Disrupting gatekeeping practices: Journalists’ source selection in times of crisis

PubMed Central

van der Meer, Toni G.L.A.; Verhoeven, Piet; Beentjes, Johannes W.J.; Vliegenthart, Rens

2016-01-01

As gatekeepers, journalists have the power to select the sources that get a voice in crisis coverage. The aim of this study is to find out how journalists select sources during a crisis. In a survey, journalists were asked how they assess the following sources during an organizational crisis: news agencies, an organization undergoing a crisis, and the general public. The sample consisted of 214 Dutch experienced journalists who at least once covered a crisis. Using structural equation modeling, sources’ likelihood of being included in the news was predicted using five source characteristics: credibility, knowledge, willingness, timeliness, and the relationship with the journalist. Findings indicated that during a crisis, news agencies are most likely to be included in the news, followed by the public, and finally the organization. The significance of the five source characteristics is dependent on source type. For example, to be used in the news, news agencies and organizations should be mainly evaluated as knowledgeable, whereas information from the public should be both credible and timely. In addition, organizations should not be seen as too willing or too eager to communicate. The findings imply that, during a crisis, journalists remain critical gatekeepers; however, they rely mainly on familiar sources. PMID:29278263

Disrupting gatekeeping practices: Journalists' source selection in times of crisis.

PubMed

van der Meer, Toni G L A; Verhoeven, Piet; Beentjes, Johannes W J; Vliegenthart, Rens

2017-10-01

As gatekeepers, journalists have the power to select the sources that get a voice in crisis coverage. The aim of this study is to find out how journalists select sources during a crisis. In a survey, journalists were asked how they assess the following sources during an organizational crisis: news agencies, an organization undergoing a crisis, and the general public. The sample consisted of 214 Dutch experienced journalists who at least once covered a crisis. Using structural equation modeling, sources' likelihood of being included in the news was predicted using five source characteristics: credibility, knowledge, willingness, timeliness, and the relationship with the journalist. Findings indicated that during a crisis, news agencies are most likely to be included in the news, followed by the public, and finally the organization. The significance of the five source characteristics is dependent on source type. For example, to be used in the news, news agencies and organizations should be mainly evaluated as knowledgeable, whereas information from the public should be both credible and timely. In addition, organizations should not be seen as too willing or too eager to communicate. The findings imply that, during a crisis, journalists remain critical gatekeepers; however, they rely mainly on familiar sources.

A Model-Based Approach for Identifying Signatures of Ancient Balancing Selection in Genetic Data

PubMed Central

DeGiorgio, Michael; Lohmueller, Kirk E.; Nielsen, Rasmus

2014-01-01

While much effort has focused on detecting positive and negative directional selection in the human genome, relatively little work has been devoted to balancing selection. This lack of attention is likely due to the paucity of sophisticated methods for identifying sites under balancing selection. Here we develop two composite likelihood ratio tests for detecting balancing selection. Using simulations, we show that these methods outperform competing methods under a variety of assumptions and demographic models. We apply the new methods to whole-genome human data, and find a number of previously-identified loci with strong evidence of balancing selection, including several HLA genes. Additionally, we find evidence for many novel candidates, the strongest of which is FANK1, an imprinted gene that suppresses apoptosis, is expressed during meiosis in males, and displays marginal signs of segregation distortion. We hypothesize that balancing selection acts on this locus to stabilize the segregation distortion and negative fitness effects of the distorter allele. Thus, our methods are able to reproduce many previously-hypothesized signals of balancing selection, as well as discover novel interesting candidates. PMID:25144706

A model-based approach for identifying signatures of ancient balancing selection in genetic data.

PubMed

DeGiorgio, Michael; Lohmueller, Kirk E; Nielsen, Rasmus

2014-08-01

While much effort has focused on detecting positive and negative directional selection in the human genome, relatively little work has been devoted to balancing selection. This lack of attention is likely due to the paucity of sophisticated methods for identifying sites under balancing selection. Here we develop two composite likelihood ratio tests for detecting balancing selection. Using simulations, we show that these methods outperform competing methods under a variety of assumptions and demographic models. We apply the new methods to whole-genome human data, and find a number of previously-identified loci with strong evidence of balancing selection, including several HLA genes. Additionally, we find evidence for many novel candidates, the strongest of which is FANK1, an imprinted gene that suppresses apoptosis, is expressed during meiosis in males, and displays marginal signs of segregation distortion. We hypothesize that balancing selection acts on this locus to stabilize the segregation distortion and negative fitness effects of the distorter allele. Thus, our methods are able to reproduce many previously-hypothesized signals of balancing selection, as well as discover novel interesting candidates.

Determinants of selective reporting: A taxonomy based on content analysis of a random selection of the literature

PubMed Central

van den Bogert, Cornelis A.; van Soest-Poortvliet, Mirjam C.; Fazeli Farsani, Soulmaz; Otten, René H. J.; ter Riet, Gerben; Bouter, Lex M.

2018-01-01

Background Selective reporting is wasteful, leads to bias in the published record and harms the credibility of science. Studies on potential determinants of selective reporting currently lack a shared taxonomy and a causal framework. Objective To develop a taxonomy of determinants of selective reporting in science. Design Inductive qualitative content analysis of a random selection of the pertinent literature including empirical research and theoretical reflections. Methods Using search terms for bias and selection combined with terms for reporting and publication, we systematically searched the PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO and Web of Science databases up to January 8, 2015. Of the 918 articles identified, we screened a 25 percent random selection. From eligible articles, we extracted phrases that mentioned putative or possible determinants of selective reporting, which we used to create meaningful categories. We stopped when no new categories emerged in the most recently analyzed articles (saturation). Results Saturation was reached after analyzing 64 articles. We identified 497 putative determinants, of which 145 (29%) were supported by empirical findings. The determinants represented 12 categories (leaving 3% unspecified): focus on preferred findings (36%), poor or overly flexible research design (22%), high-risk area and its development (8%), dependence upon sponsors (8%), prejudice (7%), lack of resources including time (3%), doubts about reporting being worth the effort (3%), limitations in reporting and editorial practices (3%), academic publication system hurdles (3%), unfavorable geographical and regulatory environment (2%), relationship and collaboration issues (2%), and potential harm (0.4%). Conclusions We designed a taxonomy of putative determinants of selective reporting consisting of 12 categories. The taxonomy may help develop theory about causes of selection bias and guide policies to prevent selective reporting. PMID:29401492

Investigations in Mathematics Education. Volume 21, Number 4, Fall 1988.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suydam, Marilyn N., Ed.; Kasten, Margaret L., Ed.

1988-01-01

This publication is an abstracted compilation of 15 investigations selected from other journals. The information includes purpose, rationale, research design and procedures, findings, interpretations, abstractor's comments, and references. This journal includes the following reports: (1) "A Constructivist Approach to Numeration in Primary…

The Impact of Computerization on Archival Finding Aids: A RAMP Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kitching, Christopher

This report is based on a questionnaire sent to 32 selected National Archives and on interviews with archivists from eight countries. Geared to the needs of developing countries, the report covers: (1) the impact of computerization on finding aids; (2) advantages and problems of computerization, including enhanced archival control, integration of…

Integrated Library Systems in Canadian Public, Academic and Special Libraries: Fourth Annual Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merilees, Bobbie

1990-01-01

Reports the results of a survey of integrated library system vendors that examined installations in Canadian academic, public and special libraries during 1989. Findings discussed include large library system versus PC-based system market shares, an analysis of system selection by type of library, and other factors that affect system selection. A…

Senate Select Committee on Higher Education To Study Tuition Policy at Michigan Colleges and Universities: Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michigan State Legislature, Lansing.

This report contains the final recommendations of the Michigan Senate Select Committee on Higher Education on tuition policy at Michigan public colleges and universities. The report presents its findings and recommendations in three large parts. The first section contains the final recommendations of the Committee including goals of affordability…

Sexual selection and individual genetic diversity in a songbird.

PubMed

Marshall, Rupert C; Buchanan, Katherine L; Catchpole, Clive K

2003-11-07

Here, we report for the first time, to our knowledge, a strong correlation between a measure of individual genetic diversity and song complexity, a sexually selected male trait in sedge warblers, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus. We also find that females prefer to mate with males who will maximize this diversity in individual progeny. The genetic diversity of each offspring is further increased by means of nonrandom fertilization, as we also show that the fertilizing sperm contains a haplotype more genetically distant to that of the egg than expected by chance. These findings suggest that species' mating preferences may be subject to fine tuning aimed at increasing offspring viability through increased genetic diversity. This includes external and internal mechanisms of selection, even within the ejaculate of a single male.

Selectivity by Small-Molecule Inhibitors of Protein Interactions Can Be Driven by Protein Surface Fluctuations

PubMed Central

Johnson, David K.; Karanicolas, John

2015-01-01

Small-molecules that inhibit interactions between specific pairs of proteins have long represented a promising avenue for therapeutic intervention in a variety of settings. Structural studies have shown that in many cases, the inhibitor-bound protein adopts a conformation that is distinct from its unbound and its protein-bound conformations. This plasticity of the protein surface presents a major challenge in predicting which members of a protein family will be inhibited by a given ligand. Here, we use biased simulations of Bcl-2-family proteins to generate ensembles of low-energy conformations that contain surface pockets suitable for small molecule binding. We find that the resulting conformational ensembles include surface pockets that mimic those observed in inhibitor-bound crystal structures. Next, we find that the ensembles generated using different members of this protein family are overlapping but distinct, and that the activity of a given compound against a particular family member (ligand selectivity) can be predicted from whether the corresponding ensemble samples a complementary surface pocket. Finally, we find that each ensemble includes certain surface pockets that are not shared by any other family member: while no inhibitors have yet been identified to take advantage of these pockets, we expect that chemical scaffolds complementing these “distinct” pockets will prove highly selective for their targets. The opportunity to achieve target selectivity within a protein family by exploiting differences in surface fluctuations represents a new paradigm that may facilitate design of family-selective small-molecule inhibitors of protein-protein interactions. PMID:25706586

Voyager to the Seventh Planet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gold, Michael

1986-01-01

Presents recent findings obtained by the Voyager 2 mission on Uranus. Updates information on the planet's moons, rings, atmosphere, and magnetic field. Illustrations and diagrams of selected aspects of Uranus are included. (ML)

Projected Employment Scenarios Show Possible Shortages in Some Engineering and Computer Specialties. Science Resources Studies Highlights.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Science Foundation, Washington, DC. Div. of Science Resources Studies.

This report presents findings of a National Science Foundation (NSF) assessment of the adequacy of the supply of science, engineering, and technician (SET) personnel for meeting defense and non-defense requirements between 1982 and 1987. Selected findings included in the report follow. Based on four scenarios representing combinations of low and…

Adaptations to Climate-Mediated Selective Pressures in Humans

PubMed Central

Hancock, Angela M.; Witonsky, David B.; Alkorta-Aranburu, Gorka; Beall, Cynthia M.; Gebremedhin, Amha; Sukernik, Rem; Utermann, Gerd; Pritchard, Jonathan K.; Coop, Graham; Di Rienzo, Anna

2011-01-01

Humans inhabit a remarkably diverse range of environments, and adaptation through natural selection has likely played a central role in the capacity to survive and thrive in extreme climates. Unlike numerous studies that used only population genetic data to search for evidence of selection, here we scan the human genome for selection signals by identifying the SNPs with the strongest correlations between allele frequencies and climate across 61 worldwide populations. We find a striking enrichment of genic and nonsynonymous SNPs relative to non-genic SNPs among those that are strongly correlated with these climate variables. Among the most extreme signals, several overlap with those from GWAS, including SNPs associated with pigmentation and autoimmune diseases. Further, we find an enrichment of strong signals in gene sets related to UV radiation, infection and immunity, and cancer. Our results imply that adaptations to climate shaped the spatial distribution of variation in humans. PMID:21533023

Selection of optimal sensors for predicting performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, Lei; Jackson, Lisa

2016-10-01

In this paper, sensor selection algorithms are investigated based on a sensitivity analysis, and the capability of optimal sensors in predicting PEM fuel cell performance is also studied using test data. The fuel cell model is developed for generating the sensitivity matrix relating sensor measurements and fuel cell health parameters. From the sensitivity matrix, two sensor selection approaches, including the largest gap method, and exhaustive brute force searching technique, are applied to find the optimal sensors providing reliable predictions. Based on the results, a sensor selection approach considering both sensor sensitivity and noise resistance is proposed to find the optimal sensor set with minimum size. Furthermore, the performance of the optimal sensor set is studied to predict fuel cell performance using test data from a PEM fuel cell system. Results demonstrate that with optimal sensors, the performance of PEM fuel cell can be predicted with good quality.

Finding minimum gene subsets with heuristic breadth-first search algorithm for robust tumor classification

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Previous studies on tumor classification based on gene expression profiles suggest that gene selection plays a key role in improving the classification performance. Moreover, finding important tumor-related genes with the highest accuracy is a very important task because these genes might serve as tumor biomarkers, which is of great benefit to not only tumor molecular diagnosis but also drug development. Results This paper proposes a novel gene selection method with rich biomedical meaning based on Heuristic Breadth-first Search Algorithm (HBSA) to find as many optimal gene subsets as possible. Due to the curse of dimensionality, this type of method could suffer from over-fitting and selection bias problems. To address these potential problems, a HBSA-based ensemble classifier is constructed using majority voting strategy from individual classifiers constructed by the selected gene subsets, and a novel HBSA-based gene ranking method is designed to find important tumor-related genes by measuring the significance of genes using their occurrence frequencies in the selected gene subsets. The experimental results on nine tumor datasets including three pairs of cross-platform datasets indicate that the proposed method can not only obtain better generalization performance but also find many important tumor-related genes. Conclusions It is found that the frequencies of the selected genes follow a power-law distribution, indicating that only a few top-ranked genes can be used as potential diagnosis biomarkers. Moreover, the top-ranked genes leading to very high prediction accuracy are closely related to specific tumor subtype and even hub genes. Compared with other related methods, the proposed method can achieve higher prediction accuracy with fewer genes. Moreover, they are further justified by analyzing the top-ranked genes in the context of individual gene function, biological pathway, and protein-protein interaction network. PMID:22830977

Combining Feature Selection and Integration—A Neural Model for MT Motion Selectivity

PubMed Central

Beck, Cornelia; Neumann, Heiko

2011-01-01

Background The computation of pattern motion in visual area MT based on motion input from area V1 has been investigated in many experiments and models attempting to replicate the main mechanisms. Two different core conceptual approaches were developed to explain the findings. In integrationist models the key mechanism to achieve pattern selectivity is the nonlinear integration of V1 motion activity. In contrast, selectionist models focus on the motion computation at positions with 2D features. Methodology/Principal Findings Recent experiments revealed that neither of the two concepts alone is sufficient to explain all experimental data and that most of the existing models cannot account for the complex behaviour found. MT pattern selectivity changes over time for stimuli like type II plaids from vector average to the direction computed with an intersection of constraint rule or by feature tracking. Also, the spatial arrangement of the stimulus within the receptive field of a MT cell plays a crucial role. We propose a recurrent neural model showing how feature integration and selection can be combined into one common architecture to explain these findings. The key features of the model are the computation of 1D and 2D motion in model area V1 subpopulations that are integrated in model MT cells using feedforward and feedback processing. Our results are also in line with findings concerning the solution of the aperture problem. Conclusions/Significance We propose a new neural model for MT pattern computation and motion disambiguation that is based on a combination of feature selection and integration. The model can explain a range of recent neurophysiological findings including temporally dynamic behaviour. PMID:21814543

Measuring value for money: a scoping review on economic evaluation of health information systems.

PubMed

Bassi, Jesdeep; Lau, Francis

2013-01-01

To explore how key components of economic evaluations have been included in evaluations of health information systems (HIS), to determine the state of knowledge on value for money for HIS, and provide guidance for future evaluations. We searched databases, previously collected papers, and references for relevant papers published from January 2000 to June 2012. For selection, papers had to: be a primary study; involve a computerized system for health information processing, decision support, or management reporting; and include an economic evaluation. Data on study design and economic evaluation methods were extracted and analyzed. Forty-two papers were selected and 33 were deemed high quality (scores ≥ 8/10) for further analysis. These included 12 economic analyses, five input cost analyses, and 16 cost-related outcome analyses. For HIS types, there were seven primary care electronic medical records, six computerized provider order entry systems, five medication management systems, five immunization information systems, four institutional information systems, three disease management systems, two clinical documentation systems, and one health information exchange network. In terms of value for money, 23 papers reported positive findings, eight were inconclusive, and two were negative. We found a wide range of economic evaluation papers that were based on different assumptions, methods, and metrics. There is some evidence of value for money in selected healthcare organizations and HIS types. However, caution is needed when generalizing these findings. Better reporting of economic evaluation studies is needed to compare findings and build on the existing evidence base we identified.

Guidelines for reporting methodological challenges and evaluating potential bias in dementia research

PubMed Central

Weuve, Jennifer; Proust-Lima, Cécile; Power, Melinda C.; Gross, Alden L.; Hofer, Scott M.; Thiébaut, Rodolphe; Chêne, Geneviève; Glymour, M. Maria; Dufouil, Carole

2015-01-01

Clinical and population research on dementia and related neurologic conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, faces several unique methodological challenges. Progress to identify preventive and therapeutic strategies rests on valid and rigorous analytic approaches, but the research literature reflects little consensus on “best practices.” We present findings from a large scientific working group on research methods for clinical and population studies of dementia, which identified five categories of methodological challenges as follows: (1) attrition/sample selection, including selective survival; (2) measurement, including uncertainty in diagnostic criteria, measurement error in neuropsychological assessments, and practice or retest effects; (3) specification of longitudinal models when participants are followed for months, years, or even decades; (4) time-varying measurements; and (5) high-dimensional data. We explain why each challenge is important in dementia research and how it could compromise the translation of research findings into effective prevention or care strategies. We advance a checklist of potential sources of bias that should be routinely addressed when reporting dementia research. PMID:26397878

40 CFR 52.31 - Selection of sequence of mandatory sanctions for findings made pursuant to section 179 of the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... (c)(2) of this section, including an adequate maintenance plan, or has failed to make any submission... finding, application of the offset sanction under paragraph (e)(1) of this section shall be deferred... the highway sanction under paragraph (e)(2) of this section shall be deferred unless and until the...

40 CFR 52.31 - Selection of sequence of mandatory sanctions for findings made pursuant to section 179 of the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... (c)(2) of this section, including an adequate maintenance plan, or has failed to make any submission... finding, application of the offset sanction under paragraph (e)(1) of this section shall be deferred... the highway sanction under paragraph (e)(2) of this section shall be deferred unless and until the...

40 CFR 52.31 - Selection of sequence of mandatory sanctions for findings made pursuant to section 179 of the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... (c)(2) of this section, including an adequate maintenance plan, or has failed to make any submission... finding, application of the offset sanction under paragraph (e)(1) of this section shall be deferred... the highway sanction under paragraph (e)(2) of this section shall be deferred unless and until the...

40 CFR 52.31 - Selection of sequence of mandatory sanctions for findings made pursuant to section 179 of the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... (c)(2) of this section, including an adequate maintenance plan, or has failed to make any submission... finding, application of the offset sanction under paragraph (e)(1) of this section shall be deferred... the highway sanction under paragraph (e)(2) of this section shall be deferred unless and until the...

40 CFR 52.31 - Selection of sequence of mandatory sanctions for findings made pursuant to section 179 of the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... (c)(2) of this section, including an adequate maintenance plan, or has failed to make any submission... finding, application of the offset sanction under paragraph (e)(1) of this section shall be deferred... the highway sanction under paragraph (e)(2) of this section shall be deferred unless and until the...

Developing a Culture of Enquiry-Based, Independent Learning in a Research-Led Institution: Findings from a Survey of Pedagogic Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLinden, Mike; Edwards, Corony

2011-01-01

This paper reports select findings from an institutional survey designed to support long-term strategic developments at a research-led institution in the UK. These developments include a revised Learning and Teaching Strategy that has at its core the promotion of a "cross-institutional culture of enquiry-based, independent learning". The…

Chest CT findings in patients with dysphagia and aspiration: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Scheeren, Betina; Gomes, Erissandra; Alves, Giordano; Marchiori, Edson; Hochhegger, Bruno

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The objective of this systematic review was to characterize chest CT findings in patients with dysphagia and pulmonary aspiration, identifying the characteristics and the methods used. The studies were selected from among those indexed in the Brazilian Virtual Library of Health, LILACS, Indice Bibliográfico Español de Ciencias de la Salud, Medline, Cochrane Library, SciELO, and PubMed databases. The search was carried out between June and July of 2016. Five articles were included and reviewed, all of them carried out in the last five years, published in English, and coming from different countries. The sample size in the selected studies ranged from 43 to 56 patients, with a predominance of adult and elderly subjects. The tomographic findings in patients with dysphagia-related aspiration were varied, including bronchiectasis, bronchial wall thickening, pulmonary nodules, consolidations, pleural effusion, ground-glass attenuation, atelectasis, septal thickening, fibrosis, and air trapping. Evidence suggests that chest CT findings in patients with aspiration are diverse. In this review, it was not possible to establish a consensus that could characterize a pattern of pulmonary aspiration in patients with dysphagia, further studies of the topic being needed. PMID:28767772

Chest CT findings in patients with dysphagia and aspiration: a systematic review.

PubMed

Scheeren, Betina; Gomes, Erissandra; Alves, Giordano; Marchiori, Edson; Hochhegger, Bruno

2017-01-01

The objective of this systematic review was to characterize chest CT findings in patients with dysphagia and pulmonary aspiration, identifying the characteristics and the methods used. The studies were selected from among those indexed in the Brazilian Virtual Library of Health, LILACS, Indice Bibliográfico Español de Ciencias de la Salud, Medline, Cochrane Library, SciELO, and PubMed databases. The search was carried out between June and July of 2016. Five articles were included and reviewed, all of them carried out in the last five years, published in English, and coming from different countries. The sample size in the selected studies ranged from 43 to 56 patients, with a predominance of adult and elderly subjects. The tomographic findings in patients with dysphagia-related aspiration were varied, including bronchiectasis, bronchial wall thickening, pulmonary nodules, consolidations, pleural effusion, ground-glass attenuation, atelectasis, septal thickening, fibrosis, and air trapping. Evidence suggests that chest CT findings in patients with aspiration are diverse. In this review, it was not possible to establish a consensus that could characterize a pattern of pulmonary aspiration in patients with dysphagia, further studies of the topic being needed.

A Collection of NIDA NOTES. Articles That Address Research on Heroin.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Inst. on Drug Abuse (DHHS/PHS), Rockville, MD.

Included in this document are selections of topic-specific articles on heroin research reprinted from the National Institute on Drug Abuses (NIDA) research newsletter, NIDA Notes. Titles include: Buprenorphine Taken Three Times Per Week Is as Effective as Daily Doses in Treating Heroin Addiction; 33-Year Study Finds Lifelong, Lethal Consequences…

The Adoption and Rejection of Innovations by Strawberry Growers in the Lower Fraser Valley.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alleyne, E. Patrick; Verner, Coolie

The study investigated the adoption behavior of 100 strawberry growers (including 32 Mennonites and 23 Japanese) in the lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia. Adoption of six selected practices was examined in relation to socioeconomic characteristics and ethnicity. Findings included the following: (1) ethnic groups differed significantly on…

Proteochemometric Modeling of the Interaction Space of Carbonic Anhydrase and its Inhibitors: An Assessment of Structure-based and Sequence-based Descriptors.

PubMed

Rasti, Behnam; Namazi, Mohsen; Karimi-Jafari, M H; Ghasemi, Jahan B

2017-04-01

Due to its physiological and clinical roles, carbonic anhydrase (CA) is one of the most interesting case studies. There are different classes of CAinhibitors including sulfonamides, polyamines, coumarins and dithiocarbamates (DTCs). However, many of them hardly act as a selective inhibitor against a specific isoform. Therefore, finding highly selective inhibitors for different isoforms of CA is still an ongoing project. Proteochemometrics modeling (PCM) is able to model the bioactivity of multiple compounds against different isoforms of a protein. Therefore, it would be extremely applicable when investigating the selectivity of different ligands towards different receptors. Given the facts, we applied PCM to investigate the interaction space and structural properties that lead to the selective inhibition of CA isoforms by some dithiocarbamates. Our models have provided interesting structural information that can be considered to design compounds capable of inhibiting different isoforms of CA in an improved selective manner. Validity and predictivity of the models were confirmed by both internal and external validation methods; while Y-scrambling approach was applied to assess the robustness of the models. To prove the reliability and the applicability of our findings, we showed how ligands-receptors selectivity can be affected by removing any of these critical findings from the modeling process. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Evolution of Drosophila sex comb length illustrates the inextricable interplay between selection and variation.

PubMed

Malagón, Juan N; Ahuja, Abha; Sivapatham, Gabilan; Hung, Julian; Lee, Jiwon; Muñoz-Gómez, Sergio A; Atallah, Joel; Singh, Rama S; Larsen, Ellen

2014-09-30

In spite of the diversity of possible biological forms observed in nature, a limited range of morphospace is frequently occupied for a given trait. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this bias in the distribution of phenotypes including selection, drift, and developmental constraints. Despite extensive work on phenotypic bias, the underlying developmental mechanisms explaining why particular regions of morphological space remain unoccupied are poorly understood. To address this issue, we studied the sex comb, a group of modified bristles used in courtship that shows marked morphological diversity among Drosophila species. In many Drosophila species including Drosophila melanogaster, the sex comb rotates 90° to a vertical position during development. Here we analyze the effect of changing D. melanogaster sex comb length on the process of rotation. We find that artificial selection changes the number of bristles per comb without a proportional change in the space available for rotation. As a result, when increasing sex comb length, rather than displaying a similar straight vertical shape observed in other Drosophila species, long sex combs bend because rotation is blocked by a neighboring row of bristles. Our results show ways in which morphologies that would be favored by natural selection are apparently impossible to achieve developmentally. These findings highlight the potential role of development in modifying selectable variation in the evolution of Drosophila sex comb length.

Evolution of Drosophila sex comb length illustrates the inextricable interplay between selection and variation

PubMed Central

Malagón, Juan N.; Ahuja, Abha; Sivapatham, Gabilan; Hung, Julian; Lee, Jiwon; Muñoz-Gómez, Sergio A.; Atallah, Joel; Singh, Rama S.; Larsen, Ellen

2014-01-01

In spite of the diversity of possible biological forms observed in nature, a limited range of morphospace is frequently occupied for a given trait. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this bias in the distribution of phenotypes including selection, drift, and developmental constraints. Despite extensive work on phenotypic bias, the underlying developmental mechanisms explaining why particular regions of morphological space remain unoccupied are poorly understood. To address this issue, we studied the sex comb, a group of modified bristles used in courtship that shows marked morphological diversity among Drosophila species. In many Drosophila species including Drosophila melanogaster, the sex comb rotates 90° to a vertical position during development. Here we analyze the effect of changing D. melanogaster sex comb length on the process of rotation. We find that artificial selection changes the number of bristles per comb without a proportional change in the space available for rotation. As a result, when increasing sex comb length, rather than displaying a similar straight vertical shape observed in other Drosophila species, long sex combs bend because rotation is blocked by a neighboring row of bristles. Our results show ways in which morphologies that would be favored by natural selection are apparently impossible to achieve developmentally. These findings highlight the potential role of development in modifying selectable variation in the evolution of Drosophila sex comb length. PMID:25197080

Analyzing Responses of Chemical Sensor Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhou, Hanying

2007-01-01

NASA is developing a third-generation electronic nose (ENose) capable of continuous monitoring of the International Space Station s cabin atmosphere for specific, harmful airborne contaminants. Previous generations of the ENose have been described in prior NASA Tech Briefs issues. Sensor selection is critical in both (prefabrication) sensor material selection and (post-fabrication) data analysis of the ENose, which detects several analytes that are difficult to detect, or that are at very low concentration ranges. Existing sensor selection approaches usually include limited statistical measures, where selectivity is more important but reliability and sensitivity are not of concern. When reliability and sensitivity can be major limiting factors in detecting target compounds reliably, the existing approach is not able to provide meaningful selection that will actually improve data analysis results. The approach and software reported here consider more statistical measures (factors) than existing approaches for a similar purpose. The result is a more balanced and robust sensor selection from a less than ideal sensor array. The software offers quick, flexible, optimal sensor selection and weighting for a variety of purposes without a time-consuming, iterative search by performing sensor calibrations to a known linear or nonlinear model, evaluating the individual sensor s statistics, scoring the individual sensor s overall performance, finding the best sensor array size to maximize class separation, finding optimal weights for the remaining sensor array, estimating limits of detection for the target compounds, evaluating fingerprint distance between group pairs, and finding the best event-detecting sensors.

Refining the Use of Linkage Disequilibrium as a Robust Signature of Selective Sweeps

PubMed Central

Jacobs, Guy S.; Sluckin, Timothy J.; Kivisild, Toomas

2016-01-01

During a selective sweep, characteristic patterns of linkage disequilibrium can arise in the genomic region surrounding a selected locus. These have been used to infer past selective sweeps. However, the recombination rate is known to vary substantially along the genome for many species. We here investigate the effectiveness of current (Kelly’s ZnS and ωmax) and novel statistics at inferring hard selective sweeps based on linkage disequilibrium distortions under different conditions, including a human-realistic demographic model and recombination rate variation. When the recombination rate is constant, Kelly’s ZnS offers high power, but is outperformed by a novel statistic that we test, which we call Zα. We also find this statistic to be effective at detecting sweeps from standing variation. When recombination rate fluctuations are included, there is a considerable reduction in power for all linkage disequilibrium-based statistics. However, this can largely be reversed by appropriately controlling for expected linkage disequilibrium using a genetic map. To further test these different methods, we perform selection scans on well-characterized HapMap data, finding that all three statistics—ωmax, Kelly’s ZnS, and Zα—are able to replicate signals at regions previously identified as selection candidates based on population differentiation or the site frequency spectrum. While ωmax replicates most candidates when recombination map data are not available, the ZnS and Zα statistics are more successful when recombination rate variation is controlled for. Given both this and their higher power in simulations of selective sweeps, these statistics are preferred when information on local recombination rate variation is available. PMID:27516617

Refining the Use of Linkage Disequilibrium as a Robust Signature of Selective Sweeps.

PubMed

Jacobs, Guy S; Sluckin, Tim J; Kivisild, Toomas

2016-08-01

During a selective sweep, characteristic patterns of linkage disequilibrium can arise in the genomic region surrounding a selected locus. These have been used to infer past selective sweeps. However, the recombination rate is known to vary substantially along the genome for many species. We here investigate the effectiveness of current (Kelly's [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]) and novel statistics at inferring hard selective sweeps based on linkage disequilibrium distortions under different conditions, including a human-realistic demographic model and recombination rate variation. When the recombination rate is constant, Kelly's [Formula: see text] offers high power, but is outperformed by a novel statistic that we test, which we call [Formula: see text] We also find this statistic to be effective at detecting sweeps from standing variation. When recombination rate fluctuations are included, there is a considerable reduction in power for all linkage disequilibrium-based statistics. However, this can largely be reversed by appropriately controlling for expected linkage disequilibrium using a genetic map. To further test these different methods, we perform selection scans on well-characterized HapMap data, finding that all three statistics-[Formula: see text] Kelly's [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]-are able to replicate signals at regions previously identified as selection candidates based on population differentiation or the site frequency spectrum. While [Formula: see text] replicates most candidates when recombination map data are not available, the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] statistics are more successful when recombination rate variation is controlled for. Given both this and their higher power in simulations of selective sweeps, these statistics are preferred when information on local recombination rate variation is available. Copyright © 2016 by the Genetics Society of America.

Antidepressants and Youth: Healing or Harmful?

PubMed Central

Markowitz, Sara; Cuellar, Alison

2007-01-01

A series of drug innovations that began in 1987, including the introduction of several Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) has led to a tremendous growth in the use of antidepressants in the United States. This growth, however, has been accompanied by a growing concern about the risks of prescribing antidepressants, particularly to children. Indeed, research linking the use of antidepressant drugs to an increased risk of suicidal behaviors in youth motivated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to direct antidepressant drug manufacturers to include warning labels about the potential dangers. This paper examines the relationship between antidepressants and suicide among youth in the USA. Using state-level data on youth suicides and age-specific prescriptions for antidepressants, we find no relationships between suicides for adolescents ages 15 to 19 and prescriptions for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors/Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors or tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants. In contrast, we find that newer generation antidepressants are associated with lower numbers of suicides for this age group. For younger children, ages 10 to 14 we find no relationship with suicides for any type of antidepressant. PMID:17374550

Multimedia-based decision support system for hazards recognition and abatement

DOEpatents

Czachowski, John B.; Zoldak, John T.

1998-01-01

A system for monitoring a site includes a portable data collection module used in the field to collect site specific data, and a processor module located at a central location. The data collection module displays choices of categories of findings, and then specific findings within each category. A selected specific finding is then displayed in report form with a citation to the specific code or statutory requirement, as well as a recommended course of action and an abatement date.

Cultural and Gender Issues in Long-Duration Flights

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Session TA5 includes short reports concerning: (1) Psychological Issues During Long-Duration International Space Missions; (2) Psychosocial Issues in Crew Selection: Finding the Right Mix of the Right Stuff; (3) Culture, Gender and Mission Accomplishment: Operational Experience; (4) Interpersonal Tension in Multicultural Crews; (5) Personality and Coping in Extreme Environments; and (6) Application of Expedition and Polar Work Group Findings for Enhancing Performance in Space.

Measuring value for money: a scoping review on economic evaluation of health information systems

PubMed Central

Bassi, Jesdeep; Lau, Francis

2013-01-01

Objective To explore how key components of economic evaluations have been included in evaluations of health information systems (HIS), to determine the state of knowledge on value for money for HIS, and provide guidance for future evaluations. Materials and methods We searched databases, previously collected papers, and references for relevant papers published from January 2000 to June 2012. For selection, papers had to: be a primary study; involve a computerized system for health information processing, decision support, or management reporting; and include an economic evaluation. Data on study design and economic evaluation methods were extracted and analyzed. Results Forty-two papers were selected and 33 were deemed high quality (scores ≥8/10) for further analysis. These included 12 economic analyses, five input cost analyses, and 16 cost-related outcome analyses. For HIS types, there were seven primary care electronic medical records, six computerized provider order entry systems, five medication management systems, five immunization information systems, four institutional information systems, three disease management systems, two clinical documentation systems, and one health information exchange network. In terms of value for money, 23 papers reported positive findings, eight were inconclusive, and two were negative. Conclusions We found a wide range of economic evaluation papers that were based on different assumptions, methods, and metrics. There is some evidence of value for money in selected healthcare organizations and HIS types. However, caution is needed when generalizing these findings. Better reporting of economic evaluation studies is needed to compare findings and build on the existing evidence base we identified. PMID:23416247

The genome landscape of indigenous African cattle.

PubMed

Kim, Jaemin; Hanotte, Olivier; Mwai, Okeyo Ally; Dessie, Tadelle; Bashir, Salim; Diallo, Boubacar; Agaba, Morris; Kim, Kwondo; Kwak, Woori; Sung, Samsun; Seo, Minseok; Jeong, Hyeonsoo; Kwon, Taehyung; Taye, Mengistie; Song, Ki-Duk; Lim, Dajeong; Cho, Seoae; Lee, Hyun-Jeong; Yoon, Duhak; Oh, Sung Jong; Kemp, Stephen; Lee, Hak-Kyo; Kim, Heebal

2017-02-20

The history of African indigenous cattle and their adaptation to environmental and human selection pressure is at the root of their remarkable diversity. Characterization of this diversity is an essential step towards understanding the genomic basis of productivity and adaptation to survival under African farming systems. We analyze patterns of African cattle genetic variation by sequencing 48 genomes from five indigenous populations and comparing them to the genomes of 53 commercial taurine breeds. We find the highest genetic diversity among African zebu and sanga cattle. Our search for genomic regions under selection reveals signatures of selection for environmental adaptive traits. In particular, we identify signatures of selection including genes and/or pathways controlling anemia and feeding behavior in the trypanotolerant N'Dama, coat color and horn development in Ankole, and heat tolerance and tick resistance across African cattle especially in zebu breeds. Our findings unravel at the genome-wide level, the unique adaptive diversity of African cattle while emphasizing the opportunities for sustainable improvement of livestock productivity on the continent.

Damage evaluation and repair methods for prestressed concrete bridge members

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shanafelt, G. O.; Horn, W. B.

1980-11-01

The types of accidental damage occurring and the severity and frequency of their occurrence are summarized. Practices and equipment used for assessing damage and making repairs are presented and evaluated. Guidelines for inspection, assessing damage, and selection of repair methods are given. Methods of repair includes adding external prestress, a metal sleeve splice, and splicing broken strands or rods. The findings of this study suggest that in some instances better repair techniques should be used. The findings of this study also indicate that proper selection of repair methods may reduce the number of damaged girders presently being replaced. Plausible methods of repair requiring additional research are identified and techniques for testing are outlined.

Selfish genes, pleiotropy and the origin of recombination.

PubMed Central

Hey, J

1998-01-01

If multiple linked polymorphisms are under natural selection, then conflicts arise and the efficiency of natural selection is hindered relative to the case of no linkage. This simple interaction between linkage and natural selection creates an opportunity for mutations that raise the level of recombination to increase in frequency and have an enhanced chance of fixation. This important finding by S. Otto and N. Barton means that mutations that raise the recombination rate, but are otherwise neutral, will be selectively favored under fairly general circumstances of multilocus selection and linkage. The effect described by Otto and Barton, which was limited to neutral modifiers, can also be extended to include all modifiers of recombination, both beneficial and deleterious. Computer simulations show that beneficial mutations that also increase recombination have an increased chance of fixation. Similarly, deleterious mutations that also decrease recombination have an increased chance of fixation. The results suggest that a simple model of recombination modifiers, including both neutral and pleiotropic modifiers, is a necessary explanation for the evolutionary origin of recombination. PMID:9691060

Supramolecular Chemistry of Selective Anion Recognition for Anions of Environmental Relevance

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

Bowman-James, Kristen

2004-12-01

This project have focuses on the basic chemical aspects of anion receptor design of functional pH independent systems, with the ultimate goal of targeting the selective binding of sulfate, as well as design of separations strategies for selective and efficient removal of targeted anions. Key findings include: (1) the first synthetic sulfate-selective anion-binding agents; (2) simple, structure-based methods for modifying the intrinsic anion selectivity of a given class of anion receptors; and (3) the first system capable of extracting sulfate anion from acidic, nitrate-containing aqueous media. Areas probed during the last funding period include: the design, synthesis, and physical andmore » structural characterization of receptors and investigation of anion and dual ion pair extraction using lipophilic amide receptors for anion binding. A new collaboration has been added to the project in addition to the one with Dr. Bruce Moyer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with Professor Jonathan Sessler at the University of Texas at Austin.« less

Chest X-ray and chest CT findings in patients diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis following solid organ transplantation: a systematic review.

PubMed

Giacomelli, Irai Luis; Schuhmacher Neto, Roberto; Marchiori, Edson; Pereira, Marisa; Hochhegger, Bruno

2018-04-01

The objective of this systematic review was to select articles including chest X-ray or chest CT findings in patients who developed pulmonary tuberculosis following solid organ transplantation (lung, kidney, or liver). The following search terms were used: "tuberculosis"; "transplants"; "transplantation"; "mycobacterium"; and "lung". The databases used in this review were PubMed and the Brazilian Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (Virtual Health Library). We selected articles in English, Portuguese, or Spanish, regardless of the year of publication, that met the selection criteria in their title, abstract, or body of text. Articles with no data on chest CT or chest X-ray findings were excluded, as were those not related to solid organ transplantation or pulmonary tuberculosis. We selected 29 articles involving a collective total of 219 patients. The largest samples were in studies conducted in Brazil and South Korea (78 and 35 patients, respectively). The imaging findings were subdivided into five common patterns. The imaging findings varied depending on the transplanted organ in these patients. In liver and lung transplant recipients, the most common pattern was the classic one for pulmonary tuberculosis (cavitation and "tree-in-bud" nodules), which is similar to the findings for pulmonary tuberculosis in the general population. The proportion of cases showing a miliary pattern and lymph node enlargement, which is most similar to the pattern seen in patients coinfected with tuberculosis and HIV, was highest among the kidney transplant recipients. Further studies evaluating clinical data, such as immunosuppression regimens, are needed in order to improve understanding of the distribution of these imaging patterns in this population.

Pocket facts 2009 : Swedish Road Administration, roads and traffic

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-05-01

This publication offers an overall picture of the road transport : system. Here you will find a selection of brief facts about roads, : road transports, vehicles and people in traffic. In addition, it : includes an overview of SRA tasks and organisat...

Bias in dissemination of clinical research findings: structured OPEN framework of what, who and why, based on literature review and expert consensus.

PubMed

Bassler, Dirk; Mueller, Katharina F; Briel, Matthias; Kleijnen, Jos; Marusic, Ana; Wager, Elizabeth; Antes, Gerd; von Elm, Erik; Altman, Douglas G; Meerpohl, Joerg J

2016-01-21

The aim of this study is to review highly cited articles that focus on non-publication of studies, and to develop a consistent and comprehensive approach to defining (non-) dissemination of research findings. We performed a scoping review of definitions of the term 'publication bias' in highly cited publications. Ideas and experiences of a core group of authors were collected in a draft document, which was complemented by the findings from our literature search. The draft document including findings from the literature search was circulated to an international group of experts and revised until no additional ideas emerged and consensus was reached. We propose a new approach to the comprehensive conceptualisation of (non-) dissemination of research. Our 'What, Who and Why?' approach includes issues that need to be considered when disseminating research findings (What?), the different players who should assume responsibility during the various stages of conducting a clinical trial and disseminating clinical trial documents (Who?), and motivations that might lead the various players to disseminate findings selectively, thereby introducing bias in the dissemination process (Why?). Our comprehensive framework of (non-) dissemination of research findings, based on the results of a scoping literature search and expert consensus will facilitate the development of future policies and guidelines regarding the multifaceted issue of selective publication, historically referred to as 'publication bias'. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Race, self-selection, and the job search process.

PubMed

Pager, Devah; Pedulla, David S

2015-01-01

While existing research has documented persistent barriers facing African-American job seekers, far less research has questioned how job seekers respond to this reality. Do minorities self-select into particular segments of the labor market to avoid discrimination? Such questions have remained unanswered due to the lack of data available on the positions to which job seekers apply. Drawing on two original data sets with application-specific information, we find little evidence that blacks target or avoid particular job types. Rather, blacks cast a wider net in their search than similarly situated whites, including a greater range of occupational categories and characteristics in their pool of job applications. Additionally, we show that perceptions of discrimination are associated with increased search breadth, suggesting that broad search among African-Americans represents an adaptation to labor market discrimination. Together these findings provide novel evidence on the role of race and self-selection in the job search process.

Race, Self-Selection, and the Job Search Process1

PubMed Central

Pager, Devah; Pedulla, David S.

2015-01-01

While existing research has documented persistent barriers facing African American job seekers, far less research has questioned how job seekers respond to this reality. Do minorities self-select into particular segments of the labor market to avoid discrimination? Such questions have remained unanswered due to the lack of data available on the positions to which job seekers apply. Drawing on two original datasets with application-specific information, we find little evidence that blacks target or avoid particular job types. Rather, blacks cast a wider net in their search than similarly situated whites, including a greater range of occupational categories and characteristics in their pool of job applications. Finally, we show that perceptions of discrimination are associated with increased search breadth, suggesting that broad search among African Americans represents an adaptation to labor market discrimination. Together these findings provide novel evidence on the role of race and self-selection in the job search process. PMID:26046224

Structural Overview of the Nuclear Receptor Superfamily: Insights into Physiology and Therapeutics

PubMed Central

Huang, Pengxiang; Chandra, Vikas; Rastinejad, Fraydoon

2013-01-01

As ligand-regulated transcription factors, the nuclear hormone receptors are nearly ideal drug targets, with internal pockets that bind to hydrophobic, drug-like molecules and well-characterized ligand-induced conformational changes that recruit transcriptional coregulators to promoter elements. Yet, due to the multitude of genes under the control of a single receptor, the major challenge has been the identification of ligands with gene-selective actions, impacting disease outcomes through a narrow subset of target genes and not across their entire gene-regulatory repertoire. Here, we summarize the concepts and work to date underlying the development of steroidal and nonsteroidal receptor ligands, including the use of crystal structures, high-throughput screens, and rational design approaches for finding useful therapeutic molecules. Difficulties in finding selective receptor modulators require a more complete understanding of receptor interdomain communications, posttranslational modifications, and receptor-protein interactions that could be exploited for target gene selectivity. PMID:20148675

Genetic evidence for natural selection in humans in the contemporary United States.

PubMed

Beauchamp, Jonathan P

2016-07-12

Recent findings from molecular genetics now make it possible to test directly for natural selection by analyzing whether genetic variants associated with various phenotypes have been under selection. I leverage these findings to construct polygenic scores that use individuals' genotypes to predict their body mass index, educational attainment (EA), glucose concentration, height, schizophrenia, total cholesterol, and (in females) age at menarche. I then examine associations between these scores and fitness to test whether natural selection has been occurring. My study sample includes individuals of European ancestry born between 1931 and 1953 who participated in the Health and Retirement Study, a representative study of the US population. My results imply that natural selection has been slowly favoring lower EA in both females and males, and are suggestive that natural selection may have favored a higher age at menarche in females. For EA, my estimates imply a rate of selection of about -1.5 mo of education per generation (which pales in comparison with the increases in EA observed in contemporary times). Although they cannot be projected over more than one generation, my results provide additional evidence that humans are still evolving-albeit slowly, especially compared with the rapid changes that have occurred over the past few generations due to cultural and environmental factors.

Genetic evidence for natural selection in humans in the contemporary United States

PubMed Central

Beauchamp, Jonathan P.

2016-01-01

Recent findings from molecular genetics now make it possible to test directly for natural selection by analyzing whether genetic variants associated with various phenotypes have been under selection. I leverage these findings to construct polygenic scores that use individuals’ genotypes to predict their body mass index, educational attainment (EA), glucose concentration, height, schizophrenia, total cholesterol, and (in females) age at menarche. I then examine associations between these scores and fitness to test whether natural selection has been occurring. My study sample includes individuals of European ancestry born between 1931 and 1953 who participated in the Health and Retirement Study, a representative study of the US population. My results imply that natural selection has been slowly favoring lower EA in both females and males, and are suggestive that natural selection may have favored a higher age at menarche in females. For EA, my estimates imply a rate of selection of about −1.5 mo of education per generation (which pales in comparison with the increases in EA observed in contemporary times). Although they cannot be projected over more than one generation, my results provide additional evidence that humans are still evolving—albeit slowly, especially compared with the rapid changes that have occurred over the past few generations due to cultural and environmental factors. PMID:27402742

Guidelines for reporting methodological challenges and evaluating potential bias in dementia research.

PubMed

Weuve, Jennifer; Proust-Lima, Cécile; Power, Melinda C; Gross, Alden L; Hofer, Scott M; Thiébaut, Rodolphe; Chêne, Geneviève; Glymour, M Maria; Dufouil, Carole

2015-09-01

Clinical and population research on dementia and related neurologic conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, faces several unique methodological challenges. Progress to identify preventive and therapeutic strategies rests on valid and rigorous analytic approaches, but the research literature reflects little consensus on "best practices." We present findings from a large scientific working group on research methods for clinical and population studies of dementia, which identified five categories of methodological challenges as follows: (1) attrition/sample selection, including selective survival; (2) measurement, including uncertainty in diagnostic criteria, measurement error in neuropsychological assessments, and practice or retest effects; (3) specification of longitudinal models when participants are followed for months, years, or even decades; (4) time-varying measurements; and (5) high-dimensional data. We explain why each challenge is important in dementia research and how it could compromise the translation of research findings into effective prevention or care strategies. We advance a checklist of potential sources of bias that should be routinely addressed when reporting dementia research. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

REGIONAL PRIORITIZATIONS OF BIODIVERSITY AND SEDIMENT RETENTION FUNCTIONS: FINDINGS AND MANAGEMENT RELEVANCE

EPA Science Inventory

The synoptic approach is a landscape-level assessment tool for geographic prioritization of wetland protection and restoration efforts. Prioritization becomes necessary when effort ? including time and money ? is limited, forcing managers to select a subset of locations. The ap...

Drafting the Outside Designer.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aldrich, Charles R.

1981-01-01

Areas discussed in selecting an outside designer include: how to find the right designer; dealing with a purchasing agent; the differences between studio and free-lance designers; how much freedom a designer should have; how to deal with the designer; and what advice designers can give. (LC)

Chemical equilibrium of ablation materials including condensed species

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stroud, C. W.; Brinkley, K. L.

1975-01-01

Equilibrium is determined by finding chemical composition with minimum free energy. Method of steepest descent is applied to quadratic representation of free-energy surface. Solution is initiated by selecting arbitrary set of mole fractions, from which point on free-energy surface is computed.

Normal movement selectivity in autism.

PubMed

Dinstein, Ilan; Thomas, Cibu; Humphreys, Kate; Minshew, Nancy; Behrmann, Marlene; Heeger, David J

2010-05-13

It has been proposed that individuals with autism have difficulties understanding the goals and intentions of others because of a fundamental dysfunction in the mirror neuron system. Here, however, we show that individuals with autism exhibited not only normal fMRI responses in mirror system areas during observation and execution of hand movements but also exhibited typical movement-selective adaptation (repetition suppression) when observing or executing the same movement repeatedly. Movement selectivity is a defining characteristic of neurons involved in movement perception, including mirror neurons, and, as such, these findings argue against a mirror system dysfunction in autism. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Results from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Volume I: Summary of National Findings [and] Volume II: Technical Appendices and Selected Data Tables [and] Volume III: Detailed Tables.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (DHHS/PHS), Rockville, MD. Office of Applied Studies.

This document presents the technical appendices and selected data tables from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Included are a description of the survey; statistical methods and limitations of the data; effects of changes in survey protocol on trend measurement; key definitions for the 1999-2001 survey years; and other sources of…

Techniques for analyzing frequency selective surfaces - A review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mittra, Raj; Chan, Chi H.; Cwik, Tom

1988-01-01

A number of representative techniques for analyzing frequency-selective surfaces (FSSs), which comprise periodic arrays of patches or apertures in a conducting screen and find important applications as filters in microwaves and optics, are discussed. The basic properties of the FSSs are reviewed and several different approaches to predicting their frequency-response characteristics are described. Some recent developments in the treatment of truncated, curved, and doubly periodic screens are mentioned and representative experimental results are included.

Interventions to assist health consumers to find reliable online health information: a comprehensive review.

PubMed

Lee, Kenneth; Hoti, Kreshnik; Hughes, Jeffery D; Emmerton, Lynne M

2014-01-01

Health information on the Internet is ubiquitous, and its use by health consumers prevalent. Finding and understanding relevant online health information, and determining content reliability, pose real challenges for many health consumers. To identify the types of interventions that have been implemented to assist health consumers to find reliable online health information, and where possible, describe and compare the types of outcomes studied. PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus and Cochrane Library databases; WorldCat and Scirus 'gray literature' search engines; and manual review of reference lists of selected publications. Publications were selected by firstly screening title, abstract, and then full text. Seven publications met the inclusion criteria, and were summarized in a data extraction form. The form incorporated the PICOS (Population Intervention Comparators Outcomes and Study Design) Model. Two eligible gray literature papers were also reported. Relevant data from included studies were tabulated to enable descriptive comparison. A brief critique of each study was included in the tables. This review was unable to follow systematic review methods due to the paucity of research and humanistic interventions reported. While extensive, the gray literature search may have had limited reach in some countries. The paucity of research on this topic limits conclusions that may be drawn. The few eligible studies predominantly adopted a didactic approach to assisting health consumers, whereby consumers were either taught how to find credible websites, or how to use the Internet. Common types of outcomes studied include knowledge and skills pertaining to Internet use and searching for reliable health information. These outcomes were predominantly self-assessed by participants. There is potential for further research to explore other avenues for assisting health consumers to find reliable online health information, and to assess outcomes via objective measures.

Gender-based violence: concepts, methods, and findings.

PubMed

Russo, Nancy Felipe; Pirlott, Angela

2006-11-01

The United Nations has identified gender-based violence against women as a global health and development issue, and a host of policies, public education, and action programs aimed at reducing gender-based violence have been undertaken around the world. This article highlights new conceptualizations, methodological issues, and selected research findings that can inform such activities. In addition to describing recent research findings that document relationships between gender, power, sexuality, and intimate violence cross-nationally, it identifies cultural factors, including linkages between sex and violence through media images that may increase women's risk for violence, and profiles a host of negative physical, mental, and behavioral health outcomes associated with victimization including unwanted pregnancy and abortion. More research is needed to identify the causes, dynamics, and outcomes of gender-based violence, including media effects, and to articulate how different forms of such violence vary in outcomes depending on cultural context.

Retirement and Health Insurance: Finding New Solutions to the Benefits Puzzle.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanley, Ron

1993-01-01

Presents guidelines for colleges on selecting employee health insurance carriers and retirement investment programs. Reviews types of insurance programs, presenting examples from several states. Discusses mechanisms for reducing insurance premiums, including claim reduction, self-funding, mail-order pharmaceuticals, and forming consortia with…

How To Tutor Students with Reading Comprehension Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Richard; Hasbrouck, Jan E.; Denton, Carolyn

2002-01-01

Suggestions for tutoring students with reading comprehension problems include careful selection of books with readable text segments, use of comprehension strategies such as paraphrasing brief sections, and reading to find specific information. Several reading comprehension strategies for students are summarized. (Contains 7 references.) (DB)

The Instructional Role of the School Library Media Specialist: What Research Says to Us Now.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodges, Gerald C.

1981-01-01

Reviews selected studies of the curricular and instructional role of the school library media specialist to identify predominant patterns in research findings, and discusses their implications for librarians, educators, administrators, and other professionals. It includes 23 references. (RAA)

Use of a latency-based demand assessment to identify potential demands for functional analyses.

PubMed

Call, Nathan A; Miller, Sarah J; Mintz, Joslyn Cynkus; Mevers, Joanna Lomas; Scheithauer, Mindy C; Eshelman, Julie E; Beavers, Gracie A

2016-12-01

Unlike potential tangible positive reinforcers, which are typically identified for inclusion in functional analyses empirically using preference assessments, demands are most often selected arbitrarily or based on caregiver report. The present study evaluated the use of a demand assessment with 12 participants who exhibited escape-maintained problem behavior. Participants were exposed to 10 demands, with aversiveness measured by average latency to the first instance of problem behavior. In subsequent functional analyses, results of a demand condition that included the demand with the shortest latency to problem behavior resulted in identification of an escape function for 11 of the participants. In contrast, a demand condition that included the demand with the longest latency resulted in identification of an escape function for only 5 participants. The implication of these findings is that for the remaining 7 participants, selection of the demand for the functional analysis without using the results of the demand assessment could have produced a false-negative finding. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

What do people with aphasia want to be able to say? A content analysis of words identified as personally relevant by people with aphasia.

PubMed

Palmer, Rebecca; Hughes, Helen; Chater, Tim

2017-01-01

Word finding is a common difficulty for people with aphasia. Targeting words that are relevant to the individual could maximise the usefulness and impact of word finding therapy. To provide insights into words that people with aphasia perceive to be personally relevant. 100 people with aphasia were each asked to identify 100 words that would be particularly important for them to be able to say. Two speech and language therapist researchers conducted a quantitative content analysis of the words selected. The words were coded into a framework of topics and subtopics. The frequency with which different words and topics were selected was then calculated. 100 participants representing 20 areas of the United Kingdom ranged in age from 23 to 85 years. Word finding difficulties ranged from mild to severe. The sample of 9999 words selected for practice included 3095 different words in 27 topics. The majority of words selected (79.4%) were from the topics 'food and drink' (30.6%), 'nature and gardening' (10.3%), 'entertainment' (9.4%), 'places' (7.3%), 'people' (6.7%), 'house' (6.5%), 'clothes' (5.2%) and 'travel' (3.5%). The 100 words types chosen with the greatest frequency were identified. These account for 27 percent of the 9999 words chosen by the participants. Personally relevant vocabulary is unique to each individual and is likely to contain specific or specialist words for which material needs to be individually prepared. However there is some commonality in the words chosen by people with aphasia. This could inform pre-prepared materials for use in word finding therapy from which personally relevant words could be selected for practice.

What do people with aphasia want to be able to say? A content analysis of words identified as personally relevant by people with aphasia

PubMed Central

Hughes, Helen; Chater, Tim

2017-01-01

Background Word finding is a common difficulty for people with aphasia. Targeting words that are relevant to the individual could maximise the usefulness and impact of word finding therapy. Aims To provide insights into words that people with aphasia perceive to be personally relevant. Methods and procedures 100 people with aphasia were each asked to identify 100 words that would be particularly important for them to be able to say. Two speech and language therapist researchers conducted a quantitative content analysis of the words selected. The words were coded into a framework of topics and subtopics. The frequency with which different words and topics were selected was then calculated. Outcomes and results 100 participants representing 20 areas of the United Kingdom ranged in age from 23 to 85 years. Word finding difficulties ranged from mild to severe. The sample of 9999 words selected for practice included 3095 different words in 27 topics. The majority of words selected (79.4%) were from the topics ‘food and drink’ (30.6%), ‘nature and gardening’ (10.3%), ‘entertainment’ (9.4%), ‘places’ (7.3%), ‘people’ (6.7%), ‘house’ (6.5%), ‘clothes’ (5.2%) and ‘travel’ (3.5%). The 100 words types chosen with the greatest frequency were identified. These account for 27 percent of the 9999 words chosen by the participants. Discussion Personally relevant vocabulary is unique to each individual and is likely to contain specific or specialist words for which material needs to be individually prepared. However there is some commonality in the words chosen by people with aphasia. This could inform pre-prepared materials for use in word finding therapy from which personally relevant words could be selected for practice. PMID:28346518

Balancing selection on immunity genes: review of the current literature and new analysis in Drosophila melanogaster.

PubMed

Croze, Myriam; Živković, Daniel; Stephan, Wolfgang; Hutter, Stephan

2016-08-01

Balancing selection has been widely assumed to be an important evolutionary force, yet even today little is known about its abundance and its impact on the patterns of genetic diversity. Several studies have shown examples of balancing selection in humans, plants or parasites, and many genes under balancing selection are involved in immunity. It has been proposed that host-parasite coevolution is one of the main forces driving immune genes to evolve under balancing selection. In this paper, we review the literature on balancing selection on immunity genes in several organisms, including Drosophila. Furthermore, we performed a genome scan for balancing selection in an African population of Drosophila melanogaster using coalescent simulations of a demographic model with and without selection. We find very few genes under balancing selection and only one novel candidate gene related to immunity. Finally, we discuss the possible causes of the low number of genes under balancing selection. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.

Methodological characteristics and treatment effect sizes in oral health randomised controlled trials: Is there a relationship? Protocol for a meta-epidemiological study.

PubMed

Saltaji, Humam; Armijo-Olivo, Susan; Cummings, Greta G; Amin, Maryam; Flores-Mir, Carlos

2014-02-25

It is fundamental that randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are properly conducted in order to reach well-supported conclusions. However, there is emerging evidence that RCTs are subject to biases which can overestimate or underestimate the true treatment effect, due to flaws in the study design characteristics of such trials. The extent to which this holds true in oral health RCTs, which have some unique design characteristics compared to RCTs in other health fields, is unclear. As such, we aim to examine the empirical evidence quantifying the extent of bias associated with methodological and non-methodological characteristics in oral health RCTs. We plan to perform a meta-epidemiological study, where a sample size of 60 meta-analyses (MAs) including approximately 600 RCTs will be selected. The MAs will be randomly obtained from the Oral Health Database of Systematic Reviews using a random number table; and will be considered for inclusion if they include a minimum of five RCTs, and examine a therapeutic intervention related to one of the recognised dental specialties. RCTs identified in selected MAs will be subsequently included if their study design includes a comparison between an intervention group and a placebo group or another intervention group. Data will be extracted from selected trials included in MAs based on a number of methodological and non-methodological characteristics. Moreover, the risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Effect size estimates and measures of variability for the main outcome will be extracted from each RCT included in selected MAs, and a two-level analysis will be conducted using a meta-meta-analytic approach with a random effects model to allow for intra-MA and inter-MA heterogeneity. The intended audiences of the findings will include dental clinicians, oral health researchers, policymakers and graduate students. The aforementioned will be introduced to the findings through workshops, seminars, round table discussions and targeted individual meetings. Other opportunities for knowledge transfer will be pursued such as key dental conferences. Finally, the results will be published as a scientific report in a dental peer-reviewed journal.

Evidence for the Selective Reporting of Analyses and Discrepancies in Clinical Trials: A Systematic Review of Cohort Studies of Clinical Trials

PubMed Central

Dwan, Kerry; Altman, Douglas G.; Clarke, Mike; Gamble, Carrol; Higgins, Julian P. T.; Sterne, Jonathan A. C.; Williamson, Paula R.; Kirkham, Jamie J.

2014-01-01

Background Most publications about selective reporting in clinical trials have focussed on outcomes. However, selective reporting of analyses for a given outcome may also affect the validity of findings. If analyses are selected on the basis of the results, reporting bias may occur. The aims of this study were to review and summarise the evidence from empirical cohort studies that assessed discrepant or selective reporting of analyses in randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Methods and Findings A systematic review was conducted and included cohort studies that assessed any aspect of the reporting of analyses of RCTs by comparing different trial documents, e.g., protocol compared to trial report, or different sections within a trial publication. The Cochrane Methodology Register, Medline (Ovid), PsycInfo (Ovid), and PubMed were searched on 5 February 2014. Two authors independently selected studies, performed data extraction, and assessed the methodological quality of the eligible studies. Twenty-two studies (containing 3,140 RCTs) published between 2000 and 2013 were included. Twenty-two studies reported on discrepancies between information given in different sources. Discrepancies were found in statistical analyses (eight studies), composite outcomes (one study), the handling of missing data (three studies), unadjusted versus adjusted analyses (three studies), handling of continuous data (three studies), and subgroup analyses (12 studies). Discrepancy rates varied, ranging from 7% (3/42) to 88% (7/8) in statistical analyses, 46% (36/79) to 82% (23/28) in adjusted versus unadjusted analyses, and 61% (11/18) to 100% (25/25) in subgroup analyses. This review is limited in that none of the included studies investigated the evidence for bias resulting from selective reporting of analyses. It was not possible to combine studies to provide overall summary estimates, and so the results of studies are discussed narratively. Conclusions Discrepancies in analyses between publications and other study documentation were common, but reasons for these discrepancies were not discussed in the trial reports. To ensure transparency, protocols and statistical analysis plans need to be published, and investigators should adhere to these or explain discrepancies. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary PMID:24959719

Trajectory Optimization for Missions to Small Bodies with a Focus on Scientific Merit.

PubMed

Englander, Jacob A; Vavrina, Matthew A; Lim, Lucy F; McFadden, Lucy A; Rhoden, Alyssa R; Noll, Keith S

2017-01-01

Trajectory design for missions to small bodies is tightly coupled both with the selection of targets for a mission and with the choice of spacecraft power, propulsion, and other hardware. Traditional methods of trajectory optimization have focused on finding the optimal trajectory for an a priori selection of destinations and spacecraft parameters. Recent research has expanded the field of trajectory optimization to multidisciplinary systems optimization that includes spacecraft parameters. The logical next step is to extend the optimization process to include target selection based not only on engineering figures of merit but also scientific value. This paper presents a new technique to solve the multidisciplinary mission optimization problem for small-bodies missions, including classical trajectory design, the choice of spacecraft power and propulsion systems, and also the scientific value of the targets. This technique, when combined with modern parallel computers, enables a holistic view of the small body mission design process that previously required iteration among several different design processes.

Addressing Gender Equity in Nonfaculty Salaries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toukoushian, Robert K.

2000-01-01

Discusses methodology of gender equity studies on noninstructional employees of colleges and universities, including variable selection in the multiple regression model and alternative approaches for measuring wage gaps. Analysis of staff data at one institution finds that experience and market differences account for 80 percent of gender pay…

Mate Selection among Married and Cohabiting Couples.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackwell, Debra L.; Lichter, Daniel T.

2000-01-01

Examines comparative patterns of educational and racial assortative mating or homogany among married and cohabiting couples, and evaluates whether women and men trade in socioeconomic status and racial caste prestige. Lists several findings, including married/cohabiting couples are highly homogenous with respect to race and education. Suggests…

Correlates of Work Adjustment among the Mentally Retarded.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Hua-Kuo

The study sought to determine the relationships between work adjustment and selected personal, educational, vocational, and familial variables among 116 mentally retarded trainees from two vocational training programs in Taiwan. Findings included, among others: older trainees were more likely to accept rules/authority than younger workers; males…

Characterization of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Expression in Nucleus Accumbens and Hippocampus of Rats Subjected to Food Selection in the Cafeteria Diet Protocol.

PubMed

Sarro-Ramírez, Andrea; Sánchez, Daniel; Tejeda-Padrón, Alma; Buenfil-Canto, Linda Vianey; Valladares-García, Jorge; Pacheco-Pantoja, Elda; Arias-Carrión, Oscar; Murillo-Rodríguez, Eric

2016-01-01

Obesity is a world-wide health problem that requires different experimental perspectives to understand the onset of this disease, including the neurobiological basis of food selection. From a molecular perspective, obesity has been related with activity of several endogenous molecules, including the mitogenactivated protein kinases (MAP-K). The aim of this study was to characterize MAP-K expression in hedonic and learning and memory brain-associated areas such as nucleus accumbens (AcbC) and hippocampus (HIPP) after food selection. We show that animals fed with cafeteria diet during 14 days displayed an increase in p38 MAP-K activity in AcbC if chose cheese. Conversely, a diminution was observed in animals that preferred chocolate in AcbC. Also, a decrease of p38 MAP-K phosphorylation was found in HIPP in rats that selected either cheese or chocolate. Our data demonstrate a putative role of MAP-K expression in food selection. These findings advance our understanding of neuromolecular basis engaged in obesity.

Towards successful user interaction with systems: focusing on user-derived gestures for smart home systems.

PubMed

Choi, Eunjung; Kwon, Sunghyuk; Lee, Donghun; Lee, Hogin; Chung, Min K

2014-07-01

Various studies that derived gesture commands from users have used the frequency ratio to select popular gestures among the users. However, the users select only one gesture from a limited number of gestures that they could imagine during an experiment, and thus, the selected gesture may not always be the best gesture. Therefore, two experiments including the same participants were conducted to identify whether the participants maintain their own gestures after observing other gestures. As a result, 66% of the top gestures were different between the two experiments. Thus, to verify the changed gestures between the two experiments, a third experiment including another set of participants was conducted, which showed that the selected gestures were similar to those from the second experiment. This finding implies that the method of using the frequency in the first step does not necessarily guarantee the popularity of the gestures. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

A prototype of behavior selection mechanism based on emotion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Guofeng; Li, Zushu

2007-12-01

In bionic methodology rather than in design methodology more familiar with, summarizing the psychological researches of emotion, we propose the biologic mechanism of emotion, emotion selection role in creature evolution and a anima framework including emotion similar to the classical control structure; and consulting Prospect Theory, build an Emotion Characteristic Functions(ECF) that computer emotion; two more emotion theories are added to them that higher emotion is preferred and middle emotion makes brain run more efficiently, emotional behavior mechanism comes into being. A simulation of proposed mechanism are designed and carried out on Alife Swarm software platform. In this simulation, a virtual grassland ecosystem is achieved where there are two kinds of artificial animals: herbivore and preyer. These artificial animals execute four types of behavior: wandering, escaping, finding food, finding sex partner in their lives. According the theories of animal ethnology, escaping from preyer is prior to other behaviors for its existence, finding food is secondly important behavior, rating is third one and wandering is last behavior. In keeping this behavior order, based on our behavior characteristic function theory, the specific functions of emotion computing are built of artificial autonomous animals. The result of simulation confirms the behavior selection mechanism.

Optimal design of compact spur gear reductions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Savage, M.; Lattime, S. B.; Kimmel, J. A.; Coe, H. H.

1992-01-01

The optimal design of compact spur gear reductions includes the selection of bearing and shaft proportions in addition to gear mesh parameters. Designs for single mesh spur gear reductions are based on optimization of system life, system volume, and system weight including gears, support shafts, and the four bearings. The overall optimization allows component properties to interact, yielding the best composite design. A modified feasible directions search algorithm directs the optimization through a continuous design space. Interpolated polynomials expand the discrete bearing properties and proportions into continuous variables for optimization. After finding the continuous optimum, the designer can analyze near optimal designs for comparison and selection. Design examples show the influence of the bearings on the optimal configurations.

Neural substrates of decision-making.

PubMed

Broche-Pérez, Y; Herrera Jiménez, L F; Omar-Martínez, E

2016-06-01

Decision-making is the process of selecting a course of action from among 2 or more alternatives by considering the potential outcomes of selecting each option and estimating its consequences in the short, medium and long term. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) has traditionally been considered the key neural structure in decision-making process. However, new studies support the hypothesis that describes a complex neural network including both cortical and subcortical structures. The aim of this review is to summarise evidence on the anatomical structures underlying the decision-making process, considering new findings that support the existence of a complex neural network that gives rise to this complex neuropsychological process. Current evidence shows that the cortical structures involved in decision-making include the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). This process is assisted by subcortical structures including the amygdala, thalamus, and cerebellum. Findings to date show that both cortical and subcortical brain regions contribute to the decision-making process. The neural basis of decision-making is a complex neural network of cortico-cortical and cortico-subcortical connections which includes subareas of the PFC, limbic structures, and the cerebellum. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Factors Influencing Residency Program Selection by Medical Students Pursuing Obstetrics and Gynecology.

PubMed

Alston, Meredith J; Metz, Torri D; Fothergill, Russell; Meg Autry, Amy; Wagner, Sarah A; Allshouse, Amanda A; Stephenson-Famy, Alyssa

2017-02-01

Little is known about the factors that influence medical student selection of obstetrics and gynecology (ob-gyn) residency programs. We assessed the factors influencing residency program selection by fourth-year medical students pursuing ob-gyn training. A voluntary, anonymous, 19-question survey of residency selection factors was distributed to all fourth-year medical students interviewing at 1 of 5 academic ob-gyn departments for a residency position during the 2013-2014 interview season. Participants were surveyed about the relative importance (not important, somewhat important, important) of various residency selection factors, including operative experience, exposure to subspecialties, curricular experience, access to fellowships, and administrative aspects of residency, including adherence to duty hour restrictions. Of 322 potential respondents, 262 (81%) completed the survey. Surgical training and training in laparoscopic surgery were deemed "important" by nearly all respondents (98%, 258 of 262, and 97%, 253 of 262, respectively). Factors that were considered "not important" by a significant group of respondents included maternity/paternity leave policies (22%, 58 of 259); opportunity for international rotations/electives (20%, 51 of 259); exposure to quality and safety initiatives (13%, 34 of 259); and training in abortion (13%, 34 of 262). Fourth-year medical students identified surgical training as the most important factor in selecting an ob-gyn residency, a finding that is particularly relevant as decreasing and changing surgical volumes affect residency training in this specialty.

Genome-Wide Variation Patterns Uncover the Origin and Selection in Cultivated Ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer)

PubMed Central

Li, Ming-Rui; Shi, Feng-Xue; Li, Ya-Ling; Jiang, Peng; Jiao, Lili

2017-01-01

Abstract Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) is a medicinally important herb and plays crucial roles in traditional Chinese medicine. Pharmacological analyses identified diverse bioactive components from Chinese ginseng. However, basic biological attributes including domestication and selection of the ginseng plant remain under-investigated. Here, we presented a genome-wide view of the domestication and selection of cultivated ginseng based on the whole genome data. A total of 8,660 protein-coding genes were selected for genome-wide scanning of the 30 wild and cultivated ginseng accessions. In complement, the 45s rDNA, chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes were included to perform phylogenetic and population genetic analyses. The observed spatial genetic structure between northern cultivated ginseng (NCG) and southern cultivated ginseng (SCG) accessions suggested multiple independent origins of cultivated ginseng. Genome-wide scanning further demonstrated that NCG and SCG have undergone distinct selection pressures during the domestication process, with more genes identified in the NCG (97 genes) than in the SCG group (5 genes). Functional analyses revealed that these genes are involved in diverse pathways, including DNA methylation, lignin biosynthesis, and cell differentiation. These findings suggested that the SCG and NCG groups have distinct demographic histories. Candidate genes identified are useful for future molecular breeding of cultivated ginseng. PMID:28922794

The Canon and Cultural Studies: Culture and Anarchy in Gotham City.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeBona, Guerric

1997-01-01

Finds that including media studies at the end of a traditional literature course is an effective pedagogical instrument for instigating discussion regarding the literary canon, since students recognize and address the important contribution of popular culture when it is in dialogue with more traditional material. Selects the film…

Some Psychological Aspects of Aging: Implications for Teaching and Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lersten, Kenneth C.

This paper reviews psychological literature concerned with aging, and includes brief reviews of (a) motor skill work, (b) the phenomena of "slowing," (c) social psychological findings, (d) sensation and perception, and (e) selected learning characteristics. The following teaching and learning strategies were elicited from this study: (a)…

Selected Aspects of Vocational Image as Perceived by a Public Categorized by Occupational Levels.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shultz, Fred A.; Terry, H. Robert

In six north-central Oklahoma cities, representatives from professional, technical, skilled, semiskilled, and unskilled occupations were interviewed to determine their perceptions of the image of vocational education in Oklahoma. Findings for the seven specific research objectives included: (1) Concerning the adequacy of available vocational…

Hot Topics on the Web: Strategies for Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diaz, Karen R.; O'Hanlon, Nancy

2001-01-01

Presents strategies for researching topics on the Web that are controversial or current in nature. Discusses topic selection and overviews, including the use of online encyclopedias; search engines; finding laws and pending legislation; advocacy groups; proprietary databases; Web site evaluation; and the continuing usefulness of print materials.…

Data Collection Management. A Supporting Report of the Instructional Dimensions Study, 1976-1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Morris

This report is one of 8 volumes which describe the findings and procedures of the Instructional Dimensions Study, an in-depth assessment of the relationships between selected instructional constructs and students' achievement. These constructs include individualization, opportunity to learn, motivational factors, instructional events, and teacher…

Injury- and Use-Related Plasticity in the Adult Auditory System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irvine, Dexter R. F.

2000-01-01

This article discusses findings concerning the plasticity of auditory cortical processing mechanisms in adults, including the effects of restricted cochlear damage or behavioral training with acoustic stimuli on the frequency selectivity of auditory cortical neurons and evidence for analogous injury- and use-related plasticity in the adult human…

Research to Real Life: Innovations in Deaf-Blindness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leslie, Gail, Ed.

This publication presents examples of research findings that are being put to practice to improve educational services to children with deaf-blindness. Each program description includes photographs and a highlight of key practices. Individual selections are: (1) "Early Intervention: Beginning with Babies" (Deborah Chen), which describes a project…

Effects of Structural Change on Labor Supply in Wisconsin.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gyan-Baffour, George; Shaffer, Ron

A survey of 501 Wisconsin firms (260 responses) assessed the impact of changes in demand, productivity, and technology on the employment needs and training requirements of Wisconsin employers in 10 selected economic sectors. Major findings included the following: (1) Wisconsin's services sector has recently experienced major employment growth and…

Neighborhood Disorder and the Sense of Personal Control: Which Factors Moderate the Association?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Joongbaeck; Conley, Meghan E.

2011-01-01

This study examines whether and how select individual characteristics moderate the relationship between neighborhood disorder and a sense of personal control. Our findings show that neighborhood disorder is associated with a decreased sense of control. However, regression analyses including interaction terms of neighborhood disorder and some…

A New Academic Marketplace.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Dolores L.

Faculty mobility in the 1980s is examined from the perspective of process and market environment, and comparisons are made between current research findings and those reported in 1958 by Theodore Caplow and Reece McGee. The study encompasses faculty recruitment, including search and selection procedures and effect, and the circumstances of…

Quick Access: Find Statistical Data on the Internet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Su, Di

1999-01-01

Provides an annotated list of Internet sources (World Wide Web, ftp, and gopher sites) for current and historical statistical business data, including selected interest rates, the Consumer Price Index, the Producer Price Index, foreign currency exchange rates, noon buying rates, per diem rates, the special drawing right, stock quotes, and mutual…

Web-Based Inquiry Learning: Facilitating Thoughtful Literacy with WebQuests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ikpeze, Chinwe H.; Boyd, Fenice B.

2007-01-01

An action research study investigated how the multiple tasks found in WebQuests facilitate fifth-grade students' literacy skills and higher order thinking. Findings indicate that WebQuests are most successful when activities are carefully selected and systematically delivered. Implications for teaching include the necessity for adequate planning,…

Planning for Quality: Perils and Possibilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidtlein, Frank A.

This paper reports selected findings from a study of formal, institution-wide planning in the United States undertaken by the National Center for Postsecondary Governance and Finance, located at the University of Maryland. The study included a review of higher education planning literature, a survey of administrators at 256 institutions, and…

Delivery Systems: "Saber Tooth" Effect in Counseling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Traylor, Elwood B.

This study reported the role of counselors as perceived by black students in a secondary school. Observational and interview methods were employed to obtain data from 24 black students selected at random from the junior and senior classes of a large metropolitan secondary school. Findings include: counselors were essentially concerned with…

Motivating Students' Research Skills and Interests through a Multimodal, Multigenre Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Nancy M.; Carroll, Kristen M.

2010-01-01

The authors investigate how innovative research assignments based on students' personal interests can help them want to develop their research skills. They find that multimodal communication and representation, including film, written scripts, comic strips, music, and photography, encourage students to carefully select information from the…

Examining Latinos/as' Graduate School Choice Process: An Intersectionality Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Elvia

2013-01-01

Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, this study examined the factors that influenced Latino/a students' decision to matriculate at a particular doctoral institution. Findings reveal that Latinos/as are influenced by several factors in their selection of a doctoral program, including location (proximity to home), faculty influences, financial…

The 1981-82 Student Services Fee Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matross, Ron; And Others

1981-01-01

Student perceptions and usage of selected services and organizations that receive student services fee support at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus were surveyed. Respondents were 417 continuing, fee-paying, nonforeign, day students. Key findings include: 60 percent said the fee should be increased enough to keep pace with inflation;…

Bringing Algorithms to Life: Cooperative Computing Activities Using Students as Processors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bachelis, Gregory F.; And Others

1994-01-01

Presents cooperative computing activities in which each student plays the role of a switch or processor and acts out algorithms. Includes binary counting, finding the smallest card in a deck, sorting by selection and merging, adding and multiplying large numbers, and sieving for primes. (16 references) (Author/MKR)

Correlates of low back pain in a general population sample: a multidisciplinary perspective.

PubMed

Roncarati, A; McMullen, W

1988-06-01

This study identifies correlates of low back pain in a general population sample and defines a profile of subjects with low back pain. A multidisciplinary approach was employed that required surveying and physically assessing 674 subjects on 105 variables in biographical, anatomical, strength and flexibility measurement categories. No attempt was made to select subjects from specific occupational, age, athletic, psychological and anatomical groups or subjects with specific biographical features, which may have resulted in a sample that was atypical of the general population. The results of this study based on a causal comparative ex post facto research design corroborated selected findings of previous research conducted on nongeneral population samples. These findings include relationships between low back pain and age, body type, sex, stress, smoking, selected types of physical activity, occupation and previous injuries to the neck, shoulders, back and upper legs, as well as previous episodes of low back pain. Additional correlates of low back pain that were identified and have little or controversial review in the back literature include: delayed low back pain syndrome caused by abrupt changes in running frequency, Q angle, pes cavus, leg length (right and left), trunk length, genu recurvatum and multiplane strength and flexibility limitations in the hip joints.

Efficient Breeding by Genomic Mating.

PubMed

Akdemir, Deniz; Sánchez, Julio I

2016-01-01

Selection in breeding programs can be done by using phenotypes (phenotypic selection), pedigree relationship (breeding value selection) or molecular markers (marker assisted selection or genomic selection). All these methods are based on truncation selection, focusing on the best performance of parents before mating. In this article we proposed an approach to breeding, named genomic mating, which focuses on mating instead of truncation selection. Genomic mating uses information in a similar fashion to genomic selection but includes information on complementation of parents to be mated. Following the efficiency frontier surface, genomic mating uses concepts of estimated breeding values, risk (usefulness) and coefficient of ancestry to optimize mating between parents. We used a genetic algorithm to find solutions to this optimization problem and the results from our simulations comparing genomic selection, phenotypic selection and the mating approach indicate that current approach for breeding complex traits is more favorable than phenotypic and genomic selection. Genomic mating is similar to genomic selection in terms of estimating marker effects, but in genomic mating the genetic information and the estimated marker effects are used to decide which genotypes should be crossed to obtain the next breeding population.

Why Latinas With Breast Cancer Select Specific Informal Caregivers to Participate With Them in Psychosocial Interventions.

PubMed

Badger, Terry; Segrin, Chris; Swiatkowski, Paulina; McNelis, Melissa; Weihs, Karen; Lopez, Ana Maria

2017-07-01

The purpose of this study is to describe the reasons 88 Latinas with breast cancer selected specific supportive others to participate in an 8-week psychosocial intervention. Participants were asked one open-ended question during the baseline assessment for a larger clinical trial: "Could you tell me more about why you selected [insert name] to participate in the study with you?" A content analysis of the responses found three thematic categories: source of informational or emotional support, concern for the informal caregiver's welfare, and special characteristics or qualities of the informal caregiver. These findings reflected both the cultural value of familism, the woman's role as caregiver to the family ( marianismo), and the man's role of provider ( machismo). Findings provide support for including the supportive person identified by the patient during a health crisis rather than the provider suggesting who that should be. Psychosocial services designed and implemented through such a cultural lens are more likely to be successful.

'Informed and uninformed decision making'--women's reasoning, experiences and perceptions with regard to advanced maternal age and delayed childbearing: a meta-synthesis.

PubMed

Cooke, Alison; Mills, Tracey A; Lavender, Tina

2010-10-01

To identify what factors affect women's decisions to delay childbearing, and to explore women's experiences and their perceptions of associated risks. Systematic procedures were used for search strategy, study selection, data extraction and analysis. Findings were synthesised using an approach developed from meta-ethnography. We included qualitative papers, not confined to geographical area (1980-2009). Databases included CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo, ASSIA, MIDIRS, British Nursing Index and the National Research Register. We selected qualitative empirical studies exploring the views and experiences of women of advanced maternal age who were childless or primigravidae with a singleton pregnancy or primiparous. Twelve papers fulfilled the selection criteria and were included for synthesis. Women appear to face an issue of 'informed and uninformed decision making'; those who believe they are informed but may not be, those who are not informed and find out they are at risk once pregnant, and those who are well informed but choose to delay pregnancy anyway. Maternity services could provide information to enable informed choice regarding timing of childbearing. Health professionals need to be mindful of the fact that women delay childbearing for various reasons. A strategy of pre-conception education may be beneficial in informing childbearing decisions. Obstetricians and midwives should be sensitive to the fact that women may not be aware of all the risks associated with delayed childbearing. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the views and experiences of HIV positive patients treated for cancer: a systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Hainsworth, Emma G; Shahmanesh, Maryam; Stevenson, Fiona

2018-05-01

A systematic review of the literature was conducted to find out what is known about patients' experiences of a dual diagnosis of HIV and cancer. We systematically searched the following databases; MEDLINE (Ovid Version); CINAHL Plus; PsycINFO and EMBASE from inception to June 2016 for studies that included patients with a dual diagnosis of cancer and HIV and focused on patient experiences. Studies with a focus on one illness rather than a dual diagnosis, those that focused on treatment strategies and medical management, epidemiology and pathology studies and comparison studies were all excluded. The full text of the included studies were reviewed. Information on location, sample size, study design and a narrative summary of findings were extracted using a standardised format. Studies were combined thematically. 1777 records were screened by title and abstract using the selection criteria described in the methods. Eight records were reviewed in depth in full text and seven selected as eligible. The selected studies suggest that a dual diagnosis of HIV and cancer has a powerful impact on individuals' behaviour. The experience of stigma was a consistent factor in all patient accounts and the strategy of selective disclosure to access support reveals how patient agency can interplay with stigma. This is an area largely unexplored in the published literature; further research into patients' experiences of a dual diagnosis of HIV and cancer will provide relevant knowledge in order to tailor and improve services.

Microcephaly genes evolved adaptively throughout the evolution of eutherian mammals

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Genes associated with the neurodevelopmental disorder microcephaly display a strong signature of adaptive evolution in primates. Comparative data suggest a link between selection on some of these loci and the evolution of primate brain size. Whether or not either positive selection or this phenotypic association are unique to primates is unclear, but recent studies in cetaceans suggest at least two microcephaly genes evolved adaptively in other large brained mammalian clades. Results Here we analyse the evolution of seven microcephaly loci, including three recently identified loci, across 33 eutherian mammals. We find extensive evidence for positive selection having acted on the majority of these loci not just in primates but also across non-primate mammals. Furthermore, the patterns of selection in major mammalian clades are not significantly different. Using phylogenetically corrected comparative analyses, we find that the evolution of two microcephaly loci, ASPM and CDK5RAP2, are correlated with neonatal brain size in Glires and Euungulata, the two most densely sampled non-primate clades. Conclusions Together with previous results, this suggests that ASPM and CDK5RAP2 may have had a consistent role in the evolution of brain size in mammals. Nevertheless, several limitations of currently available data and gene-phenotype tests are discussed, including sparse sampling across large evolutionary distances, averaging gene-wide rates of evolution, potential phenotypic variation and evolutionary reversals. We discuss the implications of our results for studies of the genetic basis of brain evolution, and explicit tests of gene-phenotype hypotheses. PMID:24898820

The leadership characteristics of the preceptor in selected clinical practice settings in Botswana.

PubMed

Dube, A; Jooste, K

2006-08-01

A non-experimental, explorative, descriptive, quantitative study was undertaken. The purpose was to explore and describe the views of preceptors and preceptees regarding the fulfilment of the role of the preceptor in selected clinical nursing practice settings in the Botswana context. The study included 72 preceptors and 200 nursing students/preceptees who voluntary agreed voluntarily to participate in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data, which was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of this study indicated that the preceptor lacked leadership characteristics in the accompaniment of the preceptee. These constraints included the lack of desirable characteristics such as intellectual, emotional, physical and other traits that are common to all good leaders. Recommendations were stated for improvements in selecting preceptors with certain leadership skills for the clinical practice settings. The limitations of this study were highlighted.

Selecting public relations personnel of hospitals by analytic network process.

PubMed

Liao, Sen-Kuei; Chang, Kuei-Lun

2009-01-01

This study describes the use of analytic network process (ANP) in the Taiwanese hospital public relations personnel selection process. Starting with interviewing 48 practitioners and executives in north Taiwan, we collected selection criteria. Then, we retained the 12 critical criteria that were mentioned above 40 times by theses respondents, including: interpersonal skill, experience, negotiation, language, ability to follow orders, cognitive ability, adaptation to environment, adaptation to company, emotion, loyalty, attitude, and Response. Finally, we discussed with the 20 executives to take these important criteria into three perspectives to structure the hierarchy for hospital public relations personnel selection. After discussing with practitioners and executives, we find that selecting criteria are interrelated. The ANP, which incorporates interdependence relationships, is a new approach for multi-criteria decision-making. Thus, we apply ANP to select the most optimal public relations personnel of hospitals. An empirical study of public relations personnel selection problems in Taiwan hospitals is conducted to illustrate how the selection procedure works.

Post-Domestication Selection in the Maize Starch Pathway

PubMed Central

Fan, Longjiang; Bao, Jiandong; Wang, Yu; Yao, Jianqiang; Gui, Yijie; Hu, Weiming; Zhu, Jinqing; Zeng, Mengqian; Li, Yu; Xu, Yunbi

2009-01-01

Modern crops have usually experienced domestication selection and subsequent genetic improvement (post-domestication selection). Chinese waxy maize, which originated from non-glutinous domesticated maize (Zea mays ssp. mays), provides a unique model for investigating the post-domestication selection of maize. In this study, the genetic diversity of six key genes in the starch pathway was investigated in a glutinous population that included 55 Chinese waxy accessions, and a selective bottleneck that resulted in apparent reductions in diversity in Chinese waxy maize was observed. Significant positive selection in waxy (wx) but not amylose extender1 (ae1) was detected in the glutinous population, in complete contrast to the findings in non-glutinous maize, which indicated a shift in the selection target from ae1 to wx during the improvement of Chinese waxy maize. Our results suggest that an agronomic trait can be quickly improved into a target trait with changes in the selection target among genes in a crop pathway. PMID:19859548

Annotating ebony on the fly.

PubMed

Kohn, Michael H; Wittkopp, Patricia J

2007-07-01

The distinctive black phenotype of ebony mutants has made it one of the most widely used phenotypic markers in Drosophila genetics. Without doubt, ebony showcases the fruits of the fly community's labours to annotate gene function. As of this writing, FlyBase lists 142 references, 1277 fly stocks, 15 phenotypes and 44 alleles. In addition to its namesake pigmentation phenotype, ebony mutants affect other traits, including phototaxis and courtship. With phenotypic consequences of ebony variants readily apparent in the laboratory, does natural selection also see them in the wild? In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Pool & Aquadro investigate this question and found signs of natural selection on the ebony gene that appear to have resulted from selection for darker pigmentation at higher elevations in sub-Saharan populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Such findings from population genomic analysis of wild-derived strains should be included in gene annotations to provide a more holistic view of a gene's function. The evolutionary annotation of ebony added by Pool & Aquadro substantiates that pigmentation can be adaptive and implicates elevation as an important selective factor. This is important progress because the selective factors seem to differ between populations and species. In addition, the study raises issues to consider when extrapolating from selection at the molecular level to selection at the phenotypic level.

Genome Patterns of Selection and Introgression of Haplotypes in Natural Populations of the House Mouse (Mus musculus)

PubMed Central

Staubach, Fabian; Lorenc, Anna; Messer, Philipp W.; Tang, Kun; Petrov, Dmitri A.; Tautz, Diethard

2012-01-01

General parameters of selection, such as the frequency and strength of positive selection in natural populations or the role of introgression, are still insufficiently understood. The house mouse (Mus musculus) is a particularly well-suited model system to approach such questions, since it has a defined history of splits into subspecies and populations and since extensive genome information is available. We have used high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing arrays to assess genomic patterns of positive selection and introgression of alleles in two natural populations of each of the subspecies M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus. Applying different statistical procedures, we find a large number of regions subject to apparent selective sweeps, indicating frequent positive selection on rare alleles or novel mutations. Genes in the regions include well-studied imprinted loci (e.g. Plagl1/Zac1), homologues of human genes involved in adaptations (e.g. alpha-amylase genes) or in genetic diseases (e.g. Huntingtin and Parkin). Haplotype matching between the two subspecies reveals a large number of haplotypes that show patterns of introgression from specific populations of the respective other subspecies, with at least 10% of the genome being affected by partial or full introgression. Using neutral simulations for comparison, we find that the size and the fraction of introgressed haplotypes are not compatible with a pure migration or incomplete lineage sorting model. Hence, it appears that introgressed haplotypes can rise in frequency due to positive selection and thus can contribute to the adaptive genomic landscape of natural populations. Our data support the notion that natural genomes are subject to complex adaptive processes, including the introgression of haplotypes from other differentiated populations or species at a larger scale than previously assumed for animals. This implies that some of the admixture found in inbred strains of mice may also have a natural origin. PMID:22956910

Trends in hypothesis testing and related variables in nursing research: a retrospective exploratory study.

PubMed

Lash, Ayhan Aytekin; Plonczynski, Donna J; Sehdev, Amikar

2011-01-01

To compare the inclusion and the influences of selected variables on hypothesis testing during the 1980s and 1990s. In spite of the emphasis on conducting inquiry consistent with the tenets of logical positivism, there have been no studies investigating the frequency and patterns of hypothesis testing in nursing research The sample was obtained from the journal Nursing Research which was the research journal with the highest circulation during the study period under study. All quantitative studies published during the two decades including briefs and historical studies were included in the analyses A retrospective design was used to select the sample. Five years from the 1980s and 1990s each were randomly selected from the journal, Nursing Research. Of the 582 studies, 517 met inclusion criteria. Findings suggest that there has been a decline in the use of hypothesis testing in the last decades of the 20th century. Further research is needed to identify the factors that influence the conduction of research with hypothesis testing. Hypothesis testing in nursing research showed a steady decline from the 1980s to 1990s. Research purposes of explanation, and prediction/ control increased the likelihood of hypothesis testing. Hypothesis testing strengthens the quality of the quantitative studies, increases the generality of findings and provides dependable knowledge. This is particularly true for quantitative studies that aim to explore, explain and predict/control phenomena and/or test theories. The findings also have implications for doctoral programmes, research preparation of nurse-investigators, and theory testing.

An investigation of content and media images in gay men's magazines.

PubMed

Saucier, Jason A; Caron, Sandra L

2008-01-01

This study provides an analysis of gay men's magazines, examining both the content and advertisements. Four magazine titles were selected, including The Advocate, Genre, Instinct, and Out, each targeting gay men as its target audience. These magazines were coded for both article content and advertisement content. In the advertisement analysis, both the type of advertisement and characteristics of the men depicted within the advertisement when present. The results mirror previous research findings relating to the portrayal of women, including the objectification of specific body parts and the high community standards set by the images depicted. These findings were reinforced by both the advertisements and content analyzed to include a high degree of importance being placed on having the right body type. Implications for further research are discussed.

An Analysis of Popular Ninth Grade Literature Anthologies with Respect to Selected Objectives for the Study of Literature in the Ninth Grade.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jakiel, Stanley James

The problem approached in this study was to ascertain what objectives should be included in the study of literature in the ninth grade and to analyze some popular anthologies to find if appropriate goals and materials to meet these goals are included. Research on the subject of objectives for literature study was examined as were the writings of…

Teaching research: a programme to develop research capacity in undergraduate medical students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

PubMed

Knight, Stephen E; Van Wyk, Jacqueline M; Mahomed, Saajida

2016-02-16

Improved research ability is a core competency to achieve in health professionals. The Selectives is a three-year, longitudinal, community-based programme within the undergraduate curriculum which aims to develop research capacity in all medical students during the prescribed curriculum. In relation to the programme, the authors describe the types of studies conducted by students, conditions that facilitated their learning, how the experience improved students' knowledge of research and public health and their development of reflective learning practices. A cohort of 212 students completed the Selectives Programme in 2014, and 69 (32 %) completed an anonymous online evaluation thereafter. Data collected include students' perceptions of the research component of Selectives; its impact on their knowledge of research and a documentary analysis of their research protocols and posters. Ethical approval for the ongoing evaluation of the Selectives was sought and obtained from the institutional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee. During Selectives, 75 groups of 2-4 students conducted research studies of primary health care problems in community settings. Each group is assessed on their presentation of research findings as a scientific poster. The Selectives facilitated learning for the majority of the cohort. Students reported positive learning experiences about the research process, including ethics; protocol writing; data processing; dissemination of findings and results; and their use in informing a health promotion intervention. Students reported having gained a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses through reflective learning from this academic activity. The Selectives is scheduled adjacent to the students' mid-year vacation. This scheduling together with the placement in the students' home community minimizes travel and accommodation costs associated with working outside the academic teaching platform and therefore makes it a cost-effective model in a low resource context. The Selectives has proven beneficial to develop a range of generic and practical research competencies for a full cohort of students enrolled in the undergraduate medical curriculum. The Selectives research process is integrated with learning about population health and the social determinants of health in a primary health care setting.

A Collective Case Study of Secondary Students' Model-Based Inquiry on Natural Selection through Programming in an Agent-Based Modeling Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, Lin

This is a collective case study seeking to develop detailed descriptions of how programming an agent-based simulation influences a group of 8 th grade students' model-based inquiry (MBI) by examining students' agent-based programmable modeling (ABPM) processes and the learning outcomes. The context of the present study was a biology unit on natural selection implemented in a charter school of a major California city during spring semester of 2009. Eight 8th grade students, two boys and six girls, participated in this study. All of them were low socioeconomic status (SES). English was a second language for all of them, but they had been identified as fluent English speakers at least a year before the study. None of them had learned either natural selection or programming before the study. The study spanned over 7 weeks and was comprised of two study phases. In phase one the subject students learned natural selection in science classroom and how to do programming in NetLogo, an ABPM tool, in a computer lab; in phase two, the subject students were asked to program a simulation of adaptation based on the natural selection model in NetLogo. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected in this study. The data resources included (1) pre and post test questionnaire, (2) student in-class worksheet, (3) programming planning sheet, (4) code-conception matching sheet, (5) student NetLogo projects, (6) videotaped programming processes, (7) final interview, and (8) investigator's field notes. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied to analyze the gathered data. The findings suggested that students made progress on understanding adaptation phenomena and natural selection at the end of ABPM-supported MBI learning but the progress was limited. These students still held some misconceptions in their conceptual models, such as the idea that animals need to "learn" to adapt into the environment. Besides, their models of natural selection appeared to be incomplete and many relationships among the model ideas had not been well established by the end of the study. Most of them did not treat the natural selection model as a whole but only focused on some ideas within the model. Very few of them could scientifically apply the natural selection model to interpret other evolutionary phenomena. The findings about participating students' programming processes revealed these processes were composed of consecutive programming cycles. The cycle typically included posing a task, constructing and running program codes, and examining the resulting simulation. Students held multiple ideas and applied various programming strategies in these cycles. Students were involved in MBI at each step of a cycle. Three types of ideas, six programming strategies and ten MBI actions were identified out of the processes. The relationships among these ideas, strategies and actions were also identified and described. Findings suggested that ABPM activities could support MBI by (1) exposing students' personal models and understandings, (2) provoking and supporting a series of model-based inquiry activities, such as elaborating target phenomena, abstracting patterns, and revising conceptual models, and (3) provoking and supporting tangible and productive conversations among students, as well as between the instructor and students. Findings also revealed three programming behaviors that appeared to impede productive MBI, including (1) solely phenomenon-orientated programming, (2) transplanting program codes, and (3) blindly running procedures. Based on the findings, I propose a general modeling process in ABPM activities, summarize the ways in which MBI can be supported in ABPM activities and constrained by multiple factors, and suggest the implications of this study in the future ABPM-assisted science instructional design and research.

78 FR 48674 - Announcement of the IRIS Public Meeting Schedule for Calendar Years 2013 and 2014; Announcement...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-09

...; methodological considerations that could affect the interpretation of or confidence in study results; and... summarizing key characteristics and findings from critical studies that EPA proposes to consider in..., screening studies for consideration, and selecting studies to include in evidence tables, are responsive to...

77 FR 67862 - Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-14

... the Aberdeen Regional Airport for current and projected levels of aviation by the design aircraft... wildlife habitat. The selected alternative includes the: (I.) Unconditional approval of the Airport Layout... eligible items. (4.) Approval of design and use of air traffic procedures needed to implement the proposed...

Different perspectives on economic base.

Treesearch

Lisa K. Crone; Richard W. Haynes; Nicholas E. Reyna

1999-01-01

Two general approaches for measuring the economic base are discussed. Each method is used to define the economic base for each of the counties included in the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project area. A more detailed look at four selected counties results in similar findings from different approaches. Limitations of economic base analysis also are...

Gang Free: Influencing Friendship Choices in Today's World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiener, Valerie

This book presents information as to how teenagers select their friends. Material was garnered through a review of the literature and hundreds of interviews. The book opens with a focus on how teenagers make friends, and includes such issues as the power of self, finding groups, peer impact, the merging process, seeking significance, and putting…

Some Research and Clinical Perspectives on Adolescent Sexuality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chilman, Catherine S.

This paper selects and emphasizes some of the concepts and findings to be found in the author's book, Adolescent Sexuality in a Changing Society. This paper limits itself to various aspects of premarital intercourse among adolescents, including the personality traits of virgins and non-virgins, and the effects of education upon sexual attitudes.…

The Survey of College Marketing Programs. Volume 1: Management Practices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Primary Research Group, Inc., New York, NY.

This report presents 228 tables detailing findings concerning management practices of marketing programs at 68 colleges and universities. Highlights of this report include: a mean of 5 employees regularly visit high school guidance counselors; only 5 percent of the colleges sponsor campus visits for select applicants; 24 percent of the colleges…

Selective Guide to Literature on Agricultural Engineering. Engineering Literature Guides, Number 4.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cloud, Gayla Staples, Comp.

Agricultural engineering overlaps many other disciplines. This document is a survey of information sources in agricultural engineering and is intended to identify those core resources which can help engineers and librarians to find information about the discipline. Sections include: (1) "Guides to the Literature"; (2) "Bibliographies"; (3)…

Mathematics Education at Highly Effective Schools that Serve the Poor: Strategies for Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kitchen, Richard S.; DePree, Julie; Celedon-Pattichis, Sylvia; Brinkerhoff, Jonathan

2006-01-01

This book presents research findings about school-level and district level practices and successful strategies employed in mathematics education by highly effective schools that serve high-poverty communities. It includes both the theory and practice of creating highly effective schools in these communities. In 2002 nine schools were selected in…

Commercial NiMH Cells in LEO Cycling: Thermal Vacuum Life Test Performed for the Floating Potential Probe (FPP)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Darcy, Eric; Strangways, Brad

2003-01-01

Contents include the following: 1. Introduction: What is the (Floating Potential Probe) FPP? Why was NiMH battery selected? Haw well would crimped seal cell performed in long term vacuum exposure? 2. Verification tests: Battery description. Test methods. Results. Main findings. FPP status.

A Decade of Charter Schools: From Theory to Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bulkley, Katrina; Fisler, Jennifer

2003-01-01

Analysis of selected set of charter-school research reports through late 2001. Finds, for example, that charter schools are more autonomous than other public schools, but that the jury is still out on some of the most important questions, including those about innovation, accountability, equity, and outcomes. Provides a framework for examining…

Public and Private School Costs. A Local Analysis, 1994.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Public Policy Forum, Inc., Milwaukee, WI.

This document presents findings of a study that identified key factors of cost-per-pupil differences between public and private school spending among selected Milwaukee area public and private schools. The analysis was limited to cost factors only, specifically, to per-pupil spending. Methodology included a review of the school budgets of 7 public…

HOW TO FIND OUT ABOUT PHYSICS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

YATES, B.

SOURCES OF PHYSICS INFORMATION ARE INCLUDED IN THIS GUIDE. IT WAS WRITTEN FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF PHYSICS, AT BOTH THE COLLEGE AND SECONDARY LEVELS, PHYSICISTS, LIBRARIANS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. MATERIALS QUOTED WERE PUBLISHED PRIOR TO 1963 AND WERE SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE AS AN INFORMATION SCIENTIST. DEWEY DECIMAL…

Report on 1986 Survey of New Jersey County Community College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rutgers, The State Univ., New Brunswick, NJ. Eagleton Inst. of Politics.

In fall 1986, the Center for Public Interest Polling at the Eagleton Institute of Politics conducted a study of the educational objectives, attitudes, characteristics, and plans of students enrolled in New Jersey's 19 community and county colleges. Interviews were conducted with 2,100 randomly selected students. Study findings included the…

A Study of Benefits and Selected Salaries of California Community College Districts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kern Community Coll. District, Bakersfield, CA.

In an effort to assess the overall fringe benefit programs of community college districts in California and to determine the dollar amounts paid certificated employees, fringe benefit and salary remuneration were calculated for all 70 districts in the state. Study findings included the following: (1) 13 districts offered a "cafeteria…

How To Adopt Internationally: A Guide for Agency-Directed and Independent Adoptions. 2000-2002 Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson-Erichsen, Jean; Erichsen, Heino R.

Many potential adoptive parents seeking international adoption find the process to be extremely complex. This guide details the international adoption process, including organizing a home study and fulfilling state requirements as well as selecting a country from which to adopt, working through emigration and immigration agencies, and traveling…

Selections from the ABC 2017 Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland: Finding a Pedagogical Pot o' Gold

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whalen, D. Joel

2018-01-01

This article, the first of a two-part series, offers readers 13 teaching innovations debuted at the 2017 Association for Business Communication's annual conference in Dublin, Ireland. Assignment topics presented here include communication strategy and message-packaging skills, deep communication insights, and career and personal development.…

Mathematicians' Views on Current Publishing Issues: A Survey of Researchers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fowler, Kristine K.

2011-01-01

This article reports research mathematicians' attitudes about and activity in specific scholarly communication areas, as captured in a 2010 survey of more than 600 randomly-selected mathematicians worldwide. Key findings include: (1) Most mathematicians have papers in the arXiv, but posting to their own web pages remains more common; (2) A third…

Success with High School Allotment: Three High Schools' Rise to Exemplary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bevers, James Walter

2012-01-01

This study was implemented to investigate how three Texas high school campuses improved their campus accountability ratings using the High School Allotment (HSA) funding. Three high schools were selected based on criteria, including campus size, ethnic breakdown of student population, use of HSA finding, and improvement in the campus…

A Corpus-Based Evaluation of Metaphors in a Business English Textbook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skorczynska Sznajder, Hanna

2010-01-01

This study aims to evaluate the selection of metaphors in a published business English textbook using findings from a specialised corpus of written business English. While most scholars agree that metaphors should be included in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) syllabuses as a potentially problematic area in successful language learning, it is…

This Year, It's Prospective Freshmen Who Are Keeping Colleges in Suspense.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gose, Ben

2000-01-01

Finds that while more college-bound students are utilizing the early decision process, many others are delaying their decision until the last possible moment. Reasons cited include rising costs, need for more financial aid, and increasing selectivity. Notes that increased number of students graduating from high school and booming economy have made…

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

Sehgal, Neelima; Hlozek, Renee; Addison, Graeme

We present the measured Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) flux from 474 optically selected MaxBCG clusters that fall within the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Equatorial survey region. The ACT Equatorial region used in this analysis covers 510 deg{sup 2} and overlaps Stripe 82 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We also present the measured SZ flux stacked on 52 X-ray-selected MCXC clusters that fall within the ACT Equatorial region and an ACT Southern survey region covering 455 deg{sup 2}. We find that the measured SZ flux from the X-ray-selected clusters is consistent with expectations. However, we find that the measured SZ flux frommore » the optically selected clusters is both significantly lower than expectations and lower than the recovered SZ flux measured by the Planck satellite. Since we find a lower recovered SZ signal than Planck, we investigate the possibility that there is a significant offset between the optically selected brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) and the SZ centers, to which ACT is more sensitive due to its finer resolution. Such offsets can arise due to either an intrinsic physical separation between the BCG and the center of the gas concentration or from misidentification of the cluster BCG. We find that the entire discrepancy for both ACT and Planck can be explained by assuming that the BCGs are offset from the SZ maxima with a uniform random distribution between 0 and 1.5 Mpc. Such large offsets between gas peaks and BCGs for optically selected cluster samples seem unlikely given that we find the physical separation between BCGs and X-ray peaks for an X-ray-selected subsample of MaxBCG clusters to have a much narrower distribution that peaks within 0.2 Mpc. It is possible that other effects are lowering the ACT and Planck signals by the same amount, with offsets between BCGs and SZ peaks explaining the remaining difference between ACT and Planck measurements. Several effects that can lower the SZ signal equally for both ACT and Planck, but not explain the difference in measured signals, include a larger percentage of false detections in the MaxBCG sample, a lower normalization of the mass-richness relation, radio or infrared galaxy contamination of the SZ flux, and a low intrinsic SZ signal. In the latter two cases, the effects would need to be preferentially more significant in the optically selected MaxBCG sample than in the MCXC X-ray sample.« less

Find a Diabetes Prevention Program Near You

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Experimental Design in Clinical 'Omics Biomarker Discovery.

PubMed

Forshed, Jenny

2017-11-03

This tutorial highlights some issues in the experimental design of clinical 'omics biomarker discovery, how to avoid bias and get as true quantities as possible from biochemical analyses, and how to select samples to improve the chance of answering the clinical question at issue. This includes the importance of defining clinical aim and end point, knowing the variability in the results, randomization of samples, sample size, statistical power, and how to avoid confounding factors by including clinical data in the sample selection, that is, how to avoid unpleasant surprises at the point of statistical analysis. The aim of this Tutorial is to help translational clinical and preclinical biomarker candidate research and to improve the validity and potential of future biomarker candidate findings.

Selective attention to phonology dynamically modulates initial encoding of auditory words within the left hemisphere.

PubMed

Yoncheva, Yuliya; Maurer, Urs; Zevin, Jason D; McCandliss, Bruce D

2014-08-15

Selective attention to phonology, i.e., the ability to attend to sub-syllabic units within spoken words, is a critical precursor to literacy acquisition. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence has demonstrated that a left-lateralized network of frontal, temporal, and posterior language regions, including the visual word form area, supports this skill. The current event-related potential (ERP) study investigated the temporal dynamics of selective attention to phonology during spoken word perception. We tested the hypothesis that selective attention to phonology dynamically modulates stimulus encoding by recruiting left-lateralized processes specifically while the information critical for performance is unfolding. Selective attention to phonology was captured by manipulating listening goals: skilled adult readers attended to either rhyme or melody within auditory stimulus pairs. Each pair superimposed rhyming and melodic information ensuring identical sensory stimulation. Selective attention to phonology produced distinct early and late topographic ERP effects during stimulus encoding. Data-driven source localization analyses revealed that selective attention to phonology led to significantly greater recruitment of left-lateralized posterior and extensive temporal regions, which was notably concurrent with the rhyme-relevant information within the word. Furthermore, selective attention effects were specific to auditory stimulus encoding and not observed in response to cues, arguing against the notion that they reflect sustained task setting. Collectively, these results demonstrate that selective attention to phonology dynamically engages a left-lateralized network during the critical time-period of perception for achieving phonological analysis goals. These findings suggest a key role for selective attention in on-line phonological computations. Furthermore, these findings motivate future research on the role that neural mechanisms of attention may play in phonological awareness impairments thought to underlie developmental reading disabilities. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Gene-Oriented Haplotype Comparison Reveals Recently Selected Genomic Regions in Temperate and Tropical Maize Germplasm

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jie; Li, Yongxiang; Zheng, Jun; Zhang, Hongwei; Yang, Xiaohong; Wang, Jianhua; Wang, Guoying

2017-01-01

The extensive genetic variation present in maize (Zea mays) germplasm makes it possible to detect signatures of positive artificial selection that occurred during temperate and tropical maize improvement. Here we report an analysis of 532,815 polymorphisms from a maize association panel consisting of 368 diverse temperate and tropical inbred lines. We developed a gene-oriented approach adapting exonic polymorphisms to identify recently selected alleles by comparing haplotypes across the maize genome. This analysis revealed evidence of selection for more than 1100 genomic regions during recent improvement, and included regulatory genes and key genes with visible mutant phenotypes. We find that selected candidate target genes in temperate maize are enriched in biosynthetic processes, and further examination of these candidates highlights two cases, sucrose flux and oil storage, in which multiple genes in a common pathway can be cooperatively selected. Finally, based on available parallel gene expression data, we hypothesize that some genes were selected for regulatory variations, resulting in altered gene expression. PMID:28099470

A genome-wide scan for signatures of selection in Azeri and Khuzestani buffalo breeds.

PubMed

Mokhber, Mahdi; Moradi-Shahrbabak, Mohammad; Sadeghi, Mostafa; Moradi-Shahrbabak, Hossein; Stella, Alessandra; Nicolzzi, Ezequiel; Rahmaninia, Javad; Williams, John L

2018-06-11

Identification of genomic regions that have been targets of selection may shed light on the genetic history of livestock populations and help to identify variation controlling commercially important phenotypes. The Azeri and Kuzestani buffalos are the most common indigenous Iranian breeds which have been subjected to divergent selection and are well adapted to completely different regions. Examining the genetic structure of these populations may identify genomic regions associated with adaptation to the different environments and production goals. A set of 385 water buffalo samples from Azeri (N = 262) and Khuzestani (N = 123) breeds were genotyped using the Axiom® Buffalo Genotyping 90 K Array. The unbiased fixation index method (F ST ) was used to detect signatures of selection. In total, 13 regions with outlier F ST values (0.1%) were identified. Annotation of these regions using the UMD3.1 Bos taurus Genome Assembly was performed to find putative candidate genes and QTLs within the selected regions. Putative candidate genes identified include FBXO9, NDFIP1, ACTR3, ARHGAP26, SERPINF2, BOLA-DRB3, BOLA-DQB, CLN8, and MYOM2. Candidate genes identified in regions potentially under selection were associated with physiological pathways including milk production, cytoskeleton organization, growth, metabolic function, apoptosis and domestication-related changes include immune and nervous system development. The QTL identified are involved in economically important traits in buffalo related to milk composition, udder structure, somatic cell count, meat quality, and carcass and body weight.

Selective traditions in group discussions: teachers' views about good science and the possible obstacles when encountering a new topic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundqvist, Eva; Sund, Per

2016-11-01

There is an ongoing discussion about what content that should be taught in science education and there are different views among teachers about what represent good science content. However, teachers are not isolated individuals making their own interpretations, but are part of institutionalised systems building on patterns in the selection of teaching goals and content. Earlier research shows that teachers teach in alignment with different selective traditions, which can be understood as well-developed teaching habits. Individual teachers seem to develop their personal habits on the basis of the contextual situations created by earlier generations of teachers. In order to find out which content teachers find representative for science education, we asked nine teachers to take part in group interviews to talk about what they value as "good" science content. The participants were grouped according to their selective traditions expressed in earlier studies. The method was used to dynamically explore, challenge and highlight teachers' views. The starting point for the group discussions is national tests in science. In Sweden, national tests in biology, physics and chemistry were introduced in secondary school science (year 9) in 2009. One overarching aim of these tests is to support the implementation of the science curricula and to include for example knowledge about socio-scientific issues (SSI). The content of the tests can consequently be seen as important for teachers to consider. The findings show that `resistance' to including SSI is not just an issue for individual teachers. As individuals teachers can create many kinds of obstacles, but still be interested in integrating SSI in their science teaching. However, in group discussions the teachers tend to collectively adopt the scientific rational discourse. This discourse is what joins them and creates their common identity as science teachers. In turn, they seek to free scientific knowledge from social knowledge and thereby make assessment easier.

The Subset Sum game.

PubMed

Darmann, Andreas; Nicosia, Gaia; Pferschy, Ulrich; Schauer, Joachim

2014-03-16

In this work we address a game theoretic variant of the Subset Sum problem, in which two decision makers (agents/players) compete for the usage of a common resource represented by a knapsack capacity. Each agent owns a set of integer weighted items and wants to maximize the total weight of its own items included in the knapsack. The solution is built as follows: Each agent, in turn, selects one of its items (not previously selected) and includes it in the knapsack if there is enough capacity. The process ends when the remaining capacity is too small for including any item left. We look at the problem from a single agent point of view and show that finding an optimal sequence of items to select is an [Formula: see text]-hard problem. Therefore we propose two natural heuristic strategies and analyze their worst-case performance when (1) the opponent is able to play optimally and (2) the opponent adopts a greedy strategy. From a centralized perspective we observe that some known results on the approximation of the classical Subset Sum can be effectively adapted to the multi-agent version of the problem.

The Subset Sum game☆

PubMed Central

Darmann, Andreas; Nicosia, Gaia; Pferschy, Ulrich; Schauer, Joachim

2014-01-01

In this work we address a game theoretic variant of the Subset Sum problem, in which two decision makers (agents/players) compete for the usage of a common resource represented by a knapsack capacity. Each agent owns a set of integer weighted items and wants to maximize the total weight of its own items included in the knapsack. The solution is built as follows: Each agent, in turn, selects one of its items (not previously selected) and includes it in the knapsack if there is enough capacity. The process ends when the remaining capacity is too small for including any item left. We look at the problem from a single agent point of view and show that finding an optimal sequence of items to select is an NP-hard problem. Therefore we propose two natural heuristic strategies and analyze their worst-case performance when (1) the opponent is able to play optimally and (2) the opponent adopts a greedy strategy. From a centralized perspective we observe that some known results on the approximation of the classical Subset Sum can be effectively adapted to the multi-agent version of the problem. PMID:25844012

Dust Reddened Quasars in FIRST and UKIDSS: Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glikman, Eilat; Urrutia, Tanya; Lacy, Mark; Djorgovski, S. G.; Urry, Meg; Croom, Scott; Schneider, Donald P.; Mahabal, Ashish; Graham, Matthew; Ge, Jian

2013-12-01

We present the results of a pilot survey to find dust-reddened quasars by matching the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters (FIRST) radio catalog to the UKIDSS near-infrared survey and using optical data from Sloan Digital Sky Survey to select objects with very red colors. The deep K-band limit provided by UKIDSS allows for finding more heavily reddened quasars at higher redshifts as compared with previous work using FIRST and Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). We selected 87 candidates with K <= 17.0 from the UKIDSS Large Area Survey (LAS) First Data Release (DR1), which covers 190 deg2. These candidates reach up to ~1.5 mag below the 2MASS limit and obey the color criteria developed to identify dust-reddened quasars. We have obtained 61 spectroscopic observations in the optical and/or near-infrared, as well as classifications in the literature, and have identified 14 reddened quasars with E(B - V) > 0.1, including 3 at z > 2. We study the infrared properties of the sample using photometry from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer and find that infrared colors improve the efficiency of red quasar selection, removing many contaminants in an infrared-to-optical color-selected sample alone. The highest-redshift quasars (z >~ 2) are only moderately reddened, with E(B - V) ~ 0.2-0.3. We find that the surface density of red quasars rises sharply with faintness, comprising up to 17% of blue quasars at the same apparent K-band flux limit. We estimate that to reach more heavily reddened quasars (i.e., E(B - V) >~ 0.5) at z > 2 and a depth of K = 17, we would need to survey at least ~2.5 times more area.

Assessing signatures of selection through variation in linkage disequilibrium between taurine and indicine cattle

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Signatures of selection are regions in the genome that have been preferentially increased in frequency and fixed in a population because of their functional importance in specific processes. These regions can be detected because of their lower genetic variability and specific regional linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns. Methods By comparing the differences in regional LD variation between dairy and beef cattle types, and between indicine and taurine subspecies, we aim at finding signatures of selection for production and adaptation in cattle breeds. The VarLD method was applied to compare the LD variation in the autosomal genome between breeds, including Angus and Brown Swiss, representing taurine breeds, and Nelore and Gir, representing indicine breeds. Genomic regions containing the top 0.01 and 0.1 percentile of signals were characterized using the UMD3.1 Bos taurus genome assembly to identify genes in those regions and compared with previously reported selection signatures and regions with copy number variation. Results For all comparisons, the top 0.01 and 0.1 percentile included 26 and 165 signals and 17 and 125 genes, respectively, including TECRL, BT.23182 or FPPS, CAST, MYOM1, UVRAG and DNAJA1. Conclusions The VarLD method is a powerful tool to identify differences in linkage disequilibrium between cattle populations and putative signatures of selection with potential adaptive and productive importance. PMID:24592996

Genome-Wide Variation Patterns Uncover the Origin and Selection in Cultivated Ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer).

PubMed

Li, Ming-Rui; Shi, Feng-Xue; Li, Ya-Ling; Jiang, Peng; Jiao, Lili; Liu, Bao; Li, Lin-Feng

2017-09-01

Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) is a medicinally important herb and plays crucial roles in traditional Chinese medicine. Pharmacological analyses identified diverse bioactive components from Chinese ginseng. However, basic biological attributes including domestication and selection of the ginseng plant remain under-investigated. Here, we presented a genome-wide view of the domestication and selection of cultivated ginseng based on the whole genome data. A total of 8,660 protein-coding genes were selected for genome-wide scanning of the 30 wild and cultivated ginseng accessions. In complement, the 45s rDNA, chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes were included to perform phylogenetic and population genetic analyses. The observed spatial genetic structure between northern cultivated ginseng (NCG) and southern cultivated ginseng (SCG) accessions suggested multiple independent origins of cultivated ginseng. Genome-wide scanning further demonstrated that NCG and SCG have undergone distinct selection pressures during the domestication process, with more genes identified in the NCG (97 genes) than in the SCG group (5 genes). Functional analyses revealed that these genes are involved in diverse pathways, including DNA methylation, lignin biosynthesis, and cell differentiation. These findings suggested that the SCG and NCG groups have distinct demographic histories. Candidate genes identified are useful for future molecular breeding of cultivated ginseng. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Selection of the simplest RNA that binds isoleucine

PubMed Central

LOZUPONE, CATHERINE; CHANGAYIL, SHANKAR; MAJERFELD, IRENE; YARUS, MICHAEL

2003-01-01

We have identified the simplest RNA binding site for isoleucine using selection-amplification (SELEX), by shrinking the size of the randomized region until affinity selection is extinguished. Such a protocol can be useful because selection does not necessarily make the simplest active motif most prominent, as is often assumed. We find an isoleucine binding site that behaves exactly as predicted for the site that requires fewest nucleotides. This UAUU motif (16 highly conserved positions; 27 total), is also the most abundant site in successful selections on short random tracts. The UAUU site, now isolated independently at least 63 times, is a small asymmetric internal loop. Conserved loop sequences include isoleucine codon and anticodon triplets, whose nucleotides are required for amino acid binding. This reproducible association between isoleucine and its coding sequences supports the idea that the genetic code is, at least in part, a stereochemical residue of the most easily isolated RNA–amino acid binding structures. PMID:14561881

A novel evaluation method for building construction project based on integrated information entropy with reliability theory.

PubMed

Bai, Xiao-ping; Zhang, Xi-wei

2013-01-01

Selecting construction schemes of the building engineering project is a complex multiobjective optimization decision process, in which many indexes need to be selected to find the optimum scheme. Aiming at this problem, this paper selects cost, progress, quality, and safety as the four first-order evaluation indexes, uses the quantitative method for the cost index, uses integrated qualitative and quantitative methodologies for progress, quality, and safety indexes, and integrates engineering economics, reliability theories, and information entropy theory to present a new evaluation method for building construction project. Combined with a practical case, this paper also presents detailed computing processes and steps, including selecting all order indexes, establishing the index matrix, computing score values of all order indexes, computing the synthesis score, sorting all selected schemes, and making analysis and decision. Presented method can offer valuable references for risk computing of building construction projects.

Methodological characteristics and treatment effect sizes in oral health randomised controlled trials: Is there a relationship? Protocol for a meta-epidemiological study

PubMed Central

Saltaji, Humam; Armijo-Olivo, Susan; Cummings, Greta G; Amin, Maryam; Flores-Mir, Carlos

2014-01-01

Introduction It is fundamental that randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are properly conducted in order to reach well-supported conclusions. However, there is emerging evidence that RCTs are subject to biases which can overestimate or underestimate the true treatment effect, due to flaws in the study design characteristics of such trials. The extent to which this holds true in oral health RCTs, which have some unique design characteristics compared to RCTs in other health fields, is unclear. As such, we aim to examine the empirical evidence quantifying the extent of bias associated with methodological and non-methodological characteristics in oral health RCTs. Methods and analysis We plan to perform a meta-epidemiological study, where a sample size of 60 meta-analyses (MAs) including approximately 600 RCTs will be selected. The MAs will be randomly obtained from the Oral Health Database of Systematic Reviews using a random number table; and will be considered for inclusion if they include a minimum of five RCTs, and examine a therapeutic intervention related to one of the recognised dental specialties. RCTs identified in selected MAs will be subsequently included if their study design includes a comparison between an intervention group and a placebo group or another intervention group. Data will be extracted from selected trials included in MAs based on a number of methodological and non-methodological characteristics. Moreover, the risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Effect size estimates and measures of variability for the main outcome will be extracted from each RCT included in selected MAs, and a two-level analysis will be conducted using a meta-meta-analytic approach with a random effects model to allow for intra-MA and inter-MA heterogeneity. Ethics and dissemination The intended audiences of the findings will include dental clinicians, oral health researchers, policymakers and graduate students. The aforementioned will be introduced to the findings through workshops, seminars, round table discussions and targeted individual meetings. Other opportunities for knowledge transfer will be pursued such as key dental conferences. Finally, the results will be published as a scientific report in a dental peer-reviewed journal. PMID:24568962

Selective immunotoxic lesions of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons: twenty years of research and new directions.

PubMed

Baxter, Mark G; Bucci, David J

2013-10-01

The advent of the selective cholinergic toxin, 192 IgG-saporin, dramatically shaped subsequent research on the role of the basal forebrain in learning and memory. In particular, several articles (including the authors' 1995 Behavioral Neuroscience paper; M. G. Baxter, D. J. Bucci, L. K., Gorman, R. G. Wiley, & M. Gallagher, 1995) revealed that selective removal of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons had surprisingly little effect on spatial learning and memory. Here, as part of the series commemorating the 30th anniversary of Behavioral Neuroscience, we describe how our earlier findings prompted a reconsideration of the cholinergic contribution to cognitive function and also led to several new research directions, including renewed interest in basal forebrain GABA-ergic neurons and cholinergic contributions to neurocognitive development. The authors also describe how the successful use of 192 IgG-saporin led to the development and popularity of a wide range of selective new neurotoxic agents. Finally, they consider the utility of the permanent lesion approach in the wake of new transgenic and optogenetic methods. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Attention impairment in childhood absence epilepsy: an impulsivity problem?

PubMed

Cerminara, Caterina; D'Agati, Elisa; Casarelli, Livia; Kaunzinger, Ivo; Lange, Klaus W; Pitzianti, Mariabernarda; Parisi, Pasquale; Tucha, Oliver; Curatolo, Paolo

2013-05-01

Although attention problems have often been described in children with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), the use of different methodological approaches, neuropsychological tests, and heterogeneous experimental groups has prevented identification of the selective areas of attention deficit in this population. In this study, we investigated several components of attention in children with CAE using a unique computerized test battery for attention performance. Participants included 24 patients with CAE and 24 controls matched for age and sex. They were tested with a computerized test battery, which included the following tasks: selective attention, impulsivity, focused attention, divided attention, alertness, and vigilance. Compared with healthy controls, patients with CAE made more commission errors in the Go/No-Go task and more omission errors in the divided attention task. Childhood absence epilepsy patients also showed decreased reaction times in measures of selective attention and a great variability of reaction times in alertness and Go/No-Go tasks. Our findings suggest that patients with CAE were impaired in tonic and phasic alertness, divided attention, selective attention, and impulsivity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality differentials and reproductive health service utilisation determinants in India.

PubMed

Anand, Sandip; Sinha, R K

2010-01-01

This paper seeks to establish relationships between women's reproductive health service use, assessed longitudinally and by facility type, with service quality perceptions related to public or private health facilities. The study was mainly secondary and quantitative in nature. It included analysing data collected by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) as a follow-up study to the 1998-1999 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2). The follow-up survey was carried out in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand. In 2002-2003, these four states were selected to capture socio-economic and demographic variations. Analysis includes composite indices and logistic regression analysis. A scale was constructed to measure utilisation levels. Dimensions include: service proximity, doctor availability, waiting time, medicines, facility cleanliness, dignified treatment, privacy, service affordability and treatment effectiveness. Findings indicate that doctor availability, waiting time, cleanliness, privacy and affordability at private health facilities enhance the probability that a health facility will be used for any reproductive health purpose. At the combined states level, medicine availability and treatment effectiveness at public health facilities enhances service use. The major limitation is that the study includes only selected Indian states. The findings may enhance Indian service-quality policy. The paper's main contribution is that seemingly for the first time in India, healthcare service use has been measured longitudinally and then explained through service quality variables by comparing public and private health facilities.

Associations between dietary and lifestyle risk factors and colorectal cancer in the Scottish population.

PubMed

Theodoratou, Evropi; Farrington, Susan M; Tenesa, Albert; McNeill, Geraldine; Cetnarskyj, Roseanne; Korakakis, Emmanouil; Din, Farhat V N; Porteous, Mary E; Dunlop, Malcolm G; Campbell, Harry

2014-01-01

Colorectal cancer (CRC) accounts for 9.7% of all cancer cases and for 8% of all cancer-related deaths. Established risk factors include personal or family history of CRC as well as lifestyle and dietary factors. We investigated the relationship between CRC and demographic, lifestyle, food and nutrient risk factors through a case-control study that included 2062 patients and 2776 controls from Scotland. Forward and backward stepwise regression was applied and the stability of the models was assessed in 1000 bootstrap samples. The variables that were automatically selected to be included by the forward or backward stepwise regression and whose selection was verified by bootstrap sampling in the current study were family history, dietary energy, 'high-energy snack foods', eggs, juice, sugar-sweetened beverages and white fish (associated with an increased CRC risk) and NSAIDs, coffee and magnesium (associated with a decreased CRC risk). Application of forward and backward stepwise regression in this CRC study identified some already established as well as some novel potential risk factors. Bootstrap findings suggest that examination of the stability of regression models by bootstrap sampling is useful in the interpretation of study findings. 'High-energy snack foods' and high-energy drinks (including sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juices) as risk factors for CRC have not been reported previously and merit further investigation as such snacks and beverages are important contributors in European and North American diets.

Selective Nonoperative Management of Penetrating Abdominal Solid Organ Injuries

PubMed Central

Demetriades, Demetrios; Hadjizacharia, Pantelis; Constantinou, Costas; Brown, Carlos; Inaba, Kenji; Rhee, Peter; Salim, Ali

2006-01-01

Objective: To assess the feasibility and safety of selective nonoperative management in penetrating abdominal solid organ injuries. Background: Nonoperative management of blunt abdominal solid organ injuries has become the standard of care. However, routine surgical exploration remains the standard practice for all penetrating solid organ injuries. The present study examines the role of nonoperative management in selected patients with penetrating injuries to abdominal solid organs. Patients and Methods: Prospective, protocol-driven study, which included all penetrating abdominal solid organ (liver, spleen, kidney) injuries admitted to a level I trauma center, over a 20-month period. Patients with hemodynamic instability, peritonitis, or an unevaluable abdomen underwent an immediate laparotomy. Patients who were hemodynamically stable and had no signs of peritonitis were selected for further CT scan evaluation. In the absence of CT scan findings suggestive of hollow viscus injury, the patients were observed with serial clinical examinations, hemoglobin levels, and white cell counts. Patients with left thoracoabdominal injuries underwent elective laparoscopy to rule out diaphragmatic injury. Outcome parameters included survival, complications, need for delayed laparotomy in observed patients, and length of hospital stay. Results: During the study period, there were 152 patients with 185 penetrating solid organ injuries. Gunshot wounds accounted for 70.4% and stab wounds for 29.6% of injuries. Ninety-one patients (59.9%) met the criteria for immediate operation. The remaining 61 (40.1%) patients were selected for CT scan evaluation. Forty-three patients (28.3% of all patients) with 47 solid organ injuries who had no CT scan findings suspicious of hollow viscus injury were selected for clinical observation and additional laparoscopy in 2. Four patients with a “blush” on CT scan underwent angiographic embolization of the liver. Overall, 41 patients (27.0%), including 18 cases with grade III to V injuries, were successfully managed without a laparotomy and without any abdominal complication. Overall, 28.4% of all liver, 14.9% of kidney, and 3.5% of splenic injuries were successfully managed nonoperatively. Patients with isolated solid organ injuries treated nonoperatively had a significantly shorter hospital stay than patients treated operatively, even though the former group had more severe injuries. In 3 patients with failed nonoperative management and delayed laparotomy, there were no complications. Conclusions: In the appropriate environment, selective nonoperative management of penetrating abdominal solid organ injuries has a high success rate and a low complication rate. PMID:16998371

Parent's perceptions of interactions with health professionals in the pathway to gaining a diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis (TS) and beyond.

PubMed

Whitehead, Lisa C; Gosling, Vashti

2003-01-01

This paper presents selected findings from a qualitative study on the lived experience of young people with tuberous sclerosis (TS) and their families. In-depth interviews with 109 participants from 40 families were undertaken. This paper presents the findings in relation to parents' interactions with health professionals before, during and after a diagnosis of TS was given. The majority of parents recalled examples of both positive and negative experiences with health professionals. Negative experiences included having to 'fight' for the recognition of symptoms and the reluctance of doctors to move on beyond a diagnosis of epilepsy. Attributes valued by parents pre-diagnosis included health professionals showing understanding at diagnosis, flexibility, support, accessibility, time and attention, honesty, reliability, sensitivity and post-diagnosis a willingness to find out and share information and to consult colleagues and other professionals. The interviews indicated that these were not always demonstrated by professionals.

Facilitating consumer participation: an approach to finding the 'right' consumer.

PubMed

Happell, Brenda

2010-01-01

Contemporary health care increasingly dictates that consumers of services should become active participants in the health care system. This has placed responsibility on administrators, managers and clinicians to include consumers in key strategic and decision making initiatives. However, this direction has not been accompanied by clear policies or guidelines. Consequently confusion about selecting consumers able to provide valuable input is identified as a barrier to active consumer involvement. The purpose of this paper is to address some concerns raised in the quest to find the "right" consumer, including: finding a consumer without an axe to grind; ensuring the consumer is representative of broader views; health professionals as consumer representatives. While these concerns are common they have not yet been extensively debated and discussed in the broader Literature. Strategies necessary to support consumers in participatory roles are also considered and the controversial subject of financial remuneration for consumers is also explored.

Novel citation-based search method for scientific literature: application to meta-analyses.

PubMed

Janssens, A Cecile J W; Gwinn, M

2015-10-13

Finding eligible studies for meta-analysis and systematic reviews relies on keyword-based searching as the gold standard, despite its inefficiency. Searching based on direct citations is not sufficiently comprehensive. We propose a novel strategy that ranks articles on their degree of co-citation with one or more "known" articles before reviewing their eligibility. In two independent studies, we aimed to reproduce the results of literature searches for sets of published meta-analyses (n = 10 and n = 42). For each meta-analysis, we extracted co-citations for the randomly selected 'known' articles from the Web of Science database, counted their frequencies and screened all articles with a score above a selection threshold. In the second study, we extended the method by retrieving direct citations for all selected articles. In the first study, we retrieved 82% of the studies included in the meta-analyses while screening only 11% as many articles as were screened for the original publications. Articles that we missed were published in non-English languages, published before 1975, published very recently, or available only as conference abstracts. In the second study, we retrieved 79% of included studies while screening half the original number of articles. Citation searching appears to be an efficient and reasonably accurate method for finding articles similar to one or more articles of interest for meta-analysis and reviews.

How to select outcome measurement instruments for outcomes included in a "Core Outcome Set" - a practical guideline.

PubMed

Prinsen, Cecilia A C; Vohra, Sunita; Rose, Michael R; Boers, Maarten; Tugwell, Peter; Clarke, Mike; Williamson, Paula R; Terwee, Caroline B

2016-09-13

In cooperation with the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) initiative, the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) initiative aimed to develop a guideline on how to select outcome measurement instruments for outcomes (i.e., constructs or domains) included in a "Core Outcome Set" (COS). A COS is an agreed minimum set of outcomes that should be measured and reported in all clinical trials of a specific disease or trial population. Informed by a literature review to identify potentially relevant tasks on outcome measurement instrument selection, a Delphi study was performed among a panel of international experts, representing diverse stakeholders. In three consecutive rounds, panelists were asked to rate the importance of different tasks in the selection of outcome measurement instruments, to justify their choices, and to add other relevant tasks. Consensus was defined as being achieved when 70 % or more of the panelists agreed and when fewer than 15 % of the panelists disagreed. Of the 481 invited experts, 120 agreed to participate of whom 95 (79 %) completed the first Delphi questionnaire. We reached consensus on four main steps in the selection of outcome measurement instruments for COS: Step 1, conceptual considerations; Step 2, finding existing outcome measurement instruments, by means of a systematic review and/or a literature search; Step 3, quality assessment of outcome measurement instruments, by means of the evaluation of the measurement properties and feasibility aspects of outcome measurement instruments; and Step 4, generic recommendations on the selection of outcome measurement instruments for outcomes included in a COS (consensus ranged from 70 to 99 %). This study resulted in a consensus-based guideline on the methods for selecting outcome measurement instruments for outcomes included in a COS. This guideline can be used by COS developers in defining how to measure core outcomes.

The Herschel Multi-Tiered Extragalactic Survey: SPIRE-mm Photometric Redshifts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roseboom, I. G.; Ivison, R. J.; Greve, T. R.; Amblard, A.; Arumugam, V.; Auld, R.; Aussel, H.; Bethermin, M.; Blain, A.; Bock, J.;

Genetic Algorithms Applied to Multi-Objective Aerodynamic Shape Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holst, Terry L.

2004-01-01

A genetic algorithm approach suitable for solving multi-objective optimization problems is described and evaluated using a series of aerodynamic shape optimization problems. Several new features including two variations of a binning selection algorithm and a gene-space transformation procedure are included. The genetic algorithm is suitable for finding pareto optimal solutions in search spaces that are defined by any number of genes and that contain any number of local extrema. A new masking array capability is included allowing any gene or gene subset to be eliminated as decision variables from the design space. This allows determination of the effect of a single gene or gene subset on the pareto optimal solution. Results indicate that the genetic algorithm optimization approach is flexible in application and reliable. The binning selection algorithms generally provide pareto front quality enhancements and moderate convergence efficiency improvements for most of the problems solved.

Genetic Algorithms Applied to Multi-Objective Aerodynamic Shape Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holst, Terry L.

2005-01-01

A genetic algorithm approach suitable for solving multi-objective problems is described and evaluated using a series of aerodynamic shape optimization problems. Several new features including two variations of a binning selection algorithm and a gene-space transformation procedure are included. The genetic algorithm is suitable for finding Pareto optimal solutions in search spaces that are defined by any number of genes and that contain any number of local extrema. A new masking array capability is included allowing any gene or gene subset to be eliminated as decision variables from the design space. This allows determination of the effect of a single gene or gene subset on the Pareto optimal solution. Results indicate that the genetic algorithm optimization approach is flexible in application and reliable. The binning selection algorithms generally provide Pareto front quality enhancements and moderate convergence efficiency improvements for most of the problems solved.

Decoupled black hole accretion and quenching: the relationship between BHAR, SFR and quenching in Milky Way- and Andromeda-mass progenitors since z = 2.5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowley, M. J.; Spitler, L. R.; Quadri, R. F.; Goulding, A. D.; Papovich, C.; Tran, K. V. H.; Labbé, I.; Alcorn, L.; Allen, R. J.; Forrest, B.; Glazebrook, K.; Kacprzak, G. G.; Morrison, G.; Nanayakkara, T.; Straatman, C. M. S.; Tomczak, A. R.

2018-01-01

We investigate the relationship between the black hole accretion rate (BHAR) and star formation rate (SFR) for Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31)-mass progenitors from z = 0.2 to 2.5. We source galaxies from the Ks-band-selected ZFOURGE survey, which includes multiwavelength data spanning 0.3-160 μm. We use decomposition software to split the observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of our galaxies into their active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and star-forming components, which allows us to estimate BHARs and SFRs from the infrared (IR). We perform tests to check the robustness of these estimates, including a comparison with BHARs and SFRs derived from X-ray stacking and far-IR analysis, respectively. We find that, as the progenitors evolve their relative black hole-galaxy growth (i.e. their BHAR/SFR ratio) increases from low to high redshift. The MW-mass progenitors exhibit a log-log slope of 0.64 ± 0.11, while the M31-mass progenitors are 0.39 ± 0.08. This result contrasts with previous studies that find an almost flat slope when adopting X-ray-/AGN-selected or mass-limited samples and is likely due to their use of a broad mixture of galaxies with different evolutionary histories. Our use of progenitor-matched samples highlights the potential importance of carefully selecting progenitors when searching for evolutionary relationships between BHAR/SFRs. Additionally, our finding that BHAR/SFR ratios do not track the rate at which progenitors quench casts doubts over the idea that the suppression of star formation is predominantly driven by luminous AGN feedback (i.e. high BHARs).

Addition of Histology to the Paris Classification of Pediatric Crohn Disease Alters Classification of Disease Location.

PubMed

Fernandes, Melissa A; Verstraete, Sofia G; Garnett, Elizabeth A; Heyman, Melvin B

2016-02-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the value of microscopic findings in the classification of pediatric Crohn disease (CD) by determining whether classification of disease changes significantly with inclusion of histologic findings. Sixty patients were randomly selected from a cohort of patients studied at the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital. Two physicians independently reviewed the electronic health records of the included patients to determine the Paris classification for each patient by adhering to present guidelines and then by including microscopic findings. Macroscopic and combined disease location classifications were discordant in 34 (56.6%), with no statistically significant differences between groups. Interobserver agreement was higher in the combined classification (κ = 0.73, 95% confidence interval 0.65-0.82) as opposed to when classification was limited to macroscopic findings (κ = 0.53, 95% confidence interval 0.40-0.58). When evaluating the proximal upper gastrointestinal tract (Paris L4a), the interobserver agreement was better in macroscopic compared with the combined classification. Disease extent classifications differed significantly when comparing isolated macroscopic findings (Paris classification) with the combined scheme that included microscopy. Further studies are needed to determine which scheme provides more accurate representation of disease extent.

Selection and stopping in voluntary action: A meta-analysis and combined fMRI study☆

PubMed Central

Rae, Charlotte L.; Hughes, Laura E.; Weaver, Chelan; Anderson, Michael C.; Rowe, James B.

2014-01-01

Voluntary action control requires selection of appropriate responses and stopping of inappropriate responses. Selection and stopping are often investigated separately, but they appear to recruit similar brain regions, including the pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) and inferior frontal gyrus. We therefore examined the evidence for overlap of selection and stopping using two approaches: a meta-analysis of existing studies of selection and stopping, and a novel within-subject fMRI study in which action selection and a stop signal task were combined factorially. The novel fMRI study also permitted us to investigate hypotheses regarding a common mechanism for selection and stopping. The preSMA was identified by both methods as common to selection and stopping. However, stopping a selected action did not recruit preSMA more than stopping a specified action, nor did stop signal reaction times differ significantly across the two conditions. These findings suggest that the preSMA supports both action selection and stopping, but the two processes may not require access to a common inhibition mechanism. Instead, the preSMA might represent information about potential actions that is used in both action selection and stopping in order to resolve conflict between competing available responses. PMID:24128740

Making Sense of Student Feedback Using Text Analysis--Adapting and Expanding a Common Lexicon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santhanam, Elizabeth; Lynch, Bernardine; Jones, Jeffrey

2018-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to report the findings of a study into the automated text analysis of student feedback comments to assist in investigating a high volume of qualitative information at various levels in an Australian university. It includes the drawbacks and advantages of using selected applications and established lexicons. There has been…

The Pedagogical Examples of Groups and Rings That Algebraists Think Are Most Important in an Introductory Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, John Paul; Fukawa-Connelly, Tim

2015-01-01

This article reports on an exploratory study designed to investigate the reasoning behind algebraists' selection of examples. Variation theory provided a lens to analyze their collections of examples. Our findings include the classes of examples of groups and rings that algebraists believe to be most pedagogically useful. Chief among their…

Selective Guide to Literature on Mining Engineering. Engineering Literature Guides, Number 6.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erdmann, Charlotte A., Comp.

The multidisciplinary field of mining engineering offers many challenges. Often, many sources must be used to solve a problem. This document is a survey of information sources in mining engineering and is intended to identify those core resources which can help engineers and librarians to find information about the discipline. Sections include:…

An Examination of the Intonation Tendencies of Wind Instrumentalists Based on Their Performance of Selected Harmonic Musical Intervals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karrick, Brant

1998-01-01

Studies intonation trends of wind instrumentalists with regard to harmonic intervals, including factors such as tuning system, location, interval type, direction of deviation from equal temperament, and group. Compares the performance of two groups, professionals and advanced students. Reports findings and discusses similarities to and differences…

Quality in the Basic Grant Delivery System: Executive Summary.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Advanced Technology, Inc., McLean, VA.

Findings of a study of 1980-1981 award accuracy of the Basic Educational Opportunity Grants (BEOGs), or Pell Grants, are summarized. The study is the first stage of a three-stage quality control project and includes recommended corrective actions to reduce inaccuracies in the grant awards. A sample of 4,500 students were selected as representative…

Suggestions for Content Selection and Presentation in High School Computer Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Janet Mei-Chuen; Wu, Cheng-Chih

2007-01-01

Based on the findings from reviewing 32 textbooks in the past four years for Taiwan's Ministry of Education, we have identified common problems in the reviewed textbooks and analyzed their inadequacies. Typical problems include the Wintel bias, too much coverage of software application tools and too little of computer science concepts, too many…

Images of Mothers in Literature for Young Adults.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxwell, Rhoda

To find out whether the portrayal of mothers in young adult novels reflects real-life mothers and the many social and political changes of the past 20 years, a study examined 33 books selected from Booklist. The books had to have realistic and contemporary settings and include a characterization of a mother. They were examined for attributes that…

Stroke Units: The Implementation of a Complex Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilbride, Cherry; Meyer, Julienne; Flatley, Mary; Perry, Lin

2005-01-01

This article reports on selected findings from an action research study that looked at the lessons learnt from setting up a new in-patient stroke service in a London teaching hospital. Key participants in the design and evaluation of this 2-year study included members of the multi-professional stroke team and support staff within the unit, the…

Looking Forward: Increased Attention to LGBTQ Students and Families in Middle Grade Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wickens, Corrine M.; Wedwick, Linda

2011-01-01

Looking backwards, discussions around sexual orientation and sexual identity have been noticeably absent at the middle grades. As a result, middle grade teachers may find it difficult to know how to effectively select age-appropriate materials that include LGBTQ issues and content. To move the field forward, the authors specifically highlight four…

Sixty Years of Silviculture in a Northern Conifer Forest in Maine, USA

Treesearch

Nicole Rogers; Laura Kenefic; Mindy Crandall; Robert Seymour; Paul Sendak

2017-01-01

In 1950, the US Forest Service initiated a cutting practice level (CPL) study on the Penobscot Experimental Forest in Maine on the basis of findings of a national appraisal of forestland management. Silvicultural treatments, including the selection system with 5- and 15-year cutting cycles, fixed diameter-limit cutting, and variants of commercial clearcutting, were...

Maryland's Graduation Requirements: Local Effects of Policy Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Bruce L.; And Others

In 1985, Maryland became one of 45 states that enacted new and tougher graduation requirements. This document presents findings of a 4-year study that examined the effects of the new requirements on local schools and the students and staff who work in them. Three site visits each were made to five selected high schools. Data collection included:…

Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in Medical Education: Perspectives Gained by a 14-School Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nora, Lois Margaret; McLaughlin, Margaret A.; Fosson, Sue E.; Stratton, Terry D.; Murphy-Spencer, Amy; Fincher, Ruth-Marie E.; German, Deborah C.; Seiden, David; Witzke, Donald B.

2002-01-01

Surveyed medical students about their exposures to and perceptions of gender discrimination and sexual harassment (GD/SH) in selected academic and nonacademic contexts. Findings included that more women than men reported all types of GD/SH across all contexts, and that GD/SH is prevalent in undergraduate medical education, particularly within core…

Leveraging Terminologies for Retrieval of Radiology Reports with Critical Imaging Findings

PubMed Central

Warden, Graham I.; Lacson, Ronilda; Khorasani, Ramin

2011-01-01

Introduction: Communication of critical imaging findings is an important component of medical quality and safety. A fundamental challenge includes retrieval of radiology reports that contain these findings. This study describes the expressiveness and coverage of existing medical terminologies for critical imaging findings and evaluates radiology report retrieval using each terminology. Methods: Four terminologies were evaluated: National Cancer Institute Thesaurus (NCIT), Radiology Lexicon (RadLex), Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED-CT), and International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9-CM). Concepts in each terminology were identified for 10 critical imaging findings. Three findings were subsequently selected to evaluate document retrieval. Results: SNOMED-CT consistently demonstrated the highest number of overall terms (mean=22) for each of ten critical findings. However, retrieval rate and precision varied between terminologies for the three findings evaluated. Conclusion: No single terminology is optimal for retrieving radiology reports with critical findings. The expressiveness of a terminology does not consistently correlate with radiology report retrieval. PMID:22195212

Large-Scale functional network overlap is a general property of brain functional organization: Reconciling inconsistent fMRI findings from general-linear-model-based analyses

PubMed Central

Xu, Jiansong; Potenza, Marc N.; Calhoun, Vince D.; Zhang, Rubin; Yip, Sarah W.; Wall, John T.; Pearlson, Godfrey D.; Worhunsky, Patrick D.; Garrison, Kathleen A.; Moran, Joseph M.

2016-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies regularly use univariate general-linear-model-based analyses (GLM). Their findings are often inconsistent across different studies, perhaps because of several fundamental brain properties including functional heterogeneity, balanced excitation and inhibition (E/I), and sparseness of neuronal activities. These properties stipulate heterogeneous neuronal activities in the same voxels and likely limit the sensitivity and specificity of GLM. This paper selectively reviews findings of histological and electrophysiological studies and fMRI spatial independent component analysis (sICA) and reports new findings by applying sICA to two existing datasets. The extant and new findings consistently demonstrate several novel features of brain functional organization not revealed by GLM. They include overlap of large-scale functional networks (FNs) and their concurrent opposite modulations, and no significant modulations in activity of most FNs across the whole brain during any task conditions. These novel features of brain functional organization are highly consistent with the brain’s properties of functional heterogeneity, balanced E/I, and sparseness of neuronal activity, and may help reconcile inconsistent GLM findings. PMID:27592153

Figure-ground organization and the emergence of proto-objects in the visual cortex.

PubMed

von der Heydt, Rüdiger

2015-01-01

A long history of studies of perception has shown that the visual system organizes the incoming information early on, interpreting the 2D image in terms of a 3D world and producing a structure that provides perceptual continuity and enables object-based attention. Recordings from monkey visual cortex show that many neurons, especially in area V2, are selective for border ownership. These neurons are edge selective and have ordinary classical receptive fields (CRF), but in addition their responses are modulated (enhanced or suppressed) depending on the location of a 'figure' relative to the edge in their receptive field. Each neuron has a fixed preference for location on one side or the other. This selectivity is derived from the image context far beyond the CRF. This paper reviews evidence indicating that border ownership selectivity reflects the formation of early object representations ('proto-objects'). The evidence includes experiments showing (1) reversal of border ownership signals with change of perceived object structure, (2) border ownership specific enhancement of responses in object-based selective attention, (3) persistence of border ownership signals in accordance with continuity of object perception, and (4) remapping of border ownership signals across saccades and object movements. Findings 1 and 2 can be explained by hypothetical grouping circuits that sum contour feature signals in search of objectness, and, via recurrent projections, enhance the corresponding low-level feature signals. Findings 3 and 4 might be explained by assuming that the activity of grouping circuits persists and can be remapped. Grouping, persistence, and remapping are fundamental operations of vision. Finding these operations manifest in low-level visual areas challenges traditional views of visual processing. New computational models need to be developed for a comprehensive understanding of the function of the visual cortex.

Figure–ground organization and the emergence of proto-objects in the visual cortex

PubMed Central

von der Heydt, Rüdiger

2015-01-01

A long history of studies of perception has shown that the visual system organizes the incoming information early on, interpreting the 2D image in terms of a 3D world and producing a structure that provides perceptual continuity and enables object-based attention. Recordings from monkey visual cortex show that many neurons, especially in area V2, are selective for border ownership. These neurons are edge selective and have ordinary classical receptive fields (CRF), but in addition their responses are modulated (enhanced or suppressed) depending on the location of a ‘figure’ relative to the edge in their receptive field. Each neuron has a fixed preference for location on one side or the other. This selectivity is derived from the image context far beyond the CRF. This paper reviews evidence indicating that border ownership selectivity reflects the formation of early object representations (‘proto-objects’). The evidence includes experiments showing (1) reversal of border ownership signals with change of perceived object structure, (2) border ownership specific enhancement of responses in object-based selective attention, (3) persistence of border ownership signals in accordance with continuity of object perception, and (4) remapping of border ownership signals across saccades and object movements. Findings 1 and 2 can be explained by hypothetical grouping circuits that sum contour feature signals in search of objectness, and, via recurrent projections, enhance the corresponding low-level feature signals. Findings 3 and 4 might be explained by assuming that the activity of grouping circuits persists and can be remapped. Grouping, persistence, and remapping are fundamental operations of vision. Finding these operations manifest in low-level visual areas challenges traditional views of visual processing. New computational models need to be developed for a comprehensive understanding of the function of the visual cortex. PMID:26579062

Pilots using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors compared to other fatally injured pilots.

PubMed

Rogers, Paul; Hileman, Christy; Salazar, Guillermo; Cliburn, Kacey; Paskoff, Lawrence; Hathaway, William; Gildea, Kevin; Tejera Villalaz, Victor Hugo

2017-10-01

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) were a disqualifying medication for U.S. civil pilots before April 5, 2010. After this date, a Federal Aviation Administration policy was created that allowed airmen, on select SSRIs, a pathway to hold a valid medical certificate. The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed look at SSRIs in the U.S. pilot population since the inception of this new policy. We examined the toxicology results from fatally injured airmen in addition to outcomes concerning pilots who are participating in the program. This study examined data from the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute's Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory in conjunction with the Medical Analysis Tracking Registry and the Document Imaging and Workflow System. A count-based regression model quantified the relationships between positive SSRI findings with additional factors of interest. These factors included pilot rating, ethanol, and first generation antihistamines. There were 1484 fatally injured airmen over the six year study period, of which 44-tested positive for an SSRI. First-generation antihistamines were statistically associated with positive findings of SSRIs. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Use of a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) model to selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) analysis of exhaled breath to predict the efficacy of dialysis: a pilot study.

PubMed

Wang, Maggie Haitian; Chong, Ka Chun; Storer, Malina; Pickering, John W; Endre, Zoltan H; Lau, Steven Yf; Kwok, Chloe; Lai, Maria; Chung, Hau Yin; Ying Zee, Benny Chung

2016-09-28

Selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) provides rapid, non-invasive measurements of a full-mass scan of volatile compounds in exhaled breath. Although various studies have suggested that breath metabolites may be indicators of human disease status, many of these studies have included few breath samples and large numbers of compounds, limiting their power to detect significant metabolites. This study employed a least absolute shrinkage and selective operator (LASSO) approach to SIFT-MS data of breath samples to preliminarily evaluate the ability of exhaled breath findings to monitor the efficacy of dialysis in hemodialysis patients. A process of model building and validation showed that blood creatinine and urea concentrations could be accurately predicted by LASSO-selected masses. Using various precursors, the LASSO models were able to predict creatinine and urea concentrations with high adjusted R-square (>80%) values. The correlation between actual concentrations and concentrations predicted by the LASSO model (using precursor H 3 O + ) was high (Pearson correlation coefficient  =  0.96). Moreover, use of full mass scan data provided a better prediction than compounds from selected ion mode. These findings warrant further investigations in larger patient cohorts. By employing a more powerful statistical approach to predict disease outcomes, breath analysis using SIFT-MS technology could be applicable in future to daily medical diagnoses.

Exploring scientific creativity of eleventh-grade students in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Jia-Chi

2002-04-01

Although most researchers focus on scientists' creativity, students' scientific creativity should be considered, especially for high school and college students. It is generally assumed that most professional creators in science emerge from amateur creators. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between students' scientific creativity and selected variables including creativity, problem finding, formulating hypotheses, science achievement, the nature of science, and attitudes toward science for finding significant predictors of eleventh grade students' scientific creativity. A total of 130 male eleventh-grade students in three biology classes participated in this study. The main instruments included the Test of Divergent Thinking (TDT) for creativity measurement, the Creativity Rating Scale (CRS) and the Creative Activities and Accomplishments Check Lists (CAACL ) for measurement of scientific creativity, the Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale (NSKS) for measurement of the nature of science, and the Science Attitude Inventory II (SAI II) for measurement of attitudes toward science. In addition, two instruments on measuring students' abilities of problem finding and abilities of formulating hypotheses were developed by the researcher in this study. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlations, and stepwise multiple regressions. The major findings suggested the following: (1) students' scientific creativity significantly correlated with some of selected variables such as attitudes toward science, problem finding, formulating hypotheses, the nature of science, resistance to closure, originality, and elaboration; (2) four significant predictors including attitudes toward science, problem finding, resistance to closure, and originality accounted for 48% of the variance of students' scientific creativity; (3) there were big differences between students with a higher and a lower degree of scientific creativity on the variables of family support, career images, and readings about science; and (4) many students were confused about the creative and moral levels on NSKS and the concept of "almighty of science" and purposes of science on SAI II. The results of this study may provide a more holistic and integrative interpretation of students' scientific creativity and propose better ways of evaluating students' scientific creativity. In addition, the research results may encourage teachers to view scientific creativity as an ability that can be enhanced through various means in classroom science teaching.

T2-weighted signal intensity-selected volumetry for prediction of pathological complete response after preoperative chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer.

PubMed

Kim, Sungwon; Han, Kyunghwa; Seo, Nieun; Kim, Hye Jin; Kim, Myeong-Jin; Koom, Woong Sub; Ahn, Joong Bae; Lim, Joon Seok

2018-06-01

To evaluate the diagnostic value of signal intensity (SI)-selected volumetry findings in T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a potential biomarker for predicting pathological complete response (pCR) to preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with rectal cancer. Forty consecutive patients with pCR after preoperative CRT were compared with 80 age- and sex-matched non-pCR patients in a case-control study. SI-selected tumor volume was measured on post-CRT T2-weighted MRI, which included voxels of the treated tumor exceeding the SI (obturator internus muscle SI + [ischiorectal fossa fat SI - obturator internus muscle SI] × 0.2). Three blinded readers independently rated five-point pCR confidence scores and compared the diagnostic outcome with SI-selected volumetry findings. The SI-selected volumetry protocol was validated in 30 additional rectal cancer patients. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) of SI-selected volumetry for pCR prediction was 0.831, with an optimal cutoff value of 649.6 mm 3 (sensitivity 0.850, specificity 0.725). The AUC of the SI-selected tumor volume was significantly greater than the pooled AUC of readers (0.707, p < 0.001). At this cutoff, the validation trial yielded an accuracy of 0.87. SI-selected volumetry in post-CRT T2-weighted MRI can help predict pCR after preoperative CRT in patients with rectal cancer. • Fibrosis and viable tumor MRI signal intensities (SIs) are difficult to distinguish. • T2 SI-selected volumetry yields high diagnostic performance for assessing pathological complete response. • T2 SI-selected volumetry is significantly more accurate than readers and non-SI-selected volumetry. • Post-chemoradiation therapy T2-weighted MRI SI-selected volumetry facilitates prediction of pathological complete response.

Cancer awareness among community pharmacist: a systematic review.

PubMed

Mensah, Kofi Boamah; Oosthuizen, Frasia; Bonsu, Adwoa Bemah

2018-03-16

The WHO recognises that community pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals to the general public. Most patients regularly visit community pharmacies for health information and also seek advice from pharmacists with respect to signs and symptoms of cancer. As readily accessible health care professionals, community pharmacists are also in the best position to include cancer-screening initiatives into their practice. Pharmacists are therefore in a good position to raise awareness when they counsel people who buy over-the-counter medication for the control of possible cancer-related symptoms. The aim of this review was to critically appraise evidence gathered from studies that; (1) explore or assess knowledge of community pharmacist on signs and symptoms of cancer, (2) explore or assess knowledge of community pharmacist on cancer screening. EMBASE (ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost) and MEDLINE (EBSCOhost) were systematically searched for studies conducted between 2005 to July 2017. Studies that focused on knowledge of community pharmacist in cancer screening, signs and symptoms were included. A total of 1538 articles were identified from the search, of which 4 out of the 28 potentially relevant abstracts were included in the review. Findings of the selected studies revealed lack of sufficient knowledge on breast cancer screening, signs and symptoms. Both studies attributed knowledge limitation as the cause of reason for the key findings of their studies. The selected studies focused largely on breast cancer, which hinder the generalizability and transferability of the findings. Hence there is a need for more studies to be conducted in this area to draw a better conclusion.

An FDA oncology analysis of immune activating products and first-in-human dose selection.

PubMed

Saber, Haleh; Gudi, Ramadevi; Manning, Michael; Wearne, Emily; Leighton, John K

2016-11-01

As sub-therapeutic doses are not medically justifiable in patients with cancer, we retrospectively analyzed data on immune activating products, to assess approaches used in first-in-human (FIH) dose selection, the utility of animal toxicology studies in dose selection, and the length of time to complete FIH trials. The information collected included pharmacology and toxicology data, FIH dose and rationale, and dose-finding trial design. We used the principles of the Hill equation to estimate the FIH doses for antibodies and compared them to the doses administered to patients with acceptable toxicities. For approximately half the antibodies (44%) examined, the FIH doses were at least a hundred-fold lower than the doses safely administered to patients, indicating optimization of FIH dose selection and/or optimization of dose-finding trial design is needed to minimize patient exposure to sub-therapeutic doses. However, selection of the FIH dose for antibodies based on animal toxicology studies using 1/6th the HNSTD or 1/10th the NOAEL resulted in human doses that were unsafe for several antibodies examined. We also concluded that antibodies with Fc-modifications for increased effector function may be less tolerated, resulting in toxicities at lower doses than those without such modifications. There was insufficient information to evaluate CD3 bispecific products. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Instrument Selection for Randomized Controlled Trials Why This and Not That?

PubMed Central

Records, Kathie; Keller, Colleen; Ainsworth, Barbara; Permana, Paska

2011-01-01

A fundamental linchpin for obtaining rigorous findings in quantitative research involves the selection of survey instruments. Psychometric recommendations are available for the processes for scale development and testing and guidance for selection of established scales. These processes are necessary to address the validity link between the phenomena under investigation, the empirical measures and, ultimately, the theoretical ties between these and the world views of the participants. Detailed information is most often provided about study design and protocols, but far less frequently is a detailed theoretical explanation provided for why specific instruments are chosen. Guidance to inform choices is often difficult to find when scales are needed for specific cultural, ethnic, or racial groups. This paper details the rationale underlying instrument selection for measurement of the major processes (intervention, mediator and moderator variables, outcome variables) in an ongoing study of postpartum Latinas, Madres para la Salud [Mothers for Health]. The rationale underpinning our choices includes a discussion of alternatives, when appropriate. These exemplars may provide direction for other intervention researchers who are working with specific cultural, racial, or ethnic groups or for other investigators who are seeking to select the ‘best’ instrument. Thoughtful consideration of measurement and articulation of the rationale underlying our choices facilitates the maintenance of rigor within the study design and improves our ability to assess study outcomes. PMID:21986392

Asynchronous Video Interviewing as a New Technology in Personnel Selection: The Applicant’s Point of View

PubMed Central

Brenner, Falko S.; Ortner, Tuulia M.; Fay, Doris

2016-01-01

The present study aimed to integrate findings from technology acceptance research with research on applicant reactions to new technology for the emerging selection procedure of asynchronous video interviewing. One hundred six volunteers experienced asynchronous video interviewing and filled out several questionnaires including one on the applicants’ personalities. In line with previous technology acceptance research, the data revealed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use predicted attitudes toward asynchronous video interviewing. Furthermore, openness revealed to moderate the relation between perceived usefulness and attitudes toward this particular selection technology. No significant effects emerged for computer self-efficacy, job interview self-efficacy, extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. PMID:27378969

SRF selectively controls tip cell invasive behavior in angiogenesis.

PubMed

Franco, Claudio A; Blanc, Jocelyne; Parlakian, Ara; Blanco, Raquel; Aspalter, Irene M; Kazakova, Natalia; Diguet, Nicolas; Mylonas, Elena; Gao-Li, Jacqueline; Vaahtokari, Anne; Penard-Lacronique, Virgine; Fruttiger, Markus; Rosewell, Ian; Mericskay, Mathias; Gerhardt, Holger; Li, Zhenlin

2013-06-01

Efficient angiogenic sprouting is essential for embryonic, postnatal and tumor development. Serum response factor (SRF) is known to be important for embryonic vascular development. Here, we studied the effect of inducible endothelial-specific deletion of Srf in postnatal and adult mice. We find that endothelial SRF activity is vital for postnatal growth and survival, and is equally required for developmental and pathological angiogenesis, including during tumor growth. Our results demonstrate that SRF is selectively required for endothelial filopodia formation and cell contractility during sprouting angiogenesis, but seems dispensable for vascular remodeling. At the molecular level, we observe that vascular endothelial growth factor A induces nuclear accumulation of myocardin-related transcription factors (MRTFs) and regulates MRTF/SRF-dependent target genes including Myl9, which is important for endothelial cell migration in vitro. We conclude that SRF has a unique function in regulating migratory tip cell behavior during sprouting angiogenesis. We hypothesize that targeting the SRF pathway could provide an opportunity to selectively target tip cell filopodia-driven angiogenesis to restrict tumor growth.

South-East Asian strains of Plasmodium falciparum display higher ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous polymorphisms compared to African strains

PubMed Central

Singh, Gajinder Pal; Sharma, Amit

2016-01-01

Resistance to frontline anti-malarial drugs, including artemisinin, has repeatedly arisen in South-East Asia, but the reasons for this are not understood. Here we test whether evolutionary constraints on Plasmodium falciparum strains from South-East Asia differ from African strains. We find a significantly higher ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous polymorphisms in P. falciparum from South-East Asia compared to Africa, suggesting differences in the selective constraints on P. falciparum genome in these geographical regions. Furthermore, South-East Asian strains showed a higher proportion of non-synonymous polymorphism at conserved positions, suggesting reduced negative selection. There was a lower rate of mixed infection by multiple genotypes in samples from South-East Asia compared to Africa. We propose that a lower mixed infection rate in South-East Asia reduces intra-host competition between the parasite clones, reducing the efficiency of natural selection. This might increase the probability of fixation of fitness-reducing mutations including drug resistant ones. PMID:27853513

Nest predation research: Recent findings and future perspectives

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chalfoun, Anna D.; Ibanez-Alamo, J. D.; Magrath, R. D.; Schmidt, Kenneth A.; Thomson, R. L.; Oteyza, Juan C.; Haff, T. M.; Martin, T.E.

2016-01-01

Nest predation is a key source of selection for birds that has attracted increasing attention from ornithologists. The inclusion of new concepts applicable to nest predation that stem from social information, eavesdropping or physiology has expanded our knowledge considerably. Recent methodological advancements now allow focus on all three players within nest predation interactions: adults, offspring and predators. Indeed, the study of nest predation now forms a vital part of avian research in several fields, including animal behaviour, population ecology, evolution and conservation biology. However, within nest predation research there are important aspects that require further development, such as the comparison between ecological and evolutionary antipredator responses, and the role of anthropogenic change. We hope this review of recent findings and the presentation of new research avenues will encourage researchers to study this important and interesting selective pressure, and ultimately will help us to better understand the biology of birds.

Molecular population genetics of the melanic plumage polymorphism in Arctic skuas (Stercorarius parasiticus): evidence for divergent selection on plumage colour.

PubMed

Janssen, Kirstin; Mundy, Nicholas I

2013-09-01

The Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus) is a classic example of an avian plumage polymorphism, with variation in melanin-based ventral plumage coloration defining pale, intermediate and dark morphs in adults of both sexes. However, despite several decades of field research, there is an incomplete understanding of how the polymorphism in ventral plumage colour is maintained and the selective forces involved. Here, we investigate selection on a locus (MC1R) that is strongly associated with plumage colour variation in Arctic skuas using patterns of nucleotide variation and comparison to neutral loci (nuclear introns and mtDNA). We find that three linked nonsynonymous mutations in MC1R, including the single mutation described previously, are associated with plumage colour in the Arctic skua. The position of nonsynonymous mutations on a MC1R haplotype network implies that divergent selection drove the initial evolution of the colour morphs. Comparisons of F(ST)s of MC1R vs. nuclear introns among five skua populations differing in proportion of dark morphs along an approximate north-south cline reveal a signature of divergent selection on MC1R. In contrast, we find limited evidence for balancing selection on MC1R within populations, although the power is low. Our results provide strong evidence for both past and ongoing selection on MC1R, and, by implication, plumage colour in Arctic skuas. The results suggest that a fruitful avenue for future ecological studies will be analysis of selection on morphs in colonies at the extremes along the morph ratio cline. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Relation Between Galaxy Cluster Optical Richness and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sehgal, Neelima; Addison, Graeme; Battaglia, Nick; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Duenner, Rolando; Gralla, Megan;

Mining association rule based on the diseases population for recommendation of medicine need

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harahap, M.; Husein, A. M.; Aisyah, S.; Lubis, F. R.; Wijaya, B. A.

2018-04-01

Selection of medicines that is inappropriate will lead to an empty result at medicines, this has an impact on medical services and economic value in hospital. The importance of an appropriate medicine selection process requires an automated way to select need based on the development of the patient's illness. In this study, we analyzed patient prescriptions to identify the relationship between the disease and the medicine used by the physician in treating the patient's illness. The analytical framework includes: (1) patient prescription data collection, (2) applying k-means clustering to classify the top 10 diseases, (3) applying Apriori algorithm to find association rules based on support, confidence and lift value. The results of the tests of patient prescription datasets in 2015-2016, the application of the k-means algorithm for the clustering of 10 dominant diseases significantly affects the value of trust and support of all association rules on the Apriori algorithm making it more consistent with finding association rules of disease and related medicine. The value of support, confidence and the lift value of disease and related medicine can be used as recommendations for appropriate medicine selection. Based on the conditions of disease progressions of the hospital, there is so more optimal medicine procurement.

Theory-of-mind-related neural activity for one’s romantic partner predicts partner well-being

PubMed Central

Felix, Steven; Yung, Matthew G.; Hooker, Christine I.

2016-01-01

Healthy social relationships are linked to myriad positive physical and mental health outcomes, raising the question of how to enhance relationship formation and quality. Behavioral data suggest that theory of mind (ToM) may be one such process. ToM is supported by a network of brain regions including the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), medial prefrontal cortex and precuneus (PC). However, little research has investigated how the ToM network supports healthy social relationships. Here, we investigate whether recruitment of the ToM network when thinking about the mental states of one’s romantic partner predicts the partner’s well-being. We find that selectivity in left TPJ (LTPJ) and PC for beliefs vs physical attributes of one’s partner is positively associated with partner well-being the day of and day after a meaningful encounter. Furthermore, LTPJ and PC selectivity moderated how the partner’s perception of being understood during the encounter affected their later well-being. Finally, we find the association between ToM-related neural selectivity and well-being robust to other factors related to the relationship and the encounter. Together, these data suggest that selective engagement of the neural network supporting ToM may be a key ingredient for the development and maintenance of healthy romantic relationships. PMID:26609107

The predictive validity of selection for entry into postgraduate training in general practice: evidence from three longitudinal studies

PubMed Central

Patterson, Fiona; Lievens, Filip; Kerrin, Máire; Munro, Neil; Irish, Bill

2013-01-01

Background The selection methodology for UK general practice is designed to accommodate several thousand applicants per year and targets six core attributes identified in a multi-method job-analysis study Aim To evaluate the predictive validity of selection methods for entry into postgraduate training, comprising a clinical problem-solving test, a situational judgement test, and a selection centre. Design and setting A three-part longitudinal predictive validity study of selection into training for UK general practice. Method In sample 1, participants were junior doctors applying for training in general practice (n = 6824). In sample 2, participants were GP registrars 1 year into training (n = 196). In sample 3, participants were GP registrars sitting the licensing examination after 3 years, at the end of training (n = 2292). The outcome measures include: assessor ratings of performance in a selection centre comprising job simulation exercises (sample 1); supervisor ratings of trainee job performance 1 year into training (sample 2); and licensing examination results, including an applied knowledge examination and a 12-station clinical skills objective structured clinical examination (OSCE; sample 3). Results Performance ratings at selection predicted subsequent supervisor ratings of job performance 1 year later. Selection results also significantly predicted performance on both the clinical skills OSCE and applied knowledge examination for licensing at the end of training. Conclusion In combination, these longitudinal findings provide good evidence of the predictive validity of the selection methods, and are the first reported for entry into postgraduate training. Results show that the best predictor of work performance and training outcomes is a combination of a clinical problem-solving test, a situational judgement test, and a selection centre. Implications for selection methods for all postgraduate specialties are considered. PMID:24267856

The predictive validity of selection for entry into postgraduate training in general practice: evidence from three longitudinal studies.

PubMed

Patterson, Fiona; Lievens, Filip; Kerrin, Máire; Munro, Neil; Irish, Bill

2013-11-01

The selection methodology for UK general practice is designed to accommodate several thousand applicants per year and targets six core attributes identified in a multi-method job-analysis study To evaluate the predictive validity of selection methods for entry into postgraduate training, comprising a clinical problem-solving test, a situational judgement test, and a selection centre. A three-part longitudinal predictive validity study of selection into training for UK general practice. In sample 1, participants were junior doctors applying for training in general practice (n = 6824). In sample 2, participants were GP registrars 1 year into training (n = 196). In sample 3, participants were GP registrars sitting the licensing examination after 3 years, at the end of training (n = 2292). The outcome measures include: assessor ratings of performance in a selection centre comprising job simulation exercises (sample 1); supervisor ratings of trainee job performance 1 year into training (sample 2); and licensing examination results, including an applied knowledge examination and a 12-station clinical skills objective structured clinical examination (OSCE; sample 3). Performance ratings at selection predicted subsequent supervisor ratings of job performance 1 year later. Selection results also significantly predicted performance on both the clinical skills OSCE and applied knowledge examination for licensing at the end of training. In combination, these longitudinal findings provide good evidence of the predictive validity of the selection methods, and are the first reported for entry into postgraduate training. Results show that the best predictor of work performance and training outcomes is a combination of a clinical problem-solving test, a situational judgement test, and a selection centre. Implications for selection methods for all postgraduate specialties are considered.

Environmentally induced changes in correlated responses to selection reveal variable pleiotropy across a complex genetic network.

PubMed

Sikkink, Kristin L; Reynolds, Rose M; Cresko, William A; Phillips, Patrick C

2015-05-01

Selection in novel environments can lead to a coordinated evolutionary response across a suite of characters. Environmental conditions can also potentially induce changes in the genetic architecture of complex traits, which in turn could alter the pattern of the multivariate response to selection. We describe a factorial selection experiment using the nematode Caenorhabditis remanei in which two different stress-related phenotypes (heat and oxidative stress resistance) were selected under three different environmental conditions. The pattern of covariation in the evolutionary response between phenotypes or across environments differed depending on the environment in which selection occurred, including asymmetrical responses to selection in some cases. These results indicate that variation in pleiotropy across the stress response network is highly sensitive to the external environment. Our findings highlight the complexity of the interaction between genes and environment that influences the ability of organisms to acclimate to novel environments. They also make clear the need to identify the underlying genetic basis of genetic correlations in order understand how patterns of pleiotropy are distributed across complex genetic networks. © 2015 The Author(s).

A comparative analysis of swarm intelligence techniques for feature selection in cancer classification.

PubMed

Gunavathi, Chellamuthu; Premalatha, Kandasamy

2014-01-01

Feature selection in cancer classification is a central area of research in the field of bioinformatics and used to select the informative genes from thousands of genes of the microarray. The genes are ranked based on T-statistics, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and F-test values. The swarm intelligence (SI) technique finds the informative genes from the top-m ranked genes. These selected genes are used for classification. In this paper the shuffled frog leaping with Lévy flight (SFLLF) is proposed for feature selection. In SFLLF, the Lévy flight is included to avoid premature convergence of shuffled frog leaping (SFL) algorithm. The SI techniques such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), cuckoo search (CS), SFL, and SFLLF are used for feature selection which identifies informative genes for classification. The k-nearest neighbour (k-NN) technique is used to classify the samples. The proposed work is applied on 10 different benchmark datasets and examined with SI techniques. The experimental results show that the results obtained from k-NN classifier through SFLLF feature selection method outperform PSO, CS, and SFL.

ENVIRONMENTALLY INDUCED CHANGES IN CORRELATED RESPONSES TO SELECTION REVEAL VARIABLE PLEIOTROPY ACROSS A COMPLEX GENETIC NETWORK

PubMed Central

Sikkink, Kristin L.; Reynolds, Rose M.; Cresko, William A.; Phillips, Patrick C.

2017-01-01

Selection in novel environments can lead to a coordinated evolutionary response across a suite of characters. Environmental conditions can also potentially induce changes in the genetic architecture of complex traits, which in turn could alter the pattern of the multivariate response to selection. We describe a factorial selection experiment using the nematode Caenorhabditis remanei in which two different stress-related phenotypes (heat and oxidative stress resistance) were selected under three different environmental conditions. The pattern of covariation in the evolutionary response between phenotypes or across environments differed depending on the environment in which selection occurred, including asymmetrical responses to selection in some cases. These results indicate that variation in pleiotropy across the stress response network is highly sensitive to the external environment. Our findings highlight the complexity of the interaction between genes and environment that influences the ability of organisms to acclimate to novel environments. They also make clear the need to identify the underlying genetic basis of genetic correlations in order understand how patterns of pleiotropy are distributed across complex genetic networks. PMID:25809411

Bottlenecks in the development of topical analgesics: molecule, formulation, dose-finding, and phase III design.

PubMed

Keppel Hesselink, Jan M; Kopsky, David J; Stahl, Stephen M

2017-01-01

Topical analgesics can be defined as topical formulations containing analgesics or co-analgesics. Since 2000, interest in such formulations has been on the rise. There are, however, four critical issues in the research and development phases of topical analgesics: 1) The selection of the active pharmaceutical ingredient. Analgesics and co-analgesics differ greatly in their mechanism of action, and it is required to find the most optimal fit between such mechanisms of action and the pathogenesis of the targeted (neuropathic) pain. 2) Issues concerning the optimized formulation. For relevant clinical efficacy, specific characteristics for the selected vehicle (eg, cream base or gel base) are required, depending on the physicochemical characteristics of the active pharmaceutical ingredient(s) to be delivered. 3) Well-designed phase II dose-finding studies are required, and, unfortunately, such trials are missing. In fact, we will demonstrate that underdosing is one of the major hurdles to detect meaningful and statistically relevant clinical effects of topical analgesics. 4) Selection of clinical end points and innovatively designed phase III trials. End point selection can make or break a trial. For instance, to include numbness together with tingling as a composite end point for neuropathic pain seems stretching the therapeutic impact of an analgesic too far. Given the fast onset of action of topical analgesics (usually within 30 minutes), enrichment designs might enhance the chances for success, as the placebo response might decrease. Topical analgesics may become promising inroads for the treatment of neuropathic pain, once sufficient attention is given to these four key aspects.

Second Report of the Washington State Advisory Council on Vocational Education: Part I, Findings, Conclusions, Recommendations, and Part II, Commentary and Detailed Survey Results.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washington State Advisory Council on Vocational Education, Olympia.

To determine the public's attitude relative to vocational education, the Washington State Advisory Council on Vocational Education distributed attitudinal opinionnaires to 2,200 individuals randomly selected from predefined users of vocational education services. The users included: (1) teachers, students, and administrators in public schools,…

Best Practices in Military Design Teams

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

this assessment. 10 metacognitive thinkers, and can reflect and comment on how the team is thinking about a particular topic. These findings...planning team employed a thorough and intentional selection process that included assessment instruments, several interviews, and a writing assignment...Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), StrengthsFinder, and the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory. • Writing samples and other examples of work

Access to Educational and Community Activities for Young Children with Disabilities: Selected Findings from the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS). NCSER 2011-3000

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Elaine; Bitterman, Amy; Daley, Tamara

2010-01-01

This report uses data from the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) to describe access for young children with disabilities in two specific domains: community activities, including extracurricular activities and family recreation, and kindergarten classroom experiences. While PEELS is a broad, descriptive study, the analyses…

Toward Education That Is Multicultural. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Multicultural Education (1st, February 15-17, 1991).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grant, Carl A., Ed.

Forty-three essays were delivered at a conference on multicultural education held in 1991 and explore the ideas, beliefs, research findings, philosophical roots, and direction of multicultural education, along with its policy, practice, and critical assessment. Selected essays and their authors include: "History and Philosophy of the National…

Community and Technical College Foundations: The Results of a Survey of Washington State's Community and Technical College Foundations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirk, Henry P., Ed.

In 1992, all 32 state community and technical colleges in Washington State were contacted to obtain information on the characteristics and activities of the non-profit foundations which have been, or are being, established at each institution. Selected findings include the following: (1) a total of 25 foundations were established between 1963 and…

The Use of Online Current Awareness Services by Natural Sciences and Engineering Faculty at Western Michigan University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leatherman, Carrie C.; Eckel, Edward J.

2012-01-01

Nearly every commercial database that covers natural sciences and engineering offers some type of current awareness (CA) service that provides regular updates to users on current literature in a selected field of interest. Current awareness services include e-mail alerts, tables of contents, and RSS feeds. This study was designed to find out what…

Public Perceptions of Child Care in Alberta, Canada: Evidence for Policies and Practice from a Cross-Sectional Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tough, Suzanne; Rikhy, Shivani; Benzies, Karen; Vekved, Monica; Kehler, Heather; Johnston, David W.

2013-01-01

Research Findings: This study assessed public perceptions of child care and its providers in a Canadian province where government funding for child care includes subsidies and a voluntary accreditation process. In 2007-2008, 1,443 randomly selected adults in Alberta, Canada, completed a telephone survey. Individuals were eligible to participate if…

A Profile of Demographic Characteristics, Occupational and Educational Plans of Vocational Students in Selected Mississippi Junior Colleges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeBord, Larry W.; Williams, Max W.

A survey was conducted in spring 1975 of 929 full-time male students enrolled in eight of 20 postsecondary vocational centers in Mississippi. Representing 20% of the total state center enrollment, the sample was 35% black and 65% white, with black representation comparable to the population in the geographic areas studied. Findings included the…

The proposal of recommendations for the operation of vacuum sewerage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazák, J.; Dvorský, T.; Václavík, V.; Zajac, R.; Hluštík, P.

2017-10-01

This article deals with a comparison of vacuum sewerage system and gravity based sewerage system. It also includes the results of the comparison of both of these systems from various cities, and there are measures suggested on the basis of the findings focused on increasing the efficiency and reducing the operational costs of the selected vacuum sewerage system.

ConfChem Conference on Select 2016 BCCE Presentations: Putting Your Own Personal Twist on a Flipped Organic Classroom and Selling the Idea to Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Ashleigh L. P.

2017-01-01

This paper presents gradual implementation of active learning approaches in an organic chemistry classroom based on student feedback and strategies for getting students on-board with this new approach. Active learning techniques discussed include videos, online quizzes, reading assignments, and classroom activities. Preliminary findings indicate a…

Natural Selection in the Great Apes

PubMed Central

Cagan, Alexander; Theunert, Christoph; Laayouni, Hafid; Santpere, Gabriel; Pybus, Marc; Casals, Ferran; Prüfer, Kay; Navarro, Arcadi; Marques-Bonet, Tomas; Bertranpetit, Jaume; Andrés, Aida M.

2016-01-01

Natural selection is crucial for the adaptation of populations to their environments. Here, we present the first global study of natural selection in the Hominidae (humans and great apes) based on genome-wide information from population samples representing all extant species (including most subspecies). Combining several neutrality tests we create a multi-species map of signatures of natural selection covering all major types of natural selection. We find that the estimated efficiency of both purifying and positive selection varies between species and is significantly correlated with their long-term effective population size. Thus, even the modest differences in population size among the closely related Hominidae lineages have resulted in differences in their ability to remove deleterious alleles and to adapt to changing environments. Most signatures of balancing and positive selection are species-specific, with signatures of balancing selection more often being shared among species. We also identify loci with evidence of positive selection across several lineages. Notably, we detect signatures of positive selection in several genes related to brain function, anatomy, diet and immune processes. Our results contribute to a better understanding of human evolution by putting the evidence of natural selection in humans within its larger evolutionary context. The global map of natural selection in our closest living relatives is available as an interactive browser at http://tinyurl.com/nf8qmzh. PMID:27795229

Angiographic embolization in the treatment of intrahepatic arterial bleeding in patients with blunt abdominal trauma.

PubMed

Kong, Ya-Lin; Zhang, Hong-Yi; He, Xiao-Jun; Zhao, Gang; Liu, Cheng-Li; Xiao, Mei; Zhen, Yu-Ying

2014-04-01

Angiographic embolization (AE) as an adjunct non-operative treatment of intrahepatic arterial bleeding has been widely used. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of selective AE in patients with hepatic trauma. Seventy patients with intrahepatic arterial bleeding after blunt abdominal trauma who had undergone selective AE in 10 years at this institution were retrospectively reviewed. The criteria for selective AE included active extravasation on contrast-enhanced CT, an episode of hypotension or a decrease in hemoglobin level during the non-operative treatment. The data of the patients included demographics, grade of liver injuries, mechanism of blunt abdominal trauma, associated intra-abdominal injuries, indications for AE, angiographic findings, type of AE, and AE-related hepatobiliary complications. In the 70 patients, 32 (45.71%) had high-grade liver injuries. Extravazation during the early arterial phase mainly involved the right hepatic segments. Thirteen (18.57%) patients underwent embolization of intrahepatic branches and the extrahepatic trunk and these patients all developed AE-related hepatobiliary complications. In 19 patients with AE-related complications, 14 received minimally invasive treatment and recovered without severe sequelae. AE is an adjunct treatment for liver injuries. Selective and/or super-selective AE should be advocated to decrease the incidence and severity of AE-related hepatobiliary complications.

Genomic data for 78 chickens from 14 populations

PubMed Central

Li, Diyan; Che, Tiandong; Chen, Binlong; Tian, Shilin; Zhou, Xuming; Zhang, Guolong; Li, Miao; Gaur, Uma; Li, Yan; Luo, Majing; Zhang, Long; Xu, Zhongxian; Zhao, Xiaoling; Yin, Huadong; Wang, Yan; Jin, Long; Tang, Qianzi; Xu, Huailiang; Yang, Mingyao; Zhou, Rongjia; Li, Ruiqiang

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Since the domestication of the red jungle fowls (Gallus gallus; dating back to ∼10 000 B.P.) in Asia, domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) have been subjected to the combined effects of natural selection and human-driven artificial selection; this has resulted in marked phenotypic diversity in a number of traits, including behavior, body composition, egg production, and skin color. Population genomic variations through diversifying selection have not been fully investigated. Findings: The whole genomes of 78 domestic chickens were sequenced to an average of 18-fold coverage for each bird. By combining this data with publicly available genomes of five wild red jungle fowls and eight Xishuangbanna game fowls, we conducted a comprehensive comparative genomics analysis of 91 chickens from 17 populations. After aligning ∼21.30 gigabases (Gb) of high-quality data from each individual to the reference chicken genome, we identified ∼6.44 million (M) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for each population. These SNPs included 1.10 M novel SNPs in 17 populations that were absent in the current chicken dbSNP (Build 145) entries. Conclusions: The current data is important for population genetics and further studies in chickens and will serve as a valuable resource for investigating diversifying selection and candidate genes for selective breeding in chickens. PMID:28431039

Climate-Smart Seedlot Selection Tool: Reforestation and Restoration for the 21st Century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevenson-Molnar, N.; Howe, G.; St Clair, B.; Bachelet, D. M.; Ward, B. C.

2017-12-01

Local populations of trees are generally adapted to their local climates. Historically, this has meant that local seed zones based on geography and elevation have been used to guide restoration and reforestation. In the face of climate change, seeds from local sources will likely be subjected to climates significantly different from those to which they are currently adapted. The Seedlot Selection Tool (SST) offers a new approach for matching seed sources with planting sites based on future climate scenarios. The SST is a mapping program designed for forest managers and researchers. Users can use the tool to to find seedlots for a given planting site, or to find potential planting sites for a given seedlot. Users select a location (seedlot or planting site), climate scenarios (a climate to which seeds are adapted, and a current or future climate scenario), climate variables, and transfer limits (the maximum climatic distance that is considered a suitable match). Transfer limits are provided by the user, or derived from the range of values within a geographically defined seed zone. The tool calculates scores across the landscape based on an area's similarity, in a multivariate climate space, to the input. Users can explore results on an interactive map, and export PDF and PowerPoint reports, including a map of the results along with the inputs used. Planned future improvements include support for non-forest use cases and ability to download results as GeoTIFF data. The Seedlot Selection Tool and its source code are available online at https://seedlotselectiontool.org. It is co-developed by the United States Forest Service, Oregon State University, and the Conservation Biology Institute.

Toward literature-based feature selection for diagnostic classification: a meta-analysis of resting-state fMRI in depression.

PubMed

Sundermann, Benedikt; Olde Lütke Beverborg, Mona; Pfleiderer, Bettina

2014-01-01

Information derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during wakeful rest has been introduced as a candidate diagnostic biomarker in unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD). Multiple reports of resting state fMRI in MDD describe group effects. Such prior knowledge can be adopted to pre-select potentially discriminating features for diagnostic classification models with the aim to improve diagnostic accuracy. Purpose of this analysis was to consolidate spatial information about alterations of spontaneous brain activity in MDD, primarily to serve as feature selection for multivariate pattern analysis techniques (MVPA). Thirty two studies were included in final analyses. Coordinates extracted from the original reports were assigned to two categories based on directionality of findings. Meta-analyses were calculated using the non-additive activation likelihood estimation approach with coordinates organized by subject group to account for non-independent samples. Converging evidence revealed a distributed pattern of brain regions with increased or decreased spontaneous activity in MDD. The most distinct finding was hyperactivity/hyperconnectivity presumably reflecting the interaction of cortical midline structures (posterior default mode network components including the precuneus and neighboring posterior cingulate cortices associated with self-referential processing and the subgenual anterior cingulate and neighboring medial frontal cortices) with lateral prefrontal areas related to externally-directed cognition. Other areas of hyperactivity/hyperconnectivity include the left lateral parietal cortex, right hippocampus and right cerebellum whereas hypoactivity/hypoconnectivity was observed mainly in the left temporal cortex, the insula, precuneus, superior frontal gyrus, lentiform nucleus and thalamus. Results are made available in two different data formats to be used as spatial hypotheses in future studies, particularly for diagnostic classification by MVPA.

Errors in CGAP xProfiler and cDNA DGED: the importance of library parsing and gene selection algorithms.

PubMed

Milnthorpe, Andrew T; Soloviev, Mikhail

2011-04-15

The Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP) xProfiler and cDNA Digital Gene Expression Displayer (DGED) have been made available to the scientific community over a decade ago and since then were used widely to find genes which are differentially expressed between cancer and normal tissues. The tissue types are usually chosen according to the ontology hierarchy developed by NCBI. The xProfiler uses an internally available flat file database to determine the presence or absence of genes in the chosen libraries, while cDNA DGED uses the publicly available UniGene Expression and Gene relational databases to count the sequences found for each gene in the presented libraries. We discovered that the CGAP approach often includes libraries from dependent or irrelevant tissues (one third of libraries were incorrect on average, with some tissue searches no correct libraries being selected at all). We also discovered that the CGAP approach reported genes from outside the selected libraries and may omit genes found within the libraries. Other errors include the incorrect estimation of the significance values and inaccurate settings for the library size cut-off values. We advocated a revised approach to finding libraries associated with tissues. In doing so, libraries from dependent or irrelevant tissues do not get included in the final library pool. We also revised the method for determining the presence or absence of a gene by searching the UniGene relational database, revised calculation of statistical significance and sorted the library cut-off filter. Our results justify re-evaluation of all previously reported results where NCBI CGAP expression data and tools were used.

Errors in CGAP xProfiler and cDNA DGED: the importance of library parsing and gene selection algorithms

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP) xProfiler and cDNA Digital Gene Expression Displayer (DGED) have been made available to the scientific community over a decade ago and since then were used widely to find genes which are differentially expressed between cancer and normal tissues. The tissue types are usually chosen according to the ontology hierarchy developed by NCBI. The xProfiler uses an internally available flat file database to determine the presence or absence of genes in the chosen libraries, while cDNA DGED uses the publicly available UniGene Expression and Gene relational databases to count the sequences found for each gene in the presented libraries. Results We discovered that the CGAP approach often includes libraries from dependent or irrelevant tissues (one third of libraries were incorrect on average, with some tissue searches no correct libraries being selected at all). We also discovered that the CGAP approach reported genes from outside the selected libraries and may omit genes found within the libraries. Other errors include the incorrect estimation of the significance values and inaccurate settings for the library size cut-off values. We advocated a revised approach to finding libraries associated with tissues. In doing so, libraries from dependent or irrelevant tissues do not get included in the final library pool. We also revised the method for determining the presence or absence of a gene by searching the UniGene relational database, revised calculation of statistical significance and sorted the library cut-off filter. Conclusion Our results justify re-evaluation of all previously reported results where NCBI CGAP expression data and tools were used. PMID:21496233

Psychological evaluation of European astronaut applications: results of the 1991 selection campaign.

PubMed

Fassbender, C; Goeters, K M

1994-10-01

In the summer of 1991, the European Space Agency (ESA) performed its second selection campaign since 1977 in order to find 10 astronaut candidates (laboratory specialists and space plane specialists). An integral part of this selection process was the psychological evaluation, according to the principles laid down in the study report "Definition of Psychological Testing of Astronaut Candidates." After national preselection, 59 applicants underwent the psychological evaluation, which consisted of the assessment of operational aptitudes (basic cognitive and psychomotor functions) and personality traits (motivation, social capability, stress resistance). The test program included a diverse number of tests, questionnaires, behavioral ratings, biographical data, and semi-structured interviews. About 50 scores were available for each subject. A comparison of the test scores with the original normative data, culture-fairness of the psychological selection, and discriminant functions analyzing the assessment decisions will be presented and discussed.

Selective impairment of decision making under ambiguity in alexithymia.

PubMed

Zhang, Lei; Wang, Xue; Zhu, Yu; Li, Hongchen; Zhu, Chunyan; Yu, Fengqiong; Wang, Kai

2017-11-28

Alexithymia is characterised by difficulties identifying and describing emotions. Few studies have investigated how alexithymia influences decision-making under different conditions (ambiguity and risk). This study aimed to examine whether alexithymia contributes to impairment in decision-making. This study included 42 participants with high scores in the Chinese version of Toronto Alexithymia Scale (alexithymia group), and 44 matched subjects with low scores (control group). Decision-making was measured using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Game of Dice Task (GDT). The main findings of this study revealed selective deficits in IGT performance for the alexithymia group, while GDT performance was unimpaired when compared with the control group. In IGT, total netscores were lower for the alexithymia group compared to the control group, particularly with regard to block 5. Moreover, the alexithymia individuals selected significantly more adverse cards than the controls, indicating significant decision-making impairments. Alexithymia selectively influences decision-making under ambiguity.

Selecting a Clinical Intervention Documentation System for an Academic Setting

PubMed Central

Andrus, Miranda; Hester, E. Kelly; Byrd, Debbie C.

2011-01-01

Pharmacists' clinical interventions have been the subject of a substantial body of literature that focuses on the process and outcomes of establishing an intervention documentation program within the acute care setting. Few reports describe intervention documentation as a component of doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) programs; none describe the process of selecting an intervention documentation application to support the complete array of pharmacy practice and experiential sites. The process that a school of pharmacy followed to select and implement a school-wide intervention system to document the clinical and financial impact of an experiential program is described. Goals included finding a tool that allowed documentation from all experiential sites and the ability to assign dollar savings (hard and soft) to all documented interventions. The paper provides guidance for other colleges and schools of pharmacy in selecting a clinical intervention documentation system for program-wide use. PMID:21519426

Selecting a clinical intervention documentation system for an academic setting.

PubMed

Fox, Brent I; Andrus, Miranda; Hester, E Kelly; Byrd, Debbie C

2011-03-10

Pharmacists' clinical interventions have been the subject of a substantial body of literature that focuses on the process and outcomes of establishing an intervention documentation program within the acute care setting. Few reports describe intervention documentation as a component of doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) programs; none describe the process of selecting an intervention documentation application to support the complete array of pharmacy practice and experiential sites. The process that a school of pharmacy followed to select and implement a school-wide intervention system to document the clinical and financial impact of an experiential program is described. Goals included finding a tool that allowed documentation from all experiential sites and the ability to assign dollar savings (hard and soft) to all documented interventions. The paper provides guidance for other colleges and schools of pharmacy in selecting a clinical intervention documentation system for program-wide use.

Paying for Primary Care: The Factors Associated with Physician Self-selection into Payment Models.

PubMed

Rudoler, David; Deber, Raisa; Barnsley, Janet; Glazier, Richard H; Dass, Adrian Rohit; Laporte, Audrey

2015-09-01

To determine the factors associated with primary care physician self-selection into different payment models, we used a panel of eight waves of administrative data for all primary care physicians who practiced in Ontario between 2003/2004 and 2010/2011. We used a mixed effects logistic regression model to estimate physicians' choice of three alternative payment models: fee for service, enhanced fee for service, and blended capitation. We found that primary care physicians self-selected into payment models based on existing practice characteristics. Physicians with more complex patient populations were less likely to switch into capitation-based payment models where higher levels of effort were not financially rewarded. These findings suggested that investigations aimed at assessing the impact of different primary care reimbursement models on outcomes, including costs and access, should first account for potential selection effects. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Selective memory generalization by spatial patterning of protein synthesis

PubMed Central

O’Donnell, Cian; Sejnowski, Terrence J.

2014-01-01

Summary Protein synthesis is crucial for both persistent synaptic plasticity and long-term memory. De novo protein expression can be restricted to specific neurons within a population, and to specific dendrites within a single neuron. Despite its ubiquity, the functional benefits of spatial protein regulation for learning are unknown. We used computational modeling to study this problem. We found that spatially patterned protein synthesis can enable selective consolidation of some memories but forgetting of others, even for simultaneous events that are represented by the same neural population. Key factors regulating selectivity include the functional clustering of synapses on dendrites, and the sparsity and overlap of neural activity patterns at the circuit level. Based on these findings we proposed a novel two-step model for selective memory generalization during REM and slow-wave sleep. The pattern-matching framework we propose may be broadly applicable to spatial protein signaling throughout cortex and hippocampus. PMID:24742462

Semantic processing and response inhibition.

PubMed

Chiang, Hsueh-Sheng; Motes, Michael A; Mudar, Raksha A; Rao, Neena K; Mansinghani, Sethesh; Brier, Matthew R; Maguire, Mandy J; Kraut, Michael A; Hart, John

2013-11-13

The present study examined functional MRI (fMRI) BOLD signal changes in response to object categorization during response selection and inhibition. Young adults (N=16) completed a Go/NoGo task with varying object categorization requirements while fMRI data were recorded. Response inhibition elicited increased signal change in various brain regions, including medial frontal areas, compared with response selection. BOLD signal in an area within the right angular gyrus was increased when higher-order categorization was mandated. In addition, signal change during response inhibition varied with categorization requirements in the left inferior temporal gyrus (lIT). lIT-mediated response inhibition when inhibiting the response only required lower-order categorization, but lIT mediated both response selection and inhibition when selecting and inhibiting the response required higher-order categorization. The findings characterized mechanisms mediating response inhibition associated with semantic object categorization in the 'what' visual object memory system.

Selective memory generalization by spatial patterning of protein synthesis.

PubMed

O'Donnell, Cian; Sejnowski, Terrence J

2014-04-16

Protein synthesis is crucial for both persistent synaptic plasticity and long-term memory. De novo protein expression can be restricted to specific neurons within a population, and to specific dendrites within a single neuron. Despite its ubiquity, the functional benefits of spatial protein regulation for learning are unknown. We used computational modeling to study this problem. We found that spatially patterned protein synthesis can enable selective consolidation of some memories but forgetting of others, even for simultaneous events that are represented by the same neural population. Key factors regulating selectivity include the functional clustering of synapses on dendrites, and the sparsity and overlap of neural activity patterns at the circuit level. Based on these findings, we proposed a two-step model for selective memory generalization during REM and slow-wave sleep. The pattern-matching framework we propose may be broadly applicable to spatial protein signaling throughout cortex and hippocampus. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Herschel Multi-Tiered Extragalactic Survey: SPIRE-mm Photometric Redshifts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roseboom, I. G.; Ivison, R. J.; Greve, T. R.; Amblard, A.; Arumugam, V.; Auld, R.; Aussel, H.; Bethermin, M.; Blain, A.; Block, J.;

Facilitating access to surgical care through a decentralised case-finding strategy: experience in Madagascar

PubMed Central

Hamer, Mirjam; Biddell, Jasmin; Claus, Nathan; Randall, Kirsten; Alcorn, Dennis; Parker, Gary; Shrime, Mark G

2017-01-01

Over two-thirds of the world’s population lack access to surgical care. Non-governmental organisation’s providing free surgeries may overcome financial barriers, but other barriers to care still exist. This analysis paper discusses two different case-finding strategies in Madagascar that aimed to increase the proportion of poor patients, women and those for whom multiple barriers to care exist. From October 2014 to June 2015, we used a centralised selection strategy, aiming to find 70% of patients from the port city, Toamasina, and 30% from the national capital and two remote cities. From August 2015 to June 2016, a decentralised strategy was used, aiming to find 30% of patients from Toamasina and 70% from 11 remote locations, including the capital. Demographic information and self-reported barriers to care were collected. Wealth quintile was calculated for each patient using a combination of participant responses to asset-related and demographic questions, and publicly available data. A total of 2971 patients were assessed. The change from centralised to decentralised selection resulted in significantly poorer patients undergoing surgery. All reported barriers to prior care, except for lack of transportation, were significantly more likely to be identified in the decentralised group. Patients who identified multiple barriers to prior surgical care were less likely to be from the richest quintile (p=0.037) and more likely to be in the decentralised group (p=0.046). Our country-specific analysis shows that decentralised patient selection strategies may be used to overcome barriers to care and allow patients in greatest need to access surgical care. PMID:29071129

The AzTEC/SMA Interferometric Imaging Survey of Submillimeter-selected High-redshift Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Younger, Joshua D.; Fazio, Giovanni G.; Huang, Jia-Sheng; Yun, Min S.; Wilson, Grant W.; Ashby, Matthew L. N.; Gurwell, Mark A.; Peck, Alison B.; Petitpas, Glen R.; Wilner, David J.; Hughes, David H.; Aretxaga, Itziar; Kim, Sungeun; Scott, Kimberly S.; Austermann, Jason; Perera, Thushara; Lowenthal, James D.

2009-10-01

We present results from a continuing interferometric survey of high-redshift submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) with the Submillimeter Array, including high-resolution (beam size ~2 arcsec) imaging of eight additional AzTEC 1.1 mm selected sources in the COSMOS field, for which we obtain six reliable (peak signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) >5 or peak S/N >4 with multiwavelength counterparts within the beam) and two moderate significance (peak S/N >4) detections. When combined with previous detections, this yields an unbiased sample of millimeter-selected SMGs with complete interferometric follow up. With this sample in hand, we (1) empirically confirm the radio-submillimeter association, (2) examine the submillimeter morphology—including the nature of SMGs with multiple radio counterparts and constraints on the physical scale of the far infrared—of the sample, and (3) find additional evidence for a population of extremely luminous, radio-dim SMGs that peaks at higher redshift than previous, radio-selected samples. In particular, the presence of such a population of high-redshift sources has important consequences for models of galaxy formation—which struggle to account for such objects even under liberal assumptions—and dust production models given the limited time since the big bang.

Hollow fiber based affinity selection combined with high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy for rapid screening lipase inhibitors from lotus leaf.

PubMed

Tao, Yi; Zhang, Yufeng; Wang, Yi; Cheng, Yiyu

2013-06-27

A novel kind of immobilized enzyme affinity selection strategy based on hollow fibers has been developed for screening inhibitors from extracts of medicinal plants. Lipases from porcine pancreas were adsorbed onto the surface of polypropylene hollow fibers to form a stable matrix for ligand fishing, which was called hollow fibers based affinity selection (HF-AS). A variety of factors related to binding capability, including enzyme concentration, incubation time, temperature, buffer pH and ion strength, were optimized using a known lipase inhibitor hesperidin. The proposed approach was applied in screening potential lipase bound ligands from extracts of lotus leaf, followed by rapid characterization of active compounds using high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Three flavonoids including quercetin-3-O-β-D-arabinopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-galactopyranoside, quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucuronide and kaempferol-3-O-β-d-glucuronide were identified as lipase inhibitors by the proposed HF-AS approach. Our findings suggested that the hollow fiber-based affinity selection could be a rapid and convenient approach for drug discovery from natural products resources. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Epistemic cognition in medical education: a literature review.

PubMed

Eastwood, Jennifer L; Koppelman-White, Elysa; Mi, Misa; Wasserman, Jason Adam; Krug Iii, Ernest F; Joyce, Barbara

2017-01-07

To review the research literature on epistemic cognition in medical education. We conducted database searches using keywords related to epistemic cognition and medical education or practice. In duplicate, authors selected and reviewed empirical studies with a central focus on epistemic cognition and participant samples including medical students or physicians. Independent thematic analysis and consensus procedures were used to identify major findings about epistemic cognition and implications for research and medical education. Twenty-seven articles were selected. Themes from the findings of selected studies included developmental frameworks of epistemic cognition revealing simple epistemological positions of medical learners, increasing epistemological sophistication with experience, relationships between epistemic cognition and context, patterns in epistemic orientations to clinical practice, and reactions to ambiguity and uncertainty. Many studies identified the need for new instruments and methodologies to study epistemic cognition in medical education settings and its relationship to clinical outcomes. Relationships between epistemological beliefs and humanistic patient care and influences of medical education practices were commonly cited implications for medical education. Epistemic cognition is conceptualized and operationalized in a variety of ways in the medical research literature. Advancing theoretical frameworks and developing new methodological approaches to examine epistemic cognition are important areas for future research. Also, examination of the relationship between the contexts of medical learning and practice and epistemic cognition has potential for improving medical education. This work also establishes a need for further investigation into the implications of epistemic cognition for humanistic orientations and ultimately for patient care.

Epistemic cognition in medical education: a literature review

PubMed Central

Koppelman-White, Elysa; Mi, Misa; Wasserman, Jason Adam; Krug III, Ernest F.; Joyce, Barbara

2017-01-01

Objective To review the research literature on epistemic cognition in medical education. Methods We conducted database searches using keywords related to epistemic cognition and medical education or practice. In duplicate, authors selected and reviewed empirical studies with a central focus on epistemic cognition and participant samples including medical students or physicians. Independent thematic analysis and consensus procedures were used to identify major findings about epistemic cognition and implications for research and medical education. Results Twenty-seven articles were selected. Themes from the findings of selected studies included developmental frameworks of epistemic cognition revealing simple epistemological positions of medical learners, increasing epistemological sophistication with experience, relationships between epistemic cognition and context, patterns in epistemic orientations to clinical practice, and reactions to ambiguity and uncertainty. Many studies identified the need for new instruments and methodologies to study epistemic cognition in medical education settings and its relationship to clinical outcomes. Relationships between epistemological beliefs and humanistic patient care and influences of medical education practices were commonly cited implications for medical education. Conclusions Epistemic cognition is conceptualized and operationalized in a variety of ways in the medical research literature. Advancing theoretical frameworks and developing new methodological approaches to examine epistemic cognition are important areas for future research. Also, examination of the relationship between the contexts of medical learning and practice and epistemic cognition has potential for improving medical education. This work also establishes a need for further investigation into the implications of epistemic cognition for humanistic orientations and ultimately for patient care. PMID:28064257

Neural representations of faces and body parts in macaque and human cortex: a comparative FMRI study.

PubMed

Pinsk, Mark A; Arcaro, Michael; Weiner, Kevin S; Kalkus, Jan F; Inati, Souheil J; Gross, Charles G; Kastner, Sabine

2009-05-01

Single-cell studies in the macaque have reported selective neural responses evoked by visual presentations of faces and bodies. Consistent with these findings, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in humans and monkeys indicate that regions in temporal cortex respond preferentially to faces and bodies. However, it is not clear how these areas correspond across the two species. Here, we directly compared category-selective areas in macaques and humans using virtually identical techniques. In the macaque, several face- and body part-selective areas were found located along the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG). In the human, similar to previous studies, face-selective areas were found in ventral occipital and temporal cortex and an additional face-selective area was found in the anterior temporal cortex. Face-selective areas were also found in lateral temporal cortex, including the previously reported posterior STS area. Body part-selective areas were identified in the human fusiform gyrus and lateral occipitotemporal cortex. In a first experiment, both monkey and human subjects were presented with pictures of faces, body parts, foods, scenes, and man-made objects, to examine the response profiles of each category-selective area to the five stimulus types. In a second experiment, face processing was examined by presenting upright and inverted faces. By comparing the responses and spatial relationships of the areas, we propose potential correspondences across species. Adjacent and overlapping areas in the macaque anterior STS/MTG responded strongly to both faces and body parts, similar to areas in the human fusiform gyrus and posterior STS. Furthermore, face-selective areas on the ventral bank of the STS/MTG discriminated both upright and inverted faces from objects, similar to areas in the human ventral temporal cortex. Overall, our findings demonstrate commonalities and differences in the wide-scale brain organization between the two species and provide an initial step toward establishing functionally homologous category-selective areas.

Neural Representations of Faces and Body Parts in Macaque and Human Cortex: A Comparative fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Pinsk, Mark A.; Arcaro, Michael; Weiner, Kevin S.; Kalkus, Jan F.; Inati, Souheil J.; Gross, Charles G.; Kastner, Sabine

2009-01-01

Single-cell studies in the macaque have reported selective neural responses evoked by visual presentations of faces and bodies. Consistent with these findings, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in humans and monkeys indicate that regions in temporal cortex respond preferentially to faces and bodies. However, it is not clear how these areas correspond across the two species. Here, we directly compared category-selective areas in macaques and humans using virtually identical techniques. In the macaque, several face- and body part–selective areas were found located along the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG). In the human, similar to previous studies, face-selective areas were found in ventral occipital and temporal cortex and an additional face-selective area was found in the anterior temporal cortex. Face-selective areas were also found in lateral temporal cortex, including the previously reported posterior STS area. Body part–selective areas were identified in the human fusiform gyrus and lateral occipitotemporal cortex. In a first experiment, both monkey and human subjects were presented with pictures of faces, body parts, foods, scenes, and man-made objects, to examine the response profiles of each category-selective area to the five stimulus types. In a second experiment, face processing was examined by presenting upright and inverted faces. By comparing the responses and spatial relationships of the areas, we propose potential correspondences across species. Adjacent and overlapping areas in the macaque anterior STS/MTG responded strongly to both faces and body parts, similar to areas in the human fusiform gyrus and posterior STS. Furthermore, face-selective areas on the ventral bank of the STS/MTG discriminated both upright and inverted faces from objects, similar to areas in the human ventral temporal cortex. Overall, our findings demonstrate commonalities and differences in the wide-scale brain organization between the two species and provide an initial step toward establishing functionally homologous category-selective areas. PMID:19225169

Orientation-Selective Retinal Circuits in Vertebrates.

PubMed

Antinucci, Paride; Hindges, Robert

2018-01-01

Visual information is already processed in the retina before it is transmitted to higher visual centers in the brain. This includes the extraction of salient features from visual scenes, such as motion directionality or contrast, through neurons belonging to distinct neural circuits. Some retinal neurons are tuned to the orientation of elongated visual stimuli. Such 'orientation-selective' neurons are present in the retinae of most, if not all, vertebrate species analyzed to date, with species-specific differences in frequency and degree of tuning. In some cases, orientation-selective neurons have very stereotyped functional and morphological properties suggesting that they represent distinct cell types. In this review, we describe the retinal cell types underlying orientation selectivity found in various vertebrate species, and highlight their commonalities and differences. In addition, we discuss recent studies that revealed the cellular, synaptic and circuit mechanisms at the basis of retinal orientation selectivity. Finally, we outline the significance of these findings in shaping our current understanding of how this fundamental neural computation is implemented in the visual systems of vertebrates.

Preconception sex selection for non-medical and intermediate reasons: ethical reflections.

PubMed

de Wert, G; Dondorp, W

2010-01-01

Sex selection for non-medical reasons is forbidden in many countries. Focusing on preconception sex selection, the authors first observe that it is unclear what should count as a 'medical reason' in this context and argue for the existence of 'intermediate reasons' that do not fit well within the rigid distinction between 'medical'and 'non-medical'. The article further provides a critical review of the arguments for the prohibition of sex selection for non-medical reasons and finds that none of these are conclusive. The authors conclude that the ban should be reconsidered, but also that existing-- societal concerns about possible harmful effects should be taken seriously. Measures to this effect may include limiting the practice to couples who already have at least one child of the sex opposite to that which they now want to select ('family balancing'). Finally, a difficult set of questions is raised by concerns about the reliability and unproven (long-term) safety of the only technology (flow cytometry) proven to work.

Prospective evaluation of 64 serum autoantibodies as biomarkers for early detection of colorectal cancer in a true screening setting.

PubMed

Chen, Hongda; Werner, Simone; Butt, Julia; Zörnig, Inka; Knebel, Phillip; Michel, Angelika; Eichmüller, Stefan B; Jäger, Dirk; Waterboer, Tim; Pawlita, Michael; Brenner, Hermann

2016-03-29

Novel blood-based screening tests are strongly desirable for early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to identify and evaluate autoantibodies against tumor-associated antigens as biomarkers for early detection of CRC. 380 clinically identified CRC patients and samples of participants with selected findings from a cohort of screening colonoscopy participants in 2005-2013 (N=6826) were included in this analysis. Sixty-four serum autoantibody markers were measured by multiplex bead-based serological assays. A two-step approach with selection of biomarkers in a training set, and validation of findings in a validation set, the latter exclusively including participants from the screening setting, was applied. Anti-MAGEA4 exhibited the highest sensitivity for detecting early stage CRC and advanced adenoma. Multi-marker combinations substantially increased sensitivity at the price of a moderate loss of specificity. Anti-TP53, anti-IMPDH2, anti-MDM2 and anti-MAGEA4 were consistently included in the best-performing 4-, 5-, and 6-marker combinations. This four-marker panel yielded a sensitivity of 26% (95% CI, 13-45%) for early stage CRC at a specificity of 90% (95% CI, 83-94%) in the validation set. Notably, it also detected 20% (95% CI, 13-29%) of advanced adenomas. Taken together, the identified biomarkers could contribute to the development of a useful multi-marker blood-based test for CRC early detection.

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

Shin, Jaejin; Woo, Jong-Hak; Mulchaey, John S.

We perform a comprehensive study of X-ray cavities using a large sample of X-ray targets selected from the Chandra archive. The sample is selected to cover a large dynamic range including galaxy clusters, groups, and individual galaxies. Using β -modeling and unsharp masking techniques, we investigate the presence of X-ray cavities for 133 targets that have sufficient X-ray photons for analysis. We detect 148 X-ray cavities from 69 targets and measure their properties, including cavity size, angle, and distance from the center of the diffuse X-ray gas. We confirm the strong correlation between cavity size and distance from the X-raymore » center similar to previous studies. We find that the detection rates of X-ray cavities are similar among galaxy clusters, groups and individual galaxies, suggesting that the formation mechanism of X-ray cavities is independent of environment.« less

Molecular specificity, convergence and constraint shape adaptive evolution in nutrient-poor environments.

PubMed

Hong, Jungeui; Gresham, David

2014-01-01

One of the central goals of evolutionary biology is to explain and predict the molecular basis of adaptive evolution. We studied the evolution of genetic networks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast) populations propagated for more than 200 generations in different nitrogen-limiting conditions. We find that rapid adaptive evolution in nitrogen-poor environments is dominated by the de novo generation and selection of copy number variants (CNVs), a large fraction of which contain genes encoding specific nitrogen transporters including PUT4, DUR3 and DAL4. The large fitness increases associated with these alleles limits the genetic heterogeneity of adapting populations even in environments with multiple nitrogen sources. Complete identification of acquired point mutations, in individual lineages and entire populations, identified heterogeneity at the level of genetic loci but common themes at the level of functional modules, including genes controlling phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate metabolism and vacuole biogenesis. Adaptive strategies shared with other nutrient-limited environments point to selection of genetic variation in the TORC1 and Ras/PKA signaling pathways as a general mechanism underlying improved growth in nutrient-limited environments. Within a single population we observed the repeated independent selection of a multi-locus genotype, comprised of the functionally related genes GAT1, MEP2 and LST4. By studying the fitness of individual alleles, and their combination, as well as the evolutionary history of the evolving population, we find that the order in which these mutations are acquired is constrained by epistasis. The identification of repeatedly selected variation at functionally related loci that interact epistatically suggests that gene network polymorphisms (GNPs) may be a frequent outcome of adaptive evolution. Our results provide insight into the mechanistic basis by which cells adapt to nutrient-limited environments and suggest that knowledge of the selective environment and the regulatory mechanisms important for growth and survival in that environment greatly increase the predictability of adaptive evolution.

Fusiform gyrus face selectivity relates to individual differences in facial recognition ability.

PubMed

Furl, Nicholas; Garrido, Lúcia; Dolan, Raymond J; Driver, Jon; Duchaine, Bradley

2011-07-01

Regions of the occipital and temporal lobes, including a region in the fusiform gyrus (FG), have been proposed to constitute a "core" visual representation system for faces, in part because they show face selectivity and face repetition suppression. But recent fMRI studies of developmental prosopagnosics (DPs) raise questions about whether these measures relate to face processing skills. Although DPs manifest deficient face processing, most studies to date have not shown unequivocal reductions of functional responses in the proposed core regions. We scanned 15 DPs and 15 non-DP control participants with fMRI while employing factor analysis to derive behavioral components related to face identification or other processes. Repetition suppression specific to facial identities in FG or to expression in FG and STS did not show compelling relationships with face identification ability. However, we identified robust relationships between face selectivity and face identification ability in FG across our sample for several convergent measures, including voxel-wise statistical parametric mapping, peak face selectivity in individually defined "fusiform face areas" (FFAs), and anatomical extents (cluster sizes) of those FFAs. None of these measures showed associations with behavioral expression or object recognition ability. As a group, DPs had reduced face-selective responses in bilateral FFA when compared with non-DPs. Individual DPs were also more likely than non-DPs to lack expected face-selective activity in core regions. These findings associate individual differences in face processing ability with selectivity in core face processing regions. This confirms that face selectivity can provide a valid marker for neural mechanisms that contribute to face identification ability.

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Improved emission lines measurements in four representative samples at 0.07

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodrigues, M.; Foster, C.; Taylor, E. N.; Wright, A. H.; Hopkins, A. M.; Baldry, I.; Brough, S.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Cluver, M. E.; Lara-López, M. A.; Liske, J.; López-Sánchez, Á. R.; Pimbblet, K. A.

2016-05-01

This paper presents a new catalog of emission lines based on the GAMA II data for galaxies between 0.07 9.4 at z ~ 0.1 and log M∗> 10.6 at z ~ 0.30. We have developed a dedicated code called MARVIN that automates the main steps of the data analysis, but imposes visual individual quality control of each measurement. We use this catalog to investigate how the sample selection influences the shape of the stellar mass - metallicity relation. We find that commonly used selection criteria on line detections and by AGN rejection could affect the shape and dispersion of the high-mass end of the M - Z relation. For log M∗> 10.6, common selection criteria reject about 65% of the emission-line galaxies. We also find that the relation does not evolve significantly from z = 0.07 to z = 0.34 in the range of stellar mass for which the samples are representative (log M∗> 10.6). For lower stellar masses (log M∗< 10.2) we are able to show that the observed 0.15 dex metallicity decrease in the same redshift range is a consequence of a color bias arising from selecting targets in the r-band. We highlight that this color selection bias affects all samples selected in r-band (e.g., GAMA and SDSS), even those drawn from volume-limited samples. Previously reported evolution of the M - Z relation at various redshifts may need to be revised to evaluate the effect of this selection bias.

Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics: Findings and Recommendations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otero, Valerie

2010-03-01

In response to the national crisis in science education, including low performance in high school physical science and a critical shortage of highly qualified physics teachers, a National Task Force was convened to investigate the state of physics education in the United States. The Task Force spent one year collecting data from over 900 universities and conducting site visits at 13 universities that were identified as ``high producers'' of physics teachers. The final report of the Task Force will be published early in 2010 and will highlight the findings and recommendations that resulted from the study. In this presentation, the main findings and recommendations will be presented along with selected case studies that illustrate exemplary practices in physics and education departments.

The natural history of conducting and reporting clinical trials: interviews with trialists.

PubMed

Smyth, Rebecca M D; Jacoby, Ann; Altman, Douglas G; Gamble, Carrol; Williamson, Paula R

2015-01-26

To investigate the nature of the research process as a whole, factors that might influence the way in which research is carried out, and how researchers ultimately report their findings. Semi-structured qualitative telephone interviews with authors of trials, identified from two sources: trials published since 2002 included in Cochrane systematic reviews selected for the ORBIT project; and trial reports randomly sampled from 14,758 indexed on PubMed over the 12-month period from August 2007 to July 2008. A total of 268 trials were identified for inclusion, 183 published since 2002 and included in the Cochrane systematic reviews selected for the ORBIT project and 85 randomly selected published trials indexed on PubMed. The response rate from researchers in the former group was 21% (38/183) and in the latter group was 25% (21/85). Overall, 59 trialists were interviewed from the two different sources. A number of major but related themes emerged regarding the conduct and reporting of trials: establishment of the research question; identification of outcome variables; use of and adherence to the study protocol; conduct of the research; reporting and publishing of findings. Our results reveal that, although a substantial proportion of trialists identify outcome variables based on their clinical experience and knowing experts in the field, there can be insufficient reference to previous research in the planning of a new trial. We have revealed problems with trial recruitment: not reaching the target sample size, over-estimation of recruitment potential and recruiting clinicians not being in equipoise. We found a wide variation in the completeness of protocols, in terms of detailing study rationale, outlining the proposed methods, trial organisation and ethical considerations. Our results confirm that the conduct and reporting of some trials can be inadequate. Interviews with researchers identified aspects of clinical research that can be especially challenging: establishing appropriate and relevant outcome variables to measure, use of and adherence to the study protocol, recruiting of study participants and reporting and publishing the study findings. Our trialists considered the prestige and impact factors of academic journals to be the most important criteria for selecting those to which they would submit manuscripts.

Methods for the design of vasomotor symptom trials: the menopausal strategies: finding lasting answers to symptoms and health network.

PubMed

Newton, Katherine M; Carpenter, Janet S; Guthrie, Katherine A; Anderson, Garnet L; Caan, Bette; Cohen, Lee S; Ensrud, Kristine E; Freeman, Ellen W; Joffe, Hadine; Sternfeld, Barbara; Reed, Susan D; Sherman, Sheryl; Sammel, Mary D; Kroenke, Kurt; Larson, Joseph C; Lacroix, Andrea Z

2014-01-01

This report describes the Menopausal Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers to Symptoms and Health network and methodological issues addressed in designing and implementing vasomotor symptom trials. Established in response to a National Institutes of Health request for applications, the network was charged with conducting rapid throughput randomized trials of novel and understudied available interventions postulated to alleviate vasomotor and other menopausal symptoms. Included are descriptions of and rationale for criteria used for interventions and study selection, common eligibility and exclusion criteria, common primary and secondary outcome measures, consideration of placebo response, establishment of a biorepository, trial duration, screening and recruitment, statistical methods, and quality control. All trial designs are presented, including the following: (1) a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram in reducing vasomotor symptom frequency and severity; (2) a two-by-three factorial design trial to test three different interventions (yoga, exercise, and ω-3 supplementation) for the improvement of vasomotor symptom frequency and bother; and (3) a three-arm comparative efficacy trial of the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor venlafaxine and low-dose oral estradiol versus placebo for reducing vasomotor symptom frequency. The network's structure and governance are also discussed. The methods used in and the lessons learned from the Menopausal Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers to Symptoms and Health trials are shared to encourage and support the conduct of similar trials and to encourage collaborations with other researchers.

Osteoarthritis year in review 2015: rehabilitation and outcomes.

PubMed

Bennell, K L; Hall, M; Hinman, R S

2016-01-01

The purpose of this narrative review was to highlight recent research in the rehabilitation of people with osteoarthritis (OA) by summarizing findings from selected key systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A systematic search was conducted using the PubMed, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) and Cochrane databases from April 1st 2014 to March 31st 2015. A selection of these is discussed based on study quality, relevance, contribution to new knowledge or controversial findings. Methodological quality of RCTs was assessed using guidelines from PEDro. From 274 articles, 74 were deemed to meet the eligibility criteria including 24 systematic reviews and 50 studies reporting on findings from RCTs. Overall the methodological quality of the RCTs was moderate. The studies were grouped into several themes covering; evidence of rehabilitation outcomes in less studied joints including the hand and hip; new insights into exercise in knee OA; effects of biomechanical treatments on symptoms and structure in knee OA; and effects of acupuncture. Exercise was the most common treatment evaluated. Although little evidence supported benefit of exercise for hand OA, exercise has positive effects for hip and knee OA symptoms and these benefits may depend upon patient phenotypes. The first evidence that a brace can influence knee joint structure emerged. The latest evidence suggests that acupuncture has, at best, small treatment effects on knee OA pain of unlikely clinical relevance. Copyright © 2015 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reported masculinity ratio in Pakistan: a triumph of anthropology and economics over biology.

PubMed

Krotki, K J

1985-01-01

Reported sex ratios in Pakistan for the 1960s and 1970s are examined, and attempts at explaining the findings are presented. Available data, including census- and survey-reported sex ratios, are considered. Attention is given to sex ratios at birth, expected age-specific sex ratios, and implied versus reported sex ratios at death. Conclusions concerning sex differentials in mortality at selected ages are summarized. In a final section, the author considers the relationship of sex ratios to sex roles. Comments by Syeda Abida Hussain are included (pp. 298-303).

Guidelines for Initiating a Research Agenda: Research Design and Dissemination of Results.

PubMed

Delost, Maria E; Nadder, Teresa S

2014-01-01

Successful research outcomes require selection and implementation of the appropriate research design. A realistic sampling plan appropriate for the design is essential. Qualitative or quantitative methodology may be utilized, depending on the research question and goals. Quantitative research may be experimental where there is an intervention, or nonexperimental, if no intervention is included in the design. Causation can only be established with experimental research. Popular types of nonexperimental research include descriptive and survey research. Research findings may be disseminated via presentations, posters, and publications, such as abstracts and manuscripts.

New crayfish species records from the Sipsey Fork drainage, including Lewis Smith Reservoir (Alabama, USA): Native or introduced species?

Treesearch

Susan B. Adams; Craig Roghair; Colin Krause; Mel Warren; J. Allison Cochran; Andy Dolloff; John Moran; Stuart W. McGregor; Guenter A. Schuester; Michael Gangloff; Dennis R. DeVries; Michael R. Kendrick; G. Lee Grove; Russell A. Wright

2015-01-01

As part of a study of aquatic faunal community changes along riverine-lacustrine transition zones upstream of Lewis Smith Reservoir in northwest Alabama, USA, we collected crayfish from 60 sites in the Sipsey Fork, Brushy Creek, and selected tributaries (Black Warrior River system). After finding two unexpected and possibly-introduced crayfish species, we expanded our...

Optimal glass-ceramic structures: Components of giant mirror telescopes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eschenauer, Hans A.

1990-01-01

Detailed investigations are carried out on optimal glass-ceramic mirror structures of terrestrial space technology (optical telescopes). In order to find an optimum design, a nonlinear multi-criteria optimization problem is formulated. 'Minimum deformation' at 'minimum weight' are selected as contradictory objectives, and a set of further constraints (quilting effect, optical faults etc.) is defined and included. A special result of the investigations is described.

A Descriptive Analysis of the Community College Liberal Arts Curriculum. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges, Los Angeles, CA.

In spring 1986, the Center for the Study of Community Colleges analyzed the class schedules of 95 randomly selected two-year colleges to determine the types of liberal arts courses offered by the colleges and to spot changes in the curriculum over the past 11 years. Study findings included the following: (1) the humanities made up 48% of the total…

Educational Technology and the Restructuring Movement: Lessons from Research on Computers in Classrooms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kell, Diane; And Others

This paper presents findings from a recently completed study of the use of computers in primary classrooms as one source of evidence concerning the role technology can play in school restructuring efforts. The sites for the study were selected by Apple Computer, Inc. in the spring of 1988 and included 43 classrooms in 10 schools in 6 large, mostly…

Study of space shuttle orbiter system management computer function. Volume 2: Automated performance verification concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

The findings are presented of investigations on concepts and techniques in automated performance verification. The investigations were conducted to provide additional insight into the design methodology and to develop a consolidated technology base from which to analyze performance verification design approaches. Other topics discussed include data smoothing, function selection, flow diagrams, data storage, and shuttle hydraulic systems.

Bonding: Mothering Magic or Pseudo Science: A Critical Review of Some of the Research in the Area. Selected Papers Number 40.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

James, Deidre

This article commences with a review of the issues in the empirical literature surrounding the concept of 'bonding,' and notes some particular parallels with the concept of 'attachment,' demonstrating links between the two. The comparison is followed by a review of empirical findings of studies involving animals and humans, including those dealing…

A Study of Student Opinion Toward Legal Needs and Interests. Office of Student Affairs Research Bulletin, Vol. 16, No. 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matross, Ronald; DeGidio, Carmen

A survey was conducted of the opinions of 393 randomly selected Twin Cities campus students toward student legal needs and interests. Key findings include: students have had extensive experience in their contact with legal transactions. Seventy-two percent have signed a contract, 66 percent have bought a car. Sixty-five percent stated they had at…

Evolution of conditional cooperation under multilevel selection.

PubMed

Zhang, Huanren; Perc, Matjaž

2016-03-11

We study the emergence of conditional cooperation in the presence of both intra-group and inter-group selection. Individuals play public goods games within their groups using conditional strategies, which are represented as piecewise linear response functions. Accordingly, groups engage in conflicts with a certain probability. In contrast to previous studies, we consider continuous contribution levels and a rich set of conditional strategies, allowing for a wide range of possible interactions between strategies. We find that the existence of conditional strategies enables the stabilization of cooperation even under strong intra-group selection. The strategy that eventually dominates in the population has two key properties: (i) It is unexploitable with strong intra-group selection; (ii) It can achieve full contribution to outperform other strategies in the inter-group selection. The success of this strategy is robust to initial conditions as well as changes to important parameters. We also investigate the influence of different factors on cooperation levels, including group conflicts, group size, and migration rate. Their effect on cooperation can be attributed to and explained by their influence on the relative strength of intra-group and inter-group selection.

Advanced Methods for Dose and Regimen Finding During Drug Development: Summary of the EMA/EFPIA Workshop on Dose Finding (London 4–5 December 2014)

PubMed Central

Manolis, E; Holford, N; Cheung, SYA; Friberg, LE; Ogungbenro, K; Posch, M; Yates, JWT; Berry, S; Thomas, N; Corriol‐Rohou, S; Bornkamp, B; Bretz, F; Hooker, AC; Van der Graaf, PH; Standing, JF; Hay, J; Cole, S; Gigante, V; Karlsson, K; Dumortier, T; Benda, N; Serone, F; Das, S; Brochot, A; Ehmann, F; Hemmings, R; Rusten, I Skottheim

2017-01-01

Inadequate dose selection for confirmatory trials is currently still one of the most challenging issues in drug development, as illustrated by high rates of late‐stage attritions in clinical development and postmarketing commitments required by regulatory institutions. In an effort to shift the current paradigm in dose and regimen selection and highlight the availability and usefulness of well‐established and regulatory‐acceptable methods, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in collaboration with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Association (EFPIA) hosted a multistakeholder workshop on dose finding (London 4–5 December 2014). Some methodologies that could constitute a toolkit for drug developers and regulators were presented. These methods are described in the present report: they include five advanced methods for data analysis (empirical regression models, pharmacometrics models, quantitative systems pharmacology models, MCP‐Mod, and model averaging) and three methods for study design optimization (Fisher information matrix (FIM)‐based methods, clinical trial simulations, and adaptive studies). Pairwise comparisons were also discussed during the workshop; however, mostly for historical reasons. This paper discusses the added value and limitations of these methods as well as challenges for their implementation. Some applications in different therapeutic areas are also summarized, in line with the discussions at the workshop. There was agreement at the workshop on the fact that selection of dose for phase III is an estimation problem and should not be addressed via hypothesis testing. Dose selection for phase III trials should be informed by well‐designed dose‐finding studies; however, the specific choice of method(s) will depend on several aspects and it is not possible to recommend a generalized decision tree. There are many valuable methods available, the methods are not mutually exclusive, and they should be used in conjunction to ensure a scientifically rigorous understanding of the dosing rationale. PMID:28722322

Virtual Screening on MMP-13 Led to Discovering New Inhibitors Including a Non-Zinc Binding and a Micro Molar One: A Successful Example of Receptor Selection According to Cross-Docking Results for a Flexible Enzyme.

PubMed

Ramezani, Mohammad; Shamsara, Jamal

2017-01-01

MMP-13 belongs to a large family of proteases called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that degrades type II collagen, the main structural protein of articular cartilage. The main pathologic role of MMP-13 over expression is to contribute to the development of osteoarthritis. To find new inhibitors with possible selectivity for MMP-13 a structure based virtual screening was employed. The inhibitory activities of 11 inhibitors among 19 purchased compounds were approved by enzyme inhibition assay. Our results demonstrated that the CADD (computer aided drug design) could be successfully applied to find new MMP-13 inhibitors using a receptor structure (PDB code: 3O2X) which had been demonstrated a good performance in a cross-docking study. We discovered inhibitors with new scaffolds for inhibition of MMP-13 and some selectivity features such as proper S1' occupancy and interactions with S1' pocket that could be subjected to a future lead optimization study. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Neuroimaging findings in pediatric sports-related concussion.

PubMed

Ellis, Michael J; Leiter, Jeff; Hall, Thomas; McDonald, Patrick J; Sawyer, Scott; Silver, Norm; Bunge, Martin; Essig, Marco

2015-09-01

The goal in this review was to summarize the results of clinical neuroimaging studies performed in patients with sports-related concussion (SRC) who were referred to a multidisciplinar ypediatric concussion program. The authors conducted a retrospective review of medical records and neuroimaging findings for all patients referred to a multidisciplinary pediatric concussion program between September 2013 and July 2014. Inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) age ≤ 19 years; and 2) physician-diagnosed SRC. All patients underwent evaluation and follow-up by the same neurosurgeon. The 2 outcomes examined in this review were the frequency of neuroimaging studies performed in this population (including CT and MRI) and the findings of those studies. Clinical indications for neuroimaging and the impact of neuroimaging findings on clinical decision making were summarized where available. This investigation was approved by the local institutional ethics review board. A total of 151 patients (mean age 14 years, 59% female) were included this study. Overall, 36 patients (24%) underwent neuroimaging studies, the results of which were normal in 78% of cases. Sixteen percent of patients underwent CT imaging; results were normal in 79% of cases. Abnormal CT findings included the following: arachnoid cyst (1 patient), skull fracture (2 patients), suspected intracranial hemorrhage (1 patient), and suspected hemorrhage into an arachnoid cyst (1 patient). Eleven percent of patients underwent MRI; results were normal in 75% of cases. Abnormal MRI findings included the following: intraparenchymal hemorrhage and sylvian fissure arachnoid cyst (1 patient); nonhemorrhagic contusion (1 patient); demyelinating disease (1 patient); and posterior fossa arachnoid cyst, cerebellar volume loss, and nonspecific white matter changes (1 patient). Results of clinical neuroimaging studies are normal in the majority of pediatric patients with SRC. However, in selected cases neuroimaging can provide information that impacts decision making about return to play and retirement from the sport.

Finding an appropriate equation to measure similarity between binary vectors: case studies on Indonesian and Japanese herbal medicines.

PubMed

Wijaya, Sony Hartono; Afendi, Farit Mochamad; Batubara, Irmanida; Darusman, Latifah K; Altaf-Ul-Amin, Md; Kanaya, Shigehiko

2016-12-07

The binary similarity and dissimilarity measures have critical roles in the processing of data consisting of binary vectors in various fields including bioinformatics and chemometrics. These metrics express the similarity and dissimilarity values between two binary vectors in terms of the positive matches, absence mismatches or negative matches. To our knowledge, there is no published work presenting a systematic way of finding an appropriate equation to measure binary similarity that performs well for certain data type or application. A proper method to select a suitable binary similarity or dissimilarity measure is needed to obtain better classification results. In this study, we proposed a novel approach to select binary similarity and dissimilarity measures. We collected 79 binary similarity and dissimilarity equations by extensive literature search and implemented those equations as an R package called bmeasures. We applied these metrics to quantify the similarity and dissimilarity between herbal medicine formulas belonging to the Indonesian Jamu and Japanese Kampo separately. We assessed the capability of binary equations to classify herbal medicine pairs into match and mismatch efficacies based on their similarity or dissimilarity coefficients using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. According to the area under the ROC curve results, we found Indonesian Jamu and Japanese Kampo datasets obtained different ranking of binary similarity and dissimilarity measures. Out of all the equations, the Forbes-2 similarity and the Variant of Correlation similarity measures are recommended for studying the relationship between Jamu formulas and Kampo formulas, respectively. The selection of binary similarity and dissimilarity measures for multivariate analysis is data dependent. The proposed method can be used to find the most suitable binary similarity and dissimilarity equation wisely for a particular data. Our finding suggests that all four types of matching quantities in the Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) table are important to calculate the similarity and dissimilarity coefficients between herbal medicine formulas. Also, the binary similarity and dissimilarity measures that include the negative match quantity d achieve better capability to separate herbal medicine pairs compared to equations that exclude d.

The HETDEX pilot survey. V. The physical origin of Lyα emitters probed by near-infrared spectroscopy

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

Song, Mimi; Finkelstein, Steven L.; Gebhardt, Karl

2014-08-10

We present the results from a Very Large Telescope/SINFONI and Keck/NIRSPEC near-infrared spectroscopic survey of 16 Lyα emitters (LAEs) at z = 2.1-2.5 in the COSMOS and GOODS-N fields discovered from the Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Pilot Survey. We detect rest-frame optical nebular lines (Hα and/or [O III] λ5007) for 10 of the LAEs and measure physical properties, including the star formation rate (SFR), gas-phase metallicity, gas mass fraction, and Lyα velocity offset. We find that LAEs may lie below the mass-metallicity relation for continuum-selected star-forming galaxies at the same redshift. The LAEs all show velocity shifts ofmore » Lyα relative to the systemic redshift ranging between +85 and +296 km s{sup –1} with a mean of +180 km s{sup –1}. This value is smaller than measured for continuum-selected star-forming galaxies at similar redshifts. The Lyα velocity offsets show a moderate correlation with the measured SFR (2.5σ), but no significant correlations are seen with the SFR surface density, specific SFR, stellar mass, or dynamical mass (≲1.5σ). Exploring the role of dust, kinematics of the interstellar medium (ISM), and geometry on the escape of Lyα photons, we find no signature of selective quenching of resonantly scattered Lyα photons. However, we also find no evidence that a clumpy ISM is enhancing the Lyα equivalent width. Our results suggest that the low metallicity in LAEs may be responsible for yielding an environment with a low neutral hydrogen column density and less dust, easing the escape of Lyα photons over that in continuum-selected star-forming galaxies.« less

State of Maine Alcohol and Other Drug Use: An Assessment of Students in Grades 6-12. Risk and Protective Factors, 1996.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dana, Robert Q.

Primary findings of the Maine Student Drug Survey, administered during the academic year 1995-96, are presented. Highlights of the study findings, selected prevalence findings, selected risk and protective factor findings, policy recommendations, and recommendations for future research are presented. The questionnaire and the study are described…

Selective Narrowing of Social Networks Across Adulthood is Associated With Improved Emotional Experience in Daily Life.

PubMed

English, Tammy; Carstensen, Laura L

2014-03-01

Past research has documented age differences in the size and composition of social networks that suggest that networks grow smaller with age and include an increasingly greater proportion of well-known social partners. According to socioemotional selectivity theory, such changes in social network composition serve an antecedent emotion regulatory function that supports an age-related increase in the priority that people place on emotional well-being. The present study employed a longitudinal design with a sample that spanned the full adult age range to examine whether there is evidence of within-individual (developmental) change in social networks and whether the characteristics of relationships predict emotional experiences in daily life. Using growth curve analyses, social networks were found to increase in size in young adulthood and then decline steadily throughout later life. As postulated by socioemotional selectivity theory, reductions were observed primarily in the number of peripheral partners; the number of close partners was relatively stable over time. In addition, cross-sectional analyses revealed that older adults reported that social network members elicited less negative emotion and more positive emotion. The emotional tone of social networks, particularly when negative emotions were associated with network members, also predicted experienced emotion of participants. Overall, findings were robust after taking into account demographic variables and physical health. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of socioemotional selectivity theory and related theoretical models.

SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF FAINT LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES NEAR REDSHIFT FIVE IN THE HUBBLE ULTRA DEEP FIELD

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

Rhoads, James E.; Malhotra, Sangeeta; Cohen, Seth

We present the faintest spectroscopically confirmed sample of z {approx} 5 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) to date. The sample is based on slitless grism spectra of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field region from the Grism ACS Program for Extragalactic Science (GRAPES) and Probing Evolution and Reionization Spectroscopically (PEARS) projects, using the G800L grism on the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys. We report here confirmations of 39 galaxies, preselected as candidate LBGs using photometric selection criteria. We compare a 'traditional' V-dropout selection, based on the work of Giavalisco et al., to a more liberal one (with V - imore » > 0.9), and find that the traditional criteria are about 64% complete and 81% reliable. We also study the Ly{alpha} emission properties of our sample. We find that Ly{alpha} emission is detected in {approx}1/4 of the sample, and that the liberal V-dropout color selection includes {approx}55% of previously published line-selected Ly{alpha} sources. Finally, we examine our stacked two-dimensional spectra. We demonstrate that strong, spatially extended ({approx}1'') Ly{alpha} emission is not a generic property of these LBGs, but that a modest extension of the Ly{alpha} photosphere (compared to the starlight) may be present in those galaxies with prominent Ly{alpha} emission.« less

Noise Suppression Based on Multi-Model Compositions Using Multi-Pass Search with Multi-Label N-gram Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jitsuhiro, Takatoshi; Toriyama, Tomoji; Kogure, Kiyoshi

We propose a noise suppression method based on multi-model compositions and multi-pass search. In real environments, input speech for speech recognition includes many kinds of noise signals. To obtain good recognized candidates, suppressing many kinds of noise signals at once and finding target speech is important. Before noise suppression, to find speech and noise label sequences, we introduce multi-pass search with acoustic models including many kinds of noise models and their compositions, their n-gram models, and their lexicon. Noise suppression is frame-synchronously performed using the multiple models selected by recognized label sequences with time alignments. We evaluated this method using the E-Nightingale task, which contains voice memoranda spoken by nurses during actual work at hospitals. The proposed method obtained higher performance than the conventional method.

Where Would You Go for Your Next Hospitalization?

PubMed Central

Jung, Kyoungrae; Feldman, Roger; Scanlon, Dennis

2014-01-01

We examine the effects of diverse dimensions of hospital quality – including consumers’ perceptions of unobserved attributes – on future hospital choice. We utilize consumers’ stated preference weights to obtain hospital-specific estimates of perceptions about unmeasured attributes such as reputation. We report three findings. First, consumers’ perceptions of reputation and medical services contribute substantially to utility for a hospital choice. Second, consumers tend to select hospitals with high clinical quality scores even before the scores are publicized. However, the effect of clinical quality on hospital choice is relatively small. Third, satisfaction with a prior hospital admission has a large impact on future hospital choice. Our findings suggest that including measures of consumers’ experience in report cards may increase their responsiveness to publicized information, but other strategies are needed to overcome the large effects of consumers’ beliefs about other quality attributes. PMID:21665300

Clinical Trials of Blood Pressure Lowering and Antihypertensive Medication: Is Cognitive Measurement State-of-the-Art?

PubMed

Elias, Merrill F; Torres, Rachael V; Davey, Adam

2018-05-07

Randomized controlled trials of blood pressure (BP) lowering and antihypertensive medication use on cognitive outcomes have often been disappointing, reporting mixed findings and small effect sizes. We evaluate the extent to which cognitive assessment protocols used in these trials approach state-of-the-art. Overall, we find that a primary focus on cognition and the systematic selection of cognitive outcomes across trials take a backseat to other trial goals. Twelve trials investigating change in cognitive functioning were examined and none met criteria for state-of-the-art assessment, including use of at least 4 tests indexing 2 cognitive domains. Four trials investigating incident dementia were also examined. Each trial used state-of-the-art diagnostic criteria to assess dementia, although follow-up periods were relatively short, with only 2 trials lasting for at least 3 years. Weaknesses in each trial may act to obscure or weaken the positive effects of BP lowering on cognitive functioning. Improving trial designs in terms of cognitive outcomes selected and length of follow-up periods employed could lead to more promising findings. We offer logical steps to achieve state-of-the-art assessment protocols, with examples, in hopes of improving future trials.

The Influence of Selective and Divided Attention on Audiovisual Integration in Children.

PubMed

Yang, Weiping; Ren, Yanna; Yang, Dan Ou; Yuan, Xue; Wu, Jinglong

2016-01-24

This article aims to investigate whether there is a difference in audiovisual integration in school-aged children (aged 6 to 13 years; mean age = 9.9 years) between the selective attention condition and divided attention condition. We designed a visual and/or auditory detection task that included three blocks (divided attention, visual-selective attention, and auditory-selective attention). The results showed that the response to bimodal audiovisual stimuli was faster than to unimodal auditory or visual stimuli under both divided attention and auditory-selective attention conditions. However, in the visual-selective attention condition, no significant difference was found between the unimodal visual and bimodal audiovisual stimuli in response speed. Moreover, audiovisual behavioral facilitation effects were compared between divided attention and selective attention (auditory or visual attention). In doing so, we found that audiovisual behavioral facilitation was significantly difference between divided attention and selective attention. The results indicated that audiovisual integration was stronger in the divided attention condition than that in the selective attention condition in children. Our findings objectively support the notion that attention can modulate audiovisual integration in school-aged children. Our study might offer a new perspective for identifying children with conditions that are associated with sustained attention deficit, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. © The Author(s) 2016.

An Analysis of Selectivity Bias in the Medicare AAPCC

PubMed Central

Dowd, Bryan; Feldman, Roger; Moscovice, Ira; Wisner, Catherine; Bland, Pat; Finch, Mike

1996-01-01

Using econometric models of endogenous sample selection, we examine possible payment bias to Medicare Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA)-risk health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in the Twin Cities in 1988. We do not find statistically significant evidence of favorable HMO selection. In fact, the sign of the selection term indicates adverse selection into HMOs. This finding is interesting, in view of the fact that three of the five risk HMOs in the study have since converted to non-risk contracts. PMID:10158735

Prospective case-control study of efficacy of bilateral selective neck dissection in primary surgical treatment of supraglottic laryngeal cancers with clinically negative cervical findings (N0).

PubMed

Djordjevic, V; Bukurov, B; Arsovic, N; Dimitrijevic, M; Jesic, S; Nesic, V; Petrovic, Z

2016-12-01

To evaluate the efficacy of bilateral selective neck dissection of levels II-IV in elective and therapeutic management of the neck as a part of primary surgical treatment of patients with supraglottic laryngeal cancer and clinically negative cervical findings (N0). Institutional, observational, case-control study with historic control of patients who underwent primary supraglottic tumour surgery, and a prospective cohort of patient, who underwent, besides the operation of primary tumour, bilateral selective neck dissection (level II-IV). University, tertiary level hospital, national referral centre. The study included 193 patients with supraglottic cancer and without palpable or ultrasound positive cervical findings who were surgically treated from 1988 to 2005. Besides the operation of primary tumour, all patients in the study group underwent bilateral selective neck dissection (level II-IV). Patients in the control group (N = 51) underwent primary tumour operation only and were followed up regularly. In cases with postoperative regional recurrences, the radical neck dissection was performed. All patients with histopathological confirmation of occult metastases were administered radiotherapy treatment (60 Gy) in the postoperative period. Five-year overall survival rate. Occult cervical metastases were found in 18% of patients. They were present in level II in 77.5%, in level III in 20% of cases and in one patient in level IV (2.5%); the extracapsular spread was observed in 20% of cases. Postoperative regional metastases were found in 4.15% of cases in the study group, and in 11.8% in the control group, which proved to be significantly higher. The five-year overall survival rate showed no significant difference between the study group and the control group. The incidence of postoperative regional recurrences could be reduced by performing bilateral selective neck dissection simultaneously with primary tumour operation, but with no influence on the survival rate. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Auditory selective attention in adolescents with major depression: An event-related potential study.

PubMed

Greimel, E; Trinkl, M; Bartling, J; Bakos, S; Grossheinrich, N; Schulte-Körne, G

2015-02-01

Major depression (MD) is associated with deficits in selective attention. Previous studies in adults with MD using event-related potentials (ERPs) reported abnormalities in the neurophysiological correlates of auditory selective attention. However, it is yet unclear whether these findings can be generalized to MD in adolescence. Thus, the aim of the present ERP study was to explore the neural mechanisms of auditory selective attention in adolescents with MD. 24 male and female unmedicated adolescents with MD and 21 control subjects were included in the study. ERPs were collected during an auditory oddball paradigm. Depressive adolescents tended to show a longer N100 latency to target and non-target tones. Moreover, MD subjects showed a prolonged latency of the P200 component to targets. Across groups, longer P200 latency was associated with a decreased tendency of disinhibited behavior as assessed by a behavioral questionnaire. To be able to draw more precise conclusions about differences between the neural bases of selective attention in adolescents vs. adults with MD, future studies should include both age groups and apply the same experimental setting across all subjects. The study provides strong support for abnormalities in the neurophysiolgical bases of selective attention in adolecents with MD at early stages of auditory information processing. Absent group differences in later ERP components reflecting voluntary attentional processes stand in contrast to results reported in adults with MD and may suggest that adolescents with MD possess mechanisms to compensate for abnormalities in the early stages of selective attention. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modeling recent human evolution in mice by expression of a selected EDAR variant

PubMed Central

Kamberov, Yana G.; Wang, Sijia; Tan, Jingze; Gerbault, Pascale; Wark, Abigail; Tan, Longzhi; Yang, Yajun; Li, Shilin; Tang, Kun; Chen, Hua; Powell, Adam; Itan, Yuval; Fuller, Dorian; Lohmueller, Jason; Mao, Junhao; Schachar, Asa; Paymer, Madeline; Hostetter, Elizabeth; Byrne, Elizabeth; Burnett, Melissa; McMahon, Andrew P.; Thomas, Mark G.; Lieberman, Daniel E.; Jin, Li; Tabin, Clifford J.; Morgan, Bruce A.; Sabeti, Pardis C.

2013-01-01

Summary An adaptive variant of the human Ectodysplasin receptor, EDARV370A, is one of the strongest candidates of recent positive selection from genome-wide scans. We have modeled EDAR370A in mice and characterized its phenotype and evolutionary origins in humans. Our computational analysis suggests the allele arose in Central China approximately 30,000 years ago. Although EDAR370A has been associated with increased scalp hair thickness and changed tooth morphology in humans, its direct biological significance and potential adaptive role remain unclear. We generated a knock-in mouse model and find that, as in humans, hair thickness is increased in EDAR370A mice. We identify novel biological targets affected by the mutation, including mammary and eccrine glands. Building on these results, we find that EDAR370A is associated with an increased number of active eccrine glands in the Han Chinese. This interdisciplinary approach yields unique insight into the generation of adaptive variation among modern humans. PMID:23415220

Spectroscopy of exotic hadrons formed from dynamical diquarks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebed, Richard F.

2017-12-01

The dynamical diquark picture asserts that exotic hadrons can be formed from widely separated colored diquark or triquark components. We use the Born-Oppenheimer (BO) approximation to study the spectrum of states thus constructed, both in the basis of diquark spins and in the basis of heavy quark-antiquark spins. We develop a compact notation for naming these states, and use the results of lattice simulations for hybrid mesons to predict the lowest expected BO potentials for both tetraquarks and pentaquarks. We then compare to the set of exotic candidates with experimentally determined quantum numbers, and find that all of them can be accommodated. Once decay modes are also considered, one can develop selection rules of both exact (JP C conservation) and approximate (within the context of the BO approximation) types and test their effectiveness. We find that the most appealing way to satisfy both sets of selection rules requires including additional low-lying BO potentials, a hypothesis that can be checked on the lattice.

Prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use and the risk of autism spectrum disorder in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Kaplan, Yusuf C; Keskin-Arslan, Elif; Acar, Selin; Sozmen, Kaan

2016-12-01

To determine whether an up-to-date systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies would support the previously suggested associations regarding prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use and the risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children. PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Reprotox databases were searched; observational studies with an exposed and unexposed group were included. The meta-analysis of case-control studies demonstrated a significantly increased risk of ASD in the children whose mothers were prenatally exposed to SSRIs during different exposure time windows (except third trimester). The qualitative review of the cohort studies suggested inconsistent findings. The significant association between preconception-only SSRI exposure and ASD in the children and negative/inconsistent findings among cohort studies weaken the significant associations detected in this meta-analysis. We suggest that confounding by indication still cannot be ruled out regarding prenatal SSRI exposure and ASD in children. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Selective mutism: a review and integration of the last 15 years.

PubMed

Viana, Andres G; Beidel, Deborah C; Rabian, Brian

2009-02-01

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare childhood disorder characterized by a lack of speech in one or more settings in which speaking is socially expected. A comprehensive and uniform theory about the etiology, assessment, and treatment of SM does not exist. Historically, varying definitions and criteria have been applied to children with SM, therefore making comparisons between studies somewhat difficult. Accumulating findings on the phenomenology of SM point to a complex and multidetermined etiology. Developmental psychopathology represents a useful heuristic for conceptualization of SM and serves as an integrative framework for organizing the sometimes disparate findings that permeate the SM literature. The purpose of this review is to summarize the literature on SM, including phenomenology, assessment, and treatment, with the main goals of clarifying its clinical presentation, offering a theoretical understanding of SM from a developmental psychopathology perspective, and highlighting both research and practice gaps that may exist. Recommendations for future research are made with the goal of expanding the current knowledge base on the etiology of SM.

Multigenerational: Households and the School Readiness of Children Born to Unmarried Mothers

PubMed Central

Augustine, Jennifer March; Raley, R. Kelly

2013-01-01

Following the ongoing increase in nonmarital fertility, policy makers have looked for ways to limit the disadvantages faced by children of unmarried mothers. Recent initiatives included marriage promotion and welfare-to-work programs. Yet policy might also consider the promotion of three generational households. We know little about whether multigenerational households benefit children of unwed mothers, although they are mandated for unmarried teen mothers applying for welfare benefits. Multigenerational households are also becoming increasingly common. Thus, using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 217), this study examines whether grandparent-headed coresidential households benefit preschool-aged children’s school readiness, employing propensity score techniques to account for selection into these households. Findings reveal living with a grandparent is not associated with child outcomes for families that select into such arrangements but is positively associated with reading scores and behavior problems for families with a low propensity to coreside. The implications of these findings for policy are discussed. PMID:23847390

Dental occlusion and temporomandibular disorders.

PubMed

Stone, J Caitlin; Hannah, Andrew; Nagar, Nathan

2017-10-27

Data sourcesMedline, Scopus and Google Scholar.Study selectionTwo reviewers selected studies independently. English language clinical studies assessing the association between temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and features of dental occlusion were considered.Data extraction and synthesisStudy quality was assessed based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) and a narrative synthesis was presented.ResultsIn all 25 studies (17 case-control, eight comparative) were included. Overall there was a high variability between occlusal features and TMD diagnosis. Findings were consistent with a lack of clinically relevant association between TMD and dental occlusion. Only two studies were associated with TMD in the majority (≥50%) of single variable analyses in patient populations. Only mediotrusive interferences are associated with TMD in the majority of multiple variable analyses.ConclusionsThe findings support the absence of a disease-specific association, there is no ground to hypothesise a major role for dental occlusion in the pathophysiology of TMDs. Dental clinicians are thus encouraged to move forward and abandon the old-fashioned gnathological paradig.

Use of Bayesian Networks to Probabilistically Model and Improve the Likelihood of Validation of Microarray Findings by RT-PCR

PubMed Central

English, Sangeeta B.; Shih, Shou-Ching; Ramoni, Marco F.; Smith, Lois E.; Butte, Atul J.

2014-01-01

Though genome-wide technologies, such as microarrays, are widely used, data from these methods are considered noisy; there is still varied success in downstream biological validation. We report a method that increases the likelihood of successfully validating microarray findings using real time RT-PCR, including genes at low expression levels and with small differences. We use a Bayesian network to identify the most relevant sources of noise based on the successes and failures in validation for an initial set of selected genes, and then improve our subsequent selection of genes for validation based on eliminating these sources of noise. The network displays the significant sources of noise in an experiment, and scores the likelihood of validation for every gene. We show how the method can significantly increase validation success rates. In conclusion, in this study, we have successfully added a new automated step to determine the contributory sources of noise that determine successful or unsuccessful downstream biological validation. PMID:18790084

Cohort profile: internal migration in sub-Saharan Africa—The Migration and Health in Malawi (MHM) study

PubMed Central

Anglewicz, Philip; VanLandingham, Mark; Manda-Taylor, Lucinda; Kohler, Hans-Peter

2017-01-01

Purpose The Migration and Health in Malawi (MHM) study focuses on a key challenge in migration research: although it has long been established that migration and health are closely linked, identifying the effect of migration on various health outcomes is complicated by methodological challenges. The MHM study uses a longitudinal panel premigration and postmigration study design (with a non-migrant comparison group) to measure and/or control for important characteristics that affect both migration and health outcomes. Participants Data are available for two waves. The MHM interviewed 398 of 715 migrants in 2007 (55.7%) and 722 of 1013 in 2013 (71.3%); as well as 604 of 751 (80.4%) for a non-migrant reference group in 2013. The total interviewed sample size for the MHM in both waves is 1809. These data include extensive information on lifetime migration, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, sexual behaviours, marriage, household/family structure, social networks and social capital, HIV/AIDS biomarkers and other dimensions of health. Findings to date Our result for the relationship between migration and health differs by health measure and analytic approach. Migrants in Malawi have a significantly higher HIV prevalence than non-migrants, which is primarily due to the selection of HIV-positive individuals into migration. We find evidence for health selection; physically healthier men and women are more likely to move, partly because migration selects younger individuals. However, we do not find differences in physical or mental health between migrants and non-migrants after moving. Future plans We are preparing a third round of data collection for these (and any new) migrants, which will take place in 2018. This cohort will be used to examine the effect of migration on various health measures and behaviours, including general mental and physical health, smoking and alcohol use, access to and use of health services and use of antiretroviral therapy. PMID:28515195

A Social–Ecological, Process-Oriented Perspective on Political Violence and Child Development

PubMed Central

Cummings, E. Mark; Goeke-Morey, Marcie; Merrilees, Christine E.; Taylor, Laura K.; Shirlow, Peter A.

2015-01-01

Youths’ risk for adjustment problems in contexts of political violence is well-documented. However, outcomes vary widely, with many children functioning well. Accordingly, moving beyond further documenting the risk for many negative outcomes associated with living in contexts of political violence, a second generation of research is moving towards identifying the mechanisms and conditions that contribute to children’s adjustment. Increasing support is emerging for understanding effects on children in terms of changes in the social contexts in which children live, and in the psychological processes engaged by these social ecologies. Selected themes are considered, including (a) the need to study multiple levels of the social ecology, (b) differentiating between the effects of exposure to contexts of political versus non-political violence, and (c) theories about explanatory processes. Selected research pertinent to these directions is reviewed, including findings from a six-wave longitudinal study on political violence and children in Northern Ireland. PMID:26877765

A Social-Ecological, Process-Oriented Perspective on Political Violence and Child Development.

PubMed

Cummings, E Mark; Goeke-Morey, Marcie; Merrilees, Christine E; Taylor, Laura K; Shirlow, Peter A

2014-06-01

Youths' risk for adjustment problems in contexts of political violence is well-documented. However, outcomes vary widely, with many children functioning well. Accordingly, moving beyond further documenting the risk for many negative outcomes associated with living in contexts of political violence, a second generation of research is moving towards identifying the mechanisms and conditions that contribute to children's adjustment. Increasing support is emerging for understanding effects on children in terms of changes in the social contexts in which children live, and in the psychological processes engaged by these social ecologies. Selected themes are considered, including (a) the need to study multiple levels of the social ecology, (b) differentiating between the effects of exposure to contexts of political versus non-political violence, and (c) theories about explanatory processes. Selected research pertinent to these directions is reviewed, including findings from a six-wave longitudinal study on political violence and children in Northern Ireland.

Mass screening of multiple abdominal solid organs using mobile helical computed tomography scanner--a preliminary report.

PubMed

Ishikawa, Susumu; Aoki, Jun; Ohwada, Susumu; Takahashi, Toru; Morishita, Yasuo; Ueda, Keisuke

2007-04-01

The possibility of a new screening procedure for multiple abdominal solid organs using a mobile helical computed tomography (CT) scanner was evaluated. A total of 4,543 residents, who were 40 years of age or older, received CT scanning without contrast medium. The mean age of participants was 64 years including 2,022 males and 2,521 females. A total of 2,105 abnormal findings were uniquely detected in 1,594 participants. Liver and kidney diseases including ureter occupied around 30% of total abnormal findings, respectively. Besides frequent cystic or calcified lesions, solid tumours were suspected in 56 lesions, which received further examination by specialized physicians. Five (9%) of them were confirmed as being malignant tumours including pancreatic cancer in two patients, and liver, lung and ovary cancers in one patient each, respectively. All five patients with each malignant lesion received curative operations. Small-sized abdominal aortic aneurysms and heart valve diseases were uniquely found in 22 and two patients, respectively. Qualitative diagnoses of solid tumours were difficult using CT findings without contrast medium. CT screening procedures require further investigation in aspect of the selection of examinees, CT scanning procedure, sensitivity and specificity, and cost-effectiveness.

Interdisciplinary research in global biogeochemical cycling Nitrous oxide in terrestrial ecosystems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norman, S. D.; Peterson, D. L.

1984-01-01

NASA has begun an interdisciplinary research program to investigate various aspects of Global Biology and Global Habitability. An important element selected for the study of global phenomena is related to biogeochemical cycling. The studies involve a collaboration with recognized scientists in the areas of plant physiology, microbiology, nutrient cycling theory, and related areas. Selected subjects of study include nitrogen cycling dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems with special attention to biosphere/atmosphere interactions, and an identification of sensitive response variables which can be used in ecosystem models based on parameters derived from remotely sensed variables. A description is provided of the progress and findings over the past two years. Attention is given to the characteristics of nitrous oxide emissions, the approach followed in the investigations, the selection of study sites, radiometric measurements, and research in Sequoia.

Pyridostigmine bromide protection against acetylcholinesterase inhibition by pesticides.

PubMed

Henderson, John D; Glucksman, Gabriela; Leong, Bryan; Tigyi, Andras; Ankirskaia, Anna; Siddique, Imteaz; Lam, Helen; DePeters, Ed; Wilson, Barry W

2012-01-01

Pyridostigmine bromide (PB) has been used to protect soldiers from the toxic effects of soman, a chemical warfare agent. Recent research shows that pyridostigmine bromide protects a significant percentage of acetylcholinesterase in isolated human intercostal muscle. Findings presented here indicate that red blood cell acetylcholinesterase is similarly protected by pyridostigmine bromide from the action of diisopropyl fluorophosphate and several organophosphate pesticides including chlorpyrifos-oxon, diazinon-oxon, and paraoxon, but not malaoxon, using the bovine red blood cell as a subject. These findings suggest that pretreatment with PB may protect growers, farmworkers, first responders, and the public, in general, from the effects of selected pesticides. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Paradox of Modern Pregnancy: A Phenomenological Study of Women's Lived Experiences from Assisted Pregnancy

PubMed Central

Ranjbar, Fahimeh; Akhondi, Mohammad-Mehdi; Borimnejad, Leili; Ghaffari, Saeed-Reza; Behboodi-Moghadam, Zahra

2015-01-01

The purpose of our study was describing the meaning of pregnancy through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs). A qualitative design with hermeneutic phenomenology approach was selected to carry out the research. Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 women who experienced assisted pregnancy. Three themes emerged from women's experience including finding peace in life, paradoxical feelings, and struggling to realize a dream. We concluded that pregnancy is the beginning of a new and hard struggle for women with fertility problems. The findings of our study resulted in helpful implications for the health care professionals managing assisted pregnancies. PMID:26064687

Waiting for the right time: how and why young Thai women manage to avoid heterosexual intercourse.

PubMed

Supametaporn, Pinhatai; Stern, Phyllis Noerager; Rodcumdee, Branom; Chaiyawat, Waraporn

2010-08-01

Nineteen young Thai women were purposively selected from networks of nongovernmental organizations involving children and youths in Bangkok. Our grounded theory findings indicated that these young women used the basic social process they called "waiting for the right time" in order to maintain heterosexual abstinence. Waiting for the right time involved one overarching condition, honoring parental love, and included three overlapping properties: learning rules, planning life path, and ways of preserving virginity. The findings provide information that may lead to the development of culturally competent interventions for middle-class Thai youths to remain healthy and avoid pregnancy.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTIONS OF SEXUAL INTENT: A QUALITATIVE REVIEW AND INTEGRATION

PubMed Central

Lindgren, Kristen P.; Parkhill, Michele R.; George, William H.; Hendershot, Christian S.

2009-01-01

Men appear to interpret people’s behaviors more sexually than do women. This finding, which has been replicated in scores of studies using a variety of methodological approaches, has been linked to important social concerns, including sexual assault and sexual harassment. This article provides a critical review of the published literature on gender differences in sexual intent perception, using selective examples to illustrate and summarize the field’s major constructs, methodologies, and empirical findings. Theoretical explanations for gender differences in sexual intent perceptions are reviewed. Finally, we highlight the field’s remaining issues and make several recommendations for future research directions. PMID:19763282

Persistent directional selection on body size and a resolution to the paradox of stasis.

PubMed

Rollinson, Njal; Rowe, Locke

2015-09-01

Directional selection on size is common but often fails to result in microevolution in the wild. Similarly, macroevolutionary rates in size are low relative to the observed strength of selection in nature. We show that many estimates of selection on size have been measured on juveniles, not adults. Further, parents influence juvenile size by adjusting investment per offspring. In light of these observations, we help resolve this paradox by suggesting that the observed upward selection on size is balanced by selection against investment per offspring, resulting in little or no net selection gradient on size. We find that trade-offs between fecundity and juvenile size are common, consistent with the notion of selection against investment per offspring. We also find that median directional selection on size is positive for juveniles but no net directional selection exists for adult size. This is expected because parent-offspring conflict exists over size, and juvenile size is more strongly affected by investment per offspring than adult size. These findings provide qualitative support for the hypothesis that upward selection on size is balanced by selection against investment per offspring, where parent-offspring conflict over size is embodied in the opposing signs of the two selection gradients. © 2015 The Author(s). Evolution © 2015 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Insomnia during pregnancy: Diagnosis and Rational Interventions.

PubMed

Hashmi, Ali M; Bhatia, Shashi K; Bhatia, Subhash K; Khawaja, Imran S

2016-01-01

Sleep disturbances are common in pregnancy. Insomnia is a frequent sleep disturbance experienced by pregnant women which can be primary or due to co-morbid conditions. The differential diagnosis of insomnia in pregnancy includes anxiety disorders, mood disorders, breathing related sleep disorders and restless legs syndrome. Early interventions to treat the sleep disturbance are recommended to avoid adverse pregnancy outcomes. Management strategies include improving sleep hygiene, behavioral therapies, and pharmacotherapy. The risks of pharmacotherapy must be weighed against their benefits due to the possible risk of teratogenicity associated with some medications. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar employing a combination of key words: pregnancy, sleep disturbances, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep disorders and insomnia. We included original studies, review articles, meta-analysis and systematic reviews in our search prioritizing articles from the last 10-15 years. Articles older than 15 years were only included if their findings had not been superseded by more recent data. Further selection of articles was done from bibliographies and references of selected articles. Sleep disturbances in pregnancy are common and cause considerable morbidity. Management includes a combination of non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments carefully weighing the risks and benefits of each for the expectant mother and fetus.

Insomnia during pregnancy: Diagnosis and Rational Interventions

PubMed Central

Hashmi, Ali M.; Bhatia, Shashi K.; Bhatia, Subhash K.; Khawaja, Imran S.

2016-01-01

Sleep disturbances are common in pregnancy. Insomnia is a frequent sleep disturbance experienced by pregnant women which can be primary or due to co-morbid conditions. The differential diagnosis of insomnia in pregnancy includes anxiety disorders, mood disorders, breathing related sleep disorders and restless legs syndrome. Early interventions to treat the sleep disturbance are recommended to avoid adverse pregnancy outcomes. Management strategies include improving sleep hygiene, behavioral therapies, and pharmacotherapy. The risks of pharmacotherapy must be weighed against their benefits due to the possible risk of teratogenicity associated with some medications. Methods: We searched PubMed and Google Scholar employing a combination of key words: pregnancy, sleep disturbances, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep disorders and insomnia. We included original studies, review articles, meta-analysis and systematic reviews in our search prioritizing articles from the last 10-15 years. Articles older than 15 years were only included if their findings had not been superseded by more recent data. Further selection of articles was done from bibliographies and references of selected articles. Conclusion: Sleep disturbances in pregnancy are common and cause considerable morbidity. Management includes a combination of non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments carefully weighing the risks and benefits of each for the expectant mother and fetus. PMID:27648062

Children, Youth, and Families in the Midwest. Hearing before the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, First Session (St. Paul, Minnesota, September 26, 1983).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.

Reporting the second in a series of regional fact-finding committee hearings held across the United States, this document includes testimony from social service organizations and state offices in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Testimony from clients and representatives of these agencies documents efforts to ameliorate problems…

Children, Youth, and Families in the Southeast. Hearing before the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, First Session (Miami, Florida, October 14, 1983).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.

Presenting the third of five regional fact-finding committee hearings across the United States, this document includes live testimony and prepared statements from social organizations and state and county offices in Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi. Representatives of these agencies reported their efforts to…

Physician’s Assistants Attitudes and Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-06-01

interest to the Army PAs include pay, promotions, degree completion, continuing medical education, and pro - fessional utilization. The present findings...Circular and prepare for the interview and selection process. However, we are not authorized.more thac 400 PA’s; con - sequently, we cannot train (or...service commit- ment and eervice component (RA or OTRA). 2. AFS and service connitment data (displayed at Incl 1) has been pro - jected by PA clacs

Selective Androgen Receptor Down-Regulators (SARDs): A New Prostate Cancer Therapy

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-10-01

PCa (9). Thus far, the techniques that have been used to down-regulate the AR include antisense oligonucleotides (10, 11), ribozyme treatments (12...Our findings suggest that ICI may present a useful treatment option for patients with AR-dependent PCa. Unlike the ribozyme , antisense, siRNA, or...Catalytic cleavage of the androgen receptor messenger RNA and functional inhibition of androgen receptor activity by a hammerhead ribozyme . Mol Endocrinol

Research in Science Education, 1993. Selected Refereed Papers from the Annual Conference of the Australasian Science Education Research Association (24th, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia, July 8-11, 1993).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardner, Paul L., Ed.

1993-01-01

This volume contains 41 papers and 6 abstracts/research notes. Titles include: "What makes lessons different? A comparison of a student's behaviour in two science lessons"; "Is achievement in Australian chemistry gender based?"; "Towards becoming a reflective practitioner: what to know and where to find it";…

Antihistamines and birth defects: a systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Gilboa, Suzanne M; Ailes, Elizabeth C; Rai, Ramona P; Anderson, Jaynia A; Honein, Margaret A

2014-12-01

Approximately 10 - 15% of women reportedly take an antihistamine during pregnancy for the relief of nausea and vomiting, allergy and asthma symptoms, or indigestion. Antihistamines include histamine H1-receptor and H2-receptor antagonists. This is a systematic evaluation of the peer-reviewed epidemiologic literature published through February 2014 on the association between prenatal exposure to antihistamines and birth defects. Papers addressing histamine H1- or H2-receptor antagonists are included. Papers addressing pyridoxine plus doxylamine (Bendectin in the United States, Debendox in the United Kingdom, Diclectin in Canada, Lenotan and Merbental in other countries) prior to the year 2001 were excluded post hoc because of several previously published meta-analyses and commentaries on this medication. The literature on the safety of antihistamine use during pregnancy with respect to birth defects is generally reassuring though the positive findings from a few large studies warrant corroboration in other populations. The findings in the literature are considered in light of three critical methodological issues: i) selection of appropriate study population; ii) ascertainment of antihistamine exposures; and iii) ascertainment of birth defect outcomes. Selected antihistamines have been very well studied (e.g., loratadine); others, especially H2-receptor antagonists, require additional study before an assessment of safety with respect to birth defect risk could be made.

Update in Internal Medicine

PubMed Central

López-Jiménez, Francisco; Brito, Máximo; Aude, Y. Wady; Scheinberg, Phillip; Kaplan, Mariana; Dixon, Denise A.; Schneiderman, Neil; Trejo, Jorge F.; López-Salazar, Luis Humberto; Ramírez-Barba, Ector Jaime; Kalil, Roberto; Ortiz, Carmen; Goyos, José; Buenaño, Alvaro; Kottiech, Samer; Lamas, Gervasio A.

2009-01-01

More than 500,000 new medical articles are published every year and available time to keep updated is scarcer every day. Nowadays, the task of selecting useful, consistent, and relevant information for clinicians is a priority in many major medical journals. This review has the aim of gathering the results of the most important findings in clinical medicine in the last few years. It is focused on results from randomized clinical trials and well-designed observational research. Findings were included preferentially if they showed solid results, and we avoided as much as possible including only preliminary data, or results that included only non-clinical outcomes. Some of the most relevant findings reported here include the significant benefit of statins in patients with coronary artery disease even with mean cholesterol level. It also provides a substantial review of the most significant trials assessing the effectiveness of IIb/IIIa receptor blockers. In gastroenterology many advances have been made in the H. pylori eradication, and the finding that the cure of H. pylori infection may be followed by gastroesophageal reflux disease. Some new antivirals have shown encouraging results in patients with chronic hepatitis. In the infectious disease arena, the late breaking trials in anti-retroviral disease are discussed, as well as the new trends regarding antibiotic resistance. This review approaches also the role of leukotriene modifiers in the treatment of asthma and discusses the benefit of using methylprednisolone in patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome, among many other advances in internal medicine. PMID:11068074

A qualitative analysis of statements on motivation of applicants for medical school.

PubMed

Wouters, Anouk; Bakker, Anneke H; van Wijk, Inge J; Croiset, Gerda; Kusurkar, Rashmi A

2014-09-23

Selection committees try to ascertain that motivated students are selected for medical school. Self-determination theory stresses that the type of motivation is more important than the quantity of motivation. Autonomous motivation, compared to controlled motivation, in students leads to better learning outcomes. Applicants can express their motivation in written statements, a selection tool which has been found to elicit heterogeneous responses, hampering the comparison of applicants. This study investigates the content of applicants' statements on motivation for medical school in particular, the possibility to distinguish the type of motivation and the differences between selected and non-selected applicants. A thematic analysis was conducted on written statements on motivation (n = 96), collected as a part of the selection procedure for the graduate entry program for medicine and research at our institution. Themes were identified as motivation-related and motivation-unrelated (additional). The motivation-related themes were further classified as autonomous and controlled types of motivation. Group percentages for each theme were compared between selected and non-selected applicants using Chi-square test and Fisher exact test. Applicants mainly described reasons belonging to autonomous type of motivation and fewer reasons belonging to controlled type of motivation. Additional themes in the statements included previous work experience and academic qualifications, ambitions, expectations and descriptions of the program and profession, personal qualities, and personal history. Applicants used strong words to support their stories. The selected and non-selected applicants did not differ in their types of motivation. Non-selected applicants provided more descriptions of personal history than selected applicants (p < 0.05). The statement on motivation does not appear to distinguish between applicants in selection for medical school. Both selected and non-selected applicants reported mainly autonomous motivation for applying, and included a lot of additional information, which was beyond the scope of what was asked from them. The findings raise a question mark on the validity and reliability of the statement on motivation as a tool for selection. It could however be of added value to enable applicants to tell their story, which they appreciate, and to create awareness of the program, resulting in an informed decision to apply.

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

NONE

White Oak Dam is located in the White Oak Creek watershed which provides the primary surface drainage for Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A stability analysis was made on the dam by Syed Ahmed in January 1994 which included an evaluation of the liquefaction potential of the embankment and foundation. This report evaluates the stability of the dam and includes comments on the report prepared by Ahmed. Slope stability analyses were performed on the dam and included cases for sudden drawdown, steady seepage, partial pool and earthquake. Results of the stability analyses indicate that the dam is stable and failure ofmore » the structure would not occur for the cases considered. The report prepared by Ahmed leads to the same conclusions as stated above. Review of the report finds that it is complete, well documented and conservative in its selection of soil parameters. The evaluation of the liquefaction potential is also complete and this report is in agreement with the findings that the dam and foundation are not susceptible to liquefaction.« less

Eugenol prevents amyloid formation of proteins and inhibits amyloid-induced hemolysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubey, Kriti; Anand, Bibin G.; Shekhawat, Dolat Singh; Kar, Karunakar

2017-02-01

Eugenol has attracted considerable attention because of its potential for many pharmaceutical applications including anti-inflammatory, anti-tumorigenic and anti-oxidant properties. Here, we have investigated the effect of eugenol on amyloid formation of selected globular proteins. We find that both spontaneous and seed-induced aggregation processes of insulin and serum albumin (BSA) are significantly suppressed in the presence of eugenol. Isothermal titration calorimetric data predict a single binding site for eugenol-insulin complex confirming the affinity of eugenol for native soluble insulin species. We also find that eugenol suppresses amyloid-induced hemolysis. Our findings reveal the inherent ability of eugenol to stabilize native proteins and to delay the conversion of protein species of native conformation into β-sheet assembled mature fibrils, which seems to be crucial for its inhibitory effect.

Resurgence of target responding does not exceed increases in inactive responding in a forced-choice alternative reinforcement procedure in humans

PubMed Central

Sweeney, Mary M.; Shahan, Timothy A.

2016-01-01

Resurgence following removal of alternative reinforcement has been studied in non-human animals, children with developmental disabilities, and typically functioning adults. Adult human laboratory studies have included responses without a controlled history of reinforcement, included only two response options, or involved extensive training. Arbitrary responses allow for control over history of reinforcement. Including an inactive response never associated with reinforcement allows the conclusion that resurgence exceeds extinction-induced variability. Although procedures with extensive training produce reliable resurgence, a brief procedure with the same experimental control would allow more efficient examination of resurgence in adult humans. We tested the acceptability of a brief, single-session, three-alternative forced-choice procedure as a model of resurgence in undergraduates. Selecting a shape was the target response (reinforced in Phase I), selecting another shape was the alternative response (reinforced in Phase II), and selecting a third shape was never reinforced. Despite manipulating number of trials and probability of reinforcement, resurgence of the target response did not consistently exceed increases in the inactive response. Our findings reiterate the importance of an inactive control response and call for reexamination of resurgence studies using only two response options. We discuss potential approaches to generate an acceptable, brief human laboratory resurgence procedure. PMID:26724752

Body condition score of Nellore beef cows: a heritable measure to improve the selection of reproductive and maternal traits.

PubMed

Fernandes, A F A; Neves, H H R; Carvalheiro, R; Oliveira, J A; Queiroz, S A

2015-08-01

Despite the economic importance of beef cattle production in Brazil, female reproductive performance, which is strongly associated with production efficiency, is not included in the selection index of most breeding programmes due to low heritability and difficulty in measure. The body condition score (BCS) could be used as an indicator of these traits. However, so far little is known about the feasibility of using BCS as a selection tool for reproductive performance in beef cattle. In this study, we investigated the sources of variation in the BCS of Nellore beef cows, quantified its association with reproductive and maternal traits and estimated its heritability. BCS was analysed using a logistic model that included the following effects: contemporary group at weaning, cow weight and hip height, calving order, reconception together with the weight and scores of conformation and early finishing assigned to calves at weaning. In the genetic analysis, variance components of BCS were estimated through Bayesian inference by fitting an animal model that also included the aforementioned effects. The results showed that BCS was significantly associated with all of the reproductive and maternal variables analysed. The estimated posterior mean of heritability of BCS was 0.24 (highest posterior density interval at 95%: 0.093 to 0.385), indicating an involvement of additive gene action in its determination. The present findings show that BCS can be used as a selection criterion for Nellore females.

Prevalence and characterization of neonatal skin disorders in the first 72h of life.

PubMed

Reginatto, Flávia Pereira; DeVilla, Damie; Muller, Fernanda M; Peruzzo, Juliano; Peres, Letícia P; Steglich, Raquel B; Cestari, Tania F

To determine the prevalence of neonatal dermatological findings and analyze whether there is an association between these findings and neonatal and pregnancy characteristics and seasonality. Newborns from three maternity hospitals in a Brazilian capital city were randomly selected to undergo dermatological assessment by dermatologists. 2938 neonates aged up to three days of life were randomly selected, of whom 309 were excluded due to Intensive Care Unit admission. Of the 2530 assessed neonates, 49.6% were Caucasians, 50.5% were males, 57.6% were born by vaginal delivery, and 92.5% of the mothers received prenatal care. Some dermatological finding was observed in 95.8% of neonates; of these, 88.6% had transient neonatal skin conditions, 42.6% had congenital birthmarks, 26.8% had some benign neonatal pustulosis, 2% had lesions secondary to trauma (including scratches), 0.5% had skin malformations, and 0.1% had an infectious disease. The most prevalent dermatological findings were: lanugo, which was observed in 38.9% of the newborns, sebaceous hyperplasia (35%), dermal melanocytosis (24.61%), skin desquamation (23.3%), erythema toxicum neonatorum (23%), salmon patch (20.4%), skin erythema (19%), genital hyperpigmentation (18.4%), eyelid edema (17.4%), milia (17.3%), genital hypertrophy (12%), and skin xerosis (10.9%). Dermatological findings are frequent during the first days of life and some of them characterize the newborn's skin. Mixed-race newborns and those whose mothers had some gestational risk factor had more dermatological findings. The gestational age, newborn's ethnicity, gender, Apgar at the first and fifth minutes of life, type of delivery, and seasonality influenced the presence of specific neonatal dermatological findings. Copyright © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings-paper 7: understanding the potential impacts of dissemination bias.

PubMed

Booth, Andrew; Lewin, Simon; Glenton, Claire; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Toews, Ingrid; Noyes, Jane; Rashidian, Arash; Berg, Rigmor C; Nyakang'o, Brenda; Meerpohl, Joerg J

2018-01-25

The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Working Group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data and (4) relevance. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on a probable fifth component, dissemination bias. Given its exploratory nature, we are not yet able to provide guidance on applying this potential component of the CERQual approach. Instead, we focus on how dissemination bias might be conceptualised in the context of qualitative research and the potential impact dissemination bias might have on an overall assessment of confidence in a review finding. We also set out a proposed research agenda in this area. We developed this paper by gathering feedback from relevant research communities, searching MEDLINE and Web of Science to identify and characterise the existing literature discussing or assessing dissemination bias in qualitative research and its wider implications, developing consensus through project group meetings, and conducting an online survey of the extent, awareness and perceptions of dissemination bias in qualitative research. We have defined dissemination bias in qualitative research as a systematic distortion of the phenomenon of interest due to selective dissemination of studies or individual study findings. Dissemination bias is important for qualitative evidence syntheses as the selective dissemination of qualitative studies and/or study findings may distort our understanding of the phenomena that these syntheses aim to explore and thereby undermine our confidence in these findings. Dissemination bias has been extensively examined in the context of randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews of such studies. The effects of potential dissemination bias are formally considered, as publication bias, within the GRADE approach. However, the issue has received almost no attention in the context of qualitative research. Because of very limited understanding of dissemination bias and its potential impact on review findings in the context of qualitative evidence syntheses, this component is currently not included in the GRADE-CERQual approach. Further research is needed to establish the extent and impacts of dissemination bias in qualitative research and the extent to which dissemination bias needs to be taken into account when we assess how much confidence we have in findings from qualitative evidence syntheses.

Prospective evaluation of 64 serum autoantibodies as biomarkers for early detection of colorectal cancer in a true screening setting

PubMed Central

Chen, Hongda; Werner, Simone; Butt, Julia; Zörnig, Inka; Knebel, Phillip; Michel, Angelika; Eichmüller, Stefan B.; Jäger, Dirk; Waterboer, Tim; Pawlita, Michael; Brenner, Hermann

2016-01-01

Novel blood-based screening tests are strongly desirable for early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to identify and evaluate autoantibodies against tumor-associated antigens as biomarkers for early detection of CRC. 380 clinically identified CRC patients and samples of participants with selected findings from a cohort of screening colonoscopy participants in 2005–2013 (N=6826) were included in this analysis. Sixty-four serum autoantibody markers were measured by multiplex bead-based serological assays. A two-step approach with selection of biomarkers in a training set, and validation of findings in a validation set, the latter exclusively including participants from the screening setting, was applied. Anti-MAGEA4 exhibited the highest sensitivity for detecting early stage CRC and advanced adenoma. Multi-marker combinations substantially increased sensitivity at the price of a moderate loss of specificity. Anti-TP53, anti-IMPDH2, anti-MDM2 and anti-MAGEA4 were consistently included in the best-performing 4-, 5-, and 6-marker combinations. This four-marker panel yielded a sensitivity of 26% (95% CI, 13–45%) for early stage CRC at a specificity of 90% (95% CI, 83–94%) in the validation set. Notably, it also detected 20% (95% CI, 13–29%) of advanced adenomas. Taken together, the identified biomarkers could contribute to the development of a useful multi-marker blood-based test for CRC early detection. PMID:26909861

Sexual selection and genetic colour polymorphisms in animals.

PubMed

Wellenreuther, Maren; Svensson, Erik I; Hansson, Bengt

2014-11-01

Genetic colour polymorphisms are widespread across animals and often subjected to complex selection regimes. Traditionally, colour morphs were used as simple visual markers to measure allele frequency changes in nature, selection, population divergence and speciation. With advances in sequencing technology and analysis methods, several model systems are emerging where the molecular targets of selection are being described. Here, we discuss recent studies on the genetics of sexually selected colour polymorphisms, aiming at (i) reviewing the evidence of sexual selection on colour polymorphisms, (ii) highlighting the genetic architecture, molecular and developmental basis underlying phenotypic colour diversification and (iii) discuss how the maintenance of such polymorphisms might be facilitated or constrained by these. Studies of the genetic architecture of colour polymorphism point towards the importance of tight clustering of colour loci with other trait loci, such as in the case of inversions and supergene structures. Other interesting findings include linkage between colour loci and mate preferences or sex determination, and the role of introgression and regulatory variation in fuelling polymorphisms. We highlight that more studies are needed that explicitly integrate fitness consequences of sexual selection on colour with the underlying molecular targets of colour to gain insights into the evolutionary consequences of sexual selection on polymorphism maintenance. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Risk Selection into Consumer-Directed Health Plans: An Analysis of Family Choices within Large Employers

PubMed Central

McDevitt, Roland D; Haviland, Amelia M; Lore, Ryan; Laudenberger, Laura; Eisenberg, Matthew; Sood, Neeraj

2014-01-01

Objective To identify the degree of selection into consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) versus traditional plans over time, and factors that influence choice and temper risk selection. Data Sources/Study Setting Sixteen large employers offering both CDHP and traditional plans during the 2004–2007 period, more than 200,000 families. Study Design We model CDHP choice with logistic regression; predictors include risk scores, in addition to family, choice setting, and plan characteristics. Additional models stratify by account type or single enrollee versus family. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Risk scores, family characteristics, and enrollment decisions are derived from medical claims and enrollment files. Interviews with human resources executives provide additional data. Principal Findings CDHP risk scores were 74 percent of traditional plan scores in the first year, and this difference declined over time. Employer contributions to accounts and employee premium savings fostered CDHP enrollment and reduced risk selection. Having to make an active choice of plan increased CDHP enrollment but also increased risk selection. Risk selection was greater for singles than families and did not differ between HRA and HSA-based CDHPs. Conclusions Risk selection was not severe and it was well managed. Employers have effective methods to encourage CDHP enrollment and temper selection against traditional plans. PMID:24800305

A three-layer model of natural image statistics.

PubMed

Gutmann, Michael U; Hyvärinen, Aapo

2013-11-01

An important property of visual systems is to be simultaneously both selective to specific patterns found in the sensory input and invariant to possible variations. Selectivity and invariance (tolerance) are opposing requirements. It has been suggested that they could be joined by iterating a sequence of elementary selectivity and tolerance computations. It is, however, unknown what should be selected or tolerated at each level of the hierarchy. We approach this issue by learning the computations from natural images. We propose and estimate a probabilistic model of natural images that consists of three processing layers. Two natural image data sets are considered: image patches, and complete visual scenes downsampled to the size of small patches. For both data sets, we find that in the first two layers, simple and complex cell-like computations are performed. In the third layer, we mainly find selectivity to longer contours; for patch data, we further find some selectivity to texture, while for the downsampled complete scenes, some selectivity to curvature is observed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Self-esteem, narcissism, and stressful life events: Testing for selection and socialization.

PubMed

Orth, Ulrich; Luciano, Eva C

2015-10-01

We examined whether self-esteem and narcissism predict the occurrence of stressful life events (i.e., selection) and whether stressful life events predict change in self-esteem and narcissism (i.e., socialization). The analyses were based on longitudinal data from 2 studies, including samples of 328 young adults (Study 1) and 371 adults (Study 2). The effects of self-esteem and narcissism were mutually controlled for each other and, moreover, controlled for effects of depression. After conducting the study-level analyses, we meta-analytically aggregated the findings. Self-esteem had a selection effect, suggesting that low self-esteem led to the occurrence of stressful life events; however, this effect became nonsignificant when depression was controlled for. Regardless of whether depression was controlled for or not, narcissism had a selection effect, suggesting that high narcissism led to the occurrence of stressful life events. Moreover, stressful life events had a socialization effect on self-esteem, but not on narcissism, suggesting that the occurrence of stressful life events decreased self-esteem. Analyses of trait-state models indicated that narcissism consisted almost exclusively of perfectly stable trait variance, providing a possible explanation for the absence of socialization effects on narcissism. The findings have significant implications because they suggest that a person's level of narcissism influences whether stressful life events occur, and that self-esteem is shaped by the occurrence of stressful life events. Moreover, we discuss the possibility that depression mediates the selection effect of low self-esteem on stressful life events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Modeling adverse event counts in phase I clinical trials of a cytotoxic agent.

PubMed

Muenz, Daniel G; Braun, Thomas M; Taylor, Jeremy Mg

2018-05-01

Background/Aims The goal of phase I clinical trials for cytotoxic agents is to find the maximum dose with an acceptable risk of severe toxicity. The most common designs for these dose-finding trials use a binary outcome indicating whether a patient had a dose-limiting toxicity. However, a patient may experience multiple toxicities, with each toxicity assigned an ordinal severity score. The binary response is then obtained by dichotomizing a patient's richer set of data. We contribute to the growing literature on new models to exploit this richer toxicity data, with the goal of improving the efficiency in estimating the maximum tolerated dose. Methods We develop three new, related models that make use of the total number of dose-limiting and low-level toxicities a patient experiences. We use these models to estimate the probability of having at least one dose-limiting toxicity as a function of dose. In a simulation study, we evaluate how often our models select the true maximum tolerated dose, and we compare our models with the continual reassessment method, which uses binary data. Results Across a variety of simulation settings, we find that our models compare well against the continual reassessment method in terms of selecting the true optimal dose. In particular, one of our models which uses dose-limiting and low-level toxicity counts beats or ties the other models, including the continual reassessment method, in all scenarios except the one in which the true optimal dose is the highest dose available. We also find that our models, when not selecting the true optimal dose, tend to err by picking lower, safer doses, while the continual reassessment method errs more toward toxic doses. Conclusion Using dose-limiting and low-level toxicity counts, which are easily obtained from data already routinely collected, is a promising way to improve the efficiency in finding the true maximum tolerated dose in phase I trials.

Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursement Rates for Nursing Homes Motivate Select Culture Change Practices But Not Comprehensive Culture Change

PubMed Central

LEPORE, MICHAEL J.; SHIELD, RENÉE R.; LOOZE, JESSICA; TYLER, DENISE; MOR, VINCENT; MILLER, SUSAN C.

2016-01-01

Components of nursing home (NH) culture change include resident-centeredness, empowerment, and home likeness, but practices reflective of these components may be found in both traditional and “culture change” NHs. We use mixed methods to examine the presence of culture change practices in the context of an NH’s payer sources. Qualitative data show how higher pay from Medicare versus Medicaid influences implementation of select culture change practices, and quantitative data show NHs with higher proportions of Medicare residents have significantly higher (measured) environmental culture change implementation. Findings indicate that heightened coordination of Medicare and Medicaid could influence NH implementation of reform practices. PMID:25941947

Supplemental Information for New York State Standardized Interconnection Requirements

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

Ingram, Michael; Narang, David J.; Mather, Barry A.

This document is intended to aid in the understanding and application of the New York State Standardized Interconnection Requirements (SIR) and Application Process for New Distributed Generators 5 MW or Less Connected in Parallel with Utility Distribution Systems, and it aims to provide supplemental information and discussion on selected topics relevant to the SIR. This guide focuses on technical issues that have to date resulted in the majority of utility findings within the context of interconnecting photovoltaic (PV) inverters. This guide provides background on the overall issue and related mitigation measures for selected topics, including substation backfeeding, anti-islanding and considerationsmore » for monitoring and controlling distributed energy resources (DER).« less

Chemical biology based on target-selective degradation of proteins and carbohydrates using light-activatable organic molecules.

PubMed

Toshima, Kazunobu

2013-05-01

Proteins and carbohydrates play crucial roles in a wide range of biological processes, including serious diseases. The development of novel and innovative methods for selective control of specific proteins and carbohydrates functions has attracted much attention in the field of chemical biology. In this account article, the development of novel chemical tools, which can degrade target proteins and carbohydrates by irradiation with a specific wavelength of light under mild conditions without any additives, is introduced. This novel class of photochemical agents promise bright prospects for finding not only molecular-targeted bioprobes for understanding of the structure-activity relationships of proteins and carbohydrates but also novel therapeutic drugs targeting proteins and carbohydrates.

Responsible science: Ensuring the integrity of the research process. Volume 2. Final report, 1989--1992

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

Not Available

In 1989, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine initiated a major study to examine issues related to the responsible conduct of research. The findings and recommendations were published in March 1992 as: Responsible Science: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process, Vol. 1. Volume II of the report, this volume, includes the six commissioned background papers as well as selected institutional guidelines, reports, policies, and procedures. The institutional statements reprinted in Volume II have been selected to convey the diverse approaches for addressing different aspects of misconduct or integrity in sciencemore » within research institutions.« less

Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursement Rates for Nursing Homes Motivate Select Culture Change Practices But Not Comprehensive Culture Change.

PubMed

Lepore, Michael J; Shield, Renée R; Looze, Jessica; Tyler, Denise; Mor, Vincent; Miller, Susan C

2015-01-01

Components of nursing home (NH) culture change include resident-centeredness, empowerment, and home likeness, but practices reflective of these components may be found in both traditional and "culture change" NHs. We use mixed methods to examine the presence of culture change practices in the context of an NH's payer sources. Qualitative data show how higher pay from Medicare versus Medicaid influences implementation of select culture change practices, and quantitative data show NHs with higher proportions of Medicare residents have significantly higher (measured) environmental culture change implementation. Findings indicate that heightened coordination of Medicare and Medicaid could influence NH implementation of reform practices.

The Selection of RR Lyrae Stars Using POSS and SDSS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraser, Oliver J.; Barton, J. R.; Oldfield, B. J.; Biesiadzinski, T. P.; Horning, D. A.; Baerny, J. K.; Kiuchi, F.; Krogsrud, D.; Longhurst, D. S.; McCommas, L. P.; Scheidt, J. A.; Covarrubias, R.; Covey, K.; Laws, C.; Sesar, B.; Ivezic, Z.

2006-12-01

We test a method for identifying candidate RR Lyrae stars based on a comparison of POSS and SDSS photometry (Sesar et. al. 2005). Our candidate stars range in SDSS g magnitude from 14.4--16, or a distance of 6--12 kpc. Follow-up photometry obtained at Manastash Ridge Observatory typically includes 30-40 points per light curve. We find that at least two thirds of our sample of 23 objects are clearly variable, with light curves consistent with RR Lyrae. Candidate RR Lyrae were selected using stars that had brightened at least 0.3 magnitudes between POSS and SDSS, and which had SDSS magnitudes and colors consistent with the cuts in Ivezic et al. 2004.

Medical microscopic image matching based on relativity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Fengying; Zhu, Liangen; Jiang, Zhiguo

2003-12-01

In this paper, an effective medical micro-optical image matching algorithm based on relativity is described. The algorithm includes the following steps: Firstly, selecting a sub-area that has obvious character in one of the two images as standard image; Secondly, finding the right matching position in the other image; Thirdly, applying coordinate transformation to merge the two images together. As a kind of application of image matching in medical micro-optical image, this method overcomes the shortcoming of microscope whose visual field is little and makes it possible to watch a big object or many objects in one view. Simultaneously it implements adaptive selection of standard image, and has a satisfied matching speed and result.

The Fifth Calibration/Data Product Validation Panel Meeting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

The minutes and associated documents prepared from presentations and meetings at the Fifth Calibration/Data Product Validation Panel meeting in Boulder, Colorado, April 8 - 10, 1992, are presented. Key issues include (1) statistical characterization of data sets: finding statistics that characterize key attributes of the data sets, and defining ways to characterize the comparisons among data sets; (2) selection of specific intercomparison exercises: selecting characteristic spatial and temporal regions for intercomparisons, and impact of validation exercises on the logistics of current and planned field campaigns and model runs; and (3) preparation of data sets for intercomparisons: characterization of assumptions, transportable data formats, labeling data files, content of data sets, and data storage and distribution (EOSDIS interface).

Electrically Driven Ion Separations in Permeable Membranes

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

Bruening, Merlin

2017-04-21

Membranes are attractive for a wide range of separations due to their low energy costs and continuous operation. To achieve practical fluxes, most membranes consist of a thin, selective skin on a highly permeable substrate that provides mechanical strength. Thus, this project focused on creating new methods for forming highly selective ultrathin skins as well as modeling transport through these coatings to better understand their unprecedented selectivities. The research explored both gas and ion separations, and the latter included transport due to concentration, pressure and electrical potential gradients. This report describes a series of highlights of the research and thenmore » provides a complete list of publications supported by the grant. These publications have been cited more than 4000 times. Perhaps the most stunning finding is the recent discovery of monovalent/divalent cation and anion selectivities around 1000 when modifying cation- and anion-exchange membranes with polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs). This discovery builds on many years of exciting research. (Citation numbers refer to the journal articles in the bibliography.)« less

Orientation-Selective Retinal Circuits in Vertebrates

PubMed Central

Antinucci, Paride; Hindges, Robert

2018-01-01

Visual information is already processed in the retina before it is transmitted to higher visual centers in the brain. This includes the extraction of salient features from visual scenes, such as motion directionality or contrast, through neurons belonging to distinct neural circuits. Some retinal neurons are tuned to the orientation of elongated visual stimuli. Such ‘orientation-selective’ neurons are present in the retinae of most, if not all, vertebrate species analyzed to date, with species-specific differences in frequency and degree of tuning. In some cases, orientation-selective neurons have very stereotyped functional and morphological properties suggesting that they represent distinct cell types. In this review, we describe the retinal cell types underlying orientation selectivity found in various vertebrate species, and highlight their commonalities and differences. In addition, we discuss recent studies that revealed the cellular, synaptic and circuit mechanisms at the basis of retinal orientation selectivity. Finally, we outline the significance of these findings in shaping our current understanding of how this fundamental neural computation is implemented in the visual systems of vertebrates. PMID:29467629

The evolution of recombination in a heterogeneous environment.

PubMed Central

Lenormand, T; Otto, S P

2000-01-01

Most models describing the evolution of recombination have focused on the case of a single population, implicitly assuming that all individuals are equally likely to mate and that spatial heterogeneity in selection is absent. In these models, the evolution of recombination is driven by linkage disequilibria generated either by epistatic selection or drift. Models based on epistatic selection show that recombination can be favored if epistasis is negative and weak compared to directional selection and if the recombination modifier locus is tightly linked to the selected loci. In this article, we examine the joint effects of spatial heterogeneity in selection and epistasis on the evolution of recombination. In a model with two patches, each subject to different selection regimes, we consider the cases of mutation-selection and migration-selection balance as well as the spread of beneficial alleles. We find that including spatial heterogeneity extends the range of epistasis over which recombination can be favored. Indeed, recombination can be favored without epistasis, with negative and even with positive epistasis depending on environmental circumstances. The selection pressure acting on recombination-modifier loci is often much stronger with spatial heterogeneity, and even loosely linked modifiers and free linkage may evolve. In each case, predicting whether recombination is favored requires knowledge of both the type of environmental heterogeneity and epistasis, as none of these factors alone is sufficient to predict the outcome. PMID:10978305

Preconception sex selection for non-medical and intermediate reasons: ethical reflections

PubMed Central

de Wert, G.; Dondorp, W.

2010-01-01

Sex selection for non-medical reasons is forbidden in many countries. Focusing on preconception sex selection, the authors first observe that it is unclear what should count as a ‘medical reason’ in this context and argue for the existence of ‘intermediate reasons’ that do not fit well within the rigid distinction between ‘medical’and ‘non-medical’. The article further provides a critical review of the arguments for the prohibition of sex selection for non-medical reasons and finds that none of these are conclusive. The authors conclude that the ban should be reconsidered, but also that existing societal concerns about possible harmful effects should be taken seriously. Measures to this effect may include limiting the practice to couples who already have at least one child of the sex opposite to that which they now want to select (‘family balancing’). Finally, a difficult set of questions is raised by concerns about the reliability and unproven (long-term) safety of the only technology (flow cytometry) proven to work. PMID:25009714

The Flux of Carbon from Selective Logging, Fire, and Regrowth in Amazonia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houghton, R. A.

2004-01-01

The major goal of this work was to develop a spatial, process-based model (CARLUC) that would calculate sources and sinks of carbon from changes in land use, including logging and fire. The work also included Landsat data, together with fieldwork, to investigate fire and logging in three different forest types within Brazilian Amazonia. Results from these three activities (modeling, fieldwork, and remote sensing) are described, individually, below. The work and some of the personnel overlapped with research carried out by Dr. Daniel Nepstad's LBA team, and thus some of the findings are also reported in his summaries.

Heart Failure: From Research to Clinical Practice.

PubMed

Islam, Md Shahidul

2018-01-01

"Heart failure: from research to clinical practice", a collection of selected reviews, which comes out also as a book, covers essentially all important aspects of heart failure, including the pathogenesis, clinical features, biomarkers, imaging techniques, medical treatment and surgical treatments, use of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators, and palliative care. The reviews include essential background information, state of the art, critical and in-depth analysis, and directions for future researches for elucidation of the unresolved issues. Everyone interested in heart failure is expected to find this compilation helpful for a deeper understanding of some of the complex issues.

Identification of highly selective and potent histone deacetylase 3 inhibitors using click chemistry-based combinatorial fragment assembly.

PubMed

Suzuki, Takayoshi; Kasuya, Yuki; Itoh, Yukihiro; Ota, Yosuke; Zhan, Peng; Asamitsu, Kaori; Nakagawa, Hidehiko; Okamoto, Takashi; Miyata, Naoki

2013-01-01

To find histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3)-selective inhibitors, a series of 504 candidates was assembled using "click chemistry", by reacting nine alkynes bearing a zinc-binding group with 56 azide building blocks in the presence of Cu(I) catalyst. Screening of the 504-member triazole library against HDAC3 and other HDAC isozymes led to the identification of potent and selective HDAC3 inhibitors T247 and T326. These compounds showed potent HDAC3 inhibition with submicromolar IC50s, whereas they did not strongly inhibit other isozymes. Compounds T247 and T326 also induced a dose-dependent selective increase of NF-κB acetylation in human colon cancer HCT116 cells, indicating selective inhibition of HDAC3 in the cells. In addition, these HDAC3-selective inhibitors induced growth inhibition of cancer cells, and activated HIV gene expression in latent HIV-infected cells. These findings indicate that HDAC3-selective inhibitors are promising candidates for anticancer drugs and antiviral agents. This work also suggests the usefulness of the click chemistry approach to find isozyme-selective HDAC inhibitors.

Self-Management in Liver Transplant Recipients: A Narrative Review.

PubMed

Ko, Dami; Muehrer, Rebecca J; Bratzke, Lisa C

2018-06-01

Although self-management is essential for liver transplant recipients, there is no review that has synthesized findings related to self-management in this population. This narrative review aimed to synthesize the current findings and identify the gaps in knowledge about self-management in liver recipients. A search of PubMed, CINAHL Plus, PsychINFO, ProQuest, and Web of Science was conducted using the following terms: [Self-care OR Self-management OR Health behavior] AND [Liver transplantation]. Peer-reviewed published research articles focusing on self-management of adult recipients were selected. A total of 23 articles were included for review. Two reviewers independently reviewed the full text of selected articles and extracted the data about definitions, measurements, and findings regarding self-management. Three areas of self-management were identified, including medication nonadherence (n = 11), alcohol recidivism (n = 11), and health maintenance (n = 5). Reported rates of medication nonadherence ranged from 8% to 66%. Medication nonadherence was related to recipients' demographic (eg, age or sex), transplant-related (eg, time since transplant), and pretransplant variables (eg, history of substance/alcohol abuse). Reported alcohol recidivism rates ranged from 3% to 95%. Age, pretransplant variables (eg, abstinent time before transplant), and personality disorder were identified to be related to alcohol recidivism after transplant. The health maintenance studies discussed behaviors such as smoking, clinic appointment attendance, or vaccination/health screening behaviors of recipients. Self-management studies in liver recipients have been narrowly focused on medication nonadherence and alcohol recidivism. To improve self-management in recipients, self-management beyond medication nonadherence and alcohol recidivism should be comprehensively examined.

Adverse Selection and an Individual Mandate: When Theory Meets Practice*

PubMed Central

Hackmann, Martin B.; Kolstad, Jonathan T.; Kowalski, Amanda E.

2014-01-01

We develop a model of selection that incorporates a key element of recent health reforms: an individual mandate. Using data from Massachusetts, we estimate the parameters of the model. In the individual market for health insurance, we find that premiums and average costs decreased significantly in response to the individual mandate. We find an annual welfare gain of 4.1% per person or $51.1 million annually in Massachusetts as a result of the reduction in adverse selection. We also find smaller post-reform markups. PMID:25914412

Selected Findings from What's It Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carnevale, Anthony P.; Strohl, Jeff; Melton, Michelle

2011-01-01

These Selected Findings are part of a larger report: "What's It Worth?: The Economic Value of College Majors." In the full report, readers can find detailed information about earnings, broken down by 171 different undergraduate majors and a variety of demographic factors. The study also analyzes the likelihood that students in specific majors…

Effective Factors in Enhancing School Manager's Job Motivation

PubMed Central

Mirzamani, S. Mahmoud; Esfahani, Hamideh Darb

2011-01-01

Objective This study examines the effective factors in enhancing school manager's job motivation from viewpoint of school mangers, teachers, education department managerial and staff experts in teaching, and also identifies and prioritizes each of these factors and indicators. Method For selecting a representative sample and increasing measurement precision, 587 people were selected using classified random sampling. The measurement tool was a 79-questionnaire made by the researcher. The questionnaire was collected using motivation theories and observing the findings of previous researches. Then, according to the three-stage Delphi technique, the questionnaire was sent to experts in education. The reliability of instruments was measured by calculating Cronbach's Alpha coefficient, and total reliability of the test was 0.99; the validity of the instrument was assessed by factor analysis (Construct Validity) and its load factor was 0.4 which was high. Results The results from factor analysis shows that the effective factors in enhancing manager's job motivation are as follows: self- actualization (51%) including 28 indices; social factor (7/9%) including 22 indices; self-esteem (3.2%) including 17 indices; job desirable features (2.2%) including 4 indices; physiologic (1.8%) including 4 indices; and job richness (1.6%) including 4 indices. Conclusions The results show that the six mentioned factors determine 68% of the total variance of manager's motivation. PMID:22952541

Selection bias in rheumatic disease research.

PubMed

Choi, Hyon K; Nguyen, Uyen-Sa; Niu, Jingbo; Danaei, Goodarz; Zhang, Yuqing

2014-07-01

The identification of modifiable risk factors for the development of rheumatic conditions and their sequelae is crucial for reducing the substantial worldwide burden of these diseases. However, the validity of such research can be threatened by sources of bias, including confounding, measurement and selection biases. In this Review, we discuss potentially major issues of selection bias--a type of bias frequently overshadowed by other bias and feasibility issues, despite being equally or more problematic--in key areas of rheumatic disease research. We present index event bias (a type of selection bias) as one of the potentially unifying reasons behind some unexpected findings, such as the 'risk factor paradox'--a phenomenon exemplified by the discrepant effects of certain risk factors on the development versus the progression of osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We also discuss potential selection biases owing to differential loss to follow-up in RA and OA research, as well as those due to the depletion of susceptibles (prevalent user bias) and immortal time bias. The lesson remains that selection bias can be ubiquitous and, therefore, has the potential to lead the field astray. Thus, we conclude with suggestions to help investigators avoid such issues and limit the impact on future rheumatology research.

Sexual Selection Halts the Relaxation of Protamine 2 among Rodents

PubMed Central

Lüke, Lena; Vicens, Alberto; Serra, Francois; Luque-Larena, Juan Jose; Dopazo, Hernán; Roldan, Eduardo R. S.; Gomendio, Montserrat

2011-01-01

Sexual selection has been proposed as the driving force promoting the rapid evolutionary changes observed in some reproductive genes including protamines. We test this hypothesis in a group of rodents which show marked differences in the intensity of sexual selection. Levels of sperm competition were not associated with the evolutionary rates of protamine 1 but, contrary to expectations, were negatively related to the evolutionary rate of cleaved- and mature-protamine 2. Since both domains were found to be under relaxation, our findings reveal an unforeseen role of sexual selection: to halt the degree of degeneration that proteins within families may experience due to functional redundancy. The degree of relaxation of protamine 2 in this group of rodents is such that in some species it has become dysfunctional and it is not expressed in mature spermatozoa. In contrast, protamine 1 is functionally conserved but shows directed positive selection on specific sites which are functionally relevant such as DNA-anchoring domains and phosphorylation sites. We conclude that in rodents protamine 2 is under relaxation and that sexual selection removes deleterious mutations among species with high levels of sperm competition to maintain the protein functional and the spermatozoa competitive. PMID:22216223

Selection bias in rheumatic disease research

PubMed Central

Choi, Hyon K.; Nguyen, Uyen-Sa; Niu, Jingbo; Danaei, Goodarz; Zhang, Yuqing

2014-01-01

The identification of modifiable risk factors for the development of rheumatic conditions and their sequelae is crucial for reducing the substantial worldwide burden of these diseases. However, the validity of such research can be threatened by sources of bias, including confounding, measurement and selection biases. In this Review, we discuss potentially major issues of selection bias—a type of bias frequently overshadowed by other bias and feasibility issues, despite being equally or more problematic—in key areas of rheumatic disease research. We present index event bias (a type of selection bias) as one of the potentially unifying reasons behind some unexpected findings, such as the ‘risk factor paradox’—a phenomenon exemplified by the discrepant effects of certain risk factors on the development versus the progression of osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We also discuss potential selection biases owing to differential loss to follow-up in RA and OA research, as well as those due to the depletion of susceptibles (prevalent user bias) and immortal time bias. The lesson remains that selection bias can be ubiquitous and, therefore, has the potential to lead the field astray. Thus, we conclude with suggestions to help investigators avoid such issues and limit the impact on future rheumatology research. PMID:24686510

Nest-site selection analysis of hooded crane (Grus monacha) in Northeastern China based on a multivariate ensemble model.

PubMed

Jiao, Shengwu; Guo, Yumin; Huettmann, Falk; Lei, Guangchun

2014-07-01

Avian nest-site selection is an important research and management subject. The hooded crane (Grus monacha) is a vulnerable (VU) species according to the IUCN Red List. Here, we present the first long-term Chinese legacy nest data for this species (1993-2010) with publicly available metadata. Further, we provide the first study that reports findings on multivariate nest habitat preference using such long-term field data for this species. Our work was carried out in Northeastern China, where we found and measured 24 nests and 81 randomly selected control plots and their environmental parameters in a vast landscape. We used machine learning (stochastic boosted regression trees) to quantify nest selection. Our analysis further included varclust (R Hmisc) and (TreenNet) to address statistical correlations and two-way interactions. We found that from an initial list of 14 measured field variables, water area (+), water depth (+) and shrub coverage (-) were the main explanatory variables that contributed to hooded crane nest-site selection. Agricultural sites played a smaller role in the selection of these nests. Our results are important for the conservation management of cranes all over East Asia and constitute a defensible and quantitative basis for predictive models.

Why Do Undergraduate Marketing Majors Select Marketing as a Business Major? Evidence from Australasia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pappu, Ravi

2004-01-01

This research examines the reasons behind marketing majors' decision to select marketing as a major, where students have the option to select more than one major toward their undergraduate degree. Results of surveys conducted at two universities, one in Australia and one in New Zealand, provide some new findings as well as extending findings from…

Children, Youth, and Families of the Mountain West. Hearing before the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, First session (Salt Lake City, UT, December 6, 1983).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.

The third of five regional fact-finding committee hearings across the United States, this report includes testimony from hearing committee members and social service organizations in Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana. Live and prepared testimony presents information on problems associated with abuse of women, children, and the elderly;…

An Audio-Visual Resource Notebook for Adult Consumer Education. An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Audio-Visual Aids for Adult Consumer Education, with Special Emphasis on Materials for Elderly, Low-Income and Handicapped Consumers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virginia State Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Richmond, VA.

This document is an annotated bibliography of audio-visual aids in the field of consumer education, intended especially for use among low-income, elderly, and handicapped consumers. It was developed to aid consumer education program planners in finding audio-visual resources to enhance their presentations. Materials listed include 293 resources…

High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) Second Follow-Up: A First Look at Fall 2009 Ninth-Graders in 2016. NCES 2018-139

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radford, Alexandria Walton; Fritch, Laura Burns; Leu, Katherine; Duprey, Michael

2018-01-01

This report presents selected findings from the second follow-up of the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). HSLS:09 follows a nationally representative sample of students who were ninth-graders in fall 2009 from the beginning of high school into higher education and the workforce. Key research topics for HSLS:09 include secondary to…

Linked population and economic models: some methodological issues in forecasting, analysis, and policy optimization.

PubMed

Madden, M; Batey Pwj

1983-05-01

Some problems associated with demographic-economic forecasting include finding models appropriate for a declining economy with unemployment, using a multiregional approach in an interregional model, finding a way to show differential consumption while endogenizing unemployment, and avoiding unemployment inconsistencies. The solution to these problems involves the construction of an activity-commodity framework, locating it within a group of forecasting models, and indicating possible ratios towards dynamization of the framework. The authors demonstrate the range of impact multipliers that can be derived from the framework and show how these multipliers relate to Leontief input-output multipliers. It is shown that desired population distribution may be obtained by selecting instruments from the economic sphere to produce, through the constraints vector of an activity-commodity framework, targets selected from demographic activities. The next step in this process, empirical exploitation, was carried out by the authors in the United Kingdom, linking an input-output model with a wide selection of demographic and demographic-economic variables. The generally tenuous control which government has over any variables in systems of this type, especially in market economies, makes application in the policy field of the optimization approach a partly conjectural exercise, although the analytic capacity of the approach can provide clear indications of policy directions.

Larva-mediated chalkbrood resistance-associated single nucleotide polymorphism markers in the honey bee Apis mellifera.

PubMed

Liu, Y; Yan, L; Li, Z; Huang, W-F; Pokhrel, S; Liu, X; Su, S

2016-06-01

Chalkbrood is a disease affecting honey bees that seriously impairs brood growth and productivity of diseased colonies. Although honey bees can develop chalkbrood resistance naturally, the details underlying the mechanisms of resistance are not fully understood, and no easy method is currently available for selecting and breeding resistant bees. Finding the genes involved in the development of resistance and identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that can be used as molecular markers of resistance is therefore a high priority. We conducted genome resequencing to compare resistant (Res) and susceptible (Sus) larvae that were selected following in vitro chalkbrood inoculation. Twelve genomic libraries, including 14.4 Gb of sequence data, were analysed using SNP-finding algorithms. Unique SNPs derived from chromosomes 2 and 11 were analysed in this study. SNPs from resistant individuals were confirmed by PCR and Sanger sequencing using in vitro reared larvae and resistant colonies. We found strong support for an association between the C allele at SNP C2587245T and chalkbrood resistance. SNP C2587245T may be useful as a genetic marker for the selection of chalkbrood resistance and high royal jelly production honey bee lines, thereby helping to minimize the negative effects of chalkbrood on managed honey bees. © 2016 The Royal Entomological Society.

Much ado about nothing? The financial impact of physician-owned specialty hospitals.

PubMed

Chakravarty, Sujoy

2016-06-01

The U.S. hospital industry has recently witnessed a number of policy changes aimed at aligning hospital payments to costs and these can be traced to significant concerns regarding selection of profitable patients and procedures by physician-owned specialty hospitals. The policy responses to specialty hospitals have alternated between payment system reforms and outright moratoriums on hospital operations including one in the recently enacted Affordable Care Act. A key issue is whether physician-owned specialty hospitals pose financial strain on the larger group of general hospitals through cream-skimming of profitable patients, yet there is no study that conducts a systematic analysis relating such selection behavior by physician-owners to financial impacts within hospital markets. The current paper takes into account heterogeneity in specialty hospital behavior and finds some evidence of their adverse impact on profit margins of competitor hospitals, especially for-profit hospitals. There is also some evidence of hospital consolidation in response to competitive pressures by specialty hospitals. Overall, these findings underline the importance of the payment reforms aimed at correcting distortions in the reimbursement system that generate incentives for risk-selection among providers groups. The identification techniques will also inform empirical analysis on future data testing the efficacy of these payment reforms.

CALIFA: a diameter-selected sample for an integral field spectroscopy galaxy survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walcher, C. J.; Wisotzki, L.; Bekeraité, S.; Husemann, B.; Iglesias-Páramo, J.; Backsmann, N.; Barrera Ballesteros, J.; Catalán-Torrecilla, C.; Cortijo, C.; del Olmo, A.; Garcia Lorenzo, B.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Jilkova, L.; Kalinova, V.; Mast, D.; Marino, R. A.; Méndez-Abreu, J.; Pasquali, A.; Sánchez, S. F.; Trager, S.; Zibetti, S.; Aguerri, J. A. L.; Alves, J.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Boselli, A.; Castillo Morales, A.; Cid Fernandes, R.; Flores, H.; Galbany, L.; Gallazzi, A.; García-Benito, R.; Gil de Paz, A.; González-Delgado, R. M.; Jahnke, K.; Jungwiert, B.; Kehrig, C.; Lyubenova, M.; Márquez Perez, I.; Masegosa, J.; Monreal Ibero, A.; Pérez, E.; Quirrenbach, A.; Rosales-Ortega, F. F.; Roth, M. M.; Sanchez-Blazquez, P.; Spekkens, K.; Tundo, E.; van de Ven, G.; Verheijen, M. A. W.; Vilchez, J. V.; Ziegler, B.

2014-09-01

We describe and discuss the selection procedure and statistical properties of the galaxy sample used by the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, a public legacy survey of 600 galaxies using integral field spectroscopy. The CALIFA "mother sample" was selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 photometric catalogue to include all galaxies with an r-band isophotal major axis between 45'' and 79.2'' and with a redshift 0.005 < z < 0.03. The mother sample contains 939 objects, 600 of which will be observed in the course of the CALIFA survey. The selection of targets for observations is based solely on visibility and thus keeps the statistical properties of the mother sample. By comparison with a large set of SDSS galaxies, we find that the CALIFA sample is representative of galaxies over a luminosity range of -19 > Mr > -23.1 and over a stellar mass range between 109.7 and 1011.4 M⊙. In particular, within these ranges, the diameter selection does not lead to any significant bias against - or in favour of - intrinsically large or small galaxies. Only below luminosities of Mr = -19 (or stellar masses <109.7 M⊙) is there a prevalence of galaxies with larger isophotal sizes, especially of nearly edge-on late-type galaxies, but such galaxies form <10% of the full sample. We estimate volume-corrected distribution functions in luminosities and sizes and show that these are statistically fully compatible with estimates from the full SDSS when accounting for large-scale structure. For full characterization of the sample, we also present a number of value-added quantities determined for the galaxies in the CALIFA sample. These include consistent multi-band photometry based on growth curve analyses; stellar masses; distances and quantities derived from these; morphological classifications; and an overview of available multi-wavelength photometric measurements. We also explore different ways of characterizing the environments of CALIFA galaxies, finding that the sample covers environmental conditions from the field to genuine clusters. We finally consider the expected incidence of active galactic nuclei among CALIFA galaxies given the existing pre-CALIFA data, finding that the final observed CALIFA sample will contain approximately 30 Sey2 galaxies. Based on observations collected at the Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC). Publically released data products from CALIFA are made available on the webpage http://www.caha.es/CALIFA

Predictors, Moderators, and Mediators of Treatment Outcome Following Manualised Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Linardon, Jake; de la Piedad Garcia, Xochitl; Brennan, Leah

2017-01-01

This systematic review synthesised the literature on predictors, moderators, and mediators of outcome following Fairburn's CBT for eating disorders. Sixty-five articles were included. The relationship between individual variables and outcome was synthesised separately across diagnoses and treatment format. Early change was found to be a consistent mediator of better outcomes across all eating disorders. Moderators were mostly tested in binge eating disorder, and most moderators did not affect cognitive-behavioural treatment outcome relative to other treatments. No consistent predictors emerged. Findings suggest that it is unclear how and for whom this treatment works. More research testing mediators and moderators is needed, and variables selected for analyses need to be empirically and theoretically driven. Future recommendations include the need for authors to (i) interpret the clinical and statistical significance of findings; (ii) use a consistent definition of outcome so that studies can be directly compared; and (iii) report null and statistically significant findings. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Spectrum of Imaging Findings in Paget's Disease of the Breast-A Pictorial Review.

PubMed

Sripathi, Smiti; Ayachit, Anurag; Kadavigere, Rajagopal; Kumar, Sandeep; Eleti, Asha; Sraj, Aron

2015-08-01

We aimed to demonstrate imaging features of Paget's disease of breast, which is an extremely uncommon malignancy that presents with changes in the nipple-areolar region that may or may not be associated with an underlying in situ component or invasive cancer. Mammography is the initial investigation of choice, having a high sensitivity especially in cases where a palpable mass is present. The addition of ultrasound improves the accuracy of mammography. When both mammography and ultrasound are negative, MRI may detect an underlying mass or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The surgical management of Paget's disease includes mastectomy with or without axillary dissection, though breast conservation surgery in the form of wide local excision can also be done in a selected group of patients. Management should be based on both clinical and imaging findings, including mammography and ultrasound, with MRI playing a crucial role in defining the extent of involvement. Teaching Points • To differentiate Paget's disease from other chronic skin conditions. • Mammographic and ultrasound findings of histopathologically established Paget's disease. • When ultrasound and mammogram are negative, MRI may detect underlying malignancy.

Detecting Adaptation in Protein-Coding Genes Using a Bayesian Site-Heterogeneous Mutation-Selection Codon Substitution Model.

PubMed

Rodrigue, Nicolas; Lartillot, Nicolas

2017-01-01

Codon substitution models have traditionally attempted to uncover signatures of adaptation within protein-coding genes by contrasting the rates of synonymous and non-synonymous substitutions. Another modeling approach, known as the mutation-selection framework, attempts to explicitly account for selective patterns at the amino acid level, with some approaches allowing for heterogeneity in these patterns across codon sites. Under such a model, substitutions at a given position occur at the neutral or nearly neutral rate when they are synonymous, or when they correspond to replacements between amino acids of similar fitness; substitutions from high to low (low to high) fitness amino acids have comparatively low (high) rates. Here, we study the use of such a mutation-selection framework as a null model for the detection of adaptation. Following previous works in this direction, we include a deviation parameter that has the effect of capturing the surplus, or deficit, in non-synonymous rates, relative to what would be expected under a mutation-selection modeling framework that includes a Dirichlet process approach to account for across-codon-site variation in amino acid fitness profiles. We use simulations, along with a few real data sets, to study the behavior of the approach, and find it to have good power with a low false-positive rate. Altogether, we emphasize the potential of recent mutation-selection models in the detection of adaptation, calling for further model refinements as well as large-scale applications. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Hybrid approach of selecting hyperparameters of support vector machine for regression.

PubMed

Jeng, Jin-Tsong

2006-06-01

To select the hyperparameters of the support vector machine for regression (SVR), a hybrid approach is proposed to determine the kernel parameter of the Gaussian kernel function and the epsilon value of Vapnik's epsilon-insensitive loss function. The proposed hybrid approach includes a competitive agglomeration (CA) clustering algorithm and a repeated SVR (RSVR) approach. Since the CA clustering algorithm is used to find the nearly "optimal" number of clusters and the centers of clusters in the clustering process, the CA clustering algorithm is applied to select the Gaussian kernel parameter. Additionally, an RSVR approach that relies on the standard deviation of a training error is proposed to obtain an epsilon in the loss function. Finally, two functions, one real data set (i.e., a time series of quarterly unemployment rate for West Germany) and an identification of nonlinear plant are used to verify the usefulness of the hybrid approach.

Biomechanical Reconstructions and Selective Advantages of Neck Poses and Feeding Strategies of Sauropods with the Example of Mamenchisaurus youngi

PubMed Central

Christian, Andreas; Peng, Guangzhao; Sekiya, Toru; Ye, Yong; Wulf, Marco G.; Steuer, Thorsten

2013-01-01

A very long neck is a characteristic feature of most sauropod dinosaurs. In the genus Mamenchisaurus, neck length is extreme, greater than 40 percent of total body length. However, the posture, utilization, and selective advantage of very long necks in sauropods are still controversial. An excellently preserved skeleton of Mamenchisaurus youngi, including a complete neck, provides an opportunity for a comprehensive biomechanical analysis of neck posture and mobility. The biomechanical evidence indicates that Mamenchisaurus youngi had a nearly straight, near horizontal neck posture and browsed at low or medium heights. The results differ from the findings for some other sauropod species, like Euhelopus, Diplodocus, and Giraffatitan (Brachiosaurus) that had been analyzed in previous studies with similar methods. The selective advantage of extreme neck length in sauropods is likely advantageous for different feeding strategies. PMID:24204557

Structure and selectivity in bestrophin ion channels

DOE PAGES

Yang, Tingting; Liu, Qun; Kloss, Brian; ...

2014-09-25

Human bestrophin 1 (hBest1) is a calcium-activated chloride channel from the retinal pigment epithelium, where it can suffer mutations associated with vitelliform macular degeneration, or Best disease. We describe the structure of a bacterial homolog (KpBest) of hBest1 and functional characterizations of both channels. KpBest is a pentamer that forms a five-helix transmembrane pore, closed by three rings of conserved hydrophobic residues, and has a cytoplasmic cavern with a restricted exit. From electrophysiological analysis of structure-inspired mutations in KpBest and hBest1, we find a subtle control of ion selectivity in the bestrophins, including reversal of anion/cation selectivity, and dramatic activationmore » by mutations at the exit restriction. Lastly, a homology model of hBest1 shows the locations of disease-causing mutations and suggests possible roles in regulation.« less

Superwetting nanowire membranes for selective absorption.

PubMed

Yuan, Jikang; Liu, Xiaogang; Akbulut, Ozge; Hu, Junqing; Suib, Steven L; Kong, Jing; Stellacci, Francesco

2008-06-01

The construction of nanoporous membranes is of great technological importance for various applications, including catalyst supports, filters for biomolecule purification, environmental remediation and seawater desalination. A major challenge is the scalable fabrication of membranes with the desirable combination of good thermal stability, high selectivity and excellent recyclability. Here we present a self-assembly method for constructing thermally stable, free-standing nanowire membranes that exhibit controlled wetting behaviour ranging from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic. These membranes can selectively absorb oils up to 20 times the material's weight in preference to water, through a combination of superhydrophobicity and capillary action. Moreover, the nanowires that form the membrane structure can be re-suspended in solutions and subsequently re-form the original paper-like morphology over many cycles. Our results suggest an innovative material that should find practical applications in the removal of organics, particularly in the field of oil spill cleanup.

The Red MSX Source Survey: The Massive Young Stellar Population of Our Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lumsden, S. L.; Hoare, M. G.; Urquhart, J. S.; Oudmaijer, R. D.; Davies, B.; Mottram, J. C.; Cooper, H. D. B.; Moore, T. J. T.

2013-09-01

We present the Red MSX Source survey, the largest statistically selected catalog of young massive protostars and H II regions to date. We outline the construction of the catalog using mid- and near-infrared color selection. We also discuss the detailed follow up work at other wavelengths, including higher spatial resolution data in the infrared. We show that within the adopted selection bounds we are more than 90% complete for the massive protostellar population, with a positional accuracy of the exciting source of better than 2 arcsec. We briefly summarize some of the results that can be obtained from studying the properties of the objects in the catalog as a whole; we find evidence that the most massive stars form: (1) preferentially nearer the Galactic center than the anti-center; (2) in the most heavily reddened environments, suggestive of high accretion rates; and (3) from the most massive cloud cores.

DNA-Catalyzed Amide Hydrolysis.

PubMed

Zhou, Cong; Avins, Joshua L; Klauser, Paul C; Brandsen, Benjamin M; Lee, Yujeong; Silverman, Scott K

2016-02-24

DNA catalysts (deoxyribozymes) for a variety of reactions have been identified by in vitro selection. However, for certain reactions this identification has not been achieved. One important example is DNA-catalyzed amide hydrolysis, for which a previous selection experiment instead led to DNA-catalyzed DNA phosphodiester hydrolysis. Subsequent efforts in which the selection strategy deliberately avoided phosphodiester hydrolysis led to DNA-catalyzed ester and aromatic amide hydrolysis, but aliphatic amide hydrolysis has been elusive. In the present study, we show that including modified nucleotides that bear protein-like functional groups (any one of primary amino, carboxyl, or primary hydroxyl) enables identification of amide-hydrolyzing deoxyribozymes. In one case, the same deoxyribozyme sequence without the modifications still retains substantial catalytic activity. Overall, these findings establish the utility of introducing protein-like functional groups into deoxyribozymes for identifying new catalytic function. The results also suggest the longer-term feasibility of deoxyribozymes as artificial proteases.

Experimental Evolution as a High-Throughput Screen for Genetic Adaptations.

PubMed

Cooper, Vaughn S

2018-06-27

Experimental evolution is a method in which populations of organisms, often microbes, are founded by one or more ancestors of known genotype and then propagated under controlled conditions to study the evolutionary process. These evolving populations are influenced by all population genetic forces, including selection, mutation, drift, and recombination, and the relative contributions of these forces may be seen as mysterious. Here, I describe why the outcomes of experimental evolution should be viewed with greater certainty because the force of selection typically dominates. Importantly, any mutant rising rapidly to high frequency in large populations must have acquired adaptive traits in the selective environment. Sequencing the genomes of these mutants can identify genes or pathways that contribute to an adaptation. I review the logic and simple mathematics why this evolve-and-resequence approach is a powerful way to find the mutations or mutation combinations that best increase fitness in any new environment. Copyright © 2018 Cooper.

Assessing Multivariate Constraints to Evolution across Ten Long-Term Avian Studies

PubMed Central

Teplitsky, Celine; Tarka, Maja; Møller, Anders P.; Nakagawa, Shinichi; Balbontín, Javier; Burke, Terry A.; Doutrelant, Claire; Gregoire, Arnaud; Hansson, Bengt; Hasselquist, Dennis; Gustafsson, Lars; de Lope, Florentino; Marzal, Alfonso; Mills, James A.; Wheelwright, Nathaniel T.; Yarrall, John W.; Charmantier, Anne

2014-01-01

Background In a rapidly changing world, it is of fundamental importance to understand processes constraining or facilitating adaptation through microevolution. As different traits of an organism covary, genetic correlations are expected to affect evolutionary trajectories. However, only limited empirical data are available. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigate the extent to which multivariate constraints affect the rate of adaptation, focusing on four morphological traits often shown to harbour large amounts of genetic variance and considered to be subject to limited evolutionary constraints. Our data set includes unique long-term data for seven bird species and a total of 10 populations. We estimate population-specific matrices of genetic correlations and multivariate selection coefficients to predict evolutionary responses to selection. Using Bayesian methods that facilitate the propagation of errors in estimates, we compare (1) the rate of adaptation based on predicted response to selection when including genetic correlations with predictions from models where these genetic correlations were set to zero and (2) the multivariate evolvability in the direction of current selection to the average evolvability in random directions of the phenotypic space. We show that genetic correlations on average decrease the predicted rate of adaptation by 28%. Multivariate evolvability in the direction of current selection was systematically lower than average evolvability in random directions of space. These significant reductions in the rate of adaptation and reduced evolvability were due to a general nonalignment of selection and genetic variance, notably orthogonality of directional selection with the size axis along which most (60%) of the genetic variance is found. Conclusions These results suggest that genetic correlations can impose significant constraints on the evolution of avian morphology in wild populations. This could have important impacts on evolutionary dynamics and hence population persistence in the face of rapid environmental change. PMID:24608111

Evolution of antibiotic resistance is linked to any genetic mechanism affecting bacterial duration of carriage

PubMed Central

Lehtinen, Sonja; Blanquart, François; Croucher, Nicholas J.; Turner, Paul; Lipsitch, Marc; Fraser, Christophe

2017-01-01

Understanding how changes in antibiotic consumption affect the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens is important for public health. In a number of bacterial species, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, the prevalence of resistance has remained relatively stable despite prolonged selection pressure from antibiotics. The evolutionary processes allowing the robust coexistence of antibiotic sensitive and resistant strains are not fully understood. While allelic diversity can be maintained at a locus by direct balancing selection, there is no evidence for such selection acting in the case of resistance. In this work, we propose a mechanism for maintaining coexistence at the resistance locus: linkage to a second locus that is under balancing selection and that modulates the fitness effect of resistance. We show that duration of carriage plays such a role, with long duration of carriage increasing the fitness advantage gained from resistance. We therefore predict that resistance will be more common in strains with a long duration of carriage and that mechanisms maintaining diversity in duration of carriage will also maintain diversity in antibiotic resistance. We test these predictions in S. pneumoniae and find that the duration of carriage of a serotype is indeed positively correlated with the prevalence of resistance in that serotype. These findings suggest heterogeneity in duration of carriage is a partial explanation for the coexistence of sensitive and resistant strains and that factors determining bacterial duration of carriage will also affect the prevalence of resistance. PMID:28096340

Selective Narrowing of Social Networks Across Adulthood is Associated With Improved Emotional Experience in Daily Life

PubMed Central

English, Tammy; Carstensen, Laura L.

2014-01-01

Past research has documented age differences in the size and composition of social networks that suggest that networks grow smaller with age and include an increasingly greater proportion of well-known social partners. According to socioemotional selectivity theory, such changes in social network composition serve an antecedent emotion regulatory function that supports an age-related increase in the priority that people place on emotional well-being. The present study employed a longitudinal design with a sample that spanned the full adult age range to examine whether there is evidence of within-individual (developmental) change in social networks and whether the characteristics of relationships predict emotional experiences in daily life. Using growth curve analyses, social networks were found to increase in size in young adulthood and then decline steadily throughout later life. As postulated by socioemotional selectivity theory, reductions were observed primarily in the number of peripheral partners; the number of close partners was relatively stable over time. In addition, cross-sectional analyses revealed that older adults reported that social network members elicited less negative emotion and more positive emotion. The emotional tone of social networks, particularly when negative emotions were associated with network members, also predicted experienced emotion of participants. Overall, findings were robust after taking into account demographic variables and physical health. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of socioemotional selectivity theory and related theoretical models. PMID:24910483

Attentional Selection Can Be Predicted by Reinforcement Learning of Task-relevant Stimulus Features Weighted by Value-independent Stickiness.

PubMed

Balcarras, Matthew; Ardid, Salva; Kaping, Daniel; Everling, Stefan; Womelsdorf, Thilo

2016-02-01

Attention includes processes that evaluate stimuli relevance, select the most relevant stimulus against less relevant stimuli, and bias choice behavior toward the selected information. It is not clear how these processes interact. Here, we captured these processes in a reinforcement learning framework applied to a feature-based attention task that required macaques to learn and update the value of stimulus features while ignoring nonrelevant sensory features, locations, and action plans. We found that value-based reinforcement learning mechanisms could account for feature-based attentional selection and choice behavior but required a value-independent stickiness selection process to explain selection errors while at asymptotic behavior. By comparing different reinforcement learning schemes, we found that trial-by-trial selections were best predicted by a model that only represents expected values for the task-relevant feature dimension, with nonrelevant stimulus features and action plans having only a marginal influence on covert selections. These findings show that attentional control subprocesses can be described by (1) the reinforcement learning of feature values within a restricted feature space that excludes irrelevant feature dimensions, (2) a stochastic selection process on feature-specific value representations, and (3) value-independent stickiness toward previous feature selections akin to perseveration in the motor domain. We speculate that these three mechanisms are implemented by distinct but interacting brain circuits and that the proposed formal account of feature-based stimulus selection will be important to understand how attentional subprocesses are implemented in primate brain networks.

Comparative Study of SVM Methods Combined with Voxel Selection for Object Category Classification on fMRI Data

PubMed Central

Song, Sutao; Zhan, Zhichao; Long, Zhiying; Zhang, Jiacai; Yao, Li

2011-01-01

Background Support vector machine (SVM) has been widely used as accurate and reliable method to decipher brain patterns from functional MRI (fMRI) data. Previous studies have not found a clear benefit for non-linear (polynomial kernel) SVM versus linear one. Here, a more effective non-linear SVM using radial basis function (RBF) kernel is compared with linear SVM. Different from traditional studies which focused either merely on the evaluation of different types of SVM or the voxel selection methods, we aimed to investigate the overall performance of linear and RBF SVM for fMRI classification together with voxel selection schemes on classification accuracy and time-consuming. Methodology/Principal Findings Six different voxel selection methods were employed to decide which voxels of fMRI data would be included in SVM classifiers with linear and RBF kernels in classifying 4-category objects. Then the overall performances of voxel selection and classification methods were compared. Results showed that: (1) Voxel selection had an important impact on the classification accuracy of the classifiers: in a relative low dimensional feature space, RBF SVM outperformed linear SVM significantly; in a relative high dimensional space, linear SVM performed better than its counterpart; (2) Considering the classification accuracy and time-consuming holistically, linear SVM with relative more voxels as features and RBF SVM with small set of voxels (after PCA) could achieve the better accuracy and cost shorter time. Conclusions/Significance The present work provides the first empirical result of linear and RBF SVM in classification of fMRI data, combined with voxel selection methods. Based on the findings, if only classification accuracy was concerned, RBF SVM with appropriate small voxels and linear SVM with relative more voxels were two suggested solutions; if users concerned more about the computational time, RBF SVM with relative small set of voxels when part of the principal components were kept as features was a better choice. PMID:21359184

Changing the Face of Diabetic Care with Haptoglobin Genotype Selection and Vitamin E

PubMed Central

Levy, Nina S.; Levy, Andrew P.

2011-01-01

Research over the past 10 years in our laboratory has led to two major findings. The first is that haptoglobin (Hp) genotype can predict the risk of developing vascular complications in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM), and the second, more far-reaching discovery, is that vitamin E treatment can significantly reduce vascular complications in individuals with DM and the Hp 2-2 genotype. The former finding has been well documented in numerous studies which included over 50,000 patients of diverse geographical and ethnic backgrounds. The latter discovery is more recent and less well accepted by the medical community due to confounding reports over the past 30 years regarding the efficacy of vitamin E treatment for vascular disease. We propose that the benefit of vitamin E treatment was not obvious in earlier studies due to the absence of any genetic basis for patient selection. Our studies dividing DM individuals into vitamin E treatment subgroups based on Hp genotype show a clear benefit for individuals of the Hp 2-2 genotype, while patients carrying the other two Hp genotypes are not affected or may be adversely affected by receiving vitamin E. These findings may explain the overall lack of benefit seen in previous vitamin E studies and emphasize the importance of carefully selecting which patients should receive vitamin E therapy. The pharmacogenomic paradigm discussed in this review potentially could result in a dramatic improvement in the health of millions of individuals worldwide using a treatment that is both accessible and affordable to all. PMID:23908805

Effects of the Ordering of Natural Selection and Population Regulation Mechanisms on Wright-Fisher Models

PubMed Central

He, Zhangyi; Beaumont, Mark; Yu, Feng

2017-01-01

We explore the effect of different mechanisms of natural selection on the evolution of populations for one- and two-locus systems. We compare the effect of viability and fecundity selection in the context of the Wright-Fisher model with selection under the assumption of multiplicative fitness. We show that these two modes of natural selection correspond to different orderings of the processes of population regulation and natural selection in the Wright-Fisher model. We find that under the Wright-Fisher model these two different orderings can affect the distribution of trajectories of haplotype frequencies evolving with genetic recombination. However, the difference in the distribution of trajectories is only appreciable when the population is in significant linkage disequilibrium. We find that as linkage disequilibrium decays the trajectories for the two different models rapidly become indistinguishable. We discuss the significance of these findings in terms of biological examples of viability and fecundity selection, and speculate that the effect may be significant when factors such as gene migration maintain a degree of linkage disequilibrium. PMID:28500051

Autophagy selectivity through receptor clustering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rutenberg, Andrew; Brown, Aidan

Substrate selectivity in autophagy requires an all-or-none cellular response. We focus on peroxisomes, for which autophagy receptor proteins NBR1 and p62 are well characterized. Using computational models, we explore the hypothesis that physical clustering of autophagy receptor proteins on the peroxisome surface provides an appropriate all-or-none response. We find that larger peroxisomes nucleate NBR1 clusters first, and lose them due to competitive coarsening last, resulting in significant size-selectivity. We then consider a secondary hypothesis that p62 inhibits NBR1 cluster formation. We find that p62 inhibition enhances size-selectivity enough that, even if there is no change of the pexophagy rate, the volume of remaining peroxisomes can significantly decrease. We find that enhanced ubiquitin levels suppress size-selectivity, and that this effect is more pronounced for individual peroxisomes. Sufficient ubiquitin allows receptor clusters to form on even the smallest peroxisomes. We conclude that NBR1 cluster formation provides a viable physical mechanism for all-or-none substrate selectivity in pexophagy. We predict that cluster formation is associated with significant size-selectivity. Now at Simon Fraser University.

Band-to-band transitions, selection rules, effective mass, and excitonic contributions in monoclinic β -Ga2O3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mock, Alyssa; Korlacki, Rafał; Briley, Chad; Darakchieva, Vanya; Monemar, Bo; Kumagai, Yoshinao; Goto, Ken; Higashiwaki, Masataka; Schubert, Mathias

2017-12-01

We employ an eigenpolarization model including the description of direction dependent excitonic effects for rendering critical point structures within the dielectric function tensor of monoclinic β -Ga2O3 yielding a comprehensive analysis of generalized ellipsometry data obtained from 0.75-9 eV. The eigenpolarization model permits complete description of the dielectric response. We obtain, for single-electron and excitonic band-to-band transitions, anisotropic critical point model parameters including their polarization vectors within the monoclinic lattice. We compare our experimental analysis with results from density functional theory calculations performed using the Gaussian-attenuation-Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof hybrid density functional. We present and discuss the order of the fundamental direct band-to-band transitions and their polarization selection rules, the electron and hole effective mass parameters for the three lowest band-to-band transitions, and their excitonic contributions. We find that the effective masses for holes are highly anisotropic and correlate with the selection rules for the fundamental band-to-band transitions. The observed transitions are polarized close to the direction of the lowest hole effective mass for the valence band participating in the transition.

Is speckle tracking actually helpful for cardiac resynchronization therapy?

PubMed

Tanaka, Hidekazu; Hirata, Ken-Ichi

2016-06-01

What is the specific role of echocardiography in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)? CRT has proven to be highly effective for improving symptoms and survival of patients with advanced heart failure (HF) and wide QRS. However, a significant minority of patients do not respond favorably to CRT on the basis of standard clinical selection criteria, including the electrocardiographic QRS width. Subsequently, echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony has been considered useful for CRT for selected responders, but findings by multicenter studies suggest that its predictive value was not sufficiently robust to replace routine selection criteria for CRT. A more recent approach, however, using speckle-tracking echocardiography yields more accurate quantification of regional wall contraction. Speckle-tracking approaches have therefore generated a great deal of interest about their clinical applications for CRT. Although reports on speckle tracking have not been included in any recommendations as to whether patients should undergo CRT based on the current guidelines, speckle tracking can play an important supplementary part in CRT on the basis of a case-by-case clinical decision for challenging cases. Here, we review the strengths of speckle-tracking methods, and their current potential for clinical use in CRT.

Development and application of a novel genome-wide SNP array reveals domestication history in soybean

PubMed Central

Wang, Jiao; Chu, Shanshan; Zhang, Huairen; Zhu, Ying; Cheng, Hao; Yu, Deyue

2016-01-01

Domestication of soybeans occurred under the intense human-directed selections aimed at developing high-yielding lines. Tracing the domestication history and identifying the genes underlying soybean domestication require further exploration. Here, we developed a high-throughput NJAU 355 K SoySNP array and used this array to study the genetic variation patterns in 367 soybean accessions, including 105 wild soybeans and 262 cultivated soybeans. The population genetic analysis suggests that cultivated soybeans have tended to originate from northern and central China, from where they spread to other regions, accompanied with a gradual increase in seed weight. Genome-wide scanning for evidence of artificial selection revealed signs of selective sweeps involving genes controlling domestication-related agronomic traits including seed weight. To further identify genomic regions related to seed weight, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted across multiple environments in wild and cultivated soybeans. As a result, a strong linkage disequilibrium region on chromosome 20 was found to be significantly correlated with seed weight in cultivated soybeans. Collectively, these findings should provide an important basis for genomic-enabled breeding and advance the study of functional genomics in soybean. PMID:26856884

Development and application of a novel genome-wide SNP array reveals domestication history in soybean.

PubMed

Wang, Jiao; Chu, Shanshan; Zhang, Huairen; Zhu, Ying; Cheng, Hao; Yu, Deyue

2016-02-09

Domestication of soybeans occurred under the intense human-directed selections aimed at developing high-yielding lines. Tracing the domestication history and identifying the genes underlying soybean domestication require further exploration. Here, we developed a high-throughput NJAU 355 K SoySNP array and used this array to study the genetic variation patterns in 367 soybean accessions, including 105 wild soybeans and 262 cultivated soybeans. The population genetic analysis suggests that cultivated soybeans have tended to originate from northern and central China, from where they spread to other regions, accompanied with a gradual increase in seed weight. Genome-wide scanning for evidence of artificial selection revealed signs of selective sweeps involving genes controlling domestication-related agronomic traits including seed weight. To further identify genomic regions related to seed weight, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted across multiple environments in wild and cultivated soybeans. As a result, a strong linkage disequilibrium region on chromosome 20 was found to be significantly correlated with seed weight in cultivated soybeans. Collectively, these findings should provide an important basis for genomic-enabled breeding and advance the study of functional genomics in soybean.

An integrated healthcare information system for end-to-end standardized exchange and homogeneous management of digital ECG formats.

PubMed

Trigo, Jesús Daniel; Martínez, Ignacio; Alesanco, Alvaro; Kollmann, Alexander; Escayola, Javier; Hayn, Dieter; Schreier, Günter; García, José

2012-07-01

This paper investigates the application of the enterprise information system (EIS) paradigm to standardized cardiovascular condition monitoring. There are many specifications in cardiology, particularly in the ECG standardization arena. The existence of ECG formats, however, does not guarantee the implementation of homogeneous, standardized solutions for ECG management. In fact, hospital management services need to cope with various ECG formats and, moreover, several different visualization applications. This heterogeneity hampers the normalization of integrated, standardized healthcare information systems, hence the need for finding an appropriate combination of ECG formats and a suitable EIS-based software architecture that enables standardized exchange and homogeneous management of ECG formats. Determining such a combination is one objective of this paper. The second aim is to design and develop the integrated healthcare information system that satisfies the requirements posed by the previous determination. The ECG formats selected include ISO/IEEE11073, Standard Communications Protocol for Computer-Assisted Electrocardiography, and an ECG ontology. The EIS-enabling techniques and technologies selected include web services, simple object access protocol, extensible markup language, or business process execution language. Such a selection ensures the standardized exchange of ECGs within, or across, healthcare information systems while providing modularity and accessibility.

Finding Direction in the Search for Selection.

PubMed

Thiltgen, Grant; Dos Reis, Mario; Goldstein, Richard A

2017-01-01

Tests for positive selection have mostly been developed to look for diversifying selection where change away from the current amino acid is often favorable. However, in many cases we are interested in directional selection where there is a shift toward specific amino acids, resulting in increased fitness in the species. Recently, a few methods have been developed to detect and characterize directional selection on a molecular level. Using the results of evolutionary simulations as well as HIV drug resistance data as models of directional selection, we compare two such methods with each other, as well as against a standard method for detecting diversifying selection. We find that the method to detect diversifying selection also detects directional selection under certain conditions. One method developed for detecting directional selection is powerful and accurate for a wide range of conditions, while the other can generate an excessive number of false positives.

Performance measurement in healthcare: part II--state of the science findings by stage of the performance measurement process.

PubMed

Adair, Carol E; Simpson, Elizabeth; Casebeer, Ann L; Birdsell, Judith M; Hayden, Katharine A; Lewis, Steven

2006-07-01

This paper summarizes findings of a comprehensive, systematic review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature on performance measurement according to each stage of the performance measurement process--conceptualization, selection and development, data collection, and reporting and use. It also outlines implications for practice. Six hundred sixty-four articles about organizational performance measurement from the health and business literature were reviewed after systematic searches of the literature, multi-rater relevancy ratings, citation checks and expert author nominations. Key themes were extracted and summarized from the most highly rated papers for each performance measurement stage. Despite a virtually universal consensus on the potential benefits of performance measurement, little evidence currently exists to guide practice in healthcare. Issues in conceptualizing systems include strategic alignment and scope. There are debates on the criteria for selecting measures and on the types and quality of measures. Implementation of data collection and analysis systems is complex and costly, and challenges persist in reporting results, preventing unintended effects and putting findings for improvement into action. There is a need for further development and refinement of performance measures and measurement systems, with a particular focus on strategies to ensure that performance measurement leads to healthcare improvement.

Dose‐finding methods for Phase I clinical trials using pharmacokinetics in small populations

PubMed Central

Zohar, Sarah; Lentz, Frederike; Alberti, Corinne; Friede, Tim; Stallard, Nigel; Comets, Emmanuelle

2017-01-01

The aim of phase I clinical trials is to obtain reliable information on safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and mechanism of action of drugs with the objective of determining the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). In most phase I studies, dose‐finding and PK analysis are done separately and no attempt is made to combine them during dose allocation. In cases such as rare diseases, paediatrics, and studies in a biomarker‐defined subgroup of a defined population, the available population size will limit the number of possible clinical trials that can be conducted. Combining dose‐finding and PK analyses to allow better estimation of the dose‐toxicity curve should then be considered. In this work, we propose, study, and compare methods to incorporate PK measures in the dose allocation process during a phase I clinical trial. These methods do this in different ways, including using PK observations as a covariate, as the dependent variable or in a hierarchical model. We conducted a large simulation study that showed that adding PK measurements as a covariate only does not improve the efficiency of dose‐finding trials either in terms of the number of observed dose limiting toxicities or the probability of correct dose selection. However, incorporating PK measures does allow better estimation of the dose‐toxicity curve while maintaining the performance in terms of MTD selection compared to dose‐finding designs that do not incorporate PK information. In conclusion, using PK information in the dose allocation process enriches the knowledge of the dose‐toxicity relationship, facilitating better dose recommendation for subsequent trials. PMID:28321893

Advanced Methods for Dose and Regimen Finding During Drug Development: Summary of the EMA/EFPIA Workshop on Dose Finding (London 4-5 December 2014).

PubMed

Musuamba, F T; Manolis, E; Holford, N; Cheung, Sya; Friberg, L E; Ogungbenro, K; Posch, M; Yates, Jwt; Berry, S; Thomas, N; Corriol-Rohou, S; Bornkamp, B; Bretz, F; Hooker, A C; Van der Graaf, P H; Standing, J F; Hay, J; Cole, S; Gigante, V; Karlsson, K; Dumortier, T; Benda, N; Serone, F; Das, S; Brochot, A; Ehmann, F; Hemmings, R; Rusten, I Skottheim

2017-07-01

Inadequate dose selection for confirmatory trials is currently still one of the most challenging issues in drug development, as illustrated by high rates of late-stage attritions in clinical development and postmarketing commitments required by regulatory institutions. In an effort to shift the current paradigm in dose and regimen selection and highlight the availability and usefulness of well-established and regulatory-acceptable methods, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in collaboration with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Association (EFPIA) hosted a multistakeholder workshop on dose finding (London 4-5 December 2014). Some methodologies that could constitute a toolkit for drug developers and regulators were presented. These methods are described in the present report: they include five advanced methods for data analysis (empirical regression models, pharmacometrics models, quantitative systems pharmacology models, MCP-Mod, and model averaging) and three methods for study design optimization (Fisher information matrix (FIM)-based methods, clinical trial simulations, and adaptive studies). Pairwise comparisons were also discussed during the workshop; however, mostly for historical reasons. This paper discusses the added value and limitations of these methods as well as challenges for their implementation. Some applications in different therapeutic areas are also summarized, in line with the discussions at the workshop. There was agreement at the workshop on the fact that selection of dose for phase III is an estimation problem and should not be addressed via hypothesis testing. Dose selection for phase III trials should be informed by well-designed dose-finding studies; however, the specific choice of method(s) will depend on several aspects and it is not possible to recommend a generalized decision tree. There are many valuable methods available, the methods are not mutually exclusive, and they should be used in conjunction to ensure a scientifically rigorous understanding of the dosing rationale. © 2017 The Authors. CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Prediction of Chlamydia trachomatis infection to facilitate selective screening on population and individual level: a cross-sectional study of a population-based screening programme.

PubMed

van Klaveren, David; Götz, Hannelore M; Op de Coul, Eline Lm; Steyerberg, Ewout W; Vergouwe, Yvonne

2016-09-01

To develop prediction models for Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) infection with different levels of detail in information, that is, from readily available data in registries and from additional questionnaires. All inhabitants of Rotterdam and Amsterdam aged 16-29 were invited yearly from 2008 until 2011 for home-based testing. Their registry data included gender, age, ethnicity and neighbourhood-level socioeconomic status (SES). Participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire on education, sexually transmitted infection history, symptoms, partner information and sexual behaviour. We developed prediction models for Ct infection using first-time participant data-including registry variables only and with additional questionnaire variables-by multilevel logistic regression analysis to account for clustering within neighbourhoods. We assessed the discriminative ability by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Four per cent (3540/80 385) of the participants was infected. The strongest registry predictors for Ct infection were young age (especially for women) and Surinamese, Antillean or sub-Saharan African ethnicity. Neighbourhood-level SES was of minor importance. Strong questionnaire predictors were low to intermediate education level, ethnicity of the partner (non-Dutch) and having sex with casual partners. When using a prediction model including questionnaire risk factors (AUC 0.74, 95% CI 0.736 to 0.752) for selective screening, 48% of the participating population needed to be screened to find 80% (95% CI 78.4% to 81.0%) of Ct infections. The model with registry risk factors only (AUC 0.67, 95% CI 0.656 to 0.675) required 60% to be screened to find 78% (95% CI 76.6% to 79.4%) of Ct infections. A registry-based prediction model can facilitate selective Ct screening at population level, with further refinement at the individual level by including questionnaire risk factors. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

A Systematic Review of Financial Incentives for Dietary Behavior Change

PubMed Central

Purnell, Jason Q.; Gernes, Rebecca; Stein, Rick; Sherraden, Margaret S.; Knoblock-Hahn, Amy

2014-01-01

In light of the obesity epidemic, there is growing interest in the use of financial incentives for dietary behavior change. Previous reviews of the literature have focused on randomized, controlled trials and found mixed results. The purpose of this systematic review is to update and expand upon previous reviews by considering a broader range of study designs, including RCTs, quasi-experimental, observational, and simulation studies testing the use of financial incentives to change dietary behavior and to inform both dietetic practice and research. The review was guided by theoretical consideration of the type of incentive used based upon the principles of operant conditioning. There was further examination of whether studies were carried out with an institutional focus and whether incentives took the form of assets or savings. Studies published between 2006 and 2012 were selected for review, and data were extracted regarding study population, intervention design, outcome measures, study duration and follow-up, and key findings. Twelve studies meeting selection criteria were reviewed, with eleven finding a positive association between incentives and dietary behavior change in the short-term. All studies pointed to more specific information on the type, timing, and magnitude of incentives needed to motivate individuals to change behavior, the types of incentives and disincentives most likely to affect the behavior of various socioeconomic groups, and promising approaches for potential policy and practice innovations. Limitations of studies are noted, including the lack of theoretical guidance in the selection of incentive structures and the absence of basic experimental data. Future research should consider these factors even as policymakers and practitioners continue to experiment with this potentially useful approach to addressing obesity. PMID:24836967

A systematic review of financial incentives for dietary behavior change.

PubMed

Purnell, Jason Q; Gernes, Rebecca; Stein, Rick; Sherraden, Margaret S; Knoblock-Hahn, Amy

2014-07-01

In light of the obesity epidemic, there is growing interest in the use of financial incentives for dietary behavior change. Previous reviews of the literature have focused on randomized controlled trials and found mixed results. The purpose of this systematic review is to update and expand on previous reviews by considering a broader range of study designs, including randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental, observational, and simulation studies testing the use of financial incentives to change dietary behavior and to inform both dietetic practice and research. The review was guided by theoretical consideration of the type of incentive used based on the principles of operant conditioning. There was further examination of whether studies were carried out with an institutional focus. Studies published between 2006 and 2012 were selected for review, and data were extracted regarding study population, intervention design, outcome measures, study duration and follow-up, and key findings. Twelve studies meeting selection criteria were reviewed, with 11 finding a positive association between incentives and dietary behavior change in the short term. All studies pointed to more specific information on the type, timing, and magnitude of incentives needed to motivate individuals to change behavior, the types of incentives and disincentives most likely to affect the behavior of various socioeconomic groups, and promising approaches for potential policy and practice innovations. Limitations of the studies are noted, including the lack of theoretical guidance in the selection of incentive structures and the absence of basic experimental data. Future research should consider these factors, even as policy makers and practitioners continue to experiment with this potentially useful approach to addressing obesity. Copyright © 2014 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sexual selection and the risk of extinction in birds.

PubMed Central

Morrow, Edward H; Pitcher, Trevor E

2003-01-01

The relationship between sexual selection and extinction risk has rarely been investigated. This is unfortunate because extinction plays a key role in determining the patterns of species richness seen in extant clades, which form the basis of comparative studies into the role that sexual selection may play in promoting speciation. We investigate the extent to which the perceived risk of extinction relates to four different estimates of sexual selection in 1030 species of birds. We find no evidence that the number of threatened species is distributed unevenly according to a social mating system, and neither of our two measures of pre-mating sexual selection (sexual dimorphism and dichromatism) was related to extinction risk, after controlling for phylogenetic inertia. However, threatened species apparently experience more intense post-mating sexual selection, measured as testis size, than non-threatened species. These results persisted after including body size as a covariate in the analysis, and became even stronger after controlling for clutch size (two known correlates of extinction risk). Sexual selection may therefore be a double-edged process-promoting speciation on one hand but promoting extinction on the other. Furthermore, we suggest that it is post-mating sexual selection, in particular, that is responsible for the negative effect of sexual selection on clade size. Why this might be is unclear, but the mean population fitness of species with high intensities of post-mating sexual selection may be especially low if costs associated with multiple mating are high or if the selection load imposed by post-mating selection is higher relative to that of pre-mating sexual selection. PMID:12964981

Evaluation of coronal shift as an indicator of neuroaxial abnormalities in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a prospective study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background In previous studies, many indicator factors have been proposed to select patients who need an MRI screening of the spinal canal. In current study, the clinical and radiologic factors including coronal parameters of the curve were evaluated to find out which indicator is more important. Methods A prospective study included 143 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who were treated between 2010 and 2013 at our spinal clinics. Only patients with normal or subtle neurologic findings were included. All patients were evaluated by a total spine MRI protocol for examination of neuroaxial abnormalities. Known indicators and also coronal shift were analysed in all patients with or without abnormal MRI. Results The incidence of neuroaxial abnormalities was 11.9% (17 of 143); only 5 patients (3.5%) were operated to treat their neuroaxial problem. The significant indicators of the abnormalities in our patients were: younger age at onset, asymmetric superficial abdominal reflex and, coronal shift more than 15 mm (P = 0.03). Some previously known indicators like atypical curves, male gender, double curves and absence of thoracic lordosis were not different between two groups of the patients. Conclusions A total spine MRI is recommended at presentation in patients with younger age, abnormal neurologic findings and severe coronal shift. PMID:25071863

Ecogeography, genetics, and the evolution of human body form.

PubMed

Roseman, Charles C; Auerbach, Benjamin M

2015-01-01

Genetic resemblances among groups are non-randomly distributed in humans. This population structure may influence the correlations between traits and environmental drivers of natural selection thus complicating the interpretation of the fossil record when modern human variation is used as a referential model. In this paper, we examine the effects of population structure and natural selection on postcranial traits that reflect body size and shape with application to the more general issue of how climate - using latitude as a proxy - has influenced hominin morphological variation. We compare models that include terms reflecting population structure, ascertained from globally distributed microsatellite data, and latitude on postcranial phenotypes derived from skeletal dimensions taken from a large global sample of modern humans. We find that models with a population structure term fit better than a model of natural selection along a latitudinal cline in all cases. A model including both latitude and population structure terms is a good fit to distal limb element lengths and bi-iliac breadth, indicating that multiple evolutionary forces shaped these morphologies. In contrast, a model that included only a population structure term best explained femoral head diameter and the crural index. The results demonstrate that population structure is an important part of human postcranial variation, and that clinally distributed natural selection is not sufficient to explain among-group differentiation. The distribution of human body form is strongly influenced by the contingencies of modern human origins, which calls for new ways to approach problems in the evolution of human variation, past and present. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Growth, Development, and Behavior in Early Childhood Following Prenatal Cocaine Exposure

PubMed Central

Frank, Deborah A.; Augustyn, Marilyn; Knight, Wanda Grant; Pell, Tripler; Zuckerman, Barry

2008-01-01

Context Despite recent studies that failed to show catastrophic effects of prenatal cocaine exposure, popular attitudes and public policies still reflect the belief that cocaine is a uniquely dangerous teratogen. Objective To critically review outcomes in early childhood after prenatal cocaine exposure in 5 domains: physical growth; cognition; language skills; motor skills; and behavior, attention, affect, and neurophysiology. Data Sources Search of MEDLINE and Psychological Abstracts from 1984 to October 2000. Study Selection Studies selected for detailed review (1) were published in a peerreviewed English-language journal; (2) included a comparison group; (3) recruited samples prospectively in the perinatal period; (4) used masked assessment; and (5) did not include a substantial proportion of subjects exposed in utero to opiates, amphetamines, phencyclidine, or maternal human immunodeficiency virus infection. Data Extraction Thirty-six of 74 articles met criteria and were reviewed by 3 authors. Disagreements were resolved by consensus. Data Synthesis After controlling for confounders, there was no consistent negative association between prenatal cocaine exposure and physical growth, developmental test scores, or receptive or expressive language. Less optimal motor scores have been found up to age 7 months but not thereafter, and may reflect heavy tobacco exposure. No independent cocaine effects have been shown on standardized parent and teacher reports of child behavior scored by accepted criteria. Experimental paradigms and novel statistical manipulations of standard instruments suggest an association between prenatal cocaine exposure and decreased attentiveness and emotional expressivity, as well as differences on neurophysiologic and attentional/affective findings. Conclusions Among children aged 6 years or younger, there is no convincing evidence that prenatal cocaine exposure is associated with developmental toxic effects that are different in severity, scope, or kind from the sequelae of multiple other risk factors. Many findings once thought to be specific effects of in utero cocaine exposure are correlated with other factors, including prenatal exposure to tobacco, marijuana, or alcohol, and the quality of the child’s environment. Further replication is required of preliminary neurologic findings. PMID:11268270

Structure-based prediction of subtype selectivity of histamine H3 receptor selective antagonists in clinical trials.

PubMed

Kim, Soo-Kyung; Fristrup, Peter; Abrol, Ravinder; Goddard, William A

2011-12-27

Histamine receptors (HRs) are excellent drug targets for the treatment of diseases, such as schizophrenia, psychosis, depression, migraine, allergies, asthma, ulcers, and hypertension. Among them, the human H(3) histamine receptor (hH(3)HR) antagonists have been proposed for specific therapeutic applications, including treatment of Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), epilepsy, and obesity. However, many of these drug candidates cause undesired side effects through the cross-reactivity with other histamine receptor subtypes. In order to develop improved selectivity and activity for such treatments, it would be useful to have the three-dimensional structures for all four HRs. We report here the predicted structures of four HR subtypes (H(1), H(2), H(3), and H(4)) using the GEnSeMBLE (GPCR ensemble of structures in membrane bilayer environment) Monte Carlo protocol, sampling ∼35 million combinations of helix packings to predict the 10 most stable packings for each of the four subtypes. Then we used these 10 best protein structures with the DarwinDock Monte Carlo protocol to sample ∼50 000 × 10(20) poses to predict the optimum ligand-protein structures for various agonists and antagonists. We find that E206(5.46) contributes most in binding H(3) selective agonists (5, 6, 7) in agreement with experimental mutation studies. We also find that conserved E5.46/S5.43 in both of hH(3)HR and hH(4)HR are involved in H(3)/ H(4) subtype selectivity. In addition, we find that M378(6.55) in hH(3)HR provides additional hydrophobic interactions different from hH(4)HR (the corresponding amino acid of T323(6.55) in hH(4)HR) to provide additional subtype bias. From these studies, we developed a pharmacophore model based on our predictions for known hH(3)HR selective antagonists in clinical study [ABT-239 1, GSK-189,254 2, PF-3654746 3, and BF2.649 (tiprolisant) 4] that suggests critical selectivity directing elements are: the basic proton interacting with D114(3.32), the spacer, the aromatic ring substituted with the hydrophilic or lipophilic groups interacting with lipophilic pockets in transmembranes (TMs) 3-5-6 and the aliphatic ring located in TMs 2-3-7. These 3D structures for all four HRs should help guide the rational design of novel drugs for the subtype selective antagonists and agonists with reduced side effects.

Factors influencing the recruitment and retention of literacy learners in Oman

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Barwani, Thuwayba; Kelly, Edward F.

1985-12-01

The study investigates factors influencing the recruitment and retention of learners in the national adult literacy programme in Oman. Personal interviews were conducted in the interior and Capital regions of Oman (N=102). Respondents included 46 randomly selected enrolled learners, 26 randomly selected dropouts and 30 unenrolled adults. Results of the interviews were content-analyzed and frequencies, cross tabulations and Chi-square were calculated. Findings indicated regional differences in the adults' motivation for enrolling, but the spiritual motive was over all the most significant. Men and women reported different patterns of conflict and obstacles in completing their literacy studies: Men indicated work demands as their biggest obstacle while women complained about family responsibilities. Programme attrition was mainly attributed to structural characteristics of the programme.

Applications of remote sensing to water resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

Analyses were made of selected long-term (1985 and beyond) objectives, with the intent of determining if significant data-related problems would be encountered and to develop alternative solutions to any potential problems. One long-term objective selected for analysis was Water Availability Forecasting. A brief overview was scheduled in FY-77 of the objective -- primarily a fact-finding study to allow Data Management personnel to gain adequate background information to perform subsequent data system analyses. This report, includes discussions on some of the larger problems currently encountered in water measurement, the potential users of water availability forecasts, projected demands of users, current sensing accuracies, required parameter monitoring, status of forecasting modeling, and some measurement accuracies likely to be achievable by 1980 and 1990.

Sequence divergence and diversity suggests ongoing functional diversification of vertebrate NAD metabolism

PubMed Central

Gossmann, Toni I.; Ziegler, Mathias

2014-01-01

NAD is not only an important cofactor in redox reactions but has also received attention in recent years because of its physiological importance in metabolic regulation, DNA repair and signaling. In contrast to the redox reactions, these regulatory processes involve degradation of NAD and therefore necessitate a constant replenishment of its cellular pool. NAD biosynthetic enzymes are common to almost all species in all clades, but the number of NAD degrading enzymes varies substantially across taxa. In particular, vertebrates, including humans, have a manifold of NAD degrading enzymes which require a high turnover of NAD. As there is currently a lack of a systematic study of how natural selection has shaped enzymes involved in NAD metabolism we conducted a comprehensive evolutionary analysis based on intraspecific variation and interspecific divergence. We compare NAD biosynthetic and degrading enzymes in four eukaryotic model species and subsequently focus on human NAD metabolic enzymes and their orthologs in other vertebrates. We find that the majority of enzymes involved in NAD metabolism are subject to varying levels of purifying selection. While NAD biosynthetic enzymes appear to experience a rather high level of evolutionary constraint, there is evidence for positive selection among enzymes mediating NAD-dependent signaling. This is particularly evident for members of the PARP family, a diverse protein family involved in DNA damage repair and programmed cell death. Based on haplotype information and substitution rate analysis we pinpoint sites that are potential targets of positive selection. We also link our findings to a three dimensional structure, which suggests that positive selection occurs in domains responsible for DNA binding and polymerization rather than the NAD catalytic domain. Taken together, our results indicate that vertebrate NAD metabolism is still undergoing functional diversification. PMID:25084685

Sequence divergence and diversity suggests ongoing functional diversification of vertebrate NAD metabolism.

PubMed

Gossmann, Toni I; Ziegler, Mathias

2014-11-01

NAD is not only an important cofactor in redox reactions but has also received attention in recent years because of its physiological importance in metabolic regulation, DNA repair and signaling. In contrast to the redox reactions, these regulatory processes involve degradation of NAD and therefore necessitate a constant replenishment of its cellular pool. NAD biosynthetic enzymes are common to almost all species in all clades, but the number of NAD degrading enzymes varies substantially across taxa. In particular, vertebrates, including humans, have a manifold of NAD degrading enzymes which require a high turnover of NAD. As there is currently a lack of a systematic study of how natural selection has shaped enzymes involved in NAD metabolism we conducted a comprehensive evolutionary analysis based on intraspecific variation and interspecific divergence. We compare NAD biosynthetic and degrading enzymes in four eukaryotic model species and subsequently focus on human NAD metabolic enzymes and their orthologs in other vertebrates. We find that the majority of enzymes involved in NAD metabolism are subject to varying levels of purifying selection. While NAD biosynthetic enzymes appear to experience a rather high level of evolutionary constraint, there is evidence for positive selection among enzymes mediating NAD-dependent signaling. This is particularly evident for members of the PARP family, a diverse protein family involved in DNA damage repair and programmed cell death. Based on haplotype information and substitution rate analysis we pinpoint sites that are potential targets of positive selection. We also link our findings to a three dimensional structure, which suggests that positive selection occurs in domains responsible for DNA binding and polymerization rather than the NAD catalytic domain. Taken together, our results indicate that vertebrate NAD metabolism is still undergoing functional diversification. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Factors influencing property selection for conservation revolving funds.

PubMed

Hardy, Mathew J; Fitzsimons, James A; Bekessy, Sarah A; Gordon, Ascelin

2018-04-01

Finding sustainable ways to increase the amount of private land protected for biodiversity is challenging for many conservation organizations. In some countries, organizations use revolving-fund programs, whereby land is purchased and then sold to conservation-minded owners under condition they enter into a conservation covenant or easement. The sale proceeds are used to purchase, protect, and sell additional properties, incrementally increasing the amount of protected private land. Because the effectiveness of this approach relies on selecting appropriate properties, we explored factors currently considered by practitioners and how these are integrated into decision making. We conducted exploratory, semistructured interviews with managers from each of the 5 major revolving funds in Australia. Responses indicated although conservation factors are important, financial and social factors are also highly influential. A major determinant was whether the property could be resold within a reasonable period at a price that replenishes the fund. To facilitate resale, often selected properties include the potential for the construction of a dwelling. Practitioners face with clear trade-offs between conservation, financial, amenity, and other factors in selecting properties and 3 main challenges: recovering the costs of acquisition, protection, and resale; reselling the property; and meeting conservation goals. Our findings suggest the complexity of these decisions may constrain revolving-fund effectiveness. Drawing from participant responses, we identified potential strategies to mitigate these risks, such as providing adequate recreational space without jeopardizing ecological assets. We suggest managers could benefit from a shared-learning and adaptive approach to property selection given the commonalities between programs. Understanding how practitioners deal with complex decisions in the implementation of revolving funds helps identify future research to improve the performance of this conservation tool. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Renal incidental findings on computed tomography

PubMed Central

Meyer, Hans Jonas; Pfeil, Alina; Schramm, Dominik; Bach, Andreas Gunter; Surov, Alexey

2017-01-01

Abstract Renal incidental findings (IFs) are common. However, previous reports investigated renal IFs were limited to patient selection. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and distribution of all renal IFs on computed tomography (CT) in a large patient collective. All patients, who underwent CT investigations of the abdominal region at our institution in the time period between January 2006 and February 2014 were included in this study. Inclusion criteria were as follows: no previous history of renal diseases and well image quality. Patients with known kidney disorders were excluded from the study. Overall, 7365 patients meet the inclusion criteria were identified. There were 2924 (39.7%) women and 4441 men (60.3%) with a mean age of 59.8 ± 16.7 years. All CTs were retrospectively analyzed in consensus by 2 radiologists. Collected data were evaluated by means of descriptive statistics. Overall, 2756 patients (37.42% of all included patients) showed 3425 different renal IFs (1.24 findings per patient). Of all renal IFs, 123 (3.6%) findings were clinically relevant, 259 (7.6%) were categorized as possibly clinically relevant, and 3043 (88.8%) were clinically non relevant. Different renal IFs can be detected on CT. The present study provides a real prevalence and proportion of them in daily clinical routine. Kidneys should be thoroughly evaluated because of the fact that incidental renal findings occur frequently. PMID:28658098

ARL Summer Student Research Symposium. Volume 1: Select Papers

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-01

deploying Android smart phones and tablets on the battlefield, which may be a target for malware. In our research, we attempt to improve static...network. (a) The T1 and MRI images are (b) segmented into different material components. The segmented geometry is then used to create (c) a finite element...towards finding a method to detect mTBI non-invasively. One method in particular includes the use of a magnetic resonance image ( MRI )-based imaging

Targeting Tim-1 to Circumvent Immune Tolerance in Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

findings that SIM2 is selectively expressed in PCa, that human HLA- A2.1–restricted SIM2 epitopes induce specific T cells in vivo, and that anti -SIM2...TAA, would include a vaccine in conjunction with biologic agents that are known to simultaneously augment antigen presentation by DCs and inhibit...such agents is the agonist antibody that targets TIM-1, a receptor expressed on lymphocytes and dendritic cells that enhances cytotoxic lymphocyte

Three-dimensional superconducting gap in FeSe from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kushnirenko, Y. S.; Fedorov, A. V.; Haubold, E.; Thirupathaiah, S.; Wolf, T.; Aswartham, S.; Morozov, I.; Kim, T. K.; Büchner, B.; Borisenko, S. V.

2018-05-01

We present a systematic angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of the superconducting gap in FeSe. The gap function is determined in a full Brillouin zone including all Fermi surfaces and kz dependence. We find significant anisotropy of the superconducting gap in all momentum directions. While the in-plane anisotropy can be explained by both nematicity-induced pairing anisotropy and orbital-selective pairing, the kz anisotropy requires an additional refinement of the theoretical approaches.

An Integrative Review of Psychosocial Concerns Among Young African American Breast Cancer Survivors.

PubMed

Nolan, Timiya S; Frank, Jennifer; Gisiger-Camata, Silvia; Meneses, Karen

African American (AA) women are more likely to be given a diagnosis of breast cancer at an early age, experience morbidity after treatment, and exhibit disparities in survivorship. Although psychosocial well-being is largely studied among breast cancer survivors, data are sparse regarding young AA survivors. This integrative review examined psychosocial concerns in survivorship among young AA survivors using a quality-of-life framework. PubMed, CINHAL, EMBASE, PsychINFO, and Scopus were searched for articles exploring psychosocial well-being in young AA survivors. The search yielded 237 articles that were retrieved and reviewed for relevance. Of these, 16 articles were selected based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. Data were evaluated and synthesized based on the quality-of-life model. Selected articles omitted the study of several psychological subconstructs and identified existing psychosocial concerns that require mitigation. The review revealed key areas of psychosocial concerns among young AA survivors including ongoing anxiety/depression, cognitive changes, and relationships. Identified gaps include paucity of research with young AA survivors and their residual psychosocial concerns. Review findings indicate a need to increase survivorship research on young AA survivors. Researchers, clinicians, and young AA survivors must partner in efforts to understand psychosocial concerns and translate findings into clinical practice (ie, use of psychosocial distress tools, distress de-escalation protocols, and individualized survivorship care plans) toward reduction of quality-of-life health disparities among young AA survivors.

Antihistamines and Birth Defects: A Systematic Review of the Literature

PubMed Central

Gilboa, Suzanne M.; Ailes, Elizabeth C.; Rai, Ramona P.; Anderson, Jaynia A.; Honein, Margaret A.

2015-01-01

Introduction Approximately 10-15% of women reportedly take an antihistamine during pregnancy for the relief of nausea and vomiting, allergy and asthma symptoms, or indigestion. Antihistamines include histamine H1-receptor and H2-receptor antagonists. Areas covered This is a systematic evaluation of the peer-reviewed epidemiologic literature published through February 2014 on the association between prenatal exposure to antihistamines and birth defects. Papers addressing histamine H1- or H2-receptor antagonists are included. Papers addressing pyridoxine plus doxylamine (Bendectin in the United States, Debendox in the United Kingdom, Diclectin in Canada, Lenotan and Merbental in other countries) prior to the year 2001 were excluded post-hoc because of several previously published meta-analyses and commentaries on this medication. Expert opinion The literature on the safety of antihistamine use during pregnancy with respect to birth defects is generally reassuring though the positive findings from a few large studies warrant corroboration in other populations. The findings in the literature are considered in light of three critical methodological issues: (1) selection of appropriate study population; (2) ascertainment of antihistamine exposures; and (3) ascertainment of birth defects outcomes. Selected antihistamines have been very well-studied (e.g. loratadine); others, especially H2- receptor antagonists, require additional study before an assessment of safety with respect to birth defects risk could be made. PMID:25307228

Improved Estimates of the Benefits of Breastfeeding Using Sibling Comparisons to Reduce Selection Bias

PubMed Central

Evenhouse, Eirik; Reilly, Siobhan

2005-01-01

Objective Better measurement of the health and cognitive benefits of breastfeeding by using sibling comparisons to reduce sample selection bias. Data We use data on the breastfeeding history, physical and emotional health, academic performance, cognitive ability, and demographic characteristics of 16,903 adolescents from the first (1994) wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The sample includes 2,734 sibling pairs. Study Design We examine the relationship between breastfeeding history and 15 indicators of physical health, emotional health, and cognitive ability, using ordinary least squares and logit regression. For each indicator, we estimate, in addition to the usual between-family model, a within-family model to see whether differences in siblings' outcomes are associated with differences in the siblings' breastfeeding histories. Principal Findings Nearly all of the correlations found in the between-family model become statistically insignificant in the within-family model. The notable exception is a persistent positive correlation between breastfeeding and cognitive ability. These findings hold whether breastfeeding is measured in terms of duration or as a Yes/No variable. Conclusions This study provides persuasive evidence of a causal connection between breastfeeding and intelligence. However, it also suggests that nonexperimental studies of breastfeeding overstate some of its other long-term benefits, even if controls are included for race, ethnicity, income, and education. PMID:16336548

Inference of Evolutionary Forces Acting on Human Biological Pathways

PubMed Central

Daub, Josephine T.; Dupanloup, Isabelle; Robinson-Rechavi, Marc; Excoffier, Laurent

2015-01-01

Because natural selection is likely to act on multiple genes underlying a given phenotypic trait, we study here the potential effect of ongoing and past selection on the genetic diversity of human biological pathways. We first show that genes included in gene sets are generally under stronger selective constraints than other genes and that their evolutionary response is correlated. We then introduce a new procedure to detect selection at the pathway level based on a decomposition of the classical McDonald–Kreitman test extended to multiple genes. This new test, called 2DNS, detects outlier gene sets and takes into account past demographic effects and evolutionary constraints specific to gene sets. Selective forces acting on gene sets can be easily identified by a mere visual inspection of the position of the gene sets relative to their two-dimensional null distribution. We thus find several outlier gene sets that show signals of positive, balancing, or purifying selection but also others showing an ancient relaxation of selective constraints. The principle of the 2DNS test can also be applied to other genomic contrasts. For instance, the comparison of patterns of polymorphisms private to African and non-African populations reveals that most pathways show a higher proportion of nonsynonymous mutations in non-Africans than in Africans, potentially due to different demographic histories and selective pressures. PMID:25971280

The control of voluntary eye movements: new perspectives.

PubMed

Krauzlis, Richard J

2005-04-01

Primates use two types of voluntary eye movements to track objects of interest: pursuit and saccades. Traditionally, these two eye movements have been viewed as distinct systems that are driven automatically by low-level visual inputs. However, two sets of findings argue for a new perspective on the control of voluntary eye movements. First, recent experiments have shown that pursuit and saccades are not controlled by entirely different neural pathways but are controlled by similar networks of cortical and subcortical regions and, in some cases, by the same neurons. Second, pursuit and saccades are not automatic responses to retinal inputs but are regulated by a process of target selection that involves a basic form of decision making. The selection process itself is guided by a variety of complex processes, including attention, perception, memory, and expectation. Together, these findings indicate that pursuit and saccades share a similar functional architecture. These points of similarity may hold the key for understanding how neural circuits negotiate the links between the many higher order functions that can influence behavior and the singular and coordinated motor actions that follow.

Screening of duplicated loci reveals hidden divergence patterns in a complex salmonid genome

USGS Publications Warehouse

Limborg, Morten T.; Larson, Wesley; Seeb, Lisa W.; Seeb, James E.

2017-01-01

A whole-genome duplication (WGD) doubles the entire genomic content of a species and is thought to have catalysed adaptive radiation in some polyploid-origin lineages. However, little is known about general consequences of a WGD because gene duplicates (i.e., paralogs) are commonly filtered in genomic studies; such filtering may remove substantial portions of the genome in data sets from polyploid-origin species. We demonstrate a new method that enables genome-wide scans for signatures of selection at both nonduplicated and duplicated loci by taking locus-specific copy number into account. We apply this method to RAD sequence data from different ecotypes of a polyploid-origin salmonid (Oncorhynchus nerka) and reveal signatures of divergent selection that would have been missed if duplicated loci were filtered. We also find conserved signatures of elevated divergence at pairs of homeologous chromosomes with residual tetrasomic inheritance, suggesting that joint evolution of some nondiverged gene duplicates may affect the adaptive potential of these genes. These findings illustrate that including duplicated loci in genomic analyses enables novel insights into the evolutionary consequences of WGDs and local segmental gene duplications.

Antioxidants and Coronary Artery Disease: From Pathophysiology to Preventive Therapy

PubMed Central

Leopold, Jane A.

2014-01-01

Oxidant stress in the cardiovascular system may occur when antioxidant capacity is insufficient to reduce reactive oxygen species and other free radicals. Oxidant stress has been linked to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and incident coronary artery disease. As a result of this connection, early observational studies focused on dietary antioxidants, such as β-carotene, α-tocopherol, and ascorbic acid, and demonstrated an inverse relationship between intake of these antioxidants and major adverse cardiovascular events. These findings supported a number of randomized trials of selected antioxidants as primary and secondary prevention to decrease cardiac risk; however, many of these studies reported disappointing results with little or no observed risk reduction in antioxidant treated patients. Several plausible explanations for these findings have been suggested, including incorrect antioxidant choice or dose, synthetic versus dietary antioxidant as the intervention, and patient selection, all of which will be important to consider when designing future clinical trials. This review will focus on the contemporary evidence that is the basis for our current understanding of the role of antioxidants in cardiovascular disease prevention. PMID:25369999

ADHD and autism: differential diagnosis or overlapping traits? A selective review.

PubMed

Taurines, Regina; Schwenck, Christina; Westerwald, Eva; Sachse, Michael; Siniatchkin, Michael; Freitag, Christine

2012-09-01

According to DSM-IV TR and ICD-10, a diagnosis of autism or Asperger Syndrome precludes a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, despite the different conceptualization, population-based twin studies reported symptom overlap, and a recent epidemiologically based study reported a high rate of ADHD in autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In the planned revision of the DSM-IV TR, dsm5 (www.dsm5.org), the diagnoses of autistic disorder and ADHD will not be mutually exclusive any longer. This provides the basis of more differentiated studies on overlap and distinction between both disorders. This review presents data on comorbidity rates and symptom overlap and discusses common and disorder-specific risk factors, including recent proteomic studies. Neuropsychological findings in the areas of attention, reward processing, and social cognition are then compared between both disorders, as these cognitive abilities show overlapping as well as specific impairment for one of both disorders. In addition, selective brain imaging findings are reported. Therapeutic options are summarized, and new approaches are discussed. The review concludes with a prospectus on open questions for research and clinical practice.

Mental health problems among young doctors: an updated review of prospective studies.

PubMed

Tyssen, Reidar; Vaglum, Per

2002-01-01

Previous studies have shown the medical community to exhibit a relatively high level of certain mental health problems, particularly depression, which may lead to drug abuse and suicide. We reviewed prospective studies published over the past 20 years to investigate the prevalence and predictors of mental health problems in doctors during their first postgraduate years. We selected clinically relevant mental health problems as the outcome measure. We found nine cohort studies that met our selection criteria. Each of them had limitations, notably low response rate at follow-up, small sample size, and/or short observation period. Most studies showed that symptoms of mental health problems, particularly of depression, were highest during the first postgraduate year. They found that individual factors, such as family background, personality traits (neuroticism and self-criticism), and coping by wishful thinking, as well as contextual factors including perceived medical-school stress, perceived overwork, emotional pressure, working in an intensive-care setting, and stress outside of work, were often predictive of mental health problems. The studies revealed somewhat discrepant findings with respect to gender. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Biases in research: risk factors for non-replicability in psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy research.

PubMed

Leichsenring, F; Abbass, A; Hilsenroth, M J; Leweke, F; Luyten, P; Keefe, J R; Midgley, N; Rabung, S; Salzer, S; Steinert, C

2017-04-01

Replicability of findings is an essential prerequisite of research. For both basic and clinical research, however, low replicability of findings has recently been reported. Replicability may be affected by research biases not sufficiently controlled for by the existing research standards. Several biases such as researcher allegiance or selective reporting are well-known for affecting results. For psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy research, specific additional biases may affect outcome (e.g. therapist allegiance, therapist effects or impairments in treatment implementation). For meta-analyses further specific biases are relevant. In psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy research these biases have not yet been systematically discussed in the context of replicability. Using a list of 13 biases as a starting point, we discuss each bias's impact on replicability. We illustrate each bias by selective findings of recent research, showing that (1) several biases are not yet sufficiently controlled for by the presently applied research standards, (2) these biases have a pernicious effect on replicability of findings. For the sake of research credibility, it is critical to avoid these biases in future research. To control for biases and to improve replicability, we propose to systematically implement several measures in psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy research, such as adversarial collaboration (inviting academic rivals to collaborate), reviewing study design prior to knowing the results, triple-blind data analysis (including subjects, investigators and data managers/statisticians), data analysis by other research teams (crowdsourcing), and, last not least, updating reporting standards such as CONSORT or the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR).

Imaging Characteristics of Children with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Roche, Joseph P.; Huang, Benjamin Y.; Castillo, Mauricio; Bassim, Marc K.; Adunka, Oliver F.; Buchman, Craig A.

2013-01-01

Objective To identify and define the imaging characteristics of children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD). Design Retrospective medical records review and analysis of both temporal bone computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance images (MRI) in from children with the diagnosis of ANSD. Setting Tertiary referral center. Patients 118 children with the electrophysiological characteristics of ANSD with available imaging studies for review. Interventions Two neuroradiologists and a neurotologist reviewed each study and consensus descriptions were established. Main outcome measures The type and number of imaging findings were tabulated. Results Sixty-eight (64%) MRIs revealed at least one imaging abnormality while selective use of CT identified 23 (55%) with anomalies. The most prevalent MRI findings included cochlear nerve deficiency (n=51; 28% of 183 nerves), brain abnormalities (n=42; 40% of 106 brains) and prominent temporal horns (n=33, 16% of 212 temporal lobes). The most prevalent CT finding from selective use of CT was cochlear dysplasia (n=13; 31%). Conclusions MRI will identify many abnormalities in children with ANSD that are not readily discernable on CT. Specifically, both developmental and acquired abnormalities of the brain, posterior cranial fossa, and cochlear nerves are not uncommonly seen in this patient population. Inner ear anomalies are well delineated using either imaging modality. Since many of the central nervous system findings identified in this study using MRI can alter the treatment and prognosis for these children, we believe that MRI should be the initial imaging study of choice for children with ANSD. PMID:20593543

Chest x-ray as a screening tool for blunt thoracic trauma in children.

PubMed

Yanchar, Natalie L; Woo, Kenneth; Brennan, Maureen; Palmer, Cameron S; Zs Ee, Michael; Sweeney, Brian; Crameri, Joe

2013-10-01

With the increasing use of thoracic computed tomography (CT) to screen for injuries in pediatric blunt thoracic trauma (BTT), we determined whether chest x-ray (CXR) and other clinical and epidemiologic variables could be used to predict significant thoracic injuries, to inform the selective use of CT in pediatric BTT. We further queried if these were discrepant from factors associated with the decision to obtain a thoracic CT. This retrospective cohort study included cases of BTT from three Level I pediatric trauma centers between April 1999 and March 2008. Pre-CT epidemiologic, clinical, and radiologic variables associated with CT findings of any thoracic injury or a significant thoracic injury as well as the decision to obtain a thoracic CT were determined using logistic regression. Of 425 patients, 40% patients had a significant thoracic injury, 49% had nonsignificant thoracic injury, and 11% had no thoracic injury at all. Presence of hydrothorax and/or pneumothorax on CXR significantly increased the likelihood of significant chest injury visualized by CT (adjusted odds ratio 10.8; 95% confidence interval, 6.5-18), as did the presence of isolated subcutaneous emphysema (adjusted odds ratio, 19.8; 95% confidence interval, 2.3-168). Although a normal CXR finding was not statistically associated with a reduced risk of significant thoracic injury, 8 of the 9 cases with normal CXR findings and significant injuries involved occult pneumothoraces or hemothoraces not requiring intervention. Converse to features suggesting increased risk of significant injury, the decision to obtain a thoracic CT was only associated with later period in the study and obtaining a CT scan of another body region. CXR can be used to screen for significant thoracic injuries and direct the selective use of thoracic CT in pediatric BTT. Prospective studies are needed to validate these findings and develop guidelines that include CXR to define indications for thoracic CT in pediatric BTT. Prognostic study, level III.

Not virtual, but a real, live, online, interactive reference service.

PubMed

Jerant, Lisa Lott; Firestein, Kenneth

2003-01-01

In today's fast-paced environment, traditional medical reference services alone are not adequate to meet users' information needs. Efforts to find new ways to provide comprehensive service to users, where and when needed, have often included the use of new and developing technologies. This paper describes the experience of an academic health science library in developing and providing an online, real-time reference service. Issues discussed include selecting software, training librarians, staffing the service, and considering the future of the service. Use statistics, question type analysis, and feedback from users of the service and librarians who staff the service, are also presented.

Meditation as an Adjunct to the Management of Multiple Sclerosis

PubMed Central

Levin, Adam B.; Hadgkiss, Emily J.; Weiland, Tracey J.; Jelinek, George A.

2014-01-01

Background. Multiple sclerosis (MS) disease course is known to be adversely affected by several factors including stress. A proposed mechanism for decreasing stress and therefore decreasing MS morbidity and improving quality of life is meditation. This review aims to critically analyse the current literature regarding meditation and MS. Methods. Four major databases were used to search for English language papers published before March 2014 with the terms MS, multiple sclerosis, meditation, and mindfulness. Results. 12 pieces of primary literature fitting the selection criteria were selected: two were randomised controlled studies, four were cohort studies, and six were surveys. The current literature varies in quality; however common positive effects of meditation include improved quality of life (QOL) and improved coping skills. Conclusion. All studies suggest possible benefit to the use of meditation as an adjunct to the management of multiple sclerosis. Additional rigorous clinical trials are required to validate the existing findings and determine if meditation has an impact on disease course over time. PMID:25105026

Psychosocial stimulation interventions for children with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Daniel, Allison I; Bandsma, Robert H; Lytvyn, Lyubov; Voskuijl, Wieger P; Potani, Isabel; van den Heuvel, Meta

2017-01-01

Background The WHO Guidelines for the inpatient treatment of severely malnourished children include a recommendation to provide sensory stimulation or play therapy for children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). This systematic review was performed to synthesize evidence around this recommendation. Specifically, the objective was to answer the question: “In children with severe acute malnutrition, does psychosocial stimulation improve child developmental, nutritional, or other outcomes?” Methods A review protocol was registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO 2016: CRD42016036403). MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched with terms related to SAM and psychosocial stimulation. Studies were selected if they applied a stimulation intervention in children with SAM and child developmental and nutritional outcomes were assessed. Findings were presented within a narrative synthesis and a summary of findings table. Quality of the evidence was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Findings Only two studies, both non–randomized controlled trials, met the selection criteria for this review. One was conducted in Jamaica (1975) with a follow–up period of 14 years; the other was done in Bangladesh (2002) with a six–month follow–up. At the individual study level, each of the included studies demonstrated significant differences in child development outcomes between intervention and control groups. Only the study conducted in Bangladesh demonstrated a clinically significant increase in weight–for–age z–scores in the intervention group compared to the control group. Conclusions The evidence supporting the recommendation of psychosocial stimulation for children with SAM is not only sparse, but also of very low quality across important outcomes. High–quality trials are needed to determine the effects of psychosocial stimulation interventions on outcomes in children with SAM. PMID:28567278

Pharmacological treatments for alleviating agitation in dementia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

PubMed

Kongpakwattana, Khachen; Sawangjit, Ratree; Tawankanjanachot, Itthipol; Bell, J Simon; Hilmer, Sarah N; Chaiyakunapruk, Nathorn

2018-04-10

To determine the most efficacious and acceptable treatments of agitation in dementia. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CENTRAL and clinicaltrials.gov were searched up to 7 February 2017. Two independent reviewers selected randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of treatments to alleviate agitation in people with all-types dementia. Data were extracted using standardized forms and study quality was assessed using the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for RCTs. Data were pooled using meta-analysis. The primary outcome, efficacy, was 8-week response rates defined as a 50% reduction in baseline agitation score. The secondary outcome was treatment acceptability defined as treatment continuation for 8 weeks. Thirty-six RCTs comprising 5585 participants (30.9% male; mean ± standard deviation age, 81.8 ± 4.9 years) were included. Dextromethorphan/quinidine [odds ratio (OR) 3.04; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.63-5.66], risperidone (OR 1.96; 95% CI, 1.49-2.59) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as a class (OR 1.61; 95% CI, 1.02-2.53) were found to be significantly more efficacious than placebo. Haloperidol appeared less efficacious than nearly all comparators. Most treatments had noninferior treatment continuation compared to placebo, except oxcarbazepine, which was inferior. Findings were supported by subgroup and sensitivity analyses. Risperidone, serotonin reuptake inhibitors as a class and dextromethorphan/quinidine demonstrated evidence of efficacy for agitation in dementia, although findings for dextromethorphan/quinidine were based on a single RCT. Our findings do not support prescribing haloperidol due to lack of efficacy, or oxcarbazepine due to lack of acceptability. The decision to prescribe should be based on comprehensive consideration of the benefits and risks, including those not evaluated in this meta-analysis. © 2018 The British Pharmacological Society.

Endoscopic Criteria for Evaluating Tumor Stage after Preoperative Chemoradiation Therapy in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

PubMed

Han, Kyung Su; Sohn, Dae Kyung; Kim, Dae Yong; Kim, Byung Chang; Hong, Chang Won; Chang, Hee Jin; Kim, Sun Young; Baek, Ji Yeon; Park, Sung Chan; Kim, Min Ju; Oh, Jae Hwan

2016-04-01

Local excision may be an another option for selected patients with markedly down-staged rectal cancer after preoperative chemoradiation therapy (CRT), and proper evaluation of post-CRT tumor stage (ypT) is essential prior to local excision of these tumors. This study was designed to determine the correlations between endoscopic findings and ypT of rectal cancer. In this study, 481 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who underwent preoperative CRT followed by surgical resection between 2004 and 2013 at a single institution were evaluated retrospectively. Pathological good response (p-GR) was defined as ypT ≤ 1, and pathological minimal or no response (p-MR) as ypT ≥ 2. The patients were randomly classified according to two groups, a testing (n=193) and a validation (n=288) group. Endoscopic criteria were determined from endoscopic findings and ypT in the testing group and used in classifying patients in the validation group as achieving or not achieving p-GR. Based on findings in the testing group, the endoscopic criteria for p-GR included scarring, telangiectasia, and erythema, whereas criteria for p-MR included nodules, ulcers, strictures, and remnant tumors. In the validation group, the kappa statistic was 0.965 (p < 0.001), and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 0.362, 0.963, 0.654, and 0.885, respectively. The endoscopic criteria presented are easily applicable for evaluation of ypT after preoperative CRT for rectal cancer. These criteria may be used for selection of patients for local excision of down-staged rectal tumors, because patients with p-MR could be easily ruled out.

A qualitative inquiry of educational requirements of selected professions in the Oklahoma aerospace industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, Casey Jerry Kennon

Interview of incumbents of intellectual capital positions at Boeing. The aerospace industry is a dynamic industry that requires continual skill updates to keep up with advancements in technology and operational trends within the industry. The purpose of this study was to examine intellectual capital requirements of selected professional positions within the Boeing Company in Oklahoma. Data obtained through interviews was used to determine if educational skills gaps existed. The findings of the study can be used to develop an aerospace educational pipeline based on collaborative relationships between industry and higher education to facilitate educational and training programs. Three broad research questions were used to address and support the findings of this study related to educational background, career progression, and gaps. A purposive sample of 10 professional positions was selected for interview using an interview guide containing 18 questions. Data was analyzed using manual coding techniques. Findings and conclusions. The study found that minimum education requirements for selected professional positions consisted of a bachelor's degree. Although the majority of participants identified a business degree as optimal, several participants indicated that an education background from multiple disciplines would provide the greatest benefit. Data from interviews showed educational degrees were not specialized enough and skills required to perform job functions were obtained through direct on the job experience or through corporate training. Indications from participant responses showed employees with a thorough knowledge of government acronyms had a decided advantage over those that did not. Recommendations included: expanding the study to multiple organizations by conducting a survey; expanding industry and academic partnerships; establishing a structured educational pipeline to fill critical positions; creating broad aerospace curricula degree programs tailored to industry needs; incorporate additional capstone and internship opportunities to bridge classroom learning and experience; and establish an industry/academic liaison to develop internship opportunities.

Hazardous healthcare waste management in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

PubMed

Mohamed, L F; Ebrahim, S A; Al-Thukair, A A

2009-08-01

Hazardous healthcare waste has become an environmental concern for many developing countries including the Kingdom of Bahrain. There have been several significant obstacles facing the Kingdom in dealing with this issue including; limited documentation regarding generation, handling, management, and disposal of waste. This in turn hinders efforts to plan better healthcare waste management. In this paper, hazardous waste management status in the Kingdom has been investigated through an extensive survey carried out on selected public and private healthcare premises. Hazardous waste management practices including: waste generation, segregation, storage, collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal were determined. The results of this study along with key findings are discussed and summarized. In addition; several effective recommendations and improvements of hazardous waste management are suggested.

Hazardous healthcare waste management in the Kingdom of Bahrain

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

Mohamed, L.F.; Ebrahim, S.A.; Al-Thukair, A.A.

2009-08-15

Hazardous healthcare waste has become an environmental concern for many developing countries including the Kingdom of Bahrain. There have been several significant obstacles facing the Kingdom in dealing with this issue including; limited documentation regarding generation, handling, management, and disposal of waste. This in turn hinders efforts to plan better healthcare waste management. In this paper, hazardous waste management status in the Kingdom has been investigated through an extensive survey carried out on selected public and private healthcare premises. Hazardous waste management practices including: waste generation, segregation, storage, collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal were determined. The results of this studymore » along with key findings are discussed and summarized. In addition; several effective recommendations and improvements of hazardous waste management are suggested.« less

Scurvy in the present times: vitamin C allergy leading to strict fast food diet.

PubMed

Shaath, Tarek; Fischer, Ryan; Goeser, Megan; Rajpara, Anand; Aires, Daniel

2016-01-15

Scurvy results from a deficiency of vitamin C, a nutrient otherwise known as ascorbic acid. Today, scurvy is rare yet emerges in select patients. The patient reported herein developed scurvy secondary to deliberate avoidance of vitamin C-rich foods. Classic cutaneous manifestations of scurvy include follicular hyperkeratosis and perifollicular hemorrhage encompassing coiled "corkscrew" hairs and hairs bent into "swan-neck" deformities. Ecchymoses, purpura, and petechiae are also characteristically prominent. Classic oral abnormalities include erythematous, swollen gingivae that hemorrhage from subtle microtrauma.Subungual linear splinter hemorrhages may also manifest as a sign of the disease. To establish the diagnosis requirements include characteristic physical exam findings, evidence of inadequate dietary intake, and rapid reversal of symptoms upon supplementation. Although unnecessary for diagnosis, histological findings demonstrate perifollicular inflammation and hemorrhage, fibrosis, and hyperkeratosis, amongst dilated hair follicles and keratin plugging. Although citrus fruit allergies have been historically documented, ascorbic acid has not been previously reported as an allergen. Although lacking absolute certainty, this report suggests a presumed case of ascorbic acid allergy based on patient history and favorable response to ascorbic acid desensitization therapy.

Forebrain-selective AMPA-receptor antagonism guided by TARP γ-8 as an antiepileptic mechanism.

PubMed

Kato, Akihiko S; Burris, Kevin D; Gardinier, Kevin M; Gernert, Douglas L; Porter, Warren J; Reel, Jon; Ding, Chunjin; Tu, Yuan; Schober, Douglas A; Lee, Matthew R; Heinz, Beverly A; Fitch, Thomas E; Gleason, Scott D; Catlow, John T; Yu, Hong; Fitzjohn, Stephen M; Pasqui, Francesca; Wang, He; Qian, Yuewei; Sher, Emanuele; Zwart, Ruud; Wafford, Keith A; Rasmussen, Kurt; Ornstein, Paul L; Isaac, John T R; Nisenbaum, Eric S; Bredt, David S; Witkin, Jeffrey M

2016-12-01

Pharmacological manipulation of specific neural circuits to optimize therapeutic index is an unrealized goal in neurology and psychiatry. AMPA receptors are important for excitatory synaptic transmission, and their antagonists are antiepileptic. Although efficacious, AMPA-receptor antagonists, including perampanel (Fycompa), the only approved antagonist for epilepsy, induce dizziness and motor impairment. We hypothesized that blockade of forebrain AMPA receptors without blocking cerebellar AMPA receptors would be antiepileptic and devoid of motor impairment. Taking advantage of an AMPA receptor auxiliary protein, TARP γ-8, which is selectively expressed in the forebrain and modulates the pharmacological properties of AMPA receptors, we discovered that LY3130481 selectively antagonized recombinant and native AMPA receptors containing γ-8, but not γ-2 (cerebellum) or other TARP members. Two amino acid residues unique to γ-8 determined this selectivity. We also observed antagonism of AMPA receptors expressed in hippocampal, but not cerebellar, tissue from an patient with epilepsy. Corresponding to this selective activity, LY3130481 prevented multiple seizure types in rats and mice and without motor side effects. These findings demonstrate the first rationally discovered molecule targeting specific neural circuitries for therapeutic advantage.

Using an evidence-based approach for system selection at a large academic medical center: lessons learned in selecting an ambulatory EMR at Mount Sinai Hospital.

PubMed

Kannry, Joseph; Mukani, Sonia; Myers, Kristin

2006-01-01

The experience of Mount Sinai Hospital is representative of the challenges and problems facing large academic medical centers in selecting an ambulatory EMR. The facility successfully revived a stalled process in a challenging financial climate, using a framework of science and rigorous investigation. The process incorporated several innovations: 1) There was a thorough review of medical informatics literature to develop a mission statement, determine practical objectives and guide the demonstration process; 2) The process involved rigorous investigation of vendor statements, industry statements and other institution's views of vendors; 3) The initiative focused on user-centric selection, and the survey instrument was scientifically and specifically designed to assess user feedback; 4) There was scientific analysis of validated findings and survey results at all steering meetings; 5) The process included an assessment of vendors' ability to support research by identifying funded and published research; 6) Selection involved meticulous total cost of ownership analysis to assess and compare real costs of implementing a vendor solution; and finally, 7) There were iterative meetings with stakeholders, executives and users to understand needs, address concerns and communicate the vision.

Highly Efficient Selective Hydrogenation of Cinnamaldehyde to Cinnamyl Alcohol over Gold Supported on Zinc Oxide Materials

DOE PAGES

Chen, Hangning; Cullen, David A.; Larese, J. Z.

2015-11-30

We used Au/ZnO catalysts for liquid-phase selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl alcohol and compared with Au/Fe 2O 3 catalysts. To investigate the influence of the support on the hydrogenation activity and selectivity, three different Au/ZnO catalysts were synthesized, including Au/rod-tetrapod ZnO, Au/porous ZnO, and Au/ZnO-CP prepared using a coprecipitation method. Moreover, the influence of calcination temperature was also systematically investigated in this study. The characterization of Au/ZnO catalysts was performed using ICP, N 2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Among all the supported Au catalysts prepared in this study, Au/ZnO-CP exhibits bothmore » the highest hydrogenation activity and selectivity. Using a 1.5% Au/ZnO-CP catalyst, 100% selectivity could be achieved with 94.9% conversion. Finally, we find that the Au particle (size and shape), the ZnO support (size and surface texture) and the interaction between Au and ZnO are three important parameters for achieving a highly efficient Au/ZnO catalyst.« less

The Rest-frame Optical Spectroscopic Properties of Lyalpha-emitters at Z~2.5: The Physical Origins of Strong Lyalpha Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trainor, Ryan F.; Strom, Allison L.; Steidel, Charles C.; Rudie, Gwen C.

2016-12-01

We present the rest-frame optical spectroscopic properties of 60 faint (R AB ˜ 27; L ˜ 0.1 L *) Lyα-selected galaxies (LAEs) at z ≈ 2.56. These LAEs also have rest-UV spectra of their Lyα emission line morphologies, which trace the effects of interstellar and circumgalactic gas on the escape of Lyα photons. We find that the LAEs have diverse rest-optical spectra, but their average spectroscopic properties are broadly consistent with the extreme low-metallicity end of the populations of continuum-selected galaxies selected at z ≈ 2-3. In particular, the LAEs have extremely high [O III] λ5008/Hβ ratios (log([O III]/Hβ) ˜ 0.8) and low [N II] λ6585/Hα ratios (log([N II]/Hα) < 1.15). Coupled with a detection of the [O III] λ4364 auroral line, these measurements indicate that the star-forming regions in faint LAEs are characterized by high electron temperatures (T e ≈ 1.8 × 104 K), low oxygen abundances (12 + log(O/H) ≈ 8.04, Z neb ≈ 0.22Z ⊙), and high excitations with respect to their more luminous continuum-selected analogs. Several of our faintest LAEs have line ratios consistent with even lower metallicities, including six with 12 + log(O/H) ≈ 6.9-7.4 (Z neb ≈ 0.02-0.05Z ⊙). We interpret these observations in light of new models of stellar evolution (including binary interactions) that have been shown to produce long-lived populations of hot, massive stars at low metallicities. We find that strong, hard ionizing continua are required to reproduce our observed line ratios, suggesting that faint galaxies are efficient producers of ionizing photons and important analogs of reionization-era galaxies. Furthermore, we investigate the physical trends accompanying Lyα emission across the largest current sample of combined Lyα and rest-optical galaxy spectroscopy, including both the 60 KBSS-Lyα LAEs and 368 more luminous galaxies at similar redshifts. We find that the net Lyα emissivity (parameterized by the Lyα equivalent width) is strongly correlated with nebular excitation and ionization properties and weakly correlated with dust attenuation, suggesting that metallicity plays a strong role in determining the observed properties of these galaxies by modulating their stellar spectra, nebular excitation, and dust content. Based on data obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation.

THE REST-FRAME OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC PROPERTIES OF LY α -EMITTERS AT z  ∼ 2.5: THE PHYSICAL ORIGINS OF STRONG LY α EMISSION

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

Trainor, Ryan F.; Strom, Allison L.; Steidel, Charles C.

We present the rest-frame optical spectroscopic properties of 60 faint ( R {sub AB} ∼ 27; L ∼ 0.1 L {sub *}) Ly α -selected galaxies (LAEs) at z  ≈ 2.56. These LAEs also have rest-UV spectra of their Ly α emission line morphologies, which trace the effects of interstellar and circumgalactic gas on the escape of Ly α photons. We find that the LAEs have diverse rest-optical spectra, but their average spectroscopic properties are broadly consistent with the extreme low-metallicity end of the populations of continuum-selected galaxies selected at z  ≈ 2–3. In particular, the LAEs have extremely high [O iii]more » λ 5008/H β ratios (log([O iii]/H β ) ∼ 0.8) and low [N ii] λ 6585/H α ratios (log([N ii]/H α ) < 1.15). Coupled with a detection of the [O iii] λ 4364 auroral line, these measurements indicate that the star-forming regions in faint LAEs are characterized by high electron temperatures (T{sub e} ≈ 1.8 × 10{sup 4} K), low oxygen abundances (12 + log(O/H) ≈ 8.04, Z{sub neb} ≈ 0.22 Z {sub ⊙}), and high excitations with respect to their more luminous continuum-selected analogs. Several of our faintest LAEs have line ratios consistent with even lower metallicities, including six with 12 + log(O/H) ≈ 6.9–7.4 (Z {sub neb} ≈ 0.02–0.05 Z{sub ⊙}). We interpret these observations in light of new models of stellar evolution (including binary interactions) that have been shown to produce long-lived populations of hot, massive stars at low metallicities. We find that strong, hard ionizing continua are required to reproduce our observed line ratios, suggesting that faint galaxies are efficient producers of ionizing photons and important analogs of reionization-era galaxies. Furthermore, we investigate the physical trends accompanying Ly α emission across the largest current sample of combined Ly α and rest-optical galaxy spectroscopy, including both the 60 KBSS-Ly α LAEs and 368 more luminous galaxies at similar redshifts. We find that the net Ly α emissivity (parameterized by the Ly α equivalent width) is strongly correlated with nebular excitation and ionization properties and weakly correlated with dust attenuation, suggesting that metallicity plays a strong role in determining the observed properties of these galaxies by modulating their stellar spectra, nebular excitation, and dust content.« less

Modelling the Costs and Effects of Selective and Universal Hospital Admission Screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

PubMed Central

Hubben, Gijs; Bootsma, Martin; Luteijn, Michiel; Glynn, Diarmuid; Bishai, David

2011-01-01

Background Screening at hospital admission for carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been proposed as a strategy to reduce nosocomial infections. The objective of this study was to determine the long-term costs and health benefits of selective and universal screening for MRSA at hospital admission, using both PCR-based and chromogenic media-based tests in various settings. Methodology/Principal Findings A simulation model of MRSA transmission was used to determine costs and effects over 15 years from a US healthcare perspective. We compared admission screening together with isolation of identified carriers against a baseline policy without screening or isolation. Strategies included selective screening of high risk patients or universal admission screening, with PCR-based or chromogenic media-based tests, in medium (5%) or high nosocomial prevalence (15%) settings. The costs of screening and isolation per averted MRSA infection were lowest using selective chromogenic-based screening in high and medium prevalence settings, at $4,100 and $10,300, respectively. Replacing the chromogenic-based test with a PCR-based test costs $13,000 and $36,200 per additional infection averted, and subsequent extension to universal screening with PCR would cost $131,000 and $232,700 per additional infection averted, in high and medium prevalence settings respectively. Assuming $17,645 benefit per infection averted, the most cost-saving strategies in high and medium prevalence settings were selective screening with PCR and selective screening with chromogenic, respectively. Conclusions/Significance Admission screening costs $4,100–$21,200 per infection averted, depending on strategy and setting. Including financial benefits from averted infections, screening could well be cost saving. PMID:21483492

Phenolic promiscuity in the cell nucleus--epigallocatechingallate (EGCG) and theaflavin-3,3'-digallate from green and black tea bind to model cell nuclear structures including histone proteins, double stranded DNA and telomeric quadruplex DNA.

PubMed

Mikutis, Gediminas; Karaköse, Hande; Jaiswal, Rakesh; LeGresley, Adam; Islam, Tuhidul; Fernandez-Lahore, Marcelo; Kuhnert, Nikolai

2013-02-01

Flavanols from tea have been reported to accumulate in the cell nucleus in considerable concentrations. The nature of this phenomenon, which could provide novel approaches in understanding the well-known beneficial health effects of tea phenols, is investigated in this contribution. The interaction between epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from green tea and a selection of theaflavins from black tea with selected cell nuclear structures such as model histone proteins, double stranded DNA and quadruplex DNA was investigated using mass spectrometry, Circular Dichroism spectroscopy and fluorescent assays. The selected polyphenols were shown to display affinity to all of the selected cell nuclear structures, thereby demonstrating a degree of unexpected molecular promiscuity. Most interestingly theaflavin-digallate was shown to display the highest affinity to quadruplex DNA reported for any naturally occurring molecule reported so far. This finding has immediate implications in rationalising the chemopreventive effect of the tea beverage against cancer and possibly the role of tea phenolics as "life span essentials".

The evolution of phenotypic correlations and ‘developmental memory’

PubMed Central

Watson, Richard A.; Wagner, Günter P.; Pavlicev, Mihaela; Weinreich, Daniel M.; Mills, Rob

2014-01-01

Development introduces structured correlations among traits that may constrain or bias the distribution of phenotypes produced. Moreover, when suitable heritable variation exists, natural selection may alter such constraints and correlations, affecting the phenotypic variation available to subsequent selection. However, exactly how the distribution of phenotypes produced by complex developmental systems can be shaped by past selective environments is poorly understood. Here we investigate the evolution of a network of recurrent non-linear ontogenetic interactions, such as a gene regulation network, in various selective scenarios. We find that evolved networks of this type can exhibit several phenomena that are familiar in cognitive learning systems. These include formation of a distributed associative memory that can ‘store’ and ‘recall’ multiple phenotypes that have been selected in the past, recreate complete adult phenotypic patterns accurately from partial or corrupted embryonic phenotypes, and ‘generalise’ (by exploiting evolved developmental modules) to produce new combinations of phenotypic features. We show that these surprising behaviours follow from an equivalence between the action of natural selection on phenotypic correlations and associative learning, well-understood in the context of neural networks. This helps to explain how development facilitates the evolution of high-fitness phenotypes and how this ability changes over evolutionary time. PMID:24351058

An efficient swarm intelligence approach to feature selection based on invasive weed optimization: Application to multivariate calibration and classification using spectroscopic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheykhizadeh, Saheleh; Naseri, Abdolhossein

2018-04-01

Variable selection plays a key role in classification and multivariate calibration. Variable selection methods are aimed at choosing a set of variables, from a large pool of available predictors, relevant to the analyte concentrations estimation, or to achieve better classification results. Many variable selection techniques have now been introduced among which, those which are based on the methodologies of swarm intelligence optimization have been more respected during a few last decades since they are mainly inspired by nature. In this work, a simple and new variable selection algorithm is proposed according to the invasive weed optimization (IWO) concept. IWO is considered a bio-inspired metaheuristic mimicking the weeds ecological behavior in colonizing as well as finding an appropriate place for growth and reproduction; it has been shown to be very adaptive and powerful to environmental changes. In this paper, the first application of IWO, as a very simple and powerful method, to variable selection is reported using different experimental datasets including FTIR and NIR data, so as to undertake classification and multivariate calibration tasks. Accordingly, invasive weed optimization - linear discrimination analysis (IWO-LDA) and invasive weed optimization- partial least squares (IWO-PLS) are introduced for multivariate classification and calibration, respectively.

An efficient swarm intelligence approach to feature selection based on invasive weed optimization: Application to multivariate calibration and classification using spectroscopic data.

PubMed

Sheykhizadeh, Saheleh; Naseri, Abdolhossein

2018-04-05

Variable selection plays a key role in classification and multivariate calibration. Variable selection methods are aimed at choosing a set of variables, from a large pool of available predictors, relevant to the analyte concentrations estimation, or to achieve better classification results. Many variable selection techniques have now been introduced among which, those which are based on the methodologies of swarm intelligence optimization have been more respected during a few last decades since they are mainly inspired by nature. In this work, a simple and new variable selection algorithm is proposed according to the invasive weed optimization (IWO) concept. IWO is considered a bio-inspired metaheuristic mimicking the weeds ecological behavior in colonizing as well as finding an appropriate place for growth and reproduction; it has been shown to be very adaptive and powerful to environmental changes. In this paper, the first application of IWO, as a very simple and powerful method, to variable selection is reported using different experimental datasets including FTIR and NIR data, so as to undertake classification and multivariate calibration tasks. Accordingly, invasive weed optimization - linear discrimination analysis (IWO-LDA) and invasive weed optimization- partial least squares (IWO-PLS) are introduced for multivariate classification and calibration, respectively. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Materials Selection for Aerospace Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arnold, Steven M.; Cebon, David; Ashby, Mike

2012-01-01

A systematic design-oriented, five-step approach to material selection is described: 1) establishing design requirements, 2) material screening, 3) ranking, 4) researching specific candidates and 5) applying specific cultural constraints to the selection process. At the core of this approach is the definition performance indices (i.e., particular combinations of material properties that embody the performance of a given component) in conjunction with material property charts. These material selection charts, which plot one property against another, are introduced and shown to provide a powerful graphical environment wherein one can apply and analyze quantitative selection criteria, such as those captured in performance indices, and make trade-offs between conflicting objectives. Finding a material with a high value of these indices maximizes the performance of the component. Two specific examples pertaining to aerospace (engine blades and pressure vessels) are examined, both at room temperature and elevated temperature (where time-dependent effects are important) to demonstrate the methodology. The discussion then turns to engineered/hybrid materials and how these can be effectively tailored to fill in holes in the material property space, so as to enable innovation and increases in performance as compared to monolithic materials. Finally, a brief discussion is presented on managing the data needed for materials selection, including collection, analysis, deployment, and maintenance issues.

Beyond perceptual load and dilution: a review of the role of working memory in selective attention

PubMed Central

de Fockert, Jan W.

2013-01-01

The perceptual load and dilution models differ fundamentally in terms of the proposed mechanism underlying variation in distractibility during different perceptual conditions. However, both models predict that distracting information can be processed beyond perceptual processing under certain conditions, a prediction that is well-supported by the literature. Load theory proposes that in such cases, where perceptual task aspects do not allow for sufficient attentional selectivity, the maintenance of task-relevant processing depends on cognitive control mechanisms, including working memory. The key prediction is that working memory plays a role in keeping clear processing priorities in the face of potential distraction, and the evidence reviewed and evaluated in a meta-analysis here supports this claim, by showing that the processing of distracting information tends to be enhanced when load on a concurrent task of working memory is high. Low working memory capacity is similarly associated with greater distractor processing in selective attention, again suggesting that the unavailability of working memory during selective attention leads to an increase in distractibility. Together, these findings suggest that selective attention against distractors that are processed beyond perception depends on the availability of working memory. Possible mechanisms for the effects of working memory on selective attention are discussed. PMID:23734139

Beyond perceptual load and dilution: a review of the role of working memory in selective attention.

PubMed

de Fockert, Jan W

2013-01-01

The perceptual load and dilution models differ fundamentally in terms of the proposed mechanism underlying variation in distractibility during different perceptual conditions. However, both models predict that distracting information can be processed beyond perceptual processing under certain conditions, a prediction that is well-supported by the literature. Load theory proposes that in such cases, where perceptual task aspects do not allow for sufficient attentional selectivity, the maintenance of task-relevant processing depends on cognitive control mechanisms, including working memory. The key prediction is that working memory plays a role in keeping clear processing priorities in the face of potential distraction, and the evidence reviewed and evaluated in a meta-analysis here supports this claim, by showing that the processing of distracting information tends to be enhanced when load on a concurrent task of working memory is high. Low working memory capacity is similarly associated with greater distractor processing in selective attention, again suggesting that the unavailability of working memory during selective attention leads to an increase in distractibility. Together, these findings suggest that selective attention against distractors that are processed beyond perception depends on the availability of working memory. Possible mechanisms for the effects of working memory on selective attention are discussed.

MUC1 gene polymorphism in three Nelore lines selected for growth and its association with growth and carcass traits.

PubMed

de Souza, Fabio Ricardo Pablos; Maione, Sandra; Sartore, Stefano; Soglia, Dominga; Spalenza, Veronica; Cauvin, Elsa; Martelli, Lucia Regina; Mercadante, Maria Eugênia Zerlotti; Sacchi, Paola; de Albuquerque, Lucia Galvão; Rasero, Roberto

2012-02-01

The objective of this study was to describe the VNTR polymorphism of the mucin 1 gene (MUC1) in three Nelore lines selected for yearling weight to determine whether allele and genotype frequencies of this polymorphism were affected by selection for growth. In addition, the effects of the polymorphism on growth and carcass traits were evaluated. Birth, weaning and yearling weights, rump height, Longissimus muscle area, backfat thickness, and rump fat thickness, were analyzed. A total of 295 Nelore heifers from the Beef Cattle Research Center, Instituto de Zootecnia de Sertãozinho, were used, including 41 of the control line, 102 of the selection line and 152 of the traditional. The selection and traditional lines comprise animals selected for higher yearling weight, whereas control line animals are selected for yearling weight close to the average. Five alleles were identified, with allele 1 being the most frequent in the three lines, especially in the lines selected for higher means for yearling weight. Heterozygosity was significantly higher in the control line. Association analyses showed significant effects of allele 1 on birth weight and weaning weight while the allele 3 exert significant effects on yearling weight and back fat thickness. Despite these findings, application of this marker to marker-assisted selection requires more consistent results based on the genotyping of a larger number of animals in order to increase the accuracy of the statistical analyses.

Genetic analysis of clinical findings at health examinations of young Swedish warmblood riding horses

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Soundness is important for welfare and utility of the riding horse. Musculoskeletal disorders are the most common causes of interruption in training and of culling. Despite great importance, heritability of a majority of health traits in horses has previously not been estimated. The objective was to perform genetic analyses of medical and orthopaedic health traits in young riding horses, including estimates of heritability and genetic correlations between health traits, and to reveal possibilities for genetic evaluation of stallions for progeny health. Results The heritability of health traits was estimated using records from 8,238 Swedish warmblood riding horses examined as 4–5 year olds at the Riding Horse Quality Test in 1983–2005. The analyses were performed using multi-trait linear mixed animal models. The heritabilities of palpatory orthopaedic health (PALP), including effusion, swelling, heat, soreness and stiffness/atrophy, and hoof examination results (HOOF), of hoof shape and hoof wall quality, were 0.12 and 0.10, respectively. The genetic variation in these traits resulted in distinct health differences between progeny groups of stallions. The highest heritability among clinical signs of PALP was found for synovial effusions at 0.14. For systemic locations, joint related findings had the highest heritability; 0.13. The heritabilities of medical health and locomotion examination results were low, 0.02 and 0.04, respectively. A genetic improvement of health status has occurred over time but accounts only partly for the decrease in clinical findings of health during the studied period. Conclusions The genetic variation found in PALP and HOOF implies distinct differences between progeny groups. Thus, there are possibilities for improvement of these traits in the population through selection. The weak and non-significant correlation between PALP and HOOF suggests that both traits need to be selected for in practical breeding to improve both traits. Some genetic improvements over time have already been achieved, possibly due to regular stallion health inspections and an indirect selection for lifetime performance. For further improvements stallion breeding values for health may be introduced, based on RHQT examinations, complementary to present breeding values for performance. PMID:23510509

Models of Consent to Return of Incidental Findings in Genomic Research

PubMed Central

Appelbaum, Paul S.; Parens, Erik; Waldman, Cameron R.; Klitzman, Robert; Fyer, Abby; Martinez, Josue; Price, W. Nicholson; Chung, Wendy K.

2014-01-01

Genomic research has the capacity to generate a wide array of findings that go beyond the goals of the study—usually referred to as “incidental findings.” The evolving consensus of researchers, participants, and expert panels is that at least some incidental results should be made available to participants. However, there are a number of challenges to discussing these issues with participants and ascertaining their preferences, including the complexity and magnitude of the relevant information. Believing that usual models of informed consent are not likely to be effective in this context, we identify four approaches that investigators and IRBs might consider: traditional consent, staged consent, mandatory return, and outsourcing. Each has advantages and disadvantages compared with the other options, and which one is selected for a given project will depend on a mix of practical and normative considerations that are described in this paper. PMID:24919982

An analysis of curriculum implementation on high schools in Yogyakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Febriana, Beta Wulan; Arlianty, Widinda Normalia; Diniaty, Artina; Fauzi'ah, Lina

2017-12-01

This study aims to find out how the implementation of the curriculum at three schools in Yogyakarta. The selection of these three schools is based on the use of different curriculum in each school. The analysis was done by distributing questionnaire analysis of eight national education standards (NES). The purpose of this questionnaire is to find out how the curriculum implemented in the schools. In addition, to find out whether or not the implementation was done in accordance with the expectations of the curriculum. The questionnaire distributed in the form of indicators on each NES. These indicators include, Content Standards, Process Standards, Graduates Competency Standards, Teacher and Education Staff Standards, Facility and Infrastructure Standards, Management Standards, Financing Standards and Assessment Standards. Results of the observation indicate that there is a discrepancy between the expectations and the reality of the three schools observed.

The Behavioral Economics of Drunk Driving

PubMed Central

Sloan, Frank A.; Eldred, Lindsey; Xu, Yanzhi

2014-01-01

This study investigates whether drinker-drivers attributes are associated with imperfect rationality or irrationality. Using data from eight U.S. cities, we determine whether drinker-drivers differ from other drinkers in cognitive ability, ignorance of driving while intoxicated (DWI) laws, have higher rates of time preference, are time inconsistent, and lack self-control on other measures. We find that drinker-drivers are relatively knowledgeable about DWI laws and do not differ on two of three study measures of cognitive ability from other drinkers. Drinker-drivers are less prone to plan events involving drinking, e.g., selecting a designated driver in advance of drinking, and are more impulsive. Furthermore, we find evidence in support of hyperbolic discounting. In particular, relative to non-drinker-drivers, the difference between short- and long-term discount rates is much higher for drinker-drivers than for other drinkers. Implications of our findings for public policy, including incapacitation, treatment, and educational interventions, are discussed. PMID:24603444

The Carnegie-Spitzer-IMACS Redshift Survey of Galaxy Evolution since z = 1.5. I. Description and Methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelson, Daniel D.; Williams, Rik J.; Dressler, Alan; McCarthy, Patrick J.; Shectman, Stephen A.; Mulchaey, John S.; Villanueva, Edward V.; Crane, Jeffrey D.; Quadri, Ryan F.

2014-03-01

We describe the Carnegie-Spitzer-IMACS (CSI) Survey, a wide-field, near-IR selected spectrophotometric redshift survey with the Inamori Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph (IMACS) on Magellan-Baade. By defining a flux-limited sample of galaxies in Spitzer Infrared Array Camera 3.6 μm imaging of SWIRE fields, the CSI Survey efficiently traces the stellar mass of average galaxies to z ~ 1.5. This first paper provides an overview of the survey selection, observations, processing of the photometry and spectrophotometry. We also describe the processing of the data: new methods of fitting synthetic templates of spectral energy distributions are used to derive redshifts, stellar masses, emission line luminosities, and coarse information on recent star formation. Our unique methodology for analyzing low-dispersion spectra taken with multilayer prisms in IMACS, combined with panchromatic photometry from the ultraviolet to the IR, has yielded high-quality redshifts for 43,347 galaxies in our first 5.3 deg2 of the SWIRE XMM-LSS field. We use three different approaches to estimate our redshift errors and find robust agreement. Over the full range of 3.6 μm fluxes of our selection, we find typical redshift uncertainties of σ z /(1 + z) <~ 0.015. In comparisons with previously published spectroscopic redshifts we find scatters of σ z /(1 + z) = 0.011 for galaxies at 0.7 <= z <= 0.9, and σ z /(1 + z) = 0.014 for galaxies at 0.9 <= z <= 1.2. For galaxies brighter and fainter than i = 23 mag, we find σ z /(1 + z) = 0.008 and σ z /(1 + z) = 0.022, respectively. Notably, our low-dispersion spectroscopy and analysis yields comparable redshift uncertainties and success rates for both red and blue galaxies, largely eliminating color-based systematics that can seriously bias observed dependencies of galaxy evolution on environment. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

A Multicriteria Approach to Find Predictive and Sparse Models with Stable Feature Selection for High-Dimensional Data.

PubMed

Bommert, Andrea; Rahnenführer, Jörg; Lang, Michel

2017-01-01

Finding a good predictive model for a high-dimensional data set can be challenging. For genetic data, it is not only important to find a model with high predictive accuracy, but it is also important that this model uses only few features and that the selection of these features is stable. This is because, in bioinformatics, the models are used not only for prediction but also for drawing biological conclusions which makes the interpretability and reliability of the model crucial. We suggest using three target criteria when fitting a predictive model to a high-dimensional data set: the classification accuracy, the stability of the feature selection, and the number of chosen features. As it is unclear which measure is best for evaluating the stability, we first compare a variety of stability measures. We conclude that the Pearson correlation has the best theoretical and empirical properties. Also, we find that for the stability assessment behaviour it is most important that a measure contains a correction for chance or large numbers of chosen features. Then, we analyse Pareto fronts and conclude that it is possible to find models with a stable selection of few features without losing much predictive accuracy.

Selective attention to emotional cues and emotion recognition in healthy subjects: the role of mineralocorticoid receptor stimulation.

PubMed

Schultebraucks, Katharina; Deuter, Christian E; Duesenberg, Moritz; Schulze, Lars; Hellmann-Regen, Julian; Domke, Antonia; Lockenvitz, Lisa; Kuehl, Linn K; Otte, Christian; Wingenfeld, Katja

2016-09-01

Selective attention toward emotional cues and emotion recognition of facial expressions are important aspects of social cognition. Stress modulates social cognition through cortisol, which acts on glucocorticoid (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) in the brain. We examined the role of MR activation on attentional bias toward emotional cues and on emotion recognition. We included 40 healthy young women and 40 healthy young men (mean age 23.9 ± 3.3), who either received 0.4 mg of the MR agonist fludrocortisone or placebo. A dot-probe paradigm was used to test for attentional biases toward emotional cues (happy and sad faces). Moreover, we used a facial emotion recognition task to investigate the ability to recognize emotional valence (anger and sadness) from facial expression in four graded categories of emotional intensity (20, 30, 40, and 80 %). In the emotional dot-probe task, we found a main effect of treatment and a treatment × valence interaction. Post hoc analyses revealed an attentional bias away from sad faces after placebo intake and a shift in selective attention toward sad faces compared to placebo. We found no attentional bias toward happy faces after fludrocortisone or placebo intake. In the facial emotion recognition task, there was no main effect of treatment. MR stimulation seems to be important in modulating quick, automatic emotional processing, i.e., a shift in selective attention toward negative emotional cues. Our results confirm and extend previous findings of MR function. However, we did not find an effect of MR stimulation on emotion recognition.

Intermediate BL Lac objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bondi, M.; Marchã, M. J. M.; Dallacasa, D.; Stanghellini, C.

2001-08-01

The 200-mJy sample, defined by Marchã et al., contains about 60 nearby, northern, flat-spectrum radio sources. In particular, the sample has proved effective at finding nearby radio-selected BL Lac objects with radio luminosities comparable to those of X-ray-selected objects, and low-luminosity flat-spectrum weak emission-line radio galaxies (WLRGs). The 200-mJy sample contains 23 BL Lac objects (including 6 BL Lac candidates) and 19 WLRGs. We will refer to these subsamples as the 200-mJy BL Lac sample and the 200-mJy WLRG sample, respectively. We have started a systematic analysis of the morphological pc-scale properties of the 200-mJy radio sources using VLBI observations. This paper presents VLBI observations at 5 and 1.6GHz of 14 BL Lac objects and WLRGs selected from the 200-mJy sample. The pc-scale morphology of these objects is briefly discussed. We derive the radio beaming parameters of the 200-mJy BL Lac objects and WLRGs and compare them with those of other BL Lac samples and with a sample of FR I radio galaxies. The overall broad-band radio, optical and X-ray properties of the 200-mJy BL Lac sample are discussed and compared with those of other BL Lac samples, radio- and X-ray-selected. We find that the 200-mJy BL Lac objects fill the gap between HBL and LBL objects in the colour-colour plot, and have intermediate αXOX as expected in the spectral energy distribution unification scenario. Finally, we briefly discuss the role of the WLRGs.

Examining spatial patterns of selection and use for an altered predator guild

USGS Publications Warehouse

Organ, John F.; Mumma, Matthew; Holbrook, Joseph D.; Rayl, Nathaniel D.; Zieminski, Christopher J.; Fuller, Todd K.; Mahoney, Shane P.; Waits, Lisette P.

2017-01-01

Anthropogenic disturbances have altered species’ distributions potentially impacting interspecific interactions. Interference competition is when one species denies a competing species access to a resource. One mechanism of interference competition is aggression, which can result in altered space-use of a subordinate species due to the threat of harm, otherwise known as a ‘landscape of fear’. Alternatively, subordinates might outcompete dominant species in resource-poor environments via a superior ability to extract resources. Our goal was to evaluate spatial predictions of the ‘landscape of fear’ hypothesis for a carnivore guild in Newfoundland, Canada, where coyotes recently immigrated. Native Newfoundland carnivores include red foxes, Canada lynx, and black bears. We predicted foxes and lynx would avoid coyotes because of their larger size and similar dietary niches. We used scat-detecting dogs and genetic techniques to locate and identify predator scats. We then built resource selection functions and tested for avoidance by incorporating predicted values of selection for the alternative species into the best supported models of each species. We found multiple negative relationships, but notably did not find avoidance by foxes of areas selected by coyotes. While we did find that lynx avoided coyotes, we also found a reciprocal relationship. The observed patterns suggest spatial partitioning and not coyote avoidance, although avoidance could still be occurring at different spatial or temporal scales. Furthermore, Newfoundland’s harsh climate and poor soils may swing the pendulum of interspecific interactions from interference competition to exploitative competition, where subordinates outcompete dominant competitors through a superior ability to extract resources.

Examining spatial patterns of selection and use for an altered predator guild.

PubMed

Mumma, Matthew A; Holbrook, Joseph D; Rayl, Nathaniel D; Zieminski, Christopher J; Fuller, Todd K; Organ, John F; Mahoney, Shane P; Waits, Lisette P

2017-12-01

Anthropogenic disturbances have altered species' distributions potentially impacting interspecific interactions. Interference competition is when one species denies a competing species access to a resource. One mechanism of interference competition is aggression, which can result in altered space-use of a subordinate species due to the threat of harm, otherwise known as a 'landscape of fear'. Alternatively, subordinates might outcompete dominant species in resource-poor environments via a superior ability to extract resources. Our goal was to evaluate spatial predictions of the 'landscape of fear' hypothesis for a carnivore guild in Newfoundland, Canada, where coyotes recently immigrated. Native Newfoundland carnivores include red foxes, Canada lynx, and black bears. We predicted foxes and lynx would avoid coyotes because of their larger size and similar dietary niches. We used scat-detecting dogs and genetic techniques to locate and identify predator scats. We then built resource selection functions and tested for avoidance by incorporating predicted values of selection for the alternative species into the best supported models of each species. We found multiple negative relationships, but notably did not find avoidance by foxes of areas selected by coyotes. While we did find that lynx avoided coyotes, we also found a reciprocal relationship. The observed patterns suggest spatial partitioning and not coyote avoidance, although avoidance could still be occurring at different spatial or temporal scales. Furthermore, Newfoundland's harsh climate and poor soils may swing the pendulum of interspecific interactions from interference competition to exploitative competition, where subordinates outcompete dominant competitors through a superior ability to extract resources.

Sexual selection and maintenance of sex: evidence from comparisons of rates of genomic accumulation of mutations and divergence of sex-related genes in sexual and hermaphroditic species of Caenorhabditis.

PubMed

Artieri, Carlo G; Haerty, Wilfried; Gupta, Bhagwati P; Singh, Rama S

2008-05-01

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the persistence of dioecy despite the reproductive advantages conferred to hermaphrodites, including greater efficiency at purging deleterious mutations in the former. Dioecy can benefit from both mutation purging and accelerated evolution by bringing together beneficial mutations in the same individual via recombination and shuffling of genotypes. In addition, mathematical treatment has shown that sexual selection is also capable of mitigating the cost of maintaining separate sexes by increasing the overall fitness of sexual populations, and genomic comparisons have shown that sexual selection can lead to accelerated evolution. Here, we examine the advantages of dioecy versus hermaphroditism by comparing the rate of evolution in sex-related genes and the rate of accumulation of deleterious mutations using a large number of orthologs (11,493) in the dioecious Caenorhabditis remanei and the hermaphroditic Caenorhabditis briggsae. We have used this data set to estimate the deleterious mutation rate per generation, U, in both species and find that although it is significantly higher in hermaphrodites, both species are at least 2 orders of magnitude lower than the value required to explain the persistence of sex by efficiency at purging deleterious mutations alone. We also find that genes expressed in sperm are evolving rapidly in both species; however, they show a greater increase in their rate of evolution relative to genes expressed in other tissues in C. remanei, suggesting stronger sexual selection pressure acting on these genes in dioecious species. Interestingly, the persistence of a signal of rapid evolution of sperm genes in C. briggsae suggests a recent evolutionary origin of hermaphrodism in this lineage. Our results provide empirical evidence of increased sexual selection pressure in dioecious animals, supporting the possibility that sexual selection may play an important role in the maintenance of sexual reproduction.

The Facial Appearance of CEOs: Faces Signal Selection but Not Performance.

PubMed

Stoker, Janka I; Garretsen, Harry; Spreeuwers, Luuk J

2016-01-01

Research overwhelmingly shows that facial appearance predicts leader selection. However, the evidence on the relevance of faces for actual leader ability and consequently performance is inconclusive. By using a state-of-the-art, objective measure for face recognition, we test the predictive value of CEOs' faces for firm performance in a large sample of faces. We first compare the faces of Fortune500 CEOs with those of US citizens and professors. We find clear confirmation that CEOs do look different when compared to citizens or professors, replicating the finding that faces matter for selection. More importantly, we also find that faces of CEOs of top performing firms do not differ from other CEOs. Based on our advanced face recognition method, our results suggest that facial appearance matters for leader selection but that it does not do so for leader performance.

Befriending Risky Peers: Factors Driving Adolescents’ Selection of Friends with Similar Marijuana Use

PubMed Central

de la Haye, Kayla; Green, Harold D.; Pollard, Michael S.; Kennedy, David P.; Tucker, Joan S.

2014-01-01

Adolescents often befriend peers who are similar to themselves on a range of demographic, behavioral, and social characteristics, including substance use. Similarities in lifetime history of marijuana use have even been found to predict adolescent friendships, and we examine whether this finding is explained by youth’s selection of friends who are similar on a range of more proximate, observable characteristics that are risk factors for marijuana use. Using two waves of individual and social network data from two high schools that participated in Add Health (N = 1,612; 52.7% male), we apply longitudinal models for social networks to test whether or not several observable risky attributes (psychological, behavioral, and social) predict adolescent friendship choices, and if these preferences explain friend’s similarities on lifetime marijuana use. Findings show that similarities on several risk factors predict friendship choices, however controlling for this, the preference to befriend peers with a similar history of marijuana use largely persists. The results highlight the range of social selection processes that lead to similarities in marijuana use among friends and larger peer groups, and that also give rise to friendship groups whose members share similar risk factors for substance use. Friends with high “collective risk” are likely to be important targets for preventing the onset and social diffusion of substance use in adolescents. PMID:25365913

Genes@Work: an efficient algorithm for pattern discovery and multivariate feature selection in gene expression data.

PubMed

Lepre, Jorge; Rice, J Jeremy; Tu, Yuhai; Stolovitzky, Gustavo

2004-05-01

Despite the growing literature devoted to finding differentially expressed genes in assays probing different tissues types, little attention has been paid to the combinatorial nature of feature selection inherent to large, high-dimensional gene expression datasets. New flexible data analysis approaches capable of searching relevant subgroups of genes and experiments are needed to understand multivariate associations of gene expression patterns with observed phenotypes. We present in detail a deterministic algorithm to discover patterns of multivariate gene associations in gene expression data. The patterns discovered are differential with respect to a control dataset. The algorithm is exhaustive and efficient, reporting all existent patterns that fit a given input parameter set while avoiding enumeration of the entire pattern space. The value of the pattern discovery approach is demonstrated by finding a set of genes that differentiate between two types of lymphoma. Moreover, these genes are found to behave consistently in an independent dataset produced in a different laboratory using different arrays, thus validating the genes selected using our algorithm. We show that the genes deemed significant in terms of their multivariate statistics will be missed using other methods. Our set of pattern discovery algorithms including a user interface is distributed as a package called Genes@Work. This package is freely available to non-commercial users and can be downloaded from our website (http://www.research.ibm.com/FunGen).

A depauperate immune repertoire precedes evolution of sociality in bees.

PubMed

Barribeau, Seth M; Sadd, Ben M; du Plessis, Louis; Brown, Mark J F; Buechel, Severine D; Cappelle, Kaat; Carolan, James C; Christiaens, Olivier; Colgan, Thomas J; Erler, Silvio; Evans, Jay; Helbing, Sophie; Karaus, Elke; Lattorff, H Michael G; Marxer, Monika; Meeus, Ivan; Näpflin, Kathrin; Niu, Jinzhi; Schmid-Hempel, Regula; Smagghe, Guy; Waterhouse, Robert M; Yu, Na; Zdobnov, Evgeny M; Schmid-Hempel, Paul

2015-04-24

Sociality has many rewards, but can also be dangerous, as high population density and low genetic diversity, common in social insects, is ideal for parasite transmission. Despite this risk, honeybees and other sequenced social insects have far fewer canonical immune genes relative to solitary insects. Social protection from infection, including behavioral responses, may explain this depauperate immune repertoire. Here, based on full genome sequences, we describe the immune repertoire of two ecologically and commercially important bumblebee species that diverged approximately 18 million years ago, the North American Bombus impatiens and European Bombus terrestris. We find that the immune systems of these bumblebees, two species of honeybee, and a solitary leafcutting bee, are strikingly similar. Transcriptional assays confirm the expression of many of these genes in an immunological context and more strongly in young queens than males, affirming Bateman's principle of greater investment in female immunity. We find evidence of positive selection in genes encoding antiviral responses, components of the Toll and JAK/STAT pathways, and serine protease inhibitors in both social and solitary bees. Finally, we detect many genes across pathways that differ in selection between bumblebees and honeybees, or between the social and solitary clades. The similarity in immune complement across a gradient of sociality suggests that a reduced immune repertoire predates the evolution of sociality in bees. The differences in selection on immune genes likely reflect divergent pressures exerted by parasites across social contexts.

[Effects of nutritional status on the multiple sclerosis disease: systematic review].

PubMed

Ródenas Esteve, Irene; Wanden-Berghe, Carmina; Sanz-Valero, Javier

2018-01-19

To review the available scientific literature about the effects of nutritional status on the multiple sclerosis disease. A systematic review of the scientific literature in the Medline (PubMed), Scopus, Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases through November 2016. Search equation: ("Multiple Sclerosis"[Mesh] OR "Multiple Sclerosis"[Title/Abstract] OR "Disseminated Sclerosis"[Title/Abstract] OR "Multiple Sclerosis Acute Fulminating"[Title/Abstract]) AND ("Nutritional Status"[Mesh] OR "Nutritional Status"[Title/Abstract] OR "Nutrition Status"[Title/Abstract]). The quality of the selected articles was discussed using the STROBE questionnaire. The search was completed through experts inquiry and additional review of the bibliographic references included in the selected papers. The concordance between authors (Kappa index) had to be higher than 80% for inclusion in this review. Of the 160 references recovered, after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 29 articles were selected for review. Concordance between evaluators was 100.00%. The most studies established vitamin D levels. Others focused their research on finding out which nutrient deficits might be related to the multiple sclerosis development. Vitamin D may influence multiple sclerosis improvement. Sunlight and physical activity would be important factors, with nutritional status, in the course of this disease. It is necessary to produce new specific works that will delve into the subject to find out more about the relationship between nutritional status and multiple sclerosis.

Adaptive evolution of tight junction protein claudin-14 in echolocating whales.

PubMed

Xu, Huihui; Liu, Yang; He, Guimei; Rossiter, Stephen J; Zhang, Shuyi

2013-11-10

Toothed whales and bats have independently evolved specialized ultrasonic hearing for echolocation. Recent findings have suggested that several genes including Prestin, Tmc1, Pjvk and KCNQ4 appear to have undergone molecular adaptations associated with the evolution of this ultrasonic hearing in mammals. Here we studied the hearing gene Cldn14, which encodes the claudin-14 protein and is a member of tight junction proteins that functions in the organ of Corti in the inner ear to maintain a cationic gradient between endolymph and perilymph. Particular mutations in human claudin-14 give rise to non-syndromic deafness, suggesting an essential role in hearing. Our results uncovered two bursts of positive selection, one in the ancestral branch of all toothed whales and a second in the branch leading to the delphinid, phocoenid and ziphiid whales. These two branches are the same as those previously reported to show positive selection in the Prestin gene. Furthermore, as with Prestin, the estimated hearing frequencies of whales significantly correlate with numbers of branch-wise non-synonymous substitutions in Cldn14, but not with synonymous changes. However, in contrast to Prestin, we found no evidence of positive selection in bats. Our findings from Cldn14, and comparisons with Prestin, strongly implicate multiple loci in the acquisition of echolocation in cetaceans, but also highlight possible differences in the evolutionary route to echolocation taken by whales and bats. © 2013.

Stem Cell Hydrogel, Jump-Starting Zika Drug Discovery, and Engineering RNA Recognition.

PubMed

Kostic, Milka

2016-08-18

Every month the editors of Cell Chemical Biology bring you highlights of the most recent chemical biology literature that impressed them with creativity and potential for follow up work. Our August 2016 selection includes a description of hydrogels with self-tunable stiffness that are used to profile lipid metabolites during stems cell differentiation, a look at whether we can find a drug repurposing solution to Zika virus infection, and an engineered RNA recognition motif (RRM). Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Help-Seeking Behavior among Select Populations of Black Unmarried Adolescent Fathers: Implications for Human Service Agencies

PubMed Central

Hendricks, Leo E.; Howard, Cleopatra S.; Caesar, Patricia P.

1981-01-01

This study was undertaken to provide additional information on what are appropriate roles for agencies in relation to unmarried adolescent fathers. The findings indicate that such appropriate roles for agencies would include the provision of psychosocial counseling, vocational guidance, and parenting education. It was concluded that agency personnel would have to reach out assertively to unmarried adolescent fathers in order to serve them more effectively. (Am J Public Health 1981;71:733-735.) PMID:7246841

Intelligent Visual Input: A Graphical Method for Rapid Entry of Patient-Specific Data

PubMed Central

Bergeron, Bryan P.; Greenes, Robert A.

1987-01-01

Intelligent Visual Input (IVI) provides a rapid, graphical method of data entry for both expert system interaction and medical record keeping purposes. Key components of IVI include: a high-resolution graphic display; an interface supportive of rapid selection, i.e., one utilizing a mouse or light pen; algorithm simplification modules; and intelligent graphic algorithm expansion modules. A prototype IVI system, designed to facilitate entry of physical exam findings, is used to illustrates the potential advantages of this approach.

The relationship between health and mating success in humans

PubMed Central

Rhodes, Gillian 

2017-01-01

Health has been claimed to play an important role in human sexual selection, especially in terms of mate choice. Our preferences for attractive individuals are said to represent evolved adaptations for finding high-quality, healthy mates. If this is true, then we expect health to predict mating success in humans. We tested this hypothesis using several important physiological indicators of health, including immune function, oxidative stress and semen quality, and self-reported measures of sexual behaviour that contribute to mating success. In contrast to our hypothesis, we did not find a relationship between the physiological measures of health and sexual behaviour. Our results provide little support for claims that health, at least the health measures we used, increases mating success in relatively healthy humans. PMID:28280558

The psychology of doing nothing: forms of decision avoidance result from reason and emotion.

PubMed

Anderson, Christopher J

2003-01-01

Several independent lines of research bear on the question of why individuals avoid decisions by postponing them, failing to act, or accepting the status quo. This review relates findings across several different disciplines and uncovers 4 decision avoidance effects that offer insight into this common but troubling behavior: choice deferral, status quo bias, omission bias, and inaction inertia. These findings are related by common antecedents and consequences in a rational-emotional model of the factors that predispose humans to do nothing. Prominent components of the model include cost-benefit calculations, anticipated regret, and selection difficulty. Other factors affecting decision avoidance through these key components, such as anticipatory negative emotions, decision strategies, counterfactual thinking, and preference uncertainty, are also discussed.

Numerical simulation of particle jet formation induced by shock wave acceleration in a Hele-Shaw cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osnes, A. N.; Vartdal, M.; Pettersson Reif, B. A.

2018-05-01

The formation of jets from a shock-accelerated cylindrical shell of particles, confined in a Hele-Shaw cell, is studied by means of numerical simulation. A number of simulations have been performed, systematically varying the coupling between the gas and solid phases in an effort to identify the primary mechanism(s) responsible for jet formation. We find that coupling through drag is sufficient for the formation of jets. Including the effect of particle volume fraction and particle collisions did not alter the general behaviour, but had some influence on the length, spacing and number of jets. Furthermore, we find that the jet selection process starts early in the dispersal process, during the initial expansion of the particle layer.

Students with Disabilities and Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Delar K.

2005-01-01

This paper reports the findings of a national survey that collected data describing the selected facilities and services of 137 randomly selected institutions of higher learning. The survey was sent to the Directors of services for disabled students of the sample institutions. The findings indicate that only 7% of the institutions of higher…

Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lorden, Joan F., Ed.; Kuh, Charlotte V., Ed.; Voytuk, James A., Ed.

2011-01-01

"Research Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment" examines data on the biomedical sciences programs to gather additional insight about the talent, training environment, outcomes, diversity, and international participation in the biomedical sciences workforce. This report supports an…

A general framework for optimization of probes for gene expression microarray and its application to the fungus Podospora anserina

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The development of new microarray technologies makes custom long oligonucleotide arrays affordable for many experimental applications, notably gene expression analyses. Reliable results depend on probe design quality and selection. Probe design strategy should cope with the limited accuracy of de novo gene prediction programs, and annotation up-dating. We present a novel in silico procedure which addresses these issues and includes experimental screening, as an empirical approach is the best strategy to identify optimal probes in the in silico outcome. Findings We used four criteria for in silico probe selection: cross-hybridization, hairpin stability, probe location relative to coding sequence end and intron position. This latter criterion is critical when exon-intron gene structure predictions for intron-rich genes are inaccurate. For each coding sequence (CDS), we selected a sub-set of four probes. These probes were included in a test microarray, which was used to evaluate the hybridization behavior of each probe. The best probe for each CDS was selected according to three experimental criteria: signal-to-noise ratio, signal reproducibility, and representative signal intensities. This procedure was applied for the development of a gene expression Agilent platform for the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina and the selection of a single 60-mer probe for each of the 10,556 P. anserina CDS. Conclusions A reliable gene expression microarray version based on the Agilent 44K platform was developed with four spot replicates of each probe to increase statistical significance of analysis. PMID:20565839

Encapsulation of a Decision-Making Model to Optimize Supplier Selection via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahul Hameed, Ruzanna; Thiruchelvam, Sivadass; Nasharuddin Mustapha, Kamal; Che Muda, Zakaria; Mat Husin, Norhayati; Ezanee Rusli, Mohd; Yong, Lee Choon; Ghazali, Azrul; Itam, Zarina; Hakimie, Hazlinda; Beddu, Salmia; Liyana Mohd Kamal, Nur

2016-03-01

This paper proposes a conceptual framework to compare criteria/factor that influence the supplier selection. A mixed methods approach comprising qualitative and quantitative survey will be used. The study intend to identify and define the metrics that key stakeholders at Public Works Department (PWD) believed should be used for supplier. The outcomes would foresee the possible initiatives to bring procurement in PWD to a strategic level. The results will provide a deeper understanding of drivers for supplier’s selection in the construction industry. The obtained output will benefit many parties involved in the supplier selection decision-making. The findings provides useful information and greater understanding of the perceptions that PWD executives hold regarding supplier selection and the extent to which these perceptions are consistent with findings from prior studies. The findings from this paper can be utilized as input for policy makers to outline any changes in the current procurement code of practice in order to enhance the degree of transparency and integrity in decision-making.

Identification of Medically Actionable Secondary Findings in the 1000 Genomes

PubMed Central

Olfson, Emily; Cottrell, Catherine E.; Davidson, Nicholas O.; Gurnett, Christina A.; Heusel, Jonathan W.; Stitziel, Nathan O.; Chen, Li-Shiun; Hartz, Sarah; Nagarajan, Rakesh; Saccone, Nancy L.; Bierut, Laura J.

2015-01-01

The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) recommends that clinical sequencing laboratories return secondary findings in 56 genes associated with medically actionable conditions. Our goal was to apply a systematic, stringent approach consistent with clinical standards to estimate the prevalence of pathogenic variants associated with such conditions using a diverse sequencing reference sample. Candidate variants in the 56 ACMG genes were selected from Phase 1 of the 1000 Genomes dataset, which contains sequencing information on 1,092 unrelated individuals from across the world. These variants were filtered using the Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD) Professional version and defined parameters, appraised through literature review, and examined by a clinical laboratory specialist and expert physician. Over 70,000 genetic variants were extracted from the 56 genes, and filtering identified 237 variants annotated as disease causing by HGMD Professional. Literature review and expert evaluation determined that 7 of these variants were pathogenic or likely pathogenic. Furthermore, 5 additional truncating variants not listed as disease causing in HGMD Professional were identified as likely pathogenic. These 12 secondary findings are associated with diseases that could inform medical follow-up, including cancer predisposition syndromes, cardiac conditions, and familial hypercholesterolemia. The majority of the identified medically actionable findings were in individuals from the European (5/379) and Americas (4/181) ancestry groups, with fewer findings in Asian (2/286) and African (1/246) ancestry groups. Our results suggest that medically relevant secondary findings can be identified in approximately 1% (12/1092) of individuals in a diverse reference sample. As clinical sequencing laboratories continue to implement the ACMG recommendations, our results highlight that at least a small number of potentially important secondary findings can be selected for return. Our results also confirm that understudied populations will not reap proportionate benefits of genomic medicine, highlighting the need for continued research efforts on genetic diseases in these populations. PMID:26332594

10 CFR 420.37 - Selection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Selection. 420.37 Section 420.37 Energy DEPARTMENT OF... § 420.37 Selection. (a) DOE may make selection of applications for award based on: (1) The findings of... Programs makes the final selections of projects to be awarded financial assistance. ...

[Conservative therapy of cartilage defects of the upper ankle joint].

PubMed

Smolenski, U C; Best, N; Bocker, B

2008-03-01

Cartilage defects of the upper ankle joint reflect the problem that great force is transmitted and balanced out over a relatively small surface area. As a pathophysiological factor, cartilage-bone contusions play a significant role in the development of cartilage defects of the upper ankle joint. Physiotherapeutic procedures belong to the standard procedures of conservative therapy. The use and selection of the type of therapy is based on empirical considerations and experience and investigations on effectiveness of particular therapies are relatively rare. At present a symptom-oriented therapy of cartilage defects of the upper ankle joint seems to be the most sensible approach. It can be assumed that it makes sense that the symptomatic treatment of cartilage defects or initial stages of arthritis also includes the subsequent symptoms of pain, irritated condition and limited function. This leads to starting points for physiotherapy with respect to pain therapy, optimisation of pressure relationships, avoidance of pressure points, improvement of diffusion and pressure release. In addition to the differential physiotherapeutic findings, the determination of a curative, preventive or rehabilitative procedure is especially important. In physical therapy special importance is placed on a scheduled serial application corresponding to the findings, employing the necessary methods, such as physiotherapy, sport therapy, medical mechanics, manual therapy, massage, electrotherapy and warmth therapy. From this the findings-related therapy is proposed as a practical therapy concept: locomotive apparatus pain therapy, optimisation of pressure relationships, improvement of diffusion and decongestion therapy. Therapy options have been selected base on the current literature and are summarised in tabular form. The art of symptomatic therapy of cartilage defects of the upper ankle joint does not lie in the multitude of sometimes speculative procedures, but in the targeted selection of a therapy regime based on the therapeutic goal, a corresponding application dose and serial design.

Novel Insights on Hantavirus Evolution: The Dichotomy in Evolutionary Pressures Acting on Different Hantavirus Segments.

PubMed

Sankar, Sathish; Upadhyay, Mohita; Ramamurthy, Mageshbabu; Vadivel, Kumaran; Sagadevan, Kalaiselvan; Nandagopal, Balaji; Vivekanandan, Perumal; Sridharan, Gopalan

2015-01-01

Hantaviruses are important emerging zoonotic pathogens. The current understanding of hantavirus evolution is complicated by the lack of consensus on co-divergence of hantaviruses with their animal hosts. In addition, hantaviruses have long-term associations with their reservoir hosts. Analyzing the relative abundance of dinucleotides may shed new light on hantavirus evolution. We studied the relative abundance of dinucleotides and the evolutionary pressures shaping different hantavirus segments. A total of 118 sequences were analyzed; this includes 51 sequences of the S segment, 43 sequences of the M segment and 23 sequences of the L segment. The relative abundance of dinucleotides, effective codon number (ENC), codon usage biases were analyzed. Standard methods were used to investigate the relative roles of mutational pressure and translational selection on the three hantavirus segments. All three segments of hantaviruses are CpG depleted. Mutational pressure is the predominant evolutionary force leading to CpG depletion among hantaviruses. Interestingly, the S segment of hantaviruses is GpU depleted and in contrast to CpG depletion, the depletion of GpU dinucleotides from the S segment is driven by translational selection. Our findings also suggest that mutational pressure is the primary evolutionary pressure acting on the S and the M segments of hantaviruses. While translational selection plays a key role in shaping the evolution of the L segment. Our findings highlight how different evolutionary pressures may contribute disproportionally to the evolution of the three hantavirus segments. These findings provide new insights on the current understanding of hantavirus evolution. There is a dichotomy among evolutionary pressures shaping a) the relative abundance of different dinucleotides in hantavirus genomes b) the evolution of the three hantavirus segments.

Ethical responsibilities in nursing: research findings and issues.

PubMed

Cassidy, V R

1991-01-01

Discussions in the literature assert that nurses are becoming increasingly cognizant of their ethical responsibilities, but that they are often ill prepared to participate in ethical decision making. A review of selected research literature from 1970 to 1987 was undertaken to validate these assertions. A total of 12 studies related to ethical responsibilities was identified in the review; all studies were published between 1980 and 1987. The majority of studies were at the descriptive and exploratory levels and employed Kohlberg's cognitive theory of moral development as their conceptual framework. Significant findings related to educational level and ethical responsibilities were consistent across studies. Findings related to age and clinical experience were mixed; the effects of economic level, religion-religiosity, ethnicity, and other variables on ethical responsibilities were not significant. Issues raised in the light of the existing research include the use of Kohlberg's theory as a conceptual orientation in nursing groups and limited data on the reliability and validity of instruments used in measuring ethical constructs. Recommendations for future research on ethical responsibilities include the validation of Kohlberg's theory for nursing investigations, exploration of other frameworks for developing a multidimensional view of ethical responsibilities, and the use of qualitative research designs.

The environment and male reproduction: The effect of cadmium exposure on reproductive function and its implication in fertility.

PubMed

de Angelis, Cristina; Galdiero, Mariano; Pivonello, Claudia; Salzano, Ciro; Gianfrilli, Daniele; Piscitelli, Prisco; Lenzi, Andrea; Colao, Annamaria; Pivonello, Rosario

2017-10-01

Cadmium is an environmental pollutant known as endocrine disruptor. Testis is particularly susceptible to cadmium, and testis injury occurs at high but even low levels of exposure. Cadmium reproductive toxicity is mediated by multiple mechanisms, including structural damage to testis vasculature and blood-testis barrier, inflammation, cytotoxicity on Sertoli and Leydig cells, oxidative stress mainly by means of mimicry and interference with essential ions, apoptosis, interference with selected signaling pathways and epigenetic regulation of genes involved in the regulation of reproductive function, and disturbance of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis. The current review outlines epidemiological observational findings from environmental and occupational exposure in humans, and reports experimental studies in humans and animals. Lastly, a focus on the pathogenetic mechanisms of cadmium toxicity and on the specific mechanisms of cadmium sensitivity and resistance, particularly assessed in animal models, is included. Despite convincing experimental findings in animals and supporting evidences in humans identifying cadmium as reproductive toxicant, observational findings are controversial, suffering from heterogeneity of study design and pattern of exposure, and from co-exposure to multiple pollutants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Poster presentations: valuing all forms of evidence.

PubMed

Halligan, Phil

2008-01-01

This paper aims to assist readers who are considering submitting a poster presentation to a conference to appreciate their true worth and demonstrate the important contribution they can make to nursing scholarship and secondly, to provide new insights to conference reviewers who have the task of selecting appropriate contributions for conferences. The author will argue that the use of poster presentations is an ideal opportunity to disseminate research findings and clinical innovations. It offers a new, interesting, and thought-provoking perspective on poster presentations, which includes appraisal of extant literature and reflections about the significance of poster presentations to nursing scholarship. It highlights the benefits of submitting a poster presentation and concludes with some key points for conference reviewers to consider when deciding to select the suitability of abstracts for poster presentations or concurrent sessions.

Occurrence detection and selection procedures in healthcare facilities: a comparison across Canada and Brazil.

PubMed

Morita, Plinio P; Burns, Catherine M

2011-01-01

Healthcare institutions face high levels of risk on a daily basis. Efforts have been made to address these risks and turn this complex environment into a safer environment for patients, staff, and visitors. However, healthcare institutions need more advanced risk management tools to achieve the safety levels currently seen in other industries. One of these potential tools is occurrence investigation systems. In order to be investigated, occurrences must be detected and selected for investigation, since not all institutions have enough resources to investigate all occurrences. A survey was conducted in healthcare institutions in Canada and Brazil to evaluate currently used risk management tools, the difficulties faced, and the possibilities for improvement. The findings include detectability difficulties, lack of resources, lack of support, and insufficient staff involvement.

Prenatal choline deficiency decreases the cross-sectional area of cholinergic neurons in the medial septal nucleus.

PubMed

McKeon-O'Malley, Catherine; Siwek, Donald; Lamoureux, Jeffrey A; Williams, Christina L; Kowall, Neil W

2003-07-11

Levels of dietary choline in utero influence postnatal cognitive performance. To better understand this phenomenon, forebrain cholinergic neurons were studied in the 8-9 month old offspring of dams fed a control or choline-deficient diet from EDs 11-17. Serial sections were immunostained with antibodies against p75, a cholinergic marker. Neuronal morphology was analyzed in the basal forebrain, a heterogeneous area composed of several structures including the medial septal nucleus (MSN), nucleus of the diagonal band (DB), and the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NB). Neuronal cross-sectional areas were selectively reduced in the MSN of choline-deficient animals, compared to controls, but cell counts were not altered. Our findings suggest that cholinergic medial septal neurons may be selectively vulnerable to in utero choline deficiency.

Bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis of the jaws: clinical, imaging, and histopathology findings.

PubMed

Franco-Pretto, Elias; Pacheco, Maikel; Moreno, Andrey; Messa, Oscar; Gnecco, Juan

2014-10-01

To assess the main clinical, radiographic, and histopathologic features of patients with bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis of the jaws (BIONJ). Patients with BIONJ diagnosed and treated at the Head and Neck Department, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Bogotá, DC, Colombia, between January 2012 and February 2014 were retrospectively included. Patients treated with sequestrectomy or curettage were excluded. Specimens from selected patients were reexamined under a light microscope. Clinical and imaging findings and sociodemographic variables were also reviewed. Five stage 3 BIONJ cases were included. Imaging found massive osteolysis. Histopathology found devitalized trabecular bone, an absence of osteoblastic rimming, osteoclastic necrosis, and viable periosteum. Actinomyces spp colonies were limited to superficial layers. BIONJ histopathology is different from that of other necrotizing and inflammatory bone diseases. This relates to the known antiresorptive mechanism of bisphosphonates, which is the basis of their therapeutic action. Nevertheless, further study with larger series should be accomplished. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of range anxiety and home, workplace, and public charging infrastructure on simulated battery electric vehicle lifetime utility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neubauer, Jeremy; Wood, Eric

2014-07-01

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) offer the potential to reduce both oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions, but have a limited utility due to factors including driver range anxiety and access to charging infrastructure. In this paper we apply NREL's Battery Lifetime Analysis and Simulation Tool for Vehicles (BLAST-V) to examine the sensitivity of BEV utility to range anxiety and different charging infrastructure scenarios, including variable time schedules, power levels, and locations (home, work, and public installations). We find that the effects of range anxiety can be significant, but are reduced with access to additional charging infrastructure. We also find that (1) increasing home charging power above that provided by a common 15 A, 120 V circuit offers little added utility, (2) workplace charging offers significant utility benefits to select high mileage commuters, and (3) broadly available public charging can bring many lower mileage drivers to near-100% utility while strongly increasing the achieved miles of high mileage drivers.

Methods used and lessons learnt in conducting document reviews of medical and allied health curricula - a key step in curriculum evaluation.

PubMed

Rohwer, Anke; Schoonees, Anel; Young, Taryn

2014-11-02

This paper describes the process, our experience and the lessons learnt in doing document reviews of health science curricula. Since we could not find relevant literature to guide us on how to approach these reviews, we feel that sharing our experience would benefit researchers embarking on similar projects. We followed a rigorous, transparent, pre-specified approach that included the preparation of a protocol, a pre-piloted data extraction form and coding schedule. Data were extracted, analysed and synthesised. Quality checks were included at all stages of the process. The main lessons we learnt related to time and project management, continuous quality assurance, selecting the software that meets the needs of the project, involving experts as needed and disseminating the findings to relevant stakeholders. A complete curriculum evaluation comprises, apart from a document review, interviews with students and lecturers to assess the learnt and taught curricula respectively. Rigorous methods must be used to ensure an objective assessment.

Socioeconomic status and depressive syndrome: the role of inter- and intra-generational mobility, government assistance, and work environment.

PubMed

Eaton, W W; Muntaner, C; Bovasso, G; Smith, C

2001-09-01

This paper assesses the hypothesis that depressive syndrome is associated with socioeconomic status, using longitudinal data from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Followup. Socioeconomic measures include those used in most studies of status attainment, as well as measures of financial dependence, non-job income, and work environment. Analyses include inter- and intra-generational mobility, and replicate the basic aspects of the status attainment process, as well as psychiatric epidemiologic findings regarding gender, family history of depression, life events, and depressive syndrome. But the involvement of depressive syndrome in the process of status attainment, either as cause or consequence, is small and not statistically significant. There are strong effects of financial dependence and work environment on depressive syndrome. The findings shed doubt on the utility of the causation/selection/drift model for depression, to the extent it is based on linear relationships and socioeconomic rank at the macro level, while lending credibility to social-psychologically oriented theories of work environment, poverty, and depression.

Social Selection and Religiously Selective Faith Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pettinger, Paul

2014-01-01

This article reviews recent research looking at the socio-economic profile of pupils at faith schools and the contribution religiously selective admission arrangements make. It finds that selection by faith leads to greater social segregation and is open to manipulation. It urges that such selection should end, making the state-funded school…

Happy but still focused: failures to find evidence for a mood-induced widening of visual attention.

PubMed

Bruyneel, Lynn; van Steenbergen, Henk; Hommel, Bernhard; Band, Guido P H; De Raedt, Rudi; Koster, Ernst H W

2013-05-01

In models of affect and cognition, it is held that positive affect broadens the scope of attention. Consistent with this claim, previous research has indeed suggested that positive affect is associated with impaired selective attention as evidenced by increased interference of spatially distant distractors. However, several recent findings cast doubt on the reliability of this observation. In the present study, we examined whether selective attention in a visual flanker task is influenced by positive mood induction. Across three experiments, positive affect consistently failed to exert any impact on selective attention. The implications of this null-finding for theoretical models of affect and cognition are discussed.

Selective mutism.

PubMed

Hua, Alexandra; Major, Nili

2016-02-01

Selective mutism is a disorder in which an individual fails to speak in certain social situations though speaks normally in other settings. Most commonly, this disorder initially manifests when children fail to speak in school. Selective mutism results in significant social and academic impairment in those affected by it. This review will summarize the current understanding of selective mutism with regard to diagnosis, epidemiology, cause, prognosis, and treatment. Studies over the past 20 years have consistently demonstrated a strong relationship between selective mutism and anxiety, most notably social phobia. These findings have led to the recent reclassification of selective mutism as an anxiety disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition. In addition to anxiety, several other factors have been implicated in the development of selective mutism, including communication delays and immigration/bilingualism, adding to the complexity of the disorder. In the past few years, several randomized studies have supported the efficacy of psychosocial interventions based on a graduated exposure to situations requiring verbal communication. Less data are available regarding the use of pharmacologic treatment, though there are some studies that suggest a potential benefit. Selective mutism is a disorder that typically emerges in early childhood and is currently conceptualized as an anxiety disorder. The development of selective mutism appears to result from the interplay of a variety of genetic, temperamental, environmental, and developmental factors. Although little has been published about selective mutism in the general pediatric literature, pediatric clinicians are in a position to play an important role in the early diagnosis and treatment of this debilitating condition.

Metabolomic analysis of the selection response of Drosophila melanogaster to environmental stress: are there links to gene expression and phenotypic traits?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malmendal, Anders; Sørensen, Jesper Givskov; Overgaard, Johannes; Holmstrup, Martin; Nielsen, Niels Chr.; Loeschcke, Volker

2013-05-01

We investigated the global metabolite response to artificial selection for tolerance to stressful conditions such as cold, heat, starvation, and desiccation, and for longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. Our findings were compared to data from other levels of biological organization, including gene expression, physiological traits, and organismal stress tolerance phenotype. Overall, we found that selection for environmental stress tolerance changes the metabolomic 1H NMR fingerprint largely in a similar manner independent of the trait selected for, indicating that experimental evolution led to a general stress selection response at the metabolomic level. Integrative analyses across data sets showed little similarity when general correlations between selection effects at the level of the metabolome and gene expression were compared. This is likely due to the fact that the changes caused by these selection regimes were rather mild and/or that the dominating determinants for gene expression and metabolite levels were different. However, expression of a number of genes was correlated with the metabolite data. Many of the identified genes were general stress response genes that are down-regulated in response to selection for some of the stresses in this study. Overall, the results illustrate that selection markedly alters the metabolite profile and that the coupling between different levels of biological organization indeed is present though not very strong for stress selection at this level. The results highlight the extreme complexity of environmental stress adaptation and the difficulty of extrapolating and interpreting responses across levels of biological organization.

The effect of synaptic plasticity on orientation selectivity in a balanced model of primary visual cortex

PubMed Central

Gonzalo Cogno, Soledad; Mato, Germán

2015-01-01

Orientation selectivity is ubiquitous in the primary visual cortex (V1) of mammals. In cats and monkeys, V1 displays spatially ordered maps of orientation preference. Instead, in mice, squirrels, and rats, orientation selective neurons in V1 are not spatially organized, giving rise to a seemingly random pattern usually referred to as a salt-and-pepper layout. The fact that such different organizations can sharpen orientation tuning leads to question the structural role of the intracortical connections; specifically the influence of plasticity and the generation of functional connectivity. In this work, we analyze the effect of plasticity processes on orientation selectivity for both scenarios. We study a computational model of layer 2/3 and a reduced one-dimensional model of orientation selective neurons, both in the balanced state. We analyze two plasticity mechanisms. The first one involves spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP), while the second one considers the reconnection of the interactions according to the preferred orientations of the neurons. We find that under certain conditions STDP can indeed improve selectivity but it works in a somehow unexpected way, that is, effectively decreasing the modulated part of the intracortical connectivity as compared to the non-modulated part of it. For the reconnection mechanism we find that increasing functional connectivity leads, in fact, to a decrease in orientation selectivity if the network is in a stable balanced state. Both counterintuitive results are a consequence of the dynamics of the balanced state. We also find that selectivity can increase due to a reconnection process if the resulting connections give rise to an unstable balanced state. We compare these findings with recent experimental results. PMID:26347615

Supervisors' experiences of workplace supervision of nursing and paramedic students in rural settings: a scoping review.

PubMed

Trede, Franziska; McEwen, Celina; Kenny, Amanda; O'Meara, Peter

2014-05-01

We present our findings from a scoping review that sought to identify what is known about nursing and paramedic clinical supervisors' experiences of their supervision practices in rural settings. Our interest in these two groups is based on the central role that nurses and paramedics play in rural health care. Scoping reviews support identification of a broad range of literature, including all types of study designs. We adopted Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage approach: identifying the research question; identifying relevant studies; study selection; charting the data; and collating, summarising and reporting results. Databases searched included Academic Search Complete, Springer, Factiva, ProQuest, Ebsco, Informit, VOCEDplus and Scopus. Based on our research question and inclusion and exclusion criteria we selected relevant literature and summarised and reported it using Arksey and O'Malley's framework. The review yielded five articles from four countries: Sweden, Belgium, Malaysia and Australia. From this scoping review, we identified key themes related to supervisors' experiences, including clarification of expectations, support from managers and colleagues, the need for shared understanding between university, students and supervisors and required skills and competence in supervising students. © 2013.

Impacts of selected stimulation patterns on the perception threshold in electrocutaneous stimulation

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Consistency is one of the most important concerns to convey stable artificially induced sensory feedback. However, the constancy of perceived sensations cannot be guaranteed, as the artificially evoked sensation is a function of the interaction of stimulation parameters. The hypothesis of this study is that the selected stimulation parameters in multi-electrode cutaneous stimulation have significant impacts on the perception threshold. Methods The investigated parameters included the stimulated location, the number of active electrodes, the number of pulses, and the interleaved time between a pair of electrodes. Biphasic, rectangular pulses were applied via five surface electrodes placed on the forearm of 12 healthy subjects. Results Our main findings were: 1) the perception thresholds at the five stimulated locations were significantly different (p < 0.0001), 2) dual-channel simultaneous stimulation lowered the perception thresholds and led to smaller variance in perception thresholds compared to single-channel stimulation, 3) the perception threshold was inversely related to the number of pulses, and 4) the perception threshold increased with increasing interleaved time when the interleaved time between two electrodes was below 500 μs. Conclusions To maintain a consistent perception threshold, our findings indicate that dual-channel simultaneous stimulation with at least five pulses should be used, and that the interleaved time between two electrodes should be longer than 500 μs. We believe that these findings have implications for design of reliable sensory feedback codes. PMID:21306616

Finding regions of interest in pathological images: an attentional model approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gómez, Francisco; Villalón, Julio; Gutierrez, Ricardo; Romero, Eduardo

2009-02-01

This paper introduces an automated method for finding diagnostic regions-of-interest (RoIs) in histopathological images. This method is based on the cognitive process of visual selective attention that arises during a pathologist's image examination. Specifically, it emulates the first examination phase, which consists in a coarse search for tissue structures at a "low zoom" to separate the image into relevant regions.1 The pathologist's cognitive performance depends on inherent image visual cues - bottom-up information - and on acquired clinical medicine knowledge - top-down mechanisms -. Our pathologist's visual attention model integrates the latter two components. The selected bottom-up information includes local low level features such as intensity, color, orientation and texture information. Top-down information is related to the anatomical and pathological structures known by the expert. A coarse approximation to these structures is achieved by an oversegmentation algorithm, inspired by psychological grouping theories. The algorithm parameters are learned from an expert pathologist's segmentation. Top-down and bottom-up integration is achieved by calculating a unique index for each of the low level characteristics inside the region. Relevancy is estimated as a simple average of these indexes. Finally, a binary decision rule defines whether or not a region is interesting. The method was evaluated on a set of 49 images using a perceptually-weighted evaluation criterion, finding a quality gain of 3dB when comparing to a classical bottom-up model of attention.

Sequence analysis of chromosome 1 revealed different selection patterns between Chinese wild mice and laboratory strains.

PubMed

Xu, Fuyi; Hu, Shixian; Chao, Tianzhu; Wang, Maochun; Li, Kai; Zhou, Yuxun; Xu, Hongyan; Xiao, Junhua

2017-10-01

Both natural and artificial selection play a critical role in animals' adaptation to the environment. Detection of the signature of selection in genomic regions can provide insights for understanding the function of specific phenotypes. It is generally assumed that laboratory mice may experience intense artificial selection while wild mice more natural selection. However, the differences of selection signature in the mouse genome and underlying genes between wild and laboratory mice remain unclear. In this study, we used two mouse populations: chromosome 1 (Chr 1) substitution lines (C1SLs) derived from Chinese wild mice and mouse genome project (MGP) sequenced inbred strains and two selection detection statistics: Fst and Tajima's D to identify the signature of selection footprint on Chr 1. For the differentiation between the C1SLs and MGP, 110 candidate selection regions containing 47 protein coding genes were detected. A total of 149 selection regions which encompass 7.215 Mb were identified in the C1SLs by Tajima's D approach. While for the MGP, we identified nearly twice selection regions (243) compared with the C1SLs which accounted for 13.27 Mb Chr 1 sequence. Through functional annotation, we identified several biological processes with significant enrichment including seven genes in the olfactory transduction pathway. In addition, we searched the phenotypes associated with the 47 candidate selection genes identified by Fst. These genes were involved in behavior, growth or body weight, mortality or aging, and immune systems which align well with the phenotypic differences between wild and laboratory mice. Therefore, the findings would be helpful for our understanding of the phenotypic differences between wild and laboratory mice and applications for using this new mouse resource (C1SLs) for further genetics studies.

Interface dynamics and crystal phase switching in GaAs nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobsson, Daniel; Panciera, Federico; Tersoff, Jerry; Reuter, Mark C.; Lehmann, Sebastian; Hofmann, Stephan; Dick, Kimberly A.; Ross, Frances M.

2016-03-01

Controlled formation of non-equilibrium crystal structures is one of the most important challenges in crystal growth. Catalytically grown nanowires are ideal systems for studying the fundamental physics of phase selection, and could lead to new electronic applications based on the engineering of crystal phases. Here we image gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowires during growth as they switch between phases as a result of varying growth conditions. We find clear differences between the growth dynamics of the phases, including differences in interface morphology, step flow and catalyst geometry. We explain these differences, and the phase selection, using a model that relates the catalyst volume, the contact angle at the trijunction (the point at which solid, liquid and vapour meet) and the nucleation site of each new layer of GaAs. This model allows us to predict the conditions under which each phase should be observed, and use these predictions to design GaAs heterostructures. These results could apply to phase selection in other nanowire systems.

Synthesis and Biological Activity of 2',3'-iso-Aryl-abscisic Acid Analogs.

PubMed

Wan, Chuan; Wang, Mingan; Yang, Dongyan; Han, Xiaoqiang; Che, Chuanliang; Ding, Shanshan; Xiao, Yumei; Qin, Zhaohai

2017-12-15

2',3'- iso -Benzoabscisic acid ( iso -PhABA), an excellent selective abscisic acid (ABA) analog, was developed in our previous work. In order to find its more structure-activity information, some structural modifications were completed in this paper, including the substitution of phenyl ring and replacing the ring with heterocycles. Thus, 16 novel analogs of iso -PhABA were synthesized and screened with three bioassays, Arabidopsis and lettuce seed germination and rice seedling elongation. Some of them, i.e., 2',3'- iso -pyridoabscisic acid ( iso -PyABA) and 2',3'- iso -franoabscisic acid ( iso -FrABA), displayed good bioactivities that closed to iso -PhABA and natural (+)-ABA. Some others, for instance, substituted- iso -PhABA, exhibited certain selectivity to different physiological process when compared to iso -PhABA or (+)-ABA. These analogs not only provided new candidates of ABA-like synthetic plant growth regulators (PGRs) for practical application, but also new potential selective agonist/antagonist for probing the specific function of ABA receptors.

Interface dynamics and crystal phase switching in GaAs nanowires.

PubMed

Jacobsson, Daniel; Panciera, Federico; Tersoff, Jerry; Reuter, Mark C; Lehmann, Sebastian; Hofmann, Stephan; Dick, Kimberly A; Ross, Frances M

2016-03-17

Controlled formation of non-equilibrium crystal structures is one of the most important challenges in crystal growth. Catalytically grown nanowires are ideal systems for studying the fundamental physics of phase selection, and could lead to new electronic applications based on the engineering of crystal phases. Here we image gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowires during growth as they switch between phases as a result of varying growth conditions. We find clear differences between the growth dynamics of the phases, including differences in interface morphology, step flow and catalyst geometry. We explain these differences, and the phase selection, using a model that relates the catalyst volume, the contact angle at the trijunction (the point at which solid, liquid and vapour meet) and the nucleation site of each new layer of GaAs. This model allows us to predict the conditions under which each phase should be observed, and use these predictions to design GaAs heterostructures. These results could apply to phase selection in other nanowire systems.

New frontiers of atomic layer etching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sherpa, Sonam D.; Ranjan, Alok

2018-03-01

Interest in atomic layer etching (ALE) has surged recently because it offers several advantages over continuous or quasicontinuous plasma etching. These benefits include (1) independent control of ion energy, ion flux, and radical flux, (2) flux-independent etch rate that mitigates the iso-dense loading effects, and (3) ability to control the etch rate with atomic or nanoscale precision. In addition to these benefits, we demonstrate an area-selective etching for maskless lithography as a new frontier of ALE. In this paper, area-selective etching refers to the confinement of etching into the specific areas of the substrate. The concept of area-selective etching originated during our studies on quasi-ALE of silicon nitride which consists of sequential exposure of silicon nitride to hydrogen and fluorinated plasma. The findings of our studies reported in this paper suggest that it may be possible to confine the etching into specific areas of silicon nitride without using any mask by replacing conventional hydrogen plasma with a localized source of hydrogen ions.

Dose-response relationships between internally-deposited uranium and select health outcomes in gaseous diffusion plant workers, 1948-2011.

PubMed

Yiin, James H; Anderson, Jeri L; Bertke, Stephen J; Tollerud, David J

2018-05-09

To examine dose-response relationships between internal uranium exposures and select outcomes among a cohort of uranium enrichment workers. Cox regression was conducted to examine associations between selected health outcomes and cumulative internal uranium with consideration for external ionizing radiation, work-related medical X-rays and contaminant radionuclides technetium ( 99 Tc) and plutonium ( 239 Pu) as potential confounders. Elevated and monotonically increasing mortality risks were observed for kidney cancer, chronic renal diseases, and multiple myeloma, and the association with internal uranium absorbed organ dose was statistically significant for multiple myeloma. Adjustment for potential confounders had minimal impact on the risk estimates. Kidney cancer, chronic renal disease, and multiple myeloma mortality risks were elevated with increasing internal uranium absorbed organ dose. The findings add to evidence of an association between internal exposure to uranium and cancer. Future investigation includes a study of cancer incidence in this cohort. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Uncovering effects of self-control and stimulus-driven action selection on the sense of agency.

PubMed

Wang, Yuru; Damen, Tom G E; Aarts, Henk

2017-10-01

The sense of agency refers to feelings of causing one's own action and resulting effect. Previous research indicates that voluntary action selection is an important factor in shaping the sense of agency. Whereas the volitional nature of the sense of agency is well documented, the present study examined whether agency is modulated when action selection shifts from self-control to a more automatic stimulus-driven process. Seventy-two participants performed an auditory Simon task including congruent and incongruent trials to generate automatic stimulus-driven vs. more self-control driven action, respectively. Responses in the Simon task produced a tone and agency was assessed with the intentional binding task - an implicit measure of agency. Results showed a Simon effect and temporal binding effect. However, temporal binding was independent of congruency. These findings suggest that temporal binding, a window to the sense of agency, emerges for both automatic stimulus-driven actions and self-controlled actions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Value of Outsourcing Selected Cases in a Medical Examiner Population: A 10-Year Experience.

PubMed

McCleskey, Brandi C; Reilly, Stephanie D; Atherton, Dan

2017-01-01

Due to increasing caseloads and inadequate staffing, the burden on Coroner/Medical Examiner Offices to comply with recommended autopsy limits for forensic pathologists (FPs) has been difficult. Since 2006, pathologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have performed select autopsies for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. Each case was reviewed by a state FP and scene investigator to determine appropriateness for referral. All referred cases received full postmortem examination including microscopic examination and collection of toxicological samples, and toxicology was ordered by the referring FP as appropriate. The final cause and manner of death were determined by the referring state FP after review of all findings. A majority of the 421 cases were ruled accidental deaths (233), most due to drug toxicity. Of the 178 natural deaths, 118 were attributed to cardiovascular disease. Outsourcing select forensic cases can be educational and an effective tool to manage workflow without compromising quality. © 2016 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Distinct antimicrobial peptide expression determines host species-specific bacterial associations

PubMed Central

Franzenburg, Sören; Walter, Jonas; Künzel, Sven; Wang, Jun; Baines, John F.; Bosch, Thomas C. G.; Fraune, Sebastian

2013-01-01

Animals are colonized by coevolved bacterial communities, which contribute to the host’s health. This commensal microbiota is often highly specific to its host-species, inferring strong selective pressures on the associated microbes. Several factors, including diet, mucus composition, and the immune system have been proposed as putative determinants of host-associated bacterial communities. Here we report that species-specific antimicrobial peptides account for different bacterial communities associated with closely related species of the cnidarian Hydra. Gene family extensions for potent antimicrobial peptides, the arminins, were detected in four Hydra species, with each species possessing a unique composition and expression profile of arminins. For functional analysis, we inoculated arminin-deficient and control polyps with bacterial consortia characteristic for different Hydra species and compared their selective preferences by 454 pyrosequencing of the bacterial microbiota. In contrast to control polyps, arminin-deficient polyps displayed decreased potential to select for bacterial communities resembling their native microbiota. This finding indicates that species-specific antimicrobial peptides shape species-specific bacterial associations. PMID:24003149

Selective spider toxins reveal a role for Nav1.1 channel in mechanical pain

PubMed Central

Osteen, Jeremiah D.; Herzig, Volker; Gilchrist, John; Emrick, Joshua J.; Zhang, Chuchu; Wang, Xidao; Castro, Joel; Garcia-Caraballo, Sonia; Grundy, Luke; Rychkov, Grigori Y.; Weyer, Andy D.; Dekan, Zoltan; Undheim, Eivind A. B.; Alewood, Paul; Stucky, Cheryl L.; Brierley, Stuart M.; Basbaum, Allan I.; Bosmans, Frank; King, Glenn F.; Julius, David

2016-01-01

Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels initiate action potentials in most neurons, including primary afferent nerve fibers of the pain pathway. Local anesthetics block pain through non-specific actions at all Nav channels, but the discovery of selective modulators would facilitate the analysis of individual subtypes and their contributions to chemical, mechanical, or thermal pain. Here, we identify and characterize spider toxins that selectively activate the Nav1.1 subtype, whose role in nociception and pain has not been explored. We exploit these probes to demonstrate that Nav1.1-expressing fibers are modality-specific nociceptors: their activation elicits robust pain behaviors without neurogenic inflammation and produces profound hypersensitivity to mechanical, but not thermal, stimuli. In the gut, high-threshold mechanosensitive fibers also express Nav1.1 and show enhanced toxin sensitivity in a model of irritable bowel syndrome. Altogether, these findings establish an unexpected role for Nav1.1 in regulating the excitability of sensory nerve fibers that underlie mechanical pain. PMID:27281198

Face-selective and auditory neurons in the primate orbitofrontal cortex.

PubMed

Rolls, Edmund T; Critchley, Hugo D; Browning, Andrew S; Inoue, Kazuo

2006-03-01

Neurons with responses selective for faces are described in the macaque orbitofrontal cortex. The neurons typically respond 2-13 times more to the best face than to the best non-face stimulus, and have response latencies which are typically in the range of 130-220 ms. Some of these face-selective neurons respond to identity, and others to facial expression. Some of the neurons do not have different responses to different views of a face, which is a useful property of neurons responding to face identity. Other neurons have view-dependent responses, and some respond to moving but not still heads. The neurons with face expression, face movement, or face view-dependent responses would all be useful as part of a system decoding and representing signals important in social interactions. The representation of face identity is also important in social interactions, for it provides some of the information needed in order to make different responses to different individuals. In addition, some orbitofrontal cortex neurons were shown to be tuned to auditory stimuli, including for some neurons, the sound of vocalizations. The findings are relevant to understanding the functions of the primate including human orbitofrontal cortex in normal behaviour, and to understanding the effects of damage to this region in humans.

Mojo Hand, a TALEN design tool for genome editing applications.

PubMed

Neff, Kevin L; Argue, David P; Ma, Alvin C; Lee, Han B; Clark, Karl J; Ekker, Stephen C

2013-01-16

Recent studies of transcription activator-like (TAL) effector domains fused to nucleases (TALENs) demonstrate enormous potential for genome editing. Effective design of TALENs requires a combination of selecting appropriate genetic features, finding pairs of binding sites based on a consensus sequence, and, in some cases, identifying endogenous restriction sites for downstream molecular genetic applications. We present the web-based program Mojo Hand for designing TAL and TALEN constructs for genome editing applications (http://www.talendesign.org). We describe the algorithm and its implementation. The features of Mojo Hand include (1) automatic download of genomic data from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, (2) analysis of any DNA sequence to reveal pairs of binding sites based on a user-defined template, (3) selection of restriction-enzyme recognition sites in the spacer between the TAL monomer binding sites including options for the selection of restriction enzyme suppliers, and (4) output files designed for subsequent TALEN construction using the Golden Gate assembly method. Mojo Hand enables the rapid identification of TAL binding sites for use in TALEN design. The assembly of TALEN constructs, is also simplified by using the TAL-site prediction program in conjunction with a spreadsheet management aid of reagent concentrations and TALEN formulation. Mojo Hand enables scientists to more rapidly deploy TALENs for genome editing applications.

Associations between Otolaryngology Applicant Characteristics and Future Performance in Residency or Practice: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Bowe, Sarah N; Laury, Adrienne M; Gray, Stacey T

2017-06-01

Objective This systematic review aims to evaluate which applicant characteristics available to an otolaryngology selection committee are associated with future performance in residency or practice. Data Sources PubMed, Scopus, ERIC, Health Business, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and SocINDEX. Review Methods Study eligibility was performed by 2 independent investigators in accordance with the PRISMA protocol (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses). Data obtained from each article included research questions, study design, predictors, outcomes, statistical analysis, and results/findings. Study bias was assessed with the Quality in Prognosis Studies tool. Results The initial search identified 439 abstracts. Six articles fulfilled all inclusion and exclusion criteria. All studies were retrospective cohort studies (level 4). Overall, the studies yielded relatively few criteria that correlated with residency success, with generally conflicting results. Most studies were found to have a high risk of bias. Conclusion Previous resident selection research has lacked a theoretical background, thus predisposing this work to inconsistent results and high risk of bias. The included studies provide historical insight into the predictors and criteria (eg, outcomes) previously deemed pertinent by the otolaryngology field. Additional research is needed, possibly integrating aspects of personnel selection, to engage in an evidence-based approach to identify highly qualified candidates who will succeed as future otolaryngologists.