing, D.; Jun, W.; Zuoyue, Y.; Qinfeng, G.

2007-01-01

This study examined the 20-yr trend of natural restoration of a degraded rangeland ecosystem after disturbance in Heshan hilly land. The results showed that herbs and shrubs were the dominant plants in the community and only a small number of the shade-intolerant tree species had invaded, showing the characteristics of assembly of pioneer communities. The organic matter content, soluble nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium had recovered to the level of the local climax community. Part of the ecological functions such as water and soil conservation had also recovered. While the functions of water and soil conservation recovered first, more time was needed for productivity and other functions to completely recover, suggesting the idiosyncratic nature of different ecosystem variables in response to time and microclimate change. Particularly, nutrient cycling recovered very slowly by natural restoration and artificial plantation may be necessary to accelerate the restoration process. ?? 2007 Ecological Society of China.

Genetic variation in adaptability and pleiotropy in budding yeast.

PubMed

Jerison, Elizabeth R; Kryazhimskiy, Sergey; Mitchell, James Kameron; Bloom, Joshua S; Kruglyak, Leonid; Desai, Michael M

2017-08-17

Evolution can favor organisms that are more adaptable, provided that genetic variation in adaptability exists. Here, we quantify this variation among 230 offspring of a cross between diverged yeast strains. We measure the adaptability of each offspring genotype, defined as its average rate of adaptation in a specific environmental condition, and analyze the heritability, predictability, and genetic basis of this trait. We find that initial genotype strongly affects adaptability and can alter the genetic basis of future evolution. Initial genotype also affects the pleiotropic consequences of adaptation for fitness in a different environment. This genetic variation in adaptability and pleiotropy is largely determined by initial fitness, according to a rule of declining adaptability with increasing initial fitness, but several individual QTLs also have a significant idiosyncratic role. Our results demonstrate that both adaptability and pleiotropy are complex traits, with extensive heritable differences arising from naturally occurring variation.

Polya’s bees: A model of decentralized decision-making

PubMed Central

Golman, Russell; Hagmann, David; Miller, John H.

2015-01-01

How do social systems make decisions with no single individual in control? We observe that a variety of natural systems, including colonies of ants and bees and perhaps even neurons in the human brain, make decentralized decisions using common processes involving information search with positive feedback and consensus choice through quorum sensing. We model this process with an urn scheme that runs until hitting a threshold, and we characterize an inherent tradeoff between the speed and the accuracy of a decision. The proposed common mechanism provides a robust and effective means by which a decentralized system can navigate the speed-accuracy tradeoff and make reasonably good, quick decisions in a variety of environments. Additionally, consensus choice exhibits systemic risk aversion even while individuals are idiosyncratically risk-neutral. This too is adaptive. The model illustrates how natural systems make decentralized decisions, illuminating a mechanism that engineers of social and artificial systems could imitate. PMID:26601255

An Evaluation of the Effects of a Mild Delayed Verbal Punisher on Choice of an Immediate Reinforcer by Children With Autism.

PubMed

Sy, Jolene R; Green, Leonard; Gratz, Olivia; Ervin, Thea

2016-09-01

Different combinations of immediate and delayed consequences differentially affect choice. Basic research has found that nonhuman animals are more likely to choose an alternative that produces an immediate reinforcer that is followed by a delayed punisher as the delay to punishment increases. The purpose of the current effort was to examine the choices of three individuals with autism when they were given the choice between receiving a larger amount of preferred food followed by a mild, delayed verbal punisher and a smaller amount of the preferred food. A secondary purpose was to determine whether signal presence and duration would affect the efficacy of the punisher (i.e., whether children would be more likely to select the smaller reward that was not followed by a delayed punisher). Results were idiosyncratic across children and highlight the need to evaluate choice under multiple arrangements. © The Author(s) 2016.

Practices, perceptions, and implications of fertilizer use in East-Central China.

PubMed

Yang, Xiaoying; Fang, Shubo

2015-11-01

Face-to-face interviews (n = 553) were conducted in five counties in East-Central China to study farmers' fertilizer application behaviors, decision-making processes, attitudes towards adopting better fertilizer application technologies, and environmental consciousness. The survey results revealed widespread fertilizer misapplication and highly variable application behaviors in the study regions. The lack of scientific knowledge on fertilizers and the absence of guidance from agricultural extension services have forced the farmers to rely on personal judgment and advice from fertilizer dealers and friends to make decisions in fertilizer application. Overall, farmers have been idiosyncratic in fertilizer application with limited adoption of better fertilizer application technologies. There are great potentials for reducing pollutant load from agricultural runoff through promoting scientific fertilizer application in the regions. However, farmers' diverse preferences over agricultural extension programs necessitate an integrated approach emphasizing farmer involvement throughout the development of such programs for promoting better fertilizer application practices.

Value-based HR practices, i-deals and clinical error control with CSR as a moderator.

PubMed

Luu, Tuan; Rowley, Chris; Siengthai, Sununta; Thanh Thao, Vo

2017-05-08

Purpose Notwithstanding the rising magnitude of system factors in patient safety improvement, "human factors" such as idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) which also contribute to the adjustment of system deficiencies should not be neglected. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of value-based HR practices in catalyzing i-deals, which then influence clinical error control. The research further examines the moderating role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the effect of value-based HR practices on i-deals. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from middle-level clinicians from hospitals in the Vietnam context. Findings The research results confirmed the effect chain from value-based HR practices through i-deals to clinical error control with CSR as a moderator. Originality/value The HRM literature is expanded through enlisting i-deals and clinical error control as the outcomes of HR practices.

What predicts successful literacy acquisition in a second language?

PubMed Central

Frost, Ram; Siegelman, Noam; Narkiss, Alona; Afek, Liron

2013-01-01

We examined whether success (or failure) in assimilating the structure of a second language could be predicted by general statistical learning abilities that are non-linguistic in nature. We employed a visual statistical learning (VSL) task, monitoring our participants’ implicit learning of the transitional probabilities of visual shapes. A pretest revealed that performance in the VSL task is not correlated with abilities related to a general G factor or working memory. We found that native speakers of English who picked up the implicit statistical structure embedded in the continuous stream of shapes, on average, better assimilated the Semitic structure of Hebrew words. Our findings thus suggest that languages and their writing systems are characterized by idiosyncratic correlations of form and meaning, and these are picked up in the process of literacy acquisition, as they are picked up in any other type of learning, for the purpose of making sense of the environment. PMID:23698615

SCiP at 35: an idiosyncratic history of the society for computers in psychology.

PubMed

Wolfe, Christopher R

2006-05-01

SCiP history may be divided into three eras: the Paleozoic (1971-1982), the Mesozoic (1982-1994), and the Cenozoic (1994-present). Following a list of Secretary-Treasurers, a list of all SCiP Presidents is provided in Table 1. Next I present personal highlights, including the first symposium on psychology and the World-Wide Web; David Rumelhart's mathematical explanation of connectionism; and Stevan Hamad's discussion of "freeing" the journal literature. I observe that a small conference is becoming more intimate and that much of our mission involves figuring out how to conduct high-quality scientific research with consumer-grade electronics. I argue that we are an increasingly international organization, that graduate students are welcome, and that we should become more inclusive in the areas of gender and ethnicity and should make membership more meaningful I conclude by looking ahead and attempting to predict the future.

Altering the threshold of an excitable signal transduction network changes cell migratory modes.

PubMed

Miao, Yuchuan; Bhattacharya, Sayak; Edwards, Marc; Cai, Huaqing; Inoue, Takanari; Iglesias, Pablo A; Devreotes, Peter N

2017-04-01

The diverse migratory modes displayed by different cell types are generally believed to be idiosyncratic. Here we show that the migratory behaviour of Dictyostelium was switched from amoeboid to keratocyte-like and oscillatory modes by synthetically decreasing phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate levels or increasing Ras/Rap-related activities. The perturbations at these key nodes of an excitable signal transduction network initiated a causal chain of events: the threshold for network activation was lowered, the speed and range of propagating waves of signal transduction activity increased, actin-driven cellular protrusions expanded and, consequently, the cell migratory mode transitions ensued. Conversely, innately keratocyte-like and oscillatory cells were promptly converted to amoeboid by inhibition of Ras effectors with restoration of directed migration. We use computational analysis to explain how thresholds control cell migration and discuss the architecture of the signal transduction network that gives rise to excitability.

Global markets and the differential effects of climate and weather on conflict

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, K. C.; Hsiang, S. M.; Cane, M. A.

2011-12-01

Both climate and weather have been attributed historically as possible drivers for violence. Previous empirical studies have either focused on isolating local idiosyncratic weather variation or have conflated weather with spatially coherent climatic changes. This paper provides the first study of the differential impacts of climate and weather variation by employing methods developed in earlier work linking the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) with the onset of civil conflicts. By separating the effects of climate from local weather, we are able to test possible mechanisms by which atmospheric changes can cause violence. It is generally difficult to separate the effect of year-to-year climate variations from other global events that might drive conflict. We avoid this problem by examining the set of tropical countries that are strongly teleconnected to ENSO. For this region, the ENSO cycle parallels the common year-to-year pattern of violence. Using ENSO, we isolate the influence of climatic changes from other global determinants of violence and compare it with the effect of local weather variations. We find that while climate affects the onset of civil conflicts in teleconnected countries, local weather has no significant effect. Productivity overall as well as across major sectors is more affected by local weather than by climatic variation. This is particularly evident in the agricultural sector where total value and cereal yield decline much greater from a 1°C increase in local temperature than a 1°C increase in ENSO. However, when examining the effect on food prices, we find that ENSO is associated with a large and statistically significant increase in cereal prices but no effect from hotter local temperatures. Altogether, this evidence points toward the ability of global and regional commodity markets to insure against the effects of local weather variation and their limitations in containing losses from aggregate shocks such as El Nino events. We posit that conflict reacts to climate and not weather because climatic events trigger not only local agricultural losses but also increased food prices as a result of an aggregate decline in output. This is because in an open economy, idiosyncratic weather variation alone would not lead to higher prices. These results are informative in understanding the impacts of anthropogenic global change, which would yield variation exhibiting spatial coherence beyond the extent of existing markets.

History and Outcome of Febrile Neutropenia Outside the Oncology Setting: A Retrospective Study of 76 Cases Related to Non-Chemotherapy Drugs

PubMed Central

Andrès, Emmanuel; Mourot-Cottet, Rachel; Maloisel, Frédéric; Keller, Olivier; Vogel, Thomas; Séverac, François; Tebacher, Martine; Gottenberg, Jacques-Eric; Weber, Jean-Christophe; Kaltenbach, Georges; Goichot, Bernard; Sibilia, Jean; Korganow, Anne-Sophie; Herbrecht, Raoul

2017-01-01

Background: Despite major advances in its prevention and treatment, febrile neutropenia remains a most concerning complication of cancer chemotherapy. Outside the oncology setting, however, only few data are currently available on febrile neutropenia related to non-chemotherapy drugs. We report here data on 76 patients with febrile neutropenia related to non-chemotherapy drugs, followed up in a referral center within a university hospital. Patients and methods: Data from 76 patients with idiosyncratic drug-induced febrile neutropenia were retrospectively reviewed. All cases were extracted from a cohort study on agranulocytosis conducted at the Strasbourg University Hospital (Strasbourg, France). Results: Mean patient age was 52.2 years old (range: 18–93) and gender ratio (F/M) 1.6, with several comorbidities present in 86.8% of patients. The most common causative drugs were: antibiotics (37.4%), antithyroid drugs (17.2%), neuroleptic and anti-epileptic agents (13.1%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents and analgesics (8%), and platelet aggregation inhibitors (8%). Main clinical presentations upon hospitalization included isolated fever (30%), sore throat, acute tonsillitis and sinusitis (18.4%), documented pneumonia (18.4%), septicemia (14.5%), and septic shock (6.6%). Mean neutrophil count at nadir was 0.13 × 10(9)/L (range: 0–0.48). While in hospital, 22 patients (28.9%) worsened clinically and required intensive care unit placement. All patients were promptly treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics, and 45 (59.2%) with hematopoietic growth factors. Mean duration of hematological recovery (neutrophil count ≥1.5 × 10(9)/L) was 7.5 days (range: 2–21), which was reduced to 0.7 days (range: 2–16) (p = 0.089) with hematopoietic growth factors. Outcome was favorable in 89.5% of patients, whereas eight died. Conclusions: Like in oncology and myelosuppressive chemotherapy settings, idiosyncratic febrile neutropenia is typically serious, about 40% of patients exhibiting severe pneumonia, septicemia, and septic shock, with a mortality rate of 10%. Like in febrile, chemotherapy-related neutropenia, modern and timely management (immediate broad spectrum antibiotherapy, hematopoietic growth factors) may reduce infection-related mortality. All practitioners should be aware of this potential side-effect that may even occur in the event of “daily medication” exposure. PMID:28954408

Alternate entropy measure for assessing volatility in financial markets.

PubMed

Bose, Ranjan; Hamacher, Kay

2012-11-01

We propose two alternate information theoretical approaches to assess non-Gaussian fluctuations in the return dynamics of financial markets. Specifically, we use superinformation, which is a measure of the disorder of the entropy of time series. We argue on theoretical grounds on its usefulness and show that it can be applied effectively for analyzing returns. A study of stock market data for over five years has been carried out using this approach. We show how superinformation helps to identify and classify important signals in the time series. The financial crisis of 2008 comes out very clearly in the superinformation plots. In addition, we introduce the super mutual information. Distinct super mutual information signatures are observed that might be used to mitigate idiosyncratic risk. The universality of our approach has been tested by carrying out the analysis for the 100 stocks listed in S&P100 index. The average superinformation values for the S&P100 stocks correlates very well with the VIX.

A comparative analysis of the statistical properties of large mobile phone calling networks.

PubMed

Li, Ming-Xia; Jiang, Zhi-Qiang; Xie, Wen-Jie; Miccichè, Salvatore; Tumminello, Michele; Zhou, Wei-Xing; Mantegna, Rosario N

2014-05-30

Mobile phone calling is one of the most widely used communication methods in modern society. The records of calls among mobile phone users provide us a valuable proxy for the understanding of human communication patterns embedded in social networks. Mobile phone users call each other forming a directed calling network. If only reciprocal calls are considered, we obtain an undirected mutual calling network. The preferential communication behavior between two connected users can be statistically tested and it results in two Bonferroni networks with statistically validated edges. We perform a comparative analysis of the statistical properties of these four networks, which are constructed from the calling records of more than nine million individuals in Shanghai over a period of 110 days. We find that these networks share many common structural properties and also exhibit idiosyncratic features when compared with previously studied large mobile calling networks. The empirical findings provide us an intriguing picture of a representative large social network that might shed new lights on the modelling of large social networks.

The neural architecture of expert calendar calculation: a matter of strategy?

PubMed

Fehr, Thorsten; Wallace, Gregory L; Erhard, Peter; Herrmann, Manfred

2011-08-01

Savants and prodigies are individuals with exceptional skills in particular mental domains. In the present study we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine neural correlates of calendar calculation in two individuals, a savant with Asperger's disorder and a self-taught mathematical prodigy. If there is a modular neural organization of exceptional performance in a specific mental domain, calendar calculation should be reflected in a considerable overlap in the recruitment of brain circuits across expert individuals. However, considerable individual differences in activation patterns during calendar calculation were noted. The present results indicate that activation patterns produced by complex mental processing, such as calendar calculation, seem to be influenced strongly by learning history and idiosyncratic strategy usage rather than a modular neural organization. Thus, well-known individual differences in complex cognition play a major role even in experts with exceptional abilities in a particular mental domain and should in particular be considered when examining the neural architecture of complex mental processes and skills.

String theory--the physics of string-bending and other electric guitar techniques.

PubMed

Grimes, David Robert

2014-01-01

Electric guitar playing is ubiquitous in practically all modern music genres. In the hands of an experienced player, electric guitars can sound as expressive and distinct as a human voice. Unlike other more quantised instruments where pitch is a discrete function, guitarists can incorporate micro-tonality and, as a result, vibrato and sting-bending are idiosyncratic hallmarks of a player. Similarly, a wide variety of techniques unique to the electric guitar have emerged. While the mechano-acoustics of stringed instruments and vibrating strings are well studied, there has been comparatively little work dedicated to the underlying physics of unique electric guitar techniques and strings, nor the mechanical factors influencing vibrato, string-bending, fretting force and whammy-bar dynamics. In this work, models for these processes are derived and the implications for guitar and string design discussed. The string-bending model is experimentally validated using a variety of strings and vibrato dynamics are simulated. The implications of these findings on the configuration and design of guitars is also discussed.

Dichloro-tetrafluoro-ethane as a Freezing Agent

PubMed Central

Luikart, Ralph; Ayres, Samuel; Wilson, J. Walter

1956-01-01

Surgical skin planing is, in the hands of an experienced operator, a safe and highly effective procedure for treating a number of cutaneous defects, most notably pitted acne scars. The operation is facilitated by the use of a new instrument (jet-spray handpiece) which allows the operator to freeze the skin and plane it almost simultaneously, and by a new freezing agent, dichlorotetrafluoro-ethane, which adds to the safety by eliminating the old hazards of inflammability, explosion, and the toxic inhalation of ethyl chloride. The ability to sharply differentiate between keloid and hypertrophic scar is fundamental to surgical skin planing. A hypertrophic scar results from the removal or destruction of the cutaneous appendages (hair follicles, oil and sweat glands and ducts); whereas a keloid is an idiosyncratic response without regard to damage of the appendages. Properly performed surgical planing does not entirely remove these appendages and therefore healing occurs without scarring. ImagesFigure 1.Figure 2.Figure 3.Figure 4. PMID:13304667

Recovery in Psychosis: A Delphi Study With Experts by Experience

PubMed Central

Law, Heather; Morrison, Anthony P.

2014-01-01

This study aimed to establish consensus about the meaning of recovery among individuals with experience of psychosis. A Delphi approach was utilized to allow a large sample of service users to be anonymously consulted about their views on recovery. Service users were invited to take part in a 3-stage consultation process. A total of 381 participants gave their views on recovery in the main stage of this study, with 100 of these taking part in the final review stage. The final list of statements about recovery included 94 items, which were rated as essential or important by >80% of respondents. These statements covered items which define recovery, factors which help recovery, factors which hinder recovery, and factors which show that someone is recovering. As far as we are aware, it is the first study to identify areas of consensus in relation to definitions of recovery from a service user perspective, which are typically reported to be an idiosyncratic process. Implications and recommendations for clinical practice and future research are discussed. PMID:24727194

Attuning: A Communication Process between People with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disability and Their Interaction Partners.

PubMed

Griffiths, Colin; Smith, Martine

2016-03-01

People with severe and profound intellectual disability typically demonstrate a limited ability to communicate effectively. Most of their communications are non-verbal, often idiosyncratic and ambiguous. This article aims to identify the process that regulates communications of this group of people with others and to describe the methodological approach that was used to achieve this. In this qualitative study, two dyads consisting of a person with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disability and a teacher or carer were filmed as they engaged in school-based activities. Two 1-hour videotapes were transcribed and analysed using grounded theory. Attuning was identified within the theory proposed here as a central process that calibrates and regulates communication. Attuning is conceptualized as a bidirectional, dyadic communication process. Understanding this process may support more effective communication between people with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disability and their interaction partners. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An assessment of antecedent events influencing noncompliance in an outpatient clinic.

PubMed Central

Call, Nathan A; Wacker, David P; Ringdahl, Joel E; Cooper-Brown, Linda J; Boeiter, Eric W

2004-01-01

Several studies have shown that various factors can influence noncompliance, including task novelty, rate of presentation, and task preference. This study examined the impact of selected antecedent variables on noncompliance in an outpatient clinic setting. In two experiments involving 6 typically developing children, the consequences for noncompliance remained constant. During Experiment 1, demands that included noncontingent access to adult attention were contrasted with the same demands that did not include attention within a multielement design. In Experiment 2, demands were altered by decreasing the difficulty or amount of work or providing access to attention. In both experiments, results indicated idiosyncratic responses to the manipulated variables, with decreases in noncompliance observed following introduction of one or more antecedent variables with 5 of the 6 participants. These results suggested that noncompliance can be reduced via changes in antecedent variables, including adding potential positive reinforcers to the task situation, and that it is possible to probe variables that alter noncompliance in an outpatient clinic setting. PMID:15293634

"No former travellers having attained such a height on the Earth's surface": Instruments, inscriptions, and bodies in the Himalaya, 1800-1830.

PubMed

Fleetwood, Lachlan

2018-03-01

East India Company surveyors began gaining access to the high Himalaya in the 1810s, at a time when the mountains were taking on increasing political significance as the northern borderlands of British India. Though never as idiosyncratic as surveyors insisted, these were spaces in which instruments, fieldbook inscriptions, and bodies were all highly prone to failure. The ways surveyors managed these failures (both rhetorically and in practice) demonstrate the social performances required to establish credible knowledge in a world in which the senses were scrambled. The resulting tensions reveal an ongoing disconnect in understanding between those displaced not only from London, but also from Calcutta, something insufficiently emphasized in previous histories of colonial science. By focusing on the early nineteenth century, often overlooked in favor of the later period, this article shows the extent to which the scientific, imaginative, and political constitution of the Himalaya was haphazard and contested.

The price elasticity of demand for heroin: Matched longitudinal and experimental evidence.

PubMed

Olmstead, Todd A; Alessi, Sheila M; Kline, Brendan; Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo; Petry, Nancy M

2015-05-01

This paper reports estimates of the price elasticity of demand for heroin based on a newly constructed dataset. The dataset has two matched components concerning the same sample of regular heroin users: longitudinal information about real-world heroin demand (actual price and actual quantity at daily intervals for each heroin user in the sample) and experimental information about laboratory heroin demand (elicited by presenting the same heroin users with scenarios in a laboratory setting). Two empirical strategies are used to estimate the price elasticity of demand for heroin. The first strategy exploits the idiosyncratic variation in the price experienced by a heroin user over time that occurs in markets for illegal drugs. The second strategy exploits the experimentally induced variation in price experienced by a heroin user across experimental scenarios. Both empirical strategies result in the estimate that the conditional price elasticity of demand for heroin is approximately -0.80. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The application of biological motion research: biometrics, sport, and the military.

PubMed

Steel, Kylie; Ellem, Eathan; Baxter, David

2015-02-01

The body of research that examines the perception of biological motion is extensive and explores the factors that are perceived from biological motion and how this information is processed. This research demonstrates that individuals are able to use relative (temporal and spatial) information from a person's movement to recognize factors, including gender, age, deception, emotion, intention, and action. The research also demonstrates that movement presents idiosyncratic properties that allow individual discrimination, thus providing the basis for significant exploration in the domain of biometrics and social signal processing. Medical forensics, safety garments, and victim selection domains also have provided a history of research on the perception of biological motion applications; however, a number of additional domains present opportunities for application that have not been explored in depth. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the current applications of biological motion-based research and to propose a number of areas where biological motion research, specific to recognition, could be applied in the future.

Just how good an investment is the biopharmaceutical sector?

PubMed

Thakor, Richard T; Anaya, Nicholas; Zhang, Yuwei; Vilanilam, Christian; Siah, Kien Wei; Wong, Chi Heem; Lo, Andrew W

2017-12-01

Uncertainty surrounding the risk and reward of investments in biopharmaceutical companies poses a challenge to those interested in funding such enterprises. Using data on publicly traded stocks, we track the performance of 1,066 biopharmaceutical companies from 1930 to 2015-the most comprehensive financial analysis of this sector to date. Our systematic exploration of methods for distinguishing biotech and pharmaceutical companies yields a dynamic, more accurate classification method. We find that the performance of the biotech sector is highly sensitive to the presence of a few outlier companies, and confirm that nearly all biotech companies are loss-making enterprises, exhibiting high stock volatility. In contrast, since 2000, pharmaceutical companies have become increasingly profitable, with risk-adjusted returns consistently outperforming the market. The performance of all biopharmaceutical companies is subject not only to factors arising from their drug pipelines (idiosyncratic risk), but also from general economic conditions (systematic risk). The risk associated with returns has profound implications both for patterns of investment and for funding innovation in biomedical R&D.

Election Turnout Statistics in Many Countries: Similarities, Differences, and a Diffusive Field Model for Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Borghesi, Christian; Raynal, Jean-Claude; Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe

2012-01-01

We study in details the turnout rate statistics for 77 elections in 11 different countries. We show that the empirical results established in a previous paper for French elections appear to hold much more generally. We find in particular that the spatial correlation of turnout rates decay logarithmically with distance in all cases. This result is quantitatively reproduced by a decision model that assumes that each voter makes his mind as a result of three influence terms: one totally idiosyncratic component, one city-specific term with short-ranged fluctuations in space, and one long-ranged correlated field which propagates diffusively in space. A detailed analysis reveals several interesting features: for example, different countries have different degrees of local heterogeneities and seem to be characterized by a different propensity for individuals to conform to the cultural norm. We furthermore find clear signs of herding (i.e., strongly correlated decisions at the individual level) in some countries, but not in others. PMID:22615762

The Charles F. Prentice Award Lecture 2005: optics of the human eye: progress and problems.

PubMed

Charman, W Neil

2006-06-01

The history of measurements of ocular aberration is briefly reviewed and recent work using much-improved aberrometers and large samples of eyes is summarized. When on-axis, higher-order, monochromatic aberrations are averaged, undercorrected, positive, fourth-order spherical aberration dominates; other Zernike wavefront aberration coefficients have average values near zero. Individually, however, many eyes show substantial amounts of third-order and other fourth-order aberrations; the value of these varies idiosyncratically about zero. Most normal eyes show only small amounts of axial monochromatic aberration for photopic pupils up to around 3 mm; the limits to retinal image quality are then usually set by diffraction, uncorrected or imperfectly corrected spherocylindrical refractive error, accommodation error, and chromatic aberration. Longitudinal chromatic aberration varies very little across the population. With larger mesopic and scotopic pupils, monochromatic aberration plays a more important optical role, but overall visual performance is increasingly dominated by neural factors. Some remaining problems in measuring and modeling the eye's optical performance are discussed.

Different understanding: science through the eyes of visual thinkers

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

Sesko, S.C.; Marchant, M.

1997-09-11

The objective of this emergent study was to follow the cognitive and creative processes demonstrated by five art student participants as they integrated a developing knowledge of big science, as practiced at the Department of Energy`s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, into a personal and idiosyncratic visual, graphical, or multimedia product. The non-scientist participants involved in this process attended design classes sponsored by the Laboratory at the Art Center College of Design in California. The learning experience itself, and how the students arrived at their product, were the focus of the class and the research. The study was emergent in thatmore » we found no applicable literature on the use of art to portray a cognitive understanding of science. This lack of literature led us to the foundation literature on creativity and to the corpus of literature on public understanding of science. We believe that this study contributes to the literature on science education, art education, cognitive change, and public understanding of science. 20 refs., 11 figs.« less

The C-terminal residue of phage Vp16 PDF, the smallest peptide deformylase, acts as an offset element locking the active conformation.

PubMed

Grzela, Renata; Nusbaum, Julien; Fieulaine, Sonia; Lavecchia, Francesco; Bienvenut, Willy V; Dian, Cyril; Meinnel, Thierry; Giglione, Carmela

2017-09-08

Prokaryotic proteins must be deformylated before the removal of their first methionine. Peptide deformylase (PDF) is indispensable and guarantees this mechanism. Recent metagenomics studies revealed new idiosyncratic PDF forms as the most abundant family of viral sequences. Little is known regarding these viral PDFs, including the capacity of the corresponding encoded proteins to ensure deformylase activity. We provide here the first evidence that viral PDFs, including the shortest PDF identified to date, Vp16 PDF, display deformylase activity in vivo, despite the absence of the key ribosome-interacting C-terminal region. Moreover, characterization of phage Vp16 PDF underscores unexpected structural and molecular features with the C-terminal Isoleucine residue significantly contributing to deformylase activity both in vitro and in vivo. This residue fully compensates for the absence of the usual long C-domain. Taken together, these data elucidate an unexpected mechanism of enzyme natural evolution and adaptation within viral sequences.

Alternate entropy measure for assessing volatility in financial markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bose, Ranjan; Hamacher, Kay

2012-11-01

We propose two alternate information theoretical approaches to assess non-Gaussian fluctuations in the return dynamics of financial markets. Specifically, we use superinformation, which is a measure of the disorder of the entropy of time series. We argue on theoretical grounds on its usefulness and show that it can be applied effectively for analyzing returns. A study of stock market data for over five years has been carried out using this approach. We show how superinformation helps to identify and classify important signals in the time series. The financial crisis of 2008 comes out very clearly in the superinformation plots. In addition, we introduce the super mutual information. Distinct super mutual information signatures are observed that might be used to mitigate idiosyncratic risk. The universality of our approach has been tested by carrying out the analysis for the 100 stocks listed in S&P100 index. The average superinformation values for the S&P100 stocks correlates very well with the VIX.

Is the ecological belt zonation of the Swiss Alps relevant for moth diversity and turnover?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, Jan; Rüdlinger, Cecil M.; McCain, Christy M.

2017-04-01

Mountain ecosystems are traditionally envisioned as elevational belts of homogenous vegetation, separated by intervening ecotones. Recent research has cast doubt on such predictable layering at least in animal communities. We test the link of two a priori defined ecological belt zonations to noctuid moth distributions in the Swiss Alps. Predictions, in particular, were a coincidence of proposed ecotones with increased range endpoint frequencies and with increased species turnover or species richness between equidistant elevational bands. Using >320,000 distributional records for >500 noctuid species, we found no support for these three predictions despite several contrasting analytical approaches. Concurrent with recently published vertebrate data, we conclude that simple ecological belt zonations are unrelated to the moth communities found along mountain slopes. Rather, species are distributed idiosyncratically following their specific niche requirements. Additional rigorous evidence, particularly comparing insect clades spanning a spectrum of host-plant relationships, may be required to support the relevance of the ecological belt concept in structuring mountain ecosystems beyond tree and plant communities.

Wishes, gender, personality, and well-being.

PubMed

King, L A; Broyles, S J

1997-03-01

Study participants (175 men, 230 women) made three wishes and completed measures of the five-factor model of personality, optimism, life satisfaction, and depression. Common wishes were for achievement, affiliation, intimacy, and power as well as for happiness and money. T tests showed women were more likely to wish for improved appearance, happiness, and health; men were more likely to make power wishes and wishes for sex. Among participants who were highly involved in the wishing process, Extraversion was related to making more interpersonal wishes and wishes for positive affect. Neuroticism was related to wishes for emotional stability. Agreeableness and Openness to Experience related to wishes reflective of these traits. Conscientiousness was related to low impulsivity. Depression was related to making highly idiosyncratic, specific wishes, suggesting the use of wishful thinking as a coping mechanism. In addition, happy participants were more likely to rate their wishes as likely to come true. Results indicate that the relatively commonplace process of wishing relates to traits, gender, and well-being.

On the statistical mechanics of species abundance distributions.

PubMed

Bowler, Michael G; Kelly, Colleen K

2012-09-01

A central issue in ecology is that of the factors determining the relative abundance of species within a natural community. The proper application of the principles of statistical physics to species abundance distributions (SADs) shows that simple ecological properties could account for the near universal features observed. These properties are (i) a limit on the number of individuals in an ecological guild and (ii) per capita birth and death rates. They underpin the neutral theory of Hubbell (2001), the master equation approach of Volkov et al. (2003, 2005) and the idiosyncratic (extreme niche) theory of Pueyo et al. (2007); they result in an underlying log series SAD, regardless of neutral or niche dynamics. The success of statistical mechanics in this application implies that communities are in dynamic equilibrium and hence that niches must be flexible and that temporal fluctuations on all sorts of scales are likely to be important in community structure. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecological influences on individual differences in color preference.

PubMed

Schloss, Karen B; Hawthorne-Madell, Daniel; Palmer, Stephen E

2015-11-01

How can the large, systematic differences that exist between individuals' color preferences be explained? The ecological valence theory (Palmer & Schloss, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107:8877-8882, 2010) posits that an individual's preference for each particular color is determined largely by his or her preferences for all correspondingly colored objects. Therefore, individuals should differ in their color preferences to the extent that they have different preferences for the same color-associated objects or that they experience different objects. Supporting this prediction, we found that individuals' color preferences were predicted better by their own preferences for correspondingly colored objects than by other peoples' preferences for the same objects. Moreover, the fit between color preferences and affect toward the colored objects was reliably improved when people's own idiosyncratic color-object associations were included in addition to a standard set of color-object associations. These and related results provide evidence that individual differences in color preferences are reliably influenced by people's personal experiences with colored objects in their environment.

The Modelled Raindrop Size Distribution of Skudai, Peninsular Malaysia, Using Exponential and Lognormal Distributions

PubMed Central

Yakubu, Mahadi Lawan; Yusop, Zulkifli; Yusof, Fadhilah

2014-01-01

This paper presents the modelled raindrop size parameters in Skudai region of the Johor Bahru, western Malaysia. Presently, there is no model to forecast the characteristics of DSD in Malaysia, and this has an underpinning implication on wet weather pollution predictions. The climate of Skudai exhibits local variability in regional scale. This study established five different parametric expressions describing the rain rate of Skudai; these models are idiosyncratic to the climate of the region. Sophisticated equipment that converts sound to a relevant raindrop diameter is often too expensive and its cost sometimes overrides its attractiveness. In this study, a physical low-cost method was used to record the DSD of the study area. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to test the aptness of the data to exponential and lognormal distributions, which were subsequently used to formulate the parameterisation of the distributions. This research abrogates the concept of exclusive occurrence of convective storm in tropical regions and presented a new insight into their concurrence appearance. PMID:25126597

Effects of offshore platforms on soft-bottom macro-benthic assemblages: a case study in a Mediterranean gas field.

PubMed

Terlizzi, Antonio; Bevilacqua, Stanislao; Scuderi, Danilo; Fiorentino, Dario; Guarnieri, Giuseppe; Giangrande, Adriana; Licciano, Margherita; Felline, Serena; Fraschetti, Simonetta

2008-07-01

The exploitation of fossil fuels in the Mediterranean Sea will likely lead to an increase in the number of offshore platforms, a recognized threat for marine biodiversity. To date, in this basin, few attempts have been made to assess the impact of offshore gas and oil platforms on the biodiversity of benthic assemblages. Here, we adopted a structured experimental design coupled with high taxonomic resolution to outline putative effects of gas platforms on soft-bottom macrofauna assemblages in the North Ionian Sea. The analysis was based on a total of 20,295 specimens of 405 taxa, almost entirely identified at species level. Multivariate and univariate analyses showed idiosyncratic patterns of assemblage change with increasing distance from the platforms. Potential reasons underlying such inconsistency are analyzed and the view that structured experimental monitoring is a crucial tool to quantify the extent and magnitude of potential threats and to provide sound baseline information on biodiversity patterns is supported.

Disgust and Anger Relate to Different Aggressive Responses to Moral Violations

PubMed Central

Molho, Catherine; Tybur, Joshua M.; Güler, Ezgi; Balliet, Daniel; Hofmann, Wilhelm

2017-01-01

In response to the same moral violation, some people report experiencing anger, and others report feeling disgust. Do differences in emotional responses to moral violations reflect idiosyncratic differences in the communication of outrage, or do they reflect differences in motivational states? Whereas equivalence accounts suggest that anger and disgust are interchangeable expressions of condemnation, sociofunctional accounts suggest that they have distinct antecedents and consequences. We tested these accounts by investigating whether anger and disgust vary depending on the costs imposed by moral violations and whether they differentially correspond with aggressive tendencies. Results across four studies favor a sociofunctional account: When the target of a moral violation shifts from the self to another person, anger decreases, but disgust increases. Whereas anger is associated with high-cost, direct aggression, disgust is associated with less costly indirect aggression. Finally, whether the target of a moral violation is the self or another person influences direct aggression partially via anger and influences indirect aggression partially via disgust. PMID:28485700

Modulation of cognitive performance and mood by aromas of peppermint and ylang-ylang.

PubMed

Moss, Mark; Hewitt, Steven; Moss, Lucy; Wesnes, Keith

2008-01-01

This study provides further evidence for the impact of the aromas of plant essential oils on aspects of cognition and mood in healthy participants. One hundred and forty-four volunteers were randomly assigned to conditions of ylang-ylang aroma, peppermint aroma, or no aroma control. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research computerized assessment battery, with mood scales completed before and after cognitive testing. The analysis of the data revealed significant differences between conditions on a number of the factors underpinning the tests that constitute the battery. Peppermint was found to enhance memory whereas ylang-ylang impaired it, and lengthened processing speed. In terms of subjective mood peppermint increased alertness and ylang-ylang decreased it, but significantly increased calmness. These results provide support for the contention that the aromas of essential oils can produce significant and idiosyncratic effects on both subjective and objective assessments of aspects of human behavior. They are discussed with reference to possible pharmacological and psychological modes of influence.

Stability of handwriting performance following injury-induced hand-dominance transfer in adults: a pilot study.

PubMed

Yancosek, Kathleen E; Mullineaux, David R

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to quantify stability of nondominant handwriting kinematics and legibility in participants with functional loss of the previously dominant hand. Twelve adult volunteers provided two handwriting samples 6 weeks apart. Handwriting tasks (Compose a Sentence, Copy Alphabet, Copy Date, Copy Sentence, and Draw Circles) were performed in cursive writing on standard white, lined paper taped to a digitizer to record kinematic and kinetic variables of velocity, displacement, force, and on-paper time. Results showed minimal performance variability within subjects and marked variability between subjects, as well as variability between tasks for all participants. Stylistic stability of the handwriting samples was assessed by two independent evaluators. These evaluators matched all handwriting samples at test to retest times with 89%-100% accuracy, suggesting value in the "whole" handwriting sample and emphasizing the idiosyncratic nature of handwriting. Results suggest that handwriting skill stability in the previously nondominant hand varies across subjects and task demands.

Rethinking the sustainability of Israel's irrigation practices in the Drylands.

PubMed

Tal, Alon

2016-03-01

Broad utilization of drip irrigation technologies in Israel has contributed to the 1600 percent increase in the value of produce grown by local farmers over the past sixty-five years. The recycling of 86% of Israeli sewage now provides 50% of the country's irrigation water and is the second, idiosyncratic component in Israel's strategy to overcome water scarcity and maintain agriculture in a dryland region. The sustainability of these two practices is evaluated in light of decades of experience and ongoing research by the local scientific community. The review confirms the dramatic advantages of drip irrigation over time, relative to flood, furrow and sprinkler irrigation and its significance as a central component in agricultural production, especially under arid conditions. In contrast, empirical findings increasingly report damage to soil and to crops from salinization caused by irrigation with effluents. To be environmentally and agriculturally sustainable over time, wastewater reuse programs must ensure extremely high quality treated effluents and ultimately seek the desalinization of recycled sewage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

English children as personality theorists: accounts of the modifiability, development, and origin of traits.

PubMed

Yuill, N

1997-02-01

Forty-eight children, 4, 6, 7, and 10 years old, were interviewed to assess their accounts of the modifiability, development, and origin of four character traits (grumpy, shy, mean, fussy) and two physical traits (fat, thin). The youngest children described traits as moderately controllable and usually stable, whereas for the 2 middle groups, physiological traits in particular were highly modifiable and less stable. Six-year-olds frequently cited preferences as sources of individual differences, possibly as a precursor to a fuller understanding of traits as internal, partly uncontrollable, and idiosyncratic attributes. Seven-year-olds were more likely to mention cognitively mediated accounts of personality change, as were 10-year-olds, who were also more aware of the interactive and variable nature of influences on personality. All age groups showed coherent patterns of trait explanation and used different models of explanation for different traits. The results suggest that a monolithic model of trait understanding is misleading, because the children used a variety of different models of development.

Distinguishing discrete and gradient category structure in language: Insights from verb-particle constructions.

PubMed

Brehm, Laurel; Goldrick, Matthew

2017-10-01

The current work uses memory errors to examine the mental representation of verb-particle constructions (VPCs; e.g., make up the story, cut up the meat). Some evidence suggests that VPCs are represented by a cline in which the relationship between the VPC and its component elements ranges from highly transparent (cut up) to highly idiosyncratic (make up). Other evidence supports a multiple class representation, characterizing VPCs as belonging to discretely separated classes differing in semantic and syntactic structure. We outline a novel paradigm to investigate the representation of VPCs in which we elicit illusory conjunctions, or memory errors sensitive to syntactic structure. We then use a novel application of piecewise regression to demonstrate that the resulting error pattern follows a cline rather than discrete classes. A preregistered replication verifies these findings, and a final preregistered study verifies that these errors reflect syntactic structure. This provides evidence for gradient rather than discrete representations across levels of representation in language processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

ESTABLISHING VERBAL REPERTOIRES IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM USING FUNCTION-BASED VIDEO MODELING

PubMed Central

Plavnick, Joshua B; Ferreri, Summer J

2011-01-01

Previous research suggests that language-training procedures for children with autism might be enhanced following an assessment of conditions that evoke emerging verbal behavior. The present investigation examined a methodology to teach recognizable mands based on environmental variables known to evoke participants' idiosyncratic communicative responses in the natural environment. An alternating treatments design was used during Experiment 1 to identify the variables that were functionally related to gestures emitted by 4 children with autism. Results showed that gestures functioned as requests for attention for 1 participant and as requests for assistance to obtain a preferred item or event for 3 participants. Video modeling was used during Experiment 2 to compare mand acquisition when video sequences were either related or unrelated to the results of the functional analysis. An alternating treatments within multiple probe design showed that participants repeatedly acquired mands during the function-based condition but not during the nonfunction-based condition. In addition, generalization of the response was observed during the former but not the latter condition. PMID:22219527

Eat your troubles away: electrocortical and experiential correlates of food image processing are related to emotional eating style and emotional state.

PubMed

Blechert, Jens; Goltsche, Julia E; Herbert, Beate M; Wilhelm, Frank H

2014-02-01

Emotional eating, a trait-like style of food intake in response to negative emotion states, represents an important aspect of overeating and eating related psychopathology. The mechanisms of emotional eating both on experiential and neuronal levels are not well delineated. We recorded event related potentials (ERPs) while individuals with high or low emotional eating style (HEE, n=25; LEE, n=20) viewed and rated pictures of high-caloric food during neutral state vs. negative idiosyncratic emotion induction. Craving ratings increased in HEE and decreased in LEE during negative relative to neutral states. ERPs to food pictures showed an enhanced late positive potential (LPP) over parieto-occipital regions for HEE compared to LEE. Emotional state modulated food picture evoked ERPs over right frontal regions in HEE only. This suggests that appetitive food processing is susceptible to both concurrent emotion and habitual eating style which is of relevance for overeating in healthy and abnormal eating. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Severe Cutaneous Adverse Reactions: The Pharmacogenomics from Research to Clinical Implementation

PubMed Central

Su, Shih-Chi; Hung, Shuen-Iu; Fan, Wen-Lang; Dao, Ro-Lan; Chung, Wen-Hung

2016-01-01

Severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs), previously thought to be idiosyncratic or unpredictable, are a deadly form of adverse drug reactions with skin manifestations. Current pharmacogenomic studies of SCARs have made important strides, as the prevention of SCARs, to some extent, appears attainable with the identification of genetic variants for genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes and human leukocyte antigens (HLAs). Despite the improvement of incidence, a treatment guideline for this devastating condition is still unavailable, highlighting the inadequacy of contemporary accepted therapeutic interventions. As such, prompt withdrawal of causative drugs is believed to be a priority of patient management. In this review, we discuss recent cutting-edge findings concerning the discovery of biomarkers for SCARs and their clinical utilities in the better prediction and early diagnosis of this disease. The knowledge compiled herein provides clues for future investigations on deciphering additional genetic markers for SCARs and the design of clinical trials for the prospective identification of subjects at genetic risk for this condition, ultimately personalizing the medicine. PMID:27854302

Child Adjustment and Parent Functioning: Considering the Role of Child Driven Effects

PubMed Central

Yan, Ni; Ansari, Arya

2016-01-01

Based on 13,694 mother-child dyads from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), this study examined the bidirectional relations between parental and child functioning from kindergarten through third grade. Results from the cross-lagged models demonstrated that child-driven effects co-occurred with parental effects and these effects were comparable in size. At the same time, however, results from the latent profile analysis revealed idiosyncratic patterns of parent and child functioning. Compared with children in the least optimal functioning profiles, those in the average and above average profiles elicited greater improvements in parents’ functioning over time. Although children characterized by poor academic performance at kindergarten appeared to precede parents characterized by harsh parenting at third grade, there was a threshold in the evolving strength of the overall child-driven effects. Taken together, the results from this study underscore the importance of considering reciprocal processes in the parent-child dynamic while also underscoring individual differences in these processes across the early to middle childhood years. PMID:26866838

Establishing verbal repertoires in children with autism using function-based video modeling.

PubMed

Plavnick, Joshua B; Ferreri, Summer J

2011-01-01

Previous research suggests that language-training procedures for children with autism might be enhanced following an assessment of conditions that evoke emerging verbal behavior. The present investigation examined a methodology to teach recognizable mands based on environmental variables known to evoke participants' idiosyncratic communicative responses in the natural environment. An alternating treatments design was used during Experiment 1 to identify the variables that were functionally related to gestures emitted by 4 children with autism. Results showed that gestures functioned as requests for attention for 1 participant and as requests for assistance to obtain a preferred item or event for 3 participants. Video modeling was used during Experiment 2 to compare mand acquisition when video sequences were either related or unrelated to the results of the functional analysis. An alternating treatments within multiple probe design showed that participants repeatedly acquired mands during the function-based condition but not during the nonfunction-based condition. In addition, generalization of the response was observed during the former but not the latter condition.

Does this book make me look fat? The effect of protagonist body weight and body esteem on female readers' body esteem.

PubMed

Kaminski, Melissa J; Magee, Robert G

2013-03-01

Effects of visual representations of the thin ideal in the media have been widely explored, but textual representations of the thin ideal in novels have received scant attention. The chick literature genre has been criticized for depicting characters who worry about their body weight and who have poor body esteem. Excerpts from two chick lit novels were used to examine the effect of a protagonist's body weight and body esteem on college women's (N=159) perceptions of their sexual attractiveness and weight concern. Two narratives were used to minimize the possibility that idiosyncratic characteristics of one excerpt might influence the study's results. Underweight (vs. healthy weight) protagonists predicted readers' lower perceived sexual attractiveness. Protagonists with low body esteem (vs. control) predicted readers' increased weight concern. Scholars and health officials should be concerned about the effect chick lit novels might have on women's body image. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lorenz Oken and Naturphilosophie in Jena, Paris and London.

PubMed

Breidbach, Olaf; Ghiselin, Michael T

2002-01-01

Although Lorenz Oken is a classic example of Naturphilosophie as applied to biology, his views have been imperfectly understood. He is best viewed as a follower of Schelling who consistently attempted to apply Schelling's ideas to biological data. His version of Naturphilosophic, however, was strongly influenced by older pseudoscience traditions, especially alchemy and numerology as they had been presented by Robert Fludd, whose works were current in Jena and available to him. According to those influences, parts of Oken's philosophical conception were communicable even in a non-idealistic scientific culture, for example in Paris, where Oken met Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Geoffroy however was embedded in a French intellectual tradition, and the correspondence between his views and those of Oken was only superficial. The English anatomist Richard Owen attempted to incorporate the views of Oken and Geoffroy within his own, idiosyncratic system. Although Darwin knew of Oken's ideas, it was Geoffroy who really affected his evolutionary biology, and any influence of Oken must have been attenuated to the point of triviality.

Diabetes Insipidus: A Challenging Diagnosis with New Drug Therapies

PubMed Central

Saifan, Chadi; Nasr, Rabih; Mehta, Suchita; Sharma Acharya, Pranab; Perrera, Isera; Faddoul, Giovanni; Nalluri, Nikhil; Kesavan, Mayurakhan; Azzi, Yorg; El-Sayegh, Suzanne

2013-01-01

Diabetes Insipidus (DI) is either due to deficient secretion of arginine vasopressin (central) or to tubular unresponsiveness (nephrogenic). Drug induced DI is a well-known entity with an extensive list of medications. Polyuria is generally defined as urine output exceeding 3 liters per day in adults. It is crucial to identify the cause of diabetes insipidus and to implement therapy as early as possible to prevent the electrolyte disturbances and the associated mortality and morbidity. It is very rare to have an idiosyncratic effect after a short use of a medication, and physicians should be aware of such a complication to avoid volume depletion. The diagnosis of diabetes insipidus is very challenging because it relies on laboratory values, urine output, and the physical examination of the patient. A high clinical suspicion of diabetes insipidus should be enough to initiate treatment. The complications related to DI are mostly related to the electrolyte imbalance that can affect the normal physiology of different organ systems. PMID:24977135

The Re-contextualization of the Patient: What Home Health Care Can Teach Us About Medical Decision-Making.

PubMed

Salter, Erica K

2015-06-01

This article examines the role of context in the development and deployment of standards of medical decision-making. First, it demonstrates that bioethics, and our dominant standards of medical decision-making, developed out of a specific historical and philosophical environment that prioritized technology over the person, standardization over particularity, individuality over relationship and rationality over other forms of knowing. These forces de-contextualize the patient and encourage decision-making that conforms to the unnatural and contrived environment of the hospital. The article then explores several important differences between the home health care and acute care settings. Finally, it argues that the personalized, embedded, relational and idiosyncratic nature of the home is actually a much more accurate reflection of the context in which real people make real decisions. Thus, we should work to "re-contextualize" patients, in order that they might be better equipped to make decisions that harmonize with their real lives.

Presumed fair: ironic effects of organizational diversity structures.

PubMed

Kaiser, Cheryl R; Major, Brenda; Jurcevic, Ines; Dover, Tessa L; Brady, Laura M; Shapiro, Jenessa R

2013-03-01

This research tests the hypothesis that the presence (vs. absence) of organizational diversity structures causes high-status group members (Whites, men) to perceive organizations with diversity structures as procedurally fairer environments for underrepresented groups (racial minorities, women), even when it is clear that underrepresented groups have been unfairly disadvantaged within these organizations. Furthermore, this illusory sense of fairness derived from the mere presence of diversity structures causes high-status group members to legitimize the status quo by becoming less sensitive to discrimination targeted at underrepresented groups and reacting more harshly toward underrepresented group members who claim discrimination. Six experiments support these hypotheses in designs using 4 types of diversity structures (diversity policies, diversity training, diversity awards, idiosyncratically generated diversity structures from participants' own organizations) among 2 high-status groups in tests involving several types of discrimination (discriminatory promotion practices, adverse impact in hiring, wage discrimination). Implications of these experiments for organizational diversity and employment discrimination law are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Crystal cryocooling distorts conformational heterogeneity in a model Michaelis complex of DHFR

PubMed Central

Keedy, Daniel A.; van den Bedem, Henry; Sivak, David A.; Petsko, Gregory A.; Ringe, Dagmar; Wilson, Mark A.; Fraser, James S.

2014-01-01

Summary Most macromolecular X-ray structures are determined from cryocooled crystals, but it is unclear whether cryocooling distorts functionally relevant flexibility. Here we compare independently acquired pairs of high-resolution datasets of a model Michaelis complex of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), collected by separate groups at both room and cryogenic temperatures. These datasets allow us to isolate the differences between experimental procedures and between temperatures. Our analyses of multiconformer models and time-averaged ensembles suggest that cryocooling suppresses and otherwise modifies sidechain and mainchain conformational heterogeneity, quenching dynamic contact networks. Despite some idiosyncratic differences, most changes from room temperature to cryogenic temperature are conserved, and likely reflect temperature-dependent solvent remodeling. Both cryogenic datasets point to additional conformations not evident in the corresponding room-temperature datasets, suggesting that cryocooling does not merely trap pre-existing conformational heterogeneity. Our results demonstrate that crystal cryocooling consistently distorts the energy landscape of DHFR, a paragon for understanding functional protein dynamics. PMID:24882744

Drug-induced liver injury due to antimicrobials, central nervous system agents, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

PubMed

Devarbhavi, Harshad; Andrade, Raúl J

2014-05-01

Antimicrobial agents including antituberculosis (anti-TB) agents are the most common cause of idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) and drug-induced liver failure across the world. Better molecular and genetic biomarkers are acutely needed to help identify those at risk of liver injury particularly for those needing antituberculosis therapy. Some antibiotics such as amoxicillin-clavulanate and isoniazid consistently top the lists of agents in retrospective and prospective DILI databases. Central nervous system agents, particularly antiepileptics, account for the second most common class of agents implicated in DILI registries. Hepatotoxicity from older antiepileptics such as carbamazepine, phenytoin, and phenobarbital are often associated with hypersensitivity features, whereas newer antiepileptic drugs have a more favorable safety profile. Antidepressants and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs carry very low risk of significant liver injury, but their prolific use make them important causes of DILI. Early diagnosis and withdrawal of the offending agent remain the mainstays of minimizing hepatotoxicity. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

"Biomedical Workforce Diversity: The Context for Mentoring to Develop Talents and Foster Success Within the 'Pipeline'".

PubMed

McGee, Richard

2016-09-01

Like all biomedical research fields, AIDS research needs the broadest diversity of experiences and perspectives among researchers in the field if creative advancements are to be achieved. Mentors and mentoring are the most important vehicles by which the talents of young scientists are developed. However, mentoring as a teaching and learning paradigm is very complex and idiosyncratic, and often inadvertently fails to provide the same quality and quantity of opportunity to aspiring scientists who are 'different' from those doing the mentoring. This article provides a theoretical and practical framework for understanding how differences of race, ethnicity, gender, skin color, social status and other identifiable characteristics can play into scientific development during mentoring 'within the pipeline'. It also serves as a foundation upon which mentoring in AIDS is considered by subsequent papers in this series. Finally, it goes beyond mentoring to propose systematic coaching as an effective complement to research mentoring to promote success, especially for individuals from underrepresented groups.

Preparation of the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea for high-resolution histology and transmission electron microscopy

PubMed Central

Brubacher, John L.; Vieira, Ana P.; Newmark, Phillip A.

2014-01-01

The flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea is an emerging model species in such fields as stem-cell biology, regeneration, and evolutionary biology. Excellent molecular tools have been developed for S. mediterranea, but ultrastructural techniques have received far less attention. Processing specimens for histology and transmission electron microscopy is notoriously idiosyncratic for particular species or specimen types. Unfortunately however, most methods for S. mediterranea described in the literature lack numerous essential details, and those few that do provide them rely on specialized equipment that may not be readily available. Here we present an optimized protocol for ultrastructural preparation of S. mediterranea. The protocol can be completed in six days, much of which is “hands-off” time. To aid with troubleshooting, we also illustrate the significant effects of seemingly minor variations in fixative, buffer concentration, and dehydration steps. This procedure will be useful for all planarian researchers, particularly those with relatively little experience in tissue processing. PMID:24556788

Psychology of Fragrance Use: Perception of Individual Odor and Perfume Blends Reveals a Mechanism for Idiosyncratic Effects on Fragrance Choice

PubMed Central

Lenochová, Pavlína; Vohnoutová, Pavla; Roberts, S. Craig; Oberzaucher, Elisabeth; Grammer, Karl; Havlíček, Jan

2012-01-01

Cross-culturally, fragrances are used to modulate body odor, but the psychology of fragrance choice has been largely overlooked. The prevalent view is that fragrances mask an individual's body odor and improve its pleasantness. In two experiments, we found positive effects of perfume on body odor perception. Importantly, however, this was modulated by significant interactions with individual odor donors. Fragrances thus appear to interact with body odor, creating an individually-specific odor mixture. In a third experiment, the odor mixture of an individual's body odor and their preferred perfume was perceived as more pleasant than a blend of the same body odor with a randomly-allocated perfume, even when there was no difference in pleasantness between the perfumes. This indicates that fragrance use extends beyond simple masking effects and that people choose perfumes that interact well with their own odor. Our results provide an explanation for the highly individual nature of perfume choice. PMID:22470479

Interactive computer aided shift scheduling.

PubMed

Gaertner, J

2001-12-01

This paper starts with a discussion of computer aided shift scheduling. After a brief review of earlier approaches, two conceptualizations of this field are introduced: First, shift scheduling as a field that ranges from extremely stable rosters at one pole to rather market-like approaches on the other pole. Unfortunately, already small alterations of a scheduling problem (e.g., the number of groups, the number of shifts) may call for rather different approaches and tools. Second, their environment shapes scheduling problems and scheduling has to be done within idiosyncratic organizational settings. This calls for the amalgamation of scheduling with other tasks (e.g., accounting) and for reflections whether better solutions might become possible by changes in the problem definition (e.g., other service levels, organizational changes). Therefore shift scheduling should be understood as a highly connected problem. Building upon these two conceptualizations, a few examples of software that ease scheduling in some areas of this field are given and future research questions are outlined.

Modeling biochemical pathways in the gene ontology

DOE PAGES

Hill, David P.; D’Eustachio, Peter; Berardini, Tanya Z.; ...

2016-09-01

The concept of a biological pathway, an ordered sequence of molecular transformations, is used to collect and represent molecular knowledge for a broad span of organismal biology. Representations of biomedical pathways typically are rich but idiosyncratic presentations of organized knowledge about individual pathways. Meanwhile, biomedical ontologies and associated annotation files are powerful tools that organize molecular information in a logically rigorous form to support computational analysis. The Gene Ontology (GO), representing Molecular Functions, Biological Processes and Cellular Components, incorporates many aspects of biological pathways within its ontological representations. Here we present a methodology for extending and refining the classes inmore » the GO for more comprehensive, consistent and integrated representation of pathways, leveraging knowledge embedded in current pathway representations such as those in the Reactome Knowledgebase and MetaCyc. With carbohydrate metabolic pathways as a use case, we discuss how our representation supports the integration of variant pathway classes into a unified ontological structure that can be used for data comparison and analysis.« less

Bioactivation to an aldehyde metabolite--possible role in the onset of toxicity induced by the anti-HIV drug abacavir.

PubMed

Grilo, Nádia M; Charneira, Catarina; Pereira, Sofia A; Monteiro, Emília C; Marques, M Matilde; Antunes, Alexandra M M

2014-01-30

Aldehydes are highly reactive molecules, which can be generated during numerous physiological processes, including the biotransformation of drugs. Several non-P450 enzymes participate in their metabolism albeit alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase are the ones most frequently involved in this process. Endogenous and exogenous aldehydes have been strongly implicated in multiple human pathologies. Their ability to react with biomacromolecules (e.g. proteins) yielding covalent adducts is suggested to be the common primary mechanism underlying the toxicity of these reactive species. Abacavir is one of the options for combined anti-HIV therapy. Although individual susceptibilities to adverse effects differ among patients, abacavir is associated with idiosyncratic hypersensitivity drug reactions and an increased risk of cardiac dysfunction. This review highlights the current knowledge on abacavir metabolism and discusses the potential role of bioactivation to an aldehyde metabolite, capable of forming protein adducts, in the onset of abacavir-induced toxic outcomes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monitoring abacavir bioactivation in humans: screening for an aldehyde metabolite.

PubMed

Grilo, Nádia M; Antunes, Alexandra M M; Caixas, Umbelina; Marinho, Aline T; Charneira, Catarina; Conceição Oliveira, M; Monteiro, Emília C; Matilde Marques, M; Pereira, Sofia A

2013-05-10

The anti-HIV drug abacavir is associated with idiosyncratic hypersensitivity reactions and cardiotoxicity. Although the mechanism underlying abacavir-toxicity is not fully understood, drug bioactivation to reactive metabolites may be involved. This work was aimed at identifying abacavir-protein adducts in the hemoglobin of HIV patients as biomarkers of abacavir bioactivation and protein modification. The protocol received prior approval from the Hospital Ethics Committee, patients gave their written informed consent and adherence was controlled through a questionnaire. Abacavir-derived Edman adducts with the N-terminal valine of hemoglobin were analyzed by an established liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry method. Abacavir-valine adducts were detected in three out of ten patients. This work represents the first evidence of abacavir-protein adduct formation in humans. The data confirm the ability of abacavir to modify self-proteins and suggest that the molecular mechanism(s) of some abacavir-induced adverse reactions may require bioactivation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A high-resolution 7-Tesla fMRI dataset from complex natural stimulation with an audio movie.

PubMed

Hanke, Michael; Baumgartner, Florian J; Ibe, Pierre; Kaule, Falko R; Pollmann, Stefan; Speck, Oliver; Zinke, Wolf; Stadler, Jörg

2014-01-01

Here we present a high-resolution functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) dataset - 20 participants recorded at high field strength (7 Tesla) during prolonged stimulation with an auditory feature film ("Forrest Gump"). In addition, a comprehensive set of auxiliary data (T1w, T2w, DTI, susceptibility-weighted image, angiography) as well as measurements to assess technical and physiological noise components have been acquired. An initial analysis confirms that these data can be used to study common and idiosyncratic brain response patterns to complex auditory stimulation. Among the potential uses of this dataset are the study of auditory attention and cognition, language and music perception, and social perception. The auxiliary measurements enable a large variety of additional analysis strategies that relate functional response patterns to structural properties of the brain. Alongside the acquired data, we provide source code and detailed information on all employed procedures - from stimulus creation to data analysis. In order to facilitate replicative and derived works, only free and open-source software was utilized.

Sampling design for an integrated socioeconomic and ecological survey by using satellite remote sensing and ordination

PubMed Central

Binford, Michael W.; Lee, Tae Jeong; Townsend, Robert M.

2004-01-01

Environmental variability is an important risk factor in rural agricultural communities. Testing models requires empirical sampling that generates data that are representative in both economic and ecological domains. Detrended correspondence analysis of satellite remote sensing data were used to design an effective low-cost sampling protocol for a field study to create an integrated socioeconomic and ecological database when no prior information on ecology of the survey area existed. We stratified the sample for the selection of tambons from various preselected provinces in Thailand based on factor analysis of spectral land-cover classes derived from satellite data. We conducted the survey for the sampled villages in the chosen tambons. The resulting data capture interesting variations in soil productivity and in the timing of good and bad years, which a purely random sample would likely have missed. Thus, this database will allow tests of hypotheses concerning the effect of credit on productivity, the sharing of idiosyncratic risks, and the economic influence of environmental variability. PMID:15254298

Open Globe Injury Patient Identification in Warfare Clinical Notes1

PubMed Central

Apostolova, Emilia; White, Helen A.; Morris, Patty A.; Eliason, David A.; Velez, Tom

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to utilize the Defense and Veterans Eye Injury and Vision Registry clinical data derived from DoD and VA medical systems which include documentation of care while in combat, and develop methods for comprehensive and reliable Open Globe Injury (OGI) patient identification. In particular, we focus on the use of free-form clinical notes, since structured data, such as diagnoses or procedure codes, as found in early post-trauma clinical records, may not be a comprehensive and reliable indicator of OGIs. The challenges of the task include low incidence rate (few positive examples), idiosyncratic military ophthalmology vocabulary, extreme brevity of notes, specialized abbreviations, typos and misspellings. We modeled the problem as a text classification task and utilized a combination of supervised learning (SVMs) and word embeddings learnt in a unsupervised manner, achieving a precision of 92.50% and a recall of89.83%o. The described techniques are applicable to patient cohort identification with limited training data and low incidence rate. PMID:29854104

Psychology of fragrance use: perception of individual odor and perfume blends reveals a mechanism for idiosyncratic effects on fragrance choice.

PubMed

Lenochová, Pavlína; Vohnoutová, Pavla; Roberts, S Craig; Oberzaucher, Elisabeth; Grammer, Karl; Havlíček, Jan

2012-01-01

Cross-culturally, fragrances are used to modulate body odor, but the psychology of fragrance choice has been largely overlooked. The prevalent view is that fragrances mask an individual's body odor and improve its pleasantness. In two experiments, we found positive effects of perfume on body odor perception. Importantly, however, this was modulated by significant interactions with individual odor donors. Fragrances thus appear to interact with body odor, creating an individually-specific odor mixture. In a third experiment, the odor mixture of an individual's body odor and their preferred perfume was perceived as more pleasant than a blend of the same body odor with a randomly-allocated perfume, even when there was no difference in pleasantness between the perfumes. This indicates that fragrance use extends beyond simple masking effects and that people choose perfumes that interact well with their own odor. Our results provide an explanation for the highly individual nature of perfume choice.

Aphasia from the inside: The cognitive world of the aphasic patient.

PubMed

Ardila, Alfredo; Rubio-Bruno, Silvia

2017-05-23

The purpose of this study was to analyze the question: how do people with aphasia experience the world? Three questions are approached: (1) how is behavior controlled in aphasia, considering that a normal linguistic control is no longer available; (2) what is the pattern of intellectual abilities in aphasia; and (3) what do aphasia patients' self-report regarding the experience of living without language. In aphasia, behavior can no longer be controlled through the "second signal system" and only the first signal system remains. Available information suggests that sometimes no verbal abilities may be affected in aphasia. However, an important variability is observed: whereas, in some patients, evident nonverbal defects are found; in other patients, performance verbal abilities are within normal limits. Several self-reports of recovered aphasic patients explain the experience of living without language. Considering that language represents the major instrument of cognition, in aphasia, surrounding information is evidently interpreted in a partially different way and cognitive strategies are reorganized, resulting in an idiosyncratic cognitive world.

On the different “worlds” of intra-organizational knowledge management: Understanding idiosyncratic variation in MNC cross-site knowledge-sharing practices

PubMed Central

Kasper, Helmut; Lehrer, Mark; Mühlbacher, Jürgen; Müller, Barbara

2013-01-01

This qualitative field study investigated cross-site knowledge sharing in a small sample of multinational corporations in three different MNC business contexts (global, multidomestic, transnational). The results disclose heterogeneous “worlds” of MNC knowledge sharing, ultimately raising the question as to whether the whole concept of MNC knowledge sharing covers a sufficiently unitary phenomenon to be meaningful. We derive a non-exhaustive typology of MNC knowledge-sharing practices: self-organizing knowledge sharing, technocratic knowledge sharing, and best practice knowledge sharing. Despite its limitations, this typology helps to elucidate a number of issues, including the latent conflict between two disparate theories of MNC knowledge sharing, namely “sender–receiver” and “social learning” theories (Noorderhaven & Harzing, 2009). More generally, we develop the term “knowledge contextualization” to highlight the way that firm-specific organizational features pre-define which knowledge is considered to be of special relevance for intra-organizational sharing. PMID:27087759

“Biomedical Workforce Diversity: The Context for Mentoring to Develop Talents and Foster Success within the ‘Pipeline’”

PubMed Central

McGee, Richard

2016-01-01

Like all biomedical research fields, AIDS research needs the broadest diversity of experiences and perspectives among researchers in the field if creative advancements are to be achieved. Mentors and mentoring are the most important vehicles by which the talents of young scientists are developed. However, mentoring as a teaching and learning paradigm is very complex and idiosyncratic, and often inadvertently fails to provide the same quality and quantity of opportunity to aspiring scientists who are ‘different’ from those doing the mentoring. This article provides a theoretical and practical framework for understanding how differences of race, ethnicity, gender, skin color, social status and other identifiable characteristics can play into scientific development during mentoring ‘within the pipeline’. It also serves as a foundation upon which mentoring in AIDS is considered by subsequent papers in this series. Finally, it goes beyond mentoring to propose systematic coaching as an effective complement to research mentoring to promote success, especially for individuals from underrepresented groups. PMID:27424004

Magical thinking in narratives of adolescent cutters.

PubMed

Gregory, Robert J; Mustata, Georgian T

2012-08-01

Adolescents sometimes cut themselves to relieve distress; however, the mechanism is unknown. Previous studies have linked self-injury to deficits in processing emotions symbolically through language. To investigate expressive language of adolescent cutters, the authors analyzed 100 narratives posted on the Internet. Most narratives (n = 66) displayed idiosyncratic use of language indicating poor differentiation between the real and the symbolic, such as blood substituting for negative emotions, which can then be released from the self; or emotional pain magically transforming into physical pain, which can then be managed. This kind of magical thinking correlated with cutting to relieve distress, to see blood, and to feel pain, but negatively correlated with complex representation of people, understanding social causality, and self-esteem. The results suggest that magical thinking represents a pre-symbolic mental state that processes and organizes distressing emotions through body schema. Magical thinking thus provides a plausible mechanism for why cutting works. Copyright © 2012 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Albendazole Induced Recurrent Acute Toxic Hepatitis: A Case Report.

PubMed

Bilgic, Yilmaz; Yilmaz, Cengiz; Cagin, Yasir Furkan; Atayan, Yahya; Karadag, Nese; Harputluoglu, Murat Muhsin Muhip

2017-01-01

Drug induced acute toxic hepatitis can be idiosyncratic. Albendazole, a widely used broad spectrum antiparasitic drug is generally accepted as a safe drug. It may cause asymptomatic transient liver enzyme abnormalities but acute toxic hepatitis is very rare. Case Report : Herein, we present the case of 47 year old woman with recurrent acute toxic hepatitis after a single intake of albendazole in 2010 and 2014. The patient was presented with symptoms and findings of anorexia, vomiting and jaundice. For diagnosis, other acute hepatitis etiologies were excluded. Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method (RUCAM) score was calculated and found to be 10, which meant highly probable drug hepatotoxicity. Within 2 months, all pathological findings came to normal. There are a few reported cases of albendazole induced toxic hepatitis, but at adults, there is no known recurrent acute toxic hepatitis due to albendazole at this certainty according to RUCAM score. Physicians should be aware of this rare and potentially fatal adverse effect of albendazole. © Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica.

Biodiversity in a changing climate: a synthesis of current and projected trends in the US

USGS Publications Warehouse

Staudinger, Michelle D.; Carter, Shawn L.; Cross, Molly S.; Dubois, Natalie S.; Duffy, J. Emmett; Enquist, Carolyn; Griffis, Roger; Hellmann, Jessica J.; Lawler, Joshua J.; O’Leary, John; Morrison, Scott A.; Sneddon, Lesley; Stein, Bruce A.; Thompson, Laura M.; Turner, Woody

2013-01-01

This paper provides a synthesis of the recent literature describing how global biodiversity is being affected by climate change and is projected to respond in the future. Current studies reinforce earlier findings of major climate-change-related impacts on biological systems and document new, more subtle after-effects. For example, many species are shifting their distributions and phenologies at faster rates than were recorded just a few years ago; however, responses are not uniform across species. Shifts have been idiosyncratic and in some cases counterintuitive, promoting new community compositions and altering biotic interactions. Although genetic diversity enhances species' potential to respond to variable conditions, climate change may outpace intrinsic adaptive capacities and increase the relative vulnerabilities of many organisms. Developing effective adaptation strategies for biodiversity conservation will not only require flexible decision-making and management approaches that account for uncertainties in climate projections and ecological responses but will also necessitate coordinated monitoring efforts.

Corporate Strategy an Evolutionary Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fellman, Philip V.

As Richard Rumelt indicates in his book, "Fundamental Issues in Strategy: A Research Agenda", corporate strategy is a relatively recent discipline. While pioneers in the field like B.H. Liddell Hart and Bruce Henderson (later to found the Boston Consulting Group and creator of the famous BCG Growth-Share Matrix) began their research during the Second World War, the modern field of business strategy as an academic discipline, taught in schools and colleges of business emerged rather later. Rumelt provides an interesting chronicle in the introduction to his volume by noting that historically corporate strategy, even when taught as a capstone course, was not really an organized discipline. Typically, depending on the school's location and resources, the course would either be taught by the senior most professor in the department or by an outside lecturer from industry. The agenda tended to be very much instructor specific and idiosyncratic rather than drawing in any systematized fashion upon the subject matter of an organized discipline.

Graphemes Sharing Phonetic Features Tend to Induce Similar Synesthetic Colors.

PubMed

Kang, Mi-Jeong; Kim, Yeseul; Shin, Ji-Young; Kim, Chai-Youn

2017-01-01

Individuals with grapheme-color synesthesia experience idiosyncratic colors when viewing achromatic letters or digits. Despite large individual differences in grapheme-color association, synesthetes tend to associate graphemes sharing a perceptual feature with similar synesthetic colors. Sound has been suggested as one such feature. In the present study, we investigated whether graphemes of which representative phonemes have similar phonetic features tend to be associated with analogous synesthetic colors. We tested five Korean multilingual synesthetes on a color-matching task using graphemes from Korean, English, and Japanese orthography. We then compared the similarity of synesthetic colors induced by those characters sharing a phonetic feature. Results showed that graphemes associated with the same phonetic feature tend to induce synesthetic color in both within- and cross-script analyses. Moreover, this tendency was consistent for graphemes that are not transliterable into each other as well as graphemes that are. These results suggest that it is the perceptual-i.e., phonetic-properties associated with graphemes, not just conceptual associations such as transliteration, that determine synesthetic color.

Graphemes Sharing Phonetic Features Tend to Induce Similar Synesthetic Colors

PubMed Central

Kang, Mi-Jeong; Kim, Yeseul; Shin, Ji-Young; Kim, Chai-Youn

2017-01-01

Individuals with grapheme-color synesthesia experience idiosyncratic colors when viewing achromatic letters or digits. Despite large individual differences in grapheme-color association, synesthetes tend to associate graphemes sharing a perceptual feature with similar synesthetic colors. Sound has been suggested as one such feature. In the present study, we investigated whether graphemes of which representative phonemes have similar phonetic features tend to be associated with analogous synesthetic colors. We tested five Korean multilingual synesthetes on a color-matching task using graphemes from Korean, English, and Japanese orthography. We then compared the similarity of synesthetic colors induced by those characters sharing a phonetic feature. Results showed that graphemes associated with the same phonetic feature tend to induce synesthetic color in both within- and cross-script analyses. Moreover, this tendency was consistent for graphemes that are not transliterable into each other as well as graphemes that are. These results suggest that it is the perceptual—i.e., phonetic—properties associated with graphemes, not just conceptual associations such as transliteration, that determine synesthetic color. PMID:28348537

Suffering by comparison: Twitter users' reactions to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

PubMed

Chrisler, Joan C; Fung, Kaitlin T; Lopez, Alexandra M; Gorman, Jennifer A

2013-09-01

Social comparison theory suggests that evaluating the self in comparison with others (e.g., peers, celebrities, models) can influence body image. Experimental studies that have tested effects of viewing idealized images in the media often show that women feel worse about themselves after seeing images that illustrate the beauty ideal. Twitter presents a naturally occurring opportunity to study viewers' reactions. An analysis was conducted of 977 tweets sent immediately before and during the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show that reference the show. Although the majority were idiosyncratic remarks, many tweets contain evidence of upward social comparisons to the fashion models. There were tweets about body image, eating disorders, weight, desires for food or alcohol, and thoughts about self-harm. The results support social comparison theory, and suggest that vulnerable viewers could experience negative affect, or even engage in harmful behaviors, during or after viewing the show or others like it. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of the Nature and 'Goodness' of Argument among College Students, Science Teachers, and Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abi-El-Mona, Issam; Abd-El-Khalick, Fouad

2011-03-01

This study aimed to elucidate college freshmen science students, secondary science teachers, and scientists' perceptions of 'scientific' argument; to compare participants' perceptions with Stephen Toulmin's analytical framework of argument; and to characterize the criteria that participants deployed when assessing the 'quality' or 'goodness' of arguments. Thirty students, teachers, and scientists-with 10 members in each group-participated in two semi-structured individual interviews. During the first interview, participants generated an argument in response to a socioscientific issue. In the second interview, each participant 'evaluated' three arguments generated by a member from each participant group without being privy to the arguer's group membership. Interview transcripts were qualitatively analyzed. The findings point to both similarities and differences between participants' conceptions of argument and those based on Toulmin's analytical framework. Participants used an array of common and idiosyncratic criteria to judge the quality or goodness of argument. Finally, contrary to expectations, participants independently agreed that the 'best' arguments were those generated by participant science teachers.

Attention Modulates Spatial Precision in Multiple-Object Tracking.

PubMed

Srivastava, Nisheeth; Vul, Ed

2016-01-01

We present a computational model of multiple-object tracking that makes trial-level predictions about the allocation of visual attention and the effect of this allocation on observers' ability to track multiple objects simultaneously. This model follows the intuition that increased attention to a location increases the spatial resolution of its internal representation. Using a combination of empirical and computational experiments, we demonstrate the existence of a tight coupling between cognitive and perceptual resources in this task: Low-level tracking of objects generates bottom-up predictions of error likelihood, and high-level attention allocation selectively reduces error probabilities in attended locations while increasing it at non-attended locations. Whereas earlier models of multiple-object tracking have predicted the big picture relationship between stimulus complexity and response accuracy, our approach makes accurate predictions of both the macro-scale effect of target number and velocity on tracking difficulty and micro-scale variations in difficulty across individual trials and targets arising from the idiosyncratic within-trial interactions of targets and distractors. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

The Mere Co-Presence: Synchronization of Autonomic Signals and Emotional Responses across Co-Present Individuals Not Engaged in Direct Interaction

PubMed Central

Golland, Yulia; Arzouan, Yossi; Levit-Binnun, Nava

2015-01-01

Existing evidence suggests that in social contexts individuals become coupled in their emotions and behaviors. Furthermore, recent biological studies demonstrate that the physiological signals of interacting individuals become coupled as well, exhibiting temporally synchronized response patterns. However, it is yet unknown whether people can shape each other's responses without the direct, face-to-face interaction. Here we investigated whether the convergence of physiological and emotional states can occur among “merely co-present” individuals, without direct interactional exchanges. To this end, we measured continuous autonomic signals and collected emotional responses of participants who watched emotional movies together, seated side-by-side. We found that the autonomic signals of co-present participants were idiosyncratically synchronized and that the degree of this synchronization was correlated with the convergence of their emotional responses. These findings suggest that moment-to-moment emotional transmissions, resulting in shared emotional experiences, can occur in the absence of direct communication and are mediated by autonomic synchronization. PMID:26018597

Autonomic, subjective, and expressive responses to emotional films in older and younger Chinese Americans and European Americans.

PubMed

Tsai, J L; Levenson, R W; Carstensen, L L

2000-12-01

Previously, the authors found that during idiosyncratic emotional events (relived emotions, discussions about marital conflict), older European American adults demonstrated smaller changes in cardiovascular responding than their younger counterparts (R. W. Levenson, L. L. Carstensen, W. V. Friesen, & P. Ekman, 1991; R. W. Levenson, L. L. Carstensen, & J. M. Gottman, 1994). This study examined whether such differences held when the emotional events were standardized, and whether they extend to another cultural group. Forty-eight old (70-85 years) and 48 young (20-34 years) European Americans and Chinese Americans viewed sad and amusing film clips in the laboratory while their cardiovascular, subjective (online and retrospective), and behavioral responses were measured. Consistent with previous findings, older participants evidenced smaller changes in cardiovascular responding than did younger participants during the film clips. Consistent with earlier reports, old and young participants did not differ in most subjective and behavioral responses to the films. No cultural differences were found.

A surfeit of science: The "CSI effect" and the media appropriation of the public understanding of science.

PubMed

Cole, Simon A

2015-02-01

Over the past decade, popular media has promulgated claims that the television program CSI and its spinoffs and imitators have had a pernicious effect on the public understanding of forensic science, the so-called "CSI effect." This paper analyzes those media claims by documenting the ways in which the media claims that CSI "distorts" an imagined "reality." It shows that the media appropriated the analytic stance usually adopted by science advocates, portraying the CSI effect as a social problem in science communication. This appropriation was idiosyncratic in that it posited, as a social problem, a "surfeit" of knowledge and positive imagery about science, rather than the more familiar "deficits." In addition, the media simultaneously appropriated both "traditional" and "critical" PUS discourses. Despite this apparent contradiction, the paper concludes that, in both discourses, the media and its expert informants insist upon their hegemony over "the public" to articulate the "reality" of forensic science. © The Author(s) 2013.

Adverse drug reactions: classification, susceptibility and reporting.

PubMed

Kaufman, Gerri

2016-08-10

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are increasingly common and are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Historically, ADRs have been classified as type A or type B. Type A reactions are predictable from the known pharmacology of a drug and are associated with high morbidity and low mortality. Type B reactions are idiosyncratic, bizarre or novel responses that cannot be predicted from the known pharmacology of a drug and are associated with low morbidity and high mortality. Not all ADRs fit into type A and type B categories; therefore, additional categories have been developed. These include type C (continuing), type D (delayed use), and type E (end of use) reactions. Susceptibility to ADRs is influenced by age, gender, disease states, pregnancy, ethnicity and polypharmacy. Drug safety is reliant on nurses and other healthcare professionals being alert to the possibility of ADRs, working with patients to optimise medicine use and exercising vigilance in the reporting of ADRs through the Yellow Card Scheme.

Is semantic fluency differentially impaired in schizophrenic patients with delusions?

PubMed

Rossell, S L; Rabe-Hesketh, S S; Shapleske, J S; David, A S

1999-10-01

The study of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia has recently focused upon semantics: the study of meaning. Delusions are a plausible manifestation of abnormal semantics because by definition they involve changes in personal meaning and belief. A symptom-based approach was used to investigate semantic and phonological fluency in a group of schizophrenic patients subdivided into those with delusions and those with no current delusions. The results demonstrated that deluded patients only were differentially impaired on a test of semantic fluency in comparison to phonological fluency. All subjects showed the same decline in performance over the time course of both tests indicating that retrieval speed in schizophrenia is no different from that of normal controls. Further analysis of word associations in two semantic categories (animals and body parts), revealed that deluded subjects have a more idiosyncratic organisation for animals. The findings of reduced semantic fluency production and poor logical word associations may represent a disorganised storage of semantic information in deluded patients, which in turn affects efficient access.

String Theory - The Physics of String-Bending and Other Electric Guitar Techniques

PubMed Central

Grimes, David Robert

2014-01-01

Electric guitar playing is ubiquitous in practically all modern music genres. In the hands of an experienced player, electric guitars can sound as expressive and distinct as a human voice. Unlike other more quantised instruments where pitch is a discrete function, guitarists can incorporate micro-tonality and, as a result, vibrato and sting-bending are idiosyncratic hallmarks of a player. Similarly, a wide variety of techniques unique to the electric guitar have emerged. While the mechano-acoustics of stringed instruments and vibrating strings are well studied, there has been comparatively little work dedicated to the underlying physics of unique electric guitar techniques and strings, nor the mechanical factors influencing vibrato, string-bending, fretting force and whammy-bar dynamics. In this work, models for these processes are derived and the implications for guitar and string design discussed. The string-bending model is experimentally validated using a variety of strings and vibrato dynamics are simulated. The implications of these findings on the configuration and design of guitars is also discussed. PMID:25054880

Autonomic specificity of basic emotions: evidence from pattern classification and cluster analysis.

PubMed

Stephens, Chad L; Christie, Israel C; Friedman, Bruce H

2010-07-01

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) specificity of emotion remains controversial in contemporary emotion research, and has received mixed support over decades of investigation. This study was designed to replicate and extend psychophysiological research, which has used multivariate pattern classification analysis (PCA) in support of ANS specificity. Forty-nine undergraduates (27 women) listened to emotion-inducing music and viewed affective films while a montage of ANS variables, including heart rate variability indices, peripheral vascular activity, systolic time intervals, and electrodermal activity, were recorded. Evidence for ANS discrimination of emotion was found via PCA with 44.6% of overall observations correctly classified into the predicted emotion conditions, using ANS variables (z=16.05, p<.001). Cluster analysis of these data indicated a lack of distinct clusters, which suggests that ANS responses to the stimuli were nomothetic and stimulus-specific rather than idiosyncratic and individual-specific. Collectively these results further confirm and extend support for the notion that basic emotions have distinct ANS signatures. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gestural communication in young gorillas (Gorilla gorilla): gestural repertoire, learning, and use.

PubMed

Pika, Simone; Liebal, Katja; Tomasello, Michael

2003-07-01

In the present study we investigated the gestural communication of gorillas (Gorilla gorilla). The subjects were 13 gorillas (1-6 years old) living in two different groups in captivity. Our goal was to compile the gestural repertoire of subadult gorillas, with a special focus on processes of social cognition, including attention to individual and developmental variability, group variability, and flexibility of use. Thirty-three different gestures (six auditory, 11 tactile, and 16 visual gestures) were recorded. We found idiosyncratic gestures, individual differences, and similar degrees of concordance between and within groups, as well as some group-specific gestures. These results provide evidence that ontogenetic ritualization is the main learning process involved, but some form of social learning may also be responsible for the acquisition of special gestures. The present study establishes that gorillas have a multifaceted gestural repertoire, characterized by a great deal of flexibility with accommodations to various communicative circumstances, including the attentional state of the recipient. The possibility of assigning Seyfarth and Cheney's [1997] model for nonhuman primate vocal development to the development of nonhuman primate gestural communication is discussed. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Reading Alien Landscapes: Thick versus Thin Descriptions in Archaeoastronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malville, J. McKim

2015-05-01

This paper reviews the nature of "thick descriptions" promoted by Clifford Geertz and explores the application of this methodology to archaeoastronomy. The approach aims to describe and explain human behavior in the realms of the sacred and secular. Thick description emphasizes the emic signification of social action; an etic analysis would be viewed as thin. A useful application of this methodology is to consider astronomical events contained in the archaeological record as signifiers of deeper meaning and purpose within the culture. By following the string of signification one can delve deeply into the culture and attempt to explain behavior associated with ancient astronomy. Another element of thick descriptions is the use of redundancy as a test for thoroughness. An archaeoastronomical phenomenon that appears to be unique and idiosyncratic may mean that the investigator has not searched the archaeological record sufficiently thoroughly or needs to alter the basic interpretation. Examples from India and Peru are discussed in which the interpretation of astronomical phenomena could lead to misrepresentations of meaning and function if only a thin description is attempted.

Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Hemodialysis Emergencies.

PubMed

Saha, Manish; Allon, Michael

2017-02-07

Given the high comorbidity in patients on hemodialysis and the complexity of the dialysis treatment, it is remarkable how rarely a life-threatening complication occurs during dialysis. The low rate of dialysis emergencies can be attributed to numerous safety features in modern dialysis machines; meticulous treatment and testing of the dialysate solution to prevent exposure to trace elements, toxins, and pathogens; adherence to detailed treatment protocols; and extensive training of dialysis staff to handle medical emergencies. Most hemodialysis emergencies can be attributed to human error. A smaller number are due to rare idiosyncratic reactions. In this review, we highlight major emergencies that may occur during hemodialysis treatments, describe their pathogenesis, offer measures to minimize them, and provide specific interventions to prevent catastrophic consequences on the rare occasions when such emergencies arise. These emergencies include dialysis disequilibrium syndrome, venous air embolism, hemolysis, venous needle dislodgement, vascular access hemorrhage, major allergic reactions to the dialyzer or treatment medications, and disruption or contamination of the dialysis water system. Finally, we describe root cause analysis after a dialysis emergency has occurred to prevent a future recurrence. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Reconsidering the Relationship between Air Pollution and Deprivation

PubMed Central

Bailey, Nick; Dong, Guanpeng; Minton, Jon; Pryce, Gwilym

2018-01-01

This paper critically examines the relationship between air pollution and deprivation. We argue that focusing on a particular economic or social model of urban development might lead one to erroneously expect all cities to converge towards a particular universal norm. A naive market sorting model, for example, would predict that poor households will eventually be sorted into high pollution areas, leading to a positive relationship between air pollution and deprivation. If, however, one considers a wider set of theoretical perspectives, the anticipated relationship between air pollution and deprivation becomes more complex and idiosyncratic. Specifically, we argue the relationship between pollution and deprivation can only be made sense of by considering processes of risk perception, path dependency, gentrification and urbanization. Rather than expecting all areas to eventually converge to some universal norm, we should expect the differences in the relationship between air pollution and deprivation across localities to persist. Mindful of these insights, we propose an approach to modeling which does not impose a geographically fixed relationship. Results for Scotland reveal substantial variations in the observed relationships over space and time, supporting our argument. PMID:29596380

Applying Movement Ecology to Marine Animals with Complex Life Cycles.

PubMed

Allen, Richard M; Metaxas, Anna; Snelgrove, Paul V R

2018-01-03

Marine animals with complex life cycles may move passively or actively for fertilization, dispersal, predator avoidance, resource acquisition, and migration, and over scales from micrometers to thousands of kilometers. This diversity has catalyzed idiosyncratic and unfocused research, creating unsound paradigms regarding the role of movement in ecology and evolution. The emerging movement ecology paradigm offers a framework to consolidate movement research independent of taxon, life-history stage, scale, or discipline. This review applies the framework to movement among life-history stages in marine animals with complex life cycles to consolidate marine movement research and offer insights for scientists working in aquatic and terrestrial realms. Irrespective of data collection or simulation strategy, breaking each life-history stage down into the fundamental units of movement allows each unit to be studied independently or interactively with other units. Understanding these underlying mechanisms of movement within each life-history stage can then be used to construct lifetime movement paths. These paths can allow further investigation of the relative contributions and interdependencies of steps and phases across a lifetime and how these paths influence larger research topics, such as population-level movements.

Reluctant entrepreneurs: patents and state patronage in new technosciences, circa 1870-1930.

PubMed

MacLeod, Christine

2012-06-01

At a time when neoliberalism and financial austerity are together encouraging academic scientists to seek market alternatives to state funding, this essay investigates why, a century ago, their predecessors explicitly rejected private enterprise and the private ownership of ideas and inventions available to them through the patent system. The early twentieth century witnessed the success of a long campaign by British scientists to persuade the state to assume responsibility for the funding of basic research ("pure science"): their findings would enter the intellectual commons; their rewards would be primarily reputational (financial only secondarily, through consequent career advancement). The essay summarizes recent research in three separate fields of British techno-science--electricity, aviation, and agricultural botany--all of which were laying claim, at this time, to a heightened commercial or military importance that raised new questions about the ownership of scientific ideas. It suggests that each of the three established an idiosyncratic relationship with the patent system or with other forms of "intellectual property," which would both influence their emergent disciplines and affect the extent to which commercial enterprise could remain a viable funding strategy.

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.

Work-related trauma, PTSD, and workers compensation legislation: Implications for practice and policy.

PubMed

Wise, Edward A; Beck, J Gayle

2015-09-01

The current review examines work-related traumatic events, with particular focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a potential mental health outcome. Despite considerable empirical knowledge about trauma and PTSD, a gap exists with respect to laws undergirding Workers Compensation (WC) insurance coverage for work-related mental health injuries. In this article, state and federal WC statutes are examined with an eye toward coverage of PTSD following work-related trauma. Examples of differences between states, as well as state-specific idiosyncratic facets of WC laws, are discussed. Federal WC programs are also examined. Two policy issues are highlighted: (a) lack of parity between WC coverage for work-related physical versus mental health injuries and (b) lack of reliance on psychological science in scripting legislation and determining WC benefits. The cost of untreated PTSD following work-related trauma is examined, focusing on costs to the individual, the employer, and society at large. The authors provide 3 recommendations designed to address discrepancies related to compensable psychological injuries following work-related trauma exposure. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Unique Associations Between Big Five Personality Aspects and Multiple Dimensions of Well-Being.

PubMed

Sun, Jessie; Kaufman, Scott Barry; Smillie, Luke D

2018-04-01

Personality traits are associated with well-being, but the precise correlates vary across well-being dimensions and within each Big Five domain. This study is the first to examine the unique associations between the Big Five aspects (rather than facets) and multiple well-being dimensions. Two samples of U.S. participants (total N = 706; M age  = 36.17; 54% female) recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk completed measures of the Big Five aspects and subjective, psychological, and PERMA well-being. One aspect within each domain was more strongly associated with well-being variables. Enthusiasm and Withdrawal were strongly associated with a broad range of well-being variables, but other aspects of personality also had idiosyncratic associations with distinct forms of positive functioning (e.g., Compassion with positive relationships, Industriousness with accomplishment, and Intellect with personal growth). An aspect-level analysis provides an optimal (i.e., parsimonious yet sufficiently comprehensive) framework for describing the relation between personality traits and multiple ways of thriving in life. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.