Thought-action fusion and schizotypy in undergraduate students.

PubMed

Muris, Peter; Merckelbach, Harald

2003-06-01

To examine the relationship between thought-action fusion (TAF) and schizotypy. In two separate samples of undergraduate students (Ns = 77 and 64), correlations were computed between a measure of TAF and indices of schizotypy and fantasy proneness. Positive correlations were found between TAF and various aspects of schizotypy (i.e. perceptual aberration, magical ideation, schizotypal personality characteristics, disposition to hallucinate). However, correlations between TAF and schizotypy no longer attained significance when controlling for fantasy proneness. At least in the non-clinical population, the connection between TAF and schizotypy seems to be a by-product of fantasy-prone individuals' tendency to report unusual experiences.

Brief Report: Autism-Like Traits Are Associated with Enhanced Ability to Disembed Visual Forms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sabatino DiCriscio, Antoinette; Troiani, Vanessa

2017-01-01

Atypical visual perceptual skills are thought to underlie unusual visual attention in autism spectrum disorders. We assessed whether individual differences in visual processing skills scaled with quantitative traits associated with the broader autism phenotype (BAP). Visual perception was assessed using the Figure-ground subtest of the Test of…

Spontaneous regression of a pituitary cyst: report of two cases.

PubMed

Nishio, S; Morioka, T; Suzuki, S; Fukui, M

2001-01-01

Two unusual cases of pituitary cysts are described. Both patients presented with sudden onset of severe headache, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated pituitary cysts, which regressed over months. Although the precise etiology of the cysts was unproven, the cystic lesions in our patients are thought to have shrunken after "pituitary apoplexy."

Understanding the Soviet Threat: The Necessity of Analyzing Soviet Military Thought and Actions from a Soviet Perspective.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-12-01

discipline comparable to physics or chemistry in its application. This concept is quite unusual for an American, as military affairs are not often studied in...Sanderson cites definitions from The Pocket Oxford Dictionary, The 67 Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology , and Blackie ’s Compact Etymological

Dream on: Visionary Educators and Their Big Ideas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waters, John K.

2010-01-01

It takes more than a vision to be called a visionary. One also needs the organization, determination, and spirit to see it through. Four educators are being chosen to be spotlighted as visionaries conceived, developed, and guided technology-driven initiatives perhaps initially thought to be impractical. But their unusual foresight allowed each of…

Mental Images and the Modification of Learning Defects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patten, Bernard M.

Because human memory and thought involve extremely complex processes, it is possible to employ unusual modalities and specific visual strategies for remembering and problem-solving to assist patients with memory defects. This three-part paper discusses some of the research in the field of human memory and describes practical applications of these…

Schizophrenia and the structure of language: the linguist's view.

PubMed

Covington, Michael A; He, Congzhou; Brown, Cati; Naçi, Lorina; McClain, Jonathan T; Fjordbak, Bess Sirmon; Semple, James; Brown, John

2005-09-01

Patients with schizophrenia often display unusual language impairments. This is a wide ranging critical review of the literature on language in schizophrenia since the 19th century. We survey schizophrenic language level by level, from phonetics through phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. There are at least two kinds of impairment (perhaps not fully distinct): thought disorder, or failure to maintain a discourse plan, and schizophasia, comprising various dysphasia-like impairments such as clanging, neologism, and unintelligible utterances. Thought disorder appears to be primarily a disruption of executive function and pragmatics, perhaps with impairment of the syntax-semantics interface; schizophasia involves disruption at other levels. Phonetics is also often abnormal (manifesting as flat intonation or unusual voice quality), but phonological structure, morphology, and syntax are normal or nearly so (some syntactic impairments have been demonstrated). Access to the lexicon is clearly impaired, manifesting as stilted speech, word approximation, and neologism. Clanging (glossomania) is straightforwardly explainable as distraction by self-monitoring. Recent research has begun to relate schizophrenia, which is partly genetic, to the genetic endowment that makes human language possible.

Unusually large oilbodies are highly correlated with lower oil content in Brassica napus.

PubMed

Hu, Zhiyong; Wang, Xinfa; Zhan, Gaomiao; Liu, Guihua; Hua, Wei; Wang, Hanzhong

2009-04-01

Rapeseed cultivars exhibit a wide range of oil content in the mature seeds. Little is known about the relationship between the oilbody structures and the differences in oil contents of Brassica napus cultivars. In the present study, the oilbody morphology and its fate during the embryo development and seedling growth in several cultivars with oil contents ranging from 33.4 to 49.8% were studied. Cultivars with low oil contents (LO), some of the oilbodies were in similar size to those in cultivars with high oil content (HO), while some oilbodies in the LO cultivars were several times bigger (over 5.0 microm). These are much larger than the average size of B. napus seed oilbodies that were previously reported (Mantese et al. Ann Bot 97:999-1010, 2006). The oleosin protein levels and oleosin1 gene transcript abundances in the HO cultivars were clearly higher than in the LO cultivars. The shapes of oilbodies were similar during early stages of embryo development in both HO and LO cultivars, while as the embryos matured, the unusually large oilbodies were generated in the LO cells. After germination, the oilbodies in LO cultivars were consumed more slowly than in HO, and the seed germination rates of LO cultivars were less than those of HO cultivars. The low accumulation of oleosins results in the forming of unusually large oilbodies in LO cultivars.

Balanced states of mind in psychopathology and psychological well-being.

PubMed

Wong, Shyh Shin

2010-08-01

The balanced states of mind (BSOM) model proposes that coping with stress and psychological well-being is a function of the BSOM ratio of positive thoughts to the sum of positive and negative thoughts. Based on different BSOM ratios, different BSOM categories are constructed to quantitatively differentiate levels of coping with stress and psychological well-being. The cognitive content-specificity hypothesis states that there are unique themes of semantic content in self-reported automatic thoughts particular to depression or anxiety. This study investigated the BSOM model and its cognitive content-specificity for depression, anxiety, anger, stress, life satisfaction, and happiness, based on negative and positive automatic thoughts. Three hundred and ninety-eight college students from Singapore participated in this study. First, BSOM ratio and positive automatic thoughts were positively correlated with life satisfaction and happiness, and negatively correlated with stress, anxiety, depression, and anger. In contrast, negative automatic thoughts were positively correlated with stress, anxiety, depression, and anger, and negatively correlated with life satisfaction and happiness. Second, levels of psychopathology and psychological well-being were statistically differentiable among the BSOM categories for depression, happiness, perceived stress, and life satisfaction; and less statistically differentiable among the BSOM categories for anxiety and anger, as expected based on the BSOM model and cognitive content-specificity hypothesis. Third, the results were more supportive of the BSOM model for depression, followed by happiness, perceived stress, life satisfaction, anxiety, and anger in terms of percentage of variance accounted for by BSOM categories, as expected based on the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis. Taken together, the results suggested that the more moderately positive thoughts one has (balanced by negative thoughts), the better mental health outcomes one has. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.

Teaching thoughtful practice: narrative pedagogy in addictions education.

PubMed

Vandermause, Roxanne K; Townsend, Ryan P

2010-07-01

Preparing practitioners for this rapidly changing and demanding health care environment is challenging. A surge in knowledge development and scientific advancement has placed a priority on technical skill and a focus on content driven educational processes that prepare students for evidence-based practice. However, the most difficult health care scenarios require thinking-in-action and thoughtfulness as well as didactic knowledge. It is our contention that interpretive educational methods, like narrative pedagogy, will promote judgment-based practice that includes use of evidence and delivery of thoughtful care. In this article, we describe and interpret a narrative approach to addictions content and teaching thoughtful practice. We present our pedagogical process, including observations and field notes, to show how interpretive pedagogies can be introduced into nursing curricula. By presenting this process, the reader is invited to consider interpretive methods as a way to inspire and habituate thoughtful practice and judgment-based care. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thought Insertion Clarified

PubMed Central

Ratcliffe, Matthew; Wilkinson, Sam

2016-01-01

‘Thought insertion’ in schizophrenia involves somehow experiencing one’s own thoughts as someone else’s. Some philosophers try to make sense of this by distinguishing between ownership and agency: one still experiences oneself as the owner of an inserted thought but attributes it to another agency. In this paper, we propose that thought insertion involves experiencing thought contents as alien, rather than episodes of thinking. To make our case, we compare thought insertion to certain experiences of ‘verbal hallucination’ and show that they amount to different descriptions of the same phenomenon: a quasi-perceptual experience of thought content. We add that the agency/ownership distinction is unhelpful here. What requires explanation is not why a person experiences a type of intentional state without the usual sense of agency, but why she experiences herself as the agent of one type of intentional state rather than another. We conclude by sketching an account of how this might happen. PMID:28123340

Inflexibility of Experts--Reality or Myth? Quantifying the Einstellung Effect in Chess Masters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bilalic, Merim; McLeod, Peter; Gobet, Fernand

2008-01-01

How does the knowledge of experts affect their behaviour in situations that require unusual methods of dealing? One possibility, loosely originating in research on creativity and skill acquisition, is that an increase in expertise can lead to inflexibility of thought due to automation of procedures. Yet another possibility, based on expertise…

30 CFR 550.243 - What general information must accompany the DPP or DOCD?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Information Contents of Development and Production Plans (dpp) and Development Operations Coordination... unusual technology (see definition under § 550.200) you will use to carry out your proposed development... matter of the omitted information. If you will not use any new or unusual technology to carry out your...

30 CFR 550.243 - What general information must accompany the DPP or DOCD?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Information Contents of Development and Production Plans (dpp) and Development Operations Coordination... unusual technology (see definition under § 550.200) you will use to carry out your proposed development... matter of the omitted information. If you will not use any new or unusual technology to carry out your...

30 CFR 550.243 - What general information must accompany the DPP or DOCD?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Information Contents of Development and Production Plans (dpp) and Development Operations Coordination... unusual technology (see definition under § 550.200) you will use to carry out your proposed development... matter of the omitted information. If you will not use any new or unusual technology to carry out your...

Exploring rationality in schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Owen, Gareth; Nordgaard, Julie; Jansson, Lennart; Sæbye, Ditte; Flensborg-Madsen, Trine; Parnas, Josef

2015-01-01

Background Empirical studies of rationality (syllogisms) in patients with schizophrenia have obtained different results. One study found that patients reason more logically if the syllogism is presented through an unusual content. Aims To explore syllogism-based rationality in schizophrenia. Method Thirty-eight first-admitted patients with schizophrenia and 38 healthy controls solved 29 syllogisms that varied in presentation content (ordinary v. unusual) and validity (valid v. invalid). Statistical tests were made of unadjusted and adjusted group differences in models adjusting for intelligence and neuropsychological test performance. Results Controls outperformed patients on all syllogism types, but the difference between the two groups was only significant for valid syllogisms presented with unusual content. However, when adjusting for intelligence and neuropsychological test performance, all group differences became non-significant. Conclusions When taking intelligence and neuropsychological performance into account, patients with schizophrenia and controls perform similarly on syllogism tests of rationality. Declaration of interest None. Copyright and usage © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence. PMID:27703730

Dreaming and personality: Wake-dream continuity, thought suppression, and the Big Five Inventory.

PubMed

Malinowski, Josie E

2015-12-15

Studies have found relationships between dream content and personality traits, but there are still many traits that have been underexplored or have had questionable conclusions drawn about them. Experimental work has found a 'rebound' effect in dreams when thoughts are suppressed prior to sleep, but the effect of trait thought suppression on dream content has not yet been researched. In the present study participants (N=106) reported their Most Recent Dream, answered questions about the content of the dream, and completed questionnaires measuring trait thought suppression and the 'Big Five' personality traits. Of these, 83 were suitably recent for analyses. A significant positive correlation was found between trait thought suppression and participants' ratings of dreaming of waking-life emotions, and high suppressors reported dreaming more of their waking-life emotions than low suppressors did. The results may lend support to the compensation theory of dreams, and/or the ironic process theory of mental control. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An unusual cause of rib fracture following a road traffic accident.

PubMed Central

Daniels, R J; Fulcher, R A

1997-01-01

A case is presented which is thought to be the first described example of rib fracture occurring as a result of airbag inflation. It would appear that the propellant cartridge came loose during deployment to form a missile, striking the patient on his chest and fracturing a rib. Images Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 PMID:9132187

Workplace Demographics and Technology: Challenges and Opportunities to the Campus Mission Including the Top Facilities Issues. APPA Thought Leaders 2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

APPA: Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers, 2011

2011-01-01

It is not unusual in higher education circles to talk about issues affecting the campus. Experts might write about how shifting demographics are changing the campus, or say technology is becoming more pervasive on campus. The campus itself evolves alongside pedagogical practices, technological innovations, student needs, and the mission of the…

Differentiating the World History Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lasher, Mary E.

1986-01-01

An honors world history course for gifted tenth graders compacted traditional content while offering differential reading materials and content as well as differentiated skill development. Unusual activities, such as international feast and historical persons party, stressed divergent thinking. (CL)

Unusual fentanyl patch administration.

PubMed

Thomas, Sandra; Winecker, Ruth; Pestaner, Joseph P

2008-06-01

Fentanyl is an extremely potent narcotic analgesic that is becoming more popular as a drug of abuse. Because of the unique way in which the drug is packaged and delivered, the potential for unusual methods of abuse exists. We report the first case of true fentanyl patch ingestion in the medical literature. Initially, though unusual, cases of fentanyl ingestion were thought to have been reported, but further investigation of the literature revealed that in other case reports the patches had been held in the mouth and chewed. Because no reports of swallowing the patch had been published, suicide was initially a strong consideration in this case; however, further investigation showed that the decedent and his brother enjoyed swallowing the patches for quick "highs." Cases such as these serve to remind medical examiners and law enforcement officials of the value of performing thorough death investigations by performing complete autopsies with toxicological testing and correlating with investigation information to form an opinion with regard to the cause and manner of death.

Fast thought speed induces risk taking.

PubMed

Chandler, Jesse J; Pronin, Emily

2012-04-01

In two experiments, we tested for a causal link between thought speed and risk taking. In Experiment 1, we manipulated thought speed by presenting neutral-content text at either a fast or a slow pace and having participants read the text aloud. In Experiment 2, we manipulated thought speed by presenting fast-, medium-, or slow-paced movie clips that contained similar content. Participants who were induced to think more quickly took more risks with actual money in Experiment 1 and reported greater intentions to engage in real-world risky behaviors, such as unprotected sex and illegal drug use, in Experiment 2. These experiments provide evidence that faster thinking induces greater risk taking.

A Correspondence between Individual Differences in the Brain's Intrinsic Functional Architecture and the Content and Form of Self-Generated Thoughts

PubMed Central

Gorgolewski, Krzysztof J.; Lurie, Dan; Urchs, Sebastian; Kipping, Judy A.; Craddock, R. Cameron; Milham, Michael P.; Margulies, Daniel S.; Smallwood, Jonathan

2014-01-01

Although neural activity often reflects the processing of external inputs, intrinsic fluctuations in activity have been observed throughout the brain. These may relate to patterns of self-generated thought that can occur while not performing goal-driven tasks. To understand the relationship between self-generated mental activity and intrinsic neural fluctuations, we developed the New York Cognition Questionnaire (NYC-Q) to assess the content and form of an individual's experiences during the acquisition of resting-state fMRI data. The data were collected as a part of the Nathan Kline Rockland Enhanced sample. We decomposed NYC-Q scores using exploratory factor analysis and found that self-reported thoughts clustered into distinct dimensions of content (future related, past related, positive, negative, and social) and form (words, images, and specificity). We used these components to perform an individual difference analysis exploring how differences in the types of self-generated thoughts relate to whole brain measures of intrinsic brain activity (fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations, regional homogeneity, and degree centrality). We found patterns of self-generated thoughts related to changes that were distributed across a wide range of cortical areas. For example, individuals who reported greater imagery exhibited greater low frequency fluctuations in a region of perigenual cingulate cortex, a region that is known to participate in the so-called default-mode network. We also found certain forms of thought were associated with other areas, such as primary visual cortex, the insula, and the cerebellum. For example, individuals who reported greater future thought exhibited less homogeneous neural fluctuations in a region of lateral occipital cortex, a result that is consistent with the claim that particular types of self-generated thought depend on processes that are decoupled from sensory processes. These data provide evidence that self-generated thought is a heterogeneous category of experience and that studying its content can be helpful in understanding brain dynamics. PMID:24824880

Self-esteem and delusion proneness.

PubMed

Warman, Debbie M; Lysaker, Paul H; Luedtke, Brandi; Martin, Joel M

2010-06-01

The present study was an examination of global self-esteem and various types of unusual beliefs in a nonclinical population. Individuals with no history of psychotic disorder (N = 121) completed a measure of delusion-proneness and also a measure of self-esteem. Results indicated high delusion prone individuals had lower self-esteem than low delusion prone individuals (p = 0.044). In addition, higher levels of paranoid ideation and suspiciousness were associated with lower self-esteem (p < 0.001). Significant, yet smaller relationships also emerged between low self-esteem and higher levels of beliefs related to thought disturbances, catastrophic ideation/thought broadcasting, and ideation of reference/influence. The significance of these findings as they relate to theories of delusion formation is discussed.

Suicidal ideation versus suicidal obsession: a case report.

PubMed

Wetzler, Alzbeta Juven; Elias, Rachela; Fostick, Leah; Zohar, Joseph

2007-07-01

This case report illustrates the relationship between stress and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) by describing an unusual case of OCD sequelae following a suicide attempt. The patient is a 29-year-old married woman who suffered a major depressive episode without OCD and tried to commit suicide by drinking household cleaner. Following the attempt, violent obsessive thoughts of harming herself and others emerged along with avoidance behavior. After exposure therapy, there was a decrease in her obsessive thoughts, less anxiety, and no avoidance behavior. This report highlights not only the existence of "posttraumatic obsession" but also the importance of accurate interpretation of suicidal preoccupation, leading to the diagnosis of OCD rather then suicidal ideation secondary to depression.

Child Prodigy: A Novel Cognitive Profile Places Elevated General Intelligence, Exceptional Working Memory and Attention to Detail at the Root of Prodigiousness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruthsatz, Joanne; Urbach, Jourdan B.

2012-01-01

Child prodigies are unusual for their early and exceptional adoption of what are traditionally thought of as adult abilities. As part of an effort to better understand the underpinnings of these extraordinary individuals' talent, the researcher examined the cognitive and developmental profiles of eight child prodigies by taking their developmental…

Sunset

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

This cross section of the Earth's atmosphere at sunset and earth limb (24.5S, 43.5E) displays an unusual layering believed to be caused by temperature inversions which effectively concentrate smoke, dust and aerosols into narrow layers. the top of the stratosphere can be seen as the top of the white layer thought to contain volcanic debris. The purple layer is the troposphere containing smoke from landclearing biomass burning.

Sunset

NASA Image and Video Library

1992-11-01

This cross section of the Earth's atmosphere at sunset and earth limb (24.5S, 43.5E) displays an unusual layering believed to be caused by temperature inversions which effectively concentrate smoke, dust and aerosols into narrow layers. the top of the stratosphere can be seen as the top of the white layer thought to contain volcanic debris. The purple layer is the troposphere containing smoke from landclearing biomass burning.

The effects of suppressing intrusive thoughts on dream content, dream distress and psychological parameters.

PubMed

Kröner-Borowik, Tana; Gosch, Stefanie; Hansen, Kathrin; Borowik, Benjamin; Schredl, Michael; Steil, Regina

2013-10-01

Suppressing unwanted thoughts can lead to an increased occurrence of the suppressed thought in dreams. This is explainable by the ironic control theory, which theorizes why the suppression of thoughts might make them more persistent. The present study examined the influence of thought suppression on dream rebound, dream distress, general psychiatric symptomatology, depression, sleep quality and perceived stress. Thirty healthy participants (good sleepers) were investigated over a period of 1 week. Half were instructed to suppress an unwanted thought 5 min prior to sleep, whereas the other half were allowed to think of anything at all. Dream content was assessed through a dream diary. Independent raters assessed whether or not the dreams were related to the suppressed target thought. The results demonstrated increased target-related dreams and a tendency to have more distressing dreams in the suppression condition. Moreover, the data imply that thought suppression may lead to significantly increased general psychiatric symptomatology. No significant effects were found for the other secondary outcomes. © 2013 European Sleep Research Society.

Cognitive Experiences Reported by Borderline Patients and Axis II Comparison Subjects: A 16-year Prospective Follow-up Study

PubMed Central

Zanarini, Mary C.; Frankenburg, Frances R.; Wedig, Michelle M.; Fitzmaurice, Garrett M.

2013-01-01

Objective This study assesses three main types of cognition: nonpsychotic thought (odd thinking, unusual perceptual experiences, and non-delusional paranoia), quasi-psychotic thought, and true-psychotic thought in borderline patients followed prospectively for 16 years. It also compares the rates of these disturbed cognitions to those reported by axis II comparison subjects. Method The cognitive experiences of 362 inpatients—290 borderline patients and 72 axis II comparison subjects—were assessed at study entry using the cognitive section of the Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines. Their cognitive experiences were reassessed every two years using the same interview. Results Each of the five main types of thought studied was reported by a significantly higher percentage of borderline patients than axis II comparison subjects over time. Each of these types of thought, except true-psychotic thought, declined significantly over time for those in both groups. Eleven of the 17 more specific forms of thought studied were also reported by a significantly higher percentage of borderline patients over the years of follow-up: magical thinking, overvalued ideas, recurrent illusions, depersonalization, derealization, undue suspiciousness, ideas of reference, other paranoid ideation, quasi-psychotic delusions, quasi-psychotic hallucinations, and true-psychotic hallucinations. Fourteen specific forms of thought were found to decline significantly over time for those in both groups: all forms of thought mentioned above except true-psychotic hallucinations plus marked superstitiousness, sixth sense, telepathy, and clairvoyance. Conclusions Disturbed cognitions are common among borderline patients and distinguishing for the disorder. They also decline substantially over time but remain a problem, particularly those of a nonpsychotic nature. PMID:23558452

Pericoronal occurrence of cemento-ossifying fibroma: an unexemplified and unusual case report with review of literature.

PubMed

K L, Kumaraswamy; R S, Arvind Babu; P, Sheshadri; Kumaran, Santhosh

2014-03-01

The Cemento-ossifying fibroma (COF) is an odontogenic neoplasm that is predominantly considered as a fibro osseous lesion of the jaw bone. The histogenetic origin of COF was thought to be derived from the periodontal cells, which have the ability to form fibrous, cementum and osseous tissue. Due to the periodontal cellular origin, the lesion often occurs in the radicular portion of the bicuspid and molar tooth region of the lower jaw. We present a case of Cemento-ossifying fibroma in a 43-year-old female in the pericoronal aspect of an impacted third molar mimicking an odontogenic lesion. The occurrence of COF in pericoronal region is an unusual site. This article also discusses about the various hamartomatous lesions occurring in the pericoronal region of the teeth.

Chromosomal instability mediated by non-B DNA: cruciform conformation and not DNA sequence is responsible for recurrent translocation in humans.

PubMed

Inagaki, Hidehito; Ohye, Tamae; Kogo, Hiroshi; Kato, Takema; Bolor, Hasbaira; Taniguchi, Mariko; Shaikh, Tamim H; Emanuel, Beverly S; Kurahashi, Hiroki

2009-02-01

Chromosomal aberrations have been thought to be random events. However, recent findings introduce a new paradigm in which certain DNA segments have the potential to adopt unusual conformations that lead to genomic instability and nonrandom chromosomal rearrangement. One of the best-studied examples is the palindromic AT-rich repeat (PATRR), which induces recurrent constitutional translocations in humans. Here, we established a plasmid-based model that promotes frequent intermolecular rearrangements between two PATRRs in HEK293 cells. In this model system, the proportion of PATRR plasmid that extrudes a cruciform structure correlates to the levels of rearrangement. Our data suggest that PATRR-mediated translocations are attributable to unusual DNA conformations that confer a common pathway for chromosomal rearrangements in humans.

Cosmonumerology, Cosmophysics, and the Large Numbers Hypothesis: British Cosmology in the 1930s

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durham, Ian

2001-04-01

A number of unorthodox cosmological models were developed in the 1930s, many by British theoreticians. Three of the most notable of these theories included Eddington's cosmonumerology, Milne's cosmophysics, and Dirac's large numbers hypothesis (LNH). Dirac's LNH was based partly on the other two and it has been argued that modern steady-state theories are based partly on Milne's cosmophysics. But what influenced Eddington and Milne? Both were products of the late Victorian education system in Britain and could conceivably have been influenced by Victorian thought which, in addition to its strict (though technically unoffical) social caste system, had a flair for the unusual. Victorianism was filled with a fascination for the occult and the supernatural, and science was not insulated from this trend (witness the Henry Slade trial in 1877). It is conceivable that the normally strict mentality of the scientific process in the minds of Eddington and Milne was affected, indirectly, by this trend for the unusual, possibly pushing them into thinking "outside the box" as it were. In addition, cosmonumerology and the LNH exhibit signs of Pythagorean and Aristotelian thought. It is the aim of this ongoing project at St. Andrews to determine the influences and characterize the relations existing in and within these and related theories.

Non-erotic thoughts and sexual functioning.

PubMed

Purdon, Christine; Watson, Chris

2011-10-01

This study sought to replicate and extend investigations of current models of sexual dysfunction (Barlow, 2002; Janssen, Everaerd, Spiering, & Janssen, 2000) which implicate factors such as spectatoring, failure to use ameliorative strategies, and information processing biases in the development and persistence of sexual difficulties. A sample of 165 (n = 71 men) undergraduates completed measures of sexual dysfunction and relationship satisfaction, and reported on the content and frequency of non-erotic thoughts during sex with a partner (i.e., spectatoring), the emotional impact of non-erotic thoughts, and the strategies used to manage them. They also reported on their main sexual functioning difficulties and the strategies they used to manage those difficulties. Finally, participants were presented with a series of hypothetical sexual scenarios and were asked to report their immediate interpretation of events in the scenario. The content of non-erotic thoughts was similar to previous work (Purdon & Holdaway, 2006), although gender differences in thought content were less pronounced. As in previous research, greater frequency of, and anxiety evoked by, non-erotic thoughts was associated with poorer sexual functioning, but we found that this was over and above relationship satisfaction. Participants both high and low in sexual functioning reported using a variety of strategies to manage their non-erotic thoughts, thought suppression being the least effective, and also used a variety of strategies to manage sexual difficulties. Poorer sexual functioning was associated with more negative interpretations of ambiguous sexual scenarios, but this was mediated by relationship satisfaction. However, positive interpretations were predicted by sexual functioning. Results were discussed in terms of their theoretical and clinical implications.

Airway management in an infant with a giant vallecular cyst.

PubMed

Reiersen, David A; Gungor, Anil A

2014-01-01

Review vallecular cysts and report the surgical management of a vallecular cyst of unusual size with near-complete obliteration of the airway. This case report describes an unusually large mucus retention cyst in an 8-week-old infant that was diagnosed during induction of general anesthesia and prevented visualization of airway. Intubation was performed after rapid aspiration of the cyst contents. Vallecular cysts can present as a life-threatening obstruction in infants and complicate the establishment of an airway after induction of anesthesia. In our case, rapid thinking and aspiration of the cyst contents helped establish the airway for definitive CO2 laser excision. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of Age, Thought Content, and Anxiety on Suppression of Intrusive Thoughts

PubMed Central

Beadel, Jessica R.; Green, Jennifer S.; Hosseinbor, Shahrzad; Teachman, Bethany A.

2013-01-01

Understanding differences in responses following attempts to suppress versus simply monitor intrusive thoughts is important given the established relationship between intrusive thinking and numerous forms of psychopathology. Moreover, these differences may vary as a function of age. Because of the links between aging and both enhancement in emotion regulation skills and decline in inhibition skills, older and younger adults were expected to differ in their responses (e.g., experience of negative affect and thought recurrence) to attempts at suppressing intrusive thoughts. This study examined whether efforts to suppress thought content that varied in valence and age-relevance differentially affected older (N = 40, aged 66–92) and younger (N = 42, aged 16–25) adults’ ability to inhibit intrusive thought recurrence and their resulting negative affect. Interestingly, older adults experienced less recurrence for most thoughts than younger adults. Also, for several dependent variables (negative affect and perceived difficulty suppressing intrusive thoughts), older adults showed less decline in their magnitude of response across thinking periods (i.e., from suppression to monitoring) than did younger adults. These age effects were not generally moderated by level of trait anxiety, though higher anxiety did predict intrusive thought responding in expected directions, such as greater negative affect. These findings point to independent influences of age and anxiety, and suggest a complex mix of risk and protective factors for older adults’ responses to intrusive thoughts. PMID:23395408

Opera in the Foreign Language Classroom: Learning German with Mozart, Wagner, Weber, and Johann Strauss

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heinz, Solveig M.

2010-01-01

Content-based instruction (CBI) has been part of the foreign language curriculum for many years at US colleges, leading to courses that combine language instruction with specific content domains, such as film, literature, politics, sports and many others. This article presents a rather unusual choice of content domain for a second-year language…

Assessing disordered thoughts in preschoolers with dysregulated mood.

PubMed

Hutchison, Amanda K; Beresford, Carol; Robinson, Joann; Ross, Randal G

2010-10-01

There is rising interest in identifying precursors to bipolar disorder symptoms, including thought disorder. Thought disorder is identified in adults through self-report and in school-aged children through parent report and child story-telling. This study is an exploration to determine if preschoolers with mood dysregulation have evidence of disordered thoughts using a story-stem completion method. Participants included two groups of 3.5-6 year-old children: 20 with mood dysregulation including manic symptoms and 11 typically developing comparison children. Children were administered story completion narratives including one story where the child character accidentally cuts him/herself while pretending to cook. The children were asked to complete the stories and their responses were analyzed for atypical themes consistent with disordered thoughts such as violence or bizarreness outside of the story or props coming to life. Thirty-five percentage of symptomatic preschoolers versus 0% of typically developing preschoolers ascribed independent actions to inanimate props (p = 0.03). Eighty percentage of symptomatic preschoolers versus 9% of typically developing preschoolers utilized props in a violent or bizarre manner outside the central story (p < 0.001). Preschool children with symptoms of dysregulated mood express themes related to the unusual use of story props which may indicate disordered thoughts. This preschool expression of dysregulated mood appears similar to and possibly continuous with school-age and adult versions of bipolar disorder.

Developing Holocaust Curricula: The Content Decision-Making Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindquist, David H.

2008-01-01

The content decision-making process involved in developing Holocaust curricula is unusually complex and problematic. Educators must consider factors such as historical accuracy, selection of topics covered, potential teaching materials (such as textbooks and literary texts), and graphic materials (such as films and photographs) as they plan their…

A thought in the park: The influence of naturalness and low-level visual features on expressed thoughts

Treesearch

Kathryn E. Schertz; Sonya Sachdeva; Omid Kardan; Hiroki P. Kotabe; Kathleen L. Wolf; Marc G. Berman

2018-01-01

Prior research has shown that the physical characteristics of one's environment have wide ranging effects on affect and cognition. Other research has demonstrated that one's thoughts have impacts on mood and behavior, and in this three-part research program we investigated how physical features of the environment can alter thought content. In one study, we...

Swarm of Comets Artist Concept

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-11-24

This illustration shows a star behind a shattered comet. Observations of the star KIC 8462852 by NASA's Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes suggest that its unusual light signals are likely from dusty comet fragments, which blocked the light of the star as they passed in front of it in 2011 and 2013. The comets are thought to be traveling around the star in a very long, eccentric orbit. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20053

The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking

PubMed Central

Epstude, Kai; Roese, Neal J.

2008-01-01

Counterfactuals are thoughts about alternatives to past events, that is, thoughts of what might have been. This article provides an updated account of the functional theory of counterfactual thinking, suggesting that such thoughts are best explained in terms of their role in behavior regulation and performance improvement. The article reviews a wide range of cognitive experiments indicating that counterfactual thoughts may influence behavior by either of two routes: a content-specific pathway (which involves specific informational effects on behavioral intentions, which then influence behavior) and a content-neutral pathway (which involves indirect effects via affect, mind-sets, or motivation). The functional theory is particularly useful in organizing recent findings regarding counterfactual thinking and mental health. The article concludes by considering the connections to other theoretical conceptions, especially recent advances in goal cognition. PMID:18453477

The functional theory of counterfactual thinking.

PubMed

Epstude, Kai; Roese, Neal J

2008-05-01

Counterfactuals are thoughts about alternatives to past events, that is, thoughts of what might have been. This article provides an updated account of the functional theory of counterfactual thinking, suggesting that such thoughts are best explained in terms of their role in behavior regulation and performance improvement. The article reviews a wide range of cognitive experiments indicating that counterfactual thoughts may influence behavior by either of two routes: a content-specific pathway (which involves specific informational effects on behavioral intentions, which then influence behavior) and a content-neutral pathway (which involves indirect effects via affect, mind-sets, or motivation). The functional theory is particularly useful in organizing recent findings regarding counterfactual thinking and mental health. The article concludes by considering the connections to other theoretical conceptions, especially recent advances in goal cognition.

Registered nurses' thoughts on blended learning in a postgraduate course in cancer care--content analyses of web surveys and a focus group interview.

PubMed

Arving, Cecilia; Wadensten, Barbro; Johansson, Birgitta

2014-06-01

Purpose of the research was to describe registered nurses' (RNs) (n = 53) thoughts on the blended learning format in a 'specialist nursing programme in cancer care'. The study was conducted in autumn 2007 and 2008. A content analysis of answers to open-ended questions in a web-based questionnaire and a focus group interview were carried out. The analysis revealed that the RNs appreciated blended learning. The web lectures facilitated learning and gave RNs access to the education at any time. However, according to the RNs, knowledge is gained through interaction between RNs and teachers, and this aspect needed to be improved. The RNs also thought that the content of the seminars on campus should focus on evidence-based nursing knowledge and practical skills, not just taught as stable facts and procedures. The result from the present study could help to improve the design and content of advanced nursing courses using a blended learning format.

Unusual presentations of BK virus infections in pediatric renal transplant recipients.

PubMed

Drake, Keri A; Najera, Lydia; Reed, Robyn C; Verghese, Priya S

2013-02-01

BKV has emerged as a significant pathogen in the field of transplantation, predominantly causing BKV nephropathy in renal transplant recipients and hemorrhagic cystitis in HSCT recipients. However, case reports describe more diverse complications, and we too present three unusual cases of BKV infections in pediatric renal transplant recipients. First, we describe a case of biopsy-proven renal damage secondary to BKV prior to the onset of viremia, demonstrating that BKV nephropathy can occur without preceding viremia. We also present two renal transplant recipients with persistent BK viruria, one with BKV-associated hemorrhagic cystitis and the other with microscopic hematuria. Therefore, we conclude that BKV manifestations may be more diverse than previously thought and suggest clinical utility in urine BKV qPCR testing in specific transplant recipients. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Pericoronal Occurrence of Cemento-Ossifying Fibroma: An Unexemplified and Unusual Case Report with Review of Literature

PubMed Central

K.L, Kumaraswamy; R.S, Arvind Babu; P, Sheshadri; Kumaran, Santhosh

2014-01-01

The Cemento-ossifying fibroma (COF) is an odontogenic neoplasm that is predominantly considered as a fibro osseous lesion of the jaw bone. The histogenetic origin of COF was thought to be derived from the periodontal cells, which have the ability to form fibrous, cementum and osseous tissue. Due to the periodontal cellular origin, the lesion often occurs in the radicular portion of the bicuspid and molar tooth region of the lower jaw. We present a case of Cemento-ossifying fibroma in a 43-year-old female in the pericoronal aspect of an impacted third molar mimicking an odontogenic lesion. The occurrence of COF in pericoronal region is an unusual site. This article also discusses about the various hamartomatous lesions occurring in the pericoronal region of the teeth. PMID:24783159

Attenuated positive psychotic symptoms and social anxiety: Along a psychotic continuum or different constructs?

PubMed

Cooper, Shanna; Klugman, Joshua; Heimberg, Richard G; Anglin, Deidre M; Ellman, Lauren M

2016-01-30

Social anxiety commonly occurs across the course of schizophrenia, including in the premorbid and prodromal phases of psychotic disorders. Some have posited that social anxiety may exist on a continuum with paranoia; however, empirical data are lacking. The study aim was to determine whether attenuated positive psychotic symptoms are related to social anxiety. Young adults (N=1378) were administered the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ), which measures attenuated positive psychotic symptoms (APPS), and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS), which measures a subset of social anxiety symptoms. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to address the extent to which social anxiety and APPS tap distinct dimensions. Confirmatory factor analyses support the existence of a separate social anxiety factor scale and four separate, though interrelated, APPS factor domains (unusual thought content, paranoia/suspiciousness, disorganized thinking, and perceptual abnormalities). Additionally, social anxiety was significantly, but not differently related to each APPS domain, although the magnitude was reduced between social anxiety and distressing APPS. The current study suggests that social anxiety and attenuated positive psychotic symptoms are separable constructs, but are significantly associated with each other. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unusual ionospheric variations before the strong Auckland Islands, New Zealand earthquake of 30th September, 2007

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibanga, J. I.; Akpan, A. E.; George, N. J.; Ekanem, A. M.; George, A. M.

2018-06-01

Using the IAP experiment on board, the DEMETER and TEC from GPS data, unusual ionospheric variations have been observed some days before the 7.4 magnitude New Zealand earthquake. Both sets of data recorded perturbations 10 days before the earthquake at about the same time. The total ion density per centimeter cube (cm-3), recorded a variation of 6.94 while the differential total electron content (DTEC) in total electron content unit 1016 electron per metre square gave a value of 2.93TECU. The observed anomalies were screened for false alarm using the geomagnetic indices of Kernnifzer digit (Kp) and disturbance storm time (Dst.) It was however seen that the state of the ionosphere was geomagnetically quiet during this period; hence the observed variations were seismogenic.

Hypothyroidism and acute kidney injury: an unusual association.

PubMed

Neves, Precil Diego Miranda de Menezes; Bridi, Ramaiane Aparecida; Balbi, André Luis; Ponce, Daniela

2013-08-09

Association between severe hypothyroidism and acute kidney injury (AKI) is rare. A 40-year-old woman presented with 15 days history of generalised muscle pain, weakness, weight gain and oedema. hypertension and hypothyroidism. dry skin, peripheral/periorbital oedema, slow thought and speaking, thyroid increased. Laboratory examinations: high levels of creatine kinase , creatinine, uric acid and lactate dehydrogenase. Free T4 was very low (<0.3 ng/dL) and thyroid-stimulating hormone was high (21.7 µIU/mL). Urinalysis showed haem pigment without haematuria. We performed the diagnosis of AKI secondary to hypothyroidism-induced rhabdomyolysis. Intravenous fluids were started, urinary alkalisation and increased l-thyroxine dose replacement. On the day after admission, forced diuresis with furosemide was introduced leading to a progressive improvement of symptoms. Although hypothyroidism and AKI is unusual, it should be suspected in patients presenting decrease of renal function and high creatine kinase in the absence of other causes of rhabdomyolysis.

An unusual autopsy case of pyogenic liver abscess caused by periodontal bacteria.

PubMed

Ohyama, Hideki; Nakasho, Keiji; Yamanegi, Koji; Noiri, Yuichiro; Kuhara, Ayako; Kato-Kogoe, Nahoko; Yamada, Naoko; Hata, Masaki; Nishimura, Fusanori; Ebisu, Shigeyuki; Terada, Nobuyuki

2009-09-01

Pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) formation is thought to originate from the transmission of infection via three major routes including the biliary tract, portal vein and hepatic artery. However, about 50% of PLA cases are considered to be cryptogenic. Here we report an unusual autopsy case of PLA associated with periodontopathic bacterial infection. A 59-year-old female suddenly developed cardiopulmonary arrest and died. Despite macroscopic and microscopic examinations, the infectious routes and source of infection were unidentified, and the case appeared to be cryptogenic. Since this patient had suffered severe periodontitis for a long period of time, we investigated the involvement of periodontal infection in PLA formation by performing immunohistochemical analyses. We identified several periodontopathic bacterial species in the PLA of this patient, including Fusobacterium nucleatum, Treponema denticola, Prevotella intermedia and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Thus, we demonstrate here that periodontal infection is a potential source of infection in the formation of PLA.

Prolonged intensive dominance behavior between gray wolves, Canis lupus

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mech, L. David; Cluff, H. Dean

2010-01-01

Dominance is one of the most pervasive and important behaviors among wolves in a pack, yet its significance in free-ranging packs has been little studied. Insights into a behavior can often be gained by examining unusual examples of it. In the High Arctic near Eureka, Nunavut, Canada, we videotaped and described an unusually prolonged and intensive behavioral bout between an adult male Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) and a male member of his pack, thought to be a maturing son. With tail raised, the adult approached a male pack mate about 50 m from us and pinned and straddled this packmate repeatedly over 6.5 minutes, longer than we had ever seen in over 50 years of studying wolves. We interpreted this behavior as an extreme example of an adult wolf harassing a maturing offspring, perhaps in prelude to the offspring?s dispersal.

Multiple locations of nerve compression: an unusual cause of persistent lower limb paresthesia.

PubMed

Ang, Chia-Liang; Foo, Leon Siang Shen

2014-01-01

A paucity of appreciation exists that the "double crush" phenomenon can account for persistent leg symptoms even after spinal neural decompression surgery. We present an unusual case of multiple locations of nerve compression causing persistent lower limb paresthesia in a 40-year old male patient. The patient's lower limb paresthesia was persistent after an initial spinal surgery to treat spinal lateral recess stenosis thought to be responsible for the symptoms. It was later discovered that he had peroneal muscle herniations that had caused superficial peroneal nerve entrapments at 2 separate locations. The patient obtained much symptomatic relief after decompression of the peripheral nerve. The "double crush" phenomenon and multiple levels of nerve compression should be considered when evaluating lower limb neurogenic symptoms, especially after spinal nerve root surgery. Copyright © 2014 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of rock videos and music with suicidal content on thoughts and attitudes about suicide.

PubMed

Rustad, Robin A; Small, Jacob E; Jobes, David A; Safer, Martin A; Peterson, Rebecca J

2003-01-01

In Experiment 1, 133 college student volunteers watched a rock music video with or without suicidal content and then completed written measures assessing mood, priming of suicide-related thoughts, perceptions of personal risk, sensitivity to suicidality in others, and attitudes/beliefs about suicide. In Experiment 2, 104 college student volunteers listened to rock music with either suicidal or neutral content and then completed measures similar to Experiment 1, with the addition of a hopelessness measure. In both experiments, participants exposed to suicidal content wrote more scenarios with suicide-related themes in a projective storytelling task than those exposed to nonsuicidal content. However, there were virtually no group differences on explicit measures of affect, attitudes, and perceptions. Music and videos with suicide content appeared to prime implicit cognitions related to suicide but did not affect variables associated with increased suicide risk.

Trace Element Abundances in an Unusual Hibonite-Perovskite Refractory Inclusion from Allende

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mane, Prajkta; Wadhwa, M.; Keller, L. P.

2013-01-01

Calcium-aluminum-rich refractory inclusions (CAIs) are thought to be the first-formed solids in the Solar protoplanetary disk and can provide information about the earliest Solar System processes (e.g., [1]). A hibonite-perovskitebearing CAI from the Allende CV3 chondrite (SHAL, [2]) contains a single of 500 micrometers hibonite grain and coarse-grained perovskite. The mineralogy and oxygen isotopic composition of this CAI shows similarities with FUN inclusions, especially HAL [2]. Here we present trace element abundances in SHAL.

Extraordinary trace-element accumulations in roadside cedars near Centerville, Missouri

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

Connor, J.J.; Shacklette, H.T.; Erdman, J.A.

1971-01-01

Unusually high concentrations of lead, copper, zinc, and cadmium were found in samples of cedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) collected on the roadside of State Highway 21-72 about 4 miles northeast of Centerville, Mo. For 15 samples, geometric mean concentrations for these elements in cedar ash were, in parts per million: Pb, 5,800; Cu, 190; An, 940; and Cd, 12. The high concentrations are thought to reflect vehicular transport of lead-bearing ores from mine to smelter, rather than mineralized rock at depth.

Ford and Edison in a modern regulatory environment: the first-in-human trial of night-work and artificial light.

PubMed

Erren, Thomas C; Shaw, David M; Wild, Ursula; Groß, J Valérie

2017-01-01

A thought experiment places Henry Ford and Thomas Alva Edison in a modern regulatory environment. In a utopian occupational world devoid of night-shifts or artificial light, Ford wants to experiment with "working through the night". To support Ford's project, Edison offers his patented electric lamps to "turn nights into days". An ethics committee [EC] does not approve the night-work experiment and Utopia's Food and Drug Administration [FDA] does not approve the potential medical device as safe for use by humans. According to the EC and FDA, complex effects on circadian biology and thus safety of work and light at night are not understood. The thought experiment conveys that we should pay more attention to possible risks of work and light at chronobiologically unusual times.

Thoughts and acts of aggression/violence toward others reported in association with varenicline.

PubMed

Moore, Thomas J; Glenmullen, Joseph; Furberg, Curt D

2010-09-01

Thoughts and acts of aggression/violence toward others have been reported in postmarketing surveillance of varenicline, an aid to smoking cessation. To identify the common characteristics of these thoughts and acts of aggression/violence toward others and assess the likely relationship to varenicline treatment. We obtained 78 adverse event reports from the Food and Drug Administration MedWatch database containing medical terms describing possible acts or thoughts of aggression/violence; 4 additional cases were reported in clinical trials, and 3 others came from the published literature. We used psychiatric diagnostic criteria and an adverse event causality assessment tool to identify 26 case reports for study. The selected cases described 10 events with assault, 9 cases of homicidal ideation, and 7 cases of other thoughts or acts of aggression/violence. The most frequent common characteristics were (1) inexplicable and unprovoked event, (2) the victim was anyone nearby, (3) no indication of a prior history of similar behavior in the patient, and (4) early onset of psychiatric adverse effects, often before stopping smoking. Where dechallenge/rechallenge information was available, psychiatric adverse effects resolved in 13/14 (93%) cases after discontinuation. The clear temporal relationship, lack of prior history of this behavior, and unusual nature of these events strengthens the accumulating scientific evidence that varenicline is associated with thoughts and acts of aggression/violence. We recommend that physicians and pharmacists ensure that all patients are informed of possible psychiatric symptoms of varenicline, including violent and aggressive thoughts. All patients should be advised to contact a health-care provider immediately if these symptoms occur and varenicline should be discontinued without delay.

[Relationship between cognitive content and emotions following dilatory behavior: considering the level of trait procrastination].

PubMed

Hayashi, Junichiro

2009-02-01

The present study developed and evaluated the Automatic Thoughts List following Dilatory Behavior (ATL-DB) to explore the mediation hypothesis and the content-specificity hypothesis about the automatic thoughts with trait procrastination and emotions. In Study 1, data from 113 Japanese college students were used to choose 22 items to construct the ATL-DB. Two factors were indentified, I. Criticism of Self and Behavior, II. Difficulty in Achievement. These factors had high degrees of internal consistency and had positive correlations to trait procrastination. In Study 2, the relationships among trait procrastination, the automatic thoughts, depression, and anxiety were examined in 261 college students by using Structural Equation Modeling. The results showed that the influence of trait procrastination on depression was mainly mediated through Criticism of Self and Behavior only, while the influence of trait procrastination to anxiety was mediated through Criticism of Self and Behavior and Difficulty in Achievement. Therefore, the mediation hypothesis was supported and the content-specificity hypothesis was partially supported.

Psychological effects of thought acceleration.

PubMed

Pronin, Emily; Jacobs, Elana; Wegner, Daniel M

2008-10-01

Six experiments found that manipulations that increase thought speed also yield positive affect. These experiments varied in both the methods used for accelerating thought (i.e., instructions to brainstorm freely, exposure to multiple ideas, encouragement to plagiarize others' ideas, performance of easy cognitive tasks, narration of a silent video in fast-forward, and experimentally controlled reading speed) and the contents of the thoughts that were induced (from thoughts about money-making schemes to thoughts of five-letter words). The results suggested that effects of thought speed on mood are partially rooted in the subjective experience of thought speed. The results also suggested that these effects can be attributed to the joy-enhancing effects of fast thinking (rather than only to the joy-killing effects of slow thinking). This work is inspired by observations of a link between "racing thoughts" and euphoria in cases of clinical mania, and potential implications of that observed link are discussed. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

Manic thinking: independent effects of thought speed and thought content on mood.

PubMed

Pronin, Emily; Wegner, Daniel M

2006-09-01

This experiment found that the speed of thought affects mood. Thought speed was manipulated via participants' paced reading of statements designed to induce either an elated or a depressed mood. Participants not only experienced more positive mood in response to elation than in response to depression statements, but also experienced an independent increase in positive mood when they had been thinking fast rather than slow--for both elation and depression statements. This effect of thought speed extended beyond mood to other experiences often associated with mania (i.e., feelings of power, feelings of creativity, a heightened sense of energy, and inflated self-esteem or grandiosity).

Automating Content Analysis of Open-Ended Responses: Wordscores and Affective Intonation

PubMed Central

Baek, Young Min; Cappella, Joseph N.; Bindman, Alyssa

2014-01-01

This study presents automated methods for predicting valence and quantifying valenced thoughts of a text. First, it examines whether Wordscores, developed by Laver, Benoit, and Garry (2003), can be adapted to reliably predict the valence of open-ended responses in a survey about bioethical issues in genetics research, and then tests a complementary and novel technique for coding the number of valenced thoughts in open-ended responses, termed Affective Intonation. Results show that Wordscores successfully predicts the valence of brief and grammatically imperfect open-ended responses, and Affective Intonation achieves comparable performance to human coders when estimating number of valenced thoughts. Both Wordscores and Affective Intonation have promise as reliable, effective, and efficient methods when researchers content-analyze large amounts of textual data systematically. PMID:25558294

The mitochondrial genome of the ethanol-metabolizing, wine cellar mold Zasmidium cellare is the smallest for a filamentous ascomycete.

PubMed

Goodwin, Stephen B; McCorison, Cassandra B; Cavaletto, Jessica R; Culley, David E; LaButti, Kurt; Baker, Scott E; Grigoriev, Igor V

2016-08-01

Fungi in the class Dothideomycetes often live in extreme environments or have unusual physiology. One of these, the wine cellar mold Zasmidium cellare, produces thick curtains of mycelia in cellars with high humidity, and its ability to metabolize volatile organic compounds is thought to improve air quality. Whether these abilities have affected its mitochondrial genome is not known. To fill this gap, the circular-mapping mitochondrial genome of Z. cellare was sequenced and, at only 23 743 bp, is the smallest reported for a filamentous fungus. Genes were encoded on both strands with a single change of direction, different from most other fungi but consistent with the Dothideomycetes. Other than its small size, the only unusual feature of the Z. cellare mitochondrial genome was two copies of a 110-bp sequence that were duplicated, inverted and separated by approximately 1 kb. This inverted-repeat sequence confused the assembly program but appears to have no functional significance. The small size of the Z. cellare mitochondrial genome was due to slightly smaller genes, lack of introns and non-essential genes, reduced intergenic spacers and very few ORFs relative to other fungi rather than a loss of essential genes. Whether this reduction facilitates its unusual biology remains unknown. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

On the occurrence and origin of anthropogenic radionuclides found in a fragment of the Chelyabinsk (LL5) meteorite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Querfeld, Rebecca; Tanha, Mohammad R.; Heyer, Lars; Renz, Franz; Guggenberger, Georg; Brandstätter, Franz; Ferrière, Ludovic; Koeberl, Christian; Steinhauser, Georg

2017-06-01

A piece of the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteorite was investigated for its content of anthropogenic radionuclides. In addition to traces of cesium-137 that had been previously reported for this particular fragment, we found an unusually high amount of strontium-90, which indicates that the source of this contamination was the Kyshtym accident (1957). A high Sr-90/Cs-137 activity ratio is characteristic for Kyshtym-derived contaminations. Based on the cesium-137 content in the soil from the finding site, it is estimated that the fragment was contaminated with soil particles in the milligram range upon impact. Investigation of the soil revealed very unusual ferromagnetic characteristics and an iron-rich chemical composition. Mössbauer spectroscopy indicated the presence of steel components in this soil, suggesting that the investigated meteorite fragment was found in an industrial dumping site rather than natural soil.

Interpersonal sensitivity and persistent attenuated psychotic symptoms in adolescence.

PubMed

Masillo, Alice; Brandizzi, M; Valmaggia, L R; Saba, R; Lo Cascio, N; Lindau, J F; Telesforo, L; Venturini, P; Montanaro, D; Di Pietro, D; D'Alema, M; Girardi, P; Fiori Nastro, P

2018-03-01

Interpersonal sensitivity defines feelings of inner-fragility in the presence of others due to the expectation of criticism or rejection. Interpersonal sensitivity was found to be related to attenuated positive psychotic symptom during the prodromal phase of psychosis. The aims of this study were to examine if high level of interpersonal sensitivity at baseline are associated with the persistence of attenuated positive psychotic symptoms and general psychopathology at 18-month follow-up. A sample of 85 help-seeking individuals (mean age = 16.6, SD = 5.05) referred an Italian early detection project, completed the interpersonal sensitivity measure and the structured interview for prodromal symptoms (SIPS) at baseline and were assessed at 18-month follow-up using the SIPS. Results showed that individuals with high level of interpersonal sensitivity at baseline reported high level of attenuated positive psychotic symptoms (i.e., unusual thought content) and general symptoms (i.e., depression, irritability and low tolerance to daily stress) at follow-up. This study suggests that being "hypersensitive" to interpersonal interactions is a psychological feature associated with attenuated positive psychotic symptoms and general symptoms, such as depression and irritability, at 18-month follow-up. Assessing and treating inner-self fragilities may be an important step of early detection program to avoid the persistence of subtle but very distressing long-terms symptoms.

Extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma: an unusual cause of deep vein thrombosis.

PubMed

Stevenson, Susan; Ramani, Vijay; Nasim, Akhtar

2005-09-01

We report a case of extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma within the organ of Zuckerkandl that presented initially with a left iliofemoral deep venous thrombosis (DVT). At the time of presentation, the DVT was thought to be idiopathic as no underlying cause was detected. Subsequently, because of a series of medical events, the patient was further investigated. This led to a diagnosis of extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma. We discuss the management of patients presenting with DVT, the nature of pheochromocytoma within the organ of Zuckerkandl, and problems relating to its diagnosis.

Cutting-Balloon Angioplasty in Transplant Renal Artery Stenosis as First-Line Treatment in the Early Postoperative Period

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

Ucar, Adem, E-mail: ucaradem@yahoo.com; Yahyayev, Aghakishi, E-mail: aghakishi@yahoo.com; Bakkaloglu, Huseyin, E-mail: drhuseyin@yahoo.com

2011-02-15

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty has been successfully used for the treatment of transplant renal artery stenosis (RAS). Cutting-balloon angioplasty (CBA) is being used as a second option in pressure-resistant stenosis. It is thought that CBA is less traumatic and therefore restenosis occurs less frequently than in conventional angioplasty. This case report describes the unusual use of a cutting balloon in transplant RAS as a first option in the early postoperative period. Long-term follow-up data are also presented.

Video cameras on wild birds.

PubMed

Rutz, Christian; Bluff, Lucas A; Weir, Alex A S; Kacelnik, Alex

2007-11-02

New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) are renowned for using tools for extractive foraging, but the ecological context of this unusual behavior is largely unknown. We developed miniaturized, animal-borne video cameras to record the undisturbed behavior and foraging ecology of wild, free-ranging crows. Our video recordings enabled an estimate of the species' natural foraging efficiency and revealed that tool use, and choice of tool materials, are more diverse than previously thought. Video tracking has potential for studying the behavior and ecology of many other bird species that are shy or live in inaccessible habitats.

A light bulb moment: an unusual cause of foreign body aspiration in children.

PubMed

Lau, C T; Lan, Lawrence; Wong, Kenneth; Tam, Paul Kwong Hang

2015-08-26

A 15-month-old girl developed persistent cough with no associated history of foreign body aspiration. Chest X-ray showed a U-shaped radiopaque foreign body, which was initially thought to be a hairpin, in the right main bronchus. Rigid bronchoscopy was performed and the foreign body turned out to be a light-emitting diode (LED) bulb. In this article, we report our experience of LED bulb aspiration in children, with the view to raise the awareness of clinicians about this potentially life-threatening emergency. 2015 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Chemotaxonomic differentiation of legionellae by detection and characterization of aminodideoxyhexoses and other unique sugars using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

PubMed Central

Fox, A; Rogers, J C; Fox, K F; Schnitzer, G; Morgan, S L; Brown, A; Aono, R

1990-01-01

Legionellae have been differentiated previously by analyzing their carbohydrate contents by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. In the present study, total ion mode gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to detect a number of unusual sugars, including one that is structurally related to O-methyldideoxyheptoses. Increased sensitivity and selectivity for carbohydrate detection was achieved by selected ion-monitoring GC-MS. Two of the uncommon sugars previously discovered in the legionellae (X1 and X2) were identified as quinovosamine and fucosamine, respectively. Legionella pneumophila contained rhamnose and quinovosamine but not the quinovosamine isomer fucosamine. Tatlockia micdadei and Legionella maceachernii contained large amounts of rhamnose, fucose, and fucosamine but not quinovosamine. These two species were the only legionellae studied that contained another unusual sugar that is referred to as X3, pending determination of its structure. Fluoribacter dumoffi, Fluoribacter bozemanae, and Legionella anisa were varied in their carbohydrate contents, both within and between species, but could be distinguished from L. pneumophila and the T. micdadei and L. maceachernii group. Fluoribacter gormanii was unique among the legionellae in that it lacked both quinovosamine and fucosamine. Legionella jordanis contained other unusual carbohydrates in addition to quinovosamine. GC-MS may have wide application in the differentiation of bacterial species. PMID:2324276

What You Can Learn from the 1979 Pacemakers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brasler, Wayne

1980-01-01

Indicates that prizewinning school publications differ from good publications in having three qualities: wide-ranging content reflecting organized, creative approaches to coverage; intelligence and sensitivity in content; and thoughtful design. Includes illustrations from prizewinners. (TJ)

ASCA Observation of MS 1603.6+2600 (=UW Coronae Borealis): A Dipping Low-Mass X-ray Binary in the Outer Halo?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mukai, Koji; Smale, Alan; Stahle, Caroline K.; Schlegel, Eric M.; Wijnands, Rudy; White, Nicholas E. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

MS 1603.6+2600 is a high-latitude X-ray binary with a 111 min orbital period, thought to be either an unusual cataclysmic variable or an unusual low-mass X-ray binary. In an ASCA observation in 1997 August, we find a burst whose light curve suggests a Type 1 (thermonuclear flash) origin. We also find an orbital X-ray modulation in MS 1603.6+2600, which is likely to be periodic dips, presumably due to azimuthal structure in the accretion disk. Both are consistent with this system being a normal low-mass X-ray binary harboring a neutron star, but at a great distance. We tentatively suggest that MS 1603.6+2600 is located in the outer halo of the Milky Way, perhaps associated with the globular cluster Palomar 14, 11 deg away from MS 1603.6+2600 on the sky at an estimated distance of 73.8 kpc.

Depressive Thought Content Among Female College Students With Bulimia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brouwers, Mariette

1988-01-01

Compared overall depression scores on Beck Depression Inventory between women with and without bulimia and examined differences in specific depression items. Results indicated that bulimics were more depressed than controls and had distorted thoughts regarding body image, self-blame, somatic preoccupation, guilt, and suicidal ideation. (Author/NB)

Unusual negative magnetoresistance in Bi2Se3-ySy topological insulator under perpendicular magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Rahul; Gangwar, Vinod K.; Daga, D. D.; Singh, Abhishek; Ghosh, A. K.; Kumar, Manoranjan; Lakhani, A.; Singh, Rajeev; Chatterjee, Sandip

2018-03-01

The magneto-transport properties of Bi2Se3-ySy were investigated. Magnetoresistance (MR) decreases with an increase in the S content, and finally, for 7% (i.e., y = 0.21) S doping, the magnetoresistance becomes negative. This negative MR is unusual as it is observed when a magnetic field is applied in the perpendicular direction to the plane of the sample. The magneto-transport behavior shows the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation, indicating the coexistence of surface and bulk states. The negative MR has been attributed to the non-trivial bulk conduction.

Dream content and intrusive thoughts in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

PubMed

Cavallotti, Simone; Casetta, Cecilia; Fanti, Valentina; Gambini, Orsola; Ostinelli, Edoardo G; Ranieri, Rebecca; Vanelli, Irene; D'Agostino, Armando

2016-10-30

Although central to any exhaustive theory of human subjectivity, the relationship between dream and waking consciousness remains uncertain. Some findings suggest that dream consciousness can be influenced by severe disorders of thought content. The suppression of unwanted thoughts has been shown to influence dream content in healthy individuals. In order to better define this phenomenon, we evaluated the persistence of obsessive/compulsive themes across the dream and waking cognition of OCD patients and in a control group of healthy subjects. Participants were administered a shortened version of the Thematic Apperception Test to produce a waking fantasy narration, and were trained to keep a dream diary. Dream and waking narrative contents were analyzed in order to recognize obsessive/compulsive themes, and to calculate Mean Dream Obsession/Compulsion (MDO, MDC) and Mean TAT Obsession/Compulsion (MTO, MTC) parameters. No differences were found between the two populations in terms of MDO, MDC, MTO, nor MTC. Density of obsessive and compulsive themes were significantly higher in dream reports than in waking narratives for both groups. No correlation was observed between MDO/MDC scores and Y-BOCS obsession/compulsion scores in the OCD group. These findings strengthen the discontinuity hypothesis, suggesting that ruminative aspects of cognition are somehow interrupted during dream activity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Rock Videos and Music with Suicidal Content on Thoughts and Attitudes about Suicide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rustad, Robin A.; Small, Jacob E.; Jobes, David A.; Safer, Martin A.; Peterson, Rebecca J.

2003-01-01

Two experiments exposed college student volunteers to rock music with or without suicidal content. Music and videos with suicide content appeared to prime implicit cognitions related to suicide but did not affect variables associated with increased suicide risk. (Contains 60 references and 3 tables.) (Author/JBJ)

Improving the Past and the Future: A Temporal Asymmetry in Hypothetical Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferrante, Donatella; Girotto, Vittorio; Straga, Marta; Walsh, Clare

2013-01-01

Current views of hypothetical thinking implicitly assume that the content of imaginary thoughts about the past and future should be the same. Two experiments show that, given the same experienced facts of reality, future imagination may differ from past reconstruction. When participants failed a task, their counterfactual thoughts focused on…

Thought Speed, Mood, and the Experience of Mental Motion.

PubMed

Pronin, Emily; Jacobs, Elana

2008-11-01

This article presents a theoretical account relating thought speed to mood and psychological experience. Thought sequences that occur at a fast speed generally induce more positive affect than do those that occur slowly. Thought speed constitutes one aspect of mental motion. Another aspect involves thought variability, or the degree to which thoughts in a sequence either vary widely from or revolve closely around a theme. Thought sequences possessing more motion (occurring fast and varying widely) generally produce more positive affect than do sequences possessing little motion (occurring slowly and repetitively). When speed and variability oppose each other, such that one is low and the other is high, predictable psychological states also emerge. For example, whereas slow, repetitive thinking can prompt dejection, fast, repetitive thinking can prompt anxiety. This distinction is related to the fact that fast thinking involves greater actual and felt energy than slow thinking does. Effects of mental motion occur independent of the specific content of thought. Their consequences for mood and energy hold psychotherapeutic relevance. © 2008 Association for Psychological Science.

I spy with my little eye: cognitive processing of framed physical activity messages.

PubMed

Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca L; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A; Castelhano, Monica

2014-01-01

The primary purpose was to examine the relative cognitive processing of gain-framed versus loss-framed physical activity messages following exposure to health risk information. Guided by the Extended Parallel Process Model, the secondary purpose was to examine the relation between dwell time, message recall, and message-relevant thoughts, as well as perceived risk, personal relevance, and fear arousal. Baseline measures of perceived risk for inactivity-related disease and health problems were administered to 77 undergraduate students. Participants read population-specific health risk information while wearing a head-mounted eye tracker, which measured dwell time on message content. Perceived risk was then reassessed. Next, participants read PA messages while the eye tracker measured dwell time on message content. Immediately following message exposure, recall, thought-listing, fear arousal, and personal relevance were measured. Dwell time on gain-framed messages was significantly greater than loss-framed messages. However, message recall and thought-listing did not differ by message frame. Dwell time was not significantly related to recall or thought-listing. Consistent with the Extended Parallel Process Model, fear arousal was significantly related to recall, thought-listing, and personal relevance. In conclusion, gain-framed messages may evoke greater dwell time than loss-famed messages. However, dwell time alone may be insufficient for evoking further cognitive processing.

An Overview of Current Guidelines for Commercial Support of Continuing Medical Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, R. Van

1993-01-01

A number of bodies have produced guidelines concerning financial support from commercial companies for continuing medical education. Basic principles include independence of the continuing education provider, balanced content, no unusual benefits, and disclosure of potential for bias. (SK)

Mind-wandering as spontaneous thought: a dynamic framework.

PubMed

Christoff, Kalina; Irving, Zachary C; Fox, Kieran C R; Spreng, R Nathan; Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R

2016-11-01

Most research on mind-wandering has characterized it as a mental state with contents that are task unrelated or stimulus independent. However, the dynamics of mind-wandering - how mental states change over time - have remained largely neglected. Here, we introduce a dynamic framework for understanding mind-wandering and its relationship to the recruitment of large-scale brain networks. We propose that mind-wandering is best understood as a member of a family of spontaneous-thought phenomena that also includes creative thought and dreaming. This dynamic framework can shed new light on mental disorders that are marked by alterations in spontaneous thought, including depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Relationships between thought-action fusion, thought suppression and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: a structural equation modeling approach.

PubMed

Rassin, E; Muris, P; Schmidt, H; Merckelbach, H

2000-09-01

Research has shown that there are strong similarities in content between the obsessions and compulsions that characterize obsessive-compulsive disorder and nonclinical obsessions and compulsions. However, clinical and nonclinical obsessions and compulsions do differ with respect to characteristics like frequency, intensity, discomfort and elicited resistance. Two separate concepts have been invoked to explain how normal obsessions and compulsions may develop into clinical phenomena. First, it is suggested that thought-action fusion (TAF) contributes to obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Second, thought suppression may intensify obsessive-compulsive symptoms due to its paradoxical effect on intrusive thoughts. Although both phenomena have been found to contribute to obsessive-compulsive symptoms, possible interactions between these two have never been investigated. The current study explored how TAF and thought suppression interact in the development of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 173) completed questionnaires pertaining to TAF, thought suppression and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Covariances between the scores on these questionnaires were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. Results suggest that TAF triggers thought suppression, while thought suppression, in turn, promotes obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Flexibility in Language and Thought

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Srinivasan, Mahesh

2011-01-01

Many words can be used flexibly: a book can be physically heavy, but also have provocative content, a "chicken" might live in a coop, but could also be tasty to eat. What do the uses of "polysemous" words such as these reveal about the structure of language and thought? Paper 1 examined 4-year-old children's representations of polysemous words…

Ar-39 - Ar-40 Dating of Unusual Eucrite NWA-011: Is it from Vesta?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bogard, D. D.; Garrison, D. H.

2004-01-01

Basaltic meteorite NWA-011 is similar to eucrites in many aspects, but its oxygen isotopic composition lies far off the oxygen fractionation line defined by eucrites. It was suggested that NWA011 may have derived from a different parent body from that of eucrites, which are thought to derive from the asteroid Vesta. Some other eucrites also show small anomalous oxygen compositions. This suggests that for all eucrites to derive from Vesta, it must be compositionally inhomogeneous. Some workers have speculated whether early, large impactors on Vesta might have contributed the anomalous oxygen.

Donald R. Korb, OD, FAAO: Clinician Scientist, Colleague, and Teacher.

PubMed

Polse, Kenneth A

2009-10-01

Discovery often begins with a clinical observation that leads to major biomedical discovery. Therefore, well-trained clinical scientists are an important part of the discovery process. Unfortunately, both medicine and optometry have too few well-trained clinician scientists. However, among the few, Dr. Donald Korb stands out as the quintessential optometric clinical scientist. This profile provides insights into the life, thoughts, and unusually productive professional career of Dr. Korb. Of particular interest for many contact lens clinicians is a discussion with Dr. Korb on how some of his clinical observations led to improved diagnostic and treatment procedures.

Legionnaire's disease associated with acute encephalitis and arrhythmia.

PubMed

Karim, Anita; Ahmed, Shahid; Rossoff, Leonard J

2002-05-01

To report an unusual, life-threatening combination of neurologic, cardiac, and gastrointestinal symptoms in the presence of a community-acquired pneumonia. Case report. University hospital. Previously healthy young male. Diagnostic fiberoptic bronchoscopy, lumber puncture, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, and institution of systemic antibiotics. Gradual clinical improvement of a multiple-system illness. Legionellosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with neurologic, cardiac, and gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly in the presence of radiographic pneumonia. Furthermore, Legionella meningoencephalitis may present with findings on magnetic resonance imaging previously thought to be characteristic of herpes encephalitis.

Magmatically Greedy Reararc Volcanoes of the N. Tofua Segment of the Tonga Arc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubin, K. H.; Embley, R. W.; Arculus, R. J.; Lupton, J. E.

2013-12-01

Volcanism along the northernmost Tofua Arc is enigmatic because edifices of the arc's volcanic front are mostly, magmatically relatively anemic, despite the very high convergence rate of the Pacific Plate with this section of Tonga Arc. However, just westward of the arc front, in terrain generally thought of as part of the adjacent NE Lau Backarc Basin, lie a series of very active volcanoes and volcanic features, including the large submarine caldera Niuatahi (aka volcano 'O'), a large composite dacite lava flow terrain not obviously associated with any particular volcanic edifice, and the Mata volcano group, a series of 9 small elongate volcanoes in an extensional basin at the extreme NE corner of the Lau Basin. These three volcanic terrains do not sit on arc-perpendicular cross chains. Collectively, these volcanic features appear to be receiving a large proportion of the magma flux from the sub-Tonga/Lau mantle wedge, in effect 'stealing' this magma flux from the arc front. A second occurrence of such magma 'capture' from the arc front occurs in an area just to the south, on southernmost portion of the Fonualei Spreading Center. Erupted compositions at these 'magmatically greedy' volcanoes are consistent with high slab-derived fluid input into the wedge (particularly trace element abundances and volatile contents, e.g., see Lupton abstract this session). It is unclear how long-lived a feature this is, but the very presence of such hyperactive and areally-dispersed volcanism behind the arc front implies these volcanoes are not in fact part of any focused spreading/rifting in the Lau Backarc Basin, and should be thought of as 'reararc volcanoes'. Possible tectonic factors contributing to this unusually productive reararc environment are the high rate of convergence, the cold slab, the highly disorganized extension in the adjacent backarc, and the tear in the subducting plate just north of the Tofua Arc.

Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires

PubMed Central

Fredrickson, Barbara L.; Branigan, Christine

2011-01-01

The broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) hypothesises that positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. Two experiments with 104 college students tested these hypotheses. In each, participants viewed a film that elicited (a) amusement, (b) contentment, (c) neutrality, (d) anger, or (e) anxiety. Scope of attention was assessed using a global-local visual processing task (Experiment 1) and thought-action repertoires were assessed using a Twenty Statements Test (Experiment 2). Compared to a neutral state, positive emotions broadened the scope of attention in Experiment 1 and thought-action repertoires in Experiment 2. In Experiment 2, negative emotions, relative to a neutral state, narrowed thought-action repertoires. Implications for promoting emotional well-being and physical health are discussed. PMID:21852891

Testing the differential effects of acceptance and attention-based psychological interventions on intrusive thoughts and worry.

PubMed

Ainsworth, B; Bolderston, H; Garner, M

2017-04-01

Worry is a key component of anxiety and may be an effective target for therapeutic intervention. We compared two psychological processes (attention and acceptance) on the frequency of intrusive worrying thoughts in an experimental worry task. 77 participants were randomised across three groups and completed either a 10 min attention or acceptance-based psychological exercise, or progressive muscle relaxation control. We subsequently measured anxiety, and the content and frequency of intrusive thoughts before and after a 'worry induction task'. Groups did not differ in baseline worry, anxiety or thought intrusions. Both attention and acceptance-based groups experienced fewer negative thought intrusions (post-worry) compared to the relaxation control group. The acceptance exercise had the largest effect, preventing 'worry induction'. Increases in negative intrusive thoughts predicted subjective anxiety. We provide evidence that acceptance and attention psychological exercises may reduce anxiety by reducing the negative thought intrusions that characterise worry. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The Structure, Function and Evolution of a Novel Form of Fluid-feeding Apparatus for Microbivory

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Low temperature scanning electron microscopy (LT-SEM) has revealed anatomical details suggesting that Osperalycus and Gordialycus (Acariformes: Nematalycidae) have an unusual feeding apparatus that appears to be specialized for feeding on the fluid contents of small microorganisms (diameter '5 µm). ...

Screen Study Guides.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duncan, Barry

1969-01-01

This study guide for Arthur Lipsett's film "Very Nice, Very Nice" is in four parts. First, it describes and evaluates the film, discusses Lipsett's unusual juxtapositions, fast cutting, and fragmented speeches as indications of his satirical intent, and suggests that the only meaningful summation of the film's content is through pattern…

The Science and Politics of Comparing Women and Men.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eagly, Alice H.

1995-01-01

Considers claims from sex-comparative research that sex-related differences are small, unusually unstable across studies, very often artifactual, and inconsistent with the content of gender stereotypes. The article contends that feminism created a political climate that has led to research that inaccurately minimizes psychological gender…

Cannabis use and symptom severity in individuals at ultra high risk for psychosis: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Carney, R; Cotter, J; Firth, J; Bradshaw, T; Yung, A R

2017-07-01

We aimed to assess whether individuals at ultra high risk (UHR) for psychosis have higher rates of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders (CUDs) than non-UHR individuals and determine whether UHR cannabis users have more severe psychotic experiences than non-users. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies reporting cannabis use in the UHR group and/or positive or negative symptoms among UHR cannabis users and non-users. Logit event rates were calculated for cannabis use, in addition to odds ratios to assess the difference between UHR and controls. Severity of clinical symptoms in UHR cannabis users and non-users was compared using Hedges' g. Thirty unique studies were included (UHR n = 4205, controls n = 667) containing data from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, and randomised control trials. UHR individuals have high rates of current (26.7%) and lifetime (52.8%) cannabis use, and CUDs (12.8%). Lifetime use and CUDs were significantly higher than controls (lifetime OR: 2.09; CUD OR: 5.49). UHR cannabis users had higher rates of unusual thought content and suspiciousness than non-users. Ultra high risk individuals have high rates of cannabis use and CUDs, and cannabis users had more severe positive symptoms. Targeting substance use during the UHR phase may have significant benefits to an individual's long-term outcome. © 2017 The Authors Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Social media for message testing: a multilevel approach to linking favorable viewer responses with message, producer, and viewer influence on YouTube.

PubMed

Paek, Hye-Jin; Hove, Thomas; Jeon, Jehoon

2013-01-01

To explore the feasibility of social media for message testing, this study connects favorable viewer responses to antismoking videos on YouTube with the videos' message characteristics (message sensation value [MSV] and appeals), producer types, and viewer influences (viewer rating and number of viewers). Through multilevel modeling, a content analysis of 7,561 viewer comments on antismoking videos is linked with a content analysis of 87 antismoking videos. Based on a cognitive response approach, viewer comments are classified and coded as message-oriented thought, video feature-relevant thought, and audience-generated thought. The three mixed logit models indicate that videos with a greater number of viewers consistently increased the odds of favorable viewer responses, while those presenting humor appeals decreased the odds of favorable message-oriented and audience-generated thoughts. Some significant interaction effects show that videos produced by laypeople may hinder favorable viewer responses, while a greater number of viewer comments can work jointly with videos presenting threat appeals to predict favorable viewer responses. Also, for a more accurate understanding of audience responses to the messages, nuance cues should be considered together with message features and viewer influences.

Growth of High Purity Oxygen-Free Silicon by Cold Crucible Techniques.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-06-01

Liquid Metals (A Review). High Temp.-High Pressures 2(6), 583-586, 1970. 1971 Knights, C.F. and Perkins, R. Levitation Melting of Uranium Mono- Carbide . J...content - typically I PPM or less. c) The crystals grown exhibited a high level of carbon contamination (2-30 PPM ) which we believe, is caused by the...grown from melts confined in the cold crucible exhibit an unusually low oxygen content - typically 1 PPM or less. c.) The crystals grown exhibited a

Unusual presentation Of Sjögren-associated neuropathy with plasma cell-rich infiltrate.

PubMed

Naddaf, Elie; Berini, Sarah E; B Dyck, P James; Laughlin, Ruple S

2017-04-01

Sjögren syndrome is thought to be a lymphocyte-driven process. Peripheral nervous system involvement occurs in about 20%-25% of patients. A sensory-predominant, large-fiber peripheral neuropathy is most common, and it is usually associated with a subacute to chronic presentation. We report a rare case of an acute Sjögren-associated, sensory predominant, length-dependent peripheral neuropathy mimicking Guillain-Barré syndrome. The patient presented with sensory ataxia preceded by fever and polyarthralgia. She gave a history of years of dry eyes and dry mouth. She had a positive Shirmer test, abnormal salivary gland scan, and positive SS-A and SS-B antibodies. A sural nerve biopsy showed an unusual, dense, non-IgG4, polyclonal, plasma-cell perivascular infiltrate. The patient responded to treatment with weekly pulse intravenous methylprednisolone. Sjögren syndrome can present with acute-onset, sensory predominant peripheral neuropathy. The role of plasma cells in Sjögren syndrome is unexplored and deserves further study. Muscle Nerve 55: 605-608, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Saphenous vein graft aneurysm fistula formation causing right heart failure: an unusual presentation.

PubMed

Boon, K J; Arshad, M A; Singh, H; Lainchbury, J G; Blake, J W H

2015-11-01

Saphenous vein graft aneurysm (SVG) formation after coronary artery bypass grafting is a rare complication of the surgery. We present a case of a 68-year-old man with an unusual presentation of such an aneurysm. Thirty-four years after his initial bypass surgery, the patient presented with a fistula formation into his right atrium from a vein graft aneurysm. Late aneurysm formation is thought to occur secondary to atherosclerotic degeneration of the SVG with background hypertension and dyslipidaemia accelerating the process. Diagnostic modalities used to investigate SVG aneurysms include computed tomography, transthoracic echocardiogram, magnetic resonance imaging and cardiac catheterisation. Aneurysms with fistula formation historically require aggressive surgical intervention. Resection of the aneurysm with subsequent revascularisation if required is the surgical norm. SVG aneurysm with fistula formation into a cardiac chamber is a rare complication of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), which can occur with atypical presenting symptoms. Physicians should keep in mind the possibility of this occurring in post-CABG patients presenting with heart failure and a new murmur. © 2015 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

The Relationship of Explanatory Flexibility to Explanatory Style

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Michael T.; Fresco, David M.

2007-01-01

Traditional cognitive vulnerability-stress models regarding the etiology of depression emphasize the content of the depressed individual's thoughts. One important cognitive content index, explanatory style, represents the habitual way that individuals assign causes to events that occur in their lives. A more contemporary model, however, emphasizes…

Can Pedagogical Concerns Eclipse Mathematical Knowledge?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Creager, Mark A.; Jacobson, Erik; Aydeniz, Fetiye

2016-01-01

Mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) is often thought of as a transformed, mutually-influencing mixture of content and pedagogy. However when individuals' MKT does not integrate content and pedagogy, one type of knowledge can supersede the other, sometimes unconsciously. We exemplify this with Emma, a prospective elementary teacher, whose…

School Quality and Learning Gains in Rural Guatemala

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Jeffery H.

2009-01-01

I use unusually detailed data on schools, teachers and classrooms to explain student achievement growth in rural Guatemala. Several variables that have received little attention in previous studies--including the number of school days, teacher content knowledge and pedagogical methods--are robust predictors of achievement. A series of…

Mind your thoughts: associations between self-generated thoughts and stress-induced and baseline levels of cortisol and alpha-amylase.

PubMed

Engert, Veronika; Smallwood, Jonathan; Singer, Tania

2014-12-01

Stress is a major health burden in today's society. Research shows that negative cognitive styles are associated with increased stress reactivity, low mood and accelerated cellular aging. Our study sought to unravel the relationship between the content of self-generated thoughts and psychosocial stress measured in terms of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic activity. Features of self-generated thoughts were assessed using thought sampling while participants performed cognitive tasks following a stress induction or in a baseline condition. More negatively toned emotional thoughts and more social temporal thoughts with a past focus were associated with increased cortisol and alpha-amylase levels, both after stress and at baseline. More social temporal thoughts with a future focus, on the other hand, had an overall attenuating effect on the levels of both stress markers. Our results indicate a fundamental link between the thoughts and stress levels we experience. Understanding the mechanisms governing this mind-body association may have important implications for understanding and counteracting the high incidence of stress-related disorders in today's society. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Draft Genome Sequence of Actinokineospora bangkokensis 44EHWT Reveals the Biosynthetic Pathway of the Antifungal Thailandin Compounds with Unusual Butylmalonyl-CoA Extender Units.

PubMed

Greule, Anja; Intra, Bungonsiri; Flemming, Stephan; Rommel, Marcel G E; Panbangred, Watanalai; Bechthold, Andreas

2016-11-23

We report the draft genome sequence of Actinokineospora bangkokensis 44EHW T , the producer of the antifungal polyene compounds, thailandins A and B. The sequence contains 7.45 Mb, 74.1% GC content and 35 putative gene clusters for the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. There are three gene clusters encoding large polyketide synthases of type I. Annotation of the ORF functions and targeted gene disruption enabled us to identify the cluster for thailandin biosynthesis. We propose a plausible biosynthetic pathway for thailandin, where the unusual butylmalonyl-CoA extender unit is incorporated and results in an untypical side chain.

Is death really the worm at the core? Converging evidence that worldview threat increases death-thought accessibility.

PubMed

Schimel, Jeff; Hayes, Joseph; Williams, Todd; Jahrig, Jesse

2007-05-01

According to terror management theory, if the cultural worldview protects people from thoughts about death, then weakening this structure should increase death-thought accessibility (DTA). Five studies tested this DTA hypothesis. Study 1 showed that threatening Canadian participants' cultural values (vs. those of another culture) increased DTA on a word-fragment completion task. Study 2 showed that when participants could dismiss the threat, DTA remained low. Study 3 replicated the results of Study 1, but DTA was measured using a lexical decision task. Response latencies to death, negative, and neutral content were measured. Worldview threat increased DTA relative to accessibility for negative and neutral content. Study 4 showed that the DTA effect emerged independently of the arousal of anger or anxiety. Finally, Study 5 demonstrated that participants with a pro-creation (vs. pro-evolution) worldview had higher DTA after reading an anti-creation article. Discussion focused on theoretical implications and directions for further research. ((c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).

Content-Rich Instruction in Preschool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neuman, Susan B.

2014-01-01

Universal preschool has the potential to close the knowledge gap--but only if we consider how to best teach preschoolers. Unbridled enthusiasm for universal preschool must be balanced with thoughtful consideration of what goes on in these classrooms, and what activities will most support children's learning. Content-centered classrooms help…

[Configuration of the dream in REM sleep].

PubMed

Leonhard, K

1985-02-01

Dreams during REM sleep have a characteristic form. They are, so to speak, "chain dreams, in which the scenes follow consecutively and, although distinctly separate from each other, are welded into a coherent dream by the primary integrating thoughts underlying the dream. The contents of the different scenes are difficult to reconcile with the integrating thought behind the dream because they are not stimulated by the thought alone but, in a certain way, also by past experiences. The author describes a dream which apparently filled the REM phase from beginning to end. It has been possible to explain the background of the integrating thought and the origins of the different scenes. The peculiar character of such dreams should find more attention in scientific research.

Web life: The Evil Mad Scientist Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2009-04-01

What is it? Have you ever tried to electrocute a hot dog? Wondered how to make a robot out of a toothbrush, watch battery and phone-pager motor? Seen a cantaloupe melon and thought, "Hmm, I could make this look like the Death Star from the original Star Wars films"? If you have not, but you would like to - preferably as soon as you can find a pager motor - then this is the site for you. The Evil Mad Scientist Project (EMSP) blog is packed full of ideas for unusual, silly and frequently physics-related creations that bring science out of the laboratory and into kitchens, backyards and tool sheds.

Vasospastic angina in a patient with hyperthyroidism.

PubMed

Canpolat, U; Sunman, H; Gürses, K M; Aytemir, K

2012-08-01

A 56-year-old man presented with typical angina pectoris lasting >20 min associated with precordial ST-segment elevation. Urgent coronary angiography showed critical stenosis in the proximal segment of the left anterior descending artery, which resolved with intracoronary nitrate application. He was subsequently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism secondary to exposure of iodinated contrast agent which is thought to be the cause of the coronary spasm. Symptoms resolved upon treatment with propylthiouracil, slow-release diltiazem, isosorbide mononitrate, and aspirin. This unusual case highlights the importance of considering hyperthyroidism in the differential diagnosis of chest pain and coronary artery spasm. We suggest routine thyroid function testing in patients with coronary spasm.

Self-handicapping, excuse making, and counterfactual thinking: consequences for self-esteem and future motivation.

PubMed

McCrea, Sean M

2008-08-01

Researchers interested in counterfactual thinking have often found that upward counterfactual thoughts lead to increased motivation to improve in the future, although at the cost of increased negative affect. The present studies suggest that because upward counterfactual thoughts indicate reasons for a poor performance, they can also serve as excuses. In this case, upward counterfactual thoughts should result in more positive self-esteem and reduced future motivation. Five studies demonstrated these effects in the context of self-handicapping. First, upward counterfactual thinking was increased in the presence of a self-handicap. Second, upward counterfactual thoughts indicating the presence of a self-handicap protected self-esteem following failure. Finally, upward counterfactual thoughts that protect self-esteem reduced preparation for a subsequent performance as well as performance itself. These findings suggest that the consequences of upward counterfactuals for affect and motivation are moderated by the goals of the individual as well as the content of the thoughts. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

Goal Commitments and the content of thoughts and dreams: basic principles.

PubMed

Klinger, Eric

2013-01-01

A few empirically supported principles can account for much of the thematic content of waking thought, including rumination, and dreams. (1) An individual's commitments to particular goals sensitize the individual to respond to cues associated with those goals. The cues may be external or internal in the person's own mental activity. The responses may take the form of noticing the cues, storing them in memory, having thoughts or dream segments related to them, and/or taking action. Noticing may be conscious or not. Goals may be any desired endpoint of a behavioral sequence, including finding out more about something, i.e., exploring possible goals, such as job possibilities or personal relationships. (2) Such responses are accompanied and perhaps preceded by protoemotional activity or full emotional arousal, the amplitude of which determines the likelihood of response and is related to the value placed on the goal. (3) When the individual is in a situation conducive to making progress toward attaining the goal, the response to goal cues takes the form of actions or operant mental acts that advance the goal pursuit. (4) When circumstances are unfavorable for goal-directed operant behavior, the response remains purely mental, as in mind-wandering and dreaming, but still reflects the content of the goal pursuit or associated content. (5) Respondent responses such as mind-wandering are more likely when the individual is mentally unoccupied with ongoing tasks and less likely the more that is at stake in the ongoing task. The probability of respondent thought is highest during relaxed periods, when the brain's default-mode network dominates, or during sleep. The article briefly summarizes neurocognitive findings that relate to mind-wandering and evidence regarding adverse effects of mind-wandering on task performance as well as evidence suggesting adaptive functions in regard to creative problem-solving, planning, resisting delay discounting, and memory consolidation.

Goal Commitments and the content of thoughts and dreams: basic principles

PubMed Central

Klinger, Eric

2013-01-01

A few empirically supported principles can account for much of the thematic content of waking thought, including rumination, and dreams. (1) An individual’s commitments to particular goals sensitize the individual to respond to cues associated with those goals. The cues may be external or internal in the person’s own mental activity. The responses may take the form of noticing the cues, storing them in memory, having thoughts or dream segments related to them, and/or taking action. Noticing may be conscious or not. Goals may be any desired endpoint of a behavioral sequence, including finding out more about something, i.e., exploring possible goals, such as job possibilities or personal relationships. (2) Such responses are accompanied and perhaps preceded by protoemotional activity or full emotional arousal, the amplitude of which determines the likelihood of response and is related to the value placed on the goal. (3) When the individual is in a situation conducive to making progress toward attaining the goal, the response to goal cues takes the form of actions or operant mental acts that advance the goal pursuit. (4) When circumstances are unfavorable for goal-directed operant behavior, the response remains purely mental, as in mind-wandering and dreaming, but still reflects the content of the goal pursuit or associated content. (5) Respondent responses such as mind-wandering are more likely when the individual is mentally unoccupied with ongoing tasks and less likely the more that is at stake in the ongoing task. The probability of respondent thought is highest during relaxed periods, when the brain’s default-mode network dominates, or during sleep. The article briefly summarizes neurocognitive findings that relate to mind-wandering and evidence regarding adverse effects of mind-wandering on task performance as well as evidence suggesting adaptive functions in regard to creative problem-solving, planning, resisting delay discounting, and memory consolidation. PMID:23874312

The content and process of self-stigma in people with mental illness.

PubMed

Chan, Kevin K S; Mak, Winnie W S

2017-01-01

Although many individuals with mental illness may self-concur with the "content" of stigmatizing thoughts at some point in their lives, they may have varying degrees of habitual recurrence of such thoughts, which could exacerbate their experience of self-stigma and perpetuate its damaging effects on their mental health. Although it is important to understand the "process" of how self-stigmatizing thoughts are sustained and perpetuated over time, no research to date has conceptualized and distinguished the habitual process of self-stigma from its cognitive content. Thus, the present study aims to develop and validate a measure of the habitual process of self-stigma-the Self-stigmatizing Thinking's Automaticity and Repetition Scale (STARS). In this study, 189 individuals with mental illness completed the STARS, along with several explicit (self-report) and implicit (response latency) measures of theoretically related constructs. Consistent with theories of mental habit, an exploratory factor analysis of the STARS items identified a 2-factor structure that represents the repetition (4 items) and automaticity (4 items) of self-stigmatization. The reliability of the STARS was supported by a Cronbach's α of .90, and its validity was supported by its significant correlations with theoretical predictors (content of self-stigma, experiential avoidance, and lack of mindfulness), expected outcomes (decreased self-esteem, life satisfaction, and recovery), and the Brief Implicit Association Tests measuring the automatic processing of self-stigmatizing information. With the validation of the STARS, future research can consider both the content and process of self-stigma so that a richer picture of its development, perpetuation, and influence can be captured. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

A Measure of Perceived Argument Strength: Reliability and Validity

PubMed Central

Zhao, Xiaoquan; Strasser, Andrew; Cappella, Joseph N.; Lerman, Caryn; Fishbein, Martin

2014-01-01

Studies of the content of persuasive messages in which the central arguments of the message are scrutinized have traditionally relied on the technique of thought-listing to assess argument strength. Although the validity of the thought-listing procedure is well documented, its utility can be limited in situations involving non-adult populations and sensitive topics. In this paper we present a self-reported scale that can be used to assess perceived argument strength in contexts where thought-listing may be less appropriate. This scale taps into perceived argument strength from multiple points of view, including but also extending beyond the potential of the argument to elicit positive and negative thoughts. Reliability and validity of this scale were assessed in health communication contexts involving anti-drug PSAs directed at adolescents and anti-smoking PSAs targeting adults. Evidence of convergence between this scale and the thought-listing technique was also obtained using the classical comprehensive exam arguments. PMID:25568663

Compositional analyses and shelf-life modeling of njangsa (ricinodendron heudelotii)seed oil using the weibull hazard method

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This study investigated the compositional characteristics and shelf-life of Njangsa seed oil (NSO). Oil from Njangsa had a high polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content of which alpha eleosteric acid (alpha-ESA), an unusual conjugated linoleic acid was the most prevalent (about 52%). Linoleic acid...

Implementing and Assessing a Flipped Classroom Model for First-Year Engineering Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saterbak, Ann; Volz, Tracy; Wettergreen, Matthew

2016-01-01

Faculty at Rice University are creating instructional resources to support teaching first-year engineering design using a flipped classroom model. This implementation of flipped pedagogy is unusual because content-driven, lecture courses are usually targeted for flipping, not project-based design courses that already incorporate an abundance of…

Immunochemical Investigations of Cell Surface Antigens of Anaerobic Bacteria

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-10-15

portion is linked to a carbohydrate core, which contains two unusual sugars (2- keto -3-deoxyoctonate and a heptose), as well as glucose, galactose, and...present in human intestinal contents. However, placing rats on a diet of lean ground beef for a two-week period resulted in alteration of the cecal

Constriction of the Stomach by an Unusual Peritoneal Band

PubMed Central

Kassem, Mohammad W; Iwanaga, Joe; Loukas, Marios; Tubbs, R. Shane

2018-01-01

Compression of intraabdominal contents can occur due to anomalous congenital bands. Herein, we describe, to our knowledge, the first case of compression of the stomach by an anomalous band extending from the lesser omentum to the greater omentum. Relevant literature is reviewed and the clinical implications of such a case are described. PMID:29632757

Constriction of the Stomach by an Unusual Peritoneal Band.

PubMed

Kassem, Mohammad W; Patel, Mayank; Iwanaga, Joe; Loukas, Marios; Tubbs, R Shane

2018-02-03

Compression of intraabdominal contents can occur due to anomalous congenital bands. Herein, we describe, to our knowledge, the first case of compression of the stomach by an anomalous band extending from the lesser omentum to the greater omentum. Relevant literature is reviewed and the clinical implications of such a case are described.

Assessment of oil content and fatty acid composition variability in two economically important Hibiscus species.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Hibiscus genus encompasses more than 300 species, but kenaf (H. cannabinus L.) and roselle (H. sabdariffa L.) are the two most economically important species within the genus. Seeds from these two Hibiscus species contain a relatively high amount of oil with two unusual fatty acids: dihydrosterc...

Reconsidering Assumptions of Beginner Teachers' Needs: An Examination of Commonly Used Pronunciation Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zimmerman, Erin

2018-01-01

Novice teachers often look to textbooks and teacher's manuals for guidance when preparing courses, learning course content, and delivering instruction to students. In the field of pronunciation, however, materials creators face an unusual difficulty when designing resources because beginner teachers often are not truly novices: They might have…

Proanthocyanidin profile of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) reveals catechin-O-glucoside as the dominant compound.

PubMed

Ojwang, Leonnard O; Yang, Liyi; Dykes, Linda; Awika, Joseph

2013-08-15

Proanthocyanidin (PA) profile and content can have important nutritional and health implications on plant foods. Six diverse cowpea phenotypes (black, red, green, white, light-brown and golden-brown) were investigated for PA composition using normal-phase HPLC and reversed-phase UPLC-TQD-MS. Catechin and (epi)afzelechin were the major flavan-3-ol units. Unusual composition was observed in all cowpea phenotypes with significant degrees of glycosylation in the monomers and dimers. The PA content of cowpea (dry basis) ranged between 2.2 and 6.3 mg/g. Monomeric flavan-3-ols were the largest group of PA (36-69%) in cowpea, with catechin-7-O-glucoside accounting for most (about 88%) of the monomers. The oligomers with degree of polymerization (DP) 2-4 ranged from 0.41 to 1.3 mg/g (15-20%), whereas DP>10 polymers accounted for only 13.5% of PA. Future studies that highlight the impact of the unusual cowpea PA profile on nutritional and bioactive properties of this important legume are warranted. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microgravity Foam Structure and Rheology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Durian, Douglas J.

1997-01-01

To exploit rheological and multiple-light scattering techniques, and ultimately microgravity conditions, in order to quantify and elucidate the unusual elastic character of foams in terms of their underlying microscopic structure and dynamics. Special interest is in determining how this elastic character vanishes, i.e. how the foam melts into a simple viscous liquid, as a function of both increasing liquid content and shear strain rate. The unusual elastic character of foams will be quantified macroscopically by measurement of the shear stress as a function of static shear strain, shear strain rate, and time following a step strain; such data will be analyzed in terms of a yield stress, a static shear modulus, and dynamical time scales. Microscopic information about bubble packing and rearrangement dynamics, from which these macroscopic non-Newtonian properties presumably arise, will be obtained non-invasively by novel multiple-light scattering diagnostics such as Diffusing-Wave Spectroscopy (DWS). Quantitative trends with materials parameters, such as average bubble size, and liquid content, will be sought in order to elucidate the fundamental connection between the microscopic structure and dynamics and the macroscopic rheology.

The Sexual Thoughts Questionnaire: Psychometric Evaluation of a Measure to Assess Self-Reported Thoughts During Exposure to Erotica Using Sexually Functional Individuals.

PubMed

Sigre-Leirós, Vera; Carvalho, Joana; Nobre, Pedro J

2016-05-01

Validated instruments for assessing specific thought content during exposure to sexually explicit material are lacking. To investigate the psychometric properties of a measure that assesses self-reported thoughts during exposure to sexual stimuli in laboratory settings, namely the Sexual Thoughts Questionnaire. The factorial structure of the questionnaire and its reliability and validity were examined. One hundred sixty-seven sexually functional individuals (97 women and 70 men) were exposed to sexually explicit material while their genital arousal was being assessed. Subjective sexual arousal and thoughts during exposure to sexually explicit material also were assessed. Women's genital arousal was measured with a vaginal photoplethysmograph and men's genital arousal was measured with an indium-gallium strain gauge. Subjective sexual arousal and thoughts during exposure to erotica were assessed with self-report scales. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation identified five factors: sexual arousal thoughts, distractive and disengaging thoughts, body image and performance thoughts, actress's physical attractiveness thoughts, and sinful and lack of affection thoughts. Moreover, the scale showed satisfactory levels of internal consistency. Studies on convergent validity showed an association between self-reported thoughts and subjective sexual arousal levels in the women and men. The Sexual Thoughts Questionnaire showed adequate psychometric properties in a sexually functional sample. It could be useful in further experimental research on the role of cognitions in sexual response and allow further comparison between sexually functional and dysfunctional individuals, with possible significant implications for the assessment and treatment of sexual problems. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unities in Inductive Reasoning. Technical Report No. 18.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sternberg, Robert J.; Gardner, Michael K.

Two experiments were performed to study inductive reasoning as a set of thought processes that operates on the structure, as opposed to the content, of organized memory. The content of the reasoning consisted of inductions concerning the names of mammals, assumed to occupy a Euclidean space of three dimensions (size, ferocity, and humanness) in…

Pervasive gene content variation and copy number variation in maize and its undomesticated progenitor

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Different individuals of the same species are generally thought to have very similar genomes. However, there is growing evidence that structural variation in the form of copy number variation (CNV) and presence-absence variation (PAV) can lead to variation in the genome content of individuals withi...

Using TED Talks to Inspire Thoughtful Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubenstein, Lisa DaVia

2012-01-01

How can teacher educators provide relevant and important content in an educational environment that is rapidly evolving? TED.com is a website that provides content that meets these criteria in its mission of promoting "ideas that are worth spreading." Rather than ignoring the incredible access to the world's most innovative and dynamic speakers,…

Examination of Badges to Increase Nursing Student Engagement: A Quasi-Experimental Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moritz, Sharon Carol

2017-01-01

Finding ways to help nursing students understand the application of didactic content can be challenging for faculty. One challenge faculty face is motivating students with thought provoking and memorable content using traditional methods. Educational games and gaming attributes have been shown to affect student motivation and support learning. The…

Thoughts About Nursing Conceptual Models and the "Medical Model".

PubMed

Fawcett, Jacqueline

2017-01-01

This essay, written to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Nursing Science Quarterly, focuses on the distinctions between the discipline of nursology and the trade of medicine. The distinctions are drawn from content found in nursing conceptual models and from literature about the elusive content of the so-called "medical model."

Examining the incremental contribution of metacognitive beliefs beyond content-specific beliefs in relation to posttraumatic stress in a community sample.

PubMed

Fergus, Thomas A; Bardeen, Joseph R

2017-11-01

Cognitive-behavioral models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) propose that the content of one's thoughts, including negative beliefs about the self, others, and world, play a fundamental role in our understanding and treatment of PTSD. Metacognitive theory suggests that metacognitive beliefs (i.e., beliefs about thinking), rather than content-specific beliefs, underlie PTSD. The present study provided the first known examination of the incremental contribution of metacognitive beliefs and trauma-related cognitions in relation to posttraumatic stress. Community adults recruited through an online crowdsourcing website who reported experiencing a criterion A traumatic event (N = 299) completed self-report measures of the study variables. Results from multiple linear regression analyses indicated that metacognitive beliefs of the uncontrollability and danger of thinking shared associations with each posttraumatic stress symptom cluster after accounting for the effects of content-specific beliefs and other covariates. The individual content-specific beliefs did not consistently share associations with posttraumatic stress symptoms in the regression analyses. The contribution of the individual content-specific beliefs to posttraumatic stress symptoms was consistently attenuated or rendered nonsignificant after accounting for metacognitive beliefs. These results are consistent with metacognitive theory in suggesting that metacognitive beliefs may be more important than trauma-related thought content in relation to posttraumatic stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Affective neuroscience of self-generated thought.

PubMed

Fox, Kieran C R; Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R; Mills, Caitlin; Dixon, Matthew L; Markovic, Jelena; Thompson, Evan; Christoff, Kalina

2018-05-12

Despite increasing scientific interest in self-generated thought-mental content largely independent of the immediate environment-there has yet to be any comprehensive synthesis of the subjective experience and neural correlates of affect in these forms of thinking. Here, we aim to develop an integrated affective neuroscience encompassing many forms of self-generated thought-normal and pathological, moderate and excessive, in waking and in sleep. In synthesizing existing literature on this topic, we reveal consistent findings pertaining to the prevalence, valence, and variability of emotion in self-generated thought, and highlight how these factors might interact with self-generated thought to influence general well-being. We integrate these psychological findings with recent neuroimaging research, bringing attention to the neural correlates of affect in self-generated thought. We show that affect in self-generated thought is prevalent, positively biased, highly variable (both within and across individuals), and consistently recruits many brain areas implicated in emotional processing, including the orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, insula, and medial prefrontal cortex. Many factors modulate these typical psychological and neural patterns, however; the emerging affective neuroscience of self-generated thought must endeavor to link brain function and subjective experience in both everyday self-generated thought as well as its dysfunctions in mental illness. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

Burgers vector content of an interfacial ledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonnet, R.; Loubradou, M.; Pénisson, J. M.

1992-07-01

A new way of investigating the elastic field around a ledge of a faceted interface is proposed for crystalline materials. The length and/or angular misfits along two adjacent facets are accommodated by slightly deforming the atomic structural units with an appropriate distribution of translation dislocations. The Burgers vector content of the ledge is not defined as usual from a circuit crossing the interface twice, a method which proves to be sometimes misleading. An example treats, at the atomic scale, an unusual ledge of the interface TiAl/Ti3Al.

An unusual form of lipid linkage to the CD45 peptide

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

Takeda, Akiko; Maizel, A.L.

1990-11-02

Some protein kinases and phosphatases are myristoylated on their amino terminus, which perhaps contributes to subcellular localization or regulation. Glycoprotein CD45, a hematopoietic tyrosine phosphatase, was examined for fatty acid content. The CD45 protein incorporated ({sup 3}H)myristate, but little ({sup 3}H)palmitate. The label was not metabolized and reincorporated into amino acids or saccharides, as revealed by peptide maps of CD45 labeled with ({sup 3}H)myristate, {sup 14}C-labeled amino acids, ({sup 35}S)methionine, or {sup 125}I, and glycosidase treatments, respectively. The myristate label was resistant to mild alkaline methanolysis and was found in fatty acid and sphingosine, indicating an unusual form of lipidmore » attachment to CD45.« less

Dreaming as mind wandering: evidence from functional neuroimaging and first-person content reports.

PubMed

Fox, Kieran C R; Nijeboer, Savannah; Solomonova, Elizaveta; Domhoff, G William; Christoff, Kalina

2013-01-01

Isolated reports have long suggested a similarity in content and thought processes across mind wandering (MW) during waking, and dream mentation during sleep. This overlap has encouraged speculation that both "daydreaming" and dreaming may engage similar brain mechanisms. To explore this possibility, we systematically examined published first-person experiential reports of MW and dreaming and found many similarities: in both states, content is largely audiovisual and emotional, follows loose narratives tinged with fantasy, is strongly related to current concerns, draws on long-term memory, and simulates social interactions. Both states are also characterized by a relative lack of meta-awareness. To relate first-person reports to neural evidence, we compared meta-analytic data from numerous functional neuroimaging (PET, fMRI) studies of the default mode network (DMN, with high chances of MW) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (with high chances of dreaming). Our findings show large overlaps in activation patterns of cortical regions: similar to MW/DMN activity, dreaming and REM sleep activate regions implicated in self-referential thought and memory, including medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), medial temporal lobe structures, and posterior cingulate. Conversely, in REM sleep numerous PFC executive regions are deactivated, even beyond levels seen during waking MW. We argue that dreaming can be understood as an "intensified" version of waking MW: though the two share many similarities, dreams tend to be longer, more visual and immersive, and to more strongly recruit numerous key hubs of the DMN. Further, whereas MW recruits fewer PFC regions than goal-directed thought, dreaming appears to be characterized by an even deeper quiescence of PFC regions involved in cognitive control and metacognition, with a corresponding lack of insight and meta-awareness. We suggest, then, that dreaming amplifies the same features that distinguish MW from goal-directed waking thought.

Intrapersonal positive future thinking predicts repeat suicide attempts in hospital-treated suicide attempters.

PubMed

O'Connor, Rory C; Smyth, Roger; Williams, J Mark G

2015-02-01

Although there is clear evidence that low levels of positive future thinking (anticipation of positive experiences in the future) and hopelessness are associated with suicide risk, the relationship between the content of positive future thinking and suicidal behavior has yet to be investigated. This is the first study to determine whether the positive future thinking-suicide attempt relationship varies as a function of the content of the thoughts and whether positive future thinking predicts suicide attempts over time. A total of 388 patients hospitalized following a suicide attempt completed a range of clinical and psychological measures (depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, suicidal intent and positive future thinking). Fifteen months later, a nationally linked database was used to determine who had been hospitalized again after a suicide attempt. During follow-up, 25.6% of linked participants were readmitted to hospital following a suicide attempt. In univariate logistic regression analyses, previous suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and depression-as well as low levels of achievement, low levels of financial positive future thoughts, and high levels of intrapersonal (thoughts about the individual and no one else) positive future thoughts predicted repeat suicide attempts. However, only previous suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and high levels of intrapersonal positive future thinking were significant predictors in multivariate analyses. Positive future thinking has predictive utility over time; however, the content of the thinking affects the direction and strength of the positive future thinking-suicidal behavior relationship. Future research is required to understand the mechanisms that link high levels of intrapersonal positive future thinking to suicide risk and how intrapersonal thinking should be targeted in treatment interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Intrapersonal Positive Future Thinking Predicts Repeat Suicide Attempts in Hospital-Treated Suicide Attempters

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Objective: Although there is clear evidence that low levels of positive future thinking (anticipation of positive experiences in the future) and hopelessness are associated with suicide risk, the relationship between the content of positive future thinking and suicidal behavior has yet to be investigated. This is the first study to determine whether the positive future thinking–suicide attempt relationship varies as a function of the content of the thoughts and whether positive future thinking predicts suicide attempts over time. Method: A total of 388 patients hospitalized following a suicide attempt completed a range of clinical and psychological measures (depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, suicidal intent and positive future thinking). Fifteen months later, a nationally linked database was used to determine who had been hospitalized again after a suicide attempt. Results: During follow-up, 25.6% of linked participants were readmitted to hospital following a suicide attempt. In univariate logistic regression analyses, previous suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and depression—as well as low levels of achievement, low levels of financial positive future thoughts, and high levels of intrapersonal (thoughts about the individual and no one else) positive future thoughts predicted repeat suicide attempts. However, only previous suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and high levels of intrapersonal positive future thinking were significant predictors in multivariate analyses. Discussion: Positive future thinking has predictive utility over time; however, the content of the thinking affects the direction and strength of the positive future thinking–suicidal behavior relationship. Future research is required to understand the mechanisms that link high levels of intrapersonal positive future thinking to suicide risk and how intrapersonal thinking should be targeted in treatment interventions. PMID:25181026

Schizotypy and Performance on an Insight Problem-Solving Task: The Contribution of Persecutory Ideation.

PubMed

Cosgrave, Jan; Haines, Ross; Golodetz, Stuart; Claridge, Gordon; Wulff, Katharina; van Heugten-van der Kloet, Dalena

2018-01-01

Insight problem solving is thought to underpin creative thought as it incorporates both divergent (generating multiple ideas and solutions) and convergent (arriving at the optimal solution) thinking approaches. The current literature on schizotypy and creativity is mixed and requires clarification. An alternate approach was employed by designing an exploratory web-based study using only correlates of schizotypal traits (paranoia, dissociation, cognitive failures, fantasy proneness, and unusual sleep experiences) and examining which (if any) predicted optimal performance on an insight problem-solving task. One hundred and twenty-one participants were recruited online from the general population and completed the number reduction task. The discovery of the hidden rule (HR) was used as a measure of insight. Multivariate logistic regression analyses highlighted persecutory ideation to best predict the discovery of the HR (OR = 1.05; 95% CI 1.01-1.10, p = 0.017), with a one-point increase in persecutory ideas corresponding to the participant being 5% more likely to discover the HR. This result suggests that persecutory ideation, above other schizotypy correlates, may be involved in insight problem solving.

Mutational analysis of the folding transition state of the C-terminal domain of ribosomal protein L9: a protein with an unusual beta-sheet topology.

PubMed

Li, Ying; Gupta, Ruchi; Cho, Jae-Hyun; Raleigh, Daniel P

2007-01-30

The C-terminal domain of ribosomal protein L9 (CTL9) is a 92-residue alpha-beta protein which contains an unusual three-stranded mixed parallel and antiparallel beta-sheet. The protein folds in a two-state fashion, and the folding rate is slow. It is thought that the slow folding may be caused by the necessity of forming this unusual beta-sheet architecture in the transition state for folding. This hypothesis makes CTL9 an interesting target for folding studies. The transition state for the folding of CTL9 was characterized by phi-value analysis. The folding of a set of hydrophobic core mutants was analyzed together with a set of truncation mutants. The results revealed a few positions with high phi-values (> or = 0.5), notably, V131, L133, H134, V137, and L141. All of these residues were found in the beta-hairpin region, indicating that the formation of this structure is likely to be the rate-limiting step in the folding of CTL9. One face of the beta-hairpin docks against the N-terminal helix. Analysis of truncation mutants of this helix confirmed its importance in folding. Mutations at other sites in the protein gave small phi-values, despite the fact that some of them had major effects on stability. The analysis indicates that formation of the antiparallel hairpin is critical and its interactions with the first helix are also important. Thus, the slow folding is not a consequence of the need to fully form the unusual three-stranded beta-sheet in the transition state. Analysis of the urea dependence of the folding rates indicates that mutations modulate the unfolded state. The folding of CTL9 is broadly consistent with the nucleation-condensation model of protein folding.

Division of Household Labor as a Source of Contention for Married and Cohabiting Couples in Metropolitan Moscow

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cubbins, Lisa A.; Vannoy, Dana

2004-01-01

Using data on Moscow couples, this study investigates the division of household labor and its effects on marital conflict and thought of divorce. The hypotheses predict how spouses' economic resources, gender beliefs, and time constraints influence marital contention both directly and indirectly through wife's perceived division of household labor…

Credit Quandaries: How Career and Technical Education Teachers Can Teach Courses That Include Academic Credit. Ask the Team

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacques, Catherine

2014-01-01

Many career and technical education (CTE) courses not only provide students with vocational and technical skills and knowledge, but engage them in academic content as well. Designed thoughtfully, these courses can address rigorous academic content standards and be as intellectually demanding as traditional academic courses (Southern Regional…

Evaluation of Human Rights, Citizenship and Democracy Course by Teacher's Vision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sahan, Gülsün; Tural, Aysegül

2018-01-01

Human Rights, Citizenship and Democracy Course draws attention to with topics such as human rights, effective citizenship. In terms of content, it has an important place in contemporary education concept. It is thought that the Human Rights, Citizenship and Democracy course will benefit the social structure because of its content and the outputs…

An Investigation into the Contents and Aspects of College Students' Reflective Thoughts during Field Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Su, Yuling

2015-01-01

Field experience makes a strong contribution to the learning of students. However, the procedure for conducting training sessions based on experiential teaching methods is relatively unclear, and the contents and aspects of students' reflections during such training are not well known. This study applied experiential teaching methods in a college…

What's in the Bag (and Why?): Tangibilia for the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ogier, James M.

A classroom technique designed for developing German second language vocabulary is expanded on for additional classroom functions and activities. The method uses a bag containing a variety of objects. The objects are drawn out of the bag and discussed in class. The contents of the bag should be unpredictable and unusual, and they should be changed…

Inhibitory effects of thought substitution in the think/no-think task: evidence from independent cues.

PubMed

del Prete, Francesco; Hanczakowski, Maciej; Bajo, Maria Teresa; Mazzoni, Giuliana

2015-01-01

When people try not to think about a certain item, they can accomplish this goal by using a thought substitution strategy and think about something else. Research conducted with the think/no-think (TNT) paradigm indicates that such strategy leads subsequently to forgetting the information participants tried not to think about. The present study pursued two goals. First, it investigated the mechanism of forgetting due to thought substitution, contrasting the hypothesis by which forgetting is due to blocking caused by substitutes with the hypothesis that forgetting is due to inhibition (using an independent cue methodology). Second, a boundary condition for forgetting due to thought substitution was examined by creating conditions under which the generation of appropriate substitutes would be impaired. In two experiments, participants completed a TNT task under thought substitution instructions in which either words or pseudo-words were used as original cues and memory was assessed with original and independent cues. The results revealed forgetting in both original and independent cue tests, supporting the inhibitory account of thought substitution, but only when cues were words, and not when they were non-words, pointing to the ineffectiveness of a thought substitution strategy when original cues lack semantic content.

Jet-Like Structures and Wake in Mg I (518 nm) Images of 1999 Leonid Storm Meteors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, M. J.; Murray, I. S.; Jenniskens, P.

2000-01-01

Small meteoric fragments are ejected at significant transverse velocities from some (up to approx. 8%) fast Leonid meteors. We reach this conclusion using low light intensified image measurements obtained during the 1999 Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign. High spatial resolution, narrow band image measurements of the Mg I emission at 518 nm have been used to clearly identify jet-like features in the meteor head that are the same as first observed in white light. We postulate that these unusual structures are caused by tiny meteoroid fragments (containing metallic grains) being rapidly ejected away from the core meteoroid as the constituent glue evaporates. Marked curvature observed in the jet-like filaments suggest that the parent meteoroids are spinning and as the whirling fragments are knocked away by the impinging air molecules, or by grain-grain collisions in the fragment ensemble, they ablate quickly generating an extended area of structured luminosity up to about 1-2 km from the meteoroid center. Fragments with smaller transverse velocity components are thought to be responsible for the associated beading evident in the wake of these unusual Leonid meteors.

Premorbid social adjustment and association with attenuated psychotic symptoms in clinical high-risk and help-seeking youth.

PubMed

Tarbox-Berry, S I; Perkins, D O; Woods, S W; Addington, J

2018-04-01

Attenuated positive symptom syndrome (APSS), characterized by 'putatively prodromal' attenuated psychotic-like pathology, indicates increased risk for psychosis. Poor premorbid social adjustment predicts severity of APSS symptoms and predicts subsequent psychosis in APSS-diagnosed individuals, suggesting application for improving detection of 'true' prodromal youth who will transition to psychosis. However, these predictive associations have not been tested in controls and therefore may be independent of the APSS diagnosis, negating utility for improving prediction in APSS-diagnosed individuals. Association between premorbid social maladjustment and severity of positive, negative, disorganized, and general APSS symptoms was tested in 156 individuals diagnosed with APSS and 76 help-seeking (non-APSS) controls enrolled in the Enhancing the Prospective Prediction of Psychosis (PREDICT) study using prediction analysis. Premorbid social maladjustment was associated with social anhedonia, reduced expression of emotion, restricted ideational richness, and deficits in occupational functioning, independent of the APSS diagnosis. Associations between social maladjustment and suspiciousness, unusual thought content, avolition, dysphoric mood, and impaired tolerance to normal stress were uniquely present in participants meeting APSS criteria. Social maladjustment was associated with odd behavior/appearance and diminished experience of emotions and self only in participants who did not meet APSS criteria. Predictive associations between poor premorbid social adjustment and attenuated psychotic-like pathology were identified, a subset of which were indicative of high risk for psychosis. This study offers a method for improving risk identification while ruling out low-risk individuals.

The profile of psychiatric symptoms exacerbated by methamphetamine use.

PubMed

McKetin, Rebecca; Dawe, Sharon; Burns, Richard A; Hides, Leanne; Kavanagh, David J; Teesson, Maree; McD Young, Ross; Voce, Alexandra; Saunders, John B

2016-04-01

Methamphetamine use can produce symptoms almost indistinguishable from schizophrenia. Distinguishing between the two conditions has been hampered by the lack of a validated symptom profile for methamphetamine-induced psychiatric symptoms. We use data from a longitudinal cohort study to examine the profile of psychiatric symptoms that are acutely exacerbated by methamphetamine use. 164 methamphetamine users, who did not meet DSM-IV criteria for a lifetime primary psychotic disorder, were followed monthly for one year to assess the relationship between days of methamphetamine use and symptom severity on the 24-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms with methamphetamine use was quantified using random coefficient models. The dimensions of symptom exacerbation were examined using principal axis factoring and a latent profile analysis. Symptoms exacerbated by methamphetamine loaded on three factors: positive psychotic symptoms (suspiciousness, unusual thought content, hallucinations, bizarre behavior); affective symptoms (depression, suicidality, guilt, hostility, somatic concern, self-neglect); and psychomotor symptoms (tension, excitement, distractibility, motor hyperactivity). Methamphetamine use did not significantly increase negative symptoms. Vulnerability to positive psychotic and affective symptom exacerbation was shared by 28% of participants, and this vulnerability aligned with a past year DSM-IV diagnosis of substance-induced psychosis (38% vs. 22%, χ(2)(df1)=3.66, p=0.056). Methamphetamine use produced a symptom profile comprised of positive psychotic and affective symptoms, which aligned with a diagnosis of substance-induced psychosis, with no evidence of a negative syndrome. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Actinomycotic osteomyelitis of the mandible: an unusual case.

PubMed

Figueiredo, Leonardo Morais Godoy; Trindade, Soraya Castro; Sarmento, Viviane Almeida; de Oliveira, Thaís Feitosa Leitão; Muniz, Wilson Rodrigo; Valente, Rômulo Oliveira de Hollanda

2013-12-01

Actinomycotic osteomyelitis is an infection in soft tissues and/or bones, being associated with trauma or a previous nonspecific infection. This article presents an unusual case of mandibular osteomyelitis caused by Actinomyces. A 19-year-old male patient was referred for endodontic treatment of the lower right first molar about 16 months ago and removal of lower right third molar approximately 3 years before. The panoramic radiography showed change in bone density in the region of ill-defined mandibular angle boundaries, and the computed tomography (CT) showed mixed density image in the mandibular angle, with discreet expansion of cortical vestibular and lingual. Biopsy was performed, and content was aspirated in small quantity and purulent tissue fragments were sent to anatomical-pathological examination. The collected purulent secretion was colored for cytopathologic study, which showed infection by Actinomyces. In this case, the causative agent was Actinomyces, which makes it even more unusual. The origin of the microorganism has not been clearly established; however, the diagnosis allowed long-term treatment with antibiotics, which has resulted in the resolution of the case.

Low Arousing Positive Affect Broadens Visual Attention and Alters the Thought-Action Repertoire While Broadened Visual Attention Does Not

PubMed Central

Jäger, Daniel T.; Rüsseler, Jascha

2016-01-01

The Broaden-and-Build Theory states that positive emotions broaden cognition and therefore build personal resources. However, missing theoretical precision regarding the interaction of the cognitive processes involved offers a variety of possible explanations for the mechanisms of broadening and building. In Experiment 1 we tested the causality assumption which states that positive emotions first broaden visual attention which in turn leads to broadened cognition. We examined the effects of a broadened, narrowed or neutral attentional scope of 72 subjects (30 men) on their momentary thought-action repertoire. Results showed that there were no significant differences between groups regarding the breadth or the content of the thought-action repertoire. In Experiment 2 we studied the non-causality hypothesis which assumes a non-causal relationship between cognitive processes. We did so by investigating the effects of negative, neutral, and positive affect on the visual attentional scope of 85 subjects (41 men) in Experiment 2a, as well as on the thought-action repertoire of 85 participants (42 men) in Experiment 2b. Results revealed an attentional broadening effect in Experiment 2a but no differences between groups concerning the breadth of the thought-action repertoire in Experiment 2b. However, a theory driven content analysis showed that positive affect promoted social actions. Thus, our results favor the non-causality assumption. Moreover, results indicate that positive emotions do not target personal resources in general but rather resources associated with social behavior. In conclusion, we argue that the Broaden-and-Build Theory should be refined. PMID:27826276

Finger blood content, light transmission, and pulse oximetry errors.

PubMed

Craft, T M; Lawson, R A; Young, J D

1992-01-01

The changes in light emitting diode current necessary to maintain a constant level of light incident upon a photodetector were measured in 20 volunteers at the two wavelengths employed by pulse oximeters. Three states of finger blood content were assessed; exsanguinated, hyperaemic, and normal. The changes in light emitting diode current with changes in finger blood content were small and are not thought to represent a significant source of error in saturation as measured by pulse oximetry.

Neotectonics of the Vajont dam site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mantovani, Franco; Vita-Finzi, Claudio

2003-08-01

The disastrous Vajont landslide (NE Italy) of 9 October 1963 is generally thought to have occurred on an existing failure surface. Reassessment of the morphological and structural evidence suggests that movement was on a normal fault plane which had juxtaposed Cretaceous limestone and highly fractured rock debris, thus rendering the dam site unusually susceptible to massive sliding. The proposed fault is consistent in strike with the regional lineament pattern. Although movement was triggered by the combined effects of heavy rainfall and changes in reservoir level, there is circumstantial evidence that seismicity played a contributory part in mobilising the slide by increasing pore pressure at the base of the slide as well as by any associated shaking.

Human mesothelial cells are unusually susceptible to simian virus 40-mediated transformation and asbestos cocarcinogenicity

PubMed Central

Bocchetta, Maurizio; Di Resta, Ilaria; Powers, Amy; Fresco, Raoul; Tosolini, Alessandra; Testa, Joseph R.; Pass, Harvey I.; Rizzo, Paola; Carbone, Michele

2000-01-01

Mesothelioma, a malignancy associated with asbestos, has been recently linked to simian virus 40 (SV40). We found that infection of human mesothelial cells by SV40 is very different from the semipermissive infection thought to be characteristic of human cells. Mesothelial cells are uniformly infected but not lysed by SV40, a mechanism related to p53, and undergo cell transformation at an extremely high rate. Exposure of mesothelial cells to asbestos complemented SV40 mutants in transformation. Our data provide a mechanistic explanation for the ability of SV40 to transform mesothelial cells preferentially and indicate that asbestos and SV40 may be cocarcinogens. PMID:10954737

Interferon-induced 2'-5' adenylate synthetase in vivo and interferon production in vitro by lymphocytes from systemic lupus erythematosus patients with and without circulating interferon

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

Preble, O.T.; Rothko, K.; Klippel, J.H.

1983-06-01

The interferon (IFN)-induced enzyme 2-5A synthetase was elevated in mononuclear cells from both serum IFN-positive and -negative systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. This suggests that a much higher percentage of patients than previously thought produce endogenous IFN. These results may partly explain findings that mononuclear cells from SLE patients are deficient in IFN production in vitro in response to certain IFN inducers. Although normal lymphocytes can produce an acid-labile alpha IFN after stimulation with C. parvum in vitro, the reason for endogenous production of this unusual alpha IFN by SLE patients remains unknown.

Calvarial Plasmacytoma Mimicking Meningioma as the Initial Presentation of Multiple Myeloma

PubMed Central

Pisapia, David; Ramakrishna, Rohan

2017-01-01

Plasmacytoma of the calvarium is a well-described feature of multiple myeloma and in some cases has been reported as a solitary lesion. However, when associated with multiple myeloma these are typically identified after the initial diagnosis is made. This case is unusual in that the diagnosis of plasmacytoma was first suspected in a patient thought to have a meningioma on the day of surgery, when a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated spontaneous involution of the mass. Recognition of evolving changes in a calvarial or dural-based lesion should prompt the practitioner to consider alternative diagnoses other than meningioma prior to proceeding with surgical resection. PMID:28465873

Unusual Aetiology of Pasteurella canis Biovar 2 Causing Dacryocystitis in HIV Patient: A Case Report and Review of Literature

PubMed Central

Negi, Sanjay Singh; Gade, Neeta

2017-01-01

Pasteurella species are zoonotic bacterial pathogens implicated very infrequently in various human infections following animal bites or licks usually of dogs and cats. This case report described a rare clinical presentation of dacryocystitis caused by P.canis in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive young male patient involved in caring of cattle. It advocates the utmost need of recognizing the wide clinical manifestation spectrum of P.canis even without prior penetrating injury. P.canis associated clinical infection is more extensive than had been thought previously especially in immunocompromised patient. Early accurate identification and evidence based anti-microbial therapy may prove crucial in preventing further potential complications. PMID:28384864

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection-related hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and acute encephalitis and poliomyelitis-like flaccid paralysis.

PubMed

Yagi, Kanae; Kano, Gen; Shibata, Mayumi; Sakamoto, Izumi; Matsui, Hirofumi; Imashuku, Shinsaku

2011-05-01

A 3-year-old male presented with Chlamydia pneumoniae infection-related hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). The patient developed an episode of HLH with severe skin eruption following C. pneumoniae pneumonia. Symptoms responded to steroid/cyclosporine A therapy, but the patient slowly lost consciousness and developed systemic flaccid paralysis. He was diagnosed with encephalitis/myelitis by brain and spinal MRI. Neurological symptoms and signs gradually resolved. We thought that the immune response to C. pneumoniae infection triggered the development of HLH, associated with unusual neurological complications. This report describes a novel case of C. pneumoniae-associated HLH and with poliomyelitis like flaccid paralysis. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Single Port Laparoscopic Surgery for Steroid-Refractory Ulcerative Colitis after Kidney Transplantation - Video Vignette.

PubMed

Sparks, Robbie; Cahill, Ronan A

2018-05-19

Immunomodulation has long been a central tenet in both the medical therapy of ulcerative colitis (UC) and in the prevention of organ rejection after renal transplant (RT) with many drugs in common. While severe exacerbation of pre-existing UC is unusual after RT, we recently cared for such a patient whose colitis deteriorated dramatically within the first year of such surgery. While there is anecdotal experience of successful medical escalation to biologic therapy, we thought surgery made better sense and he underwent early single port laparoscopic total colectomy as detailed in the associated video. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

European Portuguese Adaptation of Glasgow Content of Thoughts Inventory (GCTI): Psychometric Characterization in Higher Education Students.

PubMed

Marques, Daniel R; Meia-Via, Mariana S; Espie, Colin A; da Silva, Carlos F; Allen Gomes, Ana

2018-01-01

Persistent cognitive activity is an important factor in disturbing sleep-onset both during bedtime and when attempting to get back to sleep after nocturnal awakenings. One of the most specific self-report measures designed to assess this feature is the Glasgow Content of Thoughts Inventory (GCTI). In this study, we investigated the preliminary psychometric properties of GCTI in a large sample of higher education European Portuguese students (N = 2995). Our results suggest that there is evidence of good internal consistency (α = 0.93) and validity indicators. Moreover, we found an interpretable factorial structure comprising 5 correlated factors that needs to be confirmed in future studies. The European Portuguese version of the GCTI appears to be a reliable and valid instrument for measurement of sleep-onset disturbing cognitions.

Are delusional contents replayed during dreams?

PubMed

D'Agostino, Armando; Aletti, Giacomo; Carboni, Martina; Cavallotti, Simone; Limosani, Ivan; Manzone, Marialaura; Scarone, Silvio

2013-09-01

The relationship between dream content and waking life experiences remains difficult to decipher. However, some neurobiological findings suggest that dreaming can, at least in part, be considered epiphenomenal to ongoing memory consolidation processes in sleep. Both abnormalities in sleep architecture and impairment in memory consolidation mechanisms are thought to be involved in the development of psychosis. The objective of this study was to assess the continuity between delusional contents and dreams in acutely psychotic patients. Ten patients with a single fixed and recurring delusional content were asked to report their dreams during an acute psychotic break. Sixteen judges with four different levels of acquaintance to the specific content of the patients' delusions were asked to group the dreams, expecting that fragments of the delusional thought would guide the task. A mathematical index (f,t) was developed in order to compare correct groupings between the four groups of judges. Most judges grouped the dreams slightly above chance level and no relevant differences could be found between the four groups [F(3,12)=1.297; p=n.s.]. Scoring of dreams for specific delusional themes suggested a continuity in terms of dream and waking mentation for two contents (Grandiosity and Religion). These findings seem to suggest that at least some delusional contents recur within patients' dreams. Future studies will need to determine whether such continuity reflects ongoing consolidation processes that are relevant to current theories of delusion formation and stabilization. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The default network and self-generated thought: component processes, dynamic control, and clinical relevance

PubMed Central

Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R.; Smallwood, Jonathan; Spreng, R. Nathan

2014-01-01

Though only a decade has elapsed since the default network was first emphasized as being a large-scale brain system, recent years have brought great insight into the network’s adaptive functions. A growing theme highlights the default network as playing a key role in internally-directed—or self-generated—thought. Here, we synthesize recent findings from cognitive science, neuroscience, and clinical psychology to focus attention on two emerging topics as current and future directions surrounding the default network. First, we present evidence that self-generated thought is a multi-faceted construct whose component processes are supported by different subsystems within the network. Second, we highlight the dynamic nature of the default network, emphasizing its interaction with executive control systems when regulating aspects of internal thought. We conclude by discussing clinical implications of disruptions to the integrity of the network, and consider disorders when thought content becomes polarized or network interactions become disrupted or imbalanced. PMID:24502540

‘From the cat’s point of view’: upper secondary physics students’ reflections on Schrödinger’s thought experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinjusveen Myhrehagen, Henning; Bungum, Berit

2016-09-01

The thought experiment ‘Schrödinger’s cat’ exposes fundamental dilemmas in how we interpret quantum physics, and has a potential for deepening students’ understanding of this part of modern physics, including its philosophical consequences. In this paper we report results from the project ReleQuant on how Norwegian physics students in upper secondary schools interpret the thought experiment. The analysis resulted in nine categories, and we discuss how these relate to interpretations made by physicists, in particular the concept of superposition. Even if students’ responses in many cases can be related to interpretations that make sense in physics, we conclude that lack of knowledge about the purpose and the historical context of the thought experiment limits students understanding of the physics content. Exploring the thought experiment from a historical perspective might deepen student understanding of key concepts in quantum physics as well as of how physics develops.

Rescuing magical thinking from the jaws of social determinism.

PubMed

Chandler, M

1997-12-01

Although there is otherwise much to recommend it, by riveting attention too narrowly on the contents of magical thought, and by recasting what is left of process in exclusively substantiative terms, this target article works to create the unwarranted impression that the magical thoughts of children and adults are all of a common piece. This commentary reads these oversights and omissions as symptoms of an unspoken new-situationalism working behind the back of Woolley's review.

Daydream Believer: Rumination, Self-Reflection and the Temporal Focus of Mind Wandering Content.

PubMed

Shrimpton, Daisy; McGann, Deborah; Riby, Leigh M

2017-11-01

Current research into mind-wandering is beginning to acknowledge that this process is one of heterogeneity. Following on from previous findings highlighting the role of self-focus during mind wandering, the present study aimed to examine individual differences in rumination and self-reflection and the impact such styles of self-focus may have on mind-wandering experiences. Thirty-three participants were required to complete the Sustained Attention Response Task (SART), aimed at inducing mind-wandering episodes, whilst also probing the content of thought in terms of temporal focus. Self-report questionnaires were also administered after the SART to measure dispositional differences in style and beliefs regarding mind-wandering and assessments of individual differences in rumination and self-reflection. Those individuals with reflective self-focus showed a strong positive association with positive and constructive thoughts. Critically, ruminative self-focus was positively associated with a tendency for the mind to wander towards anguished fantasies, failures and aggression, but it was also positively associated with positive and constructive thoughts. Furthermore, while dispositional differences in self-focus showed no relationship with the temporal perspective of thoughts when probed during a cognitive task, performance on the task itself was related to whether participants were thinking about the past, present or future during that activity. Such findings are discussed in line with previous research, and provide a further step towards accounting for the heterogeneous nature of mind-wandering.

Daydream Believer: Rumination, Self-Reflection and the Temporal Focus of Mind Wandering Content

PubMed Central

Shrimpton, Daisy; McGann, Deborah; Riby, Leigh M.

2017-01-01

Current research into mind-wandering is beginning to acknowledge that this process is one of heterogeneity. Following on from previous findings highlighting the role of self-focus during mind wandering, the present study aimed to examine individual differences in rumination and self-reflection and the impact such styles of self-focus may have on mind-wandering experiences. Thirty-three participants were required to complete the Sustained Attention Response Task (SART), aimed at inducing mind-wandering episodes, whilst also probing the content of thought in terms of temporal focus. Self-report questionnaires were also administered after the SART to measure dispositional differences in style and beliefs regarding mind-wandering and assessments of individual differences in rumination and self-reflection. Those individuals with reflective self-focus showed a strong positive association with positive and constructive thoughts. Critically, ruminative self-focus was positively associated with a tendency for the mind to wander towards anguished fantasies, failures and aggression, but it was also positively associated with positive and constructive thoughts. Furthermore, while dispositional differences in self-focus showed no relationship with the temporal perspective of thoughts when probed during a cognitive task, performance on the task itself was related to whether participants were thinking about the past, present or future during that activity. Such findings are discussed in line with previous research, and provide a further step towards accounting for the heterogeneous nature of mind-wandering. PMID:29358989

Effects of particle fracturing and moisture content on fire behaviour in masticated fuelbeds burned in a laboratory

Treesearch

Jesse K. Kreye; J. Morgan Varner; Eric E. Knapp

2011-01-01

Mechanical mastication is a fuels treatment that converts shrubs and small trees into dense fuelbeds composed of fractured woody particles. Although compaction is thought to reduce fireline intensity, the added particle surface area due to fracturing could also influence fire behavior. We evaluated effects of particle fracturing and moisture content (ranging from 2.5...

Content Coverage and Students' Achievements in Secondary School Physics: The Delta State Example of Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abamba, Emmanuel Ikechuku

2012-01-01

The consistent poor achievement of students in physics tests and in science generally is one problem attracting researchers because of the danger it poses to the nation's technological advancement. This work focused on the effect of content thought on students' achievement. Two research questions were put forward which led to the formulation of…

An Unprecedented High Content of the Bioactive Flavone Tricin in Huperzia Medicinal Species Used by the Saraguro in Ecuador.

PubMed

Armijos, Chabaco; Ponce, Jorge; Ramírez, Jorge; Gozzini, Davide; Finzi, Paola Vita; Vidari, Giovanni

2016-03-01

The flavone tricin (5,7,4'-trihydroxy-3',5'-dimethoxyflavone) is considered to be a selective potent inhibitor of different cancer cell lines and a potential colorectal cancer chemopreventive agent. In this paper we describe a reliable UHPLC-UV-ESIMS method for the determination of tricin in Huperzia plants used in the traditional medicine of the Saraguro community living in Southern Ecuador. An unusually high amount of tricin was found in H. brevifolia and H. compacta, which exceeded the content of this flavone determined so far in other plants.

Harnessing Next-Generation Sequencing Capabilities for Microbial Forensics

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-15

content typing, rep-PCR, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, optical mapping, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (G. Gault et al., 2011; P...Tremlett, G, Pidd, 2011). This case demonstrates the vulnerability of our food supply and why unusual outbreaks involving endemic microbes must be taken as... food products to malevolent tampering, and the widespread international economic consequences that can occur even from limited product contamination

Pulmonary consequences of aspiration.

PubMed

Terry, P B; Fuller, S D

1989-01-01

Aspiration can lead to serious pulmonary disease and occasionally death. Substances aspirated commonly include bacteria or gastric contents or both, but may be as unusual as diesel oil or a variety of foreign bodies. Pulmonary symptoms range from a subtle cough, wheezing, or hoarseness to severe dyspnea or asphyxiation. We discuss the mechanism of pulmonary disease caused by aspiration as well as the appropriate treatment.

Foam Optics and Mechanics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Durian, Douglas J.; Zimmerli, Gregory A.

2002-01-01

The Foam Optics and Mechanics (FOAM) project will exploit the microgravity environment to more accurately measure the rheological and optical characteristics of wet aqueous foams. Using both rheology and laser light scattering diagnostics, the goal is to quantify the unusual elastic character of foams in terms of their underlying microscopic structure and dynamics. Of particular interest is determining how the elastic character vanishes, i.e., how the foam 'melts' into a simple viscous liquid, as a function of both increasing liquid content and increasing shear strain rate. The unusual elastic character of foams will be quantified macroscopically by measurement of the shear stress as a function of shear strain rate and of time following a step strain. Such data will be analyzed in terms of a yield stress, shear moduli, and dynamical time scales. Microscopic information about bubble packing and rearrangement dynamics, from which the macroscopic non-Newtonian properties ultimately arise, will be obtained non-invasively by multiple-light scattering: diffuse transmission spectroscopy (DTS) and diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS). Quantitative trends with materials parameters, most importantly average bubble size and liquid content, will be sought in order to elucidate the fundamental connection between the microscopic structure and dynamics and the macroscopic rheology.

Brain Basics: Know Your Brain

MedlinePlus

... free mailed brochure Table of Contents Introduction The Architecture of the Brain The Geography of Thought The ... brain is diseased or dysfunctional. Image 1 The Architecture of the Brain The brain is like a ...

Structural and Functional Analysis of the Pyocyanin Biosynthetic Protein PhzM from Pseudomonas aeruginosa†‡

PubMed Central

Parsons, James F.; Greenhagen, Bryan T.; Shi, Katherine; Calabrese, Kelly; Robinson, Howard; Ladner, Jane E.

2008-01-01

Pyocyanin is a biologically active phenazine produced by the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It is thought to endow P. aeruginosa with a competitive growth advantage in colonized tissue and is also thought to be a virulence factor in diseases such as cystic fibrosis and AIDS where patients are commonly infected by pathogenic Pseudomonads due to their immunocompromised state. Pyocyanin is also a chemically interesting compound due to its unusual oxidation-reduction activity. Phenazine-1-carboxylic acid, the precursor to the bioactive phenazines, is synthesized from chorismic acid by enzymes encoded in a seven-gene cistron in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and in other Pseudomonads. Phenzine-1-carboxylic acid is believed to be converted to pyocyanin by the sequential actions of the putative S-adenosylmethionine dependent N-methyltransferase PhzM and the putative flavin-dependent hydroxylase PhzS. Here we report the 1.8 Å crystal structure of PhzM solved by single anomalous dispersion. Unlike many methyltransferases, PhzM is a dimer in solution. The 36 kDa PhzM polypeptide folds into three domains. The C-terminal domain exhibits the α/β-hydrolase fold typical of small molecule methyltransferases. Two smaller N-terminal domains form much of the dimer interface. Structural alignments with known methyltransferases show that PhzM is most similar to the plant O-methyltransferases that are characterized by an unusual intertwined dimer interface. The structure of PhzM contains no ligands and the active site is open and solvent exposed when compared to structures of similar enzymes. In vitro experiments using purified PhzM alone demonstrate that it has little or no ability to methylate phenzine-1-carboxylic acid. However, when the putative hydroxylase PhzS is included, pyocyanin is readily produced. This observation suggests that a mechanism has evolved in P. aeruginosa that ensures efficient production of pyocyanin by preventing the formation and release of an unstable and potentially deleterious intermediate. PMID:17253782

Phenomenological Fingerprints of Four Meditations: Differential State Changes in Affect, Mind-Wandering, Meta-Cognition, and Interoception Before and After Daily Practice Across 9 Months of Training.

PubMed

Kok, Bethany E; Singer, Tania

2017-01-01

Despite increasing interest in the effects of mental training practices such as meditation, there is much ambiguity regarding whether and to what extent the various types of mental practice have differential effects on psychological change. To address this gap, we compare the effects of four common meditation practices on measures of state change in affect, mind-wandering, meta-cognition, and interoception. In the context of a 9-month mental training program called the ReSource Project, 229 mid-life adults (mean age 41) provided daily reports before and after meditation practice. Participants received training in the following three successive modules: the first module (presence) included breathing meditation and body scan, the second (affect) included loving-kindness meditation, and the third (perspective) included observing-thought meditation. Using multilevel modeling, we found that body scan led to the greatest state increase in interoceptive awareness and the greatest decrease in thought content, loving-kindness meditation led to the greatest increase in feelings of warmth and positive thoughts about others, and observing-thought meditation led to the greatest increase in meta-cognitive awareness. All practices, including breathing meditation, increased positivity of affect, energy, and present focus and decreased thought distraction. Complementary network analysis of intervariate relationships revealed distinct phenomenological clusters of psychological change congruent with the content of each practice. These findings together suggest that although different meditation practices may have common beneficial effects, each practice can also be characterized by a distinct short-term psychological fingerprint, the latter having important implications for the use of meditative practices in different intervention contexts and with different populations.

Influence of spore moisture content on the dry-heat resistance of Bacillus subtilis var. niger.

PubMed

Angelotti, R; Maryanski, J H; Butler, T F; Peeler, J T; Campbell, J E

1968-05-01

The dry-heat resistance of Bacillus subtilis var. niger spores located in or on various materials was determined as D and z values in the range of 105 through 160 C. The systems tested included spores located on steel and paper strips, spores located between stainless-steel washers mated together under 150 inch-lb and 12 inch-lb of torque, and spores encapsulated in methylmethacrylate and epoxy plastics. D values for a given temperature varied with the test system. High D values were observed for the systems in which spores were encapsulated or under heavy torque, whereas lower D values were observed for the steel and paper strip systems and the lightly torqued system. Similar z values were obtained for the plastic and steel strip systems (z(D) = 21 C), but an unusually low z for spores on paper (z(D) = 12.9 C) and an unusually high z for spores on steel washers mated at 150 inch-lb of torque (z(D) = 32 C) were observed. The effect of spore moisture content on the D value of spores encapsulated in water-impermeable plastic was determined, and maximal resistance was observed for spores with a water activity (a(w)) of 0.2 to 0.4. Significantly decreased D values were observed for spores with moisture contents below a(w) 0.2 or above a(w) 0.4. The data indicate that the important factors to be considered when measuring the dry heat resistance of spores are (i) the initial moisture content of the spore, (ii) the rate of spore desiccation during heating, (iii) the water retention capacity of the material in or on which spores are located, and (iv) the relative humidity of the system at the test temperature.

Transmission Electron Microscopy of Al-rich Silicate Stardust from Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vollmer, Christian; Hoppe, Peter; Brenker, Frank E.

2013-05-01

We report on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations of two mineralogically unusual stardust silicates to constrain their circumstellar condensation conditions. Both grains were identified by high spatial resolution nano secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) in the Acfer 094 meteorite, one of the most pristine carbonaceous chondrites available for study. One grain is a highly crystalline, highly refractory (Fe content < 0.5 at%), structurally undisturbed orthopyroxene (MgSiO3) with an unusually high Al content (1.8 ± 0.5 at%). This is the first TEM documentation of a single crystal pyroxene within the complete stardust silicate data set. We interpret the microstructure and chemistry of this grain as being a direct condensate from a gas of locally non-solar composition (i.e., with a higher-than-solar Al content and most likely also a lower-than-solar Mg/Si ratio) at (near)-equilibrium conditions. From the overabundance of crystalline olivine (six reported grains to date) compared to crystalline pyroxene (only documented as a single crystal in this work) we infer that formation of olivine over pyroxene is favored in circumstellar environments, in agreement with expectations from condensation theory and experiments. The second stardust silicate consists of an amorphous Ca-Si rich material which lacks any crystallinity based on TEM observations in which tiny (<20 nm) hibonite nanocrystallites are embedded. This complex assemblage therefore attests to the fast cooling and rapidly changing chemical environments under which dust grains in circumstellar shells form.

Ultramafic lavas and high-Mg basaltic dykes from the Othris ophiolite complex, Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baziotis, Ioannis; Economou-Eliopoulos, Maria; Asimow, Paul D.

2017-09-01

We evaluate the petrography and geochemistry of an unusual suite of subduction-related Phanerozoic high-MgO rocks from the Othris ophiolite complex in Greece, some of which have previously been described as komatiitic lavas. In particular, we study ultramafic, olivine-phyric lavas from the Agrilia area and high-Mg basaltic dykes from the Pournari area. We seek to define primary magmatic MgO contents and initial liquidus temperatures as well as the differentiation sequence and cooling rates experienced by the lavas and dykes. One of our goals is to relate the Othris case to known komatiite and boninite occurrences and to address whether Othris documents an important new constraint on the temporal evolution of ambient mantle temperature, plume-related magmatism, and subduction of oceanic lithosphere. We conclude that, despite whole-rock MgO contents of 31-33 wt%, the olivine-phyric lavas at Agrilia had an upper limit liquid MgO content of 17 wt% and are therefore picrites, not komatiites. The Agrilia lavas contain the unusual Ti-rich pyroxenoid rhönite; we discuss the significance of this occurrence. In the case of the Pournari high-Mg dykes, the distinctive dendritic or plumose clinopyroxene texture, though it resembles in some ways the classic spinifex texture of komatiites, is simply evidence of rapid cooling at the dyke margin and not evidence of extraordinarily high liquidus temperatures. We correlate the dendritic texture with disequilibrium mineral chemistry in clinopyroxene to constrain the cooling rate of the dyke margins.

Aqua de Ney, California, a spring of unique chemical character

USGS Publications Warehouse

Feth, J.H.; Rogers, S.M.; Roberson, C.E.

1961-01-01

The chemistry of water of Aqua de Ney, a cold spring of unusual character located in Siskiyou County, Calif., has been re-examined as part of a study of the relation of water chemistry to rock environment. The water has a pH of 11??6 and a silica content of 4000 parts per million (p.p.m.), the highest values known to occur in natural ground waters. The rocks exposed nearby consist of two volcanic sequences, one predominantly basaltic in composition, the other highly siliceous. Neither these rocks nor the sedimentary and igneous rocks presumed to underlie the area at depth seem to offer explanation of the unusual mineralization which includes 240 p.p.m. of boron, 1000 p.p.m. of sulphide (as H2S), and 148 p.p.m. of ammonia nitrogen (as NH4) in a water that is predominantly sodium chloride and sodium carbonate in character. By analogy, it is assumed that water from Aqua de Ney is the product of an initial mixture of connate sea water with a calcium magnesium sulphate water. It is postulated that ion exchange has increased the content of sodium and reduced that of calcium and magnesium, and that sulphate reduction has brought about the high alkalinity, high pH, and high content of sulphide. The large silica value is explained as the result of solution of silica by water having the high pH observed. ?? 1961.

A neuromathematical model of human information processing and its application to science content acquisition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, O. Roger

The rate of information processing during science learning and the efficiency of the learner in mobilizing relevant information in long-term memory as an aid in transmitting newly acquired information to stable storage in long-term memory are fundamental aspects of science content acquisition. These cognitive processes, moreover, may be substantially related in tempo and quality of organization to the efficiency of higher thought processes such as divergent thinking and problem-solving ability that characterize scientific thought. As a contribution to our quantitative understanding of these fundamental information processes, a mathematical model of information acquisition is presented and empirically evaluated in comparison to evidence obtained from experimental studies of science content acquisition. Computer-based models are used to simulate variations in learning parameters and to generate the theoretical predictions to be empirically tested. The initial tests of the predictive accuracy of the model show close agreement between predicted and actual mean recall scores in short-term learning tasks. Implications of the model for human information acquisition and possible future research are discussed in the context of the unique theoretical framework of the model.

Isolation, purification and chemical composition of insoluble collagen from Guerin epithelioma.

PubMed

Bańkowski, E; Galasiński, W; Gindzieẃski, A; Rzeczycki, W

1975-01-01

1. The insoluble collagen from Guerin epithelioma was isolated and its chemical composition was determined. The unusually high histidine content is accompanied in tumour collagen by a relatively small amount of lysine and arginine. 2. The isolated protein was strongly bound to glycoprotein, which could not be removed by EDTA treatment unless this procedure was preceded by digestion of the complex with trypsin.

The neural basis of temporal order processing in past and future thought.

PubMed

D'Argembeau, Arnaud; Jeunehomme, Olivier; Majerus, Steve; Bastin, Christine; Salmon, Eric

2015-01-01

Although growing evidence has shown that remembering the past and imagining the future recruit a common core network of frontal-parietal-temporal regions, the extent to which these regions contribute to the temporal dimension of autobiographical thought remains unclear. In this fMRI study, we focused on the event-sequencing aspect of time and examined whether ordering past and future events involve common neural substrates. Participants had to determine which of two past (or future) events occurred (or would occur) before the other, and these order judgments were compared with a task requiring to think about the content of the same past or future events. For both past and future events, we found that the left posterior hippocampus was more activated when establishing the order of events, whereas the anterior hippocampus was more activated when representing their content. Aside from the hippocampus, most of the brain regions that were activated when thinking about temporal order (notably the intraparietal sulcus, dorsolateral pFC, dorsal anterior cingulate, and visual cortex) lied outside the core network and may reflect the involvement of controlled processes and visuospatial imagery to locate events in time. Collectively, these findings suggest (a) that the same processing operations are engaged for ordering past events and planned future events in time, (b) that anterior and posterior portions of the hippocampus are involved in processing different aspects of autobiographical thought, and (c) that temporal order is not necessarily an intrinsic property of memory or future thought but instead requires additional, controlled processes.

Iridium enrichment in airborne particles from kilauea volcano: january 1983.

PubMed

Zoller, W H; Parrington, J R; Kotra, J M

1983-12-09

Airborne particulate matter from the January 1983 eruption of Kilauea volcano was inadvertently collected on air filters at Mauna Loa Observatory at a sampling station used to observe particles in global circulation. Analyses of affected samples revealed unusually large concentrations of selenium, arsenic, indium, gold, and sulfur, as expected for volcanic emissions. Strikingly large concentrations of iridium were also observed, the ratio of iridium to aluminum being 17,000 times its value in Hawaiian basalt. Since iridium enrichments have not previously been observed in volcanic emissions, the results for Kilauea suggest that it is part of an unusual volcanic system which may be fed by magma from the mantle. The iridium enrichment appears to be linked with the high fluorine content of the volcanic gases, which suggests that the iridium is released as a volatile IrF(6).

Dreaming as mind wandering: evidence from functional neuroimaging and first-person content reports

PubMed Central

Fox, Kieran C. R.; Nijeboer, Savannah; Solomonova, Elizaveta; Domhoff, G. William; Christoff, Kalina

2013-01-01

Isolated reports have long suggested a similarity in content and thought processes across mind wandering (MW) during waking, and dream mentation during sleep. This overlap has encouraged speculation that both “daydreaming” and dreaming may engage similar brain mechanisms. To explore this possibility, we systematically examined published first-person experiential reports of MW and dreaming and found many similarities: in both states, content is largely audiovisual and emotional, follows loose narratives tinged with fantasy, is strongly related to current concerns, draws on long-term memory, and simulates social interactions. Both states are also characterized by a relative lack of meta-awareness. To relate first-person reports to neural evidence, we compared meta-analytic data from numerous functional neuroimaging (PET, fMRI) studies of the default mode network (DMN, with high chances of MW) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (with high chances of dreaming). Our findings show large overlaps in activation patterns of cortical regions: similar to MW/DMN activity, dreaming and REM sleep activate regions implicated in self-referential thought and memory, including medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), medial temporal lobe structures, and posterior cingulate. Conversely, in REM sleep numerous PFC executive regions are deactivated, even beyond levels seen during waking MW. We argue that dreaming can be understood as an “intensified” version of waking MW: though the two share many similarities, dreams tend to be longer, more visual and immersive, and to more strongly recruit numerous key hubs of the DMN. Further, whereas MW recruits fewer PFC regions than goal-directed thought, dreaming appears to be characterized by an even deeper quiescence of PFC regions involved in cognitive control and metacognition, with a corresponding lack of insight and meta-awareness. We suggest, then, that dreaming amplifies the same features that distinguish MW from goal-directed waking thought. PMID:23908622

Response of dorsomedial prefrontal cortex predicts altruistic behavior

PubMed Central

Waytz, Adam; Zaki, Jamil; Mitchell, Jason P.

2012-01-01

Human beings have an unusual proclivity for altruistic behavior, and recent commentators have suggested that these prosocial tendencies arise from our unique capacity to understand the minds of others (i.e., to mentalize). The current studies test this hypothesis by examining the relation between altruistic behavior and the reflexive engagement of a neural system reliably associated with mentalizing. Results indicated that activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dorsal MPFC)—a region consistently involved in understanding others’ mental states—predicts both monetary donations to others and time spent helping others. These findings address long-standing questions about the proximate source of human altruism by suggesting that prosocial behavior results, in part, from our broader tendency for social-cognitive thought. PMID:22649243

Interaction of SARS and MERS Coronaviruses with the Antiviral Interferon Response.

PubMed

Kindler, E; Thiel, V; Weber, F

2016-01-01

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) are the most severe coronavirus (CoV)-associated diseases in humans. The causative agents, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, are of zoonotic origin but may be transmitted to humans, causing severe and often fatal respiratory disease in their new host. The two coronaviruses are thought to encode an unusually large number of factors that allow them to thrive and replicate in the presence of efficient host defense mechanisms, especially the antiviral interferon system. Here, we review the recent progress in our understanding of the strategies that highly pathogenic coronaviruses employ to escape, dampen, or block the antiviral interferon response in human cells. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Some thoughts concerning large load-carrying vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spearman, M. L.

1983-01-01

Some implications relative to combat operations and force sustainability into the twenty-first century are discussed. The basic conjecture is that, sometime in the future, secure overseas basing may be denied to the United States by the Soviet Union or by unfriendly, unstable governments. In that event, the support of future battle itself, may be conducted from the continental U.S. and would introduce requirements for large, long-range, efficient, and sometimes, fast air vehicles. Some unusual design concepts and the technology requirements for such vehicles are suggested. It is concluded that, while much of the required technology is already being pursued, further advanced should be expected and sought in improved aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, and avionics with a view toward increased efficiency, utility, and affordability.

The Story of the Water Cube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weaire, Denis

2009-03-01

The National Aquatics Center or ``Water Cube,'' constructed for the Beijing Olympics, is unusual in that its very structure has a physical significance. It consists of a massive framework of steel beams that are arranged as in the Weaire-Phelan structure of an ideal foam, with an outer facing of transparent ``cushions.'' Brilliantly conceived by Tristram Carfrae of the Arup Corporation, it makes a spectacular impression on those who enter. It provokes thoughts on aesthetics, order/disorder, optimisation, and the frequent recurrence of bubbles/foams in our literary and artistic culture. The story of the Water Cube will start in the nineteenth century, when William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) first posed the problem: what kind of foam of equal-sized bubbles minimises area (or energy)?

Giant serous cystadenoma arising from an accessory ovary in a morbidly obese 11-year-old girl: a case report.

PubMed

Sharatz, Steven M; Treviño, Taína A; Rodriguez, Luís; West, Jared H

2008-01-18

Ectopic ovarian tissue is an unusual entity, especially if it is an isolated finding thought to be of embryological origin. An 11-year-old, morbidly obese female presented with left flank pain, nausea, and irregular menses. Various diagnostic procedures suggested a large ovarian cyst, and surgical resection was performed. Histologically, the resected mass was not of tubal origin as suspected, but a serous cystadenoma arising from ovarian tissue. The patient's two normal, eutopic ovaries were completely uninvolved and unaffected. A tumor arising from ectopic ovarian tissue of embryological origin seems the most likely explanation. We suggest refining the descriptive nomenclature so as to more precisely characterize the various presentations of ovarian ectopia.

Schizotypy—Do Not Worry, It Is Not All Worrisome

PubMed Central

Mohr, Christine; Claridge, Gordon

2015-01-01

A long-standing tradition in personality research in psychology, and nowadays increasingly in psychiatry, is that psychotic and psychotic-like thoughts are considered common experiences in the general population. Given their widespread occurrence, such experiences cannot merely reflect pathological functioning. Moreover, reflecting the multi-dimensionality of schizotypy, some dimensions might be informative for healthy functioning while others less so. Here, we explored these possibilities by reviewing research that links schizotypy to favorable functioning such as subjective wellbeing, cognitive functioning (major focus on creativity), and personality correlates. This research highlights the existence of healthy people with psychotic-like traits who mainly experience positive schizotypy (but also affective features mapping onto bipolar disorder). These individuals seem to benefit from a healthy way to organize their thoughts and experiences, that is, they employ an adaptive cognitive framework to explain and integrate their unusual experiences. We conclude that, instead of focusing only on the pathological, future studies should explore the behavioral, genetic, imaging, and psychopharmacological correlates that define the healthy expression of psychotic-like traits. Such studies would inform on protective or compensatory mechanisms of psychosis-risk and could usefully inform us on the evolutionary advantages of the psychosis dimension. PMID:25810058

In Situ Chemical Characterization of Mineral Phases in Lunar Granulite Meteorite Northwest Africa 5744

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kent, J. J.; Brandon, A. D.; Lapen, T. J.; Peslier, A. H.; Irving, A. J.; Coleff, D. M.

2012-01-01

Northwest Africa (NWA) 5744 meteorite is a granulitic and troctolitic lunar breccia which may represent nearly pristine lunar crust (Fig. 1). NWA 5744 is unusually magnesian compared to other lunar breccias, with bulk [Mg/(Mg+Fe)] 0.79 [1, 2]. Inspection shows impactor content is likely to be very minor, with low Ni content and a lack of metal grains. Some terrestrial contamination is present, evidenced by calcite within cracks. NWA 5744 has notably low concentrations of incompatible trace elements (ITEs) [2]. The goal of this study is to attempt to classify this lunar granulite through analyses of in situ phases.

Russell body gastritis with Dutcher bodies evaluated using magnification endoscopy

PubMed Central

Yorita, Kenji; Iwasaki, Takehiro; Uchita, Kunihisa; Kuroda, Naoto; Kojima, Koji; Iwamura, Shinichi; Tsutsumi, Yutaka; Ohno, Akinobu; Kataoka, Hiroaki

2017-01-01

Russell body gastritis (RBG) is an unusual type of chronic gastritis characterized by marked infiltration of Mott cells, which are plasma cells filled with spherical eosinophilic bodies referred to as Russell bodies. It was initially thought that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection was a major cause of RBG and that the infiltrating Mott cells were polyphenotypic; however, a number of cases of RBG without H. pylori infection or with monoclonal Mott cells have been reported. Thus, diagnostic difficulty exists in distinguishing RBG with monoclonal Mott cells from malignant lymphoma. Here, we report an unusual case of an 86-year-old-Japanese man with H. pylori-positive RBG. During the examination of melena, endoscopic evaluation confirmed a 13-mm whitish, flat lesion in the gastric antrum. Magnification endoscopy with narrow-band imaging suggested that the lesion was most likely a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Biopsy findings were consistent with chronic gastritis with many Mott cells with intranuclear inclusions referred to as Dutcher bodies. Endoscopic submucosal dissection confirmed the diagnosis of RBG with kappa-restricted monoclonal Mott cells. Malignant lymphoma was unlikely given the paucity of cytological atypia and Ki-67 immunoreactivity of monoclonal Mott cells. This is the first reported case of RBG with endoscopic diagnosis of malignant tumor and the presence of Dutcher bodies. PMID:28874963

Unusual molecular findings in Kindler syndrome.

PubMed

Arita, K; Wessagowit, V; Inamadar, A C; Palit, A; Fassihi, H; Lai-Cheong, J E; Pourreyron, C; South, A P; McGrath, J A

2007-12-01

Kindler syndrome (KS) is a rare inherited skin disorder with blistering and poikiloderma as its main clinical features. It is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the C20orf42 (KIND1) gene which encodes kindlin-1, an actin cytoskeleton-focal contact-associated protein which is predominantly expressed in keratinocytes. We investigated the molecular basis of KS in a 16-year-old Indian boy who had additional clinical findings, including scleroatrophic changes of the hands and feet, pseudoainhum and early onset of squamous cell carcinoma on his foot. Immunostaining for kindlin-1 in the patient's skin was completely absent and sequencing of C20orf42 (KIND1) genomic DNA showed a homozygous splice-site mutation at the -6 position, IVS9-6T-->A. Amplification and sequencing of cDNA from the skin revealed aberrant splicing with either deletion of exon 10 or deletion of exons 9, 10 and 11, both of which involve loss of the pleckstrin homology domain of kindlin-1 that is thought to play a role in cytoskeletal attachment and integrin-mediated cell signalling. Pathogenic splice-site mutations at the -6 position are unusual and have rarely been reported for any genetic disorder. Collectively, these findings extend the spectrum of clinical and molecular abnormalities in this rare genodermatosis.

Using Literature to Enhance Course Content in Education Classes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Sheila

1995-01-01

Focuses attention on the kinds of literature that are helpful in fostering thoughtful reflection in special education graduate courses. Discusses several specific examples, such as Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis" and John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." (PA)

Assurance Against Radiation Effects on Electronics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaBel, Kenneth A.

2004-01-01

Contents include the following: The Space Radiation Environment. The Effects on Electronics. The Environment in Action. NASA Approaches to Commercial Electronics: the mission mix, flight projects, and proactive research. Final Thoughts: atomic interactions, direct ionization, interaction with nucleus.

Cognitive restructuring of gambling-related thoughts: A systematic review.

PubMed

Chrétien, Maxime; Giroux, Isabelle; Goulet, Annie; Jacques, Christian; Bouchard, Stéphane

2017-12-01

Gamblers' thoughts have a fundamental influence on their gambling problem. Cognitive restructuring is the intervention of choice to correct those thoughts. However, certain difficulties are noted in the application of cognitive restructuring techniques and the comprehension of their guidelines. Furthermore, the increase of skill game players (e.g. poker) entering treatment creates a challenge for therapists, as these gamblers present with different thoughts than those of the gamblers usually encountered in treatment (e.g. chance-only games like electronic gambling machines). This systematic review aims to describe how cognitive restructuring is carried out with gamblers based on the evidence available in empirical studies that include cognitive interventions for gambling. Of the 2607 studies collected, 39 were retained. The results highlight exposure as the most frequently used technique to facilitate identification of gambling-related thoughts (imaginal=28.2%; in vivo=10.3%). More than half of the studies (69.2%) clearly reported therapeutic techniques aimed to correct gamblers' thoughts, of which 37% involved visual support to challenge those thoughts (e.g. ABC log). Of the 39 studies retained, 48.7% included skill game players (i.e., poker, blackjack, sports betting) in their sample. However, none of these studies mentioned whether cognitive restructuring had been adapted for these gamblers. Several terms referring to gamblers' thoughts were used interchangeably (e.g. erroneous, dysfunctional or inadequate thoughts), although each of these terms could refer to specific content. Clinical implications of the results are discussed with regard to the needs of therapists. This review also suggests recommendations for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dysfunctional insular connectivity during reward prediction in patients with first-episode psychosis

PubMed Central

Schmidt, André; Palaniyappan, Lena; Smieskova, Renata; Simon, Andor; Riecher-Rössler, Anita; Lang, Undine E.; Fusar-Poli, Paolo; McGuire, Philip; Borgwardt, Stefan J.

2016-01-01

Background Increasing evidence indicates that psychosis is associated with abnormal reward processing. Imaging studies in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) have revealed reduced activity in diverse brain regions, including the ventral striatum, insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), during reward prediction. However, whether these reductions in local brain activity are due to altered connectivity has rarely been explored. Methods We applied dynamic causal modelling and Bayesian model selection to fMRI data during the Salience Attribution Task to investigate whether patients with FEP showed abnormal modulation of connectivity between the ventral striatum, insula and ACC induced by rewarding cues and whether these changes were related to positive psychotic symptoms and atypical antipsychotic medication. Results The model including reward-induced modulation of insula–ACC connectivity was the best fitting model in each group. Compared with healthy controls (n = 19), patients with FEP (n = 29) revealed reduced right insula–ACC connectivity. After subdividing patients according to current antipsychotic medication, we found that the reduced insula–ACC connectivity relative to healthy controls was observed only in untreated patients (n = 17), not in patients treated with antipsychotics (n = 12), and that it correlated negatively with unusual thought content in untreated patients with FEP. Limitations The modest sample size of untreated patients with FEP was a limitation of our study. Conclusion This study indicates that insula–ACC connectivity during reward prediction is reduced in untreated patients with FEP and related to the formation of positive psychotic symptoms. Our study further suggests that atypical antipsychotics may reverse connectivity between the insula and the ACC during reward prediction. PMID:26854756

Hubble Catches a Transformation in the Virgo Constellation

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

The constellation of Virgo (The Virgin) is especially rich in galaxies, due in part to the presence of a massive and gravitationally-bound collection of more than 1300 galaxies called the Virgo Cluster. One particular member of this cosmic community, NGC 4388, is captured in this image, as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3. Located some 60 million light-years away, NGC 4388 is experiencing some of the less desirable effects that come with belonging to such a massive galaxy cluster. It is undergoing a transformation and has taken on a somewhat confused identity. While the galaxy’s outskirts appear smooth and featureless, a classic feature of an elliptical galaxy, its center displays remarkable dust lanes constrained within two symmetric spiral arms, which emerge from the galaxy’s glowing core — one of the obvious features of a spiral galaxy. Within the arms, speckles of bright blue mark the locations of young stars, indicating that NGC 4388 has hosted recent bursts of star formation. Despite the mixed messages, NGC 4388 is classified as a spiral galaxy. Its unusual combination of features are thought to have been caused by interactions between NGC 4388 and other galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. Gravitational interactions — from glancing blows to head-on collisions, tidal influencing, mergers, and galactic cannibalism — can be devastating to galaxies. While some may be lucky enough to simply suffer a distorted spiral arm or newly-triggered wave of star formation, others see their structure and contents completely and irrevocably altered. Image credits: ESA/NASA

Primary psychosis with comorbid drug abuse and drug-induced psychosis: Diagnostic and clinical evolution at follow up.

PubMed

Mauri, M C; Di Pace, C; Reggiori, A; Paletta, S; Colasanti, A

2017-10-01

The study reports a follow-up assessment of 48 patients with concomitant drug abuse at the first admission for psychosis. We focused on the diagnostic distinction between primary psychosis with concomitant drug abuse and drug induced psychosis, to observe whether the diagnoses are stable over time and whether the clinical course significantly differs. The study examined 25 primary psychotic disorder with comorbid drug abuse and 23 drug-induced psychotic disorder patients. Diagnostic and psychopathological assessments were made at baseline and at follow-up. Mean follow-up period was 4.96 years. Patients with comorbid Drug Abuse exhibited higher scores in the item Unusual Content of Thought at baseline than drug-induced psychotic disorder patients: 5.48 vs 4.39 while the two patients groups did not differ in any of the BPRS items evaluated at follow-up. The primary psychosis with comorbid drug abuse and the substance induced psychosis groups were similar regarding diagnostic stability, and a diagnosis of schizophrenia at follow-up occurred similarly. There was no evidence that Drug Induced psychotic patients' symptoms tend to improve more after cessation of drug abuse. An earlier age of onset was found in primary psychotic patients, particularly for patients diagnosed as affected by schizophrenia at follow up. These results might reflect the uncertainty of the distinction between Primary and Drug Induced Psychosis and the difficulties in applying the DSM IV-TR criteria for diagnosing comorbid drug use disorders and psychotic disorders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Disorganization and real-world functioning in schizophrenia: Results from the multicenter study of the Italian Network for Research on Psychoses.

PubMed

Rocca, P; Galderisi, S; Rossi, A; Bertolino, A; Rucci, P; Gibertoni, D; Montemagni, C; Bellino, S; Aguglia, E; Amore, M; Bellomo, A; Biondi, M; Carpiniello, B; Cuomo, A; D'Ambrosio, E; dell'Osso, L; Girardi, P; Marchesi, C; Monteleone, P; Montemitro, C; Oldani, L; Pacitti, F; Roncone, R; Siracusano, A; Tenconi, E; Vita, A; Zeppegno, P; Steardo, L; Vignapiano, A; Maj, M

2018-06-10

A general consensus has not yet been reached regarding the role of disorganization symptoms in real-world functioning in schizophrenia. We used structural equations modeling (SEM) to analyze the direct and indirect associations between disorganization and real-world functioning assessed through the Specific Levels of Functioning Scale (SLOF) in 880 subjects with schizophrenia. We found that: 1) conceptual disorganization was directly and strongly connected with SLOF daily activities; difficulty in abstract thinking was associated with moderate strength to all SLOF domains, and poor attention was connected with SLOF work skills; 2) grandiosity was only related with poor work skills, and delusions were associated with poor functioning in all SLOF domains; interpersonal relationships were weakly indirectly influenced by hallucinatory behavior, delusions and unusual thought contents through the mediation of social cognition (SC); 3) among the negative symptoms, avolition had only direct links with SLOF work skills and SLOF activities; anhedonia had direct links with SLOF work skills and SLOF interpersonal and indirect link with SLOF work skills through functional capacity (FC); asociality with SLOF interpersonal; blunted affect had direct links with SLOF activities and indirect links with SLOF interpersonal relationships mediated by SC. Lastly, alogia had only indirect links mediated by SC, FC, and neurocognition (NC). Overall conceptual disorganization is the symptom that contributed more (both directly and indirectly) to the activities of community living in real-world. Thus, it should be considered as a treatment target in intervention programs for patients with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Research Area 7.4: Identifying a Path Towards Rapid Discrimination of Infection Disease Outbreaks

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-15

content typing, rep-PCR, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, optical mapping, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (G. Gault et al., 2011; P...Tremlett, G, Pidd, 2011). This case demonstrates the vulnerability of our food supply and why unusual outbreaks involving endemic microbes must be taken as... food products to malevolent tampering, and the widespread international economic consequences that can occur even from limited product contamination

Microgravity Foam Structure and Rheology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Durian, Douglas J.

1996-01-01

The objective of this research was to exploit rheological and multiple-light scattering techniques, and ultimately microgravity conditions, in order to quantify and elucidate the unusual elastic character of foams in terms of their underlying microscopic structure and dynamics. Special interest was in determining how this elastic character vanishes, i.e. how the foam melts into a simple viscous liquid, as a function of both increasing liquid content and shear strain rate.

Rule of Law in Mexico: Fact or Fiction

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-28

Constitution, Article 49 10 Alex J. Gilman, “Making Amends with the Mexican Constitution: Reassessing the 1995 Judicial Reforms and Considering Prospects...fact, it’s not unusual for Mexican law professors to simply read the contents of an applicable code, regulation or article to their students instead...ramifications for student cheating or plagiarism , either. Many students “graduate” law schools without completing the thesis requirement. There are no bar

ACM TOMS replicated computational results initiative

DOE PAGES

Heroux, Michael Allen

2015-06-03

In this study, the scientific community relies on the peer review process for assuring the quality of published material, the goal of which is to build a body of work we can trust. Computational journals such as The ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS) use this process for rigorously promoting the clarity and completeness of content, and citation of prior work. At the same time, it is unusual to independently confirm computational results.

Exposure to violent media: the effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings.

PubMed

Anderson, Craig A; Carnagey, Nicholas L; Eubanks, Janie

2003-05-01

Five experiments examined effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and hostile feelings. Experiments 1, 3, 4 and 5 demonstrated that college students who heard a violent song felt more hostile than those who heard a similar but nonviolent song. Experiments 2-5 demonstrated a similar increase in aggressive thoughts. These effects replicated across songs and song types (e.g., rock, humorous, nonhumorous). Experiments 3-5 also demonstrated that trait hostility was positively related to state hostility but did not moderate the song lyric effects. Discussion centers on the potential role of lyric content on aggression in short-term settings, relation to catharsis and other media violence domains, development of aggressive personality, differences between long-term and short-term effects, and possible mitigating factors.

Constructive and Unconstructive Repetitive Thought

PubMed Central

Watkins, Edward R.

2008-01-01

The author reviews research showing that repetitive thought (RT) can have constructive or unconstructive consequences. The main unconstructive consequences of RT are (a) depression, (b) anxiety, and (c) difficulties in physical health. The main constructive consequences of RT are (a) recovery from upsetting and traumatic events, (b) adaptive preparation and anticipatory planning, (c) recovery from depression, and (d) uptake of health-promoting behaviors. Several potential principles accounting for these distinct consequences of RT are identified within this review: (a) the valence of thought content, (b) the intrapersonal and situational context in which RT occurs, and (c) the level of construal (abstract vs. concrete processing) adopted during RT. Of the existing models of RT, it is proposed that an elaborated version of the control theory account provides the best theoretical framework to account for its distinct consequences. PMID:18298268

Thoughts About Health Policy Content in Baccalaureate Nursing Programs.

PubMed

Waddell, Ashley; Adams, Jeffrey M; Fawcett, Jacqueline

2016-10-01

We describe a framework used to analyze health policy content in baccalaureate nursing program courses that combines the conceptual model for nursing and health policy and the Adams influence model to account for knowledge and skills needed for health policy work. Our analysis of health policy content in courses in one baccalaureate nursing program focused on what policies were emphasized and how educational content supported the development of personal influence. The analysis revealed course content focused on public sources of health policies and lack of overt course content about policies from organizational and professional sources. Additionally, we identified little course content about the development of personal influence skills except for communication and message articulation components. As the nursing profession continues to build influence in the policy arena, educators must continue to prepare future nurses for such work. © The Author(s) 2016.

Thinking Frames.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perkins, D. N.

1986-01-01

Sifts through confusing intelligence theories, arguing that intelligence is a combination of influences involving power, tactics, and content. Good thinking is an unnatural act demanding evenhanded reasoning, problem finding (versus solving), and knowledge as invention. Discusses thinking frames guiding thought processes and the implications for…

Variation in psychosocial influences according to the dimensions and content of children's unusual experiences: potential routes for the development of targeted interventions.

PubMed

Ruffell, Tamatha; Azis, Matilda; Hassanali, Nedah; Ames, Catherine; Browning, Sophie; Bracegirdle, Karen; Corrigall, Richard; Laurens, Kristin R; Hirsch, Colette; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Maddox, Lucy; Jolley, Suzanne

2016-03-01

The psychosocial processes implicated in the development and maintenance of psychosis differ according to both the dimensional attributes (conviction, frequency, associated distress, adverse life impact) and the content or type (e.g. grandiosity, hallucinations, paranoia) of the psychotic symptoms experienced. This has informed the development of 'targeted' cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp): interventions focusing on specific psychological processes in the context of particular symptom presentations. In adults, larger effect sizes for change in primary outcomes are typically reported in trials of targeted interventions, compared to those for trials of generic CBTp approaches with multiple therapeutic foci. We set out to test the theoretical basis for developing targeted CBTp interventions for young people with distressing psychotic-like, or unusual, experiences (UEs). We investigated variations in the psychosocial processes previously associated with self-reported UE severity (reasoning, negative life events, emotional problems) according to UE dimensional attributes and content/type (using an established five-factor model) in a clinically referred sample of 72 young people aged 8-14 years. Regression analyses revealed associations of conviction and grandiosity with reasoning; of frequency, and hallucinations and paranoia, with negative life events; and of distress/adverse life impact, and paranoia and hallucinations, with emotional problems. We conclude that psychological targets for intervention differ according to particular characteristics of childhood UEs in much the same way as for psychotic symptoms in adults. The development of targeted interventions is therefore indicated, and tailoring therapy according to presentation should further improve clinical outcomes for these young people.

Copper localization, elemental content, and thallus colour in the copper hyperaccumulator lichen Lecanora sierrae from California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Purvis, O.W.; Bennett, J.P.; Spratt, J.

2011-01-01

An unusual dark blue-green lichen, Lecanora sierrae, was discovered over 30 years ago by Czehura near copper mines in the Lights Creek District, Plumas County, Northern California. Using atomic absorption spectroscopy, Czehura found that dark green lichen samples from Warren Canyon contained 4% Cu in ash and suggested that its colour was due to copper accumulation in the cortex. The present study addressed the hypothesis that the green colour in similar material we sampled from Warren Canyon in 2008, is caused by copper localization in the thallus. Optical microscopy and electron microprobe analysis of specimens of L. sierrae confirmed that copper localization took place in the cortex. Elemental analyses of L. sierrae and three other species from the same localities showed high enrichments of copper and selenium, suggesting that copper selenates or selenites might occur in these lichens and be responsible for the unusual colour. Copyright ?? 2011 British Lichen Society.

Copper localization, elemental content, and thallus colour in the copper hyperaccumulator lichen Lecanora sierra from California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Purvis, O.W.; Bennett, J.P.; Spratt, J.

2011-01-01

An unusual dark blue-green lichen, Lecanora sierrae, was discovered over 30 years ago by Czehura near copper mines in the Lights Creek District, Plumas County, Northern California. Using atomic absorption spectroscopy, Czehura found that dark green lichen samples from Warren Canyon contained 4% Cu in ash and suggested that its colour was due to copper accumulation in the cortex. The present study addressed the hypothesis that the green colour in similar material we sampled from Warren Canyon in 2008, is caused by copper localization in the thallus. Optical microscopy and electron microprobe analysis of specimens of L. sierrae confirmed that copper localization took place in the cortex. Elemental analyses of L. sierrae and three other species from the same localities showed high enrichments of copper and selenium, suggesting that copper selenates or selenites might occur in these lichens and be responsible for the unusual colour.

Hierarchical mesostructured titanium phosphonates with unusual uniform lines of macropores.

PubMed

Ma, Tian-Yi; Lin, Xiu-Zhen; Zhang, Xue-Jun; Yuan, Zhong-Yong

2011-04-01

Organic-inorganic hybrid materials of mesostructured titanium phosphonates with unusual uniform lines of macropores were synthesized by using bis(hexamethylenetriamine) penta(methylenephosphonic acid) (BHMTPMP) as the coupling molecule, through a one-pot hydrothermal process without any surfactant assistance. A wormhole-like mesostructure and many uniform parallel lines of macropores divided by solid ridges in the same direction were confirmed by N(2) sorption, SEM and TEM observations. This novel macropore architecture has never been observed in other metal phosphonate materials, which may be directly related to the structure nature of BHMTPMP with extra long alkyl chains. The structural characterization of FT-IR and MAS NMR revealed the integrity of organic groups inside the hybrid framework. The hybrid materials were also used as adsorbents for heavy metal ions and CO(2), in order to clarify the impacts of the organic contents and organic types on the physicochemical properties of the synthesized hierarchical macro-/mesoporous phosphonate materials.

[The physician as Sherlock Holmes. Accident, murder by poisoning or suicide?].

PubMed

Penning, R

2001-12-06

Any case of unclear or atypical clinical presentation must arouse a suspicion of poisoning. Although pathognomonic findings are rare, there may nevertheless be an accumulation of signs and symptoms. These include impairment of consciousness, vertigo, headache, circulatory disorders, cramps/convulsions, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pains. Forensic terminology differentiates between outside influence, self-poisoning and accidental poisoning. In the former case, substances are used that are deadly in small amounts, and are unremarkable in appearance, smell and taste. The poisons used by suicides are usually commonly used poisonous substances that are freely available to purchasers. For forensic purposes, it is essential that specimens of blood, urine or stomach contents be obtained for toxicological investigations. Inspection of the corpse must routinely include a search for unusual signs (e.g. traces of powder around the mouth, foam at the mouth and nose, desiccation, unusual postmortem lividity, hair loss, etc.).

Airport and superficial femoral artery obstruction due to a wandering coronary stent: the possibility of airport detection of modern implant metals.

PubMed

Teijink, J A W; van Herwaarden, J A; van den Berg, J C; Overtoom, T C; Moll, F L

2004-06-01

In the treatment of coronary artery disease, peripheral loss of a coronary stent is an unusual complication. We present the case of a patient who suggested that his right leg claudication was caused by a slipped coronary stent 2 years previously. The patient was convinced about this unusual finding based on an airport security check. Examination proved him to be right. However, the ability to detect an object using eddy currents is dependent on the object's permeability and its conductivity. Ferrous (iron) content is not the critical factor. Modern implant materials and processing techniques result in implants that are difficult to magnetize i.e. their permeability is very low. In addition their conductivity is very low. This enables modern implants to escape detection at airports. For this reason the event at the airport, as described by our patient, is considered coincidental.

Do drives drive the train of thought?-Effects of hunger and sexual arousal on mind-wandering behavior.

PubMed

Rummel, Jan; Nied, Laura

2017-10-01

Physiological needs that are currently unfulfilled are known to affect human cognition and behavior. The present study investigates whether and how the temporary activation of two primary physiological needs, namely hunger and sexual arousal, influence both the frequency and the contents of mind-wandering episodes. To induce hunger, one group of participants fasted for a minimum of five hours whereas another group of participants was exposed to audio material with explicit sexual content to provoke sexual arousal. Both groups as well as an additional control group, which had not received hunger instructions and had not been exposed to arousing material of any kind beforehand, performed a reading task during which mind wandering was assessed using a standard experience-sampling method. Results showed that acute hunger but not elevated sexual arousal renders the occurrence of mind-wandering episodes more likely. Induction of both hunger and sexual arousal rendered the occurrence of need-related off-task thoughts more likely and changed time orientations of mind wandering. The present findings are well in line with the assumption that unfulfilled needs regularly achieve cognitive priority and extend the cognitive-priority idea to self-generated thoughts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Getting to know the competition: a content analysis of publicly and corporate funded physical activity advertisements.

PubMed

Berry, Tanya R; McCarville, Ron E; Rhodes, Ryan E

2008-03-01

The purpose of this research was to conduct a content analysis of physical activity advertisements in an effort to determine which advertisements were more likely to include features that may attract and maintain attention levels. Fifty-seven advertisements were collected from top circulation Canadian magazines. The advertisements ranged from publicly funded health promotion pieces to corporate sponsored advertisements using physical activity to sell a product. Advertisements were examined for textual and pictorial factors thought to increase attention allocated to advertising of this nature. Only two public health advertisements were found, and the majority of advertisements (57.9%) were from commercial advertisers using physical activity images to sell products or to encourage brand recognition. The advertisements originating with the private sector tended to possess most of the characteristics thought to attract the attention of readers. Once this attention was gained, however, most of these advertisements failed to highlight the benefits of physical activity. As a result, the positive effect of these advertisements may have been compromised. Public health advertisements were so infrequent that we could not compare their characteristics with those originating with the private sector. The characteristics with those we did find were inconsistent with those thought to attract and maintain attention levels. Results are discussed in terms of potential implications for promoting physical activity.

Sex education in Swedish schools as described by young women.

PubMed

Ekstrand, Maria; Engblom, Camilla; Larsson, Margareta; Tydén, Tanja

2011-06-01

To investigate sex education in Swedish schools regarding content, satisfaction, and suggested improvements, as described by teenagers and young adults. Waiting-room survey conducted among 225 female patients (aged 13-25) at youth and student health clinics in one large-, and one medium-sized Swedish city. Most participants (97%, n = 218) had received sex education in school, of varying content and quality. Sixty percent thought basic body development was sufficiently covered. Insufficiently covered topics included sexual assault (96%), sexual harassment (94%), pornography (90%), abortion (81%), emergency contraception (80%), fertility (80%), and pregnancy (59%). Thirty percent received no information about chlamydia, and almost half reported that condyloma and human papillomavirus had not been addressed. The youngest respondents (13-19 years) were significantly more likely to have been told about emergency contraception, homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality. Nearly half (46%) considered 'acceptable' the knowledge gained from sex education provided at school whereas more than a third considered it 'poor' or 'very poor'. Suggested improvements included more information, more discussion, greater emphasis on sexual diversity, and more knowledgeable teachers. Content and quality of sex education varied greatly. Most respondents thought many topics were insufficiently covered, sex education should be more extensive, and teachers better educated.

Self-Reported Stickiness of Mind-Wandering Affects Task Performance

PubMed Central

van Vugt, Marieke K.; Broers, Nico

2016-01-01

When asked to perform a certain task, we typically spend a decent amount of time thinking thoughts unrelated to that task–a phenomenon referred to as “mind-wandering.” It is thought that this mind-wandering is driven at least in part by our unfinished goals and concerns. Previous studies have shown that just after presenting a participant with their own concerns, their reports of task-unrelated thinking increased somewhat. However, effects of these concerns on task performance were somewhat inconsistent. In this study we take the opposite approach, and examine whether task performance depends on the self-reported thought content. Specifically, a particularly intriguing aspect of mind-wandering that has hitherto received little attention is the difficulty of disengaging from it, in other words, the “stickiness” of the thoughts. While presenting participants with their own concerns was not associated with clear effects on task performance, we showed that the reports of off-task thinking and variability of response times increased with the amount of self-reported stickiness of thoughts. This suggests that the stickiness of mind-wandering is a relevant variable, and participants are able to meaningfully report on it. PMID:27242636

Non-erotic thoughts, attentional focus, and sexual problems in a community sample.

PubMed

Nelson, Andrea L; Purdon, Christine

2011-04-01

According to Barlow's model of sexual dysfunction, anxiety in sexual situations leads to attentional focus on sexual performance at the expense of erotic cues, which compromises sexual arousal. This negative experience will enhance anxiety in future sexual situations, and non-erotic thoughts (NETs) relevant to performance will receive attentional priority. Previous research with student samples (Purdon & Holdaway, 2006; Purdon & Watson, 2010) has found that people experience many types of NETs in addition to performance-relevant thoughts, and that, consistent with Barlow's model, the frequency of and anxiety evoked by these thoughts is positively associated with sexual problems. Extending this previous work, the current study found that, in a community sample of women (N = 81) and men (N = 72) in long-term relationships, women were more likely to report body image concerns and external consequences of the sexual activity, while men were more likely to report performance-related concerns. Equally likely among men and women were thoughts about emotional consequences of the sexual activity. Regardless of thought content, experiencing more frequent NETs was associated with more sexual problems in both women and men. Moreover, as per Barlow's model, greater negative affect in anticipation of and during sexual activity predicted greater frequency of NETs and greater anxiety in response to NETs was associated with greater difficulty dismissing the thoughts. However, greater difficulty in refocusing on erotic thoughts during sexual activity uniquely predicted more sexual problems above the frequency and dismissability of NETs. Together, these data support the cognitive interference mechanism implicated by Barlow's causal model of sexual dysfunction and have implications for the treatment of sexual problems.

Brief Report: Autism-like Traits are Associated With Enhanced Ability to Disembed Visual Forms.

PubMed

Sabatino DiCriscio, Antoinette; Troiani, Vanessa

2017-05-01

Atypical visual perceptual skills are thought to underlie unusual visual attention in autism spectrum disorders. We assessed whether individual differences in visual processing skills scaled with quantitative traits associated with the broader autism phenotype (BAP). Visual perception was assessed using the Figure-ground subtest of the Test of visual perceptual skills-3rd Edition (TVPS). In a large adult cohort (n = 209), TVPS-Figure Ground scores were positively correlated with autistic-like social features as assessed by the Broader autism phenotype questionnaire. This relationship was gender-specific, with males showing a correspondence between visual perceptual skills and autistic-like traits. This work supports the link between atypical visual perception and autism and highlights the importance in characterizing meaningful individual differences in clinically relevant behavioral phenotypes.

Unusual presentation of Warthin variant of Papillary thyroid carcinoma with lymph nodal metastases in a patient of Graves' disease.

PubMed

Padma, Subramanyam; Sundaram, Palaniswamy Shanmuga; Arun, B R

2015-01-01

Warthin-like Papillary thyroid carcinoma (WPTC) is a rare variant of papillary carcinoma of thyroid, PTC which derives its name by closely resembling Warthin's tumor of salivary gland. Hallmark histological feature of this variant is papillary folding lined by oncocytic neoplastic cells with clear nuclei and nuclear pseudoinclusions, accompanied by prominent lymphocytic infiltrate in the papillary stalks. It is thought to be one of those differentiated thyroid cancers with favorable prognosis. We report a case of Graves' disease with a cold nodule harboring WPTC with initial presentation of lymph nodal metastases. It is important to identify this peculiar variant of PTC as 5 to 10% of them undergo dedifferentiation and 30% have the lymph nodal metastases and extra thyroidal extension.

Neutron scattering in the proximate quantum spin liquid α-RuCl3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Arnab; Yan, Jiaqiang; Knolle, Johannes; Bridges, Craig A.; Stone, Matthew B.; Lumsden, Mark D.; Mandrus, David G.; Tennant, David A.; Moessner, Roderich; Nagler, Stephen E.

2017-06-01

The Kitaev quantum spin liquid (KQSL) is an exotic emergent state of matter exhibiting Majorana fermion and gauge flux excitations. The magnetic insulator α-RuCl3 is thought to realize a proximate KQSL. We used neutron scattering on single crystals of α-RuCl3 to reconstruct dynamical correlations in energy-momentum space. We discovered highly unusual signals, including a column of scattering over a large energy interval around the Brillouin zone center, which is very stable with temperature. This finding is consistent with scattering from the Majorana excitations of a KQSL. Other, more delicate experimental features can be transparently associated with perturbations to an ideal model. Our results encourage further study of this prototypical material and may open a window into investigating emergent magnetic Majorana fermions in correlated materials.

Spontaneous closure of post-intervention left anterior descending coronary pseudoaneurysm.

PubMed

Nunes, Rafael A B; Cade, Jamil R; Silva, Rafael C; Brito Júnior, Fábio S; Freitas, Humberto F G

2014-06-01

Coronary pseudoaneurysms are an unusual finding during coronary angiography and there are very little data on their prognosis in the literature. We report the case of a 62-year-old man admitted with an anterior myocardial infarction who developed a pseudoaneurysm in the mid left anterior descending artery some days after a type I coronary perforation during coronary angioplasty. Spontaneous closure of the pseudoaneurysm was observed during hospital follow-up. Spontaneous closure of coronary pseudoaneurysms may be more common in clinical practice than previously thought, but few cases have been reported. As the natural history of post-intervention coronary pseudoaneurysms has been little investigated, reports of their occurrence may help to clarify their evolution. Copyright © 2013 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

ESR, SIMS and TEMF of an Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirschner, I.; Giber, J.; Halasz, I.

1995-01-01

Superconducting transition comes into being between 92 K and 82 K in the samples having a Meissner's state value of 68 vol. percent. The main material content has an orthorhombic unit cell of Y1Ba2Cu408 accompanied by low quantity CuO and a sporadic phase. A proof of anisotropic superconductivity, an unusually high Cu ion concentration and a temperature dependent transition of charge carriers have been observed.

Identifying a Path Towards Rapid Discrimination of Infection Disease Outbreaks: Harnessing Next-Generation Sequencing Capabilities for Microbial Forensics

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-15

content typing, rep-PCR, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, optical mapping, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (G. Gault et al., 2011; P...Tremlett, G, Pidd, 2011). This case demonstrates the vulnerability of our food supply and why unusual outbreaks involving endemic microbes must be taken as... food products to malevolent tampering, and the widespread international economic consequences that can occur even from limited product contamination

Amnesia and future thinking: Exploring the role of memory in the quantity and quality of episodic future thoughts.

PubMed

Cole, Scott N; Morrison, Catriona M; Barak, Ohr; Pauly-Takacs, Katalin; Conway, Martin A

2016-06-01

To examine the impact of memory accessibility on episodic future thinking. Single-case study of neurological patient HCM and an age-matched comparison group of neurologically Healthy Controls. We administered a full battery of tests assessing general intelligence, memory, and executive functioning. To assess autobiographical memory, the Autobiographical Memory Interview (Kopelman, Wilson, & Baddeley, 1990. The Autobiographical Memory Interview. Bury St. Edmunds, UK: Thames Valley Test Company) was administered. The Past Episodic and Future Episodic sections of Dalla Barba's Confabulation Battery (Dalla Barba, 1993, Cogn. Neuropsychol., 1, 1) and a specifically tailored Mental Time Travel Questionnaire were administered to assess future thinking in HCM and age-matched controls. HCM presented with a deficit in forming new memories (anterograde amnesia) and recalling events from before the onset of neurological impairment (retrograde amnesia). HCM's autobiographical memory impairments are characterized by a paucity of memories from Recent Life. In comparison with controls, two features of his future thoughts are apparent: Reduced episodic future thinking and outdated content of his episodic future thoughts. This article suggests neuropsychologists should look beyond popular conceptualizations of the past-future relation in amnesia via focussing on reduced future thinking. Investigating both the quantity and quality of future thoughts produced by amnesic patients may lead to developments in understanding the complex nature of future thinking disorders resulting from memory impairments. We highlight the clinical importance of examining the content of future thoughts in amnesic patients, rather than only its quantitative reduction. We propose an explanation of how quantitative and qualitative aspects of future thinking could be affected by amnesia. This could provide a useful approach to understand clinical cases of impaired prospection. Systematic group investigations are required to fully examine our hypothesis. Although the current study utilized typical future thinking measures, these may be limited and we highlight the need to develop clinically relevant measures of prospection. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

#MyDepressionLooksLike: Examining Public Discourse About Depression on Twitter

PubMed Central

Lachmar, E Megan; Bogen, Katherine W; McCauley, Heather L

2017-01-01

Background Social media provides a context for billions of users to connect, express sentiments, and provide in-the-moment status updates. Because Twitter users tend to tweet emotional updates from daily life, the platform provides unique insights into experiences of mental health problems. Depression is not only one of the most prevalent health conditions but also carries a social stigma. Yet, opening up about one’s depression and seeking social support may provide relief from symptoms. Objective The aim of this study was to examine the public discourse of the trending hashtag #MyDepressionLooksLike to look more closely at how users talk about their depressive symptoms on Twitter. Methods We captured 3225 original content tweets for the hashtag #MyDepressionLooksLike that circulated in May of 2016. Eliminating public service announcements, spam, and tweets with links to pictures or videos resulted in a total of 1978 tweets. Using qualitative content analysis, we coded the tweets to detect themes. Results The content analysis revealed seven themes: dysfunctional thoughts, lifestyle challenges, social struggles, hiding behind a mask, apathy and sadness, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and seeking relief. Conclusions The themes revealed important information about the content of the public messages that people share about depression on Twitter. More research is needed to understand the effects of the hashtag on increasing social support for users and reducing social stigma related to depression. PMID:29046270

Playing prosocial video games increases the accessibility of prosocial thoughts.

PubMed

Greitemeyer, Tobias; Osswald, Silvia

2011-01-01

Past research has provided abundant evidence that playing violent video games increases aggressive tendencies. In contrast, evidence on possible positive effects of video game exposure on prosocial tendencies has been relatively sparse. The present research tested and found support for the hypothesis that exposure to prosocial video games increases the accessibility of prosocial thoughts. These results provide support to the predictive validity of the General Learning Model (Buckley & Anderson, 2006) for the effects of exposure to prosocial media on social tendencies. Thus, depending on the content of the video game, playing video games can harm but may also benefit social relations.

Conducting the train of thought: working memory capacity, goal neglect, and mind wandering in an executive-control task.

PubMed

McVay, Jennifer C; Kane, Michael J

2009-01-01

On the basis of the executive-attention theory of working memory capacity (WMC; e.g., M. J. Kane, A. R. A. Conway, D. Z. Hambrick, & R. W. Engle, 2007), the authors tested the relations among WMC, mind wandering, and goal neglect in a sustained attention to response task (SART; a go/no-go task). In 3 SART versions, making conceptual versus perceptual processing demands, subjects periodically indicated their thought content when probed following rare no-go targets. SART processing demands did not affect mind-wandering rates, but mind-wandering rates varied with WMC and predicted goal-neglect errors in the task; furthermore, mind-wandering rates partially mediated the WMC-SART relation, indicating that WMC-related differences in goal neglect were due, in part, to variation in the control of conscious thought.

Improving the past and the future: a temporal asymmetry in hypothetical thinking.

PubMed

Ferrante, Donatella; Girotto, Vittorio; Stragà, Marta; Walsh, Clare

2013-02-01

Current views of hypothetical thinking implicitly assume that the content of imaginary thoughts about the past and future should be the same. Two experiments show that, given the same experienced facts of reality, future imagination may differ from past reconstruction. When participants failed a task, their counterfactual thoughts focused on uncontrollable features of their attempt (e.g., "Things would have been better if the allocated time were longer/if I had better logic skills"). But their prefactual thoughts focused on controllable features of their ensuing endeavor (e.g., "Things will be better next time if I concentrate more/if I use another strategy"). This finding suggests that compared with prefactual thinking, counterfactual thinking may be less subject to reality checks and less likely to serve preparatory goals. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Facilitation Standards: A Mixed Methods Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Jennifer

2017-01-01

Online education is increasing as a solution to manage ever increasing enrollment numbers at higher education institutions. Intentionally and thoughtfully constructed courses allow students to improve performance through practice and self-assessment and instructors benefit from improving consistency in providing content and assessing process,…

Toward IVHM Prognostics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walsh, Kevin; Venti, Mike

2007-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the prognostics of Integrated Vehicle Health Management. The contents include: 1) Aircraft Operations-Today's way of doing business; 2) Prognostics; 3) NASA's instrumentation data-system rack; 4) Data mining for IVHM; 5) NASA GRC's C-MAPSS generic engine model; and 6) Concluding thoughts.

Nectarine promotes longevity in Drosophila melanogaster

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Aging is associated with increased oxidative damage and gradual decline of physiology function with age, and is modulated by numerous genetic and environmental factors. Functional fruits are thought to be ideal candidates for promoting longevity and healthspan due to their high contents of polypheno...

Influence of Spore Moisture Content on the Dry-Heat Resistance of Bacillus subtilis var. niger

PubMed Central

Angelotti, Robert; Maryanski, James H.; Butler, Thomas F.; Peeler, James T.; Campbell, Jeptha E.

1968-01-01

The dry-heat resistance of Bacillus subtilis var. niger spores located in or on various materials was determined as D and z values in the range of 105 through 160 C. The systems tested included spores located on steel and paper strips, spores located between stainless-steel washers mated together under 150 inch-lb and 12 inch-lb of torque, and spores encapsulated in methylmethacrylate and epoxy plastics. D values for a given temperature varied with the test system. High D values were observed for the systems in which spores were encapsulated or under heavy torque, whereas lower D values were observed for the steel and paper strip systems and the lightly torqued system. Similar z values were obtained for the plastic and steel strip systems (zD = 21 C), but an unusually low z for spores on paper (zD = 12.9 C) and an unusually high z for spores on steel washers mated at 150 inch-lb of torque (zD = 32 C) were observed. The effect of spore moisture content on the D value of spores encapsulated in water-impermeable plastic was determined, and maximal resistance was observed for spores with a water activity (aw) of 0.2 to 0.4. Significantly decreased D values were observed for spores with moisture contents below aw 0.2 or above aw 0.4. The data indicate that the important factors to be considered when measuring the dry heat resistance of spores are (i) the initial moisture content of the spore, (ii) the rate of spore desiccation during heating, (iii) the water retention capacity of the material in or on which spores are located, and (iv) the relative humidity of the system at the test temperature. Images Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 7 PMID:4968962

Final Report for DE-FG02-04ER15626: P-type ATPases in Plants – Role of Lipid Flippases in Membrane Biogenesis

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

Harper, Jeffrey F.

The long-range goal of the research is to understand the structure and biological functions of different P-type ATPases (ion pumps) in plant cells, and to use that knowledge to enhance the production of bioenergy from plants, or plant-research inspired technologies. Ptype ATPases include ion pumps that specifically transport H +, Ca 2+, Zn 2+, Cu 2+, K +, or Na +, as well as at least one unusual subfamily that appears to function as lipid flippases, flipping specific lipids from one side of a membrane bilayer to the other. As a group, P-type ATPases are thought to consume more thanmore » 1/3 of the cellular ATP in typical eukaryotic cells. Recent research in the Harper lab focused on understanding the biochemical and biological functions of P-type ATPases that flip lipids. These flippases belong to the P4 subfamily of P-type ATPases. The activity of lipid flippases is thought to induce membrane curvature and/or create an asymmetry in which certain lipid head groups are preferential exposed to one surface or the other. In Arabidopsis thaliana there are 12 members of this family referred to as Aminophospholipid ATPase (ALA) 1 to ALA12. Using genetic knockouts, the Harper lab has established that this unusual subfamily of P-type ATPases are critical for plants to cope with even modest changes in temperature (e.g., down to 15°C, or up to 30°C). In addition, members of one subclade are critical for cell expansion, and loss of function mutants result in severe dwarfism. Other members of this same sub-clade are critical for pollen tube growth, and loss of function mutants are sterile under conditions of hot days and cold nights. While the cellular processes that depend on lipid flippases are still unclear, the genetic analysis of loss of function mutants clearly show they are of fundamental importance to plant growth and response to the environment.« less

Ontogeny of the cranial system in Laonastes aenigmamus

PubMed Central

Herrel, Anthony; Fabre, Anne-Claire; Hugot, Jean-Pierre; Keovichit, Kham; Adriaens, Dominique; Brabant, Loes; Van Hoorebeke, Luc; Cornette, Raphael

2012-01-01

Rodents, together with bats, are among the ecologically most diverse and most speciose groups of mammals. Moreover, rodents show elaborate specializations of the feeding apparatus in response to the predominantly fore-aft movements of the lower jaw. The Laotian rock rat Laonastes aenigmamus was recently discovered and originally thought to belong to a new family. The difficulties in classifying L. aenigmamus based on morphological characters stem from the fact that it presents a mixture of sciurognathous and hystricognathous characteristics, including the morphology of the jaw adductors. The origin of the unusual muscular organization in this species remains, however, unclear. Here, we investigate the development of the masticatory system in Laonastes to better understand the origin of its derived morphology relative to other rodents. Our analyses show that skull and mandible development is characterized by an overall elongation of the snout region. Muscle mass increases with positive allometry during development and growth, and so does the force-generating capacity of the jaw adductor muscles (i.e. physiological cross-sectional area). Whereas fetal crania and musculature are more similar to those of typical rodents, adults diverge in the elongation of the rostral part of the skull and the disproportionate development of the zygomaticomandibularis. Our data suggest a functional signal in the development of the unusual cranial morphology, possibly associated with the folivorous trophic ecology of the species. PMID:22607030

Two high-mobility group box domains act together to underwind and kink DNA

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

Sánchez-Giraldo, R.; Acosta-Reyes, F. J.; Malarkey, C. S.

The crystal structure of HMGB1 box A bound to an unmodified AT-rich DNA fragment is reported at a resolution of 2 Å. A new mode of DNA recognition for HMG box proteins is found in which two box A domains bind in an unusual configuration generating a highly kinked DNA structure. High-mobility group protein 1 (HMGB1) is an essential and ubiquitous DNA architectural factor that influences a myriad of cellular processes. HMGB1 contains two DNA-binding domains, box A and box B, which have little sequence specificity but have remarkable abilities to underwind and bend DNA. Although HMGB1 box A ismore » thought to be responsible for the majority of HMGB1–DNA interactions with pre-bent or kinked DNA, little is known about how it recognizes unmodified DNA. Here, the crystal structure of HMGB1 box A bound to an AT-rich DNA fragment is reported at a resolution of 2 Å. Two box A domains of HMGB1 collaborate in an unusual configuration in which the Phe37 residues of both domains stack together and intercalate the same CG base pair, generating highly kinked DNA. This represents a novel mode of DNA recognition for HMGB proteins and reveals a mechanism by which structure-specific HMG boxes kink linear DNA.« less

Satellite and Ocean Model Analysis of Thermal Conditions Affecting Coral Reefs in the Western Indian Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez Delgado, Z.; Ummenhofer, C.; Swales, D. J.

2016-02-01

Corals are thought to be one of the smallest yet most productive ecosystems in the world. They have great economic and ecological value, but are increasingly affected by anthropogenic, biological and physical threats, such as a rise in sea surface temperature (SST) and ocean acidification due to an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere, among other factors. Here, specific events are investigated that likely exerted significant stress on corals, focusing particularly on unusual climatic conditions in the Western Indian Ocean during the 2001 to 2007 period as reflected by anomalies in degree heating weeks, hotspots and SST. Anomalous conditions in subsurface temperatures and mixed layer depth across the Indian Ocean region are also examined. We do this by using monthly, year-to-date, and annual composites of twice-weekly 50-km satellite coral bleaching monitoring products from the NOAA Coral Reef Watch and complementing it with output from a high-resolution global ocean model hindcast (1948-2007) forced with observed atmospheric forcing. Two years stand out in our analysis for the satellite data and model output: 2003 and 2005 exhibit strong warming in the Western Indian Ocean and cooling in the East. To establish the physical mechanisms giving rise to the unusual conditions and hotspot origins in 2003 and 2005 we also evaluate regional circulation changes in the Western Indian Ocean.

The Mystery of ASASSN-15lh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fruchter, Andrew; van Velzen, Sjoert

2018-01-01

ASASSN-15lh is the most luminous optical transient ever detected; yet, its nature is unclear. It was first thought to be a supernova. However, its host shows little sign of star formation, and the transient has remained a hot thermal source for two years, making a supernova origin seem less likely. Alternatively, ASSASN-15lh may be a flare caused by the tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole. However, this model is also far from an easy fit. The luminosity of the host’s bulge implies a black hole mass so large that a star would almost certainly be swallowed before disrupted, unless the the black hole is spinning near maximally. Furthermore, the double-humped shape of the light curve seen in the UV is highly unusual for a tidal disruption flare (TDF). Here we present reanalysis of HST archival images of the ASASSN-15lh and its host. We show that the host has highly unusual morphological features that are only reasonably explained by a substantial merger. A merger can greatly increase the rate of TDFs through perturbation of stellar orbits, the introduction and/or formation of new stars near the central black hole, or even the addition of a second massive black hole to the core of the galaxy. The disturbed morphology of the host thus supports the TDF explanation of ASASSN-15lh.

Respiratory distress and chest pain: a perforated peptic ulcer with an unusual presentation.

PubMed

Bruner, David I; Gustafson, Corey

2011-06-22

Dyspnea and chest pain are common presenting complaints to the ED, and coupled together can present a challenging diagnostic dilemma in patients in extremis. A thoughtful evaluation is required, giving due diligence to the immediate life threats as well as multiple etiologies which can cause serious morbidity. A perforated peptic ulcer is one such possibility and requires rapid diagnosis and prompt intervention to avoid the associated high risk of morbidity and mortality. We present a case report of a 54 year old man with respiratory distress and chest pain as the initial Emergency Department presentation of a perforated duodenal ulcer. We discuss an unusual presentation of a perforated duodenal ulcer that was recognized in the emergency department and treated promptly. The patient was surgically treated immediately, had a prolonged and complicated post-operative course, but is ultimately doing well. We also provide a brief literature review of the risk factors, imaging choices, and management decision required to treat a perforated ulcer. Perforated ulcers can have highly varied presentations and are occasionally difficult to diagnose in a complicated patient. Knowledge of the risk factors and a thorough history and physical can point to the diagnosis, but timely and appropriate imaging is often required because delays in diagnosis and treatment lead to poor outcomes. Early administration of antibiotics and immediate surgical repair are necessary to limit morbidity and mortality.

Respiratory distress and chest pain: a perforated peptic ulcer with an unusual presentation

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Dyspnea and chest pain are common presenting complaints to the ED, and coupled together can present a challenging diagnostic dilemma in patients in extremis. A thoughtful evaluation is required, giving due diligence to the immediate life threats as well as multiple etiologies which can cause serious morbidity. A perforated peptic ulcer is one such possibility and requires rapid diagnosis and prompt intervention to avoid the associated high risk of morbidity and mortality. Method We present a case report of a 54 year old man with respiratory distress and chest pain as the initial Emergency Department presentation of a perforated duodenal ulcer. Results We discuss an unusual presentation of a perforated duodenal ulcer that was recognized in the emergency department and treated promptly. The patient was surgically treated immediately, had a prolonged and complicated post-operative course, but is ultimately doing well. We also provide a brief literature review of the risk factors, imaging choices, and management decision required to treat a perforated ulcer. Conclusions Perforated ulcers can have highly varied presentations and are occasionally difficult to diagnose in a complicated patient. Knowledge of the risk factors and a thorough history and physical can point to the diagnosis, but timely and appropriate imaging is often required because delays in diagnosis and treatment lead to poor outcomes. Early administration of antibiotics and immediate surgical repair are necessary to limit morbidity and mortality. PMID:21696590

High incidence of cervical ribs indicates vulnerable condition in Late Pleistocene woolly rhinoceroses

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Mammals as a rule have seven cervical vertebrae, a number that remains remarkably constant. Changes of this number are associated with major congenital abnormalities (pleiotropic effects) that are, at least in humans, strongly selected against. Recently, it was found that Late Pleistocene mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) from the North Sea have an unusually high incidence of abnormal cervical vertebral numbers, approximately ten times higher than that of extant elephants. Abnormal numbers were due to the presence of large cervical ribs on the seventh vertebra, indicating a homeotic change from a cervical rib-less vertebra into a thoracic rib-bearing vertebra. The high incidence of cervical ribs indicates a vulnerable condition and is thought to be due to inbreeding and adverse conditions that may have impacted early pregnancies in declining populations. In this study we investigated the incidence of cervical ribs in another extinct Late Pleistocene megaherbivore from the North Sea and the Netherlands, the woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis). We show that the incidence of abnormal cervical vertebral numbers in the woolly rhinoceros is unusually high for mammals (15,6%, n = 32) and much higher than in extant Rhinoceratidae (0%, n = 56). This indicates that woolly rhinoceros lived under vulnerable conditions, just like woolly mammoths. The vulnerable condition may well have contributed to their eventual extinction. PMID:28875067

Transformative Leadership for Social Justice: Concluding Thoughts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tillman, Linda C.; Brown, Kathleen; Jones, Franklin Campbell; Gonzalez, Maria Luisa

2006-01-01

Throughout this issue, the authors have sought to bring to the forefront curriculum content and pedagogical approaches that advance effective teaching of social justice in educational administration programs. They have gathered, from professors in educational leadership programs across the country, curriculum designs, formats, and activities that…

Limonoid content of sour orange varieties

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Modern Citrus cultivars are thought to have arisen from three parents- the (pummelo), the mandarin, and citron. Taxological and genetic data support that sweet and sour oranges share a common parentage. However, as their name suggests the organoleptic properties of the fruit from these two familie...

From Pearl Harbor to Watergate to Kuwait: "Language in Thought and Action."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasselriis, Peter

1991-01-01

Examines the fifth edition of S. I. Hayakawa's "Language in Action" in terms of original strengths and major content still intact, reorganization of chapters with updated application sections, and new chapters on television advertisement and use of deceptive language. (KEH)

A summer blender camp: modeling, rendering, and animation for high school students.

PubMed

Bailey, Mike; Law, Cathy

2014-01-01

At Camp Blender, high-school students of varying backgrounds learned how to use the Blender software package to create computer graphics content. In a postclass survey, most of them indicated that the camp affected how they thought about their career path.

Will Brazilian Patented Naturoptic Method for Recovery of Healthy Vision be Helpful Linguistically?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Moraes, Ana Paula; Dos Santos Marques, Rosélia; Mc Leod, Roger David

2008-10-01

Naturoptics Inc. extends its patent(s) to further the teaching of vision-restoring process(es), foster cross-linguistic capabilities, and assist in the educational or financial opportunities of individuals and countries. Directors of Naturoptics Inc. hope to achieve this while testing David Matthew Mc Leod's observations that high visual acuity correlates with other mental and sensory processes. He and RDM often noticed that thought concepts (language percepts) are detectable even across species barriers, as when bears, moose, et c. made their intentions known to us in ways we were culturally willing to accept. This addresses aspects of language that seemed related to our understanding of human vision, and how it encodes cortically by spatial frequency content of a visual scene. Words representing the same meaning in two different languages will encode at precisely the same site in the visual cortex. Predictions: ``our memories,'' and cross-species, detection of certain thoughts, if equivalently ``seen'' as images, (spatial frequency content).

Geothermal constraints on enrichment of boron and lithium in salt lakes: An example from a river-salt lake system on the northern slope of the eastern Kunlun Mountains, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Hongbing; Chen, Jun; Rao, Wenbo; Zhang, Wenjie; Zhou, Huifang

2012-06-01

Some rivers on the northern slope of the eastern Kunlun Mountains in the Qaidam Basin, China, show very high concentrations of boron and lithium. Correspondingly, the salt lakes fed by these rivers show an unusual enrichment of boron and lithium, and become an important economic resource. The origin of boron and lithium has long been debated. The aim of this study is to analyze the water chemistry and hydrogen and oxygen isotopic composition of river water to understand the unusual enrichment of boron and lithium in the salt lakes of the Qaidam Basin. Oxygen and hydrogen isotope data show that the source of river water in the winter and summer originates from the Kunlun Mountain ice and snow melt water, respectively. The water chemistry shows that boron and lithium contents are high but little variable with seasons in the Nalenggele River and Wutumeiren River waters. By contrast, other rivers have much lower lithium and boron contents. Moreover, the contents of B3+ and Li+ in the river loads or bed sands show little difference amongst the rivers. This indicates that removal by adsorption or input by surface rock weathering is not the main controlling factor of the B3+ and Li+ variation in the rivers. Rivers with high B3+ and Li+ content are chemically similar to geothermal waters in the Tibetan Plateau. In addition, the source area of the Nalenggele River is located in a collision zone of the Kunlun Mountains and Altun Mountains. Large and deep faults can serve as conduits for geothermal fluids. Thus, deep geothermal waters in the source area can easily migrate to the surface and discharge as springs feeding the rivers. They are an important source of B3+ and Li+ to the rivers. The abnormally high contents of B3+ and Li+ in the Nalenggele and Wutumeiren Rivers also suggest that the geothermal source area may be a future target for boron and lithium resources.

Isolation of Clostridium spiroforme from rabbits.

PubMed

Holmes, H T; Sonn, R J; Patton, N M

1988-04-01

The isolation of Clostridium spiroforme from intestinal contents of rabbits was achieved by sampling the supernatant-pellet interphase of centrifuged specimens processed for routine toxin analysis. High-speed centrifugation at 20,000x for 15 minutes provided a rapid and effective means of separating this anaerobic pathogen from the majority of both indigenous and non-indigenous intestinal microbial flora. The unusual helically-coiled, semicircular shape of the microorganism is considered, at least in part, responsible for this phenomenon.

Degenerative minimalism in the genome of a psyllid endosymbiont.

PubMed

Clark, M A; Baumann, L; Thao, M L; Moran, N A; Baumann, P

2001-03-01

Psyllids, like aphids, feed on plant phloem sap and are obligately associated with prokaryotic endosymbionts acquired through vertical transmission from an ancestral infection. We have sequenced 37 kb of DNA of the genome of Carsonella ruddii, the endosymbiont of psyllids, and found that it has a number of unusual properties revealing a more extreme case of degeneration than was previously reported from studies of eubacterial genomes, including that of the aphid endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola. Among the unusual properties are an exceptionally low guanine-plus-cytosine content (19.9%), almost complete absence of intergenic spaces, operon fusion, and lack of the usual promoter sequences upstream of 16S rDNA. These features suggest the synthesis of long mRNAs and translational coupling. The most extreme instances of base compositional bias occur in the genes encoding proteins that have less highly conserved amino acid sequences; the guanine-plus-cytosine content of some protein-coding sequences is as low as 10%. The shift in base composition has a large effect on proteins: in polypeptides of C. ruddii, half of the residues consist of five amino acids with codons low in guanine plus cytosine. Furthermore, the proteins of C. ruddii are reduced in size, with an average of about 9% fewer amino acids than in homologous proteins of related bacteria. These observations suggest that the C. ruddii genome is not subject to constraints that limit the evolution of other known eubacteria.

Bringing Hometown Relevance to Introductory Geology Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodell, L. P.

2008-12-01

An abundance of on-line data and content is increasingly available, especially for the U.S., and can easily bring a "hometown touch" to geoscience courses. This is particularly valuable at the introductory level where student engagement can be a challenge. Students are naturally drawn to material with which they have a personal connection, and this connection can be exploited to instantly engage students in course content. For example, most students have never really thought about the topography of their hometowns and are fascinated to examine topographic maps that cover the areas in which they grew up. The theory of plate tectonics becomes real as students use high-precision GPS data to show near real-time plate motions of where they live (and GPS is something more and more students are familiar with). At Princeton and other institutions drawing students from a wide geographic area, students get the added benefit of being able to compare and contrast characteristics of each other's hometowns. Applications of hometown perspective include: 1) Hometown map exercises: obtain USGS 1:24000 topographic quadrangle maps of students' hometown areas. These can be inexpensively ordered from a variety of sources or printed from downloaded digital scans. 2) Hometown stream projects: students choose streams of personal interest, download NWIS discharge data and discover typical discharge patterns, examine unusual events such as floods or droughts, perform flood frequency analyses, and see changes over time (e.g. due to development or stream exploitation). 3) Hometown plate motions: students can use several independent methods to track both short-term and long-term average plate motions. They can download high-precision GPS data from stations near their hometowns to get near real-time plate motions. These can be compared to independent long-term averages from various "plate motion calculators" that are based on geologic data. 4) Hometown earthquakes: use USGS or IRIS seismic monitors to look at earthquake patterns in hometown regions. 5) Hometown seismic data: analyze remote earthquakes using seismograph data from stations near students' hometowns. 6) Hometown climate change: examine historic temperature and precipitation records from stations or regions near students' hometowns and analyze changes over time.

Relationships between Hg Air-surface exchange, Soil Moisture and Precipitation at a Background Vegetated Site in South-Eastern Australia.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macsween, K.; Edwards, G. C.

2017-12-01

Despite many decades of research, the controlling mechanisms of mercury (Hg) air-surface exhange are still poorly understood. Particularly in Australian ecosystems where there are few anthropogenic inputs. A clear understanding of these mechanisms is vital for accurate representation in the global Hg models, particularly regarding re-emission. Water is known to have a considerable influence on Hg exchange within a terrestrial ecosystem. Precipitation has been found to cause spikes is Hg emissions during the initial stages of rain event. While, Soil moisture content is known to enhance fluxes between 15 and 30% Volumetric soil water (VSW), above which fluxes become suppressed. Few field experiments exist to verify these dominantly laboratory or controlled experiments. Here we present work looking at Hg fluxes over an 8-month period at a vegetated background site. The aim of this study is to identify how changes to precipitation intensity and duration, coupled with variable soil moisture content may influence Hg flux across seasons. As well as the influence of other meteorological variables. Experimentation was undertaken using aerodynamic gradient micrometeorological flux method, avoiding disruption to the surface, soil moisture probes and rain gauge measurements to monitor alterations to substrate conditions. Meteorological and air chemistry variables were also measured concurrently throughout the duration of the study. During the study period, South-Eastern Australia experienced several intense east coast low storm systems during the Autumn and Spring months and an unusually dry winter. VSW rarely reached above 30% even following the intense rainfall experienced during the east coast lows. The generally dry conditions throughout winter resulted in an initial spike in Hg emissions when rainfall occurred. Fluxes decreased shortly after the rain began but remained slightly elevated. Given the reduced net radiation and cooler temperatures experienced during the winter months soils took several days to dry out, resulting in slightly enhanced fluxes for the days preceding rainfall. It is thought that seasonality of rainfall has a significant impact of Hg air-surface exchange trends, both through increased recovery times once rain has past and through the increased occurrence of major storm events.

The Active Form of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ribonucleotide Reductase Small Subunit Is a Heterodimer in Vitro and in Vivo†

PubMed Central

Perlstein, Deborah L.; Ge, Jie; Ortigosa, Allison D.; Robblee, John H.; Zhang, Zhen; Huang, Mingxia; Stubbe, JoAnne

2015-01-01

The class I ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) are composed of two homodimeric subunits: R1 and R2. R2 houses a diferric-tyrosyl radical (Y•) cofactor. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has two R2s: Y2 (β2) and Y4 (β′2). Y4 is an unusual R2 because three residues required for iron binding have been mutated. While the heterodimer (ββ′) is thought to be the active form, several rnr4Δ strains are viable. To resolve this paradox, N-terminally epitope-tagged β and β′ were expressed in E. coli or integrated into the yeast genome. In vitro exchange studies reveal that when apo-(His6)-β2 (Hisβ2) is mixed with β′2, apo-Hisββ′ forms quantitatively within 2 min. In contrast, holo-ββ′ fails to exchange with apo-Hisβ2 to form holo-Hisββ and β′2. Isolation of genomically encoded tagged β or β′ from yeast extracts gave a 1:1 complex of β and β′, suggesting that ββ′ is the active form. The catalytic activity, protein concentrations, and Y• content of the rnr4Δ and wild type (wt) strains were compared to clarify the role of β′ in vivo. The Y• content of rnr4Δ is 15-fold less than that of wt, consistent with the observed low activity of rnr4Δ extracts (<0.01 nmol min−1 mg−1) versus wt (0.06 ± 0.01 nmol min−1 mg−1). FLAGβ2 isolated from the rnr4Δ strain has a specific activity of 2 nmol min−1 mg−1, similar to that of reconstituted apo-Hisβ2 (10 nmol min−1 mg−1), but significantly less than holo-Hisββ′ (~2000 nmol min−1 mg−1). These studies together demonstrate that β′ plays a crucial role in cluster assembly in vitro and in vivo and that the active form of the yeast R2 is ββ′. PMID:16285741

Was it poisoning?

PubMed

Flanagan, R J

The aim of post-mortem toxicology is to help establish the role that drugs or other poisons played in a death, or in events immediately before death. If self-poisoning is suspected then the diagnosis may be straightforward and all that may be required is confirmation of the agents involved. If the cause of death is not immediately obvious, however, then suspicion of possible poisoning is of course crucial. Blood sampling (needle aspiration, peripheral vein, e.g. femoral, ideally after proximal ligation) before opening the body, minimises the risk of sample contamination with, for example, gut contents or urine. The site of blood sampling should always be recorded. Other specimens (stomach contents, urine, liver, vitreous humor) may also be valuable and may be needed to corroborate unexpected or unusual findings in the absence of other evidence. The availability of ante-mortem specimens should not preclude post-mortem sampling. Appropriate sample preservation, transport, and storage are mandatory. Interpretation of post-mortem toxicology must take into account what is known of the clinical pharmacology, including pharmacokinetics, and toxicology of the agent(s) in question, the circumstances under which death occurred including the possible mechanism(s) of exposure, and other factors such as the sample(s) analysed and the analytical methods used. It was thought that concentrations of poisons measured in blood obtained at autopsy reflected the situation peri-mortem. However, we now know that changes may occur in the composition of body fluids, even peripheral blood, after death. Such changes are likely to be greater with centrally-acting drugs such as clozapine with large volumes of distribution, and may perhaps be minimised by prompt refrigeration of the body and performing the autopsy quickly. Better training in analytical toxicology is needed for pathologists and others who may be called upon to interpret toxicological data for the Courts. Undue reliance on quantitative results is likely to confuse sooner rather than later, especially in the case of centrally-acting drugs such as opioids and clozapine. Remember that the question is normally "was it poisoning?" or "was it an overdose?"--and not--"is it a fatal level"?

[Apropos of atypical melancholia with Sustiva (efavirenz)].

PubMed

Lang, J P; Halleguen, O; Picard, A; Lang, J M; Danion, J M

2001-01-01

The treatment of HIV infection has changed dramatically in recent years as a result of the development of new drugs which allows a variety of multitherapy combinations more adapted to patients' needs and thereby improving compliance. Efavirenz is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. In addition to a potent antiretroviral activity, efavirenz is an easy-to-take drug with once-daily dosing and is usually well tolerated. Efavirenz, however, may induce psychic alterations which are variable and atypical in both their clinical presentation and severity. As early as the first days of treatment, efavirenz may provoke surprising phenomena such as nightmares, vivid dreams, hallucinations or illusions, and twilight states. Depersonalization and derealization episodes, personality alterations, stream of thought troubles and unusual thought contents, atypical depression and cognitive disorders have also been observed. These phenomena may occur either early or later on treatment. The prevalence of severe psychic disorders is less than 5%, but they are often responsible for harmful treatment discontinuations. Psychiatric side effects are heterogeneous and probably not related to pre-existing psychologic weakness. We do not have enough data to evaluate these side effects and their etiopathogeny. The drug could act directly on the central nervous system since it crosses the blood-brain barrier, on the serotoninergic and dopaminergic systems. Some authors have compared efavirenz-induced psychic effects to those associated with LSD and found structural similarities between the two molecules. However, the heterogeneity and low prevalence of the psychiatric side effects of efavirenz suggest and individual sensitivity. In order to improve patient care, a better clinical approach, neuropsychological evaluation, and functional brain imagery should be used to progress in the analysis and comprehension of these disorders. We discuss in this paper the case of Mister H. This HIV-infected person presented with two severe melancholic episodes associated with marked cognitive disorders which resisted two successive antidepressant treatments (viloxazine and citalopram, respectively) prescribed at effective doses and for sufficient time duration. Mister H. had no personal or family psychiatric antecedent. His psychic condition improved only when efavirenz was discontinued. However, drug discontinuation may not be an obligatory step to improve the patient's condition since antidepressant treatment has been found effective in some similar situations. Actually, each case should be discussed with the clinicians taking care of the patient.

The differential effect of realistic and unrealistic counterfactual thinking on regret.

PubMed

Sevdalis, Nick; Kokkinaki, Flora

2006-06-01

Research has established that realistic counterfactual thinking can determine the intensity and the content of people's affective reactions to decision outcomes and events. Not much is known, however, about the affective consequences of counterfactual thinking that is unrealistic (i.e., that does not correspond to the main causes of a negative outcome). In three experiments, we investigate the influence of realistic and unrealistic counterfactuals on experienced regret after negative outcomes. In Experiment 1, we found that participants who thought unrealistically about a poor outcome reported less regret than those who thought realistically about it. In Experiments 2a and 2b, we replicated this finding and we showed that the decrease in regret was associated with a shift in the causal attributions of the poor outcome. Participants who thought unrealistically attributed it more to external circumstances and less to their own behaviours than those who thought realistically about it. We discuss the implications of these findings for the role of counterfactuals as self-serving biases and the functionality of regret as a counterfactual emotion.

A BRIEF ECOLOGICAL MOMENTARY INTERVENTION FOR GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF THE WORRY OUTCOME JOURNAL.

PubMed

LaFreniere, Lucas S; Newman, Michelle G

2016-09-01

The efficacy of many cognitive behavioral component interventions has not been examined, with worry outcome monitoring among them. To address this issue, 51 participants with clinical levels of generalized anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to a treatment or control condition for 10 days. The treatment condition consisted of a brief ecological momentary intervention termed the Worry Outcome Journal (WOJ). WOJ participants recorded worries and tracked their outcomes, rating worry distress, interference, and expected outcome probabilities. Thought log (TL) control participants completed a record of their everyday thoughts and rated associated distress. All participants made four entries on paper each day when randomly prompted by text message. They then entered their paper contents online each night. After 30 days they reviewed their contents electronically and completed follow-up measures. Primary results revealed significant reductions in worry for WOJ users compared to TL users at postintervention. A marginally significant difference was found at 20-day follow-up and treatment gains were maintained. Secondary analyses showed no harmful increases in worry beliefs for WOJ users, as well as preliminary evidence for decreases in beliefs about the uncontrollability of thoughts in both groups. The WOJ may be a viable therapist-independent treatment for reducing worry, even after only 10 days of use. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Identifying autism from neural representations of social interactions: neurocognitive markers of autism.

PubMed

Just, Marcel Adam; Cherkassky, Vladimir L; Buchweitz, Augusto; Keller, Timothy A; Mitchell, Tom M

2014-01-01

Autism is a psychiatric/neurological condition in which alterations in social interaction (among other symptoms) are diagnosed by behavioral psychiatric methods. The main goal of this study was to determine how the neural representations and meanings of social concepts (such as to insult) are altered in autism. A second goal was to determine whether these alterations can serve as neurocognitive markers of autism. The approach is based on previous advances in fMRI analysis methods that permit (a) the identification of a concept, such as the thought of a physical object, from its fMRI pattern, and (b) the ability to assess the semantic content of a concept from its fMRI pattern. These factor analysis and machine learning methods were applied to the fMRI activation patterns of 17 adults with high-functioning autism and matched controls, scanned while thinking about 16 social interactions. One prominent neural representation factor that emerged (manifested mainly in posterior midline regions) was related to self-representation, but this factor was present only for the control participants, and was near-absent in the autism group. Moreover, machine learning algorithms classified individuals as autistic or control with 97% accuracy from their fMRI neurocognitive markers. The findings suggest that psychiatric alterations of thought can begin to be biologically understood by assessing the form and content of the altered thought's underlying brain activation patterns.

Dissecting auditory verbal hallucinations into two components: audibility (Gedankenlautwerden) and alienation (thought insertion).

PubMed

Sommer, Iris E; Selten, Jean-Paul; Diederen, Kelly M; Blom, Jan Dirk

2010-01-01

This study proposes a theoretical framework which dissects auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) into 2 essential components: audibility and alienation. Audibility, the perceptual aspect of AVH, may result from a disinhibition of the auditory cortex in response to self-generated speech. In isolation, this aspect leads to audible thoughts: Gedankenlautwerden. The second component is alienation, which is the failure to recognize the content of AVH as self-generated. This failure may be related to the fact that cerebral activity associated with AVH is predominantly present in the speech production area of the right hemisphere. Since normal inner speech is derived from the left speech area, an aberrant source may lead to confusion about the origin of the language fragments. When alienation is not accompanied by audibility, it will result in the experience of thought insertion. The 2 hypothesized components are illustrated using case vignettes. Copyright 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Evidence for an implicit influence of memory on future thinking.

PubMed

Szpunar, Karl K

2010-07-01

The capacity to think about specific events that one might encounter in the future--episodic future thought--involves the flexible (re)organization of memory. The present study demonstrates that implicit processes play an important role here. In two experiments (N = 180), participants were asked to generate a personal event that they expected to plausibly occur in the following week. The content of the participants' responses was biased (i.e., primed) by recent thoughts about a specific category of experiences. For instance, participants who had recently been induced to think about social experiences, in the context of an ostensibly unrelated task, were more likely than nonprimed participants to generate similar events occurring in their immediate future. Importantly, the participants were unaware of this unintentional influence of memory. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for understanding episodic future thought and its relation to memory are discussed.

Looking forward: the effects of photographs on the qualities of future thinking.

PubMed

Bays, Rebecca B; Wellen, Brianna C M; Greenberg, Katherine S

2018-04-01

Future episodic thinking relies on the reconstruction of remembered experiences. Photographs provide one means of remembering, acting as a "cognitive springboard" for generating related memory qualities. We wondered whether photographs would also invite embellishment of future thought qualities, particularly in the presence (or absence) of associated memories. In two studies participants generated future events in familiar (associated memories) and novel (no associated memories) locations. Half of the participants viewed scene location photographs during event generation. All participants then imagined the events for one minute and completed a self-report measure of content qualities. Results of the current set of studies suggested that for novel locations, no differences in qualities emerged; however, for familiar locations, photographs did not enhance qualities and, in some cases, actually constrained perceptual (Experiments 1 and 2) and sensory (Experiment 1) detail ratings of future thoughts. Thus, photographs did not invite embellishment of future thought details.

Continuing Education: The Emergence of a Functioning Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graziano, John A.; Roberts, Elizabeth H.

1980-01-01

The basic models of mandated, postlicensing, educational activity for professionals are reviewed including: (1) podiatry model (course content, mode of delivery, lecturer credentials, and administrative controls); (2) continuing competence model; and (3) peer review model. The podiatry model is thought to be the most logical, expedient, and…

Impact of dietary carbohydrate and protein source and content on swine manure foaming properties

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Diet ingredients are thought to contribute to foaming problems associated with swine deep-pit systems. Two experiments explored the impact of protein and carbohydrate sources in swine diets on the physicochemical properties, methane production potential, and foaming characteristics of swine manure. ...

Students' Stereotypes of Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Chantelle; Freeth, Megan

2016-01-01

This research aimed to ascertain the contents (Study 1) and valence (Study 2) of the stereotype associated with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) in university students. Study 1 used a free-response methodology where participants listed the characteristics that they thought society associates with individuals with ASC. This study revealed that the…

College Students' Reasons for Concealing Suicidal Ideation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton Denmark, Adryon; Hess, Elaine; Becker, Martin Swanbrow

2012-01-01

Self-reported reasons for concealing suicidal ideation were explored using data from a national survey of undergraduate and graduate students: 558 students indicated that they seriously considered attempting suicide during the previous year and did not tell anyone about their suicidal thoughts. Content analysis of students' qualitative responses…

On Teaching Biotechnology in Kentucky.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Dan C.; Kemp, Michael C.; Hall, Jennifer

1998-01-01

One study surveyed 187 Kentucky teachers (36% agriculture, 32% science, 32% technology education); they rated importance of content organizers, topics, transferable skills, and delivery methods for biotechnology. A second study received responses from 70 of 150 teachers; 45 thought science teachers or an integrated team should teach biotechnology;…

Color Me a Writer: Teaching Students To Think Critically.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viau, Elizabeth Anne

1998-01-01

Teachers and students can use color to identify different types of writing. This article describes using color to highlight annotations, identity, topic sentences, thoughts and emotions, logical arguments, advertising and selling, showing and telling, and looking and seeing. Includes sample assignments for identifying emotional content, topic…

Teaching Marketing Research with the Internet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siu, Wai-Sum; Chau, Lewis Long-Fung

1998-01-01

A Web site used to teach business students to use the Internet for marketing research was evaluated by 54 students. They thought its information content was useful but wanted it to be easier to use. Educators should identify students' level of Internet literacy and develop online materials accordingly. (SK)

Teaching Sociology through Student Portfolios

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trepagnier, Barbara

2004-01-01

After several years of teaching Sociological Thought--an upper division course that focuses on classical, modern, and contemporary sociological theories--the author came across the idea of student portfolios. As a consequence, the course has undergone far-reaching changes. The content remains relatively intact; however, today the theory course…

The microbial content of non-sterile pharmaceuticals distributed in Norway.

PubMed

Charnock, C

2004-07-01

Seventy-seven registered trademark pharmaceuticals and allied products, not required by the relevant monographs to comply with the test for sterility, were investigated for their microbial content. All the products examined complied with current regulations with respect to the numbers and types of microbes isolated, indicating the effectiveness of existing production practices in meeting existing standards. Gram-positive endospore-forming rods accounted for the majority of the bacteria isolated. Gram-negative rods were present for the most part in incidental numbers. However, some of these were of species that have been previously indicated as opportunistic pathogens and which should be considered as objectionable in pharmaceuticals. A number of the isolates showed antibiotic resistances unusual for the species in question.

A Role for Weak Electrostatic Interactions in Peripheral Membrane Protein Binding

PubMed Central

Khan, Hanif M.; He, Tao; Fuglebakk, Edvin; Grauffel, Cédric; Yang, Boqian; Roberts, Mary F.; Gershenson, Anne; Reuter, Nathalie

2016-01-01

Bacillus thuringiensis phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (BtPI-PLC) is a secreted virulence factor that binds specifically to phosphatidylcholine (PC) bilayers containing negatively charged phospholipids. BtPI-PLC carries a negative net charge and its interfacial binding site has no obvious cluster of basic residues. Continuum electrostatic calculations show that, as expected, nonspecific electrostatic interactions between BtPI-PLC and membranes vary as a function of the fraction of anionic lipids present in the bilayers. Yet they are strikingly weak, with a calculated ΔGel below 1 kcal/mol, largely due to a single lysine (K44). When K44 is mutated to alanine, the equilibrium dissociation constant for small unilamellar vesicles increases more than 50 times (∼2.4 kcal/mol), suggesting that interactions between K44 and lipids are not merely electrostatic. Comparisons of molecular-dynamics simulations performed using different lipid compositions reveal that the bilayer composition does not affect either hydrogen bonds or hydrophobic contacts between the protein interfacial binding site and bilayers. However, the occupancies of cation-π interactions between PC choline headgroups and protein tyrosines vary as a function of PC content. The overall contribution of basic residues to binding affinity is also context dependent and cannot be approximated by a rule-of-thumb value because these residues can contribute to both nonspecific electrostatic and short-range protein-lipid interactions. Additionally, statistics on the distribution of basic amino acids in a data set of membrane-binding domains reveal that weak electrostatics, as observed for BtPI-PLC, might be a less unusual mechanism for peripheral membrane binding than is generally thought. PMID:27028646

Giant Reverse Transcriptase-Encoding Transposable Elements at Telomeres.

PubMed

Arkhipova, Irina R; Yushenova, Irina A; Rodriguez, Fernando

2017-09-01

Transposable elements are omnipresent in eukaryotic genomes and have a profound impact on chromosome structure, function and evolution. Their structural and functional diversity is thought to be reasonably well-understood, especially in retroelements, which transpose via an RNA intermediate copied into cDNA by the element-encoded reverse transcriptase, and are characterized by a compact structure. Here, we report a novel type of expandable eukaryotic retroelements, which we call Terminons. These elements can attach to G-rich telomeric repeat overhangs at the chromosome ends, in a process apparently facilitated by complementary C-rich repeats at the 3'-end of the RNA template immediately adjacent to a hammerhead ribozyme motif. Terminon units, which can exceed 40 kb in length, display an unusually complex and diverse structure, and can form very long chains, with host genes often captured between units. As the principal polymerizing component, Terminons contain Athena reverse transcriptases previously described in bdelloid rotifers and belonging to the enigmatic group of Penelope-like elements, but can additionally accumulate multiple cooriented ORFs, including DEDDy 3'-exonucleases, GDSL esterases/lipases, GIY-YIG-like endonucleases, rolling-circle replication initiator (Rep) proteins, and putatively structural ORFs with coiled-coil motifs and transmembrane domains. The extraordinary length and complexity of Terminons and the high degree of interfamily variability in their ORF content challenge the current views on the structural organization of eukaryotic retroelements, and highlight their possible connections with the viral world and the implications for the elevated frequency of gene transfer. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Perseverative thought: a robust predictor of response to emotional challenge in generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Ruscio, Ayelet Meron; Seitchik, Allison E; Gentes, Emily L; Jones, Jason D; Hallion, Lauren S

2011-12-01

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) frequently co-occur, yet the reasons for their comorbidity remain poorly understood. In the present experiment, we tested whether a tendency to engage in negative, repetitive thinking constitutes a common risk process for the two disorders. A mixed sample of adults with comorbid GAD-MDD (n=50), GAD only (n=35), MDD only (n=34), or no lifetime psychopathology (n=35) was administered noncontingent failure and success feedback on consecutive performance tasks. Perseverative thought (PT), measured by negative thought intrusions during a baseline period of focused breathing, emerged as a powerful prospective predictor of responses to this experimental challenge. Participants reporting more frequent negative thought intrusions at baseline, irrespective of thought content or diagnostic status, exhibited a stronger negative response to failure that persisted even after subsequent success. Higher PT over the course of the experiment was associated with later behavioral avoidance, with negative affect and other traits closely linked to anxiety and depression, and with the presence and severity of GAD and MDD. These findings provide evidence for a broadly-defined PT trait that is shared by GAD and MDD and contributes to adverse outcomes in these disorders. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

36Cl: A tracer in groundwater in the aquia formation of Southern Maryland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Purdy, C.B.; Mignerey, A.C.; Helz, G.R.; Drummond, D.D.; Kubik, P.W.; Elmore, D.; Hemmick, T.

1987-01-01

The Aquia Formation (Paleocene) of Southern Maryland, a marine unit consisting predominantly of quartz sands, but containing 20-40% glauconite, represents one of the many productive, heavily pumped aquifers of the Southeastern Coastal Plain. An unusually high 36Cl activity ( ~ 15 ?? modem water) measured in an outcrop sample is interpreted as a result of the bomb pulse input. About 25 km downdip from the recharge area, a minimum in total chloride concentration occurs. This minimum is thought to correlate with the latest low-stand of sea-level, and thus to provide time information which is in general agreement with ages calculated from hydrodynamic data. However, significant increases in the 36Cl concentrations are observed along the flow path which may be due to ion filtration or to leakage of modem, bomb-contaminated water into the Aquia aquifer. ?? 1987.

Lesson of the month 2: An unusual adverse reaction associated with pramipexole.

PubMed

Tashkent, Yasmina; Aiyappan, Vinod

2018-06-01

Dopamine agonists such as pramipexole are commonly used in the treatment of restless legs syndrome (RLS) as well as Parkinson's disease. Pramipexole's common side effects are well documented; however, adverse skin reactions are less well known. In this case, a 45-year-old male farmer presented with excessive daytime tiredness and reported a history suggestive of RLS. He was initiated on pramipexole but developed a maculopapular erythematous rash in sun-exposed areas 8 days after its commencement. The skin rash resolved following pramipexole's cessation and it is thought the patient experienced a drug-induced photosensitivity reaction to pramipexole. This case highlights the potential for photosensitivity reactions to pramipexole, which is especially significant in countries like Australia where UV solar radiation is especially high. © Royal College of Physicians 2018. All rights reserved.

Transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) reveals the nanostructure of a smectite gel.

PubMed

Zbik, Marek S; Martens, Wayde N; Frost, Ray L; Song, Yen-Fang; Chen, Yi-Ming; Chen, Jian-Hua

2008-08-19

The unusual behavior of smectites, the ability to change volume when wetted (swelling) or dried (shrinking), makes soil rich in smectites very unstable and dangerous for the building industry because of the movement of building foundations and poor slope stability. These macroscopic properties are dominated by the structural arrangement of the smectites' finest fraction. Here, we show in three dimensions how the swelling phenomenon in smectite, caused by a combination of hydratation and electrostatic forces, may expand the dry smectite volume not 10-fold, as previously thought, but to more than 1000-fold. A new technique, transmission X-ray microscopy, makes it possible to investigate the internal structure and 3-D tomographic reconstruction of clay aggregates. This reveals, for the first time, the smectite gel arrangement in the voluminous cellular tactoid structure within a natural aqueous environment.

Eating disorders during pregnancy.

PubMed

Cardwell, Michael S

2013-04-01

Eating disorders during pregnancy, once thought to be rare, occur in a significant number of women. The incidences of the major eating disorders-anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa-are increasing because of cultural pressures on the drive for thinness. Because the age range for these major eating disorders overlaps with the age range for reproductive function, it is not unusual for a clinician to encounter a pregnant patient with a major eating disorder. Eating disorders attributable to the pregnant state include pregnancy sickness, pica, and ptyalism. The diagnostic criteria, etiology, nutritional behavioral influences, evolutionary psychological considerations where elucidated, and treatment of these disorders will be presented. Obstetricians and gynecologists, family physicians After completing this CME activity, physicians should be better able to review how the major eating disorders impact pregnancy, to diagnose eating disorders during pregnancy using the diagnostic criteria, and to treat eating disorders during pregnancy.

Neuropsychological Thoughts, Then and Now: A Tribute to Oscar Marin.

PubMed

Patterson, Karalyn E

2015-09-01

This brief paper, inspired by an invitation to acknowledge and celebrate Oscar Marin's great contributions to cognitive neurology and neuropsychology, reviews the case of a patient, T.P., who had significant deficits of naming, reading, and spelling. I first studied and reported this patient 35 years ago, in 1979, when I was significantly influenced by the work of Oscar Marin and his colleagues. I have recently had the unusual opportunity to do some brief reassessment of T.P.'s current (2015) cognitive abilities, and to reassess the interpretations that I had given to her pattern of impairment in the initial studies. I suggest that advances over the last decade or so-in theorizing about, and connectionist modeling of, reading and spelling disorders-enable a more coherent account of T.P.'s acquired anomia, dyslexia, and dysgraphia, and the relationships among them.

Reduction of Sodium in the NASA Space Food System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kloeris, Vickie L.

2010-01-01

Excessive sodium content of the average American diet is an issue that is gaining more and more attention due to the implications for chronic disease and thus health care costs. The typical astronaut or cosmonaut dining on the International Space Station (ISS) is consuming even more sodium per day than the average American due to the lack of refrigeration for food and the limited amount of fresh food in the diet. NASA has known for many years that the high sodium in the on orbit diet is an exacerbating factor for the bone loss that occurs in all crew members in microgravity. However, bone loss is reversed upon return to earth normal gravity. After ten years of having US crewmembers on ISS, additional medical issues have emerged in some long duration ISS crewmembers that are not necessarily being reversed upon return to earth. While it is not necessarily thought that the high sodium content of the diet is the cause of these issues, it is thought that reducing sodium intake could potentially help alleviate some of the on orbit symptoms. Thus, there is an urgent focus on sodium reduction in space food. This paper will discuss the strategies and progress of an on-going project at NASA to reformulate the US space food system to reduce the sodium content.

Experimentally induced distraction impacts cognitive but not emotional processes in think-aloud cognitive assessment

PubMed Central

Hsu, Kean J.; Babeva, Kalina N.; Feng, Michelle C.; Hummer, Justin F.; Davison, Gerald C.

2014-01-01

Studies have examined the impact of distraction on basic task performance (e.g., working memory, motor responses), yet research is lacking regarding its impact in the domain of think-aloud cognitive assessment, where the threat to assessment validity is high. The Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations think-aloud cognitive assessment paradigm was employed to address this issue. Participants listened to scenarios under three conditions (i.e., while answering trivia questions, playing a visual puzzle game, or with no experimental distractor). Their articulated thoughts were then content-analyzed both by the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program and by content analysis of emotion and cognitive processes conducted by trained coders. Distraction did not impact indices of emotion but did affect cognitive processes. Specifically, with the LIWC system, the trivia questions distraction condition resulted in significantly higher proportions of insight and causal words, and higher frequencies of non-fluencies (e.g., “uh” or “umm”) and filler words (e.g., “like” or “you know”). Coder-rated content analysis found more disengagement and more misunderstanding particularly in the trivia questions distraction condition. A better understanding of how distraction disrupts the amount and type of cognitive engagement holds important implications for future studies employing cognitive assessment methods. PMID:24904488

Working memory and executive function: the influence of content and load on the control of attention.

PubMed

Hester, Robert; Garavan, Hugh

2005-03-01

In a series of three experiments, increasing working memory (WM) load was demonstrated to reduce the executive control of attention, measured via task-switching and inhibitory control paradigms. Uniquely, our paradigms allowed comparison of the ability to exert executive control when the stimulus was either part of the currently rehearsed memory set or an unrelated distractor item. The results demonstrated a content-specific effect-insofar as switching attention away from, or exerting inhibitory control over, items currently held in WM was especially difficult-compounded by increasing WM load. This finding supports the attentional control theory that active maintenance of competing task goals is critical to executive function and WM capacity; however, it also suggests that the increased salience provided to the contents of WM through active rehearsal exerts a content-specific influence on attentional control. These findings are discussed in relation to cue-induced ruminations, where active rehearsal of evocative information (e.g., negative thoughts in depression or drug-related thoughts in addiction) in WM typically results from environmental cuing. The present study has demonstrated that when information currently maintained in WM is reencountered, it is harder to exert executive control over it. The difficulty with suppressing the processing of these stimuli presumably reinforces the maintenance of these items in WM, due to the greater level of attention they are afforded, and may help to explain how the cue-induced craving/rumination cycle is perpetuated.

Continuing Education and the Adult Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffin, Colin

1979-01-01

Discusses the gulf between adult education theory and practices and looks at other British papers and reports on adult and continuing education issues and policies. Argues that insufficient thought has been given to adult education content and to the difficulty of integrating institutions with traditionally different types of curriculum. (MF)

Leisure and Ethics: Reflections on the Philosophy of Leisure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fain, Gerald S., Ed.

This publication seeks to capture the character and content of thought with respect to the long-standing discussion in academic settings of leisure and philosophy. The book is organized into three sections. The first, "Reflections on the Philosophy of Leisure," includes the following papers: "Introduction: Leisure and the Perfection…

Corrupt Language, Corrupt Thought: The White Paper "The Importance of Teaching"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lumby, Jacky; Muijs, Daniel

2014-01-01

This article deconstructs the language of the 2010 UK Coalition Government's White Paper, "The Importance of Teaching". It uses analytical frameworks related to rhetoric established by Aristotle and Cicero. It explores the mechanisms of language using both critical discourse analysis and content analysis, offering quantitative data on…

Cognitive Concepts of Emotional Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bower, Eli M.

This theoretical paper deals with a comparison of the structure and content of primary and secondary thought processes. While secondary processes (cognitive thinking) are effectively dealt with and taught in schools, there is little or no relating to the primary processes (affective thinking). This is due in part to teachers' own difficulties in…

Decisions, Decisions: Cybervetting through the Eyes of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melton, James; Miller, Robert; Jensen, Brent R.; Shah, Vishal

2018-01-01

How do students believe employers use social media in vetting job candidates? In this instructional experiment, students evaluated three hypothetical job candidates who had divergent social media presences. Questionable content, even if through an indirect link, was thought to reflect on a candidate's character and was extrapolated to future work…

Helper Therapy in an Online Suicide Prevention Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greidanus, Elaine; Everall, Robin D.

2010-01-01

Individuals who feel comfortable using Internet-based communication often seek help online when they are feeling distressed. This study examines an online community formed to provide support for distressed adolescents. Content analysis revealed themes in a series of online postings from youth who were experiencing suicidal thoughts. Youth…

Educational Research in Mainland China: Current Situation and Developmental Trends

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Miantao

2011-01-01

The influence of Confucian culture in Chinese Mainland China is reflected in the current situation and contextual trends of educational research content of educational thought of Confucianism, educational issues grounded on theoretical views of Confucianism, and the influence of the inclusiveness of Confucianism. In terms of research method, the…

The Guilded Classroom: Using Gamification to Engage and Motivate Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gressick, Julia; Langston, Joel B.

2017-01-01

There is a breadth of psychological research that points to potential cognitive benefits of game play. Games engage and motivate learners while promoting mastery of skills and content knowledge. Further, thoughtfully applying gaming elements and structures to classroom environments, an approach called gamification, has the potential to optimize…

Designing a Master Program in Educational Leadership: Trends, Reflections, and Conclusions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aitken, Art; Bedard, George; Darroch, Amber

This paper presents a dialogue about the current context for educational leadership preparation that draws upon worldwide thought and discussion on the issue. Topics considered include recognition by faculty at the University of Lethbridge that educational leadership has problems in content alignment, relevance, and pedagogy. Research shows that…

Adversaries, Advocates, or Thoughtful Analysts? Some Lessons from Dance History.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Ann

1999-01-01

Argues that the arts demand careful analysis when providing a rationale for the inclusion of the arts in educational programs and policies. Provides information on the content and context of dance opposition and provides examples from dance history of issues that need to be addressed. (CMK)

Collaborative Software and Focused Distraction in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhine, Steve; Bailey, Mark

2011-01-01

In search of strategies for increasing their pre-service teachers' thoughtful engagement with content and in an effort to model connection between choice of technology and pedagogical goals, the authors utilized collaborative software during class time. Collaborative software allows all students to write simultaneously on a single collective…

Computer Simulation Utilization in Graduate Behavior Therapy Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lambert, Matthew E.; And Others

Practicum experiences are thought to be a time for honing clinical skills and integrating content course material with clinical practice. Often, however, the range of clinical problems encountered during practica is restricted, limiting the variety of learning experiences available to practicum group members. To provide a wider range of…

The Definitive Newsletter.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adler, Ralph

The newsletter, a publication printed on a regular basis that has a clearly defined, intriguing, and thoughtful content purpose for serving a specific audience, usually acts as a conceptual bridge between an organization and that group. A newsletter begun without good planning and without a clearly defined purpose, however, could end up being…

Stereotype Threat Effects on Learning from a Cognitively Demanding Mathematics Lesson

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyons, Emily McLaughlin; Simms, Nina; Begolli, Kreshnik N.; Richland, Lindsey E.

2018-01-01

Stereotype threat--a situational context in which individuals are concerned about confirming a negative stereotype--is often shown to impact test performance, with one hypothesized mechanism being that cognitive resources are temporarily co-opted by intrusive thoughts and worries, leading individuals to underperform despite high content knowledge…

Results of Two Tenth-Grade Biology Teaching Procedures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Purser, Roger K.; Renner, John W.

1983-01-01

Examined influence of teaching methods on content achievement of concrete and formal concepts by students differing in level of operational thought and influence of concrete/formal teaching on the intellectural development of students (N=86 grade 9-10 biology students). Methodology, results, conclusions, and implications are discussed. (Author/JN)

Xanthophyll (lutein, zeaxanthin) content in fruits, vegetables, and corn and egg products

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Lutein and zeaxanthin are carotenoids that are selectively taken up into the macula of the eye where they are thought to protect against the development of age-related macular degeneration. Current dietary databases make it difficult to ascertain their individual roles in eye health because their co...

Unusual high B{sub s} for Fe-based amorphous powders produced by a gas-atomization technique

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

Yoshida, K.; Bito, M.; Kageyama, J.

2016-05-15

Fe-based alloy powders with a high Fe content of about 81 at.% were produced by a gas-atomization technique. Powders of Fe{sub 81}Si{sub 1.9}B{sub 5.7}P{sub 11.4} (at.%) alloy showed a good glass forming ability and exhibited unusual high saturation magnetic flux density of 1.57 T. The core-loss property at a frequency of 100 kHz for the compacted core made of the Fe{sub 81}Si{sub 1.9}B{sub 5.7}P{sub 11.4} powder is evaluated to be less than 500 kW/m{sup 3} under a maximum induction of 100 mT. Moreover, good DC-superposition characteristic of the core was also confirmed. These results suggest that the present Fe-based alloymore » powder is promising for low-loss magnetic-core materials and expected to contribute in miniaturization of electric parts in the near future.« less

Characterizing the structure of an unusually cold high latitude cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veneziani, Marcella; Paladini, Roberta; Noriega-Crespo, Alberto; Carey, Sean; Tibbs, Christopher; Flagey, Nicolas; Piacentini, Francesco

2012-10-01

Recently the BOOMERanG 2003 experiment, with an angular resolution of 10', has detected an unusually cold cloud (T = 9 K) located at high Galactic latitudes and with an area of 0.25 deg^2. The low temperature of this object has been confirmed by a follow-up in the with Herschel which measured T = 15.3 in the range 100-500micron and with a resolution 20 times higher than BOOMERanG. Despite the cold temperature of the cloud, the measured extinction (Av=0.15 mag) seems to indicate a fairly low amount of shielding material which could justify the dust cooling. Surprisingly, while the dust content in the cloud is well constrained by a substantial amount of data, no - or very little information - is available for its gas counterpart. Therefore, we request 5hrs of 21-cm spectral line observations with the Parkes telescopes. The observations will allow us to accurately estimate the cloud HI column density, as well as to derive information about its kinematics.

Stability characteristics of a single-phase free convection loop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Creveling, H. F.; De Paz, J. F.; Baladi, J. Y.; Schoenhals, R. J.

1975-01-01

Experiments investigating the stability characteristics of a single-phase free convection loop are reported. Results of the study confirm the contention made by previous workers that instabilities near the thermodynamic critical point can occur for ordinary fluids as well as those with unusual behavior in the near-critical region. Such a claim runs counter to traditional beliefs, but it is supported by the observation of such instabilities for water at atmospheric pressure and moderate temperatures in the present work.

A case of lead poisoning due to snooker chalk

PubMed Central

Dargan, P; Evans, P; House, I; Jones, A

2000-01-01

A 3 year, 9 month old child with pica presented with a blood lead concentration of 1.74 µmol/l (360 µg/l). The source of poisoning was snooker chalk (lead content 7200 µg/g). She was treated with intravenous calcium disodium edetate chelation. Thirty months later her blood lead was 0.39 µmol/l (80 µg/l). This case illustrates the need to be vigilant for more unusual causes of lead poisoning in the home.

 PMID:11087293

Orienting attention to visual or verbal/auditory imagery differentially impairs the processing of visual stimuli.

PubMed

Villena-González, Mario; López, Vladimir; Rodríguez, Eugenio

2016-05-15

When attention is oriented toward inner thoughts, as spontaneously occurs during mind wandering, the processing of external information is attenuated. However, the potential effects of thought's content regarding sensory attenuation are still unknown. The present study aims to assess if the representational format of thoughts, such as visual imagery or inner speech, might differentially affect the sensory processing of external stimuli. We recorded the brain activity of 20 participants (12 women) while they were exposed to a probe visual stimulus in three different conditions: executing a task on the visual probe (externally oriented attention), and two conditions involving inward-turned attention i.e. generating inner speech and performing visual imagery. Event-related potentials results showed that the P1 amplitude, related with sensory response, was significantly attenuated during both task involving inward attention compared with external task. When both representational formats were compared, the visual imagery condition showed stronger attenuation in sensory processing than inner speech condition. Alpha power in visual areas was measured as an index of cortical inhibition. Larger alpha amplitude was found when participants engaged in an internal thought contrasted with the external task, with visual imagery showing even more alpha power than inner speech condition. Our results show, for the first time to our knowledge, that visual attentional processing to external stimuli during self-generated thoughts is differentially affected by the representational format of the ongoing train of thoughts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Surfing for suicide methods and help: content analysis of websites retrieved with search engines in Austria and the United States.

PubMed

Till, Benedikt; Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas

2014-08-01

The Internet provides a variety of resources for individuals searching for suicide-related information. Structured content-analytic approaches to assess intercultural differences in web contents retrieved with method-related and help-related searches are scarce. We used the 2 most popular search engines (Google and Yahoo/Bing) to retrieve US-American and Austrian search results for the term suicide, method-related search terms (e.g., suicide methods, how to kill yourself, painless suicide, how to hang yourself), and help-related terms (e.g., suicidal thoughts, suicide help) on February 11, 2013. In total, 396 websites retrieved with US search engines and 335 websites from Austrian searches were analyzed with content analysis on the basis of current media guidelines for suicide reporting. We assessed the quality of websites and compared findings across search terms and between the United States and Austria. In both countries, protective outweighed harmful website characteristics by approximately 2:1. Websites retrieved with method-related search terms (e.g., how to hang yourself) contained more harmful (United States: P < .001, Austria: P < .05) and fewer protective characteristics (United States: P < .001, Austria: P < .001) compared to the term suicide. Help-related search terms (e.g., suicidal thoughts) yielded more websites with protective characteristics (United States: P = .07, Austria: P < .01). Websites retrieved with U.S. search engines generally had more protective characteristics (P < .001) than searches with Austrian search engines. Resources with harmful characteristics were better ranked than those with protective characteristics (United States: P < .01, Austria: P < .05). The quality of suicide-related websites obtained depends on the search terms used. Preventive efforts to improve the ranking of preventive web content, particularly regarding method-related search terms, seem necessary. © Copyright 2014 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of ancient buried wood-II. Observations on the origin of coal from lignite to bituminous coal

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hatcher, P.G.; Breger, I.A.; Szeverenyi, N.; Maciel, G.E.

1982-01-01

Coalified logs ranging in age from Late Pennsylvania to Miocene and in rank from lignite B to bituminous coal were analyzed by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) utilizing the cross-polarization, magic-angle spinning technique, as well as by infrared spectroscopy. The results of this study indicate that at least three major stages of coalification can be observed as wood gradually undergoes transformation to bituminous coal. The first stage involves hydrolysis and loss of cellulose from wood with retention and differential concentration of the resistant lignin. The second stage involves conversion of the lignin residues directly to coalified wood of lignitic rank, during which the oxygen content of intermediate diagenetic products remains constant as the hydrogen content and the carbon content increases. These changes are thought to involve loss of methoxyl groups, water, and C3 side chains from the lignin. In the third major stage of coalification, the coalified wood increases in rank to subbituminous and bituminous coal; during this stage the oxygen content decreases, hydrogen remains constant, and the carbon content increases. These changes are thought to result from loss of soluble humic acids that are rich in oxygen and that are mobilized during compaction and dewatering. Relatively resistant resinous substances are differentially concentrated in the coal during this stage. The hypothesis that humic acids are formed as mobile by-products of the coalification of lignin and function only as vehicles for removal of oxygen represents a dramatic departure from commonly accepted views that they are relatively low-molecular-weight intermediates formed during the degradation of lignin that then condense to form high-molecular-weight coal structures. ?? 1982.

Extending Gurwitsch's field theory of consciousness.

PubMed

Yoshimi, Jeff; Vinson, David W

2015-07-01

Aron Gurwitsch's theory of the structure and dynamics of consciousness has much to offer contemporary theorizing about consciousness and its basis in the embodied brain. On Gurwitsch's account, as we develop it, the field of consciousness has a variable sized focus or "theme" of attention surrounded by a structured periphery of inattentional contents. As the field evolves, its contents change their status, sometimes smoothly, sometimes abruptly. Inner thoughts, a sense of one's body, and the physical environment are dominant field contents. These ideas can be linked with (and help unify) contemporary theories about the neural correlates of consciousness, inattention, the small world structure of the brain, meta-stable dynamics, embodied cognition, and predictive coding in the brain. Published by Elsevier Inc.

[Online therapies - what is known about their functionality].

PubMed

Stenberg, Jan-Henry; Joutsenniemi, Kaisla; Holi, Matti

2015-01-01

Online therapies are partly automated therapies, in which psychotherapeutic contents have been complemented with computer-aided presentational and educational contents, with a therapist giving support to the progress of the patient. As methods, these therapeutic programs incorporate therapeutic methods that have proven effective, such as remodeling of thoughts, activation of behavior and exposure, empathy, strengthening of cooperative relationship and motivation, and general support for self-reflection. For instance, online therapies already constitute part of the Finnish treatment guidelines on depression. Online therapies are available throughout Finland for the essential psychiatric illnesses.

Ecological and evolutionary significance of genomic GC content diversity in monocots

PubMed Central

Šmarda, Petr; Bureš, Petr; Horová, Lucie; Leitch, Ilia J.; Mucina, Ladislav; Pacini, Ettore; Tichý, Lubomír; Grulich, Vít; Rotreklová, Olga

2014-01-01

Genomic DNA base composition (GC content) is predicted to significantly affect genome functioning and species ecology. Although several hypotheses have been put forward to address the biological impact of GC content variation in microbial and vertebrate organisms, the biological significance of GC content diversity in plants remains unclear because of a lack of sufficiently robust genomic data. Using flow cytometry, we report genomic GC contents for 239 species representing 70 of 78 monocot families and compare them with genomic characters, a suite of life history traits and climatic niche data using phylogeny-based statistics. GC content of monocots varied between 33.6% and 48.9%, with several groups exceeding the GC content known for any other vascular plant group, highlighting their unusual genome architecture and organization. GC content showed a quadratic relationship with genome size, with the decreases in GC content in larger genomes possibly being a consequence of the higher biochemical costs of GC base synthesis. Dramatic decreases in GC content were observed in species with holocentric chromosomes, whereas increased GC content was documented in species able to grow in seasonally cold and/or dry climates, possibly indicating an advantage of GC-rich DNA during cell freezing and desiccation. We also show that genomic adaptations associated with changing GC content might have played a significant role in the evolution of the Earth’s contemporary biota, such as the rise of grass-dominated biomes during the mid-Tertiary. One of the major selective advantages of GC-rich DNA is hypothesized to be facilitating more complex gene regulation. PMID:25225383

The effect of self-distancing on adaptive versus maladaptive self-reflection in children.

PubMed

Kross, Ethan; Duckworth, Angela; Ayduk, Ozlem; Tsukayama, Eli; Mischel, Walter

2011-10-01

Although children and adolescents vary in their chronic tendencies to adaptively versus maladaptively reflect over negative feelings, the psychological mechanisms underlying these different types of self-reflection among youngsters are unknown. We addressed this issue in the present research by examining the role that self-distancing plays in distinguishing adaptive versus maladaptive self-reflection among an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of fifth-grade public schoolchildren. Children were randomly assigned to analyze their feelings surrounding a recent anger-related interpersonal experience from either a self-immersed or self-distanced perspective. They then rated their negative affect and described in writing the stream of thoughts they experienced when they analyzed their feelings. Children's stream-of-thought essays were content analyzed for the presence of recounting statements, reconstruing statements, and blame attributions. Path analyses indicated that children who analyzed their feelings from a self-distanced perspective focused significantly less on recounting the "hot," emotionally arousing features of their memory (i.e., what happened to me?) and relatively more on reconstruing their experience. This shift in thought content--less recounting and more reconstruing--led children in the self-distanced group to blame the other person involved in their recalled experience significantly less, which in turn led them to display significantly lower levels of emotional reactivity. These findings help delineate the psychological mechanisms that distinguish adaptive versus maladaptive forms of self-reflection over anger experiences in children. Their basic findings and clinical implications are discussed.

For Whom the Mind Wanders, and When, Varies Across Laboratory and Daily-Life Settings.

PubMed

Kane, Michael J; Gross, Georgina M; Chun, Charlotte A; Smeekens, Bridget A; Meier, Matt E; Silvia, Paul J; Kwapil, Thomas R

2017-09-01

Undergraduates ( N = 274) participated in a weeklong daily-life experience-sampling study of mind wandering after being assessed in the lab for executive-control abilities (working memory capacity; attention-restraint ability; attention-constraint ability; and propensity for task-unrelated thoughts, or TUTs) and personality traits. Eight times a day, electronic devices prompted subjects to report on their current thoughts and context. Working memory capacity and attention abilities predicted subjects' TUT rates in the lab, but predicted the frequency of daily-life mind wandering only as a function of subjects' momentary attempts to concentrate. This pattern replicates prior daily-life findings but conflicts with laboratory findings. Results for personality factors also revealed different associations in the lab and daily life: Only neuroticism predicted TUT rate in the lab, but only openness predicted mind-wandering rate in daily life (both predicted the content of daily-life mind wandering). Cognitive and personality factors also predicted dimensions of everyday thought other than mind wandering, such as subjective judgments of controllability of thought. Mind wandering in people's daily environments and TUTs during controlled and artificial laboratory tasks have different correlates (and perhaps causes). Thus, mind-wandering theories based solely on lab phenomena may be incomplete.

A Spiritually-based approach to breast cancer awareness: Cognitive response analysis of communication effectiveness

PubMed Central

Holt, Cheryl L.; Lee, Crystal; Wright, Katrina

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the communication effectiveness of a spiritually-based approach to breast cancer early detection education with a secular approach, among African American women, by conducting a cognitive response analysis. A total of 108 women from six Alabama churches were randomly assigned by church to receive a spiritually-based or secular educational booklet discussing breast cancer early detection. Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981), after reading the booklets participants were asked to complete a thought-listing task writing down any thoughts they experienced and rating them as positive, negative, or neutral. Two independent coders then used five dimensions to code participants thoughts. Compared with the secular booklet, the spiritually-based booklet resulted in significantly more thoughts involving personal connection, self-assessment, and spiritually-based responses. These results suggest that a spiritually-based approach to breast cancer awareness may be more effective than the secular because it caused women to more actively process the message, stimulating central route processing. The incorporation of spiritually-based content into church-based breast cancer education could be a promising health communication approach for African American women. PMID:18443989

Degenerative Minimalism in the Genome of a Psyllid Endosymbiont

PubMed Central

Clark, Marta A.; Baumann, Linda; Thao, MyLo Ly; Moran, Nancy A.; Baumann, Paul

2001-01-01

Psyllids, like aphids, feed on plant phloem sap and are obligately associated with prokaryotic endosymbionts acquired through vertical transmission from an ancestral infection. We have sequenced 37 kb of DNA of the genome of Carsonella ruddii, the endosymbiont of psyllids, and found that it has a number of unusual properties revealing a more extreme case of degeneration than was previously reported from studies of eubacterial genomes, including that of the aphid endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola. Among the unusual properties are an exceptionally low guanine-plus-cytosine content (19.9%), almost complete absence of intergenic spaces, operon fusion, and lack of the usual promoter sequences upstream of 16S rDNA. These features suggest the synthesis of long mRNAs and translational coupling. The most extreme instances of base compositional bias occur in the genes encoding proteins that have less highly conserved amino acid sequences; the guanine-plus-cytosine content of some protein-coding sequences is as low as 10%. The shift in base composition has a large effect on proteins: in polypeptides of C. ruddii, half of the residues consist of five amino acids with codons low in guanine plus cytosine. Furthermore, the proteins of C. ruddii are reduced in size, with an average of about 9% fewer amino acids than in homologous proteins of related bacteria. These observations suggest that the C. ruddii genome is not subject to constraints that limit the evolution of other known eubacteria. PMID:11222582

Polyunsaturated fatty acid content is increased in the milk of women with pregnancy associated breast cancer

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background: Pregnancy associated breast cancer (PABC) is aggressive and difficult to diagnose. High intake of most types of dietary fat is thought to increase breast cancer risk, however results in humans supporting this premise remain equivocal. Fatty acid (FA) concentrations in the body comprise b...

Teaching Leadership in the Russian Federation: Looking through the Post-Soviet Lens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brouwer, Lynnette F.

2006-01-01

This paper addresses the Fulbright experience of an American faculty member in Eastern Siberia, Russian Federation. Both course content and teaching method are contrasted with what is traditional and customary in that region. The author regularly kept a journal, enabling thoughtful post-experience reflection. Continued emphasis on the…

Poems of Children--Yakima Nation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swanson, Robert

The collection of poems was written for use in the Yakima Indian Reservation pre-school programs and was intended to introduce Yakima children to creative thought process at their own level with content that is part of their own world. The author spent several months observing in the Tribal Headstart Centers at three locations on the Yakima…

Professional Military Development of Major General Ernest N. Harmon

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-13

group’s issues impressed Harmon. Years later Harmon explained that, “It struck me that teen -age Iowa farm boys might know more about soil content...their vandalism consisted only of giving a drop-kick treatment to a few posted signs. I thought a court-martial was excessive for a bit of g the

A Continuing Educational Initiative to Develop Nurses' Mental Health Knowledge and Skills in Rural and Remote Areas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Esther; Daly, John; Bell, Pamela; Brown, Tracey; Allan, Jan; Hancock, Karen

2002-01-01

Australian nurses (n=202) participated in mental health continuing education delivered via distance methods and regional workshops in rural areas. The majority increased content knowledge and thought audio- and videotapes were effective despite technical difficulties; 90% felt the experiential learning workshops and distance modules integrated…

In Measure, Number, and Weight: Studies in Mathematics and Culture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoyrup, Jens

In this collection of essays, the content of mathematics is dealt with in general terms, concentrating on cognitive organization, modes of thought, and the way that mathematics interacts with the sociocultural setting. Chapter 1 compares features of Sumero-Babylonian, ancient Greek, and Latin medieval mathematics. Chapter 2 traces the specific…

From Sundials to Atomic Clocks: Understanding Time and Frequency.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jespersen, James; Fitz-Randolph, Jane

An introduction to time, timekeeping, and the uses of time information, especially in the scientific and technical areas, are offered in this book for laymen. Historical and philosophical aspects of time and timekeeping are included. The scientific thought on time has been simplified. Contents include: the nature of time, time and frequency, early…

A Teacher's Introduction to Composition in the Rhetorical Tradition. NCTE Teacher's Introduction Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winterowd, W. Ross; Blum, Jack

Based on the idea that an individual cannot understand literature, philosophy, or rhetoric without knowing the field's historical content, this book traces the evolution of the growing and ever-changing field of composition/rhetoric through numerous schools of thought, including Platonism, Aristoteleanism, New Criticism, and the current…

Science Fiction: The Academic Awakening.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNelly, Willis E., Ed.

This book provides background information on science fiction for teachers of English at any level who are approaching science fiction for the first time. Contents are: an introduction by W.E. McNelly; "SF in the Classroom" by J. Williamson; "Second Thoughts on the Course in Science Fiction" by M.R. Hillegas; "Flatland and Beyond: Characterization…

A Surrejoinder to Harro Van Brummelen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hull, John E.

2009-01-01

This article presents the author's response to John Hull's thoughtful evaluation of his article on shaping school curriculum in which many Christian educators have played a part. The author cites that particularly pertinent in Hull's paper is his contention that living a life of discipleship as a school community is at least as significant as…

Use of Information Science Techniques by a Philosopher at Large.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cremmins, Ed; Trachtman, Marji

This paper recounts the use of the information science techniques of subject indexing and annotation in the extensive writings and publications of the philosopher Mortimer J. Adler. A content analysis of Adler's "intellectual autobiography" is described, Adler's efforts as an indexer are reviewed, and some of Adler's thoughts on the…

Teaching Students to Form Effective Questions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stafford, Tish

2009-01-01

The ability to question lies at the heart of human curiosity and is a necessary component of cognition. The author stresses that forming questions is essential to human thought and communication. As such, forming questions is a foundational process that cuts across curricular areas and is embedded in content standards across the nation, including…

The Educational Philosophies of Mordecai Kaplan and Michael Rosenak: Surprising Similarities and Illuminating Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schein, Jeffrey; Caplan, Eric

2014-01-01

The thoughts of Mordecai Kaplan and Michael Rosenak present surprising commonalities as well as illuminating differences. Similarities include the perception that Judaism and Jewish education are in crisis, the belief that Jewish peoplehood must include commitment to meaningful content, the need for teachers to teach from a position of…

On Making Mountains Out of Molehills: Confessions of a Behavioral Scientist with Mentalistic Vulnerability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geller, E. Scott

2005-01-01

Seven thoughtful and provocative commentaries were activated by one or both of two articles I authored or coauthored. One article (Geller, 2002) presented a case for broadening the content of organizational behavior management (OBM), while the other (Wiegand & Geller, 2004) discussed linkages between positive reinforcement, positive…

A Computerized Task Inventory System for Providing Curriculum Content. [Carpentry]. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Clair S.

The pilot study was designed to develop a system for analyzing and providing task inventories for carpentry curriculum development. An initial task inventory of 174 statements was constructed from available published sources, including only those tasks thought to be performed by incumbent workers in residential carpentry in Arizona. The tasks were…

Uses of Metaphors & Imagery in Counseling. Instructor's Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gladding, Samuel T.

This document presents an instructor's manual designed to accompany the videotape, "Uses of Metaphors and Imagery in Counseling," a tool to teach beginning and experienced counselors how to more efficiently help their clients by focusing on the use of non-literal language and thoughts (i.e., metaphors and images). The format and content of the…

Thoughts on the "Languages Review"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byram, Michael

2007-01-01

The Review (Dearing & King, 2007) will doubtless be judged less on its detailed content and standpoint and more on the impact it has on politicians' and ministers' priorities for teaching languages. For the Review is concerned with language "teaching" much more than with "learning". This is evident, for example, in the discussion of the consensus…

Perceptions of Educational Leadership in Medieval Islamic Thought: A Contribution to Multicultural Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arar, Khalid; Haj-Yehia, Kussai

2018-01-01

This article identifies main characteristics of Educational Leadership in Islam (ELI), described by four Muslim scholars (in Arabic: 'ulama'), who discussed educational issues and educational leadership during Islam's Golden Age (GA). It uses hermeneutic content analysis of four scholars' Arabic texts to identify the contribution of these texts to…

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians are Dead: Myth and Historical Consciousness in Two Contact Narratives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruppert, James

This research paper examines hidden cultural patterns establishing the expression of historical thought in Native Alaskan narratives which describe first contact with Russians. Historical consciousness in oral contact stories is always mythic in form, as well as in content. Native American oral cultures understood new events by…

Similarities and differences in dream content at the cross-cultural, gender, and individual levels.

PubMed

William Domhoff, G; Schneider, Adam

2008-12-01

The similarities and differences in dream content at the cross-cultural, gender, and individual levels provide one starting point for carrying out studies that attempt to discover correspondences between dream content and various types of waking cognition. Hobson and Kahn's (Hobson, J. A., & Kahn, D. (2007). Dream content: Individual and generic aspects. Consciousness and Cognition, 16, 850-858.) conclusion that dream content may be more generic than most researchers realize, and that individual differences are less salient than usually thought, provides the occasion for a review of findings based on the Hall and Van de Castle (Hall, C., & Van de Castle, R. (1966). The content analysis of dreams. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.) coding system for the study of dream content. Then new findings based on a computationally intensive randomization strategy are presented to show the minimum sample sizes needed to detect gender and individual differences in dream content. Generally speaking, sample sizes of 100-125 dream reports are needed because most dream elements appear in less than 50% of dream reports and the magnitude of the differences usually is not large.

Unusual Association Between Spontaneous Lateral Sphenoid Encephalocele and Chiari Malformation Type I: Endoscopic Repair Through a Transpterygoid Approach.

PubMed

Starnoni, Daniele; Daniel, Roy Thomas; George, Mercy; Messerer, Mahmoud

2017-01-01

Spontaneous meningoencephaloceles of the lateral sphenoid sinus are rare entities, and their peculiar location represents a surgical challenge due to the importance of a wide exposure and skull base reconstruction. They are thought to arise from the congenital base defect of the lateral sphenoid or in some cases have been postulated to represent a rare manifestation of altered cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics. We report the first case in the literature of a Chiari malformation type I (CMI) and a lateral sphenoid encephalocele, revising the theoretic etiology and surgical technique of endoscopic repair. A 50-year-old woman with a surgical history of symptomatic CMI presented with episodes of spontaneous CSF rhinorrhea. Radiologic investigations revealed a left mesial temporal encephalocele herniating into the lateral recess of the sphenoid sinus and radiologic features of altered CSF dynamics, which may have played an etiologic role. An endoscopic transpterygoid excision of the encephalocele and multilayer skull base repair were performed. The association of spontaneous lateral sphenoid encephaloceles with CMI is distinctly unusual. Predisposing factors and disruption of CSF dynamics may play a major role in the development of these rare complications in patients with CMI. Because of their distinct location, transethmoid or transpterygoid endoscopic approaches represent an excellent surgical technique to treat these lesions thanks to their wide and direct visualization of the entire skull base defect following the encephalocele excision, allowing an adequate multilayer repair and lateral sphenoid recess occlusion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Shear zone junctions: Of zippers and freeways

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Passchier, Cees W.; Platt, John P.

2017-02-01

Ductile shear zones are commonly treated as straight high-strain domains with uniform shear sense and characteristic curved foliation trails, bounded by non-deforming wall rock. Many shear zones, however, are branched, and if movement on such branches is contemporaneous, the resulting shape can be complicated and lead to unusual shear sense arrangement and foliation geometries in the wall rock. For Y-shaped shear zone triple junctions with three joining branches and transport direction at a high angle to the branchline, only eight basic types of junction are thought to be stable and to produce significant displacement. The simplest type, called freeway junctions, have similar shear sense in all three branches. The other types show joining or separating behaviour of shear zone branches similar to the action of a zipper. Such junctions may have shear zone branches that join to form a single branch (closing zipper junction), or a single shear zone that splits to form two branches, (opening zipper junction). All categories of shear zone junctions show characteristic foliation patterns and deflection of markers in the wall rock. Closing zipper junctions are unusual, since they form a non-active zone with opposite deflection of foliations in the wall rock known as an extraction fault or wake. Shear zipper junctions can form domains of overprinting shear sense along their flanks. A small and large field example are given from NE Spain and Eastern Anatolia. The geometry of more complex, 3D shear zone junctions with slip parallel and oblique to the branchline is briefly discussed.

The neurocognitive basis of borrowed context information.

PubMed

O'Neill, Meagan; Diana, Rachel A

2017-06-01

Falsely remembered items can be accompanied by episodic context retrieval. This finding is difficult to explain because there is no episode that binds the remembered item to the experimenter-controlled context features. The current study examines the neural correlates of false context retrieval when the context features can be traced to encoding episodes of semantically-similar items. Our neuroimaging results support a "dissociated source" mechanism for context borrowing in false memory. We found that parahippocampal cortex (PHc) activation, thought to indicate context retrieval, was greater during trials that involved context borrowing (an incorrect, but plausible source decision) than during baseline correct context retrieval. In contrast, hippocampal activation, thought to indicate retrieval of an episodic binding, was stronger during correct source retrieval than during context borrowing. Vivid context retrieval during false recollection experiences was also indicated by increased activation in visual perceptual regions for context borrowing as compared to other incorrect source judgments. The pattern of findings suggests that context borrowing can arise when unusually strong activation of a semantically-related item's contextual features drives relatively weak retrieval of the associated episodic binding with failure to confirm the item information within that binding. This dissociated source retrieval mechanism suggests that context-driven episodic retrieval does not necessarily lead to retrieval of specific item details. That is, source information can be retrieved in the absence of item memory. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Structure and expression of the human thymocyte antigens CD1a, CD1b, and CD1c

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

Martin, L.H.; Calabi, F.; Lefebvre, F.A.

1987-12-01

The CD1 human antigens are a family of at least three components, CD1a, CD1b, and CD1c, that are characteristic of the cortical stage of thymocyte maturation. CD1a was originally named HTA1 or T6 and thought to be the human equivalent of mouse Tla. The genes coding for all three have not been identified by transfection into mouse cells. The transfectants express the surface antigens that can then be recognized by the corresponding cluster of monoclonal antibodies used to define the three members of CD1. The full sequence of the genomic DNA is described for all three. The intron-exon structure ofmore » CD1a is deduced by comparison with a near-full-length cDNA clone. Similar structures are proposed for the other two, largely based on sequence homology. An unusually long 5'-untranslated exon (280 bases long) is highly conserved between the three genes, suggesting an important but unknown function. CD1c has a duplicated form of this exon that is thought to be spliced out. The major homology between the three antigens is in the ..beta../sub 2/-microglobulin-binding-domain. The general relatedness to major histocompatibility complex class I and class II molecules is significant but low, with no section of higher homology to mouse Tla.« less

Mid-ocean-ridge seismicity reveals extreme types of ocean lithosphere.

PubMed

Schlindwein, Vera; Schmid, Florian

2016-07-14

Along ultraslow-spreading ridges, where oceanic tectonic plates drift very slowly apart, conductive cooling is thought to limit mantle melting and melt production has been inferred to be highly discontinuous. Along such spreading centres, long ridge sections without any igneous crust alternate with magmatic sections that host massive volcanoes capable of strong earthquakes. Hence melt supply, lithospheric composition and tectonic structure seem to vary considerably along the axis of the slowest-spreading ridges. However, owing to the lack of seismic data, the lithospheric structure of ultraslow ridges is poorly constrained. Here we describe the structure and accretion modes of two end-member types of oceanic lithosphere using a detailed seismicity survey along 390 kilometres of ultraslow-spreading ridge axis. We observe that amagmatic sections lack shallow seismicity in the upper 15 kilometres of the lithosphere, but unusually contain earthquakes down to depths of 35 kilometres. This observation implies a cold, thick lithosphere, with an upper aseismic zone that probably reflects substantial serpentinization. We find that regions of magmatic lithosphere thin dramatically under volcanic centres, and infer that the resulting topography of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary could allow along-axis melt flow, explaining the uneven crustal production at ultraslow-spreading ridges. The seismicity data indicate that alteration in ocean lithosphere may reach far deeper than previously thought, with important implications towards seafloor deformation and fluid circulation.

Patient learning of treatment contents in cognitive therapy.

PubMed

Gumport, Nicole B; Dong, Lu; Lee, Jason Y; Harvey, Allison G

2018-03-01

Research has demonstrated that both memory and learning for treatment contents are poor, and that both are associated with worse treatment outcome. The Memory Support Intervention has been shown to improve memory for treatment, but it has not yet been established if this intervention can also improve learning of treatment contents. This study was designed to document the number of times participants exhibited each of the indices of learning, to examine the indices of learning and their relationship to recall of treatment points, and to investigate the association between the indices of learning and depression outcome. Adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder (N = 48) were randomly assigned to 14 sessions of cognitive therapy-as-usual (CT-as-usual) or cognitive therapy plus the Memory Support Intervention (CT + Memory Support). Measures of learning, memory, and depressive symptomatology were taken at mid-treatment, post-treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. Relative to the CT-as-usual group, participants in the CT + Memory Support group reported more accurate thoughts and applications of treatment points at mid-treatment, post-treatment, and 6-month follow-up. Patient recall was significantly correlated with application and cognitive generalization. Thoughts and application at mid-treatment were associated with increased odds of treatment response at post-treatment. The learning measure for this study has not yet been psychometrically validated. The results are based on a small sample. Learning during treatment is poor, but modifiable via the Memory Support Intervention. These results provide encouraging data that improving learning of treatment contents can reduce symptoms during and following treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emergence of californium as the second transitional element in the actinide series

PubMed Central

Cary, Samantha K.; Vasiliu, Monica; Baumbach, Ryan E.; Stritzinger, Jared T.; Green, Thomas D.; Diefenbach, Kariem; Cross, Justin N.; Knappenberger, Kenneth L.; Liu, Guokui; Silver, Mark A.; DePrince, A. Eugene; Polinski, Matthew J.; Van Cleve, Shelley M.; House, Jane H.; Kikugawa, Naoki; Gallagher, Andrew; Arico, Alexandra A.; Dixon, David A.; Albrecht-Schmitt, Thomas E.

2015-01-01

A break in periodicity occurs in the actinide series between plutonium and americium as the result of the localization of 5f electrons. The subsequent chemistry of later actinides is thought to closely parallel lanthanides in that bonding is expected to be ionic and complexation should not substantially alter the electronic structure of the metal ions. Here we demonstrate that ligation of californium(III) by a pyridine derivative results in significant deviations in the properties of the resultant complex with respect to that predicted for the free ion. We expand on this by characterizing the americium and curium analogues for comparison, and show that these pronounced effects result from a second transition in periodicity in the actinide series that occurs, in part, because of the stabilization of the divalent oxidation state. The metastability of californium(II) is responsible for many of the unusual properties of californium including the green photoluminescence. PMID:25880116

Case report: AVN of the femoral head five year follow-up of the combination of ipsilateral femoral neck and sub-trochanteric fracture.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Zhu, Feng; Dong, Hanqing; Xu, Yaozeng

2016-04-01

To our knowledge, the type of combination of ipsilateral femoral neck and sub-trochanteric fracture is rare. And the long term follow-up is seldom been reported. A 60 year old woman suffered from a traffic accident. We gave her the intramedullary nail treatment for the combination of ipsilateral femoral neck and sub-trochanteric fracture, and the fracture indeed cured after one year and there is no clue of necrosis of the femoral head, but after 5 years, there is an evidence of necrosis of the femoral head. Combination of ipsilateral femoral neck and sub-trochanteric fracture should be kept in mind. Patients with this unusual fracture should be kept under surveillance for longer than might be thought currently to be necessary for there is a possibility of necrosis of the femoral head, even a nondisplaced femoral neck fracture.

Schizotypy in adolescence: the role of gender and age.

PubMed

Fonseca-Pedrero, Eduardo; Lemos-Giráldez, Serafín; Muñiz, José; García-Cueto, Eduardo; Campillo-Alvarez, Angela

2008-02-01

Schizotypy is a multidimensional personality construct that appears to indicate psychosis proneness. Supposedly, schizotypal traits behave differently depending on a person's age and gender, but few studies have examined this relationship. In our study we used the Thinking and Perceptual Style Questionnaire and the Junior Schizotypy Scales. The sample was made up of 321 students (169 males) with an age range of 12 to 17 years. The results show significant differences in gender and age groups. Males score higher than females on Physical Anhedonia, Social Anhedonia, and Impulsive Non-Conformity scales, while females score higher or Positive Symptoms, Negative Evaluation, and Social Paranoia scales. Significant differences were also found among age groups: Unusual experiences, self-referent ideation, social paranoia, thought disorder, and negative evaluation were more frequent in later stages of adolescence. However, the meaning of this difference could be interpreted in terms of emotional turbulence rather than as a direct indicator of vulnerability to psychosis.

Calcium maelstrom: recalcitrant hypocalcaemia following rapid correction of thyrotoxicosis, exacerbated by pregnancy.

PubMed

Shin, Terry; Guerrero, Arthur F

2015-05-12

A 29-year-old pregnant woman with Graves' disease presented with severe persistent hypocalcaemia after thyroidectomy. Six months prior to presentation she was diagnosed with Graves' disease and remained uncontrolled with methimazole. She was confirmed pregnant prior to radioactive iodine ablation (RAI), and underwent total thyroidectomy during her second trimester. After surgery, continuous intravenous calcium infusion was required until delivery of the fetus allowed discontinuation at postoperative day 18, despite oral calcium and calcitriol administration. A total of 38 g of oral and 7.5 g of intravenous elemental calcium was administered. We report an unusual case of recalcitrant hypocalcaemia thought to be due to a combination of postoperative hypoparathyroidism, combined with thyrotoxic osteodystrophy and pregnancy, after surgical correction of Graves' disease. Increased vigilance and early calcium supplementation should be a priority in the management of these patients. 2015 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Creativity and Memory: Effects of an Episodic Specificity Induction on Divergent Thinking

PubMed Central

Madore, Kevin P.; Addis, Donna Rose; Schacter, Daniel L.

2015-01-01

After receiving an episodic specificity induction - brief training in recollecting details of a recent event - people produce more episodic details when imagining future events and solving means-end problems than after receiving a control induction not focused on episodic retrieval. Here we show for the first time that an episodic specificity induction also enhances divergent creative thinking. In Experiment 1, participants exhibited a selective boost on a divergent thinking task that involves generating unusual uses of common objects after a specificity induction compared with a control induction; by contrast, performance was similar on an object association task thought to involve little divergent thinking. In Experiment 2, we replicated the specificity induction effect on divergent thinking using a different control induction, and also found that participants performed similarly on a convergent thinking task following both inductions. These experiments provide novel evidence that episodic memory is involved in divergent creative thinking. PMID:26205963

Neutron scattering in the proximate quantum spin liquid α-RuCl3.

PubMed

Banerjee, Arnab; Yan, Jiaqiang; Knolle, Johannes; Bridges, Craig A; Stone, Matthew B; Lumsden, Mark D; Mandrus, David G; Tennant, David A; Moessner, Roderich; Nagler, Stephen E

2017-06-09

The Kitaev quantum spin liquid (KQSL) is an exotic emergent state of matter exhibiting Majorana fermion and gauge flux excitations. The magnetic insulator α-RuCl 3 is thought to realize a proximate KQSL. We used neutron scattering on single crystals of α-RuCl 3 to reconstruct dynamical correlations in energy-momentum space. We discovered highly unusual signals, including a column of scattering over a large energy interval around the Brillouin zone center, which is very stable with temperature. This finding is consistent with scattering from the Majorana excitations of a KQSL. Other, more delicate experimental features can be transparently associated with perturbations to an ideal model. Our results encourage further study of this prototypical material and may open a window into investigating emergent magnetic Majorana fermions in correlated materials. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Calcium maelstrom: recalcitrant hypocalcaemia following rapid correction of thyrotoxicosis, exacerbated by pregnancy

PubMed Central

Shin, Terry; Guerrero, Arthur F

2015-01-01

A 29-year-old pregnant woman with Graves’ disease presented with severe persistent hypocalcaemia after thyroidectomy. Six months prior to presentation she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease and remained uncontrolled with methimazole. She was confirmed pregnant prior to radioactive iodine ablation (RAI), and underwent total thyroidectomy during her second trimester. After surgery, continuous intravenous calcium infusion was required until delivery of the fetus allowed discontinuation at postoperative day 18, despite oral calcium and calcitriol administration. A total of 38 g of oral and 7.5 g of intravenous elemental calcium was administered. We report an unusual case of recalcitrant hypocalcaemia thought to be due to a combination of postoperative hypoparathyroidism, combined with thyrotoxic osteodystrophy and pregnancy, after surgical correction of Graves’ disease. Increased vigilance and early calcium supplementation should be a priority in the management of these patients. PMID:25969482

Peculiar Supernovae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milisavljevic, Dan; Margutti, Raffaella

2018-06-01

What makes a supernova truly "peculiar?" In this review we attempt to address this question by tracing the history of the use of "peculiar" as a descriptor of non-standard supernovae back to the original binary spectroscopic classification of Type I vs. Type II proposed by Minkowski (Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac., 53:224, 1941). A handful of noteworthy examples are highlighted to illustrate a general theme: classes of supernovae that were once thought to be peculiar are later seen as logical branches of standard events. This is not always the case, however, and we discuss ASASSN-15lh as an example of a transient with an origin that remains contentious. We remark on how late-time observations at all wavelengths (radio-through-X-ray) that probe 1) the kinematic and chemical properties of the supernova ejecta and 2) the progenitor star system's mass loss in the terminal phases preceding the explosion, have often been critical in understanding the nature of seemingly unusual events.

Did pterosaurs feed by skimming? Physical modelling and anatomical evaluation of an unusual feeding method.

PubMed

Humphries, Stuart; Bonser, Richard H C; Witton, Mark P; Martill, David M

2007-08-01

Similarities between the anatomies of living organisms are often used to draw conclusions regarding the ecology and behaviour of extinct animals. Several pterosaur taxa are postulated to have been skim-feeders based largely on supposed convergences of their jaw anatomy with that of the modern skimming bird, Rynchops spp. Using physical and mathematical models of Rynchops bills and pterosaur jaws, we show that skimming is considerably more energetically costly than previously thought for Rynchops and that pterosaurs weighing more than one kilogram would not have been able to skim at all. Furthermore, anatomical comparisons between the highly specialised skull of Rynchops and those of postulated skimming pterosaurs suggest that even smaller forms were poorly adapted for skim-feeding. Our results refute the hypothesis that some pterosaurs commonly used skimming as a foraging method and illustrate the pitfalls involved in extrapolating from limited morphological convergence.

Associations between schizotypy and cerebral laterality.

PubMed

Park, Haeme R P; Waldie, Karen E

2017-03-01

Atypical lateralization for language has been found in schizophrenia, suggesting that language and thought disorders on the schizophrenia spectrum may be due to left hemispheric dysfunction. However, research with those with non-clinical schizotypy has been inconsistent, with some studies finding reduced or reversed language laterality (particularly with positive schizotypal traits), and others finding typical left hemispheric specialization. The aim of the current study was to use both a behavioural (dual reading-finger tapping) task and an functional magnetic resonance imaging lexical decision task to investigate language laterality in a university sample of high- and low-schizotypal adults. Findings revealed no evidence for atypical lateralization in our sample for both overall schizotypy (measured by the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences) and positive schizotypy (measured by the Unusual Experiences subscale) groups. Our findings provide further evidence that non-clinical schizotypy is not associated with atypical language laterality.

New functionally dioecious bush tomato from northwestern Australia, Solanum ossicruentum, may utilize "trample burr" dispersal.

PubMed

Martine, Christopher T; Cantley, Jason T; Frawley, Emma S; Butler, Alice R; Jordon-Thaden, Ingrid E

2016-01-01

A new Australian species of functionally dioecious bush tomato of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum is described. Solanum ossicruentum Martine & J.Cantley, sp. nov., is thought to be allied with members of the problematic "Dioicum Complex" lineage, but differs in its short silvery indumentum, long calyx lobes, larger stature, and an unusual fruit morphology that may represent "trample burr" seed dispersal. The species occurs in a range extending from the eastern Kimberley in Western Australia to far northwestern Northern Territory and has been recognized for decades as a variant of Solanum dioicum W.Fitzg. Specimens of this species were previously referred to by D.E. Symon and others as Solanum dioicum 'Tanami.' Ex situ crossing studies and SEM images of inaperturate pollen grains produced in morphologically hermaphrodite flowers indicate that this taxon is functionally dioecious. The scientific name was chosen with the help of 150 seventh grade life science students from Pennsylvania, USA.

Atypical ploidy cycles, Spo11, and the evolution of meiosis.

PubMed

Bloomfield, Gareth

2016-06-01

The Spo11 protein induces DNA double strand breaks before the first division of meiosis, enabling the formation of the chiasmata that physically link homologous chromosomes as they align. Spo11 is an ancient and well conserved protein, related in sequence and structure to a DNA topoisomerase subunit found in Archaea as well as a subset of eukaryotes. However the origins of its meiotic function are unclear. This review examines some apparent exceptions to the rule that Spo11 activity is specific to, and required for meiosis. Spo11 appears to function in the context of unusual forms of ploidy reduction in some protists and fungi. One lineage of amoebae, the dictyostelids, is thought to undergo meiosis during its sexual cycle despite having lost Spo11 entirely. Further experimental characterisation of these and other non-canonical ploidy cycling mechanisms may cast light of the evolution of meiosis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Amebic lung abscess with coexisting lung adenocarcinoma: a unusual case of amebiasis.

PubMed

Zhu, Hailong; Min, Xiangyang; Li, Shuai; Feng, Meng; Zhang, Guofeng; Yi, Xianghua

2014-01-01

Amebic lung abscess with concurrent lung cancer, but without either a liver abscess or amebic colitis, is extremely uncommon. Here, we report a 70-year-old man presenting with pulmonary amebiasis and coexisting lung adenocarcinoma. During his first-time hospitalization, the diagnosis of lung amebiasis was confirmed by morphological observation and PCR in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sediments of pleural effusion. Almost four months later, the patient was readmitted to hospital for similar complaints. On readmission, lung adenocarcinoma was diagnosed by liquid-based sputum cytology and thought to be delayed because coexisting amebic lung abscess. This case demonstrated that sediments of pleural effusion may be used for further pathological examination after routine cytology has shown negative results. At the same time, we concluded that lung cancer may easily go undetected in the patients with pulmonary amebiasis and repetitive evaluation by cytology and imaging follow-up are useful to find potential cancer.

Amebic lung abscess with coexisting lung adenocarcinoma: a unusual case of amebiasis

PubMed Central

Zhu, Hailong; Min, Xiangyang; Li, Shuai; Feng, Meng; Zhang, Guofeng; Yi, Xianghua

2014-01-01

Amebic lung abscess with concurrent lung cancer, but without either a liver abscess or amebic colitis, is extremely uncommon. Here, we report a 70-year-old man presenting with pulmonary amebiasis and coexisting lung adenocarcinoma. During his first-time hospitalization, the diagnosis of lung amebiasis was confirmed by morphological observation and PCR in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sediments of pleural effusion. Almost four months later, the patient was readmitted to hospital for similar complaints. On readmission, lung adenocarcinoma was diagnosed by liquid-based sputum cytology and thought to be delayed because coexisting amebic lung abscess. This case demonstrated that sediments of pleural effusion may be used for further pathological examination after routine cytology has shown negative results. At the same time, we concluded that lung cancer may easily go undetected in the patients with pulmonary amebiasis and repetitive evaluation by cytology and imaging follow-up are useful to find potential cancer. PMID:25550881

What we know about Mars (but otherwise wouldn't) if it is the shergottite parent body

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcsween, H. Y., Jr.

1985-01-01

The evidence that some meteorites may actually be samples of fairly large solar system bodies, specifically the moon and the planet Mars was presented. The proposed martian meteorites, called shergottites are igneous rocks that crystallized from molten magmas. Their crystallization ages are much too young to have formed by internal melting within small asteroids, and the unusual chemical composition of gases trapped when these rocks were severely shocked matches that of the martin atmosphere measured by Viking. The implications of these samples for martian evolution was discussed and suggested, that if Mars is the shergottite parent body, the martian interior is much more like that of the earth than has been previously thought. Shergottites explain presence of small magnetic field indicate that volatileement concentratins in Mars should be similar to the Earth, and explain the great lengths of volcanic flows on the martian surface.

Europa Plumes Located near Warm Spot on Europa

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-13

These images of the surface of the Jovian moon Europa, taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, focus on a "region of interest" on the icy moon. The image at left traces the location of the erupting plumes of material, observed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in 2014 and again in 2016. The plumes are located inside the area surrounded by the green oval. The green oval also corresponds to a warm region on Europa's surface, as identified by the temperature map at right. The map is based on observations by the Galileo spacecraft. The warmest area is colored bright red. Researchers speculate these data offer circumstantial evidence for unusual activity that may be related to a subsurface ocean on Europa. The dark circle just below center in both images is a crater and is not thought to be related to the warm spot or the plume activity. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21444

Zoned Cr, Fe-spinel from the La Perouse layered gabbro, Fairweather Range, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Czamanske, G.K.; Himmelberg, G.R.; Goff, F.E.

1976-01-01

Zoned spinel of unusual composition and morphology has been found in massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-pent-landite ore from the La Perouse layered gabbro intrusion in the Fairweather Range, southeastern Alaska. The spinel grains show continuous zoning from cores with up to 53 wt.% Cr2O3 to rims with less than 11 wt.% Cr2O3. Their composition is exceptional because they contain less than 0.32 wt.% MgO and less than 0.10 wt.% Al2O3 and TiO2. Also notable are the concentrations of MnO and V2O3, which reach 4.73 and 4.50 wt.%, respectively, in the cores. The spinel is thought to have crystallized at low oxygen fugacity and at temperatures above 900??C, directly from a sulfide melt that separated by immiscibility from the gabbroic parental magma. ?? 1976.

Did Pterosaurs Feed by Skimming? Physical Modelling and Anatomical Evaluation of an Unusual Feeding Method

PubMed Central

Humphries, Stuart; Bonser, Richard H. C; Witton, Mark P; Martill, David M

2007-01-01

Similarities between the anatomies of living organisms are often used to draw conclusions regarding the ecology and behaviour of extinct animals. Several pterosaur taxa are postulated to have been skim-feeders based largely on supposed convergences of their jaw anatomy with that of the modern skimming bird, Rynchops spp. Using physical and mathematical models of Rynchops bills and pterosaur jaws, we show that skimming is considerably more energetically costly than previously thought for Rynchops and that pterosaurs weighing more than one kilogram would not have been able to skim at all. Furthermore, anatomical comparisons between the highly specialised skull of Rynchops and those of postulated skimming pterosaurs suggest that even smaller forms were poorly adapted for skim-feeding. Our results refute the hypothesis that some pterosaurs commonly used skimming as a foraging method and illustrate the pitfalls involved in extrapolating from limited morphological convergence. PMID:17676976

Marginal and mindful: deviants in social interactions.

PubMed

Frable, D E; Blackstone, T; Scherbaum, C

1990-07-01

Master status people's behavior, physical appearance, or life circumstance is statistically unusual and centrally defining (e.g., the physically attractive, the obese, the intellectually gifted, the facially scarred, the talented, the athletic, Blacks, gays, the wealthy, rape and incest victims). These individuals were paired with people without such conditions. Each pair was left alone on a pretext and covertly videotaped. Pairs were then separated; each member spontaneously recalled information about her partner and the experimental room and provided a record of her thoughts and feelings during the interaction. As hypothesized, all master status Ss were particularly likely to be mindful in social interactions; they recalled detailed information about the situation and often took their partner's perspective during the interaction. The positive or negative connotations of the master status conditions were irrelevant in predicting Ss cognitions (mindfulness) but were critical in determining Ss behaviors (interaction strategies).

"Laparoscopic excision of a large ovarian cyst herniating into the inguinal canal: a rare presentation".

PubMed

Machado, Norman Oneil; Machado, Lovina S M; Al Ghafri, Wadha

2011-08-01

Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most common operation in surgical practice. Despite its common occurrence, hernia often poses a surgical dilemma even for a skilled surgeon. The unexpected hernial content constitutes one of these cases. Although the often-reported, unusual contents of a hernia sac include ovary, fallopian tube, vermiform appendix, Meckel diverticulum, and urinary bladder, the herniation of a large ovarian cyst into the inguinal canal has been hardly reported. Majority of the ovarian cysts are asymptomatic or present with vague lower abdominal pain, whereas the presentation of a large ovarian cyst as an inguinolabial swelling as in our patient is extremely rare. We present here one of the few reported cases of a laparoscopic excision of a large ovarian cyst herniating into the inguinal canal and discuss the pathogenesis of an ovarian cyst as hernial content, the advantages and concerns of a laparoscopic approach in resecting large ovarian cysts, and simultaneous management of the inguinal hernia.

Shaped by our thoughts--a new task to assess spontaneous cognition and its associated neural correlates in the default network.

PubMed

O'Callaghan, Claire; Shine, James M; Lewis, Simon J G; Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R; Irish, Muireann

2015-02-01

Self-generated cognition, or mind wandering, refers to the quintessentially human tendency to withdraw from the immediate external environment and engage in internally driven mentation. This thought activity is suggested to be underpinned by a distributed set of regions in the brain, referred to as the default network. To date, experimental assessment of mind wandering has typically taken place during performance of a concurrent attention-demanding task. The attentional demands of concurrent tasks can influence the emergence of mind wandering, and their application to clinical disorders with reduced cognitive resources is limited. Furthermore, few paradigms have investigated the phenomenological content of mind wandering episodes. Here, we present data from a novel thought sampling task that measures both the frequency and qualitative content of mind wandering, in the absence of a concurrent task to reduce cognitive demand. The task was validated in a non-pathological cohort of 31 older controls and resting-state functional connectivity analyses in a subset of participants (n=18) was conducted to explore the neural bases of mind wandering. Overall, instances of mind wandering were found to occur in 37% of experimental trials. Resting state functional connectivity analyses confirmed that mind wandering frequency was associated with regional patterns of both increased and decreased default network connectivity, namely in the temporal lobe, posterior cingulate cortex and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex. Our findings demonstrate that the novel task provides a context of low cognitive demand, which is conducive to mind wandering. Furthermore, performance on the task is associated with specific patterns of functional connectivity in the default network. Together, this new paradigm offers an important avenue to investigate the frequency and content of mind wandering in the context of low cognitive demands, and has significant potential to be applied in clinical conditions with reduced cognitive resources. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Semantic Borders and Incomplete Understanding.

PubMed

Silva-Filho, Waldomiro J; Dazzani, Maria Virgínia

2016-03-01

In this article, we explore a fundamental issue of Cultural Psychology, that is our "capacity to make meaning", by investigating a thesis from contemporary philosophical semantics, namely, that there is a decisive relationship between language and rationality. Many philosophers think that for a person to be described as a rational agent he must understand the semantic content and meaning of the words he uses to express his intentional mental states, e.g., his beliefs and thoughts. Our argument seeks to investigate the thesis developed by Tyler Burge, according to which our mastery or understanding of the semantic content of the terms which form our beliefs and thoughts is an "incomplete understanding". To do this, we discuss, on the one hand, the general lines of anti-individualism or semantic externalism and, on the other, criticisms of the Burgean notion of incomplete understanding - one radical and the other moderate. We defend our understanding that the content of our beliefs must be described in the light of the limits and natural contingencies of our cognitive capacities and the normative nature of our rationality. At heart, anti-individualism leads us to think about the fact that we are social creatures, living in contingent situations, with important, but limited, cognitive capacities, and that we receive the main, and most important, portion of our knowledge simply from what others tell us. Finally, we conclude that this discussion may contribute to the current debate about the notion of borders.

Examining the role of emotional valence of mind wandering: All mind wandering is not equal.

PubMed

Banks, Jonathan B; Welhaf, Matthew S; Hood, Audrey V B; Boals, Adriel; Tartar, Jaime L

2016-07-01

To evaluate the role of emotional valence on the impact of mind wandering on working memory (WM) and sustained attention, we reanalyzed data from three independently conducted studies that examined the impact of stress on WM (Banks & Boals, 2016; Banks, Welhaf, & Srour, 2015) and sustained attention (Banks, Tartar, & Welhaf, 2014). Across all studies, participants reported the content of their thoughts at random intervals during the WM or sustained attention task. Thought probes in all studies included a core set of response options for task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) that were negatively, positively, or neutrally emotionally valenced. In line with theories of emotional valenced stimuli on capture of attention, results suggest negatively valenced TUTs, but not positively valenced TUTs, were related to poorer WM and sustained attention in two studies. Neutral TUTs were related to poorer WM but not sustained attention performance. Implications for models of mind wandering are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Back to the future: autobiographical planning and the functionality of mind-wandering.

PubMed

Baird, Benjamin; Smallwood, Jonathan; Schooler, Jonathan W

2011-12-01

Given that as much as half of human thought arises in a stimulus independent fashion, it would seem unlikely that such thoughts would play no functional role in our lives. However, evidence linking the mind-wandering state to performance decrement has led to the notion that mind-wandering primarily represents a form of cognitive failure. Based on previous work showing a prospective bias to mind-wandering, the current study explores the hypothesis that one potential function of spontaneous thought is to plan and anticipate personally relevant future goals, a process referred to as autobiographical planning. The results confirm that the content of mind-wandering is predominantly future-focused, demonstrate that individuals with high working memory capacity are more likely to engage in prospective mind-wandering, and show that prospective mind-wandering frequently involves autobiographical planning. Together this evidence suggests that mind-wandering can enable prospective cognitive operations that are likely to be useful to the individual as they navigate through their daily lives. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thought Leaders during Crises in Massive Social Networks

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

Corley, Courtney D.; Farber, Robert M.; Reynolds, William

The vast amount of social media data that can be gathered from the internet coupled with workflows that utilize both commodity systems and massively parallel supercomputers, such as the Cray XMT, open new vistas for research to support health, defense, and national security. Computer technology now enables the analysis of graph structures containing more than 4 billion vertices joined by 34 billion edges along with metrics and massively parallel algorithms that exhibit near-linear scalability according to number of processors. The challenge lies in making this massive data and analysis comprehensible to an analyst and end-users that require actionable knowledge tomore » carry out their duties. Simply stated, we have developed language and content agnostic techniques to reduce large graphs built from vast media corpora into forms people can understand. Specifically, our tools and metrics act as a survey tool to identify thought leaders' -- those members that lead or reflect the thoughts and opinions of an online community, independent of the source language.« less

Hierarchy, Dominance, and Deliberation: Egalitarian Values Require Mental Effort.

PubMed

Van Berkel, Laura; Crandall, Christian S; Eidelman, Scott; Blanchar, John C

2015-09-01

Hierarchy and dominance are ubiquitous. Because social hierarchy is early learned and highly rehearsed, the value of hierarchy enjoys relative ease over competing egalitarian values. In six studies, we interfere with deliberate thinking and measure endorsement of hierarchy and egalitarianism. In Study 1, bar patrons' blood alcohol content was correlated with hierarchy preference. In Study 2, cognitive load increased the authority/hierarchy moral foundation. In Study 3, low-effort thought instructions increased hierarchy endorsement and reduced equality endorsement. In Study 4, ego depletion increased hierarchy endorsement and caused a trend toward reduced equality endorsement. In Study 5, low-effort thought instructions increased endorsement of hierarchical attitudes among those with a sense of low personal power. In Study 6, participants' thinking quickly allocated more resources to high-status groups. Across five operationalizations of impaired deliberative thought, hierarchy endorsement increased and egalitarianism receded. These data suggest hierarchy may persist in part because it has a psychological advantage. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Experience of suicidal thoughts: a discourse analytic study.

PubMed

Galasiński, Dariusz; Ziółkowska, Justyna

2013-01-01

In this paper we explore the relationship between current psychiatric thinking on suicide and service users' accounts of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. The data comes from recordings of psychiatric interviews collected in three psychiatric hospitals in Poland. Assuming a constructionist view of discourse we argue that the literature on suicide ignores and simplifies the experience of those who think about suicide and attempt to commit it, and constructs their experiences as a homogeneous group of 'thoughts' with only limited content. We also offer a preliminary insight into the complexity of 'suicide thoughts', as narrated by those reporting them. We demonstrate that they are marginalized and made relatively irrelevant in the accounts of attempted suicide. Additionally, we demonstrate that while women construct suicide attempts (whether actually attempted in the end or not) as at least potentially beyond their control, men's narratives show them in control of the attempt, as if choosing an available option. We conclude by exploring possibilities of further qualitative discourse analytic research which builds on the findings we present here.

The elaboration likelihood model and communication about food risks.

PubMed

Frewer, L J; Howard, C; Hedderley, D; Shepherd, R

1997-12-01

Factors such as hazard type and source credibility have been identified as important in the establishment of effective strategies for risk communication. The elaboration likelihood model was adapted to investigate the potential impact of hazard type, information source, and persuasive content of information on individual engagement in elaborative, or thoughtful, cognitions about risk messages. One hundred sixty respondents were allocated to one of eight experimental groups, and the effects of source credibility, persuasive content of information and hazard type were systematically varied. The impact of the different factors on beliefs about the information and elaborative processing examined. Low credibility was particularly important in reducing risk perceptions, although persuasive content and hazard type were also influential in determining whether elaborative processing occurred.

Unusual way of suicide by carbon monoxide. Case Report.

PubMed

Zelený, Michal; Pivnička, Jan; Šindler, Martin; Kukleta, Pavel

2015-01-01

Authors discuss the case of a suicide of a 29-year-old man caused by carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication. What the authors found interesting was the unusual way of committing suicide that required good technical skills and expert knowledge. The level of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) in the blood of the deceased man was routinely determined by the modified method by Blackmoore (1970), using gas chromatography/thermal conductivity detection. The level of saturation of the hemoglobin by CO in the collected blood sample is determined relatively to the same sample saturated to 100%. In the blood sample of the deceased man the lethal concentration of COHb of 76.5% was determined. Within the following examinations the blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 g.kg(-1) was determined. Further analysis revealed traces of sertraline, its metabolite N-desmethylsertraline, omeprazole and caffeine in the liver tissue, traces of N-desmethylsertraline, ibuprofen and caffeine in urine sample, and only traces of caffeine in the stomach content and blood samples were proved. To commit suicide the man used a sophisticated double container-system equipped with a timer for controlled generation of CO based on the chemical reaction of concentrated sulphuric acid and formic acid. The used timer was set by an electromechanical timer switch that triggered the fatal reaction of the acids while the man was sleeping. The authors discuss an unusual case of suicide by CO intoxication rarely seen in the area of forensic medicine and toxicology that is specific due to its sophisticated way of execution.

[Unusual discovery of omphalomesenteric fistula. A case report].

PubMed

Hunald, F A; Rajaonarivony, M F V; Rakotovao, M; Ravololoniaina, T; Rakoto-Ratsimba, H; Andriamanarivo, M L

2011-04-01

Omphalomesenteric fistula is a complete persistence of the omphalomesenteric duct communicating between the umbilicus and the intestine. The presence of intestinal contents suggests the diagnosis in its typical form. We report a case of omphalomesenteric fistula in a 3-year-old boy to show that intestinal parasitic infection associated with ascariasis expulsion through the umbilicus can be the incidental finding of the omphalomesenteric fistula. This case needs no paraclinical investigation and treatment consists in partial transumbilical resection followed by umbilicus restitution. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Orange juice-induced hyperkalemia in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Berk, David R; Conti, Paul M; Sommer, Barbara R

2004-01-01

Some fruit juices have very high potassium content. However, only several cases of juice-induced hyperkalemia have been reported that involved non-psychiatric, diabetic outpatients with renal compromise. We present a highly unusual case of a 66-year-old non-diabetic, schizophrenic woman with psychogenic polydipsia and normal renal function who developed hyperkalemia secondary to excessive orange juice consumption while an inpatient. In addition to demonstrating this previously undescribed medical comorbidity of schizophrenia, this case highlights the need for careful attention when communicating with both nursing and patients when managing psychogenic polydipsia.

Influence of cobalt and manganese content on the dehydrogenation capacity and kinetics of air-exposed LaNi 5+ x-type alloys in solid gas and electrochemical reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raekelboom, E.; Cuevas, F.; Knosp, B.; Percheron-Guégan, A.

The effect of cobalt and manganese content on the dehydrogenation properties of air-exposed MmB 5+ x-type (Mm = mischmetal; B = Ni, Al, Co and Mn) alloys was investigated both in solid gas and electrochemical reactions. The cobalt and manganese content were varied separately while keeping constant the plateau pressure of the hydrides. The increase of the cobalt content leads to a decrease of the hydrogen capacity whereas the manganese content has no much effect. In solid gas reactions, the kinetics were found to be limited by the hydrogen diffusion through the surface oxidation layer. As for the electrochemistry, the kinetics are limited by a corrosion layer formed in alkaline medium. The desorption rates for both processes increase as the cobalt or manganese content decreases. This is thought to be due to an enhancement of the hydrogen diffusivity through the oxidation layer. As a result, a low cobalt or manganese content in MmB 5+ x alloys is found to be beneficial for the hydrogen desorption kinetics in both processes.

Ausloesung von Gespraechen in der Fremdsprache mit Hilfe von Texten (Development of Conversations in the Foreign Language with the Help of Text)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirsch, Erika

1974-01-01

Discusses the use, in courses for adults, of texts whose content stimulates thought concerning the solving of problems - social, political, etc. - because they are of interest to the participants; thus is created an excellent basis for conversation. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Utilization of oak residues

Treesearch

Richard C. Allison

1971-01-01

Residues should be thought of as a raw material for specific uses rather than as a waste. Fines and solid wood residues are usually kept separated in waste-collection system, but species are rarely kept separated. The properties of each species dictate what uses can be made of them. Quantity, location, cost, moisture content, physical size, and presence of foreign...

The Treatment of Family Issues in United States History Textbooks: General Thoughts and a Review of Several Examples.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gordon, Linda

1994-01-01

Reports on a study of the treatment of family issues in 12 college-level U.S. history textbooks. Concludes that instructors who want to introduce serious discussions of families into a survey course must be prepared to offer additional readings, lecture material, and exercises beyond the textbook content. (CFR)

Applying a Universal Design for Learning Framework to Mediate the Language Demands of Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Cathy Newman; Van Garderen, Delinda; Scheuermann, Amy; Lee, Eun Ju

2015-01-01

This article provides information about the relationship between mathematics, language, and literacy and describes the difficulties faced by students with disabilities with math content based on the language demands of mathematics. We conceptualize mathematics language as a mode of discourse for math learning that can be thought of as receptive…

Going beyond the Thesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Andrew C.

2010-01-01

Most every writing teacher can relate to the curse of reading yet another incoherent essay, the contents of which resemble an unorganized junk drawer of thoughts. Such essays cry out for a main idea. The remedy is a thesis, and teachers rightly take pains to help students discover this. Yet in spite of this, writing teachers ought to bear in mind…

"Always Use Protection": Communication Boys Receive about Sex from Parents, Peers, and the Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Epstein, Marina; Ward, L. Monique

2008-01-01

Although parents are often thought to be the primary communicators of sexual information, studies have found that many adolescent boys report receiving little or no parental communication about sex. Instead, boys report learning about sex mostly from their peers and the media. However, little is known about the content of these communications,…

Unconsciously Induced Recall of Prose and Poetry: Analysis of Manifest and Latent Contents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diaz de Chumaceiro, Cora L.

1997-01-01

Argues that it is important for therapists to pay attention to the literature that surfaces in their own consciousness during treatment of a patient. Examines a published example of this process in Theodore Reik's (1953) "The Secret Self: Psychoanalytic Experiences in Life and Literature," in which thoughts of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" are evoked.…

Outside the Framework of Thinkable Thought: The Modern Orchestration Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gattegno, Eliot Aron

2010-01-01

In today's world of too much information, context--not content--is king. This proposal is for the development of an unparalleled sonic analysis tool that converts audio files into musical score notation and a Web site (API) to collect manage and preserve information about the musical sounds analyzed, as well as music scores, videos, and articles…

The Visibility of Feminist Thought in Family Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wills, Jeremiah B.; Risman, Barbara J.

2006-01-01

We assessed feminist visibility in family journals by tallying the feminist content of articles in "Journal of Marriage and Family," "Journal of Family Issues," and "Family Relations." There was an increase in feminist visibility from 1972 to 1992, at which point the growth of visibility stalled. From 1992 to 2002, almost 1 out of 4 articles…

Students' Perceptions of Teaching in Context-Based and Traditional Chemistry Classrooms: Comparing Content, Learning Activities, and Interpersonal Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Overman, Michelle; Vermunt, Jan D.; Meijer, Paulien C.; Bulte, Astrid M. W.; Brekelmans, Mieke

2014-01-01

Context-based curriculum reforms in chemistry education are thought to bring greater diversity to the ways in which chemistry teachers organize their teaching. First and foremost, students are expected to perceive this diversity. However, empirical research on how students perceive their teacher's teaching in context-based chemistry classrooms,…

I "See" What You Are Saying: The Analytical Work of Diagrams in Online Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Tony Loring

2016-01-01

Diagrams illustrating research on discussion forum content in online education practices can assist to clarify an author's thoughts and assist with the reader's comprehension. A review of past practices in the use of diagrams to explain, demonstrate or propose research findings shows a diversity of practices emerging from naturalistic settings.…

Future Training for Service; A Report to the Library and Information Science Profession.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ely, Donald P.

Present thought on professional library and information science education for the future is largely focused on improvements and modifications of present programs. However, more radical changes must be made to prepare professionals to cope with future information needs. Course content, structure, and methods should be altered to deal with new and…

OER and the Common Core

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waters, John K.

2013-01-01

If anyone had thought to recognize a K-12 educational buzzword of the year for 2012, it would surely have been "open educational resources" (OER). Ed tech media has fairly hummed with the topic, largely with exciting predictions: OER would give cash-strapped K-12 educators access to high-quality tools and content for their classrooms at little or…

Design of Personalized Blended Learning Environments Based on Web-Assisted Modelling in Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çetinkaya, Murat

2016-01-01

Positive results of science teaching studies supported with the means provided by technology require the enrichment of the content of blended learning environments to provide more benefits. Within this context, it is thought that preparing a web-assisted model-based teaching, which is frequently used in science teaching, based on the "Matter…

Recoding between Two Types of STM Representation Revealed by the Dynamics of Memory Search

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leszczynski, Marcin; Myers, Nicholas E.; Akyurek, Elkan G.; Schubo, Anna

2012-01-01

Visual STM (VSTM) is thought to be related to visual attention in several ways. Attention controls access to VSTM during memory encoding and plays a role in the maintenance of stored information by strengthening memorized content. We investigated the involvement of visual attention in recall from VSTM. In two experiments, we measured…

Single Parenting from a Father's Heart. A Back-to-Basics Guide for Both Sexes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horner, Steve

This book addresses the void in father-oriented parenting material by offering, from a father's point of view, practical, thoughtful, and inspiring solutions to help single parents and their children be more effective, productive, and content. The book's chapters are: (1) "Dedication Comes First," covering such topics as how parents view…

"Sesame Street" Puts Self-Regulation Skills at the Core of School Readiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Truglio, Rosemarie T; Stefano, Autumn Zitani; Sanders, Jennifer Schiffman

2014-01-01

Self-regulation is the ability to control one's thoughts, actions, and emotions. When children are better able to follow directions or control impulses they are better prepared for school and for life. Sesame Workshop has and continues to create rich, meaningful content that places self-regulation skills and the strategies needed for school…

Toward a Typology of Implementation Challenges Facing English-Medium Instruction in Higher Education: Evidence from Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradford, Annette

2016-01-01

Higher education is becoming increasingly internationalized, and the use of English as a medium of instruction for academic content has become commonplace in countries where English is not the native language. However, concerns are growing that the trend toward English-medium instruction (EMI) has accelerated without sufficient thought to the…

Using Read-Alouds to Help Struggling Readers Access and Comprehend Complex, Informational Text

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santoro, Lana Edwards; Baker, Scott K.; Fien, Hank; Smith, Jean Louise M.; Chard, David J.

2016-01-01

The use of informational texts in the elementary grades provides a context for helping students develop content understanding and domain knowledge across a wide range of subject matter. Reading informational text also provides students with the language of thought, foundational vocabulary that can be connected to other words, and technical content…

Study of overlength on red oak lumber drying quality and rough mill yield

Treesearch

Brian Bond; Janice Wiedenbeck

2006-01-01

Lumber stacking practices can directly affect drying defects, drying rate, and moisture content uniformity. The effect of overlength on drying is generally thought to be detrimental, yet large volumes of overlength lumber are used by secondary manufacturers. Managers of secondary manufacturing facilities need quantitative information to assist them in determining if...

Teaching Geometry: An Experiential and Artistic Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ogletree, Earl J.

The view that geometry should be taught at every grade level is promoted. Primary and elementary school children are thought to rarely have any direct experience with geometry, except on an incidental basis. Children are supposed to be able to learn geometry rather easily, so long as the method and content are adapted to their development and…

Identification of Students' Content Mastery and Cognitive and Affective Percepts of a Bioinformatics Miniunit: A Case Study with Recommendations for Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wefer, Stephen H.; Anderson, O. Roger

2008-01-01

Bioinformatics, merging biological data with computer science, is increasingly incorporated into school curricula at all levels. This case study of 10 secondary school students highlights student individual differences (especially the way they processed information and integrated procedural and analytical thought) and summarizes a variety of…

Stable isotope compositions and water contents of boninite series volcanic rocks from Chichi-jima, Bonin Islands, Japan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dobson, P.F.; O'Neil, J.R.

1987-01-01

Measurements of stable isotope compositions and water contents of boninite series volcanic rocks from the island of Chichi-jima, Bonin Islands, Japan, confirm that a large amount (1.6-2.4 wt.%) of primary water was present in these unusual magmas. An enrichment of 0.6??? in 18O during differentiation is explained by crystallization of 18O-depleted mafic phases. Silicic glasses have elevated ??18O values and relatively low ??D values indicating that they were modified by low-temperature alteration and hydration processes. Mafic glasses, on the other hand, have for the most part retained their primary isotopic signatures since Eocene time. Primary ??D values of -53 for boninite glasses are higher than those of MORB and suggest that the water was derived from subducted oceanic lithosphere. ?? 1987.

Increase in cellular triacylglycerol content and emergence of large ER-associated lipid droplets in the absence of CDP-DG synthase function

PubMed Central

He, Yue; Yam, Candice; Pomraning, Kyle; Chin, Jacqueline S. R.; Yew, Joanne Y.; Freitag, Michael; Oliferenko, Snezhana

2014-01-01

Excess fatty acids and sterols are stored as triacylglycerols and sterol esters in specialized cellular organelles, called lipid droplets. Understanding what determines the cellular amount of neutral lipids and their packaging into lipid droplets is of fundamental and applied interest. Using two species of fission yeast, we show that cycling cells deficient in the function of the ER-resident CDP-DG synthase Cds1 exhibit markedly increased triacylglycerol content and assemble large lipid droplets closely associated with the ER membranes. We demonstrate that these unusual structures recruit the triacylglycerol synthesis machinery and grow by expansion rather than by fusion. Our results suggest that interfering with the CDP-DG route of phosphatidic acid utilization rewires cellular metabolism to adopt a triacylglycerol-rich lifestyle reliant on the Kennedy pathway. PMID:25318672

Excited-state proton transfer dynamics of firefly's chromophore D-luciferin in DMSO-water binary mixture.

PubMed

Kuchlyan, Jagannath; Banik, Debasis; Roy, Arpita; Kundu, Niloy; Sarkar, Nilmoni

2014-12-04

In this article we have investigated intermolecular excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) of firefly's chromophore D-luciferin in DMSO-water binary mixtures using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The unusual behavior of DMSO-water binary mixture as reported by Bagchi et al. (J. Phys. Chem. B 2010, 114, 12875-12882) was also found using D-luciferin as intermolecular ESPT probe. The binary mixture has given evidence of its anomalous nature at low mole fractions of DMSO (below XD = 0.4) in our systematic investigation. Upon excitation of neutral D-luciferin molecule, dual fluorescence emissions (protonated and deprotonated form) are observed in DMSO-water binary mixture. A clear isoemissive point in the time-resolved area normalized emission spectra further indicates two emissive species in the excited state of D-luciferin in DMSO-water binary mixture. DMSO-water binary mixtures of different compositions are fascinating hydrogen bonding systems. Therefore, we have observed unusual changes in the fluorescence emission intensity, fluorescence quantum yield, and fluorescence lifetime of more hydrogen bonding sensitive anionic form of D-luciferin in low DMSO content of DMSO-water binary mixture.

(MnH9)2- salts with high hydrogen contents and unusual bonding: Density functional calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Michèle; Gupta, Raju P.; Singh, D. J.

2009-12-01

The compounds BaReH9 and K2ReH9 are the prototypical members of a family of hydrides described as salts of (ReH9)2- anions. The structures reflect highly unusual chemistry with short H-H distances and at the same time very high ninefold coordination of Re by hydrogen atoms. This is of interest because of the resulting high hydrogen-to-metal ratios, 4.5 in BaReH9 and 3 in K2ReH9 . Here we use density functional calculations to investigate possible new members of this family including both Re and Mn compounds. We find that although SrReH9 and CaReH9 have not been synthesized these are very likely to be stable compounds that may be prepared in a similar manner as the Ba analog. We also find that the manganese counterparts, including K2MnH9 , are also likely to be stable and have thermodynamic properties consistent with requirements for hydrogen storage.

How emotions inform judgment and regulate thought

PubMed Central

Clore, Gerald L.; Huntsinger, Jeffrey R.

2008-01-01

Being happy or sad influences the content and style of thought. One explanation is that affect serves as information about the value of whatever comes to mind. Thus, when a person makes evaluative judgments or engages in a task, positive affect can enhance evaluations and empower potential responses. Rather than affect itself, the information conveyed by affect is crucial. Tests of the hypothesis find that affective influences can be made to disappear by changing the source to which the affect is attributed. In tasks, positive affect validates and negative affect invalidates accessible cognitions, leading to relational processing and item-specific processing, respectively. Positive affect is found to promote, and negative affect to inhibit, many textbook phenomena from cognitive psychology. PMID:17698405

The linguistics of schizophrenia: thought disturbance as language pathology across positive symptoms.

PubMed

Hinzen, Wolfram; Rosselló, Joana

2015-01-01

We hypothesize that linguistic (dis-)organization in the schizophrenic brain plays a more central role in the pathogenesis of this disease than commonly supposed. Against the standard view, that schizophrenia is a disturbance of thought or selfhood, we argue that the origins of the relevant forms of thought and selfhood at least partially depend on language. The view that they do not is premised by a theoretical conception of language that we here identify as 'Cartesian' and contrast with a recent 'un-Cartesian' model. This linguistic model empirically argues for both (i) a one-to-one correlation between human-specific thought or meaning and forms of grammatical organization, and (ii) an integrative and co-dependent view of linguistic cognition and its sensory-motor dimensions. Core dimensions of meaning mediated by grammar on this model specifically concern forms of referential and propositional meaning. A breakdown of these is virtually definitional of core symptoms. Within this model the three main positive symptoms of schizophrenia fall into place as failures in language-mediated forms of meaning, manifest either as a disorder of speech perception (Auditory Verbal Hallucinations), abnormal speech production running without feedback control (Formal Thought Disorder), or production of abnormal linguistic content (Delusions). Our hypothesis makes testable predictions for the language profile of schizophrenia across symptoms; it simplifies the cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia while not being inconsistent with a pattern of neurocognitive deficits and their correlations with symptoms; and it predicts persistent findings on disturbances of language-related circuitry in the schizophrenic brain.

Is self-generated thought a means of social problem solving?

PubMed Central

Ruby, Florence J. M.; Smallwood, Jonathan; Sackur, Jerome; Singer, Tania

2013-01-01

Appropriate social problem solving constitutes a critical skill for individuals and may rely on processes important for self-generated thought (SGT). The aim of the current study was to investigate the link between SGT and social problem solving. Using the Means-End Problem Solving task (MEPS), we assessed participants' abilities to resolve daily social problems in terms of overall efficiency and number of relevant means they provided to reach the given solution. Participants also performed a non-demanding choice reaction time task (CRT) and a moderately-demanding working memory task (WM) as a context in which to measure their SGT (assessed via thought sampling). We found that although overall SGT was associated with lower MEPS efficiency, it was also associated with higher relevant means, perhaps because both depend on the capacity to generate cognition that is independent from the hear and now. The specific content of SGT did not differentially predict individual differences in social problem solving, suggesting that the relationship may depend on SGT regardless of its content. In addition, we also found that performance at the WM but not the CRT was linked to overall better MEPS performance, suggesting that individuals good at social processing are also distinguished by their capacity to constrain attention to an external task. Our results provide novel evidence that the capacity for SGT is implicated in the process by which solutions to social problems are generated, although optimal problem solving may be achieved by individuals who display a suitable balance between SGT and cognition derived from perceptual input. PMID:24391621

Alignment of learning objectives and assessments in therapeutics courses to foster higher-order thinking.

PubMed

FitzPatrick, Beverly; Hawboldt, John; Doyle, Daniel; Genge, Terri

2015-02-17

To determine whether national educational outcomes, course objectives, and classroom assessments for 2 therapeutics courses were aligned for curricular content and cognitive processes, and if they included higher-order thinking. Document analysis and student focus groups were used. Outcomes, objectives, and assessment tasks were matched for specific therapeutics content and cognitive processes. Anderson and Krathwohl's Taxonomy was used to define higher-order thinking. Students discussed whether assessments tested objectives and described their thinking when responding to assessments. There were 7 outcomes, 31 objectives, and 412 assessment tasks. The alignment for content and cognitive processes was not satisfactory. Twelve students participated in the focus groups. Students thought more short-answer questions than multiple choice questions matched the objectives for content and required higher-order thinking. The alignment analysis provided data that could be used to reveal and strengthen the enacted curriculum and improve student learning.

[Increased content of nucleotide sequences in transcriptionally active DNA and poly(A)+-mRNA of the rat liver and a rise in its translation activity as affected by inducers].

PubMed

Dashkevich, V S; Vishnivetskiĭ, S N; Skobel'tsina, L M; Luk'ianchikova, N L; Kaledin, V I

1986-12-01

Cortisol and 3'-methyl-4-dimethyl-amino-azobenzene induce an increase in the content of repeated sequences (RS) in transcriptionally active (TA) DNA, while the content of respective RS in potentially active DNA fractions enriched with regulatory regions of the genome decreases. RS content in induced poly A+-mRNA also rises, as determined by the nature of hybridization of respective c DNA with total DNA. The translation of induced poly A+-mRNA rises essentially, with the qualitative distinctions in in vitro synthesized protein product spectrum being absent. Inducible RS with unstable chromatine conformation are thought to provide a universal system of rapid response of the genetic apparatus to extreme situations, serving as transcription intensifiers in TA DNA and as translation intensifiers in induced poly A+-mRNA.

A thought in the park: The influence of naturalness and low-level visual features on expressed thoughts.

PubMed

Schertz, Kathryn E; Sachdeva, Sonya; Kardan, Omid; Kotabe, Hiroki P; Wolf, Kathleen L; Berman, Marc G

2018-05-01

Prior research has shown that the physical characteristics of one's environment have wide ranging effects on affect and cognition. Other research has demonstrated that one's thoughts have impacts on mood and behavior, and in this three-part research program we investigated how physical features of the environment can alter thought content. In one study, we analyzed thousands of journal entries written by park visitors to examine how low-level and semantic visual features of the parks correlate with different thought topics. In a second study, we validated our ecological results by conducting an online study where participants were asked to write journal entries while imagining they were visiting a park, to ensure that results from Study 1 were not due to selection bias of park visitors. In the third study, we experimentally manipulated exposure to specific visual features to determine if they induced thinking about the same thought topics under more generalized conditions. Results from Study 3 demonstrated a potential causal role for perceived naturalness and high non-straight edges on thinking about "Nature", with a significant positive interaction. Results also showed a potential causal effect of naturalness and non-straight edges on thinking about topics related to "Spiritual & Life Journey", with perceived naturalness having a negative relationship and non-straight edges having a positive relationship. We also observed a significant positive interaction between non-straight edge density and naturalness in relation to "Spiritual & Life Journey". These results have implications for the design of the built environment to influence human reflection and well-being. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Video mining using combinations of unsupervised and supervised learning techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Divakaran, Ajay; Miyahara, Koji; Peker, Kadir A.; Radhakrishnan, Regunathan; Xiong, Ziyou

2003-12-01

We discuss the meaning and significance of the video mining problem, and present our work on some aspects of video mining. A simple definition of video mining is unsupervised discovery of patterns in audio-visual content. Such purely unsupervised discovery is readily applicable to video surveillance as well as to consumer video browsing applications. We interpret video mining as content-adaptive or "blind" content processing, in which the first stage is content characterization and the second stage is event discovery based on the characterization obtained in stage 1. We discuss the target applications and find that using a purely unsupervised approach are too computationally complex to be implemented on our product platform. We then describe various combinations of unsupervised and supervised learning techniques that help discover patterns that are useful to the end-user of the application. We target consumer video browsing applications such as commercial message detection, sports highlights extraction etc. We employ both audio and video features. We find that supervised audio classification combined with unsupervised unusual event discovery enables accurate supervised detection of desired events. Our techniques are computationally simple and robust to common variations in production styles etc.

What is good parental education? Interviews with parents who have attended parental education sessions.

PubMed

Petersson, Kerstin; Petersson, Christer; Håkansson, Anders

2004-03-01

The aim of the study was to highlight the experiences and expectations of Swedish parents with respect to general parental education within child healthcare. Interviews were carried out with 25 parents who had attended education sessions. With a few exceptions the fathers did not take part, and those mothers who did comprised a relatively highly educated group; their views therefore predominate in this study. Socially vulnerable parents such as the unemployed and immigrants took part more sporadically in the meetings, which is why less material is available from these groups. The arrangement and analysis of the material was done using qualitative content analysis. We identified two main categories of importance: 'parental education content' and 'parental education structure'. The parents were on the whole satisfied with the content with respect to the child's physical and psychosocial development. On the other hand, first-time parents expressed a degree of uncertainty with respect to the new parent roles and parent relation and they thought that the education should place more emphasis on the interplay between the parents and between child and parents. The degree of confidence in the nurse as group leader was mainly high. The parents thought that the groups functioned well socially and were satisfied with the organization of the meetings. They did, however, demand clearer structure and framework with respect to the content. Since the aim of legally established parental education is to improve the conditions of childhood growth and to provide support to parents, it must be considered especially important to provide resources so that the socially vulnerable groups in the community may also be reached.

JPRS Report, Proliferation Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-09-23

reactor with earlier United Nations specialists arriving into the dis- limited capability from an Argentine specialist company puted area had found no...DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE SPRINGFIELD, VA 22161 PROLIFERATION ISSUES JPRS-TND-92-035 CONTENTS 23 September 1992...thought that joining this treaty would constitute a sort of given national resource. impediment to the commercialization of Niger’s ura- [Ouhoumoudou

Zooming In on Copyright with Integrated Library Software Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oye, Karen

2007-01-01

Over the last decade, many of Kelvin Smith Library's (KSL) content delivery services have gone digital, and some, such as enhanced course reserves products, are new to the market. The best digital library services have given KSL options and integrated solutions that allow it to do more than it thought possible just a few years ago. As with many…

World Libraries on the Information Superhighway: Preparing for the Challenges of the New Millennium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fletcher, Patricia Diamond, Ed.; Bertot, John Carlo, Ed.

This book represents the thoughts and experiences of librarians and academics on the changing role of libraries in a global networked community. The first section of the book looks at the agendas for national libraries in a digital world. Issues covered include content and delivery, national policy and practice and strategies for success in a…

The Decolonial Option in English Teaching: Can the Subaltern Act?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kumaravadivelu, B.

2016-01-01

In this reflective article that straddles the personal and the professional, the author shares his critical thoughts on the impact of the steady stream of discourse on the native speaker/nonnative speaker (NS/NNS) inequity in the field of TESOL. His contention is that more than a quarter century of the discoursal output has not in any significant…

Rap-Music Attitude and Perception Scale: A Validation Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tyson, Edgar H.

2006-01-01

Objective: This study tests the validity of the Rap-music Attitude and Perception (RAP) Scale, a 1-page, 24-item measure of a person's thoughts and feelings surrounding the effects and content of rap music. The RAP was designed as a rapid assessment instrument for youth programs and practitioners using rap music and hip hop culture in their work…

Free Association in Sex Education: Understanding Sexuality as the Flow of Thought in Conversation and Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casemore, Brian

2010-01-01

This paper draws on the theory and method of free association in psychoanalysis to frame an investigation of the content, structure, and function of the thinking expressed in conversations about sexuality and sexual health. The investigation emerges from an ongoing three-year study of the way adolescents, teachers, and peer sex educators negotiate…

All Rights Reversed: A Study of Copyleft, Open-Source, and Open-Content Licensing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frantsvog, Dean A.

2012-01-01

In the United States and much of the world, the current framework of intellectual property laws revolves around protecting others from tampering with an author's work. The copyright holder decides who can use it, who can change it, and who can share. There is a growing school of thought, though, that holds that intellectual creations should be…

All Tumor Cells Are Not Created Equal | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

Cell division is commonly thought of as a process whereby one cell gives rise to two identical daughter cells. However, rare cell divisions are asymmetric, generating daughter cells that may differ in size, developmental potential, or even DNA content. The ability of stem cells to undergo asymmetric division allows them to self-renew while simultaneously generate daughter

Mountain pine beetle attack alters the chemistry and flammability of lodgepole pine foliage

Treesearch

Wesley G. Page; Michael J. Jenkins; Justin B. Runyon

2012-01-01

During periods with epidemic mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) populations in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) forests, large amounts of tree foliage are thought to undergo changes in moisture content and chemistry brought about by tree decline and death. However, many of the presumed changes have yet to be...

Updating Our View of Organelle Genome Nucleotide Landscape

PubMed Central

Smith, David Roy

2012-01-01

Organelle genomes show remarkable variation in architecture and coding content, yet their nucleotide composition is relatively unvarying across the eukaryotic domain, with most having a high adenine and thymine (AT) content. Recent studies, however, have uncovered guanine and cytosine (GC)-rich mitochondrial and plastid genomes. These sequences come from a small but eclectic list of species, including certain green plants and animals. Here, I review GC-rich organelle DNAs and the insights they have provided into the evolution of nucleotide landscape. I emphasize that GC-biased mitochondrial and plastid DNAs are more widespread than once thought, sometimes occurring together in the same species, and suggest that the forces biasing their nucleotide content can differ both among and within lineages, and may be associated with specific genome architectural features and life history traits. PMID:22973299

Discovering and Understanding Misconceptions in Fifth grade Academic Content Standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hicks, Adam; Blue, Jennifer

2008-10-01

Misconceptions are known to be prevalent among students, especially younger students. However, misconceptions can become engrained in the scientific thought process and linger throughout a person's life. This study examines the results on test questions regarding the physical and space science from the fifth grade Ohio Academic Content Standards (Ohio Department of Education, 2003). Tests have been developed to evaluate the Southwest Ohio Science Institutes (http://www.units.muohio.edu/sosi), which teach content knowledge to teachers. These tests have been given to fifth grade teachers who participated in the institutes and to their students. The same questions were also given to university students. Eventually, the results from all three groups will be compared to find the persistence of misconceptions. This presentation will focus on the results from the university students.

[Comparative study of chemical composition of pomegranate peel pomegranates inside and pomegranate seeds].

PubMed

Zhou, Qian; Sun, Li-Li; Dai, Yan-Peng; Wang, Liang; Su, Ben-Zheng

2013-07-01

An HPLC fingerprint of pomegranate peel was established. Using chromatographic conditions, we compared the chemical composition of pomegranate peel, inside and seeds, and simultaneously determined the contents of gallic acid and ellagic acid. By comparison, we found that there were no significant differences between pomegranate peel and inside, but there was a big difference between pomegranate seeds and another two. The contents of gallic acid and ellagic acid of pomegranate peel respectively were 0.33%, 0.59%, while in pomegranate inside the result respectively were 0.52%, 0.38%. Content of ellagic acid from pomegranate seeds was only 0.01%. By study, we thought that when pomegranate peel was processed, pomegranate seeds should be removed, while pomegranate inside could be retained on the premise of full drying.

Improving Physical Task Performance with Counterfactual and Prefactual Thinking.

PubMed

Hammell, Cecilia; Chan, Amy Y C

2016-01-01

Counterfactual thinking (reflecting on "what might have been") has been shown to enhance future performance by translating information about past mistakes into plans for future action. Prefactual thinking (imagining "what might be if…") may serve a greater preparative function than counterfactual thinking as it is future-orientated and focuses on more controllable features, thus providing a practical script to prime future behaviour. However, whether or not this difference in hypothetical thought content may translate into a difference in actual task performance has been largely unexamined. In Experiment 1 (n = 42), participants performed trials of a computer-simulated physical task, in between which they engaged in either task-related hypothetical thinking (counterfactual or prefactual) or an unrelated filler task (control). As hypothesised, prefactuals contained more controllable features than counterfactuals. Moreover, participants who engaged in either form of hypothetical thinking improved significantly in task performance over trials compared to participants in the control group. The difference in thought content between counterfactuals and prefactuals, however, did not yield a significant difference in performance improvement. Experiment 2 (n = 42) replicated these findings in a dynamic balance task environment. Together, these findings provide further evidence for the preparatory function of counterfactuals, and demonstrate that prefactuals share this same functional characteristic.

Amyloid Plaques in PSAPP Mice Bind Less Metal than Plaques in Human Alzheimer's Disease

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

Leskovjan, A.; Lanzirotti, A; Miller, L

2009-01-01

Amyloid beta (A{Beta}) is the primary component of Alzheimer's disease (AD) plaques, a key pathological feature of the disease. Metal ions of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and calcium (Ca) are elevated in human amyloid plaques and are thought to be involved in neurodegeneration. Transgenic mouse models of AD also exhibit amyloid plaques, but fail to exhibit the high degree of neurodegeneration observed in humans. In this study, we imaged the Zn, Cu, Fe, and Ca ion distribution in the PSAPP transgenic mouse model representing end-stage AD (N = 6) using synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microprobe. In order tomore » account for differences in density in the plaques, the relative protein content was imaged with synchrotron Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIRM) on the same samples. FTIRM results revealed a 61% increase in protein content in the plaques compared to the surrounding tissue. After normalizing to protein density, we found that the PSAPP plaques contained only a 29% increase in Zn and there was actually less Cu, Fe, and Ca in the plaque compared to the surrounding tissue. Since metal binding to A{beta} is thought to induce redox chemistry that is toxic to neurons, the reduced metal binding in PSAPP mice is consistent with the lack of neurodegeneration in these animals. These findings were in stark contrast to the high metal ion content observed in human AD plaques, further implicating the role of metal ions in human AD pathology.« less

Acardiac twin with externalized intestine adherent to placenta: unusual manifestation of omphalocele.

PubMed

Emery, Shawn Clark; Vaux, Keith K; Pretorius, Dolores; Masliah, Eliezer; Benirschke, Kurt

2004-01-01

TRAP (twin reversed arterial perfusion) syndrome produces an acardiac twin (acardiac monster, acardius, acardiacus, chorioangiopagus parasiticus, etc.). Acardiacs result from monozygotic multiple births in which three anatomic anomalies occur: (1) a fetus' cardiac development is disturbed; (2) artery-artery anastomosis carries blood from a normal ("pump") twin to the acardiac; (3) vein-vein anastomosis carries blood from the acardiac back to the normal twin. Whether reversal of blood flow in the acardiac results from or causes cardiac dysmorphogenesis has not been resolved. Acardiac twins demonstrate a complex constellation of malformations usually thought to result from reversed blood flow; omphalocele is particularly common. We report monochorionic monoamnionic male twins in which an acardiac twin demonstrated externalized intestines adherent to the placenta. The twins were delivered from a 30-year-old primigravida mother by cesarean section without maternal complications at 33 w. The mother has no significant past medical history. The macerated acardius had a 4-cm long attenuated umbilical cord with indeterminate number of vessels. Structures rostral to the thorax were absent save for one poorly developed hand and arm. The abdomen contained loose mesenchyme and no organs. The entire intestine (21 cm) along with two testes was located in a sac on the surface of the placenta. No histopathologic anomalies of formed structures were identified aside from spatial relationships and incomplete development. The normal twin required no intensive care and is doing well. To our knowledge, this is the first report of externalized intestine, which may represent an unusual consequence of omphalocele.

Dopamine, paranormal belief, and the detection of meaningful stimuli.

PubMed

Krummenacher, Peter; Mohr, Christine; Haker, Helene; Brugger, Peter

2010-08-01

Dopamine (DA) is suggested to improve perceptual and cognitive decisions by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. Somewhat paradoxically, a hyperdopaminergia (arguably more accentuated in the right hemisphere) has also been implied in the genesis of unusual experiences such as hallucinations and paranormal thought. To test these opposing assumptions, we used two lateralized decision tasks, one with lexical (tapping left-hemisphere functions), the other with facial stimuli (tapping right-hemisphere functions). Participants were 40 healthy right-handed men, of whom 20 reported unusual, "paranormal" experiences and beliefs ("believers"), whereas the remaining participants were unexperienced and critical ("skeptics"). In a between-subject design, levodopa (200 mg) or placebo administration was balanced between belief groups (double-blind procedure). For each task and visual field, we calculated sensitivity (d') and response tendency (criterion) derived from signal detection theory. Results showed the typical right visual field advantage for the lexical decision task and a higher d' for verbal than facial stimuli. For the skeptics, d' was lower in the levodopa than in the placebo group. Criterion analyses revealed that believers favored false alarms over misses, whereas skeptics displayed the opposite preference. Unexpectedly, under levodopa, these decision preferences were lower in both groups. We thus infer that levodopa (1) decreases sensitivity in perceptual-cognitive decisions, but only in skeptics, and (2) makes skeptics less and believers slightly more conservative. These results stand at odd to the common view that DA generally improves signal-to-noise ratios. Paranormal ideation seems an important personality dimension and should be assessed in investigations on the detection of signals in noise.

Perceptions and experiences underlying self-management and reporting of symptoms in teens with asthma

PubMed Central

Mammen, Jennifer R.; Rhee, Hyekyun; Norton, Sally A.; Butz, Arlene M.

2016-01-01

Background Teens often have inadequate asthma self-management and control. However, little is known of their perceptions of or rationales for self-management behaviors. Objectives To explore how teens self-manage asthma, including experiences, perceptions, responses to and reporting of symptoms. Methods A case-based, qualitative-descriptive design was used. Data were collected from minority and non-minority teens with controlled and uncontrolled asthma and their respective parents (N=28). There were four data-collection points, including: (1) a primary teen interview; (2) parent interview; (3) two-week self-management voice-diary; and (4) follow-up teen interview, incorporating symptom-response card-sorting to map symptoms and associated self-management responses. Seventy data sources were included in the analysis. Results Teens thought of their asthma symptoms as normal or unusual relative to their personal baseline symptom pattern; Those with uncontrolled asthma normalized higher levels of asthma symptoms than their counterparts with controlled asthma. Second, teens’ decisions to treat symptoms of asthma with rescue medication were based on perceived benefits, burdens and accessibility of treatment balanced against perceived normalcy of symptoms. Teens with uncontrolled asthma had substantially higher treatment thresholds and delayed responses to symptoms compared to controlled peers. Third, teens never reported perceived normal symptoms of asthma to parents or providers, who were thus only aware of unusual or visible/audible symptoms. Conclusions Teen’s perceptions of symptoms and understanding of what is normal is the basis for self-management decisions. Improving self-management will likely entail modifying perceptions of symptoms and benefits/burdens of treatment to achieve healthier self-management patterns. PMID:27337035

Perceptions and experiences underlying self-management and reporting of symptoms in teens with asthma.

PubMed

Mammen, Jennifer R; Rhee, Hyekyun; Norton, Sally A; Butz, Arlene M

2017-03-01

Teens often have inadequate asthma self-management and control. However, little is known of their perceptions of or rationales for self-management behaviors. To explore how teens self-manage asthma, including experiences, perceptions, responses to and reporting of symptoms. A case-based, qualitative-descriptive design was used. Data were collected from minority and non-minority teens with controlled and uncontrolled asthma and their respective parents (N = 28). There were four data-collection points, including: (1) a primary teen interview; (2) parent interview; (3) 2-week self-management voice-diary; and (4) follow-up teen interview, incorporating symptom-response card-sorting to map symptoms and associated self-management responses. Seventy data sources were included in the analysis. Teens thought of their asthma symptoms as normal or unusual relative to their personal baseline symptom pattern; Those with uncontrolled asthma normalized higher levels of asthma symptoms than their counterparts with controlled asthma. Second, teens' decisions to treat symptoms of asthma with rescue medication were based on perceived benefits, burdens and accessibility of treatment balanced against perceived normalcy of symptoms. Teens with uncontrolled asthma had substantially higher treatment thresholds and delayed responses to symptoms compared to controlled peers. Third, teens never reported perceived normal symptoms of asthma to parents or providers, who were thus only aware of unusual or visible/audible symptoms. Teen's perceptions of symptoms and understanding of what is normal is the basis for self-management decisions. Improving self-management will likely entail modifying perceptions of symptoms and benefits/burdens of treatment to achieve healthier self-management patterns.

John Greenleaf's life of science.

PubMed

Watenpaugh, Donald E

2012-12-01

This article summarizes the life and career of John E. Greenleaf, PhD. It complements an interview of Dr. Greenleaf sponsored by the American Physiological Society Living History Project found on the American Physiological Society website. Dr. Greenleaf is a "thought leader" and internationally renowned physiologist, with extensive contributions in human systems-level environmental physiology. He avoided self-aggrandizement and believed that deeds rather than words define one's legacy. Viewed another way, however, Greenleaf's words define his deeds: 48% of his 185 articles are first author works, which is an unusually high proportion for a scientist of his stature. He found that writing a thorough and thoughtful discussion section often led to novel ideas that drove future research. Beyond Greenleaf's words are the many students, postdocs, and collaborators lucky enough to have worked with him and thus learn and carry on his ways of science. His core principles included the following: avoid research "fads," embrace diversity, be the first subject in your own research, adhere to rules of fiscal responsibility, and respect administrative forces-but never back down from them when you know you are right. Greenleaf's integrity ensured he was usually right. He thrived on the axiom of many successful scientists: avoid falling in love with hypotheses, so that when unexpected findings appear, they arouse curiosity instead of fear. Dr. Greenleaf's legacy will include the John and Carol Greenleaf Award for prolific environmental and exercise-related publication in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Plasticity and Convergence in the Evolution of Short-Necked Plesiosaurs.

PubMed

Fischer, Valentin; Benson, Roger B J; Zverkov, Nikolay G; Soul, Laura C; Arkhangelsky, Maxim S; Lambert, Olivier; Stenshin, Ilya M; Uspensky, Gleb N; Druckenmiller, Patrick S

2017-06-05

Plesiosaurs were the longest-surviving group of secondarily marine tetrapods, comparable in diversity to today's cetaceans. During their long evolutionary history, which spanned the Jurassic and the Cretaceous (201 to 66 Ma), plesiosaurs repeatedly evolved long- and short-necked body plans [1, 2]. Despite this postcranial plasticity, short-necked plesiosaur clades have traditionally been regarded as being highly constrained to persistent and clearly distinct ecological niches: advanced members of Pliosauridae (ranging from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous) have been characterized as apex predators [2-5], whereas members of the distantly related clade Polycotylidae (middle to Late Cretaceous) were thought to have been fast-swimming piscivores [1, 5-7]. We report a new, highly unusual pliosaurid from the Early Cretaceous of Russia that shows close convergence with the cranial structure of polycotylids: Luskhan itilensis gen. et sp. nov. Using novel cladistic and ecomorphological data, we show that pliosaurids iteratively evolved polycotylid-like cranial morphologies from the Early Jurassic until the Early Cretaceous. This underscores the ecological diversity of derived pliosaurids and reveals a more complex evolutionary history than their iconic representation as gigantic apex predators of Mesozoic marine ecosystems suggests. Collectively, these data demonstrate an even higher degree of morphological plasticity and convergence in the evolution of plesiosaurs than previously thought and suggest the existence of an optimal ecomorphology for short-necked piscivorous plesiosaurs through time and across phylogeny. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research on teaching reform and practice of applied optics design experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geng, Tao; Tong, Chengguo; Zhang, Tao; Lu, Cunlian; Meng, Ting; Zhang, Yang; Wang, Ran; Sun, Weimin; Liu, Zhihai; Yang, Jun

2017-08-01

It is an important way to effectively improve applied optics experimental teaching effect and motivate the undergraduates' practice ability and creativity by means of scientific and systematic setting teaching contents and link. Based on the research and analysis of applied optics experiment teaching present condition at home and abroad, this paper aims to solve the existed problems and deficiencies during the experiment teaching in our university, and also puts forward some reform ideas and practice method from several aspects such as teaching thought, teaching content and mode, examination and evaluation and so on. Simultaneously, this paper also gives some suggestions on the future course development.

Dietary copper: a novel predisposing factor for oral submucous fibrosis?

PubMed

Arakeri, Gururaj; Brennan, Peter A

2013-03-01

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is known devastating disorder commonly seen in South Asian developing countries. It is directly linked to areca nut chewing and the contents of areca are subjected to multitude of investigations. Among all the contents of areca nut, the copper element has been extensively studied. Most of the published studies have validated its association with OSMF because of its local action. In this paper we postulate a novel biological pathway through which copper is thought to predispose oral mucosa to OSMF. The hypothesis is instructive in explaining various unexplored aspects of the disease. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

OCD Taboo Thoughts and Stigmatizing Attitudes in Clinicians.

PubMed

Steinberg, Daniel S; Wetterneck, Chad T

2017-04-01

Individuals who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder have persistent intrusive thoughts that cause severe distress that impairs daily functioning. These individuals often conceal their intrusive thoughts and delay help-seeking for fear of being stigmatized. Stigma can be problematic when it is present among mental health professionals because they may distance themselves from their clients and have a negative outlook on treatment outcome. To date there has not been any research that focuses on stigma that clinician's may hold towards obsessive-compulsive disorder or specific obsessions; however, there is evidence that mental health professionals may have prejudices towards individuals who suffer from other mental illnesses. The current study aimed to explore clinician and student clinician attitudes about obsessional content from varying symptom dimensions. Results indicated participants were more likely to socially reject or be concerned by individuals with obsessions related to contamination, harming, and sexual obsessions than those with scrupulous obsessions, and that they would be less likely to reveal sexual obsessions to others if they were experiencing them than the other three types of obsessions.

Attentional Lapses in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Blank Rather Than Wandering Thoughts.

PubMed

Van den Driessche, Charlotte; Bastian, Mikaël; Peyre, Hugo; Stordeur, Coline; Acquaviva, Éric; Bahadori, Sara; Delorme, Richard; Sackur, Jérôme

2017-10-01

People with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties sustaining their attention on external tasks. Such attentional lapses have often been characterized as the simple opposite of external sustained attention, but the different types of attentional lapses, and the subjective experiences to which they correspond, remain unspecified. In this study, we showed that unmedicated children (ages 6-12) with ADHD, when probed during a standard go/no-go task, reported more mind blanking (a mental state characterized by the absence of reportable content) than did control participants. This increase in mind blanking happened at the expense of both focused and wandering thoughts. We also found that methylphenidate reverted the level of mind blanking to baseline (i.e., the level of mind blanking reported by control children without ADHD). However, this restoration led to mind wandering more than to focused attention. In a second experiment, we extended these findings to adults who had subclinical ADHD. These results suggest that executive functions impaired in ADHD are required not only to sustain external attention but also to maintain an internal train of thought.

Age-related differences in mind-wandering in daily life.

PubMed

Maillet, David; Beaty, Roger E; Jordano, Megan L; Touron, Dayna R; Adnan, Areeba; Silvia, Paul J; Kwapil, Thomas R; Turner, Gary R; Spreng, R Nathan; Kane, Michael J

2018-06-01

In recent years, several laboratory studies have indicated that healthy older adults exhibit a reduction in mind-wandering frequency compared with young adults. However, it is unclear if these findings extend to daily life settings. In the current study, using experience sampling over the course of a week in the daily life of 31 young and 20 older adults, we assessed age-related differences in: (a) mind-wandering frequency, (b) the relationship between affect and mind-wandering frequency, and (c) content of mind wandering. Older adults mind wandered less than young adults in daily life. Across age groups, negative affect was positively associated with mind-wandering occurrence. Finally, older adults reported that their thoughts were more pleasant, interesting, and clear compared with young adults, who had thoughts that were more dreamlike, novel, strange, and racing. Our results provide the first demonstration using thought sampling that older adults exhibit a reduction in mind-wandering frequency in daily life. Implications for current theories of age-related reductions in mind-wandering frequency are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Physics of rare events: insights on Napoleon death

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiorini, Ettore

2009-03-01

This unusual report tries to show that the high level of sophistication reached in the instrumentation in experiments on rare events can allow to investigate with unprecedented accuracy problems far from those of fundamental physics, but quite important in other fields of physics. The technique and the know-how on neutron activation developed to reduce the background due to spurious events in the CUORE detector to search for neutrinoless double beta decay has been applied to determine the arsenic contents in the hairs of Napoleon Bonaparte and of historical subjects of his time and to compare it with those of subjects living presently. This contents has been found to be about two orders of magnitude larger than the present ones. The As concentration in the hairs of the Emperor is large, but similar to those of the his contemporaries. In additions a comparison among fraction of one of his hairs allows to exclude a criminal act.

Analysis of the flavonoid component of bioactive New Zealand mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) honey and the isolation, characterisation and synthesis of an unusual pyrrole.

PubMed

Chan, Ching W; Deadman, Benjamin J; Manley-Harris, Merilyn; Wilkins, Alistair L; Alber, Dagmar G; Harry, Elizabeth

2013-12-01

The flavonoid components of New Zealand mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) honey have been quantified in a series of 31 honeys of varying non-peroxide antibacterial activity to clarify discrepancies between previous studies reported in the literature. Total flavonoid content was 1.16 mg/100 g honey. The principal flavonoids present were pinobanksin, pinocembrin, luteolin and chrysin and together these represented 61% of the total flavonoid content. 1, 2-formyl-5-(2-methoxyphenyl)-pyrrole, which was weakly correlated with the non-peroxide antibacterial activity, was isolated from the flavonoid fraction and separately synthesised. 1 did not display inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus in vitro and thus the origin of the correlation, which is still unknown, is not a direct contribution. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Methods of eliminating alkaloids from the seeds of Lupinus mutabilis Sweet].

PubMed

Torres Tello, F; Nagata, A; Dreifuss Spiegel, W

1980-06-01

The basic purpose of this work was to find a simple and economic method to control and eliminate the presence of alkaloids, as detected by organoleptic or toxicity tests, in Lupinus mutabilis, S. (tarhui) seeds. Taking advantage of the physical and chemical properties of the seeds, they were subjected to four methods of extraction; b) chemical treatment; c) extraction with two solvents, and d) treatment with a modified water-heat process. The results indicated that the most adequate method was the water-heat modified treatment, which showed a yield of 85% and a debittering efficiency of 98.6%, figures which were above those obtained with any of the other treatments studied. The final product had a bland taste without traces of bitterness and a 32% concentration of protein in the kayra line. Amino acid content showed this product to have an unusual high lysine content.

[Effect of 2-phenoxyethanol on potency of Sabin inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine and its safety].

PubMed

Bian, Chuan-xiu; Jiang, Shu-de; Yang, Jian-yong; Sun, Ming-bo; Xie, Ming-xue; Zhang, Xin-wen; Liao, Guo-yang; Li, Wei-dong

2007-03-01

To investigate the effect of 2-phenoxyethanol on potency of Sabin inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine (IPV). Sabin IPV samples containing 5 mg or 7 mg 2-phenoxyethanol each dosage respectively were placed separately at 4 degrees C, 37 degrees C for 2 days and 7 days. D-antigen contents were tested with ELISA method. Then neutralizing antibodies in mice and guinea pigs were detected. The safety experiment was performed according to unusual toxicity test of China requirement for biological product. After addition of 2-phenoxyethanol, the I, II, and III D-antigen contents of Sabin IPV did not change. The antibody levels in mice and guinea pigs were not different between experimental group and control group. Animals were safe during observation period. 2-Phenoxyethanol had no effect on potency and safety of Sabin IPV. It can be used as antiseptic for Sabin IPV.

Mercury dilution by autochthonous organic matter in a fertilized mangrove wetland.

PubMed

Machado, Wilson; Sanders, Christian J; Santos, Isaac R; Sanders, Luciana M; Silva-Filho, Emmanoel V; Luiz-Silva, Wanilson

2016-06-01

A dated sediment core from a highly-fertilized mangrove wetland located in Cubatão (SE Brazil) presented a negative correlation between mercury (Hg) and organic carbon contents. This is an unusual result for a metal with well-known affinity to organic matter. A dilution of Hg concentrations by autochthonous organic matter explained this observation, as revealed by carbon stable isotopes signatures (δ(13)C). Mercury dilution by the predominant mangrove-derived organic matter counterbalanced the positive influences of algal-derived organic matter and clay contents on Hg levels, suggesting that deleterious effects of Hg may be attenuated. Considering the current paradigm on the positive effect of organic matter on Hg concentrations in coastal sediments and the expected increase in mangrove organic matter burial due to natural and anthropogenic stimulations of primary production, predictions on the influences of organic matter on Hg accumulation in mangrove wetlands deserve caution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tennantite-tetrahedrite series from the Madan Pb-Zn deposits, Central Rhodopes, Bulgaria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vassileva, Rossitsa D.; Atanassova, Radostina; Kouzmanov, Kalin

2014-08-01

Minerals from the tennantite-tetrahedrite series (fahlores) are found as single euhedral crystals and crustiform aggregates in hydrothermal veins of the Gradishte and Petrovitsa Pb-Zn deposits of the Madan ore field, southern Bulgaria. Unusually large compositional variations and fine oscillatory crystal zoning were investigated with electron microprobe analysis. The Gradishte samples correspond dominantly to tennantite, while Petrovitsa crystals have exclusively tetrahedrite composition. Fahlore compositions at Madan correspond to zincian varieties (1.6-1.95 apfu), with low Fe-content (<0.45 apfu). Minor silver is characteristic only for the Petrovitsa samples, reaching a maximum of 0.30 apfu. The (Cu+Ag) content of the Petrovitsa tennantites and the Cu content of the Gradishte tetrahedrites systematically exceed 10 apfu resulting in compensation of the excess Cu in the structure by Fe3+. Textural characteristics, mineral relationships and available fluid inclusion and stable isotope data suggest that fahlores precipitated in the late stages of mineralization at Madan, at temperature interval of 300-200 °C from oxidizing fluids with mixed (magmatic-meteoric) signatures.

Arsenic concentrations in Baltic Sea sediments close to chemical munitions dumpsites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bełdowski, Jacek; Szubska, Marta; Emelyanov, Emelyan; Garnaga, Galina; Drzewińska, Anna; Bełdowska, Magdalena; Vanninen, Paula; Östin, Anders; Fabisiak, Jacek

2016-06-01

In addition to natural sources and land-originated pollution, the Baltic Sea has another anthropogenic source of arsenic in bottom sediments-arsenic-based Chemical Warfare Agents (CWA). To examine the potential usage of arsenic contents results for monitoring the leakage from chemical weapons, sediment samples were collected from officially reported and potential chemical weapon dumpsites located in the Baltic Sea, and total and inorganic arsenic concentrations were analyzed. Results showed an elevated arsenic content in dumpsite areas compared to reference areas. Correlations of arsenic with other metals and organic matter were studied to elucidate any unusual behavior of arsenic in the dumpsites. In the area of the Bornholm Deep, such behavior was observed for inorganic arsenic. It appears that in close vicinity of dumped munitions, the inorganic arsenic concentration of sediments is not correlated with either organic matter content or authigenic minerals formation, as is commonly observed elsewhere. Investigations on CWA concentrations, performed within the CHEMSEA (Chemical Munition Search and Assesment) project, allowed us to compare the results of arsenic concentrations with the occurrence of arsenic-containing CWA.

Dissolved oxygen content as an index of water quality in San Vicente Bay, Chile (36 degrees 45'S).

PubMed

Rudolph, Anny; Ahumada, Ramón; Pérez, Claudio

2002-08-01

The present report describes some effects of industrial and municipal effluents on the waters of San Vicente Bay. Analyses of the main substances contained in the fishing industry effluent suggest rating criteria based on the oxygen saturation of the water as an assessment of organic pollution. Six cruises were carried out throughout the Bay, from June to December 1996. Water samples were analyzed for dissolved oxygen, oil and grease content, and sediment samples for organic matter content. Water parameters (salinity, temperature) were used to characterize the Bay's hydrography, and to calculate values for oxygen saturation. The measurements demonstrated a local broad range of oxygen deficit, with a maximum of 45% in the winter to 95% in the spring. In November more than 65% of the Bay's area showed oxygen deficits greater than 40%. Organic matter was unusually high in sediments along the northern sector of the Bay. The results suggest that the oxygen depletion was a representative parameter for establishing a relative scale of water quality in this Bay.

Sexual Priming, Gender Stereotyping, and Likelihood to Sexually Harass: Examining the Cognitive Effects of Playing a Sexually-Explicit Video Game.

PubMed

Yao, Mike Z; Mahood, Chad; Linz, Daniel

2010-01-01

The present study examines the short-term cognitive effects of playing a sexually explicit video game with female "objectification" content on male players. Seventy-four male students from a university in California, U.S. participated in a laboratory experiment. They were randomly assigned to play either a sexually-explicit game or one of two control games. Participants' cognitive accessibility to sexual and sexually objectifying thoughts was measured in a lexical decision task. A likelihood-to-sexually-harass scale was also administered. Results show that playing a video game with the theme of female "objectification" may prime thoughts related to sex, encourage men to view women as sex objects, and lead to self-reported tendencies to behave inappropriately towards women in social situations.

The presence of social support messages on YouTube videos about inflammatory bowel disease and ostomies.

PubMed

Frohlich, Dennis Owen; Zmyslinski-Seelig, Anne

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the types of social support messages YouTube users posted on medical videos. Specifically, the study compared messages posted on inflammatory bowel disease-related videos and ostomy-related videos. Additionally, the study analyzed the differences in social support messages posted on lay-created videos and professionally-created videos. Conducting a content analysis, the researchers unitized the comments on each video; the total number of thought units amounted to 5,960. Researchers coded each thought unit through the use of a coding scheme modified from a previous study. YouTube users posted informational support messages most frequently (65.1%), followed by emotional support messages (18.3%), and finally, instrumental support messages (8.2%).

Perineal Hernia Is an Unusual Complication Post Perineal Bladder Neck Closure: A Case Report.

PubMed

Omar, Helmy; Helmy, Tamer E; Hafez, Ashraf T; Dawaba, Mohamed E

2017-03-01

Bladder neck closure (BNC) is the ultimate bladder neck reconstruction. If reconstruction fails, closure must be considered as it gives the highest continence rate. The vast majority of BNCs are performed through an abdominal approach (either transvesical or extravesical approach), but perineal approach remains an option for BNC with considerable success rate. Perineal hernia, which is defined as protrusion of abdominal contents through the perineal defect, is a very rare complication after urologic procedures. We report a case of perineal hernia post perineal BNC. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The linguistics of schizophrenia: thought disturbance as language pathology across positive symptoms

PubMed Central

Hinzen, Wolfram; Rosselló, Joana

2015-01-01

We hypothesize that linguistic (dis-)organization in the schizophrenic brain plays a more central role in the pathogenesis of this disease than commonly supposed. Against the standard view, that schizophrenia is a disturbance of thought or selfhood, we argue that the origins of the relevant forms of thought and selfhood at least partially depend on language. The view that they do not is premised by a theoretical conception of language that we here identify as ‘Cartesian’ and contrast with a recent ‘un-Cartesian’ model. This linguistic model empirically argues for both (i) a one-to-one correlation between human-specific thought or meaning and forms of grammatical organization, and (ii) an integrative and co-dependent view of linguistic cognition and its sensory-motor dimensions. Core dimensions of meaning mediated by grammar on this model specifically concern forms of referential and propositional meaning. A breakdown of these is virtually definitional of core symptoms. Within this model the three main positive symptoms of schizophrenia fall into place as failures in language-mediated forms of meaning, manifest either as a disorder of speech perception (Auditory Verbal Hallucinations), abnormal speech production running without feedback control (Formal Thought Disorder), or production of abnormal linguistic content (Delusions). Our hypothesis makes testable predictions for the language profile of schizophrenia across symptoms; it simplifies the cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia while not being inconsistent with a pattern of neurocognitive deficits and their correlations with symptoms; and it predicts persistent findings on disturbances of language-related circuitry in the schizophrenic brain. PMID:26236257

Experience Gained during the Adaptation of Classical ChE Subjects to the Bologna Plan in Europe: The Case of Chemical Reactors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ponsa, Sergio; Sanchez, Antoni

2011-01-01

At present, due to the overall adaptation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), a new concept regarding the teaching methodology was thought to be essential for engineering subjects. In this paper we describe our experience teaching the altered content of the courses on two classical subjects; Chemical Reactors (Chemical Engineering) and…

Common Core Implementation: A Quantitative Study Measuring the Change of Instructional Practices Due to Common Core

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berg, John Sonje

2017-01-01

The philosophy behind the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and its tenets of critical thought, creativity, and application of knowledge require a shift from a focus on content knowledge to how that knowledge is applied across the curriculum and why it forms the foundation of education. The problem now facing educators is that CCSS has changed…

Psychological and Pharmacological Influences in Cigarette Smoking Withdrawal: Effects of Nicotine Gum and Expectancy on Smoking Withdrawal Symptoms and Relapse.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gottlieb, Andrew M.; And Others

1987-01-01

Examined effects of expectancy and nicotine depletion on withdrawal symptoms by giving 109 smokers nicotine gum or placebo. Subjects who believed they had nicotine gum reported fewer physical symptoms of withdrawal, showed less arousal, and smoked fewer cigarettes than did those who thought they had placebo. Actual nicotine content of gum had no…

Caring Enough To Lead: How Reflective Thought Leads to Moral Leadership. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellicer, Leonard O.

This book examines what it means to be a leader. It is intended not only for education leaders but also for anyone who feels compelled to provide effective leadership. The content is based on the author's more than 30 years of experience as a professional educator. Each chapter illustrates a component of leadership through a series of questions,…

Owning My Thoughts Was Difficult: Encouraging Students to Read and Write Critically in a Tertiary Qualitative Research Methods Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiles, Janine L.; Allen, Ruth E. S.; Butler, Rachael

2016-01-01

This paper adds to the nascent literature on teaching research methods and what students learn from courses and assessment. Postgraduate students are often confronted with large amounts of reading, and the content of material can be intimidating. Convincing them also to engage critically with readings is even more difficult. We report on a…

Thinking Maps in Writing Project in English for Taiwanese Elementary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fan, Yu Shu

2016-01-01

Thinking Maps is a language of eight visual patterns, each based on a fundamental thought process, designed by Dr. David N. Hyerle. The visual patterns are based on cognitive skills and applied in all content areas. Not only are they used in different combinations for depth and complexity, but are also used by all members in the school community.…

The Power of Tradition: Methods for Teaching Latin in the Context of History of Educational Thought

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fomin, Andriy

2005-01-01

Many authors note that the history of teaching Latin would be a fruitful topic for a comprehensive treatise. Although intense debates about the quality and necessity of teaching Latin date back as early as in the eighteenth century, Latin courses have persisted into the present and, notably, with few changes in content. The author supports the…

Anxious Imagery in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Investigation into Occurrence, Content, Features and Implications for Therapy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozsivadjian, Ann; Hollocks, Matthew J.; Southcott, Jess; Absoud, Michael; Holmes, Emily

2017-01-01

Mental imagery has been implicated in anxiety disorders in adults, but has not been investigated in child and adolescent populations. Anxiety is highly prevalent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and as people with ASD are often thought of as "visual thinkers," the potential role of distressing imagery in children with ASD merits…

Freedom of Thought and Mental Integrity: The Moral Requirements for Any Neural Prosthesis

PubMed Central

Lavazza, Andrea

2018-01-01

There are many kinds of neural prostheses available or being researched today. In most cases they are intended to cure or improve the condition of patients affected by some cerebral deficiency. In other cases, their goal is to provide new means to maintain or improve an individual's normal performance. In all these circumstances, one of the possible risks is that of violating the privacy of brain contents (which partly coincide with mental contents) or of depriving individuals of full control over their thoughts (mental states), as the latter are at least partly detectable by new prosthetic technologies. Given the (ethical) premise that the absolute privacy and integrity of the most relevant part of one's brain data is (one of) the most valuable and inviolable human right(s), I argue that a (technical) principle should guide the design and regulation of new neural prostheses. The premise is justified by the fact that whatever the coercion, the threat or the violence undergone, the person can generally preserve a “private repository” of thought in which to defend her convictions and identity, her dignity, and autonomy. Without it, the person may end up in a state of complete subjection to other individuals. The following functional principle is that neural prostheses should be technically designed and built so as to prevent such outcomes. They should: (a) incorporate systems that can find and signal the unauthorized detection, alteration, and diffusion of brain data and brain functioning; (b) be able to stop any unauthorized detection, alteration, and diffusion of brain data. This should not only regard individual devices, but act as a general (technical) operating principle shared by all interconnected systems that deal with decoding brain activity and brain functioning. PMID:29515355

To what extent do neurobiological sleep-waking processes support psychoanalysis?

PubMed

Gottesmann, Claude

2010-01-01

Sigmund Freud's thesis was that there is a censorship during waking that prevents memory of events, drives, wishes, and feelings from entering the consciousness because they would induce anxiety due to their emotional or ethical unacceptability. During dreaming, because the efficiency of censorship is decreased, latent thought contents can, after dream-work involving condensation and displacement, enter the dreamer's consciousness under the figurative form of manifest content. The quasi-closed dogma of psychoanalytic theory as related to unconscious processes is beginning to find neurobiological confirmation during waking. Indeed, there are active processes that suppress (repress) unwanted memories from entering consciousness. In contrast, it is more difficult to find neurobiological evidence supporting an organized dream-work that would induce meaningful symbolic content, since dream mentation most often only shows psychotic-like activities. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Opinions and Satisfaction Regarding Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Therapy in Adult Patients with Type 1 Diabetes

PubMed Central

Nishio, Ikuko; Chujo, Masami; Ohkura, Tsuyoshi; Kataoka, Hideyuki

2015-01-01

Background This study examined the treatment satisfaction of type 1 diabetic patients undergoing continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) therapy, and patients’ thoughts regarding CSII. Methods We provided a self-administered questionnaire survey over the internet. Participants were 106 individuals with type-one diabetes aged 20 years or older, undergoing CSII. The survey examined patients’ treatment satisfaction, and their thoughts regarding CSII. Descriptive statistics were calculated. We compared relationships between treatment satisfaction and other variables using the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, and performed content analysis on participants’ thoughts regarding CSII. Results Regarding treatment satisfaction, the response, “neither of them” was the most frequent. Comparing relationships between treatment satisfaction and other variables, significant differences were found for the variables “age,” “presence of dissatisfaction regarding doctors’ response,” and “presence of a significant medical expense burden.” Participants’ thoughts regarding CSII were classified into 10 categories. Conclusion Participants expressed positive evaluations, such as that their blood sugar control had improved due to CSII, and that they perceived improvement in their health. Participants also expressed negative evaluations, however, such as that medical expenses resulting from CSII were high, and that these expenses may cause distress and future economic insecurity. In future, patients may benefit from nursing support that allows patients to confidently continue with CSII. PMID:26538796

Inverted micellar intermediates and the transitions between lamellar, cubic, and inverted hexagonal lipid phases. II. Implications for membrane-membrane interactions and membrane fusion.

PubMed Central

Siegel, D P

1986-01-01

Results of a kinetic model of thermotropic L alpha----HII phase transitions are used to predict the types and order-of-magnitude rates of interactions between unilamellar vesicles that can occur by intermediates in the L alpha----HII phase transition. These interactions are: outer monolayer lipid exchange between vesicles; vesicle leakage subsequent to aggregation; and (only in systems with ratios of L alpha and HII phase structural dimensions in a certain range or with unusually large bilayer lateral compressibilities) vesicle fusion with retention of contents. It was previously proposed that inverted micellar structures mediate membrane fusion. These inverted micellar structures are thought to form in all systems with such transitions. However, I show that membrane fusion probably occurs via structures that form from these inverted micellar intermediates, and that fusion should occur in only a sub-set of lipid systems that can adopt the HII phase. For single-component phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) systems with thermotropic L alpha----HII transitions, lipid exchange should be observed starting at temperatures several degrees below TH and at all higher temperatures, where TH is the L alpha----HII transition temperature. At temperatures above TH, the HII phase forms between apposed vesicles, and eventually ruptures them (leakage). In most single-component PE systems, fusion via L alpha----HII transition intermediates should not occur. This is the behavior observed by Bentz, Ellens, Lai, Szoka, et al. in PE vesicle systems. Fusion is likely to occur under circumstances in which multilamellar samples of lipid form the so-called "inverted cubic" or "isotropic" phase. This is as observed in the mono-methyl DOPE system (Ellens, H., J. Bentz, and F. C. Szoka. 1986. Fusion of phosphatidylethanolamine containing liposomes and the mechanism of the L alpha-HII phase transition. Biochemistry. In press.) In lipid systems with L alpha----HII transitions driven by cation binding (e.g., Ca2+-cardiolipin), fusion should be more frequent than in thermotropic systems. PMID:3719075

Dose-related psychotic symptoms in chronic methamphetamine users: evidence from a prospective longitudinal study.

PubMed

McKetin, Rebecca; Lubman, Dan I; Baker, Amanda L; Dawe, Sharon; Ali, Robert L

2013-03-01

Methamphetamine is associated with psychotic phenomena, but it is not clear to what extent this relationship is due to premorbid psychosis among people who use the drug. To determine the change in the probability of psychotic symptoms occurring during periods of methamphetamine use. Longitudinal prospective cohort study. A fixed-effects analysis of longitudinal panel data, consisting of 4 noncontiguous 1-month observation periods, was used to examine the relationship between changes in methamphetamine use and the risk of experiencing psychotic symptoms within individuals over time. Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. A total of 278 participants 16 years of age or older who met DSM-IV criteria for methamphetamine dependence on entry to the study but who did not meet DSM-IV criteria for lifetime schizophrenia or mania. Clinically significant psychotic symptoms in the past month, defined as a score of 4 or more on any of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale items of suspiciousness, hallucinations, or unusual thought content. The number of days of methamphetamine use in the past month was assessed using the Opiate Treatment Index. There was a 5-fold increase in the likelihood of psychotic symptoms during periods of methamphetamine use relative to periods of no use (odds ratio [OR], 5.3 [95% CI, 3.4-8.3]; P < .001), this increase being strongly dose-dependent (1-15 days of methamphetamine use vs abstinence in the past month: OR, 4.0 [95% CI, 2.5-6.5]; ≥16 days of methamphetamine use vs abstinence in the past month: OR, 11.2 [95% CI, 5.9-21.1]). Frequent cannabis and/or alcohol use (≥16 days of use in the past month) further increased the odds of psychotic symptoms (cannabis: OR, 2.0 [95% CI, 1.1-3.5]; alcohol: OR, 2.1 [95% CI, 1.1-4.2]). There was a large dose-dependent increase in the occurrence of psychotic symptoms during periods of methamphetamine use among users of the drug.

Spectroscopic characterization of HD 95086 b with the Gemini Planet Imager

DOE PAGES

De Rosa, Robert J.; Rameau, Julien; Patience, Jenny; ...

2016-06-21

Here, we present new H (1.5–1.8 μm) photometric and K 1 (1.9–2.2 μm) spectroscopic observations of the young exoplanet HD 95086 b obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager. The H-band magnitude has been significantly improved relative to previous measurements, whereas the low-resolution K 1 (more » $$\\lambda /\\delta \\lambda \\approx 66$$) spectrum is featureless within the measurement uncertainties and presents a monotonically increasing pseudo-continuum consistent with a cloudy atmosphere. By combining these new measurements with literature $$L^{\\prime} $$ photometry, we compare the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the planet to other young planetary-mass companions, field brown dwarfs, and to the predictions of grids of model atmospheres. HD 95086 b is over a magnitude redder in $${K}_{1}-L^{\\prime} $$ color than 2MASS J12073346–3932539 b and HR 8799 c and d, despite having a similar $$L^{\\prime} $$ magnitude. Considering only the near-infrared measurements, HD 95086 b is most analogous to the brown dwarfs 2MASS J2244316+204343 and 2MASS J21481633+4003594, both of which are thought to have dusty atmospheres. Morphologically, the SED of HD 95086 b is best fit by low temperature ($${T}_{{\\rm{eff}}}$$ = 800–1300 K), low surface gravity spectra from models which simulate high photospheric dust content. This range of effective temperatures is consistent with field L/T transition objects, but the spectral type of HD 95086 b is poorly constrained between early L and late T due to its unusual position the color–magnitude diagram, demonstrating the difficulty in spectral typing young, low surface gravity substellar objects. As one of the reddest such objects, HD 95086 b represents an important empirical benchmark against which our current understanding of the atmospheric properties of young extrasolar planets can be tested.« less

Characterizations of geothermal springs along the Moxi deep fault in the western Sichuan plateau, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Jihong; Xu, Mo; An, Chengjiao; Wu, Mingliang; Zhang, Yunhui; Li, Xiao; Zhang, Qiang; Lu, Guoping

2017-02-01

Abundant geothermal springs occur along the Moxi fault located in western Sichuan Province (the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau), highlighted by geothermal water outflow with an unusually high temperature of 218 °C at 21.5 MPa from a 2010-m borehole in Laoyulin, Kangding. Earthquake activity occurs relatively more frequently in the region and is considered to be related to the strong hydrothermal activity. Geothermal waters hosted by a deep fault may provide evidence regarding the deep underground; their aqueous chemistry and isotopic information can indicate the mechanism of thermal springs. Cyclical variations of geothermal water outflows are thought to work under the effect of solid earth tides and can contribute to understanding conditions and processes in underground geo-environments. This paper studies the origin and variations of the geothermal spring group controlled by the Moxi fault and discusses conditions in the deep ground. Flow variation monitoring of a series of parameters was performed to study the geothermal responses to solid tides. Geothermal reservoir temperatures are evaluated with Na-K-Mg data. The abundant sulfite content, dissolved oxygen (DO) and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) data are discussed to study the oxidation-reduction states. Strontium isotopes are used to trace the water source. The results demonstrate that geothermal water could flow quickly through the Moxi fault the depth of the geothermal reservoir influences the thermal reservoir temperature, where supercritical hot water is mixed with circulating groundwater and can reach 380 °C. To the southward along the fault, the circulation of geothermal waters becomes shallower, and the waters may have reacted with metamorphic rock to some extent. Our results provide a conceptual deep heat source model for geothermal flow and the reservoir characteristics of the Moxi fault and indicate that the faulting may well connect the deep heat source to shallower depths. The approach of hot spring variation research also has potential benefits for earthquake monitoring and prediction.

Biomechanical properties of the mid-shaft femur in middle-aged hypophysectomized rats as assessed by bending test.

PubMed

Bozzini, Clarisa; Picasso, Emilio O; Champin, Graciela M; Alippi, Rosa María; Bozzini, Carlos E

2012-10-01

Both stiffness and strength of bones are thought to be controlled by the "bone mechanostat". Its natural stimuli would be the strains of bone tissue (sensed by osteocytes) that are induced by both gravitational forces (body weight) and contraction of regional muscles. Body weight and muscle mass increase with age. Biomechanical performance of load-bearing bones must adapt to these growth-induced changes. Hypophysectomy in the rat slows the rate of body growth. With time, a great difference in body size is established between a hypophysectomized rat and its age-matched control, which makes it difficult to establish the real effect of pituitary ablation on bone biomechanics. The purpose of the present investigation was to compare mid-shaft femoral mechanical properties between hypophysectomized and weight-matched normal rats, which will show similar sizes and thus will be exposed to similar habitual loads. Two groups of 10 female rats each (H and C) were established. H rats were 12-month-old that had been hypophysectomized 11 months before. C rats were 2.5-month-old normals. Right femur mechanical properties were tested in 3-point bending. Structural (load-bearing capacity and stiffness), geometric (cross-sectional area, cortical sectional area, and moment of inertia), and material (modulus of elasticity and maximum elastic stress) properties were evaluated. The left femur was ashed for calcium content. Comparisons between parameters were performed by the Student's t test. Average body weight, body length, femur weight, femur length, and gastrocnemius weight were not significantly different between H and C rats. Calcium content in ashes was significantly higher in H than in C rats. Cross-sectional area, medullary area, and cross-sectional moment of inertia were higher in C rats, whereas cortical area did not differ between groups. Structural properties (diaphyseal stiffness, elastic limit, and load at fracture) were about four times higher in hypophysectomized rats, as were the bone material stiffness or Young's modulus and the maximal elastic stress (about 7×). The femur obtained from a middle-aged H rat was stronger and stiffer than the femur obtained from a young-adult C rat, both specimens showing similar size and bone mass and almost equal geometric properties. The higher than normal structural properties shown by the hypophysectomized femur were entirely due to changes in the intrinsic properties of the bone; it was thus stronger at the tissue level. The change of the femoral bone tissue was associated with a high mineral content and an unusual high modulus of elasticity and was probably due to a diminished bone and collagen turnover.

Chemical Classification of Iron Meteorites: XII. New Members of the Magmatic Groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wasson, John T.; Choi, Byeon-Gak; Jerde, Eric A.; Ulff-Møller, Finn

1998-02-01

Data are reported for thirty iron meteorites that are members of the magmatic groups, for three main group pallasites, one anomalous mesosiderite, and for three ungrouped irons and an ungrouped pallasite that are similar to IIIAB irons in their Ni, Ga, and Ge contents. The set includes four observed falls (11% of iron falls) Ban Rong Du, Chisenga, Nyaung and Sterlitamak, and Zaisho, one of two known pallasite falls. Two of the ungrouped irons (Ban Rong Du and Mount Howe 88403) and the ungrouped pallasite Yamato 8451, although having Ni, Ga, and Ge contents in the same general range as IIIAB, have very different contents of Co and exhibit significant differences for several other elements; they are clearly not related to IIIAB or to its little sister, group IIIE. A fourth ungrouped iron, Tres Castillos, chiefly differs from IIIAB in terms of its low Ga and high Ge contents; its Ga/Ge ratio is 35% higher than that of any other IIIAB iron. We report data on four new IIAB irons, all falling within established fields; the Bilibino iron is somewhat unusual, having a low Ir content (0.12 μg/g) and a structure altered by reheating. The IVA irons are also typical. One, Albion, may be a mislabeled specimen of Gibeon; another, Page City, exhibits large cracks (up to 3 cm). The Chaunskij anomalous mesosiderite has exceptionally high Ni and very low Ir concentrations. Two of three new main group pallasites are anomalous; Pecora Escarpment 91004 has an Ir content above the normal range, and Zaisho has an exceptionally high Fa content in the olivine.

Emergence of unusual coexistence states in cyclic game systems.

PubMed

Park, Junpyo; Do, Younghae; Jang, Bongsoo; Lai, Ying-Cheng

2017-08-07

Evolutionary games of cyclic competitions have been extensively studied to gain insights into one of the most fundamental phenomena in nature: biodiversity that seems to be excluded by the principle of natural selection. The Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) game of three species and its extensions [e.g., the Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock (RPSLS) game] are paradigmatic models in this field. In all previous studies, the intrinsic symmetry associated with cyclic competitions imposes a limitation on the resulting coexistence states, leading to only selective types of such states. We investigate the effect of nonuniform intraspecific competitions on coexistence and find that a wider spectrum of coexistence states can emerge and persist. This surprising finding is substantiated using three classes of cyclic game models through stability analysis, Monte Carlo simulations and continuous spatiotemporal dynamical evolution from partial differential equations. Our finding indicates that intraspecific competitions or alternative symmetry-breaking mechanisms can promote biodiversity to a broader extent than previously thought.

Unusual Radiographic Presentation of Pneumocystis Pneumonia in a Patient with AIDS.

PubMed

Block, Brian L; Mehta, Tejas; Ortiz, Gabriel M; Ferris, Sean P; Vu, Thienkhai H; Huang, Laurence; Cattamanchi, Adithya

2017-01-01

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) typically presents as an interstitial and alveolar process with ground glass opacities on chest computed tomography (CT). The absence of ground glass opacities on chest CT is thought to have a high negative predictive value for PCP in individuals with AIDS. Here, we report a case of PCP in a man with AIDS who presented to our hospital with subacute shortness of breath and a nonproductive cough. While his chest CT revealed diffuse nodular rather than ground glass opacities, bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage and transbronchial biopsies confirmed the diagnosis of PCP and did not identify additional pathogens. PCP was not the expected diagnosis based on chest CT, but it otherwise fit well with the patient's clinical and laboratory presentation. In the era of combination antiretroviral therapy, routine prophylaxis for PCP, and increased use of computed tomography, it may be that PCP will increasingly present with nonclassical chest radiographic patterns. Clinicians should be aware of this presentation when selecting diagnostic and management strategies.

Unusual Radiographic Presentation of Pneumocystis Pneumonia in a Patient with AIDS

PubMed Central

Mehta, Tejas; Ortiz, Gabriel M.; Ferris, Sean P.; Vu, Thienkhai H.; Huang, Laurence; Cattamanchi, Adithya

2017-01-01

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) typically presents as an interstitial and alveolar process with ground glass opacities on chest computed tomography (CT). The absence of ground glass opacities on chest CT is thought to have a high negative predictive value for PCP in individuals with AIDS. Here, we report a case of PCP in a man with AIDS who presented to our hospital with subacute shortness of breath and a nonproductive cough. While his chest CT revealed diffuse nodular rather than ground glass opacities, bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage and transbronchial biopsies confirmed the diagnosis of PCP and did not identify additional pathogens. PCP was not the expected diagnosis based on chest CT, but it otherwise fit well with the patient's clinical and laboratory presentation. In the era of combination antiretroviral therapy, routine prophylaxis for PCP, and increased use of computed tomography, it may be that PCP will increasingly present with nonclassical chest radiographic patterns. Clinicians should be aware of this presentation when selecting diagnostic and management strategies. PMID:29362681

X-ray illumination of globular cluster puzzles. [globular cluster X ray sources as clues to Milky Way Galaxy age and evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lightman, A. P.; Grindlay, J. E.

1982-01-01

Globular clusters are thought to be among the oldest objects in the Galaxy, and provide, in this connection, important clues for determining the age and process of formation of the Galaxy. The present investigation is concerned with puzzles relating to the X-ray emission of globular clusters, taking into account questions regarding the location of X-ray emitting clusters (XEGC) unusually near the galactic plane and/or galactic center. An adopted model is discussed for the nature, formation, and lifetime of X-ray sources in globular clusters. An analysis of the available data is conducted in connection with a search for correlations between binary formation time scales, central relaxation times, galactic locations, and X-ray emission. The positive correlation found between distance from galactic center and two-body binary formation time for globular clusters, explanations for this correlation, and the hypothesis that X-ray sources in globular clusters require binary star systems provide a possible explanation of the considered puzzles.

Creativity and Memory: Effects of an Episodic-Specificity Induction on Divergent Thinking.

PubMed

Madore, Kevin P; Addis, Donna Rose; Schacter, Daniel L

2015-09-01

People produce more episodic details when imagining future events and solving means-end problems after receiving an episodic-specificity induction-brief training in recollecting details of a recent event-than after receiving a control induction not focused on episodic retrieval. Here we show for the first time that an episodic-specificity induction also enhances divergent creative thinking. In Experiment 1, participants exhibited a selective boost on a divergent-thinking task (generating unusual uses of common objects) after a specificity induction compared with a control induction; by contrast, performance following the two inductions was similar on an object association task thought to involve little divergent thinking. In Experiment 2, we replicated the specificity-induction effect on divergent thinking using a different control induction, and also found that participants performed similarly on a convergent-thinking task following the two inductions. These experiments provide novel evidence that episodic memory is involved in divergent creative thinking. © The Author(s) 2015.

Magnetic Phase Diagram of α-RuCl3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sears, Jennifer; Kim, Young-June; Zhao, Yang; Lynn, Jeffrey

The layered honeycomb material α-RuCl3 is thought to possess unusual magnetic interactions including a strong bond-dependent Kitaev term, offering a potential opportunity to study a material near a well understood spin liquid phase. Although this material orders magnetically at low temperatures and is thus not a realization of a Kitaev spin liquid, it does show a broad continuum of magnetic excitations reminiscent of that expected for the spin liquid phase. It has also been proposed that a magnetic field could destabilize the magnetic order in this material and induce a transition into a spin liquid phase. Low temperature magnetization and specific heat measurements in this material have suggested a complex magnetic phase diagram with multiple unidentified magnetic phases present at low temperature. This has provided motivation for our work characterizing the magnetic transitions and phase diagram in α-RuCl3. I will present detailed bulk measurements combined with magnetic neutron diffraction measurements to map out the phase diagram and identify the various phases present.

Emergence of californium as the second transitional element in the actinide series

DOE PAGES

Cary, Samantha K.; Vasiliu, Monica; Baumbach, Ryan E.; ...

2015-04-16

A break in periodicity occurs in the actinide series between plutonium and americium as the result of the localization of 5f electrons. The subsequent chemistry of later actinides is thought to closely parallel lanthanides in that bonding is expected to be ionic and complexation should not substantially alter the electronic structure of the metal ions. Here we demonstrate that ligation of californium(III) by a pyridine derivative results in significant deviations in the properties of the resultant complex with respect to that predicted for the free ion. We expand on this by characterizing the americium and curium analogues for comparison, andmore » show that these pronounced effects result from a second transition in periodicity in the actinide series that occurs, in part, because of the stabilization of the divalent oxidation state. As a result, the metastability of californium(II) is responsible for many of the unusual properties of californium including the green photoluminescence.« less

RUNAWAY DWARF CARBON STARS AS CANDIDATE SUPERNOVA EJECTA

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

Plant, Kathryn A.; Margon, Bruce; Guhathakurta, Puragra

2016-12-20

The dwarf carbon (dC) star SDSS J112801.67+004034.6 has an unusually high radial velocity, 531 ± 4 km s{sup −1}. We present proper motion and new spectroscopic observations which imply a large Galactic rest frame velocity, 425 ± 9 km s{sup −1}. Several other SDSS dC stars are also inferred to have very high galactocentric velocities, again each based on both high heliocentric radial velocity and also confidently detected proper motions. Extreme velocities and the presence of C {sub 2} bands in the spectra of dwarf stars are both rare. Passage near the Galactic center can accelerate stars to such extreme velocities, but the largemore » orbital angular momentum of SDSS J1128 precludes this explanation. Ejection from a supernova in a binary system or disruption of a binary by other stars are possibilities, particularly as dC stars are thought to obtain their photospheric C {sub 2} via mass transfer from an evolved companion.« less

Steroid receptor RNA activator (SRA1): unusual bifaceted gene products with suspected relevance to breast cancer

PubMed Central

Leygue, Etienne

2007-01-01

The steroid receptor RNA activator (SRA) is a unique modulator of steroid receptor transcriptional activity, as it is able to mediate its coregulatory effects as a RNA molecule. Recent findings, however, have painted a more complex picture of the SRA gene (SRA1) products. Indeed, even though SRA was initially thought to be noncoding, several RNA isoforms have now been found to encode an endogenous protein (SRAP), which is well conserved among Chordata. Although the function of SRAP remains largely unknown, it has been proposed that, much like its corresponding RNA, the protein itself might regulate estrogen and androgen receptor signaling pathways. As such, data suggest that both SRA and SRAP might participate in the mechanisms underlying breast, as well as prostate tumorigenesis. This review summarizes the published literature dealing with these two faces of the SRA gene products and underscores the relevance of this bifaceted system to breast cancer development. PMID:17710122

New functionally dioecious bush tomato from northwestern Australia, Solanum ossicruentum, may utilize “trample burr” dispersal

PubMed Central

Martine, Christopher T.; Cantley, Jason T.; Frawley, Emma S.; Butler, Alice R.; Jordon-Thaden, Ingrid E.

2016-01-01

Abstract A new Australian species of functionally dioecious bush tomato of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum is described. Solanum ossicruentum Martine & J.Cantley, sp. nov., is thought to be allied with members of the problematic “Dioicum Complex” lineage, but differs in its short silvery indumentum, long calyx lobes, larger stature, and an unusual fruit morphology that may represent “trample burr” seed dispersal. The species occurs in a range extending from the eastern Kimberley in Western Australia to far northwestern Northern Territory and has been recognized for decades as a variant of Solanum dioicum W.Fitzg. Specimens of this species were previously referred to by D.E. Symon and others as Solanum dioicum ‘Tanami.’ Ex situ crossing studies and SEM images of inaperturate pollen grains produced in morphologically hermaphrodite flowers indicate that this taxon is functionally dioecious. The scientific name was chosen with the help of 150 seventh grade life science students from Pennsylvania, USA. PMID:27489475

Vigilance impossible: Diligence, distraction, and daydreaming all lead to failures in a practical monitoring task.

PubMed

Casner, Stephen M; Schooler, Jonathan W

2015-09-01

In laboratory studies of vigilance, participants watch for unusual events in a "sit and stare" fashion as their performance typically declines over time. But watch keepers in practical settings seldom approach monitoring in such simplistic ways and controlled environments. We observed airline pilots performing routine monitoring duties in the cockpit. Unlike laboratory studies, pilots' monitoring did not deteriorate amidst prolonged vigils. Monitoring was frequently interrupted by other pop-up tasks and misses followed. However, when free from these distractions, pilots reported copious mind wandering. Pilots often confined their mind wandering to times in which their monitoring performance would not conspicuously suffer. But when no convenient times were available, pilots mind wandered anyway and misses ensued. Real-world monitors may be caught between a continuous vigilance approach that is doomed to fail, a dynamic environment that cannot be fully controlled, and what may be an irresistible urge to let one's thoughts drift. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A single dose of lysergic acid diethylamide influences gene expression patterns within the mammalian brain.

PubMed

Nichols, Charles D; Sanders-Bush, Elaine

2002-05-01

Hallucinogenic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) have profound effects on humans including hallucinations and detachment from reality. These remarkable behavioral effects have many similarities to the debilitating symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. The effects of hallucinogens are thought to be mediated by serotonin receptor activation; however, how these drugs elicit the unusual behavioral effects remains largely a mystery, despite much research. We have undertaken the first comprehensive analysis of gene expression influenced by acute LSD administration in the mammalian brain. These studies represent a novel approach to elucidate the mechanism of action of this class of drugs. We have identified a number of genes that are predicted to be involved in the processes of synaptic plasticity, glutamatergic signaling and cytoskeletal architecture. Understanding these molecular events will lead to new insights into the etiology of disorders whose behavioral symptoms resemble the temporary effects of hallucinogenic drugs, and also may ultimately result in new therapies.

Inelastic properties of ice Ih at low temperatures and high pressures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kirby, S.H.; Durham, W.B.; Beeman, M.L.; Heard, H.C.; Daley, M.A.

1987-01-01

The aim of our research programme is to explore the rheological behavior of H2O ices under conditions appropriate to the interiors of the icy satellites of the outer planets in order to give insight into their deformation. To this end, we have performed over 100 constant-strain-rate compression tests at pressures to 500 MPa and temperatures as low as 77 K. At P > 30 MPa, ice Ih fails by a shear instability producing faults in the maximum shear stress orientation and failure strength typically is independent of pressure. This unusual faulting behavior is thought to be connected with phase transformations localized in the shear zones. The steady-state strength follows rheological laws of the thermally-activated power-law type, with different flow law parameters depending on the range of test temperatures. The flow laws will be discussed with reference to the operating deformation mechanisms as deduced from optical-scale microstructures and comparison with other work.

Lectin-Like Bacteriocins from Pseudomonas spp. Utilise D-Rhamnose Containing Lipopolysaccharide as a Cellular Receptor

PubMed Central

Josts, Inokentijs; Roszak, Aleksander W.; Waløen, Kai I.; Cogdell, Richard J.; Milner, Joel; Evans, Tom; Kelly, Sharon; Tucker, Nicholas P.; Byron, Olwyn; Smith, Brian; Walker, Daniel

2014-01-01

Lectin-like bacteriocins consist of tandem monocot mannose-binding domains and display a genus-specific killing activity. Here we show that pyocin L1, a novel member of this family from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, targets susceptible strains of this species through recognition of the common polysaccharide antigen (CPA) of P. aeruginosa lipopolysaccharide that is predominantly a homopolymer of d-rhamnose. Structural and biophysical analyses show that recognition of CPA occurs through the C-terminal carbohydrate-binding domain of pyocin L1 and that this interaction is a prerequisite for bactericidal activity. Further to this, we show that the previously described lectin-like bacteriocin putidacin L1 shows a similar carbohydrate-binding specificity, indicating that oligosaccharides containing d-rhamnose and not d-mannose, as was previously thought, are the physiologically relevant ligands for this group of bacteriocins. The widespread inclusion of d-rhamnose in the lipopolysaccharide of members of the genus Pseudomonas explains the unusual genus-specific activity of the lectin-like bacteriocins. PMID:24516380

Did René Descartes Have Exploding Head Syndrome?

PubMed

Otaiku, Abidemi Idowu

2018-04-15

René Descartes (1596-1650), "the Father of Modern Philosophy" and advocate of mind-body dualism, had three successive dreams on November 10, 1619 that changed the trajectory of his life and the trajectory of human thought. Descartes' influential dreams have been of interest to a number of commentators including the famous neurologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Descartes' second dream in particular, in which he heard a loud noise in his head before seeing a bright flash of light upon awakening, has been discussed extensively. Commentators have employed psychoanalytic and medical explanations to account for Descartes' unusual nocturnal experience. In this tradition, I propose that Descartes' second dream was not a dream at all; rather, it was an episode of exploding head syndrome; a benign and relatively common parasomnia. I further suggest that Adrien Baillet's account of Descartes' experience constitutes the earliest description of exploding head syndrome, predating the account described by Silas Weir Mitchell in 1876 by nearly 200 years. © 2018 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Signaling pathways and immune evasion mechanisms in classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

PubMed

Liu, W Robert; Shipp, Margaret A

2017-11-23

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is an unusual B-cell-derived malignancy in which rare malignant Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells are surrounded by an extensive but ineffective inflammatory/immune cell infiltrate. This striking feature suggests that malignant HRS cells escape immunosurveillance and interact with immune cells in the cancer microenvironment for survival and growth. We previously found that cHLs have a genetic basis for immune evasion: near-uniform copy number alterations of chromosome 9p24.1 and the associated PD-1 ligand loci, CD274/PD-L1 and PDCD1LG2/PD-L2, and copy number-dependent increased expression of these ligands. HRS cells expressing PD-1 ligands are thought to engage PD-1 receptor-positive immune effectors in the tumor microenvironment and induce PD-1 signaling and associated immune evasion. The genetic bases of enhanced PD-1 signaling in cHL make these tumors uniquely sensitive to PD-1 blockade. © 2017 by The American Society of Hematology.

A Genetic Mechanism for Convergent Skin Lightening during Recent Human Evolution

PubMed Central

Meng, Anming; Shi, Hong; Su, Bing

2016-01-01

Skin lightening among Eurasians is thought to have been a convergence occurring independently in Europe and East Asia as an adaptation to high latitude environments. Among Europeans, several genes responsible for such lightening have been found, but the information available for East Asians is much more limited. Here, a genome-wide comparison between dark-skinned Africans and Austro-Asiatic speaking aborigines and light-skinned northern Han Chinese identified the pigmentation gene OCA2, showing unusually deep allelic divergence between these groups. An amino acid substitution (His615Arg) of OCA2 prevalent in most East Asian populations—but absent in Africans and Europeans—was significantly associated with skin lightening among northern Han Chinese. Further transgenic and targeted gene modification analyses of zebrafish and mouse both exhibited the phenotypic effect of the OCA2 variant manifesting decreased melanin production. These results indicate that OCA2 plays an important role in the convergent skin lightening of East Asians during recent human evolution. PMID:26744415

Landslides triggered by the 2002 Denali fault, Alaska, earthquake and the inferred nature of the strong shaking

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jibson, R.W.; Harp, E.L.; Schulz, W.; Keefer, D.K.

2004-01-01

The 2002 M7.9 Denali fault, Alaska, earthquake triggered thousands of landslides, primarily rock falls and rock slides, that ranged in volume from rock falls of a few cubic meters to rock avalanches having volumes as great as 15 ?? 106 m3. The pattern of landsliding was unusual; the number of slides was less than expected for an earthquake of this magnitude, and the landslides were concentrated in a narrow zone 30-km wide that straddled the fault rupture over its entire 300-km length. The large rock avalanches all clustered along the western third of the rupture zone where acceleration levels and ground-shaking frequencies are thought to have been the highest. Inferences about near-field strong shaking characteristics drawn from the interpretation of the landslide distribution are consistent with results of recent inversion modeling that indicate high-frequency energy generation was greatest in the western part of the fault rupture zone and decreased markedly to the east. ?? 2004, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

An unusual psychiatric presentation of polycythaemia ‘Difficulties lie in our habits of thought rather than in the nature of things’ Andre Tardieu

PubMed Central

Rai, Rahul; Pieters, Thirza

2013-01-01

Psychiatric symptoms are not always best explained in the context of psychological stress. The same mental, emotional and behavioural changes also arise from various medical conditions. For a clinician this dual origin of psychiatric symptoms creates an ongoing diagnostic challenge. Our patient is a 50-year-old gentleman who had been working in a company for around 33 years and always had good appraisals. He presented to mental health services with a 5-year history of persecutory beliefs, convinced that his employers were out to damage his reputation. Apart from a diagnosis of polycythaemia, a few months before the onset of abnormal beliefs, there is no personal or family history of psychiatric disorder or medical illness. His delusions did not respond to conventional treatment with psychotropic medication possibly due to non-adherence because of side effects. However, a series of venesections lead to an improvement in mental state. PMID:23576647

An unusual psychiatric presentation of polycythaemia 'Difficulties lie in our habits of thought rather than in the nature of things' Andre Tardieu.

PubMed

Rai, Rahul; Pieters, Thirza

2013-04-09

Psychiatric symptoms are not always best explained in the context of psychological stress. The same mental, emotional and behavioural changes also arise from various medical conditions. For a clinician this dual origin of psychiatric symptoms creates an ongoing diagnostic challenge. Our patient is a 50-year-old gentleman who had been working in a company for around 33 years and always had good appraisals. He presented to mental health services with a 5-year history of persecutory beliefs, convinced that his employers were out to damage his reputation. Apart from a diagnosis of polycythaemia, a few months before the onset of abnormal beliefs, there is no personal or family history of psychiatric disorder or medical illness. His delusions did not respond to conventional treatment with psychotropic medication possibly due to non-adherence because of side effects. However, a series of venesections lead to an improvement in mental state.

Elizabeth Brown (1830-1899), solar astronomer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Creese, M.

1998-08-01

Were it not for the fact that she was a woman, Elizabeth Brown might well be thought of as a fairly typical nineteenth-century British amateur astronomer. She has a place, although a relatively modest one, in the distinguished group of people who, with their own fortunes, carried out much of the astronomical research being done in the country at a time before extensive government support was forthcoming for the work.1 Her career in fact follows a pattern common to several of the nineteenth-century men astronomers in that her full productive period came only after she was freed from her primary responsibilities; she did not have to amass the necessary financial resources as did many of the men,2 but she had the time-consuming responsibility, not unusual for a Victorian woman, of caring for a parent through a lengthy old age. Only after her father died at the age of ninety-one, did Elizabeth, then in her early fifties, begin her sixteen years of remarkable public activity in astronomy.

Fluoride content of tank water in Australia.

PubMed

Cochrane, N J; Hopcraft, M S; Tong, A C; Thean, H l; Thum, Y S; Tong, D E; Wen, J; Zhao, S C; Stanton, D P; Yuan, Y; Shen, P; Reynolds, E C

2014-06-01

The aims of this study were to: (1) analyse the fluoride content of tank water; (2) determine whether the method of water collection or storage influenced fluoride content; and (3) survey participant attitudes towards water fluoridation. Plastic tubes and a questionnaire were distributed through dentists to households with water tanks in Victoria. A midstream tank water sample was collected and fluoride analysed in triplicate using ion chromatography All samples (n = 123) contained negligible amounts of fluoride, with a mean fluoride concentration of <0.01 ppm (range: <0.01-0.18 ppm). No statistically significant association was found between fluoride content and variables investigated such as tank material, tank age, roof material and gutter material. Most people did not know whether their tank water contained fluoride and 40.8% preferred to have access to fluoridated water. The majority thought fluoride was safe and more than half of the respondents supported fluoridation. Fluoride content of tank water was well below the optimal levels for caries prevention. People who rely solely on tank water for drinking may require additional exposure to fluoride for optimal caries prevention. © 2014 Australian Dental Association.

The Role of Content Knowledge in Ill-Structured Problem Solving for High School Physics Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milbourne, Jeff; Wiebe, Eric

2018-02-01

While Physics Education Research has a rich tradition of problem-solving scholarship, most of the work has focused on more traditional, well-defined problems. Less work has been done with ill-structured problems, problems that are better aligned with the engineering and design-based scenarios promoted by the Next Generation Science Standards. This study explored the relationship between physics content knowledge and ill-structured problem solving for two groups of high school students with different levels of content knowledge. Both groups of students completed an ill-structured problem set, using a talk-aloud procedure to narrate their thought process as they worked. Analysis of the data focused on identifying students' solution pathways, as well as the obstacles that prevented them from reaching "reasonable" solutions. Students with more content knowledge were more successful reaching reasonable solutions for each of the problems, experiencing fewer obstacles. These students also employed a greater variety of solution pathways than those with less content knowledge. Results suggest that a student's solution pathway choice may depend on how she perceives the problem.

Watson: A new link in the IIE iron chain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olsen, Edward; Davis, Andrew; Clarke, Roy S., Jr.; Schultz, Ludolf; Weber, Hartwig W.; Clayton, Robert; Mayeda, Toshiko; Jarosewich, Eugene; Sylvester, Paul; Grossman, Lawrence

1994-01-01

Watson, which was found in 1972 in South Australia, contains the largest single silicate rock mass seen in any known iron meteorite. A comprehensive study has been completed on this unusual meteorite: petrography, metallography, analyses of the silicate inclusion (whole rock chemical analysis, INAA, RNAA, noble gases, and oxygen isotope analysis) and mineral compositions (by electron microprobe and ion microprobe). The whole rock has a composition of an H-chondrite minus the normal H-group metal and troilite content. The oxygen isotope composition is that of the silicates in the IIE iron meteorites and lies along an oxygen isotope fractionation line with the H-group chondrites. Trace elements in the metal confirm Watson is a new IIE iron. Whole rock Watson silicate shows an enrichment in K and P (each approximately 2X H-chondrites). The silicate inclusion has a highly equilibrated igneous (peridotite-like) texture with olivine largely poikilitic within low-Ca pyroxene: olivine (Fa20), opx (Fs17Wo3), capx (Fs9Wo14)(with very fine exsolution lamellae), antiperthite feldspar (An1-3Or5) with less than 1 micron exsolution lamellae (An1-3Or greater than 40), shocked feldspar with altered stoichiometry, minor whitlockite (also a poorly characterized interstitial phosphate-rich phase) and chromite, and only traces of metal and troilite. The individual silicate minerals have normal chondritic REE patterns, but whitlockite has a remarkable REE pattern. It is very enriched in light REE (La is 720X C1, and Lu is 90X C1, as opposed to usual chonditic values of approximately 300X and 100-150X, respectively) with a negative Eu anomaly. The enrichment of whole rock K is expressed both in an unusually high mean modal Or content of the feldspar, Or13, and in the presence of antiperthite.

The 18 May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens: The nature of the eruption, with an atmospheric perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rose, W. I., Jr.; Hoffman, M. F.

1982-01-01

Mount St. Helens erupted somewhat less than 0.5 cu km of magma (dense rock equivalent) on May 18, 1980. The May 18 event was usually violent. As much 35% of the volume of the airfall material fell outside of the 2.5 mm isopach, which encloses about 88,000 sq km. This extraordinary dispersive power was transmitted by an eruption column which reached heights of more than 20 km. There was a lateral blast (or surge) of unusually large dimensions associated with the onset of the eruption. The magma is dacitic in composition and had a low ( 500 ppm) sulfur content. Distal ashes contain much nonmagmatic (lithic) material, but smaller ( 50 microns m) particles are mostly finely divided magmatic dacite. The grain size distributions of the ash are multimodal, frequently with peaks at 90, 25, and 10 microns. The finer populations fell out faster than their terminal velocities as simple particles would suggest. It is inferred that large proportions of the fine ash fell out as composite particles. This condition greatly reduces the atmospheric burden of silicate particles. Some of the unusual aspects (violence, intense surges, multimodal grain size distributions, lithic content of the ashes) of the eruption may be due to its phreatomagmatic character. The hydrothermal system above the magma may have infiltrated the magma body at the onset of the eruption. An "overprint" of the geochemistry of this hydrothermal system on the geochemistry of the magmatic gas system is likely. One important feature is that reduced gas species may be much more abundant than in many eruptions. Another is that fine ash may form aggregates more readily.

The impact of water on dislocation content and slip system activity in olivine constrained by HR-EBSD and visco-plastic self-consistent simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallis, D.; Hansen, L. N.; Tasaka, M.; Kumamoto, K. M.; Lloyd, G. E.; Parsons, A. J.; Kohlstedt, D. L.; Wilkinson, A. J.

2016-12-01

Changes in concentration of H+ ions in olivine have impacts on its rheological behaviour and therefore on tectonic processes involving mantle deformation. Deformation experiments on aggregates of wet olivine exhibit different evolution of crystal preferred orientations (CPO) and substructure from experiments on dry olivine, suggesting that elevated H+ concentrations impact activity of dislocation slip-systems. We use high angular-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HR-EBSD) to map densities of different types of geometrically necessary dislocations (GND) in polycrystalline olivine deformed experimentally under wet and dry conditions and also in nature. HR-EBSD provides unprecedented angular resolution, resolving misorientations < 0.01°. We also employ visco-plastic self-consistent (VPSC) simulations to investigate changes in slip-system activity. HR-EBSD maps from experimental samples demonstrate that olivine deformed under hydrous conditions contains higher proportions of (001)[100] and (100)[001] edge dislocations than olivine deformed under anhydrous conditions. Furthermore, maps of wet olivine exhibit more polygonal subgrain boundaries indicative of enhanced recovery by dislocation climb. VPSC simulations with low critical resolved shear stresses for the (001)[100] and (100)[001] slip systems reproduce an unusual CPO with bimodal maxima of both [100] and [001] observed in wet olivine aggregates. Analysis of a mylonitic lherzolite xenolith from Lesotho reveals the same unusual CPO and similar proportions of dislocation types to `wet' experimental samples, supporting the applicability of these findings to natural deformation conditions. These results support suggestions that H+ impacts the flow properties of olivine by altering dislocation activity and climb, while also providing full quantification of GND content. In particular, the relative proportions of dislocation types may provide a basis for identifying olivine deformed under wet and dry conditions.

Novel technique to suppress hydrocarbon contamination for high accuracy determination of carbon content in steel by FE-EPMA

PubMed Central

Yamashita, Takako; Tanaka, Yuji; Yagoshi, Masayasu; Ishida, Kiyohito

2016-01-01

In multiphase steels, control of the carbon contents in the respective phases is the most important factor in alloy design for achieving high strength and high ductility. However, it is unusually difficult to determine the carbon contents in multiphase structures with high accuracy by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) due to the unavoidable effect of hydrocarbon contamination during measurements. We have investigated new methods for suppressing hydrocarbon contamination during field emission (FE) EPMA measurements as well as a conventional liquid nitrogen trap. Plasma cleaner inside the specimen chamber results in a improvement of carbon-content determination by point analysis, increasing precision tenfold from the previous 0.1 mass%C to 0.01 mass%C. Stage heating at about 100 °C dramatically suppresses contamination growth during continuous point measurement and mapping. By the combination of above two techniques, we successfully visualized the two-dimensional carbon distribution in a dual-phase steel. It was also noted that the carbon concentrations at the ferrite/martensite interfaces were not the same across all interfaces, and local variation was observed. The developed technique is expected to be a powerful tool for understanding the mechanisms of mechanical properties and microstructural evolution, thereby contributing to the design of new steel products with superior properties. PMID:27431281

Plant–herbivore–decomposer stoichiometric mismatches and nutrient cycling in ecosystems

PubMed Central

Cherif, Mehdi; Loreau, Michel

2013-01-01

Plant stoichiometry is thought to have a major influence on how herbivores affect nutrient availability in ecosystems. Most conceptual models predict that plants with high nutrient contents increase nutrient excretion by herbivores, in turn raising nutrient availability. To test this hypothesis, we built a stoichiometrically explicit model that includes a simple but thorough description of the processes of herbivory and decomposition. Our results challenge traditional views of herbivore impacts on nutrient availability in many ways. They show that the relationship between plant nutrient content and the impact of herbivores predicted by conceptual models holds only at high plant nutrient contents. At low plant nutrient contents, the impact of herbivores is mediated by the mineralization/immobilization of nutrients by decomposers and by the type of resource limiting the growth of decomposers. Both parameters are functions of the mismatch between plant and decomposer stoichiometries. Our work provides new predictions about the impacts of herbivores on ecosystem fertility that depend on critical interactions between plant, herbivore and decomposer stoichiometries in ecosystems. PMID:23303537